NEWS BRIEFS Volunteers are needed for Greeley’s Martin Luther King Jr. Day march and program, which will take place from 10 a.m.-1 p.m. Jan. 18. UNC is working together with the city of Greeley to organize the annual event. For a description of available volunteer roles and to sign up, those interested are asked to visit https://unco. co1.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/ SV_262ehiCGF33ebHL by 5 p.m. on Monday.
A student reflection of the UNC community
Discounted tickets for select events at the 2016 National Western Stock Show are available for UNC employees and students. The stock show will take place Jan. 9-24 at the National Western Complex in Denver. Those interested can save up to $6 for every ticket ordered, plus $4.50 in service charges on the order itself. Tickets can be purchased online or by the phone, and there is no limit on the number of tickets that may be ordered.
Should minimum wage be raised?
UNC has received $4 million, one-third of its fundraising goal, from donors for the Campus Commons Project. The four lead donors include UNC graduate Dick Monfort, The Griffin Foundation, Frank and Betty Ottesen and the UNC Foundation. UNC has a goal of raising $12 million toward the $74 million project. Additional funding will come from the state of Colorado and bonds backed by student fees. The ground breaking for the project is planned for late 2016.
According to the Self-Sufficiency Standard for Colorado 2015, a single adult in Weld County would need to make at least $9.72 per hour to be self-sufficient, having necessities like housing and food. In Boulder County, this number jumps to $13.36 per hour. Colorado’s minimum wage in 2015 was $8.23 per hour, slightly more than the federal minimum set at $7.25. One person in Weld County would need to make over a dollar more than the state minimum wage to be selfsufficient, and in Boulder County, would need to make almost $4 more. This is one main focus in the popular debate over whether or not the federal minimum wage should be increased.
Packages for the 95th annual Greeley Stampede Superstars Concert Series and tickets for all other events will go on sale at 9 a.m. Wednesday. Superstars Concert packages, which include all five night shows, for general admission grandstand and chutes are available for $60; standing room only, reserved floor and box seats are available at $90. Concert ticket package pricing increases May 1. Seventeen semifinalists have been chosen for the seventh annual Monfort College of Business Entrepreneurial Challenge. Those competing will present their business concepts Jan. 21 at the University Center. Following the semifinals, five finalists will be chosen to compete for $50,000 in prize money and the opportunity to present their ideas to a panel of judges at 9NEWS studios. To view a full listing of the selected semifinalists visit www. mcb-echallenge.com.
Full story by Mikhala Krochta
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Maeve Widman | The Mirror
Kenyon Fisher, an employee at Papa Murphy’s, finishes a transaction at the register.
For the week of
1/11/2016
Should minimum wage be raised? UNC News
By Mikhala Krochta news@uncmirror.com
News Editor: Chelsea Hinspeter
THIS WEEK AT UNC MONDAY 1/11
Spring Semester Classes Begin
WEDNESDAY 1/13 Interim Final Grade Deadline
FRIDAY 1/15
Add Deadline for Full-Semester Classes All Day Catalyst: A Social Justice Retreat Off Campus
SATURDAY 1/16
All Day Catalyst: A Social Justice Retreat Off Campus
SUNDAY 1/17
All Day Catalyst: A Social Justice Retreat Off Campus
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In the past year, protests have emerged across the U.S. for the federal government to raise the minimum wage to at least $15 per hour. Increasing minimum wage has become a political hot topic, and candidates for the 2016 presidential election have been weighing in on the issue. The group “Fight for $15,” which is backed by the Service Employees International Union, has organized hundreds of protests and walkouts in support of raising minimum wage. But there are some people who oppose this idea of a minimum wage increase. The Nebraska chapter of a group called “Americans for Prosperity” makes the argument that most minimum wage workers are teenagers or spouses of someone who makes a higher wage, and therefore have enough financial support. The minimum wage was established in 1938 at a rate of 25 cents per hour. Christine Marston, associate professor of economics and associate dean for the College of Humanities and Social Sciences at UNC, said when minimum wage began, unemployment rates were reaching above 25 percent, excluding people who were underemployed or those who were not making enough money to support their family. Marston said that with a high unemployment rate comes a decrease in wages, so in the late 1930s when unemployment rates were skyrocketing, wages were plummeting. President Franklin D. Roosevelt enacted the first minimum wage law to ensure employers weren’t