Volume 29, Issue 28, April 12, 2007 by Met Media

THE

METROPOLITAN 4.12.07 • Vol. 29 No. 28 • http://www.mscd.edu/~themet • Serving the Auraria Campus since 1979

Prepare to be poked

New immunization requirements coming for underclassmen prior to fall registration PAGE 3

Pumping up the volume

Photo by Amie Cribley • acribley@mscd.edu

Ietef Vita shows some of the record collection owned by MetRadio, Metro’s student-run radio station, in the office of student media. Vita works at the station as DJ Cavem and can be found in the office of student media on most days broadcasting to a limited audience. The station struggles to find an audience due to its limited broadcast range. Full story on page 7.

METROSPECTIVE PULLOUT Attractions take commuters off beaten light rail track PAGE 14 School’s out with Mourning Sickness PAGE 16

SPORT ’Runners show no love in weekend tennis win PAGE 21

MetNews

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

Without proof, shots required Immunization policy affects underclassmen By David Cardenas dcarden5@mscd.edu A new immunization policy is requiring all Metro students who have completed less than 90 credit hours to show documented proof of certain vaccinations before Oct. 1, or they will not be allowed to register for the spring 2008 semester. The required vaccinations are for measles, mumps and rubella, and students who need to receive the vaccines will have the option to get the immunization from the Auraria Health Center or go to their personal doctor. The new policy came about after a mumps outbreak in 2000 in Iowa was seen moving west, and the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment expressed concerns that Metro could not provide the immunization status of all its students, said Steve Monaco, director of the Health Center. “(The health department was) very concerned that in case of an outbreak we would not be able to control the disease, not knowing who was immunized and who was not,” Monaco said. A task force was formed including all three campus institutions to look into implementing a plan to keep track of data regarding immunized students. Metro and UCD are the only four-year colleges in Colorado that do not have an immunization policy, due largely to the fact that Auraria does not offer on-campus housing. “It’s a state law that any four-year institution of higher education that has dormitories must have an immunization policy in place,” Monaco said. “We found out that the only (immunization) that was required in those institutions was the measles, mumps and rubella.” The Health Center will provide the vaccination shots at $45, which means it will be offering the lowest price in town, Monaco said.

“We didn’t want to make this a moneymaker,” he said. The decision to exempt students who have more than 90 credit hours came about because of a student-initiated request, and is meant to apply to seniors who will be graduating within an academic year. But Monaco said the Health Center does not think the policy will affect many students because state law has mandated since the ‘70s that K-12 public school students receive a series of immunizations. “We’re estimating that 95 percent of our students will have already received these immunizations. All they have to do is show us the proof,” Monaco said. Metro freshman Brad Davis feels that the new immunization policy is long overdue. “I think it’s an excellent idea because it prevents diseases in the student body,” Davis said. “It should have been done a long time ago.” Some students, however, think there might be an underlying agenda with the new policy. “I don’t think it’s a good idea because I feel that vaccines are dangerous. (Doctors) persist in telling us that these vaccines are good for you, but the reality of it is that these vaccines can hurt you,” April Harris, a Metro sophomore, said. “It seems like this is the pharmaceutical companies’ agenda pushing these on us.” No matter how students feel about the policy, recent events point to the seriousness of health issues on campus. Three years ago a student died from meningitis. Another student lost some of his limbs but managed to survive the deadliest form of the disease meningococcemia. The Health Center will now be informing students of the importance of other immunizations besides the required vaccinations, Monaco said. The meningitis vaccine costs $85 for any student who wishes to get it, but is not required by Metro. Monaco said 98 percent of students have not been immunized against meningitis. “$85 isn’t much if you lose your life, so it’s all relative,” he said.

“We’re estimating that 95 percent of our students will have already received these immunizations. All they have to do is show us proof.” MORE INSIDE:

-- STEVE MONACO, HEALTH CENTER DIRECTOR

Climate Cats demand environmental action

Local comic standing

Photo by William Blackburn • wblackb2@mscd.edu

Denver comedian Josh Blue performs April 4 at the Tivoli Turnhalle. Blue, the winner of the NBC show Last Comic Standing, has cerebral palsy and is also a member of the U.S. Paralympic Soccer team. His routine includes jokes about stereotypes, disabilities, politics and life. For more information about Blue, visit http:// www.joshblue.com.

CORRECTION: APRIL 5 • Spill Lounge is not a client of BarOptic.com. It is considered one of the 27 proﬁled clubs that the company features on its website. BarOptic.com has cameras in eight clubs in the Denver area.

PAGE 5 MetRadio looks to expand range

PAGE 7

THE METROPOLITAN • 4.12.07

NEWS • 5

Climate Cats call for action

Unlawful acts on campus

Group’s upcoming rally, website aims to inform about carbon emissions By Taylor Sullivan tsulli21@mscd.edu

Photo by Emily Mehring • emehring@mscd.edu

Michael Kevin Lawyer was arrested April 3 near the Plaza Building. According to the Auraria police report, Lawyer was charged with trespassing, petty theft and possession of drug paraphernalia, and was also involved in “unlawful acts on or about school, colleges & campus.” Details about Lawyer’s arrest were whited-out of the report. Lawyer is one of six individuals with no campus afﬁliation to be arrested by Auraria police in April.

Overhauling core curriculum General studies reform will include reductions, student involvement By Brandon Daviet bdaviet@mscd.edu There is little that the average college student dreads more than the thought of having to take general education courses. And for many students, these courses can make or break a college career. Metro’s Board of Trustees is preparing to implement the second part of their general education reform plan. Last week the board brought in a consultant from the Association of American Colleges and Universities to speak about what changes should be made. Jeffrey Gaff, who spoke at the Tivoli on April 4 and 5, is considered an expert in general education reform. He has written several books on the subject, including General Education: The Changing Agenda. During four roundtable discussions, Gaff highlighted several key ideas in reforming Metro’s General Studies Program. The meetings were designed to stimulate ideas and discussions between faculty members. “I see a ton of students who don’t know what they want to study and want to experiment but are afraid to because of the current General Studies Program,” said Betty Vette, director of student intervention services. During his ﬁnal presentation Gaff deﬁned

general education as “the knowledge, skills and attitudes we all use in our daily lives,” and went on to describe a few of the national trends in general education. Many schools are redeﬁning requirements by “extending orientations, providing stronger advising and paying greater attention to intellectual and personal development,” Gaff said. More choice and student involvement in the general studies program seemed to be the overwhelming consensus of the meetings’ attendees.

motion to significantly revamp Metro’s general studies for the first time in fifteen years. The debate over general studies began with Colorado’s adoption of the College Opportunity Fund in 2004, when state legislators started questioning general education statewide. Metro has already implemented the first part of a two-phase plan to reform the program. The first phase consisted of cutting the number of general studies courses offered to students from 101 to 95.

“I see a ton of students who don’t know what they want to study and want to experiment but are afraid to because of the current General Studies Program.” -- BETTY VETTE, DIRECTOR OF STUDENT INTERVENTION SERVICES English professor Theresa Crater, who is chair of the general studies committee, said the committee is “thinking about doing some forums with students,” and is due to present a proposal of recommended changes to the board later this year. “The more we can empower students, the better the school’s retention rates will be,” said Maureen Lancaster, director of the Center For Individualized Learning. “General studies should take students to a place they haven’t gone before.” It still isn’t clear exactly what changes will be made to the program, but responses to Gaff’s speech made it evident that the wheels are in

However, at the April 4 board meeting, trustee Mark Martinez made clear that he thought not enough classes had been cut. “That’s not change,” Martinez said. According to a recent press release from Metro’s administration, the general education classes offered will be “appropriately reduced prior to the publication of the 2007-08 College Catalog.”

More information about Metro’s General Studies Committee and its research can be found at the committee’s website, http://www.mscd. edu/~gsc/.

Two Auraria students are taking their concerns about the environment to the Capitol April 14 where they will demand that America take an active role in the reduction of carbon emissions and take responsibility for its global footprint. “We just got tired of sitting around talking about how messed up things are getting,” said Shae Whitney, an environmental science student at Metro. “So we decided to do something.” That something has turned into a multi-organization rally between noon and 2 p.m., on the west steps of the Capitol to raise public awareness about America’s detrimental position toward the environment. The Climate Cats, founded by Whitney and UCD student Duncan Dotterer, worked with the national environmental organization Step It Up to organize the rally, which will be held on what Step It Up has declared to be 2007 ClimateChange Action Day. The focus of the rally is to get Congress to reduce carbon dioxide emissions 80 percent by 2050. For those who might regard this as an overly ambitious goal, Whitney pointed out that Germany has promised a 40 percent decrease in its own emissions by 2020. “Don’t be scared. Get out of your car, get on your bike, get on a bus, figure out alternative ways to get around,” she said. “Calling Xcel Energy and changing my power to 100 percent wind energy took five minutes and cost next to nothing, like a drink at the bar.” Surprised by the responses they received from their MySpace page, http://www.myspace. com/climatecats, and connecting the rally to Step It Up’s efforts, Dotterer and Whitney said they realized how much people care but don’t have an outlet for action. “It was the level of inaction that really fostered this,” Dotterer said. “We knew we wanted to do something, but didn’t know what steps to take.” When they held their first meeting, “random citizens just started showing up. Duncan and I were just the idea, just the organizers,” Whitney said. “People wanted to give anything they could. … People obviously care, and they’re getting worried.” Aside from spreading their message, the Climate Cats also want to be a source of information about environmental issues – both local and global – and what people can do to make a change. They say that change needs to start now. “We are already seeing negative impacts like rising sea levels from melting ice, which leads to flooded coastal cities,” Whitney said. “More than half of the world’s population lives in threatened areas. That is a lot of environmental refugees.” According to the Christian Science Monitor, Hurricane Katrina alone forced more than a million people into other parts of the country. The Climate Cats contend that if America – by far the

