Dec. 10, 2012

Softball, page 12

the Monday, December 10, 2012

Inside this

Issue news

Napierkowski page 4 After returning from a semester-long trip to Romania, English Professor Thomas Napierkowski shared what he learned as a Fulbright Specialist.

culture Holiday recipes page 7 Instead of splurging on stocking stuffers, try making something that family and friends will use. Or eat.

Bob Costas’ Sunday Night Football comments about gun control have brought the issue back to the forefront.

UCCS Student Newspaper

Mikaila Ketcherside mketcher@uccs.edu The more students and faculty report crimes and suspicious behavior, the more effective campus police hopes to become.

UCCS experienced two crimes on campus in the last four weeks.

Despite shuttle buses being vandalized on Nov. 17 and two students getting robbed at gunpoint on Nov.27, Public Safety hopes to reassure students that UCCS remains a safe campus.

The robbed students were parked at 5424 North Nevada Ave. when their car was boxed in by two vehicles. The suspects displayed firearms and demanded the students’ wallets. One of the students was assaulted but only suffered minor abrasions.

Continued on page 2 . . .

Photo by TylerAnderson Police Lt. Brian McPike, left, and Transportation Manager Russ Wilcox discuss the shuttle bus vandalism.

Scholarship applications open for 2013-2014 anedd@uccs.edu

Gun control page 9

Vol. 37, Iss. 11

Armed robbery and vandalism incident raise concern on campus

Alexander Nedd

opinion

cribe

Even though the opportunity to win this year’s record $588 million Powerball jackpot has passed, students still have a chance to split $6 million on campus.

Each year, UCCS is awarded more than $6 million in scholarships.

Scholarships available for everyone, no ticket purchase necessary.

No one wants to pay back student loans. With

scholarships, students can reduce their debt before graduation.

Students who receive scholarships can reduce the number of hours they work, giving more time for extra activities such as studying, joining athletic clubs on campus and volunteering.

Jennifer Fisher, assistant director for scholarship programs at UCCS, and Danny Torres, scholarship counselor, work to ensure student success and are dedicated to help-

ing students apply for aid.

Beginning Dec. 1, students can access an extensive list of scholarships from their myUCCS portal by clicking on the Scholarship Application link in the student center.

Additional scholarships can be accessed at uccs. edu/scholarships.

Many times aid is not dispersed since not many apply for the scholarships, but the number of people applying for a scholarship varies based on what is

offered.

For example, the Bruce and Anne Shepard Reach Your Peak Scholarship received 450 applications last year, while zero students applied for the Julie Welsh Memorial Scholarship, a fund for English majors who are single with children.

There is no simple answer for why students do not apply. Fisher and Torres urge students to apply and take advantage of these scholarships, whether need-based or

sports Cross country page 12 The men’s and women’s cross country teams have improved over last year’s standings at nationals.

Photo courtesy of Office of Financial Aid, Student Employment and Scholarships

The UCCS Financial Aid Office can help students learn about new scholarships and how to apply for them.

merit.

“There are a number of need-based scholarship programs that are looking for hardworking students who need a little extra boost to make ends meet,” Fisher said.

“A common misconception is that you have to be eligible for a Pell Grant to get needbased scholarships. This is not the case,” Fisher said. “If you were offered a subsidized Stafford loan on your award letter, you have financial need.”

Other options are available for students with average GPAs. UCCS and other programs offer scholarships to students with GPAs starting at 2.5.

Applications vary per scholarship, though most merit-based scholarships are due Feb. 1. Needbased awards are due on March 1, which is also the priority date for the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA).

Students can start filling out the FAFSA Jan. 1.

Students cannot win the lottery if they don’t purchase a ticket. Similarly, the UCCS Financial Aid Office hopes students take advantage of these opportunities and file applications. S

News

Page 2

December 10, 2012

Armed robbery and vandalism incident (continued from page 1) The assailants fled in their vehicles and headed toward Nevada Avenue.

The students reported the incident to the Colorado Springs Police Department. The armed robbery is being investigated by the CSPD instead of campus police.

“The incident took place in a parking lot.

We lease the buildings, not the grounds, so the [CSPD] is investigating primarily,” UCCS Chief of Police Jim Spice said.

Public Safety released a Clery notice to UCCS email accounts describing the individuals responsible for the robbery

and their vehicles.

“The suspects were described as two white males, in their late 20’s.

The first suspect was described as 5’10”, wearing a blue jersey and baggy jeans, driving a white in color 4-door BMW sedan,” the notice read.

“The second suspect was described as 6’2”, wearing a baggy white shirt, jeans, and driving a black 4-door SUV. “ In another incident, the shuttle buses were vandalized on campus.

A PVC pipe was put through the front windshield of one bus, and a large rock was thrown

through the windshield of another bus.

The vandals also threw a rock through the side window of a 15-passenger van. They tried to throw a rock through the windshield of the van, but it was deflected with minor damage.

The plastic around the ignition was taken off due to what appears to be an attempt to steal the van. A destination light bar is missing from the van.

“This appears to be a random, isolated incident,” said Transportation Manager Russ Wilcox. “This is the first

time I’ve seen the buses vandalized since I became chief of transportation in 2002.”

Public Safety conducted a full investigation of the incident and found footprints left by the vandals. If the footprints match evidence found at another crime scene, Public Safety will be able to open a door to both cases.

New lighting is being installed in the buses and on campus to prevent future vandalism incidents or robberies.

Public Safety encourages students to purchase the smartphone app My-

Force. The app contacts local law enforcement based on the phone’s GPS location and records surrounding noise. If needed, law enforcement can dispatch help to the phone’s location.

UCCS campus police advises students to be aware of their surroundings at all times and to report any suspicious activity to UCCS police.

They hope future crimes will be prevented by students and staff communicating with Public Safety.

“We appreciate the partnership with the campus, and if anyone

has anything to discuss, contact us,” said UCCS Police Lieutenant Brian McPike.

“We work hard to keep the campus safe, but it’s not just the police department. Faculty, staff and students are all a part of it.”

The suspects in both crimes have not been caught. Students with information concerning either crime are asked to call Public Safety at 2553111.

“We only have a few police officers patrolling, so we need the eyes and ears of UCCS,” Spice said. S

International dance phenomenon comes to Colorado Springs April Wefler awefler@uccs.edu The rules are simple.

You don’t talk about your job. You don’t focus on your to-do list. You just dance.

The Galleries of Contemporary Art, GOCA, will host international dance movement Lunch Beat on Dec. 12 from noon to 1 p.m. in GOCA 121.

The event will feature DJ Wesley Wayne, and free sandwiches will be provided.

“Lunch Beat is an international phenomenon,” said Daisy McConnell, director of GOCA. The program was founded in 2010 by Molly Ränge in Stockholm.

According to Forbes, Ränge was inspired by “Fight Club” and “hoped a high-club energy experience would make people feel energized in the afternoon, instead of soporific after lunch.”

Forbes notes, “Participants old and young and in smart and casual attire have offered Ränge a disarming hug and thanked her for the experience, before heading back to work with a spring in their step.”

Lunch Beat has received international press coverage. McConnell first heard about the event on NPR. “The basic idea is to get

The Lowdown What:

Lunch Beat

When:

Dec. 12, noon

Where:

GOCA 121, 121 S. Tejon, Suite 100

How much: Free

More information: uccs.edu/~goca

people out of their office and do something really invigorating in the middle of the day,” McConnell said.

She added that the event is not for networking.

This is the first Lunch Beat in Colorado. The dance sessions have been hosted throughout Europe, including in Amsterdam, Vienna, Hamburg and Manchester, England.

