Photo by - Shannon Davidson Peace camp on campus has grown to a dozen "permanent residents." Metro sophomore Erin Durban set up her tent over the weekend and enjoys being able to study before class on April 10.

Auraria anti-war group calling themselves peace campers sleep in tents at the flagpole on campus, and claim they will continue to stay there and voice their message of non-violence until the war ends and American troops are sent home.  Thursday marks their 11th consecutive day of protest.

Peace camper and CCD student, Ivy Bekket, 20, says she is not sure exactly how long she is going to be camped out on campus, but stands firm in relaying her anti-war message until signs of peace can be seen, to anyone who wants to listen.

“We’ll stop when the war is over, when the troops are sent home,” Bekket said.  “As long as it takes.  If it lasts two weeks or two years…I’ll be here.”

The peace campers are outraged at the number of civilian deaths and unnecessary violence brought about by the U.S. invasion of Iraq.  There have been 1,140 civilian deaths as of Thursday, Bekket said.

“With the U.S. and coalition there has been 136 deaths,” Bekket said.  “But it doesn’t matter who it is (being killed).  It’s human life.”

The main message the campers are trying to convey is a greater understanding of peaceful solutions.  With greater education, peace prevails; whereas ignorance of worldly situations gives rise to violence, Bekket said.

“People should know what’s really going on,” Bekket said.  “We want to make sure this (war) doesn’t happen again…there are more ways to solve (problems) other than violence and war.”

Metro student and fine art/English double major, Joel Tagert, 26, said the peace camper’s program is focused on a nonviolent means of attaining world peace.  If people came together to work on peaceful solutions to world problems, rather than practicing violence, we would not be in such a state of war, Tagert said.

“We believe in nonviolent reactions,” Tagert said.  “We need to change the world…change people’s minds and spirits.”

The rise of heated conflicts between the world’s superpowers is putting the world on the brink of total destruction, Tagert said.

“This war is a big problem,” Tagert said.  “We are becoming an increasingly nuclear world.  World War III will be the last world war…we will not be here.  This world will be destroyed.”

The campers were required to have permits, signed by a faculty member from each of the three Auraria schools.  The advisors, as well as campus police, have been very supportive of their cause, , Bekket said, and the only negative feedback has come from other students.

Computer science major Upendra Nesbitt, 24, said although the campers may not have any effect on the world situation, they are definitely having an effect on people’s opinions of the war.  The discussions held between the protestors and other students are good for peace, Nesbitt said.

There are over a dozen peace campers, Bekket said, all of whom are students at Auraria, and who have jobs as well.  They still go to classes and work; they just stay at the camp-site during free time and they sleep there.

UCD student and multimedia major, Eric Novack, 26, said the peace campers are sitting there for a good reason, and they still take care of their responsibilities as students and employees.  

“This is not an excuse to be a freeloader,” Novack said, as he was on his way to work.

Some students sit in for only a night or two, lending their support.  Tagert set his tent up last Wednesday, and although he may stay only one day, he said he wanted to show his support and solidarity. 

“I think the war is a bad idea,” Tagert said.  “I’m shocked and amazed at people who seem not to realize the seriousness of the world situation.  At any given time we are 20 minutes away from nuclear destruction.”

UCD student and recording arts major, Zach Tron, who stops by the flagpole off and on between classes, said any negativity received from pro-war students doesn’t affect the group much.

“It’s an interesting place to be on campus,” Tron said.  “There’s no overwhelming negativity.”

CCD student Dona Glovinsky, 20, has been at the site since April 8 and calls the group “Positive Resistance.”  Other peace rallies originally brought her attention to the peace campers.

“I was inspired by a peace camp in Indiana…when they started bombing Iraq,” Glovinsky said.

There has been very little negative feedback, Glovinsky said.  Most people that stop by to talk have positive and constructive things to say.  Glovinsky, however, said she would not be staying until the end of the war, unless it ends in two months.

