Fort Lewis College Student News Magazine Issue 72
www.theindyonline.com
FROM THE EDITOR’S DESK Hello Reader, Thank you for reading The Independent. I am going to assume you are making this a regular habit. This is the first issue of the semester, and it is our first issue in our new format. If you keep going, you will see there are a lot more pages than you are used to. Do not let it intimidate you, it is just more to love. This is a lot of work you are holding in your hands. The en tire Indy staff has worked all month to create something, and we are proud of our work. So after you are done, do not throw this in the trash. Show some respect and put it in the recycling bin. I started The Independent last year, and it still teaches me things everyday. Working for The Indy helped me decide on a career path and a future that I am excited to start. I would not trade this expe rience for anything, so I would recommend joining, even if it is just to see if you like it. You will meet people that are passionate about the same things as you, and it is nice to have that support from a large group. This is my last semester at The Independent and at Fort Lewis, and it is true to say that I’ll miss working for The Indy. I hope students continue to support The Independent long after we are all gone. So please continue to read and support your student run newspaper and online news.
Cover Photo by Hanna Maddera: On the day of the Gold King Mine Spill on August 5, Riley Burchell collected a sample of the orange wastewater in a jar. The river has since returned to its origional color, but the effects of the spill are still affecting communities in Colorado, New Mexico and Arizona.
Read on, Catherine Wheeler Social Media Editor
EDITORS & STAFF
EDITOR IN CHIEF Trevor Ogborn
ASSOCIATE EDITOR IN CHIEF & PRINT EDITOR Luke Perkins
BUSINESS DIRECTOR Emma Vaughn
COPY EDITOR Carter Solomon
ONLINE EDITOR Lauren Hammond
LEAD PRINT DESIGN Hanna Maddera
ONLINE DESIGN EDITOR Julia Voltzke
PHOTOGRAPHY EDITOR Sean Summers
VIDEO PRODUCTION EDITOR Nic Hassinger
SOCIAL MEDIA EDITOR Catherine Wheeler
BUSINESS: Madison Carman Blythe Curry COPY EDITING: Jarred Green DESIGN: Allison Anderson Camden Smith PHOTOGRAPHY: Brent Balone Nate Obici SOCIAL MEDIA: Mike Gertsesn-Rogers REPORTING: Brandon Castle Jamie Draper Archer Gordon Keenan Malone Kelkiyana Yazzie BROADCASTING: Deanna Atkins Lindley Gallegos Haylee Knipple Allie Kruchell
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Strategic Repositioning - 3 Story by Catherine Wheeler
Senior Seminar - 5
Story by Brandon Castle
History Seniors Reach Their “Capstone Achievement” - 7 Story by Kelkiyana Yazzie
COMMUNITY
Hickenlooper Allocates $100 Million: Biking As Culture and Economy in CO - 8 Story by Jamie Draper
COVER
A River Resilience Network is Launched - 10 Story by Keenan Malone
OUTDOOR
Durango Faces El Nino - 14 Story by Brandon Castle
HEALTH STI - 16
Story by Kelkiyana Yazzie
Eat Well, Don’t Swell - 17 Story by Jamie Draper
SPORTS
Bringing It On -18 Story by Archer Gordon
OPINION
Hickenlooper Wants $100 Million Just To Cycle It Back Opinion by Lauren Hammond
El Nino? Nope
Opinion by Carter Solomon
Putting Things In Context Opinion by Luke Perkins
ENTERTAINMENT
Horoscopes, Indy On The Street, and Creative Works by Students!
Durango Faces El Nino, Page 14. Story by Brandon Castle, Photo by Nate Obici.
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Strategic Planning Begins This Semester
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Story by Catherine Wheeler
Graphic by Camden Smith
Design by Camden Smith
Strategic planning listening sessions began at Fort Lewis College on Wednesday, Sept. 16. The administration is preparing for the next strategic plan, which will begin in 2017 and end in 2021. The first listening sessions took place on Sept. 16, 17, and 18. “These sessions are to explore what you are thinking about Fort Lewis,” Ann Duff ield, the strategic planning counselor for the college as well as the founder of Ann Duffield & Colleagues, said. Ann Duffield & Colleagues was found ed in 2010 as a business that provides strategic planning, communications, and coaching counsel, Duffield said. They provide their services to presi dents, chancellors, and other senior leader in higher education, she said. The sessions are divided up by staff, faculty, and students, each with different session meeting times, Carolyn Hagen, ex ecutive assistant to the president, said in an email. By including the staff, faculty and stu dents, the administration is seeking input from the FLC community. “I appreciated the opportunity the college has created for faculty and staff to engage in this process of looking at what might be missing and improved upon at FLC,” Jaime Becktel, communications man ager in the office of admissions, said. The goals of the listening sessions is to gather ideas and opinions for staff, faculty and students, Dr. Barbara Jean Morris, pro vost and vice president of academic affairs, said. “These initial strategic planning ses sions are a mechanism to gain input from faculty, staff, students, and the community regarding broad topics and big ideas that will be important to Fort Lewis College in the future,” Morris said.
During the first strategic planning ses sion, President Dene Thomas handed out the strategic plan for 2012-2016, a list of items that had been completed during that plan, items that are in progress and items that have not been completed. Thomas also provided the 2017-2021 process schedule for completing and ap proving the strategic plan in the upcoming months. According to the college-wide email sent by President Thomas, the listening ses sions are here to encourage open discussion among all those in the FLC community. “I feel that we should begin with listen ing sessions that encourage open discus sions, and then move to the development of our new Strategic Plan,” she said in the email. “Thus, a process and possible direc tions should naturally evolve from these early discussions that we have together as a community.” A central component of these meetings is to find and target what FLC needs to do better to become a more successful college. Duffield said FLC needs to focus on finding their trademark. In addition, she said the biggest need of FLC is to identify who they are and where they are going in the national scheme of colleges. “Everything will fall into place once they determine that,” Duffield said. Becktel said she also thinks that the identity of FLC is a priority in the next stra tegic plan, as well as the academic opportu nities FLC offers. As for goals for the faculty, Dugald Owen, associate professor of philosophy, said the faculty wants to provide the best education possible to students. “I’m in no position to say what the fac ulty as a whole thinks, but I think we are all interested in providing the best education
to the students,” Owen said. He said he hopes that when creating the new strategic plan, the administration takes into account what the faculty says and build those ideas into the plan. Specifically, Owen said he personally would like to see the hiring of more ten ure-track professors at FLC. “I would like there to be more of a fo cus than in the last strategic plan on hiring tenure-line faculty,” he said. “I’d like to get back to the numbers we had.” Additionally, Owen would like to also see the administration take more consider ation of faculty views. “I’d like to have a stronger shared gov ernance system where it’s more apparent that the administration takes seriously the views of the faculty and adopt policies a lit tle more closely to what faculty would like to have happen,” Owen said. Becktel said she would like to see an anonymous option for the community to express their ideas about the next strategic plan. “Perhaps a more authentic approach would be to conduct future listening ses sions in the company of a neutral party or through an anonymous campus-wide sur vey,” she said. “I also see the importance and value of including student feedback in the listening session process.” Overall, Morris said her focus during these sessions is to listen. “My goal is to increase participation so that we have a diverse set of viewpoints and ideas,” Morris said. “I am looking forward to striving to create a strategic planning process that is inclusive, transparent and transformative.” The next listening sessions will take place November 10-13. To register for one of the sessions, you may go to the website found by scanning the QR code to the right.
