Volume 29, Issue 32, May 24, 2007

THE

METROPOLITAN 5.24.07 • Vol. 29 No. 32 • http://www.mscd.edu/~themet • Serving the Auraria Campus since 1979

Future plan finds focus

Board looks to new and old for reinvention of Auraria PAGE 4 1,380 Roadrunners cross finish line

Photo by Jason Small • jsmall4@mscd.edu

Students celebrate at the Spring 2007 graduation ceremony on May 13 at the Denver Convention Center. Gov. Bill Ritter was the keynote speaker at the largest, and most diverse, commencement in Metro’s history. He said he was proud of the students’ “grit” and perseverance through their years at the downtown campus. PAGE 3

SPORT

AUDIO FILES

PAGE 17

PAGE 13

Metro teams named Outdoor concerts best in conference a staple of summer

METROSPECTIVE

Trans fat transportation PAGE 10

THE METROPOLITAN • PAGE 3 • ANDREW FLOHR-SPENCE • SPENCAND@MSCD.EDU

MetNews

Spring ‘07 biggest, most diverse

By Andrew Flohr-Spence spencand@mscd.edu A record-breaking 1,380 Metro students received their degree at the 2007 Spring Commencement, held May 13 at the Colorado Convention Center.

The spring graduating class was not only the largest ever, it was also the most diverse in Metro’s history, with an estimated 19 percent being minority students.

Metro President Stephen Jordan praised the class for its hard work and congratulated them on their achievements. He also praised the families for their role in supporting the students.

“Not only is this moment an occasion for you (graduates),” Jordan said, “today we also honor the parents, spouses, grandparents, children and relatives.”

“It is with great pleasure that I join with all of you to celebrate the accomplishments of today’s graduates,” Jordan added.

Following Jordan’s speech, the President’s Award was given to Susan Osorio. The President’s Award is the college’s highest honor given to a graduating senior. To be eligible, a student must have at least a 3.75 GPA, superior academic achievements, outstanding service in a department program, and two letters of recommendation.

Osorio took time to honor both of her families. Osorio, a newly naturalized American citizen, thanked not only her parents, but also her host parents.

“They (the host parents) were the first ones to introduce me to this great country,” Osorio said, “and today they continue to be not only my parents, but grandparents to my children.”

A 46-year-old mother of two teenagers, Osorio worked as a medical translator while earning her degree in Spanish with a minor in education, graduating with a 3.85 GPA. Osorio also organizes humanitarian and medical missions to her native country Ecuador and volunteers for the Lions Club of Denver.

Osorio, who left Ecuador with her family only six years ago “with a suitcase full of dreams,” said she considered herself blessed and a winner.

“I am blessed because God has given me this chance,” she said. “I am a winner because I won the lottery … the visa lottery.”

Newly elected Governor Bill Ritter delivered the keynote address, commending the tenacity of students like Osorio and calling on the graduates to use their leadership to help others.

Photo by Ryan C. Deuschle • rdeusch1@mscd.edu

Gov. Bill Ritter speaks at the Metro commencement ceremonies held at the Colorado Convention Center. Metro President Stephen Jordan and Student Body President Aaron Wylie sit to the right.

Ritter said he understood from his own experience the challenges many students face when having to pay their way through school.

“I was from a family of 12 kids and in my family neither of my parents had gone to college – it just wasn’t part of our culture,” he said. “We had to figure out how to pay for it ourselves.”

The governor advised the graduates to be courageous and risk-taking, while reminding them to remain humble and not to forget where they came from.

“Whatever you do, do it passionately,” he said.

Ritter said Metro’s class was the second largest graduating class in Colorado, and not only ranked as the most diverse class in the state, but also possessed the largest age spread.

“You have someone 20 and someone 65,” Ritter said, “and I don’t know who I am more in awe of.”

“You should really be proud,” he said. “It shows such grit and such determination to do something so important.”

Riding the flying coaster

CORRECTIONS: MAY 3 • In the “Provost” story, Professor John Schmidt was incorrectly identified. He is a professsor of industrial design.

• In the “Crisis Response” story, the statement “I think this is an internal workgroup, and I’m really uncomfortable when we’re having these kinds of conversations with the press here,” was said by Teresa Berryman, UCDHSC

Photo by Geof Wollerman • gwollerm@mscd.edu

Thrill-seekers enjoy a day at Elitch Gardens. After Memorial Day, the park will be open everyday until Labor Day. In March, Six Flags sold their Denver property to CNL Income Properties, Inc. for $312 million.

4 • NEWS

5.24.07 • THE METROPOLITAN

Courtesy of SASAKI Associates, Inc.

A watercolor rendering of Auraria’s future development. The campus’ new master plan would incorporate public-private partnerships that would bring more opportunities for dining and shopping to students.

Campus vision unveiled, embraced

By Geof Wollerman gwollerm@mscd.edu Eight months ago the Auraria Board of Directors was looking for a plan. At its May 16 meeting it witnessed a vision.

Using computer-generated three-dimensional models and artistic renderings, planners described to the board a future campus that was “vibrant,” “urban,” pedestrian-friendly and better integrated with downtown Denver. Much of the plan – which is the result of collaboration between planners and the governing boards of the campus’ three schools – seemed to hinge

on the creation of “gateways” to institutional “neighborhoods” that would allow each school to maintain its own distinct identity.

The plan embraces the “notion of new and old” and is a reflection of “a whole different attitude to the campus’ relationship to the city,” said Janne Corneil, a principle planner with Sasaki Associates’ Inc., a Massachusetts-based planning firm that is working in conjunction with Denver-based StudioINSITE to develop the master plan, which imagines space for dozens of new buildings, new athletic fields and a density of development more than double what the campus now has.

Auraria has approximately 2.3 million gross square feet of academic space, and the master plan would create an additional 2.8 million gross square feet of academic space and 1.7 million gross square feet of “support” space, such as shopping and dining amenities.

Central to the plan’s eventual completion is utilizing so-called “public/private” partnerships that would create revenue that could be used to help fund the master plan. As the plan stands, the northeast corner of campus, now home to the sporting fields, would be rezoned to accommodate private development. According to planners and board members, the most contentious aspect

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of this rezoning is increasing the density of development that can be built on the land – allowing buildings to be five stories instead of two.

“I think that this is a very exciting reinvention of Auraria campus,” said Michael Carrigan, a University of Colorado regent who serves on the Auraria board. He lamented, however, the loss of open space that the proposed private development would create.

Auraria is an urban campus and it will probably never have the wide-open spaces that CUBoulder enjoys, Carrigan said, but it does have

See VISION Page 5

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THE METROPOLITAN • 5.24.07

NEWS • 5

Cost of parking sees imminent increase

By Kate Johnson jokathry@mscd.edu Auraria has a new plan to increase parking fees in hopes of gaining reserve revenue for maintenance and campus improvements.

The Auraria Higher Education Center (AHEC) will implement a 25-cent increase to a sizeable amount of parking lots on campus starting July 1.

Mark Gallegher, director of parking and transportation services said lot C, lower H, the parking structure (PTC), lot D and lot R will go up 25 cents.

Lots G, I, L and M will also increase by 25 cents, and lot E will increase by 50 cents.

“We’re not raising any of the lowest price lots on campus,” Gallagher said.

These include the lots West of 5th Street – W, A and B. He added that the lots that max out at $5 would not go up.

