"The fight for health as a human right, a fight with real promise, has so far been plagued by failures. Failure because we are chronically short of resources. Failure because we are too often at the mercy of those with the power and money to decide the fates of hundreds of millions. Failure because ill health, as we have learned again and again, is more often than not a symptom of poverty and violence and inequality." In a recent "This I believe" archive Dr. Paul Farmer one of the founders of Partners in Health spoke to the notion that, health care should be a human right. Paul is a man that has the potential to make millions of dollars a year, and yet he has chosen, a modest life traveling the world ensuring that people receive health care. He does all of this not for money but, simply because he is passionate about it.
This is what really drew me to Partners in Health, and through them, the FACE AIDS cause. Trying to make a positive contribution in the world seems overwhelming, yes the saying "one person can make a difference" is uplifting but how can we as students in Colorado help make that difference? I was talking to teacher Amanda Leahy today expressing how I felt that CRMS represented a world of its own, there is diversity in ethnicity, race, culture, and economic status, each person here has different strengths and weaknesses that they bring everyday. Through our experiences with school trips, work crew, and active we have the opportunity to discover our own strenghths and weaknesses. We learn to trust one another, and most importantly help one another. Wouldn't it be great to take the lessons we learn through helping and apply it to the world at large.
During the past week it has been really amazing to hear all the stories that have evolved from our Cake Walk fundraiser. Operation Smile not only raised money to help those less fortunate but, has also created many memorable moments with family's and friends at CRMS. Teacerh Kayo Ogilby shared his daughter's excitement while making a princess cake, and the Head of School Leahy house was filled with fun and memories as they made a cake together for this charitable cause. Experiences like these are what truly inspire us. I think often times we gain more then we ever imagined by simply giving what we can.
Find what you are passionate about and dedicate yourself to the cause. CRMS offers a wide range of ways to help and give back: Work crews, Face Aids, Operation Smile, Peace Jam, Random Acts of Kindness club. Possibly these organizations are not what inspire you. Sometimes what stirs your passion doesn't have a preexisting structure, sometimes you have to be the one to begin. When you find a cause that touches you it becomes easy to dedicate yourself to it. Dr. Paul Farmer does not do what he does for recognition, he simply does it because it is the right thing to do. By joining something bigger then yourself it gives you a sense of purpose, a sense that you can make a difference.
With the coming holiday season and the holiday spirit in the air, with a seemingly endless supply of food and gifts it can become easy to forget just how fortunate we are. It can be a time when we take our good fortune for granite or.... we can use the holiday spirit to appreciate what we have,..... and share it with others.
A Haitian proverb says "Beyond mountains there are mountains." In other words as you solve one problem another one often presents itself, one of the great things about CRMS is they shine a light on a lot of the world's problems and give us the tools to problem solve. Before we leave tonight I encourage all of us to take a couple of moments to reflect on a problem that you are passionate about, and think of ways that you can help that cause. -- Katie Grant, 11th grade, Colorado Rocky Mountain School presentation to the entire student body at an evening program
CHEYENNE, Wyo. Some national forests in Wyoming are trimming their budgets, including possible campground closures, as the regional U.S. Forest Service office diverts funds to bark beetle projects.
Colorado Rocky Mountain School is an independent high school in the heart of the Rocky Mountains where student-initiated philanthropic clubs abound. From Operation Smile and Face Aids to Peace Jam and Souls4Souls, CRMS students continually expand their interest in, and fundraising efforts surrounding, global humanitarian causes. And while all these clubs enjoy strong membership, an amazing thing happened the other day when one student proposed starting a Random Acts of Kindness (RAK) chapter. Based on an international foundation that promotes kindness (established in 1995 as a 501c3 nonprofit organization) the Random Acts of Kindness Foundation is a resource for people committed to spreading kindness.
