Wednesday, May 1, 2013
Project Website
It's Casey again, and after working on it all this past week our website for the 4-20-2013 project is finally up and running. Check it out for more media content!
Final Project Report
I. Title of the project and URL
-Our project title is 4/20/2013 Project
-Our project URL is 42013.cudjlabs.com
II. Members, Classification, and Emails
-Taylor Reed, graduate student, taylor.reed@colorado.edu
-Casey Killingsworth, undergraduate student, samuel.killingsworth@colorado.edu
III. Division of Labor
-Taylor's main responsibility was to manage the project blog, while Casey's main responsibility was to manage the project website. Both Taylor and Casey worked to conduct interviews to get opinions from campus officials concerning 4/20. Both of us also managed to get pictures of the 4/20 event on campus that could be uploaded to the project website.
IV. Resources
- The main resources we used were campus officials Ryan huff (ryan.huff@colorado.edu) and Bronson Hilliard (bonson.hilliard@colorado.edu). We interviewed them both before and after the event to get information concerning the events of 4/20. We also took our own pictures that could be used for content on the website. We used a press release on the CU Boulder website as a link in blog. The link provided post 4/20 statistics and information for the public. We also linked to an article by Brittany Anas from the Daily Camera on our website. The article was titled "CU-Boulder: Anti 4-20 plan 'effective'."
V. Strengths of the Project
-Our project is very strong in terms of information. We found out as much as we could about the 4/20 event, both before and after it occurred. We also have numerous pictures from the event and even audio from Casey's interviews with Bonson Hilliard and Ryan huff. We also think that the design of the website and the use of the blog were effective in presenting information about 4/20.
VI. Weaknesses of the Project
- I think one of the weaknesses of our project is that we were unable to interview police officers on campus during 4/20. They will not willing to speak with us on the subject, they referred us to Ryan Huff, who we both have spoken to at separate times. There was also a lack of protestors on campus this year, making it tough to interview anyone during the event that was opposed to the closing of campus.
VII. Lessons Learned
- I think we learned that it worked well to interview campus officials both before and after the event took place. This gave us some information leading up to 4/20 as well as some reactions after the event took place. We also learned it can be hard to find people who are willing to talk to us during an event like this. It was impossible to gain information from police on campus, and difficult to find anyone on campus who was willing to voice their opinion against the closure of campus. We learned that sometimes it can be difficult to get people to voice their opinions to a journalist during a controversial event like 4/20.
-Our project title is 4/20/2013 Project
-Our project URL is 42013.cudjlabs.com
II. Members, Classification, and Emails
-Taylor Reed, graduate student, taylor.reed@colorado.edu
-Casey Killingsworth, undergraduate student, samuel.killingsworth@colorado.edu
III. Division of Labor
-Taylor's main responsibility was to manage the project blog, while Casey's main responsibility was to manage the project website. Both Taylor and Casey worked to conduct interviews to get opinions from campus officials concerning 4/20. Both of us also managed to get pictures of the 4/20 event on campus that could be uploaded to the project website.
IV. Resources
- The main resources we used were campus officials Ryan huff (ryan.huff@colorado.edu) and Bronson Hilliard (bonson.hilliard@colorado.edu). We interviewed them both before and after the event to get information concerning the events of 4/20. We also took our own pictures that could be used for content on the website. We used a press release on the CU Boulder website as a link in blog. The link provided post 4/20 statistics and information for the public. We also linked to an article by Brittany Anas from the Daily Camera on our website. The article was titled "CU-Boulder: Anti 4-20 plan 'effective'."
V. Strengths of the Project
-Our project is very strong in terms of information. We found out as much as we could about the 4/20 event, both before and after it occurred. We also have numerous pictures from the event and even audio from Casey's interviews with Bonson Hilliard and Ryan huff. We also think that the design of the website and the use of the blog were effective in presenting information about 4/20.
VI. Weaknesses of the Project
- I think one of the weaknesses of our project is that we were unable to interview police officers on campus during 4/20. They will not willing to speak with us on the subject, they referred us to Ryan Huff, who we both have spoken to at separate times. There was also a lack of protestors on campus this year, making it tough to interview anyone during the event that was opposed to the closing of campus.
VII. Lessons Learned
- I think we learned that it worked well to interview campus officials both before and after the event took place. This gave us some information leading up to 4/20 as well as some reactions after the event took place. We also learned it can be hard to find people who are willing to talk to us during an event like this. It was impossible to gain information from police on campus, and difficult to find anyone on campus who was willing to voice their opinion against the closure of campus. We learned that sometimes it can be difficult to get people to voice their opinions to a journalist during a controversial event like 4/20.
