Old power lines being replaced
Electrical upgrades, new fire alarms in Arts keep workers busy
Kenneth Lump
The Metropolitan

The high voltage feed lines that bring power into Auraria Campus are being replaced with new cable.

Along with the cable, a new fire alarm system is being installed in the Arts building. This will insure the building meets state standards.

Both upgrades are part of a controlled-maintenance five-year plan.

A new feature for the cable is a primary selective system that will allow Facilities Management to switch between incoming feeds should one of the cables fail. With this capability Facilities Management should be able to keep the buildings up and running with minimal power outages.

"These agencies monitor the work done on historical buildings," Pete Hagen, Facilities Management construction manager said.

Power and Electric has the contract for the feed line and Interstate Electric is handling the alarm system. Safety for students and faculty while work is in progress is a top priority.

Meetings are held weekly with Americans with Disabilities Act coordinator Greg Sullivan who walks the sites looking for any safety issues from an ADA standpoint. Both contractors have filed a safety plan with Facilities Management and must follow Occupational Safety and Health Administration regulations. Groundwork such as open manholes is always fenced off.

"I usually walk the jobs daily and look at things and try and bring up anything that I think," said Hagen.

Hagen coordinates with building users and the contractors to keep any disruptions to students and faculty at a minimum. Work is done either at night, on weekends or during early mornings.

The cost of the cable replacement project was estimated to be $1.5 million but looks like it will finish at $300,000 less, Hagen said. The fire alarm upgrades are estimated by Facilities Management to be between $700,000 and $800,000 when completed.

The cable replacement is 60 percent to 70 percent finished. The project has another two years to go before it must be completed, but it should be finished this coming August.

The fire alarm upgrades in the Arts building is estimated to be at 80 percent complete and must be finished by June 30 of this year. If either project is not done by their respective deadlines the state will pull the funding.

Both projects are moving ahead of schedule and should be finished by the deadlines, according to Hagen.
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Find a job, Monster-style
Career center offers access to online job-hunt system
Mark Stratford
The Metropolitan

When you were a kid, were you afraid of monsters under your bed?

Is this fear as bad as trying to finding a job after you graduate?

Young children and graduates have reasons to be afraid, but now Metro graduates have a new tool for soothing their job search anxiety.

It is called MonsterTRAK. An online job-search tool, it is geared specifically to help Metro students find a job when they graduate.

David Meredith, 29, graduated in December with a degree in marketing.

"One thing I’ve figured out is a lot of companies will hire within," he said. "And the way to get in is through recruiting or MonsterTRAK, or some kind of tool to use through the school."

Meredith started his job search through Metro’s Career Services office by getting an internship at a company he ultimately hopes to work for: Starz Encore Group–the movie channel that is located in Englewood.

Starz Encore Group, along with 90 other Colorado companies, have want ads placed online for Metro graduates right now. This has Metro’s Career Services office excited.

"What’s nice about the job postings in MonsterTRAK as opposed to monster.com, is that the postings on MonsterTRAK are targeting the college population, and that’s why we wanted to go with this system," said Shina duVall, an employment coordinator at the Career Services Center.

"Often times I’ve had students come in here and say, ‘You know, I’ve gone on monster(.com), but they’re looking for five years plus management experience, or they’re looking for a degree plus experience,’ and obviously, candidates that are coming out of college are not going to have that experience because they’ve been going to school. They need a job search service that is going to allow them to look through entry-level positions only, so they don’t have to weed through the thousands and thousands of professional level positions that they are not going to be eligible for," duVall said.

In addition to MonsterTRAK, Metro’s Career Center also offers career counseling, printed and electronic resources, and employment services to assist students in finding a job. The office is located in Central Classroom, room 203. Their phone number is (303)556-3664, and on the web at, www.mscd.edu/~career.

DuVall said her office used to have to charge students as much as $45 to use the old on-line job search tool–Career Connections–which, in addition to being a clumsy system was why they chose to offer the MonsterTRAK system.

The current system is free to all students. Now, instead of the students having to pay, the employers pay MonsterTRAK a $25 listing fee per position, for 30 days, duVall said.

Metro State has been listed on the MonsterTRAK website since February, and duVall estimated about 74 students are currently using the system.

