Volume 29, Issue 31, May 03, 2007

THE

METROPOLITAN 5.3.07 • Vol. 29 No. 31 • http://www.mscd.edu/~themet • Serving the Auraria Campus since 1979

Jack’s back in the SGA box Metro voters re-elect Wylie for third term as student government president PAGE 3

METROSPECTIVE PULLOUT

Marching for reform

No picture left behind PAGE 14

AUDIOFILES

New sounds for summer PAGE 16 SPORT

‘Runners strike out in four-game series against Cowboys PAGE 23

Photo by Ryan Deuschle • rdeusch1@mscd.edu

Lupe Medina and his daughter Meriah thrust their fists in support during the march to support the national day of action.

The march began at Lincoln Park winding its way across downtown Denver before reaching The City of Cuernavaca Park where a rally was held. The overall goal of the march and rally is to pass fair and humane immigration reform this year and to stop raids and deportations immediately, the press release states.

MetNews

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

Campus Vote ‘07

green fees, close calls and future plans

Incumbent re-elected Third presidency for Wylie; Bateman wins VP spot in close call

By Jessie Yale jyale@mscd.edu

Photo by Nicholas Duckworth • nduckwor@mscd.edu

Sean McCandless casts the last ballot for the sustainable campus initiative, becoming the 712th Metro student to vote on the last day of voting, bringing the total number of Metro voters to less than 10 percent of the goal of 10,000 voters that the Student Advisory Committee to the Auraria Board had hoped for.

Campus votes clean Auraria student voters declare overwhelming support for green fee

By David Cardenas dcarden5@mscd.edu Auraria students overwhelmingly voted to approve the sustainable campus program fees, passing the measure with 96 percent of the vote, said Shaun Lally, president of the Student Advisory Committee to the Auraria Board.

The initiative, if approved by the governing boards of each of the campus’s three schools, will raise the clean energy fee from $1 to $3 by the 2008 spring semester, increasing incrementally to $5 by spring 2011.

Almost 2,100 students voted in the measure, making it the second-largest student initiative vote in campus history, after the RTD vote that

occurred two years ago, Lally said. “(Our vote) did better than the Metro (Student Government Assembly) elections, and they had a whole week for votes – we had two days,” Lally said.

SACAB spent a lot of time and effort making sure every student was aware of the program. Tents and kiosks were set up around campus throughout April promoting the sustainable campus program and educating students about solar power, wind power and biodiesel power.

Volunteers Hailee Koehler and Danielle Ziff were talking to students April 26 making sure they were voting on the initiative.

“People have been definitely supportive in the program,” Koehler said. “We had a big impact. People came to see what we were all about.”

SACAB’s overall goal was to achieve a 10 percent vote for the entire student body, a goal the vote fell short of by 2 percent.

“It went better than expected, but no matter

how many votes we have, it’s going to be a success,” Ziff said. “But if we want voting to be important for students then we need to start from freshman year. We need to make it a habit for students to vote.”

Students expressed a variety of reasons for supporting the program.

Metro junior Helen Ice voted yes on the initiative “because all the physics say that we’re having a problem, and I believe them.” She said $5 isn’t much money to save the environment.

Metro senior Aka Odifo-Ebbune said he voted yes because Auraria is rated first in the state in clean energy and he “wanted to make sure (the campus) got recognition for it.”

The Auraria Board will now have to ratify the fee for it to take effect. Andy Pattison, a member of the clean energy subcommittee, said the board should have no issue assessing it to the students.

“Students demonstrated how popular this

See GREEN Page 5

Metro’s Student Government Assembly held its elections last week, and the student body voted to re-elect President Jack Wylie for the third year in a row and also to officially elect Vice President Andrew Bateman, who has been serving in an interim capacity this semester.

Wylie defeated Melinda McClain 459 votes to 332 votes, and Bateman barely edged out Hashim Coates 439 votes to 419 votes, according to preliminary results made available by the SGA’s election commission.

The SGA has several things planned next year, but Bateman said the unexpected issues are usually the most important.

“Most of the important things SGA does are not planned but rather brought to our attention shortly before we make our decision. This being said, I do have some goals for the next year,” Bateman said.

Along with his duties as the chair of the Student Affairs Board – the panel that allocates revenue collected from the student affairs fee – Bateman will also be presenting a proposal to Metro’s Board of Trustees that could help lower student fees for more than 70 percent of students and increase revenue for various programs.

“There is some resistance from the board.

It may not pass because of lack of hard data about how students use the different student services,” Bateman said. “If it doesn’t pass I am already working on devices that will collect the needed data to back up the proposal so that I can present it again next year.”

Bateman is also going to work out some problems with the SGA’s constitution.

“This will be our third year on this constitution, and there are still flaws in the system that need to be worked out,” he said.

See INCUMBENT Page 5

COMPLETE ELECTION RESULTS ON PAGE 5

THE METROPOLITAN • 5.3.07

NEWS • 5

Provost faces faculty ire GREEN • Spring 2008 Continued from 3

Evaluation of Rocha may expose frustration with academic policies

members held a vote of confidence was in 1997, when 161 out of 336 tenured faculty members declared that they had no confidence in thenMetro President Sheila Kaplan. Kaplan went on to serve another six years as president.

New rules and nepotism

By Geof Wollerman gwollerm@mscd.edu Mounting faculty frustrations with Metro Provost Rodolfo Rocha will be voiced in the upcoming results of an evaluation, according to professors familiar with Metro faculty sentiment.

The evaluation began on April 23 and is being conducted by six members of the faculty senate.

“It shall be the obligation of these faculty to gain a knowledgeable basis for assessment through direct association with the (Provost), or from input derived from faculty who have a direct association with the (Provost),” according to an e-mail sent to full-time faculty by Hal Nees, president of the faculty senate.

John Schmidt, an engineering professor who has taught at Metro for 30 years and is the faculty trustee on Metro’s Board of Trustees, said the evaluation does not allow for an accurate assessment of Rocha’s performance because so few faculty members have had direct association with the provost.

Schmidt said he recently told Nees and Metro President Stephen Jordan that he hopes the evaluation will be an honest one.

“If it’s any kind of a whitewash, that’s not going to settle well with the faculty,” Schmidt said.

The evaluation will not be completed until late May or early June and, as outlined in Metro’s Handbook for Professional Personnel, will only be made available to President Jordan, who will then share the results with Rocha.

“If (the evaluation is) presented to the president and there’s consistencies on it, then I think the president will have to go back and look at that and then make a decision,” said Metro spokeswoman Cathy Lucas, who added that she

At the heart of faculty frustrations are academic policies implemented since Rocha began.

These new policies make it extremely difficult for faculty members to receive compensation for department fundraising work – such as applying for federal grants – done outside the classroom, which is a practice common at colleges across the country, Schmidt said. Because of this many departments have stopped pursuing grants and other external forms of revenue, he said. He brought up the example of the Aviation and Aerospace Science Department, which turned down a $100,000 consulting contract because its faculty could not get compensated for the work it had put into procuring the contract.

The chair of the aerospace department, professor Jeffery Forrest, was unwilling to discuss

An uncertain future

Photo courtesy of the University of Texas Pan-American

Metro Provost Rodolfo Rocha.

“The faculty (is) hoping that we have a president that doesn’t have paradigm paralysis or who doesn’t have his horse blinders on and he’s going to take action and get rid of the guy.”

– PROF. JOHN SCHMIDT, REGARDING THE FUTURE OF PROVOST RODOLFO ROCHA couldn’t comment on whether President Jordan was satisfied with Rocha’s performance.

“I think he’s happy with the direction that the college is going,” she said.

If Jordan does not remove Rocha by the fall semester, there is plenty of support among the faculty to call for a vote of confidence and ask for Rocha’s resignation, Schmidt said.

“The faculty (is) hoping that we have a president that doesn’t have paradigm paralysis or who doesn’t have his horse blinders on and he’s going to take action and get rid of the guy,” Schmidt said, adding that it will severely hurt Jordan’s standing if he is forced into action by the faculty. “(Jordan) will lose his effectiveness in managing the faculty if it has to go to that point,” Schmidt said. “I absolutely know that.”

However, a faculty vote of confidence is symbolic and does not necessarily mean that any official action will be taken. The last time faculty

(Rocha) coming here,” Schmidt said regarding the prehire promotion of Solis. “That was the inside story that we all got.”

Schmidt explained that if Solis were to have not come in as a tenured full professor, then at some point the provost would have had to approve the position change, which might have been seen as a conflict of interest. If Solis’ move to Metro was made with her current status already in hand, then no one could ever accuse Rocha of bias in handing it to her, he said.

“No one that I am aware of in academia today spends less than a total of between 12 and 14 years as a faculty (member) before they’re even eligible to be promoted to full professor,” Schmidt said.

Typically an associate professor waits approximately seven years after applying in order to become a full professor, he said, adding that the circumstances were definitely unusual.

“There’s nothing dishonest about it,” Schmidt said. “But like I said, it was part of the incentive to get (Rocha) to move up here and work.”

The deal was similar to other deals worked out all the time at other colleges, Lucas said, pointing out that Solis’ department voted on and approved her tenure.

“If you look at (Solis’) résumé, she’s run some stellar programs at Pan-American,” Lucas said. “A lot of times when there is a hiring of a chancellor or a provost, there are packages like that made.”

Though her department voted to give Solis full tenure, Lucas confirmed that Rocha’s hiring package did include a position for Solis.

the subject.

“I am no longer stating anything about this topic, and especially the Provost,” Forrest said in an e-mail.

Lucas confirmed that Rocha is now requiring departments to justify their reasons for compensation and reimbursement, which has resulted in more denials than in years previous. But she made clear that the college still supports any faculty member who pursues outside funding.

There is also the matter of Rocha’s wife, Dalinda Solis, who teaches in the Chicano Studies Department.

Before coming to Metro both Solis and Rocha worked at the University of Texas PanAmerican, where Rocha was a dean and Solis was an associate professor. When Rocha came to Metro, Solis was made a tenured full professor – a move that some faculty members have described as extraordinary and nepotistic.

“That was the deal-maker deal-breaker for

“I think (Rocha’s) out of his league, outclassed, overwhelmed,” Schmidt said. “I just don’t believe he can handle the situation. He has attempted to handle everything by shoveling it off on other people and shoveling it off on committees, and the net result is there’s no progress.”

One of the reasons Rocha was hired was because Metro was considering becoming a Hispanic Serving Institute and wanted to hire a Hispanic administrator, Schmidt said, adding that he was privy to this information prior to Rocha being hired. He made clear that he believes the administration should be evaluating its employees based on their competence and not on their skin color.

“We’re acting like he’s the only Hispanic administrator in the entire United States that’s available to work,” Schmidt said.

