Fort Lewis College News Magazine Issue 77
www.theindyonline.com
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FROM THE EDITOR’S DESK Dear readers, A close friend of mine tells me from time to time that I need to “get in where I fit in.” Usually this phrase from him is meant to have social implications in one of two ways. It’s either 1. About those who I associate with and making sure there is compatibility between us, or 2. Of making the most of the opportunities presented to me in a situation and getting my toe in the door when given the chance. The latter of these two messages has served me well on many occasions and has opened up possibilities I never foresaw, because I was willing to “get in where I fit in,” and let my qualities show. It’s about not trying to do too much, but rather accepting what makes you an individual and making the most of it so that others have the opportunity to recognize that. This idea of not trying to do too much is something that is prevalent in smaller scale journalism operations, like The Independent. It’s called hyperlocal news coverage. It is news coverage that is focused on the events and developments in local communities, and while it might lack some of the glitz and glamor of the international and political incidents that are covered by large news organizations, it serves a valuable role. It facilitates a connection between the writers and the readership. There is coverage of people the readership knows and events they may have attended, they might even know the reporters themselves. It is coverage of things that actually
matter in the day to day life of the people who pick up the publication and peruse it, and as such has an inherent value that I believe rivals knowing what is happening across the globe, and far outstrides knowing who you favorite celebrity had dinner with the night before. As the Editor in Chief of a hyperlocal publication perhaps the value of this type of coverage is more prevalent to me that it would be to others. I have a bias to believe that what we are doing makes a difference to those who pick up The Independent and as such I buy into this school of journalism. I believe that by covering happenings on campus and in the Durango community we are getting in where we fit in. This type of geographically-centered journalism allows us to make the most of the resources and personnel available to us to produce the highest quality articles we can. Instead of reaching for the clouds we strive to get our boots on the ground and cover news that is actually relevant to the students of FLC. I hope you enjoy what we have formulated for you in this issue and that you will continue to look to The Independent as a viable source of news both on and off campus. Sincerely,
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!
Cover Photo by Hanna Maddera & Nic Hassinger: Alison Uralli explored budget cuts in her article “Colorado Government Struggling to Fund Education - Effects Being Felt in Durango 9-R” on page 11.
BUSINESS: Madison Everist Natalia Sells VISUAL: Allison Anderson Nicole Curry Talulah Gilroy Nate Obici Ashli Ringgold 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
Grub Hub Helping Feed Students in Need - 3 Story by Alex Semadeni
The Roberta Barr Foundation Gift- 5 Story by Carolyn Estes
COMMUNITY
Sexual Health in Durango - 7 Story by Alexandra Lamb
Event Collaboration in Durango - 9 Story by Kirbie Bennett
COVER
Colorado Government Struggling to Fund Education - Effects Being Felt in Durango 9-R - 11 Story by Alison Uralli
ARTS
Trojan Woman: A Provocative Fort Lewis Theatre Production - 15 Story by Alexandra Lamb
HEALTH
Abuse and Domestic Violence - 17 Story Lyle Iron Cloud & Alison Uralli
OUTDOOR
Durango Recognized by National Geographic as One of Top 10 Places to Backpack - 19 Story Alex Semadeni
SPORTS
Teamwork at its Finest - 21 Story by Carolyn Estes
OPINION
An Insight to the Hub from the Zine Queen Herself - 23 Opinion by Hanna Maddera
Procreation without Recreation -23 Opinion by Jarred Green
Solidarity Is Key - 24
Opinion by Keenan Malone
ENTERTAINMENT
Meet an Indy Staffer, Horoscopes and Creative Works by Students! - 25
CAMPUS
Grub Hub Helping Feed Students in Need Story by Alex Semadeni
Photo by Hanna Maddera
t is becoming harder and harder for students at Fort Lewis College to miss the advertising for Grub Hub. And that is just the way the group likes it. Grub Hub, a program under the FLC’s sociology club, works as a food bank on campus, working to try and feed those who are in need of food, Kikue Hardman, a senior Grub Hub volunteer, said. “It’s basically giving free food to students, in particular students on campus, who don’t have time or money to get food,” Daniel Amerman, another senior Grub Hub volunteer, said. “We’re trying to feed hungry people.” Kristina Kahl, a visiting sociology instructor and the faculty advisor for the group who joined at the beginning of the fall semester, has helped Grub Hub undergo a series of new developments to help expand the club. “When I came on board last semester I was really seeing that there’s some passionate students, but a few of them,” Kahl said. Two separate services are provided by Grub Hub: Grub Hub Day and free hot lunches, she said. Grub Hub Day, is a campus food bank that is open every Thursday from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. in Reed Library 16, where students come in and get frozen food, boxed food, produce, and dairy products, she said. “Basically how it works is you take what you need or what you want and you weigh it on a scale,” Hardman said. “Then you’re free to go.” Grub Hub Day is first come, first served, and averages a little more than 100 students, Amerman said. On Feb. 18, Grub Hub gave out 200 lbs. of food to more than 100 students, Kahl said. “Usually people are coming in and out all day,” Amerman said. “If we have food all day, then people will keep coming in to get it.” The food is donated mostly from Manna Soup Kitchen, along with Bread, Homeslice Pizza, Durango Doughworks, Rocky Mountain Chocolate Factory, and Starbucks, Kahl said. Grub Hub is also working out a deal with Durango Food Bank, which would significantly increase the amount of food
that Grub Hub can distribute on Grub Hub Day, she said. The newest service that Grub Hub offers began just this semester in a deal with Sodexo. Sodexo now repurposes their unused food that would otherwise go to waste, allowing Grub Hub to serve it as a hot lunch on Mondays and Fridays, Kahl said. The hot lunches are served every Monday and Friday from 11:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m., she said. “It was really nice to get that support from Sodexo right out of the gate,” she said. On Feb. 19, Grub Hub served 142 lunches during their hot meal day, Kahl said. Grub Hub serves over 300 meals a week among three days. Kahl envisions Grub Hub serving 20 percent of the campus population, she said. Right now, it is around 10 percent. Students credit Kahl for the expansion of the Grub Hub club, especially for getting the hot meals service running, Amerman said. “She has been the leader of getting bigger deals straightened out,” he said. “She’s making it so we’re more legitimate. She’s been really good for Grub Hub.” Kahl is excited about the work Grub Hub is doing, and hopes to hit the marketing hard, she said. “The more marketing and advertising we can get out to the students, the better it’s going to be,” she said. “I was shocked that people don’t really know about Grub Hub and it’s been around for five years. I want to get it to all pockets.” Kahl hopes the marketing campaign will lead to more students using Grub Hub Day and the hot meal lunches provided by Sodexo, and increase the visibility of the
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Design by Hanna Maddera
hunger problem here at FLC, she said. “We want to de-stigmatize the fact that students are food insecure,” she said. “We want to be welcoming and say, ‘This isn’t your fault. This is bigger than you.’” Kahl hopes that the expansion of Grub Hub will lead to more student volunteers as well, she said. “My goal as the faculty advisor is to really seek out and get more volunteers,” she said. “Those that are interested in helping out the Grub Hub, we want to get them on board.” More students could potentially lead to the addition of another Grub Hub Day, she said. “I would love to have Grub Hub Day open more than one day a week,” Kahl said. “That would put us at four days open out of the five. It would be two days of hot lunches, and two days of the Grub Hub food pantry open, which would be fantastic.” This scenario is likely if Grub Hub can land the deal with Durango Food Bank, she said. i
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CAMPUS
THE ROBERTA BARR FOUNDATION GIFT Story by Carolyn Estes
Photo courtesy of Mitch Davis: Roberta Barr doing a headstand at the Old Fort.
