Volume 34, Issue 15 - Dec. 1, 2011

December 1, 2011

Volume 34, Issue 15

www.metnews.org

Serving the Auraria Campus for 33 Years

TheMetropolitan MetNews

MetroSpective

AudioFiles

MetSports

The name change name game continues 3

Metro alum finds niché by opening brewery 9

Sisters use music, mustaches to benefit cancer patients 10

Metro hosts first bouldering competition 12

Falling into Moab’s canyons

Auraria Outdoor Adventure member Alaska Andre looks out across Arches National Park Nov. 21 during the biannual canyoneering trip to Moab and the surrounding areas. The story can be found on page 8.

Photo by Kelsey McMaster • kkorthui@mscd.edu.

On The Met Report: Tips on de-stressing during finals week Get the most money for your books at Buy Back Metrosphere wins prestigious national award

LIVE Friday, Dec. 2 @12:30 p.m.

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TheMetropolitan December 1, 2011

MetNews

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Financial aid on the chopping block Nathalia Vélez nvelez@mscd.edu Tuition keeps rising and funding keeps declining for higher education, and the economic struggle might not be over yet for Metro students.

Gov. John Hickenlooper proposed a more than $60 million cut in the budget for higher education in the 2012-2013 fiscal year to the Joint Budget Committee Nov. 2.

The estimated amount to be cut from Metro’s budget is between $4 million and $4.5 million, according to the school’s online newsletter This Week @Metro.

Around $30 million of the $60 million proposed state budget cut would come out of need-based grants and Work-study, according to Cynthia Hejl, director of Metro’s Office of Financial Aid. This would reduce 30 percent of financial aid statewide.

“If this does happen in equal parts to both Colorado State need-based grant, and Work-study, then we are looking [at] a reduction of 3700 to 4000 students not re-

ceiving a state grant and a reduction of 120 to 150 students earning state work study,” Hejl said.

To compensate for the budget cuts, Metro SGA Sen. Jason Dirgo is convinced a tuition increase is in order.

“We had a tuition increase already, so two in two years’ time is not going to be very happy for the students,” Dirgo said.

Dirgo is a full-time student who works two jobs and takes out student loans. He’s aware many Metro students are in a similar situation, and reductions in financial aid would affect them.

“We’re not in a privileged society where our parents pay for our educations out of trust funds, I don’t think that’s the demographic of this college,” Dirgo said.

Although the budget cuts have not been approved, the school’s administration has been talking to the Finance Department, the Office of Financial Aid and the Colorado Department of Higher Education.

“Metro is very concerned with the potential huge hit to financial aid since state

aid has been relatively protected in the past,” Hejl said.

The Office of Financial Aid’s main concern is how students will deal with reduced help to pay for their education, according to Hejl.

“Metro State has the largest count of low income students in the state,” Hejl said. “We realize [the Financial Aid] office is extremely important to the advancement of our students’ education.”

With fewer state grants, students could be forced to take out larger student loans, which would hurt them in the future when they have to repay them.

“Our office is concerned already with the amount of student loan debt and this would only make it greater,” Hejl said.

If the budget cut became a reality, the amount of students who can be employed under Work-study would be reduced by 30 percent.

“Not only will we no longer be able to employ students who have relied on their Work-study jobs, we will likely have to cut

our service and hours of operations to assist students,” Hejl said.

Underfunding is not a new problem for higher education. According to a report by the State Higher Education Executive Officers, there has been a cycle of decline and recovery in funding for higher education. The 2010 report, updated in April 2011, states the recent recession hurt the higher education budget, and SHEEO predicts a slow recovery.

“The continuing fiscal crisis beginning in 2008 clearly poses a severe threat to the strength of higher education in the United States,” the report stated.

To Dirgo, the budget cuts would mean a lot of students would have to live on an even tighter budget than they currently do, but he thinks it’s worth it.

“It really means saving money, doing what you can if you want to stay educated,” Dirgo said. “Which, given that the economy sucks, education is about the best route you can take.”

University name game has no winners Brad Roudebush wroudebu@mscd.edu DSU may have been DOA, but not for all the reasons you may think.

Former Colorado Speaker of the House and chairman of Metro’s Strategic Name Change Committee Terrance Carroll and Associate Vice President of Communications and Advancement Cathy Lucas spoke to Metro’s Student Government Assembly Friday, Nov. 18 to address the progress of Metro’s name change.

“We know this has been a long, frustrating and arduous journey for all of us,” said Carroll.

The journey began last spring when students voiced their opinions and selected the name Denver State University as the apparent heir to Metropolitan State College of Denver. However, due to opposition from multiple entities, the issue has been prolonged into a nearly year-long battle.

The name Denver State University is off the table not simply because Metro was met with strong opposition from University of Denver. Carroll explained it is not politically possible to move forward with the name

Denver State University because the state legislatures would not back any proposal using the name—even after mediation with DU. “We’ve been in long dialogue with DU and with lawyers about the name and about the best way to avoid confusion with DU and make sure they aren’t confused with us,” Carroll said.

Some saw validity in Carroll’s statement.

“I don’t want to be confused with a DU student any more than a DU student wants to be compared with me,” Nina Dadabhoy, a member of the SGA’s Freshman Council said.

“There was vigorous opposition from many quarters,” Carroll said. “Although the student population was very supportive of the name Denver State University, many people in the larger community, including alumni, faculty and folks outside the Metro community had issues with DSU. It probably wouldn’t matter as much if the legislature did not have final say over what our name would be,” Carroll said. “Our board would be completely committed to moving forward with a course of action… on our own.”

When the board re-approached the name change this fall, they did so with three main goals: clearly show Metro as a fouryear institution, show the evolution of the college—“one foot in the future, one foot in our heritage”— and make it easier for the school’s graduates to enter the job market.

“Our responsibility to the students and the larger community of Metro is to ensure our overall goals in pursuing the name change initially are met,” Carroll said.

After surveying students, faculty and alumni last spring, the Board of Trustees decided to table the proposal until this fall.

The 12,000 students, faculty and alumni Metro surveyed were again asked about the three proposed names from Nov. 8 to 22. At the SGA meeting Nov. 18, Lucas said that an additional 1,000 random students, faculty and alumni would be offered two new options: Metropolitan State University-Denver and Metropolitan State University at Denver.

According to Lucas, the recent surveys were not delivered to all students, faculty and alumni because “research experts said that this was not a true quantitative research project. We did a random sampling this time.”

Carroll fully supports Metro students, but as a member of the Board of Trustees he sees a greater need to address funding and financing issues higher education is facing.

Not everyone in attendance was as willing to let DSU die.

“It seems wrong that a private institution is lording over a public institution with that much influence,” said SGA Sen. Jeffery Washington. “I think it reflects badly to back down from our position.

As long as we have ‘Metropolitan’ in our name,” Washington continued, “[there will] always be that confusion with a community college.”

“I feel like Superman went to college in Metropolis, I go to school in Denver,” added SGA Sen. Simon Ayesse.

The Board of Trustees will make a decision on the new name Dec. 1.

Carroll knows no matter what decision the Board of Trustees makes regarding the name change, somebody is going to be upset by it.

“I’m a big Metro fan,” he said. “I’m a Roadrunner somewhere in my blood.”

MetOnline Visit us online at metnews.org this week to find out about when Metro’s Food Bank will be operating between semesters and where else you can find food assistance in the Denver area.

