U.S. Senate
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(D) J. Hickenlooper*
(R) Somebody
80%
20%
Governor
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(D) Michael Bennet
(D) Phil Weiser
60%↑
50%↓
Att. General
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(D) M. Dougherty
(D) Jena Griswold
(D) David Seligman
40%
40%
30%
Sec. of State
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(D) A. Gonzalez
(D) J. Danielson
(R) Sheri Davis
50%
40%
30%
State Treasurer
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(D) Brianna Titone
(D) Jeff Bridges
(R) Kevin Grantham
40%
40%
30%
CO-01 (Denver)
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(D) Diana DeGette*
(R) Somebody
90%
2%
CO-02 (Boulder-ish)
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(D) Joe Neguse*
(R) Somebody
90%
2%
CO-03 (West & Southern CO)
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(R) Jeff Hurd*
(D) Somebody
80%
40%
CO-04 (Northeast-ish Colorado)
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(R) Lauren Boebert*
(D) Trisha Calvarese
(D) Eileen Laubacher
90%
20%
20%
CO-05 (Colorado Springs)
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(R) Jeff Crank*
(D) Somebody
80%
20%
CO-06 (Aurora)
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(D) Jason Crow*
(R) Somebody
90%
10%
CO-07 (Jefferson County)
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(D) B. Pettersen*
(R) Somebody
90%
10%
CO-08 (Northern Colo.)
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(R) Gabe Evans*
(D) Manny Rutinel
(D) Yadira Caraveo
45%↓
40%↑
30%
State Senate Majority
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DEMOCRATS
REPUBLICANS
80%
20%
State House Majority
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DEMOCRATS
REPUBLICANS
95%
5%
February 19, 2008 06:41 PM UTC
39 Comments
As a member of the CU alumni community, I am disappointed. I would have preferred that Salazar stayed neutral. Bensen gives a lot of money to democratic candidates…witness the recent DPS school board election……he tosses the money around like throwing peanuts at monkeys….and those politicans are well trained.
at places other than CU about how to fix CU, it might improve things in Boulder. I believe the Golden Buffalo Old Boy network has contributed to many of the problems that have occurred up there, particularly with the out of control athletic department off and on over the last 30 years. Perhaps someone who went to Michigan and CC might have a reasonable opinion to offer regarding this most provincial of state universities.
http://www.thesmokinggun.com/a…
The only school in our state that produces intelligent graduates is CU!!!
It doesn’t matter if you “like” the guy. It’s not a personality contest. The question is – can he effectively and efficiently run the institution? His track record would overwhelmingly indicate yes. Second and just as important, can he raise money for the school? Again, a “hell yeah” is the answer.
Frankly, it doesn’t matter that he is a Republican. He’ll be good at the job.
Ken Salazar has the guts to say where he stands on Bruce Benson. Will Shafroth has no position on Benson. Jared Polis has a position but will not tell us what it is.
Saying Salazar’s support is better than neutrality when you want to “stop bruce benson” strains the bounds of credulity. Why even bring up the CD2 in a thread about salazar? What does Udall think.
Personnally I don’t have an opinion: I don’t know enough about what the job functions are to know whether Benson is a good candidate or not.
Whether I like him or his politics is not the question: whether he is the best person to fulfill the job function is.
I would tend to oppose him not for his politics, but for his lack of education and lack of commitment to the public structures neccesary to create a top public university system. I’m interested in what Paul Schauer thinks, I went to high school with his son and he never struck me as a crazy person. I would tend to go along with what he thinks, because he is in a better place to judge benson on his merits.
Ken Salazar to his credit took a stand. Yes Joan Fitz-Gerald took a stand Rollie Heath a Polis supporter took a stand and Mayor Hickenlooper took a stand. Why won’t the other two CD 2 candidates tell us their opinion on this issue?
Lost in the debate is that Benson has never run a major business. Benson Minerals has never had more than 30 employees. Most of Benson’s money came from investments in a chain of Pizza Huts. Mitt Romney he is not.
and actually similar to my position.
If you really oppose Benson you should have a problem with Salazar’s position. More likely you don’t want to disparage Salazar for political reasons and by the same token you want to disparage the other candidates in the CD-2 for political reasons
is heard again in the land. Put a sock in it, nitwit. I like Joan but a klutz like you will lose her many votes.
not danny. These chains don’t always make it obvious who is being addressed. Danny the Red has his problems, but being a sockpuppet isn’t one of them.
Bruce like most of us on this site puts on his gear during elections and fights the opposition party. After the election Bruce takes off his gear and joins his opponents to work for a better Colorado (i.e. Salazar, Ritter, Hickenlooper etc…). This no different than professional sports.
It’s groups like Progress Now that have screwed up the sport of politics and the exchange of ideas by honorable people.
