12/13/16 Arbiter Online

Vol. 29 Issue 16

December 13, 2016 IN D EPE ND E NT

ST U D E NT

V O I CE

O F

B O I SE

STAT E

S I N C E

1 9 3 3

TACKLING CACTUS BOWL THE

The Arbiter

@arbiteronline

@arbiteronline radio

arbiteronline.com

BRANDON FEELY / THE ARBITER

Boise State gears up to touchdown on success, pg. 19

WEEKLY EVENTS Storytime Slam at Silverstone Branch Library Wednesday, December 14

Silverstone Branch Library, 3531 E Overland Rd., Meridian, 8:00 - 11:00 PM, FREE Featuring spoken word comedian Jonathan Samuel Eddie, this slam and open mic, sponsored by Big Tree Arts Inc, is open to any spoken word or poem writer who feels inclined to perform. Even if you are hoping simply to listen, you are welcome to attend.

Holiday Hoopla with University Health Services Wednesday, December 14

Second floor of the NORCO building, 8:00 - 10:00 AM, FREE University Health Services will be hosting an open house that will include snacks, free chair massages and blood pressure checks, clinic tours, time to speak with providers and chances to win prizes. If you have any questions to ask Health Services, this would be a great time to do so.

Free Winter Solstice Firelight Flow Yoga Thursday, December 15

Hollywood Market Yoga and Spa, 1319 N. 8th Street, 7:00 - 8:15 PM, FREE If you want to take a 75 minute-long Vinyasa yoga class in an 85-90 degree room, you might want to be present at this event. Following the practice will be cookies and hot cocoa.

Overcast, Whereling, Ghost Tours Saturday, December 17

The Olympic Venue, 1009 Main St., 7:00 PM - Midnight, $5, 21+ There will be a lot of local talent at this show, including a new band, Whereling.

If you want to be ‘in the know’ about the Boise music scene, you won’t want to miss this.

Broncos Basketball Sunday, December 18

Taco Bell Arena, 2:00 PM ( Women), 4:30 PM (Men), FREE with Student ID Broncos Women’s and Men’s Basketball will play back-to-back on Saturday, with the women squaring off against Portland at 2 p.m. and the men following, against Idaho State at 4:30 p.m. If you’re looking for a way to celebrate the end of finals, this is an option.

SEND EVENTS TO DARBYEBELING@BOISESTATE.EDU. DESIGN BY NANCY FLECHA

EVENTS

INSIDE: 12/13/16

EDITOR-IN-CHIEF Patty Bowen

editor@stumedia.boisestate.edu

OPINION EDITOR Andy Ridgeway

andyridgeway@u.boisestate.edu

NEWS EDITOR

Samantha Harting

news@stumedia.boisestate.edu

JILL ANNIEMARGARET / COURTESY

NEWS REPORTER

Art Professors take part in Idaho Triennial : pg. 14

Natasha Williams

natashawilliams@u.boisestate.edu

CULTURE EDITOR

Brandon Rasmussen

culture@stumedia.boisestate.edu

CULTURE REPORTER Elise Adams

eliseadams@u.boisestate.edu

SPORTS EDITOR Evan Werner

sports@stumedia.boisestate.edu

SPORTS REPORTER Riston Ramirez

ristonramirez@u.boisestate.edu

DIGITAL CONTENT MANAGER Jared Lewis

digitalcontent@stumedia.boisestate.edu

COPY EDITORS Darby Ebeling Tori Ward

DESIGN MANAGER Ted Atwell

GRAPHIC DESIGNER JARED LEWIS / THE ARBITER

JARED LEWIS / THE ARBITER

Nancy Flecha

Safe spaces and trigger warning under scrutiny : pg. 10

Contact Us:

Gender neutral housing to expand pg. 5

A r b i t e r o n l i n e . c o m 1 9 1 0 U n i v e r s i t y D r. B o i s e , I D 8 3 7 2 5 P h o n e : 2 0 8 . 4 2 6 . 6 3 0 0

Distributed Tuesdays during the academic school year. The Arbiter is the official independent student newspaper of Boise State University and a designated public forum, where student editors make all content decisions and bear responsibility for those decisions. The Arbiter’s budget consists of fees paid by the student body and advertising sales.

The first copy is free. Additional copies can be purchased for $1 a piece at The Arbiter offices.

Pg 3

NEWS Bogus Basin won’t be held back by replant project Despite a replant project threatening to close a few slopes at Bogus Basin, leaving some frequenters of the resort worried, ski and snowboard season began as planned.

The replant effort, called the Bogus Basin Forest Health Project, is meant to eliminate dead and dying pines. Several trees at Bogus Basin are infected with dwarf mistletoe and bark beetles. These species have killed many trees thus far.

According to Mountain Home District Ranger for the Boise National Forest, Stephaney Kerley, the project will be done in phases—focused in spring and summer—so it won’t prevent skiers and snowboarders from shredding powder during the winter season.

“It takes 100 years to grow a 100-year-old tree,” Kerley said.

“We’re doing this project in phases to minimize the impact on Bogus Basin. We can’t take away all the trees at once. We need those trees for snow retention, and without them, all of the snow would just blow away.”

The main focus of the project is to clear out dead trees and replace them with new species which are more resistant to parasites and insects.

“We can’t fix this overnight,” Kerley said. “We’re going to punch the worst of the worst first, and then come back after the new trees have had time to grow, to take out more of the infected trees.”

According to Department of Geosciences Professor, Jen Pierce, dwarf mistletoe and

Pg 4

bark beetles are able to take over trees in increasing numbers because of rising temperatures.

“Warmer and drier summers are the underlying cause of increased fire activity, not only in the Boise National Forest, but in the western United States since 1985,” Pierce said.

“Warmer summers and winters are a cause of increased pine beetles in the western U.S. and Canada.”

Bogus isn’t the only area to be infected with the species— trees across the entire Boise National Forest are infected.

According to the General Manager of Bogus Basin, Brad Wilson, the main focus right now is on Bogus Basin.

“Bogus Basin is very highly in the public view because of its recreational service in the Boise National Forest. That’s why it’s first on the list,” Wilson said. “That way, it will minimize the impact.”

Winter recreators, such as Vice President of the Boise Ski and Snowboard Club Johnny Whittemore, say the wait for Bogus Basin to open will be well worth it. “It’s more important for them to do what they’re doing as far as planting the trees, and people understand that—especially Boiseans,” Whittemore said. “If you have a bunch of dead trees, it helps the bark beetles spread and it’s a fire hazard. In the long run, it’s going to help quite a bit to replant those trees.”

Whittemore said snowboarding is a way to express himself, and he doesn’t think the replant project will affect Bogus Basin or recreators too much. For now, he’s just going to keep enjoying the snow and taking advantage of the beauti-

ful landscape Idaho has to offer.

“It’s an escape. Snowboarding powder is like floating, it’s flying, it’s fantastic. We have this urge, this desire to live in these extreme ways. It’s one of those outlets you can take. It’s my outlet,” Whittemore said.

