Columns

Bar on the Edge of Boulder Is Full of Surprises

Anonymous — Fri, 11 Mar 2022 07:00:00 +0000

Bar on the Edge of Boulder Is Full of Surprises Anonymous (not verified) Fri, 03/11/2022 - 00:00

Paul Danish

I used to think Boulder ended at the streetcar graveyard.

Streetcars arrived in Boulder in 1899, followed by an interurban line from Boulder to Denver. When the streetcars and trains were abandoned, a field between Boulder and Eldorado Springs became their final resting place.

One day, I continued south, past the old Matterhorn and Hornbrook restaurants.

I thought that was the end of Boulder, but then I saw the Rocky Flats Lounge glowing in the darkness — now, I'd surely reached the end of Boulder.

I once read “The Inn Outside the World,” a science fiction story by Edmond Hamilton. It was about an inn in another dimension where humanity’s greatest minds — Socrates, Voltaire, Einstein — mingled and socialized. When I saw the Rocky Flats Lounge, my first thought was, “Good Lord. I’ve found it.”

A lone tavern on a wind-swept plain across the street from a nuclear weapons plant. End of Boulder? Hell. It seemed like the bar at the end of the world.

It was, as one of the owners later described it, a neighborhood tavern without a neighborhood. But it had a clientele. Bomb plant workers, bikers, Green Bay Packers fans — it served ’em all.

The Lounge burned in 2015. But, phoenix-like, it reopened in July 2019 as the Rocky Flats Bar & Grill. It still featured the Friday-night fish fries.

And then the Great Pestilence of 2020 struck.

So a few days before Christmas 2021, I drove south on Hwy. 93 to see if it was still there.

It was.

But it was closed.

The sign on the door said “New owner, reopening soon.”

In the parking lot was a surprise: a lot full of marvelous wood carvings for sale. Eagles. Bears. Horses. Seahorses. Flamingos. Alligators. Owls. Dragonflies.

The artist, named Bongo Love, was on site.

A member of Zimbabwe’s Shona tribe, he came to Boulder in 2000.

“I use the area as a refuge. It’s not a business; it’s a refuge,” he said. “I’m free here. It’s the most creative space you can have.”

An excellent sentiment from the end of Boulder — one that, on a good day, describes Boulder from beginning to end.

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Photo by Paul Danish

The Rocky Flats Bar & Grill located south of Boulder has a rich history for many Boulder locals.

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Editor's Note: Spring 2022

Anonymous — Fri, 11 Mar 2022 07:00:00 +0000

Editor's Note: Spring 2022 Anonymous (not verified) Fri, 03/11/2022 - 00:00

Maria Kuntz

On Dec. 30, I sipped coffee at Caffe Sole as hurricane-force winds crashed over the Flatirons. Customers were stunned — unsure where to go as wind swirled into dust cyclones and awnings quaked, tearing at the building’s facade. These winds fueled the Marshall Fire — the most devastating wild-fire in ŷ��ڱ��Ƶ history.

This fire as well as other recent tragedies — the King Soopers shooting and the Calwood fire in northwest Boulder— will leave indelible marks on ŷ��ڱ��Ƶ Boulder's students, faculty and staff. And they will impact and inform future research, teaching and creative works.

In the midst of nearby tragedy, this Coloradan also aims to celebrate Buffs’ successes while exploring topics like the future of work, the Chicano movement and women's health in Bangladesh. I hope it bolsters you as part of the Forever Buffs community because, as we've recently witnessed first-hand, we are stronger as Buffs Together.

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Editor Maria Kuntz shares her Marshall Fire experience.

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Trident Booksellers Was One ŷ��ڱ��Ƶ Student’s Respite

Anonymous — Fri, 05 Nov 2021 06:00:00 +0000

Trident Booksellers Was One ŷ��ڱ��Ƶ Student’s Respite Anonymous (not verified) Fri, 11/05/2021 - 00:00

Taylor Hirschberg

“Old God sure was in a good mood when he made this place.”

