Talk:Colorado

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Contents

[edit] Demographics: "Race"

The Census Bureau's site shows Colorado as having the following makeup:

74.5% White non-Hispanic 17.1% Hispanic 3.8% Black 2.2% Asian 1.0% American Indian 2.8% Two or more races

Note how this adds up to 101.4%.

Often Hispanics are counted in a second demographic, such as White or Black. I've never heard an explanation of this, but this is a common disclaimer on race figures. --patton1138 13:54, 18 July 2005 (UTC)

[edit] Naming and Disambiguation

'Naming/disambiguation discussion was moved to wikipedia talk:naming conventions.' Summary: The discussion was about whether or not Colorado should be a disambiguation page. It was decided that per naming conventions the article "Colorado" should be about the state and all other uses of the term should be naturally disambiguated (e.g. Colorado River, Colorado Plateau). There are no known uses of the word "Colorado" that cannot be naturally disambiguated (thus there is no need to parenthetically disambiguate). Those terms will be added at the end of this article and linked within it where appropriate. The rest of the discussion was about naming conventions and capitalization issues.

[edit] C Club (Atheletic Letter Clubs)

Unlike most high school athletic letter clubs, the varsity athletes of the high schools are awarded a "C" for Colorado, and they belong to the "C Club" of each high school, when they letter in a sport, rather than the initial of the school. This is not the case at every high school. At Thompson Valley High School in Loveland, Colorado, letters are awarded with the school initials "TV", and in the school colors--black and gold.

I don't understand this; I think it requires too high a level of cultural knowledge. (This isn't a criticism of the recent edits of the anonymous editor-- the problem existed beforehand.) What does it mean to "award letters"? Is there a Wikipedia page about this, and could it be linked? What's the normal practice that Colorado deviates from? Marnanel 22:35, May 4, 2004 (UTC)

It sounds strange. I've never heard of such a thing. We got C's, but that was because we were Fort Collins High School (at least, we all thought so). I saw lots of high school letter jackets while competing in events and never saw a "C" that didn't go with a high school that actually began with the letter C (or at least I assumed so). They were certainly plenty of counterexamples to the claim made in the article. I would like to hear from the editor who contributed this about the source of this information. -- Decumanus | Talk 22:49, 4 May 2004 (UTC)
But what does it actually mean to "award letters"? They make you a present of letters to sew on a jacket as a recognition of sporting achievement? Marnanel 01:12, May 5, 2004 (UTC) (non-American)
Yes. It's cloth letter (or combination of letters), usually in block capital form, about 6 inches tall, awarded for season-long participation in a sport or other activity, such as music, drama or forensic speaking (at least where I went to high school). It doesn't imply exceptional achievement in most cases, but just regular participation. To receive such a letter is to "letter" in the activity. One might say, for example, "I lettered in football my junior year, and lettered twice in cross country, during my junior and senior years." Letters are then often sewn on "letter jackets", which is usually a light-weight cloth jacket. The color combination of the jacket and the letter are the school colors. Up through the 1960s, if you got a letter, you were "letterman", but I never heard this word used in the 1980s when I was in high school (it might still be used elsewhere inthe country). The verb is still used. If you repeatedly letter, you usally get metallic pins to add to an existing letter, rather than receiving an additional cloth letter. Letter jackets are still extrememly popular in American high schools. It's a big part of Americana. -- Decumanus | Talk 01:24, 5 May 2004 (UTC)
Oh, neat-- thanks for the explanation. I wonder whether anyone's made a page about it yet! Marnanel 01:36, May 5, 2004 (UTC)
Yes. It's at Letterman, and isn't very long. Wyvern11:12, 29 Dec 2004 (UTC)
I suggest deleting that portion of the article. It doesn't seem encyclopedic enough in relation to Colorado as a state to include on this page. And it is just kind of thrown in a misc. section. Any objections? --MattWright (talk) 22:50, Jun 7, 2005 (UTC)
I think it's incorrect. I don't remember any such thing; the only odd "C" practice I know of is using "CU" not for "Colorado University" as might be expected, but for University of Colorado. No objection. Doovinator 17:45, 8 Jun 2005 (UTC)

[edit] Origins of Name?

The article says that the work "Colorado" comes from "Reddish" in Spanish. I always thought it meant (more broadly) "colorful place" and from my limited knowledge of spanish (which I admit could be written on the back of a cigarette packet!) I would still think this.

