Volume 23, issue 16, January 19, 2001
Metro News
Court declines porn case
Sean Weaver
The Metropolitan
The U.S. Supreme Court refused Jan. 8 to hear a case which challenged a Virginia
law prohibiting state employees from accessing sexually explicit material on
state-owned computers.
Last June, the 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals upheld the Virginia law, which prohibits state employees from accessing, downloading, printing or storing any sexually explicit material, unless the employer approves in writing beforehand.
According to college spokeswoman Debbie Thomas, Metro’s policy on campus computers doesn’t specifically prohibit employees or students from viewing sexually explicit material, but prohibits any activity, that knowingly interferes with someone else’s academic freedom.
Although Colorado law does not have a provision similar to the Virginia law, the Supreme Court’s decision to let the 4th Circuit decision stand could set precedents for other states as well.
"It’s interesting the Supreme Court did not take that case," said Metro professor Dolph Grundman. "I think if I’m doing research, I should be able to plug into anything I want from the Internet." Grundman also said he has never heard of any professor at Metro prohibited from accessing any web sites while conducting research.
Metro student A. Williams said he does not see the any problem with professors accessing explicit material on the Internet.
"Denver Public library allows it," he said. "If it’s done for academics purposes, there should be no problem. We’re adults. It people do find it offensive, they can voice their comments."
Six professors from four Virginia colleges and universities filed suit against the law in 1997, saying it curtails research on topics such as human sexuality, art and literature.
"None of the appellees has requested or been denied permission to access sexually explicit materials pursuant to the act," wrote 4th Circuit Court Judge William Wilkins for the majority in the June decision. "Indeed, the record indicates that no request for access to sexually explicit materials on computers owned or leased by the state has been declined.
"It is well settled that citizens do not relinquish all of their First Amendment rights by virtue of accepting public employment," he continued. "Nevertheless, the state, as an employer, undoubtedly possesses greater authority to restrict the speech of its employees than it has as sovereign to restrict the speech of the citizenry as a whole."
Virginia Attorney General Mark Early said he was satisfied with the court’s ruling.
"Virginia taxpayers should not be forced to pay for the use of state computers on state time by state employees for downloading pornography off the Internet," he said in a written statement.
Fourth Circuit Justice J. Harvie Wilkinson disagreed.
"Academic inquiry is necessary to informed political debate," he wrote in a dissenting opinion. "Academic curiosity is critical to useful social discoveries. One cannot possibly contend that research in socially useful subjects such as medicine, biology, anatomy, psychology, anthropology, law, economics, art history, literature, and philosophy is not a matter of public concern. The content of this research does not involve a professor’s wages or working conditions. Rather it concerns an aggregate of subjects with broad social impact — subjects touching our physical health, our mental well-being, our economic prosperity, and ultimately our appreciation for the world around us and the different heritages that have brought that world about. The right to academic inquiry into such subjects cannot be divorced from access to one means (the Internet) by which that inquiry is carried out. By restricting Internet access, a state thus restricts academic inquiry at what may become its single most fruitful source."
The appeals court agreed with the state’s lawyers, who said the law guards
against a hostile work environment, and prevents state employees from wasting
time.
‘Academic inquiry is necessary to informed political debate’
J. Harvie Wildinson
Judge, 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals
-The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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Community gathers to celebrate MLK
Chris Ward
The Metropolitan
More than 300 people gathered in the Tivoli Turnhalle the morning of Jan. 12 to celebrate the legacy of Martin Luther King Jr.
The tenth annual Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Peace Breakfast attracted the largest crowd of students, faculty, and community members in the event’s history. Master of ceremonies Michael Miera said he was impressed not only by the number of people at the breakfast, but also by how well Metro follows King’s example.
"I believe Metro has met the challenge set by Dr. King," Miera said. "I am confident that Martin Luther King Jr. is looking down on us and giving us a thumbs up."
After welcoming those in attendance, Miera turned the microphone over to Mary Lou Van Voorhis, an academic advisor at Metro, who gave an invocation. Following Van Voorhis was Assistant to the Vice President for Retention Projects Kate Lutrey.
Lutrey, along with Student Services Vice President Yolanda Ortega-Ericksen, co-chaired the committee behind the breakfast. Lutrey gave acknowledgements to people who had made the event possible, including Metro President Sheila Kaplan, representatives from the Hope Center, and past recipients of the Peace Award.
Lutrey closed her acknowledgements with "a very special acknowledgement to Dr. Karen Thorpe. Dr. Thorpe is the reason we are all here today," Lutrey continued, "because it was her vision that Metropolitan State College of Denver made it a tradition honoring the legacy and the teachings of the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King."
