Metro, University of St. Thomas and Denis' Seafood

 Card Report

Useless: What a screw-up ["Queue Card," Hair Balls, by Richard Connelly, February 7]. I got a loft downtown about four weeks ago. Getting a Metro ticket with cash is hit or miss. Half the time the kiosks don't work. The other half I'm telling people how to use them. I registered online with Metro to have them send me one four weeks ago. Nothing. Again, two weeks ago. Nothing. What a useless piece of crap the Metro Rail is. I'm walking from now on.

Name withheld by request
Houston

Cauldron Control

Houstoned blog readers respond to "Keep Your Hands Off My Copy: Cauldron Advisor Nicole Casarez Resigns," by Richard Connelly, February 15.

Go Casarez! She was the best professor I ever had — too bad the University of St. Thomas has lost such a fine educator.

Sarah

Bad rep: Nicole Casarez is one of the best professors at UST. The university will not be able to find another advisor with the knowledge, experience, dedication and intelligence to replace her.

It is a shame that the university does not understand the value of an independent student press — both for the students who work on it and for the university community as a whole. The university's treatment of the Cauldron staff and advisor over the last year or so has damaged its reputation in the eyes of many, me included.

Valerie

Hostile environment: The UST administration should be ashamed that it has allowed one of its more talented faculty advisors to walk away due to the hostile environment it has fostered against free speech. Keep fighting the good fight, Prof. Casarez.

Bobby L. Warren

Attention, please: I'm happy to see this has gotten some outside attention. Professor Casarez is one of the only good professors I've had at UST, and she and the Cauldron staffers have been treated horribly.

lauren

PR rag: It's too bad that the administration decided the Cauldron would be more valuable as a PR rag than a training ground for student journalists. On a campus full of phonies hiding behind Catholic dogma, Casarez is one of the few who taught and practiced ethics.

Erika

Go underground: This was not an overnight event. The administration has been systematically eroding student control over the Cauldron for many years. It is insupportable that the higher-ups have allowed this to happen; even worse is that many members of UST's student government, as well as certain university employees, were willing participants and, at times, instigators in trying to squelch news stories. As many of us former Cauldron staffers have said for years, "We can always do an underground paper." Now's the time, folks.

Lonne

Publish online: In this age when the printed word is unfortunately being replaced with the online publication of news and events, why not produce a Web site and transfer content over to an independent address online where the university cannot exercise editorial control?

Meg

Dining at Denis'

Online readers comment on "Cajun Gets a Crewcut," by Robb Walsh, January 31.

Slow service: We had a decent dinner there one night, but the service was slow and it wasn't even busy. The lack of service will keep us from going back.

Comment by Vim

The old pebble trick: The fact that you went there four times is all the proof I need that you like the place. And I can't believe you guys tried to get a free meal by using the pebble trick, geez.

Comment by Pete

Get it together: Denis' is all Disney at the new location ... all flash and no get-go from the staff. Great oysters, I agree, and some of the fish ranks tops in the city. I hope they get it together for the sake of my business happy hours; I really like the patio. We could have great dinners and boogie down.

Comment by richie brown

Charles in charge: We eat the fresh fish at Denis' about once a week. The food is consistently fresh and tasty. In addition to those oysters, we like the seafood salsa, rainbow trout and peanut butter pie. Ask to sit in Charles's section to cure your service woes. He's quite possibly the best waiter in Houston.

Comment by Mary

Thanks for the review: The manager sounds like a complete jerk. No wonder the service is lousy. Why waste money and time on poor service anywhere? Inconsistent food quality aside (even the thought of getting a great meal, if you're lucky on your visit), life's too short to put up with crap. Sounds like a place that's long on sizzle but short on substance. I'd wanted to try the place. No chance in hell.

Comment by JB

Chill out: We are regulars at Denis' Seafood and have always had great experiences. The seafood salsa is the best in Houston, the fish has always been fresh, and the desserts are some of my favorites in town. We've never had a problem with the service, but you can't always expect it to be perfect, so chill out, dude — have another martini!

Comment by Rob