About Civil Liberties and Equality

This page contains an archive of the last 100 entries posted to ProgressNow.org Daily News Digest in the Civil Liberties and Equality category. They are listed from newest to oldest. You can find older entries using the search box below.

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February 29, 2008

Campus Press opinion section on hold : CU News : Boulder Daily Camera

http://dailycamera.com/news/2008/feb/29/web-sites-opinion-section-on-hold/...
The duties of the entire opinion-section staff at the University of Colorado's Campus Press newspaper have been suspended in the wake of fervent outcry about a student column that said Asians "hate us all," school officials said Thursday. Meanwhile, the columnist who sparked the firestorm, Max Karson, defended himself in a letter to the Camera in which he describes CU as a "racist hell-hole." A statement posted on the student newspaper's Web site Wednesday singled out Karson as the only person suspended from contributing to the online-only newspaper's content. But CU spokesman Bronson Hilliard on Thursday said all of the regular opinion-writing staff will be reassigned to other duties while changes are made. “Max has been an editorial page assistant editor, and all of the duties of all of the editorial page editors have been suspended because the editorial page itself at the Campus Press has been suspended pending a restructuring and re-envisioning of what they’re going to do with it,” Hilliard said.

An outspoken voice rages against the Iraq war - Telluride, CO - The Daily Planet

http://www.telluridenews.com/news/x288024336...
She is half Jewish American, half Iraqi Muslim and 100 percent anti-war activist. In 2004, disillusioned by overt anti-Arab sentiment displayed by her colleagues at Maryland’s Georgetown University Hospital after 9/11, Dr. Dahlia Wasfi put medicine on the back burner and hit the lecture circuit under the banner of the human rights organization Global Exchange. Her bottom line: We should get of Iraq yesterday. The Out Loud Lecture Series and the San Miguel Resource Center (SMRC) are co-sponsoring a talk by Wasfi in honor of Sexual Awareness Month. The free event on Saturday at the Ah Haa School opens with a reception at 6:30 p.m. Wasfi’s talk begins at 7 p.m. “The lecture is also kick-off for Phenomenal Women, a week of activities in honor of International Women’s Day,” said SMRC’s executive director, Nancy Anderson. “The phenomenal women in my organization participate in the event and support its mission.”

Colorado Daily News - Never forget

http://coloradodaily.com/articles/2008/02/28/news/c_u_and_boulder/news1.txt...
It was the tragedy of all ages, forever serving as the ultimate perspective check. Failed relationships, subpar grades, and waning popularity become suddenly irrelevant when placed against the overwhelming horror of the Holocaust. In a chillingly systematic fashion, the Nazi Regime killed six million Jews, along with millions of others who didn't meet Hitler's perverse concept of the superior human-being. Branded into the moral intuition of all of humanity, the Holocaust will never be forgotten. To ensure that history's gravest misfortune remains close to heart, CU students from a number of organizations, including Hillel, the center of Jewish life on the CU campus, arranged the 24th annual Holocaust Awareness Week (HAW), which took place over the last four days and continues today.

February 28, 2008

Colorado Daily News - Plea for action

http://coloradodaily.com/articles/2008/02/28/news/c_u_and_boulder/news2.txt...
CU diversity group student leaders have compiled a list of responses they'd like the university to enact, in the wake of last week's Campus Press editorial satirizing Asian stereotypes. The editorial, written by CU senior Max Karson, says “They [Asians] hate us all. And I say it's time we started hating them back.” “If you're not sure if someone is Asian, give them a calculus problem to do in their head,” the editorial says. Karson defends it as obvious satire. The students are asking for the resignation of Campus Press faculty advisor Amy Herdy and editor-in-chief Cassie Hewlings and “an independent investigation into the upper echelons of the journalism school, [to see] whether a systemic culture of racism exists,” said CU junior David Chiu. “We want this to be conducted by a panel of students and faculty who support and represent diversity,” Chiu said, “and not the dean, who'd look into his own department.” They're also asking the administration to revisit a list of student demands made two years ago after an African-American student government tri-executive received a death threat.

Colorado Daily News - Diverse and united

http://coloradodaily.com/articles/2008/02/28/news/c_u_and_boulder/news1.txt...
More than 200 students gathered on the south porch of the University Memorial Center as a show of solidarity and distaste against the Feb. 18 publication of an opinion column titled “If it's war Asians want” in CU-Boulder's online newspaper “The Campus Press.” Under clear skies, the diverse gathering of students from many ethnic and cultural backgrounds held colorful signs that read “Revolution,” “Shoulder to Shoulder,” and “Responsible Journalism Now!” while a series of student leaders spoke of their experiences as minorities on campus, and issued calls to fight against racist sentiments by working together with university administration. “It's not just one article,” stated Dr. Detre Godinez, a recent CU grad who endorsed a Biased Incident Hotline that students could call to immediately report instances of racial victimization and marginalization. “It's every day. We experience it every day - it's in our faces every day.”

