URSA SPARKS A student reflection of the UNC community
PRIVACY CONCERNS
NEWS BRIEFS UNC Bear Hug Club is accepting donations for its holiday toy and book drive. New toys and books will be given to local families in need so their children can have presents for the holiday season. Donations are being collected in McKee 216 until Friday. The Tutoring Center will host a study night from 4-8 p.m. on Tuesday at the University Center. Peer tutors will be available to offer support in natural and health sciences, social sciences, math and business. Snacks and coffee will be provided, and no reservations are required. The event is open to all UNC students. A team of UNC students took second place in the third annual Rocky Mountain Region Public Health Case Competition. Interdisciplinary teams of 85 graduate and undergraduate students came together to tackle the theme of “Healthy Aging: Maximizing the Independence in Colorado’s Aging Population,” which challenged the teams to come up with opportunities for the population of older adults to live healthy, independent lifestyles. The team competed against 14 other teams with their presentation “Silver Connections: Bridging the Gap Between Aging and Independence.” Each member of the second-place team received a $500 scholarship.
Breelyn Bowe | The Mirror
INSIDE:
The Ursa directory allows UNC students to get in contact with one another, but did you know it provides your phone number and current home address as well? COUPON ALERT:
BUY ONE ENTRÉE GET ONE FREE FROM QDOBA PAGE 3
Full story by Makalah Emanuel PAGE 2
WOMEN’S B-BALL GOES UNDEFEATED
HOLIDAY HOW-TO: FUNFETTI POPCORN
The Bears took down both Akron and Valparaiso over Thanksgiving weekend. PAGE 4
In the midst of “dead week,” whip up this quick treat to share with friends and study groups. PAGE 3
Registration for UNC’s interim session, which takes place from Dec. 14 through Jan. 8, is still available. Students in good academic standing who would like to pick up a course over the holiday break can find a schedule of courses at www. unco.edu/interim. The majority of courses are offered online. Contact the Registrar’s Office at 970-351-2231 with any further questions. Students can now follow the progress of the Campus Climate Initiative through an informative website. The site, http://www.unco.edu/campus climate/, was established by a group of students, faculty and staff working alongside an expert consultant to provide information about the twoyear project. The site includes FAQs, working group membership and meeting minutes. For more information, contact working group co-facilitators Linda Black at linda.black@ unco.edu or Doug Woody at william.woody@unco.edu.
For the week of
11/30/2015
News
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THE MIRROR STAFF 2015-16 Editor-in-Chief Katarina Velazquez editor@uncmirror.com Production Manager Manuel Perez adproduction@uncmirror.com
News Editor Chelsea Hinspeter news@uncmirror.com A&C Editor La’Asianee Brown arts@uncmirror.com Sports Editor Dylan Sanchez sports@uncmirror.com Photo Editor Cassius Vasquez photo@uncmirror.com Copy Editor Mikhala Krochta Marketing/Social Media Managers Libby Harrington Maria Morante marketing@uncmirror.com Advertising Manager Hannah Crowley ads@uncmirror.com General Manager Matt Lubich mlubich@uncmirror.com Office Address: 823 16th St. Greeley, Colorado 80631 Phone Number: 970-392-9270
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The Mirror’s mission is to educate, inform and entertain the students, staff and faculty of the UNC community and to train the staff on the business of journalism in a college-newspaper environment.
ABOUT US
The Mirror produces a print newspaper every Monday during the academic year as well as maintains a current web page. The student-operated newspaper is advised by the non-profit Student Media Corporation and is printed by Signature Offset.
