The Rocky Mountain Collegian, Tuesday, November 27, 2012

Citizens United is a symptom, Amendment 65 an empty gesture | Page 5

PAGE 3

Second Half Surge Men’s basketball rides strong second half to beat UNC

THE RO CKY MOUNTAIN

Fort Collins, Colorado

Tuesday, November 27, 2012

COLLEGIAN

Volume 121 | No. 75

www.collegian.com

THE STUDENT VOICE OF COLORADO STATE UNIVERSITY SINCE 1891

the

Strong Finish Weak Record Jim McElwain’s first season at Colorado State a struggle. Rams finish 4-8.

STRIP CLUB

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Set Info to “Only Me”

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PHOTOS BY NICK LYON | COLLEGIAN

TOP: Jim McElwain walks off the field after a score in the fourth quarter of a game at Air Force Academy. The Rams finished the season with a win against New Mexico, and will walk away with a 4-8 record on the season.

RIGHT: Chris Nwoke powers through two UNLV defenders during a 33-11 win over the Rebels late in the season.

By ANDREW SCHALLER The Rocky Mountain Collegian Nearly a year after Jim McElwain came to CSU with promises of bringing a bold new era to Rams football, the CSU football team finished the 2012 season with a victory against New Mexico, and a marginally improved 4-8 record.

Through its ups and downs, there are a few things to take away from the season, while looking ahead to next year.

The Rams underperformed this season, especially early in the year.

Much was made of the

Rams’ victory against CUBoulder in the first week of the season, but that optimism slowly faded.

CSU lost its next six games, each by 10 or more points, and what looked to be a promising first season for McElwain quickly turned into the prospect of another losing year for the Rams.

Three victories in the final five games of the year salvaged a 4-8 record for the Rams, but it is clear for many involved in the program that the goals for 2012 were not met.

“I didn’t expect to only have this many wins,” McElwain said. “That’s unaccept-

able and that’s not in my vocabulary.”

Donnell Alexander will be the star of the offense next year The rushing attack for the Rams struggled throughout the season, managing to average 128.8 yards per game, good enough to rank No. 100 in the nation.

One bright spot in the rushing attack for the Rams, however, was the emergence of redshirt freshman running back Donnell Alexander, who started receiving more carries after Chris Nwoke went down with an ankle injury in week two.

Alexander made his mark

RAMS’ STRUGGLES IN 2012 Points per game: 21.17 (NCAA rank: 101) Passing yards per game: 210.17 (NCAA rank: 86) Rushing yards per game: 128.83 (NCAA rank: 97) Points allowed per game: 30.25 (NCAA rank: 78) Passing yards allowed per game: 203.17 (NCAA rank: 26) Rushing yards allowed per game: 202.42 (NCAA rank: 104)

on the offense later in the season, rushing for 100 or more yards in three of his final four games of the season, while averaging 4.98 yards per carry.

With Nwoke returning for his senior season next year, and Alexander coming back to play an increased role in

the offense, the future of the Rams’ backfield looks bright.

The quarterback position looks to be an open competition next year CSU shuffled through three quarterbacks this season: sophomore Garrett

For the first time in a decade, CSU will host sections from the largest community art project in the world: the AIDS Memorial Quilt.

Twenty 12-foot square panels will be on display in the East Ballroom of the Lory Student Center through Friday. Each panel has six to eight sections with a name and visual mementos from the life of a person who has died from AIDS. “Each of these individual panels represents an individual person and puts a face on and humanizes AIDS,” said Shauna DeLuca, assistant director of international initiatives for CSU’s office of International Programs. “It’s more than a statistic. There’s a person who’s lost and that’s what we’re still fighting for and it’s a great opportunity for us to educate the CSU community.”

CSU’s office of International Programs brought the quilt to campus to commemorate World AIDS Day on Dec. 1.

Seeing the quilt is a reminder that people are still profoundly affected by the disease and the fight continues to

ERIN MROSS | COLLEGIAN

Grant Sampson, 11, discusses images on the AIDS quilt in the Lory Student Center Ballroom Monday night.

raise public awareness and pay tribute to those who have lost their lives, DeLuca said.

Started in 1987 by the Names Project Foundation five years after the beginning of the AIDS pandemic, the quilt is a powerful visual reminder of the lives lost to the disease and is also used to promote AIDS awareness and HIV prevention education efforts.

The quilt includes over 48,000 panels stitched together by the families, friends and part-

ners of people who have died from AIDS. Over 98,000 individuals have their names and stories memorialized on the quilt.

Sections of the quilt travel across the country and are displayed in schools, churches and businesses. When pieced together, the quilt weighs 54 tons, spreads out over 1.3 million square feet and has covered much of the National Mall in Washington, D.C. Jeff Ogan, a junior zoology major, has volunteered to help

with the AIDS quilt while it’s at CSU. He said it’s a good opportunity to meet people who have been involved with the quilt and to use it as a platform to talk about HIV and AIDS. He added that many people in our community may be HIV positive and still not show symptoms and be healthy looking, so CSU students and community members can come into contact with someone with HIV or AIDS and not know it.

“It can be a sensitive issue and difficult to talk about,” Ogan said. “There are people out there who might need your support.”

Lauren Shulman, prevention director at the Northern Colorado AIDS Project, agreed with Ogan, saying that many people with AIDS and HIV in the United States can now lead healthy, normal lives and are integral members of the community.

“I think that people forget that in small communities, we probably run into folks every day that are living with HIV and we just don’t ever think about it,” Shulman said.

NCAP provides counseling and social services to 230 clients living with HIV in an eight

The old adage about not saying anything you wouldn’t want your parents to hear translates remarkably well to Facebook.

Silent people leak no embarrassing secrets.

See FBALL on Page 3

Patchwork with purpose, a quilt of personal struggles

BY AUSTIN BRIGGS The Rocky Mountain Collegian

Don’t Post Anything Private

DISPLAY SCHEDULE AIDS Memorial Quilt will be on display in the East Ballroom at the Lory Student Center from Tuesday, Nov. 27 to Friday Nov. 30.

A candlelight vigil along with guest speakers will take place Thursday, Nov. 29 in the Longs Peak room at the LSC at 6 p.m. to celebrate World AIDS Day.

county region in Northern Colorado, Shulman said. That’s about half of the total reported HIV cases in the region.

In spite of the advances in medicine allowing people with HIV and AIDS to live long, healthy lives and the increase in public awareness of the disease, there is still a “stigma and discrimination” piece that makes the subject taboo for many people to talk about, Shulman said.

“I think that’s one of the biggest barriers to getting tested, to talking about HIV,” Shulman said. “Forever and always, that’s one of the biggest issues with HIV so I think it’s important we highlight it.”

