Fort Collins Coloradoan from Fort Collins, Colorado • Page 1

THE FORECAST Mostly sunny and seasonal High today: 58 Low tonight: 35 f. FRIDAY APRIL 1 0, 2009 MORE PAGE B8 www.coloradoan.com 1 Cease and desist 'Observe and Report' fails to bring the comic heat. LIFE PAGE B1 Battling for starting spots Loss of two defensive starters leaves huge hole in center of Rams' defense SPORTS PAGE C1 FORT COLLINS OLORADOAN 1 SB rate (DCS mrasi msm Bierjrw i Legislation would take funds from Pinnacol leges and universities should the Pinnacol plan fall through. Lawmakers agreed to cut metal detectors and security officers at public entrances to the state Capitol to save about $850,000. That security was added after an armed man was shot and killed viously backed by the Joint Budget Committee.

They also rejected a GOP proposal to cut lawmaker salaries and eliminate $3 million in vocational training for inmates to help raise more money for higher education. See SENATEPage A2 outside the governor's office in 2007. They also backed reducing payments to private prisons that house state inmates by $2.4 million. Democrats rejected a Republican plan asking all state departments to find ways to cut 2.9 percent on top of a 12 percent cut pre BY COLLEEN SLEVIN The Associated Press DENVER The Senate gave initial backing late Thursday to a package of bills to balance next year's budget, including a plan to take money from state-created Pinnacol Assurance to undo $300 million in proposed cuts to higher educa- tion. Lawmakers backed few additional cuts to ease the potential hit to state col CSU tells faculty to boost awareness for student stress 'We will refill our spirits by celebrating the landscapes of Interior Secretary Ken Salazar Dedicated On the Internet Visit www.suicide-resourcecenter.org for information on resources available in Larimer County.

Visit www.cdphe.state. co.usppSuicideSuicide Report.pdf for a report on suicide in Colorado. to wilderness BY NATE TAYLOR NateTaylorcoloradoan.com CSU junior Stephanie Smith plans to apply for student loans for the first time. Sophomore Michael Westlake has already taken additional loans to help pay for school. Both said their parents have been hit hard by the down economy and both said they're feeling stressed by financial concerns.

And as families across the country, such as the Smiths and Westlakes, are affected by tough economic times, Colorado State University interim President Tony Frank is telling faculty and staff to be on the lookout for students who might be deal- ing with great amounts of stress and in need of intervention. Frank sent a message to deans Tuesday advising them of an increasing number of students seeking help through the Student Affairs staff for problems related to depression See STRESSPage A2 Yj if ia Board agrees: No messing with school athletics seasons made in an BY SEAN DUFF SeanDuff Ocoloradoan.com effort to reduce travel and It will be business as usual for city high other costs for schools in the school teams after Photos by Rich AbrahamsonThe Coloradoan Interior Secretary Ken Salazar, from left, and Sens. Mark Udall and Michael Bennet join other members of the Colorado congressional delegation in a ceremony Thursday to dedicate wilderness at Rocky Mountain National Park. At top, the Roaring River cuts through RMNP. Ceremony marks RMNP designation H2 View a gallery of photos and video from the dedication ceremony atwww.coloradoan.com face of a weakened economy.

Football, for example, would have seen a cut from 10 regular-season games to nine if the proposal had passed; golf teams would have seen their schedules cut from 198 holes (11 rounds) to 180 (10). "This vote indicates that our schools are better able to make decisions and address concerns on the number of regular-season games its teams play," CHSAA commissioner Bill Reader said after the meeting. "Our membership knows what needs to be done locally to work through this current fiscal challenge." Larson, who voted as a three-member group for Front Range League schools, said he wasn't sure what the outcome would be. "With the travel the smaller schools have to do, I thought it could go either way," Larson said. The 69-member board also voted against adding games in some sports.

proposals Thursday to reduce the number of regular-season contests by 10 percent were soundly defeated by the state's governing body. The Colorado High School Activities Association's Board of Control voted against the cost-cutting measure, saying that decision should be left up to individual schools. The board voted 61-8 against reducing the number of baseball games, 60-9 in basketball, 60-8 in field hockey and 58-11 in football. Then a proposal was made to lump golf through wrestling in one vote, and that proposal failed 61-8. "Everybody as far as ADs (athletic directors) was concerned saw what was in the best interest for athletes," said Fort Collins athletic director Rob Larson, who attended the meeting in Aurora and voted against the proposals.

"We wanted to have the maximum number of games we could." The proposals were manage the park as a wilderness area since it was first proposed in 1974. The wilderness designation for the park, which sees 3 million visitors each year, adds one final layer of land protection ensuring that no legislative action can reverse management of the area. Motorized equipment, logging, mining, development and other activities are indefinitely banned in wilderness areas. "It's been a 35-year journey to get that," RMNP Superintendent Vaughn Baker said before the ceremony. "We see it as a completion of that journey, and now it clearly states that that's how the back-country should be managed." It was a rocky journey to get to this point as several legislators over the years unsuccessfully tried to push bills through Congress.

The latest effort came when See RMNPPage A2 BY DOUGLAS CROWL Loveland Connection ESTES PARK The only thing left to do Thursday was smile, shake hands and enjoy the view, as Secretary of the Interior Ken Salazar joined a delegation of Colorado politicians to dedicate Rocky Mountain National Park's backcountry as a wilderness area. U.S. Sens. Mark Udall and Michael Bennet of Colorado joined Salazar, former Sen. Wayne Allard, Rep.

Betsy Markey, D-Fort Collins, and park staff to mark the occasion in Estes Park. The land protection effort for Rocky Mountain National Park dates back to a Nixon-era proposal by the National Park Service, which wasn't enacted until last month when President Barack Obama signed a public lands bill that included the designation. "In a time of crisis, we really look to things that connect with us," Salazar said of Obama's actions. He then recalled volatile times in American history when presidents protected public lands. Abraham Lincoln protected what would become Yosemite National Park during the Civil War, and Franklin D.

Roosevelt created the Civilian Conservation Corps during the Depression. "We will refill our spirits by celebrating the landscapes of America," Salazar said. Federal laws mandated staff Kk I The Coloradoan Is printed on recycled I newsprint. NEWS: 224-7730 Region A7 Sports C1-4 Stocks A10 Things to do Weather B8 INSIDE Business A9-10 Classifieds section Comics B2-3 Dear Abby B3 Horoscopes B2 Life B1-6 Local news A1-7 Lottery B7 Nation World A11 Obituaries B7 Opinion A6 Puzzles D8 LATER TODAY Pipeline plans Larimer County residents will soon get a look at plans for a water pipeline from Flaming Gorge Reservoir in Wyoming to Pueblo. ON C010RADSAN.COM Daily Share your A news and Ji photos onlinel Visit us on the Web, e-mail CityNews coloradoan.com or fax 224-7899.

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