“It’s been several years since prices have increased,” he said. “We’ll continue to provide parking that’s well below the downtown rates,” Auraria’s most expensive lot is H Upper, which costs $5 for all-day parking. In comparison, the Downtown Denver Partnership’s 2006 parking summary states that the average cost for downtown parking is $7.48.

“I think that Metro’s a cheaper college to go to, so a quarter a day is really not going to do a lot,” said Frank Benanti, a junior accounting major at Metro.

He also said that fee increases are to be expected.

“I think a quarter a day is not that big of a deal,” Benanti added.

Auraria is raising its parking prices beginning July 1. Affected lots will increase by at least 25 cents.

Not everyone agrees.

“I think it’s ridiculous,” said Barbara Berg who parks in lot G. Berg, who visits campus frequently, attends the Colorado Community College nursing school.

She said she resents the idea of increased parking fees falling on the shoulders of people who don’t go to school on Auraria campus.

“If that’s the case, they should probably put it into an increase in tuition,” Berg said. “It’s not the responsibility of people who park here to pay for that.”

The Auraria Board of Directors, which in-

cludes each of the three campus college’s presidents, made the decision to increase parking rates due to a depletion in Auraria’s reserve funds.

Reserve money is used to fund maintenance and repairs to the parking lots. In addition, the money is used to upgrade existing classrooms and help build new ones.

Sandra Sales, chief financial officer for AHEC, said that funds in 2002 reached $17 million and have since shrunk to $13 million in 2006.

“We’re just barely being able to keep our reserves where they’re at,” Sales said.

Sales added that even with an increase in

parking costs, the reserve would not necessarily increase.

“We’re not getting that money from the state appropriations anymore, so there’s a budget crisis,” Sales said.

The state legislature doesn’t fully fund the schools, and according to Gallagher, AHEC receives no tax money and no part of student tuition fees.

“We’re self-funded,” Gallagher said.

Auraria has seen a decline in the number of people parking on campus – a decrease Gallagher attributes to the expanded light-rail line and increasing gas prices.

While that decline has affected the amount of reserve money AHEC has to work with, he said the board’s decision to raise parking rates doesn’t mean the number of students parking will continue to drop.

“We’re working under the assumption that the people who are driving to school now have to drive to school,” Gallagher said.

The future of parking at Auraria remains largely unknown, but Sales said the administration is working on ways to bring in more funding. One idea includes increased advertising for event parking.

“We’re thinking about putting up signs or a marquee…that says ‘open to the public,’” she said in reference to people seeking parking spots for Pepsi Center events.

In addition, legislators and school officials will meet for a summit June 8 and 9 in Colorado Springs to discuss ways to fund higher education.

Possible funding may include everything from a portion of lottery profits to mineral drilling.

“The last thing we want to do is raise tuition,” Sales said.

VISION • Key is keeping momentum going Continued from 4 location and the advantage of being part of a transportation hub between light rail and the interstate. This means building at a certain density, which the master plan must necessarily reflect, Carrigan said.

“Yes, it’s futuristic. But that’s what master plans are intended to do – give you a road map of where to go over the next 20 years,” he said.

Overall, Carrigan described the master plan as ambitious.

“I think it is an exciting prospect, I just hope we find a way to pay for it,” he said.

Based on current per-square-foot building costs, the total cost of the master plan project could be upwards of $350 million – far more than what the campus expects to bring in from public/private partnerships, according to Dean Wolf, executive vice president for administration for the Auraria Higher Education Center.

Omar Blaik, president of U3 Ventures, a company that is working with Auraria on ways to maximize its land value for development, estimated Auraria’s potential land revenue from any public/private partnerships at anywhere between $10 million and $15 million. He encouraged Auraria to pursue an incremental plan in selling off its land, which would allow the campus to control the direction of development and may also increase the land’s potential value. Depending on how much interest is shown in the campus as development continues, land values may rise and bring in significantly more money

“There may be tweaks we have to do, there may be issues we have to do, but I think conceptually we are all embracing this vision.”

– MARIA GARCIA BERRY than initially planned for, Blaik said.

Funding for the rest of the master plan’s costs will have to come from the state, private grants or some of the innovative public/private partnerships that have been discussed recently, such as Metro’s plan to develop a hotel on campus, Wolf said.

Metro representative to the Auraria Board Maria Garcia Berry described the master plan as “the right vision,” and said that she was excited about what the board was “embarking on.”

“There may be tweaks we have to do, there may be issues we have to do, but I think conceptually we are all embracing this vision,” said Berry, who also recognized the scope and complexity of the project and called for a “very clear plan and a very clear timeline” in order to keep momentum going. Both the city and Downtown Denver Partnership are supporting AHEC with the master plan, but there is still a lot of work to be done with the state legislature and the Colorado Commission on Higher Education, Berry

Courtesy of Studio INSITE

A computer-generated, three-dimensional model of Auraria’s new master plan. Auraria wants to integrate itself with downtown and take advantage of pedestrian avenues that would bridge Speer Boulevard. said, adding that the main imperative behind developing the master plan is to accommodate the campus’ shortage of academic space – a problem evidenced by AHEC’s recent proposal to place temporary academic trailers on campus

starting this fall.

“We’re the most highly utilized campus in the state,” Berry said, regarding the need to develop more academic space. “Given our continuing growth on campus, the time is now.”

6 • NEWS

5.24.07 • THE METROPOLITAN

For ‘08 convention, homeless get the roundup

By Amy Woodward awoodwa5@mscd.edu

Denver’s Commission to End Homelessness is discussing plans to house the homeless during the 2008 Democratic National Convention because of proposed “security zones” that will temporarily restrict the activities of Denver citizens.

The commission is working closely with DNC officials to get a better idea of where the security zones will be located because they may overlap with common homeless hangouts.

In an effort to prevent arrests during the convention, the city will open up several emer-

gency shelters for the homeless. A street outreach program already in place under the commission will continue to be active from now until the convention, working to bring the homeless into shelters and educate them about programs and job opportunities, according to Deborah Ortega, executive director of the Commission to End Homelessness.

“We will continue our efforts with implementing our 10-year-plan, which includes utilizing street outreach workers to help get people connected to job training, shelter services and jobs,” Ortega said.

The plan is not an effort to clean up the streets and glorify the city while infringing on the civil rights of the homeless, Ortega said,

adding that the city just wants to give the homeless a place to go.

“It’s no different than what we do now,” she said. “It’s a part of our ongoing effort to connect people to the resources that they need.”

According to Ortega, the area surrounding the Pepsi Center, which will include a section of the South Platte River, is the first area where a security zone will be set up. But the city does not yet have all the details about what the boundaries are going to be, she said.

As of press time, organizers for the DNC were unavailable for comment.

Doug Wayland, director of education and advocacy for the Colorado Coalition for the Homeless, said the coalition hopes that enforcement

of the prohibited areas around the security zones will not become a forcible act.

“Our concern is if the security was just another way of trying to sweep streets and hide (the homeless), then you are denying them their civil rights to go outside,” Wayland said.

The safety of the homeless will be a “legitimate concern” for the coalition, and it plans to monitor the city’s activities to ensure the homeless will be treated with respect, Wayland said, adding that the last thing the coalition wants to see is the Democratic convention come to Denver and not respect the homeless population.

“They are people, they are human beings and we should treat all citizens with respect,” Wayland said.

NEWS IN BRIEF Squirrel got the plague?

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A capuchin monkey at the Denver Zoo died of the bubonic plague after zoo veterinarians suspect it ate the carcass of an infected squirrel, the Associated Press reported May 22.

