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Campus action against film screening seems to conflict with spirit of Sundance

Re: “Police shut down students’ film screening,” Sept. 27 news story

The relocation of the Sundance Film Festival to Boulder is certainly a good thing for the Colorado film community. Much good will come from it, including a partnership with the University of Colorado. The recent death of actor Robert Redford casts another element of significance over all of this.

In a way, though, the recent news story about the university’s Boulder campus police shutting down a student group’s screening of a film about a Palestinian family leaves me with a sense of dread over how Boulder will value the freedom of expression through film and within the industry. CU is pointing to some compliance issues with their policies, whereas the student groups feel repression over political content.

There seems to be a direct conflict between Sundance’s arrival and the screening of the film at CU. Issues of freedom of speech, an incident in April on campus, the plight of Palestine and associated protests and safety concerns come together here. But it seems that how Sundance will impact the landscape of film in Colorado is not yet understood, as evidenced by what occurred at CU.

In my mind, Boulder and Colorado should be very clear about their vision, values, and priorities with regard to Sundance, because the global film industry is shining a light on Colorado that will only grow in strength. I hope the community is prepared.

Gary Rauchenecker, Golden

Let’s understand the ideological makeup of colleges

As one who has been part of academic decisions for more than 40 years at some 10 different colleges and universities, I can tell you for a fact there are four things conservatives have never really understood about the ideological makeup of colleges:

• There are relatively few conservatives who go into academia, as the pay and publication pressures are rough for people who need 20 years of formal education and a publishable dissertation. Liberals likely endure all that because they are less motivated by making a lot of money and not as sold on the corporate grind.

• There already is affirmative action for conservatives. Conservative applicants are so few and far between that it already counts as a net plus in most teaching searches, unless it’s obvious they are looking to proselytize, then they are avoided like they would be for leftist firebrands as well.

• Courses will be offered and taught largely the same way, no matter the ideology of the instructor. Most use one of a relatively small number of moderate textbooks. And if students don’t elect to take their courses, they are out. Students get the courses they want.

• The large majority of courses offered at any college or university don’t even touch on ideologically controversial topics.

Marcus D. Pohlmann, Highlands Ranch

Editor’s note: Pohlmann is Professor Emeritus of Rhodes College

Affordable housing option under threat

Re: “Sheridan RV Park: Residents face losing their homes if city OKs project,” Sept. 27 news story

There it is, Colorado, your long-time rumored “low-income housing.” Come to find out, it’s been here all along. Let’s see what you do about the proposed destruction of it.

Susan Williams, Lakewood 

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Don’t overlook Hamas’ role in the destruction of Gaza

Re: “The genocide has lasted for 2 years, Americans must speak for Palestinians,” Oct. 5 commentary

This is in response to the editorial essay written by Rep. Iman Jodeh. In the essay, there is one sentence devoted to the Oct. 7, 2023, atrocity that occurred in Israel at the hands of Hamas and the Palestinians. The rest of the essay is devoted to the humanitarian crisis in Gaza as a result of that event.

Unfortunately, Rep. Jodeh does not care to remind people of the decades of incursions, murders, and outright documented desire to destroy Israel by the Palestinians. May I remind Iman Jodeh of the murders of innocent Olympians in Munich, ongoing missile attacks on civilian targets in Israel, and the documented desire to kill Jews and destroy Israel in textbooks and other documentation.

Hamas was an elected Palestinian organization and Hamas is recognized as a terrorist organization across the world. Here is a formula for Palestine to follow to end the events in Gaza and move to a more secure state. First, recognize Israel as a sovereign nation. Second, disassociate from Hamas and other terrorist groups, including Iran, lay down all arms, and come to the table with a plan to live in harmony with Israel.

Until then, the Palestinians continue to dig their own grave as a result of the decades-old philosophy of viewing Israel as an enemy and the desire to exterminate every Jew and the state of Israel.

Greg Wells, Fort Collins

I read the Sunday Denver Post article by Rep. Jodeh regarding the genocide in Gaza. I am appalled by the statistics she quotes; however, I noticed one very interesting fact. Nowhere in the article does she mention Hamas‘ role in the genocide. Is it possible that Hamas might be genocidal as well? Is it possible that Hamas is using children as shields? Is it possible Hamas is the one doing the murdering as an excuse to blame Israel?

Michael Zelman, Aurora

I simply wish to thank Iman Jodeh for the clarity and challenge of her essay on Gaza in Sunday’s Post, and to urge readers to (re)read her words and take them to heart as well as mind.

John F. Kane, Denver

Editor’s note: Kane is Emeritus Professor of Religious Studies, Regis University

Evergreen will never be the same, and neither will school

Wednesday, Sept. 10.

Teachers were teaching, students half-asleep, unaware that today would be the last normal day of school for the rest of our lives.

At lunch, high schoolers were eating, middle schoolers were playing outside. A gunshot.

My sister, trapped in a dark room, texting our family her goodbyes, not knowing if she’d survive.

The middle school, a stampede.

