The Oredigger Issue 23 - April 15, 2013

7/28/2019 The Oredigger Issue 23 - April 15, 2013

1/8

Club volleyball

an important

organization

Sports 6

Opinion 8

Features 4

News 2

Satire 12

Physicists

gather in

Denver

Oz only a

mediocre

outing

Lazy people

a campus

annoyance

T H E O R E D I G G E RVolume 93, Issue 23 April 15, 2013

The student voice of the Colorado School of Mines

w w w . O R E D I G G E R . n e t

For students in Civil and Environ-

mental engineering, John Spear is

well known and quite popular profes-

sor. The Oredigger sat down with

him to ask him a few questions and

discover his life and journey to Mines.

Born in southern California within

close proximity to both NASAs Jet

Propulsion Laboratories (JPL) and

the California Institute of Technology

(CalTech), Spear was inuenced early

and often by science. In high school,a teacher by the name of Mrs. Pat-

terson, whose husband taught at

CalTech, inuenced him greatly and

helped him realize he was drawn

towards the sciences.

After high school, he attended

the nearby University of California

San Diego (UCSD). In his fourth year

at the UCSD, he changed his major

from bioengineering to animal physiol-

ogy because, as he said, I decided I

didnt know if I really wanted to be an

engineer, and its not recommended

to switch majors in your fourth year

so I took another year to nish my

degree. During college, he worked

in labs in and around the UCSD

medical school and enjoyed the

research experience he received asan undergrad.

Upon graduating, Spear went to

work at the Scripps clinic in La Jolla,

California, now the Scripps Research

Institute, to work on synthetic vac-

cines for tuberculosis. After getting

tired of doing science, he went to

Wyoming to take a class with the

National Outdoor Leadership School

(NOLS). Spear attended a fall se-

mester in the Rockies with NOLS

doing activities such as skiing, cav-

ing, backpacking, and climbing. He

then went back to work at Scripps

for a few more years doing research

as a technician. Not knowing what

I wanted to do with my life and with

science in general, I quit that job,

said Spear. From Scripps, Spear

moved to Summit County, Colorado

and worked the rental shops at the

Keystone Ski Area for three years.

Growing tired of the long hours and

busy schedule, Spear went to workfull time as an instructor for NOLS,

specializing in high-altitude moun-

taineering and caving. After several

years, he gured out that you cant

carry real heavy, big backpacks for

the rest of your life so he went back

to graduate school.

During his time at NOLS, the envi-

ronment became a focus and Spear

started to think about the way things

affect people and the environment

around them. As he put it, he had

grown to appreciate the environment

and what it means to think about not

only my personal place but what is

humanitys place in the environment.

He started looking into graduate

school. Having a background in

engineering and science, the envi-ronmental engineering program at

Mines stood out because of what

it could offer to him from a science

standpoint, so he choose to attend

CSM for graduate school. Once he

had a Masters degree he decided he

enjoyed Mines and the program, so

he went for his Ph.D.

Spear was one of the rst doc-

torate students in the environmental

engineering program at School of

Mines, and in his time in the program,

he researched the remediation of

uranium and how to better clean it up

after mining. Uranium mediation is an

expensive process and using existing

methods like ion exchange resonance

produces a massive amount of waste

that cannot be used.

Spear took a biological approach

to remediation looking at how bacteria

could be used to transform the waste

into a useful product. Using a kind

of bacteria called sulfate-reducingbacteria as a treatment method,

soluble Uranium 6 is broken down by

the bacteria and produces insoluble

Uranium 4, also known as uraninite.

The reaction worked by running ura-

nium contaminated water through a

biological reactor and the bacteria in

the reactor would precipitate out the

uraninite so it could be mined and

sold. Spear received his Ph.D. after

studying the kinetics of this reaction

and moved on to his postdoctoral

studies. Spear did a six year post

doc at CU Boulder in molecular

microbial ecology with Dr. Norman

Pace. While there, he was exposed

to microbial life in all environments,

including microbes that live in ex-

treme environments (extremophiles)at places such as Yellowstone. After

his post-doc, Spear came back to

Mines for a faculty job and has been

here at Mines for eight years.

When asked why he came back

to teaching, he explained how he

learned how to teach while working

as an instructor with NOLS, saying,

It was easy to teach people about

a glacier for instance when you are

standing on/looking at said glacier.

So teaching in front of a classroom

was a different challenge because

you have to be able to paint a picture

with your mind for the students to

be able to see what you are talking

about because it is not right in front

of them. Also teaching is a learning

experience. I learn just as much from

my students as they learn from me

and I try to show enthusiasm for what

I teach because of my experience in

the eld and love of what I do. Its a

blast and its a challenge to be ableto teach and I just enjoy it.

Spear is married and has two

daughters. He met his wife, who was

also a student, during his rst NOLS

course and they got married after

a couple of years of knowing each

other. After they were married, they

took a year off to go on a bicycle trip

around the perimeter of the United

States because they wanted to get

to understand and know our own

country before we got to know the

other countries of the world, and rid-

ing 65 miles a day on a bicycle is a

great way to get to know your coun-

try. He has been living in Golden for

20 years. His hobbies include skiing,

biking, hiking, y shing, caving, and

climbing, and basically any outdooractivity. He is also the president of the

faculty senate and serves on multiple

graduate student committees. The

faculty senate represents the faculty

as a whole to the administration and

the board of trustees. They speak for

the curriculum and what needs to be

taught to stay current as humanity

and technology evolve.

John Spear an active engineerJared Riemer

Content Manager

Civil and Environmental Engineering professor John Spear is well known and quite popular.

JARED RIEMER / OREDIGGER

Snow for the

next three

weeks!


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n e w s april 15, 2013page 2


Oredigger Staff

Deborah Good

Editor-in-Chief

Katie HuckfeldtManaging Editor

Steven WooldridgeWebmaster

Barbara AndersonDesign Editor

Lucy OrsiBusiness Manager

Ian MertzCopy Editor

Taylor PolodnaAsst. Design Editor

Connor McDonaldAsst. Webmaster

Arnaud FilliatAsst. Copy Editor

Katerina GonzalesContent Manager

Jared RiemerContent Manager

Emily McNairContent Manager

Karen GilbertFaculty Advisor

Headlines from around the worldLocal News

The U.S. Department of En-ergy recently announced a new

$23.5 million investment in ve in-novative manufacturing researchand development projects, in-cluding a $1.2 million project atColorado School of Mines. Thisfunding, as well as $54 millioninvested in 13 projects in 2012,will serve as an investment inthe Clean Energy Manufactur-ing Initiative (CEMI), designed tohelp stimulate U.S manufactur-ing, improve energy productivity,reduce pollution, boost produc-tion and create jobs. The Minesproject, Quenching and Parti-tioning Process Development toReplace Hot Stamping of HighStrength Automotive Steel, isled by Metallurgical and Materi-

als Engineering Professor Em-manuel De Moor.

The driver of an Audi andtwo passengers died early Sun-day when the car collided witha tractor-trailer on Interstate 70near Glenwood Canyon, ac-cording to the Colorado StatePatrol. The truck driver wasntinjured in the collision at 5:30a.m. near milepost 133, said Pa-trol spokeswoman Cpl. HeatherCobler.

The Lady Orediggers beatNew Mexico Highlands 10-2,completing a sweep the BreastCancer Awareness Dat confer-ence play. Molly Theibaut postedseven RBIs, the highest postedby an oredigger since February17. The Orediggers next travel toChadron State on April 20th.

Arnaud Filliat,Asst. Copy Editor

Deborah Good, Editor-in-Chief

Margaret Thatcher, also

know as the Iron Lady diedlast Monday at 87 following astroke. She was known for theconservative resurgence sheled in her home country and herpartnership with Ronald Reagan.

