Gov. Bill Ritter's new "climate change coordinator" seems to have quite a sense of entitlement. As The Denver Post revealed Sunday, former House Majority Leader Alice Madden of Boulder took a trip at state expense last summer to a conference in New Orleans after her work in the legislature was finished. She was term limited and wasn't running for re-election.

Madden participated in panels on climate change and energy in the Crescent City - presumably after a carbon-intensive flight. It figures.

This is the same person who, as I mentioned last month, once sponsored legislation to funnel $316,000 to an "energy and environmental security" project on whose board she sat.

By the way, Madden's recent appointment would seem to violate the plain language of Amendment 41, Colorado's draconian ethics law that voters recklessly approved in 2006. That amendment includes a "revolving-door" provision meant to keep lawmakers from cashing in on their experience and being hired to lobby or influence the General Assembly or any elected state official.

You might suppose that the authors of Amendment 41 meant only to restrict lawmakers from selling their credibility and clout to private interests. Perhaps so, but the amendment in fact makes no distinction between private and public employment. It simply says "No statewide elected officeholder or member of the General Assembly shall personally represent another person or entity for compensation before any other statewide elected officeholder or member of the General Assembly, for a period of two years following vacation of office."

Madden is taking a paid position to push climate policies with elected state officials and will thus have to ignore the ethics law.

Ah, you might well reply, that's all very interesting but didn't the governor flout Amendment 41 two years ago with a similar appointment? Yes indeed. He appointed former state Rep. Tom Plant as director of his energy office. Plant was arguably ineligible for the job until last month, when he passed the two-year mark since his legislative tenure.

Madden's case, however, is an even clearer breach of Amendment 41 because her salary is being paid not by taxpayers but by three private foundations - two of which espouse clear agendas on "sustainable energy."

In other words, Madden will be representing private interests with an ax to grind from her new advocacy post. And if that's not considered out of bounds under Amendment 41, then former lawmakers should feel free to accept lobbying jobs with oil, coal and utility companies, too, the moment their time in office expires.

Out of control at Mullen

"Mullen High School principal Greg Gotchey said . . . he didn't hear all of the [racial] taunts parents are saying they heard. However, he said he heard the 'Buckwheat' chant twice, and that each time he immediately ordered the students to stop."

- The Associated Press

Come again? The Mullen principal heard a racial taunt from some of his students when a black basketball player from another school stepped to the foul line and he merely ordered them to stop?

Why didn't he take down names the very first time (which reportedly occurred early in the game) and then eject the offenders from the premises? Zero-tolerance policies might amount to overkill on some occasions, but not when students are heaping racial ridicule on a guest in their midst.

Wouldn't Gotchey eject students for spitting on a player? Well, isn't that what they did?

And what are we to make of the fact that the principal ordered the students to stop taunting players and they blithely, openly defied him? Talk about a crisis of authority. Let's hope his word carries more sway around Mullen's precincts on other matters.

Vincent Carroll is editor of the editorial pages. Reach him at carrollv@RockyMountainNews.com.