Vol. 32 – Issue 15 |

Eagle’s Eye999 Tahoe Boulevard, Incline Village, NV | www.sierranevada.edu

S i e r r a N e v a d a C o l l e g e

Each spring, seniors from the Humani-ties department present their Senior Proj-ects to an audience of students, staff, faculty and community members. With the assistance of an advisor, all Humani-ties students are required to develop a project related to their major. The basic crite-ria is a 25-page paper and a presentation, although depending on the student’s individual discipline, proj-ects may require more re-search elements (Psychol-ogy) or creative elements (Art). The Senior Project presentations were held on April 23.

“The Senior Project as-sists students in making a connection with their stud-ies at SNC and their next move in life, whether that’s graduate school or pursu-ing a career,” said June Saraceno, Eng-lish program chair. “It’s more than just a semester-long project, it’s a culmination of the student’s entire academic career.”

Dan O’Bryan, Humanities chair and as-sociate provost, altered the direction and content of the Senior Projects to raise the level of intellectual focus. According to O’Bryan, Senior Projects are carefully

assessed on the basis of approach and ap-plication, content and knowledge of the topic, connections between the discipline and other areas of study and the disci-plines as generally understood in the cur-rent academic world.

“The project was a lot of work and at times very stressful, but it’s satisfying to have a finished prod-uct to present,” said Senior Troy Mott.

Mott’s project stud-ied the difference in critical reading scores between stu-dents who use paper and those who use an iPad 2. Although there was no statisti-cally significant dif-ference found, there is a preference for

paper, he said. The broad themes of projects exempli-

fied the diverse nature of Sierra Nevada College’s Humanities department.

“I can see myself being an event or-ganizer someday and not just for skiing and snowboarding,” said Senior Stefan Moore. “Organizing Jibs 4 Kids gave me real world experience in handling the multiple challenges and typical problems

Ashes from a recreational hearth fire re-sulted in two houses up in flames, and five Sierra Nevada College students without homes or belongings. The fire at 978 Glen-rock Court near the Championship Golf

Course occurred at 2:30 a.m. on Thursday April 26. According to a North Lake Tahoe Fire Protection District press release, “the fire was accidental and was caused by im-proper ash disposal.” All five victims of Glenrock Court made it out safely and re-main in good health.

The fire began in unit 52, where Freshman Kyle Murphy, Junior Da-liah Sirziano and Daniel Ditaranto resided. In a matter of minutes, it then quickly spread to unit 53 where Juniors Blake Phillips and Weston Moyer lived. That night, however, Sirziano and Ditaranto were sleeping in unit 53 with Phil-lips and Moyer. Murphy was the only person in unit 52, where the fire began. It was a quick response that kept these five victims alive early that morning.

“I woke up to flames above my head,” said Murphy. “I instinctively just ran outside, I didn’t grab any-thing. All I had to my name were the boxers I was wearing.”

In unit 53, all four students were sleeping upstairs at the time the fire spread over from unit 52. Phil-lips, Sirziano and Ditaranto were among the first to awake, and then immediately woke Moyer who was sleeping in his bedroom. Phillips

1st Place, $3,000: Glen Cheriton, Art 2nd Place, $2,000: Troy Mott, Psychology

3rd Place, $1,000:Jessica Hayworth, Art People’s Choice Award, $750:Graham Johnson, Ryan Byrge and Joshua Boles, Aquaponics Farming

STUDENT SYMPOSIUM RESULTS

TAYLOR PUSCAN OFFICIAL inspects the damage at 978 Glenrock Court after a fire broke out in the early morning of April 26.

Incline house fires result in homeless studentsBY TAYLOR PUSCContributor

THURSDAY May 3, 2012

This year’s Sierra Nevada Review is available for purchase now at the

campus bookstore for $10. Editors included students

Jessie Alhandy, Caitlin Burrows, Margaux Kelly and Bryce Bullins. Cover art by Jessica Hayworth.

Index News.......................1,3,6,7,8Campus...............................2Forum..............................4,5Features....................9,10,12Outdoor.............................11A&E.........................13,14,15

It’s that time of year for graduating Sierra Nevada Col-lege students to celebrate their achievements by receiving their long-awaited diplomas.

For the past 39 years, gradu-ation at SNC has been an an-nual spring ceremony where students, families, friends and faculty gather to watch these graduates finish off their col-lege careers. The graduation consists of undergrads from the Incline Village campus as well as graduate students from the

Reno and Las Vegas campuses. “This is my favorite time

of year,” said Executive Vice President and Provost Shan-non Beets. “I feel that it is very important to celebrate accom-plishment and acknowledge success.”

The ceremony will be held from 10 a.m. to noon on Sat-urday, May 12, on the lawn in front of Campbell-Friedman Residence Hall.

“The commencement cer-emony is for the graduating students and their families and we will keep the focus on that,”

said President Lynn Gillette. “I’ve been here for four years, I’ve seen these students grow from freshman to seniors, and it is an amazing thing to see students graduate that you have watched grow from teenagers to mature adults.”

The commencement speaker will be Brian Turner, a visiting writer in-residence and the di-rector of SNC’s new MFA pro-gram in creative writing.

“Turner is a internationally acknowledged poet who is very inspiring,” Beets said.

The valedictorian hon-

or was awarded to Zaira Perez, a global management major. For Perez, this award was a bit of a surprise.

“I am still kind of in a state of shock that I was chosen,” said Perez. “ I felt privileged just being nominated. Look-ing at the list of everyone that was nominated, I don’t think that anyone could have been expected to win. It was a very impressive group of people.”

The morning will consist of speeches by Commencement Speaker Brian Turner,

Students get ready for graduationBY JAKE POLLOCK Staff Reporter

Students impress community in senior projects and symposium BY ANDREW DUNNINGSports Editor

See GRADUATION, 7

See FIRE, 7See STUDENT SYMPOSIUM, 7

THURSDAY, May 3, 2012Eagle’s Eye 2 CAMPUS

of eventsCalendar

MAY 3: THURSDAYFinals Week Begins

MAY 4: FRIDAYStuculty Cup

5-7 p.m.Field #1 next to skate park

MAY 5: SATURDAYLaird Blackwell’sRetirement Event

3-6 p.m.TCES

MAY 7: MONDAYFinals Pancake Study Break

9-10 p.m. Patterson Hall

MAY 9: WEDNESDAYFinals End

MAY 9: WEDNESDAYRock Climbing Trip

Departs Patterson 1 p.m.

MAY 9: WEDNESDAYSNC Choir Concert:

Broadway7 p.m.

Patterson Lawn

MAY 10: THURSDAYLuau

4 p.m.Patterson Lawn

Dorms Close

MAY 11: FRIDAYGraduation Picnic

8 p.m.Incline Beach

MAY 12: SATURDAYCommencement

10 - 11:30 a.m.Patterson Lawn

The Eagle’s Eye is produced by the Journalism students of Sierra Nevada College.

Managing EditorSavannah Hoover

News EditorJason Paladino

Campus EditorRich Cooch

Assistant Photo EditorsPatricia Sainz De Rozas

Assistant Photo Editor Danny Kern

Sports EditorAndrew Dunning

A&E EditorChelsea De La Rosa

Assistant A&E EditorNikka Campora

Copy Editor / Advertising Director Caitlin Khoury

Features EditorJennifer Sheridan

ReportersLiz HillJake PollockSpencer OwenPatrick Hoeppner

ContributorsMarissa StoneEliza DemarestRicko ErikssonTaylor Pusc

AdviserTanya Caninotcanino@sierranevada.edu

Letters to the Editor:eagleseye@sierranevada.edu

Corrections Policy:The Eagle’s Eye strives to be accurate, fair and complete in its coverage and corrects significant errors of fact. If you see an error, please e-mail the editor at eagleseye@sierrane-vada.edu or call the adviser at 530.386.5042.

Advertising:Businesses who would like to support the student newspa-per at Sierra Nevada College while gaining exposure to the Incline Village com-munity are encouraged to advertise in the Eagle’s Eye. For more information, please call our advertising repre-sentative Caitlin Khoury at 603.913.5325 or email caitlinkhoury@yahoo.com

Eagle’s Eye mission statementThe Eagle’s Eye is a student-run publication which covers news of interest and importance to the greater Sierra Nevada Col-lege community. We will remain open to your feedback as the Eagle’s Eye progressively im-proves.

The Eagle’s Eye is a member of:

You can graduate from college as one of two types of people. The first type of graduate is a branded individual, someone who attains the mark of their alma mater and carries it with them throughout their lives, proudly honoring the institution from which they received a decent education.

The second type of graduate is more commonly found here at Sierra Nevada College. These individuals do not leave with just insignias and memories; they leave with expe-rience and pride from what they have accomplished. These individuals have not only been changed and shaped by their time spent here, but they will leave a legacy of ex-cellence for those who come after them. In this issue of the Eagle’s Eye alone, you can read about this summer’s expeditionary field course, service learning projects, senior projects and the student symposium, all of which exemplify SNC’s active learning phi-losophy.

