the oredigger issue 12 - november 25, 2013

8/13/2019 The Oredigger Issue 12 - November 25, 2013

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T H E O R E D I G G E RVolume 94, Issue 12 November 25, 2013

The student voice of the Colorado School of Mines

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

Sports 7

Opinion 8

Features 4

News 2

Mathematicians

study the brains

functions.

Stars Above

Mines refocuseson Earth.

Minds at Mines

asks about

snow.

Mens

basketball is

victorious.

Jessica Deters

Staff Writer

Why do employers look favor-

ably on candidates with experi-

ence in engineering service? Why

does participating in Engineers

Without Borders or minoring in

Humanitarian Engineering make for

a strong resume? Greg Rulifson, a

Ph.D. student at the University of

Colorado-Boulder, is not only ask-

ing these questions, he is nding

tangible and logical

answers.

I do not know

anyone else, be-

sides Greg, who

i s i m p l e m e n t -

ing a systematic

methodology and

framework to un-

derstand some-

thing that to many

of us sounds trivial,

but we dont know

why its tr ivial,

Juan Lucena, professor and direc-

tor of Humanitarian Engineering at

Mines, said. Why do we join EWB

or why do we do humanitarian en-

gineering? Why would employers

even care or attribute value to a

minor in humanitarian engineer-

ing or a membership in Engineers

Without Borders? There are a lot

of answers as to why employers

Humanitarian engineering askswhy service benefts CSM students

Mines prepares to transition from autumn to winter. This week, many students will journey home to celebrate

Thanksgiving. After Thanksgiving, only Dead Week and Finals remain before students leave for Winter Break.

KATERINA GONZALES / OREDIGGER

attribute value to things like being

a member of EWB or being in the

HE minor, and, as far as, I know

Greg is the only one asking these

questions in a systematic way.

Rulifson, who is studying the in-

uence of learning through service

activities such as Engineers With-

out Borders on hiring decisions,

closed out the Humanitarian Engi-

neering Lecture Series for the fall

semester. Prior to enrolling in the

Ph.D. program at CU Boulder, Ru-

lifson earned his Bachelors Degree

in Civil Engineer-

ing with a minor in

Global Poverty and

Practice at the Uni-

versity of Califor-

nia, Berkeley and

worked on a tsu-

nami relief mitiga-

tion project to earn

a Masters Degree

at Stanford.

Rul i fson of-

fered insight into

the importance of

engineering service and how tobest market such experience to

employers. Throughout Rulifsons

research, he has interviewed a

dozen employers in civil, envi-

ronmental, and mechanical engi-

neering elds. Employers shared

their views on the importance of

engineering service and how such

service plays into hiring decisions.

You learn ten times as much

from a practical experience than a

theoretical. You might have a leg

up because you have (practical)

experiences, one employer told

Rulifson. Entry level students that

have that experience are about a

year ahead than what we would

see out of a regular program.

Rulifsons interviews allow

him to quan-

tify which skills

l ea r n ed v i a

en g in ee r i n g

serv ice pro j-

ects make ap-

plicants who

participate in

such service

projects more

appealing to

employers.

According to Rulifson, Employ-

ers want technical and professional

skills, practical skills, a holistic

understanding of engineering, pas-

sion, leadership, and international

experience. Working on engineer-

ing service projects allows for thedevelopment of all of these skills.

Engineering service is very

valuable, Rulifson said. Nobody

spoke to me (and said) its not

really that big of a deal actually. A

very key differentiator (in hiring) is

extracurricular activities that are

related to engineering.

It does not get you in the door,

but it helps, one corporate inter-

viewee told Rulifson of engineering

service experience. It absolutely

differentiates you once you meet

the minimum qualications.

Participating in Engineers

Without Borders and minoring in

Humanitarian Engineering will not

guarantee a job.

Rulifson reminded students

that they must still

have the minimum

qualifications and

must retain their

engineering knowl-

edge learned in

academia.

Youre not go-

ing to get away with

ditching all of your

schoolwork and

having (engineering

service) take over your life, Rulif-

son said. Youve got to balance

those things.

Engineering service does make

a difference when it comes hir-

ing time according to Rulifsons

research. Companies do findservice valuable and engineering

service in particular. So however

you feel like youve been most im-

pacted by the engineering service

that youve done and the more

effectively you can speak towards

it, then the better chances youll

have of having them know what

you bring to the table.

You learn ten times

as much from a practi-

cal experience than a

theoretical. You might

have a leg up because

you have (practical)

experiences.

Engineer ing service is

very valuable...A very key

diferentiator (in hiring)

is extracurricular activi-

ties that are related to

engineering.


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Oredigger Staff

Deborah Good

Editor-in-Chief

Emily McNairManaging Editor

Taylor PolodnaDesign Editor

Connor McDonaldWebmaster

Lucy OrsiBusiness Manager

Arnaud FilliatCopy Editor

Katerina GonzalesContent Manager

Jared RiemerContent Manager

Karen GilbertFaculty Advisor

Headlines from around the worldLocal News

A car crashed into the rstoor of an apartment buildingaround 3am at 872 Park AvenueWest. At least one person in-volved was taken to the hospitalwith serious injuries. The extentof the damage to the buildingis unknown at this time and thecrash in under investigation.

Federal agents raided severalmarijuana businesses this pastweek. The businesses may havea possible connection to Colom-bian drug cartels. The agentsbelieved that the businesseswere all one big operation.

Two men died in a tractor-

trailer crash in Trinidad Thurs-

day morning. The driver did notnegotiate a curve. This led tohim losing control of the truck.Neither of the men was wearingseat belts. The accident is stillunder investigation.

Paul Nohan died after fall-ing from the Narrows on LongsPeak on August 15. The BoulderCounty Coroner has ruled thedeath an accident.

A ruptured pipeline near Can-on City spilled contaminated wa-ter. This pipeline came from theCotter Corp. uranium mill. Thecontamination did not leave he

property.

James Davis, Staff Writer

Bradley Wood, Staff Writer

MIT, Massachusets - Scientists at MIT have created the newstandard in waterproof. Their new super-hydrophobic coating is 40%more water resistant than previously thought possible. This revolution-ary new micro ridge design has been inspired by waterproof objects innature. The micro ridges added to the surface of objects reduces thesurface area of water in contact with the surface and allows it to roll offquickly. Objects coated with this repel water so quickly that even in su-percooled conditions water rolls off before freezing. This breakthroughwill lead to more waterproof fabrics and airplanes that ice up less easily.

Two men were arrested in

the Saudi Arabian capital of

Riyadh for offering free hugs.

After observing the free-hugmovements in other countries,Saudi citizen Bandr al-Swed wasinspired to start his own. He at-tempted to brighten peoples dayby offering strangers free hugs,believing that it could make thecountry a happier place. The reli-gious police stated that the prac-tice was exotic and offendingpublic order. After the arrest, thetwo men were obligated to sign a

pledge stating that they would notoffer free hugs again.

Eye witness reports conrm theight of an unmanned stealth

craft in China. Claims made stat-ed that the drone, dubbed SharpSword, made a 20 minute testight in Chengdu. Earlier in theyear, Chinese drones were pilotednear contested territory in the EastChina Sea, increasing tension inJapan. These reports have made itclear that China is ready to join thewestern world with regards toadvances in unmanned aerialvehicles.

New tests done on ameteorite, titled BlackBeauty for its black,

glossy appearance, hasbeen conrmed as oneof the oldest Martianmeteorites collected.

Original tests on therock aged it at about2 billion years, but newtests suggest that it maydate back further than4.4 billion years ago. Ac-cording to scientists, thisis during the Red Planets

infancy. Many igneous rock typescan be observed, suggesting thatearly Martian formation experi-enced much volcanic activity.

22-year-old Norwegian

chess prodigy Magnus Carlsen

beats former world champion

Viswanathan Anand. Carlsendominated the tournament com-petition, only needing a drawagainst the former world championto earn the title. Carlsen took homea hefty $2.24 million for his victory.

After two months in prison, veBritish Greenpeace members

were released with bail. The or-ganization was protesting Russianoffshore drilling in the Arctic. Themembers were separated whenprocessed in the prison system,each living with Russian inmates.

The activists originally faced charg-es of piracy, but this was reducedto hooliganism.

