I just received an e-mail from my school (University of Colorado at Denver) informing the students that a referendum to increase alternative energy use and other environmental projects on our campus – shared by two other schools – has passed by 96%:

Last week downtown Denver campus students went to the polls to consider an increase in student fees to support the Sustainable Campus Program.

The response was overwhelming, with 96% of UCDHSC (University of Colorado at Denver and Health and Sciences Center) students supporting an increase of $1 per semester each year through 2011. Colleague students at Metro State and the Community College of Denver also voted for the proposal, with 97% and 95% support
respectively.

The program aims to enhance renewable energy programs, including increased purchase of solar and wind power sources, implementation of a comprehensive campus recycling program, increased energy efficiency in buildings, reduced per capita water use and education of our community on ways to become a sustainable campus.

The final steps in this effort include review and approval of the student fee by each of the institutional governing boards.  

I am extremely happy that my first time ever voting in a referendum brought the resulsts that I so wanted. I titled the post “My Three Cents,” because in addition to getting my own back to the voting booth to vote I also (literally) forced two of my classmates – whom I saw on the way – to go together and vote (we had to go to renew the student ID for one of them).

We were ten minutes late to class, but we did the right thing.

Today I Armenianized more non-Armenians, a.k.a, donated blood.  I think this is the best way of practicing nationalism or patriotism.  If you think your blood is better (which I don’t, especially when it is AB positive), you should donate it to make this world a better place.  This would make millions of, lets say, Turks to donate blood around the world. 

 Donating blood makes you healthy.  Until last year, I would get the cold at least 12 times a year in all of my life.  Since the first time I donated blood, I have not been sick and never will.

Donating blood is fun, in my case for the nurse or the nurses, at least.  These people had a lot of fun when I was playing Borat for them.  Wasn’t too much fun for me because they thought I was being myself.  Maybe some part of it.

 Donating fun will make you hate your computer less, at least in my case.  See, my home computer is the worst computer in the world (this is an absolute fact!!!!!!) and I couldn’t update my yesterday’s post after 10 attempts!  Now, as they have taken some blood of me, I don’t have too much energy to practice hate against my computer.  As Blogian’s readership is growing, I need to have a normal access to Internet, but this doesn’t seem the case.  So if I don’t respond to your comments, please don’t take it personal.  Usually, I approve them at work and cannot comment them from there.  If you notice, I don’t edit comments, and there is some Turkish-Azerbaijani love for Armenians in the comments.  But I do read your comments and get really excited especially when you link to Blogian!  One of my friends in Colorado, Kim Christianian, mentions my blog to everybody she sees.  I am serious.  She is the Blogian agent, and everybody is invited to be one.  🙂

Donating blood makes you feel good, despite the fact that nobody asks for an ID or whether you use/used drugs and alcohol.  What if Bin Laden wanted to donate blood?  Most likely not, and the same with the alcoholics or drug addicts, so don’t worry about getting intoxicated blood.

 So what makes you donate blood?  I don’t know the answer, but it paid well.  I was taking my independent study (on Cultural Rights and Djulfa) form for the dean to sign, and saw the blood seekers.  I told them I had to run, but ended up coming back.  I was told at the admissions office that it might take a week before the dean signed it.  I got a call, twenty minutes after I had dropped off the form, that my form was ready as I was already giving blood.  See, had I not volunteered I would have to do it on Friday!

As you noticed, my obssesion (or whatever the word is spelled.  I am not going to use spell check any more!) about Djulfa is becoming academic.  Indigenous rights scholar and very famous Native American Prof. Glenn Morris is going to supervise me on the research, and said many times he was really excited.  I will be also pursuing (and this is my own take) the state of Azerbaijani monuments in Armenia, so those of you who have some materials on the issue please let me know.  I would ask you not send me links to nationalist Azerbaijani websites that post photos of Armenian churches and say these were Azerbaijani monuments.

If Kirk Kirkorian ever ends up reading this entry, I would ask him to buy me a new computer.

Adam Garrie, a UCLA student, has written a poem, posted below, in memory of Hrant Dink.  Originally forwarded by Richard Hovhannisian.

I never thought the question “Where are you from” could confuse a university professor to an extent of giving an unsatisfying answer.

Professor Kazak from University of Colorado didn’t know how to answer the same question that he had just asked me. “I am from Armenia,” said I and asked the professor where he was from.

“Near Armenia…” said the professor.

“Near Armenia?! I had not heard of that country!”

“I am basically Palestinian,” finally said Professor Kazak.

Being always considerable of both Israeli and Palestinian arguments on their conflict I was speechless this time.

It must hurt when you don’t have a country to say you are from – the case for the Jews for two thousand years, and now the case for the Palestinians.

Now I feel the joy of having Armenia – no matter how small, how powerless and even how corrupt.