THE ROCKY MOUNTAIN
Lory Student Center, Suite 118 Fort Collins, CO 80523
FOCO EVENTS TOP STORIES
NEWS: Chloe Cole visits CSU to share experiences, denounce ‘radical transgender ideology’ PAGE 5
LIFE: Color Run 5K supports international students, celebrates Holi at CSU PAGE 7
SPORTS: Where will he land?: Projecting Nique Clifford’s best fit in 2025 NBA draft PAGE 11
SCIENCE: Doctoral candidate’s machine learning assists in African leopard tracking PAGE 12
ARTS: CSU’s Sutherland Community Garden turns punk for 4th annual Fools Fest PAGE 14
OPINION: Student civic engagement in ASCSU elections is more important than ever PAGE 16
MEDIA: 5K Color Run PAGES 8-9
85th Annual Association of Western Forestry Clubs Conclave at CSU Logging Sports Field 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. April 2-4
Latin Night ft. The Latin Groove & DJ JC at Aggie Theatre 8-11:59 p.m. April 5
Rams Improv at The Comedy Fort 6:30 p.m. April 6
LETTER TO THE EDITOR
Letters to the Editor reflect the view of a member of the campus community and are submitted to the publication for approval. Readers may submit letters to letters@collegian.com. Please follow the guidelines listed at collegian.com before submitting.
Emma Adams is a local Fort Collins artist who specializes in abstract art March 29. Her art was on display March 29 and 30 at the Art Lab Fort Collins in Old Town, a collaborative and community-supported space for artists and creatives. “I love using color to communicate women empowerment,” Adams said. “Most of my paintings are focused on women. I think I’ve only ever painted a couple of male figures. I think color brings happiness, in a way, and I love doing textures, too.”
This publication is not an official publication of Colorado State University, but is published by an independent corporation using the name ‘The Rocky Mountain Collegian’ pursuant to a license granted by CSU. Approximately 59% of Rocky Mountain Student Media Corp’s income is provided by the Associated Students of Colorado State University (ASCSU) for the purpose of fostering student careers post-college and greater campus awareness and engagement. The Rocky Mountain Collegian is a 3,000-circulation student-run newspaper intended as a public forum and is printed on paper made of 30% postconsumer waste. It publishes every Thursday during the regular fall and spring semesters. TheCollegian publishes online Monday through Thursday. Corrections may be submitted to the editor in chief and will be printed as necessary on page two. The Collegian is a complimentary publication for the Fort Collins community. The first copy is free. Additional copies are 25 cents each.
CORRECTIONS
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ABIGAIL BURNS THE COLLEGIAN
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CAMPUS LEADERS
ASCSU Elections: Meet presidential, VP candidates Jakye Nunley, Joseph Godshall
By Laila Shekarchian @csucollegian
With campaigns for the Associated Students of Colorado State University elections for the 2024-25 academic year fully underway, The Collegian sat down with presidential candidate Jakye Nunley and vice presidential candidate Joseph Godshall to discuss their backgrounds, campaign platforms and future plans if elected.
Initially facing two other campaigns, Nunley and Godshall emerged as the sole candidates for office on April 1, when both other campaigns formally withdrew from the race.
Nunley is a sophomore studying business administration and currently serves as the ASCSU chief of staff.
Godshall is a junior studying political science and business and currently serves as the ASCSU director of public relations.
ASCSU election voting is open April 7-9.
Background, ASCSU experience, qualifications
Nunley: Stumbling upon ASCSU at the collegiate level, it was much different than how I experienced leadership in high school. Working in ASCSU, I’ve learned so much. I joined ASCSU as the deputy director of health, and I got to work under Jorja Whyte. One of the things that Jorja taught me was how to go so hard in ASCSU. Being a deputy director, you kind of adapted to the pace of your director, and my director was incredible. She was tenacious, and she worked hard. ... What it showed me was the standard of what it meant to work in ASCSU and facilitate that space.
As far as qualifications go, I could read you a long list of resume items or talking
“There is no ASCSU without students. The two are synonymous. One is not independent of the other. We are a ticket that realizes that there is no ASCSU without the function, the touch point, the framework being rooted in students.”
points that I would have for an interview. But instead, I’ll leave it with the quality of leadership itself, which is something that I’m forever indebted to and a leadership philosophy that I hold true to, that is well-massaged, well-oiled and well-cared for.
Godshall: My background is heavily based in ASCSU; I’ve seen the organization change. The first day that I stepped into ASCSU was the first day that I transferred onto this campus. ... It was my first time ever walking onto campus, my first time ever seeing inside the student center, my first time inside the senate chambers.
I worked as a senator for an entire year, and then I switched to the executive branch as the deputy director of DEI. This year I currently work as the director of public relations for ASCSU. I’ve seen the organization through many different eras and many different changes, and I think that I can pinpoint the areas where we need to grow and where we need to really focus our energy on.
I’m very heavily involved in campus life. I’ve been on the executive board of four different organizations since my time at CSU started, and those organizations represent a variety of different people, and I think that that experience has really helped me in growing a passion for advocating for students, especially when it comes to affordability and transparency among the university and then advocacy for the priorities of students to the administration.
Campaign platform, campus issues, priorities
Nunley: Our platform initiatives are centered around this idea of a unified CSU, a cohesive CSU and, ideally, a CSU that looks whole for students, by students. I think
that’s what makes our campaign so magical. ... We approached all of our policies, we approached the way that we thought about who should be on this team, we approached the way that we wrote the job descriptions for next year with this radical student framework. ... What I want to highlight is that it’s radical. It’s for students, by students, and it’s cohesive.
It’s integral for ASCSU to fight for affordability for students. We plan on attacking affordability not only by advocating at the state level and continuing contact with lobbyists, but in addition to that, we plan on starting conversations at this university about raising the wages that students get. We do realize that some of the work and the fruition of that work may not come to pass while we are in office, but if we can set the framework and the groundwork for what happens with student wage models this year, that’s what leadership is about.
Godshall: We established that one of the needs for campus was de-siloing the student experience and making sure that we weren’t just tailoring toward certain groups of people based off of what the time period is or what the season is.
ASCSU is supposed to be representing all students on campus at all times, and a cohesive CSU centers around students, and students center around ASCSU, so (we’re) really making sure that ASCSU returns to its roots of student service through the acts and the policies and the platform points that we’ve put together. I think it’ll really exemplify what our plan to transform campus is when you see the way that ASCSU is transformed through our administration.
ASCSU/student relationship, ASCSU future goals
Nunley: I love the quote, “You don’t know what you don’t know.” As it relates to student government, if students don’t
know, it’s because we haven’t told them and we haven’t made the outreach efforts. We outreach to different student groups during election cycles and campaign seasons, and then they don’t hear from us until the next administration is ready to come through and do that. A part of our platform initiative is this idea of the campus leader series. It’s this idea of keeping people connected throughout the whole year, and not only (through) relationship building but skill building for students.
There is no ASCSU without students. The two are synonymous. One is not independent of the other. We are a ticket that realizes that there is no ASCSU without the function, the touch point, the framework being rooted in students.
Godshall: There are some people that, when I say ASCSU, they have tons of opinions, but there are some people that don’t even know what we do. The normal, average, everyday students might not know anything about us, but they know that they’re paying money to us, and I think we really want to break that down and make sure that we’re representing the people who are attending this university.
We want to be known as the premier organization on campus to go to when you have an issue and you have a problem and you need to feel represented, and I think that that’s currently not being done well — not because of the organization itself but just because of the stigma surrounding it.
We’re hoping to really be there for our constituents so that they can begin to trust us when they begin to know us. From the day that we take office, (we hope) that we are representing every student and that they feel represented. And if they don’t know about us, that’s our fault, not theirs. Reach Laila Shekarchian at news @collegian.com.
JAKYE NUNLEY ASCSU PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE
2025 Associated Students of Colorado State University vice presidential candidate Joseph Godshall and presidential candidate Jakye Nunley pose for a photo March 25 PHOTO BY CAIT MCKINZIE THE COLLEGIAN
PEER REPRESENTATION
ASCSU senate race sees high number of Liberal Arts candidates
By Chloe Waskey @csucollegian
Students at Colorado State University
will elect new senators in the Associated Students of CSU election that runs April 7-9. This year’s candidate pool for representatives from the College of Liberal Arts is abnormally large, with a whopping 15 students running for the five available seats.
“There were zero senators running in last year’s election altogether across the board,” ASCSU Elections Manager Garett Lopez said.
The senate comprises representatives from each college and Cultural Resource Center, with the number of seats determined by the student population in each respective college. Senators are responsible for drafting legislation and influencing the allocation of ASCSU funds — decisions that directly impact the student body.
“People of all backgrounds and identities have representation of some kind within the senate,” said Hayden Taylor, current speaker of the senate and College of Liberal Arts senate candidate. “I think one of the biggest things that senate does is we have about $100,000 that we can allocate to anything that we want, and so we’ve seen funding of lots of amazing projects on campus.”
Typically, if there are not enough candidates running for senate, representatives for each college are
appointed by their college’s leadership council. These councils consist of ASCSU senate representatives and other students who choose to participate.
Lopez said this pattern of appointing senators contributes to students’ apathy toward student government, with last year’s election garnering votes from only 11% of the student population.
