the oredigger issue 01 - september 7. 2009

8/14/2019 The Oredigger Issue 01 - September 7. 2009

1/12

Volume 90, Issue 1 September 7, 2009

News 2 Features 5 opiNioN - 10 sports - 11

~network updates

~campus admin changes

~greek recruitment

~campus benefactors

~financial advice

~tims two cents

~football preview

~im sports

satire 12~black holes

~top ten

Photo of the Week: The Hall of Justice came down over the summer; see the story on page 4. More photos are at oredigger.net.ALEC WESTERMAN / OREDIGGER

Each year, the incoming Fresh-

man class at Mines completes a

tradition well-known across the

campus: the M-Climb. While this

years climb was different than in

years past upperclassmen were

not allowed to toss water balloons at

the M-Climb participants the event

was, by all accounts, still a success.

Freshman Trevor Crane from

Colorado Springs enjoyed himself;

No water balloons requiredM-Climb declared a success with largest incoming class ever

It was pretty good... Its something

I feel like you have to do. He contin-

ued, It was a good chance to meet

people and just hang out. It unies

the class and gets them excited

about the school theyre going to.

Blue Key, which will be selling

Jake Rezac

Content Manager

pink bulbs designed for the M to

support breast cancer, helps to co-

ordinate the event. Members of the

society thought the climb went well.

Kelly Fleming, Blue Keys M-Chair

said, It was a success! No one got

hurt like they did last year. Blue Key

President Karl Gra-

ham added, For

the largest freshman

class in history, itwent pretty smooth-

ly. They still had fun

despite no water

balloons. People still

had smiles on their

faces.

F l e m i n g e x -

plained a few of the

reasons she helps

out with the event

and thinks its im-

portant; It builds

school spirit... its a

tradition. She con-

tinued, describing

the history of the

M-Climb, When

they made the M in

1908, they rode upon donkeys with a

group of students

and teachers and

they built the M. It

was a senior design

project, and it was

designed so that no

matter what angle

you look at it, it looksThe class of 2013, the largest class in CSM history, whitewashes the M in ne school tradition.

like an M. And so every year since

then, theyve been making the fresh-

men go up there with a rock, and...

every year when they graduate, the

seniors are supposed to go up and

take a rock down.

Many upperclassmen were upset

when Student Activities banned

water balloons. Both Blue Key and

Student Activities responded to that

complaint.I think its mostly because last

year, there were a few incidents

where people got a little carried

away or they werent following the

rules that were set out for water

balloons, Fleming explained, add-

ing, a couple [of] windshields got

broken last year.

In an email sent to the school,

Derek Morgan, Associate Dean of

Students, said, Water balloons have

the potential to cause serious injuries

to students. Additionally, the debris

left behind from the balloons pollutes

the mountain side and contradicts

our mission to be stewards of the

earth. He added, The M-Climb

should communicate the symbolic

message that Mines will be difcult,but there are people and resources

at Mines to help you make it to the

top.

Crane commented that Morgans

sentiments were fulfilled. I was

expecting it to be harassing, but

it turned out they were handing us

water and handing us ice pops. It

was a lot easier than I thought.

pg 3Mines makes

the switch

PHOTO COURTESY PAUL SZUHAY


2/12

Comcast customers re- joice: download speedshave doubled because thecompany has deployedwide-band technology in theDenver-Metro area.

Mines was placed 34thin the Top 50 Public Univer-sities and 77th in the BestNational Universities by USNews and World Report.

The site of the former Hall

of Justice is reportedly slat-ed to house part of a newEarth Energy Institute com-plex. A grant request hasbeen submitted to the Na-tional Institute of Standardsand Technology for $18 mil-lion to build a new laboratoryon the site.

Bidding for constructionon the expansion to BrownBuilding is expected to be-gin in December.

CSMs Mens Soccerteam christened the brand

new soccer eld with a 5-1win over the Northwest Naz-arene Crusaders.

CSMs Womens Soc-cer team is currently tied forfourth in the NSCAA CentralRegion rankings.

N e w s September 7, 2009Page 2

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

Oredigger Staff

Sara Post

Editor-in-Chief

Lily GiddingsManaging Editor

Zach BoernerCopy Editor

Abdullah AhmedBusiness Manager

Amanda GraningerDesign Editor

Ryan BrowneWebmaster

Robert GillAssistant Business Manager

Ian LittmanAssistant Webmaster

Mike StoneFools Gold Content Manager

Tim WeilertContent Manager

Jake RezacContent Manager

Spencer NelsonContent Manager

Neelha MudigondaContent Manager

David FrossardFaculty Advisor

Headlines from around the world Local News

Jaycee Lee Dugard, who hasbeen missing for the last 18 yearsafter being kidnapped as an elev-en-year-old, was found alive afterspending years in captivity with al-leged abductors Philip and NancyGarrido. Dugard was found tohave two daughters, aged 11 and15, both fathered by Garrido.

Jonathon Ayers, a pastor ata northern-Georgia Baptist churchwas shot and killed after hittinga police ofcer with his car whiledriving with a suspect in a drugsting. Although nothing illegal was

found in Ayerss car, it is suspectedthat the pastor was taking part in adrug transaction.

The Democratic Party of Japanhas proposed a plan that wouldpay parents $3,400 (US) per yearper child until the child reacheshigh school age. It is expected thatthis plan, if passed, could increaseJapans birthrate, which is one ofthe lowest in the world. Currently,roughly one fourth of the popula-tion of Japan is over the age of 65.

Twelve bombings in Iraq killedat least six people and woundedroughly 85 more. Eleven of thebombings occurred in the eve-ning, when streets are busiestduring the holy time ofRama-

dan. Another bomb explodedoutside of a Shiite shrine. The United States Trea-

sury announced changes toold legislation that will make iteasier for Cuban-Americansto contact relatives still liv-ing in Cuba. These changesallow for telephone com-munication with non-Cubanproviders, and for familymembers to visit relatives still

Emily Trudell, Staff Writer

Jake Rezac, Content Manager

living in Cuba.Ten weeks after his death, pop

star Michael Jackson was buriedat his nal resting place in a cem-etery in Glendale California. Alongwith Jacksons three children andother members of the family, thefuneral was attended by Jacksonsex-wife, Lisa Marie Presley, andstars such as Elizabeth Taylor andStevie Wonder.

Michelle and Jim Bob Duggar,stars of the TLC television show18 Kids and Counting an-nounced that they are expecting

their nineteenth child, stating thateach one is a blessing. The government reported that

unemployment has reached a 26year high, climbing to 9.7% since

August 2008. Though the amountof job losses decreased in Augustrelative to earlier months this year,6.9 million jobs havebeen lost since

the beginning of 2008.Isaac Owusu, an 18-year-old

Vermont teen, will serve 90 daysin prison of a two year sentence,after texting two teenaged girls,prompting them to send him lewdvideos and pictures of themselvesperforming sexual acts. This wasthe states rst sexting case, and

Vermont lawmakers have decidedto decriminalize sexting, allow-ing for the sexual assault chargesagainst Owusu to be dropped.

As part of a campaign for Ride2 Recovery, a charity program

that supports wounded veterans,a dinner date with former Alaskagovernor Sarah Palin is beingauctioned off. The bidding be-gins Tuesday with a starting bid of$25,000 for a dinner for ve, andthe auction will be open for tendays.

Chicago, IL: New research from the University of Chi-cago explains how an algorithm based on Googles PageRank the algorithm which determines the importancewebsites presented for a given search can be used tomodel food web collapse. With humans and other animalsoften making changes to ecosystems, it can be hard todetermine any negative effects. The new algorithm, how-

ever, determines outcomes very well and efciently. Theresearchers explained that it works as well as the bestknown algorithm, but takes much less time.

Amsterdam, The Netherlands: Scientists

from the Netherlands Cancer Institute have dis-covered how T-cells work to help the immunesystem, research which may inspire more effec-tive medicines. T-cells are each programmed dif-ferently, and it may be that only 1 in 100,000 willhelp with a specic pathogen. The research showsthat it is the amount of T-cells created after theybegin to attack the pathogen which determinesthe strength of the immune system, rather than theinitial number of T-cells which attack.

Sydney, Australia: Researchers at the Uni-versity of New South Wales have determined thatvaccinating women against the human papilloma-virus (HPV) may help to prevent breast cancer. Theresearchers have found that strains of HPV, whichcauses nearly all cases of cervical cancer, are oftenpresent in breast cancer cells. Researchers aroundthe world have linked HPV to breast cancer, butdisagree on how often the two are related. Scien-tists hope that these new ndings will help the mil-lions diagnosed with breast cancer each year.

Cape Canaveral, FL: Astronautshave began work on the nal node tobe attached to the International SpaceStation (ISS). The astronauts are layingpower cable in anticipation of the ISSsnal node, Tranquility, which will be at-

tached in February. Included with thelast node will be material for a Russiandocking module and equipment for aparticle physics experiment.


