Volume 30, Issue 4, Sept. 6, 2007 by Met Media

Serving The Auraria Campus Since 1979

Vol. 30 No. 4

http://www.mscd.edu/~themet

THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 6, 2007

Bumming among the books Federal laws keep library a homeless haven » A3 METROSPECTIVE »

searching for the perfect

HOT DOG » B4

AUDIOFILES » Photo by ANDREW BISSET/abisset1@mscd.edu

A MONSTER demonstration

Activists assembled at a demonstration Aug. 30 to protest an award the University of Denver Graduate School for International Studies granted to Wayne Murdy, the former CEO of Denver-based Newmont Mining. The protest was held outside of the Denver Marriott City Center. Murdy accepted his award at the hotel also. Free Range Theater, a group of Boulder theatrical activists, brought the large green monster sporting a “Wayne Murdy” name tag, pictured above. » A7

Kissing Party plants one in your ear » B6 SPORTS »

Women’s soccer upset by rankless Winona State » A11

metro THE METROPOLITAN » SEPTEMBER 6. 2007 » A3

»REFORMING COLO. EDUCATION FROM A-Z »A5 »PROTESTING NEWMONT »A7 »INSIGHT: AMERICA THROWS THE DICE »A8

ANDREW FLOHR-SPENCE » NEWS EDITOR » spencand@mscd.edu

METRO NOW

THIS WEEK » Friday 9.7

The Student Advisory Committee to the Auraria Board meets at 2:30 p.m. in Tivoli suite 329. SACAB is located in Tivoli suite 314. Stop by the office or call (303) 556-4589.

Wednesday 9.12

The Faculty Senate will meet from 3:50 p.m. to 5:15 p.m. in Tivoli suite 320 A and B. The meeting is open to the public. The Faculty Senate is located in Central Classroom 303. For more information call (303)556-3905 or stop by the office.

Thursday 9.13

Happy Jewish New Year!

THE METROPOLITAN 25 YEARS AGO »

September 8, 1982 Colorado Scholars plan revised

- More Metro students will be eligible for Colorado Scholarships, but the deadline is soon.

Is Denver Booming?

- Just another rags-to-richesto-rags hard luck story, or can Denver plan its future?

THE COLD FACTS » Scrubs

During the school year Auraria uses an average of 400 liters of hand soap per month - the equivalent of two and a half oil barrels full. Statistics supplied by Ivan Lybarger, Facilities Management.

THE MET REPORT »

This week’s top stories: • Problems with Finacial Aid • The Apprentice on campus • Women’s soccer upset • Car chase ends at Auraria forcing partial campus lockdown • Immunization deadline

Buddy, can ya spare a book? Despite unease toward transients, library must serve all in community By AMY WOODWARD awoodwa5@mscd.edu On the south side of Auraria Library’s first floor, surrounded by filing cabinets stuffed with archives, sat a man named Bob. Bob, who when asked for his full name would only say “Bob,” said he has been homeless for a couple of years and has been coming to the library for about a year and a half. “I read a bit in here, it’s quiet,” Bob said. But for a number of the library’s other patrons, the presence of homeless people in the campus library is enough to ruin that quiet. Although only a few disturbances have been recorded over the years, there are complaints from the library’s staff and students who are uncomfortable with the library’s visiting users, said Terry Switzer, interim dean for the Auraria Library. There is not a lot Switzer can do about these complaints. Federal law states that an academic public library not only serves students, faculty and staff, but also the community. The library can be used for free by anyone who has a valid ID, such as a driver’s license or school ID. This includes Denver’s homeless, or transients. “We are a partial federal depository of documents and by receiving government publications from the federal government we say we will make those available to the community at no cost,” Switzer said. “It can be such a fine line to being able to provide research service and tools that everybody needs … and yet keep a research atmosphere so students can come in and study and do their research without feeling intimidated or without feeling fearful of going to the bathroom.” According to Switzer, there have been numerous complaints, primarily from male students and male staff, regarding transients in the bathroom who reportedly use it to wash their clothes or take baths in the sinks, according to Switzer. The library does have full-time security guards to help assist workers in case there is a confrontation and to help with evacuating people when the library is closing. But some staff workers would prefer the security guards begin identification checks

Photo by GREG DAILY/gdaily@mscd.edu

Transients have long used the Auraria Library as a place to find shelter and catch up on sleep. Because Auraria is publicly funded and receives material support from the federal government, homeless people are allowed to sleep in the campus library as long as they do not disrupt students. and start enforcing the “house rules,” Switzer said. The house rules include no yelling, no talking on cell phones and – the hardest one to enforce – no prolonged sleeping. But therein lies the problem, Switzer said. “What is considered prolonged sleeping? You can’t really do that because it is not against the law,” she said, adding that it is difficult to enforce the sleeping rule because a majority of students come to the library to sleep. The number of transients in the library is also hard to determine. She said sometimes there are four or five homeless at a time, other times the library will only see a couple all day. “The population has really gone

down in the last year,” Switzer said. Nevertheless, Switzer and the staff have recently been addressing complaints from students. One of the biggest complaints is from students who say they can’t find a computer because the computers are being used by the transients, she said. To fix the problem, the library created a logon timer that limits non-student time to 60 minutes a day. When a nonstudent comes into the library and wants to use the computer, they must go to the circulation desk and provide identification and fill out a form. They are then issued a number to use to log on to the computers, which regulates the time they are on the computer. “This is such a dichotomy be-

cause we are very aware of many of their problems and we don’t want to push them out on the street. That’s the last thing we would want to do,” Switzer said. “But our mission is not to serve them. Our mission is to serve students, faculty and staff of the campus.” The Denver Public Library sees visitation from the transient community, as well, but Thomas Scott, manager of security at the Denver library, said it is wrong to discriminate against anyone. “What society needs to realize is the homeless are not there by choice. Most workers are about one paycheck

TRANSIENT Continued on A5»

THE METROPOLITAN « SEPTEMBER 6. 2007 « METRO « A5

School reform, finger painting to finals Education system from preschool to college to get needed overhaul By ROBERT FISHER rfishe18@mscd.edu Colorado’s financial commitment to state education is sometimes summed up by a colorful native bumper sticker, “Colorado first in scenery, 44th in education.” But does this trend serve as a harbinger for larger issues in the state’s commitment to education? Not to Gov. Ritter. He is expecting the now active P-20 Educational Coordinating Council to help him fulfill his Colorado Promise, which includes among other campaign promises, reforming the state’s education system. Three Metro representatives are involved with the P-20 council. Adele Phelan, current chair of Metro’s board of trustees, represents Metro on the primary 29-member council. Former chair of Metro’s board of trustees Bruce Benson is serving as one of the three co-chairs to the council. And Metro’s Associate Vice President for Enrollment, Judi Diaz Bonacquisti, is serving as an invited expert to the Preparation and Transitions subcommittee. Ritter authorized the formation of the P-20 council in April by signing an executive order. At the signing, Ritter called education the foundation to Colorado’s economy but said recently

Photo by LOGAN LYLES/llyles@mscd.edu

Dan Zhuang studies Sept. 4 on the second floor of the Auraria Library. A governor authorized group, called the P-20 Educational Coordinating Council , is looking to reform Colorado’s education system from preschool to graduate school. The council hopes to improve communications between the Departments of Education and Higher Education. the state’s education system had been strained and needed not only proper funding but proper alignment. The P-20 council is working through the efforts of five subcommittees. The individual subcommittees will collectively review the state’s entire education system. Part of Gov. Ritter’s “Colorado Promise” is to reduce state drop-out rates by half and doubling postsecondary certificates and degrees for higher education institutions, like Metro, by 2017.

The P-20 council has until November to propose an action plan, leaving a month to work on any legislative issues the action plan may identify before the next legislative session in January 2008. Phelan said she is looking forward to being ready with an action plan for the governor by November. But she said the council itself will continue after the November deadline, calling the work of the council an “evolving effort.” “The pre-college work ties in very

Metro to freeze rooms, classes By EMILE HALLEZ ehallez@mscd.edu Metro students will have less selection of midday classes beginning in 2008, but more options for early morning and evening courses. A new class-scheduling policy limits faculty from offering more course sections, or units of the same class, than in 2007, and it puts a tighter cap on the percentage of total classes each department offers starting at 10 a.m., 11:30 a.m. and 1 p.m. “Based on the actual enrollments in each course section, departments should consider offering no more, and preferably fewer, sections in spring 2008 than were offered in spring 2007,” reads the new policy. Despite the new scheduling constraints, the student body may still be able to grow – for now. “Students will get what they need – they just won’t get (classes) at convenient times,” said Stephen Leonard, history department chair at Metro. Leonard, who is currently determining the department’s schedule for spring 2008, said he is limited to seven courses per time slot. “I need to serve the students, but I don’t have the space.”

The Room Utilization Committee, in conjunction with other departments at Metro, disseminated the policy Aug. 30 to teachers charged with the task of scheduling course sections by day and time. More classes will likely be scheduled as early as 7 a.m. and as late as 7 p.m., when room availability is wide open. Because of the new policy, Metro will be able to accommodate more students in the hours that space is less utilized. And more available room could well be needed, as Metro guarantees acceptance to any student age 20 or older who has a high school diploma or any student who has a GED. For Brad Pepper, an Office of the Registrar employee who troubleshoots for classes scheduled without rooms, the lack of space presents a constant challenge. “It was a bit harder than in previous semesters. … We do a lot of shifting” through the first week of classes, Pepper said of his work this fall. Classes that initially had no place to meet have been placed in lounges and conference rooms. Some sections, Pepper said, benefited from space left over from UCD and CCD allocations and were able to get normal classrooms.

A recent report by the Auraria Higher Education Center shows that between 10 a.m. and 1 p.m. all classrooms on the campus are occupied. “I would hope we could increase by 10 percent by spring,” Pepper said of room availability. Previously, academic departments were limited to scheduling 6.5 percent of their total number of sections per time slot. Under the new policy the popular slots starting at 10 a.m. through 1 p.m. will be limited to 6 percent. Hours outside of that range are allowed higher percentages – 7 percent or more. At 7 a.m., 7 p.m. and any time Friday through Sunday, there won’t be a cap on the number of sections. More sections could be available for high-demand courses, but the solution may be temporary if Metro’s enrollment continues to rise. “We’ll still have a crunch in the spring,” Pepper said. He called the new policy “a stop-gap solution” and said he advises students to be attentive to their classroom locations when the spring semester commences. “Check MetroConnect perhaps every day before the start of the semester to make sure your rooms

well with having Metro represented at the table. So we make sure we have some input in helping craft what it will take for students to be prepared to transition from K-12 coming into college,” Bonacquisti said. “So it ﬁts in very nicely with the work we are already doing.” Bonacquisti’s work as an invited expert to the Preparations and Transitions subcommittee involves examining the transition students make from high school to college. But they are looking at how to make it easier

and more efficient for both the students and the administrators. An example of this transition from the student’s perspective is improving the benefits of dual enrollment. “We are trying to better utilize dual enrollment when students are in high school and using that as a preparation to get involved with college life,” Bonacquisti said. An opportunity that exists from the administrative side is aligning the Department of Education and the Department of Higher Education to better work together. “They haven’t always worked in alignment,” Bonacquisti said. “And sometimes, unfortunately, K-12 and higher education have been pitted against each other and the budgetary allotments that have come from the state.” The P-20 council’s aim is to help students across the state and should be compatible with the Denver area. “I think without a doubt it will align with the demographics of the DPS in our back yard and Adam’s County,” Bonaquisti. Although not intentional, Bonacquisti said the work of the P-20 council does fit in nicely with Metro’s HSI initiative but said, “I think that the mission of looking at P-20 would be preparing all students for life-long learning. So it is looking at it comprehensively and not targeting specifically Latino students but looking at how we can better align and prepare for all students.”

