The
Fort Lewis College News Magazine
Issue 57
www.theindyonline.com
March 2014 FREE
The Independent FLC
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The Independent FLC
EDITOR IN CHIEF
Hana Mohsin
Trevor Ogborn
Tia J. Begay Alexa Chance
Deanna Atkins
Graeme Johnston
Allie Hutto
Julia Volzke Leah Payne
Josh Plutt Andrea Araiza Jonathan Helvoigt
REPORTING Taylor Ferraro Remi Majeski Emma Vaughn Sean Summers
BROADCAST
CHIEF COPY EDITOR
Aimee Gardere
Chloe Eckerman
Anthony Martin
ADVERTISING DIRECTOR
DESIGN
PHOTOGRAPHY
Jaimee Souder
Carter Solomon
Alie Pallat VISUAL PRODUCTION EDITOR
COPY EDITING
PRINT NEWS EDITOR
ONLINE & SOCIAL MEDIA EDITOR
BUSINESS ~ Stephanie Pena Lindsy Fuller
VISUAL EDITOR
PRINT DESIGN EDITOR
LEAD ONLINE COPY EDITOR
www.theindyonline.com
BUSINESS DIRECTOR
ASSOCIATE EDITOR IN CHIEF
ONLINE DESIGN EDITOR
on the web for breaking news, daily campus and community updates, sports, and much more!
Haley Pruitt
Ayla Quinn
Editors & Staff
VISIT US
Vanessa Vangelder Mariah Suneson Tyler Pecore
ONLINE/SOCIAL MEDIA Livia Hooson Lio Diaz Shaina Nez Christina Tsosie
PUBLIC RELATIONS DIRECTOR Cover photo by Hana Mohsin
From the Editor’s Desk Dear reader,
CONTENTS Breaking News: Professors Join AAUP In Response to the Three-Credit Decision
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Story by Taylor Ferraro
Campus Living: Security Concerns Prompt Change at FLC
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Story by Sean Summers
COVER STORY: New Awareness Campaign Promotes Designated Driving
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Story by Remi Majeski
Privacy: Suicide Watch: What You Should Know
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Respectfully yours,
Story by Sean Summers
Green: Durango Votes Against Plastic Bag Ordinance
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Story by Emma Vaughn
Entertainment: KDUR Timeline, Recipe, and Indy on the Street
Nothing is easy. I realize how random that seems, but believe me, it’s true. Not one thing is easy. Life certainly isn’t. Neither is college, nor homework, nor friendships, nor even writing this letter. Working for The Indy is a prime example. During production weekends I probably get about five total hours of sleep, intermittently starve and feast, pull out several cubic inches of hair, and occasionally invent new swear words just so I can blaspheme creatively. And I love every minute of it. The Indy, while not faultless, has been a huge part of my life for years. My assimilation into the publication gave me a direction just when I needed it, as did my sudden shift from designer to editor. That was nearly three years ago. Many Indy editors, myself included, have been on staff for almost their entire college career, some for over seven semesters. Why would we continue, if we didn’t love what we do? Everyone in The Indy, both editors and staffers, works incredibly hard almost incessantly. Our reporters conduct interview after interview, our photographers go out of their way to capture the right shot, our designers slave away in the LCD monitor glow for hours on end. And that’s just print. The online and social media staffers attend every event they can fit into their schedule, and our broadcasters record the Fort Fuel interviews over and over until they get it perfect. The business department is a bit of a closed book, but just what I’ve seen them do this week is enough to rival my entire summer job in sheer workload. Bottom line; everyone in this publication works extremely hard, and I’m grateful to be one of them. So read on, and know that all the work everyone on staff puts in (and it is a lot), we do it for you, the reader.