Thorpe began the tradition of a breakfast honoring King in 1992, when about 50 people from the campus and community gathered in what was then the Student Union (it has since become the Plaza Building) to celebrate King’s legacy. The event has grown every year since. Following the acknowledgements was a performance by Christian gospel group Gospel Voices and a poetry reading by Ericksen.
After the reading, which was accompanied by Gospel Voices, Office of Student Life Dean Karen Raforth took the stage to present the 2001 Peace Award to Pauline Reece. Raforth introduced Reece as someone who "helped educate and develop every student she met…She delivered peace where conflict had ruled."
Reece is the associate dean of student life, but as Raforth pointed out, she has taken on many other jobs during her time at Metro. "No matter her job title," Raforth said, "and they range from director to instructor to teacher to associate dean, her compassion and articulate advocacy served all she touched." Raforth also mentioned that Reece has performed multiple tasks at once while at Metro, including acting as the director of Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual, and Trans Student Services, despite the fact that she already had a full-time job.
Reece accepted the award with modesty, saying, "I really am deeply, deeply honored, and a little embarrassed." She said as soon as she learned she was being honored, she got on the phone to tell the committee there were more deserving people. She then expressed her gratitude, and encouraged those in attendance to live up to King’s example. "It’s not enough to sit silently by when there’s something you can say, or something you can do," Reece said in closing.
Reece was unique in being the first person in the breakfast’s history to accept the Peace Award alone. Since the award was first given in 1992, there have always been at least two recipients each year.
"Unfortunately we received very few nominations," Lutrey said after the breakfast. "Of the nominations, (Reece) seemed to be the most worthy."
Although the breakfast has taken place, Ericksen said the committee isn’t done yet. They will meet in late January or early February to discuss how this year’s event went, and begin planning for next year.
'I am confident that Martin Luther King Jr. is looking down at us and giving
us a thumbs up’
Michael Miera
Master of Ceremonies,
Martin Luther King, Jr. Peace breakfast
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New sweet shop opens in Tivoli
Micaela Duarte
The Metropolitan
The new store in the Tivoli looks promising, as well as different. Tikki Jons’s, located in the former home of the candy and ice cream shop "Sweetz" has adopted a new look, the Caribbean.
The ice cream shop with a tropical twist opened on Jan. 15, and had a cold start to sales, but as the week and the weather has progressed, the sales look to be progressing as well, the owners said.
The owners, Kristine and Jon Donhowe, said the store is a permanent fixture in the Tivoli for now, and said they are looking for input and ideas for expanding their menu options but will most likely stick in the treats area.
"We are always looking for ideas to make this place better," Kristine said.
The menu of Tikki Jon’s includes four flavors of Frozen yogurt as well as 16 flavors of ice cream. Also available are muffins, fresh fruit, cookies and brownies.
The food might be the main attraction, but the decor of Tikki Jon’s could be also.
"It looks really nicely decorated, it has a Caribbean feel to the way it is decorated," said Francisco Flores, Lead Custodian of the Tivoli. Flores predicts the new store will be busy when the weather is warmer towards the end of the spring semester.
The tropical scenery, the lively music and the TVs bring in not only business, but those looking to just hang out as well.
"A lot of people have come in and hung out and that’s OK with us," Kristine said. "You probably don’t want to come in and study because it’s loud."
The couple said the TVs will play DVDs featuring extreme sports, and concert clips. "It works with the atmosphere," Kristine said.
With the shop open only four days, the owners are already looking for improvements.
"We may open earlier to get more breakfast business, we may open at 8 a.m. instead of 9 a.m. to accommodate more morning people and breakfast business," Kristine said. The store is currently open from 9 a.m. -7 p.m. daily.
Jon, co-owner and namesake of the store, said he has had a lot of positive reaction to the store’s opening. The store’s fun name came from the couple’s trip to Florida that had shops with names of "Tikki" caught their eye.
"We thought it sounded fun, and it flowed well with his name," Kristine said.
Jon said he likes the location of the shop and would like to get some of the Pepsi Center business as well as the daily student and employee’s business.
The couple also owns the Subway restaurant in the Tivoli food court, as well
as the Subway across from Colfax Avenue.
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Emanuel Gallery to reopen for spring semester
Chris Ward
The Metropolitan
The Emanuel Gallery will reopen during the spring semester, but an exact date has yet to be decided upon.
"We’re waiting for (the Advisory Committee) to be able to get together and make plans for the spring semester," Auraria Facilities Planing and Use director Dick Feuerborn said. "But the good news in that it is going to open."
The gallery closed its doors July 1, when interim director Ken Peterson’s contract wasn’t renewed. After more than six months without a campus art gallery, a new interim director was hired Jan. 12.
Katie Charles will start her job as interim director Jan. 22. The gallery itself, however, will have to wait until the Advisory Committee, which is made up of the deans of the three campus art departments and Auraria representatives, reconvenes. Feuerborn said he is currently trying to schedule a time for that meeting.