See CLIMATE Page 8

THE METROPOLITAN • 4.12.07

NEWS • 7

Campus radio looks for more listeners By Rita Wold rwold@mscd.edu On the third floor of the Tivoli – located just a few steps from the atrium – is room 313, the Office of Student Media, where MetRadio has made itself a home. On one particular afternoon, the sounds of Goapele could be heard drifting from the station’s tiny booth. The song is titled “Closer,” and it’s part of a weekly program called Friday’s Stress Relief. Inside the booth, surfaces are filled with high-tech equipment and walls decorated with posters and album covers of some of today’s most popular artists. When its hosts adhere to the weekly schedule, MetRadio’s offerings include hip-hop, R & B, jazz, oldies, music from local artists and a sports talk show. But unfortunately, few disc jockeys call the booth home. Most of the music is set in rotation, and the sign above the door that reads “on air” is only accurate part of the time. “I don’t think we have a radio station,” said Metro student Bithia Coleman regarding what she thought about Metro’s radio station. MetRadio has been around for six years and can be heard online and on 88.3 FM inside the Tivoli. There have been attempts to expand the station’s scope, but so far efforts have been unsuccessful. “Things will be happening, but not tomorrow,” said Donnita Wong, assistant director of student media, regarding the station’s future. She said lack of student involvement is one of the biggest challenges the station faces. “There may have been students interested, but nothing’s been done. Students are focused on finishing up their classes,” Wong said. “They haven’t been involved in the conversations.” MetRadio’s general manger, Justice Jackson, said he is doing the best he can with what he has. “I try to keep all the equipment clean, in working order, DJs in rotation and the music fresh. We need more money put into it,” Jackson said. One of the first steps is to conduct an engineering study to search for available frequencies, said Mario Caballero, broadcast coordinator for Colorado State University. Reserving the frequency with the Federal Communications Commission is the next step, he said. But an FCC consumer advocacy specialist said the FCC is not accepting applications and doesn’t expect to anytime soon. The CSU radio station, located in Fort Collins, can be heard as far as Cheyenne and south Denver, and has been reaching these areas for 12 years now. CSU gets the $225,000 that it needs to maintain the station each year from student fees and pays its employees through work study, Caballero said. “Back in the day, they didn’t have problems with getting space on the dials,” Caballero said. “The band is really crowded. You have to have enough separation between the two frequencies.” The FCC’s process is always moving forward, but it would be more practical to increase an already established frequency – such as MetRadio’s 88.3 FM – or work to develop a partnership with an already established station, Caballero said. “To get an actual on-the-air broadcast license is a multiyear application process through the Federal Communication Commissions,” said Kevin Campbell, Metro’s coordinator of broadcasting. “It’s also very expensive, even for a low-power educational license. It would take several students to fill out the applications and obtain legal counsel to start the licensing process.” Campbell said expanding the station would also require about $100,000 for a transmitter and other engineering costs. “I seriously doubt Metro would have the required budget to ever make this happen,” he said. Like most forms of media, radio stations are sustained with advertising. But MetRadio is not allowed to advertise because it is a nonprofit, educational broadcast, so funding for its daily operations comes from a portion of student media fees. Due to lack of funding, this year student media was approved for $210,000 of the $253,000 it requested in its budget proposal, said Ashley Averill, vice president of the student affairs board. If approved, a new flat-fee proposal that will be decided on in early May could potentially bring more money to a number of Metro programs, including student media, which may mean more money for MetRadio. There are also other options MetRadio could consider.

Portrait by Amie Cribley • acribley@mscd.edu

MetRadio disc jockey Ietef Vita, a.k.a. DJ CaveM, shows off some records inside the station’s studio located on the third floor of the Tivoli. Vita is organizing an event coming to the Tivoli on April 28 called Brown Suga Festival that will feature films, poets, musicians and dancers, and is designed to engage Denver youth and area educators. The radio station at CU-Boulder, Radio 1190, holds a pledge drive two times a year that brings in approximately $100,000 in donations, said Mike Flanagan, general manager of Radio 1190. But funding is not the only problem facing MetRadio. Jackson will have to rearrange the Met’s programming for the third time this year due to students being absent from their shows. “Why spend the money if we can’t keep a slot full of DJs?” Wong said. The key to developing a more complete station is the students’ duty, she said. “People want to hear different things and not the same mixes they have heard nonstop.” The new director of student media, Dianne Miller, is already putting the pieces together to start the station’s renovation. “That window of opportunity for people to participate, that’s huge,” Miller said. A former student of Miller’s, Damon Sasso, owns KFKA 1310 AM in Greeley. With the help of his brother, Metro DJs and Miller, Sasso has formed a plan to reconfigure the MetRadio studio. Part of his plan involves creating a manual – complete with artistic

drawings – that detail the studio’s components and equipment. The idea is to create an “attractive functional space,” Miller said. The plan will be put into action in late May and could possibly be complete by mid-June. The goal is to make MetRadio available campus-wide, then apply for a low-power FM license that would increase the listening distance. When the radio was ﬁrst built in 2001, the satellite was placed in between brick walls, which affected listening capabilities, Miller said. “The students and myself are going to talk to various organizations,” she said, regarding working around the funding issues. “Let them know this is a good way to get publicity. Come play with us.” The station will also attempt to get a business sponsor, she said. Miller said she would like to see the station have “much broader programming that showcases Metro and all its diversity.” She mentioned having a venue for Metro President Stephen Jordan, history shows and call-in talk shows. “Not just hip hop – the campus is more than that,” Miller said.

8 • NEWS

4.12.07 • THE METROPOLITAN

Hazards of sleep loss not fully realized By Ruth Johnson rjohn180@mscd.edu Recently the National Sleep Foundation celebrated National Sleep Awareness Week, which focused on educating the public about the detriments of sleep deprivation. According to a poll conducted by the NSF in 2002, Americans sleep an average of 6.9 hours on weeknights and 7.5 on weekends, down signiﬁcantly from an average of 10 hours per night in 1879 – when Thomas Edison invented the light bulb. “Only half of adults say they get a full eight hours of uninterrupted sleep per night,” the NSF website states. Eight hours is the standard amount of sleep recommended by experts for good health, safety and optimum performance. According to recent studies by the Institute of Medicine, sleep

deprivation has been linked to impaired concentration and memory retrieval, frequent illness and depression, obesity and diabetes, heart problems and hypertension, and even – in the case of prolonged deprivation – death. “Sleep deprivation can break down a person’s natural defenses,” said Metro psychology professor Karen Crawford. “It can be a powerful tool because when you destroy a person’s ability to go into REM, they are likely to experience psychoticism and hallucinations.” It is during the REM, or rapid eye movement, phase of sleep that dreams occur and the brain processes information. While breathing and heart rate increase and become irregular, the muscles relax and the eyes move back and forth under the eyelids. During sleep the body alternates between REM and non-REM – a deeper sleep state – in 90-minute cycles. Experts say both cycles

are important in mental and physical health maintenance. “It takes a certain amount of sleep to consolidate what has been learned during the day,” said Crawford, who recommended her students get at least six to seven hours of sleep per night. “During sleep, the brain integrates information,” she said, adding that an adequate amount of sleep is important in successful test-taking. Because of the demands of higher education, college students are at greater risk for sleep deprivation, especially on a commuter campus such as Auraria. Sophomore and full-time student Lisa Bottinelli said she only sleeps an average of six hours per night. “I work full-time, go to school and cheer for the Denver Nuggets, so it’s hard for me to ﬁnd the time to sleep, especially when I add studying to my schedule,” she said. Metro history major Charlie Smith echoed Bottinelli’s sentiment. “For the last three years I was averaging four to six hours per night,” he said, adding that he changed his sleeping habits in order to study more. “But it had the opposite effect, and I noticed my problem-solving skills decreased dramatically … and then my grades dropped. I was edgy and irritable. So this semester I made a commitment to get an average of seven hours of sleep per night, which has been working much better.” Lack of sleep also increases the risk of vehicle accidents. The National Highway Trafﬁc Safety Administration estimates drowsy drivers cause 100,000 accidents each year that result in 1,500 fatalities. “It was a surprise to me that sleepy people are as much of a risk on the road as alcohol-impaired drivers,” Crawford said. The Journal of Neuropsychiatry and Clinical Sciences stated in a recent article that sleep is undervalued because many of its functions are not yet well understood. The article said the fact that prolonged sleep deprivation can cause death should indicate the critical role it plays in health maintenance. “It is well known that people working swing shift are less healthy than others because they don’t sleep well,” Crawford said. “But I think it is our Western mentality, the go, go, go attitude of optimal production that is partially to blame.”

CLIMATE • Group claims America’s global footprint needs to be addressed Continued from 5 world’s largest contributor of carbon emissions – doesn’t start shaping up, environmental conditions will continue to worsen, which could result in more massive storms that will kill hundreds of thousands and displace millions. “Once it happens on a big scale,” Whitney said, “we won’t be able to keep ignoring it.” The Climate Cats hope they represent a shift in the way America is thinking about climate change. The Supreme Court recently ruled that carbon dioxide is an air pollutant and that the Environmental Protection Agency has a responsibility to regulate it, something the agency has historically avoided. The Cats are also pushing individuals to take personal responsibility. “On an individual level people can learn to live a more sustainable lifestyle, and that is deﬁnitely part of the solution, a lot of small changes,” Whitney said. “If you don’t know what to do, ask us for help.”

THE METROPOLITAN • 4.12.07

NEWS • 9

Student Proﬁle: Gen McClure

Fly ﬁshing, Dalai Lama’s favorite candy By Jessie Yale jyale@mscd.edu

www.prcnet.com

At the age of 25, Metro student Gen McClure has already traveled the globe, received a world record for fly fishing and managed to sneak the Dalai Lama a bit of his favorite candy. McClure started fly fishing with her grandfather – who for the most part raised her – when she was 3 years old. “I call him my ‘grand’ father because he is the coolest guy I know,” McClure said. “I started fly fishing so I could hang out with him more.” Through her passion for fishing, McClure has accomplished more than the average angler. When she was 16, McClure became the world’s youngest female professional fly fisher and joined the Junior USA Fly Fishing team. But for McClure, it wasn’t always easy being a female in a sport dominated by males. “I thought I was put on the team because I was good. I found out later it was because I was a media ploy,” McClure said. “I was told I would sell magazines.” During a world fly fishing event in Wales, U.K., McClure’s team won silver medals, while she was nearly excluded from the whole thing. “I was put on alternate and wasn’t allowed

to attend any of the events,” McClure said. “I had to sit at a different table during the banquet, and the team almost got away with giving my medal to someone else that wasn’t even on the team. I think it was the media consultant or something.” She was given back her medal after she explained her story to a Welsh man who turned out to be one of the head officials at the event. After hearing her story, he explained to the U.S. team that they would be stripped of their medals and banned from the sport if they didn’t give McClure her medal. McClure has also traveled to Mexico, as well as all over the United States, including Alaska, to pursue fly fishing. She holds a world record for catching a Kawakawa fish in Midway Atoll, an island between Japan and Hawaii. At age 17, she dropped out of her alternative high school, Community Charter. “I wasn’t learning anything but how to smoke cigarettes and quote Shakespeare,” McClure said. A month later she got her GED. Before dropping out, she met the Dalai Lama through the high school program Peace Jam. “Everyone brings him gifts, but he’s not allowed to accept them because he’s the Dalai Lama. He ends up giving all the gifts to charity,” McClure said. “I was broke at the time so I bought him some 50 cent Rollos candies,

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figuring if he can’t accept them I get to eat tice. After graduation she plans to be a coldsome Rollos.” case detective and to continue traveling. When she gave him the candy she was sur“When I have bazillion dollars I want prised when he looked around conspicuously to travel in one of those van/RVs and drive and put the Rollos in his pocket. He told her, cross country finding the United State’s larg“Rollos are my favorite.” est stuff, like the ball of yarn and the frying McClure will be graduating from Metro pan. I also want to find all the weird houses,” this summer with a bachelor’s in criminal McClure said. campusdoor_5x7_3-22-07:Layout 1 jus3/26/2007 9:56 AM Page 1

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THE METROPOLITAN • PAGE 10 • ANDREW FLOHR-SPENCE • SPENCAND@MSCD.EDU

Insight “

Corrupt politicians make the other 10 percent look bad.