The Hunter S. Thompson quote often crossed my mind as I traversed Boulder’s streets and hiking trails during my ŷ��ڱ��Ƶ student years. Living in the shadow of the Flatirons, at the nexus of the Great Plains and the Rocky Mountains, can make a person aspirational.

For some, including myself, Boulder’s true enchantments are found in the unique, nuanced spaces that provide a break from the hum of university life.

My respite was on west Pearl Street.

Trident Booksellers, my 1980s coffee chic space, was more than a place to study. It was a community. Entering the sometimes chaotic store, I knew I would find trusted baristas, an expert who knew the location of every single book, my third table on the left in the back and a mechanical pencil sharpener. Trident was a loyal friend and confidant — it was a space for me to recharge.

At Trident, I wrote a story for the cover of Out magazine on the forced displacement of the LGBTQI+ community and my thesis on climate grief in children. Usually my ideas flourished, but when writer’s block froze my creativity, a glance into the bookstore would stir my sociological imagination.

The baristas would yell, “Large iced latte!,” the phrase like a metronome regulating the flow of life and business. When COVID-19’s deadly assault consumed the world, the first thing I noticed missing was this metronome; I had taken it for granted. In the months that followed, I was locked away like the rest of the world, and the grocery store became my place of community. I craved my back table at Trident.

As the months rolled on, and I was quarantined in my Denver home far from Boulder, the semester came to an end — my final ŷ��ڱ��Ƶ semester. It was then that I realized: The nuanced spaces held the most potent memories.

These memories — these cherished spaces and the hours spent on Pearl Street — I will always carry with me, because small spaces like Trident make up a large piece of my life.

At Columbia in New York City, where I’m living now, I’m seeking the same sounds and community.

I can picture it now: third table from the back, pencil sharpener, baristas.

“Large iced latte!”

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Photo by Trident Booksellers & Cafe

Forever Buff Taylor Hirschberg found community and solace on west Pearl Street.

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Chancellor DiStefano on the Student Pandemic Response

Anonymous — Fri, 05 Nov 2021 06:00:00 +0000

Chancellor DiStefano on the Student Pandemic Response Anonymous (not verified) Fri, 11/05/2021 - 00:00

Philip P. DiStefano

A student’s university experience is often a time of rapid development in their sense of belonging, growth, exploration, curiosity, dedication and self-identity. This past year, determination in the face of adversity was added to the list.

In my 47 years on campus, I have witnessed turbulent social times and have seen students face tough questions and issues. However, the past year and a half tested fortitude and collective mettle like no other time in my memory. The challenges have been as monumental as they’ve been unpredictable. Through it all, the ŷ��ڱ��Ƶ Boulder community has not only met the challenges, but has risen to overcome them.

Our students adapted nimbly with the seismic shift to remote learning during the pandemic and have remained flexible as we continued to refine teaching and learning strategies.

At the outset of the pandemic, many students and professors who were engaged in important research at both the undergraduate and graduate levels felt a responsibility to act. They refocused their work on COVID-19-related projects that had beneficial real-world impacts — both on campus and in service to communities near and far.

The racial reckoning of the past year also initiated a new level of transformation. As a result, the campus community is engaging at a deeper level than ever before in seeking progress toward diversity, equity and inclusion.

ŷ��ڱ��Ƶ students are helping drive that mission. They were involved in the selection process for the new senior vice chancellor for diversity, equity and inclusion, Sonia DeLuca Fernández; they worked closely with campus police to create a community oversight review board; and they collaborated with faculty and staff in the creation of the Center for African and African American Studies.

As we have gathered back on campus in Boulder this academic year, I have seen students embrace both the joys and challenges of university life with a new set of skills gleaned over the past year and a half — tenacity, flexibility and self-awareness among them. These skills will serve them well throughout their academic careers and into their professional and personal endeavors.

While students will face new and evolving obstacles, I am confident that they will rise to the occasion individually and collectively, bending into the wind, but never breaking.

