THE OREDIGGER

The student voice of Mines since 1920

Volume 95, Issue 7

March 17, 2015

E-Days Concert Fever - Page 3

March Movies - Page 14

Music - Page 18

Sound-Dependent Pleasure - Page 19

EWB-B2P - Page 20

Sex Survey Results Part II: PE Dept. Responds

to Drop in Oil Prices
Departmental Virginity
Chelsea Grimm
Staff Writer

See more results

starting on page 10!
All Undergraduate Students (~27%)

The impact of the falling price

of oil will have far reaching eects
on the Mines community as the oil
and gas industry hired 35 percent
of Mines graduates starting industry
or government jobs following the
2013-2014 school year.
This statistic from the most recent Career Center Annual Report
includes students from every academic department at CSM. Even if
the recent petroleum industry downturn does not aect you directly, it
probably aects your friends and
colleagues.
As the markets closed on the
last Friday in February, West Texas
Intermediate (WTI) crude oil futures
were trading at more than 49 USD/
barrel. That is up from late Januarys minimum price of just over 44
USD/barrel, but still a far cry from
WTIs 2008 peak of 145 USD/
barrel or the more recent peak of
nearly 108 USD/barrel at the end
of June. What caused this sudden
downturn? What can we learn from

past cycles? And what impact will

the current downturn have on the
Colorado School of Mines?
The rst big rises and downturns [of my career] were controlled
by outside geopolitical issues
OPEC forming and wars in the
Middle East drove the prices up
and down, Dr. Ramona Graves,
now dean of the College of Earth
Resource Sciences and Engineering
(CERSE), said.
Dean Graves earned a PhD in
petroleum engineering from CSM
in 1982 and has served the university ever since, rst as a professor
and then as head of the Petroleum
Engineering Department until her
promotion to dean in 2012. From
this vantage point, she sees a difference in the situation compared
to the past.
Now our industry in general
is more global. No one country or
group of countries controls oil like it
was in the past, she said.
Continued at PE Employment
Expected to Weather Price Drop,
Page 4

Measles Outbreak Reignites Vaccination Debate

Abby Zimmerman
Staff Writer

Disneyland is commonly referred to as the happiest place

on earth a fun-filled, attractionpacked amusement park for
children and adults alike. Each
year, over 16 million people travel
to California to visit the park and
then return home satisfied after
their stay. Between January 1st

The main question is: should

vaccinations be made mandatory?
Currently, the CDC recommends 28 doses of 10 different
vaccines for children under 6
years old. Although there are no
federal laws that mandate vaccinations, all 50 states have public
school requirements.
Most of these states, however, also allow for parents to

This ongoing outbreak has garnered

national media attention and sparked a hottopic debate that essentially began in 1796,
after Edward Jenner created the rst modern
vaccine. The main question is: should vaccinations be made mandatory?
and February 20th this year,
however, 154 people from 17
different states were reported to
have contracted measles, and
118 of these cases were linked
directly to Disneyland.
A c c o rd i n g t o t h e C e n t e r s
for Disease Control (CDC), the
majority of the people who had
been infected were unvaccinated
against measles [1].
This ongoing outbreak has
garnered national media attention and sparked a hot-topic
debate that essentially began in
1796, after Edward Jenner created the first modern vaccine.

since 1990 through vaccinations

alone [2].
So is there a definitive answer
to this question? Is this question
even relevant on an individual
level? According to the Colorado
School of Mines Health Center,
Colorado state law requires
n e w f re s h m a n , t r a n s f e r a n d
graduate students submit proof
of two doses each of measles,
mumps and rubella vaccines.
This is a mandatory requirement
for all college students born on
or after January 1, 1957 [3]. To
be a student at Mines, vaccina-

tions are mandated. But to be

a citizen of the United States,
should these same requirements
be held?
Surveying Science

According to a new survey

performed by the Pew Research
Center, only 13% of polled professional scientists thought that
parents should be allowed to
have their children exempted
from vaccines. 30% of the general public, however, believed
that vaccinations should be a
choice [4]. So what is causing

exempt their children based

on medical, religious, and even
philosophical reasons.
While some parents refuse
vaccination based on the fear
of an adverse effect (30,000
reactions reported since 1990),
others argue that governmentmandated vaccines would violate
their constitutionally protected
religious and personal freedoms.
Supporters of required vaccinations, on the other hand, highlight the benefits: the
CDC estimates that 732,000
lives were saved and 322 million
cases of illness were prevented

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

this gap between scientists and

the public? Does science hold
information that the average U.S.
citizen does not?
Matthew F. Daley and Jason
M. Glanz (a pediatrician and
epidemiologist, respectively)
bring the growing numbers of
deliberately unvaccinated children under the spotlight in their
article Straight Talk about Vaccination, which was published
in Scientific American.
Continued at The Vaccination Debate, Page 3.

n e w s

page 2

march 17, 2015

Ramiro Rodriguez, Staff Writer

Oklahoma, United States - The U.S. Geological Survey is reporting that small earthquakes
related to energy drilling are increasing the risk of
much larger earthquakes in the future. Previously,
the small earthquakes linked to waste-water injecting and hydraulic fracking, have been considered
non-threats, but the as of yet unreleased study by
the USGS has linked increased numbers of small
tremors to large earthquakes depending on where
the water is being injected and the geology of the
region, which is why other states, such as Texas
and Ohio, have not seen any increase in earthquake
risk despite increasing water injection activity.

Oredigger Staff
Lucy Orsi
Editor-in-Chief
Emily McNair
Managing Editor
Taylor Polodna
Design Editor
Connor McDonald
Webmaster
Amos Gwa
Business Manager
Jason Lim
Copy Editor
Brett Tucker
Content Manager
Katerina Gonzales
Content Manager
Katharyn Peterman
Content Manager
Karen Gilbert
Faculty Advisor

London, United Kingdom - Researchers at the Imperial

College London in London have discovered that the mineral
jarosite breaks down organic matter when ash-heated. The
mineral jarosite has been found in soil samples on Mars by
the NASA Curiosity rover which tests soil samples through a
process involving ash-heating. When ash-heated, the mineral decomposes into sulphur dioxide and oxygen. Experimentation with jarosite and organic material shows that jarosite
decomposes under ash-heating the oxygen destroys the organic material without leaving a trace of organic material. The
implication of this is that there is a distinct possibility that the
inconclusive search for organic material on Mars by Curiosity
despite previous studies pointing towards there being some
organic material on Mars is due to the testing method rather
than the studies having been incorrect.

Headlines from Around the World

Ramiro Rodriguez, Staff Writer
Four ExxonMobil workers have
received minor injuries during a renery explosion in Torrance, California. As of yet, the cause of the
explosion has not been determined,
though the California Department of
Industrial Relations has opened a
probe to investigate the matter. The
explosion, as well as the recent walkout by United Steelworkers from a

by hacking into the emails that the

spy agencies identied as the ones
used to transfer the encryption keys.
The computer manufacturer
Lenovo has been revealed to have
installed an adware program by
the name of Supersh to its consumer laptops. The program injects
unwanted advertisements onto the
laptop users Google
searches
and
COURTESY NBC NEWS
other viewed websites. Users are
reporting that the
software installs
its own self-signed
security certicate,
which allows the
software to spy on
otherwise secure
connections, such
as banking websites and online
Tesoro Corp renery, have made the shopping websites. When asked,
price of Californias February gasoline representatives from Lenovo claim
deliveries rise to 40 cents compared that the software
to the expected price. Economic an- was meant to
alysts predict higher prices in the rest helps users nd
of the United States as well.
and
discover
Documents leaked by Edward products
visuSnowden to online periodical The ally. They have
Intercept has revealed that in a joint also said that
operation, American and British spy Supersh will no
agencies have stolen encryption longer be bunkeys from the worlds largest pro- dled with their
vider of SIM cards, Gemalto. With products in the
these keys, the two spy agencies will future.
be able to monitor incoming trac
The Royal Cawithout the need for authorization or nadian Mounted
wiretaps and will not leave any trace Police
have
of activity on the spied upon phone labeled
antior network. The leaked documents petroleum groups as a growing
reveal the hack was done through and violent threat to Canadian secua combination of planted Malware, rity. The move has raised concerns
cyberstalking Gemalto engineers for among environmentalists that this
their personal information, as well as will lead to increased surveillance

and possibly criminal association under the Harper governments terrorism legislation. A report by the RCMP
acquired by Greenpeace in early
2014 contains references to climate
change skepticism within the Canadian government. These documents
claim that Canadian environmentalist
movements are backed by foreign
money, and reveal the groundwork
on a program designed to surveil
Canadians associated with the environmentalist movements.
An Oklahoma legislative committee has approved a bill to cut
funding for the teaching of Advanced Placement U.S. History.
Representative Dan Fisher says his
reasoning for the bill was that the
class teaches too much of what
is bad about America and doesnt
teach American exceptionalism.
This complaint mirrors those by conservative school board members in
Jeerson County last fall that led to
COURTESY JOSH DAVIS

a student protest because of school

board members wanting to teach a
history curriculum designed to promote patriotism and discourage civil
disobedience.

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

Local News
Theres a new record for
February snowfall in Denver:
22.2 inches. February 2012
was bumped down to second
place with 20.2 inches. Until
this past week, Denver was on
track to have the driest February in history, but the recent
snowfall turned that around.
Anyone who uses the toll
lanes on I-25 through Denver
is in for a surprise. The rates
for the express toll lanes during peak travel times have increased from $4.45 to $4.65 for
those with an Express Toll pass
and drivers without a pass will
have to pay $6.98. High Performance Transportation Enterprise is having a special board
meeting on Tuesday for public
comment.
A re Saturday night led to
a roof collapse in Westminster.
No one was injured in the blaze,
but there are still several pets
unaccounted for.
Parents are ghting back
against Colorados youth surveys on drugs and sex. These
public health surveys look at
rates of drug use and the sex
lives of middle and high school
students and have been used
for nearly 25 years. Parents
believe that these surveys are
inappropriate, and the state
legislature and Board of Education are looking into requiring
parental permission for children
to participate in the surveys.
The El Paso County Sheris
Oce is on the lookout for a
dark-haired woman that had a
Valentines Day shopping spree.
The woman used a stolen debit
card at two Walgreens stores in
Colorado Springs to purchase
over $500 worth of goods.

n e w s

march 17, 2015

page 3

The Vaccination Debate

Abby Zimmerman
Staff Writer

Continued from Page 1

Now that science has shown

that children should be vaccinated,
the question still remains: should
governments mandate their vaccinations? Vaccination policies vary
greatly between dierent nations.
Some countries have no requirements of any kind, while others
have completely mandated
programs. Here in the
CO
UR
United States, there
TE
S
are mandated
vaccines
at
the
state
level
for
children
attending public
school, but
these policies lack
consistency
and
often
times, compliance. Professor
Becky
Lafrancois,
from the CSM Economics
and Business Department, oers her
opinion on the topic:
From what I have read, around
a 95 percent vaccination rate is
needed to provide community level
immunity so as not to infect the 1
percent of the population who, for
medical reasons, cannot be vaccinated. In Colorado, the vaccination
rate amongst kindergarteners is only
82 percent on average, the lowest
rate in the nation. From an economics perspective, it is clear that
Colorado falls well below the socially
optimal level of vaccination. The
additional benets to society from
increasing vaccination rates likely
outweigh the additional costs from
doing so. Given this, there is a strong
argument for some kind of government intervention in the vaccination
market here in Colorado. There are
several potential solutions, including
a mandate. Another idea would be
to impose a ne on those parents
who choose to not vaccinate their
children.
There are currently other countries who have put some of these
suggested solutions into place in
order to increase vaccination rates.
For example, Australian parents receive payments for every child that
meets the states set requirements.
The Slovenian government has implemented one of the strictest vaccination policies in the world by ning
those who do not receive nine base
vaccinations. Other nations provide
vaccines free of charge as an incentive to receive them [6]. Essentially,
there are many dierent policy opY

L
AL
G

YH
ER

IP

Based on responses to pediatricians, parents are mainly unwilling

to vaccinate their children because
they either do not think their children
are at risk for diseases or they believe the vaccines themselves
are innately dangerous.
The rst reason no
risk for infection can
be proved false
by the use of
a study performed here,
in the state
of
Colorado.
By examining
hundreds
of thousands
of both vaccinated and unvaccinated subjects, it
was found that unvaccinated children were roughly 23 times
more likely to develop whooping
cough, nine times more likely to be
infected with chickenpox, and 6.5
times more likely to be hospitalized
with pneumonia or pneumococcal
disease than vaccinated children
from the same communities [5].
From these numbers, it is clear that
denying vaccinations increases the
chance of disease.
According to Daley and Glanz,
the second main objection a fear
of the vaccines causing more harm
than good stems from misinformation spread by both the media and
the use of the internet. Although
there are always risks to vaccines
(with small percentages of adverse
reactions), there have been some
major claims questioning safety
over the years that have served to
strengthen the anti-vaccine movement. The most famous of these
theories was published in the Lancet in 1998 by Andrew J. Wakeeld,
who claimed that the measles vaccine could cause autism in young
children. Since then, many studies
have disproved this claim and the
article was later retracted in 2010.
Despite the proof that this theory is
false, a recent survey showed that
around 25% of 1500 participants
still believed it to be true [5]. This
example serves to demonstrate the
disconnection between science and
the public. As a whole, however, despite any conicting public opinion
or misinformation, science shows
that vaccines help protect children
against diseases, with little risk.