No. What happens in politics actually has an effect on the lives of most people.
I had no problem with Hank Brown, a Republican, as CU President. He has an advanced degree (which the CU Regents’ statement of principles regarding candidates for President even lists as a helpful quality). Far more importantly, he had 4 years of experience heading up another, smaller university (UNC).
Why does it make sense for CU to take a step DOWN in prestige, by hiring a first-timer with no prior experience as President (or at least Chancellor or department Dean) at a university?
It is also interesting to consider the comments of Daniel Ritchie of DU, who opined to the Search Committee that it is important that the CU President (a) be able to commit to 10 years on the job, due to a 3-4 year “break-in” period; and (b) have the stamina to work “16-7.” I have to wonder if Benson is up to that kind of challenge, given his age.
I also wonder how citizens could verify Benson’s pledge to completely separate himself from partisan politics, after a lifetime of being heavily involved and deeply connected to the most partisan political group in this State’s history? Sure, his campaign contributions can be tracked, but how about sponsorship of fundraisers, being a “Ranger,” etc.?
The Denver Public Schools didn’t require Michael Bennett to have previously been a principal or teacher before selecting him to be superintendent. A number of colleges and universities, as well as public school districts, are turning to non-traditional choices to head their organizations.
Keep in mind that most people in education — administrators, faculty, and students — have been in school since they were five years old! That perspective does tend to give one a distorted view of how the real world works.
I’m guessing the vast majority of us think that if more people were like me the world would be a better place. (Or like you, for you misguided souls that don’t think like me!)
If any of you actually thinks you know how the “real” world works, I’d be willing to bet you are wrong!
How is a view “distorted” by being in school for a long time more “distorted” than a view “distorted” by being in business for a long time? Being in business for most of your life might tend to give one the “distorted” view that everything should be run like a business. If you’re a businessperson, that might not appear distorted. If you’re an educator, or a doctor, or a writer, or an artist, or a lawyer, or other “non-business” occupation, that view might appear distorted.
Being in a school setting since you were five years old does give many students, educators, and school administrators a distorted view of the real world. Businessmen, doctors, writers, artists, and lawyers have not been involved in their respective professions since they were five years old.
Those in academics start to see two week Christmas vacations, spring break, and the summers off as the norm. The whole concept of tenure rarely appears outside the realm of education.
With the exception of a few school districts –the Denver Public Schools and the Douglas County School District being the most notable — educators’ pay is tied to salary schedules. They abhor merit pay because it might be applied “unfairly.”
The world of academia is filled with accommodations that just simply do not exist in the real world. Younger students all get ribbons in competitions with no regard — or incentive — to the fact it takes real effort to reach the top. CSAP has no meaning for individual pupils. Students incessantly whining that something is not fair takes the place of a rational argument as to why it is not.
In fact, a lot of school’s disciplinary policies lack meaningful consequences whatsoever. Bad behavior is all too often tolerated to the detriment of those students who would really like to learn and those teachers who would really like to teach. Students get to hand in assignments that were due weeks ago to bring up their sagging grade at the end of a marking period. Try doing that in the real world!
As the old saying goes, if you think your teacher is bad, wait until you get a boss! The real world will not put up with a lot of the practices that take place today in schools at every level.
Bennet has been at DPS for two years…still no improvement in scores…Wartgow, the guy before him…a Republican from the community college system, ….had CSAP scores turned around and 20 of the original 21 failing schools off the failing list..in the same amount of time.
Bennet has a great PR campaign…promoted by? BMD…Bensen…..speaking of which…what has the Denver Public School Foundation done for the children of Denver?
Tell us, Drew Kerin. what are those results???.
If Michael Bennett had a great PR campaign, it was mainly promoted by Denver mayor John Hickenlooper, not Bruce Benson.
If you are solely using CSAP scores to judge the performance of DPS, then that is indeed troubling. CSAP does not measure how much any individual student progressed from the start of a year until the test was administered, which is usually two-thirds of the way through any given academic year.
It also doesn’t take into consideration Denver’s (arguable) designation of being a sanctuary city for illegal immigrants. No one ever discusses how the lax regulation of our southern border adversely impacts the intentions of NCLB. This is not a racist statement; it is reality. A lot of limited resources are spent in DPS educating children, particularly in English, who have no business being here. (I am not referring to the so-called anchor babies.)
I think the problems with DPS are so great that it will take more than two years to turn things around. I suspect Jerry Wartgow realized that himself. It may be why he chose to retire.
I am not necessarily a fan of Bennett, but I am willing to give him more time before passing judgment. I’m encouraged that the DPS school board was willing to “think outside the box” in selecting their latest superintendent.
