Raver October 2009

October 2009

Students dish up opinions on cafeteria, student union renovations

By Thomas Jones III Raver Intern Comedian Groucho Marx once said, “While money can’t buy happiness, it certainly lets you choose your own form of misery.”

Eight months and six million dollars spent students are questioning the Surbeck renovations.

Their concerns are not about the new look, but rather the amount of choice and quality of food in the renovated cafeteria. Leaving the question: was the result Extreme makeover: From grimy floors to brand new doors, the cafeteria and student union worth the cost? center underwent an expensive facelift. Photos compiled by Tyler Armbruster/ Raver Staff “It is disappointing to see the selection down in the Miners Shack,” said computer science soph- mechanical engineer sophomore Matt Hicks. “The whole layout omore Michael Slezak. “I miss items like Pizza Rolls and Ben and is a lot better to eat and study in”.

Jerry’s ice cream”.

The new architecture in the dining area has been updated to The selection in the main cafeteria even decreased. Now stu- help the look of The School of Mines. New furniture gives the area dents are missing the self served ice cream from last year and can’t a modern look. The layout also leaves the dining area open for pick items from the grill like bacon cheese burgers and patty melts. people to study during and after cafeteria hours. Making the new The decrease in choice can’t be forgiven by the food quality. renovation a step in a better direction.

“The food seems the exact same as last year,” said metallurgy The old cafeteria needed to be updated. It was about to hit its sophomore Matt Wermers. “Sometimes it seems that the food is 47th year of service. worse off”.

“Stoves and equipment needed a facelift,” said Dr. Pat Mahon, Despite the dissatisfaction of the food quality and selection stu- Dean of Students, regarding the outdated equipment. It wasn’t just dents have found positive aspects of the remodeled dining area. the facility that noticed the need too. The decision for change was “The new cafeteria looks awesome, it is new and fresh”, said a huge student-driven effort.

Parking shortage caused by construction, increased number of commuting students Once construction is finished on Connolly by Christmas break, renovations on Palmerton will begin. This keeps the construction site continuous and parking an issue.

“There are so many more students having to commute this year because of the resident halls renovations,” the School of Mines Student Association President Lukasz Dubaj said, “It creates a parking issue because more kids have to travel to campus every day Tickets = trouble: Many commuting stu- for class.”

For commuters dents are upset that they cannot park in that are wondering the upper tier of the stadium. Empty parkwhere all the spots ing spaces can be sparse even after 4 p.m. for the red parking By: Loryn Schuetzle permits are, the anRaver Staff swer is simple: look above at Where are all the parking the King Center. spots? The School of Mines Robert Keller, a member of parking office is trying to devel- the Student Association, wants op more spots around campus. to encourage upperclassman Every student, faculty, staff and to stop complaining and drive visitor is required to have one your car to the King Center to of the parking permits in order look for spots. to park anywhere on campus.

“It is nice that I don’t have Along with a parking permit, to pay for parking,” senior Gary the student or staff member Smith said,” but it sucks that I must have his or her vehicle have to walk so far!” Smith is registered with the parking of- not the only student from yelfice. low parking that feels this way.

So what is the deal with The free yellow parking at parking? Residents on cam- the O’Hara stadium is convepus are haunted with the con- nient for price but it seems like struction on the two dormitories Connolly and Palmerton. See Parking, page 4

Kaiser named new Athletic Director - Kaiser hopes to add sports, improve facilites American and international stuBy Belema Boyle dents who already show interest Raver Intern The School of Mines may in the sport” “I would love to have an create more sports teams according to Dr. Richard Kaiser, indoor facility with an indoor the new Athletic Director. Al- track, where the temperature though specifics as to when stays constant regardless of the these changes will become a weather outside,” said Pike. “It reality are sketchy, Kaiser be- will attract more students to lieves that adding sports such as the School Of Mines because baseball, softball and men’s and practice on an actual track is women’s soccer would boost more efficient than practice on enrollment and increase student a treadmill” An native of Boulder, Colo., diversity.

Kaiser also looks forward to Kaiser earned a bachelor’s dethe new facilities that are cur- gree in physical education from the University of Northern Colrently still under construction.

“I see us making additions to orado. He proceeded to pursue our facilities, which would in- a master’s degree in educationclude an indoor track and field al administration from South arena complex,” said Kaiser, Dakota State University and “So our teams can have a qual- eventually, a doctorate of eduity facility in work out in during cation in athletic leadership and administration from Brigham the winter months,” Young UniThis may versity. He did not be news not stop there: to all students rather, he got but to students his post docsuch as Ivar torate in health Hellzén Melby education and and Matt Pike, administration this is the gosat Oregon State pel.

University.

“There is Kaiser has dealready a high voted over 35 interest in years to colsoccer,” said lege athletics.

Melby, a civil engineering ju- New directions: Dr. Kaiser He has served nior from Nor- comes in to the School of at different colway. “There is Mines with a doctorate of ed- leges such as already a club ucation in athletic leadership Olivet College, who travels and administration. Photo Western Oregon University to play games courtesy of UPR and Willamette with little funding and no scholarships. University .His last ten years This will definitely attract more See Kaiser, page 4

INSIDE this issue See student opinions about the renovations online at sdsmtraver.com.

Don’t get mad.

Get plaid!

Page 9 Use ‘pulse and glide’ fuel efficiencies Page 11

Camping Climbing Caving Page 6

What other renovations are going on? Find out on page 4.

Music and movie reviews Page 7 SPORTS Pages 8 & 9 Beef. It’s what’s for dinner... again.

Page 10 See exclusive content online at sdsmtraver.com Join the Raver!

Meetings every Monday at 4:04 p.m. in SALC. sdsmt.raver@ gmail.com

NEWS

Raver - Page 2

October 2009

Letter from the President Dear Students, A very special thank you goes out to the many dedicated volunteers who helped organize M-Day events, including students, the M-Day Committee, faculty, staff, students, and alumni; Rapid City Police and Fire Departments; Destination Rapid City; the Downtown Association and downtown businesses; the City of Rapid City, and the many organizations and individuals who participated in the parade. M-Day would not have been a success without each of you!

As you open your tablet PCs and get to work, let me update you on important developments. Dr. Duane Hrncir, former dean of the college of science and letters, is serving as the interim provost and vice president for academic affairs.

This change means department heads now report directly to the provost.

To optimize enrollment by increasing the number, diversity, and quality of our students, Dr. Michael Gunn was hired as associate provost for enrollment management. He will partner with students, faculty, and staff to grow and further enhance the aspects of the university that support you as a student. Also improving the School of Mines administrative team is Tamara Martinez-Anderson, a seasoned professional and our new director of admissions. She has exciting ideas for using technology in recruitment and improving how we serve visitors to campus and reach out to women and other groups whose numbers on campus we would like to increase. Although official enrollment numbers for fall will not be released by the Board of Regents until early October, every indication is enrollment is increasing. The role of current students is critical to our enrollment growth, so thank you for your work in helping to recruit and retain students.

Walking around campus, you won’t be able to miss the many construction and renovation projects or fail to notice all the positive changes in the Surbeck Center. Please take pride in knowing that the vision and leadership of students helped bring these changes about.

Soon you will see a fascinating project unfold on Smelter Hill above O’Harra Stadium. A 20 kW ReDriven wind turbine, a 2.4 kW Skystream 3.7 wind turbine, and three EnPhase photoEditor in Chief Katie Aurand Web Editor Matt DesEnfants Page Editor Louisa Burden Staff Writers Loryn Schuetzle Staff Photographers Tyler Armbruster Staff Interns Belema Boyle Jim Farris Jerika Ihnen Thomas George Jones III Greg Midzak Dakota Young Faculty Advisor Dr. Kathy Antonen

October Events SALC/OMA/IIC 1st – SALC Workshop – Meeting Expectations @ SALC Area voltaic panels will be installed, thanks to a partnership with Black Hills Power.