Philip P. DiStefano is the 11th chancellor of ŷ��ڱ��Ƶ Boulder. He is the Quigg and Virginia S. Newton Endowed Chair in Leadership, overseeing ŷ��ڱ��Ƶ Boulder’s leadership programs.

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Photo by Glenn Asakawa

Changes caused rapid adaptation, strength and new ideas.

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Fall 2021

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Editor’s Note: Fall 2021

Anonymous — Fri, 05 Nov 2021 06:00:00 +0000

Editor’s Note: Fall 2021 Anonymous (not verified) Fri, 11/05/2021 - 00:00

Maria Kuntz

In March 2020, workers and students across the country left behind familiar spaces and routines to protect each other and their communities. Many thought a return to normalcy was a few weeks or months away. Twenty months later, some of those spaces and routines are apparitions of the past. Amid the COVID-19 delta variant surge, ŷ��ڱ��Ƶ Boulder students have reflected on what resilience looks like to them, where it comes from and what it demands.

Today, resilience is a bittersweet reality; a skill, or perhaps a latent ability, that surfaced as a matter of necessity and survival. In this issue, you’ll read about the fruits of resilience — the triumphs, the challenges and the self-revelations of various communities at ŷ��ڱ��Ƶ Boulder.

Wherever you’re headed this winter, tuck the Coloradan in a pocket and read about the state’s first licensed outdoor preschool, color-changing tattoos, the history of camping, a trip to Mars (in the U.S.) — and meet Ralphie VI.

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Coloradan editor discusses student resiliency.

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Editor’s Note: Summer 2021

Anonymous — Fri, 02 Jul 2021 06:00:00 +0000

Editor’s Note: Summer 2021 Anonymous (not verified) Fri, 07/02/2021 - 00:00

Maria Kuntz

The COVID-19 pandemic illuminated social inequities as the ubiquity of phones and digital media focused attention on interrelated issues including racial injustice, gender, voting rights, gun violence and access to health care and education.

These challenges gave rise to another topic that ancient philosophers, modern researchers and ŷ��ڱ��Ƶ students have sought to better understand: leadership.

While there is an eagerness to return to “normal,” new types of leaders are emerging to usher forth the future as it unfolds.

In this issue, we examine leadership research, education and practice through ŷ��ڱ��Ƶ’s Center for Leadership and explore one alumna’s dedication to ŷ��ڱ��Ƶ’s future luminaries. I invite you to read these, plus stories about an unlikely book-turned-movie, robot-fueled sustainability and the power of lullabies.

The challenges of the past year will not resolve quickly, but Forever Buffs instill hope for a brighter future.

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The COVID-19 pandemic illuminated social inequities as the ubiquity of cellphones and digital media focused attention on interrelated issues including racial injustice, gender, voting rights, gun violence and access to health care and education.

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From the Chancellor: Leadership for Our Times

Anonymous — Fri, 02 Jul 2021 06:00:00 +0000

From the Chancellor: Leadership for Our Times Anonymous (not verified) Fri, 07/02/2021 - 00:00

Philip P. DiStefano

Several years ago, ŷ��ڱ��Ƶ Boulder students started an ad campaign that grew into the ŷ��ڱ��Ƶ Creed, a social responsibility code for the campus community. It reminds us to act with honor, integrity and respect. It compels us to be responsible for our actions, take accountability for our decisions and accept our differences.

The students’ vision remains today, evidence of the lasting impact of thoughtful leadership. The subject of leadership has been paramount recently. From COVID-19 to social justice and racism, the lack of recent leadership in the corporate sector, government, political system, nonprofits and, yes, education, will be felt for generations.

In the face of these events, I have been thinking more than ever about leadership and what it takes to become and maintain being a good leader. Our collective mission is to positively impact humanity, so the stakes are high.

But how do we build leaders in today’s world? Author Simon Sinek once said, “There are only two ways to influence human behavior: You can manipulate it or you can inspire it.” Our mission at the university is to cultivate leadership through inspiration.

That’s why we have researched and identified the traits of successful leaders across a variety of fields and developed an innovative curriculum to foster leaders for a changing world.

