Volume 23, issue 23, March 9, 2001

Metronews

Proposal streamlines credit transfer
Bill in General Assembly would also penalize students for taking too many classes
Sean Weaver
The Metropolitan

Transferring credits among Colorado colleges and universities could become easier if a bill passes the General Assembly.

If the bill is passed, students who complete core classes at one college or university would satisfy core class requirements at another school in Colorado. The bill also states that students have a right to know which courses are transferable between public colleges and universities in Colorado, and requires the Colorado Commission on Higher Education to provide an online catalogue for common core classes, which would provide students with information on transferring credits.

Metro graphic design major Jennifer Nacino transferred to Metro two years ago from the Colorado Mountain College in Glenwood Springs. She said she felt the process was inconsistent and disorganized. She said the law would have helped.

"After I transferred, I still had to find out if the courses were in the list," she said. "I had to go almost a year before I found out. If I knew right then and there when I came over, it would have been easier. You have to find out on your own. There’s a lot of people here on campus who can help you, but you just have to ask the right questions."

Jeanne Adkins, director of policy and planning for the commission said she agrees universities need to be more accountable to students.

"If a student is asking an appropriate question, they should be able to get answers," she said. "We agree students should have full knowledge up front."

The bill would also penalize students who go beyond the necessary credit hours required to get a bachelor’s degree. Under Colorado law, a student needs 120 hours for a bachelor’s degree. If a student would take more than 150 credit hours, they would be charged an additional 50 percent of tuition. According to CCHE studies, 21 percent of students in Colorado accumulate more than 150 credit hours to obtain their bachelor’s degree. The bill has a provision for an appeals process to address students who take more than 150 hours.

"While we might not agree with the hours, we agree with the philosophy," Adkins said. "Taxpayers shouldn’t be funding an indefinite education. It’s not appropriate policy."

Metro student Aaron Williams said he disagrees with penalizing students who go beyond a certain amount of credit hours.

"What happens if you are a sophomore, and you realize that’s not what you want to do and you switch majors," he asked. "That happens."

Metro student Cindy Wilson agreed.

"What if you just want to go to school more," she asked. "You shouldn’t be penalized for that."

The House Education Committee voted unanimously Feb. 21 to refer House Bill 1263 to the appropriations committee.

If the bill is passed, it would apply to incoming freshmen during and after the 2002/2003 school year.

‘Tax payers shouldn’t be funding an indefinite education’

Jeanne Adkins
Director of policy and planning for the Colorado Commission on Higher Education
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Gallery reopens with UCD show
Chris Ward
The Metropolitan

The Emmanuel Gallery opened its first show in more than nine months March 1. The show, titled Seeds of Success, features work by University of Colorado at Denver students, and will run through March 16.

"I’m so happy it’s open again," Metro art major Wendy Litman said at the opening.

Several others echoed her opinion. Emmanuel had closed July 1, 2000, after the position of gallery director was cut to save money. After protests from campus art students and professors, the position was reinstated and Kathryn Charles was hired as the gallery’s interim director.

Seeds of Success is the first of three shows scheduled at Emmanuel this semester; Metro and the Community College of Denver will showcase student work in late March and mid April, respectively.

Most of those in attendance said they enjoyed Seeds of Success. "I think it has actually turned out really good," CU-Denver art student Megan Hauptman said. "There’s a lot of quality stuff here."

Hauptman has two untitled pieces in the show. One is a collection of eggs, each of which has a word on it, inside a metal box; the other is a series of four photographs depicting a woman tied to a bed.

Seeds of Success features student work in photography, painting, and sculpture. Some viewers preferred certain mediums to others. "A lot of the sculpture is nice, some of the photography too," Litman said. "That’s what I’m most impressed by."

"There are some works here that challenge the aesthetic sense of the viewer," Metro art major Mark Lopopolo said of the art on display.

The subject matter depicted was a varied as the mediums used to depict it. From still lifes and portraits to jars with a drum petal and backlit phalluses, Seeds of Success highlighted the variety of artistic styles studied at CU-Denver.

"This is probably one of the better shows to come through here," UCD student Mark Maresh said. Maresh’s Number One in Blue was on display at the gallery. "Hopefully (Emmanuel) will stay open. Hopefully, hopefully, hopefully."

"I like this space," Nikki Pike, whose sculpture The Seamstress is part of the show, said. "I think it should stay open for art."

"It’s essential to education," Hauptman said.
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The Metropolitan recieves 25 awards from the Wyoming Press Assoc.

The Metropolitan won 25 awards from the Wyoming Press Association Jan. 13.

•Micaela Duarte — First place in news story — Recreation package stories.

•Chris Ward — honorable mention in news story — Emmanuel Gallery’s director position vacant after budget slice.

•Eric Eames — Second place in sports feature story — Janice Armstrong, off the field.

•Jennifer Youngman — Third place in sports feature story — United they stand.

•Jaime Jarrett — First place in feature story — History among the dead.

•Danielle Haraburda — First place in the column writing category.

•Chris Ward — First place in special section — Denver Film Festival pullout section.

•Sean Weaver — Second place in special section — New student orientation.

• Jennifer Youngman — Third place in special section— Roadrunners rule Division II.

•Sean Weaver — Third place in open page design — Fred Hess is keeping the faith.

•Sean Weaver — honorable mention in open page design — Miles More.

•Sean Weaver — Second place and honorable mention in use of editorial color — Reform and Rewriting History.

•Scott Smeltzer — First place in news photo — Starry eyed.

•Cathi Boerder — Second and third place in sports photo — Men’s soccer and Men’s soccer celebration.

•Kelli McWhirter — honorable mention in sports photo — John Bynum dunk.

•Scott Smeltzer — honorable mention in sports photo — Eat my dust.

