Volume 29, Issue 34, July 19, 2007 by Met Media

THE

METROPOLITAN 7.19.07 • Vol. 29 No. 34 • http://www.mscd.edu/~themet • Serving the Auraria Campus since 1979

HANAVAN DIVISION II PLAYER OF YEAR Kylee Hanavan >

Top award ﬁrst ever for a Metro student PAGE 16 “Emperor” gunned down at Capitol

Photo by Dawn Madura • dmadura@mscd.edu

Vans from local news services surrounded the Capitol on the evening of July 16 after an armed man entered the building with a loaded .357 magnum and a knife. Before being shot twice in the head and once in the chest by a state trooper, the gunman, Aaron Snyder, exclaimed, “I am the emperor and I’m here to take over state government.” Snyder’s apparent intent was to assasinate Gov. Bill Ritter, who was not injured in the incident. Snyder was shot outside the governor’s ofﬁce by Jay Hemphill, a 12-year member of the state troopers.

NEWS: Campus population increase creates space crunch PAGE 4

MetNews

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

Auraria shops for trailers More students, teachers cause campus to look for temporary buildings By Andrew Flohr-Spence spencand@mscd.edu Auraria is running out of room. The growing number of students and faculty at both Metro and University of Colorado at Denver and Health Sciences Center has the Auraria Higher Education Center looking at trailers and other temporary buildings to gain additional classroom and office space, AHEC Executive Vice President Dean Wolf announced at the June 6 Auraria Board of Directors meeting. “We don’t have anywhere else to go,” Wolf said in an interview after the meeting. “We’ve run out of rabbits to pull out of our hat.” A number of new buildings are in the works, the first of which is a new science building slated to break ground this winter, but the scheduled completion date for the science building is not until spring 2009 and the campus needs space for fall, Wolf said. Metro lacks office space for 60 faculty members, and UCDHSC needs classrooms for 60 students. “We are getting pretty crowded,” said Hal Nees, an associate professor of criminal justice and president of Metro’s faculty senate, which represents Metro professors. “Specific departments haven’t run out (of space) yet, but it is an ongoing need.” Metro’s need for more space is the result of President Stephen Jordan’s plan to raise the number of full-time professors – often called tenuretrack professors – and raise Metro’s reputation, Nees said. A byproduct of the plan is the need for a lot more space; full-time professors expect to have their own space for storage and class preparation, whereas part-time professors are often asked to share office space with several others. “About 60 faculty are in line to become tenure-track this year, and full-time faculty need their own offices,” Nees said. Metro spokeswoman Cathy Lucas said the school is doing its best to keep up with the growing numbers. “With the college growing we are looking at creative ways to house faculty,” she said. “Everybody at both schools is feeling overwhelmed by the space crunch,” said Jim Fraser, AHEC’s director of facilities management, the office in charge of maintaining all buildings on campus. “We are pounded in here like sardines.” The two schools and AHEC have spent the summer working to iron out the details, establishing what type of structures to build and where to build them, Fraser said. UCDHSC has “fasttracked” the approval process for its plan to have

Photo by Cora Kemp • ckemp4@mscd.edu

Metro environmental science major Ashley Lownsdale and lecturing professor John Van de Grift sit in a cramped office in the Science Building, one of many at Auraria. Rising student and faculty populations have caused the campus administration to look for temporary buildings to house the growth. three double-wide trailers east of the Tivoli along the soccer fields in place by fall, but Metro is still exploring other possibilities, he said. According to Fraser, while both schools were originally looking at trailers to make up the space, Metro is now looking at more substantial and more expensive temporary steelframe structures. The needs of the two schools are different – UCDHSC needs three classrooms, whereas Metro needs numerous small offices – and the different uses mean different demands on the building, Fraser explained. “We are now exploring other options,” said Sean Nesbitt, Metro’s facilities planner. “We have to look at what is most cost effective in the long run and can still answer our immediate needs.” The sturdier structures are more expensive to purchase in the short run and wouldn’t be ready until fall 2008, but there are a number of factors that make it a better option for Metro’s situation in the long run, Nesbitt said. He pointed out that the trailers lack bathrooms, which is fine for having classes in, but because offices are in use more hours of the day, the need for plumbing becomes more urgent. Another factor is the amount of energy the trailers use to keep them both cool in the sum-

Campus Population 1

2002

12 13 14 15 16 17

18 19 20 21

19,413 STUDENTS 1,000 FACULTY 20,256 STUDENTS

2003

1,071 FACULTY 20,761 STUDENTS

2004

1,141FACULTY

2005

1,156 FACULTY

2006

1,194 FACULTY

20,010 STUDENTS

21,155 STUDENTS Graphic by Nic Garcia • ngarci20@mscd.edu

mer and warm in the winter. The stronger buildings have thicker insulation. Fraser said another issue the administration is struggling with is where to put the structures. Because of ﬁre department codes, the availability of utility hook-ups and space needed for future construction projects, such as the new science building, there are few locations available to put the structures. UCDHSC had planned

to ﬁt the three trailers along Speer Boulevard, but the site is too small and they settled for the space next to the Tivoli. One of the few locations available for Metro is a spot in the parking lot west of 7th street, near the Administration Building, Fraser said. “We are still evaluating whether it’s at all feasible and affordable,” Fraser said. “Much of this is still being planned.”

4 • NEWS

7.19.07 • THE METROPOLITAN

Upward Bound receives federal boost Metro youth program garners grant, praise from education ofﬁcials By Clayton Woullard cwoullar@mscd.edu Metro’s TRIO High School Upward Bound program has received a $1.5 million grant to fund the program for the next four years. The grant, from the U.S. Department of Education, will allow the program to operate for the four-year cycle beginning Sept. 1, through Aug. 31, 2011. However, the money isn’t guaranteed, according to Paulette McIntosh, director of the program. “Even though we’ve received notice from the federal government that we’ll receive this money through 2011, whoever is president next year could say ‘OK we’re going to zero out all of these programs,’” McIntosh said. “We’re at the mercy of the current president’s budgeting skills.” Metro’s Upward Bound program, which has operated on campus since 1974, is designed to help low-income and ﬁrst-generation high school students succeed in high school and go on to college. They teach subjects such as math and English and provide tutorial and homework assistance, as well as how to apply for college. McIntosh said this new grant would allow the program to continue to pay instructors, provide supplies, transportation, meals on campus, student activities, socio-cultural educational activities and tutors. “The program is important because many

first generation students and low-income students would not go to college if they feel they did not have an opportunity to,” she said. “So the program increases their chances by assisting them in their academics and it also increases opportunities for accessing higher education.” The program recruits students in their freshman or sophomore years of high school. Students participate in the program for two and a half to three years, coming to classes after their regular high school day during the school year, and during the summer coming to classes from 7:30 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. five days a week for six weeks. McIntosh said the program graduates, on average, 95 percent of their senior class every year, and of those students, about 95 percent go on to attend college on the Auraria Campus. One of the obstacles the program has faced is changing personnel, meaning people who are unfamiliar with the complexities of the program, McIntosh said. “People think we’re a program that’s a quick fix for students struggling in academics,” she said, “but it actually takes a lot of commitment and dedication from the participants, and actually it’s more of a holistic approach to their education.” Terian Turner, a Metro mechanical engineering major and 2002 graduate of Metro’s Upward Bound program, credits the program for his success, particularly with tutoring, advising him on how to apply to colleges and preparing his resume. “I actually didn’t even know what a resume was until I joined the program,” he said. He said the program gave him HOPE, an acronym he created standing for Hope, Opportunities, Possibilities and Empowerment.

Photo by Cora Kemp • ckemp4@mscd.edu

Paulette McIntosh sits with Jenessa Carr, Tiffiny Hicks and Kristen James-Carr, at Pete’s Arena in the Tivoli on July 17. The East High School students are members of Metro’s Upward Bound program, a program designed to help low-income and first-generation high school students go to college. “(The program) got me where I am today,” he said. “They surrounded me with a wealth of resources for college.” After a year at Colorado State University he came to Metro because the college still had his application on file from his summer bridge program, which takes place during the summer after students in the program graduate from high school and during which they take college-level courses at Metro. Now he works for the program, giving students the help he once received. “I like helping folks and I was pretty good at

math and I had been helping folks with math,” he said. “The program helped me so I ﬁgured if I’m down here, why not give back to the community and get paid for it?” But even beyond the academic opportunities, he said the program allowed him to forge friendships and opened his mind to different people and cultures through socio-cultural activities, such as museum trips and shows like Cirque du Soleil. “How many kids from the ghetto get to see something like that?” he said.

