Mines Concert Band
Christmas concert
Indonesian tea provides education, food
Deborah Good
Content Manager
Indonesia, the world’s fourth
most populous nation, is not
one that Americans are particu-
larly knowledgeable about, but
the Colorado School of Mines
offers students many chances to
educate themselves, such as the
teatime hosted by the Indonesian
Student Association November 30
Indonesian students served a variety of entrees and desserts at Tuesday’s tea hour, held in the LAIS department’s Stratton Hall.
Rio Tinto focuses on the “need to feed”
Ian Littman
Asst. Business Manager,
Web Content
“Global yields are the lowest
they’ve been in over a century. Arable
land, water, everything is shrinking.
Everything is in demand. Everything
is expensive,” Bob Katsiouleris of
Rio Tinto Minerals stated as an in-
troduction to Tuesday’s Economics
& Business graduate student lecture.
“Rice yields in India today are the
lowest they’ve been since 1950,“
he continued. “We’ll talk about why,
what’s happening and how both
from a socioeconomic, economic
and marketing standpoint it’s critical
to understand what’s happening and
how we can step in and get the situ-
ation back under control.”
Rio Tinto Minerals, a borax-and-
talc-focused subsidiary of the Rio
Tinto mining company, has seen ag-
ricultural customers change from its
smallest major market to its fastest-
growing in seven years; the segment
is now responsible for one-third of
Rio Tinto Minerals’ business. The
company’s other two major markets,
Katsiouleris explained, were energy
and urbanization, citing the use of
borates as stiffening agents for wind
turbine blades, additives in fiberglass
used for insulation and key compo-
nents in glazes on ceramic products
such as floor tiles. After this introduc-
tion, Katsiouleris turned to one of the
main questions that the presentation
addressed: “Why is agriculture such
News - 2
~world headlines
~scientific discoveries
Volume 91, Issue 12
in Stratton Hall.
The event served as an effec-
tive introduction to Indonesian
culture, especially in its provision
of food. As promised by the name,
guests were several varieties of
tea along with coffee. More inter-
estingly, the event also provided
samples of traditional Indonesian
dishes. It was like a miniature Indo-
nesian meal, with a main course,
side dish, and dessert. My favor-
an important component, and so
critical to industrials companies,
specifically borate and talc?”
The answer, he explained, lies
in micronutrients, minerals that, in
quantities as low as a few parts per
million, can mean the difference be-
tween high, healthy crop yields and
poor crops with low yields and un-
savory flavors. “In the early 50s and
60s we had a lot of companies come
to some of these countries and say,
‘Look, all you have to do is spread
urea and nitrogen everywhere. You
just have to make everything green,
and everything’s going to be okay,’”
Katsiouleris explained, describing
the role of fertilizers in agricultural
development of such countries as
India, Indonesia and Malaysia. “[F]
ast-forward twenty years later [and]
you have parts of the world that are
completely deficient in minerals and
metals. The zinc, copper, iron, bo-
ron and [molybdenum] deficiencies
in soil affecting most of the world’s
crops.” Results of these deficiencies
include a 20 percent drop in rice
yields in India, leading to dramatic
food price increases and the social
unrest. “You are not going to buy a
house if you’re hungry,” Katsiouleris
noted, summing up the implications
of a food shortage for the rest of a
nation’s economy.
Katsiouleris explained that more
sensitive crops could see 30 to 40
percent swings in yield over a period
of a year and a half depending on
the amount of micronutrients sup-
plied, however educating farmers
Features - 4-6
~Homemade Beer
~Geek of the Week
December 6, 2010
ite would have to have been the
dessert of sticky rice with sweet
sauce, though all the dishes were
delicious. In fact, more than one
professor arrived at the tea after
having been roused out of their
office by the aroma.
The food was definitely a focal
point, but the tea hour allowed
for non-edible pathways to learn-
ing about Indonesian culture as
well. The students representing
DEBORAH GOOD / OREDIGGER
about the value of micronutrients
has proven to be an issue. “What
we call the value and use for micro-
nutrients is a very, very difficult sub-
ject,” Katsiouleris stated. “The most
sensitive crop in the world for boron
deficiency is oil palm,” he continued,
noting that “the two largest markets
in the world for crude palm oil are…
China and India, and the amount of
crude palm oil that those countries
consume because there’s such a
need for oil and food, year on year…
is about fifteen to twenty percent.”
The oil palm industry is also where
education efforts by Rio Tinto have
succeeded: “We actually had an
enormous amount of success in
the Indonesian palm oil market by
just convincing farmers [by saying],
‘Hey, look, take a sardine can, take
one scoop of sodium borate, sprinkle
it around your palm tree and that’s
all you need.’ The farmer looks at
me and says, ‘Hey, I can do this,’”
Katsiouleris explained. “Resulting
yields in the last five years: thirty per-
cent increase. The size of the borates
market for borates in oil palm…went
from five thousand tons–I’m talking
just Indondesia–to one hundred
thousand tons of borate equivalent
in oil palm…a simple technique can
make all the difference.” In India, Rio
Tinto Minerals has shown the power
of micronutrients to the nation’s gov-
ernment, which recently instituted
a 50 percent subsidy on micronu-
trients in an effort to increase crop
yields and thereby decrease hunger.
Katsiouleris also noted that TATA, a
sports - 7-9
~Athlete of the Week
~Cross Country Team
Indonesia were eager to share
their culture, and were overall very
friendly. To educate and generate
questions from guests, the club
also provided traditional objects
from their home country, includ-
ing some very elaborate puppets
and a book full of pictures of their
homeland.
Overall, the Indonesian Tea
was an excellent way to learn
more about the often overlooked,
large Indian industrial conglomerate,
is a large player in the micronutrient
scene as well. “[T]hey’re smart,” he
said. “No one’s going to buy a car
if they’re hungry. No one’s going to
buy a house, no one’s going to buy
steel if we don’t solve this problem.”
The Chinese market, whose con-
stituents have rapidly converted from
a traditional rice, vegetable and fish
diet to a Westernized, cereal-centric
one, has proven much more difficult
for Rio Tinto to enter. The reasons
for the difficulty are twofold accord-
ing to Katsiouleris: small farms (less
than one acre versus the average
Midwestern ten-thousand-acre farm)
and price controls. “Why would a
Chinese farmer use more of anything
if at the end of the day he can only
sell his crop for a certain price? Price
controls in China and India and free
market fundamentals are…probably
one of the biggest issues we have,”
he explained. “You have this issue in
Russia, you have it in the Balkans,
you have it in Ukraine, you have it in
China and in parts of India. So there’s
no way to change the demand in
that supply-demand picture unless
that changes, and a lot of that has to
come through via governments and
a lot of that…has to come through
via subsidies.” Addressing the size is-
sue, “The small amount of incremen-
tal revenue that a farmer makes…is
not worth his while, unless it’s a big
farm,” Katsiouleris continued. That
said, the presenter was hopeful that
increasing demand for food would
cause the Chinese government to
opinion - 10-11
~PO’ed Mines Student
~Morals to your Story
page 5
but very intriguing, country of
Indonesia. Learning about other
cultures is essential to becoming
a well-rounded individual, and if
becoming a more well-rounded
individual includes tea and food,
all the better. The Indonesian
students at the Colorado School
of Mines worked hard to prepare
the event, and those who had the
privilege of attending were richly
rewarded.
DEBORAH GOOD / OREDIGGER
relax crop price controls and imple-
ment subsidies, leading to increased
micronutrient use and increased
yields. “Social unrest and socioeco-
nomic factors in China today are
driving…most of the government’s
decisions,” he explained.
Rio Tinto may work directly with
farmers from an education stand-
point, however eighty percent of its
agriculture-based revenue is derived
from fertilizer companies, who mix
micronutrients into fertilizers that
farmers then use. “You mix [micro-
nutrients] right in with the fertilizer…
the way you steam-granulate fertil-
izers,” Katsiouleris said. “It’s been
done in Indonesia, it’s been done in
southeast Asia. One of the worst,
from a technology standpoint on
micronutrient technology,” he con-
tinued, “is the United States. We’re a
year behind in taking the technology
that exists…and being able to bring
the micronutrients to the fertilizers.”
Katsiouleris ended the presenta-
tion with a question-and-answer
session where he reiterated the
critical nature of micronutrients in
the global economy. “You’re look-
ing at crop prices that are almost at
historic highs with a weak US dollar
in an economy that is relatively soft
in the United States,” he explained.
“It’s almost…a perfect storm for food
prices, and the problem is…what
are governments going to do if food
prices really take off, because…that
means inflation, and that’s the num-
ber one issue on everybody’s minds
right now.”
satire - 12
~King Kong Coming to
a town near you
page 2 n e w s december 6, 2010

Joshua Kleitsch, Staff Writer

Hamburg, Germany - New climate models and studies suggest that

the massive eruption of the volcano Toba 74,000 years ago may not have
actually decimated life to the extent that was originally believed. Research-
ers at the Max Planck Institute for Meteorology in Hamburg, Germany,
have created an updated climate model that indicates global cooling to
be no more than 5 degrees Celsius for a few years after the eruption. An-
thropologists have pointed to the Toba eruption as causing a evolutionary
“bottleneck” due to the volcanic winter. This new climate model suggests
that humans may have weathered the ash storm fairly well.