Owner: Provost Milestone: Review of college and departmental expectations statements to ensure equality across units. Deliverable: Revised expectation statements using common format and aligned with handbook Target Date: Augest 15, 2015
Owner: Deans Council Milestone: Manage the Margins- Elimination of GT Pathway classes that arent related to any programs, with exception of SC category Deliverable: Deliver information to chairs. Target Date: Fall 2015
Owner: Provost Milestone: Establish 9 month contract for faculty and move toward 100% of CUPA average Deliverable: Faculty start 9 month contracts and get pay adjustment Target Date: faculty are at 100% of CUPA- still working on contract language
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These initial strategic planning sessions are a mechanism to gain input from faculty, staff, students, and the community regarding broad topics and big ideas that will be important to Fort Lewis College in the future DR. BARBARA JEAN MORRIS
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HISTORY SENIORS REACH THEIR PEYTON HEITZMAN Women’s Christian Temperance Union (1900 - 1920)
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GREG THUES Southwest Blacksmithing (1880 - 1930)
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RICHARD THIELE German Resistance to National Socialism (1933 - 1947)
JESSICA THULSON Bayfield KKK (1920 - 1930)
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Story by Brandon Castle
Graphic by Hanna Maddera
Design by Hanna Maddera
This article is a continuation of The Independent’s coverage of the senior seminar capstone experience for the various majors offered at Fort Lewis College. Dust off the old tomes and head to the archives, because it is a ready, set, go for history seniors who will be undertaking se nior seminar this semester. Every semester, seniors in the history department buckle down for what is to be their biggest challenge, and that is creating research on a specific topic chosen by the seniors themselves. “The main goal of this course is for students to produce (research, write, re flect, revise, perfect) a major paper based on original research, original interpretation of historical evidence, and use of primary sources” according to the History 496 syl labus. Prior to enrolling in the seminar, stu dents are placed into a preparatory class, Ellen Paul, associate professor of history at FLC, said. The preparatory class - History 396,
Philosophy and Methods of History - as well as being mandatory allows history se niors to line up their research and focus on something specific, she said. History 396 is heavily graded upon the ability to form research questions and meet specific deadlines, according to the History 396 syllabus. In History 496, the course following 396, the actual research paper is worth 60 percent of the overall grade. The paper must be 20 - 30 pages long and be very pol ished, Paul said. Participation and meetings with re search advisors are the next most import ant aspect of the grade, worth 20 percent, taken from the History 496 syllabus. Students are required to present all research information by the end of the se mester. However, choosing a research topic is not easy, Paul said. Students need to find a topic that has sufficient primary sources and is doable, she said.
Many sources students use are global, and with that comes many different lan guages, she said. “Sources aren’t always translated, but luckily for us English speakers, lots of things have been translated,” she said. Obtaining the necessary research skills requires a large amount of work, especially in the time given, she said. Senior seminar is completed within two separate semesters, according to the FLC course schedule. For most seniors, this is their crowning achievement of their academic career. “It’s a big deal,” Paul said. “This is their capstone.” Michael Martin, chair of the history department at FLC, said. “Students will be come more balanced scholars.” Their research is separated into a thesis paper and presentation, based on a propos al written in History 396, Martin said. The thesis paper is the most important assignment for students. “The presentation is bite-size, the thesis
“CAPSTONE OF ACHIEVEMENT” LYNNEA SMITH Miss Navajo (1963-1967)
LUKE PERKINS Wildland Fire Fighting Policy (1935 - 1988)
Timeline includes senior’s name and the topic they are researching for their senior seminar. Graphic by Hanna Maddera, all photos are from Wikipedia and Flickr, labelled as free to resuse.
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paper is not,” he said. Regardless, the presentation is still im portant for students and is displayed at the end of the seminar to FLC, he said. Students will gather and analyze a vari ety of perspectives on the events they have chosen, and, from this process, they will gain excellent research and critical thinking skills, Paul said. Students will then be able to synthe size the information they gather and create something that is representative of the is sue, she said. A Student’s Result Seniors taking the courses hope to be able to apply these abilities to their every day lives. “The program has really showed me how to appreciate history and how it affects our lives in general,” Jessica Thulson, a se nior majoring in history, said. “Seeing what people have been through and how the world has changed is really interesting,“ Thulson said. “You can really reflect on how we have gotten to where we are today.” Thulson said her writing skills and ana
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lyzing skills have greatly improved from her time in the history program. She said she hopes to take her degree and use it to teach history in the secondary education setting. “I want to be able to help my students with these skills,” she said. Pursuing occupations involving his tory teaching are possible with the social studies for secondary education option. Challenges Thulson faces include the time constraint and how concise the thesis is required to be. Thulson is also a golf player, which means she travels frequently, she said. Students enrolled in History 496 are re quired to do some extensive individual field trips outside campus. The course is not held within a class room, Paul said. “The students are out conducting their own research whether it’s in the archives here on campus or in a nearby town,” she said. Thulson’s senior research topic is on southwest Colorado’s experience with the Ku Klux Klan from 1920 through 1930.
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She has spent time traveling to nearby areas such as Bayfield, she said. This year, the seniors’ topics range from all parts of the country and world. Students’ project topics include blacksmithing in the southwest and analysis of fire fighting poli cies from 1935 to 1988. Assistance for the Post Grad World In the History 496 course, students spend nearly a month reviewing peers’ re search papers, writing resumes and going over cover letters, Paul said. This allows students to build up impres sive resumes and will better their chance for post-grad opportunities, she said. Paul said professors will also occasion ally write letters to help history seniors gain acceptance into graduate school programs. The history department at FLC feels confident that students who have reached this level are prepared for post-grad life, Paul said.
