The Oredigger Issue 16 - February 11, 2013
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Transcript of The Oredigger Issue 16 - February 11, 2013
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7/29/2019 The Oredigger Issue 16 - February 11, 2013
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T H E O R E D I G G E RVolume 93, Issue 16 February 11, 2013
The student voice of the Colorado School of Mines
Pole vaulting
does well at
track meet
Sports 10
w w w . O R E D I G G E R . n e t
Opinion 11
Features 5
News 2
Satire 12
Be prepared
for Spring
Career Day
BCM helps
inner city kids
through hikes
How much
warmer will the
Earth get?
Beef, its whats
for dinner.
Or is it?
Mines alumnus Benjamin Tes-chner was featured in the Henne-bach-MIPER guest lecture serieswith his presentation surroundingthe effects of large-scale geologicexploration efforts in undevelopedareas of the world. MIPER, orMaster of International PoliticalEconomy of Resources, is a Colo-rado of School of Mines exclusivedegree, and this degree focuses
on offering engineers and scientistsspecialized knowledge surroundingan intricate global economy.
Teschner graduated from Minesin 2008, and achieved his mastersin 2011. Since that time he hasworked for the international min-ing and resources company, GoldFields. The company has opera-tions on nearly every continent, but
Teschne r was sta tioned in Mal ias a geological consultant for theresources development program.I use both of my degrees fromMines on a daily basis, said Te-schner. Part of his responsibilitiesas an expatriate in Mali includedinteractions and leases with thelocal village leaders and govern-
ment officials. Gold Fields andTeschner worked to establish sus-tainable relationships with localsthrough community developmentand shared value. Sanitation andfarming projects were initiated inthe rural areas of southern Maliwhere Teschner worked.
Additiona lly, Teschner was in-volved with the building and reno-
vation of schools for the YanfolilaProject of Southern Africa, whichis explicitly an exploration endeavorat the present time (currently nomining). Thousands of meters oftesting samples have been drilledso far, said Teschner. Despite this,the infrastructure is pretty poor inthis area. Medics in Mali are he-roesthey do a lot with very little.
Teschner refers to the time pe-riod of building the community andexploratory drilling as the GoodOld Days, referring to the time
beginning around June 2011. How-ever, on March23, 2012, every-thing changed.In Mali, there isa rebel groupin t he no r t hknown as the
Tu a re g , whohave wrestled for independencesince the 1960s, said Teschner.Rebellions of the Arab Springand the fall of Muammar Qadda
resulted in the Tuareg receivingarmaments and thus some power.President Amadou Toumani Tourexperienced a non-violent, almostaccidental coup dtat led by a lowranking Amadou Sanago of the
Malian military. Sanago believedthat the president was not ad-equately addressing or dealing withthe Taureg. Tour left the country,and Sanago assumed full power,despite his inexperience.
The situation complicated evenfurther as radical Islamic groupsaligned with the Tuareg, and thisrebellion, although highly unstable
and factioned, gained some mo-mentum and began taking overcities, such as Timbuktu. Theydeclared their conquered land Aza-wad, and again there was very littlebloodshed, as the Malian militarywas seen removing their uniformsand eeing in some cases, said
Teschner.This turmoi l was occurr ing in
the Northern part of Mali, while theGold Fields operation is situatedin the very south of Mali, sepa-rated from Guinea by only a river.
However, this turmoil and strugglefor power didaffect the proj-ect. Safety ofthe emp loy-ees, explora-tion licenses, incountry capi-tal, and new
government all became majorconcerns, said Teschner. Also,the withdrawal of internationalaid in the country stressed non-government organizations andlocal government officials. Hos-pitals and police stations wereunderfunded. The importance ofmining escalated to produce rev-enue to sustain the functionality in
the area. At this point, Gold Fieldsdonated $50,000 to the End Fund,which combats tropical diseases,said Teschner. And to prove theirdedication to the community, GoldFields continued their sustainabledevelopment programs, ratherthan eeing the fragile conditions.
However, there was a need toupdate crisis management plans
and to evacuate expatriates asthe conditions are threatening forforeigners, as demonstrated by afatal hostage event in Algeria, justnorth of Mali.
As the Tuareg and rebel groupsadvanced the borders of Azawadeven further south, the Frenchmilitary began to intervene, and theFrench efforts pushed the Tuaregback north. The French managedto recapture Timbuktu, which dras-tically changed the perspective andlong-term situation in Mali.
Despite all of the conicts inMali, Gold Fields was able toremain successful, and arguablyflourish during these desperatetimes. None of their operationswere adversely affected directly,with their keys to success beinga large portion of the reason why.We trained and hired local staff,maintained positive relationshipsand full transparency with ourethics policies, said Teschner.He and the company now look tothe future for Mali. There are manyquestions in play: Will the Tuaregutilize guerilla tactics in the south?Will the French gain full control ofthe North? Will democratic elec-tions continue in July? Will hostage
events become common? Thereis a lot of uncertainty and specula-tion, but Teschners delayed returnto Mali suggests the country andthe area still has many issues toaddress. However, positive effortslike those from Gold Fields andemployees like Teschner work toenhance the state of affairs in thispart of the world.
Developing Gold Fields in MaliEvan Ford
Staff Writer
Infrastructure is pretty poor
in this area. Medics in Mali
are heroesthey do a lot
with very little.
COURTESY ROMSKI
Despite raising political conicts with rebel groups, Gold Fields has been able to continue their exploration of Mali.
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Oredigger Staff
Katie Huckfeldt
Editor-in-Chief
Deborah GoodManaging Editor
Steven WooldridgeWebmaster
Barbara AndersonDesign Editor
Lucy OrsiBusiness Manager
Ian MertzCopy Editor
Taylor PolodnaAsst. Design Editor
Connor McDonaldAsst. Web Master
Arnaud FilliatAsst. Copy Editor
Trevor CraneContent Manager
Stephen HejducekContent Manager
Katerina GonzalesContent Manager
Jared ReimerContent Manager
Emily McNairContent Manager
David TauchenFaculty Advisor
Headlines from around the worldLocal News
Josh Kleitsch, Staff Writer
Josh Kleitsch, Staff Writer
Stony Brook, New York - A deepstudy into mammal physiology and ge-netics revealed the ancestor of all pla-cental mammals. Placental mammalsare mammals that give birth to youngin much the same way as humans. Theresearch group responsible for the studybegan by assembling a massive data-
base of genetic traits from 86 differentspecies of placental mammals, thencompared the various species-specic
traits in an effort to nd common threads.
Wallingford, United King-
dom - Ants are commonlyknown to communicate viapheromones, or special scents,that inform other ants about theirsocial status, alert them to apredator, or guide them to food.Until recently, scientists believedthat ants did not communicateany other way than by the use ofthese pheromones. A few yearsago, however, scientists study-ing various species of ants foundthat they make noise.
Bonn, Germany - Coral reefs, built of calcium carbonatedeposits excreted by tiny organisms on the ocean oor, are in
danger of being dissolved away by the increasing acid contentof the oceans. There is hope, however. New studies performed
by a group from the University of Bonn, Germany, show thatthere is an ancient microbe that generates signicantly more
calcium carbonate per square foot of ocean oor than the coral
microbes, and are much more resistant to the increasing acidity.
Cambridge, United Kingdom - Humans are notthe only species capable of knowing what another oftheir kind is thinking. A group of researchers from Cam-bridge, England, who have been studying Eurasian
Jays have come to the conclusion that they must sharethe same type of intuition that denes human relation-ships. The male jay, when feeding his mate, appears tosense that she wants to eat some other type of insect,and will thus provide her with those instead.
United Nations refugee agencyofcials are conrming that over
5000 people are leaving Syria
every daynow, which is a massiveincrease from the numbers in De-cember. Some 260,000 already re-side in Lebanon. The total number ofpeople who have ed Syria has now
topped 780,000, with many moreto come as a result of the ghting in
and around Damascus.British food supplier Findus has
been selling frozen horse meatlabelled as beef. Others have com-mitted similar offenses over the past
few months, but none to the extentof selling something entirely made ofhorse meat. The British public hasraised a strong outcry against theaction, due to deep cultural inhibi-tions against eating horse.
After many weeks of difcult ne-gotiation, the European Union hasnally agreed to a new budget forthe next seven years. The EU coun-tries have vast differences to over-come in reaching any agreementas to a budget, and in light ofthe signicant economic peril
that faces Spain, Greece,and Italy, countries such asGermany had consider-able motivation to reacha consensus.