”

- HENRY KISSINGER

Adam Goldstein • goldstea@mscd.edu

DAVID POLLAN dpollan@mscd.edu

Corrupt lending

Tivoli turnabout is dirt theater Urban planning, I admit, isn’t something I normally spend much time pondering. But that changed recently, with a giant, fenced-off, muddy hole lying in my path. With Auraria’s latest project cutting off the main route to and from the Tivoli right as we head into the last stretch of the semester, I have found myself several times in the past week asking with fellow students: Why on Earth did they choose now to start? Was this a part of the rumored “master plan?” And why in the hell do we need an outdoor theater, or whatever it is, anyway? In a conversation with my friend Michelle, a graduate student in urban and regional design at one of those other schools on Auraria, she emphasized the importance of harmonious urban planning. “Architecture can affect your brain,” she said. “People form a relationship with their surroundings. It affects your moods, the way you look at life, even how well you concentrate.” Now, I was worried. A quick look around campus says that planning has not always been of the highest concern. The late ’80s version of a spaceage mall between the North Classroom and the Plaza Building obviously employed a design team for a little while, but several of the buildings look like an uncreative person had a big pile of brown cinder blocks lying around and needed something to do with their time. In a way the bizarre mixture has its own charm, but one could never say this artistic train wreck has harmony.

ANDREW FLOHR-SPENCE spencand@mscd.edu Not that I have much nostalgia for the old cement bus turnaround in this case, but by destroying the old to build any sort of cheap-trend architecture of the month with the hope of making a dime from renting it out, we are losing our memory of the past. Our children suffer from it, we suffer from it and the poor old folks are just insane with confusion from the lack of any landmarks from which to gain a bearing. Had Auraria considered the weight of its actions? Did these people realize the possible mental injury they could cause? I had to ask somebody on the phone. “A lot of care and planning went into this project,” said Jeff Stamper, director of Auraria Event Services. Stamper said that this project had nothing to do with the new “master plan,” but rather is the last piece in the Tivoli reno-

vation, which included stripping the building’s paint down to brick and adding a loading dock. “This is just the ﬁnal phase,” he said. According to Stamper, the giant dirt pit east of the Tivoli will soon be a multipurpose plaza/ passageway/outdoor theater, with “a DIA-like tent over the bleachers.” Most of the project will be ﬁnished next month with the theater taking a month longer, he said. “We realized the campus lacked any decent outdoor performance space,” Stamper said. He explained that in the design phase for the Tivoli revitalization, the former bus turnaround was pinpointed as a safety hazard and slated for removal. Putting the amphitheater there was the obvious choice. Stamper said the decision to start construction when they did was caused by a number of factors. This winter’s snowfall delayed the start, along with delays in the design process. Waiting for summer was debated, he said, but “construction crews are already booked for the summer, and the cost of materials is always rising.” As I hung up the receiver, I was almost in tears. Did they even know the emotional baggage I have with DIA-like tents? Damn the reality of materials cost, anyway! While I really try to remain optimistic, I cannot help but be concerned how the thing will look in the end, let alone how many cases of madness it will cause. If Auraria has any mercy, they will spare us more mental anguish, or at least leave out the DIA tent.

Between classes, textbooks and tuition, college students have more to worry about than wondering whether or not their student loan lender is corrupt. Most students select a loan company based on recommendations provided by their school. These companies are often represented as preferred lenders, and students rarely take the time to comparison shop; they are more concerned with getting their money than who gives it to them. But maybe not for long. New York Attorney General Andrew M. Cuomo has discovered evidence that financial aid directors at several major universities – and at least one official in the U.S. Department of Education – all profited from the sale of stock in a loan company that many of them spent time promoting. According to the New York Times, Cuomo’s investigation has learned that “the founders of Student Loan Xpress had an explicit plan for corralling a bigger share of the lucrative student loan business: ‘market to the financial aid offices of schools.’” It is apparently unclear whether or not the company or any of the school officials involved have done anything illegal, but it is clear this complicity between business and academia is highly unethical, an obvious conflict of interest and should be made illegal – if it isn’t already. At the very least, Cuomo’s investigation – which will undoubtedly end up implicating other schools, lenders and officials – points to the need for more federal oversight and stricter regulations. A university or college has a direct responsibility to their students to provide access to lenders with the best rates and the fairest policies. Students often don’t know any better, and tend to rely on what they believe to be unbiased financial advice. In order to offer this advice, school officials need to objectively evaluate lenders’ practices – not just be wooed by company PR flacks whose only concern is how the bottom line affects their stock options. Mahatma Gandhi once said, “Corruption and hypocrisy ought not to be inevitable products of democracy, as they undoubtedly are today.” For loan lenders, profit will always be their first concern. School officials should know better and make students’ interests theirs.

metrospective `

See the light PAGE 12 Photo Illustration by Jenn LeBlanc • jkerriga@mscd.edu Gallery opening photos by Allison Peterson • apeter34@mscd.edu

Scenes from Illuminations

God knows when, but they’re doing it again

Bob Dylan–Don’t Look Back Directed by D.A. Pennebaker $49.95 By Clarke Reader creader3@mscd.edu Certain celebrities have a look that embodies their personality and forever affects how the public sees them, no matter how much they may change. In the new two-disc version of D.A. Pennebaker’s Don’t Look Back, the director captures Bob Dylan’s most iconic phase as a chain-smoking, quick-witted folk singer.

Filmed in all black and white with a hand-held camera approach, the movie isn’t just a concert film, but rather one that looks at an artist struggling to find himself. The film follows Dylan’s 1965 England tour, which turned out to be his last acoustic tour before his infamous electric performance at the Newport Folk Festival distanced him from the folk music scene. Surprisingly, there are few songs featured in the movie, and none of them are featured in their entirety. The focus is on Dylan as a person – his charisma, charm and biting sarcasm – and how his traits affected the people around him. Viewers get to see Dylan arrive in England, eager and excited to be there, joking with his friends and having fun teasing reporters at press conferences. By the end of the tour much more cynical and edgy Dylan emerges. Pennebaker does a brilliant job of showing how fame and constantly being in the limelight affected Dylan. This is clear in an interview that Dylan has with a writer from Time magazine right before his last shows in which he blasts the magazine and the media in general for not being honest with the world. He also complains that some people just don’t understand his music. Regarding his songs, Dylan quips, “I just write them. I got nothing to say anything about them. I don’t write them for any reason. There’s no great message. I mean, if you know, if you want to tell other people that, you know, go ahead and tell them, but I’m not going to have to answer to it.” It’s obvious that Dylan is fraying at the edges, but he’s

THE METROPOLITAN • PAGE 11 • ADAM GOLDSTEIN • GOLDSTEA@MSCD.EDU

still articulate and in control. In addition to Pennebaker’s original film, the set includes a second disc called Bob Dylan 65 Revisited. This disc includes an hour of footage culled from 20-plus hours of unused material. It presents some hilarious scenes showing Dylan’s goofy side that was just as important as his serious one. The quality extras on the disc include five uncut audio tracks from the tour, a Dylan discography and a biography of Pennebaker. Also standing out on both Don’t Look Back and Bob Dylan 65 Revisited are commentaries by Pennebaker and Dylan’s tour manager, Bob Neuwirth, which offer insights on a range of topics. These include the nuanced genius of Dylan as a poet, the technical aspects of the cameras and equipment used at the time, and how the tour was arranged and promoted. Included in the set is a flip-book of the classic “Subterranean Homesick Blues” video and a companion book that has the transcription of the entire film, so one can go back and read exactly what Dylan is saying. After the first show, Pennebaker said, “He’s not so much singing as sermonizing. … His tragedy perhaps is that the audience is preoccupied with song. … They applaud the song and miss, perhaps, the sermon.” With this definitive reissue of Don’t Look Back, it will be hard for fans to miss the sermon, or the song, ever again.

PULLOUT SECTION

12 • METROSPECTIVE

4.12.07 • THE METROPOLITAN

Photo courtesy of Rachel Crick • crick@mscd.edu

Epiphanies in print

‘Illuminations’ art exhibit spotlights Metro’s visual journalists By Josie Klemaier jklemaie@mscd.edu Photos serve as important aids to the information journalists seek to share. However, when those photos are taken away from the text and presented as art, they can still illuminate a hard-to-express emotion or story. Alone in their frame, without headlines or captions, without restrictions, they can reach an audience with unexpected power, as they did April 6 at The Other Side Arts gallery. The gallery hosted Illuminations, a night of visual storytelling featuring the work of 17 Metro journalists, totaling approximately 140 pieces. An estimated 250 to 300 guests browsed the works on display, which included those previously published in The Metropolitan. Among the published works Photo by Kenn Bisio • bisio@mscd.edu was a series of photos by Heather Longway-Burke Top: Gwen Shelton looks at a photo essay by Jenn LeBlanc. The series, titled documenting the recovery of Metro student Mark Mather from a disease that took portions of each of “Momma” follows the ﬁnal months of her mother’s struggle with terminal cancer. his limbs. Above: The journalists of Illuminations. Back row from left: William Blackburn, Amie There were also unpublished works, such as Cribley, Dawn Madura, Rachel Crick, Heather A. Longway-Burke, Jenn LeBlanc, Adam Rachael Crick’s series “Other Check.” Crick’s piece Goldstein, Adrian DiUbaldo, Cora Kemp, Ian Bisio and Kyle Bisio. was a collection of child-parent portraits with short Front row from left: J. Isaac Small, Tyler William Walton. accompanying captions quoting children and their (not pictured: Joe Nguyen, Andrew Bisset, David Yost and Ryan Deuschle) parents, displaying the unique experiences they face living in biracial families. One of the most talked about collections was Jenn LeBlanc’s her daughter and granddaughters – present an emotional jourseries “Momma,” which documented her mother’s struggle with ney, LeBlanc said they also represent an important step in her cancer. studies as a photographer. “It’s how I learned to tell stories with “This whole wall has been amazing. I lost my mom to cancer my camera,” she said. The series was also featured along with an essay in the Oct. 12, 2006, issue of The Metropolitan. as well,” attendee Mindy McConville said. LeBlanc is the photo editor of The Metropolitan and orgaLeBlanc has an internship lined up with Evergreen’s The nized the event, from designing the ads and program to recruit- Canyon Courier this summer and is graduating this May. Her ing the featured works. While the photos of her mother – on her later ambitions are simple. front porch, being placed in an ambulance for a ride she would “My only plans are to take as many pictures as I can and not remember and lying in a hospital bed clutching the hands of share with as many people as I can,” she said.

