The Oredigger Issue 16 - February 13, 2012

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T H E O R E D I G G E R Volume 92, Issue 16 February 13, 2012

The student voice of the Colorado School of Mines

CSM Bball split

games against

Metro State

Sports 7

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

Opinion 8

Features 4

News 2

Satire 8

How to stand

out on Career

Day

Wake up to

breakfast at

JC’s Cafe

Where have all

the good

cartoons gone?

Chocolate stocks

jump for V-day

Gingrich and Santorum tackle energy

Will Parker

Staff Writer

“Our goal is to become

so independent of the

Middle East we don’t

care what they do.”

Former Senator Rick Santorum and former House Speaker Newt Gingrich spoke at the Colorado Energy Summit.

COURTESY BIBLIOGRAPHICAL DIRECTORY OF U.S. CONGRESS COURTESY BIBLIOGRAPHICAL DIRECTORY OF U.S. CONGRESS

As part of their primary cam-paigns, former Senator Rick San-torum and former House speakerNewt Gingrich addressed theColorado Election Energy Summit.

The summit, held on the ColoradoSchool of Mines campus, was aforum for the candidates to spe-cifically address their views onenergy, according to a ColoradoFarm Bureau website. While en-ergy was the predominant topicof discussion, the Republicancandidates answered questions

regarding other key issues as well. The rst major topic addressed

was domestic energy production.Gingrich opened his statement bytalking about the current admin-istration’s energy policy. He thenbriey summarised several recent

news stories from the Middle Eastand said, “Faced with all that, arational, serious American govern-ment would have a crash programon American energy. And wouldsay ’Our goal is to become so in-dependent of the Middle East thatwe actually don’t care what theydo.’ [...] If you want to measurewhat our goal is, it is to ensure thatno American president ever againbows to a Saudi king.”

Gingrich continued, saying, “Onthe very rst day [as President, if

elected], I will sign an executiveorder allowing the constructionof the Keystone pipeline so thatCanada can have an Americanpartner. [...] [T]he reason NorthDakota has 3.5% unemployment...is because the oil was on privateland. [...] I am dedicated to open-

ing up federal land. The ChuckchiSea is a basin that is estimated tohave as much oil and gas as theentire Gulf of Mexico.”

Santorum also urged moredomestic production of oil, “Ibelieve ANWR (Arctic NationalWildlife Reserve) must be openedup. [...] The factis the existing oilreserves up thereare depleting. Wemay.. . lose the

Alaska pipeline be-cause of depletingsources. [...] Wewere put on this

earth as creatures of God... tosteward it wisely, but for our ownbenet, not for the earth’s benet.

You may consider that an articleof faith, but I consider it an articleof reason.”

In their statements, Gingrichand Santorum both addressedtheir thoughts on the role of theEPA and how they would propose

addressing issues of the environ-ment.

Santorum addressed the issueby relating his experiences livingin Pennsylvania, a state which

needed to deal with environmentalissues that arose from the steelindustry. “We know dirty air, weknow the problems. [...] The issue

is not the EPA... the question iswhat happens afterwards.”Gingrich took a different stance,

saying, “I am for closing the EPA

and replacing it with a brand newEnvironmental Solutions Agencywith brand new people... TheEnvironmental Solutions Agencywould have, as a rst test, com-mon sense. [...] [It would have to]

take into account economics whenmaking its decisions.”

Santorum, when asked abouthis thoughts on anthropogenicglobal warming, said, “...A abso-lute travesty of scientic ‘research’

that was motivated by politics,motivated by those, in my opinion,

who saw this asan opportunity tocreate a panic anda crisis for govern-ment to be able tostep in and evengreatly or morecontrol your life.[...] [It is] absurd on

its face. [...] We had politicians...who bought into man-made globalwarming, and who bought into capand trade.”

Gingrich, responding to asimilar question said, “I believewe don’t know. The planet haschanged its temperature a numberof times. [...] I am happy to takeprudent measures that aren’t veryexpensive. [...] I have always op-posed cap and trade. [...] [T]head I did with Nanci Pelosi was the

dumbest thing I have done in thelast 5 or 6 years.”

In addition to their thoughts onenergy and the environment, bothcandidates addressed some otherkey issues.

Santorum talked about theeconomy, saying, “The govern-ment is there to create a playingeld for businesses to thrive that

is safe, obviously, and createsequality of opportunity...” Whenasked on how long it would take toeliminate the annual federal decit

he said, “Five years.” For the totalfederal debt, “Not in my term, I

don’t think you can eliminate a$16 or $17 trillion debt during aneight year term.” He later claried

where the $16 or $17 trillion indebt would be from when he took ofce.

Gingrich clarified his recentcomments about creating a colonyon the moon by 2020. “WhenKennedy said we’d get to themoon in this decade, we hadnever had anyone in space. I didnot propose spending a lot of money. We should take the currentbudget and re-spend it, creatingan environment that expands it.

The technology payout of getting

into space created millions of new jobs. People should be furious

that all the bills we have spent onNASA has been bureaucraticallywasted.”

Santorum responded to aquestion regarding ways to in-crease the number of elementaryschool students interested in mathand science saying, “One of theprinciple problems of educationis that it is run by the federal gov-ernment and state government....They’re not really public schools,they’re government schools. Andas a result, we have an educationsystem that is not oriented onyou. [...] Whose responsibility is itto educate children? Parents. [...]

One out of every three childrenin America won’t graduate fromhigh school. [...] If you drop out of school, you have a 75% chanceof being in poverty in America.[...] We have not, as a society,made a commitment to you. Wehave made a commitment to thesystem. [...] I made a mistake invoting for No Child Left Behind.”



n e w s february 13, 2012page 2


Oredigger Staff

Ryan Browne

Editor-in-Chief

Katie HuckfeldtEditor-in-Chief Elect

Deborah GoodManaging Editor

Robert GillBusiness Manager

Steven WooldridgeWebmaster

Barbara AndersonDesign Editor

Zach Boerner Copy Editor

Ian Mertz Asst. Copy Editor

Carissa Summerfelt Asst. Business Manager

Trevor CraneContent Manager

Deborah GoodContent Manager

Stephen HejducekContent Manager

Arnaud FilliatContent Manager

David TauchenFaculty Advisor

Headlines from around the worldLocal News

In Aspen, Colorado, The

Roaring Fork Transportation

Authority has been asked toapprove a declaration on natu-

ral gas exploration and extrac-

tion, as it discusses the idea of

running buses on compressed

natural gas rather than diesel.

Due to potential environmental

impacts and other key issues,

the board members are split on

whether or not to approve the

request. A revised proposal will

be presented to the board next

month.

In Denver, Colorado, a no-kill

animal shelter is searching for

a stolen 6-month old Shar Peipuppy. According to Shelter Di-

rector Chelsea Manschot, secu-

rity footage of the shelter shows

two impostor volunteers walking

out of the shelter with the puppy

last Wednesday. The puppy,

named Nick, was the last of four

Shar Pei puppies that the shelter

helped raised.

Frontier Airlines is ending its

Denver-Aspen ight route be-

ginning on April 16. Frontier has

been ying two round-trips dur-ing the ski season and one in

the off-season. According to the Aspen Daily News, Aspen tour-

ism is disappointed but not sur-

prised by the airline’s decision.

United Airlines will still provide

Denver-Aspen service, and will

accept any Frontier tickets that

were purchased for use after

April 15.

Joshua Kleitsch, Staff Writer

Joshua Kleitsch, Staff Writer

President Barack Obama is

pushing a new budget proposal

for the scal year 2012. The bud-

get includes hundreds of billions

of dollars worth of infrastruc-

ture spending. The new budget

would require tax increases and

spending cuts intended to re-

duce the national decit by $3 tril-lion over the next 10 years.

Under a new proposed rule by

the Obama administration, all em-

ployers would be required to of-

fer birth control as part of their

health insurance packages. The only employers exempt from

this new requirement will be non-

prot religious houses of worshipwhose beliefs are in opposition to

contraceptives. In those cases,

the insurance companies will be

required to provide coverage for

those services free of additional

charge.