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he Robert M. Barr and Roberta Armstrong Barr Foundation added to their legacy of giving back to teacher education with a $1.4 million gift to the Fort Lewis College teacher education program. This donation is only for scholarships within this department. The $1.4 million will not be spent, but instead used to generate interest every year for the teacher education scholarships, Will Camp, field experience coordinator and scholarship coordinator, said. With the interest rates constantly changing, it is unsure how much the $1.4 million endowment will gain from interest for teacher education scholarships, Mark Jastorff, vice president for institutional advancement and executive director of FLC foundation, said. At this moment the foundation is able to give away $12,000 to $20,000 for the Barr scholarships, Camp said. After the March 3 announcement, the foundation’s representatives and scholarship committee will meet to decide how much to give out in scholarships based on how much interest accrues on the $1.4 mil-
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Photo courtesy of Mitch Davis
Design by Hanna Maddera
lion, Camp said. With this gift Roberta and Robert Barr were going to continue their legacy that they built their lives around, Jastorff said. Roberta Barr attended FLC as an undergraduate, then she attended Western State Colorado University and graduated with a master’s in teacher education, Camp said. 17 years ago FLC got a call from Roberta Barr, who wanted to set up a scholarship to help FLC teacher education students, he said. A meeting was held downtown and Roberta established that she wanted to contribute her money towards scholarships. After that, the Robert M. Barr and Roberta Armstrong Barr Foundation was established, he said. “It was at that time going to be a lot of money and we were real excited,” Camp said. Three people chose to nominate six to 10 people and then between two and six people are picked to receive the scholarship, he said. Roberta Barr and two other members of the foundation would look at the applications and determine every year who would receive the scholarship, Camp said. After Roberta Barr passed away in December 2013, the Barr Foundation became a small committee of local people who used to help Roberta Barr determine which applicants were going to receive the Barr scholarship every year, he said. Representing the Barr estate is the donation of $1.4 million that went to FLC teacher education, $500,000 to Western State Colorado University, and $100,000 to Animas Valley Grange which was given when Roberta passed away, he said. Rod Humble and Judy Michalski administered the Barr Foundation since Roberta passed and alone determined every year who would receive the award, Camp said. FLC would send applications with their recommendations to the Barr Foundation who would then choose which applicants received scholarship awards, he said. When Humble retired, FLC took over administration and the Barr Foundation was dissolved, he said. “Mrs. Barr wanted to identify people
from the get go, she wanted to support people for 4 years if she could, and sometimes we can do that,” Camp said. Mallory Peterson, a freshman in the elementary education program has earned the Barr scholarship and will continue to receive it all 4 years as long as she stays in the program and maintains a GPA above a 3.0, she said. For Peterson, receiving this scholarship is a great honor, she said. It also adds additional incentive to succeed out of desire to not let the donor down, Peterson said. Sherri Haldorson is a senior graduating December 2016 in the teacher education program who has also received the scholarship for the fall and spring semester of the 2015-2016 year, she said. “As a mom there was no way I was going to be able to continue to go to school and work,” Haldorson said. Without the Barr Foundation scholarship Haldorson would have had to get a part-time job just for that extra $1,500, she said. “This scholarship helps me maintain a happy life because I didn’t have to also try to fit work into an already full-time college student and full-time mom,” Haldorson said. “I wouldn’t have been successful at anything if I would have had to work also, all three would have suffered.” Haldorson does not have parents to support her, so it was a make-or-break moment for her when she received this scholarship, she said. Roberta and Robert Barr were a couple who understood the power of opportunity and have helped students make their dreams come true, Jastorff said. “It’s amazing how their legacy is living on and allowing successful teacher to go through the program,” Haldorson said. “Without their support, we may not have that opportunity.” i
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COMMUNITY
Sexual Health
In Durango
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Story by Alexandra Lamb
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Photo by Talulah Gilroy & Nicole Curry
s teachers prepare middle school and high school students for their adult lives, Durango provides information about common issues surrounding contraception and sexually transmitted infections as well as what sexual health services are available. The community of Durango fares well when it comes to educating youth and providing access to sexual health education, Jane Cobb, nurse practitioner for Fort Lewis College, said. “I think it is really high school based and community based, and you know, who is prepared and who is not prepared with high school,” Cobb said. High School Sexual Health Education: Durango High School Durango High School freshmen learn about sexual health in their curriculum, Laura Schiavone, registered school district nurse and DHS sexual health speaker, said. Schiavone said she offers comprehensive sexual health information to students, and having a registered nurse to cover this topic is useful because some teachers are uncomfortable with the subject matter. DHS students are encouraged to have an open dialogue in health class and are able to ask their questions anonymously, she said. It is important to emphasize to students that what is talked about in the classroom, stays in the classroom. Middle School and Elementary School Sexual Health Education in Durango Schiavone said a lot of students are very candid about sexual health topics, and there is a big difference in maturity between high school students and middle school students. However, not every middle school in Durango is providing enough education on sexual health, she said. “This needs to be taught at a younger age,” she said. “It needs to start in elementary school teaching about healthy relationships, refusal skills among other issues.” Refusal skills include teaching students how to say no to situations they find uncomfortable, like unwanted touch, and can be a really useful tool in the classroom even at the elementary school level, Schiavone said. It is a problem when you finally get freshmen together from different middle schools and some students are informed whereas other students have heard nothing, she said. Schiavone recently ordered a new cur-
Illustrations by Ashli Ringgold
riculum called FLASH, family life and sexual health, which she thinks will be helpful for teaching younger students in the community. FLASH provides lesson plans to help teachers create sexual health curriculum, she said. Ideally FLASH will start being taught as young as 4th and 5th grade in Durango. “Right now they do puberty talks at local middle schools, but they cannot get into sex, so hopefully the FLASH program will bridge that gap in the future,” Schiavone said. Additional Sexual Health Education: Planned Parenthood of the Rocky Mountains Another outlet for sexual education in the Durango community is Planned Parenthood of the Rocky Mountains. Ryan Garcia, education program manager for Durango's Planned Parenthood, said one important service they provide is sexual health education for rural community classrooms around the Four Corners area upon request. The main approach Planned Parenthood uses in the classroom setting is to make the conversation all-inclusive regardless of gender identification or sexual preference, Garcia said. “You would think there would be more bias about the LGBT community, but students seem so open, and that is the one thing they seem to totally agree on,” Schiavone said. Garcia also said it is also important not to be judgmental and not to attach stigmas around STIs and family planning. The Planned Parenthood education program is separate from the clinic, he said. It provides complete sexual health information to students, and they try to tell students what they need to hear and not necessarily what they want to hear. Educating the Youth about Consent and Sexual Activity It is important to teach high school students how to deal with important dilemmas they may face in the future, Garcia said. Planned Parenthood especially tries to teach students about the importance surrounding consent and sexual activity. Schiavone said she plans on showing the documentary “The Hunting Ground” on March 9 to the junior and senior class at DHS which will go over sexual assault in college.