High-ranking of-cials in the Obama ad-ministration are stand-ing before a Senatecommittee to explainhow the Central Intel-ligence Agency usesdrones in targeted
strikes against ter-
rorist groups andknown militants. Thecommittee seeks to de-
termine the legality of the way thesedrones are used, and the secrecy inwhich they operate.
Deep divisions in opinion overhow to approach the Syrian rebelsituation is making decision makingdifcult for the Obama administra-tion. Senate Armed Services Com-mittee members are not approvingmilitary action on the behalf of theSyrian rebels. Senator John McCainhas repeatedly advised sending mili-tary support to groups of rebels whohave been carefully screened byU.S. military ofcials.
The U.S. Postal Service posteda $1.3 billion loss for the rstquarter of the 2013 scal year, adrop from the $3.1 billion loss overthe same quarter of last year. Postalservice authorities hoped that the
holiday season would curb the loss-es that they have been facing, butrising fuel cost and lower overall mailvolume due to the faltering economyhas forestalled their progress.
Tunisian opposition leaderChokri Belaid was murdered byan unknown gunman last week, re-sulting in widespread protests anddemonstrations. Opposition partymembers claimed that the Islamistparty ordered the killing, an allega-tion the Islamists denied.
A recent study that shows only18 percent of Zimbabwe children
passed the nations standard-ized test. President Robert Mugabeblames the deplorable passing rateon the years of turmoil and nancial
problems that resulted from the po-litical tension of the last decade.
The Dolores County SchoolBoard voted unanimously to al-
low a district superintendent andthe Dove Creek High Schoolprincipal to carry rearms at the
school. The administrators areto complete a concealed carrycourse and receive a permit fromthe county sheriffs ofce and will
receive an extra $1 salary.Experts predict a 60% in-
crease in trafc on Denver roads
by 2035. The Denver metro areapopulation is expected to balloonfrom 2.3 million people to 4 mil-lion people by that year, which isexpected to drastically increasetrafc and air pollution. Experts
recommend carpooling, biking,or using public transit.
Water experts report it is
nearly impossible for Colorado torecover from its current droughtthis year. 2013 is already worsethan the monumental 2002drought, and 9News quotes oneexpert as saying, Coming out of2012 we cant have another yearlike that on 2013 because therewill be some severe impact. Thesame expert continues, Do yoursnow and rain dances and letshope it gets better from now on.
The Denver HarlequinsWheelchair Rugby Club, CraigHospital, and the City of Engle-wood hosted a Wheelchair Rug-by Tournament this weekend atEnglewood High School. Theevent included two bronze medal
London Paralympics athletesamong the more than 60 com-petitors.
The trial of Frederick Mueller,accused of rst-degree murder in
the death of his wife, came to astand-still as the jury was unableto come to a verdict. Muellerswife, Leslie, was found dead in2008 in a Lake City creek. SheriffRon Bruce contested that Shedrowned.
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Stony Brook, New York -By doing this, they were able toinfer that the ancestor of thesemammals was likely a furry, tree-climbing, insect-eating creatureno larger thana large rat.
The ancestorprobably camearound rough-ly 400,000years after themass extinc-tion event thatwiped out the
dinosaur pop-ulation. Theresearchers speculate that theperiod beginning with this mam-mal was likely the time when newspecies categories were appear-ing rapidly, perhaps on 200,000year intervals.
Wallingford, United King-
dom - At rst they did not know
what the noise meant, but theyhave gradually begun to under-
Students may soon be assured
that they will have their gradeswithin two weeks of assignmentsubmission. USG Sophomoresare spearheading a resolution tothis effect. The resolution, on be-half of the student body, wouldencourage the Faculty Senate tocreate a policy requiring profes-sors to have materials graded andreturned to students within twoweeks of their submission. Theresolution is expected to be unani-mously approved at the next USGmeeting in two weeks. This matterwas brought up by a student pe-tition on the Class of 2015 Face-book page which received over200 names requesting this policy.
This semester, students could
have a say in taxing themselves$165 for a parking garage to beginconstruction immediately, accord-ing to Matt McNew, USG Presi-dent. By popular request fromstudents, the executive council ofUSG has been busy working onobtaining information to push theschool to build a parking garagenear the Green Center, effectiveimmediately. The committee iscurrently researching the mat-ter and plans on educating thecampus about the expected $11million dollar endeavor later thissemester. Students can expectto see a campus-wide survey lat-er this semester to express theiropinions on the matter. Addition-
ally, USG is looking into fundingand the process of installing lightson the north intramural eld.
$40 million has been donatedto the school this year to fundresearch. This amount is doublethe amount from three years ago.Stephanie Bonucci, Board of
Trustees Rep., also announcedthat the Board of Trustees is
campaigning for $35 million indonations this year and obtainedroughly $27 million last semes-ter. These funds go directly back
to the campus to help fund con-struction and academics at Mines.
The Board would also like to put$5 million more towards need-based scholarships for studentswith an ACT score of 32 or higher,above the current Mines averageof 31. Mines also received $14million from the Department of En-ergy for the efforts of a researchgroup in the Materials Departmenton reducing the supply waste forclean energy and recycling materi-als. They will now be working withnational labs on the project.
OrgSync membership forMines is up for renewal and BSOis looking for clubs opinions asto what is good and bad about
OrgSync or if the website shouldbe exchanged for another sys-tem. Additionally, BSO is currentlylooking into the logistics of creat-ing a prayer room on campus forstudents and staff to be able topractice their religious beliefs in aprivate space.
Riding on the Pedestrian Plazamay soon be a legal reality, cour-tesy of the Junior Class. Sam Coo-per announced that Greg Bohlenof Public Safety may support ameasure to allow skateboards andbicycles to be ridden through thepedestrian plaza in off peak hours.
The committee will next meetwith Gary Bowersock of FacilitiesManagement. Numerous students
brought up this matter on USGsWhats Your Beef opinion forum.
RTD fees will not go up forthe next school year, announcedDerek Morgan. An increase wasexpected in light of the new RTDsystem that Mines will be enjoy-ing this April. However, RTD hasno metric to measure how muchstudents will use the new system,
Colorado School of Mines cel-ebrated the second annual GEEEIndustry Panel with impressive in-dustry representation. Companiessuch as Olsson Associates, CH2M-HILL, ARCADIS, and Milender WhiteConstruction were invited to presenttheir company mission statementsand what they look for in job can-didates. Students were able to askthese industry professionals specic
questions regarding work environ-ments, rsum renements, and
were even given the opportunity tonetwork.
GEEE catered specically to ca-reers in Mining, Geology, Civil and
Environmental. A light dinner wasprovided before the companies pre-sented. The rst business to pres-ent was Olsson Associates. Olssonhas 22 ofces in seven states, and
over 600 employees. The companywas founded in Nebraska in 1956.Engineer Chance Uhrich and EmilyHaney from human resources werethe speakers for Olsson, and theyfocused on the integrity and cross-coordination of the Olsson ofces.
Haney said when choosing a job,Focus on the t of a job, not the sal-ary. In regard to Olsson, she added,People want to stay here, and theyhave stayed here.
The next company was CH2M-HILL, which is a global enterprise.
The company name comes fromthe initials of the founders. CH2M-HILL employs 30,000 people in 60countries worldwide. The companyis a client based rm, and their ser-vices span from accounting, humanresources, engineering, and con-struction. Brenden Hedez, Minesalum, was joined by Glynis Williams-
Thompson from human resourcesto inform the students about CH2M-HILL. We are looking for mobilegraduates, and employees will never
be doing the same thing twice, said
Williams-Thompson. Even thoughthe company receives 2000-3000resumes a day, Mines studentshave an advantage in being consid-ered for a job, said Hedez.
Richard Murphy, another Minesalumnus represented ARCADIS.Like CH2HMILL, ARCADIS is alarge international company. Thecompanys US headquarters arelocated in Highlands Ranch, Colo-rado. ARCADIS has catered tomany commercial enterprises sincethe 1800s. ARCADIS breaks downtheir company into four pillars, in-cluding TKI (Technical KnowledgeInformation) and safety. We stresssafety at ARCADIS, and this leadsto a complete reduction of injuries
at work, said Murphy. When look-ing at candidates for a job, Murphyalways asks, What res you up?
The answer to this question shouldbe used to guide an engineers ca-reer search.
The nal presentation came from
Milender White Construction, asmaller Colorado based company.Milender White hires ofce as well as
eld engineers, and employees 70-
90 individuals at a time. Dawn Hartfrom HR and Lou Primak visited forMilender White, and their enthusi-asm and humor was well acceptedby those in attendance. Primak em-phasized that an employee mustbe well-rounded and intelligent tosucceed in the job market.