3/12

n e w sSeptember 7, 2009 Page 3


The Colorado School of Mines

has been a state institution since

1876. Very few courses were of-

fered in the early years, such as

chemistry, metallurgy, geology,

mineralogy, mining engineering,

botany, math, and drawing. The

main focus during those times was

gold and silver. But as the institu-

tion grew, the elds expanded to

include the ones we have today.

The Colorado School of Minesis still continuing to grow, and there

are many plans that the administra-

tion is hoping to put into place in

the distant future. Dan Fox, Dean

of Students, stated that not only do

they want to create new programs,

but also coordinate the new pro-

grams with the old. There are a lot

of duplications between the differ-

ent programs, and the academic

administration wants to decrease

these replications and join all the

efforts together as a whole. This

will provide the students with a

better education and learning ex-

perience.

In accordance with a better

academic experience, the adminis-

tration hopes to make college life abetter experience as a whole. This

includes improvements on the resi-

dential halls and potentially build-

ing new ones. Fox wants the stu-

dents to be able to say, School of

Mines is my home. He implies that

Mines should be a second home

to students, a place of comfort. He

wants to create a stronger com-

munity and get the students more

involved by implementing new ex-

tracurricular activities and social

Kaneesa Felton

Staff Writer

events. A visioning committee has

been set up by the new Provost,

Steve Castillo, among many oth-

ers, to oversee these changes and

envision what these changes spe-

cically need to be.

These changes will not be

easy. Fox believes that everyone

needs to contribute to make these

changes possible. By contributing,

the students and faculty will get

out what they put in. They will be

able to enjoy their time at Mines

better and make the most of their

experience. Feedback on these

projects is already being perceived

as positive. These are changing

times, said Fox. He hopes to be

able to keep those quirky little tra-

ditions that other schools secretly

desire, like the annual M-Climb and

E-days, alive while adding in some

more modern customs. These are

meaningful processes and pro-

grams, Fox states.

Of course, it will be a different

campus with these changes, but

Fox doesnt see it like this. Were

creating a mosaic, he says. By

mosaic, Fox means putting dif-

ferent pieces together, some new

and some old, to form a bigger,

greater picture. This is [a] truly

holistic view, he stated. And ofcourse it will be rough. It will be

challenging and worthy and excit-

ing at the same time. Mistakes will

be made. But this is a part of the

learning process. And of course

some people will be opposed to

the ideas taking place. There wont

be complete agreement. But this is

a positive change, a good change.

As said best by Fox, its taking the

best of what we had and moving

forward.

Moving forward

Anyone who is familiar with the

current Mines webmail service will

tell you that the system is rather ar-

chaic. Editorials have been written,

accounts have been POPd, in-boxes have been lled to the brim,

outages have happened, and the

on-campus e-mail clusters have

run their course.

David Lee, director of enter-

prise systems for CCIT, is a man

on a mission. His goal is to migrate

the entire campus from its current

webmail service to a new Google-

powered system called MyMail.

Lee addressed ASCSM at their rst

meeting of the year, and later sat

down with the Oredigger for a dis-

cussion on the change.

E-mail has really become a

ubiquitous service, began Lee,

Its not like the old days. CSM,

as it turns out, has been sluggish

in outsourcing its e-mail. CU, CSU,Western State, and community col-

leges have already made the switch

to third party providers such as

Google and Microsoft.

Lee detailed the history of the e-

mail cluster, describing a constant

uphill struggle of managing simulta-

neous connections and constantly

upgrading hardware. Why did e-

mail become such a bother? Trends

in e-mail have taken various forms,

but it seems that current mobility

played a role in CSMs decision to

switch. We started getting mo-

bile devices and people began

checking their e-mail from multiple

locations. Because of Facebook

and other social networks, people

wanted to check more often, so

the demand for the system became

greater, said Lee.

So, why did Mines choose

Google? There was a clear-cut

preference for students wanting

Google, said Lee, We had over

10 times the number of students

forwarding e-mail to Gmail than any

other vendor out there.

Staff and faculty will be provided

with a different system: Exchange,

a Microsoft product with integrated

calendar and schedule features.

Lee noted Exchanges easy in-

tegration with Blackberries and

CSM to change e-mail service soonTim Weilert

Content Manager

iPhones as a further reason for that

decision.

Undergraduate and graduate

students will be provided with new

Google-powered accounts, and

should expect the following:

- Migration will occur according

to a posted schedule, which is cur-

rently pending approval.

- When the time comes for mi-

gration, students will receive an e-

mail at their @mines.edu address.

This e-mail will outline details of

how to make the switch.

- For a period of time both ac-

counts will be active, with old mes-

sages transferring to the MyMail

Coming Soon. A sneak peek of how Mines email will soon look. TIM WEILERT / OREDIGGER

account.

- Finally, the old webmail ac-

count will become inactive. All in-

coming mail will be diverted to the

MyMail account.

One downside of the switch

to Google is the issue of backup.

Under the old system, CCIT could

help users recover accidentally de-

leted e-mails, however under the

new system once an e-mail is de-

leted, it is gone forever.

However, students need not

worry about losing any mail from

people sending messages to their

@mines.edu addresses. Alias ac-

counts for every @mines.edu ad-

dress will transfer mail to the new

account. This means that business

cards and resumes dont need to

be reprinted. Furthermore, once

students graduate from Mines,

they will be able to set up an alumni

e-mail account, and work under

the Mines domain after leaving the

school.

In closing, Lee stressed the need

for students to stay informed on the

change. Watch campus postings,

future issues of the Oredigger, and

keep an eye on your inbox.

There is also a website up at

http://ccit.mines.edu/email/my-

mail/ with a lot more information.


4/12

n e w s September 7, 2009Page 4


Students returning to classes

after the summer break might have

noticed some changes around the

Student Center. While the most ob-

vious change may be that the Blast-

erCard Ofce has moved downstairs

from the second oor, a myriad of

stafng moves and position changes

has occurred.

When Harold Cheuvront retired

this past spring after nearly three de-

cades serving the school, including

20 years as Dean of Students, some

changes were needed because of

the growing student population.

The Department of Student Life,

together with the Student Activities

ofce, have gone through a reorga-

nization with the intention that stu-

dents will continue to benet from

effective student services. This new

structure allows us to continue to

respond efciently to student needs.

It also puts people in positions that

align with their strengths, said Derek

Morgan, the Director of Student Ac-

tivities and new Associate Dean of

Students.

Dan Fox, who has stepped into

the roles of Vice President for Stu-

dent Life and Dean of Students, re-

vealed that Cheuvront was respon-

sible for directly overseeing twelve

areas of campus services, and had

considered splitting his duties in the

past. With the changes, we have

split those duties up because they

were growing beyond the job.

One of these changes is that the

BlasterCard ofce is now under the

umbrella of Student Activities instead

of Student Life. With anything you

want to do on campus, the Blast-

erCard ofce is a part of it. Moving

down to Student Activities gives us a

more centrally located ofce to serve

students, explained Bob Mask, Di-

rector of Campus Card Services.

Another big change to the Stu-

dent Activities ofce is the addition

of a new position, Associate Direc-

tor of Student Activities for Student

Organizations. This position will be

lled by recent hire Travis Smith, who

will join the ofce October 1. Travis

will bring new ideas and be able to

devote more time to serving student

organizations, said Nanci Bliss-Kel-

ley, a Program Assistant in Student

Activities who currently assists with

the management of club accounts.

The addition of Travis is a good

thing, said Morgan. He will be able

to focus on student organizations as

a whole.

Previously, the overseeing of stu-

dent groups was split into multiple

positions. The new Associate Direc-

tor will now advise the Board of Stu-

dent Organizations (BSO) as well as

both the Panhellenic and InterFrater-

nity Councils, which are the govern-

ing bodies for Greek Life on campus.

I think it benecial to have Greek

Life in one position again, stated

Last May, before school let out,the Hall of Justice stood in what

is now a pit between the CTLM

parking lot and the former Hall of

Justice parking lot. Construction

equipment and piles of dirt and

concrete now stand in place of the

building.

Mike Bowker of Capital Plan-

ning and Construction provided

insight into the details of the de-

molition. He cited several reasons

for the demolition of the Hall of

Justice. A lot of asbestos was

one, but he also cited expensive

upkeep, failing masonry, and mold.

The demolition process, ac-

cording to Bowker, started with

abetment[in] winter 2008. [De-

molition began] around the rst ofJune.

The demolition process involved

a vehicle with I-beam cutting jaws

mounted on a long arm. The long

arm methodically smashed away

at masonry and cut through I-

beams, working top to bottom, re-

moving section after section of the

building.