ŷ��ڱ��Ƶ Boulder’s Center for Leadership, established last year, combines 25 leadership programs from across the campus, including our athletics department, schools, colleges and graduate and undergraduate studies.

By aligning our programs to harness expertise from throughout ŷ��ڱ��Ƶ, we’re cultivating moral character and social duty and advancing innovative research on leadership. The vast majority of higher-education leadership offerings reside in business schools, but at ŷ��ڱ��Ƶ Boulder we believe that leadership education must be ubiquitous.

Every societal challenge we face and every industry that can address these challenges requires the right leaders for the right moment. Universities can answer the call.

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Photo by Glenn Asakawa

Chancellor DiStefano weighs in on leadership.

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Is RTD's B Line Train Coming to Boulder?

Anonymous — Fri, 02 Jul 2021 06:00:00 +0000

Is RTD's B Line Train Coming to Boulder? Anonymous (not verified) Fri, 07/02/2021 - 00:00

Grace Dearnley

Boulder was in its formative years in the late 1800s. Westward expansion drew in hopeful settlers. Industries were booming.

But the community lacked convenient transportation and shipping: It needed a train. In 1873, the city got two when the ŷ��ڱ��Ƶ Central Railroad Company built Boulder’s first working rail lines and the creation of the Denver and Boulder Valley Railroad connected the major cities. Soon Boulder celebrated its first luxury train — complete with lavatories — only for railroad travel to fall out of fashion when automobiles became popular in the early 1900s.

Over a century after riders traded tickets for car keys, residents yearn for a return to rail. In 2018, RTD reported that congestion caused 77 million hours of travel delay in the Metro Denver region. As urban sprawl between the cities becomes denser and carbon emissions worsen with traffic, drivers covet a commute that omits the interstate.

When a 2004 Denver Metro area vote approved RTD’s FasTracks proposal to build over 120 miles of passenger rail lines, excited residents looked forward to ŷ��ڱ��Ƶ’s commuter-friendly future. The proposed $1.5 billion B Line would connect Denver to Boulder and Longmont.

The plan didn’t survive long. RTD took on significant debt with the Great Recession in 2008, which coincided with realizations that the B Line would cost millions more than projected. Without a means to raise the extra funds, RTD prioritized less-expensive lines, and Boulder County residents lost faith.

As car-less first-year students at ŷ��ڱ��Ƶ in 2017, the year of FasTracks’ original planned completion, my friends and I pined for a train to take us to Rockies games or the Denver Art Museum. Instead, we spent four years on the Flatiron Flyer buses.

RTD recommitted to FasTracks in February 2021, ordering engineering and environmental studies for the B Line expansion. Officials are eyeing President Biden’s recent infrastructure proposal in hopes of securing funding.

ŷ��ڱ��Ƶ students will surely be some of the first to hop on board the train. Whether commuting to campus or venturing into neighboring cities, the B Line could lead to significant decreases in traffic and carbon output.

If RTD moves forward with the B Line, commuters and train enthusiasts alike may have reason to celebrate. I know I’ll be grateful for it when I visit my alma mater. And thousands of Denver-Boulder commuters can finally skip the nightmare of rush hour on Highway 36.

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Photo by Matt Tyrie

In 2021, ŷ��ڱ��Ƶ’s RTD recommitted to study the potential for a Boulder–to–Denver railway

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Tesla Town

Anonymous — Wed, 11 Nov 2020 06:00:00 +0000

Tesla Town Anonymous (not verified) Tue, 11/10/2020 - 23:00

Paul Danish

The first time I saw a Tesla in Boulder I nearly rear-ended it. I’ve been on the lookout for them ever since.

That was four years ago. At first, I’d see the all-electric car every two or three months. Now it’s two or three a day. So I finally called up the Boulder County Clerk and asked just how many Teslas are registered in Boulder County. As of July 14, it was 1,585. By now there are probably a lot more.

Who are these people? To find out, I went to the Tesla supercharging station in Boulder, just east of Trader Joe’s. (For geezer alumni like me, that’s just south of the old Arapahoe Chemicals plant site, which is now Target.)

