Volume 33, Issue 28 - April 14, 2011

NEWS

METROSPECTIVE

SPORTS

Background checks not required for Metro’s student government • 3

Softball team continues Students create literary rollercoaster season • 12 magazine to showcase new talent • 9

THE

THE

ETROPOLITAN METROPOLITAN

April 14, 2011, Vol. 33, Issue 28

Serving Auraria for 31 years

Online >> http://themet.metrostudentmedia.com

FROM RIGHT: Campaign volunteers Jose Silva and Matt Carberry rally April 11, in support for mayoral candidate Michael Hancock before the Denver Mayoral Candidates Forum at St. Cajetan’s Center. Photo by Sean Mullins • smullin5@mscd.edu

Putting the party in politics Mayoral candidates show off ideas, dance moves at debate

By Ramsey Scott rscott42@mscd.edu Elections and political races are often likened to circuses, and on April 6, the Candidate Survivor Debate made this literal for the 10 Denver mayoral candidates.

The debate, sponsored by two nonpartisan political organizations, New Era Colorado and One Colorado, featured six of the 10 candidates: Carol Boigon, James Mejia, Michael Hancock, Chris Romer, Doug Linkhart and Metro grad Theresa Spahn. The forum’s goal was not only to excite young voters about Denver’s May 3 mayoral race, but also the political process.

“The purpose was to make sure that young people had a forum that was catered to them ...

there are a lot of young people in Denver that don’t get to ask a lot of questions,” said Shad Murib, communications director for New Era Colorado.

The event brought out more than 400 people to Casselman’s Bar and Venue downtown.

The standing-room-only audience, whose average age was no more than 30, witnessed a unique and bizarre event, described by the event’s co-host, One Colorado’s Jessica Woodrum as, “The biggest, baddest, sexiest debate of

the year.”

There were candidates in Hawaiian shirts break dancing to a DJ-provided back beat, moderators encouraging the audience to cheer and hoot, and oh yes, drink a lot.

“It was very informal, very fun,” said audience member Paul Garcia, a sales representative for a consumer electronics company.

Debate continued on 3>>

THE METROPOLITAN • APRIL 14, 2011 • 3

“What’s at stake is a diminished future for American students, seniors, the disabled, working people and women, along with all else republicans are not fond of.”

EWS

— J. SEBASTIAN SINISI • INSIGHT • 6

Backing down from backgrounds No criminal history check required for student government

By Ramsey Scott and Caitlin Gibbons Elected members of the Student Government Assembly will no longer be subject to background checks, according Metro’s Office of Human Resources.

“One of the candidates questioned why we were doing a background check on them because they were running for an elected office. That caused us to contact legal counsel,” said Judith Zewe, associate vice president of Human Resources.

The challenge to the background check policy was brought to human resources attention on the heels of the election April 11.

Human resources took the issue to Metro’s legal counsel. The nature of the senate positions and how they are compensated were discussed, as was Metro’s admission policy.

Elected members of the SGA are considered independent contractors

with the college, not employees. They receive a monthly stipend for their work from the college. The way the stipend is dispersed is different than how Metro’s Payroll Department compensates other employees. Taxes are not automatically deducted from the stipend, Zewe said.

“We don’t turn anyone away and we don’t do background checks on our students. It’s open access and they are running for a student office and therefore the similarity would be the same,” Zewe said. “Prior to that, we were running background checks on everyone. It is just a change in interpretation.”

Metro’s General Counsel declined to comment.

Emilia Paul, Metro’s Dean of Student Life, said the background check policy of the college has been in place for a couple of years and includes student employees.

“The definition of a student employee is somewhere up in the air,” Paul said.

She said it was her understanding, from recent emails, the means of compensation was part of the consideration for whether SGA officers should fall under the same guidelines as other

student employees.

“All applicants, including student employees, must sign the Background Check Disclosure and Authorization Form, granting the college permission to conduct a one-time background check on the prospective employee,” according to official college policy effective as of Nov. 1, 2008.

Each background check conducted is valid for three years. The average cost is $50-$75, Zewe said. The college pays an outside service to conduct background checks.

“The background check includes the verification of social security number to make sure they are legally allowed to work in the United States.

The second, is we check court records for the past 7 years and what we look for are felonies, convictions (not misdemeanors,) and the most important part of the background check is the national sex offender registry,” Zewe said. “And if they were an employee, and they appeared on the national sex registry, there is no way they would be hired. Absolutely no way.”

Metro’s spokeswoman Cathy Lucas said initially the background check policy only pertained to student employees working with sensi-

tive information. It was former Vice President of Student Services, Kathy MacKay who had all student employees undergo background checks, she said.

“The SGA had never been part of that because they are separate from being an employee of the college. As Judy (Zewe) said, they are more of a consultant,” Lucas said.

MacKay left her position Jan. 26 for personal reasons. She could not be reached for comment.

SGA President Sammantha O’Brien did not return calls seeking comment on the hiring practices of the student government.

The official SGA policy manual, revised as of May 2010, defers to state law and college policy in regards to hiring policies.

Immediate past SGA President Andrew Bateman said the college background check policy was implemented after the election cycle for his 2008-2009 term was over.

However, he said as he appointed people to positions within the SGA, background checks were conducted before they were officially hired.

nontraditional debate brings in crowd << Continued from 1 “This is the first forum I have been to that encompassed everything — social humor as well as actual topics.”

It is traditional for political opponents to awkwardly lock hands and even embrace one another in a show of contrived political goodwill at debates. It is not traditional for two rival candidates to lock arms and take shots of beer together as Linkhart and Hancock did. Nor is it traditional for candidates to talk about having to request multiple special prosecutors to try defendants whom you have dated, like Spahn, or being arrested in Tijuana for violating open liquor laws — a la Mejia.

But here were the six most serious mayoral candidates of the 25th largest city in the United States responding to questions by flashing “Mos Def ” and “Prob Not” signs and being heckled by the crowd when they tried to duck questions or slipped up on an answer, as was Boigon when she said no other candidate had a tougher upbringing than hers, in an event that was more akin to a rock show than to Lincoln-Douglas debates.

“It’s fun to do this, but it’s also for a purpose,” said Rob DuRay, field director for New Era Colorado and co-

host for the debate. “We really want to make sure that folks are turning out. They need to go take what they learned tonight, bring it to the polls, and go vote.”

“It was actually not only completely different and a lot of fun, but I actually think it was the most honest debate I have seen,” said Mario SolisMarich, AM 760 political talk show host on and one of the event’s moderators. “I think people actually got a sense of who these people are.”

While the debate broke down traditional barriers and forced candidates to answer questions on a wide range of topics, there was not much opportunity provided for depth.

“I found that there were a lot of platitudes tonight,” Mejia said. “I would have loved to hear other candidates get into more specifics into how they would carry out some of these ideas.”

Yet even with that lack of depth, Mejia still was excited to participate in an event like this debate.

“I have to say it was the most enjoyable and engaging forum and the most enjoyable and engaged audience.”

The debate’s ultimate winner was Linkhart in the final round, narrowing out the first round’s winner

Hancock by a 33-27 percent margin. While a win at a debate like this does not guarantee a candidate the election, Linkhart was still excited by what the event provided the youth vote.

“I thought it was great fun,” Linkhart said. “We have to use ways of getting to young people that are non-traditional. If you put in some music, put it in a good place and have some fun with it, people will show up.”

The contenders: There are 10 candidates

on the ballot for the May 3 Denver Mayoral election. These six are considered to be in the top of the pack.

