Christopher Bowman Died (1-10-08)

[dewey]

"However, on another level, I have a hard time because he has money that he hides in order to collect goverment assistance."

While I understand the ethical objection, disability payments do not amount to much, and people who collect disability are very limited in how much they are allowed to earn on their own. In my flute teacher's case, she is only allowed to earn $500 per month on top of disability. The only reason she gets by is that her parents scrimped and pinched to leave her a small trust fund. In the case of my family friend, the money her parents left her will run out in the next 10-15 years, and disability does not cover all of her living expenses. She is trying to sell her condo hoping that the proceeds will carry her for a few more years and has moved into subsidized housing for disabled people. So people have to make a lot of hard choices. And my frustration is that many disabled people can do something given enough patience and flexibility, but the "system" and most jobs are so rigid in their requirements ...

 

[heyang]

"However, on another level, I have a hard time because he has money that he hides in order to collect goverment assistance."

While I understand the ethical objection, disability payments do not amount to much, and people who collect disability are very limited in how much they are allowed to earn on their own. In my flute teacher's case, she is only allowed to earn $500 per month on top of disability. The only reason she gets by is that her parents scrimped and pinched to leave her a small trust fund. In the case of my family friend, the money her parents left her will run out in the next 10-15 years, and disability does not cover all of her living expenses. She is trying to sell her condo hoping that the proceeds will carry her for a few more years and has moved into subsidized housing for disabled people. So people have to make a lot of hard choices. And my frustration is that many disabled people can do something given enough patience and flexibility, but the "system" and most jobs are so rigid in their requirements ...

My personal issue with his situation is that he has more money in the bank than my friend does. He's got enough to pay off 1/2 of their mortgage with no worries and still has income from stocks. He's also working on starting up a business. I know he would have a hard time dealing with the stress of a 9-5 type job, but I would just be unhappy if his business venture is very succesful and yet he continued to collect disability.

 

[cassieandcheetah]

How many posters here absolutely need speed in skating? I much prefer skating to the music at the appropriate speed even if it looks slow to others.

The slow revolutions on that camel were totally in sync with the music. That is text book speed at its most goregous.

Joe

I'm sorry Joe, but I saw clips of Christopher Bowman's skates, and I can tell he's noticeably slower in general than other fellow elite skaters. I don't think it was a matter of trying to be in sync with the music. His jumps were gorgeous and his expression was first rate of course, but when it came to speed, I honestly don't think it was a matter of choice, because even to my naked eye, he seemed so much slow compared to the other top skaters I've seen in the past. And I think some others have mentioned this as well.

As for Carolina, granted she hasn't had very many good long programs so far in her career, but I would have her any day than the slow Caroline Zhang.

 

[purplecat]

I've been offline for two weeks with modem problems so this is the first time I've been able to comment on Chris' untimely passing. I let out a huge gasp when they said "local figure skater dies" up next on the news and I saw video of Chris skating. He was one of my first favorite skaters and it saddens me so that he passed away at such a young age. I loved the landing of his jumps and his charisma. He will be missed.

 

[dewey]

My personal issue with his situation is that he has more money in the bank than my friend does. He's got enough to pay off 1/2 of their mortgage with no worries and still has income from stocks. He's also working on starting up a business. I know he would have a hard time dealing with the stress of a 9-5 type job, but I would just be unhappy if his business venture is very succesful and yet he continued to collect disability.

I didn't mean to imply that I was questioning your opinion; I just wanted to share with others the difficulties that many people face. As you illustrated, every situation is unique.

 

[jmld9801]

Christopher Bowmam Memorial Web page

I've been offline for two weeks with modem problems so this is the first time I've been able to comment on Chris' untimely passing. I let out a huge gasp when they said "local figure skater dies" up next on the news and I saw video of Chris skating. He was one of my first favorite skaters and it saddens me so that he passed away at such a young age. I loved the landing of his jumps and his charisma. He will be missed.

Hi everyone,

Just yesterday I was finally able to get on Chris Bowman's web site (through google search) and there is a link on the home page to a memorial page for Chris where you can light a candle, leave a flower or write a message for the guest book. There are a few sites like this around the web, but this is the one his web site links to. It's a nice tribute to him. Just thought I'd share.

Looking forward to Nationals and hoping they mention Chris.