The Independent Issue 51

The

Fort Lewis College News Magazine

Issue 51

AC T I V E SHOOTER PROTOCOL S E X UA L A S S AU LT CUTS AND GROWTHS AND MORE...

November 2013 FREE

Stacye Heaton

Haley Pruitt

Ayla Quinn EDITOR IN CHIEF

LEAD PRINT DESIGNER

VISUAL EDITOR

Lindsy Fuller Livia Hooson Ciarra Krening Megan Prins Cover photo by Hana Mohsin

VISIT US on the web for breaking news, daily campus and community updates, sports, and much more!

CHIEF COPY EDITOR

Aimee Gardere

Chloe Eckerman

Emily Fagerberg

ADVERTISING DIRECTOR

Deanna Atkins Madi Bates Bob Brockley Alexa Chance Taylor Ferraro Meghan Olson Julia Volzke

SOCIAL MEDIA

Emily Griffin

Hana Mohsin

Carter Solomon FINANCIAL MANAGER

PHOTOGRAPHY

REPORTING

LEAD ONLINE DESIGNER

SOCIAL MEDIA VISUAL EDITOR

Rise Fujita Livia Hooson Christian Bachrodt Anthony Martin

Allie Hutto

Graeme Johnston

Alie Pallat SOCIAL MEDIA DIRECTOR

Makenzie Rennick Shannon Roe Jaimee Souder

BUSINESS DIRECTOR

Andrew Mangiona

NEWS EDITOR

SOCIAL MEDIA COPY EDITOR

COPY EDITING

DESIGN

Trevor Ogborn

Editors & Staff

BUSINESS

PUBLIC RELATION DIRECTOR

www.theindyonline.com

Campus News Cuts and Growths made to FLC Programs

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Story by Deanna Atkins

Save Money

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Community News

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COVER

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Sex

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The Great Exchange Rate: A Pass from Durango Mountain Resort or Other Ways to have Winter Fun Story by Julia Volzke

What Happens After a DUI or DWAI Story by Deanna Atkins Active Shooter Protocol Story by Bob Brockley

Support and Community Resources Available to Aid Survivors of Sexual Assault Story by Taylor Ferraro

Health

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Green

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Entertainment

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Health Myths Debunked Story by Meghan Olson

Single Stream Recycling Story by Madi Bates

Horoscopes, Crossword, Recipe, and Indy on the Street

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The Independent FLC

flcindependent independentflc The Independent FLC

Dearest readers, Hello, and thank you for reading The Indy! This is my second year working with The Indy, and now I’m an editor. I manage all of the social media content for The Indy’s Facebook and Twitter page. My job, essentially, is to edit then post events and updates that my fabulous reporting staff produces. There have been some obstacles with the start up of this new medium, and I can thank all of my wonderful staffers for the stellar job that they have done. I was worried for this huge transition from being a small-time reporter/ underling to becoming an editor. But now, it feels natural to me.

This reminded me of my first semester at FLC. I was timid, worried about the littlest details of life, almost to the point of hysteria. “What if my teachers are tyrants?” was one of my thoughts. “Dear God, I have a teacher with the last name of “Blood…” That’s it, I am going to die here.”

Well, maybe it wasn’t to that extreme… but going into my first semester was rather daunting, as it likely was for many of you wonderful readers. But like any returner to FLC, I eventually adjusted to college life. I adjusted to collegelevel courses. I adjusted to being an editor. If I have learned anything so far, it is that in times of adversity and change, I can survive. I can adjust. I can excel. And I know for a fact, students of FLC, that you can survive and excel here, too.

We are in this together as a college and a community, and I am glad to be growing and changing with you fine people.

I look forward to my future here, and though I know I cannot stay forever, I look forward to the unknown that lies in wait after college. I welcome the changes and challenges, successes and failures. I look forward to feeling and being alive.

Thank you, person of FLC, for picking up this gorgeous issue in your hands. Live!

From the Editor’s Desk

CONTENTS

Carter Solomon

Addendum to Issue 50: Buzz Bus Driver Kelly Toliver confirmed in a phone interview that she does sometimes provide services to riders who are without fare, though they often return the fare at a later date.

“I always try to charge people for the service and most people pay. But I’ve never left people stranded with no ride because they didn’t have five dollars,” Toliver said.

Campus News

Made to FLC Programs Story by Deanna Atkins

F

ort Lewis College saw an increase in student participation in the engineering and teacher education programs, prompting administration to add and cut classes based on student demand.

Upper division French, computer science and agriculture were seeing a lack of student participation, so they were cut from the term catalog, said Dene Kay Thomas, the president of FLC. These classes are all sections of a department that are no longer offered, Thomas said.

Cuts to programs occur when students are not taking certain classes or if the department has too much faculty compared to student demand, she said.

“If students are asking for it, classes would still be there,” she said.

Classes have the potential to be brought back if substantial growth occurs and looks like it can be sustained, Thomas said.

If this growth is seen, the first step is to hire a part-time professor, then move to a full-time position, followed by a tenure track professor, she said.

“By doing this, we are financially guarding ourselves,” she said.

Thomas said only one professor was let go last year, a professor in the French department.

Professors in southwest studies were transferred from their department to the history Department, she said.

“We try to protect all the faculty that we could and at that time we transferred Robert Bunting and Andrew Gulliford from southwest studies into history,” she said.

The computer science program had the lowest retention rate of any program at FLC because students were coming into the program and then changing majors, she said.

“Agriculture has classes that are no longer offered, and specialized classes are gone that specifically focused in agriculture because students are not asking for it,” she said.