"This first week (of the semester) it’s impossible to anything with the department chairs," Feuerborn said.
Once Emanuel is open, the committee will begin looking for ways to keep it open, including finding a permanent director. Feuerborn said the committee is currently going over the job description.
Feuerborn hopes gallery will be able to host the standard number of shows during
the spring semester. "Typically we have three student shows and three faculty
shows, plus a couple from the community," Feuerborn said. Whether or not
Emanuel will be able to do that this semester "will be up to the committee."
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‘Marade’ brings many together to celebrate
unity
Katherine Vogt
Associated Press
DENVER (AP) — Hundreds of people hugged strangers before holding hands
and marching through the city to mark Martin Luther King, Jr.'s birthday on
Monday.
The marade, a combination of a march and parade, in honor of the slain civil rights leader gathered more people as it moved down Colfax Avenue to Civic Center Park.
The crowd, including children carrying pompoms, adults holding photographs of King and a cowboy on stilts, gathered at City Park to start the march.
Michael Hancock, president of the Denver Urban League and co-chair of the event, asked each participant to hug someone who did not look like them.
Old people embraced young people and black people hugged white people.
"Dr. King’s dream is alive," Hancock said. "Today we celebrate the man and the dream. Let's show all America today what lives not only in our eyes but lies within in our hearts."
He rallied the crowd to cheer for King and celebrate his spirit.
Some marchers held "I Have a Dream" posters and called for peace and unity. Another group of people demanded justice for Ismael Mena, the Mexican immigrant killed by Denver police in 1999 during a botched drug raid.
They were angry that the police officer who signed an erroneous search warrant that led to the raid only received probation.
Lennie Damrauer, 57, of Denver, who came to the event for the first time, said she hopes remembering King is more than a once a year event.
"I consider him one of the greatest people to ever live in America. I think he did more for Americans than I could ever imagine," said Damrauer, who named her first child King in honor of the leader.
Charles Doss, Jr., 44, of Denver, said he comes to the marade early every year to watch the crowd gather in the park.
"There’s nothing like unity and I love to come out here and see how everyone is unified. I wish Dr. King was here to see this. I wish he could see what he created," said Doss, who is proud that western city hosts such a large King celebration.
Last year, 28,000 to 30,000 people participated in the event. The largest turnout was in 1995, when President Clinton and an estimated 40,000 others participated.
King's birthday was designated a national holiday by Congress in 1984.
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DENVER (AP) — A Silicon Valley entrepreneur and his wife are donating a record $250 million to the University of Colorado to develop technology to help people with disabilities such as Down syndrome and autism.
It is the largest gift ever to an American public university, according to The Chronicle of Higher Education.
The donation from Bill Coleman, chairman and chief executive of BEA Systems in San Jose, Calif., and his wife, Claudia, was announced Jan. 16.
The gift, paid out over five years, will be used to establish the University of Colorado Coleman Institute for Cognitive Disabilities.
The Colemans, who have a niece who is disabled, said they understand the promise technology can offer people with disabilities.
"We have witnessed the challenges this population faces every day with
problem solving, reasoning skills and understanding and using language,"
Bill Coleman said in a statement.
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Metro Editorial
Media manipulating public outcry
Dear Editor,
I am responding to the article "Journalists do anything for attention" in the Oct. 27, 2000 Metropolitan. I have heard criticism about this article, and the opinion that is voiced in the article. I have to disagree with these criticisms.
I find it very refreshing to hear an opinion such as Haraburda’s, about domestic violence and the media.
I will be one of the first to condemn domestic violence, and any other kind of violence for that matter. It seems, however, that we now live in a time when everyone is judge, jury, and executioner when it comes to peoples personal lives, especially superstars.
Patrick Roy has been criticized a lot since his arrest for domestic violence. He has become evil in the eyes of many. I disagree with this whole situation, including the way the media handle the story.
First off, I think what Roy did was wrong. He lost his temper, and should have found another way to release his anger, but was ripping his doors off meant to intimidate his wife?
Unfortunately, no one will ever know. Some people say that it scared Mrs. Roy so bad that she called the cops, therefore it is not only intimidation, but domestic violence as well.
Because of Colorado state law about domestic violence, and because of certain people’s opinions, the line between domestic violence and an argument has become thin and a little transparent. Many things can intimidate a person (girl or guy). So, does this now mean that in the midst of an argument a person raises their voice and intimidates another, then that person should go to jail?
Being happily engaged to a wonderful girl, I can tell you that not all couples can solve problems in slow calm voices all the time. Does this mean we abuse each other because the voice levels or the movements of each other may intimidate one or both of us? It seems to me that in trying to protect the innocent we have put he blame on other innocent people.
