Fort Lewis College News Magazine Issue 76
www.theindyonline.com
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FROM THE EDITOR’S DESK Dear readers, In January of every year we as people generally make a commitment to starting anew in some facet of our existence. For some of us this comes in the form of committing to working out more, some of us try and give up a bad habit, or a bad influence or to just take a little extra time everyday to recognize those things in our lives that make them worth living. Well… here at The Independent we too start anew, but instead of it being every year it’s a semester to semester rebirth as we lose members to the demands of life outside of Fort Lewis, class schedules or for those that are lucky enough to have survived the trials of college... to graduation. This semester is no different at The Indy. We have seen turnover in all departments and have lost dedicated individuals across the board. While we might be saddened by their departure I feel that as a whole this organization is bettered due to the mark they have all left. Some of those marks are reminders of what not to do, but most of them serve to set the bar for what is expected of us as the on campus, student funded and produced news provider for FLC. As a burgeoning historian I feel a strong connection to the past and I’m always looking for ways that it is effecting the present. I feel that knowing where you have been is every bit as important as knowing where you are going. I feel that every year you build up a series of snapshots that form who you are as a person, and that only by exposing yourself to new things can you build up a sufficient collage through which to evaluate the world. That, in part, is why we are all in college, to build that collage before we move out into the sometimes overwhelming postgrad world. I hope that you will allow us to be part of that collage. I hope that you will pick up The Indy and let us expose you to something new, and I hope that you will see the telltale traces of not only those who are currently working diligently to bring you high quality stories, but also of those who have set the bar for what is expected at your student news organization. Thank you and enjoy.
Cover Photo by Alexandra Lamb: During this year’s 38th annual Snowdown, the Snowdown Beard Competion at Carver’s found whose beard could successfully soak up the most beer. More on page 7.
Luke Perkins Editor in Chief
EDITORS & STAFF
EDITOR IN CHIEF Luke Perkins
BUSINESS DIRECTOR Madison Carman
COPY EDITOR Carter Solomon
PRINT EDITOR Keenan Malone
ONLINE EDITOR Jarred Green
LEAD PRINT DESIGN & PHOTOGRAPHY Hanna Maddera
ONLINE DESIGN EDITOR Julia Volzke
VIDEO PRODUCTION EDITOR Nic Hassinger
SOCIAL MEDIA EDITOR Stephanie Peña
SCAN TO GO TO OUR WEBSITE!
BUSINESS: Madison Everist DESIGN & PHOTOGRAPHY: Allison Anderson Nicole Curry Talulah Gilroy Nate Obici Camden Smith SOCIAL MEDIA: Lucy Schaefer REPORTING: Carolyn Estes Lyle Iron Cloud Alexandra Lamb Alex Semadeni Alison Uralli BROADCASTING: Deanna Atkins Christian Bachrodt Lindley Gallegos Allie Kruchell Gabrielle Silva
CAMPUS
Suspended With A Two-Year Teach Out - 3 Story by Carolyn Estes
COMMUNITY Tinder: A Paradox - 5 Story by Lyle Iron Cloud
COVER
Durango’s 38th Snowdown In 38 Word Reviews - 7 Story by Alex Lamb
OUTDOOR
Snowbiking Vs. Fatbiking - 11 Story by Alex Semadeni
ENTERTAINMENT
Meet an Indy Staffer, The Indy Online Previews and Creative Works by Students! - 13
Photo by Alexandra Lamb: During the Snowdown Light Parade, FLC had its own clock tower make its way down Main Street. More on page 7.
CAMPUS Photo by Talulah Gilroy: The athletic training program will be cut from FLC’s degree options.
Suspended
with a two-year teach-out Story Carolyn Estes
S
Photos by Talulah Gilroy
tudents seeking a degree in athletic training will have to look for options outside of Fort Lewis College due to a recent decision to suspend the program, following the conclusion of instruction for those currently enrolled. A decision was made by the FLC administration to suspend the athletic training program with a two-year teach-out where the sophomores will be able to graduate with a degree in athletic training, Carrie Meyer, athletic training director, said. Due to recent evolution of healthcare standards, the Strategic Alliance, which consists of the Board of Certification Inc., the Commission on Accreditation of Athletic Training Education, the National Athletic Trainers’ Association and the NATA Research and Education Foundation decided that athletic training programs nationwide will be at a masters level, Meyer said.