Rocha has been either out of town or unavailable for comment regarding this story and deferred all queries to Lucas. But before he was hired last year, Rocha offered a few comments to @Metro regarding how he saw himself fitting in at the college.

“I bring stability and a commitment to this institution. I’m not here because I’m looking for a reason to leave my current post,” Rocha said. “I’m here because I’m passionate about the possibilities here and because this is an environment that is committed to bringing those possibilities into fruition. As provost, I’d be here for the long run.”

Editor’s note: Several faculty members and administrators were contacted during the reporting of this story but were unwilling to go on the record until the situation has been resolved. The Metropolitan will continue to follow the story as it develops.

vote actually was, and it makes some serious strides,” Pattison said. “It’s a great thing for this campus, and a great thing for the environment.”

Based on research from other colleges that have similar programs, recycling cardboard will actually save $250 per ton of garbage, Pattison said.

“We’ll be paying someone to pick up the recycled cans, paper and cardboard, but we’ll also be selling those cans, so it’s a win-win situation,” Pattison said.

Recycling preparations will start next semester if the board ratifies the fees, and the first phase of the program will start in spring 2008.

“I think people wanted a change. The word was out there, and people are talking about it and thinking about the environment,” Pattison said.

INCUMBENT • Flat fee Continued from 3 Wylie and Bateman will work together to develop the newly formed statewide student organization Associated Students of Colorado.

“This is a collection of student leaders from various colleges and universities whose purpose will be to lobby the state legislature to secure more funding for higher education in Colorado,” Bateman said.

Bateman said he is looking forward to working with the SGA to increase awareness of what the assembly accomplishes so that more students will come to the SGA with ideas, concerns and suggestions.

Along with the president, vice president, student trustee and senators being elected, amendments to the SGA’s bylaws were also voted on and approved.

“The first (amendment) was to remove a passage of the constitution that required us to have at least three senators who are firstyear or sophomore students on the senate at all times, something we have no control over and were in perpetual violation of,” Bateman said. “The second was to push the deadline for certified election results back to the first business day of May, with the stipulation that the election commission may delay it further by a vote if they believe it is necessary.”

SGA ELECTION RESULTS PRESIDENT Aaron ‘Jack’ Wylie Melinda McClain Other*

459 332 197

46.5% 33.6% 19.9%

VICE PRESIDENT Andrew Bateman Hashim Coates Other*

439 419 120

44.9% 42.8% 12.3%

SACAB REPRESENTATIVES Nicole Barringer Joshua Fisher Other*

478 553 203

38.7% 44.8% 16.5%

STUDENT TRUSTEE Kevin Harris Other*

761 203

78.9% 21.1%

*Denotes write-in and declined votes. Results are based on preliminary returns made available by the SGA’s election commission. Official results will be posted by the commission.

THE METROPOLITAN • 5.3.07

NEWS • 7

Is that a gun in your pocket, or...

In wake of tragedy gun advocates question campus weapons ban

By Elena Brown brownele@mscd.edu Auraria is one of many campuses that ban weapons, and the recent shootings at Virginia Tech, along with a mass e-mail recently sent out encouraging students to carry guns, have students debating that policy.

While Colorado state law allows one to carry a concealed weapon with a permit, a provision in that law allows the Auraria Board to make its own weapons policy. If students are found to have a gun on campus, they are escorted off campus, a judicial officer is notified and they may be eligible for expulsion for violating the code of conduct, according to Auraria Higher Education Center policy 28.

Some see the policy as unfair.

“The ban should be lifted,” Metro criminal justice major Matt Grise said. “For my personal safety I would prefer a gun.”

Fellow criminal justice major Chris Ambrose agreed.

“I’d rather have it and not need it than need it and not have it,” he said.

Ambrose, 28, has had a concealed weapons permit for more than two years and admits to

owning guns, including a Glock .38. Between the two students they own handguns, a rifle and a shotgun.

Not everyone agrees with them, including students such as Nini Berndt.

“I wouldn’t feel safer with a student with a gun,” the UCDHSC creative writing student said.

“I think carrying a weapon would cause more problems than fixing them.”

In efforts to make students feel safer, the Auraria police began a buddy walk program and have increased their visibility. But Heather Coogan, chief of Auraria police, said personal responsibility is just as important.

“Many people are walking around with their iPods or on their cell phones and not paying any attention to their surroundings,” she said. “People should take responsibility for their safety.

But guns are simply not allowed.”

Instead of guns, a more humanistic approach should be taken while on campus, suggested Metro criminal justice assistant professor Noah Fritz.

“Colleges are institutions of knowledge and intelligence,” Fritz said. “We can not turn this into a place of fear. I’m not opposed to helping, fighting or protecting my students, but I’m not going to do it with a firearm.”

“When you advertise this is a gun-free zone, just what exactly are you telling the bad guys?” president of the Colorado State Shooting Association Tony Fabian said.

Fabian, also a defense attorney, suggested the policy takes away from the rights of

Colorado citizens.

“It is everyone’s right to carry a firearm,” he said. “Why should colleges be any different than anyplace else?”

Debate about the campus policy continued in light of an anonymous mass e-mail that was sent April 20 to various Colorado schools.

The e-mail came on the eighth anniversary of the Columbine High School shootings and four days after the Virginia Tech shootings.

It urged students and faculty to go to school armed “so that if need be they can quickly dispatch of those who might wish to prey upon their fellow man.” While the origin of the email is being investigated, the views expressed are echoed by many local gun businesses and organizations.

“Virginia Tech is also responsible for these murders,” said Dudley Brown, Rocky Mountain Gun Owners’ founder and president. “If anyone had a concealed weapons permit, we hope they sue.”

Last year two bills in Virginia were defeated that would give college governing boards the authority to regulate firearms on campus. The school was a main speaker against the bill, saying guns would not make the campus safer.

“I wonder how they feel now?” Fabian asked.

Metro, UCDHSC and CCD have a combined population of about 40,000 students, faculty and staff. That’s just shy of the total population of Littleton, according to data from the Auraria Higher Education Center and the

Littleton City Council.

And while Auraria is one of Colorado’s largest campuses, it is also undermanned.

There are 19 security guards and police officers on a campus with a budget for 22. Despite such a large campus, crime is down, according to Coogan.

“Auraria has one of the lowest crime rates in America,” she said. “Not by accident, but by our actions.”

But students like Grise are taking their safety into their own hands, and they aren’t alone.

There are 87 pending concealed weapons permit applications with 36 issued since January, according to the Denver Police Department.

The permit application, which can be found online and at local police stations, requires a minimum age of 21, $152.50 for a background check and a certificate of weapons training. The permit is issued about 90 days later and is valid for five years.

Representatives said there hasn’t been a spike in permit applications and that they have remained consistent over the past few years.

Last year, more than 1,000 permits were issued in El Paso County and more than 200 were issued in Denver County, according to a report to the Colorado General Assembly.

Blake, a 22-year-old Metro criminal justice major that declined to give his last name, was excited to have his permit.

“I’ve had it about a month,” he said. “Because there’s a lot of crazy-ass people out there.”

Reporter rebuffed at crisis response meeting

By Metropolitan Staff A reporter from The Metropolitan staff was ejected from an emergency-response planning meeting held by the Auraria Higher Education Center on May 1.

Faculty attendants at the meeting included AHEC executive vice president for administration Dean Wolf, assistant director of the Health Center at Auraria Martha Eaton, AHEC director of communications, institutional relations and equal opportunity Julie Hughes, Metro assistant dean of student life Johanna Maes, and Auraria police Chief Heather Coogan, among others.

At the meeting’s start, the attendees were unclear as to whether or not the meeting was to be open or closed.

“I think this is an internal workgroup, and I’m really uncomfortable when we’re having these kinds of conversations with the press here,” Eaton said.

The reporter was given no legal reasoning for being asked to leave.

According to Colorado’s open-meeting laws – also known as “Sunshine” laws – an open and public meeting is defined as any planned gathering convened to discuss public business between two or more public officials.

In order to close a meeting, the members must take a vote to go into executive session. Discussions that may be protected under executive session are limited to matters confidential under state and federal law, security arrangements, the purchase and sale of property, private personnel issues and attorney-client advisories.

The reporter returned with an editor and was again denied entry to the meeting.

When confronted with the legal issues regarding closing a public meeting, Wolf said that the members present at the meeting had not invoked executive session.

“I think this is privileged information,” Eaton said of the discussion.

As of press time, Wolf and Coogan were unavailable for further comment.

Incident Command System (ICS) Structure In the wake of the Virginia Tech shooting, AHEC and the Auraria police have compiled a 5-tiered Emergency Response Plan in case a crisis occurs at Auraria.

5

Level five incidents, such as vehicle accidents, routine medical incidents and minor police responses, are within the handling capacities of Auraria police and will require no outside aid.

4

Level four incidents may require outside aid, but the Auraria police will retain command of the incident, unless the event occurs in the area immediately surrounding campus. Level four incidents may include large fires, bomb threats and armed threats on campus.

3

Level three incidents will require significant aid from outside sources and will require an outside agency, such as the Denver police, to assume command. Level three crises include gas explosions, building collapse, hostage situations, pandemics and civil unrest.

2

Level two incidents would require aid above and beyond what could be offered by the city of Denver or the state of Colorado. Federal agencies and resources would be required. Level two incidents range from terrorist bombings to natural disasters such as tornadoes, earthquakes and floods.

1

Level one incidents, as with level two, will require massive federal aid. The difference is the severity of the crisis.

Large-scale hostage situations, massive earthquakes, chemical and biological attacks and train wrecks with hazardous spills would fall into this category.

THE METROPOLITAN • 5.3.07

NEWS • 9

Photo by Jenn LeBlanc • jkerriga@mscd.edu

UCDHSC student Manuel Giron explores the interactive display titled Live Outside the Bottle April 25 in the Tivoli Multicultural Lounge. The diplay was brought to campus by Cephalon, a drug manufacturer.

Exhibit explores downside of booze

By Brandon Daviet bdaviet@mscd.edu Drinking is a rite of passage for many college students on campuses worldwide and often goes hand in hand with the college experience.

Colleges across the country have struggled to find ways to help alcohol-dependent students cope with their addiction.

Last week Metro hosted Live Outside the Bottle: The History of Alcohol in America, a traveling educational exhibit designed to help people understand alcoholism and connect those seeking help with available resources.

“What we are hoping to do through education is helping people understand that alcohol is a disease and is not something to be ashamed about, and there are treatment options available for people in need,” said Karen McCollum, senior manager of press relations for biopharmaceutical company Cephalon.