INDEX INSIGHT ... 6 METROSPECTIVE ... 9 SPORTS ... 12 TIMEOUT ... 14

WEATHER A chance for rain Wednesday and Thursday before a short dry spell.

We could see some more rain early next week.

4.14 • Chance of rain High: 51/Low: 33 4.15 • Mostly sunny High: 55/Low: 30 4.16 • Partly cloudy High: 63/Low: 33 4.17 • Partly cloudy High: 65/Low: 39 4.18 • Chance of rain High: 61/Low: 36 4.19 • Chance of rain High: 53/Low: 37 4.20 • Partly cloudy High: 58/Low: 35

By Kendell LaRoche

CORRECTIONS The Metropolitan will correct any errors brought to its attention. Please send your corrections to themetonline@gmail.com.

FEATURES: “Toys and Tupperware,” the first of the female centered discussion series in April presented by Feminism & Co., covers

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4 • NEWS • APRIL 14, 2011 • THE METROPOLITAN

THE METROPOLITAN • APRIL 14, 2011 • NEWS • 5

Abortion rally sparks emotions

Auraria anti-abortion volunteer Maggie Blair engages in debate with Metro student Dustin Ceballos during an anti-abortion rally held at Metro April 11. “Our goal is to open a dialogue about when a young life technically begins,” Blair said. According to Ceballos, the anti-abortion demonstration is disgusting and ideologically driven. Photo by Jeff Englehart • jengleha@mscd.edu

is looking for bartenders, barbacks and security for private and public events.

Bartending Candidates need to be outgoing and have a strong background in the bar industry Minimum of two years as a bartender and proficient in Micros Strong communication skills with customers, staff and managers Well-organized, self-starting, professional individual Strong work ethic is a MUST Security applicants will be asked to submit a background check If interested please bring your resume and come to our open house on

Tuesday, April 19th, 10 a.m.–noon; or on Friday, April 22nd, 1–3 p.m.

Mile High Station is located at 2027 W. Colfax Ave., Denver 80204.

Please look at our website to see what kind of events we do.

www.milehighstation.com

The Metropolitan was awarded 14 Society of Professional Journalists Region 9 Mark of Excellence Awards for 2010. The SPJ spring conference was held at the University of Utah, April 8-9. There are 11 SPJ regions throughout the country. The first place winners advance to the national level which will be announced early May. Best All-Around Non-daily Student Newspaper Third place: The Metropolitan Best Affiliated Web Site Second place: The Met Online themet.metrostudentmedia.com Breaking News Photography First place: Sean Mullins Second place: Jeremy Papasso Feature Photography First place: Steve Anderson Second place: Drew Jaynes General News Photography First place: Drew Jaynes Sports Photography Second place: Leah Millis Third place: Jeremy Papasso Feature Writing First place: Megan Mitchell Third place: Julie Vitkovskaya & Jamie Cotten General News Reporting Third place: Nic Garcia Online In-Depth Reporting First place: Jeremy Papasso Online Sports Reporting First place: Matt Hollinshead

6 • INSIGHT • THE METROPOLITAN • APRIL 14, 2011

NSIGHT

“Metro is the “Duke” in the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference.

Every school loves to hate Metro.”

—MARK BABISH • SPORTS • 13

Political “Chicken” and the Economics of Greed Last week’s Congressional compromise budget deal, struck at literally the eleventh hour to prevent a government shutdown, recalls a stupid and sometimes deadly game called “chicken.”

Once popular in some American car subcultures, chicken had two speeding cars coming at each other to set up a crash. In a testosterone-fueled test of macho stupidity, the idea was for both drivers not to swerve, or “chicken out,” until the last possible second. Whoever swerved first – the “chicken” – lost face, but may have saved both lives. Sometimes, both drivers waited a fatal fraction too long.

But today’s players of that game don’t carry packs of cigarettes rolled up in tight Tshirt sleeves like badass characters in a moody James Dean movie. Dean himself died young in a 1955 car crash, not chicken-related, but the game survives — with infinitely larger stakes.

In the 2011 version of chicken, players wear suits and are members of the U.S. Congress, determined not to swerve from a straightahead ideology. What’s at stake is a diminished future for American students, seniors, the disabled, working people and women, along with all else Republicans are not fond of. Which includes minorities, the arts, a shrinking middle class and those needing affordable health care.

Plus the entire span of education, from earlychildhood through K-12 and college.

Bloated corporate profits, obscenely compensated CEOs, other fat cats and military budgets all get free passes. One rationale is that the wealthy and corporate profits create jobs. In reality, last year’s huge corporate profits came with little or no new hiring – with jobs shipped overseas and Americans who still hold jobs here nickel-and-dimed with endless concessions, give-backs (blame unions for the mess) and unpaid overtime. It’s called increased “productivity.”

This is not an anti-capitalist rant pulled from some nether region. The General Electric Co. reported $14.2 billion in worldwide profits in 2010, yet paid no U.S. income tax for

that year, according to the New York Times.

By keeping much of that profit offshore and shrewdly exploiting stateside tax breaks, GE was able to claim a $3.2 billion REFUND from the U.S. Treasury. Which should be comforting to ordinary wage earners and students filing W-2s in recent weeks. GE, by the way, spent $200 million on lobbying during the past decade. A bigger tax picture shows the corporate share of U.S. tax receipts dropping from 30 percent in the mid-1950s to just 6.6 percent in 2009.

While leaving the military and very welloff alone, the Republican script wants to cut funding for Planned Parenthood, National Public Broadcasting, arts programs and Pell Grants for higher education. There’s also a call to reduce Social Security while privatizing health care for everyone under age 55. Medicaid for seniors would also be cut – disguised as “block grants” to the states. The effect would put who gets what care, at what cost, back into the hands of insurance companies and HMOs who, naturally, never even think about profits.

That toxic witches’ brew — stoked more by right wing ideology than by the stated goals of cutting spending and deficits — came to a boil last week in a 2012 federal budget submitted

by House Finance Committee chair Rep. Paul Ryan, a Wisconsin Republican. Masquerading as a courageous start at debt reduction and budget balancing over the next decade, the plan would actually start a massive transfer of wealth, as E. J. Dionne in the Washington Post put it, “from the have-nots and have-a-littles to the have-a-lots.”

With its tax cuts for the rich and program cuts for the poor, the Ryan plan would roll back many of the social benefits enacted during the 1930s under President Franklin Roosevelt’s New Deal. The time when Social Security, a minimum wage and collective bargaining were decried as “Socialism!” by Republicans.

The Ryan plan isn’t based on voodoo “Reaganonics,” “supply-side economics” or even George W. Bush good-ol’-boy laissez-faire eco-

MANAGING EDITOR Ramsey Scott rscott42@mscd.edu

J. SEBASTIAN SINISI sinisi2@msn.com nomics, but on the simple Economics of Greed.

Some of Ryan’s proposals were still part of last week’s budget compromise when Democrats agreed to $38 billion in cuts while Tea Party-backed Republicans, who wanted at least $61 billion cut, screamed that they’d been screwed. Nobody was really happy, but government lived to fight another day.

If enacted, the deal is only good until the end of this fiscal year in October. But the real fun begins now. Coming ideological battles will be fought in the shadow of 2012 election-year politics, which tend to skew reality even more than usual. A huge issue will be increasing the federal debt limit, which is necessary for the federal government to pay its debts. Both business and House Speaker John Boehner, R-Ohio, thinks it’s necessary, but the tea-bag wing of his party is violently opposed.