“The appointment process is only meant to fill vacancies, except for in the last several years, there have been very, very few or no senators at all running for election,” Lopez said. “I think this is really something that contributes to low voter turnout.”
Vice Chair of the Elections Committee Lauren Davis said students are most concerned with affordability and protecting diversity, equity and inclusion policies from potential damaging federal initiatives.
“Keeping tuition rates low and making sure that CSU and Fort Collins itself is affordable is incredibly important because you can’t have student retention if a student can’t afford to live at or pay for CSU,” Davis said. “The other thing that I’ve heard that’s really big right now is (the) response to the federal administration and a lot of the impacts that DEI has on the community.”
The 15 candidates running for College of Liberal Arts seats are: Ava Fricke, Annelise Dusterberg, Ashley Watts, Lucy Estergard, Marisol Villa, Kristin Hempelman, Ian Catcher, Gavin Burchett, Charva Jamison, Andrea Flores Pereida, Cecily Mash, Priscilla
LEGISLATIVE LEADER
Pauda Perez, Belle Hybertson, Aaliyah Hasan Rizvi and Taylor.
The Collegian reached out to all Liberal Arts senate candidates and gathered information from available online campaigns, but several candidates did not respond or did not have online campaigns that could be found.
Dusterberg, a candidate majoring in political science and zoology, said that as senator, she plans to address affordability, accessibility and sustainability.
“I hold a firm stance against the increase of tuition fees (and) will advocate for affordable education for all students,” Dusterberg said in a statement. “I also strongly believe in transparent budgeting, ensuring that all students know that their money is going back toward them and their education.”
Several other candidates also mentioned financial transparency in their campaign, including Watts, Catcher and Taylor.
“The investments and private equity owned by CSU is not currently public,” Catcher’s campaign website reads. “This along with their plans to fight back against DEIA, how much of our tuition is going to where and how the school intends to deal with the current presidential administration need to be made public. Without transparency, we cannot trust the CSU administration, and we all deserve to have trust in them.”
Beyond financial transparency, Catcher also aims to reform how technology fees are allocated within
the College of Liberal Arts, advocate for larger class sizes and lobby the state government on key issues.
Watts, a political science major, plans to use lobbying to create state change as well.
“I want to continue to support the great lobbying work ASCSU does at the state Capitol,” Watts said in a statement.
“I want to support ASCSU’s missions of keeping textbook costs and tuition low, as well as introducing new topics we can lobby on.”
Watts’ campaign also advocates for financial transparency, more robust academic resources and more tools geared toward career development.
Jamison, a music, theatre and dance major, is focused on uniting the student body above all else.
“When I am in main campus classes, it is clear just how disconnected our students are from others within their same college despite evident interest in wanting to find commonalities,” Jamison said in a statement. “I believe this incredible opportunity to run for senator in the College of Liberal Arts is key to bringing all voices to the table when having discussions concerning our students.”
Students can vote for senators within their college in the upcoming election through RAMWeb. Like last year, the system will utilize a ranked choice voting method.
Read the full version of this article at collegian.com.
Reach Chloe Waskey at news @collegian.com.
ASCSU Elections: Meet speaker of the senate candidate Brooke Reese
By Sam Hutton @csucollegian
With campaigns for the Associated Students of Colorado State University speaker of the senate for the 202526 academic year fully underway, The Collegian sat down with candidate Brooke Reese to discuss her platforms, backgrounds and goals for ASCSU. Reese is the current speaker pro tempore in senate, having previously served as a senator for the College of Veterinary Medicine and Biomedical
Sciences and as vice chair of the Internal Affairs Committee. She is running uncontested in this year’s race for speaker of the senate.
ASCSU election voting is open April 7-9.
Background, ASCSU experience, qualifications
Reese: I have a lot of leadership experience outside of ASCSU and CSU. I am a political science and neuroscience student, and I have facilitated youth trainings on leadership theory since I was 16. I was also a very involved Boy Scout. It’s silly a little bit, but when I joined ASCSU, it was something that I saw a lot of issues with, and I was confused on why certain things that I felt should be happening weren’t happening, and I wanted to be a part of facilitating solutions that will better serve students like me and students like the people on my team — the senate — which represents the overall student body. I think my experience as speaker pro tempore has prepared me greatly for this position, first in terms of team development. Previous to this position, (Hayden Taylor) and I respectively
served in the Internal Affairs Committee, Hayden (as chair) and the vice chair, me. But being in these positions, specifically knowing the senate as intimately as I’ve been able to and assisting Hayden, has really prepared me to take his initiatives a step forward but also further introduce those of my own.
I know the senate as well. Within the speaker pro tempore position, I’m meant to be a liaison between my branch and other branches, legislative cabinet and senators, being a friend for senators but additionally being the speaker’s right- and left-hand man. So I think in being everyone’s best friend this year, I am uniquely equipped to understand not just what the senate wants but what the senate needs and what we could do collectively.
Campaign platform, campus issues, priorities
Reese: It’s something that’s repeated every year, but I think it ultimately breaks down into outreach and transparency but, furthermore, accountability on both of those ends. Within my positionality this year, I’ve been able to produce tangible solutions to some of our
problems. ASCSU has been known to be a hostile environment in the past, but with the introduction of things like onboarding, we’ve seen a distinct shift in culture. If senators are empowered to do their jobs — if senators are aware of their powers — senators and associate senators are the most powerful people within ASCSU.
Senate has the unique capacity to work bottom up, and I think within my experience this year, in the trust that I’ve established with the senate, and furthermore, my general leadership ability, I can utilize my team, and senate is my team. Addressing transparency (and) addressing outreach cannot be solved by one person. It would have to be solved by the senate within its entirety. And in that, I think I have the ability to facilitate the conversations and the strategic game-planning toward more outreach that will lead to more transparency. Currently, it’s codified that hours (spent) in senate count toward office hours. That’s something that I’d look into amending, not to put more work on senators or associate senators’ plates; I think that they should be compensated, and that’s something that I talked to Jakye (Nunley) about today. But office hours have a distinct purpose. Office
hours are meant to facilitate outreach. Office hours break down into three things: professional development — to help us as representatives — outreach to our constituencies and being a team player for ASCSU. That’s what office hours are for. So for senate hours to flood into that and not be their own respective things dismisses the purpose of office hours.
As soon as I found out I was running uncontested, I opened up a copy of the bylaws to start editing. Our documents are inaccessible in how they’re currently formatted. The job descriptions for each of the respective positions within the legislative branch, but as well as our due diligence to other branches as described in our constitution, don’t make sense. They’re convoluted, they’re contradicting and they’re nomadic. Definitively, the bylaws, I plan on making a lot of revisions to. But in that, I also plan on having the senate read out the bylaws in their entirety so that everyone knows exactly what their powers are. At the beginning of the year, we start on that same page.
Read the full version of this article at collegian.com.
Reach Sam Hutton at news @collegian.com.
Senators of the Associated Students of Colorado State University raise their hands and placards to approve a motion to continue allowing students to speak on their experiences during a senate meeting Feb. 19.
PHOTO BY CAIT MCKINZIE THE COLLEGIAN
2025 Associated Students of Colorado State University Speaker of the Senate candidate Brooke Reese poses for a photo March 31. PHOTO BY CAIT MCKINZIE THE COLLEGIAN
CULTURAL DISCOURSE
Chloe Cole visits CSU to share experiences, denounce ‘radical transgender ideology’
By Sam Hutton @csucollegian
Conservative political activist
Chloe Cole visited Colorado State University March 27 to discuss her experience as a gender de-transitioner and advocate for concrete measures to prevent minors from obtaining gender-affirming care.
Cole was born female before transitioning between the ages of 12 and 16. Following her de-transition over three years ago, she has appeared as a guest on Fox News and with popular conservative influencers Charlie Kirk and Jordan Peterson. She is also the first de-transitioner to be invited to the White House, attending President Donald Trump’s signing of an executive order that recognizes two genders at the federal level.
Cole’s visit to campus was organized by the CSU chapter of Turning Point USA, which advocates for free markets, people and speech, in addition to limited government.
Held in the Glover Building, security for the event was tight, enforced by officers at each lecture hall exit and a strict no-bag or water bottle policy. Event organizers also noted the event was intentionally made ticketed so
disruptors could be removed, if necessary. Approximately a dozen demonstrators adorned with pride flags stood outside the building’s east entrance.
The demonstrators had left the area by the conclusion of the event.
Following an audience prayer, TPUSA Chapter President Ben Kolb briefly addressed attendees, encouraging a civil response to Cole’s detailing of her experiences and discouraging any purposeful disruptions. Kolb also acknowledged audience members who likely disagreed with Cole, commending them for seeking out alternative political perspectives.
“This is not just someone who is giving an opinion,” Kolb said. “This is a story of someone’s own personal experiences in life, and I ask that to be respected. ... If you are here and you are someone who disagrees with us, I actually want to thank you for being here.”
Cole then took the podium, first speaking on the feelings and experiences that led her to pursue a medical transition. Cole said her natural feelings of adolescent insecurity and experience with sexual abuse were only manipulated by her teachers and doctors. Cole took puberty-blocking medication and received testosterone injections before undergoing a double mastectomy.
“In reality, there was nothing that was actually wrong with me in the first
State University’s
place,” Cole said. “I was a normal yet tomboyish and creative young girl who was experiencing challenges that I didn’t know how to face. Instead of just being given space and guidance and maturing through what should have just been a minor speed bump in my life, I was given powerful drugs and rushed into irreversible procedures.”
