file photo from csupueblo.edu

Last year, CSU-Pueblo became widely known as the home of the champions when the school’s football team won the Division II national championship. Since then, the focus has been on the school’s football program.

But a room full of unclaimed trophies shows that the school is home to another dominating team.

Also known as speech and debate, CSU-Pueblo’s Forensic Team was once a force to be reckoned with until the program shut down in 1996. Since then, the legacy of the team has seemingly been forgotten.

CSU-Pueblo’s director of forensics and coach of the newly reinstated speech and debate team Kathryn Starkey uncovered a room full of forensic trophies highlighting the team’s impressive career.

After this discovery, Starkey began The Trophy Project in an effort to return these forgotten achievements to their rightful owners. Not only does she aim to aid the speech and debate program in reclaiming their former legacy, but she’s also determined to uncover and expose the long rooted history of the program at CSU-Pueblo.

“When I started, I was told that there was a bunch of speech and debate trophies in storage somewhere in the art building. What I found was a myriad of artifacts that depicted a legacy of success,” Starkey said.

Starkey’s discovery consisted of 165 trophies, which were scattered in various boxes and shelves.

“These trophies help tell a story, and it’s one I am determined to discover. One thing about speech and debate that makes me sad is that we have no institutional memory. We have no idea where we came from. We don’t know who debated prior to us,” Starkey said.

“I made it a goal to show our students that this is why our team is back,” she said. “The team was once a powerhouse and I want to reestablish that legacy.”

After discovering the trophies, Starkey said she began to catalog them.

“I made it a mission to complete the puzzle of our team’s history. I cataloged all of the trophies so I knew all of the tournaments they came from. Separated by their dates and years, these trophies range from 1963 to 1996,” she said.

Determined to return these trophies back to CSU-Pueblo’s forensic alumni, Starkey began the process of tracking the former teammates down.

“I went and talked to all of the directors of the programs that still existed to see if they could tell me anything about the team or if they had records they could share with me,” she said.

“However, after everything started to get digitized through the Internet, these records became impossible to find. It eventually lead to a dead end. We’ve also tried to go through the college’s yearbooks, but there wasn’t a lot of information in there about the speech and debate team.”

Despite the setbacks, Starkey has had some luck in tracking down some of these former team members.

“Some of the trophies had the names of the forensic teammates inscribed on them, so that really was the first step in building our alumni network. We are working on taking these names, tracing their history, and gathering their contact information,” she said.

Starkey said that Jim Hanson, a former mentor of hers, told her that a Chi Kappa Delta tournament published a magazine which featured tournament winners and the trophies they won.

“I also found out that someone took it upon themselves to publish all the results of the individual events of a tournament at Minnesota State University. Having scans of those documents has helped form part our team’s history and legacy,” she said.

“Using this, I hope to get the opportunity to call an alumni one day and say here is both your trophy and an article of you that you never knew was published. I hope it will bring back some great memories for them and their time on the forensic team, as well as piece together another part of our department’s history” she said.

Starkey currently has most of the trophies on display in her office as she continues to piece together the program’s past. Anyone who wants to assist in tracking down these alumni can contact Starkey in the English department on campus.

Robert King | Photo courtesy of robertkingpoet.com

Robert King’s poetry performance on April 6 marked the end of the CSU-Pueblo’s Southern Colorado Reading Series events for the spring semester.

King is a native of Colorado. Born in Denver in 1937, he graduated from Fort Collins High School in 1955. He went on to receive his bachelor’s in English from Iowa State University, master’s in American Literature from Colorado State University and a doctorate in English from Iowa State University.

King started teaching at the University Of North Dakota in 1968. There, he received the Outstanding Teacher Award, worked with the school’s poetry program and eventually retired as professor emeritus.

King has also lectured at the University of Northern Colorado in Greeley, where he currently acts as the director of the Colorado Poet Center. According to their online profile, the Colorado Poet Center “is a directory of writers who have published poetry and who live and work in Colorado or have strong ties to the state.”

