Volume 126, No. 128, May 8, 2017

Spring 2017

Check out the Graduation Guide inside Volume 126, No. 128

Monday, May 8, 2017

By Students, For You The students and stories behind your newspaper

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COLLEGIAN.COM Monday, May 8, 2017

LETTER FROM THE EDITOR

Goodbye, and thanks for all the puns Julia Rentsch @julia_rentsch

Dear Readers, It is traditional for each outgoing Collegian editor-in-chief to write a farewell column. At the risk of being horribly cliché, I must confess that it is very hard to write now that it is my turn to essentially pen my own student media epitaph. In part, this is because I have a colleague behind me with a video camera shooting some B-roll for a video he is working on as I struggle to write something coherent. But it is mostly because I can see how far we have come this year, and the mountains of promise ahead. This backbreaking, tear-jerking, anxiety-inducing, sleep-depriving year nearly broke me at times, but I wouldn’t trade it for the world.

It truly feels like my time at the Collegian has hardly begun.

I was a transfer student who arrived from New Jersey in the fall of 2015. I had previously attended a small college — only 2,000 students — and felt like a tiny fish in a massive pond, afraid that I would never make any friends. I remember sitting down in one of those 300-person lectures, talking to somebody who seemed nice, and

then coming back the next class period unable to find them (I actually didn’t see them for the rest of the year). Once worried about finding my place on campus, I now joke that there are people here that I see too damn much of.

My place on campus came to be at student media, but walking into it I never guessed what effect it would have on my life. I initially worked on the news desk as a reporter, but due to some complicated staffing circumstances, I was catapulted to chief of copy, and then to managing editor last spring. What I initially loved about journalism was that it was the opposite of a desk job — you’re out in the field, mostly self-managed (as long as you make deadline), and able to learn so much about your community. Sometimes, you get handed stories about subjects that you have no prior experience with, or about people doing great things that you might never have thought to ask about.

People accuse “the media” of hating their community — of being critical, pessimistic, even fear-mongering. But that couldn’t be farther from the truth; we love our community. This can take the form of writing positive pieces about people and organizations doing cool things, but, sometimes, we do need to be negative.

We draw attention to wrongdoing in hopes of helping those wrongs

get righted. I really encourage anyone who dislikes or feels wronged by journalists or “the media” to come talk to some of us at student media. We are really interested in putting ourselves out there, sitting down for a chat, and showing that we’re not just a bunch of trolls trying to raise hell.

This year, we wanted to strive to be good members of the community that we serve – to be transparent about our operations, to be cognizant of what kinds of stories our readers most want to see, and to attempt to dismantle the somewhat exclusionary culture that we felt our office had. No matter the accusations that have been leveled at us (“fake news!”) we have consistently worked to produce the best quality journalism that our resources will allow.

And there is so much more to be done – the news never stops, and neither do we.

We have laughed and cried; we’ve slept on the uncomfortable newsroom couches; we’ve told countless terrible puns (okay, I was a key perpetrator in that); we’ve fought; we’ve partied; we’ve typed like the wind; we’ve freaked the hell out; and, we’ve felt proud of our accomplishments. We have panicked at 12:30 a.m. as we missed print deadline by an hour but had a news story roll in that really, really should be on the print edition’s cover. We have held it together when WordPress

overheard on the PLAZA

this

•

campus

•

says

• funny

• things

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MONDAY

sometimes

“I was going to ask someone out yesterday, but then I decided I hate them.”

“Boys are actually kind of complicated. They’ve got all these glands and shit. Their reproductive system is surprisingly complex.”

“You smell like weed and beer.”

“That’s all there is to me, really.”

“It’s CSU. If we could have a school-sponsored footwear, it would be chacos.”

“99% of boys are a problem. Only like, 50% of women are.”

Have you recently overheard something funny on campus? Put your eavesdropping to good use. Tweet us @CSUCollegian and your submissions could be featured in our next paper!

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 6,500-circulation student-run newspaper intended as a public forum. It publishes four days a week during the regular fall and spring semesters. During the last eight weeks of summer Collegian distribution drops to 3,500 and is published weekly. 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 two. 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.

glitched and entire articles get deleted. We hardly ever remembered how many pixels wide a featured image needs to be (to our webmaster’s chagrin).

One time we accidentally let a cover photo caption that accused a controversial figure of beating people — which had been written as a joke — go to print. We got attacked on social media for being a garbage news outlet after reporting on ASCSU campaign violations. And amid it all, we’ve learned a heck of a lot about community journalism.

None of it would have happened without the amazing, hard-working, hilarious and wonderful people I work with. I want to tell each of you what you mean to me, but that would be very long to put here. Except: To Mikaela, my second-in-command, my “work wife” (because we see each other considerably more than we see our significant others) — thank you for having the words when I often did not. You have had my back more times than I can count this year. You worked your tail off each and every night and saved our asses time and time again. You are one of the most hard-working, insightful, go-getting people I know, and — I know you’re going to scoff at this, but — you are also a very kind and lovely person that I am so happy to have spent so many countless hours with as we

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EDITORIAL STAFF | 970-491-7513

Erin Douglas | Editor-in-Chief editor@collegian.com Tatiana Parafiniuk-Talesnick | Managing Editor managingeditor@collegian.com Haley Candelario | News Director news@collegian.com Rachel Telljohn | News Editor news@collegian.com Allec Brust | Opinion Editor letters@collegian.com Justin Michael | Sports Director sports@collegian.com Colin Barnard | Sports Editor sports@collegian.com

kept that paper coming out every night. You’re going to continue to do great things next year and beyond — go fly this plane.

And, to Jon — as captain of the most thankless job in the newsroom, you could have easily thrown up your hands at us and our midnight cover-change requests and let us sink or swim. We fought a lot when we first came into these positions, but I think that is far less about us as people and is instead indicative of just how much of a pressure cooker environment the nightly rush to deadline creates. It’s been an uphill battle, and I know there were many times when you were just so done with it — but you stuck it out. You risked your finances to quit your other job and spend more time with the Collegian.

It was incredible — I think really highly of you and our paper is forever in your debt. Also, let the record stand in perpetuity — you did not once say “Thank you for calling DP Dough, this is Jonny,” to our printers.

As always, thank you for your support of the Rocky Mountain Collegian. In the hands of our successors, led by Editor-in-Chiefelect Erin Douglas and managing editor-elect Tatiana Parafiniuk-Talesnick, there can only be more great things to come.

All my best, Julia Rentsch, Collegian Editor-in-Chief spring 2017

Everybody makes mistakes, including us. If you encounter something in the paper you believe to be an error, email errors@collegian.com.

Randi Mattox | A&C Director entertainment@collegian.com Zoë Jennings | A&C Editor entertainment@collegian.com Casey Martinez | Design Editor design@collegian.com Tony Villalobos May | Photography Director photo@collegian.com Mikaela Rodenbaugh | Digital Production Manager mrodenbaugh@collegian.com Darby Osborne | Social Media Editor socialmedia@collegian.com

Follow @CSUCollegian on Twitter Follow CSU Collegian on Instagram Like CSUCollegian on Facebook Follow CSU Collegian on Snapchat Josh Kloehn | Webmaster webmaster@collegian.com Chapman Croskell | Videography Director ccroskell@collegian.com

ADVISING STAFF

Jim Rodenbush | Student Media Adviser Kim Blumhardt | Advertising Manager Cale Rogers | CTV Adviser Hannah Copeland | KCSU Adviser

KEY PHONE NUMBERS

Distribution | 970-491-1774 Classifieds | 970-491-1683 Display Advertising | 970-491-7467

ROCKY MOUNTAIN STUDENT MEDIA Monday, May 8, 2017

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ABOUT RMSMC

Rocky Mountain Student Media is a non-profit organization housed within the Lory Student Center on CSU Campus. RMSMC is the student media of Colorado State University, encompassing our newspaper, magazine, and radio and TV stations. RMSMC employs over 350 students across all of our media properties. RMSMC enhances the undergraduate experience of students through hands-on experience in media methods, management, ethics and community service.

College Avenue College Avenue Magazine is a student run publication that prints four times during the school year. Our small team reports on the food and drink, style, arts and entertainment, recreation and travel, and the finds of Fort Collins that Colorado State University students want to know about. Every issue also features a new and in depth feature story that is displayed on the cover. At College Avenue we focus on what our readers are interested in and want to read about. Our reporters have the freedom to write about anything they are passionate about, as well stories that they want to share with the students at CSU. We do our part as a component of Rocky Mountain Student Media Corporation to work with reporters and photographers to refine their skills and give students the experience they need to work for a professional magazine.

CTV CTV is an on-campus television station at CSU. CTV, originally CSU Television, became part of Rocky Mountain Student Media in 2014.

CTV broadcasts four nights a week on channel 11 on campus.

The shows and individual segments are also uploaded to the YouTube channel, CTV Channel 11. CTV features a sports show on Monday nights, a variety news show on Tuesday and Thursday nights and alternating entertainment shows on Wednesdays.

Included in the entertainment shows are CTV Cooks, Local Beats, RamLife and Humans of CSU. Emma Iannacone is the CTV executive producer for the 2017-2018 school year, and Alec Erickson is the studio manager. The staff of CTV includes producers and anchors, who are responsible for creating content for their show. The studio crew is respon sible for maintaining the live broadcast every evening.

Volunteers also help film and produce the show.

Collegian

The Rocky Mountain Collegian is the daily student newspaper of Colorado State University.

Founded in 1891,the paper is one of the oldest daily student newspapers west of the Mississippi River and is the only student-run daily newspaper in the state of Colorado.

The publication is operated independently from the University, therefore allowing students to have full authority to make content decisions. The Colle-

gian’s purpose is threefold: to serve as a news source, create a platform for discourse, and provide skill development opportunity for student staff. The Collegian strives to cover and explain the relevance of issues that impact the Colorado State community — primarily students — by being a platform for a broad scope of perspectives.

The Collegian publishes four days a week, Monday through Thursday, during the regular

fall and spring semesters with special editions sometimes published on Fridays. The circulation of the publication is 5,000 per day, and is a complimentary product for the Fort Collins community. The Collegian is a digital-first publication, and the staff publishes new content on the website daily. During the first four weeks of summer the Collegian does not publish. During the last eight weeks of summer, the Collegian is published weekly.

At KCSU, students produce professional-level content geared towards delivering the best in music and local news to its listeners. In addition to its large ensemble of student DJs, whose tastes combine to form a diverse tapestry of music, KCSU also has student staff and volunteers dedicated to news, sports, podcasts and video.

The news team hosts a weekly news program, The Rocky Mountain Review, and produces daily news updates to be played

on air and podcast interviews with artists, professionals and other notable figures from Fort Collins.

The sports team hosts a talk radio program, The Ramblers, and calls many live sporting events that feature Colorado State University teams.

The podcast team oversees the audio content that gets distributed to KCSU’s online audience and produces a diverse program of podcasts, with topics ranging from pop culture and

entertainment to environmental issues and politics. The podcast team also works with the local music team to record the live sessions of all the musical acts that come through KCSU. The video team strives to bring a visual face to all that encompasses KCSU: live local music, passionate and congenial DJs, and a commitment to offering listeners and viewers the most authentic representation of life and culture in Northern Colorado.

KCSU

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ROCKY MOUNTAIN STUDENT MEDIA Monday, May 8, 2017

Meet your editors: Tatiana Parafiniuk-Talesnick, Managing Editor Tatiana Parafiniuk-Talesnick looks forward to being the Managing Editor for the 2017-2018 year. She has been a news reporter for two years, a satirical blogger, and an assistant editor for the news desk. Tatiana has written popular articles about university accountability and social justice issues. She is currently pursuing a degree in both journalism and women’s studies.