A common theme from all of thepresentations was a focus on work-life balances and nding the job that
was the correct t for an individual.
The night presented an uncompro-mised learning experience for thestudents in search of internshipsand specic careers in geology and
civil engineering.The companies that attended
this years GEEE Industry Panel pre-sented nearly endless opportunitiesto the students in attendance.
EVAN FORD / OREDIGGER
USG urges real timegrading and more parking
so a fee likely will not occur untilthe 2014 academic school year.Only 2800 students have pickedup RTD passes this semester
from the Student Activities ofce,despite the fact that every studenthas paid for one with their studentfees.
Into the Streets will mostlikely be working with the City ofGolden History District to helpclean up the park and HistoryMuseum this year. Community-at-Large Representative KaitlinHedberg reported that the eventis tentatively scheduled for March23 at 10 am. Participants will likelyreceive free burritos, t-shirts, andfree admission to the museum ata later date.
A senior barbecue in con-junction with the Senior M-Climbwill be happening this spring an-
nounced Aaron Pfeifer, SeniorClass President. The Senior Classis currently looking for help spon-soring the event and for individu-als or groups willing to play music.
Their goal is to make the SeniorM-Climb a huge celebration and alast hoorah for Seniors preparingto graduate.
USG currently has money leftover from reallocations last se-mester. USG has since allowedstudents and organizations torequest money from this fund.
Thus far, students have submit-ted requests to Budget Com-mittee ranging from money forconferences to $20,000 for a sa-loon on campus. After analyzing
the requests, budget committeerecommended two requests tothe USG: $150 was granted tothe Student Alumni Associationto help fund snacks for DiscoverMines Day and $285 was grantedto help offset registration fees forthree students attending an ACSconference in New Orleans laterthis year.
Aaron Pfeifer
Staff Writer
stand the behaviors of the antsand how they appear to commu-nicate using this noise. By rubbingtheir legs against a spiky ridgealong their abdomen, the ants areable to produce a sound that canbe used to communicate withother ants. More recent studies
have alsos h o w nthat ma-ture antp u p a ecan alsocommu-n i c a t elike this,and that
commu-n ica t ion
is likely critical to their survival.Bonn, Germany- As the wa-
ters of our oceans continue towarm, these microbes spreadfarther north and cover morecoastline. As they spread, theybuild reefs along the coasts,providing the same type of eco-logical protection that coral reefsprovide, but in a much more ro-
bust way. The end result of thisnew-old microbe remains to beseen, but it may have a positiveimpact on the planets variousmarine ecosystems.
Cambridge, United King-
dom - In addition to this behav-ior, the jays appear to have someconcept of planning for the future,and not just satiating their imme-diate appetite. To identify whetheror not this behavior was actuallycaring for the other bird, the re-searchers placed the birds in acage and gave them mealwormsand wax y larvae. The Jays pre-fer the wax y larvae to the meal-worms, so if they are purely act-
ing out of their own desires, theywill both eat the wax y larvae.
The male, rather than feeding thefemale a mixture of the two or
just mealworms, fed her the waxy larvae. This would indicate that
he was considering her desiresover his own. Whether this studycan be taken to prove that jaysare capable of some higher intel-ligence or not must still be deter-mined.
Continued from page 2
As the waters of our oceans
continue to warm, these mi-
crobes spread farther north
and cover more coastline. As
they spread, they build reefs
along the coasts
Second annualGEE Panel talksmultiple industries
Students network with company representatives from civil,
mining, geology and environmental industries.
Evan Ford
Staff Writer
EVAN FORD / OREDIGGER
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To stand out at career day, one
should follow a few simple and help-
ful steps provided by the Career
Center to make a better impres-
sion on possible employers. These
tips are not only limited to the the
obvious, like dressing well and pre-
senting oneself professionally, but
are also about doing research on
the company and having a strat-
egy when approaching the various
companies. Just follow these simple
steps to make a good impression at
career day.
The rst step to making a good
impression is doing a little back-
ground work. This consists of look-
ing through the list of employers that
will be present at the fair, which can
be found in the Career Day pam-
phlet. Pick out a list of companies
that would be interesting to talk to
and that t degree specications.
After getting this list, put together a
spreadsheet that organizes informa-
tion about each company.The rst thing to do is to go to
each companys website, apply on-
line, and then research the company
in order to get some general infor-
mation. Record information about
each company in the spreadsheet in
order to later reference it at the fair.
That way, when talking to the recruit-
ers about their own company, they
will see a motivated individual who
cares about their company. Prior to
the fair, print off enough resumes in
order to give two copies to each em-
ployer you intend to talk to. Organize
According to Debbie Behneld,
the recruitment coordinator atMines Career Center, When you
graduate from Mines, 75% of
students who are getting their un-
dergraduate degrees report that
they have had technical experience
in their major. That would include
internships, co-ops, research,
or other opportunities. This trait
benets both graduates and their
employers, as it provides students
with experience beyond just class-
room and theoretical knowledge
about their chosen profession.
There are many systems in place
at Mines intended to help students
nd this highly sought-after techni-
cal experience. Behneld explained
that while talking to companies and
representatives on one of the twoCareer Days during the controlled
recruiting seasons on campus
tends to be the most well-known
method of seeking an internship,
there are other ways students can
nd companies who will give them
this sort of experience. Behneld
recommends Diggernet as the
go-to page for internship, co-op,
and on and off-campus job open-
ings, as well as information about
workshops and information ses-
sions. Events (besides Career Day)
such as company information ses-
sions and on-campus interviews
during the recruiting seasons are
also good ways of getting in touch
with companies who are looking
for interns from Mines. The CareerCenter also has links to further op-
portunities and search engines
designed to look for internships.
Additionally, Behneld pointed out
that one always has the option of
pro-active job searching, which
includes going above and beyond
the systems in place at Mines to
seek a position. Behneld also rec-
ommends undergraduate research
as another method by which stu-dents can gain experience. While
research positions are not usually
advertised on Diggernet, students
can go to the www.inside.mines.
edu website and search centers
and institutes to nd links to all
of the research institutes at Mines
where students can apply for un-
dergraduate research
Behneld then turned the oor
over to the Career Centers assis-
tant director, Lin Sherman, to dis-
cuss co-op opportunities. Co-ops,
which are similar to internships, but
generally last longer, are, accord-
ing to Sherman, a chance to get
greater responsibility and integrate
more with the company, as well as
earn a fairly competitive wage.Co-ops differ from internships
in that they are required to be
equivalent to at least six months
of full-time work, so they usually
take place over at least one se-
mester of a school year. Students
who participate in a co-op can earn
three hours of academic credit
through both their performance
and a technical paper on their ex-
perience. Students can continue
to take academic courses during
their co-op experience, though it
is highly recommended that stu-
dents take a reduced class load,
as their employers will expect them
to spend a lot of time on the job.
Requirements for a co-op include
at least three completed semestersat Mines for most students and two
semesters for transfer students, a
minimum 2.0 GPA and good aca-
demic and disciplinary standing.
Students who are interested in tak-
ing this route are cautioned to plan
CSM students often wonder
why the campus calendar does not
include a holiday for Labor Day, or
why students do not get a full week
off for Thanksgiving. Lara Medley
of the Registrars Ofce answered
these questions at the USG meet-
ing last week as she explained how
the campus calendar is created.
First and foremost, the calendar
is outlined by federal guidelines.
One such guideline requires one
hour of classroom time and twohours of out of class work per
credit hour for fteen weeks per
semester for classes. Labs require
three hours of classroom time for
the same time period. Mines cur-
rently meets this requirement only
by also including times spent dur-
ing nals week.
Second, as employees of the
State of Colorado, the staff of the
campus are required to have 10
holidays throughout the year. New
Years Day, Independence Day,
Memorial Day, Thanksgiving, and
Christmas are holidays recog-
nized by the school. The other ve
holidaysMartin Luther King Day,
Presidents Day, Labor Day, Co-
lumbus Day, and Veterans Dayare all moved holidays that Mines
faculty recognize on the days be-
tween Christmas and New Years,
which gives staff an extended holi-
day and allows the school to save
on utilities costs.
Third, the faculty contract allows
faculty members 75 days a year in
which they are allowed to work on
their research or other endeavors
outside of teaching students.
Finally, the school recognizes
traditional non-class days such as
M-Climb and E-days. Once all of
these criteria have been satised,
the calendar committee looks into
giving students as many conve-
nient breaks as possible.
Medley went on to answer com-
mon questions about the calendar.
Q: Why does Mines not recog-
nize Labor Day?