Thatcher, a former British primeminister, led Britain from 1979 un-til 1990. She was the rst and onlywoman to be prime minister andthe longest-serving prime minis-ter since before the world wars.President Barack Obama said that

Thatcher was an exemplar of Brit -

ish strength and resolve and a rolemodel for young women.Bandits stole millions of Eu-

ros worth of gold bullion in anambush Monday on two armoredsecurity vans in northern Italy. Thepolice called it the perfect rob-bery, describing how it was me-ticulously planned and executed.

The bandits wore police clothingand blocked trafc on the highwayby setting re to a truck. Once thearmored vans arrived, the ban-dits parked a truck behind themblocking off the road. They thenshot guns into the air and set off asmoke bomb beneath one of thetrucks so the guards would aban-don their posts thinking the van

was on re. They stole the bul-lion and did not even bother withthe second van knowing that itwas an empty decoy. Finally, theyescaped in three cars as policewere slowed by nails the crew hadspread at three locations.

Five United Nations peace-keepers and at least seven ci-

vilians were killed Tuesday byarmed rebels in South Sudan, andat least nine other peacekeepers

and civilians were injured. The at-tack took place on a convoy travel-ing between the South Sudanesetowns of Pibor and Bor. Accordingto South Sudans military spokes-man, colonel Philip Aguer, theattack was from ghters led byDavid Yau, a rebel leader SouthSudans military has battled for

months.

North Korea is likely to test-re a missile or two ahead of anational celebration on Monday.In the past few weeks, NorthKorea has threatened nuclear

war amidst escalating tensions.But according to analysts, KimJong-un will test-re a missile thatcauses no damage to appeasehis military without inviting seri-ous retaliation. A major concernis due to the unknown politicalclimate within North Korea. DougBandow, member of a libertarian

Washington think tank said Thedanger is if there really is somekind of power struggle going on.If the military wants more. NorthKorea has prepared two medium-range Musudan-1 missiles waitingon its east coast to be red.

Pakistan conducted a suc-cessful test of an intermediate-range ballistic missile capable

of carrying a nuclear warhead

about 600 miles; far enough togo deep within India. The Sha-heen-1 missile struck the intend-ed target at sea according to the

Pakistani military. Pakistan has anuclear arsenal of 90 warheadsand has been increasing the rangeof its missiles. India has an esti-mated 100 nuclear weapons andtensions between the two coun-tries, which has always been high,has risen lately over the disputedKashmir territory.

Emeryville, CA - Researchers have discovered ashortcut to create malaria drugs, using genetically modi-ed yeast. Traditionally, these drugs are made with arte-misinin, produced by a sweet wormwood plant. Thoughthis remedy has been in use for thousands of years, grow-

ing the plants requires months. Generating this chemicalin a lab would streamline the production process.

Honolulu, Hawaii -The Hawaii State Boardof Land and Natural Re-sources has approved thebuilding of the Thirty Me-ter Telescope on Mauna

Kea. The telescope will bethe largest ground-basedscope. The telescope isexpected to be able to see13 billion light years in theastronomical past and alsoto view extrasolar planets.

The project is expected tocost more than $1 billion.

Lake Erie, Michigan/Ohio/New York/Ontario- Millions of min-iature plastic pieces litter Lake Erie, scientists report. Researchers atUniversity of Wisconsin-Superior searched the lake for microplastics,which are smaller than 5 millimeters. Chemical analysis indicates thatthe microplastics contain various levels of polycyclic aromatic hydrocar-bons and polychlorinated biphenyls. Both are well-known pollutants.

Washington, D.C. - A new ovar-ian cancer contains an antibody with atumor-killing toxin that may be able tocombat drug-resistant cancer. The drugwas given to 44 patients with advanced,drug-resistant ovarian cancers. One pa-tient saw a complete response, mean-ing the tumor was completely gone. Fourothers saw their tumors decrease in sizeby more than 30%.


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n e w s / f e a t u r e sapril 15, 2013 page


For those pursuing an Environ-

mental Engineering degree, Josh

Sharp is either already a familiar

name or soon will be. Professor

Sharp is a newer faculty member

in the environmental department

and focuses on areas involving

microbiology, biogeochemistry,

and their relation to water treat-

ment.

Sharp grew up in a small town

in Delaware. He described his

upbringing as academic, as his

mother was his AP Biology teach-

er and his father an oceanogra-

phy professor.

After high school, Sharp ob-

tained his undergraduate degree

in Geosciences at Princeton Uni-

versity. Of his experiences follow-

ing graduation, Sharp said, I did

a quick internship with an environ-

mental consulting hydrology rm.

Before that I had already signed

on with Schlumberger which is an

oil services company, but I was

able to push that back so I had

four or ve months to work with

the hydrology internship. And

then I worked for Schlumberger

for about a year and a half. Then

I worked for the US Geological

Survey as a hydrologist for an-

other six months or so before

going back to graduate school at

Berkeley. At UC Berkeley, Sharp

obtained a Civil and Environ-

mental Engineering Masters and

Ph.D. From there he went on todo a post-doctoral study in Swit-

zerland. Afterward, Sharp came

to CSM to be a professor where

he has been

working for

the past four

years.

W h e n

asked why

Sharp picked

the path he

did he said,

I think the

in te rnsh ips ,

the time I spent during the in-

ternships, and Schlumberger re-

ally calibrated what I was doing.

Probably the thing that put me

most in the direction I am right

now is my senior thesis. It was

on microbial arsenic respiration.

Research in microbial arsenic res-

piration can be applied to water

treatment as a way to remove ar-

senic.

At CSM, Sharp has taught a

Sharp passionate aboutwater treatment, teachingEric Hake

Staff Writer

Washington, USA

Scientists at the University of

Washington studied summer sea

ice in the artic and determined

that there will be ice-free summers

before 2050 and possibly within

the next decade or two. The re-searchers used three different ap-

proaches that all suggest nearly

sea ice-free summers in the Arctic

before 2050. They emphasized the

word nearly ice free as some sea

ice is expected to remain north

of the Canadian Archipelago and

Greenland. The three different ap-

proaches were: the trendsetters,

the stochasters, and the model-

ers. The trendsetters uses ob-

served sea ice trends which shows

that the total amount of sea ice de-

creased rapidly over the previous

decade. According to those trends

there will be sea ice-free Arctic by

2020. The stochasters approach

is based on assuming future events

of large sea ice loss such as in

Arnaud Filliat

Asst. Copy Editor2007 and 2012. This method es-

timates it would take several more

of these events to reach a sea ice

free summer. It also suggest that

by about 2030 there will be a sea

ice free Arctic. The modelers ap-

proach uses the large collection

of global climate model results to

predict atmosphere, ocean, land,

and sea ice conditions. These

models show the earliest possible

loss of sea ice to be around 2040

as greenhouse gas concentrations

increase. But the timing for a near-

ly sea ice free arctic according to

these models are closer to 2060,

but there are reasons to believe

that this timing is too slow. Due

to the high variability of the mod-

els people may interpret it that the

models are not useful. According

to the researchers, the models

are based on chemical and physi-

cal climate processes, and taken

together suggest that a sea ice

free summer is likely to be within

the next 30 to 40 years.Northwestern University

A new study suggests that re-

hearsing memories can have an

impact on memory consolidation

and on what is remembered later.

Researchers from Northwestern

University shows that when infor-

mation that makes up a memory

has a high value, the memory is

more likely to be rehearsed and

consolidated during sleep and

remembered later. The scientists

used direct manipulation of sleep

and demonstrated that it is pos-

sible to encourage the consolida-

tion of low value memory so that

they too are remembered later. The

experiment was designed to study

how participants remembered lo-

cations of objects on a computer

screen. A value was assigned to

each object that informed partici-

pants on how much money they

could make if they remembered

it later on in the test. Doing this

changed the value of the memo-

ries similar to how things we ex-

perience each day varies in the

extent to which wed like to be

able to remember the experience.