Rome, Italy - New York, New York

- Brain tumors appear to have the abil-
ity to develop their own blood vessels,
Tempe, Arizona - Aliens may be able to
which could be part of the reason they
live on this planet, right under our very nose. Vienna, Austria - Killer whales may mimic each other when they’re
are so hard to kill. Researchers at Me-
Researchers at Arizona State University in socializing. Brigitte Weiss of the University of Vienna in Vienna, Aus-
morial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center
Tempe, Arizona, have found that bacteria tria, has been studying the behavior of Orca Whales near Vancouver
in New York City and Ruggero De Ma-
can be weaned off of phosphorous and in- Island in British Columbia, Canada. Weiss has noticed that the whales
ria at the Instituto Superiore di Sanita in
stead live off of arsenic. Phosphorous is one seem to imitate calls that are similar to the calls of whales from another
Rome found that brain tumors have the
of the fundamental elements in all of life on pod. Vocal mimicry among mammals is very uncommon, which is why
ability to morph and change their shape
Earth and arsenic is poisonous in even very Weiss took notice when she was analyzing the sonograms of Orca calls
to essentially grow their own blood ves-
small quantities. This new discovery that life and noticed that about one in every 500 calls was a clear imitation. It is
sels. Certain cancer drugs that are in-
can exist with a significant amount of ar- as yet unclear why killer whales imitate each other.
tended to block blood flow to the tumor
senic would seem to allow for life to exist
have been shown to be effective for no
in a fundamentally different manner to that
more than 6 months, at which point the
which we normally expect here on Earth.
tumor creates its own blood supply.

Oredigger Staff Local News

Ryan Browne
Editor-in-Chief
Katie Huckfeldt
Managing Editor
Robert Gill
Interim Business Manager
Steven Wooldridge
Webmaster
Barbara Anderson
Design Editor
Zach Boerner
Copy Editor
Neelha Mudigonda
Asst. Design Editor
Abdullah Ahmed
Asst. Business Manager,
Sales and Marketing
Ian Littman
Asst. Business Manager,
Web Content
Trevor Crane
Content Manager
Deborah Good
Content Manager
Headlines from around the world
Joshua Kleitsch, Staff Writer
The economy seems to have
a case of ADD, as the fewer jobs
then expected were added for No-
vember. Economists forecasted
an increase of 144,000 jobs over
through November, with the an
actual increase of 50,000. The un-
employment rate climbed back to
9.8%, an increase from 9.6% in
October.
Negotiators for the U.S. and
South Korea have reached a deal
that will allow for a gradual lessen-
ing of tariffs on Korean automo-
biles. The free trade pact lowers
many barriers between the world’s
No. 1 and No. 15 economies, which
should help boost the U.S. econo-
my in the face of poor performance
in job creation.
Email users may experi-
ence a decline in the amount
of spam they receive each day.
Oleg Nikoleanko is being charged
by a Milwaukee, WI, court for op-
roads, airlines, and life in general
Friday. With the current death toll
at 40, the cold has caused chaos
on many of Europe’s major roads.
Southeastern Europe has had to
deal with intense flooding, as op-
posed to arctic cold.
High-speed trains have reached
new milestones in China. The Chi-
nese government has released
testing data that shows a bullet
train setting a new world speed
record of 302 miles per hour.
This new record beats the previous
record set two months ago by an
identical train in China.
President Barack Obama vis-
ited the troops stationed in Af-
ghanistan Friday. The visit was
announced and came as a result
of bad weather. President Obama
encouraged the troops that they
would succeed in the ongo-
ing war effort.
New leg-
require all new cars to be
equipped with rear-view back-
up cameras by 2012. The new law
is a prevention measure that seeks
to lower the number of fatalities due
to drivers backing their cars out of
driveways and parking spaces and
killing or injuring children that are
playing behind the car. The Obama
administration hopes that this new
measure will decrease the number
of fatalities and injuries by 50%.
Local law enforcement in many
cities across the nation are having to
deal with a new type of advertising
that involves putting company
logos and ad slogans in uncon-
ventional places. Microsoft Corp.
has been known to have employ-
ees write messages in chalk on city
sidewalks, prompting lawmakers to
pass a ban on such advertising.
Mines recently helped host
the 2nd Colorado Celebration
of Women in Computing (CC-
WIC), a regional meeting aimed
at encouraging the research and
career interests of women in
computing. CCWIC offered stu-
dents the opportunity to present
their research and to network
with leaders from academia,
government, and industry. Stu-
dents attended from Colorado,
Utah, Wyoming, Nebraska and
Arizona.
Colorado Gov. Bill Ritter
has appointed Mines graduate
Frances M. Vallejo to the Colo-
rado School of Mines Board of
Trustees. The governor also re-
appointed Admiral Richard H.
Truly to a term expiring Dec. 31,
2014.
Mines has received a grant
valued at more than $150,000
to participate in HP’s Catalyst
Initiative, a global social innova-
tion program designed to devel-

Stephen Hejducek erating a vast spamming network.
Content Manager Nikoleanko may also be connected
to the world’s largest and most
Shira Richman sophisticated spamming network,
B E M B E M
op more effective approaches to
islation science, technology, engineer-
will ing and math (STEM) education
worldwide. The project will ex-
plore how the use of Tablet PCs

A D Z A D Z
Faculty Advisor
known as “Mega D”. This network can be used to enhance learning
is thought to be responsible for and nurture creativity at Mines.
roughly 32% of spam world-wide.
South Korea has an-

M C Q M C Q
nounced that it would retali- Colorado School of Mines
ate if North Korea continues women’s soccer player Anna Ev-
to attack. Defence Chief nomi- ans has been named Daktronics
nee Kim Kwan-Jin stated that Honorable Mention All-Amer-
they would respond by sending

P U Y P U Y
ican. Evans becomes just the
military jets to bomb the North second women’s soccer player
if aggression continues. The at Mines to earn All-American
South is toughening it’s mili- honors.
tary policies in response to last