Possible Policies

tions that could be implemented to

increase vaccinations within the U.S.
As citizens of Colorado the least
vaccinated state in the country
Mines students should begin to consider what needs to change about
state policy.
The Whole Picture
The measles outbreak at the beginning of this year shows that the
United States current vaccination
policy is not achieving socially optimal results. The anti-vaccination
movement, which contradicts research, is continuing to grow as the
gap between science and public
opinion widens. To stop these outbreaks, action needs to be taken.
The action must take religious and
personal freedoms into consideration, yet still manage to increase
vaccination rates. Perhaps the solution is to better educate parents
about the risks of declining vaccinations for their children. Or maybe

nes for lack of compliance should

be implemented. No matter the
course of action, however, the Dis-

neyland measles outbreak demonstrates that the U.S. vaccination

policy needs to change.

I saved $368 dollars per credit

hour by taking transferable
classes at RRCC.
-Jesse, RRCC Alumnus, CSM Student

Start saving now with transferable,

online and weekend courses at
Red Rocks Community College.
Students who complete their prerequisites at RRCC
before transferring to Mines can save up to $22K*

www.RRCC.edu
*Based on CSMs list of recommended courses for a successful transfer.

E-DAYS Saturday Night Concert Fever

Dillon Stine
Staff Writer

Although it can be inferred that

the votes casted by the student
body for the E-Days headliner are
all that go into the decision process, students might be surprised
that the winner chosen by the students is not always the artist on
the stage.
The artist selection process
starts with the MAC Executive
Council and the E-Days committee, Colin Marshall, president
of MAC, said. They discuss
amongst themselves prospective
musicians to headline the Saturday night concert.
The committee then relies
upon an outside agency to give

them realistic options.

We then send a list of our desired artists along with the date
and our price range to an agent at
concertideas.com, Marshall said.
They then return to us all available
oers.
From that point, the executive
committee selects ve acts from
ve varying musical genres such
as indie, country, rap, electronica,
and rock.
From there we put the vote to
the students with an online poll,
and the winning artist gets the offer, he said.
If the winning artist becomes
unavailable to attend the concert
than the oer is extended to the
artist with the 2nd most votes and
so on it goes down the list. For-

tunately, according to Marshall,

the winning artist is able to make
it about 70% of the time and they
have never had to go beyond the
2nd place vote in her time with the
committee.
Its a shame that the winning band cant always make it,
but I think the system they have
in place is fair, Tyler Croteau, a
junior in Physics, said. Were all
given the option to vote for two
bands so the second place band
is almost always somebody were
excited about regardless.
Getting the artist to commit to
the show is only half the battle;
the committees must be prepared
for catering to the artists needs.
The bands usually arrive early
in the day with enough time for

themselves to do a soundcheck
and to set up their trailers.
Generally, theyre very nice,
but often they make some weird
requests, Marshall said. Half of
the Cold War Kids were vegan and
we had to go to multiple stores in
order to get everything for them.
Other bands have requested
certain sizes of certain colored
towels, and particular food such
as specic brands of thinly cut
ham.
Artists are provided with a
room inside the Green Center
thats stocked with food, drinks
(non-alcoholic), and couches, but
they are still allowed to leave and
do whatever they want, she said.
This has led to rumors of artists
getting into some mischief in the

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

Golden area. The Cold War Kids

were rumored to have left campus
to get tattoos, whilst some artists
took it to an entirely new level and
were accused of doing cocaine
on campus.
With regards to the venue
choice, the move to the IM elds
has provided enough space for
the growth in attendees, compared to the old venue, Steinhauser Field House, which only
had enough room for 2,000 to
2,500 people.
Im glad that the concerts are
outside, Ive been to a concert
at the eldhouse and it was just
uncomfortably crowded and hot,
Croteau said. Plus, all you have
to do is turn around at the end of
the show to see the reworks!

n e w s

page 4

march 17, 2015

PE Employment Expected to Weather Price Drop

Chelsea Grimm
Staff Writer

Continued from Page 1

Dr. Bill Eustes, who worked as a
field engineer with ARCO Oil and Gas
before returning to academia and becoming a professor at CSM, points
out the likely culprit of the most recent
downturn is just economics.
If you look at supply and demand,
thats obviously the issue. Too much
supply, too little demand, Dr. Eustes
said. Another way to say that is, were
really too good at what we do. Everyone has come up with newer ways to
extract hydrocarbons because there
was a big market for it. We did such a
fine job that we flooded the market.
The United States surpassed
Saudi Arabia as the leading crude oil
producer in 2014, and has been the
worlds leading producer of natural
gas since 2010, according to the U.S.
Energy Information Administration
(EIA). This success is primarily due to
the petroleum industrys successful
application of new horizontal drilling
and hydraulic fracturing technologies
to unconventional hydrocarbon reservoirs.
While production will not immediately cease as a result of the current downturn, drilling activities have
slowed precipitously. The U.S. oil rig
count has declined by about 39 percent, which is nearing the expected
range of 40 to 60 percent quoted by
Baker Hughes for previous downturns. This could lead to significant
production declines in the next few
years because unconventional reservoirs experience steep production declines. Continuous drilling operations
are needed to keep oil flowing from
these new hydrocarbon sources.
Since its inception in 1859, the oil
and gas industry has been notoriously
cyclical, with soaring prices followed
by slumps.
As illustrated in Figure 1, this cyclicity has been mirrored in the interest
of students in petroleum engineering,
albeit with a lag of a couple years.
Faculty applicants are expected to increase while student interest wanes.
This could provide an opportunity for
the Petroleum Engineering Department and CERSE to strategically
grow and take advantage of research
opportunities.
This cyclicity has also been a recurring cause for concern among students completing their four-year-long

educational investments of time and

This is the expectation for the cur- fifth of their rigs, which has left more
tuition.
rent cycle. Thus far, Mines has only than 1,000 workers jobless.
In the early 80s our classes were seen three offer withdrawals conStudents who are chilled by this
huge, [around] 120 students, Dean firmed with the Career Center, and news should heed the advice of their
Graves said. They were the biggest they appear to be business decisions predecessors.
classes wed ever had. Then there rather than knee-jerk reactions to the
One student got a job in a refinwas a downturn just like this one. At downturn.
ery in Roosevelt, Utah, Dean Graves
that time we were a different industry,
This is a real normal type of reca- said. He said as much as he cussed
we were a different university. All of librating within an industry. It is a more having to take thermodynamics,
our students had jobs in December. logical reduction in oil prices, Dean he suddenly knew why. Because it
By January or February, about 90 Graves said. I know oil prices will go trained him to do other things. He
percent of the students had had their up and they will stabilize. I just dont was just a good engineer.
job offers withdrawn. It was a horrible know when and by how much.
Dr. Kazemi said he similarly retime.
Service companies, who facilitate members a graduate student wellThis lack of hiring led to a longer oil and gas activities rather than own- versed in fractured reservoirs who
term problem in the industry.
ing mineral resources themselves, are took a job consulting for Sandia NaBecause of the short-sighted- typically the first to cut jobs as their tional Laboratories until he could enter
ness of a lot of companies
that refused to hire during
that bleak time in the late
80s and early 90s, they
left that gap in the demographic that is now coming back to haunt them,
Dr. Eustes said, echoing
the sentiments of many
oil and gas industry veterans. Were not going to
see quite the same cutoff that we saw with the
1980s crash, because
youve got to keep the
pipeline full to be able to
keep the experience level
up.
Dr. Hossein Kazemi,
Chesebro Distinguished
Chair and professor of
Petroleum Engineering,
offered a hopeful perspective for students.
Typically
younger Figure 1. Graduation numbers for the Petroleum Engineering Department
people are more pro- generally trend with the cyclicity of the oil and gas industry, with a lag of a
tected because they few years for student time spent in the program after admission. Graduate
have lower salaries, degrees may trend upward with industry downturns as students enrich their
more potential, Dr. Ka- education while avoiding hiring challenges. Real crude prices express value
zemi said. Older [work- in historical nominal monetary terms, while nominal prices are tied to the
ers] have higher salaries consumer price index, reflecting the general price level in the current year.
and its easier if they are
close to retirement to entice them to clients, the operators, cut back their the petroleum industry a year later.
retire.
capital expenditures.
Mines graduates heading for
This encouragement for indusReuters calculates more than petroleum jobs may be concerned
try veterans to retire will likely leave 100,000 layoffs announced since the because they draw knowledge and
a dearth of experience and mentors price slide began last summer. Sch- experience only from recent history,
in the increasingly youthful oilfields. lumberger has cut 9,000 jobs, rival when engineers commanded high
However, the industry has shown Halliburton will eliminate 6,400 jobs, salaries and university graduates
signs of dealing with this issue over and Baker Hughes will lay off 7,000 have had their pick of multiple dream
the years.
employees.
job offers.
The industry got smarter, and the
The jobs that come farthest upIts bad for students to expend
students got smarter. There were al- stream in the oil and gas production this energy and time thinking about
most no job offers withdrawn, Dean process also tend to be hit hardest things they cant control. What can
Graves said. They didnt offer as and fastest, as evidenced by the they control? They can control their
many jobs, the salaries hadnt got- previously cited declining U.S. oil rig career, what theyre involved in, their
ten so out of line. There wasnt such counts. Precision Drilling, a North activities, Dean Graves said. Be
a shock.
American rig contractor, has idled a smart on what you do with your elec-

tives. Become more engaged in your

professional societies. Build leadership [skills]. There has to be something besides just being a petroleum
engineer or just being a graduate of
the School of Mines.
Dr. Kazemi suggests that internships are a great way to get your foot
in the door. Even if it takes a few years
for the oil and gas industry to turn
around, you will be first in line by association. He also emphasizes taking
fundamental coursework seriously.
Students really should emphasize subjects like chemistry, he said.
An electrochemical [focus] applies to
fuel cells and a pore-scale level understanding [of petroleum reservoirs].
Also, physics [is important] because
of all the new devices we are using:
nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR),
imaging, CT scanning, scanning electron microscopy (SEM). All these devices are not hard to understand, with
a physics background you can relate
to it.
According to Dr. Kazemi, the more
you know about the fundamentals of
these new devices, you will have a lot
more opportunities and options.
Dont get picky. You may end up
in Vernal, Utah, Dr. Eustes said. Get
your foot in the door. You can change
later. You ought to take the opportunities that come up, not the opportunities that you wish for. They may not
happen.
Like Dr. Kazemi, Dr. Eustes suggests tangential industries and careers as a starting point, if necessary.
Even government jobs could be beneficial.
Having a regulatory background
given todays market and the way we
do our stuff here in the States could
be a very valuable asset when there is
a recovery, Dr. Eustes said.
Dean Graves encourages students to find their passion and follow
it, taking advantage of the phenomenal educational opportunities at
Mines.
Even though the name [of your
degree] is very narrow, you have a
very broad education, she said.
Dr. Eustes echoed a similar point.
When you leave Mines, all weve
really done is hand you the keys to the
car. You need to learn how to drive
now, that is, become an engineer, he
said. So weve given you the tools,
the thinking processes of being an
engineer, but youre not an engineer
until you get out there and start working.

