CU UNLIKELY TO REPEAT 4/20 PHOTOS

BOULDER -- University of Colorado officials aren't sure that a
tactic used April 20 to discourage an annual pot-smoking celebration
on Farrand Field worked well enough for an encore next year.

About 2,500 people attended the annual, unofficial celebration of
marijuana use, and officials arranged for participants to be
photographed at the event at the closed field that was marked with
40 "no trespassing" signs.

About 250 photographs were posted on the University of Colorado
Police Web site, along with the promise of a $50 reward for
subjects' identities. Students who were identified were referred to
the University of Colorado Judicial Affairs to face possible
disciplinary procedures for trespassing at the school.

"The thing is, it was overwhelming to us," said Barrie Hartman, a CU
spokesman. "We had no idea how many students would respond, calling
in and so forth."

Hartman said the judicial affairs office was flooded with cases from
the event. Rewards were to be paid out of any fines collected from
those identified.

A check of the Web site Tuesday night found the photos had already
been removed.

"The number of calls we are getting is winding down," said Lt. Tim
McGraw of the CU police department.

McGraw said about half of the people in the photos were identified.

Hartman said he expects that a "representative sample" of the
identified students will likely face school disciplinary procedures.
CU has a two-strike policy as a means of discouraging students from
breaking the rules outlined in the student code of conduct.

Students referred to judicial affairs may have their cases reviewed
and resolved by one of several kinds of administrative reviews or
heard by judicial affairs board, according to the CU Web site.

The board has at least one student and one faculty member. The
offense "information must demonstrate that it was more likely than
not that the conduct occurred."

Hartman said the university decided to use the photo tactic to
address the gathering to use an illegal substance without triggering
a serious confrontation with the large crowd of participants.

"We feel that as long as smoking marijuana is against the law we
need to react in some way, but we need to react in a ... restrained
way," Hartman said, noting that the crowd far outnumbered the
university's police force.

"From a pragmatic standpoint, our enforcement options are severely
limited on the scene," McGraw said of the possibility of ticketing
so many people.

University officials closed the field for the day to discourage the
event, but the signs were ignored. Last year, the sprinklers were
turned on at the field to douse the participants.

Hartman said he doesn't know what the university will do about the
gathering next year but said administrators feel that many people
would like the university to discourage illegal behaviors on campus.

"We're going to do as you guys to tell us what to do," Hartman said.
"We've run out of ideas."