the oredigger issue 13 - january 21, 2013

7/29/2019 The Oredigger Issue 13 - January 21, 2013

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T H E O R E D I G G E RVolume 93, Issue 13 January 21, 2013

The student voice of the Colorado School of Mines

Club Spotlight

looks at the

Mines Ski Team

Sports 9

w w w . O R E D I G G E R . n e t

Opinion 11

Features 4

News 3

Satire 12

Author Michael

Dowd lectures

on religion

Oredigger

reviews The

Hobbit

How can you

help end world

poverty?

Naked Juice sued

for magic use

Mens Basketball wipes the court with UCCS and CSU Pueblo this previous Friday and Saturday. Read more on page 9.

Since March 2011, Syria has

been the site of a growing conict

between rebel and loyalist factions.

More than 60,000 are believed dead

from this clash, with the status of

many more unknown. Upwards of

500,000 Syrian refugees have ed

to other countries. Despite the scale

of this ght, most Americans remain

largely unaware of events in Syria or

their signicance. National Public

Radios Foreign Correspondent,

Deborah Amos, spent some time

Thursday evening giving a much

closer and more direct perspective

on the ghting and its ramications

for the rest of the world.

Amos began by describing the

border city of Antakya, Turkey,

where over 100,000 Syrian refugees

and most journalists and reporters

position themselves to get the most

information on the goings-on in Syr-

ia. It has become a place where the

rebels can take some time to relax.

It is where they leave their families

and loved ones to keep them safe.

It has also become highly populated

by the Syrian middle class. Since

Syrians do not need a visa to travel

into Turkey, they can drive into

Turkey and wait out the war.

There are now four crossings open

along the border between Turkey

and Syria, with the nearest one so

close to the city that one can actual ly

take a short cab ride to the cross-

ing and quickly step out of Turkey

into a lawless land run mostly by

armed, bearded men. The Syrian

Stories from the Syrian frontlinegovernment no longer has much

control over these crossings. One

has even been taken over by a

former cigarette smuggler who saw

a chance for greater prot in this

gateway between lands. In regards

to the situation on the ground, Amos

summed up the situation by saying

that a lot of it is just plain odd.

Though this conict has been

compared to the recent rebellion in

Egypt, Amos argues that there are

some major distinctions between

the two. The Syrian uprising began

as a response to intelligence ofcialstorturing and refusing to release

a group of teenagers who had

been tagging buildings with anti-

government grafti. Activists who

had helped organize the protests in

Egypt took what they had learned

and applied it to Syria spreading

the word through Facebook, Twitter,

and other social media sites.

Satellite news channels also

helped spread the news, which

helped to counter the news blackout

the government initiated soon after

the combat began. The loyalist

government actually threw all of

the international media out of the

country and began issuing propa-

ganda that the rebellion was a revolt

of foreigners, started and run by

people outside the country and not

by actual Syrians. The rebels coun-

tered with their own propaganda

on Youtube, using whatever means

they could to document what was

actually happening in the country. It

quickly turned into a battle of the

narratives, with both the govern-

ment and rebels working hard to

convince fellow Syrians and the rest

of the world to believe their version

of events. Despite the continued

ghting on the ground, Amos points

out that through the rampant propa-

ganda and cyber warfare used by

both sides, The conict in Syria has

morphed into a media war.

However, one of the main things

that separates this conict from the

one in Egypt is the loyalty of the

various institutions. In Egypt, when

the rebellion began to gain traction,

most members of the Army found

themselves with the same gripesand issues as the rebels. As such,

they joined forces and helped the

Egyptian rebels in many ways. In

Syria, the Assad family has ruled

for so long that there are essentially

no government institutions that are

separate from the family. As such,

rebels can expect no help from any

Syrian armed forces, as they are

largely tied to the ruling family and

other loyalists.

Another factor in this conict is

the youth bulge in Syrias popula-

tion. More than 60 percent of the

population is under 30 years old and

a large majority of the youth is well

educated. They have taken up the

responsibility to free their country

from what they see as an oppres-

sive regime and became a sort of

vanguard of young people leading

the rebellion. Many had to sneak

out to protest and ght against the

wishes of their parents and then later

helped to educate their parents on

how to aid the rebellion.

One of the worst casualties in

this war seems to be the country of

Syria itself. The number of refugees

eeing the country is expected to

continue to grow, despite the fact

that neighboring countries do not

have the space or the financial

means to sustain such a growth in

population. Allegations that the Syr-

ian government is attacking civilians

continue to be made.

The conict shows no obvious

signs of ending soon and the Syrians

who began the rebellion sit back in

forced despair as their war starts

to become inuenced by outside

sources. The rebels are willing totake help from any source that will

supply it and as a result, have found

themselves allying with extremist

groups and foreign governments

alike. There are so many groups in-

volved in the conict now that even if

Assad falls, there will likely be some

sort of power struggle to determine

who gets to be in charge of the war-

torn country. As Amos pointed out,

Syria has the potential to re-shape

the geopolitical landscape, and

there is currently no plan for who

will assume command if the conict

ends with a rebel victory. Syria has

fundamentally changed [and] no

one in the opposition knows how

the country should look afterward.

As Amos impressed upon the

audience the gravity of the situa-

tion and the dire need for solutions

in both areas of humanitarian aid

for the refugees and planning for

the future of the country in general,

she remarked of the United States

policy of trying not to act without

understanding the ramifications,

inaction also has consequences.

Jordan Francis

Staff Writer

ALL PHOTOS MICHAEL RODGERS / OREDIGGER


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n e w s january 21, 2013page 2


Oredigger Staff

Katie Huckfeldt

Editor-in-Chief

Deborah GoodManaging Editor

Steven WooldridgeWebmaster

Barbara AndersonDesign Editor

Lucy OrsiBusiness Manager

Ian MertzCopy Editor

Arnaud FilliatAsst. Copy Editor

Trevor CraneContent Manager

Stephen HejducekContent Manager

Katerina GonzalesContent Manager

David TauchenFaculty Advisor

Headlines from around the worldLocal News

Arnaud Filliat,Asst. Copy Editor

Arnaud Filliat,Asst. Copy Editor

Pennsylvania, United States - Last year a

team of physicists showed how to undo the cof-

fee-ring effect, which occurs when drops of liquid

with suspended particles dry, leaving a ring-shaped

stain at the drops edges. The team discovered

that different particles make smoother or rougher

deposition proles depending on their shape.

Switzerland - Scientists at Empa,

the Swiss Federal Laboratories for

Materials Science and Technology,

developed thin lm solar cells on ex-

ible polymer foils with a new record

efciency of 20.4% for converting sun-

light into electricity. The cells are based

on copper indium gallium (di)selenide

(CIGS) known for its potential to pro-

vide cost-effective solar electricity.

Vienna, Austria - Each cell has regulatory re-

gions that control which genes are active at any

time. Scientists at the Research Institute of Molec-

ular Pathology (IMP) in Vienna recently developed

a method that reliably detects these regions and

measures their activity. Genes carry the instruction

for proteins but they are a minority of the entire ge-

nome sequence (two percent in humans).

London, England - The quantum law of entanglement may hold the

key to the teleportation of quantum information. Researchers at Cam-

bridge, University College London, and the University of Gdansk, worked

out how entanglement could be recycled to increase the efciency of these

connections. Quantum teleportation involves transmitting particle-sizedbites of information across vast distances.

The United States is about half-

way through the current u season

and although it is hitting the elderly

hardest, 29 children have also

died from inuenza. 48 states re-

ported widespread geographic in-

uenza activity and more than 5,000

people were sick enough to be

hospitalized. The early season has

caused a run on u vaccines, and

now some areas report shortages.

However, according to the Centers

for Disease Control, u vaccine mak-

ers were able to squeeze out 10 mil-

lion more doses than expected for a

total of 145 million.Lance Armstrong admitted

to having used performance en-

hancing drugs in all seven of his

tour de France wins on Oprah Win-

freys Network last week. He admit-

ted to using erythropoietin (EPO),

blood transfusions, human growth

hormone, testosterone, and corti-

sone. Armstrong is expected to re-

ceive legal ramications as a result of

his admitting to using performance

enhancing drugs.

A recently hired security of-

cer left a handgun unattended in a

Michigan charter school bathroom.

No children were exposed to the

handgun. Recent events such as

the Connecticut school shooting

in which 20 children and six schoolemployees were killed has led to the

NRA calling for armed guards

at every school and the president

calling for more gun control in an at-

tempt to curb violence.

