Volume 29, Issue 22, Feb. 22, 2007

THE

METROPOLITAN 2.22.07 • Vol. 29 No. 22 • http://www.mscd.edu/~themet • Serving the Auraria Campus since 1979

Student silence mutes progress Board threatens to refuse energy proposal without positive campus support, votes

PAGE 3

When in dome ...

Photo by Amie Cribley • acribley@mscd.edu

A group of elementary students tour the dome of the Denver Capitol building on Feb. 20. This was the first day the dome has been open to the public after being closed for safety concerns following the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11. During this time the dome received restorative work and safety upgrades. The outside balcony, accessible only from the dome, and the uppermost part of the dome will remain off limits to the public.

PULLOUT SECTION

METROSPECTIVE Revelry, ritual mark New Year’s celebration PAGE 12

AUDIO FILES ‘Out to Lunch’ staple of jazz music history PAGE 15

The Future of FasTracks part two of three

Money troubles call for changes in rail planning PAGE 5

MetNews THE METROPOLITAN • PAGE 3 • GEOF WOLLERMAN • GWOLLERM@MSCD.EDU

PUBLIC ANNOUNCEMENT The Student Government Assembly will hold a town hall event at the Tivoli Turnhalle on Feb. 26 for students to discuss fee changes that, if passed, would go into effect in fall 2007.

Several proposed fee changes will be discussed, including a controversial proposal to increase the Health Services fee. This proposal would require students to provide Metro with proof of vaccination.

For more information on fee changes and the town hall meeting, contact Andrew Bateman, chair of the student fee review panel, at abatema3@mscd.edu.

Campus support comes up short Programs, fees lack official support due to student indifference

By David Pollan dpollan@mscd.edu

Photo by Tyler Walton • twalton2@mscd.edu

Faculty, students and administration gather for the kickoff of Metro’s new brand on Feb. 20 at St. Cajetan’s.

Metro introduced a new school logo and a new message about the college’s educational mission.

Metro unleashes new brand

By David Cardenas dcarden5@mscd.edu Members of Metro’s faculty and staff joined Metro President Stephen Jordan Tuesday at St. Cajetan’s Center to unveil the new Metro brand.

The new brand will include a modification of the Metro logo and will establish an official identity standard for all school publications, Jordan said.

“We’re here to follow Dr. Jordan’s vision to reach pre-eminence,” spokeswoman Cathy Lucas said.

Having an official brand that the entire faculty, students and staff can follow and stand by will help Metro in becoming one of the best fouryear colleges in an urban environment, Lucas said.

The new identity standard is clearly important to Jordan, as he announced that the president’s office will pay for the first reorder of all

business cards for faculty. This will cost up to $40,000, but Jordan described it as “an investment that is worth every single penny.”

Stacey Lewis of Stacey Lewis & Associates, the marketing company handling the campaign, led brand-message training for all in attendance to encourage a proactive approach in spreading the word about the Metro brand.

Lewis encouraged everyone to embrace the brand as a springboard to educate and bring awareness to those who don’t know the Metro story. She also explained the new Metro tagline, “Where success begins with you.”

Lewis stressed four key messages describing the importance of the school’s brand: “Having high-quality education, relevant enriching and individualized academic experience; having the most diverse school campus in the state of Colorado at the best value, is the reason why (more) people choose this school than any other institution in the state.”

A general lack in student participation in elections and special referendum measures is affecting the administrative support that campus projects and programs need for implementation.

The most recent example of this was a proposal from the Student Advisory Committee to the Auraria Board to Metro’s Board of Trustees to raise the student renewable energy fee from $1 to $5.

“The increase in the renewable energy fee is not being particularly well-received,” said Brian Glotzbach, the student trustee for the Student Government Assembly.

A main reason for the board’s lack of support is that its members are not convinced students are behind the raise in fees or how it will benefit the campus.

“What the board has not been impressed with is student votes that come in,” Metro President Stephen Jordan said. “If 520 students vote in favor of it out of 1,000, when there are 37,000 students out there, it isn’t necessarily, for the board, a persuasive argument for supporting the fees.”

The goals of the hike in fees are to reduce Auraria’s dependence on fossil fuels and to minimize the negative ecological effects of the campus. This will improve campus life for all members of the Auraria community, according to the proposal.

Although the board did not welcome the proposal, it did instruct SACAB to hold its election on April 25 and 26.

“I think the board sort of sent the message (to SACAB), ‘You better be prepared to make your case.’ So they’ve been told to do their election and then they’ll come back, I guess in the fall, and ask each of the boards to approve the fee for January implementation,” Jordan said.

“But first they have to do their own election.”

Here is where the problem arises. Student turnout for special elections on campus has never been high, and according to Glotzbach, since his time at Metro the highest turnout was about 900 students. Unless the election to raise the

fees sees a high turnout, Glotzbach doubts the board will approve it.

“The odds they’ll pass a whole board are pretty small,” he said. “You’ve got to have more students to voice their opinions about what they want done at this school.”

Other problems are the number of elections each year and the difficulties students encounter when attempting to vote.

“When you inundate students with so many special elections, people tend to tune them out,” Glotzbach said.

The board suggested that elections be coordinated with one another, so as not to have multiple elections. Jordan said he believes one of the reasons for low voter turnout is that there are so many elections and that they are too discreet.

“What we’re trying to do is encourage the three student governments to run their elections at the same time and to get out of this deal of having only one place to go vote,” Jordan said. “And if CoPIRG (Colorado Public Interest Research Group) or somebody is going to run a special election like that, make sure you coordinate it with the general election, so the students only go and vote one time and don’t have to be told to go somewhere else to vote for this other deal.”

Glotzbach agreed that consolidating elections was essential to increasing the voter turnout. He added that voting needs to be made easier for students, who should not have to navigate MetroConnect for 10 minutes just to cast a vote. All voting should be put online, so students are able to vote from the comfort of their homes, he said.

The SGA will continue working with the Department of Information Technology to make voting easier for students and to publicize elections. In Glotzbach’s opinion, the best way to do this is through MetroConnect, possibly by having a pop-up that notifies students as they log in to the website.

According to Glotzbach, if students are adamant about seeing things done on campus – such as an increase in the renewable energy fee – then they need to voice their opinions.

“I highly doubt that Metro’s Board of Trustees will reject something that an overwhelming majority of students want,” he said. “In my time working with the board, I have never seen them reject something the students want just because they don’t like it.”

THE METROPOLITAN • 2.22.07

NEWS • 5 Recent spikes in materials and commodities prices have created budget problems for FasTracks:

The Future of FasTracks part two of three

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REBAR 42.3% CONCRETE TIES 45% COPPER 160% GAS 156.5%

Budget woes plague corridor plans Land acquisition costs, rising material prices could force changes

By Geof Wollerman gwollerm@mscd.edu Increasing cost of land and materials has RTD re-evaluating proposed FasTracks projects, leaving some wondering if promised light-rail lines will ever be built and who will cover the cost.

“RTD takes a look at all different elements and sees if things can be modified or deleted,” RTD spokesman Scott Reed said of a process called value engineering in which developers reanalyze a plan for cost efficiencies.

He said one option RTD had considered was eliminating the JeffCo Government Center station from the west corridor plan. But after determining that this would not work for passengers along the route, planners decided to keep the station.

RTD is stepping back and making sure that it is including the basics specified in its budget, said Kristi Estes, FasTracks’ spokeswoman for the north metro corridor.

“It’s more of an evaluation than anything.

It’s not that they’re running out of money,” Estes said. “We’ll be doing that throughout the entire program, every year looking at everything and making sure we know where we can cut costs.”

One of the biggest factors RTD is dealing with is the increasing cost of acquiring right of way, the land each corridor runs along.

“The acquisition of right of way is preliminary to everything (planners) do, and that represents a big expense,” said Tom Clark, a UCD planning professor.

As land prices rise, “ the money available is less and less able to do all that was originally promised,” Clark said.

With these economic developments, RTD has to “back up and ask where the greatest good for the greatest number can be achieved with the

I-225 CORRIDOR

Photo by Johanna Snow • snowj@mscd.edu

Old railroad tracks still go through the heart of Golden and have been there for hundreds of years. New changes are coming to the city with the installation of the west corridor light rail, making it easier for commuters to travel – but rising costs of construction may hinder the project’s completion. monies available,” he said.

This is what has state Sen. Bob Hagedorn, District 29, concerned. Most of his constituents live along the undeveloped Interstate-225 corridor of FasTracks, and he said he wonders whether adequate funding will be available by the time the corridor is slated for development.

His constituents voted for mass transit and they expect it, he said.

“I campaigned for FasTracks based upon that. I know a lot of people that voted for it with the idea that yeah, it’s going be 10 years down

the road, but eventually we will have it,” Hagedorn said.

With a planned completion date of 2015, the I-225 corridor is one of the last FasTracks projects and Hagedorn said he is nervous that a lack of funding may endanger the project. “I didn’t just fall off the turnip truck in town this morning. I can put two and two together, and it smells like we may have a little money issue about building out the light rail along the 225 corridor,” Hagedorn said.

An August 2006 FasTracks committee sum-

WEST CORRIDOR

Maps courtesy FasTracks

Route maps of the I-225 and west corridors. Because of the rising cost of the FasTracks project, some are concerned that its final completion may not resemble what RTD promised voters.

mary report echoed Hagedorn’s comments and concerns about the cost of construction. The prices of basic materials have skyrocketed since FasTracks began, ranging from a 42 percent increase in rebar to a 220 percent increase in diesel fuel. In order to contain costs, RTD is looking at shortening bridge structures, purchasing vehicles in advance and pushing ahead construction schedules in order to issue bonds at a lower interest rate to avoid future price escalation, the summary said.

Some of these costs may be passed off to commuters as well.

“We have to eventually readdress the issue, I’m afraid, of the free parking at park-n-Rides,” Hagedorn said. Because of budget concerns RTD might have to charge a minimal fee at the parkn-Ride lots in order to secure needed revenue.

“Is this going back on their word? Well, it depends on how much they charge,” Hagedorn said.