Senior Reporter Austin Briggs can be reached at news@ collegian.com

Don’t Use Facebook

Whether you are aware of this or not, you agreed to Facebook’s privacy policy when you signed up for a Facebook account. You also can’t argue about your privacy when you are essentially volunteering your personal information with Facebook’s service. So, to save your private information, just don’t get a Facebook page or deactivate your current page. It’s the best possible way to keep your information totally private.

The Strip Club is written by the Collegian staff.

2 Tuesday, November 27, 2012 | The Rocky Mountain Collegian

Community Briefs

fort collins focus

Dylan Langille | COLLEGIAN

Senior biology major Ben Reichenbach and senior English major Nicole Kalstein dance in the entryway of the Lory Student Center. The pair meets twice per week with their group, Jump and Jive Cats, a performance dance ensemble made up of Colorado State students and alumni.

Naropa University professor of Buddhist studies speaking Nov. 29

“A Christmas Story”

by CSU Theatre program runs through Dec. 16

Acharya Judith Simmer-Brown will be speaking this Thursday from 7 to 9:30 p.m. in the Lory Student Center (LSC), room 230. The title of the event is “Open Mind, Tender Heart: Buddhist Teachings on Compassion and Emptiness.”

Simmer-Brown is professor of Buddhist studies at Naropa University, and Dean of Shambhala Teachers’ Academy. She is author of “Dakini’s Warm Breath: The Feminine Principle in Tibetan Buddhism.”

The event is being organized by the Meditation and Buddhist Interest Club at CSU, who meet for a 30 minute meditation this semester every Tuesday at 5 p.m. in the East Atrium Room 114 of the LSC, and next semester every Wednesday at 4:30 p.m. in Room 210 of the LSC.

The University Center of the Arts University Theatre at 1400 Remington Street will play host to CSU Theatre program’s performance of “A Christmas Story” by Philip Grecian.

Based upon Jean Shepherd’s classic American 1983 motion picture of the same title, Director Laura Jones, CSU students and a slew of children from the “2012 Kids Do It All” Summer Music-Theatre program.

Showtimes are nightly Thursdays through Saturdays at 7:30 p.m. until December 16. Matinees are at 2 p.m. on December 2, 9 and 16.

Come see the Red Ryder BB gun, rich chocolate Ovaltine, the leg lamp and tongues sticking to flagpoles — the CSU Theatre department triple dog dares you.

-- Collegian Staff Report

Correction In the Nov. 26 article, “SWAT team, fire dept. deploy 15 min from CSU,” it was incorrectly stated in both of the story’s photo captions that a man at the center of a police standoff was arrested by authorities. In fact, he was taken into custody, according to police. The Collegian regrets its errors.

THE RO CKY MOUNTAIN

COLLEGIAN Lory Student Center Box 13 Fort Collins, CO 80523

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. The Rocky Mountain Collegian is a 10,000-circulation student-run newspaper intended as a public forum. It publishes five days a week during the regular fall and spring semesters. During the last eight weeks of summer Collegian distribution drops to 4,500 and is published weekly on Wednesdays. During the first four weeks of summer the Collegian does not publish. Corrections may be submitted to the editor in chief and will be printed as necessary on page 2. The Collegian is a complimentary publication for the Fort Collins community. The first copy is free.

Additional copies are 25 cents each.

Letters to the editor should be sent to letters@collegian.com.

EDITORIAL STAFF | 491-7513 Allison Sylte | Editor in Chief editor@collegian.com Nic Turiciano | Content Managing Editor news@collegian.com Hunter Thompson | Visual Managing Editor design@collegian.com Andrew Carrera | News Editor news@collegian.com Elisabeth Willner | News Editor news@collegian.com Kevin Jensen | Editorial Editor & Copy Chief letters@collegian.com copy@collegian.com Emily Kribs | Entertainment Editor entertainment@collegian.com Cris Tiller | Sports Editor sports@collegian.com

Kyle Grabowski | Assistant Sports Editor sports@collegian.com Kris Lawan | Design Editor design@collegian.com Nick Lyon | Chief Photographer photo@collegian.com Annika Mueller | Chief designer design@collegian.com

ADVISING STAFF

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KEY PHONE NUMBERS Newsroom | 970-491-7513 Distribution | 970-491-1146 Classifieds | 970-491-1686 Display Advertising | 970-491-7467 or 970-491-6834

Editor’s Note: News Editor Andrew Carrera interned with the Democratic National Committee in Washington, D.C. this summer. He has removed himself from all political coverage including writing, editing and discussions – this include’s the paper’s daily editorial “Our View.”

The Rocky Mountain Collegian | Tuesday, November 27, 2012

3

Colorado State prepares for the summer session

Courses have mainly stayed the same, but enrollment is impacted by Pell Grants

By Sean Meeds The Rocky Mountain Collegian Many opportunities are available for students to catch up to or move ahead of their peers during summer session — so much so that it’s causing CSU to offer more chances for students to enroll in summer programs.

Over the years, the course schedule for the summer session has retained 95 percent of the same courses. But in recent years departments have been adding new courses for students to take outside of the regular school year.

Some of the courses include Evaluation of Primate Behavior from the Anthropology Department, Farm

Animal Anatomy/Physics from Animal Sciences and Environmental Economics from Agriculture and Resource Economics.

One area of study that is utilizing the summer session is the Foreign Languages department. LSPA 105, 107, 200 and 201 are all Spanish Immersion Courses that allow students the chance to use their language skills outside of the classroom.

“They might go to a Hispanic restaurant and order their meals speaking only Spanish,” explained Barbara Gotshall, director for Summer Sessions.

While the courses give students the opportunity to utilize their skills outside of

campus, Gotshall said that there has not been a big turnout for the courses. She went on to describe the two big barriers that stand in the way of students enrolling in summer session.

“The largest barrier to summer school is students needing to work,” she said.

“The second barrier is financial aid.”

Gotshall explained that when Pell Grants were taken away in 2012, the program saw a four percent decrease in summer enrollment.

Gotshall also said that the program’s website needed revamping.

“We found that students were not picking up the paper registration forms but

were going to our website to look at classes,” she said.

“This year we are only allowing students to look at and register for classes online.”

There is one program that gives students the chance to earn credit even before they enter college.

The Bridge Scholars Program lets students who have graduated from high school spend eight weeks in the residence halls while enrolled in six credits hours.

“Faculty members were surprised at incoming students writing skills,” said Oscar Felix, Executive Director for the Access Center.

“We saw that high schools were not preparing students for CSU.”

fball |

Continued from Page 1

Grayson, senior M.J. McPeek and redshirt freshman Conner Smith.