Fiat/Chrysler CEO Sergio Mar-

chionne recently announced that

theAlfa Romeo brand will return

to the United States by year-end,

launching with the new 4C sports

car. Alfa Romeo was one of the

most popular Italian brands sold in

the country, but abandoned the US

market two decades ago due to a

variety of problems, including poor

quality. Marchionne said that the

powertrain was of particular concern

and stressed that it had to have the

right feel and even the right sound

associated with Alfas of the past. He

reassured reporters saying, Alfa Ro-

meo is coming. There is not a single

doubt.French troops launched their

frst ground operation against

Islamist rebels in Mali on Wednes-

day in an attempt to get rid of al-Qaida-linked ghters. France called

for international support against the

Islamist insurgents that are a threat

to Africa and the West. French army

chief Edouard Guillaud said that

French military strikes were being

hampered due to militants using civil-

ian populations as shields. He further

said that we categorically refuse to

make the civilian population take a

risk. If in doubt, we will not shoot.

23 hostages and 32 militants

were killed after an attack on a

natural gas plant deep in Alge-

ria. 107 foreign hostages and 685

Algerian hostages have also been

released. The nal raid launched by

Algerias military at the In Amenas

plant led to the death of several al-

Qaida-linked militants and seven

hostages. The militants said Friday

before the raid that they would ex-

change two American citizens for

two people being held in the UnitedStates, the blind sheik Omar Ab-

del Rahman, convicted in the 1993

bombing of the World Trade Center,

and Aae Siddiqque, a 40 year old

Pakistani neuroscientist who was

convicted of attacking U.S. soldiers

in Afghanistan. The United States

did not complete the trade.

Last Saturday night, a spe-

cial dance performance raised

money for a local ballerina anddance teacher. In October, the

22 year old dancer was hit by a

car while walking home from a

performance. She suffered se-

vere injuries and will be moved

to a traumatic brain rehabilitation

center later this month. Dancers

from 15 studios around the met-

ro area put on the performance

to raise money for medical bills.

In Aurora, Colorado, police

responded to shooting last Fri-

day night. A woman was found

with multiple gunshot wounds

inside her home. Police identi-

ed a possible suspect in the

neighborhood and surrounded

his home and took him into cus-tody. The relationship between

the suspect and victim is un-

known and no identities are be-

ing released at this time.

In Westminster, Colorado, a

re destroyed a home late Sat-

urday night. The home was fully

engulfed in ames by the time

reghters arrived. No one was

in the home during the re but

two neighbors were forced to

ee their home with the ames

began to spread. The re took

over an hour to extinguish and

two families are currently dis-

placed.

A young boy from Aurora,Colorado is being released from

the hospital after a 202 day stay.

The child, Gavyn, was paralyzed

from the neck down after a car

accident. Gavyn will never walk

and may never speak again,

but he has been doing remark-

able well. The family is working

hard to remodel their home for

Gavyns return home.


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n e w sjanuary 21, 2013 page


The Spring 2013 semester is

upon us, and with that comes the

cornerstone event that the CSM

Graduate Student Association

(GSA) has become known for, The

Conference on Earth & Energy Re-

search (CEER) 2013. The event will

take place at the Green Center on

February 21-22,

2013, showcas-

ing the best and

brightest earth-

and energy-

related research

from across the

Mines campus,

as well as other

Colorado graduate institutions.

Through a partnership forged by VP

of Research, Dr. John Poate, NREL

will be participating in CEER 2013

through presenters, judges, as well

as the opening keynote speaker.

CEER 2013 is very proud to an-

nounce that the opening and clos-

ing keynote speakers for CEER

2013 will be Dr. Dana Christensen

and Dr. Chuck Kutscher, respec-

tively.

Dr. Christensen is the Deputy

Lab Director of Science & Technol-

ogy at the U.S. Dept. of Energys

NREL, and is the VP for the Alli-

ance for Sustainable Energy, LLC.

Spending more than 10 years in

DoE labs, such as Oak Ridge Natl

Labs, Los Alamos Natl Labs, and

Pacic Northwest Natl Labs, Chris-

tensen is one of the worlds leading

experts on energy technology, en-

ergy materials and chemistry, and

energy systems. As NRELs Deputy

Director for Science and Technol-

ogy he is responsible for the sci-

ence strategy, focused on position-

ing the Laboratory for delivering on

high impact solutions to the na-

tions energy challenges and goals

with particular focus on renewable

energy development and the in-

tegration of energy efciency for

buildings, industrial, and transpor-

tation sectors into the energy grid.

Christensen has a Ph.D. in Chemi-

cal Engineering from New Mexico

State University,

Master of Science

degrees in Chemi-

cal Engineering and

Civil/Environmental

Engineering from

New Mexico State

University, and an

Executive MBA

from the University of New Mexico.

Dr. Kutscher is a Founding Fel-

low for the Renewable and Sus-

tainable Energy Institute, a joint-

venture between CU-Boulder and

NREL, where he leads research on

parabolic trough solar collectors

and low-cost heliostats.

Dr. Kutscher is the past chair

and fellow for the American So-

lar Energy Society, and led the

production of Tackling Climate

Change in the U.S., which details

how energy efciency and six re-

newable technologies can greatlyreduce U.S. carbon emission by

2030. Kutscher also served as the

Chair of the 2012 World Renewable

Energy Forum held in Denver that

attracted over 2,000 participants

from over 60 nations. He has a B.S.

in physics from the State University

of New York at Albany, an M.S. in

nuclear engineering from the Uni-

versity of Illinois, and Ph.D. in me-

chanical engineering from the Uni-

versity of Colorado.

Noteworthy keynotespeakers for 2013

CEER conferenceMark Taylor

Courtesy GSA

Pennsylvania, United States

The two deposition proles of

particular interest are Poisson

and Kardar-Parisi-Zhang pro-

cesses. Poisson processes arise

when growth is random in space

and time; the growth of one re-

gion is independent of neighbor-ing regions. Kardar-Parisi-Zhang

(KPZ) occurs when growth of

an individual region depends on

neighboring regions.

A mathematical simulat ion of

these growth processes might be

a game of Tetris, but with single

square blocks with the blocks fall-

ing at random into a series of ad-

jacent columns, forming stacks.

In a Poisson process a tall stack

is just as likely to be next to a

short stack as another tall stack.

As such , Poisson processes pro-

duce a very rough surface, with

large changes in surface height

from one column to the next.

On the other hand KPZ pro-

cesses lead to blocks stickingto adjacent columns. When they

fall into a column, they do not al-

ways fall all the way to the bottom

but instead can stick to adjacent

columns at their highest point.

Thus short columns will catch up

to their tall neighbors over time,

and the resulting surfaces are

smoother. There will be fewer

abrupt changes in height from

one column to the next.

The teams experiment in-

volved drying drops of water with

differently shaped plastic par-

ticles under a microscope. They

then measured the growth fronts

of particles at the drying edge,

especially their height uctuations(the edges roughness) over time.

When using spherical par-

ticles, they found their deposition

at the edges of the drop exhibited

a classic Poisson growth pro-

cess. By changing the elongation

of the particle they found that the

growth process changed.

Elliptical particles stretched

by 20 percent produced KPZ

growth and stretching the par-

ticles further (250 percent) pro-

duced another growth process

known as Kardar-Parisi-Zhang

with Quenched Disorder.

This led to the surfaces growth

being proportional the local par-

ticle density so that particle-rich

regions get richer and particlepoor regions stay poor. The abil-

ity to control surface roughness is

important for industrial and com-

mercial applications, as rough

lms and coatings can lead to

structural weakness or poor aes-

thetics.

In the experiment surface

roughness is controlled passively

making this process an attrac-

tive alternative for more costly

smoothing processes currently in

use.

Switzerland

The technology is currently

awaiting scale-up for industrial

applications. The team succeed-

ed by modifying the propertiesof the CIGS layer that is grown

at low temperatures and which

absorbs light that contributes to

the photo-current in solar cells.

Thin lm, lightweight and exible

high-performance solar cells are

attractive for numerous applica-

tions and can be produced using

manufacturing processes that of-

fer further cost reductions when

compared to silicon based solar

cells.

