THE OREDIGGER

The student voice of Mines since 1920

Volume 95, Issue 9

April 14, 2015

A Soul-Search for E-Days Recap - Page 6

Fraternity Relevance
Liam McGrail
Guest Writer
GOLDEN - , , FIJI,
, , , and are the
seven fraternities of the Colorado
School of Mines. We are proud
to represent our letters and the
ideals they promote.
Yet time after time when a
member or chapter from our
nations Greek community does
something worthy of national
news, the response is overwhelmingly
negative. Over
the last few
weeks, there
have been numerous fraternity members and
chapters in national headlines.
They should not be proud to
wear our letters or represent any
organization, period.
On todays college campus,
any organization that fosters
hate, sex abuse and/or drug

and alcohol abuse is not only

legally reprehensible, but quickly
becomes irrelevant and socially
rejected to say the least. Any
organization that does not strive
to promote higher ideals for its
members is counter-productive
in the competitive professional
world that college prepares us
for. As a result, the search for
relevance is paramount when any
organization attempts to draw a
sustained following.
It is admittedly difficult to
be proud of the
letters that just
days, weeks
or months ago
were embroiled
in national scandal, but there are
valuable lessons to be learned
from being forced to soul-search
and evaluate the true reasons
we decided to go Greek and live
Greek.
Continued at Fraternity, Page 4

Five Ways 3D Printing Can Change the World

Abby Zimmerman
Staff Writer

Food Printing

Zero-G Printing

Since most of the edible 3D

printed food up to this point
have been simply made of sugar
and chocolate, many groups
around the world are working
to expand the potential of 3D
printing in food production. For
example, retirement homes in
Germany are serving 3D printed
carrots. Since the elderly often
times cannot chew harder vegetables, researchers at the Netherlands Organization for Applied
Scientific Research have begun
to print softer versions. They
mash up the original vegetables
to create the ink that they can
then print into a more edible
form. Additionally, these same
re s e a rc h e r s a re w o r k i n g o n
turning non-traditional forms
of protein, such as algae and
insects, into food products
that people will enjoy. Expanding available protein resources
would provide more food for the
worlds expanding population.

NASA has begun to conduct

experiments to test the feasibility of 3D printing in space. This
would allow for long-term space
crews to carry on-demand machine shops with them. Astronauts ability to replace broken
parts and manufacture the necessary new ones would greatly
help on deep space missions.
So far, they have developed a
Zero G hardware that can print
parts similar to those printed on
earth. Just late last year, the International Space Stations 3D
printer made a ratchet wrench
in under four hours. The wrench
will be sent back to the ground for
further testing and analysis. NASA
believes that 3D printing will play
a large role in future missions to
Mars.

Prescription Drugs
Printing
Today, lling a prescription calls
for a trip to the pharmacy. However,
Lee Cronin, a Chemistry professor
at Glasgow University predicts that
ten to fifteen years from now, a
prescription could be printed right
in the comforts of ones home with
just the click of a few buttons. Cronin is working to create a system
that allows people to download
their prescriptions le online and
purchase the chemical ink necessary to print it. Although there is
concern that this technology could
open the door for the printing of illegal substances, Glasgow is seeking
to create a way for people to easily
obtain personalized prescriptions.

Metal Printing

Organ Printing

A team from Monash University

in Australia has just managed to
build two complete jet engines
using only 3D metal printing. The
project, which took two years to
complete, began by scanning all
of the pieces of an existing engine. The parts were then printed
in solid metal and assembled. The
next step for these engines is to
fire them and analyze how they
perform compared to traditionally
built engines. Different nanotech
companies around the world
are working on nanosteels that
will allow for better metal 3D
printing. As the technology advances, companies will have the
potential to print their metal parts
in hours rather than machining
them individually.The University
of Louisville is trying to produce
a 3D printed human heart.

There has already been success in the 3D printing of live

human tissues. Organovo, a
Califor nian biotech company
already began selling live liver
tissue at the end of last year.
To print live tissues, scientists
f i r s t g ro w t h e c e l l s f ro m b i opsies or stem cells. The 3D
printers can then take the cells
and arrange them by cell type.
After printing, the cells begin to
communicate and fuse together,
forming a collective system that
matches the composition of human tissue found in the body.
While there has been success
with printing tissue and bones,
researchers are still working
on printing whole organs. A
team at Harvard is currently
developing 3D printed kidneys. Similarly, researchers at
the University of Louisville are
trying to produce a 3D printed
human heart.

COURTESY 3DPRIMETIME.COM

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page 2

Ramiro Rodriguez, Staff Writer

A recent study in Nature Climate Change has determined that

the social cost of carbon (a number used by governments to estimate the benet of regulatory policy based on the amount of carbon
dioxide emissions a law can prevent from being released into the atmosphere) should be 200% more than what is currently estimated
by economists. This change is due to climate change having an
increased eect on economic growth in the future. Climatological
tipping points have been reached, including the dieback of the Amazon Rainforest and the change in the Atlantic Oceans circulation.

Dallas, Texas - Researchers at the University of

Texas at Dallas have developed nanober structures
that allow them to stretch to seven times their length
while being able to absorb more energy per gram
than kevlar. The process uses piezoelectric action to
twist the bers together into yarns, which are further
twisted into coils. Dr. Majid Minary, the senior author
of the study, says the next step for his research team
will be to make larger structures out of the yarn and
coils and hopes that the materials will be able to reinforce themselves under high stress.

Oredigger Staff
Lucy Orsi
Editor-in-Chief
Emily McNair
Managing Editor

Cologne, Germany - Joachim Saur, a geophysicist at the

University of Cologne, and colleagues have determined that
Ganymede, one of Jupiters moons, may have liquid water beneath its surface in the form of saltwater oceans. This was determined by the amount of Ganymedes aurora that seemed
to have shifted if it were based on Jupiters magnetic eld
alone. The amount it shifted was observed from the Hubble
Space Telescope. Because of the dierence in aurora shifting,
it has been deduced that something is causing a secondary
magnetic eld to dampen Jupiters magnetic interference. The
amount of magnetic interference needed would correspond
to there being an electrically conductive uid beneath Ganymedes surface, which could possibly be saltwater.

Canberra, Australia- Dr Andrew Glikson from the Australian National University has said that the two ancient craters
in central Australia that were formed by meteorite impacts
may actually have been the result of the same meteorite that
split into two pieces before impact. This would make the impact zone 400 km rather than two 200 km zones, making it
the worlds largest impact zone and making a mass extinction event that occurred millions of years ago a possibility.
Gliksons statement is based on impact material being identical at both sites. Currently, further investigations are being
made to see if the ages of both events are also identical.

Headlines from Around the World

Ramiro Rodriguez, Staff Writer
COURTESY REUTERS / GONZALES FUENTES

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

april 14, 2015

A French Gendarmerie rescue helicopter ies over

the crash site, near Seyne-les-Alpes, France on
March 27, 2015.

A leak by Wikileaks has revealed

that the Trans-Pacic Partnership (TPP) would allow corporations to sue national governments that make laws that
can aect a companys claimed
future prots. Opponents of the
trade partnership claim that the
TPP could prevent nations from
forming eective health and environmental laws. This fear is based
on how tobacco companies have
been able to sue (or threaten to
sue) nations over laws that limit tobacco advertising or require health
warnings to be printed on plain
packaging.
San Diego is reporting a 41%
decrease in complaints against its
police force and a 47% drop in the
use of force by police following the
introduction of body cameras
for nearly 600 ocers in January.
The program plans to expand the
use of small body cameras to nearly 1000 ocers by the end of the
year. The decrease in incidents has
led other cities across the United

States to begin outtting police

ocers with body cameras connected to a cloud based storage
system.
Germanwings plane 4U 9525
crashed in the French Alps on
March 24 with no survivors.
Investigation of the crash site
suggests that the crash was not

caused by any sort of mechanical defect in the Airbus A320 or

weather issue, but rather an act of
intentional sabotage by the ights
copilot. The black box recording
suggests the copilot sealed the
door when the ights main pilot
was out of the cockpit and began
the jets decent.
As part of Radioshacks bankruptcy auction, the former electronics retailer has listed over
65 million customer names and
addresses as well as 13 million
email addresses as an asset to
be sold. The data to be sold also
includes phone numbers as well as
shopping habits. The sale is being
challenged by Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton because Texas
state law prevents the sale of customer information, which is a violation of the companys own policy
as well as its claim that the store
would not sell customer information gathered.
COURTESY BLOOMBERG / VICTOR J. BLUE

Local News
The State Senate voted
last week to allow people
on probation to use medical
marijuana. The House Judiciary Committee voted 13-0
to adopt the resolution.
On Monday, Governor
Hickenlooper signed a law
to allow to let Colorado residents buy stock in local companies without becoming an
accredited investor. The law
will allow crowdfunding investments.
On Monday, the Colorado
House of Representatives
signed two police reform bills
and gave tentative approval
to an anti-profiling bill. The
first bill placed a ban on police chokeholds and the second requires prosecution of
police shootings.
The jury responsible for trying the Aurora theater shooter
will be selected on Tuesday.
A train carrying dry ammonia derailed on Sunday night
in Colorado Springs. Authorities instructed residents to
stay indoors.
The Colorado House of
Representatives approved a
bill on Monday night aimed at
eliminating high school mascots that were considered to
be offensive to American Indians.
Three boys were arrested
on Friday for allegedly bringing two guns and a smoke
device to Skinner Middle
School. Police have since
stated that the boys did not
have plans to hurt anyone at
the school.

A store-closing sale at a RadioShack location in

Manhattans Port Authority Bus Terminal.