4 December 1, 2011 MetNews TheMetropolitan

Laura Triem out of medically induced coma Faces long recovery and mounting medical bills Walt House whouse1@mscd.edu Metro student Laura Triem has been removed from the ICU and is in the progressive care unit at the Denver Health Medical Center. The medical center would not release information about her current status.

Triem, 21, was struck by an RTD light rail train on Nov. 4, and suffered primarily head injuries from the collision. The accident happened at Speer Boulevard and Stout Street.

Triem has a long recovery ahead, said her roommate Erin Pacha, who has been a spokeswoman on behalf of the Triem family.

No long-term prognosis has been given, Pacha said.

Triem underwent surgery to alleviate pressure in her brain.

Based on Facebook postings by family and friends, Triem is walking, gesturing, and smiling. She can’t talk due to a tracheal tube inserted in her throat, but has started physical therapy.

“She’s a real trouper,” said Sean McCreedy, 29, a coworker with Triem at the Cheescake Factory. “We can’t wait for her to get back. She is upbeat all the time, and has a great smile.”

Triem is facing significant medical bills due to her treatment and stay at the hospital. Fundraisers and bake sales have been organized to raise funds to help offset those expenses. The goal is to raise $50,000. To date, more than $8,300 has been collected.

The bake sale that was held on Nov. 19 at the Cheescake Factory raised more than $2,300.

Triem’s family has setup a website, which is http://www.giveforward.com/supportinglauratriem, and the Laura Triem Fund at Wells Fargo to take donations.

Friends and co-workers have organized another bake sale to take place on Dec. 3 during the Parade of Lights event. The sale will start at 4 p.m and will be hosted by the Cheesecake Factory on the 16th Street Mall.

For information about the sale, contact Pacha at 702-686-9236.

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Baked goods lay on a table during a sale to raise money for Metro student Laura Triem who was struck by a lightrail train Nov. 4. The bake sale was on Nov. 19. Triems’s friends and co-workers raised money to aid her family with medical costs from her accident. Photo by Brian T. McGinn • bmcginn3@mscd.edu

DENVER

6 December 1, 2011 TheMetropolitan

InSight

Lessons by biking through Denver’s past, present and yet to come cityscape Were 19th century British author Charles Dickens – who wrote about class and income inequality in post-Industrial Revolution England in nearly all of his novels –with us today, he might be an Occupier.

Hard as it might be to picture Dickens – in his 1850s top hat and fancy cravat – standing with today’s Occupiers, his heart was with the exploited English underclasses.

In Dickens’ classic 1843 “Christmas Carol,” skinflint Ebenezer Scrooge would today be a “fiscal conservative” Republican. Along with buying and selling commodities, some of Scrooge’s wealth was wrung from debtors and he paid his clerk, Bob Cratchit, a pittance. But Scrooge was a changed man after seeing the human costs of his “…are there no prisons?...are there no workhouses?” attitude toward the poor. Visits by ghosts of Christmas past, present and yet to come showed him human suffering, what his life might have been like, and its inevitable end.

Like Frank Capra’s 1946 “It’s a Wonderful Life” movie, starring Jimmy Stewart, Dickens’ tale is a Christmas classic that gets to the heart of Christmas at a time before malls, manic shopping or “Black Friday” exercises in idiocy.

Neither Christmas nor Dickens or Capra were on my mind when, on a late October Sunday, I journeyed through nooks and crannies of Denver’s past, present and yet to come; a sojourn by bike, but with Denver ghosts never far away.

I biked from Larimer Square through the streets of LoDo, past Coors Field and

the instant “loft” buildings that have risen in recent years there and into recently-spiff y River North (“RiNo”) past Park Avenue West. While old brick survives in genuine turn-of-last-century loft buildings, glass and sterile steel mark the new cityscape that seemed better suited to office towers than human habitations. Along streets and alleys once the domain of winos, derelicts and homeless people, even low-rise residences seemed to lack human scale. Storefronts appeared antiseptic and, even on a bright and warm Sunday afternoon, there wasn’t a soul on the streets.

More than 50 years ago, urban visionary Jane Jacobs called for cities and streets for people – rather than cars – with active street life and people-gathering focal points.

Nobody listened. Today, despite the mixed results of “New Urbanism,” we still don’t seem to have learned much.

Across the Platte Valley, recent gentrification has raised a cityscape replete with yuppie condos and trendy bars and bistros that seem fi lled with clueless newcomers to Denver in the “Highlands” neighborhood.

The process squeezed out longtime Hispanic residents who had replaced earlier Italians. I lived near the western edge of Highlands in the 1980s, before it became chic. When first encountering the new Highlands a few years ago, I barely recognized the neighborhood.

Neither LoDo, RiNo nor the Highlands neighborhoods now come cheaply. And while nobody wants a return to Larimer Street’s and LoDo’s former Skid Row eminence, I sometimes wonder who has ben-

Occupy Wall Street’s biggest challenge is getting people to understand what the movement is about and what the protestors want.

The answers can range from the most basic, such as freedom, to the most complex aim of Occupy hand manuals. However, there is one common denominator every protestor shares: We are all just sick and tired of being sick and tired.

Since the Recession hit in 2008, the 99 percent (the majority) have gotten poorer while the top 1 percent (the minority) have gotten richer. While we 99 percent are struggling to survive and keep their homes and families fed, the other one percent have taken advantage of the real sense of fear emerging in this country. I sure know I used to be full of fear after the recession directly impacted my family.

My family consists of my father Stephen, my sister Felecity and myself. After the

recession hit, both my sister and my father lost their jobs. My sister lived in Arizona at the time and had just started a new job. My father was laid off in 2009.

Every day, from the time my father lost his job in 2009 to just recently, it was a challenge not only to survive the financial impact felt, but also the mental impact that followed. For the first time in my life I was truly afraid that my father, a 57-year old man, and myself would end up homeless and hopeless. With the help of places such as the Jeffco Action Center, who so graciously gave us food and other essentials, we stayed fed and slightly secure.

I cannot lie though.

The first time I had to go to the Jeffco Action Center, my pride resisted the idea all the way to the door, kicking and screaming along the way. I went from a semi-comfortable life where I never had to question how I was going to eat dinner that night, to being thrust into near poverty. It was a terrifying

Editor-in-Chief Ramsey Scott: rscott42@mscd.edu Managing Editor Walt House: whouse1@mscd.edu News Editors Nathalia Vélez: nvelez@mscd.edu Wesley Reyna: wreyna1@mscd.edu MetroSpective Editor Megan Mitchell: mmitch46@mscd.edu Assistant MetroSpective Editor Christin Mitchell: cmitch39@mscd.edu

J. SEBASTIAN SINISI sinisi2@msn.com efited most from whatever we’ve gained.

Biking back from Highland, I cruised the 16th Street Mall – alive with people and activity with some of the grittiness that’s the mark of a genuine urban place and not a sanitized mall imitation. Then, I rode back to the 1500 block of Larimer Street. Where preservationist Dana Crawford – without benefit of loans from local sources – managed only the second successful feat of adaptive re-use of historic commercial buildings in America in the late 1960s and early ‘70s.