CU student group hosts Korean culture night : CU News : Boulder Daily Camera

http://dailycamera.com/news/2008/feb/27/cu-student-group-hosts-korean-culture-ni...
The University of Colorado's Korean American Student group is hosting a culture night Friday that will include comedy, a kum do sword performance, Korean drumming and other demonstrations. The event, from 7 to 9 p.m. in the University Memorial Center's Glenn Miller Ballroom, is free and open to the public. Comedian Eliot Chang will perform, and there will also be a Korean play and food.

Campus Press suspends Max Karson : CU News : Boulder Daily Camera

http://dailycamera.com/news/2008/feb/28/paper-suspends-karson/...
The University of Colorado student author of an opinion column that garnered national attention for saying Asians "hate us all" and should be hated back was suspended from the Campus Press newspaper staff Wednesday. "Max Karson's duties with the Campus Press have been suspended pending a restructuring of the opinions section," according to a statement posted on the student paper's Web site Wednesday. Karson ignited a firestorm last week when his piece titled "If it's war the Asians want ... It's war they'll get," infuriated some students and past members of the Campus Press staff who said the piece was inflammatory and a failed attempt at satire. The statement goes on to say that the publication's editors are in the process of organizing an "open, public forum to address diversity sensitivity in our news coverage" and are rewriting their ethics policy. The announcement came the same day university officials said they're close to announcing major changes in the way the paper is operated and overseen.

Racial feud, trial leave big legal bill : Local News : The Rocky Mountain News

http://www.rockymountainnews.com/news/2008/feb/28/racial-feud-trial-leaves-big-l...
Almost six weeks after 15-year- old Randall Nelson was found not guilty of charges of assault and disorderly conduct stemming from a racially charged incident in February 2007 that left another boy with a broken jaw, legal and financial ramifications remain for the family. In defending his son, now a freshman at Steamboat Springs High School, Brad Nelson learned a tough lesson: Good legal defense doesn't come cheap. "If you want the best, you pay for the best," said Brad Nelson, who faces more than $40,000 of legal fees and other expenses related to his son's defense.

February 27, 2008

Colorado Daily News - Let's move on

http://coloradodaily.com/articles/2008/02/26/news/c_u_and_boulder/news1.txt...
At the second of a series of ongoing meetings in the wake of a racially charged opinion column published last week, the staff at CU-Boulder's online student newspaper “The Campus Press” (CP) worked with side-by-side with administration and faculty from the School of Journalism yesterday to ensure a tighter and more structured approach to student journalism that is committed to balance in both diversity and free speech. The column in question, an opinion piece entitled “If it's war Asians want -- it's war they'll get,” written by CU senior Max Karson, has not only prompted a backlash of outrage from offended student readers, but also formal letters of denouncement from dozens of Asian-American and other minority representative organizations throughout the state of Colorado in little more than a week since its Feb. 18 publication. “We have heard very clearly and articulately from students who say that [Karson's piece] was the latest in a series of events that make them feel everything from simply unwelcome to outright afraid to be on campus,” said Bronson Hilliard, CU Spokesperson who personally attended the Campus Press's meeting with figures from the School of Journalism. “We're also taking very seriously the role of a campus newspaper in raising tough issues, in editorializing controversial subjects, and of the very purpose of the university in debating serious issues at a fundamental level and not glossing them over. Those are never easy things to balance.”

Campus Press editors: Opinion piece 'a mistake' : CU News : Boulder Daily Camera

http://dailycamera.com/news/2008/feb/27/opinion-piece-a-mistake/...
In a Campus Press news story Tuesday covering the controversy that's erupted over a pair of its recent opinion columns, editors responsible for running the racially charged articles vowed to make changes. Other student editors, in an opinion piece that also was published Tuesday, separated themselves from the decision to run one of the columns, saying they "disagreed with the publishing of the opinion." "It was a mistake," according to the column, titled "A letter from some different editors." The nine editors who signed that column said the opinion that ran Feb. 18 and has since sparked heated debate -- "If it's war the Asians want ... It's war they'll get," by Max Karson -- has harmed the University of Colorado. "It has harmed our rapport with our sources, detracted from the content of the Web site's other sections and thrown the Campus Press in a truly unsavory light," they wrote.