Sudan and Southern Sudan

are facing the possibility of war, as

the two sides of the country have

begun violently fghting over

the oil reserves which they both

need to keep their countries alive.

The oil quarrel rises out of the fact

that much of the oil is produced

in the south, but the pipeline runs

through the north. The future of Greece as a part

of the European Union hangs in

the balance, as European lead-

ers continue to push the Gre-

cian government to approve a

new bailout package that would

require severe austerity measures.

Prime Minister Lucas Papademos

has pushed for massive overhauls

within the government, as well as

a 20% cut in the minimum wage

and widespread layoffs within the

public sector.

Two explosions rocked the

northern Syrian city of Aleppo

last week, killing 28 and injuring235 people. The Syrian ofcialsand media have stated that theattacks were perpetrated by

“terrorists” intent on protesting

Syria’s alliance with Russia.

King Abdullah of Saudi Arabia

spoke out against Syria last week,

in a speech aimed at denouncing

Russia and China’s opposition

to the UN security council’s tracesanctions against Syria.

The people of Jordan are pro-

testing the corruption within

Parliament. The Parliament has

ruled the nation with the king

under a constitutional monarchy

since 1921. These protests areaimed at reforming the system of

government.

An unknown epidemic caus-

ing acute, chronic kidney failure,

has claimed more than 24,000lives in Nicaragua and El Salva-

dor since 2000. In Chichigalpa,a Nicaraguan town, one in four

men show symptoms of chronic

kidney disease. While there is

much speculation on the cause

of the epidemic, researchers be-

lieve chronic dehydration to be the

source.

Lake Vostok, a frozen lake

isolated in Antarctica for 20million years, has nally beenbreached by Russian drills. The

scientists drilled to a depth of

3,768 meters to reach the surfaceof the sub-glacial lake. Vostok

contains high levels of oxygen and

nitrogen which caused the water

release gas when breached.

Harvard, Massachusetts - Articial shark-skin could propel robotsto greater speeds underwater, according to a new study by a Harvard

University bioroboticist. The study involved taking skin from a Mako shark

and testing it in controlled conditions, and seeing how it responded to

various treatments, including sanding the toothy parts off, and letting it

ex with the ow of the water. The researchers found that letting the skin

ex in the ow of the water made it considerably faster, which suggeststhat the skin itself actually propels the shark in the way it moves.

Lund, Sweden - A group of researchers from

Lund University in Sweden studied the effects of

the zebra’s black-and-white “jailhouse” striping

pattern, in an effort to understand the reason be-hind it. The study shows that the unique striping

pattern repels certain types of disease-carrying

ies, due to the way the alternating white-and-black stripes reect light. The researchers noticedthat the striping repelled horseies and tsetse iesbecause the reection from the stripes confusedand disoriented the ies.

Los Angeles, California - In a recent

study, a set of minor electrical shocks target-

ed at the entorhinal cortex helped epilepsy

patients remember things with more clarity.

The study began when some epilepsy pa-

tients, who were awaiting surgery to help with

their seizures, were asked if they would con-

sent to try a new form of care. The surgeons

implanted a set of platinum electrodes in the

patients’ brains and decided to administer a

set of very minor shocks through those elec-

trodes. The shocks stimulated the brain and

caused patients to remember actions better

than before the therapy. The therapy is now

being considered for Alzheimer’s patients.

New Haven, Connecticut - Geologists

know that at least 3 times in the past, some orall of the continents have collided and merged

into a so-called “supercontinent”. There areseveral competing theories regarding where a

supercontinent would form based on the loca-

tion of the last supercontinent. The two most

common theories predicted that a superconti-

nent would form either 0 or 180 degrees awayfrom the location of the past supercontinent.

A new study out of Yale University proposes

that supercontinents may actually form 90 de-grees away, being drawn to the subduction

zones that naturally form around superconti-

nents. The current subduction zone is known

as the Ring of Fire in the Pacic Ocean.



N e w sfebruary 13, 2012 page


“The easiest way for me to be

proven wrong is to tell you what Ithink the future of librarianship will

be,” said Carl Grant, a library man-

agement consultant. The profession

of librarianship is on the decline and,

according to the report “Perceptions

of Libraries,” at the projected rate, li-

braries will not be used at all by the

year 2035.

Grant, who has a MS in Library

Science and over 30 years of librari-

anship experience, posed a ques-

tion to the librarians sitting in the

lecture. “What are we going to do

about it? Are we just going to let it

continue?”

Speaking about the public per-

ception of a library, Grant pointed

to the negative aura they emanate.

“Libraries often give off the nega-tive perspective that they can be

quiet and not helpful.” He showed

a slide of pictures at the entrances

to various libraries. Every single pic-

ture had something telling users to

be quiet and do not disturb, which

while important, can often make

people afraid of asking for help.

Addressing the increasing tech-

nological challenges that libraries

face, Grant said, “We need to move

from being laggards in technology to

being innovators. Half of all searches

are being done on mobile devices

now. Children are more likely to own

a cell phone than a book.”

Grant demonstrated how librar-

ies have often fallen behind because

of ever-expanding technology. Tocounter it, they have tried many new

ideas such as providing movies, au-

dio books, and music CDs.

Grant illustrated this point by tell-

ing a story. “As I was driving into the

town where a meeting was being

held, I started noticing that many of

the trees along the road had an ar-

row dead center in a bullseye hang-

ing on them. Not just one tree, butdozens. Having done some archery

in my youth, I knew this was not an

easy thing to do. I pulled into town

and stopped for lunch at a little res-

taurant.

“As I was paying my bill, I asked

the owner, ‘What can you tell me

about all those bullseyes with ar-

rows you see as you come into

town?’ She pointed to a man sitting

in a booth nearby and said, ‘You

should ask him as he did each and

every one of them.’

“I turned and walked towards the

booth and, as I approached, I real-

ized there was a white cane lean-

ing against the table and he had on

a dark pair of sunglasses. ‘I hear

you’re the person responsible forall those perfect bulls eye’s hanging

from the trees as I come into town?

How did you develop that skill, es-

pecially given your apparent condi-

tion?’ I asked.

“He replied, ‘Oh, it’s really quite

easy. My friends go with me and

give me some guidance. When I do

hit a tree, that’s when they go hang

the bullseye over the arrow!’”

Grant explained that he believes

libraries are frequently guilty of do-

ing the exact same thing. “We do

many good things, and after we do,

we proclaim them huge successes,”

said Grant. “My fear is that what we

do doesn’t connect in a way that

moves our profession towards a

common and shared goal and thusthey aren’t the bullseyes we pretend

them to be.”

To survive, libraries must focus

on providing a unique service that

cannot be found anywhere else.

“For us to dene the future of librari-

anship we have to dene how we

can add value where no one else

can,” said Grant.

The solution, according to Grant,is to “provide AAA rated information:

authenticated, authoritative, and ap-

propriate information with context

and without bias.” This is the com-

mon goal Grant believes libraries

should be focusing on. The Internet

cannot provide this, yet libraries and

librarians can.

“Google tailors search results to

help sell an ad,” said Grant, “Google

selects for you and you don’t get any

say.” Librarians can provide multiple

sources with multiple view points.

Also, the authority of the information

does not need to be questioned as

with sources found on the Internet.

Grant recommended another

area of improvement. “[We] need

to be focusing on proactive service.We need to be in front of people’s

needs.”

One proposal was to assign ev-

ery researcher on campus a librarian

to help them gather information with

their research. The librarians would

not only gather the research, but

help the researcher communicate

the information so that others may

be able to use it.

He also pointed out a third key

strength that libraries have, “You

cannot underestimate how well li-

braries collaborate. Things like cloud

computing are part of our future. It

means we are going to amalgamate

large quantities of information that

we couldn’t in the past and analyze

it.”“As a profession we’ve lost sight

of goals, we have chased a thou-

sand ideas,” said Grant. “We’ve got

to change. It’s mandatory. It’s not an

option.”