King is also the editor of newsletters “The Colorado Poet,” The Riverbank Report” and “The Poudre River Current.” He is also the author of several poetry books including “Old Man Laughing,” “Stepping Twice into the River” and “Some of these Days.”

His poetry reflects themes, scenes, and memories that have impacted his life or pieces that explore the everyday, focusing on the otherwise unnoticeable.

King delivered a unique style of reading during Monday night’s events. Combining readings with performance, he explained that his poetry falls into two different categories: the single shot poem, which focuses on a single theme, experience or situation and the jazz poem, which focuses on the beauty and structure of the poem itself.

He also explained to his audience that some of his poetry was started at a young age, but remained unfinished until many years later. These gaps in time were largely due to not having the right words needed to finish the piece at the time of its production.

Before reading, King would explain both his mindset and the inspiration behind the poem to provide context for the piece. The themes ranged from the ideologies of war, to questioning the rhythmic pattern of a cricket’s chirp.

Throughout the night, powerful messages ideologies were expressed. In a poem about his toy soldiers as a child growing up in WWII, “Why I Invented War” King wrote, “Why I invented war, only because I had soldiers. Given a set of lead cows, I would have invented agriculture.”

Other powerful messages that were influenced by life events included in his poetry involved seeing his father’s skull during an x-ray, his previous battle with lung cancer and theological musings sitting outside of a hotel.

Some of his poetry touched on lighter topics, such as exploring the real meaning behind a planter’s wart.

“When I write poetry, I write it how I think it will be read. It’s not until afterwards that I start adding the performance element to it,” King said.

The SoCo reading series is sponsored by CSU-Pueblo’s English department, the foreign language department and the Diversity Resource Center. For the last 10 years, the program has brought famous poets from throughout the country to CSU-Pueblo, giving students the opportunity to experience the performed word.

Sarah Zarr | Photo by Daniel Potter

Candidates for Associate Students’ Government positions have been campaigning for student elections, which will be held April 6 and 7. One running party is Legendary, which consists of CSU-Pueblo presidential candidate Sarah Zarr and vice presidential candidate Gene Wilson, among various senator candidates.

Zarr, a mass communications major, is in the president’s leadership program, where she actively participates in volunteer work for both the college and community. She also serves as the president for CSU-Pueblo Students For Life and as a college of humanities and social sciences senator for ASG.

She has served as a representative on the PLP board of directors, a representative for the Colorado Leadership Alliance, co-captain for CSU-Pueblo’s Winter-Guard Team and as the co-captain for the marching band’s color guard.

Wilson is an associate chief justice for the ASG. In this position, his job is to make sure that students receive fair representation at appeals courts. He is also the vice president of the forensics team, which qualified for the national tournament this year.

Both Zarr and Wilson expressed their desire to create a legendary experience for both current and future CSU-Pueblo students by creating a college atmosphere where the student voice is heard.

Through a combination of an interview with Real Talk Today and email interviews, Zarr and Wilson shared the ideologies behind Legendary and the positive changes they plan to create for CSU-Pueblo.

Gene Wilson | Photo by Daniel Potter

CSU-Pueblo Today: What made you decide to get involved with ASG and what do you hope to accomplish if Legendary wins the election?

Sarah Zarr: I decided to get involved with ASG last year as a senator because I had a strong desire to help students. I also became a part of the governing body of CSU-Pueblo so that I could implement positive changes.

I decided to run for president this year because I want to become an advocate for CSU-Pueblo students. I want to show them that they can be legendary.

Legendary is made up of 11 different senators who want to take action in order to make positive changes at our university. We all have real-life leadership experience. As a group we represent different areas of our campus, be it culture, backgrounds, dreams, talents or ideas. We want to come together to make CSU-Pueblo a place that students are proud of.