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Design by Talulah Gilroy
The athletic training post-grad program conversion does not come into effect until 2022, she said. Originally stated by the vice president, sophomores learned the Sunday before classes of spring semester that a one-year teach-out was the plan for the athletic training program, Emily Jones, athletic training major and sophomore at FLC, said. The six sophomores Sarah Williams, Katie Green, Emily Jones, Kevin Barnett, Kira Nash, and Tylyn Clements emailed the administration of FLC to state their predicament, Jones said. Kira Nash’s mother came down the same night from Colorado Springs to talk to Maureen Brandon the dean of arts and sciences the Monday classes started about the decision for a one-year teach-out only including the juniors and seniors was made, Katie Green, athletic training major
and sophomore at FLC, said. After the sophomores emailed the administration, the official decision changed from being terminated with a one-year teach-out to suspended with a two-year teach-out, allowing sophomores to graduate with an athletic training degree, Jones said. This announcement for the two-year teach-out was Monday, Jan. 11, a week after the original decision for the one-year
Photo by Talulah Gilroy: Treatment tables.
Photo by Talulah Gilroy: Hydrotherapy tubs.
teach-out was made, Meyer said. A faculty senate meeting was held Wednesday, Jan. 13, and while the strategic plan of FLC was the foundation for this meeting, athletic training announcements were made and the elected representatives of the faculty of FLC were present at the meeting, Meyer said. A topic discussed at the meeting was that the proper protocol may have not been taken by FLC with the first decision of the one-year teach-out only including juniors and seniors to graduate with a degree in athletic training from FLC, Green said. This topic of discussion was confirmed by the minutes document of the faculty senate meeting for Jan. 13. At the same meeting Meyer submitted her resignation, she said. Meyer was unaware of FLC’s plans concerning the athletic training program and their intentions for it, she said. Students not currently enrolled in the athletic training program will either have to change majors or transfer to another school to receive a degree in athletic training, Jones, said These students majoring in athletic training go through 75 hours of shadowing in their freshman year
before being able to apply to the program their sophomore year, she said. “Every freshman planning to apply to be a part of the program will now have to change majors or transfer to another school,” she said. For those freshmen on the Native American Tuition Waiver, FLC may be their only option for a degree in athletic training, and with the program being cut this option may be taken away from them, Jones said. The sudden change in the program will leave students not included in the teach-out to change their major, transfer or fast track and graduate a year early, Green said. Green’s initial decision was to transfer to Metropolitan State University of Denver and try to enroll before the semester started to avoid the chance of credits not transferring, she said. Since the teach-out was extended to two years, Green decided to finish at FLC, she said. Sophomore athletic training majors also had the option of fast tracking and having an overload of classes to be able to graduate in April 2017, Meyer said. If Green chose the fast tracking option she would need to take 22 credits the spring semester of 2016, 16 credits over the summer of 2016, and finally 22 credits for both the fall of 2016 and spring of 2017 in order to graduate one year sooner than planned, Green said. Going forward, Jeb Davis, lecturer and clinical coordinator, will conclude the instruction in a two-year teach-out for the six sophomores within the athletic training major at FLC, Meyer said. i
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COMMUNITY
Story by Lyle Iron Cloud
D
ating can be a scary proposition. For many the initial contact is the hardest part when approaching someone. In the digital age, there are endless apps for anything imaginable including dating. The Tinder app does away with the awkward first contact allowing users to decide if they are interested in someone—swiping right means you are interested, and swiping left means you are not interested. This decision is based on a simple picture and brief biography. The app matches individuals based off of similar preferences with the intention of offering a match that is ideal. Beyond that it offers what may seem like endless opportunities to meet people, which is also a downfall to Tinder. “It can remove some fear of rejection,” Natasha Tidwell, professor of psychology at Fort Lewis College, said. It can also encourage people to say no to people they may have said yes to face to face, Tidwell said. Online dating, including Tinder, is like a paradox, it has endless options for possible dates which can lead people to be less happy with what they choose, she said. Likewise, it can give people who are shy the opportunity to find possible partners. But it could also encourage them to not get out more, she said. Furthermore, Tidwell and her colleagues had conducted research on speed dating for Texas A&M and Northwestern Universities, she said. Their research found, in respects to speed dating, perceived similarities and not actual similarities are what determined if an individual wanted to go on a second date, she said. Tinder lacks that face to face contact that speed dating has, so people base compatibility on a simple picture, Tidwell said. “That can give you some information, but it doesn’t give you the whole story,” she said.
