Since 1966
Vol. 40, Iss. 16
Monday, February 1, 2016 SCRIBE.UCCS.EDU /UCCSTHESCRIBE @UCCSSCRIBE
IN BRIEF NEWS
Online Grad Program Nursing program ranks high in national poll 2
Swasey Scholarship New milestone reached 3
CULTURE
UCCS Student Newspaper University of Colorado Colorado Springs
U.S. Capitol building flag presented to Public Safety in honor of Garrett Swasey Austin Chasse achasse@uccs.edu
On Jan. 29, an American flag that was flown at the U.S. Capitol building in honor of UCCS Police Officer Garrett Swasey was presented to Public Safety by the fraternity Sigma Alpha Epsilon. Travis Tafoya, the current Sigma Alpha Epsilon president, and Aaron Novy, who was the first president of Sigma Alpha Epsilon at UCCS, came up with the idea and represented their fraternity in the ceremony. “We really wanted to do something unique,” Tafoya said. “There are so many groups on campus that were raising money and that need
was already met by the community.” “It was the right thing to do,” Novy said. “I’ve seen many flag presentations given for different occasions, and I figured that this was an appropriate one.” Novy goes to graduate school in Washington D.C., and coordinated with Congressman Doug Lamborn, who attended the event. The flag was flown under Lamborn’s name at the Capitol. “What happened to Officer Swasey was tragic, but his example serves as a great inspiration of bravery and heroism,” Lamborn said. “This is just one small way we can remember his memory.”
AUSTIN CHASSE | THE SCRIBE
Police Chief Brian McPike holds the flag during the presentation.
Neighborhood complaints lead to Alpine Field LED light installation International Students
Global engagement office provides resources to students 5
UNDIET workshops
Spring program cancelled 5
OPINION
Suicide
Discussion on topic must happen 9
Voting
It matters more than you think 9 RACHAEL DEEGAN | THE SCRIBE
SPORTS
Super Bowl
Dueling opinions on outcome of game 11
Track and Field Indoor season serves training purpose 12
New LED lights look over the Alpine field on the north end of campus.
Hannah Harvey hharvey@uccs.edu
New LED lights illuminate Alpine Field after complaints from neighbors in the Eagle Rock area were submitted to UCCS. Residents expressed several complaints that the lights on the field created a glare that could be seen from their homes. Musco, a sports lighting manufacturer based in Iowa, created and installed the new, glare-reducing and
energy-efficient LED fixtures that now light the field. All of the lights on the field were replaced at a total cost of $182,969. According to a Musco press release, energy use at the field was cut by 53 percent. Alpine Field is used for recreation and intramural sports. The original lighting design met criteria for light levels and evenness, but glare was not factored in. “We verified that we would not be shining much
light beyond the perimeter of the field. But we didn’t allow for the glare caused by the fixtures,” said Charles Cummings, design and construction project manager for Facilities Services. Cummings took meter readings to measure the glare in the surrounding neighborhoods and found that the readings came back as zero, indicating there was no measurable light. But this did not mean that the complaints were not valid.
“The human eye is so sensitive, that when you have a situation of extreme contrast, that when there is a bright object, your eye picks it out immediately,” said Cummings. Problems with glare were a geometrical issue, said Cummings. The field is about 40 feet above the surrounding neighborhoods, with the lights being another 80 feet up. This meant the lights shone directly down into the neighboring houses. Originally, the southeast light was the only one that was going to be considered for change. But, Musco noticed that light from the southwest pole was spilling over into the Alpine Village dorms, even though there were no student complaints. Gary Reynolds, assistant vice chancellor for Administration, said that Musco replaced the lights over the course of a weekend. Two cranes were brought in to do the job: one was used to illuminate lights, while another was used to lift the crew to install them. LED lights were not considered during the original 2012 construction of the field because of their high cost. In 2012, the cost to install LED lights on the field would have been around $450,000, according to Cummings.