“I think it’s good for everybody to take a break, to get downtown,” McConnell said. “Downtown is a pretty great place to be; it takes away the traditional experience of the club or atmosphere.”

There are 10 rules of Lunch Beat: 1. If it’s your first lunch at Lunch Beat, you have to dance.

2. If it’s your second, third or fourth time at

Photo courtesy of Kirsten Eddyson Lunch Beats, such as this one in Stockholm, have been held around the world.

Lunch Beat, you have to dance.

3. If you are getting too tired to actually dance at Lunch Beat, please have your lunch at some other place.

4. You don’t talk about your job at Lunch Beat.

5. At Lunch Beat, everyone present is your dance partner.

6. Any Lunch Beat is to be no longer than 60 minutes and set during

lunch time.

7. Lunch Beat events always serve their guests with a one DJset and one take-away meal.

8. Free water is always served during a Lunch Beat.

9. Lunch Beat is a drugfree environment.

10. Lunch Beat can be set up anywhere by anyone as long as they are announced as

Something on your mind?

Write us! scribe@uccs.edu

public events, are nonprofit arrangements and are directed by this manifesto.

Although Lunch Beat is free, GOCA is asking for a suggested donation of $5 to cover the cost of the DJ and sandwiches.

In addition to the food and dancing, Lunch Beat will also have an art exhibit from Jay Shinn. “Light projections over paint –

very appropriate place for dancing,” McConnell said.

She mentioned that Lunch Beat will continue to travel throughout the city and that the next one will be at Colorado College.

“We’re hoping to host it about once a year,” she said. “I think it really builds the community in a unique way, and that’s a really big part of what we do as the gallery.” S

News

December 10, 2012

Page 3

Silverton winter interim course sees continued demand Peter Farrell

pfarrell@uccs.edu For many students, the prospect of finishing their college careers faster is highly appealing. At least one winter interim class can help make that happen during a week-long adventure.

Amid wealthy European enthusiasts and diehard snow sports fanatics, students look to enjoy a winter interim class to Silverton this January.

The GES 4460 class taught by assistant professor Brandon Vogt is a seven-day course that takes students up into the Western range to analyze snow banks and physical geography.

There are two GES 4460 courses offered as interims: one to Silverton, Colo., Jan. 13-20, and another to Napa Valley, Calif., March 23-30.

Students are given a choice of five research questions and choose one to answer during their time at Silverton.

At the end of the course, students present their findings to their classmates before returning to Colorado Springs.

Students are also assigned a journal and keep daily entries for their time in

the class.

“It’s kind of rustic,” Vogt said in reference to having to write essays and journal entries with pen and pencil without any form of computer assistance.

Founded in 1876, Silverton is a small town located in the southwest corner of Colorado at an elevation of 9,318 feet.

As of 2011, it had a population of 631. According to The Weather Channel, the region has an average high temperature of 33 degrees Fahrenheit. The class is offered only during the winter months.

“This course has a really long history. I’d say back in the 1970s, there [was] a guy named Mel Marcus who was at Arizona State University who kind of pioneered finding Silverton as a place-based center for physical geography,” Vogt said.

Before students embark on the journey to Silverton in two minivans, there is a mandatory premeeting in December to meet with peers, establish safety rules and clarify expectations before departing.

Of the many necessities that the course requires, snowshoes are a must.

According to the depart-

Photo courtesy of Brandon Vogt The field studies course to Silverton, Colo., will provide challenges and learning environments for GES students. ment’s webpage, there will be snowshoeing in “steep terrain across deep snow, and shoveling for extended periods.”

Safety is a serious element of the course as well. “The nearest hospital is in Durango; it’s like 40 miles away,” Vogt said.

The department’s web-

page also warns that temperatures in the region have been noted to drop to “-34 degrees Fahrenheit” as of 2011.

Despite the safety concerns, enjoyment is still one priority in the class.

“Working together for a while you kind of bond and form a learning community,” Vogt said.

The class has an atmosphere of strong community – previous students created groups on Facebook and continued to stay in contact after the course ended.

Marlee Canada, a junior in geographical science, is looking forward to taking the course. “I want to get into hydrolo-

gy and doing things with snowpack analysis is really going to teach me a lot I hope.”

For Canada, the course will be the first kind of class she has taken. “I would like to learn more about Silverton and get some hands-on experience with some of the tools.” S

UCCS engineering professor wins patent case against MGA Peter Farrell

pfarrell@uccs.edu While board games prepare to include lasers, legal battles decide who can profit from their patents.

Michael Larson, the associate vice chancellor for research and the El Pomar Chair of Engineering and Innovation at UCCS, has recently seen the end of a legal battle for a patent owned by his company, Innoventions LLC, against MGA Entertainment. The lawsuit ended in a $1.6 million court ruling.

Before teaching at UCCS, Larson taught at Tulane University in New Orleans. In 2005, he founded the game company Innoventions LLC with a couple of graduate students. The company’s pioneer product was the board game “Khet – The Laser Game.”

“When we started this thing, we knew we had the world’s first board game with lasers, so that seemed something we

ought to get a patent on,” Larson said.

Innoventions submitted its first patent application in 2005 but was not awarded the patent until 2007. In the two-year interim, MGA Entertainment created a “knockoff” product and began selling its version.

“We were hoping to just alert them to the situation and have them quit selling their game or work something out, but they refused to talk to us,” Larson said.

MGA Entertainment has faced legal battles in the past with smaller companies and startups.

Perhaps the company’s most infamous legal feud was with Mattel over the doll series “Bratz,” which ended in MGA Entertainment’s favor. The case saw a $310 million award, one of the largest in history outside of class-action lawsuits.

“We were then engaged in what is a genuinely ‘David versus Goliath’ kind of situation,” Larson said. Five years after Lar-

Photo by Nick Burns After a long legal battle with MGA Entertainment, Michael Larson’s company, Innoventions LLC, won a patent dispute over its laser game Khet. son’s company engaged MGA Entertainment in legal battle, his startup is now finally seeing some degree of closure.

The lawsuit has taken a considerable financial

strain on Larson’s company. “We are happy for this jury verdict, but if it stands, it will barely cover the legal fees in this case,” Larson said, according to The Gazette.

In the midst of the longlasting legal maelstrom, Larson has maintained an optimistic attitude.

“I now have a very interesting education from going through this

process, and it’s one that I enjoy sharing with students.”

Innovention’s board game has also seen the Continued on page 4 . . .

News

Page 4

December 10, 2012

UCCS professor teaches in Romania as part of Fulbright program smorley2@uccs.edu For one professor on campus, English is more than a subject – it’s an international business language.

Thomas Napierkowski, an English and Chaucerian professor at UCCS, recently returned from a trip to Romania, where he taught at a college as a part of the Fulbright Specialist Program.

Originally dismissing the notion, Napierkowski reviewed the offer and decided to take it, leaving shortly after the fall semester started.

Napierkowski traveled to Oradea, Romania, where he taught at Partium Christian University.

He went to the school expecting to speak Romanian but discovered that much of the population consisted of Hungarians instead.

“I taught at a university in Romania that is actually financed by the Hungarian

government for the Hungarian minority,” he said.

“It was like living in two worlds almost. At the university, people spoke Hungarian, and on the streets of the town, most

“If I used a word they didn’t know, they would look it up in the dictionary and shout it out to the rest of the students,” he said.

Despite the language differences, Napierkowski said that the students were Whether it’s abroad or “remarkably at home, English is an like UCCS students.” international business The classes language.