He has no reason to doubt that RTD is pursuing the budget situation in a fiscally responsible manner, Hagedorn said. But he does want to make sure that RTD delivers on the FasTracks project as promised.

“Anything that hasn’t been done yet – there’s questions,” Hagedorn said.

Next week Reimagine the Front Range – Cheyenne to Pueblo – as one unified region, and learn about planners’ visions for the future of mass transit in Colorado.

THE METROPOLITAN • 2.22.07

NEWS • 7

Student Government Assembly

Future funding on hold to avoid lawsuit

By Allison Bailey abaile19@mscd.edu Metro’s Student Government Assembly is freezing tens of thousands of dollars allocated for this semester’s students and halting all funding for the semester in order to avoid a lawsuit.

“We explored a lot of options and decided that that was the best,” said Andrew Bateman, head of the student fee and finance committee for the SGA. Courts have recently ruled that any organization that allocates money in a school cannot be in any way biased against religion, political views or race. Currently, the SGA has no official criteria for the approval or denial of funding requests, meaning it could be held legally liable if it does not grant all requests in full.

Based on advice from Metro attorney Lee Combs, the SGA decided to fund all pending requests and move the remaining money from general funds into the capital expenditures fund.

This would earmark it for other uses, making it unavailable for student funding requests. The motion passed on Feb. 14.

The action prevents the SGA from having to either approve or deny any funding requests, because there is no money in the budget.

Some of the money transferred will be spent by the SGA to improve their office. Wylie said that since there isn’t a finalized budget yet, he couldn’t say how much of the students’ money the SGA planned to spend on these improvements or how much money had been moved to the capital expenditures fund. Two weeks ago, the SGA was facing a $74,000 budget for the semester, according to SGA administrative assistant Rachel Zamboras. Usually that number is closer to $30,000 to $40,000 at this point in the year.

Bateman said some of that money might be moved back to general funds if needed and the SGA is thinking up other ways to spend the money to benefit students without putting itself at risk legally. A few suggestions include paying for student textbooks or starting scholarship funds.

“We do want to make sure that as much of the money as possible gets back to the students, because that’s what it’s for,” he said.

The SGA plans to have criteria for funding in place as soon as possible, but according to school policy it can’t go into effect until the next fiscal period, which will be this summer, Bateman said.

This hasn’t been an issue in the past because the SGA usually doesn’t get requests for the full amount of money it has allotted for funding requests. This is the first year the requests for funding have exceeded the $5,000 allotment.

“We’ve never had this many students come to us before,” Bateman said. “This is the first year we’ve ever reached (the $5,000 allotment) and not only reached it but surpassed it by far.”

Funding requests made before this decision will be granted.

The nine pending requests before Student Travel remaining only amounted to $978, which was granted in full. The request was approved with no requirements that students also come before the SGA to request funding for trips.

“You’ll have nine very happy groups,” said Arliss Sunderwirth Webster, head of the Student Travel Program.

Several other requests for funding were approved, including $2,319 to hold the National Young Women’s Leadership Conference at Metro, a request by the Metro track team for $6,050 to fund the Go Metro State Downtown 5K run and $2,000 for the Feminist Alliance’s bridge speaker.

LOCAL TAKES, LARGER ISSUES IRAN’S INTENTIONS: Iran has been making headlines lately because of escalating allegations on the part of U.S. officials that elements the Iranian government and other subversive groups within the country have been lending their support and influence to the continuing war in Iraq. Iran’s president, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has also declared his country’s ambivalence about the rights of Israel and its intentions to pursue nuclear capabilities. All of this puts Iran squarely at odds with the United States and our interests in the Middle East. What do you think?

“ “ I don’t think the president and his administration have learned from their mistakes in Iraq and I think what’s most frustrating from my perspective as someone who follows current events and studies political science is that they ask for input, like they create the Iraq Studies Commission and one of their recommendations… was we need to engage in diplomatic talks with Syria and Iran and they just completely ignore it.

They basically give it lip service so it’s like, I don’t see what the point is. It just seems like, to quote Yogi Berra, it’s déjà vu all over again.

– Brian Giulieri, Metro political science student

I don’t think…. Iran wants necessarily to meddle in the U.S. affairs, but it seems like they are very interested in meddling, if you will, in other Middle Eastern countries, particularly Iraq, affairs. I think that’s where they are more focused on.

Iran and Iraq have always had a long standing dispute with each other so I see Iran stirring things up definitely in the Middle East, particularly with Iraq.

Obviously they have an effect on the whole region and the U.S.’s interests in it. Do I think they are a direct threat to the U.S.?

Not directly. I think they are indirectly a threat though because they are a threat to stabilizing the whole region.

”

– Jennifer Garza, Metro associate professor of history

Photo by David Yost • dyost2@mscd.edu

On Feb. 14 the SGA froze excess student program money to avoid a possible lawsuit.

Q & A: Lyceum Philosophy Club Founded in 2005, the Lyceum Philosophy Club spent its first year operating in virtual anonymity.

In an effort to boost philosophic discourse on campus, club president Crystal Vales and cocoordinator Daniel Guidry-Capson have started a series of Tuesday afternoon discussions in the Tivoli. Topics are focused on the works of different philosophers, but you do not need to be a philosophy major to attend. All you need is an open mind and a thirst for self-knowledge. The Metropolitan recently sat down with Guidry-Capson to pose some thought-provoking questions and gain insight into the club’s mission.

Met: What can a new member expect from the club?

DGC: Our primary objective last semester was to appear to be a campus resource. This semester we want to try to do a conference or symposium. At our meetings we often have subjects where we discuss free will, determinism, what is justice, postmodernism … so every meeting we have a topic-oriented discussion.

It starts very general … and then we strike up the conversation from there.

We usually try to provide literary material, very small blurbs so that (students) can just dive in and have resources to work with. This semester we’re doing it mainly on philosophers. Last semester we did it on topics.

Met: Which philosophers?

DGC: One theme was supposed to be fathers of postmodernism – Marx, Freud, Nietzsche. Another topic was Sun-Tzu and Machiavelli. Sun Tzu was a military strategist and Machiavelli was a political strategist.

Philosophy is deeply concerned with politics, and one aspect of looking at politics is, how did these strategies develop? Where did we develop from and how does this affect other people philosophically? There are two sides: Machiavelli focuses on keeping the prince on the throne. Sun-Tzu devises a system into learning how to cooperate with an opponent to maintain peace and to learn how to address conflicts in a mature way.

Met: Which brings us to the political climate of today. Are you going to be addressing those types of issues, and what do you hope to achieve, if anything, aside from discussion?

DGC: Perhaps to clarify some of the terms. It’s not like a mathematical problem. We’re not here to solve or create

world peace. We’re here to facilitate self-knowledge.

Met: Suppose you reach a conclusion based on your discussions that it’s time to act?

DGC: Act how? Are we going to act in the way Gandhi would act, or are we going to act as deviants or dissidents would act? Is armed conflict really the best or most expedient way to resolve conflict? Or is using your brain, and actually addressing (the conflict)? Gandhi did use philosophy to kick the British out. Philosophy has the power to do that.

Met: The club is not in the business of marketing, but if it was trying to market for the purposes of increasing club membership, what would be the selling points?

DGC: Philosophy is the center of most of the liberal education here, and it extends quite far. One selling point about philosophy is that it strongly emphasizes our ability to reason, and that ability to reason is logic. If there’s any selling point it’s that. For those who are spiritually trying to find themselves, philosophy is a great thing for them because the term philosophos means the love of wisdom. So for those who are trying to attain some kind of enlightenment, this is attractive. For most people who study political science and want to understand the ambiguity of abstract terms, philosophy would be a great place to do that. Philosophy gives you the medicine to deal and to swallow all the ambiguity, and it prepares you so that you have the ability to still reason.

Met: When and where do you guys meet?

DGC: Tuesdays in Tivoli room 225B between 1 p.m. and 5 p.m. We want to leave a large time to have many different conversations, because when philosophers go they don’t stop.

metrospective Year of the boar PAGE 12

Photo by Dawn Madura • dmadura@mscd.edu

.Proud parents photograph young dancers from the Great Wall Chinese School after their performance Feb. 18 at the Recreation Center at Southridge in Littleton. The Chinese New Year event celebrated the beginning of a Year of the Boar with dance, music, food and martial arts.

We loathe the ‘80s Family Ties: The Complete First Season 530 minutes $38.99

By Spencer Essey sessey@mscd.edu Syndication be damned! I want to watch my television in its original airdate order!

Somewhere, deep within the bowels of America comes this cry of the fanatic: those who simply cannot rest until their favorite television shows are available for purchase on DVD. To answer this call, Paramount Pictures released the first season of Family Ties on DVD this week.

Family Ties, a show about ex-hippie parents, played

by Michael Gross and Meredith Baxter, trying to raise an ultra-conservative son (Michael J. Fox), a consumerist daughter (Justine Bateman) and a tomboy (Tina Yothers) during the ’80s no longer seems relevant.

M*A*S*H, which revolutionized the serial drama and still runs more than 30 years later, warrants a DVD release. It dealt with issues that America still deals with today, so it remains within the mindset of the public.

For the Keatons, the only point of interest is vague banter regarding Reagan-era politics.

The four-disc set contains no special features, only the original 22 episodes from the premier season. Surprisingly, some of the episodes on these discs are edited because of copyright conflicts with the music, and Paramount’s unwillingness to shell out the dough.

Still, all the gems are here, albeit in edited form. Who could forget Alex Keaton’s coming-of-age conflict at the local country club, when his tattered, hippie dad shows up and embarrasses him? Who doesn’t sigh with sympathy when thinking of Mallory’s attempt to join the local sorority? Who doesn’t feel all fuzzy inside when recalling the Keatons’ first television Christmas, when they are stuck in the house and forced to reminisce? Someone, I

THE METROPOLITAN • PAGE 9 • ADAM GOLDSTEIN • GOLDSTEA@MSCD.EDU

suspect, who wasn’t reared in the ’80s.

Family Ties will join the sea of mostly unpurchased DVD series from the ’80s.

“Why did it take so long?” you might be asking, “I bought Charles in Charge and Growing Pains months ago.”