At least a dozen squirrels and one rabbit have been found dead and infected with the plague around City Park and the surrounding areas.

Although the plague is common in Colorado during the spring and summer seasons, it is unusual for the plague to occur outside rural parts of the state.

“We see it every year in wild rodents,” said state health department epidemiologist John Pape. “But it’s uncommon circulating in tree squirrels in urban neighborhoods, including metro Denver.”

To prevent an epidemic, zoo officials have isolated the primates and treated them with antibiotics.

So far, the rest of the 17 capuchins and the zoo’s other wildlife have not shown signs of infection.

Shipwrecks ahoy Treasure hunters trolling the ocean have struck gold – and silver.

According to a May 18 Associated French Press story, the Odyssey Marine Exploration has uncovered a sunken ship containing more than 500,000 silver coins – 17 tons in all – as well as hundreds of gold coins, worked gold and other artifacts.

“The remarkable condition of most of the first 6,000 silver coins conserved has been a pleasant surprise, and the gold coins are almost all dazzling mint state specimens,” said Greg Stemm, Odyssey Marine Exploration’s chief executive officer.

The estimated value of the silver coins range from a few hundred dollars to $4,000 each.

“It is believed that this recovery constitutes the largest collection of coins ever excavated from a historical shipwreck site,” a company statement said.

This won’t be the first time the Floridabased company found bountiful amounts of booty. The Odyssey amassed 65,000 artifacts and more than 50,000 coins with a retail value exceeding $75 million from the sunken ship, the SS Republic.

But a big find such as this is only one stop on this odyssey. The company is currently searching for an 80-gun warship that sank in the Mediterranean Sea in 1964.

THE METROPOLITAN • 5.24.07

NEWS • 7

Math literacy parallels civil rights

Author promotes justice through education, “Radical Equations”

By Andrew Flohr-Spence spencand@mscd.edu

Bob Moses wants an amendment to the U.S. constitution that would guarantee the right of every child to a quality high school education.

Moses, who is the founder of The Algebra Project and the author of “Radical Equations,” a book that equates math literacy and social justice, lectured May 18 at a Metro community luncheon and lecture titled “Why is Algebra a Civil Right?”

Speaking about the growing gap between test scores among American students and what he called America’s caste system affirmed by an education system, Moses asked the audience to comment on the need for a constitutional amendment to make change happen.

“All of us need to talk to each other,” he began. “It is very important that this country has a conversation about the future of its educational system.”

After giving a quick history of the struggle for social equality in American public education and reaffirming the need for educational reform, Moses opened up the microphone to ideas from the audience.

The audience included Metro faculty members, Denver public school teachers and administrators, and several Metro students, all of whom were quick to take advantage of the opportunity to share their views.

“I would like to see such a guarantee included in an equal rights amendment,” said Metro student Karol West. “The problem of racism, the problem of sexism, the problem of class-ism, all are based on a lack of education.”

Robert Atwell, the national president of the Association of Black Psychologists who was present at the lecture, said the issue would require a

Photo by Ryan C. Deuschle • rdeusch1@mscd.edu

Bob Moses, Ph.D., exchanges information with Michael McKee and Sallye McKee in the St. Francis Center atrium. Moses gave a speech at the event titled “Why is Algebra a Civil Right.” In the speech he called for an amendment to the U.S. constitution that would change policies in the current education system. new way of looking at government in America.

“It would require that we reconceptualize the role of government,” he said. “Is the government just there to protect us and provide us with lights, as opposed to providing the mechanisms for the enhancement of the people?”

But such an amendment could infringe on state rights and saddle states with the responsibility of meeting federal regulations without being provided with the necessary funding, warned

Metro groups travel to China, foster educational partnerships

By Andrew Flohr-Spence spencand@mscd.edu Several groups representing Metro are traveling to China this summer, forming educational partnerships with Chinese institutions.

As part of Metro’s recently announced globalization initiative, the four groups will meet with counterparts at several Chinese universities and attend management and trade conferences.

An administrative delegation that includes Metro President Stephen Jordan, Globalization Director Betsy Zeller, and other department chairpersons will visit Kunming and Chengdu, and discuss possibilities of cooperation between Metro and the Chinese institutions.

The areas of cooperation include exchange programs for faculty and students, and the possibility that Metro will be chosen as a location for a Chinese language center. Confucius Institutes, as they are called, are relatively rare, with only 100 or so worldwide.

The second delegation, a group of faculty and students representing Brand Spanking New – the student-run business partnership – will travel to Beijing May 15 to 26. The group hopes to develop partnerships with three universities there.

Assistant professor of marketing Mick Jackowski, who is traveling with the students, told @Metro, “it’s time to train our students for working in a global economy.”

Dianna Shantz and Linda Stroup, associate professors of nursing,will travel to China June 10 to 23 as part of the People to People Ambassador Program. They will attend the International Nursing Education and Leadership Conference, held in Beijing, Guilan and Shanghai.

The last trip planned is Zeller’s visit to the Chinese Ministry of Education in Beijing, where she will learn more about the Confucius Institutes and how Metro will receive ongoing funds if they are chosen to hold an institute.

To find out more, or to read one of the ongoing travel blogs, go to http://www.mscd.edu/ news/china.

Carlos Valverdi of the National Conference of State Legislatures, a group that advocates for the interests of state governments.

“Personally, I would love to see a constitutional amendment, but the NCSL probably would be against it because it’s pre-empting state law,” Valverdi said. “Of course, what I would argue is that it’s only pre-empting state law if it is not federally funded.”

After about an hour of open discussion, Mo-

ses thanked the audience for their participation and urged everyone to continue the conversation with their colleagues, friends and family.

“If we want to continue running an education system which drives the current caste system, if we want to continue filling up our criminal justice system – then we should continue with what we are doing,” Moses said, “ but if we don’t want to do that, then we need to have this conversation.”

Cruisin’ Colfax

Photo by Jason Small • jsmall4@mscd.edu

Participants walk and run on Colfax Avenue in the second annual Post-News Colorado Colfax Marathon on May 20. The marathon began at Aurora Sports Park and ended at Colorado Mills Parkway in Lakewood.

metrospective

Restaurant Review

In the End, it’s all pie in the sky

By Geof Wollerman gwollerm@mscd.edu The great thing about great pizza is that it is simple: crust, sauce, cheese and a few wellplaced toppings.

The great thing about the dough throwers – dare I call them artisans? – at Enzo’s End is that they turn simple into an art form.

“We make only whole, fresh pizzas when you order them,” Enzo’s states in the frequently asked questions section on its website, explaining why single slices are not available.

“We are obsessive about our quality.”

Obsessive is one word. Dedicated is another. But one thing the folks behind the counter are not is bummed about their job.

I started going to Enzo’s, located at 3424 E. Colfax Ave., a little more than a year ago – which is really not enough time to observe any staff turnover – but one gets the distinct

impression after chatting with the employees that they have been there for a while and they are not going anywhere soon. One employee told me he had worked more than 15 years in the restaurant industry doing just about everything there is to do and that Enzo’s was the best place he had ever worked. It was a product, he said, that he could really get behind.

Whether you’re coming in for your usual pie, or you’ve been standing at the counter for 10 minutes debating the crazy combination you’ve been wanting to try but can’t bring yourself to commit to, the staff fully understands – and is more than willing to help.

Garlic chicken? It goes great on top of the Pomodoro (Garlic and olive oil base, parmesan, mozzarella and marinated tomatoes).