TRANSIENT » Library serves students and the broader public Continued from A3 away from being homeless,” he said. “Society has an obligation to be open to helping these people reach their potential, that’s what a library is about, that’s what college is about.” Randy Branaman, a Metro graduate and math tutor who has been coming to the campus for 11 years, said he has experienced a few problems with the transients, but none of the problems are any different from those he experiences with students. “You can’t complain about them sleeping under the stairs, because everyone is doing it,” Branaman said. “It’s different sometimes though when a big library has two bathrooms and all the stalls are ﬁlled with homeless … they use them but sometimes they’re parked in there.” According to Switzer, the difﬁculty with the homeless population is not behavior, but rather the way staff and students view homeless individuals. “Some of us are biased, some of us maybe don’t understand why they are homeless and a lot of times when someone isn’t like us we are a little more leery of them,” Switzer said. “It

is really difficult and I wish we didn’t have that problem.” Other people are completely unaware of the problem. Metro junior Angie Hanks was surprised to hear homeless people have been coming to the library. “There’s no problem with it for me but if there are disturbances then there should be consequences,” Hanks said. No one could agree more than the man back among the filing cabinets. Bob said he is aware of the uneasiness in the library, but feels he doesn’t pose a threat to anybody. “I don’t think I do, but some of the people come in here and they like to drink,” he said. “There is limited access on the computers and some feel upset about that, but I tell them, ‘Get a job and get your own computer.’” The library has been looking into issuing visitor passes to help monitor who comes into the library. “We are just discussing visitor IDs now,” Switzer said. “We are looking at different ways we could better control who can come in, which is very difficult for us to do.”

A6 » METRO » SEPTEMBER 6. 2007 » THE METROPOLITAN

After laptop thefts, IT looks to upgrade technology Department’s new leader hopes to fortify security, form search committee By DAVID CARDENAS dcarden5@mscd.edu

As outdated technologies have taken their toll on professors and students, Information Technology has aspirations to upgrade the current software and servers throughout Metro, all while the department continues to search for a permanent vice president. IT suffered major security breaches when two faculty laptops, containing the Social Security numbers of thousands of Metro students, were stolen in the past two years.

Since then, President Stephen Jordan announced a change in IT’s personnel when George Middlemist, who had served as interim vice president of IT for nearly three years before, became vice president of administration and comptroller. In his place, professor of computer science Steve Beaty was named the new interim VP of IT. “We plan to upgrade, what I call the infrastructure of the Information Technology, upgrade the network and some of our servers,” Beaty said. He will hold the administration job temporarily until the position is ﬁlled by someone with more “corporate experience,” Jordan said in an e-mail.

“I’m in fear that my students won’t be able to perform in jobs due to out-of-date software that are on these computers.” RICH STRONG, METRO AUDIO PRODUCTION INSTRUCTOR Along with upgrades to the IT system, Beaty will lead a search committee that includes representation throughout the college, and recruiting a student to aid in the search for potential candidates for the position. Beaty said a VP with corporate experience would beneﬁt the department by having a mind-

set of delivering on service. “But on the other hand we do a lot of interfacing with the corporate world. We buy all the computers and software for the college. Having private industrial background certainly can help in this position. My background in that area was part of the reason I was asked to do this job,” Beaty said. Finding a permanent VP isn’t the only concern that IT currently has. IT’s servers, networks and software data are outdated and need to be upgraded. Metro Audio production instructor, and executive for the Denver Radio Company, Rich Strong said he believes that current IT policies have hindered his teaching ability by using outdated software. “We’ve tried to update the audio software but all we get in response (from IT) is that it doesn’t cater to the current policy in place, due to lack of funding or that the current software doesn’t correspond to the system that they use,” Strong said. “I’m in fear that my students won’t be able to perform in jobs due to out-of-date software that is on these computers.” However, IT is in the process of purchasing a major piece of software that would improve customer relationship management, which would track students throughout their college careers, Beaty said. In six months, Beaty intends to find a replacement for his position, but doesn’t see these projects being completed by the time the new interim VP of IT steps into office. “The truth of the matter is, we look at everything all the time and we look at bringing in solutions of every aspect, the difficulty we face is having enough people and money to bring those ideas to fruition,” Beaty said. “Like everybody else we don’t have an unlimited budget and we don’t have unlimited people, so we try our best overall to provide those services that are most critical to the college.” Part of Beaty’s background includes corporate experience working for Hewlett Packard and Cray Computer Corp. before becoming a tenured professor at Metro in 2001. Middlemist, who had served as interim VP since 2005, was moved to the financial department of the college where most of his expertise would be put to use. “His degrees were not computer-related which, as mine are, I have no insight in how the decision was made to hire him in the first place,” Beaty said. It was during Middlemist’s tenure when one laptop was stolen in February 2005, then another in February 2006.

Got a tip? Contact Us: Call us at (303) 556- 3423 or e-mail to spencand@mscd.edu.

THE METROPOLITAN « SEPTEMBER 6. 2007 « METRO « A7

BEYOND AURARIA »

DU delivers award, sparks protest Activists voice objection to honor bestowed upon former CEO of Newmont Mining Corporation, give citation to Western Shoshone community leader By EMILE HALLEZ ehallez@mscd.edu Protesters burned stock shares and University of Denver diplomas outside the Denver Marriott City Center Aug. 30 in response to an award ceremony for former gold-mining company CEO Wayne Murdy. The DU Graduate School for International Studies gave Murdy the Bridge Builder’s Award for his role in establishing ties between Denver and international communities. “They’re afraid of these banners. They’re afraid of your voice,” said Glenn Morris, associate professor of political science at UCD, to the group of activists. Protesters in the crowd outside the Marriott ignited Newmont stock certiﬁcates and two diplomas: one master’s degree and one PhD, each earned by activists at the demonstration. One protester, dressed in orange and black novelty pimp attire, led another, disguised as a tall green monster with a nametag that read “Wayne Murdy,” with a cutout of a carrot. Activists have targeted Denverbased Newmont Mining Corporation, the second-largest producer of gold in the world, for alleged environmental and human-rights violations. Newmont counters that it brings employment and utilities such as clean drinking water to indigent communities. Under the leadership of Murdy, Newmont grew to be, for a time, the largest gold producer on the planet. “It’s great that this many people come out to tell Murdy he isn’t welcome in his own community,” said Glenn Spagnuolo, a member of the activist group Stop Newmont Mining. Omar Jabara, a tuxedo-clad spokesman for Newmont, ventured out into the sea of protesters to refute the negative claims. While Newmont operates mines on land disputed between the Western Shoshone tribe and the U.S. government, Jabara said that Newmont’s operations on the Nevada land are legal. “Their grievance is with the federal government,” Jabara said prior to the protest of the Shoshone people who object to the presence of the mines. The American Indian Movement, or (AIM), of Colorado gave its own “Bridge Builder’s Award” to Carrie Dann, a Shoshone grandmother who has been vocal in her objection to Newmont’s operations on tribal

lands. She deserved the award, Morris said, because of the ties she helped forge between the Western Shoshone and indigenous people affected by mining in other parts of the world. “Carrie Dann may be the most courageous person you’ve met in your life,” Morris said. “We stand shoulder to shoulder with the Western Shoshone. … Every ounce of gold that comes out of that land is a violation of ” the U.S. treaty with the Western Shoshone. While Newmont has also been accused of polluting with mercury the area around one of its Indonesian mines, in Buyat Bay, the company was acquitted of those charges in court and has come up clean on independent audits, Jabara said. “At the height of the controversy over Buyat Bay in Indonesia, Mr. Murdy asked me to evaluate the situation and report to him and the board of directors,” wrote Gary Krieger, a University of Colorado associate professor of toxicology, in a letter published Aug. 10 in The Denver Post. “All objective medical and scientiﬁc facts indicated that the local villagers’ health was not impacted by Newmont operations.” Awon Atuire, a former resident of Ghana who said he has seen unsavory results of a Newmont mine built in his home country, also spoke at the protest. He visits Ghana every year, he said. “It’s hopeful to see people from cross sections of Denver come out,” Atuire said. “Our people have dignity. Dignity is taken away from them.” He said that when Newmont came to Ghana, the company promised job opportunities to residents. “They never have as many (jobs) as the people who have been displaced.” AIM had a room reserved at the Denver Marriott that was meant to be the locale where Dann would accept her award, but the hotel cancelled the reservation. The Marriott broke the contract before the Korbel Dinner, a GSIS scholarship fundraiser at which the Bridge Builder’s Award was given, on Aug. 30, Spagnuolo said. “I think … people should take their business elsewhere and never get a room with the Marriott again,” he said. “When we saw there was potential for disruption, we acted accordingly and did cancel one of the contracts,” said Richard Romaine, director of sales and marketing for the Denver Marriott City Center about refusing AIM’s reservation.

Photo by ANDREW BISSET /abisset1@mscd.edu

Activists line the sidewalk Aug. 30 in front of the Denver Marriott City Center to protest the University of Denver giving former Newmont Mining CEO Wayne Murdy an award. They wore masks, they said, to represent victims of environmental pollution.

Photo by EMILE HALLEZ / ehallez@mscd.edu

Glenn Morris, associate professor of political science at the University of Colorado at Denver, holds up a certiﬁcate of stockAug. 30 in Newmont Mining Corporation outside of the Denver Marriott. Activists burned certiﬁcates and two diplomas from the University of Denver.

Photo by EMILE HALLEZ / ehallez@mscd.edu

A protester who asked not to be identiﬁed spoke Aug. 30 to guests at the Korbel Dinner, patrons of the Denver Marriott City Center and the hotel’s employees. He encouraged guests not to attend the event and employees to quit their jobs.