Vienna , Austria

The other 98 percent is known

as dark matter and is often

dismissed as its function has

remained mostly unknown. Sci-

entists found that dark matter

or the non-coding part of DNAcontains regulatory regions that

determine when and where each

gene is expressed. This regulation

ensures that each gene is only

active in appropriate cell-types

and tissues, such as hemoglobin

in red blood cells and digestive

enzymes in the stomach. If gene

regulation fails, cells express the

wrong genes and often acquire

inappropriate functions such as

the ability to divide and prolifer-

ate, leading to diseases such as

cancer. Despite the importance of

dark matter, scientists were lim-

ited in their ability to study it due

to identication relying on indirect

means which were error prone.Scientists at the IMP in Vi-

enna developed a new technol-

ogy called STARR-seq (self-tran-

scribing active regulatory region

sequencing). STARR-seq allows

the direct identication of DNA

sequences that function as regu-

latory regions and simultaneously

measures their activity quantita-

tively in entire genomes.

Applying this technology to

Drosophila cells, the scientists

found that the strongest regula-

tors reside in both genes that de-

termine cell-types and in genes

that are required for basic cell

survival. Furthermore, they found

several regulators for each active

gene, which might provide redun-dancy to ensure robustness of

gene regulation.

London, England

It uses the entanglement law

where a pair of quantum par-

ticles (electrons or protons) are

intrinsically bound together re-

taining synchronisation that holds

whether the particles are next to

each other or on opposing sides

of a galaxy. Through this connec-

tion quantum bits of information

(qubits) can be relayed.

Previous teleportation

techniques could only send

scrambled information requir-

ing correction by the receiver or

teleportation that required an im-practical amount of entanglement

(each qubit sent would destroy

the entangled state).

The physicis ts developed a

protocol to provide an optimal

solution in which the entangled

state is recycled, so that the

gateway between particles holds

for the teleportation of multiple

objects or qubits.

They also devised a protocol

in which multiple qubits can be

teleported simultaneously, but

the entangled state degrades

proportionally to the amount of

qubits sent. While the physicists

protocol is solely theoretical, last

year a team of Chinese scientists

reported teleporting photons over143 km, breaking previous re-

cords.

Teleportation of informati on

carried by single atoms is fea-

sible with current technologies,

but teleportation of large objects

such as people or Captain Kirk is

still science ction.

Continued from page 2

GSA has become known

for, The Conference on

Earth & Energy Re-

search (CEER) 2013

There is no question about it

religions are in conict and have

been for millennia. Michael Dowd,

author of the book Thank God for

Evolution, takes on the issue of

what it means to be truly religious in

his lecture. He has a lot to say on

the subject, but his primary theme

for the lecture is that God is Reality

and Reality is God; there is no dif-

ference between the two concepts.

Dowd is a pastor who has

spoken to many people about his

Christian Naturalism, though he

says it is possible to be a Jewish

Naturalist, a Muslim Naturalist,

a Buddhist Naturalist, a HinduNaturalist, an Atheist Naturalist,

etc. We have spoken to over 1700

groups over the past 11 years, he

said. Dowd has even given TED

talks. He is a very religious man,

but believes that religious people

who follow the Bible, Quran, etc. to

the letter are blinding themselves to

reality. That reality is long gone and

has been replaced with another real-

ity many, many times over. He also

believes that reality is just a secular

name for God and uses the two

words interchangeably. The rest of

the lecture follows this theme.

Dowd rst commented on the

audience. We got a really mixed

audience [religious, anti-religious,

non-religious, or in-between], hesaid. He asked the audience to ask

him questions so he could gauge

what beliefs they had and what

concerned them. He then said We

believe that there is nothing more

important to nd the right relation-

ship to reality. To truly be saved

spiritually, this is absolutely essential.

However, Dowd argues that people

cannot rely on a book or a group of

men to accomplish this. Their reality

is no more; it is in the past, it no lon-ger applies. As a result, Dowd says

Most religious people are blind and

deaf to reality because they de-

pend on that reality to guide them.

Dowd says the most important

questions we must ask ourselves

are What is real? and What is im-

portant? This cannot be dened in

a book or by a group of men. (Dowd

constantly reinforces this outlook.)

Dowd notes that religious texts

were oral before they were written

down. These stories were allowed

to evolve un-

til they were

d e c l a r e d

rigid and un-

c h a n g i n g .

Dowd re-gards this as

a mistake as

there could

be no fur-

ther proof of

reality to be

considered. Religious people blind

themselves to new evidencefacts,

discoveries, etc.of reality because

it does not conform to their texts.

They do not establish a good rela-

tionship with reality.

As evidence, Dowd discusses

the unanimously held belief that

there is a Nested Nature of Creativi-

ty. There exists the subatomic, then

the atomic, then the molecular, then

the cells, then the organism, and it

goes on and on seemingly withoutend. Ultimately, we are a part dis-

covering the whole.

Dowd listed three things people

need: the best understanding of our

outer nature (history, etc.), the best

understanding of our inner nature

(thoughts, etc.), and death. Sci-

ence-based understanding helps us

come to terms with this.

Dowd then started accepting

questions from the audience. One

was, How can we be moral with-out religion? Dowd explained that

it is from group nature, empathy,

and compassion that people build

their moral code and he even de-

ned good and evil into simple

terms: good helps the tribe, evil

harms the tribe. Another question

was on beliefs and how people

could live without beliefs. Dowd ar-

gued that is not possible, everyone

believes in something. Still, he said

If you want to live a great life you

dont have to have otherworldly

beliefs. You

just need great

relat ionships

and great ac-

c o m p l i s h -

ment. Anotherquestion was,

Is religion

bad? Dowd

explained that

people are re-

sponsible for

a negative perception of religion

based on hatred of those who

have different beliefs. Another

question was if science should be

followed, and Dowd said that it is

important, while admitting that sci-

ence can be arrogant and full of

itself.

Dowd provided a lecture that

dealt with many deep themes. He

had much to say, but had well-

dened major themes. God is real-

ity and everyone must realize that.Nothing is supernatural. Reality is

constantly changing and people

need to be open to that, and that

is not accomplished relying on old

books and a group of men to de-

termine what this reality is. To live

a good life, one must make peace

with reality. Once that is accom-

plished, one will have a good life

and have a great relationship with

reality.

Dowd explores conceptsof religion and realityKyle Santi

Staff Writer

We believe that there is

nothing more important

to fnd the right relation-ship to reality. To truly be

saved spiritually, this is

absolutely essential.


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f e a t u r e s january 21, 2013page 4


From Kathyrn Bigelow, direc-

tor of the critically acclaimed lm

The Hurt Locker, comes Zero

Dark Thirty, a lm that docu-

ments the search and pursuit

of Osama Bin Laden. The mostimportant thing for this movie is

to know what to expect, as the

movie has far less action than

The Hurt Locker. Although the

previews for the movie depict

a high-intensity, action packed

thriller, these sequences are

saved for the end of the lm.

Just because there are less

action sequences in Zero Dark

Thirty does not make it a bad

lm. The build-up and pursuit of

Bin Laden in the rst two hours of

the movie set a highly grave tone,

which in turn amplies the impor-

tance of the infamous manhunt.

This setup also in tensies and en-

hances the nal 30 minutes or so

when the Navy SEALS are briefedand deployed into Bin Ladens

compound.

The high tech gear and weap-

onry of the SEALS is something

to be marveled, yet it also raises

some important questions.

The viewer will likely wonder

how much can actually be re-

vealed surrounding this top-se-

cret mission and what is actually

true. The nature of the situation

is quite enigmatic, and the ev-

eryday citizen cannot distinguish

fact from ction, especially in thedepiction of a Hollywood movie.

Although the movie contains real

life events, like various unforget-

table and heinous bombings in

the Middle East, it is foolish to

fully accept everything that is pre-

sented in the lm. However, the

behind-the-scenes look at the

situation does provide illuminat-

ing insight to the high-stress work

environment of government orga-

nizations such as the CIA.

Common criticism of the lm

pertains to the amount of time it

takes to get to the action-packed

end. Viewed from an analytical

standpoint, the lmmakers used

an extended amount of time to

attempt to mimic the frustrationand prolonged waiting associ-

ated with the hunt for Bin Laden.

Interestingly enough after years

of hunting, searching, and study-

ing, Maya, the protagonist (Jes-

sica Chastain ) is not fully relieved

at the end of the lm. She spent

several years on one thing, and

this goal engulfed every aspect of

her life, even degrading her men-

tal and physical health. However,

the relief she was expecting did

not necessarily come. Revenge is

a prominent theme in the movie,and the ending is a clever com-

mentary regarding the obsession

over vengeance.

Surprisingly enough, the mov-

ie is more of an intellectual ex-

perience than that of pure action

and violence. Some of the torture

scenes are graphic and disturb-

ing, but the goal of these scenes

was to shed light on such atroci-

ties.