Tatiana looks forward to shifting conversations around inclusivity from “What are we doing to make people feel unwelcome?” to “What are we doing to make people feel welcome?”

Outside of the Collegian, she has worked with a non-partisan voter-registration groups in an effort to inspire community engagement, and has also served on the Denver Mayor’s Youth council to help encourage positive changes on the local level.

Tatiana believes the Collegian’s position as a non-profit newspaper funded by the community obligates it to serve the community. She finds that when a newspaper is funded by the community and isn’t controlled by shareholders, the only acceptable framework is community-based journalism.

In her position, Tatiana looks forward to shifting conversations around inclusivity from “What are we doing to Tatiana Parafinuk-Talesnick, Manmake people feel unwelcome?” aging Editor. PHOTO BY CHAPMAN to “What are we doing to make CROSKELL COLLEGIAN You can contact Tatiana people feel welcome?” She believes making the community Parafiniuk-Talesnick with your feel welcomed and represented concerns, comments and ideas by the Collegian is the responsi- about inclusivity at the Colbility of the paper, and a project legian at ManagingEditor@ collegian.com. she is excited to take on.

Meet your editors: Erin Douglas, Editor-in-Chief Erin Douglas is the incoming Editor-in-Chief for the 2017-2018 academic year.

Erin started in student media as a freshman, working for College Avenue Magazine. After writing, designing and taking photos for the publication, she became the managing editor during her sophomore year. While College Avenue provided an artistic experience, as she learned more about her City and University, Erin wanted to become more involved with the community. At the end of her freshman year, she applied to be a Collegian reporter for the news desk, which became her primary focus.

After the beat reporter for the student government got another job midway through the fall semester of 2015, her editors asked her to take over the beat for the remainder of the year. Covering the student government proved to be an exciting, meaningful

and trying experience, as the organization was struggling through internal investigations, claims of gender-based harassment, and a systemic lack of diversity. In addition to being the sole beat reporter for the student government, Erin frequently covered University and City policy, such as the city occupancy ordinance “U+2,” tuition increases and homelessness.

After working as a news reporter during her sophomore year, Erin was hired as the news editor for the 2016-2017 academic year. As news editor, she worked to organize coverage of the 2016 presidential election season and its aftermath, train a staff of young reporters, and improve the Collegian’s coverage of hard news.

Erin was the 2017 Damon Runyon Scholarship Winner for the Denver Press Club and a 2016 national finalist for the Society of Professional Journalists’ Mark of Excellence

Erin Douglas, Editor in Chief

PHOTO BY CHAPMAN CROSKELL COLLEGIAN

news reporting award. She plans to spend her summer working at the Denver Post as a business reporting intern.

You can contact Erin Douglass with your concerns, comments and ideas at Editor@ collegian.com.

Meet your editors: Casey Martinez, Design Editor Casey Martinez is a going to be a senior arts major with a concentration in art history. She is currently one of her only friends under the age of 21 and finds this to be a massive nuisance. In order to cope with her frustrations, she can usually be found forcing her pet rabbit, Winifred, to snuggle with her (she secretly loves being held) and rewatching episodes of 30 Rock. She is the resident spaz and most likely to be seen belting out showtunes, much to the dismay of everyone around her. She has the best taste in music out of everyone on the planet, ever. In fact, her spotify is followed by none other than Lin Manuel-Miranda and Frank Sinatra (from the grave, duh).

Oh, she’s also the new design editor, which is pretty cool. So, in the words of her hero, Liz Lem-

Casey Martinez, Design Editor.

PHOTO BY TONY VILLALOBOS MAY COLLEGIAN

on, “yes to love, yes to life, yes to staying in more!”

The Rocky Mountain Collegian | Monday, May 8, 2017

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ROCKY MOUNTAIN STUDENT MEDIA Monday, May 8, 2017

The Collegian’s project for increased transparency

By Tatiana Parafiniuk_Talesnick @TatianaSophiaPT

The Rocky Mountain Collegian serves the student body and general community of Colorado State University, but it is not an official publication of the University. The Collegian started in 1891, originally as a university publication. Following a scandal in 2007, in which the Collegian published an opinion piece that was simply the words “Taser this… F*ck Bush,” the paper was forced to become an entity separate from CSU. On August 1, 2008, the Collegian became a 501(c)3 non-profit company, The Rocky Mountain Student Media Corporation (RMSMC), which included all outlets of student media, currently including a newspaper, radio station, TV station, magazine, student video productions and a video training team.

Now safely housed in a separate company, the Collegian is free to criticize and compliment the University according to what rings true and unbiased. Its only allegiance is to the Society of Professional Journalist’s Code of Ethics, not the University or corporate shareholders.

RMSMC’s mission of providing opportunities for students to learn aligned with the Associated Students of Colorado State University, the University’s student government. Because of the similar goals ASCSU agreed to fund the services that RMSMC provides. In this way, the Collegian is funded by CSU students, but not the University. In a roundabout-way, student fees are the primary sources of funding for the Collegian, as well as adver-

tising. All advertising efforts are also student run and account for about half the paper’s funding.

It is important to know the history of anything to be able to improve on the present. Around 120 students work for the Collegian in some capacity. Crammed in the basement of the Lory Student Center, it is easy for the students of RMSMC to forget how although they are in the heart of campus, they aren’t always connected with the entire community. The new management staff is trying to improve on the connection between the Collegian and the campus, as well as the community as a whole.

This year, efforts for improved transparency began. Collegian leaders began community meetings and reached out to diversity offices to try to patch-up burned bridges and build new ones. Because they were new and under-marketed, community meetings were not well attended, but the new administration is excited to build on the platform that has been built this year. Collegian leadership will organize meetings that are open to community attendance, increase recruitment and work to make a more inclusive environment.

The Collegian looks forward to a year of outreaching to the community more than ever, building a staff with more diverse perspectives and having a stronger relationship with its audience. If the campus funds the paper, the Collegian owes the campus a transparent publication - we look forward to delivering it.

Tatiana Parafiniuk-Talesnick can be reached at news@ collegian.com.

Managing Editor Tatiana Parafinuk-Talesnick and Editor in Chief Erin Douglas PHOTO BY TONY VILLALOBOS MAY COLLEGIAN

Reflections from your outgoing managing editor

By Mikaela Rodenbaugh @mikarodenbaugh

One of things that readers of the Collegian may not know is that it is tradition for our incoming editorial board to take over production of the paper for the final week of classes.

What this means is that as outgoing managing editor for the Collegian, I have stepped back to allow the transition between old board members and new ones. I, along with outgoing editor-in-chief Julia Rentsch have made an effort to let incoming editor-in-chief Erin Douglas, and incoming managing editor, Tatiana Parafinuik-Talesnick take our places while still being available to help them as they step into their new roles here.

Life is about passing the torch. That doesn’t make the transition period any easier however. For the past semester, Julia and I worked together every single night, alongside outgoing design editor Jonathan Garbett to ensure that our daily student newspaper did indeed come out every single day it has been slotted for print. If Julia and I were work wives, then the Collegian was our baby. To us, it is extremely personal.

Because no matter where you are on campus or within the community, when you pick up a copy of the Rocky Mountain Collegian, you hold within your hands a labor of love; one that is the product of reporters, photographers, designers, desk editors and copy editors alike.

All of this work leads to the final stages of print production, where the managing editor and editor-in-chief, who have overseen the entire process, approve the paper for publication and we call the presses (hopefully by our 11:30 p.m. deadline, sorry for all the late nights Prairie Mountain Press).

For the last semester, in my role as managing editor, I have been one of the lucky ones to oversee our paper. It has meant working tirelessly night and day.

It has meant sacrificing time

with my family and friends. And it has meant everything to me.

There are so many things that I am thankful for from the past year, but perhaps the thing I most appreciated was working with Julia every night.

Readers of the Collegian do not often get a chance to pull back the curtain and see the internal things that happen within student media, so let me paint you a picture. At the time that I became managing editor last semester, our paper had an identity problem.

Our previous editor-in-chief had resigned unexpectedly mid-way through the semester. Our company had massive communication and consistency problems between the different desks. To stop the bleeding and ensure that our daily paper did indeed come out every day, members of our staff like Keegan Pope and Erin Douglas had to step up using the experience that they had from their previous years in student media. But most of all, then managing editor Julia Rentsch needed to step into the role of editor-in-chief gracefully despite the difficulty of the situation.

The Collegian staff had spent the better part of our first semester gearing up for the elections and spent all night that night covering the election of President Donald Trump.

We had come together as a staff, only to fall apart in quick succession and Julia had found herself somewhat thrust into the most important role within the company. It was during this tumultuous time that I applied for the position of managing editor while maintaining my previous position of webmaster for all of student media.

Given the circumstances of our paper at the time, no one might have predicted the success we were able to garner this year. To say our paper had a comeback would be putting it lightly. Under Julia’s leadership, we made the most out of an otherwise less than ideal situation.

We refined our desk’s processes to make sure there was greater consistency between different teams. We focused more heavily on trans-media storytelling with an emphasis on video and photography. We developed new standards for print design.

We broke important news. And most importantly, we changed minds along the way by working harder to reach out to our readers and improve relationships with the community we share and report on.

Good journalists understand that the work is never about the recognition, but I feel it’s important to give credit where credit is due. It was under Julia’s management that we achieved so many things, and she has set the tone for our incoming editors going forward. I will always look up to her.

Knowing Julia as well as I have known her, I also know this transition has been hard for her, and it can be easy to lose sight of what we accomplished when there are new students stepping into our roles and making newer plans, but as incoming editor-in-chief Erin Douglas so graciously pointed out to us: we laid a path at a time when there seemed to be no direction.

Within this issue of the paper readers will find reflections on our top stories, our work, and the experiences that were formative for us as a team. Remember as you read all the hard work that went into every single moment. And for friends of the Collegian, just know that a lot of the credit goes to Julia, for setting the tone so that we could do so much with our student-run publication. And as I step back from my role as managing editor, I wish nothing but the best to incoming editors Erin and Tatiana, I know that you will build off what we accomplished this year and go on to do amazing things and I am so lucky to be here as incoming digital production manager to witness it all.

Mikaela Rodenbaugh can be reached at news@collegian.com

DIGITAL Monday, May 8, 2017

About the digital production team The Digital Production team consists of Digital Production Manager Mikaela Rodenbaugh, Webmaster Josh Kloehn, Videography Director, Chapman Croskell and Social Media Director, Darby Osborne.

Our team works together to put together the best possible online content for student media. We exist to form a more cohesive digital presence as an organization and to make sure that our student publication is timely and useful to all Rams.

Some of our goals for the upcoming semester include:

Better prioritizing a digital-first model Ensuring that collegian.com content is highly optimized for the web and properly formatted Better utilizing our analytics data to predict student needs for our publication

Switching to Facebook comments on our website Branding different branches of student media on our website more clearly Using transmedia elements like video and photo more effectively and frequently Presenting the news in a way that best addresses the needs of our digital audience.

Using our social media accounts to better outreach to our audiences blending fun, and professional messaging Making collegian.com a site that most CSU students check every day If you are interested in working for the digital production team, email us at mrodenbaugh@collegian.com.

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Kegs 1/2 Barrels Darby Osborne, Social Media Editor; Mikaela Rodenbaugh, Digital Production Manager; Chapman Croskell, Videography Director; Josh Kloehn, Webmaster. PHOTO BY TONY VILLALOBOS MAY COLLEGIAN

Meet your editor: Mikaela Rodenbaugh, digital production manager Mikaela Rodenbaugh is the Digital Production Manager for the Collegian and an incoming graduate student for the Public Communication and Technology master’s program at Colorado State University.

She has worked for the Collegian since her senior year of undergrad as a journalism major at CSU in two other positions as webmaster and managing editor and is excited to embark on a new journey as digital production manager this upcoming year.