The renewable energy research facility will enable us to delve into research on wind and solar energy and will remind the world of our commitment to invent tomorrow.

Creation of the Mines Medal is another development that will remind the world of our leadership in science and engineering. The Mines Medal is awarded to an eminent engineer, scientist, or researcher who embodies the skills and accomplishments we value. The inaugural Mines Medal goes to Dr. Cindy Van Dover of Duke University for her deepsea research. You are invited to a dinner and award ceremony on Wednesday, October 14, at the Rushmore Plaza Civic Center. Net proceeds will fund graduate research fellowships. For more information on the Mines Medal or to R.S.V.P., see <http://mines-medal.sdsmt.edu>. A limited number of tickets are available to students at no cost through sponsorships. If you are interested in being considered for a sponsored ticket, please call (605) 394-2554.

This year will be an exciting one for us all. I hope to see you at events on campus this fall. On behalf of the entire School of Mines family, I wish you a productive, successful, and enjoyable year.

Sincerely, Robert A. Wharton, Ph.D. President Paid Advertisement

The Raver is published monthly by students at the South Dakota School of Mines and Technology, 501 E. St. Joseph St., Rapid City, S.D., 57701, as a forum where students read about and express views on school, local and world events and issues.

The Raver staff recognizes that with the right of freedom of the press comes the responsibility to be accurate, fair and objective, and will not print any material which the editors consider obscene, libelous or an invasion of privacy.

The opinions expressed here are those of the writers and not the administration, faculty or the student body.

The Raver welcomes signed letters to the editor, but reserves the right to reject letters or edit for length, grammar or libel.

Raver.sdsmt@gmail.com Raver.advertising@gmail.com Office located in SALC

7th – SALC Moonlight Hike, TBA 9th - OMA Presents “Imprint” - a Native Supernatural Thriller 12th—OMA Trip to Crazy Horse 13th— AISES Indian Taco Sale 14th – SALC Open Mic Night, TBA 16th – 17th – SALC All Campus Leadership Retreat, TBA 28th – SALC Pumpkin Carving, etc. SALC 29th -30th – SALC Ghostly Golf, Surbeck Center Also During The month of October

Ivanhoe International Center welcomes all International Guests!

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October 2009

OPINION

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Engineering Equations: Why the School of Mines suffers from dancing deprivation

By Katie Aurand Raver Staff Engineers can dance; they just choose not to. Maybe it is because they spend so much time sitting while doing their calc homework that their feet do not remember how to move anymore. Maybe instead of watching Footloose they watched Three O’Clock High as a child.

Maybe they worry that their left-brain dominated thinking will result in two left feet on the dance floor.

All of those hypotheses could be true, but I believe that the dancing deprivation at the School of Mines can be explained via this equation with the accompanying x-y plot:

f(dance)= d(boy-7girl)

where:

dance = any integer

boy is a constant that = 7

girl is a constant that = 1

(7:1 is the boy:girl ratio at SDSMT***)

and:

f(dance) represents the number

of dances students will attend

dance represents the number of

dances hypothetically held

Therefore, no matter what number is chosen for dance, the function will always = 0, as represented by the graph to the right.

One thing is clear: the School of Mines will perpetually suffer from a lack of dancing unless a solution is found. The only university-hosted dance during my time here so far was a “Welcome Week” dance for freshmen in September 2008.

The dance was a moderate success, but only because the fire alarms went off in the dorms and the students had nowhere else to go.

After spending months analyzing such things as Einstein’s Theory of Relativity and Gibbs free energy, I stumbled upon a solution while listening to Relient K’s song “Sadie Hawkins Dance.”

There is a way f(dance) can be > 0 thanks to the discovery and consequent introduction of the Sadie Hawkins dance factor(“s”).

Of course, after the Sadie Hawkins dance factor was added to the f(dance) equation via addition (eq. 2), the khaki pants variable had to be integrated into the dance productivity equation (eq. 3) to determine how many dancers could possibly show up based upon the current male student population.

Now I’m not saying that everyday should be a collegiate rendition of High School Musical with Troy Bolton dancing around the quad (although I wouldn’t mind). What I am saying is that the university, and especially the students themselves, could really benefit from some healthy, endorphin-increasing movement.

There may be some mathematical flaws in these equations, but the School of Mines student body is much more difficult to calculate than rocket science.

Anyways, instead of trying to rework these equations, hopefully students will start rockin’ out to some sweet tunes (but not on iPods- that encourages antisocial, individualistic listening).

Students! It is time to get up from those homework desks, wiggle awake those sleepy feet and become foot loose. *** The school’s website says the boy to girl ratio is 2:1, not 7:1, but they also say that there are 606 girls at the school. Show me 606 girls who attend the School of Mines and I’ll show you a dinosaur ice skating hand-in-hand with a llama (in other words that is an absurd and highly unlikely statistic). I have had classes where I have been the only girl... so 7:1 seems like a fair ratio to use.

However, if we wanted to use the 2:1 ratio, we could just tweak the coefficient in front of “girl” in the equation so that it is a 2 instead of a 7.

Sadie Hawkins dance in my khaki pants: According to Relient K, there’s nothing better than going to a Sadie Hawkins dance dressed in khaki pants (oh oh oh).

Could that be the solution to the deprivation of dance at the School of Mines?

Trendspotter: Lonely students should frequent laundromats, pumpkin patches and Sam’s Club

By Thomas George Jones III Raver Intern Woody Allen put it best by saying, “Bisexuality immediately doubles your chances for a date on Saturday night.”

It seems that this is even truer at the School of Mines. But you lonely male students who fear that your chances of finding a girlfriend are slim should fear no more because after reading this article you will be able to create your own love story with some lucky lady. A love story similar to the movie The Lake House, but your story won’t have Sandra Bullock or Keanu Reeves in it.

One thing to remember when trying to find a date is this: don’t spend your days hiding in your room. Girls are not attracted to unsocial men. Especially when that man eats Cosco brand nacho with his bare hands. You need to wipe the cheese off your face, turn off the Xbox, and get out of your dorm.

After you leave your room you will have to pick some key locations that girls visit.

In my experience, single girls can be found in three central areas: laundromats, pumpkin patches and Sam’s Club.

In fact, most men I know found their girlfriends in these spots.

Girls frequent laundromats more often than Steven Seagal comes out with strait DVD movies. So it is expected to find at least a dozen eligible ladies in these convenient cleaning locations.

Also, most guys at the School of Mines never visit laundromats so the competi-

tion is sparse.

Pumpkin patches are another great place for finding dates. These places are breeding grounds for single ladies too weak to pick up heavy pumpkins. And there you are, their knight in shining armor offering a helping hand to carry that massive pumpkin to their Honda Prius.

The last major hot spot for single girls is Sam’s Club. Often times you will see girls making major financial choices like if buying a sixty-four pack of Snack Pack pudding is really a wise investment. These moments are great opportunities for you to strike up a conversation. Also, you could use the spread of exquisite free samples to take the girl on an immediate date.

Don’t jump into the dating race too late. At this moment there are dozens of students reading this advice. Well, either that or using it to cover up their vomit from last night. But regardless you need to start early. The faster you get out of your room the sooner you can become the Casanova you have always dreamt of becoming.