Cephalon, along with pharmaceutical company Alkermes, cosponsored the event. The two companies believe that several FDA-approved drugs they have developed are viable treatment options in addition to support, counseling and education.

Depade, a new drug, is designed to reduce craving. Antabuse, an older drug, causes flushing and nausea if a person drinks.

The weeklong presentation, held in the Tivoli Multicultural Lounge, was set up much like a museum installation and featured interactive exhibits detailing the effects of alcohol

on the body and mind. Models of alcohol-ridden brains and livers along with video presentations on the dangers of drinking were among the features designed to help students and their families gain knowledge and explore treatment options for alcohol dependence.

Cephalon admittedly wants people to consider using their medicines, and McCollum made a point to stress that the medications are only one option and are not intended to take the place of self-help groups like Alcoholics Anonymous

companies and available at the exhibit. Many of the doctors listed accepted both private insurance as well as the state-based insurance program Medicaid.

Also represented at the event was Denver’s Office of Drug Strategy. A division of Colorado’s Department of Health and Human Services, the office was set up in 2000 by former Mayor Wellington Webb and expanded by Mayor John Hickenlooper in 2006. The office focuses on developing resources and reducing the numbers of those

“Alcohol abuse cuts across gender, race and nationality. The bad news for us is that Denver’s alcohol- and drug-related problems are significantly more serious than the national average.”

– PROF. SANDRA HAYNES, OFFICE OF DRUG STRATEGY COMMITTEE and other avenues of recovery.

“What we are trying to do here is gather all the information about alcoholism in one place.

This is not to replace what people are doing in groups like A.A. … We want to encourage people to seek the help, advice and counsel of a medical professional,” McCollum said.

For those considering treatment for alcoholrelated problems, especially college students who are strapped for cash, cost is a big concern.

A list of doctors specializing in substance abuse throughout Colorado was compiled by the two

suffering from alcohol and drug addiction.

Karla Maraccini, the director of the Office of Drug Strategy, attended the exhibit on Wednesday and spoke about the office’s views on the exhibit.

“We really want to support all different methods of recovery,” Maraccini said. “It is important for people to find what works for them.”

Part of that educational focus consisted of a scrapbook filled with stories of recovery written by members of the self-help group Faces and Voices of Recovery, or FAVOR. FAVOR’s ap-

proach to recovery is one of positive reinforcement and video clips of member’s testimonies about recovery.

In addition to the multimedia presentations, the exhibit featured several speakers. Sandra Haynes, the dean of the School for Professional Studies at Metro and a member of the Office of Drug Strategy committee, spoke briefly on Wednesday about statistics relating to alcohol abuse in the city and county of Denver and the committee’s current mission.

“Alcohol abuse cuts across gender, race and nationality,” Haynes said. “The bad news for us is that Denver’s alcohol- and drug-related problems are significantly more serious than the national average.”

Haynes said that chronic and binge drinking are about 40 percent higher among Denver adults than among adults nationwide and Denver residents are hospitalized for alcohol-related illnesses at nearly twice the national rate. The committee is working on a multiyear plan, slated to begin no later than February 2008, for programs and services to help identify those with alcoholism, enhance collaboration in the community and lower the rate of the disease in Denver.

“It is important to remember that alcoholism is a disease. The craving that an alcoholic feels for alcohol can be as strong as the need for food and water. Like many other diseases, alcoholism is chronic, meaning that it will last a person’s lifetime.”

The exhibit has a web site full of resources at http://www.liveoutsidethebottle.com.

10 • NEWS

5.3.07 • THE METROPOLITAN

Son to host benefit for Mom

By Amie Cribley acribley@mscd.edu Imagine wishing you could dance, walk or clean the house and being incapable of doing so. These mundane acts are typically taken for granted, but not by Sandy Wachter, who has multiple sclerosis.

The worst frustration for Sandy was “giving up normalcy. You don’t realize it until it’s gone,” she said.

But her son, Luke Wachter, a Metro student majoring in music performance and education, is doing something about it. Luke and two of his peers – Yolanda Calderon, a flautist, and Joe Atencio, a pianist – are putting together a benefit concert for their family and friends who have MS. Luke, Calderon and Atencio realized they had all been affected by MS and felt like there wasn’t a lot they could do, Luke said. They decided they could make a difference using their talents and put together the idea for the concert.

“I was really touched by them wanting to do something like this,” Sandy said. “I’m very honored that they would take this on as a cause.”

Sandy was diagnosed in 2000, but she believes she has had MS most of her life. The symptoms were difficult to diagnose for her because it was just a problem with her knee that “didn’t seem neurological,” she said.

The concert, which Luke, Calderon and Atencio will all play in, will benefit those with MS and the proceeds will go toward research.

Luke is a percussionist in the wind ensemble, orchestra and percussion ensemble at

Metro. He has been playing since grade school.

Sandy realizes that her family gets impatient with her MS because it takes so long to do things, but “my biggest advantage is the support system,” she said. “I’m really lucky to have all the people I have.”

She has progressed through a cane, forearm crutches, wheelchair and now a scooter. Sandy said she despised the wheelchair.

John Wachter, Sandy’s husband, said a person becomes invisible in a wheelchair, but people are curious about the scooter.

“It’s really easy to be a victim,” Sandy said.

“It just puts a crimp in your style.”

Wachter hasn’t run into things she is incapable of doing; she just realizes she has to do it in a different way.

“For my kids to have the initiative to do this is awesome,” Wachter said regarding the concert.

MS is an autoimmune disease, which means the body’s immune system attacks itself. The cells attacked with MS are in the brain and spinal cord. When the immune system attacks the protective, fatty layer on cells called the myelin sheath, scars are formed and signals sent through the nervous system get short-circuited, according to the Rocky Mountain MS Center website.

The benefit is planned to be held in the concert hall in the King Center. The date is not yet set. Luke, Calderon and Atencio will sell the tickets personally and are trying to get donations for a silent auction. All of the proceeds will go to the Rocky Mountain MS Center.

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

Sandy Wachter attends her son Luke Wachter’s performance with her husband John Wachter, at the Metro State Wind Band Celebration April 20 at the King Center.

!

NO

R E V CO

TNC

(Thursday Night Club) 1946 Market Street Corner Market/20th 303.293.8555 www.lodosbarandgrill.com

$1

.00 Coors Light Drafts Long Islands Jagers

9-11 pm

G N I H T Y R E V r E a b s 1 e h 2-4 behind t

11-close

Free Beer Pong starts at 9pm

metrospective `

Editor’s picks PAGE 14

Bassist Brent Wilson plays with Charlie Louvin April 5 at Twist and Shout in Denver.

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

Photo by Jason Small • jsmall4@mscsd.edu

PULLOUT SECTION

reel world 12 • METROSPECTIVE

Sizzling DVD spotlight With summer around the corner, there should finally be time in students’ schedules to catch up on some of the great flicks that were released this year. Here are some summer DVD releases that should make any couch look more appealing: May 15 Pan’s Labyrinth Directed by Guillermo Del Toro Picturehouse Entertainment $34.99 This movie is easily one of the best films to come out so far this year. The moving story about a young girl dealing with the horrors of the Spanish Civil War manages to dance the line between horror and fairy tale with a grace and power that few films can claim. The Spanish cast’s acting is brilliant, but what is unique about the movie is the exotic world and eye-popping creatures created for the film. They can be wondrous, like Pan, a faun who helps the little girl in her journey, or freakish, like the Pale Man, a monster who kills with frightening ease. This movie isn’t as light-hearted as it may appear, but the truths of humanity and love it depicts are universal. Check it out in a single or two-disc version, and get swept away.

By Clarke Reader • creader3@mscd.edu

May 22 Letters From Iwo Jima Directed by Clint Eastwood Warner Home Video $34.99 This powerful companion to director Clint Eastwood’s Flags of our Fathers is a whopper of a war film. Of course, how could it not be when Steven Spielberg produced it? Letters takes a look at the Japanese side of the battle of Iwo Jima. It’s all in subtitles, but that doesn’t lessen the rich characters created, all with their own thoughts about being in a battle from which there was really no escape. The action is as brutal as any World War II movie out there, but the human element is also very much present.

Eastwood’s achievement of telling both sides of a battle is a landmark idea, and this movie is all you need to understand that everyone has something to lose in war.

Reader

June 5 Seinfeld Season 8 Directed by Tom Cherones Sony Pictures $49.95 The eighth and penultimate season of the classic series gets the royal treatment in this

four-disc set. Some of the show’s most memorable episodes are in this season: “The Andrea Doria,” in which George goes head-to-head with a survivor of a historic boat wreck over who has had a more miserable life; “The Chicken Roaster,” in which Jerry and Kramer switch apartments and find their roles reversed; and “The Little Kicks,” which spotlights one of history’s greatest crimes on the dance floor. In addition to the episodes, viewers are treated to a commentary on every episode, a blooper real, behind-thescenes features, deleted scenes and a wealth of other bonus features. For fans of classic TV or comedy in general, this is the buy of the summer.

Reader

June 12 Breach Directed by Bobby Newmyer Universal Pictures $29.98 In a world of the same old spy movie, Breach is a welcome relief. The film features some killer acting by Ryan Phillipe and Chris Cooper, who deserves an Oscar nod for his portrayal of a traitor who changes from friendly to menacing on a dime. The taut plot line relies on pure tension and suspense to grab the viewer. There is little in the way of action, but that works for the movie since the viewer can literally feel the fear and nervousness of the characters as they try to keep up their facades. The movie wasn’t a huge hit in the box office, but on DVD it should get some of the attention it deserves.

Reader

June 26 Monk – Season Five Various directors Universal Studios $59.99 What if Sherlock Holmes had had a debilitating fear of germs? What if Sam Spade had been afraid of human contact? What if Kojak had been obsessed with dusting his bookshelves instead of nabbing the bad guy?

Monk answers all of these hypotheticals in a brilliant and compelling way.

Tony Shalhoub has tapped a national nerve with his expert portrayal of a brilliant detective afflicted with obsessive-compulsive traits. The

fifth season of the Emmy- and Golden Globewinning show finds the hapless detective investigating a mysterious electrocution, a serial killer and a disastrous rock concert, even as he tries to avoid germs and close contact with others.

Although many programs that revolve around quirky characters quickly run out of steam, Monk has managed to retain its appeal and its freshness despite its long run.

By Adam Goldstein • goldstea@mscd.edu

July 31 Popeye the Sailor: 1933-1938 Vol. 1

By Dave and Max Fleischer Warner home Video $64.99 Long before Pixar pushed the boundaries of animation with computer-generated eye candy, Max Fleischer and his studio magicians redefined the possibilities of the cartoon.

One of Fleischer’s first cartoon series in the 1930s, Popeye the Sailor, incorporated new camera techniques, innovative camera use and quirky characterization.