All the while, a re truck sprayed

water toward the work to miti-

gate dust. Another large vehicle

equipped with a scoop later arrived

to move about rubble and to clear

debris from the basement. Smaller

vehicles moved and sorted the

buildings remains so that trucks

Alec Westerman

Staff Writer

Miness computing center has

been busy over the summer. From a

name change (what was Academic

Computing & Networking is nowCampus Computing and Information

Technology, or CCIT) to the wide-

spread testing of Miness new GMail-

powered MyMail e-mail system, the

class of 2013 is getting a different

technology experience than classes

before. However, theres one upgrade

that trumps the others in todays inter-

net-connected society: Miness con-

nection to the internet is now pretty

much future proof.

The network upgrade, ve years

in the making and a partnership be-

tween Mines and the Colorado De-

partment of Transportation (CDoT),

went partially live a few weeks ago.

The upgrade was technically about six

months behind schedule. However,

considering the scope of the project,which relied in no small part on vol-

unteer labor, such a delay was some-

what expected.

The new gigabit connection, which

will be upgraded to ten times that ca-

pacity by the end of the year, replaces

a comparatively paltry 155 megabit

leased line via Qwest between Mines

and the Front Range GigaPOPFront

Range GigaPop (FRGP), Colorados

research and education network nex-

us. The new connection will allow for

access to such resources as Miness

supercomputer from outside the cam-

pus network at on-network speeds for

researchers, and will also alleviate ev-

eryday internet congestion issues that

were making themselves increasingly

evident over the last few semesters.Mines will keep Qwest around

as a backup connection, running a

100-megabit link from the Green Cen-

ter in addition to the Mines ber termi-

nating in the CTLM.

Ian Littman

Assistant Webmaster

The fall of the

Hall of Justicecould cart it away.

We dont proscribe means

and methods for contractors,

Bowker explained, though he ac-knowledged that demolition by

explosives was the hope of many

students. He also noted that it was

more cost effective to use the ap-

proach taken.

Now, all but crushed concrete

is gone. This concrete is to ll the

hole left by the basement of the

former Hall of Justice. When the

hole is lled, landscaping will be the

last major step before completion.

Bowker indicated that work in the

area is expected to be completed

in general terms, [by] early fall.

Bowker described another ben-

et of the method used; Were

going to recycle about 90% of the

building. The hole that used to

hold the Hall of Justice basementand foundation will be lled mostly

with the remains of the building

itself. Planners hope that this act

might score points for LEED, Lead-

ership for Energy and Environmen-

tal Design.

Bowker described the pro-

posed changes to the area of cam-

pus that used to house the Hall

of Justice; That part of campus

is in ux. When completed, he

explained, the new Earth Energy

Building (EEB) will overlap into the

CTLM parking lot. The construc-

tion date for the EEB depends on

whether stimulus money was ap-

proved for the process.

ALEC WESTERMAN / OREDIGGER

Mines upgrades networkSCONE, WAFER, and the better, faster, stronger network

We are calling our project WA-

FER, for Western Area Fiber for

Education and Research, says Phil

Romig, Associate Director for CCIT,

of the new ber route. I wanted to

call it WAFFLE to go with the SCONE

but couldnt come up with [an expan-sion of the acronym]. SCONE, or the

Southern Colorado Optical Network

for Education, currently ties into WA-

FER to provide the last few miles of

cable to the FRGP. WAFERs current

paths run along 6th Avenue and Inter-

state 70 to Interstate 25, though the

plan is to bring the network all the way

to FRGPs location at CU Denver by

the end of the year.

At that point, SCONE will lease

capacity on WAFER, taking a more

direct route to the FRGP than the

current one-gigabit path, which

goes through eastern Denver. At that

point, Mines will have ten gigabits of

network capacity to the FRGP, and

SCONE member institutions, among

them CSU Pueblo and CU ColoradoSprings, will also have more capacity

to spare. Another result of these build-

outs is that Mines will have no fewer

than four alternative paths to the inter-

net, though all but the Qwest backup

connection will require a day or two to

turn on in the event of a primary-link

outage.

Yet even a gigabit of capacity to

the internet can be swamped by Bit-

Torrent and other such applications.

To that effect, Mines has swapped

out their old, leaky Packeteer traf-

c shaping equipment for new Cisco

gear, which employs deep-packet

inspection techniques to limit peer-to-

peer apps to a small slice of Miness

network capacity. If we turn that off

we ood the one gig link pretty quick-ly, says Romig of the network situa-

tion. A good BitTorrent client... has a

reasonable shot at 30-40 [megabits

per second] all by itself, and Ive got

[lots] of them over at the residence

halls. That just protects the campus

network against oods.

On the upside, Mines doesnt

block this type of trafc entirely, and the

bandwidth shaping apparatus is not

meant to itself crack down on copy-

right infringement. Its not a copyrightprotection tool. Its not a policing de-

vice. Its just bandwidth managment,

says Romig. There are perfectly legal

reasons to use [BitTorrent] and there

are illegal reasons to use that technol-

ogy. Thus far we have tried to avoid

policing by banning a protocol.

One other note is that Miness

links to Qwest and Level3 (so-called

commodity trafc) are capped at

sixty megabits per second. That said,

connections to Internet2, National

LambdaRail, Denvers Comuent in-

ternet exchange, and the increasing

number of networks that intercon-

nect with those networks (peering

in network parlance) run at full throttle,

and at this point a signicant portion

of Mines trafc runs over those links.Comcast also provides a direct con-

nection between cable subscrib-

ers and Mine via the FRGP, and that

gigabit connection isnt capped on

throughput either. Thus, for all intents

and purposes, most downloads will

go as fast as the Mines local network,

which runs at a gigabit between build-

ings and at either 100 megabits or a

gigabit on wired desktops depending

on researcher need.

The most amazing thing about

the network transition from Qwest to

WAFER was its seamlessness, thanks

to CCIT staffer Colin Randall. Switch-

ing over to this was very complicated

from a network point of view, says

Phil Romig of the transition. Yet the

morning we did the cutover [Ran-dall] managed it so that, as near as

we could tell, we didnt drop a single

[data] packet... He spent a lot of time,

worked really hard on it, and did a re-

ally good job.

Marie Hornickel, who used to advise

the Panhellenic Council in the former

position of Assistant Director of Stu-

dent Activities. Added Morgan, who

formerly advised the InterFraternity

Council, With the changes in Stu-

dent Activities, were adding more

student support staff, which allows

us to better meet the needs of stu-

dents.

Hornickels new title is Associ-

ate Director of Student Activities for

Campus Programs and her new du-

ties include organizing Parent and

Student Orientations. Im excited

for the new opportunities that come

with the structure changes, she

said.

While taking on new duties and

passing on others, Morgan will con-

tinue to advise the Associated Stu-

dents of the Colorado School of

Mines. My job now is working with

student government and with issues

related to student conduct, like read-

mission, he explains.

While the new positions repre-

sent signicant adjustments, all in-

volved expressed condence that

the changes mean better services

for students. The time had come

where the growth of the institu-

tion and the needs of the students

required additional staff support,

acknowledged Fox. Asserted

Morgan,With the changes in posi-

tions and the additional stafng, we

are able to provide a fresh perspec-

tive on life on campus.

In with the new for MinesAndrew Aschenbrenner

Staff Writer


5/12

f e a t u r e sSeptember 7, 2009 Page 5


Internet2Internet2Ian Littman, Tech Break Columnist

Mines and other higher educa-

tion institutions have different, more

advanced resources available in

terms of network connectivity ver-

sus the typical home or business.

Mines, through the Front Range

GigaPop, does have to buy some

internet capacity from standard-

issue providers (in the FRGPs case

Qwest and Level3). However com-

munications with other universities

and an in-

creasing

n u m b e r

of com-

m e r c i a l

p r o v i d -

ers go

t h r o u g h

two next-

g en e r a -

tion networks that make university

connections as blazing-fast as they

are: National LambdaRail and Inter-

net2.

Both offer state-of-the-art con-

nections between university net-

works nationwide and, by peer-

ing traffic exchange agreements,

COLORADO SCHOOLOF MINES

FALL 2009 CAREER DAY

TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER15, 20099:30 AM 4:00 PM

SSTUDENTTUDENT RRECREATIONECREATION CCENTERENTER

OVER185 COMPANIES PARTICIPATING

PROGRAM GUIDE NOW AVAILABLE:

INTHE CAREERCENTER

FEATURED

SPON

SORS

FEAT

URED

SPONSORS

The Materials Science program

here at Colorado School of Mines

is not encapsulated in a single de-

partment, but rather, spans five

departments in an interdisciplin-

ary scope - Chemical Engineering,

Physics, Metallurgical and Materi-

als Engineering, Engineering, and

Chemistry. It is intended to create

scientists who are able to com-

municate across different fields.

