Photo by - Will Moore SGA presidental candidate Felicia Woodson explains what she would do if voted in to office at rally Apr. 21.

Metro Student Government Assembly candidates held a debate April 21 on Auraria campus discussing student fees, parking, student activities and diversity, in an effort to win student votes.

Three parties, Positive Action Coalition (PAC), Mending Bridges and an independent party, took a stance in front of more than 100 students at the flagpole to get their voices heard.

“We want you to enjoy your life here at Metro, by opening up communication, funding and everything. With that said, vote positive action coalition,” said Marcus Washington, Metro student running for vice president of administration and finance for the PAC.

Rather than representing republican and democratic parties, the SGA candidates formed their own parties to represent. Each party showed the different ways they want to interact with their peers and address Metro at large.

“Mending Bridges is all about bridging the gap between students, faculty, administration and staff,” said Felicia Woodson, candidate for SGA president from Mending Bridges.

Harris Singer, an independent running for re-election as Metro’s student trustee, said Mending Bridges comes together with a holding-hands approach, where PAC has a more aggressive approach.

Each party expressed their views at the debate.

“We have four main things we’re going to tackle on our platform here today. The first thing is going to be for the administration and faculty to reflect the diversity of students here on campus,” said Chris Chandler with PAC who is also running for president of the SGA.

Photo by - Will Moore SGA presidental candidate Chris Chandler expalins at rally Apr. 21 what he would do if voted into office.

The second thing Chandler said he wants to tackle is student fees. He said he wants to give the money back to the students, but did not give an example of how he would accomplish that. The third and fourth points were to keep an updated SGA web site and to eliminate alienation on campus.

Both Chandler and Woodson served on the SGA for 2002-2003. Woodson served as Chief Justice and later became vice president for communications. Chandler served the full term as vice president for administrative finance.

Chair of the Election Committee, Che Derrera asked Woodson and Chandler questions pertaining to their possible presidency.

The first question asked was, “Why should the students want to vote you into SGA president?”

Woodson said, “I want to stand up for you, the students. In order for us to get anywhere, we have got to open up dialogue. Why should you vote for me? Because I’d like to be a voice; I’d like to be a liaison between the administration and the students.”

Chandler said, “Student fees money needs to stay with the students, and that’s why you need to vote for me, because I’m going to make sure that gets done.”

Both Chandler and Woodson said student fee money needs to stay with the students, not the administration. They said that two administrative salaries were paid out of student fees and, if voted into office they would stop that from happening.

Joanna Duenas, assistant dean of Student Life, is one of the administrators the candidates were referring to.

Duenas said, “My work is 100 percent for the students. Looking at the positions and what they do for students, it’s justifiable for it to be student fee funded.”

All of Duenas’ salary and other salaries in the Student Life office come from student fees Duenas said. She also said that student fees have always funded her position and most colleges allocate those funds in the same way.

Another question asked by Derrera was, “How do you plan to keep communication alive with in the Student Government Assembly?”

Photo by - Will Moore Mending Bridges presidential candidate Felicia Woodson reacts to an answer given by her opponent Chris Chandler of the Positive Action Coalition ticket at an SGA debate Apr. 21 at the flagpole.

Chandler said, “The communication will remain open because it will never be closed. We want to do more than dialogue, we’re here to dialogue plus some.”

Woodson said, “Integrity, is all about honesty. Integrity is all about listening openly and honestly to what your needs are, and not pretending that you’re going to do something about it and taking action.”

Last year only 392 Metro students voted out of 18,170, and the candidates currently running encourage all students to participate.

The debate was from 1-2 p.m. and students stopped to listen while on their way to and from classes.

Metro’s SGA elections will end at 5 p.m. April 24, and the final results for the 2003-2004 school year will be announced.
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Metro’s budget-cuts are starting to take effect and the college faculty is wondering about job security. As a result, students wonder if the quality of education will go down as teachers get laid off.