Students inspired by Little Rock Nine - The Denver Post

http://www.denverpost.com/newsheadlines/ci_8372667...
Keith Hill, 14, was certainly looking forward to Tuesday's luncheon honoring the Little Rock Nine: It was, for him, a chance to attend an event at the Adam's Mark Hotel. "I've never been to a place like this before," he said. Fellow Manual High School student Linelle Whitmill, 15, said she knew what her counselor had told her: "I mean I know they went to school and they were spit on, right?" What a difference 90 minutes can make. Two of the nine students who made history 51 years ago when they entered the all-white Little Rock Central High School spoke to 600 people at the luncheon about what they had accomplished and what lies ahead. The appearances of the Little Rock Nine this week in Denver are the group's fifth since graduation and will raise money for a scholarship fund for the Iliff School of Theology's Peace, Justice and Restoration program. "I'm so thankful for what they did," Linelle said afterward. "They've encouraged me to go to school more. I mean they fought for us to have the right to attend. "I'm going to go home and tell my family about this," she said.

Man held in scuffle inside Capitol - The Denver Post

http://www.denverpost.com/newsheadlines/ci_8372054...
A man was in police custody Tuesday after being ejected from the state House and then reportedly getting into a scuffle with troopers inside the Capitol. Joseph Canada, 41, of Santa Rosa, Calif., was thrown out of the House by sergeants-at-arms after he reportedly walked onto the floor and tried to walk down the center aisle, where only lawmakers are permitted. Sergeant-at-arms John Wallin said Canada entered through the front doors of the chamber, made it to the top step of the center aisle and didn't stop when told he was not allowed to walk there. "He wanted to speak to representatives," Wallin said. "He wanted to speak to government." It took three sergeants-at-arms to escort Canada out, and state troopers summoned to the chamber walked him out of the building.

February 26, 2008

Grand Junction Sentinel - Salazar: No voter pressure as Bush pressures Dems on wiretaps

http://www.gjsentinel.com/news/content/news/stories/2008/02/25/022608_1B_Salazar...
U.S. Rep. John Salazar’s office said he has been under no pressure in Colorado’s 3rd District to a vote on a measure that would update the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act. “Coloradans have been very supportive of Rep. Salazar for standing in favor of stronger civil liberty protections under FISA, and he believes they deserve their privacy rights to be protected by their member of Congress,” said his Washington, D.C., spokesman, Eric Wortman. Salazar’s district includes most of the Western Slope and southern Colorado. While Salazar has voted against bringing the FISA legislation to the House floor, the measure has been approved by the Senate with the support of Sen. Ken Salazar, D-Colo., John Salazar’s brother. Ken Salazar’s office said he was “hopeful that we can get agreement on how to move forward between the president and congressional leaders to move forward with a much-needed update of FISA soon.” President Bush and other Republicans are attacking House Democrats, including Rep. Salazar, for not voting on the permanent upgrading of FISA. Temporary legislation that upgraded the act expired recently.

Regulators, mount up! | Politics West

http://www.politicswest.com./20688/regulators_mount...
Appraisers who give outlandish estimates to hurt competition and bankers who violate civil rights by denying loans based on race are two targets of a bill that could help identify and punish errant entrepreneurs. A proposal that unanimously cleared a House committee today would allow the state’s regulatory boards to share information with licensing bodies and other state parties, which can then reprimand the rule breakers. Senate Bill 62 would allow the regulatory boards to share their findings on banks, real estate businesses, credit unions and savings and loans, said Chris Myklebust, commissioner of finance for the Department of Regulatory Agencies. “This bill knocks down the walls that separate” state departments, Myklebust said.

Colorado Daily News - Outcry

http://coloradodaily.com/articles/2008/02/25/news/c_u_and_boulder/news2.txt...
A column published in CU-Boulder's online student newspaper, The Campus Press, has continued to draw a backlash from offended readers since its Feb. 18publication. The column in question, entitled “If it's war Asians want Š it's war they'll get,” depicts an hyperbolized call for students to systematically terrorize Asian students until they become more like the “whitebread, brainless tree-sloths” that make up the university's white population. Having loosely strung the piece together with a barrage of Asian stereotypes, the author of the column, CU Senior Max Karson, muddied the line between “satire” and “hate speech” to such an extreme degree that little could be done by the university in the way of quelling the negative response it has received. “When I blow my whistle,” the piece stated, “we will scatter in every direction and catch as many Asians as possible. Make sure to pay special attention to the Rec Center, the UMC, the math and engineering buildings and Lollicup. If you're not sure if someone is an Asian, give them a calculus problem to do in their head. If they get it right, net ‘em.”