Puddles of tears flood the halls.

Nobody knew if our loved ones at Evergreen High School were safe.

This dark moment in Evergreen will last forever.

The silence afterward was painful. Nobody was OK. Why does this keep happening in our schools.

Olivia Thomas, Evergreen

Editor’s note: Thomas is an 8th grade student at Evergreen Middle School.

Demand that the people’s house protect democracy

Re: “Nazi Germany expert assesses Trump’s actions,” Sept. 5 commentary

Sunday’s piece on fascism/authoritarianism and President Trump did a very good job at analyzing where American democracy is on the democracy-authoritarianism continuum. It was particularly good in the use of a historian to describe the actions we have seen from Washington in the time since January 20. However, it left one asking for the “rest of the story” as one radio entertainer used to say. Simply put, it left the reader with too many “not yets” and “to this point.” Here is the rest of this story.

Everything said or done has meaning only in the context in which it is accomplished: context, context, context. Hitler used hatred of Jews as a fulcrum around which to gain full and absolute control of his countrymen. Trump and his apparatchiks use hatred of all and any idea he chooses to call “woke,” our many-sided culture, as his stalking horse. His administration even uses the term “unitary president” as the label for his quest for absolute and complete control and unlimited discretion. Every day he arrogates unto himself more power that belongs to the people, not the person we chose to faithfully execute the law.

Only full-throated peaceful protests from the people will awaken the House of Representatives (the people’s house) to save our democracy. If we wait until we individually feel the pinch, it will be too late.

Wally Brauer, Denver

Congress needs to step up and keep the peace

Peace starts in the Congress of the United States of America.

There are over 17 million living veterans in the United States. We have served this country, sometimes with pride and sometimes with shame. We sought to keep others, both foreign and domestic, safe and free from tyranny. Presidential use of the military was meant to be endorsed by the Congress of the United States.

Our president does not respect that view. We are now civilians, and political powers seek to alter the meaning of the Constitution and the military obligation to its calling. The U.S. military is not to be engaged in domestic affairs. It is the outside threat that you respond to, and not your own brothers and sisters.

I suggest that veterans across America write an active-duty soldier, sailor, or air force enlistee. Tell them how you feel about becoming a target instead of an affirmed defender of this country. Those who served as winners in the military are almost extinct. That means that veterans from today have fought in vain to defend the Constitution, which is now being soiled by corruption and dishonor.

We have sacrificed to an ideal and now that ideal is being spat on and ground into the earth. Let us not let the present leadership turn our hearts against each other. Will the U.S. military raise their weapons against civilians, or will they lower their weapons and let Congress use dialog instead? The behavior of the current Commander-in-Chief is an abuse of his power. The shock from the officers at the summit in Virginia a few days ago supports these comments.

Bob Grimes, Windsor

Editor’s note: Grimes is a veteran of the Vietnam War.

It’s not the schools that are failing the kids

Re: “DPS test scores confirm persistent inequalities,” Sept. 20 commentary

As a high school teacher of 27 years, I am continually blindsided by opinion pieces that want to assert that our schools are failing us. Why are you, Federico Peña and Rob Stein, carrying the mantle of the MAGA movement? When you promote the idea that schools are failing us, that’s exactly what you are doing. You are playing right into their hands.

Where in their opinion piece are facts about schools being underfunded for 40 years in Colorado? Where do they talk about the socioeconomic status of the students they are comparing?  Do you think that students from wealthier families have more opportunities? Do you think that students from poorer families struggle more? How well can you do in school if you are hungry or if you’re worried about your family’s future and ability to pay for rent, food, and basic needs?

Life is not fair and people want to act like schools are the great equalizer. Well, they aren’t. Teachers cannot solve poverty! No matter how much we try to treat students equitably, what happens in their lives outside of our classroom is out of our control.

So stop gaslighting and confront the true crux of the problem: a propaganda machine created by Republicans to gain control of public education. Years of forcing charter schools into existence by constantly chanting “ schools are failing us.” They are doing what they do so well – constant repetition of a lie makes it true.

So no, our schools aren’t failing our kids; our leaders are failing our kids.

Melissa Bradford, Denver

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Release Vizguerra

Re: “Detained activist says that she feels ‘vulnerable’ six months after arrest,” Sept. 30 news story

Jeanette Vizguerra, an activist detained by ICE for 6 months, should be released immediately. She is a working mother who paid taxes supporting the government at the time of her detention. Being held, she is costing the government and taxpayers money.

D.T. Dodson, Denver

Shutdowns demonstrate wrong priorities

So, let me understand: We are continuing to pay members of Congress, but not air traffic controllers and active-duty military members? Our priorities are turned upside down. Can anyone govern in America?

Scott Bridgford, Highlands Ranch

The political shutdown of the federal government is nothing new, but no less of a disgrace. It goes beyond just hurting the economy. Shutting down the government should be illegal. The first expenses cut should be with Congress, the president, and high-level political appointees. They are probably not concerned about mortgage payments or health insurance.

