Channel 1 Networks
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CU ANNOUNCES $3.5 MILLION IN GIFTS FROM CONOCOPHILLIPS TO BIOTECH BUILDING
Mar 29th
ConocoPhillips intends to follow up a $1 million January cash gift with proposed future gifts of $2.5 million over the next two years, for an anticipated total of $3.5 million toward a wing of the building to house the Department of Chemical and Biological Engineering. The department will be one of three CU-Boulder units to occupy the 330,000-square-foot building on the East Campus, along with the Division of Biochemistry and the Colorado Initiative in Molecular Biotechnology, or CIMB. Researchers will begin occupying the building in early 2012.
“The Jennie Smoly Caruthers Biotechnology Building creates a Front Range anchor for the biosciences with the help of partners like ConocoPhillips,” said CU-Boulder Chancellor Philip P. DiStefano. “With interdisciplinary research, the possibilities for energy innovation are limitless, and ConocoPhillips is providing the foundation for this vital work.”
The gifts will name the ConocoPhillips Center for Energy Innovation, and bring under one roof select researchers from two CU-Boulder research programs it supports, the Colorado Center for Biorefining and Biofuels, or C2B2, and the Renewable and Sustainable Energy Institute, or RASEI.
The Caruthers Biotechnology Building aims to dissolve walls and promote collaboration among science and engineering disciplines. Chemical and biological engineering faculty will work with researchers in nearly a dozen academic disciplines and with partners including the National Renewable Energy Laboratory and ConocoPhillips. In all, the building will house 60 tenure-line faculty, 500 graduate students and research associates, and undergraduates working on critical challenges in biotechnology.
CU-Boulder chemical and biological engineers will pursue research that may herald:
–More efficient biofuels production, thanks to novel microbial technologies discovered by the lab of Associate Professor Ryan Gill, C2B2 managing director
–Improved transfer of biomass into synthetic fuels, based on pioneering work by Professor Alan Weimer, C2B2 executive director
–Improved capture of carbon at energy plants, based on liquid membrane technology conceived in the lab of Professor Richard Noble
ConocoPhillips currently sponsors more than $2 million in CU-Boulder faculty research contracts for 2011-13. The university is one of nine participants in the ConocoPhillips SPIRIT Scholars program, which provides scholarships, mentorship and enrichment for students interested in energy careers. CU alumni who have held ConocoPhillips leadership positions include Tom Sears (’52), James Gallogly (’74) and Carin Knickel (’79). The firm is a founding member and lead sponsor of C2B2.
With these gifts, nearly $40 million in private support has been raised for the building, whose construction is funded by a variety of private and public sources including a $15 million American Recovery and Reinvestment Act grant.
CU-Boulder’s Department of Chemical and Biological Engineering ranks among the top 10 public graduate programs in the U.S. Its faculty have been awarded more than $25 million in research grants in the past two years, and have won more American Institute of Chemical Engineering awards this past decade than at any university except the University of Texas.
Bill Moyers and Hippies take on Wall Street
Mar 29th

Backbone Campaign Moved Its Money Out of Bank of America
Working to Expand Existing Employee-based Credit Unions is a
Promising Organizing Model for Building Community Power
Let’s kill the “Too Big to Exist Banks” by Starving the Casino
Learn from Our Experience and Use our Tools to Quicken the Pace

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Backbone Campaign moved its money out of Bank of America last Week!
Better yet… We moved it into a local credit union that WE helped bring to our community!
Backbone Campaign moved our operating money out of Bank of America and into a local credit union (PSCCU-Vashon) that opened on March 1. And we weren’t the only ones.
As of last Friday, less than one month after the local branch opened:
Over 400 new members have joined in first month of operation. (10,000 person community)
Over $2 million has been moved out of the local BofA, Chase and US Bank.
Three community members are serving on the board.(including Mio, so watch out! 😉
PSCCU has initiated collaborations with local sustainability businesses and nonprofits to bring down interest rates for solar power installations and energy efficiency and weatherization lending.
PSCCU has agreed to work with non-profits, faith and other community groups to establish savings secured loan funds.
And now, due to the influx of new deposits, PSCCU is discounting already competitive mortgage loans by as much as .25% for qualifying loans
AND we created at least 3 new jobs and hopefully many more as we get money circulating
Why Did We Move Our Money?