Denver may choke on ozone test, risks federal takeover By Emile Hallez ehallez@mscd.edu Glowing yellow signs above I-25 warned motorists the night of July 16 looming ground-level ozone emissions. The message pleaded with drivers to limit their time on the road Tuesday. Ozone levels in the metropolitan area are as high as ever, and with only a couple of months before Denver’s extension of federal noncompliance runs out, Environmental Protection Agency violations may be the least of the city’s worries: ozone is a lung irritant, detrimental to local ecology and byproducts of its reaction with other chemicals create a suspected carcinogen that isn’t monitored by the city. “Its basically a little sunburn on your lungs,” said Gregg Thomas, environmental assessment and policy supervisor for Denver’s Department of Environmental Health, of ozone’s impact on human health. While all metro-area residents have no choice but to inhale the noxious fumes, some are more at risk than others. “Ozone typically hits people who have compromised cardiovascular systems,” said Celia Vanderloop, director of Denver’s Department of Environmental Quality. Most at risk are children, the elderly and people with asthma.

“Repeated ozone impacts on the developing lungs of children may lead to reduced lung function as adults,” states a webpage on Airnow.gov. The federal government could soon be regulating Denver’s air; the metro-area has surpassed the EPA’s ozone-emission standards twice this year. Under U.S. supervision, ﬁlling stations may be required to carry cleaner-burning high-octane gasoline and the city could lose federal transportation funding. “The Rocky Flats monitor has violated the standard three times this year,” Vanderloop said. “We would potentially be looking at putting more controls on oil and gas sources” if Denver becomes federally regulated. “There’s also the potential that … Ft. Collins and Greeley could be looking at something,” she said. Climate, meteorological effects, a dense population and a usual hot Denver summer have contributed to high ozone levels, Vanderloop said, adding that Denver’s stagnant air traps ozone, nitrogen oxides, or NOx, and volatile organic compounds, or VOCs, rather than allowing breeze to blow the pollutants hundreds of miles away. Ozone reacts with NOx to form peroxy acyl nitrate, or PAN, an eye and lung irritant suspected to play a role in cancer and heart disease. PANs have also been called detrimental to forest in the Los Angeles area. Despite the effects ozone and PANs have on local ecology, little if any federal monitoring is done to examine their effects.

“That’s something we don’t really monitor for,” Thomas said of PAN levels in Denver’s troposphere. The troposphere is the lower portion of the atmosphere that contains the air we breathe. In 1997 the EPA revised existing standards to tighten acceptable ozone emission levels. Major U.S. areas across the country were evaluated in April 2004 for compliance, and Denver was found to have unacceptable levels of ozone. According to the EPA, the city entered into an early action compact to lower ozone emissions to acceptable levels by Dec. 31, 2007. “The state will submit a report at the end of the summer. There are a lot of eyes on this data, so we’ll know,” Thomas said. “We’re either going to violate or we’re not.” Even if Denver makes it through the summer and is still within presently acceptable levels, it may have a hard time meeting new standards that will be finalized in spring 2008. “We have some pretty significant challenges ahead,” Thomas said. “A lot of the monitors in the Front Range, at least for the next couple years, will probably be above (the new EPA) limits.” What can residents do to decrease their contributions to ground-level ozone? “Don’t fill up your gas tank until later in the evening,” Vanderloop said, noting that people should also limit driving if possible. “Don’t mow your lawn during the middle of the day. … Try to delay the release of those emissions until its not quite as hot.”

SOURCES OF NOX

17 percent fuel combustion 22 percent utilities

5 percent other sources

56 percent motor vehicles

SOURCES OF VOC

45 percent motor vehicles

50 percent industrial/ commercial processes

5 percent consumer solvents

Source: www.epa.gov By Nic Garcia • ngarci20@mscd.edu

Decreasing drive time, fuel use could help meet new standards

THE METROPOLITAN • 7.19.07

NEWS • 5

Grant lets Metro spread its wings By Kate Johnson jokathry@mscd.edu Metro’s World Indoor Airport is soaring to new heights thanks to a $150,000 grant that will propel current flight facilities into the future of aviation. “I worked to secure funds for this project because of the need to enhance the education and job training at MSCD’s World Indoor Flight Simulation Lab to meet the rapid technology changes that have occurred in the aviation industry,” said Sen. Wayne Allard, R-Colo., of the Senate Appropriations Committee. These technological advances have substantially altered the way aircrafts are built. Analog instrumentation – once the standard system of dials and needles on flight decks – is now being replaced with a desktop computer system. “Everything is incorporated into this new technology,” said Brent Balazs, associate professor of aviation and aerospace science. “It’s a major shift … so the general aviation community is getting on board. The new instrumentation on flight decks, known as ‘glass cockpits,’ employ the same flat-screen technology that is swiftly being introduced into airline fleets.

The Cessna Aircraft Company has already halted the production of planes with analog systems. In addition, glass cockpits now account for 25 percent of Colorado’s Rocky Mountain Metropolitan Airport and Centennial Airport ﬂeets. “That money is going to be used as a crucial springboard to bring that classroom up to operational use,” Balazs said. Jennifer Caine, also an associate professor of aviation and aerospace science, said the money would substantially aid the current program. “We don’t have the capability of doing as much training as we’d like. That’s where the grant will come in,” Caine said. The upgrade to Metro facilities is essential to ensuring students stay competitive in the job market, Caine explained. But as students prepare for the challenge of learning the new instrumentation, they would still be instructed on the analog system that will continue to serve as a backup in the event of any problems. “For our senior students it’s going to mean they’re a lot more knowledgeable of avionics than they would otherwise,” Caine said. Caine pointed out that United Airlines is in the process of hiring up to 100 pilots and bringing back some who have been on furlough. This,

she said, is an indicator that the job market for pilots is flourishing. Smaller airlines are also thriving after a temporary slump following the events of Sept. 11. “Right now region carriers are popping up very quickly and they are hiring,” Balazs said. Allard agreed that Metro-graduated pilots could have a strong presence in the work force. “The important funding benefits both MSCD and Denver International Airport by supporting the growth and development of a program that produces some of the nation’s top employees in the airline industry,” Allard said. Allard said funding for the aviation and aerospace science program – the fifth largest program in the country – is essential because Metro is the only college in Colorado to offer a four-year degree in aviation. “It would definitely help our training,” Balazs said. “We have one of the most sophisticated training programs in the country.” He added that the grant would substantially increase the amount of Metro pilots who will be hired by local airlines. “This is a really positive time for our graduates,” Balazs said. “We’re really excited about the plan and we’re hoping to continue to enhance our capabilities in the future.”

Photo by Ryan Deuschle • rdeusch1@mscd.edu

Metro’s aviation and aerospace science program received a $150,000 grant to keep up with changing technology. It is the ﬁfth largest program in the country and is the only college in Colorado that offers a four-year degree in aviation.

States contract private agencies to run prisons By Amy Woodward awoodwa5@mscd.edu Privately owned prisons, a complex arrangement filled with scandal, praise and politicking, have become one of the most well-known and profitable businesses in the U.S. and throughout the world. Federal and state agencies, in constant struggle with funding and cost avoidance, started looking at the benefits of private prisons during the 1990s, when the U.S. began experiencing a significant increase in their prison population. During the days of Colorado Governor Roy Romer in the 1990s, there were 1,000 inmates housed out-of-state due to lack of bed space. “Partnerships with private prisons allowed the state to bring the inmates home,” said Alison Morgan, director of private prisons for the Colorado Department of Corrections. “It is not the only solution to managing prisons, but it is a very important facet of managing prison population.” Today there are six privatized prisons in the state of Colorado, holding roughly 21 percent of Colorado’s inmates. Colorado’s main impetus toward private prisons is savings for state taxpayers and the hope to bring growth to its still undeveloped, small community towns. Another attraction is

the liberation of management from operating and designing correctional facilities. Although they are not altogether disassociated from monitoring by the state, the design, operation, work wages, benefits and rehabilitation programs are left to the discretion of the private contractor. There is much money to be made in prison operation. Typically, the state pays private contractors on a daily basis to house prisoners in their facilities. In Colorado, private contractors are paid roughly $54 a day per inmate. Housing inmates in a state-run facility would require $77 a day. Using tax-exempt revenue bonds and shareholder money, contractors build their facilities and give the state a break from finding funding for construction costs. Allegations against for-profit prisons are easier to find than approvals. “State and taxpayers benefit is the primary hook,” said Christie Donner, director for the Criminal Justice Reform Coalition. “What most people don’t know is what’s not expensive is the construction, it’s the annual operation budgets.” There have been discrepancies in small towns across Colorado with private prison corporations. A report filed by the Colorado State Auditor found that the GEO Group, one of the

leading prison contractors in the U.S., was conducting alterations in their proposals for building a correctional facility. Bed guarantees were added to their terms and conditions, which meant private prison companies were trying to seek assurance from the state that their facilities would be ﬁlled to match the planned occupancy. Donner said the state is no longer willing to conduct business with the GEO Group due to the problem and change in proposals. In 2006, GEO tried to propose a plan for the construction of a correctional facility in the town of Ault. Steve Lawrence, a student at the graduate school of public affairs at UCD, wrote an engaging paper about the issues that occurred. “The prison project ramrod without citizen approval,” Lawrence said. “The site was already zoned for commercial use, therefore the town council had authority to approve without vote of the people.” However, the residents of Ault were not buying the corporation’s pitch to bring an economic hike to their town and rallied to receive a right of vote by the people. The vote resulted in an end to the prison project. “GEO did some unequal and nasty deals,” Lawrence said. One of the deals consisted of a $100 million loan to be issued to build the facility.

