Another Fond Farewell

I was honored with another tribute at the end of my high school career, this one for The Villager, where I've written a weekly column for three years.

Villager columnist Mike [Michael] Mazenko is moving on. “The time just seems right,” he told us.

Julie and Mike Mazenko came to Colorado in 2003 for an opportunity to teach at a high school he was told would be a great fit. Former Cherry Creek High School Principal Kathleen Smith agreed. That began a 21-year career that included shaping the academic future of over 2,000 young people, including several whose last name is Miklin, as a teacher and administrator in a school he wrote about in his last regular column for The Villager that appeared on page three on March 28. He called it, “The Creek Mystique.” It included some great success stories of Creek alumni.

In addition to the attraction of teaching in a high school where kids were eager to learn and had families who supported that goal, the Mazenkos fell in love with Greenwood Village as a place to raise a family. Now that Austin and Chloe, Julie and Mike’s offspring, are attending college in New York and Washington DC, that mission has been accomplished. Chloe is still in her undergraduate years at American University and Austin will be pursuing a Ph.D. in math at New York University. Neither is likely to be back in Colorado soon. Like all parents, the Mazenkos want to be near their children.

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New Music Venue Lot 46 Opens in Old Edgewater Inn

A new spot for live music is opening in Edgewater. I did a sneak peak preview for Westword:

What's old is new again in Edgewater with the arrival of Lot 46 Music Bar at the Edgewater Inn.Lot 46 comes to the neighborhood courtesy of longtime Denver entrepreneurs and music venue owners Niya and Grant Gingerich. The couple established the popular Local 46 music venue and beer garden in 2012 after taking over the Music Bar, which had been an anchor at 46th and Tennyson for decades. Niya and Grant seem destined to provide live local music to a close-knit community in the spirit of the classic public house. As Niya always tells friends and neighbors, “I want this to be the locals' spot, the home away from home.”

The Berkeley neighborhood was reeling two years ago when real estate development closed Local 46, a beloved music venue and watering hole. Niya and Grant quickly found a new location, buying the historic Edgewater Inn, a 75-year-old pizza institution founded by Denver legend Ben DiPietro. “I grew up going there for pizza,” Niya reflects. After purchasing the Edgewater, it wasn’t long before she was itching to expand and provide local music again.

Conventional business wisdom is to find a niche and not try to be everything. But that never really sat well with Niya. “I want to be the place where there’s something for everyone,” she says. That idea reflects a sociological concept known as a community’s third place: After home and work, there’s the gathering place, often the pub or local watering hole, and any place Niya runs will inevitably showcase live local music.

... Read the rest of the story in Westword ...

FoCoMX 2024 - Day 1

From Michael Kirkpatrick on the patio at Equinox Brewing to the indie rock of Menyuska at Moe’s BBQ to the Dave Beegle Duo at the Visit Fort Collins sitting room to 10 Cent Stranger and Alex Dunn at Equinox to Soy Celeste at The Art Lab to Pep Squad and Bleak Mystique on the rooftop bar of Illegal Pete’s to the groovy sound of Slow Caves at Wolverine Farm Publick House to the incredible sounds of Violet Pilot on the Old Town Square to a raucous set from Horsebitch at The Aggie …, our minds have been properly blown on the first day of FoCoMX 2024 in the heart of downtown Fort Collins.

Looking back on 21 years

I was so honored to be featured in Cherry Creek's award-winning student newspaper, The Union Street Journal. As I bid farewell to a place I've called home for twenty-one years, one student asked if I would be open to story on my career there. Of course, what a wonderful send-off.

When Michael Mazenko started teaching English 31 years ago, the top charting song was “Whoomp (There It Is)” by Tag Team. The NBA champion was the Chicago Bulls led by Michael Jordan. The NFL champion was the Dallas Cowboys led by quarterback Troy Aikman. Now, after a career of classroom teaching, admin work, guest writing, and mentoring students, he plans to retire at the end of this school year.

“It’s definitely melancholy, but I also know it’s time to move on. It’s time for me to go to the next place on my journey,” Mazenko said.

Mazenko has filled many roles in his time at Creek, and his impact has spread far beyond his English classes. As an administrator for eight years, he helped with planning events like speaker assemblies and hosting the talent show.

“Working with Dr. Keogh on graduation for eight years was just one of the true joys of my experience here because our graduation is so special. I loved working with the performers,” Mazenko said.

Read the rest of the story at The Union Street Journal

FoCoMX: The Biggest Little Music Festival in America

Loved writing about this event for Westword, and I can't wait to embrace the indie music scene in Fort Collins at FoCoMX:

Every year in downtown Fort Collins on a weekend in late April, “the streets are alive with the sounds of local music.” That charming assessment comes from Greta Cornett of the Fort Collins Musicians Association (FoCoMA) as she excitedly discusses FoCoMX.

Started “for musicians by musicians,” according to Cornett, FoCoMX is a locally organized event from the Fort Collins Musicians Association (FoCoMA); this weekend will mark its sixteenth iteration, on Friday, April 19, and Saturday, April 20. Growing out of the nonprofit’s FoCoMA Peer Awards, the event began in 2009 as a DIY showcase for local talent, complete with handmade tickets. The first year included four locations with four bands in each spot, but it's now expanded to nearly 350 acts across 35 to 40 venues.