In contending that “woke ideology” fills a spiritual and social void for mentally ill and manipulated young people, Cole expressed pity for members of the transgender community, adding that her experience gives her more insight than most. Cole, who described herself as autistic, said she believes young people with autism and other related disorders are more likely to identify as transgender, leaving them vulnerable to medical manipulation.
A 2020 study from the National Center for Biotechnology Information supports Cole’s argument on the surface, finding people who don’t identify with their assigned gender identity are more likely to exhibit autismrelated behaviors. However, the study acknowledges that the data draws on correlation rather than causation, stating, “It is unclear if rates of autism and other neurodevelopmental and psychiatric diagnoses are elevated in transgender and gender-diverse individuals compared to cisgender individuals.”
de-transitioner
Cole also acknowledged her own experience as a transgender man, which she described as “engulfing every single source of meaning I had.”
“Some (transgender people) after (these events) have said, in their own words to my face, ‘I will die before I de-transition,’” Cole said. “They’re not referring to other people killing them; they’re threatening to commit suicide because they choose not to handle basic reality. This is not the behavior of people who are either mentally healthy or have basic agency over themselves.”
Cole then focused on ongoing next steps at the federal level to stem the “radical ideology flood” that she described as having swept the country over the course of Trump’s absence. Cole said she believes Trump’s time in the White House has moved the needle toward common sense in American politics, citing numerous executive orders and 26 states enacting bans on medical and/or surgical genderaffirming care for youth.
“Federal legislation is going to rip out this festering ideology from its roots completely, starting with parting the funding of these insidious children’s hospitals that once pledged to do no harm to their families,” Cole said.
Though there were no audience disruptions during Cole’s address, an anonymous attendee spoke during the
beliefs against
ensuing question and answer period. The attendee, who declined to give their name and quickly left the event, called into question Cole’s moral system, specifically highlighting her support of Trump.
“You’ve spoken frequently about how your relationship with femininity was challenged by the oversexualization of women and how that really affected how you felt as a young woman,” the attendee said. “I was just wondering, how can you support a president who is known as a ‘womanizer’ and been known to hypersexualize women?”
Cole, after a long pause and rumblings from the audience, responded by focusing on Trump’s actionable steps as president rather than his past controversies.
To end her address, Cole touched upon what she regards as the duty of Christians to support transgender members of society and lead them down a new spiritual path.
“Being compassionate does not mean that we have to lie on our faces and affirm or tolerate everything they say or demand of us,” Cole said. “Rather, we should tell them the truth. We should hold them accountable for their actions and help them to achieve true salvation.”
Reach Sam Hutton at news @collegian.com.
care
Colorado
Turning Point USA chapter invited
Chloe Cole to speak about her
gender-affirming
for minors March 27. “They see people like me as an existential threat because our stories challenge the narrative that they cling on to so rapidly,” Cole said. “Woke ideology, and in particular the modern transgender movement, has become a faith of sorts. For many, it fills a spiritual void.”
PHOTO BY KATELYNN ORTEGA THE COLLEGIAN
Color Run 5K supports international students, celebrates Holi at CSU
By Angelina Hamlin @csucollegian
On Saturday, March 29, Colorado State University’s International Enrollment Center, the Indian Students Association and the Office of International Programs collaborated to put on the 2025 International 5K Color Run.
Participants in white racing T-shirts congregated on the northeast side of The Oval before the race’s start time of 10 a.m. A loudspeaker played music while a registration table next to the check-in table allowed any last-minute runners to get in on the fun.
Mary Swing, an international admissions analyst working at the registration table, said 10 to 15 participants signed up on Saturday morning, which was fewer than in 2024. Total registration numbers were around 500, according to Nick Jurney, the assistant director of international marketing and communications at the IEC.
March 14 was the preferred sign-up deadline, giving participants the best chance of
getting their correct T-shirt size. It also gave them time to participate in the sticker challenge.
Relying on the honor system, sticker challenge participants walked or ran an average of 8,000 steps a day or more from the time they registered through the day of the race. The stickers cost $5 and were for sale at the race. Half of the proceeds from sticker sales went to the ISA.
The Color Run has been happening in some form at CSU since 2023. In its first year, it was just an internationalthemed 5K.
festival celebrating colors, love and spring, which was celebrated March 12-14 this year. Members also threw color powder at race participants as they ran by.
Sinha was a volunteer, throwing color at participants as they ran past her. She was one of the most color-covered people at the event, along with the other volunteers.
“I absolutely love it,” said Hazara Leon, a staff member at the OIP.
“I absolutely love it. It’s a great way for our students, like our international students, to show us their culture in a fun and outdoors way that connects really well with Fort Collins.”
HAZARA LEON OFFICE OF INTERNATIONAL PROGRAMS STAFF MEMBER
“There (were) a lot of conflicts around the world,” Jurney said. “(The race) was branded as the Run for Relief, so it was a way for us to directly support students on our campus whose home countries were being affected by conflict.”
For the past two years, the ISA has helped guide core aspects of Holi, a Hindu
“These are all my friends, and we’re having a lot of fun,” said Swetam Sinha, a secondyear doctorate student and a member of the ISA. “We didn’t get a chance to celebrate Holi when it was during the Holi day, but this is good.”
“It’s a great way for our students, like our international students, to show us their culture in a fun and outdoors way that connects really well with Fort Collins.”
The event was popular with both serious runners and those just wanting to have a good time and get colorful, like Avery Ciccarone, a CSU senior who said she wouldn’t normally consider herself a runner.
While many of the race’s participants were CSU students, Jurney estimated that around half of the participants were from the larger Fort Collins community. Parents jogged with babies and toddlers in strollers,
young children bounced around the color powder station trying to get as colorful as possible and even older couples with their dogs took part in the race.
The race started and ended in front of Laurel Hall before following the CSU Homecoming 5K route, heading south and west around campus before circling back to The Oval.
Eighty cents of every dollar that participants paid in entry fees — which were $15 for CSU students and kids under 12 and $30 for adults — went to international enrollment scholarship funds. International students don’t qualify for much of the financial aid that is available to domestic students, as most of that aid is offered by the federal government.
“We come across some students who really need $1,000 or $2,000 to make their goal a reality, so this fund kind of helps us fill those gaps for students who just need a little bit of extra help to get over the finish line to ensure that they can come to CSU,” Jurney said. “So that’s been really rewarding and powerful for us in our office.”
The IEC and OIP are hoping to continue the fun by making the race an annual event.
Reach Angelina Hamlin at life@collegian.com.
Participants run in Colorado State University’s third annual International 5k Color Run on The Oval March 29. The Indian Students Association alongside the International Enrollment Center and Office of International Programs hosted the run.
2. Participants dash from the starting line to begin the race. The race started at 10 a.m. on The Oval and about 500 people participated.
3. Amanda Graff gets ready to throw paint powder at runners. The 5k was organized to celebrate Holi, which is often referred to as the Hindu festival of colors, love, equality and spring. Organizers handed out specialty paint powders for attendees to cover themselves with.
4. A runner gets blasted with several paint powder clouds. Attendees who chose not to participate in the race threw paint powder at runners as they passed by.
5. Participants line up at the start of the Color Run. Eighty cents of every dollar spent in entry fees were allocated to CSU international enrollment scholarship funds. “We come across some students who really need $1,000 or $2,000 to make their goal a reality, so this fund kind of helps us fill those gaps for students who just need a little bit of extra help to get over the finish line to ensure that they can come to CSU,” said Nick Jurney, IEC assistant director of international marketing and communications. “So that’s been really rewarding and powerful for us in our office.”
6. Sara Anne Tompkins runs past attendees throwing paint powder. Tompkins is the associate dean for student services for CSU’s Graduate School and is an associate professor in the department of psychology.
7. A participant stretches out his arms while he runs through a cloud of paint powder. The race began and ended at Laurel Hall and featured designated color powder checkpoints along the route for runners to be splashed in color.
8. A shirt covered in paint powder is worn by participant. This participant wore a sticker to indicate they participated in the race’s sticker challenge. Prior to the event, participants could purchase a sticker for an additional $5, which meant they committed to a pledge of walking, running or jogging an average of 8,000 steps per day before the event. Half of all sticker challenge proceeds were donated to CSU’s ISA.
7 8 6 5
All photos by Garrett Mogel
1.
NEW LEADERSHIP
Ali Farokhmanesh aims to build on CSU men’s basketball foundation as head coach
By Michael Hovey @michaelfhovey
Times are changing.
Since Colorado State men’s basketball introduced its new head coach, Ali Farokhmanesh, the program has officially entered a new phase. Addressing the media at his introductory press conference March 28, Farokhmanesh reflected on the journey that brought him to this moment.
Having grown up in a coaching environment — his parents were women’s volleyball coaches at Washington State — he was surrounded by high-level competition from an early age. He recalled watching his parents’ teams make deep postseason runs, which shaped his own coaching aspirations.
Farokhmanesh steps into the role following Niko Medved’s tenure, inheriting a program that has gained national recognition. His transition comes at a pivotal time, as CSU prepares for its move to the Pac-12 and faces increasing competition in college basketball.