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Story by Kelkiyana Yazza
Design by Camden Smith
Fort Lewis College is adding more to its campus for the benefit of students and faculty. Chief amongst these additions are the new Geosciences, Physics and Engineering building that is currently being construct ed and set to open in fall 2016, and the soc cer fields expected to be played on by spring 2016 and the renovations on the Bader Snyder buildings. “The GPE building, which will be called GPE Hall once construction is completed, has been on the master plan for FLC since I first arrived here,” Dene Thomas, president of FLC, said. The building will include 13 geosciences labs, one astronomy deck, two lecture halls, and 28,000 square feet of classroom space. The total estimated cost of the GPE building is $35,314,620, she said. “I started asking for funding from the state for this project when I first came here by traveling to Denver to meet with legislators expressing to them that this building is FLC’s greatest need,” she said. Colorado State Senator Ellen Roberts fought hard along with Thomas for the fund ing for this building to the point where they finally succeeded in getting the GPE Hall proj ect partially funded by the state of Colorado, Thomas said. Funding for the GPE building came from a variety of sources including the state of Col orado, which contributed $31,082,646 to both design and construction, she said. While the remaining total, about $4 mil lion, is currently being fundraised by the FLC foundation, she said. So far, approximately $1 million has been raised thanks to the generous donations of private donors, she said. Up to date, there have been no setbacks on the GPE Hall’s construction, she said. The construction company, Jaynes, has been work ing long hours to push the GPE Hall construc tion ahead of schedule. Thomas said she is very excited about the direction moving forward and the opportuni ties that will be created with the completion of GPE Hall. “We have very active faculty in all three departments who do very interesting re search so this building will provide them with top-quality space and equipment which trans lates to help for students and their undergrad uate research,” Thomas said. It improves the learning possibilities for the students involved, she said. Not only is the president excited for the completion of the new building but profes sors, such as geology professor Ray Kenny, are
looking forward to the opening of GPE Hall as well. “I am looking forward to having updated rooms and better facilities, which will make classroom learning more enjoyable for the students,” Kenny said through an e-mail in terview. After a mishap with the foundation of the soccer field, causing it to be complete ly redone, it is nearly ready to be played on, Thomas said. The rocks below the field started to come up through the soil so the field was torn up so a proper foundation could be laid, she said. A decision was made this past summer to put sod on the fields this fall instead of grass so the fields can be ready sooner rather than later, Thomas said. The soccer fields were constructed in partnership with the City of Durango and should be ready for games by spring of 2016 she said. “It has been a tough project, but we are very grateful to work with the city who has been a really great partner,” Thomas said. The plan for FLC is to use the fields pri marily during the academic year while the city uses the fields during the academic year and summer for recreation, she said. Other construction projects on campus, such as the renovations on the Bader Snyder residence halls, mark the beginning of modifi cations for on-campus housing, Thomas said. “We are trying to upgrade the residence halls one building at a time and make living arrangements more better and comfortable for students,“ she said. While no current residence hall construc tion is taking place for the 2015-2016 school year, the second phase of renovations in the Bader Snyder Complex was just completed this past summer, Julie Love, director of hous ing, said in an email. Snyder C and Bader B,which were orig inally opened nearly 50 years ago, are two buildings that recently went through renova tion, including all new building systems and changes in layout, Love said. Phase one of the project included Snyder A and Snyder B renovations which took place from October 2013 to July 2014, she said. Among these changes are new suite lay outs, fire safety systems, plumbing, heating, electrical, wireless and wired network connec tions, windows, electronic locks, accessibility features for persons with disabilities upgraded finishes, new furniture, a computer lab, and overhaul of the laundry area and kitchen, Love said. “The process of renovating older build
ings always includes unforeseen problems to solve, but overall, the process for the Bader Snyder renovation process has gone well,” she said. That being said, the construction process had a few notable challenges that impacted the 2014-2015 residents, she said. First, students were affected by ongoing construction noise and mud around the job site because last winter was so mild the ground never really froze, she said. Secondly when warrantee or compliance work was identified during the 2014-15 aca demic year, there was need for the construc tion teams to have periodic access to parts of student suites and rooms to complete the work, Love said. This was almost always ac complished during break periods to minimize or avoid the impact on students. Additionally, residents experienced a cou ple instances of utility outages, she said. All but one outage was planned and announced ahead of time and they were of short duration. One instance in February 2015 was not anticipated and was the result of damage to the water line while doing utility work outside the building, Love said. Once the buildings were opened this fall, residents in a couple of suites experienced problems with their bathroom facilities back ing up, she said. The sewer lines had to be cleared of construction debris. These problems did not continued after the lines were cleared, she said. “The final outcomes are much improved and modernized buildings while keeping the charm for which the Bader Snyder’s have al ways been known and they should serve stu dents well for many years to come,” Love said. The next residence hall upgrade project will be finishing the renovation of the last two Bader Snyder buildings the start time for which has not been established yet, she said. As for big plans for construction on other areas of campus, Whalen Gym is looking to be expanded and improved upon due to the fast growing programs of the exercise science de partment and athletics, Thomas said. “After Whalen Gym is finished, we would probably move on to Reed Library,” she said. However, both projects will be some where further down the road due to the need for major state funding and the recent large sum donation the state of Colorado put to wards the GPE Hall, she said. “Administration is aware that some as pects of construction or renovation on campus causes a potential temporary inconvenience, but they are hopeful that students and faculty share in the excitement of the improvements being offered and appreciate the investment in their accommodations,” Love said.
COMMUNITY Photo by Sean Summers: FLC is a natural magnet for bikers because of it’s cycling team reputation and scholarship opportunity.
Hickenlooper Allocates $100 Million: Biking As Culture and Economy in CO Story by Jamie Draper
Photo by Sean Summers
Design by Hanna Maddera
On Wednesday September 16, Gover nor John Hickenlooper announced at the Interbike Conference in Las Vegas, Nevada that $100 million would be allocated to de veloping biking infrastructure in Colorado. Biking in Durango In Colorado, Durango is especially ap plicable when discussing cyclists and pro spective needs for infrastructure that sup ports an alternative to automobile transit. “Durango is a cycling tourist destina tion with world-class MTB trails and great road riding,” Spencer Compton, director of Durango Wheel Club, said in an email. Cyclists were not in mind when Du rango’s roads were designed, Compton said. There is absolutely a need to develop biking infrastructure in Durango. “The city has many projects that could benefit from these funds,” Compton said. Some heavily-used bike routes that need construction include completion of the Animas River trail; extension of bike and pedestrian trail to Three Springs; and reconstruction of Main Avenue, North Main Avenue, Sixth Street, and Eighth Av enue, he said. However, Bob Kunkel, Durango Tour ism Office’s executive director, said there is not a need to develop additional infrastruc ture, but a desire. Safety More people could benefit from cycling if all roads were safe to ride on, whether that be recreationally, competitively or as an alternative mode of transport, Compton said,. “Our city should have a safe, compre hensive and complete network of bike lanes and paths to meet the needs of residents and tourists alike,” he said. Recent projects show Durango’s poten tial,such as the reconstruction of Florida Road, Compton said. What was once dan
gerous for bikers and pedestrians is now safer and well-used. Colorado Department of Transporta tion wants to make sure that transportation infrastructure always comes with a priority for the safety of cyclists and pedestrians, Amy Ford, director of communications at CDOT, said. CDOT is a significant partner in the plan for allocation of the funds announced by the governor, Ford said. This initiative aims to look out for how Colorado connects its communities, she said. Health Partners at CDOT agree with the gov ernor in the initiative to make Colorado the healthiest state in the country, Ford said. CDOT has an active bike and pedestri an program but plan to put more empha sis on that program, she said. Additionally, CDOT wants to look at what they are doing to facilitate more biking and walking in the state of Colorado. Obesity is growing in Colorado, Ford said. Even so, this state remains one of the statistically healthiest states in the nation. Colorado needs to back up good health statistics with infrastructure that supports healthy living, Ford said. “Cycling is a great way to get to school, get to work, do errands, it is good for your health, and good the environment,” Comp ton said. Tourism Colorado draws on tourism and recre ational activities, Ford said. “The economic impacts are not to be understated,” she said. Biking infrastructure is an element of what makes Colorado a desirable location for people to move, and for businesses to relocate, she said. Colorado leads the country in
health-supporting infrastructure, but more can be done Ford said. To design biking infrastructure in Col orado, models are being looked at inter nationally in cities such as Copenhagen, Denmark, and Amsterdam, Netherlands, she said. Making Colorado a leader in the United States will set us apart nationally and globally. The job of the tourism office is to market all attractions and facilities in the area, Kunkel said. Any discussions about expanding bicycle infrastructure would be gladly joined by the Durango Tourism Office to emphasize the potential positive impact on tourism. The funds proposed by Governor Hickenlooper may provide new opportu nities for non-government entities to in troduce new bicycle programs or events, Kunkel said. “This new initiative by the governor’s office validates the many benefits of a bik ing community and inspires towns like Durango to take our programs to an even higher level,” Kunkel said. Culture Biking is a part of Colorado’s culture, Ford said. It contributes to a vibrancy in the economy, at work and in quality of life for Colorado residents. Bicycle infrastructure has broad ben efits, Kunkel said. It contributes to health, reduces use of automobiles, contributes to cleaner air and becomes a highly val ued tourist attraction. People want to live in communities with walkability and trail connections. Development in biking infrastructure is important for Durango, Compton said. It is a main reason for visiting and living in Durango, and is an significant part of Du rango’s identity.