Christopher Shealy, who did his

undergraduate work in Metallur-

gical and Materials Engineering,

chose to do his graduate degree

in Materials Science because he

liked that, Its a pretty open pro-gram. I feel you can modify the

program to fit you better. Gradu-

ate student Laura Pate agreed,

saying that having the ability to

tailor the curriculum you take is

very valuable in a graduate pro-

gram.

Materials Science is within the

field of Applied Science and Math-

ematics. Within the program are

six centers, which promote inter-

5 departments + 6 centers + 14 focusareas = Materials Science

disciplinary interaction. They arethe Colorado Center for Advanced

Ceramics, the Center for Welding,

Joining, and Coatings Research,

Advanced Steel Processing and

Products Research Center, Ad-

vanced Coatings and Surface

Engineering Laboratory, the W.J.

Kroll Institute for Extractive Metal-

lurgy, and the Center for Solar and

Electronic Materials.

There are two graduate de-

grees offered, the M.S. and the

Ph.D.. While every student takes

relatively similar core courses for

the M.S., Ph.D. courses are deter-

mined in part by which focus area

a student chooses. The program

has fourteen. They are advanced

polymeric materials, biomaterials,ceramics, composites, computa-

tional materials science, electronic

materials, joining science, me-

chanics of materials, nuclear ma-

terials, surfaces & interfaces/films

& coatings, enviro-material, mining

materials and petroleum materials,

non-destructive materials assess-

ment, and materials chemical pro-

cessing (in preparation). While the

website only lists ten focus areas,

the program is always striving toimprove, and has recently made

updates, adding the additional fo-

cus areas. Pate said her favorite

aspect of the program was the

flexibility that it offers in terms of

classes you can take and focuses

you can have.

But the program is more than

academics. Both Shealy and Pate

enjoy the working environment

as well. Shealy enjoys the class-

es, professors, and the relaxed,

friendly atmosphere. Pate de-

scribes it as by far the friendliest

and most supportive department

[she has] worked in. There is a

large diversity in background and

research.

Shealy is studying a more ef-ficient way to exhaust the energy

from coal and trap the contami-

nants more easily. Its a project

he hopes will take him into the en-

gineering field as it relates to eco-

nomic responsibilities. After all,

the project is all about what you

need and why you need it, and if

theres a cheaper alternative.

At the other end of the spec-

trum, Pate is researching in-

t e g r a t i n g

membrane

protein func-

tions into

a porous

membrane.

This will

have appli-cations in

the field of

b iosensors

for phar-

m a c e u t i -

cal testing.

She said, I

wanted to

work with

non-metallic

m a t e r i a l s ,

and working

in Materials

Science will

give me greater flexibility whenlooking for a job. A job she hopes

to obtain from the degree would

be in the industry doing process

development and trouble shoot-

ing, in polymers, preferably.

Why polymers? Pate replied,

Polymers are so useful. Theyre

everywhere. From the soles of

your shoes to a medical implant.

Polymers appeal to me because

they make the world a better

place.

Sarah McMurray

Staff Writer

ALL PHOTOS COURTESY OF THE DEPARTMENT

worldwide. However, according to

Internet2s Director for State and

Regional Networks Ana Preston,

Internet2 is more than just an ad-

vanced network infrastructure - we

are an active and engaged com-

munity focused on leveraging our

collective resources to address the

many challenges of building a ro-

bust cyber-infrastructure to support

continued innovation in research

and edu-

cation.

I n -

t e r n e t 2

members

work to-

g e t h e r

to tackle

n e w

problems

and solutions in the networking

world, like IPv6 and multicasting.

IPv6 is the new internet protocol ad-

opted by providers like Google and

Comcast to allow for more than the

four billion internet addresses pro-

vided by the more widely accepted

IPv4 standard. Multicasting allows

one sender to send one packet that

is duplicated to several recipients,

something thats particularly useful

when live-streaming events in video

or audio form.

These and other such issues

are the topic of Internet2 mem-

ber meetings, which happen on a

regular basis. Internet2 hosts two

annual member meetings, two an-

nual technical engineering work-

shops, several dozen other annual

workshops, a multitude of working

groups, initiatives and other proj-

ects, says Preston of the consor-

tiums community. [They are] all

designed to bring the research and

education community together to

solve common problems that could

not be accomplished by any single

institution.

Of course, this doesnt discount

the power of the Internet2 network

itself, which the FRGP connects

to via Salt Lake City and the Utah

Education Network (UEN) at ten

gigabits per second of capacity. As

with the smaller regional research

and education networks, Internet2

has enough capacity for such high-

bandwith activities as supercom-

puter data uploads and downloads

and high-quality high-definition vid-

eo-conferencing across the nation.

Through peering agreements

with commercial internet providers

(National LambdaRails TransitRail

service, for example, interconnects

with Comcast, Time Warner Cable,

Google and others) researchers and

students alike can also get out to

the internet at large at high speeds

without educational institutions hav-

ing to pay per-megabit for a con-

nection.

There a few tricks Internet2 can

do that regular networks cant how-

ever. One is ION, a service that al-

lows for bandwidth-guaranteed

network on top of a network ap-

plications. This guarantees network

quality for sensitive applications,

something that the standard inter-

net cant reliably do. This feature

also allows network researchers to

test new protocols over production-

grade systems without fear of tak-

ing their parent institutions network

offline should something go wrong.

The motive: The hope is that this

research will result in new innova-

tions in networking that will eventu-

ally impact the commercial Internet

as we know it today, states Pres-

ton.

Last but not least, Internet2 (and

university networks in general) gives

anyone using it a glimpse into the

future of the internet. [M]illions of

university students [are] using ad-

vanced network capabilities today...

capabilities that are just now begin-

ning to be seen in the commercial

space, notes Preston. These

same students are graduating into

the workforce each year and will

undoubtedly expect these same

technologies at their place of em-

ployment or at their homes. This

will eventually drive the demand

in the commercial space for these

types of applications/services and

bandwidth requirements. I for one

am looking forward to IPv6-enabled

hundred-megabit internet service

with no transfer caps and minimal

throttling...at a decent price.

[M]illions of university students

[are] using advanced network ca-

pabilities today...capabilities that

are just now beginning to be seen

in the commercial space,


6/12

f e a t u r e s September 7, 2009Page 6


Coolbaugh Halls namesake,

Dr. Melville Fuller Coolbaugh,was a president of the ColoradoSchool of Mines from 1925 to1946 and president emeritus from1946-1950. Coolbaugh attendedgrad school at the University ofColumbia. Upon graduating, heserved extensively as a facultymember in the chemistry depart-ment at numerous colleges, andnally at the nearby Colorado Col-lege. During his term as presidentat the Colorado School of Mines,he was nominated for an honorarydegree from the Colorado Col-lege in honor of his achievement.

The grounds for his achievement,as quoted by then Colorado Col-lege President Mierow, were for

his scholarly attributes, businessacumen, executive ability, andgenial personality.

Coolbaugh had a great deal ofexperience in many elds, includ-ing work in the mining industry aswell as chemical research. TheCSM library also has a map in themicrosche collection entitled,

Gene Duran

Staff Writer

Campus BenefactorsMelville Fuller Coolbaugh

Geologic framework and envi-ronmental geology of the Sum-mitville, Colorado acid-sulfatemineral deposit, to which he was

a contributor.C o o l -baugh Hall isthe home ofthe Chemis-try and En-vironmentalscience &Engineeringdepartmentsat CSM.C o n s t r u c -tion beganin 1950 (af-ter his deaththat sameyear) andnished in

1952. The

building cost$1,000,000to make atthe time,and under-went a majorrenovation in1995, add-ing a new

wing. This wing contained moreresearch labs, ofces, conference

rooms, and the comfortable stu-dent recreation area.

IAN LITTMAN / OREDIGGER

Why do they call you Dani-

ca?

Dan: Our friend started it.Jessica: Apparently, because

were always together One ofour friends started it behind ourback and we didnt nd out about

it until later.How many people call you

Danica?

Dan: Physics majors and a fewothers.

Is it true that youre always

together?

Jessica: Unless one of us haswork. We dont go to the bath-room together I do like my pri-vacy.

Do you consider yourself ageek?

Dan: Yes we do.Jessica: We like physics.Do you think others consid-

er you a geek?

Dan: Yes.Jessica: More Daniel than me.How geeky is your relation-

ship?

Dan: We geek out with eachother.

Do you prefer Microsoft or

Mac?

Dan: LinuxJessica: LinuxDo you have any strange

talents?

Dan: I made my Frankencar

drive.Jessica: Ive taken over veyears of Japanese.

What is the name of your

cat?

Dan: 0

Jessica: Theres soon to be an

0well call him epsi.What is the geekiest thing

you own?