Public libraries struggleto remain relevantWill Parker

Staff Writer

Preparing oneself for the insan-

ity that is career fair is like planning

a commercial for the Super Bowl.

It may not cost millions of dollars to

attend career day and talk to com-

panies, but the stakes are just as

high. As a student interviewer ap-proaches a booth, he only has 20-

30 seconds to impress the recruiter

with his “pitch.” If he fails to do this,

the recruiter will move on to the next

person. With this in mind, Jean Man-

ning-Clark of the CSM career center

presented her ideas to help students

be successful at career fair.

She presented what she calls

“The ve P’s to Success” – plan,

prepare, practice, personal appear-

ance, and performance.

The planning step of prepara-

tion is fairly brief. Take a look in the

front section of the career day guide,

where all of the jobs are listed by

major and class. Look to see what

companies are looking to hire people

like you. Freshmen majoring in Pe-

troleum Engineering will probably not

do much good talking to Halliburton,

who is only looking to hire graduat-

ing seniors. Taking this step at the

beginning of the career day prepara-

tion process will prevent time being

wasted later on down the road.

The next question that requires

consideration is how long to spend

at career fair. For students who have

only one hour to spend at career day,

it is important to limit the number of

companies they approach to less

than ten. But if time allows, it can

never hurt to talk to 15-20 compa-

nies. But no matter how many com-

panies a student does talk to, it is

important to research into what each

one does. As Manning-Clark said

in her lecture, “Companies’ biggest

annoyance is students not know-ing about the company.” The worst

question anyone can ask at career

fair is, “So, what does your company

do again?” Take the time to prepare

a few short notes about the com-

pany, how you t with what they are

looking for, and why they should hire

you. This little bit of preparation goes

a long way towards looking profes-

sional in front of recruiters.

Once students nish all their

background research, they should

go nd a friend and practice their

pitch. Students can use this to be-

come more comfortable with what

they are going to say.

Once the big day arrives, it is a

good idea to strategically plan the

order in which one is going to visit

companies. If National Instruments

is the top company on the list, do

not visit them rst. Instead, start with

the companies near the bottom of

the list, and get some practice in by

talking to them. Then, once the pitch

feels natural and comfortable, go talk

to the top companies. It is critical for

a student to be able to sell their per-

formance, and make the company

know why it should hire them.

Once all the preparation is done,

there is still one last important ques-

tion – what should I wear? As Man-

ning-Clark explained it, “How you

dress is how you impress.” Women

are advised to wear a blouse or a

nice scooped neck shirt with dress

slacks or skirt that rests no more

than three inches above the knee.

Women should not wear open-toed shoes or overly high heels,

and should avoid wearing excessive

amounts of jewelry. A business suit

would also be considered appropri-

ate attire. As far as men are con-

cerned, it is advised that they wear a

long-sleeved, button-down shirt with

khaki slacks at the very least, but a

suit or slacks with a sport coat would

be preferred.

One appearance rule that holds

true for both men and women is that

you should not wear an excessive

amount of cologne or perfume. If you

are worried that it will wear off after

being there for an hour or two, it is

good to note that the career center

stocks Febreeze at the registration

table for the purpose of helping stu-

dents, so be sure to take advantage

of that if necessary.

Manning-Clark ended her pre-

sentation with a friendly reminder

to students. “Every single person is

going to make a mistake [on career

day]. Own it. Laugh it off! It happens

to everyone.” Companies under-

stand this fact, and making one mis-

take is not going to ruin a chance at

getting an internship or a job.

Kevin Emery

Staff Writer

Love lettersteach the basicsof a cover letter

Win a company in 30 seconds

Do you want to know why this

upcoming Spring Career Day is

on Valentine’s Day? It’s because

all of these companies love Mines

students! But even though they

do love us, we need to tell them

why. This is where the idea of a

cover letter comes from. Lin Sher-

man, from the Career Center, dis-

cussed the idea that a cover letter

is really a love letter to the com-

pany you are applying to. And

surprisingly, this analogy holds

fairly well.

A cover letter, like a love let-

ter, cannot simply be a laundry list

of demands. The letter recipientwould not appreciate that in the

slightest. When writing a cover

letter to a company, it needs to

explain how the student would t

in with them. As Sherman said,

“The letter is not all about you, it’s

about you in relation to them.” If

students list what they are looking

for when applying for the j ob, but

do not explain how the company

would benet from hiring them,

they will not impress them. It is

the job of the applicant to show

why he or she is needed by the

company, not the job of the com-

pany to gure out why they should

hire the applicant.

Continuing with the love let-

ter analogy, would it impress your

valentine if your letter was ad-dressed “Dear valentine?” De-

nitely not. If you know the per-

son who is receiving the letter, it

should be specically addressed

to them instead of being gener-

ally addressed “Dear hiring man-

ager.” Not sure who to address

the cover letter to when applying

to a company? Look in the handy

career day guide. Every company

listing has the name and contact

information of that company’s re-

cruiter for this region. Students

should show the employer that

they care enough about the job

by doing a little research into the

company by contacting the re-

cruiter.

One nal rule about love lettersand cover letters – never write

one generic valentine and give it

to multiple people. Never write

one cover letter and submit it for

every application. By taking the

time to apply to a company, you

are saying the goals of the com-

pany matter to you. Therefore, it

is important to do some research

into what the company does and

to mention it in the letter. If a com-

pany states that they are looking

for innovators, then it is probably

a good idea for students to men-

tion some kind of innovation they

have worked on. Echoing what

the company is looking for is a

great way to demonstrate why

they should hire you.

Kevin EmeryStaff Writer



f e a t u r e s february 13, 2012page 4


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The Head and the Heart, a

band whose journey to the top of

the charts proves, even in a world

where most people discover music

online, hard work can still launch

bands. The Head and the Heart

signed with Sub Pop Records and,

following in the footsteps of many

of their pacic northwest prede-cessors, have been working a long

time to see results. Before signing

with Sub Pop, their debut album

was self produced and sold by the

band at concerts and a few local

record stores.

The album begins with the

feel good short “Cats and Dogs,”

which benets from understated

vocal harmonies and pronounced

rhythms. The album begins well,

but the band chooses to follow it

with “Couer d’Alene,” a song that

brings unoriginality to the listener.

Purposefully allowing the songs to

meld together develops a wall of

good, but bland songs. The variety

of music in the album is increased

when “Ghosts” kicks the beat up,while “Down in the Valley” reminds

listeners of rainy and cold days in

the spring. The album climaxes

with “Rivers and Roads” which

features a gripping duet between

frontman Josiah Johnson and vio-

linist Charity Thielen. Though the

rst half of the album is a bit slow,

the band really hits their stride in

the second half of the album with

drummer Tyler Williams crashing

lively during “Honey Come Home”

and “Winter Song.” The albumcloses out with “Heaven Go Easy

on Me,” though not the best song

on the album, it makes for a good

closing piece.

The album is actually quite good,

but the history of the band over-

plays the originality of their songs.

The Head and the Heart, while writ-

ing their own music, instead relied

heavily on other northwest pacic

folk bands for inspiration. This re-

sults in an album that holds very

few surprises. The band’s heart-

warming story has allowed them to

receive a recording label. However,

with what they have produced thus

far, they should be able to easily

set themselves apart from their in-

uences with their sophomore at-tempt at future albums.

Lucy Orsi

Staff Writer

JC’s Cafe, formerly known as

Shorty Lu’s, serves up delicious op-

tions for breakfast and lunch. Cus-

tomers immediately feel at home

with warm cinnamon rolls and hos-

pitable waitresses who will make

sure that your coffee never gets cold.With quick service, hungry patrons

do not have to wait long.

JC’s invites customers with a

hometown diner atmosphere, com-

plete with simple tables and comfort-

able chairs. One of the walls includes

a colorful hand-painted mural, and

another includes a large chalkboard

displaying the daily specials. Behind

the counter, an open view of the

kitchen reveals a friendly cook avail-

able for compliments and critiques.