Saturday, April 27, 2013
4/20/2013 reaction
Another April 20th has passed in Boulder, and for the second straight year there was no 4/20 celebration on the University of Colorado Campus. This year's event was successfully prevented once again by the University, and with less incident than what occurred last year.
CU Boulder spokesperson Bronson Hilliard said there was a long planning process by the University to close campus once again on 4/20. He said that since 4/20 fell on a Saturday this year, it provided an interesting challenge. It seems this year's event went on with less protesting and less opposition when compared to last year.
"There was far less media at the event this year," Says Hilliard. "The size of the event in Denver probably had something to do with a lack of interest in Boulder."
Hilliard also pointed out that the shooting that took place in Denver during the 4/20 celebration shows why the University wanted to prevent the celebration from taking place on the CU Campus. The shooting in Denver shows that the 4/20 celebration does present a safety hazard and is not a safe gathering.
"The public learned 4/20 is not completely harmless," Says Hilliard.
We also talked to CU Boulder Police spokesperson Ryan Huff to get his thoughts on the event now that it is over. Huff says that the event was handled much the same way this year as it was last year, but without using fish fertilizer this year.
"We had a similar presence of law enforcement officers this year," says Huff. "We learned that asking the public for their cooperation and closing the campus to non-affiliates worked. We did that again this year."
Huff also said that this year's event was actually easier to deal with than last year's because there were less people trying to get on campus and no problems this year.
According to CU Boulder's website the event went very smoothly with nobody attempting to enter the Norlin Quad while it was closed and there were no arrests made. A link to the press release is listed below!
https://police.colorado.edu/announcements/news-release-quiet-420-cu-boulder-campus
CU Boulder spokesperson Bronson Hilliard said there was a long planning process by the University to close campus once again on 4/20. He said that since 4/20 fell on a Saturday this year, it provided an interesting challenge. It seems this year's event went on with less protesting and less opposition when compared to last year.
"There was far less media at the event this year," Says Hilliard. "The size of the event in Denver probably had something to do with a lack of interest in Boulder."
Hilliard also pointed out that the shooting that took place in Denver during the 4/20 celebration shows why the University wanted to prevent the celebration from taking place on the CU Campus. The shooting in Denver shows that the 4/20 celebration does present a safety hazard and is not a safe gathering.
"The public learned 4/20 is not completely harmless," Says Hilliard.
We also talked to CU Boulder Police spokesperson Ryan Huff to get his thoughts on the event now that it is over. Huff says that the event was handled much the same way this year as it was last year, but without using fish fertilizer this year.
"We had a similar presence of law enforcement officers this year," says Huff. "We learned that asking the public for their cooperation and closing the campus to non-affiliates worked. We did that again this year."
Huff also said that this year's event was actually easier to deal with than last year's because there were less people trying to get on campus and no problems this year.
According to CU Boulder's website the event went very smoothly with nobody attempting to enter the Norlin Quad while it was closed and there were no arrests made. A link to the press release is listed below!
https://police.colorado.edu/announcements/news-release-quiet-420-cu-boulder-campus
Saturday, April 20, 2013
The Big Day: Getting the Word on the Street
This is Casey with another report. Since today was, in fact, 4/20/2013 I decided to go out on campus, Pearl Street and University Hill to try and talk to people to get their opinions on how the CU Boulder campus is preparing to today. Suffice it to say, the response wasn't quite as overwhelming as I had hoped for the sake of this project.
First, I talked to a group of guards who told me they were not permitted to give interviews. They did refer me back to Ryan Huff, whom I had told them I'd already interviewed.
Then, I decided to walk around the hill to try and talk to people. Unfortunately, no one was really all that willing to talk to me saying that they didn't smoke and that they were on their way to some other place. When I told them that didn't matter and just asked them if they had some opinion on how their campus is handling this event, responses ranged from being glad that they decided not to put fish fertilizer on Norlin Quad to saying that having cops and security guards every nine feet or so all asking to show some form of ID was a bit much, but it was understandable.
When asked if the money CU is spending to stem the tide of 4/20 was worth it, some agreed that it could've been put to better use while some just said they just don't want their tuition money raised if it means that money is going to cover occurrences like these. One person even stated that while he didn't agree with CU spending this much money to stop 4/20 from happening, he did see how campus officials would rationalize doing it as a way to protect CU's image as an academic institution and place of higher learning and not just a prominent party school.
