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news & views Pot at the tea party / 10 4/20, Boston protest share common ground by Paul Danish Will power / 13 Late CU professor Hazel Barnes’ bequest to university in dispute by Jefferson Dodge On the cover: Are your gadgets killing you? / 14 A look at the science and controversy around cell phones and wi-fi by Pamela White

buzz Natural-born talent? / 20 Author sheds new light on nature-nurture debate by Adam Perry Overtones: A night of furious chops with Carlton and Ford / 25 Overtones: Passion, performance are the heart of Lil Sum’n Sum’n / 26 Arts & Culture: One strongman’s quest for the American dream / 28 Panorama: What to do and where to go / 31 Elevation: Choose your own adventure at the Air Force Academy / 41 Cuisine: Mixology in a modern world / 45 Cuisine review: Culinary Connectors / 47 Dessert Diva: Strawberry Blackberry Cobbler / 49 Screen: The Joneses; Kick-Ass / 53 Reel 2 Reel: Pick your flick / 54

departments Letters: Danish needs flashlight; Not ‘kind’ bud; Check costs / 7 The Highroad: Which Mitch do you believe? / 7 Boulderganic: Celebrating Earth with Earthfest Boulder/ 12 News Briefs: Free composting classes; Heath hosts town hall / 16 In Case You Missed It: It’s about fricking time; Won word; Party pilot / 19 Sophisticated Sex: Learning each other’s love language / 39 Classifieds: Your community resource / 58 Free Will Astrology: by Rob Brezsny / 62

staff Publisher,, Stewart Sallo Editor Editor, Pamela White Managing Editor, Jefferson Dodge Arts & Entertainment Editor, David Accomazzo Special Editions/Calendar Editor, Katherine Creel Office Manager/Advertising Assistant, Casey Modrzewski Online Editor, Quibian Salazar-Moreno Editorial Interns, Eli Boonin-Vail, Lauren Duncan, Katelyn Feldhaus Contributing Writers, Rob Brezsny, Chris Callaway, April Charmaine, Ben Corbett, Paul Danish, James Dziezynski, Christina Eisert, Clay Fong, Jim Hightower, Dan Hinkel, Adrienne Saia Isaac, Gene Ira Katz, David Kirby, P.J. Nutting, Adam Perry, Danette Randall, Alan Sculley, Isaac Woods Stokes, Gary Zeidner Art Director, Susan France Graphic Designer, Mark Goodman, Production Intern, Alex Paul Martineau Circulation Manager, Cal Winn Inside Sales Manager, Dayna Copeland Associate Director of Sales & Marketing, Dave Grimsland Senior Advertising Executive, Allen Carmichael Account Executives, Rich Blitz, Joe Miller, Francie Swidler Circulation Team, Halka Brunerova, Dave Hastie, Dan Hill, Alan Jones, George LaRoe Jeffrey Lohrius, Elizabeth Ouslie, Lowell Schaefer, Karl Schleinig Assistant to the Publisher & Heiress, Julia Sallo 10-Year-Old, Mia Rose Sallo April 22, 2010 Volume XVII, Number 37 As Boulder County's only independently owned newspaper, Boulder Weekly is dedicated to illuminating truth, advancing justice and protecting the First Amendment through ethical, no-holds-barred journalism and thought-provoking opinion writing. Free every Thursday since 1993, the Weekly also offers the county's most comprehensive arts and entertainment coverage. Read the print version, or visit www.boulderweekly.com. Boulder Weekly does not accept unsolicited editorial submissions. If you're interested in writing for the paper, please send queries to: editorial@boulderweekly.com. Any materials sent to Boulder Weekly become the property of the newspaper. 690 South Lashley Lane, Boulder, CO, 80305 p 303.494.5511 f 303.494.2585 editorial@boulderweekly.com www.boulderweekly.com

PRINTED ON 100% RECYCLED PAPER WITH SOY-BASED INK. Boulder Weekly is published every Thursday. No portion may be reproduced in any form without written permission from the publisher. © 2010 Boulder Weekly, Inc., all rights reserved.

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letters boulderweekly.com/letters

Danish needs flashlight

(Re: “The Democrats don’t get the Tea Party,” Danish Plan, April 8.) As usual, Paul Danish has his head so far up his ass, he needs a flashlight; and, as usual, you print his drivel. A pity, and probably just for the response from other outraged, intelligent humans. I must say that his stance against the “war on drugs” and against the oxymoronic “smart growth” are spot on; but on virtually every other issue — like his moronic take on the Tea Partiers — widely misses the mark and reflects more his atavistic tendencies than a real intellectual understanding of issues. It matters not whether the angry, mainly white knuckle-draggers are male or female; angry, white racists can be any sex. And Danish is wrong about such people representing the fringes of that group of morons; they represent the heart and soul of the group. Has Danish ever seen the plethora of videos depicting the outrageous signs and heard the rhetoric captured in those videos? New York Times columnist Frank Rich was/is totally correct in his assessment that the Tea Party is primarily racist and paranoid, and Danish’s attempt to make Rich’s assessment wrong only reflects Danish’s own paranoia and possible racism. Also, and non-confronted by Danish, are the right-wing oriented groups and corporations that financially began and support the Tea Party, and the fact that the allegedly “fair and bal-

anced” Fox Noise network consistently gives them support and a plethora of air time, which reflects the moronic nature of Fox Noise more than anything else. In closing, I acknowledge that there are a handful of Tea Party humans (a paltry few) who honestly reflect a frustration with government waste and corruption; it’s just that, as per usual with dishonest so-called conservatives (and as differentiated from honest conserva-

We very much appreciated Paul’s article titled, “The Democrats don’t get the Tea Party.” Paul’s statement —

The Highroad

s Lily Tomlin has said, “No matter how cynical you get, it’s almost impossible to keep up.” She could’ve been referring to Sen. Mitch McConnell and other top Republicans in Congress, whose cynical hypocrisy either makes you want to throw up or fall down laughing. McConnell recently announced that the entire GOP delegation was (big surprise) dead set against the Wall Street reform proposal put forth by Senate Democrats. It’s too weak, declared the multimillionaire peer of America’s corporate establishment, ludicrously striking a populist pose as the public’s defender against more handouts to greedy Wall Streeters. Unfortunately for “Pitchfork Mitch,” word quickly leaked that he had been schmoozing and plotting with the very greedheads he supposedly was opposing. Just four days before his grandstanding Boulder Weekly

tives, aspects of which many of us embody), there is this insane bias against government and the public sector, while absolving all the aberrant crap emanating from corporations and the private sector. Don Barshay/Boulder

Which Mitch do you believe? announcement, Mitch quietly held a private têtê-atêtê with a couple dozen hedge-fund honchos and other banking big shots. The purpose of his discreet meet-and-greet with Wall Street powers was twofold: One, McConnell assured them that Republicans would work to kill the tighter regulations that big banks oppose. And, two, he pointed out that since the GOP is Wall Street’s best hope for killing reform, the bankers should shower the party with campaign funds to help elect more soft-on-

see LETTERS Page 8

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JimHightower.com

boulderweekly.com/highroad by Jim Hightower

“Democrats don’t get the Tea Partiers, and that could be a bigger problem for them than they think. The quickest way to lose an American election is to be dismissive of your opponent when the wind is at her back” — is so “right on.” Did you attend any of the independents’ candidate search events? Although we are Weld County GOP

For more information on Jim Hightower’s work — and to subscribe to his award-winning monthly newsletter, The Hightower Lowdown — visit www.jimhightower.com.