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COVER A worker monitors a containment pond near the Gold Kind Mine Spill site.
Story by Keenan Malone
Photos and Graphics by Visual Department
Design by Hanna Maddera
The Gold King Mine Spill, while gen erally unfortunate for the elongated Ani mas River community, has provided some practical applications within curriculums on campus. The spill occurred on Aug. 5, when 3 million gallons of liquid pollution was ac cidentally released from a dammed buildup of wastewater fed by the Gold King Mine. Fort Lewis College’s Animas River updates, which are accessible at the Reed Library explain that the water, which con tained a variety of heavy metal pollutants, was released into Cement Creek and effec tively contaminated the Animas River. The wastewater release was caused by an accidental break in the dam that held the collection of waste from the Gold King Mine. This break was later attributed to the Environmental Protection Agency who were at the mine trying to remove the toxic wastewater that was released. The EPA announced its responsibility for the spill on Aug. 6. Bob Kunkel, Durango’s director of tourism, elaborated on what impacts the spill had in town from his point of obser vation. “In the beginning there was a severe impact on those dependent on the river, such as river rafters and other supporting businesses that are close to river rafting,” Kunkel said. “They were flat out, out of business.” Heidi Steltzer, associate professor at FLC and one of the founders of the the resilience network, said FLC involved its resources as an academic community to or ganize the FLC Animas River Community Resilience Network. The official name has not yet been de cided but Steltzer has given the faculty coa lition this name for the time being. Emails were sent back and forth be tween FLC faculty and administrators to decide what role the college could play in the recovery efforts, Stetlzer said. Steltzer and Peter McCormick, an en vironmental studies professor at FLC, ini tiated communication between each other before deciding to have their first meeting of the faculty coalition on Aug. 26. The Spill and the Curriculum at FLC “There was a lot of discussion as to how the faculty of the resilience network could
contribute to course materials for their stu dents in ways that were relevant to the Gold King Mine wastewater spill,” she said. “We’re settling down into the routine of a semester so it’s hard to have a lot of meet ings unfortunately,” Steltzer said. “Thirty faculty came to start brainstorming.” Despite the fall semester’s diversion of faculty’s attention away from the Animas River Community Resilience Network, members can apply the unexpected chal lenges they have run into through their involvement in the aftermath of the Gold King mine spill to current and future cur riculums, Steltzer said.
vide a community, she said. Ryan Smith, an engineering and fluid mechanics professor at FLC and member of the Animas River Community Resilience Network, said the Animas already had a role in his fluid mechanics course, and the spill has thrown him new challenges to present his students with. “The spill has given us a little bit more material to work with, however, we still look at the fundamental questions of whether or not we can hold the water or what happens if it gets contaminated,” Smith said. Stacey Sotosky, visiting instructor in the English department, is a non-science faculty member involved in the Animas River Community Resilience Network who applies her skills as a media professor to the issue of the spill through documentary filmmaking, she said. Sotosky’s video assignments pertained directly with the contamination event. “There were so many different ways that faculty could envision wanting to take part in a collaborative effort from Stacey, who is doing filming,” Steltzer said. Sotosky worked on the Durango & Sil verton Narrow Gauge Railroad Train for several years as an undergraduate student followed by a summer working for Mild to Wild which allowed her to raft the up per Animas several times. This helped her to develop a personal connection with the river. “When the incident occurred I went
“THERE WAS A LOT OF DISCUSSION AS TO HOW THE FACULTY OF THE RESILIENCE NETWORK COULD CONTRIBUTE TO COURSE MATERIALS FOR THEIR STUDENTS IN WAYS THAT WERE RELEVANT TO THE GOLD KING MINE WASTEWATER SPILL.” HEIDI STELTZER “This highlights things that we might want to think about including in our cours es,” Steltzer said. “It highlights skills that I didn’t have and couldn’t have taught about before, but now there’s relevance.” The expertise in the social sciences and humanities can highlight how communities experience events like the spill and what impact it can have to bring together and di
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A map illustrating where the spill has travelled. Graphic by Hanna Maddera.
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out to be with the river to get in the water one last time,” she said. Student Involvement in the Animas River Community Resilience Network Student involvement is seen primarily through classes taught by faculty involved in the coalition, Steltzer said. Members of the Animas Community Resilience Network, like Smith and Steltzer, encourage students to inquire about how they can become involved outside of their academic endeavors. Smith said if students reach out to pro fessors within their major, they will know who is active in the coalition and will be able to connect them. “There’s always something that can be done,” Smith said. “What we’re trying to curb is the random person running out and
Photo by Nate Obici: A pint of the Heavy Metal Extra Pale Ale offered at Carvers Brewing Co.
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just grabbing water out of the river and try ing to give it to us because there are very strict standards for how that has to be treat ed.” Apart from science focuses, Sotosky is assigning her video production class students to do thought-provoking docu mentaries about the Gold King Mine spill on the Animas River and its impact on all communities affected by the spill. “There are two media production classes creating short video projects about the Animas River,” Sotosky said. “They are instructed to go out in the Animas River community both upstream to Silverton and downstream in New Mexico and through Utah and Arizona to find stories that demonstrate the effect and the social rela tionship that the community has with the
Animas River.” In this class, the students are looking for stories that outline how the river has negatively affected their livelihood, she said.
“THEY’RE LOOKING FOR UNIVERSAL THEMES AND THEY’RE LOOKING FOR THE EMOTION BEHIND THE STORIES.” STACEY SOTOSKY Sotosky said her students are to tell these stories in a way that is engaging to a national audience. “They’re looking for universal themes, and they’re looking for the emotion behind the stories,” she said. Beyond finding ways for the pollution story to help FLC students learn how to communicate to a large audience, profes sors in the writing program want to create a comprehensive theme in their writing courses to motivate students to invest in writing, Steltzer said. “They have something that they want to write about rather than what they’re just assigned,” she said. The Spill and Durango Since the spill, local and national news sources have informed the La Plata County residents and FLC staff and students about the state of the river, Smith said. This has damaged the prospect of recreation on the Animas. The spill impacted tourism and small businesses in Durango through a scope of positive and negative outcomes which var ied on the types of business. Since the spill, Ska Brewing and the Bootleggers Society, a non-profit organi zation comprised of five local breweries, including Ska Brewing, created a special batch of beer called the “Heavy Metal EPA,” with EPA standing for extra pale ale as a clever tribute to the government agency that claimed responsibility for the spill. All proceeds from this batch will ben efit efforts to recover from the spill, Kristen Muraro, who works in marketing at Ska Brewing, said. Although efforts are clearly being made to recover the river, community members and tourists are still skeptical about the drinking water in Durango. “There are still some calls to hotels and other properties asking if they can drink the water, take showers or get in close prox imity to the river,” Kunkel said. “Those are just lingering image issues as the media
Photo by Brent Balone: A fisherman local to Durango standing in the Animas, uncaring of the conditions the river was left in.