B E M T N O
weeks’ attacks.
Europe is experiencing the
worst winter in decades,
arctic cold continues to lock up
w w w . O R E D I G G E R . n e t
december 6, 2010
Beer review: A healthy recovery requires
Alaskan Winter a healthy preparation
Bryant Pocock
Staff Writer
Benjamin Franklin famously
said that “beer is living proof that
God loves us and wants us to be
happy.” Not only did he enjoy a
beverage or two, but the found-
ing father also wrote a recipe
for beer flavored with spruce
tree needles, which is still being
made in several breweries today.
The Alaskan Brewing Co. offers
an original and tasty take on
spruce beer with their Winter Ale,
using Sitka spruce tips to flavor
this special seasonal brew.
Eschewing Franklin’s use of
molasses, Alaskan instead emu-
lates the English Olde Ale style
(not to be confused with the sim-
ilarly-named malt liquor). Winter
Ale appears unremarkable but
hides its rich and unique flavor
behind its ordinary amber red
color, light foam, and very faint
earthy smell. One might expect
a flavor like a car air freshener
or Pine-Sol, but the first taste
is pleasantly surprising, with no
obvious pine taste. It starts with
The stars shine
brightly above Mines
John Bristow
Staff Writer
It is pure providence that here
in the solar system that the Earth is
not the only planet. While some of
the larger planets play the benefit
of clearing out major debris, from
the perspective of our home, these
celestial bodies form an amazing
variation to the eternal night sky.
Before humanity had the knowl-
edge of what the true nature of
these bodies were, it was believed
that the planets were wanderers of
the sky since over the course of a
few months, they move and over
longer periods of time the planets
can even appear to speed up and
slow down.
Of course, common knowledge
claims that this cosmic dancing
is a consequence of a heliocen-
tric system and instead of mysti-
cal wanderers (the Greek word for
wanderer is planet), these heaven-
ly bodies are in fact gigantic worlds
of their own. Regardless of what
they are, their movement through
time has captivated and inspired
generations of myth-makers and
scientists.
As it stands, depending upon
owned viewing devices, a majority
of the solar system is available for
viewing pleasure. As this column
focuses on easily accessible fea-
tures, the three main planets that
will be covered are Jupiter, Venus,
and Saturn.
Jupiter can easily be seen
throughout most of the night,
though differentiating it from Sirius
can be difficult without prior knowl-
edge of the sky. Both Jupiter and
Sirius can be seen as bright out-
liers in a field of dimmer sources,
with Jupiter to the west and Sirius
to the east. Jupiter is the largest
planet in the known solar sys-
tem and is particularly famous
for its banded cloud formations
f e a t u r e s
a full, malty sweetness, tasting
darker than it looks. The moder-
ate 27 IBUs provide a balanced
middle, while the mellow citrus
flavor from the noble hops and
a slightly floral, spicy, and resin-
ous flavor from the spruce tips
round out the finish. The 6.4%
alcohol content is noticeable, but
not overpowering, adding a nice
warming sensation that comes
in handy during the cold winter
months.
Winter Ale would pair well with
cold-weather food like a hearty
stew, maybe with some grizzly
bear meat and potatoes. Not to
mention that the spruce adds a
healthy dose of Vitamin C for a
healthy meal. And although rich
and flavorful, Winter Ale is light
and balanced enough to be an
easily drinkable “session beer.”
For this reason, and because it
is possibly the only spruce ale
available in North America, Alas-
kan Winter ale earns a B+ grade
and deserves a place on your
table this holiday season.
Beer statistics courtesy of
www.alaskanbeer.com
that can be seen through even a
modest telescope. Surrounding
the planet are the four moons Io,
Europa, Ganymede, and Callisto.
Each moon holds mysteries and
wonders that may help our under-
standing of the solar system.
Venus on the other hand is
much more Earth-like, though it
would not be apparent by just
looking at it. Instead of lush forests
and beautiful oceans, Venus has
hot magmatic plains interrupted
by towering volcanoes. The sky is
filled with greenhouse gases and
because of some ancient impact, a
day takes longer than a year on the
planet. Due to the marvels of en-
gineering and materials, we have
actually landed several probes on
this planet, though sadly, every
picture reveals empty lifeless vol-
canic fields.
Venus can be found rising a few
hours before the Sun and through
specialized methods it is possible
to see it during the daytime sky.
Finally if you find yourself driv-
ing to school before the sun rises,
high to the east there is what ap-
pears to be a medium magnitude
star that is brighter than all of its
neighbors. This point of light is
truly the gem of the solar system
as it is the ringed planet Saturn.
Saturn is a gas giant much like Ju-
piter, but instead of having bands
of clouds to set it apart, it has a
truly breathtaking set of rings that
can be seen through a normal tele-
scope. It is an unbelievable sight to
behold. Nestled near the planet is
the hydrocarbon rich moon Titan
that may also play an important
role in the future of our species.
While there are many more ob-
jects in the sky, these will be cov-
ered next semester as the skies
continue to progress towards the
luscious spring constellations.
Peace and may the stars shine
brightly in your skies.
w w w . O R E D I G G E R . n e t
Stephen Hejducek
Staff Writer
Every year, an epidemic of
the cold and flu viruses hits the
Colorado School of Mines Cam-
pus. When devastated by such ill-
nesses, the best idea is to feel as
good as possible so as to avoid
missing any class because of the
illness. Simply put, this school is
hard enough without being sick.
The first step to being healthy
and not being sick is prevention.
Taking vitamin supplements and
using hand sanitizer help prevent
the spread of the cold and flu and
they can help prevent the user
from getting sick. The second
step to preventing illness is to
keep hands away from mouth and
eyes. Biting fingernails and overly
rubbing eyes can cause the virus
to get inside your body. Bathing
every day and washing hands
after using the restroom are also
great ways to prevent becoming
Hot Pursuit is on fire
Ian Littman
Asst. Business Manager,
Web Content
A word of warning. If you are
into heavy racing simulations, the
arcade-style mechanics and heavy
traffic of Need for Speed: Hot Pur-
suit may not be for you. Otherwise,
another warning is in order: do
not buy this game until after your
last final; it is enough of a blast
that unless you have a resolve of
steel, you will spend an excessive
amount of time playing this game.
It is just that good.
The first thing a player will no-
tice about the game is that the
“race farming” style of yore is no-
where to be found; dollar values
are shown on car info sheets, but
“bounty,” the game’s point-based
currency, racked up by races and
pursuits, is what unlocks cars and
weapons. At one million “bounty,”
you can race any car in the game
with any paint job that the car’s
manufacturer deems appropriate.
In other words, you cannot get a
red Lamborghini. Specification up-
grades are nonexistent as the point
of the game is to let you spend as
much of your time on the road as
possible, a goal that makes the
game that much more engaging.
Another facet that Criterion
Games and EA eschew with Hot
Pursuit is a linear gameplay model.
Races and pursuits do need to
be unlocked, although there is no
clear correlation as to what un-
locks what. Players are encour-
aged to play whatever race suits
them at the time out of the dozens
available. Many races limit player
options to a single car or group
of cars, encouraging the player to
explore everything from American
muscle to Italian, German, French,
and British exotics, plus some Jap-
anese models for good measure.
As a player progresses, races shift
from lower-tier to higher-tier cars
(there are five tiers in all), though
“preview” events early in the game
allow new players to drift around
corners at 150 mph in, for exam-
ple, a Koenigsegg CCX.
Another point of variety in the
ill. For those who are sick already,
these prevention steps may be
virtually useless, but they should
perform these steps to prevent
anyone else from getting sick with
the illness that they have.
Depending upon the serious-
ness of the symptoms, many
methods to help the sufferer feel
better exist. Sore throats can
make breathing feel like a terrible
task. A good remedy for this is to
gargle with salt water. If conges-
tion is an issue, the best options
are to either have some chicken
noodle soup or warm lemon wa-
ter with honey. Studies on chick-
en noodle soup have suggested
that it helps to relieve conges-
tion and it also acts as an anti-
inflammatory that suppresses
the body’s inflammatory process,
which can make the sufferer feel
even worse.
Unfortunately, some medi-
cines actually do more damage
than they do good. Taking things
game is in the types of events that
are offered. Players can play both
sides of the law, with each career
offering a different set of event
types, strengths and weaknesses
to the player, though both career
modes offer similarly broad ranges
of automobiles to play with. Cops
have helicopters, roadblocks, and
faster cars in addition to the stan-
dard electromagnetic pulse (EMP)
and spike strip weapons that both
campaigns share. Racers get an
electromagnetic jammer to keep
law enforcement communications
and weapons at bay plus more
generous nitrous allotments and
a multi-second burst of speed-
infused adrenaline called “turbo.”
Weapons are available in race
types that involve both racers and
cops, though the number of each
weapon available varies from event
to event. Pure races and time tri-
als, which are available on both
campaigns, focus solely on driving,
at least partially allaying concerns
for the straight racing aspect of the
game.
One more thing that sets
Seacrest County, the world in
which Hot Pursuit resides, apart
from games of yore is its size
and its downright beauty. Short-
cuts abound, as does variety in
both terrain and weather; races
and pursuits might be on a high-
way during a clear night or in the
mountains during a daytime thun-
derstorm. The map is significantly
more rural than those of recent
Need for Speed iterations. But that
is okay as the quality of graphics
on Hot Pursuit is such that play-
page 3
like Zinc and antibiotics have had
mixed results in labs. Zinc was
once taken to shorten the length
of a cold, but after much testing,
it has been proven that Zinc actu-
ally causes temporary and some-
times permanent nose death
(anosmia). This means that the
nose becomes unable to smell.
Antibiotics, on the other hand, do