Each object was accompanied by

a characteristic sound, such as

whistling for a tea kettle. Some of

the sounds were then played alone

during both states of wakefulness

and sleep, attempting to remind

participants of those items. The

study revealed that participants re-

membered low value items better

when the sound was played during

sleep. The research implies that the

role of memory reactivation during

sleep could have a great impact on

improving memory storage.

California, USA

A new study published from the

University of Southern California

(USC) indicates that your friends

in middle school may have more

impact on your smoking behavior

than your high school. According

to the research indicates that in-

terventions targets to counteract

friends inuence has more effect in

middle school than in high school

and that parents remain inuen-

tial on smoking habits throughout

high school. Researchers analyzed

data from 1,001 adolescents who

participated in the Midwestern

Prevention Project, a community

based substance abuse preven-

tion program. The full trial followed

people from 11 to 37. Participants

were rst observed in seventh

grade and then annually until their

senior year of high school. They

were asked to indicate the number

of close friends and parents that

smoked cigarettes and how many

cigarettes they had smoked in the

last month. Results conrmed that

both friends and parents has a

signicant effect on cigarette use

in both middle school and high

school. However friends inu-

ence was usually greater in middle

school than in high school where-

as parental inuence remained

stable between the two periods

only decreasing in effect from the

10th grade to the 12th grade.

Researchers also observed gen-

der differences. Friends inuence

on cigarette smoking was greater

for girls than for boys during the

ninth and 10th grade but greater

for boys during the 11th and 12th

grade.

variety of classes some of which

include Introduction to Environ-

mental Engineering, Hydrology

and Mining Impact modules, and

the summer eld environmental

session course, as well as an En-

vironmental Engineering Module

class, Geo-microbial systems,and Watershed Biogeochemistry

seminar.

Sharp said he wanted to work

at Colorado

School of

Mines be-

cause The

location is

f a n t a s t i c ,

[and] I like

the size of the

school. I grew

up in a small

town and so

I think being in a smaller town

like Golden and [teaching at] a

small school just feels a lot better

to me. I also like the department

that I am in. I just think that it has

a lot of really good people and a

fantastic trajectory, I like the strat-

egy and the directions they are

taking things. It just seemed like

a good place to come as a junior

faculty member and thrive as well

as a great town for my family.

I just think that it has a lot

of really good people and

a fantastic trajectory, I like

the strategy and the direc-

tions they are taking things.

Denver welcomed approxi-

mately one thousand physicists

April 13-16 for American Physi-

cal Societys April Meeting. Sev-

enteen APS units participated in

the meeting, including the Divi-

sion of Astrophysics, the Division

of Nuclear Physics, the Forum on

Graduate Student Affairs, the Fo-

rum on Education, and the Topi-

cal Group on Gravitation.

In one breakout session, Sci-

ence and Communication: a

Potent Cocktail, presenters dis-

cussed reasons for and methods

of outreach to non-physicists. Dr.

Sydney Perkowitz

of Emory Univer-

sity gave physicists

concrete sugges-

tions for effectiveoutreach in his talk

Talking Physics to

Regular People:

The Why and the How.

He offered a list of eight tips.

- First, gear presentations to

the audiences level.

- Second, in introductions, ex-

plain the topics signicance to

science, society, the audience,

and the presenter.

- Third, talk no longer than the

allotted time.

- Fourth, spend one minute

per slide when using a power-

point. Remember this is not your

APS presentation, Perkowitz

warned.

- Fifth, minimize jargon andacronyms. If they must be used,

Perkowitz says, Dene them the

rst time you use them.

- Sixth, use math only in a

table or graph, never as an equa-

tion.

- Seven, wrap up talks with a

reminder of the signicance of the

topic.

- Eighth, and most important-

ly, ideas trump details.

Complex adaptive systems

can be modeled using physics-

inspired, coarse-grained theo-

ries, according to Dr. Geoffrey

West of the Santa Fe Institute.

West presented the Leo Szilard

Lectureship Award Talk on Uni-

versal Scaling Laws from Cells to

Cities : A Physicis ts Search for

Quantitative, Unied Theories of

Biological and Social Structure

Dynamics.

West explained that he began

his research to answer the ques-

tion, Why do humans live 100

years, rather than two or three

like a mouse? He joked that the

question interested him more as

his own end approached.

In studying bio-

logical systems,

West discovered

that metabolic

rate scales ap-

proximately as the

3/4 power of mass

over 27 orders of

magnitude from

complex molecules to the larg-

est organisms. West argued that

these scaling rules indicated that

fundamental constants underlie

much of the generic structure and

dynamics of living systems.

He then switched his focus to

social systems, such as cities and

companies. West found that the

structures of these systems, such

as crime, wages, and patents,

also scale similarly across the

globe, reecting underlying uni-

versal social network dynamics

which point to general principlesof organization transcending their

individuality.

West said that this principle

had dramatic implications for

global sustainability. He argued

that true sustainability requires a

quantitative understanding of the

underlying social systems. West

implored his audience to use their

thought processes to improve the

world.

Deborah Good

Editor-in-Chief

Denver hostsAmerican PhysicalSociety meeting

Why do humans

live 100 years, rather

than two or three

like a mouse?


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f e a t u r e s april 15, 2013page 4


Founded in the 1980s, the Colo-rado School of Mines cycling teamwas revamped in 2005. Today, the

club has about 35 active memberswho participate in mountain biking.Types of mountain biking are crosscountry, short track, downhill andendurance racing, cycle cross, androad racing, including team and in-dividual time trials, criteriums, androad races. The cycling seasonhappens during both the fall andspring semester of school with ashort break over winter break. Thisyears president, Ian Bloomeld,only participates in the fall, duringthe downhill mountain biking com-petitions, but Nick Jimenez, theteam treasurer participates in bothseasons. Both would vouch thattheir event is better than the other,but when it comes down to it, they

are both bike racing events.The club allows for as much oras little training as the participantswant. Throughout the year, theclub offers one ride a week that is agroup social ride where riders canmeet other riders, talk biking, andget a in a good work-out. The teamhas numerous stationary bike train-ers for wet, or snowy days. Whenasked about how much trainingis needed, Jimenez said, For theserious racers training is almost a

Club SpotlightCyclingKC Kent

Staff Writeryear-long thing, typically consist-ing of six to seven days on thebike a week, with both distanceand speed workouts. But not allcyclists at Mines have the time ordedication to put that much timeinto cycling. On this, Jimenez said,If you want to be a successful bikeracer you need to spend a lot oftime in the saddle. Not all mem-bers participate in the club to beserious bikers, some have joinedto simply have a fun and enjoythe thrill of competition receivedthrough racing.

Races take place in several lo-cations across Colorado includingSteamboat, Durango, Red FeatherLakes, Sol Vista, and many more.

The team fee of $50 covers thecosts of transportation, lodging,and race entry fees. Within tworaces, the fee usually pays for itself,and with a third race, the requiredcollegiate racing license also will

pay for itself. There are no require-ments to attend all races, but ac-cording to Jimenez, They are aton of fun! The best way to join theteam is to sign up for the mailinglist at the club fair at the beginningof the year. Club Cycling also hasa Facebook page with informationon races, signing up for the team,and general information about theclub. This years CSM race wascanceled so look for the team nextyear when they race around Mines.

Clear Creek Wine and Spiritsis an up and coming liquor storein the Golden Community, having

only been around since the begin-ning of the year. What they lack infamiliarity, they make up for with aknowledgeable and friendly staff,good prices, and a unique selec-tion of wine, spirits, and beer.

Clear Creek Wine and Spiritsoffers a large selection of all kindsof spirits including bourbon, rye,whiskey, tequila, vodka, rum, andmixers. The owner will also takerequests. The beer selection in-

Community Spotlight: ClearCreek Wine and SpiritsJared Riemer

Content Managercludes all the major brands, Coors,Budweiser, Miller, etc., as well asmany other Colorado craft brewsand nationwide craft brews. ClearCreek Wine and Spirits also boastsa large selection of wines. If cus-

tomers have questions regardingany of their merchandise or simplywant to try a new drink, the staffwill help nd what they need. Cus-tomers will also nd many uniquebrands of some of their favoritespirits.