Despite the challenges, he has a strong connection to the university, built over years as an assistant coach. Athletic Director John Weber and the program did a quick search for other potential candidates following the job opening but soon selected Farokhmanesh. While the hiring process was thorough, it reinforced his belief that CSU was the right fit for him as a head coach.
“From a basketball perspective, (Farokhmanesh has) an elite basketball
STEPPING UP
IQ; (he is) an elite recruiter, an elite developer,” Weber said. “We’ve got three players in the league now. Three of the last four years, we got a player in the league, and it is just an unbelievable opportunity to keep that kind of talent here at Colorado State and continue to grow on the foundation that we’ve got.”
Weber and CSU clearly liked what they heard from the former associate head coach, and he certainly had the support of the players and the Ram community. Various people rallied on social media in the days leading up to Farokhmanesh’s confirmation, with some dubbing the hire a no-brainer.
The continuity earned with an in-house hire seems natural, as it can strengthen the bonds within CSU’s system, and that’s what the new head coach emphasizes. With the transfer portal open, many wonder how he plans to retain key players — many of whom made an appearance at his introduction ceremony.
“There’s not really a pitch,” Farokhmanesh said. “It’s a family thing. I’m going to show up for them, they’re showing up for me and that’s established from culture. And that culture is what’s driven from top down, but it’s lived every day by the people that we bring in. And that’s the character (of) kids we’re going to bring in because, at some point, the best teams are player-led, and when they can drive the culture, once we establish the culture, that’s what creates a winning program.”
Family has been a key theme in Farokhmanesh’s coaching philosophy, both in his personal life and on the team.
He credited his wife, Mallory, for her role in keeping things organized within their own family and expressed his intention to maintain a close-knit team atmosphere, similar to what Medved established.
During his speech, he acknowledged the accomplishments of the current roster, particularly their ability to exceed expectations despite early-season struggles. Following a historic season in his last game as assistant coach, Farokhmanesh has something to aspire to and surpass. He highlighted the team’s perseverance and unity as core values that will continue to define the program.
Farokhmanesh also recognized the coaches who helped shape his career, particularly Medved, who gave him a significant opportunity at CSU. He recalled their first meeting in Northern Iowa as a pivotal moment in his coaching journey.
“But the biggest thing (about Medved) is (that) he set me up to learn about the things I didn’t know about,” Farokhmanesh said. “In terms of meeting people, how you talk to people, when do you need to go say this ... and then treating people the right way. And knowing that, like, this is a people business, and that’s the only thing that matters. It always will be the only thing that matters. And that’s what I learned from Niko, is people. And it sounds simple, but when you keep it simple, good things happen, too.”
Looking ahead, he expressed his confidence in the team’s future, emphasizing a commitment to both on-court success and community engagement. Farokhmanesh stressed
that the program will continue to build strong relationships within Fort Collins and maintain a presence beyond basketball.
In a changing NCAA landscape, building lasting relationships is harder to achieve. The transfer portal will make four-year program players rarer, but Farokhmanesh’s commitment seems sincere.
While coaching transitions often come with uncertainty, Farokhmanesh made it clear that he, too, is invested in CSU for the long term. He mentioned turning down other opportunities in favor of staying with the program and waiting for the right time to step into a leadership role.
His approach moving forward will focus on assembling a coaching staff that understands CSU’s culture and recruiting players who align with the
program’s values. In that, he’s already succeeded in retaining assistants Ken Deweese and Tim Shelton. Their more personal relationships are similar to Farokhmanesh’s, and it’s clear he’s trying to build from within to help players manage the new collegiate sports environment.
“I didn’t have anybody DMing me or texting me when I was 22 to start the season,” Farokhmanesh said. “(The players) see that every day, and that’s hard to go through. And we’re there for them, and that’s why I wanted coach Deweese to stay. That’s why I wanted coach Shelton to stay, is because they feel the same way that I do. They care about the character of (the players), and they want to be there for these guys, too.” Reach Michael Hovey at sports @collegian.com.
CSU women’s club lacrosse strives for inclusivity, growth, competitive spirit
By Joe Demyanovich @joedemyanovich
The Colorado State women’s club lacrosse team is redefining what it means to be a student-athlete at the club level. Through a combination of open communication, a focus on team culture and a commitment to balancing academics and athletics, the team has fostered an environment where players thrive between the lines and beyond the game.
At the heart of that environment is coaching built on honesty, fun and retention.
Lauren Job, the team’s coach, stepped into her role unexpectedly this past January after the team found itself without a leader. Despite her lack of prior coaching experience, Job quickly established a philosophy centered on transparency and positivity.
“My coaching philosophy is about having an open relationship with everybody and being upfront and honest,” Job said. “We talk about expectations straight up from the beginning of the season. Playing time is earned through practice and showing up.” One of her key challenges has been
player retention, a common issue at the club level, wherein participation is voluntary.
“The hardest part is keeping people engaged throughout the whole season,”
Job said.
To combat this, Job focuses on making practices enjoyable.
“We all pay to be here, so I keep drills fun and high energy,” Job said. “It’s about making everyone excited to come.”
Her efforts have already yielded results.
“This year, the team dynamic is different,” Job said. “There are no cliques, and everyone is friendly with each other.
That’s a huge achievement.”
From a player’s perspective, it’s all about friendship and growth. For players like Kylie Robinson, the club team offers the perfect balance of competition and camaraderie.
“It’s pretty similar to high school sports but at a higher level,” Robinson said. “We’re not training to win the NCAA tournament, but we still want to win every game.”
Robinson emphasized the social benefits of being on the team, which have made balancing academics and athletics manageable.
“A lot of my friends are on this team, so practices feel like hanging out,” Robinson said. “Even with 18 credits a
semester, it’s been fine.”
Her most memorable moment? A thrilling overtime victory against Arizona at the Santa Barbara Shootout.
“It was awesome to come out and play our hardest as a team,” Robinson said. “It showed what we can do when we communicate and work together.”
Strong leadership and a clear vision define the captain’s role. As team captain and president, Tish Boys has played a pivotal role in shaping the team’s culture. Her biggest challenge came early in the season when the team was without a coach.
“Stepping in as a captain but also a coach on and off the field was definitely difficult,” Boys said. “It’s hard to allocate positions when you’re also playing.”
Boys said she believes that empathy and communication are the most critical leadership qualities.
“You have to understand everyone and read the field, even when no one’s talking to you directly,” Boys said. “We communicate often, and we’re always together. It’s not unnatural for us to talk things out.”
Looking ahead, Boys is focused on improving the team’s reputation and retention.
“We had kind of a bad rep for a while, but this year’s new team has changed
that,” Boys said. “I hope to extend this culture and bring in more players next season.”
Looking ahead, the program’s future is full of potential. Job, Robinson and Boys shared optimism about the team’s future, with Robinson pointing to growing interest in the program.
“We had double the amount of freshmen come out this year compared to previous years,” Job said.
For Boys, the goal is clear. “We want to keep building a culture where everyone feels included and excited to be part of this team,” Boys said.
As the CSU women’s club lacrosse team continues to grow, its emphasis on inclusivity, communication and fun ensures that it will remain a standout program for years to come.
Reach Joe Demyanovich at sports @collegian.com.
PHOTO COURTESY OF CSU ATHLETICS
PHOTO COURTESY OF HEATHER LEIGH RISSI
PRO PREDICTIONS
Where will he land?: Projecting Nique Clifford’s best fit in 2025 NBA draft
By Devin Imsirpasic @dimsirpasic
A day that basketball players dream of is coming soon for one of the Rams’ superstars.
Colorado State men’s basketball star player Nique Clifford is expected to be chosen in the upcoming 2025 NBA draft in June after a standout senior season.
Clifford led the Rams to their first Mountain West championship since 2003 and the round of 32 in the NCAA Tournament. Averaging 18.9 points per game, 9.6 rebounds per game and shooting 37.7% from 3 this year, Clifford has shown all the intangibles that make him a nifty NBA draft prospect.
As his collegiate career has come to an end on a high note — as well as the NBA season nearing an end soon — the creation of mock drafts have begun, with Clifford being named on most prominent early mocks for this summer.
In his pre-NCAA Tournament mock draft, Bleacher Report’s Jonathan Wasserman listed Clifford as the No. 19 pick, labeling him “one of the most versatile prospects in the country.”
Adam Finkelstein, a writer for CBS Sports, created a mock draft before the Sweet 16 round of the tournament. In this mock, he has Clifford going at the No. 15 pick, calling him “a complete stat-stuffer.”
A majority of recent mock drafts — all coming before the conclusion of the NCAA Tournament — project Clifford to land anywhere between the No. 15 pick and the No. 25 pick. However, the bigger question presented is: Where is the best landing spot in the NBA for Clifford?
As the NBA regular season nears a finish, teams prepare to know their draft position and which prospects they will have high on their draft boards. Diving into how the NBA may look next year, four teams present themselves as great fits for Clifford’s playstyle and his pro development.
Oklahoma City Thunder
The Thunder have clinched the first seed in the Western Conference and will finish as one of — if not the best — teams in basketball, making their 2025 draft pick position low.
Luckily for them, OKC owns the right to swap picks with either the Houston Rockets or the Los Angeles Clippers via a trade acquisition a couple of years back. Whichever team ends with the worse record and higher pick is who the Thunder will swap picks with, essentially giving OKC a mid-to-late first-round pick.