Bark beetles attack trees that are weakend by age and environmental factors, and eat their inner bark, effectively killing the tree.

Dwarf Mistletoe absorbs nutrients from its host and prevents growth and ability to fight off pests such as the bark beetle.

PHOTO BU TYLER PAGET, GRAPHIC BY NANCY FLECHA / THE ARBITER

Natasha Williams News Reporter NatashaW illiams@u. boisestate.edu

Gender inclusive housing option continues at Boise State

Samantha Harting News Editor News@stumedia.boisestate.edu

Starting Fall 2016, Boise State began offering a gender inclusive housing option to students. Marketing to incoming students, as well as upperclassmen, will increase in the coming months.

With this option, students could live with a sibling, friend or significant other of a different gender.

Upperclassmen have been known to move off campus in order to live in a multigendered household. This option allows those students to find housing on campus, according to Assistant Director for Residential Education, Vince Applegate. Marketing had previously been limited because Housing and Residence Life wanted to see how things went and observe the level of student interest.

“Gender inclusive basically removes gender from the conversation,” Applegate said. “That could be a cis-man and a cis-woman that want to live together. We’ve had twins who wanted to live together, who were opposite gender.”

When students apply for housing, they are able to select this option in most locations across campus, as long as there are enough students who selected the gender inclusive choice to fill the room, suite, apartment or townhome. Housing and Residence Life

didn’t want to create a stigma by having all gender inclusive housing options in one spot, so students are able to choose from most residence locations on campus, according to Applegate. “(The gender inclusive housing option) is a way for us to ask, ‘Why are we dividing people by gender?’” Applegate said.

Associate Director of Residence Life, Christina Schwiderski, said this option is a way to make students feel welcomed while also allowing Housing and Residence Life to help students connect with good roommates.

dents who identify along the gender spectrum, Applegate said it is a way to allow students the choice of where to live based on their gender expression. “(The gender inclusive housing option) helps students who identify out of the gender binary to be able to have a space that feels safe, inclusive and good for them at their choice, not at our direction,” Applegate said.

Applegate and Schwiderski presented a PowerPoint at the 2016 Annual Association of Intermountain Housing Officers Conference titled “Gender Inclusive Housing: How We

“When you pick the gender inclusive housing option, you’re almost guaranteed acceptance of your gender expression, of your identity and likely of your sexual orientation.”

Justice, Civil Rights Division and the U.S. Department of Education, Office for Civil Rights on May 13, 2016, which outlined various rights of transgender students in an academic environment.

“Under Title IX, a school must treat students consistent with their gender identity even if their education records or identification documents indicate a different sex,” the May “Dear Colleague” letter stated.

Though the housing option has had a low response rate so far, Schwiderski anticipates a rise in students

once marketing increases.

“As we start figuring out what our process is and we get more information out there, I think we’ll see an increase in numbers,” Schwiderski said.

Sophomore psychology major Jamie Pecchia selected the gender inclusive housing option at the beginning of the 2016-2017 academic year, and said it’s been an amazing experience.

“When you pick the gender inclusive housing option, you’re almost guaranteed acceptance of your gender expression, of your identity and likely of

your sexual orientation,” Pecchia said. “It’s a bit of a safer way to live, regardless of who you live with.”

Pecchia said this arrangement has been a wonderful way to enjoy living in a dorm for the first time.

“It would be wonderful for gender inclusive options to be expanded as new housing is being developed, because it is a wonderful experience and we wouldn’t want any students who want to take part in it to miss out” Pecchia said.

COME RIDE WITH US BOISEʼS ONLY BOARD SPECIFIC SPECIALTY SHOP

-Jamie Pecchia, sophomore psychology major

Other than the ability to live with someone of a different gender, students will have the same housing experience as those in the traditional gender segragated dorms, according to Schwiderski.

“If I identify as a man, I should be able to basically present as a man or navigate through the university as a male student if I want,” Schwiderski said. “How ever I identify my gender, I should be able to do that.”

Though the gender inclusive housing option is not solely available for stu-

Shifted Perspectives.” The presentation stated there were “eight applicants who expressed interest in gender inclusive housing,” at Boise State in the 2015 to 2016 academic year.

“We started working on this (housing option) before the May version of the Dear Colleague letter came out that requires schools to house people based on their gender identity rather than their sex at birth,” Applegate said.

The letter titled, “Dear Colleague,” was issued by the U.S. Department of

REDEEM FOR $10 OFF ONE $50+ PURCHASE Expires 3/1/17 - Limit 1

LAYAWAY & FINANCING AVAILABLE

2727 W. STATE * 385.9553 OPEN 7 DAYS A WEEK BOARDROOMBOISE.COM

Pg 5

NEWS Boise State waits for results of pending proposal for overtime increase A group of Boise State employees wait in limbo as students finish the final stretch of the semester.

These employees are part of a nationwide group of an estimated 4 million salaried workers who would have been eligible for overtime, if an update in overtime regulations by the Labor Department originally planned to take effect on Dec. 1.

The update would have bumped the threshold for overtime up to $47,476— nearly double what it currently is. However, on Nov. 22 a judge in rural Texas blocked the new plan on the cusp of its implementation. Since then, the Obama Administration has filed an appeal—that was expedited on Dec. 8—against the ruling blocking the new overtime threshold.

“With the ruling currently under a nationwide preliminary injunction, the University is in a holding pattern,” said Jay Stephens, associate vice president for Human Resources. “We will continue to monitor the legal process and when a final decision is rendered, we will go back to work on determining what our next steps are.”

The overtime threshold at Boise State According to Stephens, before ruling was blocked, Boise State had prepared for the Dec. 1 implementa-

Pg 6

tion date by evaluating employees below the $47,476 threshold, and transitioning them to either hourly or raising “their salary over that threshold to maintain their status as salaried and not eligible for overtime.”

While Boise State waits for a final decision, Stephens said all departments will leave employees below the new threshold as salaried and honor the pay increases that went into effect on Nov. 20, which, according to Stephens, “is the beginning of the pay period in which the Dec. 1 original deadline fell.”

“We converted all the employees we were going to convert to non-exempt, we moved them back to exempt—which is what they originally were before all this happened—and the employees who had been planned to receive salary increases—we plan to honor those increases,” Stephens.

According to Stephens, the money for these salary increases will come from “institutional funds.” He stated tuition costs will not be affected by these changes.

Stephens said there are too many unknowns to give a full estimate of how much these changes would cost the University. Part of this, he states, has to do with the lack of knowledge the University has about how much overtime employees below the $47,476 threshold would need.

“If you say ‘OK, we’re going to convert over 200 employees to be overtime eligible,’ you won’t really know how much overtime

those employees would have worked and how much that would have cost,” Stephens said.

Departmental effects

According to Stephens, every division on campus would have been affected by this proposal if it were passed.