Other colleges and universities such as Colorado School of Mines, Colorado College, Colorado State University, the University of Denver and the Community College of Denver are using the system as well.

David Laveau, another recent Metro graduate, has found the benefits of using the new system.

"I think it’s easier to use and it’s free," he said. "In addition to full time job listings, they have co-op’s listed and internships listed."

Laveau was president of the accounting club while at Metro and is planning on attending graduate school for public accounting.

He said he currently uses MonsterTRAK to research job leads, salaries, and available positions within the accounting market.

He hopes to get a full time job while in graduate school, and is currently interviewing with the City and County of Denver, and the City of Lakewood for a tax auditor position.

So how soon should you start looking for a job?

The career services office encourages sophomores and even freshmen to begin their job search as early as possible, duVall said.

"We always tell students networking is the best way to get your job," she said. "Eighty percent of the job market is hidden."

These "hidden jobs" are those that are not listed in the newspaper, nor on the internet.

Even with the services of the career center, and its new partnership with MonsterTRAK, David Meredith warned that each student must take an active approach to finding a job. He is now pursuing his dream job in marketing.

"If you graduate and just start calling companies you have a half-likely chance of getting in, because it’s all about contacts and who you know," he said. "You have to take all the options you have to get a job, because if you don’t your chances are going to go down."

This is one monster you don’t need to be afraid of.
‘The postings on MonsterTRAK are targeting the college population and that’s why we wanted to go with this system.’
- Shina duVall
Career Services Center
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8 colleges, universities take part in 3-day conference
Students act out Arab League
David Proviano
The Metropolitan

College students representing different Arab countries, from 11 different colleges met at Auraria for this years twelfth annual University Model Arab League, last week.

Students attempt to solve problems facing leaders of the Arab world, gain valuable leadership training and hone their skills in public speaking, writing, debating and critical thinking, said Donna Lee Bowen, a Brigham Young University, political science instructor, who brought students from her college to attend.

"The dynamics and interactive nature of the role-playing stimulates creativity," she said. "It deepens learning, and cultivates understanding as no coursework ever could. With the lack of non-bias (American) news, hopefully this will help even those outside college and universities."

Students from Metro and the University of Colorado at Denver joined students from other colleges including the University of Denver, University of Northern Colorado, Colorado College, the U.S. Air Force Academy, Brigham Young and Regis universities for the three-day conference. They met at Auraria to discuss issues facing the Arab world. During the three-day event, students met in different council groups, similar to the actual Arab league. The different councils addressed concerns of the Arab world. Issues included security, child labor, effects of population growth, and international opinion, to name a few.

"It really enhanced my view of Arab people," said Carrie Reese, a Metro student.

In 1945, before the creation of the United Nations, Arab countries founded the League of Arab States.

Headquartered in Cairo, Egypt, with its US office in Washington, DC., the League brings 22 Arab countries together to discuss issues important to the Middle East and the Arab world.

The National Council on US-Arab Relations created the leadership development program to promote greater US understanding of the Arab countries, the Middle East, and the Islamic world through this educational program.

Last week’s university model brought students together to work out the same political, safety and economic issues. This year, 11 different cities, including Washington, D.C. will do the same.

Each student had to become the representative of his or her country. Their decisions had to be based on the views of their individual county populations. As resolutions were created, they had to convince other mock representatives to vote to pass resolutions.

"You put yourself in the diplomats’ mind," said Matthew Santaniello, a Metro student. "You really get to experience the concepts [faculty] are trying to teach . . . We learned that for anyone to get anything done, we have to come together. I am sure this is what the Arab states are trying to do to.

"A lot of times you had combined views, so for the most part it was combining not convincing. People came together; we would use some of these countries’ points from here and this other country’s from here. We got people together so we can form a coalition."

Both Reese and Santaniello agreed the majority of misinformation comes from the media.

"You need to open your eyes to what is really going on," Reese said. "On a whole, I think students are opened to other views just because they are in the learning environment. Most of society learns from what they see on TV or read in the newspapers and that’s a big problem."

Both suggested watching news from outside of America or reading international newspapers for a better education on world issues. James Brodell, a recently retired Metro journalism instructor, agreed.