Their breakfast menu includes

favorites such as french toast, pan-

cakes, and omelets with a variety of

toppings to choose from. Among

these favorites, JC’s menu offers any

other breakfast dish imaginable. The

lunch menu offers traditional diner

fare, with hamburgers and a few

Mexican dishes.

While ordering off the menu of-

fers delicious standbys, trying a new

dish from the daily special menu can

prove to be rewarding. One break-

fast special JC’s serves is a delicately

cooked chile relleno smothered in

pork green chile, complete with awarm tortilla and sides of eggs and

hash browns. Daily soup and des-

sert specials include options such

as chicken and wild rice and bread

pudding.

In addition to great food, JC’s low

prices are added appeal. With large

portions, every patron leaves with

a full stomach. Opening as early as

5:30 AM, it is a great place to go for

an early breakfast during the week.

For college students seeking a late

breakfast on the weekends, JC’s re-

mains open until 2 or 3 PM everyday.

So the next time you nd yourself in

need of a home-cooked breakfast,

stop into JC’s Cafe at the corner of

South Golden and Mt. Vernon Rd.

Carmella Caltagirone

Columnist

JC’s low prices and delicious, large portions makes it a great place for breakfast or lunch.

Denver had a “wild and wooly

west” relapse this week in 1889.

Judge Rucker entered a saloon on

Curtis Street and there found Col.

John Arkins of the “Rocky Mountain

News” drinking with several politi-

cians, including a Senator-elect

and a Chief-of-Police. Rucker then

“walked up and slapped Col. John

in the mouth,” reported “The Colo-

rado Transcript.” He was immedi-ately arrested, and the men recon-

ciled the next day. Apparently, there

was some sort of history between

the two, dating to the fall of 1888.

Also in 1889, Jefferson County

land speculators and anyone else

This week in Colorado historyLand politics and LincolnDeborah Good

Managing Editor looking to buy land were interested

in the Board of Land Commission-

er’s announcement that the school

section near Sloan’s Lake was to be

sold. The land was being offered in

40-acre tracts and, “The Colorado

Transcript” reported, “already pools

are being made in readiness to in-

vest when the sale takes place.”

The paper attributed this to the

land’s “charming locality” and as-

serted it would be a relative bargain

“at any price.”

Senator Wilson proposed aSunday closing bill this week in

1889 which many supported and

which would have “had the effect

of closing many of the lowest grog-

geries all over the state.” “The Colo-

rado Transcript did not support the

bill based on evidence from failed

prohibition laws in other states and

was “glad our legislature are not in-

clined to give it a trial.”

On a slightly more national level,

“The Colorado Transcript” lauded

a new paper on Abraham Lincoln

in honor of what would have been

the sixteenth president’s eightieth

birthday. Hon. E.E. Wood, formerly

of the Illinois general assembly,

published the paper which includ-

ed “much original matter gleaned

during the writer’s residence atthe state capital.” The paper also

included new photographs of Lin-

coln’s Springeld House, a Lincoln

monument, and a recently discov-

ered photograph of the deceased

president himself.

The Head and the Heart continue to set themselves apart

in their new, self-titled album.

COURTESY THE HEAD AND THE HEART

New heartwarmingHead and Heart album

Wake up to a tasty breakfast at JC’s CafeCARMELLA CALTAGIRONE / OREDIGGER



f e a t u r e sfebruary 13, 2012 page 5


Some geeks are socially silent. They pass by a conversation un-

noticed, leaving only a few dusty,

orange Cheeto ngerprints stuck to

any surface they touched. But there

is another type of geek. These geeks

will readily join in on any discussion

about physics, Star Wars, or any

other nerdy topic of interest. Some

of these geeks even manage to nd

the courage to begin conversations

with other people. But CSM junior

Carolyn Nichols has taken this to a

new level. She is the sort of geek

who announces her presence with

a loud squeal and a running tackle-

hug. Apparently, this Civil Engineer

didn’t get the memo that geeks do

not know how to talk to people.

[Oredigger:] What’s the bestaspect of your major?

[Nichols:] You get to work out-

side of a building. I sometimes think

I’m a solar panel. I get my energy

from the sun.What’s the most annoying

part about Civil Engineering?

Since it’s an engineering special-

ty, I have to take classes in things I

don’t think really apply to my major,

like Circuits. I could get everything I

need to know about circuits in a one

day lecture: “don’t touch the wires.”

Or [classes like] Programming Con-

cepts. Why?!?

Are you a geek and why?

Yes. I’m a big Zelda geek. I geek

out about certain things. Like Zelda.

And I’m a geek hugger.

What’s been your favoriteclass at Mines?

I really love Statics and Phys I.

You get a set of equations, you learn

how to use them, and you gure out

how to manipulate them to solve the

puzzle. I like how it was easily ap-

plied and could visualize what was

going on. Not just the equations, but

what they really meant. I ended up

doing the Phys I homework just for

fun.What’s the best part about

being at Mines?

All the like-minded people. You

can totally just nerd out in the middle

of dinner and people will just join in.

It’s awesome. And then you have

Zelda fans who have Zelda par-

ties… where else do you have Legoparties at sleepovers? They never

have enough wall pieces in Lego

sets…Do you have any accomplish-

ments that you’re particularly

proud of?

I got all the gures in “The Leg-

end of Zelda: The Minish Cap!”

“Pokémon” or “Yu-Gi-Oh?”

“Yu-Gi-Oh” because I never

played “Pokémon” and I watched

“Yu-Gi-Oh.”

Do you have any plans for the

future?

I want to graduate on time and I

want to work in Australia or [some-

place] overseas. I want to be out-

side in nature. The only drawback is

I have to wear sunscreen. I want to

see the world. I want to go to Asia…I want to travel. And I want all sons

[in my family]. I want my husband

to have to give them “the talk,” so I

don’t have to [tell them].If you could be dropped into

any fctional setting, what would

it be and why?

A good, traditional mystical for-

est. You’re a princess, but you’re a

warrior princess… so you can save

yourself, but you can give the guy a

chance to do it. You can do magic

without wands… and you’ve got to

love the clothes. Flowery dresses,

but still functional. You’ve gotta love

a good, hooded cape too.

Do you have any advice for

fellow geeks and Mines stu-

dents?Don’t do homework the night

before. You stay up late and you’re

like “uuuh!” Two nights before isn’t

bad. You can’t ask people for help

the night before either.What’s the best pick-up line

you can think of?

Well, the best pick-up line is the

turtle pick-up line, but you have to

be able to see that one. The sec-

ond best line is “If I could rearrange

the alphabet, I’d put ‘U’ and ‘I’ to-

gether,” countered by the girl saying

“Well, I like it how it is, with ‘N’ and

‘O’ together.” Something the girl can

counter easily.

Geek Weekofthe

...Carolyn Nichols, Junior, Civil EngineeringJordan Francis

Columnist

Junior Carolyn Nichols enjoys working outside.

JORDAN FRANCIS / OREDIGGER

Early every February, Girl

Scouts ood America with their de-

licious cookies. In contrast to life at

home, living in the dorms does not

allow for Girl Scouts to come door-

to-door. However, college students

with the means to purchase these

cookies are not always able to af-

ford them, but with this recipe, it is

easy to replicate one of their best

products.Ingredients:

Cookies:

1 package fudge cake mix

3 tablespoons Crisco, melted

½ cup cake our

2 eggs

5 tablespoons water

Cooking spray

Chocolate-Mint Coating:

2 (12 ounce) bags of semi-

sweet chocolate chips

½ teaspoon peppermint extract

4 tablespoons shortening

Carmella Caltagirone

Staff Writer

This recipe helps replicate the delicious girl scout treat.

CARMELLA CALTAGIRONE / OREDIGGER

Save $3.50 and makeyour own thin mintsFirst, combine cookie ingredi-

ents in a large bowl, slowly adding

water until the dough forms. Cover

and chill for two hours.