Cutting the agriculture classes was one of the most difficult decisions to make within the entire college because of rural area attachments, especially within the Durango

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Graphics by Livia Hooson area, she said.

There are no other potential cuts, but there are hiring positions open for a variety of departments including sociology, music, Spanish, math, writing, environmental studies, public health, business, chemistry, engineering, and more, Thomas said.

Since Thomas became president, most of the new faculty members that have been hired in the past have been replacements to tenure track professors, she said.

“If there are demands, we try to accommodate that,” she said.

The courses that were cut do not hinder a student’s education in a liberal arts perspective because FLC focuses on all basic humanities and social sciences which are still offered at FLC, she said.

Aside from these cuts, FLC has seen significant growth in the engineering and education departments, Thomas said.

Ryan Haaland, the chair of the physics and engineering department at FLC, said there are three bachelor of science degree programs in the engineering and physics department which are engineering, engineering physics and traditional physics.

“The physics program has been around the longest, engineering physics which is a physics degree has been in place for almost a decade,” Haaland said.

The newest bachelor of science program is engineering, which was implemented in 2010, he said.

This program is the biggest and fastest growing program in the physics and engineering department since it saw its first graduates in 2012, he said.

This year, the engineering department has grown by 25 percent, Thomas said.

There was a scramble to provide faculty to teach the courses in engineering because of the student demand, she said.

Put in perspective, about five or six years ago the department had a total of 40 students in all three departments and now the programs total is 275 students, Haaland said.

This growth is not significant enough to hire new professors but a search is in place in the fall for a potential tenure track professor, he said.

“We have one new faculty line that came on board this fall and we had an emergency replacement faculty hire as well because a faculty left in December of last year,” he said.

According to Haaland, there is also a current search going for a new faculty member because the department is behind in terms of supporting all of its students.

Although the department has grown, it is not adding any new classes and maintains its same curriculum since it was implemented three years ago, he said.

“The engineering program, aside from the education program, has the highest number of required courses by accreditation,” he said.

The Masters of Arts and Education program and courses were launched this fall.

Before classes commenced, a collaboration of faculty in several departments across campus aided the education department in the making of a completely new website, admission policies, other policies and procedures, orientation, brochures and more, said Richard Fulton, the director of teacher education at FLC. For a Master of Arts in Education and Teacher Leadership Option, there are 11 new courses that FLC has never seen before in a two-year program totaling in 30 credit hours of coursework, Fulton said.

The Teacher Leadership Certificate requires only half of these classes, he said.

“At the faculty level, there are some that now teach graduate level classes and undergraduate classes,” Fulton said.

Both undergraduate and graduate students are enrolled in the new program this year, but for the graduate students, an entire new website needed to be created and taught how to navigate it, he said.

Since this is the programs debut, Fulton said students wanting to join the program must wait until the two years end, where the new session will start.

“They will not be able to come in the middle,” he said.

According to Fulton, once the program grows, there is a possibility of changing the program to a one year track instead of two and adding more professors and adjunct professors to fill in positions.

There have not been any additional faculty members in the program but the program did lose two faculty members last year that were filled with adjunct members, he said.

“These two positions are looking to be replaced by the end of this year as a result of the graduate program,” he said.

Fulton said that word has been sent out that positions are available but there are no potential candidate interviews scheduled until December of this year.

“The education department is also looking to have a masters with an initial teachers license, or a masters in teaching,” he said.

Currently FLC has a handful of students who have already obtained their bachelor’s degree and need only a select few classes to receive masters level with an initial teaching license, he said.

Because of this, Fulton said these courses are being looked and considered to be at masters level as well, but not until 2015.

According to Thomas, the college has looked into several other programs to potentially emerge as masters degree programs, but none are ready to be determined yet.

“In the meantime we’ll do a good job of getting the teacher education one successfully up and running since this is our first semester of having the students in it,” Thomas said.

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Save Money

he

T

t e a g e Gr Ex¢han te: Ra

A Pass from Durango Mountain Resort or Other Ways to have Winter Fun Story by Julia Volzke

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any students at Fort Lewis College decide to purchase the Durango Mountain Resort pass for the winter season for skiing and snowboarding, but what can students do with the money if they opt out of purchasing the pass?

“The Durango Mountain pass was $409 but now it’s $509, and thats about to go up,” said Luke Kobilan, an FLC student and an Outdoor Pursuits member.

With the rising price of a ski pass, students still have a lot to spend on equipment to outfit themselves fully for the winter season ahead.

Skip Favreau, the manager of Gardenswartz Outdoors explains that winter apparel that is classified as ‘low tech’ can cost in the lower range of a couple hundred dollars when ‘high tech’ apparel, such as Gortex is going to have a higher cost, around $400.

“To fully outfit myself I spent on a snowboard about $300,” Koblian said.

A great place to start on saving money on winter activities is to head to the Outdoor Pursuits office.

“Here is the real cost effective thing for students,” said Tom Whalen, the assistant coordinator of Outdoor Pursuits. “If they join Outdoor Pursuits and pay their $40 membership fee then they can use our equipment.”

Whalen also said that OP provides snowshoes, cross country skis, skate skis, split boards, alpine touring skis, telemark skis and snowboard boots. OP has materials for avalanche safety, such as beacons, shovels and probes.

Whalen said that OP has a number of different trips that students can go on for reasonable prices. They offer a $15 avalanche awareness clinic as well as a $150 avalanche level 1 certification class that is highly recommended if students decide to go up into

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Photos by Christian Bachrodt

the backcountry to ski.