“In a couple of months I’m going to Mexico,” Glovinsky said.  “Hopefully it’ll be over by then.”

There have been rumors floating around campus about the peace campers putting on unpatriotic displays of protest.  Although the campers have received occasional negative attention from students, it doesn’t stand in the way of their program, Bekket said. 

“The rumors about burning American flags, and all other forms of violent, anti-war protest are completely untrue,” Bekket said.  “The only thing we burn around here are cigarettes.”

Metro student and English major, Danica Schworm, 20, said the peace campers’ display is not improving the situation of war, and that they are wasting their time.  The campers should try to get more people involved with their cause, Schworm said.

“I think they should support the people risking their lives…out there,” Schworm said.  “They (soldiers) should stay until the war is resolved.  It’s their job to protect the country.”
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Photo by - Joshua Buck Metro's Black Student Alliance discussion panelists Vern Howard, right, and SGA member Felicia Woodson, middle, talk about families while Panther, left, listens.

WBPAS (Why Black People Ain’t Shouting) started at the beginning of this semester to raise awareness of issues plaguing the population so that people can start implementing solutions to problems.

A discussion forum was held in the multi-cultural lounge of the Tivoli Tuesday, which covered issues of sex and family in the black community.

The forum was the second of three WBPAS events; the third will be held April 22 at 11 a.m. in the same place. 

“The purpose of these forums is to start an action committee,” said Metro sophomore and Black Student Alliance Vice President Marcus Washington.  “What we ask people of the action committee is to donate something such as time, fund-raising, money, awareness or word-of-mouth.”

AIDS activist, Brother Jeff, and Imani S. Latif, who started working with disease prevention at the New York City health department in 1980, voiced their opinions and gave possible solutions to the AIDS epidemic and also stressed the importance of educating children about sex.

Forum panelist Vern Howard, who serves on the executive board of the NAACP, said it is important to discuss homosexuality with children because it is a fact of life.

“It is something that is around them day in and day out,” Howard said.

Forum speaker Felicia Woodson, Student Government Assembly vice president of communications said, “We live in a world that has all kinds of people and it is important that they (children) understand that.”

Another panelist, Almer Combs, a licensed and ordained minister with Pentecostal Assemblies of the World, agreed that people should share with their children the varying sexual lifestyles.

“When I was growing up, if a man or woman was gay, they also pinned the title pedophile on them,” Howard said. “So you stay away from them, they’re gonna hurt you, they’re gonna do dirty things to you. And believe it or not, they do the same thing today on television with the black community.”

Howard used the children’s program “Power Rangers” as an example, and said the Red Ranger is Indian, the Yellow Ranger is Asian, the White Ranger is the superhero and the Black Ranger is the villain.

He also added that the roles given to African-Americans are generally demeaning and since “The Cosby Show” went off the air, there has not been a positive television program that represents the black community.

Woodson said white children are getting something negative out of television programs, and movies, such as Disney’s “The Jungle Book”. 

She recounted a story of a young white boy in the mall with his mother who saw a group of African-American children playing on the merry-go-round, and asked his mother if they were the same as the monkeys from the film.

“This blew my mind,” Woodson said. “And what blew my mind more so was the mother that did not take the time to educate her child and say ‘You know what? That was just a story and not all African-Americans are portrayed in this way’.”

“The media is very powerful,” Combs said. “They often times sensationalize the problems of the African-American community.”

He added that many other racial and ethnic groups have the same problems, but the public does not hear about them as often.

Washington founded WBPAS and said it has been successful thus far in raising awareness.

He said next week’s forum will address such issues as why black people are alienated academically, and affirmative action and who it benefits.
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The Colorado Student Association has been lobbying the state legislature in the hope of passing the Higher Education Financing Act of 2003 before the end of the legislative session in May.

The act, also known as the College Opportunity Fund, is a stipend program that would establish student savings accounts with state funds for higher education.

The stipend would be about $133 per credit hour for undergraduates and would be available to graduate programs, community colleges and vocational schools.

