Feb. 2, 2010

the scribe

The official student newspaper of the University of Colorado at Colorado Springs.

February 2 to February 8, 2010 [Volume 34; Issue 16]

A Look Inside the ISSUE

NEWS

FDA prohibition on gay blood donors comes under fire

page 4

CULTURE

Movie Review: The Book of Eli

page8

PARADOX

Students walking the halls in Dwire to their classes.

Daredevil stunt flops, sparks campus-wide debate over longboarding

Randy Robinson rrobinson@uccs.edu

Tennis cut: Will sports cuts continue?

page 11 OPINION |Take Down | Underwear bombers and Guantanamo

page 10 | This Week’s Challenge | Brown, healthcare and Democratic arrogance

page 10

The search to replace former Vice Chancellor of Student Success and Enrollment Management (VCSSEM) Robert Wonnett has been narrowed down to three candidates.

The position opened during the summer of 2009 when former VCSSEM Robert Wonnett retired after more than 30 years of state service.

The selection process was delayed during the fall of 2009, when all three candidates then under consideration became unavailable, having been offered other positions elsewhere while the Office of Student Success was still conducting the interviews.

According to C. David Moon, the senior associate vice chancellor for academic affairs and a professor of political science, the pick for the new VCSSEM is nearly complete.

“We have it down to a few people,” he said during

A Day in the Life of... pages 6 and 7

rconley@uccs.edu

Ethics education in the College of Business received a boost Jan. 19, accepting a $1.25 million grant from the Daniels Fund Ethics Initiative to further the study of business ethics.

The grant was awarded to eight universities throughout the Rocky Mountain region in an effort to strengthen the area’s ethics education programs. The Daniels Fund Ethics Initiative is a partnership with eight universities found throughout Colorado, New Mexico, Utah and Wyoming, which aims to strengthen ethics education in business schools. The hope is that future young business leaders will come out of these schools with a more ethics-based business education. The ideas behind the initiative are founded on the principles of Bill Daniels,

a native Colorado businessman who felt strongly about honesty and integrity.

“There is criticism out there that business schools have focused on teaching how to maximize wealth but have not done enough to integrate ethics into their curriculum to help students in dealing with ethical dilemmas,” said Venkat Reddy, dean of the College of Business. “Our intention through the grant is to provide the tools necessary for students to make ethical decisions by engaging both faculty and business leaders in this process.”

Currently, the School of Business offers several courses on business ethics.

Ethics courses are taught in various areas of the university, from the College of Nursing to the College of Education, so that at some point in their educational careers, UCCS students are Continued on page 4

a phone interview, “but we don’t know much more than that. Peg Bacon, the provost, will make the final decision soon.”

The duties of the VCSSEM include management and leadership of the Office of Student Success’s various activities, which include guiding students through their educational tracks, as well as promoting the university to attract a variety of gifted and talented new students from diverse backgrounds. The VCSSEM also coordinates with the university’s chancellor, provost

and Student Government Association (SGA) to ensure that both the academic and social needs of students are met.

At the moment, the duties of the vacant VCSSEM position are being handled by three different administrators: Executive Director of Student Systems Steve Ellis, Director of Student Success Susan Mitchell, and Director of Student Retention and First Year Experience Barbara Gaddis.

UCCS has narrowed down the new VCSSEM selection to three candidates: Robert

M. Bontrager of Oregon State University, Homer A. Wesley from the Mississippi University for Women, and Boyd A. Bradshaw from Saint Louis University. All three candidates have extensive career experience in higher education administration, either in student enrollment or other studentoriented services, and the Office of Student Success has, according to Moon, put careful consideration into each one.

Check future issues of The Scribe for continued coverage of the search. ◆

The Feature Preview

In the Middle the FEATURE

Rhiannon Conley

Search to replace Wonnett continues after stalled attempt

page 9 SPORTS

Ariel Lattimore

$1.25 million ethics grant awarded to College of Business

Let The Scribe take you, through a series of words and pictures, into the lives of wildly diverse campus members.

Edna swipes a student’s meal card at The Lodge. Moriah remains calm facing a disgruntled student at Financial Aid. Mormon Missionaries knock on a door to share their values. Daniel dodges a car after writing a parking ticket as he patrols Lot 3.

A Day in the Life of...

CONTACT | phone: (719) 255 - 3658 | fax: (719) 255 - 3600 | email: scribe@uccs.edu | website: www.uccsscribe.com

2

editorial

February 2 to February 8, 2010

scribe staff

A day in the life of... never be a morning person) and decide which emails I checked earlier this morning to respond to. Hand my layout editor her Starbucks I picked up on the way to begin a 13-hour day and eat breakfast at my desk.

Jackie Parkinson Editor-in-Chief

For those of you who noticed, my title is no longer “Executive Editor.” While the previous me had decided to change it, I decided it made me sound too fancy; plus, I received multiple blank, confused stares when I introduced myself as such.

While this is one little detail of my life that you may have noticed (or not), here are a few more details that encompass my favorite day of the week.

Thursday (a.k.a. when we go to print): 8 a.m.: Check my email from my iPhone. In bed. I sleep with my phone under my pillow, as further explained in the next section.

9 or 10 ish: I say “ish” because I have never successfully made it to the office at the same time every day. See, being the editor-in-chief, I supervise 32 students who operate on a deadline schedule, which means they turn in their assignments, show up to meetings, and answer their email and phone when needed at the last minute.

For the hourly employees, they all have keys to get in to the office or have coordinated office hours with people who have keys.

Therefore, I make sure my hours are such that I am in the office when need be. So, if I receive a call at 9 p.m. about a photographer not being allowed into an event, I respond within minutes to try to handle the situation.

Or if I’m on Facebook chat and a staff member wants to change their topic before deadline, I respond. Or if I receive a call at 4 a.m. from the printers saying that we didn’t export the copy correctly, I run to the office at 7 a.m. to re-export to get the copy off as soon as possible.

We work around the clock, just like any newspaper.

10 a.m.: Arrive at the office, say “hi” groggily (I will

10:30 a.m.: Report to the red binder, a.k.a. the mock up of all the assignments for the issue we are completing, and make sure that they have all been sent in and followed up on. Make calls to make sure they will be sent in. On one particular day, I noticed that we had a surplus of articles and a high number of advertisements, which is a good thing, and with Blackout Night coming up I decided to increase the page count to 16 from the usual 12.

12 p.m.: Find out we are still missing a key component to this week’s paper. Hooray.

Adjust accordingly.

12:30 p.m.: Think frantically while trying to remain calm about how we’re going to “adjust accordingly.”

1 p.m.: Remember that The Scribe is sponsoring the concert, and begin a search for Mitch Karstens, Graduate Assistant for the Office of Student Activities (OSA).