Located on the Southeast cor-ner of Washington and Highway58, (where the hydroponics storeused to be), they are close to cam-pus and well worth the short trip

Released for PC, Xbox 360,and PS3, BioShock Inniteturns away from the underwa-ter realm of the rst two gamesand goes to new heights, literally,taking place in the oating cityof Columbia in 1912. The playerplays as Booker Dewitt, a manfrom New York with a debt andguilt that can only be repaid if heretrieves a girl from Columbia.

The city of Columbia is com-prised of many different oatingislands and is lead by its Prophetknown as Comstock. Comstockcreated the city of Columbia and

formed it after the three Fathers.Father Washington, who gave theGolden Sword, Brother Franklinwho game the Golden Key, andFather Jefferson who game theGolden Scroll. As Booker headsthrough the city, he sees an ex-terior of fun, food, sunshine, andhappiness, but discovers thedeeper emotions for racial purityunder God. This includes racism,police brutality, and rebellion. Allthese things affect this oatingparadise, but they are no concernfor Booker. His only goal is to re-trieve the girl and wipe away his

Chase Tyree

Staff Writer debt. Story-wise, introducing theplot is all that can be said with-out spoiling all of the twists andturns that Bioshock Innite hasto offer.

The social implicat ions of thegame hit hard. For example, inone part of the game, the playerarrives at an arcade for childrenand sees that there is a white-only bathroom, which is wellmaintained and clean, along withanother part for servants, whichinclude African Americans, ho-mosexuals, and the Irish. In thesecond part, signs to behave andcall everyone sir or madamhang everywhere and the bath-rooms are dirty, broken, and can-

not even be called a bathroomreally.Complementing the various

scenes within the game, themusic is a great addition. Theorchestration ts the situationsalong with what is happening inthe game. The fusion of modernsongs in the game make it spe-cial. Fortunate Son, Will theCircle Be Unbroken, and GodOnly Knows are just a few thatappear, their reasons becom-ing clear as the game continues.Most of these fused songs comeduring emotional parts of the sto-

ryline, conveying emotion that aperson who was in that situationwould feel.

Lastly, there is the actualgameplay. BioShock Inniteplays like a book, with dialog,story, character development,and emotion, with the shoot-ing aspect of the game blendingseamlessly with the story. Likethe other Bioshock games, theplayer is able to use guns andvigors. Vigors, like the plasmids,are special superhuman abilitieslike blasting re from a charactershands or sending large groups ofcrows towards enemies. Usedstrategically, these can be a majorasset. With the guns, the player

may now only hold two, whichmeans hard decisions over whichweapons to use and which tothrow away.

BioShock Innite has re-ceived many great reviews, in-cluding a 5 out of 5 from AdamSessler, a famous game critic.Game Informer game Innite a10/10 and Electronic MonthlyGaming gave it a 10/10 as well.

The game denitel y deserves a10/10. The game combines theshooting genre with an amazingstoryline and beautiful art to cre-ate a masterpiece for all to enjoy.

Few meals are as enjoyable outin the wilderness as pancakes.

This recipe looks to take the classicoutdoor breakfast food and move itinto the kitchen.

Ingredients:3 cups of Krusteaz buttermilkpancake mix2 cups of watercup of fresh fruit (Optional)

cup of chocolate chips (Op-tional)SyrupMixing bowlWhiskPan or griddle

Camp stove cakesChase Tyree

Staff Writer1. Heat up the pan/griddle on

a camping stove, home stove, orturn on a griddle to medium heat(375 degrees). Lightly grease it withcooking spray or butter.

2. Place 3 cups of pancake mixin a bowl along with 2 cups of wa-ter. Blend the ingredients togetherwith a whisk until they are mixedwell, but still lumpy. For thickerpancakes, just add more mix tothe bowl.

3. Add the fruit or chocolatechips to the mix if desired and stiruntil they are evenly distributed.

4. Using a cup measure,scoop up the mixed batter andpour it on the pan or griddle.

5. Cook on each side for about60 to 75 seconds or until goldenbrown.

COURTESY K2 GAMES

out of downtown. Their selection ofalcohol covers all price ranges andtastes. Whether shopping for plas-tic handles or ne $100 liqueurs,they have it all. With a large selec-tion of homegrown Colorado beer

and spirits, competitive prices, anda friendly staff, this liquor store is astrong addition to the Golden com-munity. Clear Creek Wine and Spir-its offers a 5% discount to all Minesstudents, so Mines kids over 21should check them out sometimeand grab six-pack or two. ClearCreek Wine and Spirits is openMonday through Friday 10 am to10 pm, Saturday 10 am to 11 pm,and Sunday 10 am to 4 pm.

COURTESY K2 GAMES

The game combines the shooting genre with an amazing storyline and beautiful art.

CHASE TYREE / OREDIGGER

Classic outdoor breakfast food migrates into the kitchen.


5/8

f e a t u r e sapril 15, 2013 page


Disclaimer: This column is

an opinion formed by an author

who does not have an omniscient

knowledge of comics. It also con-

tains a fair number of spoilers for

the titular comic.Stephen Colbert is well known

for his satirical news show, The

Colbert Report, wherein he has

previously featured the animat-

ed adventures of Tek Jansen.

Jansen is a ctional hero who

battles alongside the futuristic Al-

pha Squad Seven as a patriotic

space freedom ghter who bears

a strong resemblance to Colbert.

This series was popular enough to

expand into a full comic. Thus was

born the Oni Presss short series

of Stephen Colberts Tek Jansen

comic books. This review focuses

on issues #1 and #2.

Issue #1 begins with Colonel

Tek Jansen inltrating and then

freeing a group of oppressed andconveniently attractive alien wom-

en by stepping on and allowing a

large cat to attack their oppressor.

After basking in the admiration

and gratitude of the ladies, Jan-

sen hops aboard his ship Star-

skipper, wherein the reader meets

his companionsC.A.S.E.Y., his

loyal (and usually maligned) ro-

botic monkey skipper, and Mean-

garr, the amorphous and evil little

blob Jansen loves and keeps in

a cage as a pet despite the fact

that Meangarr is determined to kill

Jansen through some foul method

of torture.

Jansen is then contacted by

Overseeress Braina, a female

disembodied brain who appearsto be his commanding ofcer.

Braina, like most women in this

comic, has clearly fallen frontal

lobe-over-brainstem for Jansen,

but he rebuffs her advances with

the statement that hes already

married to every helpless man,

woman, and child in this universe!

She chides him for killing a target

that he was supposed to capture

on his last mission, but eventually

clears him to land back at Alpha-

lon-7. Upon arrival, the landing

zone is lled with cheering crowds

and for once, they are not there

to cheer for him; it takes Jansen

a couple of pages to realize it. No,

the people have gathered to wel-

come a representative of a race

called the Optiklons, who offer

to share with them the secrets to

eliminating most forms of suffering

and the ability to create a utopia in

exchange for one micro-percent-age of Alph-

alon-7s sur-

plus energy.

Jansen, due

to a highly

d e v e l o p e d

combat in-

stinct and

not at all out

of jealousy,

is instantly

su sp i c i o u s

of this gener-

ous proposi-

tion, through

Braina for-

bids him

from inter-

fering in thes i t u a t i o n .