San Francisco’s Ghiradelli Square was the first. Larimer Square is greatly changed since I had an office there in the mid-1970s. It’s now cute, corporate and awash in high-end establishments. But Dana Crawford - against long odds – saved it from the wrecker’s ball fate that fell to entire blocks of Denver’s historic fabric adjoining today’s LoDo. This is part of the cityscape students who stay around after graduation will inherit.

You might want to know it better – and also know that, sometimes, we actually get it right.

Student Op-Ed: One student’s life in the 99 percent Stephanie Zalinger szaling1@mscd.edu

MetStaff

but insanely humbling experience.

When all is said and done though, I am exhausted. I am exhausted from being held down and force-fed the problems caused by Wall Street and the 1 percent. I am exhausted from being told that it is up to the 99 percent to sacrifice to solve those problems. And I am exhausted from seeing our do-nothing government, especially House Republicans, come together to protect Wall Street and the 1 percent but not come together to help people like my father, who are truly suffering during this recession.

That is exactly what Occupy Wall Street is. A movement of people not only in our nation but around the globe that are tired and finally have all stood up for our basic rights, not only citizens but human beings. Occupy Wall Street/Denver/Oakland/ London, whichever, is you and I. We are the 99 percent and we cannot let the 1 percent think that they can continue to have the last laugh.

AudioFiles Editor Ian Gassman: igassman@mscd.edu Sports Editor Daniel Laverty: dlaverty@mscd.edu Assistant Sports Editor Matt Hollinshead: mhollin5@mscd.edu Copy Editors J. Sebastian Sinisi Luke Powell

Kate Rigot Steve Musal

Photo Editor Steve Anderson: sande104@mscd.edu Assistant Photo Editors Luke Powell Ryan Borthick Adviser Gary Massaro: gmassaro@mscd.edu Webmaster Drew Jaynes: ajaynes1@mscd.edu Director of Student Media Steve Haigh: shaigh@mscd.edu Assistant Director of Student Media Marlena Hartz: mhartz@mscd.edu Administrative Assistant of Student Media Elizabeth Norberg: enorbert@mscd.edu Production Manager of Student Media Kathleen Jewby: kjewby@mscd.edu

The Metropolitan accepts submissions in the form of topicdriven columns and letters to the editor. Column article concepts must be submitted by 1 p.m.. Thursdays and the deadline for columns is 9 p.m.

Sundays. Columns range from 500 to 600 words. Letters to the editor must be submitted by 5 p.m. Mondays to be printed in that week’s edition. There is 500-word limit for letters to the editor.

The Metropolitan reserves the right to edit letters for formatting and style. All submissions should be sent by e-mail to themetonline@gmail.com.

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

TheMetropolitan InSight December 1, 2011

7

Student Op-Ed

Denver Occupy exposes police intolerance Christina Castaneda ccastan8@mscd.edu When first arriving in the early morning of Oct 8, 2011, at Occupy Denver when it was then located at Lincoln Park the first thing I noticed was the People’s Kitchen, run by a man calling himself Krunchy. Krunchy is a professional chef who brought all of his equipment and food to prepare meals for anyone that was hungry. Krunchy, along with other occupiers, were getting breakfast ready for the protesters amidst cars driving by and honking in support.

There were massive tents, some occupiers were waking up; one of the occupiers was State Rep. Wes McKinley (D). McKinley was waking up and putting his cowboy hat on and soon started mingling with everyone. As I was looking around, friendly faces came up and introduced themselves.

I had the pleasure of meeting Kim Fessenden of Denver, who was taking the time to protest and share his views about the country. As a proud American, Fessenden wished the government would better assist the American people because he was seeing a rise of corporate person-hood. I met another protester named Robb Meadows, who told

me there would be a lot of opposition toward the Occupy movement. He shared a quote from Mohandas Gandhi that had inspired him to protest, “First they ignore you, then they laugh at you, then they fight you, then you win.”

The Occupy camp was an eclectic group that had peacefully assembled to air their grievances.

Saturday, November 15, 2011, I witnessed the inverse of that peaceful protest.

Non-violent protesters were being attacked by a violent police force sent to crush the Occupiers. One protester was walking when he was hit by a police officer on a motorcycle.

That protester later was charged with assault on the police officer. A child with his mother was pepper sprayed. Police arrested protesters and 16 Street Mall was shut down.

People who wanted to bail their friends and family from jail that night couldn’t because the jail was on lockdown. No one could be bailed and protesters had to be there overnight. According to the Denver Anarchist Black Cross, the next morning the protesters went before the judge, where their bail was raised that day from $100 a person to $750 a person. The DABC also reported

that the protesters who were jailed were limping with mysterious bruises and cuts.

People talk about tax dollars being wasted on this protest, all the money that must be spent to keep the protesters “in check.” Our tax dollars pay for police, they are the ones who buy the tear gas and rubber bullets. We (the taxpayers) are not the ones who choose to violently suppress a group of citizens peacefully assembling to air their grievances. That decision lies with those in charge of the police department.

The mass media fails to focus on how the war on terror spends billions a week, which primarily comes from tax dollars. As for the police, they don’t get paid much either. There is no doubt they are part of the 99%. The police have bills to pay and are just following orders. I respect them and I empathize with the positions they are being put into.

The issue should not be wasted tax dollars. The bottom line is that peaceful protesters should be allowed to protest no matter their cause. If the government has an opposition of protesters putting up tents, then why aren’t they afraid of all the tent cities across America filled with the homeless?

Why aren’t they tear gassing tents in front of

Best Buy on Black Friday?

As a political science student, and an avid history reader, I know this isn’t the first time a protest has been met with opposition.

The Labor Rights Movement and the Civil Rights movement in America were both met with police violence and disfavor from the mass media. Change doesn’t come quickly in our history. It took more than a century after the Emancipation Proclamation before black and white people were allowed to go to school together, let alone drink from the same water fountain.

At the beginning of the Occupy Movement the police were on board and supportive. They would often stop by in the middle of the night to make sure no one was bothering the protesters. As Occupy Movement spread across the nation it seemed the police were prohibited from supporting the movement because they stopped coming by. Now the only time they show up is in riot gear.

While Occupy Walls Street’s demands may take a long time to be met, protesters need to have their constitutional rights protected.

The protesters are meeting in peace, and by peace they should not be denied the right to promote change and speak up for inequality.

MetNews Our Insight page is not a one-way conversation. We want to hear what you have to say. If you have an opinion on the Occupy movement, on the school’s budget cuts, on the name change, or anything else that you believe is important, tell us. This paper is here to give a voice to you, the students. Let your voice be heard. If you don’t speak up, nothing will ever change. Send your submissions to themetonline@gmail.com.

Editorial

Pepper spray and Monday morning quarterbacking Fox News commentator Megyn Kelly has been getting a lot of heat for comments she made recently on Fox’s Bill O’Reilly Show.

Kelly has been accused of trivializing the use of pepper spray on students during a protest at the University of California, Davis by calling pepper spray nothing more than a food additive.

Yet Kelly’s comments were taken out of context. While she said that pepper spray is ‘essentially a food product,’ she also said that the use of it on nonviolent protestors raises moral questions. What enraged me, and should enrage everyone else with a conscious, was O’Reilly saying during the same interview that he doesn’t “think we have the right to Monday-morning quarterback the police.”

Actually Mr. O’Reilly, that is the right and responsibility of every person in a democracy to question our police and the tactics they employ.