nothing to kill viruses. Taking anti-
biotics in an attempt to combat a
virus can wipe out any bacteria in
the body attacking the offending
virus. This actually increases the
effects of the virus.
While taking Vitamin C has
been proven to reduce the time
that symptoms are present in
someone who has a cold, it ap-
pears to have no effect on some-
one who is trying to prevent
colds. In short, the best pos-
sible choices for those who are ill
are to get rest, wash or sanitize
hands, drink plenty of fluids, and
keep the air moist and warm.
ers will want to spend a lot of time
roaming the map. This last point is
accentuated on higher-powered
systems like the PlayStation 3 (and
gaming PCs), though less powerful
PCs, Xbox 360s, and Wiis all pro-
vide an enjoyable experience with
this game. The only downside to
Need For Speed’s platform diver-
sity is the fact that you cannot play
cross-platform multiplayer races,
though EA’s Autolog and Speed-
wall features do allow players to
compare scores cross-system.
Speaking of multiplayer action, Hot
Pursuit’s multiplayer modes pro-
vide even more fun once the main
campaigns are beaten.
EA and Criterion Games, mak-
ers of the Burnout franchise, have
a winner on their hands with Hot
Pursuit, assuming you are looking
for a worthy successor to the NFS
franchise’s Most Wanted, Carbon,
and Undercover titles. For those
craving a more realistic racing ex-
perience, Gran Tourismo 5, or pos-
sibly EA’s upcoming Shift 2, might
fit the bill, but for the rest of us, Hot
Pursuit is “just that good.”
One quick note for PC users:
Amazon sells a downloadable ver-
sion of the game, weighing in at a
whopping 7.8 GB, for just shy of
$50. The writer of this article actu-
ally nabbed it for $35 on Black Fri-
day, and his only regret is that the
game has been too addictive for his
own good. Thus, Need for Speed:
Hot Pursuit gets a solid eight out
of ten and a hearty “buy this” from
a reviewer who stays away from
Madden and Call of Duty, but has a
weak spot for racing titles.
PHOTO COURTESY ELECTRONIC ARTS
page 4
Bookstore helps reduce costs Homemade beer?
You betcha!
Joshua Kleitsch
Staff Writer
Were you expecting to have all
that money you spent on textbooks
go to waste? The Mines Barnes &
Noble bookstore is trying to help stu-
dents by buying back some of their
textbooks at 50% of original retail
price. Books such as Physics, Dif-
ferential Equations, Fluids, and some
others are guaranteed buyback, but
there are also many books that the
bookstore cannot buy back. If you
were unfortunate enough to have to
buy a custom for-Mines-only book,
then you are most likely stuck with
that book.
The bookstore manager, Ed
Showers, commented, “You get a lot
of these custom titles [from publish-
ers] and we can’t buy those back.”
Publishers like to make custom book
titles for schools because they have
much higher long-term profits if stu-
dents can’t resell the book. Showers
said, “I’d like to have a traditional
textbook that I can cycle through,
we make a little more money off the
book and we help out students too.”
Unfortunately, the trend at Mines re-
How the Grinch Stole Christmas
Deborah Good
Content Manager
Christmas is supposed to be
a time of great cheer – a time for
people to kick back, relax, and enjoy
their family and the lack of home-
work. Of course, Christmas actu-
ally entails crazy shoppers, difficult
finals, and everything but relaxing
and caring about others. In fact,
it is enough to make everyone feel
a little bit grumpy. It is these times
that require a movie to affirm and
then melt the acquired cynicism. It is
these times that require the original
1966 cartoon How the Grinch Stole
Christmas.
For anyone who is unfamiliar with
the plot, the story chronicles the
great transformation of the Grinch, a
grumpy green creature who lives on
a high mountain above the ever-fes-
tive town of Whoville. Unfortunately,
f e a t u r e s
cently has been more in the way of
requiring custom books, not getting
more that can be resold. Another
difficulty is if your textbook came
with an online access code and you
broke the seal on that code and
registered it online, the book is now
very nearly worthless to the book-
store. With more professors mov-
ing toward online homework, more
and more students find themselves
paying hundreds of dollars for books
with access codes and not being
able to sell them back for more then
maybe 15-20% of the purchase
price.
There are some exciting devel-
opments in the world of textbooks,
however. Showers said, “E-books
are coming down the pipelines,
and I expect them to be in use by
2014.” This would solve much of the
textbook buyback problem that is
starting to plague so many schools.
Showers said that eventually he
would be able to offer the physical
textbook alongside an online ac-
cess code for the E-book version of
the textbook. The E-book versions
would cost significantly less. Barnes
& Noble has a great new E-book
as much as the Whos love Christ-
mas, the Grinch hates Christmas.
Eventually, he becomes so upset
by it that he decides to steal Christ-
mas. The Grinch concludes that
by taking all of the Whos presents,
feasts, and decorations, he will kill
their Christmas spirit. He then pro-
ceeds to dress up as Santa Claus
and executes his evil plan. It goes off
almost without a hitch, as he leaves
the Whos with nothing to celebrate
their festivities. However, the Whos
still gather around their now bare
town square and celebrate the holi-
day anyway. This melts the Grinch’s
hard heart and he comes to love the
whole Christmas season.
Throughout the half-hour classic,
there are plenty of pleasures for even
the most ‘Grinch-ily’ cynical viewer.
Obviously, the colorful animation is
amusing. Amusing in an “I am re-
ally dazed out from studying” sort of
w w w . O R E D I G G E R . n e t
solution called NOOKstudy, which
is a free program you can download
to any Internet device. NOOKstudy
would allow students to access all
of their E-books through one con-
venient portal, which also combines
coursework into one convenient
package.
In an effort to make access to
information about the bookstore,
Showers has created a Facebook
page to announce sales events and
changes in product offerings. On the
page, you can find information on
special discounts and new products
that may not otherwise get adver-
tised.
For their semester-end sale, the
bookstore is offering all of their hood-
ies at 25% off regular price. This in-
cludes the new Alta-Gracia hoodies,
which have been noted for being of
very high quality. Showers pointed
out that they have been stocking in
all of the common sizes, and have
restocked ladies sizes and will be
bringing in children’s wear in the
near future. The sales run through
December 19, but the good stuff will
not last so be sure to stop on over
early!
way. More amusing is actually listen-
ing to the lyrics of the various songs.
Try to determine what “Da Who Do-
rey” means. Or, listen for all the fancy
adjectives in the Grinch’s theme
song; just consider the description
of him as a “banana with a greasy
black peel.”
For those who are feeling that
their professors’ “heart[s] are full of
unwashed socks; soul[s] are full of
gunk,” it may be worth finding the
original How the Grinch Stole Christ-
mas either on television, DVD, or the
Internet and watching the classic
story of where the value of Christmas
lies. Consider the Grinch’s conclu-
sion, “He puzzled and puzzled till his
puzzler was sore. Then the Grinch
thought of something he hadn’t be-
fore! Maybe Christmas, he thought,
doesn’t come from a store. Maybe
Christmas... perhaps... means a little
bit more!”
december 6, 2010
Joshua Kleitsch sumes the sugars from the malt
and the grains and produces
Staff Writer
alcohol and CO2, which makes
Ahh, just think of that won- beer “bubbly”
derful *pop* and hiss as you The basic process of brew-
crack open the first bottle of ing is fairly straight forward. You
your very own delicious malt start with about 5 gallons of wa-
beverage. What could be more ter, and heat it to 160 degrees
satisfying then brewing your Fahrenheit. This is the same for
own beer, from basic ingredients all home brewing kits. Next, de-
and a healthy dose of good ‘ole pending on the type of kit you
time? Home brewing is com- bought, you steep the provided
pletely legal in the state of Colo- grains in a giant tea bag in the
rado, and is a fun and interesting hot water for about an hour. It’s
cooking activity. Plus, with a little important to keep the water very
patience, the results can be en- near 160 degrees. Next, heat
joyed for months. the “tea” to boiling and slowly
All beer recipes start with the add the malt extract to the wa-
same set of basic ingredients. ter. After you have added all of
Before getting into the actual the malt, then slowly bring the
recipe, there are a few pieces of mixture, which at this stage is
equipment that are required to known as “wort” (pronounced
make the beer. While most of the “vert”), back to boiling. Now
equipment can be purchased as you will add the first part of the
individual items,
many com-
Home brewing is com- hops. Generally,
hops are added
panies have pletely legal in the state twice during
specialized in the brewing
producing full of Colorado, and is a fun process. Once
equipment kits at the begin-
that will get any and interesting cooking ning of the boil
novice started and once to-
for only about activity. wards the end.
$85. These kits This can vary,
generally include two 6.5 gal- though. You will now boil the
lon white fermentation buckets, wort for an hour, and possibly
hoses for siphoning the beer add more hops for the last 15
from one bucket to the other, a minutes or so.
hygrometer to measure the ex- Once the boiling process is
pected alcohol content, a cap- done, the next step is to cool
ping tool, and a few other items the wort down to about 65 de-
necessary for the brewing pro- grees. This can be done by plac-
cess. You will also need to pur- ing the stock pot in an ice bath
chase caps and get your hands and monitoring the temperature.
on about 50 12-ounce bottles, This is a very critical part of the
and make sure that you get the brewing process, because once
bottles with pop-tops, not the you take the wort off of the heat
screw-cap type. It would also and it stops boiling, everything
be wise in invest in a large stock that touches the wort must be
pot. sanitized! If you are not careful,
The next step is to go to a lo- you can ruin your beer. Sanitize
cal home brewing supply store everything that will touch the un-
and purchase a beer ingredi- fermented beer. Your equipment
ent kit that strikes your fancy. kit should have included a no-
First-timers should start with rinse sanitizer for this.
something basic, such as a After cooling the wort, you
brown ale or IPA. If you’re feel- now can add the yeast. Transfer
