Issue83 issuu

Independent

The

Fort Lewis College News Magazine Issue 83

www.theindyonline.com

THINK BEFORE YOU INK

IN THIS ISSUE

FROM THE EDITOR’S DESK

CAMPUS

Dear readers, Welcome back from a well deserved break. I hope that you are all well rested and ready for the final push towards finals and winter break. Just a few short weeks until we can put this semester and calendar year behind us and start anew.

FLC’s Credit Change: Four Hours of Work in a Three Hour Bag - 3

This idea of starting anew is something that has weighed on my mind a lot recently, not only for myself but the publication I have spent the last two years with. You see in just a matter of days I will relinquish my position as Editor in Chief to my successor and move on into the world of post-undergrad success… or at least I hope I will. But regardless of what happens to me once graduation rolls around I know that The Independent will be in good hands.

Story by Travis Good

Recruiting the Future: Changes in Admission Standards at FLC - 10

In the next few semesters it will be exciting to see how this organization transitions under the guidance of a new leader who brings his own life, academic and professional interests and experiences. The Indy will take steps in the upcoming months to shift its focus into the digital world and try its hand at the 24-hour news cycle. I do not doubt that there will be growing pains and at time perhaps we will stumble but this is to be expected when one expands beyond their comfort zone.

Story by Izzy Farrell

COMMUNITY

However, this is what is to come and in the meantime I hope that you will enjoy what we have worked hard to produced for this issue of The Independent.

Calling for Help: Suicide resources in Durango- 5

Luke Perkins Editor In Chief The Independent News Organization

Story by Masheli Thompson

Senior Spotlight: Counting Down to Graduation - 11

Anyone who is interested in providing feedback on The Independent can reach out either through Email (independent@fortlewis. edu) or through Facebook (The Independent FLC) and Twitter (@flcindependent). If you are interested in providing feedback about specific departments please visit Theindyonline.com where you can find contact info for our departmental editors.

Story by Allison Young

COVER EDITORS & STAFF

Think Before You Ink - 7

REPORTING

Story by Carolyn Estes

Allison Young Chris Mannara Masheli Thompson Carolyn Estes Travis Good Izzy Farrell Kaleigh Dixson

HEALTH Breaking Down the Gender Binary- 9 Story by Kaleigh Dixson

DESIGN/PHOTOGRAPHY LUKE PERKINS Editor in Chief

ALEX SEMADENI Print Editor

JARRED GREEN Online Manager

NATALIA SELLS Business Director

Catie Welch Celeste Matovich Crystal Ashike Drew Lovell Cyril Glaser

CAREERS You’re a Big Kid Now! Tips for FLC Seniors to Get Jobs- 6

VIDEO PRODUCTION

Story by Chris Mannara

Alison Uralli Meryl Ramsey Gabrielle Silva Drew Lovell

LUCY SCHAEFER ALLISON ANDERSON KEENAN MALONE ALLISON KRUCHELL Photography Editor Design Editor Social Media Video Production

Cover photo by Celeste Matovich

ENTERTAINMENT

BUSINESS

Horoscopes, Indy Online Highlights, and Creative Works by Students!- 13

Alicia Koehler

Photo by Lucy Schaefer

Photo by Celeste Matovich

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CAMPUS

FLC’s Credit Change:

Four Hours of Work in a Three-hour Bag Story by Travis Good

T

he recent adjustment from the four-credit courses to the current three-hour system has taken a toll on both students and staff at Fort Lewis College.

The credit change has forced students to attend more classes in order to satisfy the credit requirement to be full time students, Kenny Miller, chair of the chemistry department, said.

The logic behind taking more classes in a semester is that it should allow for students to be able to earn their degree quicker and effectively get students to partake in more liberal arts activity by joining more elective classes, Miller said.

The downside is that it means that students will have to take more classes during the semester, Miller said.

Every institution in Colorado has implemented the three-hour system. FLC was the only state institution that differed from other state institutions when it came to credit hours, so it makes sense that if as a state institution those credits should be consistent, he said.