University of Colorado student leaders want Campus Press changes : CU News : Boulder Daily Camera

http://dailycamera.com/news/2008/feb/26/cu-students-want-press-changes/...
University of Colorado student leaders said Monday they want to see more changes at the Campus Press following its decision to publish a pair of racially charged opinion pieces. John Ali Sharza, director of diversity affairs for CU's student union, said minority groups, concerned students and staff members met Monday to develop an "action plan" for how they want the community and the Campus Press to continue responding to the controversial columns published last week. "If it's war the Asians want ... It's war they'll get," by Max Karson, ran in the online-only student paper, www.thecampuspress.com, on Feb. 18; and "No hablo Ingles," by Lauren E. Geary, was published the previous day. Campus Press editors said Monday that they're planning to publish in today's edition the first news story on the backlash from the articles.

Dish Network trial begins : Tech & Telecom : The Rocky Mountain News

http://www.rockymountainnews.com/news/2008/feb/26/dish-network-trial-begins/...
A former Dish Network executive assistant was subjected to a hostile workplace that included commentary on female employees' anatomy and tales and photos of a trip to the Playboy Mansion, jurors were told Monday in Denver federal court. Sharon Baker, who worked at Douglas County-based Dish Network for nearly six years until 2004, is suing the company for alleged sexual discrimination, retaliation and hostile work environment. She says she was forced to leave because the company wouldn't agree to her repeated requests to be transferred elsewhere. Dish counters that Baker never filed any formal complaints about alleged harassment, including in her letter of resignation. Instead, Baker was upset when her longtime boss and friend Soraya Hesabi-Cartwright left in 2004 and she didn't feel that her new job working for Executive Vice President Michael Kelly carried comparable responsibility, the company says. "This case is about a woman who quit her job so she could follow her friend and mentor Mrs. Cartwright to her next job," Meghan Martinez, an attorney for Dish, told the jury of six women and one man during opening statements.

Gay Ski Week a boon to locals, too - Telluride, CO - The Daily Planet

http://www.telluridenews.com/news/x565323181...
Though they don’t have an official count, organizers are expecting 250 gays and lesbians to come through town the week for Gay Ski Week. For them, it’s a great vacation. And for the gays and lesbians who live here year-round? It’s a mini-vacation for them, too.

February 25, 2008

Senate bill would outlaw sale of pornography to kids : Colorado Government : The Rocky Mountain News

http://www.rockymountainnews.com/news/2008/feb/23/senate-bill-would-outlaw-sale-...
State senators backed a bill Friday that would make it illegal to sell pornography to children, even though some lawmakers questioned whether it could be enforced. Senators agreed to change the measure, SB 125, to make it also a felony to use pornography as a tool in sexually abusing a child. Selling the material would be a misdemeanor. It isn't clear if the bill will survive as is, because lawmakers usually reject proposals that require money to put more people in prison. People convicted of using pornography to "groom" children for sexual abuse could be imprisoned up to eight years under the bill, said Sen. Brandon Shaffer, D-Longmont. Lawmakers usually worry less about the cost of misdemeanors than felonies. Felony violators are sentenced to state-funded prisons, but misdemeanor offenders usually are fined or sent to county jails, which are financed by county governments. Shaffer said that what is considered pornography is subjective, which would make the law difficult to enforce. At his urging, senators first removed the sales ban and replaced it with the "grooming" crime, despite protests from sponsor Sen. Ted Harvey, R-Highlands Ranch, who said the cost would kill the bill. He voted against the changed bill, saying that lawmakers were endorsing selling porn to children. "That's the message that will be sent to the voters of Colorado. I will make sure of it," he said.

5 QUESTIONS for Chris Choe, president of the Korean American Students at Boulder : County News : Boulder Daily Camera

http://dailycamera.com/news/2008/feb/25/5-questions-for-chris-choe-president-of-...
In the wake of a column by Campus Press writer Max Karson that raised controversy by claiming Asians at the University of Colorado were out for war, the Camera talked to Chris Choe, president of the Korean American Students at Boulder.

