Vol. 29 Issue 6
September 20, 2016
Student body shifts IN D EPE ND E NT
ST U D E NT
V O I CE
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B O I SE
STAT E
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Enrollment numbers hint at changing demographic at Boise State
The Arbiter
@arbiteronline
@arbiteronline radio
arbiteronline.com
PHOTOS BY PATTY BOWEN, DESIGN BY TED ATWELL / THE ARBITER
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WEEKLY EVENTS Chris VanderStouwe Gender Studies Lecture Tuesday, September 20
Student Union Building, Bergquist Lounge, 12:00 - 1:00PM, FREE This Gender Studies lecture by Chris VanderStouwe is called “Same Sex Attraction: Forging New Identities Through Linguistic Negotiations of Agency and Its Constraints.” VanderStouwe will create a definition for the term “Same-Sex attracted,” and will discuss related ideas.
Closing the Gap Talk on Hunger Thursday, September 22
11 North Latah St., 7:00 - 8:30PM. FREE This community discussion will focus on the ideas of hunger and health, and how these two factors connect to Idahoans—whether through medical insurance or food insecurity. There will be speakers and locally sourced refreshments at the event. It is sponsored by Idaho Interfaith Roundtable Against Hunger.
Movie on the Blue: The Jungle Book Thursday, September 22
Albertsons Stadium, 8:00 - 11:00PM, FREE w/ Student ID, $10 otherwise If you haven’t made it to a Movie on the Blue yet, you probably should attend this one, just to say you did. It’s probably going to be smart to bring several blankets or hand warmers, as it’s late September.
William Voegeli Talk on Liberalism and Tolerance Friday, September 23
Micron Engineering Center, 12:00 - 1:00PM, FREE This event is part of The Center for Idaho History and Politics Brownbag Lecture Series. Voegeli will be speaking about what an open society might really look like. He will also be holding a Constitution Day lecture about Trumpism on Thursday, Sept. 22 in the SPEC.
Treasure Valley Celtic Festival Highland Games Saturday, September 24
Expo Idaho, 9:00AM - 5:00PM, $12 If you’ve been itchin’ to see some feats of strength and Scottish dancing or if you’re just really in the mood to enjoy some music, this event is for you. It’s the fifth annual Treasure Valley Celtic Festival and Highland Games, so
SEND EVENTS TO DARBYEBELING@BOISESTATE.EDU. DESIGN BY NANCY FLECHA
EVENTS
INSIDE: 9/20/16
EDITOR-IN-CHIEF Patty Bowen
editor@stumedia. boisestate.edu
OPINION EDITOR Andy Ridgeway
andyridgeway@u.boises tate.edu
PHOTO COURTESY OF TRIBUNE CONTENT AGENCY
NEWS EDITOR
Campus law fails to hold rapist accountable: pg. 8
Samantha Harting news@ stumedia.boisestate.edu
NEWS REPORTER
Natasha Williams natashawilliams@u.bois estate.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.boises tate.edu
DIGITAL CONTENT MANAGER Jared Lewis digitalcontent@ stumedia.boisestate.edu
COPY EDITORS
PHOTO COURTESY OF JIM OGLE
PHOTO COURTESY OF MEKANISM & THE MILL
Darby Ebeling Tori Ward
Fine Arts building to open Fall 2019: pg. 6
Contact Us:
It’s on no one : pg. 13
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
DESIGN MANAGER Ted Atwell
GRAPHIC DESIGNER Nancy Flecha
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.
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NEWS Lowered credit cap causes rise in tension; students wonder where money goes “Just being required to take the 16 credits, and then getting charged on top of that, has been really frustrating and I don’t think it’s fair at all,” said senior nursing major Sarah Osborn. After Osborn discovered the recent change in tuition costs, she was not excited to be paying an overload fee on top of her required $425 per semester fee for the nursing program. Boise State lowered the credit cap to 16 credits before the start of the current academic year, in response to a continued lack of funding from the state. The cap requires students to pay an overload fee of $200 per credit for every credit enrolled in over a total of 15. “This past year, the state gave a 3 percent increase to all state employees, but they only funded half of the state employees at Boise State,” said Provost and Vice President for
Academic Affairs Dr. Martin Schimpf. “That’s because they didn’t fund the part of our budget that comes from tuition, so we had to kind of match that with a tuition increase.” Vice President for Finance and Administration Stacy Pearson also discussed the lack of state funding and its implications over the years. “Many years ago, students could take between 11 and 18 credits and they would be paying one full-time rate,” Pearson said. “That was great when the state was providing more funding, but now we have to start charging more for our product.” Pearson commented on how the overload fee will be used. “This $200 goes to the instructional budget only. It is only to fund instructors and advisors,” Pearson said. “It is to help cover the cost of helping students get through school.” Junior psychology major Cheyenne Hastings thinks
the overload fee is justified, but thinks the adjustments should have been announced differently. “They did say it probably went into a mass email, which we all know not everyone reads,” Hastings said. Hastings and Osborn both mentioned they learned about the credit cap while in an Associated Students of Boise State University Student Assembly meeting. In addition, Hastings does not think the credit cap was set at a practical limit. “I know we don’t want to overload ourselves with work, but 16 credits is a very normal amount of credits for most people,” Hastings said. “I don’t like that we are now being charged to take 16 credits.” Schimpf provided further detail as to why the new cap is necessary. “If you eliminate the sixteenth credit charge, we’d have to raise the zero to fifteen (credit charge),” Schimpf said. “Otherwise, you wouldn’t have
enough money to balance the books.” In addition to the credit cap change, other tuitions were increased. “The other ways we’ve brought in new revenue is we’ve increased the non-resident tuition and the graduate tuition,” Pearson said. Schimpf mentioned other schools which have more stringent ways of calculating tuition to cover costs, such as University of Utah. U of U charges per credit, with no plateau, and they also charge different amounts for varied course levels and disciplines. “We have started doing a little bit of (charging by discipline). For example, if you are an engineering major, then when you become a junior or a senior—and start taking junior level engineering courses— you actually do now pay a little bit more for those credits, because they cost more to deliver,” Schimpf said. The professional fee was ap-
plied to this major for specific reasons according to Pearson. “It’s two fold: It’s a high cost program, so the students actually pay more to cover more of the cost of it, but it’s also a program where students are probably more guaranteed employment,” Pearson said. By charging professional fees in the engineering department, students won’t have to pay the special course fees as before, according to Schimpf. “The tuition and fees we charge to students are regulated and they have to be approved by our State Board of Education. According to their guidelines, if you have a lab and there are extra costs associated with equipment—or maybe you put in extra help for the students—you can charge a special course fee,” Schimpf said. “But, if you do that, you cannot spend money you get from that special course fee on any other course.” The new method allows the professional fees to be
gathered into a collective account for the department, rather than by course, according to Schimpf. This eliminates the need to have a buffer amount in each account. “In the end they’ll be paying less, because you don’t have to build up these saving accounts for every single course—so you don’t have to charge students as much (to build up the account buffer),” Schimpf said. For more information about the implications of reduced state funding, pick up The Arbiter next week for a deeper look at funding disparities in Idaho higher education.