The truth is that the market for such memorabilia is not all that large, especially for shows like Family Ties.

It seems the studios aren’t chomping at the bit trying to get these shows to the public. It’s only when they realize whatever properties they have sitting around might bring in some revenue that they push out some shoddy package with no special features in the hopes of making a quick dollar.

Still, maybe I’m looking at this the wrong way. Instead of looking at it as studios releasing these outdated dinosaurs to the public just to make a quick insignificant buck, they should be marketing these series to the new generation of stay-at-home moms and dads as an alternative to the daytime TV courtroom circuses.

Now parents can buy these TV shows and play the DVDs all day long, imbuing their children with the wacky religious beliefs of Kirk Cameron and Growing Pains or even the Reagan jokes of Family Ties.

Maybe these DVDs are just offering new parents something our parents never had: a means to duplicate their childhood for their children.

PULLOUT SECTION

reel world

10 • METROSPECTIVE

Dream a little dream

The Science of Sleep 106 minutes $19.99

By Clarke Reader creader3@mscd.edu

According to director Michel Gondry’s film The Science of Sleep, the borders between nighttime visions and daytime realities are fragile, brittle and subject to breaches.

The release of the film on DVD gives viewers a chance to not only watch this complex and layered film, but offers some fascinating insights into how this oddball of a movie was put together and how its surreal effects were achieved.

The film’s story focuses on Stephane (Gael

Garcia Bernal), a young artist who moves into his father’s old flat in Paris and goes to work in a mindless, menial post at a calendar factory.

Instead of creating unique and vivid artwork for the calendars as he had hoped, he is stuck with small jobs that offer him no creative outlet.

The only place that his mind is allowed to run free is in his dreams, which are a surreal mix of humor and anger, bewilderment and clarity.

His dreams never really show him what he wants. Instead, his object of desire surfaces in the form of Stephanie (Charlotte Gainsbourg), a beautiful young woman who moves into the apartment next to him.

What follows is an often bewildering but extremely tender love story. As Stephane’s dreams start to bleed into his reality, he begins to sort

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out his true feelings for Stephanie and to find a way for them to be together. But discerning dreams from reality becomes an obstacle for both Stephane and the bewildered viewer.

Of the other special features, the standout is a fascinating 40-minute documentary on the making of the film that spotlights how much of Gondry’s personal experience was used as inspiration. It turns out that many of the dream sequences came straight from the director’s dreams, and the locations were places in Paris where Gondry had lived and worked. The documentary gives the film an autobiographical angle that would be easily missed if one didn’t know to look for it.

The documentary also closely examines how the myriad of special effects were created, from an extremely realistic city made completely out of toilet-paper rolls to a fake ski slope for the actors to use. It may look cheesy and a bit unbelievable, but in a film in which dreams take center stage, that’s the point.

The Science of Sleep is not a generic love story by any means, but rather one that takes an in-depth look at emotions and characters.

What Science suggests is a love that is possible in dreams, even if it fall short in reality. The film plays like the best type of lucid dream, a surreal, fantastic vision that boasts solid roots in both the waking and sleeping worlds.

2.22.07 • THE METROPOLITAN

Upcoming DVDs Stranger Than Fiction Feb.27

Will Ferrell falls into a new kind of role in this film that teases the literary senses. Harold Crick (Ferrell) lives a monotonous life as an IRS agent, until the day he begins to hear world-famous author Karen Effiel (Emma Thompson) narrating and essentially writing his life. Harold struggles to defy the fate Effiel is writing, dodging into new territory with a radical bakery owner (Maggie Gyllenhaal), a coffee-guzzling, eccentric English professor (Dustin Hoffman) and finding a new perspective on his life. With special features titled “Actors in Search of a Story” and “Words on a Page,” this DVD can’t be judged by its cover.

Borat March 6 Da Ali G Show’s Sacha Baron Cohen stars in this mockumentary reporting on “greatest country in the world.” Camera crews follow the Kazakh television talking head as he explores what makes the United States so great. Already a commercial success on the big screen, this DVD is sure to be shelved among the best with extras such as a Kazakhstan Baywatch spoof, numerous deleted scenes and a rodeo news report, all lacking the necessary articles and possessive

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THE METROPOLITAN • 2.22.07

timeout “

METROSPECTIVE • 11

No, snakes are no problem.

I’d go to any country, anywhere, any snakes, not a problem.

Everyday Blues

”

– STEVE IRWIN

Adam Goldstein • goldstea@mscd.edu

This Day in History 2.22.07 Today’s Birthdays

French rabbi Rashi – 1040 Pianist/composer Frederic Chopin – 1810 Poet Edna St. Vincent Millay – 1892 SNL announcer Don Pardo – 1918 Director Jonathan Demme – 1944 ’76ers forward Julius Erving – 1944 Herpetologist Steve Irwin – 1962

On this day...

Ghost-faced chinchilla ...

DTU

Joe Nguyen and Conor Drummond • nguyejos@mscd.edu • cdrummon@mscd.edu

1923 – The first profitable U.S. chinchilla farm is opened Los Angeles. The fuzzy rodents with thick tufts of fur and beady eyes attract large crowds. So large, in fact, that the owner of the echnida ranch down the road is soon forced to file for bankruptcy.

Cowabunga...

1949 – In Yukon, Okla., a 1,200-pound cow named Grady gets wedged inside a silo on a family farm. No one can think of a way to free the trapped bovine until Ralph Partridge, the editor of The Denver Post, comes to the rescue with a large ramp and some axle grease. It was the Post’s finest moment.

Let’s wrastle...

1949 – Gorgeous George and Ernie Dusek premiere a new aesthetic in professional wrestling marked by sequins, capes and theatrics. Without these two brave souls, Ric would never have had his Flair.

Across 1- Advance 5- Church center 9- Paving material 12- Sheltered, nautically 13- Up 15- Basic unit of heredity 16- DEA agent 17- Rescued 18- clip 19- Boundless 21- Moderately arid 23- Indian nursemaid 24- Metal container 25- Surroundings 28- Cowboy 33- Tiny particles 34- Smoke deposit 35- Roof overhang 36- Tap gently 37- Pale bluish purple 38- Taxi 39- Exclamation to express sorrow 41- Look at amorously 42- Kid leather 44- Arthropod having numerous legs 46- British composer 47- Drinking vessel 48- Jokes 49- Hits 53- Curved upward 57- Word that can precede hygiene, tradition and agreement 58- Implied 60- Old cloth measures 61- Snug 62- Scarf fur 63- On the ocean 64- Axlike tool 65- Paradise 66- Back Down 1- Narrow path for walkers, cars or ships 2- Dash 3- Dweeb 4- Make a formal speech 5- Capital of the Bahamas 6- Swimming (in) 7- 6th letter of the Hebrew alphabet 8Supplements, with “out” 9- Drop of water expelled by the eye 10- Against 11- Oboe, e.g. 14- Send to school 15- Farm 20- Baby blues 22- Prohibit 25- Woman in charge of a household 26- Pisa place 27- Like lungs 28- Past tense of will 29- Wander 30- Tied 31- Elude 32- Insurgent 34- Starch used in puddings 37- Rag-dolls 40- Largest island in the Mediterranean 42- Droops 43- Abjure 45- Diving bird 46- Partial antigen 48- Duplicity 49- Caribbean dance music 50- Stepped 51- Mock 52- Fill to surfeit 54- Otherwise 55- This can be guilty or not guilty 56- Nicholas II was the last Russian one 59- Atlantic food fish

Crossword reprinted courtesy of bestcrosswords.com. Solution for puzzle can be found at http://www.bestcrosswords.com/. (Solution is under Feb. 19 puzzle.)

10 • METROSPECTIVE

2.22.07 • THE METROPOLITAN

THE METROPOLITAN • 2.22.07

METROSPECTIVE • 11

A

pig’s Enthusiastic crowds, elaborate ceremonies ring in the year of the boar

By Joe Nguyen nguyejos@mscd.edu In front of an Asian supermarket in Denver, thunderous drumbeats rumble through the air while two men inside an ornate and multicolored lion costume perform a graceful dance.

A string of firecrackers explodes booming noises that resonate throughout the area. Young children sitting atop their parent’s shoulders stare in wonder at the lion’s fluid movements.

It’s New Year’s in February.

On Feb. 18, many Asians around the world celebrated the Lunar New Year. In the Chinese and Vietnamese cultures, it is regarded as the most important holiday of the year.

“It’s sort of like a Chinese Christmas,” UCD political science professor Stephen Thomas said. “You go home, you say hello to your relatives, you clear debts (and) you start over.”

Across Denver, many organizations held events to welcome the New Year. On Feb. 17, the Denver Chinese School hosted its annual Chinese New Year Celebration at Abraham Lincoln High School. The gala showcased the talents of dancers, singers and a Chinese acrobat group who elicited cheers and awe from the crowd.

The Far East Center, located on the southwest corner of Federal Boulevard and Alameda Avenue, was packed Feb. 18 as spectators gathered to witness various troupes perform lion dances and showcase an assortment of martial art forms.

“Every martial arts school has its own lion that represents the school,” Dong Tay Hoa martial arts student Quocan Nguyen said. “The lion’s supposed to bring good luck to people.”

Schools often go through months of preparation for the big day. This year, the Dong Tay Hoa troupe was forced to go through the process in a matter of weeks due to their work schedules. Regardless, the members were confident in their performance.

“We’ve only had two weeks to practice in advance,” Metro sophomore Isaiah O’Donnell said about his school’s lion dance preparation this year. O’Donnell is also a member of the Dong Tay Hoa martial arts school. “You’re always practicing, so the martial arts help out with the lion dance so you don’t really need to practice too much. The only reason why we really practice is so that everyone’s on line and coordinated.”

One group, the Shaolin Hung Mei Kung Fu Association, brought out an elaborately decorated 25-foot dragon held up by an entourage of martial artists. The behemoth overshadowed the much smaller lions, which were manned by two performers.

The deafening blasts and smoky residue of fireworks filled the shopping complex as the hundreds in attendance cheered the troupes’ performances.