Mikaela is passionate about student media as a whole but especially about fostering media literacies for audiences and presenting the best digital content a student publication can.

As a self-described nerd, Mikaela spends a lot of time thinking about web design, digital presentation and better news for online environments. Despite her digital focus however, her background is in print where she found her passion for journalism as a budding student reporter in high school. In her spare time, she enjoys cooking, reading and hanging out with her dog, Sally.

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Kegs 1/6 Barrels Mikaela Rodenbaugh, Digital Production Manager. PHOTO BY TONY VILLALOBOS MAY

COLLEGIAN

Mikaela loves feedback on the website and anything you think the Collegian could do better as an organization.

If you have any comments or suggestions for our site please email her at mrodenbaugh@collegian.com.

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DIGITAL Monday, May 8, 2017

Year in Review

Collegian engages social media

By Chapman W. Croskell @nescwick

For the Collegian, social media is still a relatively new thing. We’ve only had most of our accounts for a few years, and being the fourth social media editor for the company, social media did not have nearly the legacy or standards that we have for the rest of our newsroom as a result of our 125 years of print publication.

One of the major advantages of social media is the “social” aspect of it. Unlike print, readers can directly send their thoughts to us, allowing us to respond to queries, make corrections and face criticism head-on. Because of this, we spend a good amount of time deciding how to present ourselves on our social media channels, so that we are able to create an image that is reflective of the hard work that our content producers put into their product, but that still engages readers and allows a discussion to take place.

This discussion can be rough at times. This year, we had one day where we were accused of slandering a member of our student government. On that day, our notifications were full of negative responses, of which I read each and every one, and replied to very few. The normal Pavlovian response of excitement when seeing the little red “1” on Facebook was replaced with anxiety, as we tried our best to defend ourselves in a situation where the facts of the case did not align with the complaints of our critics.

But, the ever-changing nature of social media also allows us to try some very cool, new things. This year we began working to create engaging videos for

Facebook, show off behind-the-scenes coverage on Snapchat and even livestream the ASCSU Presidential Debate so that we can interact with our readers directly as events take place. I watched our audience grow, dancing a little at my desk the day that we broke 1000 followers on Instagram and again the day that we hit 4000 likes on Facebook. I watched in awe as some of our content reached over 20,000 people, taking some pride in knowing that I was a part of a system that was delivering important news and powerful stories to so many different people.

The future of social media, for both the Collegian and the rest of the media world, is a little uncertain and a lot exciting. We don’t know which social media channels will die off, and which will suddenly surge, and we can only hope that we are quick enough to grab the “CSUCollegian” username so that we can ride whatever rollercoaster of interaction the next big thing will bring. In the meantime, we have some fun new ideas that we’ll begin playing around with this summer, so I hope you can look forward to that.

Speaking from experience, us college students spend a staggering amount of time on social media. Therefore, as a college paper, we have an expectation to use social media to the best of our abilities to interact with our audience. I look forward to what those who follow me bring to the job, and I’m forever grateful to have learned so much from the position.

-Chapman W. Croskell

Collegian adds new video desk

By Hakeem Awbrey @charlesawbrey

My video work before the Collegian had always been artistic work, such as long storytelling pieces, working with cinema camera, with freedom and long deadlines. I’ve always aspired to tell stories through the form of media. When I first came to Colorado State University I had no idea where to start, or even how to get involved. I was recommended by a professor to interview for OnSpec, where I got my start in student media.

The videos I made there helped me realize another important power of video, to better communicate the news.

I’m thankful to the Collegian and everyone there. I wish and expect nothing but the best for the video desk in the future.

During my time starting our video efforts for OnSpec I grew as a person.

I both blossomed and overwhelmed myself but I loved my job through the hardships and stress. From there I got the wonderful opportunity to be part of something new, to join the Collegian as a Videographer, a position that had never been done before. Being able to pave the way for the future of the Collegian was a scary thing to take on at first, but with the help of my new-found coworkers, I slowly felt right at home.

So much work was put in everyday by numerous amounts of people that were passionate about they did made Colle-

Collegian updates with new website

By Josh Kloehn & Mikaela Rodenbaugh

@nikarodenbaugh, @jish-jash

Over the past year, the Collegian has been focusing heavily on our website development with our audience in mind. Here is a review of some of the important things we have accomplished in that time.

The Collegian last year launched a redesign of our website that finally allowed us to push forward with a fully scalable and customizable front page. Last year our goal was to make our site 100 percent adaptable for mobile to give our users the best experience on any device. We spent a lot of time on retrenchment last year, trimming the fat from our site and updating our out of date pages as we grew as a company.

We’ve learned a lot in the last year about making our content the best that it can be online.

We’ve hit a few bumps along the way, including knocking our site offline in the middle of the night while troubleshooting a plugin,

but overall we’ve learned a lot and we are ready to push forward to build out a first-class website as the face of the Collegian.

One of our overarching goals for the site was to better communicate the amazing work that our students do for Rocky Mountain Student Media. To that end, today we are pushing a redesign of our main navigation for our site.

We’ve included each of Rocky Mountain Student Media’s divisions in our top navigation bar.

We’re putting College Avenue, KCSU, CTV, and Student Video Productions at the top along with the Collegian to better showcase all our talented divisions. We also have simplified our main navigation to put our content first. Our social media is now displayed prominently in our navigation, including our Snapchat so you can easily add us on social media from any page. We’ve also worked to reduce clutter and visual overhead, reducing 17 navigation options to 10.

Users will still have access

to all the information they need at the footer of the site, including our other publications like the Graduation Guide and LivingFoco and other important information like how to advertise with us or send us a news tip. Additionally, as we strive to increase transparency within our organization, we will publish an Editor’s blog throughout the year, available in the Opinion tab of our navigation so you can follow our internal dealings. Additionally, you can follow our job openings in the “About Us” section at the footer of the site.

As we move forward with these changes our digital production team will be working hard every day to ensure excellence with our online content.

The news is changing, and that means that we need to present our content for digital audiences in an engaging and accessible way.

If you have any suggestions for our website, please contact us at webmaster@collegian.com.

BEFORE

AFTER

gian video what is was. They worked their hearts out, through deadlines and stress, but they were all ready to do it again the next day. That’s where I knew I had to change my mindset of how to make videos to one that was more Hit videos ranged in topics that were both heartbreaking and engaging like the accompaniment to the Stephanie Bess story as well as the video on the background of local shop Nuance chocolate and each video was the result of many people’s help.

As we have begun our video efforts at the Collegian it has been all about innovating and trying new things. Luckily I had the opportunity to do new things every video since every story was unique, that was something I was not used to.

My long nights of editing and quick turn arounds were rough but all worth it knowing that everyone was working as hard if not harder than I was. Once I started going to the board meetings I began to feel like I belonged. At these meetings I was often told to do things last minute, given feedback, and asked for my opinions. These meetings allowed for a wonderful work environment something I’ve never had before because I was mostly independent. I learned that I didn’t have to burden everything myself, that I had a team and I could ask for help.

My work at the Collegian producing videos has been an amazing experience.

Something I would do over again if I could. So I’m thankful to the Collegian and everyone there. I wish and expect nothing but the best for the video desk in the future.

-Hakeem Awbrey

DIGITAL Monday, May 8, 2017

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Meet your Digital Media Editors

Darby Osborne, Social Media Editor

Darby Osborne is Journalism and Media Communication major with a minor in English. Osborne is a Colorado native who enjoys spontaneous adventures, Stephen King, George R.R. Martin and sarcasm.

After experiencing Fort Collins and all it’s charms, Osborne knew that Colorado State University was the only choice for college. One of the many things Osborne loves about the Rocky Mountain Collegian, is getting to know all of the employees. She believes that people at student media inspire each other.

Osborne is excited to find more interesting ways of interacting with students and alumni over all platforms of social media. She is a strong believer of the influence social media can have in making a company’s success and is eager to see what the future holds for the Rocky Mountain Collegian. Os-

Darby Osbone, Social Media Editor. PHOTO BY TONY VILLALOBOS MAY COLLEGIAN

borne strives for a career where she can blend creativity and professional communication together to inspire content creators, and if she gets to travel all over the world that’s a plus. Osborne is itching to surf the digital wave for the Rocky Mountain Collegian and is excited to be working with such an innovative company.

Chapman Croskell, videography director

Chapman W. Croskell is the 2017-2018 videography director for the Rocky Mountain Collegian.

He is a senior studying journalism and information technology.

Croskell grew up in a small town in south-eastern Colorado and initially attended CSU to study mechanical engineering. After roughly three days of engineering, he dropped the major and began looking into journalism at the recommendation of his advisor.

He joined the major at the end of his first semester and joined The Collegian as a reporter the summer after his freshman year, at the recommendation of a good friend.

In his time at Rocky Mountain Student Media, Croskell has worked as a reporter, photographer, columnist, podcast producer, cooking show host and social media editor. He hopes to one day travel the world telling stories about his experiences.

Chapman Croskell, Videography Director. PHOTO BY TONY VILLALOBOS MAY COLLEGIAN

When not in the newsroom, Croskell can be found singing in his a capella group, playing “The Legend of Zelda,” enjoying the outdoors and reading. He always says that his parents are his biggest inspiration because they push him to do the things he’s passionate about.

His favorite color is the color of the sky after it rains, and his best party trick is being able to lick his own elbow.

Josh Kloehn, Webmaster

Josh Kloehn is the Webmaster for the Rocky Mountain Collegian.

Josh has overseen the redesign of the Collegian’s main website as well as the different subdivisions of Rocky Mountain Student Media. In the last semester, he has focused on polishing up pages of the site and updating information. He also works as head of IT for Rocky Mountain Student Media Corporation where he oversees hardware and software upgrades over the next year.

In the past year, he has worked with every single department of RMSMC and even been a guest on the “Poppin’ Things” podcast.

Josh is a senior computer science major and taking classes on A.I. and software development.

His interest includes user interface design and user interaction and his dream job would be working for Microsoft on their official

Josh Kloehn, Webmaster. PHOTO

BY TONY VILLALOBOS MAY COLLEGIAN

design language.

When he isn’t working, Josh can be found making bad puns to the nearest available victims and enjoys hiking and driving. He also enjoys watching endless nerdy movies and TV shows.

If you have any problems or suggestions for our website, contact Josh at webmaster@ collegian.com.

Visit us at

Collegian.com for more!

10 PHOTO

PHOTO Monday, May 8, 2017

Year in Review

Elin Gustavsson (22) & fellow senior Ellen Nystrom (13) celebrate by cutting down the nets together after winning their last regular season Mountain West Championship at Moby Arena. PHOTO BY JAVON HARRIS COLLEGIAN

Colorado State players run out of the tunnel prior to the Border War game against the Wyoming Cowboys during the 2016 season losing the game 38 - 17 Final PHOTO BY ELLIOTT JERGE COLLEGIAN

Natalie Dyer, 2016-2017 Photo Editor. PHOTO BY TONY VILLALOBOS MAY COLLEGIAN

Earlier in the year, student group Students for Life filed a lawsuit against Colorado State University after being denied funds to have a anti-abortion speaker present on campus.

PHOTO ILLUSTRATION BY TONY VILLALOBOS MAY AND NATALIE DYER

Emmanual Omogbo, senior forward, cries at a game against San Diego State University. Seconds after hitting the game winning shot, an emotional Omogbo cries in rememberence of his parents and neice and nephew, who passed away in a fire in early 2016. “I was unconscious” Omogbo said” that was probably my parents that forced the ball to go in, and my neice and nephew, I knew it couldn’t have only been me.” PHOTO BY ABBIE PARR COLLEGIAN

PHOTO Monday, May 8, 2017

Meet your Editor: Tony Villalobos May, photo editor Tony Villalobos May is a junior at Colorado State University and will be serving as the Collegian Photography Director for the 2017-2018 academic school year. He is a journalism and media communications major with a minor in Music, Stage and Sports production concentrating his studies in photojournalism.

