We love how University of Colorado officials are still using the same old excuse they used last year for attempting to shut down the campus during the 4/20 marijuana protest.
Aw, geez, they whined, we don’t want this massive congregation of pot-smokers to interrupt our teaching and research activities, upsetting impressionable young college students and forcing faculty to close their office windows along Norlin Quad.
The catch is, this year April 20 falls on a Saturday, when there are hardly any faculty, staff or students doing anything resembling teaching or research.
And yet, Chancellor Phil DiStefano continues to wax poetic about how he must protect “CU’s missions of research, teaching and service” and how last year a Boulder judge upheld the university’s right to “take reasonable steps to avoid disruption” of those sacred missions. We’d like to see a judge try to make the case that any of those missions are going to be significantly disrupted on a Saturday.
Still, the press release from CU this week beat the same sad drum, saying that the campus must avoid “disrupting the important work of a world-class university.”
Um, on a Saturday, among most quarters, that involves sleeping in and going for Bloody Marys.
The release goes so far to state that on this particular Saturday, CU’s “normal academic and cultural activities will continue as scheduled.” Uh, like, a pick-up Ultimate Frisbee game?
Even CU spokesperson Bronson Hilliard was dutifully quoted by the Camera as saying, “We cannot have this kind of unscheduled, unorganized mob event on the campus and still conduct teaching and research.”
Not sure how much more scheduled you can get than 4:20 p.m. on April 20 of each year. Plus, as far as protests against outdated federal drug policies go, this one is pretty organized. And there you go again, with your nonexistent Saturday teaching and research. Last we checked, classes were scheduled Monday through Friday and faculty didn’t exactly work seven days a week.
At least they aren’t placing any of that stinky fish fertilizer on the quad or trying to pay a performer enough money to avoid mentioning pot in his lame sideshow concert, like last year.
SURVEY SAYS: THEY DON’T CARE
Hey, Boulder residents, what do you think city government should do about … wait, you know what? Never mind. City council does not want to know.
City spokesperson Sarah Huntley recently told the other paper that the city would discontinue plans to conduct an online survey about municipalization after city council members declared that other recent surveys were “unscientific” and don’t actually represent public opinion.
That’s right: City council thinks there are better ways to find out what the public thinks than asking the public.
I guess that’s one lesson you can take away from the city’s most recent survey, asking about overconsumption of alcohol in Boulder. That’s a priority for city council, clearly, so they can’t have been thrilled that more than 75 percent of respondents said “No” to “Do you think alcohol overconsumption is a problem in Boulder?” and 86 percent said there shouldn’t be more regulations on bars and restaurants. In fact, every single answer flies in the face of what city council already wanted to do and what they’re still going forward with.
One problem, though: If city council is so sure surveys aren’t useful, they’d better change the language in the city’s action plan for alcohol, which calls the 86 Percent of Respondents Want You to Stop Acting Like Babies survey “the most successful Web survey that the City of Boulder has ever conducted.”
Respond: letters@boulderweekly.com This opinion column does not necessarily reflect the views of Boulder Weekly.
