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A tribute to Glenwood Canyon

Aspen Times writer

Dear Editor:The citizens of Eagle County can be proud of their accomplishment in promoting the expenditure of $2,000,000 toward the purchase of the development rights to the Bair Ranch located within the boundaries of Glenwood Canyon. The Eagle County commissioner’s vote of approval at their June 1 meeting was a fitting tribute to the great accomplishments that were bestowed upon Glenwood Canyon in previous years: The construction of Interstate 70 in Glenwood Canyon.In 1968, the first of three citizens advisory committees was appointed. Controversy was intense and immediate. There was great doubt that a four-lane highway could be built in the canyon without destroying it. This committee lasted for only a single meeting. In 1973, a Blue Ribbon committee was formed. It studied previous reports and decided Glenwood Canyon was the appropriate corridor.In 1976, the third and final committee was appointed. Its studies and meetings were intense, controversial and brought comments from people all across our nation. The town of Eagle’s own Mary Hosa and I were members of that committee; Sam Caudill was our chairman.Our first report was issued 28 years ago, in late 1976. One of our goals was: “The purchase, in fee or of development rights, should be pursued of all privately owned lands within the canyon. The Bair Ranch, in particular, should be secured to protect against inappropriate future development.” Our committee never accomplished this goal. The funds were just not available.The construction of this highway was truly a marvelous, but difficult, project that took decades to accomplish. It was so designed that the wonder of human engineering was tastefully blended with the wonders of nature. Overwhelming emotions of pride were expressed by the multitudes that attended the highway’s grand opening in October 1992.In that same year, the National Geographic Society published “The Builders – Marvels of Engineering.” This book describes the great construction accomplishments of mankind from the beginning of human history through the 20th century. The construction of Interstate 70 in Glenwood Canyon is featured in this historical chronicle.All the citizens of Colorado can be proud that the last goal, missing for 28 years, has been accomplished. With the purchase of the Bair Ranch, the final cornerstone will soon be in place.Floyd DiemozGlenwood SpringsDraw the line on Dog and Pony ShowDear Editor:This is in response to Brad Carner’s letter to editor in which he is complaining that the P&Z and City Council will not let him and his wife Karen (owner of Gracy’s) do their Dog and Pony Show that they love to do, regardless of city regulations. They have a retail establishment, period. They are constantly bothering the P&Z and City Council to make exceptions for them. If the city allows them to have bands, clowns, whatever in their establishment, then the city has to allow everyone else to have their D&P show as well.We – consumers and retail merchants – have to draw the line. They either need to adhere to regulations or leave to open elsewhere.Terry TreadwellAspenAm I missing something?Dear Editor:The other day I was reading an article about how the spending has soared for children’s attention deficit and behavior drugs. The article stated that the largest population with the largest increase was for children under the age of 5. I can’t believe that our society has come to the point where we need to drug our children like this. How do we justify this?I had to do some further research and found that in the April 10, 2004, issue of the British Medical Journal a report addressed this issue. It stated that a senior executive at one of the world’s largest drug manufacturers admitted that most of his company’s products work in less than half of the people who take them. Couple this fact with the study that children below the age of 5 are the fastest growing group of antidepressant users in the United States. Is this a recipe for insanity?The BMJ study reviewed six major trials of newer antidepressants and found some interesting facts. Pharmaceutical companies paid for four of the trials and either paid or provided services to the authors of at least three of the larger studies.There are other findings. The researchers conducting the drug trials routinely “exaggerated the benefits” of the drugs they were investigating, while downplaying the negative side effects. Some children experienced serious adverse effects which required hospitalization. Nevertheless, the authors concluded that their drug is “effective, safe and well tolerated.”Depression scores in many of the control groups showed “strong” improvement compared to the drug groups. Some studies showed improvements of at least 70 percent and 87 percent, but this was disregarded as insignificant.Recently, the House Energy and Commerce Committee and the Senate Finance Committee have announced that they will launch an investigation into whether or not the FDA is suppressing evidence. Some of the concerns are the increasing evidence between the use of these drugs and children and suicidal behavior in children. Which would you rather have?It is time to realize that the pharmaceutical companies are more motivated by huge profits and do not care about our health. Despite their marketing (or brainwashing), better health is not attained through better chemistry.When will we realize that we are being killed and injured so that these companies can make huge profits?Tom Lankering, D.C, Aspen Letters policyLetters to the Editor should be mailed or hand-delivered to The Aspen Times, 310 E. Main St., Aspen, CO 81611. Or they may be e-mailed to mail@aspentimes.com. All persons e-mailing letters should note in the subject box “Letter to the Editor” so it is easily distinguishable from the junk mail we receive.Letters to the Editor may be published in our newspaper and on our Web site – or by any other electronic means – at the discretion of the editor.Typed or e-mailed letters are strongly preferred. Faxed or hand-written letters may be accepted or rejected at the editor’s sole discretion. No letters longer than 500 words will be printed.All letters must be signed and must include an address and phone number for the author (for verification, not for publication).

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