Colorado Politics: CU Chair; Environment vs. Jobs; Ozone Pollution; Oil & Gas Poll

It’s interesting that this piece of news didn’t garner much discussion: The University of Colorado is looking to hire an endowed chair in conservative thought and policy.  This is the result of something the Cons have perfected: play the refs and get the bonus.

CU is currently developing a $9 million program which will bring nationally recognized conservative scholars to teach on the Boulder campus. The program will allow CU to create an endowment for a visiting chair in conservative thought.

What exactly is the push for this crazy idea?  It all arises from the Republican penchant for self-victimization.  The whole world is out to get every singe Con-servative, according to them.  The push is coming from entities like the American Enterprise Institute and the Independence Institute who have conducted “studies” demonstrating how crazy liberal every public college in America is.  What doesn’t get related by the corporate media is AEI and II are funded exclusively by conservatives.  Their “studies” are slanted from the start to show what they want them to show.  Because they’re so well funded and organized, they can push things like hiring a “chair of con-servative thought”.  How then, you might ask, could a place like CU in “ultra-liberal” Boulder even consider such a thing?  This is what happens when a partisan like Bruce Benson is hired as University President.  I haven’t read any stories about how CU is suddenly swimming in cash due to Benson’s superior fundraising abilities.  But CU is suddenly getting a chair in conservative thought.  Gee, I wonder how that happened.  Can you imagine the screams from the Cons if CU were to hire a chair in progressive thought?

More topics below.

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Higher Ed & Ballot Measures

Today’s Rocky Mountain News has a couple of items I wanted to bring attention to (and I’m only scratching the surface). The first:

CU Chief Tepid to Ritter Plan

Let’s start by describing Ritter’s plan, which isn’t done until the last 1/3 of the article (controversy over journalism).

Ritter endorsed a citizens initiative Thursday to eliminate a property tax credit for the oil and gas industry unique to Colorado. Killing the tax credit would bring the state about $200 million more a year.

Under the plan, 60 percent would go toward “Colorado Promise” scholarships to help families pay for college. The other 40 percent would be divided among projects to help communities offset the impacts of the oil and gas industry, set aside wildlife habitat and develop renewable energy sources.

Doesn’t sound that bad. What’s Benson got to say?

But Benson acknowledged that he and Ritter discussed an approach that would have sent the increased oil and gas revenues directly into universities’ operating budgets. Benson said he was never “cool” to the governor’s idea but argued that the oil and gas industry needed something in return – such as easing off on new environmental rules being drafted by state regulators.

Ah, the magical ability of Bruce Benson’s fundraising… no wait, Benson isn’t raising money, he’s telling the Governor that industry needs less regulation in return for directing severance money toward education. Benson won’t get behind any plan that doesn’t proactively neutralize expected opposition from the industry. That’s interesting. What threshold does Benson have in mind, exactly? How far would Gov. Ritter and others have to go before Benson gets aboard?

Or are those even the correct questions? What about: What is Benson’s first priority as CU President? Is it identifying sources of income for the state’s colleges and working to secure those funds? Or is it to fight for the interests of the industry where he made his millions? This is but one example why Benson shouldn’t have been the only choice to be CU’s President. His long-time loyalties seem to be in direct conflict with his current duties.

Benson is quoted in the article as not wanting to part of Custer’s Last Stand, citing the tens of millions of dollars the oil and gas industry would spend to defeat Ritter’s proposal, which would be presented to voters later this year. Benson also said that he needs operating money while warning the Referendum C will expire in 2 years.

Perhaps Benson should utilize his vaunted leadership skills and begin working to extend the effects of Ref C or do away with conflicting constitutional spending limits. Everybody knows higher education is in a bad spot financially in Colorado. Whining isn’t going to make it better.

