By any other name
I'm so sorry that many of the residents of the recently "branded" Springwells Village don't appreciate their section of Detroit being so named without their input. Totally understandable and a real snafu in community-building. I lived there for a few years with my family in a little house on Lawndale when I was in elementary school. I'm recently retired from a job out of state and returned to see the old neighborhood flourishing, and the house, which my parents eventually lost, still standing. I still love this neighborhood and hope to help it in some way in the future, perhaps through help with grant writing. I do like the name given to it, only because 1) it's a lovely sounding name and 2) it's fast and easy to I.D. the neighborhood's location. But I don't really care what the residents there ultimately decide to call it, if anything. I used to tell people that our first house was in Southwest Detroit down by the Ambassador Bridge, west of what is now Mexicantown, and on Lawndale south of Vernor Highway — a real mouthful. Recently, I have just been saying that I lived in Springwells Village, which most folks here have recognized for some reason.
—Christine Blackwell, Bloomfield Hills
Put MT to the test?
Congratulations on the article "Left Behind" about the revamped GED exam. But I feel the editors of Metro Times were remiss. Just like you paid a reporter to ride the People Mover for a day and report on it, MT should have paid the $150 and had the reporters take the GED test and then publish their scores. I assume that Dan McGraw and Ryan Felton are in college or college graduates. The test should be a piece of cake. The article included one math question. I'd like to see, after they took the test, what they felt were some of the hardest questions. In fact, I would like some members of our state Legislature take a sample of some of the questions on the test.
Also, the article had that "beat around the bush" feel to it. Name dropping Bill Gates and then immediately not following it up with the fact that the test is now computerized and only available on the Internet at a cost of more than five times it was in the past, makes it quite hard for the average reader to connect the dots. I always believe in following the money, and who is making money with this revamped GED exam? I see the biggest purchaser of the exam to be the Department of Corrections and Social Services, and thus the taxpayer gets hit with the bill.
—Ed Chaczyk, via the Internet
Dispensing justice
We received a number of comments on Larry Gabriel's Jan. 28 Higher Ground column about regulating Detroit's marijuana dispensaries. Reader "Tom Purcell" wrote:
For instance, Pam Weinstein of Rosedale Park asks, "Do we want the kind of business that invites holdups and robbery and gunplay?"
Those are the pharmacies dispensing Oxycontin, Oxycodone and the other narcotics.
Keep your hat on
We received a number of colorful comments for posting a video of the mysterious "naked cowboy" walking down I-75 during the snowstorm on Sunday:
• He's not naked since he's wearing a hat.
• My grandma used to tell us you lose 90 percent of your body heat through your head, so wear a hat.
• Kid Rock is really getting desperate.
• A cowboy hat don't make you a cowboy. Cowboys don't do stupid shit like that.
• Michigan's version of Punxsutawney Phil.
• Pure Michigan!
• If this was a black man, not only would he be deemed not fit to live in society, but he would be called other derogatory things and possibly even shot down ... ridiculous, this shit is not cute.
• A man having a psychotic episode. It's a good thing people stopped to call the police; they probably saved his life.
• Not to be a downer, but removing one's clothes is a fairly common sign of advanced hypothermia. Most often seen shortly before unconsciousness, a person may report feeling very warm as well as becoming delusional or confused, and may remove articles of clothing to "cool down." You'd be surprised how many bodies are found naked by search and rescue.
• Hypothermia is a medical emergency. If you see someone naked or acting strangely in cold weather, please don't assume it's a joke — contact 911 and follow the dispatcher's directions.