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Graeme Johnston
Breaking News
Professors Join AAUP In Response to the Three-Credit Decision
Amy Wendland teaches Design I. The change to the three-credit model will impact the amount of studio time she spends with her class. Story by Taylor Ferraro Photos by Josh Plutt Design by Leah Payne
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he decision to implement a three-credit curriculum at Fort Lewis College was made on Feb. 7 at the Board of Trustees meeting. In response to the decision, a group of FLC professors formed the FLC chapter of the American Association of University Professors, Michele Malach, a professor of English and communications and member of the AAUP said. Although the change has not been implemented yet, the impending change has caused an impact on the campus, Malach said. The AAUP exists to advance academic freedom and shared governance, to define fundamental professional values and standards for higher education and to ensure higher education’s contribution to the common good, Michael Fry, a professor of history and member of the AAUP chapter at FLC, said. “The AAUP is a national organization for college and university professors,” Malach said. “It is essentially an advocacy organization.” FLC’s AAUP chapter intends to focus on the voices of those who would like to see faculty regain control of curriculum, promote fair workloads and improve student education, Fry said. The main goals are to promote academic
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freedom and the idea of shared governance between the faculty and the administration of the college and to provide the best education possible for the students of FLC, he said. The AAUP chapter at FLC was formed as a reaction to the administrative decisions made, Eric Huggins, a professor of business and non member of the AAUP, said. It is a very official, nationally recognized way for the faculty opposed to the changes to be part of an organization and help do something to counteract what is going on at FLC, Malach said. The FLC chapter of the union was established as a group effort, she said. Currently there are 40 actual members of FLC’s AAUP chapter and about 30 individuals who are considering joining but have not yet paid their dues, Fry said. To officially become part of the AAUP, academic professionals must register online at aaup.org, he said. The membership dues are based on a sliding scale, he said. “We have not yet worked out the chapter governance,” Fry said. “We do not have a president. We are thinking about making an execu-
tive committee for the local chapter. That way, one person is not in charge.” An email was sent out to the entire faculty inviting everyone to join the AAUP, if they would like, he said. The AAUP is open to any academic professional. Scott Clifthorne, a member of the National Branch of the AAUP, came to FLC on March 11, Fry said. Clifthorne met with the AAUP and made suggestions on how to better organize the chapter, he said. “We are currently working on obtaining a strong foundation for the AAUP,” Fry said. The FLC AAUP chapter was established because many members of the FLC faculty feel that the college is in the process of abandoning shared governance on issues that affect faculty, he said. According to the aaup.org website, shared governance emphasizes the importance of faculty involvement in personnel decisions, the selection of administrators, preparation of the budget and determination of educational policies. The faculty is not unanimous, but those who are, are involved with AAUP believe that the administration has violated shared governance, Malach said.
A survey on the issue was sent out to all faculty members on Feb. 19, Brian Burke, a professor of psychology and member of the AAUP, said. One of the questions on the survey asked the faculty about their thoughts on shared governance in regards to the three-credit decision that was made, Burke said. According to the survey, 56 percent of the faculty members were concerned that the administration and Board of Trustees made an important decision without faculty input, he said. In addition to providing the FLC faculty with statistics from this survey, an email sent by Leslie Goldstein, a professor of mathematics and member of the AAUP, posed a question for the faculty to consider. Goldstein asked whether or not the faculty should take more control of the college and its curriculum by strengthening both the faculty senate and curriculum committee as well as FLC’s contracts and policies. “We are concerned that some things have been autocratically dealt with such as the elimination of the computer science major,” Fry said. The German and Japanese language programs have also been abolished, he said. There is a group of closings that have been done autocratically without very much input, he said. Fry said these changes involve curriculum and the opinion of the faculty should be taken into consideration. “Shared governance does not mean that the faculty has the right to make every decision, but certain things traditionally have more clout because of the faculty’s expertise with the curriculum,” he said. The curriculum is the most sacred part of shared governance. The three-credit change was a curricular issue that caused division amongst the faculty and the administration, he said. Prior to being approved by the Board of Trustees, the proposal to adopt a threecredit curriculum went through the faculty senate, Malach said. The faculty senate has to vote on anything involving curriculum, she said. A group of individuals, all whom were part of the faculty senate, were assigned the task of doing research to decide whether it would be beneficial for FLC to maintain a mixed-credit curriculum or adopt a three-credit curriculum, she said. Having gone through the proposal to adopt a three-credit curriculum, the research committee came to the conclusion that it would be better for FLC to retain a three and four-credit mixed curriculum, she said. The faculty senate accepted the committee’s proposal to keep the mixed-credit curriculum. The vote was conducted between 15 members, 12 of which voted in favor of keeping the mixed curriculum while three voted in favor of Provost Morris’ proposed change, Fry said. At the faculty senate meeting, the Provost
declined the proposal that the research committee presented to keep a mixed-credit curriculum and continued to push the three-credit change at FLC, Malach said. To have the faculty senate say that they do not want the mixed credit proposal to go forward and then move forward with it anyway is a clear violation of shared governance, she said. From the AAUP’s perspective and from an academic college perspective, Malach said the curriculum should be in the hands of faculty. “We are the ones who have to do the teaching,” she said. “We are the experts in the disciplines. We should decide how it gets taught.” There is not really a reaction plan to the threecredit change other than stating what the organization and the individuals stand for, Fry said. “We want to be vigilant about that,” he said. One of the issues that the AAUP is concerned about is the curriculum committee, Malach said. Curriculum decisions go through a faculty committee that makes decisions about whether curriculum changes from various departments are appropriate and can be paid for, she said. Once the curriculum committee approves the change, the change is presented to the administration and a final decision is made, she said. “The curriculum committee has stopped functioning at this point,” she said. Malach said there are several proposals for