The next thing I disagree with is the media’s involvement in Roy’s personal life. He is in the lime light because of his superstar status, but the media has gone way to far. The day after Roy was arrested, channel 7 news aired a story comparing Roy to people like Ray Curruth, Rod Smith, Pedro Astacio and many others.
The problem with this is that these other guys severely beat and even killed their wives. How can you put a man who ripped some doors from their hinges, with a man who gunned down his wife so he didn’t have to pay child support? Patrick has had no other prior record of domestic violence. Now, because he released his anger on a door (not his wife), the media has convinced people that he is just as evil as a killer is. The media did this because for some reason it is a more serious story then average people beating and murdering their spouses.
They tried (and in some ways succeeded) to intensify the Roy story by placing him in a group of people that committed horrible acts so the story would evoke public outcry.
So now, a man who gives to charities, writes his children’s names on all of his hockey sticks, gives away practice sticks to children, and has done so many things for this community, has the horrible name of wife beater.
Is this right? No.
Was Roy right for breaking his own property? No, but the media did an awful job reporting a story, and gave a man an undeserved label that may never leave him.
Robert Kanipe
Metro Student
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Ashcroft nomination stinks
Danielle Haraburda
Attorney General—designate John Ashcroft once said that there are only
two things in the middle of the road, moderates and dead skunks. Given the view
he has from the right side of the street, he should know.
The former Missouri senator is an unabashed extreme right wing politician who recently had, for a brief time, designs on the 2000 presidential campaign as the Christian Coalition nominee.
Not surprisingly, he’s an anti-choice in regard to abortion, he opposes most all gun control, even on assault style weapons, he opposes affirmative action, hate crime legislation, and has even fought in the past to overturn desegregation laws. Additionally, he has praised both the former Southern Confederacy and former slave owners, and fought a bitter battle to keep an African American judge from the Missouri Federal bench.
Given these facts, it’s no small surprise that so many public interest groups across the country, such as the NAACP, the Sierra Club, and pro-choice organizations such as NARAL, NOW, and Planned Parenthood are fighting his appointment. He is being referred to as racist, a mysogenist, and homophobic. He’s found little love among democrats, winning few projected senate votes outside the GOP.
Apparently, he hasn’t been too popular in his home state either. He lost his 2000 bid for re-election to the Missouri senate—to a man who died a few weeks before the election. The late governor, Mel Carnahan’s senate seat will be occupied by his wife, Jean Carnahan. Sadly, Missouri’s tragic loss is our tragic gain.
But, in spite of all these alarming facts, this is, after all, politics. I understand that as long as the science of government has existed, people will carry differing views. As a liberal Democrat, I oppose the imminent nomination of Ashcroft. And as a right wing Christian extremist, no doubt Ashcroft disagrees with most, if not all, of my political sentiments.
But at least I never wonder which side of the street he lives. While I don’t agree with him, and while I also have serious reservations that he will indeed uphold laws that he vehemently disagrees with, I can respect that he hasn’t, thus far, misrepresented himself.
But the man who nominated him, that’s another story.
It’s almost difficult to remember the presidential election, what with the court battles and hanging chads, but I’m almost certain that Bush portrayed himself during the race as a moderate Republican. In fact, I can say with some confidence the phrases "compassionate conservative" and "leader of all the people" got more than their fifteen minutes of fame.
Bush has gone to great lengths to paint himself as the new GOP poster president of diversity. He even refuses to come right out and say that he doesn’t want to hire homosexuals.
So tell me, how does a man who claims to prescribe to new centrist conservative politics appoint someone with such stringently conservative values? It seems odd that somebody who claims to be sitting in the middle of the road would choose an Attorney General with politics so much more extreme than his own. Unless of course, they’re not.
Furthermore, how can Bush fulfill his promise to "unite a divided nation" by Ashcroft’s nomination?
He can’t.
Beyond that, the alarming truth most probably lies in the fact that, in light of his cabinet choices, it’s obvious he doesn’t want to, nor did he ever plan to do so. Uniting the nation would mean a compromise on behalf of Bush and his party.
Former campaign promises to create a government that will work with the opposing party are melting away like ice in the Florida sunshine.
Compromises like those that democrat politicians have made in the past from the death penalty to school vouchers. I seriously doubt when Bush and other GOP leaders talk of compromise they mean anything less than the concessions on the part of Democrats.
Bush won the votes of many democrats by representing himself as someone who had a more conservative fiscal outlook, yet compassionately espoused a moderate social philosophy.
I have news for those of you who believed this rhetoric. He lied. He lied to gain your vote. But don’t rely on me to prove it to you. Look for yourself. Watch who he surrounds himself with, see who he tries to appoint.
Ashcroft. Chavez. Norton.
That’s no moderate in the middle of the road.
That’s a skunk.
How does a man who claims to prescribe to new centrist conservative politics
appoint someone with such stringently conservative values?