After Grayson went down in week five against Air Force with a broken collarbone, McPeek started in three games going 0-3. Smith started in four of the final five games for the Rams, and posted a 3-1 record with him at the helm.

“I feel like I played okay throughout the year,” Smith said. “I couldn’t have done it without my teammates. Most of my success

Hunter Thompson | COLLEGIAN

CSU wins 16th straight home game over UNC Listening to players talk after the CSU basketball team’s 85-69 victory over Northern Colorado, you’d think they lost the game instead.

“We’re pretty disappointed in the way we came out tonight,” senior guard Wes Eikmeier said. “We got outtoughed, and that’s something we hang our hats on.”

Part of CSU’s lack of early fire can be attributed to the absence of senior forward Pierce Hornung, who sat out the game due to an illness.

“He’s the pulse of this team, and it kind of deflated us,” CSU coach Larry Eustachy said.

Northern Colorado lead by as many as seven points early in the game, and held onto the lead until sophomore Jon Octeus made two free throws with 6:43 re-

maining in the first half to put CSU up 26-24.

The Rams scored the final eight points of the first half to take a six point lead, and kept their foot on the gas for the remainder of the game.

Senior center Colton Iverson gave the Rams their biggest lead of the game with a two handed dunk that put CSU up 69-50 with 9:17 remaining.

Iverson recorded his third consecutive double-double with 18 points and 13 rebounds, and provided a presence in the middle that CSU lacked much of last season.

“It’s a luxury that we’re not taking for granted,” Eikmeier said. “Colton’s been great, Pierce has been great.

They’re the heart and soul of our team so far, and why we’ve been successful.”

That size has contributed to a decided rebounding

Balanced scoring Guard Dorian Green: 19 points Center Colton Iverson: 18 points Guard Wes Eikmeier: 17 points Forward Greg Smith: 14 points

edge for the Rams, who won the battle on the boards for the fifth consecutive game, pulling down 37 to UNC’s 28.

“I thought their size one through five wore us out a little bit on the backboards,” Northern Colorado coach B.J. Hill said.

Five CSU players scored in double figures as the Rams shot 53.7 percent from the field, and held Northern Colorado to 42.4 percent shooting.

Senior guard Dorian Green lead CSU with 19 points and seven assists, while Eikmeier scored 17 points in 27 minutes.

The Rams will take a day

“We receive students from Adams City High School and other Denver area schools,” he said. “We also get a lot of students from Greeley High School.”

Students in the Bridge Scholars Program are required to study in the evening from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m. every weekday while under supervision and are also given curfews. Felix calls it “academic boot camp.”

“It gets students used to the hours of study,” Felix said. “Many of them keep the skills as they get older and often come back to say thanks.”

Collegian Writer Sean Meeds can be reached at news@collegian.com.

Showed fans glimpses of what to expect in 2013

Men’s basketball

Jonathan Octeus (5) and Wes Eikmeier (10) dive for the ball against Northern Colorado at Moby Arena Monday night. With the win, CSU improves its home winning streak to 16 games, the seventh best current streak in the nation.

By Kyle Grabowski The Rocky Mountain Collegian

Felix said that this explains why the students are enrolled in CO 150 and SOC 100 to improve incoming students’ writing abilities while also exposing them to a typical lecture course that they can come to expect at CSU. The students who are admitted into the program must be first generation students who come from low-income families on financial aid. Furthermore, they must have graduated from schools that are not as academically rigorous or that are situated in neighborhoods that are not quite so affluent.

Felix said the program has partnerships with high schools throughout Colorado.

off Tuesday after playing three games in the last seven days, and plan to focus on the slow starts that have plagued them this season.

“When we come back to practice we’re really going to get after each other and realize that has been our weakness so far,” Eikmeier said.

“It comes down to us being mentally prepared from the get go.”

With the win CSU improves to 5-0 on the season, the team’s best start since 2005, but that doesn’t mean the Rams are satisfied with where they’re at.

“We’ve won two road games, we’re 5-0 and we get no recognition whatsoever.

None,” Eustachy said. “We’ve got a chip on our shoulder, and it’s motivating all of us.”

Assistant Sports Editor Kyle Grabowski can be reached at sports@collegian. com.

goes hand in hand with them. I’m fairly satisfied with it, but I feel like I could have done better.”

With Grayson coming back next year fully healthy, and Smith returning from the experience he gained this year, McElwain will have a decision to make when deciding who he wants to take the field as his starting quarterback to open the season next year against CU. Football Beat Reporter Andrew Schaller can be reached at sports@collegian.com.

Collegian

OPINION Tuesday, November 27, 2012 | Page 4

your two cents

10%

26%

6%

Yesterday’s Question: Did you participate in Black Friday?

58% No. 26% Yes. 10% Protested Walmart.

6% Plaid Friday.

58%

*31 people voted in this poll.

Today’s question: How would you describe this year’s football season?

Log on to http://collegian.com to give us your two cents.

This is an unscientific poll conducted at Collegian.com and reflects the opinions of the Internet users who have chosen to participate.

Rise of Festivus

By Bryce Liedtke

Christmas break is coming! Wait … that’s not proper form anymore, right?

Many rejoice in the designated birthday of Christ.

Others, the eight days of Hanukkah. Some, Kwanzaa.

The list goes on and on.

Regardless of affiliation, those celebrating a religious holiday over break, and I mean explicitly celebrating the religious element, have something new in common. They are becoming minorities.

Despite the U.S. being the melting pot of the world and having religious freedom, we have long been a country defined as holding “Christian ideals.” However, many indicators suggest this era is ending, if it hasn’t already.

Before people object to the idea that we are becoming a nation of heathens, let me be clear: That is not the implication.

How can we say with precision exactly how many people believe in what?

Well, we can’t, but we can observe large puzzle pieces.

In the last two years, for the first time, those with a church membership comprise less than half of the US population, about 48.8 percent, the Huffington Post reports.

Another telling trend: ABC reports that in 1972 only 7 percent of the population polled as nonreligious. That number is now 20 percent — 33 percent in regards to the under 30 demographic.

Who is this “none” group? Anarchists? Non-believers? Atheists? Nihilists?

Not quite. Most are simply those who don’t subscribe to any secular belief. In fact, the majority of this demographic believes in some kind of Supreme Being in one form or another, only 27 percent give a definitive “No, there is no God”.

What this means: Americans are becoming comfortable with the ever-wise admittance of “I don’t know.” Our nation is experiencing a steady inclination toward rejecting a singular and set ethos.

Spirituality in the US is far from the decline; instead, Americans are picking and choosing from the buffet of religion and philosophy at our disposal creating hybrids to further spiritual growth.

Nothing is more liberating than embracing our lack of knowledge, allowing us to be immersed in appeals to logic and moral integrity by everything from Islam to quantum physics.