I believe you are correct, but the information that it comes from red or reddish is generally held. Fred Bauder 19:14, Dec 29, 2004 (UTC)

Yes, you are correct, colorado is an adjective in spanish meaning "colorful" or "colored". I think this change should be made to the article
It is indeed commonly held that it means "reddish", which should probably be mentioned along with proper translation. Doovinator 17:45, 8 Jun 2005 (UTC)


[edit] References for Origin of Name

It appears to me that in Spanish, this word means "colored". However, in all references I can find for the meaning of the state name, it suggests "reddish color".

Translations:

References for State Name:

In light of this, I would suggest keeping the definition as-is ("reddish color") until someone can find an authoritative reference better than the above that suggests otherwise. --MattWright (talk) 02:16, Jun 9, 2005 (UTC)

Update, I would actually suggest changing it to "reddish colored" until a better reference is found. All translations directly translate colorado into "colored", rather than "color", with the Yahoo/Houghton Mifflin one actually supplying both reddish and colored as definitions. --MattWright (talk) 03:22, Jun 9, 2005 (UTC)

Most often, when a speaker of Spanish says "colorado" they mean the second definition of the Royal Academy of Spain which states: 2. adj. Que por naturaleza o arte tiene color más o menos rojo. And anyone who has seen the earth in that area knows it is a reddish color. Although, "colorado" can mean with color, we often use the word "colorido" for something with color. —The preceding unsigned comment was added by 140.147.146.233 (talk • contribs) .

[edit] Demographics

Apparently one-half of one percent of Coloradans are transgendered? This must be the case if the population is "50.4% male and 49.1% female" as stated here! Rlquall 01:45, 28 Apr 2005 (UTC)

[edit] Mining?

There should be more of a mention of mining here, both in reference to current economic makeup and Colorado's history. The 1858 gold rush into Western Kansas Territory is, after all, what founded the little towns of Auraria and Denver, as well as countless mountain towns. Gold, Silver, Coal, Uranium, Vanadium, Molybedenum, and even a diamonds are/have been mined here, with significant impacts on Colorado's economic history. I have a large batch of info related to the history of mining in Colorado, as well as Mined Land Reclamation, if we can find a home for it here. notchcode 20:31, July 11, 2005 (UTC)

Put a bit in the main article, more in History of Colorado. If you want to do more create [[Economic history of Colorado]] or [[Mining history of Colorado]], (or mining history of the Western United States). Fred Bauder 16:49, July 12, 2005 (UTC)

[edit] Formatting weirdness

So, this page's formating is really messed up. Pictures are not aligning where they are supposed to be, the editing section tools are in the wrong place, and frankly it looks awful. I tried messing with it somewhat, but I am not sure if I am making it any better. For a while the whole article had doubles of each section, so I got rid of that but there are still some problems. Please fix it if you know how and use this talk section to tell us how its going. Vertigo700 19:24, 15 July 2005 (UTC)

I moved the list of towns with population less than 10,000 to avoid the image overlap. Is there anything else that you're seeing that's a problem? -- Rick Block (talk) 17:19, July 16, 2005 (UTC)

Check out Law and Government, it appears that the formatting from the previous section is attached to Law and Government. At one point another sections formatting link was there as well. I am not sure if anyone else is seeing it, and it certainly looks better now, but I wonder if we can do something about that. I'm stumped. Vertigo700 03:39, 19 July 2005 (UTC)

[edit] Notable high schools

Cherry Creek High School and Kent Country Day School are in fact notable. Cherry Creek is a suburban school which offers an excellent academic education, Kent is a private school attended by the children of the elite, such as they are (Colorado has little old money and better neighborhoods have good public schools). The notion that every high school would demand or deserve an entry is a straw man. Fred Bauder 03:33, September 13, 2005 (UTC)

I disagree extensively with putting "notable" high schools on the Colorado page. 1st of all, it will create a lot of broken links to no pages (Kent doesnt have a page). Secondly, what makes them notable? Why only rich suburban schools? East High School (Denver) in Denver has probably the most famous alums Pam Grier, Don Cheadle, Judy Collins, etc. West High School (Denver) is notable for the start of the chicano rights movement Crusade for Justice. Certainly, Columbine High School is notable. The point being, many schools have something notable about them. Does that mean they really say anything about Colorado? I doubt anyone would define Colorado through its high schools, or even really care about them unless you graduated from there, or your kids go there. Vertigo700 15:28, 13 September 2005 (UTC)