“We’re glad we’re sitting over here and not over there (by the fireworks),” first-time attendee Andrea Denny said with a laugh. “We can see my mom and my brother with their fingers in their ears.”

Although the flashy festivities are the most visible aspects of the holiday, it’s the things at home that are most significant.

“To me, the most important thing is that it is about family,” director of UCD Asian American Student Services Peggy Lore said. “And so I think it’s one of the traditional values that people try to hold on to in some way.”

Families gather together for big feasts and to uphold traditions that have been passed down through the generations.

“We throw a couple parties, and we have a few Asian customs we go through every year,” Metro senior Dan Nguyen said.

“The rest of the time, we hang out, gamble and drink.”

Some of the traditions include giving the older generation wishes of good luck and prosperity, and passing out small red envelopes filled with money to kids.

Right before the New Year, it is expected that one be wellgroomed and that one’s house be clean.

“Every year my brother calls and asks, ‘Are we supposed to take our shower on the day before or the day of?’” Lore said. “I just say, ‘Just do it. If it’s in your heart, just do it.’”

Lore said now that her brother has children of his own, he wants to hand down the traditions that were taught to him.

“But he can never remember from year to year when he’s supposed to do what,” she said.

With a new generation being born and raised in the United States, Dan Nguyen said it is important to hold on to the past.

“It’s very easy to get melded into the American culture,” he said. “Once you lose all your other ones, you become like everyone else and there’s no distinctiveness.”

Photo by David Yost • dyost2@mscd.edu

Photo by Adrian DiUbaldo • adiubald@mscd.edu

Year of the Pig

豬

According to the Chinese zodiac, the period between Feb. 18, 2007, and Feb. 6, 2008, is the year of the pig. The Chinese zodiac works on a 12-year cycle, with a different animal representing each year.

Pig traits

Famous pigs

Despite its selfish reputation in the Western world, the pig is regarded as a giving creature in the zodiac.

Helping others brings pigs happiness. Unfortunately, some may take advantage of a pig’s generosity.

When pigs come to a decision, nothing can stop them from accomplishing it. However, the decision process is an arduous one as they consider every option.

Because of this, some opportunities pass them by.

Writer Ernest Hemingway – July 21, 1899 Director Woody Allen – Dec. 1, 1935 Talk-show host David Letterman – April 12, 1947 Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger – July 30, 1947 Sen. Hillary Clinton – Oct. 26, 1947 Clock-clad rapper Flavor Flav– March 16, 1959 Rapper Tupac Shakur – June 16, 1971

Pigs are incredibly loyal. They may not have many friends, but the ones they have, they hold onto for life.

Traditional greetings and wishes

Gung hay fat choy

Chuc mung nam moi

“May you become prosperous” in Cantonese

“Happy New Year” in Vietnamese

Years of the pig

1923 • 1935 • 1947 • 1959 • 1971 • 1983 • 1995 • 2007 • 2019

Photo by David Yost • dyost2@mscd.edu

Top left: Members of the Dong Tay Hoa martial arts school perform a lion dance for a crowd as smoke lingers from fireworks at the Chinese New Year celebration Feb. 18 at the Far East Shopping Center on the corner of Alameda Avenue and Federal Boulevard in Denver.

Top right: Dancers from the Christina Yeh Chinese Dance Studio perform for a sold-out crowd Feb. 18 at the Recreation Center at Southridge in Highlands Ranch. The Chinese New Year celebration showcased school-aged children trained in various traditional Chinese arts.

Bottom right: Dancers continue their lion dance.

THE METROPOLITAN • PAGE 14 • MEGAN CARNEAL • MCARNEAL@MSCD.EDU

audiofiles

Upcoming shows Hello Stranger Feb. 23 The Hi-Dive 7 S. Broadway 9 p.m. $6, 21+ Glittery, cocaine-fueled celebrity afterparties have been without their own theme song for decades – until now. Hello Stranger makes sparkly dresses, keytars, and unicorns fashionable … again. The L.A.-based disco reincarnations are sure to fuel a heated dance party well into the early hours at Denver’s hippest dive bar. Bell-bottom pants and platform shoes are highly recommended.

Michael Hargrave • mhargra1@mscd.edu

Rose Hill Drive March 1 Photo by Megan Carneal • mcarneal@mscd.edu

Tommy Ventura plays new songs on his Old Guitar.

Rocky mountain twang

By Shannon Yoshida syoshida@mscd.edu Just because Tommy Ventura has quit playing live in the bar scene doesn’t mean his work will suffer. His ideas seem to find him whether he picks them up on the side of the road or discovers them in foreign lands.

“People just go to bars to get drunk and hopefully get laid by the end of the night,” Ventura said. “They’re not there for the music.”

Now living in Idaho Springs, the mellow, long-haired character has discovered a different approach to the industry. Focused solely on writing and recording, he is now fully engaged in the creation of his third album, Old Guitar.

As most musicians know, inspiration can come from outlandish personal experiences.

“The Ballad of Dale Maul,” a work in progress for Old Guitar, is about a hitchhiker Ventura picked up who had just finished a six-month stint in the Grand Junction jail. “He told me a story about how his mother and his father got into a fight over a pistol one night,” Ventura said. “His father was going to go and shoot a guy that he thought his mother was screwing around on him with, which was not the case. So the gun went off, and the bullet lodged in her brain. Didn’t kill her…she lived 32 years after

that with a bullet in her brain.”

With a mostly acoustic catalogue, Ventura explores the world of songwriting with a passion and style not found in most artists. Instead of quitting his musical aspirations due to lack of appreciation at his live shows, he continues to approach the industry from different angles. He rolls with a band every now and then depending on his mood, but for his first two albums, Different Than I Am and 9 New Ways To Suck, he preferred to work solo.

His talent is expressed with upbeat, authentic country licks and an aggressive charisma.

His tunes are contagious as he strums his guitar and sings, his hearty voice belting out whimsical yet meaningful lyrics. Sometimes he stops to tell a story, his guitar acting as a backdrop for his narration. In the song “Anything” from 9 New Ways to Suck, Ventura expresses his loneliness: “You call me every day on the phone just to make sure I’m still all alone. Yeah, I’d do anything to get you off my mind.”

Although his style has a definite cowboy appeal, he is more focused on the lyrical aspect of the songwriting process and welcomes the eventual sound and style that comes from the lyrics. “I’m not really interested in just being a bluegrass guy or a blues guy or a jazz guy. I don’t like to limit myself,” Ventura said. “Every-

thing now has to have some kind of category.

I’m a songwriter. I’m not a virtuoso player.”

Not only has Ventura’s music put food on his table, it has also allowed him to live in Madrid, Spain. His favorite part was being able to realize things out loud and then singing his newfound vision for his friends back home. “It wasn’t so much the thing of being in Madrid, although that was certainly inspiring, but mostly being away from here and being able to step out of this and look at it from far away,” he said.

Hard Rock Café 500 16th Street Mall Doors 8 p.m., show 9 $10, all ages Grinding axes that would make Jimi Hendrix proud smashed together with docile, whining vocals singing about the reality of good versus evil epitomize that which is Rose Hill Drive. Rocking out in old-fashioned style, they bring a dash of country, a tidbit of rock and roll and a whole lot of bad-assery.

Cassie Hood • hoodc@mscd.edu

The English Beat March 3

For more information on Tommy Ventura check out http://myspace. com/tommyventura

Bluebird Theater 3317 E. Colfax Ave. 8 p.m. $15, 16+ The rhythm of the dance takes precedence over the style of the band in the case of six working-class Joes from Birmingham, England. Pop was just not funky enough; they had to infuse it with reggae, soul and ska, and then add some punk to help it gel. The Beat is inescapable, The Beat is untamable, but The Beat is most definitely worth bopping to.

Billy Schear • wschear@mscd.edu

THE METROPOLITAN • 2.22.07

AUDIO FILES • 15

THIS WEEK IN MUSIC HISTORY:

Dolphy’s experiments Story and illustration by Adam Goldstein goldstea@mscd.edu Jazz has always been about reconciling opposites.

From its origins in the seedy juke joints of New Orleans, the smoky clubs and rent parties of Harlem and the sleek dance halls of Chicago, the idiom has always stressed the fusion of individual expression and group collaboration. In its ideal form, jazz is the musical marriage of free improvisation and exact orchestration, a mix of immediate creation and careful construction.

Musician and bandleader Eric Dolphy drew on this underlying duality to forge a new style of jazz improvisation and, more broadly, to develop a new direction for the genre itself.

On Feb. 25, 1964, Dolphy and his small cadre of A-list sidemen recorded Out to Lunch at the Van Gelder Studio in New Jersey. With its brash and spare sound, odd time signatures and extended atonal compositions, the album would serve as a milestone for Dolphy and the Blue Note record label. More importantly, the record would serve as a guidepost for an entire generation of jazz musicians seeking to push the limits of the art form.

Although Out to Lunch was Dolphy’s first and only recording for Blue Note as a bandleader, he had built a considerable reputation with his albums for the Prestige label and his historic musical partnerships.

In the early 1950s, Dolphy honed a raw style on the classical flute, bass clarinet and B-flat soprano clarinet. When he moved to New York from Los Angeles in 1958, he wasted no time in establishing himself in the nascent avant-garde scene. He collaborated with legends Charles Mingus and John Coltrane, both of whom considered Dolphy to be one of their peers.

By the time he signed with Blue Note in 1964, Dolphy had established himself as one of the undisputed elders of a budding movement.

He championed a sound that relied on eruptive solos, dissonant forms and a free approach to both harmony and melody. At the same time, his music was sternly structured in many aspects – an underlying logic marked the format of his compositions.

Out to Lunch would prove to be Dolphy’s most succinct and successful musical manifesto before his untimely death from diabetes.

His backup band included players who would go on to legendary careers of their own: Freddie Hubbard on trumpet, Tony Williams on drums, Bobby Hutcherson on vibes and Richard Davis on bass. The ensemble maintained a sound that drew on all of their separate skills as soloists, even as its odd rhythms and sonic textures demanded an almost preternatural degree of collaborative skill.