Next, preheat the oven to 350

degrees Fahrenheit. On a oured

surface, roll out a very thin portion

of the dough, about 1/16 of an

inch. Cut into circles with a lid from

a container or a cookie cutter. Ar-

range the rounds on a cookie sheet

sprayed lightly with nonstick cook-

ing spray. Bake for 10 minutes and

then let cool completely.Next, combine the chocolate

chips, shortening, and pepper-

mint extract for the coating in a

microwave safe bowl. Heat on 50

percent for two minutes, and stir.

Continue heating in 30 second in-

tervals, stirring between each, until

the chocolate is a smooth consis-

tency.

Use a fork to dip each wafer

into the chocolate, and place on

wax paper-lined baking sheet. Re-

frigerate until rm and then enjoy!

Bias, propaganda, and censor-

ship normally ll modern documen-

tary style movies. However, Dan-

fung Dennis does not employ such

tactics as he explains the soldier’s

blight in Afghanistan. “Hell and Back

Again,” the new documentary about

the Afghanistan war follows one sol-

dier on his deployment to Afghani-

stan. Instead of showing viewers the

horrors of war with an antiwar bias,

Dennis follows one soldier in his rst

few months of duty until his return to

the US.

Filming on his own, Dennis fol-

lowed soldiers when they entered

the battleeld. This allowed him to

explore the lm with a sense of hon-

esty since he remained so personal

with the soldiers. This level of inti-

macy to the lming also allowed the

role of the camera to take on a more

humble role. Dennis approaches this

documentary with a set of answers

instead of a set of questions. This

lm, instead of asking the soldiers

questions, allows the soldier go on

with normal day to day activities. A

true documentary needed no out-

side persuasion. Dennis knew his

role and allowed the lm to develop

and take on signicance he had not

even initially intended to nd.

This movie does not display sta-

tistics; it aims to develop a relation-

ship between the people ghting in

the war and the war itself. To gen-

eralize further, “Hell and Back Again”

displays war in general, rather than

the Afghanistan war alone. Dennis’

opinion on the Afghanistan war is

not mentioned. The movie does not

even touch on the soldier’s opinion

on the war being an endeavour, ex-

cept for a few lines. This is a movie

about the horrors of war and its im-

pacts on military families both on

and off the battleeld.

The movie follows around 25

year-old Sergeant Nathan Harris as

he navigates the elds of Afghani-

stan in combat. After he is injured,

his life is compared to the average

American citizen. Harris’ personality

makes him an arrogant main char-

acter, but his aws make him relat-

able and compelling. The results of

Dennis’ individualized approach al-

lows viewers get to know Harris on a

much more intimate level and come

to recognize the terrors of war with-

out the need to see or discuss the

enemy.

Lucy Orsi

Staff Writer

Hell and Back Again is a documentary of Afghanistan,

unaffected by bias, propaganda and censorship.

COURTESY DOCURAMA FILMS

Living through Hell’s horrorsDocumentary follows solider’s life in Afghanistan



f e a t u r e s february 13, 2012page 6


Previous chapters can be

found online at oredigger.net

Chloe emerged between two

boulders nestled midway up the

side of a steep hill. A few dim beams

of sunlight pierced the network of

trees, allowing Chloe the chance

to examine her surroundings with-

out squinting. Her jaw went slack.

All around her, shooting up forever

it seemed, were trees exactly like

she’d seen in her dreams. She took

a step forward and almost slipped

on the loose gravel. Grasping a

small boulder to her right, Chloe

used it to steady her descent.

The bottom of the hill was cov-

ered with all sorts of plants. Some

were harder, some less waxy and

some even had color sprouting off

of them, but Chloe decided to stay

away from those. The ground was

carpeted in plants that stretched toher waist. The stalks felt soft and

lush beneath her ngers. When she

looked up, Chloe’s eyes fell onto

the tallest tree in sight.

“Wow.” She walked up to it cau-

tiously. Her eyes widened when she

came across ve slash marks in the

tree. She placed her hand over the

marks and noticed how neatly her

ngers lined up.

Chloe shook the unease in her

stomach and looked past the tree,

gasping at the forest stretching

down into a valley. Brilliant hues of

red and orange from a huge light

above spilled over the tree tops like

a wild re.

Chloe ripped a strip of cloth from

her shirt and tied it to a low hang-ing branch so she would remember

her way home. As she descended

the hill, the trees grew smaller and

huddled closer together. More and

more of them had colorful plants

sprouting from tree branches. One

particular plant caught her eye. Its

leaves were long and white with

purple tips. Warily she plucked it

from its low hanging perch and

brought it under her nose where an

odd but pleasant odor oated into

Chloe’s nose. She placed the deli-

cate plant in her pack next to her

notebook.

Alara: Chapter 4Nicole Johnson

Staff Writer

Walking through the foliage, she

continued to place strips of cloth to

mark her trail and suddenly remem-

bered the stories about people who

had wandered into the caves, never

to return. Could they have found a

way to the surface?

Her foot snagged on somethinghidden in the grass, but luckily, she

managed to keep herself from fall-

ing. She reached down to free her

foot and found black cable wires

wrapped around her ankle. She

followed the wires until the for-

est abruptly opened into a large

clearing. Although most of it was

covered in knee high grass, Chloe

could still make out a large gray

structure beneath a layer of climb-

ing vines. Most of the doors were

sealed to their frames from rust ex-

cept one. It had been ripped from

its hinges and discarded carelessly

to the side. Chloe stepped lightly

over the door and into the building.

“No freakin’ way,” she gasped.

In the huge structure were a half adozen airplanes. Her favorite stories

her dad told her were about grand-

pa and his planes. Unfortunately,

time had not been kind to the ying

giants. All but one were covered in

rust. The plane closest to her was

missing one wing and a good por-

tion of the other. She was about to

walk away when she noticed the

plane’s body looked mangled. Like

the tree outside, something had

torn through the metal as easily as

she could rip paper. She cursed un-

der her breath. How could she have

been stupid enough not to bring

some sort of weapon?

Shaking the nagging feeling in

the back of her mind, she found a

plane that was in fairly good con-dition. She whistled at its beauty.

Sleek black from nose to tail and

not a scratch in sight. She tore

herself away from the gorgeous

machine to explore the rest of the

building.

Cracking open another light

tube, she explored the rest of the

building and found ten rooms.

Nothing was particularly interesting

until her eye caught a glimpse of

her last name carved on one of the

room’s doors.

She jiggled the handle and

pushed but the door wouldn’t

budge. Rolling her eyes, Chloe

took a step back and, with two sol-

id kicks, sent the door ying open.

Dust ew everywhere, ying into

Chloe’s mouth. Waving the pesky

stuff away, she stepped into the of-

ce. The room was small, maybe

eight feet by ten feet, but every inchof wall space was covered in maps,

awards, and a whole variety of pic-

tures. One particular picture piqued

her interest. Two pilots, a man and

a woman, were standing in front of

a plane almost identical to the one

she saw earlier. The man was hold-

ing a little boy in his arms. Chloe

wiped the thick layer of dust from

the frame, revealing an engraving at

the bottom.Colorado Gamma Air Base

Dedication August 16th, 2140.

Janice and Ryan Moore with

their son Henry.

“Dad?” She blinked again but

even so young, her dad’s goofy grin

was easy to see in the boy wearing

his father’s ight goggles. “2140? That can’t be right...”

She took a step backward and

kicked the desk with her heel,

knocking a book to the oor. Chloe

scooped it up and ipped through

its thick, yellowed pages until she

came to the rst legible entry. March 14th, 2115

I found this in an antique

shop yesterday. Janice rolled

her eyes when I brought it

home, although I think she’s se-

cretly jealous of it. People just

don’t understand the pleasures

of writing on paper anymore.

No matter, this “old fool” (Jan-

ice’s fond nickname for me) will

continue in the face of “mod-

ern” society where everythingfrom grocery lists to ofcial

reports are communicated via

hologram.