Have an opinion? Send it to raver.sdsmt@gmail.com and you may see it published online or in print!

Raver - Page 4

NEWS

Dorm renovations ongoing at the School of Mines

By Louisa Burden Raver Staff As students on this campus well know, there have been dorm renovations going on for some time now. Connolly Hall has been undergoing massive changes, and Palmerton is set to start its transformation in midJanuary.

Due to space limitations, most juniors and seniors are required to live off campus, so that there is enough space for all the underclassmen to live on campus, since they are required to do so under the BOR policy. As Maureen Wilson, the Residence Life Director here at Mines, said, ““As the freshmen and sophomore [numbers] are growing, we have had to shift to accommodate their needs because they are required to be here.”

Connolly Hall is set to be finished by January so that students can move in by the time second semester starts. Some students may be wondering how all of Palmerton Hall is going to fit into the newly renovated Connolly. While it may be a tight fit, most (if not all) students currently living in Palmerton should be able to get into Connolly.

There may be a few people who will be transferred to the NAU dorms, but the housing department will be working to keep this number to a minimum. Improvements being made to Connolly include all new plumbing, lighting, flooring, doors, and furniture.

Also, there will be air conditioning added and individual room temperature control.

There will be community space and kitchens on every floor as well. Rather than shared showers, there will be individual shower stalls in all of the bathrooms.

There will also be a new fire suppression system, including fire sensors and sprinklers.

Eventually, there will also be an elevator so that the building is ADA accessible. The laundry room will be enlarged as well.

Rooms will now also have occupancy sensors in them- if no one is in the room, the lights will automatically shut off after

October 2009

Campus changes stack up like dominoes

By Jim Farris Plans: The Palmerton and Connolly dorms will be connected Raver Intern once the renovations have been completed. Photo by Tyler Amongst the hustle and busArmbruster/ Raver Staff tle of beginning a new semester there are many things happening around campus. There are several construction projects in progress around the campus as well as a few planned for the future. These long overdue updates will allow us to move forward and remain at the cutting edge of research and education. The Chemical Building is being completely renovated, as well as the Paleontology lab.

A much needed upgrade to the King Center and a road connecting St. Patrick Street to St. Joseph Street are coming in the future. All projects are slated to be finished by 2012.

Every student at the School a certain period of time, saving massive amounts of energy. Bi- of Mines takes a class or a lab energy and making our campus cycle parking space will also be in the 50 year old Chemistry more environmentally friendly. increased to encourage people Building before graduating and Palmerton Hall will be un- to use this “greener” form of knows that it can get a little dergoing many similar changes transportation. stuffy. (new lighting, flooring, etc.).

Other miscellaneous changes “The [renovation] definitely Once it is reopened, it is expect- will be occurring as well, in- needs to be done,” said environed to again be mainly a male cluding differences in the staff- mental engineering freshman dorm, with the second floor be- ing of the halls, a common area Emily Squillace. “There’s no ing the only female floor. Many between the two halls, and pric- air conditioning or ventilation of the current (and former) fe- es for staying in the dorms. For in there.” male residents have been won- the staffing, there will be one The new Chemistry Building dering about what’s going to hall director instead of two. will allow students to learn in a happen to the painted bricks Also, there is a common area more hands-on environment that that adorn the walls. that is being built that will con- the millennial student requires.

For those who haven’t heard nect Palmerton and Connolly. The Chemical Building will be about this tradition, residents of It’s going in where the old completed by August 2010. It second floor Palmerton get to courtyard between the two halls will change the look and feel paint a brick on the walls of the used to be. This common area of the entire campus and it will dorm for every semester that will probably be completely allow collaborative projects they live there, making it a cool finished when Palmerton gets between both graduate and unway to simultaneously “make done (hopefully around May), dergraduate students. This will your mark” on the school and but there may be partial access give students the skills and abildo something artistic. As Jessie before then. ities employers demand.

Ketchum, a sophomore geology Finally, there will be chang- “Renovations need to incormajor, said, “It’s nice that we es to prices for staying in the porate faculty who have civil get to do something creative.” dorms. For now, the cost will background,” said civil/enviIt is still unclear whether or not stay the same for the students ronmental junior Adam Sandthe bricks will stay or be painted moving from Palmerton into ers. over, but hopefully the contrac- Connolly (they won’t have to The paleontology department tors can be convinced to work pay more, even though they is also getting a facelift. With around them. will be using all the new ameniIn addition to making life ties, including air conditioning). more comfortable for residents, However, in the future, students the renovations will also make should expect a slight increase our school more eco-friendly. As in fees. The official rates will be mentioned before, there will be decided in March. occupancy sensors in the renoWhile students may have to vated rooms. This is not the only wait a while to see the end result change, however. There will be of the renovations, everyone is a hot water system that utilizes excited about the new changes solar power, and the parking lot coming to our campus, and will lighting will be redone so that it eagerly anticipate the openings stays lit up but doesn’t consume of the refurbished halls.

Your student organization could advertise HERE! We offer special, cheap rates for student orgs. and campus departments. Contact us at raver.advertising@gmail.com if you are interested.

the only paleontology master’s program in America, the new facility will allow more space for storage of School of Mines’ vast collection, as well as larger research facilities, maintaining SDSMT’s world renowned reputation for producing some of the best paleontologists and geologists in the nation. The anticipated date for completion of the new paleontology center is May 2010.

“Renovations [seem to be] more focused on research rather than quality for students,” said Sanders.

The King Center is getting some new additions as the School of Mines prepares to replace the Old Gym and update the fitness facilities to meet the needs of the modern student. This project is still on the drawing board, with the ground breaking ceremony still unannounced.

“It’s a little farther to walk [because of the new construction] but I don’t pay no mind to it,” said nursing sophomore Leslie Whitehead.

Along with the upgrade of the King Center, there will be a new road put in that will connect St. Patrick Street to St. Joseph Street, allowing more parking as well as adding another access point to the campus. The anticipated date of completion for this project is also still unknown, as the total funds needed are still being acquired, but all projects are slated to be completed by 2012.

“A campus without change is an unhealthy campus,” said Dr. Sidney Goss, a sociology professor at the School of Mines.“SDSMT is making exciting changes that will enhance learning, economic development and research. We’re a campus on the move!”

NEWS

October 2009

Raver - Page 5

Mines students partner with Central HS in â&#x20AC;&#x153;Build a Computerâ&#x20AC;? project

By Dakota Young Raver Intern Native Americans are one of the most neglected miQRULW\ JURXSV ZKHQ LW FRPHV WR WKH ÂżHOGV RI VFLHQFH WHFKQRORJ\ HQJLQHHULQJ DQG PDWKHPDWLFV 67(0

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Wiring it up: Central HS senior Kayla Wilson (left) and Mines student Charles Bush work on a computer while Central HS freshman Andraya Hopkins and Mines student Kevin Israel work in the background. Photo courtesy of Royia Decker

Computer lottery: This is the type of computer that the students build and it will be raffled off to Minesâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; students that volunteer to tutor the AISEP students.

Photo courtesy of Royia Decker

What have we got here? Mines student Kevin Israel helps Central HS freshman Andraya Hopkins. Photo courtesy of Royia Decker

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Raver - Page 6

FEATURE

October 2009

Students experience the 3 C’s: Camping, Climbing and Caving

By Loryn Schuetzle Raver Staff Sleeping naked can reflect more body heat in a sleeping bag thereby keeping the person inside warmer.