This four-disc box set contains all the Popeye cartoons from the early Fleischer era in chronological order. The roster of Popeye cartoons includes some of their first experiments in Technicolor, “Popeye the Sailor Meets Sinbad the Sailor,” and “Popeye the Sailor Meets Ali Baba’s Forty Thieves.”

The collection will also include mini-documentaries on Max Fleischer, bonus shorts and commentaries for almost every cartoon.

Goldstein

5.3.07 • THE METROPOLITAN

Director’s Notes

Choice is key in what we are. You choose to be destructive or you choose to be all encompassing and love-giving. Each choice defines who we are, no matter what the reason behind it is, because everybody values the reason behind the act, or the idea behind the act more than the reason. The idea behind the act, they value it more than the act these days.

– Guillermo Del Toro, director Pan’s Labyrinth

timeout “ THE METROPOLITAN • 5.3.07

METROSPECTIVE • 13

I used to think like Moses. That knocked me down for a couple years and put me in prison. Then I start thinking like Job. Job waited and became the wealthiest and richest man ever ‘cause he believed in God.

Everyday Blues

”

– JAMES BROWN

Adam Goldstein • goldstea@mscd.edu

This Day in History 5.3.07 Today’s Birthdays

Israeli P.M. Golda Meir – 1898 American playwright William Inge – 1913 Folk pioneer Pete Seeger – 1919 Boxer Sugar Ray Robinson – 1921 Soul “godfather” James Brown – 1933 Four Seasons singer Frankie Valli – 1937 Songsmith Christopher Cross – 1951

On this day...

Sweet Jamaica...

DTU

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

1494 – Christopher Columbus spots a lush, idyllic island during his travels. Soon after, the Italian explorer dons dreadlocks, starts strumming syncopated, choppy lute licks and labels his ship’s wine supply with a red stripe. Jamaica’s influence is immediate, indeed...

Everybody was judo fighting...

1956 – The first Judo World Championships are held. The competition finally gives scrawny, weak-looking kids the opportunity to manhandle burly bullies three times their size.

Santa’s workshop...

1952 – The first airplane makes the brutal, unforgiving journey to the north pole. The historic landing is quickly marred by the sudden appearance of a deranged fat man in red long johns wielding a rifle. “Get off my property, you bastards!” he screams before setting loose a wild pack of reindeer.

Across 1- Stuff 5- It’s drawn in the bathroom 9- Ohio, e.g. 14- Caucus state 15- Land measure 16- Pertaining to Benedict XVI 17- A person that guarantees 19- Lower portion of the small intestine 20- Excited 21- Summit 22- Sequestered 23- Asian prince 24- And not 25- Stroll 28- Expert 31- Sudden burst 32- Guy’s partner 34- Mine entrance 35- Long 36- Challenge to complete a task 37- Used to be 38- New Zealand aboriginal 39- Cowboy display 40- Monkey 42- Male sheep who may play football for St Louis!

43- 12th month of the Jewish religious calendar 44- Money put aside for the future 48Raccoonlike carnivore 50- Consisting of twenty 51- Wrong 52- Early Christian church 53- Cruise stops 54- Exclamation to express sorrow 55- Ricelike grains of pasta 56Mock, annoy 57- Steering wheel 58- Require Down 1- Cheroot, e.g. 2- Red cosmetic 3- Look for 4- Strict disciplinarian 5- Good-natured raillery 6- Behaved 7- Stepped 8- That woman 9- Fricative 10- Aptitude 11- Primates with short tails or no tail 12- Tense 13- Shade tree 18- Brother of Moses 21- Agitate 23- New Zealand evergreen tree 25- Surplus 26- Old-fashioned exclamation of surprise 27- Steak order 28- Mouth 29- First man 30- Passport endorsement 31- Capital of South Korea 33- The Lion 35- River in NW Mexico 36- Sovereign authority 38- The ___ Falcon 39- Entangle 41- Stops 42- Intolerance 44- Agave fiber 45- Mother-ofpearl 46- Feed on grass 47- Church council 48- Beer buy 49- Earthen pot 50- Dell 51- Appropriate 52- Exclamation of contempt Crossword reprinted courtesy of bestcrosswords.com. Solution for puzzle can be found at http://www.bestcrosswords.com/. (Solution is under April 27 puzzle.)

14 • METROSPECTIVE

The

5.3.07 • THE METROPOLITAN

THE METROPOLITAN • 5.3.07

METROSPECTIVE • 15

bestof the rest

By Jenn LeBlanc • jkerriga@mscd.edu

E

ven some of the best pictures can remain unseen. There are many reasons for a beautiful photograph to end up on the cutting room floor: lack of space, content, relevance, the entire story being cut, design limitations – the list goes on and on. At the end of the year we like to run a retro-Metrospective – a best-of-the-best spread with our favorite photos from the year. This year I decided to do the best-of-the-rest, the photos I wish we could have run, that should have made it but didn’t.

Photo by Amie Cribley • acribley@mscd.edu

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

Photo by Jenn LeBlanc • jkerriga@mscd.edu

Photo by Rachel Crick • crick@mscd.edu

Photo by Andrew Bisset • abisset1@mscd.edu

Far left: Gabrielle LeBlanc eats strawberries at the opening of Illuminations April 6 at The Other Side Arts in Denver.

Left top: Ryan Leon gives tours in the Angel’s Nest sustainable house April 21 in Taos, N.M. Left center: Harry Lindstrom plays the euphonium Sept. 11, 2006 behind the Jefferson County Administration and Courts Facility.

Left bottom: The dome of the Denver Capitol Building was reopened to the public March 13.

Above: Brandon Borchert creates chalk art at the Festival Italiano Sept. 23, 2006 at Belmar.

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

audiofiles

album reviews

By Adam Goldstein goldstea@mscd.edu During a career that spanned more than 30 years, Frank Zappa’s recording habits bordered on the obsessive-compulsive. For nearly every live show, countless rehearsal sessions and even exchanges of banter between musicians in the studio, Zappa had a tape recorder rolling.

More than 13 years after his death, Zappa’s family is drawing on this vast cache of aural gold to please hard-core fans and attract new listeners.

Buffalo is the latest jewel harvested from the late composer’s immense body of unreleased material, documenting a single, two-hour live show from New York in October 1980.

For a casual listener, the concert’s program

The Axe That Chopped the Cherry Tree May 5

Pick of the litter

Frank Zappa Buffalo (Vaulternative, 2007)

Upcoming shows

The Marquis Theater 2009 Larimer St. 7:30 p.m. $8 in advance, $10 at the door, all ages may play like a whirlwind of conflicting styles and genres. For any fan familiar with Zappa’s 70-plus album discography, however, this album provides an engaging blend of streamlined classics from the ’60s and ’70s with skeletal versions of songs that would find fruition in later albums of the ’80s.

The album features one of Zappa’s most impressive ensembles, the touring band that was featured on 1981’s Tinseltown Rebellion. The eight-piece band drew on all the virtuosic zeal of its players – musicians such as Steve Vai on “stunt” guitar, Ike Willis on guitar and vocals, Tommy Mars on synthesizers and Vinnie Colaiuta on unbelievably dense drum lines. All their performances infuse the album with a degree of skill difficult to find in most live rock recordings, but par for the course on live Zappa albums. As on Tinseltown Rebellion, the ensemble easily navigates a complex musical program that seamlessly shifts from hard driving rock to faux punk to jazz-infused classical compositions.

The show opens with the title song from 1970’s Chunga’s Revenge album, a song that benefits immensely from the 10-year development period between its premiere and its performance in Buffalo. A flurry of frenzied drumbeats introduces the cadenced, hypnotic bass line, which in turn becomes the aural canvas for one of Frank’s signature guitar solos. Every element of the composition, including the rhythmic accompaniment, the melodic textures and the six-minute solo, has been streamlined and refined by years of development.

Similarly, songs such as “The Torture

Never Stops,” “Andy” and “Ain’t Got No Heart,” which were released years before the Buffalo performance, are performed with a fluency and ease that add to the improvisational depth of the compositions.

The concert also proved a testing ground for several songs that would make up Tinseltown Rebellion, 1981’s double album You Are What You Is and 1982’s Ship Arriving Too Late to Save a Drowning Witch. Though many of the songs from these records are a bit less refined in the Buffalo performance, these live versions show just how much tinkering went into a Zappa song before the composer decided to officially release it. A three-song suite from You Are What You Is proves the closest recreation of their studio counterparts, while the live version of “Drowning Witch” veers from the more refined album version almost entirely. In lieu of the complex, multitiered orchestral opus that was “Drowning Witch” a mere two years later, the version on this album, titled “Buffalo Drowning Witch,” is a minimalist vocal experiment by Zappa, with only the slightest vamp from the band as backup.

The album’s most impressive achievement remains its basic format: a full concert by one of Frank’s tightest ensembles. The treatment of the songs varies from seamless to skeletal, but the record manages to capture all the complexity, bawdiness and virtuosity of an average Zappa show.

The recording is sure to satisfy even the most hard-core fan – that is, until they dip into the vault for the next posthumous release.

Five regular Christian kids from Denver, the Axe That Chopped the Cherry Tree takes virtue and value to a new level. Their goal, as they claim, is to spread the word of God through their music, and what better way to do that than screaming into a mic with synthesizers and distorted guitars in the background? Amping up for the upcoming Broomstock, these cherry-tree killers are set to rock out for Jesus.

Cassie Hood • hoodc@mscd.edu

Morrissey May 9 Fillmore Auditorium 1510 Clarkson St. 7:30 p.m. $42.50, all ages Get on the black clothes and put your hair in a wave. The asexual superhero of the lovesick masses is coming to Denver. For those who like their days gray or have a girlfriend in a coma, Morrissey knows your pain and has a song about it. Few have done New Wave longer or with greater melancholia.

Andrew Flohr-Spence • spencand@mscd.edu

Achille Lauro

Various artists CompilAsian: A Collection Of Asian American Music (Born In Chinese, 2007)

By Joe Nguyen nguyejos@mscd.edu

What exactly is “Asian-American music”?

The songs on CompilAsian: A Collection Of Asian American Music span a number of different genres, from jazz-infused folk to ambient rock to power pop. The album showcases the eclectic talents of independent Asian-American artists across the country. Despite its egregious combination of the words “compilation” and “Asian,” the CD offers a number of aurally pleasing tracks.

The Ides’ “Two Separate Pictures” features haunting electric guitar plucks, an airy bell loop and deep percussion. Lead singer Andrew Choi’s soothing, bright vocals convey meaningful lyrics about the band’s feelings towards Liberty in North Korea, or LiNK. It is the most politically charged song on the album.