Using the three-hour system makes it easier to transfer credits to other Colorado institutions because

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Graphics by Allison Anderson

FLC is now a three-hour system as well, he said.

As this is the norm students will have to adapt, Miller said.

Under this system students would be taking more classes each term, allowing them to get their degree faster, Michele Malach the chair of the english department at FLC said.

Her concern is that in this early stage students are more stressed, they are having trouble keeping up with the work load, and they are going to drop classes, Malach said.

“I felt like it worked better to have students taking fewer classes with more credits so that they could go more in-depth into the material that they were learning,” she said.

The English department has had difficulties with figuring out how to trim down the four-credit courses to three-hour system, she said.

Faculty spent a lot of time this summer trying to figure out how to reduce the amount of content in FLC’s English department courses to meet the three credit requirement as well as trying to figure out how to fit that content into the shorter classes which continues to be a struggle to this day, Malach said.

Design by Allison Anderson

“You can put more material in a four-credit course than you can in a three-credit course,” she said.

It is difficult for the faculty to fit so much information into the shorter class periods and extremely taxing on students who now have to take four or five, three-credit courses rather than what it had been previously with three or four, four-credit courses, she said.

The Chemistry and Biology departments have seen relatively no change in the midst of the credit change, Miller said.

This is due to the science courses having always been under a three-credit system with a one credit lab, so scheduling has not changed, he said.

But this does not mean this transition has been without hiccups.

“It is an increased workload for both faculty and students,” Miller said. “Faculty are frustrated because they are teaching more classes and students have to take on more classes to be considered full-time.”

Students are struggling to adjust to the credit change, especially in upper-division classes, where they are accustomed to the four-credit courses, Malach said.

“Students are aware that they are not getting the kind of courses that they were getting before, she said.

“They feel the stress of trying to jam all this material into shorter classes and fewer credits as well as the strain of having to take more classes every semester.”

There is a significant number of students dropping classes this semester because they can not handle taking so many classes, she said.

Faculty are not able to serve students as effectively as they could before due to the cut back of depth in the material covered in class along with the amount of time they can spend with students, Malach said.

One of FLC’s primary marketing points is that they have a really good student-teacher ratio, that classes are small but they are getting bigger, she said.

This credit change is and will be

a challenge over the next few years but as time goes on, students and faculty will be able to adapt to the changes, Malach said.

Note from the Editor- The School of Business Administration declined multiple requests for comments on the credit change from The Independent. As such, this article represents the experiences of faculty from the School of Arts and Sciences with the three hour system.

COMMUNITY

Story by Masheli Thompson

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CAREERS

Photo by Crystal Ashike

recent Washington Post article reported that La Plata County had the highest rate of suicide for counties in Colorado with over 30,000 people, and presented profiles of women who had committed suicide in La Plata county.

So far in 2016, there are 12 confirmed suicides in La Plata county, Jann Smith, La Plata county coroner, said. In 2015 there were eight confirmed suicides, in 2014 there were nine, and in 2013 there were 11.

Two recent suicides fresh in Smith’s mind were the death of a Miller Middle School student and a young girl in Cortez.

There are resources available to people considering suicide in La Plata county, Rob Cowen, counselor at Fort Lewis College’s counseling center, said.

For people suffering from depression and other mental health issues, there are crisis resources available to them, Cowen said. At FLC, this includes having an on-call counselor during business hours.

One of the resources the counseling center offers is assisting friends of those with depression to get their friends assistance and providing support for those dealing with potentially suicidal friends, he said.

“It is always okay to ask,” Cowen said. “It’s always better to err on the side of caution.”

There is also the Axis Mental Health services, a mental health clinic with trained counselors and psychiatrists, which takes Medicaid and other insurance, he said.

They have an all-hours crisis line that can assist those who have suicidal thoughts, and this program is often part of crisis plans made at the counseling center, Cowen said.

