Home, sweet home: I had strong feelings regarding Stuart Steers's "You Can't Go Home Again," in the November 2 issue. What a strange way local politician Susan Barnes-Gelt discusses free enterprise!
The "son of a bitch" who purchased her childhood home did so legally, and he paid for the property. I thought that allows the owner to "own," to do as he pleases so long as it doesn't infringe on the laws of our country, county, city and so on.
As a first-generation American born to Holocaust survivors, I understand the significance of Hilltop's heritage. I cannot understand, though, the idea that one would not be able to manage one's rightful belongings as one sees fit.
S. Proctor
Littleton
Not all wet: Steve Jackson's "Trickle-Down Economics," the October 26 installment of his "River" series, was an outstanding article for a weekly, one that made the dry water topic (pun intended) interesting. Interspersing legal talk with images was great -- it reminded me of Centennial.
Nick Werle
via the Internet
Bowlen for dollars: Patricia Calhoun, thank you for "The Name of the Game," in the November 2 issue, and your unabashed and ongoing exposure of Bowlen's corporate welfare! A new state motto, maybe: Welcome to Colorful Colorado, the Corporate Welfare State.
Renee Aragon
Denver
This Bud's for you: While pondering the meaning of Mayor Webb's sudden interest in maintaining the "Mile High" portion of the fabled stadium's name, a wonderful euphoria overcame me. Rather than putting the naming rights on the open market, why not approach Anheuser-Busch with this proposition: Name the stadium "Mile High Bud" or "Mile High Busch." With Coors Field right across the Platte, A.B. would get great publicity and strike a blow for the Bud drinkers in Colorado. It also would show the country that we're a progressive, tolerant, "kind" state. Thus we get the best of both worlds. We retain that magical "Mile High" identity while saving the taxpayers loads of dough.
Put that in your pipe and smoke it.
Name withheld on request
The name game: I pay taxes, and I want to name the stadium! I have a checking account just like Wellington "Spider" Webb, so I am just as qualified to help with the naming negotiations. He is burning my bridge with companies that are willing to give me money to name MY stadium. It's almost beginning to sound like the uniform fiasco with the Broncos: You all hated the new colors until the Broncos won a Super Bowl.
Name the stadium, and all the fair-weather fans will accept it. As for the mayor, he needs to excuse himself from the name game. It is like a Dr. Seuss book gone wrong: "I am after your thorax, and I speak for the thieves."
Butch E. Senter
Northglenn
Last but not lease: Ted Turner started out in the billboard business and did okay. So why not rent and/or lease the name "Our Mile High Stadium" for events? The price of, say, a five-year lease would go up or down depending on how the Broncos were doing in Our Mile High Stadium. Take bids and have some say in where the money goes from said lease. How about Our Mile High Stadium-sponsored events? The main thing is to do something that hasn't been done before and make Our Mile High Stadium pay our way, right?
T.F. Shirley
Denver
Beasts of burden: I appreciated Calhoun's column on the stadium naming. My question is, why hasn't the simple solution been proposed? If the fans really want to keep the present name and do not mind paying for that privilege, as they claim, then why not just add a surcharge to Broncos tickets for the same twenty-year period that is presently being discussed? If this surcharge brings in the same amount of funds, then everybody should be satisfied. If the name zealots object, it is because they only want to keep the name if the burden is borne by the entire taxpaying population of the six-county area. I say let the people who want the name show how motivated they really are. People who are not interested in football are already paying a large amount for a stadium that they will derive no benefit from.
Jay Vincent
via the Internet
Holding down the fort: If I were on the board of the Metropolitan Football Stadium District, this is what I would say to my colleagues: "Folks, we've worked hard to make this new stadium a first-rate facility. Now let's complete the job. Let's give it a first-rate name."
Then I would point out that if we don't name it Mile High Stadium, everybody is going to know exactly who sold out the people they're supposed to be representing. And to make the point, I'd state their names: "Ray Baker. Pat Hamill. Bob Bryant. Norm Early. Gene Ciancio. John Stone. Jim Carrigan. Joy Burns. Sam Suplizio."
Finally, I'd tell them this: "We have a choice. We can be heroes here. Or we can be reviled -- and have to move to Fort Wayne, Indiana."
Lew Cady
Denver
Domestic policy: Thanks to Patricia Calhoun for her October 26 column, "Skating on Thin Ice." Domestic Violence Awareness Month has just ended, and so have at least eleven lives in Colorado as a result of domestic violence. After reading in the media the community's responses to these tragedies, it's obvious more education is needed.