Isul Kim’s intricate lyrics against being treated like an object come alive in “This Fever.”

A rich ensemble of guitars set a bluesy tone to

the song, complementing Kim’s full vocals.

Unfortunately some songs fail to distinguish themselves from the generic mainstream sound.

Blip Blip Bleep’s “A Little While Longer” gets lost in the shuffle with its lack of composition and dull vocals.

Simplicity does not necessarily mean substandard as Cynthia Lin proves in “Skipping in NYC.” Lin’s sweet, lucid vocals are accompanied by a plain guitar melody. The octave changes on every other guitar pluck create a lighthearted bouncing rhythm.

CompilAsian offers a taste of different artists, each with their own distinct musical flavor.

Although a few songs detract from the overall quality of the album, there is enough substance that warrants this CD to be a welcome addition to one’s collection.

May 10 Larimer Lounge 2721 Larimer St. 8 p.m. $8, 21+ It seems like not being classified in a genre can be a band’s greatest strength or their most detrimental weakness. When Achille Lauro gets on stage with Matt Close on the xylophone and Brian Joseph blowing the trumpet, it’s not quite jazz but not quite rock, and that is definitely their strength.

With the release of their premier EP, You’re Going to Live (and Other Nice Things to Hear), they are adding an ambiguous quality to what is quickly becoming Denver’s sound.

Taylor Sullivan • tsulli21@mscd.edu

THE METROPOLITAN • 5.3.07

AUDIO FILES • 17

Various Artists Off the Clock (Starbucks Entertainment, 2007)

By Cassie Hood hoodc@mscd.edu

While sipping hot coffee precisely prepared by a Starbucks employee, it’s hard to imagine that the barista serving you could be the next big musical genius. The overly zealous Starbucks Corp. can imagine it, though.

Seeming like just another ploy by a profit-hungry company, Off the Clock already has the odds stacked against it. Hardly anyone has heard of the bands, and even fewer people care about the label. Somehow, though, it works. Masterfully mixed songs offer a small glance into the musical happenings in the world of these up-and-coming baristas-turned-bandmembers.

“Sparrow” by Scatteredtrees breaks the silence with full-bodied guitars and melancholy lyrics, begging the sparrow to guide the way. Based in Chicago, Scatteredtrees is breaking into the indie world with their album Song for My Grandfather. If this tiny morsel gives any hint to their

The Bird and the Bee The Bird and the Bee (Metro Blue, 2007)

By Christopher Gilmore cgilmo10@mscd.edi

freeplay

The anticipation of summer is something that can get a student through the last stressful month of the semester. The Bird and the Bee’s self-titled album is the perfect reminder of the lazy summer days to come.

The debut album on Blue Note Records has more to do with summer than the clever band name. The innocent crispness of Inara George’s vocals combined with the jazz-influenced electronic landscape of Greg Kurstin exemplifies all the goodness that comes with the end of classes.

While the world of college radio pop respects jazz music from a distance, the Bird and the Bee have invited the founding fathers of cool back to the fold. The first listen of the album seems to hide the jazz influences under the electronic beats. Yet, on closer inspection, it is a jazz keyboard producing the majority of the beats instead of a computer program.

The simple structure that the Bird and the Bee follow in their songs

grandiose talent, this release is worth a try.

Carly Escoto’s song “Stay for Good” has a lo-fi sound. Her cherubic voice, augmented by her self-taught guitar work, makes this song the best on the album. Each listen makes one’s heart melt. Escoto lives in a make-believe world of love and beauty, devoutly hoping to find a place in everyone’s soul.

Another standout song on the album spotlights the talents of Luma.

“Ever So Slow” is the compilation’s only instrumental song, and it features a roaming bass set to the energetic musings of the saxophone and piano.

Luma only has four members, but they sound full and complete.

One shortcoming on the album is Akai’s “Beautiful.” While the vocals from Hiromi and Robbie Matsumoto are radiant and worth mention, the actual lyrics, like bitter coffee, leave a bad aftertaste. They’re trite and say nothing whatsoever.

However, what’s lost in the end can be remedied with a simple skip backward to Claire Bradley’s “Hallelujah.” While the song itself is a bit overproduced, Bradley’s voice sounds like a cross between Sheryl Crow’s and Lucinda Williams’, with country-inspired guitars wailing in the background.

Her story of a forlorn, heartsick girl in love with a man she’s never met is a theme that’s been done, but her take is that what’s meant to be will be.

Bursting with talent, Off the Clock is another example of an entrepreneurial giant helping employees reach their goals. They may be the people serving lattes and chai teas, but at night, they rock out.

allows for a wide range of possibilities. The songs usually start with an introduction of a simple beat or melody that shrinks to the background to form the foundation upon which all other melodies and harmonies are built. As the verse begins, the music increases, leading to the explosion of the chorus just around the corner. The chorus brings the song up to another level before settling down back into the rhythm of the verse. The similarities between the songs are merely structural, as the music styling varies as much as the themes the duo explores.

In the song “La La La” a simple keyboard bounces from the left speaker to the right and back to the left, creating a disorienting effect.

The listener’s head is swimming from the confusion when a jubilation of sounds comes crashing over the keyboard. The instrumentation consists of handclaps, tambourines, spurts of quick acoustic guitar, the triangle and an electronic organ. Even the vocals become an instrument when Inara George echoes “la la la” to support her own lyrics. The innocence in her voice is like a newly bloomed flower in a garden of dry dirt. The appeal of it is rivaled only by the catchiness of the songs.

The duo has introspective lyrics that are easy to relate to but not deep enough to alienate light thinkers. There are songs on the album for all occasions. It has the perfect songs for a Fourth of July party and also a mellow evening watching the stars in the mountains. If summers are only as good as the album that represents them, then the Bird and the Bee’s self-titled album is the perfect way to make this summer memorable.

Polopop Pink (Self-released, 1999)

By Cassie Hood hoodc@mscd.edu Kaye Brewster has found an alternative for the psychiatric treatment of multiple personality disorder. No medication or overpriced therapy sessions are needed. Dual personalities are treated by allowing them to express themselves in musical form.

Brewster has two aliases: Kaye and Polopop. Each alias expresses a different sound. Kaye offers serene Celtic folk songs, while Polopop spices up the night by adding synthesized noises and sound loops. All of Brewster’s music is entertaining, but Pink is the album that really stands out.

“Princess of Twee” derives its name from twee, a type of pop music started in the ’90s described as intensely sweet

bubblegum pop. From that spawned the use of twee to describe a person who is overly precious, someone who makes others want to gag. The song follows this equation perfectly. Polopop’s dulcet vocals are sticky enough, but add in her honey-filled keyboards, and the song is a toothache waiting to happen. Though the lyrics aren’t deep and meaningful, they describe a girl so sickeningly nice that she is, indeed, the princess of twee.

Throwing all kind-hearted noises out the door, “Like a Lion” pumps up the volume on the album. Polopop sounds pissed off and ready for a fight. Her voice, although still sultry, has a razor-sharp edge to it, and the electro-pop in the background has an industrial sonancy to it. It sounds like something played in a club’s basement on goth night, as dark and dreary as its surroundings.

“Time” follows the typical techno formula: Basic drumbeats piled one on top of the other, synth keyboards to add a touch of class, and a happy-go-lucky main riff. Polopop’s voice is the only thing that saves it. She breaks away from the normal and puts in her own Celtic twist. Suave and charming, “Time” starts out disappointing but gets better as the seconds tick away.

The hypnotic trance that “Funky Feet” causes makes this song the perfect anthem for raver kids everywhere. It preaches the needs of the dance culture, while still keeping to a theme of love.

Polopop or Kaye, whichever name best suits her, has an angelic voice and immense talent. She may not have a record label to support her, but her Korg synthesizer and computer will do just fine.

Upcoming shows The Bouncing Souls May 11 Fillmore Auditorium 1510 Clarkson St. 7 p.m. $16, 16+ New Jersey’s Bouncing Souls have been making bright, exuberant punk rock since 1987, and now they are bringing their high standards back. The Souls have always been purveyors of a sound that is, well, bouncy. After releasing an album on 6/6/06 (the “number of the release”) and playing last year’s Warped Tour, the Souls return on their own tour, supported by Strike Anywhere, Loved Ones, and Static Radio.

Andrew Bisset • abisset1@mscd.edu

May 14

Fishbone

Cervante’s Masterpiece Theater 2637 Welton St. 9 p.m. $15, 18+ Funky soulful punk is back in all its raucous glory as Fishbone returns with their first new album in six years. The boisterous horn section is enough to incite random fits of skanking, and the chaotic flavor of Fishbone will help with disregarding that class you failed so you can focus more on haphazard grinding sessions with strangers.

Megan Carneal • mcarneal@mscd.edu

Download Polopop’s Pink at http://www.polopop.com/ polopop/pink/index.html

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

THE METROPOLITAN • 5.3.07

NEWS • 19

Aurarians honored after all these years Displaced residents memorialized; funding descendants continues

By Ruthanne Johnson john180@mscd.edu Before Metro was a college, an entire community of churches, schools, businesses and homes existed at Auraria. More than 30 years after this community was bulldozed to make way for the college in 1973, a memorial honoring the 1,200 residents forced from their homes will be held 9:30 a.m. on May 4 at the north end of Ninth Street Park.

All three colleges – Metro, UCDHSC and CCD – will participate in the event, which is free and open to the public.

“What happened to my neighborhood was a triumph of property values over human values,” said Tony Garcia, a Metro Chicano studies professor who grew up in the once-thriving neighborhood. “I think this dedication offers an acknowledgement of the sacrifices that were made by those homeowners families and citizens in order to build the Auraria Campus.”

In the early 1900s Auraria, which is the oldest settlement in Denver, became a gathering place for residents of Hispanic descent. The old Victorian homes were inexpensive to rent – a perfect fit for families that endured discrimination and low wages – and St. Cajetan’s Church, along with area schools, created cohesiveness among community members.

Although the neighborhood was poor, residents kept up their properties, many of which had been purchased by veterans after World War II, said Magdalena Gallegos, a historian and former Auraria resident.

“My dad liked the West Side community because everything was together, a small neighborhood where everyone knew each other,” said Christine Lorenzo, a Metro freshman whose family had lived at Auraria.

In the late 1960s, the Denver Urban Renewal Association began planning for a college campus somewhere in the city. After reviewing statistics for the West Side acreage – such as median single family income and vacant and condemned property rates – Auraria was chosen. At the time 350 families lived in the neighborhood, some dating back three generations.

Most Aurarians did not know of the impending eviction until officials announced a bond election measure regarding the neighborhood.

