LETTERS: Monday

Pill caused disconnect

Last month was the 50th anniversary of “the pill.” In the 1960s, the pill was heralded as a development that would liberate women from male dominance and lead to fewer divorces, fewer unwanted pregnancies, and fewer abortions. It is now clear, however, that things did not turn out that way.

As the pill became more widespread, the number of divorces and abortions soared. We saw a lowering of moral standards and a rise in infidelity and promiscuity. In addition, the well-being of children declined by a variety of measures, from depression to diet to the number living in poverty and the number experiencing child abuse or neglect.

Though women now have access to places and positions that once belonged to men, they have never been seen more as sex objects than they are today.

The major disconnect caused by the arrival of the pill has been a loss of the idea that men and women make babies. As technological advances in artificial reproduction are made, the idea that God plays a role in procreation has increasingly been lost.

Sadly, the horizon does not look promising for the family. With the rapid increase of activist judges with a proclivity to elitist social engineering, we will soon be seeing countless forms of sexually bonded groups that are not only unstable but seriously harmful to children.

Frank Henderson
Colorado Springs

Sunday afternoon kindness

We work at The Bridge Assisted Living facility here in the Springs. On June 6, the Gold Wing Riders Chapter 1 came to our facility to give any of our residents who wanted a ride on their beautiful Gold Wings a nice motorcycle ride.

We had about 14 residents who range from the ages of 50 to 97 who were very thrilled and anxious to ride. More than half of these residents are in wheelchairs and were not able to get on and off on their own. With the help of the bike owners, everyone got on and off with no problems at all. All of the Gold Wing Rider members were so gracious, kind and patient. They even brought ice cream!

We just want to thank these people for sharing their time, bikes and love on a Sunday afternoon and making some senior citizens very happy.

Pam Campbell and Cindy Howard
Colorado Springs

Kids in political ads

Michael Bennet just spent over $350,000 for a television ad that stars his three little daughters doing a sales pitch for their dad. You’ve seen and will see more of it on TV in the coming weeks. I’m sure he and his staff are thinking, “Who can resist these adorable cherubs? What a family-guy image. Rack up the votes for Bennet!”

Actually, what we can’t resist is a refreshing and proven politician who doesn’t take money from corporations, who wouldn’t vote against breaking up the megabanks as Bennet recently did. These days, we’re a whole lot more sophisticated than being taken in by family videos.
No, for senator, give us Andrew Romanoff. When you see him with children, it’s with all of Colorado’s kids. He’s actually representing them, not using them as props.

Annette Frank
Colorado Springs

Extravagant PR plan

I read The Gazette’s opinions each morning in order to get my blood boiling, as a friend of mine puts it. Today, however, I didn’t get past pages 1 and 6 and the story of Colorado Springs Utilities paying a fee of $747,000 to a PR consultant. Hey! You can hire me for much less, and I’ve had experience, too. For example: (1) selling federal programs across the country (while working for the National Endowment for the Arts) (2) developing and marketing new courses for college students; and (3) writing book review columns for a newspaper and a professional journal. These are only a few experiences that qualify me for such a fee, assuming Colorado Springs Utilities feels it is truly justified to have such PR. Doesn’t that assumption denigrate the intelligence of their constituency, namely us, the ones who are paying the bills?

I am furious that the City Council approved such an extravagance in our perilous times. Doesn’t the council realize how many of our citizens are out of work or how many, like me, are retired on fixed incomes that have not increased in over two years, while prices for everything (except occasionally gasoline) have increased? How in the world am I, and others, to keep up with the constant acceleration of fees while some PR guy rakes in $747,000?
If a program is worthwhile, why can’t it be marketed to us with the already bloated budgets of Utilities? Try starting with the Public Affairs Division. Why do they need a $747,000 consultant? Ah, well, the city never listens to plain, ordinary people like me; I suppose I should just be used to it by now.

Claire R. Farrer
Colorado Springs

Not a priority for the city

On February 27 around 6 a.m., a man was driving down our street and fell asleep at the wheel. He crashed his car and ran into a car next door on Chelton Road.

At the same time, he impacted the street’s fire hydrant, and the top blew off. As you can see, it is now June and we haven’t had it fixed and replaced. We’ve been told it is not a priority for the city. Most of us are longtime homeowners, paying taxes all these years, but the city refuses our request for the fire hydrant to be in working order.

Citizens in our town need to know that their lives are in danger every day. I would appreciate this letter being printed to warn neighborhoods.

Sybil F. Ford
Colorado Springs

Vouchers still best

Re: “Vouchers still best way to bridge achievement gap,” June 4.

While many public education supporters cringe at the thought of private-sector-driven education, with few exceptions government schools are not meeting the obligation to provide a quality education to our poor children, especially our black and brown children.

When you consider that the poorest schools are in the black and brown neighborhoods across the nation, you must consider racism at the core of the neglect. While many will disagree with Senator Jones’ assertions, the informed must agree more must be done. We cannot continue to fill our prisons with the undereducated blacks and browns of the nation. Colorado currently operates 23 state prisons and 6 private prisons. If public dollars are good enough for the prison system, then they are good enough for private education for those most disenfranchised. Many thanks to Senator Jones for a well-written commentary on a topic that is somewhat lost in today’s political environment.

Willie H. Breazell Sr.
Colorado Springs