A: Students voted in 2007 that
they would rather have Fall Break
for two days and therefore have
a longer break and a chance to
catch up on homework than haveLabor Day so early in the year.
Q: Why is Spring Break so
early and not matched with Jeffco
School District?
A: Jeffco schools continually
push their break later in the year.
Students voted they would rather
have spring break during weeks
8 or 9 to break up the semester
evenly.
Q: Why dont we get a full week
for Thanksgiving like some schools
do?
A: The criteria listed above just
dont allow Mines to have this ex-
ibility.
The calendar committee,
which consists of an undergradu-
ate member, a graduate member,three faculty, the Associate Dean
of Life, and the Director of Human
Resources meets every Septem-
ber to discuss the calendar three
years in advance. Additional non-
voting members include the Regis-
trar and the Executive Assistant to
the Provost. Once the committee
approves the calendar, it goes on
to the Provost, and then the Presi-
dent for nal approval.
For students wanting to get
an internship or full time job dur-
ing the upcoming Career Day, the
Colorado School of Mines Career
Center offers a large amount of
helpful advice.To get tips and advice for Ca-
reer Day, The Oredigger talked
with Jean Manning-Clark, the Di-
rector of the Mines Career Center
and Employer Relations, to dis-
cuss Career Day.
Having a successful Career
Day begins beforehand with re-
search and planning. The Career
Centers The Mines Strategy
guidebook says, One of the
most common complaints from
recruiters is that students dont
research their company before
an interview or when they meet
them at Career Day. Research-
ing a company before meeting
with them can be done through
the companys website, as wellas through Diggernet and the Ca-
reer Day Program Guide, which
features all the employers coming
to Career Day. Additionally, the
program guide shows the ma-
jors and years each company is
looking to hire for internships and
jobs.
Company research can be
kept in the pages of a padfolio
for quick reference before talking
with a company representative. A
padfolio can also be used to keep
extra rsum copies. This can be
very useful as it may be neces-
sary to hand out multiple rsums
at a companys booth. Manning-
Clark recommends that if you
plan to talk with fteen compa-
nies, bring twenty-ve copies ofyour resume.
The last item to prepare is
what the Career center calls your
30-second commercial, which
is essentially a vocalized cover
letter.
During Career Day itself, dress
professionally, be prepared, and
act condently. Appearance is a
large part of ones rst impres-
sion, so it is important to be
dressed appropriately, be well
groomed, and be hygienic. Men
should wear either business at-
tire or business casual. Matching
socks, shoes that either match
the outt or are darker, and neck-
ties are encouraged.
For women, wear a blouse orscooped neck shirt, dress slacks
or a skirt no shorter than three
inches above the knee, a suit,
ats or low heels, no open toed
shoes or overly high heels, and
minimal jewelry.
During Career Day, it is a good
idea to lead with a company and
position of lower interest or even
a company of no interest to gain
some practice and condence. It
30 seconds to shinenotes about the companies and re-
sumes in a folder that can be carried
at the fair.
At the fair there are a few point-
ers to follow. The rst pertains to
attire. Men should be dressed busi-
ness casual, meaning a long sleeve
shirt, a tie, and slacks. Ladies should
be dressed conservatively, and be
aware of possible wardrobe mal-
functions. Secondly, have a strategy
on how to approach each booth. If
uncomfortable about approaching a
booth, practice the approach on a
booth that does not hold much in-
terest. When approaching a booth,
one should be condent and know
what they want to say. It is helpful to
have a 30 second commercial pre-
pared to give to the recruiters. After
completing the 30 second commer-
cial, try to get the recruiters to take
a resume and carry on conversation.
After leaving the booth take a few
notes about the recruiter and any
contact information they may have
given.
If during a talk with a recruiter,
a slip-up or embarrassing momentarises, do not sweat it. Move on with
the point, and act like nothing hap-
pened. Showing performance this
way in a stressful situation is also a
good quality to a prospective em-
ployer.
After the fair, it is key to follow up
with recruiters. If a good conversa-
tion took place with the recruiters,
send them a thank you for their time.
This is a good way to stand out and
make sure to still stay on their mind
and to potentially gain an interview.
Bradley Wood
Staff Writer
How to use the
campus calendarAaron Pefer
Staff Writer
Discover internship andco-op opportunities
their remaining semesters after the
co-op, as the experience is likely to
delay students in terms of graduat-
ing on time.
Sherman then let several Minesstudents who have gotten intern-
ship and co-ops share their expe-
riences. Many of them cited the
importance of being yourself both
when talking to and interviewing
with companies and when working
for them, though as senior Andrea
Switzer pointed out, it is a good idea
to be prepared with prior knowl-
edge about the company before
going to talk to its representatives.
Additionally, as both Switzer and
freshman Dilan Orrino proved, it is
entirely possible to get an intern-
ship as a freshman when, as Swit-
zer points out, students do not yet
have the detrimental Mines GPA.
Several of the students recommend
making oneself stand out by follow-ing up with companies and sending
them some sort of thank you after
interviews and discussions. Junior
Madeline Tarasar advised students
to get to know people [at the job]
on a more personal level than just
a working relationship, a senti-
ment backed up by Switzer, who
said that someone who spends
part of the work day talking to their
co-workers stands a much better
chance of being remembered and
offered a job than someone who
stays hidden away and works all
day. Junior Ryan Peck added that
it was important that one work
hard, ask questions and [not] be
afraid to take responsibility. All
of the students who shared theirstories about internships and co-
ops agreed that their time with the
companies had provided them with
valuable experience, a new set of
knowledge, and were worth the ef-
fort.
Jordan Francis
Staff Writer
Career Day tips and tricksis also important to keep in mind
that mistakes will happen. Do not
get discouraged by any sort of re-
jection , especial ly if the rejection
is because the recruiter explains
that the company is not looking
for that major or year. When this
happens, it is important to keep
in mind that almost a third of therecruiters are changed out for
different recruiters for that com-
pany and may or may not be the
people who created the listing. If
this happens, just keep showing
interest, leave a resume, and ap-
ply online.
Many of the companies com-
ing are government contractors,
and as such, are required to have
online applications for their posi-
tions under Ofce of Federal Con-
tract Compliance Programs and
the Americans with Disabilities
Act of 1990.
Even more important than Ca-
reer Day are the days that follow.
Many companies hold interviews
during the week following CareerDay. These can be conrmed
during Career Day itself, found on
Diggernet, or through company
information sessions.
It is also recommended to
send a thank you letter with a re-
sume attached to the recruiters
who came to Career Day. Their
contact information can be found
in the Career Day Program Guide
under the listing for the company.
Ramiro Rodriguez
Staff Writer
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Animated shows and movies
have been stereotyped as chil-
drens fare since the 1960s. As
such, few animated lms try tocater to an adult audience even
though adults in the United States
are slowly accepting them. Heavy
Metal is one of those adult lms,and it is an interesting ride from
start to nish.The movie starts with a space
shuttle releasing a car from its car-
go hold and an astronaut piloting
the car to Earth. This is a prime and
well-done example of the trope
Rule of Cool. This establishes themovies tone: just sit back and en-
joy the ride. The astronaut arrives
at a house with a container. He
opens the container in front of his
daughter and the green orb inside,
Loc-Nar, promptly melts him. Loc-
Nar then tells the terried daughtera series of stories that tangentially
relate to him.
The rst story follows a taxi cabdriver named Harry Canyon, who
tries to make it in a dystopian New
York City. He gets involved in a
mobs attempt to acquire Loc-Nar
from a museum curators daughter
and they get sexually involved. The
lm makes heavy use of the roto-scoping technique that make the
sex scenes go right into the un-
canny valley. They stop being sexy
and start being a little creepy after
a while. Despite this, this story is
very engaging with excellent music
from classic rock artists from the
time. The rest of the movie also
has excellent heavy metal and rock
music that ts the atmosphere.The second story follows a
teenage nerd who gets caught up
in another world thanks to Loc-Nar.Once there, he saves a woman
from being sacriced and she re-pays him sexually, which helps
establish how the writers view
women. To be fair, these stories
are based on classic stories from
the magazine Heavy Metal. From
there, Den, the protagonist, em-
barks on a journey to defeat the evil
and perverted leaders of the sec-
ond storys world. Once again, the
uncanny valley makes a comeback
and makes the sex scenes slightly
uncomfortable. Despite that, the
scenery is simply gorgeous, like
with the rst story.Captain Sternn of the next story
is on trial for numerous crimes such
as rape, murder, and a moving vio-
lation. Sternn bribes a witness to
praise his character, but Loc-Nar
interferes and puts Sternns free-
dom, and life, on the line. This story
stops being funny when Sternns
true nature emerges. For once,
Loc-Nars evil machinations try to
do some good. Alas, these good
deeds are for naught. This storys
moral is that sometimes things do
not work out and it presents thatmoral depressingly well.