Well, even though that is a true statement, no one on the Student Activities and Leadership (SALC) camping trip slept naked Friday, Sept. 25. But there was plenty of warmth… from the campfire. SALC coordinator, Mike Keegan, decided to take seven brave students

“It felt pretty cool, about halfHank Lichtenwaldt woke way up I didn’t think I was going up at 5 a.m. to gather kinto make it,” Berg said. “But I did! dling to start the fire for And it felt good!” the rest of the campers.

Overall the climbing experi “I’m a morning person ence was great and the next and and I had to get wood for final activity on the list was Rushthe fire,” the freshman said more Cave. Keegan organized an about waking up so early. adventure tour with Tom Hagen, Once the campers the owner and manager of the priwarmed up and the reality vately owned cave. of the real outside adven The crew got a walking tour ture sunk into reality, the through the moderately cool cave crew packed up camp in but the most challenging and fun less than 45 minutes and part of the tour was the spelunking hit the road. It was time through the cave’s inner tunnels. to learn how to rock climb The caving students put on the reand cave. quired gear: helmets, head lamps, Keegan and senior elbow pads and knee pads.

Chelsey Larmie-Rhoades “I thought I might be clausdrove the campers to a trophobic but I wasn’t, luckily,” climbing site behind Mt. Lichty said. “It was a lot of fun, Rushmore. that’s for sure.”

“I am excited about The tight squeeze waiting for climbing, but I hope I don’t get injured!” Berg Hanging by a thread: Senior Gretchen Berg the amateur cavers was a 10 in. experiences rock climbing for the first time. diameter hole that the participants said. scooted and crawled through for With the combination Photo by Loryn Schuetzle/ Raver Staff 40 minutes. It was a dirty activity of rookies and veterans, it took team work to get everyone the right equipment to and everyone came out looking like little kids playing climb that afternoon.

Jason Miller, a senior, in the mud.

Larmie-Rhoades and Lichty assisted Keegan in teach- “We climbed on top of the world then underneath ing the climbing rookies the basics about outdoor rock it,” Miller said. “It was an overall great trip.” climbing. The newbiew learned how to put on the har- The SALC camping trip was exhilarating and evness, tie a figure eight knot, belay and, of course, the eryone enjoyed the Hills in all its beauty. The camping, climbing and caving activities were new experiences important rules of climbing.

“The two rules of climbing are this: Don’t let got for almost everyone who signed up.

But don’t feel left out. Keegan plans on organizing and don’t be a sissy!” Keegan said.

Rookies Lichtenwaldt, Berg and Grieser caught on more camping trips like this next spring and definitely quickly. Soon the three were scaling and belaying each next school year.

Rock on: Junior Kyle Lichty scales up a cliff on SALC’s camping, climbing and caving adventure. Photo by Loryn Schuetzle/ Raver Staff into the Black Hills to enjoy a weekend of camping, climbing and caving. The crew set up for the night at Horsethief Campground & Resort and waited for the wild weekend adventure to begin.

After pulling into campground #84, the School of Mines’ campers hiked up the hill at Horsethief to get to know each other. Mike decided to have the seven students play a couple of games to help the campers communicate.

“We were not allowed to talk and could only use a form of communication that directly related to the people beside us,” senior David Grieser said.

The game was supposed to help the campers form metaphors about life and gain trust amongst each other.

It worked. After the simple game involving a log and no talking, the seven campers bonded surprisingly quickly. The rest of the night was spent around the warm campfire eating walking tacos, sipping hot chocolate, roasting marshmallows and trading juicy stories.

“It was the most fun I have ever had around a campfire,” junior Kyle Lichty said. “Mike Keegan is a great story teller and he did a good job at getting me out of my comfort zone.”

It was a chilly night in the Black Hills Friday evening. The temperature dropped down to around 37 degrees. But the kids camping on #84 were troopers. One of the boys slept out in his hammock between trees .

“I slept fantastic!” Grieser said. “You can’t get much better than a hammock, a pad to keep the wind away, my zero degree sleeping bag and my own pillow.”

Others, however, disagreed and did not appreciate the cold weather Mother Nature sent over the campground “I was freezing!” senior Gretchen Berg said. “I was snuggled so far in my sleeping bag I didn’t know where I was!”

Once the fire was cracking and the sun peeked out over the hills the campground seemed to warm up.

Silent log: Kyle Lichty, Mike Keegan, David Grieser, Hank Lichtenwaldt, Gretchen Berg, Chelsey and Jason Miller participate in a bonding activity during SALC’s weekend adventure. Photo by Loryn Schuetzle/ Raver Staff other up their first formation, “Box cars & Airplanes.”

Just as Mike had feared, “They caught the climbing bug.”

“Now that I know what I’m doing I want to keep practicing till I’m really good at it,” Lichtenwaldt said. “Once I got to the top it was amazing and I gained confidence to keep climbing.”

“I’ve climbed inside at the YMCA for years,” Grieser said. “After climbing outside for the first time…

I can see why people like it so much!”

Thou art a forest that entangles me

Poet’s Corner

Thou art a forest that entangles me, Game of Life An indecisive maze to unravel; Moments pass and thy heart feels not of glee, Buzzer sounds, a miss; The breeze whispers untold secret marvels: Tear-streaked devastation mine; Thou hideth within thy shrubbery alone, Game or life lessons?

And leave thy mind to wonder who thou art; Thy eyes enclose a dark and deeper tone: Haiku When looking in the depths they seem afar, And kept away from others to ponder; A shrieking wind slaps While traveling upon a covered path, Torrents of foam covered waves, I edge a little closer, then wander, Unsettling truth.

Thou shieth away again, leaving thy wrath; But I have no reason to fear, thy love, Submit your poems to This binds us and entwines us from above. raver.sdsmt@gmail.com Poems by Jerika Ihnen, Raver Intern

and see them published in print or on the website!

A&E

October 2009

Raver - Page 7

Emancipator makes great electronic music

By John Batteen Raver Intern Emancipator â&#x20AC;&#x201C; Soon It Will Be Cold Enough Genre: Electronic Rating: Released: Sept. 8, 2008 Late this summer, 1320 Records brought Emancipatorâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s debut album, Soon It Will Be Cold Enough, to the U.S., previously released RQO\ LQ -DSDQ 7KLV DFFRPSDQLHV KLV ÂżUVW 1RUWK American tour, with shows remaining in Denver, Austin and New Orleans. Emancipatorâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s music QHDUO\ GHÂżHV FODVVLÂżFDWLRQ DV KH FURVVHV VR PDQ\ genres.

At the base of each track are slow steady drum beats, closely resembling hip-hop. Yet, few of the tracks have words, and the ones that do have a Inglourious Basterds proves worthy soft-spoken female voice. The accompanying instrumentals are soulful, melodic violin, piano

By Belema Boyle and guitar tracks that bring elements of both clasRaver Intern sical orchestra and more modern upbeat music.

To top it off, a synthesizer weaves in and out of Title: Inglourious Basterds the songs, sometimes resembling hip-hop and at Genre: Action-Comedy/Drama other times dance music.

Rating: Each of the tracks has a distinct mood, an amReleased: Sept. 21, 2009 bience about it. They tend to be both relaxing and Quentin Tarantino shows as possible. This is team is led engaging at the same time. It is good studying his style for vengeful violence, by 1st Lieutenant Aldo Raine music for this reason: your body is calm while popular in Kill Bill, by show- (Brad Pitt) who demands a ceryour mind is sharp and focused. Many of the ing American-Jews committing tain price from every man under the same murderous atroci- his command. They also plan ties as the Nazis. Regardless, an assassination attempt at Der it was courageous of Tarantino FĂźhrer.