Design by Talulah Gilroy & Nicole Curry
It is important to prepare students before they go to college or simply out into the world, and the documentary is powerful, she said. Dialogue will ensue after the film, and information on further resources like Sexual Assault Services Organization of Durango will be provided. She said students will be well informed of the content presented in the film beforehand, and students have the option to opt out although she hopes a majority will attend.
Sexual Health Outlets for Minors in Durango DHS provides a full health clinic where high school students can seek family planning or STI services, Schiavone said. Students need basic parental consent to use the clinic, but they do not have to tell their parents what services they received. She said if the student chooses to use their parents’ insurance, then the clinic will not be confidential, but the student can be billed based on personal income and be charged directly at the clinic to avoid parental notification. Teenagers in Durango can also access services for contraception and STIs through the San Juan Basin Health Department with assured confidentiality, Cobb said. San Juan Basin Health does not require minors to bill parent insurance. Sexual health knowledge is something that students must build on throughout their lives, Schiavone said. “If we can just demystify some of this to some degree, I think our sexual health culture would be a lot healthier,” she said.
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COMMUNITY
EVENT COLLABORATION
IN DURANGO Story by Kirbie Bennett
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Photo by Daniel Huppenthal
n any given day throughout the year, downtown Durango is bustling with activity. In part, the attraction stems from annual downtown events like Snowdown, the Veteran’s Day Parade, or the First Thursdays Art Walk. Behind these events lies a crew of people working diligently to ensure things run smoothly. “Once parade night starts, I’m already thinking about the next year’s Snowdown,” Linda Brockway, head coordinator for Snowdown’s creative department, said. Each month, the Snowdown team meets with their board of directors to discuss the progress of upcoming Snowdown events, Brockway said. Amongst the discussion of progress is the frequent organizing and the obtaining of permits, a process that continues all year long, she said. First Thursdays Art Walk For Elsa Jagniecki, the marketing coor-
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Graphic by Camden Smith
dinator for the Durango Arts Center and the First Thursdays Art Walk, planning the walk is also an ongoing process. This alternating monthly display of local art set up by local downtown businesses, aims to promote collaboration between local artists and participating business owners, Jagniecki said. The program is flexible for these businesses, she said. Jagniecki approaches it with an understanding of the challenges such small businesses face. Part of Jagniecki’s work involves meeting with these owners to pitch the art walk program in the effort to expand the participation, she said. Veteran’s Day Parade Stephen White is Durango’s Veteran’s Day Parade chairman and just as Veteran’s Day always takes place Nov. 11, as a way of honoring Armistice Day, White’s parade planning comes with assured stability.
Design by Camden Smith
For White, organizing the parade usually takes place two weeks before the event, White said. An advanced time frame like this is easier to work with for float participants and volunteers, he said. White also has personal motivation for organizing the Veteran’s Day parade, he said. “I’m a veteran and I’m thankful to be in good health to be able to do this,” he said. Community Collaboration When it comes to promoting these downtown events, the Snowdown team has a creative and distribution department to spread the word. “We have an eclectic group of people,” Brockway said. The distribution team delivers posters and promotional items to businesses, as well as collects prizes from them, she said. Part of what makes Snowdown unique
is its wide variety of carnival-like escapades and those prizes go in hand with the many games and activities that Snowdown offers, she said. “We send out a list to businesses on how to host an event,” Brockway said. “It’s important to make sure no one else has a similar event going on.” For these activities, Snowdown coordinators encourage participating businesses to make the activities as accessible as possible to the community, she said. The First Thursdays Art Walk also operates in a grassroots manner. “We have a tight budget,” Jagniecki said. “As a non-profit, we try to get the word out as much as possible.” From utilizing community event calendars to promoting the art walk on various social media platforms, promotion via word-of-mouth is a vital element for the event, she said. In promoting the art walk, Jagniecki seeks to bring together Durango’s local art scene, but the constant organizing for every month presents a challenge for the partici-
pants, she said. When it comes to an established national event such as the Veteran’s Day Parade, the promotion comes together by itself, White said. A permit is needed for the parade itself and the banner displayed downtown, he said. These permits are usually obtained early in the year. Once that is in order, the city will put the banner up one week before the parade, he said. Each event handles themes differently. Snowdown festivities are unique for their annual alternating theme. For theme ideas, the Snowdown team relies on support from the community, Brockway said. During Snowdown week, a suggestion box is set up at Magpies Newsstand for people to submit theme ideas. “The better the description, the better chance it gets accepted,” she said. After the submission, the team and the board of directors take the submissions to be selected from at a camping retreat in August, she said.
The downtown businesses that participate in the art walk have leeway in how they manage their involvement in the event, Jagniecki said. The Veteran’s Day Parade also encourages as much participation as possible, White said. He said anyone that wants to help with parade floats is welcome. “It’s not a beauty contest, so there’s no regulation like that,” he said. Now entering its 38th year, Snowdown has become an integral part of downtown Durango, Brockway said. For the local economy, the event is a highlight.. “I love watching everyone’s excitement,” she said. “I love observing and seeing how much fun people are having. That’s the payoff.” For Jagniecki, the constant organizing of the art walk is worth it in order to continue cultivating the artistic community of Durango. “It’s all about highlighting our local creativity,” she said. i
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COVER
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COLORADO GOVERNMENT STRUGGLING TO FUND EDUCATION - EFFECTS BEING FELT IN DURANGO 9-R Story by Alison Uralli
Photos by Hanna Maddera & Luke Perkins
Design by Hanna Maddera
ost recession, the state of Colorado is struggling to maintain its proposed funding for public education, and the effects are being felt statewide, including in the Durango 9-R school district. There are two conflicting pieces of Colorado legislation that come into play regarding the crisis in Colorado for K-12 and higher education, Dan Snowberger, superintendent of Durango 9-R, said. These are the Taxpayer Bill of Rights, or TABOR, and Amendment 23. TABOR was designed to restrain growth in government, limiting the amount of money the government could collect and spend, thus requiring them to refund inflation plus growth, Snowberger said.
Amendment 23, passed in 2000, was designed to get Colorado out of the bottom of state funding for education, and required the state to refund growth, plus inflation, plus an extra 1 percent for K-12 education, he said. During the first decade of the millennium, schools became a larger and larger piece of the state budget, Snowberger said. “We were up to 50 percent of the state budget in our heyday,” he said. The problem was expected to go away by 2010, but then the recession hit in 2008. “The districts had two choices, they could drastically cut, raise class sizes, do away with art, music and P.E., which a lot of districts in the state did, or they could
spend their savings account, and that’s where the deficit spending started in 9-R,” Snowberger said. The issue is the negative factor, which is the difference between what Amendment 23 promises K-12 education, and what the state can afford, he said. “The negative factor is basically a government ‘I Owe You.’ So for Durango alone, it’s $4.8 million a year, and there is an $855 million negative factor for K-12 in the state of Colorado,” he said. Next year, unless some proposed funding legislation passes, that negative factor is expected to increase again. “Every school district is struggling, the charters are struggling, Animas High
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School, Mountain Middle School is struggling, we all have this negative factor, these IOUs we’ll never get,” Snowberger said. It is an unfortunate situation, and there are some issues that really hinder K-12 education statewide, Kathleen Lau, principal of Park Elementary, said. When Snowberger started as superintendent of Durango 9-R in 2012, he inherited deficit spending that was $2 million a year above revenue, which allowed for 9-R to keep teachers, maintain class size and keep programs, he said. The Durango 9-R school board aims to keep a fund balance of at least 15 percent, which is similar to a savings account for the district, he said. “We had very little cuts, we were cutting a little bit, but nothing like districts that I came from that slashed 50 teachers in a year, because they just didn’t have the savings account we did, and if you didn’t have that money you had no choice but to cut expenses,” Snowberger said. The Tax Increase for Education Initiative, also known as Amendment 66, which was proposed in 2013, would have increased the state’s income tax to increase the amount of state tax revenue spent on public education. It was defeated by a large margin in the state of Colorado, he said. However, the Durango 9-R school district strongly backed Amendment 66 and was the only district in the state that passed it within its district borders, Snowberger said.