The next story is by far one of
the best. It involves a B-17 bomber
that takes heavy damage and ca-
sualties during a mission. Thanks
to Loc-Nar, the dead crew turns
into zombies and attacks the pilot.
This story presents the horror of
being on a damaged airplane quite
well in addition to showing how
bad war is with the dead bodies
strewn around the plane. The mu-
sic, done by Cheap Trick, ts thescene well and enhances the story.
The second-to-last story seems
to take up space. It is funny in its
own right, but it distracts from the
narrative ow. It follows a govern-ment agent espousing his belief
that extraterrestrials do not exist
despite strange mutations hap-
pening to the populace. When he
sees a stenographer, Gloria, hav-
ing a piece of Loc-Nar, he attacks
her. Extraterrestrials recall him for
repair, but they abduct Gloria as
well. The agent was placed there
by aliens for no given reason. Then
the story engages in more antics
such as a drug trip and Gloria sex-ing a robot. This bizarre story re-
quires an extensive suspension of
disbelief.
The last story deals with Loc-
Nars ultimate confrontation. First,
he strikes a planet as a giant me-
teor. He corrupts a local tribe of
humans who turn into murder-
ous barbarians. They massacre a
nearby city, and the elders try to
recruit a warrior race, the Tarraki-
ans, to help. They are all extinct ex-
cept for one. Taarna, the silent last
member of the Tarrakians, goes
to help them, but is too late. She
then strives to avenge them and
confronts Loc-Nar and his murder-
ous band. This competes with the
B-17 story for quality and actually
has a strong female lead. She has
gratuitous nude shots, but she still
is a strong presence and gives the
impression that she is very power-
ful despite her demure frame. The
music and the scenery are both
excellent. This story, however, ups
the lavish detail in the movie to cre-
ate something gritty and impres-
sive.
Heavy Metal is a mixed-bag.It has some excellent stories and
some okay ones. It has beauti-
ful scenery but the rotoscoping
makes the characters look odd
even though nothing is wrong with
their designs. The music is excel-
lent and improves the movie signi-cantly. Heavy Metal is an overall
fun romp and a great way to spend
an hour and a half, as long as the
stories are not taken too seriously.
Kyle Santi
Staff Writer
Heavy Metal not to be taken seriously
The saying paying it forward
is one most everyone has heard.
According to Wikipedia, to pay it
forward means to ask the ben-
eciary of a good deed to repayit to others instead of to the origi-
nal benefactor. It is a good theory,
but how many of us actually take
it to heart? Well, for myself and 25
other students here at Mines, this
saying has made a huge impact
on our lives. The pay it forward
concept has been started, and it is
now an experiment of some sort, to
see how far it can spread. The two
people responsible for this spread
are Mines alumnus Hugh Harvey
and his wife, Michelle.
When the Harveys decided to
create a scholarship fund in 2009
with their rst gift of $10 million, itwas important to the couple that
this fund be sustainable. We all
know that no fund is truly endless,
but the idea here is that the legacywill catch on among the scholars
themselves. Through spreading
their unique outlooks on philan-
thropy and humanity, the Harveys
are effectively creating an epidemic
of pay it forward syndrome that is
transmitted through a small group
of students known as the Harvey
Scholars.
I remember receiving the appli-
Amy Ackerman
Guest Writer
cation through email and just get-
ting excited at the thought of it. I
had already applied to so many
scholarships that my patience was
wearing thin. But as I read through
the description of the program, it
seemed perfect for me. My family
is a huge part of my life, and when
my aunt in New York heard that the
prompt was about paying it for-
ward, she sent me a copy of the
movie Pay It Forward. The basic
idea was that a little boy helped
some people, and when they
asked what he would like in return,
his response was, Just pay it for-
ward. Three big favors for three
other people. Thats it.
It seems like a simple concept,
but these things are easier said
than done. The movie gave me a
great starting point, a real under-
standing of what it truly meant to
pay it forward. Fast forward to
April 2011 when I got a phone call
informing me that I had been cho-
sen as a Harvey Scholar. I was ec-
static, to say the least. I would notgraduate with student loans! That
was my rst thought anyway, butafter having met the Harveys and
having been a part of the program
for about two years now, my whole
perspective has changed. I realize
now that the program is equipping
me with more than nancial secu-rity. I have learned so much about
selessness and the contagious-
ness of philanthropy.
Through monthly luncheons and
weekly chair meetings, the program
has become an integral part of my
life at Mines. Each scholar brings
something new to the table. Every
scholar is encouraged to use an
enrichment grant to add to the aca-
demic, professional, and personal
aspects of our college experience.
Whether that be through research
opportunities, study abroad, or
philanthropy in remote parts of the
world, the opportunities are vast.
The program also has a big focus
on service. Different service events
happen every month. Recently, the
scholars served food at the Denver
Rescue Mission and volunteered
with Habitat for Humanity. The
scholars are also establishing a
book scholarship to assist their fel-
low students at Mines.
The book scholarship itself
came about in a very unique fash-
ion. Every student has experi-
enced the painful process of pur-
chasing textbooks. We recognizehow signicant such a scholarshipcan be on an individual level. At
the beginning of the year, an orien-
tation event was held for the new
freshman (all scholars were in at-
tendance), to introduce them to the
program. Towards the end of the
event, Mrs. Harvey surprised all of
the scholars, new and old, with a
gift of $100 each, tasking each of
us with the challenge of using the
money to pay it forward in our
own way. Her emphasis on the
importance of responsible giving
inspired some scholars to contem-
plate pooling their money together
to increase its impact. A group of
us then decided to use our money
to create a book scholarship for
other students on campus. We
used the money from Mrs. Har-
vey in order to establish the initial
funds, but we will continue to keep
the fund sustainable by contacting
local businesses and engineering
rms to sponsor the scholarship forfuture years
By processing applications and
fundraising for future years, we
hope to be truly involved in the
nitty-gritty of philanthropy. It is
amazing to see the program con-
tinue to grow and develop. I came
into the program when there were
only eleven scholars; ve fresh-men, four sophomores and three
juniors. Each year only a few schol-
ars were selected, but with anotheramazingly generous contribution
of $11.2 million dollars, the largestgift in Mines history, the Harveys
expanded the program to accept
about fourteen new scholars each
year. The program jumped from
having twelve scholars to twenty-
six in one year, and fourteen more
will be accepted this spring. This
will support 300 scholars over the
Jonathan Gering has remixed
the Electric Dream, by Mord
Fustang, and the product is an ex-
ceptional, melodious experience.
The odd song title and artist, as
well as the fact that this song is
a remix, may be unappealing to
most. However, it is a feel-good
song that has variety and up-
beats, making it very stimulating.
The origina l song by Mord Fus-
tang is signicantly different fromthis version, but denite similaritybetween the two songs can be
drawn. The title accurately re-
ects the mood and atmosphereof the song, as at times it feels
very dream like, which leaves the
listener in a state of reverie.
The song is seven minutes
and 47 seconds long, which is
long, but far from boring. The
Electric Dream begins as any typ-
ical dance or techno songwith
bass. As the song progresses,
the listener is introduced to a
cheerful and enticing melody.
This serves to segue the song
into the rst drop, which comesafter about two minutes. At this
point, some high pitch beeps are
presented, which are brief, but
somewhat distracting and annoy-
Electric Dream a feel-good remixEvan Ford
Staff Writer
next 25 years, with 60 enrolled at
Mines at any given time.
As the program grows, the
group is capable of doing more.
This year, we became an ofcialstudent organization and have de-
veloped chair positions held by
student members that are geared
toward expanding our reach within
the community. The chairs work
together to keep the program run-
ning smoothly and help develop the
program for the future. The chairs
coordinate internal affairs, commu-
nity service events, scrapbooking
and documentation, alumni/fresh-
man relations, and organize the
book scholarship. The goal of the
program is to keep each scholar
involved and to form a community
of support for one another. As the
program continues to grow, keep-
ing everyone involved is essential,
but difcult. The scholars are work-ing to put a system in place that al-
lows the Harvey Scholar Program
to continue paying it forward.
It is an exciting time to be a partof the program as it continues to
grow and develop. The Harveys
have truly done something amaz-
ing. They have created a legacy of
paying it forward at Mines and in-
spired each scholar to promote the
pay it forward attitude.
Learn more and meet the
scholars at giving.mines.edu/har-
veyscholars.
