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Letters to the Editor Blog

Posted by Camera Staff

Steve Crider: Thanks to the community on need for kidney transplant

Posted February 21, 2008

A heartfelt thanks to the Camera, its warm reporter Yu Miao and many in the community who have taken the time to offer support for my daughter Kelsey and her need for a donated kidney, re: Camera news story in last Sunday's paper. Our family has heard from several potential donors who are interested in more information on the transplant process, which is a gift of life to another. The key to helping Kelsey is finding a potential donor who is a blood type 0, in general good health and who has the personal desire to offer a part of themselves to another in need. We are grateful to those who have expressed interest and we have no expectations of potential donors as the process unfolds, just thanks.

Anyone who has the desire to help or just has interest can write us at:
kcriderkidneydonation@yahoo.com

Our Best to You and Yours,

Steve Crider
Father, for Kelsey
Boulder

Student Spotlight: Clara Granger and Isabel Lippincott

Clara Grainger and Isabel Lippincott

Clara is an eighth-grader at Southern Hills Middle School in Boulder, and Isabel is a seventh-grader at Horizons K-8 charter school in Boulder

Accomplishment: After reading that the Boulder Fire Department didn't have enough money to buy oxygen masks for pets involved in fires, the girls called the fire department and asked what they could do to help.

Clara and Isabel created more than 100 "O2 Beads" bracelets and sold them to friends, neighbors and at King Soopers. They raised more than $475 to donate to the fire department.

Q: How did you come up with the idea to make bracelets to raise money?

A: We read an article in the Daily Camera, and we both love animals, have pets and thought that it was needed.

Q: Has the fire department purchased any oxygen masks with the money you raised?

A: As far as we know, they have not purchased oxygen masks with the money that we raised, but they plan to keep in touch with us, and inform us when they do.

Q: What do you like the most about middle school?

Isabel: I enjoy learning, and I think that Horizon has a great education program.

Clara: I appreciate how hard the teachers work to provide students with a valuable education.

Q: If you could change one thing about middle school, what would it be?

Isabel: I wish that everyone got along better, and I wish that there weren't cliques.

Clara: I wish that there were no cliques, and that everyone would accept people for who they are.

Q: What makes a good teacher?

Isabel: A teacher that listens well and is willing to sit down and explain something to you makes a good teacher.

Clara: A good teacher understands a student's weaknesses and strong points, and is willing to work with them to help them succeed.

Q: What was the last book you read?

Isabel: "Lost in a Good Book," by Jasper Fforde.

Clara: "Life As We Knew It," by Susan Beth Pfeffer.

Q: What do you do for fun?

Isabel: I am a competitive gymnast. I also enjoy beading.

Clara: I play soccer and a little volleyball. I also like doing artsy things such as beading.

Q: What's your dream job?

Isabel: I think it would be fun to work with animals in some way.

Clara: I want to either be a vet or a teacher.

BVSD to offer local, all-natural burritos

Official says new menu will be expanded if they're successful

By Miao Yu, For the Camera
Sunday, February 24, 2008

More students in the Boulder Valley School District will have a chance to taste all-natural, locally produced burritos starting Feb. 29.

The school district launched a pilot program in January at seven schools offering burritos produced by Phil's Fresh Foods in Boulder. The rest of the district will now be getting the bean-and-cheese burritos.

The burritos the school district previously purchased came from a national company on the East Coast, which serves more than 1,000 school districts in the country, said Linda Stoll, BVSD's food service director.

"We are always looking for ways to improve the lunch menus in the school district to provide more natural, more organic food to our students," Stoll said.

The district approached Phil's Fresh Foods, a producer of organic foods that sells more than 25,000 burritos a week in Colorado and 36 other states.

Philip Anson, founder of company, said the burritos he sells in stores such as Whole Foods contain 100 percent organic and locally grown ingredients.

"At this point, the school district can't afford all-organic ingredients," Stoll said. But, she said, with no additives or preservatives, the burritos' natural ingredients are still a positive change.

The cost of the new meal remains the same as the current lunch price. Students get the burrito, with corn chips, salsa, shredded lettuce, tomato and choice of fruit for $2.50.

Stoll said if the program is well-received, the district will look for more local providers next year.