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In high hopes that Amendment 66 would pass, the district went through with another year of deficit spending, he said. “When it didn’t pass, we had to cut down more to get closer to breaking even, and we cut 24 teachers that year to get closer to that deficit spending,” he said. Last year, the board agreed to do another year of deficit spending, in the hopes of finding a permanent solution, but the conclusion remains that the district cannot sustain more deficit spending, Snowberger said. In efforts to break even, the administration has also frozen salaries for the upcoming school year, Snowberger said. “There’s no solution on the horizon. There’s no major effort at the state level that’s going to fix it,” he said. The only option is to find a solution at a district level, which means making cuts, or going to the voters to see if they are willing to fund more revenues locally, he said. “So when we talk cuts, the question is do we cut to live within our means, that’s a question to the community, or do we go to the community and say ‘do we want to keep the things that we’ve been doing, and if so are you willing to fund it,’” Snowberger said. One option the district has is proposing a mill levy override, which would provide an extra $1.7 million in additional revenue for the district and cost an average $40 a year per $400,000 home, he said. If the proposed mill levy went through, it would eliminate the deficit spending and
allow the district to return to its fund balance of 15 percent, which would be able to sustain the district for 2 years in the case of another recession, he said. The revenue from the proposed mill levy would allow the district to examine some of the cuts made in prior years, such as electives and exploratory classes at the high schools, Snowberger said. This has been the topic of discussion at the center of the ongoing community meetings the district has hosted, asking for input from parents, teachers, and community members. “I am 100 percent in support of the district mill levy for schools. Our district is in need of more funds and it is heartbreaking to think about more cuts,” Angie Dominguez, a parent of a student in the 9-R district, said. If the community does decide to back the mill levy, the conversation would then be centered around what the revenue would be funding. “I don’t want to go to this community and just pass it barely. If we’re going to support more revenue, the community has to be behind what we’re going to spend it on, and feel good about it,” Snowberger said. Getting as much public input as possible on the mill levy option or cutting spending has been the motivation behind the polling and community meetings that have been held in the last few months, he said. Currently the state of Colorado only
funds half-day kindergarten, unlike many districts in the state, he said. The Durango 9-R district has offered full-day kindergarten for 21 years and it is something that the community seems to really value. “If we were fully funded for kindergarten like we are for the rest of K-12 we would have another $1.4 million, so those are just factors we want the community to know,” Snowberger said. Some of the benefits of full day kindergarten are a better start on academics, more socialization and indoctrination into the education system, Lau said. Full day kindergarten is also a big help to parents, she said. “As you know, Durango is not a really easy place to live, and I’m not saying we’re daycare, but I do think it helps families for sure,” Lau said. In addition to this, school transportation is not required in the state of Colorado, however Durango 9-R provides transportation, Snowberger said. This costs the district $1.4 million a year, of which the state only reimburses $300,000 he said. Many districts in the state have decided to charge for transportation because of this, he said. “Our kids who ride the bus can’t afford it, I mean one in three kids in Durango comes from poverty, and people don’t realize that,” Snowberger said. Many students in 9R come from low-income families, and in some cases
asking the extra fee for transportation may mean the child not getting to school at all, he said. “It’s hard when you get people out here that just have no idea that their neighbors may be struggling,” he said. The after-school care program Kids Camp, another program that is being reexamined, used to bring in revenues for the district, Snowberger said. However after the Affordable Care Act employee costs increased. This creates a similar difficulty, as many of the kids in the program come from working families that really need those services. “The after school program is a lifesaver for me, working full time, I am so grateful for the amazing things they offer my child at school, and our after school teachers are amazing,” Dominguez said. Kids camp offers learning projects, arts, crafts and games as well as homework help, she said. “We want the community to know that’s our challenge, is that we’re trying to do the right thing for kids, but it does cost,” Snowberger said. Another area that has been discussed is food and nutrition. The district has started serving breakfast later in the day to increase the number of students that eat breakfast at school, but food still makes up $300,000 a year of classroom money, he said. The district has been hosting community meetings focusing on the budget situation in order to determine what parents and
teachers want, whether it be the mill levy and what it is spent on, or what is cut, he said. A lot of people post on social media and blogs about the budget but do not attend the meetings, and that does not help the district determine what they want, he said. “Right now it’s really about motivating the people to realize that they have a voice,” he said. There will be meetings continuing into March and by April the board will decide whether or not to cut or propose the mill levy, Snowberger said. If the budget cuts were to go through, they would not go into effect until next year he said. There are two bills being proposed currently that could potentially change that, and possibly help the district break even, he said. One is a supplemental, SB15-267 or the School Finance Bill currently passing through the senate that would designate $25 million to K-12 education overall that would be split up among all districts Snowberger said. The other has to do with funding full day kindergarten. As of 2015, Colorado is 38th in the country for spending on education, and 43rd in per student spending, according to Education Week Research Center. i
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ARTS
Trojan Woman" a provo cati ve Fort Lewis th eatre producti on Story by Alexandra Lamb
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Poster Design by Jacquelyn Anthony & Nicholas Holbert
he Fort Lewis College theatre department is performing “Trojan Women: A Love Story” by playwright Charles Mee. Opening night is on April 1, and the play will be performed on the FLC main stage theater. This show is not necessarily a musical, but rather a play with music, Melissa Firlit, director of “Trojan Women,” said. Firlit said Mee offers the audience stark contrast in his work by providing moments of intensity followed by instances of comedic songs. The cycle of war, including the effects of postwar life as well as life during wartime, is one of the main themes of “Trojan Women,” and Mee incorporates interview material from Hiroshima and Holocaust survivors, she said. Despite heavy themes, Mee continually looks for ridiculous elements to include while appropriately commenting on societal issues, she said. These moments of disparity must be earned so the audience can breathe and enjoy themselves while still being excited. “He plays with absurdity a lot and on commenting on society, who we are and what we become attracted to or obsessed with,” Firlit said. Matthew McCarren, resident scenographer and technical director for FLC’s theatre department, said “Trojan Women” is a production that carries a lot of weight, and the play is particularly relevant when looking at the current refugee situation, the state of politics and the rise of xenophobia in the world today. The play is provocative, erotic and beautiful, and it will make the audience blush at times with the content presented throughout the production, Firlit said. Mee pushes comfort levels on both ends of the
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Illustration by Ashli Ringgold
