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THE RO CKY MOUNTAIN
Fort Collins, Colorado
Thursday, November 29, 2012
COLLEGIAN
Volume 121 | No. 77
www.collegian.com
THE STUDENT VOICE OF COLORADO STATE UNIVERSITY SINCE 1891
Amendment 64 impact, logistics still laregely uncertain
the
STRIP CLUB
Dec. 21 is only three weeks away; humanity’s tenure on planet Earth is ticking away as the end of the Mayan calendar approaches. Odd, considering all of the ways in which the Earth itself can shorten that tenure.
By KATE WINKLE The Rocky Mountain Collegian
It has been 23 days since voters passed Amendment 64, which legalized marijuana in Colorado. But many are still asking: What now? By July 1, 2013, Colorado’s Attorney General, the Health Department and other departments will put together rules and regulations for marijuana, including how it will be sold and advertised. These regulations have to be established before marijuana can legally be sold, distributed and transported, according to Larry Abrahamson, District Attorney for Colorado’s 8th Congressional District. Amendment 64 has yet to be signed by Gov. Hickenlooper, at which point possession and private use by those 21 and older will be legal. Abrahamson predicts the governor will certify the amendment within the next few weeks. What is largely uncertain is how the federal government will respond to Colorado’s Amendment 64. The government can force Colorado to behave differently by potentially withholding funding for the state, which could affect CSU, according to Dawn Nannini, Evaluations Specialist for Team Fort Collins. “As far as what students need to know, they need to wait and see really how this is going to play out in Colorado,” Nannini said. Students do need to realize that because the use of marijuana is a violation of federal law, it could affect federal funding like Pell Grants, according to Abrahamson. However, federal law pro-
See AMENDMENT on Page 3
AMENDMENT 64 Before Amendment 64 is certified by Gov. Hickenlooper: Marijuana possession, sale and transportation will be illegal After certification: Individuals over 21 may possess, for private use, up to 1 ounce of marijuana After July 1, 2013: Guidelines will be established for the sale, distribution and transportation of marijuana
Ways The Earth Can Destroy Us
MADISON BRANDT | COLLEGIAN
Animal science major Ashlee Shelly sits with her dog, Tilly, in the LSC plaza. Tilly the chihuahua has been training for four years to be a guide dog.
Sitting and staying for students CSU student trains Chihuahua to be a service dog By KEVIN RUBY The Rocky Mountain Collegian For most of an average day, Tilly, a Chihuahua cross-breed owned by a CSU student, acts like any dog. She can get skittish with loud noises, trusts unconditionally and begs for scraps at mealtime. But when Ashlee Shelly, a senior animal science major and Tilly’s owner, puts the dog into her service vest, Tilly knows it’s work time. “You can tell that her whole demeanor just goes calm,” Shelly said. Shelly adopted Tilly her senior year of high school and has been training her as a service dog for two years. “She originally came from a shelter in south central LA,” Shelly said. “She ended up being brought up to my hometown, which is about two hours outside of LA.” There are roughly 10,000 people who use dogs for assistance in the U.S. and Canada, and some of those 10,000 are seen around the CSU campus. Assistance dogs can come from breeding programs, with volunteer puppy raisers caring for them until they are old enough to start formal training, or in some cases the dogs are rescued from animal shelters.
