The Independent i
Issue #100
Fort Lewis College News Magazine
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The Indy Celebrates March 28th, 2019
100
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Dear Readers,
Editor’s Note
While interviewing old staff members about the Indy’s history, I realized how much each staff contributed to shaping what the organization is today. When I first took over as editor-in-chief in the spring of 2017, we were just beginning to embrace the online revolution taking over the journalism field. The editor-in-chief before me, Luke Perkins, laid the groundwork for this shift by making it his mission to transition the Indy to an online-first news organization. Before him, Trevor Ogborn helped establish the beginning of Fort Fuel, the Indy’s video department. As I kept moving down the chain, it became clear that each staff imprinted it’s own legacy on The Independent’s history. I was extremely inspired by hearing about all the hard work that went on in the Indy before me. It got me that thinking that a healthy way to judge a success versus a failure is how you leave something. When you leave that job, are you leaving it in a better place that when you got there? When you leave your sports team or your club, can you say their in a better place? This helped me realize the importance of respecting all that has come before us. Our generation has inherited a lot from our elders. As a society, we are making giant leaps in terms of technology that helps make our lives easier. We have a greater understanding of the importance of knowledge and how it helps make informed decisions. We are making great strides in terms of making sure everyone is treated equally. Our movies, music, and sports are all vastly improved from our parent’s generation (no matter how much they’ll disagree). We are the future, and we have a duty to continue to improve on the quality of life we have generously enjoyed. As I begin turning the page into post-graduation life, this thought will be one of my guiding principles. This will be my last issue as the editor in chief of The Independent. I have been extremely grateful to be apart of this organization for the past seven semesters, and am lucky to have been working here with a great group of people. Student journalism is something I’m extremely passionate about – I’m glad I got to spend a majority of my college experience doing what I love with a tremendous group of people. The lessons I learned as apart of this organization will forever help me after graduation, and I hope I helped inspire those who worked under me to improve on what we have created. Enjoy this 100th issue. As always, thank you so much for picking up this issue and contributing to The Independent’s history. We appreciate you. Goodluck the rest of the semester.
Alex Semadeni Editor in Chief
awsemadeni@fortlewis.edu
Anyone who is interested in providing feedback to The Independent can reach out through email (awsemadeni@fortlewis.edu) Facebook (The Indepdent FLC) or Twitter (@flcindepdendent). If you are interested in providing feedback about specific departments, please visit theindyonline.com where you can find contact information for our departmental editors.
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Two student groups led an event in front of the student union on March 18 and 19 in an effort to create a campus conversation about abortion. Photo by Colton Branstetter
The Independent i
In This Issue
FLC Board of Trustess Reduce Student Fee Benjamin Mandile
3-4
Meghan Walsh
A New Resource for Students Who’ve Experienced Sexual Assault Meritt Drake 5-6
Drinking Holidays Increase Crime Rate in Durango Coya Pair 7-8
Engineerig and Biology Unite to Find out More about the Animas River Nate DeCremer 9-10
The Indy Celebrates 100 The Independent Staff
11-12
FLC Theatre
My Favorite Year Taylor Hutchison 13
2
FLCBoardof Tr us te es
Reduce
Student T Fee
he mandatory student fees have decreased $6.20 per a credit hour for the 2019-2020 academic year after a change was approved at the Fort Lewis College Board of Trustees meeting on Feb. 1. This brings the student fees from $66.70 per a credit hour to $60.50 per a credit hour for the 2019-2020 academic year, totaling $907.50 per a semester, or $1815.00 per year. For a student taking 15 credits a semester, they would be required to pay $992.25. A student would have paid $2,001.00 per year in mandatory student fees for the 2018-2019 academic year according to a fact sheet of historical data provided by the FLC Budget Office, but instead only paid $1984.00 because the college did not collect the arts fee for this year. The college will see a decrease in next year’s fee because the bond payment that was being paid for the Student Life Center will be paid off later this year, Michele Peterson, the associate vice president of finance and administration said. With this new approval, the Board of Trustees increased the fee for Student Life Center operations by one dollar per credit hour, Gary Gianniny, faculty representative to the board of trustees said. The college allocates the student fees for costs unrelated to receiving an education, but that are considered auxiliary activities of the college, such as club sports, Peterson said. “It’s not a cool place to be if you don’t have those things, but they’re not part of the core mission of the college,” Peterson said.