So Grady, a CRMS senior, announces at a weekly all-school meeting that he would like to start a RAK chapter and to simply reply to his email if anyone is interested in being involved. Well, as a small school with only 145 students and 35 faculty/staff, over 55 people immediately responded and joined his effort. So one week into the new RAK club, over one-third of the school is involved in promoting kindness and unexpected gifts of gratitude
Colorado State Senator Dave Schultheis tweeted that President Obama doesn’t want what’s best for the US, doing the same thing the 9/11 hijackers did.
“Let’s roll” were the final words of Todd Beamer, a passenger aboard United Airlines Flight 93, one of the four flights hijacked on September 11 and the only one to crash before reaching its intended target. The flight was diverted to Washington, D.C. after it was hijacked, but crashed in a field near Shanksville, Pennsylvania after passengers tried to thwart the hijackers.
This isn’t Schultheis’s first indication of insensitivity. When he voted against requiring pregnant women to undergo HIV testing, he reasoned, “Poor behavior has its consequences.”
From Jeff Leahy, CRMS Head of School: Last night I had dinner in Tokyo with Taro Tomisawa, who graduated five years ago. Taro works for the Tokyo Foundation, a non-profit that focuses on "developing policy, investing in people, and transforming society". During dinner Taro shared with me that over the course of his time at CRMS doing community service became somewhat of a habit for him. He thinks that this is one of the main values that CRMS has to share with the world, and that this sense of supporting others is not readily found elsewhere. During his time in college and his year in Tokyo he has struggled to find the same amount of opportunities that he felt were so available at CRMS. Today he works in the government area of downtown Tokyo and has taken on an important role in the Foundation - keeping his CRMS legacy alive.
Taxing medical marijuana sales is an idea worth considering, not because it is a potential cash cow for fiscally constrained governments, but because it could raise revenue needed to cover the services the flourishing businesses will require.
But caution is in order. There are some dominoes that need to fall first.
The topic came up again last week, as Denver City Council members Chris Nevitt and Charlie Brown publicly expressed support for imposing a city sales tax on medical marijuana sales. "We've got to tax this damn thing at the city rate, which is 3.62 percent," Brown told us. "We're talking millions of dollars here."
And that may be. But some questions about legality of taxation and the future of medical marijuana have to be answered first. And we think that overall, cities such as Denver ought not look to the emerging industry as a windfall that could close budget gaps.
First, the legality of taxing the commodity is up in the air.
Colorado Attorney General John Suthers is researching the issue, and his decision will turn on whether the substance is deemed a prescription or something more like an herbal remedy.
The latter seems more likely, since marijuana isn't a drug that has been approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration. And herbal remedies are already taxed.
Second, we don't think governments ought to take advantage of the medical marijuana laws in the way that so-called "ganjapreneurs" have been doing.
Meaning, governments would be just as wrong to reap great wads of cash from back-door legalization efforts as are the mass dispensaries, some of which are just barely pretending to be serving the most infirm among us.
Amendment 20, which passed in 2000, did not approve the legalization of marijuana in Colorado, despite the wishful thinking of some.
Furthermore, legislators are poised to address the medical marijuana issue in the upcoming session, which begins in January, and their decisions could seriously affect how medical marijuana is delivered in Colorado. (See Alicia Caldwell's article from today's Perspective section.)
If their decisions shrink the number and reach of distributors, then a basic sales tax should be enough.
But if lawmakers create a structure that encourages a broader distribution model — with attendant regulatory and service requirements — then other fees and taxes would be worth contemplating.
It would seem prudent, we think, to wait until the shape of medical marijuana is more clearly defined before settling on a taxing structure.
It's smart to get ahead of the game and contemplate the tax and revenue-generating alternatives. But we hope governments will exhibit some foresight and restraint before they make decisions they might have to revise once the medical marijuana landscape is clearly defined.
The Colorado ski town of Breckenridge has voted overwhelmingly to legalize marijuana.
Early returns Tuesday night showed the proposal winning with 72 percent of the vote. The measure would allow adults over 21 to have up to 1 ounce of marijuana.
he skiing town of Breckenridge voted Tuesday night by a margin of nearly 3 to 1 to legalize the adult possession of marijuana.
