The ODU Symphonic Band and Wind Ensemble will perform a joint concert called American Voices on April 6 at 6:30 p.m. at the University Theatre.

The ODU Symphonic Band, a staple of ODU’s music ensembles since its founding in 2009, is conducted by Alexander Treviño with Sarah Dodge as the graduate conductor. The band will perform music by Mackey, O’Loughlin, Pinkzebra, and Standridge.

The ODU Wind Ensemble, composed of around 50 of the university’s finest musicians, is conducted by Tyler Austin with Sarah Dodge as the graduate conductor. The performance will feature Hunter Kopczynski, a guest conductor from the University of North Carolina at Charlotte. The ensemble will perform music by Aldridge, Gershwin, Lindveit, Pann, and Thomas. Kristian Quilon, winner of the Young Artist Competition, will feature in the performance of Gershwin’s “Rhapsody in Blue.”

The Symphonic Band and Wind Ensemble are dedicated to performing music from emerging artists alongside the classics. Both bands are open for all majors. The Wind Ensemble requires an audition. 

Tickets to the performance are available to buy online here. Prices start at $5 for ODU students, $10 for ODU faculty and staff, and $15 for the general public.

The Cougars put up a fight but eventually fell 4-1 to conference opponent USF. | Oscar Herrera/The Cougar

UH tennis was on the wrong side of several close sets and ultimately lost to No. 64 South Florida 4-1 Monday.

The Cougars won the first match of the day in doubles, as freshman Sophie Schouten and junior Laura Slisane teamed up to secure a 6-4 victory.

However, The Bulls won the next two doubles matches and grabbed the first point of the day.

In singles play, UH made things close in most of their matches, but was only able to get one point before USF clinched the win.

Schouten, Slisane, and senior Azul Pedemonti all narrowly lost sets by the score of 7-5, and sophomore Maria Dzemeshkevich was tied at six in the second of her match before it was left unfinished.

Freshman Gabriela Cortes was the Cougar to secure a point, winning in an impressive 6-3, 6-3 performance.

UH’s record now stands at 11-7. The Cougars will travel to face UTSA in their final road match of the season Friday.

sports@thedailycougar.com

—
“UH tennis fails to top No. 64 South Florida, loses 4-1” was originally posted on The Cougar

The Colorado High School Activities Association announced at a press conference Thursday that Canvas Stadium will be the new host of the 4A and 5A boys football championship games starting next season.

Also, starting in the fall of 2024, the 3A championship will join 4A and 5A at Canvas for their championship game.

The football championship games for both of those classifications have been at Empower Field at Mile High for the past 18 years, while 1A, 2A and 3A along with 6-man and 8-man classifications have been held at Colorado State University Pueblo for that period. As CHSAA’s deal with Empower Field neared its end, they decided to look elsewhere for a host, and CSU answered the call.

“This is a very big step for our organization, and a very exciting one,” CHSAA commissioner Mike Krueger said. 

Canvas Stadium hosted its first few high school games in September 2022, when local high schools in Fort Collins faced off in what was called the Canvas Community Classic. The event garnered a good turnout of local students and fans to watch the game.

Canvas will still hold that event, and for at least the next few years, it will be home to Colorado state championship games as well.

Krueger was optimistic about the deal, saying he expects attendance numbers to go up in comparison to past championship games at Empower Field. Many state championship teams are in the same area as Empower, making for a more convenient trip for fans, but Krueger doesn’t think travel from the Denver metro area to Fort Collins will be a problem.

“I believe our communities, our fans, our spectators love to come and cheer their teams on,” Krueger said. “I can tell you right now honestly, I fully anticipate our attendance numbers to go up.”

Krueger was also hopeful that hosting a state championship at a college campus will give student-athletes a chance that they may not have otherwise to not only see a college campus, but to get a taste of what it’s like to play at the next level.

The inaugural state championship games at Canvas Stadium are scheduled for Dec. 2.

Reach Braidon Nourse at sports@collegian.com or on Twitter @BraidonNourse.

In the coming months, the University of Utah’s Independent Review Committee will be receiving new leaders selected from different organizations around campus, such as ASUU, Housing and Residential Education, Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion and more. This transition comes as the IRC enters the third year since its creation.