ing adventurous, you could go the cooled wort from the stock
for a porter or stout, but those pot into the sanitized 6.5 gallon
are more involved and are more fermentation bucket, and then
easily screwed up. You can also slowly add the yeast just on
buy kits online, but a local shop top of the wort. Do not stir the
is a better option for your first go yeast into the wort, it’s fine right
around because the proprietors on top. Now, attach the airlock
will be able to assist you with the to the top of the fermentation
process. bucket and wait. The fermenta-
All beer recipes start with tion process can take 5-7 days,
these ingredients: after which you transfer the
1. Hops - this is what makes fermented beer to the bottling
beer taste like beer bucket, where you will add bot-
2. Malt extract - malt is the tling sugar to the beer and then
base for the alcohol and much of siphon it into sanitized bottles.
the flavor Wait two weeks, and enjoy the
3. Grains - grains provide the fermented fruits of your labors!
color and some flavor, as well For more information and
as introducing more sugars for more detailed instructions, visit
alcohol http://www.homebrewersasso-
4. Yeast - the yeast con- ciation.org/
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december 6, 2010
Mines music brings in the Christmas cheer
Joshua Kleitsch
Staff Writer
The Mines Music program
started the Holiday season off right
this year, with a rousing concert
featuring many of the most be-
loved Christmas songs. Featuring
performances by the orchestra,
choir, the Madrigal Singers, the
Sweet Adelines, men’s barber-
shop, and the concert band, the
annual Christmas concert is the
culmination of months of practice
and hard work coming to fruition
for one amazing occasion.
The strings opened the show
with four movements of a tradition-
al piece by Gustav Holst, called St.
Peter’s Suite. The Madrigal Sing-
ers led the Concert Choir with
an excellent performance of two
lesser-known Christmas choral ar-
rangements. With the concert well
under way, the CSM Concert Choir
came on to tickle the senses with
a magnificent performance with a
collection of old-English Christmas
hymns. The Hallelujah chorus from
Handel’s Messiah served as the
grand finale to the choir’s perfor-
mance, with a soulful interpretation
by Michael Jackson. With the choir
clapping and dancing the whole
time, it’s difficult to prevent a smile
from creeping across your face.
The Mines Concert Band
brought down the house with a
thundering performance of Carol
of the Bells, and then proceeded to
lighten the mood with a head-bob-
bing rendition of A Charlie Brown
Check out the new campus
calendar on oredigger.net/
calendar
f e a t u r e s page 5
JOSHUA KLEITSCH / OREDIGGER
Christmas. If this did not get you
in the Christmas spirit, then you
may be visited by three Christmas
spirits tonight. All of those in the
audience more advanced in years
were encouraged to sing along
as the band performed Christmas
Music of the 50’s with vocal perfor-
mances by two star choir soloists.
Music director Bob Klimek had
something up his sleeve for the
rest of the night, as he proceed-
ed over to the newly reinstalled
Green Center organ named ‘Black
Beauty.’ As Klimek began to tickle
the ivories with various traditional
and not-so-traditional Christmas
tunes, various members of the
men’s barbershop group began
to lead the audience in a Christ-
mas sing-a-long, complete with JOSHUA KLEITSCH / OREDIGGER
“All I Want for Christmas is My
Two Front Teeth,” “Rudolph the
Red-Nosed Reindeer,” “Frosty the
Snowman,” and “Let It Snow.” The
barbershop group then performed
an oddly satisfying, politically cor-
rect version of “We Wish You a
Merry Christmas.”
To end the night with one final
hurrah, the band and choir joined
together to lead the audience in a
medley of every one’s favorite old
Christmas tunes: “Jingle Bells,”
“Deck the Halls,” “Silent Night,”
and to finish it all off, “We Wish you
a Merry Christmas,” traditional po-
litically-incorrect style. This years’
Seasonal Sing was a wonderful
success, and a great way to finish
the semester and start the holiday
season! The Mines Concert Band performs in Bunker Auditorium.
Sigh no more, Mumford
and Sons is here
Conner Secora
The album has a satisfying
proportion of up-lifting melodies,
which in many songs is only a
bass drum and tambourine.
Staff Writer such as “Sigh No More,” “The The acoustic guitar is well
Cave,” and “Awake My Soul,” to picked, and uses many of
This week’s music review goes melancholic ones in “After the the same strumming patterns
across the pond to Sigh No More Storm” and “I Gave You All,” with throughout the album. However,
by the British group Mumford & a few strongly emotional songs after being immersed in the al-
Sons. A well-delivered collection thrown in as well, with “White bum, these characteristics be-
of original songs that has steadily Blank Page” and “Dust Bowl come pleasant familiarities and
gained international popularity, Dance.” act as the band’s signature on
Sigh No More has established There are several consistent each song.
itself as one of the top albums elements within Mumford & Sons’ Sign No More comes highly
available within the United States. music that set it apart from the recommended not only because
It presents a folksy, upbeat style majority of other popular bands. of its musical quality but because
of music, utilizing purely acoustic Sign No More strongly relies on the intelligence and emotional
instruments, yet avoids the typi- the banjo for many songs’ drives, bluntness encompassed within
cal “feel good” folk band. and uses simplified percussion, the lyrics found in every song.
The combination of many of
the songs’ subtle minor chord COURTESY MUMFORD AND SONS
progressions and the deep,
thought-provoking lyrics gener-
ate a much more complex and
enticing sound; undoubtedly one
of the prominent reasons for the
album’s success.
The audience is left with the
impression that the members of
Mumford & Sons are not merely
trying to entertain the world, but
to deal with heavy, real life prob-
lems, which in turn catapults the
substance of Sigh No More to a
higher level within the listener’s
mind. It also helps that this album
has a well-balanced presentation
of its material.
Each song contains a smooth
crescendo, with two main cho-
ruses. This causes one song to
feel like a combination of two
songs, with one underlying theme
that connects them.
w w w . O R E D I G G E R . n e t
page 6
Geek Week
Ian Littman
Asst. Business Manager,
Web content
Put into Computer Science
terms, each week the Oredigger
selects from Mines a ‘pseudo-
random’ geek and finds out more
about them. So, without further
ado, this week’s iteration of that
foreach loop is, to our knowledge,
the first person on-campus with a
Windows Phone 7...erm...phone.
Oredigger: Would you con-
sider yourself to be a geek?
Chris: No, I thought I was one of
the cool kids until now...
Star Trek or Star Wars?
Oh, Star Wars all the way! It’s
not even a competition, though the
new Star Trek movie was wicked
good.
What’s your favorite movie?
Boondock Saints.
What’s your favorite geeky
pickup line?
Me: Do you like water? Her:
Yes! Me: Then you already like 73%
of me.
Windows, Mac, or Linux?
Windows all the way!
What is the geekiest thing
that you own?
I have a robotic Nerf gun that
has a webcam for targeting. It’s SO
COOL!
What is the geekiest thing
that you’ve seen happen at
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f e a t u r e s
of
the
...Chris Navrides, Senior: Computer Science
Mines?
Two guys were having a light
saber fight with their iPhones,
sound effects and everything, be-
fore class. I totally won.
Why did you pick your ma-
jor?
Chicks dig [Computer Science]
majors.
What is your favorite class at
Mines?
Tough one. [Intro to] Modern
Cryptography and Algorithms were
both extremely interesting and fun.
Oh, and Operating Systems.
How about your least favor-
ite class?
Chemistry, hands down.
Geek of the week, Chris Navrides holds his Windows-pow-
ered phone aloft while he poses for the camera.
w w w . O R E D I G G E R . n e t
If you could add another
class to those available at
Mines, what would it be?
Mobile phone programming or
Game Design & Creation/Anima-
tion.
If you could have one super-
power, what would it be?
Flight... no, super strength... no,
flight. Definitely flight.
What are your plans after
graduating?
Go work somewhere outside
of Colorado, no clue where yet
though.
Any words of wisdom for
your fellow students?
May the force be with you.
IAN LITTMAN / OREDIGGER
(888)443-6715
december 6, 2010
This week in
Colorado history
Deborah Good diamond, with space on each side
Content Manager for grand stands.”
Though surely some motivation
Colorado School of Mines foot- for this came from a desire to im-
ball fans can be delighted by the prove athletic performance, much
performance of their team in 1912. of this desire actually arose from a
This week, ninety-eight years ago, desire to protect human life. It had
the Orediggers, then known as been argued since the 1890’s that
the Miners, defeated Pomona Col- the soil in the football field con-
lege in Claremont, California. The tained some sort of chemical, likely
Oredigger’s 13-0 underdog victory arsenic, which caused illnesses to
came only mo- Ultimately, in spite of those students
ments after they unlucky enough
arrived in Cali- not being able to prac- to have “suffered
fornia! simple abrasions
The team ex- tice in California, the of the skin.” This
perienced a six- discussion was
teen hour delay Orediggers triumphed brought to the
due to the wreck forefront by the
of a freight train, in the fourth quarter to death of a player
preventing their (and profes-
train from pass- the delight of a small sor’s son) Leo
ing through. Ul-
timately, in spite
fan base of transplanted Schneider. Of
course, in addi-
of not being tion to protect-
Coloradoans.
able to practice ing human life,
in California, the the field would also have allowed
Orediggers triumphed in the fourth the Mines-CU game to be held in
quarter to the delight of a small fan Golden instead of Boulder.
base of transplanted Coloradoans. On a more seasonal note, ap-
Perhaps in honor of their victory parently the Colorado Transcript
in California, the Colorado Tran- had caught a bit of the Scrooge
script ran an article the same week, spirit in 1912, as they sarcastically
advocating a new football field for commented, “If you have any idea
the Orediggers. The paper sug- that Santa Claus has passed away,
gested, “[T]hat the city turn over for get the Christmas number of LIFE.
the use of the [Mines athletic] asso- If there is any conceivable form in
ciation a section of the city park big which he still remains to be depict-
enough to lay out a gridiron and a ed, we do not know what it is.”
december 6, 2010 s p o r t s page 7