Photo by Brent Balone: The effects of the contamination are still visible on the river bank. Photo by Brent Balone: Stained rocks in the Animas River post-spill.
continues to distribute the image of the yel low river.” Some believe there are reasons for opti mism in the wake of the spill. Kunkel said “When people can’t do something in our town, they just go and do something else.” Contrary to the issues Sotosky’s class aims to highlight, there was also a positive side to the recipients of the economic ef fects of the Gold King Mine spill. “I’ve had retail stores, several of them, rather sheepishly and embarrassingly say that when the river closed they had three days of the biggest sales they’ve ever had,” Kunkel said. “You focus on the river rafters and their situation but others did okay.” The Faculty Coalition While the formation of the coalition was, without question, triggered by the EPA caused spill, members of the coalition agree that the network is helpful in ways that go beyond dealing with the aftermath of the river pollution event. “The overall goal of the Animas River Community Resilience Network is to gath er a general understanding of the the riv er’s condition after the spill,” Smith said. “If and when another event happens down the road we can understand what the impact of that event will be.” Steltzer is excited about the new wave of research that the FLC science communi ty is putting toward the spill, she said. She talks about developments in the chemistry department that were happening prior to the spill which happen to be helpful. “A new instrument for chemistry that was bought prior to the Animas River spill which happens to do heavy metals analy sis,” Steltzer said. “There’s also a brand new chemist who has past experiences working in Montana with the chemistry of heavy metals in their rivers.” The coalition is also working with the San Juan Citizens Alliance as well as the Mountain Studies Institute, both of whom were present at their first meeting, Steltzer said. The San Juan Citizens Alliance would contribute by helping the community to understand the long term impacts a variety of different kinds of land use and manage ment practices can have on water quality, Steltzer said. Before the Spill One fundamental problem the science community at FLC is running into is not having a collection of baseline data to com pare new data with, Steltzer said.
“There’s been long term gradual chang es in heavy metals present in the system as a result of the past mining and additionally, nobody collected data immediately prior to the spill,” she said. Sotosky also pointed out the issue of the river’s quality before the spill. “A lot of people are saying that the riv er’s back to where it was before and that we should be fine,” Sotosky said. “However, I don’t think that the water quality before the incident was satisfactory.” Members of the coalition, Smith, So tosky and Steltzer agree that the Gold King Mine spill and the formation of the Animas River Community Resilience Network has brought attention not only to the river but also to environmental efforts that benefited the river even before the spill had occurred.
“THE OVERALL GOAL OF THE ANIMAS RIVER COMMUNITY RESILIENCE NETWORK IS TO GATHER A GENERAL UNDERSTANDING OF THE THE RIVER’S CONDITION AFTER THE SPILL.” RYAN SMITH The Future of the Animas River Community Resilience Network While the resilience network was trig gered by the spill, the FLC faculty plans to keep the coalition going to help understand and react to future spills or similar disas ters. “It’s not something that’s going to die off in six months,” Smith said. “We’re look ing at long term, multi decade surveys.” Smith hopes that this will help the community develop more of a predeter mined reaction for resilience around that river, now and in the future. Steltzer explains that while she has no official title for the coalition, she wants to keep the word “resilience” as it represents her goals through the coalition. “It’s a theme that was central to a course that I taught a year ago in the fall, where we worked and coordinated to try to develop an ecological resilience network here in Durango,” she said. The resilience concept refers to a sys tem returning back to how it was in the past after an event such as this one, she said. “I hope that an event such as this, even if it may not have long-term effects on the river, can motivate us in terms of engaging in collaboration across campus and the community that is long term,” Steltzer said.
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OUTDOOR
Durango FAces EL NINO harsh but average conditions for winter 2015
Photo by Nate Obici: A student runs from her apartment to her car, trying to escape the rain. Story by Brandon Castle
Photos By Allison Anderson and Nate Obici
Design by Allison Anderson
ay no more to mild winters, this year’s El Nino has the potential to bring more snowpack and extreme weather conditions to the San Juan region. Every two to seven years, a weather pattern known as “El Nino” reaches North America by a low sea level pressure system or warmer temperatures in the Eastern Pa cific Ocean, Jonathan Harvey, assistant pro fessor of geosciences at Fort Lewis College, said. This warm, moist air creates unique weather patterns for most, if not all of North America. The Spanish term El Nino was used by South American fisherman that observed the nautical changes and rising tempera tures in the Pacific Ocean. In Spanish El Nino means “The Little Boy” or “Christ Child,” the phenomenon observed around Christmas, according to the National Oce anic and Atmospheric Association web page. This El Nino year will be powered heavily by moisture from the west, Harvey
said. This should not affect the overall snow fall for the winter of 2015, he said. “Not more than normal, but bigger in dividual storms,” he said. In 1997, Colorado observed one of the strongest El Nino years to date, Harvey said. This year, 2015 is expected to exceed the 1997 El Nino winter. Experts cannot predict the amount of snowfall, but expected amounts can be comparable to 2010 in the California mountain ranges, he said. During El Nino 2010, Mammoth, Cal ifornia received nearly 14 feet of snow in just seven days, he said. This rarity occurred due to an event known as an “atmospheric river,” this is a narrow region in the atmosphere that transports water vapor out of the tropics, according to NOAA. During these weather patterns, Cali fornia typically receives large amounts of winter precipitation, Harvey said. This ex
tra moisture in the air funnels over to Col orado, creating larger, more extreme winter storms. These funnels sit and train, meaning the storm moves along itself, gaining time to increase in size and reach southwest Col orado with immense power, he said. “We’re talking about moisture stream ing in from the southwest, whereas during a non-El Nino year we end up getting a lot of storms swinging out of the northwest,” he said. “The storms are up and out of here, on to the Great Plains within a day,” Harvey said. The El Nino storms have the capacity to stay in the region longer, which the com munity of Durango has not seen for nearly two decades, he said. Distinguishing which states will expe rience warmer winters or colder winters is calculated at the dividing line, he said. Colorado sits in-between this line, making weather more likely to remain sta
S
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Photo by Allison Anderson: Early September brought heavy rainstorms like this one to the Durango area.
