The Mirror—March 27, 2017

THE Politicians spoke to UNC’s Urban Education Class.

Former Colorado Gov. Bill Ritter and former state legislator Polly Baca spoke to the class on how they supported Mexican-American students and families in the community.

The Michener Library will host a women’s history month read-in on March 30, celebrating women in the workforce.

Students and staff are invited to read a passage from a book, speech or poem written by or about notable women.

The clothesline project is kicking off this week. It hopes to raise awareness about gender based violence. Survivors can decorate a shirt which can be picked up in Assault Survivors Advocacy

The Rejects performed at the Spring Concert last Saturday at the Bank of Colorado Arena. Photo by Alex Nunley | The Mirror; @nunleysphotography

Light Up the Night

Join the conversation: FB.com/UNCmirror

This year’s openers shook the

@UNCmirror uncmirror.com

started.

The story continues on page 5.

For the week of MAR. 27, 2017

news.

2 | March 27, 2017 | TheMirror

News Editor

Jason Keller

3/27

The Clothesline Project University Center and TK All day

3/28 Emergency Response Preparedness and Active Shooter Training

Candelaria 1375 11:30 a.m.-1 p.m.

3/29 World War I and AfricanAmericans University Center - Panorama Room 6-8 p.m.

3/30

Women’s History Month Read-In Mari Michener Gallery

4-5:30 p.m.

3/31 Cesar Chavez Celebration: Peaceful March Cesar Chavez Cultural Center 4-5 p.m.

By Joshua Alexander news@uncmirror.com

“He forced me to do things that were unbelievable,” said one anonymous survivor of a human trafficker.“He literally put a price tag on my body. I felt like no one could ever love me.”

Just a few short months ago, according to the Greeley Tribune, on Aug. 24, 2016, a man who went by the street name of “Haylo” was convicted on 32 criminal counts of human trafficking and pimping of underage girls, including other offenses. These individuals included adults and teenagers, with one as young as 15.

As a result of his heinous and sickening crimes, he was condemned to a maximum possible sentence: 248 years in prison.

“What he did to me caused significant trauma on my everyday life. He forced me to do things that are unbelievable…and made me feel worthless as a human being, an anonymous survivor said.

Yet, this is not even the most startling part. Surprisingly, a case like this did not take place outside the United States, overseas in a far away country, for example. It did not even occur somewhere like an inner city such as New York or Detroit. The man convicted, Paul Burman, 33, was a Colorado native, local to Greeley specifically. He was sentenced in the Weld County Court House in Greeley, who prostituted women and underage girls both in northern Colorado and Nebraska.

Who knew one of the largest, most sweeping cases of human trafficking in history could happen in such a place like Greeley, Colorado?

The University of Northern Colorado, partnering with multiple organizations such as Free Our Girls, together hosted Human Trafficking Awareness week in the University Center to bring awareness of cases such as these involving Burman. Being free and open to the public, with exception to the art exhibit, UNC presented multiple events for human trafficking awareness week, including showcasing documentaries, dinners, open mic nights, education training and a theatrical movement piece.

Human trafficking, as a matter of definition, is the recruiting, transporting, harboring, or receiving of a person through force, with the purpose of exploiting him or her for prostitution, forced labor, or slavery. Although the words are often used interchangeably, human trafficking and smuggling are not the same. Human smuggling is the transport of an individual from one location to another, usually with his or her consent—for example, across a border or boundary.

Free Our Girls is an organization dedicated to ending human trafficking. Teaming up with other organizations such as the Community Foundation and the Women’s Fund of Weld County, Free Our Girls initiated several key events throughout last week to bring awareness of local and domestic human trafficking. Their mission and hopes lie in allowing the public to conscientiously debate and discuss the reality of human trafficking, encouraging individuals to respond and prevent it from occurring in their local communities as well. From aspects such as determining needs and making decisions, to providing care, support, training programs, and resources, Free Our Girls strives to maintain, model, and harbor a professional level of awareness.

Megan Lundstrom, director of Free Our Girls, enunciated and articulated these goals. As director, Lundstrom's duties and responsibilities are numerous, comprising of program development, fundraising, and coordinating awareness events.

“Last year our emphasis regarding human trafficking was more focused on a global scale. This year however, our mission is more concentrated on bringing awareness of trafficking occurring within our own local and domestic communities,” Lundstrom said.

Trafficking is not something that just happens abroad in places such as Cambodia or the Middle East, according to Lundstrom.

Sherri Frye, who coordinates the Reicher scholarship program and acts as the

Early Alert and Enrollment Management and Student Access project manager at UNC, also voiced similar ideas about domestic human trafficking.