These individuals have met the challenges presented at SNC and flourished, thriving because of good counsel and support. Professors, advisers, parents and friends have all contributed to ensure that college is not idled away. By collecting diplomas on May 12, SNC graduates will show that these years of effort and investment were not wasted.

But graduation is not the end of their story; it is the beginning.The strong ideas and enthusiastic undertakings graduates leave behind will be em-

braced and evolved by other passionate students. The knowledge and experience graduates take with them, however, will be what makes them an influential force in their world. SNC graduates may not know how they will inspire change right away, but be certain, they will.

May is not a month for graduates to be stamped and sent out from SNC. It is a time for individuals to march out as explorers, entrepreneurs and academics—as leaders.

Remember what you’ve accomplished in these classrooms and on these mountains and enjoy whatever journey follows this one.

Congratulations, the next adventure is ahead.

Savannah HooverManaging Editor

It’s been an adventure, now enjoy what’s nextA letter from the editor

THURSDAY, May 3, 2012 www.sierranevada.edu 3NEWS

$0

$5,000

$10,000

$15,000

$20,000

$25,000

$30,000

$35,000

$40,000

IN-STATE STUDENTS LIVING ON CAMPUS

OUT-OF-STATE STUDENTS LIVING ON CAMPUS

IN-STATE STUDENTS LIVING OFF CAMPUS (NOT WITH FAMILY)

OUT-OF-STATE STUDENTS LIVING OFF CAMPUS (NOT WITH FAMILY)

IN-STATE STUDENTS LIVING OFF CAMPUS

(WITH FAMILY)

OUT-OF-STATE STUDENTS LIVING OFF CAMPUS

(WITH FAMILY)

AVERAGE NET PRICE, 2009-2010

0%

10%

20%

30%

40%

50%

60%

70%

80%

90%

SIERRA NEVADA COLLEGE P RIVATE NON-PROFIT FOUR-YEAR

PRIVATE FOR PROFIT FOUR-YEAR

PUBLIC FOUR YEAR

PERCENTAGE OF STUDENTS RECEIVING AID, 2009-2010

Sierra Nevada College students receive more aid, have more expenses

$0

$5,000

$10,000

$15,000

$20,000

$25,000

SIERRA NEVADA COLLEGE

PRIVATE NON-PROFIT FOUR-YEAR

PRIVATE FOR PROFIT FOUR-YEAR

PUBLIC FOUR-YEAR

AVERAGE AMOUNT OF FEDERAL, STATE, LOCAL, INSTITUTIONAL OR OTHER SOURCES OF GRANT AID DOLLARS RECEIVED BY UNDERGRADUATE STUDENTS, 2009-2010

SIERRA NEVADA COLLEGE

PRIVATE NON-PROFIT FOUR-YEAR

PRIVATE FOR PROFIT FOUR-YEAR

PUBLIC FOUR-YEAR

Students at Sierra Nevada College pay a higher tuition than students pay on av-erage at other non-profit private four-year schools, for-profit private four-year schools and four-year public schools. That being said, a much higher percent of stu-dents receive a larger amount of aid com-pared to other schools. • 82 percent of SNC students receive an

average of $14,040 from institutional grants which include grants and schol-arships from the college as well as merit-based awards and scholarships from businesses and organizations.

• 30 percent of SNC students receive an average of $4,808 from federal aid which includes government grants such as the PELL grant.

• 14 percent of SNC students receive an average of $1,871 from state and lo-cal aid.

• 59 percent of SNC students receive an average of $4,903 from student loans both federal and private organizations.

Information collected from The Insti-tute of Education Sciences at http://nces.ed.gov/ipeds/datacenter/Statistics.aspx

BY JENN SHERIDAN & JASON PALADINO Features Editor News Editor

THURSDAY, May 3, 2012Eagle’s Eye 4 FORUM

This past semester provided me with perhaps one of the greatest, yet most challenging academic experiences I

have endured thus far: the infamous Ser-vice Learning Project. As one of Sierra Ne-vada College’s upper level requirements specifically for Interdisciplinary Studies, the Service Learning Project requires the student to complete 60 hours of service toward his or her organization of choice, mine being Sierra Nevada College and the Admissions department.

What exactly is the Service Learning Project? From the outsider’s perspective, it might be viewed as a free ticket of admis-sion to a stress factory. It’s long, ongoing and constantly requiring 110 percent ef-fort. For the Service Learner, it is exactly that – and more. From the very end of the fall 2011 semester when idea submissions are due up until the end of the spring 2012 semester, the Service Learning Project has been in the front, middle and back of my brain, testing me to work harder and to push my limits. While the experience is somewhat exhausting, it has been one of the best – if not ‘the best’ – love-hate rela-tionships that I have ever had. I have seen myself grow throughout this semester in a way I never thought possible.

But enough of the emotional details for the moment, allow me to reflect on the work from the past several months. I sub-

mitted my idea to Rosie Hackett and Katie Zanto by Dec. 1, 2011. At that time, I only had a very rough idea as to what my service would be. With the tremendous enthusiasm and help of Hackett and Zanto, what was once a mere suggestion blossomed into a well-structured plan of action: I had de-cided to create a manual-themed handbook on how to facilitate ODAL-style activities, like icebreakers and group exercises. More specifically, the idea behind the handbook is that any person, experienced in facilitat-ing or not, would be able to pick up the book and facilitate activities by using the resources within the text. The handbook, which I hope to publish within the very near future, will contain several templates to be used when leading an activity. Each template is formatted in the same man-ner as the next, retaining the theme of the ‘easy-to-read’ style. The templates include: the name of the activity, how many people it is appropriate for, the difficulty level, materials needed, time needed, and brief instructions on how to guide the partici-pants through the activity.

But it’s not just writing the game tem-

plates that ‘make’ the service. I had to ex-periment with each of them; testing them to see how they worked. With great thanks to the admissions department, they allowed me to test these activities on perspective students that attended the SNC 360 events. On designated SNC 360 Fridays from 8:45 to 9:00 a.m., I would lead an intro-level ac-tivity such as a name game to get the pros-pects warmed up – to get them energized. After that, they would follow the rest of the 360 schedule, meeting up with me again from 12:30 to 1:00 p.m. Here, we would usu-ally meet outside of Patterson Hall on the patio for a more physi-cally demanding activ-ity. By doing this, the prospective students could experience what active learning was like here at SNC. This was a great way to test some of the activities that I had stum-bled across, many of which I found online at a great web resource called wilderdom.com.

Now that the semesters end is taunting us with warm weather and sunny skies, the Service Learning Project comes to a

close. Yes, I feel a sense of relief as this is now finished, but what I feel more of is pride. All throughout school, from junior high school to now, we have been assigned papers. We have been assigned projects. We have been assigned this, and assigned that. I am more than proud to say that this was my project, from its roots to it’s now

beautified flower-like petals. I would like to give special thanks to the following people who have contributed in one way or anoth-er to this scholastic adventure known as my Service Learn-ing Project: Rosie Hackett, Katie Zanto, Amye Cole, Ray De-Graw, Aaron Trem-blay, Nick Anderson, Paul Thibodaeu, Lynn Gillette, those pro-

spective students who attended the SNC 360 events, and anyone and everyone else who has helped me prosper in this field. My final words are directed to the upcom-ing Service Learners. Choose a topic that you are passionate about and forget about limits for the project – this is yours to choose. That is all for now – on to the Se-nior Portfolio!

Simple facilitation for everyday communication“The pen is mightier than the sword, and considerably easier to write with.”

RICH COOCH

“

“

Choose a topic that you are passionate about and forget about limits for the project - this is yours to choose.

Rich CoochCAMPUS EDITOR

THURSDAY, May 3, 2012 www.sierranevada.edu 5FORUM

I want to highlight two extraordinary examples of active learning, student ownership, and stu-dent achievement. Remember that great student learning experiences do not simply happen by accident: they are carefully designed by master teachers, who are focused on student learning and development.

Today’s first example is the Sierra Nevada Review, a nationally circulated literary journal in its 23rd consecutive year of publication. The excellent work that June Saraceno does year after year with this journal is a prime example of hands-on, experiential learning, as students work alongside faculty advisors to read, respond to and ultimately select the best work from writers across the country and around the globe.

The Sierra Nevada Review is listed in the Library of Congress, Poet’s Market, Poet’s and Writer’s Magazine; subscribers include Brown University, University of Wisconsin, and many other univer-sities and individuals. It publishes award-winning writers who have multiple books in print -for example, Denise Duhamel, Virgil Suarez and Sholeh Wolpe - as well as emerging writers.