As far as the Denver Public School Foundation is concerned, it has raised millions of dollars to fund nine different programs on behalf of the DPS community. These are monies that did not come from the taxpayers’ pockets. I would encourage anyone reading this to check out their website at http://www.dpsfoundation.org
Salazar’s intervention in this is a total sell out. Bruce Benson represents the worst aspects of the Republican Party, and Colorado Republicans have made gutting higher education their priority. Thanks for undercutting the leadership of our Democratic Regents, Ken.
Salazar seems to be buying into the notion that higher education funding should kneel before the noblesse oblige of Colorado’s wealthy Republicans.
What a bunch of crap.
With Mr. Benson in charge at CU it will be very difficult for the right-wing Republicans, especially those in the Colorado state senate, to make gutting higher education a priority policy point. We may even see Republicans turn on those kind of fanatics and help higher education get back on its feet after suffering 40% budget cuts in recent years. In the long view, this may even make enough Republicans aware that TABOR is a bad idea that needs to be repealed. Bruce Benson may not be the very best candidate but he won’t be a disaster either.
or having Benson at the top of CU will make future higher education cuts just that much easier for Mike May and co.
I think he clearly wants to do his best to help the school. You can disagree with how effective he would be, but I don’t think you can claim he would try to hurt the school.
so to speak
I have to give credit to Ken Salazar for looking past partisanship and recognizing Bruce Benson’s proven leadership skills and commitment to education in Colorado. Others would be wise to follow the senator’s lead. With CU being where it is now financially, it’s time to “think outside the box.”
Senator Salazar,
Republicans made us 49th in higher education funding, ergo, hire a former Republican party chairman to fix it.
Your judgment is suspect.
Regards,
Cletus Hemphill
He’s simply patting the right backs so he can walk out of public service into cushy private sector consulting.
Salazar wants Benson to make him a board member at Aspect or another of his businesses in the future. That’s all this is.
is a mixutre of stupidity and paranoia on your part, Oskar.
But, Benson would undermine both state and federal funding for CU, due to his poor relationships with the key players in those decision making processes.
Furthermore, it doesn’t take a genius to raise tuition which is the main source of CU funds.
At Harvard private donations are a lot of what there is other than tuition. At CU, not so much. The 9% from the state (really more due to the “scholarship” for in state students) is nothing to sniff at, and the federal money matter.
Also, at this point, while Benson would bring fundraising skill, he may have alienated lots of people who now won’t give at all. He should have run for alumni assocation president, not CU President.
If CU is like any other top public research university, most of its funding comes via grants applied for and awarded to the faculty.
Mostly this money is awarded based on the qualities of the grant proposals and researchers. However, some aspect of the decision to award grants comes down to the reputation of the institution.
I’m saying about 7-to-1 odds in favor of the Regents confirming Benson tomorrow. Schauer can’t afford the primary opponent Benson has promised, and I would be shocked to see Hayes turn around.
If he thinks Benson’s ok vote that way, if he thinks Benson is the wrong guy vote that way.
I hope he doesn’t let fears of losing an election color his judgment. He’s old enough he doesn’t need the job anyway.
Having listened to the arguments and watched the problems at CU over the last few years, Benson doesn’t seem like the best candidate–he is too divisive and doesn’t have the complete skill set–but I can accept a pricipled argument in Benson’s favor.
How did they arrive at Benson as the ONLY finalist? How was it that $200,000.00 of taxpayer money was spent in an allegedly nationwide search, only to end up with someone with no experience as head of so much as a department at a university?
I have yet to hear a principled, fact-based argument in favor of Bruce Benson, other than that he can raise money.
Also, how will Schauer’s “yes” vote ever be free of the taint of Benson’s threat? That’s not Schauer’s fault–rather, it’s Benson’s–but the threat will always linger in the background of this vote.
If Schauer and Hayes vote “yes” on Benson, it will be interesting to see whether (a) Schauer gets a primary opponent, and (b) Benson stays completely out of the CD-7 Regent’s race–not just by way of donations, but also by not being a Ranger, sponsoring fundraisers, etc. It is hard to imagine this most political of people suddenly and completely severing himself from partisan politics.
Absolutely true. Grants make up much more of the budget than state support. If Benson sticks to fundraising and lobbying on behalf of the university, he may turn out to make a good president of CU.
However, if he attempts to eliminate or weaken tenure (as he apparently did at Metro) it will be extremely difficult to hire new talented faculty (who are the ones who get the grants) and some existing faculty will leave. If that happens, at some point it will no longer to be accurate to describe CU as “top public research university.”
In all of his recent statements on tenure he has said he has no plans to weaken it. However, actions speak louder than words, particularly when the words are uttered during a job application process.
Time will tell. I think the regents will almost undoubtedly approve his nomination.
Incidentally, the time and location of the regent’s meeting tomorrow (which is open to the public) has been announced: 4:00 pm in St. Cajetan’s church on the CU-Denver (Auraria) campus.