Unfair to blame CU
Re: “Blacks have long suffered racism at CU Boulder,” Oct. 20 commentary
It took 13 paragraphs before Lauren Jade Arnold confessed the most important detail of the video that circulated of a woman shouting racial slurs at a student on the University of Colorado Boulder campus: The woman wasn’t a student or a member of the faculty.
In fact, she had no relationship with the university in any way. Police reacted quickly and had the woman arrested; the professor who confronted the woman has openly asked for advice on how to handle the situation better; and the chancellor took the extraordinary measure of addressing the incident in his state of the campus speech and met with the Black Student Alliance … all because an obviously deranged woman wandered on campus and shouted racist nonsense.
I applaud the leadership and faculty at CU for their sensitivity in this matter and can’t imagine what more reasonably could have been done.
CU has a responsibility to do everything within reason to be sure that students and faculty members feel welcome on campus and that they are judged by their character and not the color of their skin. Their exceptional reaction to this ugly incident should be viewed as a positive sign that they are doing just that.
Masten Hamlin, Denver
Why should businesses pay?
Re: “I needed paid family leave when I escaped abuse,” Oct. 22 commentary
Rep. Monica Duran is a good example of what is not needed in government. She had a very bad experience in her past, so naturally, as a Democrat, she is compelled to prevent this from happening to others. Very noble. Except, who pays for her largesse? Your neighbor, who owns the local dry cleaners or UPS store. The wealthy business owner can surely pay for her goodness. Maybe Duran could find public financing, but why go that route when employers are so rich.
Jack Inderwish, Aurora
Trump will get due process — in the Senate
Re: Republicans swarm, disrupt impeachment deposition,” Oct. 24 news story
The House Republicans who “invaded” the secure room where the impeachment investigation deposition was being held accomplished nothing, save making fools of themselves.
Their spurious excuse was to protest their (and Trump’s) claims of so-called due process violations during the impeachment investigation. There is no due process right of an individual during a criminal investigation of that individual’s conduct. The Constitution gives the majority House of Representatives sole discretion on methods to conduct an impeachment.
Due process requirements only come into play when a person may be deprived “of life, liberty or property” through enforcement of any law. The House Republicans are being disingenuous with their complaints of lack of due process, apparently hoping to obfuscate attention to Trump’s alleged wrongdoing and create sympathy. The due process requirement will come into play during the hearing on impeachment, not the investigation.
Richard Everstine, Greenwood Village
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