LETTERS

Straighten Up and Fly Write
Regarding Patricia Calhoun's "Last Writes" in the January 26 issue:
I, for one, will certainly miss David Chandler's excellent work. He has been the only reporter smart enough (and experienced enough, I realized after reading Calhoun's obituary for him) to tell us the real story about Denver International Airport. I realize he will be a hard person to replace, but I urge Westword not to give up its airport investigations.

Henry Hanson
Adams County

The timing of Mr. Chandler's last article, "Crash and Carry," in the January 26 issue, made me wonder about his death. Are you sure he wasn't the victim of DIA hit men? Just kidding--if they can't open the new airport on time and on budget, obviously they'd botch that job, too.

Name withheld on request

I read David Chandler's "Small Craft Warnings" in the January 12 issue with great interest. I live in Park Hill and am one of a handful of individuals who own an aircraft still based at Stapleton. I use my aircraft, a twin-engine Beechcraft, primarily for pleasure. I have been based at Stapleton for the last eight years, the last four years with AMR Combs. I have never been told that general aviation aircraft were not desired at DIA. (The new airport actually should be called DOA--Dead On Arrival.)

Since March 1993, over ten months ago, I have been asking AMR Combs for information on what it would cost to base my aircraft at DIA. I have asked AMR Combs on numerous occasions for an answer. Due to your article, I finally have a sense of why I have received no answer from AMR Combs. They have offered me excuse after excuse for why they cannot give me any type of answer. Two weeks ago I was told to be patient, that they will let me know what the cost will be once they get an answer from DIA. My expectations are that the costs will at least double over what I have been paying at Stapleton. The whole thing is pretty scary when you realize that in less than 35 days, DIA is scheduled to open and they still do not know what they will be charging general aviation aircraft to base there--if they allow them to base there at all.

Like the other aircraft owners and aviation-oriented businesses, I will leave Stapleton. I will probably end up at Centennial. I believe that a number of corporate jets will also follow suit, meaning that the revenue generated from those companies will leave Denver. Once corporate jets start flying into Centennial rather than into DIA, they will see how convenient it is to have a business located in the Tech Center rather than downtown. At the time when revenue will be needed at DIA, it will be going elsewhere. Not only will Denver lose revenue from aircraft operations, it will also lose businesses that have been generating revenue for the city.

Due to your articles, people will at least be aware of why DIA is going into the toilet. Unfortunately, it will be a little too late by the time they wake up. Thanks for trying.

Steve Hinds
Denver

A Different World
Not that I didn't enjoy "The End of the Affair" in the January 26 issue, but I wish Alan Prendergast had used his obvious skills to investigate the real story at the University of Colorado. Given the choice as a reporter, however, I, too, would probably rather listen to reminiscences about Howard Higman's house party than have to wade through all the bilge coming from the offices of Judith Albino and her band of merry men.

Hal Fox
Boulder

I had the great luck to be involved in the World Affairs Conference when it was held in conjunction with United Nations Week at the University of Colorado during the Fifties. Since I was living with a professor's family and was one of the organizers of UN Week, I was able to meet many of the people who came to speak at the WAC, as well as take part in the after-hours activities that went along with the conference.

I drove many of the conferees around town, served at parties, helped look for a few wayward British journalists lost in Boulder pubs and witnessed some scandalous behavior. But I also spent three hours talking to Eleanor Roosevelt, listened to Arthur Miller's morose view of women, danced with the Austrian ambassador and helped with a dinner party that included Chet Huntley and James "Scotty" Reston. The three years that I was involved constitute the best memories of my experience at the university. The panels were provocative and opened up a wealth of information that I could have gleaned from no other source. Those memories have lasted a lifetime, and in large part directed the philosophy that has influenced my outlook on world affairs.

I continued to attend the conferences as long as I lived in Boulder, and they were always exciting. It was so sad to read your article and to find that the conference has lost its luster. I hope the university can find a way to bring together the forces that can rebuild the conference into what it was in the "old days"--and include the students in it. The panel discussions and plenary sessions were always full of students, and many of our professors continued discussions on relevant topics.