Napierkowski instructed were - Thomas Napierkowski aimed at facilitating the stupeople spoke Romanian.” dents’ English-language Napierkowski armed skills. “One class I was himself with an English- supposed to talk about Romanian translation English language and book, doing his best to tourism. In the second speak the semi-native lan- class, I was supposed to guage. He was fortunate, talk about English lanthough, to be instructing guage and management,” classes with students who he explained. could speak English fairly To prepare for these well. objectives, Napierkowski “I taught three classes; contacted companies such one was a graduate class as the Broadmoor and and two were senior class- Disney to consult their es,” he said. Napierkows- methods of integrating ki explained that the international employees. graduate students could “Whether it’s abroad or communicate in English at home, English is an inalmost perfectly, but the ternational business lanundergraduate students guage,” he said. varied.

Napierkowski would

“

“

Samantha Morley

Patent case (continued from page 3) birth of “Mind Studios,” which is housed in the Osborne Center and led by Larson.

The studio designs products and connects students with Pike’s Peak region clients to conceptualize, design and improve products.

Jesse McClure, principal designer at Mind

Studios, and the team of seven other students are not discouraged by the long-running situation.

“Dr. Larson does a good job of handling those sorts of issues, so it lets us keep working on the kind of things we want to work on.”

Currently, Larson is expecting a legal appeal

on MGA Entertainment’s behalf, but since appeals typically take more than 12 months, Innoventions is in the clear for now.

“I really like the idea that ‘the little guy’ – the independent inventor, somebody who has an innovative product – can actually make it in the marketplace,” Larson said. S

Photo by Nick Burns Professor Napierkowski detailed his experience traching students in Romania at Partium Christian University as a Fullbright Specialist. teach classes running two or three hours, addressing each student individually to understand their objectives in life.

Most students aimed to work in services that deal with “hospitality … airlines, travel, food services – things of that sort.”

It became Napierkowski’s job to teach the students the proper English vocabulary for dealing with the specified fields.

In addition to instructing at the Partium Christian University, Napierkowski went to the University of Oradea to give lectures about literature.

“They even let me give a lecture on Chaucer, and I gave one lecture that was based on the history of the English language,” he said.

“It was a broad range of experience. It made me spread my wings,”

Napierkowski added.

As for his future as a Fulbright Specialist, he said that it would depend on what the offer would entail and how long he would have to be gone.

“It might be an adventure to go someplace that is really, really thirdworld, but it would depend on what they wanted or needed from me and how long they’d want me to be there,” he said. S

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Culture

December 10, 2012

Page 5

Prepare for winter with tips and kits for holiday commute Alexander Nedd anedd@uccs.edu Every winter, people hear staggering statistics about people who aren’t prepared for harsh weather. But it’s easy to avoid becoming a statistic and calling a tow truck to come haul your car out of a ditch.

According to AAA, more than 90 million people are expected to travel to visit loved ones this holiday season. With winter approaching in Colorado, that can mean anything, and drivers can be more safe with a few winter tips.

In the U.S., a car accident takes place every 10 seconds. According to the U.S. Department of Transportation, more than 450,000 injury crashes occur annually in adverse weather conditions or on slick pavement.

Local authorities agree that the best advice to driving out in winter conditions is to not drive out at all. Sometimes, that isn’t an option.

When travel is expected in harsh conditions, one can stay ahead of the storm by having a winter kit. Winter kits can be found in most automotive specialty stores and are essential for Colorado travel.

Each pre-assembled

kit can be different, but there are items every kit should have. For the snowy months ahead, kits should include all of the following items:  Flashlight with extra batteries  Matches in waterproof case (an empty pill bottle works well as a match case)  Compass  Ice scraper  Non-perishable, highenergy dry foods, such as protein bars, nuts and hard candy  First-aid kit  Inflated spare  Salt or cat litter (for creating stability on an icy road)  Flares (easy to find in most department stores)  Jumper cables  Tire chains Winterizing your car is only half the battle, though.

Unfortunately, you have no control over who or what is on the road when you are driving. This makes matters worse during non-ideal weather conditions.

Here are some safe driving guidelines to help keep you and your car moving forward. (Remember, these are only tips. Should you not feel comfortable driving in snow, you should stay at home.)

Photo by Nick Burns Checking the weather and having a pre-made kit for winter driving can help everyone prepare for travel this winter.

• Slow down. Speed limits are meant for ideal traffic conditions. Speeding or following the speed limit during a snow storm can prove deadly to you and your vehicle.

• Have an escape route.

Leave yourself room should the unexpected happen. Never follow too closely.

• Stay off the brakes.

Slamming on brakes can force your car out of your control. Instead, ease off

the accelerator and gently tap on the brakes.

• Steer into the skid. If your rear wheels start to skid, steer your car in the direction of skid. For example, if the car skids to the left, turn the steering wheel to the left. This is counterintuitive, but will keep your vehicle from spinning out of control.

Go into neutral. If your front wheels skid, take your foot off gas and shift to neutral while turning

the car in the direction you want to go.

• Shovel, not spin, your way out. Should you get stuck, don’t spin your tires, as this pushes you further into the snow.

Rather, clear the snow away from tires with a shovel and turn them back and forth while pushing the car. Litter or gravel can be used as traction as well.

Other ways to prepare for winter include down-

loading weather and local news media apps that update with current weather predictions.

UCCS offers text alerts warning of weather and up-to-date traffic conditions that can help prevent students from becoming stranded. Use these to your advantage and register for text alerts by visiting e2campus.uccs.edu.

This winter break, be safe. Get prepared, drive safely and be smart. S

tions to individually catch up on over break or enjoy with family.

vides equal amounts of drama and humor.

more accessible and compelling, than, say, “Lord of the Flies.” The film is a must-see for the philosophical discussions that are sure to follow.

al Disney/Pixar movie.

Merida (voiced by Kelly Macdonald) is a Scottish princess who dreams only of her freedom and has no interest in finding love.

When suitors participate in an archery contest for her hand, Merida also enters.

When she wins, her mom is not ready to let her give up on marriage so easily and seeks out magical help.

The movie stars the voices of Emma Thompson, Julie Walters, Robbie Coltrane and Craig Ferguson, among others.

The animation quality of Brave shows a steady improvement in Pixar’s skilled design team. A masterful score accompanies breathtaking views of the Scottish countryside, mountains and architecture.

Merida’s mop of red hair flows and bounces, and every wrinkle of the medieval clothing is dazzling in its detail.

Unlike many princess stories, this flick isn’t about love but the power of family. It will make great entertainment for audiences of all ages. S

Notable 2012 movie releases pack action, humor and drama April Wefler

awefler@uccs.edu While 2012 was a typical year for Hollywood in that it was packed with remakes

and adaptations, it did produce a few noteworthy productions.

There’s not enough room to list all of them here, but here are just a few selec-

Photo courtesy of marvelousRoland, flickr.com The Avengers is one of many holiday movie options.

“The Avengers” Available on DVD When the Norse god of mischief, Loki (Tom Hiddleston), tries to take over the world, the Avengers step in. The group consists of Iron Man (Robert Downey Jr.), the Hulk (Mark Ruffalo), Captain America (Chris Evans), Black Widow (Scarlett Johansson), Hawkeye (Jeremy Renner) and Loki’s half-brother, Thor (Chris Hemsworth).

“The Avengers” is a well-written, action-packed treat from Joss Whedon, best known as the creator of “Buffy the Vampire Slayer.”

The cast delivers a believable and amusing interpretation of a band of misfits charged with working together to save the world.