“You’re talking about people who filled all kinds of roles from supervising roles to research to academic advising to positions in athletics to people in finance and

support,” Stephens said. “It hit everybody.”

Academic Affairs had roughly 53 percent of the impacted employees, which is the highest percentage of employee impact, according to Stephens.

Marcy Harmer, assistant to the Provost—the department in charge of Academic Affairs—could not comment on how this percentage would impact the department.

Funding the change

Student Affairs and the Office of the President were tied with the second highest amount of impacted employees; 15 percent. Vice President of Student Affairs Leslie Webb said, if Student Affairs moved all impacted employees to the threshold—which, she stated was not recommended for several reasons—it would have cost Student Affairs over $600,000.

Webb explained the increased salary costs will come from several of the different budgets Student Af-

fairs manage. The funds for these budgets come from “state, student fees, grants and other revenue sources (like rent for on campus housing),” Webb said.

According to Stephens, there haven’t been any proposals “by either the state or federal government to provide public entities with more funding to address the proposed (Fair Labor Standards Act) regulation changes.”

“The FLSA ruling was designed to be supportive for staff, however it​did not come with the resources needed to implement in a way that truly supports the staff impacted.”

Vice President of Student Affairs Leslie Webb

OFFICE OF THE PRESIDENT (INCLUDING ATHLETICS) NANCY FLECHA / THE ARBITER

Patty Bowen Editor-in-Chief Editor@stumedia.boisestate.edu

Goodbyes from leaving staff members

Elise Adams Culture Reporter EliseAdams@u.boisestate.edu The Arbiter ain’t no high school newspaper; no, she’s a bonafide woman. Working here, putting out papers every Tuesday with the help of an amazing staff and sitting in the same chair 15 hours a week has been a wild ride. It’s been a challenge, it’s been beautiful, it’s been crazy and difficult and exciting.

From the heated political debates tossed back and forth over cubicle walls, to sharing a messy desk space with Intrepid Reporter Brandon “Mark” Rasmussen, there are innumerable things I will miss about my job as culture reporter. It’s been an ego boost of sorts to be able to say that I work in journalism. I have, however, been knocked down more than a few pegs by careful editing and pissed-off readers. It’s not all as glamorous as one might think.

Still, I value the time I’ve spent here, and the things I’ve learned under the guidance of the one and only Patty Bowen, journalism powerhouse and purveyor of puns extraordinaire.

I’ve enjoyed the quote board, the song of the day, the occasional YouTube breaks and the Miss Marcy CD Andy Ridgeway left on my desk several months ago—along with an empty soup bowl which sat under our inbox for an inordinate amount of time.

I’ve taken away an increased awareness of my own writing, an intimate familiarity with the intricacies of AP style and a newfound ability to make phone calls and schedule meetings like an adult. I’ve had to cut my teeth along the way, and take a few hits, and sometimes begin to lose my hair from stress, but I made it out alright with a few good articles under my belt.

The Arbiter isn’t for the faint of heart. To work here takes guts, brawn and brains out the wazoo. Braving it, working hard and busting ass, however, pays off in the form of golden friendships and character building to last a lifetime. I wouldn’t trade my time here for the world.

Riston Ramirez Sports & Rec Reporter RistonRamirez@u.boisestate.edu When I first started the job, I thought it sounded pretty simple, “do interviews, collect some thoughts, and bust out a couple articles a week.” This is what I saw from the outside. Now that I have had the experience of being in a newsroom, I was barely scratching the surface of what was going on. During my time at The Arbiter, I was able to see the heart and soul of what goes into making The Arbiter great, as well how my co-workers dedicate countless hours of their time to in order to create the paper every week.

My time at The Arbiter taught me more than just how to be a reporter. It taught me humility, and made me see journalism and media from a new perspective. Just when I thought I had written an amazing article, my editors would point out flaws and areas for improvement so that I could grow and learn from my mistakes. I thank my editors as well as my other co-workers for taking me under their wing so that I could be successful.

However, every beginning must have an end and my time at The Arbiter came to an end much too quickly. I will not be coming back next semester as the Sports and Rec Reporter. As disappointed as I am to leave, it is in my best interest to do so. I took this job to find out if journalism was something I wanted to turn into a career. I am so happy I had the opportunity to work here because of the experiences, memories and respect I now have for journalism and what goes into putting a paper together every week. Despite having changed my major to secondary education, I still see myself writing part time, whether that be on a blog or freelancing. Writing is still something I enjoy.

Thank you again for the short but wonderful ride. I wish you all the best and I know you will all excel in the fields you will one day work in.

Andy Ridgeway Opinon Editor AndyRidgeway@u.boisestate.edu I will be graduating this weekend, which means my first semester writing for The Arbiter will also be my last. Working for The Arbiter has been an amazing experience and I’m truly grateful I had the opportunity to get to know such an incredible group of people.

I owe a special thanks to our editor-in-chief Patty Bowen, who has been a fantastic teacher and pleasure to work for. I also want to thank the rest of the editorial staff, who have put up with my rants about white privilege and economic inequality and tolerated all of my terrible jokes about psychoanalysis for three months now.

The Arbiter is one of the most hilarious, intellectually stimulating work environments I’ve ever been part of and I’m sad I have to say goodbye. I wish we’d had more time together.

During my tenure as Opinion Editor, I did my best to write about the issues on campus that are important to me. I was not objective, but I sought to support my perspective on a wide variety of issues—including racism, adjunct wages and the cost of oncampus childcare—with credible sources and reliable evidence. I engaged in ongoing discussions about controversial campus policies and projects with other members of the student community.

I did not always agree with the student opinions published in the opinion section, but I ran what was submitted because I believe the opinion page should showcase a multiplicity of diverse perspectives. I sincerely hope the opinion page remains a space where students can debate with one another about the issues most important to them.

Facilitating an open dialogue about important issues is incredibly important, which is why I’m leaving you in the capable hands of Sierra Williams. Williams is a talented writer and a passionate social justice advocate. I know she’ll do a fantastic job and I’m looking forward to reading her writing. In the meantime, thank you for taking the time to flip through The Arbiter this semester. I hope you found something on the pages of the Opinion Section that made you think, or provoked you to write your own letter to the editor. It’s been a pleasure writing for you.

Pg 7

Elise Adams Opinion Editor EliseAdams@u.boisestate.edu When I was 17, death was breathing down the back of my neck.

I drank coffee by the potful and my hair came out in clumps.

When I woke up on the morning of my sixth day without food, I could barely drag myself out of bed.

My muscles were atrophied, and pitifully weak; my heart felt like it was stuttering.

Anorexia is deadly. According to American Addiction Centers, it has the highest mortality rate of any mental illness.

Of the 30 million people in the United States who suffer from an eating disorder, one will die nearly every hour.

As strange as it may seem, I consider myself lucky to have developed anorexia.

According to DoSomething.org, over 90 percent of women in the U.S. are unhappy with their bodies in some way — many of whom will spend their entire lives in a miserable limbo of stressing over calories and ruthlessly comparing themselves to others.