By the time I got to the Pearl Street Mall, I noticed that there were so many people out and about that it was impossible just to tell if they were students of just tourists, but I could tell that not a lot of people would've been worth talking to or would have a relevant opinion (especially after my experience talking to people on the hill) so I just decided to go home and call it an afternoon.
I did get one two minute clip of video, but I don't believe it to be worth sharing. I wold say the interview fell apart as I realized that three out of the five questions Taylor and I had prepared would be only things that guards and/or campus officials could answer, so I just bought it to a stammering halt. Needless to say, you won't be seeing it any time soon.
I did, however, get some pictures of the Norlin quad today (from a distance, of course) so you will be seeing those on the site as soon as I can get it up and running. Also, I got a picture of a guy getting arrested over by Pearl. As soon as we get the possible legal and ethical kinks worked out on that one and get the full story behind it, you might see it on the site.
Hope everyone is having a great weekend!
First, I talked to a group of guards who told me they were not permitted to give interviews. They did refer me back to Ryan Huff, whom I had told them I'd already interviewed.
Then, I decided to walk around the hill to try and talk to people. Unfortunately, no one was really all that willing to talk to me saying that they didn't smoke and that they were on their way to some other place. When I told them that didn't matter and just asked them if they had some opinion on how their campus is handling this event, responses ranged from being glad that they decided not to put fish fertilizer on Norlin Quad to saying that having cops and security guards every nine feet or so all asking to show some form of ID was a bit much, but it was understandable.
When asked if the money CU is spending to stem the tide of 4/20 was worth it, some agreed that it could've been put to better use while some just said they just don't want their tuition money raised if it means that money is going to cover occurrences like these. One person even stated that while he didn't agree with CU spending this much money to stop 4/20 from happening, he did see how campus officials would rationalize doing it as a way to protect CU's image as an academic institution and place of higher learning and not just a prominent party school.
By the time I got to the Pearl Street Mall, I noticed that there were so many people out and about that it was impossible just to tell if they were students of just tourists, but I could tell that not a lot of people would've been worth talking to or would have a relevant opinion (especially after my experience talking to people on the hill) so I just decided to go home and call it an afternoon.
I did get one two minute clip of video, but I don't believe it to be worth sharing. I wold say the interview fell apart as I realized that three out of the five questions Taylor and I had prepared would be only things that guards and/or campus officials could answer, so I just bought it to a stammering halt. Needless to say, you won't be seeing it any time soon.
I did, however, get some pictures of the Norlin quad today (from a distance, of course) so you will be seeing those on the site as soon as I can get it up and running. Also, I got a picture of a guy getting arrested over by Pearl. As soon as we get the possible legal and ethical kinks worked out on that one and get the full story behind it, you might see it on the site.
Hope everyone is having a great weekend!
Friday, April 19, 2013
Interview with Bronson Hilliard
We thought it would be a great idea to interview Bronson Hilliard to find out more information on the handling on 4/20 events at the University of Colorado and the city of Boulder. Hilliard is a spokesperson for the CU Boulder campus.
Hilliard was very satisfied with last year's plan to prevent large groups of people from smoking marijuana on the CU Boulder campus. He says that this year's plan to handle the event will be an extension of last year's highly successful plan.
Hilliard also weighed on on the financial impact caused by preventing the 4/20 event from taking place. The money used to pay for the prevention plan comes from university insurance rebates, therefore none of the money is taken out of the academic fund. The university is given this rebate money when the school has less than the number of projected safety issues in a given year. This money can then be spent on public safety issues such as the 4/20 prevention plan.
"The 4/20 event represents probably the largest potential threat to public safety that we have," says Hilliard. "The potential for somebody getting hurt, with that many people, with 10 to 12 thousand people jammed into the Norlin Quad area is quite high."
Hilliard went out to discuss how the 4/20 celebration is not only a safety issue, but also causes disruption on campus. People with chemical sensitivities have even complained about the event taking place in past years and wondered why it was allowed to happen. Hilliard also made it clear that the 4/20 event should not be allowed this year, despite April 20 occurring on a weekend this year.
"Our academic mission takes place on a Saturday just as much as it does on a weekday," says Hilliard. "On any given saturday we've got meetings going on, we've got graduate work, undergraduate work, we've got studying for finals."
Hilliard would go on to mention that the current approach, as well as the one taken prior to 2012 are both difficult to accommodate. Between 2009 and 2011, when when the event was allowed on campus, CU Boulder had to spend around $55,000 per year to accomodate the event. The event requires a lot of resources with both approaches to the event.
