An in depth breakdown of where your tuition goes | Page 5
Out for revenge
PAGE 8
Utah State hoping to atone for last year’s double-overtime loss
THE RO CKY MOUNTAIN
Fort Collins, Colorado
Thursday, September 20, 2012
COLLEGIAN
Volume 121 | No. 32
www.collegian.com
THE STUDENT VOICE OF COLORADO STATE UNIVERSITY SINCE 1891
Blane Harding talks CSU diversity
the
STRIP
By ELISABETH WILLNER The Rocky Mountain Collegian
At the end of the spring 2012 semester, Blane Harding, the director of Advising, Recruitment and Retention for the College of Liberal Arts, retired from CSU to become the Director of the Office of Multicultural Affairs for the University of Kansas. Thursday, Harding will return to CSU to present “50 years in 50 minutes,” a history of the Lory Student Center as a gathering place for social justice advocacy, tragedies and celebrations. His presentation will take place in the LSC Theatre from 12:10 to 1 p.m. as part of the annual CSU Diversity Symposium. Harding received his masters in history at CSU and worked at the university for 21 years, beginning as a professor and moving on to the dean’s office. He is also a diversity and multicultural consultant and serves as the National Chair of the National Academic Advising Association’s Multicultural Concerns Commission. Before leaving for KU, Harding spoke with the Collegian about the state of diversity at CSU. The following is a shortened version of the interview.
Collegian: What is the state of diversity at Colorado State University?
Blane Harding: [There is a] need to diversify the president’s cabinet. If you take a look across all of the deans and all of the chairs, how many diverse deans and chairs do we have? We have two diverse people in the cabinet: one is a part-time position and the other is the Vice President of Student Affairs … How many black faculty members do you think we have on campus? Probably 13 to 14. This semester (spring 2012) alone, three black faculty members are leaving the university… We don’t have to go into names, but I could name nine faculty administrators that are African American that have left this institution in the past five or six years. Nine. We only have 14.
See HARDING on Page 3
Robert Duffy: Politics, natural resources and energy policy expert
Kyle Saunders: Political parties, political behavior, elections, public opinion, issues and research expert
PHOTOS BY KATIE THOMPSON | COLLEGIAN
CLUB
POLITICAL SCIENCE SUPERSTARS John Straayer: Colorado politics, legislature and energy policy expert
By KATE WINKLE The Rocky Mountain Collegian The New York Times, the Denver Post, National Public Radio, the Washington Post and Al Jazeera descend on CSU political science professors with questions about every aspect of the state of the political climate. “In 2008, we were kidding at one point with the public relations people that I think we had done interviews with reporters on every continent except Antarctica,” said Robert Duffy, the political science department chair. Calls and emails inundate the political science department in the months leading up to the general election, and the requests mainly filter to three professors: John Straayer, Kyle Saunders and Duffy. Now the professors are gearing up for what Saunders calls “political science’s World Cup:” the November election. As the race gets closer the amount of media contacts increases to a frenzy. “There are times, especially during October and November of a presidential election year, when it can get a bit crazy …but, even then, it’s still a lot of fun to talk about these topics,” Saunders said in an email to the Collegian.
CSU political science professors provide expert opinion for the media
“One of the main reasons I chose this career was to educate people; working with the media is just another way of providing that service to people who want to learn about politics.” Each professor has his own area of expertise, and often refer the media to one another when contacted, according to Straayer. The 2008 election was a phenomenon that produced a deluge of media attention in Colorado, according to Straayer, most notably because it was the site of the Democratic National Convention. Typically, election years produce a steady stream of inquiries that arrive either directly to the professors or through CSU’s Public Relations department. Straayer likens the media’s discovery of expert sources to a chain letter. “Pretty soon you get one, two, three, four, five reporters calling you and your name pops up in USA Today or the New York Times or public radio and other people in media look at your name and put you in their rolodex,” Straayer said. “You do what you do and if people quote you and other people need a quote you end up on their call list.” At the height of 2008, Duffy said he and Saunders received 8 to 10 inquiries per week, and Straayer received many
more. This year Duffy receives about two to three inquiries per week, although that likely will increase as the election nears. “They still come and they’re going to keep coming,” Straayer said. Balancing one public duty with other commitments like teaching and research can be tricky, according to Straayer. Reporters would sometimes stop by his home to get an interview in 2008, and he had to learn to avoid phone calls right before class so he could focus on teaching. This year it is more manageable. “Reporters’ deadlines don’t always mesh with your own schedule and so you need to find a way to navigate that,” Duffy said. Though media attention can prove tiresome, it’s part of the job description of a professor, according to Straayer. “I’m happy to do it. It’s my obligation to do it. Is it some I started out looking for? No, not particularly,” Straayer said. “The world is better off, the United States is better off, if people when they engage in public activities such as voting they know what they’re doing. If we can in any way help to inform the public, I think that’s a good thing.” Politics Beat Reporter Kate Winkle can be reached at news@collegian.com.