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$200
FY 14 FY 15
FY 16
FY 17
$166
$177
FY 13
$170
Credit Cap 18
$252
DATA COURTESY OF BOISE STATE OFFICE OF BUDGET & PLANNING, DESIGN BY NANCY FLECHA
Samantha Harting News Editor
Credit Cap 17 Credit Cap 16
A new way to look at literacy
Boise Public Library hosts coding workshop Natasha Williams News Reporter Through the Boise Codes program, the Boise Public Library is working to develop digital coding literacy alongside traditional literacy in the community. The Boise Public Library is moving forward with a new workshop to teach the art of coding. The event is intended to create an interest in computer science, specifically coding. The library hopes to promote themsevles as a resource when learning about computers. They want to move towards teaching computer literacy along with conventional methods of reading as a result of technology becoming part of everyday life, according to Public Services Manager William Nation. “If you think about literacy, libraries have always been involved with early literacy,” Nation said. “If you accept that coding is a form of literacy— being able to understand code and write code—it’s closely related.” The event comes on the cusp of a new “digital age” spreading across the nation. The library, located off of South Capitol Boulevard, is taking generational technology advances in stride. Boise Codes hosts workshops each week, to give students of all ages and skill levels the opportunity to learn different kinds of coding techniques. “We have coding for the smallest kids in the form of
dash and dot robots—that’s at the younger end of the spectrum,” Nation said. “For people who are a little further along in their learning, we have things that you can use C# (a coding language) with.” Boise Codes is fairly new to the area, having only been established in March of 2015, according to Nation. Despite the newness of the program, it is already helping expand computer science education on a community level, said Boise Mayor’s Office Spokesman Mike Journee.
aspect of their projects. Librarian Kate Radford said she’s seen coding used in all kinds of ways in connection with other disciplines. “We recently had some panels with video game designers—and when most people think video games, they think coding—but a lot of what’s lacking in those right now are people who do music and people who do art. That storytelling piece is a huge part about what creates a good game,” Radford said. “There’s a lot of opportunities where you can
“It is amazing how you can write a couple lines of code and make the piece of hardware do what you want them to do,” -Ustav Roy, computer science major
“If you take a look at Eighth Street in the downtown core— the library on one end, all the way down to Boise State where the computer science department is now located—in between you’ve got an opportunity for people to learn very basic coding skills,” Journee said. “There’s this corridor of a continuum of coding education that’s really happening uniquely in our urban core. The (education centers) are within blocks of the biggest tech companies in the state that are potentially going to be hiring.” For students with interests in other areas, like art or music, coding can be a fundamental skill to help bring out a unique
take that art and develop it into other areas, and coding is going to help with that.” Students in the computer science field are amazed at how coding can do so many different things, according to junior computer science major Ustav Roy. “I enjoy coding because I can do what I want with it. It is amazing how you can write a couple lines of code and make the piece of hardware do what you want them to do,” Roy said. The demand for technology skills is increasing in the workforce, according to Journee. He said learning to code will help open doors for students after they graduate, and will provide them with valuable skills.
“(The libraries are) places for people to gather, places for people to learn. The libraries are becoming a continuation to put resources in people’s hands so they can learn a skill that might provide them with an opportunity later on in life—if not more immediately,” Journee said. “It’s a skill that opens up a door later down the road.” The Boise Codes schedule is flexible, so people from all walks of life can learn about coding. They also provide all kinds of resources for practice at home, like checking out robots, working with advanced coding students and even online options for students who can’t make the normal meeting times. “We have meet-ups in house so people who are learning to code can have some time with people who are more established, who can maybe help them out if they run into problems,” Nation said. “We also have a collection of resources, online services like Treehouse, people can go to for coding tutorials so they can learn at their own pace.” As technology continues to develop, the public view of libraries does as well. “This is part of a bigger rethinking about what libraries are and can be.” Journee said. For meeting times, locations and more information about getting involved with Boise Codes, visit the Boise Public Library’s website and click on Boise Codes.