An American journalist, now editor of A.M. Costa Rica, Brodell said American editors usually side with politicians on news. He explained how international news organizations seem to report both sides of stories, whereas the American media seems to remain bias.

"Basically the U.S. media is centered on comments made in Washington," Brodell said. "They mirror what the folks in Washington are saying. If they do not, sometimes they are hit with penalties by whoever is in the administration." He said the same problem existed in American media during the Reagan-era Central American wars. "The editors almost always went with the Washington angle."

"We’re racist because we are uneducated about that area of the world," said Heather Grinager, a UCD student. "(The conference) enlightened my knowledge of that area of the world and just because of the fact I was working with people from the area that are Muslims."

As more and more Americans rely on the news media for information, a lack of understanding is becoming an increasing issue of concern, especially to educators, said Robert Hazan, a Metro Political Science professor at the conference.

Hazan gave an example of problems facing Arab- and Muslim- Americans. He reflected on a recent luncheon where he spoke to, what he described as, civic-minded people.

The most popular question was the difference between Islam and Muslim, he said. After explaining they were the same, Hazan expressed concern for American society.

"This is what we are dealing with," he said. "People are reading the papers and not understanding what they are reading. We don’t expect everyone to be well versed in the politics of Afghanistan or the five pillars of Islam, but we have to take advantage of conferences like this to educate our college and high school students. Perhaps we can use these as models and tools to inform the citizens better."

Following the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks some Americans chose to lean toward hate over understanding. This year’s nationwide conferences could facilitate that understanding. Overall, students learned about similarities between Americans and Arabs during the conference. Although it was originally set up to inform students about the Arab world’s general issues, it has also helped to clear up misconceptions of the Arab community.

"I am very proud to be in an academic environment in a university where I can freely express myself," Hazan said. "Unfortunately in most intellectual circles outside the university there is bashing of Arabs. There is bashing of Muslims. People are looking at these pictures that they saw. They cannot forget that there was Arab Islamic individuals that were involved in the plane crashes that led to the thousands of deaths. The university is the place that we can salvage Islam from terrorism. Hopefully (the conference) has helped to do that."

‘It really enhanced my view of Arab people.’
Carrie Reese, Metro student

‘We learned that for anyone to get anything done, we have to come together. I am sure this is what the Arab states are trying todo.’
Matthew Santaniello, Metro student
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police briefs

Auto Theft Foiled

Martha A. Trevo, Auraria employee, reported an attempted theft of her car Feb 27.

According to police, Trevo parked and locked her 1997 Dodge Neon in Lot K at 9 a.m. Feb. 26. When she returned to her car at 6 p.m., she discovered the driver’s side door unlocked, police said.

Reports said, an individual entered the vehicle, removed the ignition core and put the transmission into gear. The individual was unable to complete the theft due to the victim’s ignition security system, police said. The ignition core was found near the gas pedal, according to police reports.

There are no suspects or leads.

Backpack Theft

Jessica Spenser, Metro student, reported the theft of her backpack from the Auraria Library March 4.

According to police reports, Spenser left her backpack on the floor unattended while she went to a book sale near the front of the library.

When she returned, she discovered it missing, police reports said.

There are no suspects or leads.

Woman Hit by Car

A woman’s knee was slightly injured when she was struck by a car on Auraria Feb. 28.

According to reports, Margaret M. Norwood was walking toward an exit in the Auraria Parking and Transportation Center when she was struck on her left knee by a 1997 Ford Taurus entering the garage.

Norwood was checked by a member of the Denver Fire Dept. and refused medical attention.

The driver, Morgan F. Harrower, said she could not see due to the sudden transition from bright to dark, police reports said. She was traveling less than 3 mph. She was cited for careless driving.

-by John R. Crane
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corrections

In the March 7 issue, identifier information was left off of the cover.

It should have read:

Volume 24, Issue 23, March 7, 2002

The Metropolitan strives for accuracy. Any mistakes can be reported to Jenni Grubbs at: grubbs@mscd.edu
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More to success than golf pants and cookies
Jenni Arribau
Staff columnist

Bright and early in the morning I found a place at a sparkly purple table in the Tivoli Turnhalle last Friday, ready for an inspiring and empowering experience at the 6th Annual Women’s Leadership Conference. Despite the cheesy slogan for the event: "Leading with Heart, Listening Within," and the small turnout, I was optimistic and ready to learn from the keynote speaker, Debbi Fields of the Mrs. Fields Cookie Company.