This year, the two key students who worked with June in this hands-on learning project were Jessie Alhandy and Caitlin Burrows. They read 1,031 submissions and selected roughly the top 1 percent for the 108-page Review. They learned about publishing by doing the same work that publishers do – selecting manuscripts, editing, proofreading, layout and design. They gained pro-fessional experience and were mentored by faculty experts Suzanne Roberts, Kai Bekkeli and of course, June.

SNC student artists compete every year to be featured on the cover of the Review. This year’s cover features art by current BFA student Jessica Hayworth and design work from BFA alumni and current staff member Logan Lape.

It is tempting to take great teaching and course design for granted, because master teachers make it look easy. As we think about all that is involved with the Sierra Nevada Review, each of us needs to pause and congratulate June Saraceno for shepherding another extraordinary learning experience for our students. I am proud of you, June, and honored to be on the same team with you!

The second example I have chosen today is the 2012 Student Symposium. On April 26, SNC held our second Student Symposium, which brings together the very best student research projects and presentations from each department. This is the culminating academic event of our year, and in true SNC form, it is a showcase for active learning. The 25 student presentations were judged by a committee of faculty and community members, who confirmed that the student work was of the highest quality: the presenters were articulate, confident, professional, prepared and poised.

It takes courage to be great. It is much easier to stay on the sidelines, where no one gets hurt. Last Thursday night, I saw 25 students suit up and play the game to win! Their courage and poise in-spired me. Congratulations to all the students who participated in the 2012 Student Symposium!

What impact have you made at Sierra Nevada College?

BY PATI SAINZ DE ROZAS Photo Editor

“I have been an influential role model as a Resident Assistant for the past three years.”

Eztra StempleSenior

“I have started a peer mentorship program with a goal of changing the culture, specifically the social norms of ODAL students.”

Katy LambertSenior

“I impacted SNC with smiles for miles.”

Tucker NorredSenior

“Trying to be involved in the student life and open to my fellow classmates. I hope I have touched a few ives here.”

Lauren Upton Senior

A letter from President Lynn Gillette

After eight semesters working for the Sierra Nevada College Eagle’s Eye, I have seen this newspaper transform more than I could ever have imagined.

Walking into “Introduction to Journal-ism” my freshman year, I had no idea what to expect. I had never written for any kind of newspaper before or written something that hundreds and potentially thousands of people would see.

Of the eight students in the class in 2008, I was one of two first-time reporters. Gun-nar Gottschalk and Mindy Roberts were our sole editors for the entire paper.

Still with a fresh out-of-high school men-tality, I felt as if I was thrown into the class. I had two weeks to write my first news ar-ticle. My confidence level was the equiva-lent of being naked in front of a crowd. I didn’t know what to expect.

Kara Fox, our professor at the time, was completely accommodating and un-derstood that we were scared out of our minds. What’s this new writing format I was suddenly presented with? You mean to say I don’t indent my paragraphs and put a comma in a list before the word “and”? It just didn’t make sense to me.

After diving head first into writing for a

newspaper, learning a new writing format and working as a team for a class, I became remarkably comfortable with searching for new stories. We have come leaps and bounds since then.

My second year on the Eagle’s Eye staff was when the team really started to make a turnaround and we began focusing on how we could enhance the paper, get the SNC community to read it and enjoy working with a growing class.

Rob DeFelice and Aly Cohen had taken the reigns as editors, our class had grown to 12 and the staff were coming up with fresh new ideas for progression on a daily basis. It was amazing to see how we were taking part in SNC history.

We started to get recognized. We were changing our paper layout, adding more pages, reporting on things the SNC com-munity could relate to and really coming together as a team.

Professor Tanya Canino came into the class my third year. With over 25 years of experience in reporting, she was ready to take the Eagle’s Eye to the next level. So many ideas for information sharing were presented to the class, and we rolled with it.

We converted to full color newsprint for the last issue of the 2010-2011 school year. This year, with editor Savannah Hoover, we went up to 16 pages of print. In retro-spect, we had climbed Mount Everest in just three years and still had plenty of room to reach higher limits.

After four years working for this amaz-ing paper, it’s time for me to put down my press pass and let the paper continue to grow. We have changed so many things over the years and we are starting to get recognized at a national level.

I want to thank my professors and team for helping me learn so many things during my career here. It’s been an honor to work with amazing people and I wish the SNC Eagle’s Eye the best of luck. Thank you for a great time, great laughs and friends made along the way.

Eight semesters later, it has been an honor

Would you like your opinion published in the Eagle’s Eye? Please send comments to

eagleseye@sierranevada.edu.

Letterseditorto the

reader opinions

LIZ HILL

Guest Columnist

THURSDAY, May 3, 2012Eagle’s Eye 6 NEWS

Faculty of the Fortnight:Brennan Lagasse

How long have you been living in Tahoe?

I first came to Tahoe in the winter of 2001 to ski Squaw. By May of 2002 I was living in Squaw and loving every second of the Tahoe lifestyle. Since then, Tahoe has been home base, although I did spend three years going back and forth while in gradu-ate school at Humboldt State University in Arcata, Calif. I now have roots down on the West Shore and am beyond thankful to call Tahoe home.

Where is your favorite place to ski?Wherever the snow is good...but in terms

of my backyard and backcountry skiing be-ing my primary means of travel - Mt. Tal-lac. There’s so much terrain on Tallac; it’s a mountain that can keep you engaged on so many levels. A few of the better couloirs in our area are found on Tallac. There’s plenty of steeps, but there’s also mellow terrain with one of the best views of Lake Tahoe from the summit. The southern as-pects offer amazing corn skiing and the views from all vantages are worth the trip alone.

What is your most memorable outdoor activity experience?

This is way too narrow for me to truly ar-ticulate an answer, as from Squaw to Tahoe and the Eastern Sierra there are so many. The perfect wave, pitch of granite and so many other memorable experiences flood my mind when even trying to come up with one memory. My first turns in New Zea-land (powder!) were memorable because it was the seventh continent I was able to ski on, which was a major goal of mine. However, I will say that after my first run in Antarctica I had an experience that was about as memorable as anything I’ve ever experienced. It was such a dream of mine to somehow find a way to the frozen conti-nent and get to ski there that when I finally got to do it I was more than blown away by the experience. That first Antarctic line wasn’t crazy or anything, but the scenery was profound, and we skied right down to the edge of the ocean. When I stopped and went to click out of my skis, two penguins were right behind me, checking me out. The mountains, water, icebergs, penguins, and people all came together in a unique way to seal a memory I will never forget. It was surreal.

You write for Unofficial Squaw: how did that come about?

Unofficial founder Tim Konrad is a friend from my Squaw days when I fre-quented the mountain much more regularly than I do now. After he had started Unof-ficial Squaw, Tim also happened to be on

the Antarctica trip and we reconnected on a bunch of things, one of them being this new website that was looking for contribu-tors. After Antarctica, I wrote a story for the site about skiing a line at Squaw known as Sacrifice that had been a major goal of mine for some time. Beyond the one story, we talked about reporting on local back-country skiing conditions, as over the years that had become where I spent most of my time skiing. I pitched the column “State of the Backcountry” and we have been work-ing together ever since.

Describe your perfect Saturday...To me the days of the week are arbitrary.

Every day and any day can be the greatest experience of your life-a true gift. I respect that for many Saturday takes on a differ-ent identity than say a Tuesday, so from that perspective I’d say a perfect day might look like....an early morning local SSW wind event that’s brought quality waves to the North Shore. As the cold front that brought the storm system retreats and the waves die off, the precipitation behind the cold front takes over to bring Tahoe some Sierra magic, i.e. copious amounts of fresh snow. The next several hours are spent storm skiing beautiful overhead powder with friends. By day’s end there’s a good gathering of people collecting at some-one’s house to have dinner and celebrate the day before we all head out to enjoy some music for the rest of the night...the crux being the few hours of sleep we’ll all get after another perfect day in Tahoe, knowing there’s 2-3 feet of new snow set up with 18-24 inches of blower powder sit-ting on top, good stability, cold temps and bluebird skies forecasted for the morning.

As the semester winds down to a close, do you have any advice or words of wis-dom for us to take home over summer?

Have a real good time. Relish in the days you are all lucky enough to be students and enjoy yourselves to the fullest. During the summer, away from an academic class-room, take the time to rejuvenate your-selves, go on the adventure you’ve been dreaming about all year, and really tap into what’s motivating you the most right now. Hopefully, by seizing each day in the class-room of life this summer, by the time we meet back up in August you’ll be ready to bring that energy back into the classroom to honor the opportunity you have as stu-dents at SNC, and your energy from the summer will percolate into the other im-portant aspects of your life as well.

Any final thoughts?Don’t stress over your upcoming finals.

Always remember the wisdom of, “this too shall pass.” Look at what you need to do, get it done, and get ready to enjoy your time off this summer. Every semester stu-dents get overwhelmed by finals and right-fully so. However, you have the power to confront what you need to do with confi-dence rather than anxiety. Respect the op-portunity you have to share, exchange and produce knowledge and get what you need to do done. In a few days you’ll be finished with school for a bit, and you’ll be ready to take the skills you just employed to fin-ish the semester with confidence into your next endeavors.

