Otherwise, thanks for the article -- and keep up the good work!
Stace Johnson
via the Internet
Nice guys finish first: Thank you for mentioning my name in your newspaper. I had completely forgotten about me. But since you brought me up, my opinion is that KBCO's Bret Saunders is the single nicest guy I've ever met. Few people know that Bret won the international "nice guy" competition three years in a row -- and each year he said, "Naw, give it to the guy who came in second."
It's true, the morning show of Kerry and Ashton did help provide the cowpie for Bret's magic mushroom. Ask anyone (except the readers of the Boulder Camera, who named us Best DJ-1997): We sucked far worse than our increasing Arbitron ratings and trends indicated. But Roberts's article failed to applaud former KBCO program director Dave Benson, who possessed the inspired vision to fire me. By the time my contract at KBCO was up, I had pissed off so many co-workers (and listeners) that I was beginning to feel like John Rocker in an East Village leather bar. Kudos, Saunders. I hope you sidestep the kiss of death that Westword's praise afforded Rockfish and Caroline.
I was KBCO.
Rick Ashton
Niwot
Hunt and Peck
View to a kill:I read with interest Eric Dexheimer's "The Herd Mentality," in the June 22 issue. Based on a one-year decrease in elk hunter success, the article is rife with theory, opinion, generalizations and stereotypes. The only problem with Dexheimer's presumption that the hunter ranks are filled with ineptitude is that there is little objective data to support that claim. Elk hunter success was down in 1999, but jumping to the conclusion that hunters must have "done it wrong" is plausible only when left to personal opinion. (When's the last time you heard someone raving about the good driver that let them into the traffic lane?) Better perspectives on the issue would have produced entirely different findings. The historical, regional, meteorological and field perspectives all have something to offer. So here's hoping Westword has the abdominal workings to print a few facts (gathered independently by state, federal and private organizations) that are counter to Dexheimer's column.
1. Hunter safety and proficiency handling firearms have improved dramatically over the last thirty years, as shown in hunting-accident data. Hunting is an incredibly safe activity in which to participate. The average total number of hunting incidents throughout the last decade has dropped to about ten, down from about 35 during the 1960s. Statistics compiled by the National Safety Council show hunting is safer than most outdoor activities.
2. Records dating back to 1949 show that in the last fifty years, elk hunter numbers have increased nearly tenfold, yet hunter success has not changed much. In the 1950s, the Division of Wildlife sold about 26,000 elk licenses each year, and around 28 percent of those hunters were successful. In the 1990s, over 200,000 elk licenses sold each year, with a 21 percent hunter success rate.
3. The data cited above may demonstrate a "rule of diminishing returns." Comparing the individual game-management units to the statewide hunter harvest data shows that in units where hunter numbers were low, hunter success was as high as 67 percent in 1999! Are hunters in those units super-competent?
4. Snowboarding, skiing and hunting are all dependent on the weather. Last fall was one of the mildest on record. I wore short-sleeved shirts through most of the hunting season and never wore a coat! Snow and cold not only bring about physiological and behavioral changes in animals, they also make tracking and stealthily moving about easier.
5. Hunting allows those of us who choose to hunt the opportunity to participate in the most primordial of natural processes. I am not sure why others choose to hunt, but I imagine that their reasons are as complex and personal as my own. Hunting enriches each of our lives differently, and those who do not hunt do not understand. Hunting is not about killing. So, do I take umbrage with the presumption that if I choose not to kill, I am incompetent? You bet I do!
Patt Dorsey
Erie
Music to Our Ears
Vocal local:Westword is unfortunately the only "paper" in town that provides a wide variety of local music reviews. Why is it that the local press always makes weird comments about local bands? I never include a Westwordreview in my press kit. For one thing, whenever I release a new CD, Westwordfinally reviews the one I released the year before -- it's happened twice! And in Westword, I have been compared to artists I sound nothing like.
My CDs are played and sold around the world: To everyone else, I am just a musician, not branded a "local" musician. For one thing, I've only lived here for three years, but my songs have been on the radio for fifteen years. If some chart-topper like Springsteen or some other popular musician moved here, would they be treated as "a local"?
Name withheld on request
Sophomore slump: To Laura Bond and the other reviewers: Why is an artist never allowed to record or release a second album? It's always a "sophomore" album. Since the late '60s, at least, record reviewers have been using this term to sound sophisticated. Well, it's hackneyed. Let some bands put out a second album for a change. They seldom refer to a first album as a "freshman" album and never refer to a third of fourth album as "junior" or "senior."
And why does everyone say "The Westword"? On the front of the paper, it just says Westword. "The" Westwordbugs me. It's just Westword.
Name withheld on request