As president, I will be an advocate for both our students and their dreams. I will seek to create a collegiate atmosphere that is a vibrant community of involved students. I want ASG to be the voice and servant of the students. I will give all students a space where they can be their unique self: a place where they can explore, develop and use their extraordinary talents.

My goal is to get more funding for higher education in Colorado as we are currently ranked 49th in the state. I plan to do this through working with the Colorado Student Government Coalition to make sure our student voice is heard in the capitol.

Access to higher education funding in Colorado will help to fix the areas that the students want changed such as the cafeteria food, Wi-Fi and technology.

I want to be able to support student organizations and get them the resources they need.

I want to make sure students are heard and informed about everything that happens on campus as well as the resources that are available to them. I want to bridge the gap between commuter and resident students.

I want to work on getting student who commute to CSU-Pueblo a place to bring their lunch, hang out, collaborate and encounter student organizations. I want to create spaces on campus where students can interact with each other and build lasting friendships.

I am striving to create a collegiate atmosphere that is a community filled with engaged and involved students: a community that is also caring, authentic, well informed, inspirational, and legendary.

Gene Wilson: I got involved with ASG because I thought it would a great opportunity to be involved with the judicial branch and represent our students with their appeals. I heard about the position through student emails and became involved. I wanted to be the voice of the students on these boards.

This experience got me more interested in everything that the student government does. I started to become more involved with projects, committees and I helped restructure many of the policies that were changed this year.

Legendary is about CSU-Pueblo students, not about ourselves. We want nothing more than for students to know how much we care and that Legendary is about making this campus their home away from home.

I hope to make sure that students are properly advocated for, and that they are able to have their own personal voices heard. I worked with Colorado Student Government Coalition so I know that all of the schools are willing to work towards the goal of getting more funding for our higher education.

This would help to create solutions for everything our students want. Cafeteria food, contracts, technology, and Wi-Fi would all be easily fixed with more funding. I also think that this would result in a chain reaction. Not only would more potential students be interested in CSU-Pueblo, but they would also enjoy their time here.

CSU-Pueblo Today: In 100 words or less, why should students vote for Legendary?

Zarr: Students should vote for Legendary so that they can have their voices heard, be led by servant leaders, be accurately represented, cared about and have the opportunity to receive a legendary college experience.

Wilson: Students should vote Legendary because we are able to be force that achieves the wants and needs of our students. Legendary is such a diverse group that it would represent numerous aspects of our campus and the ideas of our students. Plus, Legendary is looking to create a strong collegiate atmosphere in order to make this campus legendary for the students not us. As Sarah said at the debate, “it’s about the purpose not the position; it’s about the goal not the role.”

Voting, which is accessible through student PAWS accounts, begins April 6 and ends April 7 at 5 p.m.

A Evening of One Act Plays will showcase talent from  CSU-Pueblo.

Various CSU-Pueblo students will see their creative work performed live on stage April 16 and April 17 as part of the English department’s “Evening of One Act Plays.”

Last year, seven students from English professor Dorothy Heedt’s Creative Writing Drama Class got the opportunity to see their creative works come to life at the event. Those who attended were exposed to student inspired plays of comedy, imaginative science fiction and important controversial subject matters. This year, the performances continue.

In an effort to increase the ability to showcase a wider pool of creative talent, the boundaries for script submissions this year has increased to include students from across CSU-Pueblo’s campus. With submission themes ranging from cancer to blue-eyed mobsters, this year’s production promises to be as entertaining as its predecessor.

These events offer CSU-Pueblo students the opportunity to gain and showcase their theatrical experience. Currently, there isn’t a drama program offered at CSU-Pueblo’s campus for students interested in the performing arts. “An Evening of One Act Plays” also isn’t traditionally held as an annual event, so students are encouraged to participate.

For those who are interested in acting in the one act plays, auditions are scheduled to take place on the evenings of March 9 and March 10. Those who audition will be asked to read an excerpt from one of the playwright’s scripts in front of the play’s directors.