Every relationship, from Phil Coulson’s (Clark Gregg) obsession with his childhood hero Captain America, to the sibling rivalry between Loki and Thor, “The Avengers” pro-

“The Hunger Games” Available on DVD Suzanne Collins’ runaway bestseller brought dystopian storytelling to a new generation. Its much-anticipated adaptation used contrasting costumes to portray Panem, a futuristic version of the United States.

Jennifer Lawrence plays a headstrong, compassionate and determined Katniss Everdeen. The well-placed cast matches faces to the names of characters Peeta Mellark (Josh Hutcherson), Gale Hawthorne (Liam Hemsworth) and Haymitch (Woody Harrelson).

Under the pressure of nonstop cameras, 24 children from different regions of the country must fight each other to the death. In defiance of the odds and the government itself, Katniss tries to win and avoid killing others.

Though this is not the first dystopian piece of literature, nor the first to have children kill each other for public entertainment, it is

“Wreck-It Ralph” In theaters When the children are away, the arcade plays.

Wreck-It Ralph (voiced by John C. Reilly) is tired of being the bad guy and the treatment he gets because of it.

Ralph decides to leave his game to prove to everyone that he can be the good guy.

When he lands in the game of Sugar Rush, perhaps wrecking things isn’t such a bad-guy thing after all.

“Wreck-It Ralph” is a cute, funny Disney film that might even be up there with “Toy Story.” The movie is still in theaters and is a great, light-hearted choice to watch with family over the holidays or as a treat after all the stress of studying for finals.

“Brave” Available on DVD “Brave” is an unusu-

Culture

Page 6

December 10, 2012

Crane Platters Project a new take on ancient Japanese tradition Samantha Morley smorley2@uccs.edu It all started with a 12-year-old Japanese girl named Sadako Sasaki.

She developed leukemia in 1955 as a result of the atomic bombing at Hiroshima.

Determined to wish her body back to health, Sadako pursued an ancient tradition called “senbazuru,” which entailed folding 1,000 cranes.

Upon finishing the

1,000th crane, Sadako would be granted one wish, but she did not live long enough to have her wish fulfilled.

Now, 57 years later, local potter Mark Wong hopes to present a new spin on the Japanese tradition by making 1,000 unique clay platters in his personal pottery studio.

“Potters usually do the same thing and are a lot of times prized for consistency,” Wong said. “The idea behind this is that even

though they’re all going to have the same theme of a platter with a crane on it, they’re different sizes and different cranes and different colors,” he said.

Sizes range from 12 to 20 inches and colors include red, blue and black.

The project has been off and on since March of this year. Wong took a break from the project in June to work at another job.

He returned to making platters toward the end of the summer. “I have about

250 [so far],” Wong said.

He aims to complete 1,000 platters before the end of the year.

Wong operates out of his personal studio behind his home in Manitou Springs. Various platters lean against walls and rocks, unusable because of hairline cracks that could shatter them when fired. “I can throw 20 to 30 platters a day depending on the size I’m making,” he said.

His process is to throw

as many platters as he can, then decorate the ones that are drying from the day before.

Wong has been a potter since 1993 and discovered his interest in the art when he transferred to a high school in Colorado Springs.

He asked if he could borrow the clay wheel and “made a huge mess and didn’t make a single pot.”

He persevered and has since been crafting pottery for many exhibits.

Photo by Joshua Camacho Above: Mark Wong created platters in his personal studio behind his home.

Right: Wrong said he creates anywhere from 20 to 30 platters a day.

For this exhibit, Wong hopes to completely decorate each wall with his platters. “The installation is going to be larger than life,” he said.

“It’s the idea of the whole being much bigger than the sum of its parts.

Each of these platters is going to go to somebody.

They can stand alone as a piece, but together they stand for a much larger statement.”

Platters used in the exhibit will be used in what Wong refers to as the “Pottery Lottery,” in which participants pay $40 and will receive a random platter to take home.

Twenty-five percent of sales benefit GOCA and also support the CERAMICA exhibit and two upcoming displays.

For those wishing to have a functional piece of art, Wong glazed every piece so that it can be eaten on and is microwavable and dishwasher safe.

Wong will be busy in his studio throwing as many platters as possible until the end of the year.

“I love the idea of the repetition of it resulting in a wish,” he said. S

New games available to enjoy or avoid for the holidays Mikaila Ketcherside mketcher@uccs.edu The holiday season brings multiple game releases, and sorting through the mass to find quality games can prove difficult, especially if you’re buying for a gamer.

Holiday sales in stores and online also make December the best time to give the gift of gaming. So, whether you’re looking to have a gaming marathon or shopping for a gamer, a look at this year’s releases can help you find the perfect games.

“The Elder Scrolls III: Morrowind” is thought of as the best of the series in terms of gameplay and story. However, as an older game, it suffers from poor graphics.

A player-created conversion modification for “Morrowind” updates the graphics engine to that of “The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion.” The mod, called Morroblivion, is free to download and makes “Morrowind” even more valuable.

Another mod, Skywind, that updates “Morrowind” to the graphics of “The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim” is

under development.

Gamers wanting a game with emphasis on action should find “Far Cry 3” enjoyable. It has non-stop pulse-pounding action but is weak in story. Yet the story shouldn’t stop gamers from enjoying this immensely entertaining game.

Another supposedly action-packed game series is the “Walking Dead” collection, based on the popular TV show of the same name. The games are unremarkable and offer little in the way of innovative gameplay or interesting story.

Role-playing games released from Japan, called JRPGs, offer graphics beyond anything developed in America and focus on character development and story over gameplay.

Final Fantasy director Hironobu Sakaguchi worked with icon video game music composer Nobuo Uematsu to create “The Last Story.”

JRPGs are not for everyone due to how radically different they are from American games, but players looking for distinctive characters and remarkable storytelling should look to

“Far Cry 3,” released Dec.4, is one of the latest first-person shooters.

“The Last Story.”

Another Japanese release is “Zero Escape: Virtue’s Last Reward,” the sequel to “999: Nine Hours, Nine Persons, Nine Doors.” The game is fully voiced in English and has impressive graphics.

Nintendo DS releases to avoid, however, are “Pokémon Black 2” and “Pokémon White 2.” The games are the first direct sequels the Pokémon franchise has ever released but lack what players expect from new Pokémon games

– namely new Pokémon – making them a disappointment.

Players looking for an exceptional game should pick up “The Unfinished Swan.” This game is not for those wanting guntoting action but for those wanting unique gameplay and a beautifully stylized world to explore. The game is exclusive to the PlayStation 3.

Massively Multiplayer Online Role Playing Games, MMORPGs, are entertaining to play and

Photo courtesy of Creative Uncut

are the best games to play with friends, but “Diablo III” is a popular online game that isn’t worth the money.

“Diablo III” follows a formula MMORPG players are far too familiar with: a medieval setting with combat based on swords and magic. It has also experienced many technical difficulties with connecting to its servers and gameplay.

A better choice for a MMORPG is “The Secret World.” Rather than a cli-

ché medieval world, “The Secret World” is set a modern, urban cityscape.

MMORPGs are meant to be played with friends, and “The Secret World” is nearly impossible to play without some help.

This game emphasizes the most important element of MMORPGs – cooperation.

While some games released this year have been disappointments, plenty of others promise fun experiences for every type of gamer. S

Culture

December 10, 2012

Page 7

Simple holiday desserts make salty, sweet gift ideas

When family and friends say they don’t want any gifts this holiday, their pleas will probably be ignored. But instead of buying something that’ll never be used, try testing your skills in the kitchen. A yummy dessert can be a more practical choice than that cat picture book or pair of socks. You don’t need to be Martha Stewart to whip up any of these recipes, either. Just have a little bit of time and a few ingredients to spare.

