by Victoria Ruiz

Music majors at Colorado State University- Pueblo never miss a beat. The 2017 spring concert season is in full swing now and for music majors this means serious time-commitment.

Gerad Ortiz, a sophomore music education, bassoon and jazz guitar major said students spend “so much time” developing their skills in order to be performance ready. “It’s super common for (students) to be (on campus) at nine in the morning and leave at six,” said Ortiz.

The concept of time commitment doesn’t escape professors, in fact department chair David Volk, Ph.D., seemed to be all too aware of it. He wants incoming students to expect to be busy. “What we do takes time,” said Volk.

Students who are music majors tend to be involved with more than one ensemble at a time. Ortiz mentioned that freshman have a higher tendency to “get sucked in” to playing with more than one group or instrument. He also emphasized that professors may sometimes step in and warn students not to bite off more than they can chew. This is their way of mentoring students so as to prevent them from becoming overwhelmed.

To Volk, this multi-instrument, multi-performance aspect of being a student is a benefit of the type of environment the music department has established. “I say this a lot, (CSU-Pueblo hit) a sweet spot in terms of size,” said Volk.

In his opinion, CSU-Pueblo is large enough to have various opportunities for students but small enough that students are less likely to be turned away from multiple creative outlets. Volk said, “(There are) more opportunities for students who want to do a lot of things.”

Students, as Ortiz mentioned, tend to take advantage of as many ensembles as they can. This creates a unique intermingling of students that is hard to find anywhere else. For example, as Volk put it, many band students also sing with the choir. Volk called it, “A singular community of musicians.”

This community often extends past the boundaries of the university. For instance, the Festival of the Winds is a recruiting opportunity where the CSU-Pueblo music department opens its doors to local high school bands. The Festival of the Winds begins February 20 to the 25.

“There are a lot of really good concerts and recitals coming up,” said Ortiz. According to the CSU-Pueblo Department of Music Calendar of Events for 2016-2017, there are eight events taking place in March. Among those are the CSU-Pueblo Choir and Pueblo Choral Society Concert happening March 4 and a concert by the Pueblo Symphony Association on March 11.

The university’s relationship with the Pueblo Symphony is part of a continued effort to create a professional outlet for professors in the music department. Volk believes this relationship combined with other faculty ensembles will motivate professors and allow them to “enjoy professional opportunities.”

Since Volk joined the CSU-Pueblo faculty in 2013, many of the programs, such as faculty ensembles, have seen growth. One area that the music department still struggles with though, is publicity. As Volk put it, many students and faculty in the music department are not the best at “tooting their own horn.”

To Volk, this makes sense since the music department has a tendency to remain isolated from the rest of the student body. “Our front door faces away from campus,” he laughed.

Ortiz who is involved in four ensembles himself understands that although some concerts are “stupid good,” most performers don’t expect a full house.

For more information about the CSU-Pueblo music department visit www.csupueblo.edu/music.

by David Buck

Colorado State University-Pueblo launched a re-designed website in Dec. 2016. The heavy concentration and use of mobile devices, combined with an outdated interface led CSU-Pueblo to consider a website re-design. Web Development and Instructional Technology Manager Adam Pocius, is pleased with the successful launch of the new site.

“It was a champagne moment for sure,” Pocius said, “We had a great team take us there and now we are transitioning into taking the project completion momentum and transform it into maintaining and enhancing the web experience going forward.”

In 2016, Pocius and Website Developer Lallo Vigil set up a team of work study students to assist them with the extensive project. Pocius used images from the 1987 Nintendo game, “Contra” as progress markers for the project.

Individual stages from the game represent each aspect of the re-design process by a stage from “Contra,” with the final stage being the end-of-game boss from “Contra,” the Shadow Beast. Per Pocius, the web development team vanquished the Shadow Beast at launch, indicating a successful completion of the site re-design.

The success of the launch is due in no small part to the excellent support the Web Development Team received throughout the project. In addition to several Work Study students helping with the transition, both CSU-Pueblo president Lesley DiMare and CSU-Pueblo Foundation CEO Todd Kelly believed in the team’s ability to see the project through. Pocius said students, faculty, staff, the web advisory committee and outside company Beacon Technologies were all integral to the success of the project.

Pocius said the biggest difference from the old site is CURRENT STUDENTS. CURRENT STUDENTS replaced the previous TWOLF STUDENT PORTAL with the new site launch. Everything a student needs – e-mail, PAWS, Blackboard and more – are all conveniently located in one, easily accessible area. There is also a search feature that allows quick access to information a student may need.