Villalobos May has wanted to study journalism since he was a freshman in high school, and since then has traveled nationwide as a photographer for the Blue Knights Drum and Bugle corps, and has covered events ranging from political rallies, concerts, breaking news and even the 2017 Formula 1 Grand Prix in Manama, Bahrain.

Villalobos May started at Rocky Mountain Student Media Corporation as a news reporter for 90.5 KCSU’s “Quite Honestly News Show,” now known as the “Rocky Mountain Review.” Villalobos May then

Tony Villalobos May, Photography Director. PHOTO BY MIKAELA RODENBAUGH COLLEGIAN

became a news reporter and photographer for the Collegian and the University Affairs Correspondent/Senior Field Reporter for KCSU’s “Rocky Mountain Review.”

Collegian photo director Tony Villalobos May can be reached online at photo@collegian.com or on Twitter @TheTonyVM.

About the photo desk Shooting for the photo desk, you can be exposed to dozens of new possibilities. With the Collegian, you can shoot anything from pictures of the next president to a concert at the Aggie Theatre.

With the Collegian, you get to grow as a photographer, and as a

photojournalist. You are not limited to what pictures you can take.

You are only limited by what photo assignments you choose to do.

The photo desk at the Collegian does not just cover local government or the most exciting fruit stand near campus. We get

11

Farewell from the ’16-’17 Photo Editor Today, everyone carries some form of a camera attached to their smartphone and because of this, photojournalism has become a diminished art form.

Many news outlets are getting rid of a majority of their photographers and training their reporters in iPhone photography instead, which can clearly be seen on the cover of the Chicago Sun-Times the day after the Cubs won the World Series. I am so thankful that I work for a company that values photos.

I may be a little biased, but I always believed that photos are the most important part of the media. Photos are not just useful for their artistic qualities and their ability to fill space on a page. Reporters are trained to report unbiased facts and complete accuracy, and I greatly admire their ability to do so.

However, above all that, photos convey emotion and meaning.

They allow readers to see the faces of the people in the story.

They serve as windows of information that cannot always be communicated through words.

Throughout this year, the Collegian had the opportunity to cover a lot of highly emotional and unique events - the presidential election, countless protests, the final year of Hughes Stadium, the end of trombone suicides, and many others. As I write this, I am flipping through the giant stack of newspapers that I have accumulated throughout the year, and I can only hope that we, as the Photo Desk did you, the readers, justice in portraying these events artistically and effectively.

To the photographers and photojournalists who took photos for the desk - thank you.

Thank you for putting up with my forgetfulness and stress.

Thank you for having patience when I did not always reply to your messages in a timely manner or know how to answer your questions. It was a privilege to edit your photos and watch each of you grow as photojournalists. I wish I could have given you more feedback and time.

My advice and last wishes from you are to get more involved.

Go into the newsroom and hang

out with the reporters. Sit in on a news meeting. Shoot every day. Bring your camera with you everywhere. Do not be afraid to talk to people.

Next year, I am confident that the photo desk will be in good hands. The desk has come a long way in the past year and it can only go upwards from here.

There will be bumps and hurdles and a lot of panicking as you try to come up with a good photo to run on the cover, but it will be worth it. Good luck, Tony.

-Natalie Dyer

exclusive access to concerts, on the field access at games, a behind the scenes look at government politics and most importantly, you get to meet amazing contacts along the way. By being a photojournalist for the Collegian, you can gain real world skills in dozens of areas. Regardless of their major, any photographer that

wishes to learn new skills should shoot for the Collegian.

Next year, our emphasis for our photojournalists will be exploring new areas we have not touched before, such as getting more of the photography staff to the next top concert and more of photographers on the scene at breaking news. Our goal is to

not have photographers but to have photojournalists. We are journalists, we tell stories with our photos, and we want to take ourselves, and our cameras to the next level of reporting.

If you are interested in joining the Collegian photo desk, contact us at photo@ collegian.com.

Natalie Dyer, 2016-2017 Photo Editor PHOTO BY MIKAELA RODEN-

BAUGH COLLEGIAN

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NEWS Monday, May 8, 2017

About the news desk Smith: Looking back on the The Collegian news desk focuses on stories that are important to campus and the Fort Collins community, such as crime, breaking news and issues like rising tuition and U+2.

The news desk often covers the Fort Collins City Council meetings, the weekly senate meetings for the Associated Students of Colorado State University, breaking news and crime in Fort Collins and events that happen on campus as they occur, like the free speech wall on the Plaza.

Events the desk regularly covers help give the reporters new story ideas to pitch to the news editors during the weekly meetings. By covering the weekly ASCSU Senate meetings, the news desk heard about the mobile food bank introduced on campus this year and was able to write a feature story about the mobile food bank coming to campus. Similarly, by covering Fort Collins City Council, the news desk was able to write multiple stories on the sit-lie ban.

Most of what the news desk covers has an element of timeliness, which means stories are published at the most relevant time. Stories such as

crime or breaking news are published as soon as possible, whereas feature stories on students or faculty members do not have to be published as soon as they are finished but are published when they are most newsworthy.

The Collegian news desk plans to have reporters work on longer, investigative stories in addition to regular news coverage to challenge reporters writing for the news desk.

Journalists, and news reporters especially, are taught to write without bias. The news desk works to ensure both sides of an issue or story are heard in the articles where having both viewpoints is necessary for the story and for its readers. This does not mean news reporters as people do not hold their own biases, but that their stories aim to be as unbiased as possible.

For example, the article about the on-campus meat harvesting facility did not contain the reporter’s opinion about those protesting the facility or what they themselves thought of the facility.

If you’re interested in writing for the news desk or have a story idea you would like us to cover, please contact us at news@ collegian.com.

first free speech wall Stuart Smith @notstuartsmith

Editor’s Note: This column is about “Students angered by ‘free speech wall’ built in Plaza,” originally published on October 11, 2016, and in the October 12, 2016 print edition of the Collegian.

The Collegian news desk knew something was up on Tuesday, October 11, 2016.

Another news reporter received a tip the week before that something was going to happen on the Plaza that day, but we had no idea what. The news desk had been trying to figure it out since our news meeting the previous Thursday. When the wall started going up and a crowd gathered, the news desk realized that this story was going to be big.

For some reason, Erin Douglas and Seth Bodine, the news editors, decided that it was a good idea to let me, a freshman who had started a month before, cover the first

free speech wall on the Plaza.

Six months and 45 articles later, I’m flabbergasted that they were okay with it, and that they allowed someone with pretty much no experience to take what would be the second-biggest article of the semester.

I arrived on the Plaza at noon because we were told that the mystery event would start there. After waiting for fifteen minutes or so, nothing happened. I knew who I was looking for. I knew he would be doing something big, but he had not yet shown up. I began wondering if I was just wasting my time.

Just as I was about to leave, members of the Conservative Interest Group walked out onto the Plaza with a bunch of boxes, and began setting them up in a wall.

Once the wall was built, the crowd kept getting bigger and bigger.

For the next two hours, the crowd around the wall never fell below 20 people. Many were angered by the wall, even though it was open for anyone to write on. Colorado State University Democrats were a large and vocal section of the crowd,

and they posted many Clinton-Kaine signs on the wall.

With so many people from the left and the right writing on the wall, it soon became a hodgepodge of political messages, including phrases such as “Love Trumps Hate,” “Proud Deplorable” and my personal favorite, “What did Harambe Know?”

Just before 2 p.m., the crowd reached its peak with about 100 people crowding around the wall. People were yelling, not listening to each other, hearing only what they wanted to hear.

However, when the crowd had dwindled by 3 p.m., people were calmer, and they spoke to each other with respect and had real discussions.

This, along with the second free speech wall that occurred earlier during the Spring 2017 semester, has been one of my favorite events to cover this year. As a journalist, the First Amendment is my favorite amendment, and, despite some other purposes, this entire event celebrated the rights endowed to us by the First, and that is amazing to me.

Collegian news reporter Stuart Smith can be reached at news@collegian.com.

Year in review: The news desk presses on during heated presidential election season

By Erin Douglas @erinmdouglas23

A few days before school tarted last August, I recall nervously looking around the conference room to a group of reshmen and sophomore journalism students, staring blanky and quietly back at me at our first news desk meeting.

Last week, I could barely get through a sentence in a terible attempt to communicate how proud I was of them before started crying (Sorry, words of affirmation are not, and will probably never be, my love language).

This year, the Collegian’s news team carried the weight of a discourse unlike what many tudent journalists will ever have to face: This year was the year of protests, petitions and ake news. This year had nasty women, bad hombres and red hats. There were angry social media comments – sometimes directed towards us, and someimes directed towards the sto-

ry we were reporting on – and occasionally we cried, but most times we tried to laugh.

Journalists all over the nation struggled with how to maintain the trust of their audience in the midst of a political discourse that was attempting to silence press from all sides. The responses I was getting from the community was so extreme that I began to tell my reporters that if both sides weren’t mad at us about a political story, we probably weren’t doing our job right.

As the election season progressed, our jobs became more difficult. Protest attendees did not want to be quoted in a newspaper. We sat in the back of an auditorium in July when then-presidential candidate Donald Trump gestured the press tables with snide remarks about how we would spin the story. Local organizations would not work with us except under strict conditions. On Election Day, we started work-

ing at 7 a.m. and did not stop until 2 a.m. that night.

Reporting during the 2016 election was some of the most trying reporting I have ever

I am incredibly proud of the team of reporters that finished this year with their heads held high – higher than I saw them when I first met them last fall. done, and I cringed at the thought of putting the emotional burden of covering these

high-intensity stories on my freshman reporters for fear of burning them out. It takes time to build a political journalist’s thick skin. But we didn’t have a choice. Looking back, I don’t know why I was nervous. I truly believe I have worked with some of the brightest, most motivated and fearless students on this campus, and I am lucky to have been a part of teaching them.

Despite the challenges our desk faced, I do not believe we ever missed a major story. We pressed on, and for that, I am extremely humbled. I was blessed to work on this team during an election year, even though it required a few too many curses in the newsroom.

To my reporters, I am sorry if I was harsh – the Collegian was going through some growing pains, and sometimes that took priority. Know that I am incredibly proud of you, and we need each and every one of you to publish this paper every day.

I am incredibly proud of the team of reporters that finished this year with their heads held high – higher than I saw them when I first met them last fall. Thank you for allowing me the privilege of editing your headlines, teaching you AP style and hearing your jokes. I promise I like puns – just not in a news story.

To our community, thank you to the many students, community members, University and City officials who worked with us this year. You contributed to purpose of this newspaper: to tell our community’s stories and start conversations.

So, here’s to a crazy year, for the Collegian, and the world. I suppose the two things are not mutually exclusive. And, don’t worry, I’m not going away. At heart, I’m always a news reporter.

Collegian Editor-in-Chief and former News Editor can be reached at editor@collegian.com

NEWS Monday, May 8, 2017

Meet your editors: Rachel Telljohn, News Editor Rachel Telljohn is the Collegian news editor for the 20172018 school year.

Rachel is a senior majoring in English literature and creative writing, with a minor in global and environmental sustainability. Journalism was Rachel’s major when she first started college at the “J-School,” or journalism school at the University of Arizona.

Upon transferring to Colorado State University, Rachel decided to solely pursue English, but something about journalism

continued to call her back. Rachel began to write for the news desk and while it has been stressful at times, it has been one of the most rewarding experiences of her college career.

Telljohn enjoys the editing side of journalism, in addition to covering the Associated Students of Colorado State University. Her one lament about journalism is that the Oxford comma is not used.

Telljohn can be reached at rtelljohn@collegian.com for story ideas, comments or questions.