The best thing to do before

this movie is to expect about two

hours of setup (with the occa-

sional explosion here and there.)

After this, the viewers are reward-

ed with a stealthy and intense

depiction of precise training and

tactics orchestrated by the NavySEALSsomething everyone

can enjoy. Zero Dark Thirty is

rated R and should not be con-

sidered appropriate for younger

audiences.

Finally, after nine years of wait-

ing, movie audiences are rewarded

with a return to the magical land

of Middle-earth to experience the

unexpected journey of Bilbo Bag-

gins. Director Peter Jacksons rst

installment of J.R.R. Tolkiens The

Hobbit has accomplished not

only what he needed to, but much

more. The story, always a childrens

tale, is jovial compared to the som-

ber-toned Lord of the Rings trilogy

and is lled with bumbling trolls and

singing dwarves, who can crack

quite the bad joke.

Many detractors have com-

plained that the movie does not

follow the original storyline page

for page, and indeed Jacksonhas caught some ack for adding

characters such as Radagast the

Brown, the necromancer, Saru-

man, and Lady Galadriel. These

critics may have lost sight of what

From a literary point of view, ac-

cording to most Tolkien fans, The

Lord of the Rings is not quite as

good as the jovial story of The

Hobbit. The original trilogy was

overlaid with a serious demeanorwhereas its prequel illustrated the

positive and almost humorous life of

Bilbo Baggins, the not-so-adventur-

ous hobbit.

So when it was announced that

the Hobbit would soon appear in

theaters, fans were predictably en-

thusiastic. The plan was that after

delivering the Lord of the Rings tril-

ogy to the silver screen, Peter Jack-

son would leave to recreate King

An unexpected surprise

An unexpected disaster

Tyrel Jacobsen

Staff Writer

Stephen Hejducek

Content Manager

the Hobbit trilogy is actually try-

ing to accomplish. The book itself

is tiny, and represents just a smallportion of the Lord of the Rings

backstory. As a result, Jackson has

placed more history into the story-

line of his lm. Through The Hob-

bit trilogy, he is trying to tell the

rich history of Middle-earth in full

and can be considered a true Tolk-

ien historian. Instead of detracting

from the story, it is an honor to the

author that the full story is being

told.

Jackson also sparked con-

troversy by lming the movie at a

higher than usual frame rate. Typi-

cal movies are shot at 24 frames

per second. In contrast, An Un-

expected Journey was shot at 48

frames per second in 3-D giving

the movie a more lifelike quality.The crispness of the picture and

the clarity is something that many

viewers have likened to watching a

video game or HDTV. However, the

48 frames per second movie was

only available in select cities and

only in 3-D, so it was still easy to

view the traditional 24 frames persecond version in 2-D.

Overall, the acting was superb.

Martin Freeman in his breakout

role as young Bilbo Baggins and

Richard Armitage as King Thorin

Oakenshield complete a ne act-

ing troupe alongside Ian McKel-

len and Andy Serkis both repris-

ing roles of Gandalf and Gollum.

Somewhat intriguing was that this

set of actors resembled the School

of Mines in that there is only one

credited female lead on the cast

list; Cate Blanchett performing her

reprise role of Lady Galadriel.

In the end, this movie has ac-

complished much, and even with

its 58 score on Metacritic, time will

be the ofcial judge. Once the nextinstallments are released, many

critics may look back and decide

that The Hobbit: An Unexpected

Journey was also an unexpected

surprise.

Kong and then return to work on

The Hobbit. However, because

of earnings disputes with New Line

Cinema, The Hobbit was delayed

multiple times. Then, once it nally

got going, director Guillermo del

Toro suddenly stepped down from

his position within a year of pro-

duction and was soon replacedby Jackson. The announcement of

Jacksons return spurred a urry of

fantastic ideas of a return to Middle-

earth headed by Jacksons amazing

vision.

While the proverbial bar was

set very high for Peter Jackson, he

managed to fall far short. The movie

begins quite well and is almost

seamlessly accurate to the early

chapters of the novel, but soon,

miscellaneous, minor characters

are developed and begin to play a

major role. For example, in the lm

Radagast the Brown played a tre-

mendous role, and his involvement

in the storyline was blown com-

pletely out of proportion. While this

was done to tie the stories of The

Lord of the Rings to this movie, thecompletely unnecessary amounts

of allusion to Saurons rise removed

the happy nature that the novel

founded itself upon. Why Jack-

son took this approach made little

sense.

The story was a bit lackluster and

contained too much juvenile humor.

The scenes with the obese goblin

king only sought to instill anger and

portray an unnecessary amount of

computer-generated imagery (CGI).

Looking back at the original Lord of

the Rings lms made by Jackson,

he relied mostly upon good cinema-

tography and lming know-how to

create stunning scenes with watereffects and realistic ghts. However,

in this lm most of the scenes use

CGI, and they take away from the

beauty that his lms once had. The

best example of this is a falling scaf-

fold scene where the entire party of

dwarves and Bilbo are holding on

for dear life. The scaffolding chang-

es shape, contorts, and expands as

if the wood could elastically stretch

and compress at will. At the bottom

of the drop, after one of the dwarves

says, Well, that could not have got-

ten any worse, the fat goblin man-

ages to fall on top of everyone.

Examples like this deteriorated the

overall quality of the lm.While The Hobbit began as

only one movie, it ballooned to two

lms and now to three. It is likely that

this movie and its sequels are going

to be a cash cow for Jackson and

his posse. Sadly, this movie has only

earned a not-so-thrilling 6.2 out of

10 and is not worth three hours of

sitting to watch. Hopefully, the future

holds a better follow-up to this ter-

rible start.

The Hobbit received mixed reviews from fans of the Lord

of the Rings trilogy.

COURTESY WARNERS BROS. PICTURES

Mixed reviews on The Hobbit

Evan Ford

Staff Writer

Zero Dark Thirty is an intellectual experience for viewers.

COURTESY COLUMBIA PICTURES

Zero Dark Thirty more than an action flm


5/12

f e a t u r e sjanuary 21, 2013 page 5


Disclaimer: This column is an

opinion formed by an author whodoes not have an omniscient knowl-

edge of comics. It also contains a

fair number of spoilers for the titular

comics.

To provide fair warning, the dis-

claimer at the top is really an under-

statement. There are some major

spoilers ahead for these comics.

That being said, there is not much

point in beating around the bush.

Courtesy of these three issues, Pe-

ter Parker is dead and Doc Ock is

now Spider-Man. Yeah, that actually

happened. Now, lets take a closer

look and see what caused this in-

sanity.

As a matter of full disclosure, I

should mention that Ive kept my eye

on the Spider-Man universe enoughto know generally whats been going

on in it, but I have not actually read

many Spider-Man comics since the

One More Day story arc (a story

wherein Peter made a deal with

Mephisto, Marvels version of the

devil, to save Aunt May and make

the rest of the world forget Parkers

recently-revealed secret identity in

exchange for Peter and Mary Jane

giving up the memory of their mar-

riage). Hence, I did not pick up these

issues when they rst came out and

there were none left when I went to

go buy them later, so my knowledge

here comes largely from scans and

transcripts of these comics.

Marvels Amazing Spider-Man

#699 picks up where the prior is-sue ended. Peter Parker is dealing

with the reality that Doctor Octavius

(also known as Doctor Octopus or

Doc Ock) has managed to swap

their minds so that Doc Ocks mind

now occupies Peter Parkers super-

powered body and Parkers mind is

in Doc Ocks old, decrepit body. Ad-

ditionally, Doc Ocks body has taken

too many beatings from his battles

against Spider-Man and it is now fail-

ing and approaching death, with Pe-

ter trapped inside. As a side effect of

the mind swap, Peter and Doc Ock

have access to each others memo-

ries. Peter uses this ability to gure

out how Ock pulled off the mind

transfer (turns out he got a scan of

Peters brain when Spider-Man hadto access some of Ocks technology

to stop it, then later used that scan

to get an Octobot to swap their mind

patterns). Peter (as Ock) manages

to contact some other super-villains

and gets them to break him out of

prison. Peter then sets out with the

villains to capture Spider-Man (Doc

Ock) and try and reverse the mind

swap. Got all that?