Jansen ac-

knowledges

the order,

then imme-

diately takes

the sensible

route for

handling his

disappoint-

ment and

heads off to

go drown

his sorrows

at a local

bar. A quick

brawl man-

ages to bol-

ster Jansensspirits and

he resolves

to stop

the nefari-

ous Optik-

lons despite

Brainas or-

ders! Of course, such bravery

lands him a beautiful alien woman

who Jansen wakes up alongside

the next morning. Realizing that

he overslept, Jansen straps on his

jet pack (and nothing else), grabs

his gun, and dashes off to confront

the Optiklon representative in front

of the planet. He urges the people

of Alphalon-7 to consider that in

a world where everybody is cared

for, how could you be better than

the next guy? After his heroic

declaration that the people can-

not allow themselves to face such

a terrible fate as true equality he

shoots the Optiklon representa-

tive, prompting their leader to de-

clare a war which Jansen proudly

promises to be ready for.

Issue #2 starts some time

after the last issue, with Braina

showing multiple planets that have

been destroyed by the Optiklons

ever since Jansen started the war.

Stephen Colberts Tek Jansen #1 and #2Jordan Francis

Staff WriterBraina angrily tells Jansen that as

punishment, he is being demoted

and sent back to Alpha U to take

his place among the inexperi-

enced cadets. Jansen, of course,

assumes that this is a cover story

so that he can help teach and in-

spire the newest generation and

cheerfully returns to his alma ma-ter. He enjoys

the admira-

tions of many

s t u d e n t s ,

part icu lar ly

f e m a l e s ,

and has no

trouble with

any of his

classes until

a professor

begins lec-

turing on the

Tec hn iqu es

of Surren-

der. Jansen,

c o n v i n c e d

that no self-

r e sp ec t i n gAlpha Squad

m e m b e r

would ever

consider sur-

rendering, at-

tempts to rip

the mask off

of the impos-

ter professor.

Unfortunate-

ly, the profes-

sor turns out

not to have

been an im-

poster, so

Jansen rips

off his face

by accident.

Determinedto prove his

point, Jansen

grabs a few

cadets, com-

mandeers a

shuttle, and

heads off to

strike rst in the deadly Antago-

verse, home of the Antagons,

evil duplicates of everyone who

exists. Despite the protest of

the scared and uncertain cadets,

Jansen presses onward, encour-

aging his inexperienced crew to

engage in both space and ground

combat. After a few impressive

ghts and a run-in with one of his

many love interests, Jansen and

the surviving members of his crew

return to Alpha U, expecting a lec-

ture from the now faceless profes-

sor. Much to their surprise though,

the professor tells them that the

ships they had attacked wereOptiklon spies who were seeking

deadly weapons in the Antagov-

erse. Jansen, of course, tells the

young cadets that he knew this

all along, gaining their respect

and admiration for life. The cadets

take the lessons of bravery, rst

strikes, ghting hard at all costs,

and refusing to surrender to heart,

as evidenced by the nal page

of the comic where the reader

learns that most of them were

killed, captured, or permanently

traumatized in the following years

of the war. Tek Jansen, however,

survived them all and swore to

avenge them.

This comic is chock-full of

Colberts usual tongue-in-cheeksatire and humor, but manages

to take shots at grand concepts

such as blind patriotism, loyalty,

and hero worship. The comic fea-

tures many clichs like sidekicks

who love the hero no matter how

he treats them, companions who

the hero loves despite how abra-

sive they are in return, plot clichs

and contrivances common to he-

ro-based comics, and even some

of the admittedly stupid naming

conventions of the industry. The

little character interactions, such

as those between C.A.S.E.Y. and

Jansen, Meangarr and anyone

else, or Jansen and anyone of au-

thority, are pretty funny and keep

the reader laughing and interestedbetween the main plot points.

These are good comics that have

an actual entertaining story that

audiences will want to follow, but

the issues never take themselves

too seriously and play up the sat-

ire whenever they can. This work

has Stephen Colberts signature

style and ngerprints all over it.

Regardless of whether or not they

are regular comic book readers,

audiences who enjoy Colberts

humor or satire in general, and

science ction enthusiasts alike

would enjoy this series.

Mines Urban Gaming Club

(UGC), as told by founder and cur-

rent treasurer Kate Lyssy, is a club

that promotes non-academic re-

lated games to relieve stress for

students and provides ways for

students to not be stuck doing

homework all the time.

The organization is currently run

by Ethan Morton-Gaught with oth-

ers in what is known as the mod

core. The mods create, plan, and

execute games including the fa-

mous Humans vs. Zombies (HvZ.)

UGC games have expanded toinclude Assassins, Mines Hunger

Games, and soon to come Quid-

ditch. Morton-Gaught said that

The games of UGC are intended

to be the best they can be. Dur-

ing UGC games, the mods are also

the game masters and the referees

who run the game with no outside

help.

For those who may not be very

familiar with UGCs gaming options,

here are a few descriptions.

At the beginning of Assassins,

players who have signed up with

the computer system will be given

the pictures and info of two other

players. It is their job to kill, or as-

sassinate, said players. This can

be done in any creative way pos-

sible, but if the player being stalked

sees the killer before the assas-

sination can happen, the assassin

can be called out and must wait 15

minutes before they can go after

their target again. Once a player is

killed, the killing player obtains that

persons targets. This continues on

throughout the game until one per-

son remains, who will then becomethe champion assassin.

Based on the famous series,

Mines Hunger Games is a game

of killing and survival on campus.

UGC provides weapons and cre-

ates a cornucopia on Kafadar

around which players form a circle.

After the countdown, players have

free range on campus to hide, kill,

attack, and survive. Once players

start dying, they will later be re-

leased as zombies like in HvZ and

are able to hunt the remaining play-

ers until only one remains.

The largest of all of UGCs

games is known as Humans vs

Zombies. The game is essentially

a giant game of tag with everyone

starting off as humans and three

players become infected humans.

If a human player is tagged, they

become a zombie and try to tag

other humans. Humans are able

to defend themselves using Nerf

guns and foam swords and tag-

ging zombies with these weapons.

It soon becomes a ght for survival

as the number of humans dwindle

down and the zombie horde num-ber rises. These numbers are also

put to the test during day and night

missions around campus.

Speaking of HvZ, the next game

starts on April 22, 2013. To play,

join UGCs Orgsync page, sign the

release form located on the page,

and attend one of the info ses-

sions. Returning players who have

performed all of these actions are

ready to play. All that is necessary

Urban Gaming Club and the fght against the zombie uprisingChase TyreeStaff Writer

CHASE TYREE / OREDIGGER

The mods of the Urban Gaming Club ready for action.

is to enter name and information

into the HvZ game database on the

UGC website.

The info sessions for this week

are on Thursday April 18 at 8 pm,

Saturday April 20 at 12 pm, and

Sunday April 21 at 7 pm. Rooms

will be announced through adver-

tisements so look for ads for HvZ.

UGC hopes that students join

in their games and hopes to see

many out in the eld.

COURTESY STEPHEN COLBERT


6/8

f e a t u r e s april 15, 2013page 6


This review contains major

spoilers for the movie. Those

who wish to keep the plot a

secret should skip to the ninth

paragraph.

Oz the Great and Powerful is

a new cinematic adventure thatreturns the audience to the magi-

cal land of Oz twenty years before

Dorothy rst set eyes on the fabled

yellow brick road. This movie sets

the audience alongside the Wizard

of Oz as he takes his journey from

simple con man to the great and

powerful ruler of Oz.

The movie starts with Oscars

Diggs (better known as Oz), a

traveling circus magician and ex-

perienced con man in the familiar

land of Kansas, preparing for his

latest show. During the course of

the tricks he uses to turn a prot, he

angers both the audience and the

circus strong man forcing him to run

away in a hot air balloon. The bal-

loon is caught up in a tornado, andDiggs is whisked away to a whimsi-

cal land of magic and color.

Upon arriving, he meets a young

witch named Theodora, who tells

him of a prophesy that a powerful

wizard with the same name as the

land will overthrow the wicked witch

who killed the king. After Theodora

learns of his nickname and sees a

few of the magic tricks he uses to

impress her, she tells him that he is

in the land of Oz, assumes he must

be the wizard, and takes him to

meet her sister in the Emerald City.