Harveys pay it forward through scholarship
ing. The song progresses past
this stage after a bit, and returns
to the introductory melody which
functions as a build up of more
to come.
At the halfway point of the
song, at about 3 minutes and
50 seconds, comes the most
interesting and signicant drop.Here, the song almost takes a
different direction, but it seems
to t the style and cadence previ-ously established. Now, the song
becomes dubstep-like, but not
the typical sounds associated
with this genre. The sounds are
unique and strikingly positive,
and are sure to get the listener
into a good mood. A pumping
bassline is still present, and to be
truly enjoyed a listener should be
sure to have quality speakers or
headphones.
After a minute or so of this
sequence, the song pulls back
into a somewhat trance like state,
with a muted melody and an am-
bient glow of sounds. But the
song comes right back with an
accelerated buildup that leads to
a point that can catch the listen-
er off-guard. For a split second,
it seems as though the song is
over, but this only leaves the lis-
tener wanting more. What makes
this song great is that it delivers
with more danceable sequences
that tie directly to the main melo-
dy of this song, now enhanced to
fully energize the audience. After
an unforgettable series of beats,
the song takes the time to curtail
the established energy and ends
by slowly eliminating these ele-
ments.
Overall, The Electric Dream
by Mord Fustang, remixed by
Jonathan Gering, is a feel-good
song chock full of exciting drops.
The song will be well accepted by
techno, electric, or dance music
enthusiasts, but anyone with an
open taste in music will be sure to
nd the song engaging.
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w w w . O R E D I G G E R . n e t
Steam is laden with many
games. As a result, it can be difcult
for a certain game to stand out in the
crowd. If one looks hard enough,
though, it is possible to nd a gem.
FTL: Faster Than Light is one ofthose gems. It is an independent
game developed solely from Kick-
starter money. Many invested in this
game, and they got a fun and very
challenging game that is well worth
the expense.
FTL is a rogue-like game created
by Matthew Davis and Justin Ma,
the creators of Subset Games. The
premise of the game is that players
are the captains of a Federation star-
ship with vital information to end the
rebel uprising that is tearing the gal-
axy apart. Armed with their wits and
whatever scrap they have to get by,
players must traverse eight randomly
generated sectors of space to ren-
dezvous with the Federation eet.
Players start out with a basic shipbut can unlock more as they play
though the game. Along the way,
players collect scrap to purchase
upgrades, weapons, fuel, missiles,
drone parts, drone schematics, re-
pairs, subsystems, and new crew-
members. Players only have one life,
so to speak, and must survive until
sector eight and take on the Rebel
agship. Once it is destroyed, the
Rebel eet crumbles and the Fed-
eration wins the war.
Within a sector, there are bea-
cons connected to each other, but
some do not connect to ones that
allow players to move forward. Each
beacon has a different environment.
Open space has no environmental
maladies. Asteroid elds damageshields and eventually the hull. Suns
give out solar ares that start res
which damage the ship and crew
over time. Nebulae obstruct sensors
and may reduce the ships power
capacity. However, this never seems
to affect enemy ships. It is recom-
mended to visit every beacon to col-
lect supplies and scrap to buy more
supplies, but the amount of time a
player spends in the sector is lim-
ited since the Rebel eet can move
into the sector and take over the
beacons. In order to escape, play-
ers must reach the exit beacon to
move to the next sector. Each sec-
tor has three categories: green, red,
and violet. Green sectors have fewer
battles and have more opportunities
to resupply. Red sectors are hostileand have more battles and fewer
opportunities to resupply. Violet sec-
tors are nebulae and have a mix of
hostiles and resupply opportunities.
Each sector and galaxy is random-
ized so there is no memorization
involved, just skill in navigating the
ship and luck.
Also, each bea-
con has a ran-
dom event that
requires choices.
These choices
have no bearing
on the rest of the
game, but players
can never be sure
what each choice
will yield.There are
many compo-
nents to the
ship. Weapons
are divided into
six categories.
Burst weapons
re several laser
shots that are effective at taking
down shields. Beam weapons dam-
age several rooms (areas that hold
the ships subsystems) of the ship
at once but shields block them. Ion
weapons take down shields and dis-
able a ships subsystem for a while.
Heavy lasers deal heavy damage to
rooms and are moderately effec-
tive at taking down shields. Missile
weapons bypass shields to dealheavy damage but are inaccurate.
Finally, bombs are more special-
ized and can be used for a variety
of tasks.
The ships can handle other sub-
systems as well. Shields protect the
ship from hull damage and regen-
erate after a time. If the shields are
manned, then the shields recharge
faster. Hull damage can only be re-
paired at stores. Engines allow the
ship to travel from beacon to beacon
within a sector and evade enemy re.
If the engine subsystem is manned,
the ship is more likely to evade ene-
my attacks. The piloting subsystem,
which must be manned, allows the
FTL drive to power up so the player
can move onto the next beacon.
The weapons subsystem keeps theweapons armed. If manned, weap-
ons charge faster. The other subsys-
tems cannot be manned. The doors
keep out res, intruders, and keep
oxygen in the room. The oxygen
subsystem ensures that the crew
has air to breath. The sensors illu-
minate the ships rooms and enemy
ships rooms when upgraded. The
drone subsystem powers up drones
that are used for a variety of tasks
such as offense, defense, repairs,
and more. The teleporter sends the
crew to board enemy ships. Cloak-
ing dramatically improves the ships
evasion. Finally, the medbay heals
injured crewmembers. The reac-
tor powers each subsystem, but itonly has so much power for every
system. Part of the game is know-
ing how to prioritize the power needs
of the ship. This system can get in-
credibly complex, and that adds to
the games challenge. All of these
subsystems can be upgraded to
be more effective, but the price for
upgrading requires more scrap each
time and upgrading the reactor to
provide more power to match the
Kyle Santi
Staff Writer
Brighten your day with Faster Than Lightgreater power demand of the up-
graded subsystem.
The nal aspect is the crew.
There are seven species in the
game. The humans are balanced
and have no strengths or weakness-
es. The Zoltans have less health but
are able to provide extra power to a
subsystem. Rockmen are very slowbut they are immune to re and have
the most health. Slugs can see into
adjacent rooms when the sensors
are down and are incredibly useful
in nebulae. Engi repair subsystems
quickly but are less effective in com-
bat. Mantises are very good in com-
bat and are faster
than the other spe-
cies but they repair
subsystems slowly.
The Crystals are
a unique species
that is very rare and
they are more resis-
tant to suffocation,
a little faster than
the Rockmen, have
slightly less healththan the Rockmen,
and are able to
freeze rooms and
prevent the room
from being used.
Depending on the
crewmember, play-
ers can get blue
choices that provide alternatives to
random events that require choices.
Blue choices often have a more
positive outcome than standard
choices. Even having particular or
upgraded subsystems can yield blue
choices. Each crewmember can
gain prociency in six areas: weap-
ons, which allow faster recharge of
the ships weapons; engines, which
allow greater evasion; piloting, whichallows greater evasion; shields,
which allow faster recharge of the
shields; repairs, which allow faster
repairs; and combat, which allows
more damage to be dealt in hand to
hand combat. It is important to keep
the crew alive by preventing res
and keeping the oxygen levels high,
which makes the game even more
challenging.
Despite its simplistic appearance,
FTL is extremely complex. Players
need to keep track of so much at
once that it can get overwhelming at
times. Fortunately, players can pause
the game and give orders while the
game is paused. This allows for
more complex strategies to be en-
acted. However, this does not mean
that the game gets easier. The en-emies are hard to defeat and look for
every way to cripple your ship. They
can even divide the players attention
with boarding parties while the en-
emy ship keeps ring. Their weapon
arrays are diverse and will keep play-
ers frazzled trying to defend against
them. Another major component
of this game is luck. Players do not
know what they will encounter. Un-
like most games where this is cheap
difculty, this is designed to make
players work with what they have
and learn how to use it effectively.
Even on easy, this game is very dif-
cult and it makes players work hard
and learn how to strategize properly
just to make it to the nal boss, and
even then the boss is incredibly hardto take down. Players will lose many
times before beating the game, but
that just makes the sensation of
victory all the more rewarding. The
story is nothing special, but it does
not need to be. The gameplay is
engaging enough that the simplicity
of the story can be ignored. Still, it
has enough backstory to keep the
players interest. This game is also
very addictive and players will want
to play it over and over to rene their
strategies and intimately know what
each weapon does and how it can
be used most effectively. In addition
and most importantly, this game has
a lot of intrinsic reward for victory and
is a lot of fun.