Scientists in Spain have re-ceived funding to make anotherattempt at cloning the bucar-

do. The bucardo, also known asthe Pyrenean ibex, is a species ofmountain goat that went extinct inthe year 2000. Prior to its extinc-tion, tissue samples were collectedand frozen in liquid nitrogen. Theexperiments will study the viabilityof tissue samples after extendedfreezing. Lead scientist Dr. Alberto

Fernandez-Arias stated that thisis not an attempt to bring backan extinct species; it is just a teston cloning techniques. The clonedcells will be articially implanted infemale goats to test this.

NASA, Florida- NASAs Maven mis-sion launched this week with a nal desti-nation of Mars. The probe launched fromCape Canaveral Air Base on an Atlas

V rocket. The goal of this mission is to

orbit Mars to study its atmosphere andlearn if water ever could have existed onthe Mars surface. The probe has a tenmonth ight to the red planet with manymaneuvers along the way but if all goesaccording to schedule the probe shouldbe orbiting Mars on September 22, 2014.

Milton, Oxfordshire, UK- Genetically modied insects can be usedto combat themselves. A company called Oxitec has developed a genethat they breed into male insects that causes young female insects to

die as they develop. It is in use in Brazil to combat mosquito populations,in an effort to prevent the spread of deadly diseases. In Europe they arehoping to use this gene in olive ies to reduce the loss of olive crops.

Earth- The recent death of a star about 2,500 light years from earth isnow believed to be the brightest in recorded history. During the collapse,the star emitted large amounts of radiation into the universe. Scientistssay that had the star been within 1000 light years of Earth that life onEarth could have been adversely affected. Scientists also predict that astar will only implode that close to earth once every 500 million years.

CorrectionThe Oredigger misattrib-

uted the Geek of the Weekarticle in the November 18thissue. Jordan Francis was theauthor, not Katerina Gonzales.The Oredigger apologizes forthe error.


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Chris Robbins

Staff Writer

As one might imagine, theworkings of the human brain arean extremely complex subject,and while a great deal has beendiscovered in this eld over theyears, there is still much morethat remains a mystery. As partof her current research, Profes-sor Anca Rad-ulescu of the

Applied Mathdepartment atCU-Boulder ispart of an ex-ploratory studyon the brainsnetwork- l i keorgan iza t ionand interac-

tions withinthat network.

At this se-mesters nal AMS departmentcolloquium, she provided somebrief insight into this research inher presentation, Network Cou-pling, Dynamics and EmotionalResponses.

What Radulescu and her col-leagues were hoping to determinefrom this study was whether ornot a persons emotional imbal-ances were due to the circuitry intheir prefrontal lobe, particularlythe underperformance of regula-tory modules within the prefron-tal cortex. To test this hypoth-

Brain network structureunsurprisingly complex

esis, human subjects with varyingemotional responses (from noconditions to documented

schizophrenics) were exposed todifferent visual stimuli and empiri-cal data collected was of a timeseries via non-invasive imagingtechniques such as fMRI. Whilesubjects were exposed to thestimuli, these imaging techniquesmonitored and recorded signals

sent across cer-tain areas of thebrain. These re-cordings werethen converted tousable data andsorted by whetherthe signals werepurely randomwhite noiseversus pink-or

brown-colorednoise (emissionsthat seem to

have a preferred temporal scale)through the use of the signalsFourier spectra.

Upon analyzing the data andsorting the data into catego-ries by subject (low response tostimuli, high response to stimuli,low anxiety over stimuli, and highanxiety over stimuli), the resultswere rather interesting. Due tothe highest levels of noise be-ing transmitted to the amygdala,or excitatory, arousal nodes, thehigh response group also hadamong the highest releases from

the BA45 (Brodmann area 45,an inhibitory/extinction modulefound in the frontal cortex), which

was to be expected. However,the high anxiety class receivedthe smallest levels of noise to theamygdala in the study, yet alsoreceived the absolute highest lev-els of release from the BA45. Itwould make sense that the high-est levels of inhibitors combinedwith the lowest levels of exciterswould result in very low respon-siveness rather than high anxiety,but as the data suggests it is ac-tually the opposite.

Trying to make sense of this,Radulescu proposed a basic the-ory that high anxiety levels resultfrom weakened inhibitory devicesin the prefrontal lobe, makingeven the slightest noise within the

system difcult to extinguish. Us-ing the data as a starting point,Radulescu has developed a sim-ple model of the situation, and,at this point, it does a decent jobof mapping out the basic work-ings of this system. However, sheadmits that the model is still veryrough and in need of some edit-ing and that, for the time being,this basic understanding of thesituation will have to do. As partof her future research, she planson working out the issues withthe model and hopes to produceand even more accurate descrip-tion of the brains networkingstructure.

Radulescu and her col-

leagues were hoping to

determine...whether or

not a persons emotional

imbalances were due to

the circuitry in their pre-

frontal lobe.

Sarah Dewar

Staff Writer

Chris Van Allsburg wrote ThePolar Express in 1985. This chil-drens book has become a Christ-mas classic. Children and adultsalike all over the world have be-come enchanted with the story of alittle boy who awakes in the middleof the night to nd train outside hishouse, beckoning him to the NorthPole. The book itself has beautifulillustrations that incorporate thedarker shades that are associatedwith winter - rich reds, deep greys,thick greens. Each page draws thereader further and further into thestory, building anticipation, just asif he was going on the same jour-ney to the mystical North Pole aswell. Like most childrens books,the physical size of the book islarge and lends to an encompass-ing experience when ipping eachwide page.

The 2004 adaptation for screenbrought this wonderful story tolife in a fresh visual way. Execu-tive producer Tom Hanks led themovie both starring and narrat-ing the story. Chris Van Allsburgwas included as another execu-tive producer, which ensured theauthenticity and unique nature ofthe book being adapted into lm.The Polar Express has denitelybecome a must see, in addition toa must read, every Christmas sea-son. Accompanying the movie is astellar soundtrack, which includesthe astounding voice of Josh Gro-ban and the compositional genius

Polar Expressstill charming

Courtesy of Mines

Newsroom

The Maji Crew, sponsored byInternational Development Enter-prises (iDE), won the Trade FairChampionship Thursday, Nov. 21in George R. Brown Hall. Theirproject focuses on redesign-ing the value and filter for iDEsexisting pressure drip irrigationsystems to be more cost effec-tive and easier to use. Some oftheir design objectives includeirrigating a 1,000 square meterfield, providing a value to shut offwater and a filter that is easy toremove and clean.

Civil environmental engineer-

ing professor John McCray, se-nior research associate KathrynLowe and liberal arts and inter-national studies associate pro-fessor Juan Lucena are leadingsix students on the project withsupport from mechanical engi-neering professor Jered Dean.

Other winners include me-chanical engineering studentBrenda Shelly, who finishedfirst in the Broader Impacts Es-

Maji Crew winstrade fairCourtesy of Mines

Newsroom

An NSF RAPID proposal wasrecently awarded to ColoradoSchool of Mines researchers toinvestigate the potential impactson water quality in the Rim Firearea near Yosemite National Park.

The Rim Fire, the third largest

re in California history, was start-ed on Aug. 17, 2013, and burnedfor nearly 10 weeks destroying402 square miles of forest andwildlife habitat. It is the largestre in the recorded Sierra Nevadahistory and cost more than $127

Mines researchers earnNSF Yosemite grant

say Competition. The topic forthe essay assignment this yearwas to highlight specific ethi-cal responsibilities that weresignificant in a students projectdesign. Shelleys essay empha-sized environmental, economicand social impacts relative to thedevelopment of an autonomousunmanned aerial vehicle.

The full l ist o f the Maji Crew islisted below.

Maji Crew:

iDE (client): Ryan Weber andLeslie Light

Faculty Advisor: ProfessorJohn McCray

Technical /Social ContextConsultants: Ms. Kathryn Loweand Mr. Juan Lucena

Team Members : McLain Cow-an (Mechanical Engineering),Benjamin Fox (Civil Engineering),Michael Fremming (Civil Engi-neering), John Kuyt (Civil Engi-neering), Taryn Mantta (Environ-mental Engineering) and WhitneyWelch (Mechanical Engineering)

Brenda Shelley wins BroaderImpacts Essay Competition

million to ght -- $4.3 millionwill be used towards watershedtreatment to mitigate potentialdownstream impacts.

