Audio By Carbonatix
“The Best of Denver 2011,” March 31
The Rest of the Best
The Best of Denver 2011 was your best. Great content! Please tell your staff that this was superb. Westword has the guts to cover issues that the Post will not. Keep up the fine work.
Tom Turnquist
Lakewood
I’m a 39-year-old man, and I feel like I just got bullied.
I realize that Westword doesn’t exactly cater to the GLBT community. Why should it? We’re only that mythical 10 percent of the general population. Part of the vastly diverse Colorado landscape and part of that which makes Denver a truly great, enriched city. But a mostly GLBT exclusion from the BOD issue is a slap in the face. You could’ve at least included a Best GLBT Bar or Best Resource for GLBT Youth categories. How about Best Straight-Friendly Gay Dance Club? You did include the Crypt as the Best Place to Watch Free Porn and Studio Lites as the Best Shopping for Cross-Dressers — not very representative of my community, in my opinion.
In the past, the GLBTers have always been a part of the BOD issue, providing just the slightest reminder that “Hey! We exist and are part of Denver!” Fortunately, there are two local GLBT resources: Out Front Colorado and Gayzette.
With civil unions being struck down, and attention nationwide to GLBT kids being bullied, I hope that you will run my letter. Not to remind you that Westword has effectively dissed that “10 percent” readership, but to give the GLBT community a nod of acknowledgment.
James
Denver
Small wonder that Westword‘s annual Best of Denver picks lack author citations. I wouldn’t want to put my name on such an absurdist, out-of-touch recommendation, either. Mike Rosen’s a relic and anachronism who’s failed his listenership by his rigid adherence toward seeing every issue through the right/left/red/blue/liberal/conservative prism. It’s tiring and does little to advance understanding of the issues under consideration. Perhaps the recommendation can be reconciled when viewing Westword’s vast blocks of advertising for recreational drugs and other pursuits, the influence of which would make listening to Rosen’s show a plausible choice.
Max Planck
Denver
“Say What?” Melanie Asmar, March 17
Team Effort
The story about Theron and Teague Harrison was very inspirational.
Thank you to Westword for taking the time to tell their story so well, and to share it with the city.
Jerri Margulies
Denver
It is a shame that so many families in northeast Denver are choicing out instead of fighting to make the schools in our neighborhood more rigorous. When Theron went to camp and encountered a group of kids smarter than he was, it made him realize he had to push himself harder. Many families have walked away from schools just because there are minorities or lower economic classes in them. Neighborhood public schools need students at ALL academic and socioeconomic levels for most to gain.
Another great thing about Manual: small class sizes, with lots of adult volunteers from the neighborhood to provide tutoring, mentoring and one-on-one classroom attention. And the teachers are an amazing team of educators!
Too many people still consider Manual what it was like when it was shut down. It has become (again) a safe, productive place for students to flourish in high school. I am proud to have it in the heart of my neighborhood.
Catherine Calder
Denver
Editor’s note: Theron and Teague Harrison, the brother-sister debate team from Manual High School who were the focus of Melanie Asmar’s cover story, won second place at the Denver Urban Debate League City Championship, earning them an all-expenses-paid trip to New York City for the Urban Debate National Championship, set for April 16-17.