The festival is a well-oiled machine that keeps its small-town vibe by being volunteer-driven, and is, Cornett notes, “intentionally inclusive of all genres and musicians." While the festival originally focused on Fort Collins artists, planners later opened lineups to all of Colorado. "The best way to build our scene is to share our scene," Cornett says. "We want to showcase Colorado music.”

Read the rest of the story at Westword.com

Thinking About What Comes Next

Even though I’ve been teaching English for three decades, I still tell people that when I grow up, I want to be David Brooks of the New York Times, or an essayist like Chuck Klosterman or Dave Hickey, or perhaps an author like Geoff Dyer or even Michael Lewis. In reality, I am first and foremost a writer with a talent for sharing information, ideas, and insights via the written word. Now, as I wrap up a cherished career in public education, I am pondering the life of a writer.

I’ve been freelance writing for many years, serving as a Colorado Voices columnist for the Denver Post, and for three years I've written an education-focused column called “Unpacking the Backpack” for The Villager, a small suburban newspaper. As a commentary writer, my beat has been "education, parenting, politics, pop culture, and contemporary American life." A common theme of my writing is issues in public education, such as advocating for reforms on career and technical education. Additionally, I've been an enthusiastic advocate for gifted education, and I've spoken on numerous panels at state and national gifted education conferences. I am an education policy geek who has testified several times before the Colorado Senate Education Committee, and I’ve presented to both district and state boards of education. As a lifelong educator and writer whose mom was an editor and feature writer, the worlds of education and journalism are embedded in my DNA. I am a writer with vast experience in public education, and I am an experienced educator who can write insightful, informative articles about schools.

For several years I have also been writing about music, arts, and culture in the Denver area, specifically arts pieces for 303 Magazine and music writing for Westword. That interest and focus grew out of my writing on the people and culture of schools. My articles have sung the praises of high school mathletes, praised the brilliance of speech and debate competitions, reviewed high school productions such as musicals and jazz concerts, and profiled cultural events like our school’s Ethnic Fest and the district poetry slam. Creative non-fiction, including personal narrative, social commentary, and pop culture criticism, is my jam. My writing and research style has developed over the years as a sort of Robert Fulghum-esque, David Brooks-ian, Malcolm Gladwell-like stew of intellectual pondering with an accessible bit of pop culture philosophizing.

Cheap Perfume Takes Colorado Fem-Core on the Road

Cheap Perfume, a Denver riot grrrl punk band, blew me away the first time I saw their live show. Now, they're heading out on tour, and I got the chance to talk to them about the trip:

As anyone in Denver’s punk scene knows, a Cheap Perfume show is a sonic blast of guitar chords, big drums, quick and heavy bass, and scathingly sharp yet sardonically poetic messages of social justice and empowerment. It’s also a helluva lot of fun. That’s the appeal of a band that is, as it calls itself, “fun, foul-mouthed and unapologetic.” 

Now fans outside of Colorado will get the chance to experience Cheap Perfume’s sound and attitude as the band embarks on its first-ever tour this month. The self-described "fem-core punk" group will join the Atlanta-based rockers of Sarah and the Safe Word (SASW) for a West Coast run starting on April 24 at the Nile Underground in Mesa, Arizona. Then Cheap Perfume will be back to its Denver stamping grounds on Sunday, May 5, for a victory lap at the hi-dive.

...

Read the rest of the story on Westword.

Denver Band Broken Record Takes Its "Stadium Emo" Sound to the East Coast

A new piece on the Denver indie scene for Westword:

If you don’t yet know what “Denver Stadium Emo” is, then you need to check out Denver’s own Broken Record, a mainstay on the Denver scene since late 2017 that just won a 2024 Best of Denver award.
“Our good friend Jay came up with that description,” laughs Lauren Beecher, lead singer and guitarist for the band. “We’re obviously an emo band, but we’re also not afraid to make our songs sound big, or to add a grander rock element.”

That approach has built a trusted fan base in Denver, and, despite the band mostly playing clubs, the term came to fruition in December when Broken Record’s “See It Through” filled Ball Arena during an Avs game.

Broken Record's sound is distinct, but its ’90s threads are clear with the deep post-punk, indie-rock and emo vibe that marked the decade. While Jimmy Eat World is “obviously a huge influence,” Beecher’s soulful lyrics and crisp melodies amid post-punk power-pop guitar chords hint at Gin Blossoms, too. “I basically learned to read off the lyrics book of New Miserable Experience while riding in the car with my mom,” Beecher adds. The jangly guitar and lyrical storytelling defined that pivotal Gin Blossoms album, which Rolling Stone described as “marrying world-weary lyrics with ebullient melodies.” Similar emotion comes through on Broken Record’s second LP, Nothing Moves Me, released last August on Really Rad Records and listed in UPROXX’s best emo albums of 2023.

.... Read the rest of the article and watch the band's new video

The Creek Mystique

My college-age kids have thrived not just from their natural abilities and parental love and support but because of a special place called Cherry Creek High School. My wife and I moved to Colorado twenty-one years ago specifically so I could teach at Creek, a school filled with opportunities for every way that kids manifest their individual gifts. I’ve served numerous roles at Cherry Creek, including administrator and GT Coordinator, and I can’t imagine a better place to work and send our kids.