Quinn McDonald, a fourth-grader at Bear Creek Elementary, said "healthy" is the most important characteristic of a good meal.

"If I don't think the lunch at school is healthy, I'll bring my own lunch," Quinn said.

Kelly Gilbert, a fifth-grader, said students in her social studies class have set up their own "Congress" and passed bills that would make the school better, including one on healthier school lunches.

A new salad bar will be added to the school's cafeteria after spring break.

"We'll get a more balanced diet, between the greens and the nutritious food," Kelly said. "I'm really happy this is happening." photo: Bear Creek Elementary School fourth-grader Madison Oberbreckling, 9, laughs with friends while eating lunch Thursday. The Boulder Valley School District is giving new lunch options to students by beginning to offer locally produced, all-natural foods on the menu. 

Students lend a hand with tax forms

Boulder TEC volunteers help complete returns

By Yu Miao, For the Camera
Sunday, February 17, 2008

Fernando Alvarez, 34, moved to Colorado from Guadalajara, Mexico, three years ago. Working in an energy-bar factory, he is able to pick up simple English, but filling out a tax-return form for a family of four is not an easy task.

One recent Thursday afternoon, he and his family sought free assistance on filing income taxes at the Boulder Technical Education Center. There, he met Monica Antolan, a senior at Arapahoe Ridge High School in Boulder, who volunteers at the center.

Antolan's ability to speak fluent Spanish has made things much easier. As Alvarez's two little girls, 5 and 7, sucked on lollipops, giggled and chatted away in Spanish, their tax form was completed with help from Antolan and an adult volunteer.

This is Antolan's second year volunteering at the center. "I really enjoy working with money," she said.

She got the opportunity through her banking and accounting class at Boulder TEC, an extracurricular course she takes for two hours and 45 minutes every day.

Her teacher, Sean McCoy, also a city councilman in Longmont, came up with the idea four years ago to bring his class to help people preparing tax-return forms. About 25 students have participated in the program, and hundreds of people have taken advantage of the service over the years.

The program is part of the nationwide Volunteer Income Tax Assistance program, created by the Internal Revenue Service in 1969. Even though people nationwide with low to moderate incomes -- generally $40,000 and below for an individual -- enjoy free tax-return service, McCoy said it's unique to have high school students involved as assistants.

Students are required to take online training with the IRS, to pass tests and to receive at least an intermediate-level certificate. An IRS agent helps students prepare for the tests.

Krystal Lenertz, a sophomore at Monarch High School in Louisville, worked as a volunteer last year. She just received her advanced certificate from the IRS and decided to work again this year.

"It's a good career-leading path," Lenertz said. "It doesn't just help with banking. It helps in real-life situations once you get out of school."

BHS grad fights kidney battle

Organ transplant fails, putting Kelsey Crider's life on hold

By Yu Miao, For the Camera
Sunday, February 17, 2008

At Boulder High School's graduation last June, Kelsey Crider proudly wore her cap, gown and a pair of big, white sunglasses.

Knowing she would soon attend Fort Lewis College in Durango to pursue her dream of being a photographer, Crider was confident and carefree.

Two weeks after graduation, though, she was diagnosed with medullary cystic kidney disease, a hereditary disorder in both kidneys. Doctors at several hospitals determined that Crider's kidneys functioned at only 12 percent -- and that a transplant was needed.

Crider and her family were dumbfounded. She had never suffered any previous symptoms.

"My first reaction to all this was that it's not the hugest deal," said Crider, 18, "because I was focusing on college."

But she soon found out that she had to give up her plan to attend college in the fall. In September, she started dialysis treatment, a four-hour blood cleansing procedure that had to be done three times a week. Meanwhile, the family started looking for a possible donor.

Crider's father, Steve Crider, was a match. The transplant surgery was done at the University Hospital in Denver on Oct. 31.

Steve Crider recovered quickly and was released from the hospital three days after the surgery.

But Kelsey Crider's body soon began to reject the new organ. She went through a second surgery to adjust the position of the kidney, and doctors gave her medication to fight the rejection. She ended up staying in the hospital for most of November and the first part of December. She got pneumonia twice and had to go into the intensive-care unit for 24-hour-watch.