ble, Harvey said. For the state, summer is expected to be ordinary. North American El Nino weather is af fected more in winter, he said. Summer in El Nino years are drier and wildfires are anticipated to increase in the Pacific Northwest, Harvey said, but for Col orado, this effect is unclear. “Unlike the Pacific Northwest, there isn’t a good statistical basis for saying one thing or another on wildfires in Colorado,” Harvey said. The effect on spring weather can be easily seen from previous records. The El Nino in 2013 can be a good ref erence, Harvey said. The Colorado Front Range experienced rain consecutively for a week due to an atmospheric river traveling from the West Coast. Rain on top of dense snowpack may result in flooding conditions and this may serve as a threat involving avalanches for skiers, Kelsey Wright, a competitive skier from Silverthorne, Colorado, said. “There are risks, but I’ll still be out there,” Wright said. Wright has competed in state level competitions and participated in advanced skiing, she said. Risks to look out for, especially during El Nino winters, are the rates at which snow
melts, she said. “Sun angles are important,” Wright said. “Some mountains are serviced with avalanche blasting, but it is always best to check the forecast.” According to Wright, the best months to ski are from January to February and de pending on the winter, late December. Before jumping out the door with skis, Wright said that it is good to know the mountains and always ski with a friend. Mass amounts of snow have not stopped the community of Durango, Am ber Blake, the director of Transportation and Sustainability for the city of Durango, said. “If a big storm is anticipated, we com municate that via email, Twitter and phone call,” Blake said. This communication allows lead driv ers to be notified, as well as snowplow op erations, she said. With robust and comprehensive train ing, the transit drivers of Durango are expe rienced and ready to take on a wide range of weather conditions, she said. The drivers try to avoid the snow sched ule, an hourly service provided by Durango Transit during periods of dangerous, snowy weather, Blake said. One of the biggest concerns with snowy
conditions is traffic accidents. “We have excellent drivers,” Blake said. “They do everything they can to ensure safety.” Ultimately, you only have control over yourself, she said. As a community, Durango is primed and contains appropriate materials and mindsets for this upcoming El Nino winter.
Photo by Allison Anderson: Rainfall outside of the Bader-Snyder complex.
Photo by Allison Anderson: Rainstorms like this were incredibly common this fall.
14
HEALTH
Story by Kelkiyana Yazza
Photos by Brent Belone
Sexually transmitted infections are more common in college aged students than one may think. The term sexually transmitted infec tion has recently become preferred over the term sexually transmitted disease because most infections do not become serious dis eases, Kendra Gallegos Reichle, Fort Lewis College wellness coordinator, said. STIs are a variety of infections that may turn into diseases transmitted through sexual activity such as vaginal, anal and oral sex. Sexual activity is not the only way an STI is transmitted from one person to an other, but also through skin-to-skin contact and sharing intravenous needles, Reichle said. Not only is the partner affected, but STIs can also be transmitted from an infect ed pregnant woman to her fetus. Confidential STI testing is available at various locations in Durango such as the on-campus Health Center, Planned Parent hood, and San Juan Basin Health Center, she said. The most common STIs reported among college students are chlamydia, her pes, syphilis and human papillomavirus, Nancy Stoffer, the Gender and Sexuality Resource Center coordinator, said. STIs are treatable and most are curable, but one thing is certain: they are 100 per cent preventable, Stoffer said. Having an STI can interfere with dai ly tasks such as school work, Payal Kahar,
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Design by Camden Smith
visiting public health instructor, said via email. Students miss class due to infectious mononucleosis, also known as “kissing disease,” which is caused by a virus that is transmitted by exchange of body fluids during sexual intercourse and kissing. Not everything you hear about STIs is true, Keri Brandt, sociology professor, said. There is an unfair stigma that people who have contracted a STI are tainted, Brandt said. This stigma can cause individ uals to deny their risk and cause delay or refusal of testing and treatment. “Most STIs in women are asymptomat ic resulting in delay in screening and treat ment as well as serious and long term risks,” Kahar said. “Some long-term risks include pelvic inflammatory disease, impaired fer tility, ectopic pregnancy, chronic pain, cer vical cancer and chronic liver disease.” A common myth is a person can tell if someone has an STD just by looking at them when most STDs do not have outer visible symptoms, Pahar said. This leads to another common myth: if a person does not have symptoms, they do not have a STI. Some STIs can take years to develop visible symptoms, but an infection may be present without showing symptoms, Reich le said. The only way to know for sure is by getting tested. There are numerous methods of STI prevention and abstinence is on the top of the list as the most effective method, she said.
Other prevention methods include condoms, dental dams, vaccines such as Gardasil and talking with partners before sexual intercourse, Stoffer said. Condoms and dental dams are effec tive, but do not protect from all forms of transmission such as skin-to-skin contact, Reichle said. Condoms should not be ex posed to direct sunlight, used after their expiration date or if they are torn. There are a variety of resources avail able on- and off-campus including Student Wellness and WellPAC which work to edu cate FLC students about STI protection and directs students to resources such as the Health Center, she said. “We have free condoms and educa tional materials and try to work with oth ers on campus like the Health Center and housing to get these resources and medical ly accurate information out,” she said. Resident assistants and resident direc tors also provide resources and prevention methods such as free condoms, Reichle said. The Gender and Sexuality Resource Center offers free condoms, Stoffer said, along with dental dams. All of which are available right next to the door of their of fice. Stoffer encourages students to attend “Teas at the G” which are weekly topical tea times that take place at the resource center in Reed library, room 145 at 3:30 p.m. ev ery Wednesday, she said. These are conver sations between a group of people sharing their knowledge and feelings on particular issues. A talk on STIs will occur at a yet to be determined time this semester she said. Safe sex and STIs are difficult subjects to talk about, she said, but there are a vari ety of resources on- and off-campus that are committed to encouraging these conversa tions so that people are knowledgeable and safe.
Photo by Brent Balone: “Know your STD status pins” are located in the health center. The pins encourage students to be proacvtive about getting STD and STI checked.
HEALTH
Eat Well, Don’t
SWELL
Story by Jamie Draper
Graphic by Camden Smith
Design by Camden Smith
Stress is a defining factor for the health of students, particularly freshmen. As the body is a holistic system, stress happens throughout the body and affects the many facets of health and wellness. The main issues seen at the Student Life Center are poor diet, unhealthy sleep habits and not enough physical activity, Doug Ew ing, director of Recreational Services, said. Some common health concerns at FLC are mental health, especially depression and anxiety, troubled sleep, substance abuse and lack of nutrition and exercise, Kendra Gallegos Reichle, advisor to WellPAC and Student Wellness Initiatives director, said. The wellness programs on campus af firm the importance of a holistic vision of health, incorporating mental, emotional, physical and other senses of wellness to ad equately address student health, Karen Na kayama, clinical director of the Counseling Center, said. Diet comes up as a main element when addressing the health of students, specifi cally stress-management, Nakayama said. Our body is a holistic system regulated by the brain, and the brain regulates mood. The “sugar blues” have been well docu mented, as a spike in energy and subsequent drop can coincide with a drop in mood, she said. Caffeine has similar effects that can also disrupt sleep patterns and contributes to greater levels of stress. A small percentage of students that seek counseling deal with eating disorders, Nakayama said. She and her colleagues at the Counsel
ing Center advise exercise, a regular sleep schedule and healthy eating habits to those experiencing issues with eating, she said. These methods are referred to as “stress management,” she said. Though eating disorders at FLC are rel atively rare, the term “freshman 15” is not - nor is it new, she said. This was relevant in her time as an undergraduate student. Students experience stress adjusting to life away from home, which may result in stress-related eating, which is encouraged by buffet-style dining, she said. Nakayama said she views a la carte din ing as an improvement because it acts like automated portion control. WellPAC does not address freshman weight gain specifically because they do not wish to target anyone individually, said Re ichle. Rather than educating on weight loss, they focus on development of a balanced diet and exercise, even on a budget. They also provide healthy recipes that can be made in the residence halls, she said. The connection between mental, phys ical, social, and other areas of health all cy cle together and can move in a healthy or unhealthy direction, Reichle said. “I think it’s bigger than just overall fit ness,” Brett Davis, coordinator of Outdoor Pursuits, said. “I think it’s mental and emo tional health, even spiritual health,” The success of the Outdoor Pursuits program of FLC has a lot to do with loca tion, Davis said. “Students come to us outdoor savvy,” he said.
