Colorado Up in Smoke: The Debate About Amendment 64

            Colorado lawmakers and professional organizations are in the midst of a great debate about the legalization of marijuana. Most college students and young adults are in favor of passing Amendment 64, but there are still many opponents to passing this law.

           The amendment states that marijuana would be regulated in the same manner as alcohol for adults 21 years of age and over. Amendment 64, officially titled, "Regulate Marijuana like Alcohol Act of 2012", would make it legal to possess up to an ounce of marijuana as well as allow up to six marijuana plants to grow in a household.

            For proponents of the amendment, there seems to be many positives for its legalization; however, it needs to be recognized that opponents to the legislation think voting yes would be a negative outcome for Colorado.

        Victoria Fregoso, 22 a UNC Sports & Exercise Science major from Aurora, Colo. is strongly opposed to this legislation.

       "I understand it for medicinal purposes, but beyond that I don't think it should be legalized," Fregoso said. " Do we want everyone in the U.S. to be stupid?"
Opinions run rampant when it comes to Amendment 64. However, for Jacob Parsons, 23, a UNC alum from Medfield, Mass. doesn't seem to have a strong opinion on the matter.

 "I don't use or smoke marijuana, " Parsons said. "Regardless if the law passes or not, I don't see how it could affect me in anyway."

 Whether you're opposed to the law, or ready to check yes on election day, residents of Colorado have opinions about Amendment 64 and those opinions aren't going away regardless of the outcome.

Bridging the Gap Between Education and Community

Greeley City Council held a meeting on Tuesday, September 20. Councilmember Robb Casseday discussed his recent visit to Madison Elementary, where he took a tour with other school board members.
Councilmember Casseday visited Madison on Thursday, September 15th where the topic discussed was weekly assessment and data teams.

"They had a program I had never heard of before, but I was really impressed," Casseday said. " Individually, each student is being assessed in their assessment and then teachers meet to discuss how to help that student progress; I thought that was pretty cool."

Theresa Myers, director of communications for Weld County School District 6, said  the program has been running for a few years.

"The school  initiated the program to provide an in-depth look into the school district as a way for our community to get involved," Myers said.

The school tours are structured as a one-hour session where a specific program at the school is highlighted and a presentation is given on that topic by the school principal. Rising Star awards are given out to one teacher and one student during the presentations. The recipients are chosen by school officials to recognize recipients for outstanding academic achievements academically or a variety of other reasons.

"It helps the school district get a little PR with the community," Casseday said. "I have a little more positive expectation about District 6 now."

School tours are open to all community members and the next presentation will be at 8:30 a.m., Oct. 11, at Jackson Elementary School where the presentation will be on Elementary Writing. To register to attend a school tour, please contact Bernee Barea at 970-348-6012.