THE METROPOLITAN » SEPTEMBER 6, 2007 » A8

insight SECOND THOUGHTS

The Great Indecider

FROM THE FACULTY » Stock Market Scare “I think it is hype created by uncertainty. Because anytime you have uncertainty the market will react. And there is uncertainty with these derivatives floating around that are made of sub-prime mortgages, many of which will be defaulted on. And so when that happens people get concerned because ... they don’t know what the impact will be, and so that uncertainty is what leads to concern overall.” – Mimi Hackley, Metro finance professor, regarding the recent stock market scare

Illustrated by ANDREW HOWERTON » ahowert2@mscd.edu Written by The Metropolitan staff

POLL POSITION » CBS News/MTV Poll In deciding who you would like to see elected president next year, which one of the following issues will be most important to you? Economy: 23 percent Iraq: 20 percent Education: 15 percent Environment: 12 percent Terrorism: 10 percent Health care: 10 percent Immigration: 8 percent Don’t know: 2 percent

A BIGGER VIEW » Re: Coal-ﬁred power “Coal is one of the most environmentally destructive substances on Earth ... Coal should not be cheap. The only way to encourage cleaner alternatives is to make coal producers and the consumers of coal-fired power pay the true cost of their pollution. It’s clear that won’t happen at the behest of the Bush administration, which is why Congress must exercise much stronger coal industry oversight and strengthen laws that protect the environment from unsupervised miners.” – THE LOS ANGELES TIMES

Democracy doubles down The United States has a gambling problem. I’m not just talking about poker on television, Lotto, dog tracks, fantasy sports or the burgeoning world of online betting. There’s also the stock and real estate markets, insurance policies, home mortgages, even getting a college degree is an expensive speculation: students bet that the jobs they will land after school will pay a return on their initial investment. Gambling has made this country the world’s superpower. But it may also be its ultimate undoing – or perhaps its greatest tool against terrorism. Aside from small, lively pockets of debauchery – Las Vegas, Atlantic City, the occasional Indian reservation – gambling in the United States is illegal. Fortunately, like so many other vices our society publicly condemns, gambling is also implicitly condoned, from drug stores on Main Street to hedge funds on Wall Street. Even President Bush, a born-again moralizer, has staked his entire presidency on the war in Iraq – an expensive bet, to say the least. Bush, in proposing his Social Security overhaul, even wanted to tie the retirement funds of millions of citizens to the volatility of the American economy. Hail to the gambler-in-chief. But perhaps the biggest, legal-

ized gambling racket is the world of the futures markets. These markets essentially bet on the long-term wellbeing of other markets. For instance, instead of investing in bars of gold bullion, visionary brokers can wager whether the price of gold will go up or down. Other futures markets are more complicated: Will political upheaval in East Timor affect the price of hardwood in Brazil? As predictive indicators, these markets have proved amazingly accurate: in nearly every market they perform in, they are able to better predict events than any expert or complicated computer algorithm. Score one for the market-based economy. In fact, these markets have proved so effective that in 2003 the U.S. Department of Defense began looking into whether it could use them to predict terrorist attacks and other acts of political instability. The DOD’s program, called the Policy Analysis Market, would have created an online electronic futures market based on the volatility of international politics. Select investors would have been able to put money down on whether or not the House of Saud would fall, or whether Israel would be attacked with biological weapons. If events came true, investors got a return. The

GEOF WOLLERMAN gwollerm@mscd.edu idea would have been that the collective intelligence of investors would be able to predict when and where the next terrorist attack would occur. Unfortunately for the DOD, once unveiled the program quickly folded under the critical weight of public opinion, which tended to ﬁnd the idea of betting on potentially tragic events more than a little disturbing. “We just weren’t aware of where the cut-off was between what was acceptable and what was beyond the pale,” said Robin Hanson, one of the developers of the program. Apparently, for the American public, putting cash down on Barbaro to win the Derby is all right, but betting on whether the King of Jordan is going to get assassinated is downright immoral.

But really, when has the morally questionable ever stopped us before? Financial writer James Surowiecki argued at the time that the DOD’s futures market was no different than other currently acceptable industries, such as insurance. “The entire business of a life-insurance company is based on betting on when people are going to die,” Surowiecki wrote in Sept. 2003 on Slate.com. “There may be something viscerally unappealing about this, but most of us understand that it’s necessary. This is, in some sense, what markets do: harness amorality to improve the collective good. If the price of getting better intelligence is having our sensibilities bruised, we should be willing to pay it.” But, like guilty, broke gamblers slinking back to our hotel room below the breaking rays of dawn, we want to forget all about our addiction to risk. We want our gambling to be legal – or at least have the appearance of being legal – and we want to know that even if throwing the dice or betting on the Rockies is immoral enough to receive reproach from our grandmothers, it at least won’t land us in Dante’s ninth circle of hell. Our gambler-in-chief might not be so lucky.

metrospective

B1 » THE METROPOLITAN » September 6, 2007

JOSIE KLEMAIER » FEATURES EDITOR » jklemaie@mscd.edu

Just a taste A Taste of Colorado, Aug. 31 through Sept. 3 photos by Greg Daily, gdaily@mscd.edu » LEFT: A vendor spoons warm, melted chocolate over an icing-covered fruit kabob Sept. 1 at A Taste of Colorado in Denver’s Civic Center Park. The annual event ran from Aug. 31 through Sept. 3, and was produced by Downtown Denver Events, Inc., the Downtown Denver Partnership community events nonprofit organization. MIDDLE: Papa Tall serves up a tub of pure shea butter, which sold for $10 a container Sept. 1 at A Taste of Colorado. The purpose of the free event is to bring residents from all over the state together to share and learn about the diverse cultures and Western heritage of the state. RIGHT: Collin Stover dispenses “Tiger’s Blood” flavored syrup onto his shaved ice Sept. 1 at A Taste of Colorado. The festival has its roots in the Festival of Mountain and Plain that was first organized by Denver businessmen in 1895 to help boost the city’s economy after a 1983 silver panic. The festival ended in 1902 when funding dissipated and was not successfully revived until 1983 when the Denver Partnership held it as part of the opening of the 16th Street Mall. It was a successful celebration of the many cultures and traditions of Denver and A Taste of Colorado was added to the Festival of Mountain and Plain in 1984. This weekend, A Taste of Colorado celebrated its 24th anniversary with seven stages of live music, offerings from 50 local restaurants, 250 artisans and vendors and educational programs free of charge.

INSIDE: CHEAP TREATS: What Denver’s allAmerican snack scene has to offer the poor pocketbook » B4 GET OUT: Where to ﬁnd Metro on this month’s First Friday » B3

timeout

B2 » SEPTEMBER 6, 2007 » METROSPECTIVE »

“A HOTDOG AT THE BALL PARK IS BETTER THAN A STEAK AT THE RITZ.” - HUMPHREY BOGART

CROSSWORD

ACROSS 1. Arrived 5. Upbeat, in music 10. Long poem, such as those attributed to Homer 14. Ancient Greek coin 15. Italian lady 16. Give up 17. It’s got you covered 18. Concerning 19. Back part of the foot 20. Post 22. Novel 24. Killed 25. Uncovered 26. Capital of the Ukraine 28. Diary bit 32. Open wide 35. Regret 37. Greek island in the Aegean Sea 38. “___ had it!” 39. Young salmon;

SUDOKU

41. Lever for rowing 42. Land covered with trees 45. Litigate against 46. Lazy, inactive 47. Between, old-style 48. Brown-bag stuff 50. Ceiling fan 54. Adjust to zero 58. Pertaining to two lines 61. Scrape off 62. Geographical expanse 63. Nuremberg trial defendant 65. Capital of Western Samoa 66. Strong woody fiber 67. All, musically 68. Small children 69. Initial stake in a hand of poker 70. Lieu 71. Scottish Gaelic

Sept. 3 puzzle from www.crosswords.com. Solution available on the website.

DOWN 1. Army unit 2. Bubbling 3. Dough 4. Elﬁsh 5. Purim month 6. Steal from 7. Pry 8. Accustom 9. Glossy fabric 10. Spiny anteater 11. Hammer head 12. Notion 13. Prison room 21. Black bird 23. Nerd 25. Egg cell 27. Previously 29. Stepped 30. Monetary unit of Iran 31. Dextrous, lively 32. Present 33. Acknowledge

34. Persian fairy 36. Goddess of dawn in Greek mythology 37. Single, individual unit 40. Succulent 43. Make amends 44. Astound 46. Do repeatedly 49. Metro area 51. Bird homes 52. Gone 53. Mountain ridge 55. Flavor 56. Prepares for publication or release 57. Mock, annoy 58. Small yeast cake 59. Oil-rich Islamic theoc racy neighboring Iraq 60. For fear that 61. Parched 64. 7th letter of the Greek alphabet

CUT CORNERS

metropolitan staff and andrew howerton

MASTER PLAN

geof wollerman and andrew howerton

WHERE IS THIS?

Be the ﬁrst to e-mail us the correct location, and you’ll receive a free ticket to the Starz FilmCenter! Lucky you! Each week’s winner will also have their photo printed in the following issue of The Metropolitan. Send e-mails to jklemaie@mscd.edu.

LAST WEEK’S WINNER:

puzzle courtesy of www.websudoku.com

Photo by AMIE CRIBLEY/acribley@mscd.edu

IT student Michael Watters, 39 , is last week’s winner! This technology wiz is turning his hobby of working with computers into a career.

getout

THE METROPOLITAN « SEPTEMBER 6. 2007 « METROSPECTIVE « B3

Q: What happened when the toilet was stolen from the police station? A: They had nothing to go on.

eat » Watercourse

» 837 E. 17th Ave. »Open Mon-Fri 6:30 a.m.-10 p.m. Sat-Sun 8 a.m.-10 p.m. » Serving up some seriously succulent vegetarian/vegan food that even a hardcore carnivore can appreciate. From scrambled eggs overﬂowing with sundried tomatoes to a cheesy Portobello mushroom Reuben, this restaurant is a healthy and tasty way to spend your lunch break.

drink » Old Fashioned

» 3 dashes bitters » 1 sugar cube » 3 oz. Bourbon whiskey » 1 slice orange » 1 maraschino cherry » In an old-fashioned glass, muddle the bitters into the sugar cube, using the back of a teaspoon. Almost ﬁll the glass with ice cubes and add the Bourbon. Top with a splash of soda water and garnish with the orange slice and cherry. Serve with a swizzle stick.

in theaters » Halloween

»R » Starring Tyler Mane, Sheri Moon Zombie, Scout TaylorCompton. » This is a remake of the 1978 slasher. Directed by Rob Zombie. Enough said.

on dvd » Fracture

»R »Anthony Hopkins, Ryan Gosling, David Strathaim » Ted Crawford (Anthony Hopkins) deliberately shoots his wife, confesses to police and wishes to represent himself in court. The up-andcoming big time attorney Willy Beachum (Ryan Gosling) thinks he can close the case, but it’s shut down when Crawford manipulates his way into Beachum’s weaknesses.

First Friday »

Cool crossover

Young entrepeneurs bring the art of skiing to Santa Fe’s First Fridays » by Kate Johnson, jokathry@mscd.edu »

Lining the far wall of the Icelantic AT Boards office are works of art that vaguely resemble skis. The office is largely empty as the Icelantic staff work to polish up the last of the renovations in their new building. But empty space isn’t a problem for Icelantic founder Ben Anderson. An irrepressible grin and a shine in the 25-year-old’s eyes say he’s ready. Not only will he and his colleagues fill the space to the brim with their product – locally manufactured skis – but they will also be setting up to host Denver artists of all disciplines – just in time for the First Friday art walk along Santa Fe Drive in Denver. Three years ago, five friends who grew up together began a dream buried deep in the high country of Evergreen. In 2003, Icelantic opened its doors and enjoyed immediate success as their ski production tripled by 2004 and doubled in 2005. Add that to the win in 2006 of the Brand New Award “Best Hard Good of the Year” at ispo, the world’s largest sporting goods trade show held each year in Munich and it’s not hard to see why Icelantic has raised a few eyebrows. “The whole industry itself is buzzing about what we’re doing, but it just needs to relay over to the general public,” Anderson said. Strategically-placed planks baring the same art as the skis displayed beside them showcase the Icelantic team’s unique sense of style. One ski, entitled “The Nomad,” depicts a traveler heading toward a hollow-eyed owl cast in vibrant blues and purples. Another fantasy-driven design takes the viewer back in time and into a swirling sky above the pilgrims’ ships as they prepare to land. These highly engaging images are the work of Icelantic’s head artist Travis Parr. “We’re all real creative people and we just try to push it as hard as we can, and make sure other people can relate,” Anderson said. “We saw a great opportunity moving to this district – with how art-driven our graphics are and the potential of displaying other people’s work also,” he added. Sam Warren, a junior at Metro and the apparel manager for Icelantic, said he couldn’t ask for more when it comes to the people he works with and the overwhelming support from customers. “The sky’s the limit,” Warren said. “The feedback we’ve been getting on these skis – it’s almost intimidating how much positive feedback we’ve gotten on the company.” Icelantic plans to hit the slopes again this winter, offering free demos to spread the good word of their skis which are produced right here in Denver by Never Summer – one of the top five ski and snowboard manufacturers in the world, Anderson said. “We really just want to get them out on the slopes, and get people on them so they believe in them, just like us,” he said. Icelantic skis come with a two-year warranty to compliment their midrange cost of $500-600. Anderson said with the warranty, quality and

Photo by SARA LOVEN/sloven@mscd.edu

Metro business student Sam Warren sits in the oﬃce of Icelantic AT Boards where he works as an apparel representative. The Sept. 7 grand opening of the oﬃce will introduce it as the company’s headquarters and an art gallery. competitive price of the skis, costumers are getting quite a good run for their money.