Wall-Street Republicans. Just to make clear that this was a two-way scratch-my-back deal, McConnell brought along John Cornyn, the banker-hugging senator from Texas who just happens to be head of the Senate Republican fundraising arm. In fact, Cornyn has been making regular trips to Wall Street in recent weeks seeking their support. So let’s review: Mitch-the-prairie-populist is publicly pretending to be fighting Wall Street, while Mitch-the-bankers’-buddy is privately shaking them down for campaign cash in exchange for being on their team. Who could be cynical about that? April 22, 2010 7

LETTERS from Page 7

delegates, we braved a snowy, windy March Sunday afternoon to support the “Independents” at one of their first statewide events, which was held in Thornton, and were we glad we did! The interesting thing is, the Republican, Libertarian and even a Unity candidate responded to their “call,” but not a single Democratic candidate participated. Even though the weather was awful, there were hundreds of thinking, active people in attendance. We will never miss another such event because it is exactly the way Americans should “vet” their candidates. For one thing, we the people were able to hear from all the candidates, not just the ones that “get all the press” or are being pushed by their political party “insiders.” The organizers had their moderator, Jon Caldara of the Independence Institute, bring on stage candidates from each congressional district, state or national office with only the other contenders for that office. They allowed each candidate three minutes to inform we the people about their background and what they would do for us if elected. Then each section of candidates had to answer the same five “hard” questions. There was none of the political favoritism/manipulation as shown in the mass media-run national debates where Rep. Ron Paul was limited by their moderators to answer ridiculous questions or comments while the rest of the candidates were asked about more important issues. We were uplifted to see and hear so many excellent contenders — but most of all, it was wonderful to see so many Coloradans turn out for this important event on such a cold, snowy day. By the way — if you meant “Sarah Palin” by “wind is at her back” — I’m not so certain Palin is truly the choice of the thinking people; however, the movement toward truth, freedom and justice that was started by Rep. Ron Paul certainly has those forces of nature behind it! Janet Lee and Jim Meisinger/Dacono

Not ‘kind’ bud It’s funny how things get messed up in transmission: great weed gets referred to as “kind bud,” when actually it is “kine bud,” from the Hawaiian, “da 8 April 22, 2010

kine,” meaning “the top, the best.” William Dunlavey/via Internet

Check costs (Re: “Xcel feels the burn,” news, April 15.) I find it interesting that you did not inquire with Mr. Nichols what the impact on consumers will be if all his wishes comes true (i.e., the conversion of coal to gas and the future elimination of coal and gas altogether). Xcel uses coal because it is plentiful and cheaper (than gas). If they are forced to switch fuels, prices will go up — Xcel does not exist to give away power or operate at a loss. While the increased cost to consumers may seem like a small price to pay, to some people, who must decide each month whether to pay the electric bill, the phone bill, or buy milk for their kids, it is not so easy. And let’s try to be at least a little intellectually honest and curious about energy. Currently, 45 percent of power generated in the U.S. is from coal (20 percent nuclear, 24 percent gas/petroleum). There is not enough gas, much less wind, solar, or conservation, to ever remotely come close to replacing coal. Nuclear could replace it, but I doubt we have the political will to embrace modern nuclear technology. Bob Belknap/Boulder The time to make the switch from coal to clean electricity has long past. Coal now comes at a very high cost to society and the environment. Climate change, mountain top removal, the recent mining disaster in West Virginia, the 2008 coal ash mega-spill in Tennessee and widespread public health problems associated with the mining and burning of coal painfully illuminate the massive and growing costs of this obsolete, dirty and existentially harmful technology. Rather than throwing good money after really bad money, Xcel might consider shuttering the new Cherokee Station Unit 3 plant in Pueblo before it can soot the air. Xcel might also consider replacing their dirty old Denver metro plants with an investment in clean, renewable energy. Any reduction in overall generating capacity can be see LETTERS Page 9

Boulder Weekly

LETTERS from Page 8

offset at relatively low cost per kilowatt through efficiency measures taken by households, businesses and government. Of course, the conversion from dirty coal to clean green energy will cost real money, take careful design, planning and coordination, and necessitate ongoing operation and maintenance. Well folks, we’re in a recession, and all that clean green work means jobs; many more good jobs per megawatt produced, causing far less damage to workers, the public and the environment. Think about it. Think about your kids. When you decide a clean and green future is for you, repeatedly tell Xcel and your city, county, state and federal representatives to take decisive action to end coal dependency. Join a local energy advocacy group to strengthen your voice. Join or form a local “Transition” group to learn how individuals can make a big difference in their own communities. Write a letter to the editor. Do it all now. Time is running out. Ken Bonetti/Boulder

Meat and dairy bad This week marks the 40th anniversary of Earth Day, a day we pledge to conserve Earth’s natural resources for future generations. We already know about recycling, changing light bulbs, adjusting the thermostat, and reducing our driving habits. This year, we can best observe Earth Day by switching to a plantbased diet. A recent study in WorldWatch magazine found that production of meat and dairy products may account for fully half of worldwide greenhouse gas emissions. Moreover, such production contributes more pollutants to our water supplies than all other human activities combined. It is causing global shortages of drinking water. It is the driving force in global deforestation and wildlife habitat destruction. This Thursday, let’s celebrate Earth Day and every day by replacing meat and dairy products in our diet with healthful, eco-friendly foods like fresh fruits and vegetables, legumes, whole grains and nuts. Those opting for a more gradual transition will find ample soy and grain-based meat and dairy analogs in your local supermarket. Additional information is available at www.greenyourdiet.org. Stanley Silver/Boulder

Obama a Marxist? Let me say up front that I have been a member of the Libertarian Party for over a decade. I believe in more freedom, etc., etc., understand the arguments on constitutional law and am no fan of wasteful spending, Boulder Weekly

etc.