•Sean Weaver — First place in portrait photo — Miles More, Ron Miles.

•Robert Morabito — Second place in portrait photo.

•Kelli McWhirter — First place in photo story — Program embodies personal fitness.

•Rie Tanabe-Speer — Second place in house ad.

•Rie Tanabe-Speer — Second place in use of color in an ad.

•Jessica Rouch — First place in institutional ad.

•David Menard — First place in use of artwork.
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police briefs

Microwaves removed

Auraria Police found two microwaves out of their proper storage area within the Science Building. The police report states after an incident near the Science Building, the Auraria Police conducted an investigation.

The two microwaves were removed from the shelf within the Science Building lounge area, the report said. During the investigation, the police found the two microwaves: one located on top of a trash can with the power cord ripped from it in the Science Building lounge. The damage to the microwave is estimated at $100. The other microwave, which had no damage, was found on the east side of the Science Building about 20 feet east of the Arapahoe wall fountain.

Backpack stolen from Tivoli

A Metro student reported a theft of his belongings from the second floor of the Tivoli on March 2.

The student, Dustin Forehand, said in the police report that he had been sitting on a bench near the south end of the Tivoli on the second floor with his backpack underneath the bench around 11:15 a.m. Forehand then said in the report that he left his backpack unattended, under the bench and went to Sigi’s Pool Hall and Arcade to play an arcade game. When Forehand returned at 11:50 a.m., the report said, the backpack and its contents were gone.

In the missing backpack there was several textbooks worth a total of $110, as well as a Texas Instrument 85 calculator, estimated at $60, a clipboard and binder averaging $41, and $20. The blue backpack was estimated at a value of $5.

The report said Forehand had checked the lost and found of the Auraria Bookstore, as well as other areas within the Tivoli, and did not locate his backpack.

Man arrested for traffic violations

Eddie Valdez was arrested for a traffic violation on March 3. Valdez was released to the Denver Police Department on March 3.

~Micaela Duarte
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Student group protests high energy bills
Jennifer Grey
The Metropolitan

Metro biology major, Taryn Browne heard that the Public Utilities Commission had called a public hearing, concerning another rate increase request from Xcel, on Jan. 21. She spearheaded the formation of a Consumers Union after meeting the "average, normal, non-activist mixture of pissed-off people." Their reacting to the natural gas price increases and its impact on people, especially working-poor families and small businesses. She made a list, passed it around and by the end of the meeting, people approached her to sign up.

"This has the potential to bring together anybody who gets a bill, especially those who can’t pay," said Browne. "I don’t think people understood the magnitude of how much they (Xcel) were asking for and what that meant. The average person doesn’t pay attention and it dropped them when what happened with the gas bills shifted people’s class status. I live by myself and pay $500 per month and my bill is $175. What does that mean to families? They’re not talking about that."

A couple of days after the public hearing, Browne contacted the 30 people from the list and called a meeting. About eight showed up. They planned a demonstration for Feb. 14 in front of the Xcel building at 17th and Larimer Streets.

Only a few people braved that cold, snowy day to demonstrate, but it was enough to get Xcel executives to request a meeting with Browne and David Casiano, who is heading up the union with her.

Casiano said he was excited but cautiously optimistic about the meeting with Xcel March 2.

"The situation with Xcel is exasperating. Many questions need to be answered concerning their lack of planning, their ‘fuzzy math,’ as well as, where is the crisis?" he said.

Browne said she and Casiano asked many obvious questions at the meeting but only scratched the surface trying to get answers to them. They scheduled another meeting and continue preparing for the next planned demonstration at 4 p.m., March 30 at 1550 15th.

Last year, the utility company filed with the PUC for a transport fee increase and a profit margin increase. Then, wholesale prices soared three times and the cost was passed on to consumers, although Xcel made no additional profit. Their rates have built-in profit margins that are set by government regulators. Advertising costs are paid for from those profits along with dividends to shareholders and donations. Profits also bought Xcel the naming rights for a hockey arena in St. Paul, Minn.

They maintain that in addition to higher wholesale prices, the increases represent a larger customer base and a harsher winter than last year.

Browne contends that when Xcel took over Public Service Co. they could have bought the natural gas on long-term contract, keeping prices lower. They decided to buy smaller amounts of gas for the current market rate upon recommendation from the PUC. Customer’s bills increased dramatically when the gas prices went up.

The commission is made up of officials appointed by the governor.

The Consumers Union calls for the election of our public utilities commissioners and utilizing more renewable, alternative energy.

"If natural gas is so expensive, isn’t it just logical to find something else?" she said shaking her head.

"I mean, if Levi’s jeans all of the sudden cost $150 then you have the choice to get something cheaper. But we don’t have a choice for something cheaper. And I’m not complaining about a monopoly because I know deregulation has a bad rap since what’s happened in California but we have to deregulate to have a consumer owned co-op. Although I think it’s a bad thing to open the market to all power companies."

Mark Birnbaum from the Disability Center for Independent Living said at the demonstration that he was there representing many of his clients who have had to make a choice between buying groceries and paying their heating bills this winter.

Browne said she’s concerned about the fact that we’re led to believe someone else owns our utilities and how people have forgotten that based on our very existence, we have a human right to those necessities. She says the Consumers Union and the demonstrations are an opportunity for so many people to rise up and say something such as "I can’t pay this and why should I?"

"I want to talk to them (Xcel) about people getting shut off and, eventually, I’d like to see services municipally owned or a consumer owned co-op," she said. Browne thinks that when people don’t have enough money and are constantly stressed out about it, they start to think it’s their fault and get depressed. But they pay, all the way through the summer months putting them at a disadvantage for next year’s bills, which are already forecasted to be even worse. She believes that people feel they’re not going to be heard because they don’t have money.