Icelantic AT Boards grand opening» 948 8th Ave.

Sept. 7 from 6 p.m. to 9 p.m. featuring a live performance from local group Paper Bird. Read more about them on A7. »

metro art » Honors society goes Barefoot for student art This week’s First Friday art event on Denver’s Santa Fe Drive has a lot to offer, including the talent of three Metro students. “It will promote Metro students in general and get information out about the Honors Program,” said Tara Raine, an art education major and one of the artists participating in the show. Raine, Nicholas Baldridge and Mark Veljkovich, all Metro students, will be presenting their works in varied media, including photography and wood. All artwork will be available for purchase and a percentage of the sales will beneﬁt the Metro Honors Program, which is sponsoring the show. The show will be held at the Barefoot Radio Gallery at 738 Santa Fe Drive. Barefoot Radio is an Internet-based radio station that features discussions

and airs music from independent bands and musicians. At each First Friday the station hosts interviews with their featured artists, who are broadcast during the event. “It’s mostly about putting your name out there,” Raine said. “It helps you grow as an artist.” STEVE SINCLAIR, ssinclai1@mscd.edu

Barefoot Radio Gallery » 738 Santa Fe Drive

Sept. 7 from 6:30 p.m. to 9 p.m.

B4 » SEPTEMBER 6. 2007

THE METROPOLITAN

SEPTEMBER 6. 2007 « B5

Hottest dogs in Denver

The hot dog may be a summer staple, but for many outlets around the city— and strapped-for-cash college students— it’s a tasty option year-round. By Jeremy Johnson, jjohn308@mscd.edu » Photos by Kristi Denke, kdenke@mscd.edu »

s summer fades to gray and fall begins to shake the foliage of green from the trees’ bare, boney branches, grills get covered with tarps for the winter and many a barbecue lover hangs up their smoky tongs until the next year. But there’s one hot item you can count on throughout the season, the top dog, if you will.The hot dog is undeniably an allAmerican staple. Trumping burrito stands in the West and gyro stands in the East, the wiener is available at almost every sporting event and dozens of portable stands throughout many a metropolis. One reason for the dog’s popularity is simple. Hot dogs offer American folk what they seek most: sheer and utter convenience. Let’s face it, hot dogs are easily and quickly prepared (for the most part), they have potential for endless variation (although many prefer the classics), and they come already packaged for consumption and often without silverware (but see Sam’s No. 3). And while true Denverites wear their native status like a badge of honor, they sometimes forget some of the benefits of the city’s booming national influx. Nowhere is that sentiment more prudent, quite frankly, than in the subculture of Denver’s hot dog franchises. So get a cholesterol test and if the doctors give you the green light, grab a bib and let’s roll as The Met breaks down some of the finest franks, the top dogs, the true “wieners,” if you will, in the Mile High City. (And hang in there vegetarians, we’ve got a few for you, too.)

Biker Jim tosses sausages on the grill Sept. 1, at his Biker Jim Sausage stand on 16th and Arapahoe. The variety of sausages oﬀered and location make Biker Jim synonomous with a great lunch.

While true Denverites wear their native status like a badge of honor, they sometimes forget some of the benefits of the city’s booming national influx. Nowhere is that sentiment more prudent, quite frankly, than in the subculture of Denver’s hotdog franchises.

Biker Jim’s Gourmet Dogs 16th Street Mall and Arapahoe 10 a.m. – 5 p.m., Mon. – Fri. (Weather permitting) For those of us who spend our weeks on the Auraria Campus, this is an easy ﬁnd. Just look to the northeastern horizon of downtown and head for the Daniels and Fisher Clocktower. A 16th Street Mall ﬁxture, Jim Pittenger – better known as “Biker Jim,” – serves up an assortment of exotic sausages ranging from Alaskan reindeer, to buffalo, to elk and wild boar. His shiny, silver traveling hot dog cart and grill, his sparkling personality and his delicious gourmet dogs have become a steady staple of the Skyline Park plaza. After moving from Alaska to attend the University of Colorado at Boulder, Biker Jim fell into the car repossession business for the next 18 years. Feeling

A classic “Chicago” dog awaits delivery at Chicago’s. The family-owned business has been at its current location at the corner of Colfax Avenue and Otis Street for nearly ﬁve years. Jim Pettinger serves up his signature sausages Sept. 1, at the sausage stand that bears his name, Biker Jim’s. The “Usual” includes chips, drink and the proper ﬁxings: cream cheese and sweet onions.

the burn of stealing cars and driving day in and day out (and as Biker Jim said, “Nobody ever seemed happy to see me”), he took some time off and returned to Alaska for vacation. While there, Biker Jim ran into an old friend of his from the restaurant business who started a gourmet hot dog stand in Anchorage. The rest is history. “My friend said to me ‘you should do this, man. I think you’d be great at it,” Biker Jim said. “And he was right. I really have a good time.” Don’t let the Angels-esque moniker, the long hair or the tattoos fool you. Biker Jim’s charisma and charm make this dining experience all the more delicious. Even at his busiest moments (which are all the time, really) Biker Jim ﬁnds time to make small talk with patrons, handing out quaint compliments and the occasional joke. All jokes aside, one thing Biker Jim is hesitant to talk about is the source of his superb sausages. He assured The Met that his product is produced, and often hunted, locally. “There’s a couple of things I’m not sure I really want published,” Biker Jim said with a smile. “There are certain trade secrets I don’t want revealed.” Understandably so, these sausages are painstakingly grilled and prepared by one of the best. Letting these delicious meats into the hands of a less considerable palate would stain the hot dog community like yellow mustard on a silk tie. Top Dog: For those of us who hate to pick favorites, I often debate just ordering one of each, although my “usual” (Biker Jim offers up a dog, drink and chips for $5) is the elk jalapeño. But, for the record, I’d like to thank all of Mother Earth’s edible animals for being so damned delicious. Recommended Condiments: Four words: cream cheese caulking gun. Trust us and give it a try. Biker Jim also offers up caramelized onions off the grill, as well as standards such as kraut, chasse, peppers and onions. But Biker Jim will tell you himself, “In my opinion, spicy mustard goes with everything I offer.” Damned if he isn’t right. Extras: Before he started doing dogs, Biker Jim was already quite deft at crafting cheesecakes. Now he offers up both. Also stop by Biker Jim’s coffee stand, located at the visitor’s information center in the Skyline Park plaza. Along with coffee (and cheesecake), the stand offers ice cream and even a reindeer and egg breakfast burrito.

Steve’s Snappin’ Dogs, 3525 E. Colfax Ave. 11 a.m. – 9 p.m., Mon. – Sat.; 11 a.m. – 7 p.m., Sun. This place really is a snap. Conveniently located on Colfax and Monroe, everything about Steve’s place is snappy, from the clean, casual uniforms of the staff, their quick, concise and friendly service, to that first snappy bite into their premium cased Thumann dogs, imported special from New Jersey. And anyone that’s ever been there knows that Jersey Joes are experts in the field of fine, fattening foods. The converted gas station became the new home for Steve and Linda Ballas’ beefy brainchild and now they have managed to make quite a name for themselves, receiving a good deal of attention from local print and television media. The real key to their success is the dog itself. Steve’s Thumann dogs are pork and beef blends with a smoky, natural taste that snaps when you bite into one. The other key to Steve’s success is in the efforts of his fast and friendly staff. Upon entering, the staff is immediately attentive and all smiles. “Hi! Welcome to Steve’s Snappin’ Dogs!” one staffer will exclaim. And if they don’t recognize you, they’ll be quick to ask: “Is this your first time here?” For the Steve’s first-timer, the staff offers a sample. One snappy bite of their premium dog and your neck snaps up to the menu. Take your time studying Steve’s menu, as they offer nearly 30 different toppings, ranging from Chicago-dog-style, to bacon or even coleslaw. For the vegetarians, Steve’s offers up tofu dogs and garden burgers, and for the health-conscious in general, Steve’s low-carb, flash-fried green beans are a…you get it, snap. Top Dog: With so many choices of radical and exotic toppings, a fave is hard to find. But, personally, Steve’s Atlanta Dog is the ultimate, unique twist on a southern barbecue gem. Topped with chili carne, cheese, red onion and coleslaw, this wiener would win the respect of the staunchest southern gentleman. Get your fork for this one. Recommended Condiments: My suggestion is don’t fix what isn’t broken. If you want plain ol’ ketchup and mustard, you’re probably in the wrong place. Extras: Steve’s knows burgers, too, and their never-frozen “Smashburger” packs a punch. Also try their skin-on, thin-cut fries and Blue Bunny ice cream.

Sam’s No. 3, 15th and Curtis OR Parker and Havana

6 a.m. – 9 p.m., Mon. – Thur.; 7 a.m. – 10 p.m. Sat. & Sun.

Mustard’s Last Stand, 2081 S. University Blvd., 10:30 a.m. – 9 p.m., Daily Described by one online reviewer as a “hole-in-the-wall burger joint,” I found that statement to only be half-truth. Because anyone mistaking Mustard’s for a “burger joint” obviously didn’t take the time to get to know their dogs. Located on University Boulevard and Evans, Mustard’s has all the ﬁxins of your classic hot dog stop. With it’s quaint, painted sign and mustard yellow façade, Mustard’s is the perfect place to ﬁll up while watching a ballgame on the TV (often the hometown favorite Chicago White Sox). While all around are the sounds of fry cooks barking orders, the sizzle of the grill and the sweet smell of Mustard’s spicy, homemade, superior red chili. Mustard’s offers probably the largest vegetarian selection of all the nominees. Aside from the traditional tofu dog, Mustard’s offers tasty tofu Reubens and tempeh burgers, as well. While Mustard’s remains busy, based on the quality of their product, a new University of Denver dorm opening across the street promises to make Mustard’s busier than ever. Trust us when we say it’s worth the wait. Top Dog: Mustard’s famous Chicago Dog – topped with traditional Chi-town favorites such as hot peppers, tomato, celery salt and a pickle spear – is so good it would curl the toes of Colonel Mustard himself. The classic chili dog is a real catch, too. Hell, loosen up the belt buckle and try them both. Recommended Condiments: The Chicago Dog has plenty to offer, as does the chili dog. (Mustard’s top-notch chili includes red kidney beans, beef, pork and hunks of cooked jalapeños.) But it you want an extra kick, just refer to their catchy moniker and help yourself to a little standard, yellow mustard. Go ahead, make a stand.