Oklahoma City is stacked with young talent and young stars, and that has been their formula for recent success. Clifford
will enter this year’s draft at age 23, which is about the same age as a lot of key pieces of the Thunder’s rotation.
This is also what contending teams such as OKC do: They draft experienced rookies to help win.
Clifford had a five-year collegiate career, and he is no project by any means entering the league.
Clifford’s ability to create his own shot off the drive to the rim and even stretch out and knock down 3’s at a higher clip both fit how the Thunder play. With Shai Gilgeous-Alexander at the helm for years to come, Clifford can slide right in as a scorer off the bench to ease the load off GilgeousAlexander or as a plug-and-play option off the bench, where he can immediately contribute on both ends under Oklahoma City’s successful offensive and defensive schemes.
Indiana Pacers
Indiana is another team that looks to have a mid-to-late first-round pick this summer, and Clifford falls right into that range in most mock drafts.
The Pacers play a fast-paced, offenseheavy game wherein they could use Clifford’s downhill scoring presence to a large capacity.
Indiana plays around star point guard Tyrese Haliburton, and he creates open looks for his wings with ease. For Clifford, playing alongside Haliburton is a clear door to success at the pro level, as Clifford knows how to finish around the rim and run out in transition — exactly how the Pacers play and how Haliburton assists his teammates.
Clifford would assumingly be alongside wings Aaron Nesmith, Obi Toppin and Bennedict Mathurin, who all get easy looks and play off Haliburton. Add Clifford into that mix of wings, and he could have similar productive seasons those three have been having during their time with Indiana.
Minnesota Timberwolves
Minnesota made the Western Conference Finals in 2024 with a roster full of two-way players to complement star Anthony Edwards around the edges. As the Timberwolves lost some of those two-way players last off-season, they have fallen a bit below where they would like to be on the timeline as the season has gone on.
A way for Minnesota to build back a winning roster with two-way guys?
Drafting Nique Clifford. Clifford has all the intangibles needed to be a twoway guy in the league, and putting him on a team looking to win, such as Minnesota, is a great way to maximize his potential.
The Timberwolves would benefit from drafting an older rookie like Clifford, as they would immediately be able to plug him into the rotation, and he could just play a strict nightly role on
a Minnesota team that just needs little contributions all around the roster to succeed, as seen in 2024.
Clifford, once again, would benefit scoringwise from the attention Edwards attracts from defenses, and his length and size for the defensive end would certainly intrigue the front office of a Timberwolves team with big defenders like Jaden McDaniels, Naz Reid and Nickeil Alexander-Walker.
Add in what Minnesota has faced — and will be facing — with salary cap issues this summer; for the future, they can benefit largely from having a 23-year-old plug-and-play option like Clifford on a rookie contract.
Denver Nuggets
It might make just too much sense for Clifford to land back in Colorado, but maybe not.
The Nuggets have made it clear how they want to build their roster since winning the NBA title in 2023: keep the core guys on their big contracts and add the roster’s finishing touches with high-IQ young guys through the draft to lower the payroll.
With Denver having this clear roster-building strategy, Clifford would make a lot of sense for this team. A clear pattern from all four landing spots is that each team has a superstar that would make Clifford better as a role player.
And what better guy to play next to than three-time NBA MVP Nikola Jokic, who just makes everyone around him so much better?
The issue that follows Clifford staying in Denver in June is that the Nuggets do not own their first-round pick in this upcoming draft. Regardless, if an opportunity arises on draft night
wherein Clifford slips in the first round and the Nuggets have interest in him, trading up to select Clifford would not be surprising.
Just like what Denver has done with Christian Braun and Julian Strawther, Clifford would be an instant addition to a Nuggets rotation that has shown its lack of depth this season.
Clifford would excel in scoring around the rim, be a primary defender with his defensive skills and be a good spacer for a Nuggets team that could always use more shooting around Jokic.
As a Colorado Springs, Colorado, native who played college basketball at two universities in Colorado, staying home for his next career chapter would likely be surreal for the hometown kid and an absolute thriller for both CSU and local Nuggets fans.
Reach Devin Imsirpasic at sports @collegian.com
Nique Clifford (10) darts past Sebastian Akins (0) during Colorado State University’s basketball game against Denver University at Moby Arena Nov. 12. PHOTO BY AVERY COATES
3D TREATMENT
Anatomical advancements: Clapp Lab develops VR anatomy education software
By Katie Fisher @csucollegian
On the second floor of Colorado State University’s Health Education Outreach Center, 100 virtual reality headsets hang from retractable plant hangers in the immersive learning teaching lab. The product of tireless years of dedication and hard work, each hosts a cutting edge anatomic learning software produced by the Clapp Laboratory.
Bearing the namesake of Tod Clapp, the College of Veterinary Medicine and Biomedical Sciences associate dean of academic and student affairs, the laboratory’s focus shifted after the commercialization of Meta Quest headsets.
“My lab’s really focused on data visualization,” Clapp said. “In 2017, when we saw the headsets for virtual reality start to become commercially available, we started to look into, what do they do?”
Collaborating with technology consultant Brendan Garbe and software engineer Chad Eitel in the initial phases of the software’s development, the trio landed on developing a software for students to learn human anatomy, all in a 3D
FELINE DATA
space complete with true sensations of depth and scale.
“Our VR tools are designed for anatomy education, allowing students to interact with 3D models and volumetric data, such as CT and MRI scans,” Eitel said. “The stereoscopic capabilities provide depth perception and spatial perspectives, creating an immersive learning experience.”
Programmed in C#, with Unity serving as the game engine and Blender utilized for 3D modeling, the software can analyze any MRI or CT scan data and translate it into 3D images within seconds.
“We can put any medical image into the software within seconds, and we’re down to about five seconds where we render just about any MRI or CT (scan),” Clapp said. “So students will bring their CDs in from their imaging a lot just so that they can look at them.”
The algorithm is able to generate every unique image by stacking images into voxels, the 3D counterpart to a pixel. Eitel and the lab’s associates then engineered the program to search through each voxel for data points at even integrals to generate the best image possible, instead of searching through the data all at once.
Initial inspiration for developing the technology struck when Clapp noticed a gap in the virtual reality market.
“When we first started going to VR, we tried to buy a software suite, and we looked at several and we thought, ‘Well, gosh, none of these were developed by education, for education,’” Clapp said. “They were developed by engineers, and they were really interesting, but we couldn’t use them in an educational setting because I need tools in there.”
Once users don the VR goggles, they are met with a full kit of tools. From being able to rotate, volumize, shrink or flip a bod to pulling out specific body parts and flipping them from 3D to 2D renderings, students are offered a variety of ways to analyze human anatomy, all while their brains process the depth of anatomy in real-time — a target goal of the software’s stereoscopic engineering.
“When information is presented in VR, students are afforded a far more realistic rendering of the body,” said Sam McGrath, a research assistant. “And seeing a different image on each lens of the headset creates depth and dimension — key elements needed to truly conceptualize the body as it exists in nature.”
Current research from the lab investigating users’ biometric data, including heart rate variability and brain electrical activity, has illustrated the cognitive demands of learning from 3D content in contrast to 2D content. This research area is of particular interest to
biomedical sciences doctoral candidate Brandon Lowry, whose journey with the Clapp Lab began as an undergraduate research assistant in 2021.
“We’ve observed that students generally display a lower cognitive load — mental effort — when they interact with 3D learning methods,” Lowry said. “We believe this is due to how the 3D learning method mimics the ways in which students interact with the world every day.”
While the software cannot completely replace the process of learning anatomy from human cadavers, it signals a larger technologydriven shift in the medical education sphere. The combination of tradition
and technology often results in cutting-edge education for students.
“We know that cadavers are the best,” Clapp said. “The literature will say that upside down and sideways. But we also know that things are moving in a direction towards digital technology, so we needed to give our students both. We need to give them the cadaver experience that they need to make them exceptional, and then we need to be able to push them a little bit towards this technology side so that they also have an upper leg.”
Read the full version of this article at collegian.com.
Reach Katie Fisher at news @collegian.com.
Doctoral candidate’s machine learning assists in African leopard tracking
By Katie Fisher @csucollegian
While African leopards span the continent, inhabiting a variety of environments like grasslands, rainforests, deserts and savannas, their migration population changes can often be difficult to track — a difficulty that one Colorado State University student is working to change with
the assistance of machine learning technology.
Cheng Guo, an international student from China and a Ph.D. candidate in the department of electrical and computer engineering, is working to develop machine learning algorithms to increase the identification of these leopards. Her work focuses on analyzing image databases created from strategically placed camera traps deployed by field researchers in Africa.
A task still done by hand, placing the tracking cameras is a labor-intensive activity for conservationists.
“They capture these images during several years because the scientists need to place (the cameras), and after (a) few months, they collect the images and change the battery or the technology,” Guo said. “And then after one year, they repeat this process.”
Guo’s machine learning program draws from a publicly available database published by Panthera, an organization dedicated to “creating a world where wild cats thrive in healthy, natural and developed landscapes that sustain people and biodiversity,” as outlined on its website.
Guo’s algorithm operates similarly to facial recognition technology, with slight variations.
“(Animal tracking software) is very limited because most machine learning (does) the person tracking,” Guo said. “So we have a lot of video cameras in the world. We can track any persons (and) know where they (are) going and which way. But the animals, because we have a limited dataset, … the small group is working on that, but we want to do that because we want the group better.”