Sara Horton shorton@uccs.edu

Cake in a Cup

Pecan Caramel Treats

These cookies make the perfect seasonal treats, especially when you experiment with dipping Ritz peanut butter sandwiches in different chocolate barks.

Almost everyone loves cake, but not everyone has the time to make it – until cake in a cup. This recipe serves one, and you can spice it up with toppings of your choice.

1 box Ritz crackers 1 jar smooth peanut butter 1 package milk chocolate baking pieces

4 tablespoon flour 4 tablespoon sugar 3 tablespoon milk 3 tablespoon vegetable oil 1 egg 1/4 teaspoon baking powder 1/4 teaspoon vanilla extract (optional)

Photo courtesy of cursedthing, flickr.com

To avoid a messy clean-up job, spray a large mug with cooking oil.

Mix ingredients thoroughly in the mug and microwave for 3 minutes.

Watch carefully to make sure ingredients don’t overflow. Eat with a spoon and add a scoop of ice cream for a quick and easy treat.

1 package miniature pretzels 1 package (13 ounces) Rolos 50 pecan halves

Photo courtesy of simplyla, flickr.com

Chocolate Ritz Cookies

If you’re allergic to pecans, they can be easily substituted for M&Ms or whole roasted coffee beans in this salty and sweet recipe.

Line baking sheet with foil and place miniature pretzels on top.

Place a Rolo on top of each pretzel and bake at 250 F until candies soften (about 5 minutes). Quickly place a pecan half on top of each Rolo and press down slightly. Let cool until hardened.

Apply generous amounts of peanut butter between 2 Ritz crackers, press crackers together and repeat. Melt chocolate over low heat. One way to melt chocolate is with a teaspoon of shortening or butter in the microwave. Another melting technique is to boil water in a saucepan and place chocolate in a smaller pan over the boiling water to avoid burning. Using a fork, dip both sides of crackers in chocolate and place on wax paper until chocolate hardens.

Eggless Brownies Even if you don’t know any vegans, you can still sound impressive bragging about making vegan brownies, which is just another way of saying, “I wanted to bake, but I ran out of milk and eggs.”

2 cups flour 2 cups sugar 3/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder 1 teaspoon baking powder 1 teaspoon salt 1 cup water or soy milk 1/2 cup vegetable oil 1 teaspoon vanilla extract Preheat oven to 350 F. Stir dry ingredients together in a large bowl.

Add wet ingredients, mix together well and evenly coat baking pan. Bake for 25 minutes and let cool for 10 minutes. S

Photo courtesy of shawnzrossi, flickr.com

Top books of 2012 to read and learn from during break

After re-reading “The Hobbit” to prepare for the movie about to hit the big screen, bookworms will want to look into other titles to add to their lists. This year’s books offer the ability to develop any skill in a few months, discover the debut of Marvel comics and dig into the long-awaited conclusion to the Giver series. Here are the top books in three categories: big ideas, humor and trivia, and fiction.

Cynthia Jeub cjeub@uccs.edu

Big Idea

“The 4-Hour Chef”

by Timothy Ferriss

“The One-World Schoolhouse” by Salman Khan

“I wanted to show people what it looks like to take a skill that I had feared for a very long time, and quit many times, which was cooking,” Ferris said in an interview with YouTuber Alex Day. “I systematically go through the entire process from ground zero.”

The book is focused around cooking, but Ferriss’ goal is to inform readers how to learn anything.

An internationally recognized Olympic adviser, Ferriss has taught himself five languages. He said of the book, “I was looking for an elegant blueprint that you could apply to any skill.”

Photo courtesy of fourhourchef.com

Salman Khan began making YouTube videos explaining math concepts in 2006. In the past six years, Khan Academy has grown to 3,600 videos teaching all basic subjects.

The Academy’s website contains a way to track progress on math skills, starting with basic addition and escalating to advanced calculus.

Khan’s ideas would revolutionize education.

His students get lectures at home with video and do “homework” in the classroom while teachers are accessible for help. This book is a result of his research and discoveries in running Khan Academy.

Photo courtesy of hachettebookgroup.com

Fiction

Humor and Trivia

“The Onion Book of Known Knowledge”

by The Onion

“Marvel Comics: The Untold Story” by Sean Howe

Amazon.com offers two books for the price of one: “The Onion Book of Knowledge” and Stephen Colbert’s latest bestseller, “America Again.”

For those who appreciate satire, current events and offensive jokes, The Onion is a must read. This book is designed as an encyclopedia of fake trivia.

For trivia geeks and fans of the XMen, Avengers, Fantastic Four, Hulk and all things Marvel, this unofficial trivia piece covers Marvel Publishing’s foundation in 1939 with behindthe-scenes looks at the company’s struggles and progress.

Find the names of all the failed attempts and learn the surprise success of Stan Lee’s Spider-Man.

Photo courtesy of theonion.com

Photo courtesy of seanhowe.com

“Son” by Lois Lowry Fiction readers will remember Lois Lowry’s 1993 Newbery Medalwinning “The Giver.” The entire Giver series will be a good collection for those who enjoyed “The Hunger Games.”

The series, which included the sequel “Gathering Blue” and the 2004 book “Messenger,” was reported as complete. A pleasant surprise to those disappointed with “Messenger,” Lowry released a conclusion eight years later.

“Son” is the fourth and final book (yeah, right) in the series with a new dystopian society connected to the original story.

Photo courtesy of loislowry.com

“The Fault in Our Stars” by John Green Lastly, the top-rated book of the year: John Green’s latest novel. In a recent video, Green thanked his fans for putting him ahead of J.K. Rowling herself.

Narrated by main character, Hazel, “The Fault in Our Stars” follows the lives of young cancer patients. The founder of the “This Star Won’t Go Out” foundation, Green bases his characters on the vlogs of Esther Earl, who died of cancer a few years ago.

A masterful combination of witty humor and a realistic portrayal of depression in illness, Green’s novel gives the society of cancerstricken children a voice.

Hazel meets cancer survivor Augustus Waters, who encourages her to fulfill her dreams before she dies. No reader has yet reported avoiding tears before the end. S Photo courtesy of wikipedia.org

Opinion

Page 8

December 10, 2012

Growing campus demands a weekly student newspaper Staff Editorial

scribe@uccs.edu Following a biweekly publication schedule this fall, The Scribe is finally returning to being a weekly publication – for now.

We were forced into a biweekly publication schedule due to a budgetary misappropriation, which we covered last month. That has been fixed, allowing us to resume our normal publication schedule.

Now that we need to focus on what to propose for our 2013-2014 budget, we may need to face another tough decision: ask for a substantial student payroll increase or permanently change to a biweekly publication.

Along with the hiring process, Student Employment may be altering its pay structure next year, dictating what hourly pay is appropriate for specific types of work.

While nothing has been finalized, this could mean The Scribe will need to request an additional $20,000 from SGA to meet those standards.

The obvious solution is to analyze our current student payroll to find

the

extra money so we can request less and appease SGA. We’re open to trimming wherever we can to help make this happen, but there’s a problem: Our payment system is already stripped to its bare bones.

Our hourly employees make just above minimum wage at $8 per hour, except the editorin-chief and managing editor, who make $10.

As for our reporters and photographers, they’re paid at the same range for each article and photograph published.

We could have a uniform pay rate of $8 for all staff, but that will barely make a dent in that $20,000, and we don’t expect Student Employment would allow that anyway.

Management has a record of working more hours than anyone else on staff, so more work will likely require higher pay.

So, if we’re unable to find that extra money in our own student payroll, we’re left to look at cutting issues and reverting to a biweekly publication schedule again.