Black athletes still dealing with lack of diversity at CU : County News : Boulder Daily Camera

http://dailycamera.com/news/2008/feb/24/black-athletes-still-dealing-with-lack-o...
Three-quarters of a century after Claude Walton arrived at the University of Colorado and became CU's first black letterwinner, 68 black student-athletes have competed as Buffaloes this year. For them, life can still be "difficult," said Marcus King-Stockton, a black senior on the basketball team. "I think a lot of people come here knowing there isn't a lot of diversity," said King-Stockton, a political science major. "For me, that wasn't that big of a deal because I came here to get an education and to play basketball." Like Walton, other early high-profile black CU athletes faced blatant discrimination. David Bolen was the school's first Olympian, in 1948, and eventually became a U.S. ambassador to Botswana, Lesotho and Swaziland. He came to CU from Southern University in Louisiana and faced many of the same problems as Walton a decade later.

Student paved road to integration : Local News : The Rocky Mountain News

http://www.rockymountainnews.com/news/2008/feb/23/student-paved-road-to-integrat...
At 14, Carlotta Walls LaNier walked through the doors of a Little Rock, Ark. high school and into history. Accompanied by soldiers for protection, LaNier and eight other black students integrated Central High School in 1957, running a gauntlet of hatred for a chance at a better education. "I passed the school every day, and I knew what that school represented," said LaNier, who has been a Denver-area real estate broker for 30 years. "I knew the kids who graduated from there went to schools back East and Big 10 colleges. I wanted a piece of that, that's all." In 1954, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled segregated classrooms unconstitutional, and integration began in cities across the nation. The Little Rock Nine, as they came to be known - LaNier, Melba Patillo Beals, Elizabeth Eckford, Ernest Green, Gloria Ray Karlmark, Terrence Roberts, Jefferson Thomas, Minnijean Brown Trickey and Thelma Mothershed Wair - arrived at Central High to find the doors blocked by the Arkansas National Guard under orders from Gov. Orval Faubus. "No one knew that what took place was going to take place," LaNier said. "I was very disappointed that we could not go to school that day."

Courageous "Nine" reunites - The Denver Post

http://www.denverpost.com/newsheadlines/ci_8354553...
Even if they were alive in 1957, many of those assembled at Congregation Emmanuel in East Denver on Sunday afternoon did not experience the same civil-rights era as the Little Rock Nine, whom they came to honor. The nine teenagers integrated Little Rock Central High School that year, facing down the Arkansas National Guard, the governor of their state, racism of classmates and the hatred of half a divided nation three years after Brown v. Board of Education ordered integrated schools. The Little Rock Nine endured slurs, death threats and physical abuse in the name of equal education. A series of events are planned in Denver this week to celebrate the nine's courage and legacy.

In a class by itself - The Denver Post

http://www.denverpost.com/newsheadlines/ci_8347677...
If she had to do it over again, Elizabeth Eckford wouldn't have walked through the doors of Little Rock Central High School 51 years ago. Being among the nine intrepid African-American teenagers who demanded seats at the all-white Arkansas school left an indelible scar. She has been haunted by depression and post-traumatic stress disorder. Vast portions of her 66 years are darkened by memories of the days she and her classmates, at tender ages, stared down segregation. She remembers the taunts from fellow students and how few others at the school defended her — or said anything at all. And even though Eckford doesn't regret what she did, she would make a different choice if given the chance. "If the situation was the same, where people would be allowed to assault us with impunity, I wouldn't go for that again," she said in a phone interview, just a few days before coming to Denver to be honored at the Iliff School of Theology. "It's cost me too much; I'd rather not have those impediments in my life."

The Pueblo Chieftain Online - Amendment to child porn bill angers sponsor

http://pueblochieftain.com/metro/1203746400/17...
Sen. Ted Harvey isn't sure if SB125 is still his. Though the Parker Republican introduced it as a way to ban the sale of pornographic material to minors, he was angered Friday after other senators turned it into a different measure. It began when Sen. Brandon Shaffer, D-Longmont, got the Senate to approve an amendment that, instead, made the bill more of a measure designed to deter child molesters from using pornography to entice children into sexual relations. Harvey said that wasn't the initial intent of his bill. "This amendment essentially guts the bill, and totally changes the bill from what the intent was," he said on the Senate floor. "There are 43 states throughout the United States that outlaw the sale of pornography to minors, and outlaw the distribution of pornography to minors. The intent of this bill was to make Colorado the 44th state." Shaffer said other state laws already make it a crime for minors to possess pornography, and Harvey's bill only made it a misdemeanor to sell pornography to them.