paying people who were desperate for work practically nothing. Today, federal, state and local minimum wages differ depending on the location, though no municipality can go below the federal minimum of $7.25 per hour. Marston explained there will often be anywhere from five to 15 years between adjustments on the federal minimum wage, because Congress has to vote and agree on it. Federal minimum wage hasn’t been changed since 2009, and as a result, some states and cities have acted on the matter themselves. Colorado’s minimum wage, for example, is set at $8.23 per hour. Marston said the state’s minimum wage automatically adjusts each year based on inflation. However, she said, this is still not sufficient to provide a basic standard of living. UNC student and music performance major Juliette Angoulvant said she would be less worried about making ends meet if the minimum wage was increased, though she does make slightly more than that at her tutoring job. “I think raising minimum wage would have a positive economic effect,” Angoulvant said. “More people would be able to participate actively in the economy.” According to the Self-Sufficiency Standard for Colorado 2015 report, the amount of money needed to be economically self-sufficient depends on location.
The report contains a breakdown of self-sufficiency standards based on counties and family types. In Weld County, one adult needs to make an hourly wage of $9.72 to meet basic needs, about $1.50 more than state minimum wage, according to the 2015 report. For a household of one adult and a preschooler, the amount needed jumps to $19.82 per hour, over $10 more than the Colorado minimum. “Basic needs” in the report are defined as being minimally adequate, and include housing, child care, food, transportation, healthcare, taxes, savings and other miscellaneous essentials like hygiene products. UNC attracts a good number of students between the ages of 18 and 24, and according to the Pew Research Center, “nearly half of the 3 million hourly workers who were at or below the federal minimum in 2014 were ages 16 to 24.” “An increase in minimum wage would affect me personally by probably allowing me to work less per week and have more time for school,” said Ashlie Allen, a recreation, tourism and hospitality major at UNC, who makes tipped minimum wage as a server. One controversial part of the minimum wage issue is whether the overall economic impact on the country will be positive or not. For example, how it will affect unemployment, inflation and small businesses. Kira Mayberry, a recreation, tourism and hospitality major at UNC and minimum wage worker at a catering company, said she thinks an increase in minimum wage would make everything in Greeley more expensive, and ultimately hurt college students. “I believe minimum wage should be raised, but I also recognize that when we raise the wages, the price for everything else also raises,” Mayberry said. “So until we can end this cycle, I don’t think we can raise the minimum wages.” Marston said the raising of prices depends on the company, but that increasing hourly pay would also increase productivity and loyalty and decrease turn-
Graphic courtesy of The Self-Sufficiency Standard for Colorado 2015
over rates. “Training low-wage workers costs the company a whole lot of money,” she said. “So if they can decrease that turnover and increase productivity, then you can actually decrease your labor costs instead of increasing labor costs.” Small businesses, however, might have trouble paying workers more. This is a big argument for the case against raising minimum wage, but Marston said it isn’t necessarily true. “I went to a restaurant recently in Fort Collins where they’ve eliminated tipping,” Marston said. “So instead, they raised the prices of their food, and are paying their hourly workers a much higher rate.” Marston said if small businesses have to raise their employees’ wages, customers may need to pay higher prices for goods and services. But, she said she thinks prices wouldn’t need to increase very much for a majority of businesses, so most wouldn’t be negatively affected. Marston said increasing minimum wage could also put more money back into businesses. “When we think about economic impact, low-wage workers are buying food, they’re buying clothing for their kids, taking their kids to the doctor, buying gas for their car,” Marston said. “So low-wage workers, when they have an increase in wage, they spend all of their money. They also tend to spend their money locally, so there are some positive impacts in terms of effect on overall spending and overall economic activity.” Besides economic activity, Marston said a higher minimum wage would also be positive for people in general. “I think when people can afford their own food and housing, that’s just better for humanity,” Marston said. “I think it’s also a social justice issue. Providing a wage that allows people to be more self-sufficient has some very intrinsic value to it as well.”