There is also the Durango Police Department, with a special team trained to assist

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Design by Crystal Ashike

those in a mental health crisis and do so sensitively, he said.

A member of this task force, known as the Crisis Intervention Team, is Lieutenant David Longenett of the Durango Police Department.

The CIT goes through a 40-hour training for sensitivity to mental health and substance issues, including how to identify different crises that community members can face, Longenett said.

This training includes feedback from the community regarding what is most helpful to them, Longenett said.

The CIT often deals with those who are actively looking for help with suicidal feelings and works to help those people get to the assistance they need, he said.

Durango’s CIT had 161 calls up to the month of August this year, with 44 of those resulting in trips to Mercy Regional Medical Center to seek mental health evaluations, Longenett said.

There were 12 suicide attempts through August, with three suicides.

“Even if there is a criminal act, we have discretion on what we can charge,” he said.

He estimates that 90 to 95 percent of the rides to Mercy were individual voluntarily seeking psychiatric help, Longenett said.

In a mental health emergency, calling 911 and speaking to the dispatcher will get the CIT present, he said.

You’re a Big for FLC Seniors to Kid Now: Tips get Jobs Story by Chris Mannara

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or Fort Lewis College Students, getting a job after graduation depends on a well-developed portfolio and resume.

Students can turn to various outlets for jobs after graduation such as: Monster.com, Idealist, and USAjobs, Patricia Dommer, Career Services coordinator, said.

To make themselves presentable on these sites however students should focus on other web-based profiles of theirs, Dommer said.

“I would advise students to have a strong LinkedIn account, and just be strong in social media overall and also be very aware of what is being posted about you,” Dommer said.

The rise of digital media has caused employers to focus heavily on a potential employee’s social media and digital presence, Lindsay Nyquist, director of Digital Communications at FLC, said.

“It’s important for anyone in any major to make sure that your personal profiles are appropriate for professional distribution,” Nyquist said.

The screening process that helps employees choose undergraduate students for jobs is also shifting to an online-only process, she said.

“A good amount of employers are considering a digital pre-inter-

Graphics by Allison Anderson view where they Google your name, so I encourage students to be aware of that when preparing for a job interview,” she said.

It is important for students to not only be focused on internships when they are seniors, but when they are underclassmen as well, Dommer said.

“Companies that are offering internships are looking for sophomores going into their junior year, or juniors going into their senior year, because they are trying you out and see how you can learn on the job,” she said.

Too much planning for the future can be a bad thing for some students so it is important to have guidelines for what you want in life, Kate Suazo, a student manager at El Centro and senior at FLC, said.

“I think stressing out about a specific plan can really set you up for disappointment in the long run,” Suazo said.

Getting involved on campus is a good way to build a strong resume and make yourself more appealing in the eyes of potential employers, she said.

“A lot of the clubs you can get involved with on campus want to help you thrive and reach your goals, so getting involved and empowering

Design by Allison Anderson yourself to be big parts of the organizations goes a long way,” she said.

For seniors that are going to be fresh out of college employers are usually pretty open to hiring new graduates, Dommer said.

“They are very open, but it depends on the job and the market place, and what the students can bring to the table,” she said.

Going to FLC can be a bonus in itself because of the liberal arts education for any upcoming seniors, she said.

The benefits for some majors at FLC are they could acquire an extra level of accreditation, Dommer said.

“Working in the business department I tell students all the time that you’re getting a liberal arts education and an Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business accreditation,” Dommer said.

Fort Lewis’s small class and campus size can also contribute to student success in the job hunt, Suazo said.

“If I went to a bigger university, I don’t think the professors would have seen the potential that I have and wouldn’t have taken a shot on me and given me the confidence to grow,” Suazo said.

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Think before yoU ink

COVER Brianna Martinez recently got her first tattoo on her arm.

It was done here in Durango at Your Flesh Tattoo by Marcus.

I Remi Majeski shows off one of his tattoos. This is his first name in arabic located on his wrist..

Alexis Keopangna shows her back tattoo. She got this done at Skin Inc. tattoo here in Durango.