While researching the incident at UC Davis in several publications, I read multiple quotes from current and former police officers stating that pepper spraying citizens who were being noncompliant - not violent mind you - but noncompliant, was a justified use of force. Some even went further and said that striking a citizen with a baton in

that scenario would be justified.

I want you to think about that statement for a minute. Striking a nonthreatening citizen of this country with a club is considered an appropriate use of force.

How did we get here? How did we get to a place where an armed “peace” officer striking an unarmed citizen of this democracy is considered appropriate?

In the aftermath of Sept. 11, 2001, the idea that security should trump civil rights began to take hold. In some cases, I have to say I lean towards security. I have no problems going through a scanner at the airport that might give some TSA agent a glimpse of my nether regions or being patted down before I go on an airplane.

Yet there is more than a fine line between being felt up by a TSA agent at the airport and being beaten down by a riot gear-clad police officer for my refusing to move from a public space while peacefully protesting.

Unfortunately, the violent actions against citizens of this country for peacefully protesting are not limited to one campus police department in California. (By the way, why does the UC Davis police department need riot gear and shotguns? Just in case the math league and the Dungeons and Dragons club get into a scuffle over use of the library’s

commons area?)

All across the United States, police departments have violently cracked down on Occupy camps and other peaceful protests.

Cardboard signs and tents have been met with tear gas and riot gear. Old and young alike have been injured, some severely, by what is essentially state-sanctioned violence against this country’s citizens.

While I am neither a supporter nor detractor of the Occupy movement, I believe that the actions taken against the protest should be making us question how our police forces are allowed to “control” the citizens of this country.

By using such violence to interact with peaceful protestors, the police themselves are creating a scenario where peaceful protestors could be pushed into becoming violent.

Watching the video of that campus police officer casually pepper spraying my fellow Americans, whose crime was to exercise their right to peacefully assemble and protest, filled me with so much anger, that if I were their I might have thrown a punch in the direction of that “peace officer.”

When I was a child, I was taught that the police were our friends. They were there to serve and protect us. If I was ever in trouble, all I had to do was find a policeman and ask

Ramsey Scott Editor-in-Chief rscott42@mscd.edu for help. Given how the police now treat my fellow citizens, I would think twice about asking them for assistance in my time of need.

We need, no, must question how our government treats our citizens. It is time for the people of this country to have a serious conversation about what is considered “resonable force.” We were given the right to do such a thing by our founding fathers. No matter what O’Reilly and his ilk would have you believe, it would be unpatriotic to not ask those questions.

8 December 1, 2011 MetroSpective TheMetropolitan

MetroSpective

Moab trip enlightens students

Sixteen Aurarians take rapelling class over break Story and photo by Kelsey McMaster Two vans packed full of rock climbing gear and 16 Auraria students and staff headed into an unexpected snowstorm Nov. 20 on their way to a four-day canyoneering trip in Moab, Utah.

The biannual excursion was planned through the Outdoor Adventure Center, and is available to students and staff of all skill levels. Hazardous conditions and daunting Interstate 70 passes prolonged the normally six-hour drive for the group this year.

When they finally exited the highway onto a winding road, the vans bounced around corners where increasingly large hills gave way to canyons. The sun was setting behind cliffs and an array of oranges and pinks lit up the intensely red canyons.

Everyone anticipated the arrival as the vans got closer to their destination.

“I had been to Moab before and I knew it was beautiful,” said Alaska Andre, a campus organizer for CoPIRG. “But it wasn’t until I really saw the canyons up close and got to rappel down into them that I really appreciated how majestic these million-year-old rock formations really are.”

The basics of rappelling, or ground school training, took up the first day of the trip. By the end of it, everyone was familiar with the basic rock climbing and rappelling skills they used through the red canyons of Arches National Park, a famous canyoneering location.

Hiking up steep terrain, the group explored desert canyons while being careful to avoid stepping on fragile cryptobiotic soil. Such soil holds the sandy environment together and takes 100 years to form 1-cubic inch.

“As an adventure athlete, canyoneering

Outdoor Adventure students cross a gap on a hike in during the biannual canyoneering trip to Moab and surrounding areas Nov 21.

appeals to me because it takes all the best elements of hiking, climbing, rappelling, and bouldering and adds a problem-solving component,” Metro sophomore Mike Toney said. “I think that’s my favorite part, each anchor and rappel is its own unique challenge.”

With no man-made anchoring points available, participants used boulders, bushes, trees and cams in cracks to rappel Outdoor Adventure leader Bryan Ferguson talks to down.

“I describe it as ‘technical canyoneering,’ students as he starts his rappel Nov. 20.

“I’m always astounded by how first-time which is a rope access sport that requires experiences like this can unite a group of retrievable anchoring systems,” outdoor people who wouldn’t otherwise come toleadership specialist Bryan Ferguson said. gether,” UCD sophomore Logan Thompson After full days of canyoneering, during said. down time the group kicked back in the The Outdoor Adventure Center offers hotel hot tub telling jokes and stories from the canyoneering trip annually and has an the day. Everyone got to know one another ice climbing trip this Jan. in Ouray, Colo. and bond about their new experience.

DIY edible gifts Kate Rigot krigot@mscd.edu

Problem: you can’t afford fancy gifts for your friends and family. Solution: spend a little extra time, and even less on ingredients, and make your own delicious gifts!

Your loved ones will appreciate the extra care and thoughtfulness that goes into your DIY treats.

For me, these kinds of gifts tend to take one of two different forms. One is some sort of specially-created mix for something the gift receiver can make or use at a later date: hot chocolate mixes, spice blends, soup mixes, baking mixes, and the like. The other is nothing more than a plate or a tin full of any ready-to-eat confection: truffles, fudge, tea loaves, molded mints or chocolates, cheese straws, macaroons and ever-popular cookies.

There is also, of course, the notorious and much maligned fruitcake. While one of my goals in life is to restore the former glory of the gift-fruitcake by creating or reviving a recipe that is actually good and that people will like, I will have to save that for another column. In the meantime though, feel free to use fruitcakes as joke gifts.

You could make several different types of gifts according to the tastes and proclivities of the different people on your gift list.

Or, if you’re short on time you could just make a humongous batch of one thing and divide it up into as many portions as you need.

Check out “Edible Christmas Gifts to Make or Buy” on epicurious.com and “Punk Rock Cookie Jar Mixes” on Post Punk Kitchen (theppk.com) for more ideas.

Below is just a “taste” — for complete recipes and ingredients, go to Metnews.org.

Rum Balls The best part about these easy, no-bake sweets (besides the buzz they can induce) is the fact that you can make them in a myriad of different ways, according to what your gift recipient likes or what you have on hand.

You can pretty easily interchange any kind of nut or type of chocolate, use any kind of liqueur (bourbon, brandy, cognac, raspberry or orange liqueur, or peppermint schnapps are good), or include any number of flavorings or add-ins.

Hot Chocolate Mix in a Jar A classic DIY edible holiday gift. If you like, tie a strip of pretty fabric around the neck of the jar just below the lid, possibly attaching a scoop of some sort.

Homemade Curry Powder

Auraria Outdoor Adventure member Cliff Fleming navigates his way across a steep ledge on a hike during the biannual canyoneering trip to Moab and surrounding areas Nov. 21.

If you need to drop the sugar from the sugar and spice, try this custom spice blend.