“Typically a level 1 avalanche class if you went through one of the local guide companies or even Silverton Avalanche school, can cost you from $250 to $300,” Whalen said.

There are a lot of opportunities for students to learn about winter sports. OP provides workshops for students to learn a variety of activities. Students can partake in a ‘learn to ride day’ at DMR, backcountry ski trips, and ice climbing tutorials.

Whalen also said that most people can outfit themselves with decent jacket, snow pants and snow boots for around $150.

“For me the pass just wasn't worth it,” Koblian said. “There’s not enough value in it for what it was, and I figured I have all the backcountry gear, so I’ll just do the backcountry.”

There were many varied recommendations on how to save money on winter activities.

“Shop for used equipment in the ski swap or even yard sales,” Favreau said.

“Earn your turns,” said Miles Venzara, an employee at Pine Needle Mountaineering. “So instead of spending that money on the lift ticket, spend it on a level 1 avalanche course and get yourself into the backcountry so that you're not spending money on a chair lift.”

According to durangogov.org, Durango residents can experience a local ski spot at Chapman Hill, where a day pass costs $12, and an unlimited year pass for $100. There is also an ice rink located at Chapman Hill, where an adult day pass is $6 and skates are just $3.

“The best time to gear up for winter is at the end of the season and thats when I buy all of my gear because that is when it is even cheaper than some of the swaps earlier in the season,” Koblian said.

Community News

What Happens After a

or

Atkins Story by Deanna eme Johnston Graphics by Gra

S

tudents at Fort Lewis College may not realize the list of classes and tests that must be completed upon being charged with a DWI or a DWAI. Most students know that a DWI (Driving While Intoxicated) and a DWAI (Driving While Ability Impaired) are two similar charges that involve drinking while driving, but what happens after you have been caught and charged with either of these is a different story.

The only court date, which is assigned when the officer issues a ticket and provides information about meeting with the district attorney, is where one can accept the charge or defer it, said Bailey Strickland, junior at FLC in a phone interview, who received a DWI. She accepted her sentence which was based on several factors that include the blood alcohol level detected after being administered a breathalyzer test, if you have a previous record and if it is your first offense, Strickland said.

After blowing a 0.17 blood alcohol concentration level test, Strickland was charged with a DWI accompanied with 98 days in jail, two years of probation with $1,200 in fees, an ankle GPS monitor for 10 days, a fine of $1,300, a level two 12 month alcohol class and 48 hours of community service, she said.

Because Strickland accepted and was complying with all her charges, 72 days in jail were waved and she spent only two days in jail, she said.

Following her charges, Strickland now meets with her probation officer once a month for a checkup to see how much progress has been made with her charges.

Each time a client meets with their probation officer, they are charged $50 a month whether or not they are seen only once a month or more, said Brian Miller, probation officer at Rocky Mountain Offender Management System in Durango, in a phone interview.

Meeting with a probation officer is mandated by the Colorado courts and requires the client to meet however many times the court assigned them based off their sentence, Miller said.

Since the probation officer decides how many times a client meets with them a month, Miller has the power to decide if the client will be put on a two month meeting schedule which costs $100 every two months instead of once a month based off how well they are conducting themselves.

If clients do not come in to meet with their probation officer, that officer has the ability to punish the client by means of wearing an ankle monitor, issuing an arrest warrant, being taken to jail, taken to court or revoking their probation, he said.

For the ankle monitor, Strickland had to spend a certain amount of hours in and out of her house and work for 10 days.

According to Miller, there are two types of ankle monitor plans a client can be put on if they do not comply with their charges.

The first plan gives releases for work, court dates, probation appointments and medical appointments, he said.

The second plan is a home lockdown which is exactly that, he said. The client is not allowed to leave their home and is monitored by the GPS tracker until the patrol officer takes the monitor off themselves.

Probation officers are also in charge of monitoring how many hours of community service the client has to complete.

Once completed, the client must bring the logged hour sheet to their officer and to the court to be signed off on, Miller said.

Testing is a separate entity that the probation officers do not conduct but can provide in given circumstances if they suspect the client has been drinking, he said.

Strickland’s sentence requires her to test three to four times a month in which she calls a specific number in the morning that notifies her if she tests that day or not.

It is a completely random schedule and how many times you test a month is counted and marked down, she said.

The testing agencies that clients must go to are Hilltop House Community Corrections facility or Detox of La Plata County where they take a urine or breathalyzer test, Miller said.

These tests also test for other drug content in a persons system, such as marijuana, Strickland said.

If alcohol or other drugs is found in the test, the client will be punished by ankle monitor or jail and depending on the test, they will be kept in the testing agency until their alcohol level recedes to 0.02, Miller said.

The client, based on the charge, must also complete a certain amount of hours in alcohol classes and therapy.

Clients must start with Education sessions, complete them, and then move on to Level Two Education therapy sessions, said Stephanie Mueller, owner and Certified Addiction Counselor at Preferred Counseling Services in Durango, in a phone interview.

A total of 12 to 24 hours of education classes must be completed by the client depending on the sentence and cannot complete more than two hours a week, Mueller said.

Students are in the class for a minimum of 12 weeks, she said.

Clients must wait until they are finished with education classes before starting therapy sessions, she said.

Mueller said that once sessions start, the client may be involved in one on one or group sessions based on their rapport and trust with their counselors.

Each education class meeting costs $15 and each therapy session costs $30, with higher rates for individual meetings instead of group meetings, she said.