Along the way, Theodora becomes

infatuated with the Wizard and

Diggs saves a ying monkey named

Finley. Finley swears a life debt to

Diggs, and once Theodora is out ofearshot, Diggs tells Finley that he is

not the wizard and enlists the mon-

keys help in keeping up the act.

When they reach the Emerald City,

Theodoras more skeptical sister,

Evenora, asks the Wizard to prove

himself by killing the wicked witch,

Glinda.

Diggs and Finley set off on their

task but get sidetracked along the

way repairing a living china doll.

The audience can assume that this

character has a name, but shesonly ever referred to as Little Chi-

na Girl, or some variation thereof.

China Girl, now also somewhat en-

amored with the Wizard, refuses to

leave their company and joins them

on the quest to kill the wicked witch.

Of course, the trio nds out that

Glinda and Evenora are sisters and

that Evenora, who gave them their

quest, is the true evil witch.

Evenora watches this transpire

through her crystal ball and decides

to turn Theodora against Diggs.

She tells her sister that Diggs was

making advances towards both of

them, which breaks Theodoras

heart. Evenora offers to help take

the pain away and gives her a mag-

ic apple that turns her heartlessand also green, for some reason.

Glinda is unquestionably the

smartest character in this movie.

She almost instantly sees through

the Wizards charade and essen-

tially tells him that he does not have

to be the wizard they were expect-

ing, he just has to be inspirational

and helpful enough to incite the

rebellion against the wicked witch.

Diggs starts to question whether all

this trouble is worth the effort or if he

should just go home.

Of course, since the movie has

to give the audience the correct set-

up for the world of the original mov-

ie, The Wizard of Oz, Diggs does

come back to help Glinda eventu-

ally. But what he does to ght thewitches is a cool part of the movie,

and as seen in the original lm, it

works and Diggs becomes the Wiz-

ard of Oz, ruler of the land of Oz.

He has the few people who know

by this point that hes not really a

wizard help rig up a machine that

projects his oating head to anyone

who wants to see him, then gives

various gifts to those who helped

him take the throne.

Some of the gifts are thoughtful,

some are obvious tripe that he justhappened to have laying around,

and some are just downright insult-

ing to everyone but the recipient.

For example, he tells Finley that

he is giving him a gift he has never

given beforehis friendship. This

would be quite touching, if it were

not for the fact that there are several

other people standing in the room at

that time who probably thought that

they were Ozs friends as well. After

giving the gifts, he takes the throne

and presumably waits around until

Dorothy shows up on his doorstep.

Spoiler-free below:

This movie is okay. The visuals

are good, covered in the expected

Disney level of magic and whimsy,

though if seen in 2D, it is fairly obvi-ous at times that the lm was meant

to be viewed in 3D. The contrast

between the black and white world

of Kansas and the color world of Oz

does not quite have the same ef-

fect today as it had when the origi-

nal Wizard of Oz came out, but it

is still an effective way to show the

shift in tone and it does bring up a

bit of nostalgia for viewers who have

seen the original. The environment

of Oz is gorgeous and highly varied

depending on which part of the land

the characters are in, but all too of-

ten it is a little too noticeable that

it is fake. Again, this is with the 2D

perspective, but live action charac-

ters are often noticeably standing

in front of a green screen and whilesome interactions between CGI and

human characters work well (such

as when Finley sits on Diggs shoul-

der and some scenes with Eveno-

ras ying baboons), the disconnect

between the two usually winds up

being fairly obvious. For instance, it

never looks like Oz is holding Little

China Girl, and in a scene where

the baboons grab Glinda, the audi-

ence can easily see that something

besides the baboons was lifting her

up. The visuals for the nal battleare spectacular. In fact, all of the -

nal scenes are entertaining.

Character development on the

other hand, is forced at best. Most

of the Wizards moments of growth

are forced and contrived and in the

end, he does not appear to have

learned much, as evidenced by his

gifts, almost all of which are either

trivial or demean the other gifts

and the recipients of those gifts.

Theodoras subplot of turning evil

is plagued by inconsistencies and

irritations. She blindly trusts her sis-

ter and hence turns evil with no real

build-up. She becomes vengeful

against Oz without a good reason.

After all, if she had no heart, why did

she still care about the slights shebelieved he performed against her?

It is fairly enjoyable to see Glinda as

the cunning, manipulative, smart

character in this lm. She sees

through Diggs immediately, always

recognizes the situation and the

assets available to her and works

within those bounds, and manages

to manipulate events to her desired

outcome.

The biggest annoyance with

both the characters and the plot,

however is the fact that, with the

exception of the tornado, literally

all of the problems and conicts in

the lm could be solved if the char-

acters took about thirty seconds to

sit down with each other and ask

questions or explain themselvesregarding the situation at hand. It

is not that one part of the plot is

driven by such misunderstand-

Oz the Great and Powerful well receivedJordan Francis

Staff Writer

ing. Almost every part of the story

is built on some miscommunica-

tion. Diggs could have even kept

up the pretense of being the Wiz-

ard if he had ever bothered to sit

down and straighten out the other

incorrect ideas or if other charac-

ters had stopped to ask a couple

of key questions before charging

ahead and acting on assumptions.One or two of these sort of misun-

derstandings in a movie is, while

sometimes still annoying, under-

standable because the characters

are supposed to be human and

humans screw that sort of thing up

sometimes. An entire plot based on

a constant stream of incorrect as-

sumptions, particularly in situations

where questions should have been

asked, is infuriating and honestly a

bit insulting to audience members.

Die-hard fans of this franchise

will like this movie. Even for the ca-

sual audience member, it is a lot of

fun to get a chance to re-visit the

Land of Oz and there are plenty

of smile-inducing references in the

movie to both the original lm andthe books. The magic tricks Diggs

performs to fool the citizens and

help out where he can are inventive,

creative, and entertaining. It is a lot

of fun to see Glinda take charge and

basically become a temporary gen-

eral and it is neat to hear this take on

how the Oz got to the state it was in

when Dorothy found it. The movie is

pretty to look at and there are a few

funny lines in there. However, fans

who demand that more than one

character in a movie display com-

mon sense on a regular basis might

want to wait and rent the lm so

they can skip forward when these

interactions get too irritating. Audi-

ences who can enjoy something

despite the fact that nearly every-one in charge is usually incapable

of any sort of critical thinking should

probably give this lm a try.

Die-hard fans of this franchise will like this movie. Even

for the casual audience member, it is a lot of fun to get a

chance to re-visit the Land of Oz.

COURTESY DISNEY


7/8

s p o r t sapril 15, 2013 page 7


The Colo rado School of Mines

baseball team played the CSU-Pueblo Thunderwolves at Rawl-

ings Field, losing the rst two

games, but taking the nightcap of

the Saturday game with a spec-

tacular pitching performance by

Blake Dunham.

In the Orediggers 4-2 loss on

Friday night, sophomore righty

Ben Gilman started on the mound

and took the loss, as CSUP

scored four runs, one of which

was earned. The Mines defense

committed two errors, but Gil-

mans performance was solid

overall, including six strikeouts.

Freshman righty Michael Tanner

relieved Gilman with two innings

of no-hit ball.

On the offensive side, senior

outelder Bobby Egeberg led the

way, going 2-3 and scoring on

Baseball takeson CSU-PuebloKaterina Gonzales

Content Managera double-steal of home. Senior

catcher Jordan Williams drove in

Egeberg with an RBI single in the

fourth inning.

Mines had no better luck Sat-urday in the rst game, as they

lost 6-1. Sophomore pitcher Eric

Shannon started for the second

time in his collegiate career and

lasted four and two-thirds innings,

allowing ve runs, three of which

were earned. Nick Vittulli ended

the game in relief, allowing one

earned run. Williams scored the

lone run of the game for the Ore-

diggers.