This is the point when Tarto make a light-hearted movie about World War II when the antinoâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s brilliance comes into Holocaust is still a touchy sub- play. He slowly ties together ject. This movie is guaranteed two marvelous storylines to to shock some and disturb most, JLYH DQ DPD]LQJ ÂżQDOH 7DUDQbut it will still demand an en- tino draws us into a mythical core from anyone who watches world that feels so real and yet so distant. But it takes more it.

The movie centers around than good writing to make a good movie. two main stories.

Brad Pitt is considered by One story is about a French Jewish girl named Shosanna some to be overrated but this Dreyfus (MĂŠlanie Laurent) movie brings out his talent like who survives the massacre of none other. Pitt is no longer Pitt her family only to get tossed to the audience, but sheds his back into the world of the Na- skin and adapts a new form that zis when she catches the eye is breathtaking. Waltz added of a young German war-hero, a certain character that would Fredrick Zoller (Daniel BrĂźhl). otherwise have left the movie as It seems as though karma is on a mere shadow of what it could her side when she is given a be. He breathes life into his role chance to exert revenge against and leaves everyone in awe.

Needless to say, Inglourious Colonel Hans Landa (Christoph Waltz), the â&#x20AC;&#x153;Jew Hunterâ&#x20AC;? who Basterds is a must see because killed her family, and Der FĂźh- when it ends there is no ovation. Instead, eyes are glued to rer, Adolf Hitler himself.

The other story revolves the screen, jaws are obeying around a team of Jewish Ameri- gravity and there is a mixture can soldiers on a mission to of emotions that renders one cause as much havoc and terror speechless.

songs convey the sense of quiet when the sky is pitch black and the ground is covered with fresh VQRZ WR GDPSHQ WKH QRLVH ,WÂśV QRW KDUG WR ÂżJXUH out that winter is his favorite season.

The song called â&#x20AC;&#x153;Good Knightâ&#x20AC;? manages to convey a medieval feeling that will leave you thinking of King Arthur. Another listener commented, â&#x20AC;&#x153;It is like something that would accompany a really chill movie scene, like after an intense action scene they have some â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;mellowâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; music like this as maybe the main characters are walking slow-mo away from the scene.â&#x20AC;?

Words do not do justice to describe this music.

You can listen (emancipatormusic.com/player. php) to Emancipator for free and learn on his website, emancipatormusic.com, and you can also purchase digital downloads of his album there.

If youâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;d like to see him live, he will be in Denver on Saturday, Oct. 17, with Alex Grey. Tickets are available from his website. If you like Emancipator and want to explore similar music, visit 1320records.com.

A bluegrass singer even college kids will love

By Louisa Burden Raver Staff Sarah Jarosz- Song Up In Her Head Genre: Americana/Bluegrass Rating: Released: June 16, 2009 A lot of people our age tend to rule out bluegrass as something our parents (or grandparents) listen to. This is really pretty sad, because everyone who does that is going to miss out on a genre of music that is diverse, captivating and imaginative. Case in point: Sarah Jaroszâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s new album Song Up In Her Head is a debut album that will make you want to break out the air-banjo (a close relative of the air-guitar). A highly skilled musician whoâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s been playing the mandolin since she was 10 VKHÂśV QRZ WKH VRQJV UHĂ&#x20AC;HFW D PDWXULW\ DQG DUWLVWU\ normally held by songwriters many years older.

There are several standout tracks on the album. The

title track, â&#x20AC;&#x153;Song Up In Her Head,â&#x20AC;? is an awesome starter to the album. â&#x20AC;&#x153;I Canâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t Love You Nowâ&#x20AC;? picks up WKH SDFH DJDLQ DIWHU WKH ÂżUVW FRPSOHWHO\ LQVWUXPHQWDO song â&#x20AC;&#x153;Mansinneedof.â&#x20AC;? A subtle and beautiful love ballad, â&#x20AC;&#x153;Long Journeyâ&#x20AC;? is a hidden gem on the album- if you canâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t stomach a whole album of bluegrass, at least take a listen to this song.

In addition to originals, the album also has two cover songs on it as well. â&#x20AC;&#x153;Shankill Butchers,â&#x20AC;? originally

by The Decemberists, is a pretty faithful cover. To be honest, itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s actually a bit more interesting than the original. Jaroszâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s sweet and clear voice, combined with a

IHZ 0LGGOH (DVWHUQ PHORGLF LQĂ&#x20AC;XHQFHV PDNH WKH VRQJ melancholic but exquisite. If you look at just the lyrics, itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s kind of a creepy song, but somehow Jarosz makes it less so. The other cover, â&#x20AC;&#x153;Come On Up To The House,â&#x20AC;? written by Tom Waits, is very old-timey but not in a bad way- itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;ll have you wanting to sing along.

All in all, itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s an excellent album thatâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s a great example of contemporary bluegrass, but at the same time it is accessible for people who arenâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t into that particular genre.

SPORTS

Raver - Page 8

October 2009

Volleyball ‘Rockers split 1-1 in North Dakota after long bus ride

By Jerika Ihnen Raver Intern Ever notice how Thursday and Friday classes seem to drop in attendance about every other week? Yes, it is possible that some students are taking an early weekend, but for a select few student athletes, these days are spent on buses and hotel rooms. This past weekend, the Lady Hardrocker volleyball team travelled to Val-

ley City and Jamestown, N.D. On this seven hour bus trip one could find setter Becky Keilholtz listening to her iPod, watching movies and studying her scouting report, middle hitter Paige Corcoran studying for her upcoming test in Engineering Economics while braiding Katherine Hanson’s hair and outside hitter Madi “X-factor” Lane dreaming about hitting through the Lady Vikings block and scoring the winning point of

Bam! Katherine Hanson sends the ball over the net. Photo by Tyler Armbruster/ Raver Staff

the match as she took a well deserved nap.

After the never-ending bus trip, the team then unpacks into what becomes a “home-away-from-home”: the hotel room. The team must literally learn to live out of a bag for the duration of the weekend. Finally after days of preparation, hours spent on the bus and countless time devoted to memorizing the scouting report, the big match arrives.

The stat leaders for the weekend games were sophomore Madisen Lane with 18 kills, 6 solo blocks and 7 assist blocks and junior Paige Corcoran 13 kills, 3 solo blocks and 7 assist blocks. The sophomore libero Reanna Roberson had 19 digs and freshman setter Alex Mader had 33 assists and 11 digs on the weekend.

Coach Tiffany Mastin commented, “We played great at times, but at other times we let both teams go on too many runs of points against us. We need to continue working hard at a consistent level , really pushing ourselves to get better. Jessie Guthals and Madisen Lane both had a great weekend for us. We need to continue working on offensively putting balls away when needed, as well as finishing matches. We are working to continue to get better and be positive. We need to take a good look at this past weekend, learn lessons appropriately, and then move onto pushing the other DAC schools in every match.”

Volleyball Schedule Oct. 2 Oct. 3 Oct. 7 Oct. 16 Oct. 17 Oct. 23 Oct. 24 Oct.30 Oct. 31

vs. Dakota State * vs. Mayville State * at Black Hills State * at Dickinson State* at Minot State* vs. Jamestown College * vs. Valley City * at Mayville State * at Dakota State *

Golf teams look to improve for spring

By Loryn Schuetzle Raver Staff The men and women’s golf teams are looking to improve from their opening rounds. On the men’s side, freshman Josh Pappell scored the lowest round for the Rockers with a 73 followed closely by senior Brandon Eisenbraun, 75 at the Valley City Invitational.