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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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Metro Active
Images of the Mexicanidad movement
Visual arts center displays work from era of revolution
by Sarah Carney
Two people are drawn to each other, and fall in love during the Mexicanidad
revolution. One is an upcoming actress and model married to a prominent poet
and painter; both use their art as a way to fight for the cause. The other is
a photographer exploring abstract and sensual lines of images, using nude models
and other unconventional subjects.
Sounds like the plot of a romance novel with its backdrop as a historical event. Well, the characters in this story are not fictitious; they are Tina Modotti and Edward Weston. During the 1920s the pair traveled to Mexico and documented the changes that the movement brought about. The images they created are on display at Metro’s Center for the Visual Arts Jan. 19 through March 3. The exhibition is called Modotti & Weston:Mexicanidad.
Weston and Modotti met in California while she was working on a film.
She began to model and study photography with Weston and an intimate relationship began. The two moved to Mexico after Modotti’s husband, Robo de Richey, died of small pox. Modotti was going to help run Weston’s studio and household. In return Weston would teach her photography, according to Therese Mulligan, curator of photography at the George Eastman House International Museum of Photography and Film.
The two immersed themselves in artistic and social circles, counting several leading artists and writers — including Diego Rivera, Jean Charlot, and David Alfaro Siqueiros — among their friends. They traveled throughout Mexico taking pictures of the architecture, the workers, and the mothers with their children, and the landscape.
"Although a partner of Weston’s, Tina’s images are very different," said Sally Perisho, director of the Center for the Visual Arts. "Her camera reflects her motivation to use the camera for social reform."
A good example of Modotti’s abstract composition and sharply focused portraits is the picture titled Woman of Tehuantepec, which is also on display at the Center for the Visual Arts. In this portrait, the lens position and angle makes the woman look monumental, almost like an Indian queen.
Weston had different priorities for his work in Mexico. It was working with the pictorialist style in the teens and 1920s that established him as a photographer, but his works in Mexicanidad show his growing interest for "straight" photography — sharply focused, unmanipulated images of often commonplace subject matters printed on plain glossy photo paper, according to Perisho.
"Though intensely affected by Mexican cultural heritage, Weston’s photographs never had political or social purpose," Perisho said. "Instead, he used the period in Mexico to develop a new formal aesthetic."
A good example of Weston’s obsessions with sensual lines is his picture titled Excusado, Mexico. He shows how the lines of something as common as a toilet bowl can have exotic lines and curves.
Even though Modotti and Weston were using their cameras as different tools, their combined efforts brought about a social documentary of a time in Mexico that celebrated its ancient and indigenous heritage. Weston combined realism and abstraction while Modotti uses an eloquent sense of design with socially and politically oriented subject matter.
In the beginning of the exhibit, there are pictures of Weston and Modotti in a very traditional pose. It can deceive for a moment but these two were radicals in their own right, foraging through new territories in the realm of photography.
The Center for the Visual Arts and The University of Denver Bridge Project
will also be hosting a family day in conjunction with Modotti &Weston: Mexicanidad
on Feb. 3 from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. The family day will include Chicano poetry
performances, Mexican folk art hands-on workshops, cultural presentations and
refreshments. The events are free and will run throughout the day at the Center
for the Visual Arts.
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Hoping for a better year of cinema
Chris Ward
At the New Year’s Eve party I attended, everyone raised his or her glass
and listed a few things they wanted to see in the coming year. After what I
had seen in 2000, I felt obligated to say "better movies."
One critic went so far as to say last year was for film "what 1929 was to the stock market." There was one noted difference between the two; I never read about studio executives jumping out of windows. I don’t know whether that would have been a bad development.
It’s not that there weren’t any good movies in the year 2000, there were. It’s simply that after the creative surplus of 1999 (American Beauty, Three Kings, Being John Malkovich, the list goes on), a year when films like Gladiator and Erin Brokovich are front-runners in the Oscar race is kind of depressing.
Truth be told, the majority of great movies to hit theaters last year were either revivals or imports. Among the best movies shown in 2000 were the Coen brother's classic Blood Simple and France’s The Girl on the Bridge. Despite the large selection of spectacular foreign and classic films, only Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon, garnered the recognition it deserved. The thrilling Blood Simple and hauntingly beautiful Girl on the Bridge received critical praise, but were passed over by audiences for the more typical summer fare.
There were a few new domestic highlights, most notably Requiem for a Dream. Requiem was the best film I saw this year, and among the most powerful in recent memory. Regrettably, while Ellen Burstyn is being (deservedly) nominated for awards left and right, the work of her costars and director Darren Aronofsky is being largely ignored.
The other major cinematic achievement is doing much better in terms of recognition. Traffic, Steven Soderberg’s look at the drug situation in the United States and Mexico has been quite successful, both critically and financially.