“(Coloradans) just pay for the services,” Lawrence said, but a problem rises when the responsibility of keeping the facility afloat financially lies on the shoulders of the town’s residents and taxpayers. Lawrence said the danger to the state lies in if the contractors of the facility should feel their needs are not being met and removes the facility. The town would be stuck with a $100 million loan and 750 convicted criminals. But Donner believes there are positive impacts to small towns that decide to welcome prisons into their community. “Most counties receive a revenue from a private prison to fund projects in the county,” Donner said. “The revenue is part of the tax-based property.” According to Donner, Bent County has done very well economically with its correctional facility, and the proposal to construct was passed with a 68 percent voter approval. “It is a definite economic benefit to a community,” Donner said. Another problem illuminated by the state audit is the issue of mismanagement in the operation and conduct of private-run facilities. A report issued by Frank Smith, an investigator and national field organizer for Private Corrections

See PRISON Page 6 Source: Colorado Department of Corrections By Nic Garcia • ngarci20@mscd.edu

TOTAL INMATE POPULATION

Number in 1,000s

22.5 22 21.5 21

20,704

6.05

7.05

21,590

8.05

9.05 10.05 11.05 12.05

1.06

2.06

3.06

4.06

22,350

5.06

6.06

Month and date

7.06

8.06

9.06 10.06 11.06 12.06 1.07

22,519

2.07

3.07

4.07

5.07

6.07

6 • NEWS

7.19.07 • THE METROPOLITAN

Foreign correspondents leave Iraq American newspapers rely on limited sources to deliver news on war By Robert Fisher rﬁshe18@mscd.edu In March 2003, approximately 800 journalists crossed into Iraq from Kuwait with American forces. Coverage of the war in Iraq began with nightly updates and video coverage. The city of Baghdad since then has become a dangerous place and journalists are not immune to the bloodshed they are covering. As of July 1,

the Associated Press estimated 108 journalists have been killed in Iraq. Reporters Without Borders posts on their website that 194 journalist and media assistants have been killed (141 journalists), two are still missing and 14 have been kidnapped. According to the AP, the number of foreign journalists in Iraq is now down to 50. There are currently only three American newspapers operating in Iraq: The New York Times, The Washington Post and the Los Angeles Times. In a recent interview with political reporter Mark Matthews, ABC correspondent Terry McCarthy described the difﬁculties of reporting in the city of Baghdad. McCarthy said that the war in Iraq is the single most important story right

now. The irony of this is that it is also probably the most inaccessible story right now to cover. He said the war in Iraq is the most dangerous story he has ever covered. McCarthy was quick to point out the dependence foreign news organizations have on Iraqi staff members who are able to move freely in Baghdad. Most of the time Iraqi staff members and sources report with the condition of anonymity because of security issues. “They are our eyes and our ears. Many places in Baghdad are just too dangerous for foreigners to go now, so we have Iraqi camera crews who very bravely go out. Without them we are blind, we cannot see what’s going on.” McCarthy said. Local dailies such as the Denver Post try to

GRADUATING? Attention! All Potential Fall 2007 Degree Candidates All Students Who Will Have Completed All Degree Requirements by the End of Fall Semester, 2007:

give their readers the best coverage they can. “This issue is hugely important,” said Katherine Boller, telegraph editor for the Denver Post. “Its importance can’t be understated.” Boller is in charge of selecting stories about the war in Iraq. “I choose AP for the ﬁrst edition, it’s a time factor. The second edition, what you see locally, if there is a better version (of the same story) by the Times, I replace the AP version,” Boller said. However, she said, sometimes the AP has the most comprehensive coverage and most comprehensible format. Boller said that she wishes she could run more stories about the war in Iraq but there are issues to consider, such as space in the paper. The front page is not always the best place for stories on the war in Iraq. “Sometimes there are just incremental changes, and having it on the front page everyday – people may become numb to it.” She says her readers want more news about the war. They want to know the death toll. “I use the AP numbers for consistency,” Boller said. Boller says information about the war is out there for people who are willing to look for it, such as reported by independent journalists and bloggers. “In a perfect world we would have a reporter over there, but, overall, the wire services do a good job,” Boller said.

PRISON • Ownership

Continued from 5

Must file an Application for Graduation in the Office of the Registrar (CN105) by Friday, August 31, 2007 (Available July 23). The Application for Graduation is available in the Office of the Registrar (CN105) and on-line: www.mscd.edu/enroll/registrar/docs/index.htm (May be faxed to 303-556-2568.)

2 Should have a CAPP Compliance Report run NOW in their major department or the Academic Advising Center (CN104).

3 Must clear or explain all CAPP discrepancies (Not Met) with the Registrar’s Office by September 28, 2007 in order to remain a degree candidate for this semester.

4 Monitor the Fall 2007 Graduation/ Commencement Website on MetroConnect throughout the semester.

METROPOLITAN STATE COLLEGE of DENVER

Institute, showed that in 2004, there were 41 successful escapes nationwide from private prisons. “They’ve endangered the public, they have 30 times as many escapes as public prisons and the cost of capturing those escapees is externalized,” Smith wrote. “States have rarely recouped the costs.” Concerns were voiced over the design of a private facility in Colorado Springs, Cheyenne Mountain Re-Entry Center, that “poor design and construction of the facility has resulted in problems in managing the inmate population.” Donner maintains that inmates housed in private facilities is a “safe alternative” and they are given medical, educational and rehabilitation programs, the Colorado audit found that the businesses were not complying with methods stated in their contracts. The audit found that mental health staff was not seeing inmates who have serious mental illnesses within contract-required time and that the DOC has often documented contract violations by the private facility, but failed to enforce terms of the contracts. Treatment toward employees at private prisons has sparked recognition from both the DOC and organizations like CJRC and PCI. The effects of low wages and poor benefits have been linked to prison riots. “They’ve bought off politicians cheaply, who keep voting for this crap,” Smith wrote. “They’ve used financing schemes which have hidden the costs such as lease revenue bonds, certificates of participation, etc., the prisons wind up costing much more, and are of much poorer quality, than if the public just went ahead and paid for them.”

metrospective Community flower empowerment By Zoë Williams williamz@mscd.edu Cornfields across from 7-Elevens, tomato patches off of Colfax Avenue and small farms in playgrounds are the mark of Denver Urban Gardens, or DUG. When one of the greatest losses for city dwellers is the pleasure of a yard, DUG reconnects the metro area to the joy of edible and decorative gardens. DUG is a 22-year-old nonprofit that facilitates the programming and operations of more than 70 gardens in and around Denver. Garden spaces are located in former parking lots, next to community resource centers or in school and church yards. The most common participants in DUG are seasonal gardeners who plant and maintain sections of land from April until November. Plots range from six to 13 feet by 10 feet and require payments to cover water and materials as well as refundable weed deposits. Organizations, groups of friends, neighbors and families sign up annually at a garden meeting for locations and numbers of spaces. After that, a weekly commitment of time and patience is dedicated to the care and cleanup of each garden. The gardens are as diverse as their neighborhoods. The Arvada Garden, for example, is largely cared for by people who recently emigrated from Russia. “You do not see much in terms of tomatoes there,” laughed Judy Elliott, DUG’s Education and Community Empowerment coordinator. “You’ll find a lot of cabbages, potatoes and some really creative fertilizing.” There is also the Casa Verde garden in the Baker neighborhood, marked with a colorful mural incorporation of traditional South American art with graffiti. Casa Verde tenants educate patrons about indigenous plants and cultures using a Native American planting technique called Three Sisters, in which corn, beans and squash are commingled together. At Commerce City’s Helping Hands garden, students in elementary through high school comprise most of the gardeners. DUG has also worked to ensure that economic barriers within communities are removed from the gardens. “Nobody is ever denied access to the gardens due to financial difficulty,” Elliot said. There are options of waiving fees, and DUG sometimes provides free seeds and transplants to low-income gardeners. One of the largest projects of DUG is the Delaney Urban Farm in Aurora. With many participants from the Somali Bantu population of Aurora, the farm has served to maintain cultural traditions in a new location as well as bolster local economies.