The research, led by MinesCivil and Environmental Engineer-ing Professor Terri S. Hogue alongwith her colleagues John Mc-Cray, Richard Luthy, and AlexisStichler, Chris Higgins, and Alicia

M. Kinoshita, will involve monitor-ing reservoir and regional streamsystem water quality as well asalterations in snow patterns andassociated spring runoff.

The Rim Fire threatened theOShaughnessy Dam and reser-

voir in the Hetch Hetchy Valley,which supplies water for the SanFrancisco Bay Area. It also has thepotential to impact the TuolumneRiver water system, which sup-plies water to San Francisco and29 other wholesale buyers in SanMateo, Santa Clara, and Alamedacounties.

RAPID proposals allow quick-

response research on naturalor anthropogenic disasters andsimilar unanticipated events.

The project is also supported byfunds from the NSF EngineeringResearch Center on Urban WaterInfrastructure.

COURTESY MINES NEWSROOM

CSM researchers recently received an NSF RAPID proposal to investigate the Rim Fires

effects on water quality in the Yosemite National Park region.

of Alan Silvestri.The overall message of The

Polar Express rings true for manyof us. It follows the experience of ayoung child. He believes in magicand in the existence of the NorthPole as more than just a symboliclocation. As he grows older, hecontinues to believe, even thoughhis friends and family are unableto share in his enthusiasm for themagic of Christmas. He keeps asmall bell, which he received fromSanta Claus during his trip to theNorth Pole, and he is able to hearthe bell ring throughout his entirelifetime. All of his friends and fam-ily slowly lose the ability to hearthe bell. Even as he grows old, theonce-young boy is able to hear thebell ring loud and clear.

This is an important message toall. Even when faced with the harshrealities of the world, where sciencedisproves magic, it is comfortingto fondly remember the time as achild, when the magic of Christmaswas experienced. Returning tothe feeling can be comforting andinspiring. The most creative andimaginative people in the world aresomehow able to maintain a closeconnection to childhood dreams- a sort of free spiritedness - thatis joyful and fun. Christmas is theperfect time to revisit childhooddreams and put ones current lifein perspective. Many dreamed thesame dreams as children, and it isimportant to keep those dreamsrelevant and to continue to pursuewhat those dreams have trans-formed into today.


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f e a t u r e s november , page


John Bristow

Staff Writer

Dear Fellow Astronomer,

It is not rare for me to get a

passing comment along the lines

of Wow, you are really into as-

tronomy. What sort of telescope did

you have as a kid? My answer of-

ten surprises people; in short I was

not into astronomy in my youth.

Sure, I thought black holes were

wicked awesome and I knew the

Earth went around the Sun, but I

had very little fascination with the

realm beyond our atmosphere. The

story I would like to tell is one part

thoughtful reection and a whole

helping of a basic plea.

When I started driving, I gained

the ability to see a world beyond

what my schedule had dictated be-

fore. No longer was I always home

by supper, and no longer was I

cooped up inside while the skies

did their dance. I knew of the moon,

I had seen it thousands of times,

but suddenly with my schedule

placed under my control, I started

seeing it more than ever. I found it to

be purely fascinating that one night

the moon would be high in the sky,

then a few nights later, at the same

time, it would just be on the horizon.

My world was not one of magic,but this observation astounded me

and inspired me to my core. After

a while, curiosity got the better of

The Stars Above Mines

COURTESY SITE07

Letter from the author

me and I began to borrow an old

World War I spotting scope from

my father so I could sit out and look

at the moon more closely. What I

saw astounded me even more than

I could have imagined; the areas

originally seen as gray smudges

were rimmed by spectacular moun-

tain ranges and sometimes craters

would stand out against the bright

surface. I was hooked. It would take

a few more years full of cold dark

nights to produce who I am today,

but every step has shown me more

than I could have ever imagined.

It would have been easy just

to get lost in the stars, living every

day with my head several hundred

kilometers up; fortunately every-

thing changed on one fateful night.

Just like children looking up at the

clouds and seeing shapes, I often

would look up at the stars and pic-

ture massive wisps of history pass-

ing above. Regardless of their ac-

tual existence, I would picture the

ancient gods battling, armies lead

on by hopes placed on a falling

star, and ancient stellar prophecies

abound. Then something went a bit

weird with my perception. I knew

space was a three-dimensional vol-

ume; but mentally, all of the stars

were about the same distance from

me; when suddenly, that shifted.

It started with a triangle of stars;

the dimmest star in the triad slid

away from me while the brightest

stayed near, and with that space

went from two-dimensional, to the

full on three. This would only be the

beginning, through the dizzying en-

counter with reality, I began to feel

more like a rock climber holding on

for dear life as the great void grew

deeper and deeper; it was exhila-

rating. It was at that moment, as I

gazed into the depths of space that

I became fully aware of the object

that was holding me close.

We live on a silent and forgiv-

ing mass of rock, clay, and metal.

Despite being such a small speck

in the whole of reality, the Earth is

something to be treasured. Regard-

less of theological or national views,

the Earth is an essential element of

being human. The species did not

start on Mars, nor Venus, or a moon

of Jupiter; while we will visit these

some day, we are all from Earth.

So here is my plea: appreciate

the whole of reality, from the Orion

Nebula to the shifting sands of the

Sahara. You are as much of a part

of the universe as any other star,

dust cloud, or tree. Beyond that,

never lose that drive to explore,

and if has already departed fro your

imagination, rekindle it. Every day

satellites and rovers send back ex-

citing news, unheard of species are

discovered, and the Earth slowly

churns below us. On top of all, may

the stars always shine bright in your

skies.

Jordan Francis

Staff Writer

Aquaman: The Trench: A new beginning

Aquaman is, without a doubt,

one of the most underrated super-

heroes of all time. He is part human,

part Atlantean royalty, telepathic,

able to withstand the pressures of

the ocean, super strong, extremely

resistant to physical damage, fast

on land and faster in the water, hassuper-hearing, and can command

almost any form of sea life. And if

all of that fails him, he is still fully ca-

pable of stabbing enemies with his

trident. In the hands of a competent,

well-versed writer, he is an engaging

superhero and a compelling charac-

ter, but due to a combination of prior

bad stories, poor use of the charac-

ter, and plenty of parody, Aquaman

has gotten a bad reputation as noth-

ing more than that guy who can talk

to sh. Interestingly though, during

the superhero relaunch of 2011s

The New 52, the creative team rec-

ognized Aquamans oundering rep-

utation. Rather than ghting the tide

of negative opinions surrounding the

character, they chose to incorporatethat into the story and highlight the

fact that no matter how much good

he does, Aquaman gets no respect

in his universe either. Aquaman:

The Trench dives headrst into the

DCnUs reimagining of Aquaman

and introduces both the characters

and the readers to the hero the world

always seems to forget.

The story is simple enough.

Aquaman, known to the few who

care enough to ask as Arthur Curry,

is in the process of establishing him-

self the city of Boston, trying to pro-

tect it even with the residents all but

laughing at him along the way. He

has arrived with his wife, Mera, an-

other denizen of the sea who stays

with him even when he decides that

he will not be starting a new life on

the surface instead of returning to

Atlantis as its king.

A short time afterAquaman starts

settling into his

new home, crea-

tures from the

ocean that look

like some strange

hybrid between

humans and

deep sea sh rise

up and begin at-

tacking the citi-

zens of Boston.

Aquaman and

Mera are sum-

moned and the

two of them ght

the creatures

back into the sea.

The two of themtake one of the

creatures bodies to a marine biolo-

gist named Stephen Shin, who tells

them that the creatures are likely

from one of the oceans deep and

dark trenches and were probably

searching for food on the surface.

Aquaman concludes that a species

living at such depths would only

come to the surface in a desperate

attempt to prolong their survival. He

and Mera go down to the colony and

nd cocoons full of people captured

from the surface. They break off the

wall of cocoons and Aquaman re-

luctantly ghts the creatures to give

Mera time to escape. Ultimately, he

is forced to use a volcanic vent to

collapse the trench on the creatures,

presumably killing them all, but he

and Mera do manage to save most

of the people

who were cap-tured and wind

up taking in a dog

whose owner did

not survive the at-

tack.