One goal of the conference was to address barriers women face in the work world, such as fighting prejudice and institutional discrimination, increased cases of sexual harassment and violence against women. The main goal of the conference, as stated in the introduction, was to tell students how to cross those barriers and achieve success. Unfortunately, Mrs. Fields failed to address any of those issues. Since the women of the Auraria campus get the one month of March, Women’s History Month, to see series of women speak, we deserve to have an intelligent, inspiring woman to be our keynote speaker. But this year, we got Mrs. Fields.

In her redundant and painfully happy speech, Mrs. Debbi Fields, a 48 year-old living duplicate of the American Barbie doll, revealed her recipe for how to make a million dollars. "It takes three special ingredients" she stated pleasantly, "one third cup passion, one third cup perfection, and one third cup perseverance." Like our mothers were taught back in the fifties, Debbi thinks that if we look perfect, act perfect, and we just are perfect, we women can live the American dream just like the Little Train that Could who said, "I think I can." Her motto is "Good Enough Never is."

The sponsors who brought Ms. Fields to campus are the Student Activities Offices at Metro and the University of Colorado at Denver, and the Student Life Office at the Community College of Denver. According to the acknowledgements at the back of my conference notebook, "these offices support the idea of along term and continuous effort to develop a leadership program that supports and fosters the philosophies of student development and student learning." Despite this claim they gave us Mrs. Fields who claims that with the right ingredients any woman can reach the top of the corporate ladder. Meanwhile, she sends the message that for a woman to reach her professional goals she must conform to America’s white and blond cannon of beauty while maintaining a sickeningly pleasant attitude. Somehow I do not believe this message represents our student body’s overall philosophy of acquiring success as a woman.

Unlike the two explosive events: Angela Davis and the Guerrilla Girls, chosen by Metro student and Feminist Alliance President, Erika Church, Mrs. Fields was chosen by faculty member Zav Dadabhoy of Metro Student Activities, who is neither female, nor a student. Part of our tuition pays Student Activities and Student Life to bring speakers who are chosen by students, and who are changing history on a global level. Amy Goodman of "Democracy Now" radio show would be a great speaker for example, or Diane Vanderlip, the director of curation at the Denver Art Museum. Or, we could have asked Eve Ensler who wrote the world-famous Vagina Monologues on campus, or Gloria Tanner, the first black women to serve in the Colorado senate.

The keynote should have higher aspirations than designing figure-flattering golf pants. That’s what Debbi Fields plans to do in the future. She has time and money for fashion design now that she has sold Mrs. Fields Cookie Company, a detail that she failed to mention in her speech at the Women’s Leadership Conference.

While Mrs. Fields is golfing in her new fashionable pants, the scholar Angela Davis will continue to fight for the safety and rights of women and people of color in our prisons, and the feminist artists, "The Guerrilla Girls," will continue to combat sexism and racism in the art world.

Judging by the huge popularity of the latter two events that were chosen by a student who is a woman, whoever chooses a keynote speaker for March of 2003 should check with female student leaders before making a decision. Otherwise, as I heard one woman on campus ask her friend, "Whose’ next, Martha Stewart?"
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Be careful, Nokia is listening
David Hindman
Staff columnist

Deb’s cell phone has a mind of its own. It calls people randomly, maybe because it’s lonely, or maybe because it’s owner, my wife, refuses to lock the keys before dropping it into her purse. It likes calling people on her electronic phonebook the most but, I wonder if it has ever dialed up Harrison Ford or Julia Roberts, just so it can feel important. What a gutsy move, just calling someone for an ego boost by sharing the same airtime for just one stolen moment. I’ll bet it knows all the good "random" phone numbers. Mostly, though, it calls people Deb knows, looking for a little silent company. Generally, they call back and ask Deb, "Did you call me?" Of course, she always says "no," leading to much consternation on their part, and concern she is losing her sanity.