Photojournalism professor Kenn Bisio was at the opening to support each of his student’s work. “It’s a very well-thought out event. It represents a lot of years of work,” he said. “It really warms my heart because I know the personal stories of all of the students.” For Bisio, Illuminations was about “the idea of visual conversation,” he said. McConville expressed a similar sentiment. “To me it’s a picture of the heart, the soul, it goes in so deep. It expresses things you can’t say,” McConville said. Illuminations moved beyond the weathered cliché that a picture is worth a thousand words. The photos’ true worth could be seen in the gaping faces, intense conversations and emotional stares of a captivated audience.

Due to the popularity of the opening, Illuminations will be holding a closing ceremony from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m. Friday, April 13 at The Other Side Arts gallery, where framed and unframed photographs will be on sale. The Other Side Arts gallery is located at 1644 Platte St. and is open weekdays, 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.

14 • METROSPECTIVE

Getting

4.12.07 • THE METROPOLITAN

off track By Josie Klemaier • jklemaie@mscd.edu Photos by Andrew Bisset • abisset1@mscd.edu

THE METROPOLITAN • 4.12.07

METROSPECTIVE • 15

Louisiana/Pearl Station The Louisiana/Pearl station, accessible by way of the E, F or H lines, drops patrons off at a location that contrasts with the crowded city streets without sacriﬁcing the convenience of a variety of industries close by. This stop offers the most inviting detour for anyone with time to explore the quaint Pearl Street neighborhood, lined with full-grown trees, groomed gardens, cheerful residents and independently owned businesses. There are convenient shops just a block away, in addition to those a short walk down Pearl Street to the southeast.

Flower Wraps Café and Urban Market 1313 S. Clarkson St, just across the street from the stop Walking time: one to two minutes

Need to get away from the monotony of campus for a few hours? Rather sit through happy hour than rush hour? Been to the 16th Street Mall one too many times? Try exploring the eateries and shops at these nearby light-rail stops.

Alameda and Broadway Stations The two stations are only a minute away from each other and even their parking lots overlap. Broadway serves as a point of connection for all lines and is cradled in the elbow of I-25 South and South Broadway. It is also at least a bike ride to the infamous Antique Row, the collection of antique stores between the street’s 1300 and 2000 blocks. The easiest way to take in the attractions nearest to the Broadway station is to take any of the trains north to the Alameda station.

Not only can patrons stop in Flower Wraps to enjoy coffee or a breakfast burrito while surrounded by beautiful and exotic flower arrangements sold by the flower shop inside, they can also opt to order a “FasTracks Next Day Program.” The lunch program includes a preordered, healthy meal, prepared the by co-owner and certified executive chef, that can be picked up in a custom lunch box at any time the next day. Flower Wraps will fill the lunch bag, which can be bought for a one-time charge of $5, for $7.50 a day with the customer’s choice from a selection of nine wraps and salads, ranging from a smoked salmon wrap to a Santa Fe turkey wrap, each with a choice of side (pesto potato salad, quinoa salad or fruit cup), chips and dessert (chocolate chip cookie or chocolate butterscotch macaroon). FasTracks lunches can be ordered the night before pickup in the café, by phone, or by the soon-to-be-running website. The chef’s wife and co-owner runs the flower shop, which sells flowers as well as custom ice sculptures. The Duffeyroll Café 1290 S. Pearl St. Walking time: less than five minutes Though the Duffeyroll Café is a sweet tooth’s paradise, they have more than just sweet, cinnamon-packed, chewy rolls in three sizes and flavors such as zesty orange and mountain maple. The lunch menu is filled with classic sandwiches from $6.29 to $7.50, soups, salads, and signature coffee and tea, as well as free Wi-Fi in their window-lined corner location on South Pearl Street. The Duffeyroll Café also offers box lunches for $8.99 that include enough to get anyone through a morning and an afternoon on campus: any sandwich, Sun chips, a red apple, an Andes chocolate mint and a mini Duffeyroll. Find out more about Duffeyrolls, including a short, amusing poem about their history, at http://www.Duffeyrolls.com. Stella’s Coffee Haus 1476 S. Pearl St.

Sunday through Thursday: 6:30 a.m.-11 p.m. Friday and Saturday: 6:30 a.m.-12 a.m.

Walking time: 10 minutes With creaking wood ﬂoors and cozy, broken-in couches, this converted Pearl Street house now serves as a warm, inviting coffee shop. The three rooms offer a variety of nooks to hide away in for a weeknight study session, take advantage of the free Wi-Fi or meet a group of friends around the propane ﬁre pit on the front deck. Stella’s carries Denverbrewed Pablo’s Coffee and hosts live music every Friday and Saturday night, starting at 8 p.m.

Lines C, D, E, F, and H to Auraria Campus and downtown Denver

The Sand Dollar Gallery 1256 S. Pearl St. Walking time: ﬁve minutes

Alameda Station

Broadway station

The Blue Bonnet café and lounge 457 S. Broadway Walking time: approximately 10 minutes

Hours: Monday-Thursday 11 a.m.-10 p.m. Friday-Saturday 11 a.m.-11 p.m. Sunday 11 a.m.- 9 p.m.

Louisiana/Pearl station

The Blue Bonnet has been serving Mexican food in Denver for 30 years and is recognizable by its bold blue neon sign pulling in customers traveling down South Broadway. This location is just a short walk through the shopping center parking lot from the Alameda station. It has three full dining areas (including one sun room) to seat its steady ﬂow of customers. Waiting time can get lengthy during peak hours, and only complete parties will be seated. Enjoy classic Mexican appetizers and entrees from around $5 to $10, burgers for around $7 or steak for around $15, but beware of the overly dry fried Mahi tacos. Also know that the unlimited homemade chips and thin, spicy table salsa are not free, but are generally served before they are actually ordered. Like any good Mexican restaurant, they offer a variety of award-winning margaritas made with original mix. To place a to-go order anytime between 1 p.m. and 3 p.m., call (303) 778-0147.

Imperial 431 S. Broadway

Walking time: approximately 10 min

Hours: Monday-Thursday 11 a.m.-10:30 p.m. Friday 11 a.m.-11 p.m. Saturday 12 p.m.-11p.m. Sunday 4 p.m.-10 p.m.

Imperial is located next door to the Blue Bonnet and advertises itself as a “ﬁne Chinese restaurant.” It has the selection, atmosphere and prices to match. The selection strays slightly from the typical Chinese restaurant menu to include items such as sesame prawns, Chilean sea bass in black bean sauce, and lamb, but still offers traditional Cantonese and Szechwan dishes. Dinner prices range from $7.75 to $30.00, and lunch, which runs from open until 4:00 p.m., ranges from $9 to $12.50.

Nancy Condit is running things now at the Sand Dollar Gallery, using it also as her studio for ceramics and watercolor painting, the trade of her late father and nationally renowned watercolorist William H. Condit. The gallery still has some of William’s paintings, in addition to some of Nancy’s works and trinkets by other area artists. The Sand Dollar Gallery is a cozy little house, a great place to ﬁnd a unique gift or buy a delicate pot from the small attached greenhouse for that naked houseplant begging to be cherished. The gallery will be hosting “Paradise in Pastel” in May, a show featuring pastel and watercolor art and guest artists Peter Heineman and Pete Holtus, who will be demonstrating their techniques. The show opens May 4 from 4 p.m. to 8 p.m.

Lines E, F, and H to Nine Mile and Lincoln stations Little Shanghai Café 456 S. Broadway Walking time: approximately 10 minutes Little Shanghai, located just across South Broadway from the Blue Bonnet, is open seven days a week and offers lunch specials between 11 a.m. and 4 p.m. that cost between $7 and $10. Choose from traditional Chinese-American selections such as kung pao chicken, Mongolian beef or Szechwan tofu. A tank of koi greets guests at the front door and the elegant eastern atmosphere at Little Shanghai is appropriate for a date or meeting, yet also invites the casual luncheon. To order take-out call (303) 722-1292 or (303) 777-9838.

Far left: The Blue Bonnet café and lounge, located off South Broadway, just 10-minute walk from the Alameda light rail stop. With popular Margaritas and Mexican take-out, it can offer an alternative to the usual campus area eateries. Left: The newest location of the Duffeyroll Café is about a three-minute walk from the Louisiana/Pearl light rail station. The café specializes in signature cinnamon rolls in a variety of ﬂavors. Top: A vase of fresh sunﬂowers adorns a table at Flower Wraps Café and Urban Market, which sits just across from the Louisiana/Pearl light rail station at the corner of Butchel and Clarkson Street. The flower shop plus café features a Fastracks lunch program, preparing pre-ordered lunches for commuters on their way out for the day. Above: Hand-blown glass ornaments hang in the greenhouse room of the Sand Dollar Art Gallery, owned by watercolorist and potter Nancy Condit. The gallery was established in 1975 by her father, William Condit, a nationally-renowned watercolorist.

THE METROPOLITAN • PAGE 16 • MEGAN CARNEAL • MCARNEAL@MSCD.EDU

audioﬁles

Upcoming shows Ice Cube April 15 Gothic Theatre 3263 S. Broadway 8 p.m. $42.50, 16+ “Fuck tha police” was the mantra of ’90s gangstas N.W.A. Ice Cube helped popularize and immortalize the chant still repeated by balding office rats and pot dealers alike. Don’t expect Denver’s finest to get their feelings hurt. Nowadays, the family film protagonist has traded in his guns for a minivan and raps about church. Cube preaches more about the degradation of rap and the prominence of racism than poppin’ caps or slappin’ hos.