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april 14, 2015

page 3

Absolutely Incredible Kid Day Connects CSM with Golden

Katrina San Nicolas
Staff Writer
While the Mines campus is
usually crowded with people between the ages of 17 and 25,
some special guests changed
this ratio for at least one sunny
afternoon last month. The Absolutely Incredible Kid Day (AIKD)
Carnival, complete with balloons,
marshmallow towers, and even a
bouncy castle, took place on Kafadar on Saturday, March 21st.

words of encouragement on a
regular basis, parents, guardians, and educators can improve
childrens self-confidence by writing them uplifting letters that let
them know that they are capable,
unique, and appreciated.
Mines event attendees were
provided with Camp Fire letterhead and a few examples of letters. However, the afternoon included much more than just letter
writing.
We developed a carnival-

The idea is that because many kids are

not given words of encouragement on a regular basis, parents, guardians, and educators can improve childrens self-confidence
by writing them uplifting letters that let
them know that they are capable, unique,
and appreciated.
Organized by the Mu Pi chapter of the national coed service
fraternity Alpha Phi Omega (APO),
the event was an excellent opportunity for families from the Golden
area to connect with Mines students and ultimately celebrate the
special children in their lives.
Absolutely Incredible Kid Day
is actually a nationwide letterwriting initiative created by Camp
Fire, a national organization devoted to promoting outdoor activities for youth. The idea is that
because many kids are not given

type atmosphere designed on

AIKDs principles of making kids
feel loved and important, explained Parker Prescott, a member of APO and one of the two
event-coordinators. This made
for an enjoyable day where kids
could run around and participate
in fun activities while we encouraged the parents to write letters
to them.
The carnival included a Nerf
gun shooting range, macaroni
art, balloon animals, potato sack
races, and even a Mentos and

Joseph Hunt
Staff Writer

machine fired without a mishap,

but the same could not be said for
Beta Theta Pis trebuchet; on its
first launch, the counterbalance - a
very large, massive stone - broke
the counterweight mechanism and
put the machine out of the competition.
The competition ensued after the last set of test shots were

Coke demonstration. While APO

has facilitated this event for the
past five years, this years carnival
included booth participation from
over twenty other campus clubs
and organizations! Additionally,
the carnival partnered with Great
American Bake Sale to raise
money for the community.
This program is important to
children because a simple note or
act of kindness can really change
a kids world, especially at such a
young age, said Parker.
Advertised at forty-five elementary schools, eleven churches, six daycares, and several local businesses, the carnival was
attended by approximately 300
children. Nationally, the AIKD
event celebrates its 20th anniversary this year, and Mines hopes
to continue supporting the Golden community with this unique
carnival in years to come.
I would really just like to thank
all of the student organizations
that made the day so absolutely
incredible! added Parker. In a
world that places such high expectations on children, he believes that AIKD is especially relevant because it encourages kids
to excel in whatever makes them
happy instead of what society
wants them to be.
As for Mines and the Golden
community, these kids are our future. The lives of these children
can really be affected by the love
and kindness that a community
can show them.

Storming the E-Days Castle

Shortly after the helicopters

took off from the IM fields, a few
dozen individuals began hurriedly
unpacking frames, lever arms,
counterweight and slings to begin
assembling their castle-busting
machines.
Four teams competed on
Friday afternoon: Sigma Nu,
Beta Theta Pi, Sigma Alpha
Epsilon, and Mile High Fliers.
Each team was given a specific objective: destroy the
cardboard castle located on
the further west of the field.
Each team that entered
was given a $250 price limit
within which to build a trebuchet. Each of the machines
that performed admirably at
times, interspersed with terrific
backfires and many, many entertaining mishaps.
The rules of the competition were simple, but demanding. The team who, on average, hit closest to the castle
over six rounds with two shots
each would win. However, the
castle was stationed further
and further away from each
team, the distance increasing
five yards more from the initial
distance - roughly twenty-five
yards. The ammunition was
provided by the event organizer: one gallon milk jugs filled with
water.
The first test shots gave each
team an idea of how their machine would perform. Sigma Nu
launched their shots farthest, often
landing tens of yards beyond the
target. The Mile High Fliers little
machine fired reliably, but landed
short of the target. Sigma Epsilons

crowd who enjoyed the competition.

As the competition progressed,
Sigma Nu and Sigma Epsilon
emerged as the two top competitors, with both teams enjoying close
shots and glancing hits downrange
to the cardboard castle.
At the end of the competition, Sigma Nu resorted to using
Beta Theta Pis extra
ALL PHOTOS RONALD KEM / OREDIGGER
ammo, tied to six fiftypound bags of sand to
launch their shots, with
a few backfiring into the
streets and straight up
into the air.
Sigma
Epsilon,
whose machine relied
on recycled scrap metal for weight, maxed
out their machine with
roughly
six-hundred
pounds, and launched
their final shot. Quickly
after its release, the
shot flew high above
the machine while the
lever arm snapped free
from the frame.
However, all eyes
were upwards, tracking the projectile as it
reached its maximum
height and fell back
down to Earth, where
it struck a metal chair
and bent the seat almost in half. Indeed, it
fired, with teams rushing to reload was the most notable shot of the
slings, carrying milk jugs, and mak- competition, and earned the team
ing last minute adjustments to firing a humorous victory in a very tight
angles and weight. In between all competition.
the hectic preparation were rushed
Amid the threat of rain, the comjury-rigging and repairs to quickly petition was quickly wrapped up.
failing frames and counter weights. sed before the last shots, but the
Lacking a machine, Beta Theta Pi exciting event was shared by memresorted to hammer-tossing their bers of rival teams who happily
jugs, much to the joy of the large joked and mingled with each other.

ALL PHOTOS RONALD KEM / OREDIGGER

Photos taken from CSMs celebration of Absolutely Incredible Kid Day on March 21st. The event was sponsored
by CSMs chapter of Alpha Phi Omega.

Jefferson Countys
First 21st Century
Library

Jacqueline Feuerborn
Staff Writer
The Golden Public Library is
just across Clear Creek, a quick
walk from most of the buildings
on campus. It is only about 10
minutes from the Arthur Lakes
Library, and yet most people still
have not been there.
Maybe you are too busy with
classes or you arent interested
in reading books just for fun, or
maybe the dingy looking building puts you off. If your reason is
the latter, dont worry because it
soon wont be.
The Golden Public Library is
currently undergoing remodeling work, which began on March
20th. It will be closed until June
11th. Jefferson County is excited
to provide Jefferson Countys
first 21st century library.
The Golden Public Library
was originally a gym before it
was filled with shelves full of stories. All of the new designs reflect input received from Golden
residents at community meetings held last summer.
There will be all kinds of new
features directed at different
members of the community. For
the younger audience, there will
be a larger, more open childrens
area as well as a larger teen area
that is equipped with enhanced
technology. For people who are

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more technologically inclined,

there will be updated technology
in the public access area as well
as the meeting room to support
public presentations. There will
also be more informal spaces
for community interaction and
exchange, including a community living room with a fireplace,
a large quiet area, and a study
room.
The library, with its shiny and
fresh new look, is scheduled
to reopen at 10 a.m. on Friday,
June 12th, but until then there
are still plenty of services available. All of the normal book club
meetings, storytimes and other
events are going on as planned,
but in other locations which are
detailed on the library website:
jeffcolibrary.org. Also, while the
library is closed, there are still
plenty of ways to check out
books. In addition to the other libraries across Jefferson County,
there will also be a Bookmobile
parked outside of the library on
Sundays, Tuesdays and Thursdays.
For more information regarding the remodeling of the
library, please visit their highly
informative website. Even if you
never got the chance to see the
Golden Public Library before it
closed, get excited and ready
to see the brand new, freshly remodeled library!

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page 4

Climbing Event Encourages

Friendly Competition
NIC RUMMEL / OREDIGGER

Nic Rummel
Staff Writer

On Saturday, March 28th, the biannual climbing competition was held

at the SRC rock climbing wall.
Months of preparation and a
whole week of setting and putting in
routes led up to this event.
Head route setter, Brandon Conaway, even dedicated his spring break
building volumes, which are large
geometric features on the wall. Why
so much effort?
One of the most rewarding parts
about putting on this event is getting
to witness others enjoy the product
of your hard work, Conaway said.
Whether it is someones first time
competing or a seasoned competitor,
getting to see students coming together as a community and pushing
one another as friends and competitors is what really gets me excited!
The SRC staff is really invested in
the climbing community, and it shows
in the many hours spent working and
coordinating with sponsors to bring
prizes for the raffle.
Among the sponsors were Black
Diamond, Monster, Sunbutter, American Alpine Club, Woodies Pizza, Earth
Treks, Mountain Khakis, and Adidas
Outdoor. Every competitor won a
prize of equal or greater value than his
or her entry fee. All competitors came
with enthusiasm and a desire to win.
How does one win a rock climbing competition? The answer is much
more complicated than one might
think.
Many think that rock climbing is
primarily a timed competition; however, this is a misconception.
Very few rock climbing competitions have to do with speed, and
most are competitions in technical
skill and strength.
These qualities were tested in Saturdays Red Point Bouldering competition. Bouldering specifies that no
ropes can be used and the routes
must not exceed 12.5 feet in height.
Red point is a rock climbing term
for taking multiple attempts to climb a
route from bottom to top without falling. Watching others climb and talking
can allow for the invaluable exchange
of advice.
Rachel Abler, Coordinator at the
Outdoor Recreation Center, said the
competition is great for climbers of all
levels.
As an inclusive event, it brings together climbers of all ability levels and
promotes friendly competition in a
fun environment where everyone can
learn and grow together, Abler said.
Its hard to find any other competitive
activity in which total strangers are not
only rooting for you to do well, but also
giving you advice along the way. Bouldering is truly a special sport!
All the boulders are different and
require different skills and strengths to
reach the top.