“The two key areas are CURRENT STUDENTS at the top of the site and the STUDENT LIFE button. This will get most students to the resources they need. If all else fails, SEARCH is working beautifully across the site,” Pocius said.

Among the features of the website, Pocius is enthusiastic about a widget in the upper-right corner of the site on most pages, which acts as a portal to the CSU-Pueblo Experience and is updated every other day with news and events that affect CSU-Pueblo.  He is also partial to the subtle lightning bolt background he designed of the site. Pocius said this can be seen in areas where there are red backgrounds on the page.

Reactions to the new website design are mixed.

Mass Communications student Zahria Rogers likes the site, but has some concerns about using it on campus. She has no trouble loading it on her phone, but when she tries to access it from her computer using CSU-Pueblo’s Wi-Fi, she said the desktop version of the site tends to time out. However, the site is designed and optimized for mobile use, Pocius said in an interview from 2016. At the time of that interview, Pocius also said at least 50 percent or more of users access the site from a mobile device regularly.

Students like Johnea Jacobs are more familiar with the previous version of the website and is somewhat resistant to the change. Jacobs said she finds the new site harder to navigate, but likes the design.

Pueblo Community College Psychology student Jessica Groves thinks highly of the site.

“It looks good,” Groves said, “From what I saw, it looks easy to use.”

Groves plans to attend CSU-Pueblo after she obtains her Associate’s Degree and prefers to do most of her college work online. She believes the new design will help her be admitted and enroll when the time comes and will adjusting to CSU-Pueblo easier on her.

Now that the website has launched, Pocius and his team are in full maintenance mode and will be constantly updating and improving functionality of the site. The site may take some getting used to for older students, but for newer students, it offers a simpler interface, with a little bit of humanity thrown into the mix. The experience is designed for ease of use and is quite an accomplishment for Pocius and his team.

“The culmination of text and multimedia can become a website. Adding humanity transforms it into an experience,” Pocius said.

For more information about the evolution of the new website, the CSU-Pueblo Today provided extensive coverage during the Fall 2016 semester here: http://csupueblotoday.com/top-story/highly-anticipated-csu-pueblo-website-redesign-nears-implementation and in the Fall 2016 issue of the “CSU-Pueblo Today Magazine.” Check out the new website here: https://www.csupueblo.edu/.

by Victoria Ruiz

On Febuary 2, the Colorado State University- Pueblo Foundation broke ground on Thunder Village, a $2.4 million commercial project that spans 10,000-square-feet, in a ceremony held in the Fieldhouse of the Thunderbowl.

The privately funded complex is an anticipated addition to campus which will provide students with nearby commerce. According to a statement made by the CSU-Pueblo Facebook page, the first tenant of Thunder Village is Thunder Zone Pizza which will operate separate from the Foundation.

Foundation Chairman, Russell DeSalvo said this partnership with local businesses and restaurants would help to “diversify CSU-Pueblo’s assets,” as well as enhances the university’s local tax base. According to DeSalvo, Thunder Village will provide additional services that students on campus need.

Recent renovations of the Occhiato University Center (OUC) have forced the closure of at least two mealtime options for students, including Einstein Bro. Bagels. The plan is for the renovation of the OUC to be complete in March of 2018, according to the CSU-Pueblo website. Thunder Zone Pizza, however, is set to open in June of 2017.

University President, Lesley DiMare said, “Student’s here have been waiting for something like this for years.” According to DiMare, the Foundation “has been vigilant,” in working to create a gathering place for students, faculty and staff while also drawing in members of the community.

Antonio Huerta, President of the Associated Students’ Government (ASG) also agreed that this new prospect for campus will be influential in creating a more “vibrant student culture.” He said, “(I’m) excited to see the impact Thunder Village will have on campus and Pueblo’s community.”

This “place of their own,” as DiMare described it, was first introduced by previous ASG presidents. The 2015-2016 ASG president Sarah Zarr watched from the crowd as her successor, Huerta, broke ground on the project. Zarr assisted in presenting the idea in its early stages and said she helped to “start the conversation with the Board of Governors.”

But this new addition to campus isn’t just for enjoyment. DiMare predicts it will help to increase student enrollment based on the premise that the university can now call itself fully residential. For some, it seems CSU-Pueblo has come a long way.

Genia Gallegos, a community member who attended the ground breaking ceremony said she recalled visiting the campus with her father as a child. Gallegos said, “Back then it was just the big buildings on the hill. It’s changing.”

Thunder Village is the change in campus life that Huerta and DiMare believe students will love while also keeping them safe. DiMare admitted she worries about students when they venture far from campus to seek restaurants or entertainment.