CU Boulder has certainly had to take on some criticism to stop the 4/20 celebration from taking place on campus. They are willing to accept that criticism to project their mission as a university. Prevention of the event will continue, but the challenges will continue as well.
Hilliard said that a big challenge being faced this year is trying to convince people that the event is being stopped for the right reasons, not as CU's contribution to the war on drugs. The university believes preventing this event will help protect CU's research mission. Hilliard wanted to make it clear that this his nothing to do with legalization issues or Amendment 64.
It is still illegal for people age 18-21 to use marijuana, and still illegal for people to smoke marijuana in public. The passing of Amendment 64 allows people to possess marijuana in their own home, but not smoke it in places such as the CU Boulder campus. It is important for people to understand the limitations of the new laws and avoid making incorrect misconceptions that have been taking place with the public recently.
Another issue with the 4/20 smoke out taking place on campus involves Federal law. Under Federal law marijuana is still considered an illegal drug. Public schools such as CU Boulder are still obligated to make marijuana illegal on campus because of Federal law. To receive federal research dollars, the school is obligated to comply with Federal drug laws that are against marijuana use.
Hilliard was very satisfied with last year's plan to prevent large groups of people from smoking marijuana on the CU Boulder campus. He says that this year's plan to handle the event will be an extension of last year's highly successful plan.
Hilliard also weighed on on the financial impact caused by preventing the 4/20 event from taking place. The money used to pay for the prevention plan comes from university insurance rebates, therefore none of the money is taken out of the academic fund. The university is given this rebate money when the school has less than the number of projected safety issues in a given year. This money can then be spent on public safety issues such as the 4/20 prevention plan.
"The 4/20 event represents probably the largest potential threat to public safety that we have," says Hilliard. "The potential for somebody getting hurt, with that many people, with 10 to 12 thousand people jammed into the Norlin Quad area is quite high."
Hilliard went out to discuss how the 4/20 celebration is not only a safety issue, but also causes disruption on campus. People with chemical sensitivities have even complained about the event taking place in past years and wondered why it was allowed to happen. Hilliard also made it clear that the 4/20 event should not be allowed this year, despite April 20 occurring on a weekend this year.
"Our academic mission takes place on a Saturday just as much as it does on a weekday," says Hilliard. "On any given saturday we've got meetings going on, we've got graduate work, undergraduate work, we've got studying for finals."
Hilliard would go on to mention that the current approach, as well as the one taken prior to 2012 are both difficult to accommodate. Between 2009 and 2011, when when the event was allowed on campus, CU Boulder had to spend around $55,000 per year to accomodate the event. The event requires a lot of resources with both approaches to the event.
CU Boulder has certainly had to take on some criticism to stop the 4/20 celebration from taking place on campus. They are willing to accept that criticism to project their mission as a university. Prevention of the event will continue, but the challenges will continue as well.
Hilliard said that a big challenge being faced this year is trying to convince people that the event is being stopped for the right reasons, not as CU's contribution to the war on drugs. The university believes preventing this event will help protect CU's research mission. Hilliard wanted to make it clear that this his nothing to do with legalization issues or Amendment 64.
It is still illegal for people age 18-21 to use marijuana, and still illegal for people to smoke marijuana in public. The passing of Amendment 64 allows people to possess marijuana in their own home, but not smoke it in places such as the CU Boulder campus. It is important for people to understand the limitations of the new laws and avoid making incorrect misconceptions that have been taking place with the public recently.
Another issue with the 4/20 smoke out taking place on campus involves Federal law. Under Federal law marijuana is still considered an illegal drug. Public schools such as CU Boulder are still obligated to make marijuana illegal on campus because of Federal law. To receive federal research dollars, the school is obligated to comply with Federal drug laws that are against marijuana use.
Thursday, April 18, 2013
Progress Report
This is Casey and I just wanted to update any readers of this blog on some upcoming details concerning this project. Hopefully by Saturday, Taylor will have posted a write up of my interview with CU campus spokesperson Bronson Hilliard. Also, this Saturday we will be going around campus, the hill and Pearl Street asking guards, students and various others what they think about how CU is handling the event which will also be on our blog shortly.
There is also going to be a website associated with this blog that I am supposed to be designing, but haven't had a chance to start what with my hectic schedule these past two weeks. I'd like for us to be able to get the site up and running in time for this Saturday much like Taylor assures me he's doing with this blog, but at this point it's not a realistic possibility.