“Our team is capable of doing well as long as everyone performs well on the same day,” Pappel said.

The girls however are looking to improve. With new players on the roster this year, the team just needs to get experience in

order to get better. Freshman Alyssa Gouldin carded the low score for the girls with a 97.

Junior veteran, Jamie Lien, finished the round with a 101.

“Our team is young and inexperienced,” Lien said. “If we keep practicing we should be able to improve for next spring and fall season.”

The School of Mines women and men teams wrapped it up at the Minot invitational last weekend. The boys rallied to win third place at the 36-hole tournament and the women improved on their scores from previous tournaments. Golf will resume in the spring.

Football scores and Oct. games August 29 September 19 September 26 October 3 October 10 October 17 October 24 October 31

vs. Montana Tech W 25-22 (OT) *vs. Dakota State (M Day) W 41-7 *at Mayville State w 48-28 *at Jamestown 1 p.m. *vs. Minot State 1 p.m. *at Dickinson State 1 30 p.m. *Valley City State 1 p.m. *at Black Hills State 1 p.m.

* DAC CONFERENCE GAME

Kaiser is new A.D. (cont’d from front page)

Men’s cross country team proves solid, women’s team looks to overcome inexperience this year

By Loryn Schuetzle Raver Staff With warm weather dwindling away it is more important than ever for the cross country teams to start off strong. The boys team this year has a very strong top five runners. The School of Mines boys cross country team is working hard together to have a good start.

“So far practices are intense and our first meet was a good starting point to see where we are,” sophomore Eben Nordahl said. “Our top five are pretty solid.”

The boys are doing well in their tournaments with three finishing top 25. Their first home invite was a good overview of how the boys’ season will look this year. They got fourth overall.

“We think we will have a pretty solid men’s team. We returned all of the team from last year and added a couple to the mix,” cross country coach Jerald Schafer said.

However, the girls are struggling to stride over the inexperience they have this fall. The School of Mines girls cross country team only rosters five girls, three of which are freshman.

“We are a young team and we have our work cut out for us,” junior Kendra Crisman said.

In the men’s race, at the Dakota State invitational, the Hardrockers cruised to a thirdplace finish in the team standings collecting 86 points. Lucas Fried earned 5th place with 27:09.37 time. On the ladies side, the girls finished 6th place.

Kendra Crisman was fastest with 21:07.36.

X Country Schedule October 3 CU ROcky Mountain Shootout Boulder, CO 10 MSU-Billings Invitational Billings, MT 17 Open 23 Mt. Marty Invitational Yanton, SD 31 BHSU/SD Mines Dual Spearfish, SD

were spent as the Athletic Director for Defiance College. Although he is an athletic director, he has coached college football for 17 years.

Kaiser was not ready to end his career at Defiance College.

He chose the School of Mines because of its beautiful location and its quality of education. He describes the student body as “quality students that are driven, goal-orientated and [who] understand the purpose and meaning of their academic studies to further endeavors.” He also hopes to stabilize athletic scholarships allotment, while assist the coaches in growing the size of their teams in order to help increase enrollment at the school. He also really excited about the experienced level of the coaching staff and their various fields of expertise.

Kaiser has been the athletic director since the first of July. He has two children, Cassie and Ryan.

7 p.m.

3 p.m.

7 p.m.

7 p.m.

3 p.m.

7 p.m.

7 p.m.

7 p.m.

7 p.m.

Parking office busy with requests (cont’d from front page)

a marathon to walk to class every morning.

The parking office is continually trying to keep up with parking requests and parking spots available. A secret insider for those of you underclassman living on campus, green permits are still available. The parking office is looking at opening up the extra spots up to younger residents on campus.

“There is not a magic fix [to the parking situation],” said Mitch Miller, Director of Facilities Services. The parking committee meets every month to go over problems on the parking status and it tries to solve issues brought up during the meeting.

As of right now facilities is planning on creating some safety precautions for the parking lots.

Possible turning lanes are in the future for exiting the O’Hara stadium. Along with the safety, the parking committee is looking to create particular spots for motorcycles on campus. If you have any fresh ideas for the parking issue on campus, let your voice be heard.

“We are always looking for students to voice their concerns about parking.” Miller says.

If you have a suggestion for the parking committee to discuss feel free to email Mitch Miller at: mitch.miller@sdsmt.edu. He said that he will be more than appreciative and will voice your concerns at the next meeting.

SPORTS

October 2009

Raver - Page 9

Experience and hard work help ‘Rockers football

By Loryn Schuetzle Raver Staff The Hardrocker football team is making this year one to remember. The boys are starting out the season with an impressive 3-0 opening record. The team has experience and plain old hard work to thank for their accomplishments.

“The biggest difference from last year’s team to this year’s team is our confidence level,” senior tightend Jason Bilstein said. “We are having good practices and our tempo is upbeat.”

The defense for the Rockers has been strong in years past, scoring more conversion points from defensive plays in the back field. But this year the boys got it figured out and are developing a strong offensive threat.

“We have a new and more mobile offensive line. This gives us the opportunity to explore our offensive options,” Coach Daniel Kratzer said. “Our defense is an experienced group of young players including some young linebackers that are as good as there are in this league!”

The Rockers won their first game against Montana Tech, 25 to 22, with an overtime field goal by Pierre kicker,

Andy Smith.

“I was really nervous before I got out on the field, so I had to have faith that everyone else was going to their job,” electrical engineering junior Andy Smith said. “But it was a team win and I can’t take all the credit. Everyone did their job and did great.”

After a three week break, the boys dominated the Dakota State Trojans 41 to 7 for an M Day win. The M Day win was a fun one to watch with the defense dominating DSU. Then the Rockers rolled over Mayville State in a 48-28 win. Sophomore Jamie Dale rushed over 232 yards and finished with two touchdowns and quarterback Nick Russell passed for three touchdowns.

“Our defense didn’t do their best,” junior Joe Berke said. “But our offense made up for it.”

For the second week in a row, the South Dakota School of Mines football team received votes in the NAIA Football Top 25 Coaches’ Poll. The School of Mines current record is 3-0.

The Rockers travel to Jamestown on Saturday, Oct. 3, for their fourth game.

Ready, set, kick: Zach Grapentine holds the kickoff for Andy Smith after the Hardrockers’ first touchdown. Photo by Tyler Armbruster/ Raver Staff

Fashion Equations 101 Back in Black

PLAID is IN FLANNEL is HOT This fall, paid flannels are all the rage.

However, this doesn’t mean you should don that old shirt you use to muck the stables in the winter. Instead, frequent one of the senior citizen garage sales coming up this month, or buy a fresh one. Just don’t forget to keep the pattern moderate by using the pH scale.

Notice the really nice, fitted jeans to the left. Guys- it’s unanimous. Your jeans need work! Next issue we will bring you the insider’s tips on finding that perfect pair.

Model: Jon Fleck Photographer: Katie Aurand

Model: Josh Muge Photographer: Katie Aurand

If you were humming ACDC’s classic “Back in Black” on your first day back to school this year, hopefully you were donned with correlating apparel. New York and London fashion weeks this fall displayed numerous shows dominated by

By Aryn Rowe and the ebony shade which so Katie Aurand represents true fashion.

After the optimistic, Guys- jackets are all bright colors screamthe rage this fall! Stay warm with a cool, black ing through last spring’s jacket like the one be- shows, it’s no wonder that low instead of a faded the runway this year hinthoodie. ed at getting back down to business. From black suit jackets to black shoes, it’s back with no reservations. (Men, this does not

give you any excuse to wear your Dungeons and Dragons shirts every day.) However, if you choose an American Apparel tee, going black would not be a bad choice.