The album’s opening track, “Hat and Beard,” veers from a 5/4 time signature to 9/4 as the band comes together, while “Something Sweet, Something Tender” mixes Dolphy’s explosive, atonal bass clarinet with the minimal ringing of Hutcherson’s vibes. Though “Gazzelloni” stands as the album’s most traditional bop tune, its sudden explosion of improvisational freedom toward the end turns its deceptively familiar structure on its ear. The record was a controversial voyage into the unknown, a bold venture into uncharted territory. Despite the fact that it would serve as an inspiration for subsequent legends such as Herbie Hancock and Ron Carter, Out to Lunch earned the ire of many traditionalists who labeled it “anti-jazz.”

Seeking a freer atmosphere to explore his musical ideas, Dolphy traveled to Germany, where he would die less than a year later.

“I’m on my way to Europe to live for awhile,” he said in the album’s liner notes. “Why? Because I can get more work there playing my own music, and because if you try to do anything different in this country, people put you down for it.”

The genie unleashes on Denver

By Billy Schear wschear@mscd.edu A self-described genie in a bottle, Christina Aguilera has granted three of America’s secret wishes: bringing back the 1940s in the form of high fashion, lending an attractive face to the fight against AIDS and contributing to the end of voter apathy with strategically placed billboards.

Black hair or blond hair, Christina or Xtina, sweetly demure or vivaciously sexy, for every mood there is a way for Aguilera to satiate her fans’ appetites, not only as a platinum artist but as a philanthropist and spokeswoman for many noble causes. Honing her craft as an exclusive member of the New Mickey Mouse Club, Aguilera has not only grown up, she’s grown out of the public’s perception of “star” to become the world’s sweetheart.

Back to Basics, Aguilera’s third full-length release is the honey of all throwback albums. Utilizing many of yesteryear’s trademark sounds – rhythm and blues, swing, jazz and soul – the album carves its own niche in the otherwise drably formulaic pop genre. Aguilera’s invincible vocal range is prominent throughout, offering an array of Tupperware-shattering shrieks and sultry low-pitched trills.

Too few survive the rigors of the bubble-gum pop circuit. So much is demanded from the young and naïve, and yet so much stands to be gained. When one has proven herself to be a mainstay in media culture, it’s seldom due to looks alone, but to genuine talent and sheer will.

It’s the petty jealousies, though, that can cause the most damage, and it is no secret that Aguilera has had her share of jealous rivals.

From having the tires on the family car slashed to Mariah Carey slagging her off in the media, the backlash for having a beautiful voice has been tremendous. Not one to let the childish behavior of others bring her down, Aguilera’s Back to Basics is a furiously catchy album that will win over even the most cynical of critics. It has been certified as gold in more than nine countries including Hungary, Poland and the Czech Republic, providing concrete evidence that even in the Slavic nations, Christina fever is more than an epidemic: It’s a plague.

The public demands a spectacle, and her upcoming performance will be nothing but. In concert Aguilera has guaranteed that she will definitely “mix it up.” She has boasted that on this tour she will not only do songs from her most recent release but will perform a few classics as well. Fans will agree that there are far too few words in the English language to describe just how fully awesome that will be.

Christina Aguilera will play at 7 p.m. on Feb. 26 at the Pepsi Center. Tickets are $49.50-$85, all ages

Photo courtesy of christinaaguilera.com

freeplay

At least she grew out of her Dee Snider phase.

Psychotic Maniacs A Tribe of Melbourne EP (Reactor Records, 1987)

By Meagan Carneal mcarneal@mscd.edu Australia was once an importer of criminals from Great Britain, now it is exporting Psychotic Maniacs.

Although Psychotic Maniacs may have an intimidating name and sound, upon closer inspection they are not as maniacal as the name suggests. As a matter of fact they are nothing more than sweet little Aussie potheads.

“I Need The Weed,” is the hardcore answer to Sublime’s “Smoke Two Joints” or any of the plethora of jam bands too

stoned to realize that dreadlocks and tie-dye are not as attractive as they think. By repeating the title of the song over and over it becomes quite apparent that this guy definitely needs to smoke. The problem at the crux of this overwhelming need is the singer’s financial situtation-he has no green for the greenage.

The track is only one minute and 14 seconds long but quickly goes through several verse chorus verse changes and an excellent bridge in which the lyric “smoke” is introduced and then used more than Tommy Chong’s Bong.

The lyrics are typical for a stoner, but the instrumentation, or background noise, is what sets this track apart from other smoking singles. Instead of freeform explorations and 45-minute solos, two chords and one drumbeat are used throughout the entire song.

As if they weren’t already teetering on the edge of hippiness, the track “Meat” pushes them even further into the land of eternal patchouli stench with an anti animal cruelty message. The track is a little slower in tempo than the rest of the EP, but that only means that the crunch of the guitars is more audible and less like TV static.

Psychotic Maniacs may have a bit of an identity crisis, but coming from the land where evolution put duck bills on beavers, fanny packs on just about any animal and turned the koala, one of the most cuddly looking bears, into an illtempered eucalyptus junkie, things could be worse.

Download Psychotic Maniacs’ A Tribe of Melbourne EP at http://www.7inchpunk. com/?cat=23

$ x Every week, Freeplay will cover the best free albums

and EPs to be found on the World Wide Web

THE METROPOLITAN • 2.22.07

NEWS • 17

Student Profile: Realities in Iran at odds with American perceptions

Building bridges

By Clayton Woullard cwoullard@mscd.edu Masoud Kholghy is an American-born citizen with the blood of two nations running through his veins.

His Iranian blood put him in line for military service at the age of 18, but ultimately a student visa kept him from serving and allowed him to go to school. Now at age 20, Kholghy is majoring in biology at UCD Health Sciences Center and Metro.

“A lot of people (in Iran) get stuck … if they don’t get accepted to college, then they’ll have to join the army, so there’s a lot of pressure for men,” he said.

Kholghy was born in small-town Kansas, but travels to Iran about every other summer.

He recently returned from a three-month trip to Mashhad – the second largest city in Iran – where his father and relatives live.

Recently Iran has made headlines over accusations by the U.S. that it is funding insurgents in Iraq. But according to Kholghy, a dichotomy is brewing in Iran: its mostly young population – the median age is 24 – is choosing to ignore politics in favor of enjoying various aspects of American culture. They watch

American television and follow American fads must attend, he said the students put little closely. While American products are banned, enthusiasm into such things. For them it’s like youth find a way to smuggle them in, including having to recite the Pledge of Allegiance. anything from cell phones to the latest blockIranian youth also criticize Ahmadinejad for buster movies, Kholghy said. his failure to improve the educational system.

Kholghy said young “At the same time, they have all these people throughout pressures of politics Iran share the same concerns many young which they don’t really care about,” he said.

Americans have, such Animosity toward as getting into college and what to do after president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad is prevthey graduate. alent among Iranian To get into a public university, students youth, whom Kholghy said are more must take a national test, and out of appolitically active than proximately 1 million their parents’ generation. For example, applicants only 1,000 get accepted. some are angry at Kholghy added Ahmadinejad for the amount of financial that out of those chosen, the top 10 stusupport he gives to dents would likely be Palestine – money that is driving Iran recruited to be educated and eventually further into debt.

Photo by Geof Wollerman • gwollerm@mscd.edu “They don’t care work in another counwhat the president try such as the U.S. or Masoud Kholghy recently visited Iran. says, but whenever Australia. the president of Iran says something it pulls “Iran has the highest brain drain,” Kholghy them back, like, three years in life,” he said. said. “They educate their people very well, but And while Kholghy has witnessed the man- they never get the benefits.” datory anti-American rally day that students This leaves many young people feeling an-

gry because they have nothing to do.

Some young people are trying to get an education in order to better their situation, while many others are just hoping they’ll be able to find any job to sustain themselves, he said.

What’s most frustrating, Kholghy said, is how many people find themselves stuck economically. While they may not become any poorer, there’s no opportunity for upward mobility.

“If you don’t have a house and you have to pay rent, like you’re a young couple, you’re never going to get anywhere because your rent is more than your monthly paycheck,” he said.

And the price of land is increasing there, he said, creating anticipation for when there’s a bust.

The feeling of going nowhere has caused many young Iranians to get involved with drugs such as opium, marijuana and homemade alcohol – all forbidden by the Iranian government. Hookahs, Middle Eastern smoking pipes that have become increasingly popular in the U.S., were banned in Iran several years ago for health reasons.

“They (Iranians) don’t know how to get drunk because it’s not part of the culture.

They’re not responsible,” he said.

But despite these challenges, Iranians manage to vacation one-third of the year, Kholghy said.

“They put the quality of life on their happiness, not the things they have,” he said.

Abductee, alien artifact beam briefly into Tivoli basement UFO witness displays strange space object, calls for vigilance

By Ruthanne Johnson rjohn180@mscd.edu According to former Navy radar technician and president of the Institute for UFO research, Franklin Carter, a UFO experience will change a person’s entire belief system.

“I began seeing UFOs when I was about four,” Carter said at a recent event in the Tivoli hosted by Metro’s Crypto Science Society. “And once you have an alien experience you become a knower, not a believer, but a knower.”

In 1998, during what was called Project Disclosure, Carter was one of 200 people interviewed by Dr. Steven Greer about their alleged experiences with extraterrestrials and UFOs. Greer contends in his book Hidden Truth - Forbidden Knowledge that these accounts by military and government witnesses gives credence to the possibility of intelligent alien design. Greer sells his book online for $10 and solicits mileage points from customers so that he can continue traveling and speaking. His company needs between $2 million and $4 million to further pursue the project, according to Greer’s website.

Carter is one of Greer’s star witnesses, and his Feb. 17 presentation on the mysteries of UFO and extraterrestrial existence was made that much more mysterious by the catacombstyle environs of Sigi’s Hall.

“It was during regression therapy that I remembered what happened during three missing hours when I was with the Navy,” Carter said.

After he and his Navy buddy hitched a ride with a trucker, they were dropped off and then abducted by aliens for three hours, he said.