For years, my office was the contact point for prospective Creek families. In meetings I always told parents and future students, “Every kid can find their niche at Cherry Creek, because we have every niche.” For example, when my son was a freshman, a group of his friends went into the Activities Office and asked “when does the Dungeon & Dragons Club meet?” We didn’t even know D&D had become popular again, and that first year just seven kids met weekly in the Activities workroom. The club has grown to 120-plus kids, and on Friday afternoons, the IC Lounge is packed with raucous game playing

Sometimes Creek is a place where kids discover who they are, and it might not be who they thought they were. Last year at graduation, Ben Parris spoke passionately, humorously, and self-deprecatingly about how he came to Creek ready to become a championship golfer. During freshman year he realized, with some blunt advice from his coach, that he wouldn’t make the cut. From that setback Ben found his home among our Emmy-winning sports broadcasting program. Ben is now thriving on the air at ASU, and while Ben will never play in the Masters or US Open, I won’t be surprised to someday hear him broadcasting the events for ESPN.

Years ago a young man named Frank Swann came into our fine arts program as a freshman and started working in the sound booth. After studying technical theater at NYU, he went on to become Production Manager for a new Broadway show called Hamilton. Another gifted Creek grad from the music program, Austin Wintory, won a Grammy award for his musical score of the video game Journey. Jesse Aaronson, a 2014 grad, just finished his first Broadway role in Tom Stoppard’s Tony-Award-winning play Leopoldstadt. You see, Cherry Creek is where ideas are hatched, passions are discovered, talents are cultivated, and dreams come true.

Of course, not everyone will or should become an award-winning this or that. Everyone should, however, become the best version of themselves. That happens everyday at Cherry Creek. Students go on to become successful engineers, accountants, dentists, community organizers, and teachers. Rebekah Lee was a gifted language student who was awarded our Future Teacher Scholarship. She then came back to student teach at Creek, and we hired her because we don’t let go of talent when it wants to come home.

And many Bruins do. Dozens of alums work there, like Matt Weiss, a Teacher of the Year and founder of our award-winning broadcasting crew. Assistant Principal Dr. Keogh was a Meistersinger during her years at Creek. This year at the winter concert, I had the joy of seeing her go on stage and sing with her daughter Maddie who is now a Meistersinger and talented dancer with our state championship Poms team.

The basic description of Creek is a comprehensive public high school, a neighborhood school. And you might think, they’re not a performing arts school. Then you go to plays, musicals, and choir, band, or orchestra concerts and you realize, we kinda are. You might think, they’re not an elite sports academy. Then you walk down trophy hall, and realize, we kinda are. You could say, they’re not a STEM magnet. Then you see our robotics program, math team, cybersecurity club, independent science research, and national science fair achievers, and you realize, we kinda are.

It has been an honor, a privilege, and a joy to work at and send our kids to Cherry Creek. After thirty-one years in education and two decades under the Creek Mystique, it’s now time for me to move on. I moved to Greenwood Village for Cherry Creek, and it has been everything I hoped for and more. It’s always bittersweet to walk away, but I will forever look back with fond memories, and like we say, “Once a Bruin, Always a Bruin.”

Can You See Yourself?

If we know any person well in this world, it should be ourselves. I’m sure that after fifty-four years on this planet, I should have a pretty good idea of who I am, what I believe, and how I want to live. Yet, in looking back over my life, I realize that a complete lack of self awareness has been my most obvious trait. Interestingly, that’s not an uncommon characteristic in the contemporary age.

In the first act of Shakespeare’s “The Tragedy of Julius Caesar,” the lead conspirator Cassius speaks to Marcus Brutus, trying to convince him to join the plan to assassinate Caesar. As the two men cautiously measure their words, feeling out the other’s inclinations, Cassius asks “Tell me, good Brutus, can you see your face?” It’s a rather poetic way of suggesting Brutus might not acknowledge who he really is and what he really thinks, especially in regards Caesar’s growing threat to the republic Brutus so dearly loves. In theater the heart of tragedy is often when a character comes face-to-face with his true identity, which can be inspiring or crushing.

The challenge to know and acknowledge our true identity is at the heart of all existential questions about the meaning of life and individual lives. Often our true identity is more clear to others than to ourselves. For much of my life, other people have held up a mirror to my face and subtly or bluntly showed me who I am. Similar to Cassius clarifying to Brutus his vexations, friends have basically said, “Since you know you cannot see yourself, so well as by reflection, I, your glass, will modestly discover to yourself that of yourself which you yet know not of.”

For example, I went to college to be a history teacher, never knowing my true passion was the art of language and the teaching of writing. I used to meet friends outside the English building where they took a poetry class together. We’d play hacky sack and frisbee and listen to John play guitar. “You should take this poetry class,” they told me. “You’d like it.” Though I initially scoffed, I eventually took the class and another from the same professor.

The following semester over beers one night, my roommates said, “You talk about your English classes all the time, but you never mention your history classes. Why aren’t you an English major?” I stared at them dumbfounded, then changed my major the next day. Like many English teachers, I spent my early years as an aspiring novelist, to no avail. Fortunately, I later found success in the nonfiction world, which has produced the bulk of my writing. It took my friend Daniel saying, “You know, you have a lot of success publishing nonfiction, yet you always write fiction. Why do you think you’re a novelist?”

Even my wife pointed out to me in our late twenties that I actually did want to get married and have kids. It wasn’t that she wanted something I didn’t. She just wasn’t going to waste time in a relationship that didn’t have common goals. As it turns out, we are each other’s one and only, and our family has been my greatest blessing. Amusingly, our friends in college knew we’d become a couple long before it occurred to us – they asked to be invited to our wedding long before we ever dated. Self awareness can be elusive.