class changes, not including the classes that need to be switched to three credits. These are changes that were proposed before the decision to change to a three-credit curriculum, she said. The committee cannot make any decisions because the three-credit change has not been implemented yet, she said. Not wanting to approve any four-credit classes because they are eventually going to have to change to three-credit courses, the curriculum for the newly approved courses will have to be reevaluated, she said. This causes problems for the departments that have applied for curriculum changes because individual departmental accreditation is coming up, she said. Departments have their own accreditation, separate from the larger college accreditation, Malach said. The committee cannot pass any of the curriculum changes that the departments need because they do not know if the curriculum changes will fit in with the changes that are still coming, she said. “We have departments that are in danger of losing their departmental accreditation with their national organizations because the curriculum committee cannot pass anything right now,” she said. The AAUP chapter is also concerned that departments will end up having to completely restructure the departmental curriculum, she said. For example, in the English department,
British and American literatures are both taught as one four-credit course, she said. When this change goes through, the English department will have to separate the course curriculum for those classes into two different semesters, Malach said. “Survey classes will go from being one four-credit class, to two three-credit classes,” she said. “That will add a lot of courses to the curriculum as far as the requirements for English majors.” This change will add courses that students are going to have to take because departments will have to split some of the courses into two separate semesters, she said. “We cannot teach some of the classes in one three-credit class, so some of them will have to be split into two three-credit classes,” she said. “We cannot in all good conscience lop one credit off of each of our courses because it is taking away one-fourth of the course content and the work that students do,” she said. Malach said professors are also going to have to pick up another course when the change is implemented, meaning that each professor will have to teach four three-credit classes. “The problem is that we do not know how many individual courses restructuring the curriculum will add,” she said. “We expect that we will not end up with enough faculty to teach all of the courses.” With the potential credit release it will be even more difficult to teach all of the courses that students need in each major, she said. “We need more staff, which is something that the administration does not want to do,” she said. The tenured faculty in the last 10 years has shrunk considerably, Fry said. If temporary professors are hired, they cannot participate in shared governance because if they speak out against the administration or say something offensive, they may be fired, or there is a fear that it may happen, he said. At this point, the majority of the faculty members involved with the AAUP are tenured, he said. Until you get tenure, you have no protections at all,” he said. “It is not very controversial to join the AAUP,” Fry said. “It is a well-respected national organization, but there have been a few professors who have said that they would like to join, but they are hesitant to join because they are worried about whether they might be let go.” The administration has asked the faculty to look at comparable institutions and see what they do with each individual department, Malach said. “We have looked at other liberal arts schools around the country, and they have significantly more classes than we do right now,” she said. “We look at that, and to still be able to serve the students, we will have to restructure the curriculum and add courses, which will require more faculty.”
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Campus Living
Security Concerns Prompt Change at FLC
Many computers in Reed library do not require logging in and can be accessed by students and non- students. Story by Sean Summers Photos by Jonathan Helvoigt Design by Julia Volzke
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ampus security is always a concern, and lately, some issues have increased the need for attention to security at Fort Lewis College. The open nature of the FLC campus shows a general sense of trust on campus, Beth Emrich, the assistant controller at the cashier’s office, said. Although there have been several incidents of robbery and vandalism on campus recently, FLC still maintains a safefeeling environment, Emrich said.
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December Robbery at the Cashier’s Office Emrich has worked more than 30 years at FLC. The December break-in at the cashier’s office is the only instance of major theft that she has seen. The robbery took place between semesters while most of the FLC faculty and students were away on break. During this robbery FLC lost about $9,200, this has prompted some changes at the cashier’s office, she said.
The current alarm system in place is being improved, and the office has stopped dispensing cash to faculty and students but still accepts it, she said. The alarm system notified the police when the robbery occurred, and although the police arrived within four minutes, the robbery had already been completed, she said. Cash is now deposited nightly, whereas it was kept on location in the past, she said. FLC is not the only school to go com-
pletely cashless. Other colleges and uni versities have stopped keeping cash on campus, but there are other institutions that still deal in cash, she said. Other safety features at the Cashier’s office include a security camera in the hallway and keypads on the doors which require an employee’s personalized code to allow access, she said. The security camera footage does not help to solve the break-in, as the burglar was not caught on camera, she said. The loss of money will not affect students in any way, she said. The school has an insurance policy to cover such thefts, but the deductible is higher than the amount lost in the robbery, she said. The funds lost will be absorbed by a risk management pool kept in place by FLC for unexpected losses such as the robbery, Cheryl Wiescamp, an employee at the controller’s office, said. The break-in is being investigated by both the FLC campus police and the Durango Police Department. However, the cashier’s office has not been told of any new information about the progress of the investigation, Wiescamp said. The cashier’s office will be purchasing wifi-connected card reading machines to bring to campus events in order to aid in the new cashless system, Emrich said. FLC Campus Open Doors The open nature of the FLC campus, including buildings being open after hours, is part of the atmosphere at FLC, Astrid Oliver, the director of Reed Library, said. There have been some instances of patrons violating the openness, but they are rare, Oliver said. Though rare, the cases of abuse have prompted some changes. FLC is in the process of adding a card swipe entry to more buildings on campus, Randy Willis, the Skycard office manager at FLC, said. Other larger college campuses require a key card swipe to get into any building on campus, Willis said Jones Hall is planned to have card swipe entries installed on the five main entrances to eliminate issuing metal keys to those who need access to the building after hours, he said.