“The alien ship was about 30 feet in diameter, piloted by two little guys – gray humanoids – dressed in uniforms,” Carter said, adding that he remembered being decontaminated and then given a medical exam by aliens that were insectoid, unlike the smaller ones piloting the spacecraft. “After that we were taken back home,” he said.

His experience with aliens has probably been more extensive than just this incident because of other “missing” times during his life, Carter said.

“Through regression, my wife and I want to explore some missing time we had together a while back,” he said, adding that he also has dreams and flashbacks of being in a UFO. Although it has not been difficult for him to share his experience with others, Carter explained it is not like that for everyone.

“Most witnesses are afraid of going public . . . but if you see a UFO, report it to MUFON (Mutual UFO Network) or the UFO Reporting Center,” he told the audience, explaining that every sighting report helps to corroborate other reports of the same incident.

“And write down everything right away: the day and time, the place and how large the object

was. That way it gets rid of hoaxing weather balloons,” Carter said.

While many doubt the existence of alien beings, especially the idea of a technologically advanced alien civilization traveling in spacecrafts and abducting humans, most attending the event listened to Carter’s accounts with confidence and awe.

Alien enthusiast and producer of the recently cancelled public access show MIBTV Ann Romanek listened and nodded her head from time to time as Carter recounted his experience.

“You would not believe the stuff out there,” she remarked after the presentation regarding the amount of evidence supporting the existence of UFOs. “It would absolutely blow you away.”

In addition to recounting his UFO sightings and alien contacts, Carter displayed a small piece of the Bob White Object, an alleged extraterrestrial object named after the man who found it in a Colorado field in the summer of 1985.

“I believe Bob White has the real hard evidence of extraterrestrial visitation,” Carter said.

The Bob White Object looks somewhat like an elongated metal pinecone. According to Carter, the Los Alamos National Labratory concluded the object is not a meteor but of an unknown origin. The material is more than 80

percent aluminum with the strength of steel, and contains at least 33 elements, including trace amounts of strontium, gallium, molybdenum and europium, he said.

“We speculate it could be an ion engine from a spacecraft that was ejected due to its malfunctioning status,” Carter said. “What we know for sure is that it messes up batteries and emits gamma and beta rays and neutrons, and that it was exposed to cosmic radiation at some point.”

Metro student Kevin Harris, the senior court justice for Metro’s Student Government Assembly and a member of the Crypto Science Society, listened as Carter explained the composition of the object as it was being passed around.

“I had kind of a UFO experience, but am a skeptic – an objective skeptic, I guess you could say,” Harris said, adding that in his opinion no hard evidence had been presented by Carter attesting to the object being more than an extraterrestrial object fallen to earth.

“For me it comes back to the principle of Occam’s Razor – that the simplest explanation is probably the right one,” he said.

The president of the Crypto Science Society, Jason Cordova, agreed in part.

“I am not about to jump to conclusions, but I think there may be something to it,” Cordova said.

The Crypto Science Society is looking forward to its next event on Mar. 17, when MUFON’s assistant state director, Chuck Zukowski, will present the findings of a recent archaeological expedition to Roswell, N.M., Cordova said.

For more information about the Crypto Science Society, visit http://studentactivities.mscd. edu/~cryptoscience.

THE METROPOLITAN • PAGE 18 • MATTHEW QUANE • MQUANE@MSCD.EDU

Insight “

”

We thank God that our enemies are idiots.

– IRANIAN PRESIDENT MAHMOUD AHMADINEJAD

Tess McCarthy • tmccart9@mscd.edu

ZOË WILLIAMS williamz@mscd.edu

Threatening Iran

U.S. rich with poor kid quality Why are Dutch children so happy, the headline on BBC News wanted to know. I cleverly assumed the answer was that Holland’s legalization of marijuana and prostitution had the adolescents of Amsterdam wandering through life in jubilant bliss.

Despite how uncomfortable it must be to wear those wooden shoes and funny hats, the consumption of so much cheese probably helped soften the hard realities of life, or at least give a layer of fat for protection. And all the tulips everywhere surely made life a bit more livable.

I sat down to read the article and was shocked to find my cliché prejudices well off the mark.

The United Nations Children Fund published a report ranking the well-being of children among the 21 richest countries and its findings revealed that the lives of children depended on more tangible realities.

The northern European countries – the Netherlands, Sweden, Denmark and Finland – held the top of the list. Having been to Holland a number of times and having seen the orderly yet open and liberal society, the rank didn’t really surprise me.

I read further, expecting to see the United States, if not near the top, at least somewhere in the middle of the rankings. I mean, we are one of the richest countries – the sixth-highest income per capita in 2005. We all have a chance at our own piece of pie, right? Americans are healthy.

We have decent schools. The U.S. couldn’t rate too bad, could it?

Well, the good news is we are not the

ANDREW FLOHR-SPENCE spencand@mscd.edu worst. The award for least kid-friendly rich country is England. The U.S. is second to worst.

We may look rich on paper, but the UNICEF report was not impressed.

The study looked at 40 indicators, including poverty and material circumstances, health and safety, education, peer and family relationships, behaviors and risks, and even attempted to measure what the children thought about their own lives.

Although the U.S. does rate in the top five for parents having employment, we have by far the highest number of children living below the poverty line.

The U.S. rates No. 13 for immunization, but our infant mortality rate is only better than Poland’s, and the number of deaths from accidents is only lower than New Zealand’s.

In education, our math, reading and science scores are not far off the average, but our dropout rates are third from the bottom.

In peer and family relationships, we also scrape the bottom. The number of U.S. children living in single-family homes is in a league of its own, and the percentage of students who eat their main meal with their parents is third from last.

The behavior and risk category also has the U.S. with the lowest marks in every category but tobacco-smoking. Contrary to the anti-legalization rhetoric we are force-fed every day, while Holland has opened the gates of hell by legalizing soft-drugs and prostitutes, the Dutch have much lower rates of young people smoking cannabis, and their pregnancy rate is one-tenth of ours. Not even all the cheese-eating brings Holland anywhere close to our dead-last ranking in overweight children.

There is a saying in Holland: God made the Earth, and the Dutch made the Netherlands.

While this relates to how the Dutch must constantly work to keep their country from being washed away by the ocean, it also speaks to the active role the government takes in creating a stable society.

Despite the mountains of wealth in America and constant lip service to giving the next generation all the tools for success, the reality is that little is done.

Talk is cheap, and our undying faith in the free market’s invisible hand doesn’t seem to be working its magic in this respect. It’s time for the United States to stop waiting for a miracle to trickle down, put our money where our mouth is and give future generations a fair chance at the pie.

Regardless of what appears to be bipartisan opposition to a war with Iran, the Bush administration is implementing some heavy rhetoric and military posturing against one of its last opponents in the East Mediterranean. It is too bad that Iran’s threat to the United States, Iraq and the world seldom exists outside of claims, suspicions and accusations.

The U.S. government has charged Iran with providing Iraqi resistance groups with sophisticated “shaped charges,” armor-piercing weapons.

What they failed to mention is that the technology around the shaped charges has existed since the 1880s and amounts to little more than an inward slope at the base of the canister of the bomb that could easily be produced in Iraq with a lathe and some knowledge of munitions.

Furthermore, the resistance in Iraq that has posed the greatest threat to the United States has come from Shiite Iran’s theological opponents: the Sunni resistance. Shiite forces in Iraq have either been allied with U.S. forces – as was the case for the Supreme Council for Islamic Revolution in Iraq or the Badr Organization – or were formed with anti-Iranian policies, as with the Mahdi Army.

According to the National Intelligence Estimate of 2007, Iran is not likely to have any role in escalating violence in Iraq. The Iraq Study Group Report found that it is far more likely that donations from Saudi Arabia are financing more weapons than Iran is.

Iran is a country that has been peaceful since the 1990s and could not have a nuclear-weapons program any earlier than 2015 under the most ideal circumstances. The U.S. intimidation of Iran is unfounded and will set back the progress of the nation by decades. Economic and political interests of the United States have shaped Iran’s existence since the 1950s through coups, the installation of military dictatorships and the funding and subsequent vilification of the Islamic Republic. In order for progress to occur in Iran, the United States needs to step back.

Iranian students, women, intellectuals, religious minorities and dissidents have sacrificed freedom and safety in social movements for a secular, democratic and progressive Iran. Each time that the United States steps in, situations worsen and Iranians critical of the regime retreat in defensive nationalism or fear of government crackdown. In order for progressive change to occur in Iran, it must happen from within. Iranians have the power, and it is time to give them the necessary space to bring change.

THE METROPOLITAN • 2.22.07

BRANDON PEARCE bpearce@mscd.edu

Petty mouths After four weeks of wrangling, the newly empowered house Democrats, led by Nancy Pelosi, have passed a nonbinding resolution voicing their opposition to President Bush’s effort to win the war in Iraq. The more-balanced Senate wisely rejected it.

What is a nonbinding resolution? In short, it is an officially stated position by members of Congress. It forces each member of Congress to declare which side of the issue they stand. It has no power to change the policies or plans of the president. In fact, the only possible effect passing this resolution will have will be the sustenance of the enemy and the demoralization of our troops.

We have already heard al-Qaida leaders, including Osama himself, using the Democrats’ opposition as propaganda to their fighters. Rest assured that they have gotten this important message and will use it to let our enemies know that if they can just hold out a little longer, the Americans will give up.

So what could be motivating the Democrats to pass this sort of resolution? For them this vote is for the future. They have thrown their political chips on the table. In a high-stakes game of political gambling, the Democrats have bet the house on our defeat in Iraq. They realize that how the troops come home will determine the political landscape for the next eight years.

If the troops come home victorious from a free and secure Iraq, then the Republicans win. If the troops come home defeated from an Iraq overrun by mass murdering terrorists and insurgents, then the Democrats win.

The Iraq Study Group, a nonpartisan research group, recently submitted a report detailing the problems we are having in Iraq and predicting the results of various scenarios. One scenario upon which they were unanimous is that leaving Iraq without an Iraqi government that can hold its own against the insurgents would be disastrous for the United States.