Quite a few pages looked like

they’d been torn out between en-

tries. December 9th, 2135

Henry is becoming quite a

precocious little boy. Still, he

will listen to whoever is patient

enough to answer his million

questions on everything. In fact

just the other day he trapped

poor Lieutenant…

The rest of the page was too

faded to continue. Luckily, Chloe

found several other passages.

The next was dated October 21st,

2147, but the writing only became

readable halfway down the page.

...grow weary of their games.

What else is the government

not telling us? My superiors tell

me Janice’s patrol went down in

the storm over recently discov-

ered Balor territory. (Chloe had to

squint to make out the words under

the tear stains) If the crash didn’t

kill her, hopefully the bombers

sent in after them did. Hell, I

would have done the job myself

but Henry...

With half the Earth’s popula-

tion either dead or converted,

there seems to be no end in

sight to this war. We’ve been or-

dered to retreat into the safety

of the caves and nish Project

Angel. I made a few modica-

tions to the colony’s defensive

shield. Just let those bastards

try to get in. A heavy weight pressed against

Chloe’s chest. There was noth-

ing she could say. Every question

she tried to answer only resulted

in more questions. Two hundred

years and this Project Angel was

still unnished?

She searched the book again

for another mention of these Balor.

Skimming entry after entry, she -

nally found something near the last

entry. Running her nger along the

page, she read the passage aloud.

“A genetics war has its price.

The super soldiers we sought to

create are the very things that will

destroy us. Their aversion to light

allows us to ght back, but Lord

knows that won’t last. Any whoare infected lose any semblance of

humanity. They just eat. Only one

percent has survived, maybe less.

Project Angel is our only hope.”

A mufed crash yanked Chloe

from her thoughts. Holding the light

tube in front of her, she slowly stood

and peered down the hallway.

She released a sigh and chuckled

half-heartedly. A long, lonely howl

echoed from somewhere in the

distance. Alright then, time to go.

Chloe stuffed her grandfather’s

journal into her pack and retraced

her steps back into the main room

and out the building, running as fast

as her legs would carry her. Only

when she was steadily climbing the

hill under the cover of moonlight

back to the two boulders did Chloe

slow her pace to catch her breath.

The two boulders were within

reach when she heard a low growlcoming from behind her. Looking

over her shoulder, she came face

to face with a creature straight from

her nightmares. Scar tissue cov-

ered its eye sockets, yet Chloe felt

trapped within the creature’s gaze.

Long ngers and toes ended in jag-

ged claws that matched its mouth

full of blood-stained teeth. The two

slits on its face contracted as it took

a deep sniff of the air. Loose rags

that resembled some sort of uni-

form hung from its shoulders.

She took a small step back,

snapping a twig beneath her boot.

Clenching her jaw, she held her

breath and felt her heart beating

loudly in her ears. Cold sweat broke

out over her neck. The thing’s noseslits twitched once before it lunged

forward in an uphill charge. Turn-

ing, Chloe grimaced as she jumped

through the two boulders and fell

through the entrance back into

the caves. Her knees buckled un-

der, sending her head rst onto the

stone oor. The pain knocked the

breath from her and sent her head

spinning so hard she almost didn’t

hear the loud beeping above her. A

loud shriek echoed above followed

by a hissing sound and the stench

of burning esh.

“Go Gramps.” Her knees were

shaking but she managed to push

herself to her feet and limp off

through the caves. Within a few

minutes, she emerged into the fullylighted tunnels to nd Oliver sitting

against the wall, fast asleep. When

she came running through, Chloe

dropped to Oliver’s side and started

shaking his shoulders.

Through the haze of sleep, Oli-

ver recognized Chloe and snapped

awake. “Do you have any idea

what time it is?” He then noticed

the trickle of blood coming from her

forehead. “What the hell happened

to you?”

“Yeah, my bad I know, but listen,

you’re never going to guess what I

found!”

A professor with extensive

knowledge and understanding

in his or her chosen eld is often

held in high regard by peers. But

without the ability to effectively and

clearly communicate the subject

material, even the most intelligent

of professors can be of little use to

his or her students. In this regard,

Craig Champlin has a bit of an ad-

vantage. Champlin, in his second

semester of teaching at Mines, has

learned from prior industry experi-

ence how to effectively commu-

nicate new information to people

with varying levels of experience.

Champlin, currently a graduate

teaching fellow for the Computer

Science department, spent many

of his eighteen years in the soft-

ware industry teaching profession-

als how to use various programs

and software. His industry experi-

ence includes a few years of soft-

ware development followed by a lot

of time spent managing software

developers, testers, and people in

similar industry positions. Cham-

plin is currently teaching in order

to help fund his graduate research

and expresses a desire to continue

teaching and researching as a pro-

fessor once he graduates.

His favorite aspects of his prior

industry work was teaching others

how to use the necessary software

and “doing the really hard analysis,”

which he says is not too different

from a professor’s duty’s to “pub-

lish or perish” and teach, “so that’s

what I want to be when I grow up.”

As Champlin has always known

he wanted to be a teacher, he be-

gan observing his teachers’ styles

of education back in high school.

He discovered that the good

teachers engaged their students

and he does his best to integrate

that knowledge into his own teach-

ing style. “You don’t tell; you ask,”

he said. He had the opportunity to

conrm this knowledge and further

develop this style throughout his

time in management, noting that,

“When I tell somebody something,

they get a lot less of it than when

I have them discover it for them-

selves.” This combination of obser-

vation and real-world practice led

Champlin to the style he uses in the

classroom today, which consists

largely of lectures intermixed with a

series of questions and examples.

Surprisingly, Champlin advises

students to “get off the ‘A’ train and

get on the ‘B’ train.” He explained

that, “Unless you plan on going

into academia or some… research

job… you’re better served living life

outside of school and [getting] a ‘B’

than you are to put the extra work

in to get an ‘A’ and that’s [academ-

ic life] all you know.” He points out

that in his time as a manager, he

was more concerned with ensuring

that the applicant’s side interests

and personality matched up with

the job as opposed to his or her

grades.

He does admit, though, that

he made sure the applicant had

passed school. He advises that

engineers and Mines students to

get out of their academically-com-

petitive box and make sure that

they focus on being “a complete

person.”

Jordan Francis

Staff Writer Champlin recommends experience over A’s

Champlin nds value in students observing things for

themselves, saying “When I tell somebody something,

they get a lot less of it than when I have them discover it

for themselves.”

JORDAN FRANCIS / OREDIGGER



s p o r t sfebruary 13, 2012 page 7


We were promised a classic.We were given an unlikely re-

match of a history-making clash,

and we were told that the sequel

would live up to the high stan-

dards of the original. It’s certainly

nice when the hype machine gets

something right. This was an epic

duel of evenly-matched sides,

and although neither was in dan-

ger of being confused with a jug-

gernaut, Super Bowl XLVI will go

down as a classic.

This game truly featured every-

thing anyone could ask for in the

way of a thrilling nish. There was

a late, heroic drive, and a valiant

counterattack that fell just short.

There was offbeat coaching, as

the New England defense allowed Ahmad Bradshaw to score a

touchdown that he attempted to

avoid. There was a heroic catch,

as Mario Manningham made a

spectacular over-the-shoulder

grab of a perfectly thrown Man-

ning bomb to kick off the game-

winning drive. There were criti-

cal miscues, including a rash of

dropped passes late for New

England. Ultimately, there was

the immortal nal play, the lasting

image of a football dropping to

the blue-painted turf, mere inches

from the outstretched ngertips

of Rob Gronkowski, the injured

workhorse who fell just short of

snagging a championship out of

the Indiana air.Of course, more happened in

this game than just the nal se-

quence. The early stages played

out just as this writer anticipated,

with the Patriots being severely

outplayed in all phases yet re-maining within striking distance.

