Volume 13, Issue 22 - March 1, 1991

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THE

ETROPOLITAN

The Metropolitan State College of Denver student newspaper serving the Auraria Campus since 1979

Volume 13, Issue 22

Denver, Colorado

March 1, 1991

NE\YS

FEATLRES

SP<)RTS

AHEC considers Tivoli for new student center page3

Homeless students choose education over housing page4

Top-20 'Runners win CAC, host tournament page 12

Library closed, searched • \

Denver K-9 unit _responds to campus bomb threats

H .

Jeff Delmonico The Metropolitan

Cathy VanSchwartz!The Metropolita

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Apolonia Portilla puts the finishing touches on a concrete floor in a section of the new expansion area of the PER Building. There were hopes this fall that the gymnasium renovations would be close enough to completion to accommodate basketball games by Feb. 1. The MSCD men's basketball team hosted the CAC To~rnament Feb. 28 and March 1. Since the gym is still under construction, the tournament was held at Denve West High School. The completion date for the gym has been pushed back to July.

CoPIRG referendum wins spot on ballot J.C. Long The Metropolitan

The Colorado Public Interest Research Group's petition drive successfully concluded Feb. 26 with 2,500 student signatures. Because CoPIRG's three-year contract with Metropolitan State College of Denver ends in June, members and supporters of CoPIRG have been asking students to sign petitions to show support and to get a referendum added to this year's student ballot.

The referendum will give students the chance to vote on whether they want to keep the optional $3 CoPIRG fee. According to the MSCD Student Government constitution, a petition signed by 10 percent of the student body must be obtained to get a referendum added to the ballot. Elizabeth Hauptman, local board chair for CoPIRG, said that the petition drive concluded Feb. 26.

They only needed 1,800 signa-

tures to get the referendum added to this year's ballot, but Hauptman said they got an extra 700 signatures to cover an estimated 10 percent of the signatures that could be invalid. Hauptman said she expects the referendum to pass. Ifthe issue passes, CoPIRG will have to negotiate a new contract with Student Affairs, she said.

The student elections will be April 2-4. 0

People using the Auraria Library got an unexpected break Feb. 23 when the building was evacuated for more than an hour because of a telephone bomb threat. The Denver Police Department received a call at 11 :53 a.m. from a person claiming bombs had been planted in the library and the North Classroom Building. The DPD notified Auraria Public Safety personnel and officers from both departments responded within minutes, according to APS Sgt. Jim Ferguson. " We don't get many bomb threats," Ferguson said. " Bomb threats are not common, but we do get them once and awhile," he said. Four officers from the DPD arrived with a bombsniffing dog - a black Labrador named Molly. Jose Puertas, an MSCD student, was left in charge at the library circulation desk when police informed him of the threat. Puertas said that although

bomb threats usually tum out to be hoaxes, he felt that it was better to evacuate the students and let Molly do her job. The North Classroom Building was not evacuated but warning signs were posted on all the entrances and the people inside were notified of the threat. Individuals h~d the option to leave the building if they felt threatened. The building was checked but nothing was found. Ryann Hamilton, a library assistant, and technician Bill Brandenburg, from the DPD K-9 unit, escorted Molly around the basement of the library. Hamilton said that Brandenburg told her "If she (Molly) smells anything, she will calmly sit down. So if she sits down, you better get out of here." The library had approximately 200 students in it at the time of the threat. Everyone left the building. After the dog sniffed the entire library and nothing was found, the library was reopened to the public. The library was closed from 12:15 to 1:40 p.m. 0

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