Posts tagged students
Mark Gelband Platform for Boulder City Council
Aug 29th
Dear Family, Friends, and Supporters,
I am proud to announce my candidacy for November’s Boulder City Council election. Thanks to all of you who quickly stepped up and signed my petition to get on the ballot. The real work begins now. We have eight short weeks to get the message out and your emotional, organizational, and financial support is critical to my success. Boulder needs a new voice on council. There is a growing chasm between the city’s aging leadership and the young families, young professionals, creative class and students who represent the future of Boulder.
Perhaps, some of you are thinking: Why did I receive this e-mail when I don’t live in Boulder, don’t know your platform, or don’t even know you all that well?
The easy answer is that I am reaching out to folks with whom I have felt a connection in my life. Whether you live in Boulder or not, I can still benefit greatly from your financial support, if you can afford the contribution and believe in me personally or in my vision for the city. Detailed contribution information is included at the end of this e-mail.
For those of you who need more information before committing your support, here are the critical issues that constitute my platform.
Open Space Access
The aging hippies currently running the show look nothing like the younger, progressive versions of themselves that supported citizen initiatives to create the Blue Line in 1959 and the Open Space program in 1967. We owe them for their past foresight, but their vision today is nothing like it once was. They’ve recently begun a campaign to “reclaim” shared recreational land with the mindset that we are loving nature “to death .” Current Council is prejudiced against dog owners and mountain bikers, with an anti-recreation mentality. Much of the open space we have all paid for is off-limits, with little or no access. Open Space is house poor with 47% of its budget spent on debt service. Why are we buying land in neighboring Jefferson County when we cannot even maintain the most precious resources outside our door? We need to refocus our priorities and better manage our open space, but the solution is not to deny access to the many people who have chosen Boulder as their home for its recreational opportunities.
Core City Services
Current council is challenged to manage a single council meeting, let alone the breadth of our core city services. We currently have a $700,000,000 dollar backlog in deferred maintenance projects and, yet, these folks seem to prioritize efforts such as prairie dog relocation, the minute alteration of snow shoveling ordinances to which they themselves are unable to adhere, and endless pontification about Arizona’s Immigration laws. We need leaders who will fix our potholed streets, who will plow side streets in the winter so that children can safely get to school, and who will address the traffic problems around town, libraries, public safety, decaying infrastructure and the growing homeless problem.
Homelessness
Boulder bears a disproportionate share of the county’s homeless problem. The county homeless shelter is in the city, and the city has become a “convention center” for chronic vagrancy and associated crime. We need to distinguish the working poor and the transitionally homeless in our community, and to ensure that they are first in line to receive the resources to help feed and clothe them, get them jobs and into affordable housing. But let’s confront chronic vagrancy head-on by actually enforcing the existing loitering, panhandling and public intoxication laws that are already on the books.
Overregulation
People in glass houses should not overregulate. Current Council “manages” meetings by restricting public input; this limiting approach to community involvement is just the tip of the iceberg. The council has now spent several decades implementing solutions in search of problems. As the city regulates and regulates and regulates, it continues to squeeze the working class. Their growing list of regulations is hurting those of us least able to afford it. For example, the city has 100 of 10,000 homes that are larger than 5,000 square feet (50% of them built prior to 1940) and, yet, our council has spent countless hours in the last few years developing an onerous, inflexible McMansion ordinance that has only served to ‘handcuff’ young families interested in expansion without relocation. The council’s “obsession” with controlling individual choices in the absence of a viable long-term city plan has led to a scary sort of Big Brother government.
I am interested in hearing your thoughts on the key issues that are facing Boulder and about proactive paths toward solutions. If you are unable to support me financially, maybe you would consider hosting a meet-and-greet, spreading the word about my candidacy, putting a yard sign up, or simply sending the campaign some good energy.
If you are in a position to help financially, Boulder campaign finance reform limits individual contributions to $100 per person. If you have a husband, wife or partner, and can contribute more than $25, it helps to receive two checks, one from each of you. This allows me to better access city matching funds, should I choose to go that route. I am currently working on a campaign website and should have it finished in the coming week or so. Until that time, I can only accept checks – payable to:
Gelband for Council – A Good Sign
Please mail checks to 505 College Ave, Boulder, CO 80302.
If you live locally and want to donate to my campaign, call me at 303-522-1192 and we can meet. Same limits and rules apply to locals.
Boulder Mexican, African & Anglo Kids produce sobering video on achievement gap. Oooh.
Aug 19th
NEWS
Friday, Aug. 19, 2011
Contact:
Cindy Smith, Housing & Human Services, 303-441-4045
Sarah Huntley, Media Relations, 303-441-3155
www.bouldercolorado.gov
Friday, Aug. 19, 2011
Contact:
Cindy Smith, Housing & Human Services, 303-441-4045
Sarah Huntley, Media Relations, 303-441-3155
www.bouldercolorado.gov
Student video addresses achievement gap
Three high school student members of the City of Boulder’s Youth Opportunities Advisory Board (YOAB) have created a video addressing the achievement gap from a youth perspective. This 13-minute video includes interview footage with a number of local students and advice for teachers about how to help all students succeed.
The achievement gap refers to differences in educational success between defined demographic groups. The Boulder Valley School District (BVSD) has one of the largest achievement gaps in the state, and Colorado has one of the largest in the nation. Based on 2009 to 2010 BVSD data, while 85 percent of all students graduated from high school in four years, just 60 percent of economically disadvantaged students and 58 percent of Latino males graduated in four years.