countries and a few in South America

(Algeria, Angola, Ecuador, Iran, Iraq,
Kuwait, Libya, Nigeria, Saudi Arabia,
UAE and Venezuela) and it controls
approximately 40% of the worlds
production.
A cartel is an agreement between
competing firms to control prices. In
1973, an oil embargo was proclaimed
by OPEC, causing the prices of oil to
skyrocket as a result of less supply in
the market, highlighting the political
influence on the oil market. However,
a cartels influence can be weakened if another strong player with a
large market share enters the picture,
which in this case is the United States.
The United States has recently
become the worlds largest oil producer due to the shale revolution. The
surge in oil production has allowed the
United States to heavily cut down on
oil imports from exporting countries,
creating a surplus of export oil in the
market. The main exporting countries
such as Russia, Iraq and Nigeria have
been hit hard as a result of both declining prices and lack of demand for
their exports.

unwanted experience gap between

the workers. Also, the market forces
will equalize and push the price back
up as future drilling and production
activities will be scaled down. Meanwhile, not many sources of energy
can be as cheap while also being efficient at such a large scale.
Students, especially sophomores,
juniors and seniors, need to brace
themselves for tough times in the industry. Entering freshmen hoping to
pursue a four year degree in petroleum engineering should not be overly
concerned as the prospects will be
very different four years down the
road. The outlook may be different after the 2017 presidential election during which the mood of the country will
change. Actions may be forthcoming
to replace the workers who were cutoff during the downturn.
So to answer the question of
whether or not to pursue petroleum
engineering, one should decide
whether or not it is worth it to weather
the current storm for the prize of getting to ride the upside of the volatile
cycle.

Should I Still Consider a Career in the Oil and Gas Industry?

Jeremy Yong
Staff Writer

The aftermath of the petroleum

downturn has not yet shown signs
of slowing down as companies have
started taking counter measures to
brace themselves against the crunch.
The massive 9000 job cuts announced by Schlumberger earlier
this year indicates that the oil and gas
industry continues to be one of the
most volatile markets around. There
appears to be a lack of job security
given the unpredictability of crude oil
prices. This situation represents a
nightmarish scenario for senior students who have found themselves
caught in the crosshairs of this cycle.
Given the current uncertainty in
the oil and gas industry, would it still
be advisable to pursue a career in it?
In order to address the volatility of
the market, it is important to identify
and understand the roles of the major
stakeholders in play.
The Organization of Petroleum
Exporting Countries (OPEC) is a cartel formed by several Middle Eastern

It would seem that the simple solution to this problem is to curb production to push the prices back up.
However, the oil and gas industry is
not just a simple supply and demand
market. Instead, political agendas and
interests are ever present affecting
the market. Instability in the Middle
East and Ukraine have increased the
uncertainty in the oil market, while the
upcoming election year will mean the
politicians will not respond to the oil
and gas business.
Dr. Kazemi, the Chesebro Distinguished Chair in Petroleum Engineering and professor with more than
30 years of teaching experience at
Colorado School of Mines, frankly admitted that the year 2015 will not be
a good year for job seekers in the industry, nor does he expect 2016 and
2017 to be great either.
One practical method of dealing
with the downturn, according to Dr.
Kazemi, is to be versatile. This includes working for other departments
and learning how to use the laboratory equipment. It would be useful to
learn the fundamentals of devices es-

pecially given that the industry is currently more technologically driven.

There may still be light at the end of
the tunnel as far as the industry is concerned. The low prices will force companies to be more prudent in spending and ensure projects are planned
in financially responsible manner.
Ultimately, the cut in drilling and production activities should gradually lead
to a reduction in oil supply and an increase in oil prices.
The population is expected to
grow, which will increase demand.
We are also becoming more efficient .
With the usage of natural gas instead
of coal, the United States has already
reduced pollution level by approximately 30 to 35 percent.
The current downturn in the industry has given students reasons
for concerns and pessimism for the
future. The need for many students
to pay off college debts also leaves
little room for judgment error in choosing career paths. Past industry cycles
however have demonstrated that
mistakes were made when massive
layoffs were sanctioned, creating an

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march 17, 2015

page 5

The Key to Mines Spirit Shells for Thought

From engineering creative designs for the M on Mt. Zion, to coordinating Winter Carnival festivities
for students each January, members
of Blue Key Honor Society define
themselves by much more than just
GPA. The Mines Chapter of Blue
Key, in existence since 1926, challenges members to use leadership,
service, and scholarship to better
themselves, the Mines campus, and
the Golden community.
I love everything about it, says
Kyle Heser, club president and a
senior in Metallurgy and Materials
Engineering. National Blue Key has
its roots at the University of Florida,
where the university president called
upon a group of 25 student leaders
to coordinate a Homecoming program in 1924. The event was such
a success that the students formed
a permanent service group and
the idea quickly spread to colleges
across the nation. While there are a
few national requirements and a national conference is held each summer, the individual chapters are given
the freedom to create their own traditions and require stricter membership eligibility if desired.
There arent many organizations
that play such a significant role in so

many different events, explains Kyle

on Blue Keys involvement here on
campus.
Mines students in this organization lead the freshman M-Climb
each year, promote attendance at
sports and other activities, volunteer
at career fair and graduation, and
even take care of Blaster the donkey
when he is away from his owner Bill
and home in Idaho Springs.
The chapter has been advised by
Michelle Kozell of the Environmental
Health and Safety Department over
the past year with assistance from
Bruce Yoshioka, Mining Engineering
Laboratory Coordinator.
Blue Key additionally works with
the Golden Chamber of Commerce
to coordinate annual service projects
like decorating downtown Golden
with holiday lights and contributing
to Habitat for Humanity projects. Because the Mines chapter constantly
strives to increase service and involvement, the group has hosted the
national conference several times
and received recognition from Congressman Ed Perlmutter, President
Bill Scoggins, and even the City of
Golden.
While all of these events promote
school and community spirit, they
also allow members to grow as student leaders and build lifelong friendships. Members form a tight-knit

community and help one another

discover talents with committee and
leadership roles. In addition to that,
Blue Key has a retreat each fall to
further develop meaningful connections among students.
Mines Blue Key is accepting
2015 membership applications
(by email invite only) until Tuesday,
March 3rd at 12:00 PM. To be eligible, students must have a GPA in
the top 1/3 of their graduating class
and have completed at least three
semesters at Mines (or be a transfer
student with enough credit to qualify
as a fourth semester student). Additionally, the board is looking for
students who are excited about the
organization, have involvement experience, and are passionate about
making a difference on campus.
The overall enthusiastic spirit
makes it unique, says Kyle. Everyone knows how to work hard but
also have a good time.
National Blue Keys motto is
Zu Ziihpeton, which translates to
Serving, I Live. Members of this
special campus organization must
have immense life balance to maintain such high academic standing
and still dedicate time to service.
Kyle puts it best saying, Blue Key is
all about getting to know exemplary
folks and seeing what we can accomplish together.

Where Science Meets Literature

Dr. Olivia Burgess Faculty Spotlight

COURTESY COLORADO SCHOOL OF MINES

Suddenly the technical people

have to get really good at talking to
community people, asserted AtThere is something slightly odd kins. Shell has hired several Comon some of the hundred peso bills munity Liaison Officers (CLOs), but
in the Philippines. Amidst impor- sometimes when a technical issue
tant cultural symbols and a picture arises, engineers are sent because
of President Manuel Roxas is a they have so much knowledge
of the problem
small seashell
and its posthe international
solutions.
logo of Shell Oil
Amidst impor- sible
By
integrating
Corporation.
companys
While it may initant cultural sym- the
technical
side
tially seem out of
with
the
nonplace, this small
bols and a picture
technical parts
logo commemorates a one hun- of President Manuel of the business,
Shell is able to
dred year partconnect with the
Roxas is a small
nership between
community more
the Philippines
seashell the in- effectively.
and Shell Oil
The compaand symbolizes
ternational logo of nys recent exthe importance
with a
of communityShell Oil Corpora- perience
shale gas develcentered engiopment project
neering.
tion.
in Sichuan, ChiSpeaker Dana illustrates the
vid Atkins, Community Engagement Advisor at full impact of the Shells commuShell Oil, outlined several of the nity-integration efforts. With open
companys international projects houses for the public, immediate
at a lecture on February 18th to damage repair, and a community
ultimately analyze the importance complaint register, Shell minimized
of bringing the community into en- disturbance and made the project
gineering projects. As Shell owns economically worthwhile for both
43,000 service stations, employs the company and the community.
over 92,000 people, and is active The company also contributed to
in 70 countries, the corporation infrastructure projects with taxes
has the opportunity to impact mil- and fees and worked with the peolions of people and communities ple to invest in education.
The investment in people and
all over the globe.
We have to offer something engagement was well worth it,
back to the community to be able Atkins affirmed. Shell has learned
to do business, contended Atkins. However, what is now a successful community engagement
plan began as a simple effort to
extinguish fires during projects in
different countries.
For instance, Atkins illustrated
the case of an oil project in a small
town in Ireland in the late 1990s.
While Shells plan to construct an
offshore gas field could have supplied Ireland with 60% of the countrys oil and natural gas, the project
was fraught with difficulties and
delayed due to a disconnect with
the traditional, mainly unindustrialized community. Five unhappy
farmers, later named the Rossport
5, opposed the project and began
an incident that ended in an international uproar concerning the environment.
The delay more than quadrupled the cost of the project and
a film, called The Pipe, was even
created about the incident. The
eventual solution involved devising
a new route for the pipeline, a relatively simple adjustment that could
have been implemented much
earlier (and at a lower cost) with
more community input.
If you spend time with people, to understand the social, historical,
you really get to know their needs, and cultural context of an area, enAtkins explained. Shells new So- gage with the community early on
cial Performance plan involves in projects, and utilize local people
everything from performing house- and services whenever possible.
When the president of the Philto-house visits near construction
sites, to sending quarterly news- ippines announced the addition of
letters to people impacted in the the Shell logo on certain hundredcommunity. While in the past the peso bills, he thanked the corpocompany might have funded a ration not for its technical develnew firehouse or schoolhouse, opments, but for contributing to
the new program involves work- positive social developments for
ing with people in the community the people. Atkins describes huto discover the infrastructure proj- manitarian engineering best with
ects from which they would benefit Its the right thing to do. Its the
moral thing to do.
most.