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Costs associated with receiving an education such as faculty, administrator and student support staff salaries are covered in the general education fund, which is primarily funded by tuition and the State of Colorado. All students pay the student fee regardless of their residency, according to FLC budgeting policy. The fee can be paid through cash or scholarships including Pell Grants, loans, foundation or private scholarships but cannot be covered by the Native American tuition waiver, Peterson said. With this change in student fees, students will be required to pay for the arts fee again. The arts fee had been previously removed because the first year the college collected the art fee the funds were not used to the extent they should have been and there was an excess amount of money left over, Peterson said. Students were still able to enjoy the art events provided to students at no additional cost to the students, she said. These events typically include the artist holding workshops during the day they are performing, Peterson said.
The Independent i
History of Mandatory Student Fees
How is a fee approved? There have been a number of changes over the years to how the student fee is allocated. These changes are reviewed by the Institutional Fee Review Board and the Budget Advisory Committee before the FLC Board of Trustees makes a decision of whether to increase or decrease a fee. The IFRB consists of seven students with voting privilege, along with two ex-officio members who do not vote, Chance Salway, student body president and member of the IFRB said. The seven students that make up the board consists of the Student Body President, the Financial Allocation Board director, three ASFLC senators and two students at large. Departments and certain campus organizations start the fee process and present to the IFRB about a year before the approval process is completed, he said. These presenters are given 30 to 45 minutes to give their presentation to the board and answer the board’s questions before the voting members make one of three recommendations. The board will give the presentation a recommendation of approved as submitted, denied as submitted or recommend approving the request but with modifications to the dollar amount, Salway said.
Historical data from the FLC Budget Office from the 1981 to 1982 academic year, the first year for which the office has data for, shows the fee at $126.00. Over the next 38 years the fee increased to $2,001.00, but not without reason. One reason the fee has increased so much is because there are more fees to pay for. After a fee is approved by the Institutional Fee Review Board, the Budget Advisory Committee and then the Board of Trustees, it is added to the list of mandatory student fees.
STUDENT FEES
According to Peterson, some of these fees were requested by the students themselves.
..................... $195.00 athletics .................................. $318.00 health/counseling center ......... $201.00 club sports ............................... $45.00 technology .............................. $153.00 student life center .................. $325.50 career services ......................... $10.50 student union building .............. $591.00 rec services ............................. $144.00 sustain initiatives ......................... $1.50 arts ........................................... $16.50
The Student Life Center for instance, was built after a student led initiative to have that building and the related services, Peterson said.
2018/2019
student activities
TOTAL ... $2001.00
This package of information gets passed on to the Budget Advisory Committee who read the requests and can ask questions about them. Three IFRB members who also sit on the committee answer the other member’s questions, Peterson said. After the BAC and the IFRB make their recommendations, a package of both recommendations and the requests themselves are presented to the Board of Trustees for final approval, Gianniny said.
During the 1981-1982 academic year there were four fees: the student activity fee, athletics, the health and counseling center and a facilities use fee. Starting during the 2012-2013 academic year and besides one year where the arts fee was suspended, students paid 12 different fees, according to the FLC Budget Office. Peterson also said that it is extremely rare for the BAC to disagree with a IFRB decision.
The IFRB’s and BAC’s recommendation may not be granted by the Board of Trustees if it would be a detriment to the college financially or open the school up to a liability, Salway said. He said that the members of the IFRB are in tune with the ramifications their decisions have. “The students are definitely, that are on the board, are very in-tune to what the ramifications are going to be if a student fee is passed or whether it’s not and so because of that I think that that is why the recommendations go through,” Salway said. Benjamin Mandile
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Meghan Walsh: A New Resource for Students Who’ve Experienced Sexual Assault
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tudents who have experienced sexual assault, domestic violence, or any similar trauma can now visit FLC’s professional advocate.