Mitch is not in his office, not at the information desk, nor in the student government office, so I call the advertising and marketing coordinator for OSA and beg him to make an ad for this issue by tonight. He agrees and saves the day.

1:30 p.m.: We receive a large advertisement order from our classifieds website. Apparently there are problems with our classifieds website, but they’re fixing them.

2 p.m.: Look over the tshirt design made by our layout editor. Ask for a few changes to the names and call it good. We’ll be handing them out shortly.

2:30 p.m.: A columnist stops by to take a staff picture and we realize we have no other camera available at the time, so we use my iPhone. He objects to the picture, obviously. We use it anyway and promise him a better one next week. $10 La’au’s gift card to the first person who can tell which one it is. Seriously. We have a ton.

3 p.m.: Coordinate Blackout Night assignments since there was a little confusion.

Cross my fingers that we cover the event to the best of our abilities.

3:30 p.m.: Decide to eat the lasagna I brought for lunch.

Think to myself that we should clean out the food that is still in the fridge from last semester, and quickly discard the thought.

5 p.m.: Receive a call from our illustrator that his son has just broken his nose and will not be able to come in tonight. To make up for it, our layout editor volunteers to make a douche bag on the opinion page. Check it out.

6 p.m.: Eat the rest of my now nastified lasagna.

7 p.m.: Begin my final edit.

Take the print-out to the couches in the ROAR office to make my edits and think through the issue.

7:30 p.m.: Hear some talking come from the SGA office. They close the door at the sight of me. I laugh out loud.

8 p.m.: Look over a column and read the sentence, “Robertson began as his pretty co-host nodded like a good pre-orgasmic Christian wife afraid of catching a beating should she behave otherwise.” Slightly freak out. Stop reading. Walk to The Scribe office. Talk to the managing editor as to his thoughts. Read the sentence out loud for the rest to hear. Decide that I’m going to hell, just like Pat Robertson. Call a friend to get an outside opinion.

8:30 p.m.: Become confused over what a “Bye week” is. Feel like a sham of a Steelers’ fan.

9:00 p.m.: Put in my final edits and decide that the aforementioned sentence is not in good taste with a selfdefense feature being on the next page.

9:30 p.m.: Help OSA clean up their Salsa Sensations event for a bit.

10:30 p.m.: Leave the office without going to print.

We will be coming in on the weekend to complete the Blackout Night and Events Center opening coverage. ◆

striving to present the truth to the students by creating an open forum for opinions and ideas

Editor-in-Chief Jackie Parkinson

Managing Editor Tim Canon

Copy Editor Randy Robinson

Culture Editor Avalon Manly

Opinion Editor Byron Graham

Campus News Editor Catherine Jensen

Sports Editor Matthew Crandall

Layout Editor Rosa Byun

Advertising Manager Sarah Tindell

Columnists Tim Canon, Steve Farrell, Byron Graham, Veronica Graves, Greg Reilly

Reporters Rhiannon Conley, Lauren Mueller, Rob Versaw, Averi Walker, Kay Wynarsky

Photographers Kevin Kassem, Ariel Lattimore, Carrie Woodruff

Layout Designers Alec Bishop, Shreya Raj

Cartoonist Arno

Web Designer Dorian Rogers

Interning Reporters Brandi Ballard, Jessica Vaughan, Carly Webb

Interning Photographer James O’Shea IV, Chelsea Bartlett

Distributor Donald Trujillo

Advisor Laura Eurich

Information: Archives Additional copies of the current publication volume will be available in The Scribe office. The Scribe keeps issues from the past five volumes for internal use only. The Office of University Records will handle any request for additional issues from the past five years and beyond.

Letters to the Editor The Scribe strongly encourages Letters to the Editor. Letters intended for publication must not exceed 300 words, must be legible and must include the writer’s name and telephone number.

Letters must be turned into The Scribe office, emailed or

delivered to The Scribe mailbox in the ROAR office by 5 p.m. the Friday before publication.

The Scribe reserves the right to reject Letters to the Editor that are libelous or obscene or anonymous, and has the right to edit as necessary due to space limitations, grammatical or spelling errors and AP style guideline errors.

Distribution Policy The following conduct is prohibited by The Scribe: Publication and News Rack theft. A person commits the offense of publication and/or news rack theft when he or she willfully or knowingly obtains or exerts unauthorized control over more than three copies of an edition of a publication distributed on campus. A “publication” includes any pe-

riodical that is distributed on a complimentary basis. A person who violates this provision is responsible for compensating the publication for all reasonable costs incurred, including, where appropriate, the refund of advertising fees.

Corrections In Volume 34, Issue 16 of The Scribe, “‘Grade Forgiveness’ not on the horizon,”the concern over policy consistency across campuses affected EPUS’s deliberations. It did not affect the CU-Boulder Faculty Assembly’s decision to discontinue grade forgiveness.

For more information about The Scribe, email requests to: scribe@uccs.edu

Want to advertise in The Scribe?

Just call (719) 255 - 3469

student life

weekly calendar tues: 2/2 Maddix Jay @ The Blacksheep 8 p.m.

wed: 2/3 SPRING CENSUS DATE ROAR Rally @ SENG Spine 11 a.m.

Poetry Slam @ The Warehouse 6 p.m.

thurs: 2/4

fri: 2/5

sat: 2/6

sun: 2/7

12 Angry Men @ Dusty Loo Bon Vivant Theater 7:30 p.m.

12 Angry Men @ Dusty Loo Bon Vivant Theater 7:30 p.m.

12 Angry Men @ Dusty Loo Bon Vivant Theater 2 p.m.

Tech N9ne @ Boulder Theater, Boulder 8 p.m.

Tech N9ne @ The Blacksheep 8 p.m.

12 Angry Men @ Dusty Loo Bon Vivant Theater 7:30 p.m.

Chris Cagle @ The Grizzly Rose, Denver

The Marshall Tucker Band @ Union Colony Civic Center, Greeley 7:30 p.m.

12 Angry Men @ Dusty Loo Bon Vivant Theater 4 p.m.

Tech N9ne @ The Blacksheep 8 p.m.

fear the needle in brief: Police in Pennsylvania and Delaware have been searching for a man suspected of robbing several businesses, not with a gun, but with a hypodermic needle. The suspect has pulled two robberies in the last couple of weeks by entering stores yelling like a maniac, brandishing a hypodermic needle, informing the businesspeople and patrons that he is HIV positive, and threatening to “stick those punks” if they didn’t hand over their life savings immediately. The real question is not how much money he stole (he had only robbed a sub shop and a salon at the time of print; who cares?), but whether it was HIV that frightened the victims into submission, or whether it was the sight of the needle itself that rendered them helpless in the face of “danger.”

quote of the week: “The end of satire is the amendment of vices by correction; and he who writes honestly is no more an enemy to the offender than the physician to the patient when he prescribes harsh remedies to an inveterate disease.”