Prosciutto? Why not spread some over the Spinaci (Sauteed spinach, calamata olives, romano and mozzarella)?

And if you think that maybe roasted egg-

plant, beef meatballs and pineapple might actually go well together, they’ll tell you, no, that would be a mistake of gargantuan gastronomic proportions.

Another frequently asked question: Do you have thick crust?

To which the response is, no.

“Our dough recipe, thickness and oven temperature are coordinated to produce perfect thin crust pizza,” the website iterates.

And perfect thin crust it is. In fact, the crust is what makes the pie, and risking your first experience with Enzo’s on a delivery run may mean risking the quality of your crust.

Which brings me to the one dark cloud – with a huge silver lining – in the sky of Enzo’s pie: it is without a doubt best enjoyed in house.

As an Enzo’s addict I can admit that I have had at least a half dozen of my favorite pie (Pomodoro, add mushroom) delivered to my apartment – within walking distance of the End

THE METROPOLITAN • PAGE 8 • EMILE HALLEZ • EHALLEZ@MSCD.EDU

– and I have yet to receive anything other than a soggy crust. Perhaps an outside edge or two might survive, but the center never holds.

The silver lining at Enzo’s – aside from the sublime crust – is that it is attached to the P.S. Lounge. For anyone unfamiliar with the Lounge, it is a classic dive bar with a hint of class, home to cash-only cocktails, one of the best jukeboxes on Colfax and regular rounds of complimentary house shots – a fruity, mystery concoction with just enough booze to get you itching for another.

ENZO’S END

3424 E. Colfax Ave., (303) 355-4700

HOURS:

Sun., Mon.: 4:30 p.m. – 11 p.m.

Tues.: Closed Wed., Thurs.: 4:30 p.m. – 11 p.m.

Fri., Sat.: 4:30 p.m. – Midnight

timeout “ THE METROPOLITAN • 5.24.07

METROSPECTIVE • 9

He was definitely selling brimstone religion and would do anything to add another member to his mailing list. But in the end, I knew what he was selling, and he knew what I was selling, and we found a way to communicate.

Cut Corners

Andrew Howerton & Geof Wollerman • ahowert2@mscd.edu, gwollerm@mscd.edu

The Rev. Jerry falwell died last week. I wonder if his followers are upset?

I hope they’re upset enough to take a little faith-based initative and join him.

SUDOKU

1. Supercilious 7. Musical style with similarities to reggae 10. Move off hastily 14. Monetary unit of Saudi Arabia 15. Decorative flap on a garment 16. Pipe 17. Egg yolk 18. Copy 19. French clergyman 20. Act of capitulating 23. Defraud 26. Encountered

27. Tough 28. Cease moving 29. Roman goddess of plenty 30. Exist 31. Hell 33. This is what eyes do 34. Globe 37. Hawaiian food 38. Atmosphere 39. Employ, utilise 40. Paving material 41. Transgression 42. Portable bed 43. Floral ornament

45. Storage container 46. Little drink 47. Vibrating component of a woodwind instrument 48. Barbecue leftovers?

51. Leg 52. Swearword 53. Large overstuffed sofa 56. Pine fruit 57. Very small 58. Checked 62. Tirade 63. Use, consume 64. Literary ridicule

Sudoku puzzle reprinted courtesy of sudoku-puzzles.net.

Crossword reprinted courtesy of bestcrosswords.com.

Solution for puzzle can be found at http://www.bestcrosswords.com (Solution is under May 21 puzzle).

CROSSWORD

ACROSS

”

– LARRY FLYNT, MAY 20

65. Exclamation to express sorrow 66. Pigpen 67. Boring tool

DOWN

1. Bashful 2. Not for a Scot 3. Unwell 4. Hooked 5. Rest on the surface of a liquid 6. Yelp 7. Declares 8. Gone 9. The third man 10. Carved image

11. Ancient linear unit 12. Superior of a monastery 13. Itty-bitty 21. Bring in from a foreign country 22. Concurs 23. Fragments 24. Capital of Vietnam 25. Diminutive 29. Pungent bulb 30. Greek fabulist 32. Bigot 33. Paste of inexpensive fish 34. Aquatic mammal 35. Taxes, e.g.

36. Plait, old-style 44. Learned 45. Assails 46. Security 48. Capital of Ghana 49. Shallow water 50. Tropical plant used in cosmetics 51. Big 52. Lucid 54. More than one female sheep 55. Previously 59. Pinch 60. Division of geologic time 61. Lair, often for wild animals

10 • METROSPECTIVE

5.24.07 • THE METROPOLITAN

Deep-

fried

driving

by Emile Hallez • ehallez@mscd.edu Kerry Appel lives in a school bus. Most of the time, the shaggy-haired owner of Café Rebelión, a coffee roaster that imports organic, fair-trade beans from Mexico, parks his 66-passenger-child-toting-rig-turned-motor-home in the company’s warehouse. Among the vehicle’s amenities are a sofa, a small kitchen and most importantly, a fuel tank topped off with homemade biodiesel. Appel is but one individual in a growing movement to fight the petroleum industry’s burgeoning pockets with the unlikely weapon of used cooking oil.

“I’ve been making my own fuel since Bush invaded Iraq,” Appel said. “To me, it was a moral and symbolic act … it gives a person, a community or a county autonomy from the energy producers.”

Biodiesel and waste vegetable oil, or WVO, are two types of fuel to which many consumers have turned as alternatives to gasoline and diesel. Biodiesel is produced from vegetable oil – often collected from restaurants whose owners otherwise pay to have their used cooking oil carted off to rendering plants. WVO is filtered cooking oil that can be combusted in any diesel engine that has the necessary modifications.

A WVO system retains a car’s stock diesel tank but adds an additional one to hold the oil. Hot vegetable oil combusts under pressure similarly to diesel, therefore WVO-powered cars are started using diesel and switched to vegetable oil when the WVO tank reaches an adequate operating temperature. Drivers can view the vegetable oil temperature on dash gauges and change the fuel supply with a simple flip of a toggle switch. Before engines are shut off, a back purge of the oil lines with diesel is required – cooking oil easily gels at cold temperatures, resulting in clogged fuel lines and an inoperable engine.

The benefits of using either fuel are often chalked up to frugality, environmentalism and social responsibility.

“I would pretty much tell everyone on the planet to go to waste vegetable oil,” said Lonny Kirby, owner of a yet-to-be-named Denver company that designs, fabricates and installs WVO systems in its customers’ cars and trucks.

“Once you drive for free, it’s really hard to go back to paying for it.”

WVO enthusiasts often establish relationships with restaurants, dropping off empty oil containers and picking up full ones a few days later. At Denver Biodiesel, a vegetable-fuel cooperative, customers can purchase filtered cooking oil for about one dollar per gallon, Kirby said.

Though fuel savings are substantial – Appel said he spends about 80 cents per gallon to power his school bus – vegetable-oil fuels have the added benefit of environmental consciousness. The carbon dioxide emitted from vegetable oil combustion was recently taken in by plants, rather than released by millions-of-years-old fossil fuels, making WVO and biodiesel carbon neutral. Because vegetable-oil fuels emit no net carbon into the atmosphere, the concern of greenhouse gas production and global warming is reduced.

“Just like everybody else, I said ‘that can’t be real,’” Kirby said of WVOpowered cars. He initially built several cars using advice from a few books, but he had poor results. Most of the systems failed on the scale of months, but his greatest success with WVO came when he started building his own systems, he said.