Editor: Chelsea Hinspeter
November 30, 2015 | uncmirror.com
Does Ursa provide too much info? UNC’s directory shares students’ email addresses, phone numbers, mailing addresses By Makalah Emanuel news@uncmirror.com
The University of Northern Colorado’s Ursa portal is used by every student at UNC, for everything from registering for classes to paying tuition. But many students are not aware of the directory found on the portal containing their personal contact information. The directory allows any student to access another’s phone number, home address and email address if he or she has the other person’s last name or BearMail address. It serves as a resource many students seem thankful for. What many don’t seem to be as thankful for is the amount of information provided within the directory. One student with this opinion is Yesenia Huizar, a junior human services major. “I feel like it’s good and bad,” Huizar said. “It’s a good resource to students if they’re trying to contact somebody in class. I also feel it’s kind of bad because there’s really no privacy. You can be looked up by just your name, and people can get your phone number and contact you without you even knowing who that person is. That’s kind of scary.” The reason the directory contains as much as information as it does has to do mostly with the Family Education Rights and Privacy Act, which allows schools to disclose directory information among other things without consent. According to the U.S. Department of Education website, schools are required to tell parents and eligible students about the directory information and allow them time to request the school not to disclose the information. The website also cites that schools are expected to notify the parents and eligible students annually of their rights under FERPA through means such as a spe-
cial letter, in a student handbook, and more. If students choose to not have their information disclosed, they must submit a non-disclosure request with the Registrar’s Office. Nate Haas, UNC director of university news and public relations, said that in doing this, the student is withdrawing from more than the directory. “Students who elect to withhold their information as part of the non-disclosure request don’t have their names listed in the commencement program,” Haas said. “To protect their identities, the only time they’re acknowledged by the university as a student is in person with a valid picture ID. They can only conduct university business in person and not over phone or by email.” For Jessica Pimentel, a UNC senior double majoring in biology and chemistry, the directory is something she said she doesn’t agree with at all. “I don’t want anybody having my information,” Pimentel said. “I don’t care if it’s my phone number—but my address—I don’t like that.” According to UNC alumni like Rudy Vargas, the directory has been around for a while. “When I was a student here, we could only see the email and the student’s dorm phone number,” Vargas said. “I remember using it to call my friends’ dorm rooms because I didn’t have all of their numbers. I thought it was a good idea because it only showed the UNC information and it just made it easier to get a hold of people. I didn’t know they now have that much information on there.” Another alumnus who recalls the use of a student directory is Dennis Pumphrey, UNC’s chief of police. The directory used during Pumphrey’s UNC days varied largely from the one used by Vargas. “We used to actually have telephone directories—kind
of like a phone book—where you could just look up whoever was going to school here,” Pumphrey said. “All of the students got them. I think the concern of harassment or sexual harassment was one of the reasons it was moved behind a wall to where you had to at least be a member of the university in order to see somebody’s name.” That wall is now known as Ursa, and according to Haas, the directory was placed there strategically. “I’ve been with the university for 10 years, and we’ve always had an employee and student directory available,” Haas said. “There’s a difference between the employee directory information and student directory information. Employees are available on the public web page, and students are behind Ursa. That’s intentional. We want to protect students from some of the unwanted solicitations while still providing a conduit for contacting students for universityrelated purposes.” But there are some students who are concerned the directory may not only be used for university-related purposes. “We really haven’t had any reports, that I can recall,
Graphic by Chelsea Hinspter
where somebody was tracked down by another individual who happened to be a student and then caused some type of harassment or problem for that individual because of what they found on Ursa,” Pumphrey said about UNC’s campus. “There are certainly scenarios that I can see where someone overhears your name or gets it through some other means and then looks up where you live and then starts harassing you in that manner. But I can say that just hasn’t been our experience.”
The concern for possible harassment cases arising from the information provided through Ursa is still prevalent, but Pumphrey said this type of problem is less likely to occur between students. “Student-to-student, we haven’t had the issue, but there were some cases where people were tracked down by people who had no affiliation with the university, like someone from their past or someone they didn’t want to deal with,” Pumphrey said.
Arts & Culture
November 30, 2015 | uncmirror.com
Funfetti popcorn treat for ‘dead week’ Ingredients 1/2 cup popcorn kernels or 2 bags tender white popcorn One 12 oz. bag vanilla candy melts (such as Wilton candy melts) 1/3 cup broken pretzel pieces One 12 oz. bag green and red milk chocolate or mint M&Ms Red, green and white sprinkles Photo courtesy of www.cookingclassy.com
Instructions 1. Pop popcorn according to manufacturer’s directions. Remove any unpopped popcorn kernels. 2. Toss in broken pretzel pieces and M&M’s. 3. Melt vanilla candy melts in a microwave safe bowl on 50 percent power in 30-second intervals, stirring after each interval until melted and smooth. 4. Drizzle half of the melted chips over popcorn mixture, then stir, tossing gently a few times with a rubber spatula. 5. Drizzle remaining half of melted chips over popcorn and gently stir mixture until evenly coated. (Don’t over-stir; the sprinkles won’t stick if the white chips set and harden). 6. Pour mixture into a single layer onto wax paper. 7. Sprinkle mixture evenly with sprinkles (as many as you’d like) before vanilla chips set. 8. Allow to cool and harden, then gently break into pieces and store in an airtight container.