Produce from Delaney is distributed through a Community Supported Agriculture program in which shareholders receive weekly harvests of affordable and organic crops. Delaney Farm is also one of many DUG locations offering classes in agriculture, cooking and nutrition for participants of all ages. The diverse projects of DUG have created more work than their seven staff members can complete. All of the gardens are run by volunteers, as are many of the programs. “We need the strength of many people to keep things going,” Elliott said, listing possible volunteer opportunities in construction, clerical work, land maintenance, education and translation. The spirit of volunteers that keeps DUG expanding has also become integral to its mission. “We really try to see the human side of gardening. We are putting the community back in community gardens,” Elliott said. The Fairmont and Fairview gardens are primarily run by 10to 13-year-olds who also host youth farmers’ markets. “These youths have chosen to dedicate their summer back

to their community,” Elliott said of the farmers’ markets and produce distribution in neighborhoods that have little more than a corner store or small grocer within walking distance. “This is a space of togetherness. All of us have experienced different trauma in our lives. As we share that experience and grow together, things become less frightening.” Other gardeners have participated in the national program Plant A Row For The Hungry and similar projects, which allocate sections of gardens to grow food for shelters and soup kitchens. One DUG garden has a plot near the street with a sign reading “Take What You Need.” The Project Light garden greets all visitors with a basket of produce and the Rosedale Garden donated more than 6,000 pounds of produce during the 2006 season. “A garden is really about giving back more than you plant,” Elliott said. While it is late in the season, DUG has plenty of opportunities for participation: volunteers on projects, students in classes or attendance at events. For more information, call 303-2999900, visit www.dug.org or e-mail Judy Elliott personally at judy@dug.org.

Above: Elizabeth Lopez, garden leader at the Casa Verde Community Garden, admires plants July 16 after watering them. Top: Sunﬂowers line the fence around Casa Verde. Photos by Dawn Madura • dmadura@mscd.edu

THE METROPOLITAN • PAGE 7 • EMILE HALLEZ • EHALLEZ@MSCD.EDU

8 • METROSPECTIVE

Internet Junkie

7.19.07 • THE METROPOLITAN

A case for potassium protection By Geof Wollerman gwollerm@mscd.edu The banana. For many, the banana is simply a piece of fruit: a part of breakfast, a midday snack, an ingredient in bread, something to split with strawberries, ice cream and chocolate syrup. For a couple of dedicated British entrepreneurs, however, the banana and its well-being is a market ripe for exploitation. At bananaguard.com, banana lovers tired of unwanted bruises can purchase the Banana Guard – a $6.99 colored plastic case designed to protect bananas from the perils of an average workday. According to testimonials, the guard is not only effective but “looks quite cool” and is “a great idea.” It also comes in nine different colors, including a glow-in-the-dark version – for those

long nights in the woods when vital sources of potassium must, at all costs, be protected. Scrolling through the world of bananaoriented websites I wondered how many frustrated banana freaks had been on the verge of consigning themselves to black bruises and squishiness before this cheap, miraculous guard came along? Apparently, a lot. The United States and the European Union are the biggest importers of bananas in the world. Every year the United States imports more than 3 million tons of bananas, and according to a recent poll on krstarica.com – “Serbia’s only web portal!” – bananas are the third most popular fruit – topped only by strawberries and watermelons, respectively. Entire countries sustain their economies through the sale of bananas – hence the term “banana republic” – and allrecipes.com “has more than 710 trusted banana recipes complete with ratings, reviews and serving tips.” There are also probably banana lovers who would kick my ass if I told them I thought bananas were “just ok” – a social faux pas equivalent to telling a New Yorker that Billy Joel is not the greatest musician in the world. Alexander the Great is credited with bring-

ing bananas back from India around 300 B.C. and introducing them to the western world, and, according to banana. com, though China maintained banana plantations beginning in 200 A.D., bananas were considered exotic and did not become popular among the Chinese public until the 20th century. Portuguese traders brought the banana plant to the Americas in 1516, and bananas were ﬁrst ofﬁcially served in the United States in 1876 as part of our centennial independence celebration. And get this: the banana is not a tree – it is the world’s “The extreme largest herb

popularity of the banana also has a dark side.” I wonder if that’s why amateur stoners try to smoke banana peels? Best of all is the religious tie-in. Evangelical pastor Ray Comfort, livingwaters. com, points to the banana as tangible evidence for “intelligent design” theories espoused these

days by anti-evolution members of the Religious Right. Comfort likens the banana’s packaging to a Coke can: compact and easy to open. What he fails to understand, however, is that the banana in its present form owes its design not to an omnipotent being but rather to centuries of banana plant hybridization and the ingenuity of third-world fruit eugenicists. The extreme popularity of the banana also has a dark side. The Chiquita Company has for years found itself the target of human rights organizations that claim it uses violent and unfair trade practices to keep its share of the industry lucrative. A European website, bananalink.org. uk, highlights some of the egregious practices of what it calls the “banana import regime.” This ancient, widely loved and controversial fruit will continue to be a presence not just in the mouths of banana aﬁcionados, but on Internet pages around the world. So next time you peel back the slick, yellow exterior of this common-yetexotic fruit, remember where it comes from and the third-world workers who labor to produce it. The banana might not demand nine different colors of plastic casing, but for some it is obviously worth protecting.

Book Review: By King or Bachman, Blaze is a blast from the past By Robert Fisher rﬁshe18@mscd.edu

Blaze By Richard Bachman Hardcover Price: $25.00 Release date: June 12, 2007 Publisher: Scribner

mously by Bachman. In 1996, The Regulators was published in tandem with Stephen King’s Desperation. In 1984, Richard Bachman had some sucBlaze is a criminal. And he wants to commit the crime of the century. He and George came cess with the release of his second novel, Thinner. His first novel, a collection of stories entiup with the idea: Kidnap the baby and get the tled The Bachman Books, had barely made a blip money. But now George is dead and Blaze has to do it alone. But that’s OK because George is on the literary radar. However, the commercial success of Thinner was soon overshadowed with going to be with Blaze every step of the way. scandal as Bachman was linked to horror writer In the forward, Stephen King tells readers the new Richard Bachman book Blaze is an old Stephen King. The ensuing stress and misery of being outted as King’s dark half, Bachman story. He confesses the “new” book is actually developed a rare case of pseudonym cancer. He a “trunk book,” something he wrote 25 years ago. And if you have any aversion died the following year. King has given credit to this, return it before you spill “Blaze is a fine car wreck in the tradition of the hardboiled to Bachman’s widow, Clausomething on it. But why would we do that? crime novels of the ’30s and ’40s, a return to the fiction-noir dia, for bringing these novstyle of the original four Bachman books.” els to life. She reportedly That’s like telling a driver not to found them in the attic of rubberneck as he passes a horrible accident. Readers should also know a Bachman book her New Hampshire home during the move after And Blaze is a fine car wreck in the tradi- is not a Stephen King novel, an expectation Richard’s death. Though, she admits, she has no tion of the hardboiled crime novels of the ’30s guaranteed to disappoint. The “two authors” idea when Richard wrote them. She points out and ’40s, a return to the fiction-noir style of the write with different styles. he did suffer from insomnia, an ailment King has This abstract idea of writing with a split per- admittedly suffered from as well. original four Bachman books. King makes no bones about Blaze and BachThe story of Blaze pays homage to Stein- sonality is best explained by King in the novel, beck’s Of Mice and Men. As a character, Blaze The Dark Half, a fictional account of the horrors man’s success even now – 22 years after the is Bachman’s Lenny, something King points he has felt at times by feeling split between two man’s death – though concedes this is the last Bachman book. But if King’s pseudonym nightout in the forward. But Blaze’s mental short- personalities and two writing styles. comings are due to his abusive and violent upAccording to King, Bachman died 22 years mare of The Dark Half has taught us anything, bringing and not because he was born slow. His ago. This is the second book released posthu- it’s hard to keep a dead man down. stepfather handed him the first card in the horrible deck Blaze would be dealt by tossing the young boy repeatedly down the steep wooden stairs of the family’s apartment. After that the young Blaze was shuffled into the state system. Constantly beaten by the headmaster of the orphanage and taken to a foster home where he was almost killed by a pack of collies, Blaze was stomped down until he met George. George showed Blaze how to con and Blaze was good at it. When George came back from vacation in the clink he had a plan for the “big one.” The one they could retire on.

timeout “ THE METROPOLITAN • 7.19.07

METROSPECTIVE • 9

America believes in education: the average professor earns more money in a year than a professional athlete earns in a whole week.

Cut Corners

”

– EVAN ESAR, HUMORIST

Illustrated by Andrew Howerton • ahowert2@mscd.edu, editorial content by The Metropolitan staff I think I have a paper due soon...

I wonder if there’s a test today...

What does a Roadrunner taste like?