Card access will increase campus security by allowing remote deactivation of a card in case it is lost, he said. Rather than losing a metal key and having to replace the locks on all doors it accesses, when a card is lost it can be deactivated, he said. Card swipe access also allows for the system to register who is accessing buildings and when, he said. If a card is lost, the owner may log on to their account at TheFort portal and deactivate the card by accessing the Skycard link and following the card services tab, he said. Each academic year, several people,
...libraries fight for the accessibility of information. -Astrid Oliver, Director of Reed Library
including faculty and students, are issued metal keys that allow access to Jones Hall, and each year some keys are lost, he said. Aside from the initial cost of installing the new equipment needed, there are no foreseeable downsides to requiring card swipe access on more buildings on campus, he said. Library Access Abuse One instance of abuse of FLC’s accessibility was when a patron at Reed library viewed pornography at one of the public computer kiosks, Oliver said. In the case that someone is offended by another’s behavior at the library, the staff will ask the offending person to cease the behavior the patron found offensive, she said. If the patron refuses to stop after being asked to, they will be asked to leave the library, she said. If an issue escalates to the point where staff or library patrons feel un-
safe, the campus police will be called to the scene, she said. In her time working at Reed Library, the staff has never had to call the campus police because of an altercation, Oliver said. Although there have been rare cases of abuse of Reed Library’s public computers, the library does not plan to restrict access to the computers in any way, she said. “That’s something libraries fight for, the accessibility of information,” she said. The computers are not restricted in what they can access and are available to anyone who wishes to use them, including students, faculty, and other patrons, she said. Oliver said the Reed Library has seen very few cases over the years of patrons abusing the unrestricted facilities. The cashier’s office has seen an equally minimal amount of violations, Emrich said. There have been cases where a person’s behavior in the library has escalated to the point of arguing, but in all cases the people involved have removed themselves, she said. There is a member of the library staff on the floor of the public area at all times when the library is open, she said. Even though several rooms in the Reed Library building are open to students and faculty 24 hours a day, there have been very few abuses of the building’s accessibility, she said. Oliver said the Fish Bowl and one computer lab in the basement are always accessible to any patron who wishes to use them. One instance of vandalism has occurred, in which homophobic messages were written on a bathroom wall in Reed Library, she said. Aside from graffiti, one case of minor theft, in which a small amount of an employee’s cash was taken, has occurred in the Reed Library building. It is not known if the theft took place during normal operating hours or after the library had closed, she said. The balance of openness at FLC against the potential for abuse of the freedom must be weighed, Oliver said. Because there have been such rare abuses of keeping buildings open on campus, FLC remains relatively unrestricted, she said.
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Cover Story
New Awareness Campaign Promotes Designated Driving Story by Remi Majeski Photo illustration by Hana Mohsin Design by Graeme Johnston
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here is a new campaign in Durango aimed at reducing drunk driving in the city by rewarding designated drivers with incentives. The Designated Driver Campaign is an initiative by the Celebrating Healthy Communities Coalition at San Juan Basin Health throughout La Plata County to promote and support designated drivers.
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“The Designated Driver Campaign is a campaign that grew out of a concern from some high numbers that we are seeing here in La Plata County around drunk driving and binge drinking, specifically here in Durango,” said Amber Beye, the community organizer for Celebrating Healthy Communities Coalition through San Juan Basin Health Department.