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ARTS CALENDAR
THU 12/03 10 a.m.-4 p.m. (Daily Event) How to Explain Death to a Dead Hare: Art Exhibition by Chelsea Ruiz Crabbe Hall- Oak Room Gallery 9 a.m.-4 p.m. Scholastic Book Fair McKee Hall 11:30 a.m.-12:30 p.m. Student Listening Session with President Kay Norton Scott-Willcoxon Hall 7:30-10 p.m. Soapbox Productions presents: Mr. Burns, a PostElectric Play Atlas Theater 709 16th St.
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Sports
SPORTS CALENDAR YELLOW = HOME GAME
Basketball takes two
BLUE = AWAY GAME
By Kyle O’Neal
sports@uncmirror.com
TUES 12/01 7 p.m. Women’s Basketball vs. Utah State University Bank of Colorado Arena
THURS 12/03 8 p.m. Men’s Basketball vs. University of California Riverside Riverside, California
FRI 12/04 All Day Wrestling at Cliff Keen Invitational Las Vegas, Nevada
REGISTER TODAY AT
Editor: Dylan Sanchez
The University of Northern Colorado women’s basketball team’s Thanksgiving break was cut short as the team traveled to California for the UCD-Courtyard San Diego Central Classic in San Diego at the Jenny Craig Pavilion. The Bears defeated Akron 78-65 in the opening game and took down Valparaiso 77-63 on Saturday evening in a pair of defensive standoffs. UNC (4-2, 0-0 Big Sky) started hot in the first half against Valparaiso and led the majority of the game. Senior guard Kyleigh Hiser led all scorers in the first half with 13 points off of 4-of7 shooting. As a team, the Bears shot over 51 percent from the floor and over 42 percent from beyond the three-point line in the first half. Northern Colorado led by 18 points at the break with the score 45-27. Sophomore guard Savannah Scott led the Bears in scoring with a game-high 21 points, while making all four of her three-point attempts. Scott was joined by three teammates
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UNC’s Interim Session Runs From December 14–January 8, 2016
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that also scored in double figures. Hiser finished with 17 points in as many minutes. The Northern Colorado defense held the Crusaders (0-4, 0-0 Horizon) to just 40 percent shooting and forced 19 turnovers, which resulted in 19 additional points for the Bears. Despite a disappointing shooting performance in the second half, UNC was no slouch on the offensive end. The Bears faced some struggles in the second half, and the team saw its lead diminished to as little as six points with a little over three minutes left in the game. UNC then scored seven consecutive points, including two three-pointers, to increase the lead back to 13 points with less than two minutes left. Four players for Valparaiso scored in double figures, led by freshman guard Hannah Schaub with 15 points. All 15 of her points came from beyond the three-point arc, where she made five of her seven attempts. The women’s basketball team returns to action against Utah State at 7 p.m. on Tuesday at the Bank of Colorado Arena.
For the full story and recap of UNC’s weekend in San Diego, visit UNCMirror.com
November 30, 2015 | uncmirror.com
Four UNC football players make all-conference teams Staff Report
sports@uncmirror.com
The Big Sky Conference has announced its football allconference teams and individual award winners for the 2015 regular season. Northern Colorado had four players make the all-conference teams after coming off a 6-5 season. Redshirt freshmen Hakeem Deggs and Ellis Onic II earned first team honors, while junior defensive end Mikhail Dubose and junior safety Taylor Risner made the third team. Deggs and Onic II were awarded for their work on special teams. Deggs finished the regular season tied for second in the FCS in kick return
touchdowns with two and accumulated 354 yards on just 10 returns. He was also named the All-Big Sky Special Teams Player of the Year. Dubose was a constant defensive end for the Bears, starting all 11 games and racking up 57 tackles (18 solo, 39 assisted), but his tackles for loss are perhaps more impressive. Risner made history this season, becoming the third player in Division I history to reach the century mark in tackles, with 109 (38 solo, 71 assisted) on the season. The tackle total ranks him fourth all-time on the D1 list. UNC also had freshman Michael McCauley, redshirt freshman Trae Riek, junior Chuntony Johnson and junior Kyle Newsom make the honorable mention list.