Every CSU student at one point or another has witnessed some religious fanatic and staunch atheist in heated debate in the pla-

za. Personally, I find those who condemn non-believers and skeptics who label anyone of faith as stupid as equally annoying bigots.

One of the toughest aspects to the religion conundrum is the thought that cutting areas of modern relevance from archaic text will diminish ethical merit. Conversely, skeptics who hold moral codes derived from religion lose credibility amongst peers.

The trend we are now witnessing is, for me, one of the most seemingly logical moves society could make. It makes no more sense explaining the creation of the universe from a book written thousands of years ago than it would teaching children right and wrong by preaching natural selection and survival of the fittest.

Using a calculator won’t help me get over a breakup, and listening to Jeff Buckley doesn’t solve my calculus homework. Likewise, scripture cannot solve an energy crisis and the Hadron Collider will not reveal why we are here, although it might hint at how.

Americans at large are utilizing different tools — pious and intellectual — to develop dynamic beliefs instead of burrowing into one.

Disagree? Ask the Republican Party.

The Presidential election devastated Republicans. In regards to the number one issue of the campaign, the economy, Romney routinely polled better than his competitor, yet it wasn’t enough.

The party has seen their moderate voting bloc marginalized and, whether valid or not, are viewed as led by fundamental Christian-conservative ideals.

This perception caused the majority of independent and women voters to lean toward President Obama and his liberal stance on issues like gay marriage and abortion.

Republicans now face a crossroads. They either must choose to reform their social influence to encompass a majority that desires not only their freedom of religion, but also their policies’ freedom from religion, or they will perish.

Despite the increasingly large portion of the US who are not necessarily devout, a bulk of the nation still celebrates Christmas.

For this reason I argue that Festivus is the real official winter holiday of our country. We just don’t know it.

The celebration of Festivus, made famous by universally loved ‘Seinfeld’, includes the essentials of our traditional holidays: time with friends and family and a feast. So why not make it official? Who could be better to lead us into a new era of free thinking than the cast of the world’s greatest show? Happy Holidays.

Bryce Liedtke is a senior finance major. His columns appear every other Tuesday in the Collegian. Letters and feedback can be sent to letters@collegian.com.

our view

A better way to stop assault While Obama’s commitment to keeping 10,000 troops in Afghanistan until 2014 has been making headlines across the globe, another ongoing military issue deserves attention closer to home.

Since Nov. 16, Lackland Air Force Base in San Antonio, Texas, has been testing out a new policy to prevent sexual assault. Called the “wingman” policy, the strategy requires trainees to be with another trainee at all times. Basically, an Air Force trainee can never be alone on the base.

The wingman policy is a misguided attempt to stem a deep-seated problem in the military. According to the Department of Defense, 19,000 intra-military sexual assaults were reported in 2011 alone. Given the low report rate for sexual assault, these numbers can only scratch

the surface.

At Lackland, the wingman policy was instituted because of an ongoing sexual assault

“Though it attempts to stem the problem, the wingman policy places the responsibility on the wrong shoulders.” investigation at the base which began last summer. Twenty five instructors at the base are implicated with sexually assault, and 48 survivors have come forward.

Though it attempts to stem the problem, the wingman policy

places the responsibility on the wrong shoulders. Cadets, who have been the targeted group for sexual violence, should not also carry the burden of preventing the assaults in the first place.

Instead, the military should focus its prevention efforts on the group who has been perpetrating the violence: military training instructors. U.S. Reps.

Loretta Sanchez, Susan Davis, and Jackie Speier have recommended changing military measures to make it a crime for a supervisor not to report a sexual assault.

This would be a much better approach to the problem, since a permissive culture enables assault on military bases, not a lack of self-defense by cadets. The military must make sure that those who have built the culture are responsible for changing it.

The Collegian Editorial Board is responsible for writing the staff editorial, “Our View,” and for the views expressed therein.

Letters and feedback in response to the staff editorial can be sent to letters@collegian.com.

Allison Sylte | Editor in Chief editor@collegian.com Nic Turiciano | Content Managing Editor news@collegian.com Hunter Thompson | Visual Managing Editor photo@collegian.com

Andrew Carrera | News Editor news@collegian.com Elisabeth Willner | News Editor news@collegian.com Kevin Jensen | Editorial Editor letters@collegian.com

Emily Kribs | Entertainment Editor verve@collegian.com Cris Tiller | Sports Editor sports@collegian.com Kris Lawan | Design Editor design@collegian.com

Waking the world to the impending food crisis

By Malinda Debell

Future agricultural leaders of America and the world: I would like to bring to your attention the future problem that you will be faced with and a solution that can be initiated at this present time.

The population on the world as we know it is growing at an exponential rate.

The land and resources that are available for agriculture to utilize is decreasing.

The turmoil of today’s economy has resulted in a raise in the cost of energy.

It seems as people become more concerned with their food product, agriculture takes a hit in every possible way. This is dangerous, because as agriculture becomes more limited, there is a decrease in the amount of food that can be produced.

Agriculture is a commodity that life cannot go on without. With the many challenges that are brought against agriculture, an informative and reliable source of agriculture communication should be available to consumers through scholarly sources via Facebook, Twitters and various blogs.

The “scholarly” is where you come

in. As leaders and educated agriculturalists, it would benefit the agriculture industry to directly communicate to the consumers the accurate and reviewed information on agriculture through popular networking sites.

This would work for many reasons, notably because people today obtain more information and spend more time on Facebook, Twitter and blogs, making this area of communication a convenient and effective way to reach out to the user.

The popularity and trendiness of these sites is reason for the agriculture industry to utilize this communication technology and present a reliable and trustworthy source of information that can be easily and directly revealed to the consumer.

In addition, these networking sites give the consumer a direct way to voice their concerns or give advice on the food product or aspect of agricultural concern. Today, people are more aware and more attentive about the quality of their food product.

Presenting a way for consumers to easily obtain information that addresses their concerns can be a way that the agricultural community can reach out to their consumers and help answer their questions or receive feedback. Likewise, it is important to have the support of the consumer in order to fulfill the needs of the agricultural industry.

The last reason for this social networking intervention is that if more consumers are aware of the future food shortage, a more aware movement may begin to develop. This could result in consumers helping solve the problem by contributing ideas to finding innovations and technologies that could

help initiate change and avoid the impending food shortage.

Customer awareness of the problem may also allow agriculturalists to utilize technologies that have in the past been turned down or discriminated against because of consumers’ opinions or fears based on lack of proper education.

I challenge you to set up a Facebook or Twitter account not as Jane Doe; college graduate, loves cupcakes, hates doing laundry, but as Jane Doe; agricultural graduate, animal science advocate, blogger of real and accurate agricultural topics.