In the upcoming term, the new IRC chair will be Allyson Mower, a librarian at the U, who has been at the university for 20 years and became a faculty member at the J. Willard Marriott Library in 2008. President Taylor Randall reached out to Mower and asked her to be this year’s chair, where she will use her past leadership experience to run the committee, Mower said.

“The game plan is to create a shared purpose and build familiarity with each other so that as independent reviews may be needed, we can respond in an efficient and timely manner,” Mower said.

The IRC was started after the death of Lauren McCluskey, and the McCluskey family had recommended the creation of the committee to the U, said Amos Guiora, a law professor at the U and the previous chairman of the IRC committee. According to Guiora, he was selected to lead the committee because of his research on bystanders, enablers and sexual assaults. He had written about McCluskey in his 2020 book titled “Armies of Enablers” which addresses the bystander effect.

“Not only had I written about Lauren, but Lauren’s running partner was a student of mine, and I had already had interaction with Lauren’s mom,” Guiora said. “I well knew that one of the fundamental underpinnings of the committee’s creation was Lauren’s murder.”

With Lauren McCluskey in mind, Mower hopes to create a strong and cohesive committee that is knowledgeable about intimate partner violence and sexism in order to honor those who have lost their lives in the past.

“I hope to build on what the institution has learned in the wake of these murders by educating all members of the IRC on rights and responsibilities inherent in our society,” Mower said. “The rights of survivor-victims, most of all, but also the responsibilities of public safety officers and the importance of measures to prevent violence.”

The committee’s purpose is to make sure the campus safety department acts in the manner they are designed to, Guiora said. During his time on the committee, the 11 members worked as a team in a democratic way to achieve its purpose, with each having an equal vote to decide on procedures.

“We would ask [the campus safety department] exactly as we were mandated to ask them, I don’t like the word difficult questions, but pointed questions to understand whether or not they and their people acted legally, correctly, properly,” Guiora said. “ … We would then reconvene and vote amongst ourselves as to whether or not we thought that they had acted appropriately or not acted appropriately.”

With this committee in place, a checks and balances system was created to make sure the campus safety department was being responsible during its approaches and interactions, said Malea Bauer, a senior studying economics and international studies at the U who sat on the committee the last two years.

“Our goal was to increase the accountability of the department and make sure that decisions being made by the police department are being overseen by people outside of the department so there are multiple parties with multiple interests protecting people on campus,” Bauer said.

While the meetings are unavailable to anyone besides committee members, Bauer said that students and staff are still welcome to contact the chairman with any concerns they have or issues they feel need to be addressed.

“This isn’t like a town council setting so you’re not going to come in and hear the decisions that are being made, but I think it’s important people see it as a resource to make sure that any complaints about oversight or decisions are honored,” Bauer said.

s.shaughnessey@dailyutahchronicle.com

@steviechrony

Inside a Stadium Village apartment overflowing with hockey jerseys, including a customized Connor McDavid Minnesota Wild sweater, lie four hockey fanatics. Three from Rogers, Minnesota, and one from Pico Rivera, California. The west coast kid is the most famous of the foursome.

Andrew Mercado, aka “Big Merc” on Twitter, is one of the most well-known figures in the student section for Gophers men’s hockey games.

In fact, last Saturday he was approached by hockey players Brock Faber, Carl Fish, Mike Koster and Mason Nevers after their Frozen Four prep-practice to ask how he was doing. This is a common occurrence for Mercado; one of the first people he met at a Minnesota bar in fall 2021 was former Gophers forward Blake McGlaughlin, who kindly bought him a drink.

“He was a Ducks prospect as well, so I started fanboying over him,” Mercado said. “I got to meet him and he then introduced me to the rest of the team.”

Much of Mercado’s love for the game comes from following the Anaheim Ducks and the Long Beach Ice Dogs ECHL team before they disbanded in 2008.

Back home in Southern California, many of his friends did not watch hockey. Mercado makes sure to tell his roommates how much he loves them because back home, the only people who he can chat puck with are his father and older brother.

“The first time I met LaCombe I told him, ‘you’re going to win me a Stanley Cup one day,’” said Mercado, who is all in on the 39th overall pick in 2019 by Anaheim and the Gophers’ highest scoring defenseman. “One of the best players on the team is going to be a future Duck; it’s great to see that.”

