Robotics

50 CENTSTRINIDADCOLORADO

Proudly Serving Southeastern Colorado and Northeastern New Mexico • www.thechronicle-news.com

~Vol. 139, No. 74

TUESDAYARPIL 14, 2015 THE CHRONICLE NEWS■ APRIL 14

Las Animas CountyTUESDAY (9 a.m.) Board of

County Commissioners work session will be held in the Las Animas Court-house, 200 E. First St., Room 201. Information: 719-845-2568. COUNTY COMMISSIONERS: Gary Hill (719-845-2595), Mack Louden (719-845-2592), and Anthony Abeyta (719-846-9300).

Trinidad City Council TUESDAY (1:30 p.m.) Work ses-

sion followed by a special session will be held in Council Chambers, City Hall, 135 N. Animas St., Third Floor. Infor-mation: Audra Garrett, 719-846-9843. CITY COUNCIL: Mayor: Joe Re-orda and Council Members: Carol Bolton, Joe Bonato, Pat Fletcher, Anthony Mattie, Michelle Miles, and Liz Torres.

Trinidad School District No. 1TUESDAY (4:45 p.m.) The Trini-

dad School District No. 1 District Ac-countability Committee will meet on Tuesday, April 14 at 4:45 p.m. at Trini-dad School District Administration Of-fice at 612 Park St. Information: 719-845-2048.

Memory Loss SupportTUESDAY (12:30-1:30 p.m.) This

group meets at the Legacy Assisted Living facility, 33 Legacy Lane. Infor-mation: 719-846-8662.

Calling all Square DancersTUESDAY (6-8 p.m.) Swing your

partner and join the fun at the Square Dance Club at LaCasa on Hwy 12 in Jansen. New members and beginners always welcome. Info: Peter Monzon, 719-845-0375 or [email protected].

Caregivers Support GroupTUESDAY (6:30 p.m.) This group

meets at the LaQuinta Inn on Toupal Drive. Information: Age Wise Advisors, 347-852-0752.

BIBLE TALKSTUESDAYS-APRIL 14, 21 & 28

(7:30 p.m.) All are welcome to attend these free quiet, reverent services with teachings about Jesus Christ that will be held in the lower level meeting room at the Sayre Senior Center, 1222 San Pedro. There will be no collections tak-en. Info: Daren Kindred, 702-353-4891.

Today’s Quote“I found out that it’s not

good to talk about my troubles. Eighty percent of the people who hear

them don’t care and the other twenty percent are

glad you’re having them.”~Tommy LaSorda

■ PUBLIC SERVICECHAMBER OF COMMERCEWEDNESDAY (Noon) The monthly

Business Luncheon will be held in the Sullivan Center at the TSJC Campus. Info: John Schecter, 719-846-7727.

Trinidad Catholic CemeteryTHURSDAY (6:30 p.m.) Associa-

tion meeting will be at the Knights of Columbus Hall, 205 S. Commercial St. The public is invited to attend. Informa-tion: 719-846-4934.

LOVE & LOGICAPRIL 18 (9:30 a.m.-4:30 p.m.)

This outstanding parenting program will be held at the Mt. Carmel Commu-nity Center, 911 Robinson St. Registra-tion & Info: 719-845-4894.

RELAY FOR LIFESATURDAY (1-3 p.m.) Las Animas

County Kickoff and Survivor Social will be held at the Mt. Carmel Community Center, 911 Robinson St. Event will in-clude activities and refreshments. Info: Mt. Carmel, 719-845-4880.

9HEALTH FAIRSATURDAY (7:30 a.m.-Noon)

The annual 9Health Fair will be held at the Mt. San Rafael Hospital, 410 Bene-dicta Ave. Info: Lynda Pachelli at 719-846-8051.

PEACOCK BALL BENEFITSATURDAY (5 p.m.) The 12th An-

nual Gala and community benefit for Noah’s Ark will be at Brix Sports Bar on Main St. Entertainment will be provided by Dr. Fine. Evening events include: Drinks & Appetizers (5 p.m.), Dinner (6 p.m.), Program (7 p.m.) and Dance (8 p.m.). Tickets/Info: 719-680-2385.

THE FINE PRINT

RIVER CALLPurgatoire River Call as of: 04/10/15. Johns Flood ditch: Priority # 20 --- Appropriation date: 10/07/1865.