Pictured here is Kyleen Perry’s second tattoo. She had it done in Durango at Animas Tattoo and Piercing.

Julie Aster shows us her back tattoo.

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Story by Carolyn Estes

deas of tattoos are changing in today’s society. While perceptions are changing there are still many options to consider before getting a tattoo.

“There are so many tattooers out there nowadays and so many tattoo shops, but there is very few high quality,” Matt Rousseau, owner of Your Flesh custom tattoo shop, said.

When getting a tattoo it is worth it to do the leg work and do the research, Rousseau said. Educate yourself by going into the establishment, look at portfolios, and talk to the tattooers.

“It is going to be there forever so it is worth it to exercise your right to find the person who is right for you,” Rousseau said.

According to Rousseau getting tattoos in this day and age is hip and cool, he said. Tattoos can mark events, places, and situations in your life and sometimes it can be just to get a cool piece of artwork.

“People have been getting tattooed for thousands of years,” he said.

“So I feel like it is kind of in us somewhere to have the desire as a human to decorate ourselves and mark our bodies.”

The perceptions of tattoos has changed over

Design by Celeste Matovich

time and is way more acceptable now, Rousseau said.

“The stigmas are no where near where they use to be with tattoos,” he said.

“Back in the day it was kind of an outlaw thing, it was kind of a subculture, you know the under belly society” Having tattoos can still be concerning for people getting a job, but the stigmas for tattoos have changed and is becoming less and less of an issue, he said.

“I do not think people look at heavily tattooed people the same anymore,” he said. “You see a lot of tattoos and it is high fashion.”

Rousseau himself is covered in tattoos, like a suite, he said. Each of his tattoos were done with different motivations.

“Some of them are souvenirs from places I have been and people I have met,” Rousseau said. “I have tattoos that family members have done on me and I have tattoos that do not mean anything.”

Back in 1989 when Durango Public Library Director Sandy Irwin got her tattoo they were not as popular, she said. Irwin’s friends were afraid to show their parents and would place bandages

Photos by Celeste Matovich

over the tattoos so their parents would not see it.

“It is rare to find somebody without a tattoo these days especially with younger people,” Irwin said.

According to Irwin tattoos are really personal but have become so much more apart of today’s society, she said.

“I think tattoos have become more mainstream, they are an expression of a piece of your life,” Irwin said. “Whether you have a tattoo that represents a relationship, or your children being born, or a tribal tattoo, it is a way that people express themselves.”

Sara Squirrell, an environmental studies major in her junior year at Fort Lewis College, has a total of four tattoos.

“My parents do not approve of tattoos,” Squirrell said. “They just grew up in a day and age where tattoos were a symbol of rebellion, instead of views now being artistic and thoughtful.”

Squirell’s parents have the mindset that tattoos are going to harm and diminish her opportunities in the future, she said.

“I did put it into consideration but my views on it is that it doesn’t change who I am,” she said. “It

should not make them have different views on me because of something that is on my body.”

She has a sun and moon located on her feet, sunflower on her shoulder, and native plants and animals of Colorado on her forearm, Squirrell said.

The first of the four was a sun and a moon on her feet for her great grandpa who passed away, she said.

“My grandfather would always say ‘do not worry about the small things, live in between the sun and the moon’”, Squirrell said.

On her shoulder is a sunflower representing her mother, sacred geometry representing her brother, a bee representing her father, and two bouquets of flowers that represent her sister, she said.

The one on her forearm are all native plants, a bird and a rabbit of Colorado, she said.

“My advice would be take your time deciding what you want, make sure you do art checks and are completely satisfied,” Squirrell said.

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HEALTH

CAMPUS

RECRUITING THE FUTURE Changes in Admission Standards at FLC Story by Izzy Farrell

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s time progresses the push for acceptance of the transgender community is further brought to society’s attention.

Overall, the definition of transgender is often over-complicated or confused, Nancy Stoffer, coordinator of diversity programming at Fort Lewis College, said.w “What it means to be transgender is for a person to identify differently from the sex in which they were born,” Stoffer said.