Dry-roasting the whole spices and grinding them yourself brings out incredibly enticing aromatic complexities that you have to smell to believe. Make a double batch, because as soon as you smell it, you’ll want to keep some for yourself.

TheMetropolitan MetroSpective December 1, 2011 9

High-end haggling draws thousands

Tinker’s tales

Ski and snowboard expo brings in business

Daniel Madson dmadson1@mscd.edu

Story and photo by J. Sebastian Sinisi

From time to time, a novel of particularly excellent quality surprises me with unmatched mechanics, beautiful imagery and memorable characters. One such novel was Tinkers by Paul Harding, published in 2009 by the Bellevue Literary Press, a very small publisher founded in 2005.

After spying the book’s haunting cover picture of destitute, snow-covered trees with a lone man standing in the midst of it all, I picked it up and discovered that it was Harding’s first novel.

Not only was it his first, but it also won the Pulitzer Prize in 2010 — the first book published by a small publisher to do so in 29 years.

Tinkers is the story of a man who during his last eight days — in between the spaces of hallucinations and clarity — recollects his past childhood and his relationship with his epileptic father as a young boy in New England.

From his time spent as a thoughtful clock mender to his life on the back of his father’s mule-drawn wagon, Harding shows his readers beauty and mystery with the most delicately written images. He draws shock and awe without a moment’s hesitation, steering readers further down into the dying mind of George Crosby.

While the book’s plot is loosely defined and is very non-traditional by any standard, the memories seen in its 191 pages allow the reader to follow Crosby and actually feel the cogs, clock hands and his life coming to rest.

Now that the manic mindlessness of Black Friday sales are behind us, we need an antidote to what ditties once called “the most wonderful time of the year.”

For some, skiing in the serene Colorado powder fills that role, and never mind that only a fraction of the lifts are now open at most ski areas. Students, at least on this campus, may also have other end-of-semester things on their minds in December.

No matter. Ski show spokeswoman Joan Christiansen estimated that nearly 25,000 ski enthusiasts, up slightly from last year, filed into the Colorado Ski & Snowboard Expo in the Colorado Convention Center early last month for the three-day show that ran Nov. 4-6.

With a cornucopia-preview of ski hardware and clothing for this season and a flurry of ski-pass deals, the show drew lots of families and people seeking bargains (up to 75% off), at the huge, on-site Colorado Ski & Golf sales area that took up at least a third of the show’s floor space and did brisk business.

Show attendees were mostly locals and Front Range skiers lacking unlimited funds.

Minus the goofy-smile stoners and baggyass pants shredders that add color to some shows, these were the opposite, and often ignored, versions of out-of-state (Texas) and out-of-country (affluent Latin Americans) skiers who clog Colorado’s big-ass areas like Vail and Beaver Creek at Christmas — arguably the worst time for skiers seeking snowy serenity and who actually want to ski.

At the aforementioned areas, where single-day lift tickets can cost more than $100, less-affluent locals — especially day skiers not spending a thousand bucks a day for a lodging and ski “experience” — can be greeted with attitudes that carry an almost palpable nostril-twitch and seem to say: “If you’re put off by the high price of

Ski and golf area did brisk business at the Colorado Convention Center during a three-day exposition where “bargains” were the main lure.

everything, why are you even here?”

Good question. Fortunately, Colorado is awash with ski areas with lower pretention levels better geared to student budgets.

Many offer deals in Auraria student price ranges, like three-packs at Eldora for $89, four-packs for Loveland at $119 and six days at Steamboat for $129. But how ‘bout a stealdeal four-pack for Telluride for a mere $998?

Ski clothing at the show produced few surprises, but at least didn’t pimp the thousand-dollar designer outfits worn by plutocrats who don’t spend that much time actually skiing anyway. Hardware like wider skis and boards were a bit toned down in design and less badass looking than a year or two ago.

Gone are the graphics of recent that seemed lifted directly from websites showing New York subway graffiti circa 1972.

None could be accused of being cheap in price.

Emerging from the Colorado Ski & Golf sales area, Denver transplants from Atlanta Rick and Carol Dietz , who’d never skied

before, carried new wide skis and poles, saying “we spent $600.”

Colorado natives Brad and Julie Byers, both former ski patrollers, spent $700 on skis and bindings. Said Brad, “we’ve been coming to this show for 15 years. We also taught our kids to ski, at A-Basin, at age six.”

Walking near them, one man told a buddy “I bought a coat that I probably don’t need.”

A few years ago, a friend asked me, “you still ski? At your age?” Biting back an expletive – hard to believe – I replied: “What do you think we live here for? The great newspapers? The great universities? Yeah, I still ski. At my age. What about it?”

After scoring a relatively affordable “Epic” season pass – again, it’s all relative – I spotted a super seniors’ deal: a season pass at Loveland for $79 when you’re 70. Jubilation! And a reason to go on living a little longer.

Photo courtesy of crimealwayspays. blogspot.com

Metro grad finds, brews passion in Durango Ska Brewing Company’s Dave Thibodeau embraces beermaking Story and photo by Matt Hollinshead

Drinking beer at parties, sporting events, and other places is a notable part of the social experience for many people in college, just out of college or just wanting to enjoy life. For Ska Brewing Company co-founder/president Dave Thibodeau, beer is a passion.

Thibodeau, a 1993 Metro graduate,

Ska Brewing Company co-founder and president Dave Thibodeau stands among his beer inventory.

started the Durango-based brewing business in 1995 and started building the actual 24,000-square-foot facility in 2008 after purchasing land.

He came up with the idea looking through his dad’s brewing notebook in high school alongside co-founder/secretary Bill Graham. Thibodeau, who went to school for journalism and technical communications, said his passion for brewing ignited while writing a college paper.

“Between most of the projects and stuff I had to do while I was in school, Bill and I were homebrewing fairly extensively then,” Thibodeau said. “All the projects I did, whether it was a speech, a training video or a technical writing paper, it seemed like everything I did was on brewing beer. At that time, there weren’t a lot of other people homebrewing; there weren’t very many craft breweries. So, it was novel, and it was kind of exciting.”

Thibodeau said writing a paper on brewing beer was an option for his technical writing class’s final paper. Interestingly, he said he was the first person to write a paper on that topic. In the aftermath of writing that paper, his dream became a reality.

“I think the skills learned being at that particular non-traditional campus fostered the entrepreneurial spirit in me,” Thibodeau said. “It just worked out.”

Aside from being president, Thibodeau does the public relations work for Ska Brewing Company by writing press releases and doing other related tasks.

Thibodeau enjoys his job because of the pleasure of drinking beer and the fact that he gets along well with Graham and co-owner and vice president Matt Vincent.

Thibodeau also said the job is very social.

“At the end of the day, we have a lot of fun,” Graham said. “This [place] is a really

fun place to work. Beer and brewing beer makes people happy. You can’t help but have that rub off on you a little bit. We really have a passion for beer.”

Thibodeau spent a few summers in Durango during his college days. He also loves Durango as a brewing location because of its beauty and proximity to the mountains and outdoors.

“Durango’s one of the best places on Earth,” Thibodeau said. “Colorado’s an example of a state where everybody brews fantastic beer.”

At the end of the day, Ska Brewing Company defines Thibodeau, Graham and Vincent.

“It’s a good place to work in,” Vincent said. “[I] thoroughly enjoy everything about it. [Graham and Vincent] are good friends.