spectrum between love and despair. “It’s a really disturbing play,” Alicia Aron, FLC student and ensemble cast member in “Trojan Women,” said. “I think everyone should be warned of that before they go.” A unique aspect of Mee’s work is that it is free and open to the public, and he gives license to the cast and crew to change the script at will, Firlit said. The play has been reworked over several group efforts and years. “What I find fascinating is that he really allows you to collaborate as an ensemble,” she said. Aron said the cast and crew are really building the feel of how they want the play to be presented in these early stages of production. Although the production team has a solid concept to work with, there have been interesting shifts when it comes to changing the play in various ways, Firlit said. “This is the third time I have done the show. Every time it has been produced it has had its own life,” McCarren said. There are 26 members of the cast making it challenging for rehearsal and set design when incorporating everyone, but every actor will have a chance to shine, Firlit said. It is important to make sure everyone is on the same page, and the cast and crew must know they are building something together. “It’s really great because I find that Charles Mee’s work is not neat, there’s a mess within it, but there is a clear arch so I keep telling the cast that out of chaos comes order,” she said. McCarren said Firlit wants the set to be like a playground for adults so the cast really has a chance to explore the stage. “We are working out a lot because we
Design by Camden Smith
are going to have this huge, interactive set that we are going to have to run all over,” Aron said. The set for the play is multi-level and has two completely different sets for each of the two acts, McCarren said. The first act takes place in a war torn city whereas the second act is in a beautiful, welcoming spa. “I think the thing that’s going to be unique about this production as far as Fort Lewis theatre goes is that this isn’t your standard box set,” he said. “Trojan Women” is based on a Greek play, and also incorporates elements of Shakespeare’s work, Firlit said. The cast and crew have been tasked with keeping the audience alert during the show because the language can be dense. Firlit said she became involved with FLC’s theatre department after meeting Dennis Elkins, FLC’s theatre department chair, while working at Thingamajig Theatre Company in Pagosa Springs. Aron said Firlit is a visiting director, and it has been great to work with her. “It’s interesting because every director that you work with is really different,” she said. “Her style is really different, and she has been focused from the beginning on the idea of us being really interconnected.” The play is free for currently enrolled FLC students, and more information is available on FLC’s theatre department website. The script for the play can be found online and is open to anyone. “I really hope that not only the campus community but the community in large decides to take an active role in participating and come see some live theatre,” McCarren said. “It’s one of the most ancient forms of entertainment in the world.” i
HEALTH
Story by Lyle Iron Cloud & Alison Uralli
T
hroughout the United States, men and women are subjected to domestic violence. It is an unfortunate reality of our society. Typically, women in their early 20s are at most risk to experience intimate partner violence, Natasha Tidwell, professor of psychology at Fort Lewis College, said. It is not some random act where one of the partner begins to be violent out of the blue, Tidwell said. Often it begins with threatening or intimidating actions from one of the partners. It also includes preventing their partner from getting a job, meeting with certain people and overall isolation, she said. Beginning of an Abusive Relationship “It’s a normative process,” Tidwell
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Photo Illustration & Graphic by Camden Smith
Design by Camden Smith
said. Getting into a new relationship brings excitement and a natural desire to spend time with that person. It shifts when one of the partners begins to become controlling, she said. When a partner restrict who you can and cannot see and you feel weird about seeing or talking to them, that is when it becomes problematic, Tidwell said. In some cases, both partners engage in the violent acts, she said. It is called common couple violence when this occurs. In an Abusive Relationship In psychology people are trying to find where these acts stem from, Tidwell said. It includes things like instigating conflict and name calling which is a
back and forth process until eventually one of the partners crosses the line with their words, she said. “That in no way is going to be constructive for your relationship,” she said. When the relationship becomes physically abusive, it leads to an unhealthy dependency when one person is controlling and the other feels they have nowhere else to go, Tidwell said. It becomes bad for both parties, she said. It is also a problem when one of the partners tries to address the issues of the abusive relationship, and the other shows little interest, or says they are making it into a big deal, she said. Even worse, when one of the partners denies that the abuse ever happened is known as gaslighting.
A lot of people are afraid to approach an individual who is committing sexual assault in fear that they will become violent towards them or they will be ostracized by intervening, Ramsey said. People are uncomfortable about having the conversation of domestic violence and sexual assault which adds to the existing stigma, he said. In terms of prevention, raising awareness through education on what consent is and how intervening is not a bad thing is what needs to be done, he said. Also being open on sex positivity, which includes embracing sexuality, and removing the stigma placed on that as well. There are many variables that keep individuals in an abusive relationship, Amy Bryant, a counselor at FLC, said. This can include being unaware of the
“
abuse, and once they are aware, there is a fear around it. It is not as simple as telling someone they are in a bad relationship and they need to get out, a lack of resources and support are also factors, Bryant said. “Those of us who haven’t been in it can make it much simpler than it actually is,” she said. To help open up the conversation about not only abuse, but other aspects of adjusting to college life, Bryant suggests we not be so polite in the sense that we should not be afraid to ask the tough questions in regards to if someone is alright or of they are having problems. A culture where it is polite to notice without overstepping boundaries, and offering kindness will help bring the issues to the light, she said. i
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“That’s a way of manipulating a person to make them doubt something that they knew to be true,” she said. Gender and Abuse “When people think about violence in relationships, a lot of times they think of a man perpetrating violence against women,” Tidwell said. Violence in same-sex couples does exist and is often higher in lesbian couples than that of heterosexual couples, she said. Knowing that, there has not been that much research done. Aside from man-on-woman and woman-on-woman violence, there is also woman-on-man violence, she said. Prevention Doss Ramsey, a volunteer for the Sexual Assault Services Organization of Durango, is involved with a bystander intervention program that teaches people the signs of sexual assault and how to be comfortable to approach and intervene in these types of situations.
The Cycle of Violence www.dvsolutions.org 18
OUTDOOR
N
ational Geographic Travel recently named Durango to their “Where to Backpack in 2016.” Durango is the only location from the United States on this list, and is one of 10 destinations on the list. “Nestled in the Animas River Valley, it’s a young, active city full of college students and outdoorsy types drawn to the endless hiking, mountain biking, paddling, and skiing options in every direction,” the article states. Other destinations that made the list include Argentina, Patagonia, Eastern Europe (Albania, Montenegro, and Macedonia), Zimbabwe, Turkey, Cebu, Philippines, Australia, New Zealand, Vietnam, Iceland, Colombia and Ecuador, according to National Geographic Travel. “Durango’s definitely a gateway to the mountains, and to many different environ-
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ments,” Christina Spohn, Outdoor Pursuits intern, said. The San Juan National Forests, which surrounds Durango to the north, are the most popular backpacking destination in the surrounding area, Spohn said. San Juan National Forest covers 1.8 million acres, Alan Peterson, director of bookstore operations and San Juan Mountain Association Visitor Services said. “The San Juans are really unique and are some of the most beautiful mountains and some of the best backpacking in the country,” she said. Chicago Basin is the most used trail in the San Juan National Forest, Peterson said. “One of our most popular trails in the National Forest is the Needle Creek Chicago Basin Area,” Peterson said. “It makes it into a lot of magazines because of the
14,000 foot peaks up there and the novelty of taking the train back to the trailhead. It’s a great area.” Chicago Basin is the premier backpacking location listed in the National Geographic article. It is accessible via the Durango/Silverton railroad, Spohn said. “You can ride the Durango to Silverton train, so people will ride the train and get off at a place called Needleton,” she said. “It’s literally just a stop. There’s a cabin and some rafting companies. They’ll hike up Needle Creek and stay at Chicago Basin. From there, there are tons of peaks to climb.” The Colorado Trail, which runs from Denver to Durango, is accessible from Chicago Basin as well. The section between Silverton and Durango is very popular to backpackers, she said.