According to Mueller, the success rate for first time offenders who don’t offend a second time is 40 percent and 15 percent of addicted clients stay clean for one year after attending classes and sessions.

If Strickland completes all the classes and charges against her and remains in good standing with her officer, she can be let off of probation early but the charge will stay on her record.

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Cover Story

Story by Bob Brockley

I

Graphics by Graeme Johnston

n the wake of the October shooting in Sparks, NV, where 12-year-old gunman Jose Reyes used a 9mm pistol to kill a math teacher and injure two students before taking his own life, authorities are once again examining how to best respond to increasingly common campus shooting events.

The history of gun-related violence on the Fort Lewis College campus is limited to a minor pellet gun incident in the dorms many years ago, but local police are still preparing for worst case scenarios, said Arnold Trujillo, the FLC Chief of Police.

Investigators and researchers have been studying active-shooter tragedies, such as the Columbine High School shooting, which left 12 Colorado students, one teacher, and the two assailants dead, to improve police and bystander protocols.

“At Columbine, officers present on campus actually waited for the SWAT team to arrive,” Trujillo said. “We learned from that incident not to wait for the SWAT team anymore. Officers will now go into a building, towards the gunfire, and immediately engage in a situation.”

Before the Columbine tragedy, the standard active shooter protocol for most police departments involved siege tactics, where a perimeter is secured and police wait for ample police support before entering, said Cpt. Kevin Poppen of the Clackamas County Sheriffs Department.

Poppen is a SWAT veteran and was part of the response to a December 2012 mall shooting that left two victims and the shooter dead in Clackamas, OR. “Columbine was the watershed event that changed everybody’s protocol across the nation,” Poppen said. “We are now trained to go alone or in small groups, which the SWAT team calls ‘hunter cells’, sometimes bypassing injured citizens so that we can actively hunt the shooter and stop him as quickly as possible.”

The need for a quicker response strategy was necessary because the average active-shooter scenario only lasts 9 to 12 minutes, and officers must act to save as many lives as possible in that time, Trujillo said.

Following these policy changes, University of Texas researchers reported that a patrol officer alone or with one partner responded to most active-shooter incidents, and one-third of these officers were shot during the events.

They also found that the incidence of these active-shooter events has steadily increased since Columbine. While 1 to 9 active-shooter events per year were reported from 2000 to 2008, the number of incidents had grown to 16 in 2009 and 21 in 2010. The research team, led by Dr. Pete Blair at Texas State University, excluded gang violence from the study.

To prepare for the possibility of these events, the FLC Police Department sponsors active-shooter training every summer, where officers from throughout the Four Corners region utilize local school campuses to conduct training exercises and establish common protocols, Trujillo said.

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Photo by Hana Mohsin

If a shooter was reported on campus, the Durango Police Department and La Plata County Police Department would immediately hear the dispatch call on their shared radio frequency and respond, but the campus police would likely be first on the scene, he said.

“We were lucky enough to get another officer in July, so most of the time there are now two officers on duty at campus,” Trujillo said. “We could easily get to an active-shooter incident on campus within two minutes, and it may be much quicker depending on where it was at.”

Bystander Survival Strategies The same researchers that are working to construct improved police responses to active-shooter events are also coming out with new strategies for bystanders.

In recent years, many law enforcement organizations have adopted a “hide and hope” protocol for the general public. These policies call for citizens to close the doors of the room, turn off lights and cell phones, and hide until authorities arrive.

His department recommends this protocol, but certain situations may call for alternative strategies, Trujillo said. The FLC website has a training video for shooter scenarios which also presents evacuation and self defense tactics as survival options.

For most situations, Poppen agrees that hiding is the best strategy for a bystander, but he is careful to distinguish this from “playing dead” in a setting where the bystander is not concealed.

“The latest research from Texas is showing that ‘playing dead’ does not work, and they are now recommending that the bystander employ one of three strategies: flee, hide, or fight,” Poppen said.

Legally Concealed Weapons: Making Campus Safer or More Dangerous?

In Colorado, where students and staff who possess a concealed weapons permit may bring a gun to class, an active-shooter survival strategy may include returning fire.

“We are aware of two students and two staff members who have permits and told us they will be legally carrying weapons at FLC,” said Trujillo. “They are mature students and we really appreciate them coming forward to let us know.”

Retired Lt. Col. Tim Gwynn teaches courses in armed and unarmed self-defense in Durango, and said that he feels campuses are made safer by legal gun carriers.

Students are instructed to be careful about what they respond to, but if they do decide to respond because they are armed, they should take the steps to do so. Afterwards, they need to stop as soon as authorities arrive and do as they’re instructed, Gwynn said.

Some National Rifle Association members and other gun control advocates across the nation have been calling for the training and arming of teachers. Trujillo said that he doubts such a policy would work at FLC. “We have a pretty open-minded staff here, but a lot of them don’t like guns and I doubt many would be willing to carry a gun to class,” he said.

Students who live on campus are not allowed to possess firearms in the dorm, regardless of whether or not they have a concealed weapons permit, said Julie Love, director of student housing.

FLC housing does not have gun storage facilities, so students who hunt or own guns for other reasons sometimes store their firearms in safety deposit boxes or storage rental units, Love said.

The Active Shooter Has No Profile “One thing we learned from the Town Center Mall shooting event, was that there weren’t really any early indicators that showed he was going to go over the top,” Poppen said. “It was basically just a series of small events like buying gun magazines that wouldn’t be alarming to others.”