Fraternity

Continued from page 1

If these lessons are taken seriously, they ultimately lead to an

increased connectedness with
our true goals.
Apart from scathing national
scandals, experiences with the
common criticisms of fraternity
life - that encompass exclusivity and lack of diversity - should
also act as moments that induce

april 14, 2015

New Professor Uses

Nontraditional Approach
to Lectures
Katrina San Nicolas
Staff Writer

Each of the boulder problems was

arranged by difficulty level, ranging
from a ladder with good holds to a
near horizontal climbing with terrible
pinches, slopers and crimps.
There are three different categories with 10-12 climbs in each.There
are beginner, intermediate and advanced categories, so all ability levels
are welcome.
The scoring of a climbing competition is based on the climbers top 5
most difficult climbs completed within
the time allotted. In the case of a tie,
the climber with the fewest falls will
take the win. This scoring system
can become subjective because one
climb may seem hard to one climber
but not to another. In order to combat this inherently flawed system, a
diverse and skillful setting crew is required.
This competition brought quite
the hype with participation from local
Mines students to construction workers from Fort Collins.
After a full day of climbing, sweating, competing and laughing, the results were in (see below).
Many from the Mines Climbing
club got on the podium: Joel Ebers,
Alexander Bart, Jason Actis, Eric Hildebrat, and Nic Rummel. In the advanced category, the win came down
to two very strong individuals: Andrew
Lee who is sponsored by Evolv Pro
and Nic Rummel who is sponsored
by Five Ten Pro.
When the results were released,
both had completed the same climbs
with the exact same number of falls.

In the end, Nic Rummel got the

win for Mines Champion because he
is a student and Andrew is not, but
they tied for the win of the event.
I love this event because the setting crew here at Mines is the best
collegiate team in Colorado, Lee
said.
To add to the excitement, fun
activities resembling American Ninja
Warrior were set up also. Textured
spheres were attached to overhanging walls and an obstacle course was
made.
Participants had to swing between the hanging spheres and walls
to reach the end.
Also, a partner climb was set up,
whereby two climbers had to use
each others bodies to reach the top.
Lastly, there was the raffle. Those
who placed in the event got first pick
on the prizes and then the remaining
competitors were called up to claim
their prizes.
Prizes ranged from backpacks to
chalk bags, gift cards, energy drinks,
and headlamps.
Everyone won something and got
to go home with a good feeling, regardless of the results. In the end, the
competition was a huge success; the
setting was well done, the raffle was
outstanding and the environment was
uplifting while still competitive.
If you are interested in climbing,
join the Climbing Club at the ORC at
5:30 pm on Wednesdays. There are
free lessons in climbing techniques as
well as a great community feel. All skill
levels are welcome.

soul-searching. If these criticisms

are true, how do fraternity men
go about changing them? If they
are not true, how do the perceptions find change? These questions are a part of a necessary
broader search for relevance as
the national media and general
public increasingly scrutinize the
purposes and goals of Greek life
in our country.
Our brotherhoods promote
goals of leadership, service, philanthropy and social excellence
while teaching us how to live and

interact in unity in an eclectic and

very often hectic, sociopolitical
environments. That is relevant.
The lessons learned from living
and interacting with such dynamic groups provide an enormous
value that is so often overlooked
when the negative interactions
of fraternities cloud the public
sphere.
It is essential to keep these lessons and the value they espouse
in mind when soul-searching for
fraternity relevancy.

While a traditional college learning

setting sees a professor lecturing as
students take notes, it is often a lightbulb moment of student self-discovery that leaves the largest learning
impact. Experiential learning at Mines
currently includes guided physics adventures in electricity to active-learning
labs in general chemistry; however,
a new Mines faculty member will be
using his background in science education to explore new methods of
instruction and to promote effective
teaching across all subjects.
Dr. Sam Spiegel of Philadelphia
had careers in everything from catering, to advertising, to cancer research
before discovering an interest in science education. He attended Metropolitan State University of Denver,
Florida Atlantic University, Temple
University of Philadelphia, and Florida
State University. Additionally, he has
experience teaching science at the
middle school, high school, undergraduate, and graduate levels. Dr.
Spiegel will be working closely with
Mines faculty and a few students as
the new Director of the Center for Innovative Teaching and Learning.
I used to work at the worlds largest and highest powered magnetic
field laboratory, explains Dr. Spiegel.
There, I developed the educational
programs for the lab by working with
faculty, thinking about how to better
apprentice their graduate students
to be professionals in the field. More
recently, Dr. Spiegel has worked on
faculty development with the engineering and medical schools at the
University of Pittsburgh. Because he
worked remotely while living in Colorado Springs, the
opening at Mines
was a natural
transition.
Dr. Spiegels
position is actually
part of the Mines
Strategic Plan, a
ten-year initiative
designed to guide
the school as it
strives to expand
research opportunities, increase
four-year graduation rates, and
remain a leading
STEM university.
Because several
faculty members have been experimenting with new teaching techniques
and class designs during the past few
years, the need for increased faculty
support has become apparent. The
resulting Center for Innovative Teaching and Learning was started and
managed by Physics Professor Dr. Pat
Kohl and Applied Mathematics and
Statistics Professor Dr. Gus Greivel,

prior to Dr. Spiegels arrival to campus

on April 1.
Mines is a unique school in
which you have a very high-end student population and highly dedicated
faculty, contends Dr. Spiegel. There
have been pockets of innovation like
the physics studio sessions and the
biology labs, but the faculty have been
managing this on top of their existing loads. The Center for Innovative
Teaching and Learning will provide
support, expertise, and resources to
these faculty members and the broader group as well. For instance, one of
the Dr. Spiegels initial projects will be
collaborating with Dr. Renee Falconer
and Dr. Allison Caster to examine active learning options for the Chemistry
Department.
Nowadays, unless something is
truly brand new information, most students dont need professors to just tell
them information, but rather students
need support managing, evaluating,
and applying information, Dr. Spiegel
asserts. One idea growing in popularity is using a flipped approach.The idea
of the flipped class is that information
delivery is part of homework, and then
when students go to class, they apply
it and have an expert there to facilitate
that process. As learning transitions
to a model that resembles apprenticing in the field, one of the challenges
will be structuring class time effectively,
especially with large groups of students. Dr. Spiegel will be working with
CASA and CCIT on several of these
changes.
As he continues planning some
summer sessions and adjusting to life
at Mines, Dr. Spiegel encourages students and faculty to call, email, or stop
by his office in the CTLM building. He
will be moving to the Golden area with
his family soon
and is excited to
learn more about
Mines traditions
and to be a part
of the community. He will also
be serving as a
faculty mentor for
the CSM101 program and can be
found cooking,
hiking, kayaking,
or painting when
not busy on campus.
Learning is
empowering,
says Dr. Spiegel.
My goal is for innovative teaching and
learning to become a norm at Mines. In
my mind, Ill know that Ive been successful if in five years, students choose
Mines because they know they will not
only get a good job by graduating from
Mines, but additionally because Mines
is known as the leading university for
the teaching of science, mathematics
and engineering.

Walk A Mile In Her Shoes

Lauren Headrick and
Jennifer Tippets
Contributors
Thursday, April 23rd, Panhellenic,
along with IFC, Res Life, Student
Activities, and Student Life, are putting together an event called Walk A
Mile in Her Shoes in honor of National
Sexual Awareness Month. We will
have men walking around Kafadar
in heels and women walking around

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in mens dress shoes. There will be

fun activities and games, as well as
educational ones. The purpose of this
whole event is to raise awareness in
our community about sexual assault.
Walk a Mile in Her Shoes is open to
the entire campus community and we
encourage everyone to come and to
spread the word!
Walking in stilettos isnt that hard
if it can help put an end to rape, sexual
violence, and gender violence.

april 14, 2015

f e a t u r e s

page 5

Geek of the Week: Climbing with Jake Larson

Katrina San Nicolas

Staff Writer

Jake Larson, a senior in Geophysics, has a wide variety of talents

and hobbies outside of engineering. This month, The Oredigger sat
down with Jake and had the opportunity to learn about everything from
his favorite rock climbing locations,
to his unique plans as a geophysics
major, to his tips and tricks for living
a balanced life as a Mines student.
[Oredigger] Where are you
from and why did you choose to
come study at Mines?
[Jake] I am originally from the
suburbs of Chicago, Illinois and I
came to Mines because of its reputation as an engineering school, as
well as its location. There are some
really good engineering schools in
the Midwest but none of them are
as close to skiing as Mines is.
Do you participate in outdoor
activities a lot then?
Yeah! I came here for the skiing but ended up getting more
into summer activities, like rock
climbing. I usually climb with a few
friends, and we go on a lot of trips.
How do you feel about rock
climbing?
There are a whole bunch of different styles. There is bouldering,
where you have pads and climb up
small rocks. Its very hard and physical. Then you have sport climbing,
where you climb with ropes and you
have bolts that are also in the wall.
Finally you have traditional climbing,
where you place your own gear,
and that is more of a pure style,
where you move up something with
the goal of getting to the top. They
all have dierent things that appeal to me! I like sport climbing because I get to try really hard moves
and then fall. Its really fun to have
a physical activity that you push
yourself at and then end up falling
through the airespecially if you
are a couple hundred feet up!
Rock climbing is such a mental sport too. You have to be really
condent. Ive learned a lot through
climbing about how your mind and
your body connect.
Do you have any advice for
other students interested in
rock climbing?
My advice would be to nd
someone in the community who is