Professor’s last chance to impart knowledge THE MIRROR STAFF 2015-16
By Drew Heiderscheidt news@uncmirror.com
While other professors said they would discuss fear or would implore students to explore the world for their potentially “final” lecture, Tomlin said if he was given the option, he would do what he was hired to do. “There’s a firm line in my mind that the classroom at the University of Northern Colorado, or any other public institution, is the property of the state,” said T.J. Tomlin, an associate professor of history. “I have a job to do in that classroom, and that is to teach the discipline of history to the best of my abilities and to get to know my students.” Tomlin said he was unsure of whether or not he would want a “last lecture” to reveal his deepest thoughts and philosophies. If he did decide to give a “final” lecture, Tomlin hesitated to say the classroom would be the best location for such a lecture. Tomlin considered a friend who has been enduring stage four cancer. This friend, Tomlin said, writes a blog discussing her own struggles with the disease, and also espousing her own philosophies. But her example caused Tomlin to feel unsure of what he would say in a last lecture, and whether or not he would want to keep his philosophies personal, he explained. If he were to give a “last lecture,” Tomlin decided it would be just that—a normal, final lecture. He would want to teach a “good” last lesson on whatever subject he was teaching. “In a sense, not letting some terminal disease define every aspect of my life,” Tomlin said. Tomlin explained that during the 18th century, death was an everyday part of life, and people were forced to confront their own mortality in a more tangible way. American culture does not really struggle with death, or face their own mortality, Tomlin said. If Tomlin talked to his own children, and hypothet-
Correction:
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’Asianée Brown arts@uncmirror.com Sports Editor Dylan Sanchez sports@uncmirror.com Photo Editor Breelyn Bowe photo@uncmirror.com Copy Editor Mikhala Krochta
Photo courtesy of www.unco.edu
T.J. Tomlin, an associate professor of history, said he would simply do his job if given the opportunity to give a final lecture.
ically, only had six months to live, he said he would urge them to find something in the world they would be willing to sacrifice themselves for. “That’s the best way to live,” he said. Whether it be giving up your time for the study of something, or the mastery of some sort of craft or
In our issue on Dec. 7, a story about Allen McConnell, a professor at UNC, stated that McConnell would soon be retiring from the university. McConnell will not be retiring from the university at this time and will only be retiring from the Beta Alpha Psi and Professional Accounting Association organization.
trade, love is built through sacrifices. “I hope every one of my students has something they love enough that they’re willing to sacrifice for... that’s the way that love works, and ultimately a good life takes shape,” Tomlin said.
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Save money this New Year with Bear Biz UNC Arts Arts Editor: La'Asianeé Brown
EVENTS THIS WEEK FREE Group Fitness Classes at the Rec Center from January 11th - 17th
MONDAY 1/11
9-11 p.m. Open Mic Night University Center-Fireside Lounge
TUESDAY 1/12
Intramural Sports Registrations Campus Rec Center
By La’Asianee Brown arts@uncmirror.com
Bear Biz is a discount program where University
6-11 p.m. Basketball Rock Band Auditions Foundation Hall
FRIDAY 1/15
4-6 p.m. Photo Exhibit Reception: Ulli Limpitlaw - “The Magic from Mountains to Prairie” Michener Library Catalyst: A Social Justice Retreat Off Campus
SATURDAY 1/16
3-7 p.m. RHA Presents…Welcome Back Winter Carnival University Center- Aspen A Catalyst: A Social Justice Retreat Off Campus
SUNDAY 1/17
8-10 p.m. UPC Presents…Movie Night, Jurassic World Lindou Auditorium-Lower Michener Library Catalyst: A Social Justice Retreat Off Campus
Within four semesters, more than 6,000 students particpated in the campaign. A few businesses that participate in Bear Biz are listed below. For a full list of businesses and discounts, visit: http://www.bearbizgreeley.com/.