“We hope to bring local awareness of this issue,” Frye said. “I think a lot of people believe human trafficking can not be something relevant to our area and knowing that survivors exist here locally.”

Frye helped to organize and coordinate events, such as the dinner and documentaries, throughout awareness week.

A recent article published by the Muse reflects these statements of both Frye and Lundstrom.

“While trafficking is often thought of as something that happens across international borders, it also happens in America – every single day,” the article said.

According to the Polaris Project also, approximately 100,000 to 300,000 children are currently prostituted in the United States, with many more at risk. Considering these facts and statistics, human trafficking is a pressing issue that needs more attention and study, but most importantly, action in order to terminate for good.

Another goal of these events was to reduce or eliminate the stereotypes and stigmas associated with human trafficking, to separate fact from fiction. Lundstrom, for instance, mentioned movies such as Taken, which sentimentalized the true nature of human trafficking.

“We want to reveal what human trafficking really looks like in the U.S. through the documentaries we present this week,” Lundstrom said. Although we may view these movies as entertaining, one has to realize that they do not portray the reality of human trafficking and those who unfortunately have to experience it.

“Trafficking occurs in a wide range of socioeconomic classes and the people could be anyone – there is no one type of trafficker," According to Muse.

“Human trafficking impacts everyone,” continued Frye, paralleling the article published by the Muse, “and it can take many different forms No two traffickers are really alike. Therefore, although organized crime may play a role in this phenomenon of domestic and global human trafficking, other factors, such as communities, local governments, and even familial situations, are also involved with this phenomenon. Overall, the events of last week were set out to bring awareness of the reality of human trafficking occurring domestically, separate fact from fiction, and focus on the survivors of trafficking themselves.

Lundstrom continued to express her thoughts about the goal of last week’s events. “‘Free Our Girls’ desires to focus on survivors and survivor leadership, while helping each individual grow and heal physically, emotionally, and spiritually.

To show support for these survivors, a survivor art exhibit in UNC’s ballroom was also held from Monday through Thursday, supplementing the dinner and documentaries. Named “Life After the Life” by Lundstrom, the art exhibit featured artwork from numerous survivors of human trafficking, with nearly half of these pieces coming from within Colorado. Altogether there were twenty pieces presented at this exhibition.

One survivor present at the exhibit, who also shared her work, was Janette McLaughlin. McLaughlin displayed two of her pieces last week, which focused on healing, love and motivating others to make a difference. “I think there’s an inherent need to make a difference so others have the strength to get out of that kind of lifestyle,” McLaughlin told the Greeley Tribune.

Menley Northup, a junior human services major, was responsible for coordinating this main exhibit. Considering this was only a second-time event, Northup had in mind not just the cause of the awareness week but also a desire for establishing an example and precedent for future awareness weeks.

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“With the help of Megan and others, our hopes are to set an outline for future awareness weeks so that we can continue the fight to end human trafficking,” Northup said.

Like Frye and Lundstrom, Northup also aimed to convey awareness of domestic human trafficking through this event.

“Human trafficking is happening here,” said Northup. “It’s is all around us and is a very real thing. There is a stigma about trafficking that it only happens in other countries or regions also. I hope others will see through these misconceptions because of tonight.”

Last Monday kicked things off with a dinner and documentary titled “Very Young Girls,” followed by an “open mic” night from 7 to 10 p.m.

“We really wanted to show through this documentary what the issue of human trafficking looks like within the United States and so our goal is witnessing the entire community engaged with it because human trafficking affects everyone indiscriminately,” Lundstrom said.

The documentary itself focused on the lives of underage girls living within the United States trying to leave and escape the life of prostitution. According to the documentary, on average, most enter prostitution at the age of 13 or 14.

On the following day, another dinner and documentary titled “Hot Girls Wanted” was shown, followed by a human trafficking awareness training the following day on March 22. On that same day, another documentary, “Tricked,” was played as well. On Thursday, March 23, an involvement fair took place from 9 to 4 p.m. and one last documentary, “Boom,” was also presented. The

By Amy Golden

news@uncmirror.com

The results of the campus climate survey were presented to the University of Northern Colorado community Tuesday afternoon.

The assessment, done by Rankin and Associates over a span of two years in collaboration with the university, worked to measure the climate of UNC. “We did this climate survey because we wanted an accurate portrait of where we are right now as a university,” UNC President Kay Norton said to the town hall. “We need data to inform us and to help us focus our efforts going forward.”

Rankin and Associates is an external consultation group that has surveyed 178 other universities. The group is impartial and independent, with one of its goals being extreme transparency.