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NEWS Art program made priority with construction of new Fine Arts Building Taylor Munson Staff Writer
PHOTO COURTESY JIM OGLE
It was over two decades ago when the Art Department decided it was time for a new home. While other programs at Boise State have a building to call their own, the Art Department has yet to have one. With the department currently spread out across five buildings, the creation of the new center for the fine arts should help establish a new home for the discipline. In the State of the University address on Aug. 17, Boise State President Bob Kustra made it clear the new center for the Fine Arts is now a top priority for Boise State. “I want you to know it’s
our number one priority because of what it says about Boise State and what we believe in,” Kustra said. The building is needed in order to help students generate ideas with each other. “It’s a trek, so because of that it is difficult for students to cross-pollinate ideas—especially in different emphasis areas—and generate that very positive and communal feeling. We need this building,” said the current Chair of the Art Department Kathleen Keys. Boise State has been focused on other areas of advancement in the last 20 years, putting the Fine Arts Building on the backburner, according to Keys. “I think the university has many, many competing
priorities. There certainly has been sort of a concentration and focus on the STEM departments and programs,” Keys said. With Kustra now fully invested in the construction of the new building, many involved in the project are much more confident in its success. “Optimistically, we are estimating an entry of Fall 2019 for students to enter the building for classes,” Keys said. Jim Ogle, the director of development for the College of Arts and Sciences, has been an integral part of implementing the vision of this project. “I consider it a privilege to be able to play a small role in making this dream become a reality,” Ogle said.
Ogle, as well as many others, is in charge of accumulating the funds required for this $42 million endeavor. “We have, I believe, slightly over $2 million. That number changes week-by-week as more people begin to support the program. So, there’s work to be done,” Ogle said. Funding for this Fine Arts Building is the only challenge standing in its way. “The state requires that we have all of the money in hand for the complete project before we can begin,” Ogle said. This center for fine arts would fulfill many of the needs the Art Department has desired for a long time. “For years we have had
to become very, very creative about ‘Where do we put the equipment? Where do we stash the supplies?’ There just isn’t room,” Keys said. “In a functional and logistical sense, it’s going to be amazing.” Art education major Wendy Blickenstaff is one of the many students pleased with the opportunities this building will provide. “By having everything housed in the same facility, it will help with program cohesiveness and help the students feel a sense of belonging and pride,” Blickenstaff said. “The building will represent a vote of confidence and support by the university for the art department and the arts in general.” The building will also
serve many other needs within the community. Inside this state of the art facility, there will also be a virtual experience called the World Museum. This will transport you digitally to other museums throughout the world, while remaining in the Fine Arts Building. “We fully anticipate we will have people lined up outside the door to have this 3-D virtual reality experience, that will be absolutely cutting edge technology,” Ogle said. The new art building will follow the trend of the expansion of Boise’s evergrowing culture. “The Art Department is absolutely elated, and we’re feeling a little impatient, but all things in good time,” Keys said.
Pictured above is the artist’s rendering of the new Fine Arts Building. It is hoped to be operational by FAll 2019
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National conversation surrounding Guns onWords’ Campusrefuses continues ‘Adsdsdsd the to Patty Bowen Editor-in-Chief
Sitting at the front of Faculty Senate on Tuesday, Sept. 13, Scott Lowe, president of Faculty Senate, passed a resolution opposing Guns on Campus, a university policy stating all “concealed carry license holders and qualified retired law enforcement” can carry a concealed firearm on campus. The resolution Lowe passed through the Faculty Senate is not a new one. In January 2014—several months before Idaho Senate Bill 1389 requiring Boise State to allow guns on campus, was passed—Professor
in the Biological Sciences Troy Rohn wrote up the resolution. Despite Idaho Senate Bill 1389 passing in July 2014, Faculty Senate has passed the resolution against Guns on Campus in each Faculty Senate meeting. “This bill is a representation of second amendment rights and (the state senate) has no intention of changing it,” Lowe said. “Really, what we’re doing is a voice of solidarity regarding faculty’s desire to get this repealed.” Laws passed in Tennessee and Texas over the summer allowing university students to either conceal carry or open carry on campus
human rights
sparked more debates, like the one being held on the Boise State campus. Now, 10 states allow students to carry firearms on campuses. Lowe explained members of the local police force and all public universities in
Idaho have openly expressed concern with Guns on Campus, but because of its state down approach, no one at a university level has power to appeal it. “The only way (to appeal the law) would be to overturn
the law, which would mean getting it on a referendum,” Rohn said. “That requires getting signatures from every county (in Idaho). That would have to happen statewide and be a grassroots effort.” Rohn explained despite the majority of the national conversation being based around the safety of students, faculty members also feel unsafe because of Guns on Campus. ”It’s not just affecting students,” Rohn said. “My door is not as open as it used to be. I have to worry in the back of my mind if I want to set this student off in my path. It hurts students when we can’t engage like we want to.”