BATTER UP CAKES
GREELEY MALL
VV* NAILS & SPA
902 Ninth St.
2050 Greeley Mall
4330 Centerplace Dr. #613
Buy one gourmet, get one regular
Spend $50 at the mall and get a
cupcake WING SHACK CHIPPER’S CLASSIC LANES
GREELEY PHILHARMONIC
2704 Eighth Ave., 1815 65th Ave.
2454 Eighth Ave.
ORCHESTRA
$6 student special- boneless
Buy one game, get one free
801 Eighth St., Suite 230
wings, fries & soda
$3 tickets day of concert, all seats EMPIRE STATE PIZZA 2700 Eighth Ave.
YOUR PLACE COFFEE HABITAT RESTORE
2308 W. 17th St.
2400 29th St.
WEDNESDAY 1/13 4:40-5:40 p.m. Student Recital: Tyler Dever, Percussion Foundation Hall
of Northern Colorado students can receive discounts from participating businesses with a valid student I.D. Bear Biz began during the 2009-2010 academic school year. In efforts to bridge a gap between UNC students and local businesses, the campaign “Operation Bear Aware” was launched.
UNC student chosen to give premiere of nationally commissioned violin sonata Staff Report
arts@uncmirror.com
Ching-Hsuan Wang, a doctoral candidate at the University of Northern Colorado, will perform the Colorado premiere of composer Stephanie Ann Boyd’s new work for violin and piano in the spring as part of the 50 State Sonata Project. This project is a co-commission involving one violinist in every state, and is part one of a two-year project celebrating the life and work of John Kendall, a pedagogue who helped to bring the Suzuki teaching method to America. Boyd, who recently graduated from the New England Conservatory of Music with a masters degree in composition, studied violin with Kendall while in high school in Ann Arbor and wanted to embark on a project that would showcase her love of the violin while paying adequate tribute to Kendall’s world-wide musical influence.
Wang was the winner of the Walter and Virginia Charles Concerto Contest and was featured as the soloist with the Greeley Chamber Orchestra in 2009. She was the studio violinist for the Taiwanese original movie “Dance. Lazurite” in 2012. While classically trained, she also has a passion for jazz and other genres of music. In 2014, she was featured in jazz vocalist Annie Chen’s original album “Pisces the Dreamer,” recorded in New York. In the summer of 2015, Ching-Hsuan was the featured violinist for the Global Saxophone Quartet tour in Beijing, Tianjing and Wuhan, China. “It’s been such a treat to work with Ching-Hsuan on this project”, Boyd said. “Her musical background is phenomenally multi-faceted and I’m eager to see her perspective and her artistry shape the commission.” More information about the 50 State Sonata Project, visit: www.stephanieannboyd.com/50-state-sonata-project/.
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Photo courtesy of Stephanie Ann Boyd
Ching-Hsuan Wang is a UNC doctoral student who will perform a violin sonata as a part of the 50 State Sonata Project.
THIS WEEK IN NOCO SPORTS
UNC Sports
MEN’S BASKETBALL By Zach Blackburn
Sports Editor: Dylan Sanchez
HOME GAMES THURSDAY 1/14
7 p.m. Men’s Basketball vs. University of Montana Bank of Colorado Arena
FRIDAY 1/15
7 p.m. Wrestling vs. South Dakota Bank of Colorado Arena
Saturday 1/16
5 p.m. Men’s Basketball vs. Montana State Bank of Colorado Arena
AWAY GAMES THURSDAY 1/14
7 p.m. Women’s Basketball at Montana Missoula, Montana
FRIDAY 1/15
All Day Track at University of Nebraska’s Holiday Inn Invitational Lincoln, Nebraska 6 p.m. Women’s Swim and Dive at Air Force Invite Air Force Academy
Saturday 1/16
7 p.m. Women’s Basketball at Montana State University Bozeman, Montana
Photo by Dean Popejoy
Sophomore point guard Savannah Scott shot at .750 percent in UNC’s win over Weber State on Friday night at the Bank of Colorado Arena.