The directors will then talk amongst themselves about who they want for their plays, and actors will be contacted later that week with offers of roles. Everyone who auditions will be guaranteed at least one role, with a maximum cap of three acting parts.

Directors and screenwriters also have the ability to gender swap some of their characters, so the number of gender-specific parts doesn’t place limitations on the roles available.

Once actors are selected, the students will work with the play’s directors to establish times and dates for rehearsals. The directors and actors will have the ability to hold at least one of their rehearsals in the room of the final performances in order to get a sense of stage direction and space.

For those who want to participate outside of performing, there will be opportunities to assist as stage hands, a lighting technicians, sound technicians, as well as other general help.

Final tech rehearsals for this year’s performances will be held on Tuesday April 14and Wednesday April 15. Tech rehearsals will begin at 5 p.m. and run until all the acts have finished their performances. The “Night of One Act Plays” will be held on Thursday April 16 and Friday April 17 at 5:30 p.m. in AMC 205.

The event is free and open to both the CSU-Pueblo students and the community. One act plays run approximately ten minutes in length, consist of two to four characters, and generally take place in a single setting. This year’s event will consist of six to nine of these performances, with roughly a three-hour runtime, including an intermission.

Times and location for rehearsals will be posted below in the comments section once the details have been finalized.

Dr. Rick Kreminski will become CSU-Pueblo’s new provost on March 1.
File photo

Rick Kreminski, dean of the College of Science and Mathematics, has been chosen as CSU-Pueblo’s new provost. He was selected from a list of three finalists that included Kristina Proctor, professor of chemistry at CSU-Pueblo and Jane Fraser, professor and chair of the engineering department at CSU-Pueblo.

According to the announcement from President Lesley Di Mare, support for Kreminski has been high across campus, and he will begin his new duties March 1.

The provost functions as the college’s senior academic adviser and is responsible for overseeing educational curriculum. At CSU-Pueblo, the provost works closely with the president in order to improve the educational quality and experiences of the students.

According to the university website, “The Provost Office is eager to help students find answers to their questions and to ensure that their experiences at CSU-Pueblo meet or exceed expectations.”

Before coming to CSU-Pueblo, Kreminski worked at Texas A&M University where he served as an assistant professor, intern and assistant dean.

Kreminski has been a math professor at CSU-Pueblo since August 2009. He has actively recruited students from around the community who show an interest in mathematical fields of study by participating in community outreaches such as the Science Olympiad Commotion, which is scheduled to take place next month.

Kreminski said he feels that “science and mathematics are very special ways to seek truth.”

“Art, music, humanistic studies and other pursuits also shed light on the world and our place in it. But there is something special about the focus, depth and precision that math and science bring to bear on our explorations of this mysterious and marvelous world.”

Kreminski previously served as interim provost for CSU-Pueblo from 2011 to 2013, and he is also the Acting Director of the Institutional Research and Analysis.  The process for filling the two positions Kreminski is vacating will begin later this month according to Di Mare.

In response to a student’s question about the changes he would implement to CSU Pueblo’s academic programs, Kreminski said he has several strategies in mind. One of these ideas consists of “…enhancing experiential education opportunities. This is important for our reaffirmation of accreditation as well [as part of our Quality Initiative].”

Kreminski also mentioned that he wants to “enhance recruitment opportunities by considering a variety of new emphases within existing majors.”

He hopes to explore several other forms of experimental education such as more “hybrid-themed and filled-classroom options.” He aims to make sure that programs remain up to date, that both students and faculty can professionally grow from their time here, and collect feedback from the college’s alumni for further insight and “beneficial perspectives.”

In her email to the campus community, Di Mare stressed that Kreminski is the right man to fill the provost position.

“Dr. Kreminski has garnered a far intricate understanding of our institution and our students as a whole, which has been invaluable to us in our enrollment and budget forecasting and will continue to guide these decisions as we move forward.”

Idris Goodwin talks to audience members of this year’s first installment of the SoCo Reading Series. Photo courtesy of SoCo Reading Series.