“Summer School” SUDOKU

Across

1. French clergyman 5. Analyze a metallic compound 10. Greek god of war 14. Authenticating mark 15. Sierra ___ 16. House rodents 17. Graph preﬁx 18. Shaft shot from a bow 19. Drill a hole 20. Sun protection for the skin 22. Single piece of information 23. 19th letter of the Greek alphabet 24. Slow run

25. States as a fact 29. Gilded 33. Soft 34. Not base 36. Hill toy 37. Malt beverage 38. Tusks 39. Fall behind 40. Painter Mondriaan 42. It runs in the cold 43. Got up 45. Roast 47. Erased 49. Gone by

50. 6th letter of the Hebrew alphabet 51. Courtyard 54. Foreknowledge 60. Oil-rich Islamic theocracy neighboring Iraq 61. Broadway actress Uta 62. Swing around 63. Make weary 64. Concerning 65. Long ﬁsh 66. Completely without madness 67. Sows 68. Senate position

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 July 16 puzzle).

CROSSWORD

Down

1. Serpents 2. Sweetheart 3. Building for storing hay 4. Flexible 5. Old call to arms 6. Shriveled, without moisture 7. Annoyed 8. Soon 9. Evergreen tree 10. Winding 11. Public disturbance 12. Creamy beige color 13. Appear

21. Concern 22. Golden, in France 24. Wife of Punch 25. Modify 26. Accountant’s sheet 27. Sports card name 28. Place for “stompin’” 29. Ventilated 30. Dole out 31. Mock, annoy 32. Beat by a hair 35. Long-leaved lettuce 38. Part of FYI, brieﬂy 41. Learner

43. Exclamation to express sorrow 44. Examines and corrects 46. Self esteem 48. Happenings 51. Mines 52. Melody 53. Small mountain lake 54. Temple 55. Double curve 56. Tear apart 57. Exultation 58. Hawaiian native dance 59. Student’s hurdle 61. Possesses

10 • METROSPECTIVE

7.19.07 • THE METROPOLITAN

THE METROPOLITAN • 7.19.07

HIGH ON SPEED

METROSPECTIVE • 11

Lightning on Thunder Mountain

By Eric Lansing • lansing@mscd.edu Photos by Amie Cribley • acribley@mscd.edu saw the race, as it was over in five seconds, but it Our mile-high city lost a gem when the Denver was now clear to me why this sport attracts enorGrand Prix was closed down due to a lack of spon- mous crowds wherever it goes. The NHRA is the second most attended racing sorship. But fear not, with the National Hot Rod Association accelerating in popularity, champion- sport in the U.S., next to NASCAR. Exhilaration ship racing is far from dead. takes hold of the crowd as two vehicles power up The NHRA came into the Mile-High city July their 7,000-horsepower engines and accelerate to 13-15 to give racing fans the amazing experience speeds well over 300 mph in less than four secof high-octane racing and thunderous excitement onds in a quarter of a mile race. It was my turn to accelerate as I raced over to of the hot-rod world. It was time for the Mile-High Nationals at Bandimere Speedway and I took in the the closest merchandise stand and purchased earsmells of burnt rubber and nitro gasoline, the sights plugs. As much as I wanted to let every crashing of spinning cylinders and cheering racing fans and decibel into my head, I feared it would be the last the heat from the cars, the track and the sun. sounds I would ever experience. I dashed back to I stood 15 feet from the starting line and my spot to actually view the race since my first watched as crewmembers pushed their colorfully attempt was left in the dust. After the “Christmas painted vehicles closer to the line. With both cars tree” starting lights went yellow, yellow, green, on the line, I anticipated what I thought was just the two funny cars took off leaving behind huge another race. You could hear the rattling from the clouds of smoke that followed them past the finish engines as the drivers anxiously waited for the ar- line. A parachute then ejected from the rear of the ray of starting lights that stood in between the two vehicles to slow them down. Funny cars got their name when they were first built in the 60s from competitors to give them their cue to accelerate. But where was my cue? I stood idly by con- non-traditional parts. I decided I needed to view this race from a vinced I knew what I was about to witness: two aerodynamically built higher distance and I super cars with jetproceeded to the upsized engines, racing a per VIP section, which short distance at high gave me a bird’s eye speeds. I did notice view of the starting other fans wearing line, the many bustling earplugs, but having mechanics and other attended other racing cars waiting their events, I thought it was turn. Propped against a for those who couldn’t take the high decibels wall, I found myself next and wanted a nice quiet to two gearheads who were wearing ripped day at the track. I told myself I was going to jean shorts, sleeveless, man-up and experience ratty shirts exposing their tattoo-filled arms drag racing without restraint. and dirty old Harley But I let my atDavidson hats cocked over their long, oily tention down for two seconds to grab my dark hair. Both were notepad, and at that toting large beer mugs, hooting and hollering moment I thought the world had just ended. as each race took place The cars got their below. Now this was a green light and their Spectators watch the Pro Stock races at Bandimere VIP section I could get engines erupted like Speedway July 13 in Morrison. The Mopar Mile-High used to. The energy and an earthquake that Nationals were held July 13-15 and are part of the power of the race still reached our elevated shook up my legs, NHRA POWERade Drag Racing Series. The first official through my chest, and position and I still felt NHRA drag race was held in 1953 in Pomona, Calif. into my skull, leaving a push in my chest from the horsepower. me speechless. This was drag racing. As the races continued, I looked over to see Once I regained my frightened composure, I the gearheads chatting away on their cell phones. I checked to make sure I was still in one piece and couldn’t hear myself think, much less try to discern realized what I had just witnessed and felt. I never what someone on a cell phone was saying. They

Scott Kalitta, driver of the DHL Funny Car, takes off from the staging lines at the green light July 13. Kalitta did not qualify for the ﬁnal round on July 15. both began to chuckle when I asked them if they were regulars at the track and if they could really have a conversation during the raucous. The man closest to me took a swig of his beer and laughed, telling me he was leaving a message on his friends’ answering machine about what a great time he was having and how deafening it was at Bandimere. The other gentleman looked at me and said the same thing, telling me a quick story about how his friends didn’t come because they thought it was outlandish to watch cars race for ﬁve seconds over and over again. I concurred that I had had the same perceptions about this sport and related my earlier earth-shattering experience. Both guys tapped their mugs together, hollered that this is what drag racing is all about and welcomed me as one of their own. I thanked them for their hospitality and moseyed my way over to the plethora of vendor’s tents. There were was something for everyone: food stands, merchandise carts, interactive tents with video-game simulations of drag racing, places to buy car parts to beef-up your own ride at home, and information about how engines were built, the

history of the NHRA and the complete creation of hot-rod racing machines. The smell of exhausted fumes increased as I found myself in the pit area where freshly driven cars pulled in to be adjusted. Vigilant crewmembers twisted ratchets and grabbed ominous car parts, getting vehicles prepared for the next run. Each team only had 70 minutes to rebuild blownout engines, reinstall clutches and replace each and every bearing, which melt from the scorching heat the engines radiate. Soon after, the crews fired up their respective cars and looked them over to ensure the next go-round would be quicker and just as safe. During intermission, while the racing was at a standstill, Tom Cochran’s “Life is A Highway” echoed throughout the eerily quiet venue: “…life is a highway, I wanna ride it all night long.” That is when the sun ducked behind the mountain and fans took a timeout to feast on turkey legs, sauerkraut-filled sausage dogs and cotton candy for the kids. Soon enough, the races were back on, and in the dark of night, the spectacle of the header flames

– which resemble the exhaust of the Batmobile, except with four pipes spewing vertical flames from each side of the vehicle – became the talk of the crowd. My day at the drag had finally crossed its finish line and I was still in awe of the brute force the hot rods bestowed on my being. From the alcohol that constantly resides in the air, to the sounds of the engines detonating every 10 minutes and the nitro fumes that lurk past your nasal cavity, the Mile-High Nationals was heaven for every racing fan that sweats oil and has gasoline running through their veins. As I left Bandimere and headed to my car, the hot rods gave me a hearty goodbye, their engines pounding the ground as I walked away. I will always remember the car alarms going off by the dozen.

ABOVE: Hilary Will accelerates to well over 300 mph in her KB Racing dragster on July 13. Will was the third in the ﬁrst qualifying round with a time of 4.687 seconds. BELOW: Ashley Force, daughter of 14-time NHRA Champion John Force, ran seventh in the first qualifying round with a time of 5.197 at 282.30 mph. This is Ashley’s first year in racing. She is on her father’s Castrol GTX Racing team.