Men, too, are shown to have a high incidence of warped self-perception.

I’ve written this to tell you that life is so much more vivid and beautiful when you’re not at war with your own body.

Pg 8

I’ve written this to tell you to go home and throw out your scale.

It is not your life’s work to lose weight. You are so much more than your body, but even so, your body is perfect the way it is.

Statistically and realistically speaking, I know that there are people reading this now who are struggling with their self-image.

I don’t know where it began for you, but it has to have started somewhere; hate doesn’t just begin the way that life does.

For me, it was my mother, who, even before I was in my first training bra, would gather me into her room to tell me how fat and disgusting she felt that day.

Your mother isn’t just your mother, she’s also the first mirror you ever look into — and to me, my mirror’s reflection hated itself.

See, it took a mutation of that common gene of selfhatred, passed down from my mother’s mother, to my mother, to me, it took a near brush with death, it took permanent damage to my joints, organs and bones to bring me here today to tell you to love yourself !

Body positivity is the answer!

No matter how much or how little you weigh!

No matter what rolls and curves you have or don’t have!

No matter your level of ability or disability!

No matter the color of your skin!

No matter if you have freckles, moles, acne, stretch marks or scars!

You are perfect the way you are! You are so beautifully you!

You are exactly who you’re supposed to be!

And if anyone tries to tell you that you’re not good enough — your family, a Victoria’s Secret ad, that person you had a crush on in middle school — you just tell them, “FUCK YOU! I am good enough for myself !”

Practice it in the mirror when you get home!

Your self-love must be aggressive. It must be LOUD. It must be louder than an entire culture which profits and feeds off of your self-hatred.

It must be louder than all the diet pills, all the Flat Tummy Teas; it must be louder than all the voices in your head which were placed there before you were old enough to know any better.

If you want to work out, do it because you want to be a better, healthier version of yourself, not because you want to be something or someone else.

If you want to eat an entire bag of chips in one sitting, DO IT, because chips freaking taste good, and life is too short to let yourself be terrorized by calories!

Food is fuel for your body. Some foods are healthier than others, but you never have to be afraid of eating.

Food is not dirty, it is

how you sustain life.

Are you afraid of being too alive? Because I know I was, before I realized that I don’t want to die before my time. Not anymore.

And I want you to come to the same realization. It’s okay to be alive, to be a human, to take up space. It is okay.

I say again, throw your scale in the garbage.

Throw it out the goddamn window.

You are more than a number, and there is no wrong way to have a body.

Your first job after college can look like this.

Do the unexpected.

Apply by January 1: peacecorps.gov/apply

TRIBUNE CONTENT AGENCY / COURTESY

OPINION Body positivity will save your life

Mental illness is a problem; what’s the process?

On Nov. 29, The Arbiter released an article discussing the status of mental health on Boise State’s campus. In it the writer discusses a particular piece of legislation that is supposedly floating around ASBSU. However, as the author of that resolution, I can confirm that this resolution is no longer being discussed.

The notion that it is being debated and expanded on is factually inaccurate. The claim that steps are being taken to improve the quality of mental health for Boise State students is also inaccurate as we are falling behind national standards. It takes upwards of four weeks to access Boise State’s counseling services because the resources needed to keep a nationally competative counseling center simply are not there.

My resolution was designed to try and help this issue but unfortunately that did not become a reality.

So where does that lead us? As a psychology student who plans on being a clinical therapist, I can assure you I have done the research and I can say confidently that we have a mental illness problem. For those of us invested in this field we can tell you that mental illness is not a “process” that everyone goes through, which is an idea last week’s article seemed to assert. Around 25 percent of Americans have a

mental illness, I consider that to be a problem especially when you look at the statistics and see that suicide is the second leading cause of death among college students. When I take that information and combine it with the fact that Idaho is consistently in the top ten nationwide for suicide rates, I see our university on a path towards catastrophe. That’s the reality of the situation, a future I hope we never have to face. That’s the extreme end of the problem but there are still a lot of problems mental illness poses to students. Major depressive disorder makes it so students who were once A+ students have to struggle just to make it to class, anxiety keeps students from getting the sleep they need to be successful, addiction continues to be a major concern and all of this is just the tip of the iceberg.

Tackling the problem of mental illness requires fighting on two fronts. The first front is policy. We have to change the way in which we address mental health on campus. We need to be lobbying for a major allocation of resources towards the counseling centers as well as providing additional mental health trainings to those in positions where it could be used. The second part of the battle involves rhetoric. When people describe mental illness as a process that everyone goes through, such as what was stated in last week’s article, it belittles the problem and forces those suffering

into silence. We have to change the way in which we talk about mental illness.

There’s not soft way to say this but we have to legitimize the suffering of those around us. We have to let these students in need know that what they are going through is real and valid and that they do not have to be ashamed of it. We also have to make sure that these students know that there is help is out there but to do that requires us to actually put those services out there.

There is a process, and steps are being taken, just not the ones addressed in last week’s article. I am currently president of an oncampus peer run mental health support group called Tender Thoughts. We are a group of students who come from all walks of life and simply get together to talk to one another about whatever is going on at the time. I encourage everyone who feels the need to vent and connect with other students to come to our weekly meetings. In addition to that, I am in the beginning talks of creating a traveling mental health education program. The idea is that we go to housing floors and give presentations and literature about mental health treatment and resources out there. Hopefully this will lead into larger comprehensive programs such as the ones I talked about in my resolution. I promise you that if your life has not already been impacted by mental illness, it will be.

IMAGES COURTESY OF TENDER THOUGHTS FACEBOOK PAGE

Zacharyah Harbauer Guest Opinion Writer Editor@stumedia.boisestate.edu

Pg 9

e fea tu r MICROAGGRESIONS, SAFE SPACES AND TRIGGER WARNINGS Is the culture of safety vital to students, or has it gone too far?

Jacob Palmer Staff Writer News@stumedia.boisestate. edu Debates are a common occurrence on a university campus. Watching parties were hosted on campus for students to view the presidential debates this election season, speakers are often invited to universities to debate with one another about timely topics and student organizations such as Talkin’ Broncos participate in discourse as Boise State representatives.

Such events are seen as emblematic of the university experience because they require the participant to open themselves up to different viewpoints and weigh their value based on evidence. However, a contentious debate at Brown University in 2015 caused a sizeable amount of controversy due to students requiring a safe space for the event.

The debate topic was sexual assault.

Because of the controversial nature of the subject, a safe space was offered to those who didn’t want to attend. It was equipped with bubbles, Play-Doh, cookies, pillows, blankets, coloring books and a video of frolicking puppies. One student, Emma Hall, who was a rape survivor, tried attending the event, but returned to the safe space shortly after.

“I was feeling bombarded by a lot of viewpoints that really go against my dearly and closely held beliefs,” Hall

Pg 10

said.