Disbelief aside, many might find the process of making biodiesel or converting cars to run on WVO daunting.

“A lot of people are afraid to try it because they have a newer diesel vehicle and they’re afraid that they’re going to hurt their vehicle,” Appel said.

“I’ve known people that have put biodiesel in cars from two years old or new-

er … I’ve never heard of any mechanical problem due to biodiesel.”

Appel knows; not only does he run his school bus on biodiesel, but he also powers with the homemade fuel a 1987 Mercedes-Benz, a 1989 Ford F250 and a unique diesel motorcycle he built with his own hands.

“I use (the school bus) fairly frequently in the warm months because I have a 42-acre piece of land down in southeastern Colorado that I have declared as autonomous territory in the same model as the Zapatistas.” Appel buys his coffee from the Zapatistas, an autonomous collective and followers of Emiliano Zapata, who live in Chiapas, Mexico.

Though Appel said it takes about a week to produce a 30gallon batch of fuel, he only spends about half an hour of actual work making it. After mixing methanol and lye in a large plastic drum, he pours the combination into a vat of used cooking oil and allows it sit for seven days while glycerin, a byproduct of the reaction, and residual methanol settle to the bottom, where it can be separated from the fuel. When the biodiesel is ready, it is pumped through a filter to eliminate contaminants, such as pieces of French fries and onion rings. He procures the used cooking oil from the Czech/American bar Sobo 151.

“I think we can do a lot better for cold weather than what’s out there,” Kirby said. He designs systems aimed at Colorado residents, who don’t have the luxury of warm winters. Though biodiesel resists gelling more than WVO, it can still plug fuel lines when the mercury drops.

“If you keep an eye on the weather and you anticipate extreme cold weather coming, you can put a little diesel in the tank with your biodiesel, and you don’t have any negative consequences,” Appel said, referring to the more cold-resistance properties of petroleum diesel.

“Nine months out of the year you can do 100 percent biodiesel.”

For Denverites unwilling to snap on rubber gloves (methanol is toxic), make weekly collection journeys to deep-fried eateries and dedicate adequate garage space to a biodiesel tank, there’s an alternative: The Denver Biodiesel cooperative. Members of the coop pay fees or volunteer for discounts on vegetable fuels. The group once produced its own biodiesel, but now obtains it wholesale from Rocky Mountain Biodiesel, which makes the fuel from waste oil.

“The fire department gave them all kinds of trouble,” Kirby said, explaining the cooperative’s end of in-house biodiesel production. Members of the co-op meet on the first Saturday of every month at 2:30 p.m. at the Mercury Café.

“The first batch I made … it was such a liberating feeling,” Appel said in retrospect of four years of biodiesel production. “It worked fine.

I was just laughing and feeling so happy and free from the participation in the petroleum industry and the wars that go along with it ... I’m really glad I did it, because it wasn’t that hard.”

“I’ve been making my own fuel since Bush invaded Iraq.”

– Kerry Appel

THE METROPOLITAN • 5.24.07

METROSPECTIVE • 11

Self-sufficient motorists are fighting the fuel industry with vegetable oil,

and the smell is falafel.

Biodiesel is produced by reacting vegetable oil with an alcohol, such as methanol, and a catalyst, often lye. Any diesel vehicle can run on biodiesel without engine modifications, but the fuel is sometimes blended with petroleum diesel to prevent gelling at cold temperatures. Biodiesel can be produced in small batches from oil obtained from eateries.

Waste Vegetable Oil (WVO) is recycled cooking oil, usually procured from restaurants. The fuel is filtered and sometimes treated with antibiotics to prevent microorganisms from growing in it. Cars running on WVO must have a diesel engine and have modifications including a separate tank for the oil and valves to alternate the fuel supply between petroleum diesel and vegetable oil. The vegetable oil must be heated in order to combust, so WVO-powered engines have to run on petroleum diesel until the vegetable oil reaches operating temperature.

For more information about biodiesel, visit http://www.biodiesel.org or http://www.denverbiodiesel.com.

Retailers of WVO systems include greasecar.com and goldenfuelsystems.com.

Photo by Jason Small • jsmall4@mscd.edu

Kerry Appel, owner of Denver coffee company Café Rebelión, demonstrates how his homemade biodiesel makes its way from a production tank to an oil drum, where the fuel is stored. Appel uses the fuel to power his school bus-turned-motor home, a Mercedes Benz, a Ford F-250 and a diesel motorcycle he built himself.

Photo by Jason Small • jsmall4@mscd.edu

THE METROPOLITAN • PAGE 12 • JEREMY JOHNSON • JJOHN308@MSCD.EDU

audiofiles

Upcoming shows Propagandhi May 30 Marquis Theater 2009 Larimer St. 8 p.m. $12, all ages Fight fascism and give your eardrums a well-needed beating with the vegan band that defines socially conscious hardcore. With roots that go back to the 80s, a message that spits in the face of convention and musical chops that ensure the hairs on the back of your neck will stand at attention, Propagandhi will make Denver slightly cooler for one night at the city’s best punk dive.

Emile Hallez • ehallez@mscd.edu

Mothership May 31 Hi-Dive 7 S. Broadway St. 7 p.m. $6, 21+

Photo courtesy of Tag Team Media

Just follow the arrow to feistiness. Just a “Reminder,” Leslie Feist will play at the Boulder Theater June 22.

Feist and the not-so-furious

By Geof Wollerman gwollerm@mscd.edu It is perhaps a tenet of the music industry that any great album over the years has found its genesis in a broken, disrupted or otherwise dysfunctional relationship. In the case of some bands, this relationship can actually spawn entire careers (Fleetwood Mac comes to mind).

Singer-songwriter Leslie Feist, a product of Canada’s indie-rock scene who now goes by Feist, embraces this tenet with unadulterated enthusiasm and – gauging by recent reviews – with more than a modicum of success.

On her first album Let It Die, Feist remarks that, “The saddest part of a broken heart/Isn’t the ending so much as the start.” She relishes wallowing in the doldrums of days gone by and keeping alive a memory that is apparently only worth its weight in pain. The track “One Evening” recalls a dreamy night fraught with perfect love-at-first-sight moments that could only be imagined in hindsight. Original and incisive, the album is not so much tragic as it is reminiscent of naiveté – just a girl pretending everything is going to be all right.

Feist’s second album, The Reminder, seems eager to shake the redundant reverie of her

first. As in Alcoholics Anonymous, where admitting you have no power over your addiction is the first step to recovery, Feist, once crushed by her own broken heart, now sounds empowered by it. She is defiant and rebellious, but not overly angry like, say, Ani DiFranco. Instead she’s just a bit more cautious about rushing full-throttle into her next romantic entanglement.

“I don’t know what I knew before/But now I know I wanna win the war,” she belts out on one of the album’s more upbeat tracks, “I Feel It All.” Her lilting vocals seem most at home on “Brandy Alexander,” but Feist’s soft, unique sound drops some of its usual timidity on other tracks, such as “Sea Lion,” which relies on rhythmic chanting and sounds more like a tribal spiritual than a romantic manifesto.

Unfortunately, a few of the album’s tracks are a little too mellow – as if Feist’s reminder has worked too well, harkening her back to the dark place of her music’s genesis. At one point the listener is struck by the thought that perhaps the only reason Feist sounds as if she forgot her broken heart is because she composed the album during a drug-induced moment of lucid euphoria.