- John Dryden

email quotes of the week to: scribelayout@gmail.com

between classes sudoku

the first person to bring both of these completed sudoku puzzles will receive a $10 La’au’s Tacos gift card.

2 medium puzzles

✁

bottom floor UCenter rm.

106

cut and stick between the pages of your textbook (you know, the one you never read)

✁  You are HERE 

BOOKMARK of the week

Tue Feb. 2

+Maddix Jay @ The Blacksheep 8 p.m.

Wed Feb. 3

+ SPRING CENSUS DATE + ROAR Rally @ SENG Spine 11 a.m. + Poetry Slam @ The Warehouse 6 p.m.

Thur Feb. 4

+ 12 Angry Men @ Dusty Loo Bon Vivant Theater 7:30 p.m. + Tech N9ne @ Boulder Theater, Boulder 8 p.m.

Fri Feb. 5

+ 12 Angry Men @ Dusty Loo Bon Vivant Theater 7:30 p.m. + Tech N9ne @ The Blacksheep 8 p.m. + Chris Cagle @ The Grizzly Rose, Denver

Sat Feb. 6

+ 12 Angry Men @ Dusty Loo Bon Vivant Theater 2 p.m. + 12 Angry Men @ Dusty Loo Bon Vivant Theater 7:30 p.m. + The Marshall Tucker Band @ Union Colony Civic Center, Greeley 7:30 p.m. + Tech N9ne @ The Blacksheep 8 p.m.

Sun Feb. 7

+ 12 Angry Men @ Dusty Loo Bon Vivant Theater 4 p.m.

4

campus news

February 2 to February 8, 2010

Bookstore sales steady despite rumors of layoffs Carly Webb cwebb@uccs.edu

The UCCS bookstore says its sales are going relatively well despite talk of layoffs and slumping business.

“We’ve never laid off anyone,” said bookstore manager Carla Fleury. The bookstore started off January with 13 temporary employees. Currently there are 11 employees, in addition to 10 permanent part-time student employees.

The temporary employees are a necessity for the bookstore. “We hire temps because students have classes everyday and can’t work an eight hour [shift] every day,” explained Fleury.

Student employee Audra King enthusiastically asserts that her job at the bookstore is the best job she has ever had. She said what she loves

the most is “the responsibility. My friends can come by and visit, it’s convenient and it’s a really positive environment. And it will look good on my resume.” As far as the seasonal employees are concerned she expresses sincere gratitude with their presence. “I’m really glad we have them because it gets so busy. I don’t think we could handle rush without them.”

The rest of the bookstore is business as usual. According to Fleury, the foot traffic has increased this semester but a profitability statement was not available as of print.

“At the end of last quarter we were down by just a very small percent. Just a few thousand dollars, but overall we’re up a little,” she said.

Fleury attributed the stable business to “healthy sales on non-text book items.” Text books have a low profit margin, since the price cannot be raised to much more over the cost of the books. Other

items, like clothes and supplies, are much more profitable, Fleury said.

The sales are analyzed regularly by department, and the department that has shown the best sales is clothing. “We have a good selection. People like what they see,” said Fleury.

Fleury speculates that the most comprehensive and probable reason for what she indicated was a relatively high demand for UCCS clothing wass the opening of the event center and the FIGHT club.

Fleury also said online textbook reservations have increased. “The nature of the college bookstore business is shifting from in-store pickup to online reservations.” Fleury said this is the “biggest trend” and the number of online orders increases every semester. So far this year they have filled approximately 1000 online orders. ◆

FDA prohibition on gay blood donors comes under fire Tim Canon tcanon@uccs.edu

“All types of blood are needed…unless you’re gay,” read the flyers posted around campus by Queer Student Union (QSU) last Wednesday. The group was protesting the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) rule prohibiting gay men from donating blood.

The flyers were posted in anticipation of a campus blood drive to “raise awareness about healthcare issues

affecting the LGBT community,” including the FDA rule, according to QSU President Ayden Merino.

“This is a platform to start addressing conflicts concerning limited access in the US healthcare system for LGBTIQ individuals,” said Merino. He also said that those in the LGBTIQ community have trouble with power of attorney rights, birth-room privileges and other areas within the healthcare system.

The FDA rule alluded to in the group’s posters prohibits “men who have sex with other men” (MSM)

from donating blood and has been in place since 1977, according to the FDA’s website. The site says that MSM since 1977 have had HIV prevalence 60 times higher than the general population, and that the increased risk justifies the policy.

Merino and his group believe the rule “continues to stigmatize gay men as diseased,” an attitude he said started in the late ‘70s and ‘80s when HIV/AIDS was known as “the gay cancer.”

Merino said students interested in more information could email him at amerino@uccs.edu. ◆

Grant will stimulate business ethics Continued from page 1 bound to run into a course that teaches ethics.

“The College of Business has a history of teaching ethics largely through integration of ethical issues throughout the curriculum,” said Reddy. “We offer a class in Business Law, which explicitly addresses ethics issues.”

“The College also includes teaching ethics in two senior level capstone classes dealing with government and

societal concerns in business and with business policy.”

All eight of the universities involved in the Daniels Initiative will be collaborating and creating new programs aimed at instilling a serious sense of ethics in students.

“All of our programs, graduate and undergraduate, will be impacted by this initiative,” said Reddy. “We are particularly delighted about working alongside some of the best educational institu-

tions in the west and sharing best practices that will help all of the universities in the consortium strengthen their ethical education.”

“We want our students and community to understand that our motivation to strengthen the ethical foundations in our students is not only because it is the right thing to do but to carry the message that ‘good ethics is good for business,’” Reddy added. ◆

culture

February 2 to February 8, 2010

Super Bowl Recipes Brock Kilgore bkilgore@uccs.edu

I have always loved football, and the food that goes with it. This time of year means Super Bowl, and Super Bowl means friends and food.

Sundays used to mean an afternoon planted in front of a sports bar TV rooting for my favorite team. Nowadays, however, I am lucky enough to have TV at home, to be able to afford an occa-

sional NFL game ticket, and to have a close-knit group of friends with whom I can spend game days.

A few of us tend to be irritatingly glued to the tubes, but mostly, people eat, drink and mingle during football games. The fare for such gatherings is via potluck, for which each person brings a dish to share. Sometimes, the food gets competi-

Individual Stuffed Crust Pizzas INGREDIENTS: Serves up to 8 Takes about a half hour of prep 1 package (18.4 oz.) of 16, 6-inch Guerrero brand tortillas 2 pounds (32 oz.) shredded mozzarella cheese 2 jars (23.75 oz.) quality pasta sauce Grated Parmesan Your choice of toppings Several flat pizza, pie, cookie or cake pans

tive: We try to outdo one another in size and taste.

