Colorado College Bulletin

One Very Late Paper

By AARON BROWN '98

This paper is late. By my calculations, from the time of this writing, it was due seven hours, 12 days, five months and one year ago. I have since graduated, moved, worked, moved again, and worked some more in an entirely different career field. But the assignment continues to haunt me.

Granted, my professor probably no longer expects it to appear in his box any time soon. He released me from any formal obligation long ago, partly due to the carnivorous computers in Barnes, partly thanks to an alternative submission, and partly from pure human kindness shown to a bleary-eyed, eighth-block senior on the eve of graduation. However, the lunar-like pull of the college stirs me up from time to time and reminds me of the missed opportunity to pay tribute to my education (note: I'm not referring to the thoughtful offers from the development office).

Mark Smith's Block Eight Environmental Economics course was a perfect end to four wonderful years. I hope it will complement Mark at the same time that it praises my other best professors to say that the class was the quintessential CC experience. As was the case with many of my professors, Mark's enthusiasm for the material created a thrilling atmosphere from the first day. And as with many of my classes, the material was compelling and it inducted me into a life-long curiosity with the subject matter. Unlike most of my classes, however, I left the class more confused than when I walked in on the first day.

The nominal object of the course was this: After studying the economic fine-points of environmental regulation, we took a week-long trip to Durango in southwestern Colorado to explore the real-life controversy over construction of the Animas-La Plata dam project. We spoke with proponents who, while admitting that the project wasn't an optimal undertaking, believed firmly that it was the only way to resolve serious Native American water-rights claims, provide much needed drought-insurance, and serve the recreational and agricultural needs of the local population. The opponents pointed out that the project would return only a small fraction of benefit from its cost, threaten some endangered fish, serve to enrich only a few special interests, and it might not even satisfy the Native American water-rights claims that were the project's chief justification. Over the course of the week we camped, we rafted, we explored the Four Corners region, and we talked to about 200 people, most of whom were capable of convincingly refuting everything we'd received as family truths from the previous speakers. It was exhausting and exhilarating and beautiful and horrifying. It was everything you could ever hope for in a block-length class.

I've described the nominal objectives of the course. The real object, as far as I can tell, was to defeat, discourage and disillusion all of our silly notions about universal truths or justice. We learned that truth is liquid, there is no justice in conflicts, and, well...life is tough. I think I speak for all of us when I say that we had a smashingly good time. The class's final projects, prepared over a frantic last weekend, reflected the creativity that the exploration inspired. We turned out a newspaper, a Web site, a poem, and several expert summations of the ambiguous nature of the matter. In other words, not one of us did the assignment, which was to draft a formal policy recommendation.

I'm actually glad that this article is as late as it is. I've had time to read Cadillac Desert, the authority on water issues in the West, and I can appreciate even more the week in Durango. In the year and months since leaving school, I've only just begun to yield the harvest of my education.

Thank you Mark and thank you Colorado College.

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