Guo is advised by Professor Anthony Maciejewski and Associate Professor Agnieszka Miguel, chair of the department of electrical and computer engineering at Seattle University.
Their findings were recently published in IEEE Transactions on Automation Science and Engineering, where Guo served as the study’s first author. Entitled, “Automatic Identification of Individual African Leopards in Unlabeled Camera Trap Images,” the paper outlines their sampling methodology.
“The algorithm was evaluated using the Panthera dataset that consists of 677 individual leopards taken from 1,555 images,” the paper reads.
Secretive in nature, the African leopard is often hard to capture on film, resulting in a limited number of images.
“(The algorithm has) a lot of training data, but currently for the leopard, you know, it’s a wild animal and elusive — very hard to capture,” Guo said. “So we have a very limited dataset.”
The dataset is fed through Guo’s machine learning program, which analyzes each image for physical characteristics unique to each African leopard pictured.
“We identify each unique spot pattern in the different leopards and use the algorithm automatically to estimate how many leopards (are) in the dataset,” Guo said.
The algorithm is designed to distinguish between the target animal species and other members of the local ecosystem and the natural environment.
“The cameras are automatically activated by motion or infrared sensors so that they may be triggered by moving animals, swaying vegetation or sudden changes in the weather,”
the paper reads. “Therefore, captured images not only contain a variety of animals but frequently consist only of rocks and vegetation.”
Publicly available on GitHub, the software is free to use and can be adjusted to map other species when trained on different datasets. When designing the algorithm, Guo specifically chose the program’s language to be accessible to the general public, including those with minimal machine learning experience.
“I use Python … for the machine learning because everyone uses (it to) develop a lot of programs, so you don’t want be coding them, just using them,” Guo said. “So the Python for me, it’s the most useful language.”
The algorithm, trained on a k-medoids clustering model, groups the various images together based on the measured degree of similarity between paired images — a unique feature compared to other programs on the market.
“This algorithm is different from other methods that assume all images in a dataset are from known individuals and thus regard the animal ID problem as a retrieval identification task,” the paper reads. “The clustering is performed based on the degree of similarity between all image pairs in the dataset with the result validated using an expanded definition of the silhouette score.”
Read the full version of this article at collegian.com.
Reach Katie Fisher at science @collegian.com.
PHOTO COURTESY OF THE CLAPP LAB
Ph.D. candidate in electrical and computer engineering Cheng Guo researches the development of artificial intelligence tracking technologies for African leopards in Colorado State University’s Adaptive Robotics Laboratory March 28. PHOTO BY SOFIA RAIKOW THE COLLEGIAN
FILM REVIEW
Bong Joon Ho does it again with hilarious, smart ‘Mickey 17’
By Gigi Young @csucollegian
Leave it to filmmaker Bong Joon Ho to take a wild sci-fi premise and turn it into something equal parts thrilling, hilarious and self-aware.
“Mickey 17” isn’t your typical existential, brooding space drama. It fully embraces the absurdity of its concept and runs with it. The result? A refreshingly offbeat and darkly funny sci-fi experience that somehow manages to balance big ideas with even bigger laughs.
The film follows Robert Pattinson as Mickey Barnes, an “expendable” worker on a barely functioning colony planet. His job? Completing ridiculously dangerous tasks that will almost certainly kill him. But no need to worry; every time he dies, a new clone pops out, memories intact, ready to go. While this setup could easily lean into heavy themes of mortality and identity — and sure, they’re in there — “Mickey 17” takes a different approach.
Instead of drowning in existential dread, it leans into the sheer absurdity of the situation. Watching Mickey slowly realize just how little his crew values him — and how casually they accept his constant deaths — makes for some of the funniest moments in the film. Think Harold Ramis’ “Groundhog Day” meets Douglas
Adams’ “The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy,” but with workplace incompetence and a lot more existential frustration.
Pattinson is the perfect choice for this role, effortlessly blending dry wit, exasperation and just the right amount of unhinged energy. At this point, Pattinson has proven himself as one of the most versatile actors out there, and in “Mickey 17,” he masterly walks the line between comedy and the film’s darker undertones. Watching him interact with other versions of himself? Comedy gold. Each successive Mickey gets more fed up, and Pattinson plays it perfectly, making the whole thing even funnier.
REMEMBERED
One of the film’s best running gags is Mickey’s growing irritation with the crew’s complete indifference to his wellbeing. Every time he dies and comes back, their response is basically, ‘Oh, cool, you’re back. Anyway, go fix that thing again.’ It’s sci-fi meets bureaucratic nightmare, and Pattinson’s increasingly exasperated expressions alone are worth the price of admission.
Mark Ruffalo’s role is absolutely hilarious as Kenneth Marshall, Mickey’s oblivious and condescending space leader — basically every overbearing, clueless boss you’ve ever had but with control over an entire space mission. And the way he plays it? Full of exaggerated bravado, nonsensical
decision-making and an inflated sense of self-importance. He talks in vague, overconfident statements, refuses to take responsibility for anything going wrong and constantly undermines his own team — all while insisting he’s doing an amazing job.
Watching Kenneth try to maintain authority over a situation that’s spiraling out of control — while barely acknowledging Mickey’s repeated deaths — is comedy perfection.
His interactions with Pattinson are some of the best moments in the movie, full of ridiculous workplace disputes over, you know, the ethics of constantly dying.
And then there’s Toni Collette as Ylfa, who is, unsurprisingly, outstandingly funny. She brings her signature sharp comedic timing, making every scene she’s in even better.
Visually, “Mickey 17” is stunning but not in the sleek, polished way most futuristic films go for. Joon Ho creates a world that’s messy, chaotic and full of weird, absurd little details — more corporate outpost barely holding it together than high-tech space station.
Think “The Office” meets deep-space survival and cloning technology. The clunky machinery, the grimy corridors, the general feeling that no one quite knows what they’re doing — it all adds to the film’s charm.
The cinematography and effects perfectly match the film’s playful-
yet-immersive tone. Joon Ho’s visual storytelling is as sharp as ever, making every frame interesting, whether he’s using dynamic camera work or playing with perspective when multiple Mickeys are on screen.
One of the best things about “Mickey 17” is that it never takes itself too seriously, but it also does not play into the too self-aware movie type that constantly winks at the audience. It acknowledges the ridiculousness of its premise while still making you invest in the story. Instead of making fun of sci-fi tropes, it has fun with them.
At a time when so many sci-fi films either take themselves way too seriously or get lost in convoluted plots, “Mickey 17” is a breath of fresh air. It’s weird, it’s funny and it’s just an all-around great time. Joon Ho once again proved he’s a master of blending genres, delivering a movie that’s both high-concept sci-fi and laugh-out-loud comedy.
With an exasperated — and hilarious — Robert Pattinson, a delightfully unhinged Mark Ruffalo and a world that feels like “2001: A Space Odyssey” if it had a sense of humor, “Mickey 17” is a must-watch. Whether you’re here for the satire, the action or just to see Pattinson argue with himself, this is a sci-fi movie that knows exactly what it’s doing, and that’s exactly why it works so well. Reach Gigi Young at entertainment @collegian.com.
‘Knowing Her’ art exhibit honors past, present of women at CSU DECADES
By Audrey Weishaar @csucollegian
On March 26, Colorado State University’s Morgan Library and Visual Arts building hosted a joint opening reception for the “Knowing Her: Women’s Work & Leadership at CSU, 1925-2025” exhibit. The exhibition aims to explore and raise the voices, stories and experiences of women and nonbinary people on CSU’s campus from 1925 to the present year.
Sculpture Professor Suzanne Faris and English Professor Tobi Jacobi collaborated to create this exhibition.
“We brought our different perspectives together to envision ways to present experiences shared by participants and historical narratives on work at CSU,” Jacobi wrote in an email.
Through combining the knowledge and expertise of two different subjects, Faris and Jacobi presented the voices and lived experiences of women on campus.
Interactive art installations including Expected, a pile of 8-ton blocks constructed from Colorado State University faculty documents, and Effort Distribution, made of interactive pie chart pieces, are arranged in the center of the Directions Gallery space and are informed by hung television displays that encourage spectators to pick up and move pieces of the art March 28. These installations are part of the “Knowing Her: Women’s Work and Leadership at CSU from 1925-2025” art exhibit, which focuses on women faculty members at CSU. The exhibit is located in the Directions Gallery in the Visual Arts building.
A Fraction of Notable CSU Women.”
The event offered snacks related to two of these women. In honor of Inga Allison, a home economics professor and department head who pioneered the study of altitude cooking, the gallery has a display of her Fort Collins brownies recipe. Apples were offered as a nod to Miriam Palmer’s wax apples. Palmer was an entomologist, horticulturist and scientific illustrator. Many of these women pioneers are still remembered today in the form of buildings, like Corbett Hall and the Palmer Center.
“Knowing Her” is a two-part exhibition project. The second exhibition is housed in the Visual Arts building, where the second half of the opening reception took place.
accessible to students, and more stories are able to be shared.
“Knowing Her” is first and foremost focused on community. By collaborating with multiple departments and classes, voices from all over CSU were able to be heard. This exhibition highlights the struggles and voices of women all over campus through beautiful and engaging art. Being able to both experience and partake in this exhibition creates a more engaging and personal experience.