Trinidad Reservoir Accounting:Release 36.73 AFInflow 112.49 AF -- 56.72 CFSEvaporation 9.76 AFContent 20,497 AFElevation 6,184.33Precipitation 0

Downstream River Call / High-land Canal: 05/31/1866.

PAGE 3ROBOT ATTACKS!

WEATHER WATCHTuesday: A 10 percent chance of showers

before 7 a.m. Mostly sunny, with a high near 70. South wind 10 to 15 mph. Night: Mostly

cloudy, with a low around 41. South southwest wind around 15 mph.

Wednesday: A 20 percent chance of show-ers and thunderstorms after 1pm. Partly sunny, with a high near 64. West southwest wind 10 to 15 mph. Night: A 30 percent chance of rain and snow showers. Some thunder is also possible. Mostly cloudy, with a low around 31. West northwest wind around 10 mph.

Thursday: A 30 percent chance of rain and

snow showers. Partly sunny, with a high near 47. North wind around 10 mph.

Friday: A 40 percent chance of showers and thunderstorms. Mostly cloudy, with a high near 51. North wind around 10 mph. Night: A chance of rain and snow showers. Some thunder is also possible. Mostly cloudy, with a low around 33. Northwest wind 5 to 10 mph. Chance of precipitation is 40 percent.

Steve Block / The Chronicle-NewsThe Fort Carson Band during the most recent 2013 Armed Forces Day Parade.

Photo courtesy Trinidad State Junior CollegeTrinidad State’s Robotics Team won First Place in the 1.5 Kilogram or more Division at the College Robotics Challenge held at Great Sand Dunes National Park. In the photo from left are Brian Sanders, deputy director of NASA’s Colorado Space Grant Consortium, and the TSJC Robotics Team, Alfonzo Barandarian, Mary Carpen-ter, Marissa Esquibel and Hayden Alworth.

Photo courtesy Trinidad State Junior College

SUPPORTING OUR VETERANS

SCIENCE CHALLENGE

ART

WILDLIFE

Armed Forces Day Parade back on in Trinidad

Skill, innovation, inspiration: Trinidad State Robotics Team wins State Challenge

CPW says it’s time again to be aware of bears

By Steve BlockThe Chronicle-News

Motorcycles will again thunder down Trini-

dad’s Main Street in honor of America’s military veterans as the Armed Forces Day Parade returns to the City after a one-year hiatus. The motorcy-clists are scheduled to arrive here at 10 a.m. on Saturday, May 16, and head directly toward City Hall, where the big parade will begin.

It’s part of the annual “Run for the Wall,” in which veterans of recent conflicts and those cur-rently on active duty from all over the U.S. are invited join in the ride for those who cannot. The Run for the Wall recognizes the sacrifices and contributions made by all veterans who serve our nation. The Ride begins on May 13, beginning from three locations in various parts of the coun-try, and culminates on May 23 in Arlington, Va., with a solemn ceremony at the Vietnam Veterans Memorial, honoring those who have fallen in the service of their country.

The parade lineup begins at 9 a.m. in the City Hall parking lot. The parade route goes from City

By Steve BlockThe Chronicle-News

Technical skill, innovation, inspiration and

solid teamwork have helped the Trinidad State Junior College’s Robotics overcome many chal-lenges. On Saturday, April 4, the team won its second consecutive state robotics challenge in the 1.5 kilograms or more division at the Great Sand Dunes National Park.

The challenge was jointly sponsored by NA-SA’s Colorado Space Grant Consortium and Ad-ams State University with robotics teams from 32 colleges entering the competition. Trinidad State’s team was the only competitor to success-fully negotiate six of the seven obstacle courses included the challenge, though the nature of those

By Colorado Parks and WildlifeSpecial to The Chronicle-News

Colorado’s bears have awoken from their winter’s nap and are again active throughout the state. Colorado Parks and Wildlife urges state residents in bear country to make sure they aren’t providing any food attractants around resi-dences.

By following some simple steps, we can all pitch in to avoid conflicts with Colorado’s wildlife. Here are some tips to help keep bears out of trouble and away from your house:

-- Keep garbage in a well-secured enclosure.

-- Only put out garbage on the morning of pickup.