Going biweekly would be a very feasible option

if UCCS wasn’t a growing university. You don’t need to delve into statistics to see the growth – just look around.

UCCS is building two new dorms, a health sciences building that includes space for a branch of the CU medical school and has approved construction of a new parking garage with an athletic field to accommodate more students.

With record-breaking freshmen classes flocking to UCCS every year, we speak from experience when we say that the campus will be poorly informed with a biweekly student newspaper.

During our semesterlong biweekly run, we not only had to turn away advertisers – money that could have helped The Scribe function – but we also had to turn away important stories because we didn’t run an issue the week of their sale or event.

We couldn’t fulfill our function as a newspaper, and we couldn’t even function very well as a business, either.

And if The Scribe does become a biweekly publication, and Student Employment raises pay-

cribe

Editor-in-Chief . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Sara Horton Managing Editor . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Jesse Byrnes Copy Editor . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Taylor Hargis News Editor . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Eleanor Skelton Culture Editor . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Cynthia Jeub Opinion/Life on the Bluffs Editor . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Aaron Collett Sports Editor . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Tyler Bodlak Photo Editor . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Alex Gradisher Business Manager . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Mike English Designer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Emily Olson Designer and Photographer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Robert Solis Web Designer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Edwin Satre Ad Sales Representatives . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Nikolas Roumell . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Jamie Burnett Junior Ad Sales Representative. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Matthew Yersak Photographer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Nicholas Burns Junior Photographers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Tyler Anderson . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Joshua Camacho Reporters . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . April Wefler . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Peter Farrell . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Samantha Morley . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Kyle Marino . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Sarah Palma . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Jonathan Toman . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Mikaila Ketcherside Junior Reporters . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Shelby Kotecki . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Alexander Nedd Distributor . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Lisa Erickson Advisor . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Laura Eurich

Comic by Robert Solis The Scribe will face a challenge making cuts when there’s not much left to trim. ment requirements again, what will happen then?

Will we need to cut our publication schedule even further and become a monthly newspaper for the sake of staying within the bounds of an outdated budget again?

These are the questions

Contact us: On campus: UC 106 Phone: (719) 255-3658 Email: scribe@uccs.edu

that need to be asked and seriously debated among staff before the student voice, the most important in the face of all of these changes, is silenced.

We understand the importance of student funds being spent responsibly and remain committed to

being transparent about how we use them.

But quieting the student voice while UCCS expands and evolves is poisonous. Now is the time for student media to thrive and grow alongside the campus, not trail behind it. S

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Letters to the Editor The Scribe strongly encourages letters to the editor. Letters intended for publication must not exceed 350 words, must be legible and include the writer’s name and contact information. Letters must be submitted to The Scribe via email at scribe@uccs.edu.com by 5 p.m. on Wednesdays before publication. The Scribe reserves the right to reject letters to the editor that are libelous, obscene or anonymous and has the right to edit as necessary due to space limitations, spelling or other grammatical errors and AP style guidelines.

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Archives Additional copies of the current publication volume are available in The Scribe’s office. The Scribe keeps issues from the past five volumes for internal use only. The Office of University Archives will handle any request for additional issues from the past five years and before.

Advertising If you, your club, organization or business wishes to advertise with The Scribe, please call (719) 255-3469 or email scribe2@uccs.edu.

Opinion

December 10, 2012

Grad school a trap for jobless and debt-ridden students

Peter Farrell pfarrell@uccs.edu Most have heard the adage that it is worth pursuing a college degree because you will make approximately $1 million

more in a lifetime than if you didn’t go to college.

So a master’s degree must mean another $1 million, right?

Not quite. Colleges are businesses that sell education, and a master’s degree isn’t always a good buy.

While earning a college degree definitely establishes you as a contender for future jobs and proves you can commit yourself to accomplishing something, it doesn’t earn you a free ticket to a better life. That goes double for master’s degrees.

Despite what politicians may say, the economy still

sucks. There are people in Colorado twice our age with multiple “real” degrees who have been unemployed for more than two years. Master’s degrees, perversely, can actually exacerbate that problem – because now you’re “overqualified.”

“But the unemployment rate is dropping! Things are getting better!” you’ll say. Close but not quite.

Depending on whom you ask, and depending on his or her political affiliation, the statistics about the unemployment rate vary from source to source.

Acording to a report is-

sued by the U.S. Census Bureau, Colorado Springs saw the second largest over-the-year drop in employment at 4,400 jobs lost.

Wayne Heilman of The Gazette also said, “The Springs area reported the nation’s second-biggest payroll drop, while payrolls expanded in more than three quarters of the nation’s 372 metropolitan areas.”

The old way of thinking about college doesn’t work anymore. Going to college no longer guarantees a well-paying job.

Almost everyone has a

bachelor’s degree. Unfortunately, getting a degree, especially an expensive master’s degree, doesn’t make you millions.

You’re less likely to become a millionaire and more likely to be buried in debt up to your eyeballs, and graduate school makes that problem even worse.

The Chronicle of Higher Education published an article in 2011 stating, “One in every five government loans that entered repayment in 1995 has gone into default. The default rate is higher for loans made to students from two-year colleges, and higher still,

Page 9

reaching 40 percent, for those who attended forprofit institutions.”

Filing bankruptcy doesn’t erase school loans, either. Your credit rating is unequivocally ruined, and universities spewing platitudes about “pursuing your future” won’t bail you out.

And the problem isn’t going away. On Nov. 28, the Wall Street Journal noted that in third quarter of the current fiscal year, “U.S. student-loan debt rose by $42 billion, or 4.6 percent to $956 billion.”

If you can’t afford it, don’t do it. A bachelor’s degree is plenty. S

Costas’ commentary highlights need for gun control conversation

Aaron Collett acollett@uccs.edu Eighty-seven people dead. That’s four averagesize classrooms at UCCS – the number of gun-related deaths in America per day. That is obscene.

Bob Costas, a com-

mentator during Sunday Night Football on NBC, recently made a statement about gun control, claiming that if Kansas City Chiefs linebacker Jovan Belcher hadn’t had a gun, he wouldn’t have been able to murder his girlfriend and then kill himself.

Everyone on the right of the political spectrum has railed on Costas for implying that access to a tool used to commit murder is itself an assistant to that murder or that if Belcher didn’t have a gun, he would have murdered his girlfriend and killed himself with a knife or other object.

I am not a proponent of universal disarmament, but I am a proponent of having reasonable conversations about things that affect Americans.

Why can’t we have a decent conversation about gun control in this country?

One reason is that every time anyone even looks like they might be in favor of tighter gun laws, the National Rifle Association goes on a roaring rampage.

OK, I get it. The NRA is the gun lobby. We all know its view on gun control. But its policies are hurting people. Lots of people – 87 per day.

Just in case you think that the number of gunrelated deaths in the U.S. is simply a product of our population size, think again.

As a percentage of our population, we are in the top 10 nations for gun-related deaths, with third-world countries like Colombia (ranked first), Honduras (fourth) and Guatemala (fifth) comprising many of the top spots.

The Second Amendment states, “A wellregulated militia being necessary to the security of a free state, the right of the people to keep and bear arms shall not be in-

fringed.”

The Supreme Court has ruled that means that individuals have the right to own guns. Awesome.

What kind of guns?

When that was written, the guns we had were either muskets or pistols that got to fire one shot at a time. The range of items in “guns” has risen drastically.

The NRA will tell you that hunters need guns and that we need to protect ourselves from, well, everybody, that it’s downright American to own a gun. Well, hunters don’t need assault weapons unless the moose have artillery. It’s only fair.