After several seasons, our weekly Potluck Bowl has a

clear winner: Little smoked sausages, firmly embraced by bacon, and doused in a gooey sweet glaze. Not long

Jerry’s Best Bites “Crack”

5

after my friend Jerry Huntley brought these little bites of deliciousness through the door, they became known simply as, “Crack.” They are irresistible.◆

INGREDIENTS: Serves 6 (and recipe is easily doubled, or tripled!)

Takes about an hour 1 pound decent bacon 1 package cocktail sausages (16 oz.)

1 cup (or so) brown sugar parchment paper or disposable 9 x 13 inch cake pan (*see below) * The resulting bacon grease / brown sugar residue will burn and stick like superglue to cooking surfaces, so either use a disposable pan, or line a 9 x 13 inch cake pan with several layers of parchment paper. Parchment paper can be found next to the aluminum foil, comes in a similar package and costs about $3 for 30 feet. Honestly, you are probably going to make this recipe more than once, so get go ahead and get some.

INSTRUCTIONS:

INSTRUCTIONS:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Cut entire pound of bacon into thirds, wrap each sausage in a third of a slice of bacon and place in rows in the cake pan. Top each wrapped sausage with brown sugar by carefully sprinkling it along each row until covered. Cook 35 to 50 minutes, to desired bacon crispness.

Preheat oven to 450 degrees and grate mozzarella cheese (if necessary).

Assemble 8 base pizzas by putting a handful of mozzarella between two tortillas, and arrange on a serving platter along with all toppings. Allow guests to apply their own sauce, cheese and toppings, utilizing several pans to rotate in and out of the oven. Cook for 8 to 13 minutes or until desired crispness, and offer a pizza cutter or scissors for slicing.

But little smokies won’t quite satisfy everyone. My latest idea was to use good quality tortillas for make-your-own individual stuffed crust pizzas.

A New York Style crust is created by layering two high quality tortillas, which actually need to be heated to finish the cooking process (like Guerrero brand), with mozzarella cheese. Then, offer a wide range of toppings, with particular party goers’ eating habits in mind.

ADVERTISE 255-3469

...A Mormon Missionary

B

efore the sun comes up, a light flips on in Apt. 7, the apartment with a picture of Jesus Christ on the door.

Outside, it’s numbing cold, the kind of day you want to spend wrapped up in a fleece blanket, watching movies, and drinking café au lait. But for Elder Wanket and Elder Anderson, that’s not a possibility.

As missionaries for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, they’ve left behind their families, hometowns, colleges, and even their first names to do what the believe God is telling them to do.

Elder Anderson explains why he does what he does: “If you know it’s true, you can’t imagine anyone not wanting the blessings!”

Their days last 16 hours; they go something like this: 6:30 a.m. The Elders are up for exercise, breakfast and preparation for the day. While he uses the ab roller, Elder Anderson remarks, “This builds core really fast!”

7:22 a.m. Elder Anderson opens up one of his Christmas presents from his family. “It’s what I thought it was going to be,” he says with a laugh. Allowed only two 45-minute calls home a year, these Elders rely on the Postal Service for communication with family and friends.

8 a.m. Finishing their showers and protein shake breakfasts, the Elders crack open their scriptures, a volume that contains The Holy Bible, Book of Mormon, Doctrine and Covenants, and Pearl of Great Price, and begin their personal study. Elder Anderson tells me that he wants to finish the Book of Mormon again by Christmas.

By Rob Versaw [rversaw@uccs.edu]

9 a.m. The Elders begin partner study, discussing doctrinal issues and what they’ve learned from their individual readings. While discussing the Book of Mormon, Elder Wanket recalls an investigator telling him it sounded a lot like the Bible. He muses, “If the Book of Mormon is the word of God, wouldn’t it teach the same doctrine of Christ that we find in the Bible?”

The two are “companions,” meaning they are assigned to work together in the Denver area.

Companions are never apart; they are always within either sight or hearing range of each other.

Elder Wanket explains, “It’s how the Savior commanded missionary work to be done in the Bible, just look at Paul and Silas.”

10:18 a.m. The Elders start the day tracting (going door to door), sharing the gospel. At the first door they knock on, a man meets them with an axe in hand: “Get the f--off my property! We don’t want any!” he shouts. The Elders leave wishing him a Merry Christmas. Elder Anderson wants to talk to him, “It’s sad, people like that could benefit from hearing the gospel so much.” They are able to chat with a few others in the neighborhood, taking careful note of who wanted them to come back and share more.

For the rest of this story, visit: uccsscribe.com

...A UCCS Parking Attendant

C

ontrary to some rumors, parking attendants don’t actually have horns and forked tails.

Nor do they, according to veteran parking attendant Daniel Rodi, spend all day maliciously plotting how to give unsuspecting students parking tickets.

Since 2004, Rodi has been working four to 10 hour shifts for the UCCS Parking Department. In frost and in sun, starting at 8 a.m. or ending at 10 p.m., Rodi “does the lap,” a ticket pad in hand and a walkie-talkie on his waist.

He starts in Lot 4 and makes his way from bottom to top, looking for the parking violators who have made UCCS parking infamous. He has his eye out for absent parking permits, parking in wrong lots, and even forged parking permits and misleading ticket look-alikes.

Rodi explains, “I don’t know what people’s purposes are on campus, so I just have to enforce the rules no matter what the circumstances are.” In some cases of first time offenders, however, the parking department will settle for giving a warning.

B [

However, Rodi believes ticketing is only a small part of his job. The part he says he loves is helping people. He escorts the disabled when they visit the campus, guides emergency vehicles to their destination on campus, gives car jumps to stranded students, and is willing to answer any question that will make the parking adventure a little more bearable.

Rodi even had the pleasure of meeting his wife on the job; they worked together as parking attendants about five years ago.

Along with good pay and good hours, Rodi has had good luck with the job.

But in answer to the “haters” who fling curses and recently-written tickets at him, Rodi stoically responds, “I’m just doing my job, the rules need to be enforced.”

When people follow the rules, Rodi believes, it makes parking for the whole campus less problematic.

Rodi knows how people see his job. For most of his undergraduate degree, in fact, he didn’t tell classmates what he did. Now

1. Edna prepares the register for the day.

2. Edna wipes down the counter after a busy breakfast shift.

3. Edna sets out ice cream cones in preparation for lunch.

4. Programming the ice cream machine: “a student favorite.”

5. Edna cleans in preparation for the lunch shift.

6. Edna replaces the coffee, now a Sodexo brand.

7. Edna chats with a co-worker, Linda Reece.

8. Edna takes a breather before the lunch rush.

9. Edna swipes freshman Meral Sarper’s card.

10. “I feel everyone who comes in has a story. the students here make this job worthwhile, they are all so important.”

Edna

A Day in the Life of...

By Averi Walker [awalker@uccs.edu] working for his masters, Rodi feels comfortable saying, “I’m not going to apologize for doing my job.”

