Students and staff are unsure of what to expect on CU’s campus this Saturday, April 20. In previous years, namely 2009, 2010 and 2011, students have gathered on Norlin Quad on the 4/20 “holiday” to smoke and protest marijuana’s illegality. However, with Amendment 64 in place and the administration’s closure of campus that will put limitations on who can get close to Norlin Quad, there is an air of uncertainty surrounding how Saturday will play out.

Sophomore physics major Daniel Ellis Schwartz leads a crowd in protest against the university’s handling of 4/20.  Will there be the same sort of rebellion from students this year? (CU Independent/James Bradbury File)

Colin Wichman, a communications major who was elected this spring as a representative on the Arts and Sciences Student Government, did not take a stance on whether or not students should be able to smoke on Norlin Quad.

“I didn’t realize until I was into student government that it was a hot topic of debate and tension,” Wichman said. “I think it represents as a whole a bad image for CU, but students will do whatever they want to do, regardless of consequences. It is still a recreational activity. The protection of the people and student should be bigger priority.”

Alex Martin, an engineering student, feels the campus should be open rather than closed on Saturday.

“I think we should stop arguing over it so it isn’t a big deal,” Martin said. “[The administration] should allow our campus to be open to the public.”

As for Amendment 64, Martin feels that it “points out the flaws in the American government.”

Roy Romero, an open option major, feels that the 4/20 events held at CU have given the school a bad image.

“[CU] is an educational institution. Marijuana doesn’t enhance or help others,” Romero said. “I believe it is a day when unmotivated people get together, celebrate and get away from the real world and have an excuse to get high.”

Contact CU Independent Breaking News Editor Alyx Saupe at Alyx.saupe@colorado.edu.

After CU administration enforced stricter 4/20 regulations last year by closing the campus to visitors and anyone who is not a student or staff member, the annual marijuana smoke-out was lessened, but not squelched. On Saturday, campus will be closed again to visitors and outsiders, but CU Student Government, who played a role in regulating 4/20 last year, has taken take a different approach.

“We really felt that a lot of what was missing last year was the lack of student voices, so we reached out to students and tried to hear their perspective,” Lora Roberts, communications director for the student government, said.

Student government representatives and Student Body President Brittni Hernandez created a task force of about a dozen students this year that connected friends, colleagues and peers to hear past 4/20 experiences and expectations.

What they learned was that students were largely unhappy with the administration’s 2012 strategies. As a result, the use of fish fertilizer on Norlin Quad will not be repeated again this Saturday.

Wyclef Jean preforms his final song “Carnival” at the 4/20 concert with half of the crowd on stage. (CU Independent/Andrew Kaczmarek)

In 2012, CUSG hired artist Wyclef Jean to play a free show at Coors Events Center on 4/20, which saw an extremely low turnout despite their financial investment.

Ultimately, the student government spent $154,236.18 on 4/20 in 2012, about $25,000 more than the administration spent, according to a university news release. Almost all of the CUSG funds were used directly for the concert, but also included parking and transportation.

This year, student government will not spend any money directly on 4/20, Roberts said, including

“CUSG chose to not hold a concert this year because, as we listened to students’ input, many expressed that they did not want student fee dollars going into a concert that many felt was not very successful last year,” Roberts said.

All of the money spent on regulating the enclosed campus this year will come from insurance rebates to the campus, which means that tuition money will not be used to supervise 4/20.

“Our hope is that a long-term solution will include an open campus, minimized police presence, and remove the need for ID checks,” Roberts said.

To provide input, contact the student government office at cusg.communications@colorado.edu.

Contact CU Independent Breaking News Editor Alyx Saupe at Alyx.saupe@colorado.edu.

On Wednesday, panelists Robert Egger, Gooding, Alicia Robb and Keith Harmon Snow spoke at the Conference on World Affairs’ event entitled “Veganism: We Have to Stop Meating Like This.” As dozens of people filed into the room, seats filled up fast and nearly 20 people sat on the ground to listen to and participate in the panel.

Robert Egger
-”Americans throw away 40 percent of food that is produced.”
-Egger also noted that people, especially younger generations, are starting to become more aware of what they are eating.
-L.A. Kitchen, founded by Egger, is working to create a waste-free kitchen, and he aims to minimize waste.