Meghan Walsh, a student advocate and case manager, was hired at the beginning of the semester to work under the counseling department. Walsh first came to FLC four years ago as a residence director for Animas Hall. She left that position to pursue a masters degree in counseling and student affairs at the Northern Arizona University. While working abroad, she saw a posting on Facebook for this position, and thought it was a good fit for her area of study, Walsh said. The position has two parts, the first being the role of an advocate to students who have experienced assault, and the other as a case manager for the counseling center.
Student Advocate
While Walsh works closely with both the Title IX Office and the counseling department, her role fills a gap within both offices’ services. As an advocate, Walsh works with students financially, legally, academically, and provides emotional support, Walsh said. All other staff on campus, outside of the counseling department, is mandated reporters, so they are required to report and sexual assault to the title IX office.
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Because Walsh works under the counseling center, she is confidential and does not have to report information that is disclosed to her. “It’s a way for students to know what they’re getting into before they disclose,” Walsh said. “In some ways it can seem like you’re trapped, because you need help but in order to get help you have to disclose and if you’re not ready that can be a hard place to be in.” Unlike those in the title IX office, an advocate is there to be completely biased and on the victim’s side through the entire process of reporting an assault, Walsh said. Walsh meets with victims to share resources for legal and academic support following an assault, she said. “Resources can be different for trauma care depending on what a person needs,” Walsh said.
“
I’m trying to do as much good as I can, for as long as I can, for as many people as I can.
”
Meghan Walsh, Student Advocate
The Independent i
For example, sometimes students need extra help academically through a tutor, or need classes changed, in order to not remain in a class with a certain person related to the trauma, Walsh said. “When you’ve experienced trauma you’re not always able to think about meeting with professors or advisors,” Walsh said. “I want to make sure those students still have access to the education they deserve.” As an advocate Walsh can also work with the financial aid office to find students who have had to quit working due to trauma extra financial aid, Walsh said. Through funding from the Title IX office Walsh can help victims seek healthcare relating to STI testing or acquire emergency contraception for free, Walsh said. In order to help with legal action, Walsh can help students file police reports or fill out forms at the courthouse for protective orders, she said. “I want them to make the best decisions to fit their needs, and sometimes these decisions come with a lot of paperwork or running around to make contact with offices on campus, and I can eliminate some of that work for them,” Walsh said. One of the benefits of working at a smaller school like FLC is the ability the school has to make change, like creating this position, more quickly than a larger institution, Walsh said. Within a matter of months FLC identified the need for an advocate position, allocated funding, and hired Walsh.
Case Manager The case manager side of Walsh’s job was created to relieve stress from the counseling center. The counseling center faced a very high client load last semester, and was not working at a level which was sustainable, Walsh said. As a case manager, Walsh helps with the extra work counselors have to do outside of counseling sessions, like connecting students to resources like AA meetings or help for homeless students, Walsh said. Students receive four free counselling sessions per semester through the counseling center, but meetings with Walsh do not count towards these four sessions, because she is not a licensed counselor. Currently, this position is funded temporarily until July,
when administration will decide if there is a need to keep the position. In order to demonstrate the need for an advocate, Walsh has been tracking the hours she spends doing each aspect of her job, Walsh said. “The position was created for a reason, and the college felt it was important enough to hire someone in the interim,” Walsh said. If the position is not continued the college will have to find other ways to provide the same confidential resource to students, possibly through Durango’s Sexual Assault Services Organization, Walsh said. “I’m trying to do as much good as I can, for as long as I can, for as many people as I can,” Walsh said. “And if that’s just until July, then I’m going to do that until July.”
Meritt Drake
IF YOU WOULD LIKE TO MEET WITH SOMEONE TO TALK:
Molly Weiser, Title IX Coordinator Schedule an appointment at https://www.fortlewis. edu/care Peer Support System To set up an appointment email: kgreichle@fortlewis.edu Counseling Center Call to schedule an appointment (970) 247-7212 6
DRINKING HOLIDAYS INCREASE CRIME RATE IN DURANGO 7
From events and festivals, to holiday celebrations, Durango puts on plenty of activities for its community. Though this enriches the culture of the city, it also increases the alcohol consumption and crime rate, Durango Police commander Rita Warfield said.