“We have data that adults 18 and older report binge drinking at 28.5 percent compared to 19.6 percent, which is the state average,” Beye said. This rate is almost 10 percent higher in Durango than it is in the state. There is also a higher number of DUIs in Durango, 129 DUIs per 10,000 people, she said. According to documents provided by
Celebrating Healthy Communities, Beye said the DUI rate in Colorado falls under the category of 69-100 DUIs per 10,000 people with an exact figure of 76-100 DUIs per 10,000 people. The high number of incidences is what prompted Celebrating Healthy Communities to brainstorm for designated driving recognition. “We saw that our friends and our families are at risk with DUIs on the road, and we wanted to do something to promote designated drivers,” Beye said. Around Christmas, Celebrating Healthy Communities met with the radio station XRock and this idea began to grow, she said. “We hit up some restaurants around Christmas and New Year’s and asked them if they’d be supportive of this campaign,” she said. Out of 30 restaurants and bars that were approached, 24 of them signed up, she said. “We provided them with wristbands and decals identifying who they are,” she said. Beye said when a designated driver goes into one of these participating establishments, all they have to do is tell the server or bouncer that they’re the designated driver. They will receive a yellow wristband that says “Designated Driver,” and their non-alcoholic drinks are free all night at these participating locations, she said. “If you collect up to five wristbands a month and you turn them in either to San Juan Basin Health Department or XRock, you get entered into a drawing, and in the drawing you’ll get a gift certificate from the participating restaurants,” she said. “You also get an opportunity to talk on the radio and say why you’ve chosen to be a designated driver,” she said. Beye said San Juan Basin Health Department, Celebrating Healthy Communities and Xrock were the original organizations involved. Lieutenant Ray Shupe of the Durango Police Department has stated that the police department has had no influence over this program but that they do support its efforts.
Celebrating Healthy Communities has also reached out to Alpine Bank and First National Bank of Durango for support and has received money for the media sponsorship, she said. “We also have our Promotora program here at San Juan Basin Health Department that has provided us with funding to make sure that the decals are in Spanish and English,” she said. “Promotora is our program within the Health Department to reach out to the Hispanic community,” she said. Celebrating Healthy Communities hopes that the program will raise awareness of the importance of designated driving and that designated driving receives more support. “My vision is that all the bars and restaurants will participate in this on their own and that it’s just a new part of our culture that designated drivers are supported in this community,” she said. Beye said Celebrating Healthy Communities hopes Colorado becomes a bigger supporter of designated drivers. “Colorado does have a high number of DUIs and fatal car accidents,” she said. While Celebrating Healthy Communities has had assistance reaching out to the Durango community, they’ve also received help reaching out to the community at Fort Lewis College through WellPAC, a registered student organization on campus. The Celebrating Healthy Communities Coalition came to WellPAC and asked for input on how to get the word out to the college population, Kendra Gallegos Reichle, the coordinator of Student Wellness, said. “This is a huge population that goes to bars, so there’s a lot of opportunity there,” Reichle said. The Coalition came to WellPAC to ask “What do students want?” instead of throwing the idea at them, she said. “WellPAC on campus has created the idea of asking about free drinks, and they want to wear buttons that are matching the yellow the wristbands are so they can talk about it that way,” Beye said.
WellPAC will be selecting four specific restaurants where Celebrating Healthy Communities will be pushing the campaign during spring break and St. Patrick’s Day, she said. “They are the Irish Embassy, the Office and the Diamond Belle, Francisco’s and the Animas City Theatre,” she said. We hope to continue getting the word out on campus, Reichle said. “There’s a few options in this community, and it’s important to advertise them and use them,” she said. Reichle said what stood out to WellPAC was the high DUI and binge drinking rates in Durango. “We don’t want to put off the image that we are trying to get rid of people drinking or having a good time,” she said.“We just want people to be safe.” WellPAC wants more lives to be saved and students to avoid not only the danger of these situations but the cost of it, she said. “It’s $10,000 to $12,000 for a DUI, and a lot of us know people who have had a DUI,” she said. “The more people we can educate about the importance of designated drivers, the better,” she said. According to data collected by WellPAC, a large portion of FLC students chooses designated drivers. “In our 2010 study, 88 percent of students who filled out the survey put out by WellPAC said that they mostly or always used a designated driver in the last year,” she said. The goal now for Celebrating Healthy Communities and WellPAC is to spread the word about the program among community members and students. “If I knew more about this campaign, I’d possibly be more interested,” Alex Kilman, a senior at FLC and a frequent designated driver, said. If it’s promoted properly, the campaign could help raise awareness, Kilman said. “If other students knew about this campaign, I’m sure they wouldn’t mind being a designated driver,” he said. “I know I don’t.”
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Privacy
Suicide Watch: What You Should Know Story by Sean Summers Photos by Andrea Araiza Design by Graeme Johnston
As Social Media advances it also opens the doors to several possible dangers, so knowing who to talk to is important. The Counseling center offers free counseling and a judgment free atmosphere.