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: A PARADOX
Photo Illustration by Camden Smith
Design by Nicole Curry & Camden Smith
Changing the Dating Game Dating has changed in recent years, Keri Brandt, associate professor of sociology and gender and women’s studies, said. Before, people got married at a much younger age, whereas people are now getting married later. Now people establish a life after college which includes a career and financial stability, Brandt said. Only then do they consider the idea of a life partner. This has created a void, or gap, in which people have changed and social media has made things like Tinder come to life, she said. The void has been created in a time when people want things at such a fast pace. Tinder also contributes to an already existing hookup culture, but adding a new twist, she said. Traditionally people meet face to face at social events where the hookup takes place, now you do not need to see them but decide based on their profile picture. “It’s a technologically mediated hookup,” Brandt said. Another growing problem with Tinder, in a sense, is the loss of connection, she said. “Students really seem disenchanted,” she said. They are not looking for a serious relationship but at the same time, they are not looking for a total loss of connection, Brandt said. Both genders express, in hookup culture, that it is not the norm to express any feeling of connection. “The person least interested wins,” Brandt said. Typically after a hookup, little, if any, interest is shown, she said. Hookup culture with Tinder has created this notion that a person cannot express
any feelings of emotional attachment, she said. “That’s what I think is super problematic about Tinder and hookup culture,” she said. “My question is what does that mean for young people who are out there in the world sort of dating and hooking up in this sort of world where connection is frowned upon?” Brandt said. Students of hers express that they do not like Tinder and hookup culture, but it is the world they live in, she said. Tinder is like a paradox—it is a way of using technology to find people and connect, on the other hand it is creating a sense of emptiness, Brandt said. The paradox is finding connection while managing this sense of emptiness. Gender and Race in Tinder Gender and race also play a role, in that men tend to dictate whether or not the hookup will take place, Brandt said. This adds to the already male dominated society. Another question she asked pertains to women and safety in their usage of the app, and that sexual assault and Tinder needs to be discussed, she said. i
Photo Illustration by Camden Smith: On Tinder, swiping right is equivalent to saying you are interested. However, swiping left means the opposite.
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COVER
Durango’s 38th Snowdo Photo by Alexandra Lamb: The Wild Bull Riding Competition at the Wild Horse Saloon.
Photo by Alexandra Lamb: The Drag Race and Fashion Show at El Rancho.
Photo by Alexandra Lamb: Snowdown Beard Competition at Carver Brewing.
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own in 38 Word Reviews Photo by Alexandra Lamb: Waterside-A-Thon at the Durango Rec Center.
Story by Alexandra Lamb Photos by Alexandra Lamb Design by Hanna Maddera Here is the 411 on this year’s Snowdown! This year’s big-time 1980s theme has proven to be the bombdiggity. Emotions were high as Snowdown goers participated in everything from bull riding to drag super stardom all while sporting their tubular fashion sense. Get ready for a visual expedition comprised of 38 word reviews for this Snowdown’s 38th year. New Event: ‘80s Music Video Dance Party at the Animas City Theatre (Wednesday from 8pm to 1am) I want my MTV! 1980s music videos took on new life at this Animas City Theatre dance party. Dancers performed their best moves set against a background of classic MTV videos. Snowdown or not, this event was radical. Wild Bull Riding Competition at the Wild Horse Saloon (Wednesday @ 9pm) Cowboys, divas, big hair, bright colors, and…bull riding? What could go wrong? Absolutely nothing. The competition at the Wild Horse was heated as Snowdown participants rode the bull in the name of big cash prizes and 1980s glory. Waterslide-a-thon at the Durango Rec Center (Thursday from 5 to 8pm) Waterslide mania! Imagine a world where you must continually waterslide to defend your honor. Snowdown’s waterslide-a-thon embodied this very concept. Participants at the Recreation Center competed to see who could ride the slide the most in three hours. Drag Race and Fashion Show at the Ranch (Thursday @ 7pm) Women dressed as men, and men dressed as women. Drag enthusiasts cheered on these talented participants at El Rancho’s drag show. The dance moves, music and the performers provided a year’s worth of glamour and fun. Totally outrageous!
