Features @criterionphotosSeptember 27, 201610

Prof Talk: David Pumphrey

Falling in love with the seasons

Student Salute: John Cusickby Jake Carmin

It’s impossible to find time to interview John Cusick. The man doesn’t sleep, apparently. Not only does he serve as the Criterion’s sports editor, he is the sports director at KMSA, announces games, works for the sports information department, produces a feature for the Grand Junction Sentinel, and runs the blog/podcast My Outspoken View (@outspokenview).

The kicker? He’s doing all this while running 80-plus miles per week.

Cusick, a mid-distance and distance runner, is waiting on the NCAA to rule on whether he’ll be eligible to run his last outdoor track season. He started his collegiate running at the University of Northern Colorado, and didn’t particularly enjoy it (we can’t print what he thinks about the smell in Greeley). He recalls being dropped off by his coach in the remote farm town of Kersey, Colo. and instructed to simply “run home.”

Unfortunately for Cusick’s legs, home was nearly 20 miles away. Though he finished, by the end of cross country season, he’d been seriously injured and dismissed from the team, he then began looking for a new running program. At the time, CMU’s track team was barely a year old and Cusick jumped at the chance to help build a program from the ground up.

A year later, Eeeny-Teeney-Tiny-Little-Baby (ETTLB) Cusick, as he’d been affectionately dubbed, had become the first CMU athlete to qualify for NCAA Nationals in the 1500 meters.

Since then, he’s set the school record in the 1500 and 1600 and qualified for indoor nationals. Yet his focus has remained on building the team; he’s often more excited to see his teammates perform well than he is about himself.

ETTLB Cusick spent the summer in Costa Rica, studying Spanish and learning that he’s terrible at ziplining.

“All that forward momentum, I would just let it go because I would twist[…]the things I’m bad at, everyone just says ‘Why? How?’” Cusick said.

He’s already been awarded his bachelor’s degree in marketing, and after completing his bachelor’s in mass communication, he hopes to move into some form of sports broadcasting, preferably in California.

He’s already landed a weekend job as the team photographer for the Ogden Raptors, an experience that’s cemented his certainty of career choice. Though he doesn’t know what sport or media he’ll attempt to get in, his wide array of experience gives him plenty of options.

You can see Cusick in this weeks’ Criterion Lowdown, telling managing editor Alec Williams that New Jersey isn’t a state.

by Delaney Letts

It’s official: fall has arrived! We all know what that means: colorful leaves, pumpkins galore, football games and last but not least: pumpkin spice lattes are back.

Fall has so much to offer, especially in Colorado. With cooler weather on the horizon we expect to see temperatures drop. Flannels, sweaters, scarfs, leggings and boots will all make an appearance again.

Grand Junction, although high mountain desert, still offers the orange, yellow and red splashes of color that most look forward to. Students are uplifted as they breeze through the changing leaves on campus. CMU’s outdoor program had an amazing opportunity to backpack through the fall colors during a 14 mile hike through Crag Crest.

“The trip was amazing! I loved seeing all the colors at the top of the Mesa along

with a surprise visit of a black bear,” student Janae File said.Junior Christy Sparks says her favorite thing about the season is the leaves changing colors. Being from southern California she doesn’t get to experience this beautiful change.

“The trees are either green or dead,” Sparks said. Seeing all the vibrant colors is a breathtaking sight for her.

This anticipated season offers a countless number of cool activities. Grand Junction has several pumpkin patches and corn mazes to contribute to the seasonal fun.

Studts Pumpkin Patch and Corn Maze provides fun fall activities for the whole community. They have horse drawn hayrides, a petting zoo, a zip-line and a haunted corn maze.

Many students rave about this time of year because of pumpkin spice lattes, pumpkin loaves and pumpkin scones found at Starbucks across the nation. People crave these seasonal treats.

Freshmen roommates Leighanne Matson and Brooke Martin explained how much they love the fall Starbucks drinks. Matson said she loves the smell of their hot drinks. Martin gets excited when the pumpkin spice latte comes out, as she normally wouldn’t know what to get at Starbucks.

“Pumpkin spice lattes give me a purpose to go into the coffee shop,” Martin said.

Aside from Starbucks, chili cook-offs are also very popular in fall. Many people bring their own recipes to festivals to showcase their cooking skills and compete for the winning title.

As October arrives, the excitement of haunted houses, scary movies and costume parties will heighten. This leads to pumpkin carving as a great activity to launch the spooky part of the season

Fall means something different to everyone. Still, no matter what, it certainly offers a nice dose of happiness and plenty of activities for all to enjoy.

by Lauren Heaton

Dr. David Pumphrey has a bachelor’s degree from the University of Arkansas, a Master of Science in Computer Information Systems from Georgia State (second only to MIT in information systems degree programs) and a Ph.D. from Ole Miss. Pumphrey has more than 20 years of industry experience.

In class, he doesn’t just teach business theory, he wants his students to learn business reality. He wants them to learn from someone who has worked with several of the top tech companies from across the U.S..

With Pumphrey’s recent return to academia after years at the top of industry, he is up-to-date with all things tech, computer and data science. He is striving to enhance CMU’s offerings related to those fields. He has implemented two new classes within the last year

and this is only his third year as a professor at CMU.

There is more to Pumphrey than what students will learn in the classroom. When he is not teaching class or taking in the colorful views of the Monument, the Mesa or the Book Cliffs on the third floor balcony of Dominguez Hall, you can find him riding his motorcycle across the country.

When people ask Pumphrey about how he found CMU, he smiles and tells them that of all the schools he was applying to, the school was the only one still requiring paper applications instead of digital. CMU also responded faster than any of the other schools he had applied to.

It’s all in the details:

Cups of coffee per day:

“I try to limit it to no more than two 20 ounce cups”

Preferences in peaches. Georgia peach or Palisade peach:

“You know, I like the Palisade peaches because they are the free stone peaches meaning you can just twist them and pull them off the pit.”

Coolest Motorcycle ride:

Tulsa to Denver then up (in the snow) to Silverthorne, Steamboat, Estes Park and Leadville. “For a southern guy from Oklahoma that was a great story to tell my Oklahoman friends, riding my motorcycle through the Rockies,” Pumphrey said.

Longest Motorcycle trip:

Memphis to Grand Junction

Favorite food:

Thai food or watermelon, never together.

Students enjoy comfy clothes, warm drinks and pretty colors

Dr. David Pumphrey. Courtesy | CMU

Cusick running the 1500 at Long Beach State. Courtesy | Blake Graf

Stages of Cusick growing up. Courtesy | John Cusick Cusick, a year ago. Courtesy | Allison Ragdale

The trees changing colors on campus. Tyler Fransen | Criterion