Men’s Basketball crushes CCU 78-65, remains undefeated

ALL PHOTOS STEVEN WOOLDRIDGE / OREDIGGER

Dale Minschwaner (#23) easily gets a layup. Dale re-

ceived his fourth consecutive double-double Saturday
night.

Gordon Galloway (#52) blocks a shot. Mines record for the season is 5-0 (1-0 in RMAC).
The Orediggers will be on the road next week at UCCS and CSU-Pueblo.

Sean armstrong (#5) tied Dale Minschwaner (#23) with 21

points for the night.

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Gordon Galloway (#52) shoots a three in the first half.
Gordon posted 13 points. Yard House supports designated driver programs. We card anyone who looks under 35.

w w w . O R E D I G G E R . n e t
page 8 s p o r t s december 6, 2010

Women’s Basketball fights until the end

against CCU, narrowly loses 67-70 ALL PHOTOS STEVEN WOOLDRIDGE / OREDIGGER

Stephanie Fogle (#10) shoots a three pointer late in the

second half to help Mines rally back.

Brecca Gaffney (#42) gets a layup . Brecca scored 13 points for the night.

Stephanie Fogle (#10) drives through defenders for a

layup. Stephanie had a career-high 20 points.

Katie Clements (#5) moves up the court despite heavy Kait Soehner (#24) passes the ball to Brecca Gaffney (#42).
pressure.
w w w . O R E D I G G E R . n e t
december 6, 2010
Athlete
Trevor Crane
Content Manager
At 6:30 in the morning, most
people are still sleeping. At 6:30 in
the morning at this time of the sea-
son, even the sun is still sleeping.
But, at 6:30 in the morning, Se-
nior Ben Zywicki’s isn’t observing
the inside of his eyelids. His alarm
clock wakes him up and encour-
agingly nudges him out the door
for his daily jog. This ‘jog’ consists
of over six miles and has greeted
the cross country runner every
morning for five years. And as his
career winds to a close, his hard
work has begun to pay off.
A fifth-year senior at CSM, Zy-
wicki helped lead the Orediggers
to third place finishes at the RMAC
and Regional Championships and
a fourth place finish at the NCAA
Division II Championships Sat-
urday in Louisville, Kentucky. At
the regional championships last
month, Zywicki inched past West-
ern State’s Sean Brown by 0.01
seconds to become the first men’s
runner in team history to place
first in any of the three champion-
ship races. For his efforts, he was
recently named the U.S. Track &
Field and Cross Country Coaches
Association (USTFCCCA) Central
Region runner of the year, the first
CSM runner to earn the award.
In addition to being named run-
ner of the year and winning the
individual regional championship,
Zywicki currently holds the record
for the fastest 8K time in CSM his-
tory at 23:49 and the second fast-
est at 24:03. In the five years he
has been apart of the team, the
Orediggers have reached the Na-
tional Championships each time,
Men’s Cross Country
place 4th at Nationals
Courtesy CSM Athletics
On a cold and snowy day the
Colorado School of Mines men’s
cross country team earned a
fourth-place finish at the 2010
NCAA Division II Cross Country
National Championship held at
E.P. Tom Sawyer State Park on
Saturday morning.
The CSM squad sat in eighth-
place through the first 3 K. The
Orediggers climbed their way up
the standings into fourth-place
at the halfway point and finished
the race out in that position.
Mines had four All-Americans
the most the squad has ever had
at the National Championships
and was one of just four teams
that had four or more runners
earn All-American honors.
The senior Ben Zywicki led
the way for Mines as he finished
22nd overall matching his fin-
ish at the 2008 Championships.
Zywicki’s time of 31:19 was
his fastest time at the National
Championships earning him All-
American honors for the fourth
time during his cross country
career. Zywicki becomes the first
athlete in the history of Mines to
claim All-American honors four
times in a sport or single-individ-
ual event.
Just behind Zywicki in 30th-
place was sophomore Sean
s p o r t s page 9
of
the Week
... Ben Zywicki, Senior: Mechanical Engineering, Cross Country
placing as high as third place. have a chance and all it takes is keep continuing the dream. Most try runner?
When he graduates in May, the once. They have the attitude that runners don’t peak until they’re 28 It’s definitely a huge time com-
Mechanical Engineer looks to con- they can’t lose now, so they don’t. or 29 and race-wise, I’m planning mitment. You have to work hard
tinue his running career by training But it only takes once. on moving up to running mara- day in and day out. I’ve taken off 8
for upcoming marathons. For his You still have one more sea- thons. I’ll try to get a few sponsor- days total in the past year. It’s kind
success on and off the course, son of track, but what is it like ships to help, but there really is not of ingrained in my life, and I really
Ben Zywicki is this week’s Athlete to be completely finished with much money in running. enjoy it.
of the Week. your cross country career? What is your typical practice How is the team aspect of
[Oredigger] What was going I’m going to miss cross coun- schedule? cross country different than
through your head during the try. Track is great and all, but I’m On a typical week, I go on 13 other sports?
final stretch when you won the really going to miss cross country. runs a week. Every morning at 6:30 I feel like the team aspect is just
Regional Championship? It’s not as structured as track and I go on a run for five to six miles or as important, if not even more so.
[Zywicki] My main focus was not all the races are the same, it’s so. For four days a week, in the In cross country, the team is de-
trying to get my legs to the ground. all about competing. And it wasn’t afternoon, we go on a recovery run pendent upon your fifth runner to
[Sean Brown] was a guy I knew until about a month ago when I of about ten to thirteen miles. And get a good score; if he has an off
well. I knew I could out kick him, realized how much I love running the other two to three days, we go day, you can’t win. I don’t know if
and I was just trying to get my legs with the team. I’m not going to be on interval runs, doing sets of ‘8x any other sport is that dependent
to the ground and beat him out. able to be on team again. 1K’s or ‘5x Mile’s with 90 seconds on their fifth player as much as
He’s a really strong runner, but I felt What are your plans after of rest. I end up running about 20 cross country is.
that I could out kick him at the end. college? miles a day and about 130 miles What is one major takeaway
How long was it before you I don’t have a job lined up yet, a week. that you will have from Mines
knew you won? but I’m moving to the Woodlands What has been the toughest as you end your career?
I thought I won right away, actu- in Texas with my fiancee. And I’ll part about being a cross coun- If you work hard, it will pay off.
ally. But it was a good two hours COURTESY CSM ATHLETICS
after the race when I found out.
Coach and the team didn’t tell
me, but when a couple of people
came up to interview me, I kind
of guessed that it was official. If it
ended up that I didn’t win, I would
try and just make the best of it and
use it to fuel me for the next race.
How did you prepare for the
National Championships, your
final cross country race?
I just go out to have fun. That’s
really it. I had a race strategy and
everything, but I want to focus on
having the most fun that I can as
possible.
How do you stay focused as
a team, as for the past six years
you have finished behind rivals
Adams and Western?
Well, we’re getting closer. And
all the teams have been different
for them. We always know we Ben runs at a regional meet.
Gildea. Gildea narrowly missed
All-American honors as a true
freshman at the 2009 Champi-
onships with a 36th-place finish.
Gildea earns All-American hon-
ors for the first time running a
personal best of 31:32 improving
his time from last year by over a
minute.
Junior Mack McLain, a six-
time track & field All-American,
claimed his first All-American
honors in cross country. In his
two previous appearances at the
Championships, McLain placed
64th and 71st. This time around
with a time of 31:6 McLain fin-
ished 34th overall.
Rounding out the group of
All-Americans was senior Aaron
Swift. Swift claimed All-American
honors for the second time in
his career and for the second
straight year. Swift placed 37th
with a time of 31:37 in the 10 K
race.
Russell Drummond placed
16587 W. 11th Ave. Great for Students! Du-
47th (31:51), Tyler Curtis placed
57th (31:58) while Frank Socha
plex, 1900 sq. ft., 5 bedrooms, 2.5 baths, AC,
finished 98th (32:45).
It was the sixth consecutive fridge, d/w, stove, large driveway, 1 car attached
appearance for the Oredigger
men at the National Champion- garage, w-s paid, finished basement, w/d hook
ships and the sixth time in as
many trips in which the squad ups. $1450/mo & $1750 security deposit. Leland
has placed in the top ten. In
both 2009 and 2010 the squad
placed in the top four.
(303)665-8944.
w w w . O R E D I G G E R . n e t
page 10 o p i n i o n december 6, 2010

Morals to your story

Minds
Black Friday
at Mines Shira Richman
Ethics Columnist

Dilemma
Jessica Ho
Staff Writer Recently, I was taking a test, during which we were not allowed to use calculators. This is an upperclass-
man-level test, so the professors are fairly trusting. I noticed that a friend was using a calculator, which, as I
Thanksgiving break is a great time to relax and hang out with family
have said, was not allowed on the test. Based on my discussions with him/her prior to the test, I am certain
and friends. Of course, it is also the season to gorge on delicious food. Af-
that this was totally an honest mistake on his/her part.
ter falling into a food coma, many people are ready to wake up bright and
What should I do in this particular situation, and what is ethical in the general case?
early the next day for Black Friday. Every year, on the day after Thanks-
--Witness of Unintentional Cheating
giving, stores bring out some of the best deals of the season on almost
everything. Doors open as early as 3 AM to a crowd of eager shoppers.
Responses
Interesting things are known to have happened on Black Friday, so Minds
at Mines wanted to know what Mines students did on the busiest morning
You should tell your professor what you saw. For starters, it is unfair to all the other students in the class
of the Christmas shopping season.
if one student gets away with using a calculator on a test. Second, if you were not allowed to use calcula-
tors on the test, I imagine this point was stressed. The happiness of the entire class needs to be taken into
consideration in this case. By telling your professor what happened, you are potentially making the situation
more fair for the rest of the class and only diminishing the happiness of one person, your friend who used
a calculator when he or she shouldn’t have.
--Elisa Mullikin
While scouting out the shortest line, my sister
The correct choice depends entirely on how confident you are that the person was unaware that calcula-
scraped her knuckles and started bleeding.
tors were not allowed. Not to be rude, but most students know whether or not calculators are allowed. But
It was kind of funny.
still, if you believe him/her, then I do too.
Chelsea Newgord
If it was an honest mistake, you should tell this person that you saw him/her using a calculator. The
person will find out that he/she did something wrong and decide whether or not to tell the professor. You
should not tell the professor because it is not your grade, but you should encourage him or her to tell the
professor. Your professor will likely appreciate your friend’s honesty and may lighten any punishment as a
result.
--Akash Jha