TE

AL

LE
G

NO

Utopian literature, health and fitness, and engineering school may

not appear to have much in common, but avoid mentioning that
to Dr. Olivia Burgess. Now in her
second semester as a Nature and
Human Values (NHV) Teaching Assistant Professor here at Colorado
School of Mines, Dr. Burgess strives
to connect her passion for health
and love of English to inspire STEM
students every day.
Dr. Burgess grew up in the small
town of El Campo, Texas, which is
just outside of Houston. She completed her undergraduate degree in
English at Texas State University and
then studied English with a focus in
20th Century Utopian and Dystopian
Literature at Texas A&M University
for her graduate degrees. While Dr.
Burgess taught for a few years at
both Texas A&M and the Missouri
University of Science and Technology, the NHV teaching position at
Mines was a dream come true.
After moving to Colorado, I
looked up universities in this area
and thought Colorado School of
Minesthat is where I want to work.
Period. she recalls. Even though
there were no openings at the time,
Dr. Burgess checked back frequently and put in an application to teach
NHV a few months later. Because
she loves reading science-based
pieces and enjoys working with
STEM students, the teaching position was a natural fit.
The challenge of working with
science and technology students
really appeals to me, Dr. Burgess
asserts. Writing is vital to their careers and I love providing them with
the opportunity to discuss and think
about what they are doing in a different way. NHV itself focuses on the
ethical implications of various pieces
of technology and engineering projects and challenges Mines students

to communicate clearly
both verbally and through
their writing.
While she has always
loved to read and write (especially about science and
technology), Dr. Burgess
actually did not discover
a love of teaching until a
few years into college. Her
favorite professor at Texas
State recommended that
she look into teaching and
graduate school during a
school trip to Ireland, and
then the progression to
teaching was more natural
than she ever imagined.
I became a better
version of myself when I
stepped into a classroom.
It was like nothing Ive ever
experienced, Dr. Burgess
explains. From facilitating classroom
debates to holding one-on-one writing conferences with students, her
favorite part of teaching is definitely
interacting with the students. She
imagines herself as not a lecturer or
a traditional teacher sharing knowledge, but as a facilitator giving a
voice to everyone in the classroom
and promoting student learning.
As Dr. Burgess becomes more
familiar with the NHV curriculum and
required readings, she hopes to incorporate a few personal touches to
her classes using her background in
utopian literature. For instance, she
currently challenges her NHV sections to consider the ethical dilemmas of Le Guins The Ones Who
Walk Away from Omelas and the
consequences of technology raised
in Foresters The Machine Stops.
Dr. Burgess also includes a class
discussion on gender-ethics as they
pertain to engineering and hopes to
integrate the ethics of care into future lectures.
NHV is a great opportunity to
bring up those kinds of ethical conversations and expand students

Katrina San Nicolas

Staff Writer

COURTESY PINOT NUMISMATIST NETWORK

Katrina San Nicolas

Staff Writer

An Inside Perspective on How

Companies Engage Communities

ND
ER

Katrina San Nicolas

Staff Writer

awareness on the career that they

are going into, she contends. Beyond proficient writing skills and
increased awareness, Dr. Burgess
hopes that her students walk away
from the class with a willingness to
ask questions and look at the world
in a fresh way.
When she is not preparing lectures or grading essays, Dr. Burgess
spends her time training for something. As a young girl she was inspired by physically strong women
who could take care of themselves,
and she consequently makes fitness
a priority in her life. She also likes to
hang out with her dogs and pet bird
Mango and serves as the faculty advisor for the CSM Gymnastics Club.
If Dr. Burgess had to give one
piece of advice to Mines students,
it would be that NHV can be an important and exciting experience with
the right frame of mind and an openness to possibilities. The way that
Mines students look at the world is
very interesting to me so its really fun
to take my style of thinking and my
brain and put it together with theirs
and learn something together.

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march 17, 2015

Creative Writing Corner

Bird: Chapter 1

All stories continued at Oredigger.net

Amber Hill - Staff Writer

Suns coming up.

I tilt my head slightly, eyes still shut tight, listening to the
way the wind changes when the skys liquid blue is stained
with morning. The trees hum in a breeze I can hardly feel. A
squirrel nearby wakes and chirps out a melody. Birds voice in
my mind is the only sound that doesnt give me a headache
with the effort of focusing.
Did you hear?
I heard. I scoot my heels out away from me, releasing my
hold on my knees and fanning my fingers along the burgundy
shingles. Now can I go? My impatience can be felt in the air.
Bird snickers.
Silly girl.
Im not silly. Its normal for you to fly during the day. I only
get nighttime.

I turn to give him a sheepish look. The raven flicks his

head, as though shaking off some irritant.
Youll wait. Not time.
I take a long breath and glance away. We have maybe half
an hour left before people will start to see me.
Plenty.
I roll my eyes so he doesnt see. Last time he flew off and
left me alone for several days.
What do you want me to do?
Hear.
I did hear.
Hear what?
I dont know, I hiss. I heard the trees. And that squirrel.
Not the clouds?
I have to suppress a glare when I meet his beady eyes.

You cant hear the clouds. Besides, youre a bird. You cant
hear that well.
He parts his bulbous beak and clicks once, twice.
Storm. Snow tonight.
My impatience grows. Then I cant fly tonight.
You hear, then. Fast.
My heart beating irregularly, I shut my eyes again and listen for the clouds. The wind feels nice on my face and in my
hair. I struggle with the tie and let my brunette waves down
to breathe a bit. A car horn blares somewhere far off. A few
birds take flight with the morning. My heart beat sounds like
a drum in my ears.
I can hear them, I whisper. The clouds. Youre right. Its
going to snow tonight.
I hear him snicker again.

was just on edge, too much coffee before she left.

Maya parked her car and double checked that she
looked at least somewhat presentable in the mirror before
getting out of the car and double checking that she had
her pistol tucked into her pants. There wasnt likely anything that could convince her to leave it behind. Even at a
carnival with Miles, she couldnt leave it in the car.
Miles stood near the entrance gates, one hand shoved
deep into a pocket and a phone in his other. Probably
was playing some sort of game while he was waiting for
her.
Took you long enough to get here, he said with a
playful smile.
I am right on time! Not my fault you always show up
early.

He stuffed the phone in his pocket and swept her into

a hug. She couldnt help but smile and laugh. Well shall
we then? I hear they have funnel cakes to die for here.
Maya took his hand and said, Ill follow you!
The carnival was not unlike any other carnival she had
gone to, there were a sprinkling of rides for people to go
on, a plethora of different booths that either had something to sell or some game to play, and of course there
were the many different food stands, all of which tantalized her with promise of good food just by smell alone.
At one of the game booths Miles won her a stuffed
animal for a prize. She almost decided to show him up,
but thought better of how he might take losing. The last
time she won he didnt speak to her for a couple of hours
because he had to cool off or something.

Fortune: Act 1

The Oredigger Creative Writing staff

Maya did her best not to look in the rearview mirror as

she pulled into the parking lot, but she could still clearly
see the black SUV that was pulling in behind her, four
maybe five cars back. Maybe she was just being paranoid, at least she tried to tell herself that. But then again,
she didnt exactly lead a life where she could afford not to
notice even the simplest things. A bit of paranoia probably wasnt a bad thing.
However, today she was not supposed to be working,
today she had to act normal, if there was even such a
thing for her. Somehow, Miles managed to see something more in her. It was a curiously wonderful sensation
to be doing normal things with her normal boyfriend. Besides she was on leave for the next month.
No, she decided, the SUV didnt mean anything, she

The Gate: Chapter 1 - The Ceremony of Twilight

Grant DeShazer - Staff Writer

Elder Rex strode through the gathered people and

took his place in a chair at the foot of the Gate. The
fading light of the day was scattered by the clear crystal
material that made up the Gates edges and filled the
temple with glimmering light. Just past the Gate sat a
single carving that perfectly framed the setting sun on
the horizon.
For a moment Elder Rex let the temple sit in silence as
he looked from face to face. His somber attitude stood
in juxtaposition to the celebration earlier in the day. Of
course it was his job to be somber, he was the keeper of
the past. Without him the Ceremony of Twilight couldnt
be completed and the past was bound to be repeated.
Or at least thats what Rawlins parents had always
told him. Now he mostly doubted that there was any-

thing to the Ceremony, aside from the celebration that

took place before it. Originally it had been used to link
together two different people, one of the Trax, and one
of Rawlins people. But that hadnt happened for a very
long time. Now, Elders just told stories of the past.
Rex took a deep breath and began just like he always
had, In the time before remembering, there were two
peoples that walked this land. The Trax and our ancestors. Together they lived in harmony and peace. Magic
roamed the lands, free and strange.
Twas the duty of the Trax to safeguard magic and
its use, for they were creatures born of magic, while
the responsibility of looking after the land itself fell to
our ancestors. For this land we call home represents
the sacred grounds upon which the Gods first walked

amongst mortals. There is power here, not just in the

magic, but the land itself, being so touched by divine
power.
But that harmony was not to last. A betrayer rose up
the ranks of the Trax and took for himself the power of
magic. With it in his grasp, he wrought untold destruction upon the lands.
The Gods, seeing what the Trax were doing, were
so enraged that they descended once again upon this
world. In their mercy they created another realm for
the Trax to live in, one identical to, but separate from
this one. There they sealed away the Trax where they
could do no harm to this world. Our ancestors were
then charged with a new task. To protect the gateway
between the realms.

Ten: Chapter 1
J. West - Staff Writer

Day Negative One: Diary of Juno Eaves

For my twentieth birthday, my parents gave me this diary. It feels strange
to receive such a juvenile gift, especially on the brink of my adulthood. But
tonight I sit in my chair in the dining room and write this in front of my parents. Ive decided this diary shall be a record of my life after my letter comes
tomorrow.
Our society values words above anything else. Perhaps that is why my
parents spent the last of my childhood Allowance on this small black empty
book. My parents are nervous, and they think the journal will help me cope
with what is ahead.
They are worried I will not handle the Ceremony of the Rules with the
grace of those before me. I tend to be slightly disrespectful of authority. It
says so in my File at the Presidential Palace.
Should my parents worry about me? Probably. Tomorrow is the Ceremony of the Rules, where I become an adult and inherit my destiny. But Im one
of the few that thinks destiny shouldnt be inherited. It should be achieved.
My friend Cam says that I am the most dangerous person hes ever met.
He says this not because I am a skilled assassin or a criminal mastermind.
He says this because he thinks Im going to get myself killed someday doing
something stupid. And, Cam has never confessed to it, but I know he thinks
Ill get him killed someday too. Hes hoping that tomorrow I change my mind
and decide to follow my Rules.
The Ceremony of Rules was established after the President discovered
time travel. It was meant to be kept a secret, so naturally everyone found out
almost immediately. To keep up with media demands for information, time
travel was immediately hailed as a panacea. A way to save the future by
ensuring the past.

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Oscar Results and Discussion

page 7

Two of the Orediggers movie reviewers sat down and discussed who they thought
should win in each of the Oscars categories. The actual winners in each category are
identified with gold text.

Nominees for Best Picture:

American Sniper
Birdman or (The Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance)
Boyhood
The Grand Budapest
The Imitation Game
Selma
The Theory of Everything
Whiplash

Erica Dettmer-Radtke - Boyhood

There is a lot of close competition in the Best Picture category this year. However, Boyhood was a cinematic masterpiece. The simple fact that it was filmed
over twelve years shows the dedication that the actors, the director, and everyone who was involved with it had to the movie. On top of that, it was a movie that
resonated with a lot of people, which is a sign of a great film.

Sean Cowie - Birdman

Of the eight fantastic films nominated this year for best picture, Birdman or (The Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance) soars above the rest. The movie boasts an
unexpected but terrific cast, and presents an entirely unique viewing experience for all movie-goers. Although classified as a black comedy, which it certainly is,
the flick delves into many facets of the human condition that are rarely brought to light, increasing the mental appeal of the film. Birdman will make you uneasy,
laugh, wonder what the hell is going on, and is my pick for Best Picture of 2014.