A game presence that’s hard to miss

Easy to spot at Mariucci Arena, Mercado’s maroon and gold Pit Viper sunglasses combined with his bleached mullet make him stand out in the sea of students.

His love for the Gophers goes back to the early 2010s, when his dad traveled to Minnesota for a business conference. Knowing his son was a huge hockey fan, he bought Mercado some Gopher merchandise, and the rest is history.

“Last year was a dream come true. Going to the Frozen Four my first year here, I had a big smile on my face,” Mercado said. “Mariucci alone this year has been amazing. Last year, the games toward the end had been selling out, but this year it seems like every one is sold out.”

Having never sat front row at a hockey game, Mercado’s dream quickly became reality after enrolling at the University of Minnesota.

During the first home hockey series against Mercyhurst in 2021, his mullet (at the time at a longer length) was featured on Bally Sports North, and people started to call him “the mullet guy.” Soon after that, he was front row at a plethora of Minnesota’s home matches leading up to this season where other fans can’t miss him.

In October 2019, “the mullet guy” actually got a buzzcut. Mercado made a bet against his father, a Los Angeles Kings fan, to see which one could last longest without a haircut. Big Merc is at year four with the mullet. His dad lasted two weeks.

“In January 2020, I nearly retired the mullet, but Teddy Gallagher, football player from California, had a blonde mullet, and I saw it and I thought ‘what if I bleach my hair,’ Mercado said. “If I ruined it, I would’ve shaved it, but I loved the way it turned out.”

Following Mercyhurst, at the next Gopher home game against St. Cloud, two of Mercado’s current roommates met him by recognizing him as the “mullet guy” on TV.

“I had no friends at the time other than my roommate,” Mercado said. “They were like, ‘hey do you want to sit with us?’ and I agreed. They’re a bunch of goofballs, and we started hanging out every weekend.”

Big Merc’s optimistic Frozen Four predictions

Matthew Knies’ game-winning overtime goal against North Dakota earlier this season was Mercado’s favorite Gopher hockey memory.

On Thursday, and possibly Saturday, in Tampa Florida, that experience could be beat out.

Big Merc predicts the Gophers will secure their first national championship in 20 years with a 3-2 win over the Michigan Wolverines after they defeat the Boston Terriers 4-2 and Michigan beats the Quinnipiac Bobcats 4-1.

The Gophers will play Boston Thursday at 4 p.m. CT. Michigan and Quinnipiac are scheduled to play Thursday at 7:30 p.m. CT. The winners of these matches will play for the national title on Saturday at 7 p.m. CT.

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Selecting a quality NFL player from the pool of prospects in April’s NFL draft is hardly an exact science, but the three “P’s” — production, personality and projection – form the backbone of the assessment teams use for every draft-eligible player. All 259 newly-minted NFL players are chosen because one team decided that the player’s marks in all three categories line up with the needs of its roster in a way that can justify a multimillion dollar investment.

But how do teams get an idea of the three P’s? Part of it comes from watching tape, comparing college production and the results from the NFL Combine, where many of these draft-eligible prospects work out for teams and speak to their executives.

However, a big part of the remaining pre-draft work is done at Pro Days. Pro Days happen at university campuses and are increasingly important for teams and players.

For teams, it is a much more personal setting. The hectic nature of the combine is replaced by team personnel putting these prospects through specific testing criteria and getting a sense of their personality. From the player perspective, a good Pro Day performance can ease the sting of a bad combine performance or answer questions about an injury.

At Tech’s Pro Day, seven Yellow Jackets gave teams a better look at who they are. On offense, receivers redshirt senior EJ Jenkins and senior Malachi Carter, as well as speedy senior running back Hassan Hall, did their athletic testing and positional drills. Offensive lineman — and program mainstay — redshirt senior William Lay III also worked out for teams.

Jenkins particularly stood out due to his potential as a tight end at the next level. Measuring in at 6 feet 6 inches tall and 245 pounds, he ran the 40-yard dash in under 4.6 seconds – an impressive time for someone of his size – while also putting up a solid 10 feet two inch broad jump and 32-inch vertical.

“Wherever a team wants to put me, I’m going to give it my all.” said Jenkins, who has received invites for workouts with the Baltimore Ravens and local Atlanta Falcons. “I have the frame and length to get down in there, show my will and drive to work on the tight end stuff.”