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Photo by Alexandra Lamb: Ralph Dinosaur Presents the 80’s.
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Photo by Alexandra Lamb: Totally ‘80s Pre-School Dance Party at the Durango Public Library.
Snowdown Beard Competition at Carver Brewing (Thursday @ 8pm) Beards, the USSR, and macho man Randy Savage were only a small part of Carver’s beard competition. These bodacious beards had style, glitter, and power. Audiences watched men compete to see whose beard could absorb the most beer. Snowdown Light Parade (Friday @ 6pm) Tear down this wall! Durango’s Snowdown light parade celebrated the 1980s by tearing down the Berlin Wall, fighting with the Ninja Turtles, dressing dogs as Pac Man and jamming with the Ghostbusters. A fresh parade for this 2016! New Event: Ralph Dinosaur Presents the 80’s (Friday from 8pm to 12am) Ralph Dinosaur performed at the American Legion for a 1980s dance party to remember. The crowd cheered as the band powered through favorite hits and more. Good friends and good times made the Legion the place to be! Mr. Black Music Trivia at the Pour House (Friday @ 8pm) Mr. Black 1980s band at the Pour House was jamming louder than Radio Raheem’s J1 Super Jumbo boombox. Snowdown tested participant’s 1980s music knowledge at high cash stakes. This event was certainly a blast from the past!
Photo by Alexandra Lamb: The Snowdown Light Parade. Photo by Alexandra Lamb: Karaoke Contest at the 8th Avenue Tavern.
Karaoke Contest at the 8th Avenue Tavern (Friday @ 10pm) Karaoke competition to the max at the 8th Avenue Tavern. The singing was off the chain with appearances from Pat Benatar to David Byrne. This Snowdown competition was fierce! People’s pipes were bustin’, and the audience was bumpin’.
Totally ‘80s Pre-school Dance Party at the Durango Public Library (Saturday @ 930am) Silly, adorable, fun and smiles are only a few words to describe the Durango Library’s preschool dance party. This event was fun for the whole family and brought joy to participant’s hearts. Kids were grooving like old pros! Doggie Olympics at Creature Comforts (Saturday from 10am to 12pm) Doggie Olympics at Creature Comfort was fuzzy and cute as these dogs battled it out! Agility, brains, and tenacity defined this Snowdown event. The trainers were happy, and the dogs were adorable. Paws, love and competition all around. Snowdown Chili Cook Off at the Fairgrounds (Saturday from NOON to 2pm) Chili and Bloody Marys, oh my! This Snowdown event could have gotten anyone’s taste buds watering. Local Durango Chefs battled it out for the grandeur of being the best chili and bloody mary makers in town. Truly delicious! This year’s 38th Snowdown was outrageous and full of shenanigans. The costumes were choice, and the music was boss. Nostalgia was all around with this year’s ‘80s-themed Snowdown. There were events for a wide variety of ages, and the community was ecstatic. Another Snowdown has ended, and the Durango community can look forward to next year’s intergalactic theme with anticipation. i
Photo by Alexandra Lamb: Mr. Black Trivia at the Pour House.