Dan: Textbook in General Rela-tivity.

Geek Weekof

the

...Danica, Junior: Engineering Physics (Daniel Wilson and Jessica Denning)Alec WestermanStaff Writer

Jessica: I own ve video game

consoles.What is the geekiest thing

you have done at Mines?

Dan: I was in LUG for a while.Jessica: I went to a theoretical

physics seminar as a freshman.What is the geekiest thing

you have done in your life?

Dan: Derived the Tolman-Op-penheimer-Volkoff equation

Jessica: I did Japan bowl forthree years. I also did a TSA com-petition (Technology Students As-sociation).

Why did you choose to at-

tend Mines?

Jessica: Its a good school, its

in Colorado and its small.Dan: Mainly because its asmall, good school and I didntwant to go out of state.

What is your favorite class?

Jessica: Intermediate Mechan-ics.

Dan: Yep, Intermediate Me-chanics

What are your plans for af-

ter college?

Dan: Grad school.Jessica: Grad School.What are your hobbies?

Jessica: I like to read and hangout with friends.

Dan: Physics, computers, andcars.

What is your favorite type of

music?Dan: I would say progressiverock, like Porcupine Tree, PinkFloyd, Opeth, Tool.

Jessica: I would say happyrock.

What do you listen to your

music on?

Jessica: iPod touchDan: iPod touchWhy did you choose an iPod

touch over anything else?

Dan: Intarwebs

What is something em-

barrassing about you?

Dan: Im a male model...no Im not What is embar-rassing about me... I haventreally gotten that embar-rassed about anything I canthink of. Except that I endedthat sentence with a preposi-tion.

Jessica: I have a terriblefear of needles and stairsWhen I was ve it took ve

people to hold me down andadminister a shot. Ive alsofallen down the stairs threetimes in my life.

If you could take three

things with you to a des-ert island what would they

be?

Jessica: Computer withinternet, a library, and all thecake I could eat.

Dan: The cake is a lie,computer with internet, achalk board, and Jessica.

Jessica: Oh! I alreadyassumed we were there to-gether

If you suddenly came

by one million dollars

what would you do with

it?

Jessica: Pay for schoolBuy books.

Dan: Pay for school and

buy a new car.What year are you?Dan: Third.Jessica: Third.What is your favorite

TV show?

Dan: Well just say quotesand see who will recognize it.

Jessica: Scruffy, the Jan-itor.

Dan: Good news, every-one!

The current state of theworlds energy can only bedescribed as precarious. Thecontinued dependence onfossil fuels such as crude oil

spurs a continual search forother means of a mass energysource.

One such project exists un-der the supervision of Dr. Mat-thew Posewitz, a professor inthe Department of Chemistryand Geochemistry. Accordingto Dr. Posewitz, he and a teamof four graduate and two post-doctoral students are tryingto find ways that we can comeinto this next generation of bio-fuel feed stocks. The item upfor bid is green algae.

Green algae are water or-ganisms found in virtually everybody of salt water in the world.Because many species grow in

salt water, we believe they havea unique niche, because wedont want to use fresh waterfor lots of bio-fuels says Pose-witz. A fuel source that wouldgrow in a saline water supplywould not impact the worldsfresh water supply and, there-fore, presents no danger topeoples drinking supply.

Green algae produce littlerecalcitrant biomass, such asthe stalks, leaves, and rootsthat feedstocks such as cornproduce. There are far fewercomplicated structures to break

Fuel goes greenErin Stephens

Staff Writer

down in algae, compared toother suggested fuel sources.

The possibility of plants asa fuel source depends almostentirely on their ability to fixcarbon. Carbon fixation is theprimary source of all energy forhuman life, both internal and

external. It occurs during theCalvin cycle, in which photo-synthesis occurs and lipids areproduced, along with starchesand other organic material. Theteam has chosen green algaebecause they have some ofthe highest rates of photosyn-thesis.

Posewitzs team specificallylooks at the products of carbonfixation and the electron trans-port chain. We have someorganisms that we can actu-ally manipulate at this level withferredoxin, an electron carrier,says Posewitz. We can drivethat to an enzyme called hy-drogenase to produce hydro-

gen gas.Unfortunately, every projecthas is complications. With thisone, the team has to deal withtwo photosystems. This meanswe can only be 50% efficient,states Posewitz. The secondproblem is that light with wave-lengths above 700nm, were

just not using. About half ofthe energy in solar radiationis above 700nm, but this lightenergy is not used effectively inoxygenic photosynthesis.

See Algae on page 8

ALEC WESTERMAN / OREDIGGER


7/12


8/12

medications to ease your symp-

toms

Drink plenty of uids to preventdehydration

Students with inuenza-like ill-

ness are requested to notify the

university by using the self-report-

ing function at http://inside.mines.

edu/Flu. Self-reporting is recom-

mended in order to ensure an ab-sence due to inuenza is excused.

A doctors

verification

of the ab-

sence as

per exist-

ing student

a b s e n c e

p o l i c i e s

may also

be used.

S t u -

dents who

self-report will be contacted by theStudent Health Center to check

on their illness and to provide rec-

ommendations for care. Students

living in residence halls who self-

report will be contacted by their RAto provide additional information

for meal service.

When do I need to see a

health care provider?

If you have a chronic illness

(such as diabetes, heart disease,

asthma or are on medications that

might affect your immune system).

If you are experiencing short-

ness of breath, chest pain, confu-

sion, persistent vomiting, dizziness.

If you have ques- t i o n s

go to http:// i n -

side.mines.edu/Flu

or www.cdc.

gov/uOr call

the health

c e n -ter at

303-273-

3381.

F E A T U R E S September 7, 2009Page 8


For many, the word Frater-

nity brings up images mostly

concerned with wild, out of con-

trol drinking, rampant debauch-

ery, and the hilariously drunk/in-

ept John Belushi. And Sorority?

The term practically conjuresimages of The House Bunny

and cat ghts.

This past week, many stu-

dents were treated to some

fun activities and events geared

toward revealing the reality ofGreek Life on the Mines cam-

pus. It quickly became obvious

that on the Mines campus, fra-

ternities and sororities appear to

be more concerned with aca-

demia, community service, and

having a good time than with

conforming to the low expecta-

tions and stereotypes tradition-

ally associated with Greek life.

The seven fraternities and

three campus sororities agree

that Rush week is designed as away to introduce the concept of

Greek life as well as get started

nding the right t for those in-

terested students. According to

Derek Morgan, the main goal

is to get as many people as

possible to go through [Rush

Week], and experience it. To

not be a victim of media ste-

reotypes, but to go through the

process and make that choice

for themselves.

From Beachonary to Boon-

docks, to slip n slides and Fi-

estas, the fraternities and sorori-

ties on campus offered a wide

array of experiences to get toknow all different types of stu-

dents interested in pursuing aGreek way of life.

Toward the end of Rush

week, once new students and

houses got to know one anoth-

er, the fraternities and sororities

put out bids, expressing a mu-

tual interest. As with fraternities,

The sororities are trying to

nd who ts best for them, and

the recruits are trying to nd the

best t amongst the three hous-

Finding the right ftFraternities and sororities recruit for new membersRoby Brost

Staff Writer

es, explained Marie Hornickel. To

accomplish this, a bid matching

system is implemented. David

Odean, from Sigma Alpha Epsi-

lon, explained the process quite

simply. If we like them, we give

them a bid, if they like us, hope-

fully they accept that Bid. If they

do, then we can start the Pledging

process and the new recruits canbecome members. But dont let

the seeming simplicity of the pro-

cess be misleading. Thousands ofhours are spent in preparation of

offering those bids.

The ultimate goal, besides in-

forming the student population

about Greek life, is to nd the best

matches possible for both the stu-

dent and the house. To ensure the

best possible match, the different

houses spend hours in preparing

the specially selected events and

seeking one on one time with pro-

spective members.

Even houses with fewer mem-

bers, like Sigma Phi Epsilon, who

numbered twelve members at the

start of Rush Week, put in count-less hours to make the experi-

ence the best possible. So many

hours go into making Rush week

a success, said Sig. Ep. member

Cameron Afkhami. I mean, a lot,

a lot. During the week, we put in a

ton of hours, each guy contribut-

ing, on average, over ve hours a

day before the events.

The sororities start planning

for Rush Week 2009 in spring the

year before. Part of that planning

process is Polish Week. Brittney

Smith, president of Alpha Phi,

explains that Polish Week is

where the entire sorority gets to-

gether before formal recruitment

and prepares together for the

events.However, countless hours of

preparation for events is not un-

usual for the houses that are part

of Mines Greek Life. Once the

current recruits are initiated and

pledged, they too will be part of

the planning processes for philan-

thropies and community service

that form an integral part of their

community.