Create a professional account that you can use as a way to post scholarly information about agriculture, bring the information right to the people.

As a future leader, producer, farmer or rancher, you should make it your duty to directly connect and communicate with the world the many aspects of agriculture.

I am a future leader of agriculture and I plan to be a reliable source to help convey to the world how important agriculture is to the continuation of life.

As a future leader of agriculture you should feel the responsibility to provide this life sustaining industry with a voice and help it to stand up to question. I understand some people may personally attack you or challenge your facts, but this is one way to ensure that the population can continue to eat and survive.

Malinda DeBell is a sophomore animal science major. Her column appears every other Tuesday in the Collegian.

Letters and feedback can be sent to letters@collegian.com.

Collegian Opinion Page Policy

The columns on this page reflect the viewpoints of the individual author and not necessarily that of The Rocky Mountain Collegian or its editorial board. Please send any responses to letters@collegian.com.

Letter submissions are open to all and are printed on a first-received basis. Submissions should be limited to 250 words and need to include the author’s name and contact information. Anonymous letters will not be printed. E-mail letters to letters@collegian.com

Collegian

OPINION Tuesday Tuesday, November 27, 2012 | Page 5

Yays and Nays Yay |to the football team ending the season with a win. A 4-8 record sure looks prettier than a 3-9!

Nay | to Lindsay Lohan’s performance in the disappointing Lifetime movie “Liz and Dick.” What happened to the promising young actress we knew and loved in “The Parent Trap?”

Nay | to Justin Bieber wearing overalls to meet the prime minister of Canada. Come on, Biebs, don’t you know that a Canadian tuxedo is really jeans and a denim shirt?

Yay | to the ceasefire between Israel and Hamas. Hopefully this is the first step in restoring peace in a war-torn region.

Nay | to those annoying Facebook chain posts claiming that by posting it, you’re Yay | to the basketball team’s strong start. It’s pretty rad that they’re two weeks into the season and already have more wins than the football team!

protecting your posts. This is a lie. You signed your rights away the day you made your Facebook account.

Thankful for armpit hair after battling cancer

By Brooke lake

Over the past couple years I have developed a tradition of bringing international friends home with me over Thanksgiving break.

Highlights of the trip always include sharing a traditional meal from a foreign country, the Thanksgiving feast, fellowship with family and friends and the infamous Black Friday shopping.

This year, however, two of my dear friends from the Middle East, Amanda and Elnaz, decided to join me in celebrating more than just Thanksgiving.

My mother was diagnosed with breast cancer back in May of this year.

After six months of fighting, praying, crying, chemo, radiation, cards, scarves and a whirlwind of doctor visits my mother is done with her treatment —

she beat breast cancer.

The end of treatment for a cancer patient is undoubtedly significant, however it can be anticlimactic. One day you are fighting cancer and the next a doctor tells you you’re finished with treatment. You have reached the supposed end of your battle, but there is no momentous change in how you feel or look. The negative effects of treatment can still be felt, and the “look” of having cancer does not vanish.

A cancer survivor must see small changes as representative of larger victories.

Thursday came and my family and friends shared a quintessential Thanksgiving meal together. Muslim, Christian, atheist, Arab, American, Native American, old, young — this described the individuals who sat around my table on Thanksgiving. Yet despite all our differences in age, religion and culture, we partook in breaking bread and celebrating life together.

After we stuffed ourselves with turkey and mashed potatoes everyone went around the table saying what they are thankful for.

Like many families, this is a tradition that takes places every year around our table. Historically, my brother and I used this as an opportunity to say outrageous things in front of family members simply for shock value.

Typically the conversation goes a little

something like this: “I’m thankful for good food,” “I’m thankful for the gift of family,” “I’m thankful for lamp.” Then an awkward silence follows, confusion and finally snickering.

This year my brother and I were in no mood for joking during the activity — we had much to be thankful for, especially for the health of our mother.

Everyone was quite serious in their responses to the prompt. However, my mother’s answer as to what she was thankful for took everyone by surprise.

“I’m thankful for armpit hair!” She said with a huge smile on her face. As absurd as this statement sounded it was a sign of victory for my mother. Her hair was finally starting to grow back after losing it as a result of the chemotherapy.

Armpit hair means an end to “chemo brain,” heat flashes and fatigue.

It means she can watch her beloved Broncos play for years to come, eat normal food again and one day hold her grandchildren in her arms.

Armpit hair signifies triumph, moving forward, life.

I think Amanda’s thankful tort adequately summarized everyone’s mindset,“I’m thankful for the gift of life.”

Editorial Assistant Brooke Lake is a senior international studies major. Her column appears every other Tuesday in the Collegian. Letters and feedback can be sent to letters@collegian.com.

Guest Column As primitive as it is, hazing is a recurring theme in universities, as well as innumerable other social, professional and athletic institutions across the nation.

New incidents, be they physically violent, psychologically malevolent, or anywhere inbetween, consistently find their place in national news and prove to dismantle the reputation of the institutions and individuals involved.

However, institutions are only so vulnerable when they try to silence such reports in an effort to insulate themselves from reproach. Rather than transparency and honesty they choose to leave students in harm’s way.

Consider Robert Champion, the Florida A&M student and Marching 100 band member who was beaten to death by his fellows almost a year ago.

The band’s hazing rituals were known by band and university officials alike, who allowed them to continue relatively unchecked. It was this careless and despicable level of ignorance that allowed the Marching 100 to take things too far in the name of “tradition.”

Rather than making any serious effort to stop it, the university officials turned a blind eye under the assump-

tion that members’ behavior wouldn’t go too far. Rather than admitting their obvious fault, the university denies any responsibility, claiming Champion knew what he was getting himself into.

When it comes to any on-campus or campus-related activity, the university itself is the most powerful entity involved and so is incapable of indifference. Such a luxury is not available to the administration of a university.

By allowing behaviors to continue unchecked, the university implicitly condones them.

In incidents of hazing, this implicit allowance is accompanied by a complete disregard for students’ safety. A university that fails to actively prohibit such activities does so only for the sake of their own reputation.

Luckily, here at Colorado State, many officials are prepared to take steps to actively denounce hazing and quickly hold those individuals responsible. But this happens behind closed doors with the intent to keep incidents from becoming publicized; to protect the reputation of campus affiliated groups and CSU itself.

While this is done with no sinister intention on CSU’s part, it is a mistake

nonetheless. By promoting the perception that incidents — if uncovered — will be handled quietly rather than publicly, the university is eliminating the greatest motivating factor that serves to prohibit behavior: social condemnation. This process needs to be changed.