Republican tea-bag boys – and girls – don’t like Boehner’s brand of old-style Republicanism. Innocent of both elected experience and compassion, these just-elected zealots see themselves on a mission – if not from God, then from those who sent them to Congress to reduce the size of government. That many are millionaires, according to tax filings, doesn’t stop them from saying they speak for ordinary folks.

So if you’re rich, don’t worry; but if you’re not, pay close attention. Either way, the coming drama won’t be boring.

NEWS EDITOR Cody Lemon clemon2@mscd.edu FEATURES EDITOR Megan Mitchell mmitch46@mscd.edu MUSIC EDITOR Ian Gassman igassman@mscd.edu ASSISTANT MUSIC EDITORS Stephanie DeCamp Matt Pusatory SPORTS EDITOR Mark Babish mbabish@mscd.edu ASSISTANT SPORTS EDITOR Matt Hollinshead COPY EDITORS J. Sebastian Sinisi Drew Jaynes Stephanie Wilson Daniel Laverty Sanchelle Troncoso S. Azver Hussain PHOTO EDITOR Steve Anderson sande104@mscd.edu ASSISTANT PHOTO EDITORS Luke Powell Sean Mullins ADVISER Jane Hoback hobackje@comcast.net WEBMASTER Drew Jaynes GRAPHIC DESIGN Kathleen Jewby kjewby@mscd.edu INTERIM DIRECTOR OF STUDENT MEDIA Kate Lutrey lutreyk@mscd.edu

Obama allows everyone else to go first on debt reduction

By Stephen Stromberg www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/post-partisan/, April 11, 2011 debt reduction, saying that it wasn’t his place to propose specific ways to reduce the country’s long-term spending commitments.

Rep. Paul Ryan (R-Wis.) responded last week with a GOP budget outline that would reorganize Medicare and slash taxes on highincome earners.

In a cynical way, this may be the debt-reduction plan the White House has been waiting for. It allows Obama to attack the GOP plan, as David Plouffe did on the Sunday talk shows. That criticism in play, the president has now decided to swoop in with something he will pitch as more reasonable.

With a fight over the debt limit looming, Obama doesn’t want to seem aloof from longterm fiscal problems. But talking about cutting entitlement spending is easier when someone else takes political heat for proposing it first,

Since 1979

EDITOR-IN-CHIEF Caitlin Gibbons cgibbon4@mscd.edu

BIGGER VIEW

If the White House’s approach to dealing with debt reduction weren’t already obvious, the last week has made it so: President Obama has allowed almost everyone else in Washington to go first.

Since the Democrats passed their healthcare law, which included some spending reforms, Obama has continued to acknowledge the importance of long-term fiscal restructuring. What has he done beyond that?

The president assembled a bipartisan debt commission, which proposed raising some taxes, closing some popular tax expenditures, cutting defense and other discretionary spending, and reforming entitlements in ways that the Democratic base wouldn’t like. The president has gingerly avoided endorsing it.

Then, earlier this year, Obama released his 2012 budget, which didn’t contain serious

THE METROPOLITAN

and especially when that someone else proposes something as scary-sounding as what Ryan has. The pitfalls of this approach, though, are huge: that the president appears — with reason — to be following rather than leading; and that such a strategy doesn’t promote the cooperation necessary to pass anything serious.

The White House says that the president will make an announcement about his ideas for debt-reduction on Wednesday. It’s unclear whether they will be much more than platitudinous. Perhaps making it more likely we’ll hear more platitude than substance: A bipartisan group of senators known as the Gang of Six is apparently close to agreement on a compromise debt-reduction plan, too.

If the president is true to habit, he won’t get too far ahead of the Gang of Six, either.

INTERIM ASSISTANT DIRECTOR OF STUDENT MEDIA Steve Haigh shaigh@mscd.edu

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Opinions expressed within do not necessarily reflect those of Metropolitan State College of Denver or its advertisers.

THE METROPOLITAN • APRIL 14, 2011 • 7

ETROSPECTIVE

Students spotlighted at Jazz Celebration The Metro State 9 o'clock Big Band pays tribute to professor Fred Hess through musical renditions Story by Brittney Dahl bdahl4@mscd.edu Photos by Steve Anderson sande104@mscd.edu Students and spectators silently filed into the King Center Concert Hall as the first energetic beats began April 8 at the 10th annual Metro Jazz Celebration. The entire day was packed with jazz performances from middle school and high school students from across Colorado.

Metro jazz professor Ron Miles directed Metro State 9 o'clock Big Band in coordination with key instrumental soloists, which highlighted music written for the celebration by composition and theory professor Fred Hess.

Metro jazz students prepared for this tribute since last fall.

“We started playing a few of the songs last semester,” said Mary Bowers, Metro sophomore and music performance major.

“With the help of [Hess] we have been working really hard with more than enough time to prepare for this event.”

Many agreed the event ran smoother than any other year it was held.

“I was part of the production team that went very smoothly,” said Metro sophomore and music education major, Denise Mattie. “We had a lot of volunteers — everyone was willing and eager to help.”

Mattie said she felt intimidated to be in the presence of a world-renowned solo jazz artist (Miles), but he pushed them to reach greater skill levels.

“I have been in the jazz community for a while,” Metro freshman Will Heinz said. “Meeting Miles brought me here to Metro.

He is an amazing person, a great musician and composer.”

As for the jazz celebration this year, Hess said he thinks it has settled into a very fruitful period.

“It has gone through a lot of trials and errors,” he said.

Miles said he came up with some satisfactory ways on how to run the celebration. He brought Hess in this year as a musician and a composer instead of focusing solely on a musical artist as an act. In years past, there wasn’t a huge interaction with students; Miles said this was a solution.

The day was crammed with middle and high school jazz ensembles. The celebration allowed for a warm-up, performances and professional audio recordings of each ensemble with optional rating and comments from participants. Students had access to master classes with Metro professors, lectures held by Hess and an afternoon concert from the Metro State 9 o'clock Big Band.

Central to the festival were local and international artists who shared their expertise and musical experiences with students and teachers through master classes, clinics and concerts.

Hess held a master class as this year’s chosen lecturer for the event. He talked about his life experiences and career to instill a personal appreciation and reflection of his music for the students. “[I discussed my own life] so that when they hear my music they can make a connection that is humanized, not abstract,” Hess said. “We are all a part of a continuum of human beings and personalities.”

Hess laughed about only being able to get half way through his life experiences with music in part one of his lecture that morning. It continued after the jazz concert, with “whoever wants to hear about my life experiences after 1992,” he said.

“Fred is a hoot; he’s funny,” Bowers said. “It has been an honor to be taught by this man.”

This year’s turnout had “more bands than we have ever had with Big Band and combos; we don’t have voice anymore,” Steven-Jon Billings, one of the event organizers, said. “It was a really neat experience.”

TOP: UCD student Abi Miller concentrates on playing the saxophone during the 9 o'clock Big Band's tribute concert for Fred Hess April 8.

LOWER RIGHT: Fred Hess, coordinator of music theory, jazz composition professor at Metro, and guest of honor at the Jazz Celebration speaks about his career.

8 • METROSPECTIVE • APRIL 14, 2011 • THE METROPOLITAN

Metro’s Math Day takes a piece of the pi Story By Jessica Wacker jwacker1@mscd.edu Photos by Carla Ferreira cferreir@mscd.edu

Circular arches are what support St. Cajetan’s Center’s main hall, not parabolic arches. The equation for those is y = -x2. That was the kind of information echoing around the air during the 24th annual Math Day at Metro — that, and pie filling.