FLC students are fairly fit compared to the rest of the country, he said. Although Durango is well situated for good health statistics, improvement is still a priority. Nakayama said the newly appointed director of Health, Wellness and Special Programs, Jeff Dupont, intends to develop greater collaboration between the Wellness Program, Counseling Center, Health Cen ter and Recreational Services. His goal is to have all these depart ments collaborate more, and to look at the whole of student health, whether that be mental, physical or emotional, she said. Although he does not know what this implementation entails, Ewing said he sees Dupont’s position as needed. There are trends in usage of wellness programs across campus. Between 25 to 28 percent of our stu dent body participates in Outdoor Pursuits, Davis said. Ewing said 75 percent of the 3,700 stu dent body used the Student Life Center at least once last year. “When I tell colleagues across the country, people are amazed,” Davis said. WellPAC understands and addresses the needs of freshmen in particular because starting out making healthy choices makes it much easier to create healthy habits, Re ichle said. Outdoor pursuits provides a venue for developing a healthy lifestyle that tran scends just going to the gym, Davis said. “It can be a lifelong pursuit,” he said.
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SPORTS
BRINGING IT ON Fort Lewis sees rebirth of Spirit programs Story by Archer Gordon and Luke Perkins Graphics by Allison Anderson
T
his year the cheer and dance teams are both returning to Fort Lewis College. This return follows a four-year ab sence for the cheer team and a one and a half-year absence for dance. Lauren Pietrack, cheer team head coach, said the cheer team disbanded when no replacement coach could be found following her departure to teach in the 9-R school district. This year she has returned as head coach and the cheer team has returned too, Pietrack said. There has been interest in restarting the team every year since she left, and now was the right time for it to come back to FLC, she said. Taylor Thompson, head dance coach, said her hiring to head the dance program initiated the return of this sis ter program to the cheer team. An alumna of FLC, Thompson was a coach-captain of the dance squad in her time at FLC, she said. Even before the program was re started there was interest among stu dents to form a new squad. This past summer Cheyenne Bel larosa, FLC freshman and dance squad member, contacted coach Thompson before the specifics of the squad’s return had been worked out to express her in terest in dancing at FLC, she said. Similarly, Holly Huebner, junior transfer and cheerleader, who cheered at Lasell College before coming to FLC, said she was initially disappointed to discover that FLC did not have a cheer team. Huebner’s attitude changed when she joined the team. The team is incredibly enthusiastic, she said. “It’s like a family,” Bellarosa said. In the past, cheer and dance were considered clubs, Thompson said. When the spirit squad was a club, students had to buy their own uniforms,
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Thompson said. This semester the spirit squads are part of the athletic department, which is supplying uniforms for both teams, and as such its members are considered stu dent athletes, she said. A side effect of being considered athletes is that squad members are re quired to have health insurance for in juries, Huebner said. Their insurance is supplemented by the insurance policy carried by FLC for its student athletes.
``IT`S LIKE A FAMILY.`` cheyenne Bellarosa
In the past, coaches were here on a volunteer basis, Thompson said. One goal of the spirit squad is to improve school spirit both at sporting events and overall, Pietrack said. Thompson said even in her time as a student there was never much school spirit at FLC. The squads hope to add a little extra spunk to home games, hopefully pump ing up both the crowd and the team, Huebner said. There is another part of school spir it that expands beyond sporting events, Pietrack said. The spirit squad members are ambassadors for the school. The team captains are encouraging spirit squad members to support all of the teams, including the ones they do not perform for, by attending as many
Design by Allison Anderson
games as possible, Bellarosa said. With homecoming weekend ap proaching the spirit squad hopes to im prove the festivities, she said. The dance and cheer teams, which are normally separate, are working on a collaboration for homecoming, she said. When it comes to team events, the dance team does not have plans to com pete this year, and will focus on their halftime shows, Thompson said. Thompson plans to get the word out that they are a strong team, she said. This will help grow the program from its current size of five members. The cheer team, currently has elev en members, is slightly larger, but its plans for this first season back are simi lar, Pietrack said. At this point they are just com ing together and getting coordinated, Huebner said. Huebner said having fun is first among her goals, and the team is hop ing to raise awareness and grow the pro gram by adding yell leaders to the cheer squad. She said the coaches have fun help ing the team learn and grow. In comparison to her previous ex perience on cheer teams, FLC is more laid back, Huebner said. Bellarosa said her time with FLC dance has been less strict than her high school dance experience. Huebner said this year is about lay ing the groundwork and trying to break out together. Both teams are using this semester as an opportunity to focus on building a positive culture and laying the ground work for future success, Bellarosa said.
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OPINION HICKENLOOPER WANTS $100 MILLION JUST TO CYCLE IT BACK Opinion by Lauren Hammond Governor John Hickenlooper has implemented a four-year plan with which he hopes to allocate $100 mil lion to biking in frastructure in the state of Colorado. Some of this money will come from tourism grants and some will come out of the transportation budget. Hickenlooper made his announcement at the Interbike Conference, the largest bicycle trade event in North America. Cy cling is obviously the topic of discussion at Interbike, but the conference also brings together manufacturers, retailers, industry advocates, as well as the media. He is the first governor to ever speak at the conference but with good reason. Why not let all of your potential tour ists hear your spiel first? Jason Blevins of the The Denver Post quoted Hickenlooper at Interbike when the governor said, “Our goal is to make Colora do the best state for biking in the country.” Hickenlooper’s justifications for need ing $100 million includes the fueling of Colorado’s economic growth and boosting the state’s tourism industry. He also says that it will move Colorado towards a clean er environment and will advance the state’s goal of being the “healthiest state in the na tion.” Blevins also quoted Randal O’Toole, director of the Independence Institute’s transportation policy center, when he said, he does not think Hickenlooper needs to spend hundreds of millions of dollars to boost tourism and the economy. And I would strongly agree. That kind of money might be better allocated to different aspects of transporta tion in Colorado. Are we paying for biking infrastructure or are we paying for the title of being “the best state for biking?” Sure, even if we try to make Colorado the “best state for biking,” who is it for? The tourists? The locals? The commuters? It seems boosting our economy makes sense. It is even a good idea for getting peo ple to check out our state. And as Amy Ford, director of communications at CDOT, said,
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“The economic impacts are not to be un derstated.” I understand that cycling really is a large part of what makes Colorado a pop ular spot for people to move, visit, vacation and get outside. But the infrastructure that Hickenlooper is hoping to create seems to be aimed at providing people a safe space to commute, less so on tourism. So although some of the money will go to tourist-type biking infrastructure, $100 million seems like a little overkill. I mean if you are going to commute to work, for whatever reasons that motivates you, be that your health, gas consumption, proxim ity to work or school or lack of a motorized vehicle, you are probably already commut ing. I am all for a safe place to commute, and that option should be available to as many people as possible, but I am just not so sure that this will increase the numbers of people that commute. My question again is: Who is this for? And how does the gov ernor see this as directly benefiting his Col oradans, economic growth aside? He does address obesity in Colorado as a part of his justification but money seems to be the overarching outcome he hopes to reach. Do we want to use our tax dollars to merely make more money? I can see that with a geological setting such as Colorado, as governor, you would want to be known as the “best state for bik ing in the country,” but how much are you willing to pay for those seven words?