The Independent i
CALLS Chart MADE Title 800 700 600 500 400 300 200 100 0 NEW YEARS SNOWDOWN ST. PATRICK'S CINCO DE 2018 2018 DAY 2018 MAYO 2018 NORMAL WEEKEND
D
urango has a party atmosphere due to many factors, such as being a college town, a vacation destination, and having a diverse community, Warfield said. Most events, festivals, and holiday celebrations include alcohol. Because of this, the police station gets more calls and arrests for DUI’s, domestic violence, or assault during these events, Warfield said. .
HOLIDAY WEEKEND
“Though the amount of calls are higher, we prepare with higher staffing,” Durango Police crime analyst Tessa Reinhart, said. “We have more officers on shift during holiday weekends and events.” The amount of crimes that happen also depend on the weather and the day of the week the holiday falls on, Brett Deming, Fort Lewis College Chief of Police, said.
Warfield says that these events, such as Snowdown and Animas River Days, aren’t sponsored by the city but are supported by it.
“Our priority is to keep the community safe.”
“We’re always looking to bring people in for the economy of Durango, Warfield said. “Most crimes during these events are minor misdemeanors. Our priority is to keep the community safe.”
“Some years we’ve had a lot of calls during holiday events, some years we’ve had none,” Deming said. “Most students go downtown to party rather than stay on campus.”
Warfield says that though some crimes such as domestic violence are triggered by alcohol, these incidents would still happen regardless of holiday events.
Law enforcement is out 24/7, Warfield said, and there are plenty of resources in Durango to keep people safe.
“I don’t think that alcohol is a part of Durango’s culture,” Warfield said. “But the outdoor festivals and events are, and usually there is alcohol consumption during these events.”
4TH OF JULY HALLOWEEN 2018 2018
RITA WARFEILD DURANGO POLICE
“Durango is a small, close-knit community,” Warfield said. “ St.Patrick’s day here is a lot different than in Denver. People can walk home, find a ride, or take the transit.” According to Reinhart’s data, St.Patrick’s Day has the lowest amount of calls compared to the other holidays. “Some holidays are just focused more around alcohol,” Brad Taylor, manager of The Irish Embassy said. “On Snowdown, people just want to get as drunk as possible. On New Years there’s a champagne toast at midnight. On the Fourth of July people stay up late for fireworks. There’s incentive to drink.” When it comes to St.Patrick’s Day, there is more food, music, and culture involved. Taylor said the Irish Embassy is just as busy as it is on Snowdown, but it is an older and mature audience, Taylor said. “They want to taste our irish beer and whiskey,” Taylor said. “They also eat, which helps with the drunkenness. We follow the same rules as everyone else. If people get rowdy we cut them off, but if you listen to the Irish music, it’s happy. There’s a difference between happy drunk and angry drunk.” Coya Pair
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delores river
telluride
silverton
hermosa creek
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junction creek
spring creek
durango pagoa springs
lightner creek
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animas river
farmington
san juan river
S Engineering and Biology unite to find out more about the 9
Animas River
The Independent i
D
urango city officials and Fort Lewis College have collaborated over the past few years to measure E. coli contamination in river water throughout the Animas River Valley. The Animas River has many tributaries that feed into it with an abundance of water from the La Plata and San Juan mountain ranges. Junction Creek and Lightner Creek are two of the most prominent and are right in town in Durango. With continued gathering of data, researchers hope to better understand the complexity of the river system and see how problems, like E. coli could affect the overall health and well-being of the community surrounding the river system, said Heidi Steltzer, a professor of biology at Fort Lewis College. To keep track of water contamination in the Animas River Valley, Christie Chatterley, an engineering professor at Fort Lewis College, takes her Measurements and Instrumentation class to Junction Creek, Lightner Creek and the Animas River to take different readings on contamination levels in the water. The class collaborates with a local environmental awareness organization, the Animas Watershed Partnership, to collect data. According to the Animas Watershed Partnership, this is part of one of their current projects called Microbial Source Tracking. This project revolves around taking water samples of the San Juan and Animas Rivers to identify the different sources of E. coli that has been found in these rivers, such as humans, dogs and other wildlife. The U.S Environmental Protection Agency is the main source of information when it comes to setting standards, assessments, research and laws regarding such topics. “We have a few years worth of data and we’ve been doing that with the Animas Watershed Partnership,” said Chatterley. “Every semester the lab class collects samples, and they found stuff over the EPA limits in Lightner and Junction, like by the dog park after it rains. Even higher up on Lightner there has been quite a bit of contamination, and