Gooding
-Gooding described himself as a “cheating vegan.” He is always vegan at home, but on the road, he said, it is sometimes difficult.
-He described how well, physically and emotionally, he felt after adopting a vegan diet.

Alicia Robb
– “I could be a vegan and drive a Hummer around the world a couple times and still have a lower environmental impact than a meat eater.”
– She is a vegetarian who tries to eat mostly vegan, and she hasn’t eaten meat for over 25 years.
– She emphasized buying organic and local.
– She stated that a vegan diet is good for health, for the planet and for the animals.

Keith Harmon Snow
– Snow discussed how items labeled “cruelty-free” by PETA (People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals) only refer to animals being treated humanely. He pointed out that the items do not mention the human slave-labor behind the products and that it is something to be aware of.
– Snow recommended that people raise their own food to minimize their environmental impact.

Contact CU Independent Assistant Breaking News Editor Alyx Saupe at Alyx.saupe@colorado.edu.

According to a press release released today by UCPD, two CU students, Nicholas Busbey, 23, and Marshall Pedder, 21, were arrested on suspicion of unlawful sale of a controlled substance on Monday.

A CU employee allegedly saw Busbey “remove a pill from a prescription drug bottle and provide it to Pedder for $5″ in the lobby of the C4C right before noon. The two were arrested shortly after.

Ryan Huff, CU’s police spokesman, said in a statement, “It’s important for students to know that possessing or taking just one pill that is not prescribed to them can lead to a felony arrest and a trip to jail. As mid-terms and finals approach, we typically start to see some of these cases. It’s not worth the risk.”

More information will be released as it becomes available.

Contact CU Independent Breaking News Editor Alyx Saupe at Alyx.saupe@colorado.edu.

The Kittredge community, located on the southeast corner of campus, is growing. The construction that has been underway in Kittredge for over a year and a half will add two residence halls to the community, Kittredge Central and Kittredge West. Kittredge currently houses approximately 940 students, but the expansion projects will allow the community to grow.

The construction of Kittredge West and Central residence halls is expected to be completed over the summer. (Ryan Tibbitts/CU Independent)

Marcie Tucker, the Assistant Director Housing and Dining Services at CU, said the construction has been a 15-month-long process so far.

“[Construction] started last winter.”  Tucker said. “We’re renovating Kittredge West and building Kittredge Central.”

Back in February of 2011, the CU regents supported a $22.8 million remodeling plan for the Kittredge West building. The construction process has been long, but it is expected to pay off. The two new dorms will be ready for use in Fall 2013 and both will add new facilities and resources for CU students.

Tucker said that Kittredge West was renovated so it could house the Health Professions residential academic program (RAP) that is currently located in Cheyenne Arapaho Hall.

Kittredge Central will house the Global Engineering RAP, which will be open to all engineering students, and the Leadership RAP, which is currently located in Williams Village. Kittredge Central will offer other amenities, as well.

“Our tutoring program, which is available for all students, will be located in Kittredge Central. We built new classrooms in the dorm,” Tucker said.

According to the Housing and Dining Services website, which provides updates on housing facilities projects, Kittredge Central will also house a 200-person meeting and conference area, a student game room, a retail area, a large community great room, study lounges in every wing, a large kitchen and an “in-house” faculty apartment.

Putri Martosudarmo, a 20-year-old sophomore anthropology major, is going to be a peer mentor in Buckingham Hall next year.

“It will be awesome because the Kittredge village will have a new buildings. It will be nice to have more people in Kitt and we’re really going to like the buildings,” Martosudarmo said.

Rudi Jie-A-Fa, a 19-year-old freshman English major, is going to be a peer mentor in Buckingham Hall next year as well. She is excited for the two new buildings.

“The new buildings are going to be more luxurious than the ones we have now,” Jie-A-Fa said. “Kitt is definitely going to have a lot more people. It was quiet before, but now it’ll be more populated. I always like to welcome new people into Kitt because not a lot of people know about it. It’ll be good.”

Students who moved into Kittredge this year were told about the construction prior to move-in day and those in charge of the construction are making an active effort to disturb as few students as possible.

“There always is an impact to students, but we tried to let them know that they can contact me,” Tucker said. “[Students] have done a really outstanding job of going with the flow and hopefully they will take advantage of those new buildings next year.”