Michael Hargrave • mhargra1@mscd.edu

Schoolhouse rock This is not your high school history teacher. This is Matthew Maher, rock and roller extraordinaire. By Megan Carneal mcarneal@mscd.edu By day, Matthew Maher is a mild-mannered Metro history professor, but by night, the suit and tie are traded for a Frank Zappa T-shirt and an electric guitar. His classroom is exchanged for a venue, and instead of history the subject matter is his band the Mourning Sickness. “I tell my students that I’m in a rock band, and I don’t know what most of them think. I get the impression that a lot of them think I must be in some oldies band, maybe doing Chuck Berry covers or something,” he said. Once his students finally venture out to see his band, the reaction is comparable to shock. “The impression I get is that they think I’m two completely different people,” he joked. Maher first started the Mourning Sickness in high school, but had to take a hiatus when he attended Drake University for a degree in U.S. history. Eventually he and his wife moved back to Denver. He then reunited with his old band mates, and the Mourning Sickness was born again. Band members came and went until the final lineup was completed and comprised of Maher on guitar, Jeff Dunn on bass and Joe Wilkinson on drums. The lineup has been playing together for about six years and has put out two albums, 2002’s Good Mourning America and the most recent A Daydream on Oak Street. All of the Mourning Sickness’ albums have been independently recorded and produced under Maher’s own label, Enjoy Your Symptom Records. The inspiration for his label’s name came

from a book of the same name by Slovenian philosopher Slavoj Zizek. “One of the general themes is everyone has psychological disturbances that manifest themselves as symptoms,” he said. “Whatever it might be, there are these symptoms that come out, and the idea, I guess, we all have these problems. And the symptoms are always going to be there, so why not enjoy it?” Obviously history has had an impact of every facet of Maher’s life. “One of the things that history can really allow for, if you’re open to it, is this enormous radical possibility,” he said. The biggest and most unexpected inﬂuence to Maher’s life and music happens to be punk rock, though. “From a mental standpoint, I’ve never really gotten too far away from the punk rock. … I like things to be cool and sophisticated, and maybe even a little hard to play, but at the same time, I want it to sound like real people playing real instruments,” he said. Maher ﬁrst developed his interest in the genre in college during the mid ’80s. He also spotlighted as a guitarist for his nephew’s local punk band, Self Service, in which he also shared the stage with Hemi Cuda bassist Karen Exley. Although he no longer plays for Self Service, they are still one of his favorite bands to share the concert bill with. As anyone who has ever attended a punk show can attest to, the crowd can be a little rough, and the Mourning Sickness has had to deal with a few hecklers. Maher has found that those hecklers are pretty easy to keep in line, though. “When you’re playing a punk rock show, you’re pretty much allowed to say whatever you

Photo by Jason Small • jsmall4@mscd.edu

want to,” he said. The Mourning Sickness includes a melting pot of genres in their music. Their tastes range from Zappa to anarcho-punk to the Yardbirds. “There is one common denominator between the three of us. Undeniably it’s Primus,” he said. “I think they embody that spirit of doing something different.” Doing something different is what the band is all about, and that is probably where Elmo ﬁts into the band. In the spirit of Jimmy Page and a violin bow, and Van Halen and power tools, the Mourning Sickness has changed a Tickle-MeElmo into a sort of solo-me-Elmo, in which he uses the pickups of the guitar to catch various Elmo noises. History teachers have many misconceived labels. Usually those labels don’t include anything close to unruly musicians with roots in punk rock, but as history has proven, sometimes the most unconventional are the most remembered.

For more information on the Mourning Sickness check out http://themourningsickness. com or http://myspace. com/besick

Nellie McKay April 15 Boulder Theater 2032 14th St. 6 p.m. $15, all ages She might not look like much with her cute-as-a-button nose and blonde hair, but Nellie McKay will beat down anyone who stands in her way. At least that is what she would have you believe. McKay has the voice of Doris Day – full of sunshine and rainbows – juxtaposed with the rugged, hardcore attitude of Lady Sovereign.

Cassie Hood • hoodc@mscd.edu

Wolfmother April 18 Fillmore Auditorium 1510 Clarkson St. Doors 7 p.m., show 8 $25, 16+ Following up on the release of Guitar Hero II on the Xbox 360, Wolfmother will bring their classic ’70s metal sound and Ozzy-sound-alike singer to Denver. Expect the Aussie trio to rock the house with their single Woman twice – or maybe even a lucky third time – as the rest of their repertoire is lacking. So head to Best Buy, grab their GHII demo and practice your rockstar poses – they’ll be in abundance at the Fillmore.

Matthew Quane • mquane@mscd.edu

THE METROPOLITAN • 4.12.07

Country legend spreads gospel By Adam Goldstein goldstea@mscd.edu

freeplay

A town in northwest France may seem like an unlikely spot to discover one of the most powerful and influential voices in American country music. It was when I was living abroad in Rennes, among European hipsters and Celtic revivalists, however, that I stumbled upon a record by the Louvin Brothers, a country act from Alabama, titled Satan is Real. Songs such as “The Christian Life” and “The Kneeling Drunkard’s Plea” boasted a sermonizing message straight out of a Southern Baptist church. It was the musical manner in which their themes were delivered that made the album a constant audio companion during my time in France. The Louvin Brothers sang with a seamlessly close harmony, so much so that their voices seemed to meld into a single entity. Their tones were unmatched in their passion, urgency and raw feeling. Together, their voices touted an almost preternatural power. When I recently learned that the surviving member of the duo was coming through Denver for two performances, I was agog. Suddenly, a distant musical legend had donned flesh and blood. The deep vocal connection that first captured my ear persists for Charlie Louvin even now, more than 40 years after the death of his brother, Ira, in 1965. “When we were a duet together, I would do the solo part, and when it was time for the harmony to move in I would move to my left a half step, because we just used one mike,” Charlie Louvin explained in a phone interview before his Denver appearance April 7. “I still do that unconsciously. When I get to where the harmony should come in, I’ll move off of the mike just a little. I still hear it in my head.”

Louvin ruminated about a career in music that he started as a child with his older brother at the behest of his parents. “We sang together when I was 6 and he was 9,” he said. “We already knew several songs like ‘The Knoxville Girl,’ ‘Mary of the Wild Moor’ and ‘I Love You Best of All.’ Songs that our mother taught us.” With the encouragement of their parents and the example of other country acts, the pair began singing their childhood songs professionally. “When (Ira) was 18 he decided, listening to the Delmore Brothers, to have one instrument that would play the lead, the turnarounds,” he said. “The Blue Sky Boys used the mandolin and the Monroe Brothers used the mandolin. So he said, ‘I’m going to buy me a mandolin, and you’re going to have to start playing the guitar.” Although Charlie served stints in the Army during the ’40s (including time at Lowry Air Force Base in 1946), the act reﬁned their traditional tunes and wrote originals, both secular and gospel. By the ’50s, the pair had gained popularity and joined the Grand Ole Opry in 1955. The power of their harmonies had a deep impact on pop music, from country to folk to rock. The Everly Brothers, Elvis Presley, the Beatles and the Byrds are names on a long roster of Louvin Brothers devotees who used their harmonies as an instructive inspiration. Louvin’s recent appearances at Twist and Shout and the Bluebird Theater were part of a national tour that includes Portland, Los Angeles and the Bonaroo Music Festival in Manchester, Tenn. Louvin is promoting a new self-titled album that features duets with some of contemporary music’s most notable Louvin admirers. Elvis Costello, Jeff Tweedy, George Jones and Alex McManus join the country music legend on originals and country music standards.

TSOL TSOL (Poshboy Records, 1981) By Billy Schear wschear@mscd.edu When four burly surf jocks from Orange County dress in drag, pick up stolen instruments and cut open their bleeding hearts, the results are True Sounds of Liberty. As well-known for their poetry and politics as they are for their propensity for petty theft and grave robbing, TSOL were more than just a criminal novelty act, they were the underrated leaders of a musical and cultural phenomenon. Decades before the likes of Alkaline Trio, TSOL experimented with elements few would have dared to tamper with. Marrying political commentary with shredding guitars

Paul Epstein, the owner of Twist and Shout, saw Louvin’s appearance as an unprecedented event. “It definitely has the feeling of gravity and history,” he said after Louvin performed for a small crowd on April 7. “I think of people we’ve had (in the store) like Elvis Costello, Mickey Hart, Suzanne Vega … It’s not in the same category. This guy goes back to that core of artists that defined the late 20th century American experience, the rural experience that is now essentially gone.” Members of Louvin’s four-piece touring band also saw the opportunity as historic. Billy Kelly, who plays lead guitar, explained that the ramifi-

AUDIO FILES • 17

cations of Louvin’s influence made his head spin. “Think about it,” he said. “Elvis and Buddy Holly were influenced. The Beatles were influenced by the Louvin Brothers, not to mention the thousands of country artists. Who knows if George and John’s harmonies would’ve existed without them?” For Louvin, his deep cultural impact seems less important than the opportunity to play music and remember his brother, whom he celebrates with a song on the new album. The tribute is a bittersweet reminder of his lost musical partner. “It is a hard song for me to perform, because basically, the song takes me back where I don’t need to go,” he said.

Photo by Jason Small • jsmall4@mscd.edu

From left, Charlie Louvin, Bill Kelly, Brent Wilson and Pearly Curtis play during an in-store appearance April 5 at Twist and Shout.

was nothing new, but adding a dark romantic atmosphere akin to Edgar Allan Poe and playing on horrific themes such as murder and necrophilia propelled TSOL into the underground consciousness and, at the same time, ostracized them from the very community with which they had identified. Their first EP, a self-titled five-song masterpiece with bargain-basement production value, is the embodiment of hip. Stampeding drum beats lead a seemingly disorganized march of rubbery bass loops, staticky guitars and melodic, haunting vocals that inspired legions of bands since to abandon conventional formulas for a chaotic approach to noise-making. Their music allowed the anarchy to dictate its own unique order, invoking the improvisational feel of early jazz. “Property is Theft” is one of the more special tracks on the album as it utilizes a slogan that served as a battle cry for the left-leaning youth movements of the ’60s. What makes TSOL’s use of the title an anomaly is that most of their contemporaries in the early ’80s were deliberately trying to distance themselves from hippy culture, viewing it as a failed revolution, whereas TSOL refused to sever their ties to a rebellious spirit whose immortality is guaranteed as it’s passed on from generation to socially conscious generation. From the hypnotic buildup of “Superficial Love” to the cynical patriot-baiting of “World War III,” the agenda is clearly laid out in a shameless and stunning display of raw power wielded by a revolutionary youth movement armed with recording contracts instead of guns.

Download TSOL’s self-titled EP at http://www.7inchpunk. com/?p=930

$ x Every week, Freeplay will cover the best free albums and EPs to be found on the World Wide Web

THE METROPOLITAN • PAGE 18 • ANDREW FLOHR-SPENCE • SPENCAND@MSCD.EDU

Insight “

Corrupt politicians make the other 10 percent look bad.