Rachel Telljohn, News Editor.

PHOTO BY TONY VILLALOBOS MAY COLLEGIAN

Meet your editors: Haley Candelario, News Director Haley Candelario is the Collegian news director for the 2017-2018 school year.

Haley is a sophomore majoring in journalism and media communications and double minoring in Spanish and Music, Stage, and Sports Production.

Haley did not expect to enjoy journalism as much as she has enjoyed it during her first year at Colorado State University. In high school, Haley knew she was passionate about writing, but she did not want to be an English ma-

jor because she felt that it would be too much reading. Haley did not have the slightest idea what journalism was, but when she started as a reporter for the Collegian, she realized journalism is what she has always wanted to do.

Haley enjoys writing feature stories on students and faculty and covering politics.

Candelario can be reached at hcandelario@collegian.com for story ideas, comments or questions.

Haley Candelario, News Director.

PHOTO BY TONY VILLALOBOS MAY COLLEGIAN

How an idea becomes an article in the style of Schoolhouse rock

By Rachel Telljohn @racheltelljohn

I’m an idea, I’m just an idea and I hope I’ll be an article someday.

Unlike a bill on Capitol Hill, the steps for an idea to become an article are fewer.

It is a long journey from the reporter’s brain to the newspaper.

I can only hope I will be an article someday.

Ideas come from all over.

My reporter has to have a nose for news, as they say, or the ability to pay attention to what is happening on campus and in the community -- or what is told to them via word of mouth or tips sent to the Collegian.

I still have a long way to go from being overheard by my reporter. I can only hope to be an

article someday. I have to have the patience to make sure that my reporter has chosen an idea that is relevant to our readers and given to them in a timely manner.

If I am an idea that happened in November, and if it is no longer relevant, then I will not likely be turned into an article in May. My reporter submits me as a pitch before each weekly news meeting and the editors discuss. Ultimately, they decide to accept or reject the pitch. If accepted, I start the next step of my journey to an article - the reporting process.

Depending on what kind of article I am, the reporter might need to schedule interviews, research or generally assemble the facts pertaining to the article.

I hope and pray I will make it as an article someday.

Once the first draft of me is finished, the reporter submits me to their editor, so that they can edit me together. Preferably, the reporter goes into the newsroom to sit with their editor so that they can talk about my finer - and my lesser - points together.

My facts are checked, some of my sentences might be rewritten and quotes are thoroughly reviewed before the editor officially submits me for publishing for the next day’s paper.

It was a long, long journey to the newspaper, but I’m only an idea who is an article now!

Collegian news editor Rachel Telljohn can be reached at news@ collegian.com.

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NEWS Monday, May 8, 2017

The Rocky Mountain Collegian through the years

By Haley Candelario @H_Candelario98

As one of the oldest daily published papers in Colorado and in the West and one of the only student run newspapers in Colorado, the Rocky Mountain Collegian has been an important part to Colorado State University’s history.

December 1891: The Collegian is founded The Collegian started out as a monthly publication that contained student essays about local and international issues when it was founded in late 1891. The editorial board consisted of six students, only one of whom was female.

April 8, 1902: The Collegian’s first controversial article The Collegian’s first controversial article focused on a law that required male students at CSU to work three hours a day on the University farm. The article, written by B.C. Buffum, stated that the work male students were forced to do was “beneath the dignity of a College student, and consequently demoralizing.”

The statute was amended in 1969 as legislators felt it was no longer pertinent.

1907: The Collegian creates the student government The Collegian created the Associated Students of the Colorado Agricultural College to “edit and publish a students’ paper,” and it was the first step toward the Collegian’s funding partially coming from student fees.

Oct. 18, 1945: The Collegian foretells Old Main building burning down The editorial published in this October issue of the Collegian said that one day, Old Main would be the site of a disastrous fire, citing that students and faculty felt the building was musty and inflammable.

Old Main would be burned down in the 1970s as a demonstration against the Vietnam War. 1964: The stump comes to the Plaza

The stump found its home on the Plaza in 1964 when Collegian employees, John Hyde and Shelton Stanfill, bought it for $4.50 and etched the word “COLLEGIAN” into the side as a symbol of free speech.

Currently, the stump has a plaque from the Associated Students of Colorado State University engraved with a quote from Robert Kennedy in place of the word, “Collegian.”

The stump was removed from the Plaza in 2016 to be replaced by CSU’s Forestry Department since it deteriorates every ten years.

Speaking on the stump is ranked at number 18 on CSU’s “70 things to do before you graduate” list.

April 1, 1972: April Fool’s article about Morgan Hall burning The April Fool’s editions of the Collegian started in the 1950s, usually printing a disclaimer somewhere in the publication. Article topics ranged from amusing to serious, such as the 1972 article about Morgan Hall burning down.

Although CSU has never had a building on campus called Morgan Hall, some readers believed the article to be a work of truth. Many students and faculty did not attend their classes. The corresponding image for the article was a file photo of Old Main burning from the 1970 anti-war demonstration.

May 4, 1972: New “College Days” tradition prints nude photos During the 1960s, the “College Days” editions of the Collegian printed black and white photos of scantily clad women on the cover of the publication.

In 1972, a new tradition for the “College Days” edition arose.

The front cover of the May 4 “College Days” edition was a 4-color photo of a nude woman.

Only 200 papers initially arrived on May 4 due to the edition being 34-pages long, and more papers were delivered until later that afternoon. Hundreds of students gathered in the lobby area of the Lory Student Center wait-

ing for more papers to be delivered, and a riot nearly broke out.

Sept. 21, 2007: “Taser This … F*ck Bush” column The Collegian editorial board published an opinion piece that consisted only of the words, “Taser This … F*ck Bush” in bold print. The piece was written in response to the University of Florida taser incident, in which an undergraduate student was tased by police at a town hall forum featuring U.S. Senator John Kerry.

Aug. 1, 2008: The Collegian publishes under a non-profit organization Following the response to the “Taser This … F*ck Bush” column, the Collegian started to be published under a 501(c)3 non-profit, known as Rocky Mountain Student Media Corporation, which houses a magazine, radio station, television station, video production services and video training services that are all student-run.

April 13, 2014: Block Party turns into riot Arts and entertainment editor McKenna Ferguson responded quickly to reports of a block party south of campus that turned into a riot. About 200 people gathered outside of a house on the 500 block of Blevins Court. Two police units initially responded, then 23 police units and SWAT teams came to break up the scene.

The article has gained 48,530 reads on the Collegian website and is the top read news story of all time.

May 4, 2015: “Cult or community?”

An in-depth look at Grace Christian Church The second most read Collegian’s news story of all time was an investigative piece about Grace Christian Church. Many students encounter the campus ministers of Grace Christian Church during their first year at CSU. The article has been read 47,568 times on the Collegian website.

Haley Candelario can be reached at news@collegian.com

Giving readers what they want, serious reporting will never die

By Tatiana Parafiniuk-Talesnick @TatianaSophiaPT

I was honored to write what turned out to be the two most popular pieces of this year, unfortunately I can’t for a moment pretend the pieces were well-read because of my own skills and journalistic ability.

Sometimes stories just need to be told – that’s the privilege and the duty of journalists. In September, I broke the news that the Colorado State University marching band would be discontinuing the popular routine formally known as “Trombone Suicides.” In March, I wrote the only article published under an official publication about the perspective of Stephanie Bess, the ex-girlfriend of CSU basketball star Gian Clavell who had been arrested twice on accounts of domestic abuse.

These two articles were different subjects, but provided similar lessons and an exciting implication about what readers want. Modern media is concerned with page views, shares and likes and in these conversations about content there is a tendency to make readers sound dumb and shallow.

So, what does it mean when the two most-read articles of the year are articles about misinformation coming for authorities, a lack of university accountability, and student perspectives? The top read articles weren’t listicals. They weren’t about puppies, Harry Potter or celebrity gossip. It is hugely important to recognize that readers want substance and want to learn something new.

When I found out that a popular marching band routine was cut, I initially had no interest in covering it. I was surprised it was a news story at all. Come on, some band kids couldn’t do a song they like anymore, what’s the big deal? After some research, I found out it was kind of a big deal. When I broke the news, the article re-

ceived 14,150 page views.

So, what was the big deal?

After multiple anonymous interviews with band students scared to lose their scholarship, public records requests and many annoying voicemails, I discovered that band directors lied to their students. That’s a big deal. I published two follow-up articles that revealed the frustration of band members and band alumni, how upset students are, but most importantly how band directors mislead their students.

In January, I learned that the victim in the case of a CSU basketball star’s arrests was an ex-girlfriend newly willing to speak to media. I tried to get in contact with her immediately – this was a side of the story the public hadn’t heard. More was at stake this time, but it was too important to be missed. It took months to gather enough interviews to confidently publish an article about Stephanie Bess. I learned she was a student, an athlete, a part-time employee and ready to be heard. She was upset, not just because of her abusive relationship with Gian Clavell but because she felt the University was actively silencing her case. Hours of research and fact-checking for days culminated to a piece that received 18,920 page views, the most of any article this academic year.

I’m on no mission to take down the University, and I’m certainly not on a mission to find stories that give the Collegian reads for the sake of reads, but I have been inspired to tell the stories that need to be told.

Perhaps it’s not a strict dichotomy. Readers may like listicals, puppies, Harry Potter and celebrity gossip, and content-producers can react appropriately, but according to this year’s analytics, Collegian readers want articles full of genuine reporting. I’m certainly up to the task.

Tatiana Talesnick-Parafiniuk can be reached at news@ collegian.com.

OPINION Monday, May 8, 2017

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About the desk: Opinion Here at the Collegian opinion desk, we focus on creating a tolerant environment for different minds to share and discuss their opinions. We faced many challenges during the 201617 school year. Our desk was small and underwent leadership changes which affected the overall culture of the desk, but we are learning from our past experiences to help make the desk grow. Next year, we will be trying out new ideas, including

the addition of beat writers and biweekly head to head columns.

Our main goal moving forward is to spark conversation in the CSU community and beyond.

We are always open to community outreach. Part of our goal at the opinion desk is to reflect the diversity of our community and promote discussion. We encourage readers to write their opinions and responses to letters@ collegian.com.

Meet your editor: Allec Brust, Opinion Editor

Allec Brust is a third year journalism and political science student. She serves as the lead editor of the opinion desk and the host of the upcoming opinion desk talk show. Allec

enjoys her job because it allows her to meet extraordinary members of the community and discuss pressing political issues. A self-proclaimed rights activist, Allec enjoys using her platform as a public figure to help raise awareness about current world and local issues, such as police brutality and civil liberties.

Allec identifies politically as a left-leaning libertarian, but encourages discussion and debate with members of opposite parties and viewpoints through her work at the Collegian. Allec hopes her education will lead to a career in politics either working as a political correspondent or U.S. senator.

Her main goal in her endeavors is to bring justice and morality to the media and political spectrum.

“Injustice anywhere, is a threat to justice everywhere.”

-Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.

Meet your editor: Lauren Willson, assistant Opinion Editor Lauren Willson is a soon to be sophomore studying communications with a minor in French. She is the assistant editor for the opinion desk, where she is proud to work with talented individuals dedicated to the integrity of journalism.

Lauren is extremely passionate about mental health awareness and environmental protection. She also has a great interest in politics and social issues such as media representation. As a result, her articles tend to focus on a bit of all these subjects. In her writing, Lauren hopes to use journalism as a means of enlightenment, education and entertainment. Although she identifies politically with liberal ideology, she is

open to new ideas and will never turn down a healthy debate.

In her free time, Lauren enjoys reading, writing, weightlifting and playing piano. She believes wholeheartedly in the power of the written word.