On Tuesday, results were presented by Sue Rankin of Rankin and Associates in two town-hall meetings for the UNC community.

Rankin stressed the reason why she conducted this survey.

A student stations a booth at the U.C. about human trafficking Photo by Alex Nunley | The Mirror

week closed off with two theater productions, called “No Name,” in Gray Gym. The events of last week sought to bring awareness of this human trafficking happening within our own local and domestic communities. It is very real issue and impacts everyone everywhere, both domestically and worldwide. Burman’s case illustrates how it has impacted even Greeley.

Free Our Girls and the other organizations participating last week encourages individuals in doing their part to end human trafficking, tarnishing the morality of mankind.

Individuals can do a number of things to hinder human trafficking, including becoming mindful in responding or preventing trafficking from happening within communities, volunteer or donate to an anti-trafficking organization, or

“In everything we do, everything in every medium we have, students should be central to the discussion,” Rankin said. “If they are not, change the discussion. Whether it’s budget or facilities or planning, students need to be central to the discussion.”

The climate assessment began with 18 focus groups made up of 123 participants who addressed initial questions regarding current perceptions of UNC. The main part of the study was a population survey made up of 111 quantitative and qualitative questions. It was distributed to all students, faculty, and staff at the university from Sep. 20 to Oct. 26. Of this population, 18 percent responded to the survey.

While 74 percent of respondents reported feeling “comfortable” or “very comfortable” with the climate at UNC, 20 percent reported personally experiencing harassment in some form. These numbers reflect similar campuses assessed by Rankin.

The top four reasons for these harassments were because of gender/gender identity, position (such as student/faculty/staff), age, and ethnicity. This harassment was primarily experienced as microaggressions.

In the survey, 26 percent of respondents re-

get involved with intervention training, education, or empowerment.

Another action an individual can take is addressing legislators and representative officials about pushing through safe harbor laws. When child victims fall prey to human trafficking and are forced to provide commercial labor, services or sex, that child may become involved with illegal activities, such as, for instance, prostitution or selling drugs. As a result, even though these individuals are underage, they are nevertheless often tried, prosecuted and convicted in a criminal court over commercial sex rather than treated for rehabilitation.

“Arrest and prosecution can further traumatize the victim as well as leave him or her with a profound distrust of law enforcement, which can prevent victims from seeking assistance,” the Polaris Project said.

Therefore, it is not just necessary but crucial for state legislatures, maybe even the federal government, to enact laws relating to protecting minors from criminal prosecution regarding commercial sex and provide assistance and support to those who had been exploited by it. Although varying in significance, 34 of the 50 states have passed these safe harbor laws.

Take Joy Alona as another example. Alona, using an art alias, according to the Tribune, presented her artwork at the exhibit, using her passion to focus on the power of love and healing.

“Love takes away all fear,” said Alona in her painting. Alona was only rescued when a school nurse noticed the warning signs and notified appropriate resources.

“That’s why awareness is so important,” the Tribune stated.

“If people are more aware that it’s everywhere, and that it’s happening in their own communities, we’ll be able to do something about it more effectively,” Alona said.

ported observing such harassment. Rankin looking at the faculty and staff, as well as the went into specific details of those who demo- student perspective and seeing where we might graphically experienced harassment and who have issues on campus,” Frazier said. “Some of it was more likely to feel comfortable on campus, I expected and some of it I was surprised by.”

The town hall concluded with an outline of along with reactions to harassment experienced next steps, which Rankin called actions. and observed.

Other challenges found in the survey in- Community members can suggest next steps cluded 34 percent of respondents who seri- forward based on the survey at http://www. ously considered leaving the university and 2 unco.edu/campus-climate. There will be fopercent of respondents experiencing unwant- rums that students, staff, and faculty can participate in from April 10 to April 18. Sign up ed sexual contact at UNC. According to Rankin, these findings are im- information for these forums can be found on portant because of how campus environment the campus climate webpage. experiences influence learning and developmental outcomes. It has also been found that discrimination leads to negative effects on learning The City of Evans is accepting applications and while diverse students for the following seasonal positions: and staff have positive effects on a community.

PARKS MAINTENANCE WORKER Sarah Frazier is a graduate student at UNC who works at Mon-Fri 7am-3:30pm the Gender and Sexuality Re$11.00/hr-$14.00/hr, DOQ source Center. She participated in the survey and attended the Apply on-line at: www.evanscolorado.gov town hall.

“I thought it was interesting

4 | March 27, 2017 | TheMirror

art.