”

- HENRY KISSINGER

Adam Goldstein • goldstea@mscd.edu

DAVID POLLAN dpollan@mscd.edu

Corrupt lending

THE METROPOLITAN • 4.12.07

BRANDON PEARCE bpearce1@mscd.edu

Environment includes humans The debate between politicians over environmental policy is not about choosing between a pristine earth or a strong economy; it is about finding the best balance between humans and nature. There is however, a prevailing concept in environmentalist thought that undermines the very attempt to achieve balance. It is the idea that natural equals divine. This idea follows that man-made equals evil. This deleterious notion has caused the leadership of many environmental groups to completely ignore the human side of the scale when making their policy decisions. The most glaring example of this is the fight against the use of DDT in Asia and Africa. DDT was used until 1979 in developing countries to prevent the spread of mosquito-borne malaria. In a study that was later strongly questioned, it was shown that DDT was causing certain birds to lay eggs with thin shells. DDT became the hobbyhorse of activists, and they were able to ban its use. The impact on humans was a sharp increase in cases of malaria. The number of deaths in Asia and Africa caused by malaria is now more than one million every year and has become the leading cause of childhood death. Now, on one end of the spectrum is the negative consequence of DDT on birds, but on the other end is one million preventable human deaths. That seems a little out of balance to me. The constant attack on the foresting industry is another example of the lack of equilibrium plaguing the environmentalist movement. Our fondness for wooden homes causes the United States to use more wood per capita than any other country. Dramatic pictures of recently clear-cut areas have been used to great effect by environmental groups trying to put an end to this. These propaganda pictures don’t tell the whole story. Within days the animals disperse into the remaining forest, in months, a grassy meadow will form, within 10 years, the trees have returned, and in 25 years, the trees will be 50 feet high and back to sheltering the animals. In fact, properly managed forests grow back faster than we can harvest them. During the booming ’90s, with its hot housing market, North America gained nearly 14,000 square miles of forest, according to the U.N. Environment Program. That is 745 square miles bigger than the state of New Jersey. Again, animals have to find new homes, but we lose our most important renewable building material. The environmentalists just seem out of balance. David Forman, founder of EarthFirst, was following this nature-equals-god precept to a logical conclusion when he said, “Phasing out the human race will solve every problem on earth.” Tell that to the dinosaurs. For the modern environmentalist, however, humans equal problems. End of argument. Unfortunately their attempts to “de-human” the earth only makes for an inhumane world.

INSIGHT • 19

Navigating a disabled campus I rolled off of the bus into a mess of a detour. Signs sent me winding through a labyrinth of chain-link fencing and down a ramp straight into four traffic barricades and a parking lot. Thus started my test as a physically-disabled student on Auraria’s nationally acclaimed accessible campus. My guide was Jenny Laird, a former student at Auraria and a board member for a disability advocacy group in Washington. She loaned me her manual wheelchair while offering her experience in an electric wheelchair. As we attempted to enter the Tivoli the automatic door failed to work. Jenny later told me they rarely do. “I was always circling around buildings trying to find one that worked or hoping someone would open the door for me,” she said. My able-bodied privilege came alive when I noticed the lack of Braille signage around the Tivoli. The complicated detour was unmarked, as are bathrooms and names of offices. There are no Braille maps of the campus. Some of the bumps on signs in the Tivoli were so worn down entire letters were missing. For a student with visual impairments, this means depending on peers, faculty and staff for navigation. The greatest shock came with our visit to the bathrooms. Few restrooms on campus have automatic entrances. Upon reaching a stall, Jenny has to crawl out of her chair, leaving the doors wide open. While my smaller manual chair fit in the stall, there was no way to close the door. Sure,

ZOË WILLIAMS williamz@mscd.edu these facilities fit the standards set by the Americans with Disabilities Act, but as Jenny said, “ADA is the basic minimum for everything.” Part of my mission was to find the fire-rescue point for people with disabilities to be evacuated by firefighters. I was able to locate one at the base of the Tivoli Tower staircase. A sign is located in the stairwell, though no others point to it, and in order to reach it, one must get up two stairs. I could not manage to get my chair to that point. While students with disabilities can access testing rooms and computer labs in the campus Access Center to accommodate their needs, space is a major issue. For a student in a wheelchair requiring a scribe or reader and a guide dog – fairly typical accommodations – fitting into a testing room is not unlike cramming a re-

clining chair, golden retriever, two people and a desk into a broom closet. Computer rooms offer a similar challenge. In addition to the size issue, Access Center computer labs – equipped with software for typing alternatives, reading small print and converting text to audio – are closed on the weekends. While the standard computer labs on campus offer accessible seating for students in wheelchairs, IT employees looked at me as though I were speaking Chinese when I inquired about accessible technology. In order to get into a classroom without assistance I had to pull the handle, back up the chair with one arm, wedge my chair in the door and attempt to roll in. The doorway to the Health Center claimed several layers of skin off my elbows as I tried to squeeze myself in. Jenny handled these challenges with nonchalant disappointment. “You get used to it,” she sighed. I grew increasingly upset. What does a national reputation matter when students cannot have privacy in a bathroom nor access a directory they can read? Granted, Auraria deserves praise for housing the largest population of disabled students in the state. Regardless, with hundreds of thousands of dollars being poured into remodeling the Central Classroom and building a new plaza, resources must be set aside for the constant pursuit of equity for all students no matter their physical ability.

In response: letter to the editor

So all that glitters is chrome? I read Emile’s article “Not all that glitters is chrome,” and I found several areas ripe for scrutiny. Now, I like to be sure, whenever I am misinformed, that I take correction as humbly as possible and don’t appreciate being belittled. This means that I will spare you the virulent comments I am known for. For starters it is ignorant of you to list your e-mail, sign your name, much less print your picture on an article claiming that the new Camaro is being forced on us. The fact is that ever since Chevy ended the Camaro production, the Mustang has its run of the segment and has been cleaning up. The idea that a bankrupt automaker circling the drain has the ability to force anything on a society is stupid. The reason why none of the representatives could answer your question about the number of cows it takes to upholster a car is because if they did know they would probably tell you and you would have printed it in your newspaper article, which they wouldn’t have appreciated. If you really want to crunch numbers, the number of cars with leather is relatively small compared to the number of cars without leather, so basically the amount of leather in a car is mutually exclusive to the number of cars with any leather at all. In this world, to reduce cost and increase volume of productivity you have to outsource your labor to countries where labor is cheaper. While outsourcing has its problems, the idea that car manufacturers don’t fairly

compensate workers in other countries is preposterous. Our own workers here in America make a fine living on jobs outsourced from Japan, from companies like Honda and Toyota. Do you realize that the majority of our GDP in this country is from production of cars and car parts? Please don’t think I am some NASCAR fan who has no concept of the world around him. I am an engineering student here and I can tell you firsthand that replacing gasoline in this world as a source of energy is not something that a liberal arts or leisure studies major can do. If you are going to attack subjects because you saw a movie some vice president won an Oscar for, I encourage you to understand what you are writing before you go to print. Meanwhile, the product I want to buy is a V-8 Camaro, and while you want to go as far as you can on your gas, I want to purchase a vehicle I can be proud of. So don’t make fun of my taste in products and I won’t make fun of yours. Either way, you ought to realize that a lot of people like big American cars. You sir are the minority. Since I am the generation who will wean us from gasoline I also encourage you not to piss me off or I will build seven-liter V-10s that proudly burn refined dinosaur at alarming rates.

Clark Thompson • cthomp55@mscd.edu

SERVING THE AURARIA CAMPUS SINCE 1979 EDITOR IN CHIEF Cory Casciato • casciato@mscd.edu MANAGING EDITOR David Pollan • dpollan@mscd.edu SENIOR EDITOR Matthew Quane • mquane@mscd.edu NEWS EDITOR Geof Wollerman • gwollerm@mscd.edu ASSISTANT NEWS EDITOR Lou Christopher • achris25@mscd.edu OPINIONS EDITOR Andrew Flohr-Spence • spencand@mscd.edu ASSISTANT OPINIONS EDITOR 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 PHOTO EDITOR Jenn LeBlanc • jkerriga@mscd.edu ASSISTANT PHOTO EDITOR Amie Cribley • acribley@mscd.edu ILLUSTRATOR Andrew Howerton • ahowert2@mscd.edu COPY EDITORS Jeremy Johnson • jjohn308@mscd.edu Taylor Sullivan • tsulli21@mscd.edu Joel Tagert • tagert@mscd.edu Clayton Woullard • cwoullar@mscd.edu DIRECTOR OF STUDENT MEDIA Dianne Harrison Miller 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 21 • ERIC LANSING • LANSING@MSCD.EDU

Sport

DID YOU KNOW...

Metro starting pitcher Braden Ham has been spectacular this season, although his 1-6 record may not indicate it. Ham’s earned run average is 3.99 in eight games, and has struck out 47 batters, which ranks him fourth in the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference. Ham has pitched three complete games, but is 0-3 in those contests as the offense has failed to score runs. Ham lost 6-3, 1-0, and 2-3.

Roadrunners rout cowering Cougars Tennis team sweeps Colorado Christian in 17 of 18 matches By Eric Lansing lansing@mscd.edu

Photo by Heather A. Longway-Burke • longway@mscd.edu

Metro tennis player Riley Meyer returns a serve from his singles opponent April 9 at Auraria Courts. Meyer won both his singles match, 6-0,6-0, and his doubles match 8-0 with partner Sascha Ruckelshausen.

Some of Metro’s tennis players were standing around after their matches and joking about World Wrestling Entertainment moves and which ones work the best. On April 9, the Roadrunners used a full body slam to crush Colorado Christian 9-0 in men’s action and 8-1 in women’s at Auraria Courts. But Metro tennis head coach Dave Alden played down the conference blowout and spoke of it as a must-win. “This was a match we needed to win, and they performed up to their capabilities,” Alden said. “Sometimes when you are (favored) in a match, it’s easy to let your focus down and not to play up to your capabilities. They played intense and they played well.” The matches began with doubles competition as Sascha Ruckelshausen and Riley Meyer quickly defeated the Cougars’ Kevin Angel and Ryan MacLeod 8-0. Metro’s Drew Machholz and Mark Milner also made quick work of their opponents as they won 8-0 over the Cougars’ Na-

than Woodring and Taylor Shade. “We all played pretty good today,” Machholz said. “We had some high expectations. This is one of the weaker teams in the conference.” What did the coach tell his team before playing the weaker Colorado Christian squad? “No freebies,” Machholz said. “No free points.” The men’s third doubles match was not played because Colorado Christian only had ﬁve male players, so David Scott and Sean Carlton won by default. On the women’s side, they won all three of their doubles matches, rebounding from a 3-0 sweep by Nebraska-Kearney a week ago. Mitra Hirad and April Hirad led the way for the women as they defeated the Cougars’ Amy Fager and Cali Friesen 8-1 in second of the three matches. Metro’s Alecia Jenkins and Miriam Evangelista won 8-2, while Orzalla Nabiyar and Katie Reitz squeezed out an 8-6 victory in the ﬁnal doubles match. In singles competition, Metro won 11 of the 12 matches as the men won 6-0, including a default win for Scott, and the women won 5-1 with the only blemish coming from Reitz, who fell to Ashley Sonnenberg 9-7 in what was the best match of the competition. The two battled back and forth, exchanging points as their teammates

See TENNIS Page 23

Metro splits with Lopers Heavyweight help wanted Pitching improves, only allows 6 runs By Eric Lansing lansing@mscd.edu Metro’s baseball team ﬁnally got some excellent pitching as they split a two-game series April 5 against Nebraska-Kearney at Auraria Field. After giving up 63 runs in four games against CSU-Pueblo a week earlier, the pitching combined to give up only six runs in the two games. “They did a really good job,” Metro assistant head coach Danny Schwab said. “(Armando Casas) came in and did exactly what he needed to do. (Matt Backes) came in and got the win.