Often people identify themselves by their jobs, though it’s a weak substitute for identity. What we do is not who we are, and the distinction between action and identity is a tricky one. In a world where work hours are less defined by the punching of a clock, the notion of identity linked to jobs is increasingly complicated. I often ask the kids in my class, “Are you a student?” While they think they spend most of their time in school, the reality is that that school is, in many ways, a small part of who they are.

In numerology, 2024 is an “eight year,” meaning the numbers add up to eight. Eight years are years to “take action” and become who you really are. This year may be the time to finally get up and on to whatever comes next in our lives. I still recall my dad saying, even in his fifties, “I still don’t know what I want to do when I grow up.” I know the feeling.

Gregg Deal Combines Punk and Indigenous Activism With New Band Dead Pioneers

So excited to write about this band for my first published piece in Westword:

With his new musical project, Dead Pioneers, Indigenous activist Gregg Deal wants to remind listeners that “We Were Punk First.” A nationally acclaimed visual artist and spoken-word performer, Deal recently filmed the band’s video for its single “Bad Indian” at Seventh Circle Music Collective, the DIY live-music space in west Denver. Following Dead Pioneers’ indie self-titled album release in September, the band performed at the Skylark in mid-January alongside Cheap Perfume and Elegant Everyone, and after just a few shows, Dead Pioneers is already generating serious local and national buzz.
“I accidentally started a band,” Deal says. Working with guitarist Josh Rivera and drummer Shane Zweygardt, friends from the local music and arts scene, Deal's original plan was to simply integrate punk riffs with his spoken word for his performance-art piece The Punk Pan-Indian Romantic Comedy. But he inadvertently became a songwriter through that experience, and took the first step toward forming a band in early 2021 after meeting Lee Tesch, lead guitarist for the American-English punk band Algiers during an artist residency at the Atlantic Center for the Arts in Florida. While planning a poetry reading for the community, Deal and Tesch wound up in the studio and recorded a six-minute version of “Bad Indian.”

Back in Colorado, Deal shared that recording with Rivera and Zweygardt, and they quickly realized they might have something special. “As we tried to figure out next steps,” Deal says, “we got so caught up in it that I just started writing.” After raising enough money to bring everyone together in Fort Collins, Deal partnered with the Music District, which donated rehearsal space, and Dead Pioneers was born.

.... for the rest of the piece check out the story in Westword

Understanding Abstraction

Whenever someone looks at a piece of abstract art and says, “Well, I could have done that,” my immediate response is a blunt, direct “No, you couldn’t have.” I stand by that assertion despite bemused and annoyed counterarguments, and I explain that the primary reason they couldn’t have done it is quite simply because they didn’t do it. Art doesn’t happen by accident or without intentionality. Art, even seemingly chaotic pieces of abstract expressionism, is not just a disorganized collection of color and lines.

Sometimes people who look at abstract art dismissively deride it even more harshly by saying “my six-year-old kid could do that.” I respond with my same direct answer. “No, they couldn’t.” There’s a clear distinction between intentional pieces of abstract art and the whimsical play of a child. Abstract art is guided by concepts such as geometry, color theory, contrast, relationship, light, shade, and meaning. That concept of meaning is what often gives viewers pause. But, in fact, the movement is called abstract “expressionism” for a reason. The artist is most certainly expressing intentional meaning.

Numerous studies have confirmed how easy it is to tell the difference between high quality abstract art and a child’s scribblings or an amateur’s attempt to mimic it. Researchers will pair various pieces of professional art by trained experienced artists with the work of a child. When they share these art pairings with audiences with varying degrees of artistic knowledge and experience, there is little doubt about which is which. Time and again viewers can instinctively identify the high quality intentional pieces, and more than 80% of viewers can easily discern the professional art from others’ work.

I’m often bemused by people who criticize and dismiss a beautiful abstract color palette but then marvel at the abstract beauty of a sunset. Living in Colorado, a land of expansive overwhelming landscapes that truly inspire, I think of and appreciate abstract art the same way I marvel at the grandeur of a breathtaking sky. Those stunning displays of color, with swirls and blends are the spirit of abstraction. In fact, appreciating landscapes is a helpful avenue into understanding abstraction. When people gaze at a picturesque mountain valley or a breathtaking sunset or a grove of golden aspens, they are quite literally appreciating the beauty of abstract art and color theory.

Abstraction has a close connection in both art and literature with the concept of distortion. Writer Flannery O'Connor once said, “I am interested in making a good case for distortion, as I am coming to believe that it is the only way to make people see.” Distorting something to make people truly “see” it seems to be counter-intuitive, though one could argue that all literature distorts information in order to make the point clear. From exaggeration to understatement to stock characters, metaphors, and cliched endings, abstraction and distortion can make the truth plain to see.

Often that truth, that revelation, can only come from – in Flannery O'Connor's word – distortion. How often have we encountered characters who only truly exemplify a trait or an idea because the trait is so glaringly obvious? How often have we told “some stretchers,” as Huck claims Mr. Mark Twain did, in order to impact an audience and help them “see” what we mean? Distortion and abstraction are natural parts of our language and our thinking.

This concept of distortion is particularly interesting because the word has a negative connotation. Certainly, to exaggerate a detail is in some ways deceptive. It might even be dishonest. But if we shift away from the concept of “distorting” and instead focus on simply emphasizing, then the act seems almost necessary.