Denver residents voted on the issue and the deal was cemented. For many, the relocation was hard to take. One of the displaced Aurarians, Louise Vigil, told Gallegos in an interview that “most people had lived there all their lives and they were heartbroken.”

The Aurarians did not get much for their homes because many of the properties had been condemned by DURA. Landowner Isabel Ramos received $35,000 for three houses that she owned, and many businesses received less than $400 for relocation.

As a concession, DURA officials guaranteed Aurarians and their descendants free tuition at any one of the three colleges constructed on the campus – a promise that went unfulfilled until 1993.

“It was difficult obtaining hard-core documentation of the assurances made to residents, and of who was doing the reassuring,” said John Nieto, president of the Displaced

Photo by Nicholas Duckworth • nduckwor@mscd.edu

At the Ninth Street Park, the ground has been prepared for a memorial for the people who were displaced due to the growing Auraria Campus.

Aurarians Association.

It was not until the association held a reunion in 1993 that the three colleges revisited the old agreement. School officials met and established the Displaced Aurarian Scholarship that same year. The scholarship offers free tuition and fees to first- and second-generation descendants of residents of the Auraria neighborhood between 1955 and 1973.

Metro junior Natalie Archuletta applied for the scholarship after realizing that without a degree her 18 years with the Denver Department of Human Services left her no opportunity for advancement.

“There is no ladder without a bachelor’s degree. Now I am a junior taking two classes at a time for a degree in human services,” she said, adding that her son will also probably pursue a degree at Metro.

To receive the scholarship, applicants must provide documentation of their relationship to the Auraria descendants. Recipients must maintain a minimum of six credit hours and a 2.0 grade point average. The scholarship funds are limited and available on a first-come-first-serve basis. If not initially accepted, applicants will be placed on a waiting list.

“It’s unfortunate that people have to wait, because it’s hard to put life on hold,” Archuletta said. “You lose momentum.”

Since it was established, 131 students have taken advantage of the scholarship, 25 of them obtaining degrees from Metro. As of 2007, monies awarded to displaced Aurarians have totaled nearly $413,000, and there are currently 40 students on the waiting list.

Metro junior Travis Maron, whose grandparents lived at Auraria, said he had no problems getting the scholarship.

“I’ll bet there were lots of people who missed out on the opportunity before 1993, and it will be interesting to see how the colleges handle things as more people begin to take advantage of the scholarship,” he said.

A better use of books?

Photo by Ryan Deuschle • rdeusch1@mscd.edu

An art installation on the lawn in front of St. Cajetan’s titled “Between the Leaves” by Rachel Hawthorn will be on display until May 8.

THE METROPOLITAN • PAGE 20 • ANDREW FLOHR-SPENCE • SPENCAND@MSCD.EDU

Insight “

Summer afternoon – summer afternoon; to me those have always been the two most beautiful words in the English language.

”

– HENRY JAMES

Extracurriculariffic experience Another semester, another year has ended. My time as editor in chief of this paper is ending, as is my time at Metro. Only an internship and a little paperwork stand between me and graduation.

My time at Metro has been fantastic. I’ve earned a degree, gained the knowledge and experience I needed to pursue my chosen profession and I’ve grown as a person. I got everything I hoped from college. My concern is that precious few of my peers are doing the same.

The prevailing attitude among students at this school seems to favor a straightforward, headdown approach to education. Go to class, go home, get the degree and get on with life. Involvement with extracurricular activities is the exception, not the rule. It may be our status as a commuter college, full of nontraditional students. Whatever the cause, it’s a shame.

In my first semester at Metro, I read of a study conducted at Harvard that showed students who are more engaged and involved with their school outside of the classroom were happier with their college experience. My own experiences over the past four years have absolutely confirmed this.

The students at Metro have amazing opportunities and considerable resources at

CORY CASCIATO casciato@mscd.edu hand, but all too often, they go ignored and unused. Consider that Metro has a number of national-championship-winning sports teams, and yet can’t fill the seats for a home game. Our student government is full of honest, dedicated people trying to make this school better, but uncontested seats and pathetic voter turnout is the norm in our elections. The Metropolitan receives awards every year for excellence in student media, yet fewer than half the people on campus ever bother to pick it up, and fewer than 50 of the school’s 500 journalism students are involved in

its production in any given semester.

Joining a club is a great way to network, possibly opening the door to a future job opportunity.

Tutoring or leading a study group is a great way to get letters of recommendation from professors.

The day-to-day, practical experience of working in student media, student government, marketing or any of a dozen other areas provides hands-on experience that not only buffs a résumé, but hones the skills learned in class and exposes how things really get done.

Just as rewarding is the sense of accomplishment and satisfaction that comes from helping someone in need, supporting and recognizing others for their accomplishments, working toward something larger than yourself, or even just making a new friend.

Don’t take my word for it; try it yourself. Come and write for The Metropolitan; we’re losing half our staff to graduation. Meet the newly elected SGA, share your concerns and resolve to run yourself if they aren’t addressed. Go to a sports event, join a club, attend a student concert. Make the most of your time here; get everything out of it you can. You’ll be giving this school, and yourself, a tremendous gift.

God save the queen, the apple regime I was never fond of bees. After a lifetime of being chased around by the tiny thugs, not to mention the traumatic experience I had a few summers ago while working as a beer-garden waiter in the middle of a bee plague, the recent news of their pesky population’s sudden disappearance seemed, at first, a good thing.

There is something sinister about their hivementality and lack of individuality – something about 50,000 stingers under the orders of a single queen – I just don’t trust.

On my evil-insect scale, bees are not quite as bad as, say, the blood-sucking, diseasespreading mosquito or the 6-inch poisonous centipede that once made me scream in Thailand.

But what they lacked in quality, they made up in quantity. Bees are everywhere.

Or, at least, they used to be.

The honeybee is vanishing. In the last year, beekeepers from across Europe and North America have reported the loss of 30 to 80 percent of their bees. While bee populations often suffer from mysterious decline, the newly named colony collapse disorder, or CCD, is something different altogether.

This year’s numbers are unheard of. The timing of the die-off is irregular and the hives are abandoned, with a starving queen and a few workers left behind.

The creepy thing is that few dead bees have been found. Most seem to have vanished.

ANDREW FLOHR-SPENCE spencand@mscd.edu According to the CCD working group – an alliance of scientists, beekeepers, and concerned citizens formed to combat the problem – the bees are wandering about their daily commute, but unable to return home. Something is disrupting their navigation.

Possible causes of the bee’s disorder include bacterial infection, the effects of pesticides and artificial food, and the possibility that cell phone technology may be interfering with their radar.

As far as I was concerned, good riddance.

There would be no more worries while running barefoot through the grass, and no more waiting for a mouthful of stingers when taking a sip of soda in the summer. While nature-lovers maintain that bees are industrious workers who are defending themselves when they sting, in my experience bees are mean little fascist insects who love nothing better than to kamikaze attack

when least expected.

Obviously the servant life has made them edgy, ready to snap and attack at the slightest provocation. And now, the bees are suffering from the same problem humans have with driving and cell phones. Karma is a bitch.

My schadenfreude at their demise was short lived, however, when my wife reminded me of the important role the little bastards play in our food chain.

If the bees don’t come back, not only is the future of honey in doubt, but the job of pollinating a large part of our crops will urgently need to be filled.

According to a study done at Cornell in 2000, honeybees pollinate $14 billion in seeds and crops in the United States alone. About 90 different crops, including apples, zucchini, avocadoes and almonds wouldn’t be around without bees. The American Beekeeping Federation estimates that every third bite in our diet is dependent on bee pollination.

So while I still believe that the devil bugs are up to some evil plot – either hiding somewhere drinking Kool-Aid under the influence of a Jonestown suicide cult, or gathering somewhere preparing for a final assault on humanity – the reality is we need to find out what is messing with the bees, even if it means shutting off our cell phones, or changing the way we treat them.

Our food depends on it. And, perhaps, so do we.

ZOË WILLIAMS williamz@mscd.edu

Liberation now This is it: my last hurrah.

After filling this column space for three years, this is the most difficult column I have had to write. With little effort, I can think of dozens of disasters worth opining over.

Bloodbaths prevail in Iraq, Palestine, Somalia, Darfur and Afghanistan. U.S. officials are knee-deep in corruption. Immigrants face growing injustice from the government. Scientists estimate that the oceans will be dead in 40 years.

Cell phones are driving bees to extinction. More than one million children die every year due to a lack of clean drinking water.

The world is a scary place right now. Anyone who tells you otherwise is probably trying to get you to invest.

Movements to deconstruct this paradigm are nascent at best. We donate money, volunteer, write letters, sign petitions and vote, all in hope of bringing about the slightest change.

Nevertheless, we are too distant from power and too bogged down to manifest even the smallest bit of evolution. Welcome to politics at its best.

Meanwhile, CEOs, politicians, lobbyists and media moguls roll in wealth and power. If you relate to my point, you are probably adjusted to despair. I can’t promise much hope, but I can say there is another option.

Official titles, leadership positions, money and laws only have as much power or legitimacy as we give them. It is a radical idea, and the time for such ideas has come.

We can walk away from the status quo. We depend on the same system that wreaks global havoc to provide our food, medicine, shelter, education and safety.

Angela Davis said radicalism is the idea of “grasping things at the root.” Let’s learn to feed ourselves, take care of our basic health, maintain our homes and defend ourselves. Let’s share our skills of teaching, healing, construction or farming in exchange for our other necessities. This isn’t Communism or hippie jive, but a way of life that does not involve mass suffering.

It is inevitable. By the consequences of our actions or by natural causes, our world is going to change drastically. The planet is suffering and its people are getting restless. Mass consumption and global domination cannot carry on forever. As much as I wish there was an easy way out, anyone wishing to change this paradigm better prepare for a fight. My wish for the future is that I will see you there, dear reader. Onward to liberation.

THE METROPOLITAN • 5.3.07

INSIGHT • 21

Adam Goldstein • goldstea@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 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 monthly 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.

Bananas for a better world Take that Sam’s Club card out of your wallet and torch it.

The Denver Cooperative Market, a memberowned grocery store specializing in vegetarian fair-trade, locally grown and organic foods, is under development. Before it can open its doors, or find them for that matter, the co-op needs a few people to put their money, well, where their mouths are.

Pending an adequate pile of investing members, the co-op will lease a space to set up shop in central Denver, where it will peddle everything from fair-trade bananas to organic vegan lip balm. It will be owned by its patrons; customers would pay $35 per year in membership fees, entitling them to discounts and voting rights denied to nonmember shoppers. Members could voluntarily serve on the market’s board of directors, if elected, said Denver Cooperative Market chairman David Blessing.

“It gives a sense of freedom and it gives a sense of stability” when communities have a grocery cooperative, Blessing said. “Until people take a handle on their own economy ... we will always be at the mercy of profiteering.”