Fort Lewis College, and Durango in general, are open communities where transgenders can feel welcome, whether on or off campus, she said.

There are many options available to Fort Lewis including housing accommodations, gender neutral housing and bathrooms, Safe Zone Training, PRISM, Gender and Sexuality Resource Center, and 4 Star Trans Support Group, she said.

Transgenders face a multitude of obstacles, but fortunately visibility, understanding and acceptance con-

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Story by Kaleigh Dixson Graphic by Crystal Ashike Design by Crystal Ashike Both Castle and Stoffer agreed tinue to grow in Durango, Stoffer that Tea at the G is another useful said.

On campus specifically, Com- and uniquely eye-opening resource mon Ground is a strong, supportive available on campus.

Tea at the G is a weekly gatherresource provided to multi-racial ing in which a new prompt, typically and sexual groups, she said.

Common Ground, which is regarding sexuality, is provided for largely run by students, teachers discussion each week, Stoffer said.

The discussions can be deep and and other FLC faculty members, is an organization at FLC that raises thought provoking or light humorcultural awareness and challenges ous depending on the intent of the students involved, she said. the gender binary, she said.

Despite the gains made both on “It requires a facilitator training to diversify the campus which campus and in the community of allows the facilitators to see things Durango there is still work to be through a different lense,” Brandon done, Castle said.

“There is a lot of progress to be Castle, a student and facilitator of made, as there is a lack of respect Common Ground, said.

Common Ground holds a vari- for the transgender community,” he ety of benefits, Castle said. Through said. “That being said, Durango is exercises and activities, students are fortunately a very open and acceptinvited to look at the world through ing community.” different lenses and walk in another’s shoes.

“It also provides a platform where people can ask questions and communicate comfortably and openly,” he said.

his year, prospective students should be a bit more nervous waiting for their admissions letter. Compared to previous years, fewer students have been accepted.

“Our admissions standards have been changing,” Lindley Gallegos, an admission counselor, said. “Essentially we cut out one of our lower tiers to make Fort Lewis a little bit harder to get into.”

Admitting fewer students is the reason behind this year’s lower enrollment, Gallegos said.

“We want Fort Lewis to be more academically competitive,” she said.

“So we’ve been admitting less students than we have in the past.”

Including Gallegos, there are five recruiters working for FLC, three of whom are based in Durango and two in Denver, she said.

The Office of Admission is about to hire a third person in Denver specifically to recruit STEM students, she said.

“We just invested over $30 million in the new GPE building,” she said. “We want another person to help us grow that program.”

As an admissions counselor, Gallegos’s sole responsibility is to attract and recruit students, she said.

That process includes many pieces, from travelling across the country to represent FLC at high school college fairs to speaking at “Friday’s at the Fort” events, she said.

Another selling point is how Fort

Graphics by Allison Anderson Lewis is the only four-year public liberal arts institution in Colorado, she said.

For freshman Olivia Thomas, FLC’s status as a liberal arts college was an important factor in her decision to attend.

Additionally, Thomas was impressed by the diversity and inclusion she observed on campus, she said.

“It was really surprising, compared to the other schools I toured,” Thomas said.

A lot of prospective students see the location as an exciting aspect of the school, Gallegos said.

“If they’ve heard of Durango, they’re stoked.” Gallegos said.

FLC has begun to use Royall & Company to recruit students. This means purchasing more names from PSAT and SAT tests and doing more geographically targeted advertising, Gallegos said.

Each recruiter is responsible for a different territory within the United States. Gallegos is responsible for the West Coast, she said.

‘We divide and conquer,” Gallegos said.

For Gallegos, this means travelling across the West to recruit students.

So far, she has visited Wyoming, Alaska, Utah, California, and the western slope of Colorado, she said.

“That’s just since August,” she said.

Design by Allison Anderson The difference between talking to students in such a wide variety of states has been noticeable, Gallegos said.