EL NINO? NOPE Opinion by Carter Solomon I will just go out and say that I do not believe in the hype that surrounds this upcoming winter El Nino. I am pretty sure that every year is said to be an El Nino year, a year where drifts of fluffy white powder are promised. These promises never seem to deliver. For all I know, this whole idea of an El Nino could be some sort of conspiracy per petuated by the ski resorts in order to boost season pass sales. Last year was supposed to be an El Nino year, right? How did that turn out? Sure, we students of Fort Lewis College got the first few snow days in years, but the
skiing, overall, left more to be desired. It would dump snow for a few days, heat up, melt off and dump again a few weeks later. Can you say “High avalanche danger?” I am sure you can. I will not buy a ski pass this year. It is money better spent on rent, beer and gro ceries - in that order. I scoff at your El Nino. Buying a ski pass is a financial commitment to a future not guaranteed, a fiscal risk I simply do not feel inclined to take. Sure, there is going to be some snow no matter what. But what about those drifts of powder? Of being able to make your own trails down a slope, and as you are riding the shaky double chairlift back up, seeing said tracks fill back in, wholly disappearing? Of losing visibility more than 20 feet in front of you because it is snowing so hard? Days like that are not guaranteed and are few and far between. But I suppose you people must be optimists, counting on such snows to come this year. To those of you buying into El Nino and by extension, buying a season pass - I say good luck. I will simply hang out in my dingy apartment room, doing my schoolwork be cause I would like to graduate while FLC is still a liberal arts college.
PUTTING THINGS IN CONTEXT Opinion by Luke Perkins Context is something that the professors in the history department constantly ask for and a word many students under their tutelage have seen THE INDEPENDENT: FORT COLLEGE’smargins NEWS MAGAZINE written inLEWISthe of research papers, or hidden in the comments on canvas. “Context, context, context, I can’t preach that enough,” Michael Martin, chair of the history department, said. When context is properly given, an event and the results of it can be seen and evaluated with clarity. Without it even a logical and altruistic act can seem ques tionable. If I were to tell you that in September of 1932 a 62-year-old Indian man began a hunger strike in hopes of using popular
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support to force the government into aban doning a new legislative act he opposed, it might garner different reactions then if I were to provide the full context of this event. If I were to say that the 62-year-old In dian man held popular support due to his history of civil disobedience and ultimate goal of self-rule of India by its people, this context might change your reaction. If I were to say that the legislation being opposed sought to reinforce an unjust caste system and was being supported by a global colonial power, that context might change your reaction. If I were to inform you that this event in question was one of the many acts of human rights activism performed by a man who is popularly known as Mahatma Gandhi, it would probably change your re action. This is but one very simple example of why context is vital to our understanding of the world around us. On fundamental level this is what his torians do and what history students strive to do. We strive to reach back into the past
and pull forth lessons that are relevant and historically accurate. “We provide context for what we do to day,” Martin said. Where you get your context from is as important as gathering it at all. It can be easy to look for only the an swers you want, but difficult when you find a source that contradicts your belief or un derstanding of an event. It is those opinions and account that oppose your own that serve to provide con text in full and force you to refine an argu ment. “You have to find the opposing argu ments to better understand the argument you’re looking towards,” Martin said. To say that this search for context is solely the domain of historians would be vastly inaccurate. I believe that all disciplines strive to put the world and its events into context. We just have different approaches to doing so and are seeking different answers. As an aspiring historian I might seek to understand how the outcome of World War I provides context for the rise of Fascism in Germany preceding World War II.
In contrast a sociologist might search for how the common socioeconomic status of disparate community provide context for results of standardized testing within those communities. College itself is a time when we build a context of who we are as individuals. By choosing a liberal arts education we are afforded the opportunity to experience multiple disciplines and find where we feel at home. We pick up those things that feel right, those that make sense, and some of those things that make us uncomfortable and force us to grow as individuals. We set aside what does not contribute, what does not feel right, and what is downright intolera ble, and we use this to build a context for who we are to be. One of the challenging, and beautiful, things about this world is that something new is being discovered every day and with every new discovery the context for some thing is slightly altered. Including the con text for who we are as individuals.
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ENTERTAINMENT
IONNTHED Y STREET What clubs are you interested in on campus?
ROB LINDEMAN Senior Art “I am interested in the Creative Collective.”
ANDREW SMITH Senior Chemistry “Chess Club and Chemistry Club.”
JENNY DRIVER Junior Psychology “KDUR.”
NATASHA LEE Freshman Preschool Education “I go to Rooted.”
CANNON SULLIVAN Junior Communications “It’s not really a club, but I am really into Fort Lewis Students for Bernie Sanders.”
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HOROSCOPES
An unoffical statement by an Indy staff member.
creative works by students The Indy is now accepting creative content to be included in the next issue of The Independent. Please send in short stories, poems, in teresting photographs (with captions) taken within the last week, digital art, and anything else you’d like to see in the second edition of the semester. Creative submissions do not represent the opinions and values of The Independent. If you have anything you would like to submit, please contact or send to Hanna Maddera (hlmaddera@fortlewis.edu)
Comic by Jared Dillon
I WANT TO TAKE YOU
COWBOYS LOVE TO SPIT
Poem by Ashli Ringgold
Poem by Grant Downing
I want to take you to a place on the earth where the trees are all you see/grey green And there I could see every raindrop falling for itself And so I came to know that you are just one One and only you And though this may be, It doesn’t make you obsolete It makes me lucky
Punk rocks love to spit, I guess I’m not punk like that. The only time I ever spit on someone it was an accident, from three floors up onto a bar patio, and I was more apologetic than you could imagine. That was while I was living in New York City, walking around my neighborhood poutin & puffin on loose ones without makin a sound, sometimes wondering to myself if I screamed or cried loud enough if anyone would hear. If it were smooth like the planets, fresh like the planets, spreadin peace like the planets. Would they even hear me then? Gangsters love to spit, guess you could say I’m not gangster like that. In another city I couldn’t say the name of I heard a gangster say “he’s the man, dig” and I thought dug but I knew he was just patient and he would just wait until he was cool again. Whatever happened to taking the time and loving something right? Like a small fire.
Your heart is tuned like a radio There we can also go To hear people talking when we are feeling painfully alone There was an avalanche on the mountain road and the lovers were found frozen in their car as the snow in their lungs slowly began to thaw They say sometimes you die in the air before you even hit the ground That is like love, We sometimes have to just take chances.
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