Training a service dog requires countless hours of work; Shelly said she has spent 100 plus hours working with Tilly. Training a shelter dog can be particularly challenging because they aren’t bred to be service dogs, Shelly said. Tilly was very skittish at first about loud noises, but learned to be comfortable with Shelly. “Shelter dogs are amazing with the trust that they give and the people that adopt them, and so she’ll listen to me through thick and thin. A lot of shelter dogs just run off, but she’s learned to trust me,” Shelly said. People train and use assistance dogs for many different purposes, not just for helping those with visual impairments. According to Assistance Dogs International, there are three types of assistance dogs: Guide dogs for the blind and the visually impaired, hearing dogs for the deaf and hard of hearing and service dogs for people with disabilities other than those related to vision or hearing. Training a service dog requires taking classes and getting the dog certified. “We went through one of the trainers through PetCo,” Shelly said. The next step was to go through a
program presented by the American Kennel Club (AKC) called the Canine Good Citizens (CGC) program. The AKC’s CGC Program is designed to recognize dogs that have good manners at home and in the community, according to the AKC website. Some therapy dog groups require passing the CGC test as a prerequisite. All dogs who pass the 10 step CGC test may receive a certificate from the American Kennel Club. “We went through that class, registered and went through it last January. And then once you pass that class then you send your certificate to the AKC,” Shelly said. “And so she’s a registered AKC canine good citizen.” But not all of Tilly’s life is spent training to be an assistance dog. She lives in a house with Shelly and her three roommates. According to Shelly, Tilly is quite the beggar. “Between the four of us, there is always free food for Tilly.” For now Tilly is still in training and is always being taught new things. “Right now she’s involved with some therapy stuff,” Shelly said. “And we’re trying to get in with a couple of the elderly homes around town, to put in hours.” Collegian Writer Kevin Ruby can be reached at news@collegian.com.
“I never thought I would go into politics and love it so much, or be so passionate about what I do.” Jenn Penn | Lobbyist for the Associated Students for CSU ASCSU
CSU alum now lobbies for ASCSU in Denver By CARRIE MOBLEY The Rocky Mountain Collegian
Jenn Penn began her student career here at CSU as a biology major and senator for the Intra-university through the Associated Students of CSU. Years after graduating, she is still playing a vital role in student government, albeit a much different one than she might have once envisioned. Today Penn works for ASCSU in the state capital, as a lobbyist advocating for issues that support higher education funding and work to make life easier for students. Penn loves her job, but admits that it is one she never really consid-
ered upon entering college. “I started college as a biology major,” Penn said. “I never thought I would go into politics and love it so much or be so passionate about what I do.” Penn, who got her start in politics through professor John Straayer’s legislative intern program as well as her leadership roles within ASCSU, owns her own lobbying firm, Dome Strategies, LLC. “I do the same thing with ASCSU as I do with all my other clients,” Penn said. “I represent them and communicate with legislators about their position on things. I am their voice on these issues.” According to Lindon
Belshe, Director of Governmental Affairs for ASCSU, Penn is an invaluable tool for student government. “She has connections that we can’t hold,” Belshe said. “She is there every day, and knows what’s going on, and she can relay that to us and also relay information from us to legislators.” ASCSU either creates its own legislation or supports another piece of legislation, according to Belshe. “ASCSU has a history of legislation,” Penn said. “Higher education is always going to be a priority, and it’s important that we continue to try to make it more affordable to students.”
This year, ASCSU is writing its own bill to allow for a one-day tax holiday on textbooks in order to help students with costs, as well as attempting to impact any other relevant legislation, according to Penn. “We’ve secured a sponsor for the bill, and we will be working with him over the next legislative session,” Penn said. “We will try to do some grassroots organizing to gain support for the bill to get it passed.” Other legislation previously sponsored by ASCSU includes legislation that would allow for a CSU student seat on the Board of Governors, as well as previous bills to increase
ASCSU SUPPORTS Textbook tax holiday A CSU student seat on the Board of Governors Any bills supporting higher education funding
higher education funding. “As a former member, I have a passion for ASCSU,” Penn said. “It’s great to be able to work with them to impact higher education, and have that connection with them.” ASCSU Beat Reporter Carrie Mobley can be reached at news@collegian.com.
Supervolcanoes Yellowstone National Park may look all majestic and serene, but beneath it lies a dormant supervolcano that can blanket the Earth in boiling lava and poisonous ash. Thanks a lot, Yellowstone!
Earthquakes Remember the massive earthquake that devastated Japan a couple years ago? Well that just may have been a warm-up act for 2012. There has never been a 10.0 earthquake before, and no one is sure just how much damage one can cause...
Drought Not exactly the most dramatic of disasters. Do not scoff, though; if a drought is severe enough it will lead to famine, starvation, rampant disease and outright civil war. A bad enough drought starting on the 21st would make the Biblical 10 plagues look like a pushover.
The Strip Club is written by the Collegian staff.