We love the people that work at the local BofA, just like others love the folks that served them at other branches. That’s why people were so excited that we “stole,” i.e. recruited the management team from a local Chase branch.
Our banker/service provider friends are stuck. They have almost no control over lending decisions anymore. They are not allowed to make decisions on service fees. They have zero creative autonomy to craft finance opportunities customized to the needs of the community like micro-loans or discounted rates for fuel efficient cars or weatherizations. They and the customers they serve have zero control over executive salaries or bonuses, investment decisions, political contributions or lobbying, corporate tax evasion, or who sits on the board of directors.
Our friends who work at the branches of the these Wall Street Banks are not the “evil doers.” But our money does not belong in economic monstrosities that are frankly not “too big to fail,” but rather TOO BIG to EXIST.
A local credit union is accountable to its members. It uses local money to invest in our local economy. it reflects our values and is responsive to the financial needs of our community. As members, we can nominate and elect board members. Profits are returned to members in the form of dividends, lower service charges and better interest rates.
Why Our Story Matters for Others
Ours is a Win-Win-Win story of collaboration between an existing stable credit union ready to invigorate its business, and a community eager for an alternative to the Wall Street banks, an alternative that is both responsive and accountable to them. And you are potentially the third winner – as we are making all our work available to you.
The lessons learned and documents created through this process are relevant and replicable for other communities across the country. Others can save a great deal of time using our strategy and adapting our educational and survey documents for their efforts.
Our group began a process without knowing how it would end. We thought we’d start our own credit union from scratch. OMG! Thank goodness we didn’t do that. We learned from others along the way such as Howland-Enfield Federal Credit Union in Maine, TULIP Credit Union in Olympia, WA, and Premaculture Credit Union in New Mexico. Opportunities emerged that we never anticipated.
The most significant was the opportunity to partner with a small existing credit union PSCCU (Puget Sound Cooperative Credit Union), rather than having to raise the huge amount of start up capital we’d need to run the branch, and self-insure at 7% in order to qualify for a State charter and federal insurance.
PSCCU, like other credit unions is a coop. It is small enough to still be accountable to its members and stable enough to expand. The board is nominated by and elected by the members. The profits are recycled back into the membership through dividends and better loan and saving interest rates.
In our community we were able to recruit experienced management and employees from the local Chase bank because they hungered to be part of the solution – and to utilize their skills in service of the community, not be shackled by an indifferent corporation.
We learned a lot in the process and now we are compiling the tools to help others like you do the same. Just think – IF economic democracy organizers like you – in communities around the country organized constituent groups like: progressive churches, non-profits, transition town clubs, progressive community members concerned with sustainability, and those angry with Wall Street banks into a block of potential members… THEN you too could leverage that collection of partners to negotiate with an existing credit union to create another Win-Win situation. Ultimately, we could collectively move BILLIONS of dollars out of the Wall Street Casino economy.
We are compiling the tools and resources developed by CUVahon, the team that initiated our local effort here:
http://BackboneCampaign.org
Call us if we can be of additional assistance.
In collaboration,
Bill Moyer
Executive Director
Backbone Campaign
206-408-8058
More photos and captions at the Backbone Flickr site. Backbone Campaign Puppetista and Board Treasurer Doug Skove and I deeply enjoyed starting our PSCCU account!
Just for fun – The above is a goofy and very short video of my opportunity to be the FIRST customer to use the new ATM at the then soon to open credit union.
Chase What Matters [Excerpt from The Vashon Line]
by Matt Lawrence on March 11, 2011
Thirty years later, Patte Wagner is standing up with David, fighting Goliath, and she wouldn’t want to be anywhere else in the world.
It’s About the People
“We can still do this on an intimate and one-to-one basis”, Patte told me. Working with people to serve their financial needs is the reason why she got into banking in the first place. She came from the non-profit sector (pairing nicely with the credit union, which is also non profit). From the beginning, Patte was more than just a banker, chained to her desk, writing loan documents for bank customers. I have heard her called a Beloved Banker – with a glint of skepticism that it’s even possible.
Seattle was left with a smoking crater after the collapse of WAMU. But from the ashes was a big blue light screaming, “Chase what matters”. WAMU employees lucky enough to still have their jobs lost pensions, college funds, and retirements. Patte decided to stay on as branch manager to steer the bank, and it’s customers through the first few years. And she did, up to the day where she no longer needed to perform that role.