RECOGNIZED BY NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC AS ONE OF TOP 10 PLACES TO BACKPACK Story by Alex Semadeni
Graphic by Allison Anderson
Design by Allison Anderson
Spohn believes the Colorado Trail is the best place to backpack, because there is a lot of different sections that you can choose from. “It’s well-marked, easy to follow, there’s campsites,” Spohn said. “That’s probably the most popular around here.” Molas Pass, near Silverton, and Junction Creek, which is right outside Durango, are popular places to start if you want to access the Colorado Trail, she said. The La Plata Mountains, west of Durango, and Vallecito Lake, which has around fifteen miles of backpacking trails leading to the Continental Divide Trail, are also very popular, she said. Backpacking season generally depends on how much snow the trails got over the winter, Peterson said. “If you’re looking to do a loop or get
over a high mountain pass, and don’t live in the area, we recommend July or later just to allow the snow to melt,” Peterson said. “Sometimes there can be some snowfields still left, some dangerous areas for crossing.” If it is a more south-facing trail, trails could potentially be open by Memorial Day, he said. “If you live in the area, or even if you don’t, there’s still places that you can go,” Peterson said. “It’s just a little more limited.” The National Geographic article lists Durango as the perfect starting place to enjoy southwest Colorado. “It’s big enough that it’s got a real city, but it’s small enough that it feels like a mountain town,” Josh Kling, a guide for a local outfitter said. “From Durango, you can access the Grand Canyon, you can access the Rockies, you can access Utah, you
can access Moab. You can do a lot from Durango. It’s a pretty cool city.” The San Juan National Forest also realizes how special their land is, Peterson said. “There’s wide range of elevations and terrain,” he said, “You can be on high desert-like conditions or on top of a 14,000 foot peak within a few hours. There’s a variety of places you can go.” There is not a place anywhere that can compare to what this area offers, he said. “There’s so many great backpacking places in Colorado,” Peterson said. “We’re pretty fortunate here with the different terrain. There’s national parks, there’s state land, there’s national forest land. All the public land, including the Four Corner’s area, makes it a great place to explore.” i
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SPORTS
Story by Carolyn Estes
Photo courtesy of Sarah Meier
Design by Hanna Maddera
n Sunday, Jan. 24, the 2005 Fort Lewis College men’s soccer team was inducted into the FLC Athletics Hall of Fame. The induction happened at the Strater Hotel for their ‘05 win at the NCAA Division II National Championship. In 2005, Jeremy Gunn was the head coach of the men’s soccer team, now he is the head coach for the Stanford University men’s soccer team. The 2005 FLC men’s soccer team seasons record was 22-0-1 and they were undefeated, Gunn, said. For Jeremy Gunn’s first year coaching at FLC in 1999, the men’s soccer team went to the NCAA Division II National Championship and lost in the finals, he said. When the 2005 men’s soccer team won the NCAA Division II National Cham-
pionship it was the culmination of what had happened in 1999, Bryan Eisenbraun, financial analyst at Mercury Payment Systems, said. Eisenbraun was a fifth-year senior who was captain and the starting center back for the 2005 FLC men’s soccer team, he said. “1999 created this idea that we could win a national championship out of Fort Lewis College, who didn’t really have a lot of funding and wasn’t really on the map,” Eisenbraun said. Nominations are taken for consideration into the FLC Athletics Hall of Fame after 10 years of being gone from FLC and are usually made by coaches, Jimmy Hall, head coach of the FLC women’s soccer team, said. On the 2005 FLC men’s soccer team
Hall was the volunteer student assistant, he said. Gunn said seeing the players after a decade was probably one of his favorite moments in his coaching career, he said. “The games we compete in come and go quite quickly and they do create great memories, but getting to see all of the players that moved on in life onto new successes, starting families, new jobs and everything is a really incredible experience,” Gunn said. “My face hurt by the end of the weekend because I spent so much time smiling.” For the team it was such a special achievement to do something that has never been done before in the history of FLC, he said. “The team was the star, we didn’t stand
O
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out in any way shape or form other than we fit together very well, we were very organized and we wanted to win together,” Eisenbraun said. In Gunn’s perspective, everyone on the team was committed to doing the best that they could do. It was an environment where everyone on the team knew their role and everyone was willing to work hard for the betterment of the team, he said. Hall drove the redshirts to Witchita Falls to support their team and watch the NCAA Division II National Championship, he said. NCAA rules state that only 28 people are allowed to travel with the team for away games, he said. The biggest thing Hall has taken away from the 2005 FLC men’s soccer team and that program is how important it is to have a positive culture, he said
The FLC men’s soccer team went on to win two more NCAA Division II National Championships in the last 10 years, Hall said. For Eisenbraun winning the National Championship in 2005 was living out the dream. As the center starter, captain and fifthyear senior, Eisenbraun lived the dream when they were the first team in FLC soccer history to win the NCAA Division II National Championship. “The most important thing from my perspective that needs to be included is recognition of the team,” Eisenbraun said. “It was the team that got inducted; it wasn’t me, it wasn’t Jeremy, it was the team and I don’t think any of us would have it any other way.” i
According to FLC athletics, members of the 2005 FLC men’s soccer national championship team listed in alphabetical order are: Adam Beach, Jonathan Boyer, Nick Clark, Bernardo Costa, John Cunliffe, Tom Donley, John Eckhoff, Bryan Eisenbraun, Sean Flanagan, Kyle Fredrick, Ben Gantenbein, head coach Jeremy Gunn, student coach Jimmy Hall, Kieran Hall, Erik Hardin, Ryan Kerr, Nick Kirchhof, Taylor Lavoy, assistant coach Andy McDermid, student athletic trainer Scott McGinn, assistant coach Darren Morgan, Ryan Parsons, Carter Rice, Casey Roberts, Paul Sanchez, Cole Sweetser, Justin Valashinas, Cliff Wilmes, and Kenny Wood.