then by Santa Rita Park.” The main contaminant the class tests for is the bacteria called E.coli, which is found in the feces of both humans and other wildlife. With rainfall and snowmelt E. coli can be carried in runoff into the streams and rivers in the valley, Chatterley said. Jarrod Biggs, the Assistant Utilities Director for Durango, says that one of the biggest contributor to E. coli in the river is mainly due to cattle waste from the many ranches that surround the Animas River corridor. Steltzer focuses her efforts in helping students get the necessary equipment and information required to further their research on such a complicated topic. “Rivers are complex,” says Steltzer, “Even the streams and creeks that drain into them are complex.” The main reason why these systems are so complex is because they follow patterns that make researching them difficult. If researchers see something that may be of concern, it may be present for only a short period of time before it goes away says Steltzer. The Animas river system currently follows a similar pattern, which Steltzer calls hiccups and burps. Hiccups and burps refer to the patterns that researchers can sometimes see, and other times where researchers will find nothing at all. Once researchers find moments that resemble patterns, they try to place the data they found into the bigger picture, gaining a better understanding of the problem said Steltzer. To help students and fellow researchers find out more about the Animas, Steltzer said that she focuses on finding new equipment for them, allowing students to acquire more accurate data for their research. With funding help from University of Alaska Fairbanks through a program called BLaST, FLC was able to purchase new instrumentation which can instantaneously measure water chemistry and quality data for the Animas, leading to
more information about the river system and the problems that can be associated with it, like E. coli says Steltzer “Growth of organisms in the water generally requires nitrogen, and this is a way we can know how much nutrients, nitrogen specifically, is in the water” says Steltzer. “There are students, they are biology majors and environmental science majors, who are beginning to use this equipment and look at concentrations of nutrients in the river.”
semester “ Every the lab class
collects samples, and they found stuff over the EPA limits in Lightner and Junction.
”
Christie Chatterley Engineering Professor Fort Lewis College
The City of Durango also tests the water three to four times a week in the several water treatment centers in and around Durango to make sure that E. coli levels stay below the levels necessary for drinking water, said Biggs. The city actively makes sure that all contamination in the water stays below concentration amounts that can become dangerous in both the water the city takes from the river, and the water that the city puts back into the system. With more testing happening over the next few semesters, Chatterley and Steltzer hope to find more answers and better solutions to help the problem, with the goal of keeping the Animas River as clean as possible for the future. Nate DeCremer
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A
s Fort Lewis College’s only student-run news organization, the Indy feels a responsibility to the campus to serve the students. From the first issue up until the 100th, staff members dedicate their free time to providing timely, accurate, and relevant news to the campus community. To celebrate the release of our 100th issue, we interviewed a multitude of people, including former staff members, professors, and students about the impact the Indy has had on the campus community. Here are some of their responses.
“It’s an entertaining yet very informational and informative piece of work that really helps the students and the campus community be able to to come together.” Salway “I just want our students to Chance FLC Student Body President embrace our student newspaper cause they might find something out that they had no clue was going on.” Davis Deussen, Former Reporter “In so many ways, The Indy is part of the storytelling apparatus of FLC and, carry part of the narrative for, the campus as a whole.” “If there’s something that Tom Stritikus I see in the Indy I might FLC President bring it up in class and be like, “Hey did you see this article? What do you think about that?” Michael Martin “I can’t imagine Fort Lewis FLC History Professor Faculty Senate President college without the Independent. Faron Scott Content Advisor
T H E I N DY CELEBRATES 11
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“It’s so cool to see it still going, and to see that people are still interested in journalism.” Katie Chicklinski-Cahill, Former Editor in Chief “I just like to see that the Arts and Entertainment Editor The Durango Herald students are creating something of their own and putting out what is important to them.” “ I think it is absolutely Lindsay Nyquist, necessary to get the Indy FLCDirector of Marketing on your resume to be able and Communications to step into that world with that experience and become comfortable already interviewing and writing stories and meeting deadlines.”
