Vol. 128, No. 43 Wednesday, October 10, 2018
OPINION
SPORTS
ARTS & CULTURE
Latinx contributions we need to acknowledge
Rams’ expectations for football are too high
‘Trench’ salvages Twenty One Pilot’s reputation
page 6
page 10
page 13
Students recognized by Mental Health Day By Linc Thomas @lincthomas1
PHOTO ILLUSTRATION BY COLIN SHEPHERD COLLEGIAN
Fort Collins remembers, honors the memory of Matthew Shepard By Charlotte Lang @ChartrickWrites
On Oct. 6, 1998 near Laramie, Wyoming, 21-year-old Matthew Shepard was beaten, tied to a fence and left for dead. Shepard was found the next day by a cyclist and taken to the Poudre Valley Hospital in Fort Collins where, six days later, he died from severe head trauma. The story of the college student, attacked and murdered for
his sexual orientation, still resonates throughout the Fort Collins community twenty years after the event. The Fort Collins and Colorado State University community have dedicated many thoughts and events to the anniversary, from productions inspired by Shepard to personal emotions on the story. Jaye Cooney, a performer in “The Laramie Project” for the University’s theatre program, said Shepard’s story is important to
them and the community. “As a younger closeted kid, Matt’s story was one of the first I had heard when it came to violent discrimination,” Cooney said. “And as I got older, I experienced violence similar to Matthew … I went into this process fully aware of most of the details: how the nation responded, the backlashes, etc.” Cooney prepared for their role in “The Laramie Project” by traveling to the scene of the crime and visiting the places mentioned in the
script. Understanding the setting, to Cooney, is an important piece of being genuine. Cooney also understands the violence facing the LGBTQ community, as they’ve witnessed and been victim to such behavior. They said that the full cast and workers on the production have been working hard to successfully and truthfully tell the story.
see SHEPARD on page 4 >>
With national student debt climbing, bills to pay and a GPA to maintain, mental wellness often takes a back seat in student’s daily lives. Today is World Mental Health Day, where worldwide education, advocacy and awareness of mental health is recognized. A recent study conducted by the National Alliance on Mental Illness revealed that “suicide is the 10th leading cause of death in the U.S., the third leading cause of death for people aged 10–14 and the second leading cause of death for people aged 15–24.” “People are hesitant to address the stigma associated with mental health because, at a certain point, that conversation becomes, ‘How can we make living with a mental health issue or disability better?’” said Henry Stowers, director of health for CSU student government. “The answers to that question threaten our economic, academic, and political structures as well as many of our own internal biases.” Alan Burd is a life consultant serving CSU and the greater Fort Collins area and weighed in on mental wellness. He said one of the most important developments in global mental health is the growing epigenetic and inter-generational trauma. This means scientists have known how trauma affects
see HEALTH on page 13 >>