Arts Erika Editor Siebring

3/27: Art Exhibit: Xia Gao - “Reside” Mariani Gallery, 10 a.m. - 4 p.m.

3/28: Asian Heritage Celebration: “Two Spirits, One Heart” UC Panorama Room, 6 - 7:30 p.m.

3/29: Schulze Speaker Series: “Poetics of Justice, Hope and Social Change” Zachariah’s Food Court, 5 - 7 p.m.

3/30: Women’s History Month Read-In Mari Michener Gallery, 4 - 5:30 p.m.

3/31: FIFA ‘17 Unity Tournament Aspen, Columbine and Spruce Suites, 6:30 - 9:30 p.m.

By Erika Siebring arts@uncmiror.com

Ironically, one of the best ways to get individuals to confront an issue is to do so without any words, only movement of the human body. In honor of UNC’s second annual Human Trafficking Awareness Week, 17 UNC theatre students brought to life Marina Chapman’s autobiography “The Girl with No Name.” Directed and choreographed by UNC senior Olive McGowen, the piece titled “No Name” depicted without words Chapman’s journey. Kidnapped at four years old from her family in Colombia, Chapman was abandoned in the jungle and raised by monkeys, only to be taken again and sold into the human trafficking system.

McGowen, an acting major, casted the show in late January, and has been working on it since early February.

“I was kind of just browsing on Amazon books one day, and I came across this autobiography called “The Girl with No Name,” written by Marina Chapman and her daughter, and I was just absolutely floored by the story, and so inspired,” McGowen said. “I bought the book, read it, and I thought ‘I have to tell this story in some sort or artistic form,’ because it’s absolutely incredible what this woman went through, and persisted and overcame, and lives to tell the story.”

UNC senior Hannah Esparza-Escobar, an acting major, had the prestigious honor of playing Chapman. Starting the show wearing a white dress, Esparza-Escobar steadily transitioned from becoming one with the monkeys that raised her, to being taken from her newfound family and being an outcast amongst other humans.

Telling her story through changing costumes, makeup, and ranging intensities of movements, hardly a word was spoken by the lead actress and the rest of the cast.

Choreographing since her sophomore year, McGowen explained that this type of production is called a ‘movement’ piece, and while not trained in traditional dance, McGowen incorporated aspects from modern dance, ballet and hip-hop.

“Movement, to me, the definition is ‘telling a story with your body.’ Movement is the base of dance, you have to understand movement, how your body works, how to tell a story with your body, before I think somebody can really flourish and dance,” McGowen said. “Choreography is something very special to me, because I think it’s very powerful to tell a story without saying any words, just using your body. This one was particularly challenging because we had so much mask work, so it was completely reliant on the neck down, telling the story with just your body and your body alone. But, I was determined to challenge myself for my last movement piece here, and so I did, and I challenged my actors, and they accepted and went above and beyond my expectations. They’re just incredible people.”

Because Chapman is from Colombia, McGowen also wanted to give an opportunity for a Latina female performer to play the lead, and cites Esparza-Escobar as one of the most talented women she’s ever met.

“There aren’t a lot of opportunities, just in the theatre world in general, for that specific ethnicity, and so I thought ‘I can tell this amazing story and also give an opportunity for somebody that isn’t white, blonde and blue-eyed like me the opportunity to really shine,’” McGowen said.

The entire “No Name” piece confronted multiple concepts, including humanity, family and strength. According to McGowen, one of the major questions she wanted to explore was who the real monsters are in the world.

“A lot of times, when we see people who are evil, we’ll say ‘oh, that person’s an animal, that person is a monster,’ but in the experience of reading her book, she was treated better by the monkeys than she was by humans,” McGowen said. “In the animal kingdom, some sad things happen, and some rough things happen, but I feel like it’s all for the sake of survival, whereas in our society, we just do evil things for the hell of it. We do people wrong, we defend ourselves in ways that are beyond defense, in terms of torturing people, and putting them through human trafficking, and just awful, awful acts committed by humans. So, what is it about our society

that we have lost or that we have gained to make us this way?”

In trying to conceptualize these ideas, McGowen also wanted to leave the audience questioning what the true definition of family is, pointing out that Chapman was stolen from her real family.

“People might think ‘oh, those are just monkeys’ but to her, that was her family.

What’s the true meaning of family, where can you find family?” McGowen said. “Is family just blood, or is family the people that take you in, the people that love you unconditionally, the people that really raise you? That’s another thing that this story means to me.”