"The first time in the ICU, I was up the whole night," Kelsey said. "I was really sick, and I had the highest fever. They had to chill down the room to freezing cold. I was so nauseous, and I couldn't breathe."

Her mother said she was "scared to death" for Kelsey.

"I couldn't help," Debbie Crider said. "That was the hardest."

An ultrasound later determined there was no blood flow to and from the new kidney, and it had to be removed.

On Dec. 3, a third surgery took the kidney out of Kelsey's body. After she fell asleep that night, her mother went into the bathroom and began to weep.

"I couldn't stop it. I asked myself, 'Why her?' 'Why Kelsey?' 'Why didn't this work?'"

Kelsey also asked those questions to herself at the beginning, but then she stopped, not wanting to be a victim anymore.

"You can't keep asking, 'Why? Why? Why?' Because no one is going to answer," she said.

Kelsey is now recovering from her surgeries at home. She is again doing dialysis three days a week.

Her name is on the waiting list of the United Network for Organ Sharing.

There are more than 98,000 candidates nationwide who are waiting for an organ, according to the nonprofit's Web site, and it usually takes years to be matched with a kidney from the newly deceased.

"We don't want to wait," Debbie Crider said. "Kelsey is ready to start her life. She wants to go to college."

The family is seeking a living donor -- more than 1,000 e-mails have been sent to friends, associates and business contacts -- but responses are slim.

"I think people don't have enough information on what this is all about," Steve Crider said. "They don't know people can do very well with one kidney."

Student spotlight: Cayla Kennedy, seventh-grader at Platt Middle School in Boulder

Cayla Kennedy, seventh-grader at Platt Middle School in Boulder

Accomplishment: Cayla won Platt Middle School's spelling bee and will be going to the district spelling bee later in February. She is also part of the school's seventh-grade team that participated in the Brain Bowl, an academic trivia competition, in January. Her team lost by one point in the final round and placed second in the competition.

Q: What do you like about the spelling bee?

A: I like it because it makes me better at spelling, enlarges my vocabulary and improves my understanding of language.

Q: Do you have any tricks or tips for spelling bee success?

A: Practice with your friends that are also in the spelling bee. That helped me a lot. There are also books and Web sites that have great spelling words and tips. I kept a notebook with all my spelling words I was practicing and used any time I had, including in the car or on the bus.

Q: What's your favorite thing about school?

A: The library, my friends and figuring out what I want to do in life.

Q: If you could change anything about school, what would it be?

A: I would definitely have longer passing periods. Our school only has three minutes, and sometimes that is not enough time to go from one side to the other. I would also like to have more foreign language choices.

Q: What makes a good teacher?

A: A good teacher has to have a sense of humor and encourage individuality as well as teamwork.

Q: What was the last book you read?

A: The last book I read. ... I've read 40 since school started this year -- yes, I'm addicted to reading. The book I just finished was "The Book Without Words: A Fable of Medieval Magic" by Avi. The book I'm reading now is "The Mousetrap and Other Plays" by Agatha Christie.

Q: What do you like to do for fun?

A: Wow, a lot of things -- reading, knitting, playing with my dog, cooking, building houses for the poor in Mexico, Dance Dance Revolution, biking, swimming, listening to music, making jewelry and traveling.

Q: What do you want to be when you grow up?

A: Author/editor, chef, head librarian of the Library of Congress -- I was voted most likely to be this in fifth grade.

Taste of home: Kim's Thai dishes up family-style meals for Thai students

By Yu Miao Camera Staff Writer
Wednesday, February 6, 2008

As a newcomer to Boulder, Pakorn Petchprayoon misses everything back in Thailand. Especially the food.

His favorite dish is called rad na. It's a type of wide rice noodles in gravy, with meat, shrimp or tofu. "It's good for a cold winter day," says the Ph.D. the student in the University of Colorado's geography department. "It warms me up."

When Petchprayoon has a craving for rad na and other familiar dishes, he heads to Brother Kim's Thai Avenue Rice and Noodles on the Hill. For many Thai students, the modest restaurant serves as a base camp in Boulder. They can usually be found at a large, round table at the front, eating together. At lunch, they usually order off the menu; at dinner they often eat off-menu dishes family-style from several communal platters. And as with any family meal, a communal dinner at Kim's can also include chores; students sometimes help him with cleanup and taking orders.