Soon after

the attacks, the

authorities start

investigating an

artifact that was

in the cocoons.

They are inter-

rupted by a group

of mysterious sol-

diers who attack

the investigators

and steal the ar-

tifact. Aquaman

grabs onto theirplane as it takes

off and discovers the soldiers are

Atlantean right before the plane ex-

plodes and leaves him stranded in

the desert. After the artifact plays

a recorded transmission about the

sinking of Atlantis, Aquaman is res-

cued by the Navy and returns home.

Mera, meanwhile, tries to get food

for the dog but winds up at odds

with some of the townspeople. After

saving a few people and being thor-

oughly confused by human nature,

Mera returns home with mixed im-

pressions on humanity and she and

Arthur set off to answer a new ques-

tion: who sank Atlantis?

This comic is a lot of fun, if con-

fusing at times. The writer and artists

do a great job of taking the reader

through Aquamans journey, making

them feel his frustration at the people

who constantly misunderstand anddemean him while showing readers

his pride, nobility, and drive to do

right despite the ridicule that seems

to follow him everywhere. The citi-

zens who underestimate him work

well with most readers impressions

that Aquaman is nothing special and

the story does a great job of slowly

but surely subverting that belief. The

artwork does a great job of sucking

the reader in as well, with a particu-

lar emphasis on shadows and facial

expressions and shadows that add

emotion and mystery to the adven-

ture. The art is realistic and visceral

for most of the books, but the misty,

golden look of the ashbacks pro-

vides a nice break and draws the

reader into Aquamans nostalgia.The writing, the art, the setting, and

the characters really combine to

make splash for Aquamans solo in-

troduction to the rebooted universe.

His interactions with others, be they

civilians, enemies, or his wife, are

realistic and understandable. The

revelations and discussions of his

and Meras past are sometimes con-

fusing, especially to new readers,

but such things are to be expected

when details are revealed in more of

a chaotic story format instead of an

expository monologue (though it is

funny that a reboot designed to ap-

peal to new readers is so confusing

for them initially).

The strength of this comic really

lies in its main characters, who are

both very believable, if initially a bit

one-dimensional. Aquaman is paint-

ed as the tragic hero, soldiering on

through tragedy and ridicule to con-tinue being a hero, even if he knows

that he is not anybodys favorite and

he spends a great deal of his time

proving his doubters wrong, even

when nobody is watching. Mera is

portrayed well as a sh out of water,

a woman who spent most of her life

in the sea but has given up almost

everything to stay with her beloved

Arthur and who will continue to fol-

low him, even when she cannot un-

derstand why he would sacrice so

much to protect the frustrating sur-

face-dwellers. However, her inter-

actions with Aquaman clearly show

that she thinks for herself and does

not trust him blindly and her dealings

with others make it clear that while

she is proud of her association withhim, she is much more as a person

than just Aquamans girl. The two

are memorable, fun, and perhaps

most importantly, imperfect. Char-

acter aws and secrets are hinted

at many times in this book, making

these somewhat alien characters

much more human to the audience.

Overall, this comic tells a good sto-

ry and does a great job of setting

Aquaman up to make some serious

waves in the new DC Universe.

COURTESY DCCOMICS

Fans in Colorado and across the

globe grabbed their blankets and

settled into theaters on Thursday

night as they waited for the premiere

of one of the seasons most antici-

pated sequels, Catching Fire.

Catching Fire, the second lm

in Suzanne Collinss The Hunger

Games trilogy, picks up a year after

Katniss Everdeens (Jennifer Law-

rence) and Peeta Mellarks (Josh

Hutcherson) dual victory in the coun-

try of Panems 74th annual Hunger

Gamesa nationally televised event

in which two children selected from

each of twelve districts are forced

to ght to the death until one victor

remains. The games function as a

reminder of the populous of the capi-

tals absolute power and the pain the

capital can inict should rebellions

occur. Katniss, about to embark on

a Victory Tour with Peeta through

the twelve districts and the capital,

faces the impossible task assigned

to her by President Snow (Donald

Sutherland) of diffusing revolution-

ary thoughts and spirits growing and

spreading in the districts. Witty back-

and-forth dialogue and reactions be-

tween the victor and president drive

the plot and offer insight into Snows

desire to destroy Katniss image as

a symbol for revolution and rebellion.

The exchanges between Katniss

and President Snow are tantalizing

and offer real insight into the struc-

ture and fragility of Panems system.

Portrayals of the capital captivate

viewers and lead them through the

diluted world that the countrys elite

enjoys.

Themes of the need and cost of

Catching Fireignites in theatresJessica Deters

Staff Writer

revolution as well as the importance

of sacrice for the greater good ow

throughout the emotionally charged

lm. Catching Fire proves to be

no heart-warming holiday ick but

rather offers insight into life under to-

talitarian rule and the importance of

revolting and regaining basic human

rights. The lm overows with pa-

thos, allowing viewers to sympathize

with and understand the horrendous

positions characters are forced into.

In addition to the emotionally

charged plot and well-developed

themes, the cinematography is sim-

ply breathtaking. Everything from the

portrayal of the victory tour to the

victor village, from the capital to the

75th annual Hunger Games, proves

mesmerizing. Costumes captivate as

well, as Efe Trinket (Elizabeth Banks)

returns in amboyant and bizarre yet

typically Capital costumes that chan-

nel everything from monarch but-

teries to Marie Antoinette. Katniss

dons her signature braid along with

stunning extensions of her girl-on-re

gown from the rst lm.

Though the books always seem

to be better, Catching Fire offers

hope to Hollywoods movie-adapta-

tion franchise. The lm ows impec-

cably, grabbing viewers and leading

them on a thrilling journey through

the dystopic world of Panem. Thank-

fully the lm lacks extensive back-

ground information, allowing the lm

to ignite immediately without dull

moments of rehash.

Whether a fan of the novels or

a fan of the rst lm, the incredible

cinematography coupled with a cap-

tivating cast and plot (not to mention

the breathtaking costumes) make

Catching Fire a must see for the

holiday season.


5/8

f e a t u r e snovember , page 5


Katerina Gonzales

Content Manager

The geeks at Mines come in all

different varieties with varying types

of geekiness. Compared to this

school, Im quite normal, laughed

Andrea Christians. But to those not

at Mines and even those not in ge-

ology, as Andrea is, she certainly is

qualied as a geek; both outstand-

ing and out standing in the eld.

Between homework, eld trips,

and watching Netix, Andrea found

time to chat with The Oredigger

about her geekiness.[The Oredigger]: Are you a

geek or a nerd and why?

[Christians]: Hmm. Wait, what is

the big difference between geeks

and nerds? Cause I feel like nerds

are more into school and stuffand geeks are more intogeeky

thingslike geeky shows and vid-

eo games and stuff.

I feel like Im a nerd most of the

time, but I am a geeky nerd, but I

do a lot of schoolwork [laughs].

What distinguishes you as

a geeky nerd? Or, what geeky

nerdy things do you like to do?

I have a lot of geeky shows that

I like to watch, like Doctor Who

is that geeky? Yeah, thats geeky. I

like sci- a lot. Like Star Trek.

I like to collect rocks. I feel

like my rock collection is pretty

nerdy. I got a lotta rocks. So cur-

rently, in my Colorado School of

Mines collectionIve got more at

homeIve got some uorite that I

Geek Week...Andrea Christians, Junior: Geology

ofthe

got up in Boulder, malachite that I

got went I went to Ouray, Ive got

some marble, Ive got some gold

and silver, Ive got some quartz

that I actually bought from the rock

museum, I have some dark pink

fossils, Ive got some coal that I

found once, and Ive got a lot of k-

feldspar. Ive got a lot of quartza

staple in a rock collection.

My family and I go on rock

hunting trips together when Im

on vacation, which is really nerdy

but really fun. One time we found

some really cool rocks and some

dinosaur poop. I know that sounds

gross, but its fossilized dinosaur

poop, called coprolite. Its really le-

git. Then this other time we found

this magnetized fossilized petried

wood. Its really cool; its sitting in

our backyard right now.Yeah. I like a lot of rocks.

Why did you decide to come

to Mines?