It contacted me the other night. I’m flattered it likes me so well but it never talks to me. It’s mostly just the silent treatment– "caller i.d." being the only dead giveaway of dead airspace. Yet, occasionally, it shares with me what it is experiencing, not in words but, in the mystery, even beauty, of the events taking place around it. Perhaps I’ll hear the sound of car horns in downtown Denver or the sound of the 16th Street Mall shuttle driving by. "Tell Deb to watch out!" I might want to scream to Nokia. That’s its name, you know–Nokia. You see, it and I both know that, while Deb can see the latest Liz Claiborne in the shop 10 blocks down the street, there isn’t a dangerous speeding vehicle that she’s ever been aware of. At least not until a kind stranger keeps her from stepping in front of a bus. "Thanks, the three of you, whoever you are."

Sometimes I hear voices from people chatting near Nokia. Maybe it calls me from our favorite coffee shop–the one Deb and I lovingly call "Four Bucks Coffee." Who knows what interesting, even steamy coffee conversations I might inadvertently overhear. But, of course, if I ever heard something like that, you know I’d hang up immediately out of respect for privacy.

I dialed up Deb tonight but Nokia intercepted the call. Jealous I suppose. Nokia taunted me with the rhythmic swinging sounds of Deb’s purse and conversations with coworkers (unintelligible of course) as they walked to a meeting. I can hear the electronic keypad melody now as Nokia sings the mocking song, "You can’t talk to De-eb, you can’t talk to De-eb." I’m sick of Nokia’s little games.

It has this wild, maniacal personality. Sadist, I suppose. Nokia will disconnect a call with Deb right at the important part of a conversation, probably to try to get Deb to blame me for hanging up on her. You know I’d never do that. It’s Nokia’s fault.

But then, at times, when Deb is so effectively detailing my shortcomings out of her love and sincere desire for my personal growth, I wish Nokia would drop the call, but it won’t. Nokia is ruthless.

Nokia’s sardonic sense of humor is not without its benefits. Sometimes it keeps Deb honest in her free speech. After all, if you never know who might be listening, you’re less likely to say bad things about them.

Once, Deb said of a business associate (let’s call her Anna), "Anna is a whiner!" Nokia didn’t hear this. However, our three-year-old son, Chris, did.

"Anna is a whiner?" he queried.

"Yes, honey," Deb said with a premonition of an ill-timed, out-of-the-mouths-of babes experience. "But we wouldn’t want to say anything in front of people that would hurt their feelings."

"You mean we say things in back of people that would hurt their feelings?" Chris chirped in unknowing childhood wisdom.

When Chris isn’t around to make Mommy behave–Nokia always is.
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Archie Bunker, where art thou?
Rudy Randolph
Metro Student
Guest Commentary

I long for the days when Archie Bunker could say spic on television. Or wop, kike, chink, and any other racial slur in order to shake American audiences out of their complacency and make them think. I’m not sure if he ever said nigger or faggot, but maybe he should have.

The kind of writing that permeated every episode of All in the Family is sorely lacking on any network station in the new millennium. However, the problems Norman Lear addressed in his television show are still present. . .still present decades after everyone’s favorite racist bid farewell, yet no one wants to admit that these issues continue to linger like static buzzing on an empty channel. Sure, we’ve come a long way–isn’t there Will and Grace, a television show with openly homosexual characters–that could never happen in the seventies, right? And there is some truth to this statement, that society has become more tolerant. But Will and Grace, while being open with its sexuality, does nothing to confront real issues; instead, it is just another sitcom, well-written and often funny, but quite weak in raising people’s social conscience.

Unlike All in the Family, which was brilliantly written, always funny, and through Archie Bunker, the bumbling archetype of the white patriarchy that has been in power ever since Jamestown was founded, quite effective in raising its viewer’s social conscience. Instead of pretending the problem didn’t exist, Bunker’s personality and his love/hate relationship with son-in-law Meathead portrayed the problem of inequality as it was, with no ivory gilding or political correctness. As any recovered white supremacist will tell you, the first step in solving a problem is realizing it exists.

Inequality, between races, sexes, and sexual orientations, still exists.

Newsweek might have three black CEO’s on the cover of a recent issue, toting the "new black power," but the majority of the nation’s companies, as well as its colleges and universities, are still run exclusively by white males, as is the Senate, The House of Representatives, and of course, the position of President of the United States. This is par for the course–from the Greeks to mighty England, white males have always been in power.

