RAMS FOOTBALL KEEPS BOWL INSIGHT | COLLEGIAN.COM THE ROCKY MOUNTAIN Fort Collins, Colorado COLLEGIAN Volume 117 | No. 68 Thursday, November 13, 2008 www.collegian.com THE STUDENT VOICE OF COLORADO STATE UNIVERSITY SINCE 1891 Legal counsel CLIMATE CONVERSATIONS revamps staff By JIM SOJOURNER To fi ll the fi ve va- The Rocky Mountain Collegian cant positions, Jan- nine Mohr was hired Amid substantial in June. Jason Johnson, department overhauls Joseph Belcher and under former CSU Joshua Zugish were President Larry Pen- collectively hired Oct. ley’s tenure, nearly all 1, and Linda Schutjer of CSU’s legal staff was was hired this month. replaced over the past Moellenburg said several months after the counsel is typically almost every attorney staffed by six mem- in the offi ce left earlier bers, including a dep- in the year, university uty general counsel, a offi cials said Wednes- position currently held day. by Amy Parsons. The replacements The attorneys came after students, manage and assist faculty and state of- the university on a fi cials have called for variety of legal issues more transparency in including day-to-day university fi nancial re- legal counsel, inter- porting. pretation of regulatory Dell Rae Moellen- laws, employment, lit- burg, a university igation, risk manage- spokesperson, said the ment, research com- fi ve attorneys left CSU pliance, contracts and for unrelated reasons, intellectual property, some for personal Moellenburg said. reasons and others to The university be- RACHEL DEMBRUN | COLLEGIAN seek new employment gan seeking potential Lucinda Smith, senior environmental planner, addresses the Fort Collins community in a question and answer session at the Northside opportunities. replacements after Aztlan Community Center on Wednesday evening. Bob Shur left the each member was re- counsel in February leased, she said, but and now oversees con- due to an extensive tracts in purchasing for hiring process, some the university, Loretta positions took months Climate Action Plan to lower carbon emissions Martinez left in April, to fi ll. Donna Aurand in May, Senior Reporter By TYLER OKLAND reduce its effects, such as by reducing “ve- CLIMATE ACTION PLAN Laurence Pendleton in Jim Sojourner can be The Rocky Mountain Collegian hicle miles of travel” and walking or biking July and Judy Schmidt reached at news@col- instead of driving. Educate community about carbon in August. legian.com Urging the community to support its If passed, the plan will also update emissions Climate Action Plan at the Aztlan Com- building codes to standardize “green build- munity Center Wednesday, the natural re- ing,” bringing in appliances that produce Reduce effects by: source department of the city of Fort Col- less carbon waste and increasing recycling – reducing vehicle miles of travel lins said that, if implemented, its plan will options throughout the city. It will give – update building codes to standardize lower carbon emissions by 20 percent by apartment complexes the option of offer- “green building” “....the national 2012. ing recycling for its residents at a low cost. – bring in less wasteful appliances – increase recycling options The plan will take a proactive approach According to Smith, the plan will in- towards lowering carbon emissions in Fort crease economic production locally. youth vote increased Collins, said Lucinda Smith, coordinator of “This plan has strategies that support the event. the local economy. It helps businesses im- by 3.4 million people Smith said that she intends to reduce prove their bottom line,” she said. “There “We are particularly vulnerable to cli- electricity use by one percent annually are numerous benefi ts that can be realized mate change here in Fort Collins. The west- through energy effi ciency and conserva- when taking steps to reduce carbon emis- ern states have warmed more than the rest from 2004.” tion programs. The use of electricity cur- sions. of the United States as a whole,” he said. rently accounts for 1.3 million tons of car- “And then we want to see an 80 percent Saunders said he believes that no one, bon dioxide in Fort Collins, which is half of decrease (in carbon emissions) by 2050,” including the federal government, will the total emissions in the city, she said. she said. come to pick up the slack if the Fort Collins Voter coalition The draft intends to educate the com- Steve Saunders, president of the Rocky community refuses to take the initiative in munity, aided by its program Climate Wise, Mountain Climate Organization, said sus- the battle for carbon neutrality. about carbon emissions and to increase tainability practices are increasingly more celebrates success awareness about how residents can help pertinent in Colorado. See PLAN on Page 3 By MADELINE NOVEY The Rocky Mountain Collegian In the middle of celebrating this year’s voter turnout at CSU, offi cials from VoteCSU! and na- tional election organizations