Mayans retain their culture - The Denver Post

http://www.denverpost.com/newsheadlines/ci_8349266...
The smell of frying tilapia seeps into the living room of the Lucas family home as 16-year-old Maria, face-scrunched and sighing, struggles to wrap a traditional Guatemalan corte skirt around her waist. "I don't know how to tie this on!" she shouts to her father, Francisco Lucas. But on the night of this annual Mayan fiesta, he has his own tasks to complete. Francisco kneels by the crackling wood stove dragging a saw through a brass curtain rod, crafting a scepter fit for the Mayan Queen who will be crowned later that evening. The metal is hard to hack, and the Catholic mass that precedes the fiesta starts in just 20 minutes.

Lantern Festival keeping traditions alive - The Denver Post

http://www.denverpost.com/newsheadlines/ci_8354620...
In Taiwan, children write wishes on lanterns before releasing them to the heavens to be granted. Because of fire hazard, the Colorado Chinese Club opted for battery-operated lights in the paper lanterns to celebrate Yuan Xiao, or the Lantern Festival, on Sunday in Highlands Ranch. About 200 people attended the celebration that marks the end of the Chinese New Year. For people of Chinese heritage in Colorado, the Lantern Festival provides an opportunity to share traditional culture with modern-minded children.

February 22, 2008

Journalism dean 'appalled' by piece on Asians : Education : The Rocky Mountain News

http://www.rockymountainnews.com/news/2008/feb/22/journalism-dean-appalled-by-pi...
With his latest foray to the edges of free speech, University of Colorado student Max Karson may have gone from gadfly to gad-pterodactyl. On Monday, the 22-year-old psychology major wrote an opinion piece on CU's Campus Press Web site that, although intended to be a satire about whites' attitudes toward Asians, instead caused indignation from the school's journalism department and administration, as well as numerous members of the campus's different ethnic communities. "I was appalled" said Paul Voakes, dean of the CU Journalism School, which oversees the Campus Press as an advanced class. Referring to the "incredibly incendiary subject matter" of Karson's column, Voakes said, "I wish these student editors had recognized that this is bad commentary, bad opinion journalism, and it did not deserve publication, especially in our student paper." Agreeing with Voakes was Shail Mehta, president of CU's South Asian Student Association, who said, "I get that it was meant to be a joke, a satire, but I'm offended. I don't think that kind of stuff is appropriate in a university newspaper, especially things that filter hatred. Words are very powerful."

Colorado Daily News - A call to arms

http://coloradodaily.com/articles/2008/02/21/news/c_u_and_boulder/news2.txt...
For many, including University of Colorado Chancellor G.P. “Bud” Peterson, a column written for CU's student newspaper, The Campus Press, fell far too short of its intended goal of being funny. In a column entitled “If it's war Asians want Š it's war they'll get” published in the Monday, Feb. 18 edition, Campus Press writer Max Karson called all interested students to meet at Farrand Field “next Sunday at noon” to begin “phase 1” of a systematic group terrorization of CU's Asian population. In a statement released Wednesday, Feb. 20, CU Chancellor Bud Peterson released a statement about the ill-fated attempt at humor in an effort to re-build any bridges burned with the Asian and Asian-American communities by the publication's willingness to publish the piece. “The column was a poor attempt at social satire laden with offensive references, stereotypes and hateful language,” the release stated. “It was not properly labeled as either satire or commentary, and readers were left with the impression that the author spoke for the collective staff and leadership of the Campus Press, and perhaps even the University of Colorado.”

Diversity training for CU's Campus Press after Asian 'hate' column : CU News : Boulder Daily Camera

http://dailycamera.com/news/2008/feb/22/diversity-training-for-campus-press/...
The University of Colorado student newspaper's staff will undergo diversity training and meet other measures outlined Thursday by CU officials in response to a column published earlier this week that said Asian people should be rounded up, "hog-tied" and "forced to eat bad sushi." The column, "If it's war the Asians want ... It's war they'll get," by student editor Max Karson, appeared Monday on the Campus Press Web site. It infuriated some students and past members of the Campus Press staff, who said the piece that claimed Asians "hate us all" was a failed attempt at satire.

"Satire" column brings apologies - The Denver Post

http://www.denverpost.com/newsheadlines/ci_8329354...
The chancellor of the University of Colorado's Boulder campus has apologized for a column that appeared in the University of Colorado Campus Press that called for "war" on Asians and Asian-Americans. The column was written by Max Karson, who in 2007 was arrested and barred from classes after making statements in class that he could understand why the gunman at Virginia Tech would shoot fellow students. In July, a Boulder County judge allowed Karson to return to classes at CU. A prolific writer whose commentaries have often been controversial, Karson's latest writing opined that Asians hate whites — "they hate us all." "And I say it's time we started hating back," Karson wrote in a column that appeared in the CU online publication. Chancellor G.P. "Bud" Peterson apologized, saying the column was a "poor attempt at social satire." Although what Karson wrote was "unquestionably protected under the First Amendment," Peterson said in a statement that the sentiments Karson expressed were "wounding and damaging to a community we hold dear."