Braden obviously did well only allowing three runs, throwing a complete game. They all did well, and I’m proud of them.” The one win ended a five-game losing streak, including a 3-2 loss earlier in the day to the Lopers. Metro mustered up only two hits in the first game and scored two runs – both unearned – off an error and a wild pitch. Metro cut the Lopers’ lead to one in the bottom of the fifth when D.J. Edwards scored on an error by Kearney pitcher Peter Schleifer, putting the score at 2-1. Metro center fielder Kyle Bowman registered a single in the fifth inning, which was the first Metro hit in the game. Kearney starting pitcher Ryan Wrobel began the game for the Lopers but got hit in the chest

See BASEBALL Page 22

Oh, how the mighty have fallen. Back in the glory days, the heavyweight division was considered the cornerstone of professional boxing. Excitement and anticipation filled the air in the months leading up to a bout that unified two major titles, a fight pitting two chiseled gladiators in the prime of their careers in a 12- or 15-round slugfest. More often than not the match ended with one man crumpling to the ground, leaving no doubt as to who was the victor. Today the weight class is littered with overthe-hill, mediocre, dull combatants. There are four major belts, each owned by a different boxer. Fights tend to drag on for the entire 12 rounds, leaving the decision in the hands of judges. And there hasn’t been a unification fight since Lennox Lewis fought Evander Holyfield in 1999. Of the four titleholders, only IBF champion

JOE NGUYEN nguyejos@mscd.edu Wladimir Klitschko has consistently defeated top-tier opponents during his two-year reign. World Boxing Association champion Nikolay Valuev and WBC champion Oleg Maskaev

See NGUYEN Page 23

22 • SPORT

BASEBALL • Weather puts a damper on last two games Continued from 21 after Jake Palmer drilled a pitch back at Wrobel, ending his day. Wrobel is one of the conference’s top pitchers and came into the game with a 5-2 record and a 2.74 earned run average. Schleifer came in and ended Metro’s hopes of facing an easier pitcher as he went seven innings giving up one hit and one unearned run and, striking out eight batters. The Loper’s Cody Hovdestad came into the ninth inning to ﬁnish the game.

4.12.07 • THE METROPOLITAN The Roadrunners looked to rally as left fielder Jake Palmer came through with a single to left field to start the bottom of the ninth inning. Palmer moved to third on consecutive groundouts and then scored after Hovdstad threw a pitch that got away from Lopers catcher Griff Watson that brought home Palmer to inch the ’Runners one run closer to 3-2. But the rally came up short when second baseman Dakota Nahm flied out in foul territory. In the second game of the doubleheader on April 5, Metro starting pitcher Ted Jamison got the nod and got beat up in the first two innings. The right-handed freshman gave up three earned runs on three hits, walking four Lopers. “(Jamison) struggled to begin the game and he’s been struggling with his command,” Schwab said. “But he’s still learning, and these upperclassmen really bailed him out.”

It looked like it was going to be another long day for Metro pitching, as they have had no luck this season in bringing in relief pitchers to keep the games close. Pierce brought in pitcher Armando Casas in the top of the third inning. It proved to be a great move as Casas went on to pitch 6.2 innings, giving up zero runs on four hits and striking out four. During those 6.2 innings, the Roadrunners scored two runs to tie the game at three, heading into the final inning. Casas began the ninth inning for Metro and allowed the Lopers to put men on base. Shortstop Tyler Keeble reached base on a fielder’s choice and later advanced to third on a Hull single. With two outs and men on the corners, Metro pitcher Matt Backes came in and got outfielder Chris Gillaspy to fly out to center field, ending the Loper’s scoring threat.

“It felt good,” Casas said. “I had to come in and give our team a spark since we lost the first game. It was good for me, it was good for our team. It gave our team a big boost.” Metro failed to score in the bottom of the ninth inning, but Backes got all three of the batters he faced to ground out in the top of the 10th inning. In the bottom of the 10th with one out recorded, Palmer walked and Bowers singled to left field. After Metro outfielder Nick Columbia flied out, Edwards came to the plate and hit one to Loper’s shortstop Joe Gonzales, who committed an error, allowing Palmer to score all the way from second base, giving Metro the 4-3 win in extra innings. The third and fourth games of the series were cancelled due to inclement weather, and it hasn’t been decided if those games will be made up. Schwab was torn about the weather cancellations because after winning game two, he wanted his team to continue their great play. “I didn’t know how to feel about it,” Schwab said. “I kind of thought about the rest side of it, but we got that win. Our pitching was doing really well, we were hitting the ball pretty well, and you’d like to get that roll started and keep it going, allowing it to snowball a little bit.” The split puts Metro’s record at 7-25 with a 5-16 record in the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference. Metro plays Dixie State April 12 at Auraria Field before taking on the Colorado School of Mines for a four-games series April 13 through 15 in Golden. April 5 at Auraria Field, Game one

R H E

Neb.-Kearney 0 0 0 0 2 0 1 0 0 3 11 2 Metro 000 010 001 2 2 2 Metro: Ham – 9.0 IP, 3 ER, 11 H, 3 SO Nebraska-Kearney: 2B – K. Smith (6); RBI – Nowacyk 2 (19), Lusero (33)

April 5 at Auraria Field, Game two

R H E

Neb.-Kearney 2 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 3 7 6 Metro 01 0 1 0 1 0 0 1 4 11 0 Metro: 2B – J. Marner 2 (7); RBI – Frikken 2 (5) Nebraska-Kearney: 2B – K. Smith (7) G. Watson (10); RBI – Nowacyk (20), Lusero (34), K Smith (19)

SCHEDULE Baseball

Colorado School of Mines 7 p.m., April 13 Golden

Colorado School of Mines 1 p.m., April 14 Golden

Colorado School of Mines 4 p.m., April 14 Golden

Colorado School of Mines Noon, April 15 Golden

Colorado Christian 11 a.m., April 20 Lakewood

Colorado Christian 3 p.m., April 20 Lakewood

Colorado Christian 11 a.m., April 21 Lakewood

THE METROPOLITAN • 4.12.07

SPORT • 23

TENNIS • Tough schedule gives Metro women a ton of top-rated experience Continued from 21 huddled around to cheer on the last competitors. Sonnenberg took the match, and Reitz left before the team huddle because it was, as the coach said, a match she needed to win.

“... I truly believe that we have the ability on our team to beat anyone in the conference.”

– DAVE ALDEN, Metro’s head tennis coach

Photo by Heather A. Longway-Burke • longway@mscd.edu

Metro tennis player Mitra Hirad jumps for a return shot in her singles match April 9 at Auraria Courts.

NGUYEN • There is no fanfare in today’s boxers

It was the women’s second victory of the season as they have struggled in nonconference play. The women’s team has played a difﬁcult nonconference schedule, playing opponents such as No. 1 Brigham Young University, No. 5 University of West Florida and No. 16 Hawaii Paciﬁc University. Alden said that although he schedules the opponents an entire year earlier, he knows that those teams are going to be good, and it gives his team a taste of how top-rated tennis is played. “We have the ability to experience a higher level of tennis by playing those teams than (the teams) we see in our conference,” Alden said.

We are the champions The current titleholders of the four major boxing sanctioning bodies

Continued from 21 have dominated undeserving, mandatory challengers presented by their respective sanctioning bodies. And WBO champion Shannon Briggs has yet to defend his belt since knocking out Serguei Lyakhovich in November. And each one has the personality of a loaf of bread. It’s not a question of why these four are champions, but why anyone would care. Klitschko, who’s the best of the group on paper, has the abilities and physical attributes to unite the titles. He has the knockout power to elicit oohs and aahs from the crowd, but without a rival, there’s little public interest. Muhammed Ali had Joe Frazier. Mike Tyson had Evander Holyfield. Rivalries drive professional boxing’s popularity. His most intriguing opponent is the 7-foot, 325-pound Valuev. Valuev has yet to face an opponent of Klitschko’s status, but he is far larger than anyone Klitschko has faced. The problem with Valuev is that he can best be described as “The Big Molasses.” He’s a slow, meandering ogre who relies almost exclusively on his jab. That doesn’t make for entertaining action. In a time when the lightweights and middleweights garner most of the attention from fight fans, the heavyweight division desperately needs a skilled, charismatic boxer with immense punching power. It’s depressing when 44-year-old Holyfield’s midlife-crisis comeback is the biggest story about the weight class.

Shannon Briggs (WBO) (48-4-1, 42 KOs) Age: 35 Height: 6’4” Weight: 268

Wladimir Klitschko (IBF) (48-3, 43 KOs) Age: 31 Height: 6’6 1⁄2” Weight: 246

Oleg Maskaev (WBC) (34-5, 26 KOs) Age: 38 Height: 6’3” Weight: 240

Nicolay Valuev (WBA) (46-0, 34 KOs) Age: 33 Height: 7’0” Weight: 322

DAVID POLLAN dpollan@mscd.edu

Baseball team a laughingstock I recall a Little League baseball game from my youth where both the center fielder and left fielder on my team were doing everything but playing baseball. If my memory serves me correctly, the left fielder was picking flowers for his mom while the center fielder was doing cartwheels. Granted the outfielders don’t see much action in Little League and the outfield can be extremely boring, it was still no excuse for the gymnastics and botany. The theatrics didn’t go unnoticed because as they were taking place, a ball was hit to left-center and resulted in an inthe-park home run. Well, Metro’s baseball team might as well be picking flowers and doing cartwheels – can they really play any worse? Metro ranks last among all-RMAC teams

“So it prepares us pretty well. We have such a young team on our women’s side that they have to get match play experience, and they have to see tennis at its highest level. It will give them something to strive for.” Four of the five men competing won their singles matches 6-0, 6-0 with the fifth man, Ruckelshausen, winning 6-4, 6-1. Ruckelshausen struggled at the beginning of his match, committing a few unforced errors that had the highly animated player talking to himself and swinging his racket in frustration. During the first set, Alden went out on the court and talked with his irritated athlete. “I think his focus wasn’t there, and he wasn’t playing to his capabilities,” Alden said. “I just recentered him and told him to make sure that he was really making the shots he should of made.” The men’s victory improved their record to 11-7 with a 2-1 record in the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference. The women’s victory pushes their record to 2-20 and a 1-2 record in conference play. Both teams will take on Western New Mexico April 13 at Auraria Courts. “Even in the conference tournament, I truly believe that we have the ability on our team to beat anyone in the conference,” Alden said.