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uicide is a preventable situation, and the Fort Lewis College Counseling Center, in collaboration with local organizations, offers services to prevent suicides and promote mental health in students. At FLC, the Counseling Center offers four free counseling sessions to fully enrolled students, Judy Gerhardt, the office manager at the Counseling Center, said. The Counseling Center teams up with organizations in town to offer mental health support for FLC students, Gerhardt said. One organization the FLC Counseling Center partners with is Axis Health Systems in Durango, Karen Nakayama, the clinical director of the Counseling Center, said. If an FLC student is in a crisis in which he or she feels they will take their own life, the student may come into the Counseling Center during normal operating hours, and the student will be able
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to see a counselor on staff immediately, Nakayama said. Monday through Friday, there is a staff member on call for students in a crisis, she said. If the student is an on-campus resident, Axis Health Systems, a non-profit mental health organization in Durango, has a contract which guarantees they will treat the student in crisis, Bill Mckeon, the emergency services coordinator at Axis Health Systems, said. A key to suicide prevention is awareness and not ignoring the issues, Nakayama said. “An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure,” Mckeon said. It is important to seek help before a crisis occurs, he said. If students are depressed or feeling otherwise mentally unwell, he or she should not ignore it, he said. Mental and physical health are equally important, and to ignore mental health may lead to physical repercussions, he said.
The FLC Counseling Center refers about four students each year to the Axis Health System, he said. Once patients are referred to Axis Health Systems for mental screenings, they are continually screened for suicidal tendencies during their time there, he said. If patients are acutely suicidal, they will be held at Axis Health System’s Acute Treatment Unit. Patients are held in the Acute Treatment Unit when they are found to be imminently suicidal, Mckeon said. The patients will be held for several days until they are stabilized, he said. High school aged teenagers have a high suicide rate as a demographic across the country, and La Plata County has a higher suicide rate than the national average, he said. In addition to its connection with FLC, Axis Health Systems has several educational programs in Durango schools which aim to raise awareness about sui-
cide and depression, Mckeon said. If a student suspects a friend or peer may be suicidal, it’s important that he or she tell someone, Nakayama said. Students, staff and parents can refer students to the Counseling Center if they feel as though the student is mentally unwell, she said. Resident Assistants in on-campus housing are trained by Counseling Center staff on how to handle depression and suicidal tendencies in residents, she said. The Health Center staff at FLC is also trained in depression screenings. If the patient exhibits severe depression, the Health Center will refer them to the Counseling Center, Nakayama said. The Health Survey conducted each year by WellPAC, a registered student organization, screens for depression and may refer students who are found to be depressed to the Counseling Center, she said. Police may also lead students to the counseling center if the student is disoriented or unaware of their surroundings, she said. For the past two years, FLC has monitored its social media pages to look for posts which include talking about suicide or other harmful behaviors students may be planning, she said. The social media director for FLC has a template of words to watch for when posted on FLC’s social media pages, she said. If the keywords are used, the Counseling Center will be notified by the social media director, at which point a staff member at the Counseling Center may attempt to contact the student who posted, she said. Although FLC does monitor its social media pages, it does not monitor individual student’s pages, she said. The Counseling Center saw one student in need of counseling during the fall semester of 2013 based on social media posts, Nakayama said. This semester, no students have been referred to the Counseling Center as a result of social media, she said. The monitoring of social media does not impact students confidentiality at the Counseling Center in any way. Students confidentiality at the Counseling Center is protected by law and may only be breached in certain circumstances, she said.
Such circumstances include if a student threatens imminent danger to himself or another person, she said. In the case of an imminent threat, the police, the student’s parents and the person being threatened are notified, Nakayama said. Voluntarily signing a release of confidentiality is another way which students confidentiality can be sacrificed, she said. If the student informs the counselor of a minor being abused in any way, the counselor must contact authorities, she said. A court of law may issue a subpoena to access a patient’s records from his or her counseling session, she said. The only other way confidentiality can be broken is if the Department of Homeland Security requests a patient’s records, Nakayama said.
The monitoring of social media does not impact students confidentiality at the Counseling Center in any way. -Karen Nakayama, clinical director of the Counseling Center The FLC Counseling Center sees 25 percent of the student population at FLC, Gerhardt said. The activity level at the Counseling Center is on par with counseling centers at other institutions of higher education, Nakayama said. In addition to individual counseling sessions, several group counseling programs are provided through the Counseling Center, she said. Couples counseling and substance abuse programs are hosted for students through the Counseling Center, she said. The Counseling Center staff is made up of six senior staff counselors who are licensed mental health providers in the state of Colorado, she said. There are also two doctoral students from other colleges on staff this year, she said. Most students visit the Counseling Center for stress-related issues, Na-
kayama said. The Counseling Center sees an increase in the number of students seeking counseling at the beginning of each term, she said. Throughout the year there are various times the Counseling Center sees increases in students, particularly around midterm and final exams, she said. The transitional nature of college causes a lot of stress and anxiety among students, particularly freshmen and seniors, she said. The change from being at home to being in a college environment can lead to stress, which may lead to further mental health issues, she said. As students prepare to graduate and leave college, the anxiety of finding work and moving away from college can put a heavy mental burden on students, Nakayama said. Stress, anxiety and depression are the primary reasons students visit the counseling center. Counseling sessions can help to alleviate these issues, she said. Seeking counseling for mental health issues is not a thing to be ashamed of, Mckeon said. “There are a lot of misconceptions about mental health and treatments,” he said It is important to realize the benefit of seeking help for mental and emotional issues, and it is equally important to realize the risks taken by ignoring them, he said. Axis aims to destigmatize seeking mental treatment, he said. If a student wishes to continue treatment after their four allotted sessions at the Counseling Center, he or she may schedule appointments for a charge of $35 dollars per session, Nakayama said. If a student feels as though counseling is needed beyond the first four sessions but he or she cannot afford additional sessions, the Counseling Center will work with the student to make accommodations, she said. To schedule an appointment, a student may walk in or call and ask for an appointment, she said. At the student’s initial visit to the Counseling Center, he or she is given an entry screening which determines what the counseling will focus on and which staff member the student will be paired with, she said.