Well, like most people say, I ap-

plied because there was no essay.

I really liked that. But I mean, I had

heard about Mines before that and

wanted to go to school in Colora-

do because its much better than

TennesseeI had to get out of the

South. I dont know, it seemed like

a pretty cool school and it had geo-

logical engineering, which I wanted

to do at the time because my dad

was a geologist and it seemed

pretty cool and a like rocks. Also

I dont think theres a college with

geological engineering in Tennes-

see. But I love Colorado, so I was

like, Ive gotta get out there. Then

Mines gave me a scholarship, so I

was like, Why not?What do you do in your spare

time?

Watch a lot of Netix. Yeah.

Hang out with friends, more Netf-

lixCurrently Im watching Break-

ing Bad, and its pretty good. I

have to be like, People, dont tell

me what happens! I like to do out-

doorsy stuff when its not cold and

when Im not doing homework.If you could be a superhero,

who would you be and why?

Spidermanbecause hes Spi-

derman. He can climb on walls

he can shoot and sling spider web

thingies everywhere, and he just

swings. I just wanna swing around,

like down in Denver or New York,

and I would just do that all thetime. People would be like, Oh

my gosh, come help me, Im get-

ting mugged! and Id be like, Im

sorry, Im swinging around. I dont

wanna come down there! Im

gonna get me a Spiderman onesie.

I was gonna buy it, but theyre out

of stock right now.What advice would you give

to younger Mines students?

My advice would beoh, this

is a hard one. Id say make sure

youre doing something you like.

Dont just do it for the money.

Money is not your whole life. Dont

sell your soul. [coughs] petros.

[laughs]. No, my mom is a petro-

leum engineer, and she liked it.

Whats your favorite thing

about being a geology major?

We go on a lot of eld trips. Its

fun. Ive been on I think four eld

trips in the last three weeks. And

our eld session is one of the best

because we get to go around look-

ing at rocks all the time and its re-

ally fun. Its a tight-knit major where

everybody knows each other,

which is good and bad. But every-

body likes each other.

My professors wear a lot of an-

nel, which is really cool. Random

fact: if you ever want to see people

wearing annel, go into the geol-

ogy department. Khakis and an-

nel, man. All day, every day. They

say a lot of funny things a lot of the

time too. Theyre just funny people,

making a lot of rock puns.

What is your favorite rock

pun?

Its not rocket science, its rock

science.COURTESY ANDREA CHRISTIANS

Andrea Christians enjoys her tight-knit major and faculty.

The warm spices and chocolatey

goodness makes pumpkin brownie

mufns the perfect fall treat. These

mufns will impress all your friends

with little effort on your part. The

mufns take about thirty minutes to

make and fty minutes to bake. First

combine the dry ingredients:

2 c Flour

1 tsp Baking powder

1/2 tsp Salt

1 tsp Cinnamon

1/4 tsp Cayenne

1/4 tsp Nutmeg

Then heat the chocolate and

butter on the stove at medium heat,

by putting them in a bowl over a

boiling pot of water.

6 oz Chocolate

1/2 c Butter

Keep stirring the chocolate and

butter to keep from burning and

make sure they dont get too hot.

Next comes:

1 3/4 c Sugar

4 large Eggs

1 Tbsp Vanilla

1/4 c Oil

Mix these with a blender for ap-

proximately ve minutes till uffy.If you dont have a blender some

good ol elbow grease and a whisk

will do the trick too, it may just take

a little longer. After the sugar, eggs

and oil are a light yellow slowly add

the dry ingredients. After their thor-

oughly combined split the batter

into two bowls and add the stars

of the show to each. In one bowl

add the warm chocolate and butter

concoction and to the other bowl of

batter add the pumpkin.

Spice pumpkin brownie mufnsElizabeth Starbuck-McMillan

Staff Writer1 1/4 c Pumpkin

The batter can be made into

mufns or brownies. Use a non-

stick pan or butter a tray to keep

them from sticking. To get the mar-

ble appearance add a little of the

pumpkin batter and then a little of

the chocolate batter alternating till

desired mufn size is reached (the

mufns rise quite a bit so it is rec-

ommended that you ll the mufn

tin halfway with batter.) For the nal

touch, sprinkle chopped hazelnuts

(or almonds) and white chocolate

chips if youre really feeling spiffy.

Finally comes the hardest part, bak-

ing the mufns for fty minutes (in

oven at 350.) This time seems like

forever with the warm aroma of the

mufns lling your home, but it must

be done.

These mufns are tasty and their

smell is so taunting they caused a

few of my friends to go against their

morals, stealing the mufns from

a well covered and labeled platter.

One friend, Erica French, said It

was the most delicious mufn Ive

ever had.

This recipe is simple for some-

thing with so much avor and so

delicious. The only areas the muf-

ns arent perfect in are the health

and nutrition wise they are little

much. Try to make the mufns on

the smaller side to avoid excessive

portions of sugar. The mufns could

also be made a little more healthy by

substituting applesauce for some of

the sugar and whole wheat our or

ground oats instead of the typical all

purpose our. Its fun to experiment

with recipes to nd a good balance

of tasty and nutritious, but this can

also lead to some interesting food.

Let your right brain have a little fun

and see what you can do with these

mufns the next time youre feeling

like you need a little spice in your

life.ELIZABETH STARBUCK-MCMILLAN / OREDIGGER

Spice Pumpkin Brownie Mufns bring a little spice to your life.

Hold On - Beach

girl wanders ontothe dance oorSarah Dewar

Staff Writer

Colbie Caillat released a new

single this month entitled Hold

On. The song was co-written

and produced by One Republics

Ryan Tedder, who worked withCaillat on her 2011 album, All of

You. This new track has an en-

tirely different sound than Caillats

previous recordings. Fans of Cail-

lat revel in her laid-back acousti-

cally driven songs, t for a sum-

mer day on the beach. This new

single showcases Caillat in a dif-

ferent light, with club beats and

strong rhythms layered behind her

voice. Frequent listeners of Caillat

may be slightly put off by this new

single while listening to it for the

rst few times; however, fans of

music can appreciate artists to be

condent enough in their abilities

and branch out from their comfort

zones, experimenting with music

in ways that they have never triedbefore.

In a recent interview, Caillat

revealed that she really enjoys

the creative processes involved

with being an musical artist. She

feels has reached a point in her

career where she feels comfort-

able with expanding boundaries

and exploring new genres that

she has not recorded before. It is

extremely exciting as a dedicated

listener anticipating work from art-

ists who spend time cultivating a

new sound and adding more di-

mensionality to their identities.

Hopefully, her newfound direction

will not prove to be disappointing,

as many fans of Caillat appreciate

her genuine approach to song-writing.

Her newest album is expected

to be released early in 2014, but

many details are still in develop-

ment. The exact release date is

yet to be announced, as is the

title for the forthcoming full length

album. This will be the rst album

from Caillat in nearly a year. Her

last album entitled Christmas in

the Sand was available during

the last holiday season. It is cer-

tain that this new album will not

be reminiscent of any album Cail-

lat has released previously. Expect

more upbeat tracks and higher

energy levels, perfect for dancing.

Caillat will not entirely transform

into a dance diva; her lyrics willprobably remain close to her pre-

vious works - mostly innocent and

encouraging - about romance,

friendship, trust, and love. It will

be the overall sound and presen-

tation that will change and pres-

ent itself in brand new packaging.

For fans who have seen Caillats

rise to fame in the past ve years,

it will be exciting to see a new era

develop for the artist.


6/8

f e a t u r e s november , page


Benjamin Elliott

Staff Writer

Oredigger Fiction Column

The Line

It is difcult to sleep without a

tent, and yet, I nd myself with-

out one. I suppose one does not

truly need one in this place. The

ground is soft enough, but the

endless day interferes with sleep.

I am tired, so tired, but I must

keep walking until I nd some-

thing to make a tent out of, or the

end of the Long Sands. Some

water would be a welcome sight,

but its been a long time since I

saw anything except for what I

continue to carry on me. I am be-

ginning to believe that there is no

end to the desert; that I will die

here before I complete my mis-

sion. Even with my equipment, I

wont last long when the water

runs out.