In California, students are rarely familiar with Fort Lewis as an institution, she said. However, in Alaska the school is often the most popular table at the fair.

FLC’s Native American tuition waiver is responsible for much of the name recognition among Alaskans, she said.

In Alaska alone the Federal government recognizes 229 tribes, according to the Bureau of Indian affairs.

“I like working with the kind of student who’s attracted to Fort Lewis, because they’re all really cool kids,” Gallegos said.

Such students usually want something different out of their college experience, she said.

“Fort Lewis College isn’t for your average high school student,” she said. “It’s somebody who’s looking for adventure.”

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COMMUNITY

Senior Spotlight: Counting Down to Graduation Story by Allison Young

Photos by Catie Welch

Design by Catie Welch

he commencement ceremony for graduating students will take place at 10 a.m. on Saturday, Dec. 17, in the Whalen Gymnasium.

“A lot goes into putting on graduation,” Connor Cafferty, student body president, said. “You have to organize facilities, speakers, violinists, platform party, and programs, and make sure everything is safe and can hold the maximum amount of people.”

Scheduling with the violinists and other performers as well as printing out the programs and lining up the events within the ceremony can be difficult, Cafferty said.

The school is not sure who will be the guest speaker this year.

“We always have a guest speaker, but it’s different every year,” he said.

“This year, we’re looking for a couple students to serve on the commencement committee to find a speaker.”

The speaker depends on what is going on at the time of the ceremony, he said.

“I think we should try to get a politician in this highly political year,” Cafferty said.

Retrospective Advice From Graduating Seniors

for various subjects, Cafferty said.

“I’ve been a tutor at FLC for two years,” he said. “I tutor econ, accounting, math, and science.”

He has also been helped by tutors, which pushed his personal growth, Cafferty said. But this is not the only resource.

“Student organizations and resources included in your student fees are also things to think about,” he said. “Career services, academic programs, having professors look at your resumes, these are all important.”

One resource includes the writing center, Owens said.

“I’ve used the writing center for help with my essays,” she said. “The people there were really helpful.”

It has also been beneficial for Owens to go see her professors during office hours because receiving extra help outside of the classroom gave an edge, she said.

“I go to the library to get homework done, and I use office hours to make sure I have the right answers for my work,” Rosthenhausler said.

“Professors are usually so happy to see you come in that they help you out the most that they can.”

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As fall graduation is quickly approaching, seniors are preparing for the end of their journey and reflecting on their past experiences, thinking of what they could have done differently if they could go back in time.

“Go on every trip you can,” Cafferty said. “Have every experience you can.”

Taking advantage of every opportunity that you can is important, he said.

“I would tell my freshman self to get out more and join more school programs,” Mandy Owens, senior at Fort Lewis, said. “Play intramurals. Get out and do other stuff that you’re not used to.”

This will keep you busy and expand your social circle, Owens said.

“Don’t worry about the little things,” Adriana Rosthenhausler, also a senior, said.

If you care what people think, then you are making life harder for yourself, she said.

In addition, several academic resources can add to a student’s education here at Fort Lewis.

One of the academic resources includes student organized tutoring

Looking to the Future Attending FLC has launched seniors into a position to expand on their education by receiving further schooling or entering their profession.

“I want to be successful in business,” Cafferty said. “I want to have an influence in public policy someday.”

Owens’ experience in her college courses is preparing her for what she wishes to become in the future, she said.

“Hopefully, in five years I’ll be graduated from physical therapy school and working in physical therapy clinics,” Owens said. “I want to help people recover from injury.”

Similarly, Rosthenhausler feels confident in the way her future will turn out.

“The future will hold what I want it to hold,” she said.

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ENTERTAINMENT

HOROSCOPES ARIES (March 21-April 19) The end of the semester is closer than you know - it’s time to buckle down and prep for finals, so don’t feel bad about turning down invitations.

TAURUS (April 20-May 20) The thing you’ve been waiting for for a while is right around the corner - all the hard work you’ve been putting in lately is about to really pay off.