These actions highlighted one side of a culture of safety that is unique to the modern university, a culture of safe spaces and trigger warnings. A safe space is an area where hateful or discriminatory speech or actions are discouraged and where a student is protected from marginalization based on their identity. A trigger warning is a warning issued when an individual is about to be exposed to content that might be emotionally or psychologically distressing, based on past events the individual has experienced. Some have criticized these policies, seeing them as shields from learning experiences. Others defend these policies, claiming they help students feel safe to talk about marginalized parts of their identity or of others’ identities.

One advocate for safe spaces and trigger warnings is Amy Arellano, assistant director of Speech and Debate, who argues safe spaces and trigger warnings have been misrepresented in recent years.

“I don’t think that (trigger warnings and safe spaces) impacts academic freedom, because we are in an education model that places students in a captive audience. They have to be in the class, so they should be able to avoid the emotional noise that could come up in one of those areas,” Arellano said. “You can still cover difficult material. It’s not dumbing down our curriculum, it’s not shutting off or becoming insularly so we don’t account

for the violences that have happened.”

Critics, however, have argued that these principles have become more extreme, allowing students to avoid topics they don’t like. In 2015, for instance, UC Berkeley came under fire for training its staff to recognize microaggressions, less aggressive instances of racism and sexism. Some of the words and phrases listed as microaggressions at UC Berkeley for being racist/sexist were, “I believe the most qualified person should get the job,” “America is the land of opportunity” and “Gender plays no part in who we hire.”

These policies drew criticism from across the political spectrum, from Fox News, the Los Angeles Times, the Washington Post and the Daily Beast.

Many argue that the University should be a place of debate and not censorship. One of these critics is Scott Yenor, professor in the Department of Political Science. Yenor stated that while controversial or offensive viewpoints might be distressing to some, being exposed to other viewpoints—no matter how controversial—is part of education.

“Education is a struggle; such experiences should be welcomed as a part of growing as opposed to shut off. (Safe spaces) corrupt the university, and prevent students from receiving a genuine education,” Yenor said.

Arellano disagreed with Yenor’s interpretations of safe spaces and trigger warnings, stating that it’s not the goal of trigger warnings to change curricu-

lum or avoid different viewpoints. In regards to some controversial curriculum, she did take issue with the use of controversial literature without trigger warnings in some academic departments such as English.

“Typically, we don’t do a nice job accounting within our curriculum for the marginalized violence that happens,” Arellano said. “English classes safeguard a title because it’s considered classic although it promotes sexism or has very detailed (violent, militaristic) assaults. Trigger warnings are there to protect some of the more marginalized identities that we don’t always claim.”

However, Yenor contended that these trigger warnings get in the way of educational growth, especially when talking about controversial subjects.

“Huck Finn uses the N-word referring to (Jim) the slave of Huck,” Yenor said. “That book tries to address the nature of justice and is certainly sympathetic to Jim’s plight. But because of a bad word, the novel is less frequently taught and when it is, the focus is on the words that are used instead of the story that is designed to teach.”

The use and understanding of trigger warnings and safe spaces are not universally known. According to an NPR survey, only about half of polled professors have ever used a trigger warning in class. Around campus, many students hadn’t even heard of the terms and expressed confusion about what the terms meant.

Max Graham, a second year master’s

student studying organizational performance and workplace learning, is supportive of safe spaces.

“It’s a great idea to encourage safe spaces and be aware of trigger warnings for students, because there are a wide range of personal experiences. Acknowledging and respecting those differences can help us grow stronger as a community,” Graham said. “It enables people to have meaningful conversations about not only compromise, but boundaries among individuals.”

Another student, Nathan Harshman, a sophomore mechanical engineering major, said safe spaces and trigger warnings close off debates rather than openning them.

“You don’t know who’s going to be offended by what, so how can you create a warning if you don’t know who will be offended?” Harshman said. “Are we not adults? If people are afraid to talk openly and honestly about something, you can’t find a solution that’ll work.”

Finding a solution to the issue of safe spaces and trigger warnings might take time. The issue they represent has been around since the founding of the nation—being able to express controversial or offensive speech. Perhaps the situation is best summed up in a quote from Benjamin Franklin in his 1730 work, “Apology for Printers.”

“If all printers were determined not to print anything till they were sure it would offend nobody, there would be very little printed,” Franklin said.

Pg 11 PHOTOS BY JARED LEWIS / THE ARBITER

Bucking around

Sudoku:

Each of the nine blocks has to contain all the numbers 1-9 within its squares. Each number can only appear once in a row, column or box.

Your weekly playlist:

Here is some Holiday tunes for you once you finish finals! Enjoy and see you next semester!

All I want for Christmas is You- Mariah Carey True Love- Ariana Grande

COURTESY BRAINBASHERS

Chanukah Song- Adam Sandler Merry Christmas, Happy Holidays!- NSYNC I Want to Come Home For Christmas- Marvin Gaye Underneath the Tree- Kelly Clarkson Let's Make Christmas Mean Something This Year- James Brown Mistletoe- Justin Bieber

Limited time offer!

Get annual student membership for the cost of a semester membership!

$25 =

an entire year of Boise GreenBike rides!

Annual membership includes one hour of free ride time daily.

Sign-up today Boise.GreenBike.com! *offer expires 12/31/2016 A SE R VICE OF

Pg 12

CULTURE The Ethos Project extends deadline for 2017 symposium applications

A call to creatives

Submit to the Prefort Undergrad Reading Patty Bowen Editor-in-Chief Editor@stumedia.boisestate.edu

Psychology major Zach Harbauer speaks to the audience about mental health at the 2016 Ethos Project Symposium.Photo courtesy of Ethos Project Facebook Page

Brandon Rasmussen Culture Editor Culture@stumedia.boisestate.edu The hum of conversation filled the Jordan Ballroom as over 200 students and community members waited for the program to begin on March 15, 2016. One by one, seven Boise State undergraduate speakers took the stage to make their pitch for how to make Boise a better place.

The Ethos Project Symposium, put on by the studentrun organization The Ethos Project, was held for the first time early this year in hopes of giving Boise State students the chance to identify a problem, formulate a solution and then make that solution a reality.

As a result of the event’s success, The Ethos Project is holding the Symposium again on March 29, 2017.

The deadline for student speaker applications, previously Nov. 30, was recently moved to Dec. 16, giving students interested in participating a few more days to

submit their application. As of now, the organization has received 24 applications for the 2017 symposium.

According to Ethos Project Campus Relations Director Michelle Wooton, The Ethos Project aims to be accessible and approachable for any students wanting to make a difference.

“They don’t necessarily have to have their idea completely formulated or have their mind completely made up about what they want to do,” Wooton said. “We just want somebody who has a problem and an idea for a way to fix it. “ Once a student’s idea is accepted, mentors with the Ethos Project begin to work with the student to grow their idea and prepare them for the symposium, where potential donors and supporters will be present.