The family atmosphere is comfortable for Owner Kim Hongpananon, who opened the business four years ago. When he was a boy in Bangkok, the front part of his house was a noodle shop run by his mother. He and his eight brothers and sisters all helped with the business. His job was to get up early every morning to go to the market, and bring home the freshest seafood.

"The food I serve here is street food," Hongpananon says. "... I think that's the best food in Thailand."

Street food is a staple of life in Thailand, found along sidewalks of big streets and small alleys, at marketplaces, bus stops, in front of schools and office buildings. Many of the ubiquitous noodle stalls and barbecue stands are run by families, with mobile woks and pots for on-the-spot cooking.

Hongpananon, 49, has worked to create a bit of the Thai street scene in Boulder. During lunch hour, two woks work nonstop, dishing up more than 100 orders of noodles, stir-fry and fried rice.

The prices are reasonable and portions are generous. Lunch and dinner cost the same. All entrees with choice of chicken, pork, beef, tofu are priced at $5.50, add $1 for shrimp.

"I'm just a little guy here," Hongpananon says. "I don't advertise, because I want to keep my food price low."

The most-ordered dishes on his menu are Pad Thai and Pad Sie Eiw. The latter, known as street noodle in English, is made of thick rice noodles stir-fried with egg and mixed vegetables in sweet soy sauce. At off-hours, Hongpananon sometimes makes special requests from the students, such as Petchprayoon's rad na.

CU's Thai students are a small group of mostly 30-something students. Old ones leave and new ones come every semester, and most of them have met Hongpananon.

"They even bring their parents to come to see me,'" said Hongpananon, "That makes me happy. I'm very grateful for that."

Before the restaurant opened, Thai students used to get together for potlucks at friends' houses every so often. "After Kim opened the place, we all became lazy," says Karuna Wiwattanakantang, a Ph.D. student in economics, who has been in Boulder for nearly eight years. "We say, 'why don't we just come here to eat.'"

Brother Kim's family-style menu seldom repeats. Sometimes it's choo-chee plah ga-pong, a whole fish in thick red curry sauce; sometimes it is som tam, Thai papaya salad. Or there is larb, a spicy and sour salad containing meat, onions, chilies, roasted rice powder and garnished with mint. He often prepares a big plate of gai lan, or Chinese broccoli, a dark green vegetable with long stems. The slightly bitter taste balances well with oyster sauce.

Can any customer order an off-menu dish?

At Hongpananon's discretion. He does not prepare such dishes at peak times or if the ingredients aren't on hand. And he says he would be unable to handle a large number of special requests.

In addition, the students often seek foods not pleasing to American palates.

"Most Americans like sweet foods. That's why a lot of Asian foods in the U.S. are really sweet," Hongpananon said, adding that he tries to use ingredients that are as close as possible to the ones he would use in Thailand.

For many Thai students, brother Kim's Thai Avenue is not just a restaurant. It's a place for them to hang out, to meet other Thai friends, to reaffirm their own cultural identity in a foreign land.

"Everything here is comfortable for me," says Petchprayoon.

Student Spotlight: Charlotte Keating, a 4-year-old at Fireside Preschool in Louisville

Charlotte Keating, a 4-year-old at Fireside Preschool in Louisville.

Accomplishment: Charlotte was diagnosed with a seizure disorder as an infant and is challenged by uncontrollable seizures. And yet, she has learned her ABCs, to count, to sing her favorite songs and to participate fully and happily in her preschool routine.

She is well-liked by her classmates and has a special ongoing friendship, said her teacher, Francess Reda.

"The most remarkable thing about this child," Reda said, "is that after a seizure, when she regains consciousness, she says 'thank you' to all of her caregivers with a heart full of love."

Q: What's your favorite thing about preschool?

A: Playing house and going to the park.

Q: What's your favorite song?

A: "Five Little Monkeys," "Five Little Charlottes," and "You Are My Sunshine."

Q: What's the best present you've ever gotten?

A: Big Santa gave me "Tickle Me Elmo."

Q: What's your favorite book?

A: "Brown Bear, Brown Bear, What Do You See?" and "The Smallest Dinosaurs."