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

audioﬁles Ron Carter album measures ‘Miles’ above the rest

Icky goes Thump in the night Photo courtesy of virtualvulture.com

Meg White and Jack White, queen and king of the two-tone color wheel, go back to their blues roots with their new album Icky Thump. By Jeremy Johnson jjohn308@mscd.edu What’s red, white and rocks all over? You got it, the White Stripes’ new album Icky Thump. Meg White and Jack White continue their proliﬁc musical production with the release of their sixth studio album, which has already received critical acclaim. In some respects, the White Stripes are reminiscent of Led Zeppelin. Not only does Jack wail an axe in much the same manner as Jimmy Page (in 2003, White was listed No. 17 on Rolling Stone’s top 100 guitarists of all time list; Page was No. 9), but as Meg and Jack continue to come of age, the results can be clearly heard in terms of their musical perfection. Thirty seconds into the opening title track, it’s easy to see why one of the most popular rock bands in the world continues to entertain us. The Stripes lay it on thick in Icky Thump, a decidedly determined throwback to earlier efforts heard on their second album De Stijl. And while the Stripes go back to their bluesy roots, the use of a conquistador-sounding trumpet (“Conquest”) and the occasional bagpipe (“Prickly Thorn, But Sweetly Worn” and “St. Andrew”) make this album an ethnic whirlwind of rock ’n’ roll adventure amid a twister of Jack’s experimental guitar riffs. Jack’s songwriting is also as strong, cocky and lyrically cool as ever. His brutal honesty can

be heard in the second track, “You Don’t Know What Love Is (You Just Do As You’re Told)” when he tells his soon-to-be-ex-lover: “You’re not hopeless/Or helpless/And I hate to sound cold/But you don’t know what love is/You just do as you’re told.”

And speaking of doing what you’re told, Meg’s drum work continues to hold a steady beat. In typical Stripes fashion, Meg’s place in the band often seems to be seen, not heard. But to her credit, considering Jack’s frequency for lumberjack stops used to emphasize his lyric wit, Meg does stop playing drums with the best of them. Despite the De Stijl throwback quality of the

Stripes’ latest effort, Jack continues to make the most out of all different music genres from blues and hard rock to country, as heard in the sixth track “Prickly Thorn, But Sweetly Worn.” The song’s backwoods banjo sound is reminiscent of Jack’s work in 2004 with country queen Loretta Lynn on the album Van Lear Rose (perhaps one of Lynn’s best all-time works aside from her billboard hit Coal Miner’s Daughter). Most in tune with the Stripes’ winning style might be the ninth track, “Rag and Bone,” a ripping blues number that plays on the theme of “one man’s trash is another man’s treasure.” With fresh, funny banter between Meg and Jack as prospective junk collectors, Jack repeatedly utters, complete with a goofy country twang: “If you don’t want it, we’ll give it a home.” Chances are that Jack is well aware of the irony, as the Stripes themselves are a kind of musical junkyard and there isn’t a junk chord that Jack hasn’t put to use at least once or twice on this album. Meg’s drumbeat remains, of course, junky and predictable and, unfortunately, is on the precipice of becoming rusty. But Meg does maintain some solid form that ﬁts squarely into the Stripes’ recipe for solid music making. If it ain’t broke… All in all, if the White Stripes aren’t having a lot of fun making music then they do a good job of faking it. Icky Thump is sure to put some bump in your stereo speakers and a jumpstart in your eardrums. Thump away.

By Clayton Woullard cwoullar@mscd.edu Is your jazz collection feeling a little lonely? Perhaps your poor plastic friends are still licking their wounds from being overplayed? Or are they coughing up dust from not meeting a disc laser face-to-face since oral sex in the oval office was a national crisis? Well tell your little buddies to meet a fresh companion, Dear Miles, birthed by an old friend. And if you have no jazz collection to speak of, this disc is not a bad first addition. Ron Carter is one of the most recorded bassists in the genre and, according to many in the know, he remains one of the best. With his latest album, a tribute to Miles Davis, it’s clear the years haven’t put a nick in the 70-year-old veteran’s sheen. If any contemporary musician has the credentials and chops to record a tribute to Davis, it’s Carter. He played an integral role as the main rhythm-keeper in Davis’ second great quintet from 1963 to 1968. Alongside legends Herbie Hancock, Wayne Shorter and Tony Williams, Carter served as the rhythmic anchor on such seminal albums as Miles Smiles, E.S.P. and Sorcerer. He went on to record more than 25 albums as bandleader, played with legendary musicians too numerous to list here, and even appeared on A Tribe Called Quest’s influential Low End Theory. On Dear Miles, Carter tips his hat to his former colleague, friend and mentor without tipping too far into the past. Here Carter’s upright double bass is proud and luscious, but not overbearing. He serves as the backbone of this expertly crafted ensemble, running circle eights with and around drummer Payton Crossley, percussionist Roger Squitero and pianist Stephen Scott. It’s straight-ahead jazz at its finest. While the band plays out the standard melodic lines

See CARTER Page 13

THE METROPOLITAN • 7.19.07

AUDIO FILES • 13

Upcoming Shows

Photo courtesy of Neil Motteram, Karen Exley and Annika Zappe

Don’t let this lovely shot fool you. The girls of Hemi Cüda will take you for a raucous rock ‘n’ roll ride.

July 20

Hemi Cüda CD Release Party w/ the Mansﬁelds, HOSS and Peggy Tulane and Phoenix

Bluebird Theater 3317 E. Colfax Ave. 8 p.m. $10 Buckle your seatbelt kids, and be careful of those bitches behind the wheel. Denver punk princesses Annika Zappe and Karen Exley of hot rod band Hemi Cüda ride into the Bluebird July 20 to promote their latest album Thick Riffs N’ Tasty Licks. Rumor has it that the show will include some suggestive burlesque dancing to accompany their new oral sex anthem “Thick and Tasty.” While the temptation might be there to whip out your very own thick and tasty, we’re fairly sure that the Bluebird’s security team would prefer you kept it in your pants. That is, at least until you get to the parking lot with your girlfriend. Then you can let Hemi Cüda’s new CD do all the work as you drive home in style.

Jeremy Johnson • jjohn308@mscd.edu

College Radio Top 20 Albums TW

ARTIST

ALBUM

LABEL

Wilco

Sky Blue Sky

Nonesuch

White Stripes

Icky Thump

Warner Bros.

National

Boxer

Beggars Banquet

Battles

Mirrored

Warp

They Might Be Giants The Else

Zo Idlewild

Metric

Grow Up and Blow Away

Last Gang

Beastie Boys

The Mix-Up

Capitol

Feist

The Reminder

Interscope Cherry Tree

Elliot Smith

New Moon

Kill Rock Stars

Art Brut

It’s A Bit Complicated

Downtown

Dungen

Tio Bitar

Kemado

Bjork

Volta

Atlantic

Queens of the Stone Age

Era Vulgaris

Interscope

Voxtrot

Playlouder

Spoon

Ga Ga Ga Ga Ga

Merge

Bonde Do Role

Bonde Do Role With Lasers

Domino

Cake

B-Sides and Rarities

Upbeat

Architecture in Helsinki

Heart It Races [EP]

Polyvinyl

Tim Armstrong

A Poet’s Life

Epitaph

Arctic Monkeys

Favourite Worst Nightmare

Domino

Now Hear This!

A sampling of songs from CMJ’s Top 20...

1. “You Don’t Know What Love Is (You Just Do As You’re Told),” Icky Thump, White Stripes 2. “Take Out The Trash,” The Else, They Might Be Giants 3. “Electric Worm,” The Mix-Up, Beastie Boys 4. “1234,” The Reminder, Feist

Jeremy Johnson jjohn308@mscd.edu Jason Schwartzman, the young thespian protagonist that came into fame opposite Bill Murray in Wes Anderson’s movie hit Rushmore, has recently again tried his hand at music and is the brainchild and single member of new indie-rock band Coconut Records. Actors-turned-musicians are, for the most part, a cursed lot (i.e. Russell Crowe, Keanu Reeves, Don JohnPhoto courtesy of MySpace.com son or – shudder – Eddie Murphy). But Schwartzman manages to com- Jason Schwartzman may look melancholy, but he’s really a happy bine clever lyrics with groovy disco little music ninja in his new one-man band, Coconut Records. beats and an average-Joe voiceover that makes for a warming musical composition they elicit merely a passing whimsy rather than that incorporates some rump-shaking chic. an overview of existentialism that is prevalent in Coconut’s “West Coast” is a semi-sweet ac- the lyrics of so many of today’s “deepest” musicount of homecoming and the inevitable sorrow cal thinkers. that comes with leaving a loved one behind. Along with “West Coast,” cheat anthem Coconut’s compositions seem heavily inﬂuenced “Nighttiming,” and rusted, old love ballad by current rock ’n’ roll heavies such as Wilco “This Old Machine” are available to listen to and Modest Mouse, but the actual songwrit- and download at www.myspace.com/coconuing doesn’t necessarily compare in complexity. trecords. Not yet available in stores, the album Schwartzman’s lyrics and choirboy vocals have can be purchased at youngbabyrecords.com and more of a Polyphonic Spree quality to them, and www.apple.com/itunes.