"We have to claim what’s ours. Utilities are ours. Natural gas is all of ours. We let a lot of it go because we’re led to believe someone else owns it."
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Sanctuary
Metro journalism students capture images of Santa Fe, New Mexico
Amber Johnson
The Metropolitan

It was a graveyard at dusk. It was the sand dunes at dawn. It was the ruins of civilization in Bandelier National Park. It was whatever each individual photographer wanted it to be — it was sanctuary.

In early January, 20 students from Metro’s Social Documentary class traveled to Santa Fe, N.M. to visually define the word "sanctuary." Whether the definition was personal or on a larger scale was up to each person.

In their search, the journalism students visited Bandelier, Chimayo, Taos and Madrid, looking for, and finding, pictures wherever they turned.

The results were numerous of rolls of film, both black and white and color, that were then narrowed down into just a few incredible images from each person.

Those images will be shown in a mulitmedia presentation March 14 in Tivoli 320 A & B at noon. It includes video of each photographer providing insight into their vision of sanctuary and the purpose of the trip for them.

"My purpose was twofold," said Kenn Bisio, chair of the journalism department and facilitator for the Social Documentary class, explaining his reasons for choosing Santa Fe, and specifically, sanctuary as the subject for the class. "First, I wanted to get the students out of their comfort zone. Second, I wanted to give them an assignment that is not easy to define visually. It was by design that all 20 students went to Bandelier to photograph sanctuary. I knew that many students would photograph the same things, yet come out with different images. I wanted to prove to them the subjectiveness of photojournalism."
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Metroeditorial

Leave Santana High alone to heal wounds

(U-WIRE) COLUMBUS, Ohio - Break out the canvas and the rigging. The media circus is back in town. Be sure to bring some nails and wood; a crucifixion will follow.

Charles Andrew Williams allegedly killed two of his classmates and wounded 13 others, six seriously, in an erratic shooting spree March 5. His motives remain unknown.

Last wednesday, Santana High School will reopen for a "Day of Support." Support for students who were not friends of Williams.

Wiliams has been portrayed as the guy that everyone picked on. The low man on the pole.

"People called him freak, dork, nerd, stuff like that," fellow student Jessica Moore said.

According to reporters for the Los Angeles Times, kids stole shoes off of his feet and things from his backpack. All he did was look on passively or crack jokes about it. Apparently something else cracked in the young man over the weekend. He told several people that he was going to shoot people at school.

"'You don't have the guts to do it,'" Katie Hunter, a 12-year-old who knew Williams, told him on March 4. "Next thing I heard, he shot at my sister. And that is just not cool."

So here we have a young man, mercilessly insulted, robbed and even beat up by his peers, who finally snaps and goes on a shooting spree. Sounds like good made-for-TV movie fare. And that is one of the problems.

Every little thing involving this San Diego suburban high school will be analyzed and re-analyzed for the next six months. Then civil lawsuits will blossom and fingers will be pointed after the criminal case is settled. While all this is going on, any of Williams friends (and their families) will be forced to move from the area by indignant public reaction to the killings. All the while, cameras will be clicking and videos rolling while the media waits for the next tragedy to unwind from the original.

Enough.

What this California town needs is privacy. It needs to reflect, to catch its thoughts and to ask itself: Why?

Why was the constant harassment of Williams permitted? Where were the school officials, social services, police, parents and other adults while Williams was being beaten and robbed? And why did he feel that shooting his tormentors was his only option?

Think of this: Williams will be charged as an adult for his reactions to a situation that any adult would either walk away from or react in much the same manner. Except, he was a juvenile and legally forced to attend the school where he was bedeviled daily. His response was completely wrong, but understandable on certain levels.

The entire nation needs to collectively take a step back from this latest tragedy. We need to think about our own schools, our own actions, and reflect. Otherwise, we might as well start selling tickets to the next circus.
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Denver’s poor lose out with CSAP
Walter Gant

The controversial Colorado Student Assessment Program has begun in schools all throughtout the state. The test holds serious implications for all parties involved. Teachers and students have been bombarded with test taking propaganda for the last year and a half.

It’s no secret that most poor school districts are always given the short end of the stick while richer communities reap benefits of newer books, more experienced teachers, and other beneficial advantages. The CSAP test will eventually force schools that don’t perform as well as wealthier schools into charter schools. Schools in the Jefferson County district have $20 million riding on their performance in the CSAP test. Schools such as Manual High School have basically conceded defeat and are currently considering the charter school option.

Charter schools are schools that have a special contract with the school board that exempts them from different public school policies. They can be best described as publicly funded private schools.

Why would a school like Manual quit before they’ve even taken the tests? The reason is money. It’s basically a matter of rich and poor. Regardless of how well the students in Jefferson County do, they already have a leg up on Manual, or any inner-city school for that matter. People can say what they want about the test, but all that’s going on is politics and racism.

Politics shouldn’t be rearing its ugly head throughout the school systems, but it will. The tests aren’t racist, in that they don’t know who’s rich or poor. The problem starts with the way teachers teach. The teachers have a valid point by saying that they shouldn’t have to teach toward a test. The truth is this test wouldn’t be a big problem if high school students were already reading at a high school level. There is no excuse for students to slip through the cracks, not if a teacher is actually teaching. The only reason someone should read at a level lower than their own is in the case of a learning disability.

This brings me to my next subject; the parents. You have heard very little about how the parents feel. Especially the parents who will be affected. It’s a shame that more parents aren’t involved, but soon this will become a serious community issue. I’m not saying that all parents are at fault, but if we, as minorities, don’t start to open our eyes our children are going to miss out on equal opportunities. It’s going to take more than Big brothers, Big sisters, and overall community activism to start to correct the wrongs in our schools.