Because Idaho Senate Bill 1389 was passed on a state level, none of Boise State’s 26.5 percent of out-of-state students had the ability to vote on the passing of the bill. Senior biology major Desiree Self said it might make some students uncomfortable to know they don’t have the ability to vote on laws affecting their lives at Boise State. She stated the argument supporting Second Amendment rights shouldn’t apply to contemporary U.S. “People used to use guns to protect themselves from the 76933 government, now they use them against each other,” Self said. “It’s a completely different thing.” TRIBUNE CONTENT AGENCY / COURTESY
compromise on
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OPINION
WE’RE NOT DOING ENOUGH TO END Elise Adams Culture Reporter On January 18, 2015, around 1 a.m. two Swedish exchange students were riding their bikes through the Stanford University campus when they happened upon 20-year-old Brock Turner, raping an unconscious woman behind a dumpster. He’d led her away from a party she’d attended with her sister and was assaulting her both with his fingers and inanimate objects. Turner ran when confronted, and the two men chased him down and held him until authorities came, with the help of some passerby; one of the two, when giving his statement to police, was brought to tears by what he had seen. A nurse attending to the victim noted she had sustained significant physical trauma, including “penetrating trauma.” Regardless of the damning evidence mounted against Turner, due to a legal loophole in California’s legal definition of sexual assault, he was able to have two rape charges dropped completely. California isn’t the only state with statutes in place that harm victims of sexual assault. In Idaho, there’s no law requiring universities to report campus sexual a s s au l t s
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CAM Of 23 reported
to law enforcement - this is a legal loophole that allows too many students, particularly star athletes, to get away with infringing upon the human rights of their peers, leaving with consequences like academic suspension rather than prison time. Turner was recognized as a “promising athlete” for his role on Stanford’s swim team - one of the first articles covering the case included his swimming times. To many, this was nothing more than insulting, considering the severity the crimes he’d committed. He’d come to be known in conversation as either the Stanford Swimmer or the Stanford Rapist, depending on the company one keeps. To his defenders, his athletic potential seemed to carry more weight than the safety of his victim. On March 30, 2016, Turner was found guilty of three felony counts of sexual assault, for which the maximum sentence was 14 years. Due to the aforementioned failure in California’s state law, Turner walked away with a whopping six months in jail, followed by three years probation. He ended up serving only three months of his sentence, being released early for “good behavior.” Now he’s free to post horrific bullshit on Twitter, such as a (since deleted) tweet saying “Couldn’t have done this without my coaches! Aaah the good old days b4 SHE happened #swimlife #swimming #PartyHard.” In a brief letter written by Turner’s father, his son’s heinous crime was referred to as “20 minutes of action,” which in his opinion hardly warrants the degree of criticism his family has since received, up to and including the armed protesters camped outside his house. The fact that his son has been banned from ever competing in the Olympics is, as he sees it, pun-
PUS SEXUAL ASSAULT
rapes on Boise State Campus in the last two years, 0 have resulted in arrest. avoid accountability. The judge who oversaw the case, Aaron Persky - who is also Stanford alumni - gave Turner his absurdly merciful sentence on the grounds that prison would have a “severe impact” on him. True, serving hard time would have changed him as a person. Incarceration tends to do that to people. In that sense, Aaron Persky was right; but, due to the severe impact sexual assault has had on so many people in America, over 1 million were moved to sign a petition meaning to remove him from the bench. This isn’t the first time Persky has astronomically failed at bringing justice to a rape victim. In 2011, he presided over a lawsuit against eight members of the De Anza college basketball team, who had been caught gang-raping an unconscious woman. Three members of the women’s soccer team happened upon the scene and intervened, taking the 17-year-old victim to the hospital, where it was discovered that she was covered in someone else’s vomit. The crime scene wasn’t investigated until nearly 23 hours after the victim arrived at the hospital, and no arrests were made, despite a second woman coming forward and stating she too had been assaulted by members of the De Anza basketball team. During the trial, Persky allowed into evidence “suggestive” photos of the victim at a party, taken a year after the rape occurred, which were supposed to negate her claim of suffering from post traumatic stress disorder. The jury found the defendants not liable, and nobody was charged with a crime. Persky certainly has a history of extending privileges to male rapists and college athletes at the expense of their victims; hopefully, though, Brock Turner will be the last, as Persky
has since stepped down from hearing criminal cases. I know what you’re thinking. “Sure, this is upsetting, but what does it have to do with me?” Well, let me lay it down for you. If Brock Turner being arrested and brought to trial resulted in a three month vacation one could hardly call “justice,” imagine if this case had been handled exclusively by campus security. It’s not farfetched to say that Turner would have skirted retribution with a mere referral to Human Resources, or some other such nonsense. Unfortunately, even on Boise State’s campus, that’s a nightmarish potential outcome that time and time again presents itself as a reality. Sexual assault is an epidemic. It’s estimated that one in five women and one in sixteen men will be sexually assaulted while in college; however, that number seems to many an absurd understatement, and very well may be, considering that rape is the single most underreported crime in the United States. Like it or not, this problem lives in our own backyard. Boise State has come under fire multiple times
for giving inadequate response to reports of sexual assault - at least eight rapes, six reports of fondling and four cases of dating violence have been reported on campus in 2016. According to Boise State’s crime log, exactly zero of these reports have led to an arrest, nor have any of the seven rape cases from 2015, or the eight cases from 2014. We can’t work to create a culture of consent on our campus through efforts such as bystander intervention training, while also working to sweep sexual assault under the rug. A university’s reputation cannot be prioritized over the safety of its students, nor can the reputations of its athletes. Boise State’s policy needs to change; if almost 90 arrests can happen in 2016, mostly due to drug related offenses, it’s fair to expect the same level of harshness to be imposed on sex offenders. A healthy, secure campus is one where rapists are held accountable for their actions, and justice is served to every victim who is brave enough to seek it. PHOTO AND DATA COURTESY OF TRIBUNE CONTENT AGENCY, DESIGN BY NANCY FLECHA
ishment enough. Joe Biden referred to this statement as “callous,” and to those watching the trial who sided with the victim, it served as proof that parents do indeed need to teach their sons not to rape. On June 3, 2016, a victim-impact statement read aloud by the victim during the trial was published on Buzzfeed, and within four days it had been shared over 11 million times. It served as a vivid account of her suffering, and detailed the many times she was failed by the legal system during her trial. The letter was so widely distributed that even Vice President Joe Biden penned a response, titled “An Open Letter to a Courageous Young Woman,” wherein he condemned the culture that allowed this situation to happen, stating that it’s “a failure that lies at all our feet.” In response to national hysteria surrounding the incident, Stanford went so far as to ban hard alcohol from campus parties, ensuring this kind of thing will never happen again. Because, of course, rape is caused by vodka, booty shorts and being in the wrong place at the wrong time. Smooth move, Stanford; there are problematic implications in initiating an alcohol ban as a response to sexual assault. Rape is not caused by alcohol - nobody else at that party did what Turner did, and they were all equally intoxicated. Rape isn’t caused by party culture, promiscuity or “mixed signals.” Rape is caused by rapists. Unfortunately, we occupy a culture that sees the title of “star athlete” as more characterdefining than the title of “rapist.” Furthermore, an athlete is viewed as having more to offer a university than does a rape victim. It’s at least partly for these reasons that perpetrators of crimes similar to Turner’s are regularly able to