Reports from the Secret Service posted on secretservice.org have warned schools and law enforcement agencies against profiling potential student assailants, since their research found that the shooters had dissimilar family and criminal backgrounds.

While the gunmen in certain shootings such as Sandy Hook Elemen-

tary and Columbine High School were characterized as “social misfits,” many assailants do not have issues with social skills, Poppen said.

“There is no magic rubber stamp to profiling the active-shooter, oftentimes there is nothing at all that jumps out as being out of the ordinary,” Poppen said.

Princeton researcher Katherine Newman published research that contradict the notion of the “dangerous loner”, since her studies found that most school shooters were actually “joiners” who failed to fit into the social circles they tried to enter.

Another widely held notion about the active-shooter profiles, that of the bully victim seeking retribution, is being given more credence by experts.

The anti-bullying advocacy website, makebeatsnotbeatdowns.org, reports that 87 percent of students interviewed said that school shootings were motivated by revenge on those who hurt them.

Though authorities have not released a statement about the motive for the 12-year-old Sparks shooter, students present during the attack told major news agencies that Reyes had been a victim of bullying.

It has been widely published that the gunmen in the Columbine attack were regularly bullied by classmates.

“Those who have been teased have a natural target - the person who has been bullying them,” Trujillo said. “Luckily, here we have not received a single report of bullying in recent memory.”

A photo demonstration of a BLANKBLANK-millimeter handgun, a weapon that can be concealed via a permit.

Active Shooter Figures

The average active-shooter incident lasts 12 minutes Fewer than 9 incidents per year were reported from 2000-2008, but the number grew to 16 in 2009 and 21 in 2010.

98% of offenders are single-shooters 97% of active shooters are male.

43% of incidents end before police arrive, 57% of the time an officer arrives during the incident

Source- http://www.fbi.gov/stats-services/publications/law-enforcement-bulletin/2013/May/active-shooter

Common Active Shooter Protocols

“Hide and Hope”. Lock and barricade doors, shut off lights, and wait for authorities to arrive. This reduces targets for the attacker, as well as exposing the attacker for police intervention.

Dial 911, and report as many details as possible for Emergency Response Personnel Turn off your cell phone. During an incident, family members and friends will try to call victims, and the ringing phone can alert an attacker to a victims hiding location.

Source: Those Terrible First Few Minutes, Buerger and Buerger http://www.fbi.gov/stats-services/publications/law-enforcement-bulletin/September-2010/shooting-feature

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Sex

Support and Community Resources Available to Aid Survivors of

Story b Graph y Taylor Fe rr ics by Graem aro e John ston

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here are resources available to survivors in Durango through law enforcement, campus assistance, and Sexual Assault Services Organization. These services provide support and assistance to individuals throughout the process of reporting and pursuing cases of sexual assault.

Legal Process: how law enforcement can aid survivors.

After a sexual assault occurs, there is a legal process for reporting, making a case, and seeing justice for survivors.

When law enforcement receives a report on sexual assault there are several things that can be done to help the victim, said Sgt Rita Warfield of the Durango Police department.

It depends on how the report is given, but the first thing that an officer will do is interview the person making the report, Warfield said.

The officer will get the details of the situation, and if enough evidence and information is obtained, the officer begins the legal process of prosecuting the perpetrator, she said.

“It is important for the officer to get as much information about the incident as they can,” she said. “This information helps us determine whether the account occurred and make sure it is in the right jurisdiction,” she said.

Sometimes, the police department will receive a call or an individual may walk in to talk to an officer about a sexual assault. In this case, the officer will sit down with the individual and get the details of the case, Warfield said.

If it turns out that the officer does not have enough evidence or information to follow through with the case, SASO will be notified, and an advocate will contact the individual, Warfield said.

In cases where the officer has enough information about the case to proceed, the individual reporting the case will be asked to do a sexual assault exam at the hospital, she said.

The exam is used to collect any evidence that can be obtained from a sexual assault. This includes semen, hair, or DNA that can be used in court against the offender, Warfield said.

The individual also has the option to do the sexual assault exam and decide not to press charges. The state pays for the sexual assault exam, Warfield said.

If the individual does not want to have the case reported and has taken the sexual assault exam, the police department keeps the evidence from the exam for two years in the evidence room, Warfield said.

This provides the individual with the option to report the case at any point during those two years. The evidence and information given by the individual is kept anonymous until the individual decides to report, Warfield said.

“A lot of times, victims of sexual assault will not want to report the

incident at first but will come back a few days later and decide that they do want to press charges,” Warfield said.

Anyone over the age of 18 is not required to press charges, she said.

However, the hospital is required to report the sexual assault, but the victim does not have to speak with the police department, she said.

The individual has the option to make an anonymous report about what happened. The individual calling in and reporting the incident is not required to give any information that they are uncomfortable sharing, Warfield said.

Another option would be for the individual to give detailed information about the offender without pressing charges, she said. This allows the police department to collect information on the offender.

The final option that an individual has in this situation is to go ahead and give the police officer all of the necessary information, take the sexual assault exam, and proceed to go to trial, Warfield said.

It is important that an individual reports the sexual assault promptly, even if the individual decides not to press charges, Warfield said.

“Once a few days go by and you wash your clothes and get rid of anything that may have the perpetrators DNA on it, it is very hard to prosecute,” she said. “At that point, your evidence is gone and even though the officer might believe the victim, when you go before a jury they want to see evidence- something that shows it is not just one person’s word against another’s. If you have evidence, it helps juries make a decision as to if the offender is guilty.”

Campus Assistance: Sexual assault incidents that occur on campus are dealt with primarily by the police force on campus, said Arnold Trujillo, the FLC chief of police.