Nominees for Actor in a Leading Role:

Steve Carell (Foxcatcher)
Bradley Cooper (American Sniper)
Benedict Cumberbatch (The Imitation Game)
Michael Keaton (Birdman or (The Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance))
Eddie Redmayne (The Theory of Everything)

Erica - Eddie Redmayne

Eddie Redmaynes performance of Stephen Hawking was on point. To be able to portray someone with Lou Gehrigs disease (ALS) is a difficult task in itself. I
would say that Redmayne did a great job, it is probably hard to portray something that you have never personally experienced. Redmaynes portrayal of Hawking was touching, and it definitely warrants an Oscar.

Sean - Michael Keaton

Birdman almost serves as a character study of not only Michael Keatons role of Riggan Thomson, but also of Keaton himself. The ironic resemblance of his
characters and his own situation would have been a difficult task, but Keaton delivers impeccably. The complex mind of this aging hollywood star is brought to
life due to his powerful performance, and his portrayal of an exaggerated and fictionalized version of himself calls for an Academy Award.

Nominees for Actress in a Leading Role:

Marion Cotillard (Two Days, One Night)
Felicity Jones (The Theory of Everything)
Julianne Moore (Still Alice)
Rosamund Pike (Gone Girl)
Reese Witherspoon (Wild)

Erica - Julianne Moore

Julianne Moores portrayal of a linguistics professor who gets Alzheimers earlier than most was brilliant. On top of her performance, one of the directors of the
movie also got Lou Gehrigs disease (ALS) just before production began. The fact that the project was still completed is amazing. Moores performance managed to
elicit an emotional response from many people because people can relate to the movie.

Sean - Rosamund Pike

Rosamund Pike is my dark horse of the 2015 Oscars. Her chilling depiction of Amazing Amy, a disgruntled wife in the suburbs in small town America is
incredible. The first and final scene contain just her character in the frame, and she did an amazing job completely polarizing the viewers feelings towards her
character. Pikes performance is nightmare-worthy, and that could just win her an Oscar.
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Oscar Results and Discussion cont.

Nominees for Actor in a Supporting Role:

Robert Duvall (The Judge)
Ethan Hawke (Boyhood)
Edward Norton (Birdman or (The Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance))
Mark Ruffalo (Foxcatcher)
J.K. Simmons (Whiplash)

Erica - J.K. Simmons

J.K. Simmons played a ferocious jazz instructor in Whiplash and he has already picked up several awards for it. Simmons has been in a lot of movies over
the years, and has gotten little recognition. To play such an angry person takes a lot of talent, especially since Simmons is considered to be a generally nice person.
The force which J.K. Simmons demonstrates in this film is definitely Oscar worthy.

Sean - J.K. Simmons

The roller coaster ride that was J.K. Simmons performance as a manipulative, no nonsense jazz maestro at a prestigious music university was masterful.
Generally regarded as the sarcastic wise cracker in films such as Juno or the Spiderman trilogy, Simmons acting had me absolutely loathe him then somehow
second guess my hatred at a moments notice. His frightening on-screen presence in Whiplash steals the show, and may just snare him an Oscar.

Nominees for Actress

in a Supporting Role:
Patricia Arquette (Boyhood)
Laura Dern (Wild)
Keira Knightley (The Imitation Game)
Emma Stone (Birdman or (The Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance))
Meryl Streep (Into the Woods)

Erica - Patricia Arquette

What is really incredible about the movie Boyhood is the planning that went into the movie. The devotion for an actress to be a part of a movie for so long is
something that should be awarded. On top of that, people could really identify with Patricia Arquettes portrayal of a mother. It takes a talented actress to make
people truly identify with you and your character.

Sean - Laura Dean

2014 was the year of the mom in the world of Laura Dern. She portrayed the mother in The Fault in Our Stars as well as Reese Witherspoons late mother
in Wild. Her death serving as the catalyst for Witherspoons descent into self-detriment, Dern expertly portrays the optimistic and joyful maternal figure via
flashbacks. Perhaps the fact that she is a mother of two reflects her realistic silver screen demeanor of a charismatic mother so well. Dern was also the biggest
surprise in the category for me, having only remembered her from the original Jurassic Park as the scream happy protagonist. She completely reverses her
performance here, however, and could steal an Oscar away from Arquette.

Nominees for Animated Feature Film:

Big Hero 6
The Boxtrolls
How to Train Your Dragon 2
Song of the Sea
The Tale of the Princess Kaguya

Erica - How to Train Your Dragon 2

How to Train Your Dragon 2 is arguably the best sequel to an animated film that I have ever seen. Unlike a lot of animated movie sequels, it lived up to its full
potential. The soundtrack is incredible, there is awesome character development, and it did not let down in any categories. Compared to the other nominees in its
category, How to Train Your Dragon 2 was the most well done, with the best animation and story line.

Sean - The Tale of the Princess Kaguya

Overshadowed by popular movies from Disney and Dreamworks, The Tale of Princess Kaguya is another underdog in this years Academy Awards. I dont
necessarily believe that it will win, but I think it deserves to win. The film (almost 2 hours) is uniquely animated, with hand-drawn esque techniques to give the
movie an immersive atmosphere. The storytelling and emotional appeal the movie presents is moving and will stick with you long after the credits roll.
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Oscar Results and Discussion cont.

Nominees for Directing:

Alejandro G. Irritu (Birdman)
Richard Linklater (Boyhood)
Bennett Miller (Foxcatcher)
The Grand Budapest Hotel (The Grand Budapest Hotel)
Morten Tyldum (The Imitation Game)

Erica - Richard Linklater

The pure dedication to the project of Boyhood is reason enough for Richard Linklater to win the Directing category. Boyhood was filmed for a couple days
every year for a period of twelve years. The foresight and planning to obtain such a good final product is definitely Oscar worthy. Linklater also had to direct his
own daughter, Lorelei Linklater, in this movie, which had its own problems at points. However, the commitment to the final product and the ability to keep the cast
together over such a long course of time, shows that Linklater is a truly great director.

Sean - Richard Linklater

The feat of filming a movie for over twelve years is incredible, and is a rarity in the movie industry. Being able to keep the same cast together over that amount
time shows that Linklater has a vision for the film that resonated with the entire cast, and kept them coming back year after year. His commitment to filming for
a week at a time every year, along with directing other movies in the meantime is a testament to the fact that he did an incredible directing job with Boyhood.

Nominees for Cinematography:

Birdman (Emmanuel Lubezki)
The Grand Budapest Hotel (Robert Yeoman)
Ida (Lukasz Zal and Ryszard Lenczewski)
Mr. Turner (Dick Pope)
Unbroken (Roger Deakins)

Erica - Birdman

Given the number of nominations that it has, Birdman seems like it will win in at least one category. Birdman was shot in such a way that it would look
like it was shot in one take. This involves moving the camera in such a way that the images never become disjointed and also a very good team of people editing
the film. This unique cinematography is enough to rope in an Oscar for Birdman.

Sean - Birdman

Birdman is basically a shoe in for the category for cinematography. Given the fact that Birdman is not nominated for film editing is a travesty in and of
itself, but the cinematography shown in the movie is spectacular. The illusion that the film is (almost) all one shot demonstrates the ability of the cinematographers with all of the extended shots that are included in the film.

Nominees for Music (Original Score):

The Grand Budapest Hotel (Alexandre Desplat)
The Imitation Game (Alexandre Desplat)
Interstellar (Hans Zimmer)
Mr. Turner (Gary Yershon)
The Theory of Everything (Jhann Jhannsson)

Erica - The Imitation Game (Alexandre Despalt)

Alexandre Desplat is an amazing composer. If The Imitation Game does not win, my next choice would be The Grand Budapest Hotel. Given his past list
of films that he has composed for, Desplat seems like the logical choice. His compositions bring life to the movies that they are a part of. Two nominations within
the same category also puts Desplat into such company as John Williams.

Sean - The Grand Budapest Hotel (Alexandre Despalt)

Alexandre Desplat is being nominated for his seventh and eighth academy award for best original score, and he has a pretty decent shot at winning his first this
year. He represents two of the five nominations for the category, and if he doesnt receive the Oscar for The Grand Budapest Hotel, I think he will win for The
Imitation Game. Music plays an important role in Wes Anderson films, and in The Grand Budapest Hotel Desplat delivers with a score almost as quirky as the
film itself. The composition arranged by Desplat shows the range of his abilities, and I think he should be rewarded for his talent in this movie.
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page 10

s e x

Campus Average

**See the
top of the
next page
for legends!

s u r v e y

march 17, 2015

Major Sex

Lucy Orsi
Editor-in-Chief

It turns out if you are a math major, you are also probably a virgin. The
good news is that if you are part of
any other department on campus,
the reverse is true, and you have
probably had sex.
If you have not been following the
Orediggers analysis of our recent sex
survey, I recommend you head over
to our website (oredigger.net) and
read some of our articles covering
our approach to analyzing the data,
as well as our perspective on the survey in general.
For those of you that do not want
to go online, heres what you need
to know: we conducted a survey a
couple of weeks ago and got roughly
1500 seemingly legitimate responses. We are analyzing the data bit by
bit. In our last issue, we coverd the
relationship between gender, GPA
and sex. In this issue, we are covering the dierences in sexual behaviors among departments on campus.
While working on this issue, I felt
uncomfortable with publishing some
of the results. It seemed mean to
point out that one department was
having signicantly less sex than the
others.
On the other hand, I thought the
results were interesting and harmless
as long as people remembered not
to take the results too seriously. So
heres our disclaimer: read through
the results, have fun with them, but
dont take them too seriously.
This page summarizes trends
across campus. The following four
pages provide snapshots of each
department.
In our last issue, we published
a fairly extensive article discussing
the validity of our data, but there are
some unique aspects of the data that
revealed themselves in this round of
analysis.
The distribution of departmental
aliations of the surveys respondents fell nearly in line with the actual
distribution of majors on campus.
Unfortunately, this means that while
some departments responded in
proportion to their size, the response

numbers can be somewhat low. Furthermore, the eects of data skew

within each of these categories is
compounded.
For instance, a disproportionately
large number of women responded
to our survey and a high number of
these women appear to have been
chemistry and geochemistry majors. The result is that the chemistry
and geochemistry survey results are
based on a response pool comprised
of 80 percent women. We provided
you with the number of responses
from each department so that you
can make this analysis yourself.
Next, remember that individuals
who identied themselves as virgins
were not asked certain questions that
would only be relevant to nonvirgins.
Specically, they were not asked how
frequently they had sex. They were
asked all of the other questions represented in this issue.
You might also notice that the
gender and sexual orientation categories sometimes do not add to
100 percent. This is because of the
Other category.
Unfortunately, the low number
and high degree of variaton within
the Other category made us wary
of analyzing any of this data. Once
again, we recommend you read our
previous articles on why we have
chosen not to analyze data from this
category and if you disagree, shoot
us an email. We are always happy to
consider alternative viewpoints and
publish your opinions.
One nal note, we opted to use
distribution graphs to represent the
data and rank departments. This
means that the analysis can sometimes sound weird. For instance one
department could simultaneously
have the highest percentage of individuals having sex once a day and
the highest percentage of sexually
inactive nonvirgins. The rankings are
probably less useful than the distributions themselves.
We recommend comparing the
distributions across departments
with the campus distribution, which
can be found to the left as well as
within the legends at the top of each
page.