Artist John Kascht, whose caricatures of many iconic figures have become iconic themselves, explains that he is not distorting the figures he draws but instead magnifying their traits. Kascht’s works have been featured in the Smithsonian, and his video explanation of his craft as he draws Conan O'Brien is fascinating in its analysis of the concept of artistic distortion – or magnification, emphasis, exaggeration, even abstraction.

This concept of emphasizing an idea or subject beyond its obvious reality is integral to our understanding of art, especially movements like impressionism, cubism, and abstract expressionism. And whether it's the writing of Flannery O'Connor or the caricature art of John Kascht, whether it’s the literary genre of Romanticism or the philosophical concepts of postmodernism, the techniques of abstraction and distortion are integral to the beauty of art.

Stuck in the Middle

Country singer Scott McCreery sings about how he is “not all holy water and not all Jim Beam,” but he’s “somewhere in between.” That’s kinda like many people in the United States of America. And, interestingly, that “in between” perspective accurately describes the political views and affiliations of Americans, who are generally a moderate center-right bunch and more likely independent voters, unaffiliated with either major party. Unfortunately, the two-party system in our age of divisive politics has left no middle ground. It seems there is no in-between anymore.

I recently saw an editorial cartoon of a man holding two different boxes of Girl Scout cookies as he stands at a table, asking which are the Republican and which are the Democrat cookies. It’s satire, of course, but not actually far off from the feelings of too many Americans. It’s literally become that absurd. People have started to act as if the clothes they wear, the beer they drink, the entertainment they watch, and sadly even the neighborhoods where they live are either one party or another. Too many Americans believe there are just two sides to every issue, and one is always right and the other is always wrong.

When I was growing up in the 1970s and early 80s, I can recall numerous times when my dad would say, “I still haven’t decided who I’m going to vote for yet.” That might be surprising to anyone who knew my father after the late nineties, when it appeared he was a one-ideology-straight-party-ticket voter. Yet, he had been registered as both a Democrat and a Republican at different times in his life. I recall when I first heard the pejorative term RINO, which stands for “Republican in Name Only,” and it struck me as the most ridiculous idea.

The idea of party purity and straight-ticket voting is in many ways the opposite of freedom. The idea that voters and candidates don’t feel like they have the autonomy to decide issues and choose leaders based on their individual merits as opposed to preconceived alignment seems counterintuitive in a country and political system based on individual rights. Unfortunately, many independent, free-thinking voters feel “stuck in the middle” between two political parties which are neither truly liberal nor conservative and which don’t really seem to know or care what those terms actually mean.

In the 1960s and 70s, party unity on roll call votes in Congress averaged about 60%, with representatives voting the party line just under two-thirds of the time. Similar percentages could be found among voters aligning with just one party. However, by 2020 the roll call vote had reached highs of 95%. That’s simply not healthy for a democratic republic. Too many representatives are clearly not voting their conscience nor are they actually representing all their constituents. In “safe voting districts,” where the incumbents have 60% of the vote and never face a challenge, 40% of their constituents are effectively disenfranchised. That is terrible for America. It can lead to people feeling they must leave their communities and even states to go live where they have a voice and where they are with “people like them.”

As an educator, I believe it’s difficult to teach kids to simply think critically and develop their own opinions when they don’t see that modeled anywhere else. Teachers should teach students how to think, not what to think. Yet, everywhere else students are told what to think by leaders and role models who have narrow, inflexible ideas. While Liz Cheney and Mitt Romney are firmly opposed to re-nominating Donald Trump, they can hardly urge a vote for Democrats after they’ve spent their careers demonizing the other party. Similarly, it’s difficult for leaders like Hakeem Jefferies or Chuck Shumer to concede opposition to Joe Biden or progressive politics when they’ve spent a career claiming Democrats are the only answer.

The new independent political organization called the No Labels Party is designed to unite moderate Democrats, Republicans, and middle-of-the-road independents, giving a voice and option to those who feel stuck in the middle. These voters are neither Fox News nor MSNBC, and they see the current political climate as “clowns to the left of me and jokers to the right.” Sadly, the nature of contemporary politics suggests third parties have no legitimate chance in a system designed to protect the major parties. This will continue to disenfranchise and alienate all those who are feeling somewhere in between.

College Enrollment is Down – That’s Ok

Why would anyone want to go to college?

It’s a rather important question that would have seemed unnecessary to ask just five or ten years ago. However, college-for-all is not a good idea or policy – I’ve been writing about that for years. In fact, college has always been unnecessary for most people in the contemporary economy. In fact, it has largely been a waste of time and money for many students in the past thirty years as colleges expanded enrollment and states promoted college-prep as the only path. Many people have pursued degrees to end up working in fields that never required one.

Most estimates suggest a four-year bachelor’s degree is a necessary prerequisite for less than four in ten jobs in the American economy. In a recent column on declines in higher education enrollment, conservative Washington Post column George Will cited data that indicated “38 percent of recent college graduates, and one-third of all college graduates, hold jobs that do not require a college degree.” With unemployment at a fifty-year low, clear evidence of a strong and growing economy, people entering or currently in the workforce have plenty of options.