So, is the CSAP a good idea? In my eyes it’s not. The CSAP and other standardized tests won’t do any good until there is an actual set criterian that every school must cover thoroughly. Until the rich schools get as much as the poor schools in the areas of teaching, materials, and other activities, these tests will continue to look racist. The schools throughout the city will continue to fail the tests until there is more dedication from teachers, parents and students.
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Innocent Iraqis are real victims
Reema Al-Omari

I’m an Iraqi living in the United States. I’ve been here since 1989; before the Persian Gulf War. I didn’t come here to escape anything, my parents just liked to move around a lot. I’ve spent a little more than a half of my life in the US, and I must say, in the last year and a half, I’ve come to many great realizations.

I’m not going to tell you what all my realizations were, but I will try to keep it narrow and tell you about dealing with "my part of the world." Here in the U.S., not much exposure is given to the number of people, particularly children, dying in Iraq on a daily basis. That’s right, daily. These children are not playing with guns, they’re not taking ecstasy (they’re mostly too young to do these things before the age five) they’re simply living at the wrong time in the wrong place.

Since the beginning of the Persian Gulf War, children have been doing most of the dying. Whether it be by bombs, malnutrition or the almost-extinct disease cholera, these children are dying for stupid reasons. Though there’s a decade worth of young lives lost, I am mostly outraged by the latest air raids against Iraq which took place a couple of weeks ago, led by the U.S. and Britain.

What outrages me even more is the justification for the air raids that killed and injured innocent civilians. The Bush administration stated that the air raids were the result of Iraq improving its radar equipment to monitor American and British warplanes passing by the no-fly zone in the country… to protect the lives of American and British soldiers. I don’t mean to be insensitive, but when you go into the military, wouldn’t you expect to be put into that kind of danger… that of losing your life? I mean, I wouldn’t exactly go into the military thinking I’m invincible and nothing can kill me. On the other hand, if I were a citizen anywhere in the world, I’d expect to be able to walk down the street without some missile being dropped on me… and I sure as hell don’t expect a missile to be dropped on me for the sake of saving the lives of people who are trained to deal with this kind of stuff.

There are many things wrong with "my part of the world," but one of those things can be fixed very easily All it would take is for those enforcing the sanctions and conducting air raids to think of civilians and children first, instead of a questionable political agenda.
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Students rightly protest against human rights violations

Dear Editor,

I’m thankful for Thomas McPherson’s Feb. 23 article in The Metropolitan concerning protests by Students for a Free Tibet against BP Amoco.

Over the past few years, repression and human rights violations in Tibet (as well as China and surrounding territories) have been steadily worsening, thanks to the corporate American/Clintonian "policy of engagement" (free trade) with China. The recent release of the U.S. Department of State’s annual human rights review (accessible online) details the vilest crimes committed against individuals as a result of the communist governed People’s Republic of China.

The billions of American dollars spent on Chinese consumer goods are funneled to the communist People’s Liberation Army through PLA owned manufacturing and distribution companies. The sales of Chinese-made consumer goods in the United States is often the practical equivalent of the American consumer supporting the Chinese military (with the threat it presents to the U.S.) and the perpetuation of PLA brutalities in Tibet, Burma and other countries in the region (refer to the book "Red Dragon Rising," Timperlake and Triplett, pgs. 75-83.) We have the U.S. government to thank, both Republicans and Democrats alike, for supporting the "policy of engagement" by first passing Most Favored Nation trading status for China, followed by Normalized Trading Relations status.

Let’s put a face on human rights issues: What if a local division of the U.S. Army came to Larimer Square on reports of a gathering of college students from all over Colorado, intent on demonstrating against government opposition to their political freedoms, such as the right to protest over environmental issues? And what if that local Army division decided to stop the demonstration by crushing students under tank treads and opening fire into the crowd with batteries of .50-caliber sub-machine guns? What if these soldiers, after committing their crime, tried to burn as many of the 6,000 bodies as they could, to begin to cover up, and the government issued propaganda saying there were no deaths in Larimer Square? Now, what if I told you that this scenario really did happen, but it was in Tiananmen Square in Beijing, rather than in Larimer Square?

The PLA did this to its own people; its generation of promise! Do you think the PLA had any more mercy on the helpless Tibetans, who depended on a peace treaty written in 823 AD? That treaty was torn apart by Chinese cannon fire in the 1950s, but the masses of PLA troops continue to rape the country of Tibet both figuratively and literally to this day. In addition, they have used Tibet as a platform to attack India, the former USSR, Vietnam, the Philippines, Malaysia, Thailand, Indonesia, Burma and Cambodia.

Where is the outrage of the American people, especially our government officials and our student population, which dreams of guiding our world to be a better place?

Students for a Free Tibet are right to protest BP Amoco. They should also protest much of the American corporate community and the U.S. government, and so should human rights lovers all over this nation, by writing letters to corporate heads, but especially their representatives in the U.S. Congress and Senate.

The People’s Republic of China has its sights set on the free democratic republic of Taiwan as its next victim. The PRC believes that Taiwan has always been a part of China, but considering their attacks and territorial confiscation of the previously mentioned countries, they think everywhere is a part of China.

Ask your representatives to reverse Normalized Trading Relations status for the PRC.

The People’s Republic of China just increased its military budget an additional 17.7 percent over and above its previous rapid build up, including an increase in nuclear missile technology, over the past several years. It also has been threatening the U.S. with military action. I urge you, therefore, to ask your representative to support the rapid development and deployment of the National Missile Defense System. Take your pick. You can either fight China with it, or without it. You decide.

David T. Hindman
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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Metroactive

Members only
Club sports widen the range of athletic opportunities for Metro students
story by Matthew Davis

Saturday Night at the Family Sports Center in Englewood is alive with the sights and sounds of hockey.