A variety of organizations have been involved in the creation of the College Opportunity Fund and in seeing it move forward in the legislative process in Colorado. One of the organizations is the Colorado Student Association, a full-time lobbying organization supported by colleges within the state, who sought out representation at the capital.

Ryan McMaken, current CSA president, has been working on the fund for 18 months. His involvement began in the early stages while working with the Blue Ribbon Panel for Higher Education in the 21st Century, the group that suggested the system of funding being proposed.

The panel devised a plan of change for funding higher education, which is outlined in the Financing Act being considered by the legislature. The change would be to fund individual students instead of funding institutions of higher education.

Lump sums of money would no longer be given to the schools, but rather each student would be able to bring their allocated funds to any school in Colorado.

McMaken, who has been with the association for three years said, “I have an interest in seeing the organization succeed.” That success is success for the students who are represented in state and local government by the CSA.

If the Higher Education Financing Act of 2003 is passed, it will benefit students from the perspective of the Colorado Student Association, the Colorado Commission on Higher Education and the Blue Ribbon Panel, all organizations that have, in the interest of students, pursued this funding change. One of the primary goals of the bill, McMaken said, is to attract attention to higher education funding on the whole, and to highlight for students and their parents the effect budget cuts have on them individually.

McMaken, who has been included in the process from the beginning, said tuition and credit-hour flexibility have been a major issue in the negotiations of changes to the bill.

He also said, “We’ve managed to get virtually all of our amendments in,” so that all of the major concerns that the CSA had have been addressed.

Regarding how this change in funding could potentially impact students, he said, “I don’t think it’s going to make students rich; I don’t think it’s going to make them broke.”

He also added that, “Nobody claims this is going to solve all higher education problems.”

Students aren’t the only ones to benefit from the bill, said McMaken.

“The public benefits from higher education funding,” McMaken said.

One of the goals of the bill is to increase the number of Coloradoans receiving higher education in Colorado, who may eventually contribute to business in the state.

Thus far, the bill has passed the House Education Committee, but must pass six more committees before becoming law. The legislative session ends in May, and unless the bill is passed, it will die out until the next legislative session, which begins in January of 2004.

Graphic by - Christina Jenkins

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In a recent press conference, Metro alumnus, Alvertis Simmons, said the Reverend Al Sharpton would join him in a boycott on campus in protest of what he called an elimination process that has rid Metro of African-American faculty and staff.

“This press conference is to talk about two issues,” Simmons said.  “Number one, the actions by president Sheila Kaplan and the Metropolitan administration to commit genocide on African-American faculty and staff.”

Simmons said that under Kaplan’s leadership, the African-American presence in Metro’s administration has suffered.

“You know, it’s so ironic that I’m here,” Simmons said.  “Ten years ago when I went to Metro we had an African-American Provost, an African-American Vice President, several African-American directors, an African-American leadership institute, an African-American program head, etc.”          

Simmons said his other purpose in holding the press conference was to protest Metro’s treatment of Richard Jackson, a Metro criminal justice professor who has filed a Federal lawsuit against the school citing racial discrimination.

“Number two (of the two reasons for the public forum) to protest the racism, hostility, discrimination and retaliation against Dr. Richard Jackson by the MSCD administration and criminal justice department chair Dr. Joe Sandoval,” Simmons said. “We, the African-American community, will not sit by and tolerate the continued racism, harassment and retaliation against our brother, and my friend, Dr. Richard Jackson, the elimination and exclusion of African-Americans from leadership positions at this college must and will stop now.”

Lee Combs, Metro attorney, said the claims are false and will be met with a tenacious defense.

“I can only say, on the college’s behalf, that Dr. Jackson’s claims have absolutely no merit and the Attorney General’s office will defend the case vigorously,” Combs said. 

Simmons said that he, in cooperation with the Sharpton, would act in protest of Metro’s alleged discriminatory conduct.