Mothership pretty much nailed down their sound when they played a set at Denver’s planetarium. With space-like lyrics and licks, the Denver group explores exactly what makes up reality on their upcoming album Eleven Dimensional Symphony, which officially becomes available at the show.

Taylor Sullivan • tsulli21@mscd.edu

Johnette Napolitano June 18 The Walnut Room 3131 Walnut St. 7:30 p.m. $16, 21+

Feist w/ Grizzly Bear June 22 Boulder Theater 2032 14th St., Boulder 8:30 p.m. $23.50, all ages

June 14-17 Bonnaroo Music and Arts Festival Manchester, Tennessee From $184.50 to $214.50, all ages

Former Concrete Blonde frontwoman Johnette Napolitano returns to Denver for the second summer in a row, this time promoting her new record Scarred, which hits stands May 29. Napolitano’s existential singles “Scarred” and “Amazing” deliver true conviction complete with wailing guitar solos. Napolitano is quick to go back to her roots when she performs, mixing in more than 10 years of her own singles with some of Concrete Blonde’s more memorable ballads. True to the album title, Napolitano’s sultry voice sounds scarred by years of lost love and desperation. Guess she was lying when she told Joey she wasn’t angry anymore.

Jeremy Johnson • jjohn308@mscd.edu

THE METROPOLITAN • 5.24.07

AUDIO FILES • 13

CMJ Radio Top 20 Chart courtesy of CMJ New Music Report

Hot tunes, summer in the city Photo courtesy A&M Records, Inc.

A slimmer, gentler John Popper. Blues Traveler returns to Red Rocks Amphitheathre for their annual Fourth of July concert.

By Jeremy Johnson jjohn308@mscd.edu Summertime in Denver has its peaks and its perks, especially for music fans. With an abundance of talent performing at some of the nicest, unique outdoor venues in the West, there are plenty of reasons to turn off the television and go enjoy some quality music in the warm western sun.

In all of its geographical glory, the Red Rocks Amphitheatre in Morrison is one of Colorado’s premier outdoor music venues. While Colorado natives might take the Ice Age amphitheatre for granted, those who have yet to visit the venue will be astounded by its magnitude and clean, powerful acoustics. The red rocks’ shifting formations over the past 250 million years have created more than 100 years of audio delight for fans of many music genres.

Host to a plethora of high-profile bands and solo artists, Colorado’s prime summertime hot-spot is also the home to perennial jam-band festivals that include Widespread Panic and The String Cheese Incident, the two-day nationallyacclaimed Reggae on the Rocks festival in August and, of course, the celebrated Fourth of July concert by the harmonica-wielding John Popper

freeplay

Think our music sucks? We want to hear from you. Contact Jeremy Johnson at jjohn308@mscd.edu for more details.

and his Blues Traveler, accompanied this year by consummate college band Violent Femmes. And let us not forget Bob Dylan, who will appear at Red Rocks on July 19, though that show might require a second mortgage.

Aside from the obligatory Panic jam June 22-24, Red Rocks offers a variety of other fares in the upcoming month that include classic jazz man Harry Connick Jr. and his Big Band on June 7, Latin rock and reggae sensation Manu Chao, on June 9 and George Thorogood and Buddy Guy on June 19.

Perhaps one of the more intriguing shows to hit Red Rocks in the month of June is the True Colors Tour, which is headlined by, you guessed it, America’s queen of the quaff, Cyndi Lauper, who has retained her appeal as a 30-something’s girls-night-out or, even, a 10-year wedding anniversary for a pair of high school sweethearts.

If Lauper’s high-pitched and erratic vocals aren’t enough of a reminiscent brick in the face, opening bands Debbie Harry and Erasure are sure to provide an anvil-sized 80’s punch as well. Cabaret punk prodigies, Dresden Dolls, are sure to provide some fun for the younger generation as well, allowing the grown-ups to get drunk, take a late-night ride down Memory Lane, let loose of their winter woes and show their “true colors.”

The 2007 Westword Music Showcase is moving the music scene downtown, making use of some space adjacent to the new Denver Art Museum in the city’s Golden Triangle area. While the Showcase will use the tented Golden Triangle area to feature the headlining godfathers of

By Jeremy Johnson jjohn308@mscd.edu Hank Williams III ain’t your granddaddy’s country music.

Hell, he ain’t his granddaddy’s country music, neither.

He is, however, one helluva lot more country than his papa, Hank Jr. and that washed-up Monday Night Football shtick of his. Though I sure am ready for some football, again.

With tracks such as “Punch, Fight, Fuck” and “Cocaine,” it seems that Hank III has done a fine job of conjuring up the country music of our granddaddy’s day.

Becoming sporadically acquainted with Hank III’s music over the past couple of years through dive bar jukes, I’ve always been fond of his Four Horsemen, outlaw demeanor, but never thought to purchase one of his CDs. Thanks to this 70minute live set at archive.org, recorded at the Ogden Theater in Denver, I’ve no need to. But be damned sure I won’t miss his show the next time he’s in town.

Hank III delivers an energetic and charismatic playlist,

TW

LW

ARTIST

ALBUM

LABEL

1

1

Modest Mouse

We Were Dead Before the Ship Even Sank

Epic

2

4

Bright Eyes

Cassadaga

Saddle Creek

3

2

LCD Soundsystem

Sound of Silver

Capitol

4

5

Kings of Leon

Because of the Times

RCA

5

6

Blonde Redhead

23

4AD

6

3

Arcade Fire

Neon Bible

Merge

7

9

Dinosaur Jr.

Beyond

Fat Possum

8

47

Arctic Monkeys

Favourite Worst Nightmare

Domino

9

34

Feist

The Reminder

Interscope Cherry Tree

10

15

Laura Veirs

Saltbreakers

Nonesuch

11

7

Ted Leo and the Pharmacists

Living with the Living

Touch and Go

12

8

Grinderman

Grinderman

Anti

13

10

Rosebuds

Night of the Furies

Merge

14

11

Panda Bear

Person Pitch

Paw Tracks

15

16

The Blow

Poor Aim Love Songs

K

16

21

Fountains of Wayne

Traffic and Weather

Virgin

17

23

Jarvis Cocker

Jarvis

Rough Trade

18

13

Kaiser Chiefs

Yours Truly, Angry Mob

Universal

19

14

Cloud Cult

The Meaning of 8

Earthology

20

26

Idlewild

Make Another World

Sanctuary

grunge, Dinosaur Jr. (who is promoting their first new record since 1997, Beyond), Westword offers more than 60 of Denver’s wide array of bands.

Perhaps the most beautiful and intimate of Denver’s outdoor venues is the Denver Botanical Garden’s Summer Concert Series. The 2,200-person venue uses its intimacy to attract such solo talents as Linda Ronstadt (June 5) and Steve Winwood (June 24), as well as legendary R&B acts such as The Neville Brothers (July 15).

Formerly Fiddler’s Green, the Coors Amphitheater is always a big-talent draw, and Commerce City’s Dick’s Sporting Goods Park, though suggestively a non-music venue, offers a promising summer lineup as well.

With plenty of glorious sunsets on the vast mountain horizon, this summer should prove to take Colorado to a grand new level of outdoor entertainment.

beginning in typical fashion with a long set of country music full of original and covered material, before spiraling into the abyss of hellbilly and assjack. Whatever he calls it, with tunes like “Straight to Hell” and “Thrown Out of Every Bar,” seems like he and his granddaddy are gonna have a real good time when they meet again. When Hank III promises, with fiddles screeching in the back like in the track “Dick in Dixie,” you best believe he’s telling the truth.