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Green
Durango Votes Against Plastic Bag Ordinance Many corporations and large grocery store chains are moving from plastic and paper bags to reusable ones, and eliminating paper to-go boxes. Story by Emma Vaughn Photos by Joshua Plutt Design by Julia Volzke
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n Nov. 5, 2013, Durango citizens voted to repeal an ordinance to charge customers a fee of 10-cents for every plastic bag used in large stores. The City Council of Durango originally passed the ordinance by a 4-1 vote last August. It was later called for a referendum, which then went to vote in November, Ellen Stein, a coordinator for the campaign, said. The ordinance was overturned in a vote of 2,664 votes against and 2,072 in favor, Stein said. In other figures, this is 56.25 percent for and 44.75 percent against. Larger stores, such as Albertsons, City Market and Walmart, would have been
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affected by the ordinance, she said. These larger stores create about seven million plastic bags in Durango each year. This is about 70 percent of the total bags used, she said. Of the 10-cent fee, five cents would have gone to the retailers who charged for bags, she said. The other half of it would have gone to the city to help fund further education of the issue. The ‘Bag-It!’ campaign was started in part as an educational campaign to educate residents about the effects of waste on the environment, Stein said. In order for an ordinance to be considered for a referendum, it needs to have a petition against it that has signatures
equaling 10 percent of the amount of voters from the last municipal election. Stein said they were not allowed to hand out pamphlets around those stores, but those who were against the ordinance were. People also felt like they were being taxed, she said. The ordinance was a compromise, she said. People could still have the right to a bag. It would not eliminate paper or plastic, but it would create awareness. One possible plan was to distribute free reusable bags out to residents and tourists with an artistic rendering of Durango on the front, Stein said. In addition to helping shoppers avoid the 10-cent fee, it
would have also been a good souvenir for visitors to Durango. The more we maintain the niceness of our community the nicer it will be for tourist, she said. Stein said long term, it would also help ensure future generations enjoy the same environment we have now. This is a community responsibility issue, Stein said. Change usually happens slowly, she said. A stability plan is in the works and could include incentives to get rid of disposable goods. Charlie Shew, the education and outreach intern at the Environmental Center at Fort Lewis College said that he believed part of the reason the ordinance was overturned was because some of the voters thought it was not enough. Three of the city councillors he worked with during the campaign are still in support of the ordinance, Shew said. Those city counselors feel like they have gained a better understanding of what the people of Durango want, he said. The counsellors, who were in favor of the movement, feel that Durango citizens would rather have a plastic bag ban than a fee, he said. The people who were on the fence during the vote know how bad plastic is for the environment, which may have been a reason they did not vote for it, Shew said. Those people would rather have an outright ban. Several cities in the United States have already banned plastic bags, including Los Angeles and Seattle, he said. Shew was honestly disappointed that the Durango community was not willing to join those cities. “I wanted to see them in that front
running group,” he said. One way Shew helped the campaign was by reaching out to citizens of Durango to educate them about their waste. He and a colleague created a bag monster costume, made out of 430 plastic bags, that Shew wore when talking about the issue. It was a physical representation of the number of plastic bags the average Durango shopper uses in a year, he said. Another way FLC is creating awareness towards the effects of waste is by showing a documentary film about the movement called “Bag-It!”, he said. Shew said the film rights of the movie “Bag-It!” are owned by Michaela Steiner, a student at FLC. The film shows the ramifications of plastic waste in cities and on the environment. It also talks about the plastic industry and where the waste ends up, he said. Sodexo has its own waste reduction method as well. Last year, Sodexo ordered and received 600 reusable “Choose to Reuse” containers for students to use in the dining hall and The Rocket, Kevin Gutierrez, the general manager of the Sodexo dining team at FLC, said. In total, Sodexo spent $18,000 dollars on to-go boxes that were not reusable in the span of three months last year, Gutierrez said. That is money that could have gone to other, more necessary items for the dining hall or to enhance the “Choose to Reuse” program, he said. “It’s full circle,” he said. “That’s a lot of to-go boxes that went in the trash.” The system provides students with cards when they return with their dirty container from a previous meal. The in-