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OPINION
AN INSIGHT TO THE HUB FROM THE ZINE QUEEN HERSELF Opinion by Hanna Maddera Ah, the Grub Hub. Located in the basement of the Reed Library, it’s my second home. Well, I suppose my second home would be a toss up between the Grub Hub and the Ballantine Media Center, where we produce The Indy, but that’s beside the point. Most simply put, I spend a lot of time there. You can find me hanging around there almost any day of the week, for some reason or another. But it wasn’t always like this, no, I’ve only been residing there for about a year and a half now. A few semesters ago, I took Dr. Leslie Blood’s ENGL 215 News Media Writing class, where we learned to write stories as professional journalists would. For my first story assignment, I pitched to write an informative piece on the Grub Hub, which I knew close to nothing about. The decision to write this story lead me to a spectacular shift in my college experience. I learned that right here on campus, there were students willing to volunteer their time to supply free food to students - with no strings attached. No food stamp paperwork, no food bank formalities. Just. Free. Food. You took what you needed, weighed it on a scale, and went on with your day with a fuller stomach. What attracted me initially was the vibrancy of the space itself. The walls were graffitied with deep pigments of spray paint, seemingly randomly selected hues that somehow complimented the varying styles of artwork. Usually, student volunteers would be hanging out on the futon and an assortment of desk chairs, circled around a computer that was cranking folk punk tunes from outdated speakers. After the initial sensory overload, I was endeared by these students. They were all involved in Sociology Club, and they had the kindest souls and most radical ideas. They were creative and passionate about things that mattered. After I conducted my interviews and completed my story, I knew I had to get involved. So I started attending meetings and
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events, and eventually integrated Grub Hub’s free food Thursday into my weekly schedule. I was amazed as I watched friendly faces light up at the sight of free Homeslice pizza and canned goods. Last spring, the people I met that I had learned to adore were graduating that semester, so they needed people to commit to be officers of the Sociology Club. So, an officer position fell into my lap. I accepted, and I eventually became Soc Club’s “Zine Queen,” and yes, that’s an official title. This year, the Sociology Club has done some amazing things that I am so proud to have been a part of. We hosted the “To Change Everything” event, an international anarchist panel with people who had travelled from all over the world to share their experiences about the activism work they were involved in within their communities. We also have Prison Letter Writing every first and third Friday of every month when we write to prisoners, and we are curating a book of creative works by incarcerated youth in collaboration with Save The Kids. We have a great selection of books and zines in our Lending Lyberry collection that are available for anyone to borrow. We’ve stood in solidarity with Indigenous Feminism Rising, Black Student Union, Dirty Hands Collective, and Feminist Voice events. But most importantly, we’ve kept the good ol’ Grub Hub alive, and we’ve definitely done some revamping. We are so excited to be serving free hot meals every Monday and Friday from recovered Sodexo food, in addition to our usual Thursday food pantry day. So I encourage you to please grab some tupperware from your house, scoop in a hot meal, and join us for some conversation in the wonderful, welcoming entity that is the Grub Hub, our free community space on campus, welcome to all. i
PROCREATION WITHOUT RECREATION Opinion by Jarred Green “Don’t have sex, because you will get pregnant and die! Don’t have sex in the missionary position, don’t have sex standing up, just don’t do it, OK,
promise?” Coach Carr from “Mean Girls” sums up the extent of my high school sex education. Actually, he provided more information than I ever got. I went to a Catholic school for my high school years, and let me tell you, sex was more of a mystery than the Holy Trinity. Casual sex, or sex at all really, was a whole new realm of reality for my “sex educators” in high school. If I could sum up my level of sex education in high school in one phrase, it would be “sex is for procreation not recreation.” I remember at one of our school masses we had a guest priest - yes those are a thing - that talked about Lady Gaga dressed as a prophylactic and how offensive it was that she was preaching and promoting safe sex. The whole thing was awkward. We literally had a sermon about how bad it was that Lady Gaga wanted people to be safe when having sex. That’s how serious that particular priest was about abstinence. We read from the Bible to see what was “good” sex and what was “bad” sex. It was an experience. In my sex education though, I learned that homosexual - they meant anal- sex was a big no no because it makes God sad. This was discussed in a world religions class where our teacher had us put anonymous questions in a box, and we would have “circle time” and discuss questions that we had about religion. I’m pretty sure she was not qualified to give us any of this information, because she was not a priest or sister, but who am I to say who should inform students about sex? Sex education should involve other forms of intimacy other than actual intercorse, right? I wouldn’t know because my sex ed was almost nonexistent. But we were given “dance commandments” when we had school dances that limited the amount of intimacy we could show. I wish I wrote them down when they were broadcast over the PA system every Friday before a dance because they were hilarious. But they were something along the lines of, “Thou shall not ‘grind’ on the dancefloor. Thou shalt leave room for the Holy Spirit. Thou shall not show too much skin, that means you ladies.” I wish I was joking, I really do, but this was the extent of what we were told in regards to physical intimacy. It’s kind of sad how little sex education I got.
I did however get a 20 minute flash sex education in my evolutionary biology class my sophomore year. From what I remember, we watched a guy ejaculate from a camera inside of his penis. Then the next cut was a baby suddenly popping out of a vagina, and I mean popping out. It was so sudden that I remember being startled from how abrupt it was. That was the extent of my sex education. We studied it from a scientific perspective. How the sperm fertilizes the egg, and the cells duplicate and continue to do so to form a baby. Disclaimer; I’m not speaking on behalf of all Catholic schools and sex education, I am speaking about my experience. i
SOLIDARITY IS KEY Opinion by Keenan Malone Recently, I listened as a close friend of mine expressed her frustration about the lack of an effort she thinks her younger brother is putting into his higher education. Based on his grades and his attitude toward college throughout his first freshman semester, she said he had yet to embrace the college experience and effectively separate himself from what she sees as developmentally stagnant mentalities he’s inherited from his hometown. Knowing what I know about myself and my struggles to escape the same mentality from the same hometown, I loosely suggested that he take the summer, the extra long, summers-in-Durango-as-a-college-student kind of summer and go on a solo backpacking trip through the local mountains and possibly beyond. At the time this seemed like an obvious solution. You take a troubled kid, throw him through some backpacking trails he may have seen at some point in National Geographic and see what happens, right? But when I suggested this I knew I was only offering her the “I always do this thing and it works for me” kind of advice, and that it may not apply as much to her brother. She smiled at the thought, but told me
she didn’t see her brother as someone who’s emotionally capable of embarking on a solo backpacking trip. I know her brother, and as I pictured this scenario I had just suggested, I could see her point. Despite this, the question still remained in my mind of how could an epic backpacking trip at 18 years old do nothing for one’s emotional development? During that strange time you meet people from all over the world, all with drastically different goals, experiences, moral codes and so on. If you’re doing the whole young person thing right, and hopefully you are, this eclectic mix of people you choose to associate with will all be working toward something that aims to improve some aspect of themselves, regardless of their differences. The experience of this diversity, in terms of the simple exposure you get along with the ability to navigate amongst a sea of influences that educate and expand the mind without being overwhelmed or conquered entirely by these influences, is one aspect of how college prepares a person for adult life, as you were probably already told at some point. While part of learning how to be an adult is knowing how much of other peoples’ opinions and mannerisms you appreciate or agree with, another perhaps larger aspect is the ability to be okay with being completely alone. However, it may be the case that some of you are either already okay with being entirely alone, or maybe you already know yourself so well that you don’t see any relevance of the effects outside influences have on your direction in life. To be in either one of these positions is fine, but if you’re absolutely okay with being alone is it because you’re generally a reclusive person, or do you enjoy the company of other people as much as your own? And if you do know which track you’re meant to be on, regardless of what anyone else thinks or says, are you still okay with being alone? If you choose the latter for both of these, than that’s great. I really have no advice for you. If not, I would like to gently suggest that the activity of backpacking, specifically through Durango’s mind blowing and existentially humbling trails, may be some sort of a catalyst to a solution for you, or even someone you love. i
Meet an Indy
Staffer!