With two notable high points, the year 2000 had more than its share of lows. I would be hard pressed to pick a worst film of the year; there are so many worthy candidates. After considering such intellectual insults as Eye of the Beholder and Battlefield Earth, in the end I’d have to award this honor to How the Grinch Stole Christmas.
While other movies may have actually been of worse quality, The Grinch held the top spot at the box office for several weeks, in effect doing more damage than other cinematic atrocities.
So here’s to 2001. May it bring quality in film and recognition to those
movies that deserve it.
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horoscopes by miss anna
ARIES: You both look and feel good; your high energy and upbeat attitude
is catching on with others. Take advantage of your appeal to make gains in your
personal and professional life. It's a great time to improve relationships.
TAURUS: Make it a point of accomplishing those things that have been on your to-do list. There will be great personal power for you. A certain amount of stress will no doubt accompany your busy schedule; lashing out at family members will get you nowhere.
GEMINI: Romance is in the air, and that warm glow from you and your lover will get you through any unpleasant situations in the workplace. Get chores and errands out of the way, creating extra quality time to spend with family and friends.
CANCER: You might fall in love, so take extra care with who you shower your affections on. It's time to consult a financial planner on any longterm investments you've been considering. Your intuition about money is right on target. Avoid criticism.
LEO: This entire month will be quite busy for you, both at home and at work. You are getting closer and closer to personal and career goals, so remember those who have helped you achieve what you want. Be supportive of family members, especially children.
VIRGO: Help out wherever you can this week, but make sure to avoid any manipulators, all those efforts should go to a worthwhile cause. There may be an extra cash flow just in time for weekend fun you have planned. Enjoy any break from your usual routine and have fun.
LIBRA: You are ready to conquer all obstacles in your way, just make sure not to hurt anyone. You're likely to find kindred spirits to further career and social plans. Major home repairs may be very necessary. It isn't such a bad idea to spend some time alone.
SCORPIO: This week will both begin and end on a high note. You are in tune with your sweetheart and everything seems to be running smoothly. You can move closer to your goals, with a possible new business partnership in the offing. Sign that new contract.
SAGITTARIUS: You may need to get away from your hectic routine and be alone with your thoughts. It's a great time to travel. Be confident of successes in any business dealings. Avoid unpleasant financial surprises by going over bank statements for any discrepancies.
CAPRICORN: A friend challenges you to break out of your shell and promote yourself for advancement. You've nothing to lose, and will be happier in the long run. Time spent with someone close can make your day. The world is filled with dreamers and doers, be a doer.
AQUARIUS: Very prominent people will want your opinion, so be very careful how you word any responses. It is hard to avoid confrontation with those around you, so it's better to remain silent than drawn into unnecessary arguments. Someone close may turn on you.
PISCES: Career advancement is effortless, so pursue your cherished goals.
Co-workers will welcome your ideas. Keep your cool in family situations which
may be getting out of hand. There may be a difference of opinion, causing distance
between you and someone close to you. Be fair.
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Metro Sports
Basketball keeps the worries away
For Malene Lindholm, playing basketball gets her mind off of her troubles
Eric Eames
The Metropolitan
The less she thinks about the shot she is about to shot, the better the shot
tends to be.
A couple of hours before every game, Metro’s forward/center Malene Lindholm is listening to 1980 dance music to clear her head.
She’s visualizing what she is about to do: how the ball feels in her hands, the weight of it, the boost off the ground.
Aim. Snap wrist. Splash.
"It’s the sweetest sound in the world when the shot goes in," Lindholm says.
In Copenhagen, Denmark, where she was born, old times there are not forgotten. When she plays basketball, it helped to take her mind off her parent’s divorce and gave her something that she grew to love.
Now that she is in America, it takes her mind off how much she misses her family, who still lives in Denmark.
When summer comes, Lindholm returns to Denmark and gives her a breath of freedom, a chance to reconnect with family and friends, eat some home-cooked meals and earn enough money for the next school year and plane tickets.
"Making money to go home for Christmas is something I would love to continue to do," she said.
Fortunately, a break in the basketball schedule allowed Lindholm to fly home for Christmas. A couple of days later, she was back in Denver to resume practice with teammates.
"The only time I get homesick is around the holidays," said Lindholm, who e-mails her family daily. "It didn’t really sink in until I was at the airport saying goodbye to my family. Then all of a sudden they started crying and that’s when I realized that I was scared to go and come over here, because you don’t know anybody."
But with her unguarded personality she has made American friends easily. She talks openly in English, which has a hint of her cordial, native Danish accent trailing each phrase. She speaks three other languages (some German, French, and Spanish), five in all.
At age 10, Lindholm knew a lot about horseback riding, nothing about basketball. Then her sister, Lotte, poised a statement that struck her interest in the game, "Hey, you’re tall, you should play basketball."