dividual then keeps that card until the next time they need a reusable to-go box, Gutierrez said. The to-go box trade off system worked well for a few weeks, then it died down, he said. I do not think we did enough marketing at that point, so we stopped charging, Gutierrez said. Students were going to be charged a 25cent fee when they asked for a to-go box at the Rocket or the dining hall, he said. But now they are going to try to educate people more about the program and then implement a larger program next semester, he said. “We may get rid of the to-go boxes completely, except for the green containers, but Sodexo is not going to charge the student for the to-go boxes,” Guitierrez said. There is going to be some effort on the customer’s side, he said. They are going to have to make that choice. Shew is a supporter of the reusable containers. When the students realize that it is easier and not as cumbersome as having to carry it around all the time like a lunchbox, they may get more involved, Shew said. In addition to the containers, Sodexo is trying to cut down their use of nonrecyclable items. Though Sodexo is having difficulty finding compostable silverware made out of cornstarch, they try to buy everything that is recyclable, Gutierrez said. The napkins and the to-go boxes, which are compostable, are among the items that are environmentally friendly, he said. FLC is a very environmentally aware school where they need to make sure they practice what they preach, he said.
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Recipe
Creamy Potato Soup
Makes 4 – 5 servings, around 65 cents a serving Ingredients: • 4 - 5 medium russet potatoes, peeled and diced (about 6 cups) • 1 cup diced onion • 1 cup chopped celery • 1 cup half/half • 1 bay leaf • Salt and pepper • Water • Optional: 1 cup peeled and chopped carrots Instructions: 1) Prepare the vegetable as described above. 2) Put all vegetables and the bay leaf into a big pot on the stove. 3) Add water until the vegetables are all covered. 4) Heat on medium, stirring occasionally, until the mixture comes to a boil. 5) Reduce heat and simmer for about 30 minutes, until all the vegetables are soft. 6) Add half/half 7) Add salt and pepper to taste 8) Let simmer for 3 minutes, stirring regularly. 9) Serve topped with parsley, butter, bacon bits, grated cheese, or any other topping you dream up.
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Recipe and photos by Jaimee Souder
Timeline Information provided by KDUR Assembled by Remi Majeski and Deanna Atkins Design and graphics by Livia Hooson
1974-KDUR was first birthed as KFLC. The college gave a group of students a room, equipment and $3,000 to start the station.
Three people making station history, Jim Vlasich, -1975 Roland Smith and Kraig Hegood started KDUR in Winter semester in January 1976 and aired first song, “Because of Rain” by Tim Weisberg.
1975- KDUR used to be a radio club.
Free-form radio format established. -1976
1976- KDUR signed on with a new antenna and tower, took
800 people to put it all together and increased power from 10 to 255 watts. 1980’s- KDUR became part of the English curriculum as a practicum credit.
No manager for the New Year, summer -1977 time was manager-less.
KDRU received first professional station manager, Michael hen. Changes also include stricter formatting in what djs are allowed to play. Started underwriting program.
Plans to expand broadcast outside the area to Bayfield, Ignacio, Hesperus, New Mexico and more.
-1987
1988- Station manager Cohen’s contract was discontinued.
-1992
1993- KDUR broadcasts with a new translator at Missionary Ridge on 93.9.
KDUR hosts the first Annual Transvestite Ball in the -1993 CUB Ballroom.
KDUR finished the digital upgrade with a new transmitter. KDURs 35th anniversary, boosts signal from 150 watts to 6,000 watts. Broadcasts at 91.9 FM and 93.9 FM as well as online at kdur.org.
1995- KDUR launched its first ever on-air
fundraising drive to attain money from the station.
-2009/2012
2011- KDUR moves into the new Ballantine Media Center in the renovated Student Union.
-2014-
40 years old and still in college!
Indy on the Street
What do you think of the 3-credit change? Jill Rodriguez Sophomore Fontana, California Psychology “If they change all the requirements for graduation it will go smoothly, if not it will be bad.” Dylan Malewska Freshman Littleton, CO Environmental Studies “It will totally ruin the fact that this is a liberal arts school. They are taking away how in-depth classes will be.”
Kenai Duran Freshman Honolulu, Hawaii Chemistry “It will make me stay here longer.”
Photos by Jonathan Helvoigt
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