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e fea tu r Patty Bowen Editor-in-Chief Sitting at her desk in her office in the Admissions Building, Leslie Webb, vice president of Student Affairs, pulled out a piece of paper with a large triangle outlining a new program to make majors in the College of Arts & Sciences more job-ready. “We often spend our time in the junior year worrying about what students need to get a job,” Webb said. “What would it look like if we were far more intrusive precollege and in year one—where we would talk about a student’s value, what it means to them to live a good life?” This program comes on the heels of enrollment data—a collection of information detailing the student demographic at Boise State—that suggests an increase in the percent of students in the College of Arts & Sciences. The data also showed that over the last decade campus has become more racially diverse, and there has been an increase in students in the College of Engineering and College of Health Sciences. The data also found over the last decade, the number of Boise State students from out-of-state has increased. Out-of-state, not out of mind
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As of Spring of 2016, 25.6 percent of Boise State’s students are from out-of-state. That’s a 14.5 percent increase since Spring of 2008. According to Jim Anderson, associate vice president for Enrollment Services, this increase has had a direct correlation with the growth of our Greek organizations. “We’ve been building back those programs to try to include more sororities and more fraternities, so we can answer that call,” Anderson said. “We hear the students and they’re asking more organizations (with community involvement), Greek just being one of them.” Anderson explained outof-state students generally request more opportunities for community involvement because, unlike students who have family in Idaho, out-of-state students don’t have any social network going into college. “You think about someone who goes a distance from home, they will need to set up aspects of social and emotional life wherever they are,” Anderson said. “They’re going to need different things than students who have a support system nearby.” According to Webb, the increase in out-of-state students has pushed campus to provide more support for them as they assimilate into the community. “We’re at a wonderful
place where we can strengthen our support for the community,” Webb said. “I think the time is absolutely now to do that. Some places have a “town and gown” relationship. I think we are absolutely primed to do that.” Webb cited the housing expansion to River’s Edge Apartments as a good example of how Boise State is supporting its students. “It’s not just about bed space. It’s about support of our community as well,” Webb said. “As we grow, what are the initiatives we need to put out to make sure our students can grow as well.” Webb explained that several majors have been working to integrate internship and community engagement programs into their curriculums by getting local businesses involved in the teaching process. Matters of age While the number of out-of-state students has increased, the number of undergraduates 25-years-old and older has decreased by 14 percent since Spring of 2008. According to Anderson, this is in part due to the low unemployment rate in the U.S. currently. “When unemployment drops people start going back to work,” Anderson said. “Or they might feel they don’t need to pursue their educa-
tion at that time so they’ll go back to work.” Despite the drop in older students, Boise State is seeing a spike in veterans coming to Boise State to use their G.I. bills. Older students who don’t want to attend school during the day can enroll in the Boise State AfterWork Programs, which provide students with a general degree online and after 5 o’clock, Anderson said. Cody Perryman, senior accounting major, came back to Boise State to pursue a second degree after spending ten years in the job market. He found that despite the campus being more geared towards providing traditional students with a community environment, all his personal needs, academically and in the community, are met. “It’s easy to make friends with students,” Perryman said. “It’s kind of like you all look out for each other because you want to go into the same profession.” According to Webb, as the university moves forward, it might be necessary to redefine the term nontraditional student—which currently describes all students that didn’t go straight to college after high school or are the provider of a family—so the university will have the language to better meet the needs of all its students.
Even though the university might not be as focused on creating a community for nontraditional students after classes, Webb explained nontraditional students are less likely to be “looking for the evening festive environment resident hall students are looking for.” “I wouldn’t suggest that other happenings marginalize nontraditional students, the question is: are these students’ needs served as they desire,” Webb said. “We often make assumptions about what students want or don’t want.” Career Preparedness That being said, Webb expressed the belief that Boise State should move towards making majors more career focused for both traditional and nontraditional students. “Most of our students come to university to do three things: become employable, get a higher salary and (gain job skills),” Webb said. Anderson explained the increase in students in the College of Engineering was in correlation with Boise State’s push to make sure students are enrolling in majors that lead to a career. However, Anderson also explained the increase in students in the College of Arts & Sciences was because students are now finding ways to get jobs
with a liberal arts degree. “Of course the STEM fields have been doing well for a number of years,” Anderson said. “Students are not just STEM based, but STEAM—science, technology, engineering, arts and math. There is more and more research showing income level (over a lifetime) are higher for those who graduate with a liberal arts degree than those who graduate with a business degree.” Katya Greimes, senior illustration major, believes more focus on careers would help out her peers in the College of Arts & Sciences. “I think it would be great if they offered (skill based classes for art students,)” Greimes said. “We have photographers, potters, illustrators and sculptors, and those are a lot of very different kinds of fields and very different kinds of resumes.” Anderson said career preparedness is only one part of a major, and should play its role in the purse of knowledge. “All majors should embrace the output of what it is they’re doing, not just knowledge and a degree, but enabling that student to take the next step,” Anderson said. “It’s acknowledging that all of those things are part of a degree.”
In Spring of 2016, 25.6 % of students were from out-of-state Unofficially there has been a 9 % increase in hispanic students since Fall of 2015.
PHOTO BY PATTY BOWEN
As of Spring of 2016, 31% of our students are 25-years-old or older.
*Data courtesy Boise State Enrollment Services
In Spring of 2008, 11.1 % of students were from out-of-state.
Senior illustration major Katya Greimes does chalk drawings for the Student Involvement and Leadership Center.
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Bucking around Sudoku:
Each of the nine blocks has to contain all the numbers 1-9 within its squares. Each number can only
COURTESY BRAINBASHERS
COURTESY BRAINBASHERS
appear once in a row, column or box.