Students from 17 participating high schools came to the all-day event to practice algebra in an interactive forum, topped-off by a professor pie throwing finale.

There was probably a way to calculate the exact speed at which the pie filling flew toward the faces of the three professors. Patty McKenna, Dave Ruch and Diane Davis were too busy wiping cream off their faces to calculate the impact velocity themselves.

The closest thing to an estimate was given

by Metro student Christianna Brown.

“I got more pie on me than expected. I got a lot of back-splash,” she said, while wiping pie remnants off her shirt.

“I didn’t hurt you, right Dr. Davis,” Brown asked.

“No. Not at all,” Davis said.

Brown shouldn’t have been throwing pies Davis in the first place, but the student slotted for the honor didn’t show, and the show must go on. This is especially true when more than $700 was raised with the incentive of smearing cream and chocolate onto professors’ faces.

The student organization, Metro Women in

Math, held a fundraiser where students could give donations in the name of the professors they wanted pied. The money will be used for students to travel to math competitions, said Metro’s Women in Math President and senior Kendra Weiss.

Faculty got involved, too. Rumor has it professor Lou Talman bought his way out, while McKenna was out of town and unable to defend herself. She came in at the top of the list.

“He stuffed the box,” said Davis.

Davis described the experience as “very traumatic.”. “A tasty facial,” came to mind for McKenna, while Ruch noted, “it was chiller than I thought it would be.”

Pie shenanigans aside, event organizer and faculty member, Mona Mocanasu was happy to have 16 schools, 34 teams and over 150 students participate in Math Day. The next step for her is getting more schools to participate.

“We had several schools that came for the first time,” said Mocanasu. “Many of the teachers, actually, that come with their [students] have been Metro students.”

The only downside, she explained, was having the anti-abortion event occurring right outside, “Because that’s not something you want to have 150 high school students see during their first experience on the Metro campus.”

The Silver Creek High School math team was one of the new schools to participate. Seniors Jordan Dick, Ben Pond and Josh Dobbins created the club this year and said they enjoyed the opportunity to have fun with math.

“Ben and I were in a math class together,

FROM LEFT: Shane Papich, Avary Brown, and students from Eagle Academy High School discuss algebra April 12, at Metro’s Math Day at St. Cajetan's Center. and there were times when we were getting deeper into concepts and just enjoying messing around with numbers and patterns,” said Dobbins. A teacher suggested they start the club as a way to facilitate their passion.

Conversation between the Silver Creek team quickly veered from the club and the event to tetrahedrons, the Internet and robotics. Eventually, it landed on the differences between circular arches and parabolic arches. “A parabola would be more optimal if you were holding a lot of weight or if you, say, needed to withstand an earthquake,” said Dick.

Typical conversation, Pond said.

16TH & BLAKE

Students from Eagle Academy solve a math problem at Metro’s Math Day.

THE METROPOLITAN • APRIL 14, 2011 • METROSPECTIVE • 9

A voice for writers: filling the white space in life

By Megan Mitchell mmitch46@mscd.edu At one point or another, Metro students Zach “Z.T.” Burian, Andrew Fortier and Kat Urice were so profoundly affected by a story or piece of art that they decided to devote themselves to the search and promotion of underrated artistic brilliance.

The result is Temporary Infinity, a studentrun literary journal seeking to immortalize the words and works of other people searching for a published, creative outlet.

Burian, Fortier and Urice act as a three-person publishing team as T.I.’s prose editor, poetry editor and art editor, respectively. As writers by nature, the staff of T.I. is committed to the expansion of inspiration and the mind — to, as they call it, “fill the white.”

“Fill the White is our motto,” Burian said.

“It is our goal to make this phrase not only synonymous with Temporary Infinity, but creativity in general.”

The concept behind “Fill the White” lies in a central conviction Burian and Fortier have, which finds a world without writers and artists — and especially readers who can appreciate their work — empty like an endless blank canvas.

In order to close this formidable gap in their own lives, Burian and Fortier collaborated and created T.I. as an outlet and call to action for the destruction of monotony.

“Zach and I have known each other for almost 10 years,” Fortier said. “We are both writers and have attempted, on multiple occasions,

to get published. Our idea with Temporary Infinity was to get on the other side of the game.”

The inspiration arose from their desire to create a forum where underexposed writers and artists could be collectively published online. Their founding ideology stems from an intrinsic empathy they both have for other writers struggling to gain recognition.

“What sets us apart is our operating philosophy,” Burian said. “Where other journals and magazines may cater to specific styles or subjects or what have you, we remain open — a blank slate. If we get sent something creative, we will publish it and share it with others, no matter what it is. Our only condition is quality.”

Temporary Infinity is an exclusivly online, quarterly publication. The founders’ future goals are to publish print anthologies, expand to monthly productions and eventually become an independent publishing house.

These objectives depend on financial freedom, increased submissions and precious time.

With a staff of three editors — all students — the challenges are more difficult.

“Right now, we are trying to keep our heads level and focus on what needs to be done in the here and now to make sure that the journal is and remains successful,” Fortier said.

Still, they remain progressive and ambitious. Since T.I.’s launch in May 2010, interest and circulation have increased exponentially.

“Where we were once getting two to three submissions a month, we are now getting that many a day,” Fortier said.

T.I. publishes a vast variety of expressive mediums from art, prose, poetry, flash fiction,

Own a

feel-good

business!

Metro students Andrew Fortier and Zach Burian stand shoulder-to-shoulder against the spring sky. Fortier and Burian are the founders of Temporay Infinity, a student-run, online literary magazine. Photo by Luke Powell • lpowel18@mscd.edu film, spoken word and even song. The idea is to us, to see if we could do it really,” Burian said. convey a cohesive representation of meaning “Now, we are looking toward the next phase, which includes paying our contributors and within the human experience.

“We’d love to get more art and photogra- expanding the types of art we share.”

They rely on a donation-based system phy, as well as short films,” Burian said. “Anything different that is bursting with creativity.” where writers and artists earn 3 percent of With the release of issue number three each sale made on a given issue. Sales are actubarely more than a month away (June 1), the ally suggested donations, however, the journal editors of T.I. are beginning to define a sharper, can still be read for free.

T.I.’s publication dates are the first of Janumore refined direction. As they become more comfortable with assembling their ideal publi- ary, March, June and October. They accept cation, concerns like compensation for the con- entries all year through their website, www.tiwrites.com. Guidelines for each form of artistic tributors are being addressed. are on the website.

“The first two issues were like a test for ProjectHR_Metro 4/7/11 9:02 AM Page submission 1

Holy Week and Easter at Holy Rosary Church Holy Thursday April 21st Bilingual Mass of the Lord’s Supper, 6:00 pm.

Good Friday April 22nd Bilingual Stations of the Cross 2:00 pm.

Bilingual Good Friday Service 3:00 pm.

Holy Saturday April 23rd Bilingual Easter Vigil 8:00 pm.

Easter Sunday April 24th Mass in English 8:00 and 10:00 am.

Mass (Spanish) 11:30 am.

Holy Rosary Church 4688 Pearl Street off I-70 & Washington Denver, CO 80216 Phone: 303-297-1962 http://holyrosarydenver.com in the historic Globeville neighborhood

When Family Care Homes founder Vern Crews saw a need for a personalized approach to assisted living, he decided to open up his home and begin caring for those who could not care for themselves. He soon discovered that this way of life was rewarding in every sense of the word. Over the years, his specialized approach to opening and operating assisted living residences has evolved into an efficient, adaptable model that is in use today at Family Care Homes eight bed facility in Lakewood, Colorado.