In Amazing Spider-Man #700,

Peter, still in Ocks body, holes up

in one of Doc Ocks hideouts and

starts working on getting all the

pieces together to reverse the mind

swap while Ock (in Peters body),

noticing the news coverage about

Doc Ock breaking out of jail, decides

to leave the country so that Petercant get them together and undo

the damage. However, he later has

a change of heart and comes back

to face Peter and nds himself de-

fending Parkers friends and family

from an attack by another villain. Pe-

ter (as Ock) catches up to Ock (as

Spider-Man) and attempts to use an

Octobot to switch their minds back,

but Ock had planned ahead and

modied the Spider-Man costume

to make it immune to such attacks.

As Ocks body begins to fail and Pe-

ter starts to die, he manages to get

the Octobot to beam his memories

into both of their minds, forcing DocOck to briey live through all of the

Peter Parker memories to which he

now has access. Overcome with

the enormity of all Peter has been

through and all he does in spite of

his circumstances, Ock accepts

Peters dying charge to be a hero

and vows to become an even better

Spider-Man than Parker ever was.

Upon hearing this, Peter dies and

Ock steps into his role as the Supe-

rior Spider-Man. Still keeping up?

The Superior Spider-Man #1

chronicles Ocks rst steps into the

world of heroism. It is not a perfect

transition. He still talks like the ego-

maniacal supervillain he has always

been and he tends to run away

from ghts he thinks he cannot win.Strangely enough though, Ock nds

his self-preservation instincts occa-

sionally overridden by the desire to

protect others, even going so far as

to use his own body to shield a po-

lice ofcer from harm. Ock has also

managed to renew Parkers relation-

ship with Mary Jane and is thor-

oughly enjoying the various perks

that come with dating her. When he

goes to confront the villains who he

ran from earlier, he nally gets to do

the one thing he, as a bad guy, has

never been able to do beforewin.

He refuses to stop at simple vic-

tory and begins beating one villain

to death. However, he nds himself

strangely unable to deliver the kill-

ing blow and, in his confusion, will-ingly hands over the bad guys to the

police. On the nal page, the reader

discovers that somehow, some form

of Peter Parker still exists in his body

and while Doc Ock cannot see or

sense him, Parker has some very

limited control over what his body

does. Knowing that Doc Ock cannot

hear him, Peter declares doesnt

matter. You dont get to kill. I wont

let you. I dont know how, but I am

still in the ght. I AM Peter Parker,

and I swear I will nd a way back!

So, to summarize, Peter Parker and

Doc Ock switched bodies, Peter

died in Doc Ocks body, Ock is now

Spider-Man and living Peter Parkers

life, and Peter still retains enough of

a presence in his own body to makesure Doc Ock acts like a hero.

Obviously, this move is causing

a lot of controversy, but the Marvel

writers are due some credit. They

have done what many thought was

impossible, they made life worse for

Spider-Man. He has had loved ones

die in his arms, been beaten to pulp

a thousand times over, had the entire

world hunting him, had to question

whether or not he was a clone, been

to an alternate dimension where he

had died, and once was forced into

a literal deal with the devil, but now

he gets to almost powerlessly watch

as one of his worst enemies lives his

life. I mean, Peter doesnt even get

to rest in death. He has to expend

his energy trying to stop Ock fromdoing anything too horrible. And lets

not avoid the awkward, Doc Ock is

trying hard to get as far as he can

with Mary Jane. While she thinks

hes Peter. So technically, if he suc-

ceeds, its rape. And now, with Pe-

ter in his head, itll be a rape Peter

has to watch and probably wont be

able to do much about. Also, that

relationship is creepy, not just be-

cause of the age difference between

them or the fact that its not actually

Peter, but also because Doc Ock

once came very close to marrying

Aunt May in Amazing Spider-Man

#131. As if that didnt make thingscreepy enough, Doc Ock and Aunt

May got a little bit of an early start on

their wedding night right before the

(thankfully interrupted) ceremony. An

early start of which, thanks to the

body swap and the memory sharing,

Peter now has intimate knowledge.

Ew. Also, the readers do not have a

particularly compelling reason to be-

lieve that this new Superior Spider-

Man will stay good. Sure, hes got

Peter as a sort of a failsafe hidden

conscience in his head now, but that

could just as easily drive him to rebel

against the desires of his old nem-

esis as it could propel him towards

more acts of good, especially if and

when he gures out the source of

this newfound moral compass. Thisdeal just seems to be getting worse

all the time.

One of the most common de-

fenses of this story involves pointing

out that other heroes, such as Bat-

man (from DC) and Captain America

(Marvel) have been temporarily re-

placed and those comics turned

out ne and even provided some

fairly interesting stories with com-

pelling character development. The

problem with this defense is that the

heroes in those cases had at least

some hand in choosing and training

their replacements. In the cases of

Batman and Captain America, their

replacements were their former pro-

tges, Bucky and Robin, respect-

fully. Doc Ock is not Peters prot-ge. Spidey hasnt spent countless

hours impressing upon this guy his

perspective on right and wrong, his

ways to ght, live, and how to accept

and move on from mistakes. Heck,

this wasnt even some random guy

on the street to whom a dying and

desperate Peter chose to pass on

his legacy, hoping that this person

would ght the good ght in his

stead. No, this was one of Spider-

Mans greatest foes, one of Peters

worst enemies who fought against

everything Parker stood for, then

stole his life along with his costume.

Bucky and Robin were trained

by their mentors to continue their

work, even if that meant one day

replacing the irreplaceable legendsBatman and Captain America had

become. Doc Ock had to be very

close to Peters last choice on the

list of people hed want to some-

day take on his mantle. Doc Ock

standing in that suit, a suit he did

not earn, is a huge insult to every-

thing those red and blue webbed

tights represent.

So yes, I am mad about this

situation. When I rst found out

about these issues, I ranted long

and hard to anyone who would

listen. Im mad at how Peter was

treated. Im mad about the death

he was given. Heres the thing

that a lot of fans are skipping over

though: Peter is coming back. This

is comics, nobody stays dead ex-cept Uncle Ben. Also, Spider-Man

is pretty much the Mickey Mouse

of Marvel. He is one of their most

recognizable characters to comic

fans and, more importantly, non-

comic fans alike. The man who

deserves to wear that mask is not

staying gone, especially not with

the Amazing Spider-Man 2 movie

on the way (it is slated to come out

May 2014). Marvel can make stu-

pid moves, but they are not stupid

when it comes to proting from their

movie tie-ins. Additionally, one of

the big complaints I hear a lot from

comic fans (either directly or in theundercurrents of what they say) is

that they want to see some variety

in the characters they love. They

want to see writers take chances

and shake up the status quo. Then,

when the writers do take a chance

and change things up (in the safest

way possible because, as Ive point-

ed out, hes not staying dead long),

the fans explode on them and call

for their heads. Thats not an exag-

geration, by the way. Dan Slott, the

most recent writer for the Amazing

Spider-Man series and the current

Superior Spider-Man series, re-

ceived multiple death threats over

these issues. Were this a permanent

change, I think this would be a hor-

rible way to leave things in the Spi-der-Man universe, but knowing that

it is temporary, Im fairly interested to

see what kind of stories can come

out of this situation. Im curious

how Parker, when he nally makes

it back, is going to handle the fallout

from any trouble Ock causes during

his time as the Superior Spider-Man.

I also really want to see a couple of

team-ups with other Marvel heroes,

just to see Doc Ock try and inter-

act with other do-gooders. Also, Ill

admit, I really want to see a cross-

over between this Spider-Man and

Deadpool, just to see what kind of

chaos results. Plus, split personali-

ties, in the right hands, can be really

entertaining, especially in this case

once Doc Ock actually recognizesPeters presence. Am I saying this

run will be good? No. But Dan Slotts

a good writer and this is a compel-

ling premise, so I am at least willing

to give it a chance to be interesting

and enjoyable. Finally, whether this

story is good or bad, the fact is that

the controversy is getting Spider-

Man comics some serious attention.

People who only know him through

other media are getting interested inthe comics and people who barely

read his comics are getting back

into them. If youre heavily into the

comics industry/medium, you have

to have been living under a rock the

past few weeks not to have noticed

this. Amazing #700 alone has sold

over 250,000 copies thus far. In ev-

ery comic shop Ive gone to lately, all

of these issues have either sold out

or theres only one left and its be-

ing sold for a much higher price. No

matter what people are saying with

their words, their wallets are telling

Marvel that this was a good move,

so if you really hate it, dont buy the

comics and stop talking about it so

youll stop spreading the word and

piquing peoples interests. If youcant stand this change, ignore it til

its over, because honestly, Id guess

this might last about a year maxi-

mum before Peter Parkers back

and swinging around New York

once more.