The horizon is a constantthing. If one could see the hori-

zon, one could always see where

one was, at least so far as one

direction went. The light sat

where it always sat, shining from

the desert across the edge of the

world. The orb lit the sky higher

than it had before- almost as if

it were taunting me. I was chas-

ing the light, but it was running

away, up above into the sky. Still,

I trudge on. There is nothing else

to do.

Back in the village, my people

are of the opinion that when a

man or woman grows too old to

serve the people, or become oth-

erwise incapacitated, that they

must make a choice. They mustchoose where they are to die.

The choice is usually made care -

fully. A person may choose to die

in the Long Sands, where their

spirit is received by Liren. Alter-

natively, they may cross into the

Long Snow, where their spirit be-

comes the possession of Vaden.

A person who does not make this

choice is shunned, hated even,

for their resistance against what

is, after all, a natural thing. They

will be received by neither Great

Spirit, until another chooses to

carry their spirit for them.

Liren and Vaden are known by

many names, in many villages. All

agree however, on certain things.

Liren is the Spirit of re, blood,light, action, violence, and love.

Vaden is the spirit o f ice, mystery,

darkness, preservation, knowl-

edge, and discipline. Lirens love

for Vaden, and her refusal of his

advances, is the oldest legend

told by my people; even to-

day, Liren races towards Vaden,

hoping to win her heart with his

laughter and energy. Yet, Vaden

still runs from him, hiding in the

snows she brings to hide herself.

These old legends speak of

the Great Spirits that are said to

inhabit our world- there are oth-

ers as well, but Liren and Vaden

form the greatest of the spirits.

The other spirits inhabit the Mid-

dling, where my people survive.Here the land is fertile, neither

too cold nor too hot, and the

hosterlillies grow. The plants are

small, but they grow quickly and

robustly. They are enough to feed

the people as we travel with the

changing Middling Line. So long

as Liren continues his chase after

Vaden, the Middling Line, often

known as simply the Line, con-

tinues to move towards Vaden,

and my people follow. We can-

not live as physical beings in theLong Sands, or the Long Snow,

for very long.

There is not much to tell of

my journey. It remains much the

same as it has before. A hardier

breed of hosterlily blooms at the

edge of the Long Sands, but

I have not seen one since I last

saw water. The suit I wear should

keep nutrients cycling through

me without much loss, but the

small losses will begin to add up.

My only hope is nding some-

thing my people can use, wheth-

er the palace of Liren, or simply

a place to live. The Line, though

it has long been our home, is no

longer livable.

As Liren continues to chaseVaden, the ground under the Line

has given way to water. Depend-

ing on how far towards Vadens

realm one passes, the water may

very well be ice, but hosterlillies

cannot grow on ice. Some mem-

bers of my village cut down into

the ice to conrm that water sat

below it, and no earth for a plant

to take root. To make matters

worse, the water seems to have

no end in sight. While the great

spirits may survive in such con-

ditions, we cannot. So a villager

and I set off in opposite direc-

tions- one towards the sun and

the Long Sands, and one away

from it, to the Long Snows. We

seek a home, at the very least.I have lost count of time, out

on the sands. The moons have al-

ways been a fair measure of time

on the Line, but I cannot always

see them in the sky as bright as it

is. I will nd my way to Liren, even

if it kills me.

I can glimpse the moon on the

horizon. It is the beginning of an-

other day. My muscles seem to

have every intention of failing on

me. I have nally seen it- Lirens

palace. It seems to be hung in

the sky, so I know not how I will

reach it, but my resolve is set. My

people are depending on me.

I stumble across the terrain,

distracted by momentary ripplesin the dunes, shifts caused by

the wind. But then, back again,

to the sight. Spires, all hung to-

gether like a hosterlilly bush,like

a womans hair by relight. They

shine as a metal does, immobile.

Yet I could have sworn they were

moving, by the ripple which has

moved to the air. It is a shroud of

heat, preparing to lay me to rest.

Not yet.

In an hour, I am closer. The

palace is more clear now, as a

crystalline fortress. It was not held

in the sky by magic, but rather by

pillars of glass, or perhaps salt,

raising it well above the surface.

In the center of the pillars appears

a stairway. The pillars themselvesare each tilted, and disappear

into the sand below. Were the

pillars hollow, a single one could

contain my entire village,I make

my way to the steps.

Lirens palace. I am at the end

of my strength- I know I dont

have enough energy for the jour-

ney back. Yet it is either surren-

der, or climb, and I cannot imag-

ine climbing these stairs. Each

step is as tall as a man, and open

to the force of wind and heatabove. I raise my arms to the

rst step, and somehow pull my-

self to the next. Tendons strain,

bones buckle. And I am one step

closer. I climb again. And again.

The progress is slow, but I can-

not stop. If anything were to hap-

pen to me, my village would die. I

heave and rise.

And I am at the top. An en-

graved circle is cut into the hot

glass (for now I am sure this is the

material of the palace). I crawl to

it. And then, I am gone.

I slip into a labyrinth. The light,

the heat, the wind, the grit, all

gone. It is dim, but not impossible

to see, and my eyes grow accus-

tomed to their surroundings. The

room I have entered is sparkling

slowly, quietly, and I hear the

chime of a quiet mechanism.

Before me is a console. I step

to it, recognizing its like. I have

seen consoles before, on long-

dead sand bikes and abandoned

settlements. I can only assume

that Lirens palace used to house

my ancestors, who traveled both

the ice and sands. Unlike the

ones I have seen, this one glows

with light. It is alive.

I am too dry to speak, but lay

my hand across the console. The

room lights up, as if the shutters

had opened up. Beams illuminate

the oor and walls, as the ceilinggrows brighter. I have been rec-

ognized. I sit against the wall. Li -

ren has granted me an audience,

and I am safe. I can now sleep.

I wake up, in the room again. I

am incredibly stiff, but pull myself

to my feet. I will go slowly.

I walk to the edge of the room,

and the wall opens to allow me

passage. I step into a walkway.

I whisper feebly, but it seems I

am not heard. I take small steps,

balancing on my blistered heels.

And what appears to be a

throne room appears. No retain-

ers of any kind inhabit this space-

perhaps I simply cannot see

them. The throne beckons, and I

step to it. I examine it- it is simplycrystal, like the rest of this castle.

I debate sitting down. Is it wrong

to assume the honor of lordship

here? I cannot decide, but in min-

utes, my legs have decided for

me. I sit.

I sink into the throne, as if it

were liquid. No time to cry out,

no time to shift. In the sitting po -

sition, I slip backwards into the

crystal of the fortress.

I smell citrus, and blood. I hear

the call of my father, beckoning

my brother and I to return to our

home to pack for the next migra-

tion. I feel the fur of a govoso, my

rst kill. I taste the sweat of my

rst love. I see the light. Oh, the

light. It overwhelms me. I smellthe embers of a reside. I hear the

cacophony of assembled musi-

cians. I feel the sting of a wound,

taken from the sharp thorns at

the base of a hosterlilly. I taste

the salt of the ocean, a moment

of great excitement, but also of

impending doom for my people.

I see the strike of a int, the shine

of the sun, the reection off of a

mirror.

When I wake once more, I amolder. A beard runs from my chin

to halfway down my chest. What

delirium, what madness, over-

took me? What re consumed

my years, as surely as I walked

the sediment of the world, as

surely as I found adventure in the

brooks of my younger years? I

have slept, and I have woken.

The palace is still quietly chim-

ing, and there are still no people

to be seen. I sli p through the hall-

ways, pass through rooms. Each

room contains a different dream.

In one room is a soldier guarding

a chest lled with ancient gems. In

another room is a row of horses,

heads bowed. In another room I

nd a perfectly preserved houseof cards reaching to the ceiling. I

do not come across the console

room, nor will I, ever again. The

palace has many rooms, but one

can never come across the same

room twice.

I pass through the invisible

city. There is a room with a full

feast prepared, but the guests at

the table are all skeletons. I do

not take any food. There is room

painted to seem like a dark place,

yet the light destroys that illu-

sion. A library makes up one of

the rooms, with books of all kinds

lining the shelves. The shelves

themselves lead from one side

of the room but do not seem to

terminate. I am certain that if I fol-

lowed them, I could nd any book

ever written. The next room is full

of writhing snakes.

When I have been walking

through the rooms of Lirens pal-

ace for some time, I stop to rest.