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The second item I saw was fourteen proposed ballot initiatives were submitted to the Legislative Council yesterday. Are you ready for this? There could be 127 ballot measures this November. The good news: only one so far has been approved for the ballot. This is getting ridiculous. I consider myself somewhat of an issue junkie, but even I blanch at the thought of researching 127 measures, some of which are designed to compete with one another.

X-posted @ SquareState

Benson is CU’s Newest President

Despite overwhelming rejection by students and staff of the University campuses, the heavily Republican Board of Regents elected Bruce Benson to the post yesterday by a vote of 6-3.

The Denver Post’s front page article sets up a bad frame for the whole affair.

From this morning’s paper:

Benson barrels by foes University of Colorado regents on Wednesday selected Bruce Benson as the school’s 22nd president, shelving concerns about his academic credentials and partisan background and instead funneling hope to his pledge to fix the school’s financial problems.

Barreled by foes … shelving concerns … funneling hope.  What?!  It sounds good as a word exercise, doesn’t it?  I’m not sure how barreling past foes translates to funneling hope in the span of a few meetings.  Benson’s entire time as President will continue under the same concerns as the past few weeks.  People won’t stop being concerned about his ability to do his job now that he’s got it.

For CU’s sake, I don’t hope Benson can “fix the school’s financial problems”, I now expect nothing less after this process.  If he can overcome overwhelming dissent to his assuming the duties of CU President, he had better be the 2nd greatest thing since sliced bread.

I even know where he can start: he can work for free.  Put your money where your mouth is, Bruce.  If the school is as strapped for funds as you say it is, I’m sure it could use your $385,000 base salary for some other purpose.  I would appreciate witnessing your dedication to the University’s plight.  After all, it’s not like you’re hurting for income.

CU Regent Cindy Carlisle backtracks on Bruce Benson

Last week, oil magnate and hard-core Republican Bruce Benson was nominated to replace Hank Brown as the President of Colorado University.  This despite the fact that not only does Benson not have a degree beyond his Bachelor’s, but he has no academic teaching or administrative experience.

Some of his supporters have pointed out that he helped former Governor Bill Owens pass Referendum C, which allowed Colorado to keep excess monies beyond what TABOR allowed it.  To which I reply that if Benson hadn’t supported Republicans in reducing funding to our places of higher learning, they wouldn’t have needed the rescue Ref C brought them so badly.

Enough of that tangent.  CU Regent Cindy Carlisle was one of the yes votes that named Benson the finalist for the position.  Needless to say, Benson didn’t receive the warmest kind of support from the community.  Guess what, when you crap on people for years, they tend not to want to throw a party when you’re directly responsible for their livelihood.

For instance, Benson hasn’t been a supporter of climate research conducted at the University in the past.  He told the press after his status announcement that he wouldn’t interfere with the program if he got the position.  I think the reaction from faculty, staff and students demonstrated that they didn’t think it was worth taking his word on it.  Something about supporting groups who believe the Earth is really only 6000 years old might have had something to do with it also.

So since the announce earlier this week, the outcry from the public has been loud and unrelenting.  Benson is up for the final vote by Feb. 13th.  On Saturday, Regent Carlisle revoked her support of Benson, in large part because she’s running for the state Senate position in District 18.  It seems her opponent, Rollie Heath, started to campaign on her vote for Benson.  Here’s the fun part of the story: “My opponent in my state Senate race has exploited this to the fullest,” she [Carlisle] said. “It’s politics, and it’s stupid.”

Yes Cindy, it’s politics.  You entered the race, so I assume you already figured that part out.  But no Cindy, it’s not stupid.  Given the negative aspects of voting to send Benson up for this position, trying to call Heath out is silly.  If Heath didn’t make this a campaign issue and it somehow was kept more quiet via the corporate stenographers, would she have withdrawn her support?  No, she considered Benson to be a qualified candidate worthy of consideration.

I hardly think her judgement is the kind needed to keep moving Colorado forward.  I want Democrats in office that clean up after Republicans, not help them make bigger messes.