If you’re interested in providing quality care in a residential setting, and making a difference in the lives of others every day, contact us to learn more about this amazing franchise.

A Family Care Homes Franchise isn’t just a business; it’s a way of life!

Vern Crews, C.O.F. www.familycarehomesllc.com familycarehomesfranchise@yahoo.com 1-800-978-8407

webmaster position available Metro State Office of Student Media is looking for creative and knowledgeable individuals for Web design and development. We are a Mac-based media office in the Tivoli.

We are looking for a candidate with: • Strong layout & design skills

• Proficiency in HTML, CSS, WordPress, Javascript, content management systems, and other Web technologies.

• Experience optimizing images and video for the Web • Understanding of FTP/SFTP & basic file server management • Ability to learn quickly and work both independently & on a team 15–20 hours a week • Pay based on experience If interested, call 303-556-2507 or stop by Tivoli 313.

10 • AUDIOFILES • APRIL 14, 2011 • THE METROPOLITAN

Sounding Off

Suicide Pact finds Communikey After Tyler Pelo, Carson Pelo, Nathan Wright and Peter Goodwin’s initial band, Fellow Citizens, started to get a following, these four created the Kevin Costner Suicide Pact. Unlike the post-rock of Fellow Citizens, this alternative outfit explores a lush territory of soundscapes with the help of various effect pedals and improvisational techniques.

During the winter, the quartet collaborated with two other ambient peers that go by the name of Ocean Bump; subsequently releasing a threetrack EP called Suicide Ocean March 31.

April 15, the Kevin Costner Suicide Pact will play the Communikey Festival of Electronic Arts in Boulder. The Metropolitan spoke to the band to get a little insight on this recent EP and why they are psyched to play Communikey.

From Left: Carson Pelo, Peter Goodwin, Tyler Pelo and Nathan Wright are the Kevin Costner Suicide Pact. Photo by Ian Gassman • igassman@mscd.edu

Interview by Ian Gassman • igassman@mscd.edu IG: What excites you about the Communikey Festival? Which artists would you like to see?

TP: We’re excited to see [and] play with some of our biggest influences; artists like William Basinski and Mark McGuire. We also really want to meet the Gamelatron [Orchestra].

IG: How did you get involved with this festival?

TP: We’ve been friends with the organizers for a long time. It was just a matter of us finding the right opportunity to play a Communikey event.

IG: What inspires you to create this music? Are there any specific artists?

TP: Steve Reich, Stars Of The Lid, The Fun Years, Jim O’Rourke, John Cassavetes, The Act So Big Forest Collective, Mark Rothko, Black Dice, Samuel Beckett, Brian Eno, This Heat, Paul Thomas Anderson, Women, Thomas Pynchon, Tape, The Denver Nuggets … We could list more, but why waste time?

IG: Seeing that every member of the Kevin Costner Suicide Pact is in Fellow Citizens, how would you compare the two musically? Did the Kevin Costner Suicide Pact come after Fellow Citizens was formed?

PG: Fellow Citizens was the first project we worked on. It’s what brought us all together initially. Kevin Costner Suicide Pact started when we needed more than one creative outlet.

We wanted to allow ourselves as much room, musically, as we

could possibly have. The sounds are fairly different, so we’re not sure how to necessarily compare the two.

IG: Why did you do a release with Ocean Bump?

CP: [Ocean Bump has] been making similar types of [music] for a long time, so when we joined Act So Big Forest, it seemed like a pretty natural fit. It was an idea that had been in the works for a while, so we finally got it done this past New Year’s Eve. IG: How was Suicide Ocean recorded?

CP: We set up eight amps in a circle around us and started messing around.

PG: Eventually, we just started recording what we were doing.

IG: How does The Kevin Costner Suicide Pact usually record?

NW: We usually record at home. During half-time, with beer.

IG: Do you have any other releases planned?

CP: Plenty.

TP: We have a full length that we’re hoping to release for Kevin Costner Suicide Pact by the summer. Also, Fellow Citizens should be releasing something around the same time.

IG: At live shows — with all of those sounds being made — is it easy to get lost? Moreover, do you guys improvise a lot live? Do you think your music is at its best live?

PG: We don’t really think about it in terms of getting lost, at least not in a negative sense. This is a big difference between

Fellow Citizens and the Kevin Costner Suicide Pact. The parts we’re playing in Fellow Citizens songs are pretty concrete and regimented, whereas the Kevin Costner Suicide Pact is pretty open-ended and free form. We improvise a fair amount, but certainly more in the practice setting than live. The idea of performing an unrehearsed Kevin Costner Suicide Pact show is probably scarier than an unrehearsed Fellow Citizens set.

IG: Are you willing to talk about your live setup?

PG: Our live setup is never the same because performers and the instruments used are always changing. We use the same equipment for both bands, just in different ways.

IG: Have you ever toured as The Kevin Costner Suicide Pact? If so, how was it? Do you plan on doing another tour soon?

CP: If you count going to Fort Collins as a tour, then yes. We’d love to do it again.

Kevin Costner Suicide Pact

9 p.m., April 15 @ Communikey Festival of Electronic Arts, $80 Pass

More Upcoming Shows Photo FlashBack: The Joy Formidable

By Matt Pusatory • mpusator@mscd.edu and Ian Gassman • igassman@mscd.edu

The Swayback 9 p.m., April 15 @ Hi-Dive, $8

From left: bassist Rhydian Dafydd, vocalist/guitarist Ritzy Bryan and drummer Matt Thomas make some noise for a packed crowd during their April 8 show at the Larimer Lounge. Photo by Stephanie DeCamp • sdecamp@ mscd.edu

Jeff Beck

8 p.m., April 15 @ Paramount Theatre, $63

April 15, The Swayback, The Knew and The Photo Atlas will be playing at the Hi-Dive along with a three-piece horn section and keyboardist Patrick Lee. It’s a combination of rock ‘n’ roll that might even start a dance party in the cramped venue.

The Swayback will be bringing their dark spin on classic rock ‘n’ roll to the show, which will serve as a tour send-off party, for both them and The Photo Atlas, as they team up to take on an East Coast tour.

The trifecta of local rock is completed with heavyweights, The Knew, bringing their distinct brand of high-energy, long-haired catchiness to the night. All of this, and the addition of new instruments, should bring some new and exciting grooves to some of Denver’s most steadfast groups and it will be a much better way to spend your night than doing your taxes.

April 15, guitarist Jeff Beck will be rousing Denver’s Paramount Theater with what looks to be an eclectic mix of covers — atypical to Beck’s guitar-driven blues music. Although it’s been 45 years since Beck raised his axe with The Yardbirds, his latest album, Emotion & Commotion, still proves his virtuosic chops.

Released in March 2010, this album features Beck with guests like vocalist Joss Stone, covering Puccini’s aira, “Nessun Dorma,” the magical “Somewhere Over the Rainbow,” and even “I Put A Spell On You” by classic bluesman Screamin’ Jay Hawkins. So even if Beck’s Paramount concert is lacking on the blues, or just filled with covers, it will surely showcase his main passion: the electric guitar.