“From my perspective, there is really no win-win situation at the college,” said Cathy Lucas, director of college communications.  

The funding for all state colleges is going to be cut to $100 million, Lucas said. Metro’s cut is estimated to be $7.1 million, which is 7.1 percent of the total reduced budget colleges receive.

One of the ways the college is cutting back teaching positions is through an early retirement program.

Justice Jackson, an African American studies major at Metro feels the impact due to the retirement of C.J. White chair of the African American studies department and Cathy Buchanan administrative assistant III, who will also be leaving the college. 

“It doesn’t sit well with me,” Jackson said.  “Two of the professors are retiring and between both of the professors together, they have taught here for 50 years.  How do you replace that?” 

Jackson wonders what purpose the layoffs have when African American studies was already in danger.

“African American studies program is still there, there is still a major,” Lucas said.

Jackson said since Metro will keep African American studies as a major, he will honor his commitment to the program. 

“I am still going to be a student here; my concern is the quality of what I’ll be taught,” Jackson said.

At this point, Jackson is beginning to check out other schools in case worse comes to worse. 

“I don’t want to quit here because I feel that I make an impact,” Jackson said.  “I had my heart set on the African American studies major, but the quality of the major is not there.”

Candice Smith a full time student at Metro has taken her share of multi-cultural classes and has enjoyed them.

“Although I am not an African American Studies major, the cutbacks of multicultural studies inhibits a well-rounded education for myself,” Smith said.  “Furthermore, qualified instructors to teach these classes affect the quality of education offered here at Metro.”

Melvin Miller, an African American studies major, is a bit disappointed in the cutbacks in the department, but he plans to continue with his major. 

“It’s very disappointing; Dr. White is retiring, and he’s my adviser, and it disappoints me that he’s leaving,” Miller said. 

He also said he feels comfortable pursuing his African American studies degree. However, he hopes the replacement professors will be as knowledgeable as the present ones. 

Miller said he has thought about transferring to another school because of the impact on African American studies.

Jim Becker, president of Classified Staff Council said that, not only are classified staff getting hit, so are financial aid and work study. 

“There’s a big cut in financial aid – huge, and it’s going to affect people,” Becker said.

Becker said he has talked both with people who have retired and people who are in the bumping process.

“Morale is at an all-time low because employees could still be bumped; it’s at rock bottom,” Becker said. 

For every year an employee worked they get one weeks salary said Becker.  An employee who takes the separation incentive can get up to $25,000.

 “Anytime you have layoffs anywhere, it’s a distribution, and thank goodness that Metro had the separation incentive,” said Jim Davidson, personnel manager of classified staff.  

Becker said he agrees with Davidson and feels the separation incentive has alleviated stress for employees.

Lucas said that the bumping procedure will continue for 45 days, but she was unable to identify names staff that have been bumped, retired or laid off.  According to Lucas 10 administrative staff and 21 faculty have applied for early retirement.

According to Lucas, the college has reduced the travel budget, library funds and employees’ work schedules.  

Areas that have been hit the hardest are Information Technology and the multicultural areas.  In addition, two positions were eliminated in the college communications department, said Lucas.

Becker feels that until any reorganization is done, students in the multi-cultural studies areas will be affected immediately.  

In terms of the employees’ job security there really are no answers.  Some employees feel they can’t fight the inevitable. 

“I am not worried as far as my job security goes; I feel comfortable,” Becker said.  “I’m not sitting on pins and needles; whatever comes down, it’s pretty much out of my hands.”
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Work is expected to begin June 1 on a $28 million facelift to the Tivoli Student Union. This will be the first exterior renovation since the building opened as a shopping center in 1984.

Funds for the project come from a fall 2000 student bond fee referendum, which added $18.50 to Auraria student tuitions specifically to pay for the Tivoli renovation. Robert Haight, Student Advisory Board Committee to Auraria Campus (SACAB) representative for SGA, said that the $28 million budget includes all the plans and construction costs.