According to Huerta, Thunder Village is the first step in answering other questions about student life as well, such as what students want and what they need to be successful. Huerta is confident that Thunder Village is the solution. He said, “…as time goes on it will minimize risk and students will love it.”

by Tiffany Underwood

Colorado State University-Pueblo’s wrestling team won the 2017 Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference Feb. 4, with a lead of 16 points over the other universities, totaling 116.5 points.

This wrestling conference was held at the Olympic Training Center in Colorado Springs, Colorado. The CSU-Pueblo wrestling team’s season begins in November and goes until March for their national tournament.

Throughout their season, they compete in many duals and open tournaments against other university wrestling teams along with the RMAC, regional tournament and national tournament. Steven Ullman, Senior at CSU-Pueblo, said, “our performance at the RMAC provided the team with a good measuring stick for our preparation for the reginal and national tournaments.”

Head coach Dax Charles has worked with the CSU-Pueblo wrestling team for nine years as the head coach and assistant coach for seven years. Charles said. “It is nice to be able to win in our own back yard being that it was at the Olympic Training Center in Colorado Springs.

The Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference is a NCAA Division II conference located in the states of Colorado, Nebraska, New Mexico, South Dakota, and Utah. The RMAC currently competes in 23 NCAA Division II sports and has earned 57 NCAA Division II national championships and 47 national runners-up since 1992. Founded in 1909, the RMAC is the most historic athletic conference headquartered in the western United States and in Division II, according to the RMAC’s official site.

The RMAC hosts nine universities for the wrestling conference, Chadron State, San Francisco State, CSU-Pueblo, Colorado Mesa, Cal Baptist, Western State, New Mexico Highlands, Colorado Mines and Adam State.

Each wrestler competes individually in their own weight bracket against other wrestlers. Based on the individual’s performance, the university will receive points that go towards the final ranks to determine which team will be declared the champion. For the individual champions, there is a bracket for each of the ten weight class.

According to the NCAA rules, an individual can score a point during a match is a time advantage worth 1 point or escape worth 1 point. An individual could also gain points with a takedown worth 2 points, a reversal worth 2 points or a near fall worth 2 to 4 points. An individual can also win against an opponent by pinning him or by a technical, which is a 15-point advantage against the opponent.

The CSU-Pueblo wrestling team won overall champion with a total of 116.5 points. Eight wresters placed in their individual weight class at the RMAC tournament. One wrestler took first place, another one placed second, four wrestlers took third place and two wrestlers took fifth place.

“It’s a tough tournament and the reason we won was because we came together as a team, we all wrestle for each other not for ourselves and that’s what makes the difference,” said Kyle Fantin, Senior at CSU-Pueblo.

by Thomas Thortvedt

The Colorado State University-Pueblo women’s lacrosse is looking to prove the doubters wrong after being placed to finish fifth in the Rocky Mountain Conference in the 2017 coaches poll.

The ThunderWolves, who are led by Head Coach Monica Potter, are ready to kick off the 2017 campaign in a road contest against No.17 Regis University, Saturday Feb.18. The pack will return 10 starters from last year to help make a run to the RMAC tournament.

Potter plans to build off the foundation that the team has already established in their third year as a program. “The ladies have been pushing themselves and their teammates,” Potter said. “Making it into the RMAC tournament is a team goal we will aggressively be going after.”

Having 10 starters returning to the lineup, the ThunderWolves will return two preseason all RMAC players, Taylor Christensen and Rachael Welzin.

Christensen, sophomore, earned Honorable Mention All RMAC accolades last year as a freshmen and plans to only improve in her second season. Christensen was able to lead the RMAC and place fifth in the nation in ground balls per game, picking up 3.94 ground balls per contest.

by Thomas Thortvedt

The Colorado State University-Pueblo men’s lacrosse team is heading into their 2017 campaign, led by head coach Sean Blair, the pack look to bounce back strong after a not so good 2016 campaign, going 3-11 and 0-8 in conference play.

The upcoming 2017 season is a fresh slate for men’s lacrosse and is a chance to get back to their winning ways. Being only the third season that the ThunderWolves are a program that competes in lacrosse, the 2016-17 season is a great way to build a foundation that can last many years.

Adam Lange, junior, is one of the newcomers for the men’s lacrosse team. Lange is aware of the disappointing 2016 season and is confident about the team this upcoming season.

“We started spring ball a week earlier and had two a days. That for sure is giving us some confidence, coming into the season our expectations are as high as anyone right now.” Lange said.

The pack have played three exhibition games to begin the season, those of which don’t count towards the overall record but give the team confidence before heading into their first official game.