I did not, of course, anticipate

the frequent and severe mental

errors committed by the Patriots

that led to their early decit. The

Brady safety was, quite frankly,

out of character. The Patriots

defense went from poor to clue-

less, negat-

ing a fumble

r e c o v e r y

by having

twelve men

on the eld.

The Giants

p r o ceed ed

to score a

touchdown

from thisgift, which

u l t i m a t e l y

proved to be

the winning

margin. Overall, New York fum-

bled four times; three were recov-

ered by the Giants, often improb-

ably, and the other was wiped out

by the fatal penalty. New England

played awfully for the rst twenty

minutes of the game, and was

in danger of being blown off the

eld.

Of course, one cannot take

away the excellence displayed by

the Giants during this stretch. Eli

Manning opened the game on re,

completing every pass he threw

in the rst quarter-and-a-half, andgenerally putting substance be-

hind his midseason assertion that

he was every bit as capable as

Brady. Manning gained the most

from this game, as it is now im-

possible to deny that he is one of the league’s elite quarterbacks, if

only during playoff season.

Eli has eclipsed his brother

Peyton in championships, and

barring an unforeseen resurgence

of Peyton’s career, this will likely

be permanent. Peyton is perhaps

the best regular-season quar-

terback the

game has

ever seen,

but because

of his stoic,

unemotional

play style, it

seems that

he is unable

to elevate his

team duringthe height-

ened compe-

tition of the

postseason.

Eli is a fairly unexceptional reg-

ular-season leader, and he, like

his team, is prone to motivational

swoons at times. However, when

the intensity cranks up, he and

undervalued coach Tom Coughlin

can get the best out of their team,

and Eli elevates his game accord-

ingly. Eli has never lost a playoff

game away from home, which

strongly indicates his masterful

handling of high pressure.

Certainly, the Giants defense

deserves praise, but this was no

excellent defense; instead, it wasa fairly poor unit that elevated

its play to the level of just good

enough, much like the Patriots.

Make no mistake, in the year of

offensive supremacy, the offenses

would decide the championship,and Eli Manning dramatically out-

played Tom Brady in this game.

Despite all of this, the Brady

Factor still cannot be ignored.

Despite all of the hardships sur-

rounding his team -- the hobbling

of his best receiver, the missed

chances and avoidable errors,

the drops and defensive pres-

sure -- Brady was within a rico-

chet of emerging on top in this

game. The what-ifs are tantaliz-

ing for New England supporters

-- how is the game altered if the

Patriots recover that rst quarter

fumble? What if Gronkowski had

not been injured by the Ravens’

Bernard Pollard, a man with an

almost-sinister knack for saddlingthe Patriots with crippling inju-

ries (Brady’s knee in 2008, Wes

Welker in ’09)? What if Belichick

had allowed the Giants to score

one play earlier on their nal drive,

preserving a timeout for Brady’s

last shot? Ultimately, this game

was too close to call, and a few

fateful bounces were enough to

send the Giants to the top once

more.

The future looks uncertain for

these teams, as the Patriots are

clearly declining from their 2003-

07 run of glory, and the Giants

have a well-worn habit of under-

achievement following success.

New England cannot rely on

Gronk-o-magic to compensatefor their lack of a capable de-

fense, especially with a full-length

offseason allowing their rivals to

pour over the lm. This is still a

playoff team, but that says more

about the AFC East’s currentshambles than it does about New

England.

As for the Giants, they will

become the team that everyone

wants to avoid in the playoffs,

yet there is still no guarantee that

they will even qualify. Dallas is ris-

ing, slowly, and the Eagles might

nally have this “dream team”

thing gured out. Meanwhile,

New Orleans and Green Bay have

heard the alarm bells and will re-

inforce defensively. However, in

this writer’s opinion, San Fran-

cisco enters the 2012 season

as the title favorite, as they are

the only realistic top team with

a shutdown defense (sorry, Bal-

timore, you are getting very old),and believe it or not, Alex Smith is

actually a fairly good quarterback

when given the chance. He is no

Drew Brees, but he can be an

excellent Kerry Collins, someone

who plays adequately enough to

allow the stronger parts around

him to reach their full potential.

Count me as a believer in the

Harbaugh Miracle. In the AFC,

Houston could well be on top of

the pack, and barring any Andre

Johnson injuries, this is a rising

team with a strong home eld

and a realistic chance at a num-

ber-1 seed. Of course, anything

can happen, and that is why the

games are played. This is your

Football Informant, signing off.Coming next week, The Offsea-

son Files!

James Kergosien

Columnist

The Football Informant A reminder of why football is great

Men’s basketball defeatsMetro State 72-67

Dale Minschwaner (#23) posted 13 points in the

Orediggers’ key victory over Metro State.

KEVIN EMERY / OREDIGGER

Certainly, the Giants defense

deserves praise, but this was

no excellent defense; instead,

it was a fairly poor unit that

elevated its play to the level

of just good enough, much

like the Patriots.



o p i n i o n / s a t i r e february 13, 2012page 8


Ian Mertz

Asst. Copy Editor

Valentine’s Day candy

Minds at Mines

Grinds my gears

Jarrod Sparks

Staff Writer

With Valentine’s day fast approaching, candy sales begin to skyrocket

as the big day nears. From heart shaped boxes of chocolates to pink and

red packaging, candy makers change their products in drastic ways for

February 14. The seasonal availability of these candies makes them so

much more delicious. To nd out these favorites, Minds at Mines asks,

“What is your favorite Valentine’s day candy and

why?”

I think the cinnamon hearts are okay. They

are a sweet snack to munch on that you can

buy by the pound. After a while though, they

start to burn. It feels like they take the taste buds

off of your tongue.

Matt Mannshardt

My favorite candies are cherry M&M’s. They are

a new avor perfect for Valentine’s Day, and I think

you can only buy them during this time of year.

Rosa Foth

I would have to go with the big Reese’s

hearts. Chocolate and peanut butter are a great

combination and it’s even better in a festive

shape.

Taylor Ray

Editorials Policy

The Oredigger is a designated public forum.Editors have the authority to make all con-

tent decisions without censorship or advance

approval and may edit submitted pieces for length so long as the original meaning of the

piece is unchanged. Opinions contained within

the Opinion Section do not necessarily reectthose of Colorado School of Mines or The Ore-

digger. The Oredigger does not accept submis-

sions without identifcation and will consider all requests for anonymity in publication on a

case-by-case basis. Submissions less than 300

words will receive preference.

ALL PHOTOS IAN MERTZ / OREDIGGER

You know what really grinds my

gears?

Where did all the good car-

toons go? At a young age, I can

remember cherishing the moment

that I got to watch my daily “Win-

nie the Pooh” episode. Then, as I

“matured,” I slowly moved into the

modern cartoons like “Doug,” “Re-

cess,” “Rugrats,” and “Animaniacs.”

I even dabbled in some of the clas-

sics of yore, like “Tom & Jerry,” the

Road Runner and Wile E. Coyote,

and Looney Tunes. There was a ton

of quality, family safe programming

around and it was correlated with

one of the largest economic expan-

sions in United States history.

Then, the Japanese invasion hap -

pened. Shows like Pokémon and

Digimon started to inltrate Saturday

morning programming. Do not get

me wrong, the Japanese are great

for a lot of things. They are a valuable

trading partner, efcient, disciplined,

and they invented sushi. However,

these shows, with a plot that con-

sists of some kind of dragon ghting

some other dragon, are taking the

place of Sylvester and Tweety. By the

way, the western world already has

its dragon movie, it is called “Harry

Potter.” Now the most popular

shows for young children are series

like “Teletubbies” and “The Wiggles.”

These shows are directly leading to

the demise of the youth of this nation

and directing them farther away from

the greatest generation.

Who do we have to blame for

this? You, America. You bought all

of these trading cards and plastic

Poké-balls, allowing the children to

stay inside instead of going outside

and becoming Captain America.

Now we have children gelling their

hair like DJ Pauly D and eating more

than Rick Ross at CiCi’s Pizza.