Inequality will not fade away with the dissolution of Affirmative Action, nor will it cease to exist with network programming focusing on black families, a number of which, poorly written and unfunny, clog the airwaves. This tradition began with The Jeffersons, another program that refused to ignore issues, as George Jefferson was essentially an African-American version of Archie Bunker. Sadly, the program’s success failed to birth any successors–look at The Cosby Show, a sitcom that was wildly popular but refused to tackle any real issues, except maybe showing white audiences that, "Hey, a black family can be successful and racially tolerant." We can only begin to chip away at inequality by recognizing it still exists, then exposing it for the spectre that it really is.

Even if it means saying nigger on television.
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Letters to the editor
Auraria campus, a place without fear

Dear Editor,

I am a 17 year-old lesbian attending my first semester of college at Metro. I fled high school half way through my senior year in part out of fear for my own safety. Mullen High School is a predominantly conservative, Catholic school run by an order of Christian Brothers. While attending Mullen I faced constant oppression in the form of scorn and verbal abuse. At its darkest point, I was mocked by my religion teachers who told me I was going to hell. Though I respect Catholics, I could not respect the ones at this school. Starting college here at Metro has been the best thing that has ever happened to me. The first day I attended class I could already feel a sharp difference in the atmosphere. I can’t quite put my finger on it, but I just felt as if I had entered a place rich in diversity. The first experience I had in this enlightened community came my second week in English class. Our assignment was to write about an event that was important to us. I felt compelled to write about a breakup with my girlfriend. I wrote the paper thinking no one but the teacher would read it, but as it turned out my paper had to be peer edited. The girl who read it looked up at me and smiled, telling me how good it was. She encouraged me to be one of the four people who would read my essay aloud. I mustered up my courage and proceeded to read my essay in front of the class. When I was finished reading I was met with much applauding and praise. At this point in time I knew I had come to the right place. Auraria is indeed a campus of the future. A future in which preconceived notions and irrational fear seem to be a thing of the past. I am proud to say I truly feel like part of th community. I feel an overwhelming sense of freedom and happiness as I walk to class everyday with my rainbow patch sewn to my backpack. Metro is where I belong, and that is a priceless feeling!

Kate Johnson
Metro Student
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Student fears for future generations

Dear Editor,

I am writing with concern about the many issues that our graduating generations have at hand. I fear for our future. Not only because of the lack of certainty that we are safe or secure, but because I question if we are following or changing the problems that cause situations like war, poverty, hate and environmental destruction.

It seems as though our lives are at turmoil and yet we carry on like nothing is wrong. Considering we are amidst nuclear bombs and chemical warfare, we all do so well. I am concerned about our evolution, our place in the history books and the possibility of altering it.

Right now, it also seems as though we are in the "Dark Ages." These times were "characterized by intellectual stagnation, widespread ignorance and poverty and cultural decline" according to Webster’s. Right now our attention has to focus on mandatory high society survival games, leaving important issues last of concern.

All is at stake, while pop stars like Britney Spears keep popping up to distract us. Our pop and consumer culture is embarrassing. If we live to have a legacy, I hope a new philosophy will emerge from our time era. Right now though, our consumer culture is supporting the class distinction and the owners that own everything.

When a few own a consumer culture, they own politics. This kills the spirit of our independent capitalistic ideals and the room for individual thought. This is basically oppression from my point of view. I don’t have any major ideas for solutions to all of our problems; I want to share my concerns, hoping to be a reminder of passion and consciousness.

Annalee Lilland
Metro Student
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Letters Policy

The Metropolitan welcomes letters of 500 words or fewer on topics of general interest.
Letters must include a full name, school affiliation and a phone number or e-mail address.
Letters might be edited for length, grammar and accuracy.

Mailbox:
The Metropolitan
900 Auraria Parkway, Suite 313
Denver CO 80204

e-mail: haraburd@mscd.edu
phone: 303.556.2507
fax: 303.556.3421
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Roadrunners set to face Cal State- San Bernardino March 20
Imthiaz Hopkins
The Metropolitan

For the third time in four years Metro men’s basketball team (26-6) is headed back to the NCAA Elite Eight. Before the Roadrunners earned their trip to Evansville, Ind., they had to face some fierce competition.

