In the Red

The University Center ballroom at the University of Northern Colorado was packed with locals and students on Nov. 15 who waited to hear a presentation about an issue relative to Greeley and Weld County.

                The room erupted with applause after the event’s speaker, Josh Fox, took his position on the stage.

                “How many of you are actually stoned right now?” Fox asked to get the crowd energetic by referencing the state’s recent passing of Amendment 64.

                With a projector mapping out Greeley and Colorado to his left, Fox began to discuss the cons of hydraulic fracturing, also known as “fracking”, a topic he documented in his Academy Award nominated film, Gasland.

                The term refers to the extraction of natural gas from shale rock underneath the Earth’s surface. The drilling involves sending down toxic fluids to release the gas by breaking the rock. Two to four million gallons of water is used for a single drilling, but up 60,000 gallons of chemicals are used as well. But what Fox says is most important is that these fluids can leak onto the surface and even in groundwater.

                 “No way would I want oil and gas drilling near me,” he said.

                Fox directed the audience’s attention over to the red blotches scattered across the map of Colorado.

                “All of these red areas are where these drillings take place,” he said.

                The area surrounding Greeley was covered in red.

                “I had no idea that so many drillings took place around us,” said Allison Quelch, a senior psychology major. “It’s very interesting to listen to, but at the same time it is shocking to know that the people within the community might all be affected by it.”

                The fluids involved in “fracking” are known to contaminant water as well as the air according to Fox.

             “'Frack' gas is worse gas for climate change, coal is better,” Fox said.

                That is because large amounts of methane, leak out from the ground and into the air. But the chemicals also contaminate the drinking water.

                Fox said that in his documentary, there is a famous scene where a man turns on his kitchen faucet and lights the water on fire.

                And what Fox says that he wants, is for people to be aware about an issue that is not widely discussed or even known. He says that he is concerned for the country’s public health.

                “You are in a position now where you can stand up and use your voice,” he said.

                Ali Horton, a sophomore criminal justice majors, says that she thinks Fox’s presentation could possibly be innovative.

                “You didn’t hear much talk about this during the election,” she said. “I think that if he continues to spread the word, the issue might become more political than it already is.”

                Fox is currently working on a follow-up to his documentary titled, Gasland 2.

The Time Has Come to Cast Your Vote

After months of political campaigns being aired across the state for the 2012 presidential election, it was now time for viewers to become voters and take their opinions to the booth. On Tuesday at the ballrooms in the University Center at the University of Northern Colorado, three young women planned on doing just that as they waited patiently in line.

            Being their first time voting, all women were eager to use their voice and opinions as their civic duty.

            Amber Rea, a senior audiology major said that she felt excited voting for the very first time and chose to vote for is Republican Mitt Romney.

            “I found that Romny’s beliefs and personal experiences align more with mine, more than they do with Obama,” Rea said. “I am specifically interested in military affairs because I come from a military family. Romney is pro-military and is not willing to cut its benefits like Obama is.”

            Whereas Rea says the other factors that play into her decision to vote for Romney are the economy and unemployment, another voter, Karena Cooper, a senior elementary education major thinks about her own future.

            Since learning how to become a teacher at UNC, Cooper says that she has also learned how politics may affect her job. As she moves a step further in the line, she says that Democrat Barack Obama will be more generous to Cooper and her profession than Romney.

            “As a future teacher, we need a society that gives our children the proper education they deserve,” said Cooper. “Obama seems like he is for issues like this as well as jobs. Relatively to education, Obama supports having a smaller classroom size which allows more teachers to have and keep their jobs.”

            But although Cooper and Rea are voting for opposite candidates, they both disagree on the passage of Amendment 64.

            While Rea voted no because she felt uneducated about the program to even vote yes, Cooper says that she doesn’t think her voice would be very valuable in this instance.

            “What’s the point of voting for this law when it could be reversed by the federal government?” Cooper said.

            However, Mackenzie Francis, a junior elementary and Obama voter said that the law should be passed not only because she thinks that tax revenue from the plant could help schools, but because it allows people to be individuals.

            “People have the right to do what they want with their lives without other people caring what they do,” Francis said.

            Along with her pro-marijuana belief, other liberal views that she considers while walking only inches in front of the entrance to the ballrooms include gay marriage and abortion.

            But although Francis, Cooper and Rea all take their different views with them as they enter the ballrooms to cast their ballot , each of them becomes a new voice to be heard by the American public.