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CULTURE
It’s on us to save “It’s On Us”
Sexual assault awareness campaign has no student support on Boise State Campus Brandon Rasmussen Culture Editor
ABE COPELAND / THE ARBITER
The It’s On Us campaign launched at Boise State two years ago in compliance with an initiative put in place by President Obama on Sept. 19, 2014. The campaign is designed to educate students about sexual violence. “They originally contacted student governments around the country,” said Annie Kerrick, director of title IX/ADA/504 compliance for Boise State. Student government members were intended to be leaders in educating students about sexual assault. After attending a conference in the District of Columbia, ASBSU members Bryan Vlok and Hailey Weatherby lead the charge to bring the initiative to Boise State campus. However, after Weatherby’s graduation last spring, the program has been left entirely without student support. In other words, It’s On Us has no student presence on campus. To address this problem, Kerrick approached the Boise State student assembly on Aug. 31 of this year. “There has to be interest from the student government in order to spearhead this,” said Kerrick to the student assembly. Kerrick emphasized that efforts made by students to develop the program would be supported by the Office of Institutional Compliance and Ethics. When asked if there was interest in reviving the program, the student assembly responded with unanimous support. According to Kerrick, there hasn’t been any action taken as of yet. However, this is likely due to ASBSU’s current plan to create a sexual consent training video, which is being made in collaboration with Student Media. In the meantime, ASBSU President Rebecca Kopp assures students the program has not been forgotten. “After discussing it, there was a lot of interest in the program,” said Kopp. “At this point, we just need someone to spearhead it, which is what we’re currently looking for.” While support from within ASBSU could be beneficial, keeping the program alive on the Boise State campus is open to the rest of the student body as well. “It’s a program targeted at students, by students,” said Kerrick. “Ultimately, the program is open to anyone who wants to be involved. The reason we contacted the student assembly is because of the connections they have to the student body.” According to both Kerrick and Kopp, any student who is willing to help keep the program alive is welcome to do so. Those who are interested can contact Kerrick, ASBSU or the Gender Equity Center to find out more.
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CULTURE Comic book industry takes off in time for Batman Day
Rally for food
Campus offers three new food trucks Zoey Nyugen Staff Writer
Three food trucks began congregating on campus this semester every Tuesday and Thursday from 10 a.m to 2 p.m. Awesome Burger, Burgerlicious and Gyro Shack rotate their location, hopping between Brady Street behind the greenhouse, the Micron Engineering Building’s parking lot and in front of the Clearwater Apartments. The trucks receive cash and card only— no Flex Dollars. Their food is tasty overall, though a buck or two more expensive than the usual price stated on their online menu.
Burgerlicious This truck tends to the needs of every burger addict, offering grass-fed beef burgers, side dishes—garlic fries and regular fries—drinks and different kinds of dipping sauces. Though there is not a lot of variety in dishes, the offered burgers are diverse enough to satisfy customers with different preferences. One burger includes bleu cheese, plain, spicy sauce and fry sauce. For some, the burger might be too subtle in taste and light on fry sauce. It took quite a bit of time to make, probably because there are a lot of hungry engineering majors in line during lunch time.
Awesome Burger
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Although the name promises burgers, Awesome Burger also offers hot dogs and sandwiches. In comparison with Burgerlicious, the burgers look a bit thicker, but they have a lot more melting cheese and juicy sauces. Their hotdogs are topped with caramelized onions and sauerkraut. The flavorful onions, with a hint of sauerkraut, don’t go with mustard or ketchup. Either traditional condiment will turn the whole meal into a salty clump. Awesome Burger also plans to do punch card specials in the future to attract more students to their business.
Walking into the warm and well lit downstairs of Captain Comic, Nikki Lake, store manager and senior kinesiology major, slides a copy of the DC Universe Rebirth Batman #1 comic across the glass counter. The comic was a special edition distributed from DC Comics for Batman Day, the 75th anniversary of the first introduction of the character, celebrated on Saturday, Sept. 17 nationwide. Despite the monopoly iconic comic book characters like Batman and Superman have on people’s perceptions of what comic books are, over the last decade, the comic book industry has expanded exponentially. According to Comichron, in 2015 the North American market size of comic book sales was $1.03 billion, up roughly $750 million since 2000. Lake said this growth is in part due to new comic artists pushing the envelope for what is expected of a comic. “Comics are just getting more and more advanced,” Lake said. “They used to be highly censored and now people are getting more brave with it, saying ‘Well this is the story I want to hear.’”
Justus Hurtado, sales associate at Captain Comics, said Batman is a good example of these advances because of its new series “ALL-STAR BATMAN.” The series takes a darker tone, signature to its author, Scott Snyder. Hurtado also attributed the advances in the comic book genre to small presses creating their own storylines. “There’s BOOM!, there’s Image—some of them go after smaller series like “Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles,” while others write things that are completely original comics that don’t have to be super heroes,” Hurtado said. “I think that’s the point of comics now. They don’t have to be superheroes, they can just be really good storylines.” According to Lake, these storylines become amplified because comicbooks have “two different art forms in them.” Students interested in checking out any of the Batman comics or any other series can visit Captain Comics physical location or shop online on their website. “I know some people are predisposed to comic books and it can be overwhelming,” Hurtado said. “The best way for people to jump into comics, if they want to, is find a writer or an artist they like, look them up, read on the internet about them and then go to their local comic book store.”
Gyro Shack Gyro Shack is a great place to go when burgers have become a bore. Although the food truck only offers a few choices from their full menu, the original gyro is always good—lamb, tomatoes, lettuce and tzatziki wrapped in warm pita bread. The taste was exactly the same as their chain gyro. Don’t eat the gyro while walking, though, or the filling will drop out similar to Hansel dropping his breadcrumbs. It is exciting to have food trucks on campus, because it makes it easier for students to grab food while commuting from classto-class. The price may be a tad higher, and the waiting time a bit longer, but nothing compares with hot and fresh food.