That said, I just have to send in a reality check on writers like David Cook and Harry Riley. Goodness gracious! Have any of these people traveled abroad at all, ever? Obama is no more a Marxist than was Lyndon Baines Johnson — near as I can tell, Obama’s an old-fashioned centrist-liberal in the same mold as Hubert Humphrey. All these calls to “rise up” do is draw international attention to the fact that, on the whole, we are a nation of political hysterics and illiterates. And, yes, say what you will, but I do get a very strong sense that a lot of this egregious frothing at the mouth is driven by Mr. Obama’s skin tone. I saw it in the South while growing up — same arguments against taxes and big government, but what the subtext was is that you have to keep the darkies in their place, lest they “take over” and “ruin the country.” America has no socialist party and no public mandate to create one. European countries with true socialist and communist parties do not waste time on such blither as public health care, as these arguments were won a long time ago. There are no more staunch conservatives in the world than, for example, the German Conservative Party, but they wouldn’t daydream of dismantling their public health care system. Incidentally, one of my friends over there had a debilitating spinal stroke recently. She was sent to Switzerland for the best possible treatment and did not have to pay a cent. Say what you will about socialized medicine and higher tax rates, etc., but there is something to be said for civilized countries that look after the health of their citizenry. Give the skinny guy, as Garrison Keillor calls him, a chance, and let’s not go so far overboard in our condemnation of policies that are yet to play out. We currently have folks on both sides making outlandish predictions — for every Tea Partier who sees the red fist of communism, we can find a liberal who thinks this is just a big payoff to the insurance companies — that are yet to show any truth. Calm down, all of you. Peter Johnson/Longmont

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April 22, 2010 9

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10 April 22, 2010

he Boston Tea Party, the control? Eliminate the war on drugs original one, occurred on and the federal government will save at the night of December 16, least $200 billion over the next 10 1773, when the Sons of years. State and local governments will Liberty, some cunningly save an additional $300 billion over disguised as Ward Churchill, threw that time frame. 342 chests of British East India Think government has become too Company tea into Boston Harbor. big and too intrusive? Well, there are But truth be told, as a date to hold plenty of 420 tea partiers who will a protest, December 16 sucks. So it’s agree, as will the approximately not surprising that today’s tea partiers 750,000 Americans who are arrested have decided to focus not on the date every year for simple possession of of the original party but on the point marijuana, which is a victimless crime. of the original exercise — it was a tax Worried about government taking protest — in picking a time for private property? A lot of 415 tea parnational protesting. The tea partiers tiers are, and so are plenty of 420 tea chose April 15, the partiers, who could day income taxes are tell you a thing or due. Want to reduce two about seizures But there is anothof their cars, homes, er tea party-like government and businesses by movement that holds the drug war’s zerorallies around the spending and get tolerance thugs. nation in April, the Then there’s one that holds prothe deficit under this: marijuana rallies on The first clause April 20. It, too, is a control? in the 415ers protest movement, Contract from and its direct civil disEliminate the war America is called obedience is in keep“Protect the ing with the spirit of on drugs. Constitution.” It the original tea party. would require each And, since one of the bill introduced in old slang names for Congress to identify marijuana was “tea,” it even has a plau- the specific provision of the sible claim to the tea party name. Constitution that gives Congress the So, in the interest of disambiguapower to do what the bill does. tion, as they say at Wikipedia, let’s Now then, care to tell me what refer to the first group as the 415 party part of the Constitution gives the fedand the second as the 420 party. eral government the authority to ban Although they may be loathe to the possession, use, cultivation, proadmit it, the two tea parties have a lot duction, transportation and sale of in common. marijuana — or any other drug for The 415 Tea Party’s Contract from that matter? America calls for individual liberty, The word “marijuana” is nowhere limited government, lower taxes and to be found in the Constitution, and government spending, and economic neither is the word “drug.” The Tenth freedom — all of which have been sav- Amendment says that the powers not aged by the war on drugs. delegated to the United States by the Indeed, it is hard to think of anyConstitution are reserved to the States thing the government has undertaken or to the people. So if the Constitution in the past 100 years that has done doesn’t explicitly give the federal govmore to destroy personal freedom and ernment the power to regulate drugs, limited government and to waste tax where does it get off doing so? dollars than the drug war. Well, actually, by using the comWant to reduce government spending and get the federal deficit under see TEA AND GANJA Page 11

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Boulder Weekly

TEA AND GANJA from Page 10

merce clause (found in Article 1, Section 8, third paragraph down). It says Congress shall have power “To regulate commerce with foreign nations, and among the several states, and with Indian tribes.” That’s right, the constitutional authority for the federal prohibition of marijuana (and all other recreational drugs) rests entirely on Congress’ power “to regulate commerce among the states.” That power extends to someone who grew a pot plant in the closet, on the theory that even if the plant never crossed a state line or even left the house, its mere existence affects the “web of commerce.” There’s a reason why the commerce clause is referred to as the “elastic clause” of the Constitution. Still, in the case of the drug war the elasticity approaches that of a bungee jump from low earth orbit. The 415 tea partiers should be

particularly interested in the use of the commerce clause to allow the government to prohibit (or mandate) personal conduct, because the same overreaching, intellectually corrupt interpretations of the commerce clause used to justify the drug war are being to justify the constitutionality of requiring everyone in the country to buy health insurance. The 415 tea partiers have, wisely, gone to great lengths to keep culture war issues off their agenda. But with the war on drugs they need to make an exception, because ignoring it (or worse supporting it) makes a mockery of tea party core principles. When it comes to out-of-control government intruding into personal freedom and recklessly wasting hundreds of billions of dollars, the war on drugs is the 500 pound gorilla in the tea room. Respond: letters@boulderweekly.com

quotes

QUOTES OF THE WEEK

“The vultures can’t eat them all.” —Genqiu, a Chinese monk, reflecting on the hundreds of dead bodies left by the recent earthquake, which have been prepared for a mass cremation instead of the traditional sky burial that involves leaving bodies for vultures “It was very rewarding to hear, ‘I’m sorry,’ from the president, because that’s what I have wanted to hear from Jackson Memorial since the night Lisa died.” —Janice Langbehn, who was not permitted to see her dying partner at a hospital in Florida, responding to President Barack Obama’s memo ordering hospitals to provide visitation rights to same-sex couples “Maybe I don’t want smaller government. I guess I want smaller government and my Social Security.” Tea Party member Jodine White, 62, reflecting the wishes of many Tea Party members who want to see Social Security and Medicare continued Boulder Weekly

April 22, 2010 11

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SAVINGS

by Charmaine Ortega Getz

ime was when Earth Day in the United States was mostly marked by the K-12 crowd planting a tree on school property. Forty years after its debut, the official Earth Day Network’s website posts 696 diverse community events across the county. Of these, Earthfest Boulder might be mistaken for a long-time tradition, what with the emphasis on local faves such as outdoor sports, indie art and organic education. But April 25 will mark only the second year since the event emerged — this year in Boulder’s Central Park — to raise participation in worldwide Earth Day celebrations. “We’ve made some little improvements,” says event producer Scott Nichols. “It helps that there’s been an uptick in the economy.” Event sponsors are up to 20 from last year’s dozen. The 40 vendors from ’09 are closer to 60 this time around. But the real draw for the public will be a truly something-for-everyone range of what organizers call “sustainability edutainment.” From 11 a.m. to 4 p.m., there will be booths to shop for eco-conscious goods, goodies and information, recreation clinics, sustainable crafts, energy resource talks at a speakers’ tent, and live music performances at the park’s band shell. One of the main attractions is Dirt Days, another range of activities for outdoor enthusiasts, from the would-be to the veteran, with the tagline: “Celebrate the world at your fingertips and its dirt in your hands.” Dirt Days professionals will demonstrate gear and teach skills and outdoor savvy. A circuit of four “challenges” will be offered with coaching in climbing, fly fishing, pack trot and balance-challenge. Participants are invited to compete for prizes. Dirt Days is offered by AdventureFilm.org, an international