When I rst started discussing

these issues, I fully expected to trash

everything related to this storyline

and afterwards and refuse to touch

anything related to this stupid idea.

Now that Ive had a chance to cool

down and think about it, Im still not

going to go rush out and buy ev-

ery variant cover for this run, but if

a couple of good stories come up

or the trades from this series get

collected together, Ill probably put

some effort into getting my handson them. Ill even stick around if

Mephisto shows up again and of-

fers to annul this whole storyline in

exchange for the memory of another

marriage, as long as its the one be-

tween Aunt May and Doc Ock.

Comic Corner: The Spider-Man universeentangles readers in an intricate webJordan Francis

Staff Writer

In Amazing Spider-Man #699, Peter Parker and Doctor

Octopus have swapped minds.

COURTESY MARVEL COMICS


6/12



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those lacking the budget for top ofthe line headphones like Beats, asmart and affordable option is theiB45 Headphones from iHome.

Anyone who has ever owned aniPod, is likely familiar with the iHomebrand. The nice thing about thebrand is their considerably high qual-ity and affordability. For $30, theseheadphones are great for collegestudents looking for a way to listen totheir music on the go.

The iB45 Headphones havesome innovative features. Theycome with a carrying pouch and foldinward on both sides, which is per-fect for keeping them in a backpackgoing to and from classes. Not onlyare they compact and portable, the

sound quality is superb. The bass issmooth and loud while the quality ofthe sound produced by the 40mmdrivers allows the listener to hearsubtle auditory details in songs he orshe would not be able to hear withmost earbuds or laptop speakers.

Aesthetics are always important,and the iHome headphones deliverwith sleek and stylish design. Atrst glance, the iB45 could be con-fused with the more expensive Beatsheadphones. Not only do the head-phones look good, they also feelgood. Comfort is probably the mostimportant feature next to sound, andthe adjustable band, padded cush-ions, and lightweight design all con-tribute to a high level of comfort.

For $30, its hard to beat theseheadphones in terms of quality, por-tability, style, and comfort. Even bet-ter, for those that are skeptical aboutthe purchase, the iB45 iHome Head-phones come with a lifetime warran-ty, so if they ever break they can beeasily replaced. For anyone sick ofearbuds and wishing to upgrade toheadphones, the iB45 Headphonesare a great starting point for studentson a budget.

Evan Ford

Staff Writer

iB45 Head-phones aniHomerun

Assassins Creed 3, the fth

installment of the popular fran-chise, takes players to the be-ginning of the Revolutionary War.Connor, an American Indian, mustght to protect his home and, in

doing so, realizes that his life willnever be the same. As the contin-uation of an established franchise,Assassins Creed 3 builds uponthe previous games, providingsome new features, but in otherways falling short.

For example, the single playerstory does not live up to its pre-decessors. The graphics are notanything special. On a PlayStation3, the game looks the same asthe others in the series. However,the main problems come from themultitude of glitches. Many of the

single player missions must bedone just right to be completedeven if there are multiple waysto achieve the objective. Evenworse, the story is too predict-able. The few plot twists breakup the monotony, but they cannotmake up for the storys simplic-ity. Sadly, the shortening of the

single player mode throughouteach new installment has contin-ued as well. The main story line inAssassins Creed 3 is simply notlong enough. A lot of parts couldhave easily been expanded, whichwould have made this game muchmore enjoyable.

Although the single player issomething of a disappointment,the improved multiplayer some-what makes up for it. The additionof a cooperative mode, Wolfpack,really brings another level to thegame. In this mode, teams of four

players kill various targets in aneffort to complete 25 sequences.

Along the way, optional objectives,such as getting an aerial kill, offerchances to increase the scores.

This mode is a nice break from thecompetitive modes, which havenot changed very much since theirbeginning. However, Steal the Ar-

tifact was removed from the lineupand Chest Capture was replacedwith Domination. Domination cre-ates a unique challenge for play-ers. The goal is to capture andhold territories, which is vastly dif-ferent from the usual objectives ofsimply killing other players.

In addition, Ubisoft added manynew abilities to the lineup. Manyof these, such as glimmer, whichmakes a player invisible for a shortperiod of time, provide many newways to achieve the objectives.Old standbys, such as poison

and smoke bombs, still exist, butthe level required to unlock themis somewhat higher than it hadbeen in previous games. If play-ers do not want to wait to unlockcertain abilities, then they may useErudito credits, which provide away to get around the level locks.

This holds true for ability sets as

well, which also had an upgrade.Instead of two abilities per set, aplayer may assign three. The thirdspot is reserved for a ranged abil-ity, such as throwing knives or thehidden gun. This is a nice changein that players have more availableto them. However, sadly, there arenot many new places to use theseitems. The game comes with onlyfour base maps. Although this isinteresting in the beginning, a fewmore would make this game muchmore enjoyable.

One of the nicer upgrades to

the game is the character cus-tomization in multiplayer. In ad-dition to clothing unlocked as aplayer levels up, each characterhas many costumes that can beused from level one. Some char-acters even have costumes fromprevious games. Players can alsoadd war paint to their characters,

so no two are alike.The multiplayer portion of As-

sassins Creed 3 shows a lot ofthought on Ubisofts part; howev-er, it simply does not make up forthe problems in the single playercampaign. The multitude of glitch-es take away from the gameplay,and the short, predictable storyline leaves a lot to be desired.Future updates may make thecampaign run smoother as wellas extend the story, but, as is, As-sassins Creed 3 only shines as amultiplayer game.

Assassins Creed 3: An imperfect trip to the pastEmily McNair

Staff Writer


7/12

f e a t u r e sjanuary 21, 2013 page 7


R i d e w i t h P R i d eThe Colorado School of Mines Alumni Associaon partners with Colorado DMV

to oer special Mines license platesHeres how it works:1. Purchase the DMV required cercate ($50 payable to CSMAA) at mam.m/ma.2. Redeem your cercate at a Colorado DMV branch, where youll be asked for an addional $50.3. Aach your plates and Ride with Pride!

MinesAluMni.coM/MinesplAtes

Geek Week...Dani Hering, Senior: Metallurgical and Materials Engineering

ofthe

Jordan Francis

Staff Writer

Almost all of us at Mines have,

at some point, run into that rare

brand of geek who manages to

simultaneously maintain both their

nerd status and regular social inter-

action. However, this weeks geek

is of an even rarer breed. Senior

Metallurgical and Materials major

Dani Hering is among the few who

can actually convince fellow nerds

to participate in various forms of

social activities. Whether shes

inviting new people to a random

game of dodgeball or cracking

Scooby-Doo jokes with friends in a

game of League of Legends (LoL),

Hering certainly understands that

geekiness is a dish best enjoyed

with others.[Oredigger]: Why did you go

for a major in Metallurgical and

Materials Engineering?

[Hering] My best friend talked

me into it.Whats been your favorite

class so far?

Electrical Properties of Materi-

als. The professor was awesome

and the class was interesting. Id

recommend it to anyone in Met-

allurgy, Physics, or anyone who

wants a fun, [but] hard class.Are you a geek and why?

Well, I go to Mines, so I have to

be at least sort of a geek. Id say

the most geeky thing about me is

I love to watch people play video

games. I can watch for hours and

hours. My current favorite is LoL.

Its great.How do you occupy your

spare time?

I really like taking naps, but

when my friends convince me, Ill

go running, rock climbing, play

indoor soccer, or just chill with

friends and watch them play LoL.

Whats been your greatest

accomplishment thus far?

I guess Im proud of the soccer

team, since Ive played varsity

just the achievements weve had

over the past four seasons. Ill re-

ally miss the girls and the people

from Christian Challenge, which is

a group I helped start.How would you react in the

event of a massive squirrel up-

rising against humanity?

If you cant beat em, join em.

Squeak squeaker squeak squeak-en.Would you rather be able to

travel through time or stop it

temporarily?

Stop it temporarily. You could

stop at an embarrassing moment

and run away. Or, you could make

someone else have an embar-

rassing moment by moving things

and being a jerk. Or, I could do my

homework and hang with friends.

If you could be dropped

into any fctional setting, what

would it be and why?

I would get dropped into the

Mistborn series by Brandon

Sanderson, [but] only if I were a

Mistborn because I would want to

use all their cool powers.Whats your favorite thing

about Mines?

I really appreciate the friend-

ships Ive developed at Mines. You

can be friends with anyone be-

cause weve all struggled through

what Mines is.