“I like the notion that we can encourage students to get involved while they’re here,” said Kelsea Donahue, executive director of the Ethos Project. “A lot of people don’t feel like they can— they think they need a

certificate or a degree to actually go do something. It’s an idea in our culture that we want to shift. “ According to Donahue, The Ethos Project differentiates itself from entities like the Venture College and the College of Innovation and Design by focusing on social entrepreneurship, rather than starting a for-profit business. While students do gain many of the same skills, Donahue emphasized The Ethos Project’s focus is on enacting positive change.

“Every student I’ve met through The Ethos Project has gotten involved because they have a story that they create an idea from,” Donahue said. “All these skills we help them gain do help build résumés, but people who go through the project have to have a passion. That’s what makes it successful.”

Students who apply will be notified about the results of the selection process by Jan. 31, 2017. Those curious to know more about the organization can visit their website at ethosprojectboise. com.

Stories surround you. They linger, fingerprint smudges on your coffee cup after you retreat to the washroom, they stain your front door after you lay still, tidy mind tamed.

They accompany you to the grocery store; they whisper wind and smog. Why not take control of them—create them?

Storyfort is currently accepting submissions for the Prefort Undergrad Reading on Friday, Jan. 27 at 6 p.m. at Solid Grill & Bar. Boise State undergraduates can submit works of poetry, fiction or creative non-fiction! The submission deadline is Sunday, Jan. 1.

After submitting, winning students will be featured in the Prefort Undergrad Reading collection, which will be put out on Arbiter newsstands on Tuesday, Jan. 31.

Students can find more information on how to submit on the Prefort Undergrad Reading’s Facebook event page.

e

connected with Student Media’s

buckit.

available soon on the app store and google play.

Pg 13

CULTURE Boise State faculty and staff selected to be featured in the Idaho Triennial 24 artists for the exhibition,” Fales said.

Boise Art Museum’s 2017 Idaho Triennial is a judged exhibition that occurs every three years. 2017 marks the return of the exhibition, and among the pieces chosen to be on display is the artwork of seven Boise State faculty members and staff.

These faculty and staff include Jill AnnieMargaret, Lily Lee, Caroline Earley, John Francis, Pete Kutchins, Rachel Lambert and John McMahon.

The only requirements for entering artwork in the Triennial were residency or employment in Idaho. The art also must have been created within the past three years.

Since its advent in 1935, the Idaho Triennial—formerly known as the Idaho Artists Annual Invitational—has brought talented artists together from all over the state.

“The Boise Art Museum has been dedicated to exhibiting the work of Idaho artists since its founding,” said Melanie Fales, executive director and CEO of the Boise Art Museum. “Over the course of the last 80 years, the Idaho Triennial has become a respected and treasured part of the Museum’s legacy.”

According to Fales, the featured artwork was chosen by director and chief curator of the Grand Central Art Center, at California State University, Fullerton, John D. Spiak.

He reviewed digital images of submissions from artists all over Idaho, along with their artist statements.

“BAM received 917 entries from 180 Idaho artists. Mr. Spiak selected 41 works by

Lily Lee, one of the Boise State professors chosen for the Triennial, teaches all the sculpture courses in the Art Department. Her pieces for the exhibition were created using multiple techniques.

“My subject matter for this work is truck and trailer equipment and accessories such as cargo nets, tarps and mud flaps,” Lee said. “I used a range of material processes in making the work including steel fabrication, metal casting, hand-weaving, dyeing and beading.”

Lee’s two works that will be featured are “Flap II” and “Gladiator.”

The first work, “Flap II,” is based off of the brush mud flap system found on trucks.

The aim of this system is to keep rocks from harming items being towed, such as trailers and boats.

“I make abstracted forms that reference truck accessories and tie downs but are also decorative in their materiality and speak to ritual in their formal compositions to highlight this paradox,” Lee said.

Lee hopes her work will aid in educating the regional identity of the Northwest.

“How people in the Northwest put care and emphasis into tying down loads speaks to our identity as people: it demonstrates a pride in independence and capability as well as a conscientious sensibility,” Lee said.

Pg 14

“Flap II” and “Gladiator”

“Shed” Jill AnnieMargaret, a printmaking professor in the Art

Department was also selected for the Idaho Triennial for her piece entitled “Shed.”

According to AnnieMargaret, this piece was a very personal one.

Over the course of six years, she collected hair from her comb. She then made digital files of scans of all the collected hair, and catalogued them by year. Using these files, a professional laser engraver then laser engraved wood, which AnnieMargaret used to print 90 linear feet of waxed paper. Finally, she spent a year cutting out the negative space with an X-ACTO knife.

“Everything I do takes a tremendous amount of time, and a ridiculous amount of labor. It takes years,” AnnieMargaret said.

As AnnieMargaret continued saving her hair for the project, it became sort of a ritualistic practice for her.

“I started collecting it in June of 2006, and then my mom got cancer and passed away; the day that she died I stopped collecting the hair,” AnnieMargaret said.

This artwork has led AnnieMargaret to form the basis for “Hair Story, Her Story”, another project which involves the collection of other people’s hair and stories. This project has also led her to work with the Women and Children’s Alliance.

“Having a length of time when you start digging into something, it kind of leads you down a path you don’t necessarily expect,” AnnieMargaret said.

The artwork in the Idaho Triennial will be available for public viewing at the Boise Art Museum from Feb. 18 through July 16.

“Shed”

by Jill AnnieMargaret, printmaking professor.

“Clinch II”

by Caroline Earley, sculpture professor.

“Gladiator” by Lily Lee, sculpture professor.

PHOTOS COURTESY OF LILLY LEE, CAROLINE EARLEY, AND JILL ANNIEMARGARET

Taylor Munson Staff Writer Culture@stumedia.boisestate.edu

MING Studios hosts atomic art exhibit

HOME THE WAY YOU LIKE IT.

The “Holding What Can’t Be Held” exhibit will be open from Dec. 17 through Feb. 4.

Elise Adams Culture Reporter EliseAdams@u.boisestate.edu The Snake River Aquifer is the sole source of drinking water for 300,000 Idahoans. It lies under 10,000 square miles of Idaho’s high desert plain and holds as much water as Lake Erie. Just above the aquifer is the site of the Idaho National Laboratory, one of a series of sites across the country working with nuclear weapons, power and waste for the United States government. 60 years of careless activity at this site has contaminated the Snake River Aquifer with nuclear waste, spurring the need for a largescale clean up effort.

As part of an upcoming art exhibit at MING Studios, eight artists toured the clean up sites, donning safety gear and radiation sensors as they went. The inspiration and impressions gained from exposure to this hazardous environment is being channeled into a variety of mediums, ranging from installation to photography to dance, in the second annual exhibition of a cohesive work titled “Holding What Can’t Be Held.”