The ThunderWolves will start the official season in a Rocky Mountain Conference opener against Adams State University Saturday March 4 at 5 p.m. at the Art & Lorraine Gonzales Stadium. The matchup against the Adams State Grizzlies will kick off a three-game home stand where the pack look to build momentum.

The ThunderWolves are looking to build on its 3-11 record from a season ago. With the help of getting three of the top four point getters from a year ago, it’ll be a good place to start building chemistry to last throughout the season.

The Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference Preseason Coaches Poll placed the ThunderWolves to finish sixth in the conference. Given that the ThunderWolves are still looking to win their first conference game in program history, the ranking for the pack in the coaches poll is accurate.

Head coach Sean Blair is approaching his fourth season as the coach of the men’ lacrosse team. Blair was the first coach hired for men’s lacrosse on Nov. 20, 2013. “They’ve been working hard and we’re just focused on winning one game at a time.” Blair said when asked about expectations this upcoming season.

The pack look to start strong and carry that one game at a time mentality throughout the whole season and rebound after the 2016 campaign where they finished last in the conference.

by Maggie Geolat

On January 31, Bree Newsome presented at Colorado State University-Pueblo campus as a part of the distinguished speaker series. This series consists of speakers from a wide variety of talents and professions, and are all free for the students and public’s to enjoy.

Newsome is known by her civil works of social justice. Her most recognized act comes from her scaling the flag pole at the South Carolina State House to bring down the confederate flag that was previously flying. Her passion for social issues is clear in her work, and was shown in her presentation on Tuesday evening.

She began the evening by asking for a moment of silence for all of those who have lost their lives recently and in the past to hate crimes and other injustices. This set the tone of the room as one of solidarity, and all eyes were on Newsome as she began speaking of her own story.

She went on to explain how many members of her family had been victims of hate crime. Growing up she understood the value of courage, and why she needed to be courageous for those that couldn’t.

Her moment to act came on that day in South Carolina. She had previously been watching the memorial service for those who had been shot in the South Carolina church, and couldn’t help but to notice the confederate flag still flying at the statehouse behind them.

To her, and many Americans, the confederate flag simply stood for intolerance, racism, and white supremacy. Her words were “I felt so strongly about how intolerable it was that they still allowed this flag to fly.”

That in mind, she decided to take matters in to her own hands. With help from supporters, Newsome could climb over the fence surrounding the flag poles, and scale to the top.

As she removed the flag and was heading back down, police officers surrounded her and threatened to use a stun gun on her. Being that she was on a metal flag pole, that meant there was a good chance of electrocution. Fortunately, her fellow supporters stood up and held on to her saying “if you are going to tase her, you will tase all of us as well.” The police officers stood aside, and Newsome could step down.

In that moment, Newsome stated that “we had been waiting for South Carolina to do the right thing for over 100 years.”

In her speech, she said how important it is to act on what you believe in, even if you feel as if individually you won’t make a huge impact. She stated “It is important to understand a movement is millions of people doing millions of things at the same time.”

Having distinguished speakers come to our campus creates a positive turnout for student interaction. Keragan Ettleman, a junior on campus was asked why having a distinguished speaker such as Bree Newsome is important to our campus success.

Ettleman said “Bree Newsome is a powerful public figure and I think she has the ability to educate out students and initiate new movements for us to get behind.

by Ashley Schaerfl

As of Jan. 20, 2017 Colorado State University-Pueblo has announced that the nursing program here at CSU-Pueblo is no longer just a program, but now a School of Nursing.

This change comes after years of waiting, since 2003 to be exact when the associate dean position established in the nursing department and now that this has been accomplished, students and faculty will have so much more to look forward to.

According to the Nursing Graduate Program Director Patricia Keller, this change is going to help students make the decision to come here over other schools in the state and it will give the current students a prominent degree to help move forward with their careers. “We have elevated ourselves,” Keller said. “It’s about prestige. It’s kind of an honor in away.”

The change brings in the first doctor of nursing practice at CSU-Pueblo starting in Fall 2018. This addition will allow nursing students to take that extra step after their masters to get a Ph.D. in adult-gerontology acute care nurse practitioner, in adult-gerontology acute care/ family nurse practitioner or in psychiatric- mental health nurse practitioner.

Instead of going the four to six years for their RN and BSN students can continue at CSU-Pueblo for 8 years and walk away with their Ph.D.  “Our doctoral program does allow seamless transition of individuals that want to go from their BSN to Ph.D. as a nurse practitioner,” Joe Franta, the interim associate dean of nursing said.