Departmental Rankings Across Categories

**Department
with the most
in each category is on top

Winners in the masturbation, pornography, and daily sexers tables are those with the highest percentage of answers in the most extreme categories. E.g. in the masturbation table, the Mining Engineering department had the most respondents who admitted to masturbating more than once a day...We guess they have a lot more free time than some of the other departments.

page 11
A P P L I E D
S C I E N C E
A N D
E N G I N E E R I N G
How often do you watch porn? How often do you masturbate? How often do you have sex?
Have you ever cheated?
Relationship Status?
march 17, 2015

Chemical and Biological Engineering

Chemistry and Geochemistry

Metallurgical and Materials Engineering

Physics

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page 12

E n g i n e e r i n g

Relationship Status?

a n d

C o m p u t a t i o n a l

S c i e n c e s march 17, 2015

How often do you watch porn? How often do you masturbate? How often do you have sex?

Have you ever cheated?

Applied Mathematics and Statistics

Civil and Environmental Engineering

Electrical Engineering and Computer Science

Mechanical Engineering

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

march 17, 2015 e a r t h

Relationship Status?

r e s o u r c e

s c i e n c e s

a n d

e n g i n e e r i n g

How often do you watch porn? How often do you masturbate? How often do you have sex?

Have you ever cheated?

Geology and Geological Engineering

Geophysics

Mining Engineering

Petroleum Engineering

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

page 13

page 14

m a r c h

m o v i e s

march 17, 2015

Cinderella - March 13 - The title of the movie gives away

most of the plot. However, this retelling of the classic fairy tale
has its own quirks. The cast in itself will probably carry the
movie. Lily James stars as Cinderella and Richard Madden,
of Game of Thrones fame, is prince Charming. The rest of
the cast includes Helena Bonham Carter, Hayley Atwell, Cate
Blanchett, and Stellan Skarsgard.

Chappie - March 6 - Chappie follows the story of a

stolen police droid in a future where crime is patrolled by a
mechanized, oppressive police force. The droid, Chappie, is
stolen from the force and given new programming which allows him to think and feel for himself. In the future society, this
is bad, so of course they have to try to take him down. This
movie has a cast that is sure to result in good things, including Hugh Jackman, Sigourney Weaver, and Dev Patel (from
Slumdog Millionaire). The movie is directed by Neill Blomkamp who directed District 9 and Elysium and a great
soundtrack can be expected from composer Hans Zimmer.

The Gunman - March 20 - Starring Sean Penn, Idris Elba,

and Javier Bardem, The Gunman follows the story of an international operative (Penn) who wants out of the game so that
he can settle down with the woman he loves. The organization
that he works for does not like this plan, so he is forced to
go on the run across Europe. While this plot might be mildly
overdone, the movie should at least be good for an action thrill.

March Movies to Watch For

Erica Dettmer-Radtke

There is a lot to watch out for in March on the big screen. From robots to aliens to whales and fairytales, it is bound to be quite the month for movie watchers. Here are some upcoming
films that The Oredigger suggests for this coming month in between bouts of studying. Perhaps spring break would be a good time to catch up on the movies from this year, unless you
plan on laying in bed all day, which is a perfectly good option as well.
In the Heart of the Sea - March 13 - In the Heart of
the Sea is based off of the same events that inspired Herman Melville to write Moby Dick. In 1820, a whaling ship,
the Essex, was attacked by an angry bull sperm whale and
sunk. The crew was stranded at sea for 90 days, thousands of
miles away from their homes. Once they recovered they sailed
for South America. The cast includes Chris Hemsworth, Cillian Murphy, Ben Whishaw, and more. It was directed by Ron
Howard, who has directed such movies as Rush, A Beautiful
Mind, and Apollo 13.

While Were Young - March 27 - Ben Stiller and Naomi

Watts star in this movie as a middle aged couple, unable to
have kids, and stuck in a dull routine. The couple meets a
younger couple, played by Adam Driver and Amanda Seyfried, who live life a little more on the wild side. The middleaged couples life is scrambled with the entry of the free-spirited couple. This movie is about reaching a certain point in
life and what you do at the point that you reach it. There is
no doubt that it will hold more than a few life lessons and a
couple of laughs along the way.

Home - March 27 - Home is a DreamWorks animated

movie about Oh, a misfit from another planet, who arrives on
Earth on the run from his own people. Oh forms a friendship
with a human girl named Tip, and the movie proceeds to follow their adventures as Oh learns that being different is a part
of being human. Home features the voices of Jim Parsons
as Oh, Rihanna as Tip, Steve Martin, and Jennifer Lopez.

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s p r i n g

march 17, 2015

`Sarah Dewar - Staff Writer

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page 15

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c o o k i n g

page 16

Homemade Granola
Katrina San Nicolas
Staff Writer

Granola is a healthy, tasty

snack with the added benefit of
portability. Add this recipe to fruit
and Greek yogurt, eat with milk, or
simply pack a bag to take wherever you go!

The best part of this

recipe is its versatility
- feel free to add the
ingredients you prefer
and take out any others.
The rolled oats in this recipe
are low in calories, high in fiber,
and a great source of manganese, phosphorus, and vitamin
B1. While fairly high in calories,
the almonds in granola are rich

in protein, fiber, and even potassium. This recipe calls for raisins
or cranberries, but you may substitute your favorite dried fruit to
personalize this granola.
3 cups rolled oats
cup brown sugar
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
teaspoon nutmeg
teaspoon cardamom
teaspoon salt
cup plus 2 tablespoons
honey or pure maple syrup
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
cup vegetable oil
cup slivered almonds
raisins or dried cranberries
1) Preheat the oven to 300 degrees. In a large bowl, combine
the rolled oats, brown sugar, salt,
and spices. Mix with a fork and set
aside.

c o r n e r

march 17, 2015

2) Separately, in a small bowl,

whisk together the honey or
maple syrup, vanilla extract, and
vegetable oil. Slowly drizzle this
liquid mixture over the dry ingredients and stir with a wooden
spoon until the liquid is evenly
distributed. This may take several
minutes.
3) Spread the granola in an
even layer on a greased cookie
sheet and bake for 15 minutes.
Remove the baking sheet, stir
the granola for even cooking, and
bake for an additional 15-20 minutes, or until golden brown.
4) Cool the granola for at least
30 minutes and then add the slivered almonds and raisins or dried
cranberries and mix thoroughly.
Store in an airtight container and
enjoy!

SENIOR GIFT
MAKE A GIFT
to The Mines Fund or to the
area that means the most
to you.

Triple your gift! President and Mrs. Scoggins,

and Mines alum and Presidents Council Co-Chair
Jeff Johnson 78 will match your gift 2:1.

DEADLINE
APRIL 28
Mines Senior Gift on

giving.mines.edu/students
COURTESY EZRA POUND CAKE

Take your Mines Pride for a Drive

Purchase your Mines license plate today:

MinesAlumni.com/MinesPlates
Buy online or come to the alumni association at the Coolbaugh House (17th & Maple St.)

Cost: $75 tax-deductible donation + $50 DMV Fee

Ride with Pride brought to you by:

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

m u s i c

march 17, 2015

The War on Drugs - Lost in the Dream

page 17

A Modern Day Rock Resurgence About Angst, Uncertainty, and Acceptance

Dillon Stine
Staff Writer

The War on Drugs third album

Lost in the Dream beautifully captures the feeling of a mans loneliness and paranoia, and the behemoth sense of scale to which these
emotions can dominate the human
psyche.
Released on March 18, 2014,
the bands latest record has garnered praise and accolades industry wide landing itself on many bestof end of the year lists. This album is
a hot summer afternoon haze that
slowly swirls around, lulling you into
a half-conscious lethargic daze; all
the while an ominous black storm
calmly moves on the horizon crackling and exploding with energy.
Lost in the Dream is a self described solo project by The War on
Drugs frontman Adam Granduciel,
who wrote and recorded almost the
entirety of the album himself. Granduciel enlisted of the help of touring
band mates Dave Hartley (bass),
Robbie Bennett (keys), Charlie Hall
(drums), and Anthony LaMarca
(guitar) to contribute on the record,
but was adamant in having them
record their pieces exactly as he
saw t.
This singular vision gives Lost
in the Dream a very personal feel
throughout its 60 minute and 27
second run time; Granduciel masterfully uses his music as a medium
to connect with the listener, using
their own misgivings and insecuri-

ties as catalysts that drive the emotional core of the album.

With an average song length
of 6 minutes and 3 seconds, each
track on the album is given the
space it needs to breathe. The War
on Drugs work every song in such
a natural manner that not a single
one manages to drag on; every
drum hit, piano stroke, guitar hum,
and vocal hollar feels deliberate and
ts into place perfectly.
Lost in the Dream is a callback
to blue-collar, journeyman rock
and roll of 1980s. You can feel
the inuences of Bruce Springsteen and Fleetwood Mac coursing
through the entirety of the album;
a perfect harmonious blend of true
Americana rock and roll mixed with
modern synth-scapes and sensibilities.
Adam Granduciels lyrics have
a Bob Dylan-esque tambor about
them. Verses throughout the album
are breathy and full of inection,
with each string of words seemingly
a labor to get out of his chest and
mind.
The rst and second tracks on
the album Under the Pressure
and Red Eyes are both great vessels for Granduciels voice. As the
tempo on either song increases the
vocals follow suit picking up with ardor and restlessness. The energy of
the songs build up organically and
just as it seems things are going to
wind down Granduciel howls a pent
up Whooooooooooo! and all hell
breaks loose with guitars, synths,
and drums exploding into a passionate, foot thumping, sonic plea.

Many of the songs on Lost in

the Dream are anchored by understated synthesizer measures
forming walls of sound that slowly
modulate creating brooding pulses.
These pulses make up the foundation upon which the rest of the instrumentation sits. Disappearing,
the fth track on the album, has an
almost euphoric ringing to its synthesizer that sits at the back of the
songs sound mix. It feels cloudy
and opaque, giving the mental image of a silhouette walking away
in the distance gradually being engrossed in a heavy mist. This is the
most sorrow lled song on the record, making the listener reect on
their own relationships that slowly
burned out leaving their companions as just shadows shimmering
on the nebulous horizon.
The brooding synthesizer walls
of sound may form the backbone of
many tracks on the album, but reverb soaked guitar ris and feathery
piano sections provide the exclamation marks that make it something truly unique. Suering and
An Ocean In Between the Waves,
the third and fourth tracks on the album respectively, both create bright
conversations between guitar and
piano.
An Ocean In Between the
Waves has a viscous pace
throughout that continuously ramps
upwards. The modulated guitar
has a ery inection about it that
gets hotter and hotter until it nally
erupts like a volcano in the songs
rip-roaring guitar solo. Damn, this
guitar solo is so molten hot and fre-

COURTESY SECRETLY CANADIAN

netic that it could set the Earths atmosphere ablaze. Piano undercurrents sprinkled throughout the solo
serve only to cool the combustible
guitar ris and provide balance to
the song as a whole.
Suering is the slowest song
on the record, and its laid back
drum beat provides the perfect
setting for Granduciels signature
sounding reverb dripping guitar
ris to phase in and out of the foreground. Each time the guitar quiets
it seems to ask a question, and almost immediately the punchy voice
of a soaring piano answers its calls

creating a delicate dance between

the two instruments.
Lost in the Dream beautifully
lays out an audial manifestation of
the doldrums that we all feel at one
point or another in our lives. Granduciel and company craft this melancholy soundscape as a means
of understanding our own regrets
and uncertainties. We must then
choose to grow from this newfound
insight and move forward in life embracing the haze of our pasts on
our own terms to avoid becoming
eternally lost in the dream of our former selves.

Florence and the Machine - How Big How Blue How Beautiful
In her own words,

COURTESY ISLAND RECORDS

The new album became

about trying to learn how to
live, and how to love in the
world rather than trying to escape from it. Which is frightening because I'm not hiding
behind anything but it felt like
something I had to do.