So she started off trying to put a tennis ball through the hoop. When she finally got in a gym, with a basketball this time, she couldn’t leave.
"In the preseason I’m a gym rat," she admitted
It’s paid off and in 1999, during a game in Denmark, she intrigued a scout, who invited her to play at Manhattan College in New York.
For many European players, like Lindholm, coming to America is a dream–replete with Cinderella stories and overnight success. Through television, Lindholm breathe the NBA and WNBA in by the long full back home. She loved to watch Michael Jordan and Lisa Leslie.
"I always wanted to go to America," she said. "It’s been my dream since I started playing. I always thought about going to the states because you see it on TV all the time, especially New York City."
While New York is rich with possibilities and is one of the most serious hoops cities in the world, Lindholm didn’t like living at a highway pace.
"In New York I felt lonely. People were constantly busy," she said.
That and she was regulated to the bench as a freshman at Manhattan College. But what that first scout saw is what Metro coach Mike Power saw when Lindholm’s videotape arrived in the mail last summer: At 6-foot-2 she leaves an indelible impression on opponents with a shot that is surprisingly smooth and accurate for her size.
But, this season, it’s been off. Though she leads the team in scoring (13.2 average), Lindholm is shooting just 36.9 percent from the field, 26.2 from behind the arc and 74.6 from the charity strip.
And while she showed her worth by cashing in 28 points in a 69-68 loss to Mesa State Dec. 16, she still lacks the confidence that spurs on great shooters, Power said. Although the shots aren’t falling for Lindholm, she keeps putting up the shots, believing the next shot will fall.
"That’s the way you have to think," Lindholm said.
Power says in practice she is nearly perfect and when it comes to shooting she works the hardest, often spending time in the gym, between classes, honing her shot.
Come game time, though, it all fades away.
"It’s not a physical thing with her, it is more of a mental thing," Power said. "…She knows and her teammates know that she is a good shooter, she just has to step up and do it. You can’t come to game time and not get it done. That is the time it really counts."
Maybe she is just not warmed up to the idea of not having any family around to help when a personal crisis threatens to invert her life.
"It’s hard to get relaxed on the basketball court when you are not relaxed off the court," Power said.
Perhaps she has something else on her mind. Maybe it’s her continuous search for perfection that has seeped into her pores and into everything she does.
"I don’t think I’ve ever done my best, ever," Lindholm said. "Which is good in a way because you always want to keep on learning. But sometimes you got to be satisfied with what you’ve done and say, ‘Hey, I put in a good effort today.’ But I never say that. I always think there is something I could do better. So when it comes game time, I put so much pressure on myself, because I want to perform well and I want to win. So I rush my shot."
Lindholm, who is majoring in modern languages, has perhaps another thought rattling her brain. Should I stay in America after graduation or return home?
She’s not sure yet. As a sophomore, she has two more years to think things
out. Actually, that’s not such a good idea. It’s game time and she’s
got shots to make.
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News and Notes From the Break
Men’s basketball suffers first home loss in 29 games: When the Roadrunners play at the Auraria Events Center, it’s an almost automatic they are going to win. That was until the team played Mesa State Dec. 16. For the first time in more than two years, Metro tasted defeat, losing 76-64 to the Mavericks. The loss was the first since Western State defeated Metro in the 1998-99 season 89-81.
Baseball adds new coach, signs one: Baseball coach Vince Porreco named Anthony Gutierrez assistant coach. Gutierrez will take over the duties of coaching the pitching staff since the departure of Kenny Leonesio, who took a coaching spot in California. Gutierrez, who played six and half season in the Houston Astros’ minor league program, has been an assistant coach at Englewood High School. The Roadrunners also signed J.C. Reigenborn, a standout shortstop from Pueblo Central High School.
Men’s basketball signs two: Men’s basketball coach Mike Dunlap has signed forwards Lester Strong and Mark Worthington to scholarships. Strong, who played his high school at Kennedy (Colo.), is playing his freshman year at Moorpark Junior College in Southern California. Strong, 6-7, 200 pounds, will be a sophomore in eligibility next season at Metro. Playing at Australind High School in Western Australia, Worthington averaged 15 points and five rebounds while shooting 52 percent from behind the arc.
Metro Diver’s set new marks: Metro seniors Cari Lewton and D.J. Hummel each set two diving records at the Colorado College Classic.
Lewton, a native from Grand Junction, Colo., won the 1-meter (362.05 points) and the 3-meter (443.55 points).
Hummel, a native from Foxfield, Colo., also took first in the 1-meter (379.10 points) and in the 3-meter (383.00 points).
Men’s soccer finishes in top 15 nationally; Gallardo earns All-American honors: After setting the school mark for wins in a season (14), the Roadrunners finish the 2000 season ranked No. 11. At one point the season, Metro was ranked as high as No. 4 .