I feel like we’ve grown up together. It’s more like family than anything.”

10 December 1, 2011 TheMetropolitan

AudioFiles

Sounding Off

Sisters fight cancer with ‘Stache Bash’ For more than a year, Ruth and Lauren Laramee hosted D.I.Y. shows in their hometown of Wilbraham, Mass. under the title The Common Place. But by August, the sisters had decided to move to Denver to go to school. Soon they began scoping out the new musical scene, and in less than five months they organized the “Stache Bash” benefit show. Set to take place on Thursday, Dec. 1 at the Hi-Dive, this show will feature music by four local bands, as well as an intriguing “best mustache contest.” More importantly, the “Stache Bash” will benefit the non-profit organization, Blue Star Connection, which helps cancer patients receive donated musical instruments.

The Metropolitan spoke to the Laramee sisters about The Common Place, the “Stache Bash,” and why music is so beneficial.

Interview by Ian Gassman • igassman@mscd.edu IG: What is The Common Place all about?

RL: The Common Place is a unique venue that was established in Western Massachusetts with a primary goal of making “Do It Yourself” performances more accessible to the community. We began by hosting smallscale concerts at our house with local bands playing for about 150 kids. [We then] journeyed across the country to Denver. With The Common Place establishment over 2000 miles away from what it once called “home,” we wanted to keep the dream alive.

IG: How did you learn about the Blue Star Connection? Why did you decide to get involved and help out?

LL: I took a sports, entertainment and event management class [where] we were required to do 10 hours or so of “service learning,” which consisted of students going out and gaining hands-on experience. I decided I wanted to do something that related more toward the music field [and] learned about the Blue Star Connection through Amanda Oldani, a fellow student in my class.

IG: Why did you decide to host this show at the Hi-Dive?

LL: Since moving out to Colorado and bringing the name with us, The Common Place [hasn’t had] a physical location to host shows. We decided to go with the Hi-Dive, a smaller scale venue, which we felt would be a perfect match to host the upcoming “Stache Bash” benefit show.

IG: Along with The Common Place presenting, Denver’s own Proper Barbershop is sponsoring this show. How did you get a barbershop on board?

LL: I saw a comment on the wall of [the show’s] event page from Jordan Elliot Weinstein saying Proper Barbershop would like to sponsor this event. I was absolutely thrilled [so] I looked up Proper Barbershop, found a number and called up Jordan asking if I could meet with him and discuss how the Proper Barbershop could get involved with the event. We talked about having mustache categories for the event and getting different prizes for the winners of each category.

IG: Did you venture out and approach bands with the idea of “Stache Bash?”

LL: Coming from Massachusetts and only being in Colorado since the end of August, I knew absolutely no bands at all. Nate Valdez, one of the first people I met in Colorado, happened to be in a band called In the Whale. He pointed me in the direction of local bands. And from there, I looked up several different bands.

IG: Which band are you looking forward to seeing the most?

LL: To be honest I am looking forward to all of them. I feel I put together a solid line-up of bands which all have great passion and awesome music.

RL: I’m mostly looking forward to seeing The Don’ts and Be Carefuls because their

music has a certain energy that makes me want to dance all night long.

IG: The secondary theme of this show is the “who has the best mustache” contest.

Lauren, left, and Ruth Laramee (sans mustaches) stand for a cause.

How did you come Photo courtesy of Lauren Laramee up with this idea? to the audience how a group of them walked LL: Coming from across America, on foot, and picked up all Massachusetts you don’t really see a musthe litter people threw on the side of the tache. Walking down the streets of Denver road. It’s our generation that can make the or going into local music venues, I really changes and improve the world we live in — began to notice the mustaches. They are it’s all about coming together and making insane, with the tight curls at the end, like the differences. nothing I have seen before. The light bulb kind of just came on [and] I figured, “What’s IG: Lastly, what does a show like this say about Denver’s musical community? Do you a better way to end ‘no-shave-November’ think music alone has the power to benefit than to have a mustache-themed show?” others?

Plus, it adds a little edge to the whole benefit RL: Music is all, it has the power to make show ­— having a theme gets the audience light of any situation as well as to create a more involved and creates a memorable moment. With shows like this people are experience. gaining an experience while helping out a IG: In your opinion, what other non-profit good cause. [But] this universal appreciation organizations need help?

LL: I am still relatively new to Colorado, and for music has the power to grow and benefit even more than just people. the organizations out here are all inspiring. From the food banks, to helping the homeless, the organizations are endless and ‘Stache Bash’ benefit show could use the help. For instance, I was at the 8:00 p.m., Dec. 1 @ Marquis Theater and the organization Pick Hi-Dive, $10 Up America got up on stage. They explained

Download this

‘Cowtown’ offers a second round of local music Matt Pusatory • mpusator@mscd.edu Colorado has such an impressive and wide-ranging music scene it can get overwhelming. Right when you think you’re familiar with the goings on in the Mile High musical community something like This Ain’t No Cowtown Vol. 2 comes out.

Featuring 25 tracks from just about every genre you can think of (and some you can’t) This Ain’t No Cowtown Vol. 2 is a great guide to local music. From hip-hop to rockabilly, acoustic to electronic, there is something here for everybody on this sampler.

It kicks off with “Club Bangin’,” a high-energy song by Andrés, followed directly by the throwback rockabilly track “Go Go Go” by The Atomic Drifters. It’s a perfect example of the kind of disjunctive, weirdness that is all over This Ain’t No

Cowtown Vol. 2. It includes Latin post rock from Panal S.A. de C.V., working-class punk rock by Tin Horn Prayer, speed metal courtesy of Kitezh, and just about everything in between. If you’re unfamiliar with the Colorado music, it’s a great launching pad and, if anything, it shows off the awesome diversity of our local scene.

You can grab all this music for free, but if you’re in the Christmas spirit a little early this December, you can name your own price. All of the proceeds will go toward Jim Norris, owner of the 3 Kings Tavern, who ended up in the hospital after a spider bite nearly killed him.

Whatever you decide to do, your ears will thank you for supplying them with the gift of so much great, local music.

‘This Ain’t No Cowtown’ proves Denver has good music.

Photo courtesy of ‘This Ain’t No Cowtown’

TheMetropolitan

AudioFiles

December 1, 2011

11

Photo flaShBaCK: Q&a Edition

Hats off to Champagne Charlie Since its inception in early 2011, Champagne Charlie has specialized in playing sweaty, dirty, cabaret-tinged Americana in Denver’s seediest bars. But in some instances, this eight-person band brings their carefree swagger into more respectable locales, like Goorin Bros. Hat Shop.

The Metropolitan chatted with members Mark Rossi and Ryan King after their Nov. 4 set at Goorin Bros. — complete with payment in the form of new hats.

Thomas Stipe • bstipe@mscd.edu TS: So how did you start playing together?

RK: Oh jeez, how long ago was that?

MR: It was about three or four years ago.

RK: We were playing in friends’ bands and what not. I was playing in one band, he was playing in another; we were both playing bass or whatever. We met after we played a show together and we started hanging out.

We started a rockabilly band that lasted — MR: All of a month.

RK: Yeah, we had one practice with that [band]. Then we were like, “we need all these amps and all this equipment so we really can’t play in this band.” It just, kind of, dispersed. We started this other band called the Hot Damns and the Hell Yeahs that lasted a few months, things happened, [and it] also dispersed. One day we sat down and played — Champagne Charlie started from there.