Whats your best nerd story?

In the Metallurgy computer lab,

someone started an argument

about one of the rst episodes

of Pokmon when Ash is ghting

Brock, Pikachu against Onix, and

Ash goes to recall Pikachu with

the Pok ball. They were argu-

ing about whether the beam that

came from the Pok ball was a

straight beam or a lightning bolt. I

said it was a lightning bolt and we

went to look it up on YouTube. Ev-

eryone was freaking out, saying itcouldnt be a lightning bolt and I

was right.If you could turn any inani-

mate object (or set of inani-

mate objects) sentient, what

would you choose and why?

I think shoes because theyd

have so many different person-

alities and then theyd run away

when you tried to put them on and

itd be funny and youd have an

excuse not to get to class on time

in the snow.

Do you have any plans for

the future?

Im planning on going back to

Bangladesh this summer for lan-

guage and cultural exchange and

then Im still praying about where

God wants me to go after that.Do you have any advice for

fellow geeks and Mines stu-

dents?

If you dont love it, you should

probably not do it as a career. So

think about that before deciding

to graduate with a degree in engi-

neering from Mines.

Geek of the Week, Dani Hering, plans to return to

Bangladesh after graduation.

JORDAN FRANCIS / OREDIGGER


8/12



The immersive and beautifu l

world of Far Cry 3 is entertaining,

as the intelligent storytelling and

elaborate plot establish a foot-

hold for video games as a new

(and unexpected) medium of art.

Many view video games are anavenue to mindless violence, but

the deeper layers of the journey

contained in Far Cry 3 are sure

to conjure astounding emotional

responses.

Far Crys franchise is known

for their single player campaigns

and for good reason. In the third

installment of the title (all games

surround unrelated characters

and settings, so do not worry

about the previous games), a

group of college-age thrill seek-

ers end up on a tropical island

in the South Pacic. Known as

Rook Island, this place is tainted

with a sordid past of Chinese

Treasure Fleets, WWII war crimes,

drug dealing, and more. Now pi-rates that conduct a heinous

slave trade dominate the island.

These pirates capture the player

and your friends and their sadistic

leader begins to torment your ex-

istence. Also inhabiting the island

are the native people fed up with

the oppression, and so begins

a revolution. Many threats apart

from the murderous pirates ex-

ist on the island, including tigers,

sharks, and even komodo drag-

ons. To survive, the player must

embrace the ways of the jungle

and become a warrior.

The path begins with inno-

cence, but in the quest to sur-

vive and save your friends, you

COURTESY UBISOFT PUBLISHERS

become submerged in violence.

This journey alludes to the novel

Heart of Darkness, and as the

player ventures deeper and deep-

er into the depth of the jungle, the

line between sanity and madness

becomes blurred. Missions and

narratives in this game are capa-

ble of shocking your socks off,

as well as evoking spine-chillingeeriness. Quotes from Alice in

Wonderland often appear in load-

ing screens, and elevate the pur-

pose of the storyline to another

level.

Not only is the story of the

game highly alluring,

the action sequenc-

es and options for

customization are

sure to t all play

styles. Whether one

enjoys aggressive

and loud weaponry,

or rather a silenced

and stealthy arse-

nal (complete with

recurve bow), Far

Cry 3 presents bothpreferences for the

player to decide.

The game does not

contain an extreme-

ly large number of

weapons (around

30 all-together), but

nearly every gun

can be outtted for

personal prefer-

ence. Additionally,

the game presents

an intricate skill tree

that progresses over

time, granting play-

ers a variety of spe-

cial abilities like ad-

vanced takedowns

and prolonged sprint. These

skills come in handy when trying

to clear an enemy camp without

alerting any of the guards.

Aside from the main storyline,

there are other activities to take

part in on Rook Island. Racing

leagues, minor quests, hunting,

knife throwing, wanted posters,

relic hunting, supply drops, ra-dio tower activations, lost letters,

and the crafting of syringes and

equipment all keep the player

busy. Instead of rushing through

the main story, try to savor the

experience of this videogame by

slowing accomplishing all of these

minor tasks in-between missions.

Some small aspects of this

game do deserve some criticism.

Most notably, minor characters in

this game have low sound qual-

ity when talking. Initially this is a

disturbance, but as time goes on,

the other qualities of this game

outweigh this problem. The multi-player is also lackluster. Because

the focus of Far Cry 3 is an un-

matched single player story, this

is understandable, but it should

be noted that the game does

have its limitations. It is recom-

mended that the user play the

game on the hardest difculty

and attempt to gather 100% of

the items in order to maximize the

value and splendor of the story.

Rushing through each mission

would denitely subtract from the

experience. Honestly, the single

player is so good (worthy of a re-

play in the future), that the gameis a must play. Far Cry 3 not only

advances the sandbox FPS genre

(and videogames as an artistic

medium), but also induces rich

emotional responses and unfor-

gettably gratifying gameplay.

Far Cry 3 shows a visually striking landscape that immerses the player in an alternate world.

Far Cry 3 immerses players with artistic gameplayEvan Ford

Staff Writer

Toward the end of last semes-

ter, Sigma Lambda members pro-

vided crayons, markers, and brown

bags in the student center atrium

for anyone in need of a quick study

break to volunteer for Project Angel

Heart. Members of Sigma Lambda

took the doodling opportunity se-riously and also spent many club

meetings decorating bags.

One might ask, What is Project

Angel Heart? The goal of the or-

ganization is to provide free meals

with love for people of all ages

with life-threatening illnesses in

Denver, Colorado Springs, and the

surrounding area. The organization

started in 1991, when its mem-

bers received a pan of lasagna and

served it to their rst twelve clients.

In their twenty-rst year, the orga-

nization is now serving over 800

clients every week.

There are many volunteer op-

portunities in Denver Metro Areafor the CSM clubs and commu-

nity to take part in. Sigma Lamb-

da sponsors three public service

events each academic year. Its

members strive to nd volunteer

ventures that engage students and

Esther Lowe

Staff Writer

are entertaining as well as bene-

cial. The Project Angel Heart bag

decoration endeavor provided the

perfect opportunity for engineers

to use their creative talents while

honoring and protecting the dignity

and emotional health of those living

with life-threatening illnesses.

Later this semester, Sigma

Lambda will sponsor its annual

spring Safe Zone event. The clubpresident, Jon Pritchard, explained,

I would say that Safe Zone is our

way of reaching out to the cam-

pus community to promote a more

accepting and informed student

body.

Sigma Lambda studentsdonate time and food

Whether it is called ping-pong or

table tennis, CSM has a club that al-

lows for both the best players and

the novice to get together and have

a great time playing the sport. The

president of the Ping-pong Club,

Tim Musgrove, organized a time

and place to train and hone the

skills of every person interested.Besides the fact that it will be

distinctive on any rsum, the Ping-

pong Club is a great way to relax

and forget about homework. There

are many other benets, physi-

cally and mentally, for taking up

this tabletop sport. Physically, ping-

pong is light on the body and is a

simple way to work up a sweat and

increase heart rate. Mentally, the

planning and strategizing involved

in this activity helps the brains re-

sponse time.

To anyone wondering whether

there is a registration fee of some

kind, there is no need to worry.

Musgrove said, Anyone can come

by and play, theres no signing up

for anything.

Currently, Ping-pong Club

meets every Saturday, from 4 to 6

pm. However, if the timing is incon-

venient, Musgrove can adjust the

schedule to meet popular demand.

He said, If enough people come to

me and complain about it, I can al-

ways change it.

I think people believe they needto attend every meeting, Musgrove

said. Its a fun club and you dont

have to worry about staying the

whole time or making every meet.

Due to the small membership of

the club, many of the planned activ-

ities have yet to take place. Weve

already organized a few intramural

tournaments, Musgrove said. Im

trying to set up more tournaments,

but more people need to come by

rst.

For those looking for a great way

to relieve stress and have some fun

with a fast-paced tabletop game,

Ping-pong Club is the place to be.

Chinmay Upadhyay

Staff Writer

Ping-pong Clubunder the spotlight


9/12

s p o r t sjanuary 21, 2013 page 9


The Colorado School of Mines

Mens basketball team squared off

against UCCS Friday night in Lock-

ridge arena coming off of a tough

loss to crosstown rival Metro State.

This season, however, the Oredig-gers have typically responded well

after a loss and it was no differ-

ent against UCCS as Mines used

a strong second half to pull out the

82-66 victory.