When people yell or get upset about a ticket, Rodi lets them vent.

“I understand their frustration.” In most cases, ticketed students will realize their mistake and Rodi is keeping his fingers crossed that after six years of ticketing, any altercations remain verbal.

As a student-only position, parking attendants know what UCCS parking participants go through.

Parking Services Manager William Whitfield reminds students that everyone is in the parking battle together; even the Chancellor pays for parking. And even parking attendants know how it feels to search for a spot in the morning.

...Moriah Gonzales, Financial Aid Employee For more than two years, Moriah Gonzales has been working in UCCS’ Financial Aid Office. Her job is not an easy one: She is one member of a staff of peer tutors, the first line of advance in the Financial Aid Office, and, like the DMV, a certain amount of irate behavior from customers can be expected daily doing her work.

At the beginning of each shift, Gonzales checks the office’s whiteboard for any updates or assigned tasks to be completed that day.

Now a 22-year-old senior at BethEl, she says she helps about 50 students daily to secure and obtain financial aid for school.

Up until about two weeks ago, Moriah spent the majority of her time at the Financial Aid Office on the phone and computer, helping students and answering their financial aid questions by email and call. Now, however, with a newer, more efficient advising system in place, she spends about 50 percent of her time helping students one-on-one, and less than half the time on the phones. “It’s easier to scream at someone you can’t

see,” she said, laughing, explaining that fewer people become demonstrably angry in person than over the phone.

Gonzales is not, however, short of lively workplace stories. Apart from working as a supportive, cohesive staff, Moriah and her coworkers have a so-called “funny box,” where they can jot down any laughable office happenings.

With a smile, Moriah recounted the story of one man who had entered the office irritated about his federal loans and interest rates, who began screaming at the staff: “He just kept yelling, ‘I’m gonna call Obama! He’s gonna get so mad at you!’”

Despite the sometimes hostile clientele, Gonzales seeks ardently to help students obtain the best financial aid situation possible. “Grants are on a first-come, first-served basis,” she explained. She advises that students have their FAFSA submitted and verified by Mar. 1, so that they have better chances of receiving grants or scholarships.

“It frustrates me, when they could have done it sooner, and they miss

out on thousands in free money,” she stated.

Gonzales’ work demands a high degree of patience and some very thick skin. “Sometimes I get so mad if someone’s screaming, saying mean things,” she said. “It can be hard to brush off. Sometimes I’ve got to cool off, walk around to get the ‘I hate you, I hate the world’ out of my head, so that I can be calm and focused for the next student.”

“When they start cussing at you, call you names, being patient makes them more angry – it’s kind of funny,” she added.

By Avalon [amanly@uccs.edu]

Moriah

8

culture

February 2 to February 8, 2010

Look for the good lease: Do’s and dont’s of renting Jessica Vaughan jvaugha2@uccs.edu

After a student’s first year in college they typically move onto broader horizons, like renting a house or apartment on their own or with roommates. UCCS students renting off-campus for the first time need to know what to look for in a good lease - and what to avoid.

Renting with roommates is a good idea in theory, and tends to be cost-effective, but is in reality something to beware. When signing a lease, you need to be sure of all the names going on the lease; if you and your roommates are all signing one lease, be wary of the fact that if your roommate is late on a payment or damages the rented space you may be obligated to pay as well, or even lose your deposit. It is

important to choose roommates wisely.

It is good to look for short-term leases – about 6 months in duration. Also, look for leases that would allow the renter to choose to renew the lease or not within a time period of 60 days without penalty. This will allow the renter to be a bit more flexible if a roommate ends up being unbearable.

The lease also needs to clearly state any early termination penalties. Jasen Cooper, a UCCS senior, stated what would happen if he terminated early, “The lease has an option for early termination; I would have to pay a full month’s rent as a penalty, plus give them 60 days notice (while paying rent normally during those 60 days).”

When looking over a lease, be sure that all of the landlord’s contact information needs to be on the form. This way, if something

goes wrong, you have someone you can contact immediately.

Another thing to look for is the description of the premises as they should be when you move in. That way, you know exactly how to leave it, and there are no open-ended promises.

The lease should also contain parking restrictions, if there are any. The renter also needs to be aware of what maintenance they will need to do to live on the property.

This needs to be stated in the lease as well.

If a lease is unclear, don’t sign it, and never be afraid to ask a lot of questions.

Understand that this will be a place of residence for you for at least the term of the lease; understand every part of what lies ahead. Also, make sure that you have a copy of the lease after it is signed, just in case you need it later on to help settle any disputes that might arise. ◆

Byron Graham bgraham2@uccs.edu

Hello, readers, and welcome to another sci-fi/action motion picture made during the last three years. Have you noticed any themes that reoccur throughout these films, or settings, sentiments and tropes that many have in common? Well, I have, and if I don’t say so myself, it’s getting awfully Armageddon-y at the cineplexes lately.

In the 200 to 2010 calendar year alone, viewers have been emotionally exhausted by the grotesque sadness

awards campaigns. January and February are like Hollywood’s garage sale, and “The Book of Eli” was the fourth apocalypse tale I didn’t know I wanted, and not unlike garage sale curios, it fell apart before my very eyes.

Any movie with a martial arts sequence gets my attention, if not my money. Most of my favorite action scenes involve the way of the open hand, and I’m more likely to forgive structural flaws and bad dialogue in movies built

Currency in this wasteland has been supplanted by bartering for rare goods, and in this rudimentary economy, books have a particular cache.

The plot surrounds Carnegie’s attempts to recover Eli’s book, first by tempting him with the offer of a night with a prostitute in Carnegie’s saloon (a painfully bad Mila Kunis), and then by violence. Eli throws a few surprises and plot twists our way, but nothing that genre

How to quit (without the turkey) Lauren Mueller lmueller@uccs.edu

“I quit cold turkey,” said student Brittney Best. “I was smoking Marlboro Menthol Lights, about six or seven a day.” Cutting cigarettes out of one’s life is almost guaranteed to be difficult, but suddenly, completely and doing so without support can seem impossible. Best’s method – and her success – are not common among those trying to quit. Students, however, have many helpful options if and when they decide to quit smoking.

It is almost guaranteed that quitting will be difficult, but the tools needed to quit are usually accessible, so students don’t necessarily have to quit “cold turkey”.

Colorado Quit Line (1-800-QUIT-NOW) can help students become tobacco-free. The Quit Line will help callers develop a program to help them quit.

They may even provide nicotine replacement items like gum and patches. The Quit Line also provides telephone support for times of overwhelming craving, almost like a sponsor.

Quitting without group support is also an option.

Nicotine gum and patches can provide long-term relief from nicotine cravings.

The gum is not actually gum that is chewed; instead, it is supposed to be chewed until gummy then held in between the lip and the gums, much like dip. If it is constantly chewed, a large dose of nicotine will be released all at once. This can cause nausea and vomiting.