BRENNAN LAGASSESUSTAINABILITY AND SOCIOLOGY CLASSES

THURSDAY, May 3, 2012 www.sierranevada.edu 7NEWS

The Student Government Association elections were held April 12 at Sierra Ne-vada College in the Patterson Dining Hall. Students dropped their ballots off in little white boxes, selecting the students they believe should participate in next year’s SGA.

According to Director of Student Activi-ties William Hoida, every student pays a Student Government fee of $150 each se-mester. The purpose of SGA is to allocate and utilize these particular funds for stu-dent trips and activities.

“Its important for students to have a voice

on campus, especially with the school growing rapidly,” said Sabrina Belleci who was elected as the SGA president.

SGA is composed of seven different po-sitions. After the election, five of the posi-tions were filled. The remaining two posi-tions, Director of Events and Director of Public Relations, were without candidates. Two students were later appointed to these positions. Overall, the only positions that had more than one candidate running were for Treasurer and Director of Public Rela-tions.

Students were able to sign up for next year’s SGA by filling out an application which was later reviewed by an elections

committee that featured Chairman Betsy Sipe. Sipe explained that for a student to run for a position in SGA they must have a minimum grade point average of 2.5, and if running for president a minimum GPA of 3.0. Additionally, Sipe said that each po-sition has different requirements that the candidate must meet in order to run.

Belleci said the benefits of being in SGA are gathering experience by being on a board, making decisions that affect a stu-dent body and being a leader.

“It’s great professional preparedness,” said Hoida. “You’re a student leader, hold-ing yourself to a higher standard.”

recalled the first minutes of the event.“Daniel woke me up and then I ran to

wake up Weston immediately,” Phillips said. “I grabbed my wallet, keys and phone before exiting my house. I didn’t even put shoes on.”

“I thought it was a joke at first,” said Moyer, who was the last to wake. “Blake ran into my room and told me the house was on fire, to grab my stuff and get out. I grabbed my computer and a jacket and on my way downstairs I saw flames running up the walls.”

In a matter of minutes, all five victims were safely outside with no injuries.

“The fire department arrived promptly,” said Moyer, but the two units suffered ex-tensive damage. “A great deal of the mate-rial goods did not survive the fire and were destroyed by water damage.”

“We lost everything; our clothes, our food, our toiletries, our schoolwork, lit-erally everything gone in seconds. That phrase ‘you don’t realize what you have until it’s gone’ really hit home for us,” said Moyer.

The American Red Cross arrived within hours of the fire and provided the victims with compensation to help them with ba-sic necessities including clothing and food. The Cal Neva casino and hotel located in Crystal Bay provided three rooms for two nights, which gave the victims time to ar-range new places to live.

“We couldn’t have asked for more from the community,” said Moyer. “The Red Cross and the Cal Neva helped us a great deal with getting back on our feet again.”

Phillips and Moyer are currently residing in a two-bedroom apartment in the Incline Manor housing developments until May 31, when they will both be heading back home to California for the summer. Mur-phy is currently back in the dorms until the end of the school year; he will move back to New Jersey for the summer. Sir-ziano and Ditaranto are currently staying in a hotel where they will remain until the end of the school year; Sirziano will then move back to New York, and Ditaranto will move back to San Diego.

It is important to take caution when deal-

ing with anything associated with a fire and hot surfaces including ashes, cigarette butts, stove-tops and ovens. Fire District Officials gave these tips for disposing of fireplace and barbecue ashes: “Do not put ashes in a paper bag or cardboard box or place ashes on your deck or in the bushes or next to the house. Also, do not discard ashes in a trash bin where they can ignite other materials. Thoroughly douse the ash-es with water or simply place the ashes in a metal container wait a couple of weeks before throwing them away.”

“I’m still shaken from this entire experi-ence. One minute I had everything, by the next, it was all taken from me,” Moyer re-called.

associated with putting on a community event.”

In 2011, as a service-learning project, Moore held a slopestyle contest at Sky Tavern near Reno. He repeated the event this year as part of his Senior Project as well as writing a 25-page guide to hosting community events, which will serve as a blueprint for future students.

“This year was the most impressive group of Senior Projects I have ever seen,” said Saraceno. “That is absolutely the truth. I have never seen a group so strong in my 20 years at SNC.”

Two evaluators from each department scored the students’ individual Senior Projects and the four highest scores were selected to present their projects at the Stu-dent Symposium held on April 26. The fol-lowing four students were chosen to pres-ent their Senior Projects: Lauren Upton, Patrick Buckley, Katy Lambert and Matt

Fall. The Student Symposium, now in its sec-

ond year, is a larger gathering that demon-strates the academic achievements of stu-dents who completed projects in the Junior Art Portfolio Review, the Business Plan Competition and Governor’s Cup, the Se-nior Projects and the typically independent research of the Science Department.

The Student Symposium was open to the public and after two hours of presentations the winners were announced. First Place went to Glen Cheriton (Art); Second Place, Troy Mott (Psychology); Third Place, Jes-sica Hayworth (Art). The People’s Choice award went to Graham Johnson, Ryan By-rge and Joshua Boles for their aquaponics farming research.

“The symposium highlights the diversity and excellence of each department,” said O’Bryan. “The 2012 event produced some great presentations and the turnout was ex-cellent, a really fantastic attendance.”

BY PATRICK HOEPPNER Staff Reporter

Students vote for next year’s student government representatives

STUDENT SYMPOSIUM, from front page

FIRE, from front page

the President, Lynn Gillette and the Valedictorian Zaira Perez. The ceremony will entail students receiving their much-deserved diplomas. There will also be musical performances by Junior Rebecca Lincoln accompanied by Director of Academic Support Services Henry Conover.

GRADUATION, from front page

Next Year’s SGA • President: Sabrina Belleci• Vice President: Jake Denney• Senate: Tiago Galletti• Secretary: Anna Jarschke • Treasurer: Sonya Hernandez• Dir. of Events: Megan Williamson • Dir. of Public Relations:

Samantha Marquardt

I am very excited to graduate. I feel that SNC has prepared me for whatever is to come in my future and I cannot wait to see what that is. At the same time, it is very bittersweet because I am also leaving this campus which has been home for the last four years.

My plans following graduation are to stick around, hopefully in the area, to work and save up some money to then move to Nepal for a while and have an internship or job. I know I want to go to graduate school but I cannot decide what for. Hopefully, getting out and gaining some experience will help me figure it out.

I am going to miss nearly everything about SNC! Like I said, this has been a home for the last four years. The friends I’ve made, the mentors I’ve gained, and the role models will all be greatly missed.

Zaira PerezValedictorian Zaira Perez

JENN SHERIDAN INTERDISCIPLINARY STUDIES major Katy Lambertther presents her Senior Project.

THURSDAY, May 3, 2012Eagle’s Eye 8 NEWS

The culmination of two semesters of work was presented at the Psychology Re-search Fair that took place at 2 p.m. April 16 in TCES 139. In addition to student presentations, Psychology Department Chair Christina Frederick announced that three students would present their findings at the Stanford Psychology Research Con-ference on May 18-19 at Stanford Univer-sity.

Junior Beau Kissler and Seniors Karen Duran and Troy Mott will present experi-ments of their design at the conference. Kissler will be giving a lecture about his work with the Institute of HeartMath, which studies the role of the heart in our overall processes and health, according to Kissler.

“My experiment involves meditation and its impact upon cognitive processing,” said Kissler. He said he did not discover any significant findings in his research, but that does not mean it is a bad project. In fact, Kissler has the opportunity to work with the Institute of HeartMath, though it is not definite and depends on funding. Kissler is nervous to lecture at the conference, but feels that the Research Fair has helped him prepare.

Students researched a wide range of top-ics including the effect on reaction times in athletes versus video game enthusiasts, the influence of music tempo on a person’s dexterity, and the relationship between working memory and the number of lan-guages spoken fluently.

“I have high expectations in all realms,” said Frederick during the open introduc-tion portion of the research fair. “Everyone met or exceeded those expectations.”

Students asserted it was not without Fredericks help and guidance throughout the entire process.

“It feels good,” said Mott speaking about completing his experiment, “a lot of work went into the project and it’s really nice to have something tangible.”

Mott researched the effect of text medi-ums on critical reading scores.

Eight people from different disciplines reviewed presentations during the research fair. Kai Bekkeli, Sheri O’ Conner, Dan O’ Bryan, Julie Ellsworth, Dan Aalbers, Shannon Huddy, Kara Fox and Frederick assessed student presentations for content, format and style, use of APA format and overall appearance of posters.

“It’s empowering to show what we know,” said Kissler, describing the re-search fair as a rite of passage.