The co-op needs $150,000, or about 2,000 members, to get started in a desired retail space, and so far it has amassed about $3,000 toward the cause, Blessing said. If it can’t raise the money, it could take business into volunteers’ basements, where customers could spelunk for spinach, or garages, where kumquats could be piled high in El Caminos.

“We’re looking for a central location in a neighborhood that would be supportive of a co-op,” Blessing said. Raising funds to get the store going could take less than a year, but it can be difficult to gauge an expected opening date, Blessing said. Many people are hes-

EMILE HALLEZ ehallez@mscd.edu itant to invest in the co-op and wait for it to come to fruition while it slowly builds a financial base.

Membership dues aside, consumers could end up saving some serious dough. Because cooperatives use networks of local growers, they can get fair prices on goods.

Agricultural products such as bananas, coffee and chocolate have long been traded in deals that give growers in Third World countries the

etary costs would be far less than the social, health, environmental and animal-welfare expenses of supporting behemoth discount warehouses.

“All goods have an inherent minimal cost: either the consumer pays the reasonable price, or the laborers pay through substandard compensation,” states a pamphlet the co-op has been circulating.

Buying locally grown produce ensures farmers are well compensated. Further, the produce doesn’t have to travel very far and arrives on shelves fresher and crisper. Less air pollution results from the decreased shipping. And because the co-op won’t be carrying meat, it could further decrease carbon emissions; the greenhouse gases produced by the animal industry are roughly equal to that of transportation in the U.S. I have yet to meet someone who vocally negates the value of human rights. Since companies like Wal-Mart aren’t ready to declare bankruptcy, though, it appears that what’s out of sight is out of mind for consumers. By becoming members of a cooperative, people are more involved in what they eat and how it gets to their plates. They can actually take control of how much they pay for groceries, how well growers are compensated and what products their store carries.

Though the co-op doesn’t plan to be strictly vegan, it will reek less of death than your average grocery store or hip organic market. If you demand better apples, better qualities of life for the people that grow your food or are just sick of your skin melting in the fluorescent lighting of King Soopers, step in line so we can get this co-op going. It’s about time, Denver.

To learn more about the Denver Cooperative Market, take a trip to denvercoop.com.

“Customers could spelunk for spinach ... kumquats could be piled high in El Caminos.” shaft. More companies are beginning to offer fair trade and organic produce, though these products are often more expensive and sparse in selection.

But shopping conscientiously usually costs more than picking through pesticide-ridden tomatoes among the screaming spawn of soccer moms at the local bargain barn. Any extra mon-

THE METROPOLITAN • PAGE 23 • ERIC LANSING • LANSING@MSCD.EDU

Sport

DID YOU KNOW...

Metro’s baseball team heads into the final weekend of the regular season and has to face off against the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference’s top team, the Mavericks of Mesa State. They will play a four-game series May 4 to 6 at Auraria Field. The Roadrunners have lost 19 straight games to Mesa State dating back to 2004. The Mavericks own a 31-5 record in the RMAC this season, while ranking No. 15 nationally.

Metro hits roadblock on way to playoffs Roadrunners swept

by Cowboys, clinch RMAC playoff spot

By Josh Speranza speranza@mscd.edu Metro’s baseball team tripped over a major stumbling block on their way to the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference playoffs.

The block was in the shape of the New Mexico Highlands Cowboys, as the Roadrunners lost all four of their games with the Cowboys April 27 to 29, extending their losing streak to five games heading into the regular season-ending series with the conference’s top-seeded Mesa State.

Bus lag may have been an issue, as the series was played in Las Vegas, N.M., with game one taking place April 27. The ’Runners were hammered 21-1.

Metro’s relievers were hit especially hard, with four pitchers giving up a combined 14 runs in four innings of work. The Cowboys put up 10 of those runs in the fifth inning. The lone bright spot for Metro belonged to designated hitter Tyler Hensen, who hit his first collegiate home run.

The following day brought new but similar results as the ’Runners dropped game two 1710 and game three 8-5.

Left fielder Jake Palmer provided the majority of offensive fireworks for Metro, going 3-for5 with three RBIs and three walks in the two contests. Center fielder Kyle Bowman also had a productive day, contributing four hits in nine at-bats with three doubles.

Miscues cost Metro in the second game of the doubleheader, when the team committed five errors, three by catcher Reece Gorman. Down 8-1 heading into the final inning, Metro rallied to score four runs, but fell short when Bowman grounded out with men on second and third base.

“It is something that has plagued us all year,” said Metro head coach Bobby Pierce about his team’s sloppy play. “It’s very frustrating. We’re right in there and then a miscue, an error, a bad pitch, a bad call and we’re chasing.”

The final day of the road trip brought the toughest loss to swallow of the weekend.

Starting pitcher Mike Bilek gave up three runs in the eighth inning and reliever Tony Weber gave up two more in the ninth as Metro fell 15-14.

Although the pitching has fallen back into its early-season problems, the Roadrunners’ bats came to life with the top five hitters in the lineup managing at least two hits each. Third

baseman Brent Bowers went 5-for-6, while first baseman Josh Marner and Gorman each hit home runs.

Palmer and Gorman continued their assault on RMAC pitching throughout the weekend series, combining to go 7-for-14 with Gorman contributing six RBIs and Palmer knocking in four.

“They haven’t missed a barrel in 30 or 40 at-bats,” Pierce said. “Players like that make everyone around them better.”

The losses left the ’Runners (14-30 overall, 12-21 RMAC) tied with Regis for the final two seeds in the RMAC tournament. Regis currently holds the tiebreaker over Metro due to the Rangers’ 3-1 record in their season series.

Metro clinched a spot in the tournament thanks to losses by Colorado Mines and Colorado Christian over the weekend. Pierce focused on the positive that came out of the weekend after the four-game sweep.

“We took care of business when we had to,” Pierce said. “The offense is playing its best baseball of the year with a big series coming up.”

Building momentum heading into the tournament will be important, as the Roadrunners may be facing Mesa State in the first game.

They will be attempting to clinch Metro’s first-ever appearance in the regional tournament.

Pierce likes his team’s chances.

“The first two games are all about pitching, and Braden Ham can beat anyone in the conference,” Pierce said. “After that, everyone is out of pitching and it comes down to who can score the most.”

With Palmer and Gorman taking the reins, he may be on to something.

Metro will get a taste of their possible first-round playoff opponent when they face off against the Mavericks of Mesa State May 4 to 6 at Auraria Field.

SCHEDULE Baseball

Mesa State 3 p.m., May 4 Auraria Field

Mesa State

11 a.m., May 5 Auraria Field

Mesa State 3 p.m., May 5 Auraria Field

Mesa State Noon, May 6 Auraria Field

Photo by Jeremy Billis • jbillis@mscd.edu

Metro starting pitcher Josh Eckert prepares to deliver his pitch April 21 at Regis Memorial Field.

April 28 at Brandt Field, Game two

R H E

Metro 000 0 0 0 010 1 8 0 NM Highlands 0 3 2 2 (10) 2 0 2 X 21 19 0

Metro 001 000 4 NM Highlands 2 0 5 0 1 0 X

5 12 5 8 4 0

Metro: RBI – Hensen (2) NM Highlands: RBI – Hernandez 7 (57), Siegrist 3 (14), Martinez 3 (26), Dees 2 (16), Porchas 2 (57), Gerhart 2 (41), Mayorga (53), Sanchez (36)

Metro: 2B – Bowman 2 (13), Frikken (3), Edwards (5); RBI – Gorman (44), Bowers (26), Marner (29), Edwards (10) NM Highlands: 2B – Porchas (12); RBI – Martinez 2 (29), Hernandez 2 (59), Mayorga (57)

April 28 at Brandt Field, Game one

April 29 at Brandt Field

April 27 at Brandt Field

Metro 140 102 2 NM Highlands 2 4 1 1 3 6 X

R H E

R H E 1011 3 17 15 0

Metro: 2B – Bowman (11), Palmer (19); RBI – Palmer 3 (48), Sbresny 2 (10), Christensen 2 (24), two tied w/ one NM Highlands: 2B – Dees (8), Prado (18); RBI – Prado 7 (49), Mayorga 3 (54), Gerhart 3 (44), four tied w/ one

R H E

Metro 0 0 5 0 0 4 4 1 0 14 20 2 NM Highlands 5 0 2 0 3 0 0 3 2 15 16 1 Metro: 2B – Bowman (15), Christensen (5); RBI – Gorman 4 (48), Christensen 3 (27), Marner 3 (32), four tied w/one NM Highlands: 2B – Mayorga (21), Hernandez (17), Martinez (12); RBI – Siqueiros 4 (55), three tied w/ two

24 • SPORT

5.3.07 • THE METROPOLITAN

Greatest fight of our generation JOE NGUYEN nguyejos@mscd.edu There hasn’t been this much buzz surrounding a boxing match since a swarm of bees invaded the MGM Grand back in 2002.

OK, so that never happened, but the longawaited bout between Oscar De La Hoya and Floyd Mayweather Jr. almost didn’t either. When these two superstars meet in the ring May 5, it’ll be a battle between the sport’s two biggest stars.

The 34-year-old De La Hoya is the definition of an athletic icon. In 1992, the Golden Boy took home the lightweight gold medal during the Barcelona Olympics, fulfilling a promise he made to his mother on her deathbed. Over the course of the next 15 years, he put on 30 pounds and claimed world titles in six weight classes. He defeated stars such as Pernell Whitaker, Hector Camacho and the legendary Julio César Chávez, thus securing his place in the boxing hall of fame.

If that’s not enough, he turned two of the three men who have beaten him into business partners and released a Grammy-nominated album titled Oscar de la Hoya.

The younger Mayweather, 30, earned the featherweight bronze medal in the 1996 Atlanta

Olympics. Since turning pro, he has won world titles in four different weight classes and has maintained a perfect 37-0 record with 24 knockouts.

Even though he’s considered by many to be the best pound-for-pound fighter in the world, he hasn’t fought many big-name opponents. In fact, it seems like he outright avoids them. In November 2005, he moved up to the welterweight division to face Sharmba Mitchell rather than battle fellow undefeated champion Ricky Hatton. The only notable star Pretty Boy Floyd defeated in his prime was Jose Luis Castillo back in 2002.

This match will be Mayweather’s first at the Super Welterweight weight class. He has long been known for his speed, attacking opponents with a barrage of punches while running circles around them. But with the added weight, he will slow down.

The other concern for Mayweather is he has yet to have his chin tested. During his bout against Zab Judah, April 8, 2006, he was visibly shaken in the early rounds before Judah ran out of steam.