During Rush Week, prospective

sorority members had the oppor-

tunity to make teddy bears to be

donated to the Childrens Hospi-

tal. And that is just the beginning.

Every Halloween, the houses host

Trick or Treat on Greek Street,

turning their homes into haunted

houses and a safe environment

for trick-or-treaters. In addition,

the FIJI house turns Friedoff Hallinto a great big cardboard box

labyrinth, Jacob Ball recalls, for

their community service project for

children with diabetes. They also

think of the important details, like

sugar free candy.

Derek Morgan pointed out that

much of what attracts students

to Greek life is the habit of do-

ing good things. He guesses that

just looking at the community

service hours that frats and sorori-

ties have done on campus and in

the Golden community, you are

talking about tens of thousands of

hours in the past few years alone.

If prospective students missed

out on Rush Week, there is still

ample opportunity to participatein the Greek community. Both

the sororities and fraternities on

the Mines Campus seem to have

an open door policy. Take a walkdown Greek street pretty much

any day of the week and chances

are good that at least one house

will be having an open lunch, or an

open dinner out on the lawn.

Give any of the sororities a call,

and chances are good that youll

have three or four friendly faces

to go get coffee or ice cream.

Emphasized again and again

throughout Rush Week and be-

yond is the fact that Mines is a

tough school. The Greek life pro-

vides a great support system, and

there are plenty of opportunities tond that right t.

Not interested in Greek life?

Its not for everyone. And thats

ok too, said Derek Morgan. Still,

stop by sometime, or participate

with the new pledge members at

an event they are hosting. After all,

as many students found out this

past week, Greek life isntAnimal

House, but a whole different ani-

mal altogether.

Whats the Big Deal about

H1N1 (swine u)?

To date, the highest number

of cases of 2009 H1N1 u have

been conrmed among people

524 years old. Students, faculty,

and staff can get sick with u, and

institutions may act as a point of

spread. Students, faculty, and

staff can easily spread u to oth-ers in their institutions as well as in

the larger

c o m m u -

nity.How is

the virus

spread?

J u s t

like sea-

sonal u, itis spread

from per-

son to

person in respiratory droplets from

coughs and sneezes. The virus

may also spread when you touch

droplets on another person or an

object and then touch your mouth

or nose before washing yourhands.

Therefore to decrease the

risk and spread of the virus wash

hands frequently, get plenty of

sleep, manage your stress, eat nu-

tritious food, dont skip meals and

avoid touching your mouth, eyes,

or nose.What are the symptoms?

Fever greater than 100 FSore throat

Body aches/muscle achesHeadache

CoughChills

Possibly diarrhea/vomiting

In other words, you feel really,

really bad. The u is usually much

more severe than a cold. Therehave been a few documented cas-

es of the u in individuals who did

not have a fever. This is unlikely but

possible.What to do if the u gets

you!!

Self-isolate stay home or

in your room until 24 hours

after fever resolution (without

meds)

Cover your cough or

sneeze

Take over the

counter

The 411 on H1N1

To decrease the risk and spread of

the virus wash hands frequently,

get plenty of sleep, manage your

stress, eat nutritious food, dont

skip meals and avoid touching

your mouth, eyes, or nose.

Each of these issues causes the

research to take a loss of efcien-

cy. Were likely to be around an

optimized system

of seven or eight

percent, admitsPosewitz. Many

current photo-vol-

taic cells already

achieve 15 to 17

percent efcien-

cies. It may turn out that photo-

synthesis does not measure up to

the extent of our energy needs.

Nevertheless, biology remains

an inexpensive means for produc-

ing the energy we need. Posewitz

and team seek to nd that energy

by looking for diesel fuel surro-

gates, looking for starch we can

ferment into ethanol, butanol, or

other carbon based fuels, and also

looking for hydrogen. Already the

team has been able to pack these

algae full of lipids that are just littledrops of oil. The ability to produce

these oils in mass quantities would

be a great supplement to the en-

ergy industry. Yet, it is a different

product that the team has great

hopes for.

Hydrogen gas,thats really the

kind of holy grailwe look for, ac-

cording to Pose-

witz. Hydrogen can

be combust-

ed with

oxygen to form wa-

ter, a non-polluting

byproduct. You

can combine

those elements

and you can

get a fuel cell,

a closed, nice

clean loop.

Unfortunately,the presence of

an oxygen-rich

environment hin-

ders the teams abil-ity to optimize hydrogen

production. Too much oxygen will

inhibit the enzyme and terminate

the reaction.

Undeterred by the problems

facing them and hopeful for great

applications of their research, the

team travels the country in search

of new species of algae that maypossess just the right combination

of genes to make their vision a real-

ity. Already, trips to the Great Salt

Lake have yielded many

promising new or-

ganisms.

P e r h a p s

Posewitzsteam and

their algae

may be

the new

s o u r c e

of usable

e n e r g y .Green al-

gae: cant get

much greener

than that.

Continued from page 6

Algae: the new miracle fuel?

Biology remains an

inexpensive meansfor producing the

energy we need.

LILYGID

DINGS/O

REDIGG

ER

LILY GIDDINGS / OREDIGGER


9/12

Music Review

l i f e s t y l eSeptember 7, 2009 Page


This review will be unlike most reviews you read this year in this newspaper.

During the past three months Ive had the privilege to work with some of the best

bands in Denver, here are the highlights. Be sure to check local record shops or

iTunes for any of these records.

Tim Weilert

Content Manager

Best of Summer

Gregory Alan Isakov This Empty Northern Hemisphere:

Isakov is a master of his art. The owing melodies and poetic lyr-

ics of this record play well with his soft voice and choice of instru-

mentation. A delightful mix of classic Americana-folk and modern

singer-songwriter, Hemisphere will warrant multiple listens. Listen to

Evelyn.

Houses Spring & SummerEPs:

Fans of classic rock (or great music in general) will

appreciate Houses rst 2 releases on their 4 disc journeythrough the seasons. Spring has a mellower vibe with

owing instrumentals and sing-a-longs. Summer, on the

other hand, swings more toward driving guitars and remi-

niscing about sunny afternoons. Listen to Were Alright.

Danielle Ate The Sandwich Things People Do:

The quirky and joyful ukulele backs up Danielle An-

dersons hauntingly beautiful voice on this record. Unique

delivery and memorable hooks will cause you to fall in

love with this Colorado-based YouTube sensation. Listen

to Bribes.

Young Coyotes Basement & Exhale EPs:

Another set of EPs released earlier this year, Young

Coyotes keep things simple with basic arrangements (just

acoustic guitar, drums, vocals, and occasionally some

bells). Basementwas literally recorded in a basement,

but has a certain delity and can be downloaded for free

on the bands website. Exhale showcases the natural

progression of this DIY duos musical maturation. Listen

To Buried.

Everything Absent or Distorted The Great Col-

lapse:

This 2008 album from one of Denvers wildest bands

stands as a testament to what 7-man bands can accom-

plish. Sadly, this group (which has drawn comparisons to

Arcade Fire and Neutral Milk Hotel) will be calling it quits

on October 24 at the Bluebird. Listen to Japanese War

Tuba.

Inglourious Basterdsis the

newest lm directed by Quentin

Tarantino. Similar in many ways

to Tarantinos Kill Bill and Pulp

Fiction, Basterds is a neo-con-

temporary lm. Described by the

director as a spaghetti western,

Inglourious Basterds follows the

brutal exploits of a Jewish-Ameri-

can inltration team through Ger-

man occupied France.

The opening sequence of the

lm is deceiving; the sequence

implies a serious documentary

about the moral conicts of the

French people during German

occupation. At least until the

shooting starts. In his rst scene,

Tarantino introduces two of the

main characters, and in classicTarantino fashion, kills some ex-

tras whose too-red blood spills

across the screen.

With the rst scene estab-

lishing the style of the lm, the

movie progresses to a CIA team:

the eponymous Inglourious

Basterds. The Basterds, led by

Lieutenant Aldo Raine (Brad Pitt),

scour the French countryside,

scalping any Nazi soldiers they

Erin Stephens

Staff Writer

Movie ReviewInglourious Basterds

come across.

Even though he

deviates from actual

history, Tarantino in-

trigues the

a u d i -

e n c e

w i t h

his un-

ruly band o f

crazed Nazi hunters. The

plot progresses much like that of

Tarantinos former hit lm, Kill Bill,

vol. 1 and vol. 2, in chapters dis-

tinctly separating each key point.

Inglourious Basterds also mimics

the gore of the Kill Billmovies; in-

stead of the katana used by Kill

Bills the bride, Lt. Raine uses a

wicked scalping knife.

