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THE METROPOLITAN » OCTOBER 18, 2007 » A3

» GHOST-HUNTING PLUMBERS »A6

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ANDREW FLOHR-SPENCE » NEWS EDITOR » spencand@mscd.edu

METRO NOW
THIS WEEK »
Friday 10.19
• The day in 1987 that
came to be known as “Black
Monday” when the DOW
dropped more than 500
points.

Wednesday 10.24
• The day in 1929 now known
as “Black Thursday” when the
Dow fell, starting the Great
Depression
• The day in 1989 when the
Denver Nuggets became the
first major sports team owned
by an African-American
• The Faculty Senate meets at
3:50 p.m. in Tivoli suite 320
• The Student Government
Assembly Senate meets at
4 p.m. in Tivoli suite 329

THE METROPOLITAN
25 YEARS AGO »
October 20, 1982
Photo by JEREMY PAPASSO/jpapasso@mscd.edu
A bicyclist crosses the intersection of Speer Boulevard and Arapahoe Street. Speer Boulevard, Colfax Avenue and Auraria Parkway all count among Denver’s busiest
Metro elections voided, stretches of road. While the name Roadrunners came from Metro’s students having to rush across traffic to get to and from classes, Auraria planners would like to
improve the access to and the safety of several of the intersections around campus.
charges made

Road running for your life

• Election commission
disallowed results because
voting machines were
improperly set up
Renovation to heal Tivoli
eyesoar
• Demolition, interior clean-
up and re-roofing progresses,
completion marked for Spring
1984.
THE NUMBERS GAME »
steadily, and an increasing number
Auraria planners eye of students are choosing not to drive.
poorly marked crossings, The parking lots have empty spaces,
and the crosswalks are full.
crowded intersections At the same time, downtown
Denver is also growing and traffic
By ANDREW FLOHR-SPENCE
around the campus is more congest-
spencand@mscd.edu
ed than ever.
Black said. “All I got was this,” he said
holding up his cast. He shrugged and
slowly nodded his head, looking for a
moment into the distance.
All the while he had kept a hold
on his bike with his right hand.
And somehow, his only injury,
besides a couple of bruises, was a
hind. These three major streets rank
with the busiest in Denver County, ex-
cluding the highways, and the Colo-
rado Department of Transportation
expects the numbers to steadily rise
with Denver’s growth.
Black’s story is an example of the
ever-present danger that comes when

8,000 Andrew Black did not see the

The number of students as
of Oct.15, who have a “hold”
on their student account
for failing to turn in their
immunization paperwork,
as estimated by the Auraria
Health Center.
Ford Explorer until a second before it
slammed into his front wheel – and
then, for a while, he didn’t remember
what happened.
Black had an eight-hour day
behind him when he unlocked his
bicycle from a rack near the Science
Building and started pedaling toward
the edge of campus.
Riding a bicycle or walking is
dangerous business.
Approaching the intersection of
Speer Boulevard at Arapahoe Street,
Black looked to his left and did not
see any cars coming. On the oppo-
site street side, parallel his intended
crossing, he saw the flashing cross-
walk signal. He hopped off the curb
to cross.
slight fracture in the wrist of his
right hand.
Because he was crossing against
the light, Black was given a reckless
driving ticket, even though he was
“riding” and not “driving.” The ticket
could cost him some money and po-
tentially take points off his driver’s
license, but he said he is just glad to
be in one piece.
crowds of students stampeding over
the crosswalks and a nearly steady
stream of cyclists crossing Speer Bou-
levard meet lane after lane of motor-
ists trying to go another direction.
According to Joseph Kane’s book,
Famous First Facts, as cited on the
website of the U.S. Department of
Transportation, the first automobile
accident ever in the United States hap-

THE MET REPORT » The 26-year-old Metro biology

This week’s top stories:
• Ghost Hunters
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• Voices of Darfur
• Green vehicles
• Mixed martial arts package
Check out the student-run TV
newscast at:
http://metreport.mscd.edu
major said he was tired after spend-
ing several hours in a chemistry lab.
He wanted to get home.
Crossing major intersections on
foot or on a bicycle is part of life for
Metro students, and Black’s story is
not unique. Darting through traffic
is the inspiration for the Roadrunner
nickname Metro students chose long
ago for themselves. But enrollment at
all three Auraria colleges is growing
The sport utility vehicle had a
green light coming out of downtown,
turning south onto Speer Boulevard
where Arapahoe Street comes to a
dead end at the campus.
The impact threw Black onto the
hood of the Explorer and into the
vehicle’s windshield, cracking the
glass. This is probably when he went
unconscious, he said. He woke up
moments later on the asphalt.
“I feel really lucky not to be dead,”
If the driver had not seen him at
the last second and slammed on the
brakes, things might be very differ-
ent, he said.
More than 28,000 vehicles drove
down Speer Boulevard past Lawrence
Street in a 24-hour period when traf-
fic was last measured there in 2001,
according to the city and county of
Denver’s Traffic Count Database. Col-
fax Avenue and Auraria Parkway as
vehicles pass Auraria were not far be-
pened in 1896 in New York City be-
tween an early automobile and a bike.
Today, the numbers nationwide
do not compare to the thousands of
automobile-to-automobile fatalities,
but accidents between automobiles
and bicycles resulted in almost 800
deaths in 2005, according to the
DOT’s Fatality Analysis Reporting
System website.
Pedestrian fatalities in the U.S.
Continued on A4