Nicotine patches are another option. Strategically placed on the arm or hip, patches release nicotine doses a little at a time. Some packages offer graduallysized patches that emit lower and lower doses of nicotine, which helps with the quitting process.

There aredrawbacks to patches. Exercising while wearing patches causes an increased release of nicotine; this can actually lead to seizures, rapid heartbeats and nausea.

Addiction to cigarettes isn’t just an addiction to nicotine. Other harmful chemicals in cigarettes like arsenic, tar, cyanide and ammonia are addictive additives that smoking bodies crave. Beyond the chemical addiction, the social and kin-

esthetic addiction can sometimes be the hardest parts to overcome. Because the habitual motion of smoking is also conditioned, there is a nicotine inhaler for those who crave the inhale and exhale of cigarettes. The inhaler contains menthol and nicotine that can be inhaled without smoke. It is shaped like a cigarette to give the sensation and chemical satisfaction of a regular menthol cigarette.

There are also several options that your doctor can prescribe. Zyban and Chantix are some brand-name drugs designed to ease quitting. Zyban is very close to the drug Wellbutran, an anti-depressant. According to Drugs.com, Zyban and Chantix cause several common side effects like nausea and insomnia.

There are many ways to quit smoking. Although alternative nicotine sources have helped many people live without cigarettes, they all have immediate side effects. When someone quits smoking, they tend to become irritable and have extreme cravings, but students who are trying to quit should look into the alternative side effects of nicotine replacement therapy. ◆

Not enough Kung Fu for my Apoc-o-tainment. that permeated “The Road;” underwhelmed by CGI disaster-porn in “2012;” and delighted at the self-aware “Zombieland,” an amusing lark of a movie that reaped box office gold by parodying tropes from apocalyptic cinema of yesteryear and delving into weirdly metastorytelling: Zombie Bill Murray anyone?

That brings us to 2010, when Warner Brothers unceremoniously dumped their attempt at a postapocalyptic cash-in, “The Book of Eli,” in the cruel hinterlands of the January theatrical market. It’s no secret that studios release films with dubious box-office potential and of questionable quality in January and February, when executives can usually count on the unwashed movie-going masses to recoup at least most of their expenses but they aren’t expected to market their releases or mount

around those scenes.

“The Book of Eli” has some visceral, adrenaline-infused fights, and its star, Denzel Washington, is an unparalleled purveyor of badassery, so I was excited when I bought my tickets. I wasn’t disappointed when a few minutes into the story, Eli (Washington) is attacked by one of the marauding gangs that seem to populate every movie of this genre. Shot in silhouette, the scene is truly breathtaking, and it generates a level of excitement the movie fails to achieve again.

Washington is the titular Eli, trudging through the hellscape that remains 30 years after an unspecified natural disaster everyone refers to as “The Flash” and protecting an important secret book. Eli stumbles into a dusty town run by a man named Carnegie (Gary Oldman), an end-of–theworld opportunist and avid reader.

fans won’t likely see coming.

The film, directed by the Hughes Brothers of “Menace II Society” fame, is made more frustrating by the ambition demonstrated in their efforts as well as some of the heady ideas kicked around in the script, because they hints at what the film could have been.

The transition from the thrilling fisticuffs in the action movie/post-apocalyptic Western during the first half to the staid meditation on faith and the power of religion is jarring, and none of the Hughes Brothers’ conclusions are revelatory enough to justify the detour.

“The Book of Eli” promised to be an entertaining – if mindless – popcorn movie, but the pretension and religiosity of its closing chapters quenched any goodwill that awesome fight scene had generated. ◆

the news is full of contradictions

satire : irony : hilarity

“Still, if a statement cannot reasonably be interpreted to be one of express or implied fact, it cannot be libelous. This means that humor columns, spoofs, cartoons and satire are protected as long as readers understand that the material is not intended to be taken seriously.”

- Student Press Law Center

Daredevil stunt flops, sparks campus-wide debate over longboarding Tim Canon [tcanon@uccs.edu]

Gaylord Johnson in happier times.

Attendees of the Events Center’s Grand Opening Friday, Jan. 22 were disappointed when one of the main acts of the night – an indoor longboard stunt – failed in spectacular fashion, injuring the so-called “daredevil” and sending two or three campus officials and a Beth-El professor into an uproar over the safety of longboarding on campus.

Senior Gaylord Johnson – who describes himself as an avid “motorcycle daredevil and enthusiast” – attempted and failed a 50-foot jump due to an unexpected and untimely run-in with the center’s ceiling. Johnson broke both legs and a single rib, but received no other injuries.

“It was really kind of a bummer,” said freshman Mark Juber.

“I came to UCCS just because of this stupid building, and for one of the main events at the Grand Opening to be such a FAIL…well,

it’s really just kind of sad.”

Doctors said Johnson wouldn’t be able to longboard for at least a year – a fact that Vice Chancellor Stephen McFlugerson said would please “at least two people I know, and some of the campus’ disabled students.”The incident has sparked some heated discussion about the safety of longboarding on campus.

“Longboarding is a nuisance,” said McFlugerson in an interview with The Scribe.

“This incident, though unfortunate, I suppose, for the student injured, will provide UCCS with a long overdue opportunity to crack down on this insane practice and rid our campus of such a harmful activity, whose victims are not the longboarders themselves, but those who come in contact with them every day.”

University officials will survey the student body next month

to “get a feel” for the campus’ overall attitude towards longboarding and possibly legitimize an attempt to ban the practice. Beth-El’s Dr. Samantha Sally, who called longboarding a “nasty habit” that harms the students, the community and the environment, will create and administer the survey.

Not everyone seems to believe longboarding actually causes any trouble. “I don’t even know anybody who longboards around this campus, to be honest,” said Soph. Katie Pippin.

“I guess there’s a couple of fratty douches who think that’s a good idea on a hilly campus, but who’s to say you can’t just throw a Sodexo burger at their face and take care of the problem right there?”

As for Johnson, he won’t be disappointed if the campus decides to take any action against the practice of longboarding. “I’m not touching a longboard ever again,” he said. ✪

Melting in Melbourne Brock Kilgore [bkilgore@uccs.edu] Melbourne, Australia – Normal match play at the Australian Open was interrupted this weekend by an unexpected showing of Venus Williams’ gigantic butt.

Many boredom-loving tennis fans were appalled by the flesh colored undies flashing their fancies. What appeared at times to be Williams’ bare butt was seductively exposed by her yellow, slitted skirt, bedunka.

The older Williams sister reportedly responded, “You try and keep that thing covered.”

Occasionally, fierce tennis matches unfolded in front of a yawning crowd today, as Swiss Roger Federer, winner of the “most boring” award, kicked the crap out of hometown favorite Lleyton Hewitt, winner of The Coolest Mohawk and The Biggest Choke awards.