After scoring a team high 17 goals and 37 points, sophomore Danny Gallardo was recognized on the third team All-American.
Two women soccer players named to all-region team: Metro senior forward Janice Armstrong and junior defender Jole Wilson were named to the All-Great Plains Region team.
Armstrong was named to the first team after leading the team in scoring with 13 goals in the 2000 season. Wilson, named to the second team, started in all 20 games for the Roadrunners scoring a goal and added two assists.
Volleyball lands two on the all-region team: Juniors Marina Bazana and Mei-Rong Lu earned first team All-Southwest Region honors by the American Volleyball Coaches Association.
Bazana, the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference Player-of-the-Year, finished with the fourth-most digs (4.32) in school history. She had 458 kills and hit .240 for the season.
Lu, a first team All-RMAC selection, hit a team high .365, which was the third-best single-season performance in school history.
Baseball announces 2001 schedule: The Roadrunners will start the 2001 season with a 13 straight games at the Auraria Fields. The season begins on Feb. 17 with a four game set with Hastings College (Neb.).
The Roadrunners will start RMAC play on Mar. 24 with a four game set with Southern
Colorado. Some of the RMAC teams coming to the Auraria Fields are New Mexico
Highlands (Mar. 31-Apr. 1), Regis (Apr. 21-22) and the defending conference
champions Fort Hays State (May 5-6).
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Despite 7-8 record, Metro still in conference race
Adam Dunivan
The Metropolitan
A majority of Metro students were able to relieve some stress during the winter break, but for the women’s basketball team, relief was not in store.
Coach Mike Power’s squad (7-8, 5-3 Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference) not only had to deal with seven crucial games, but also with the loss of junior Natasha Zacharova, who was Power’s top recruit this season. Zacharova, who was leading the team in scoring, transferred schools for undisclosed reasons.
Good news came to the Roadrunners in the form of seniors Michelle McArthur, who has played here the last two years, and Yvette Barrios, a point guard transfer from Boise State University. The two have combined for almost 20 points per game in five games.
Power said the two will play key roles in the outcome of each game. He added that Barrios is just what the team needed after Zacharova’s departure.
"With the style of game that we’re playing now, [Yvette] is a perfect fit for a point guard," Power said.
McArthur, who is familiar with Power’s system, has given the team a new option with her range. Her rebounding (6.2 per game) also will play key for the Roadrunners’ defense.
With the loss of the team’s top scorer and rebounder, Power has changed his game plan completely on both ends of the court.
On offense, Power said the team is pushing the ball down the court, in hopes that easier scoring opportunities will be generated. On defense, Power has utilized the athleticism of his players by using the full-court press increasingly.
"I want to go back to the way many of the players want to play the game, and the way I like to play the game," Power said. "We’re not that big, but we have some great athletes.
"By using the press and pushing the ball, we are going to generate more shot opportunities. Granted, the other team will be able to have more shots as well, but basically it’s do or die right now."
The team certainly hasn’t died, even with such a bizarre break that included some close calls, a couple of blowout losses, and an airport dilemma.
The winter fiasco on the court began Dec. 16 against Western State. Metro came out strong to begin the game, and shot more than 54 percent (18-33) in the first half to gain a 16-point lead at the half.
Each team went in opposite directions in the second half, as Western State shot 56 percent in the second half compared to Metro’ s 36 percent. With a valiant effort from senior Sara Gordon (19 points, nine rebounds), the Roadrunners were able to hold off the Mountaineer comeback and escaped with a 73-72 win.
One close game was not enough. The next night against Mesa State, the Roadrunners once again had the lead at the half, but could not hold it very long afterwards. Sophomore Malene Lindholm led all scorers with 28 points, but it was not enough as the Mavericks squeaked out a 69-68 win.
Just three days later, the team was on the road… or at least they were supposed to be.
With a road game scheduled at South Dakota State on Dec. 19, the team got stranded at Denver International Airport for eight hours because of flight cancellations. The team managed a flight out, but unfortunately their luggage managed another flight out.
According to Power, by the time everything was settled, they had found themselves arriving at a hotel in Omaha, Neb., around 1:00 a.m. The next morning, the team then had to drive another six hours to get to the game site in Brookings, S.D.
The travel story stopped there, but the horror story continued. A 95-62 loss at South Dakota State was followed up by an 89-52 drubbing at Briar Cliff, an NAIA school that Power previously coached.
With wins over conference teams Adams State, University of Colorado at Colorado Springs and the University of Southern Colorado, the Roadrunners pushed themselves back into contention in the RMAC.
Metro’s 5-3 conference record puts them fifth in the conference with 11
games left in the regular conference schedule. The top eight of the 14 teams
in the conference go on to play the RMAC Tournament beginning Feb. 27.
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