Sarah Dewar
Staff Writer

Florence and the Machine has

given listeners a foretaste of their
newest album with What Kind of
Man, the rst single released from
the full-length album. How Big How
Blue How Beautiful is the rst release since Ceremonials in 2011,
and can be expected in early June
of this year. Florence Welchs voice
leads the powerful and emotionally
driven single, with an artistic music
video to match.
After writing and recording Cer-

emonials right after her rst album,

Lungs, Florence deliberately decided to take a full year o to reect on
her success and explore her growth
as an artist. In a recent interview on
BBC Radio 1, she spoke of her spiral into a nervous breakdown, and
how she felt unstable and not quite
right. For fans of Florence, she fortunately connected with producer
Markus Dravs and began writing her
third album.
While her rst two albums have
themes of water, death, and transcendence, How Big How Blue How
Beautiful is less morbid and more
euphoric, while retaining the dark
soulfulness unique to the band.

Florence and the Machine released a trailer for their newest album, which hints at the themes
intertwined into the sixteen tracks
chronicled on the deluxe edition
LP. The video frames Florence in
an ethereal garden amphitheater
with another woman who is faceless, but identical to Florence in all
other attributes. Trumpets resonate
over their synchronized movements,
insinuating a deep, spiritual reection of self and the celestial beauty
of embracing life and love. Personally, being a fan of Florence and the
Machine since their rst album, an
album announcement of this type
is immensely satisfying. The trailer
is sensual, alluring, and artistically
intriguing. Very few artists successfully portray the emotional foundation behind an album, especially in
visual media. Florence, however, has
managed to do just that, with striking
candor. The trailer is raw, yet tasteful,
giving viewers a mysterious insight
into Florence and the Machines new
perspective and forthcoming exhibition in the realm of life and love.
This album release may be heralding yet another world tour, perhaps beginning winter 2015. Florence is truly an outstanding live
performer. I had the opportunity to

see her on the Ceremonials tour during the summer of 2012. Dressed
in owing, soft, angelic fabrics, Florence oated around the stage, sonorously performing and enchanting
the audience. Not surprisingly, Florences true singing voice is indistinguishable from her recorded sound.
Accompanied by soft lighting, the
show enhanced the emotional vigor
inherent in each and every note.
Highly-anticipated How Big How

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Blue How Beautiful is expected to be

incredibly popular and is forecasted
to top the alternative music charts.
If you are not already familiar with
Florence and the Machine, now is
a spectacular time to start listening
to the band before their newest release.
For more on Florence and the
Machine, check out BBC Music for
tracks, clips, and interviews, or their
ocial website.

m o v i e s

page 18

march 17, 2015

The Fall of Mister Grey - 50 Shades of Bad

Anonymous

E. L. James Fifty Shades of

Grey rocketed to the top of bestseller lists around the world. People snatched up the books, and its
success led to two sequels. Many
expected the movies success to
mirror that of the book. It had a
great opening weekend, but that
does little to help its cause. Fifty
Shades of Grey is more comical
than erotic, and its story is cringeworthy.
To those unfamiliar with the
story, Fifty Shades started out
as a Twilight fanction. The story
follows Anastasia Steele, an undergraduate student studying literature. When her roommate, the
editor-in-chief of the university
newspaper, falls ill, Steele takes
over her interview with Christian
Grey, the CEO of Grey Enterprises
Holdings. The young billionaire
takes an interest in Steele and
takes every chance to see her
again, including showing up at the
hardware store where she works.
Eventually, Grey introduces Steele
to his dark side, and Steele must
make a choice between dating
Grey and keeping her sanity.
On the surface, this lm sounds
perfect; after all, what woman

does not want to date a handsome

billionaire? However, the problems
stem from how Grey interacts with
Steele. He appears out of nowhere
to sweep her o her feet. Even
though Steele never mentioned
where she worked, there he was.
He appears at a bar just in time to
save her from one of her friends.
These events are creepy, to say
the least, and the lack of explanation as to how he found her only
adds to the discomfort. In theory,
the thought of someone always
there to save you is amazing, but
seeing it in action is very disconcerting. Grey seems to be a stalker
above anything else, and the dialogue often shows this point.
As much as the screenwriters
tried to make the lm a great love
story, they fell short. Grey was very
one-dimensional, focusing only on
Steele. While his concerns for her
health, among other things, sound
sweet in theory, the way they were
expressed was a complete turno.
Instead of sounding caring,
Grey overstepped boundaries
and made things uncomfortable.
Of course, that was when the lm
was meant to have a level of romance. In the beginning, the dialogue was so cheesy that it was
hard to take it seriously as erotica.
The audience frequently burst out

into laughter because it was so

cliche! Certainly the screenwriters
could have been more original.
Of course, a lm is nothing
without actors, and, sadly, Fifty
Shades failed there as well. Many
actors passed over the role, including Charlie Hunnam. A petition to get Matt Bomer as Christian Grey garnered nearly 100,000
signatures, but he was not even
considered for the role. Several of
the actresses who auditioned for
the lm werent even prepared for
something so risque. In the end,
fans had to put up with Dakota
Johnson and Jamie Dornan, who
are lackluster at best. They simply
didnt have the chemistry to portray these characters well.
One of the two bright spots in
the lm is the soundtrack. Popular
artists such as Ellie Goulding and
Beyonce contributed songs that
were played alongside classics
such as Frank Sinatras Witchcraft. All of the songs reect the
romantic side of Fifty Shades
and are worth a listen outside of
the movie. Ellie Gouldings Love
Me Like You Do is especially powerful in how it portrays love.
The other bright spot is increased awareness. Fifty Shades
is well known for bringing BDSM
into the mainstream. Those four
letters now have some mean-

or even notice the emotional reactions that he causes in other people.

However, in Andrew Hodges biography of Turing, it is said that he had
a sense of humor and close friends.
He was shy, eccentric, and impatient
with irrationality. There is one characterization in the movie of Turing that
is true in real life: he was a homosexual, though more openly than the
lm implies; he told both friends and
colleagues about his homosexuality.
Shockingly, one person who is
not even mentioned in the lm is
Gordon Welchman, a mathematician who collaborated with Turing
at Bletchley Park and was central to
the work done there. There are also
many inaccurate portrayals of supporting characters in the movie. Indeed, Hugh Alexander was a chess
champion, and he was much better
at managing people than Turing. But
contrary to what the movie portrays,
the two did not initially work together
at Bletchley Park. Also, Joan Clarke
did not get to Bletchley Park through
doing well at a crossword game, as
the movie would have people believe; she was brought in by Gordon
Welchman .
At the end of the movie, Clarke
visits Turing in an emotional scene
- one that was invented purely for
cinematic eect and did not actually
happen. Stewart Menzies and John
Cairncross, two other characters
in the movie, did not actually work
closely with Turing. In fact, Cairncross worked in an entirely dierent unit than Turing, and it is likely
the two did not interact at all, since
security at Bletchley Park was very
tight. Facts about Peter Hilton and
Jack Good, background characters
in the movie, are also inaccurate.
In the movie, Hilton has a brother
aboard an army vessel that the team
realized targeted by the Germans.
None of this was actually true; it was
written into the movie with the intention of creating drama.
Two other characters central to
the lms plot are Christopher, Tur-

ings friend when he was a young

boy, and Commander Denniston. It is implied in the movie that
Christopher shares Turings romantic feelings. In reality this was
not the case. Another dramatic
ourish invented by screenwriter
Graham Moore was that Turing
named a computer he worked on
at Bletchley Park Christopher. In
the lm, Commander Denniston is
portrayed negatively; he has many
confrontations with Turing that are
completely ctional. However, the
tension between the two in the
movie does represent the power
struggle that often occurred between military and cryptology. In
the movie, Turing and others go
over Dennistons head and write a
letter to Churchill asking for money.
In real life, they did actually write a
letter, but they did not go over Dennistons head.
The end of the movie contains
even more fallacies. Detective
Nock, a ctional character who investigates the burglary of Turings
house in the movie, is portrayed
to be unaware of Turings circumstances at that time. In reality, the
detectives who investigated Turing for indecency were under no
illusions about Turings circumstances. Moreover, the estrogen
treatment that supposedly put Turing into emotional turmoil near the
end of his life did no such thing. He
actually kept most of his normal relationships. The movie also implies
that the estrogen treatment had
caused Turings suicide. Details of
his death are still unclear, although
it appears that he died from suicide
by cyanide.
Although The Imitation Game
is cinematically well done, the movie contains a lot of historical inaccuracies, from characters and scenes
that didnt exist to how Turing actually broke Enigma. While the movie
reects people and events that
happened in real life, it does not
stay true to history for very long.

COURTESY FOCUS FEATURES

ing to much of
the population;
however,
Fifty
Shades fails to
tell the entire story. Most notably,
BDSM focuses
on three things:
safe, sane, and
consensual. To
put it bluntly, Fifty Shades fails
on all of these
fronts. That isnt
to say that ction
should
always
reect
reality,
but the problem
arises that many
people are being injured trying
to act out their
Fifty
Shades
fantasies. In fact,
Stars Jamie Dornan and Dakota Johnson.
according to The
Washington Post, there was a loyal fans. This movie has little to
surge of patients with sex toy-re- oer a more general audience, and
lated injuries following the release most men would not be caught
of the Fifty Shades novel in 2012. dead seeing something this bad.
Although the movie cannot neces- Other than the soundtrack, the
sarily be to blame when people get only positive to come from this
injured, it is also important to real- movie is awareness of BDSM,
ize that the media has widespread and even then, the movie falls exeects on the populace.
tremely short of showing the reality
Overall, the success of the Fif- of this lifestyle. Save your money
ty Shades of Grey lm can only for one of the many blockbusters
really be attributed to E. L. James opening in the next few months.

Misrepresentation Game A tribute to

Leonard Nimoy

Erica Dettmer-Radtke
Staff Writer

Cinematically speaking, The

Imitation Game is a great movie. It
contains great acting and an amazing soundtrack. The Imitation
Game follows mathematician Alan
Turing and his work during World
War II on a machine that would
break Enigma, the German encoding machine through which the
Germans sent their war communications.
When I walked out of the movie,
my rst thought was that it was
well done. However, after some
Google research, I learned that
there are more than a few historical
inaccuracies in the lm. The movie
has conict where there was actually none. There are characters that
are totally invented, events that are
rearranged, and the very nature of
Turings work is misrepresented.
Lets take a look at a couple of the
historical inaccuracies in the lm.
The main premise of the lm,
that Turing invented and built a
machine that broke Enigma, is
not true. Before Turing even began
working on his machine, there was
already a Polish invention, known
as The Bombe, designed for a similar purpose. The movie portrays
Turing racing against the clock to
build a machine designed to break
Enigma. In real life, he had already
outlined the concept of a machine
in a 1936 paper, according to
Hodges. He had also already built
a cipher machine in the late 1930s
while he was still at Princeton.
Alan Turings personality is also
inaccurately portrayed in the movie. The movie makes Turing seem
more unlikeable than he actually
was. In the movie, his character
does not understand any jokes
that are told, takes everything that
is said in a very literal sense, and
does not seem to acknowledge

Erica Dettmer-Radtke
Staff Writer
Leonard Nimoy passed away
on February 27, 2015 at age 83
from end-stage chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD).
Born March 26, 1931 in Boston,
Massachusetts, Nimoy was best
known for his portrayal of rst ocer Mr. Spock on the Starship Enterprise of the series Star Trek.
He started his acting career at
age eight. Not only did Leonard
Nimoy portray the quirky Spock,
but he also pursued poetry, photography, and music. In case that
wasnt enough to ll his time and
solidify his legacy already, Nimoy
also directed movies and television shows. The phrase Live long
and prosper and accompanying
salute was Nimoys own idea. The
artistic community and Star Trek
community alike lost a talented
and incredible person with the
passing of Leonard Nimoy.
Nimoy and his co-star, William Shatner, became very close
friends after the lming of Star
Trek. After his death, Shatner
said I loved him like a brother.
We will all miss his humor, his talent, and his capacity to love.