SCHEDULE Tennis

Western New Mexico 12 p.m., April 17 Auraria Courts

Mesa State

11 a.m., April 19 Pueblo

with an atrocious 7-25 overall record and a mere .219 winning percentage. The baseball team also ranks last in batting average at .266 and has a season ERA of 7.45. The ‘Runners allow an average of 8.5 runs per game and only score 5.7. They have struck out more times than any other RMAC team and hit into more double plays than anyone as well. Not exactly the makings of a championship team, or even a good team at that. Recently, in a four-game series against Colorado State University at Pueblo, Metro surrendered 63 runs in four games. In one game against CSU-Pueblo, Metro committed eight errors, one by each position player not including the pitcher. Where is the mercy rule when you need it? I’m sorry, boys, but it’s hard to win baseball games when you give up double-digit runs and everyone is committing errors. Pitching has proven to be the recurring problem for the ‘Runners throughout the season. “We have tried just about everything to turn the pitching around,” head coach Bobby Pierce was quoted as saying. Obviously, nothing has worked. Pierce is not to blame for the embarrassing performances game in and game out by the ‘Runners. He can’t go out there and play. And baseball, being a team sport, takes more than three players playing to their potential. Braden Ham, Reece Gorman and Jake Palmer cannot carry this team by themselves. It takes an effort from all nine players on the diamond. The rest of the ‘Runners team must

See POLLAN Page 25

24 • SPORT

4.26.07 • THE METROPOLITAN

Sprint star gets back on track at Metro 7 years out of school, competition, Hughes regains sprinting form By Eric Lansing lansing@mscd.edu She came to the right place at the right time. Metro sprint star Sheila Hughes graduated in 1999 from Overland High School where she lettered in track all four years. She then went on a hiatus that lasted seven years. Not many athletes can regain their form after such a long break away from their sport, but Hughes is just that good. “I am that blessed,” Hughes said humbly about her talents on the track. Hughes wanted to get back into school and had a few different universities in mind. But her love of the track eventually brought her to Metro, along with the “great” behavioral science program. “It was either with my best friend at Metro or my other best friend at the University of Phoenix,” Hughes said about her ﬁnal choices of colleges. “And I thought it would be cool to go to school and run track again. I want to be a counselor and work with adolescents, especially with at-risk youth.” But at that time, Metro only had a cross country team, which consisted of runners in long-distance events. Hughes was a sprinter, but decided to contact Metro’s cross country assistant coach, Sean Nesbitt, anyway. “He told me that they didn’t have a track team but let’s meet in a few months,” Hughes said. “So they contacted me and I met with (head coach Peter Julian), and he told me it was a great time because they decided on developing a track team and that they had a couple other people inquiring about it, so it was perfect timing for me.” Perhaps Julian and the rest of the athletic department knew the gem they had in Hughes and developed the team just for her. It at least accelerated the talks into forming one. Although she was interested in joining the newly formed track team, she was nervous about being away from the sport for so long. Hughes wasn’t sure how she would perform. “I told the coach I just wanted to maybe train,” Hughes said. “Kind of a health goal of mine, to just get back into shape. But once I started training, coach told me I was running in (the 60-, 100and 200-meter dashes). It was just something he put me into, and I thought if he had faith in me, then I should have faith in myself.”

TRACK • Luna runs NCAA provisional time in 1,500 Continued from 23 in a time of 3:58.06. His time was good enough for a provisional spot in the NCAA Championships. Anthony usually runs in the 800-meter run, but Julian placed him in the 1,500 to strengthen his 800 time. Julian also had Deserea Gleason, who usually runs in the 1,500, in the 800 while

Photo by Heather A. Longway-Burke • longway@mscd.edu

Sheila Hughes, 25, is a sprinter for Metro’s track team and practices for two to two and half hours, Monday through Thursday. Hughes now owns the season’s fastest 100-meter dash in the conference with a time of 12.09. She is currently majoring in behavioral science in hopes of working with at-risk youth. “She’s a really heavy hitter when it comes to her sprints,” Metro head coach Peter Julian said. “She is a positive team leader, does well academically, and is just the best runner in the conference.” When she isn’t lining up on the blocks or stretching for an upcoming event, Hughes is

“I want us all to do well as a team. So if we can help each other out, or if someone knows more than another person, we should always help each other because we are a team.”

– SHEILA HUGHES, METRO SPRINTER

moving Marjaneh Gross to the 400-meter run instead of her usual 100- or 200-meter dash. “Coach kind of switches it up,” Anthony Luna said. “Say for example (Gabe) usually runs in the 800, but the coach will put him in the 1,500 to build up his strength. Most of the time you want to race in your respective event, because that is your best event. But it also helps in the long run to run little longer races and then come back and do really well.” Hughes respects her teammates for running outside of their normal events and said it is bringing the team together, which leads to great performances, including the Jack Christensen Invite. “I think we did great,” Hughes said. “I think

cheering on her teammates or readily giving senior advice, even though she is only a sophomore. With so many freshmen on the team, and athletes coming from all over the Metro sport spectrum to help out the track team, Hughes is a leader for the team. “It’s cool that we have her on the team,” said Anthony Luna, a long-distance runner and teammate of Hughes. “She boosts the team up, gives congratulations, and she is a really good sport and a really good team player.” Hughes knows the importance of teammates and sportsmanship to succeed, especially for the ﬁrst-year track program at Metro, and it doesn’t matter to her whether you’re a sprinter or a cross country runner. “I want us all to do well as a team,” Hughes said. “So if we can help each other out or if someone knows more than another person, we should always help each other because we are a team. We are also representing our school.” And represent the school she has, holding the top Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference time in the 100-meter dash (12.09 seconds) and ranking

everyone showed great sportsmanship, even running in events they didn’t want to run in. We just came out here and worked as a team. I’m glad and I’m proud.” The Roadrunners will get a week to prepare before heading to Alamosa May 6-8 to compete in the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference Championships. “In the beginning of the season, those meets didn’t really matter,” Anthony Luna said about the team’s season progression. “It really starts to matter right now, when you are getting close to the conference, and we will start seeing peak performances (in Alamosa).”

second in the 200-meter dash (25.97 seconds). Hughes won the RMAC Track Athlete of the Week March 28 for her performance at the Ron Upton Invitational where she beat out top runners from the University of Wyoming and University of Colorado-Colorado Springs in the 200. Hughes is ready to wear Metro’s blue and white colors May 6-8 for the RMAC Tournament and put her abilities against the top runners in the conference. One in particular is Adams State’s Drew Houston, who has bested Hughes in a few competitions this year. At the RMAC Indoor Championships Feb. 24, Houston squeezed out close wins over Hughes in the 60 and 200. “I’m so excited about the RMAC (Championships) because there’s some people I want to put my skills up against and see if I can actually get her this time,” Hughes said suggestively about her ﬁercest competitor in Houston. While Hughes is only in her second year at Metro, and still working on getting back into top physical condition, there is plenty of optimism in the newly formed track program for years to come.

SCHEDULE Cross Country/Track RMAC Championships All day, May 6-8 Alamosa

NCAA Championships All day, May 24 Charlotte, N.C.

THE METROPOLITAN • 4.12.07

Hays is right man for the job Interim title will be removed as basketball coach lands extension

step it up signiﬁcantly if they want any chance of not being the laughingstock of the RMAC. With 16 games remaining, the postseason is still attainable. But with the way the ‘Runners are playing, it’s a long shot. I don’t want to be too hard on the boys of spring, they do lead the RMAC in stolen bases, the only highlight and good statistic of this otherwise dismal season. Maybe next year ‘Runners, but vast improvements must be made if you want to compete at this level.

“The success we had as a team had an impact on me being able to come back,” Hays said. “He had to earn the position and he did. He did a great, great job this season,” McDermott said.

Metro vs RMAC

Photo by Amie Cribley • acribley@mscd.edu

Metro head coach Brannon Hays gets a new contract from the athletic department after leading the men’s basketball team to a 28-4 record, and a NCAA tournament berth.

How Metro fares with the rest of the conference (By averages)

Metro

Brannon Hays

coach

College: Cal Lutheran, 1993

2000-01 2001-02 2002-03 2003-04 2004-05 2006-07 TOTAL

“The success we had as a team had an impact on me being able to come back.” – BRANNON HAYS, Metro’s permanent head basketball coach

POLLAN • Playoff seems like a lost hope unless team can pick it up Continued from 23

By Matthew Quane mquane@mscd.edu After a successful year as interim head coach of Metro’s men’s basketball team, Brannon Hays was awarded the gig full time. Hays was given a $72,500 per year contract similar to what former head coach Mike Dunlap received when he began his stay at Metro. “We wanted someone that had coaching experience, had been successful as a head coach and everything that goes along with it – good knowledge of the game of basketball and good experience working with students,” Metro athletic director Joan McDermott said. “I’m really appreciative of the support from Joan McDermott and President Jordan,” Hays said. The success of student athletes, as the term suggests, is twofold. McDermott said that the emphasis for hiring Hays was placed on the former. Academic success and athlete graduation were the administration’s main priority. But the athletic part is important as well. “The good part is that Brannon knew the institution, knew Dunlap’s system and came back onto staff after Dunlap left,” McDermott said. Hays led the team to a 28-4 record, winning all 17 home games. The team also set school records for 3-point shots made with 298 and a .441 3-point shooting percentage.

SPORT • 25

TEAM RECORD Colorado Christian 1-25 Colorado Christian 10-17 Colorado Christian 9-18 Colorado Christian 19-9 Colorado Christian 19-9 Metro 28-4 86-82

PCT .038 .370 .333 .679 .679 .875 .512

RMAC 0-19 7-12 6-12 12-7 11-8 17-2 53-60

Of course, Hays has some large shoes to ﬁll, as he is following in the footsteps of Dunlap, Metro’s most successful basketball coach. But McDermott is conﬁdent in his abilities. “He did a really good job handling the pressure,” McDermott said. Hays is more concerned with the future than the past, and ready to keep the team moving forward. “It can be overwhelming,” Hays said of Dun-

.266

Batting average

.324

Home runs

182 156 57

2007 RMAC regular season and tournament champions 1997-2000, 2005-06 as Metro’s assistant coach lap’s legacy. “But I feel good. He trained me how to be a good coach.” As for the upcoming season, Hays is focused on bringing in the best recruits he can ﬁnd. Hays plans to continue the wide-net recruiting style employed by Dunlap. “This season is very exciting,” Hays said. “When Dunlap left, he left the program intact. Our expectation for this year is to bring in a good recruiting class.”

RMAC

RBIs

260 234

Stolen Bases

Runs

7.45 0 206

Strikeouts

6.83 4 207

.946

Fielding percentage

.948

Errors

ERA Saves

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