film festival dedicated to encouraging the best in indie adventure and environmental films. The organization sprang from the original Boulder Adventure Film Festival, the 2004 brainchild of local adventurer Climber Jonny Copp Jonny Copp. Copp’s life is the embodiment of the festival’s motto, “Make your own legends.” Born in Singapore in 1974, Copp’s work as a climber, photographer, videographer and writer has been featured in numerous magazines, books and movies. Nichols, owner of All Phases Event Group, met Copp in January 2009 while stoking his own idea for a Boulder-based Earth Day-related event. “Turned out we had a lot of mutual friends who knew we were both interested in doing something like this and said, ‘You two should meet.’ So one day we met for coffee,” Nichols says. From that meeting they grew a vision of an event held in multiple Western-state cities. Earthfest Boulder ’09 was pulled off at a cost of $23,000, about what the current cost is, says Nichols. But its promising future was overshadowed by the death of Copp the following May. Copp and two other climbers from Boulder, Micah Dash and Wade Johnson, were killed in a mountain avalanche in western China. “I felt blessed to have known Jonny as long as I did,” says Nichols. “His death was a challenge for me. I asked his business partner, Mark Reiner, to take over in his place, and Mark jumped right in.” The vision continues, and Nichols says plans are for profits from Earthfest Boulder to go to area nonprofit organizations with an environmental/sustainability focus. For more information about Earthfest Boulder, including an event schedule, go to www.earthfestboulder.net. Respond: letters@boulderweekly.com Boulder Weekly

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Will power

Late CU professor Hazel Barnes’ bequest to university in dispute by Jefferson Dodge

he person charged with carrying out a bequest to the University of Colorado from one of its most prominent professors, the late Hazel Barnes, says he doesn’t trust the CU Foundation to carry out her wishes. Her will calls for CU and the Foundation to use money in her estate to purchase a house in London for the use of faculty and graduate students in the humanities or arts, but the representative she chose to execute her will says the Foundation just wants the cash and might “flip” the house shortly after it is purchased. But CU and Foundation officials say that nothing could be further from the truth, and they insist that there is no intent to deviate at all from Barnes’ intent for the gift. They say they have already picked out a house in London and are ready to close on the deal as soon as Barnes’ representative, Niles Utlaut, provides the funding. Barnes, whose name graces the university’s top annual faculty prize for teaching and research, died on March 18, 2008. She was 92. The philosophy professor was a world-renowned expert on existentialism who taught at the campus from 1953 to 1986. Two days before she died, she changed the personal representative for her will from the Bank of the West to her friend Utlaut. He says she made the move because friends convinced her that her estate might be in jeopardy otherwise, and because she was not happy with how the will of her late partner, Doris Schwalbe, was handled. Utlaut says he is just being cautious, and wants some assurances in writing from Foundation officials that they will keep the house in London for at least a decade. “What would you do if it were your mother?” Utlaut asked when contacted by Boulder Weekly. “That’s how I’m going to proceed.” He claims that shortly after Barnes died, Foundation officials challenged the legitimacy of him serving as her personal representative and made those who witnessed the signing of the codiBoulder Weekly

‘10

Courtesy of CU photography

Hazel Barnes

cil appointing him feel intimidated. “The Foundation just wants to be in control,” Utlaut says. “I needed to be more protective.” He says that Foundation officials have tried to take over the sale of properties in Barnes’ estate and dictate when he sold her stock. They have also challenged the language in the will requiring the purchase of the house in London, according to Utlaut, because they want to have the discretion to use the funds “for whatever purposes they had.” Foundation officials have even threatened to file a legal challenge against Utlaut, he says. CU Foundation President Wayne Hutchens says he is perplexed by Utlaut’s suspicions that the Foundation is going to turn around and sell the house once it’s purchased. “I don’t know how anybody could come to that conclusion,” he told Boulder Weekly, saying that the Foundation hired a real estate agent to help find a suitable property in London and that CU Associate Vice Chancellor for Graduate Education John Stevenson looked at several houses with that agent during a trip to London last fall. Stevenson identified a property that fits the bill, and the paperwork has been started. “We’re very close to being able to make an offer, but we don’t have the see BARNES Page 16

April 22, 2010 13

Are your gadgets

killing you? David Accomazzo

It’s

hard to believe that there was a time when anyone doubted the link between lung cancer and smoking. When I first came to work in a newsroom, it was common for nicotine addicts to smoke at their desks. People smoked in airplanes, in restaurants, hotel lobbies. The debate about smoking — and, in particular, the effects of second-hand smoke on nonsmokers — still raged, with some scientists and the medical community telling us one thing and the tobacco industry saying something else. Now, of course, every pack of cigarettes must bear a warning from the surgeon general, and smoking is banned in many public spaces, including restaurants and airplanes. Some say a similar struggle is in the works over electro-magnetic radiation, or non-ionizing radiation — the radiation created by electrical devices and cellular technology. For more than a decade, we’ve heard rumors that cell phones contribute to brain tumors, and most of us have dismissed it as urban legend. Our sense of safety has been enhanced by multiple studies — not all of them funded by the cell phone industry — showing no impact from cell phone and wireless use. When we happened across a study that showed a connection between cellular gadgetry and cancer, we set it out of our minds, more worried about what life would be like without our cell phones and wireless laptops than what those devices might do to our health. But recent studies out of Europe, where most research on this subject is currently being done, indicate that there may well be reason for concern, particularly where children are concerned. Danish scientists found that cell phone use has an effect on the brain’s metabolism, increasing “energy turnover” near the learning center of a brain in a way that may cause damage to brain cells. Though scientists could not prove that cellular use contributed to the death of those cells, the type of brain activity they saw was similar to that seen in the brains of those with Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s disease. Another Danish study showed that women who used cell phones two to three times a day during pregnancy increased their risk — by 54 percent — 14 April 22, 2010

A look at the science and controversy surrounding cell phones and wi-fi by Pamela White of having babies that exhibited signs of hyperactivity, behavioral problems and emotional disorders by the time they reached school age. When they tried to account for other environmental factors, such as smoking, the connection between cell phone usage and developmental disorders only seemed stronger. A Swedish study from the Karolinska Institute indicated that regular use of cellular or cordless phones over a decade or more was associated with an increased risk of acoustic neuromas, a benign type of brain tumor. Another Swedish study, this one from University Hospital in Ørebro, found a five-fold increase in deadly brain tumors among those who began using cellular before the age of 20. The increase in risk from using cordless phones was four-fold. The result of these studies, and others, have brought us to what one scientist referred to as “a watershed moment.”