YOAB member Peter Osnes said, “We created this video to try to raise awareness of methods to close the achievement gap. This was aimed primarily at teachers not because of any deficiency, but because they have the most power to make change. The BVSD has remarkable teachers and I believe they can cinch the gap more than any program or additional funding.”
Ellen Miller Brown, chief academic officer for the BVSD, agreed that the video will be useful to teachers.
“We showed this video to all of the principals and assistant principals in BVSD at the end of last school year, and everyone was very impressed with the YOAB students’ honesty and clarity about the ways that adults in schools can help every student be successful,” she said. “Knowing how teachers value student voices, they’ll surely find this video’s suggestions to be meaningful and worth considering.”
Although the video is focused toward teachers, the youth who produced it expect that principals, parents and students will also get something out of watching it.
YOAB member Nancy Contreras said, “Parents and students should see this video because it is important that parents know the high school graduation statistics. The video will also give them ideas about what may be best for their child and how to encourage them to succeed.”
To see the video, go to www.yoab.org.
YOAB is part of the Youth Opportunities Program in the Department of Housing and Human Services. The mission of the program is to strengthen the community though empowering youth, providing opportunities for youth, encouraging youth civic participation and volunteer work and advising city government. For more information contact Youth Opportunities Coordinator, Alice Swett, at 303-441-4349 or swetta@bouldercolorado.gov.
THOUSANDS OF RIDERS IN BUFFALO BICYCLE CLASSIC WILL HELP CU-BOULDER STUDENTS WITH SCHOLARSHIPS
Aug 19th
In 1991, when Punam Chatterjee was 20 months old, a drunk driver careened into her parents’ car. Her leg was shattered, as was her father’s. Her mother lost an eye. Although she was too young to remember it, she has since learned that while her parents convalesced, nurses volunteered to comfort her and read to her.
“I don’t know any of those people … but what they did for me was just incredible,” Chatterjee recalled.
She still has multiple screws in her leg, and while she said she’s “never going to try out for the Army,” she is active. And she is ambitious: “I want to be a doctor and help children who went through what I did.”
Throughout her education at the University of Colorado Boulder, the Elevations Credit Union Buffalo BicycleClassic has helped Chatterjee pursue her dream. She graduated in May with degrees in psychology and neuroscience plus molecular, cellular and developmental biology.
Chatterjee is one of the hundreds of recipients of $1.4 million in scholarship money raised by CU’s Buffalo Bicycle Classic since its founding in 2003.
The event is the brainchild of Todd Gleeson, dean of CU’s College of Arts and Sciences, and Woody Eaton, a 1962 alumnus, businessman, investor and philanthropist. The pair hatched the idea of a fundraising ride for scholarships while cycling together in support of The Children’s Hospital.
Gleeson and Eaton enlisted the help of Frank Banta and Gail Mock of Boulder. Banta, of Banta Construction, is a 1972 alumnus, and Mock, of Mock Realty, is a longtime university supporter. The event is organized and overseen by volunteers.
The event has generated 548 scholarships for good students who need financial support. Students cannot apply for the scholarship and don’t even know they’re in the running until they learn they have won. It is the single largest source of scholarships in theCollege of Arts and Sciences, which is the largest of the university’s colleges and schools.
The event was canceled last year because of the Fourmile Canyon Fire, but because most riders and sponsors did not request a refund, scholarships remained funded.
Scholarship recipients call it a significant windfall.
Leslie Fowler, a current scholarship recipient majoring in classics, put it this way: “I am so grateful to have been selected as a BBC scholar because it makes me feel more confident about paying my student loans after graduation. It makes me feel that much closer to having my dream job as a high school teacher.”
Cyclists of all ages and abilities are gearing up for this year’s Elevations Credit Union Buffalo Bicycle Classic on Sept. 11 in Boulder. Ambitious cyclists can ride the 100-mile, 70-mile, 50-mile or 35-mile rides. More casual riders, including families and recreational riders, are encouraged to ride the 14-mile Little Buffalo, which will include snow cones and complimentary face paintings.
Riders are encouraged to register early, as the ride will be capped at 2,500 cyclists, a number the ride has attracted in recent years.
All cyclists participating in this fully supported, fundraising ride will generate scholarship funds. Online registration of $95 for the longer rides includes a scholarship donation of$45. Registration for the Little Buffalo is $65 for participants 14 and older and $35 for riders from 8 to 13.
Those who “Ride the Buffalo” will start and finish on the CU-Boulder campus at Benson Field, located across Colorado Avenue from Folsom Field. The longer courses traverse through Boulder and Larimer counties. The 14-mile Little Buff is a fun cruiser ride around Boulder to the town of Marshall; it is perfect for those who want to participate but don’t want to face long courses and busy roads.
Registration for all rides includes a Ride the Buffalo T-shirt, water bottle, aid-station treats, breakfast and lunch. Jerseys, socks and other merchandise are available separately. An expo featuring sponsors will be held at the start/finish, and riders can win raffle prizes and enjoy after-race food, beverages and entertainment.
Riders can register online at http://www.buffalobicycleclassic.com. Walk-up registration is available the day of the ride and includes a $10 late fee. For information call 303-735-1569 or email bbc@colorado.edu.