Slaterpaull Architects, Inc., of Denver was awarded the project, which includes exterior façade repair, exterior window replacement and repair, exterior building lighting, roof replacement and fire alarm and mechanical system upgrades. Work is scheduled to be completed within three years.

Photo by - Rob Moore Northeast entrance of the Tivoli is planned to be the new main entrance once renovation is complete.

The first and most visible phase of the project will be the removal of the white paint that has covered the buildings since 1937.

“Originally, the plan for the exterior of the building was to strip the paint, reseal the brick and then re-coat it or repaint it,” Haight said. “But after they [Slaterpaull] did tests on different paint substances and different coatings, they found that doing that would actually decrease the life of the buildings to, like, somewhere around 30 years.”

According to Haight, leaving the brick exposed will increase that life expectancy to 100 years.

Gary Petri, a preservation architect for Slaterpaull, said his company worked with environmental engineers to test portions of the brick and stone walls around the Tivoli and found that much of the brick and mortar joints are deteriorating.

“Paint is a problem on brick, especially old brick,” Petri said. “Old brick is porous. When you put paint on old brick, it traps the moisture behind the paint. By taking the paint off, we will stop that particular deterioration process, so the brick will actually last longer.”

Slaterpaull considered both options of repainting or leaving the natural brick. Both would require stripping away the existing paint, and over time that process would also impact the life of the buildings and would prove to be more costly in the long-run.

Petri said his company looked at an option to repaint, but after evaluating the high cost of maintenance over 30 years, decided against it.

“We predicted that you’d have to repaint the building every five to ten years. Then, probably before 30 years was up, you’d have to strip the building again and start over,” Petri said, “The cost of that ongoing maintenance would be a great deal more than taking the paint off, repairing the brick, then leaving the brick alone.”

Petri said future maintenance to bare brick is little more than periodic repairs to the mortar joints.

Architects found that many of the wooden window frames are showing extreme wear and deterioration due to age and exposure. Their architects conducted a window-by- window survey to evaluate the repair potential and found that many of the windows were beyond repair. 

At the same time, leaks from the roof are causing interior damage; the fire system does not effectively reach all public spaces or connect to the remaining campus fire system and the existing heat pump system is inefficient, costing more to maintain than it would to replace. All of these problems will be tackled by the renovation project.

By the time classes resume in the fall, Petri believes the white paint will be removed from the south and west faces of the buildings, which are the newest areas of the Tivoli and therefore easier to repair.

Because the project will not begin until mid-summer, crews will only begin exterior work that can be completed before winter. Work will resume in April after the threat of overnight freezing has passed. Crews will pick up where they left off and complete the older historic buildings, such as the tower building, the brewery tavern, Turnhalle and the hops storage building.

“A majority of the Tivoli building is made with red brick, and depending on time and when the particular piece of the building was built, the brick changes a little bit, so it’s going to be kind of like a tapestry,” Petri said.

Rather than looking like one big building that has the same color, the building complex will be more like buildings on city blocks where each individual building can be seen.

The Tivoli was an active brewery from 1870 to 1969. The structure is a complex of 12 buildings. The oldest, referred to as the tavern building, was constructed in 1870, and most recently was home to a Dominos Pizza restaurant.

In 1973, the Tivoli was placed on the National Register of Historic Places and soon after was purchased by the Denver Urban Renewal Authority, which set it aside for future educational use.

After transferring the Tivoli to the Auraria Higher Education Center, it was decided that renovation was too costly for the state. Private developers took over the project and in 1984 it reopened as a shopping center.

In 1991, Auraria students voted to buy back the Tivoli for use as a student center. After considerable interior renovation, the Tivoli reopened in August, 1994 a student union.

As a state-owned landmark, the renovation project does not require City of Denver building permits, nor approval from the Denver Landmark Preservation Commission, who oversees similar renovations of privately owned structures. Slaterpaull presented their plans to the commission anyway.