THE METROPOLITAN • APRIL 14, 2011 • AUDIOFILES • 11

on the record

Two journeys with The Good Life

By Daniel Laverty • dlaverty@mscd.edu My California trip had come to an end. It was spring break, 2005, and I had spent a fantastic week partying, sightseeing and hanging out with my friend Ryan, who had recently moved to the West Coast. As I finished loading my car, Ryan handed me a CD and said, “Hey man, I think you’ll dig this disc.” We said our goodbyes and I started my journey back to Colorado.

I popped in the CD as I merged onto the 101 and I was immediately hooked by The Good Life’s 2004 release Album of the Year. The first song and title track starts with the lyrics: Album of the Year: a musical guide to breaking up.

“The first time that I met her I Photo courtesy of The Good Life. was throwin’ up in the ladies’ room stall. She asked me if I needed anything, known growing up, so we buy a six, we decide to split, she has a downtown apartment.”

I said I think I spilled my drink.”

“Inmates (December)” gives the listener a I laughed and had to start the song over.

How many times had I been discovered in an rare perspective of the girl. She is asking the awkward and drunk situation only to reply man, “When you said you loved me, did you with something like, “No, I’m fine, I uh, think really love me?” The girl recently ran into one I just spilled my drink” or some other lame of the man’s ex-girlfriends. After talking to the excuse? The singer goes on to say, “And that’s ex, the girl wants to know how much of the relationship was rehearsed. how it started, or so I’d like to believe.”

The entire album is a lyric-lover’s fantasy.

On Album of the Year, Tim Kasher, lead singer for The Good Life and also Cursive, When the man is getting too clingy, the girlwrote an incredible musical tale of a year-long, friend says, “Space is not just a place for stars. doomed-from-the-start relationship. However, I gave you an inch; you want a house with a the successful relationship on the album is be- yard.”

I was fascinated by the arrangement of tween the music and its lyrics.

By the end of the first track, “Album of the each song and how it fit the mood and theme Year (April),” the listener knows the end of perfectly. The second-to-last track, “A New the story. First comes the beginning; the good Friend (February),” takes place after the relatimes, “The first time that I met her I was con- tionship has ended. The man is at a Valentine’s vinced I had finally found the one.” Then, the Day party and sees his ex walk in with “a new painful break-up, “The last time that I saw her friend.” The sad song almost feels like it’s in she was picking through which records were slow motion, exactly how seeing your ex in that moment would feel. hers.”

As the sun was setting and I was nearing As I got close to the Utah border, I realized I hadn’t changed the CD and had listened to Denver, the album really started to sink in. It’s it three or four times. The track “Notes in His not a cheesy, poppy break-up album, it’s about Pockets (August)” starts to question the man’s real relationships with real problems. It makes faithfulness to his girlfriend. He is drunk at you think. You live and die with both of these the bar while his girl is home on her night off. characters. I returned home feeling like I had “I’m involved in a serious talk, with a girl I had been on two journeys.

want to write aBout an alBuM that “changed your life?” go on the record and eMail uS at:

themetonline@gmail.com

12 • APRIL 14 , 2011 • THE METROPOLITAN

PORTS

“Where other journals and magazines may cater to specific styles or subjects or what have you,we remain open: a blank slate. If we get sent something creative, we will publish it and share it with others, no matter what it is.”

—ZACH BURIAN, PROSE EDITOR, TEMPORARY INFINITY • 9

One game spoils weekend fun Softball wins three, suffers worst loss in school history

In the seventh, Mustang’s junior Ashly Eichenberger smashed a one-out solo shot to tie and send the game into extra innings.

Both teams traded zeros on the scoreboard until Clark came up in the bottom of the 11th with two on and smacked a ball over the centerfield fence to give Metro the 7-4 walk-off win.

“She (Mustangs pitcher Bri Robles) threw a changeup, and it was pretty much right down the middle,” Clark said. “I took a hack at it, and it worked out in my favor.”

Daniel Laverty dlaverty@mscd.edu The rollercoaster ride continued for Metro women’s softball in Kearney, Neb. The Roadrunners smashed two walk-off hits April 9 to sweep two games from Western New Mexico and split a series with Adams State April 10, winning game one 10-9 and dropping game two 17-2, the worst loss in school history.

“We know we’re better,” senior Caitlin Jenks said about the last game’s blowout loss. “(Adams State) capitalized on our weaknesses.”

Adams State game two: “The Blowout” The Grizzlies exploded for 17 runs on 18 hits, and scored in every inning. Metro used three pitchers: sophomore Jes Mattes, sophomore Aubree Maul and Jenks, but could not stop the bleeding as ASC hit five home runs, including a grand slam.

Metro lost the game 17-2 in five innings.

“We’re going to start focusing on pitching [this week,]” Head Coach Vanessa Becerra said. “We need to be consistently hitting our spots.”

Adams State game one: “The Nail biter” Senior pitcher Julia Diehl took the mound to start the doubleheader and was hit early on, giving up a two-run blast in the top of the first.

The Runners answered back with a run in the first and got a two-

Metro junior center fielder Molly Clark gets ready for practice April 12, at Auraria field. Clark hit a three-run home run April 9, leading to a 7-4 walk-off win over Western New Mexico. Photo by Billie Renae • bsmit179@mscd.edu out RBI single from Diehl in the third to tie the score 2-2.

The fourth inning was huge for both teams. The Grizzlies hit a home run and took advantage of a wild pitch to score four runs in the top of the inning. Metro answered back with a five run frame. Jenks and junior Molly Clark both hit tworun shots and junior Kasey Nichols added a solo shot.

Metro used the long-ball again in the sixth as Maul and senior outfielder Danni Hedstrom each hit homers to give the Roadrunners a comfortable 10-6 lead. Diehl came out and gave up back-to-back home runs to the Grizzlies in the top of the seventh, including a two-run shot.

With one out and just a one-run lead, Mattes came in to close out the game. She induced two fly-outs and picked up the save as Metro won, 109.

W.N.M. game one: “The walk-off blast” Starting pitcher Diehl was tested early, as the Mustangs led-off the game with back-to-back singles.

Diehl got a couple of groundouts to get out of the inning with no damage done.

Senior shortstop Amber Roundtree led off the bottom of the first with a homer to give the Runners an early 1-0 lead.

The Mustangs used a two-out RBI double in the top of the third to even the score 1-1, but senior leftfielder Jennessa Tesone blasted a three-run shot in the bottom of the third to give the Roadrunners a 4-1 lead.

Western N.M. wouldn’t be discouraged and started to chip away at the lead. The Mustangs scored a run in the fifth and sixth innings to cut Metro’s lead 4-3.

W.N.M. game two: “First hit, huge hit” Starting pitcher Maul settled in and took advantage of a 1-0 lead.

Maul held Western N.M. scoreless through six, but the Mustangs got a two-out RBI single to tie 1-1 in the top of the sixth.

Jenks came up in the bottom of the seventh and hit a single to drive in senior outfielder Kristen Gertner for Metro’s second walk-off win of the day, leading Metro to a 2-1 victory. It was Jenks’ first hit of the season.

“I feel like I haven’t been helping,” Jenks said. “But it feels good to add to the team.”

The Roadrunners are still in second place in the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference standings, a game behind Colorado School of Mines. Metro will face third place Mesa State College in Grand Junction April 16 and 17.

Runners get a little help from friends Metro basketball aids track and field at CU Invitational

By Matt Hollinshead mhollin5@mscd.edu The Metro track and field teams went out to Boulder for the CU Invitational April 9, turning in solid performances with a little extra help from the Metro basketball teams .

Second-year Head Coach John Supsic was very happy to see other athletes giving his squad a hand.