FTL is a unique game with a lotof challenge involved. It is very com-
plex and requires a lot of strategy.
Players will want to play it over and
over again as each playthrough is
different from the last. Players can
only formulate strategies by experi-
ence from each ship, sector, system,
and many other factors. This game
will keep players entertained for a
long time as they try and try again
to achieve victory for the Federation.
This light and uffy cake can be
made at home quite easily as long
Angel food cake easy bakeBradley Wood
Staff Writer
This angel food cake is light, uffy, and delicious.
BRADLEY WOOD / OREDIGGER
Taco Dip is an easy to make ap-
petizer as there is no cooking re-
quired. This delish dip is sure to
please any crowd.
Ingredients
1 can of refried beans
1 can of black beans, strained
3 avocados, peeled and pitted
1 cup sour cream
2 tablespoons of mayonnaise
8 oz salsa
1 package of taco seasoning
cup white onion, chopped
cup green bell pepper,
chopped
cup toma-
toes, chopped
1 cups
shredded let-tuce
Directions
1. In a bowl
mix sour cream,
m ayo n n a i se ,
and taco sea-
soning. Set
aside.
2. In another
bowl, mash
avocados and
Whitney Welch
Staff Writer
lime juice. Set aside.
3. Spread refried beans over the
bottom of a 13x9 baking dish.4. Next, top the refried beans
with black beans.
5. Spread the avocado mixture
over the black beans.
6. Spread the sour cream mix-
ture over the avocados.
7. Then, pour salsa over sour
cream mixture.
8. Finally, top with lettuce onion,
bell pepper, and tomato.
9. Cover the dish and let chill
in refrigerator for 2-4 hours before
serving.
10. Serve with tortilla chips and
enjoy. Serves 10 -12.
as the required equipment is avail-
able. Most of the ingredients are
easy to nd at the grocery store
except for cream of tartar, which
can be found in the spice aisle.
Ingredients:
1 cups egg whites (10-12
eggs)
1 cups powdered sugar
1 cup sifted our or all purpose
our
1 teaspoons cream of tartar
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 cup granulated sugar
Directions:
In large mixing bowl allow the
egg whites to sit for 30 minutes.
While the eggs are sitting, sift
the powdered sugar and our to-
gether three times. Preheat the
oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit.
Add the cream of tartar and va-
nilla to the egg whites. Beat them
with an electric mixer until soft
tips peaks from in the mixture.
Slowly add the granulated sugar
2 tablespoons at a time, repeating
until all 16 tablespoons have been
added. Beat the mixture until rm-
er tipped peaks form. Remove the
electric mixer and fold the sifted
our mixture into the batter with
a rubber spatula. Pour the batter
into an ungreased 10-inch tube
pan and bake for 40-45 minutes.
When removed from the oven the
cake should be inverted in the pan
while it cools.
Delish taco dip
This taco dip is sure to draw a hungry crowd.
WHITNEY WELCH / OREDIGGER
COURTESY SUBSET GAMES
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f e a t u r e sfebruary 11, 2013 page 7
w w w . O R E D I G G E R . n e t
Its no secret that geeks popu-late the Mines campus. This weeks
geek, Chemical Engineering major
Chris Thiebaud, attaches himself
to a nearly permanent xture of
gamers who gather around tables
in Digger Den, laughing, compar-
ing strategies, and shooting any-
thing that gets in their way ex-
cept the lag, of course. This week,
Thiebaud took time between run-
ning and gunning for a virtual ma-
a and covering lanes with online
heroes to prove to the Oredigger
that the gamers in Digger can and
do say more than hax!
[Oredigger]: What about
Chemical Engineering inter-
ests you?
[Thiebaud]: Ever since I wasyoung, I watched Bill Nye. [That]
kinda got me into Chemistry. That
and I like the explosions.Whats been your favorite
class?
Oddly enough, its been Music
Technology [because] it was a lot
of fun. That and we made a guitar
and electrocuted the person using
it for one of our projects.Are you a geek and why?
Yes, I am a geek. I play vid-
eogames, [watch] anime, video
games again, [play] role-plays, I
created a weird, mutant alien thing
Geek Week...Chris Thiebaud, Sophomore: Chemical Engineer
ofthe
in one of my role-play games. That
was actually really fun, despite
what [one of my players] says.
How do you spend your freetime?
Video games. This week, were
watching the League of Legends
tournament.Whats been your greatest
accomplishment thus far?
In a video game, I got a good
deal on liquor from a rabbi and
I dont feel bad because an actual
Jewish friend approved this.
While a swallow probably
cant carry a coconut, if we
gave it wings, could a one
pound coconut carry a fve
ounce bird?
By the simple matter of ratios,
yes, if it can nd a way to hold the
bird, which is always a problem,
isnt it?If you could be dropped into
any fctional universe, what
would it be and why?
Id actually go to the League
of Legends universe so I could
watch real life League of Legends
and meet the champions in real
life, especially the Yordles.Whats your favorite thing
about Mines?
I just like the people here.
I dont feel out-of-place being
geeky here. Id feel out-of-place
being normal here.
Whats your best nerd story?
[I ran] a Dark Heresy campaign
where I created this mutant squig
that would not die and would ha-
rass one of the players, which hedid not like. They would throw the
squig out into space and it would
reappear next to the guy. That, or
the time when Deadpool invaded
that game, riding a squig and an
Alaskan.How would you face off
against a group of angry orks?
[For] the Warhammer variety,
Id just paint myself purple be-
cause theyd never see me. Id
be invisible because youve never
seen a purple army. That, or Id
paint myself red and run away be-
cause red is fast.Do you have any plans for
the future?
Go into the FBI as an explo-
sive forensic specialist, whichmeans I can show up in court and
say, Yeah, this is the bomb they
used.
Do you have any advice for
fellow geeks and Mines stu-
dents?
Stay geeky! That, or take your
roommates soul because youll
need one.Do you have a favorite
quote?
I am evil! Stop Laughing!
Veigar, League of LegendsWhich would make a better
pet: a fre-breathing sea drag-
Jordan Francis
Staff Writer
on, or an undead minotaur?
Being from New Orleans, I think
Id go with the sea dragon be-
Geek of the Week, Chris Thiebaud enjoys anime, role-play-
ing games, and League of Legends.
cause theres water everywhere.
A re-breathing sea dragon would
be a hit at Mardi Gras.
JORDAN FRANCIS / OREDIGGER
Sometimes, it can be easy to
ignore the daily struggles faced
by inner city children. They have
to deal with drugs, gangs, broken
homes, and the hopelessness that
can result from it. Many groups try
to help inner city children, but one
group with a unique approach is
the Big City Mountaineers (BCM).
BCM takes inner city children on
hikes through the mountains. Their
philosophy is based on the heros
journey created by Joseph Camp-
bell, as they take students on a life-changing journey to self-discovery
and greater condence in them-
selves. More often than not, this
approach works very well. The fol-
lowing is a narrative of the authors
experience on a recent BCM trip.
Upon arrival, the rst thing the
organizers did was divide us up into
groups based on our hometowns.
People north of Golden were in
one group, people south of Golden
were in another group, and so on.
Twelve people not counting myself
were involved. Elizabeth Williams,
the Rocky Mountain Program Di-
rector, said the purpose of the
activity was to learn more about
our backgrounds and gain an idea
of how diverse we are. We eachtalked about our backgrounds to
help gain a better understanding
of each other and where we came
from.
After the activity, we moved to
a conference room to listen to a
presentation on the goals of the or-
ganization. BCMs goal is to instill
critical life skills in underserved ur-
ban youth through transformative
wilderness mentoring expeditions
as said in their charter. They serve
under-resourced and racially di-
verse students in partnerships with
community agencies, professional
instructors, and adult volunteer
mentors. BCM does this through
mentoring expeditions that last
for between one day to one week,
depending on the age of the kids.
The intent is to instill critical life
skills, integrity, conict resolution
skills, and positive self-esteem.
Going on these experiences, they
will have more condence to suc-
ceed, said Sherry Manning, one
of the volunteers. They even pre-
sented a video narrated by Taylor,a student who had experienced
the program, in which he explained
how his life got better as a result
of the program. They taught me
about responsibility, said Taylor.
BCM uses surveys based on the
Search Institutes 40 Developmen-
tal Assets Prole to measure the
programs effectiveness, and the
youth involved in the program con-
sistently show long-term growth in
positive values, social competen-
cies, and positive identity. In addi-
tion, BCM youth are more likely to
stay in school and have the con-
dence to avoid drugs, violence,
and delinquency. Williams and
Manning insisted on volunteers to
join and that they want a diversearray of volunteers. Sometimes it
takes a certain volunteer to con-
nect with a certain student.