As usual, Tarantino selected a

remarkable cast. Brad Pitt is with-

out question the biggest star inlm; and he plays the roll well. No

one would expect the rst half of

Brangelina to put on a hick accent

and play the unscrupulous, part-

Native American scalper. Pitt aside,

the rest of the cast measures up to

top Hollywood standards. Diane

Krueger, one of the stars ofNation-

al Treasure, makes a great addition

as the German traitor. Perhaps the

best acting came from Christopher

Tim Weilert

Content Manager

Cooking Corner

This summer I did a little experi-

ment: go vegetarian for a month.

The experience was not neces-

sarily difcult, and provided someinteresting insights into the veg life

(social/cultural reactions, nding

meal options when dining out, and

discovering new recipes). Through-

out the month-long experience

I worked the kinks out of the fol-

lowing recipe for a Middle-Eastern

favorite: falafel.

Ingredients:

1 Can garbanzo beans, 15 oz.,

drained (aka chick peas, I prefer

the Bushs brand)

1 Medium onion, nely chopped

1 Clove garlic, minced

2 Tablespoons fresh cilantro,

nely chopped

1 Teaspoon cumin

Teaspoon salt

2 Tablespoons ourVegetable oil (for frying)Procedure:

1. Cut your vege-

tables (onion, gar-

lic, and cilantro)

into small pieces.

These should

be very ne cuts

with small pieces

resulting.

2. Combine all in-

gredients in a large mixing bowl.

Mix and mash chick peas using a

fork.

3. Once all individual peas have

been mashed, the mixture should

have a thick consistency that be-

gins to ball naturally.4. Make several ping-pong

sized balls with the mixture (this

recipe usually yields 9 balls).

5. In a large frying pan, ll with

inch of vegetable oil, heat over

medium-high heat.

6. Once the oil begins to wisp

smoke, toss the falafel in, turn oc-

casionally using tongs until out-

sides are golden brown.

7. Remove from oil, let cool on a

plate with a paper towel.Serving Suggestions:

Falafel is commonly served with

pita bread, lettuce, tomatoes, and

tahini sauce. I found a makeshift

tzatziki sauce (a combination of

sour cream and dill weed) and hot

sauce also go quite well with thiscrunchy sandwich.

Serves 2-3

Waltz,

who plays the de-spicable German

Colonel Hans

Landa. French

actress Mlanie Lau-

rent, who plays Shosanna Drey-

fus, a jew whose family is killed by

Landa, also puts in a wonderful

performance.

Basterds is a startling contrast

to another recent WWII movie,

Valkyrie. While Tom Cruise plays

a serious Colonel in a serious lm,

Brad Pitt plays an abrasive red-

neck in a gory comedy. Inglou-

rious Bastards may be a nicely

publicized summer lm, but can

easily be criticized for its lacks

of depth and morality, something

which might help a movie aboutWWII.

Inglourious Basterds recom-

mends itself as an entertaining

twist on a horric war, but only

for the strong of stomach. Should

blood, guts, or swastikas carved

into esh bother you, hold the

Basterds, and move on to Saving

Private Ryan.

4.5 Stars out of 5

PHOTOSCOURTESYOFTHE

RESPECTIVEBANDS


10/12

o p i n i o n September 7, 2009Page 10


Roby Brost

Staff Writer

First Impressions

Minds at Mines

two entsTims

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

Oredigger. The Oredigger does not accept sub-missions without identifcation and will consider

all requests for anonymity in publication on acase-by-case basis. Submissions less than

300 words will receive preference.

Despite the somewhat infamous lyric; school is notout forever. Once

more, this truism is proven false, at least for some new students as they

leave the laid back days of summer for the classrooms and lecture halls

of the Colorado School of Mines. Certainly, some things may be new, like

the paved walkways, the new conguration of the Slate, or a new faceoccupying that coveted window seat. But the change brought about by

the new inux of students, 885 new Freshman alone, is as ever, constant.This week, Minds at Mines takes stock of rst impressions after the rstfull week of school.

Walking to and from classes takes awhile, like from

Weaver to Coolbaugh. But I am really enjoying the

people here at Mines. Even, or perhaps especially,

enjoying the ratio. At rst, I didnt really noticeit, and then when the classes got smaller, like my

Chemistry lab, there are like twenty-two guys and

two girls. Its weird.

-Chelsea Pomery

Its easier to get around campus on a scoot-

er. Its a lot of fun. I like it, but its not what I

expected. Things like playing Frisbee; I play Fris-bee out here all the time, and thats not some-

thing that you expect of the Mines campus.Also, the M climb wasnt what I expected. But itsure worked out nicely for the underclassmen.

-Mitchell Schaeffer

Theres more freedom here. You can do what

you want, when you want. Which is working just

ne with my classes so far. And Im okay with myclasses too. I mean, I dont hate any of my classes

yet, but Im not super enjoying any of them yet

either. Its too soon to tell.

-Adam Bent

Mines is pretty cool, but I

wish there were more girls.

Im really enjoying classes so

far too, because they are not

that hard yet. I think theyll

get much harder next semester.-Isaac Brost

I like how a nerdy sense of humor is totally ac-

ceptable, even expected here. Also, the free foodhas been pretty great. All around its been pret-

ty cool. Classes arent really hard yet and the

teachers are nice. Thats one of the really great

things; some of the professors are really en-

ergetic. They are so knowledgeable, and

enthusiastic about their subjects... But

then again, we havent gotten our rstexam yet. Thats how you really knowthat youve arrived at Mines. When you

get your rst test.

-Andrew Dreann

ALL PHOTOS ROBY BROST / OREDIGGER

Breaking down journalism myths

The school year is upon us once

again and the campus is overrun

with fresh faced students in search

of some variety of activity. Well,

dear reader, you happen to have

picked up the most recent edition

ofThe Oredigger, a publication of

one of CSMs oldest and most in-

uential clubs.As engineers and scientists, we

all thrive in environments where

knowledge and ideas can be easily

exchanged. As a newspaper jour-nalist, it is then my responsibility to

ensure that the content provided in

the subsequent pages accurately

and objectively reects the truths ofreality.

As a way of saying, Consider

joining our cause, here are a few

answers to common misconcep-

tions and questions.

I dont have enough time

There are 168 hours in a week. Takeout time spent eating, sleeping, and

studying, and youve still got quite a

few left in there. The fact of the mat-

ter is that even with the busy Mines

schedule I (and most of the rest of

the staff here) manage to keep up

with classes and participate in other

clubs and organizations on top of

our newspaper duties.

Ive never written for a

newspaper before Writing is one

of those fundamental skills that can

only get better/easier with practice.

From what Ive seen (in both myown writing and that of my staff), is

that once you develop a journalis-

tic writing style assignments (both

for the paper and for classes) be-

come easier and can be done more

quickly.

The newspaper format is

dying While this may be the trend

nationally, we have taken steps to

ensure that our content remains

relevant in the post-paper world.

Through our online outlets www.

oredigger.net and www.minesblog.

com, we reach a broader, more

sophisticated audience with more

content than the traditional news-

print edition can hold.

Tim Weilert

Content Manager

Many students are anxious tosecure a job or internship in thisweakened economy. With Career

Fair coming up, I am going to passon a few tips that will help you as-

sess the nancial heath of potentialemployers, for evaluating job offers,

and negotiating the perfect salary.

Sifting through all the companies

that attend the Career Fair can bea daunting task. Although you may

have a reasonable idea of what

type of work you are interested in,

how do you know if these com-

panies are nancially t enough tohire you? You might think company

would not show up at the Career

Fair if they were not hiring and theycertainly would not hire you just to

lay you off! This isnt always true.I was hired by an engineering rmthis summer,

only to see

the compa-

ny downsize

their staff by 20%, just 3 weeks

after I signed on! A stable yet lucra-

tive job or internship is becoming

harder to nd theses days, so hereare a few aspects to consider in a

company:

Ask about how many new em-

ployees they have recently hired

and how many they intend on hiring

in the next few months. This showstheir hiring patterns during tough

economic times. As for internship

seekers, really prod the recruiters

about their expectations for their in-tern program this coming summer,this will lend insight into how seri-

ous they are about hiring a person

with your qualications.Inquire about the employee turn-

over rate at the company. Some big

rms will dump off personal whenthe going gets tough.

Ask about the companys 401(k)

employee contribution matching. A

company that matches employee

contributions values their employ-

ees and rewards them. You can

Nick Libertini

Staff Writer

use the percentage that a company

matches as a barometer for their

nancial stability. A company thatmatches 6% of an employees sala-

ry has to carry a lot of cash on their

books, thus they are likely to be

more nancially robust than a com-pany that only matches 1% - 2%.

Check some nancial ratios forpublicly traded companies online.

Some insightful ratios to look at are

their current ratio, their acid-test

ratio, and their debt to equity ratio.