Esparza-Escobar, a senior acting major, plays Marina Champan as she’s sold into the human trafficking system Photo by Erika Siebring | The Mirror

Illustrating the strength of women, “No Name” challenged the female cast members and effectively used them to convey the seriousness and intensity of the piece’s retelling. Throughout the dance, Esparza-Escobar interacts with several other women, all dressed in red, that are also victims of human trafficking.

“I just think it’s incredible, and the women in this show -- not just Hannah but all the others -- they all experience tribulation throughout the show, and they still persist. They still try, they still keep going and giving and giving and giving,” McGowen said. “I think this story also means the strength of women is very prevalent, especially in Marina Chapman’s story.”

According to McGowen, Esparza-Escobar wears white at the beginning of the piece to represent how she is a clean slate, and hasn’t experienced certain things; however, after she is kidnapped by two men in red masks, she sheds the dress, to symbolize how she’ll never be the same.

Red was also an important color McGowen chose to use in order to emphasize Chapman being sold into a brothel, and the human trafficking system as a whole.

“I decided to put them in red because, one, I think red is a very powerful color, but it’s also a very seductive color, and putting children in red clothing sometimes looks uncomfortable,” McGowen said. “Human trafficking is something that we don’t talk about, and so the red is ‘I’m here, this is a problem, look at me,’ but also putting these kids in red, trying to make them seductive, trying to make them sexual beings is just wrong. It’s something that you cannot look away from.”

Ending with Esparza-Escobar standing tall and wearing black, the entire cast stood in a straight line, in solidarity, staring at the audience. McGowen explained how art, to her, is an excellent means of making people feel.

“The only thing that I can hope is that at least one person that watched it learned something, or felt something. That’s usually my goal, even if it’s just one person in the audience, because I think that’s how change happens,” McGowen said. “Making people think about things is where it starts, is where change starts. So that’s where I’m starting.”

TheMirror | March 27 , 2017 | 5

THE MIRROR STAFF 2016-17 Editor-in-Chief Will Costello editor@uncmirror.com

By Erika Siebring

arts@uncmirror.com

Spring Concert 2017 was something UNC’s University Program Council had been planning for awhile, going as far as offering discounted tickets as early as January. With DJ Machadellic and C-Los w/ S.F.A. opening, and Iamsu! and The Rej3ctz as headliners, UNC’s Bank of Colorado Arena got a hip-hop/electronic makeover Saturday night, with the music shaking the floor before the concert even started.

DJ Mahcadellic insinuated the first wave of flashing lights and party music, lighting the arena with blue and gold. Reaching clear to the bleachers, anticipation for the rest of the night built as groups of students and community members gathered as close to the stage as possible to listen to “Your Girlfriend’s Favorite DJ.” Working from an orange laptop and an opaque white, light-up booth, the music elicited a club-like vibe, the beat piercing through everything in its wake. While the crowd barely filled up a quarter of the venue’s dance floor, DJ Mahcadellic kept the energy high, providing listeners with mashups of Rae Sremmurd’s “Come Get Her” and Snoop Dogg’s “Drop It Like It’s Hot.” Students formed their own mini circles of five to seven, dancing with each other as others crowded the barricade between them and the stage. Encouraging everyone to turn the concert into a “house party,” DJ Mahcadellic warmed the crowd up with remixes of old and new hits, like Drake’s “Hotline Bling” and Akon’s “Smack That.”

As more students trickled in, C-Los w/ S.F.A. urged everyone to get involved, to get up from their seats on the bleachers and closer to the stage. A larger group this time, including lead singers and “S.F.A” T-shirt-wearing backup dancers, the diamond-shaped light fixtures on the back on the stage flashed bright white, mirroring paparazzi cameras. Cutting and transitioning between pieces of music, at times the music stopped before the artists, allowing students to hear the vocals, uninterrupted. Below the light show, C-Los w/ S.F.A gave students a smooth, continuous piece; keeping the music and vocals together, the style didn’t feel broken.

Dancing and jumping as one, the group not only plugged their newest album, but kept the crowd hyped for the main acts.

The faint smell of weed filled the air and progressively got stronger as students took to UPC’s table of embossed water bottles and blow-up noisemakers, a timely intermission separating the openers from the headliners.

Blk Elviz, a member of The Rej3ctz, described the hip-hop group’s style as “very freedom,” and could tell even before they got on stage that the energy was surely going to blow the roof off the building.

“Oh, it’s epic,” Elviz said, referring to how it felt to play at UNC. “I haven’t performed yet, but it’s so much energy already here that I can feel it.”

