Criticism of coach undeserved
A recent article in The Gazette suggested that Scott Owens, the Colorado College hockey coach, does not have the qualities to lead the college hockey team to become a contender for a national title. That is an undeserved criticism. Owens may be the best hockey coach Colorado College has had for half a century.
Scott is a graduate of the college and knows the primacy of academics on the campus. Colorado College plays hockey in a league where most of the other teams are at universities with much larger student bodies and lower academic standards. For many players at those institutions, the phrase scholar athlete is an oxymoron, like jumbo shrimp.
Whether a liberal arts college like CC should have a Division I sports team is another matter. Only a few liberal arts colleges have Division I teams, most of the rest are Division III, with no athletic scholarships. It takes a skilled, vigorous coach like Owens to put forward a competitive Division I team while maintaining academic standards in a Division III school.
Owens should be applauded for his demonstrated ability to stimulate his players to perform well in the classroom as well as on the ice.
Bill Hochman, Colorado Springs
Let’s apply some logic here
The City Council has decided to add more stress to our lives by putting an expensive item on the next election ballot. This group has evolved from dedicated citizens to bureaucrats. Oh, I understand the city has grown and responsibilities have increased, but let’s apply some logic. If two senators can represent the state, four council members can certainly represent city interests.
Considering the cost, I strongly suggest that the council retract this ballot item and instead consider the idea of four council members. The proposal, with the cost analysis could eventually go to the voters for approval. I believe four full-time paid council members could easily represent the interests of the community. History tells us that the more groups increase in size, the more political they get. Simply, the more individual needs are identified, the less needs which are in the best interest of the whole community are acted upon.
These are changing times; fiscal survival must not follow the path of the federal government.
Roy Ayala, Colorado Springs
Miller best candidate for Dist. 2
The voters of City Council District 2 are facing a very important election on April 2. The critical issues of governing Colorado Springs Utilities and keeping our rates low, protecting our rights under TABOR, nurturing the emerging industry of hydraulic fracking while protecting our property rights, and ensuring we have the checks and balances we need between City Council and the Mayor’s Office are but a few.
Joel Miller is the best candidate in District 2 to meet these challenges. As a former city council member and mayor, I understand the skills needed to best serve our community in an elected capacity, and Joel Miller’s integrity, leadership skills, education, training and knowledge of both the city and utility operations make him the best choice to look out for us and not special interest groups. I was excited to see Joel’s name as a candidate for City Council as I always had tremendous respect for him when he served on the Airport Advisory Commission during my time as mayor. I’ve read through his policy statements, I know him well and he is right on target. He’s a fiscal conservative and an independent thinker, not a rubber stamp. He understands the issues and has a plan to address them for the good of our community. I encourage all voters in District 2 to visit his website, www.electjoelmiller.com, contact Joel and get involved in electing him as your next council member.
Lionel Rivera, Colorado Springs
Column was an opinion piece
I get it that Steve Flannery doesn’t like Walter Williams, (Letters, Feb. 25) who is a well-known black educator, author and nationally syndicated conservative columnist. Flannery gives credit to the Gazette for publishing columns that represent “diverse ideological perspectives” but apparently not those of Walter Williams, who is accused of “fringe perspectives” “flawed logic and dishonest representation of facts that’s more likely to incite discord than promote productive debate.” Gosh, I didn’t realize that we can’t have a productive debate if there is discord!
An accomplished and respected writer, Walter Williams needs no protecting from me. His column on Lincoln is clearly an opinion piece — the same as the letter written by Flannery, who also has the right to express his opinion. It seems that we have exactly what Flannery claims to value: diverse ideological perspective! So, what exactly is the problem?
Robert Vegvary, Colorado Springs
This is the purpose of education
So Steve Flannery (“Historical reality is complicated”) has reached the outer limits of his tolerance for opposing opinion and wants The Gazette to ban Walter Williams from its pages.
Whoa! Williams is a favorite of mine and I’d appreciate reading more, not less, of his columns.
Undeniably, this particular column is provocative, for Williams has rattled the cage of the status quo and riled up the Lincoln worshippers. But is Williams unconventional viewpoint not fit to print?
Flannery says Williams has an agenda. If there is one, it most likely is to dispel complacency, to stir the reader to ask questions, to reconsider long-held beliefs, and to challenge the curious to go to the history books to sift fact from fiction for themselves and arrive at a better understanding of the man. This is the purpose of education, isn’t it?
And it is not unAmerican to think that Lincoln, as commander in chief, was responsible for the horrendous Civil War and the death of 600,000 Americans, a fact that is unmentioned when one pays homage to the “Great Emancipator”. Is Lincoln’s image sacred and therefore the thinking and motivations of the man are not to be investigated or criticized?
Had Lincoln not been murdered while president and subsequently martyred, he would today be remembered very differently. May Williams columns grace the op-ed pages of The Gazette for as long as Williams cares to share his opinions with us.
J. Lee Tangen, Colorado Springs