Hall, billed for his speed, did not disappoint with a sub-4.5 40-yard dash. He also showed off his strength with 18 reps on the bench press and exploded out of his stance with a 37-inch vertical and 10 feet 10 inch broad jump.

NFL teams were also extremely interested in some of the standouts on Tech’s defense. Redshirt senior edge rusher Keion White, widely projected to be a top-50 pick with first round upside, and senior linebacker Charlie Thomas both built off their solid showings at the NFL combine. Slated to run the 40-yard dash and move through positional drills, White burned through his run at around 4.7 seconds. That is an impressive time for someone with his 6-feet 5-inch, 285-pound frame, but unfortunately, he tweaked his hamstring on his second attempt and did not do any more work to avoid further injury. 

Considering he recorded a solid 34-inch vertical and put up the second highest number — 30 — of bench press reps, White has answered a lot of questions about his athleticism.

Like Jenkins, there has been interest in White’s versatility. Regarding his position at the next level, White says “I’ve literally heard anywhere from defensive tackle to outside linebacker … I can do it all. It makes me more available and makes more teams want me.”

Excitement over that malleable ability has resulted in quite a bit of first-round buzz. However, it does not faze White. 

“I wish I could go back to being under the radar,” said White. “But honestly, I don’t pay too much attention to the mock draft stuff. I’m more interested in what the guys who were here today thought.”

Teammate Thomas already ran a fast 40-yard dash time of 4.52 seconds at the NFL Combine, so he did not repeat the drill at Pro Day. Instead, he showed off his fluidity and quickness on the field in the positional drills. He looked especially smooth dropping back into coverage, which is critical seeing as how a team might try him at safety. Moving well will also translate into a potential role on special teams, which is a possibility for Thomas as a rookie.

“I just wanted to show that I could move well in and out of breaks, do a lot of different things and not just look like an old-school linebacker,” Thomas said, who is keenly aware of the importance of his movement. Redshirt senior linebacker Ace Eley, despite not being invited to the combine, turned in a solid showing at Pro Day. He matched the much taller Jenkins with a vertical of 32 inches and led the bench press of 225 pounds with 20 reps. His hard-hitting tackling ability and playmaking should land him a spot on an NFL roster, but that role might come on special teams. That is not a problem for Eley.

“I just wanted a chance to compete,” Eley said, referring to his lack of a combine invite. “Any way I can get on the field, I’m good with.” 

It is an exciting time for the program, seeing as how there might be a Jacket drafted in the first round since 2010’s drafts of defensive end Derrick Morgan and the late wide receiver Demaryius Thomas. Beyond that, the draft hopefuls themselves are impressive individuals. Regardless of how successful their professional careers are, they all display the same mindset and toughness that players need to have. 

As they transition into this next phase of their football career, Pro Day served as a fitting send-off for their time at Tech and a beginning to their new potential careers in football.

Five or so years ago, I played my first “Resident Evil” game. It was the HD Remaster of the original “Resident Evil,” and that still holds a special place in my heart, even after playing a good chunk of the main series. Just recently, the highly anticipated “Resident Evil 4″ remake released to fantastic reviews, proving older games have still got it.

The original “Resident Evil 4” released in 2005 to good reviews, and the remake is getting reviews about how exciting and fresh the game still is. It kept most of the actual gameplay the same, removing quick-time events and making the AI a little tighter, but the brunt of the remake was focused on the graphics. The game looks significantly nicer than the original, with all the bells and whistles that come with most PS5 and Xbox Series X games.

See Old Games New Again

“Resident Evil 4″ Remake isn’t the only game remake to have come out in the last year. Already we have seen the highly anticipated remake of “Dead Space,” which also garnered incredibly favorable reviews, “The Last of Us Part 1” and the announcement of a suite of new “Silent Hill” games, including a “Silent Hill 2” remake. I was one of the people who screamed out of joy when the “Silent Hill Transmission” stream was announced. I told everyone I knew about how excited I was, regardless if they had even heard of “Silent Hill” or not. These old games can mean so much to people, and it is wonderful to see them brought back.

Video Game Preservation

One of the biggest concerns I have about video games, especially in our increasingly digital world, is that games can very easily be lost, never to be played again. Examples range from “P.T.” to “Flappy Bird.”