Women’s Basketball goes 2-3 over break By Chris Bolin
sports@uncmirror.com
The Northern Colorado women’s basketball team played five games over the holiday break. They started the break slow by losing three close games, but finished with a bang, winning their final two games, both in thrilling fashion. The Bears started off the break with a 10-point loss to Grand Canyon University, with sophomore Kianna Williams turning in a career performance. She finished with 21 points, while also pulling down four rebounds and draining all seven of her free-throw attempts. In the end, the third quarter proved to be lethal for UNC’s chances of victory, falling 69-59. Ten days after the team faced GCU, it had another game on New Year’s Eve in Cheney, Washington to face the Eastern Washington Eagles in their first Big Sky matchup of the season. For the second game in a row Williams shined, recording 19 points and five rebounds while dishing out two assists and swiping two steals. Early in the game, the Bears were led by sophomore Savannah Scott who recorded 10 points, going 4-of-5 from the field. She cooled off in the second half however, finishing with 12 points and seven rebounds. Once again the UNC women seemed to come out of halftime flat, being outscored 21-10 in the third quarter. The Bears mounted a late comeback in the fourth quarter, but the Eagles lead proved too much to overcome as the Bears fell short, 59-55. UNC’s game against the Idaho Vandals boiled down to two key things: three-pointers and free
throw shooting. Idaho outshot the Bears 12-5 from deep and 14-5 from the charity stripe, resulting in the 10-point difference in the game. UNC was led by a strong effort from junior Kourteney Zadina, who finished with 19 points while being responsible for four of UNC’s five three-pointers. Idaho led by nine at the half, and the Bears were not able to overcome the lead, never coming within eight points in the fourth quarter. The last two games the Northern Colorado women played seemed to follow the same script. It started with the Bears falling behind going into the fourth quarter, then hitting a last second, heart-stopping shot for the victory. On Thursday against the Idaho State Bengals, a slow start to the second half was not the case— instead it was the exact opposite. The Bears did not seem to want to play in the first half, falling behind by 12 at halftime. They got off to a hot start in the second half, outscoring the Bengals 26-13 in the second half, the most important of which was a sixfoot jumper by Zadina with 1.9 seconds left in the game. It gave the Bears a 48-47 victory for their first Big Sky win of the year. The Friday game against the Weber State Wildcats was more of the same for the Northern Colorado women. This time Scott’s gamewinner capped off a 19-5 run for the Bears. Scott led the Bears’ charge the whole game, scoring 17 points while pulling down four rebounds—the last of which was the most important, giving UNC the 65-63 come-from-behind victory. The team will next face against the Montana Grizzlies at 7 p.m. on Thursday as it travels to Missoula, Montana.
The UNC men’s basketball began conference play over winter break, and despite their 1-3 record against the Big Sky, the Bears have plenty of talent to build on. The Bears lead the conference with a 39.8 percent from three-point range and are the second best team at the freethrow line. The Bears (2-2) took on Eastern Washington, Idaho, Idaho State and Weber State and had success on offense, led by redshirt junior guard Dallas Anglin, junior forward Jamal Evans and junior guard Anthony Johnson with 74, 46, and 42 points, respectively, over the course of four games. UNC outlasted EWU, winning 96-90 on Dec. 31 at home before dropping three straight games on the road. Idaho and Idaho State beat the Bears by less than five points, before Weber State blew the lid off defeating the Bears in an 85-68 loss. Despite their 1-3 record, the Bears have shot over 40 percent from the floor in the first three games, putting up 96, 70 and 78 points, respectively, and both of the team’s losses were within five points. But, over the course of the entire season, including no-conference play, UNC is 3-8 in games where it shot over 40 percent. The team has been nearly even in points off turnovers with its opponents at 49-50 and is behind its opponents in total rebounds by an average of 5.6 per game. UNC has fouled its opponents 75 times in three games. The Bears return home for a 7 p.m. matchup on Thursday at the Bank of Colorado Arena.