I am tired, and hungry here, yet

never seem to need to sleep or

eat. I would say I was dreaming,

but for the constant reminder of

the palaces constancy- all of the

walls, oors, and ceiling are the

same glassy crystal I have seen

before. This is the palace I saw

from the desert sands, I am sure

of it.

Next to the snake room, there

is a room where music is always

in the air. I passed on to the nextroom, where three bald people

sat in a circle. They would, each

in turn, make a sound, then wait

for the other two to follow. I tried

to communicate with them, but

they did not seem to notice I was

even there. The next room con-

tained a pyramid, at the head of

which was a three-headed cat.

Below was a crowd of cats, gaz-

ing up at their mutant leader. I left

here with a sense of awe in my

heart, which I do not know was

articial or simply inspired. The

next room appeared to be cov-

ered in spiderwebs, but on closer

inspection, each web was made

of a thin strand of paper.

I began to see a rhyme, a rea-

son, to the rooms and their se -

quence. I could, on leaving one

room, predict the kind of room

that would follow, and sometimes

even guess specics as to its

contents.

One room was a set of plat-

forms, some raised above others.

The surfaces were mirrored, pol-

ished, depending on their height.

It was as if I were crossing hills,

elds of grass and leaves and

trees, yet the whole room wassimply at squares of crystal. A

room was full of a smoke, which

made me cough. I somehow

passed from this one, only to nd

myself moving slowly, deliberately

in the next room. The room was

simply slower- there is no other

way to describe it.

Another room contained

countless boxes, inside of which

lived a tiny people. I was able

to communicate with them, and

they told me that I had been the

rst visitor from outside in some

time. They were too afraid to ven -

ture beyond the connes of their

room- I wondered at whether this

were a feature of the labyrinth

itself, or merely a facet of thepeople themselves. There was a

room where gears and clockwork

turned with ruthless efciency to

support some grand machine.

I could not understand its pur-

pose, but the valves and gauges

led me to believe it was some sort

of engine. Perhaps it was provid-

ing power to the labyrinth, but I

doubted it (in fact, it was much

more likely that it was the other

way around).

I never stopped at any room

forever. Though I found many

rooms pleasant, and some spe-

cial few blissful, I could not help

but wander on to the next one.

My purpose had not been forgot-

ten, but it was no longer whatdrove me. The rooms, the po-

tential of a world unimagined of,

were simply too fascinating for

me to stand still for long. I was

lled with curiosity.

I nally found a room, in the

center of which was a globe. One

side was yellow, the other side

blue. On one wall was a glowing

light, far brighter than I had seen

in most other rooms. This was my

world. I pushed on the globe, and

it began to spin. The color of the

globe began to mix as it span,

and the aggregate seemed a

green. My purpose had been ful-

lled, if indeed this room had any

bearing on the world I had come

from.Yet I continued to walk. I am-

bled ponderously into a room full

of owers I had never seen, with

cretins of some kind hiding in the

buds. They would scamper from

one to another when disturbed,

but otherwise seemed content

to poke at me with long claws.

In one room I climbed a stairway

that ended where it had begun.

Yet, on leaving the room, I came

across a room where numbers

and symbols covered the walls. It

was some kind of obtuse equa-

tion, I could not decipher nor

place any meaning on, other

than that it seemed impressive. I

walked on, nding a room where

a giant slept. A room with inatedplastic tunnels and slides. A room

with germane tries and amuse-

ments, but from which no reward

was forthcoming.

And then I came to a room

with no doors. It was in this room

I stopped, and it is in this room I

have been ever since.


7/8

s p o r t snovember , page 7


Jared Riemer

Content Manager

The Colorado School of Mines

volleyball team entered the week

ranked sixteenth in the nation and

were prepared to make a run at

the RMAC tournament champion-

ship. After a win in Tuesdays open-

ing round over Fort Lewis, Miness

hopes of capturing both regular

season and postseason titles came

to an end against Adams State, but

the lady Orediggers are still in good

shape to make the NCAA Cham-

pionships as the top eight in each

region make the tourney. Mines was

ranked No.2 in this weeks regional

ranking.

In Tuesdays quarternal matchup

against Fort Lewis, the Orediggers

controlled the match and wound up

with the 3-0 victory. In the rst set,

Mines took the early lead 7-1 and led

comfortably for the remainder of the

match, grabbing the 25-12 rst set

victory. The second set was much

the same, as Mines captured four

straight points with the match tied

at eight apiece, and rolled to the 25-

16 set victory. The third and nal set

was the closest as the three, as Fort

Lewis tried to hang on in the match.

Fort Lewis led late 20-18 after the

two teams traded points for the early

portion of the set, but Mines took the

next four points and seven of the -

nal eight to grab the 25-21 nal set

victory.

Leading the way for the Oredig-

gers were senior Melanie Wanna-

maker and freshman Alanna Wineld

who both recorded 12 kills. Wan-

namaker recorded her 12 on a .571

hitting percentage and added four

blocks, and Wineld on a .346 hitting

percentage to go with three blocks.Sophomore Danielle Johnson-

Hazlewood tallied 41 assists and

14 digs, freshman Abby Reuland

chipped in ve kills, two blocks, and

seven digs, and junior Sarah Pe-

karek added 10 kills, one ace, one

block, and six digs. Junior Cassie

Vick added 13 digs, senior Hannah

Season champs stumble in RMAC tourneyMargheim added ve digs, freshman

Taryn Huber had seven digs, and

freshman Samantha Fischer record-

ed eight blocks.

Friday nights seminal matchup

between Mines and Adams State

did not go as planned as the visit-

ing team knocked out the host 3-1.

The loss dropped Mines to 24-6 on

the year.

The Lady Orediggers captured

the rst set 22-25 in a hotly contest-

ed affair, coming back from down

three at 20-17. The second set

was another close affair, but Adams

State pulled out the 25-21 victory

after leading for most of the match.

The third set was back and forth

as both teams struggled to take a

lead. With the set tied 16-16, Adams

State won the next three points and

gained enough of a cushion to grab

the 25-20 win and two sets to one

advantage. The Orediggers won the

rst three points of the fourth set, but

soon fell behind 15-10. Mines fought

back from their decit to take the

17-16 lead, but their lead ended up

short lived as Adams State captured

the nal set of the night 25-20. The

loss was tough for the Orediggers

who had beaten Adams State ear-

lier in the regular season. As a team,

Mines recorded 10 service errors

and had an overall hitting percentage

of .212. Wannamaker led the team

with 17 kills and added three digs,

while Wineld and Pekarek both

contributed 16 kills. Wineld added

four digs and two blocks, and Pek-

arek recorded eight digs and three

aces. Johnson-Hazlewood recorded

52 assists and 10 digs, Corrine Din

contributed 11 digs and Margheim

tallied 15 digs.

With their win, Adams State

moved to the nals to take on Metro

State on Saturday night at Mines,

and Metro walked away with the vic-

tory winning three sets to none.

The Orediggers will learn their

NCAA postseason fate on Monday

during the Division II Volleyball tour-

nament selection show, starting at

5:30 pm.

The Lady Orediggers defeated Fort Lewis 3-0 in the quarter nals, but were stopped short

of their tournament dreams after falling 1-3 to Adams State in the seminals.

Seniors Cassie Vick, Melanie Wannamaker, Hannah Margheim, and Sarah Pekarek pose

with the RMAC regular season title before the seminal match on Friday night.

Chris Robbins

Staff Writer

Being on this team has been one

of my favorite experiences at Mines.

The hockey team is basically

what keeps me sane here at Mines.

Deciding to join the team was

the best decision I have made at

Mines.

According to the players them-

selves, the Mines club hockey team

is a fantastic opportunity for any

hockey players here at CSM. Be-

tween the fun of playing the sport,

the travels across the region, and the

camaraderie and friendships made

between teammates, the experience

of being a part of this club is certainly

worth the commitment to those who

enjoy the sport of hockey. The club

typically holds tryouts at the begin-

ning of each fall semester, and any-

one with some experience and inter-

est in hockey is welcome to try out.