Sam’s No. 3 is another conveniently located spot to find the perfect dog. Located at 15th and Curtis Streets, Sam’s No. 3 was the third of five Coney Island joints opened by Sam Armatas in the 1920s. Traditionally known for their massive breakfast menu (their overall menu has more than 200 items), the original Sam started the chain to serve Coney Island style hot dogs, hamburgers and, of course, red chili. Three generations later (and a second Sam, the current owner), the chili is as good as ever. If you don’t believe us, just go try one of Sam’s chili and cheese Coney dogs. But forget using your hands for this one, you’d be better off with a shovel. Top Dog: The chili and cheese Coney Island dog. Recommended Condiments: Like most greasy spoon outfits, this one can always use a dash of ketchup and mustard. In the case of Sam’s No. 3, it’s good.

Dude at the light rail Dude at the light rail: Before you dog connoisseurs get your beer bellies in a bunch, we already know these questionable dogs aren’t anywhere near par with the previous mentions. But let’s face it, these dogs are America’s treat in its barest form. They won’t leave your wallet bare and they’re the epitome of convenience. Two dollars and two minutes or less will get you a plain, boiled beef and pork dog, a bag of chips and a soft drink. While this might not ﬁll some of the bigger appetites, it serves, if nothing else, as just enough fuel to get you through that two-hour morning chemistry class you’ve been forced into. But be careful not to drop that dog in a beaker of unidentiﬁed, pink liquid, lest the whole damned lab go up in a mysterious, smoky explosion. Top Dog: The $2 special with chips and a drink. Recommended Condiments: The works. After that, you won’t even notice the pig snout that lies beneath. Extra: Go ahead and splurge. Get a Snickers for another 75 cents.

B6 » THE METROPOLITAN » SEPTEMBER 6, 2007 JEREMY JOHNSON » MUSIC EDITOR » jjohn308@mscd.edu

»RECORD INDUSTRY DINOSAURS VICTIM TO INTERNET TAR PIT »B7

audioﬁles

half notes

‘Rediscover’ the real party

Friday 9.7

By JOSHUA SMITH jsmith293@mscd.edu

UPCOMING SHOWS » My Sister Outlaw w/ King For a Day and ALL CAPITALS

9 p.m. @ Curtis Street Bar, 21st and Curtis, Denver $5, 21+

Saturday 9.8

Built to Spill w/ The Delusions @ 8 p.m. Fox Theatre, 1135 13th St., Boulder $20, 21+

NEW RELEASES » TUESDAY 9.11 GET RICH OR DIE... 50 Cent

Curtis Aftermath www.cduniverse.com www.aftermathmusic.com

I’d like you to sit for a moment and reflect on your life. Look deep inside and explore your heart; there’s something missing, isn’t there? It’s Kissing Party. I know, what an easy answer! With the upcoming release of their new album, Rediscover Lovers, you can be sure to never feel empty ever again. Rediscover Lovers is a fast-paced, indie-pop tour de force. The album is composed of 12 songs that claw and fight their way toward the threeminute mark, never quite making it. After about two minutes, for the most part, the songs need to curl into a ball and cry into their sweaters. Which is great, because the Kissing Party does pop the way it should be done: quick, danceable, and all about being horribly alone and unloved. The coy, winsome vocals of singers Dierdre Sage and Gregg Dolan perfectly complement the playful, bouncy nature of the music, lending the air of high school love gone wrong, necessary for successful pop tunes. That being said, it can’t be denied the band has greatly matured over the last several years of playing in Denver and building a dedicated fan base. Rediscover Lovers shows Kissing Party’s growth toward becoming a formidable voice in the world of twee, placing them alongside other happygo-lucky-sad-asses such as Tullycraft and The Lucksmiths. Gregg and Joe Hansen sword fight their way through the songs with their excellent guitar work, pushed along by Shane Reid’s machine-accurate drumming and Darren Dunn’s tight, punchy bass. The indomitable Yana Kucher ties together the simple rhythms and melo-

Photo courtesy of Daniel K. Photography

Kissing Party wants to love you, and by love you, we mean make out in the alley and break your sad little, wiener heart. dies with adorable, shoe-gazey synth lines. Frenzied and fun, smiling through tears, Rediscover Lovers by Kissing Party is a deﬁnite must have for indie lovers everywhere. But it’s especially important for us here in Denver to support our local rising stars of rock. Thankfully, you can see the true shining glory of Kissing Party on Sept. 7 at the Hi-Dive. There you’ll be able to dance your little ass off and afterward run gleefully home to write in your journal about your sad, sad heart while jam-

UPCOMING SHOWS » Friday 9.7

Kissing Party CD Release Party w/ Hunter Dragon, Married in Berdichev and Maple Tigers 8 p.m. @ Hi-Dive, 7 South Broadway, Denver $6, All Ages ming to your very own copy Rediscover Lovers.

www.myspace.com/ thekissingparty

The Last Goodnight brings out the goth in God By DESIREE CLARK dclark67@mscd.edu

Joey Ramone and Holly Vincent I Got You Babe/One More Dance Ramo Records www.ramorecords.com www.interpunk.com

Syd Barrett

Syd Barrett – Up Close and Personal (DVD) Hurricane International www.cduniverse.com Photo courtesy of www.myspace.com/thelastgoodnight

For new music releases visit: www.newmusictipsheet.com

The Last Goodnight teaches us that God will still love us, even in all black and with that terrible tattoo.

Their album cover says it all: the forbidden apple with a bite already taken out of it while a green snake curls itself around the big red mass. The Last Goodnight debuted their ﬁrst album, Poison Kiss, Aug. 28 to a less-than-accepting audience. The Last Goodnight disguise themselves as rock/pop, but with songs titled “If I Talk To God” (“If I talk to God/ I don’t know if he’s listening/ When I speak out loud/ I don’t know if he’s home”) it’s hard to distinguish between typical pagan rock ’n’ roll, as opposed to their pseudoChristian-rock stylings. When they are not preaching or praying, some of The Last Goodnight’s songs are enjoyable. Despite their saintly ways, their sound

mimics bands such as The Cure and The Killers with a strong keyboard presence in the background. However, their claim to fame is a song titled “Pictures of You,” which reached No. 34 on Billboard.com’s Hot Adult Top 40 Tracks list. “Pictures Of You” is a love ballad explaining how over the years relationships may change but pictures will remain the same. Too bad it goes back to the Jesus talk with the lyrics: “This is a soldier and his gun/ This is the mother waiting by the phone/ Praying for her son.” The Last Goodnight is hard to put into a genre – maybe emo, maybe rock/pop – but they deﬁnitely have a touch of the Almighty. So, if talking to God amid heavy keyboards is your type of music then The Last Goodnight’s Poison Kiss is the album for you. Go ahead, take a bite out of the illicit fruit.

THE METROPOLITAN « SEPTEMBER 6. 2007 « AUDIOFILES « B7

CMJ Radio Top 20 Chart

Photo courtesy of www.myspace.com/paperthebird

Unlike that stupid origami swan, the members of Paper Bird can really sing.

Paper birds of a feather By JOSIE KLEMAIER jklemaie@mscd.edu Like a J.D. Salinger novel, the young Boulder-based group Paper Bird is taking listeners back to simpler times with complex, post-graduate emotions. Borrowing the name of their debut album, Anything Nameless and Joymaking, from Salinger’s lovelorn novel, Franny and Zooey, the group – comprised of three super sweet female vocalists and three strapping young male musicians – sets the scene for hours of front porch swingin’ and wanderin’ about dusty country roads, tall, cool drinks sweating in the summer heat and adventures that are only a hitchhike away. Paper Bird embraces a revision of acoustic Americana and smooth gospel balance, adding a lively jazz sound that has hardly been noticed by our age group since the Depression. And the image the band’s name conjures up is a crafty,

imaginative ﬁgure that begs to ﬂy away is as good imagery as you can get. The group is imaginative, not only in the genres they chose, but also in their marketing. All of the apparel sold at their shows so far has been handmade or rejuvenated from used articles. Looking at their merchandise table is almost like hearing one of their songs: fabric is vintage, embroidery is hand-stitched and all of it works surprisingly well. Their crafting abilities are worth mentioning because the music is just as original and crafty. A trombone, cornet, harmonica, guitar and banjo come together to emulate vaudevillian melodies. And when paired with the soulful roars and bird-like calls of the three rosycheeked young ladies, the songs become fresh and appealing to the modern, vintage-crazed crowd. Those young ladies – two of whom are sisters – capture the most attention as they explore all

ARTIST

ALBUM

LABEL

Interpol

Our Love to Admire

Capitol

SPOON

Ga Ga Ga Ga Ga

Merge

Tegan and Sara

The Con

Sire

Yeah Yeah Yeahs

Is Is [EP]

Interscope

White Stripes

Icky Thump

Warner Bros.

Architecture in Helsinki

Places Like This

Polyvinyl

Justice

Cross

Vice

Iron and Wine

Boy With A Coin [EP]

Sub Pop

1990s

Rough Trade

Okkervil River

The Stage Names

Jagjaguwar

Editors

An End Has a Start

Epic Fader

John Vanderslice

Emerald City

Barsuk

Ryan Adams

Easy Tiger

Lost Highway

Against Me!

New Wave

Sire

Gogol Bordello

Super Taranta!

Side One Dummy

Smashing Pumpkins

Zeitgeist

Reprise

St. Vincent

Marry Me

Beggars Banquet

Chemical Brothers

We Are The Night

Astralwerks

Beastie Boys

The Mix-Up

Capitol

Polyphonic Spree

The Fragile Army

TVT Courtesy of CMJ Music @ cmj.com

ranges and moods and always in exhilarating harmonies. Tracks such as “Pennies” and “Motown Man” exhibit the dynamics of each singer, and the strength of the group is the lyrics they craftily juggle and bounce off one another. Words like “waning moon” and “square of calico” dot the lyrics of “Bluebells,” which oldtime jazz sound brings about visions of lightning bugs, with the soundtrack of crickets seeping into the imagination behind the music. Though the lyrics and honey-soaked vocals of the girls catch your attention like the smell of peach cobbler at the state fair, the boys shine through with their Dylan-inspired harmonica playing and soothing, smooth trombone play-

ing, banjo strumming and guitar plucking, like on “The Train Song.” It chugs into a solo station, allowing for a quick acoustic guitar to ﬂirt and feet to dance before slowing to a sweet stop. The only thing Paper Bird could do wrong is stray from the local nest that cradles the group in such an intimate, friendly atmosphere on stage. Their live performances are nothing overthe-top and it’s a characteristic that seeps from their music. The harmonies of the girls are exhilarating, and the plucky sounds of the boys are, as Salinger would put it, “everything nameless and joy-making.” A live, charismatic Paper Bird performance will emboss a little nostalgia of Holden Caulﬁeld in all of our hearts.