And, let’s face it. Employers and the business world at large have long used the college diploma as simply a screening system and gatekeeper for job applicants. While the degree process for many fields can specifically be connected to future employment, the bachelor degree is not like an apprenticeship program. Bachelor’s degrees are not specifically job training, nor were they ever intended to be. For many jobs, the employer has little interest in what the student learned in college. Instead, they simply want to know the person has the ability to earn the degree, to put in the time and meet the requirements. That says much more than the actual skills learned.

In a recent editorial for USA Today, Jim Gash, the president of Pepperdine University, discussed that idea. He began by sharing feedback the school received after posting a question on a billboard in Times Square about the purpose and reasoning for going to college. While some respondents noted the necessary credentialing required for jobs in medicine and law, others noted careers in skilled trades or even generalized fields like marketing that don’t require college. And Gash pointed to a “Gallup survey which found that just 39 percent of Gen Z, defined as ages 12-26, think college is "very important."

George Will’s column about dropping college enrollments, posits that “As enrollments plummet, academia gets schooled about where it went wrong.” Specifically, Will believes students are choosing options other than college because they are turned off by the political environment on campus and the political stances taken by school administrators. While I generally agree with Will, he's naive to believe enrollment is dropping because of progressive politics. The reasons are simply economic — cost/benefit for degree in relation to job potential. And, of course, the burden versus payoff for taking on college debt.

That said, Peggy Noonan of the Wall Street Journal recently lamented what many major colleges and universities have “done to themselves.” In my view, both Noonan and Will are exaggerating and overemphasizing the politics on campus. Though the recent congressional testimony and resignations of three elite university presidents lend credence to their criticism. As likely as colleges being political action committees is the schools simply becoming semi- professional sports training facilities. With the establishment of NIL payments to student-athletes and the astronomical salaries of elite football coaches, it seems education is just a side-hustle.

The history of the university system in the United States was not based on job training and economy-based skills – it was about character and personal growth. The system was founded on the idea of a classical liberal arts education grounded in the classics. The goal was to create well-educated, well-rounded citizens who would provide the educated electorate that the newly formed republic needed to function and support a system of individual rights and self-determination. As Pepperdine President Gash laments in his column “the college experience has failed to provide far too many students the character-forming experiences necessary for a free and flourishing society.”

The classical liberal arts foundation is still an excellent reason to pursue higher education. If people need college degrees for their careers, or they have the luxury of paying for a few years to figure that out, higher education makes sense. Otherwise, working and credentials are the better choice.

The Rent is Too High

Though I’m no economist, I have a theory about inflation. The “general increase in prices and the fall in the buying power of money,” commonly known as inflation, has been dominating financial news for several years. Even now, as prices drop and inflation cools, economists and pundits and politicians are talking about the causes of inflation and how to ease it. Well, I have some suspicions about what is causing the most recent wave across the Denver metro area and the country at large.

It’s the landlords’ fault.

Landlords cause inflation. Property speculation with a specific focus on rental properties leads to an increase in prices that is not specifically related to other market forces. When taxes and utilities and repairs do not cost more, but rents rise dramatically, there can be only one answer. Basically, landlords are raising rents simply because they can. The astronomical rent increases across Colorado in the past ten years are personal choices by landlords, as opposed to any other relative increase in costs.

Because housing costs are the highest percentage of most individual budgets, renters can easily be priced out of access to shelter. That disproportionate cost of housing is nowhere more evident than in the mountains, especially Summit and Eagle counties. Resort communities have long passed the time when local residents and service workers could afford to live there. This disparity has led to communities such as Breckenridge taking action to build affordable housing specifically for resort workers. While that’s an admirable idea, it would be unnecessary if landlords in Summit County were not gouging renters by raising prices to unsustainable levels.

A similar conundrum can be found in communities across the state where public employees, specifically teachers, are unable to afford housing. Granted, the demand side of the equation obviously lends to the increase. As popular areas draw increased desire to live there, landlords can easily increase prices, and that often means forcing one renter out in order to charge a new renter more. Now, clearly, in a capitalist free market economy, it is the right of any business owner to make as much money as possible. That said, there are residual effects that are not healthy for individuals, communities, and the economy overall.

The average rent for a one-bedroom apartment in the Denver area is $1700, a 50% increase over ten years. Clearly, other costs have not risen 50%, certainly not taxes and utilities. Thus, rent increases came simply because landlords could charge more and did. The problem is the residual effects. If housing costs more, employers are pressured to pay employees more, so they can afford to live where they work. That irrational rise in wages subsequently leads to product prices increases – hence inflation. It all happened because landlords started raising rent simply because they wanted to and could.

When my wife and I first moved to Greenwood Village twenty-one years ago, we loved many local independent businesses, and we particularly enjoyed shopping at Cooks Fresh Market in Belleview Promenade. We would often pop in for picnic supplies on weekends or pick up deli selections for weeknight dinners. Sadly, we heard the popular store was forced out of its location by rent increases, but fortunately found a prosperous location on the Sixteenth Street Mall. Cooks Fresh market closed permanently last year, but they had a great two-decade run in downtown Denver.

I’d imagine a new Denver landlord killed the business just like one did in Greenwood Village years ago. Denver has recently seen a rash of business closures, specifically independent restaurants, due to rent increases and relative wage increases. What’s particularly sad is these closures have come post-pandemic when the economy has recharged. In Greenwood Village, we’ve lost mainstays like Tokyo Joe’s and the Starbucks at Belleview Square, and word is those exits were forced by unreasonable and inexplicable rent increases by Regency Centers.