This year’s artists are Daniel Peltz, Rhode Island School of Design faculty; Swedish installation artist Sissi Westerberg; nationally renowned choreographer Amy O’Brien; local installation artists Eric Mullis and Kelly Cox; local photographer John Shinn; local musician and project organizer Tim Andreae; and Boise State’s own MFA program director for visual art,

Chad Erpelding.

The Idaho National Laboratory has been named a Superfund site, making it onto a list of the country’s most polluted places in 1989. According to nuclear watchdog group Snake River Alliance, the groundwater and soil have been found to be contaminated with heavy metals such as lead and mercury.

Still, in its early days of operation, most Idahoans were unaware of the existence of the Idaho National Laboratory. It was only in the mid 1980s that public pressure brought the INL to cease the practice of injecting chemically hazardous liquid waste directly into the aquifer.

Jason Morales, director of MING Studios, states the importance of art in making commentary on disastrous situations such as that at the INL. “It’s an awareness opportunity,” said Morales. “In a way, art does that. You walk into a museum and see something you’ve never seen before, and you have that feeling of being exposed to something new. And as people are very unaware of what’s going on, it does a similar thing, even for these artists. The artists take a guided tour of the facility, and it’s amazing what’s happening there; how important the work they’re doing there is, but also how stark the repercussions are of what they’ve done there previously.”

According to Snake River Alliance, so far more than $9 billion has been spent cleaning up after decades of nuclear

contamination. The effort may ultimately take until the year 2050 and end up costing taxpayers nearly $22 billion, but due to the nature of the material, much of the contamination cannot be fully removed.

Plutonium in particular, which is still being exhumed from unlined pits directly above the Snake River Aquifer, has a half life of over 25,000 years.

“You see pictures of these metal drums floating in water; when it rained the area would flood, and there would just be these drums of radioactive waste floating there,” said Morales. “In fact, there are those in the Snake River Alliance who recall a time when people would shoot at the barrels, use them for target practice and try to sink them. That’s how people treated this kind of thing at one time.”

Nuclear reactor research was the driving force behind the founding of the National Reactor Testing Station, the former name of the Idaho National Laboratory. According to the INL, 52 reactors in total have been built on site, the highest concentration anywhere in the world—though only one functional research reactor remains today.

The exhibition is open at MING Studios from Dec. 17 through Feb. 4, and an open studio event will be held from Dec. 14 until opening day. During the open studio, museumgoers will be able to witness artists in action as they work to assemble the exhibition.

Pg 15

$

Pay all your bills with just one monthly payment.

Live within a short walking distance of all classes.

Stay informed about all the fun events happening on campus!

Visit housing.boisestate.edu to apply today!

SPORTS & REc

Swimming and Diving Sign 11 for Upcoming Season Riston Ramirez Sports & Rec Reporter RistonRamirez@u.boisestate.edu

Head Coach Jermey Kipp said.

Boise State Women’s Swimming and Diving recently announced the signing of 11 new swimmers and divers. The nine swimmers and two divers will begin their academic and athletic careers during the upcoming 2017-2018 school year.

According to Bronco Sports , the Women’s Swimming and Diving team will be joined by the following:

Competing at both the Mount Hood event and the Phoenix Winter Invitational this past year, Seneri had two Top 15 finishes in her events. At the prep level, Seneri finished with four Top 10 spots while competing in Arizona.

“Emma is an impact butterfly swimmer right away and coming from a powerhouse group in Scottsdale, we know that she is only going to thrive in in our specialized sprint training.” said Kipp.

Hayley Hill Swimming for the Scottsdale Aquatics Club in Arizona, Hill finished with Top 10 finishes in both the Western Zone Sectionals and the Speedo Champions Series. While swimming for her high school, she captured multiple state titles.

“Hayley Hill brings an outstanding personality, which is critical for the events that she competes.”

Pg 16

Emma Seneri

Lydiah Almeter Almeter is a sprint freestyle specialist and took home a pair of Top 15 finishes at the Speedo Champions Series.

“For most of high school, Lydiah was a water polo player as well as swimmer.

This summer she committed to training full-time with her club coach Dan McDonough. Just in her

200 free, she has dropped 12 seconds in a year,” said Kipp.

Cassie Barkhorn Barkhorn posted three Top 10 finishes in longcourse racing at the 2016 Western Senior Zones Championships in August, as well as seventh at the Speedo Championship Series in July.

“Cassie is a great IM and breaststroke pick up and is going to add some serious depth to our IM and Breaststroke group. Cassie also brings excellent middle distance freestyle and will impact the Mountain West immediately” said Kipp.

Lucia Davis In High School, Davis captured three state titles and reached the finals at the USA Swimming Futures Championships at Stanford.

“Lucia is bringing some quality middle distance swimming to the Broncos and also represents the

theme of excellent progression over the last two years,” Kipp said.

Madison Frederick Frederick had three Top five finishes at the Kevin Perry Senior Invitational in November. At the USA Swimming Futures Championships, Frederick recorded five Top 10 finishes.

“At 6-3, Madi is going to bring a lot of speed and depth to our freestyle and backstroke training groups,” Kipp said. “The coaches looked at progression in this year’s class and one thing that jumps out in Madi’s resume in that in her six best events, Madi has improved dramatically in each one.”

Molly Hogg Hogg had two Top 10 finishes at the USA Swimming Futures Championship. Hogg also placed in the Top 10 for her event at the Speedo Championship series.

“Molly is going to be an immediate impact swim-

mer in the Mountain West and is the best all-around swimmer out of South Dakota,” Kipp said.

Lauren Sale Sale had two 11th place finishes at the Dolfin Junior National Championship Cup. “Lauren will provide depth and talent to our backstroke and IM group and will have a chance to represent Boise State internationally as a member of the Samoan national team at the next world championships and Olympics in 2020,” Kipp said.

Brittany Wen Wen had four Top 10 finishes at the Speedo Sectional Championship Series. She also has won state by winning the 500 free for her high school.

“Brittany will be our first Bronco from Missouri and she fills some much-needed areas in the IM and 200 fly. Brittany also has excellent range in her freestyle events as well and will be

an integral member of our future relays,” Kipp said.

Taylor Clark Clark competed at the USA Diving National Zone E Meet where she had a Top 10 finish from the platform. She is also a Top 20 finisher at the Junior Region 9 Championships in both 2015 and 2016.

“Clark comes with a high level of dry-land training as well as experience in all events. Taylor has a great attitude and a strong work ethic and I am looking forward to working with her,” Kipp said.

Tatum Thompkins As a Junior Thompkins took home the state title after finishing fifth her sophomore year. At the USA Diving Region 8 Championships, Thompkins recorded three Top 20 finishes in separate events.

Boise State’s diving coach Brandon Blaisdell said “Tatum is a natural athlete. She is very strong.”

Before hitting the slopes students should brush up on the Five Red Flags Riston Ramirez Sports & Rec Reporter RistonRamirez@u.boisestate.edu Before heading out to play in the snow, it is important for students to know the risks involved.

