GET OFF THE COUCH
For all of you registered Democrats who plan to skip the primary again this year, think again.
When it comes to a certain Boulder County commissioners race, the June 26 primary is essentially the general election, since no Republicans are running in November.
Elise Jones and Garry Sanfaçon are facing off in the Dem primary for the District 1 seat being vacated by Will Toor. Yes, they are both opposed to fracking and GMOs, but they disagree on how aggressive the county’s approach should be in targeting them.
We’ve been meeting with the candidates, and we’re still considering our endorsements. In the meantime, check them out and decide for yourself (www. EliseJones.org and www.G4BC.org). nificant power wielded by commissioners on our three-member board.
THE COST OF FREEDOM FIGHTING
Leaders of the University of Colorado Boulder student government have tried to separate their little Wyclef Jean concert from the 4/20 smokeout, saying they weren’t trying to make a statement about marijuana. In attempting to justify Jean’s contract language prohibiting him from making references to pot during his show, student leaders said they simply didn’t want to turn it into a political event. Then the administration insisted it had nothing to do with organizing the concert as an alternative to the pot fest.
And yet, in a press release last week, CU officials finally announced how much the administration — and the student government — spent “to curtail 4/20 gathering on CU campus.”
Student leaders, you can’t have it both ways. Either you are actively involved in funding and promoting an effort to crack down on a constitutionally protected protest gathering, or you’re not. We understand that, politics being what they are, it’s hard to please both sides of this issue. But you’re going to have to pick one and stick with it and act proud of defending it.
As for the fact that the CU administration and student government spent nearly $230,000 more on security and other efforts to snuff out this event than they usually do, we hope they got their money’s worth.
Judging by Chancellor Phil DiStefano’s canned quote, he was pleased as punch with contributing the administration’s share — during a time of shriveled higher education funding in Colorado. “I view the university’s commitment of $124,000 as an investment in the health, safety and conduct of basic academic business on the CU-Boulder campus,” he sniffed in the press release.
The thing is, you can’t put a price tag on the negative publicity CU got nationally for its fishy effort to suppress free speech and assembly rights.
Says here the fertilizer only cost CU $699. Yeah, right.
RUN, ZOMBIE!
For those of you who have always subscribed to the “why would I run if no one is chasing me” school of thought, now you have no excuse for your couch potato existence.
On July 14, you can run a 5K obstacle course while being chased by zombies. That’s right, zombies.
A company out of Maryland has created quite a stir with its zombie-infested races, and is now bringing its aptly titled “run for your life” event to Lakewood. At Baltimore’s creepshow of a race last year, more than 10,000 people turned out to either run, watch, or dress like a flesh-eater. Fortunately, there was plenty of publicity before the run so there were no War of the Worlds-type heart attacks or pockets of crazy guys with guns shooting the costumed zombie runners in an effort to defend themselves.
For more information, check out www.runforyourlives.com. Respond: letters@boulderweekly.com