For more information on the construction project and photos of what the new buildings will look like, click here.

Contact CU Independent Assistant Breaking News Editor Alyx Saupe at Alyx.saupe@colorado.edu.

Dr. Paul Polak, author of the book “Out of Poverty: What Works When Traditional Approaches Fail,” came to CU on Monday night to talk to a nearly full Math 100 auditorium.

Social entrepreneur and author Paul Polak speaks Monday night in Math 100. (James Bradbury/CU Independent)

The talk, entitled, “Leadership, Engineering and Poverty: What Works When Traditional Approaches Fail,” was held from 6 to 7:30 p.m. and was one of many put on by the Engineering Leadership Program for the Spring 2013 Leadership Series. Dr. Polak also founded International Development Enterprise, or IDE, a company that focuses on ensuring that the developing world has obtainable water improvement systems. He is the co-founder of Windhorse International.

Filled with both CU students and members of the Boulder community, the crowd was captivated as Dr. Polak discussed his own experiences with IDE, his trips to countries such as India to help combat poverty and his definition of true leadership.

“To me, an important part of leadership is listening,” Dr. Polak said. “Listening means listening with your whole soul and understanding what’s happening.”

Dr. Polak emphasized that on his trips to India, which he takes four times per year, he tries to spend most of the time listening to what those in need have to say. He aims to create a “new frontier of multinational companies.” He hopes to devote the rest of his life to creating companies that can help people who live on $2 per day. He said that IDE monitors its success by measuring if a family with a dollar-per-day income doubles their income.

He gave insight into the impact of big business, as well.

“Big business is the prime mover for scale,” Polak said. “The poor need big business, and big business needs the poor.”

He presented three new ideas for companies that he is currently innovating. The first is “creating a General Electric for bottom billion customers.” He hopes to “create a breakthrough on the price of photovoltaic pumping” because photovoltaics are too expensive.

“Will we succeed? I don’t know. So we might as well go for broke,” he said.

The second is “replacing coal by biomass roasted in thousands of village kilns.” His company is seeking a way to utilize green coal, an investment that comes with both great potential and considerable risk. The third company he is currently working on aims to “sell affordable drinking water.”

Dr. Polak stated that most people who do not have access to clean water live in “small, rural villages” and are drinking water that is making them sick. Potential solutions included radically affordable technology, such as reverse osmosis and using Spring Health/Antenna Electro-chlorinator, last mile distribution, a process in which mom-and-pop shops run water kiosks and aspirational branding and marketing.

Social entrepreneur and author Paul Polak addresses a crowd of university and community members. (James Bradbury/CU Independent)

In order to be profitable as a company, Dr. Polak noted that “you need [to sell] 1200 tiers of water per day.” In order to sell clean water, his company uses strategies such as door-to-door sales teams and water fair testing teams. If Dr. Polak’s efforts to distribute safe drinking water around the world are successful, not only will he make a net profit of $2 million after two years, he will also make a positive and significant change in the lives of many people living in rural communities in third world countries.

Chris Nie, a 21-year-old junior aerospace engineering major, attended the speech because he is very interested in social entrepreneurship.

“Paul Polak is very successful and I wanted to hear about his experiences,” Nie said. “It was a really good point he brought up about profit leading to scale. It was the first major justification I’ve seen for social entrepreneurship.”

Pavel Reppo, a 21-year-old senior speech language and hearing sciences major, is very familiar with Paul Polak and his work.

“I am really interested in the scale of his company and how he reached beyond local companies,” Reppo said. “He really pushed forth maximum efficiency. I’m excited to see the ripple effect of his efforts.”

Dr. Polak left the crowd with inspiring advice and an insightful question.

“All it takes is one person with a dream and I suspect many of those people are in this room,” Polak said. “What qualities do you need to turn your dream into a reality?”

Dr. Polak’s next book, “The Business Solution to Poverty: Designing Products and Services for 3 Billion New Consumers,” comes out this September.

For more information on Dr. Paul Polak, visit his website.  Visit the Engineering Leadership Program’s website, for more information on other events being put on for the Spring 2013 Leadership Series.

Contact CU Independent Assistant Breaking News Editor Alyx Saupe at Alyx.saupe@colorado.edu.