In addition to making hazing incidents public, there are additional policies that can assist in CSU’s efforts to prevent hazing on campus. Front-end policies like including anti-hazing education in orientation, training for all incoming students, and specific teambuilding exercises like rock climbing, backpacking trips, community service projects and similar activities are excellent alternatives and promote a healthy, respectful environment.

These options are easy to implement considering CSU’s excellent on-campus resources and proximity to the mountains.

An official anti-hazing policy is not enough, CSU. With a little effort and a little transparency, we can be a university that actively stands against hazing and protects its students, rather than quietly denouncing hazing behind closed doors.

Graeme Troxell, philosophy major

“We should be trying to end our system of corporatism and crony capitalism.”

Amendment 65, an empty gesture

By Kevin jensen

Amendment 65 was passed on Nov. 6 by Colorado voters in a resounding: "Hey please do something to reverse the 2010 Supreme Court Citizens United decision ... If you want to."

Sixty five encourages Colo.'s congressional delegation to create and support an amendment to the U.S. Constitution that seeks to limit spending by corporations and unions on political advertisements — but the amendment in no way actually does anything; it's purely symbolic.

No ballot measure can actually force Colorado’s congressional delegation or state legislature to propose or support anything at all.

This is why I voted against 65; I saw it as extraneous and worried that its broad language might encourage our representatives to implement bills that could restrict citizens' free speech.

Contrary to typical connotations, Citizens United v. FEC is actually a freedom of speech case, which determined that any organization may expressly advocate the election or defeat of a candidate.

As an inadvertent result of the ruling, Super PACs were created, enabling unlimited spending by unions, corporations and other organizations on commercials and other electioneering communications without any restraint.

In Richard Haen's Slate article, "The Numbers Don't Lie," he reveals that total outside spending jumped from $1.8 million in the midterm before Citizens United to $15.9 million in the midterm following it in 2010.

Similarly, Opensecrets. org shows that outside spending on the general election increased as well from $37.5 million in 2008 to over $1.3 billion this year.

Outside spending has seen a staggering increase, but I don't think this massive influx of organizations throwing their money at political elections is necessarily all bad — there's a huge plus here.

All of that money that would’ve otherwise been hoarded by profit-driven corporations is now being pumped directly back into the economy via commercials, signs, campaign employment, etc.

Colorado, a political battleground this last election, saw a ton of benefit to its economy as advocacy groups and Super PACs injected money into the state, fighting for time on the airwaves.

Yes, we had to suffer from an unrelenting slew of campaign ads, but how much effect did any of those ads have on you? In fact, as the race intensified and every single commercial turned political, weren't you even more likely to tune it all out completely?

But I guess it is too

much to simply ask the American people to wake up and stop being influenced by what they see on TV; political ads must have some effect, or else nobody would be spending the millions that they are.

I don't see why, though.

What's to keep the American people from collectively deciding to completely ignore all political advertisements? It seems common knowledge that they are all misinformation usually, or half-truths at best.

Which ads are accurate?

Assume that none of them are and do your own research. Then it won't matter how many ads are thrown at you, you won't get sucked in.

This is idealism, though, and no matter how many times it's reiterated, it probably won't take hold. What can we do to fix the corrupting influence of money in our system, then?

Any attempt to restrict free political speech to individuals would cause all sorts of uncertainty for media organizations, from the news to the movie and music industries — we'd have to arbitrarily decide which organizations get free speech and which don't.

Sixty five didn't actually do anything, but there's already legislation that could mitigate the negative effects of big money influence in our elections, hopefully without stymieing free speech.

The DISCLOSE Act would require independent groups to disclose the names of contributors who give money for use in political campaigns, and the Fair Elections Now Act would require candidates to raise a large number of small contributions to qualify for Fair Elections funding.

Would these two pieces of legislation help combat the overt influence of big money in our system? Maybe. Would passing them possibly have negative ramifications? Probably.

Will the DISCLOSE Act and Fair Elections Now Act tangibly alter our political system? Will they combat the quid pro quo donations, revolving door lobbyists and the underhanded, oligarchic corruption that is the basis of our government? Decidedly not.

The majority of the problem isn't that these organizations spend unlimited amounts of money on political campaigns, the real issue is that they get material benefits in return for their contributions.

Corporations, unions and organizations have massive incentives to lobby the government for all sorts of benefits: bailouts, subsidies, and preferential treatment.

We should be trying to end our system of corporatism and crony capitalism.

Let's demand an end to the preferential treatment, big government benefits and corporate welfare miring American taxpayers in debt.

This is what is incentivizing organizations to spend millions of dollars trying to influence our political structure, and this is what must be stopped.

Citizens United is merely a symptom of the underlying disease in our system.

Editorial Editor and Copy Chief Kevin Jensen is a senior English major. His column appears Tuesdays in the Collegian. He can be reached at kjensen@collegian.com or on Twitter @ kevinrjensen.

Collegian Opinion Page Policy

The columns on this page reflect the viewpoints of the individual author and not necessarily that of The Rocky Mountain Collegian or its editorial board. Please send any responses to letters@collegian.com.

Letter submissions are open to all and are printed on a first-received basis. Submissions should be limited to 250 words and need to include the author’s name and contact information. Anonymous letters will not be printed. E-mail letters to letters@collegian.com

6 Tuesday, November 27, 2012 | The Rocky Mountain Collegian

#Room-Antics

Daily Horoscope

Nancy Black and Stephanie Clement

JADE

TODAY’S BIRTHDAY (11/27/12). Revise your routine. Consider what’s most important, and set up practices for that. Health is a treasure. Add daily fun. Social life buzzes this year; relationships are your jewels. Romantic sparks heat the winter. Keep finances organized, as work intensifies next summer. Balance with play.

To get the advantage, check the day’s rating: 10 is the easiest day, 0 the most challenging.

Wondermark

Tim Rickard

Brewster Rockit

Rochelle Peeler

Meh Comex

Ctrl+z

Chelsea London

ARIES (March 21-April 19) ––7–– Don’t stop yet ... you’re so close! Keep playing the game, and beat the odds. Watch your language, but say exactly what you think. Gather strength from love.

TAURUS (April 20-May 20) ––9–– Love grows stronger in spite of restrictions. Be thoughtful of others. An unstable financial situation could lead to a financial revelation. Make sure you get your two-cents’ worth.

GEMINI (May 21-June 20) ––6–– Consider another location. Stand back to let your mate express her/himself. Finances are tight. And two plus two is still four. Don’t despair, there’s always tomorrow.

CANCER (June 21-July 22) ––7–– Your friends are there to help you dig for the treasure. Don’t fight, or sweat, over the small stuff. Listen to an older person. Follow your schedule.