As Blk Elviz and Bounc3 took the stage, the crowd’s excitement grew. The Rej3ctz upped the ante for the amount of jumping, dancing and physical enthusiasm shown at the concert, treating students to more popular favorites like DJ Snake and Lil Jon’s “Turn Down for What,” while mixing in TWRK’s “Spring Break”--on which The Rej3cts was featured--and Sir Mix-a-Lot’s “Baby Got Back.” Both Blk Elviz and Bounc3 took it upon themselves in interact more with the crowd, sprinkling water on students in time with the beat and appealing to all the ladies in the room.

After playing one of the group member’s solo projects, the group dedicated their song “Let Me Love You” to all the ladies, getting them cheering as loud as possible.

However, once again upping the ante, both artists exclaimed how all the ladies were “on fleek,” inviting ten of them to come onto the stage and dance with them. Volunteers weren’t difficult to find, as the women stood in a line and partied, twerking to Lil Jon’s “Get Low” at the audience and dancing with the artists, giving the concert its best moment thus far.

Blk Elviz also reaffirmed his name, swinging his pelvis with a very distinct swagger, before helping the women off the stage and Bounc3 teach everyone to move their hips in a sort of dance. Throwing back to their first single with an audienceaccompanied chant of “Cat, Daddy” and “Daddy, Cat,” the artists took it upon themselves to get the concert-goers into a selfie-shot for their Snapchats.

Another brief intermission came before most heavily-advertised part of the show, Iamsu!, as the feel of the room grew softer with OMI’s “Cheerleader.”

Production Manager Logan Garcia adproduction@uncmirror. com News Editor Jason Keller news@uncmirror.com Arts & Culture Editor Erika Siebring arts@uncmirror.com Sports Editor Dylan Sanchez sports@uncmirror.com Photo Editor Breelyn Bowe photo@uncmirror.com Marketing & Social Media Managers Amanda Andrews marketing@uncmirror.com Advertising Manager Naomi Butler ads@uncmirror.com Copy Editor Jordan Baca

The Rej3ctz member Blk Elviz sings to the crowd Photo by Alex Nunley | The Mirror

Iamsu!, referred to as simply Su, explained before his performance that his style is a mix of several different things.

“I got a lot of energy,” Su said. “I like to have fun, I like to sing, I like to rap, it’s just cool stuff like that.”

All of these aspects culminated together as Su not only naturally drew students that had retired to the bleachers, but playfully messed with the pitch on his microphone, ranging from a chipmunk-high voice to a comedically low voice. Following the trend of immediately winning the audience over, the rapper played Sage The Gemini’s “Gas Pedal”--a song in which he was featured--and sang his portion when it came on. From there, Su went on a journey through some tracks from his mixtapes, including “Famous” and “Shang Hai,” getting the crowd to pump their hands in the air and also acknowledging the ladies in the room.

Foregoing the idea of performing on stage, the rapper spent most of his set standing on a ledge of the barricade in front of the crowd; enticing them to literally put their middle fingers up to block out the haters during his performance of “I Love My Squad,” once again UNC’s signature blue and gold flashed from the stage lights as Su not only announced his appreciation for everyone, but encouraged them to chase after their dreams.

With that, the last wave of energy and excitement dwindled away as the lights of the arena clicked back on, blinding everyone left.

General Manager Matt Lubich mlubich@uncmirror.com

Office Address: 823 16th St. Greeley, Colorado 80631 Phone Number: 970-392-9270

MISSION STATEMENT

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.

sports.

6 | March 27, 2017 | TheMirror

At Home 4/1: Track at Tom Benich Invite Nottingham Field All Day

On the Road 3/30: Men’s Golf at The Goodwin Stanford, California All Day

3/31: Baseball at Grand Canyon Phoenix, Arizona 7:00 p.m.

3/31: Softball at Portland State Portland, Oregon 2 p.m.

4/1: Women’s Tennis at Idaho State Pocatello, Idaho 10:00 a.m.

4/1: Women’s Soccer vs Regis Fort Collins, Colorado TBA

Writings on the wall: Superstitions in athletes

By Jordan Clark

sports@uncmirror.com

If you ask an athlete what the key to their success is, they will likely tell you about the importance of hard work, perseverance and maybe even passion for the game. But what they probably won’t tell you, their lucky underwear.

Superstitions get a bad rap for seeming silly, and it’s rare to hear someone publicly credit a personal ritual for helping them succeed.

There has been research that suggest that some people do believe in some kind of superstition. Among athletes, superstitions are even more popular because they regularly engage in performance tasks.

Michael Jordan, for example, reportedly wore his University of North Carolina shorts underneath his Chicago Bulls uniform for every game because he thought they brought him good luck. He would need longer shorts for his Bulls uniform to make sure he was able to cover up his Tarheels shorts.