-- Take down all bird feeders -- birds don’t need to be fed during the summer. Bird feeders are a ma-jor source of bear/human conflicts.

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ThingyanLocal Burmese artist, celebrates new year with mural for templeEric John Monson / The Chronicle-News

Thingyan is the Burmese New Year Water Festival and usually falls around mid-April. This past weekend local Burmese artist and democratic revo-lutionary from that country, Sitt Nyein Aye, spent this weekend designing and painting a mural that will be displayed in the Sitagu Buddha Vihara, a buddhist temple in Austin, Tx. Aye, 56-years-old, has lived in Trinidad for about the past three years, but has showed little of his work. As a supporter of the pro-democracy movement in Burma, he previously lived in political exile in India. See more on page six. A feature of Aye and his finished mural will appear later this week in The Chronicle-News.

Tuesday, April 14, 2015 Page 3The Chronicle-News Trinidad, Colorado

April 16

Education & StatESkill, innovation, inspiration: Trinidad State Robotics Team wins State Challenge

... Continued from Page 1

obstacle courses came as something of a surprise to the team, according to Faculty Robotics advisor Cindy Clements.

“Last year’s course was held on some pretty rocky ground, so that’s what we prepared for this year,” Clements said. “In-stead, they held this year’s challenge on very fine sand at the dunes, with wooden obstacles inserted in the sand. We had very tired motors there at the end. We could hear them grinding away, and we had to change the battery once. The sand was very thick and it was hard to walk on and it was blow-ing. Hayden Alworth (lead programmer) programmed the robot to go back one foot when it encountered an obstacle, turn and then go ahead, but as it turned out it would only go back a few inches and they weren’t clearing the obstacles. Hayden had to change his program at the last minute, and quadru-ple his numbers so that it would actually go back far enough to clear the obstacles, which is why we did a face plant a couple of times. He did a good job of adjusting his program on the fly.”

The robot, called BEK-E, or Beacon Enhanced Kinet-Explorer, was put to the test during the 2.5-hour challenge, but team Co-Captain Mary Carpenter said the team felt very confident going in to the competition.

“We felt very well-prepared go-ing in, and I’m very proud of our team’s performance,” Carpenter said. “We had to overcome a few problems. Our compass is designed to work in a circle, but our robot wound up on a hill, so our circle turned into an ellipse and that threw off the values. We also had a problem with the beacon not ini-tializing.”

The team members said that the obsta-cle courses in this year’s challenge were a little easier than the year before.

Next week comes the Research Sym-posium at Colorado University-Boulder. Each robotics team had to submit a formal research paper about their robotics project along with a poster board, and make a pre-sentation about all the research that went into their project.

Carpenter and lead programmer Hayden Alworth will head for Portland, Ore., on May 20-21 with BEK-E as part of the demonstration.

“We’re working on getting her up there

still. I really don’t trust her with someone who’s not near Hayden,” Carpenter said.

Clements said there was a turnover on the team every year, what with Trinidad State being a two-year college. She said the future of the program depended on whether the college could continue funding it.

“Our grant from NASA is going down in the near future. It’s supposed to be go-ing up after that,” she said. “NASA’s been having some problems getting their paper-work done. In fact, they told us the worst case scenario for that was we were going to lose all of our funding for two years, but they’ve managed to get a stopgap measure passed, so now we’ll get funded, but at a less-

er amount for the next two years and then they hope to be back up to normal, which is about $10,000 per year. That doesn’t go very far if you consider that one spool of model-ing material costs $250 and that only makes two wheels. Plus I usually pay out half of that in stipends to the students, and the faculty doesn’t get any compensation for that. The school does pay them a stipend of $1,000 but that’s not that much. One of the judges said that our robot was the most advanced robot on the course. That was pretty impressive considering that we had the Colorado School of Mines there and CU-Boulder and Ft. Lewis State and Western State.”

Students from the robotics programs have gone on to similar programs at four-year colleges. The Trinidad State Robotics Program has made great strides and has attracted attention from other schools and research organizations interested in the fu-ture of robotics.

Photos courtesy Trinidad State Junior College

TSJC’s robot hits the dunesTrinidad State’s Robotics Team won First Place in the 1.5 Kilogram or more Division at the Col-

lege Robotics Challenge held at Great Sand Dunes National Park. Above and below, members of the TSJC Robotics Team, Alfonzo Barandarian (in hat above), Mary Carpenter and Hayden Alworth work on their robot during the competition.

