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Underclassmen injecting fresh energy into CSU football
THE RO CKY MOUNTAIN
Fort Collins, Colorado
Thursday, August 30, 2012
COLLEGIAN
Volume 121 | No. 18
www.collegian.com
THE STUDENT VOICE OF COLORADO STATE UNIVERSITY SINCE 1891
ASCSU
Reforms proposed to student fee process
Party’s
OVER
By ANDREW CARRERA and CARRIE MOBLEY The Rocky Mountain Collegian Wednesday, student government leaders debated over whether proposed changes to the student fee process streamline the procedure or unnecessarily strip power from elected officials. Currently, CSU students have the power to suggest to the Student Fee Review Board –– an arm of the Associated Students of CSU –– that fees be increased to fund the creation of particular programs. After SFRB reviews the proposals throughout the academic year, they bundle them up into a “Long Bill” for the Senate’s review in the spring. Senators can pass, fail, or amend the bill to their liking. The two groups’ recommendations weigh heavily on how CSU President Tony Frank introduces the student fee increase proposals to the CSU System Board of Governors, which authorizes their implementation. A divided student opinion on a given fee increase proposal “ultimately erodes the credibility that we as students have in forming decisions regarding student fees,” said ASCSU Vice President Joe Eden. Should Eden have his way, the opportunity for a divide won’t present itself in the future. “If Bill 4202 is passed, the way student fees are evaluated by students will be a more involved process with regards to how student representatives [Senators] are informed throughout the process,” he said in an email to the Collegian. “Rather than voting on a Bill of recommended fees put forth by the Student Fee Review Board at the end of the year, Senators will approve a process by which fees will be evaluated in the fall, and the process will be revisited in the spring.” The end result, he explained, would be a unified voice between SFRB and Senate, with the latter stripped of its ability to directly amend student fee increase proposals. Bill 4202 makes it so that they can only recommend changes. College of Business Sen. Josh Shaughnessy wondered why SFRB couldn’t be kept in an advisory role to inform Senate on the best course of action. “Just like any CEO has advisors, but it’s still the CEO who would make the decision,” he said. Eden again pointed to SFRB’s expertise in the subject of student fee increase proposals and reminded senators that 50 percent of SFRB members were reserved for senators. Shaughnessy later voiced his support for Bill 4202, eased by the fact that senators could participate in SFRB and take advantage of its proposed independence. Since the proposed legislation is an amendment to the ASCSU Constitution, it requires two-thirds of the Senate’s approval during two separate sessions. In between those sessions, the bill will be sent to Senate committees for discussion. The earliest that it could be passed is Sept. 12. “If the bill in its current form were to be brought before the Senate, it would pass, because it is indeed in the best interest of the students,” Eden said. “But if there are any changes to it in the (Senate) committees I’m not sure it will pass.” ASCSU Beat Reporter Carrie Mobley and News Editor Andrew Carrera can be reached at news@ collegian.com.
the
STRIP CLUB
With last year’s Ram’s Pointe mega party now nothing more than old, forgotten YouTube videos, here is a list of some parties that are way better than that one ever was.
The best parties in history A LongExpected Party
Ram’s Pointe calls off annual pool party, citing community responsibility By KATE SIMMONS The Rocky Mountain Collegian Last year, the Ram’s Pointe pool made national news, branded with the big bold words: “Mega Party.” A year later, the pool is drained and vacant. That’s because at that particular Aug. 27 “Mega Party” — at Campus Crossings at Ram’s Pointe — 3,000 people showed up; 10 ended up in the hospital and two in handcuffs. “It was one of the best days of my freshman year,” sophomore hospitality management major Nikki Grubesic said. The party will not be taking place this year. Campus Crossings confirmed that the pool was drained this weekend, “to get out glass from vandalism.” The party, a long-standing annual event at Ram’s Pointe has historically been “intended to encourage new students to socialize in a relaxed atmosphere,” Campus Apartments said in an email to the Collegian. “2011 was the first year that the large crowd size
ILLUSTRATION BY HUNTER THOMPSON | COLLEGIAN
LEFT: Thousands of students gather around the small pool area at Rams Pointe apartments on Aug. 27, 2011 for a party that lead to multiple arrests and hospital transports. RIGHT: A year later, the empty pool area at Rams Pointe prepares for the fall semester with cones blocking off the pool as it is filled with new water.