The exhibition amplifies the voices of people on campus, and the Morgan Library promotes these ideas.
“We want to enhance the work of women at CSU but also make sure that people have a space, a little stage, for their opinion on what they see, what they read,” said Silvia Minguzzi, CSU Libraries designer and exhibition coordinator. Jacobi and Faris recommend that people take their time in these exhibits.
Next to Morgan’s Grind, the Morgan Library portion of “Knowing Her” hosts a variety of artistic mediums. A bookshelf highlights women authors from CSU, including works like, “Thinking in Pictures,” by Temple Grandin, “Standing in the Need: Culture, Comfort and Coming Home after Katrina,” by Katherine E. Browne and “Television at Work: Industrial Media and American Labor,” by Kit Hughes.
from and about women on campus and displays the weight of those responses. There are also interactive pieces that ask visitors to voice their own opinions.
A piece titled, “The Weight of Our Work,” takes written information
One very unique aspect of the opening reception in the gallery revolves around a piece entitled, “Ten Changemakers:
Inside of the Visual Arts building’s Directions Gallery, there are a few overlapping art pieces, such as “Ten Changemakers” and “She Is.” However, one of which is an interactive installation, Effort Distribution, which enables viewers to rearrange pie charts to better reflect their own experiences and efforts.
The opening reception was attended by CSU faculty, staff, students and other viewers who were intrigued by the exhibit and enraptured by the varied experiences and voices of women and nonbinary people on campus. By having two different host locations, “Knowing Her” is easily
“We recognize the complexity of the experiences represented in this exhibition, and we hope that the conversations that may result recognize that complexity,” Faris and Jacobi wrote.
“Knowing Her: Women’s Work & Leadership at CSU, 1925-2025” will be displayed in the Directions Gallery until April 18 and the Morgan Library’s small-scale exhibit until Aug. 15, free and open to the public for viewing.
Reach Audrey Weishaar at entertainment @collegian.com.
GRAPHIC ILLUSTRATION BY TRIN BONNER THE COLLEGIAN
PHOTO BY SOFIA RAIKOW THE COLLEGIAN
CSU’s Sutherland Community Garden turns punk for 4th annual Fools Fest
By Ruby Secrest @csucollegian
Colorado State University’s Lory Student Center hosted the fourth annual Fools Fest, giving a platform to the punk community in Colorado and bringing it to CSU’s campus. This year’s Fools Fest was held March 27, bringing five punk bands — local and regional — to the LSC’s Sutherland Community Garden.
Fools Fest is organized and hosted by KCSU, a student-run radio station that supports and advocates for local music in Fort Collins as well as alternative music genres in the community.
Euan Peart, KCSU’s station manager, took on the lead role for this year’s event, prioritizing the community as well as the integrity that Fools Fest has had in years past.
“It was pretty similar to how it was when it first started — very DIY and very punk,” Peart said.
While the event’s integrity and overall impression has stayed true to its roots, other aspects have changed for the better. Multiple sponsors, including RamEvents, Bizarre Bazaar LLC, Aggie Theatre and 830 North, made the event come alive.
Additionally, the Fort Collins thrift and vintage community has expanded, offering students places to explore and
enjoy between music sets. Molly Van Anne, CSU graduate and owner of the local vintage shop, bar and music venue Collective Vintage, worked alongside KCSU and other vintage vendors to provide an alternative option for those who wanted to be present for the event but not join in with the music crowd.
“I love being back on campus,” Van Anne said. “It’s a wonderful community. You get to see everyone you love and meet new people that you don’t know.”
This addition to Fools Fest fostered more inclusivity and allowed people to give the genre of punk a chance and connect with a potentially unfamiliar community. As both a genre and an aesthetic, punk can come with many preconceived judgements when, in actuality, it strives to cultivate a welcoming culture.
“Punk is not just an aesthetic or yelling on a stage; it is a movement,” said Mazzy Madeira, a member of the Denver punk band Dry Ice, which has advocated for the transgender community in Colorado.
“It’s inherently revolutionary, so if you’re not supporting your community or making a community at least at your shows, I mean, that’s what it’s all about.”
While its essence may be lost in translation at times, punk remains a movement dedicated to uplifting and supporting communities.
“When you’re playing your shows where a lot of community members (are) from all around, from the DIY community
to the trans community, music community in general, when a lot of those people come out to shows, it’s a responsibility to make sure they are taken care of and are safe and feel safe, especially since a lot of those shows are ways for people to make friends, find mutual aid connections and be a part of something bigger than themselves,” Madeira said.
This energy and sense of community was very much present during the event, which featured moshing, mingling and energetic performances.
Various subgenres of punk music were showcased as well. From Dry Ice’s Riot Grrrl performance and Slag’s noise punk all the way over to Plastic Forearm’s country-gone-punk style,
Fools Fest turned the LSC’s Sutherland Community Garden punk for a day.
“Everyone at KCSU is super proud of the show,” Peart said. “We are very glad everyone could come and are excited for next year.”
Reach Ruby Secrest at entertainment @collegian.com.
Hank Hatten sings and plays bass for band Choam Nomsky March 27. Hatten performed as part of KCSU’s fourth annual Fools Fest.
PHOTO BY RUBY SECREST THE COLLEGIAN
MARCELLO HERNANDEZ
Tuesday, April 22, 2025
Scan
LETTER FROM THE EDITOR
Student civic engagement in ASCSU elections is more important than ever
By Allie Seibel @allie_seibel_
Editor’s Note: All opinion section content reflects the views of the individual author only and does not represent a stance taken by The Collegian or its editorial board.
Let’s be honest — it has long been our generation’s responsibility to fix the wrongs of the previous generation, and now, with the United States more polarized than ever, civic engagement and responsibility has to start at the student level for any real change to be enacted.
Every year, the editor in chief of The Collegian sits down to write a letter encouraging the student body and our readership to vote in the upcoming Associated Students of Colorado State University elections. Every year, it feels almost like an ironic plea, asking a campus body that usually has minimal to no awareness of the players, personalities or responsibilities of student government to educate themselves on the importance of casting a vote.
We can reiterate it in these election season letters over and over again: ASCSU manages a budget of $57 million derived from student fees each year. Most likely they fund a club, organization, center or space on campus that you frequent. Their work at the state level advocates for lower
tuition costs and greater state resources for CSU students. They represent different voices and perspectives, and if they do their jobs right, their work should impact as many students as they possibly can.
But I know that sometimes such matters fall outside the scope of students’ attention spans, especially when the real-life political climate mirrors something out of a polarized dystopian novel. However, it is the current state of the political reality that calls for increased engagement in ASCSU elections and a more dramatic need than ever to make your voice heard.
And this year, circumstances took a turn for the worse in terms of student engagement, with only a singular speaker of the senate candidate and a pair of candidates for president and vice president dropping out of the race midcampaign season.
Such circumstances only lead to more feelings of helplessness and uncertainty surrounding student government’s adequacy. However, I implore you to engage in this year’s elections, regardless of the number of candidates.
Making your voices heard and communicating and interacting with the candidates for ASCSU leadership is the first and most important step to making sure that your voices, wishes and perspectives are heard on the student level. Engaging in this campaign season is the best way to
make sure that the change you want to see is made by ASCSU.
Limited options for president, vice president and speaker of the senate does not mean that student advocacy is not still alive and well. An unprecedented number of student candidates are running for senator roles, turning college council seats into a contentious political race, which is important to consider in the grand scope of student advocacy.
It might feel like ASCSU cannot make a difference, and it might feel like ASCSU sometimes makes too much of a difference with internal fighting, drama and politics. However, as the campus leadership community looks toward its first completely new administration in two years, it is more important than ever to make your decision about what the future of student advocacy should look like.
The political sphere might feel a bit like an echo chamber at the moment, but proper engagement and representation begins at the student level, and holding elected officials accountable for their promises also must begin at the student level, and that starts with public engagement, regardless of the number of candidates up for office.
Here at The Collegian, we pride ourselves on offering a hands-on, real life education experience for all of our reporters, which involves assuming a watchdog role over ASCSU. In the past,
this relationship has been contentious and loaded, with senators calling for student media to be defunded and even a professional staff adviser telling me that ASCSU purposefully used to push senate sessions to disrupt The Collegian’s deadline when we used to print recaps of senate sessions. It has taken effort from both parties to mend this relationship, and I think both organizations are proud of the place that The Collegian and ASCSU are in today. It is a space of collaboration, cooperation and deep understanding where we serve the same mission — one of civic engagement and campus education — and act as a resource to the
over 33,000 Rams who call CSU home.
So as we enter the voting period for this year’s ASCSU elections, I once again implore you, Collegian readers, to engage with your student representatives. I cannot say enough about the power ASCSU wields over your experience and your education at CSU.
In a time of rampant misinformation and distrust in the democratic process, it is important to look toward the future in terms of what kind of civically engaged generation we want to be, and it starts with advocacy and engagement at the student level.
Reach Allie Seibel at letters@collegian.com.
I’m skipping this year’s ASCSU election; they don’t support all students
By Dominique Lopez @caffeinateddee6
Editor’s Note: All opinion section content reflects the views of the individual author only and does not represent a stance taken by The Collegian or its editorial board.