Was it really unintentional cheating? I think that it is hard to forget that a calculator cannot be used on a
test. I’m questioning how well you really know this person. You need to talk to him or her and try to figure
out what the true intention was. I may be mistaken, but I think you will find this was case of intentional
cheating and that your “friend” should be reported.
I go into the store at two in the morning,
--Batman
and there’s this little grandma with curly
white hair. She’s sitting in one of those mo-
I don’t think you should turn your friend in. While using a calculator when one isn’t supposed to is a se-
tor carts speeding down the aisle… it was
vere mistake, it is the job of the proctors to catch it. The test proctors should be alerted that an anonymous
really intense. I was intimidated. And
person broke a rule so that they can crack down on the next test and prevent another mishap.
all she wanted was denture cleaner.
--Scoop
She was fierce.
Jeryl Sandoval
I can see how this would be a hard decision for you to make, but I think you should tell your friend what
you witnessed. Then you and your friend, you should go and talk with your professor together. This way you
can’t be accused of cheating, too, and your friend will have support for his or her case.
According to Kant, this would be the most ethical solution because you are not deceiving your friend or
your professor. Additionally, you are respecting each of them, holding them accountable for their ability to
think rationally and deal fairly with complex situations. This solution also appeals to utilitarian reasoning in
Black Friday’s not what it used to be. I
that it makes the test most fair for the population affected—you and the other students in the class.
went at six and [Game Stop] opened at five,
--Hallie Byth
and there was no one there… I got a really,
really old video game… I got it almost for free.
Although you believe your friend made an honest mistake, I think you should ask him or her about it to
Kevin Gill
see what his or her reaction is. If your friend feels that he or she had an unfair advantage with the calculator
on the test, he or she will probably feel guilty enough to be sure not to do it again.
Chances are that the calculator really did not help your friend that much anyway if the test could be done
without it, and if it was an honest mistake I see no reason to tell your professor what happened. It is your
friend who missed out on the learning opportunity by using the calculator, not everyone else.
--Cayla Wood

To my surprise, I have been in a similar situation before. One of my friends used a calculator on a test on
which calculator use was not authorized. But my situation was much different because the teacher caught
We went to Best Buy, and I haven’t played
my friend.
Guitar Hero for the whole semester, so we wait-
I believe you should confront your friend and ask why he or she used the calculator on the test and, de-
ed in line for 15 minutes to play it. And we saved
pending on what he or she says, you should judge what to do from there. It seems important for your own
a friend from working by pretending to buy
peace of mind, though, to understand what the ethical reasoning of your friend is or was in the situation.
a phone from her.
--Sarah Leatherbery
Caty McNeil

Next Issue’s Dilemma

Don’t worry; I don’t live in the dorms or in Mines Park.

Recently a friend was studying at my apartment. He noticed some bugs on my reclining chair and said
they were bedbugs. As soon as I was convinced that he was right, which took about two minutes of a
Google search, my friend helped me carry the chair to the alley. We could not lift it into the Dumpster, so
we left it beside said Dumpster. My friend didn’t stay much longer, and he texted me on the way to his car
to tell me that the chair was gone.
A bunch of people were shopping in cos-
What should I do? Am I ethically obligated to put up a notice in my building to warn people that the
tumes so they could find each other in the
recliner has bedbugs? Or do I let them alley-shop at their own risk?
store. It was hilarious... funny hats, funny
--Recently Exterminated
shoes, boas, wings. It was pretty entertain-
ing.
We would love to know what you think Recently Exterminated should do and the reasons that make you
Carol Skelton
think so.

Do you have an ethical dilemma in your personal, academic, or professional life? You don’t have to figure
it out on your own. Send your ethical dilemmas and responses to Recently Exterminated to: srichman@
mines.edu.

Be sure to let me know if you want your name printed or not and if you have a preferred nickname what it
ALL PHOTOS JESSICA HO / OREDIGGER
is. We look forward to hearing from you.