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OUTDOOR
SNOW BIKING VS. FATBIKING Story by Alex Semadeni
Photo by Nate Obici
Design by Allison Anderson
kiing and snowboarding are commonly thought of as the two most popular snow sports. Recently, however, two newer forms of snowsport instruction have become intertwined in the mix: snowbikes and fat biking. “A snowbike can only go downhill,” Helen Low, the director of the Durango Nordic Center, said. “Whereas a fat bike can go up and down, cross-country, just like a mountain bike.” Snowbikes are rather basic in design. “It’s basically a bike frame and instead of having tires, you have skis,” Mike Sparkman, a snowbike instructor at Purgatory, said. Snow biking is relatively easy to learn, as the only requirement a user needs is to be able to know how to ride a bike, Sparkman said. “The average individual, even if they have never been on the snow before, has a pre-existing skill set and muscle memory that we can use to learn this,” he said. “So we don’t have to teach you anything new. We just have to re-engage what you already know how to do.” Sparkman’s wife, Donna Abner-Sparkman, got into snow biking because she had no other way to join her family on the mountain, Abner-Sparkman said. While Sparkman and their two kids would ski, Abner-Sparkman would walk around the base of the resort, she said. “My two sons and Mike were out skiing, and I was always left behind,” she said.
“You can only do so much walking Main Street or sitting at the base.” That feeling of inclusion is part of the reason why the couple thinks snow biking has a place in the snow sports industry, Sparkman said. “It’s the easiest way to have the most fun in the shortest amount of time on the mountain,” he said. One of the reasons customers loves snow biking so much is that the learning process is quicker than other snow sports, Abner-Sparkman said. “People come out and their vacation is only four or five days,” she said. “They can spend four or five days trying to learn to ski, or they can spend their first day with the snowbike lesson, and they can spend the next four days having fun.” However, the couple said that the biggest draw to snow biking is the inclusion it provides. “One of the things we learned is that the skiers want to ski, the snowboarders want to snowboard, but everybody that comes to a ski area wants to be included in the fun,” Abner-Sparkman said. Fat biking has also taken off in recent years in Durango, Low said. A lot of the bike shops in town are selling fat bikes, she said. “It’s kind of really on the rise,” she said. A fat bike looks like a mountain bike in concept, the main difference being that a fat bike has much bigger tires, Low said. This is the fourth year that the Nordic
Center, located across the street from Purgatory, has allowed fat biking, she said. In the first couple of years, only a small amount people were using the Nordic Center to fat bike, she said. The years after have seen a significant increase in popularity. At the Nordic Center, fat bikes are allowed on all their ski trails, to the chagrin of some skiers, Low said. “There are some skiers who are really fairly adamant that they really don’t like fat bikers,” she said. “If it’s a powder day and there’s soft snow, they’re going to leave a rut, and then the skiers are getting irked.” Since fat biking is very similar to mountain biking, a lot of the trails in the town of Durango are open to fat biking, she said. The Durango Nordic Center does not rent fat bikes, as the Nordic Center is worried about tourists who are unable to fat bike using their trails, Low said. “I think the perception is that it would be really easy,” she said. “I don’t want an unfit tourist who hasn’t done a lot of riding just jumping on a bike on some steep hills. I think they could hurt themselves and could hurt other people, because they would be out of control and there’s the potential for a collision with skiers.” Low predicts fat biking will stick around. “I think bikes in general are pretty popular,” she said. “I think it’s sticking around. People love it. Especially in Durango, there’s so many bikers.” i
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Photo by Nate Obici: Snowbikes and fatbiking are more uncommon winter sports, yet are popular within the Durango community.
ENTERTAINMENT
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www.roadrunnerstagelines.com
Pizza with the President
Story by Lyle Iron Cloud Photo by Talulah Gilroy
Snowdown: Back to the 80s! Story by Carolyn Estes Photo by Nicole Curry
Fort Lewis College Strategic Planning Session: STEM or Liberal Arts?
Story by Alexandra Lamb Photo by Allison Anderson
Not so ExCITING
Opinion by Jarred Green Graphic by Julia Volzke
Daily Round Trip Bus Service from Durango to Grand Junction leaving Durango daily at 7am going over Lizard Head Pass arriving in Telluride at 9:39am.
creative works by students
UNTITLED Comic by Jared Dillon
The Indy is now accepting creative content to be included in the next issue of The Independent. Please send in short stories, poems, interesting 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, Lead Print Design. (hlmaddera@fortlewis.edu)
MOON MOTH
WORMCOMIC.JPG
Art by Katie Server
Comic by Hanna Maddera
1998 Poem by Dana Mastrangelo-Stellavato
12 fingered mermaid How we all mock your hands Yet bask in stardust in your jewel-eyed wake
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