Just because we disagree

I have to agree with Timothy Gibbs’ letter (Sunday, Sept. 11) that we as citizens of America do not know our present and past presidents like we should. We rely on the written word from whomever we believe is telling us the truth.

Also we tend to believe the promises the person running for office is telling us. And look where it has gotten us – this whole election process! It is so hard to realize that one Republican and one Democrat hate each other so! It is so dis-heartening to read letters that trash each other so bad just because we disagree in politics. Hillary called those that vote for Trump deplorable, and of course I do not need to go on about Trump, but it even comes down to us, just ordinary people trashing each other just because we disagree with each other! How would the world be if we all agreed on everything?

Can’t we be civil and act like we care about each other instead of trash-talking? What would happen if I pass someone in the grocery store and smile at them?I will not give up – I will continue to smile and hold the door like my momma taught me to regardless of others’ actions.

I have lived in Colorado Springs for 52 of my 62 years and have seen changes, from rather small to a big city, but in my world I will continue to smile and continue to enjoy the beauty God has created around us until I leave.

Dale Conrad

Colorado Springs

Stifling community events

Saturday (Sept. 10), I had the good fortune to attend Woodland Park’s “Cruise Above the Clouds” car show. This was an enjoyable experience for not only the vehicle owners but also the hundreds of local residents who took advantage of an occasion that both supported local charities and displayed community spirit.

I found it quite in contrast to the situation in our own Colorado Springs where municipal entities such as “Parks and Rec,” the police department, etc., by imposing unreasonable restrictions and financial burdens, actually stifle similar endeavors. A recent example of this high-handed bureaucratic micro-governing was the “Good Times Car Show” in Old Colorado City.

The event was hobbled by “security” and “traffic control” measures completely inappropriate for what has been demonstrated for 25 years as being a simple, family-oriented affair that indeed fostered community as well as generated business for nearby firms, to say nothing of having contributed tens of thousands of dollars to charity. Every dollar, I might add, was one that came from the vehicle owners themselves who contributed to that charity by paying to put their cars on display with not a single penny coming from the crowds of spectators who viewed them. Indeed, this sizeable contribution would have been even greater if not offset by a substantial contribution (approaching 50 percent) to the coffers of the city.

Of course, there is no doubt that the Colorado Springs infrastructure is in terrible need of rehabilitation, but the city is more than streets, and storm drainage, and power plants, and revenue, and fees. Its most important assets are its people and people need to interact. Every government should remember that being “for the people” means just that – for them and not against them.

Joseph A. Godec

Colorado Springs

What’s left to discuss?

I feel compelled to comment on a recent KKTV 11 news article in The Gazette, “No debating UCCS course topic, professors’s email says.”

It seems these UCCS professors have chosen to abandon the principle role that they serve in the classroom which is to provide their students. “an awareness of issues and events that have an impact on people at local, state, national and global levels” and to “seek information from varied sources and prospectives to develop informed opinions and creative solutions”-(NCSS, 2001, position paper on citizenship). Professors teach students “how to think.” Propagandists teach them “what they should think.” We seem to be dealing with the latter in the UCCS email, given the professor’s own words. In the first paragraph the . “professors reportedly told students a class would study only ‘human-caused’ climate change – and if students disagreed they could leave the class.” And it gets better. They say. … “the bulk of this course is going to be about human-induced climate change and that’s going to be the primary subject of discussion.” They go on. “We will not at any time, debate the science of climate change, nor will the ‘other side’ of the climate change debate be taught or discussed in this course. This includes discussion among students in the discussion forums.” Leads one to wonder what’s left to “discuss”!

I am a retired senior official with nearly 30 years in the national intelligence business and also the father of a university professor. When I hired a college graduate I always looked at their record and their interview for evidence of common sense, an ability to think for themselves and to critically analyze and solve problems. And most important, that they have the discipline to study (learning how to learn) and graduate with respectable grades.

The learning experience is now called into question by the endless stream of silliness and feel-good bull and baloney like “trigger warnings,” “intellectual safe spaces,” banning anyone defined as an opposition speaker and other such “politically correct” foolishness. Gone is objectivity. Wow, the students subjected to this are in for a real eye opener when they wake up in the real world.

Ted Clark

Colorado Springs

Lawlessness creeping up on us

I’m so angry that my beautiful daughter came home from work with stitches in her mouth, two fat lips, a hurt front tooth and chipped bottom teeth all because she was in uniform.

As a first responder I tell her every day that she walks out the door “be safe out there” because I know she has her life on the line, sometimes for people who have no respect for anything or anyone, people who are out of their minds on drugs and do not realize she is there to help them. This morning she was assaulted, hit in her face by someone who was not even involved in the call she was on. A totally unprovoked attack, on someone who took an oath to care for, stabilize and transport those in need of medical attention. She is unarmed, underpaid and unprotected! I am afraid for her safety everyday she works the streets of this city. Our quite beautiful city of the past appears to be headed in the wrong direction into the future. The lawlessness is beginning to creep it’s way into our communities. It is frightening and it saddens me to send her off to work, not knowing if she will return home again!

Sharon Smith

Colorado Springs