“On campus, we get maybe one or two reports of sexual assault per year,” Trujillo said.

When dispatch receives a call about an incident that happened on campus, the campus police are informed and advised to respond to the report, Trujillo said.

“We respond to the call and immediately contact SASO, then we meet with the victim and get information about the incident,” he said.

The blue phones around campus also put a direct call to dispatch, Trujillo said.

“There are 18 phones located around campus,” he said. “Once the emergency button is pushed, we can be at the location of the incident within two minutes.”

Basic Definitions:

*Rape: A common term used to describe acts of vaginal, oral or anal penetration without consent. This is not a legal term in Colorado. *Sexual Assault: Generally used to describe some type of physical sexual violation or physical sex act that was performed without consent. *Consent: agreeing to an action of one’s own free will. Consent is active, based on choice, and is only possible when there is equal power. The age of consent is 17.

Statistics:

*1 in 4 women and 1 in 17 men in Colorado will experience sexual assault in their lifetime *84% of sexual assaults are committed by someone known to the victim *61% of sexual assault victims are under the age of 18 at the time of the assault *10-16% of all sexual assaults are reported to law enforcement *A sexual assault occurs every 45 seconds in the United States

Source: Maura Doherty Demko, the Executive Director of Sexual Assault Services Organization (SASO) in Durango.

It is common for the campus police to be notified by the hospital that a student has been sexually assaulted, has had a sexual assault exam, and would like to report the incident, Trujillo said.

Then the campus police meet the student at the hospital and proceed to gain information about the incident, he said.

“There have been times where the party does not want to talk to the police or report the case, but SASO or the hospital will call us to let us know that the incident did occur, so we can record it,” Trujillo said.

The student or individual also has the option to give information about the perpetrator and the incident and not press charges, he said.

For these cases, the campus police collect evidence and have the individual go through a sexual assault exam. The evidence is compiled and kept in the evidence room on campus for two years in the case that the individual chooses to press charges at any point in time, Trujillo said.

“We preserve the evidence that we gather because the party may come back later and decide to file the case,” he said.

Most of the sexual assault incidents happen off campus, however some of them have involved FLC students, he said.

If a student is involved in a sexual assault incident that happened off campus, the campus police are notified by the Durango Police Department, Trujillo said. That happens three to four times per year, he said.

SASO Support: SASO provides advocacy to individuals who have been subjected to sexual assault, Demko said.

“We create a supportive place for victims who have experienced sexual assault so that we can get them started on the healing path,” she said.

The non-profit organization is a resource for survivors of sexual assault who may have been triggered by a certain event and need support, said Johanna Dadisman, prior SASO advocate and prevention volunteer.

SASO offers 24 hour assistance and support for individuals, said Mackenzie Morgan, a SASO advocate.

In each 24 hour period, there are three SASO advocates on call, each taking eight-hour shifts, Morgan said.

There are two types of calls that SASO advocates receive, the most common being an individual calling about community resources and support groups, Dadisman said.

The second, less common type of call the advocates received is labeled a “hot call.” These are calls where the advocates need to meet the individual subjected to the sexual assault and provide the support and information that the survivor may need at that time, she said.

“If the victim is in an unsafe environment, we will have the police pick them up and bring them to the hospital or a safe place where we can meet with the individual,” Morgan said.

Hot calls usually come in from the hospital. The nurse on duty will call and let SASO know that a victim of sexual assault has come into the hospital. At that time, the advocate will go to the hospital and meet with the individual, Dadisman said.

“Our job is to be a megaphone for the victim. There can be a lot going on when reporting a sexual assault. There will be police officers, doctors, as well as a SASO advocate,” she said. “We are there to show support and do what the person needs. We are there to help the victim and make sure they are comfortable.”

Precautions: The most common date rape drug used is called Rohypnol. It is a colorless, odorless and tasteless drug, Trujillo said.

It usually takes 20 to 30 minutes for the sedation to occur, which can last for several hours. Usually people will wake up three to five hours after they have unknowingly ingested the drug, with no recollection of what happened previously, Trujillo said.

If this happens, it is important that the individual contact law enforcement immediately and report the incident, Trujillo said.

The hospital can also do a blood draw on an individual to find out what kind of drug is in the individuals system. It is important that the individual gets the blood draw within eleven hours of ingesting the drug, Trujillo said.

“Another precaution that individuals can take is to be sure to never leave his or her drink unattended,” Trujillo said.

Campus police know that students are going to drink. It is part of the atmosphere, Trujillo said.

“We always advise students to know their limits and not drink to a point where they are no longer coherent,” he said.

If students do choose to drink, it is important to use the buddy system and watch over each other, Trujillo said.

“We always have the campus officers tell students to never leave their drink unattended, to know who is serving the drink, and finally, to know what type of beverage is being served,” he said.

In addition to being responsible while drinking and being aware of one’s surroundings, students can also utilize the self-defense classes that are offered on campus, Trujillo said.

Officer Deming has taught the self-defense class for thirteen years, he said. Deming teaches students how to use the surrounding environment to their advantage as well as basics in self-defense.

The class is very popular and is a useful resource, Trujillo said.

10

Health

Health Myths Debunked

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Story by Meghan Olson

hether it be the notorious Freshman 15 or something as normal as a flu shot, health myths seem to carry around campus. Some students do not know what to believe when it comes to some of these ever changing myths.

The Freshman 15 Once students come to college, there is an immediate lifestyle and diet change. From being on their own to learning how to navigate the food court, the freshman 15 is a concern for most.