I agree. At risk of having my arguments on this subject being denounced as a "straw man," I totally agree and think the section should be removed right away before more and more people start adding HSs making it even harder to remove without a blow up. If anyone, other than those who have already weighed in, think it should stay please let us know within the next 24 hours. After that, I think it should just be removed before it causes any more problems.Gator1 15:37, 13 September 2005 (UTC)

Agree on removal of "notable high schools". Second Vertigo's arguments and add that other state articles I looked at (like California and New York) don't have similar sections. Seems more appropriate for individual city pages. --MattWright (talk) 07:31, 14 September 2005 (UTC)

I disagree with the decision to remove the paragraph and links to notable high schools. The basis of my disagreement is that the section included only high schools which were notable for historical, social, demographic or newsworthy reasons. While articles are frequently created for schools which are not distinguished that is not the case here, nor were empty links created to schools which were not notable such as my alma mater, South High in Denver. Fred Bauder 16:45, 15 September 2005 (UTC)

We're aware of your opinion and it was taken into consideration.Gator1 16:52, 15 September 2005 (UTC)

If it was taken into consideration, what happened to the useful information? Fred Bauder 17:09, 15 September 2005 (UTC)

Let me clarify. Your opinion on the subject was taken into consideration and, ultimately, rejected. Let's talk about something else.Gator1 17:41, 15 September 2005 (UTC)

[edit] Merging universities; merging articles

User:66.253.221.35 merged links in the Colorado page to UCHSC and UCD to form a link to an entirely new article, UCDHSC. This would imply that the two former entities are going away, to be replaced by the new entity. The implication of that change is as follows:

The suggestion was to merge University of Colorado Health Sciences Center and University of Colorado at Denver to form an entirely new article, University of Colorado at Denver Health Sciences Center.

That would be appropriate if UCDHSC is the one and only name by which this university will be known after the two entities have merged. I just don't know enough about it to say if that's the right approach.

After the merging is complete, then redirects to the new article will replace each of the older articles. To be complete, it would be appropriate to track down all the references to the former articles, and change them to point to the new article, updating the surrounding text, if necessary.

--GraemeMcRae 16:25, 19 October 2005 (UTC)

I don't think that University of Colorado at Denver is merging with the Health Sciences Center. Isn't UCD still going to be on the Auraria campus, and the UCHSC going to be in Fitzsimons? There are still to separate websites for each of these schools [1] and [2]. I see that on the websites, they combined the names, but I still feel that they are there own separate institutions, in geographically separate areas, with different purposes and goals. In fact they even are called by separate names on the website as CU-Denver and the University of Colorado, Health Sciences Center. I don't think its appropriate to merge them. Vertigo700 18:14, 19 October 2005 (UTC)

[edit] Number of Electoral Votes

In case there is any question, Colorado has 9 electoral votes. Here's the source: http://www.fec.gov/pages/elecvote.htm —GraemeMcRaetalk 15:23, 11 November 2005 (UTC)

[edit] Metric vs. US customary Measurements

With all respect to the person who provided the stats for Colorado's statistics box, could someone please update these measurements with their US customary equivalents. I don't know if editing the statistic box is allowed. Thank you. —The preceding unsigned comment was added by 67.122.75.42 (talk • contribs) .

Editing the statistic box is allowed, but the template used to create the table was built expecting metric input (which I suspect matches the original source for at least most of the measurements that are included). There is a long standing request to show both metric and the US customary equivalent in the tables for each state. I'm willing and able to do this, but have not located a source for the width, length, and mean elevation measurements. Please see Wikipedia talk:WikiProject U.S. states#units in the infoboxes. This diff suggests a reference that might have this information, but I haven't been able to track it down yet. If you can track down this reference, please let me know. -- Rick Block (talk) 03:30, 4 January 2006 (UTC)

[edit] pike

changed pike's peak to pikes peak per the Pikes Peak entry Heptapod 02:57, 12 January 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Climate

There seems to be very little discussion of climate. Ken 23:53, 20 January 2006 (UTC)

Should be, Colorado's weather is notoriously changeable, "If you don't like the weather, wait a bit". Also Colorado is affected by the Southwestern monsoon. Fred Bauder 01:30, 23 January 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Prohibition

Colorado had an early prohibitoin -- in 1916, I think. Worth noting somewhere? Ken 23:55, 20 January 2006 (UTC)