Skates cutting across ice and pucks and bodies slamming into the boards mix with enthusiastic cheers from the spectators in the bleachers. Inside and outside the center, players garbed in hockey sweaters with their team logos on them heft bulky equipment bags to one of the center’s two ice rinks and wait for their game to begin.

Among the many hockey participants waiting for their time is Paul Hash, coach of the Metro Metropolitans. It is the final game of the Metropolitans’ inaugural season. And, as Hash will tell you, it has been a season of tremendous surprise and success.

With this past season the Metropolitans have successfully brought competitive hockey to the college and Metro’s Club Sports program.

The team, which played 30 games this year, finished with a respectable record of 12-14-4.

"My expectation at the beginning of the season was that if we had come out somewhere near 500, I would have considered it a successful season," Hash said. "Given the fact that this was a first year endeavor…we pretty much hit that right on the mark."

Hash’s involvement with the team began last spring when Matt Richardson, one of his former players, came to Metro and discovered that the college didn’t have a hockey program. This didn’t sit well with Richardson who got together with his old high school friend and the Metropolitans’ forward, Chance Haugen. The two set out to form the men’s hockey club. They hit the campus and posted flyers announcing a meeting to discuss the club’s formation.

Haugen, a music education major who will graduate from Metro next year, said he was surprised with the interest in the team.

"We were just worried about getting enough players," Haugen said. "It’s amazing we were even able to skate. We didn’t even expect it to happen."

They got more than enough, however. At the initial meetings all the interested players convened and formed the club’s board. The principle players were set. Now all the team needed was a coach.

It was then, Hash said, that Haugen and Richardson asked him to coach the team.

"I was actually coaching another hockey game, and Matt was refereeing on the ice during the game," Hash said, laughing. "I hadn’t seen him in a couple of years. Matt skated over and said ‘Paul, we’re trying to do something down at Metro. Do you want to coach?’ So I said, ‘that’s great Matt, but we’ve got a game going on here. Why don’t we talk later?’"

After a little persuasion, Hash accepted the job.

Hash, who grew up in Illinois and Denver, brings a solid hockey background to the Metropolitans. He played junior hockey in Ontario, Canada. After juniors he went to college, where he played club hockey for the University of Colorado. When he graduated, Hash said he "slogged" around the minor leagues for a couple of years where he played in Providence, R.I.

He admits that when he took the coaching job he was skeptical about the club being a success.

"It has always seemed that here in Colorado there’s always a lot of people who would like to see higher level hockey played here at a more competitive level," Hash said. "But that interest didn’t necessarily mean that there was the ability to do it. I had seen teams come and go before that had lasted half a season…lucky to eke out a season. Once you get above the high school age level, trying to have organized hockey whether it’s a senior club team or a college program, it’s just very difficult.

"That’s why we did some of those preliminary meetings to really sit down and look at how this was going to pan out. Did Metro and the schools on the Auraria campus have enough players right there that a team could be formed? And once we figured that out we had to sit back and analyze — did we have the talent? Not only from the school, but maybe from the freshman class that could potentially get the program off the ground."

Getting enough players, however, wasn’t a problem.

In the initial meetings, the team had 25 interested players who were already on campus. To add to this number, Hash sent out letters to local high schools announcing to graduating seniors that Metro was forming a hockey team. From those letters, Hash said, he received 30 inquiries. And out of those letters, 16 students ended up on campus and became part of the team.

"They wanted to play hockey," Hash said. "They wanted to get in on the ground floor of a new organization."

Hash and Haugen aren’t the only ones excited about the success of the club. Assistant Director of Campus Recreation Scott Reetz said the Metropolitans will be a real draw for the college.

"I think it’s going to get bigger and bigger," Reetz said. "We get a lot of students who come to Metro and University of Colorado at Denver just because we have these clubs."

Although Reetz and Club Sports are there to help students make their clubs a reality, it is the students who are responsible for making them successful.

Cost plays a big factor in how successful a club will be. Club Sports has an annual budget of $3,000 for all clubs to divide, whether it is hockey, rugby, or badminton. It is up to the clubs to raise the rest of the money themselves.

Bob Dunne, treasurer for the Metropolitans, said it costs $20,000 a year to keep the hockey team running. Nine hundred dollars of the annual cost, Dunne said, is provided by Club Sports. Twelve thousand comes from player dues, and the remaining $8,000 comes from fund raising.

Dunne said that the team has been very successful at fund raising.

The team held a skate-a-thon last fall to kick off the season. Each player skated 330 laps and raised more than $100. Out of the skate-a-thon money, the team got jerseys. The team also sells Old Chicago coupons for the Pizza Pals program. Most of the team’s money, however, comes from working concessions for events at the Pepsi Center. Players volunteer to work five events a month and earn $45 a night.

"We’ve definitely done it the most," Dunne said, adding the team’s fundraising efforts have been so successful, in fact, that someone anonymously donated $2,000 to the program.

What makes it so expensive to run the club, Dunne said, is the cost of ice time for practice and games.

Practice is an early excursion for metro area hockey clubs. The Metropolitans practice every Tuesday and Thursday at 6:40 in the morning. They go for an hour-and-a-half; ice time is $125. Ice time for games is $400 for two hours. Throw in another $200 for the referees, and you have a major part of the club’s budget.

s the Metropolitans’ season ends, the Metro Men’s Rugby Club is just gearing up.

The club officially kicked off its season last weekend with the two-day Mile High Collegiate XV’s tournament that the team hosted at Auraria Campus. The tournament is a major fundraiser for the club. And this year, club president Shawn Shannon said, marks the 15th straight year of Metro hosting the tournament.

There is much speculation about just how long the Men’s Rugby Club has been together. If you ask Scott Reetz he will say 16 years. Shannon said he thinks it is more like 19 years. Whatever the number though, it is the longest running club in Metro Club Sports.