LEO (July 23-Aug. 22) ––8–– The road to great communication is paved with good intentions. Play by the rules and prosper, but don’t spend what you haven’t got. Rely on your community for what you need.

VIRGO (Aug. 23-Sept. 22) ––8–– You’re tougher than you look. Be willing to play with others. The more you learn, the better you’ll understand the strategy. Meditate on it. Make another improvement at home.

LIBRA (Sept. 23-Oct. 22) ––7–– Your discipline and sense of balance come in handy now and are admired. Don’t sell yourself short. Keep checking the quality. A female joins you.

SCORPIO (Oct. 23-Nov. 21) ––9–– You’re breaking the glass ceiling, or at least pushing it open. Concentrate on the moment at hand, even if the progress seems slow. The depth of love given to you is revealed. Team members come to agreement.

SAGITTARIUS (Nov. 22-Dec. 21)––8–– Listen first, carefully, before jumping to conclusions, and avoid unnecessary upsets. Follow the schedule, prioritizing the projects that you love. Don’t forget to chop wood and carry water.

CAPRICORN (Dec. 22-Jan. 19) ––8–– Love is still in the air.

Take a deep breath, and let it all soak in. Acknowledge another person’s wisdom. Don’t let the circumstances distract you from your plan or your promises.

AQUARIUS (Jan. 20-Feb. 18) ––9–– For nearly four weeks, your ideas move forward rapidly. Another provides the right contacts. Be patient and understanding toward their ideas, it’s not worth the fight.

PISCES (Feb. 19-March 20) ––8–– Ignore rumors. Love empowers you and opens up new opportunities among the reigning confusion reigns. Keep yourself to high standards.

Voice your feelings.

David Malki

RamTalk

compiled by Kris Lawan I haven’t pooped since Thanksgiving. Fear is starting to set in.

Daily cartoons and games available at Collegian.com. Send feedback to design@collegian.com.

Overheard: “Please, she’s heavier than a Clark bathroom door.”

Man there is nothing worse than when you’re in the library and you squeeze out a fart all stealthily only to be approached by a girl five seconds later.

CSU: Where 4-8 means improvement.

Los Angeles Times Daily Crossword Puzzle Text your rants to 970-430-5547.

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Today’s RamTalk sponsored by:

Yesterday’s solution

Today’s Sudoku sponsored by:

Across 1 Pennsylvania city of about 100,000 5 Fabled blue ox 9 Tribe also called the Wyandot 14 TV warrior princess 15 LAX postings 16 Prefix with meter 17 Señorita’s love 18 Modernists, for short 19 News anchor Connie 20 Motor City’s state 22 Striped zoo creatures 23 Man, in Milan 24 Chili spice 26 Star footballer 28 Emergency levee component 32 Scottish hillside 33 To the point 35 Where Mandela was pres.

36 Tonsillitis-treating MD 37 London’s province 39 Medit. land 40 “C’est la __” 41 iPod button 42 Down Under greeting 43 Insistent words of affirmation 45 Deal with a bare spot, perhaps 48 Selfless sort 50 French cathedral city 51 Job listing of a sort 54 A cut above, with “to” 58 Two-time loser to Ike 59 Caesar’s 107 60 K thru 12 61 Glowing signs 62 Letters on a phone button 63 Scads 64 With 66-Across, one of five found in this puzzle 65 Caesar’s being 66 See 64-Across Down 1 Midterm, e.g.

2 Do followers, scalewise 3 Protects from disease 4 Batting helmet opening 5 Orono, Maine, is a suburb of it 6 Surveyor’s measure

Yesterday’s solution

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7 Bucking horse 8 Start of summer?

9 Access illegally, as computer files 10 “__ me, you villain!”

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The Rocky Mountain Collegian | Tuesday, November 27, 2012

Minn. man charged with murder

By CURT BROWN and PAUL WALSH The McClatchy Tribune

LITTLE FALLS, Minn.

— A 64-year-old man was charged Monday with murdering two teenagers who broke into his home on the outskirts of Little Falls, Minn., shooting each of them at close range in the head after having already wounded them.

Byron David Smith was charged in Morrison County District Court with two counts of second-degree murder without premeditation in the killings of Nicholas Brady, 17, and his cousin Haile Kifer, 18.

The criminal complaint says that Smith shot the two as they came down his basement stairs several minutes apart on Thanksgiving Day. The complaint adds that he shot them numerous times.

He then waited a day before asking a neighbor to alert authorities about what he had done, the document added. Smith showed investigators the bodies, was arrested and has remained jailed since.

Smith appeared for a 10 minute court hearing late Monday morning wearing an orange jumpsuit, his hands and feet in shackles. Bail was

set at $2 million, with the prosecution noting the defendant’s extensive travels to Beijing, Bangkok, Moscow and elsewhere overseas while he was working for the U.S. State Department.

In asking for the high bail figure, County Attorney Brian Middendorf said the incident was a case of cold blooded murder. “The circumstances are appalling and far beyond any self-defense claim,” he said.

Sheriff Michel Wetzel told reporters Monday afternoon that Smith explained to authorities that he didn’t call immediately after killing the two because “it was Thanksgiving. He didn’t want to trouble us on a holiday.”

As for whether Smith could be justified in shooting intruders, Wetzel said that a citizen does have to right to protect person or property, but it has to be reasonable.

What Smith did “went further than the law. It doesn’t permit you to execute once the threat is gone.”

Defense attorney Gregory Larson declined to comment after the hearing, saying he wanted more time to study the case.

About a dozen family members of the teens at-

tended the hearing.

One of Brady’s aunts, Sarah Schaeffel, said after learning of the details from the scene that “Nicholas was smart, and he knew right from wrong. Kids are kids, and they all do stupid things.”

Smith “could have just held them there and called police,” said Schaeffel, of Apple Valley, who is a sister to Brady’s mother and was not at the hearing. “The only people who know the truth are these two kids and the guy who shot them.”

At court in support of the defendant was friend John Lange, who said Smith had been targeted at least six times for break-ins and doesn’t deserve to be in jail for protecting his home.

“They tortured him and targeted him, and it’s not good,” Lange said. “One time alone would be too much. It’s terrible.”

The Sheriff’s Office said it has received only one previous report of a break-in at the home, in October, and there have been no arrests in that incident.

According to the complaint, Smith told investigators: He heard glass breaking around noon Thursday while he was in the base-

ment. It was the latest of several break-ins that he’s experienced. Brady started coming down the stairs, and Smith shot him with a rifle by the time he saw the intruder’s hips.

Brady fell down the stairs and was looking up at Smith when the homeowner shot him in the face.

“I want him dead,” Smith explained to the investigator for the additional shot.

Smith put Brady’s body on a tarp and dragged him to an office workshop.

