Physician, heal thyself: Bravo! Alan Prendergast's "dissection" of the finances of the new University of Colorado Health Sciences Center at Fitzsimons ("Throwing Fitz," September 2) was exactly the sort of story I rely on Westword and, in particular, Mr. Prendergast, to deliver.
While everyone else is wringing their hands over the football team, a much bigger problem -- with long-term ramifications -- is waiting in the wings. CU can live without a football program. It cannot live with the debt burden that it seems this project will produce. The Board of Regents would be well advised to pull their heads out of Folsom Field and put them into the financial books.
Jon Myers
via the Internet
Down and dirty: What does Westword have against the University of Colorado? From the McCartney era until now, your paper has abused CU, and when you have nothing to criticize at the university, you've made fun of Boulder in general. Bill Gallo's "Tough for Buffs," in the August 26 issue, was bad enough, but in "Throwing Fitz," Alan Prendergast throws dirt on what will be, without question, a crowning jewel not just for CU, but for all of Colorado.
Shame on you, Westword. And go, Buffs!
Randi Moore
Boulder
Pros and context: I am writing to acknowledge Alan Prendergast's comprehensive "Throwing Fitz" article in last week's Westword. I am a second-year graduate student at UCHSC in the Department of Immunology (at National Jewish). I want to thank you for addressing the issues and complexities of the Fitzsimons situation. As a relatively new student to UCHSC, and one who is affected by these changes but distanced by the geographical location of National Jewish and my professional position, Alan's article is an invaluable source for me to understand the diverse opinions of this transition. I appreciate the historical and extensive perspective he provided to my comprehension of the Fitzsimons situation.
Kimberly Mace
Denver
Editor's note: The caption on page 35 of the September 2 issue misidentified Robert Schooley, head of the infectious diseases division of the University of Colorado's Health Sciences Center, as School of Pharmacy dean Louis Diamond, and vice versa. Our apologies for the mixup.
Fighting words: Regarding Jason Sheehan's "Coming Together" review of Mezcal, in the September 2 issue:
Your food critic tells us way too much about his personal life. I want to learn about the restaurants he visits, not about spats with his wife. This man, however knowledgeable, needs to get his ego out of the way and just report the facts.
Sylvia Replogle
Denver
Pie in the sky: After reading "Slice of Heaven," in the August 26 issue, I couldn't agree with Jason Sheehan more. For a while, as a fellow upstate New Yorker (Ithaca, Buffalo), I'd even succumbed to eating Pasquini's pies as being the nearest thing to New York-style pizza that I could find. I'm sorry for that, by the way. Like Jason said, this is about religion.
Jason should keep up the good work -- even if it means yelling at us now and then, like he did a few weeks ago. The truth hurts sometimes.
Tony Russo
via the Internet
Rave review: Just a letter of gratitude for Jason Sheehan's tirade against the supposed superiority of culinary schools (Bite Me, August 19). I've worked as a waitress for sixteen years, eight of which were in New York City, and the best chefs, the ones who could handle the heat and create amazing, lovely food, did not go to culinary school. The school grads somehow (and this appears to be, in my experience, a universal phenomenon) adopt this superior, holier-than-thou attitude about the business, almost like they're really too good to have to deal with something stressful. Therefore, it's anyone else's problem, because they're too busy creating the world's most fabulous raspberry coulis.
The same can be said for restaurant managers. Working for someone who went to school for restaurant management is a nightmare from hell. Once again, this "I'm so much more important than the busser or the dishwasher" attitude somehow manages to be the core of their understanding. The best managers worked their way up: They've bussed tables, they've expedited, they've served, they've cleaned the bathroom when it needed to be done. Individuals with that kind of background are familiar with the business in its totality; they don't consider themselves better than anyone, and they inspire enormous loyalty from their staff.
Jason, keep on ranting and raving. You are simply championing the truth.
Mindi Kessler
Centennial
Don't Quote me: After reading Dave Herrera's August 26 Beatdown, I wanted to call Tom Martino and congratulate him for having the good sense not to put DJ Quote on the air if he was going to foul it with profanity -- in other words, the F-bomb. I know Westword writers take great pleasure in using that word whenever they can, but that does not mean readers are pleased to see it. Herrera could learn something about taste and manners from Tom Martino.
Ellen Jefferson
Denver
Bomb squad: Bill Evans complains about the F-bomb while dropping it six times in his August 26 letter. What's going on with that?
I agree that the word is overly used in our society and should be reserved for those who truly deserve it, like Senator Pat Leahy. Evans's decrying the use of this word -- while filling his letter with it -- speaks to a case of arrested development or other weirdness with him.
It also goes to a lack of intelligence. Liberals I sometimes correspond with use this word with me since they cannot debate the facts. It's funny when they curse me out and call me a Nazi -- that's how I know my side is winning.
Pat Desrosiers
Denver
Getting off while the getting's good: Dave Herrera's September 2 Beatdown on Prince was a beautiful article. I was wondering how anyone could possibly put into words the experience we all had that night, but Herrera did it. I especially liked the "though some of the more lurid tracks were conspicuously missing...somehow we all managed to get off" comment. Heh.
Rachel Simring
Denver