This is largely because most of the content that will be going on the site will be gathered on Saturday. In addition to recording whatever interviews we can get, we are also planning to take pictures of the campus, hill and Pearl St. and post them on the site just so viewers can get a sense of how different their perceptions are from what actually happens here on this day.
Also, we will have links to all the news stories about 4/20/2013 we found, a link to this very blog as well as audio (and possibly video clips) of the interviews we have conducted. So far, I have audio only clips of two interviews I conducted over the phone. Taylor and I both arranged for the interviews to take place, but due to our conflicting schedules I was the only one who was able to conduct them.
So, that's pretty much what you can expect from us in the coming weeks. We will have the site up and running some time by May. Have a great weekend!
Interview with CU Boulder Police spokesperson Ryan Huff
To gain some insight into the preparations for 4/20/2013, we decided to interview Ryan Huff. He is the spokesperson for the University of Colorado at Boulder police department. We interviewed him to see what steps the school is taking this year in attempt to prevent the 4/20 celebration from taking place, as well as his experience from previous years.
Huff believes that in ways it was more difficult to deal with the 4/20 event on the CU Boulder campus in previous years than it is now. He notes that it was difficult to deal with the event when it was allowed to take place because of the safety risk associated with a massive gathering on campus. Huff also believes that preventing the celebration from taking place in 2012 was a success.
"Last year, fortunately we had no confrontations, we had no complaints about any police activities," says Huff. "There were three arrests and 12 tickets, but compared to previous years that's not drastically that different."
All three of the people arrested during last year's event were CU Boulder students. These students were arrested for going on to the Norlin Quad, despite warnings from police. Of the twelve tickets issues during 4/20 last year, 11 of them were for trespassing and one for possession of marijuana.
Huff believed the handling of the 2012 situation was successful because there were no major problems associated with the event. There were a lot of unknowns when dealing with last year's event that made it a little complicated to deal with for the police.
We have also learned that CU Boulder does not plan on using fish fertilizer to keep people away from the Norlin Quad this year. Other than that, this year's plan will very similar to last year's. One major change is that there will not be a concert provided by the school's student government this year. There is a concert taking place on campus the day before 4/20/2013. However, this is a coincidence according to Huff. The concert this year was not planned as an alternative to 4/20 festivities like the one that took place last year.
Huff went on to mention that many of the people participating in the 4/20 celebration were not CU Boulder students in past years.
"For whatever reason this has just grown over the years into an event, an unsanctioned event that there's really no leader of," says Huff. "It has attracted a lot of people who do not have any affiliation with CU."
Last year the number of participants not affiliated with CU was dramatically lower, even though a few managed to find a way on campus. Overall, Huff was very pleased with the results of last year's events.
"We were fortunate that last year, the vast majority of the public cooperated, and even with those who didn't it was very peaceful," says Huff.
Huff believes that in ways it was more difficult to deal with the 4/20 event on the CU Boulder campus in previous years than it is now. He notes that it was difficult to deal with the event when it was allowed to take place because of the safety risk associated with a massive gathering on campus. Huff also believes that preventing the celebration from taking place in 2012 was a success.
"Last year, fortunately we had no confrontations, we had no complaints about any police activities," says Huff. "There were three arrests and 12 tickets, but compared to previous years that's not drastically that different."
All three of the people arrested during last year's event were CU Boulder students. These students were arrested for going on to the Norlin Quad, despite warnings from police. Of the twelve tickets issues during 4/20 last year, 11 of them were for trespassing and one for possession of marijuana.
Huff believed the handling of the 2012 situation was successful because there were no major problems associated with the event. There were a lot of unknowns when dealing with last year's event that made it a little complicated to deal with for the police.
We have also learned that CU Boulder does not plan on using fish fertilizer to keep people away from the Norlin Quad this year. Other than that, this year's plan will very similar to last year's. One major change is that there will not be a concert provided by the school's student government this year. There is a concert taking place on campus the day before 4/20/2013. However, this is a coincidence according to Huff. The concert this year was not planned as an alternative to 4/20 festivities like the one that took place last year.
Huff went on to mention that many of the people participating in the 4/20 celebration were not CU Boulder students in past years.
"For whatever reason this has just grown over the years into an event, an unsanctioned event that there's really no leader of," says Huff. "It has attracted a lot of people who do not have any affiliation with CU."
Last year the number of participants not affiliated with CU was dramatically lower, even though a few managed to find a way on campus. Overall, Huff was very pleased with the results of last year's events.
"We were fortunate that last year, the vast majority of the public cooperated, and even with those who didn't it was very peaceful," says Huff.
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