Manning gave one example of
a youth who did not make friends
easily. The student couldnt con-
nect with any of the volunteers,
but she was able to connect with
one volunteer, said Sherry. It can
take only one volunteer to connect
with a student. We consider our
volunteers gatekeepers of knowl-
edge, Williams added. The slide-
show then focused on the various
mountain climbs BCM does. Some
climbs are professionally guided
and are fundraisers for BCM to en-
able youth to go on BCMs expe-
ditions. More details can be found
at http://www.summitforsomeone.
org.
The second and nal activity
was a trust-building exercise. The
object was to prevent a rolled-up
sock from striking your posterior.
As a result, everyone had their
backs to each other to prevent the
socks from having a clear target.It was a subtle way for disparate
people, to learn to trust and rely on
each other. This is so we can get
people to open up, even shy indi-
viduals, said Williams. That way,
we can move them from low-trust
to high-trust activities.
There are
single-day pro-
grams for children
and week-long
expeditions for
teenagers. BCM
partners itself with
after-school pro-
grams, residential
foster care agen-
cies, educational
institutions, andsummer youth
programs to iden-
tify children who
could benet from
the BCM pro-
gram. The expedi-
tion team consists
of an instructor,
youth agency
leaders, volunteer
mentors, a peer
leader, and the youth. The expedi-
tions consist of teambuilding, hik-
ing, BCM rituals, camping, lessons
in the backcountry, and a peak
climb. This is often their rst time
in a tent, Elizabeth commented.
The entire expedition follows the
heros journey. BCM structures the
expeditions like the stages of the
heros journey so the participants
are changed by the experience for
the better. They gain skills such
as decision-making, responsibility,
integrity, self-esteem, communi-
cation, resilience, honesty, car-
ing, and conict-resolution. The
overnight camps are for kids 8-12years old and teach many of these
skills.
Towards the end, Manning told
a success story of one teenager
who was very small-statured. She
claimed she was pregnant and that
she needed to marry someone and
Big City Mountaineers recruits volunteersKyle SantiStaff Writer
join a gang in order to stay safe.
While on her journey, she opened
up about herself and realized
that she was stronger than she
thought. She decided she did not
need to get married or join a gang
and realized that she could take
care of herself.
The Big City Mountaineers
have a unique program for uplifting
troubled youth. They send youth
on expeditions into the mountains
to learn vital life skills to help them
succeed in life. The presentation
was to recruit people interested
in joining and teach them about
the program as a whole. The suc-cess rate for this program is very
high and many teenagers leave the
program and are successful later in
life. This program is always look-
ing for volunteers, and more infor-
mation can be obtained at http://
www.bigcitymountaineers.org.KYLE SANTI / OREDIGGER
BCM uses team-building exercises to build trust within the group.
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w w w . O R E D I G G E R . n e t
Disclaimer: This column is
an opinion formed by an author
who does not have an omniscient
knowledge of comics. It also con-
tains a fair number of spoilers for
the titular comic. You have beenwarned.
Flashpoint was, appropriately
enough, a relatively quick event
(only ve issues in the main se-
ries) that managed to have a fairly
massive effect on the DC Uni-
verse. Though there were several
tie-ins and crossovers, this re-
view will focus on the main series,
which was written by one of com-
ics more well-known and highly
talented writers, Geoff Jones,
and which centers around Barry
Allen, the Flash : fastest man alive.
Courtesy of some wibbly-wobbly,
timey-wimey events at the end
of the series, this story wound
up leading directly into the New
52 relaunchin 2011. (For
anybody un-
familiar with
this event,
New 52 was
essentially a
reboot of the
entire DC Uni-
verse. Most
of the same
c h a r a c t e r s
are still there,
but with vari-
ous changes
made to them
and with less
personal his-
tory in their
new continu-ity.) A lot hap-
pens in this
comic, so I cannot describe too
much of it outside of the main plot
points, so while there will still be
spoilers, I suggest purchasing the
collection to appreciate the nu-
ances and more minor moments
in the series.
The story begins with Barry Al-
len waking up at his job as a fo -
rensic scientist and hearing about
a crime in process. He dashes out
to go stop it as the Flash (a hero
with the power of super-speed)
only to nd that he is missing
both his costume and his super-
speed. Before he has time to
process this revelation, he makesan even more amazing discovery.
His mother, who he thought
was murdered when
he was a child, is
alive and
w e l l .
Moreover, when
he starts to question his
mother and the surrounding peo-
ple about these inconsistencies
in his memory, no one seems to
have any idea what he is talking
about. Barry drives to Gotham to
ask Batman for some help, since
nobody seems to recognize the
names of any other superheroes
he mentions. Barry enters the
Batcave, calling out to Bruce.
However, Batman does not rec-
ognize him and reacts violently to
being called Bruce, which leads
Barry to realize that it is not Bruce
Wayne beneath Batmans cowl,
but his father, Dr. Thomas Wayne.
At this point, Barry notices that he
has what seems to be the ring forhis costume, though upon further
examination it is revealed to con-
tain the costume of his enemy,
Reverse-Flash. Barry also starts
to experience some memory al-
teration as his memories start to
synch up with this new world. He
learns that this world is caught in
a war between the forces of Won-
der Woman and Aquaman and
realizes that this is not some illu-
sion or alternate dimension, but
his world, altered by some previ-
ous interference in the timeline.
Since super-speedsters are some
of the only people capable of time
travel at will in this universe (to re-
ally over-simplify, Ill just say that
they can runso fast that
they can run
through time
on occasion)
he assumes
that the cos-
tume means
that Reverse-
Flash is re-
sponsible and
begs Thomas
to help him
regain his
speed so
he can help
restore the
world before
he loses his
memories ofhow it should
be. Thomas
still seems skeptical until Barry
mentions that in his reality, Bruce,
not Thomas, had survived the
robbery that created Batman.
Wayne then agrees to help and
reluctantly lets Barry attempt to
re-create his origin not once, but
twice. For any readers unaware
of how the Flash got his pow-
ers, this involves Barry allowing
himself to be struck by lightning.
The second attempt is success-
ful and with his powers restored,
the Scarlet Speedster sets out
with Batman to try and assemble
a new Justice League from the
shambles of this world.The two of them
r e -
c r u i t
C y b o r g ,
who in this
world is the most
prominent American superhero
and together, the three of them
set off to free Superman, who
was apparently captured by the
government when he rst arrived
on Earth as a baby. However,
when he sees the sun for the rst
time in his life, Superman runs
away. The trio begins recruiting
other heroes and along the way,
Barry comes to grips with the
fact that he needs to make a
plan to deal with reality in case
he is unable change the time-
line back. He decides
to take the group of
heroes to directly
confront Aqua-
man and Wonder
Woman beforetheir war makes
things any worse
for the planet. The
battle goes poorly,
even with the return
of Superman. Heroes
are losing and dying left
and right when suddenly,
Reverse-Flash shows up
and forces Barry to see
the memories he had
not been able to ac-
cess yet. Through
these memories,
Barry realizes that
R eve r se - F l a sh
did not mess up
the timelinehe
did. When thetimeline shift-
ed, Barry
lost the
m e m o r y
of the mo-
ment he
had gone
back in
time to save his mothers
life. In saving her life when she
should have died, Barry inadver-
tently set off a chain of dominoes
that caused this entire catastro-
phe. Thomas then kills Reverse-
Flash, hands a note to Barry,
and tells him to run into the past
to save the millions who have
died because of this alteration.
Barry travels to a time before allof this to explain the situation to
his mother and try to gure out
a way to save both her and the
world. Eventually, she tells Barry
that he has to let her go and that
one way or another, the life they
did have together still happened,
no matter what. He hugs her one
last time and then jumps into
the time stream and with tears
streaming down his face, stops
his younger self from saving his
mothers life, allowing her to die
and the universe to right itself.
As he races home, he notices his
timeline in the time stream seems
to split into three, which was later
revealed to be the lead-in to the
New 52. Upon returning home,Barry races to Batman to check
that reality really is back, then re-
lays the story and reveals that for
some reason, his memories of
his time in that timeline, par-
t icu- lar ly those with h is
mother,
h a v e
not yet
f a d e d
as he expects.
Bruce tells him to think of
it as a gift to ease the pain and
Barry hands him the note from
Thomas. Upon realizing who
wrote the note, a shocked Bruce
sits down to read it, then, in a
rare display of emotion, lets a few
tears escape as he thanks Barry
as the story ends.
This story i s absolutel y brea