The first installment of this year’s Southern Colorado Reading Series began Feb. 11 in the LARC’s auditorium. The series, which showcases authors and poets from across the country, mixes the written word with performing arts.

Free to both students and the community, the series has been hosted at CSU-Pueblo for more than 10 years. More events in the series are scheduled throughout the rest of the semester.

The events are sponsored in part by CSU-Pueblo assistant English professor and the head of the creative writing department, Juan Morales.

The SoCo Reading Series begins with an author introducing himself, his work and the themes and messages behind his ideologies. After reading various passages, the audience members are allowed to interact with the author through questions or one on one conversation.

Idris Goodwin is a hip hop artist, playwright, poet and professor. He teaches performance writing and the aesthetics of hip hop at Colorado College, and has appeared on several television stations, including HBO and The Discovery Chanel.

Keeping in theme with Black History Month, Goodwin opened with the preface from his novel “These are the Breaks,” which addresses how the world has come to view and address different skin colors.

“Throughout this book you will hear me refer to myself as black. You will hear me refer to other members of the black race as black. By race I refer to skin color, and by skin color, I mean brown,” Goodwin said in a passage of his novel.

In his novel, he discusses problems with racial labels as they apply to a variety of cultures.

The reading ranged from poems about growing up in the Bronx to feature length hip hop songs, and the event’s ending was met with applause from the audience.

During a question session with the audience, an audience member asked why hip-hop seems like it can come off as bragging.

“It’s letting people know that where still here. We’re still alive,” said Name Marshell, a surprise special guest and poet who accompanied Goodwin.

This year, there will be two more SoCo event readings. The first reading will feature acclaimed poet Kim Addizino on March 12 at 7 p.m. in the LARC’s Auditorium.

Addizino’s latest novel, “The Palace of Illusions,” is comprised of a collection of short stories. The novel has been praised by publications including Literary Journal, The New York Times, Publisher’s Weekly, among many others.

Concluding this year’s SoCo reading will be Janice Gould and Robert King. Both authors will also be reading selections of their works.

The readings will take place April 6 at 7 p.m. in the LARC’s Auditorium.

Janice Gould has had three poetry collections published since the 1990’s. Her newest work “Doubters and Dreamers,” is a mix of reflective poetry and narrations that highlight her experiences growing up as a halfblooded middle class Native American, and as a lesbian.

Robert King is the author of “Some of These Days,” a poetry collection aimed to reflect the moral turmoil of how he sees the world has progressed throughout his life. Ranging from WWII to Modern day, King’s novel has been well received by reviewers.

February is African-American History Month, and numerous events will be held on the Colorado State University-Pueblo campus aimed at celebrating important moments in African-American history and promoting racial diversity.

February became linked with African-American History Month in 1976, in part, to honor the influences that Abraham Lincoln and Fredrick Douglass had on racial diversity; both of these men were born in February.

The Brown Eye, Blue Eye Experiment will be held Wednesday, Feb. 11at 6: p.m. in room 109 of the Library and Academic Resource Center. Based off Jane Elliot’s classroom segregation experiment of the same name, the exercise aims to showcase what discrimination feels like and the significance of the “angry eye.”

Following Blue Eye, Brown Eye Wednesday evening will be the Southern Colorado Reading Series featuring Idris Goodwin at 7 p.m. in LARC 109. Goodwin will be reading from his Pushcart Prize nominated book “These are the Breaks.” The novel is a collection of essays expressed through a poetic structure and showcasing issues of race, class and culture.

Goodwin has appeared on HBO and the Discovery Channel, and he teaches hip-hop and performance writing at Colorado College. He will be selling his new album, “Rhyming While Black,” at the event. Free food and drink will be provided.

On Thursday, Feb. 12, there will be an open documentary viewing and discussion of “Light/Dark.” The documentary covers the topics of skin tone and will be held in the Occhiato University Center, room 301 at 5 p.m.