Another fact that the NRA will tell you is that in most of these gun-related tragedies, the guns were obtained legally – which is the problem.

In the Aurora shooting, James Holmes did not break the law until he pulled the trigger. And if pulling the trigger is the line to breaking the law, that’s way too close.

The NRA should be allowed to say its piece (it’s their First Amendment right). But we have that same right, and the gun lobby should not be allowed to silence its opponents through the media.

We need to have a decent conversation. S

ing to make women’s feet smaller and more attractive to men.

The corset is thankfully not used much anymore, and foot binding was banned in the 20th century. Unfortunately, new practices seem to be emerging in our vain society.

According to Fox News, some women have chosen to shorten their toes or completely cut off pinky toes, not unlike the stepsisters cutting off their toes and heels in Grimms’ “Cinderella” to fit into the slipper and trick the prince.

Fox cites the Ameri-

can Podiatric Medical Association, saying, “87 percent of women have had foot problems from wearing uncomfortable or ill-fitting shoes such as high heels.”

Then why do we choose to wear shoes that make us uncomfortable?

High heels are often chosen by women who want to appear professional in the office, but when shoes make you uncomfortable, they should not be worn.

Any form of close-toed shoe is likely considered professional and doesn’t have to be uncomfortable like heels. Choosing comfortable shoes is bet-

ter than spending thousands of dollars to alter your feet.

Foot mutilation is only one aspect of the crazy beauty trends currently sweeping society. Anastasiya Shpagina, a 19-yearold Ukrainian woman, decided to turn herself into a living anime character.

Weighing 85 pounds at 5 feet 2 inches tall, she achieves the look mostly with expensive makeup and is also considering surgery to make her eyes look more anime-like.

Similarly, 30-yearold Jacqueline Koh from Singapore underwent 10

surgeries just to reach the point where she felt good about her looks; some accounts state that she also wanted to look like an anime character.

Both Shpagina and Koh were beautiful women before their makeup and surgical choices. The problem is that there are people who find their unrealistic looks “cool” and “inspirational,” despite their unhealthy appearances and other problems, like the blindness that could result from Shpagina’s circle lenses.

But wasting money on plastic surgeries and makeup isn’t new. The

media bombards us with images of supposedly perfect people that we’re pressured to imitate.

Although there are such organizations as Healthy is the New Skinny and the Dove Campaign for Real Beauty, vanity is still dominant in society.

Are foot mutilation and making yourself into a real-life doll the first steps leading back to the days of corsets and foot binding?

Society’s vanity has already reached a disturbing point – and with it increasing daily, we should be concerned for the future generation. S

Society’s vanity reaches new and highly disturbing levels

April Wefler awefler@uccs.edu Women have been experimenting with their looks for centuries. The corset was introduced as far back as 2000 BC. For a millennium, the Chinese practiced foot bind-

Something on your mind?

Email the editor at

scribe@uccs.edu

Life on the Bluffs

Page 10

Campus Chatter Cynthia Jeub, cjeub@uccs.edu, photos by Robert Solis

December 10, 2012

Top Ten

Once finally free of finals and assignments, students launch into a wide range of activities for winter break.

Worst Christmas songs

10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1

Grandma Got Run Over by a Dump Truck

Rudolph the Red-Nosed Alkie Dashing Over the Fiscal Cliff Sandusky’s Little Drummer Boy

Lily Szczur, senior, biology and psychology

Travis Ray, sophomore, game design

Colleen Fannin, sophomore, game design

What are your plans for winter break?

I’m taking a winter-term class because I want to get all my credits and graduate. I also want to spend time with family and friends. I also love skiing, so I might fit a trip to a resort in somewhere.

What are your plans for winter break?

What are your plans for winter break?

I want to use my break to catch up on video games. I’m majoring in game design, so it’s a chance to complete the ones I’ve gotten behind on in the midst of finals. I’m also the founder of the campus cosplay club, so I do a lot of characters from anime and games. I will probably be taking time to sew outfits, either for my own fashion design or for my cosplay costumes. S

What was the best winter break you ever had?

The best break I ever had was probably freshman year because I wasn’t expecting break to be so long. It was much longer than I’d ever had in school before college.

My parents are separated, so the holiday season can be complicated.

I’m going to be visiting my mom in California and then coming back to spend time with my dad’s side of the family. I always have to choose between parents and figure out who I’m celebrating Christmas with.

This year we’re bringing my dad’s family out here from the East Coast.

We’re getting a lodge in the mountains, and we’ll spend a few days up there.

Dog House Diaries

12 Days of Bieber Fever It’s Beginning to Look a Lot Like Consumerism I Saw Mommy Kissing Mrs. Claus I’m Dreaming of a White Power Christmas Frosty the Pot Man We Wish You a Mayan Christmas

Sudoku

Bring your completed sudoku to The Scribe Office (UC 106) for a prize! Last week’s sudoku Puzzle 1 (Medium, difficulty rating 0.57) answers can be found at uccsscribe.com.

4 3

6

3 9

8

2 3

7

3

2

5 2 8

6

6

4

9

8 7

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5 3

Comic courtesy of thedoghousediaries.com

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Generated by http://www.opensky.ca/~jdhildeb/software/sudokugen/ on Wed Dec 5 13:55:38 2012 GMT. Enjoy!

This week at

UCCS

Tuesday, Dec. 11

Jay Shinn: ILLUMINATED GOCA 121 Noon EPIIC Night 3 University Center 302 5:30 p.m.

Wednesday, Dec. 12 Lunch Beat Colorado Springs Register at uccs.edu/ goca/TALK GOCA 121 Noon You Can’t Take It With You Theatreworks 7:30 p.m.

Friday, Dec. 14

Summer and Fall 2012 Commencement Colorado Springs World Arena 2 p.m.

Saturday, Dec. 15

Fall semester officially ends

Tuesday, Dec. 18

Women’s basketball vs.

Menlo Gallogly Events Center 7-9 p.m.

Wednesday-Saturday, Dec. 19-22

You Can’t Take It With You Dusty Loo Bon Vivant Theater 7:30 p.m.

Monday, Dec. 24

Campus closed Start of holiday break

Sports

December 10, 2012

American soccer is better without boost from Beckham

Jonathan Toman jtoman@uccs.edu Now that David Beckham has played his final game for the Los Angeles Galaxy on Saturday, Dec. 1 in the Major League Soccer Cup Final, we can begin to safely evaluate the impact he has had upon the sport of soccer in the U.S. David Beckham is the worst thing that ever happened to Major League Soccer.

I can understand the thinking behind bringing Beckham to the U.S. in 2007. For MLS, it was an opportunity to bring a for-

eign player home, to help grow the game through star power.

For Beckham, it was an opportunity to tap into the then-untouched reserves of American soccer money. Beckham got his part of the bargain; the MLS did not. Bringing Beckham here was like putting a Band-Aid on a gunshot wound.

His role as ambassador for the game in America never materialized. This was especially true in his appearances in Denver when the Galaxy played the Colorado Rapids.

According to The Denver Post, of the five games Beckham’s Galaxy played in Denver through the 2011 season, he played in merely one.

Beckham alienated a Colorado sports base that had paid money to see him. I am inclined to give him the benefit of the doubt, as injuries do happen. But perhaps he has an irrational fear of altitude.

The Band-Aid came with Beckham in the form

of the media circus that followed his arrival in America. Interest in soccer momentarily rose, but since that arrival, he has had a limited effect on soccer in the U.S. I remember when the Rapids won the MLS Cup Championship in 2010.

Keep in mind this is the equivalent of the Broncos winning the Super Bowl or the Avalanche winning the Stanley Cup. This achievement barely registered on the radar screen in the state of Colorado, though.