The Freshmen 15 can be seen because of the transition students are getting used to when starting college, said Rene Klotz, a family nurse practitioner who has recently been working as the director of the FLC Student Health Center.

“Students are away from their home and environment where maybe they had a diet that was prepared by family,” Klotz said.

When starting college, the responsibility of food choices is put upon the students, she said.

“You’re on your own, maybe the food choices is what you want to eat, not what you should be eating,” Klotz said.

Exercising may also not be as important because of students busy schedules, she said.

Diet changes when students enter college, because now food is available at anytime, and they can eat whatever they want, Klotz said.

“When students get those meal plans, they can get as much food as they want everyday, so you can eat there four or five times a day,” said Susan Pugh, a registered nurse at the FLC Student Health Center.

This can result in the consumption of more calories than the student’s body is used to when living at home, Pugh said.

If students engage in consuming alcohol as well, it can also put on some weight, she said.

With these two factors, along with overeating and unhealthy eating due to stress or depression, students are likely consuming more calories than normal, she said.

If someone is genetically predisposed to easily gaining weight, it probably does not take much to put on those extra pounds, especially if a student is not exercising regularly, Pugh said.

Backing the Flu Shot Klotz, Pugh and Steven Fenster personally believe that everyone should have a flu shot.

There are instances where many people around have gotten immunized, leaving those around them safe, Klotz said.

Flu strains change each season, but they are still similar to the strains of the previous season so you might have a little bit of

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Photo by Anthony Martin natural immunity, she said.

“Everyone travels during the holiday, people are coming and going to different towns and communities the exposure is just a lot higher,” she said. “I think it’s important to get a flu shot because as a student you don’t want to have to miss a week of school.”

To treat flu is more expensive than paying for the shot which is around $20.

“The flu medication is about $100, and it will just lessen it but won’t prevent it,” Klotz said.

Pugh has seen many symptoms from students suffering from the flu, such as body aches, headaches and a lot of missed classes, which is why the Health Center encourages the flu shot, she said.

“You can’t get the flu from the flu shot and the flu vaccine may even prevent heart attacks,” Pugh said.

Steven Fenster, an assistant professor at FLC who specializes in the nervous and immune systems, said that he does not necessarily think it should be required, but people should get one.

“If you look at the history and the possible effects of the flu on a population it can be absolutely devastating,” Fenster said. “It killed 20 to 30 million people at the end of World War I, and I think that it is a fairly effective way to prevent flu epidemic.”

Although the science behind vaccines is not perfect, scientists are getting better at actually predicting the different kinds of flu strains that are coming up every year, he said.

“It does do a pretty good job protecting people from the flu, but it’s not something that pharmaceutical companies make a lot of money off of every year,” he said.

It is very expensive to actually produce the vaccine, a process which is overall under-funded, Fenster said.

“In terms of how they generate the vaccine itself, the profit that they generate is very low as opposed to many other pharmaceuticals,” he said.

Public money or government money actually funds much of the flu vaccine, Fenster said.

Dangers and side effects?

The Student Health Center has seen very little problems with the shot. Typically there is no negative reaction, and the nurses ask students prior to giving them the vaccine if they have had a negative reaction before, Klotz said.

People who are allergic to eggs should avoid the vaccine, Klotz said.

The response a body will have to the flu shot varies, but their is a small chance for an individual to have a reaction to the shot, she said.

“You cannot get sick from the shot because it’s a dead virus,” Klotz said.

Green

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lo ay T s in ate from art B M i s ad tion ony M u h t y b y b ntri y An r o o St th c to b wi Pho

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ort Lewis College implemented single stream recycling in several of the residence halls and the Student Union in March of 2013 in an effort to create a more environmentally friendly campus.

Single stream recycling involves putting all recyclable materials into one container, said Dustin Sargent, an FLC freshman member the Environmental Center’s Zero Waste Team.

“I feel like students at Fort Lewis are a little more environmentally conscious,” Sargent said. “If they are, they should realize where their trash is going and what they should do with it before it is just being wasted.”

Their goal is to have single-stream recycling in every building on campus, Sargent said.

The Environmental Center began recycling on campus as a studentled initiative, which inspired the town to recycle as well, said Rachel Landis, the coordinator of the Environmental Center.

The City of Durango then implemented single-stream recycling in February of 2013, Landis said.

The single-stream system makes recycling more convenient for individuals to recycle, but they still need to remember that contaminated containers must be rinsed out and not all plastics are recyclable, such as saran wrap or plastic bags, Landis said.

Single-stream recycling accepts plastics labeled one through seven and cardboard, but glass, Styrofoam and plastic bags must be sorted separately, Sargent said.

These plastic bags are non-recyclable in Durango, which is one reason behind the Durango Bag-It campaign, Sargent said.

The Environmental Center has encountered problems on campus in regards to recycling, such as people finding it inconvenient to recycle.

“We have 70 odd trash cans located all around campus,” Landis said.

“There are not recycling bins next to them. If you look in these trash cans, you will find that they are filled with soda cans.”

Caylon Vielehr, senior, works in the IT department on campus, and has encountered many mistakes in regards to recycling. Occasionally, we will clean out the recycling bins, and often finds trash in the singlestream bins and recycling in the trash.

“I think that students have no idea how to recycle,” Vielehr said. “It’s a mess, kids are lazy, and it’s a major problem.”

Freshman Logan Loven believes that FLC could use more recycling bins around campus to help with the environmentally friendly efforts.