Wrestling Staff Report
Northern Colorado wrestling finished 23rd out of 31 teams at the Southern Scuffle on Saturday in Chattanooga, Tennessee. Redshirt senior Trent Noon was the highlight of the day for UNC as Noon became the first Northern Colorado wrestler to place at the Southern Scuffle in program history. Noon won his first three matches before falling to Zach Nye of Virginia. As a team the Bears earned 26.5 points, matching their highest finish in program history. The Bears have two weeks before their first home match of 2016 against South Dakota State on Jan. 15 at the Bank of Colorado Arena.
Swim and Dive staff report
The University of Northern Colorado’s swimming and diving team competed at the Omaha Invite in early December, finishing second overall out of seven schools. The two-day competition saw the Bears earn five firstplace finishers, eight second-place finishes and six thirdplace finishes. The Bears scored 301 points on the first day and 483 in the second day, good enough for second place, trailing host school Omaha, who set multiple records over the two days. The team will travel to the face Air Force, Seattle and South Dakota on Friday at the Air Force Academy.
UNC hires new director of sports performance Staff Report
sports@uncmirror.com
Northern Colorado Athletics has hired Jeff Butler as the new director of sports performance. Butler joins the sports performance staff of Zach Margolis, who was recently promoted to the director of sports performance for olympic sports, and Katie Simon, assistant director of sports performance. Butler is familiar with Big Sky football, coming to the Bears from Sourthern Utah University, where he was director of strength and conditioning and responsible for the training of the Thunderbirds 2015 Conference championship team. “After an extensive search process, I am very pleased to add Coach Butler to our staff,” director of athletics Darren Dunn said. “He has extensive experience working with football and many other sports programs, especially in our conference. He brings
passion, excitement and tremendous experience to a critical position within the department. He and his wife, Katie, will be a great addition to the UNC family.” Prior to Southern Utah, Butler was at the University of Montana, where he served as the assistant director of strength and conditioning for football, track and field, volleyball and tennis. He was at UM for two years and again helped train a football team that reached the playoffs in back-to-back seasons. He got his first full-time job in the industry at Dartmouth and his resume also includes work experience at Mississippi College, North Carolina State and Arkansas. Recruited out of Fayetteville, Arkansas, Butler played at Appalachian State in 2003 and 2004 before following his family to Mississippi and playing for the Mississippi College Choctaws for two additional seasons. He left the Mountaineers just prior to their run of three consecutive national championships, from 2005-07. Butler graduated from Mississippi College in December 2007 with a degree in exercise science and earned a master’s degree in kinesiology from Arkansas in 2013.
Photo courtesy of UNCBears.com
Jeff Butler was director of strength and conditioning at Southern Utah University, and will be director of sports performance at UNC. .
Student athletes to watch in 2016 Dallas Anglin Men’s Basketball
UNC has welcomed Anglin since his first heroic performance as a Bear. Anglin led the Bears to an upset win over rival Colorado State University in November and has since averaged 18.4 points per game. The Bears need a spark to turn their slow start around, and the Southern Mississippi transfer has embraced that role.
Savannah Scott Women’s Basketball
Sophomore Savannah Scott knew she had some big shoes to fill coming into the 2015-16 season. Senior D’Shara Strange has graduated and it’s Scott’s time to take over. The point guard is averaging 10.3 points per game and shot at .750 percent, scoring 17 points in UNC’s 65-63 win over Weber State—the kind of performance that will be key for the Bears as they are averaging 62.4 points per game.
Carleigh Barrett Swim and Dive
In the 2014-15 WAC Championships, Barrett took first in the 1,650 yard freestyle, setting a program record and nearly cutting a minute off her personal best time. That was last year, and Barrett hasn’t slowed down since. In December, Barrett finished her finals race of the 500 free in Omaha six seconds faster than her prelims time, clocking in at 5:06.36. Barrett picked up a season best in the 200 fly as well.
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