D.J Miles wore the same compression shorts for every game and puts his left shoe on first to This happening even pushed the NBA to feel more confortable and prepared. Photo courtesy of UNCBears.com. change their style of shorts from the short Former UNLV and Fresno State basket- structed 41 students to bring a lucky charm shorts to a longer pair of shorts.

Jordan’s North Carolina shorts was even ball coach, Jerry Tarkanian, had his own with them to the experiment. One half was referenced in the movie “Space Jam” after little superstitious event in his third year of instructed to leave the charm with the rehe was sucked into the toon world by Bugs his basketball coaching career when he was searchers and the other half kept a hold of theirs.

Bunny and his gang to take on a band of a high school coach.

Before completing the task that was desIt was during the championship game in aliens that stole the playing abilities from February and it was so hot in the gym. Ac- ignated to the students, a survey was filled five NBA players in a basketball game.

MJ mentioned to Daffy Duck and Bugs cording to Tarkanian he would always have out by all of those who took part of the experiment in which they indicated how conBunny that in order to play he would need to go continue getting a drink of water.

When the game headed into overtime, fident they were that they would succeed. them to go to the real world and obtain his Results of the experiment show that the basketball shoes and his North Carolina he decided to just wet a towel and chew on it instead of always having to get a drink of students who had their lucky charm did shorts from his home.

NBA veteran and current member of the water. This little quirk would carry on for perform better on the memory task than the students who didn’t have their charm.

Milwaukee Bucks, Jason Terry, also has a his five decade coaching career.

The researchers also found that the perforBut why do people feel like it helps? particular ritual that he has during the NBA In a study that took place in 2010 at the mance advantage was largely explainable by season.

Terry owns a pair of shorts for every team University of Cologne in Germany, re- the increase of confidence that the students in the NBA, and he will wear the shorts to searchers conducted a series of experiments got from bringing their lucky charm.

A follow-up was conducted and revealed bed the night before a game for his team’s to test and explain the idea of rituals or suthat superstitious behavior, and a confinext opponents. He has stated that it’s his perstitions.

The researchers at the university in- dence boost that comes with it, such as havway to get into the mind of his opponents.

ing a lucky charm, led the participants to set higher goals and persist longer on tasks, which can also lead to greater achievement.

Members of the UNC men’s basketball team do have their own rituals they do before games and practices, but feel superstitions are, as stated earlier, silly and childlike. As head coach Jeff Linder simply put it, “I don’t believe in them.”

Linder however does have a ritual to take a pregame nap.

“When we have home games, taking a pregame nap is challenging when you four kids and one being a 14 month old,” Linder said. “But when on the road, the nap is easier to get in.”

Sophomore guard Jordan Davis however has a slight belief in superstitions. If during the game and he has a bad first half, he will change his shoes for the second half.

As for rituals, Davis will listen to music and arrive to the gym at 5:30 p.m. for shooting drills and also showers before a game to relax his mind.

Senior forward Jon’te Dotson doesn’t have a big belief when it comes to superstitions but he will always end warm-ups with a made basket. Dotson also has some rituals he embarks on before games by listening to music and eats before games.

Junior guard DJ Miles has a similar belief when it comes to shorts as MJ did, but of a different variety of shorts.

“I wear the same compression shorts for games. If I’m not wearing them for a game, I feel completely off,” Miles said.

Miles also has ritual during the basketball season. He always puts his left shoe on first and it makes him feel more comfortable and prepared.

Taken from the research conducted at the University of Cologne, the findings suggest that superstitions may not be real in a sense that Michael Jordan’s lucky shorts caused his exceptional performance, or members of the UNC men’s basketball team’s rituals and little superstitions. But a superstitious behavior seems to have a very real impact on the athletes’ belief that they can achieve anything.

TheMirror | March 27, 2017 | 7

Bears sweep Hornets

THIS WEEK IN NOCO SPORTS Women’s Golf

The Bears wrapped up a rain-shortened tourna-

Kala Keltz finished sixth overall at the Sac State Invite

Softball

Staff Report

sports@uncmirror.com

Northern Colorado baseball earned a pair of comeback wins on Saturday and Sunday, defeating Sacramento State 9-5, and 8-7 respectively. UNC used a six-run fifth on Saturday and a six-run ninth on Sunday on their way to the WAC opening series sweep.

Sacramento State jumped out to the early lead with some two-out hitting in the top of the first. Kody Reynolds and Vinny Esposito each had two-out RBI hits to put the Hornets up 2-0 through one. They extended their lead to 3-0 going to the bottom half of the fourth.

