t he scribe
The official student newspaper of the University of Colorado at Colorado Springs. October 15 to October 21, 2009 [Volume 34; Issue 8]
Hiroshima atomic bomb survivor speaks at UCCS
Student parking off campus
Keijiro Matsushima.
Tim Canon tcanon@uccs.edu Cars parked along the curb on Acacia Drive.
Erica Doudna edoudna@uccs.edu
UCCS’s enrollment grew over six percent this semester, but apart from the recent Lot 1 expansion, new construction projects have not included increased availability of parking spaces. Because of the high prices of parking permits, many students on campus opt to not purchase a parking permit, and students not willing to pay the high price resort to other options to make the commute to campus. In January of this year William Whitfield, the parking and transportation
Kiley Card
manager on campus, created a Facebook group titled “Parking at UCCS” to serve as a forum for fair discussion about parking on campus. The group has 194 members interested in discussing the hot-button campus issue. A similar group, “I Hate UCCS Parking,” has over 700 members. Student members use both Facebook groups as forums for general complaints about the parking situation on campus, a problem that continues to grow with UCCS’s population. Engineering students Corey Macintosh and Micah Bracken, for example, both choose to park across Austin Bluffs at Cragmor Chris-
tian Reformed Church. “I’d rather walk for five minutes than pay to park on campus,” Bracken said. “I don’t even know how much they cost, but it’s not worth it. I’d rather not wait for the shuttle and be crammed in with a lot of people. I’ll just walk,” added Macintosh. SGA President Daniel Garcia is among those who choose to park across Austin Bluffs and walk to campus. Garcia told The Scribe in an interview that after school necessities like textbooks and tuition have been paid for, he simply can’t afford a parking permit. “I didn’t have enough money to buy a parking permit. I spent all
my money on textbooks.” The general consensus of students who park and walk has been that HUB permits are too costly at $165. “I think the price for parking needs to be lowered,” said Garcia. “I wouldn’t be willing to spend more than $100 per semester.” Lower prices, however, would likely lead to more permit purchases and exacerbate the parking shortage problem. This past year Monday, Wednesday and Tuesday, Thursday, Friday passes were offered for $92.50 each. These are usable from 8 a.m. to 10 p.m.. Continued on page 4
Anthony Siska roasted a marshmallow over the Back to the Bluffs bonfire on Oct. 8.
Carrie Woodruff
In the Middle the FEATURE
Clubs in the Community pages 6 and 7
CAMPUS NEWS Free speech on campus
page 4
UCCS Sports scholarships
CULTURE Halo ODST: No game of the year
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Spooked in the Springs: Local haunts
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page 9
Hiroshima survivor Keijiro Matsushima visited campus last Tuesday, Oct. 13 to speak about his experiences following the US’s atomic bomb attack on Japan during the closing days of World War II. The sociology department’s honors society Alpha Kappa Delta hosted the speech, which Matsushima also gave on Oct. 14. Matsushima, who was born in 1929, feels that “we survivors are decreasing day by day,” so traveling around speaking while he still can is necessary and, he feels, his “duty as a survivor.” Matsushima was a 16year old student at a technical college when the US dropped its first atomic bomb – dubbed “Little Boy” because of its comparatively small size – on the city of Hiroshima, Matsushima’s home at the time. He still remembers the experience vividly, and his story gave those in attendance a sobering, first-hand look at the realities of America’s and Japan’s atomic bomb experience and its aftermath. Sixty-four years ago, Matsushima was sitting in a classroom gazing out the window, when several American bomber planes
OPINION Truth Bombs: Obama’s Gay Rights Record
page 10
Your very own free, slightly annoying personal shopper
SPORTS Sports Buzz: Jumping on board the Broncos bandwagon
Ariel Lattimore suddenly flew overhead. He remembers thinking the planes were part of another routine flyover at a time when Japan’s ability to repel enemy aircraft had been effectively neutralized. “I remember thinking how beautiful the planes were,” Matsushima told the audience. “I turned away from the window, and the next moment I saw a flash,” followed by a shock wave and a heat wave. Temperatures during the heat wave reached up to 4000 degrees Celsius, inflicting instant death upon multitudes of people and severely burning thousands of others. Able to escape his caved in classroom, Matsushima walked into the city, witnessing people fleeing in every direction, most of them singed, burned and almost naked. “It was a procession of ghosts all day long,” he said. “Such hell.” Matsushima, who remains in good health, closed his speech with an appeal to young people. “The future is in your hands,” he said. “It is important that we learn from these experiences.” “This thing must never be used on any other people or any other nation ever again in this world,” he pleaded. “Now is not the time to argue about what happened in the past, but to cooperate for the future.” ◆
THE PARADOX The Smile Offensive: Positivity gone wrong
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CONTACT | phone: (719) 255 - 3658 | fax: (719) 255 - 3600 | email: scribe@uccs.edu | website: www.uccsscribe.com