First, it would be a major victory for al-Qaida and other nefarious groups, which would boost recruitment to their cause. Second, it would validate the depraved, heart-sickening tactics the insurgents have used to sow havoc in the area. Third, it would give them a staging area to plan and oil revenues to fund future attacks against Americans.

Finally, it would give Iran the go-ahead to continue enriching weapons-grade uranium.

This nonbinding resolution will help to make these nightmares a reality, but what do the Democrats care? They will be back in power.

Does their disagreement with the man running the war make them feel somehow abrogated of the responsibility for causing the war to end disastrously? For the Democrats this nonbinding resolution is just one step toward achieving their true objective: to hang a “loser” sign around the neck of George Bush, and our national security and troops be damned. There are only three words to describe these newly empowered Democrats: petty, petty and petty.

INSIGHT • 19

Reconnaissance with a porpoise Pack your bags, Flipper. You’re going to Washington.

Up to 30 tactically trained dolphins and sea lions could soon be sent to patrol waters at Kitsap-Bangor, a naval base near Seattle, the Associated Press reported last week.

“The base is home to submarines, ships and laboratories and is potentially vulnerable to attack by terrorist swimmers and scuba divers,” the AP stated.

Unfortunately, the concept of reconnaissance dolphins is neither a joke nor anything new.

In the early ’60s, roughly 20 years after Aquaman surfaced, the Navy began summoning the power of sea beasts, using wit, sardines and a completely awesome decoder ring that, as legend has it, was found among bits of cheap, sugary corn flakes.

To get a glimpse of the U.S. Navy Marine Mammal Program, pay a quick visit to its home page. In one corner, proudly adorned in a vintage crackerjack uniform, stands a sea lion with a score to settle. In the other stands an equally embittered dolphin, complete with opposable digits, a love for mom’s apple pie and a cute little hat. The sea lion stiffly holds the stars and stripes, which wave patriotically thanks to animation. The terrorists have nothing on this.

Personification of our oceanic allies reveals more than the Navy’s irreproachable taste in art.

Standing erect with determination in their eyes, these watery comrades are dripping with free will. They not only serve their country, but they do so with unwavering love. They practically swam up to a naval recruiting office and signed, pens in fin, on the appropriate lines.

Presumably, these crude drawings indicate the intelligence possessed by naval pets. We should question the ethics, or lack of them, in exploiting these highly intelligent creatures, who are treated as disposable anti-terror commodities in place of capable Navy personnel.

The Navy denies ever using bottlenose dolphins and California seal lions for offensive missions. Rather, it asserts they are utilized for locating things: unauthorized swimmers, sea mines and objects such as explosives accidentally dropped on the sea floor. On command, the animals swim to the object or person in question, mark it with a beacon or “bite plate” attached to a towline and return “to the boat for a well-deserved reward of fish,” the program’s

COREY HAIM

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COREY FELDMAN

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Dolphins of Mass Destruction

Underwater, only the dolphins can hear you scream. c o m i n g s u m m e r

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EMILE HALLEZ ehallez@mscd.edu website states.

I’m reassured knowing the animals aren’t given any potentially dangerous tasks. Whew.

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Sending animals on these missions is akin to sending young children into their parents’ closets to retrieve loaded guns. As long as the children aren’t taught how to use the triggers – and are promptly rewarded with well-deserved peanut butter and jelly – their safety is never compromised.

“The Navy hopes eventually to downsize its marine mammal program and replace the animals with machines,” the AP stated. If the Navy has any respect for sentient creatures, other than its sailors, it will validate this claim and will do so promptly. Somehow, though, I think we’ll see a robotic rear admiral before a synthetic sea lion.

Corrections: Feb. 15 • The article “Bio to the future” by Emile Hallez should have stated that ethanol made from corn kernels costs about $1.07 per gallon to produce. A spokesman for the National Renewable Energy Laboratory said that production of ethanol from the inedible portions of plants currently costs about $2.50 per gallon.

SERVING THE AURARIA CAMPUS SINCE 1979 EDITOR IN CHIEF Cory Casciato • casciato@mscd.edu MANAGING EDITOR David Pollan • dpollan@mscd.edu NEWS EDITOR Geof Wollerman • gwollerm@mscd.edu ASSISTANT NEWS EDITOR Lou Christopher • achris25@mscd.edu OPINIONS EDITOR Matthew Quane • mquane@mscd.edu ASSISTANT OPINIONS EDITORS Andrew Flohr-Spence • spencand@mscd.edu Emile Hallez • ehallez@mscd.edu FEATURES EDITOR Adam Goldstein • goldstea@mscd.edu ASSISTANT FEATURES EDITOR Josie Klemaier • jklemaie@mscd.edu MUSIC EDITOR Megan Carneal • mcarneal@mscd.edu

SPORTS EDITOR Eric Lansing • lansing@mscd.edu DESIGN EDITOR Joe Nguyen • nguyejos@mscd.edu ILLUSTRATOR Andrew Howerton • ahowert2@mscd.edu PHOTO EDITOR Jenn LeBlanc • jkerriga@mscd.edu COPY EDITORS Jeremy Johnson • jjohn308@mscd.edu Taylor Sullivan • tsulli21@mscd.edu Joel Tagert • tagert@mscd.edu ASSISTANT DIRECTOR OF STUDENT MEDIA Donnita Wong ADVISER Jane Hoback

The Metropolitan is produced by and for the students of Metropolitan State College of Denver and serves the Auraria Campus. The Metropolitan is supported by advertising revenue and student fees, and is published every Thursday during the academic year and bi-weekly during the summer semester.

The Metropolitan is distributed to all campus buildings. No person may take more than one copy of each edition of The Metropolitan without prior written permission. Please direct any questions, comments, complaints or compliments to Metro Board of Publications c/o The Metropolitan. Opinions expressed within do not necessarily reflect those of Metropolitan State College of Denver or its advertisers. Deadline for calendar items is 5 p.m. Thursday. Deadline for press releases is 10 a.m. Monday. Display advertising deadline is 3 p.m. Thursday.

Classified advertising is 5 p.m. Thursday.

Our offices are located in the Tivoli Student Union, Room 313.

Mailing address is P.O. Box 173362, Campus Box 57, Denver, CO 80217-3362.

THE METROPOLITAN • PAGE 20 • ERIC LANSING • LANSING@MSCD.EDU

Sport

DID YOU KNOW...

The women’s basketball team leads the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference in assists with 18.04 per game. They are second in the conference in offense (74.9 ppg), free-throw percentage (.731) and steals (12.08 ppg).

Guard Ashley Mickens has recorded two of her three double-doubles against Nebraska-Kearney.

If you can play, it doesn’t matter if you’re gay

ERIC LANSING lansing@mscd.edu

Photo by Dawn Madura • dmadura@mscd.edu

Metro forward Cody Lemon takes a slapshot from the blue line in their victory over the University of Colorado Feb. 17 at the Bladium Sports Club. Lemon is the captain of the Roadrunners inline hockey club team and founded the team two years ago. He finally got the team sanctioned by the school in 2006.

‘Runners get season inline Roller hockey team off to great start in second half of season

By Eric Lansing lansing@mscd.edu Metro’s inline hockey team started the second half of their season with three wins in four games, including a 9-7 victory over AIMS Community College Feb. 18 at the Bladium Sports Club.

Metro’s first game back was a loss to a Colorado State University team that has only lost one game all season. The Roadrunners then took two straight from the University of Colorado on Feb. 16 and 17.

In the final game of their four-game weekend, Metro held off a late rally by AIMS to clinch their eighth win of the season.

“I owe it all to them,” Metro head coach Tom Barr said. “I have the greatest team on the planet. These guys skate and play by the heart, and they play 36 minutes of hockey in every game.”

“We’re doing great,” team captain Cody Lemon said. “The last three out of four games we have really stepped it up, and the team knows that.”

With the game tied at four and two minutes still remaining on the clock, the Roadrunners scored consecutive goals to put Metro ahead 6-4 before the end of the second period.

The ’Runners scored two goals at the start of the third period, giving them a comfortable four-goal advantage – or so they thought.

With just five minutes remaining in the closing period, AIMS went on a tear, scoring three goals in less than a minute.

But the Roadrunners got the insurance goal they needed by scoring with less than 30 seconds to go to squeeze out the victory.

Barr’s main concern in the 9-7 victory was starting goalie Ryan Tennant. Barr said that Tennant had a long weekend, playing four games in a row, but has been playing outstanding hockey.

He added that he was proud of the entire team, which has been giving it everything they have in every game.

The Roadrunners play in the Rocky Mountain Collegiate Roller Hockey Association, a Division I conference. They finished the first half of the season ranked fourth in the conference with a 3-5-3 record and nine points.

Colorado State is atop the conference with a 9-1-1 record and 19 points. The University of Denver is ranked second, with the University of Colorado-Boulder in third, Northern Colorado in

fifth and the School of Mines in sixth.

“From where we were at the beginning of the season to now is like 300 percent (improvement),” Lemon said. “It’s great how we are coming together and getting the (wins).”

Metro has two games left to play before they get ready for their regional tournament, which begins March 2. The tournament will decide if they will get to attend the National Collegiate Roller Hockey Association tournament in St. Louis.

Barr said that he is going to try and keep his team motivated so his team can make a solid run at the nationals. “We need to keep them in their game and keep their attitudes under control. We have a great team,” Barr said.

SCHEDULE Inline hockey

Northern Colorado 8 p.m., Feb. 24 Denver

Colorado School of Mines 10 p.m., Feb. 24 Denver

Is there room for homosexuals in the world of sports?

Hearing about former NBA basketball player John Amaechi coming out of the closet a few weeks ago and then about Tim Hardaway’s remarks towards gay men in professional basketball got me thinking on the issue of sexual preferences in sports.

When we think of male sports, we think of the physicality and strength it takes to play football, baseball, hockey or basketball. The stereotype of male athletes is that they are egocentric, meatheaded gym rats and are very promiscuous, without a second’s thought before spreading the word about their sexual adventures to their buddies.

It’s no wonder Amaechi held his tongue during his basketball career, fearing rejection by not only his teammates but also by the organizations that signed his paychecks. This is by no means the way the NBA or any other organization should treat any employee, whether they are gay, straight, black, white, woman or man.