I hung out for about an hour. There were always four or five cars charging.

So how did Tesla owners — many of whom are ŷ��ڱ��Ƶ alumni — like their rides? They all said: “I love it.”

And for lots of different reasons.

Kyle Liss (MMus’21), who lives in Westminster with his wife, saves $150 a month on gas commuting to his teaching job in Frederick.

Brian Cairns (Comp-Sci’09; MS’11), who works at Google, likes the autopilot. He said it takes 10 to 20 minutes to top off his batteries with the supercharger. “I’ll just sit here until I finish my burrito,” he said.

Jack Ursetta (AeroEngr’18) and Monica Maly (IntPhys’18) had just returned from Breckenridge in a Model Y, Tesla’s latest model.

“It’s super smooth,” Jake said. “It actually handles like a sports car. It doesn’t drive like a hatchback, that’s for sure.”

“I love the instant torque,” said Saber Boudjada (MCDBio’14), who’s driven a Tesla for three years. He said it costs “five bucks to [charge] from dead.”

I called Sean Mitchell, president of the Denver Tesla Club, who has about 225,000 miles on his Model S, which he bought four years ago. He said three years ago the club had 75 members. Today it has 1,500.

“It reminds me of the early days of Apple computers,” he said.

Bruce Comstock (Econ’66) — my former ŷ��ڱ��Ƶ roommate and now-retired hot air balloonist extraordinaire, who lives in Ashland, Oregon — has been driving a Tesla Model 3 for about a year. It goes from 0 to 60 mph in 4.1 seconds.

He said: “I’m really glad I got it, because it means I’m connected with the future of automobiles.”

Will 0 to 60 in 4.1 seconds shut down a gazillion Boulder Subarus? As Yogi Berra said, “It’s tough to make predictions. Especially about the future.”

But a shift certainly seems like it’s here.

Disclosure: Paul Danish owns Tesla shares.

Photo courtesy Denver Tesla Club

In Boulder County, there are more than 1,580 Tesla cars registered. The number keeps growing, and many ŷ��ڱ��Ƶ Boulder alumni are among the proud owners of the famed electric cars.

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Editor's Note Fall 2020

Anonymous — Wed, 11 Nov 2020 06:00:00 +0000

Editor's Note Fall 2020 Anonymous (not verified) Tue, 11/10/2020 - 23:00

Christie Sounart

When global events happen, ŷ��ڱ��Ƶ Boulder often gets involved. The university’s breadth of research and experts makes it an information hub for the world.

In mid-August, for instance, we used our own saliva-based COVID-19 test with quick results to monitor on-campus Buffs before a similar test was widely available. Researchers hope to expand the test beyond ŷ��ڱ��Ƶ.

These massive events also require us as a university to reflect inward. National protests and the Black Lives Matter movement have highlighted the sometimes painful experience of Black students and other students of color on this campus.

As you’ll read from the personal essays on racial injustice and anti-racism, a clear theme emerges: ŷ��ڱ��Ƶ must chart a new course. There are students, faculty, alumni and staff willing to lead the way, and it’s going to take all of us to make it happen.

Maria Kuntz, the Coloradan’s newest editor-in-chief, oversaw the collection of these poignant essays. We welcome her in a time of change — one we need and we want the world to see.

When global events happen, ŷ��ڱ��Ƶ Boulder often gets involved. The university’s breadth of research and experts makes it an information hub for the world.

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Columns

Bar on the Edge of Boulder Is Full of Surprises

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Editor's Note: Spring 2022

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Trident Booksellers Was One ŷ���ڱ���Ƶ Student’s Respite

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Chancellor DiStefano on the Student Pandemic Response

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Editor’s Note: Fall 2021

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Editor’s Note: Summer 2021

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From the Chancellor: Leadership for Our Times

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Is RTD's B Line Train Coming to Boulder?

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Tesla Town

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Editor's Note Fall 2020

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Trident Booksellers Was One ŷ��ڱ��Ƶ Student’s Respite