knowledgeable. It sounds kind of

clich, but you just have to go do
it and experience it. A lot of people
worry about being good, but any
person can go up and have a really
great time. You get more satisfaction if you just focus on the experience instead of focusing on your
skill level.
How did you end up majoring
in Geophysics?
Ive always been interested in
geology, which is part of the reason
that I came here, but I wanted to get
into a more quantitative science. I
wanted to work with more data, so
I got into Geophysics. I also nd a lot
of the research in
Geophysics
really
interesting.
What are you
planning to do after you nish your
degree?
Right now it looks
like grad school,
probably elsewhere.
I am primarily looking at the Aerospace
Engineering
Program at CU Boulder
doing remote sensing research.
When
looking at careers, do
you plan to focus
more on Geophysics or Aerospace
Engineering?
I guess its meshing the two together.
It doesnt seem like they connect
to one another, but there is some
crossover between the two elds.
I would probably consider the research that I would do in Boulder
to be more Geophysics than Aerospace.
What has been your favorite
Mines class?
Theyve all been so great (slight
sarcasm). I think that Remote Sensing, taught by Je Andrews-Hanna,
has been my favorite class because
it was the rst class where I really felt
like I could do legitimate research
with the data that I was getting. We
had weekly projects in that class
and they were pretty interesting. For
instance, we did one project looking
at beetle kill in the Grand Lake area
and we were able to map changes

in vegetation using satellite imagery

and I thought that was a really cool
application of Geophysics. Its like a
really broad but also specic eld!
What is the hardest lesson
that youve learned during college?
Condence in the face of adversity would probably be the hardest
lesson. In high school, I was very
condent in my math and science
skills, but here, everyone is so intelligent and was also at the top of
their class. For a while, I didnt think
that I belonged here or was smart
enough to do it. Once I got into

from a provided lot, and then ride

them in competition against each
other. This means riders need not
have a horse or tack to compete,
only the required riding clothing and
skill.
Student and coach, Allison Pelzel, started the Mines chapter of the
organization only last year in an effort to meet like-minded students
and attract new people to the sport.
Allison has been riding for over
15 years and also volunteering with
CUs chapter before starting the
team at Mines. Since its start, the
team has gone through almost two
full seasons with great success.
At the second show, the Mines
equine team was the reserve high
point team (the team with the
second most overall points) even
though it was about a fth of the
size of the others in the region (CU,
CSU, UW, UNL).
We also sent a rider to nationals
during our rst year, which is pretty
rare, and this year we were the reserve high point team again, a mere
3 points o of being the high point

team, again with far fewer riders

than most teams, Allison said.
In the current season, the team
sent a quarter of its members to
regionals and zones, and has once
again qualied a student to nationals. This is extremely impressive
since the team is only student-competitor funded and motivated.
People should join our team
because its fun, Allison said. You
get to know people that you might
never talk to normally, including a
lot of people from other schools all
over the country. You also get to
travel to some weird but cool places and ride some amazing horses.
The team goals for next year are
to increase the size of the team, become a club sport, and send more
people to nationals. Allison said
she would also like the team to be
the high point team at one of the
shows next year.
The Mines equestrian team certainly ts the bill as a Mines lore that
few people know about. If you like
horses and the people that ride
them, this is the club for you!

classes within my major, I got really

close to everyone and realized that
everyone was at a similar level and
was nally able to develop some
condence.
It kind of goes back to climbing
too. You can have the ability to do
it but if you dont have the condence, you will just hold yourself
back. That lesson has denitely
stuck with me in both climbing and
school throughout my time here.
Who is your role model?
In every aspect of my life, I have
dierent role models. Academically,
I think Je Andrews Hanna is my
role model in the way that he carries himself and everything that he
does in his classes, research, and
student interactions.
What is your favorite quote?

I like Ralph Waldo Emersons

quote: To be yourself in a world
that is constantly trying to make you
something else is the greatest accomplishment.
What activities make you feel
most like yourself?
I teach science and technology at this afterschool program in
Golden for kindergartners through
5th graders. I create my own lesson plans. For instance, if I want to
teach them about gravity, I make a
lesson plan which usually has to do
with activities that I thought were
fun as a kid. I once had them build
boats to test displacement and
learn about that.
They are really
into it, and I can
be kind of goofy,
so Im really into
it too!
Thats awesome! What is
your teaching
philosophy?
Teaching really takes me
back to when I
was a kid trying
to understand
science
by
messing around
with
things.
Thats how Ive
always looked
at science and
engineering, so
I try to get them
to think about it in a similar way. Its
fun to have an impact outside of the
Mines community and to get out
in the Golden community. It really
keeps me grounded. I dont think
that being at Mines all the time is
very healthy for anybody, so its really good to get out and interact with
people who arent engineers.
If you had to stay in one
building on campus for a few
days straight, which one would
it be?
I really like the library. Despite the
kind of depressing feel you get in
there, it has a lot of nooks and crannies to explore. If I had a few days
in one building, Id want one that I
could try to explore around in, and
Ive got most of the others gured
out. But the library is still a mystery to me. There are a lot of doors

and they have those moving bookshelves in the bottom oor. Those
are pretty fun.
What have you done over the
summers?
Over the last two summers, I
have worked on trail crews in Rocky
Mountain National Park and the Indian Peaks Wilderness. I built a lot
of retaining walls and a lot of really
precise drains and steps and stu.
There are some minor engineering
applications involved. During my
rst year, I was part of a conservation crew, whereas during the past
year, I was a crew leader and we
worked with some of the National
Forest Service employees.
Have you ever considered
teaching?
Teaching is a really important
thing to me, and eventually I would
like to get a PhD and teach at a
university. Ill probably work in the
industry for a while and then teach
after that. My dream would be to
teach introductory undergraduate
courses, like Intro to Geophysics or
Intro to Seismic. Those classes are
really important because you have
the opportunity to get someone really excited about a certain topic,
and maybe that is what they are going to do with the rest of their lives.
Do you have any other special talents?
Im a closet musician. I play the
guitar and also the keyboard, and
Ive been doing that for quite a
long time. I started in grade school,
and like any hobby that I take up,
I went 100% into it. I also got into
recording. There is a lot of overlap
between audio and Geophysics,
which you wouldnt imagine, but it
is fun to look at the physics behind
the sound. I also made a couple of
guitars, which was cool. It was really
hard, but it was cool because you
could shop for each part individually. I really enjoyed the soldering and
circuitry, as well as painting them.
As a senior, what advice do
you have for Mines freshmen?
Just get out and have some different experiences outside of Mines.
Summers are a great opportunity to
do that. Internships are important,
but you are going to work for your
entire life, so maybe look for something thats a little more obscure and
allows you to learn some things that
you wont get at Mines.

Club Spotlight: The Mines Equestrian Team

Frank Knafelc
Staff Writer

You might know about equestrian sports from the Summer

Olympics, where competitors from
around the world challenge each
other for the gold. However, for
those that are not in the know, the
Mines equestrian team rides horses, particularly in the English category of riding.
The Mines equestrian team
competes within the Intercollegiate
Horse Show Association (IHSA), in
both horse jumping and atwork.
The IHSA is a competition-based
organization where riders of all skill
levels can compete individually and
as teams at regional, zone, and national levels.
IHSAs mission is to promote
the principle that any college student should be able to participate
in horse shows regardless of his or
her nancial status or riding level.
In this undertaking, they are quite
successful. At shows, competing
riders draw horses out of a hat,

PHOTOS COURTESY OF ALLISON PELZEL

Clockwise from top left: Allison Pelzel and Natalie Boldt at

Regionals, Allison jumping at competition, Allison and Natalie at Zones, our own Frank Knafelc riding at competition.

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p h

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o t o

r e c a p

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PHOTOS TAKEN BY RONALD KEM AND KYLE DISANDRO / OREDIGGER

I G G E R . n e t

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april 14, 2015

Mists and Mondays: Eleanor and Park Book Review

Katrina San Nicolas
Staff Writer

Eleanor has a mop of aming red hair, wears boys clothes,

and is the very best at reading
aloud in her English class. Park is
half-Korean, loves reading comic
books, and can never quite seem
to win the approval of his military
father. Neither quite ts into their
high school class, but throughout
the course of the novel, they discover that the best place to be is
in one anothers company. While
a somewhat predictable romance,
Rainbow Rowells Eleanor and
Park is a touching read guaranteed to make readers smile.
Set in the late 1980s, Eleanor
and Park explores the impossibility and hope associated with
young relationships. The two meet
one day on the busa microcosm
of the social hierarchy associated with high schooland slowly
ease into a relationship of shared
comic books, mixtapes, and Monday traditions. One theme beautifully illustrated within the pages is

parents pivotal role in young relationships. Parks mom from Korea

is initially very skeptical of Eleanor,
and Eleanors stepdad nearly ruins their relationship. As Park and
Eleanors relationship becomes
more serious, Parks parents serve
as a beacon of hope for Eleanors
poverty-stricken family.
Rowell does a surprisingly nice
job weaving humor into each and
every chapter. From Eleanors outts (think curtain tassels as hair
accessories and mens golf shoes
with the spikes still attached), to
Parks descriptions of his mixedrace parents (It was like watching Paul Bunyan make out with
one of those Its a Small World
dolls), the prose is simple but hilarious in its own right. Rowell also
does an impressive job portraying
the fashions, social expectations,
and technological advances of the
1980s.
While it is easy to read this
young adult novel in the course of
an afternoon or two, Eleanor and
Park actually touches upon some
fairly deep themes. For instance,
Park decides to go to school one

day with eyeliner because it makes

him feel erce and more dramatic,
and is immediately chastised by
his strict father for not living up
to family expectations of masculinity. However, Parks decision
to ignore teasing and be himself
anyway reveals the power of individuality. Eleanor comes from a
terrible home severe poverty,
four little siblings, and an abusive
alcoholic stepfatherand the way
she ponders her beautiful movie-

star moms life choices raises

awareness for the psychological
damage inicted upon children in
homes like this.
The only possible issue with
this novel is that it is a fairly predictable high school romance with
typical ups and downs and a disappointingly foreseeable climax.
There are probably a few dozen
other novels with a similar storyline; however, Eleanor and Parks
quirky characters and unique

chronological setting make it a

true character study and a good
novel for discussion.
Commended by the New York
Times, NPR, Amazon, and the
American Library Association, Eleanor and Park is set to become
a major motion picture within
the next few years. Because this
sweet story is something that you
really should not miss, consider
picking up a copy before it becomes too popular!