CONGRATS GRADS, WE’LL MISS YOU. KEEP UP WITH CSU COLLEGIAN.COM

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OPINION Monday, May 8, 2017

Top Read: ‘liberal professors hinder student growth’ by Allec Brust Allec Brust @allecbrust

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.

I am the sole believer in a well rounded education. I wrote the column ‘the overpopulation of liberal professors at CSU is hindering to students’ as a sort of social experiment; I wanted to know if other liberal students agreed. At many college campuses, large populations of liberal professors has

become the norm. I find it hindering that my education is being reserved to my own views. In order to get a good education, we must be taught by those who embody many different viewpoints.

I am pleased at the positive discourse that was sparked as a result of this conversation. Often, I am met with a plethora of ad hominem attacks on social media. Although the haters are my motivators, it is refreshing to see a column of mine met with positivity. This column represents the reason I got into journalism: to get people talking.

If I can use my voice to start a discussion, I have done my job. Thank you to all who read my work and contribute to the conversation.

Allec Brust can be reached at letters@collegian.com.

Top Read: ‘Slaughterhouse’ by Leta McWilliams Thank you to everyone who read my Slaughterhouse column.

I was really passionate about this topic. I heard about the facility @LetaMcWilliams from seeing the petition for it online, and I immediately wanted to write about it. Everyone I spoke to was extremely against building Editor’s Note: All opinion the slaughterhouse on campus, section content reflects the so I thought it would be a really views of the individual author good way to voice my opinion and only and does not represent a give a voice to other students on stance taken by the Collegian campus.

I had no idea this article or its editorial board. would get the publicity that

Leta McWilliams

it did. After it was published, I saw a protest was planned on campus and students all over social media were speaking out about how they didn’t want it on campus. I was even contacted from a professional journalist who was going to write an article on it. I’m happy that I was able to spark such a good conversation about something on our campus.

Leta McWilliams can be reached at letters@ collegian.com.

Top read: ‘What it’s like to live with an eating disorder’ by Lauren Willson Lauren Willson @lkwillson

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.

I wrote the piece ‘what it is like to live with an eating disorder’ so that readers could be exposed to the personal experience of anorexia nervosa.

So often, mental illnesses are deemed less severe than a physical ailment like cancer. While physical diseases are certainly

just as difficult and tragic, overcoming a mental illness can be one of the hardest things to do.

In conveying my own struggles, I hoped to show that recovery is possible. I also wanted to offer hope for those currently fighting an invisible battle with their own minds.

While awaiting publication, I was absolutely terrified. I did not know how readers would receive my story, if they would grasp its message. However, I am happy to report that there was an outpouring of support and laudation that still amazes me to this day. Thank you to everyone who took the time to read it. And thank you for receiving it in such an empathetic manner. By doing so, you are helping to de-stigmatize mental illness.

Lauren Willson can be reached at letters@collegian.com.

Bee mine.

SPORTS Monday, May 8, 2017

Deutschman: Thank you for the memories Chad Deutschman @ChadDeutschman

Want to hear a funny story?

In May 2015, a sophomore at Colorado State University walked into the Collegian newsroom not knowing a soul that worked there and has never written an article in his life.

Before that, the same sophomore had sent countless emails to sports@collegian.com begging for an interview and never heard back.

The student walked into the newsroom, stopped at the front desk and asked, “Hi, I’m Chad Deutschman.

Can I please have a job?”

Yeah, I’m that kid. That was about two years ago.

By the grace of God, I got that job on the sports desk. Even became lucky enough to cover the CSU Women’s Soccer beat my junior year. I‘m pretty sure there was a typo in my first story—and every story since—but I’m a fan of blaming editors for those things.

Fast forward one year from my awkward job begging and I was named sports editor of the Collegian. It’s funny how things work out.

I’d be lying if I said I knew what I was doing right away—maybe I still don’t—but this past year as editor has been surreal for a lot of reasons. I have struggled to put into words, but here it goes: This past year I watched my parents get divorced and my Opa courageously play tug-o-war with the Grim Reaper for eight long months.

The day of the Rocky Mountain Showdown, I was told he had one year to live. I spent Thanksgiving break in UC Irvine hospital by his side with my Mom and Omi as one year unfairly turned into a phone could ring any day. On April 7, about a month before graduation—something my Opa and I talked an awful lot about—I got that call from my brother at 6:22 a.m.

A lot of people have lost someone in their life. I won’t pretend my hardships have been any more difficult than the next person’s—that is not my intention. But having to see my family struggle for eight months has been the most difficult thing I’ve ever done for reasons I can’t find words to explain. I would be lying to myself if I said these things didn’t have an affect on my work and school this year.

There were days I wanted to be alone. There were days I wanted to cry. There were a lot of days I wanted to quit my job. I’m not really sure why I never did. But look-

ing back on it now, I can’t imagine this year without it.

I will always remember the late nights at Hughes Stadium with the football staff, fumbling through a story as the last light lit in Fort Collins was in the press box we were sitting in.

I will always remember driving to Vegas and meeting John Elway’s best friend.

I will always remember holding staff meetings and seeing blank stares looking back at me like I just spoke nonsense—which easily could be true.

I will always remember panicking the night before a special edition.

I will always remember reading our professional advisor’s critiques, only to make the same mistake again the next day ... sorry, Jim. I will always remember being the guy who had to get pizza for the rest of the newsroom because I didn’t know enough about the election to be helpful.

But most importantly, I will always remember the people I met along the way.

To the sports desk, I say thank you. Thank you for putting up with me for an entire year, especially when I wasn’t always the most available person. Thank you for working your ass off when I asked you to but even more so when I didn’t. Thank you for the laughs along the way, I hope you were able to have some fun.

To CSU athletes and athletics, I’d like to apologize. I’m sorry for asking so many questions and for not always letting you know whom I wanted to talk to 24 hours in advance. You all went out of your way to help our staff and I can’t thank you enough for doing so.

To the readers, stick around.

Every time you clicked on a story I hope you learned something about CSU sports. The work we did was for you, and at the very least, I hope you didn’t hate it.

To the rest of the editorial board, you’re cool.

But seriously, I am humbled to have been around such a hard working group and great people. Sure, we had our bumps along the way, but if we were perfect all the time Jim’s job would be no fun. I like to think any mistakes we made were us simply keeping people on their toes.

To next year’s sports desk, don’t suck. I wish you the best of luck and know you will accomplish much more than I did. Enjoy the highs and lows of the job, but most of all, remember you are always learning.

With that said, I’d like to pass on the Rocky Mountain Collegian sports editor torch.

Danke für die Erinnerungen.

Collegian sports editor Chad Deutschman can no longer be reached at sports@collegian.com.

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Meet your editor: Justin Michael

Justin Michael is thrilled to be the inaugural sports director for the Rocky Mountain Collegian.

Justin has covered Colorado State athletics since 2015, working primarily as a beat reporter and weekly columnist. During that time, Justin’s regular coverage responsibilities included CSU football, along with both the men’s and women’s basketball programs. However, Justin has experience working with every major athletic program at CSU and the majority of the club sport programs.

Along with the Collegian, Justin also covers the Denver Broncos for the 5280 Sports Network. His previous publications include BSN Denver and The Broncos Wire of USA

TODAY Sports Media Group.

Although Justin has always been passionate about working in athletics, he did not always know that he wanted to be a writer.

A native of Lakewood, Colo., Justin graduated from Bear Creek High School in 2013. For two-and-a-half years, Justin worked as an assistant in the CSU football coaching office under former Head Coach Jim McElwain and current Director of Football Operations Tom Ehlers.

After experiencing firsthand how fickle the world of college athletics can be and seeing many of his close friends leave for other programs around the country, Justin decided to make the jump to sports media.

Justin Michael, Sports Director PHOTO BY TONY VILLALOBOS MAY COLLEGIAN

Having worked on both sides of the athletic spectrum, Justin is hoping to bring a new perspective to the Collegian editorial board. One that focuses on all of the aspects of why we love sports, without compromising the truth.

Collegian sports director Justin Michael can be reached by email at jmichael@ collegian.com.

Meet your editor: Colin Barnard

Colin Barnard will be the Collegian sports editor for the 2017-18 year. Currently a sophomore studying journalism and economics, Barnard has been enthralled with the sports world and its impact on everyday life for years.

Born and raised in Denver, Colo., Barnard’s enthusiasm for sports began at a young age and has only grown throughout his life. When Barnard realized he was a much better writer than athlete, sports

journalism presented itself in a very attractive manner.

In his first two years as a sports reporter for the Collegian, Barnard has covered women’s athletics at Colorado State, including basketball and soccer, allowing him to grow as a writer and reporter.

When he is not watching or writing about sports, Barnard enjoys spending time in the woods, listening to country music and eating delicious food.

Colin Barnard, Sports Editor PHOTO BY TONY VILLALOBOS MAY COLLEGIAN

Collegian sports editor Colin Barnard can reached by email at sports@ collegian.com.

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SPORTS Monday, May 8, 2017

Most impactful stories: Cassidy Denny leads CSU on and off the court

By Michael Roley @michael_roley

To be completely candid, when I’m covering a sporting event I sometimes find myself wondering what the significance of the game being played out in front of me is. If we broke the games down in over-simplistic terms, they honestly sound silly. A team attempts to throw an orange object into a cylinder that stands 10 feet high. Another team tries to slide a small black puck across a sheet of ice in hopes of getting it past a heavily padded guy blocking the net.

When stated this way, the games seem strange. The point of it all sometimes escapes me. Why do people pay decent amounts of money to watch?

Why do people tune in on TV? Why does anyone care?

I’m not sure what the answer to those questions are. There’s likely several valid ones. But I suspect one reason is because of the athletes. People want to see them perform. They want to witness their talent.

And they want to connect with them and know them in one way or another. That is undoubtedly my favorite part of this job. I get to connect the players to the people and tell stories.

Their stories.

That’s what happened this past season with CSU volleyball’s senior libero Cassidy Denny. As the team’s lone senior, Denny was the natural leader of the team, both on and off the court. But

there was more to it than that.

She’s energetic, talkative and outspoken. Not just about volleyball, but about her observations of racial injustice taking place in this country. The Sacramento, Calif. native doesn’t back away from discussing these topics. Instead of keeping these thoughts bottled up like one might expect of a student-athlete, she uses her platform as a well-known volleyball player to inspire other students and females to advocate for change and start conversations.

She has a voice and a platform, and she uses it. Regardless of personal opinions or political preferences, this is something to be respected.

The story also included a mini-chapter on her role as “Team Mom,” a role amplified by the six true freshman the Rams had this year. It also dove into her tight-knit relationship with her best friend and teammate, Jasmine Hanna.

It may sound cliché, but this story wrote itself. The couple hours spent writing it went by in a flash. That’s what good stories, good music and good sports tend to do. They freeze time.

In a couple years, many won’t remember the volleyball team’s record or statistics. But they’ll remember Denny and her outgoing nature. Most of all, they’ll remember her stories.

And I’m glad I got to tell one of them.

Collegian sports reporter Michael Roley can be reached by email at sports@collegian.com.

Most impactful stories: CSU defeats SDSU behind Omogbo’s buzzer-beater

By Justin Michael @JustinTMichael The 2016-17 school year was filled with quite a few storybook moments for the sports desk. Football said goodbye to Hughes Stadium, women’s basketball secured an unprecedented fourth consecutive regular season league title, CSU track and field set numerous school and conference records.

Of all the monumental moments, nothing stands out in my mind like the 2017 “Orange Out” men’s basketball game between San Diego State and Colorado State.

Not only were the Rams able to overcome a 12-point deficit to earn the first series sweep over the Aztecs since 2003, but they were able to do it in the most exciting way possible: a buzzer-beating 3-point shot to win, followed by a sea of students storming the court in celebration.