Last September, the European Parliament voted 522 to 16 to tighten safety standards for cell phone use, particularly for children. Five countries have now issued warnings to their citizens regarding the possible dangers of cell phone use and wireless, including France, Germany and Finland, the home of Nokia. And here in the United States, the head of the University of Pittsburgh’s cancer center sent a memo to the 3,000 staff members about the possible dangers of widespread wireless and cell phone use. On the other side are a range of studies that show no harm from regular long-term exposure to electro-magnetic radiation. So what’s a health-conscious consumer to believe? Are our cellular gadgets killing us? Or can we continue with business as usual? To get a better grasp of the issue, Boulder Weekly spoke with Dr. Jerry Phillips, a scientist with the University

of Colorado at Colorado Springs, whose research includes work with non-ionizing radiation. Boulder Weekly: A decade ago, we were being told that cell phones posed no danger to human health. But a rash of studies coming out of Europe seem to indicate something different. Now, our use of wireless has expanded to smart phones, laptops and the latest cool gizmo, the iPad. Jerry Phillips: We’ve been exposed to various sources at various frequencies for quite some time, and it’s only increasing as new technologies are developed. The bottom line of what I did beginning back in about ’82, ’83, was to look at what happens to living systems when they’re exposed to various forms of what we call non-ionizing radiation. This includes electric and magnetic fields from household electricity, as well as the fields that are produced from things like cell phones, cell phone towers, wi-fi networks — anything electrical. If it’s electrical in any way, it’s going to produce some kind of field, and you can produce fields of different frequencies, from low frequency — the stuff out of electrical outlets — to high frequency that people associate with microwave ovens and cell phones. Cell phones are up in that real high frequency range like microwave ovens. BW: So cell phones are like tiny microwave ovens? JP: Wrong. Absolutely wrong. When you think microwave oven, you think heat. And if you think cell phone, you can’t think heat because there’s not enough energy produced generally to produce any heat whatsoever. And that’s where the real problem lies — trying to understand how radiation at these frequencies can produce effects without generating heat. That’s the big problem — trying to understand it right now. Industry has that much on their side. They can always say the only legitimate response we know to these things is heat, and these things don’t generate heat, so how can they have an effect? And right now all we can say is they do have effects. We’ve demonstrated that over and over and over again in a number of labs in a number of ways. We just don’t know the underlying basis for those effects. BW: There were studies that came Boulder Weekly

out of Denmark indicating that cellular phone use by pregnant women led to an increase in learning disorders and developmental problems in their babies. Germany has cautioned people to think twice before having wireless in their homes. But what we hear from industry is that we have no conclusive evidence. JP: To me this brings up the really important question. You’ve got people on one side — often activists — who say, “Look, this is a problem. We have to do something about it. We can’t let people push us around. We’re being used as human guinea pigs.” They show only the literature that shows biological effects, and they tend to put down any literature that doesn’t show a biological effect. And often what you will hear from them is that any literature that doesn’t show an effect was funded by industry. But that’s just not true. My work was paid for by industry. Of course, it pissed them off that I got what I got, and we had a falling out, but they paid for the work. You have people on the other side, like industry, and what industry tends to do is say, “Any studies that show a biological effect are wrong, and we have all these other studies that don’t show an effect. Obviously, they were right. They were better done.” At the same time, you’ll have people saying, “Let’s count the studies. There are 50 studies that show an effect and 200 studies that don’t show an effect.” And then it becomes something akin to a sporting event, where the high score wins. And that’s what they refer to as “weight of evidence.” Studies cancel one another, and the larger one wins. You can’t believe anybody who does any of those things. … There are good studies and bad studies on both sides of this issue. I would never, ever attempt to tell someone that all of the studies that show an effect are good, because there’s a lot of crap out there, a lot of really lousy science. At the same time, there’s a tremendous amount of good research out there on both sides of the issue. So how do you then look at it, and how do you come to a good decision about what the studies mean? First of all, what you have to say is that if there’s even one good study, one really good study, that demonstrates that there is a biological effect, then, by George, there is a biological effect. And that means that this radio frequency radiation or extremely low frequency radiation does interact with living tissue. That’s undeniable. So where do you go from there? You look at studies that don’t show an effect — they’re never done exactly the same. So you say, “Now I have a whole bunch of studies that show me when something happens and when it doesn’t happen, and now we can begin to underBoulder Weekly

stand what’s going on.” The ones that take the scientific approach, the rational approach, are the ones I believe. And the people who do all that other stuff — boy, I’ve got no use for them on either side. BW: Your research focused on rats, correct? JP: We did some work with rats that were exposed to cell telephone frequency fields, and we looked for changes in the incidence of central nervous system tumors. In the first study we did, we found there was actually a decrease in central nervous system tumors in the exposed animals. We had a good time with Motorola, which was paying for this study, when they came out to visit. We started teasing them, saying, “You guys should be happy. There’s a protective effect. Look at your advertising — you can tell people that if they use your cell phones, they’ll be protected against tumors.” Well, they didn’t see the humor in it — and for good reason. What they recognized as soon as we presented the data was that any effect, whether it was an increase or decrease, indicated that the cell telephone fields interacted with living tissue. When you look at the way the studies were done, we used one frequency, one exposure intensity, one exposure regimen, because those studies are so expensive to do. So under the conditions we used, sure, we saw a decrease. But does that mean that under other exposure conditions you would get a decrease? Of course not, because we saw an interaction with tissue. It depends on why the decrease was produced. And that’s where we attempted to go with cells rather than whole animals. BW: Did that work show something different? JP: We worked with cells, and we just looked for changes in damage to DNA. And what we found was that depending upon the specific frequency and the time of exposure, the intensity of the field — how strong it was, how weak it was — we saw sometimes a decrease in DNA damage and sometimes an increase. The interesting thing was the field we used for the animal study that generated the decrease, we also saw generated a decrease in DNA damage in our system. We speculated why that is based on other studies that were already in the literature for X-rays. What the studies for X-rays showed — and what we proposed — was in the system that we were using exposure to the cell telephone actually increased DNA damage, but when it did, it triggered a response from the cells or from the animal’s brains that actually started repair mechanisms going. BW: Like an antibody or a vaccine? JP: Well, kind of. Not nearly the

same mechanism, but I know what you’re getting at. It’s like saying, “Look — there’s damage, and we have to repair it.” So the repair systems kick into gear, and, boy, do they repair well. And that’s why DNA damage decreased and why brain tumors decreased, because you’re repairing damage. But what we speculated was what happens if you produce so much damage under certain exposure conditions that the repair mechanisms can’t keep up? That’s when you see an increased incidence of brain tumors. So that’s what we wanted to work with, and Motorola said no way. BW: After doing these studies, do you own a cell phone? JP: Sure. BW: Do you use it when you feel like using it? JP: Not quite. I use it hands-free nearly all the time. I use it for texting — that’s how my daughter and I keep in contact. It’s not kept on my person. It’s in my briefcase or on my desk somewhere. BW: Do you have wireless in your home? JP: Our Internet provider is Comcast Cable, so we’re wired. Why not wireless? No need for it. BW: What about laptops and iPads and Kindles? They’re electric, plus they receive and send wireless signals. JP: On the lap is kind of iffy because you have some pretty sensitive organs that are exposed to fields. And nobody really understands. Part of the problem with a lot of this stuff is that there is a latency period for tumor development, and what that latency period is depends upon so many different things that are still not understood. I was reading an article on carcinogenesis, a brand new one not that long ago. And so what was the thrust? Why is there a latency period, and why don’t we understand how long it is? And what does it have to do with the immune system and the immune function? Why is it that you’ll see the immune system fail in some cases and tumors expressed? Is this really what the latency period is about? And is this why we see tumors more in old people than young? These are things nobody really knows. Then it comes down to what affects the immune system. Do all of these exposures affect tissues in the vicinity? Do they also affect the immune system in some way? Nobody knows. There’s no money in this country to do work unless it comes from industry, so there really isn’t anything going on in this country. BW: Europe is leading the way on this issue. Are they being alarmist? JP: I see Europe right now as cautious. And then it’s a matter of whether people consider them overly cautious. At least based on what I’ve seen, few