The club has never struggled to find members. There are 35 players on the team — regular players who will stay and play all semester long. Rugby is a yearlong sport, with the season beginning the first Thursday of every school year, and team practices every Tuesday and Thursday. The only time the team doesn’t play is half of November, all of December, and January.

Unlike the hockey club, where you have to know how to skate to play, rugby offers more opportunities to the novice player who wants to get out and do something athletic.

Shannon said he hasn’t always played rugby. He got involved with the sport when he came to Metro in the fall of 1996. He said to play you don’t necessarily have to have experience, just a desire to play and have a good time. And, Shannon adds, it isn’t too difficult to learn the game.

"It looks complicated but it’s not," Shannon said. "If you get tackled you just let go of the ball and somebody else picks it up. But it’s difficult in the way that it’s either on or off. You can’t really play rugby half way. With rugby you’ve got to go all the way or else you’ll get hurt."

Shannon said anyone may join the rugby club at any time during the school year and jump right into the game.

"You don’t even have to have even seen it. You can just know somebody who plays, and they can invite you out. When I started here I had never played before. Half the people on the team probably started playing when they got here."

ven though the Metropolitans’ season is over Paul Hash’s work is just beginning.

In addition to continuing his off-season recruiting efforts, Hash will undertake the daunting task of forming a new league with about 8-10 schools from the area. The schools will register with the American Collegiate Hockey Association and USA Hockey.

The ACHA is a national college club hockey organization with three divisions and more than 100 teams. The Metropolitans and the new league will be recognized as a division III team and they will compete for a spot in the National Championship Tournament.

"I think honestly next year to have ACHA registration with all those teams would probably be a worthy, hefty goal just to complete," Hash said. "And I think honestly, if not next year, I would say that within two years that the front range conference would most likely be formed. I’m trying to push that through and get all the politics and all the people on the same page of the program. Working all of that out is probably going to be quite a task to get organized."

In fact, if Hash could get the league formed and ready to go by the start of next season it would be another surprise in a project that began with two players’ desire to play hockey where they went to school.

"For us, just having gotten on the ice this year was amazing, given the fact that we didn’t start until last April," Hash said. "This has all grown at such a quick pace it wouldn’t surprise me to see a conference born for next season’s play.

"And all the organizations, and all the teams and clubs are so motivated to get this to a highly competitive and organized system – don’t count us out. I wouldn’t bet against us, put it that way. Anything’s possible."
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‘Non Grata’ dramatizes history
Thomas McPherson
The Metropolitan

The theater setting this evening was an unusual one, with the audience seated on each side of the stage with metal bleachers enclosed by chain link fencing. The stage was covered in sand and at one end had what looked like a part of a house. It was Thursday evening, and the players were holding one of the last performances of Becoming Non Grata, an original production from the University of Colorado at Denver’s Theatre department. As the actors and actresses embraced their roles, the area above sported screens made to resemble windows, upon which were projected images of a time more than fifty years ago. All served to portray a dark and often overlooked aspect of America’s history.

During the course of World War II, many Japanese in the United States were sent to relocation camps, one of which was here in Colorado. The camp was called Camp Amache. Becoming Non Grata is part one of the Amache Trilogy, the first of three pieces about Amache and the Japanese and the Japanese-American experience during World War II in general.

Becoming Non Grata is the inaugural production in the brand new University of Colorado at Denver Production Theatre, located in the newly built Kenneth King Center for the Performing Arts. The production is wholly original, the brainchild of Laura Cuetara, a professor affiliated with CU-Denver who has been teaching for 22 years.

"It’s called image-based theatre," Cuetara said about the production. "It started in a class I taught called Production Development," she added, saying that the play’s content consists of "stories that we found and researched."

Cuetara and her students painstakingly researched this particular piece. One of the members of Cuetara’s Production Development class, and a performer in the play, Gia Mora Chinisci, said the study included national archive documents, teacher reports and audio files surrounding the Amache experience.

"We studied our brains out…hours upon hours of research." Chinisci said. She described the room in which they did most of their studying surrounded by the multitude of research materials as looking like "a library had exploded."

Cuetara and her class also visited the site, upon which they drew inspiration for the set design – from the chain link fencing to the sand-covered floor – all of which was used to tell the story of Camp Amache.

It is a largely unconventional piece, not following any single storyline or cast of characters. It is more of a symbolic performance, commenting on the injustices visited upon Japanese immigrants and Japanese-Americans during World War II. The performance held some surprises as well, one being the part of the stage that originally looked like a house shedding its façade and revealing itself to be a watchtower, making the setting immediately resemble a Nazi concentration camp.

As Petra Ulrych, another player in Becoming Non Grata said prior to a rehearsal on Tuesday "It’s a performance piece about history."

When asked why Cuetara decided on such an ambitious project to christen the CU-Denver Production Studio, she replied that such a piece lent itself to being presented within the dynamics of the space. She also added that such a piece gave them an opportunity to "rethink how we do theater."

"The purpose of theater is to develop new work," Cuetara said.

The performances began Feb. 21 and were met with largely favorable reviews. The players assembled on the Tuesday night preceding the final run of shows to do a quick run-though of their lines. In addressing her cast prior to the rehearsal, Cuetara told her players how well the piece was being received. But while she praised the performers on their talents, she warned them not to become too emotionally swayed by the play’s content.

"The idea is to get the audience to feel things," Cuetara said.

The production as a whole is an emotional experience, providing an unflinching look at how racism and paranoia undermined some of the very principles America was fighting for in both Europe and the Pacific. The play’s dialogue does not avoid any of the harsh language and sentiments leveled at the Japanese-American community of the 1940s, including such statements as "We should just send them all back to Japan," and "Their Jap blood keeps them loyal to their emperor."