Frenchman Jo-Wilfried Tsonga has become the crowd favorite around Rod Lever Arena with the departure of Hewitt, wowing the crowd by repeatedly pointing at his own head. Russian Maria Kirilenko is the best looking woman left in the women’s draw, with Victoria Azarenka a close second despite occasional unattractively intense facial expressions.

UCCS students should take note that just because it is winter in Colorado does not mean that it is winter everywhere. It is frigging hot in Australia in January.

I had to alter my regular Carhart ensemble with cutoffs, a free Kia t-shirt and the cheapest flip flops known to man. Players have lobbied to move the tournament to March to escape the scorching sun, but many locals are pissed because they want it to continue in January, during their summer breaks.

The proposed solution is to build more shade, but at present only the good players and the wealthy fans don’t look like lobsters.

Your’s truly won’t be returning to Melbourne Park because of an ‘association’ with a nice Serbian girl, whose really fun friends and family were asked to leave because of an alleged incident with a flair. I was getting a beer at the time.

Despite the rigors of riding a bus all the way to the tip of South America and hitching a cargo ship across the Southern Pacific Ocean, UCCS is assuredly getting their $11.50 worth for a foreign correspondent. ✪

Top Ten Veronica Graves

paradox the

Ways you know you’re a UCCS student

10 9 8 7

Every semester you seem to have a class in COB and a class in SCI or DWIR on the same day.

You realize that snow days do not exist on UCCS property.

You applaud UCCS’ “green” feelings, but somebody needs to tell them that the toilets in UC are just not efficient.

You have been studying late in the library when the back entrance was locked ten minutes before you decided to leave. You were forced to walk out the front door and all the way around for your ride.

6 5

You have gotten at least one ticket for parking without a permit.

4

You know there is free food when you spot a big colorful bouncy thing. You don’t get UCCS’ affinity for the bouncers. You figure whoever’s in charge of this stuff missed out on getting one for a childhood birthday party.

You forgot your password at the beginning of this semester. After going through your list of, like, 10 possible ones, you went and asked for help only to find that it was your first guess… capitalized.

3 2

You realize you are addicted to the expensive mochas and pastries at the coffee shop, but know that it’s too late.

The science atrium holds a specific horror for you: memories of being groped by chairs while listening to an interminable lecture in an English accent.

1

You have considered ways in which you could destroy the UCCS bell tower at least a dozen times. vgraves@uccs.edu

10 opinion

February 2 to February 8, 2010

| This Week’s Challenge | Brown, healthcare and Democratic arrogance

Stephen Farrell sfarrell@uccs.edu

As we all know, President Obama and his administration have been so relentless on passing healthcare legislation that they have

coerced the bill through the Senate at lightning speed. Of course, this has outraged the majority of Americans who have been so vehemently against rushing such a sloppily drafted bill into law (according to Gallup and Rasmussen polls).

Now, maybe it’s just me, but with over 2,000 pages being rushed through the legislative process in a year’s time span without much meaningul revision, this bill is a ticking “disaster bomb,” inevitably laden with countless (and potentially dangerous) loopholes.

That said, let’s ask how many pages make up the U.S.

Constitution. Answer: With modern 8.5x11 pages, the entire document amounts to about 15 pages. In 1778, it passed into law after nine months of continuous revision and debate (keep in mind, 15 pages).

The Constitution was ratified over 220 years ago, and loopholes are still found to this day; yet, President Obama is pushing to ratify over 2,000 pages in less than a year. For having had such an opulent Ivy League education, he obviously missed the lecture on “patience” in kindergarten … or maybe it’s pre-school; sue me.

Rushing legislation that af-

| Take Down |Underwear bombers and Guantanamo parently came as a surprise to the Obama administration. Who wouldn’t want to welcome a bunch of trained murderers onto their soil?

The current administration is looking at transferring the detainees to a different location. The new location would be the Thompson

Veronica Graves vgraves@uccs.edu

From the beginning of this administration, people have been comparing Obama to Bush in about every way possible. One important, if not the most important, comparative issue would be national security.

One of the issues illustrating the differences between the two presidents in foreign policy is the deadline set by Obama to shut down Guantanamo Bay Prison.

Unfortunately for Obama, closing Guantanamo is yet another campaign promise he has failed to accomplish on time, if at all.

The Obama administration is beginning to see that shutting down Guantanamo might not be as easy as some of Obama’s various other accomplishments, such as…. um….er…oh, speeches on how he is going to fix everything.

As Christopher Boucek wrote in his article “Guantanamo’s Impact on U.S. National Security,” Obama is facing “ongoing problems finding countries willing to accept detainees.” This ap-

Perhaps we could all give President Bush a little credit for his National Security policies.

At least the leaders of the United States did not look like a bunch of little girls during Bush’s presidency. correctional facility in Illinois.

Moving these terrorists will not solve any problems; it will merely transfer Guantanamo to a different location(s). It will simply move these terrorists, whom nobody else wants, straight to the heart of the U.S.. Unless the Obama administration is looking for a real life sequel to “Escape from New York,” this seems like a really bad idea.

Another issue Obama faces with closing Guantanamo would be the most recent attempted terrorist attack on U.S. soil, known as the Christmas day “un-

derwear bomber” episode.

The Obama administration seems surprised that terrorists are still plugging away at our super secure airlines; we, did, after all, offer the fig-leaf of shutting down Guantanamo, did we not?

Is it possible that terrorist leaders such as bin Laden crossed their fingers and prayed to Allah that we would really shut down Guantanamo by Jan. 22?

Could it be that this gesture from us did not illicit in them a desire to cuddle and make up? Is it possible that terrorists now believe that the U.S. is turning into a bunch of white-flag waving, bowing patsies?

With the Guantanamo Bay detterent gone, terrorist activity is encouraged. Now, if terrorists are caught with their pants down, they will be simply shipped off to Illinois.

Perhaps we could all give President Bush a little credit for his National Security policies. At least the leaders of the United States did not look like a bunch of little girls during Bush’s presidency. The Obama administration tells terrorists that we will make their living conditions more pleasant if they are caught. Bush gave terrorists incentives to never, ever get caught, but to quit, and even to never start.

Teddy Roosevelt said, “Speak softly, but carry a big stick.” That’s good advice.

But all the Obama administration seems capable of doing is speaking softly and bending over. ◆

fects this many Americans is outrageous.

As it turns out, public opinion has expressed the same logic during the last year, which has been promptly ignored by the Obama administration. However, the voice of the public was heard last week (by the citizens of the highly liberal state of Massachusetts, no less), on Jan. 19th, 2010, as Republican Scott Brown was voted into the Senate over Democrat Martha Coakley in a special election.