The creation of remakes and remasters prevent this from happening. They allow a whole new generation of people to experience these games. One of my all-time favorite games is the “Crash Bandicoot N. Sane Trilogy,” a remake consisting of the first three “Crash Bandicoot” games I had never played, despite loving Crash my whole life.

One critique I have of this trend, however, is the tendency to remake games that are still very easily accessible, including “Dead Space,” “The Last of Us Part 1” and “Resident Evil 4.” You can buy and play all of the original games on either Steam or the PlayStation Store (apart from “The Last of Us,” which already had an HD remaster to bring it to PS4). These are all critically acclaimed games, which is why I can understand the decision, but there are so many games that are not accessible without emulation or buying a second-hand console and game on eBay for an excessive amount. Think of “Silent Hill,” a PlayStation 1 title that has never been ported or remade. It’s the beginning of a huge series, yet it’s almost impossible to get your hands on.

The Heartbreak of Lost Games

Personally, I feel there either needs to be a change in the legality of emulation or major companies need to start cataloging and bringing back older games. You can find countless databases of lost games, and it is truly heartbreaking.

As of now, however, I am incredibly happy to be able to dive into a wonderful looking version of “Resident Evil 4.” I feel like it is about time to get that game back in the spotlight.

“Resident Evil 4 Remake” is out now on Steam, Xbox Series X and S, PS4 and PS5.

e.blume@dailyutahchronicle.com

@ethanblume07

Maine is an ancient landscape. With a geologic history that ranges back 400-600 million years ago, and inhabitants that have lived in these forests for 12,000+ years. The University of Maine sits right in the center of the home of the Penobscot people on Marsh Island. Issues of territorial rights, water and food scarcity, and sovereignty have been issues for native people of Maine since the colonization of the state.

In this week’s episode, I spoke with John Bear Mitchell; who is currently serving as an Educational Program Coordinator, University of Maine’s Wabanaki Center Outreach and Student Development Coordinator, as well as, a Lecturer of Wabanaki Studies at the University of Maine in Orono. He has served on numerous museums and educational boards throughout the state with an emphasis on Maine’s Wabanaki people. While speaking with John in this episode, we learned about his personal journey as an educator, resources to native students, tribal sovereignty, and more.

To view the list of recommended readings on Wabanaki people curated by John Bear, click: https://umaine.edu/hudsonmuseum/teacher-resources/literary-resources/

Click here to visit the Wabanaki Center webpage

Click here to read about the State of the Tribes address

Hosted by Podcast Producer Rose Duane and Maine Campus Editor-in-Chief Grace Blanchard. Produced by Rose Duane. Graphics by Delaney Burns. Theme music and transitions are composed by Sam Blanchard.

Editor’s Note: Ro Contreras is the vice chair and administrative officer of the Rocky Mountain Student Media Corporation Board of Directors. Contreras and the RMSMC Board have no input or influence in editorial decisions made by The Collegian.

Editor’s Note: The Collegian is aware there are accusations of other elections code violations from other ASCSU campaigns; however, The Collegian has not found evidence of these violations nor other guilty verdicts presented by the Elections Committee other than those listed in this story.

The Associated Students of Colorado State University Elections Committee found presidential candidate Mia Ritter and her vice presidential running mate Sammy Trout guilty of violating ASCSU Elections Code section 10.22 Monday evening for a series of disparaging allegations made by a supporter of their campaign.

On March 31 CSU senior Ro Contreras made a series of Instagram story posts that made sweeping allegations of racism, homophobia, transphobia, sexism and sexual assault against ASCSU presidential candidates Nick DeSalvo and Rithik Correa and their respective running mates Alex Silverhart and Jessica Laffey. Not all of these allegations applied to each candidate.

The posts were then shared by CallOutCSU, an Instagram account created in 2021 to coordinate protests after a contingency of bigoted preachers arrived on campus.

Current ASCSU President Rob Long and Correa filed a series of complaints against Ritter and Trout to the ASCSU Elections Committee April 2. Both Long and Correa’s complaints said the claims in Contreras’ posts amounted to defamation against DeSalvo, Silverhart, Correa and Laffey and that Ritter and Trout were aware of Contreras’ allegations.