Olympians weigh politics - The Denver Post

http://www.denverpost.com/newsheadlines/ci_8329908...
Allison Wagner already won a silver Olympic medal. She's training to return to the Summer Games this year, not just hoping to recapture swimming glory, but to take a stand. "Somebody has to make a point," Wagner said of China's role in oil-rich Sudan, where government-backed militias killed at least 200,000 residents of Darfur province and uprooted 2.5 million. "China's involved. They're cooperating with Sudan and its military, providing arms," she said during a break from her training in California. She's one of 250 athletes, including 75 Americans, who have joined Team Darfur. She signed a letter to Chinese President Hu Jintao urging action to curb the killing.

Boy, father, lawyer talk to school district : Local News : The Rocky Mountain News

http://www.rockymountainnews.com/news/2008/feb/22/boy-father-lawyer-talk-to-scho...
Bullying victim Adrian Ulm, joined by his father and lawyer, met with Cherry Creek school district officials Wednesday to ensure a smooth transition back to school after his complaints of racial harassment made him a national symbol of discrimination.

The Pueblo Chieftain Online - Event aims to end violence against women

http://pueblochieftain.com/metro/1203694502/9...
Colorado State University-Pueblo will join the global effort to end violence against girls and women as part of the VDAY 10 celebration. VDAY is a movement to generate broader attention for the fight to stop violence against females, including rape, battery, incest, female genital mutilation and sexual slavery. CSU-Pueblo will host a variety of events and activities beginning with the showing of Eve Ensler's "The Vagina Monologues" at 7 p.m. today in the Occhiato Ballroom of the university center. Cost is $7 for adults and $5 for students. The production includes sexually explicit matter and may not be suitable for children.

The Coloradoan - Holocaust survivor warns students not to rewrite history

http://coloradoan.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080222/NEWS01/802220345/1002/...
Eric Cahn stood in front of a room full of sixth-graders at Lopez Elementary School on Thursday morning and told them that what they were about to hear wasn't pleasant, but it was true. Most importantly, it was necessary to hear. Cahn is a Holocaust survivor. He was 4½ years old when members of the French resistance snuck Cahn and his 2-year-old sister out of a Nazi-controlled holding camp in southern France just weeks before his parents were sent to the Auschwitz concentration camp. He and his sister remained hidden in different houses of French families for the remainder of the war. His mother did not survive; his father did but was never the same. "I'm here to say to you it did happen, and as a very, very young child, I was there," he said. In 1940, Cahn and his family, who are Jewish, were forced out of their home in Mannheim, Germany, and taken by train to a Nazi holding camp in southern France.

Actors support bullied boy - The Denver Post

http://www.denverpost.com/newsheadlines/ci_8329880...
Adrian Ulm has learned at 14 what thousands have learned before him: "You make a lot of friends in the theater," he said. The kid, who says he was beaten up for, among other reasons, taking part in theater, has heard from many supporters in the local and national theater communities who want him and everyone like him to know it's OK to be who you are and do what you like to do. Adrian, who moved from Germany to Centennial with his father in 2005, says he endured taunts including "Nazi," "Jew" and "gay" for two years until an inevitable confrontation left him with a broken collarbone and facial bruises. Frank Conway of New York's Broadway Cares/Equity Fights AIDS is among the many people who have been where Adrian is now. "I wanted Adrian to know that it's OK to like theater, and that some of us who used to get beaten up for it wind up working on Broadway shows even," Conway wrote in an e-mail to the youth's attorney, Gregg McReynolds. He sent Adrian a signed photo of Christopher Sieber, a star of Broadway's "Spamalot." "I wish I'd had an attorney when I was getting beaten up every day of eighth grade," Conway wrote.

Denver consul explains conflict, says 'there's no excuse' : Nation : The Rocky Mountain News

http://www.rockymountainnews.com/news/2008/feb/22/denver-consul-explains-conflic...
The raw emotions on display Thursday in Belgrade go back centuries. The honorary Serbian consul in Denver, Steve Katish, doesn't condone the riot and subsequent attack on the U.S. Embassy in Belgrade. But he understands why it occurred. "There's no excuse for what happened," Katish said. But he said the anger that drove rioters is deep-seated and not likely to abate soon. Kosovo is not merely a province, Katish said. It is ground hallowed by Serbian bloodshed in a great battle in 1389 against an army sent by the Ottoman sultan. "Kosovo is to Serbia what Jerusalem is to Israel," Katish said.