Students present independent research at psychology fairBY JENN SHERIDANFeatures Editor

Experiments included:• “Can Oral Reading Improve

Comprehension in the Collegiate Setting?” by Keenan Cawley

• “Recalling Information: Handwritten Notes vs. Typed Notes” by Karen Duran

• “Executive Funtion: Bi-Lingual vs. Multi Lingual” by Nick Karsant

• “The Effect of Caffeinated Beverages on Academic Performance” by Jennifer Martinez

• “Symmetry and Asymmetry: Influencing Preferred Aesthetics in Design” by Jessie Milone

• “The Impact of Short-Term Meditation in a Simulated Test-Taking Anxiety Environment” by Inaki Martinez-

Creel• “The Relation Between Text Medium

and Critical Reading Scores” by Troy Mott

• “The Influence of Tempo on Dexterity” by Ross Garcia

• “The Effect of Desaturated Colored Paper on Reading Comprehension” by Brittany Vidal

• “Heart’s Hand in Creativity: The effect of Coherence Mediation” by Beau Kissler

• “Music or Images: Which has the Greater Impact on Mood?” by Anthony Somerville

• “Video Games vs. Athletes: Effects on Simple Reaction Time” by Jordan Ellis

COURTESY OF TAKASHI HANASAKAPSYCHOLOGY STUDENTS

THURSDAY, May 3, 2012 www.sierranevada.edu 9FEATURES

Sierra Nevada College is known for many unique different academic aspects. Some may say that one particular thing about the school is the creativity it attracts.

A large number of students who come to the school are recognized for the pursuit of their own entrepreneurial ventures as indi-viduals and groups.

From apparel brands to film and produc-tion companies, this school has it all. One reason behind the school’s ability to attract these creative students is the opportunities it has to offer.

“I’m very excited about the opportunities our students have at SNC to experiment with their entrepreneurial ventures,” said Business Professor Richard Gire. “With the President’s Cup Business Plan compe-tition and the related Special Topics class, students are encouraged and counseled in the preparation of a real-world business plan.”

One of many examples of a business plan that has grown since its arrival at SNC is Local Knits. SNC student and creator of Local Knits, Sophomore Ethan Rollins has noticed his company’s growth just in his time at the SNC.

“My com-pany has grown tre-m e n d o u s l y just in the last year,” said Rollins “I

opened a Facebook account and the com-pany has started blowing up,”

Another student with a successful ven-ture is Freshmen John Wilkins, who came to SNC after creating Hardway Apparel.

“I started Hardway Apparel before coming to Sierra Nevada College,” said Wilkins. “However my decision to come here was based on my desire to continue in my entrepreneurial ventures.”

Some students started their companies after arriving at SNC. The founders of CAB boarding, Lloyd Garden, Zach Mal-ey, and Justin Tyrell Coplan started their venture during their first year at the school.

“CAB boarding was started up in the dorm rooms in between sessions of skating and snowboarding, with the idea of a com-

pany that was more reasonably priced and built to last,” said Sophomore Lloyd Gar-den. “CAB later became perfected in Rich-ard Gire’s ‘Entrepreneurship’ class and has been put to the test as we go through our business classes. Having the teachers help us along the way has been a huge advan-tage in the company’s success!”

While SNC already has what some may call a vast amount of entrepreneurs, there is new ambition to make important chang-es in the program to help students gain experience and further the process of their business ventures during their time at the college.

“In a word, ‘yes.’ That is our goal: to make the Entrepreneurship program more than an exercise in ‘book learning’ and to utilize the business acumen of our faculty to facilitate the process,” said Gire. “As the word gets out, we expect to attract more and more students with creative visions of

unique and exciting entrepreneurial oppor-tunities.”

As the school continues to grow, goals toward expansion of the entrepreneurial funding and opportunity may start to grow as well.

“It is my hope that, in the not-too-distant future, SNC will provide a real-world en-trepreneurial ‘incubator’ opportunity to assist in the funding of prototype develop-ment and IP filings,” said Gire.

BY SPENCER OWEN Staff Reporter

Entrepreneurial spirit at the core of Sierra Nevada College

Laird Blackwell, professor, mentor, friend and lover of cave painting t-shirts, will be offi-cially retiring at the end of the academic school year.

He has been part of the Sierra Nevada College campus for more than a generation and many will be sad to see him go. He has changed the psychology department at SNC and some hope his values, teaching style and spirit will remain here after he has gone.

“I think the most important thing I can say is that Laird is the reason I stayed here at SNC and why I am a double major. He has been an amazing mentor, teacher and listener my whole time here and I will be sad to lose that,” said senior Anza Jarschke. “I can never thank him enough for what he has done for me and my life. Many thanks and much love goes out to him.”

Blackwell was 36 when he came to SNC and has been here to watch the school grow into a family. His teaching style and ideas have developed over 15 classes in psychology, hu-manities and social sciences.

“I’m going to miss erasing Laird’s spirals from the white board. But really, he was an in-spiration to us all,” said fellow professor June Seraceno.

Laird is hopeful about what this school will do after he has gone.

“I’m confident that the school can maintain its intimacy and sense of spirit and connection to the cycles of nature around it. We’re growing together,” said Blackwell. “The students at SNC find motivation within themselves to suc-ceed and have fun here.”

“I feel lucky to have had the opportunity to know Laird and to have been able to gobble up at least a speck of his wisdom,” said junior Evelina Rutdal. “The topics of his classes have been completely new to me and they have changed my life. The school is losing one of the greatest teachers, mentors and grounding forces there is. We will all miss him.”

“One of the things that shows that we can keep our

students in the true mindset of this school is our outdoor program, interdisciplinary program and the fact that we give our students the ability to study abroad,” said Black-well. “Things will grow even when I’m done here. I’m not going anywhere, really. I’m not dying. I’m not even moving!”

Blackwell will be missed by students he has encoun-tered over the years. He will be teaching a class to 7th and 8th grade students after he finishes here, as well as leading a class exploring wildflowers around the Lake Tahoe area.

Blackwell said, “There is no other school I would have rather taught at than here. It’s been a blessing.”

There will be a farewell reception for Laird Blackwell at 3 p.m. on May 5 in the TCES building of SNC campus. To RSVP to the event, visit the page created on Facebook or go to http://www.sierranevada.edu/news/detail/?id=750.

Psychology professor says farewell after 31 years of inspirationBY LIZ HILLStaff Reporter

LIZ HILLABOVE, LAIRD BLACKWELL is surrounded by one of the many psychology classes he has inspired. BELOW , BLACKWELL congratulates a student during graduation during his first years at Sierra Nevada College.

Entrepreneurial Thinking

COURTESY OF LAIRD BLACKWELL

SPENCER OWENSOPHOMORE ETHAN ROLLINS designs stickers to advertise his business, Local Knits.

THURSDAY, May 3, 2011Eagle’s Eye 10 FEATURES

DANNY KERN1) STUDENTS GATHER on the Hyatt pier waiting anxiously in line to get on the Tahoe Queen. 2) DRESSED TO impress, students make their way on board of the Tahoe Queen ready to enjoy the luxurious night on the lake. 3) THE DANCE reaches its peak and Andrew Gauthier gets surrounded by dancing ladies. 4) ANDREW GAUTHIER and Oliver Di Costanzo sit and enjoy their drinks along with the third story view of the lake. 5) MEG BARRY and Ian J. Daly smoke a cigarette while waiting in line to get on the Tahoe Queen, both are looking quite formal for the formal. 6) Bryan Fisher and Krystal Hernandez pose for a photo while taking a break from the dance floor. 7) RENEE KELLY, Jake Pollock, Tyler Aurther, Eliza Demarest and Halle Daubner gather to take a photo right outside the dance floor. 8) COLIN KOSCO, Max Huff, Oliver Di Costanzo and Patrick NcKeon hang on the first floor enjoying the view from the front of the boat. Lake Tahoe’s crystal clear water was calm and smooth as the boat cruised around the north and west shores of the lake. 9) STUDENTS SIT eating the five-star meal the Tahoe Queen served and as they enjoy the amazing view from the windows of the boat.

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THURSDAY, May 3, 2012 www.sierranevada.edu 11OUTDOOR

Last summer, 10 students braved the ele-ments for 20 days in Canyonlands National Park, Utah.

This summer, from May 14 – June 5, another 10 students will take on this harsh landscape; only this time students will endure Mother Nature for five additional days.

ODAL 450, also known as “Extended Field Expedition: Leadership Practicum” is the capstone course for ODAL majors. A partnership between the National Outdoor Leadership School (NOLS) and SNC was forged in 2011 when Professor of ODAL Rosie Hackett approached the organiza-tion. NOLS responded with enthusiasm, and its curriculum was combined with Hackett’s.

The result is a trip that attempts to train students in risk management, navigation, facilitation, leadership, backcountry skills and more.

“I am proud to say that we had great feedback from the students who did it last year. They didn’t want to change much,” said Hackett.