More than the outcome of the game itself, I will never forget the raw emotion that the players featured during the contest. For thirty minutes, everything seemed to go the Aztecs’ way. It did not matter. The

Rams continued to fight and eventually that tenacity made the ultimate difference.

An emotional Emmanuel Omogbo standing on the court with students tumbling down from the stands around him will likely be ingrained in the back of my mind for the rest of my life. It was everything we love about sports and the culmination of a roller-coaster year in which Omogbo had given everything he had for his team. On that day and in that moment, all of us got to experience just how much it meant to him.

After tragically losing his family in a house fire in the spring of 2016, Omogbo had opened up about his personal life with us on multiple occasions over the course of the 2016-17 season. Throughout the year, he referenced the 2016-17 campaign as his “thank you season” in honor of the support he received from the CSU community. This moment was the culmination of all Omogbo’s work.

Following the game, Omogbo put things in perspective when he stared out at the media with tears in his eyes and ex-

plained that it was his late relatives that pushed him through the final moments.

“I was unconscious,” Omogbo said. “That was probably my parents that forced the ball to go in, and my niece and nephew. I knew it couldn’t have been only me.”

As a sports reporter this job is not always what ESPN makes it out to be. Rarely is it boldly stating your opinion or living in the spotlight. In fact, most of the time this job is incredibly frustrating.

Frustration with not being able to get your questions answered. Frustration with deadlines and countless red tape to jump through. In this specific moment though, everything was perfect. I had experienced one of the most exciting moments in CSU hoops history firsthand and got to tell a story that was so much bigger than basketball.

In that moment, I knew without a doubt that I had made the right decision to follow my passion.

Collegian sports director Justin Michael can be reached by email at jmichael@ collegian.com.

Most impactful stories: Michael Stack’s UFC aspirations

By Eddie Herz @Eddie_Herz

Occasionally within the realm of sports reporting, the human element of a story’s subject can get lost among the art of word crafting. When attempting to beat a tight deadline, failing to appreciate that all athletes are no different than you or me can be easy.

However, when I had the opportunity to write about amateur MMA fighter Michael Stack, these unfortunate commonalities were far from the truth.

Being able to write about someone who I have seen climb the ranks from an unknown fighter to an undefeated lightweight belt-holder was a rare and incredible experience. I got to see the story develop from square one, and that’s a unique perspective that most stories are unable to incorporate.

Before Stack’s first amateur fight, his aspirations to one day be a professional

MMA fighter were apparent to me. The key words here are “one day.” This was back in September 2015 before Stack had made a name for himself.

Since then, Stack has complied a perfect 4-0 record at the amateur level of the Sparta Combat League.

He took home the SCL lightweight title back in November at the Budweiser Events Center and has had no problem defending it since. Now, Stack is on the verge of making it professionally.

After covering three of those four SCL matches, I was excited to tell Stack’s story to the world. Part of that excitement came from understanding the impact it would have on those close to Stack.

There were certain individuals who were going to do much more with this piece than just quickly glance it over. This indepth story about Stack and his aspirations was something I wanted to write for him and his supporters.

I learned back at Stack’s

debut fight in February 2016 that his family’s support of his UFC quest was unparalleled. His father, who I had the pleasure of speaking with for this piece, displays just as much passion as his son does on fight day.

As I anticipated, Stack and his family, as well as some of his close friends, were very supportive of the piece. It’s not everyday that I get to write a feature that I know will impact individuals on such a personal level. Having the ability to briefly step outside the domain of CSU athletics and into a sport that receives far less coverage made this story worthwhile. And the impact that it had on Stack and his supporters is still something I find so special.

Telling Stack’s journey to Collegian readers was necessary, and the reasons to write about him are growing after each victory.

Collegian sports reporter Eddie Herz can be reached by email at sports@collegian.com.

The Rocky Mountain Collegian | Monday, May 8, 2017

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CONGRATULATIONS ROCKY MOUNTAIN STUDENT MEDIA

AND THE WINNER IS...

Associated Collegiate Press

Best of Show Award, Third Place, Website Large School, National College Media Convention Best of Show Award, Sixth Place, Newspaper Special Edition, National College Media Convention Best of Show Award, Sixth Place, Newspaper Four-year Daily, National College Media Convention College Media Association

Best Social Media Presence, Third Place, Pinnacle College Media Awards Jim Rodenbush, Honor Roll Four-Year Newspaper Adviser Columbia Scholastic Press Association

Silver Crown Award, Hybrid Category -- Collegian.com, Rocky Mountain Collegian Society of Professional Journalists

Best Affiliated Website, Collegian.com, Region 9 Best All-Around Daily Student Newspaper, Rocky Mountain Collegian, Region 9 Abbie Parr, First Place, Breaking News Photography, Region 9 Erin Douglas, Finalist, General News Reporting, Region 9 Tatiana Parafiniuk-Talesnick, General News Reporting, Region 9 College Media Business & Advertising Managers, National Convention

Best Classified Fun Page/Section, Best of CSU, Brianna Nash, Keegan Pope and Ryan Whitney, First Place Best Self-Promotional Website, First Place Best Video Ad or Underwriting Spot (16 seconds or longer), Second Place Best Special Section, CSU Visitors Guide, Kailee Kwiecien, Third Place, Best Printed Rate Card or Media Kit, Lilly Luke, Honorable Mention College Broadcasters Inc.

Best Audio Special Broadcast, Second place, “Doodle Do or Doodle Don’t” Best Audio DJ, Third place, “Caribbean Java and Earl Gray”

You’re out of this world

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ARTS & CULTURE Monday, May 8, 2017

About the desk: Arts & Culture

Meet your editors: Randi Mattox, A&C Director

The arts and culture desk aims to bring the interesting artistic and cultural practices of people on campus and in Fort Collins to Collegian readers.

This desk is particularly exciting to work for because arts and culture encompasses everything.

There is a human interest angle in every story that is out there.

Our job is to find those angles and write articles that showcase the unique practices and lifestyles of people in the community.

We have a very broad definition of what constitutes artistic expression. There are the obvious types of artists like student filmmakers, local musicians, painters, photographers, culinary experts, clothing designers and authors. But, there are also the less obvious types of artists that we also try to include in our coverage like business entrepreneurs, people with unique or uncommon jobs, inventors, community leaders and all other types of people who create new things or have exciting ideas.

Because we are in Colorado, we also like to include outdoor activities in our coverage are artists. Although the Collegian does has a sports desk, the arts and culture desk focuses on the coverage of sports like rock-climbing, skiing, snowboarding, hiking, yoga, slack-lining, long boarding and other activities that are more specific to the everyday CSU student.

The culture side of the desk is focused on highlighting the different ways of thinking and expressing that are within our community. This coverage typically includes the events hosted

Randi Mattox is the Rocky Mountain Collegian’s 2017-2018 arts and culture director.

Mattox is a junior double-majoring in journalism and media communication and communication studies with a minor in history. She loves yoga, hiking, concerts and movies.

Mattox first started at the Collegian during the summer of 2015. Although arts and culture articles are her favorite, she has written for the opinion and news desk as well. Mattox enjoys writing articles that highlight community members and the interesting things they are doing to benefit CSU and Fort Collins and bringing stories that would otherwise go unnoticed to Collegian readers.

Mattox was the arts and culture editor this year and learned a lot about the art scene in Fort Collins. She hopes to continue exploring the different realms of artistic and cultural expression on campus and around town.

If you ever have corrections, story suggestions or want to comment on an article, you can contact her at rmattox@collegian. com.

by the diversity offices on campus and the cultural organizations in town. We hope to be as inclusive as possible in our coverage of the different cultures that students and community members represent.

This side of our desk also includes articles about religion, spirituality or just interesting things that make someone’s way of living separate from the norm.

We find it important to know and understand that our campus and town is full of people from all walks of life, and we try to uncover the most interesting aspects of those lives and create an educational and entertaining article about them.

We also broaden the typical definition of culture to include local culture and college culture.

Coverage of local culture is most frequently about festivals or the booming beer industry, but we also like to recount interesting historical events and feature people or businesses that are consistently an integral part of the community. For our coverage of college culture, we like to ask students to respond to popular culture events, or we like to write articles about parties, jobs, roommates and other relatable aspects of being a college students.

We believe that everyone has a story. Every student, professor and community member has something interesting about their life that would make for a good article. Arts and culture is all about showcasing the community.

Zoe Jennings and Randi Mattox can be reached at entertainment@collegian.com.

Randi Mattox, Arts and Culture Director; Zoë Jennings, Arts and Culture Editor.PHOTO BY TONY VILLALOBOS MAY COLLEGIAN

Randi Mattox, Arts and Culture Director. COLLEGIAN FILE PHOTO

Meet your editors: Zoe Jennings, A&C Editor Zoe Jennings is the Rocky Mountain Collegian’s 2017– 2018 arts and culture editor.

Jennings is a senior double-majoring in journalism and history. She owns roughly 30 houseplants and loves cats, camping, historical drama films and music.

Jennings was one of the arts and culture editors this year. Her first article was published a little over a year ago and it was coverage of a Reel Big Fish concert. She was then hired to be an assistant editor for the desk this fall and eventually stepped up as an editor.

As a reporter she has loved working with one of her best friends and getting to watch her reporters improve.

She hopes that the desk and her reporters will keep improving. She is excited to continue covering the vibrant arts and culture scene within the CSU and Fort Collins communities.

She would love to hear from you. You can contact her at zjennings@collegian.com.

Zoe Jennings, Arts and Culture Editor. PHOTO BY TONY VILLALOBOS MAY COLLEGIAN

ARTS & CULTURE Monday, May 8, 2017

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Meet the Alec behind ‘Alec Reviews Music’

By Alec Erickson @CTV_Ace

To better understand who I am as a critic who has now been published over 100 times, we need to start with how I got this job. It was luck and circumstance above all else.

I practically lived in the newsroom, and still do. One day, the arts and entertainment editor, Hannah Ditzenberger, and I were there at the same time. She asked me if I knew anything about music and if I was willing to write about it. So, I gave it a try.

One week later, my first review was published. It was on the Silversun Pickups’ “Better Nature.” I was beyond nervous for it to go out. Within hours, I received a comment online calling me an ass, and that pretty much cemented me as a wannabe critic. But, in that same day, the review received almost 2,000 page views online.

After that, I had editors essentially begging me to continue writing reviews. I did one here and there, and each time I became a little less timid of criticizing an album. Then, arts and entertainment got changed to arts and culture, and my editor became Randi Mattox, who thankfully pushed me to write one review every other

week, which progressed to one review a week, which progressed to where I am now, writing two to four reviews a week.

I think the most important thing when it comes to what I write is telling readers what the good and bad are within an album.

As someone who has been to more concerts than I care to count, I have always been dependent on music. When I was 12, my dad gave me every record he had at the time.

I gained a deep and emotional connection to the music of Eric Clapton, Van Halen, Descendents, Pearl Jam and countless other classics. I have albums like Frank Turner’s “Positive Songs for Negative People” that got me out of one of the lowest points in my life and Quiet Company’s “We Are All Where We Belong” that helped me give up on religion. There are countless albums that have helped me through countless scenarios in

life, and that is why I have such a passion for reviewing albums.

I think the most important thing when it comes to what I write is telling readers what the good and bad are within an album. While I get criticized a lot for negatively talking about an album and still suggesting that people listen to it, I think it is important to tell readers what they are getting into when they pick up an album. I’m not going to lie. I just want readers to think more critically of the music they listen to and what it means to them.

At the end of the day, I’m still adding music to the collection my dad gave me in hopes that I can pass that along. “Alec Reviews Music” is a documentation of that process.

I just want to expose as many people to as many types of music as possible. Whether you think it is good or bad is up to you. I’m just sharing with you my opinion. Go ahead and call me an ass if I say something bad about your favorite artist. It’s not going to change what I write. So, sit down and pay attention. I’ve got one more semester left here at CSU, and I’m going to teach you all a thing or two about good music.