Using government as a political whipping post is a libertarian ideal for some, but to disregard the impact on people’s lives is unconscionable. Republicans can stop pretending to be standing up for the interests of common people. They are doing what they do best, and that is advocating for trickle-down economics under a false flag of patriotism.

The reasoning that “waste, fraud and abuse” only occurs in government is not factual,  patriotic or justified. There is no excuse to subordinate public safety and the general welfare to a political ideology. The American standard of living for the middle class defines us, but the wealth gap between the rich and poor could destroy us, and democracy is at the crossroads.

I certainly understand why most Democrats opposed the budget, but too many of them, past and present, also supported Taft-Hartley laws to appease private enterprise with legislation like the Railway Labor Act and right-to-work laws. They broke rank to protect power and profit. They have us fighting a culture war to stop us from fighting a class war. Let’s hope the next president signs legislation to outlaw government shutdowns and pass the pro-act.

Timothy D. Allport, Arvada

Denying climate change, history doesn’t make it so

Re: “EPA may stop collecting data from polluters,” Sept. 13 news story

Mother Nature doesn’t care who won the last election. Climate change denials stop neither flood nor fire. Hurricanes fueled by heated seas will crash ashore despite any executive order. Cutting FEMA funding just makes suffering worse.

Killing clean energy credits does not stop progress; it just gives it to the Chinese.

Halting the agriculture department from tracking hunger feeds no one.

Disparaging vaccines does harm now. Canceling cancer research kills later.

Presidential pronouncements can’t change history. Removing slavery’s sins from museums or history books unbeats no slave nor unlynches one runaway. A broken treaty is not honored by its denial.

Donald Trump was elected to the most powerful office, but his pen doesn’t change reality.

H. H. Cochran, Centennial

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BYU game: CU needs a Civility 101 course

I took my two BYU-bound teenagers, ages 13 and 16, to the Colorado/BYU game on Saturday night, and I was shocked by the lack of civility of CU fans.

Fans shouted directly at us “(expletive) BYU” dozens of times, women on the streets of Boulder flashed my son, Mormon-themed jokes were shouted, and the entire student section repeatedly chanted the same unoriginal “(expletive) BYU” phrase throughout the game, even when a BYU player was injured and down on the field.

I’ve no doubt that CU fans would be treated differently and more respectfully in Provo, Utah. Saturday night was an embarrassment to the CU organization.

Perhaps it’s time for CU to implement a Civility 101 course.

Scott Palmer, Parker

I’m appalled that the game was allowed to continue despite the fans yelling hateful insults at the opposing BYU team. In the future, if this occurs again, I suggest that CU and Coach Prime pause the game and announce that the game will be forfeited if the fans continue. And apologize. Hateful behavior cannot be tolerated.

Kelly Roberts, Denver

Golf crowd’s abusive behavior should end the Ryder Cup

Re: “Europe takes a record lead into Sunday singles matches,” Sept. 28 sports story

After watching the New York debacle, it is clear that the Ryder Cup should permanently end today. I’m not about the lack of competition by the American team, but the conduct of the U.S. crowd. The PGA of America has allowed this. It has apparently learned nothing from outrageous behavior at the Waste Management Phoenix Open, which is spreading to other PGA events.

Saturday’s round was despicable. Forget limiting alcohol and having volunteers hold up their hands trying to quiet drunks and (jerks). Also, forget having uniformed and plain-clothed security forces follow the foreign players. These days, the Cup does nothing but make millions for the PGA of America and the networks and cast shame on the great game of golf. Cancel the Ryder Cup now … forever.

I challenge The Denver Post to spread the word.

William Allen, Denver

Can the Rockies keep losses to double-digits next season?

Re: “Woeful Colorado blanked in season finale for 119th loss,” Sept. 29 sports story

The Rockies players had to be told that losing 119 games, over 100 three years running, is “unacceptable”? I think I see the problem. They weren’t out there to provide batting practice for the rest of MLB or an amusing highlight reel of fielding errors; they were actually expected to compete, to demonstrate that they wanted – needed – to win.

The long climb to respectability begins next season. Come on, guys, let’s at least vow to keep losses in mere double digits in 2026 as a start.

Harry Puncec, Lakewood

ICE recruitment ads don’t tell the whole story

I watched NFL football commercials in horror this past weekend when I saw ICE recruitment ads repeatedly misstate that patriotic ICE agents take drug dealers, predators, and gang members off our streets. Actually they criminalize vulnerable immigrants, violate their rights, and mistreat them. They too often take people who follow immigration laws and those who pick our fruit, build our houses, and care for elderly Americans.

Awash in money that has previously paid for Americans’ health care, the ads offer bonuses, loan forgiveness, and other benefits. All you have to do is abuse poor people and leave your conscience at home.  Doing this “work”  with an unmarked identity and a masked face is disgusting and un-American. Anyone who does this should feel shame.

I ask that all Colorado residents resist such inhumane jobs. Don’t work for ICE!

Bill J. Fyfe, Denver

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