In the first game of the North Central Regional Tournament, March 8, the Roadrunners met up with Minnesota-Duluth. With leading-scorer forward Patrick Mutombo, 23 points, the Roadrunners knocked-out Minnesota-Duluth 66-61.

The next night the Roadrunners would met Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference team, Nebraska-Kearney.

"Against Kearney the game was very physical, it was possession by possession at the end," head coach Mike Dunlap said.

The Roadrunners beat Nebraska-Kearney for the second time this season 59-51.

"We were fortunate to push away from them at the very end," Dunlap said. "It was one of the good-old-fashionioned rivalry games."

Forcing 17 turnovers, the Roadrunners, led by junior guard Clayton Smith, 14 points, five assists, were able to advance to the championship game against South Dakota State.

Top seeded South Dakota wasn’t going to make it easy for the Roadrunner to get past them. In front of almost 5,000 fans the Roadrunners defeated South Dakota 87-86.

"No one was able to beat South Dakota State in their conference this year which they consider to be very strong nationally," Dunlap said. "We were able to go in there and end their 17-game home streak."

South Dakota got off to a quick start, opening with a 19-9 lead over the Roadrunners. Metro quickly flipped the switch and went on a 20-3 run to put them up 31-24. The Jacks went into halftime with a 40-38 led.

Most Valuable Player Luke Kendall led the way for the Roadrunners scoring 38 points. Kendall scored 28 of his points in the second half. Forward Patrick Mutombo and guard Lee Bethea each contributed 14, and Smith added 10, along with 14 assists.

Although the Roadrunners were out-rebounded 42-29, they were able to give South Dakota a headache until the very end. The Jacks took an 86-85 lead with a lay-up and free throw by center Matt Jones with 18 seconds left.

"You see the real character of the team because you go on the road and you have to win," Mutombo said.

Just when South Dakota thought it was over, Kendall shot the game-winning three pointer with 6.6 seconds left on the clock. Now the Roadrunners move on to the Elite Eight on March 20, and will met up with No. 2 California State-San Bernardino.

"We are pleasantly surprised that we made it." Dunlap said.

The first time the Roadrunners met Cal State-San Bernardino was Nov. 24. at BYU-Hawaii Classic. Cal State beat the Roadrunners team 70-62.

"Maturity will be the difference in that game," Dunlap said. "We were a younger team then.

"At the time they were more mature, they had four of their five starters back from a team that went to the elite eight last year."

Dunlap said now that the Roadrunners have and entire season under their belt they have seasoned players.

"We are a much better team on this day then two weeks ago because of our success," Dunlap said. "We have guys who are difference makers, and the first time we matched up well with them athletic wise."

This Roadrunner success came after a disappointing first round lost to Fort Lewis in the RMAC Mile High Shootout Feb. 28.

"We thought the season was over when we lost to Fort Lewis, they gave us a second chance," Mutombo said about their invite into the Regional tournament.

"We have learned how to lose a game and go back out on the road and win three tough games," Dunlap said. "We’ve done a great job winning on the road."

‘No one was able to beat South Dakota State in their conference this year which they consider to be very strong nationally. We were able to go in there and end their 17- game home win streak.’
-Mike Dunlap,
Men’s head basketball coach
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Metro athletics’ No.1 fans
Eric Eames
The Metropolitan

Dear Rick Glatioteis and Karen Haws: Hope you can get someone to share this letter with you. Laura Lempe in the Metro athletic office says it’s hard for you to read, because of your disabilities. But this story is for you and about you and one we all need to hear. One we shouldn’t soon forget.

Before Metro baseball head coach Vince Porreco thought about coaching and tennis head coach Eduardo Provencio entered high school, you were there. Before setter Devon Herron knew about volleyball and back when basketball forward Mike Buggs was dunking on a Fischer Price hoop set, you were there cheering fervently for the Roadrunners to outdo their opponents.

"They get so riled up and happy," Provencio says. "They are so in the moment when they are there."

You’re always there.

"‘Beep. Beep.’ That’s the first I think of when I think of those two," Metro basketball player Malene Lindholm says, trying to mimic Karen’s cartoonish Roadrunner call that she screams during games. With the pitch of a squawking parakeet it’s window cracking.