“Our presentation was a courtesy review,” Petri said. “We wanted to show that Auraria was a good steward of our buildings. They were not only very thankful that we presented, but it sounded like they were very encouraged by the approach that we were taking.”

Petri said specific feedback focused on concern about replacing the historic windows rather than repairing them.

“That’s a preservation matter,” Petri said. “A preservation principle is to try and keep as much of the original material as possible whenever a renovation is occurring. They wanted to make sure that our decision to replace the windows was based on true need rather than convenience. I believe that they were satisfied that the windows that are being replaced are in poor enough condition that it is justified.”
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A $14 million to $18 million proposal for a four-story parking garage on campus has been put forth to the Auraria board and will most likely be voted on at the next meeting scheduled for May 21.

Mark Gallagher director of parking at Auraria Higher Education Center said the new garage will probably have 650 spaces and will be on the north side of the Tivoli where the tennis courts are.

The parking system at Auraria has a current occupancy averaging at 98 percent.

“It varies by day, but Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Thursdays are the busiest,” Gallagher said.

Auraria Chief Financial Officer Curt Wiedeman said the garage will be paid for with a bond-issue loan, and the revenues generated from the parking system will pay off the loan.

Auraria currently has two outstanding bond issues, one for paving parking lot E and another for the Parking Transportation Center (PTC) garage.

According to Wiedeman, the lot E loan will be paid-off by the year 2026 and the PTC loan will be paid-off by 2012. He also said the new garage, if approved by the board, will be paid-off by 2026 as well.

Gallagher said the new structure might be used for events at the Pepsi Center, mainly on the evenings and weekends when students do not generally utilize it.

“Students are our first order of business, our first concern,” Gallagher said.

The cost of parking for the new lot has not been decided yet, but Wiedeman said it would not be higher than the Tivoli lot, which is $5 for students.

“We try to maintain rates lower than downtown,” Wiedeman said.

The average parking fee for Auraria students is $2.50.

“Any money we make from parking goes back into parking facilities,” Wiedeman said. “The parking program costs $2 million per year, which includes staff, equipment and maintenance.”

The projected cost of the new structure, which has yet to be designed, includes the cost of tearing down the tennis courts and rebuilding them on the east side of the Tivoli.
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Campus thefts continue

A University of Colorado at Denver employee reported a theft April 18, in North Classroom. The employee left his leather jacket in his office overnight. When he returned the next morning, it was missing.

Total loss: $300.

There are no leads or suspects at this time.

A student reported a theft in the Arts Building April 18. The student had placed his camera under his seat. About an hour later, he noticed it was missing.

Total loss including the camera, Sandisk flash card, Kodak Portra, and carrying bag: $1008.05.

There are no leads or suspects at this time.

A UCD student reported her backpack stolen from the Library April 17. The student had left her bag unattended on a table for 15 minutes. When she returned, it was missing.

Total loss including bag and contents: $394.

There are no leads or suspects at this time.

A student accidentally left his backpack on a bench at 10th Street and Lawrence Street April 17. When he returned moments later, it was gone.

Total loss including bag and contents: $560.

There are no leads or suspects at this time.

An Auraria employee reported money stolen from her purse April 16, in the Administration Building. The employee had left her purse unattended briefly.

When she returned moments later, she noticed money missing.

Total loss: $52.

There are no leads or suspects at this time.

A Metro employee reported her wallet stolen April 15, in the King Center. The employee had left her wallet on her desk and had left for a brief moment; when she returned it was missing.

Total loss, including wallet and

currency: $80.

There are no leads or suspects at this time.

A video data projector was reported missing April 14, from room 252 in the Arts Building. 

Total loss: $7000.

There are no leads or suspects at this time.

Car break-ins continue

A UCD student's car was broken into April 16, in Lot R. The front passenger window was broken and his stereo was stolen.

Total loss including car CD player and a calculator: $450.

Damage to window is estimated at $250.

There are no leads or suspects at this time.                 

-Andrea Terrones
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