The current ratio tells you how well

a company can meet its short term

nancial obligations. The higher thecurrent ratio the better. The acid-

test ratio is a more rigorous test

of a companys ability to meet its

short term debt obligations. Again,

look for numbers over one. Lastly,

a companys debt to equity ratio is

a good indication of how much thecompany relies on debt to nanceits assets.

Too high

of a ratio

means that

the company relies heavily on debt

and could face long term solvency

issues. The debt to equity ratio is

industry dependent, so use other

companies ratios in the industry

to judge whether the company you

are researching is too heavily lever-

aged with debt.

Consider the relative cost of

living. A $65,000 a year salary inDenver is equivalent to a $106,725a year salary in New York City con-

cerning buy-

ing power(Salary.com).

Look at the

companys benets (health, vision,dental, life and disability insurance)

and bonuses. You will be better

off taking $50,000 a year with fullbenets and a small bonus than$75,000 a year with no benets orbonuses.

Lets talk money! Assume you

found a good company and you

are thinking about the salary. Never

talk money in an initial or follow up

Get your moneys worth

at Career Fair this yearinterview (unless prompted to by

the interviewer)! Demanding the big

bucks in an interview will almost

certainly hurt your chances of land-

ing a job. Wait until the company

extends you an offer to begin sal-ary negotiations. You can use any

number of online salary wizards to

nd what other companies in indus-try pay. Armed with this knowledge,

here is a guide for how you should

proceed in your negotiations:

Be clear that you want their

absolute BEST offer. If you have

other competitive offers commu-

nicate that in your negotiations. If

the company has already disclosed

the dollar gure for your offer, youmight try saying I really appreciate

your offer. However, I am consider-

ing several other offers and I was

wondering if this if your best pos-

sible offer?Prepare a formal document that

you can bring to the negotiation

that illustrates the average salary of

the position/ industry you are con-

sidering as well as salary trends in

the region that the company is lo-

cated. This will show the company

that you have done your research

and you truly value your skill set.

Finally, dont push too hard inyour negotiations. Being a Mines

student/grad makes you highly

competitive, but you are not gods

gift to engineering. Taking a good

job with a reasonable salary and

then letting your performance

catch your boss attention is a far

more desir-

able situationthan demand-

ing six guresand getting passed up for some CU

grad who is willing to work for beer

and cold pizza.

Good luck at the career fair,

dont forget to wear a tie, a belt,

and matching socks. Ladies, Im

sure youll look great, its the men I

am worried about. Ill see you nextweek for a brief discussion of 401(k)

s, IRAs, and other retirement saving

accounts.

Never talk money in an initial

or follow up interview.

Dont push too hard in your

negotiations.


11/12

s p o r t sSeptember 7, 2009 Page 11


After last years successful8-4 season, Oredigger footballis once again in full swing. Theteam hopes to improve its playfrom last year and have a par-ticularly good season within theRocky Mountain Athletic Con-ference (RMAC). Head CoachBob Stitt has high expectationsfor his team this year.

I think were going to havea very good football team,Stitt said. [Ourgoal is] playinggood everyweek. We

had somem e n t a llet-downslast year,and wewant toavoid themthis season.

The team re-ceived a number of ac-colades in the off-season, in-cluding being ranked second inthe RMAC preseason coachspoll and receiving votes in the

American Football Coachs As-sociation preseason Top 25poll. Senior quarterback DavidPesek and junior defensive line-man Marc Schiechl were also

awarded preseason honors,being named RMAC preseasonOffensive Player of the Yearand Defensive Player of the

Year, respectively. According to

Coach Stitt, these honors dontput any undue pressure on theteam.

Wed loveto come inunder the ra-dar, Stitt ex-plained, butonce you gointo confer-ence play,e v e r y o n eknows whateveryone else is capable of...wewant to play well every week.

In their first game,which was August

29 against Wash-burn University,

the Orediggerstook a tough27-14 loss.Despite theloss, Stitt said

the team tookaway some good

lessons from thegame.

Washburns a good team,Stitt said of their opponent.We playedwell, we justmade somem i s t a k e sthat couldhave beenavoided.

P e s e k

co m p le t ed35 of 44 passes for 227 yardsand one interception againstWashburn. Redshirt freshmanCody Renken caught 13 passes

Jake RezacContent Manager

Football aims for championshipCoach Stitt previews the upcoming football season

for 72 yards, one pass shy ofthe all-time Oredigger record.Running back Jahre Cheese-

m a nr u s h e dfor 56y a r d s .L i n e -b a c k e r

A l e x Vigil ledC S M sdefense

with 9 tackles and three otherplayers each had 8.

Mines second game, at FortHays State, ended in a 31-21 loss. Pesek was 34-55 onpassing for 376 yards. Renken

tied the all-time Oredigger re-cord for number of catches ina game, with 14, going for 132yards. Reciever Adam Saur alsohad a good game, with 136yards on 9 catches.

The Orediggers start RMACplay next week, playing atWestern New Mexico. On Sep-tember 19, the team returns toBrooks Field to play Fort Lew-

is. TheOredig-g e r swill playW e s t -e r nS t a t eon Oc-

t o b e r10 for the Homecoming game,and rivals Chadron State cometo town on October 24.

Renken tied the all-time

Oredigger record for num-

ber of catches in a game,

with 14, going for 132 yards.

Following a year that sawrecord participation, IntramuralSports at CSM is headed foranother record year. The mostp o p u l a rs p o r t s ,flag foot-ball, bas-k e t b a l l ,and indoorand out-door soc-cer havea l r e a d yd r a w nsub s t an -tial inter-est fromreturning students and incom-ing freshmen. Flag football, forwhich registration has ended,maxed out all of the availabledivisions with a record of 67 dif-ferent teams that applied.

Basketball and soccer areboth expected to parallel flagfootball in their success withregistration occurring later inthe year.

There hasbeen anest imated15 to 20percent in-crease inthe num-ber of par-t i c i p a n t seach yearin Intramu-ral sports. Last year there wereover 5,400 participants.

Registration is currently un-derway for the Golf Scrambleat the Arrowhead Golf Club,one of the top ten most photo-graphed golf clubs in America.

The Scramble is a regional qual-ifier that will send the top teamfrom CSM and the top studentteam over-all to thefinal tour-nament inLas Vegas,N e v a d a .

The win-ning stu-dent teamand CSMteam alsoreceive a $750 stipend to coverexpenses incurred during thetrip. Registration ends Septem-ber 10 and the tournament willbe held October 1 with a starttime of 8:30 AM. Both studentsand faculty are encouragedto par-t i c i p a t e ;however,the tour-nament isexpectedto havea pro-

p o r t i o n -ally highernumber ofs t ud en t sthan fac-ulty.

As aprogram that has continuallytried to improve, CSM Intra-mural sports, directed by JohnHoward, made several changesto the department with the de-

sire to enhance student partici-pation in the sports. One of themost popular changes was theaddition of statistics, standings,and time of the event on the rec-reational sport website.

Eleven-by-eleven soccerwas a trialsport lastyear andwill bec o n t i n -ued againthis year;H o w a r dsaid, Thefeedbackfor thenew in-t r a m u r a ls o c c e r

was really positive, people whohave played the traditional form(11x11) all of their lives espe-cially enjoyed the addition of thissport.

Another of the most notice-able changes is the removal ofties from floor hockey and in-door and outdoor soccer whichremoves all confusion in the

standingswhen itc o m e stime forthe play-offs, saidH o w -ard. Allof thesec h a n g e sas well aso u t d o o r

scoreboards and a new buildinghave propelled CSM Intramuralsports to record numbers in par-ticipation each year.

In the future, there will beonline registration for all of thesports so people dont haveto come in and get a form andthen come back in [to the Stu-dent Recreation Center] to drop

the formoff, com-m e n t e dH o w a r d .

The goalfor the de-partment,

H o w a r dsaid, hasbeen andwill contin-

ue to be to focus on putting outa great product for the studentsand put out our best effort sothat students will have a goodtime playing Intramural sports.

Howard encouraged stu-dents to not only remain safe but

to learnteamwork,camarade-rie, take abreak froms c h o o l ,and justhave a lot

of fun.S t u d e n t sare en-couragedto offerf eed b ack to Howard

or anyone associated with Intra-mural sports about the existingsports, their rules, the structureof the schedule, or new ideasfor more sports.

Benjamin Johnson

Staff Writer

Record numbersIM Sports sees boost in players

Flag football, for which

registration has ended,

maxed out all of the avail-

able divisions with a record

of 67 dierent teams that

applied.

CSM Intramural sports

made several changes to

the department with the

desire to enhance student

participation in the sports.

One of the most popular

changes was the addition

of statistics, standings, and

time of the event on the

recreational sport website.

In the future, there will

be online registration for

all of the sports so peo-

ple dont have to come in

and get a form and then

come back to drop the

form off.

The Orediggers will play

the oredigger issue 01 - september 7. 2009

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