In order to turn this great coun-

try around we need a maverick that

these young children can relate to

and aspire to be. Who is this person

you ask? Flavor Flav (if you don’t

know who this is, just image search

him and that’s all you need). Before

you think that he is just some rapper,

hear me out. The man is an entre-

preneur of a new genre as he was

greatly responsible for the expansion

of rap. Furthermore, he has national

inuence through his ridiculous VH1

show. Finally, since he always has a

clock hung around his neck, he is

punctual, teaching children respon-

sibility. Flavor Flav will teach children

to follow their dreams, expand new

frontiers, and to always be enthusi-

astic. He is a person we can all rally

behind in order to truly bring Ameri-

ca back. With Flav we get no more

confusing cartoons, no more trading

cards, and no more Poké-balls.

And that, ladies and gentlemen,

is what grinds my gears.

As most of us are well aware,

this week holds for us a special

holiday. It is almost impossible to

miss it; advertisements have been

playing it up like crazy, stores have

brought in special stock for the oc-

casion, and people all around are

trying to make impossible plans for

it. Yes, that is right, friends and fel-

lows. This Tuesday, February 14th,is everyone’s favorite holiday – Irish

Potato Famine Celebration Day!

Now, almost everyone is famil-

iar with the holiday’s existence and

the current methods of celebrat-

ing it, but most people know only

the most basic information, if that,

about the origins of this great day.

Interestingly enough, the beginning

of the holiday has almost nothing to

do with potatoes.

Long ago in Ireland, there was a

saint named Bob. Saint Bob lived

in the latter half of the second cen-

tury, when there was apparently a

little known, smaller, more localized

famine somewhere in Ireland. Saint

Bob happened to be living in that

part of Ireland at the time and sub-

sequently died of starvation. That is

all history tells us for sure, although

historians think they are getting

close to nding his birth date. No-

body is even sure why or how Bob

became a saint. However, appar-

ently whatever he did was enough

to get these vague details passed

down in pubs for generations, be-

cause when the great Irish Potato

Famine broke out, his stories sud-

denly grew more popular and were

changed so that the famine includ-

ed a many mentions of potatoes.

On a fateful February 14th, 1857,

one the Irish pub-goer decided that

he was going to turn Saint Bob’s

now heroic but completely un-

specied and ever-changing death

into his latest excuse to drink his

troubles (and hunger) away, and

declared the day now and forever

as Irish Potato Famine Celebration

Day.

As the Irish emigrated around

the globe, they took with them

this story of hope and bravery and

the holiday followed close behind.

Consequentially, methods of cel-

ebration have been mixed with the

traditions and understandings (or

lack thereof) of multiple cultures,

leading to the festivities and tradi-

tions we enjoy today. The tradition-

al colors are, of course, those of a

potato, brown and green.

People have developed many

different ways of interacting with

potatoes on this day. Some like to

go to restaurants and eat potatoes,

be they mashed, baked, boiled,

stewed, fried, turned into vodka,

or even raw. People in this camp

tend to present their potatoes with

a variety of gifts in the form of con-

diments, including cheese, bacon

bits, sour cream, and butter. Oth-

ers prefer to visit potato farms,

where they shower the potatoes

with fertilizer and water. Both meth-

ods of celebration lead to inevitably

packed restaurants and farms that

are impossible to get into without

a reservation and often unusually

unpleasant places to be.

Of course, people do have

the option of cooking potatoes at

home or growing their own potato

garden, but these choices are of-

ten considered cheap, though the

lack of crowds and obligations to

go anywhere has increased theirappeal over the last several years.

As Irish Potato Famine Celebration

Day has evolved, its participants

seem to have developed a bit of

competition as to who can nd

the best gift for their potato. Res-

taurant-goers have been known to

search long and hard for imported

bacon bits and well-aged cheese,

while farm-goers like to show off

the name-brand or customized fer-

tilizers and various types of mineral

water they have. Alternatives tradi-

tionally used by the broke or cheap

include hand-grated cheese and

hand-churned butter, or home-

made compost piles.

Depending on the mood and

personality of the recipient potato,

these alternate gifts are usually ei-

ther cast aside as worthless trin-

kets or received warmly as sincere

gestures of affection. After gifts are

exchanged, celebrators engage

in various activities with their po-

tatoes. The activity itself is usually

not considered as important as the

simple act of togetherness, but

common pursuits include watch-

ing grass grow, holding the potato

close, listening to the potato hint

about its friends who got better fer-

tilizer or who are being held closer

by their human counterpart, get-

ting into a resultant ght, making

up, and eating or re-planting the

potato.

However, not everyone enjoys

the festivities of Irish Potato Fam-

ine Celebration Day. Somewhat re-

cently in fact, those who nd them-

selves without a potato or just sick

of the traditional celebrations have

created a bit of a counter-holiday,

known as CAD - Carrot Apprecia-

tion (or Awareness) Day. On Irish

Potato Famine Celebration Day,

these people gather together and

engage in their own celebrations

which are distinctly anti-potato.

They sit around and eat carrots,

make fun of potatoes, throw away

or destroy any nearby condiments

or fertilizer, try to convince them-

selves that crunchy, hard carrots

are actually better than soft, warm

potatoes, and occasionally break

down and lament their lack of pota-

toes. There are some who choose

to engage in such activities on their

own, in which case the procedure

is much the same, except they

feel the need to let the world know

about how cool and original they

are with their CAD celebrations

every ve minutes on Facebook.

Many enjoy these traditions ironi-

cally, while some engage in them as

an attempt to distract themselves

from their inability to get a potato or

to seek solace in other potato-less

souls. A handful of people actually

do manage to enjoy the day in ear-

nest, as they really do prefer car-

rots to potatoes, but these genuine

souls are few and far between.

As evidenced by the CAD cel-

ebrators, not everyone enjoys Irish

Potato Famine Celebration Day.

However, while the CAD celebra-

tors at least nd solace in their car-rots, there are those who absolute-

ly despise the holiday and all of its

associations (though, interestingly,

neither they nor the CAD fans ever

seem to take issue with the heavy

discounts on condiments and fertil-

izer after the holiday ends). Some

protest the extreme commercialism

of the holiday, what with the over-

priced potato skin cards, the crazily

crowded restaurants and farms,

and the obligation to get that spe-

cial potato a suitably expensive gift.

Others take issue with the idea

that this day above all others should

be arbitrarily chosen as a day to

appreciate potatoes. These people

point out that they love potatoes

year-round, and not only should

they not be pressured to show

their devotion on one random day

of the year, but doing so tends to

trivialize the importance of the po-

tatoes which it claims to promote.

Many who have no potato to call

their own but who do not wish to

engage in Carrot Appreciation Day

are simply embittered by the entire

concept of the holiday and the re-

minders which it brings. These, of

course, are all valid points.

The strange part though, is that

these people who claim to hate the

holiday so much spend more time

talking about it than those who en-

joy it. As soon as Christmas ends,

they roll their eyes at every brown

or green thing they can nd. They

spend the month leading up to the

day covering their ears every time a

potato song comes on, and if you

happen to be in the store with them

when they rst see the potato dec-

orations go up, then you’ll probably

get the privilege of hearing their

rant about how stupid the entire

concept is or has become. In all of

their constant protests, they inad-

vertently advertise the holiday more

than its proponents do, thus giving

most industries even more reason

to pour resources into acknowl-

edging the holiday. It seems a bit

counter-intuitive, but especially in

a day and age when many adver-

tising companies determine how

they’re going to advertise by the

amount of times something is men-

tioned online and in real life, it might

be a bit more productive for those

who cannot stand the holiday to

simply ignore it. Anyhow, depend-

ing on your preference, happy Irish

Potato Famine Celebration Day, or

Carrot Appreciation Day, or day of

competing to see who hates Irish

Potato Famine Celebration Day the

most!

Irish Potato FamineCelebration Day approachesJordan Francis

Potato Farmer

Documents

The Oredigger Issue 16 - February 13, 2012