"You hear them and it helps to know that somebody is there," Herron said.

There is irony in the fact that two of the most important people on any of Metro’s six teams are these two fans who lack the coordination to play.

"They are the best fans I have ever had at any games from high school or college ever," Herron adds. "They go out to watch a baseball game and they come in to watch a basketball game. They go to every single game possible. We always have them come to our team banquet. Our whole team loves them so much."

They’ve been fans for 17 years; more than 40 head coaches; about 700 athletes. They’ll never forget the times you have been there when things haven’t gone so well. Or when you’ve escorted them out to center court on senior night. They can’t forget.

"Every school should have two fans like Ricky and Karen," Provencio says. "You’ll never forget them and they’re never going to forget you either. If I ever go on to coach at Stanford, Ricky and Karen will probably be the best fans that we will ever have. There’s no doubt about it."

Rick and Karen’s love for each other runs deeper than Metro with a relationship that stretches back even further. They met right out of high school at Laradon Hall, a school for disabled people, and have been inseparable ever since. They ride the bus everywhere they go. Rick cooks for her; usually a lamb dish and a Greek pastry filled with almonds that Karen says is to die for. Rick also comes back from visiting his parents in Hawaii bearing gifts, such as necklaces, earrings and leis for Karen. For 25 years it’s been this way. They have not been married. They live in separate apartments, where each has hanging from a wall a wood trophy with their names engraved in gold plating as Metro’s No.1 fans.

Karen does have a diamond engagement ring on her left ring finger. Recently, she was out looking at wedding bands, but it’s her parents that won’t let them tie the knot.

"She’s the only daughter in her family," Rick says. "She has a brother, Calvin, who got divorced, so they don’t want that to happen to her."

Three years ago, Karen, who turns 49 in April, suffered a severe stroke.

"I nearly died on Ricky in 1999," she says.

Rick, 44, hadn’t a clue what happened to her or where she was. With help from the coaches and personnel in the athletic department they found her in a hospital.

"We jumped into the car after a game and spent some time with her," says soccer head coach Brian Crookham, who Rick calls his twin brother. "She was in pretty bad shape at the time ... She wasn’t tremendously responsive."

Rick sat and talked with her. On the ride home, Rick, usually upbeat and open, became very quiet, his mood somber. Seeing Karen, lying so still there on the bed with a somewhat vacant stare, was heartbreaking, a recollection he could not shake.

"Coach," he said to Crookham during the ride, "it’s so hard to see someone you love so much, in so much pain."

Rick visited her everyday, brought cards from the players and brought the entire Metro men’s basketball team in to see her.

"It was so nice for them to come see me," says Karen, who has fully recovered from the incident.

To Rick and Karen life is not complicated, this is as self-evident as their crooked-mouth grins and endless happiness.

"They’ll come out and everyday is the same," Crookham said. "Everyday is happy. They’ll tell you, ‘It’s a beautiful day for soccer.’ And it makes you take a step back and go, ‘You know what? It is. This is pretty cool that we are able to do what we do and be apart of these kids lives.’

"They give a very simple perspective of things that sometimes we lose. They bring you back to earth."

For Provencio, his shot of reality comes when he is driving them home after a basketball game.

"Some where in that ride one of them always says, ‘You know what? Today was a great day,’" Provencio says. "They have such appreciation for everyday. Everyone complains about their work, but when you hear that from them, it puts everything in perspective. Everyone needs to hear that, you know?"

Their childish candor and joie de vivre (for life and love) are part of Rick and Karen’s considerable charm. Somewhere along the line, many of us have lost that.
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sports briefs

Men’s Baseball
The Roadrunners (10-5 overall) travelled to Grand Junction March 9 and 10. At the Mesa State tourney the Roadrunners beat Mesa State 3-1. In the second and third game the Roadrunners fell to Southern Colorado 6-4, then again 1-0. The Roadrunners continued to struggle, falling to Central Washington 5-2.

Men’s and Women’s Tennis
On March 9, the men’s team beat Nebraska-Kearney 8-1. They improve to a 2-0 record.
The women’s team beat Fort Hays State March 8, 9-0. Against Nebraska-Kearney on March 9 they improved their record to 2-1 by beating the Lopers 9-0.
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