The trip is extremely similar logistically to last year’s trip, with the addition of five days in the backcountry. This will allow for longer solos, overnight periods of isolation where students are encouraged to reflect on their journeys, Hackett said.

“I am excited to get to know some of the people,” said Senior Megan Alexander, “It’s a diverse group.”

Students are attempting to prepare them-selves for this physically demanding expe-rience.

“The best way that they are preparing for the class is by soaking up the wisdom from last year’s extended field graduates: what to bring, what not to bring, what to expect physically and emotionally and what to be sure that they take advantage of and not let slip by unnoticed.” said Hackett. “Learn-ing the wisdom from those who ventured before us is the best preparation one can have.”

Students from last year’s trip returned with stories of heavy backpacks and chal-lenging canyon terrain, according to Alex-ander, who will be participating this sum-mer.

“I am trail-running, climbing and really enjoying my showers while I can,” Alex-ander said. “I want to become a lot more comfortable guiding.”

Senior Stefan Moore is also attempting to prepare himself for the experience.

“I have been hiking and running lately. Also I have been dropping any extra mon-ey I have on gear,” Moore said.

Hackett is enthusiastic about the educa-tional advantages of an immersive back-country course.

“The leadership skills students acquire, or rather unleash, on this extended field expedition are transferred into every as-pect of their present and future lives,” said Hackett, “They not only become aware of themselves, acknowledging their strengths and weakness, but they are able to take it to the next level and transform themselves, turning their disabilities into their opportu-nities.” she said.

As the snow disappears one might think that the ski sea-son is over for this year. Yet, the season is starting in just a month for the Sierra Nevada College ski team. The SNC Eagles will travel to Hintertux Austria, June 27 - July 10.

The camp’s main goal for SNC is having everyone indirectly prepare for nationals and other races for the upcoming season.

There will be a camp that starts in Octo-ber but it’s less beneficial without summer skiing because the new equipment needs to be “skied in” or tested because it takes time for everyone to get used to the new equipment.

Everyone needs to spend time to get the feeling for the new equipment that will be used for the upcoming season. Therefore, a camp in the summer would make the skiers ready to train earlier than they otherwise would have been.

“This trip is extremely valuable for me. Especially be-cause I was injured the previous season and I have a lot of things to catch up with,” said Junior Philip Brattstrom.

That is just one of the many reasons why it is important to ski during the summer.

Hintertux is a place where many of the athletes have al-ready visited because the glacier offers good skiing condi-

tions and there are many teams there. It does not benefit anyone to be isolated, many World Cup teams are there and that is a great source of motivation.

As everyone knows, most of the athletes are from Eu-rope and will already be in the area which makes it easy to travel there. A few of them live just an hour away.

Branko Zagar, the alpine ski coach, mentioned that the recruit-ing is mostly done in Europe. So this trip is an excellent move by combining the camp and recruit-ing.

“Good training and also be-ing able to recruit people to the team: on this trip we will have a few athletes with us that are in the

process of being recruited,” said Zagar. The Alps in Europe are unfortunately not known for sun-

shine everyday. The team hopes it will have a successful trip with good conditions, so they can come back next se-mester ready to train and aim toward nationals.

Melissa Daniels, one of the skiers on the team who is from the U.S., is looking forward to the trip in many ways.

“It is my first time going to Europe, also my first time skiing on a glacier. My expectations are high and I am looking forward to good weather, hopefully, and a lot of good skiing,” said Daniels.

Ski team scheduled to rendezvous in Hintertux Austria this July

ODAL students prepare forsecond Utah expedition BY JASON PALADINONews Editor

BY RICKO ERIKSSON Contributor

JASON PALADINOSPRING IN UTAH often brings thunderstorms.

COURTESY OF TAE PALICSUMMERTIME in Hintertux offers year round skiing oppurtunities.

JASON PALADINOLAST YEAR’S ODAL STUDENTS navigate Canyonlands cliff-ridden desert terrain.

2012 ODAL 450 Students• Kaila Busk• Glen Cheriton • Rich Cooch• Kat Daubner• Megan Alexander

• Savannah Hoover • Tim Lowe• Ryan Mendez• Stefan Moore• John Munson

““It is my first time going to Europe, also my first time skiing on a glacier.Melissa DanielsSNC Ski Team

THURSDAY, May 3, 2012Eagle’s Eye 12 FEATURES

What brought you to SNC in the first place?Pati: “Most of all, I wanted to live in the mountains so I could snowboard everyday.

I needed to balance the sport I love with my career, which is practically impossible in Europe. So I started looking for colleges in the U.S. with a snowboard team. I was also at-tracted by the Interdisciplinary Studies program that offers photography and journalism, something not available in Spain. So I could combine all my three passions here at SNC. If I had any doubts left, they were gone on the day I saw the lake for the first time in a photograph and I teared up, overwelmed by the certainty that this was the place for me.”

Chelsea: “I was planning on going to the Bay to finish school, but all the signs kept pointing to SNC. All the pieces just fell into place effortlessly. I wanted to stay in the Tahoe area so I could snowboard for a litle longer and I loved being in the mountains. It wasn’t a tough decision but in retrospect it was definitely the right one. The small class sizes and breadth of opportunities made it easy to fall in love with SNC.”

What are you doing after you graduate?Pati: “I have a bunch of plans for the summer. I plan on hiking the Lost Coast in Califor-

nia. I might hike a little section of the Pacific Crest Trail as well. My boyfriend is going to buy me a plane ticket to the Caribbean as a graduation present where we will sail his friend’s boat from Columbia to Panama.”

Chelsea: “I plan to be here, work in South Lake for the summer as well as road trip to as many concerts as humanly possible. Then head to Australia in October.”

What are your plans for the future?Pati: “I definitely want to stay in the United States for the remainder of my visa, which

is a year. I’m thinking about moving to SoCal to find a job in the media and start building up my career, but I’m not sure if I’m ready to leave Tahoe yet, I love it too much, this place is absolutely beautiful and magical.”

Chelsea: “To be a rock writer, work for a magazine and write about music for the rest of my life. Maybe do some immersion writing, which is when you go and immerse yourself in another life, culture or career to get perspective on other peoples’ way of living.”

What will you miss most about SNC?Pati: “The security that I feel in this school as well as the support the SNC community

has given me. What I’ll miss the most is the creativity and knowledge that you gain from being surrounded by so many interesting people. I want to be in college forever.”

Chelsea: “I’m going to miss the atmosphere, the diversity and having stimulating con-versations with my peers. I’m going to miss my commute everyday and clearing my head just before arriving to the most beautiful campus anyone could ask for. I’m going to miss being a college kid.”

What secret can you share about SNC?Pati: “You can make free coffee in the meeting room on the third floor of the library and

in the ceramic room in David Hall.”

Chelsea: “The I.T. department will hook it up.”

How long have you worked with the Eagle’s Eye?Pati: “I have been part of the Eagle’s Eye staff since I first came to SNC, three years ago,

so I have worked for the paper a total of six semesters.”

Chelsea: “Two years, since I transfered to SNC.”

What do you think of the newspaper’s quality, then versus now?Pati: “I am truly amazed of the rapid growth of our paper and very proud of it. Our hard

work that has paid off, placing second in the National Journalism Convention in Seattle was a great surprise and reward for all the effort that the Eagle’s Eye team has put into the paper. We have really become a competent team that works together with passion and commitment.”

Chelsea: “When I first got here, it seemed to be in a really rugged place but it’s come a really long way and I’m proud of being part of its development. Having an editorial staff that isn’t afraid to take chances has put the Eagle’s Eye in a really good place for the future. I was just lucky to jump in, in a time of raw creativity.”

What advice will you give to upcoming students?Pati: “Take advantage of every moment. Try to learn as much as you can because in the

end, no matter how much your teachers ask of you, the knowledge you gain depends upon your own interest. Never stop being a student of life.”

Chelsea: “Just show up. Charge it! Don’t worry so much because it is never as bad as you think and if it is as bad as you think, take a walk outside and look around, and remem-ber why you came here in the first place.”

Pati Sainz de Rozas Chelsea De La Rosa

Hometown: Madrid, SpainAge: 23Major: B.A. in PhotojournalismYear: Senior

Hometown: Kingsburg, CalifAge: 23Major: B.F.A. in Creative WritingYear: Senior

Eagle’s Eye Editors Put the Paper to Bed for the Last Time

THURSDAY, May 3, 2012 www.sierranevada.edu 13A&E

After months of anxiety, four friends and I traveled 10 hours south to Indio, Calif., April 14-16, in 100 degree weather to at-tend one of the most popular music festi-vals in the world: Coachella.

We pulled up to a mile-long line of cars filled with excited festival-goers that re-sembled a line of ants eagerly racing to-ward a delicious meal. We entertained ourselves by hula hooping, waving around glow sticks and dancing. Senior Jake Pol-lock put on an Indie radio station on Pan-dora as we socialized and patiently waited with several others in line.