The team generally has two late

night practices and two games each

week, which may sound daunting at

rst when added onto the already

hectic schedule at CSM, but as as-

sistant captain and club president

Chris Asmussen explains, Being at

Mines, we all understand the work-

load that could set in, so if someone

misses a practice here and there its

not a big deal. In addition to prac-

ticing and playing games locally

Hockey ices foesat Apex in Arvada and the Edge in

Littleton, playing in AHCA Pacic

Regions Division 3 leads to road

contests against teams across Col-

orado, New Mexico, and Nebraska.

Besides simply playing for the

love of the game, the Oredigger

hockey team also plays to win, and

has become more and more suc-

cessful and competitive over the

past few seasons. As team captain

Gabe Gusey points out, Mines

hockey has changed immensely

since a few years ago. Last year we

were happy to have the rst season

over .500 in Mines history. This year

we are 13-3 and actually have a shot

at making regionals, which would

without a doubt be a major accom-

plishment.

The team has one game remain-

ing on their fall schedule against

UCCS at the Ice Ranch in Littleton,

a team they defeated 7-4 earlier this

year.

Anybody interested in nding out

more about the club is welcome to

check out the clubs webpage at

recsports.mines.edu or simply talk

to some of the players and coach-

es. As stated by Gusey, Our team

has lots of intense competition,

and I would recommend joining to

anyone interested, so any aspiring

hockey players here at Mines should

denitely take the rst step and go

check it out.

Chris Robbins

Staff Writer

The Oredigger basketball team

improved to 3-0 on the season after

going on the road and taking down

the South Dakota School of Mines

79-65 on Saturday night.Mines started the game off hot,

jumping out to a big lead after a

16-4 run and never looking back.

The offense continued to stay sharp

throughout the rst half, where they

led by as much as 20 points and

went into the locker room up 47-33.

However, the opening of half number

two saw the Orediggers hit a bit of a

Basketball improves to 3-0slump. SDSM was able to ght back

to within six points only three minutes

into the half, but that would prove to

be as close as the game would get.

CSM pulled away the rest of the

game, and came away with the 79-

65 victory.

Four Orediggers ended the nightwith double-gure scoring, led by

Brett Greens 19 points to go along

with 18 from Brian Muller, 13 from

Trevor Wages, and 14 from Gokul

Natesan off the bench. Green had the

most well rounded night of the team,

contributing ve rebounds, four as-

sists, and three steals along with his

19 points.

Despite barely being beat by

SDSM in terms of shooting percent-

age from the eld and free throw

percentage, the Orediggers prevailed

in every other team statistic, out re-

bounding the Hardrockers and com-

pletely outshooting them from beyond

the three point arc. The Hardrockersalso committed more turnovers than

the Orediggers, leading to a 24-11

points off turnovers edge for CSM.

The Mines basketball team hits

the court again on Friday, November

29th here in Golden as they look to

improve to 4-0 against Northwestern

Oklahoma. That game tips off at 7pm

in Lockridge Arena.

Jared Riemer

Content Manager

The Colorado School of Mines

mens cross country team traveled

to Spokane, Washington this past

weekend and left with a top-ve n-

ish and three repeat All-Americans.

This was the fth top-ve nish in

as many years for the mens cross

country team after their second

place showing last year. RMAC ri-

vals Adams State and Western

State nished rst and fourth re-

spectively, with Grand Valley State

taking second, and Augustana

third.

Cross Country in SpokaneIn his nal cross country race as

an Oredigger, senior Andrew Ep-

person nished the 10k course in

a time of 30:44.6; good enough for

13 out of 246 racers, and claimed

his second consecutive All-Amer-

ican honor after nishing twenty-

ninth last year. Hometown boy Der-

ek Alcorn, junior, garnered his third

All-American honor after nishing

in thirty-third, just one spot ahead

of fellow junior Phil Schneider, who

nished the race by gaining 10 po-

sitions to claim thirty-fourth. Alcorn

and Schneider nished with respec-

tive times of 31:11.9 and 31:12.0,

and Schneider received his second

All-American award.

Rounding out the scoring for the

Orediggers was sophomore Marty

Andrie and senior Frank Socha who

completed the course in 31:49.1

(74th) and 31:54.0 (78th). Red-shirt

freshman Seth Topper made his

nationals debut nishing 117 out

of 246 in 32:30.9 and Sophomore

Drew Kerschieter nished 144 in

32:42.9 in his debut.

The lone qualier from the

womens cross country team, junior

Chloe Gustafson, nished a career

best 52 out of 244 runner with a 6k

time of 22:02.7. Her previous best

was 79th at last years nationals.

COURTESY CSM ATHLETICS

COURTESY CSM ATHLETICS


8/8

o p i n i o n november , page


Colorado winters are usually sneaky, coming in a time set aside for au-

tumn and making autumn a short three weeks or less. This season stayed

relatively dry and warm, but snow showed its face last week. Whether

welcome or long awaited, the presence of snow generates strong emo-

tions amongst CSM students. This week, Minds at Mines asked, What

do you think about the snow?

Katerina Gonzales

Content Manager

Colorado Snow

Minds at Mines

Its really tasty...as long as its not yellow.

Andrew Blaney

I dont really like snow because it means

its cold outside, even if its pretty.

Molly Baron

I dont like snow because its taunting you with

no days off of school.

Kelsey Kalmbach

Im denitely for snow.

Devin Thewlis

WOOOOOO SNOW WOOOOOOOO

Charlotte Adams

Tis the season to be jolly, so

why not start the season early?

Why not initiate the holiday festivi-

ties as soon as the trick-or-treaters

return to their homes to demolish

all of the candy they collected?

Every year as October comes to a

close, social media seems to erupt

with complaints about supermar-

kets already switching to Christ-

mas displays and neighbors al-

ready hanging lights and assorted

Christmas decorations. But why

are Christmas celebrators met with

such disdain?

Some people argue that Christ-

mas should not be celebrated be-

fore Thanksgiving. They believe

that Thanksgiving deserves recog-

nition and, by beginning the Christ-

mas festivities in early November,

Thanksgiving is simply overlooked.

Most agree, however, that Christ-

mas celebrations can begin on

Black Friday, but ostracize those

who begin celebrating earlier.

The holiday celebrations hand-

book for 2013 contains no restric-

tion on how many holidays can

be celebrated at once. Christmas

lasts for an incredibly short time;

for some the festivities end the

second that all of the wrapping

paper hits the oor. For others, the

celebrating continues all day, but

once the day comes to a close, ev-

eryone is faced with the depressing

reality that the Christmas season is

over. No more Christmas music or

brightly-lit houses synchronized to

festive songs. No more family visits

and eggnog. Only memories and

toys remain. So, why not prolong

the eeting season and enjoy the

warmth of Christmas for a tad bit

longer. Why not enjoy looking at

those Christmas lights and elabo-

rately decorated homes for an ex-tra three to four weeks? Why not

spend the majority of November

studying to Christmas music and

enjoying the holiday season? Life

is short. Why procrastinate enjoy-

ment, happiness even?

Comfort, joy, excitement, and

Starbuckss red cups ll the holi-

day season. Do not be a Scrooge.

Prolong the season of love, put up

those decorations and celebrate

Christmas now.

Wonderful Christmas timeJessica Deters

Staff Writer

KenKen PuzzlesHow to play:

1) Use numbers 1-3 for 3x3 puzzle, 1-6 for 6x6 puzzle, etc.

2) The heavy-outlined sections are called cages. In the upper-left

corner of each cage is a target number and operator.

3) Use the operator with the allowed numbers for the puzzle to solve

for the target number. The numbers you enter can be read in any order

to solve for the target number.

4) You cannot enter repeating numbers in any given row or column,

however, you may enter repeating numbers in a given cage so long as

they do not repeat in a column or row.

5) There is only one real solution for each puzzle.

See 3x3 example and solution at right for beginner practice. 123

312

231

6x6 Medium

4x4 Hard

COURTESY KENKEN

Editorials Policy

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

tent decisions without censorship or advanceapproval and may edit submitted pieces for

length so long as the original meaning of the

piece is unchanged. Opinions contained withinthe Opinion Section do not necessarily reect

those of Colorado School of Mines or The Ore-

digger. The Oredigger does not accept submis-sions without identifcation and will consider

all requests for anonymity in publication on a

case-by-case basis. Submissions less than 300words will receive preference.

the oredigger issue 12 - november 25, 2013

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