Try out some black jeans too… not the Lee half-way black/gray that looks like it got attacked by a vaccuum, but instead find some jet black as in the Milanstyled classy trouser.

As the late, great MJ would say, “You’re my baby, it don’t matter if you’re black or white!”

Well, in this case… false. Go black or go home.

pH scale (plaid heaviness) (based on the diameter of the squares) granny gingham 7 blocky = too basic

1

neutrally perfect!

14

Aaaand break: Jamie Dale looks for a hole to run through while Tyler Barth and Mark Olson provide the blocks. Photo by Tyler Armbruster/ Raver Staff

Smack down: Tyler Barth makes the tackle. Photo

by Tyler Armbruster/ Raver Staff

Oh no you don’t: Everett Brill puts some pressure on Dakota State’s quarterback. Photo by Tyler Armbruster/ Raver Staff

HEALTH

Raver - Page 10

October 2009

Freshman 15 caused by wrong foods, Put the dogma on a leash: Midzak debunks nutrition misconceptions not by overeating

By Scott Nelson Guest Writer Last year I wrote an article in the Raver giving suggestions about how to avoid gaining the excess body fat that some freshmen gain during their first year of college (aka “The Freshman Fifteen”). I am writing this article to apologize for making those weight loss suggestions. I made those suggestions based on conventional knowledge of, and not on the actual science behind, the regulation of weight.

I hope this article will debunk the reasons why we gain body fat and in return allow whomever it may concern to make healthy dietary choices.

In this article I will explain that obesity is a form of malnutrition caused by abnormally high levels of insulin which in return starves the body at a cellular level. For space related issues this article will be “skinny,” but if you want a more “corpulent” understanding of this article feel free to check out the extended version on the Raver’s website.

In last year’s article I implied that excess fat accumulation came from over-eating and under-exercising and one could rid these excess pounds by eating less and exercising more. Believe it or not, and in contrast to what we are “fed” by the media, U.S. government and most textbooks written in the last 30 years, the medical world seems to absent of any science-based evidence supporting the idea that weight gain is caused by gluttony and sloth.

Medical evidence shows that in fact over-eating and under-exercising are both underlying side effects of weight gain. Confused? Here is my very lean explanation: Hormones control fat accumulation in our bodies and insulin is the hormone that has

the most control. Heightened levels of insulin will make you hungry while simultaneously slowing down your body’s ability to use energy stored in fat tissue. This process is natural; your body secretes insulin and this insulin stimulates hunger, you eat, and then your insulin levels slowly drops allowing your body to get energy from fat stores in your body (so you do not have to eat between meals). If you have abnormally high levels of insulin, between meals you tend feel hungry so you eat more and your body cannot get energy (starvation) from fat stores so you feel tired.

The next questions to be asked is: What is the dietary cause of heightened levels of insulin? The answer is carbohydrates.

Carbohydrates cause abnormally high levels of insulin so if you are hungry between meals and you eat carbohydrates your insulin levels will rise yet again and a viscous cycle begins. The only way to reverse this viscous cycle is to not eat foods that raise your insulin.

In summation, over-eating and under-exercising are side effects of excess fat accumulation, not the other way around.

Excess fat accumulation is caused by an abnormally high level of insulin and abnormally high levels of insulin are caused by carbohydrates.

If you are looking to avoid or lose the “Freshman Fifteen,” cut way back on carbohydrates.

If you are confused and/or interested in the regulation of excess body fat feel free to read the “corpulent” version of this article on the Raver’s website. I also urge you to read this year’s new nutritional column as it critically analyzes the nutritional topics from a scientific standpoint.

Beef! It’s what’s for dinner: According to Nelson and Midzak, carbohyrates should hardly be present in your diet (if at all) and great substitutes are protein-rich foods.

By Greg Midzak Raver Intern Have you ever wondered what the science is behind the “calories in calories out” hypothesis? Conventional Wisdom says that Americans eat “too many calories, too much fat, too much salt and not enough fiber.” With more than 63 percent of America over-weight, and 31 percent clinically obese, you’d think it’s true. But is it really calories and fat? If this “science” is so concrete that it is stressed over and over, why doesn’t it seem to work for everyone? Why does everyone blame obesity on overeating, laziness and fat consumption?

The reason so many people are overweight is because weight gain and loss are determined by hormones. One hormone in particular is insulin.

Insulin regulation in our bodies is heavily influenced by carbohydrate (sugar) consumption.

Since 1977 our country has followed governmental guidelines for nutrition. This dogma (which was recommended even after many scientists and researchers pleaded against it) was for America to lower its fat intake to below 30 percent and increase its carbohydrate intake to over 45 percent. Can you guess when the obesity “epidemic” started?

Let me explain what carbohydrate (sugar) consumption does to your body. First, you need to understand that all carbohydrates break down into sugar no matter how high or low of a glycemic index the food item has.

As soon as you put that whole-grain piece of

bread in your mouth, it breaks down into sugar.

Our bodies aren’t designed to take in lots of sugar. So in order to cope with large quantities of sugar, our body produces insulin.

Insulin has many roles in our body. One role is to “knock down” sugar in our blood after eating.

When you eat that piece of bread, it is quickly broken down in your stomach and liver, then resulting sugar floods into your blood.

Our bodies keep a 4 gram homeostatic amount of glucose in our blood at all times. If we eat a baked potato, we ingest about 50 grams of glucose (potato starch is made of pure glucose), which is more than ten times the amount regularly circulating in our blood.

So in order to deal with this excess amount of glucose, our bodies produce insulin to drive the glucose into storage. This is where the problem is. When our bodies are forced to utilize sugar as energy, we have to constantly replenish our energy. This explains why you get ravishingly hungry and start to feel groggy when you skip your lunch.

This is what happens to everyone that lives this lifestyle. Over time the constant need for insulin to knock down sugar causes tissues in our bodied to become resistant to its effects.

This is called Insulin Resistance, and can later turn into diabetes. This is the reason why you see so many over-weight people. You are witnessing the progression of insulin resistance. When this starts to happen, your body will start storing more and more sugar for fat into its adipose (fatty) tissue.

Bacon! Bacon! Bacon! Nelson and Midzak believe that even eating saturated animal fat, such as bacon, is better than eating carboydrates. xkcd.com

October 2009

TECHNOLOGY

Research amounts soar through the roof

By Evan Waddell Guest Writer In FY 2009, the School of Mines’ research funding reached almost 21 million dollars (for breakdown, see figure), which was more than double the FY 2008 funding of 10.1 million.

Though the 10 million dollar growth is laudable, it is likely not indicative of future yearly increases, as it is skewed by the large fund contributions for the DUSEL project (6+ million) from last year. A more realistic increase expectation for the coming fiscal year is thus 4-5 million dollars.

Nevertheless, Dr. Ronald White, the newly appointed Vice President of Research Affairs, is optimistic that the school’s five-year, 25 million dollar funding goal is attainable. This is supported by the creation of a new Research Plan Development Task Force, which is charged with characterizing the university’s major research thrusts (and associated resources) now and in the future.

White’s optimism is also evident from an organizational standpoint.

“As I look into the future, I see the evolution of the research and graduate programs to be synergistic, with each strengthening the other in fundamental ways,” said White.

By taking steps toward increased collaboration, the two programs can more efficiently secure resources and generate research.

Research Now: The development of the Deep Underground Science and Engineering Laboratory (DUSEL) is one of the most highly visible (and highly funded) project endeavors for the previous and current fiscal year.