Saturdays evening game was

quite the turnaround for CSM. The

offense exploded to score nine

runs overall. Blake Dunham put

forth a great performance, even

carrying a no-hitter into the fth.

Mines nished up the series

Sunday and will play the Regis

University Rangers next weekend

in Denver.

This year, Sydney Liming andJohn Howard worked together

to create a collegiate club vol-

leyball league for Colorado and

Wyoming. There has never been

such a league within either state.

Over the last few years, the team

had participated in adult womens

leagues. There are 16 teams from

CSM, CSU, CU, DU, CMU, UCD,

UNC, and Wyoming that make

up the new league. Volleyball

played in 6 regional tournaments

throughout the 2012-2013 school

year, and continually placed at

least one team in the top 2 at the

tournaments. The tournaments

have been held at all of the dif-

ferent schools, with two tourna-

ments being held at Mines.The program has continual ly

improved and grown over the last

few years. Four years ago, the

team was unorganized and very

rarely won. However, as the pro-

gram grew the Womens Club

Volleyball Team became more

and more competitive. Along with

their newly acquired league and

membership, the team regularly

attends the NCVF National Tour-

nament. The program now con-

sists of two teams that competeregularly, along with a practice

team of players that attend only

practices.

Back in 2011, the Womens

Club Volleyball team won the

NCVF National Championship.

Looking to reclaim the title two

years later, the team recently

travelled to Dallas, Texas on April

3-6 to compete in the national

tournament which is comprised

of over 300 teams. After winning

all 3 matches of pool play on day

one without dropping a single

set, and splitting their games on

day two, the team advanced to

the single game elimination. On

the nal day of the tournament

Mines beat the reigning champsGonzaga in straight sets for their

rst win on the day. Unfortunately

the team lost their second match

to the University of Miami and n-

ished in 5th place overall. Along

with their 5th place nish, senior

setter Sydney Liming was named

to the D1AAA 2nd Team All-Tour-

nament.

Unfortunately the Club Vol-

leyball Team has no more re-

maining games or tournaments

this season. However, you cannd the schedules for at least 5

tournaments next year. Please

visit http://recsports.mines.

edu/2REC-Club-Sports-Women-

Volleyball -Blue or email club-

[email protected] for more

information on next years sched-

ule.

If you are interested in join-

ing the Womens Club Volleyball

team, youre in luck. The teams

are graduating 8 seniors and are

looking to ll the void on their

rosters with fresh young talent.

Please email club-volleyballw@

mines.edu for any and all infor-

mation regarding tryouts for the

upcoming fall semester. The try-

outs are usually held in late Au-gust or early September once the

school year gets under way. You

can sharpen your skills for tryouts

or just have some fun playing vol-

leyball by attending the open gym

sessions in Lockridge Arena on

Mondays and Thursdays from

7:00-9:00 P.M. for the remainder

of the semester.

Club volleyball takes ona new inter-state leagueMichael Kissinger

Club Sports

ALL PHOTOS COURTESY CLUB SPORTS

In 2011, the Womens Club Volleyball team won the NCVF National Championship.

There are 16 teams from CSM, CSU, CU, DU, CMU, UCD, UNC, and Wyoming that make

up the new league.

Led by underclassmen Phil

Schneider and McKenzie Zeman,

the Colorado School of Mines out-

door track and eld team had a

successful return to Boulder on Sat-

urday, boasting 36 top-10 nishes

at the Colorado Invitational at CUsPotts Field.

Schneider led a strong contin-

gent of Orediggers in the mens

1500, taking second overall out of

38 runners in a time of 8:42.50, and

was 10th in the 48-runner, 1500 eld

in 4:02:01.

Senior Russell Drummond and

junior Frank Socha nished third and

seventh in the 3000 with respective

times of 3:57.72 and 4:01.37, while

senior Rick Davey (8:48.36), red-shirt

freshman Derek Alcorn (8:49.84),

senior Adam Bodnar (8:52.61) and

junior Andrew Epperson (8:53.50)

placed six through nine in the 3000.

Zeman won her heat of the wom-

ens 200 in 25.88 en route to third

overall out of 19 competitors andwas seventh-fastest overall in the

400 with a time of 59.21. Both times

are personal-records and rank No. 2

and No. 3, respectively, in the school

record book.

Freshman Margarita Schvachko

was ninth in the 400 in 1:00.01.

In the mens 400, freshmen Ian

Rozier and Nicholas Masching went

8-9 in 50.74 and 51.75.

Senior Tyler Curtis was the top

Division II runner in the 3000-meter

steeplechase with a NCAA Pro-

visional and second-place time

of 9:22.75, second-fastest in the

RMAC this season and eighth-best

nationally after conversions. He also

took eighth in the 400 hurdles in

1:01.85.

Away from the track, sophomore

Ben Timmer took third and tied his

school-record from last weekend at

the Air Force Relays in the pole vault,

clearing 15-7.00 (4.75 meters); fresh-

man Kenneth Philpott was eighth in

the high jump at 6-1.25 (1.86 me-

ters) and freshman James Lewis and

red-shirt freshman Andrew Eberle

posted eight- and ninth-place efforts

21-2.00 (6.45 meters) and 20-6.25

(6.25 meters) in the long jump.

In the javelin, senior Matt Schro-

eder and sophomore Nicolo Redfern

had respective throws of 135-8.50

(41.36 meters), 128-7.25 (39.19

meters) to rank sixth and seventh on

the day.

Freshman Jacob Hollister (43-5.75; 13.25 meters) and red-shirt

freshman Jace Warren (43-1.75;

13.15 meters) were 9-10 in the shot

put standings; sophomore Austin

Roup was 10th in the discus with

a mark of 149-5.50 (45.55 meters)

and junior Ryan Ewen took 10th in

the hammer throw with a toss of

155-2.75 (47.31 meters).

Sophomore Michelle Rigsby

notched a trio of top-10 efforts,

crossing in seventh in the womens

100 in 13.48 before taking sixth

in the long jump with a distance of

15-11.50 (4.86 meters) and ninth in

the triple jump, totaling 34-11 (10.64

meters).

Senior Hannah Schuster nished

seventh in the 22-runner, 1500 eldin 4:46.65, while classmate Hannah

Cooling (10:38.50), red-shirt fresh-

man Chloe Gustafson (10:38.50)

and senior Jackie Henderson

10:45.97 went 7-8-10 in the 3000

distance.

Junior Casie Ratzlaff earned

three top-10 nishes in the womens

throws, placing sixth in the discus

(115-9.25; 35.28 meters), eighth in

the shot put (36-2.75; 11.04 meters)

and 10th in the hammer throw (139-

3.25; 42.44 meters).

Junior Kristina Gallmeyer placed

eighth in the discus with a launch of

107-11.25 (32.89 meters) and se-

nior Bailey Hoover, fresh off her pro-

gram record from last Saturday, took

seventh in the hammer throw behind

a heave of 146-9.75 (44.74 meters).

Three meets dot the schedule for

the squads next weekend, begin-

ning with the two-day Western State

Open in Gunnison on April 19-20.

The Orediggers will also have partici-

pants at the Bryan Clay Invitational in

Azusa, Calif. as well as the renown

Mt. SAC Relays at Mt. San Antonio

College in Walnut, Calif. on Saturday.

Orediggers make goodefforts at Colorado inviteCourtesy CSM Athletics


8/8

o p i n i o n april 15, 2013page 8


Study Break

Editorials Policy

The Oredigger is a designated public forum.

Editors have the authority to make all con-

tent decisions without censorship or advanceapproval and may edit submitted pieces for

length so long as the original meaning of the

piece is unchanged. Opinions contained withinthe Opinion Section do not necessarily reect

those of Colorado School of Mines or The Ore-

digger. The Oredigger does not accept submis-sions without identifcation and will consider

all requests for anonymity in publication on a

case-by-case basis. Submissions less than 300words will receive preference.