Both teams found it tough es-

tablishing much of a rhythm in the

rst half. UCCS led early 7-2 but

neither side could muster more

than a ve point lead during any

point in the rst 20 minutes. Both

offenses struggled to score, and

if it was not for an 11-12 perfor-

mance from the free throw line by

the Orediggers, the game could

have gotten out of hand early on.

Still, behind 11 rst half points from

sophomore guard Brian Muller, the

Orediggers held a 32-30 lead atthe break.

Whatever the Orediggers were

missing in the rst half offensively,

they found in the second half, scor-

ing 50 points and opening their two

point halftime lead up to 21 points

with just under three minutes re-

maining. After turning the ball over

10 times and shooting just 37.5%

in the rst half, the Orediggers re-

bounded in the second session to

shoot 55.6%. While the Oredig-

gers also recorded 10 second half

turnovers, they forced UCCS into

12 of their own and got to the free

throw line 21 times in the second

half, making 17 of them to cement

the win.

When the nal buzzer hadsounded, it was Mines 82 and

UCCS 66. The win brings the Ore-

diggers overall record to 9-5, 6-4

in the RMAC and drops UCCS to

2-12, 2-8 in the RMAC. As a team,

Mines shot 47% from the eld,

33.3% from three, and nearly 85%

from the charity stripe.

The second half offensive bar-

rage was led by Muller and center

Trevor Wages who combined for 31

second half points. Each player tal-

lied 24 apiece for the game to lead

all players in scoring. Wages led

the Orediggers with 11 rebounds

on the night to keep his season

average at 10.8 boards per game.

Muller added three rebounds, three

assists, a block and a steal to his24 points.

Junior Nicco Mucci tallied 12

points and ve rebounds, and Luke

Meisch scored nine to go along

with nine rebounds in his team

leading 38 minutes of play. Trey

Winbush led the reserves with six

points, three assists, and one re-

bound while making all four of his

free throws.

Mens basketball destroys UCCS 82-66Jared Riemer

Staff Writer

Trevor Wages (#32) posted 24 points against UCCS.

Brian Muller (#22) goes up for a jump shot.Trey Winbush (#5) played for 28 minutes to help contribute to a 82-66 win.

ALL PHOTOS MICHAEL RODGERS / OREDIGGER


10/12

s p o r t s january 21, 2013page 10


The Colorado School of Mines

wrestling team took on the Western

State Mountaineers in Gunnison,

Colorado, Friday night for a confer-

ence dual meet. Coming into the

match, freshman Paul Wilson was

riding an 11 match win streak in the

197 pound division and looked to

continue his streak while bringing

home a victory for the Orediggers.

The night started off great for the

Orediggers, with Luis Gurule beat-ing his opponent by a score of 4-3

in the 125 pound weight class to

give the rst points of the night to

Mines, 3-0. The lead was short lived

though, as the Orediggers lost their

next three matches to fall behind

3-13.

In the 157 pound bout, Fresh-

man John Crowley won by a score

of 9-6 and Sophomore Justin Frazer

scored a 7-6 victory at 165 pounds

to give Mines six more points bring-

ing them to a score of 9-13. Need-

ing just a pin to tie the dual at thir-

teen each, the Orediggers lost the

next three bouts by pin, decision,

and decision, respectively, to put

the Mountaineers ahead for good

going into the nal bout of the night,

25-9. With one match remaining,

the heavyweight division, Alec Bird

ended the night the way it started

Trevor Crane

Content Manager

The Mines mens basketball

team entered the weekend drop-

ping three of their last four games,

looking to rebound and head in a

new direction. After pulling away

from UCCS on Friday night, the

Orediggers were looking to buildon their momentum Saturday

against CSU-Pueblo during a

White-Out hosted by SAAC and

WAM.

And build on their momentum

they did, holding off the Thunder-

wolves 74-71 to earn their tenth

win of the season and their third in

the past four games.

The Orediggers earned the

win, but unlike their victory the

night before, they did not avoid

any drama in this one. Mines built

an eight point advantage late in

the game at 69-61 before stav-

ing off a furious Thunderwolf rally

that fell just short as a desperation

three point attempt clanged off the

rim at the buzzer.

Leading 69-61 with threeminutes remaining, CSU-Pueblo

would score the next eight points

in a furious 49 second barrage to

even the contest. But on the next

possession, as they had done

all night, the Orediggers found

center Trevor Wages inside for a

momentum-changing jump shot

to end the run and take the lead

for good. After a missed three by

the Thunderwolves, Wages would

convert on one of two free throws

to push the lead to 72-69.

With 16 seconds left, CSU-

Pueblos Nathan Tigner stripped

the ball from the Orediggers and

coasted in for the layup to close

the gap to 72-71. Junior Luke

Meisch then connected on two

free throws and with 12 secondsleft. CSU-Pueblo had one last

chance to send the game to over-

time, but Ryan Arels contested

three-pointer fell short at the

buzzer.

For the Orediggers, it was

yet another close win. In their 15

games this season, Mines is now

7-1 in games decided by ve

points or less. Of their seven con-

Mines hangs on for 74-71 win over CSU-Puebloference victories, six have come

by ve points or less. In Friday

nights victory over UCCS, Mines

won by 16 points. In their other

six RMAC wins, they have won by

just 21 points combined. These

late-game heroics are not what

the Orediggers had planned on,

and they may give a head coach

nightmares, but for now, they havepushed Mines into the top tier of

teams in the RMAC standings.

For Mines, the game was de-

cided in the paint, as Wages and

Meisch combined for 49 of Mines

73 points, but another deciding

factor lay at the free throw line,

where the Orediggers outscored

the Thunderwolves 19-5, taking

nearly 20 more attempts. This

disparity helped the Orediggers to

overcome a 13-2 decit in bench

scoring.

In the win, Wages led all scor-

ers with 27 points, three shy of

his career high, and added three

steals and three blocks. Meisch

added 22 points including a per-

fect 7-7 from the free throw line,

while Nico Mucci nished with 10points and Brian Muller had nine.

The victory for the Orediggers

pushes Mines to 10-5 overall and

7-4 in RMAC play. CSU-Pueblo

falls to 6-11 overall and 5-6 in

the RMAC. After closing out their

four game homestand with a win,

Mines heads on the road for six of

their next eight games, starting at

Adams State at 8 pm January 25.

Wrestling travels to Gunnison tochallenge the MountaineersJared Riemer

Staff Writerfor the Orediggers by scoring a

13-4 major decision over his oppo-

nent to bring the nal tally to 25-13.

Also in the loss, Wilsons win

streak was snapped at 11 in a hard

fought 5-2 decision. Crowleys vic-

tory earned him his team leading,

twenty-rst victory of the season.

The Orediggers continue action Fri-

day at 7 pm at home against CSU-

Pueblo.COURTESY CSM ATHLETICS

Orediggers fall to Western State in road clash, 25-13.

The ski resorts here in Colo-

rado make the state the nations

number one ski and snowboard

destination. Colorados resorts

allow skiers and snowboarders

more time on the mountain, as the

26 resorts gener-

ally open earlier

and stay open later

than anywhere

else in the country

usually October

to April. Colorado

also has the high-

est altitude lift-

serviced terrain in

the country, mak-

ing this state an ideal location for

the Colorado School of Mines SkiTeam to compete.

During the 2010-2011 ski sea-

son, many ski areas across saw

the best snow falls they had seen

in decades. So far, the 2011-2012

season hasnt met the high snow

fall standards set by last season;

however, the Mines Ski Team

didnt let this dampen their spir-

its. Instead, the Ski Team used the

lack of open terrain and powder as

an excuse to train and prepare for

one of its best seasons ever.

The CSM Ski Team competes

in both Slalom and Giant Slalom

races at Loveland, Powderhorn,

Telluride, and Winter Park through-out January and February. CSM is

a part of the Rocky Mountain Con-

ference under the United States

Ski and Snowboard Association

(USSA). This conference allows the

team to compete against schools

such as CU, CSU,

Air Force, and DU.

Throughout this

semester, the team

will be competing

in multiple races

across the state.

The rst race of the

semester was Jan-

uary 19, 2013 in

Winter Park, with

the second race of the semester in

Loveland January 26 and January27. The following weekend (Feb-

ruary 2 and 3) nds the team in Tel-

luride. The team will then be racing

February 16 and 17 in Powderhorn

and February 21-23 in Red Lodge,

MT. The season wraps up with the

team in Sun Valley, ID from April 4

to April 9.

The Ski Team has its largest

team ever this year, boast

the oredigger issue 13 - january 21, 2013

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