Another change that the nursing faculty have been fighting for is a change in the credit hours that the Nurses Education Degree required. Currently the degree requires 44 credit hours which is more than surrounding schools ask for. Educators are hoping that this will change within the next few weeks to 30 credit hours, making this degree program more competitive.

“We are waiting for the Board of Governors in February to meet,” Graduate Nursing Program Coordinator, Susan Belport said. According to Keller this change will hopefully come through for students in the Fall of 2017 and will help draw students to getting their masters as an Nurse Educator.

Currently the school of nursing is still part of the College of Education, Engineering and Professional Studies, because students are studying the profession of nursing. One day this could change and the program will have their own building and finances.

This will provide more space for simulation which just grew thanks to the Park View Grant. “Over the next two to five years the goal is to become a School of Nursing with its own dean,” Franta said. This is the next step in the process of becoming the school of nursing and will potential draw in a donor to provided a new building to house the school.

“We’re waiting for you guys,” said Patricia Keller. With need for nurses growing throughout the country and the program itself growing, the school of nursing is ready for students to come and join their team.

by the CSU-Pueblo Today

Some say that being a college student is a full time job. Even when you leave the school at the end of the day, you still have to give all you have to classes while maintaining a job or being part of a team on campus. As a student there is only one thing that scares us more than becoming ill or getting injured in the middle of the semester: health insurance.

With all the money that we put into the school and the credibility of the school in our hands we should be covered as students’ right? The truth is there is no true health coverage for students here at Colorado State University-Pueblo.  Students deserve an affordable health plan, assistance to help pay for these health plans or it should be included in tuition and fees and the school should be providing this as a way to protect their students.

According to medicalbillingandcoding.org, 27.4 percent of college students do not have any form of health insurance regardless of the Affordable Healthcare Act.

Schools like CSU-Fort Collins,  University of Colorado Colorado Springs and University of Northern Colorado offer plans to their students and/or require certain students to get these insurance plans/provide one of their own. These plans are more expensive than getting private insurance and only last for the specific semester.

CSU-Collins sight says, “Most major universities require students to carry health insurance as a way of protecting the student’s educational investment.” But if they are trying to protect our education why do they jeopardize it with the outrageous cost of insurance? We individually invest thousands of dollars into these establishments. Yet here at CSU-Pueblo all that is available to us is merely a clinic that can’t help you past minor issues which you could go to your free local clinic for.

CSU-Collins offers insurance for spring and summer and costs students $1,773 or you can just get summer for $871. Fall may be cheaper, costing only $1,512 to students, but what are the odds that anyone has a job that can pay these overpriced plans? Yes, students are allowed to use financial aid to assist them and can even pay monthly to help lower the cost, but after all is said and done with tuition, few students have any money left over and most likely still need what’s left to pay for books or supplies for the semester.

UNC is not much better, except for allowing their students to insure spouses and children, but these plans are more expensive than rent for a 5 bedroom house. UCCS, as of Spring 2016, no longer provides any form of insurance for their students, due to the fact that it was too costly to the school and very few students actually invested in the plans. They do point their students to a plan called Clyde’s Care that only cost the students $75 a semester, but is not an actual health insurance and can only be used at the campus Wellness Center.

Everywhere you look students have to pay for insurance that has stipulations, is not true insurance or can potentially make semesters more stressful.

The nursing program and any athletics teams here at CSU-Pueblo, as well as almost all nursing programs and athletics teams, require their students to provide medical insurance to be allowed to participate. Understandably so, students complete clinics at local hospitals, nursing homes and other medical facilities that require students to work with bodily fluids or around sick patients that could spread illnesses easily, and being an athlete someone can potentially get injured.

These students are not provided with a plan through the program or athletics department, nor are they given extra financial help in order to secure a plan that is required. Just as tools and necessary equipment is provided for students in other majors, insurance should be at least partially provided.

With the cost of tuition only rising and the inability for most employers to provide health insurance plans for their employees, students are at the end of the line when it comes to taking care of themselves. Many have to ignore the problem or pray that they can remain on their parent’s insurance. There are even students that are potentially going to lose their slot in the nursing program here at CSU-Pueblo due to the fact that they cannot afford insurance and are paying for tuition and the cost of living while maintaining class.

With either an increase in tuition, which many of us may not agree with, or plans that the school provides that do not go over $70 a month, we can eliminate uninsured students and maybe even work towards a better insurance plan as the years progress. Even UCCS is trying in some way to help students, but that does not help if the illness or injury requires a visit to the emergency room.

The school needs to endure the hardship of finding the funding for the sake of their financially invested students and provide at least one absolutely necessary insurance plan that all students can afford.