Yes, it is. Editor19841 19:36, 18 March 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Famous Coloradoans

Perhaps as a miscellaneous section, we should add a section of famous native and adoptive Coloradoans. Natives like John Kerry, just born here in Aurora on a military base (PBS Doc) and Karl Rove, who spent the first 10 or so years of his life here. Also, there are adoptive Coloradoans like Clive Cussler or Bill Owens? - User:Lu Yan 1.22.06

John Denver is one of the more famous. Fred Bauder 01:30, 23 January 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Great Western Central City

Can anyone provide any information on this?[3] --Daniel C. Boyer 01:20, 23 January 2006 (UTC)

Doesn't look like anything in Colorado, past or present. Central City, Colorado is hemmed in tightly by mountains. I don't think Denver was ever called Central City. Fred Bauder 01:32, 23 January 2006 (UTC)
Nope, not Denver. Denver incorporated Auraria early on, and was also called "St. Charles" and "Denver CIty". Could be a "marketing tool" used by a RR Co. to promote settlement/trade to Central Dity, but C.City is narrower, basically set into a canyon, running from just above Black hawk up to Nevadaville. notchcode 19:32, 23 January 2006 (UTC)
I should have clarified that it is acknowledgly "imaginary" but is supposedly in Colorado. --Daniel C. Boyer 19:41, 24 January 2006 (UTC)
There's a zoomable version here. I believe it is intended to be Central City, Colorado. -- Rick Block (talk) 01:29, 25 January 2006 (UTC)
I had a closer look at the map; there is no mining activity indicated or illustrated. With Central City's fame as a mining center, I'd expect some mining to be represented, even on a fictional map, which this certainly is. Doesn't look like Golden, Denver, or Colo. Springs, either. Could maybe be a southern Colorado town, or maybe a representation of Black Hawk (as it sits beside Clear Creek, and had a RR. going to it, as does this scene), but I suspect it's entirely fictional.notchcode 04:40, 25 January 2006 (UTC)

[edit] pronunciation

The supposed guide to pronunciation is nonsensical. The international phonetic alphabet should be used, ideally in narrow transcription.

[edit] Population Rank

The Colorado page says it's ranked 24th in population, while List of U.S. states by population says it's 22nd. I'm changing it based on this, but if I'm wrong change it back

[edit] Richest Places in Colorado

Why is that list part of the article? Parudox 23:04, 24 April 2006 (UTC)

Parudox, I was asking myself the same question when I saw that there. I think it'd be a good idea to delete it. — † Webdinger BLAH | SZ 22:36, 20 August 2006 (UTC)
I, too, was wondering why this is here. I'm going to remove it, if someone disagrees with this then they should offer a justification for keeping it. --The Way 04:16, 21 August 2006 (UTC)
Bonanza is particularly gross. There is one rich part-time "resident", and a bunch of poor people. Fred Bauder 04:33, 21 August 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Religion percentages

OK. Where did these numbers come from? It would be swell if there was a source listed. Then changes like the recent 2% to 3% would be easy to revert. Either it matches the reference or it doesn't. -- Rick Block (talk) 03:40, 25 July 2006 (UTC)

The best source the editors at Minnesota could find is : [4] -Ravedave 05:38, 21 August 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Naruto

This is really more for the set of arcticles relating to the anime/manga series, Naruto, but it's a bit about the state. I like in Colorado and I knew about the Uncut DVD box set that was supposedly released on July 4, 2006. But... I call Best Buy and they check for copies. They have it listed in their comps, but they say that they have none ordered and they're not registering any in the state. Is someone restricting uncut anime, or what, 'cause it's a bit frustrating... 67.172.141.198 22:00, 17 August 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Spelling

Not too sure what others think about this, but how about removing the "coloradan" vs "coloradoan" section which states that "spell check even has it wrong" or something to that effect. (That is wrong anyways, because the daily paper in Fort Collins is named "The Coloradoan") What does everyone think?132.47.128.201 22:22, 26 September 2006 (UTC)

I moved it into demographics area into a single sentence (certainly shouldn't be a whole section) and removed the claim that coloradoan is wrong, since both appear in merriam-webster online, which I cited. --MattWright (talk) 23:19, 26 September 2006 (UTC)

[edit] good faith?

Often a crock. If we are to assume "good faith" when writing, then why not when deleting?

So many of you are ready to delete anything that you don't agree with. A discussion page should mean discussion, not monologue.