February 21, 2008

Questions on wording don't derail amendment - The Denver Post

http://www.denverpost.com/newsheadlines/ci_8318916...
A proposed constitutional amendment aimed at preserving some affirmative action programs moved forward Wednesday, despite concerns that its language is deceptive. The state's three-member Ballot Title Setting Board approved ballot language voters would see for Amendment 61, but two members were troubled by what they saw as contradictory and misleading wording. Amendment 61 comes in response to Amendment 31, a proposal aimed at ending state affirmative action programs. The title board approved Amendment 31's language in June. Amendment 61 backers said Wednesday that their proposal would preserve "modest equal opportunity programs."

Campus Press editors' statement regarding Max Karson's article : CU News : Boulder Daily Camera

http://dailycamera.com/news/2008/feb/21/campus-press-editors-statement-regarding...
The Campus Press can be the most frustrating labor of love a majority of the time, but none of us would trade our time and effort with this publication for anything. We hope that, as managing editors, our readers understand we would never, under any circumstances, make a decision to consciously harm the reputation of this newspaper, which has taken decades to establish. Max Karson's Monday opinion, "If it's war the Asians want," has clearly upset a large segment of our readership, and for that, we owe it to those who were offended by the article to maintain the highest level of journalistic integrity and sincerely apologize to anyone who was hurt by this article. Karson's opinion is satire and is a commentary on racism at CU published in our opinion section, not presented as fact or incitement, and not published to intentionally incite controversy. We apologize for any ambiguity of the satire that may have been misconstrued.

Statement by University of Colorado Chancellor G.P. "Bud" Peterson : CU News : Boulder Daily Camera

http://dailycamera.com/news/2008/feb/21/statement-by-university-of-colorado-chan...
On behalf of the University of Colorado at Boulder, I want to apologize to the members of Colorado's Asian and Asian-American communities for a satirical column written by a student columnist at the CU Campus Press -- the Web-based student news outlet managed by the University of Colorado School of Journalism and Mass Communication. The column was a poor attempt at social satire laden with offensive references, stereotypes and hateful language. It was not properly labeled as either satire or commentary, and readers were left with the impression that the author spoke for the collective staff and leadership of the Campus Press, and perhaps even the University of Colorado.

CU chancellor says Asian 'hate' column 'damaging' : CU News : Boulder Daily Camera

http://dailycamera.com/news/2008/feb/21/chancellor-says-karson-column-damaging/...
The student editors of a University of Colorado newspaper were wrong to publish an opinion column written earlier this week that said all Asians hate white people and should be captured and "hog-tied," CU officials said Wednesday. The column, "If it's war the Asians want ... It's war they'll get," by student editor Max Karson, appeared Monday on the Campus Press Web site. It infuriated some students andpast members of the Campus Press staff, who said the piece was inflammatory and in poor taste.

Asian-themed column on CU paper website angers some - The Denver Post

http://www.denverpost.com/newsheadlines/ci_8318655...
A University of Colorado student has angered some people with a satirical online column saying Asian students "hate us all" and should be forced to play drinking games and endure other ordeals until they change. The column, posted Monday on the website of the Campus Press student newspaper, triggered a flurry of mostly critical online responses. The column was written by Max Karson, listed on the website as a staff editor. CU spokesman Bronson Hilliard said "columnist" was a more accurate description. In a statement released Wednesday night, the paper's editors apologized for "any ambiguity of the satire that may have been misconstrued." The statement stressed that Karson's column was a satire and was published in the opinion section.

Bullied teen gets national attention - The Denver Post

http://www.denverpost.com/newsheadlines/ci_8315148...
A eighth-grader in the Cherry Creek school district is taking his story of verbal and physical abuse by school bullies national, his father said today. Adrian Ulm endured two years of taunts — mocking his German citizenship, his love of theater and even his father's appearance — before a fight in November left him with a broken collarbone and numerous head injuries. ABC's "Good Morning America" has asked to tape Adrian's performance in West Middle School's production of "High School Musical" on Thursday night at the Greenwood Village campus. The morning show's producers also will interview Adrian for a segment, but the date it will air has not yet been set, Heinz Ulm said.

CU 'Red Scare' target dies : CU News : Boulder Daily Camera

http://dailycamera.com/news/2008/feb/21/morris-judd-feb-19-2008-cu-instructor-fi...