For De La Hoya, the biggest concern is age. He is no longer the young combatant who used sheer athleticism to take out his opponents. But if his bout against Ricardo Mayorga on May 5, 2006, is any indication of his form, it shows that experience is on his side.

Both fighters will enter the match in top-notch condition, but the outcome will depend on who is more mentally prepared. Mayweather is talented but brash, and lacks the experience of battling the best. De La Hoya has been there and done that.

Plus it takes place on Cinco de Mayo. The odds are stacked against Pretty Boy Floyd.

De La Hoya via KO in 9.

Oscar

Floyd

De La Hoya vs. Mayweather 38-4, 30 KOs 34 5’11” 154 lb 72” 15 1/2” 39” 42 1/2” 13 3/4” 12” 7” 9” 31 3/4” 21” 13 1/2” 7 1/2”

RECORD AGE HEIGHT WEIGHT REACH NECK CHEST (NORMAL) (EXPANDED) BICEP FOREARM WRIST FIST WAIST THIGH CALF ANKLE

37-0, 24 KOs 30 5’8 3/4” 154 lb 72” 16 1/2” 38 1/2” 39 1/2” 12 1/2” 11” 7” 8” 31” 22” 15” 9 1/2”

Metro student has goal in sight to bring fourth soccer team to campus Louis Contreras hopes to have co-ed squad completed by summer

By Eric Lansing lansing@mscd.edu Soccer is known as the world’s sport, spanning the globe from Africa, to Europe, to Asia, to South America, all the way to our own backyards in the U.S. Auraria already has a two-time Division II Championship women’s soccer team, an always competitive men’s team and a women’s soccer club team.

Now another soccer team is in the works at Auraria as Louie Contreras, a Metro student, is attempting to form a co-ed club soccer team.

Contreras said there is a great demand for an additional team to be formed that expands to every school on campus, not just for Metro students.

“A lot of students were coming up to me and requesting if there is a professional team on campus that is a tri-institutional team,” said Contreras, who works at the campus Recreational Center.

Many students who wanted to play soccer were either of foreign descent and couldn’t fulfill the commitment to the other soccer teams, or were students from CCD or UCDHSC who couldn’t join the other soccer teams because they were not Metro students, Contreras explained.

“So I just decided to make a soccer club that

Photo by William Blackburn • wbblackb2@mscd.edu

Hamaza Ouzzi, a CCD student, juggles a soccer ball while recuiting new players May 1. would benefit that means,” he said. “And also not just for them, but pretty much all students who are at a beginner level, who are interested in soccer to possibly (reach) an advanced level.”

Contreras has been working on this project since the beginning of the semester and said he has hopes of having this year-round club sport on the field by this summer.

“Right now, I’m working on the scholarships,” Contreras said. “I’ve got the constitution and everything we need done for the paperwork. It’s just a matter of meeting with Peter Julian, who is the

director of club sports, and getting it approved.”

Julian said it is a good idea to get this kind of soccer team built, so those who don’t qualify for the other teams, or who aren’t Metro students, can still enjoy the game.

And although there is a ton of work and obstacles to get a club sport developed, Julian said it is very feasible that Contreras can get it done and teach valuable lessons to those students who get involved.

“We want students to take ownership of it,” Julian said about the development of club sports.

“It will help build organizational skills.”

The club will not only benefit those who want to play soccer, but also those students who want to try their hand at coaching or refereeing.

If a student has a license to referee or is going to school in hopes of becoming a coach for a sport team, then the club could help him or her develop those skills. The Colorado Rush, which is a nonprofit soccer club, has offered to provide coaches to teach and help out the new soccer team, according to Contreras.

“So as long as they have licenses, it’s another way of building better résumés,” Contreras said. “It’s also building a career for not only the coaches at (Colorado) Rush, students or anybody else, but we are also hiring referees for that matter, too. They can get their certification and not only to teach them how to be coaches, but can also become certified refs.”

The cost to participate in the league is $10 a semester for Auraria students, and $20 for nonstudents. Contreras said he has about 60 people already interested in the league, with a majority of those participants considered advanced-level players.

“These players are unable to get on (the varsity teams), and they usually travel to outside sources to play,” Contreras said. “They’re still really good players and are definitely interested in playing and keeping their skills up and just enjoying the fun game.

“That is the benefit of this club, is to teach anyone to get experienced with soccer, to actually practice and possibly get a chance to play on a championship team,” Contreras added.

THE METROPOLITAN • 5.3.07

SPORT • 25

Hockey team needs players, fans, support Roadrunners market squad at Spring Fling to boost interest

By Eric Lansing lansing@mscd.edu Metro’s club hockey team hosted a booth at the annual Spring Fling April 26 in a campaign for new talent and to garner support from fellow students on Auraria.

“We are just trying to promote the team,” said senior Sean Leaman, a forward on the Roadrunners’ hockey team. “We are seeing if we can get a bigger fan base, as most students don’t even know we have a team. We are also trying to recruit some players.”

Metro’s other sports, such as basketball, baseball, and soccer, seem to have an overabundance of players trying to make their respective teams, but the students’ interest in hockey is mediocre at best, according to Leaman.

“We had a really small turnout for tryouts (last season),” Leaman said. “We had a pretty short bench as we lost players to injuries and to eligibility.”

Hockey requires a significant amount of players coming off the bench, as it is a physically challenging sport. Players constantly skate up and down the ice and punish their bodies with hip checks and flying pucks.

In hockey, players are out on the ice for 35-40 seconds before a substitution is made to give those players some rest, and not having

Photo by Nicholas Duckworth • nduckwor@mscd.edu

new ice rink has been built near C-470 and Broadway Avenue in Littleton called the Ice Ranch. Leaman said they spoke to some of the officials of the new rink and got there early enough to reserve time and space for the 2007-08 season. This means that they may have a permanent home – instead of driving to different locations every week – and decent start times so family members and fans won’t have to stay awake as late to see the outcome.

There is also an added bonus for attending Metro hockey games.

“They are going to have a bar above the rink,” Leaman said. “They’ll have drink specials which will hopefully help us promote the games a little bit.”

The hockey team is also holding a golf tournament on June 30 at the Hyland Hills Golf Course in Arvada. It is a way for the hockey team to raise money for uniforms, ice time, referee fees and travel expenses for the upcoming season.

The cost to compete in the first Metro

From left, Jared Stoke, Sean Leaman and Turner Bahn represent the Metro hockey team at Metro’s annual State Hockey Golf Tournament is $110 per Spring Fling April 26 at Auraria to help gain support for their coming season. individual. The price includes entry into all a full team on the bench can be exhausting to the players.

Although the Roadrunners were close to playing entire games without substitutions, next year may finally bring a full team to the ice.

“We ended the season with about seven forwards and about four defensemen,” Leaman said. “But we have more returning players this year than we have had in any other year.”

If playing against schools such as the University of Denver and the University of Colorado

weren’t challenging enough, getting fans to come to the games is a task in itself.

“We’re just trying to get people out there to see us play, to support us, and to yell and cheer for us.”

Metro doesn’t have an ice rink on campus, so the team plays wherever they can. Time is also a concern as most of the games don’t start until later into the evening, usually around 10 p.m., and hockey games last between two and three hours.

But next year may be different, as a

events, as well as 18 holes of golf, a riding cart and range balls. There will be a lunch provided by CD’s Wings, drink specials, various awards and contests.

The hockey team is also looking into sponsors for the event and may possibly auction off items such as autographed Avalanche jerseys.

With the booth, the golf tournament and the new recruits, the Roadrunners look to turn around a dismal 2006-07 season and develop into a top Metro sport that will have fans raving about hockey on campus.

Briefs Track team will compete in its first RMAC Championship Metro’s track team will head to Alamosa for the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference Championships May 6 to 8 at Rex Stadium.

The Roadrunners, who are in their first season of track competition, will have many participants competing in their first conference championship.

Sheila Hughes leads the way for Metro running in the women’s 100-, 200- and 400-meter dash. Marjaneh Gross will follow Hughes in the women’s 100 and 200. Also competing in the 200-meter dash is Elizabeth Michael-Trumbull and Laura Michael-Trumbull, along with Hughes and Gross.

Women’s basketball player Ashley Mickens will run in the 400 along with Hughes and Therese Panian. Matt Lobato, Stuart Kemmer

and Michael Atteridg will compete in the men’s 100- and 200-meter dash for the Roadrunners.

Gabe Luna, who is known for his long-distance events, will compete in the 400-meter dash and is the lone Metro runner in that event.

The ’Runners have a number of participants in the women’s 800, including Alana Pawloski, Deserae Gleason, Jessica Jenkins, Veronica Albo, Mickens, Panian and women’s basketball player Stephanie Sauter.

Gabe Luna, who has one of the best times in the conference in the men’s 800-meter run, will be one of the favorites in the event, and his teammates include brother Anthony Luna, Greg Zadina, Todd Tolentino, Roscoe Smith and Louis Martinez.

Photo by Jeremy Billis • jbillis@mscd.edu

Metro’s cross country/track team competing in the CU Shootout Sept. 30 in Boulder. The Roadrunners will run in the school’s first Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference Championships May 6 to 8 in Alamosa.

Men’s tennis team heads to NCAA Championships; athletes named to academic team The Roadrunners men’s tennis team will face off against Nebraska-Kearney for the third time this season on May 3 in the first round of the NCAA championship tournament at Washburn University in Topeka, Kan. The Roadrunners defeated the Lopers 52 in the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference championship April 21 in Pueblo, which ended Kearney’s streak of three consecutive conference championships.

Metro’s win also gave Kearney their first

conference loss in almost three years dating back to 2004.

During the regular season, Metro lost to the Lopers 5-4 on April 4 in Kearney, Neb. If the ’Runners go on to defeat the Lopers in the first round of the NCAA tournament, they will face the winner of the Washburn and Emporia State matchup on May 4 in Topeka.

The final four games of the NCAA tournament will be held May 9 to 12 in Altamonte Springs, Fla.

The women’s team finished the regular season with a 2-22 record, and after a 8-1 loss to Mesa State in the first round of the RMAC Tournament, they did not qualify for the NCAA Tournament.

Metro’s Drew Machholz, Mark Milner and Mitra Hirad were named to the RMAC All-Academic tennis team April 26.

It is the second time Machholz and Milner have won the award and the first for Hirad.

There were 20 total winners – 10 men and 10

women – from the conference.

In order to be named to the All-Academic team, a student must have at least a 3.2 grade point average, must be a starter or a key reserve, and must have completed two consecutive semesters or three quarters at the institution.

Milner carries a 3.5 GPA, Hirad a 3.42 GPA and Machholz a 3.31. All are majoring in human performance and sport.