w w w . O R E D I G G E R . n e t
december 6, 2010
Website has arguable morals, big decision
Barbara Anderson
Design Editor
Recently, a friend showed me
a website, birthornot.com, cre-
ated by a Minnesota couple, Pete
and Alisha. Pete and Alisha have
been married for about 8 years,
and are expecting a child. On
their site, they post news about
their pregnancy, including up-
dates on doctor visits and cur-
rent ultrasound photos. This site
is also a poll in which web-users
can vote on whether Pete and
Alisha should keep or abort their
unborn child.
With recent moral dilemma
column, Morals to Your Story, in
mind, I found I had a lot to say
about birthornot.com. I know
there are two sides to every ar-
gument, but I am trying hard and
failing to find any way that this is
not immoral. To Pete and Alisha, I
have a few things to say.
Does it not strike you as odd
that your means for making this
decision are the same that one
would use if they wanted to know
TSA violates legal rights Quit groping my
person, TSA
Zachary Boerner
Copy Editor
On the Wednesday before
Thanksgiving, I had the fun and ex-
citing experience of going through
the TSA’s enhanced security check-
point. Overall, it was an uneventful
experience, but, I still have some
problems with it.
Point One – Constitutional
Rights
The text of the fourth amend-
ment to the US Constitution reads,
“The right of the people to be secure
in their persons, houses, papers,
and effects, against unreasonable
searches and seizures, shall not be
violated, and no Warrants shall is-
sue, but upon probable cause, sup-
ported by Oath or affirmation, and
particularly describing the place to
be searched, and the persons or
things to be seized”.
Essentially, protection against
unreasonable search and seizure.
I’m all for probable cause searches.
If you are acting shady or for some
reason one of your possessions
happens to trip a few alarms, by
all means, go through a full-body
scanner or have an “enhanced”
pat-down, but these should not be
first-line measures.
Point Two – Privacy
This is my major complaint with
what the TSA is doing. Before the
Have an opinion?
Write an editorial! We are always looking to hear from our read-
ers and would be happy to publish your thoughts on pressing mat-
ters around campus.
You can also write a letter to the editor to voice your opinion
about The Oredigger. We’re open to suggestions and want to know
your thoughts.
Send your opinions to oredig@mines.edu!
o p i n i o n
if people like Katy Perry or Lady
Gaga better. In fact, a poll about
favorite movie stars under 25
pops up on your very site! It’s just
as easy to vote for Emma Watson
as it is to vote on the life or death
of your baby. It should be obvious
that the gravity of these two de-
cisions is in no way comparable.
I don’t think I need to bring up
that your baby is already alive,
and therefore, you are leaving
perfect strangers to sentence
him or her to death. Such anti-
abortion arguments are signifi-
cant, but not what is truly im-
moral about this whole situation.
Whether or not to abort your baby
is your decision; it is a huge deci-
sion, but it is yours to make. Let-
ting the general public make this
decision for you just shows that
you really don’t care whether or
not your baby is born. You don’t
have to be pro-life to see what is
wrong here.
One of the most unsettling
parts of this is that, should you
decide to keep your baby, you
will undoubtedly make terrible
arguments of “It’s for your own
safety” get brought out, let’s ex-
amine what’s happened. First, the
claim that the machines used in full-
body scans cannot store or save
images is blatantly false. In their
own privacy report, the TSA wrote,
“While the equipment has the ca-
pability of collecting and storing an
image, the image storage functions
will be disabled by the manufacturer
before the devices are placed in
an airport”. If a machine can save
at one point, there is no reason to
assume it can’t at another. After all,
Gizmodo, armed with only a Free-
dom of Information Act Request
form (commonly referred to as just
a “FOIA”) obtained a little over 100
images of Orlando, Florida, citizens
after it was revealed that US Mar-
shals were saving images.
Note that they were being saved
by people. “The image cannot
be stored, transmitted or printed,
and is deleted immediately once
viewed,” is what the FAQ portion
of the TSA’s website on “Advanced
Imaging Technology (AIT)” reads.
This goes beyond incompetency.
Either someone is lying or the TSA
is really that oblivious to the possi-
bilities. Neither one are comforting
thoughts.
Point Three – Where are
these attacks originating from?
December 22, 2001 - “Shoe
w w w . O R E D I G G E R . n e t
parents. I don’t see how you
could go from being indifferent
towards the existence of your
baby, to loving, caring parents.
Would you tell your child about
this poll? That you didn’t want
or care enough about he or she
that you left the decision up to
the opinions of strangers? If the
thought of telling your child that
fact seems inconceivable, then
clearly, so is everything you’re
doing here.
What I can’t fathom is that
in your bio, you write about an
unsuccessful, unplanned preg-
nancy about 10 years ago, and
two unsuccessful, planned preg-
nancies earlier this year. This tells
me that you not only did at one
point want children, but only a
few months ago! I’m not sure
what changed, but after three
failed pregnancies, I can’t believe
you could consider terminating a
fourth, potentially healthy baby.
Having a baby is one of the big-
gest blessings one can receive,
and you do not deserve it.
When the deadline for voting
bomber” Paris to Miami
December 25, 2009 - “Under-
wear Bomber” Amsterdam to Ro-
mulus, Michigan
Those are the only two that I
have found (relating to flight). Note
that these originated outside of the
country, where security is more
“lax” than it is here in the US. These
plots were foiled before they did any
damage and both were caught us-
ing more conventional techniques.
And finally, these are not originating
in the US.
Conclusion
I do not agree with these new
practices. There are horror stories
that keep appear each day on the
news about people or things that
the TSA is flagging and overall,
none of it is making us any safer.
So, finally, I will leave you with a
quote by Benjamin Franklin, “They
who can give up essential liberty to
obtain a little temporary safety, de-
serve neither liberty nor safety.”
Editorials Policy
The Oredigger is a designated public forum. Edi-
tors have the authority to make all content deci-
sions without censorship or advance approval
and may edit submitted pieces for length so long
as the original meaning of the piece is unchanged.
Opinions contained within the Opinion Section do
not necessarily reflect those of Colorado School
of Mines or The Oredigger. The Oredigger does
not accept submissions without identification and
will consider all requests for anonymity in publica-
tion on a case-by-case basis. Submissions less
than 300 words will receive preference.
(the last day that Pete and Alisha
can legally abort their baby) ap-
proached, the poll read a major-
ity of 73.79% of voters favored
giving birth with over 275,000
total votes. Among these voters,
many have left comments, sev-
eral hateful, condemning this site
and the decision at stake, and for
good reason. Pete even posted
a reply saying that approximately
6% of the messages they receive
are people offering to person-
ally adopt their unwanted baby.
Again, I don’t understand how,
among all this criticism, they can
still go through with this poll,
leaving such an important deci-
sion up to anyone with internet
access.
My last issue with this site
pertains the quote at the top of
the homepage. It reads, “you
can vote and choose whether we
abort or keep our unborn child.
For the first time, your vote on the
topic of abortion can make a dif-
ference.” The controversy on the
topic of abortion has two sides,
pro-life and pro-choice. Pro-life
PO-ed Mines Student
There’s this little article in in
the Constitution of the United
States of America called the 4th
Amendment. This little article
goes something like this, “The
right of the people to be secure
in their persons, houses, papers,
and effects, against unreasonable
searches and seizures, shall not
be violated, and no Warrants shall
issue, but upon probable cause,
supported by Oath or affirma-
tion, and particularly describing
the place to be searched, and the
persons or things to be seized”.
Maybe the definition of “unrea-
sonable searches” has changed
in the past 200 years, but it seems
that the Transportation Security
Administration (TSA) violates the
4th amendment every time a law-
abiding citizen walks through a
security checkpoint at any major
airport in the United States.
I flew home to Wisconsin for
Thanksgiving break last week,
and I was a little apprehensive
about what I would be required to
do to get through security. I was
initially pleased when, departing
DIA, I didn’t have to go through
the full-body scanner or have a
full pat-down. However, when I
went through security at the Mil-
waukee, WI airport, I was simply
directed to the scanner and there
was no question, no debate. I had
thought that you were only re-
quired to have the full body scan
if you set off the metal detector,
but I now know that is not the
case. It seems that, as airports
are receiving and installing the
new scanners, they are simply
requiring everyone to go through.
You have no choice; either have
someone walk their eyes over
every inch of your body, or have
someone walk their fingers over
every inch of your body. Mildly
irritating, no? I must confess, I
felt violated as I stepped into the
page 11
supporters believe that abortion
is murder and should be entirely
illegal. Pro-choice supporters be-
lieve it is up to the mother to de-
cide what to do with her baby, be
it abortion or not. A common and
important misconception is that
pro-choice is synonymous with
pro-abortion.
When Pete, a self-proclaimed
pro-life supporter, and Alisha say
“your vote on the topic of abor-
tion can make a difference” they
don’t realize they are not leaving
the voting up to the pro-life/pro-
choice debate; it is simply a life/
death debate. Furthermore, pro-
choice implies that the decision is
up to the parents of the unborn
baby, whereas this site is built
around the indecision of these
parents. Therefore, I’m not sure
who is in support of their abor-
tion, because as far as I can see,
it is not consistent with pro-life
or pro-choice standards. So, by
letting others “make a difference”
with their vote, you’re just letting
uneducated people choose to
end your baby’s life.
scanner, knowing that some per-
vert could be looking at things I
would rather keep covered.
This wouldn’t be as bad as all
that, except that there are per-
verts in the TSA. Surely by now
everyone has heard the horror
stories of people getting groped
and mistreated by unscrupulous
agents, and some sicko being
fired because of certain things he
was doing while a football team
was going through the scanner.
This is nothing short of outra-
geous. Under the pretext of pro-
tecting the American people, the
TSA has stripped away every
shred of privacy that the common
American once had. Apparently,
the constitution doesn’t matter
anymore...
What is the everyday Ameri-
can traveler to do? For now, if you
want to fly anywhere in the coun-
try, you will be subjected to a full-
body scan or a full pat-down, no
holds (or gropes, as the case may
be) barred. For the future, we can
fight these new procedures, and
hopefully work towards a system
that ensures our security but also
protects our privacy. Who knows
what goes on that we don’t even
hear about.
You know, there must be a
better way to screen out poten-
tial threats before they board a
plane. One friend of mine sug-
gested profiling based on cer-
tain actions that are indicative
of someone planning some das-
tardly act. I wonder if the facial
expressions of a person planning
to murder innocent people would
be the same as those of an ordi-
nary person who just wants to go
home. While not an exact science
by any stretch, it would be bet-
ter than violating personal privacy
and breaking the law.
Turns out flying this Christmas
season may no longer be a fami-
ly-friendly activity. TSA, let’s keep
it PG.
page 12
Student body pushes to
cancel finals
Janeen Neri
Free-Time Activist
In an unprecedented move, the
student body government is pass-
ing a petition around campus ask-
ing for the cancellation of all finals
this semester. “To fritter away so
much time on standardized test-
ing,” the petition reads, “is to de-
grade and demean the immense
creativity and passion that learning
should entail.”
Those backing the petition ad-
mit that even if the entire student
body were to sign it, the request will
probably be no more than a pub-
licity stunt. In fact, a large number
of graduating seniors have offered
violent opposition to the measure,
pointing out that it will cheapen their
degree if Mines is made any easier
than it already is. Another segment
of the student body opposes the
measure because they fear it will
make classes harder rather than
easier, since rote memorization will
Do you work on Campus on
Saturdays? proudly serving allegro coffee & tea
You can now get your AFPP organic espresso drinks
(Afternoon Face Plant
Prevention) at the Book & Brew hormone - free milk
no longer count for a fifth or more
of the class grade.
Faculty members are almost
universally opposed. “The system’s
not perfect,” said thermo teacher
Tara Perry, “I’ll admit that. But you
have to balance benchmarking
ability with instructor availability.
Are there more accurate, nuanced,
lower-stress ways of checking
student performance? Now, how
time-consuming are they to imple-
ment? I mean, I would personally
be delighted if each of my students
could spend fifty or so years learn-
ing wisdom from an old guy who
lives in a cave in the mountains, but
these kids have to get on with their
lives.”
Oddly enough, there are rumors
that it is exactly such advice-givers
who initially pushed the measure.
“Do you think these students could
come up with such a brilliant plan
themselves?” said a man who
asked to be identified only as Old
Man, “No, because they are too
w w w . O R E D I G G E R . n e t
s a t i r e december 6, 2010
Sudoku
weak and they smell like flowers
and rainbows.” Added another
mountain dweller, Urthemiel, “So
what if they spend fifty years learn-
ing wisdom with me, eh? Actually,
they probably wouldn’t because,
uh, my minions all want to kill them
and have poisonous blood that
causes people to either die scream-
ing in agony or else start having viv-
id nightmares about me until they
die in agony a few decades later.
But thirty years. Yeah. What’s thirty
years, give or take? Besides, I have
some really good opportunities for
women, way more secure than
those engineering jobs.”
Students signing the petition do
not seem to be bothered that their
signature could be prompted by
sinister magical forces. “Not having
finals would be cool,” said fresh-
man Cory Cailan, “and I mean, it’s a
long shot, but think how awesome
it would be if this petition worked!
People would talk about us for See solution at oredigger.net/satire
years to come!”