MARIJUANA STATE

Colorado moving toward making PTSD eligible for medical pot KRISTEN WYATT, Associated Press

DENVER (AP) — Colorado may add post-traumatic stress disorder as a condition to be treated with medical marijuana — a dramatic turnaround after years of rejecting appeals to make PTSD the first ailment added to the state’s medical-pot program since it was approved by voters in 2000.

The addition of PTSD would be the first mental-health disorder for which Colorado doctors could recom-mend pot.

Colorado’s chief medical officer, Dr. Larry Wolk, will forward the ad-dition to the full Board of Health for approval this fall.

The addition would be a dramatic turnaround for an agency that has rejected PTSD at least three times for inclusion on the marijuana reg-istry. Wolk, who as recently as last year testified against making PTSD an ailment eligible for pot, said his mind was changed by overwhelming evidence that people with PTSD are already on the medical registry, just listing “severe pain” as their ailment.

“We don’t want people to suffer as a result as a result of not being able to access (the registry) honestly,” Wolk said.

The change comes after Colorado assembled a panel of doctors and

medical marijuana advocates to re-view studies about the drug’s medi-cal potential. The new Medical Mari-juana Scientific Advisory Council made the recommendation Friday, saying that PTSD can be added for a four-year trial.

“It’s momentous,” said Brian Vi-cente, a longtime supporter of mari-juana legalization who led efforts for years to add PTSD to Colorado’s medical marijuana registry. “It’s contributing to the legitimization of marijuana.”

If the Board of Health approves the change, Colorado would become the 10th state to consider PTSD a condi-tion eligible for pot.

Colorado last year awarded about $3.4 million to two medical studies of using the drug for treatment of PTSD. Those studies are just getting under-way.

Colorado currently has about 114,000 people on the medical mari-juana registry. They all have a doc-tor’s recommendation for using the drug to treat one of eight debilitating conditions, ranging from cancer and AIDS to severe pain and nausea.

Wolk predicted that adding PTSD to the list of qualifying ailments won’t increase the numbers of people eli-gible for medical pot. He did predict a shift in listings on the marijuana registry from “severe pain” to PTSD.

“It really better represents how and why patients are using medical marijuana,” he said. “Colorado is known for the state where 96 percent of the people get their medical mari-juana for pain, and we don’t think that’s a true reflection of the popula-tion.”

The Colorado Department of Pub-lic Health and Environment, which oversees the registry, will request a hearing about the PTSD addition in June, with a public hearing on the question expected in September.

Rocky Mountain National Park faces crowd challengesAssociated Press

Officials at Rocky Moun-tain National Park are looking at ways to address overcrowding on peak days when visitors and vehicles put a burden on trails, roads and wildlife.

The park had a record 3.4 million visitors last year, and officials have be-gun talking about ways to protect park resources.

Too many people in the park can affect the trails, roads and wildlife, but they also can hinder the natural experience park users are seeking with crowds and noise, said Rick Fedorchak, chief of interpretation and education.

“If you’re at Bear Lake on a summer day, you’re not going to hear those nat-ural sounds until you’re a quarter mile up the road,” he said.

Weekends in the sum-mer have long been busy in the park, but visitation has spread out through all seasons with snowshoeing and sledding in the win-ter, fall colors and elk rut-ting, spring flowers and, of course, beautiful summer days.

On Sept. 27, officials counted a record 13,295 ve-hicles, the Loveland Report-er-Herald reported.

“The weather was beau-tiful,” said Kyle Patterson,

park spokeswoman. “The colors were amazing. The elk were rutting,” with their bugle calls that attract wildlife lovers from all over the country.

Park officials have al-ready taken some steps to reduce crowding.

Shuttles run from loca-tions in the nearby town of Estes Park to prime stops in Rocky Mountain National Park to cut down on ve-hicles and emissions in the

park.The buses also cre-

ate challenges with large groups of people dropped off in a single location at the same time, Fedorchak said.

Park rangers are urging people to visit on weekdays if they can, and to hike and climb in the early morn-ing or late afternoon to avoid the prime time from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. There are also signs that warn people when areas are full.