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

The miracle is
this: the more
we share the
more we have.

Logic is the
beginning of
wisdom, not the
end.

march 17, 2015

f e a t u r e s

page 19

Looking into Different Manners The Right Side

of Sound-Dependent Pleasure of Mines
Ethan Meeks
Staff Writer

of the headphones were given

above average ratings, the Turtle
Beach, Beats, and Audio Technica headsets all put forth a wonderful showing in this category,
which left the testers notably impressed.
With the competitors virtually
neck and neck, they approached
the final category of the study.
Designed to measure the overall
performance of the headphones
across every subject relevant to
each testers listening pleasure,
this was the last chance for each
headset to prove its superiority
over the competition. With the
finish line in sight and the participants boosting it on, the Turtle
Beach headset pulled ahead in
this final category with the Beats
coming in a close second and
the Skullcandy huffing and puffing as it lost some of its steam
in the overall scoring, as some
testers complained about hearing static feedback during silent
portions of the testing.

The Turtle Beach

X12 headset finished
the study in first place, Hunter Chase
Staff Writer
with a respectable lead
Have you ever heard of the
on the Audio Technica
typical Mines stereotype that all
ATHM30s, which came Mines students are left brained
in second.
and lack the cultural and artistic
Following close behind the
Audio Technica headphones, the
Beats Pro and HBS-760 both
scrambled across the finish line
with chests puffed out and legs
pumping in an effort to get that
last extra inch on the other. It
was a photo finish worthy of the
silver screen as the onsight judges reevaluated the video, deter-

Nominal Score

In continuation of the theme

of headphones presented in the
last editions review of the Logitech H800 wireless headset, a
study comparing six different
headsets was conducted. The
study required a group of willing
participants to rate each headset on a traditional scale of zero
to ten for a list of relevant categories.
The categories covered included: comfort, mobility, noise
cancellation, sound quality, and
overall final score. Each of these
subjects was given a specific
definition during the course of
the study in order to apply consistently to each type of headphone being tested.
Comfort was defined as measuring a lack of strain or irritation to the users ears due to
the devices hardware itself and
purely independent of volume
or sound produced. Mobility described the ease and confidence
with which the tester was able to
move around while wearing the
headset. Noise cancelation was
a simple measure of the amount
of noise isolation provided by the
earphones. Sound quality measured the participants satisfaction with the sound produced by
the headset over a small variety
of videos including one podcast,
one song focusing heavily on
bass, and two songs providing
a competent mixture of different lyrical and tonal elements.
Finally, the testers were asked
to give each headset a final
score accounting for all subjects
previously listed as well as any

in the ear headset that connects

via Bluetooth. Skullcandy InkD
is a brand of wired in the ear
earbuds that plug into the audio
jack. Also using the audio jack,
the Beats Pro,Turtle Beach X12,
and Audio Technica ATHM30
headsets are a collection of
wired over the ear headphones.
So with the rules set and the
track prepared, it is time to see
which headset comes out of this
competition on top.
With an admirable showing
right out of the gate across all
of the headphones in the comfort category, no single headphone lagged significantly far
behind the others. All the headsets tested were given above
average scores in this category
with no outlying scores besides
the HBS-760, which seemed to
stumble out of the gate due to
the testers discomfort with the
untraditional neckband it provides. Additionally, a couple of
the participants expressed displeasure regarding the Beats
above average weight and the
force with which it pressed
against their ears.
The mobility category saw the
beginnings of a significant separation in the competitor's scores
as the free moving, wireless variants began to pull ahead of their
wired countered parts. While the
H800 and HBS-760 easily took
this portion by storm, receiving
praise for the ease of motion
they provide, the wired headsets
struggled to keep up. The Skullcandy and Beats had an especially hard time in this category
due to the testers disapproval of
the Skullcandys inconveniently
short cord and sheer weight of

additional points of consideration that might not have been

specifically covered such as the
aesthetics of the headpiece or
the amount of feedback present during moments of audio
silence.

The headsets tested during the study

include the Logitech
H800, HBS-760, Skullcandy InkD, Beats
Pro, Turtle Beach X12,
and Audio Technica
ATHM30.

The Logitech H800 is a wireless on the ear headphone with

USB and Bluetooth functionality. The HBS-760 is a wireless

the Beats which resulted in awkward movement.

Similar to the comfort category, the noise cancellation
test saw nearly identical ratings
across the board with no one
headset overtaking the other.
Instead, all of the headsets overtook the H800 as it tripped over
its own shoelace and rolled into
a well-placed tar pit on the side
of the track. Any lead that the
H800 had gained from the mobility category was lost nearly
twice over by its miserable performance in the cancellation
portion, leaving the HBS-760
to enjoy its slight lead over the
other competitors.
However, this lead dissolved quickly upon entering
the sound quality test. While all

mining that the Beats hand won

out against the HBS-760 by the
width of the fancy B inscribed
in the tracksuit it had worn to the
competition. Sometime after the
photo had been reviewed, the
Logitech H800s crossed the finish line with a torn pant leg and
tar covering parts of its face.
Bringing up the rear, the Skullcandy InkD headset followed
shortly after the H800 bringing
the test to its official end.
After the study, the Turtle
Beach X12 was given a metal
made out of genuine pyrite, the
HBS-760 proclaimed the Beats
Pro to be its eternal rival and
now trains every day to receive
the extra .01 needed to defeat
it, and the H800s got a new pair
of pants.

traits to write a song, pen a book,

or paint a canvas? While it is true
that most Mines students attend
this school to pursue an engineering, mathematics, or applied science degree, this does not mean
that the arts and the sciences are
mutually exclusive. In fact, it is
arguable that an arts education
can give an engineering student a
better-rounded point of view. For
this reason, Colorado School of
Mines requires students to take
courses from the Liberal Arts
and International Studies (LAIS)
department before moving on to
a career in engineering. Without
these LAIS courses, most Mines
students would not develop their
writing and communication skills
that are essential to a successful
career in STEM fields.
Armando Lopez, 22, demonstrates how music and engineering can blend together to form a
well-rounded education. A Los
Angeles native, Armando studies chemical & biochemical engineering, does undergraduate research on materials science, and
makes a living playing smooth
and thoughtful improvisations on
his saxophone.
Before Armando moved to
Colorado for high school, he received a rich education in the fine
arts from a magnet school for the
performing arts in Los Angeles. It
was there that he learned to play
on the saxophone under high
quality instruction.
Despite music being his first
passion, Armando decided to
pursue STEM because of his love
of altruism and making the world
a better place through engineering. Armando says, Although
there is a perceived dichotomy
between music and engineering, they really convey the same
ideas. For Armando, music is
all about unity, acceptance, and
love above all else, while engineering is really a way of convey-

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

ing those values through creative

problem-solving
techniques.
Armando feels that his dual involvement in music and engineering has helped him develop
in holistic fashion. And for him,
engineering needs students who
approach the subject with similar
altruism and open-mindedness.
From his point of view, this will
help students develop the idea
that engineers cannot separate
themselves from the technology
they create. This is the same idea
that is taught in the Nature and
Human Values course.
Upon graduation, Armando
plans to travel with the Peace
Corps or Engineers Without Borders in an attempt to use engineering for a higher purpose. In
addition, he also offers advice to
those who are looking to develop
the creative, artsy, music side
of their brain. He admits that in
order to purposely develop the
STEM and art side of your brain,
you really need time management
skills. I highly encourage the pursuit of a creative passion because
it is essential for a healthy state of
mind. It doesnt matter what it is.
So the question must be
asked, what does Mines currently
do to cater to students who are
interested in a music and arts
education? Colorado School of
Mines currently offers a variety
of courses geared towards music education and performance.
From symphonic band, jazz band,
orchestra, and marching band, to
music theory, and individual instruction, there are a multitude
of choices for those interested in
music at Mines.
With all of the courses in music education that Mines currently offers, students should take
the opportunity to get involved
in these programs. Developing
the right side of the brain is crucial in understanding the human
context and consequences of the
technology Mines students strive
to improve. Keeping this in mind,
the average Mines student should
be eager and open to attaining
a quality education through the
dual involvement with engineering and the fine arts.

page 20

f e a t u r e s

march 17, 2015

Spotlight on Engineers Without Borders - Bridges to Prosperity

Frank Knafelc
Staff Writer
The Engineers Without Borders - Bridges to Prosperity
(EWB-B2P) organization, with
the success and completion of
its pedestrian foot bridge in Los
Gomez in March of 2013, is returning back to Los Gomez to
complete a water project.
We had originally worked
with the community of Los Gomez by designing
and constructing
a pedestrian footbridge with them
(completed March
of 2013), Taylor Polodna, the
chapter president,
said.
According
to
Polodna, the Los
Gomez
Water
Project was initiated after receiving
a request from the
community
approximately a year
and a half ago.
They requested that we look
into a water development project in
their community,
he said. The majority of the community does not
have easy access
to water and none
of the community has access to
clean water.
The Los Gomez Water Project
was started with a
technical assessment trip last fall
and a planned so- Completed
cial survey trip this
month.
However, this is not the only
project the organization is working on. During the implementation of the Las Trancas Bridge
Project in La Conquista, Nicaragua, another project came to
their attention.
The Los Encuentros Bridge
Project is happening because
while working in La Conquista
we were approached by the
community of Los Encuentros
(along with a Bridges to Prosperity representative) and asked to
visit their community, Polodna

said. Their need for a bridge

was quite obvious given their 60
meter wide channel that floods
upwards of 3 meters during the
rainy season.
According to Polodna, the
club has generally only received
positive feedback from the communities they have worked with
to date, bringing good feelings
about the upcoming projects.
It is not to say that our work
is by any means perfect, he

bridge at Puente Las Tracas

said. Quantitatively, we know
that our past projects are being
utilized and have made a difference, but we can never be certain that the impact we have is
entirely positive. It is possible
that an upset community member will not reach out against
our organization for a variety of
financial and social reasons and
therefore we can never be 100%
certain that the work we do is all
good.
In order to complete these
projects, funding is crucial and
generally provided by different

people and groups.

Funding is provided by numerous private donors as well as
corporate sponsors (as well as
some Mines funding), Polodna
said. We have a team committed to raising funds for these
projects through on-campus
fundraisers (Say Cheese and the
Spring Silent Auction), private
donor solicitation, corporate solicitation, and grant writing.
Apart from funding, the organization also relies
on the technical
abilities of Mines
students.
Our organization offers a fantastic opportunity
to meet like-minded students and
build strong foundational relationships. The experiences you gain
with EWB-B2P will
encourage a holistic approach in
the projects you
take on and teach
you valuable project management
skills, he said. If
you have the opportunity to travel
with the team, you
will be exposed
to an entirely new
cultural experience
with a dynamic
set of challenges,
nothing like those
you encounter at
Mines.
According
to
Polodna, the organization gives prospective engineers
last June. an idea of their capacity to positively
impact the world around them
with their engineering skills.
It gives students an idea
what it means to be a global
engineer, he said. A global engineer is loosely defined as an
engineer that utilizes their engineering background to provide
solutions and ideas to solving
problems in global communities. A global engineer is well
versed in the challenges, difficulties, and failures of development
work and strives to circumvent
them and not cause any additional harm.

ALL PHOTOS COURTESY EWB-B2P

Taylor Polodna and Adam Deitch roll a very large rock.

Water testing.

The team takes a quick break in a tree.

Community members drain a well to test well flowback.

Alec Thompson and Emma Elefante install new decking.

Jake Adamson, Tom Chesson, Ashley Maes, Ethan Faber, Sam Beck, and Doug Hambley pose with new friends.
w w w . O R E D I G G E R . n e t

Taylor Polodna drills a pilot hole through

the Las Trancas Bridge decking.