people are alarmist over there to the extent that they would tell people don’t use this or you are guaranteed suchand-such. What they tend to say is, “Look, it seems that something is going on. Children seem to be more vulnerable. Exercise caution until we know what’s happening.” I don’t see that as alarmist. I see that as suitably cautious. BW: I saw devices online to reduce your exposure to electro-magnetic radiation. I wondered if that stuff is just something that’s profiting off people’s fears. JP: It sure is. There are a gazillion devices. … Most of the products are nonsense. There’s a whole area that is developing that people are calling “dirty electricity.” Put that in the “that’s nonsense” column for now. But it’s turned out to be a business. The work that’s being done to demonstrate that this is real or that any biological effects are real — it’s nonsense. BW: I want to advise my readers on what’s the best thing for them to do, but I don’t know what to tell them. JP: It comes down to the same thing as everything else. When I talk to people about this, it comes down to always being informed and making our own decisions as the best decisions we can make. We do that when we eat. People will decide whether to eat the hot dog with the nitrates. There are problems associated with nitrates. People do the same thing with smoking. There are people who smoke three packs a day and nothing bad ever happens except lung function decreases, but they don’t get lung cancer. BW: It does seem to be for a lot of these health-related concerns — and maybe this is one of the reasons why research is so difficult — that there’s a matrix of your stress, your diet, your exercise, your exposures — JP: Your genetics. The key to understanding how most things affect us is that there is an interaction between our genetics and environment, and I mean environment in a very, very broad, all-encompassing sense. We have a number of factors in our environment, including these physical agents like non-ionizing radiation at a gazillion different frequencies, but also diesel, cigarette smoke, other pollutants, insecticides. Plus we have the environments in ourselves based on things that we eat. We know that cancer is the result of an interaction of genetics with environment. We know so many other diseases are the result of an interaction of genetics with environment. Understanding that complex interaction between the two is what a lot of research is about. It’s just going to take a long time to understand it. Respond: letters@boulderweekly.com April 22, 2010 15

Appearance is everything

CU unveils results of $785,000 branding/marketing study by Jefferson Dodge

n the heels of announcing a 9 percent tuition increase, more layoffs and another $22 million in budget cuts, University of Colorado officials are rolling out the results of a branding and marketing project expected to cost $785,000. Documents obtained through a Boulder Weekly open records request show that over the past year and a half, the university paid consultant Landor Associates $731,049.54 for everything from professional fees to travel to out-of-pocket expenses. CU administrators have been meeting with members of the Board of Regents individually to present the firm’s findings, and the final logo artwork was scheduled to be presented to the board on April 22. In response to the open records request, CU officials withheld that artwork and other materials as “work product” that has not yet been approved by the regents, but provided Boulder Weekly with copies of the contract with Landor, Landor’s invoices, its brand research findings, a “message platform” and a “brand driver” document featuring the overarching phrase, “Natural Genius.” The document features a photo of aquamarine crystals growing out of rock and states, “Similar to the Colorado aquamarine, the University of Colorado system provides the elements necessary to create the environment where natural genius thrives.” The brand driver document includes five key terms to describe the CU system, including “down-to-earth.” CU spokesperson Ken McConnellogue told Boulder Weekly that the “Natural Genius” phrase is more of an internal “North Star, the compass point that you use,” and is not the public messaging campaign.

He also says the university is still waiting for the consultant to deliver an “identity standards manual.” The project was to have been completed by June 30, 2009, according to the deadline on the contract between CU and Landor. Some have questioned the timing of spending $785,000 on a branding study at a time when the university is slashing its budget, laying off employees and raising tuition significantly. Regent Tom Lucero told Boulder Weekly that he understands those concerns, but points out that the contract was signed in September 2008, before the state budget cuts were announced. “We could have used those dollars elsewhere,” says Lucero, who voted against the latest tuition increase. “It’s troubling raising revenue on the backs of students and parents. Certainly, in light of where we stand today, it looks like an extravagant expense. … While a unified branding and marketing strategy was needed, was it worth $785,000? A person could ask that question.” The project has been paid for with University Initiatives funding, which is the president’s discretionary money generated from investment income. Lucero acknowledges that while no state general funds were used for the project, appearance is important. “While it wasn’t taxpayer money, it still doesn’t look good,” he says. Regent Stephen Ludwig, who is a marketing/communications consultant, says Landor’s pricetag for the project was “in the ballpark” of the other bids CU received; some were more and some were less. “For a $2.6 billion institution, this price range, while it’s a significant dollar amount, is a good investment for the university,” Ludwig says. “There’s a lot of confusion, a lot of people saying things inconsistent with what others are saying. This will bring discipline to

that. … If you haven’t been through the process before, it seems expensive, but you’ve got to line it up and do it right, and it takes time.” McConnellogue says it’s not about a $785,000 logo, as some have suggested. “This project has always been about far more than just artwork,” he says. One impetus of the project was confusion about CU’s two campuses in the Denver metro area. The two entities, formerly known as CU-Denver and the CU Health Sciences Center, were consolidated in 2004 for reasons that were never made clear or compelling, some employees said at the time. Since then, the two-campus entity has been known as the University of Colorado at Denver and Health Sciences Center and, more recently, just the University of Colorado Denver (UC Denver). The renaming of the Health Sciences Center to the Anschutz Medical Campus in 2006 contributed more unrest to branding and marketing efforts. And last summer, the regents agreed to market the Anschutz schools with the University of Colorado label instead of the UC Denver moniker. McConnellogue says one of the reasons the Landor project has been delayed was that last spring, the regents and administration were mulling a study to reconsider the consolidation of the two campuses, but the merger has remained intact. As for the cost, he says CU officials hope to eventually recoup the money through savings generated by making marketing efforts by the various CU departments and campuses more efficient. “On the face of it, it’s a lot of money,” McConnellogue says. “But we view it as an investment in the university, and we expect a return on that investment.” Respond: letters@boulderweekly.com

advantageous to sell the property for a profit and pour that money into buying a nicer facility, the Foundation’s hands would be tied. Either way, he says, the Foundation is committed to using the funding solely for the London property that Barnes wanted. “No one should have any impression that we’d do anything other than that,” he says, adding that Utlaut is “trying to

over-engineer this thing a long way.” For his part, Stevenson is also perplexed by Utlaut’s fears. He says the Foundation is “fully committed” to adhering to the intent of Barnes’ will, and that Utlaut’s suspicions are “completely and utterly unfounded.” “I just don’t know where this paranoia is coming from,” he says. Respond: letters@boulderweekly.com

