Listener Chad Robinson of Aurora, Colo., called in to thank us for an emotional interview with Daniel Majok Gai, one of the lost boys of Sudan. Majok Gai has been working in South Sudan building schools with a Colorado-based non-profit but was forced to flee that country after armed rebels came to town.
Robinson says he appreciated the story and all of the emotional stories on Colorado Matters.
Also this week, CPR’s Lesley McClurg spoke with an outfitter in Durango who’s raising money to send young people to avalanche safety school. Hans Flinch, of Denver, wrote that he was very happy to hear Lesley’s story.
“Avalanche awareness is a growing issue with more and more people headed into the backcountry every year,” Flinch wrote.
Flinch also said the organization Friends of Berthoud Pass offers free Avalanche Awareness courses all along the front range in the fall and winter, culminating with two snow sessions in February at Berthoud pass.
Also on Colorado Matters recently, we talked about the limitations of Gross Domestic Product (GDP) as a measure of the economy. Some economists say the measure is inadequate because it doesn't take into account a person's quality of life like time spent commuting to and from work.
This is why some economists in Colorado want the state to also adopt the Genuine Progress Indicator (GPI).
“The bottom line doesn’t look so attractive when you’ve missed years of your and your family’s life because of it,” Arie West of Parker commented on Facebook.
And Charles Hammond of Denver wrote to say that with more people bringing work home, particularly online, those with children are losing the chance to give baths and read bedtime stories.
In a recent conversation with Boulder astrophysicist Jeffrey Bennett, he talked about his new book “Math for Life” which argues that our collective fear of math leads to all sorts of undesirable things: economic woes, political stalemates, etc. Bennett urged listeners to stop declaring: “I’m bad at math!”
Bennett’s plea led Casey Middle School teacher Catherine Powers to make a New Year’s Resolution to stop saying she’s bad at math.
“I have often referred to my ineptitude in math in the classroom,” Powers wrote. “I've used it to emphasize the point about people's brains being wired differently. But Jeff's comments really made me think about how saying 'I'm bad at math' gives permission to kids to dismiss a very important way of thinking.”
And finally, our conversation with photographer Jennifer Goodland about her efforts to document all of Colorado’s cities, towns and hamlets spurred listeners to tell us about some of their favorite small towns in the state.
On our Facebook page, Kelsie Bedard praised La Veta, Colo.
“Some friends of mine have a cabin and a working ranch there and I love it," Bedard wrote. "Absolutely gorgeous scenery and a really charming 4th-of-July parade, among other little joys.”
La Veta is in Huerfano County in Southern Colorado with a population of 700.
Celia Greenman of Lakewood added her love for Last Chance, Colo., about an hour east of Denver.
Greenman said Last Chance is also the last chance for many migrating birds because it has a pond where birds can take a drink. Water in the area is scarce.
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