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WEEK OF FEBRUARY 6, 2025
VOLUME 159 | ISSUE 6
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Goldenites recommend more trash cans, removing new gates before 2025 tubing season BY CORINNE WESTEMAN CWESTEMAN@COLORADOCOMMUNITYMEDIA.COM
The mural “Engineering Genocide,” seen here Jan. 29 on the Colorado School of Mines campus, protests Lockheed Martin and Chevron’s involvement in the violence against the Palestinian people. Student groups Mines Students for a Democratic Society and Orediggers Against Apartheid organized, built PHOTO BY SARA HERTWIG and painted the mural over 10 days before the Jan. 28-29 Career Fair.
Where art, engineering and conversation intersect Mines students build, display mural protesting violence against Palestine
BY SARA HERTWIG AND CORINNE WESTEMAN
Engineers are supposed to build things that better their community — anything from roads and bridges to computer chips and medical equipment. But what happens if the things they build hurt people rather than help them, and destroy communities rather than improve them? That’s the question two Colorado School of Mines student groups posed to their fellow Orediggers and others Jan. 2829. Mines Students for a Democratic Society and Orediggers Against Apartheid organized, built and painted a mural titled “Engineering Genocide” to dis-
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play in Maple Plaza, outside Mines’ annual Career Days in the nearby student center. The mural, which protested the violence against the Palestinian people and American companies’ involvement in the conflict, was comprised of four 10-foot-tall wooden panels. It is based on the West Bank wall between Israel and Palestine, mural organizers explained. Two panels specifically protested Lockheed Martin and Chevron’s involvement in the conflict, with organizers describing how the companies are heavily involved on campus and frequently recruit Mines students. “You can do engineering for good or bad,” mechanical engi-
neering student Zander Mayes said. In a Jan. 28 press release, the groups said their goal was threefold: • Help their peers understand the context of the current war in Palestine; • Initiate conversations about their ethical responsibilities as engineers and scientists; and • Urge Mines to no longer invest in and partner with companies that are “complicit in crimes against humanity.” Roland Bennett, a Mines SDS member who helped organize the mural, said he had the idea after seeing Harvard University’s Wall of Resistance. He and others designed their “Engineering Genocide” mural over
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a Zoom call, with six people initially volunteering to draw and design one mural piece each. That quickly grew to 30 people, he described. This included members of the Boulder Students for Justice in Palestine and the Denver Students for a Democratic Society, as well as students from Regis University. Together, they put the mural together in a 10-day span, just in time for Mines’ Career Days Jan. 28-29. The organizing students displayed the finished mural in the Maple Plaza, to engage with students and others passing by, including many who were going to Career Days.
While the Clear Creek corridor saw several major changes ahead of the 2024 tubing season, 2025 should be a little quieter. Deputy City Manager Carly Lorentz said this summer will be one to continue many of the management strategies Golden started last summer or in previous years. City staff members aren’t recommending any major changes before or during the 2025 tubing season, she said. However, Lorentz pointed out that the City Council is still considering a few summer-related issues, such as whether to prohibit tube rentals and sales during Buffalo Bill Days, as it did in 2024. Lorentz expected those items to be addressed at the March 4 City Council meeting, along with some suggestions locals made at a recent community meeting. For summer 2025, Lorentz said Golden’s plans include continuing to: • Improve signage; • Host weekly cleanups along the creek; • Add bilingual resources; • Maintain or increase enforcement along the creek; and SEE UPDATE, P2
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2025
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