But such language is important in portraying the story of Japanese internment camps during World War II, and such unsettling portrayals of America are supplemented with facts and statistics of the Amache experience.

This was also a learning experience for students who had learned of the conflict between Japan and the United States from a different perspective. Mio Nagashima, a Japanese student currently majoring in theater at CU-Denver, said most of her education about World War II did not reach far outside a Japanese perspective.

"Before this I knew only about Hiroshima and Nagasaki," she said, referring to the two nuclear attacks waged by the United States that ultimately defeated Japan, "We kind of ignored Pearl Harbor. But here in U.S. history, they mention more." Nagashima said the second part of the trilogy might include the account of World War II through her mother’s eyes.

According to Nagashima, her mother could recall the flights of B-29s on bombing runs and the subsequent dash for shelters. "She was always scared," Nagashima said. She added that most of her mother’s friends grew up without fathers because they were killed in the war. She also mentioned that the second part of the trilogy might include more of the war from Japan’s point of view.

Two audience members who can remember America during World War II are James Brown and his wife Flora. Both were attending Butler University in Annapolis, Md., during the 1940s. James Brown said this brought out more of the emotional impact he was not aware of back then.

"I already knew what happened," he said, "The fact that this made you feel it was its main benefit."

Flora Brown echoed such sentiments. "I had read about it, but until you had it dramatized, you don’t feel the impact," she said.

James Brown said any sentiments concerning the mistreatment of Japanese individuals in America at the time was largely overshadowed by the war effort abroad. "Its impact really didn’t register," he said.

The praise that people like James and Flora Brown have given this project has encouraged the players. "We’ve been getting so much it’s amazing," Chinisci said.

Performances of Becoming Non Grata wrapped up on March 3. The exact production date and content of the second part of the trilogy is not yet planned, but with reaction as positive as it is, it looks to be soon.
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horoscopes by miss anna

ARIES: Don't believe everything you hear; make sure to check sources and facts. Work at staying debt free. There may be a confining relationship which has been on your mind for some time. Give yourself some breathing space to think about which approach you want to take.

TAURUS: This week may bring a difficult problem. Keeping your perspective will help you to hold your temper and avoid any unnecessary blowups for such trivial problems. Later, you may feel a bit unsure of your next step, give it time and it may take care of itself.

GEMINI: Love is in the air this week. It's quite possible that you may find yourself in the midst of a new and exciting relationship, or finally seeing a romantic possibility which has been right under your nose. If you already have a committed sweetheart, the sparks are going to fly.

CANCER: Moderation in your lifestyle is the key to making it this week. Spending time with children will keep your feet on the ground and possibly see things in a different way. Your craving for something new and exciting may have a negative effect on what you hold dear.

LEO: Old memories may be stirred up this week, and you may have a hard time putting your finger on just why this is so. Try to explore your feelings to the best of your abilities, and make an effort to look for the silver lining in that cloud over your head.

VIRGO: Your energies are magnified during the week, but be careful just how you use the power. Don't use this energy for destructive ends, or else you may find these negative vibes coming back to haunt you, twofold. The weather, oddly enough, may have a rejuvenating effect on you.

LIBRA: Take into consideration those things which you value most and put your energy behind it. Use your financial resources responsibly. Attending to details about money will save you from wasting time and money later on. An opportunity for wealth has strings attached.

SCORPIO: This week you may be inclined to take a deep look at your philosophical approach to life. It may be time to shift your long held views in order to come up to date with your maturity level. Accept any praise coming your way about a job well done, but don't let it go to your head.

SAGITTARIUS: There may be anxieties just beneath the surface which wreak havoc on your physical and mental health. Look to positive long-range plans in order to subdue your anxiety. Take changes in stride and you will see that something new may just suit you better.

CAPRICORN: Compassion and flexibility is essential during the week. It may be hard for you to watch someone you care for wallowing in self-pity, but there isn't much you can do about it. The way you approach solutions to a problem may not be the way others do. Set your sights on the future.

AQUARIUS: A more assertive approach in the workplace will win points with someone higher up who is watching you. Maintain your cool and co-workers will be impressed also. If the information coming to you seems confusing, take time to analysis everything before deciding anything.

PISCES: Don't undertake a project this week that you are not equipped to do properly. It is very important to recognize your limitations. Don't take yourself so seriously, or else things will cease to be enjoyable. Everything is not a contest, no matter what others lead you to believe.
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Metrosports

Next stop: March Madness
Metro wins third consecutive RMAC championship, will face South Dakota State in Regional
Eric Eames
The Metropolitan

If you want to know how to build a championship team, look no further than Metro basketball coach Mike Dunlap. He’s taken six new players and six individuals and glued them together, when no one else thought they would stick.

He let them grow, and if there is a team playing at the Roadrunners’ level, you won’t find them in the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference.

Not after Metro defeated the University of Nebraska-Kearney 94-85 at the Hamilton Gymnasium at the University of Denver March 3.

Metro (22-6) captured its third consecutive RMAC title and received its fourth straight invitation to the NCAA Division II Tournament, each coming under Dunlap’s guidance.

The defending Division II national champions will open the North Central regional in St. Cloud, Minn. as they take on South Dakota State March 9.

"It feels awesome from that perspective of building that tradition, which we are trying to do and we’ve taken a big step tonight," said Dunlap, the fourth-year head coach. "Secondly, this is the most rewarding, because of the youth of the group. Because I know how inexperienced they really are."

Inexperienced? Yes. Talented? Oh, yeah.

And against the Lopers (21-7), two Australians — turned — Roadrunners carried the load after leading scorer Rashawn Fulcher went to the bench with early foul trouble.

Freshman Luke Kendall, who earned a spot on the RMAC all-tournament team, scored 22 points on 9-of-11 shooting. But first there was senior center Kane Oakley, who melted the Lopers with his 20 points in the first half. He finished the game with 24 points and 15 boards.