PATTY BOWEN / THE ARBITER
ZOEY NYUGEN / COURTESY
Patty Bowen Editor-in-Chief
Lake and Hurtado both said “ALL-STAR BATMAN” is a favorite of theirs. Lake recommended “Rat Queens” and “Saga.” Hurtado recommended “Black Science” and “Detective Comics.”
MOISES BAUTISTA / THE ARBITER
Nonprofit minors and faculty create new club
Brandon Rasmussen Culture Editor Fliers, sign-up sheets and binders covered a Micron Business building conference table as the new Boise State Nonprofit Club met officially for the first time on Thursday, Sept. 15 at 4:30 p.m. A mix of students and faculty were in attendance, including Gundy Kaupins, a professor with the College of Business and Economics. “We as a nonprofit program need a presence,” said Kaupins. “Having everyone together like this will hopefully present students and faculty with opportunities they might not otherwise have.” Kaupins is also a board
member with the Idaho Nonprofit Center, which is putting on an event called “Developing the Future,” which will take place in the Student Union Building on Thursday, Sept. 22 and Friday, Sept. 23. The club was created as a response to the growth of the nonprofit management minor, which was made available to students Fall 2014. Since being created, the minor has risen in popularity. According to Kaupins, the number of students listing themselves as nonprofit minors has grown by 18 percent within the last year. The meeting had nine people in attendance, including Kaupins. However, the members are confident the club
Nonprofit minors and professors gather for first official club meeting. will grow over time. “We want to help folks that have an interest in community service or nonprofit develop those interests and relationships,” said Tabitha Page, a senior double major in general business and human resources and president of the club. Like many of the members, she is a nonprofit minor as well. “We want to organize the club in a way that allows for any number of people who are interested,” said Page. The club offers a sense of organization to those pursuing a nonprofit minor, connects students with nonprofit organizations and encourages members of the club to share
their experiences as volunteers in the community. The club also hopes to promote the nonprofit scholarships available. According to Kaupins, there are two scholarships for Boise State nonprofit minors, neither of which have been taken. Though exactly what goes on during the meetings may change moving forward, part of Thursday’s meeting time was filled by Communications Professor Matt Isbell, who shared his thoughts about the nonprofit sector, noting Boise State is lucky to have a nonprofit program, as nonprofits are a large generator of employment in Idaho. According to Kaupins, the number of nonprofits who
are members with the Idaho Nonprofit Center back up the importance of the nonprofit sector in Idaho. “We have over 5,000 nonprofit member organizations within the State of Idaho,” said Kaupins. With access to so many organizations, Kaupins hopes he can use this resource to connect students for years to come. The rest of the meeting was dedicated to the Idaho Nonprofit Center and its upcoming conference. The event creates an opportunity for students in particular, as while faculty will have to pay to get in, students won’t have that problem. “Boise State students can
come learn more about nonprofits and they can attend for free,” said Kaupins. Students who are interested can contact Kaupins via email to be signed up for the event. “They can learn about all these organizations and get to circulate around all these nonprofit leaders. It’s going to be a very full house at the SUB.” Kaupins said. The club will meet on the first and third Thursday of every month in room 2101 of the Micron Business and Economics Building. The date of the next scheduled meeting is Thursday, Oct. 6. at 4:30 p.m.
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SPORTS & REc
Teton Gravity Research
turns 21 at The Egyptian Riston Ramirez Sports & Rec Reporter
tion sports. This turned into what is now known as Teton Gravity Research. “I’m super stoked on the premiere” siad Boise State sophomore Spencer Maranda. “I think it’s awesome to see film crews like TGR come to Boise and it’s always a good time to watch the newest films with all your boys.” Tickets for the premiere are available at the door, in advance at MCU sports or in advance online at either The Egyptian Theater’s website or Teton Gravity Research’s website. TGR said the show is bound to fill up so people planning to attend should lock in their tickets early.
PHOTO COURTESY OF DAVIS KEENEY
This year TGR turns 21 years old and to celebrate, they are premiering their new movie “Tight Loose” at the Egyptian Theater, Sept. 23. The Egyptian has history of hosting premieres of ski and snowboard movies and this year The Egyptian will continue that trend of showing extreme athletes on the big screen. “Tight Loose” will have two showings. Showing one will start at 6 p.m. This is being labeled as the “Tight” showing, and is open for all ages and will be family oriented. It will be full of athlete appearances, grom-specific prizes, free lift tickets and more.
The later showing at 8:45 p.m. is being labeled the “Loose” showing. This later premier will be for ages 21 and older, “where there are likely to be as many shots at the bar as on the big screen” said TGR . Those in attendance “will receive a comp Sunday through Friday (non-holiday) lift ticket to Mt. Bachelor.” Over the last 21 years, TGR has grown into a staple for the world of action sports. TGR was founded by Steve Jones, Todd Jones and Dirk Collins in 1995. Combining the money they had pooled together from being heli-ski guides and commercial fisherman, the Jones brothers and Collins bought cameras and equipment to film the progression of ac-
“Tight Loose” will premiere at The Egyptian Theater this Friday
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Boise State Rec Center doesn’t make Intramural Rules Evan Werner Sports & Rec Editor
The NIRSA or National Intramural-Recreational Sports Association creates all rules for collegiate intramural sports in the nation, including the ones at Boise State. NIRSA has a long history regarding co-rec sports rules. Since its founding in 1950, NIRSA membership has grown to comprise nearly 4,500 dedicated professionals, students, and businesses, serving an estimated 8.1 million students. Co-rec activities are important to any comprehensive intramural sports program because they encourage fair play, emphasize participation, encourage skill development, emphasize that sports can be fun regardless of winning or losing, and provide opportunities for men and women to develop social relationships. Co-rec rules were originally developed to encourage par-
ticipation by all team members. Specifically regarding the Flag & Touch Football co-rec rules, the NIRSA Flag & Touch Football Rule book is currently in its seventeenth edition and was first published in 1983. In the seventh edition of their handbook (1995 & 1996) the additional clarification on scoring noted that “If a female player throws a legal forward pass and a touchdown is scored by any Team A player, the point value is 9”. The editor noted that the co-rec rule changes were implemented to allow male and female players a near equal role in the contest’s outcome. During the first, second and third editions, the touchdown points awarded were the same for men, women and co-rec. The fourth edition (1989 & 1990) noted a change to “9 points awarded on a touchdown if a female scores the touchdown”. The rationale for this rule change was: research data col-
lected at colleges and universities, which have experimented with the Rule, showed that female players caught nearly 50 percent of the touchdown passes once the rule was set in place. This Rule, along with the limitation on male to male forward pass completions, will move the game closer to a “true co-rec game”. NIRSA recognizes the diversity of intramural programs nationwide and expects some rules and formats may be neither appropriate nor feasible for every institution. NIRSA also recognizes the opinion that co-rec rules are no longer necessary and the game should be played “straight-up” without any limitations. All colleges and universities are encouraged to select the most appropriate course of action for their individual programs.