Over the four years I have been at Colorado State University, I have only voted in one Associated Students of CSU election. Given the recent diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives that may be removed from the university without any input from students or the organization meant to represent us, I can confidently say that I won’t be voting in this year’s election either.
This isn’t because I’m a graduating senior who won’t be affected by the policies. Instead, I want to help create a future for a CSU community that actually focuses on what students believe is important. If the last few months have proven anything, the representatives we vote for don’t actually have influence, which is why I made the decision to withhold my vote in the ASCSU election.
While there are valid arguments for the importance of voting in elections, my biggest reason for choosing to disregard them is the lack of meaningful action in support of students opposing the policy decisions. ASCSU does help with funding for student organizations and the Cultural Resource Centers, which is important to students, but this isn’t ASCSU’s only role when it comes to student advocacy.
During the ASCSU senate meeting Feb. 19, students arrived in large numbers to voice their concerns about Amy Parsons’ response to the U.S. Department of Education’s Dear Colleague letter. Students were told by the senate leaders to continue doing what most of the people upset by federal policy changes in the United States are already doing:
contacting representatives. This failed to address the concerns of the very people ASCSU is supposed to represent.
“But knowing that I voted in the election last year, driven by the belief that voting is important, has sparked the following question: Do voting numbers really matter when it comes to influencing change?”
So if I am choosing to vote for a student representative, I would ask that they are more knowledgeable on the practices of how to best address concerns about DEI policies at CSU, rather than simply encouraging the status quo, especially when they are supposed to have closer connections to university
leaders and those who make these policy decisions on campus.
My decision to vote in the previous ASCSU election may not have been as conscious as the decision I’m choosing to make this year. But knowing that I voted in the election last year, driven by the belief that voting is important, has sparked the following question: Do voting numbers really matter when it comes to influencing change? Reflecting on my vote last year and seeing how this year’s outcome led to the loss of some very important aspects of my experience at CSU, it’s clearer to me that these elections don’t really do much for influencing change and establishing support on campus. I know and understand a lot of what ASCSU does in terms of budgets because I have been a part of The Collegian editorial staff for two years. So I understand that there may be policies ASCSU must prioritize. But knowing what students want and the connections that need to be made in order to support all students on CSU’s campus is important. And maybe then there would be a motive for me — if I weren’t graduating — to start voting again.
Reach Dominique Lopez at letters@collegian.com.
GRAPHIC ILLUSTRATION BY TRIN BONNER THE COLLEGIAN
The speaking podium of the Associated Students of Colorado State University senate chamber Jan. 31, 2024. PHOTO BY CAIT MCKINZIE THE COLLEGIAN
Rate My Professors isn’t accurate
By Emma Souza @emmasouza
Editor’s Note: All opinion section content reflects the views of the individual author only and does not represent a stance taken by The Collegian or its editorial board. As much as I love the second half of the spring semester — the warm and fresh weather boosts my mood, work ethic and overall vibe — registering for classes definitely brings unneeded stress to my already stressful life.
Not only am I sent into a vicious cycle of worrying about what classes I need and then worrying because they’re not offered, but I frequent one website more often than Canvas, Gmail or ChatGPT — jokes, jokes — combined: Rate My Professors.
The unspoken holy grail for college students, Rate My Professors is a database that allows students of any college to leave anonymous reviews about their professors. These reviews are supposed to provide a good basis and overview for students who want to know what a professor is like before taking a class.
In theory, Rate My Professors is a genius idea. Our professors and their teaching styles heavily impact the way we learn, for better or for worse. Students should register for classes in an informed manner, which includes knowing the teaching styles and methods of each possible professor.
But the reason this platform falls apart, in my eyes, is because it’s not all that accurate. Rather than being a constructive rating website that has a relatively equal number of good and bad reviews, I’d estimate that about 90% of them are overwhelmingly negative.
Some of the complaints are entirely valid. Every student has a right to their opinion and, therefore, the right to negatively review a professor they see fit. But similar to most reviews on a product, app or service, people are most likely to leave a review when they have a bad experience, not a good one.
Conversely, many reviews I see aren’t valid at all. I’ve seen complaints about attendance policies multiple times. This, in itself, is a valid thing to complain about, but then it’s explained that the professor allows up to four unexcused absences — two whole weeks of classes, mind you — and that was not nearly enough.
In case you’ve forgotten, we’re all paying to be here. If not us directly, maybe
our families or even the government, but the education itself certainly isn’t free. Four unexcused absences — not including excused absences — is more than generous and definitely not a valid reason to rate a professor two stars.
I’ve also seen a lot of overwhelmingly negative reviews about professors with accents. While accents can add a level of difficulty in classroom communication, there are many easy ways to work around that, such as adding extra detail to lectures available online or implementing a multimedia approach with videos or other interactive elements.
For this reason, I don’t think a professor having an accent is a big enough problem to significantly impact their rating. A poor teaching style, difficult curriculum or lack of adaptability on top of that is understandable, but we shouldn’t be tarnishing a professor’s indirect reputation merely because of the way they speak.
Will I continue using the website religiously? Yeah, probably. I take it with a heavy grain of salt, though, and encourage you to do so, too. To balance out all the reviews bitching about getting a D for missing eight classes, let’s start leaving positive reviews for the professors we love. They deserve as much attention as the professors we don’t.
Reach Emma Souza at letters @collegian.com.
“A poor teaching style, difficult curriculum or lack of adaptability on top of that is understandable, but we shouldn’t be tarnishing a professor’s indirect reputation merely because of the way they speak.”
STUDENT ORG MENU NOW AVAILABLE!
GRAPHIC ILLUSTRATION BY TRIN BONNER THE COLLEGIAN
PUZZLES
Sudoku
WEEKLY HOROSCOPE
By Sophia Masia
TODAY’S BIRTHDAY (04/03/25)
ARIES (MARCH 21 - APRIL 19)
It’s your season. You’ve been in a rut, and you’re over it. The frustration, the self-doubt, the lack of motivation — it’s all reaching a boiling point. Good! Let it push you forward. Take action, break out of your funk and step boldly into the next phase of your life. Get off the sidelines, Aries.
TAURUS (APRIL 20 - MAY 20)
You’re magnetic this week; don’t waste it. You’re feeling sensitive and maybe a little lonely, but isolation isn’t the answer. Your people are waiting for you to reach out, and I know you have at least four unanswered texts. Let yourself be loved, Taurus.
GEMINI (MAY 21 - JUNE 20)
If you need a moment to cry it out, journal or just disappear, take it this week. Your emotions are running high and you might just want to muscle through it, but it takes proper R&R to show up at your best in other
areas of your life. Take care, Gemini.
CANCER (JUNE 21 - JULY 22)
Your emotions are demanding to be felt this week — feel them, but direct them somewhere productive. Channel your joy, rage, anxiety, whatever it may be into your goals and passions. Sensitivity isn’t a weakness; it’s fuel if you use it wisely, Cancer.
LEO (JULY 23 - AUG. 22)
Ready for retreat? You’re typically the go-big type, but if your jokes aren’t landing this week, I’d suggest just going home. Sometimes the best move is to retreat before you overextend yourself. You don’t always have to be on, Leo.
VIRGO (AUG. 23 - SEPT. 22)
The planets’ chaos is no match for you. You can handle any situation thrown your way, but isn’t that so boring? Don’t miss out on your life trying to get it together. Joy is best experienced in the present. Imagine life beyond your to-do list, Virgo.
LIBRA (SEPT. 23 - OCT. 22)
The remedy for your current funk? A good outfit, a night out and the company of people who make you feel like your best self. Make plans, set the mood and remind yourself that
life is meant to be enjoyed. Romanticize your life this week, Libra.
SCORPIO (OCT. 23 - NOV. 21)
The universe just hit the pause button on your life, so take the hint. Solitude is calling, and you can thrive in it. Use this time to reconnect with what brings you joy — just for you, no audience required. This planetary timeout is a gift, Scorpio.
SAGITTARIUS (NOV. 22DEC. 21)
Pay attention to how you’re speaking to others — and yourself. Are you zoning out because you’re tired? Snapping because you’re hungry? The way you communicate needs a refresh, but it starts with taking care of your needs first. Don’t let burnout make you bitter, Sag.
CAPRICORN (DEC. 22 - JAN. 19)
You’re itching to move forward, but whatever you’re gearing up to do isn’t worth the fight it’ll take. If you want to spend your week hitting roadblocks, be my guest, but patience now will save you from unnecessary work later. Relax, Capricorn.
AQUARIUS (JAN. 20 - FEB. 18)
You’ve been sitting on something: an idea, a revelation, a truth you need to speak. The moment to share it is now. Even if people don’t get it at first, trust that they’ll listen. Hatch that brain baby, Aquarius.
PISCES (FEB. 19 - MARCH 20)
As a child, you probably learned not to touch the hot stove the hard way. Over the past 2.5 years, you’ve been burned in every area of your life. Let go of lingering illusions about love, beauty, pleasure and money this week. You’re wiser now, Pisces.
Last edition’s crossword solution
Last edition’s sudoku solution
“In this economy? It’s expensive to kill yourself. Has inflation hit the guns?”
“It’s giving war crimes in the group chat.”
“I get to wear the pants and the apron in this relationship.”
“When I said I liked it rough, I didn’t mean my whole life.”
“Sorry, I get my old white guys a little confused sometimes.”
“Well, it depends how much shit we talk.”