Not only has Mines participated heavily in the selection and design of the facility, which is to be located at the former Homestake Gold Mine (Lead, SD), but it has also spearheaded many related research initiatives, such as microbiological community analysis, ultra-cold atom interferometry, single crystal germanium detection systems, and Precambrian aquifer characterization.

For more information about SDSMT DUSEL research, visit http://dusel.sdsmt.edu/44486/.

Research Future: The Repair, Refurbish,

and Return to Service (R3S) Center is also highly visible. The 2010 Center, which aims to use SDSMT-developed technologies such as friction stir welding and laser additive manufacturing, would create and test methods to regenerate nonfunctional military equipment for expedient return to service. These methods would serve to provide large cost savings to the US Department of Defense, and a supply of usable machinery to troops which need it. The R3S Center represents only one of SDSMT’s 13 current Research and Development Initiatives. To find out more about these, visit http://research.sdsmt.edu/rci/.

Raver - Page 11

Use ‘pulse and glide’ to increase fuel efficiency

By John Batteen Raver Intern In recent times, especially after last summer’s oil bubble, people are starting to put more thought into how often they fill up their gas tanks. Many are concerned about the impact on the environment, but everyone feels the impact on the wallet.

Obviously, driving less and not burning the gas in the first place

Paradoxically, this allows fuel economy to be increased by adding weight to the car, often in the form of sand bags in the trunk which come in handy in the wintertime anyway. The added mass is more mass in which to store energy from the engine, allowing each pulse to glide further. This driving technique also achieves better efficiency on hills than on flat

would be ideal, but for many this simply isn’t practical. Rapid City in particular is designed around having a car, and getting around on foot or bicycle can even be dangerous at times.

So then, having accepted driving as a necessary evil, how can one minimize the quantity of fuel used?

Take a moment to consider a few things. An engine is most efficient when operating under full load at full throttle. However, an engine under those conditions maintaining speed at 30mph around town would take a very long time to accelerate to that speed. At a red light with a row of cars behind you, this isn’t very practical. To allow for reasonable rates of acceleration, cars are built with much larger engines than are necessary to cruise efficiently. This means that accelerating quickly isn’t inefficient, it’s the most efficient mode of operation possible as that’s what it was engineered to do.

So how can we use this knowledge to increase fuel economy? The answer is a driving technique known as pulse and glide. You may accelerate to cruising speed as quickly or slowly as is practical, as it makes little difference. Once at cruising speed, coast in neutral and allow the speed to drop by 20 to 40%, then accelerate at full throttle back to full speed.

Repeat. In order to flow easily with traffic, common upper and lower boundaries used are 57mph over and under the posted speed limit.

ground, provided one does not have to brake excessively on the way down the hill to maintain safe or legal speeds. With a manual transmission, you can even kill the engine for long hills and bump start at the bottom.

Using a product called a ScanGauge (scangauge.com), I measured my mileage as a pizza delivery driver when practicing this technique. The car was a 1999 Saturn SL1 with a 1.9L inline four, manual transmission, short ram air intake, and unmodified exhaust. Delivering through heavy traffic and having to brake a lot, I might only get 35mpg for the trip.

On other deliveries in hilly parts of town on little-traveled roads, I could get 80mpg.

I found that after developing some skill with the technique, I was able to consistently get 55 to 60mpg over a four hour shift.

In an absolutely ideal situation, recording cumulative mileage driving out Sheridan lake road from Catron Boulevard to Victoria Lake Road and back again on a Sunday with no traffic to slow down for, I recorded 138mpg.

As you can see, efficiencies previously deemed absurd are easily within reach, with existing technology. All it takes is a new way of thinking about driving. Especially on a college budget, saving money is important, as is reducing our consumption of fossil fuels. CleanMPG.com maintains an informative website as well as a forum if you want to learn more.

Fiscal Year 2009 funding breakdown, organized by department.

AML=Additive Manufacturing Laboratory.

AMP= Advanced Materials Processing and Joining Laboratory.

CAAN = Center for Accelerated Applications at the Nanoscale.

CAPE = Composite and Polymer Engineering Laboratory.

CBE = Chemical and Biological Engineering.

CEE = Civil and Environmental Engineering.

CHEM = Chemistry.

DUSEL = Deep Underground Science and Engineering Laboratory.

ECE = Electrical and Computer Engineering.

EMES = Engineering and Mining Experiment Station.

GEOL = Geology and Geological Engineering.

IAS = Institute of Atmospheric Science.

IE = Industrial Engineering.

MECH = Mechanical Engineering.

MET = Metallurgical Engineering.

MINE = Mining Engineering.

MUSM = Museum.

NANO = Nanotechnology.

PHY = Physics.

SS = Social Sciences.

VPAA = Vice President of Academic Affairs.

VPR = Vice President of Research.

VPSA= Vice President of Student Affairs.

xkcd.com

M Week 2009 Did you know…

32 10 458 162 301 19 1 1 2 6 5 4 3.5

students made up the M-Week Committee cans of whipped cream were used the night of Intro to Candidates (along with 3 trips to Wal-Mart) people ate ice cream at Armadillo’s

students attended The Goods at the Elks Theater

snowcones were given away (along with 297 bags of cotton candy)

bees attacked the workers of Grubby’s Circus (only 10 bees lived to tell the tale)

permit is required to burn the M after coronation bike cop is required on the path to Fish Park

students drive 13-passenger vans full of Alumni to the top of M Hill Got Milk? Seniors scoot down the most painful slip ‘n slide in the city.

garbage cans are needed for white washing purposes

seniors to help the freshman create the ‘M’ on the football field team members are needed to win the SAC Golf Tournament hours were spent cleaning the window paint off of downtown businesses

I hope that’s mud and not something else: Unidentifiable students mess around in the mud pit in Fish Park.

Photos by Tyler Armbruster/ Raver Staff

Old school: Amanda Skroch and Mandi Veldkamp, both junior chemical engineering students, noticed these dresses at the Salvation Army and could resist not buying them for M-Day. Veldkamp also had the idea to go with the 80s hair style.

Royalty: King Marcus Baue and queen Ashley Stewart sit on their thrones after being named homecoming king and queen.

Splish-splash I was takin’ a bath: King Marcus Baue is thrown into the lake on the hike to M-hill.

Behind the Scenes: M-Week

By Jerika Ihnen Raver Intern When any School of Mines student or alumni is asked to explain M-Week one might get a variety of responses. One person may never be able to forget their first experience white washing the “M” as a freshman.

Another may remember scoring the winning touchdown at the football game. Then, some may say they do not even recall anything that happened over the course of the week (perhaps because they went on too many “Garter Hunts”).

However, most students are probably not aware of the extensive planning and research their fellow classmates accomplish to keep the traditions of M-Week alive.

Planning for this one special week begins in the spring, continues throughout the summer and finally comes to a halt after the last scrap of garbage is

plucked off of Fish Park. Returning students may have noticed that M-Week expanded this year: from signs downtown, to sponsors at the football game, to community involvement.

We as a student body have Dr. Wharton, Mike Keegan, CoChairs Jason Miller and Chris Peters, the M-Week committee and countless other faculty members, businesses and alumni to thank for this.

Outsiders could not even fathom the amount of work it requires to pull off such an awesome event. The budget, special permits and to-do list on MDay alone is enough to make a person’s head spin. Then, there tends to be speed bumps along the way. School of Mines is lucky to have students who care enough to fight for the traditions and who are responsible enough to help our most beloved (even if they are unconventional) traditions stay alive.