Breckenridge voters passed Measure 2F, which removes criminal penalties from the town code for the private possession of up to one ounce of marijuana by adults 21 and older. The ordinance also removes criminal penalties for the possession of bongs, pipes and other drug paraphernalia.
It passed 73 percent to 27 percent.
"This votes demonstrates that Breckenridge citizens overwhelmingly believe that adults should not be punished for making the safer choice to use marijuana instead of alcohol," said Sean McAllister, a Breckenridge attorney who proposed the ordinance.
The measure's victory is considered symbolic because it conflicts with state and federal laws. However, supporters of the measure say it inches the whole state closer to full legalization.
Other cities around the country have taken similar action in recent years, including a measure in Denver that decriminalized possession of marijuana up to one ounce.
Advocates say the Breckenridge proposal goes further than others because it allows paraphernalia as well. Drug paraphernalia possession in Colorado is considered a petty offense. Though "head shops" selling bongs and pipes are common in Colorado, the wares are ostensibly for smoking tobacco.
Paraphernalia charges are usually only filed along with possession charges. Both are misdemeanors punishable by a $100 fine and court fees.
The penalties aren't serious, but about 100 people a year in Breckenridge are cited for possession of either marijuana or paraphernalia, often both. Supporters of the effort say it's not right to leave small-time pot smokers with a criminal record.
The Breckenridge campaign, which had no formal opposition, received endorsements from Breckenridge Town Councilman Jeffrey Bergeron, Fmr. Colorado State Rep. and Breckenridge resident, Gary Lindstrom, and the Summit Daily News.
Measure 2F was placed on the ballot when more than 1,400 people signed a petition supporting it. It only needed 495 signatures to get on the ballot. The ordinance change will go into effect on Jan. 1, 2010.
Several Breckenridge residents heartily backed the local marijuana effort.
"People think it's a waste of time for the police to be prosecuting these people," said Elisabeth Lawrence, 30. Smoking pot, she said, is "not the worst thing in the world to be doing."
Nancy Skaj, a clerk at a Breckenridge grocery store, said the measure could be a boon for ski tourists who don't have clearance for medical marijuana. "With all the injuries people get skiing up here, instead of popping pills, they should just be doing this. It's a lot more natural," she said.
One of the least-publicized aspect of the mountain pine bark beetle epidemic, which has decimated nearly 2 million acres of trees in Colorado, is the threat it poses to the region's power grid. Whole mountainsides of dead and toppling trees throughout the state raise the specter of disaster on the scale of the great Northeast Blackout of 2003.
The largest power outage in North American history left more than 50 million people in the Midwest and Northeastern United States, as well as parts of Canada, without electricity for up to two days beginning on Aug. 14, 2003. It's estimated the blackout cost up to $6 billion and at least 11 lives.
And it all started with untrimmed trees coming into contact with a power line in rural Ohio.
Every sperm and every egg, fertilized or not, is a living, breathing person, endowed by its Creator with certain inalienable rights. At least, that’s what the proposed 2010 personhood amendment to the Colorado state constitution implies. No, it doesn’t say that literally, but thanks to the vague wording of the amendment, that’s one possible interpretation.
It’s also clear from an article in The Colorado Independent that this is only half of what the amendment’s authors intended.
“It’s intended to account for human beings who may be created through asexual reproduction in laboratories and used as raw material for research, organs, or stem cells. Fertilization would not have properly applied to asexually reproduced humans, but even asexually reproduced human beings have a definite biological beginning,” [Gualberto Garcia] Jones explained. (Jones heads the organization that initiated this year’s amendment)
That this law could be interpreted to include sperm is an ironic example of the law of unintended consequences.
More at the link.Every sperm and every egg, fertilized or not, is a living, breathing person, endowed... more
For nearly a decade, naked pumpkin runners did their thing unmolested, stampeding through the frigid dark past crowds of admirers who hooted, hollered and tossed candy. But last year the run attracted more than 150 participants, and Police Chief Mark Beckner fears things are getting out of hand. "It's a free-for-all," he says.