< http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Talk:Colorado&diff=78310448&oldid=78174890 >.

Why are you protecting a phrase that I contend is in need of improvement? You say "unnecessary"; what is necessary about that phrase?

I am a devout agnostic [ ignostic ]; does that make me completely bad faith?

What is wrong about asking a factual question about the sheriffs?

What's wrong w/ asking about school shootings? More discussion, more study, more articles, might result in reducing our mutual violence, increasing our good faith.

And?

hopiakuta 15:52, 28 September 2006 (UTC)

Hopiakuta -- I think the problem was that your initial question about the wording of a statement was lost among rambling on about something unrelated to the Colorado article. If you have questions about the recent school shooting, it may be more appropriate to see Platte Canyon High School shooting, as this article doesn't and shouldn't cover that. I have removed the statement you had initially requested be re-worded because it was poorly worded, didn't add much new information and wasn't cited. --MattWright (talk) 16:09, 28 September 2006 (UTC)

I do not have many of the answers, if I did, I would add them to the article. But I do have many questions as to why Colorado seems to have so much more homophobia than hemorrhagephobia.

It is a misleading impression which results from the location of Focus on the Family in Colorado Springs. Colorado is relatively tolerant of homosexuality. Fred Bauder 18:48, 28 September 2006 (UTC)

Those answers do belong in "Colorado". They, also, belong everywhere.


< http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Platte_Canyon_High_School_shooting&diff=78329710&oldid=78217237 >;

< http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Platte_Canyon_High_School_shooting&limit=500&action=history >.

hopiakuta 18:14, 28 September 2006 (UTC)


Further, if that page did not exist when I'd written, then that would make you a liar, &/or no fact-checker, & deletionmeister, as well.

Furthermore, How would I locate it?

hopiakuta 18:14, 28 September 2006 (UTC)

&, I had not advocated paragraph-removal.

< http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Colorado&diff=78321649&oldid=78160889 >.

Thank You.

hopiakuta 18:14, 28 September 2006 (UTC)

They sell Pepsi and Coke in Colorado, too, but that doesn't make a discussion of carbonated beverages appropriate for the Colorado page.
I don't know of a state where homophobia isn't more prevalent than hemorrhagephobia. Although it wasn't homophobia in this case; it was heterophobia. CNN says the sheriff decided that impatience was in order because he feared that the man might put down his gun and try to rape two girls at once, and god know, it would be impossible for two teenaged girls to escape an unarmed man while he was surrounded by millions of storm troopers.
You're right, questions ought to be asked - but even Platte Canyon High School shooting isn't an appropriate venue. Wikipedia is an encyclopedia. Try a discussion forum. ClairSamoht - Help make Wikipedia the most authoritative source of information in the world 18:30, 28 September 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Elevation

The elevation numbers were just changed (with a reference) so that they now differ from those listed in List of U.S. states by elevation (which are presumably from the NGVD29 datum). Of perhaps particular interest, the lowest point was changed to Arkansas River, which seems to be simply incorrect (see http://www.geocities.com/CapitolHill/Lobby/3162/HiPlains/Arickaree/hiplains_arickaree.htm, which is confirmed by the USGS at http://erg.usgs.gov/isb/pubs/booklets/elvadist/elvadist.html#Highest). It seems like the numbers in two different Wikipedia articles should match. -- Rick Block (talk) 03:57, 4 November 2006 (UTC)

[edit] License Plate Numbering

I'm sure it's accurate, but I'm not sure who needs this. Who would get value in reading Colorado numbering system ? I think the section looks bad and and is a waste of space. I hope I don't hurt anyones feelings but...there it is....thanks Hrothgar 23:57, 6 November 2006 (UTC)

Agree, remove it if no one defends it soon. --MattWright (talk) 03:48, 7 November 2006 (UTC)
I agree actually ... if we could even truncate it, it would look better.Trodaikid1983 23:33, 28 November 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Front Range

The Geography of Colorado describes the Front Range as extending from Wyoming to New Mexico. Properly, "Front Range" refers to the mountain range that extends from Mount Evans to Longs Peak. By extension, "Front Range" also refers to the area of the High Plains immediately to the east of the Front Range mountains.

The term "Front Range" does not refer to the entire Colorado Piedmont or the Colorado I-25 Corridor. We confuse people when we use this term improperly.

--Buaidh 19:09, 14 December 2006 (UTC)

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