Patte is committed to building a healthy financial community. It’s the reason why she was courted by so many of those smaller banks in Seattle, and it’s why so many people involved with bringing the Credit Union to Vashon approached Patte about her potential involvement.
Patte was toying around with several options of what to do with herself after leaving the bank. She thought about being a aesthetician. She thought about commuting to Seattle, to work at one of the smaller banks – banks that still feel the pain from the WAMU fallout. But at the end of the day, she wanted to continue working with Vashon residents, providing financial services.
Read the original article here:
The CUVahon-PSCCU Initiating Team
The below is photo courtesy of the Vashon Beachcomber, taken by Susan Riemer a few days before the new PSCCU branch opened on Vashon. Pictured from left to right: John Staczek, Jerry Henley, Greg Kruse, Rob Harmon, Bill Moyer, Carolyn Amick, Rex Stratton, and PSCCU VP of marketing Shannon Ellis-Brock. (Not picture, but central to the CUVashon effort are Amy Herbig, Larry Kjellberg, and Ken Atkinson. Also Bob Powell – whose metal art graces the wall above our heads and the ATM)
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email: bill@backbonecampaign.org
phone: 206-408-8058
web: http://BackboneCampaign.org
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RockiesRide service begin Friday for Opener
Mar 29th
Light Rai
l also available; Denver Union Station pedestrian tunnel permanently closed due to RTD FasTracks construction, so 16thStreet Mall shuttle offers a good connection
Denver – The Regional Transportation District (RTD) offers RockiesRide to all weekend games and the following weekday game: Friday, April 1 (Opening Day); RockiesRide express bus service will get fans to Coors Field 30-60 minutes before the first pitch.
RockiesRide is RTD’s direct bus service to Coors Field from 14 metro area locations, including 13 park-n-Ride lots and Boulder High School. RockiesRide one-way fares range from $4.00 to $5.00, depending on trip origination. Passengers pay cash as they board; transfers, tickets and passes are not accepted.
Every RockiesRide bus is designated with the letter R after a route number, e.g. Route 120R. Buses depart 60 to 115 minutes before game time and arrive 30 to 60 minutes before the first pitch at the Coors Field parking lot on 22nd/Blake, placing riders at the ballpark 30-60 minutes before the first pitch.
Upon arrival at the stadium, the bus driver will announce which row in the parking lot at 22nd/Blake that bus route’s buses will be parked, making it easy to locate the bus for the return trip home. After the game, go to the parking lot at 22nd/Blake, locate the assigned row number for your RockiesRide route and hop on board. RockiesRide buses depart as they fill up, with the last bus leaving 45 minutes after the game ends. Excluding rain delays, buses will not leave Coors Field before the seventh inning.
The bus lane that runs behind Denver Union Station is now closed because of RTD FasTracks construction. As a result, the bus routes that previously used that bus lane will no longer be able to pick up and drop off transit passengers behind DUS. All bus passengers who board/deboard on the following Express and Regional routes at Denver Union Station Gates B, C and D will now do so at Market Street Station at 16th and Market Street.
Express Bus via HOV Lanes
31 X
40 X
80 X
86 X
120 X
Regional Bus via HOV Lanes
BV
BF
BX
L
LX
Inbound buses using the HOV lanes will go from 19th Street to Blake Street, with the only stop at Market Street Station. Outbound buses will pick up passengers from Market Street Station, follow 16th Street to Wazee, Wazee to 19th and head to the bus HOV lane.
Light Rail
Passengers can take the C or E lines to Denver Union Station and walk to Coors Field. The D, F or H lines go to the 16th/California and 16th/Stout light rail stations, where riders can take the 16th Street FREE MallRide to Market Street Station and walk four blocks to Coors Field.
Although the C and F lines do not operate on weekends or holidays, a special C Line service will operate for Rockies games during the same hours as RockiesRide buses. Regular light rail fares apply.
Fans traveling to Rockies games on light rail are asked to build in extra time due to ongoing construction at Denver Union Station (DUS). The pedestrian tunnel has permanently closed because of RTD FasTracks construction so light rail passengers are encouraged to take the 16th Street Mall Shuttle from DUS to Market Street Station drop-off point and walk the four blocks along Blake Street to Coors Field.
For specific RockiesRide route and schedule information, visit RTD-Denver.com or call RTD at 303-299-6000. Patrons with hearing or speech impairments should call the TDD information service at 303-299-6089.