It's Official

There are just as many people who don't like the new name
that like it, but as of today, Mesa State College is now called
Colorado Mesa University. Wouldn't have been my first choice,
but there it is.

Mesa State Expanding

photo courtesy Daily Sentinel
Mesa State College (soon Colorado Mesa University) announced today
that they have approved a 25 year plan to expand the physical borders
of the College. This includes buying 214 residential lots, 21 commercial
lots and two churches between Cannell Avenue and Seventh Street and
between North Avenue and Orchard Avenue. Since we live on Seventh
Street between Orchard and North, this would seemingly affect us a bit.
We live across the street on Seventh, so we wouldn't be purchased, but
the College would be directly across the street from us. This is all to
take place by 2031. In 2031 I'll be 66 years old, but we're not sure what
this will do to property values. I guess we'll just have to wait and see
what will happen, but it will definitely look different in the neighborhood
with all of the houses across the street missing, replaced by college
buildings.

Colorado Mesa University?

University officials have voted to rename Mesa State College to
Colorado Mesa University. I, for one, do not like it. The College
wanted to change it's status to a University, which I think is a good
thing. However, they also wanted to change the name to get more
out of state students to attend, citing that no one knew where the
college was located. Most people were in favor of Mesa State
University. Unfortunately, I don't think the university trustees will
listen to most people.

Happy 4th of July

We had a very laid-back holiday at our house with a nice
visit from Leslie and our friend, Valerie. Instead of the typical
hamburger and hot dog meal on the grill, we had Green Chile
that Valerie brought which with the beans that Lynn cooked,
made great wet burritos. Combined with the Tamales we
buy from the Helping Hands Kitchen at Child & Migrant Services,
we celebrated with a Southwest flair. In the evening, we walked
over to 12th Street and the Mesa State College campus, where
we watched the fireworks in Lincoln Park. A nice ending to a
fun day.

Skating Put On Ice

Sad news came across the media a few days ago. Our local
skating venue, The Glacier Ice Arena will be closing today after
being in business for only four years. Apparently, when the
arena was built, the company that installed the ice-cooling
system failed to place a rust-inhibitor in the pipes and as a
result, it will cost hundreds of thousands of dollars to replace
the system, which the family who owns the arena doesn't have.
There is a lawsuit in place, but it is doubtful it would cover all
of the costs. The closure will affect everyone using the rink
ranging from youth skating programs to the Mesa State College
Hockey Team. With the closure, the closest rink to Grand Junction
is in Glenwood Springs, which is 85 miles away and makes for
a long trip. A Facebook group, "Save Grand Junction's Ice Rink",
has even been formed, but without lots of monetary input, the
immediate future for ice skating in Grand Junction looks bleak.

Ben Stein

Hamann....Hamann........Hamann
Well, he didn't call me so I didn't attend, but
Ben Stein was here in Grand Junction today, as the keynote
speaker at Mesa State College's Entrepreneurship Day.
Ben Stein, besides being a semi-famous actor who was immortalized
in "Ferris Beueller's Day Off" is also an economist, author and
lawyer. More than 400 people heard him speak and he stated
that he expects the economy to make a quick comeback. I hope
he's right.

I Won a Bagel!

My years of gleaning thousands of bits of useless information
and storing it into my brain came to be a benefit today. Lynn
and I were out for our walk and we stopped at the new Main
Street Bagel location on the Mesa State College campus. it's
in a great location, right on North Avenue and on the first
floor of one of the new dorms that have been recently built.
Anyway, we were ordering our drinks and the barista asked
if I wanted to play their Trivia Pursuit game for a chance to
win a free bagel. Silly silly Barista! I chose the Geography
category: Q: What Middle Eastern city is the center of the
Muslim religion? A: Mecca. Duh. I've known that since
Junior High. The other barista commented that more
Americans probably know that answer though now than
they did fifteen years ago since our country has had more
of a presence in the Middle East. I shrugged my shoulders,
and then Lynn and I enjoyed our free bagel!