Voters in this Rocky Mountain resort town will decide next week whether to legalize pot for all adults at a time when the movement to allow medical marijuana is gaining steam around the country.
A measure before Breckenridge voters in Tuesday's municipal election would legalize possession of up to 1 ounce of marijuana along with bongs, pipes and other pot paraphernalia. Supporters of the measure say it would inch the whole state closer to full legalization.
Other cities around the country have taken similar action in recent years, including a measure in Denver that decriminalized possession.
Help us assemble the ultimate Colorado Halloween guide! We've included some of our favorite Halloween events and parties in the slide show below, but we want to know yours. Vote for the best events that we've included, and click the PARTICIPATE button below to add your own. Once you send us your event and photo we'll add it to the slide show for everyone to see and vote on.
Colorado U.S. Sen. Mark Udall Wednesday took his boldest step yet on the road to a national nuclear renaissance as part of a program designed to combat global warming. He introduced the Nuclear Energy Research Initiative Improvement Act of 2009 in a lengthy speech on the Senate floor in which he acknowledged he was likely stepping on an environmental landmine.
"For some, news that a Udall is speaking favorably about nuclear power will come as a stark - and perhaps unpleasant - surprise. But I also believe public and expert opinion on the risks and benefits of nuclear power has changed," Udall said, referencing the 1979 Three Mile Island power plant meltdown and the industry's struggle to improve its public image in the ensuing three decades.
Organizers of last Saturday's annual Zombie Mall Crawl are being forced by the Downtown Denver Partnership to pay $1,000 to clean up the fake blood that was left on store fronts, banners and buses this weekend.
The event's organizer, Daniel Newman, told Westword Wednesday that the Downtown Denver Partnership considered the residual fake blood to be akin to graffiti:
"Basically, the Downtown Denver Partnership, the guys who manage the mall, without e-mailing us or asking us if we could help clean up, considered all the fake blood to be the same as graffiti and handed it to that department," Newman says. "So we got a little over $1,000 worth of reimbursement charges for graffiti cleanup."Organizers of last Saturday's annual Zombie Mall Crawl are being forced by the... more
Via the Boulder Daily Camera: attendees at this year's Zombie Mall Crawl were a little more active than your average undead. Not satisfied with typical zombie routine of wandering around and repeating the word "brains," this year's zombies broke into a well-choreographed rendition of Beyonce's "All The Single Ladies" reminiscent of the iconic Michael Jackson "Thriller" video.Via the Boulder Daily Camera: attendees at this year's Zombie Mall Crawl were a little... more
Students at the Colorado Rocky Mountain School, an institution that teaches sustainable and environment practices, offer some solutions on how Americans can be more sustainable in their food disposable.Students at the Colorado Rocky Mountain School, an institution that teaches... more
The creation of a sustainable future will require the development of conservation practitioners with a strong foundation in science, leadership, and management. In addition, these practitioners will need to engage in cross-disciplinary problem solving, to understand cross-cultural and cross-boundary issues, and to be comfortable operating adaptively in an environment of increasing complexity and uncertainty.
Through the Conservation Leadership through Learning (CLTL) initiative, we are pioneering a new model for graduate education that will prepare the next generation of conservation leaders. CLTL merges transdisciplinary University education with real-world action to create on-the-ground benefits for conservation and communities. The result is a highly integrated learning experience developed by Colorado State University’s Warner College of Natural Resources and the School of Global Environmental Sustainability in partnership with El Colegio de la Frontera Sur (ECOSUR) in Mexico.
Accepting Applications Now - Start Date August 23, 2010Conservation at a Crossroads -
The creation of a sustainable future will require... more
Real estate brokers say that Colorado's medical-marijuana law has sparked a land rush, as entrepreneurs lured by a growing number of licensed users search for properties for growing or selling pot.
In a down real estate market, landlords who might otherwise wait for more conventional tenants are snapping at the opportunity presented by medical-marijuana dispensaries, said Darrin Revious, a broker with Shames Makovsky Realty.Real estate brokers say that Colorado's medical-marijuana law has sparked a land rush,... more