Another gem of this live set is a cover of Johnny Cash’s classic killer anthem “Cocaine Blues.” Whereas Cash’s cold conclusion to the dark tale of jealousy, addiction and destruction is to “lay off that whiskey and let that cocaine be,” perhaps an amped up Hank III might be better off to lay off that gasoline and let those methamphetamines be.

Sure, there are some great rockabilly and hellbilly bands out there that have given some new bite to the original country sound laid down by the likes of Williams, Sr. and Cash, but Hank III gives that old country sound some serious balls.

And if your granddaddy don’t like it, have a slug of whiskey and a slug at each other. I’m sure that’s how the Williams boys would’ve handled it.

The Playlist This summer The Met will be doing a music series called “The Playlist.”

Every week we will offer up a different subject and compose a Top 10 list, based on suggestions from both the staff and our readers. This week’s topic is “Heroin” (e.g. “I’m Waiting for the Man,” by Velvet Underground.)

Contact us at jjohn308@mscd.edu with your ideas for The Playlist, subjects for The Playlist, suggestions and opinions.

Download Hank Williams III live at the Ogden at: http:// www.archive.org/details/ hw32006-06-22.flac16

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

THE METROPOLITAN • PAGE 15 • DAVID POLLAN • DPOLLAN@MSCD.EDU

Insight

DAVID POLLAN dpollan@mscd.edu

Unnatural selection The “melting pot” theory the founding fathers of this country had was an admirable and noble idea for the coexistence of Americans from diversified backgrounds. Unfortunately, this theory has failed to ever materialize, and the U.S. is a country divided among multiple social, political and economic lines. This historical truth has created advantages and disadvantages among the citizenry to a point where the wealth and resources of this country are dispersed unevenly according to race, class and gender.

This process of capitalist selection is the emphasis behind the mental breakdowns of a vast segment of our society. Fortunately, the majority of citizens victimized by lack of privilege have the fortitude to persevere through their troubles without causing harm to themselves or society.

However, the April 16 shootings at Virginia Tech University serve as an unholy testament that not all citizens are capable of enduring the vices caused by the American way of privilege served through the system of haves and have nots.

In an 1,800-word videotaped manifesto reasoning his massacre, gunman Cho SeungHui rails against the opulence of the system.

Throughout the manifesto, Cho morbidly expresses the mental pain, anguish, frustration and anger embedded in millions of citizens due to the privileges and disadvantages mani-

EARL ARMSTRONG earmst10@mscd.edu fested by issues of race, class and gender.

Why is it that not once did the media, police, university officials or public bother to hear this chilling message expressed through a psychotic’s rage? Instead, the focus and finger pointing was directed at the gunman, his heritage, his family, religion, the Columbine Massacre and Cho’s history of mental illness without any reflection on the message that inequality breeds.

The timing of the Virginia Tech tragedy was impeccable. Ironically, this immoral mass homicide came less than a week after popular shock-jock Don Imus was fired by CBS Radio for overt rants of covert racist opinions held against African Americans by many in the EuropeanAmerican community.

From this racist blunder, Imus came under attack to be fired, or better put censored,

from all sectors of America. From his corporate sponsorships to high and mighty leaders of the African-American community, calls for Imus’ removal were successful. Before the Virginia Tech tragedy, radio and television talk shows and the news were bombarded with the issue of race and racism, but these needed dialogues mysteriously disappeared as Cho slung his diabolical diatribe at the American public.

Why was this the case when this dialogue dividing America for centuries is the key to our future tranquillity, and all hopes of ending the foolishness being unleashed by the weak of heart and mind?

In contrast, we should have continued the dialogue of race, while including other factors such as class and gender, in the discussions instead of trying to hide from our realities and problems that are compounded and manufactured by these issues.

Our continued attempts to dodge the reality behind these individuals and events are the very factors perpetuating them and keeping the life behind their impetus breathing. We need to face the music of inequality and pay the piper with our dialogue on race, class and gender. If not, we will continue to suffer such stupidity and atrocities from avoiding them and diverting responsibility for them to the perpetrators.

In response: letter to the editor I am writing to correct an error which Dr. John Schmidt made in a recent interview with The Metropolitan (“Provost faces faculty ire,”

by Geof Wollerman).

In reference to the hiring of Dr. Dalinda Solis, Schmidt states that “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.”

This statement illustrates the extent to which Schmidt is ignorant of practices within mainstream academia, and should serve to caution readers about his ability to provide a useful critique of Rocha’s performance. Early

promotion is regularly used as a tool to retain and recruit desirable faculty. I am disturbed by the realization that as a first year assistant professor, I appear to have a much more grounded understanding of academic practices than Schmidt.

On a related note, the article should have clearly articulated that Solis was a tenured associate professor at the University of Texas-Pan American. Individuals very rarely forfeit tenure when moving across comparable institutions.

Schmidt also asserts that Rocha is “outclassed” at Metro. Such an ad hominem remark is not substantive in nature and has no place in a forum which purports to offer a serious

critique of Rocha’s performance. I would not allow my undergraduates to offer such vague critiques in their work, and I certainly expect more of academicians.

The fact that Schmidt’s “outclassed” remark is followed by a discussion of Rocha’s ethnicity should raise some concern. Regardless of how Schmidt intended the remark, it was said without careful thought to the surrounding context.

I feel that an apology by Schmidt is in order on this point.

-Rene R. Rocha, political science professor, University of Iowa

SERVING THE AURARIA CAMPUS SINCE 1979 EDITOR IN CHIEF David Pollan • dpollan@mscd.edu NEWS EDITOR Andrew Flohr-Spence • spencand@mscd.edu ASSISTANT NEWS EDITORS Kate Johnson • jokathry@mscd.edu Amy Woodward • awoodwa5@mscd.edu FEATURES EDITOR Emile Hallez • ehallez@mscd.edu MUSIC EDITOR Jeremy Johnson • jjohn308@mscd.edu SPORTS EDITOR Eric Lansing • lansing@mscd.edu PHOTO EDITOR Amie Cribley • acribley@mscd.edu

DESIGN EDITOR Nic Garcia • ngarci20@mscd.edu ILLUSTRATOR Andrew Howerton • ahowert2@mscd.edu COPY EDITORS Matthew Quane • mquane@mscd.edu Geof Wollerman • gwollerm@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.

Reverend wrong Farewell, Jerry Falwell. Long have I pined for the day of your demise.

It was early morning on May 15 when I received a breaking news alert in my inbox that stated Falwell had been hospitalized. I brushed off this alert and was a bit upset that his name was followed by hospitalized and not dead. I was truly disappointed at the fact he had not yet perished. It was later in the day, when I checked my e-mail again, that the world had taken a small turn for the better; Falwell had died. I let out a cheer and did a little celebratory dance.

I have never emoted in this fashion upon hearing of someone’s death – not even someone whom I disliked – and my reaction caught me a bit off-guard. I wondered if I was going to hell for reacting this way. Then I recalled all the reasons why I disliked Falwell and came to the conclusion that I was not evil for rejoicing his death, and still ecstatic he had shuffled off his mortal coil.

The world is a far better place without hate-mongers such as Falwell.

This is a man who used God for political gain and to criticize and demean those who did not agree with, or abide by, his moral values. He was the antithesis of a God-fearing man, and he certainly did not “spread the word of God” or act as God would. Falwell spent a lifetime condemning homosexuals, feminists, civil-rights activists, atheists and legal abortions in the United States.