Junior Cole Maltese put the Bears on the board in the bottom of the fourth with a solo home run to left field, his sixth long ball of the season.

After Maltese got the scoring going for UNC in the fourth, the team’s offense broke the game open in the fifth. Junior Alex Kiel singled to begin the inning, and freshman Matt Burkart walked to put pressure on Sacramento State. Sophomore Tyler Yamaguchi put down a very well placed safety squeeze that scored Kiel and advanced Burkart to second.

Junior Dean Lawson then stepped up to the plate looking for his first hit of the day and he delivered in a big way with the team’s second home run over the left center wall, giving UNC a 4-3 lead.

Following the home run, Sacramento State’s defense started to have issues fielding, allowing Northern Colorado to continue its inning and put up a crooked number. The Bears scored three more runs on two hits, an error and a wild pitch as they batted around and led 7-3.

“There was multiple guys in this game that made impacts for us,” coach Carl Iwasaki said. “Our seven, eight, nine guys are the

center of the order for us right now.”

Sacramento State would not go away easily though, loading the bases in the seventh before Connor Leedholm came in and got the huge strike out to leave them that way with no damage. They then added on two runs in the eighth to get within three of UNC. Northern Colorado tacked on another run in the seventh when sophomore Jack Pauley doubled to left center and then junior Brett Minnick reached on a fielding error by the Hornets. Kiel delivered his third hit of the game with a single to left field bringing home Pauley. They scored another in the bottom of the eighth as Lawson doubled and came around to score on a Pauley single to right.

The first four at bats were huge for Northern Colorado in the fifth inning.

Four different Northern Colorado players recorded multi-hit games. Jack Pauley and Alex Kiel had three hits each. Pauley finished a home run shy of the cycle driving in a pair of runs and scoring twice. Kiel used all parts of the outfield for his three hits all being singles.

UNC received its second straight quality start from freshman Troy Watson. Watson struggled early on, but settled in for a six innings, allowing three runs on six hits. He struck out a pair while walking three.

“Troy Watson was a little shaky in the first inning, but shut it down in that inning and beyond as our offense started getting back into the game,” Iwasaki said.

The Bears finished off the series sweep with a come-from-behind win Sunday, scoring six runs in the bottom of the ninth to win 8-7. An Evan Johnson double cleared the bases to pull UNC within one at 7-6.

After a Pauley double tied the game, Nick Tanner sent Bears fans home happy with a game-winning RBI single.

UNC is back in action Friday when they head to Phoenix to take on Grand Canyon.

Kenzie Kudrna went 2-2 with her first triple of 2017

Track and Field

Juliette Cossey recorded the second-longest jump in the Big Sky this season

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8 | March 27, 2017 | TheMirror

Opinion: The curse of Economics 101

By Will Costello

editor@uncmirror.com

Economics professors across the country are doing their students a disservice, although it’s a well-intentioned one. Almost nobody believes that economics is a simple subject, and I’m sure if a poll was taken asking alumni what subject most confused and frustrated them, econ would probably wrestle with calculus for the top spot.

Understandably, in order to help their students better grasp this wickedly complex topic, professors simplify the basic elements of it,

distilling the entire thing down to a simple graph, shaped like an X, illustrating supply and demand. This is the essence of economics, the simplest aspect of this profoundly not-simple subject.

Then, most students stop studying economics and pick something more fun, like biology or business. Had they continued, most students would have had the simplistic version that was presented to them in their Introduction to Economics class complicated by all sorts of wrenches that can get thrown into the gears of supply and demand. The nuances of inflation targeting, prisoner’s dilemmas or radical uncertainty escape the students that stop at Econ 101, and they are left only with the impression that the world economy is a simple place ruled by the iron fist of that X-shaped graph.

If economics professors did a better job of providing context when teaching supply and demand, students might not

fall into this trap. But teaching econ is hard enough that getting a bunch of hungover freshman to grasp even the most basic part of it is seen as a success.

In any other field, a basic understanding is typically enough. Simple knowledge of chemistry can show a writing student how molecules work, give them some basis for a science fiction novel, and a basic understanding of English can help a business student send a coherent email.

But having a simplistic understanding of economics typically leads students to buy any argument sold by a huckster politician that the world economy is easy to understand. These politicians can be from the left or the right; both sides have an interest in making themselves seem brilliant and their opponents seem like idiots. But I would encourage anyone who has satisfied their liberal arts core credit in the social sciences by taking an economics class to look a little bit deeper into this topic before prescribing or imbibing simple fixes. Chances are, it’s more confusing than you might think.

Jimmy

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