I’ve lived in the same duplex house for two decades, just a short walk from Cherry Creek High School. The other townhouses in my neighborhood rent for two-and-a-half to three times my monthly mortgage payment. In all honesty, that is simply ridiculous. What’s particularly troubling is that many housing units are being bought up by hedge funds and foreign-owned investment companies. They have no connection to the community and no concern for residents. They just raise rents because they can.

Simply put, as the single-issue political party in New York says: “the rent is too damn high.”

Knee Pain? Start Running

I've never understood or agreed with people who don't run because it "hurts the knees." Or worse, they don't run anymore because being a runner in high school and college "ruined their knees." If running hurts your knees, it's likely you're just doing it wrong. And, if a person has bad knees, which like resulted from running incorrectly for most of their life, then the best thing they can do for their knees might be to start running.

The "heel strike" is the primary cause of pain for people whose knees hurt while running. When people run, their heels should not really hit the ground at all, except as a secondary impact. Runners, true runners, run on the balls of their feet, and it's the quads, hamstrings, and calf muscles that absorb the shock. Thus, the knee is not the target of force in running. Knees have very little to do with running form – or, at least knees should have very little to do with it. And, these days there is an ever-growing body of research that supports the idea that running is actually good for your knees.

Gretchen Reynolds, a health columnist for the New York Times and Washington Post, has spotlighted the research that speculates running not only won't ruin your knees but is actually good for them. In fact, results even propose the idea that running may prompt cartilage self repair. In reviewing several studies of the impact running has on knees, she writes “running likely also fortifies and bulks up the cartilage, the rubbery tissue that cushions the ends of bones. The findings raise the beguiling possibility that, instead of harming knees, running might fortify them and help to stave off knee arthritis.”

When I was shoe shopping recently, I noticed the common trend in shoe design that features thick cushioned soles in shoes. In recent years, however, elite running has steered away from that trend, and pure runners have gravitated toward shoes with less obvious structure and a style that mimics the foot in its natural form. With that shift toward minimalism came the rise of the barefoot running craze. This movement was greatly influenced by Chris McDougal's excellent sociological work Born to Run, which spotlights the emergence of barefoot-running "shoes" like the Vibram Five Fingers.

While running barefoot seems counterintuitive on concrete roads or rocky trails, it’s actually better form. The key is to run, as if sprinting – or as McDougal says, "like you would if you had to chase a toddler into the street while in bare feet." Basically, natural runners land on the balls of their feet, not the heels. The heel strike – and the potential damage from wear and tear of impact – results from the more padded shoes of the past thirty years that allowed runners to land on their heels. That's not what a runner should do. And, in fact, for many years the running shoe companies contributed to the problem.

Nike is undoubtedly the running shoe behemoth, and it has been since the 1970s when Phil Knight hooked up with the running coaches at the University of Oregon and Stanford and began peddling more structurally padded shoes. The effect was the launch of a new industry and fitness craze, as jogging entered the lexicon. As the shoe industry developed, the style became focused on bigger shoes with more cushion and added support.

In fact, that extra support is unnatural and might have actually weakened knees and ankles, contributing to injuries rather than preventing them. While many running shoes feature thick soles to allegedly absorb impact, Nike saw the trend toward barefoot running ten years ago, and in 2013 came out with the Nike Flyknit, a “barefoot-style” shoe made of a single piece of fabric. Nike was actually late to the game with their shoes. Companies like Merrel, Newton, and Adidas have offered shoes with minimal cushion for years.

Certainly, there is no specific shoe for someone who wants to revert to less structure and more natural barefoot-style running. In fact, anyone in nearly any shoe can "run barefoot while wearing shoes." In reality, barefoot running is all about the gait and not really at all about the shoes. So, for people with New Year’s resolutions to get healthier, there’s no reason bad knees should keep them out of the running game.

But run a 5K instead of a marathon. And that’s a whole other story.

Are American Kids Old Enough?

When “Old Enough,” the Japanese reality television show from the early 90s, came to Netflix last year, American audiences were introduced to amusing and at times hilarious video clips of toddlers running errands around town while a camera crew followed them. The show, known as “My First Errand” in Japan, was even spoofed on Saturday Night Live with the toddlers replaced by pathetic twentysomething boyfriends.

The concept of the show Old Enough has me thinking, as both a parent and a teacher, about the expectations we have or don’t have for children at various ages. Certainly the ages at which we bestow responsibilities are inherently arbitrary. At age five we’re ready for school, and we should be reading by age eight. We can operate motor vehicles at sixteen, vote and serve in the military at eighteen, buy and consume alcohol or marijuana at twenty-one, and rent a car or hotel room at age twenty-five. Obviously many people can handle these at the designated age, while many others are ready somewhat earlier or far later.

The latest news from studies about Generation Z, the kids aged eleven to twenty-six, is that they are trailing previous in classic markers of adult responsibility. For example, fewer kids are choosing to get a driver's license at the age of sixteen. Fewer teens have jobs these days, and that has always been a hallmark of growth and maturity. Some delays may be positive – fewer are drinking earlier and more abstain longer from sexual activity. But the concern is that the current generation of young people are unusually risk-averse to the point of being limited in their ability to navigate the adult world.