COURTESY ST. MARTINS PRESS

Mumford and Sons Citizenfour: A Glimpse into the

Wilder Mind
Workings of Edward Snowden
Electries
Sean Cowie
Staff Writer

Sarah Dewar
Staff Writer

Certainly those few hundred

in Toronto on Friday will never
forget the once in a lifetime experience of witnessing Wilder
This past Good Friday morn- Mind before the masses.
ing, 600 tickets were released
Believe, the frontline sinfor a surprise show in Toronto, gle from the upcoming album,
scheduled for that same eve- is a drastic departure from the
ning. Mumford & Sons played strong folk-driven sound of
their newest album, Wilder Mumford & Sons first two stuMind live for the first time.
dio albums. This album most
All but one song from Mum- definitely marks the turning point
ford & Sons third studio album in the bands artistic evolution, a
was unveiled for the crowd point that usually indicates the
and only for the crowd as future success and longevity
all attendees were required to of a band. The reception from
check their phones at the door. such a transformation is evident
While this was done to prevent from their albums placing on
a premature release of their mu- the top charts and the demand
sic via audio and video record- for live performances. Perhaps
ings taken by
COURTESY ISLAND RECORDS
surprising to
the members
critics,
lisin the crowd,
teners have
it also added
received
a sentimental
Mumford
value to the
and
Sons
night.
newfound
Concerts
e l e c t r i c
in the modern
sound with
era live on foradmiration
ever through
and a desire
photos as well
for more. A
as audio or
true test of
visual recordtalent for a
ings taken on
group of muphones, which are then circu- sicians is adaptability - the abillated on fans social media as a ity to produce music that is difbadge of attendance. Addition- ferent from previous recordings,
ally, most concerts are often re- but still laced with an authenticcorded professionally for a live ity unique to the band.
album release, as a tribute to
Mumford & Sons have yet to
the true talent of a band. How- disappoint listeners, whether it
ever, imagine if concerts were to be their original banjo-laid baleliminate the ability of those in lads, or their recently unveiled
attendance to record or docu- rock and roll edginess. Apart
ment the show! It certainly in- from those fortunate enough to
creases the value of actually have experienced Wilder Mind
purchasing a ticket and being personally this past weekend in
able to participate in a unique Toronto, the rest of us are eamusical event, adding a some- gerly awaiting the full album
what romantic and nostalgic release in May, which cannot
value to concerts.
come soon enough.

about to get a serious makeover.

In June of 2013, Laura Poitras,
joined by investigative journalist Glenn
Greenwald and intelligence reporter
Ewen MacAskill, travelled to Hong
Kong to meet with Citizenfour. Lo
and behold, Edward Snowden was
there waiting for them. The rst time
Snowden appears on camera, it is
quite a surreal feeling for the viewer.
To see the whistle-blower that rocked

lming and questioning Snowden

during intense or emotional moments
throughout the movie. In this way,
the documentary oers a raw and
vulnerable vantage point from which
Remember the NSA leaks of
the severity of Snowdens situation
2013? As an average U.S. citizen,
is demonstrated. In parts where
what I knew of the NSA scandal
Snowden is not explicitly talking to the
was fairly surcial: some Joe named
journalists about secretive governSnowden released information about
ment surveillance programs, Poitras
the NSA unlawfully spying on citizens
asks him questions relating to his
and corporations. Naturally, the U.S
emotional state. Snowden
government wasnt entirely
responds naturally and truthecstatic about the situation,
criminalizing him for espioThroughout the documen- fully, revealing the endearing
side of him that is frightened
nage. Channeling his inner
exile, Snowden ended up tary, there is a looming, yet and is genuinely concerned
seeking asylum in Russia unlikely threat of the govern- for their safety.
An incredible facet of
and, last I heard, was kickin
ment somehow catching wind Citizenfour
is how tense the
it with Putin in Moscow. This
large reveal led to Snowden of Snowdens intentions be- movie can be. Never before
I been on the edge of
disclosing that the NSA was
fore his famed public address. have
my seat with sweaty palms
breaking several privacy laws
while watching a documenin order to gain information
about potential terrorism. Through all the nation casually converse with the tary. Throughout the documentary,
of this, the story of Edward Snowden likes of Glenn Greenwald in a ho- there is a looming, yet unlikely threat
was particularly interesting because tel suite halfway across the world is of the government somehow catchhis name was unknown to the public somewhat bizarre. From the get-go, ing wind of Snowdens intentions
until this worldwide phenomenon. His Snowden informed the three journal- before his famed public address.
story is brought to life in the Academy ists of his situation including the infor- Because of this, instances when variAward winning documentary, Citizen- mation he has obtained, and what he ous strange but random occurrences
planned to do with it. The rst two- such as an unwarranted re alarm test
four.
This documentary is special in thirds of the movie documents this or a telephone that wont stop ringing,
its own regard, just because of the plan, and discusses the information happen to be particularly intense for
process and semi- coincidental na- he had acquired and how they will all the viewer and I couldnt help but
ture in which it was made. In Janu- release the information to the public think Seal Team Six was going to
ary of 2013, an unknown source, in a favorable manner. In this way, bust through the door at any moreferring to themselves only as the viewer is shown exactly how this ment. Poitras could have easily just
Citizenfour,contacted Laura Poitras hugely controversial event in America edited these parts out, but by includthrough encrypted messaging and came to be, from inception to the ing them, she displayed how being
cooped up in a hotel room for weeks
requested to meet in Hong Kong. public statement by Snowden.
As a movie, this documentary is can cause paranoia about the slightPoitras, at the time, had been actively
working on part three of a three part made in an eective and stimulating est peculiarity.
Citizenfour is one of the most imdocumentary series about Americas way. Citizenfour can be described as
domestic surveillance in post 9/11 being shot in the cinma vrit style, portant documentaries made in this
America. The stranger, aware of her or in a less pretentious way of saying decade with regards to the present
documentary background, revealed it, barebones lmmaking. Cinma state of the country. It is denitely
to her over encrypted messaging vrit is the purest form of shooting deserving of winning the Academy
several outlines of condential gov- a movie - what is seen through the Award for best documentary because
ernment-run surveillance programs. lens of the camera is what is shown of the sheer bravery of the crew that
Poitras immediately disconnected her on the screen after production. The produced it, and the fact that it was
laptop from the internet, fearing that presence of a lming camera is con- even made in the rst place is an unthe fragile intelligence she had just re- tinually acknowledged, as it presents believable accomplishment. I recomceived would somehow be tapped by an almost aggressive approach for mend this movie to everyone no matcurious government agencies. At that lming whatever is in front of the cam- ter what your standing is on national
moment, she had an inkling that part era. Citizenfour implements this strat- security and the lengths that our govthree of her documentary series was egy eectively, not shying away from ernment takes to achieve it.

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april 14, 2015

The Questionable Science of Chappie

Erica Dettmer-Radtke
Staff Writer

What is the point of making

something if it is only going to be
destroyed? How far are we willing
to go in our technological developments? Is articial intelligence really a good idea? Will articial intelligence pass human intelligence at
some point in time? These are the
questions that Chappie attempts
to answer. Starring Dev Patel from
Slumdog Millionaire, Hugh Jackman, and Sigourney Weaver, this
movie follows the story of a stolen
police droid in a futuristic world.
The droid, Chappie, is given new
programming that is essentially articial intelligence. The droid starts
o as a baby but learns at an accelerated speed.
The articial intelligence gives
Chappie a brain which functions much like how a human brain
would. Chappie has to learn about
how the world works, so when the
articial intelligence program is rst
given to the droid, it is essentially at
the level of a small child.
This gift of AI was not where the
lm was faulty. Almost anything is
possible in a futuristic world, espe-

cially if it stays within the bounds of

modern science. However, Chappie made several jumps that were
vastly unrealistic, even in a futuristic world. For one, can AI really be
so successful? And is it even possible for AI to develop capabilities
that surpass its creators? Shortly
after the AI is given to Chappie,
he becomes very capable of thinking for himself in a very human-like
manner. In the end, Chappie even
comes up with ideas on his own,
independent of any of the humans
that he interacted with, formulating
his own science and using computers with a skill that is far above
that of most normal people.
The end of the movie was where
any semblance of science and natural plot progression disintegrated.
Somehow, Chappie manages to
gure out how to completely transfer consciousness and map it onto
computers. When one person
is dying, they take that persons
consciousness and transfer it into
a droid. This is a totally unrealistic
jump, considering at the beginning
of the movie they had just created
true articial intelligence capable of
thinking and feeling for itself. To be
able to totally transfer someones
consciousness is a huge step to

take.
Chappie obviously brings up
a lot of questions about our future
with technology. It is very thoughtprovoking and brings up many
valid points. However, the comput-

fresh content from every pore.