On a normal day, my goldfish has a better chance of getting elected into office than any Republican

in Massachusetts. The message couldn’t be any clearer if a flock of seagulls flew in and let it loose on President Obama’s pancakes: Even liberals have had enough of the current administration’s pompous attitude toward public opinion.

As many readers were likely already aware, the Democratic Party controlled the majority vote in the Senate; this awarded Democrats the power to block a fillibuster from the Republican Party on just about any issue on which they wished to do so.

It was the threatened use of this very power which allowed the Democratic Party

to pass such a haphazard bill through the Senate on Christmas Eve. But again, last week the people of Massachusetts voiced their disapproval by depriving the Democrats of the late Ted Kennedy’s seat in the U.S. Senate. As a result, President Obama’s disorganized healthcare bill has now been stopped dead in its tracks. This shows that the power of public opinion still supersedes those in power, even when they choose to ignore it. Hopefully this election has served a profound rebuke to the arrogance of the Obama Administration. ◆

sports

February 2 to February 8, 2010

Tennis cut: Will sports cuts continue?

| Sports Buzz | The road to redemption

Matt Crandall mcrandal@uccs.edu An old picture of a school tennis player.

Rob Versaw rversaw@uccs.edu

As some attentive UCCS sports fans may have noticed when they walk into the old Lion’s Den, there is a banner on the wall for tennis; yet when they visit gomountainlions.com, they do not find a page for this supposed sport.

That’s because tennis has been cut at UCCS. UCCS is not the only school to cut sports. Over the past several years, numerous schools have cut sports programs such as wrestling, baseball, cross country and swimming. There are two major contributing factors to the reduction in collegiate sports teams.

First, unless you are talking about football or basketball in a major Division I conference, schools often lose money on sports teams,

so they’re often cut in hard times.

Secondly, in 1972, Congress passed legislation known as “Title IX,” which requires gender equality in sports funding. Alison Kasic with the Independent Women’s Forum said that, “They get gender-equity compliance from the government standpoint and cost savings from their standpoint. And its male athletes who are basically sacrificed as a result-and they get all the negative results.”

This legislation, combined with the budget deficit facing many higher education institutions, makes funding unprofitable athletic programs a very difficult task.

The question then presents itself: Is it worth it?

Student Tim Hilt said, “Both the body and the mind are integral to a quality education.” He went on to explain that in order for students to develop as a person, they need to develop in

every area, not just academics. He said that a complete person will not only have the technical skills that are taught in the classroom, but the teamwork skills that are taught on the court.

Researcher Ken Robinson said, “Companies now face an unusual crisis in graduate recruitment. It’s not that there aren’t enough graduates to go around, it’s that too many of them can’t communicate or work in teams.”

UCCS graduate and local high school teacher Brian Hoff agreed. He said that “determination, hard work leading to results, and teamwork” are some of the valuable lessons he learned from college athletics.

With the tennis team cut and looming budget cuts, it is difficult to foresee the future of UCCS athletics.

Check in next week for an interview with the former tennis coach and continuing coverage of the issue. ◆

11

With great power comes great responsibility.

The validity and truth behind that statement for a professional athlete comes in many different varieties in today’s society. The premise is quite simple: The more success and fame an athlete accumulates over his career, the more the public and media want to know about his life.

All a person has to do these days is flip on the television or get online for there to be, it seems, some new scandal or tragedy going on in the sports world. The latest and greatest, of course, is Tiger Woods. The events that transpired around Woods recently caused an absolute implosion in the sports world: Sex, drugs and rock n’ roll combined with an iconic athlete, whose legacy will eventually lead to the immortal gates of the hall of fame, took everyone for a ride. People drive by a car accident with the same

train of thought which renders them nearly helpless to look away. The worse the accident is, the more we want to stare at it.

Presumably the best golfer to ever pick up a set of clubs, Woods’ journey led him to levels of success that most athletes only dream about.

His work ethic and talent brought him fame, fortune and wealth of the highest and most astonishing levels. Tiger revolutionized the sport of golf forever and, thus far, has had a career that pumped life back into a sport that was beginning to fall to the wayside during the mid 1990’s.

The first thing that comes to mind when I hear the word “golf ” is Tiger Woods.

Period.

If history is any indicator of the future, the road to redemption for a professional athlete is long and narrow.

Some redeem and prosper while others fall away.

Former athletes such as Major League Baseball player Pete Rose, who was banned from baseball completely for accusations of gambling on games he played and coached in for the Cincinnati Reds, provide an excellent example how difficult the path can be to regain credibility as a heroic athlete.

There is only one athlete, I would argue, that has proven this type of uphill battle can be accomplished and that balance can be re-

Men’s Basketball

stored: Kobe Bryant. Bryant found himself in similar sexual misconduct and legal conflict back in 2003 when he was charged with sexual assault on a women, an incident that occurred in the high country within the western Colorado town of Eagle.

Nearly seven years since the incident transpired, Kobe is by far more popular than ever, and has seen some of the best success of his career since allegations first flooded through the small mountain town. Kobe recovered because he allowed his actions on the court to dictate his change as a man and player.

It seems that when one is placed in that kind of situation, words tend to have no meaning; confirming, at the same time, that actions speak louder than words.

Tiger Woods is going to have to follow a similar path if he ever wants to reclaim the hearts of millions and dominate the game of golf again. He needs to assess whatever changes need to be made, and get back to playing competitive golf.

Patience and tolerance are what will make his pathway either gradually better or gradually worse. For a man who maintained the pursuit of perfection in the game of golf, Tiger needs to focus on progress if he is going to rebound from the plunging spiral of devastation he finds himself in today. ◆

Women’s Basketball

(6-11, 4-5 RMAC)

(5-12, 1-8 RMAC)

Jan. 23 at Gallogly Event Center Metro State 81, UCCS 68

Jan. 23 at Gallogly Event Center Metro State 90, UCCS 68

Jan. 22 at Gallogly Event Center UCCS 82, Regis OT

Jan. 22 at Gallogly Event Center Regis 92, UCCS 72

The Mountain Lions came up short against Metro State, losing 68-81 as they concluded their two game home opener at the new Gallogly Event Center. Jr. Jordan McClung led the team in scoring with 16 points, while Sr.’s Alex Snyder and Cole Smith contributed with 15 points and 13 points, respectively. The next home game for UCCS is scheduled for Feb. 12 against Nebraska-Kearney.

The lady Mountain Lions shared a fate similar to the men’s team, as the Roadrunners of Metro State defeated UCCS 68-90 on Jan. 23.

Fr. Lauren Wolfinger led the team in scoring with 15 points. Sr. Lauren Holm added 14 points, while Jr. Mallory Lowe grabbed a teamhigh six rebounds. UCCS will play its next home game on Feb. 12 against Nebraska-Kearney at the Gallogly Event Center, with tip-off commencing at 6 p.m.

Photos courtesy of UCCS Sports Information: Doug Fitzgerald and Rick Gorham.