Domestic violence is the use of coercive and controlling behaviors, including physical, verbal, emotional and financial abuse. Physical abuse does not have to be directed against an individual's person; destruction of property (yes, pulling doors off hinges) can be used to threaten, terrorize and control intimate partners. Involvement of the criminal justice system at all levels is necessary, and early intervention can prevent fatalities.
Project Safeguard strongly supports Colorado's mandatory-arrest law. Mandatory arrest, along with prosecution and meaningful sentencing, can act as a deterrent to future violence, since it sends a clear message to the victim, batterer, children and the community that domestic violence will be treated as a serious crime with real consequences, and it allows for an earlier linkage between victims and available resources.
A drastic change in society's view of domestic violence is needed if we are to prevent future violence. We need to stop ignoring the violence happening next door because it is "none of our business." Domestic violence is a community issue -- it is our business. We need to stop focusing on the victim and look at the batterer and his or her violent behavior. Violence is not an acceptable alternative; batterers must take responsibility for their violence, and as a community, we must hold batterers accountable.
Corinne LeBaron
Director of Client Services,
Project Safeguard
Gender bender: Calhoun's commentary was compelling and thought-provoking, not only with regard to the prevalence of domestic violence, but also how it is combated by law. I am pleased that she noted that batterers are both men and women, considering the broad definition of the offense. However, in reality, since it is mandatory by law to make an arrest in suspected events of domestic violence, I feel that men too often are held responsible first and arrested initially. Men often have the force, size and tactics to overwhelm their female partners -- but I doubt their potential for abuse (physical and/or verbal) is any greater based on gender alone.
J. Matthew Dietz
Denver
A word to the wives: The month of October brought more and more violence; predictably, the newspapers noticed a trend. Unfortunately, I have seen this before. There is an escalation followed by an outcry, but then the concern and the outrage wane and disappear altogether. Patricia Calhoun's October 26 "Skating on Thin Ice," regarding Patrick Roy's "distraction," cites the perceived media overkill regarding his method of anger management as "progress." There are people out there who have been fortunate enough to not have had domestic violence touch their lives. They feel that the law that precipitated the domestic-violence charge against Patrick Roy should be abolished. They apparently do not see that, ironically, the same law that they wish to overturn because it made their "hero a zero" may just have saved Patrick Roy from a more severe, possibly fatal, act in the future. Patrick Roy obviously feels that tearing doors off hinges is the norm.This law gave him a wake-up call that he needs help. Possibly if O.J. Simpson had been seen as the threat he was and held accountable for his earlier abuses instead of getting the star treatment, two people might still be alive today, and Nicole's children would not be carrying their father's shame.
My ex-husband has informed me that he, as well, is a victim. I have assured him that this is not the case. Although he obviously has deep-seated issues to deal with, he, as the perpetrator, had one thing that true victims never have: choice. Out of all the "victims" created via a ripple effect from this type of criminal action, the perpetrator is the only one who has a choice in his/her role. All others are left to pick up the pieces. I was fortunate in that, thanks to a multitude of fortunate circumstances, I was able to fend off my attacker until someone heard my screams. The majority of victims are not so lucky.
I made the decision to once again hope that someone will help me raise social consciousness about this issue long-term, even after the rash of murders dies down and is forgotten. I've been told that leaps and bounds have been made within the criminal courts via the Violence Against Women Act, which was enacted in 1994. I did see some of this in the criminal courts during the action against my ex-husband; however, advocates are quick to say that the family courts need education as well. It appears to be a slow process.
Name withheld on request
The garden of EDEN: Lucy Walker in her theatrical efforts, and success, is perhaps the sound of one hand clapping. To hand over the reins of EDEN to anyone other than Lucy might well tip the balance of the organization. I think EDEN was an acronym for something other than East DENver, which wasn't reported in T.R. Witcher's October 26 piece, "All the World's Her Stage." As a director, I can say that Lucy used the talent available as a painter uses a brush. And perhaps this organization is one of the better examples of compassionate affirmative action.
I'm sure there is much more to this story. It is always sad to see the color of money rummage through our cultural art. It is through dedication and strong spirit that our culture(s) are blessed with art through efforts from the likes of Lucy Walker.
Richard Turner
Wheat Ridge
