Letter: The name game

I’m thrilled to learn that Aspen’s schools are considering selling their naming rights to local moneybags. Like many less fortunate Americans, my early years were spent in a dreary building with no name at all. Well, it had a name, but it was only the name of the place where the school was located. Pretty boring stuff. For some, it was worse. I knew a woman whose school was named after a dead president or something. You can imagine her embarrassment. Oh, there will be those who object, saying that wealthy donors always want something for their money, be it a change in curriculum or a fired teacher. So what? The rich know best, or they wouldn’t be rich. I suppose some people will even complain that true philanthropists act anonymously and don’t need their names plastered over everything in sight. This shows a fundamental misunderstanding of what wealthy Americans are like. Of course they want the school named after them. It’s their school. They bought it. I know a local hedge-fund manager and his lovely wife who deserve to be so honored, and I can’t wait until Aspen High School is at last upgraded to the Grasper P. and Rapacia L. Shoat Learning Center.

David Chamberlain

Denver