Dear Editor,

In my opinion, the student body

at Mines seems to have a problem

with dening personal space and

pigheadedness, particularly on the

main sidewalks between classes.

I have been run into countless

times fromlazy students

who refuse to

respect theirhalf of the

sidewalk and

move out of

the way. Thisproblem is

greatly inten-

sied by the presence of snow.

The limited walking space createdby snow barriers leads to an ex-

cess number of physical collisions

because students are adamant

about standing their ground and

not moving to their half of the side-

walk.

I understand that they may be

mid-conversation with a friend but

I believe it is the respectful thing to

move either in front of or behind

the person you are walking with to

avoid running into someone else.

The courtesy level of students

in regardsto openingdoors and

holding themfor others is

outstanding

so why can

we not gureout how to

avoid each

other on our way to class?

Just last week I was standing

on the edge of the sidewalk talk-

ing to someone who was walking

away when a girl slammed into the

back of me and told me to watch

out. I was facing the other way

and not moving, the collision was

completely on her behalf.

If you were driving a car, you

would not run into the back of an-

other car just because it was not

moving. I think this kind of contact

is unnecessary and can easily be

avoided by people being courte-

ous on the sidewalks.I would really appreciate it and I

am sure others would as well if we

could all make a conscious effort

to not run into each other.

Sincerely,

Concerned Pedestrian

Letter to the Editor

You know what really grinds

my gears?

Whatever organizational body

is in charge of campus improve-

ment

This group has planned notonly to shut down every road in

inner campus, but they are also

planning on removing all non-glu-

ten and non-vegetarian options

from campus dining. This means

no more beef, no more chicken,

and no more good pasta or pizza.

As Ron White famously said, I

didnt climb to the top of the food

chain to eat carrots. These peo-

ple are trying to pressure us into

a t and active lifestyle that is sodifferent from the sedentary and

unathletic lifestyle we live now

that it is dangerous. I am truly

frightened. Furthermore, what

about student rights? I want the

right to drive my car wherever I

please, park it wherever I wish,

and walk however short I like. I

also feel like I have the right to eat

whatever I like.

This is a school of engineers,

not dieticians. We build stuff, domath, and

our appear-

ance suffers

as a result. Itis the way the

world works.S o m e o n e

has to be the

balding per-

son with poor

eyesight and

thick glasses

that ensures

the invest-

ment bankers Ferrari does not

collapse the bridge. Someone

has to be the computer program-

mer that keeps the electricity

owing so the Pauly Ds bass will

drop at the right moment. Finally,

someone has to be drillin hole,

to provide fuel so hundreds of

thousands of rednecks will have

some NASCAR to watch after

church on Sunday. As nerds, we

are perfectly ne with being the

workhorses of society, the white-

collar workhorse. If we all wanted

to be glamour models, we couldhave been,

but we an-

swered to a

higher call-

ing. Write

your locals e n a t o r ,

c o n g r e s s -

man, mayor,

justice of the

peace, radio

dj, gener-

ous donor,

or someone

who decided to make social net-

working a career and tell them

not to mess with our diet. We are

a society of enginerds, and if we

aint broke, dont x us. I want to

continue to raise my cholesterol

as I get older, and eat something

other than vegetables to get me

going.

And that, ladies and gentle-

men, is what grinds my gears.

Jarrod Sparks

Staff Writer

Grinds mygears

Bioshock Innite came out justlast week and has been the worst

game to come out since Legend of

Zelda: Ocarina of Time. This game

is so bad that it cant be explained

in one paragraph, but requires an

analysis its different aspects.

First off, the gameplay of this

game is a dumb idea. It is a rst

person shooter. A shooter? Guns

are immoral and even the thought of

guns should get school children sus-

pended from school to teach them

how bad they are. This game would

be better if your weapon were ow-

ers and you attack with the power

of love. Now that is a perfect game!

Guns lead to kids getting a hold of

their own guns and killing everyone

at their school for fun.

Story-wise, this game is just plain

stupid. A oating city in 1912? Thats

not possible. Thats like saying there

could be an underwater city in 1960.

Games need to be realistic. Now, if

the main character, Booker, were to

instead go to a Physics 200 class and

sit in on one of Stones lectures, that

would make the game more realistic.

Instead, Booker is told to go to this

magical oating city and retrieve

the girl to wipe away his debt. If this

guy was just a normal guy and didnt

give into the temptation of gambling

and drinking and instead turned toGod for everything, he wouldnt of

been in this mess and could live a

happy life. Also, most students whohave taken NHV are familiar with the

subject of gene splicing. This game

turns the subject into something

happy when Booker drinks strange

substances to gain these powers. It

looks like his alcoholism is coming

out again, which is the reason hes

there in the rst place. Booker is a

character that no one would want to

be, except maybe the people over at

CU Boulder.

This game is not good at all, with

shooting other people and splic-

ing your genes. That is just immoral

and not the will of God. 2K games is

not doing a good job with keeping

up with what the gamer community

wants. We want peaceful games that

teach love and being perfect instead

of games that are all about violence

and killing. The Oredigger would like

to put this game in the spot for worst

game ever. For a more fun time, go

home, open a can of sparkling wa-

ter, and play some ET: The Extra Ter-

restrial for the Atari 2600. That is a

perfect gaming night!

Bioshock InfniteChase Tyree

Staff Writer

Physicists across the countrywork to solve the mysteries of the

universe. The physics faculty and

graduate students and ColoradoSchool of Mines are no different.

They strive to answer mysteries and

questions such as: What is dark

matter? Are the branching ratios

of the Higgs Boson consistent with

the standard model? Is the proton

a fundamentally stable particle or

does it have a nite lifetime as pre-

dicted by some extensions to the

standard model? However, prob-

ably the single most asked question

in the physics department is, Does

Chuck Stone wear pants?

As a physics professor who has

taught both Physics I and Physics

II, Chuck Stone is one of the mostwell-known professors at Colorado

School of Mines, but few people if

any have ever seen him wear pants.

The Oredigger decided to take up

the investigation and interviewed

Stone himself to gure out the truth.

When asked whether or not he

ever wore pants, Stone recalled the

last time he had to wear pants. He

Campus Rumors: Does Chuck Stone wear pants?Erik Hake

Staff Writersaid, On Sunday February 17th

there was a big luncheon with

these students who had a really

prestigious scholarship here at this

school, the Boettcher foundation

scholarship. I got invited to the lun-

cheon, meet the president, a fewothers, and the Boettcher Scholars.

I was told This is a formal affair, you

better be there so I wore long pants

to that. And then that following Sat-

urday I had to help the physics de-

partment with Discover Mines, and

my department head Tom Furtalksaid and by the way I heard you

wore long pants to the presidents

luncheon, so you have to wear long

pants to my event.

When asked about why he is

never seen wearing pants on ordi-

nary days throughout the semester,

Stone explained, You dont realize

what youre missing when you wrapyourself up in a car and youre not

walking or riding your bike or just

enjoying the little commute. For me

its just so much easier, more com-

fortable, more convenient and more

appropriate.

You know if you are going to run

to campus, put on the shorts. If you

are going to ride the bike, put on the

shorts. Stone explained his pre-

ferred mode of transportation was

such because he prefers an active

lifestyle and wants to reduce his

carbon footprint. It should be not-

ed that Stone lives about six miles

away from campus. Now knowingthat Stone commutes without a car

to campus one would wonder what

Stone does in cold weather. But his

response to this question was, The

thing of it is, if youre moving, you

stay warm.

Now everyone can sleep in

peace knowing the truth about

Stones pants.

Worst game in all of history?

This group has planned not

only to shut down every road

in inner campus, but they are

also planning on removing

all non-gluten and non-veg-

etarian options from campus

dining.

I would really appreciate it

and I am sure others would

as well if we could all make

a conscious efort to not run

into each other.

The Oredigger Issue 23 - April 15, 2013

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Transcript of The Oredigger Issue 23 - April 15, 2013