NAME: Hanna Maddera
HOMETOWN:
Littleton, CO. Thank god I got out of the suburbs.
Position: Lead Print Design & Photography
FAVORITE INDY DEPARTMENT: Design, of course.
FAVORITE CHILDHOOD TOY:
I like that glittery slime, but I also really enjoyed Furbies. Oh and Pokémon cards, I collected those for years. And I still play Animal Crossing on my Nintendo DS.
SWEET OR SAVORY?
Sweet. Sweet any day. But like gummy sweet, not chocolate sweet.
FAVORITE INDY MOMENT:
My favorite Indy moment was bumping the print issues up to 28 pages. It gave us breathing room to create really visual issues because that’s what catches the reader’s attention, not daunting, text-heavy issues.
WHY YOU THINK PEOPLE SHOULD JOIN THE INDY:
Well first of all, it is a really good student organization to teach you how to get your s*** together for life after college... and it also builds a physical portfolio for you!
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ENTERTAINMENT
H O R O S C O P E S An unoffical statement written by an Indy staff member. ARIES (March 21 – April 19): You’re your own person, but when you ask for advice, you should probably take it. Or at least listen and consider taking it.
c D E F G H I J K L A B
TAURUS (March 20 – May 20): Do you see any plants poking through the ground yet? Keep surveying your surrounding environments carefully and take notice of changes.
The Indy Online Want more? Visit us at theindyonline.com for more stories, opinions, Fort Fuel videos, photo slideshows and more content! You can find these stories online now:
GEMINI (May 21 – June 20): Don’t let allergies slow you down at this point in the semester! Allergy medicine and a hot cup of tea with a spoonful of honey and lemon might be your best friend this week. CANCER (June 21 – July 22): Little Cancerian, it’s okay to be sad, but don’t wallow in self-pity for too long. Soak up some Vitamin D through your skin to lift your spirits when you’re feeling particularly down.
LEO (July 23 – August 22): When you’re feeling overwhelmed with stress, just remember that the semester is coming to a close sooner that you’d think, so it’s worth it to push through the academic pain until you can hit the reset button and enjoy summer vacation. VIRGO (August 23 – September 22): As not to fall victim of your own tedious routine, shake it up. Call your good friend that you haven’t seen in ages, pick up a bird watching hobby, or buy a pet lizard to take care of (that is, unless you live in the dorms – your RA might not like a new critter running around). LIBRA (September 23 – October 22): Libra, it’s always handy to have bandages within reach. Stuff a few dinosaur printed ones in places you commonly occupy. SCORPIO (October 23 – November 21): It could be time to redecorate your space. A spring cleaning of sorts, but not so dramatic. Just a fresh reevaluation of aesthetics. SAGITTARIUS (November 22 – December 21): Hey bud, I’m proud of everything you’ve already accomplished in 2k16! Take time to appreciate your own achievements.
CAPRICORN (December 22 – January 19): It’s the little things right now that should keep your occasional smirk emerging. Pop the bubble wrap, always. Recite your signature corny joke long after your friends tell you they’re heard it too many times. Buy the candy bar from the vending machine instead of the pretzels. AQUARIUS (January 20 – February 18): Some exciting opportunities seemed to have presented themselves! Take advantage of these experiences, they could benefit your future self.
PISCES (February 19 – March 20): Are you eating well? If your body feels good, it’ll be easier to tackle your school work, so I suggest watching what is going into your digestive system and how often you’re eating.
STORY IDEA?
Email Luke Perkins at ldperkins@fortlewis.edu
Buy tickets on the bus with exact change cash, credit or debit card.
For Info: (970) 553-0389
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l
www.roadrunnerstagelines.com
Death to the Concentrations: A New Writing Major to Debut Fall of 2016 Story by Emily Cruse Photo by Emily Cruse
History Department Chair Delivers Masculinity Talk Story by Alex Semadeni Graphic by Julia Volzke
What Will You Remember?
Opinion by Madison Carman Graphic by Julia Volzke
The Vagina Monologues Revealing the Female Body Story by Carolyn Estes Photo by Julia Volzke
Climate Change: A Groundhog’s Perspective
Story by Alexandra Lamb Graphic by Camden Smith
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 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)
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BAND OF MISFITS Comic by Jared Dillon
PERSONCOMIC.JPG Comic by Hanna Maddera
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Contact us if you are interested in contributing to your student news organization. Luke Perkins Editor in Chief ldperkins@fortlewis.edu Madison Carman Business Director mcarman.indy@gmail.com
Yoga makes you a better student. * Come on down for the BEST SELECTION and LOWEST PRICES in town!
FLC New Student Special! Two weeks of yoga for $65
Sailor Jerry
FireBall Cinnamon Whisky
Spiced rum 1.75L
$
2499
$
1399
Vodka 1.75L
250
*Numerous studies show that yoga enhances focus, attention, concentration, comprehension and memory in the classroom.
PaBSt Blue ribbon
Florida Rd.
M MO OR RE ES SP PA AC CE E,, M MO OR RE EE EQ QU UIIP PM ME EN NT T
30Pk Cans
Geoglein Gulch Rd.
FLC
$
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Durango
970-247-2258 1485 Florida Rd., Bld C, Ste. 100 HOURS: MON - THURS: 9-10, FRI & SAT: 9-10:30, SUN: 10-7
2
$
VALID THROUGH APRIL 30
1899
$
240
Main St.
Maximum of 14 classes. First-time Yogadurango students only.
yogadurango.com 1485 Florida Road C-201 | 1140-A Main Avenue Durango
32nd St.
550
750ml
Skyy
off ANYTHING
Star Liquors Coupon: $2 Coupon off any purchase. Must be 21yrs or older to use coupon. One coupon per customer, One coupon per day. Coupon expires April 15, 2016
FFU S T H L G M N M L O O U O O TR HT SPPPIIIN LW GH M NR M LL OM OM UL WEEEIIIG RO OO RO OO T H Y E G M A E I O G U FFR W R S E O O T T O H E G M A D E I O G U R E O O T O DIIIO YOGA STUD REE WEIGHT ROOM FFU C L A N G O N O T N C M D M N A O R O U R O A O LT AL NA GR ON NG OR CA TIIIO NIIIN CT M DIIIO M NC AIIIN OM RD OM UN TR RA RO OO AR RO OO G N T I I C P N U U I M C O A O R O G T R R R R O I O G N T I I P N U U I M C M O A O R O R R O I O GROUP TRAINING ROOM M CIRCUIT ROOM 6600++ G M R O U P A S S E S K L Y A T O O M OU UP PC AS SS SE ES SW KL LY Y TR OM M GR RO CLLLA WEEEEEEK MA AT RO OO FFU U L L O C K E R O O M S W A C U Z Z A M O O M A U N A LL LL CK KE ER RR OM MS SW CU UZ ZZ ZIII,, S AM MR OM M& UN NA A UL LO OC RO OO W// J JA AC STTTEEEA RO OO &S SA AU
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FFRREEEE EEN NRRO OLLLLM MEEN NTT For current FLC students with one year commitment. Must present coupon. Offer expires 4/15/2016.