I noticed the area we were camping in was more crowded than years before and I was completely OK with it. Making new friends at festivals is one of the best parts.

As our weekend progressed, it became obvious that everyone seemed to enjoy the nights more. The heat was unbearable and things were melting that we never thought could. I remember watching Senior Arielle Shipe pull the cap off her deodorant and pouring out liquid.

We spent our days hiding in the shade and drenching our sweaty bodies with mas-sive amounts of water. As soon as the sun

went down, the festival came to life.The first night, I saw The Black Keys and

Swedish House Mafia perform. The Black Keys are an American rock band from Akron, Ohio. Singer and guitarist, Dan Auerbach, and drummer, Patrick Carney, formed the band in 2001. For those who haven’t heard them, they are amazing.

They have a southern blues/rock style and their songs are full of soul, energy and honesty. With psychedelic rock influences such as Led Zeppelin and The Smiths, The Black Keys hold a new age vibe that makes everyone want to rock out.

Swedish House Mafia’s performance was full of bright lights, fireworks and large flames being shot into the night sky. Ev-eryone jumped up and down continuously for about two hours with their heads mes-merized by the attractions in the sky. They mixed a catchy track with Florence and the Machine’s, “You’ve Got the Love,” with Gotye’s most popular single, “Somebody That I Used to Know.” The Swedish House Mafia is made up of three young males. They have been together since 2008.

Saturday was one of the best days of the festival, as a constant breeze flowed through. The night performers included The Shins, Bon Iver, Miike Snow and Ra-diohead; a few of my favorite artists. Bon

Iver and Radiohead were my favorite per-formances of the night. Bon Iver’s indie folk music is soft and relaxing on his CD’s, so I wasn’t sure what to expect in person. His live performance included singer-songwriter Justin Vernon accompanied by his fellow band members. They played live instruments including saxophone, trom-bone, guitars, drums and keyboards.

Surrounding the stage were different sized attractions that lit up like old-fash-ioned candlesticks. Rugged cloths swayed above the band as they jammed out and ended their performance with their power-ful song, “Skinny Love.”

I assumed that Radiohead was going to be a good show because they have been performing globally since 1986.

While amplifying sights and sounds, their psychedelic, electronic rock sound suc-cessfully fulfilled my expectations and put the crowd into a melodic dancing frenzy.

They ended with “House of Cards,” as abstract visuals were being displayed on screens in the background.

Thom Yorke had incredible energy and was a great performer, along with the rest of the band.

Many other fantastic performers ended the weekend. On Sunday, music artists that caught my eye included electro-acoustic

musicians hailing from Oakland, Beats An-tique, Australian multi-instrumental musi-cian, Gotye, Seattle’s Indie folk-pop band, The Head and the Heart and English Indie pop band Florence and the Machine, with lead singer Florence Welch.

The festival ended with a bang when fa-mous hip-hop artists, Dr. Dre and Snoop Dogg invited Eminem, 50 Cent, Kendrick Lamar, Wiz Khalfia and a hologram of Tu-pac to perform with them on stage.

The area was clouded with smoke as the artists successfully ended the festival in the biggest party Coachella had seen in years.

Annually Coachella attracts a variety of people ranging from hippies, hipsters, trendsters, ravers, and everything in be-tween. With many genres of music playing live, one can enjoy rock, indie, alternative, hip-hop, electronic and reggae music.

After surviving three hot days covered in dirt and sweat, soaking myself and friends with ice-cold water, I left with complete satisfaction of spending a weekend listen-ing to new music with awesome friends.

A few other Sierra Nevada students that attended the festival were: Senior Jake Pollock, Junior Jeff Reifers, Senior Ari-elle Shipe, Senior Patricia Sainz de Rozas, Junior Nick Cahill and Junior Renata Da-mone.

BY ELIZA DEMAREST Contributor

COURTESY OF RENATA DEMONETOP Thousands of cars pack into the open fields of the festival grounds. TO LEFT the crowds go insane as the beat drops. The people raise their hands as the tent shakes with the beat of the bass. ABOVE Coachella is represented through a piece of art work as a crazy, wild, undefined time of color and passion.

COACHELLA

COURTESY OF NICK CAHILL OF MHMM PRODUCTIONS

COURTESY OF NICK CAHILL OF MHMM PRODUCTIONS

Annual music festival melts more than faces due to extreme temperatures

THURSDAY, May 3, 2012Eagle’s Eye 14 A&EConcert Choir a hit with students and local residents

SPORTS Annual Spring Paddle Saturday, May 19, Com-mons Beach, Tahoe City, Calif.9 a.m. - 1 p.m.The Lake Tahoe Water Trail’s Annual Spring Paddle. We will be launching from Com-mons Beach in Tahoe City for a morning paddle, followed by lunch at Sunnyside Res-taurant and Lodge.For more information and registration laketahoewatertrail.org

America’s Most Beautiful Bike RideSunday, June 3Horizon Casino Resort, State-line, Nev. The 21st Annual Most Beauti-ful Bike Ride 2012 is a boat Cruise/35-Mile Fun Ride, 72-mile ride around the Lake, and full 100-mile century are offered. This ride promotes Lake Tahoe Bikeway, the plan to build and interconnect bike lanes/trails around Lake Tahoe, and is the culmination

of the Leukemia & Lympho-ma Society’s National Team

Adventure Sports WeekFri. Jun. 15, Sun. June 24Tahoe City, Calif.

Escape the daily grind this June 15th through the 24th in one of the world’s top outdoor playgrounds. Ad-venture Sports Week Tahoe was created for those who appreciate clean air, clear wa-ter, scenic single track, and an elevated heart rate. Come challenge yourself during the day in one of the many competitive events including trail running, mountain biking, triathlon, stand up paddle boarding and swimming. For more information, visit aswtahoe.com

Lake Tahoe Paddle FestivalFri., June 22 Emerald Bay, Calif.The Lake Tahoe Paddle Festival is a solstice celebra-

tion of human powered watercraft featuring “Ancient Art to State of the Art™” boats, boards and paddles. For more information visit laketahoepaddlefestival.com

Run to the Beach Wed. July 4 Tahoe Regional Park to Kings Beach, Calif.Begins: 8 a.m.Run to the Beach is a 5k or 10k trail run featuring some

great trails and finishes in Kings Beach. www.big-blueadventure.com

MUSIC.Andre Nickatina Thurs., May 10Knitting Factory, Reno, Nev. Tickets: $15- $45 (Plus Taxes &Fees) Andre Nickatina has been a Hip-Hop/Rap luminary since the release of his critically

acclaimed debut, “The New Jim Jones.” A favorite at public venues and on college campuses, Andre Nickatina continues to sustain a loyal fan-base, while engaging new supporters throughout North America. For more information visit andrenicka-

tina.com

Pennywise Friday June 1Knitting Factory, Reno, Nev.Tickets: $22 Adv., $25 d.o.s., $45 reserved box seatsPennywise formed in 1988 in Hermosa Beach, the south bay of Los Angeles.

The Wailers Wed. June 6MontBleu Resort, Stateline, Nev. Tickets: $30 (Plus Taxes

&Fees)All General Admission shows are seated on a first come first serve basis. The Wailers will be bringing their laid back tunes and rasta vibes for a night of raggae that is sure to please all that have loved the band for years. This show will be a great way to kick off summer with some sweet beats. For more infor-mation visit: montbleure-sort.com/general_details.php?id=397

What’s going down around town

On Thursday, April 19, and Saturday, April 21, the Sierra Nevada Concert Choir performed the musical adaptation of John Milton’s epic poem, “Paradise Lost”, by J.A. Meyrelles and Donna Axton, in ad-dition to performing “The Seven Country Songs: Frostiana,” by Randall Thompson at St. Patrick’s Episcopal Church in Incline Village.

For those unfamiliar with the story, Para-dise Lost is a retelling of Genesis 2-3, the account of Adam and Eve and their com-mitment of Original Sin in the Garden of Eden. On the other hand, Frostiana, is a set of seven movement-constructed art songs based on Robert Frost’s poems in collabo-ration with Thompson.

Senior Lauren Upton said, “Performing the music was so much fun because the pieces were unique and varied.” Upton added, “My favorite part was the second half because the Paradise Lost music has a lot of personality, so I really got into it.”

Senior Zoey Gustafson said, “I really en-joyed [performing] this concert because of the high amount of energy that was in the music.”

On the hard work and dedication instilled by each recitalist, Gustafson said, “Donna, the choir, and the orchestra put a lot of time into the music and I think the outcome was successful.”

Students who participated in this event included Millie Clark, Natalie Dyjak, Hil-ary Fylstra, Zoey Gustafson, Yesenia Ru-elas, Lauren Upton, Anita Danowski, Ben Higgins and Kyle Murphy. SNC graduates Karen Colbert and Ron Havens performed as well.