 “I’ve been in contact with my friend, the Reverend Al Sharpton, who will help me lead a rally and boycott of Metro State College in 30 days if this college, if the college trustees do not step in and remedy this situation.” Simmons said. “We will shut this college down.”

Jackson filed a suit against the school and various individual faculty members, including President Sheila Kaplan, alleging discrimination based on his race in the terms of his employment at Metro.

“Generally, this complaint alleges a hostile environment at Metro based upon his race,” the suit said.  “It further alleges that there was a pay differential between Richard Jackson and similarly situated white faculty members.”

 The suit is currently being heard in federal court.
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Photo by - Joshua Lawton Chair of the Election Commission Ché Derrera, front left, explains the limitations on campaign advertising being e-mailed and placed around campus to the candidates in Tivoli 320B on April 8. Voting for SGA will be held online April 21-24.

Metro’s Student Government Assembly elections are underway and two candidate debates are scheduled to take place in front of the Auraria flagpole followed by online voting for Metro students.

The first debate is on April 17, between 1-2 p.m. The second debate is scheduled for  April 21; also between 1-2 p.m. Voting will take place April 21-24.

Both current SGA members and the office of Student Life stress the importance of getting Metro students involved in the voting process.

“People have died for the chance for students to be able to vote. It was a struggle it was actually a hardship people went through to obtain this, and not to vote is basically saying, ‘I don’t care’,” said Joy Walker, current SGA vice president of diversity.

Last spring only 392 Metro students voted out of 18,170 enrolled, said Joanna Duanus, assistant dean of Student Life.

This year the SGA hopes for more student participation.

“It’s who you want to put into office. Ideally the best candidate gets in the office,” Walker said.

The positions students are running for include a president, seven vice presidents, attorney general, board of trustees, and two student advisory committee to the Auraria Board reps.

On April 29 the election commission will announce the election results.

The candidates listed at right (see sidebar) are running for SGA office and students can visit www.mscd.edu to vote.

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NEWS BRIEFS

Policy change voted down
A proposed policy which would prohibit mandatory student fees from funding “ideological, political or religious activities or groups,” was unanimously voted against by the Board of Trustees during a four-hour public hearing on the proposed Trustees Policy Manual and Handbook for Professional Personnel. A revised edition of the manual will be handed out to students, faculty and staff prior to the next board meeting on May 7. A new manual and handbook is expected to be implemented by July 1.

Metro Alumnus killed at war
Army Ranger Captain. Russell B. Rippetoe, was killed the first week of April during a suicide bombing at an Iraqi checkpoint. Rippetoe was 27. He graduated from Metro, with a degree in criminology with an emphasis in law enforcement and public safety, in August 1999. He was one of three soldiers killed during the bombing.

POLICE BRIEFS

Campus thefts continue
A Community College of Denver student reported his mountain bike stolen April 7 at 7:35 pm. The student said his bike was taken from a bike rack near the South Classroom.
The total loss including the mountain bike, cable lock and saddle storage bag: $745.
There are no suspects or leads at this time.

Car break-ins on the on the rise
A University of Colorado at Denver staff member reported items stolen from her vehicle April 8 in Parking Lot R. The passenger side rear window was smashed and several items were taken.
Total loss of items, which included a raincoat, jumper cables, umbrella, and 44K additive for auto: $190.
There are no suspects or leads at this time.
A UCD student reported items stolen from his vehicle April 10; also in parking Lot R. The passenger side window was smashed and the dash board damaged. Total loss of items, which include a CD stereo system, assortment of currency, and CDs: $180.
The suspect is an Asian male, last seen wearing a white t-shirt, green pants and a red cap. He was heading East on Market toward downtown.

Arrests on campus
A man with no campus affiliation was arrested on an outstanding warrant April 8 at 11th and Curtis Street.
A man with no campus affiliation was arrested for possession of marijuana on April 8 at 8th and Walnut Street.
- Andrea Terrones
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