TS: There are quite a few other guys in the band — how did you come across them?

MR: Friends of friends — that kind of thing.

RK: [And from] Bar Bar MR: And work. That’s pretty much it.

TS: What do you guys think of Denver’s musical community? Particularly where your

band stands in the scene?

RK: It’s kind of tough.

MR: It sucks. Not to say that we’re the greatest [band] in the world, but I’m not seeing a lot of creativity and I don’t see a lot of stuff that I’m necessarily impressed with, that’s kind of what its come down to.

TS: How would you guys describe your music?

RK: Somewhat New Orleans with a little bit of jazz, a little bit of rock ’n‘ roll, a little bit of rockabilly and a whole other mess of things.

TS: If you could narrow your sound down to one genre, what would it be?

RK: Eclectic [laughs].

MR: Vaudevillian.

TS: Where do you guys hope to go from here?

MR: [We’ll] take things day-by-day, although we’ve had success so far.

RK: I think we’d all like to get signed [but] I don’t mean to say we’d like to get signed to some massive label or anything.

RK: To be honest, [we all] would like to just get paid to play music and live straight off of that. That would be nice, it’s the only thing I’m good at.

Squids Madden and Ryan King, right, of Champagne Charlie perform at Goorin Bros. Hat Shop in Denver’s Lairimer Square during First Friday, Nov. 4. Photo by Thomas Stipe • bstipe@

mscd.edu

12 December 1, 2011 TheMetropolitan

MetSports

Metro now ranked third best in country

Women’s basketball beats West Texas A&M, Angelo State Paul Meyer pmeyer8@mscd.edu After starting the season with two wins, including a win against a Division I opponent, the No. 5 ranked Metro women’s basketball team headed off to play in the Roberts Ditching Lady Buff Thanksgiving Classic in Canyon, Texas.

The Roadrunners defeated West Texas A&M University 66-65 Nov. 25, and defeated Angelo State University (Texas) 68-55 Nov. 26.

Metro improved to 4-0 and and is now ranked No. 3 in the NCAA Division II top25 poll. It’s the highest ranking in school history.

The wins were crucial for the Roadrunners, especially with Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference play starting on Dec. 2.

“We’re excited to open up RMAC play at home. We have great things coming this year,” junior guard Emily Wood said.

Metro vs West Texas A&M

The Roadrunners started the weekend against West Texas A&M University and defeated the Buffaloes 66-65.

The game came down to the wire, as both teams kept it close.

Metro led by as much as 10 in the first half, but the Lady Buffs were able to come back on the Runners. The halftime score was tied at 31.

Freshman forward/guard Jenessa Burke drives to the basket against Veronika Skokankova from Northwest Nazarene Nov. 11 at the Auraria Event Center.

File photo by Rachel Fuenzalida • rfuenzal@mscd.edu

In the second half, freshman forward/ guard Jenessa Burke had 17 points, finishing the game with a career-high 25 points. Burke went 12-15 from the field.

“It felt good, but I give more credit to my team. They kept passing me the ball and they put trust in me to finish my shots,” Burke said.

The two teams continued to trade ties and leads throughout the second half.

The Lady Buffs went up by three points with a minute and 41 seconds left, but Burke

hit a shot that cut the lead to one and then stole the ball and scored a layup to give Metro the lead and the comeback victory.

Sophomore forward Amy Nelson and senior forward/center Caley Dow each finished with eight points.

“That was really good for us,” head coach Tanya Haave said. “We hadn’t played in a couple weeks. Overall, [I’m] really happy.”

ning against Angelo State University (Texas) 68-55.

Metro controlled the game at the start, finishing the first half with a 37-27 lead.

“We hadn’t been shooting the ball very well,” Haave said. “For us to come back and finish the half that well was really good.”

Metro’s defense really made ASU work in the second half as Metro led by double digits the rest of the game.

Dow finished with 11 points and 10 rebounds, her first career double-double.

Burke and Wood finished with 15 points each. “(Burke) was huge. What’s unique about our team is that anyone can step into that role,” Dow said. “She was a great driving force for us.”

Metro will next return to the Auraria Event Center to start up RMAC play against University of New Mexico Highlands Dec. 2 and Western New Mexico Dec. 3.

MetOnline Visit metnews.org/sports for all of your Metro athletics coverage!

Metro vs Angelo State (Texas)

The Runners finished up the Classic win-

Bouldering competition climbs at Metro Zee Nwuke znwuke@mscd.edu

Metro State’s Outdoor Adventure Center hosted its first ever Bouldering Competition in the Auraria Event Center Nov. 17.

Climbers of all skills participated in four levels of difficulty: recreational, intermedi-

ate, advanced and open.

Each level had five routes and competitors had to complete the route within their level as fast as they could.

Metro student Osiris Graves finished first in the most difficult level.

“It was excellent,” said Graves, an industrial design major. “I had a lot of fun. We had

a great turnout.”

With every attempt on a route, the amount of points a climber could earn was decreased. The climber with the most points at the end was the winner for that level.

The routes were challenging and demanded coordination, as the climbers often found themselves in difficult situations.

“We had some very reachy climbs, technical crimpy routes and really burly big moves,” event coordinator Brodey Carpenter said.

Some climbers finished their routes with ease, while others struggled. The competition lasted for three hours until there was a victor for each level.

Metro’s Outdoor Adventure Center will host another bouldering competition in March 2012.

[LEFT] Metro student Zach Vose performs a dyno, a climbing move that involves jumping to a higher handhold, Nov. 17 during the first bouldering competition in the Auraria Fitness Center.

[RIGHT] Noe Tolentino of Denver scales the rock climbing wall during the competition.

Photos by Steve Anderson • sande104@mscd.edu

TheMetropolitan

MetSports

December 1, 2011

Denver should consider QB options

13

If Tebow’s not long-term answer, Baylor’s Griffin could be Although Denver Broncos quarterback Tim Tebow is 5-1 as a starter, the offense tailored to his style of play won’t last long-term.

Therefore, Denver should consider exploring other options at the quarterback position because opposing teams will figure out and have an easier time stopping the option offense - which is Tebow’s comfort zone.

Once that happens, Denver’s offensive scheme will end up being useless.

Head coach John Fox said if the Broncos tried to run a conventional offense with Tebow starting, “he’d be screwed.”

Fox expressed his regrets, but I think he might have been trying to appease Bronco fans.

The unfortunate truth is that he was telling the truth.

Yes, Tebow brings energy, athleticism and a winning attitude to Denver, but that doesn’t always equate into consistently winning football games.

So far, he’s been a fourth-quarter messiah, but he would have to thrive over the course of the whole game in order to thrive in the NFL. Tebow threw 2-for-8 at Kansas City Nov. 13, in spite of throwing a 56-yard touchdown pass to Eric Decker and helping Denver get the win.

Although Tebow is a better quarterback than that, it’s a sign that completing less

than 50 percent of his passes isn’t going to be acceptable to Broncos team president John Elway, especially if he desires a franchise quarterback.

Elway won’t tolerate having a long-term quarterback who completes less than half of his passes and struggles in the pocket.

One guy that comes to mind in the 2012 NFL Draft is Baylor’s Robert Griffin III. Like Tebow, Griffin’s athletic and mobile.