This is not the sort of change Beckham was supposed to bring. Of course, it is tough for one man to change the culture of a nation.

But soccer in the U.S. has not grown faster due to Beckham. It still wallows in the role of a secondary sport, and bringing in Beckham, though he was charged with a difficult task, did not help at all.

The MLS now needs something completely different from Beck-

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Photo courtesy of Babble David Beckham’s arrival to the U.S. has arguably had a minimal impact on soccer. ham. Since when has the United States relied on foreign countries to grow our sports? The MLS is well past relying upon aging foreign superstars for news coverage.

We need a new generation of home-grown, selfless stars built in the model of Beckham’s much less flashy cohort in Los Angeles, Landon Donovan.

I do not see the game

of soccer growing in the U.S. without home-grown stars that people can rally behind. David Beckham was never what the MLS needed, and we should let him go without any tears. S

NHL lockout and mutual greed threaten to turn fans away

Kyle Marino kmarino@uccs.edu For the last several months, the NHL has been embroiled in a lockout that threatens to undermine its legitimacy as a league.

NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman met with the National Hockey League Players Association, or NHLPA, on Dec. 6 and made absolutely no progress on a collective bargaining agreement (CBA), calling the NHLPA’s proposal “unacceptable.”

This is the NHL’s third lockout in 10 years, the first being in 1994. The NHL has already cancelled the 2013 Winter Classic and 2013 All-Star Game with more scheduled games being cancelled.

The NHL and NHLPA

are, and have been, trying to strike to get this lost season back on track.

However, no deal is imminent and the sides are still very far apart.

Many expected some progress with regards to a CBA during two separate meetings spanning 20 hours. However, there was no progress made, and the sides left with no further negotiations.

If the 2012-2013 season is cancelled, it will spell more bad news for the future of the NHL. Yes, the NHL has been around forever, and hockey is one of the most ex-

citing sports to watch, but another lockout would likely turn many fans away if it hasn’t already.

The NBA and NFL both had their labor disputes in recent years but were able the salvage at least some of the season and bring a great product to fans.

The swift resolution of these lockouts allowed the leagues to retain their fan bases and, in some cases, strengthened it.

More and more fans could turn to NFL and NBA as a result of the NHL lockout. The allure of hockey is that it combines the brutality

of football and the pace of hockey, but if something doesn’t change soon, many NHL fans might turn away – and for good.

The players want more money, benefits, etc., and the owners and Bettman are unwillingly to give into their demands.

Why do the players want more money? Why won’t the owners give them more money? It’s a mystery, but both sides are being greedy.

Yes, it is a brutal sport, but players are getting paid millions and millions of dollars to play

the game they love. What more could they want?

If I was given a talent and was able to play a sport I love, I would do so in a heartbeat. Would I like to be paid to play the game? Sure. I wouldn’t need millions and millions of more dollars, though.

The NHL fans who have stuck around deserve better than the greediness of the NHL and its players.

The NHL and the players need a deal done quickly otherwise many of the faithful hockey fans will, as I did in 2004, turn away from the game of hockey. S

Sports

Page 12

December 10, 2012

Men’s and women’s cross country place high at nationals Jonathan Toman jtoman@uccs.edu Last year, the UCCS men’s cross country team placed 19th out of 24 teams at the national championship, and the women’s cross country team did not qualify.

But those results have changed.

The men’s and women’s teams finished their seasons with a run in the Division II National Championships, both leaving with good results.

On Nov. 17 in Joplin, Mo., the men finished 11th, while the women went one better, finishing 10th. The 32-team field was the biggest ever at the Division II championships with almost 250 runners

File photo by Robert Solis The men’s cross country team took a run around the campus to prepare for nationals.

competing in both races.

The race will only get bigger as more NAIA schools switch to Division II, according to Mark Misch, the head coach for UCCS men’s cross country.

“When 10 to 12 people come through every 10 seconds, it becomes tough for coaches to predict what’s going to happen,” Misch said.

“Our goal at the start of the season was to make it to nationals, because we had a lot of new faces. But after Minnesota (where the women won the Roy Griak Invitational), our expectations really grew,” said UCCS women’s cross country Head Coach David Harmer. “We beat a team that had finished

fifth at the national meet the year before.”

“The way the girls ran was similar to every big race this year: They ran smart and didn’t lose any places,” added Harmer.

“Almost all the girls ran faster the second half of the race, which is what you want. They really believed they could be top 10.”

The UCCS women were paced by All-American senior Megan Burrell, who finished in 37th place, along with junior Veronica Sandoval (53rd) and sophomore Angie Martell (84th).

The UCCS men were led by sophomore Emilio Trujillo, who finished 61st, along with senior Oliver Williams (75th)

and fellow senior Mike English (80th).

After nationals, both teams got a break to rest and recover. Next on the horizon is the indoor season, which begins following Christmas break.

The men’s team loses one senior this semester and will lose three more in May. The women will lose two runners in May as well. Despite these looming losses, the outlook is bright for both teams.

“It will be interesting to see how things pan out, but a lot of young guys did well and gained a ton of experience,” said Misch.

“You just want to be the best you can be with the people you have,” added Misch. “And November is when it counts.”S

UCCS softball gains two new freshmen pitchers for 2013 jtoman@uccs.edu The UCCS softball team made two additions to its roster for Fall 2013, as two new pitchers will make their way to Colorado Springs.

Nicole Hoffman from Highland, Calif., and Stephanie Chitkowski from Glen Ellyn, Ill., will join the team as freshmen next fall.

“College is a different level, but they are both very accomplished pitchers, they bring great confidence, and I do see them contributing right away,” said Scott Peterson, women’s softball head coach. “Both are going to be great for the program.”

Hoffman started playing softball at the age of 8 and fell in love with it, she said.

When Hoffman turned 9, she started pitching and began traveling to play

“

soon after. She has played travel softball for seven years and played varsity softball all four years in high school.

Interested in studying sports nutrition or communicative disorders, Hoffman chose UCCS after visiting the area. “[It] seemed like home to me and felt like a good fit,” she said. “I am most looking forward to being on my own and playing softball for UCCS.” Chitkowski grew up in a baseball family and started playing t-ball when she was just 3 years old. Her grandfather played minor league baseball for the Chicago White Sox, and her father and uncle played baseball at the University of Valparasio.

Her older sister Danielle, who served as her inspira-

We exclusively carry

This team is one of the best collections of players we’ve had since I’ve been here.

- Scott Peterson

tion, also played. “When I was younger I wanted to do everything she did,” Chitkowski said.

Chitkowski was accepted to the Beth-El College of Nursing and hopes to pursue a career in the medical field.

She chose UCCS after seeing pictures of the area, that the school had everything she wanted to study and after meeting Coach Peterson, which “basically sealed the deal,” explained Chitkowski.

“What I look forward to most next year is playing softball and getting to know all the girls on the team,” she added.

Head Coach Peterson

thinks the two new pitchers will be welcome additions to an already formidable team.

“This team is one of the best collections of players we’ve had since I’ve been here; the question is how we will gel as a team,” Peterson said.

“We had a great fall and played extremely well; hopefully we can continue and play like that in the spring,” Peterson added.

“The season is a grind, but I’m very optimistic of where we are going to be.”

The 2012 softball season starts with official practices on Jan. 10 and the first game of the season Feb 1. against Regis University. S

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Jonathan Toman

Photos courtesy of UCCS Athletics The UCCS women’s softball team welcomed new freshmen pitchers Nicole Hoffman (bottom) and Stephanie Chitkowski (top) for the upcoming spring season.