5. “Make It Wit Chu,” Era Vulgaris, Queens Of The Stone Age

Carter • Davis tribute an essential to true jazz collectors Continued from 12 in the beginning, everyone then melts into solos and group improvisations, coming back together at the end for the reprise. This classic formula is executed on several tracks, such as “Seven Steps To Heaven,” the only Davis-penned tune on the album, which includes a wonderful bongo solo by Squitero. “My Funny Valentine,” which was one of Davis’ favorite compositions, is slightly different than the standard formula in that all of the musical voices play equally throughout the song, with pianist Scott’s light and emotional lyrical lines at the lead and Carter’s notes always right where they need to be – so integrated that in parts you almost forget he’s there. The track is the highlight of the album. The bassist also contributes two compositions of his own: “Cut and Paste” and “595.” “Cut and Paste” maintains the straight-ahead format, jumping into a jittery melody that slides into piano and drum solos. While Scott takes the lead here, Carter is the real shining star, with his speed-walking bass that never detours from

the path and booms over the other instruments until Crossley’s solo. The song is some of the most fun on the album, next to “Bag’s Groove” and “As Time Goes By.” On “595,” it’s the play between the piano and percussion that holds up the ordinate, coordinated frame of the song. It also touts some of the best percussion work on the album. When I first played Dear Miles the opening track grabbed my eardrums immediately. Carter and his ensemble effortlessly and deceptively transform “Gone” – an orchestral piece arranged by producer Gil Evans for Davis’ Porgy and Bess – into a minimalist quartet effort. The record didn’t let go of my eardrums it so gingerly massaged until the final track was over. The album is effortlessly made, and one that requires no concentrated effort to appreciate (unlike more complex jazz). It’s impossible to know whether Davis would see it as a fitting tribute, but he’d be hard pressed not do dig it.

Insight “

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

Thank you very much for hiring me. I have not properly identiﬁed myself. I am the emperor, the sovereign rule of this nation. God has bestowed this honor on me. Today is the appointed day in which God has chosen for me to begin my reign. I have decided to favour (sic) Advanced Energies as a company. Please keep the Emperor’s desk free for my use in R and D purposes when I have spare time. I take engineering very seriously. With love in Jesus Christ, signed Aaron Aurelius Ricardus Constantinus.

”

– AARON SNYDER, e-mail to coworkers before storming the Capitol armed

Kim Jong “Ill” “United Nations inspectors have confirmed that North Korea has shut down its weapons-making nuclear reactor.... North Korea warned the United States, though, that the real bargaining over its nuclear disarmament had only begun.” – The New York Times, July 16

“First I meet schwarzenegger, and then I want 50 naked american women and a red convertible coupe with tinted windows, and a lifetime supply of Ben & Jerry’s ice cream, and...”

Andrew Howerton • ahowert2@mscd.edu Kim Jong “Ill”

Stronger, faster, prettier... Once upon a time, a colleague of mine from The Metropolitan, accompanied me to Tracks, the local gay night club. By midnight, she was pooped. But I was just getting started. The next day she told all about how crazy my friends and I were and she was amazed at how long and how hard we danced that night. I wasn’t. After all, the gays are known for being little balls of glitter and energy. This little anecdote of mine is due to the ﬁctional Mr. Brandon Kelly’s column in The Onion under the headline “Where do homosexuals get all their energy?” He writes: “with their boundless energy and talents, they (homosexuals) make us straight guys look bad.” And he’s right. For the most part, the gays have straight boys beat in many areas. Kelly points out victories in the wardrobe department, partying, the home, the gym and culture. “Imagine being able to run six miles a day and make indelible contributions to the arts and letters of our country. Phew! I get tired just thinking about it!” he exclaims. For the record, I know very few fags who have all of the aforementioned cover. I probably only know one person who runs six miles a day. And most of my friends rent apartments, they do not ﬁx up neighborhoods. And just about half of my acquaintances can put together a complete sentence. But, in general we are, as Kelly puts it, “superhuman” and excel in the majority of categories listed. Moreover, to the heterosexual eye, we

NIC GARCIA ngarci20@mscd.edu make it look easy. We throw together multiple outﬁts a day, have the best jobs, go to the most amazing clubs and are generally on the go all the time. It’s quite common for yours truly to have multiple social engagements in one evening. But take it from me, it isn’t as easy as it seems. Kelly ponders what drives the homosexuals to be in ﬁve places at once. “Is it from all that meth? I’ve heard it’s an epidemic in the homosexual community, and it may explain how they can charge through their day.” True, Kelly. But a well put together “Tina Queen” is few and far between. The boys who play with Crystal usually get cut early in life and are trapped in a bathhouse or some other hell of their own making. The truth of the matter is, most gays – if they are lucky and strong enough to make it through high school – know how lucky they are to be alive. According to some reports, gay teens are six times more likely to attempt suicide than their

heterosexual counterparts. And to think we supposedly only make up one-tenth of the population. For the rest of the gays who just made it by in the shadows, like myself, we know the world is ours for the taking and we won’t waste a second. “Or maybe homosexual sex is simply more invigorating and satisfying. Or could it be that their quest to be perfect is a way to compensate for their families’ shame?” Kelly ﬁnally asks. True, sex always puts pep in my step. But sex in general always recharges a man, gay or straight. And family shame has little do with our lack of sleep. Chances are, if they don’t care about us, we don’t care about them. Moreover, in this never-ending world of oppression, it seems more and more homosexuals have adopted a mentality that we are not only the same as heterosexuals but we must be better. We must be stronger, faster, prettier… Perhaps the fear of losing a single moment of splendid daylight in the park or the dread of missing our favorite diva under the disco ball is what keeps us going. When you’re gay you can’t help but know there are people who would rather see you dead, burning in hell. When you’re gay you can’t help but know there are more than enough reasons why you shouldn’t be smiling. And when you’re gay you can’t help but take advantage of taking an extra 25 percent off already marked down name brand jeans that normally cost $70 a pair.

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 ASSISTANT PHOTO EDITOR Cora Kemp • ckemp4@mscd.edu DESIGN EDITOR Nic Garcia • ngarci20@mscd.edu ILLUSTRATOR Andrew Howerton • ahowert2@mscd.edu COPY DESK CHIEF Matthew Quane • mquane@mscd.edu COPY EDITORS 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.

Upset by what you read in the Insight pages? Want to have your opinions heard as well? Think you have what it takes to be in print? Send in your letters to the editor or volunteer to write as a columnist. Direct e-mails to dpollan@mscd.edu, or come by Tivoli 313 and ﬁll out an application. Columnists of all persuasions and walks of life are encouraged to apply.

THE METROPOLITAN • PAGE 16 • ERIC LANSING • LANSING@MSCD.EDU

Sport

DID YOU KNOW...

The Division II Female Athlete Player of the Year award adds to the laundry list of awards Metro soccer player Kylee Hanavan has won in her three years as a Roadrunner. She was also named a NSCAA/adidas all-American three times, a two-time Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference Player of the Year award winner and NSCAA/adidas Women’s Soccer Division II National Player of the Year.

Hanavan takes home female athlete of year By Jeremy Johnson jjohn308@mscd.edu

Photo courtesy of Kylee Hanavan

Former Metro soccer player Kylee Hanavan holds her Division II Female Athlete of the Year award during the press conference at New York City’s Columbia University on June 25.

For Metro’s Kylee Hanavan, there’s nary a cherry to put on top of winning two Division II women’s soccer national championships in just three years of collegiate competition. But wouldn’t you know Hanavan’s career culminated to legendary status June 25 at New York City’s Columbia University when she was named Division II Female Athlete of the Year by Honda. “I think winning this award was really special to me because I was selected out of all the sports, not just soccer,” Hanavan said. “Soccer is still looked down upon and I think this is a chance to recognize soccer and all its athletes.” Hanavan was chosen out of 11 other Division II athletes from a spectrum of sports. Hanavan is just the second soccer player in the 20year history of the award to be honored. “I think being honored with an award like this speaks volumes about (Hanavan) and not just in the last year but in her whole career,” women’s soccer head coach Danny Sanchez said. “I also think it speaks volumes about our athletic department and how we’ve managed to put people in position to win awards like this.” After transferring to Metro from Western Nebraska Community College, the Northglenn native made an immediate impact on the team, helping the Roadrunners to a national championship in 2004. By the end of the ’Runners’ 2006 championship run in which she was team captain, Hanavan had amassed school records in points (206), goals (80) and assists (46). Somehow, the hallowed forward remained humble and grateful to teammates throughout her career and credits her team, her coaches and the Metro athletic department for her success. “I think winning this award is a great accomplishment, but I feel like it says more about

the team as a whole and our coaching staff and how much we were able to accomplish together,” Hanavan said. As a team, the ’Runners have suffered only a handful of losses and made it all the way to the Elite Eight in 2005 before being ousted in a shootout with Seattle-Pacific, the eventual championship finalists. “The main thing I can say about Kylee is that she’s always deflected praise away from herself and was far more concerned with winning,” Sanchez said. “She put individual accolades aside and focused on the team aspect.” Hanavan’s success on the soccer field is somewhat of a surprise as far as recruitment is concerned. She said that she didn’t come to Metro expecting to play soccer but simply to get a degree in social work. But according to Hanavan, soccer factored into her success both athletically and academically. And thanks to the tight ship that Sanchez calls the Metro women’s soccer program, her grade point average went from 2.8 to 3.8. “(Hanavan’s) a great example of a player that wasn’t highly recruited but was still able to accomplish what she did,” Sanchez said. “I think her success says a lot about the success of the team and she’d be the first to say that her success is certainly a byproduct of the team’s success.” Hanavan plans on returning to the Roadrunners as an assistant coach next season alongside former teammate Amy Leichliter, but said that she has no interest in becoming a head soccer coach in the future. She said that she is, however, contemplating trying out at a professional level in one of the new U.S. women’s soccer leagues. At least she’ll have something to put on her resume if she ever does try out: Division II Female Athlete of the Year.