Amaechi played for numerous teams in his eight-year NBA career, and according to his ESPN interview on Outside the Lines, many teammates had an inkling that he was “playing for the other team.” But the 6-foot-10-inch, 270-pound center kept his sexual orientation to himself until February 2007, four years after his career ended.

So the question still hangs in the balance: Can sports and homosexuality coexist in the same locker room?

According to former NBA guard Tim Hardaway, the answer is no. In fact, players like Hardaway seem to be the reason why gay athletes never dare speak of their sexual orientation.

Hardaway was asked how he would deal with a gay teammate and responded by saying, “I hate gay people,” and, “It shouldn’t be in the

See LANSING Page 21

THE METROPOLITAN • 2.22.07

LANSING • Victory takes everyone, straight or gay Continued from 20 world or in the United States.”

It is one thing to either disagree or to dislike someone else’s choices, but to hate someone over those choices is ignorant, immature and heinous.

Maybe Tim Hardaway doesn’t remember that it wasn’t too long ago that African-Americans were seen as the inferior race and had to use different bathrooms from the superior Caucasians.

It isn’t fair that heterosexuality is the sexual preference accepted in today’s society and homosexuals have to be hush-hush in order to keep their jobs and be looked upon as normal.

But huge strides have been made by gays, and they should continue to fight for their rights just as women and African Americans have.

Although I do not agree with persecuting others for sexual preferences, religious affiliations, political agendas or even loyalty to a sports team, I do believe that in a work environment, some things should be kept to yourself.

I am not saying you should not be proud of being homosexual, a Democrat, or a Broncos fan.

What I am saying is anytime you become a part of a team, whether that be in sports, retail or construction, everyone is different, and we are not required to agree with one another’s beliefs.

But we are required to do our part to complete an overall task and to reach common goals.

It shouldn’t matter on the court that Hardaway doesn’t like homosexuals. His job was to win basketball games and collect paychecks.

It shouldn’t matter on the court that Amaechi was gay, because his job was the same as Hardaway’s. The controversy is only coming out now after both athletes are retired and can no longer contribute on the court. Maybe they both knew if they would have thrown their two cents on the table during their careers, both would have been without a job.

There is no clear-cut solution to this problem unless corporations decide to keep their employees from speaking to one another on personal matters and keeping it to work-only topics. But then we become drones, and work becomes an even more intolerable place to be.

It is sad that we live in a world so closeminded and fearful of what is different. But we do live in that world, and we need to be respectful of others, which includes tolerating their intolerable ignorance.

Other homosexual athletes Tennis champions Martina Navratilova Billie Jean King

NFL defensive lineman Esera Tualo

Champion diver Greg Louganis

WNBA MVP Sheryl Swoopes

MLB outfielder Glenn Burke

SPORT • 21

Metro still alive with wins Roadrunners pull within 2 games of Regis in the RMAC

By Eric Lansing lansing@mscd.edu The women’s basketball team took home two conference wins in Nebraska and vaulted to No. 2 in the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference East Division standings with a 79-57 crushing of Chadron State Feb. 15 and a close 69-65 victory over Nebraska-Kearney on Feb. 17 at Kearney’s Health and Sports Center.

Regis, which is ranked 22nd in the USA Today/ESPN women’s basketball poll, stands on top of the RMAC East Division.

“We played very well,” Metro head coach Dave Murphy said of his team’s two road wins.

“We hit our free throws and we made the right plays down the stretch.”

The story of Metro’s win at Chadron State was the free-throw disparity. The Roadrunners attempted 29 shots from the stripe while the Eagles had only six. Both teams shot well from the line, as Metro connected on 23, while Chadron State made five.

The Eagles, who lead the conference in personal fouls (542), continued their roughhousing,

RMAC

W 15 Metro 15 Nebraska-Kearney Colorado Mines 8 UC-Colorado Springs 7 Colorado Christian 7 Chadron State 4 Regis 3

RMAC

Check out MetReport.com

EAST DIVISION

EAST DIVISION L PCT 2 .882 2 .882 9 .471 10 .412 10 .412 13 .235 14 .176

Her teammate forward Jonni Mildenberger, who torched the ’Runners with 16 points in the last meeting with Metro, added 13 points, with seven coming from the free throw line.

Metro’s free throw shooting was once again a key factor in the win, as they shot 81.8 percent, connecting on 27-of-33 attempts.

The two conference wins improve the Roadrunners’ record to 13-4 in the RMAC and 20-4 overall.

They also find themselves back in the national rankings at 23rd in Division II. Metro finishes their regular season with a road trip to Golden on Feb. 24, where they will take on the Colorado School of Mines.

WOMEN’S BASKETBALL

MEN’S BASKETBALL Conference

committing 23 fouls that led to 23 points for the ’Runners. Unfortunately for Chadron, Metro is second in the RMAC in free throw percentage at .731.

Metro’s defense held Chadron State’s offense to only 31.4 percent shooting from the field while the ’Runners shot a solid 49.1 percent. Metro forward Cassondra Bratton’s 14 points and six rebounds led the Roadrunners, while guard Megan Johnson scored 11 points and was 6-for-6 from the free-throw line.

Two days later, Metro used a late 21-4 run to overcome an 11-point deficit to defeat NebraskaKearney 69-65, avenging an earlier loss to the Lopers. The Roadrunners’ last defeat came at the hands of Kearney on Feb. 2 at the Auraria Events Center.

Guard Ashley Mickens recorded her third double-double on the season by scoring 19 points and grabbing 12 rebounds. Johnson scored 14 points in the game, all in the second half. The 5-foot-6-inch guard came through in the end by hitting four consecutive free throws to secure the victory.

Coach Murphy said that his team has been working hard on their free throws and have done a lot of running in practice when they miss them.

The work has shown as Metro hit 50 freebies in the pair of weekend wins and shot an amazing .855 percent from the line.

Kearney guard Jade Meads led all scorers with 21 points and pulled down six rebounds.

Overall W 22 21 14 14 12 6 8

L 3 4 11 11 13 19 16

Conference W 15 Regis 13 Metro 12 Nebraska-Kearney 11 Colorado Mines UC-Colorado Springs 7 Colorado Christian 3 Chadron State 1

L PCT 2 .882 4 .765 5 .706 6 .647 10 .412 14 .176 16 .111

Overall W 20 20 18 14 9 7 2

L 5 5 7 11 16 18 23

Feb. 15 at Armstrong Gym Metro Chadron State

Total 38 22

41 35

79 57

Leading Scorers:

M: Bratton 14, Johnson 11 CS: Schmid 13, Cumings 10 Leading Rebounders: M: Mickens 7, two tied w/ 6 CS: Cumings & Sibrel 5 Feb. 17 at UNK Health and Sports Center Metro Nebraska-Kearney

28 29

Total 41 36

69 65

Leading Scorers:

M: Mickens 19, Johnson 14 NK: Meads 21, Mildenberger 13 Leading Rebounders: M: Mickens 12, Bratton 7 NK: Hinkley 8, Meads 6

You can catch Roadrunner highlights from sports anchors Eric Lansing and Steven Piesman.

Win streak ends at 15, Metro falls to Lopers

By Eric Lansing lansing@mscd.edu The men’s basketball team had a rough road trip to Nebraska as they barely pulled out a 6965 victory over lowly Chadron State Feb. 15 and were upset 90-87 by Nebraska-Kearney Feb. 17 at Kearney’s Health and Sports Center.

The fourth-ranked Roadrunners held a 17point lead over the Eagles of Chadron State (619, 4-13 in the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference) at halftime, but allowed them to work their way back into the game and even allowed the Eagles to take a six-point advantage with 5:32 left in the game.

Metro then went on a 15-5 run to end the game and take home their 15th straight victory.

Forward Michael Bahl led Metro with 14 points, while center Moussa Coulibaly contributed 13 points and six rebounds. Chadron State’s Fernando Bonfim, a 7-foot center who played well against Metro in their last meeting on Feb. 3, scored a career-high 18 points.

“Chadron is always a tough place to play no matter their record,” Metro head coach Brannon Hays said. “After playing well in the first

half and letting them back in the game, it was a wake up call for us.”

The Roadrunners then headed to Kearney, Neb., where the Lopers looked to avenge the 9275 beating they took from Metro on Feb. 2.

Kearney forward Dusty Jura, the RMAC’s Preseason Player of the Year, scored 30 points and pulled down 17 rebounds to hand Metro its first loss in almost two months.

After overcoming an 11-point first-half deficit, the ’Runners pecked their way back and eventually took an 82-80 lead with three minutes remaining. But Kearney hit consecutive shots, a 3-pointer from forward Chad Burger and a layup by Jura, to put Kearney up by three with 2:02 left on the clock.

Metro guard Terrell Burgess hit a three to tie the game at 85, but Kearney guard James Lane came right back to hit a three of his own to bring Kearney back to a three-point lead.

Burgess put in a layup to cut the lead to one with 1:06 left in the game, but a three-point shot by guard Jeff Martin and consecutive free throws

by Burger sealed the win for the Lopers.

Coach Hays said that playing in front of a hostile environment with 5,000 students was a

lesson learned for his team especially with the RMAC tournament right around the corner.

The 1-1 weekend gives Metro a 21-4 overall record and a 15-2 record in the conference.

They finish their regular season Feb. 24 at the Colorado School of Mines, where they hold a 27-11 lead in the all-time series against the Orediggers.

Feb. 15 at Armstrong Gym Metro Chadron State

Total 43 26

26 39

69 65

Leading Scorers:

M: Bahl 14, Coulibaly 13 CS: Bonfim 18, Christansen 14 Leading Rebounders: M: Bahl, Coulibaly, & Bass 6 CS: Cumings & Sibrel 5

Feb. 17 at UNK Health and Sports Center Metro Nebraska-Kearney Leading Scorers:

37 43

Total 50 47

87 90

M: Wagstaff 29, Carrington 17 NK: Jura 30, Martin 15 Leading Rebounders: M: Wagstaff 17, Veikalas 4 NK: Jura 17, Burger 8