Some people blame the helicopter and snowplow parenting that has become the standard of new parents over the past twenty years. New York Sun writer Lenore Skenazy raised the ire of parents and critics back in 2008 when she allowed her nine-year-old son to ride the subway home alone from Bloomingdales in Midtown Manhattan. She wrote a column about shopping with her son and then giving him a Metro card, subway map, and $20, telling him she’d see him when he got home. He made it home safely, of course.

Many readers responded positively, noting the freedom they had in childhood, while others rabidly chastised her, criticizing the decision as reckless and even negligent. In her column Skenazy wrote about her feelings toward people who wanted to charge her with child abuse: “Half the people I've told this episode to now want to turn me in for child abuse. As if keeping kids under lock and key and helmet and cell phone and nanny and surveillance is the right way to rear kids. It's not. It's debilitating — for us and for them.” There is much truth to her insight.

Skenazy actually got off easy, despite nationwide media attention, compared to the parents in Connecticut who were literally arrested for letting their children walk a few blocks to Duncan Donuts. Skenazy wrote another column about Cynthia Rivers of Killingly, Connecticut, who was arrested along with her husband after neighbors apparently called the police about young children walking unescorted. While the charges were dropped, the parents were later also investigated by DCFS for child neglect.

The show Old Enough is quite telling as much for what it says about the society as it does about the individual kids or families. In Japan, elementary school students regularly take public transportation and high speed trains by themselves to school, or even to places like Disneyland. NPR reporter and writer T.R. Reid documented numerous stories like this in his book Confucius Lives Next Door. In many countries throughout Europe and Southeast Asia, the transition between childhood and adulthood can be smoother because it’s not complicated by the age of adolescence. Young people are often in apprenticeships and working full-time by age sixteen.

In fact, American society may actually harm kids more through being overly cautious and convincing them they are not old enough. Robert Epstein, an editor at Psychology Today published a book about the subject called The Case Against Adolescence – Rediscovering the Adult in Every Teen. Basically, Epstein suggests that childhood and specifically adolescence is a uniquely contemporary invention which actually hinders development of children in becoming adults and productive members of the community. Research suggests that for many young people, isolation from responsibility and separation from the adult world results in teens not actually learning to be adults.

Did a Robot Write This Column?

As I sat down at my computer in early January, I planned to share a few musings about “embracing change and navigating the rapids of life in colorful Colorado.” Of course, just like the unpredictable weather up in the Rockies, life has a way of throwing curveballs our way, especially when a publication deadline is looming. So, as I stared at a blank Google Doc, I decided to investigate the phenomenon of ChatGPT.

Technology such as ChatGPT needs a prompt to give it direction, and it allegedly produces “original” writing in the style of other writers. This ability is based on scanning the internet for previously published work, of which I have plenty. So, I prompted the AI software with my name, the words “voice” and “style,” and I added the word “Colorado” for geographical reference.

I instantly received a short essay about standing at the cusp of a new year, reflecting on the inevitable truth that change is as much a part of our lives as the sunshine on a crisp Colorado morning. Whether we’re dealing with the ups and downs of the job market, the ever-shifting landscape of relationships, or the unexpected challenges Mother Nature herself throws our way, change is the one constant we can count on. That change, at least in regards to this column, was some of the most superficial, cliched, and cheesy writing ever done in my name.

Alas, it was then my challenge to take that computer-generated column of babbling nonsense and craft it into something resembling a column. I mean, we all must embrace change, and as a writer and writing teacher, the use of AI is inevitable, so we might as well get used to it. That’s the Colorado spirit, to be sure. Whether it’s a small-town business reimagining its offerings to meet the demands of the modern era or a community coming together to support one another during tough times, our state exemplifies the spirit of resilience.

Of course, just like our favorite hiking trails winding through the mountains, life’s journey is full of twists and turns. As I embraced the unexpected, I thought I should also ask the computer to share some thoughts about education, which is the primary focus of my column. The column is called “Unpacking the Backpack,” suggesting these columns will explain the issues and nuances of public education, such as the complicated nature of how to deal with AI and ChatGPT.

Now, I don’t claim to have all the answers — I’m just a humble observer. So, I asked AI to dive into the bubbling cauldron of thoughts swirling around public education. Apparently, public education is a bit like a hike up a majestic Colorado mountain. It’s challenging, rewarding, and sometimes you might stumble on a loose rock, but the view from the top makes it all worthwhile. Our schools are the training grounds for the next generation of thinkers, dreamers, and doers – the very fabric that weaves our community together.

As a parent and teacher, I’ve seen the strengths and challenges our public education system faces. It’s a complex landscape, much like the diverse terrain of our state, and it requires thoughtful consideration and collective effort to navigate successfully. The educators who dedicate their days to nurturing young minds are like trail guides, helping our students navigate the twists and turns of knowledge and critical thinking. It’s a tough job, and they deserve our admiration as well as the resources and support to help them do their best work.

Of course, just as Colorado weather can be unpredictable, so too are the disparities in our education system. The gap between schools with ample resources and those facing challenges can be as wide as the Continental Divide. It’s time for our communities to ensure every student has access to quality education, regardless of their ZIP code. We need to foster creativity, critical thinking, and adaptability – skills that will serve our students well in the ever-changing landscape of the 21st century.

As we ponder public education in Colorado, we need to come together to discuss, debate, and ultimately shape the education system we want for our kids. We are the stewards of their future, and our decisions today will echo in the halls of tomorrow. And while I still don’t have all the answers, I will say this about education, writing, and ChatGPT – this is undoubtedly the worst I column I have ever not written.