required us to shut down the event early.” With partygoers utilizing social media, texting and putting the event up on Facebook, attendance grew to an astonishing level. “It took over the neighborhood,” neighbor David Ellington said. “I didn’t see a lot of consideration for the people who live here. I see that a lot with parties up here.” The Fort Collins Police Department became aware of the event when attendees started calling for medical assistance. “There were problems with the health and safety,” Fort Collins Police Spokeswoman Rita Davis said. Safety was a top concern for Campus Apartments and ultimately led to the decision to cancel the party this year. “The wellbeing of our residents is our top priority and for this reason we evaluated all aspects of last year’s pool party event and determined it was in the best interest of the CSU community and our residents to not hold the event this year,” Campus Apartments said in an email to the Collegian. “The media’s interest that ensued following last year’s pool party did not portray the CSU community positively … we have the responsibility to help uphold the integrity of the collective
CSU community, not just our property,” Campus Apartments said. Some students felt that the party should have happened anyway. Offcampus parties enhance the college experience, according to Grubesic. “It’s like the nightlife of the college student,” she said. According to Davis, police are more concerned with ensuring safety and keeping the peace than they are about issuing arrests. “If you’re having a party, make sure you register it and if you find it’s getting larger than you anticipated you can ask your guests to leave and shut down the party yourself but if you run into problems feel free to contact CSU police or Fort Collins police and we will be happy to assist you,” Davis said. “Safety is our first priority.” According to Andrea Coryell, assistant director of alcohol and other drugs for the CSU health network, the Ram’s Pointe pool party does not accurately represent the majority of Fort Collins parties. “Whenever you hear stories about drinking they’re the out of control crazy ones you don’t hear about,” Coryell said. “The majority of people have a few drinks, have fun, don’t get charged with an MIP or DUI and don’t end up in the ER, but those aren’t the stories you hear.” Senior Reporter Kate Simmons can be reached at news@collegian.com.
The Shallows of the Web are ruining our brains
By AUSTIN BRIGGS Rocky Mountain Collegian
Wake up, roll over, check your text messages. Get out of bed, walk over to the computer and check your Facebook feed and email. Repeat hundreds of times throughout the day. This type of behavior, according to Pulitzer Prize finalist and New York Times bestselling author Nicholas Carr, has rapidly become commonplace. The result, he believes, is our minds being shaped by the steady stream of information we’re constantly immersed in as our lives are increasingly spent online. Speaking to a crowd of about 450 people at the Hilton Wednesday evening, Carr talked about his realization years ago that he was no longer able to have periods of sustained concentration and seemed to have lost the ability to focus on one task for ex-
tended periods of time. “At first I thought it was middle-aged mind rot,” Carr joked. “Then the more I thought about it the more I realized my brain really wanted to behave the way it behaves when I’m online.” This set him off into two lines of research, which was the basis of his book, “The Shallows: What the Internet is Doing to Our Brains.” The first line of research looked at how the Internet is rewiring our brains on a neurological level. The other looked at how historical events and technologies, such as the mechanical clock and the industrial revolution, changed human thought. Unlike other forms of technology, Carr said, the Internet and digital media is something we carry with us constantly. As we flit from web page to web page and constantly check our email, the ability to shift out of that
mode of thinking when we’re offline is diminished. “It’s such a powerful kind of distraction — technology and interruption technology — that it becomes a problem when you can’t really experience anything,” Carr said. This is compounded by the fact that many Internet companies have financial incentives to get us to click on as many links as possible every time we’re online. The end result, Carr believes, is that while we gain benefits like being able to collaborate and rapidly gather information, we’re also losing deep creativity, the ability to concentrate for long periods of time and solitary, contemplative modes of thinking. People who attended Carr’s lecture said they could relate to having lost the ability to concentrate and stay focused for long periods of time. Sophomore physics major Curtis Bear said he read on-
Find More
Visit collegian.com to view the full Q&A with Nicholas Karr.
line articles Carr had written, which is why he decided to attend the lecture. “What he had to say was really interesting. I can definitely relate to everything,” Bear said. “I am always whipping out my phone in class to see if I got a text.” Fort Collins resident and software developer Wade Safferfield said he sees a deep irony in his job. “I spend all day coding computers, which takes an immense amount of focus,” Safferfield said. “It’s ironic that people in jobs that require so much concentration are ruining everybody else’s concentration. It does put a new spin on ‘Revenge of the Nerds.’” Senior Reporter Austin Briggs can be reached at news@collegian.com.
This party includes pretty much anyone who’s anyone in The Shire (approximately half of The Shire). It celebrated the eleventy-first birthday of Bilbo Baggins with a ton of food, drinking, awkward speeches and crazy Gandalf fireworks.
Boston Tea Party
You’re not a real American if this isn’t your favorite party. You get to stick it to the man (a.k.a the British) by throwing a bunch of tea into the ocean. What’s not to like?
“Party In The U.S.A.”
Sticking with the patriotic theme, this is the most patriotic party since the Boston Tea Party because it involves the entire country, specifically LAX (the Los Angeles International Airport). Jay Z and cardigans (the most American of all light sweaters) both get a shoutout in this song. Also, in the video a guy does a front flip off a park bench at 2:59.
Bloc Party
This London band released its first album in 2005 and it was awesome post-punk goodness, unfortunately this was also the only good album they ever released. Pretend their other three don’t exist. The Strip Club is written by the Collegian staff and designed by Design Editor Kris Lawan