Alec Erickson can be reached at entertainment@collegian. com.

A week in the life of an A&C reporter

By Nate Day @NateMDay

The Rocky Mountain Collegian is not a simple organization to run. According to our latest statistics, 6,500 papers are distributed each day throughout campus and Fort Collins, and 55 percent of students read our paper regularly. That’s a lot of content for us to produce.

Over at the Arts and Culture desk, we produce roughly one -fourth of the paper’s material, the other parts being filled by news, opinion and sports. While arts and culture doesn’t often get to report on breaking news around campus, we still work hard to bring you, our readers, closer to your community and your neighbors.

The week for us begins on Thursday, when all of the arts and culture writers gather in the newsroom to discuss our article ideas. It’s our job to pitch ideas for articles to our editors Randi Mattox and Zoe Jennings. These pitches should be about events on or near campus and people in

the community.

In these weekly meetings, we discuss these ideas, approve our deadlines, and then Randi and Zoe have a slew of articles for us to pick up. Usually, this is the longest part of the meeting because we’re all desperately avoiding eye contact. Eventually, someone claims all of the articles, and we set off to write them.

Generally, we spend the weekend trying to get in contact with the subjects of our articles to set up interview times.

Next, comes the interviews or the events, so you might see us either furiously scribbling in a notebook with handwriting so sloppy we’ll have a hard time reading it when we’re done, or shoving our phones in people’s faces trying to gey high-quality quotes we can use for our next step.

At this point, things are getting pretty crazy, because in addition to being reporters, we’re also students, and many of us have jobs and friends and family that we’d like to keep

up with, not to mention that looming deadline.

Once we’ve gathered our information, it’s writing time.

We sit down, bang out the article, pair it with a picture and a catchy headline, and we send it off to Randi and Zoe, who comb through each and every sentence looking for spelling and grammar mistakes, as well as making sure we follow the Associate Press writing style. AP style, as we call it, can be kind of odd at times. For example, there’s no Oxford comma, and there are hundreds of strange little rules that the average Joe wouldn’t think about, so it takes a special person to catch the inevitable mistakes.

Once they’ve got their articles for the day, Zoe and Randi take them to meeting with the other editors and they all work together to get the next day’s paper filled in and organized.

Then, you pick up your copy the next morning.

Nate Day can be reached at entertainment@collegian.com.

PHOTO BY CHAPMAN CROSKELL COLLEGIAN

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ARTS & CULTURE Monday, May 8, 2017

Meet the Collegian’s student media advisor

By Alec Erickson @CTV_Ace

Jim Rodenbush, the Student Media Advisor for the Rocky Mountian Collegian, has been helping and encouraging young journalists for a total of seven years.

Rodenbush previously advised at Penn State University and Webster University, and he moved to CSU two years ago.

“I was looking for a change of pace,” Rodenbush said. “I was looking for something similar to Penn State.”

Penn State’s paper and the Collegian are similar because they are both independent, student-run newspapers. The Collegian seemed like the perfect fit for Rodenbush.

“It was an opportunity to pick up right where I left off, just in a different location,” Rodenbush said.

Rodenbush said he enjoys advising because he gets to see journalists grow and learn.

“Watching so many people grow, watching them become leaders, watching them go on and have careers in journalism, that is the best part,” Rodenbush

said.

Rodenbush said his job is going best when he people do not notice he’s there.

“My approach is providing the setting and providing the opportunity, then getting the hell out of the way,” Rodenbush said.

“I’m more than anything a service. I’m here to provide advice, opinions so that students can figure things out in a solo setting.”

The Collegian has received criticism from both sides of the political spectrum this year.

Rodenbush said he is glad the paper covers issues that spark conversation.

“It’s the kind of mindset we really need to have,” Rodenbush said. “It’s okay to talk about issues of importance that might make folks uncomfortable.”

Rodenbush said Rocky Mountain Student Media is special because there the students who makeup the organization are so talented.

“We are just oozing with potential,” Rodenbush said. “We have so many people that understand what it takes to do this day in and day out. Everyone understands the responsibility of put-

ting out a daily newspaper, not only for themselves but for the community.”

While it may be Rodenbush’s job to critique the paper, he pushes an important philosophy about learning from mistakes.

“There are going to be good days, and there are going to bad days,” Rodenbush said. “But, the one thing you have going for you is that you have an opportunity to do it again the next day.”

Alec Erickson can be reached at entertainment@collegian.com.

Jim Rodenbush, student media advisor. PHOTO BY MIKE BERG

COLLEGIAN

Top A&C article: Presidential Review of ‘South Park’ episode debate drinking game

By Max Sandberg @jmaxsun

The article, “How to turn the presidential debate into a drinking game,” by Max Sundberg was the arts and culture desk’s top read story from the 2016-2017 school year with 2,167 reads.

Reporter’s reflection: This article seemed like a timely thing to write with the debates happening then, and I thought it might be fun to write something more humorous.

It was an easy and quick one to write up. The hardest part was coming up with the rules for the drinking game. I asked friends for ideas and did a bit of Googling to find things the candidates commonly said. Overall, I’d say it was successful because it was timely, and college kids like drinking.

You can find the article online at collegian.com Max Sandberg can be reached at entertainment@ collegian.com.

Students throw shade at Showdown

By Miranda Moses @mirandasrad

The article, "How to throw shade at the Showdown," by Miranda Moses was the arts and culture desk's third most read story from the 2016-2017 school year with 1,170 reads.

Reporter's reflection: When writing this piece, I legitimately enjoyed it. I have a pretty dumb sense of humor, and the article made me laugh, but I had no idea people would enjoy my lame, third-grade-level jokes as much as I enjoyed them. After the article was published, many

of my friends came to me and told me about how they heard people talking about how much they enjoyed the article in their classes, which made my heart hurt so bad (in a good way). One of the comments is coming at my grammar, which find petty, and the other is ridiculing my wit.

Obviously, they were pretty salty, but that is okay because I and I am the true sass master at the end of the day.

You can find the article online at collegian.com Miranda Moses can be reached at entertainment@collegian.com.

resonates with local readers

Daily Horoscope Nancy Black

TODAY’S BIRTHDAY

(95/08/17)You’re growing physically stronger this year.

Introspection and planning prepares you for new professional directions this summer, leading to a flowering domestic phase. A partnership reaches new heights over a year beginning this autumn. Find your passion.

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

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

ARIES (March 21-April 19) — 8

— Study money, and review your resources. Handle short-term urgencies. Provide well for family. Follow the rules exactly. means making a bigger one first.

TAURUS (April 20-May 20) — 9 — Develop strong partners today and tomorrow. A difficult situation is making you stronger. Intuition dictates timing, with temporary confusion or controversy.

GEMINI (May 21-June 20) — 7 — Enjoy health and fitness practices over the next few days.

Keep your promises. Unbidden, misunderstandings and unexpected twists spark. So keep a low profile.

CANCER (June 21-July 22) — 7 — Romance blossoms today and tomorrow. Avoid distractions, and find what you need close to home. Misunderstandings come easily; stick to basics.

LEO (July 23-Aug. 22) — 7 —

By Taylore Felver @collegian_tay

The article, “’South Park’ airs episode set in Fort Collins,” by Taylor Felver was the arts and culture desk’s second most read story from the 2016-2017 school year with 1,636 reads.

Reporter’s reflection: When writing about the Fort Collins “South Park” episode, I had no idea that it would become the second most read article of the year. My friends and I have always watched the show here and there. But, I remember for this specific episode, that almost everyone I knew watched it just to see how they would depict Fort Collins. I thought it would be cool to write this article because my dad went to South Park High School in Fairplay, Colorado. I really enjoyed writing the piece and rewinding that episode at least a dozen times to spot the Fort Collins shout-outs like the Aggie ‘A’ or the breweries.

You can find the article online at collegian.com Taylor Felver can be reached at entertainment@collegian.com.

LISTEN ONLINE AT KCSUFM.COM

Take care of home and family for the next few days. The gentle approach works best now. Show your love with actions, not only words.

VIRGO (Aug. 23-Sept. 22) — 9 — Edit and revise your communications. Writing projects produce results over the next two days. Adapt to unexpected circumstances. Add structure.

LIBRA (Sept. 23-Oct. 22) — 9 — Focus on making money over the next two days. Find somewhere to keep quiet and handle practical details. Update budgets and spreadsheets.

SCORPIO (Oct. 23-Nov. 21) — 9 — Focus on personal priorities today and tomorrow. Action gets farther than words today. Navigate surprising circumstances gracefully. Call if you’ll be late.

SAGITTARIUS (Nov. 22-Dec. 21) — 6 — Slow down and rest over the next few days. Be sensitive to a loved one’s wishes.

Avoid controversy, jealousies and fussing.

CAPRICORN (Dec. 22-Jan. 19) — 7 — Confer with allies for the next two days. Your friends are your inspiration. Committees are effective. Navigate a change in plans.

AQUARIUS (Jan. 20-Feb. 18)— 8 — Consider career opportunities for the next few days. Begin a testing period. Focus, and winning is a distinct possibility.

PISCES (Feb. 19-March 20) — 8 — Slow for traffic as you explore and travel over the next few days. Avoid confrontation. Find a quiet spot.

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COLLEGIAN.COM Monday, May 8, 2017

Los Angeles Times Daily Crossword Puzzle

Across 1 Word with ball or driver 6 Great Salt Lake state 10 Sharp knocks 14 1971 Clapton classic 15 Pre-Columbian prefix with America 16 Director Kazan 17 Mega-mall convenience 20 Horror director Craven 21 Foot or inch, e.g.

22 Founder of Taoism 23 Has office hours 24 Bro and sis 25 Small-time bad guy 31 Pueblo-dwelling people 32 “Whatever floats your __” 33 Igor’s workplace 35 Drops the ball 36 Shrimp relative 38 Adriatic resort 39 Federal hush-hush org.

40 Common-interest voting group 41 State after North Dakota, alphabetically 42 Office attire with a vest 47 Online auction site 48 Part of many old German

duchy names 49 Belief systems 52 Razor brand 53 Photo taker 56 Barbershop quartet blend 59 Other, in Oaxaca 60 Moniker 61 Fountain drinks 62 Broadway offering 63 God with a hammer 64 Baker’s dough raiser Down 1 Like snail-mail, compared to email 2 Mr. Peanut prop 3 Deli breads 4 LLL 5 ‘60s dance 6 Calling balls and strikes, say 7 Exam 8 Fireplace remains 9 Ruffian 10 Share, as an internet meme 11 Dismounted 12 Kegler’s targets 13 “Parsley, __, Rosemary and Thyme”

18 Getting the job done 19 Blue Ribbon brewer 23 Sacred bird of ancient Egypt 24 Winter bank makeup 25 Partner of now 26 Bottom-of-the-barrel 27 Daytime TV celeb who founded Harpo Productions 28 Beaded calculators 29 Root or Yale 30 Wheel spokes, essentially 34 Cowboy’s footwear 36 Agreeable 37 Stringy 38 Diet successfully 40 Jazz genre 43 Make a new sketch of 44 Bible book named for a woman 45 Adored one, in Asti 46 Formerly in the military 49 Corp. fiscal execs 50 __ IRA 51 Continental coin 52 Prefix with sphere 53 Coca-__ 54 “Carpenter” crawlers 55 Computer adventure game 57 Cheerleader’s word 58 Wisecracking West Yesterday’s solution

SUDOKU Yesterday’s solution

“BEST IN SHOW” BY PHIL JULIANO

BREWSTER ROCKIT: SPACE GUY!, BY TIM RICKARD

23

24 Monday, May 8, 2017 | The Rocky Mountain Collegian

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