“One thing that I really love about Metro athletics is all the teams support each other,” Supsic said.

“Athletes are coming in saying, ‘we’re willing to help. What can we

do?’ It says a lot about this athletic program.”

Freshman forward Amy Andrus and senior forward Cassondra Bratton of the women’s basketball team helped track out in their respective events.

Andrus threw 11.87 meters, resulting in a ninth-place finish out of 25 participants in the shotput event, while Bratton finished 18th in the women’s long jump, with her best jump being 4.47 meters.

Men’s basketball junior forward Paul Brotherson also helped the team out, finishing 37th in the 200 meter dash at 25.85 seconds.

“It means so much to us,” junior sprints/middle distance runner Carissa Sinda said. “Without them, we wouldn’t [have] been able to com-

pete at nationals. It’s always fun to be able to talk to them about their sport.”

Senior distance runner Brandon Johnson became the first Roadrunner this season to provisionally qualify in the 1,500 meters, finishing seventh overall in 3 minutes and 55.15 seconds. That converted to 3:49.54 for altitude, the time ended up being under the provisional standard time of 3:52.50.

“He fought hard throughout the race,” Supsic said.

In addition, freshman distance runner Kraig Kleiner broke the school record for the 3,000-meter run at 8:55.80. Senior distance runner Zach Mares held the previous record last spring at 9:02.14.

The women also represented

Metro strongly. Sinda placed 10th out of 36 800-meter competitors, finishing at 2:20.00.

Sophomore distance runner Julia Hernandez finished 14th in the 1,500 meters, recording a time of 5:01.28.

“Everybody did really well,” Sinda said. “Everybody was performing personal bests, finishing pretty high in the races, if not in the top five.

Almost everybody was really happy with their results.”

Metro will participate in five meets, April 14-16, starting with the Mt. San Antonio College relays in Walnut, Calif.

SIDELINE This Week

4.15 Baseball

3 p.m. vs Nebraska-Kearney

4.16 Baseball

12 p.m. vs Nebraska-Kearney (doubleheader)

Softball

12 p.m. @ Mesa State (DH)

4.17 Softball

11 a.m @ Mesa State (DH)

Baseball

12 p.m. vs Nebraska-Kearney

Metro Club Team Metro’s inline hockey team returned from the 2011 Collegiate National Championships with their heads held high. Metro was bumped up to DI this season after making nationals for the past two years in DII. They won their first game ever at nationals against State University of New York at Brockport. Metro lost to Eastern Michigan University, University of Tampa and CalPoly State University.

They said it: “On both sides we definitely have the skill. If we can start winning [the big points], both teams can definitely make a run.”

TENNIS HEAD COACH BECK MEARES ON THE POSTSEASON CHANCES OF THE TENNIS TEAMS • 13

Ryan Ward reports as Metro baseball continues their hot streak against New Mexico Highlands themet.studentmedia. com/sports

Tennis stumbles to finish season

13 • APRIL 14, 2011 • THE METROPOLITAN

Men drop two matches, while women win two

By Ben Bruskin bbruskin@mscd.edu Metro men’s tennis faltered this week, losing conference matches April 7 and 8 at Denver’s Gates Tennis Center to the University of Nebraska at Kearney and Montana State University at Billings, 9-0 and 6-3, respectively.

The team bounced back with a 9-0 beat down April 12 over Colorado Christian University April 12.

The men’s team is 9-9 overall; 3-3 in conference play. The women’s team is 8-8 overall; 3-2 in conference play. As of April 9, the men’s team was fourth in the regional rankings.

Despite the losses, the Roadrunners can still make the NCAA tournament if they hold on to their top four spot in the regional rankings.

Metro women’s tennis team lost to conference leading UNK 5-4, but won back-to-back matches against MSUB and CCU, 9-0, and 6-3. The team is ranked seventh in the regional rankings.

The match against CCU proved to be an easy task for the men’s side.

Junior Mike Riley shined defeating CCU’s Luke Black 6-0, 6-0 in singles.

They went on to finish off Colorado Christian in doubles, 8-2, 8-1, and 8-0.

The women’s team also performed well, despite early struggles.

Metro’s top two players, Alicia Holm and Nicole Herrmann, dropped their matches. The rest of the squad went on to win in straight sets. Metro later took two doubles matches after dropping the first.

The match against Montana State was a blow for the men’s team, as the Runners were in front of MSUB in the regional rankings heading into the match.

Metro lost in each of their top three singles matches, as well as the No. 2 and 3 doubles matches.

Co-captain senior Lucio Cangiano won his No. 1 doubles match against MSUB 8-6, but stumbled in his No. 1 singles match; losing 2-6, 6-4, 6-2.

“I played well, but I lost my mind in the third set,” Cangiano said. “I was really unhappy.”

The Brazilian lefty believes his team needs a little more work before they enter the postseason.

“Hopefully, our team can improve and practice hard for the regional tournament,” Cangiano said.

The women’s team played their best game of the season against MSUB, and tennis head coach Beck Meares said she was proud of her team.

FYI: Jim Reeves holds the record for eating the most watermelon in 15 minutes, eating 13.22 pounds

“The girls played really, really good today,” Meares said.

Coming off a tough 5-4 loss against UNK the previous day, the women turned it around sweeping MSUB and everyone won their matches. The team was forced to a third set only once against MSUB. “After yesterday’s match (April 7 against UNK), we went over a few things,” Meares said. “They went out there and really changed it up.

The score shows it.”

The women’s team will need to win the upcoming Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference tournament, starting April 22, in order to advance to the regional tournament.

While the postseason picture is not yet clear, Meares said she thinks both teams can make noise if they advance that far.

“On both sides we definitely have the skill,” Meares said. “If we can start winning (the big points), both teams can definitely make a run.”

Metro Junior Lucio Cangiano returns the ball April 8, during a 3-6 loss to Montana StateBillings. Metro has lost four of its last five matches, bringing their overall record to 9-9.

Photo by Jonathan Ingraham • jingrah1@mscd.edu

We need fans, not football at Metro For the past couple weeks, only one thing around campus has been said more than “Duh, winning”: “Metro State is getting a football team.” Wait, let me correct that sentence. Metro State is getting a “club” football team.

That’s right — a club team, not an NCAA Division II team that will play in the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference, but a team that will be playing semi-professional teams this spring, and then in the fall “playing teams consisting of Division III, JUCOs, Collegiate Club, and also Divison I JV squads,” according to metrostatefootball.com.

Metropolitan writer Ben Bruskin throughouly covered the team and gave background information during the past month and a half.

For every one who thinks we need a football team, please sit down, get comfortable and hopefully just a bit smarter as i tell you why we don’t need a football team.

As is usually true, the top reason is money. In order to get a football team the school will have to build a new weight room facility to handle the increased amount of student athletes who will need to work out.

They will have to buy uniforms and equipment for the team. As well as for the other sports Metro will have to add to be in compliance with

Mark Babish mbabish@mscd.edu Title IX. Granted, most of the money would come from boosters and private funding, but I’m pretty sure the money could go to something better — like making the projectors in classrooms work, instead of having a 15-minute dance with five students trying to turn it on.

The school would also need to build a football stadium, which raises the question, “Where?”

As I walk around campus, I see Metro getting closer and closer to capacity. I have taken classes in the modules, aka “the trailer park,” yet people want to build a stadium on campus.

And to those who say, “Why couldn’t we play in Mile High Stadium? It’s right across the street,” I’ll give you a couple numbers to shut you up.