Internet downloading leaves record companies ripped Since its inception, the Internet has spawned a lot of new business. The multi-billion dollar success of Google is evidence of the entrepreneurial power the Internet’s global scope provides. But the Internet has also felled some giants along the way – most notably the mighty Goliath of America’s record industry. Once a symbol of corporate greed and the ease with which the bottom line can ruin a band, the record industry has been hobbled by the rise of ﬁle sharing, iTunes and – thanks to social networking sites – the ability of bands to market themselves. Record company executives are now on the outside looking in, wondering how they can compete in a technological age that has literally passed them by. According to Lynn Hirschberg, in the New York Times Magazine, Columbia Records is staking its future on Rick Rubin. Rubin, who Sony recently hired as co-president of Columbia to

revitalize the struggling music division, is the legendary progenitor of the Def Jam label. He is also responsible for producing hit records by some of the biggest stars of the last 30 years including the Beastie Boys, Neil Diamond, Red Hot Chili Peppers, Johnny Cash and Jay-Z, to name a few. Rubin’s main role at Columbia is to ﬁnd and produce new talent – talent that will, above all else, sell. But these days, talent is not the problem. Even if a label discovers new talent and records or a Grammy-award-winning album, there is no guarantee the effort will be worth it. With compact disc sales down, iTunes and other subscription-based services are diverting revenue from labels and millions of people with an Internet connection and the will and knowledge to do so are downloading their music for free. “Columbia is stuck in the dark ages,” Rubin told Hirschberg. “I have great conﬁdence that we will have the best record company in the industry,

GEOF WOLLERMAN » gwollerm@mscd.edu but the reality is, in today’s world, we might have the best dinosaur. Until a new model is agreed upon and rolling, we can be the best at the existing paradigm, but until the paradigm shifts, it’s going to be a declining business.” Like daily newspapers, which have found themselves undermined by online sites and the 24-hour news cycle, the record industry is at a crossroads. It can either radically revamp the way it produces and delivers its product – in essence making music

so cheap and accessible that consumers won’t want to steal it – or it can slowly slip into oblivion. Making music cheap might deter some would-be thieves, but the bottom line is that somewhere, somehow, the latest hit can always be had for nothing. And the problem of file sharing isn’t likely to go away either. Unlike illegal online gambling sites, which involve financial transactions that can be traced through banks, file sharing sites are typically set up by anonymous administrators and may consist of nothing more than a bank of servers in a basement in Bangladesh. Not to mention the fact that users – the real culprits – are millions strong and just as anonymous. But don’t worry – none of this will ever affect your favorite band. Advancing technology has made it easy for bands to record, produce, market and distribute their music – all without ever talking to a corporate

big wig. Besides, bands have traditionally made most of their money from merchandise and touring, areas that record companies have traditionally avoided. Columbia has kicked around the idea of getting their artists to give Columbia 50 percent of their touring, merchandise and online revenue, according to Hirschberg, but it’s hard to picture any band agreeing to a deal like that, especially bands with established popular appeal. The record industry is on the ropes. It’s the final round and the fight doesn’t look fair. Perhaps some of us will look back some day and wax sentimental, bringing out from a dusty box those plastic discs and cassettes – bought from a store no longer in business – that introduced us to good music in the first place. But for those born this side of the digital divide – forever bathed in the pale glow of their computer monitors – the loss of this tangible side of tune-making will most likely elicit no tears.

THE METROPOLITAN « SEPTEMBER 6. 2007 « INSIGHT « A9

America is about ﬁghting for our rights “That’s what America is all about,” said the senator. A difference of opinion, if you will. That’s what this “great” nation is all about, he said. The senator, being John-doesn’thave-a-shot-in-hell-McCain, was at a New Hampshire high school the morning of Sept. 4 trying to muster up some support from people still too young to vote. Don’t ask me why. He should have known better. Kids care. They’re young and haven’t made up their minds. New ideas, whether they care to admit to it or not, intrigue them. They’re curious. The possibilities for change, for betterment, really get them going. Just ask them and they’ll send you a text or MySpace message – usually sans vowels – to prove it. Meanwhile, adults of the voting population, McCain’s supporters – simple-minded folks, people who like the idea of an outdated war veteran as president to keep our country just as outdated – don’t. The Arizona republican came to this revolutionary conclusion (that’swhat-America-is-all-about) when a 16-year-old, William Sleaster, asked him about gay rights. A tongue of war ensued. Vowels included. Sleaster asked, “Do you support civil unions or gay marriage?” McCain responded, “I do not. I think that they impinge on the status

and the sanctity of marriage between a man and a woman.” He failed to mention how hooking up in a bathroom in a Minneapolis airport – public sex not being revolutionary after all – could also cause some trouble for a marriage, but that’s not too important is it? After all, McCain and his GOP cronies were quicker to dismiss that other senator, Larry Craig, faster than the Idahoan could get his pants up when his potential trick exposed himself as an undercover cop. Being the clever teen Sleaster – who I hope is smarter and uses CraigsList (no relation) for his romps – continued, “So you believe in taking away someone’s rights because you believe it’s wrong?” “I wouldn’t put that interpretation on my position, but I understand yours,” McCain answered. Of course you wouldn’t interpret your ideas in such a hateful and decisive way. After all, you want to be the leader of the “free” world and you can’t start your term off being accused of taking away someone’s rights because of a personal and/or political reason can you? But Sleaster wasn’t convinced. “I came here looking to see a good leader. I don’t.” “I understand. I thank you,” McCain said. “That’s what America is all about.” The quote echoes in my mind.

NIC GARCIA ngarci20@mscd.edu Over and over. “That’s what America is all about.” How many of us have ever just stopped and asked, “What is America all about?” We learn in elementary school America is about freedom. We learn in middle school America is about change. We learn in high school America is about the land of opportunity. And we learn not too long afterward, it all may be a joke? You see Sleaster and most advocates for equal rights these days have it wrong. So do a lot of people (insert your preferred political party or talking head here). McCain – or any person who opposes gay rights – can’t take away our chance to share a life with the person we love and the children we want to adopt. And they can’t take away our right to be ourselves while serving in the military solely to protect “free-

dom.” OK, maybe they can and have taken away that. But you get the idea. Essentially it’s impossible to revoke rights when we never had them in the first place. But somehow the powers that be manage. That’s exactly what happened prior to the writing of the Declaration of Independence. That’s exactly what happened prior to women’s suffrage. That’s exactly what happened prior to the civil rights movement. And that’s exactly what’s happening now. So instead of complaining about our “Stalinist” leader, we must, like so many before us, fight for what is right. Our forefathers did not guarantee us happiness, but the pursuit of it. And so, kicking and screaming (and sometimes slapping) we must outwit, outsmart and outlast the hate that will continue to oppress us and any other minority until we do something about it. Luckily the young are always up for a challenge. Tlk ‘bout a rvltn. Sadly, McCain, as another student at the same high school pointed out, is old. He’s 71. And I highly doubt he’ll be around when the fabulous fight has been won and we as gay Americans can share the same rights as our fellow, straight citizens. And I highly doubt McCain will ever realize that’s what America is really all about.

IN RESPONSE » Letters to the Editor Armstrong misuses culture as defense for dog torture Earl Armstrong’s ignorance in his sickening defense of Michael Vick and dog fighting in general would have Martin Luther King, Jr. spinning in his grave. This is not a black and white issue, it’s an issue of right and wrong. Armstrong alleges that dog fighting is a “part of the black male machismo” and part of their culture, and therefore justified. It most certainly is not. Forcing a dog to kill another dog and become overly aggressive is against its nature. Dogs fight naturally to establish pack order and territory like wild wolves, but by training a dog to kill, it loses its natural instinct to stop and makes a normally wonderful domesticated animal into a dangerous killer. It’s abuse. And to compare euthanasia to death in a dogfight is like equating a morphine overdose to crucifixion. Euthanasia is a combination of an anesthetic that stops the heart and lungs and a painkiller that only takes seconds to quickly and painlessly die. Most dogs don’t even realize what has happened to them. Dog fighting is a slow death that starts from the dog’s birth from being inbred to be more aggressive, to starved, to baited (forced to attack a cat, small animal or another dog to instill the kill drive) to when it is murdered in the ring, or destroyed by the sadistic methods employed by Michael Vick. And spaying and neutering is, for the love of all that is holy, not cruel. It is a method of population control to prevent the birth of unwanted dogs that will be later euthanized or abused. Even PETA (People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals) urges all people to get their pets spayed or neutered, and it has been proven to extend their lives. And animal control officers don’t “hunt” stray animals, they catch them so they can be adopted out to other people as pets. The Humane Society and Denver Dumb Friends League even fosters out feral animals so they have a better chance of getting a permanent family. If what Armstrong says is true and dog fighting is “normal” for black communities, then the definition is meant to change. Two hundred years ago it was “normal” for a person to own another human being. Forty years ago it was “normal” to make a black person use a different bathroom. Culture and “normal” is meant to change, especially in the case of such a blatant act of cruelty. - Barbara Willett, bwillett@mscd.edu

Editorial misses mark by comparing dog fighting to hunting Earl Armstrong’s piece, “Dogs not the only ‘Vick’-tims of white laws” is probably the most racist piece I’ve seen in some time. He constantly categorizes this as part of the black “culture” and that as part of the white “culture.” Sorry Earl, culture is not dependent on race but on societal norms. He states that dog fighting is part of the black culture and part of black male machismo. He excuses this behavior as a response to the lack of effect black people has in the political domain. He even points to the frequent appearance of the dogs in rap videos. Sorry Earl, but this is a “sport” engaged by white people too, usually the backwoods type, but probably a few up-scale people as well. He quotes Stephon Marbury comparing it to deer hunting. This is a statement either out of ignorance or plain intellectual dishonesty. First off, a hunter tries to kill the deer quickly and cleanly (suffering makes the meat taste bad). This is not the case with dog fighting where the fight can go on for 30 grueling and bloody minutes to the enthusiastic cheers and shouts of those watching. The losing dog is executed for not winning the fight. (If dog races followed this policy how many dogs would reach retirement?) Second, hunting as a sport descended from hunting for survival. It requires skill to seek and kill the deer, more so with the bow hunters than with a rifle. And it is regulated to keep the deer healthy and prevent starvation when the numbers become too large. Dog fighting only glorifies the owner of the winning dog. It’s not a skill the owner taught the animal, it was the result of the abuse to make the dog vicious. And when the dog dies? He goes on to the landfill. Those putting dogs in a ring to fight, stop caring about the suffering of the animal. In fact, the disregard for animals is one of the things psychologists look for in a criminal’s past. To finish, a quote from rap music, “Better check yourself, before you wreck yourself.” - Paul Confer, pconfer@mscd.edu

THE METROPOLITAN Since 1979

EDITOR IN CHIEF DAVID D. POLLAN dpollan@mscd.edu MANAGING EDITOR Geof Wollerman gwollerm@mscd.edu NEWS EDITOR Andrew Flohr-Spence spencand@mscd.edu ASSISTANT NEWS EDITORS Emile Hallez ehallez@mscd.edu Amy Woodward awoodwa5@mscd.edu FEATURES EDITOR Josie Klemaier jklemaie@mscd.edu ASSISTANT FEATURES EDITOR Rachael Beieler rbeiele2@mscd.edu MUSIC EDITOR Jeremy Johnson jjohn308@mscd.edu SPORTS EDITOR Eric Lansing lansing@mscd.edu ASSISTANT SPORTS EDITOR Zac Taylor ztaylor2@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 EDITORS Candace Shorty shorty@mscd.edu Sara Whitney stevesar@mscd.edu Clayton Woullard cwoullar@mscd.edu DIRECTOR OF STUDENT MEDIA Dianne Harrison Miller harrison@mscd.edu ASSISTANT DIRECTOR OF STUDENT MEDIA Donnita Wong wongd@mscd.edu 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. Tivoli Student Union, Room 313. P.O. Box 173362, Campus Box 57, Denver, CO 80217-3362.

sports

THE METROPOLITAN » SEPTEMBER 6, 2007 » A11

» MEN’S SOCCER GETS KICKED AROUND »A12 » GET TO KNOW MADISON MCQUILLIAMS »A12 » COLUMN: STARTING FANTASY FOOTBALL OUT RIGHT »A13

ERIC LANSING » SPORTS EDITOR » lansing@mscd.edu

SIDELINE

THIS WEEK »

‘Runners can’t keep footing

Friday 9.07

VOLLEYBALL 7:00 p.m. vs. Chadron State SOCCER Women 2:30 p.m. vs. Fort Lewis at Auraria Field Men 5:00 p.m. vs. Fort Lewis at Auraria Field

Saturday 9.08

VOLLEYBALL 7:00 p.m. vs. Nebraska-Kearney at Kearney, Neb.