BARNES from Page 13

money yet,” Hutchens says. “We’d like to make an offer, but there is no money. It’s in the control of the personal representative.” Hutchens says he is open to the idea of signing a side agreement that requires the Foundation to keep the house for a certain number of years. His only concern, he says, is that if the real estate market changes and it becomes 16 April 22, 2010

briefs

boulderweekly.com/briefs Free composting classes The Boulder County Resource Conservation Division is offering free backyard composting workshops — one each in Lafayette, Longmont and Boulder — beginning this week. The one in Longmont will be held from 10 a.m. to noon on Saturday, April 24, at the Boulder County Parks and Open Space headquarters, at 5201 St. Vrain Rd. The Lafayette workshop will be held from 6:30 to 8:30 p.m. on Thursday, April 29, from 6:30 to 8:30 p.m. at the Lafayette Public Library, at 775 W. Baseline Rd. The session in Boulder is scheduled for 10 a.m. to noon on Saturday, May 1, at the ReSource Yard, at 6400 Arapahoe Rd. Space is limited to 30 people per workshop. RSVP with name, phone number and/or e-mail, and number of attendees to smeissner@bouldercounty. org or 720-564-2226. For more information and directions visit www.bouldercountyrecycles.net. Heath holds town hall meeting Sen. Rollie Heath will hold his fourth public town hall meeting of the year from 10 a.m. to noon on April 24 at the University Memorial Center, Room 235. County Commissioner Cindy Domenico will also speak about the impacts of the state budget on Boulder County departments, and other issues. There will be a review of the 201011 budget bill that was passed by the Senate and a discussion about what it means for Colorado and Boulder. There will also be an update on education matters and a discussion of key bills and issues from the 2010 session, if time permits. Longmont Chorale hosts gala The Longmont Chorale’s annual fundraiser and “Sea to Shining Sea” gala will be held on May 1, celebrating patriotic and American folk music. The concert will include variations on traditional folk songs and special guest Jim Demming, guitar virtuoso. The evening will also feature the winners of the Youth Vocal Competition. The event will take place in the grand ballroom of the Radisson Hotel. There will be a silent auction at 6 p.m., and dinner will be served at 7 p.m. Tickets to the gala cost $50 each, and sponsoring a table at the gala is $150. Sponsors will receive two complimentary tickets. Tickets are available at 303-651-7664. Boulder Weekly

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18 April 22, 2010

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This week at

in case you missed it

Won word We’re pretty sure you missed this one, if you’re not a print journalism geek. For years, publications have struggled with whether to use the term “website” or “Web site.” The latter is unwieldy, awkward and just plain ugly, but it’s what the Associated Press Stylebook has dictated. Until now. Last week, the AP announced that it would cave into the growing pressure from frustrated and repressed reporters and change the term to “website” in the Stylebook. An audible gasp of relief could be heard in newsrooms everywhere when that Tweet came over the pipes. And vindication for us B-Dubbers, who have been using the lowercase, one-word version for years, in bold, outright defiance of the AP’s wishes. We’re such rebels. Either that or anal journalism Boulder Weekly

dorks for even bringing this up.

Party patrol pilot Here’s a novel approach by CU and the city to reduce the prevalence of flaming couches on lawns: Encourage students to register their wild-ass weekend parties, and in exchange, when someone complains about the noise, the students get a phone call and a 20-minute period in which to break up their party, without consequence. Second complaints and emergencies are another matter, of course. When students register, they get “educational materials that make them aware of their responsibilities and neighborhood concerns.” This pilot program runs through May 8, and if you are interested, you can register your shindig at the offcampus student services office in the University Memorial Center, Room 313, Monday through Thursday from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. and Fridays from 9 a.m. to noon. Wonder how many takers they’re going to get. Respond: letters@boulderweekly.com

Top 10 Stories Week of April 15 -21 1. Alyssa Milano returns to prime time in ABC’s ‘Romantically Challenged’ 2. Fox News yanks Sean Hannity from Cincinnati Tea Party rally 3. Sparking a tradition: Exclusive interview with two founders of the national 4/20 smokeout Ever wonder where the term 4/20 came from? We talk to the guys who coined it and started a national craze.

4. Panorama (4/15) 5. Disney goes to trial over safety of Tower of Terror 6. Obama signs extension of jobless benefits 7. Astrology (4/15) 8. Jay-Z goes where rappers haven’t tread before 9. Man tries to sell ecstacy in porn 10. Safe and SexE-Dating

Polls

Common sense, finally Hooray for the state lawmakers supporting House Bill 1352, a bipartisan effort to reform criminal-sentencing laws around crimes involving controlled substances. The House recently approved the bill on a 58-5 vote. The legislation would lower penalties for use of a controlled substance in certain circumstances and it would also create a distinction in the law between possession of a controlled substance and manufacturing/distribution. The bill even directs the legislature to use a portion of the savings generated by the bill to fund community-based substance-abuse treatment programs. Now that’s a much better use of our tax dollars, not to mention law enforcement’s time. There’s even a Colorado Springs Republican sponsoring it! Rep. Mark Waller, says the intent of the bill is to shift the focus to “getting nonviolent drug offenders the help that they need so that they can become productive members of society.” The bill is scheduled to be heard by the Senate Judiciary Committee on April 26.

Polls Last Week

What do you think about Boulder’s annual 4/20 smokeout?

• Great display of civil disobedience 49% • A shameful misrepresentation of Boulder 15% • Best way to get high for free 21% • Smoke what? Who? Where? 14%

This Week

Are you afraid of your cell phone and its electro-magnetic radiation?

• Yes, I use it with a headset or sparingly. • No, I don’t believe in that crap. • I don’t even have a cell phone. • Eh, we’re all going to die anyway, right? Vote now! www.boulderweekly.com/poll34.html

Spotlight

It’s about fricking time Hard to believe that in the Land of the Free and Home of the Brave it was impossible for gays and lesbians to have their partners with them during medical treatment in some hospitals, even when they lay on their deathbeds. But until President Obama ordered hospitals to allow patients to have whomever they choose at their bedside, this was the case for too many gay and lesbian couples. Why would any hospital deny gay men and lesbian women the right to have their same-sex partners beside them at a critical and frightening time? Bigotry. That’s the only answer. Certainly, there’s no medical reason to deny gay and lesbian lovers access to one another during time of illness. To deprive someone who is sick and perhaps dying of the support of those they most love is an arbitrary act of cruelty. Of course, Obama would have gotten a fight if he had mentioned gays and lesbians in his directive. He sidestepped the issue by simply tying federal funds to hospitals’ willingness to let patients determine who gets to visit them. So while the rules have changed — it will be interesting to see which hospitals decide to forgo Medicaid/Medicare funds — the bigotry sadly remains.

Stories

boulderweekly.com/icumi

BoulderWeekly.com

Online exclusives Check out album reviews of Otis Taylor and Diego’s Umbrella, concert review of Rogue Rave, and a video game review of Splinter Cell: Conviction.