The gaming experience Transistor provides is unique to the point
where no other game on the market can accurately reproduce it.
This is not to say that Transistor
is the pinnacle of gaming. No, instead the point is that if a gamer
is looking for a new gaming experience, Transistor can reliably
provide it. Not only that, but it can
provide a new experience that is
smooth, polished, and decidedly
nice looking.
The game is set after the selfdestruction of a futuristic utopian-esque society, in which the
citizens are able to alter the world
around them to suit their fancy
at any time they wanted through
the use of terminals scattered
across the city. It all falls apart,
however, when a small group of
the societys elite members decide to try and take matters into

their own hands and use a device

to shape the world in a way that
would benet everyone the most.
Predictably, their plan backres
spectacularly, resulting in a wonderful premise and setting to
base a game o of. Funny how
that happens.
Beautiful is the rst word that
comes to mind when asked to
describe Transistors artstyle, but
thats probably just because doing the visuals proper justice with
a collection of words is a challenge worthy of accomplished
poets and smooth-talking used
car salesmen. The colors are vibrant and every nook and cranny
of the clean-cut set pieces are
satisfying to ogle for extended
periods of time. Each area of the
city looks like it actually belongs
in a sterile, high tech society. This
gives a looming atmosphere to
the city, which tiptoes on the line

ing and science aspect is a little

bit questionable. The special effects are really well done and the
integration between humans and
technology is very realistic. It does
get violent at times, and some of

the scenes are far more gory than

they need to be. The movie questions whether or not we really want
to live in a world where droids and
humans interact side by side with
comparable levels of intelligence.
COURTESY PICNATION.COM

Art Never Played So Well - Transistor

Ethan Meeks
Staff Writer

Innovation in gaming is a
beautiful thing in many cases.
As with all things in life, the good
and the bad come and go with
each new concept that passes
under programmers ngers. But
in a world where most triple A
titles are lled to the brim with the
same chest-high walls and ballistic ries, even the most unimpressive games can get positive
attention if the concept behind
them is original enough. Case in
point: Goat Simulator.
However, Transistor is not
Goat Simulator almost to the
same extent that it is not another
run of the mill FPS. From its vibrant, elegant artstyle to its multifaceted gameplay, Transistor
spews

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COURTESY ALPHACODERS.COM

of being completely alien, drawing the player into the world with
impressive eectiveness.
The soundtrack proves to be
equally impressive, boasting a
versatile combination of both
calm, low-key pieces that capture the desolate feelings of the
cities abandoned streets and
high energy collections which
give blood-pumping vitality to the
games battle sequences. Transistor is noticeably proud of its
soundtrack, having a button on
the keyboard dedicated solely to
making the main character stop
all motion and hum soothingly
alongside the background music
at any given time. It is a nice little
touch that couples well with the
protagonists backstory, being a
singer who has recently lost her
voice.
Speaking of stories, the storyline of Transistor is elusive to
say the least.
Hints
and
snippets of
information
regarding the
city and key
individuals
will be sprinkled
sparingly via the
Tr a n s i s t o r s
one
sided
dialogue with
the
mute
protagonist.
H o w e v e r,
small details,
and
even
some
main
events,
regarding the
lore of the
game can be
easily missed
or just hard
to
interpret
outright when
introduced in
Tr a n s i s t o r s
half-whispered lines.
The
Tran-

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

sistors voice itself can also get

rather taxing due to the frequency with which the man speaks
throughout the entire story. It
seems as though the developer,
Supergiant Games, was trying to
recreate the same narrative that
characterized Bastion, their rst
and only other entry in the gaming
scene. Unfortunately, the narrator in Transistor failed to have the
same amount of personality that
Bastions, leading his constant
quips to lose their charm after a
point. Luckily, this creates nothing more than an inkling annoyance rather than anything major.
Tying all of the aforementioned
components into one big neat
bow, Transistors multilayered
gameplay allows players to confront battles in a pleasantly large
variety of ways. Combining turnbased and top-down shooting
elements with an impressive arsenal of dierent functions that
each perform a dierent function in battle, the combat system
allows the player to manipulate
and adapt their play styles on the
y with great eect. Additionally,
the diculty of the game is determined by so called limiters,
which each alter specic conditions in the game to increase the
challenge presented by battle.
They can also be turned on and
o at will, giving players a satisfyingly large amount of control over
the challenging aspects of their
personal gaming experience.
Transistor is a gorgeous game
with an absolutely wonderful
soundtrack that often extends
past the connes of the game and
into players personal playlists
long after completion. The gameplay gives players comprehensive
control over the diculties faced
and allows them to feasibly adopt
a number of dierent play styles
as they please. As a whole, the
game provides a refreshingly
unique and well-polished gaming
experience, which can be justly
recommended to both new and
veteran gamers alike.

f e a t u r e s

page 10

The Invictus Initiative

Joseph Hunt
Staff Writer

Invictus is Latin for unconquerable or undefeated.

The Invictus Initiative held an
informational meeting on Monday,
April 6th in Marquez Hall to discuss their upcoming trip to Nicaragua this summer.
Their third visit there, cofounder Mike Kmita says that this
trip will focus on humanitarian
aid. However, rather than centering around aid administration and
leaving without really coming to
know the people there, this trip
will involve more learning and collaborating with the local individuals, as well as developing personal relationships with them.
The Invictus Initiative is a nonprot organization that develops
relationships with the unconquerable people of the world. The
club travels to countries across
the world including Brazil, India,
and Nicaragua to better understand and relate to the people of
the world, while assisting them in
helping themselves. This relationship-driven approach to aid focuses on four main groups of aid:
Agriculture, Education, Engineering, and Business.
The group is not strictly localized to Mines; students from
Denver University and Red Rocks
Community College have attended trips, adding invaluable expertise in medical backgrounds,
among others, to the group.
In the spring of 2014, the
group traveled to Rio de Janeiro,
Brazil to meet with a local NGO
who owned a community center

that fostered free classes for children in the area called Community
In Action (CIA). On this trip were
current president Carmella Caltagirone and 10-11 others who
were mostly Mines students.
During their stay, the students
helped renovate an empty storage
space above the community center into a fully functional apartment
that brought in a steady cash ow,
allowing for the low cost and free
services to remain so.
Interestingly enough, a graduate student from CU Boulder rented out the space, hoping to learn
more about the local community
and culture to round up his work
for a PhD in Anthropology.
We got to see the impact
we had made, said Carmella,
who was one among many of
the students on Invictus Initiative
trips who have reported feeling a
great sense of purpose and selfunderstanding resulting from the
work they do. We get to walk
away with a bigger picture and
the sense that our knowledge can
help people.
Safety is often a concern for
new travelers, and needless to
say, the Invictus Initiative is sensitive to these concerns. The safety
of each trip was strongly armed
by both Mike and Carmella, who
both agreed that common sense
habits like staying together, always having a guide, and partnering only with known local NGOs
have always kept the group safe
on their trips.
According to Carmella, the
group has also felt safe even in
the favelas of Rio, due primarily
to the strong local relationships

Becks Brand New Phase

Hunter Chase
Staff Writer

forged from the groups activities

and the connections with local
leaders.
Each trip hosts well-traveled
students and leaders to guide
newer travelers in learning the
ropes, so no group is ever unprepared for travel.
The Invictus Initiative is secular in nature; it is not religiously
structured or managed. Indeed,
many members have former experience with mission trips, but its
purpose is not to spread religious
belief nor does it require religion to
join. No evangelistic tone is set.
This current trip, estimated to
cost approximately $2,000 per
person and last nine
days, is intended to focus on
at least three of the four focuses.
In the engineering focus, the
group hopes to create a freshwater well to supply a village in Yugo
Lica, which has never had access
to clean, drinkable water.
Additionally, the group intends
to assist a well-known friend
known as Gato, a coee farmer,
to transition from growing coee
to growing avocados. The switch,
he claims, is due to the changing
climate which is aecting his coffee crops.
Lastly, the group intends to
advocate the importance of education to local communities as
many young, school-age children
view public education as a waste.
It is their hope that they can reinforce the value and possibilities
of public education not only to the
children in the areas they work,
but also to the families, instilling
a value that will be passed down
from generation to generation.

One particular, hard-hitting title is

Blue Moon, which showcases his
honest insecurities about love and
being alone. The beating drums
are laid over by acoustic guitars, an
oooOooh-ing chorus, and an anxious Beck painting the scene of an
unrequited love in the night. No one
can forget the catchy and reassuring
melody of Heart is a Drum that lets
us know that we are not alone in this
vast universe. Despite the various
troubles we face, we can rest assured that the heart is drum keeping
time with everyone. While it is sung
in his characteristically monotone,
the beat rearms that time will go on
long after our troubles are over.
Strikingly, the optimism and the
monkish nirvana of this album is not
something I ever expected from an
artist who is used to rhyming gibberish. More importantly, this is not
another album that celebrates teenage and young-adult angst. Instead,
it challenges us to look within and
channel that angst into a positive
outlook on unfavorable circumstances.

Shadow & Glass

J. West
Staff Writer

For as long as I can remember, a beautiful emerald-green

vase has perched on Moms nightstand.
I have come to remember her as that vase: whole, perfect,
lled with fresh vivacity, and reminiscent of fragrant owers.
The rst chip in the vase appeared when Mom lost her
keys. She searched the whole house for them, winding up
and down the stairs and stroking the mahogany banister
enough to polish it with her worry.
The keys were in her pocket.
The chip became a crack when Mom decided to take a
drive through the city to her hair stylist and ended up lost
just outside of Portland.
It was the last time she drove a car.
The second crack in the vase came when Mom forgot that
Daddy had been gone for years. She set a place at the table
for him and became bellicose when he didnt show up to
eat shells and peas with the rest of us.
Any day now, the vase is going to shatter. The elegant
verdant glass is already splitting open. Mom is leaking
memories and taking on oblivion. My sister Kate and I
look on helplessly, unable to abate the ow or keep her
from sinking.
All we can do is preserve what Mom has forgotten, understand her as she is now, and remember her as she used to
be.
That which passes into darkness takes light with it, and
I can see Mom perfectly through her shattered and shadowed past.

Vintage Lemon Almond Cake

Katrina San Nicolas
Staff Writer

A unique mix of avors, this cake

combines the sweet nuttiness of almond cake with a tart lemon custard.
While the recipe is fairly in-depth and
involved, the nished product is so
delicious that it is well worth the extra
eort.