Sunday 9.09

SOCCER Women Noon vs. Mesa State at Auraria Field Men 2:30 p.m. vs. Mesa State at Auraria Field

SAY WHAT? »

“She is one of the players that will need to continue their performance if we are going to be successful this year.” - Danny Sanchez, women’s soccer coach on Madison McQuilliams, who earned RMAC player of the week honors for her 5 goal and 2 assist performance in the first week.

DID YOU KNOW »

Metro’s shutout loss to Winona State Sept. 1 was only the second home loss for the women’s soccer team since 2002.

NUMBERS GAME » 18

Ranking of Metro Men’s soccer in the NSCAA/Adidas men’s soccer poll released on Aug. 28. They will have a chance to defend their new ranking against No. 1 Fort Lewis Sept. 7.

Number of consecutive games won at home until Women’s soccer was upended by Fort Lewis last season in the RMAC tournament. Metro next plays Fort Lewis Sept. 7.

Photo by CORA KEMP/ckemp4@mscd.edu

Metro forward Becca Mays looks on as her teammates work on improving their game after a 1-0 upset loss against Winona State Sept. 1 at Auraria Field. Metro did rebound in their game as Mays scored one goal and assisted on two others to help the Roadrunners defeat Minnesota State Mankato 4-0 Sept. 3 at Auraria Field.

Women’s soccer team upset in regional game against unranked Winona State 1-0 By ZAC TAYLOR ztaylor2@mscd.edu It didn’t take long for the No. 1ranked women’s soccer team to experience their ﬁrst loss of the season, and it came to an unranked opponent Winona State who defeated the Roadrunners 1-0 on a penalty kick Sept. 1 at Auraria Field. The loss to the Warriors was a shocker for the team, who had previously lost only one home game since 2002. The shot that did it was on a penalty kick in the 41st minute after a foul was called in front of the ‘Runner’s net. Winona State midﬁelder Heidi Woerle took the shot for the Warriors, slipping it passed the outstretched hands of goalkeeper Rachel Zollner. It was a game of frustration as Metro’s defense played well, allowing only two shots on goal the entire game. The ‘Runners provided more chances to score, amassing nine shots

in the game. “We need to ﬁnish those,” Metro forward Becca Mays said on making it a focus to capitalize on the chances that are created. In one sequence Mays received a well-passed ball in front of the goal but her header sailed wide, drawing a sigh from the fans. “It’s unlucky,” Mays said, “but luck only counts for so long, we should have scored.” The women started the game with good passing as Metro defender Jenna Oney launched crosses right in front of Winona’s net but they were missed or hit wide by the offense. Only 20 minutes, in Winona was already substituting players courtesy of the mile-high altitude. Still, a shot went high, another wide and Metro was tied in a game it was controlling. Then came the penalty kick late in the ﬁrst half, and now the home team had to play from behind, which is one thing Metro is not used to doing. They started playing more aggressive in the second half, leaving space for another Winona State shot, which Zollner ran up and caught at close range. “Things got spread out and we made it harder on ourselves,” Zollner said of the close call.

Metro vs Winona State (09/01/07 at Auraria)

Metro vs Minnesota State Mankato (09/03/07 at Auraria)

GAME SCORE Metro....................... 0 Winona St............. 1

GAME SCORE Metro .................... 4 Minnesota St............. 0

SHOTS: Metro: Becca Mays - 4 Madison McQuilliams, Justine Montoya, Jaclyn Percy - 2 Katie Kilbey, Jenna Oney -1 Winona State: Heidi Woerle - 2, 1 goal Amelia Kasten, Gina Florian, Rachel Mathews - 1

SHOTS: Metro: Jenna Oney - 4, 2 goals Becca Mays - 3, 1 goal, 2 assists Katie Kilbey - 2, 1 goal Madison McQuilliams 1, 1 assist Minnesota St: Elise Bjerkenas - 3 Marti Klinsing - 2

As time slipped away, Metro kept pressing on Winona’s defense. Midﬁelder Justine Montoya had a chance in front of the Warriors’ goal and shot it just high as it hit the crossbar and bounced out. “The longer you go without scoring, the harder it is to stay composed,” said Metro head coach Danny Sanchez. By the end, the shots came from farther out in desperate attempts to tie the score or create more chances, but when the whistle blew, the women had lost 1-0. The No.1-ranked division two Women’s soccer team had just lost their ﬁrst game of the season. “We didn’t play well enough to win,” Sanchez said.

On the following Monday, the Roadrunners didn’t get to enjoy the time off from Labor Day and looked to rebound against Minnesota State Mankato. The Mavericks came to Auraria Field having defeated the Colorado School of Mines 3-1 two days prior. The Roadrunners responded to their upset loss in great form by shutting out the Mavericks 4-0. Mays provided two assists and a goal while back defender Oney opened the scoring just 50 seconds into the game. She didn’t let up, scoring another one in the second half. The win improved Metro’s record to 3-1 and now they will be playing conference opponent Fort Lewis at home Sept. 7.

A12 » SPORTS » SEPTEMBER 6. 2007 » THE METROPOLITAN

Freshman star ‘Runners not ready to hang gels with team, with high-ranked opponents city life in Denver By ERIC LANSING lansing@mscd.edu

Madison McQuilliams leads women’s soccer team in points, fits right in with soccer program By EVAN LUTHYE eluthye@mscd.edu Freshman midfielder Madison McQuilliams made the transition to the collegiate level seamlessly. Although it is early in the semester and school year, McQuilliams hardly seems like an 18-year-old freshman. McQuilliams becomes the third Roadrunner in recent history to hail from Bakersfield, Calif. The decision to come to Metro was easy for her, as assistant coach and former Metro soccer player Adrianne Almaraz could relate to both McQuilliams and Gabby Klipp, as she graduated from Bakersfield High School as well. “It is good to have a connection to someone from your home town that has come out here and has been so successful both on and off the field,” Metro head coach Danny Sanchez said. McQuilliams, who is leaning toward majoring in business, has not had much time for anything other than school and soccer since moving to Colorado, but only four games into the season, her dedication to the sport is already showing. McQuilliams leads the team in both goals (5) and points (13). “(McQuilliams) came in fit and ready to compete, which is not always the case with freshmen,” Sanchez said. “She really put herself in a good position.” McQuilliams success as a Roadrunner is a continuation of her successful high school career. Among numerous other awards, she was named to the All-Area team her sophomore, junior and senior season, in addition to getting the All-conference nod all four seasons in high school. Her high school career was capped off with being named the Bakersfield High School Senior Athlete of the Year. Modest McQuilliams maintains that intercollegiate athletics are different than high school athletics. “The pace of the game is a lot faster and there are better and way bigger girls,” McQuilliams said. Despite how busy soccer and school has kept McQuilliams, she has still been able to take in Denver and the Rocky Mountains. She attended a Rockies game, as well as the Faith Hill and Tim McGraw concert held at the Pepsi Center. A fan of all music,

McQuilliams also plans to see a concert at Red Rocks Amphitheatre in Morrison. As of yet, her only excursion into the Rocky Mountains mixed business with pleasure as the team conducted training camp at altitude in Steamboat Springs. She has only snowboarded once, but plans on hitting the slopes this winter now that she lives in the foothills. McQuilliams comes from an athletic family. She has two sisters, Tayler and Carly, who are both intercollegiate athletes as well. Carly plays soccer for Bakersfield College and Tayler plays basketball at Minot State in North Dakota. Her family was very supportive of her decision to come to Denver. Although far from Bakersfield, she is not completely without family as she has an uncle living in Lakewood who helped make the transition easy. Her parents, Mark and Lori McQuilliams, came to Denver over the Labor Day weekend to watch Madison and the Roadrunners take on Mankato State and Winona State. McQuilliams is really enjoying being a part of the Roadrunner’s tight-knit team. “There are no cliques on the team, we are all really close,” McQuilliams said. “Everyone was really nice, they just let me right in (to the group).” She is immersed in the soccer team as her life revolves around the team and classes, her living situation adds to that. McQuilliams lives with two other soccer players in Lakewood and the three share the commuting responsibilities, as their schedules are all similar. Outside of Roadrunners soccer, McQuilliams enjoys watching soccer and basketball. Although she used to play basketball, she prefers watching either her sister Tayler or Phoenix Suns guard Steve Nash play rather than stepping onto the court herself. A Phoenix Suns fan, she likes watching basketball at any level. McQuilliams really loves the game of soccer. She has been playing since the age of five and has no intention of stopping any time soon. For McQuilliams, Metro State has been “a new experience” and Coach Sanchez is optimistic about McQuilliams career and the Roadrunners’ 2007 season. “(McQuilliams) is off to a great start,” Sanchez said. “She is one of the players that will need to continue their performance if we are going to be successful this year.”

The women’s volleyball team entered the Colorado Premiere Challenge tournament Aug. 31 through Sept. 1 with a chance to gauge the team’s abilities with the top teams in Division II. But after losing three of four games against four of the top25 teams, it seems the Roadrunners have a long way to go before being mentioned in the same breath with that type of competition. “We have to ﬁnd a way to win,” Metro head coach Debbie Hendricks said in a press release. “We made mistakes and allowed them to make their runs at inopportune times. We have to get away from that.” Metro played No.15-ranke Southern Illinois University Edwardsville, No. 14-ranked West Texas A&M, No. 24-ranked Lock Haven and No. 13-ranked Chico State in the tournament. The only match the ’Runners took the victory was against Lock Haven Sept. 1 and it wasn’t easy, as it took the full ﬁve games before they could secure the win. Metro won

Photo by ALICE AHERN/aahern2@mscd.edu

Metro defense back Sarah Vallejos awaits serve on Aug. 31 tournament. 28-30, 30-25, 30-21, 17-30 and 15-10. Three Roadrunners posted double-digit kill totals as outside hitters Kelsey Ellis and Julie Green-McFarland ﬁnished the match 19 each, while Danielle St. Pierre contributed 10. In the ﬁrst game of the tour-

nament against SIU-Edwardsville, Green-McFarland led the match with 25 kills, but the team could only manage one win in the 27-30, 30-21, 21-30, 28-30 loss. Four players from West Texas A&M had 10 or more kills against Metro in the second game of the tournament as the Lady Buffs defeated the ’Runners 30-28, 31-29, 23-30 and 30-22. And in Metro’s final game of the tourney, Chico State had an impressive .227 kill percentage to Metro’s .138 to take the match 30-19, 29-31, 30-27 and 30-18. Although the wins are coming in few and far between for the ’Runners in the first few weeks of the season, Hendricks did find some positive light from the weekend tournament. “I’m really proud of how we played,” Hendricks said. “We had our longest stretch of positive play so far this season. We just have to learn how to close it out.” The 1-3 weekend sets Metro’s record at 2-7 and next head to Nebraska for matches with Chadron State Sept. 7 and Nebraska-Kearney Sept. 8.