April 22, 2010 19

buzz boulderweekly.com/buzz

inside

Page 25 / Overtones: A night of furious chops

Page 41 / Elevation: Adventure at the Air Force Academy

Page 57 / Cuisine:

[cuts] Mixology in a modern world

OVER DISC W A NE S IE SPEC TE A CREA IECE ERP MAST

Show off your ’70s pop culture knowledge, loser.

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Thursday, April 22

NEW N A R A E L UAGE LANG

Natural-born talent? Author sheds new light on nature-nurture debate by Adam Perry

most Americans, I was given an IQ test in the first grade and was told I fell just short of what my teachers and parents called “gifted.” Several times a week from elementary school through high school, the students labeled “gifted” were separated from the rest of us to be given extra attention, extra praise, more diverse and interesting schoolwork, and even a better teacher. To the adults I met as a child, a person’s capacity for achievement could be decided at around age 6 or 7 by a simple equation: genes + environment, or “nature + nurture.” Given an extra dose of more expansive learning by dynamic teachers, they thought, a “gifted” child could metaphorically grow from a caterpillar into a butterfly. But they were convinced that the rest of us are eternally mired in the sad-but-true stasis known as being average, wholly incapable of growing wings no matter the effort or interest. Here’s a shocker: Some students labeled “gifted” go on to impressive success and some do not, just like the rest of us. So how does a childhood overachiever, constantly heaped with praise, end up dropping out of college and working in a fast-food joint? How does a troubled high school dropout who never stepped foot in a university become a renowned artist and intellectual whose lectures are treasured worldwide? David Shenk, author of the best-selling new book The Genius in All of Us, has the answer, and it’s a simple one: nature multiplied by nurture. 20 April 22, 2010

Can’t-miss events for the upcoming week

inside

NT A INVE RUG D NEW

buzz

“No one is genetically bound to mediocrity,” Shenk writes. In fact, even Alfred Binet (inventor of the original IQ test) insisted that we “protest” against the idea that “intelligence is a fixed quantity.” Instead, our genes interact with our environment, and the success of our scholarly, creative and professional evolution is directly related to the cultural exposure we’re afforded and the demands put on us by our environment and ourselves. “It’s pretty easy in life to take a mediocre path,” Shenk told Boulder Weekly in a recent interview. “Bad parenting can get us there pretty quickly. So can lousy schools and/ or a limited sense of one’s own potential. But the possibilities of achievement are never fully cut off. We remain adaptable throughout our lives.” Robert C. Brown, who founded the contemplative education department at Naropa University in 1990, agrees. “The learning environment is a key element in developing intelligence in the broadest sense of the word,” Brown says. “It’s a matter of expanding our learning relationships. What we mean by intelligence or genius has been widened in recent times … but we don’t know how to recognize it, and usually our teachers don’t. Part of the reason for that is that we haven’t learned how to actually observe or contemplate individual genius. … If we [don’t] recognize it, we don’t really know how to cultivate it.” In a 1958 lab study documented in The Genius in All of see GENIUS Page 22

Earth Day-Ja Vu — Celebrate Earth Day with the mountain folk up the hill. 7 p.m. Nederland Community Center, 750 N. Hwy 72, Nederland, 303-258-9721.

Friday, April 23

18th Annual Microbreweries for the Environment — Drink beer for the environment? Sounds like a win-win. 9 p.m. Boulder Theater, 2032 14th St., Boulder, 303-7867030.

Saturday, April 24

Music and Mimosas — What a great way to get rid of the hangover from the environmental activism. Every Saturday 9-11 a.m. The Curious Cup Café, 1377 Forest Park Cir., Lafayette, 720890-4665.

Sunday, April 25

2nd Annual Give Hair With Care — Benefit for There With Care. 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. Twig Salon & Spa, 1831 Pearl St., Boulder, 303-4470880.

Monday, April 26

Magical Mexican Mondays — Discover the joys of tacos. With live magic. Juanita’s Mexican Food, 1043 Pearl St., Boulder, 303-449-5273.

Tuesday, April 27

Peru: A Scenic and Cultural Exploration — In a few words, Peru is all kinds of awesome. 7 p.m. Changes in Latitude Travel Store, 2525 Arapahoe Rd., Boulder, 303-786-8406.

Wednesday, April 28

Twisted Pine Brewing and Tap Room — Taste the latest tasty brews from Twisted Pine. 3-9 p.m. Twisted Pine Tap Room, 3201 Walnut St., #A, Boulder, 303-786-9270. Boulder Weekly

COLLIE BUDDZ FRI • APR 30

BEDROCKK, KAOKEN & SPECIAL GUEST

YOUR BIKE

waited patiently all winter.

TREAT IT

to a spring tune-up (BEAT THE RUSH!) E s t. 1 9 8 9

9:00

RADIO 1190 & BOULDER WEEKLY PRESENT

BOULDER BREW & HATHBANGER, P.E.V. MUSIC FESTIVAL & FRESH2DEATH

JUST ANNOUNCED • ON SALE NOW

CINCO DE MAYO WITH

ROOTZ VS MURPHY (STS9)

WED - MAY 5

W/SPECIAL GUEST

M.T.H.D.S UMCONSCIOUS, SPEAKEASY THURS - MAY 6 w/SOMASPHERE & FUNKY FRESH TIGER, VICES I ADMIRE, MY OWN DEVICE & JOSH MCWILLIAMS STATEWIDE EMERGENCY SAT - MAY 29

FRI • MAY 1 1:00 BOULDER WEEKLY & RADIO 1190’S BASEMENTALISM PRESENT 7 WALKERS

W/ SPECIAL GUESTS

BILL KREUTZMANN

SAT - JUNE 5

ft. PAPA MALI and FRIENDS

PAPASIDO & JUNO WHAT?!

FRI -JUNE 11

W/ SPECIAL GUESTS

SAT -JUNE 12

& BLINDING FLASHES OF LIGHT

JOHN COMMON

ZION I & THE GROUCH

FRI • MAY 7

MACKIEMORE

• Full service & repairs friendly help • Boulder’s Best Bike Rental Shop! • Easy bike path access • Locally owned •e

stab

• 989 lished•1Fast,

BoulderBikeSmith.com • 303.443.1132 Open 10am-5pm everyday

2432 Arapahoe Ave. (Folsom & Arapahoe)

9:00

BUDWEISER & COLORADO DAILY PRESENT

MADLIB (DJ SET) MOUNTAIN RADIO 1190’S BASEMENTALISM & THE COLORADO DAILY PRESENT

& ALEX B STANDARD TIME SHPONGLE (DJ SET) TOOTS & THE MAYTALS SHPONGLE (DJ SET) DEVIN THE DUDE THURS • APR 22

DJ LOW KEY

SUMMER LUAU 9:00 GOOD GRAVY

9:00 SAT • MAY 8

97.3 KBCO PRESENTS

BOULDER WEEKLY PRESENTS

FRI • APR 23

HALLUCINOGEN (LIVE) PROMETHIUS