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TAYLOR LIPPMAN / THE ARBITER
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Boise State Intrumural atheletes on IM Field
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WE BELIEVE in the home team.
SPORTS & REc
Bye week for the Broncos in week three
Boise State Football in Good Hands with Rypien Riston Ramirez Sports & Rec Reporter
actually helping us more, is nice for all aspects of the physically and what we can (it’s) helping us find more team. change,” McNichols said. who we are, and continue “We’ve been able to get McNichols said being in to progress as a team.” our legs back a little bit, the Pac-12, Oregon State is Rausa said the week but also still practicing and a good team and that they gives the team time “to watching film from last play with a chip on their level our head a little bit, week and just finding ways Although shoulder.Harsin is ready to Evan Werner coaches kind of put us back to get better” said junior see his Much of the focus quarterback performhas Sports & Rec Editor in our place, saying ‘alright running back Jeremy Mc- wellbeen the Broncos themthis on season, he was critiwe need to do this.’” Nichols. Multiple players, when talking about areasinCoach Bryan Harsin and calselves. Rausa said during byeQuarterback McNichols said hearestill where cluding McNichols, Rausa he needs to improve. Brett Rypien week he has the chance tobothfeels fresh and would have and McCaskill said they “He’s got a lot of stuff to on the same page as Boicatch up on other collegese State liked Football to have heads had the went to the on back and get betterfundaat. intobye work biggest strides will be his games that he otherwisetheirweek later in theweek. season. Hismentals and practice was Fall camp this consistency,” said Harsin. would miss. “I’m happy we got some treated much like fall camp. Rypien looks to improve to beplayers the mostfoRausa said the week ison adversity in the “We Thiswant meant his record early settingonFreshphysical offense in the just another work week,manseason to testalmost and see cused on individualcounneeds year, just breaking Rypien said. through the but having the Saturday offevery where we are working Mountain Westmentally, quar- try,”and Rypien stated, “ The most terback record in the books, important attribute a quarhoping for the team to do terback must have is a short better as a whole. Coach Harsin spoke highly memory. A ball may be of his sophomore quarter- tipped and it’s not even your back saying, “He has a low fault, so you just have to be ego, and high mentality, he is able to forget it.” Boise State Football is in better prepared, understands how to prepare going into his the right hands according to Head Coach Bryan Harsin. second year.” Rypien said, “Preparation Rypien works just as hard has been a big part of my as any Boise State quartergame since I was young, I back to ever walk through the door. “He cares simple learned that from my dad.” Harsin has also said Rypien as that, the lonely hours that put on about five pounds of no one talks about shows he muscle while dropping his cares,” Coach Harsin said. body fat percentage.
mistakes of the previous games. “It’s weird,” said senior defensive end Sam McCaskill. “You just get antsy, you get a little taste of getting to play those first two games, then they make you wait for a week.” The Broncos head to Corvallis, Oregon this week to take on Oregon State University at 1:30 p.m. on Saturday, Sept. 24.
ABE COPELAND/ THE ARBITER
After only two games, the Broncos were scheduled with a bye. After beating Louisiana-Lafayette 45-10 and Washington State University 31-28, the Broncos were able to have a week off before they travel to Corvallis, Oregon to take on Oregon State University. Traditionally, teams would prefer to be scheduled for a bye later in the
season. That way, after a couple of months of games, players and coaches have a week to regroup, rest, end lagging injuries and practice. Boise State is not as fortunate. The Broncos did, however, have a week in between their two nonconference games against Pac-12 teams. Kicker Tyler Rausa said he thought having an early bye week was different for him and the team. He said “Having it the first three weeks, I think it’s
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Bucking around DISTINGUISHED
LECTURE SERIES
AUTHOR OF THIS YEAR’S CAMPUS READ BOOK, “THE ROAD TO CHARACTER.”
PRESENTED BY THE HONORS COLLEGE
Your weekly playlist:
Here’s some new Hip-hop and R&B tracks the Pulse team thinks you should listen to...Enjoy! Dang- Mac Miller My Favorite Part- Mac Miller, Ariana Grande My Way- Calvin Harris Anyway- Dillon Francis Warzone- T.I. Futura- Frank Ocean Ushe Future Rivals- Usher, Billie Jean- Aloe Blacc
POLITICAL ANALYST AND COLUMNIST
DAVID BROOKS CHARACTER AND THE COMMON GOOD 7 P.M. SEPTEMBER 27, 2016 | MORRISON CENTER
Open to the public. Parking at no charge. go.boisestate.edu/distinguishedlectures
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BRONCO HAPPY
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2016
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