Shandiin Ramsey Former Reporter
Lauren Savage FLC Media Relations Coordinator “It is so crucially important in a democratic republic to cultivate in students this critical perspective and I think the group that takes that to heart the most are student journalists, in trying to investigate and understand our small community up at the Fort. I think it’s very important.” Michael Dichio FLC Political Science Professor “We can’t make good decisions unless we have good information, and student journalism is what provides the student body with good information. “You’re the next generation, Larry Hartfield Former Ethical Advisor go get em’!” Nick Gonzalez Former Editor in Cheif Food and Business Editor The Durango Herald.
“It’s obviously important for the student journalists themselves to get that experience, kind of like real world experience of a journalist. You can read about how to be a journalist and how to interview people and stuff, but there’s nothing like actually sitting down and interviewing somebody and having those conversations.”
“One of the things that we’re seeing nation-wide is students going into journalism programs because it’s become evident in the last couple years of how important it is to have students who get the word out about what’s going on.”
“I’ve just been impressed Michelle Malach FLC English Faculty Chair with the design, layout, photos, it really has a neat, appealing, not just the content, but there’s a great visual appeal to it. “
“I always think about the Rebecca Clausen people in college that I was FLC Sociology Chair the closest with. It was the people that were at the Indy with me.” Luke Perkins Former Editor in Chief
Check out theindyonline.com to see what else was said about The IndependenT
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MY MY FAVORITE FAVORITE M YEAR YEAR y Favorite Year will premiere at 7:30 on March 15. The musical can also be seen at 7:30 on March 16 and on March 20-24. Or, at 2 on March 17.
The musical tells the story of Benjy Stone, a young man and comedy writer for a variety show. The year is 1954 when Stone meets Alan Swann, Hollywood icon turned alcoholic, there to be a guest on the variety show. Based on the film of the same name starring Peter O’Toole, it is a sort of coming-of-age story that follows a young man meeting his hero and learning that nobody is perfect, Theresa Carson, director of the musical, said. Carson did not play a role in the decision to pick My Favorite Year as the musical, but said that the funny and positive nature of it appealed to those who did pick it. “I think it’d be nice for people to come see a musical where they can escape a little,” she said. Carson said that she hopes small-town Durango residents get to take a trip to the big apple, where the musical is set, for the night. Carson also said that she hopes the musical is enjoyable for mature audience members who remember 1954. Erin Natseway, who plays Belle May Steinberg Carroca, Benjy’s mother, said that the musical is like a love letter to that era. She said that it is a show tune like musical that offers a glimpse into the golden age of television. “To be fair, it is somewhat of a rosy view of what it would have been like,” she said. “But, I think that the point is that we’re seeing the story through Benjy’s storytelling and he’s remembering it as his favorite year.” For Carson, the musical has been challenging in part because of the sheer size of the cast. “There’s two things,” Carson said. “I cast who I think is best for the part and, honestly, I try to cast as many students as possible.” The My Favorite Year cast consists of 24 actors. “Sometimes it’s like herding cats,” Carson said. Most of the actors play anywhere from six to seven different characters, something that Jane Gould, the costume designer, must take into account. “I don’t want them to look like the same person so I’m doing some disguises with hair, wigs, hats, that kind of stuff,” Gould said.
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With 125 costumes total, Gould assigned each of her students two or three actors to dress. “We have a really big wardrobe here so we try to pull as much as we can because I have, you know, a limited budget,” Gould said. The size of the cast is just a part of what makes this production different. Both Carson and Natseway said that it has been a long time since there was one this lighthearted. “In terms of the shows that I’ve personally done, it’s very light,” Natseway said. “It’s just a very feel good story. I think it can come across as a bit sappy but it’s just a very feel good story and a lot of the shows that I’ve done here have been very emotionally deep.” “A little angsty,” added Harrison Wendt, who plays Alan Swann.
Taylor Hutchinson
Gus Palma, playing Benjy Stone, rehearses the opening number of My Favorite Year. Photo by Taylor Hutchison.
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