RamRide is a good thing to have around, especially as mid-term weeks start to get more and more intense and having a few drinks on Friday becomes more and more appealing. However, the RamRide vans are not the most exciting cars to be driven around in. So, we’d like to suggest:
Cars we’d like RamRide to use
DeLorians
How cool would it be to be driven around in a DeLorian? There is not a soul alive that has not heard of Back to the Future — and not a single person who has not at some point imagined being in Marty McFly’s shoes. Besides, the dizziness and nausea that comes with excess partying can then be excused as a side effect of being too close to the Flux Capacitor.
Batmobiles
This should be a no-brainer. It’s a freakin’ BATMOBILE. In addition to being an incredible ride for the people who call RamRide, it would make the whole “traffic” problem a lot better. Given that the Batmobile from the most recent Batman movie is basically a tank, nobody in their right mind would get in RamRide’s way.
ASCSU
“If we get the freshmen involved with using and knowing about the program now, they will use it for the rest of their college career.” Beau Loendorf | (deputy director of RamRide Ride Return)
RamRide Return to host week of events to boost numbers By CARRIE MOBLEY The Rocky Mountain Collegian In order to combat a lack of students utilizing RamRide Return, the Associated Students of CSU is hosting an entire week of events dedicated to student outreach. The program — which drives students back to their cars on Fridays and Saturdays and is in its second year of operation — has seen consistently low numbers every weekend. In the last two weekends, RamRide Return serviced 18 students. RamRide was used by 515 students. Starting Sept. 23, the week of events is intended to educate students on the benefits
of using RamRide Return, according to RamRide Director Becky Ewing. “We really want this week to be about marketing the program and letting students know about the resources that are provided to them,” said Beau Loendorf, deputy director of RamRide Return. “We mainly want to focus on the education component this week.” Why would so many students take RamRide to get home on a Friday or Saturday and then not take RamRide Return to get back their cars the next day? “I think there are a lot of misconceptions about what RamRide Return is. We have some students thinking that it
costs money and not wanting to take it because of that,” Loendorf said. “In reality, its just like RamRide, but during the day. Its free for everyone.” Some students, however, consider it a matter of convenience to not use the program. “I’ve never used RamRide Return,” said Audrey Heintz, a biomedical sciences student. “That’s mainly because it’s just easier to have a designated driver out of your group of friends to drive you there and then drive back instead of going through all that.” The first day of the week will be spent targeting Greek Life organizations in order to educate their members about the service. The second day
WHAT IS RAMRIDE RETURN? RamRide Return is a service provided in conjuncture with RamRide to drive students back to their cars the morning after being driven home by RamRide The program is a fee-funded service that is free to all students
It operates on Saturday and Sunday from 8 to 11 a.m.
will be dedicated to teaching the SLiCE office and various other student organizations about the service. The next step, Loendorf said, is to target the residence halls. “If we get the freshman involved with using and knowing about the program now, they
will use it for the rest of their college career,” he said. Other events for the week will include a booth on the Lory Student Center Plaza, in which the department will survey students and get feedback on the program, and visit classrooms to talk to students before their classes begin. A RamRide Return flyer will also be given to every person who takes RamRide home this weekend. “This program was a great idea in order to help students get back to their cars,” Loendorf said. “Its downfall is that no one knows about it.” ASCSU Beat Reporter Carrie Mobley can be reached at news@collegian.com.
A Tardis
Okay we know that this is not “technically” a car, but bear with us. Sure it’s just an old-timey British police box, but it’s a lot bigger on the inside than it is on the outside, so it can hold infinitely more people. Since it too is a time machine, it can simultaneously exist in multiple places at once so it can’t ever “technically” be late.
The Strip Club is written by the Collegian staff and designed by Design Editor Kris Lawan.