Long gone are the days of

Becks quick-witted, ironic raps
over pseudo hip-hop tracks like
Loser. Instead, Beck has replaced
that self-image with a musical style
that is much more frank, vulnerable
and folkish. His new album, Morning Phase projects a message of
hopefulness and honesty in a void of
musical and real-life uncertainty. The
opening track, Cycle is a thoughtful
symphonic overture that neatly transitions into Morning, the title track
of the album. The opening lyrics of
the song where Beck sings, Woke
up this morning, found a love light
in the storm, perfectly sum up the
blissful optimism with which he approaches this album, although you
cannot always tell from his perfected
monotone.
While many people agree that
Beck winning Album of the Year at
the Grammys this year over Beyonce and Sam Smith was incredibly unorthodox and unexpected,
there are many songs on Morning
Phase that merit such high praise.

april 14, 2015

Cake Ingredients:
7 ounces almond paste
10 tablespoons margarine or
butter
cup granulated sugar
4 tablespoons vegetable oil
1 and teaspoons vanilla ex
tract
3 eggs
1 and cups all-purpose our
2 teaspoons baking powder
teaspoon salt
Lemon Custard Ingredients:
1 cup skim milk
2 tablespoons lemon zest (ap
proximately 2 lemons)
cup granulated sugar
teaspoon salt
3 egg yolks
3 tablespoons cornstarch
cup lemon juice (approxi
mately 3 lemons)
2 tablespoons margarine or
butter

3) In a large bowl, cream together the softened butter and almond

paste, granulated sugar, vegetable
oil, and vanilla extract with a mixer.
Add the eggs, one at a time, beating
well after each addition. Set aside for
later.
4) In a small bowl, whisk together
the our, baking powder and salt.
Add half of this mixture to the butter
almond mixture and mix until combined. Add the remaining our and
mix until well combined. The nalized
cake batter should be thick enough
to make into peaks but still fairly soft.
5) Spread the batter evenly in the
cake pan and bake for 30 to 40 minutes, or until the cake is golden brown
on the edges and a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.
6) Once the cake has nished
baking, allow it to cool in its pan for
20 minutes. Then remove it carefully
and cool for an additional 40 minutes.
7)
While the cake is cooling,
prepare the lemon custard. Whisk
together the milk, salt, and cup of
the granulated sugar and warm the

1) Preheat the oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit. Butter an 11 by

2 inch round cake pan and place a
sheet of parchment on the bottom.
2) Begin by preparing the almond cake. Soften the butter and
almond paste by heating them both
in a microwave-safe container for 30
seconds on medium power.

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

mixture over medium heat.

8) Meanwhile, combine the egg
yolks, cornstarch, remaining cup
granulated sugar, and lemon juice in
a separate container.
9) Add part of the hot milk mixture to the egg yolk and cornstarch
mixture and whisk thoroughly to ensure that the cornstarch does not
clump. Add this mixture back to the
stovetop mixture.
10) Continue stirring this mixture over medium heat with a atbottomed spatula, scraping the bottom of the pan to prevent scorching.
Bring the mixture to a boil and then
stop heating. Cut the butter into small
pieces and add them to the mixture,
stirring them to a melt.
11) Immediately remove the custard from the pan and chill it in the
fridge for at least 30 minutes.
Once the cake is completely
cooled, spread the lemon custard
evenly on the top with a spatula. Chill
the entire cake for at least 30 minutes
and serve chilled or at room temperature. Enjoy!
COURTESY FROMMYSWEETHEART.COM

s a t i r e

april 14, 2015

page 11

A Generic Pop Song Review of a Generic

Pop Song by a Generic Pop Artist
Curt Dennis
Staff Writer

COURTESY WALLPAPERHI.COM

million dollars, and a significant

other they cant have, so do I.
And knowing that the connection
is there is something that cant be
faked.
This excerpt is a personal favorite, reaffirming that everyone on
planet Earth, even the biggest pop
artists, have the same struggles:
Baby, I never felt love like this/
but I got a lot of money so give me
a kiss/yeah yeah/And I love you
baby, so so much/come closer into
my pants and touch/ The heart
and soul here is evident, most
likely drawing on past experiences
of personal hardships and tragedy.
All of this honesty is on top of
extremely unique and bumping
instrumentals. From the unpredictable kick/snare combo on the
beat, to the never-before-heard
I V vi IV chord progression,
its no wonder that this generic pop
song was nominated for a Grammy before it was ever recorded.

It paves a whole new path for the

future of music, unlocking doors
that no one ever thought existed.
Fortunately, its not too complex,
but rather, just the right amount of
complex. No surprise eighth notes,
no surprise key changes, no tempo changes.
Of course, this generic pop
song wouldnt be possible without
the help of the talented producers,
songwriters, and financial backers.
Its impossible to think that ONE
person could write such powerful lyrics, and in fact, one person
didnt. This generic pop song, with
no more than 50 unique words,
was written with a team of only
7 writers (plus the performer). Its
amazing not only the talent each
writer has, but the fact that each
writer has a depth of experience
to draw upon. And the team of 10
highly acclaimed producers, who
thought outside of the box with
their creative backing track and

hook. And the

financial backers, who helped
finance the incredibly powerful music video,
which featured
three
minutes
of
passionate
booty shaking
and one minute
of a shirtless
man, all within a
large, colorfully
lit room.
This is a
track everyone
should listen to.
This generic pop song will pave
the way for future musicians everywhere. Little girls around the
world will know theres a powerful,
generic pop artist they can relate
to, and little boys around the world
will learn the true definition of being
a man. This track, by no means,

is degrading, bland, over-used,

repetitive, or an extremely stupid
waste of time and money. No. This
is a Grammy award-winning track
written from the heart with no ulterior motives. And if anyone disagrees, just remember, Im right,
youre wrong, sexy sexy thong.

on balancing both directions of

spinning. To provide the ultimate
experience, the class will be
For those who have always incorporating different arm powanted to try a spin class, now is sitions when spinning. Position
your chance! The Student Rec- one has hands straight down
reation Center is now offering against sides, position two has
spinning classes eight times a arms slightly out with elbows
week, Monbent,
and
days
and
lastly
posiWednesdays
Spinners go through tion three has
at 12:00pm,
arms
com4:30pm and all types of spins dur- pletely
out7 : 0 0 p m ing the class, keeping stretched. By
and
Tueschanging the
them on their toes.
days
and
positions of
Thursdays
the arms, the
at 12:00pm. Spinning is a great momentum and speed of spincardio, leg and mental workout ning will change. These changes
that will get anyone ready for bi- will decrease or increase the difkini season and improve overall ficulty of spinning. The other imwellness.
portant aspect of spinning is the
For those that are not familiar leg position. Similar to arm powith spinning, spinning is the act sitions, the leg positions change
of rotating in circles at varying the difficulty and muscles bespeeds. The instructor focuses ing worked. Leg position A has

legs straight and is the fastest,

B has legs slightly bent and C
has legs all the way in a squat
position and is the slowest but
most difficult position. Spinners
go through all types of spins during the class, keeping them on
their toes.
In a typical spin class, instructors use the HIT (high intensity
training) techniques or interval
training. Going from low speed
to high speed to higher speed
spins, the spinners get the most
efficient workout. After one complete cycle, the instructor will
guide spinners in the unwind,
changing the direction of the
spin and repeating the exercise.
The unwind method also helps
combat dizziness, which is always an issue, but as spinners
train, their ability to keep dizziness down increases. When
spinners utilize the unwind
method, they spin in both direc-

tions, allowing the brain to readjust. As a result dizziness does

not occur.
All levels of spinners - from
beginners to experts - are welcome. The only things needed
for a spin class are sneakers,
water and a strong stomach.

The effects of spinning last up to

36 hours. About 400 calories are
burned during the class and up
to 200 extra calories are burned
from the metabolism boost the
body gets after a spin class.
Spinning is a whirlwind of an exercise!

Elizabeth Starbuck
Staff Writer

and time is able to be reverseengineered to explain the DMV

crisis. Normally a physicist will
tell you there is no such thing as
a negative speed. We express it
that way, Dr. Einszweidrei, but
only to express a direction. And
to screw with undergrads. But
in terms of magnitude, speed is
only 0 or some positive number.
Now, we could go into a discourse of imaginary speed, but
it is not relevant to the DMV unless it involves a person over 65
waiting in line to get his driving
license for the first time.
If there were such a thing as
negative speed, one could argue
that it would, by reverse Relativity logic, give one a perspective
of time sped up. I say if, but
should Dr. Einszweidreis theories prove true, there very well
could be such a thing as negative speed. This can occur with a
mixture of boredom and massive
amounts of grandmothers exotic perfume from Botswana.
Seriously, if you are unfamiliar with the latter, you probably
didnt have the worst time of

your life. Thats right, Jerry. I

remember you. In any case, the
boredom distracts you from the
real world, while the perfume
distracts you from the distraction
and reverses the effect triggered
when youre having fun. This
speeds up time for you, turning
an hour in your perceived time
into five minutes in real time.
The difference between relative and real time has a much
more mathematical calculation
involving the estimate amount of
boredom, and how many grandmas are in the DMV at once,

though Dr. Einszweidrei is still

waiting on a fortune cookies lotto numbers to let him complete
this equation.
Though having an incomplete
theory, Dr. Einszweidrei has confidence that he will be able to
uncover the rest of this mystery,
as well as others like the aerodynamics of table salt over a spillers shoulder, why people tend to
be less successful during times
of failure, and why his mirrors
will not show President Putins
reflection while he is wearing a
shirt.