The largest attended RMAC conference game last season was when Chadron State (yes the same one New England Patriot Danny Woodhead attended) traveled to Colorado State University at Pueblo and just more than 6,400 showed up. Now imagine Mile High with 6,400 people in the 76,125 capacity stadium.

Kind of bleak, huh?

Even if the money situation was settled, why destroy Metro’s great athletic department.

Football costs a lot. All the funds that are being used to support Metro’s current teams would have to be redistributed. Metro has 13 sanctioned NCAA sports and out of those 13, seven of the teams have been ranked in the top 25 in the past year.

In the fall, Metro was the only Division II school to have men’s and women’s soccer and volleyball in the top 25 polls at the same time. That happened eight times. Throw in cross country, and that makes four different teams in the top 25 for the fall season.

During the winter sports season, Metro has basketball. The men have turned into a traditional powerhouse; Metro is “Duke” in the RMAC. Every school loves to hate Metro. The team has qualified for the NCAA tournament 13 out of the past 14 years. The women just had

their most successful season ever, finishing No. 5 in the nation and making it to the Elite Eight.

In the spring season, Metro softball has dominated since being reinstated four years ago ­­— two RMAC regular season titles, two RMAC postseason titles and a trip to the College World Series where the team made it to the national semifinals last year.

Metro is currently 15th in Division II Learfield Sports Directors’ standings. The Directors cup is a competition between all of the other D II schools, which are awarded points based on how each school finishes nationally.

I have taken classes in the modules, aka “the trailer park,” yet people want to build a stadium on campus.

But you know what, you’re right. Just for football, we should stop having all these great teams.

After dealing with the funding and depleting current Metro teams, football still has one question to answer. How are you going to make

money when the student body isn’t going to support the team?

I just gave you seven different sports that are thriving at Metro, but each one of them does not get the proper support from the fans.

Metro plays in one of the most challenging conferences in the nation. When the women’s basketball team made it to the Elite Eight in St. Joseph’s Mo., not one student showed up for the free fan bus. It was just the pep band, cheerleaders, the Metro State Broadcast Network, also known as the “Beak-to-Beak” crew, and a few non-student supporters.

I have covered Metro sports for four years. I have seen the empty sidelines at the soccer field when two top-10 teams are playing. I have seen an empty basketball arena when two undefeated teams are fighting for first place. I have seen softball win championships with no students in the stands. So, please tell me why the people in charge of Metro’s “club” football team think they will have any success getting students involved? And do not answer that question with, “It’s football.”

What Metro needs are students to realize they have a tremendous opportunity to see some great action. When they finally do, everyone will say “Duh, winning.”

CROSSWORD

IMEOUT

14 4.14.2011 THE METROPOLITAN

BEST OF ONLINE Texts from last night

Across 1- Fed 5- Jai alai basket 10- Get rid of 14- Adjutant 15- Loose fiber used for caulking 16- “___ Rider” starred Clint Eastwood 17- Blemish 18- Sheeplike 19- Bumpkin 20- Abandoned 22- Arrested 24- AT&T rival 25- Mine entrance 26- Situate 29- Green citrus beverage 33- Coeur d’___ 34- Thor’s father 36- Beverage commonly drunk in England 37- Female fowl

38- Exactly 39- Bandleader Brown 40- Make lace 41- Anger 42- Proclaim noisily 44- Hormone of the pancreas 47- Elevated 48- Meadow mouse 49- Directional ending 50- Cloud of interstellar gas 53- Care of the fingernails 58- Jump on the ice 59- Cool!

61- Fall birthstone 62- Bristle 63- Large Nepalese knife 64- Former Fords 65- Rent-___ 66- Bellowing 67- Centrepiece of the human face

Down 1- Iron hook with a handle 2- Actor O’Shea 3- Purim month 4- Reporter 5- Biscuit 6- Gutter locale 7- Pelt 8- Large cask 9- Removing faults 10- Goblin 11- Drag 12- Dresden’s river 13- Act 21- Entr’___ 23- Direct a gun 25- Dress style 26- Actress Christine 27- New York city 28- Small change 30- Collection of maps 31- Caterpillar rival 32- Alleviated

WEEK PREVIEW Sunday/ 4.17

Friday/ 4.15

Monday/ 4.18

Innovation Day 10 a.m.

Tivoli Turnhalle Metro’s Center for Innovation is sponsoring the Innovation Challenge, featuring opportunities to create, invent and network.

Free

Art Sparks Art—Inspiration That Cuts Across Disciplines 6 p.m.

Walker Fine Art Poet Ginny Hoyle and artist Judy Anderson created the installation, When We Were Birds and will be hosting a short talk and free viewing of the piece. There will be refreshments and a live acoustic set by Fingers of the Sun. Free

Aurora Bike Swap Bicycle Village, 2802 South Havana Street The best way to sell and trade: People sell unwanted bikes to the shop; they safety-check them, get them in good working order and turn them around. The sellers then get money or credit.

Free

34- Express a viewpoint 35- Indian dish 38- Ceylon, now 42- Adriatic port 43-16th president of the U.S 45- Type of consonant 46- Chat room chuckle 47- Impressionist Pierre 50- American space agency 51- Corp. VIP, briefly 52- Second letter of the Greek alphabet 53- Mackerel shark 54- Gillette brand 55- As far as 56- X-ray units 57- Additional 60- Where It.’s at

Thanks for the drunken voicemail of bird calls. Love and miss you, too.

The 9th floor RA wants to know why we stacked 21 cinder blocks in the shower, and I can’t remember. Do you?

It’s time for step 4 of getting over him: post his number on the transvestite page on craigs list asking for pics.

She’s walking around topless with a bottle of red wine, crying and singing showtune ballads. This is actually an improvement.

I always figured rock bottom would’ve involved more drugs and hookers.

The guy I wanted to make out with just got beat up, let’s roll.

I have bruises covered in glitter and someone just asked me if I realized I’m bleeding from both ears. This is awkward.

My life is average Today, I got hurt after cutting my finger on some sharp metal at robotics practice.

My friend and safety captain gave me a piece of duct tape as a bandaid. MLIA Today,I was listening to music on Pandora. “Please Don’t Stop the Music” by Rihanna came on. In the middle of the song, the music inexplicably stopped.

MLIA. Today, my mom bought me and my sister some One-A-Day gummy vitamins. While I was reading the label, I found that we’re supposed to take two vitamins a day.

Still not sure whether it’s a typo or false advertisement...MLIA Today, I realized that when you type “pv zk pv pv zk pv zk kz zk pv pv pv zk pv zk zk pzk pzk pvzkpkzvpvzk kkkkkk bsch” into Google Translate and press German to German, the “Listen” button changes to “Beatbox.”

Mind blown. MLIA

Note: Best of Online entries are not edited.

LAUGH OF THE WEEK

Thursday/ 4.14

Saturday/ 4.16

SUDOKU

Docent Dinner #5 4 p.m.

Dazzle Restaurant & Lounge Artists Tony Zellaha and Jason McQuitty feature their work and answer questions from the audience during a special three-course meal. $25

13 Families: Life After Columbine 7 p.m.

Denver Film Center Documentary screening. $7.25

Tuesday/ 4.19

Colorado Rockies vs San Francisco Giants 6:40 p.m.

Coors Field Varied

Wednesday/ 4.20

Spring Fling 12:30-2 p.m.

Tivoli Commons Welcome back the warm weather during Metro’s annual spring festival.

Free

DAVE LARSON larsodav@mscd.edu