Unlike Tebow, Griffin has a strong arm and can do well in the pocket. This season, as of Nov. 26, Griffin’s completed 72.6 percent of his passes while throwing for 3,678 yards, 34 touchdowns and five interceptions.

If Griffin decides to forgo his senior season and enter the 2012 NFL Draft, Denver should go after him.

I strongly doubt Griffin will go above the top 15 in the draft, which could be beneficial for Denver.

Because they exceeded their 2010 win total of four wins this year, the Broncos won’t secure a top-10 pick.

In other words, they now have no shot at Stanford’s Andrew Luck, who offers size, strength and a good demeanor.

I also believe Oklahoma’s Landry Jones will squeeze his way into the top-10 because of his accuracy, size and strong arm.

I envision the Broncos landing somewhere between 15th and 20th in the draft,

Matt Hollinshead mhollin5@mscd.edu which is where I could see Griffin going.

USC’s Matt Barkley, who’s thrown for 3,528 passing yards so far, will enter the 2012 draft and will probably land in the 15-20 range as well.

However, I see a problem with Denver selecting Barkley over Griffin: Barkley and Griffin have virtually the same stats, but Griffin is mobile.

As of Nov. 26, Griffin has 612 rushing yards compared to Barkley’s 14 rushing yards.

The two quarterbacks’ passing stats are similar.

They’ve thrown for over 3,500 yards in

the 65 to 75-completion percentage range to complement 34 and 39 touchdown passes by Griffin and Barkley, respectively.

While both quarterbacks have put up formidable numbers, Griffin’s ability to run the ball should be a significant factor.

Denver would be smart to select Griffin because of the fact that he’s versatile like Tebow.

Although both Tebow and Griffin are mobile quarterbacks, Griffin’s arm is superior. He’d be an upgrade over Tebow.

Ultimately, making Robert Griffin III the future of the franchise could end up being a blessing for Denver - assuming the Broncos draft him.

I’m not ready to give up on Tebow entirely, let alone the unconventional offense. If it will work long-term, that’s great.

If it won’t work long-term, and if Tebow isn’t destined to represent Denver in the future, Griffin would be the guy to do so.

“Although both Tebow and Griffin are mobile quarterbacks, Griffin’s arm is superior. He’d be an upgrade over Tebow.”

14 December 1, 2011 MetroSpective TheMetropolitan

TimeOut This

Week 12.1

Skyline Park ice skating 10 a.m. – 10 p.m.

Skyline Park 16th St Mall at Arapahoe

Lace up your skates and twirl around downtown. $2 skate rental, free if you bring your own

12.2

First Friday Arts Festival 5:30 – 9 p.m.

Santa Fe Arts District 657 Santa Fe Drive ACROSS 1. Courses in the woods 6. Great time, slangily 9. Designer Wang 13. Long-necked wader 14. Savvy about 16. Garden of delights 17. Performer in a 7-million-gallon pool 18. Winter pileup 20. Clodhopper 21. “Uh-uh” 23. Having difficulties 24. Greek salad topper 26. Keen 27. Speedy delivery 29. Tree frog with a distinctive call 33. Filthy dough 34. Out of tune 36. Wintry coating 37. Space-saving letters 38. Face-saving measure?

41. Silent signal

42. Utter downfall 44. Hammett heroine __ Charles 45. Patrons 47. Have ambitions 49. Give pleasure to 51. Healthy and vigorous 53. Director Preminger 54. Pitches in 57. Scratch (out) 58. Dangerous current 61. Dan Aykroyd film, and a hint to the starts of 18- and 38-Across and 3- and 30-Down 63. Singer Della 65. Quaker’s addressee 66. Buttress, with “up” 67. Surprise victory 68. Blubbers 69. JFK or LBJ, once 70. Crowns

DOWN 1. Monterrey money 2. Turkish title 3. Waver at a crossroads 4. Bottom line in the fashion world?

5. Film daredevils 6. “Heavens!”

7. Massachusetts’s “other” cape 8. Unemotional 9. 17th-century Dutch painter 10. Falco who plays Carmela in “The Sopranos” 11. Some whistle blowers 12. Farm crawlers 15. Admit 19. Social engagement 22. Org. that helps get you going 25. Slip up 26. Pollen reaction 27. Mercury and Saturn

28. Speculative words 30. Site of many needles 31. Atlanta university 32. Rhode Island layers 33. Woman seduced

by Zeus 35. Barely allowing access 39. Ragtime dance 40. Be extra nice to 43. Cultural surroundings 46. Perch (on) 48. Step on it 50. Hunky-dory 52. Old Russian oppressors 54. Takes the bull by the horns 55. London locale 56. Stuffed shirt 57. Airer of many games 59. “So that’s how it is!”

60. Favorites in class 62. Rabbit mom

Texts From Last Night Woke up this morning on my doorstep in a basket with a branch, a lipstick lightning bolt on my head and a sign that said “the boy who lived.” i love you guys.

Y’know, “Class cancelled because Professor is stuck in Mexico,” is not something I expected in college. Let alone, “Professor is stuck in Mexico, AGAIN.”

Participate in Denver’s largest and most revered monthly arts festival, which features more than 30 galleries and a wide variety of art.

Free.

12.3

9News Parade of Lights 6 p.m.

Downtown Denver

See your favorite 9News personalities, while watching Holiday-themed floats, a perfect outting for the family. For route information visit www.denverparadeoflights.com Free

12.4 Avs vs. Red Wings 6 p.m.

Pepsi Center

12.5

Mondays at Metro 2 – 2:50 p.m.

King Center Concert Hall

Hear Metro student performances featuring guest artists, faculty presentations and masterclasses.

Free.

12.6

12th Annual Festival of Wreaths 9 a.m. – 4 p.m.

Aurora History Museum

See over 40 festive wreaths, decorated and donated by local businesses, organizations and individuals. All wreaths are sold through a silent auction booth at the Museum and online to raise money for the Museum.

Free.

12.7

11th Annual Denver Christkindl Market 11 a.m. – 7 p.m.

Skyline Park

Vendors from Germany, Europe and local artisans offer quality, handcrafted gift items, traditional hand-carved figurines, handmade candles, and ornaments Free.

My Life Is Average

On This Day: Dec. 1

My dad always checks behind the shower curtain, so i thought it would be funny to see what he would do if someone was actually in the shower.

He punched me in the face. hlia

1830: Victor Hugo misses the Dec. 1 deadline for “The Hunchback of Notre Dame,” so the novel couldn’t be published until 1831.

Today, I crashed my car. How? I took my eyes off the road to wave at my old driving instructor. MLIA Today I told my crush that I liked her hair she replied, “Thanks, I grew it myself!” I think I might love her. MLIA Today at Walmart this kid jumped out from behind a clothes rack with a expendable lightsaber, I looked down and said, “Easy young Jedi.” He looked up at me in awe. His and MLIA.

1913 - Ford Motor Co. began using a new movable assembly line that ushered in the era of mass production.

Rosa Parks Day is celebrated. Dec. 1, 1955, is the day that she ignited controversy by refusing to move to the back of the bus.

1995 - An auction of Frank Sinatra’s possessions earned him $2,072,000.

1999 - Jay-Z stabs Lance Rivera at a party at Manhattan’s Kit Kat Klub.

Sources: www.on-this-day.com