The newest pop star just came

out with a hot new track! Its got
bumpin beats, soulful lyrics, honest messages, and a hook like no
other. In this generic pop song review, we give the generic pop song
a 10/10 for creativity, imagination,
complexity, and catchiness.
First, the lyrics. Theyre so empowering and personal: Yes, I AM
beautiful! Luckily, this generic pop
song realizes the powerful message it conveys, and opts to repeat its message no less than 20
times each minute. But the heartfelt message is intertwined with
real, personal, autotuned struggles, most likely taken from the
darkest depths of the minds of the
performers. That personal connection makes this generic pop song
so emotionally catchy. Not only do
the artists have big booties, a

Spinning Class at the SRC - A Whirlwind of an Exercise

Elizabeth Starbuck
Staff Writer

Relativity Solves DMV Wait Time

Vienna, Austria We all know
how long we or our friends have
had to wait in line at the Division
of Motor Vehicles. Whether it
was to get your license renewed
or to change your address because your mother was right
about how you cant stay still
for even a second, we all know
the moment when we enter the
building and receive that lottoesque ticket with a big number
that says 507 while the number on the screen says 12. As
it turns out, Austrian theoretical
physicist and waiting-in-lines enthusiast Dr. Halbert Einszweidrei
has solved the mystery behind
the governments greatest torture device yet (yes, the DMV
was among the devices listed in
the CIA Torture Report released
last December).
For those of you who are scientifically challenged, basically
one of the biggest aspects of
the theory of relativity is the notion that if we travel fast enough,

time will slow down. If you reach

the speed of light, time will stop.
That is why we have the phrase
time flies when youre having
fun!
When you are finally enjoying life for once, your mind is
racing with happiness to the
point where your current activity (cue another common phrase)
is lighting up your world. This
is the moment where you have
reached the mental speed of
light and time stops for you.
One would think that this would
defeat the meaning of the initial
phrase. This is true, but only for
those involved in the fun. For everyone else enduring life like they
are supposed to, time moves
at its regular rate. So when the
fun-lovers come back to reality
and look at the clock, they realize how much time passed in the
real world and that they are now
late for their daughters piano
recital. (In a separate study, Dr.
Einszweidrei explains how fun
leads to bad parenting).
The revolutionary discovery
of the correlation between fun

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

f e a t u r e s

page 12

april 14, 2015

Creative Writing Corner THE MINES FUND IMPACTS

All stories continued at Oredigger.net

Bird: Chapter 1

Amber Hill - Staff Writer

...I level him with a gaze. He clicks his beak several

times, obviously pleased with himself.
Dr. Tyler spent a few hours up in my room. Took a
couple inches off the top. I bring my right wing around
to brandish the joint. A few feathers are missing, but
the damage is nearly unnoticeable. Mostly to show my
mom. But we just spent time together, like usual.
Hm. No science?
This was what Id been afraid of. No. She hasnt
talked about that since.
Will come up again.
She didnt mean anything by it. She would never
do anything without my consent. She would even risk
pissing my mom off before jeopardizing my trust.
He clicks a few more times, and for a moment I think
hes about to answer. But a sudden hush falls over the

YOUR STUDENT EXPERIENCE

STUDENT LIFE

cabin, dampening even the warmth of the fire. I freeze,

glancing around without moving. The morning has begun spilling into the rooms, but only barely. Bird turns in
a little circle, gazing around the room.
There is a sudden crackling outside. It is so abrupt
and so loud that my body jerks slightly. I am on my feet
within the space of a heartbeat, my wings unfurling just
a bit in a flight response.
There is another noise outside now. Like footsteps.
My chest cavity freezes over. I turn to look at Bird, and
I can sense his fear in the hair along the back of my
neck.
And then, too late, the doorknob is turning. Before
I can put out the fire, run, or even duck for cover, the
door has opened just a crack and a voice shouts far
too loudly.

Cutting-Edge
Technology

cabin, dampening even the warmth of the fire. I freeze,

glancing around without moving. The morning has begun spilling into the rooms, but only barely. Bird turns in
a little circle, gazing around the room.
There is a sudden crackling outside. It is so abrupt
and so loud that my body jerks slightly. I am on my feet
within the space of a heartbeat, my wings unfurling just
a bit in a flight response.
There is another noise outside now. Like footsteps.
My chest cavity freezes over. I turn to look at Bird, and
I can sense his fear in the hair along the back of my
neck.
And then, too late, the doorknob is turning. Before
I can put out the fire, run, or even duck for cover, the
door has opened just a crack and a voice shouts far
too loudly.

21%

Hidden Remains: Chapter 5 - Stolen

Graduate
Support

10%

16%

STUDENT
LIFE INITIATIVES

53%

21%

Scholarships

100%

Students who
enjoy traditions
like E-Days
funded in part by
The Mines Fund

Kathy Cheng - Staff Writer

...I level him with a gaze. He clicks his beak several

times, obviously pleased with himself.
Dr. Tyler spent a few hours up in my room. Took a
couple inches off the top. I bring my right wing around
to brandish the joint. A few feathers are missing, but
the damage is nearly unnoticeable. Mostly to show my
mom. But we just spent time together, like usual.
Hm. No science?
This was what Id been afraid of. No. She hasnt
talked about that since.
Will come up again.
She didnt mean anything by it. She would never
do anything without my consent. She would even risk
pissing my mom off before jeopardizing my trust.
He clicks a few more times, and for a moment I think
hes about to answer. But a sudden hush falls over the

Number of
donors to
The Mines Fund
in Fiscal Year
of 2014

Fortune: Act Two

180

The Oredigger Creative Writing Staff

Hes sitting only inches away. I am watching the

way our hands fold together on my lap. My shoulder
fits under his just the right way, and hes never complained about how bony I am. Ive never been very filled
out, and my bones stick out more than they probably
should, but he loves it all.
Whats wrong? His voice is as sinewy as always.
I glance up at him. Hm? Ive always prided myself
on my acting. But Im not sure this is a role I can play
so well.

of The Mines Fund supports

leadership opportunities, student
clubs/organizations and traditions

He reaches up and runs a finger over the little dimple above my eyebrow. Youre thinking about something. And you havent said more than two words all
night. He takes the remote and pauses the ghastly
action movie we decided on.
I blink a few times. I dont feel too good. Am I
warm? I take his hand and press his knuckles against
the fine perspiration of my brow. I bat my lashes a bit,
letting the light hit my brown eyes just right. He smirks
slightly.

2,211

Number of student
organizations at Mines
supported in part by
The Mines Fund

Learn how THE MINES FUND

exponentially impacts your experience
at giving.mines.edu/students

High Grade 2015

The Colorado School of Mines Journal of the Arts

Jacqueline Feuerborn
Staff Writer

selves in unique ways. Maybe it was

just a cultural imperative to figure
out the world in different ways. But
Most people on campus dont no matter how High Grade came
know much about High Grade and to be it has flourished and grown
just see it as that cool book of into an incredible work filled with all
photos, poetry and stories that ap- kinds of art, poetry and stories that
pears around campus every year. people use to communicate with
But there is so much more to it the world.
than just that. Colorado School of
Every year, High Grade receives
Mines, a place that is best known between 450 to 500 submissions
for science, engineering and math- for their journal from people all over
ematics has
campus.
had a literary
Anyone
is
Join us for the official
journal
for
free to sub38 years, so release party at 6pm, April mit art, polong that no
etry,
short
one is even 17, in the Student Center stories
or
quite
sure
even short
Ballrooms A, B and C!
how it startmusical
ed.
There
pieces, as
isnt much known about how High long as you are affiliated with ColoGrade came about or where its rado School of Mines in some way.
name came from, but we do know You can be a student or faculty or
that it has changed a lot in the last staff or even the family of students
38 years.
to get work printed. However, beA balance of the arts and sci- ware - High Grade is a competitive
ences is something a lot of people place to put your work. Most years,
attempt to do. Maybe High Grade they can only publish about 65
was created originally as a class pieces, but this year they are printproject or maybe it was people in ing the biggest edition yet and have
the 70s trying to express them- accepted roughly 80 pieces. There

is a wide variety of masterpieces in

High Grade, all of which are carefully chosen by the dedicated team
of 25 staff members and 2 editors.
The High Grade team is always
busy collecting exciting works, editing poetry and short stories, and
perfecting layouts but they are an
incredibly friendly group of people
who are thrilled to talk about High
Grade and everything it is and
what it means to them. If you are
looking for a good time to contact
them, that time is anytime! During
the fall, submissions are opened
at Celebration of Mines each year
and run until around Halloween.
However, submissions were accepted till early January this year.
The real hard work comes in the
spring when all of the submissions
are reviewed - a painstaking process for the editors review. After
selecting the pieces that will go in
High Grade comes the beginning
of countless rounds of editing. Every piece is carefully analyzed and
edited to ensure only what the creators want in the journal will make it
there. Editing is done both individually by High Grade editors and also
in groups. They will read the poems

and short stories and ensure they

sound the best they can. Amidst all
of this hard work there is also a lot
of fun, Toni Lefton, the faculty advisor, said. These sessions are filled
with so much fun that your face will
hurt from all the laughter. After the
pieces are edited thoroughly, they
begin the layout process. This is
everything from picking the order
in which the pieces will appear to
adjusting lines and fonts on each
page. This is a long task but in the
end, it results in a gorgeous journal
filled with incredible pieces of work
created by people right here on
campus.
If you are interested in joining High Grade but not sure if it is
right for you, just ask yourself two
questions: Do you love art/poetry/
writing? Do you want to meet cool
people? If you answered yes to either of those questions then get involved! People have become part of
High Grade for all kinds of bizarre
reasons; there is nothing holding you back if you are interested.
The current Editor-in-Chief, Cristina
Ochoa, originally got involved with
High Grade in her Freshman year,
helping to put together the CD sec-

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

tions of High Grade. After it was

published, she discovered that her
name had been spelt wrong and
she hadnt received the credit that
she deserved, so she turned up at
the Celebration of Mines booth the
next year and joined High Grade,
making the journal even better. Toni
Lefton, the faculty advisor for High
Grade, started working on High
Grade because all the points in
the universe aligned.. Shortly after
joining the Mines community, only
about three weeks in, she was approached by the old faculty advisor,
John Hogan, to take over from him.
She was instantly eager to take up
the position, even going so far as to
play frisbee with students on campus in an attempt to talk them into
joining the High Grade team.
On April 17th from 6-9pm in
Ballrooms A, B and C, everyone
is welcome to come join the High
Grade team for the official release
party of this years edition of High
Grade. There will be live music,
poetry readings and lots of fun all
around! So if you are interested in
meeting some awesome people
and just generally having a good
time, mark your calendar.