Men’s soccer scoreless in weekend set Metro’s game against Regis is cancelled, loses first game of season versus ranked Mustangs By ERIC LANSING lansing@mscd.edu After the first week of the season, the men’s soccer team had the look of an elite team ready to make huge strides in climbing the national rankings ladder. But after this past weekend, the Roadrunners will have to wait before making their mark in the Top 25 after weather cancelled a 2-0 deficit Aug. 31 versus Regis and a 20 defeat at the hands of Midwestern State Sept. 2 in Wichita Falls, Texas. In the first week of the season, Metro upset No. 3-ranked West Florida 2-1 and scored eight goals in an 8-2 victory over Georgia Southwestern. But the following week proved to be a regression of sorts as the team never found the back of the net in either game. In their matchup with Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference foe Regis, Metro fell behind 2-0 to the Rangers and the game looked like it was going Regis’ way before the sky helped out Metro. The sky grew darker and darker as the match went on, and with 33:33 left on the clock in the second half, the game was delayed due to lightning. After an hour passed, officials cancelled the game

Photo by CORA KEMP/ckemp4@mscd.edu

Beating the Regis team was not the only thing on Shaun Elbaum’s mind as the loud claps of thunder and bolts of lightning cancelled the game on Aug. 31. and will be played all over again at a later date. Metro was let off the hook in the first game of the weekend, but did not play any better against No. 11-ranked Mustangs of Midwestern State two days later. Both goals were scored in the first half and scored within 48 seconds of each other. Mustangs’ midfielder Ahmad Ihmeidan put in the first goal at the 32-minute-mark on a deflection by the goalkeeper. The second goal came less than a minute later, Mustangs forward Daniel Brown put one into the back of the net. Metro could only manage three shots on goal the entire game as Midwestern State’s defense kept Metro on one side of the field.

The loss drops Metro’s record to 2-1 and will play host to Fort Lewis Sept. 7 at Auraria Field. The Skyhawks defeated the ’Runners four times last season.

NCAA Men’s Soccer Division II Rankings Released Aug. 28

17. Bridgeport 2-0-0 18. Metro State 2-0-0 19. Seattle Paciﬁc 1-0-1 20. Nova Southeastern 2-0-0 21. Newberry 2-0-0 22. Wisconsin-Parkside 1-0-0 23. Lander 0-0-0 24. Franklin Pierce 1-1-0 25. Lewis 2-0-0

THE METROPOLITAN « SEPTEMBER 6. 2007 « SPORTS « A13

LANSING’S OUTLOOK American Football Conference

National Football Conference

EAST

THE MET’S SPORTS EDITORS GO HEAD-TO-HEAD IN NFL PREVIEW

ZAC’S OUTLOOK American Football Conference

National Football Conference

EAST

New England…. 12-4

Dallas…….11-5

New York Jets..... 10-6 (W)

New York Giants………...... 8-8

Miami………….. 5-11

Philidelphia...6-10

Buffalo…………. 4-12

Washington………6-10

New England…. 12-4

Philadelphia…….11-5

New York Jets..... 9-7

Dallas………...... 9-7 (W)

Miami………….. 6-10

New York Giants...7-9

Buffalo…………. 5-11

Washington………4-12

WEST

WEST Seattle…………… 10-6

Seattle…………… 10-6

Denver……… 11-5

Denver…………. 9-7 (W)

St. Louis………… 9-7 (W)

San Diego…………. 11-5 (W)

Arizona………… 9-7 (W)

Kansas City……. 6-10

San Francisco…… 8-8

Kansas City……. 6-10

St. Louis…… 7-9

Arizona…………. 7-9

Oakland………... 3-13

San Francisco…………. 6-10

San Diego……… 11-5

Oakland………... 4-12 SOUTH

SOUTH

Indianapolis……. 12-4

New Orleans……… 12-4

Indianapolis……. 13-3

New Orleans……… 13-3

Jacksonville…….. 8-8

Carolina…………… 9-7

Jacksonville…….. 9-7

Carolina…………… 8-8

Houston…………. 6-10

Tampa Bay………... 6-10

Tennessee…………. 8-8

Tampa Bay………... 6-10

Tennessee……….. 5-11

Atlanta…………….. 4-12

Houston……….. 6-10

Atlanta…………….. 4-12

NORTH

Baltimore……….. 10-6

Chicago…………… 11-5

Pittsburgh……….. 9-7 (W)

Green Bay………… 8-8

Cincinnati……….. 8-8 Cleveland………... 6-10

Minnesota………… 7-9 Detroit…………….. 6-10

WILDCARD WEEKEND: Denver versus Baltimore Pittsburgh versus San Diego

St. Louis versus Phila.

CONFERENCE CHAMPIONSHIPS Lansing says:

Zac says:

Indianapolis vs. New England Philadelphia vs. Chicago

Indianapolis vs. San Diego New Orleans vs. Chicago

SUPER BOWL XLII

Dallas versus Seattle

NORTH

Baltimore……….. 11-5

Chicago…………… 12-4

Cincinnati……….. 9-7

Detroit………… 9-7 (W)

Pittsburgh……….. 7-9

Minnesota………… 7-9

Cleveland………... 3-13

Green Bay…………….. 6-10

WILDCARD WEEKEND: New York versus Baltimore

Arizona versus Dallas

San Diego versus Denver

Detroit versus Seattle

DIVISIONAL PLAYOFFS:

DIVISIONAL PLAYOFFS: Baltimore versus Indianapolis

Dallas versus New Orleans

San Diego versus New England

Phila. versus Chicago

ZAC’S TAKE ON LANSING

Lansing says:

Zac says:

Indianapolis vs. Philadelphia San Diego vs. New Orleans

WINNER: Indianapolis

Philadelphia? So you have them not only winning the division, but going all the way to the Super Bowl. There was a time (actually three straight times) when this was possible, but McNabb has taken too many hits, and is certainly on the down slope of his career. Besides, they aren’t in an easy division and both the Cowboys and Giants could be strong. I’ll be ringing the Liberty Bell if they do that this year, but Eric, the bell’s broken, and your prediction has some major cracks. Okay, so Indianapolis winning it all is the safe pick, but that’s what Dungy did this offseason, and now he’s lost some of his best defenders. So who did he get to replace them? No one. You don’t win by just resting on your laurels, the Patriots proved that.

New York versus Indianapolis

Arizona versus New Orleans

San Diego versus New England Seattle versus Chicago

LANSING’S TAKE ON ZAC

WINNER: New Orleans

You have to be kidding me! This guy has Arizona and Detroit making the playoffs. Does Zac know that we are talking about football and not baseball? The Diamondbacks and the Tigers of professional baseball are locks for the postseason, but the NFL’s Cardinals and Lions? I might have made a mistake in hiring Zac as my assistant sports editor and I will send around a petition for those who also think I hired the wrong guy. His Super Bowl teams are respectable, but betting on the Chargers, who not only lost their head coach, as well as their offensive and defensive coordinators, will no way make it to the big game with a questionable coaching staff. There is a reason why I am the almighty sports editor, Zac, and you are just my assistant.

Is your fantasy team set for opening whistle in Week One? With the preseason finally over, it is time to set up your fantasy team’s lineup for Week One. Oh, by the way, the season officially starts on Sept. 6, and with Indianapolis and New Orleans facing off, you better be ready as the first official game is going to see plenty of fireworks with Peyton Manning and Drew Brees igniting the scoreboard. To make sure you get a jump start on the fantasy season, check out some key player matchups, which players to start and some last minute free-agent pickups that could show promise in case of a last minute emergency.

MATCHUPS: New Orleans versus IndianapolisWhat a better way to start the 200708 season than with a potential Super Bowl matchup and an almost certain shootout between high scoring teams. If you have anyone in this game, stick them into your lineup because neither defense is going to slow down these offenses. Manning will toss at least three touchdowns, Brees will only throw

one to two scores because running backs Deuce McCallister and Reggie Bush will run a few in. Wide receivers from both teams are a must. Chicago versus San Diego- Another possible Super Bowl matchup that screams defense, defense and more defense. We like to think Chargers quarterback Philip Rivers and tight end Antonio Gates will hook up a few times, but Chicago is a defensive ﬁrst team. Running back LaDainian Tomlinson will have a decent game with one touchdown scored, but Da Bears’ defense is solid versus the run. Defense and special teams could score some points so have those in your starting lineup. Have L.T., defenses and Chicago kicker Robbie Gould in your lineup; anyone else must be used with caution. Carolina versus St. Louis- This game could witness a high-scoring affair as both defenses are less-thanstellar. Carolina quarterback Jake Delhomme will hook up to wide receiver Steve Smith for a few scores while

ERIC LANSING » lansing@mscd.edu St. Louis quarterback Marc Bulger is going to pick apart the Panthers’ defense on the turf. If you carry Delhomme, wide receiver Steve Smith, quarterback Marc Bulger, wide receivers Torry Holt and Drew Bennett, and running back Steven Jackson, it is in your best interest to put those players into the lineup.

WHO TO START: Quarterbacks- Alex Smith versus Arizona, Jon Kitna versus Oakland, David Garrard versus Tennessee Running backs- Larry Johnson

versus Houston, Willis McGahee versus Cincinnati, Marion Barber versus the New York Giants, Travis Henry versus Buffalo and Willie Parker versus Cleveland. Wide Receivers- Roy Williams versus Oakland, Darrell Jackson versus Arizona, T.J. Houshmandzadeh versus Baltimore, Marvin Harrison versus New Orleans, Chris Chambers versus Washington and Terrell Owens versus the Giants. Tight ends- Vernon Davis versus Arizona, Tony Gonzalez versus Houston, L.J. Smith versus Green Bay, Chris Cooley versus Miami and Daniel Graham versus Buffalo. Kickers- Josh Brown versus Tampa Bay, Ryan Longwell versus Atlanta, Jay Feely versus Dallas and Shayne Graham versus Baltimore. Defenses- Minnesota versus Atlanta, Seattle versus Tampa Bay, San Diego versus Chicago and Jacksonville versus Tennessee.

LATE FREE-AGENT PICKUPS: Anthony Thomas, running back, Buffalo- Marshawn Lynch is the

starter, but Thomas will still get 1015 carries, and being a bulkier back than Lynch, could steal carries inside the ﬁve yard line and grab a touchdown. PREDICTION: 65 yards and a touchdown. Eddie Kennison, wide receiver, Kansas City- Kennison is the top receiver in K.C. and playing defenseless Houston could result in some catches and a possible score. The Chiefs offense looked appalling in preseason, but so did Houston’s defense. PREDICTION: six catches for 75 yards. Jerry Porter, wide receiver, Oakland- I know, I know. How dare I pick any player from that seemingly pointless team, but I am taking a shot on Porter, albeit a long one. Porter takes on a very weak secondary in Detroit and Porter has a lot to prove. Oakland is at home and Culpepper likes to throw the ball deep and often. Porter could grab one of those bombs, and since wide outs are few and far between in the free-agent pool, it is either all or nothing for Porter and his fantasy owner.