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Letters

Alumni Connections

Other alums may already have identified the people in your photo lead-in to Alumni Connections [Page 45, fall 2007]. If not, from left to right, they are: Paul Plath (BFA ’57, MA ’58), Barbara Jean Davis (BA ’58), Jack McIntyre, Kay Chorley (BA ’59), Arnie Grossman (BA ’59) and Connie Dent (BFA ’59). I think the photo appeared in a Kynewisbok of that era, or it may have been taken for the publications department under Ruth Kelley. The photographer may have been Bruce Harlow. Whatever, it was a great group of good friends. The photo was staged, but the fun was real. And so were mountain picnics.

Roberta Rabinoff Kaplan (BA ’58)
Washington, D.C.


Fly fishing fan

The article on fly fishing in your fall 2007 issue is great. As a lifelong enthusiast, I developed a vision with each paragraph. I’ve been on several college boards over the years and see lots of magazines. Yours is, by far, the best I’ve ever seen. Makes me proud. Keep up the fine work.

John Farquharson (BSBA ’60)
Haddonfield, N.J.


Alternative panhandling perspective

I am writing in response to the article “Research disconnects crime and homelessness” that appeared in the fall 2007 issue of the University of Denver Magazine. I take issue with the study, which specifically questions the logic behind Denver’s anti-panhandling law. Before passing the ordinance, we on the Denver City Council took a serious look at the panhandling problem on the 16th Street Mall and had lengthy discussions with the Downtown Denver Partnership, the Convention and Visitors Bureau, the mayor’s Commission to End Homelessness, homeless advocates, police and downtown residents, business owners and workers. We heard serious complaints that ranged from “I will never bring my convention to Denver” to “My business is being negatively impacted because customers are being harassed by panhandlers.” Most troubling was the real fear for personal safety expressed by many, especially women. The summary of the study published in the magazine indicates that the ordinance may need to be reconsidered because it supposedly didn’t reduce crime. I am proud of the care and sensitivity the council used in crafting the ordinance, and it’s important to note that the law’s intention was not to merely reduce crime rates or criminalize certain people. It’s part of a broader program to direct the homeless toward programs that offer real help and to educate members of the public to redirect their generosity to agencies that work with the homeless, rather than giving panhandlers money that all too often is spent on destructive habits. As John Desmond of the Downtown Denver Partnership notes, “One main point of all these efforts was not to reduce crime per se but to discourage individuals from engaging in antisocial, often threatening behavior, such as panhandling and blocking passage of city sidewalks.” Quarterly surveys by Partnership employees have found a steady decline in both street people and panhandlers on the mall since 2002. The real motivation behind the anti-panhandling law is compassion, not crime reduction. To me, that is sound thinking that residents and visitors to our city can appreciate.

Charlie Brown
Councilman, Denver District 6


Stellar view

The wonderful photograph that appeared on pages 16-17 of the fall 2007 issue almost brought tears to my eyes. I grew up in University Park, and the buildings and landscape of the University were so deeply woven into my everyday life that to see that image hit me like a ton of bricks. Because I have made my adult life in Michigan, I have not spent much time reflecting on how much DU was a part of my existence. But the fact is, if not for this institution, I wouldn’t exist! Both my grandmothers (Nanaruth Taggart Haines and Blanche Irene McCoy Fellows) graduated from the University of Denver. My parents (Charles Haines Jr. and Dorothy Fellows Haines) met while both were students there. My husband, Steven Carpenter (JD ’76), and I met while we were both students at the then University of Denver College of Law. I believe that my paternal grandfather, Charles Henry Haines Sr., taught for a time at the Westminster College of Law, which I believe later became the DU College of Law.

Nanaruth (Haines) Carpenter (JD ’75)
Grand Rapids, Michigan


Car club correction

The photograph at the top of Page 53 of the fall 2007 issue rekindled many memories. However, the organization was not the International Car Club — it was the DU Foreign Car Club, which I founded as a freshman in 1955. In spite of constant opposition from the Student Activities Office, which had enthusiasm only for the Greeks, the club managed to survive at least until I graduated in 1959. It was a very fun club.

Ronald Hill (BA ’59, JD ’62)
Denver


Correction: The “Egghead” pictured on the back cover of the fall 2007 issue isn’t as mysterious as we once thought. Shortly after the issue went to press, the University’s archives department discovered some additional information about the featured Humpty Dumpty. At the suggestion of her daughter-in-law, Nancy Shaw (BA ’56) of Denver donated the doll to DU’s archives in 1993. She had been about to throw the Egghead away.

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