said they were excit- ed to report that the national youth vote increased by 3.4 million people from 2004. Gays get right to wed in Connecticut The 18- to 29-year-old voter share of the elec- torate surpassed that of voters over 65 years old By JOHN CHRISTOFFERSEN just the two of us. It was so much for the fi rst time since 1988, according to the Pub- The Associated Press more personal and powerful in lic Interest Research Group’s New Voters Project, us committing to one another, a national non-partisan group that worked with NEW HAVEN, Conn. – Same- and so much less about the peo- university voter coalitions across the country to sex couples walked joyfully down ple around us.” build voter campaigns registration and education the aisle Wednesday for the fi rst The Connecticut Supreme campaigns. time in Connecticut, while gay Court ruled 4-3 on Oct. 10 that The 18 to 29 year-old voter share made up 18 activists planned to march in same-sex couples have the right percent of the total electorate compared to the 16 protests across the country over to wed rather than accept a 2005 percent contributed by voters over 65. the vote that took away their civil union law designed to give The latter typically has a greater inter- right to marry in California. them the same rights as married See page est in politics and vote at a higher rate, 9 for a Advocates said they expected couples. A lower-court judge election offi cials said. thousands at a demonstration entered a fi nal order permitting related Sujatha Jahagirdar, the program story. at Boston’s City Hall Plaza later same-sex marriage Wednesday director for PIRG’s New Voters Project, Wednesday, with gay couples and morning. said that statistics show the increase in families featured to try to keep “Today, Connecticut sends the national youth vote is the most signifi cant in the tone positive, said Ryan Mc- a message of hope and inspira- the past three election cycles since the 2004 presi- Neely, an organizer for the Join tion to lesbian and gay people dential election. the Impact protest movement. throughout this country who Jahagirdar said she believes the increase can “We’re not trying to convey simply want to be treated as be attributed to the fact that campaigns took a an image of persecution, we’re equal citizens by their govern- greater interest in the youth demographic, and not trying to attack any specifi c ment,” said the plaintiff’s attor- she credited technology with helping young vot- group,” he said. “The point we ney, Bennett Klein. ers to better express their political opinions and need to be making is that we There was no comparison be- increase interest. need to bring everybody togeth- tween civil unions and marriage “The purpose of (PIRG’s New Voters Project) is er and to respect each other, and for Robin Levine-Ritterman and to mobilize the youth voters and make their voic- that hate breeds hate.” Barbara Levine-Ritterman, who es heard,” Jahagirdar said. “What we’d like to do is Bubbles and white balloons obtained a civil union in 2005 make politicians pay attention to young people.” bounced in the chilly autumn air and were among eight same-sex Jahagirdar added that the race for the presi- as well-wishers cheered the mar- couples who sued for the right to dential nomination during the primaries height- riage of Peg Oliveira and Jennifer marry. ened student interest in the overall election from Vickery in New Haven. They wed “We didn’t do it with pride or the start, because reports showed that students outside City Hall, next to a statue joy,” Barbara Levine-Ritterman believed in the weight of their vote. commemorating the struggle for said of getting the civil-union “There was an enourmous amount of excite- freedom among captives on the license. “It felt gritty to be in a ment…” Jahagirdar said. “We had such a wide- Amistad slave ship. separate line.” open fi eld, especially in the primaries because it Despite the roaring traffi c On Wednesday, however, she was the fi rst time in 80 years that there wasn’t an and clicking cameras, “it was proudly held up the fi rst same- DOUGLAS HEALEY | AP incumbent on either side, and it was unclear as to surprisingly quiet,” Oliveira said sex marriage license issued in Robbin Levine-Ritterman waves her marriage license at City Hall after the brief ceremony. “Every- New Haven as about 100 people in New Haven, Conn. Wednesday with her partner Barbara Levine- See VOTES on Page 3 thing else dissolved, and it was applauded outside City Hall. Rittermanin, background. ART • ENTERTAINMENT • LIFE • STYLE VVol.e 4, Issue 11 | Thursday, Novemberv 13 , 2008e PAGE 10 PAGE 9 [ r [ PAGE 5 Locks of Love Rethinking Disability Magic Cyclops: comes to Tuana’s Part Two faux rocker Salon in the LSC “...a musician, a character, Greeks and other Catherine Worrall pushes past hearing loss an actor, a hero and a volunteers cut villain.” off 6 inches A LOOK AT THE MAN, THE MUSIC AND THE MYSTERY.