After four neutral site losses, Volleyball team seeks victory at Fresno State | Page 8
Peace Corps
PAGE 7
Service organization has long history at CSU
THE RO CKY MOUNTAIN
COLLEGIAN
Fort Collins, Colorado
Wednesday, October 10, 2012
Volume 121 | No. 44
www.collegian.com
THE STUDENT VOICE OF COLORADO STATE UNIVERSITY SINCE 1891
the
STRIP CLUB
The Supreme Court is both the highest court in the land, and also the most mysterious. Almost two thirds of ordinary Americans can’t even name a single Supreme Court Justice. With that being the case, here are some suggestions for justices that everyone can name.
Justices We’d Like to See on the Supreme Court
Henry Fonda
HUNTER THOMPSON | COLLEGIAN
Four flags wave silently outside of the LSC Theater Tuesday night. Because of the LSC renovations, ASCSU is reexamaining the process and future of flying the flags at half-mast after a student passes away.
A student tradition of stars and stripes
CSU student government hopes to continue half-mast flags for deceased students By AUSTIN BRIGGS The Rocky Mountain Collegian Even with heavy construction slated to begin at the Lory Student Center next year, ASCSU hopes to continue a long-standing tradition of lowering the CSU flag at half-mast for three days whenever a CSU student passes away. The tradition may be interrupted while construction is underway on the west end of the Lory Student
Center, where the flagpoles are currently located. After being flown at half-mast for three days, the flag is given to the family of the deceased student in a package along with letters or written notes from classmates and friends. “It’s an important tradition and we want to continue it. I think it’s still in conversation about where its’ going to be relocated to,” said ASCSU President Regina Martel. “I would hope that we can get a CSU flag flying
Few western musicians are as well known for their music as they are for their choice of religion, but then again, few musicians are Matisyahu. The reggae fusion and hip hop artist is playing the Aggie Theatre tonight in support of his latest album, “Spark Seeker,” which incorporates various genres typical of Matisyahu’s varied sound. “I drew upon influences all over the map in music … from hip hop to electronic to dance
Ashley Vigil, program assistant in the department of student affairs, said the response from family members who received the flag has been “overwhelming.” “Flying the flag and sending the flag is very meaningful to the families,” Vigil said. “It lets them know their child wasn’t just a faceless student. They’re always so grateful.” The flag flying is one part of a See FLAGS on Page 6
Affimative Action case will not impact CSU admissions By BAILEY CONSTAS The Rocky Mountain Collegian
PHOTO COURTESY OF MATISYAHU
Matisyahu at the Aggie By DAVIS ENGLISH The Rocky Mountain Collegian
in the plaza area while construction is underway.” Martel said the only issue is that there’s currently not an unused flagpole that ASCSU could use. If one isn’t found, a temporary one may be installed. The $65 million LSC project will completely renovate 160,000 square feet of the existing LSC and add approximately 40,000 square feet of new space. The renovations affecting the flag area are expected to last about a year.
as well as recording in Israel and drawing upon the native Middle Eastern sounds of that culture and recording live instrumentation,” Matisyahu wrote to the Collegian in an email. Mia Matthews, a sophomore nutrition major who is planning on going to the concert tonight and saw Matisyahu play previously in 2009 at Red Rocks Amphitheatre, is excited to see how his live show and presentation has changed in the last three years. See MATISYAHU on Page 6
With the U.S. Supreme Court reviewing a case on Affirmative Action today, many universities across the U.S. may have to change admissions procedures if the court finds the program unconstitutional. CSU will not be one of them. According to Vice President of Diversity Mary Ontiveros, previous cases threatening Affirmative Action have led the university to avoid admissions policies impacted by the John F. Kennedy-era program. “As a university, we have been incredibly diligent about looking at what we have in place in the event that the law passes we’re not playing catch up,” Ontiveros said. “Given that, we’re really in a good position.” The court will be hearing the case of Fisher v. Texas that could rule Affirmative Action in
higher education admissions processes unconstitutional. Abigail Fisher applied to the University of Texas in 2008 and was denied admission. The institution implemented a system of allowing the top 10 percent of high school graduating classes in the state of Texas automatically. According to Courtenay Daum, a CSU political science professor, UT–Austin re-implemented Affirmative Action in their admissions process to promote diversity by further evaluating applicants that are independent from the 10 percent automatically allowed. “Her argument was that the problem with the university’s policy is that they are using the 10 percent rule then supplementing that with the other policy. And that you can’t have that in effect, because it is discriminatory to white students by additionally considering race and ethnicity,” Daum said.
Cases that dealt with Affirmative Action were heard by the court in 1978 and 2003, with many more opportunities arising throughout the years. With Fisher v. Texas, less than 10 years later, Daum said that the court wants to say something significant about Affirmative Action. “The really weird thing is that she’s graduating college and the fact that the Supreme Court is willing to hear the case suggests that they are going to revisit Affirmative Action,” Daum said. Higher education institutions will be keeping a watch on the case as it develops. “The definition of diversity has changed. Schools will continue to value diversity because they do believe it benefits the classroom,” Daum said. Affirmative Action has been reconsidered in the past. See AFFIRMATIVE on Page 3
(12 Angry Men) Henry Fonda plays a man who singlehandedly sees through racial, economic and parental biases to ensure that an innocent man escapes the death penalty. His unnamed-throughalmost-the-entire movie-character is the ideal justice: smart, perceptive, careful and looks good on camera.
Jack Nicholson
(A Few Good Men) “YOU... CAN’T... HANDLE... THE... TRUTH!” Enough said.
The Statue of Justice
You’ve seen this statue before. A blind woman holding a set of scales in one hand and a sword in the other. The idea being that justice should be blind, and make a judgement based on the evidence presented. The Strip Club is written by the Collegian staff and designed by Design Editor Kris Lawan.