YourHub.com status: Webby
Good things: Stargate Charter School, the school my kids attend, performed excellent across the board according to the Colorado Education Department. Check out the grade for your child's school
here.
Not-so good things:The wind gusts are ruining perfectly good days, making it impossible for me to hang my Christmas lights. Ornamental reindeer and snowmen are being blown over. It's chaos, I'm telling you. Chaos. Granted, I moved into the wind tunnel that is known as northwest Broomfield, but is it too much to ask for a calm 70 degree December day? If you have any good wind photos I would love to see them.
Post them here.
Stories that have me hooked:It's finally over. For nearly four years earlier this decade, a bulk of of my time as a reporter and editor was consumed by the so called "CU recruiting scandal." During my time covering the story I saw some very questionable things and met some questionable people on both sides of the case.
The scandal took down many people including a college president and head football coach. My former colleague,
Bruce Plasket, quit the newspaper business to
write a book on the case before running into the buzzsaw that is
Baine Kerr. Plasket ended up self publishing
the book. I'm interested to get his take on the case. In the end, I think CU just wanted to see the case go away and Kerr wasn't going to let it. Here is CU president
Hank Brown's take:
Dear Faculty and Staff,
The University of Colorado's legal team and insurer have settled the
Title IX lawsuit
Lisa Simpson and
Anne Gilmore brought against the
university. The case has been ongoing for six years, often casting a
shadow on the great work that happens in our classrooms and research
labs every day. It is time for us to close this chapter in the
university's history and focus on what makes the university great.
While the classroom and research work are a constant in the life of
the university, in many other ways, we are a different place than we
were six years ago. We have new people in 11 of the top 12 leadership
positions, including the presidency, two campus chancellors, and
athletic director. We have implemented substantial reforms in the
areas of student safety and intercollegiate athletics. Our athletics
recruiting program is now one of the strictest among NCAA Division I
universities.
In her statement on the settlement, Ms. Simpson commends CU for these
efforts and encourages other universities to follow our lead.
Recent district court rulings led to the likelihood that the case
would have dragged on for years, at considerable cost. Considerable
deliberation went into authorizing the $2.5 million settlement, which
our insurer will pay (the Gilmore portion of the case is an
additional $350,000). The decision is in the university's best
interests. It is time for us to focus on the teaching, research and
service that make the University of Colorado a great institution.
Sincerely,
Hank Brown
President
Related links: $2.8 million deal in CU rape case,
$2.5 million CU settlement,
Buffaloed,
Still Buffaloed,
UPDATE: I talked to Bruce Plasket on the phone. He said he was disturbed by today's news and that "what was missing from the beginning of this case is right and wrong."
"Right and wrong took a back seat to politics, ambulance chasers and corrupt officials," he said.
Plasket believes CU "traded the truth for expediency."
Help a Web site out: We are looking for home holiday displays. Post your address and photos of your light display on YourHub.com by Dec. 6, 2007, and your house could be highlighted in YourHub.com and
Rocky Mountain News' special lights roundup in the Dec. 13 print editions. All photos posted on YourHub.com through the end of 2007 will be visible to everyone who visits the Web site. You can also create a cool map of your neighborhood light displays.
›share address and photo(more than 230 posted so far)
›view lights map, plan personalized route
Today's must visits on the Web:
yourhub.com,
www.steveouting.com(funny),
www.rockyou.com/
Know of a site that shouldn't me missed? Email me at henryt@yourhub.com.