The Elections Committee did not find Ritter or Trout guilty of defamation, but they did find the Ritter-Trout campaign guilty of violating a segment of the Elections Code specifying that “campaigns are liable for the actions of their supporters on the candidate’s behalf and as such must take appropriate actions to prevent code violations by supporters.”

The committee ruled the violation as a category 2, meaning the Ritter-Trout campaign was fined $200, according to the Elections Code.

“We have reposted every post that has tagged our account,” Ritter said in a statement written in response to the verdict. “One of the accounts’ stories that was reposted was from a student that has different opinions of the other candidates. Some viewed the students’ opinions as defamation, and hence, a violation hearing took place.”

Contreras has been an active supporter of the Ritter-Trout campaign, according to the complaints made by Long and Correa. The submitted Elections Code violation complaints show images of Contreras tabling and chalking on The Plaza in support of the Ritter-Trout campaign and include screenshots of Instagram posts Contreras made supporting Ritter and Trout that were then reposted by the campaign’s official account.

Contreras told The Collegian they are not involved with the Ritter-Trout campaign and wrote in a statement that they recently met Ritter and Trout when a friend recommended Contreras take their campaign photos.

“I think this context is important since people continue to claim I was involved with their campaign,” Contreras said. “I have always been a fierce advocate for others and am always willing to lend a helping hand, which is why I have been so willing to help (Ritter) and (Trout) chalk.”

In order to promote transparency, The Collegian has linked the Elections Code violations records here. The violation forms feature the complaints submitted by Long and Correa, screenshots of Contreras’ posts and documentation of their connection to the Ritter-Trout campaign.

“This was a complicated violation hearing, and details are important,” said ASCSU Elections Manager Grace Neumann in an email to The Collegian. “The committee decided that they cannot rule on defamation because the comments made were potentially protected by the First Amendment right to freedom of speech.”

Contreras’ first post claimed that Correa “was fired from his position as an RA because of sexual assault allegations.” The post also said Correa “has been extremely racist, homophobic and transphobic in the ASCSU space,” and that running mate Laffey’s father “is running for U.S. president as a far-right candidate.”

The post did not provide any evidence behind the claims against Correa, though Steve Laffey is a Republican candidate running for U.S. president on a platform of stopping trade with China and is the former host of a right-wing political podcast called “Steve Laffey’s Fixing America.”

Contreras’ next post accused DeSalvo of threatening ASCSU senators from marginalized communities, performing “micro aggressions towards students” and having “active bias reports against him.” They also claimed DeSalvo “attended (a) Turning Point USA conference with the current student body president.”

In a separate post, Contreras shared an anonymous text saying that Silverhart “has a past of saying and acting in a racist and misogynistic way,” and that “he has also made many queer folks feel uncomfortable because he leads queer conversations in a (very) sexualized (manner).”

Again, the post did not provide any evidence to support the allegations.

Contreras said the posts were shared on their personal page because they wanted to provide people with a place to anonymously share their experiences that had a public name behind it, unlike accounts like CallOutCSU.

“I have and continue to be a fierce advocate not only for myself but also for others,” Contreras said in a statement. “Transparency is a strong value I hold, as is accountability.”

“We believe each student has their First Amendment right to be able to express themselves, and that right should not be infringed,” Ritter said in a statement written in response to the verdict. “Any claim that we were found guilty of defamation is a blatant falsehood of the facts and findings, and we are disappointed a misrepresentation of those facts is being utilized so close to the end of a tense election.”

The Elections Committee also heard complaints of code violations from other campaigns at its April 3 meeting related to postering rules but found the campaigns not guilty.

On March 20 the Elections Committee found the DeSalvo-Silverhart campaign guilty of “passive campaigning,” a category 1 violation, through the creation of their campaign Instagram account before the campaign period began, the meeting minutes available on the ASCSU website said. The DeSalvo-Silverhart campaign was fined $100 for the violation.

The recorded minutes from the Elections Committee’s April 3 meeting show that while the Ritter-Trout campaign did violate the Elections Code, elections officials were reluctant to officially call their actions defamation due to the university administration’s historically pro-free speech stance.

“When you hear defamation, this is a big deal,” the minutes said. “ASCSU as a whole has not fought defamation because of the legality of the university’s position.”

Reach Dylan Tusinski at news@collegian.com or on Twitter @dylantusinski.

Editor’s Note: This article was updated at 6 p.m. April 5 to include statements from Contreras.