Women’s soccer offseason work ethic reflects will to win By Eric Lansing lansing@mscd.edu Clanging sounds echoed from the Metro athletes’ gym, followed by the mufﬂed grunting of hard-working athletes pushing themselves during the offseason. Along with a few coaches getting their morning workouts in, Metro’s women soccer senior Katie Kilbey was leg pressing a couple hundred

pounds in preparation for the next season. Coming off of their second NCAA Division II Championship in three years, the women’s soccer team faces an offseason that is unlike any it has had in past years. Division II Player of the Year, Kylee Hanavan, will not be the rock this team relies on in the 2007-2008 season. Hanavan had been the leader of the championship Roadrunners, topping the team in goals, assists and points the past two years.

Metro also lost seven other seniors, and will welcome 10 new players to the squad who will try to continue Metro’s institutional dominance. But coach Danny Sanchez, who brought two soccer championships to Metro, is still at the helm and said he is ready to take on the challenges of the upcoming season. “Every year is a new team,” Sanchez said. “This year we obviously lost quite a few players, but every year is a new challenge and we are

excited for the new players coming in.” With 20 players forming the team, 10 new recruits equal half the roster. Sanchez said that those players know the situation they face coming to Metro, a school that is known for its winning tradition and the fact that with eight seniors moving on, there is ample opportunity for open positions.

See SOCCER Page 17

THE METROPOLITAN • 7.19.07

SPORT • 17

SOCCER • Players follow coach Sanchez’s workout regiment in the offseason Continued from 16 “For them, it’s wide open for playing time, starting spots and all that kind of stuff. They’re excited, as well as the returning players,” Sanchez said. Returning players, such as Kilbey, had a short time to celebrate their title before hitting the field again for spring workouts. Kilbey said that they lifted weights and played soccer two times a week. “We went into our spring season right away,” Kilbey said. “The seniors came back and helped us.” Her first thoughts on the upcoming season were on the new freshmen coming into the program. She said she was excited but also very nervous about the chemistry her team needs to foster before the games start in August. Kilbey knows that as a senior, she will carry some of the load to ensure that the new recruits have a smooth transition to Metro soccer. “I just try to encourage players, especially the freshmen,” Kilbey said. “When I was a freshman, I came out (to work with the returning players in the offseason), but I was so intimidated. I don’t want them to feel that way towards the older players and have them get to know us now, so that when the season starts, we are already familiar with each other.” Sanchez knows the significance of his returning players and has preached to them that this offseason is a time for them to display their experience and to take on a leadership role, so that by the beginning of the preseason, Aug. 6, the entire team will be a cohesive unit ready to start the season in championship form. The six-year head coach believes that his success derives from working year round and explains that his job coaching one of Division II’s premier teams doesn’t adhere to an offseason.

Photo by Cora Kemp • ckemp4@mscd.edu

Metro soccer player Katie Kilbey works on her calves over the offseason, July 2, in the Metro athlete’s gym. Kilbey and her fellow teammates follow a set workout schedule given to them by head coach Danny Sanchez to ensure they are in top physical condition by Aug. 6 when the preseason begins. “It’s pretty much year round now with recruiting, training, summer recruiting for ’08 and ’09,” Sanchez said. “It’s a never ending cycle of preparation. But for the next season speciﬁcally – come preseason – it’s all business.” During the offseason, which begins in May and ends in August, the coaching staff is not allowed any contact with their players. It is up to the players to stay in shape during the summer months and come ready to begin their preseason schedule. Sanchez helps keep his players in tip-top shape with different ﬁtness tests and calendar packets that describe summer workouts in detail.

“Really, it’s on them to be prepared physically and mentally for preseason,” Sanchez said. “Because once we start, we have 17 days to start our ﬁrst game, so we don’t have a lot of time to mess around in preseason. They have to come ready.” Kilbey, who has routinely followed the packets in her four years at Metro, has seen ﬁrsthand the improvements it has on her teammates. She credits her head coach for emphasizing to the team the importance of pushing yourself in the offseason. “He stresses to us to get in shape, because the thing with our team is we have so much tal-

ent, but we are also in great shape,” Kilbey said. “But if there is a team who has better talent than us, we can still beat them by our ﬁtness. Our ﬁeld is as big as it can be so we use that to our advantage and we play in the higher altitude all the time so teams come in and we just run all over them. It’s such an advantage for us to stay in shape.” With only one month left before the Roadrunners fall back under the lead of Sanchez, more soccer players are joining Kilbey in the weight room to make sure that this offseason resembles those of past years, hoping for similar results.

No one walks to a fantasy football title, but take the right steps now

ERIC LANSING lansing@mscd.edu The NFL Preseason is one month away, which should have you fantasy football fans dancing in the endzone. August is the usual meeting time for fantasy football owners to get their usual suspects together and hold the annual draft to put together a juggernaut of the best fantasy players in the business. There are some tidbits you should take with you in the upcoming month before you take your pen, paper and drafting hat to the table. Always consult more than one fantasy magazine or website. One mistake fantasy owners make in the preceding month is they consult one publication and draft players based on that particular magazine or website’s biased comments.

I usually pick up three to four different fantasy football magazines hoping to find every conceivable outlook on a player. One publication will say that Randy Moss is going to have a great year under Tom Brady, but another will tell you that the Patriots like to spread the ball around and he will put up minimal stats. Just like any and all education, find more than one source to take in knowledge about fantasy football. Keep a close eye on injury reports, team transactions and depth charts. With training camp already in full swing, players are pushing themselves to get into shape and that’s when hamstrings are blown and ligaments are torn. As we target our favorite wide receivers and running backs, we feel the pain of ACL and MCL tears as much as the athletes themselves, but if you draft a player who is out for the season because the fantasy draft is the first time you even thought about football, then you are doomed for a long season. Make sure you have a complete understanding of the point system in your particular league. There are so many different types of drafts and ways to score points from Auction Drafts, Keeper Leagues, Rotisserie Leagues, etc. Some leagues have TD-only scoring, some carry a point-per-

reception, some are scored by the most yards produced and the ways to rack up points every week are endless. In my top league, we take into consideration that your quarterback should be the most important player on your team and we give them a point-per-completion, so if you own a QB from a team that throws more than they run, you could ride the wave of his game to a title. If you have an understanding of how your league is scored, you can prepare now for your draft and have the advantage of those who walk in clueless on the leagues rules. Be wary of the rookie hype. I know that the 2006-2007 saw new talent dominate the ﬁeld from Maurice Jones-Drew’s 15 total touchdowns, Reggie Bush’s 1307 total yards and even Matt Leinart’s 2,500 passing yards and 13 total touchdowns, but don’t think that you are going to outsmart other owners by forecasting that Brady Quinn is going to explode for 20 passing touchdowns or that Marshawn Lynch is primed to carry the Bills to the playoffs. If you feel the need to draft rookies in hope of grabbing the next Vince Young or Joseph Addai, do it in the later rounds where your starting lineup is secure with proven veterans and if someone goes down to injury, a surprising newbie can slip into

your lineup and you will be called a genius (or lucky) by your fellow owners. Finally, in the month leading up to the day that could make or break your fantasy team, never show your hand to the other owners who want nothing more than to steal that sleeper pick and have him/her laugh in your face as you say, “I was just going to draft him.” Keep your thoughts on who is going to have a breakout season, who is doomed for a lackluster year and which player you drool over to yourself. This leads to the games you can play with the other owners, whether by giving them a false sense of who you desire to see on your squad or by giving them false “inside information” about a player who has all the potential to carry a fantasy team, even though that wide receiver from the Tampa Bay Buccaneers won’t see many passes thrown his way because his quarterback is on his keister half the time due to their wretched offensive line. So there you go, extensive knowledge on how to come to your fantasy football draft in August with full preparation and know-how. We all know there are a handful of owners who don’t even glance at a magazine or website and look ridiculous when they draft Jake Plummer in the ﬁrst round. Don’t be that fool and do your homework.