A few minutes later, Smith heard footsteps above him. Kifer too started down the stairs and was shot by Smith by the time he saw her hips, sending her tumbling down the stairs.

Smith attempted to shoot her again, but his rifle jammed, prompting Kifer to laugh.

Upset, Smith, pulled out a revolver he had on him and shot her “more times than I needed to” in the chest, he said.

Smith dragged Kifer next to Brady as she gasped for her life. He pressed the revolver’s barrel under her chin and pulled the trigger in what he described as a “good, clean finishing shot” that was meant to end her suffering.

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8 Tuesday, November 27, 2012 | The Rocky Mountain Collegian

Fiscal cliff threatens scientific research

By Jane Stancill and Renee Schoof The McClatchy Newspapers CHAPEL HILL, N.C. — Scientists and inventors such as Joe DeSimone will be keeping an eye on the budget deal making in Washington over the next month, because if negotiators fail to steer the nation away from the fiscal cliff, automatic spending cuts will chop back federal support for scientific research.

“The lifeblood of this country is research and the economic development that flows from that,” said DeSimone, an inventor with his name on more than 130 patents and an entrepreneur who has launched several spinoff companies. “This economy is driven by innovation.”

President Barack Obama and congressional Republicans are negotiating to try to head off the “fiscal cliff” — the end of Bush-era tax cuts and the beginning of automatic spending cuts negotiated during the 2011 debt ceiling debate. Experts say the cliff could mean a new recession. Scientists say its impact could stunt innovation and the future of science in the United States.

Indeed, federally supported science, research and innovation also has resulted in many of the benefits society takes for granted, such as vaccines and lasers, said Steven Fluharty, senior vice provost for research at the University of Pennsylvania, speaking at a recent briefing on Capitol Hill.

DeSimone, who holds chaired professorships in chemistry at the University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill and chemical engineering at North Carolina State University, said the possibilities are so catastrophic that political leaders will have to work out a deal.

“We’ll take a big hit if the research side gets hammered,” said DeSimone, whose work involves applying lithographic fabrication technology from the computer industry to design new

medicines and vaccines.

His lab alone typically receives about $2.5 million annually in federal research funding from institutions such as the National Institutes of Health and the National Science Foundation, compared to about $1.5 million in state and private support.

The automatic spending cuts would reduce federal research and development funds by $57.5 billion in the next five years, a reduction of 8.4 percent, according to a study by the American Association for the Advancement of Science.

The impact could be wide-ranging, from cancer research to the development of new energy. It could also reduce the recruitment and training of the next generation of scientists.

California, with its large university system and leading role in defense, energy and space exploration research, is the largest recipient of federal research dollars. It would also lose more than any state — $11.3 billion in the first five years of the cutbacks, according to the study. Other states high on the list for federal research funding include Texas, Pennsylvania, Washington and Florida.

A report by the American Association for the Advancement of Science said that even without the automatic cuts, spending caps already have begun to depress federal research and development funding. Estimated federal funding for research is currently at its lowest point since 2002, adjusted for inflation.

Science hubs around the country would suffer if Congress and the White House can’t agree on a way back from the cliff.

“There is hope … but at this time we must be prepared in case this hits as scheduled in January,” University of Missouri Vice Chancellor for Research Robert Duncan said in an email to faculty last week.

The university estimates that it could lose about $16.7

million per year in federal research grants, or 8.4 percent of its 2011 federal research awards of $196.6 million.

In the Pacific Northwest, the University of Washington received just over $1 billion in federal research grants in 2011, more than any other public university every year since 1974. Automatic cuts would create problems for faculty members seeking funds to maintain their active research programs, but they’d particularly create difficulties for scientists at the beginning of their careers, Mary Lidstrom, the university’s vice provost for research, said in an interview.

Funding difficulties already discourage graduate students from pursuing careers in academia and research, she said, adding “If that situation becomes worse, I think the impact on the future of the country in terms of our innovation workforce will be devastating.”

Lidstrom said she and others at the school are concerned that the first funding to get cut would be undergraduate research, an important means of mentoring young people in science, technology, engineering and math. About a quarter of the university’s undergraduate students have part-time jobs working on research projects.

The budget cuts also would hit the nation’s federal research and development centers. Among them: the Department of Energy’s Lawrence Berkeley and Lawrence Livermore national labs in California; Pacific Northwest National Laboratory in Richland, Wash.; Idaho National Laboratory; Argonne National Laboratory in Illinois; and the Center for Nuclear Waste Regulatory Analyses in San Antonio, Texas.

DeSimone said he was cautiously optimistic that fiscal cliff could be averted.

“I think level heads will prevail and this part of the budget will be protected,” he said. “That’s my hope, anyway.”

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“The one-year increment will expand the bounds of how we live and work in space.”

William Gerstenmaier | NASA administrator for human exploration and operations

Astronauts chosen for groundbreaking yearlong mission in space

By Amy Hubbard The McClatchy Tribune LOS ANGELES — NASA and Russia’s space agency are pushing ahead with plans for a yearlong stay in space, choosing the two men who will undertake the mission.

Scott Kelly, a NASA veteran with more than 180 days in space, and Russia’s Mikhail Kornienko are scheduled to launch in spring 2015 to spend a year aboard the International Space Station, according to a NASA news release. A main goal of the expedition is to determine the effects of such a long stay on the human body.

“The one-year increment will expand the bounds of how we live and work in space,” William Gerstenmaier, associate administrator for human exploration and operations at NASA headquarters in Washington, said in the release.

Scientists have been monitoring how shorter stays aboard the ISS — which has been occupied for 12 years — have affected physical aspects including muscle mass, strength and bone density. But horizons for manned missions have widened, and researchers are looking to move beyond low-Earth orbit and want to know how microgravity will affect humans in the longer term.

Documented effects of spaceflight include a host of sometimes nauseating problems — among them loss of bone and muscle mass, vision problems and redistribution of fluid in the body. Motion sickness can be severe — notably Jake Garn, the first member of Congress to fly in space, was retching and wretchedly ill during his April 1985 mission.

Astronauts began jokingly to use the “Garn Scale” to rate their own space sickness.

A 1999 interview from a Johnson Space Center oral history project reveals this nugget: “Totally sick and totally incompetent” equals one Garn, with most astronauts attaining about one-tenth of a Garn.

A NASA source told the Los Angeles Times on Monday morning that the space agency will have details in about a week on the specific tests and experiments that will be performed during the yearlong mission.

Kelly, 48, has been with NASA since 1996. He became commander of Expedition 26 on the International Space Station in November 2010 and remained aboard for five months.

The plan is for Kelly and Kornienko to launch aboard a Russian Soyuz spacecraft from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan and to make their return trip to Kazakhstan in spring 2016.