If you missed this performance and

would like to see the music department in action, the SNC College Choir will be put-ting on its Annual Broadway Concert fea-turing “The Wizard of Oz” and “Hair” at 7 p.m. May 9 in Patterson Hall.

BY MARISSA STONE Contributor

MARISSA STONEABOVE, SNC CONCERT CHOIR in collaboration with local performers, belt out a number from the musical adaptation of Paradise Lost at St. Patrick’s Episcopal Church April 19 and 21.

BELOW, DIRECTOR DONNA AXTON leads SNC Concert Choir and local performers in The Seven Country Songs:Frostiana, by Randall Thompson.

TAHOE“This is not your mother’s poetry

reading, unless your mother likes a lot of noise,” said De-

nise Jolly, this year’s sixth annual Tahoe poetry slam guest performer. Sierra Ne-vada College hosted the event on April 27 in Patterson Hall.

Ten poets took the microphone Friday evening in front of over 100 students, fac-ulty and locals. A panel of five students judged the performances and determined who would advance to the second round and enter into the running for the $300 cash prize that would be awarded to the winner.

Junior Krystal Hernandez, one of the judges, said, “it was a little nerve-wrack-ing when people were booing the scores I posted.” However, she added, “I liked it a lot, it was entertaining. I would definitely do it again if given the opportunity.”

Do Dirty, aka Trevor James, a 27-year-old from Modesto, Calif. came out the victor. With four years of experience and seven shows this month alone, he said, “I couldn’t count how many competitions I’ve won.” James added, “This is actually the highest paid slam I’ve ever been to so I had to come.” James’ poems represent “the struggle.” “It’s all about my past. I’ve had a hard road,” he said.

Freshman Ember Montana, who made it to the second round, said, “I was scared as shit, but it turned out really well.”

Jolly said of Montana, “her first poem I thought was really great. It was probably my favorite. It was really brave.” And al-though Montana did not come away with the top three in prizes, she said, “it was a learning experience and I felt I did really well compared to how I expected to do.”

Following the student poets, both Jolly

DANNY KERNDENISE JOLLY, Poetry Slam Champ and audience favorite, guest MC’d this years Tahoe Slam April 27.

THURSDAY, May 3, 2012 www.sierranevada.edu 15A&E

Northstar Summer Music Series Fri. June 22- Fri Aug.17Northstar California, Calif.Save the dates for the 2012 music series. Complete details will be available soon. For more information visit www.northstarattahoe.com/info/summer/northstar-sum-mer-music-series.asp

Truckee Thursdays Thurs. June 14- Aug. 23Truckee, Calif. 5 p.m. - 9 p.m.An 11-week outdoor Thurs-day evening event held dur-ing June, July and August.Activities include a certified organic Farmers’ Market, live music, arts and crafts

vendors, beer garden, sidewalk sales, outdoor dining, and family/children’s activities. Truckee Thursdays is celebrating its five year anniversary in 2012 and has quickly become a “must-do” of summer activities in North Lake Tahoe.

FESTIVALS, ETC.Bay to Bay Clean Up Day Sat. June 2 Crystal Bay Nev. to Carnelian Bay, Calif.9 a.m. - 1 p.m.

Kings Beach, Tahoe Vista, Carnelian Bay and Crystal Bay communities will take to the streets to pick up trash. Reg-

istration will begin at 9 a.m. in each community. Maps will be on hand at registra-tion tables to designate clean up areas. Volunteers can also look for Golden Items; golden wrench, golden disk, golden computer mouse and a golden coffee cup and

win prizes.

Tahoe City Wine WalkSat. June 23Downtown Tahoe City, Calif. 12 p.m - 4 p.m.Experience Tahoe City...Stroll

downtown along the lake-side sidewalks sipping wine, tasting delicious morsels, dis-covering our charming shops and enjoying beautiful Lake Tahoe. There will be 30 tast-

ing locations featuring the finest wines and acclaimed Tahoe restaurants and cater-ers. Commemorative wine glass and gift bag. Live music performances will be held

throughout the town.

5th Annual Beerfest & Bluegrass Festival Sat. June 14Northstar California, Truckee, Calif. 3 p.m. - 7 pm.

For the fifth consecutive year, the Beerfest & Bluegrass Festival returns to Northstar California! Join us Saturday, July 14, 2012 from 3:00 - 7:30 p.m. right here in the Village at Northstar™ for North Lake Tahoe’s favorite summertime event featuring live music from the nation’s top Blue-

grass bands, over 30 local and regional breweries on tap, special children’s treats and activities.

Wanderlust Festival Thurs. July 25- July 29 Squaw Valley, Olympic Valley, Calif.

Wanderlust offers an unri-valed lineup of the world’s best yoga teachers, wellness experts, and green lead-ers, alongside the nation’s most exciting musicians, DJs, and performing artists. Each festival features its own unique blend of off the mat activities, including dynamic lectures, hiking, biking, an eclectic vendor village, farm Beer Garten, etc. For more information please visit: wanderlustfestival.com

Lake Tahoe Music Festival Thurs. July 21- Aug. 25 The Village at Northstar Cali-fornia, Truckee, Calif. This summer, the largest summer cultural event ben-efiting the local communities will be held exclusively in the Village at Northstar™.

Grammy-award winning Blues Traveler will kick off the 29th Lake Tahoe Music Festival on July 21. Singer, songwriter Colbie Caillat and Grammy-award winning re-cording artist Michael Bolton will round out the line up on August 4 & 25. For more info visit tahoemusic.com

What’s going down around townBY DOMINIQUE CAMPORAA & E Assistant Editor

SLAM: “Not your mother’s poetry readingunless your mother likes a lot of noise”

and a second guest poet, Chas, performed a full set of slam. Chas has been competing in slam poetry since 2006. He was on the 2009 San Francisco team with Jolly, which came in third in the nation out of 68 teams.

“My favorite part of performing is seeing the connections between my poems and stories and somebody being able to relate to the same thing,” said Chas.

On the student poets Chas said, “I think they all did great. They all had complete-ly different styles and that’s what really makes poetry beautiful.”

“I think they’re pretty @*%$! phenom-enal. They’re really activist heavy which I’m not surprised about, I think it’s a pretty progressive region so that’s nice,” said Jolly.

Jolly began performing in 2002 at an open mic night in Seattle, followed by her first slam in 2003.

On how she got her start, Jolly said, “I was writing all the time and somebody told me that what I wrote was poetry and they told me to go watch the movie Slam. It’s a good indie film that has a lot of really phenomenal spoken word and I was like oh shit, I write like that. I used to yell a lot and do a lot of ‘activisty’ stuff so I’m a lot different now than how I was then.”

When asked if she’d ever consider a teaching position at SNC, Jolly said, “Ab-solutely.” Jolly added, “I would like to teach at multiple universities and create a bridge between community colleges and more affluent academia. I grew up in the working class and so academia’s been re-ally intimidating for me and I think it’s im-portant to translate between the classes. I do a lot of work in Title I schools, which is like prisons and lock down and stuff like that. I’ve done a lot of work with young women specifically so I would like to con-tinue doing that.”

Provost Shannon Beets is on board with the idea of hiring Jolly. Beets said, “I couldn’t do it fast enough.” Beets added, “Anytime you want to come back to teach call me. That’s what liberal arts are for.” Beets said, “we could make a link with the community colleges and do some good for the First Generation students. We have a role to play in that, especially because we have good academic support services.”

English Chair June Saraceno, the event organizer, thought the night was a “suc-cess.” On the student poets, Saraceno agreed with both Chas and Jolly, stating, “I thought they were amazing. I particu-larly admired that they engaged with the world around them and it wasn’t just poor pitiful me in my room by myself feeling

miserable, but that they actually had some commentary about the world around them. They were thinking about political issues, cultural issues.”

Sophomore Bryce Bullins said of the night, “I thought it was fantastic, a to-tal success. A lot of people showed up.” When asked if he’d consider competing after seeing his first slam poetry show, he answered, “Absolutely. Now that I’ve heard what’s ‘acceptable’ I might consider it next year.” Bullins added, “I enjoyed it immensely, and I will come to these again whether I perform or not I will be here.”

DANNY KERNDO DIRTY aka Trevor James, performs for judges in the Tahoe Slam taking the cake winning first place.

DANNY KERNCLOCKWISE FROM TOP: O-DIZZLE FO-SHIZZLE, THE STAND UP GUY, MARCO MAYNARD, FOREST JADE AND JENNIFIYA performing their poetry for all to enjoy as contestants in this year’s Tahoe Slam, held in Patterson Hall April 27. Contestants competed for the title of Tahoe Slam Champion of the Year and a shot at $300 dollars for first prize, $200 for second and $100 for third prize.

STORY BY MARISSA STONESTAFF CONTRIBUTOR

THURSDAY, May 3, 2012Eagle’s Eye 16