"Kane was the man tonight," Fulcher said. "He was an animal. He was all over the place — offensively and defensively. His numbers spoke for themselves."

And with a total tournament line of 57 points on 23-of-39 shooting and 30 rebounds, Oakley was awarded as the tournament’s most valuable player.

From the start, Oakley silenced the Lopers’ crowd with jumpers. He squared from the free-throw line and bombed away. Swish. He went to the elbow and shot another 15-footer. Swish. He took a dish from Clayton Smith. Lay up.

Score: Roadrunners 10, Lopers 8.

Metro had the lead and the Kearney would never take it away from them.

Oakley continued to own the first half by pulling up for one jumper in the lane, then another and yet another.

"That’s the best he’s played since I’ve been here and he is certainly capable," Dunlap said. "I think this game will go a long way in his professional career in Australia."

Another bucket by Oakley gave Metro a 47-39 lead with a minute left in the first half. But then Kearney senior John Webber converted a four-point play when he was fouled after burying a three-pointer and sophomore Nick Svehla scored on a lay up.

Metro’s lead now dwindled to two points and the momentum was going to Kearney’s favor.

But it wouldn’t last.

"We wanted to come out and make a statement in the first five minutes of the second half," Smith said.

It took longer than that, but after Kearney point guard Anthony Harms’ three-pointer made the score 60-59, the Roadrunners’ proceeded to turn that one-point lead into double-digits.

Metro guard Joe Kelly hit a deep three-pointer. Oakley drilled an 18-footer. Jody Hollins dunked off an inbound play. Kendall sank two from the charity strip and a shot from the corner. Fulcher squeezed between two defenders for a layup.

They were up 90-80 with two minutes to play, but the celebration didn’t begin until a minute later. That’s when Hollins raced ahead, took a pass from Smith, dribbled once, flexed down a dunk and cued to the critics to kindly exit stage left.

"(This championship) is up there with all of them," added Fulcher, who was with Metro for the first two RMAC titles. "Because in the beginning there was so much placed on this team and we went through so much adversity as a team.

"Climbing a mountain is not as hard as sitting at the top. I’m not saying we are at the top, but we are on our way."
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Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference tournament championship game

Metro Roadrunners: 94
Nebraska-Kearney Lopers: 85
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What’s On Deck

NCAA Regional: Metro men’s basketball vs. South Dakota State @ St. Cloud State, March 9, 6 p.m.: The last time these two teams met in a NCAA Regional game was four years ago with South Dakota State knocking out the Roadrunners 93-79.

NCAA Regional: Metro men’s/South Dakota State winner vs. St. Cloud State, March 10, 6 p.m.: If Metro gets past South Dakota State, they will face host St. Cloud State, who is the North Central Conference champions.

NCAA Regional: Metro/South Dakota State/St. Cloud State winner vs. Winona State/Southwest State/Fort Hays State winner, March 11, 7 p.m.: This is the North Central championship game. A Roadrunner win sends them back to the Elite Eight for the third straight year and a possible showdown with Kentucky—Wesleyan in the first game.
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Metro knocks off Fort Hays
Eric Eames
The Metropolitan

Metro basketball coach Mike Dunlap admits that he is hard on his players. But three weeks ago, Dunlap made a decision to, "turn the team loose a little bit."

The move is paying off as Metro bounced top-seeded Fort Hays State University from the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference tournament with a 92-81 victory March 2.

Metro (21-6) advanced to the finals, where they will meet the No.3-seed University of Nebraska-Kearney (21-6) for the championship. More importantly, Metro kept alive their quest for an invitation to the NCAA Division II Tournament.

"We have to win (the RMAC title) to guarantee ourselves a spot and leave it in our own hands, our own destiny to make it," Metro senior center Kane Oakley said. "If we don’t win, then we put it into the hands of the voters of the conferences to see if we can get in, so we want to keep it in our hands."

The best way to influence the future is by what you do today, and when it comes to basketball, Metro ignores the idea that stealing is a bad thing.

Against the Tigers, they had 14 steals and sophomore guard Clayton Smith had five of them. They resembled defensive backs, reading the passer and making interceptions, which led to the Roadrunners transition game that makes the opponents pay for their mistakes.

After Tigers’ Geoffrey Riley hit a three-pointer to pull the Tigers within a point, Metro launched a 35-17 run to closeout the first half with Metro guard Lee Bethea playing like a one man team.

In a span of a minute and a half, Bethea rolled in two layups, drained two three-pointers, blocked a shot, caused a turnover and punched the air hard enough to split a tree.

"Just taking it one step at a time," Bethea said, downplaying his performance.

While Bethea may think he’s just doing his job, few do it to near perfection. He hit his first eight shots in the game and by halftime, he had scored 16 points and Metro’s 55-37 lead at the break nearly bowled over Dunlap.

"The only thing I said to them was, ‘Hey, if someone came to me and said we would have a 18-point lead against Hays, I would of passed out,’" the fourth-year coach said. "I was elated and we just tried to carry it."

Bethea finished the contest with 24 points on 11-of-17 shooting. But Metro’s seniors came to the center of attention when Fort Hays tried to make a final comeback, eventually cutting the Metro lead to nine.

Jody Hollins was redirecting missed shots for put-back baskets. The 6-10 center grabbed six offensive rebounds, 12 overall and scored 10 points. The other seniors, Oakley (17 points; eight boards) and Rashawn Fulcher (15; seven), rounded out Metro’s dramatic offensive attack.

"Coach has loosened up the reins a little bit, but that comes because the team was showing a lot of responsibility with the ball," Fulcher said. "At some point the team has to take it over."

The Roadrunners’ are having fun, within Dunlap’s bounds of course.
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