“I know we have three (bins) at each station, and one for glass and

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one for trash,” Loven said. “But I think that the more we have the more people are more aware of them.”

To help curb this problem, the EC is working to raise awareness, Landis said.

In the Residence Halls, the EC trained resident assistants on recycling, Landis said. They also have created the Green Office Gurus Program which works to reduce the environmental footprint of offices.

The Zero Waste Team conducted a waste audit on Nov. 5 to help create a visual aid to demonstrate the effects of non-recycling, Sargent said.

“We can use it as an educational tool to help inform campus and help motivate campus to do a better job around waste issues,” said Alex Brooks, the assistant coordinator of the Environmental Center.

Students, faculty and staff worked to sort through all the trash on campus to find materials that can be recycled, Brooks said.

“Just take a few seconds and actually think about it before you toss away,” Sargent said.

Thinking is key in these situations. Loven sees that FLC’s efforts in recycling help to increase student knowledge of what is being put into the earth, so having easily-accessible recycling areas bring awareness to the FLC campus.

The school has invested $9.4 million dollars on performance contracting, which is revamping buildings and operations on campus to increase efficiency. By spending this capital upfront, lower energy bills and other effects of the performance contracting will ultimately pay off that investment, Sargent said.

Sustainability is not just about the money, but about the difference it can make where it is accepted.

Outside of dollars and cents, sustainability is a beautiful thing that is happening everywhere, Landis said.

Other efforts toward sustainability at FLC include composting. The food waste from Sodexo is being composted and used in gardens as a fertilizer, both on and off campus, Sargent said.

“Kids should just look at the lifespan of their product,” Sargent said.

The Zero Waste Team is one of five student teams in the Environmental Center, Brooks said. It is devoted to issues like waste management, recycling and consumption.

“When you buy a product and it’s wrapped in plastic, that plastic immediately goes from your hand to the trash can,” Sargent said. “It’s a big mental change to cut out that unnecessary waste.”

12

Entertainment

Horoscopes Pisces~ February 19- March 20 You’re going to have some major introspection in the coming weeks. For some reason, you’ll feel the need to check yourself at every turn. Friends are a great help for you.

Leo~ July 23- August 22 Things have been hectic, but you’re headed for a lull. This is a good time to try new things, and pry yourself out of a few ruts if you’re up to it. Or maybe just relax while you can.

Aries~ March 21- April 19 Your social life will flourish soon, and you’ll be busy pretty much every night. Fun as this will be, remember to not let your schoolwork or job fall through the cracks.

Virgo~ August 23- September 22 Things will get busy for you, socially, academically, and personally. Not necessarily problematically, but you’ll find yourself having to deal with a lot more than usual.

Taurus~ April 20- May 20 If you’re an introvert, then you’ll feel unusually outgoing in the coming weeks. However, extroverts will have a pressing desire for quiet time. Enjoy the new experiences these will bring.

Libra~ September 23- October 22 You’ve been relatively content lately, but you’re headed for some restlessness. This might be the world’s way of telling you to shake things up, so you should consider making some changes.

Capricorn~ December 22- January 19 Halloween was definitely a peak for you, and the coming weeks will be much more uneventful. Use this time to catch up on schoolwork, or just get some sleep.

Gemini~ May 21- June 21 Your love life will be challenged soon. Times will be tough, and the relationship may seem shaky or even finished, but be honest and forthright and you should be fine.

Scorpio~ October 23- November 21 For some reason, words just haven’t been working for you lately. Maybe you’ve said something you shouldn’t have, or you just get tongue-tied a lot.

Don’t worry; this will resolve itself soon.

Aquarius~ January 20- February 18 Your academic workload will nearly double soon, and you might feel overwhelmed. Try not to stress out, and remember that the business will pass before too long.

Cancer~ June 22- July 22 Your luck will not be as good as it could be in the coming weeks, so you should make caution your watchword. Don’t do anything too reckless, and try to be prepared for the worst.

Sagittarius~ November 22- December 21 You’re headed for a social paradigm shift, and it will be tough to adapt to. It’s likely to be bad, but it may also be a blessing in disguise. Don’t make hasty judgements.

Maze Navigate through the maze to find the buried treasure at the center!

Start

Graphics by Graeme Johnston and Allie Hutto

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Recipe “Overnight Oats�

1/4 cup quick oats 1/2 cup unsweetened coconut milk (or any milk you prefer) 1/2 banana 1/2 tbsp. chia seeds 1/2 cup raspberries 1 tbsp. chopped almonds (for garnish) honey and cinnamon to taste

In a mason jar, layer all ingredients with oatmeal on bottom. let sit in refrigerator overnight. Mix in the morning, garnish with chopped almonds, and enjoy a healthy, wholesome breakfast.

Recipe and photo provided by Emily Griffin

Indy on the Street Who was your first celebrity crush?

Geroen Gwart 24 Finance Utrecht, Holland Jennifer Lopez, when I was about 10

Laura West 21 Psychology Littleton, Co A tossup between Johnny Depp from the first Pirates of the Caribbean and Aragorn.

Sara Thornhill 20 Psychology Durango, Co Elmo because he was on Sesame Street and he had a goldfish.

Matt Clark 25 Exercise Science Colorado Springs, Co Nicole Kidman because I always thought she was gorgeous.

Gunnar Bergkamp 28 Liberal Studies Palmer AK Brad Pitt because he was my only man crush ever.

Jessica Stallings 19 Elementary Education Seward, AK Mariah Carey; Her voice and her beautiful hair.

Photos by Christian Bachrodt

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