GEMINI (May 21-June 20) Take some time to really appreciate things as they are right now. Big changes are on the horizon, and whether they’re good or bad is up to you.

CANCER (June 21-July 22) If you’ve been neglecting responsibilities for a while, it’s no use beating yourself up over it - just sit down and get it done.

LEO (July 23-August 22) Life is not a spectator sport - get off the sidelines and into the game. Your ability to perform challenging tasks may surprise you.

VIRGO (August 23-September 22) Giving yourself time to unwind is important, but taking care of impending deadlines and a growing to-do list is, in a lot of ways, much more cathartic.

LIBRA (September 23-October 22)

WE WANT YOU! The Independent is looking to redesign the distribution boxes on campus, and we want YOU to help! We are looking for artists, graphic designers, painters, illustrators, anyone with a flair for visual arts to submit ideas for how to redecorate the Indy’s yellow boxes.

CREATIVE WORKS

BY STUDENTS It’s All in the Ball

by George Bangs (teepublic.com/user/terriffico)

The Independent is now accepting creative content to be included in the next print issue of the Indy. Art, poems, photos, short stories, anything you’d like to submit is welcome!

Please send any submissions and/or questions to Allison Anderson (awanderson@fortlewis.edu) and be sure to include your name and the title of your work in your email.

Empty Box

by Anita Cruse

All you have to do is email Allison Anderson (awanderson@fortlewis.edu) for a template and return a completed submission by Wednesday, December 14th. We here at the Indy will select our 11 favorite redesigns - one for every box on campus. If yours is chosen, you get a box to put it on AND we’ll pay for the supplies (within reason) to decorate it!

And love goes out to struggle against the light of day. He breathed deep of the pure early morning feel, where nothing is yet tainted by the day’s stressors and worries. I woke in the early morning glow to his sleep fumbled hands on my body; pleading with touch for acceptance. I rolled over towards him as he rose up to straddle me.

Please note that any submissions featuring graphic or explicit content will be automatically disqualified. By submitting content to The Independent you turn over the right for us to utilize and reproduce this content as we see fit.

Work and worries live lightyears away from the concentrated quiet of a now in the darkness. He breathed deep of the pure early morning feel, where nothing is yet tainted. In the late hours of the night before I had sat reading while he slept. And love waited to struggle against the light of day.

Work and worries, still far far away from this present- here in the dark. I opened my eyes and met his, reaching out to do some petting of my own. His hands and eyes wandered, massaging and stroking as I saw boxes full of cast off love against a backdrop of fresh lines on an old blacktop.

THE INDY ONLINE Want more? Head over to theindyonline.com for exclusive stories, opinions, Indy TV videos, photo slideshows and more! You can find these stories online now:

Don’t read too much into things at the moment - focus only on what you know for a fact.

Rocky Mountain Tiny Houses

SCORPIO (October 23-November 22)

I breathed deep of his dark beard and kissed him goodbye.

Photos by Celeste Matovich

Now is the time to really go all-out on a project or assignment you’ve been working on- don’t be afraid to show off!

SAGITTARIUS (November 23-December 21) Flexibility is key for you at the moment. Keep an eye out for new possibilities and don’t turn a blind eye to things that initially sound unengaging.

FLC Shows Off its Ink

Photos by Lucy Schaefer

CAPRICORN (December 22-January 19)

FOLLOW US ON SOCIAL MEDIA

What you want is not necessarily what you need, especially right now. Think about things in the larger picture and make careful decisions.

Good or Great? FLC Men’s Basketball Team

AQUARIUS (January 20-February 18)

Story by Matthew Roy

The world has plenty of types of people-the only thing it really needs is you. You can’t be anyone other than who you are.

PISCES (February 19-March 20) People will appreciate the things you do a lot more if you have a little self-confidence - you don’t necessarily need to change your abilities, just your attitude.

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ASFLC : Tying Up Loose Ends Before Break Story By Izzy Farrell

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