Assuming there is a God, would it discriminate against these people, or embrace them? Isn’t God supposed to love all and forgive all?

So, why are Christians everywhere immortalizing this man – a man who worked his whole life in opposition to what God would do? Ten thousand people attended his funeral and they were not there to celebrate his death.

Some call him a pioneer at selling God, but his values and beliefs seem to fit the mold of a pioneer at selling Satan. Hate, discrimination and total disregard for equality are not values that God-fearing people portray. And if Falwell truly epitomized what “God wants” then I want nothing to do with that God. Shortly after the horrendous terrorist attacks that took place on American soil on that dreadful September day, Falwell stated that homosexuals, atheists, civil-rights activists and abortions were the reasons this tragedy happened.

“I really believe that the pagans, and the abortionists, and the feminists, and the gays and the lesbians who are actively trying to make that an alternative lifestyle, the ACLU, People For the American Way, all of them who have tried to secularize America. I point the finger in their face and say ‘You helped this happen,’” he was quoted as saying.

Well, I blame you, Falwell, for encouraging and preaching hate and discrimination, and it’s people like you that promote evil in this world.

Falwell was a terrorist of the mind and what he stood for made this world a worse place, and the people who listened to him even worse for it. He hid behind God and used it as a moral shield to spew his hate propaganda on the ears of those who listened.

So, farewell Falwell, and may God have mercy on your soul. You’re going to need it.

THE METROPOLITAN • PAGE 17 • ERIC LANSING • LANSING@MSCD.EDU

Sport

DID YOU KNOW...

Metro baseball catcher Reece Gorman has racked up four awards since his team’s season ended in the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference Tournament. Gorman was named to the first team All-RMAC, to the Daktronics All-West first team, to the National Collegiate Baseball Writers’ Association Division II West Region first team and to the American Baseball Coaches Association/ Rawlings Division II West Region first team.

Metro jacks Lopers for top RMAC award Roadrunners end Kearney’s 11-year run as best program

By Eric Lansing lansing@mscd.edu Metro sports are out for the summer, but that sure doesn’t stop them from continuing to dominate their conference foes. The school was awarded with the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference All-Sports Competition/RMAC Wells Fargo Cup on May 15.

It is the school’s first All-Sports Competition win as they edged out the Nebraska-Kearney Lopers, who had won it the past 11 years in a row.

Metro scored 710 out of a possible 800 points, while the Lopers finished second with 680.

Metro’s athletic director Joan McDermott has carried the position for nine years and sports have thrived under her tenure. Men’s basketball won two national championships in 2000 and 2002, while the women’s soccer team brought two national championships to Metro’s campus in 2004 and 2006.

“We are always striving to be the best,” McDermott said. “Our main goal isn’t to win conference championships, it is to give our students the best education and college experience. If we do things right, and do it on a consistent basis,

Photo by Amie Cribley • acribley@mscd.edu

Metro’s trophy case holds various awards that signify the school’s excellence in athletics. then those achievements will come.”

The competition is scored by the performance of each school within the conferences in the four major sports and four “wild card” sports. The four major sports include either football or men’s soccer, volleyball, men’s basketball and women’s basketball. The wild cards have to include two men’s and two women’s sports and

are usually decided by the outcomes of those certain sports.

Metro had eight different sports qualify for conference tournaments with men’s basketball, volleyball and men’s tennis winning RMAC tournament titles. Women’s basketball and men’s soccer finished in second place. The women’s soccer team finished the regular season with the

conference’s top record, but fell in the quarterfinals of the RMAC tournament to Fort Lewis College. However, it did go on to win the Division II National Championship.

Metro does not carry a football team, but the men’s soccer team finished with 90 out of 100 points for its winning record and finals appearance in the RMAC tournament. The volleyball team scored 100 points for its 14-5 record in the RMAC and won its conference tournament victory over Mesa State.

The men’s basketball team scored 100 points for its regular season and tournament titles, while the women’s team scored 90 points for a runnerup finish to Regis in the RMAC tournament.

On the women’s side, the soccer team (80 points) and the cross country team (70) were chosen as the wild card sports, while the tennis (100) and baseball (80) teams were chosen from the men’s sports.

Men’s basketball head coach Brannon Hays said the award shows the quality of the administration and the efforts of the faculty to strive toward excellence in sports.

“I think the success of the program comes from the people who deliver on what they say they are going to deliver, which allows us to compete at a high level,” Hays said. “A lot of people contribute to succeed at such a high level.”

Metro will be presented with the RMAC All-Sports Competition/RMAC Wells Fargo Cup during the 2007 RMAC Hall of Fame & Awards Banquet on July 14.

Numbers don’t lie, they say Roadrunner athletics are best-of-the-best

ERIC LANSING lansing@mscd.edu I hate to beat a dead horse again, and in lieu of the exciting Preakness finish, I probably shouldn’t use such a grim cliché.

But after your Roadrunners came away with the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference All-Sports Competition award, it had to be said.

Metro sports are very good and now we have the numbers to prove it. And I will continue to say this until I’m blue and maroon in the face (those are Metro’s colors for those who were unaware).

The award is based on the overall performance

of the school’s entire athletics program, and Metro did it without a football team. Your Roadrunners scored 710 out of 800 points to dethrone Nebraska-Kearney, who held that title for more than a decade. And those Lopers had their stands filled to capacity for just about every event.

Every sport our school carries is competitive and even successful. Yet our teams play in front of empty seats, except for a few family members, the referees and a few journalists who try to bring the greatness of Metro sports to you. But just about every Roadrunner athlete and coach still competes with heart and love of the sport despite the lack of a fan base.

Let’s run down the list of sports and their accomplishments, because even if you don’t come to watch them in person, you need to know how exceptional the school’s sports are. Let’s see, where to begin…how about the Division II National Championship women’s soccer team who won their second title in three years.

The men’s soccer team had a winning record and a berth in the Division II tournament before

losing to Fort Lewis who later advanced to the national championship finals.

The men’s basketball team went 28-4, winning the regular season and tournament titles in the RMAC and advancing to the second round in the NCAA Tournament.

The volleyball team won the conference tournament title and advanced to the big dance.

The men’s tennis team coasted through conference play, won the RMAC tournament title and also made it to the national tournament.

Whew, that’s a lot of sports to cover, but this journalist won’t complain because I got to see first hand the magnificence that is Metro sports. I had the privilege to report on the many accomplishments and successes each sport displayed every week. Metro recruits top-rate talents who bring energy and excellence to all of its sports, not just the basketball team. Some schools focus on basketball, because of the large revenues it brings in.

Our athletic director Joan McDermott should be praised for her efforts in turning Metro sports into a respectable and thrilling program for not

only the athletes, coaches, trainers and journalists, but for the students, so we can one day take pride in being a Roadrunner.

I envy Colorado, Colorado State, Air Force and even some of the other RMAC schools because they consistently attract fans who proudly bear their respective logo. But none of those schools can boast about the successes Metro carries year after year.

So the secret is out. Metro sports and its athletes are phenomenal and will continue to dominate with or without the fans. But just imagine how well our athletes would play if they had a capacity crowd cheering for them at every event. Metro could reach the upper echelons of the college sports world.

“Just come out once, and see what it is all about,” said Joan McDermott, Metro’s Athletic Director. “It is a great experience and we’re not a program that (fans) can’t get access to our student-athletes. They are very accessible and they are just hard working people like most of the students on our campus.”