Winter enthusiast who plan to stay on the mountain runs inside the boundaries of the resort should know the mountain’s responsibility code. These codes can be found on the resort’s website, in flyers and brochures and sometimes even on the lift towers for students to read as they ride up.

For those who plan on venturing to the more advanced slopes or into the backcountry,

always know before you go.

According to the Utah Avalanche Center, “avalanche experts agree that most avalanches occur on slopes with angles ranging between 30 and 45 degrees.” If students are headed into the sidecountry or backcountry from a resort, they should always access it through designated gates. These gates are there for a reason and are intended to keep people safe.

Jeremy Jones, a world-class snowboarder and pioneer of big mountain freeriding, said skiers and riders should learn the Five Red Flags.

The Five Red Flags are visual clues hinting at a potential for avalanche danger. The Five Red Flags are:

“A

valanche experts agree that most avalanches occur on slopes with angles ranging between 30 and

45 degrees.”

-Utah Avalanche Center Signs of Recent Avalanches

New Snow 90 percent of human triggered avalanches happen within 24 hours of a storm. Give new snow the utmost respect, and assume high to extreme avalanche danger within 24 hours after a storm. Follow this rule and students will eliminate their risk of getting caught in an avalanche by 90 percent.

Pg 17

If students see signs of natural avalanches, crown lines or avalanche debris, they should take them very seriously. Take extra precaution if the natural avalanches have occurred at a similar elevation and on the same aspect as the slope students want to ride.

Collapsing or Cracking in Snowpack The feeling of a slope collapse or the sound of whomping are signs of unstable layers in the snowpack. Cracks may shoot out from student’s skis or board as they ride in fresh snow. These are all signs of dangerous snow layers.

Rapid Rise in Temperature No matter the starting temperature, any rapid warm up is dangerous because the snowpack does not have time to adjust to the temperature change.

Take extra precaution on the first warm days after a storm cycle.

Strong Winds, Blowing & Drifting Snow If the wind is strong enough to transport snow, then the avalanche conditions can change from stable to dangerous without any new snow. Watch for blowing snow on high ridges and beware of wind loaded pockets at the tops of faces and chutes.

Don’t take Jones’ word for it.

Students should educate themselves and learn more about the mountains. A student can visit Avalanche.org to learn more about the mountain or to find avalanche courses provided nearby.

SPORTS & REc Learn to dance!

BSU Tango Club hosts Holiday Milonga

Zoey Nguyen Staff Writer Sports@stumedia.boisestate.edu Amongst a sea of clubs and organizations to choose from, the BSU Tango Club is a good option for students who want to meet people and pick up some Argentinian dance moves.

Although practices are held every Wednesday at 6 p.m., students can also attend either of the social dances the BSU Tango club hosts every semester.

This semester they’re hosting Holiday Milonga on Wednesday, Dec. 14 at 7 p.m. in the Hatch Ballroom C-D at the Student Union Building.

“We wanted to have a Finals Relief kind of an event to celebrate how far (our members) have come, to celebrate what they’ve learned and to have fun,” said Amy Hildebrandt, senior illustration major and BSU Tango Club vice president.

The first hour of Holiday Milonga will be dedicated to basic beginner’s lessons for students who have never tangoed. Then the BSU Dance Association will do a group performance, which will be followed by finger food and open dancing. The dance floor is open until midnight, with the presence of a DJ and all kinds of dancing.

Angela Fairbanks, senior biology major and the BSU

Pg 18

Tango Club President, is excited for the Finals Relief event.

“It is usually more of a mingling event, where people switch partners from song to song, and not just stick with one person the whole evening,” Fairbanks said.

Daniel Chilgren, a senior studying Information Technology Management, particularly enjoys the social aspect of the event.

Although he has some background in dancing and joined the club last spring, he is looking forward to the Holiday Milonga mostly for a good time.

“I feel pretty good about it, there’s no pressure just a great place to go and have a good time dancing,” Chilgren said.

The BSU Tango Club was founded in 2013 when Tommy Smith, one of the club’s dancing instructors and mechanical engineering professor, and other members of the Tango Boise Club wanted to reach out to Boise State students.

After talking with several interested students, Smith decided to open the club.

The BSU Tango Club is taught by professional instructors like Smith, who often travel to attend various dancing workshops and implement new learned techniques in the classroom.

“We have performed at the International Food, Song Night as well as A Night at Latin America,

BSU Tango Club Members practice their dance moves in preperation for some Finals Relief. Photo courtesy of BSU Tango Club Facebook

two festivals, we usually perform for other clubs,” Fairbanks said. “We were also invited to perform at the next spring showcase in the SPEC” They also travel as a club for workshops and tango conventions to learn from instructors of different areas.

Both Fairbank and Hildebrant said getting students interested in the club was difficult.

“The biggest problem is getting students to stay.

They will come for two to three weeks, and then will move on,” Hildebrandt said.

To increase their recruit-

ment, the BSU Tango Club try to create interest with performances and events like the Holiday Milonga.

The club offers multiple courses to enhance one’s tango skills. It offers a fourweek beginner boot camp, Beginner 1 and 2 series and an intermediate course for returning students in spring. Although it seems that activities mostly revolve around dancing, it is also a great way to meet and socialize with others.

“We have a balanced ratio of males and females, it’s great way to meet people,” said Fairbanks. “Tango can be romantic if you want to, but it can also be

very friendly and platonic.

It depends on how you choose to dance.”

David Munkres, a junior communication major and philosophy minor, has been a part of the club since his freshman year.

“We form very close friendships that last a very long time. It is a great way to meet new people on campus and develop a skill that will last a lifetime,” Munkres said.

He also said his personal favorite thing about the club is how much he learns.

“This will be my third year in the tango club, and I still feel like I’m still mastering the very basics,”

Munkres said.

The best way to contact the officers or sign up is to like their Facebook page; BSU Tango Club. The fee to join is $15 per student and $25 for non-students; and the money includes all the merchandise and dancing equipments for the six week course.

Admission to the Holiday Milonga is free for Boise State Students and $10 for guests. Free parking will be provided. The event is very inclusive, as attendees do not need any experience or even a partner - most choose to rotate during the event.

Boise State will take on Baylor University in the Motel 6 Cactus Bowl on Tuesday, Dec. 27 in Phoenix, Arizona at Chase Field. After finishing the regular season with a 10-2 record, Boise State will have the opportunity to beat the Baylor Bears, who finished 6-6. This will be the Broncos’ 15th consecutive bowl appearance, according to Boise State’s Alumni webpage. Three members of Boise State Student Media will be making the journey to Arizona in order to cover the event and get all of the details for those who are not able to attend. Make sure to checkout arbiteronline.com for bowl coverage to see a slideshow gallery of pictures taken, as well as a post game article, in the days following the game.

Pg 19

PHOTO CREDITS FROM TOP LEFT, CLOCKWISE ORDER: BRANDON FEELY, JARED LEWIS, JARED LEWIS, ABE COPELAND, JARED LEWIS

Sports & Rec