The following week, guest speaker David Volk will be visiting campus Wednesday, Feb. 18 at noon to talk to students about the history of American music and how it helped bridge racial gaps.

According to a press release from the university, “this presentation looks at key moments in American music history and the impact of music on racial understanding.”

A Spirituality Fair will be hosted Friday, Feb. 20 in the OUC Ballroom. The event will take place between 3 and 5 p.m. and allows students to explore and learn about the different religions throughout Southern Colorado.

Following the Spirituality Fair in the OUC Ballroom, will be the Gospel Explosion at 6 p.m. The Gospel Explosion will feature worship music and dance performances from various choirs throughout Southern Colorado, including one from CSU-Pueblo.

On Saturday Feb. 21, students will have the opportunity to give back to their community by signing up to volunteer for the Pueblo Rescue Mission. This is the only event happening off campus and will start at 5 p.m. at 728 West 4th Street.

There will be two different movie viewings Wednesday, Feb. 25. The first show will be presented by the Diversity Resource Center in the Belmont Residence Hall at 6 p.m. The picture has not yet been selected but will be part of CSU Pueblo’s African-American History Month celebration. The second viewing, “Do the Right Thing,” will begin at 6: p.m. in OUC 031 and is sponsored by Jennifer DeLuna, Director of Diversity and Inclusion.

Concluding the month-long celebration will be the Lunch Counter Training February 26, located in the Belmont Hall at 5 p.m. The Lunch Counter Training will be a reenactment of what African-American had to experience during times of segregation in the South. Following the event, there will be an open discussion about racism.

All events are sponsored in part by CSU-Pueblo’s Diversity Resource Center.

The First Friday Art Walk will take place along Pueblo’s Creative Corridor. Photo courtesy of puebloarts.org.

Pueblo might be known as the “Steel City,” for its long history of mass steel production, but it’s also the home to a unique creative experience known as the First Friday Art Walk. The event, which is held the first Friday of every month, showcases the works of local Pueblo artists.

The festivities will take place between 5 p.m. and 8 p.m. along Pueblo’s mile-long Creative Corridor, which consists of Main Street, the Union Avenue Historic District, and the Mesa Junction.

The event will exhibit more than 35 galleries, restaurants and attractions. For those who want to experience a complete tour of Pueblo’s Creative Corridor, a free shuttle ride called the VanGo, will depart from the 5th and Main espresso bar at 5 p.m., and make 13 stops throughout the night.

The First Friday Art Walk also offers other activities. Participants can expect to see fiber arts, sculptures and pottery, among a slew of other creative works.

Attendants will also have the opportunity to mingle with some of the local artists such as Lynn Chapman, who will be featuring her pastel paintings at the café Cup ’n Cork on Broadway Avenue.

Some of the galleries will also offer live demonstrations, ranging from art performances to music. The Chock and Block exhibit on 132 B St. encourages audience participation by asking families to showcase their creative chalking ability.

The First Friday Art Walk is part of the Pueblo Arts Alliance, formally known as the Pueblo Preforming Arts Guild. According to its website, the organization’s mission is to promote “the production, enjoyment, and collaboration of the arts for the purposes of economic development and an enriched quality of life in Pueblo.”

“Pueblo Arts Alliance is a non-profit organization that helps artists and art organizations in Pueblo, Colorado by assisting in the promotion of events to increase audiences,” it said.

Combined with the First Friday Art Walk is a newer creative venue known as Pueblo’s Progressive Poetry Project. Established in July 2014, the project features poets who offer free readings of their work at different sites throughout the Creative Corridor.

Audience members can gather at Pueblo’s Central Plaza at 7 p.m. to witness the first poetic reading, and then move as a unit to the next lyrical setting.

Pueblo’s Progressive Poetry Project was founded by CSU-Pueblo Assistant Professor of English and Director of Creative Writing, Juan Morales and by Kadoya Gallery owner Gregory Howell.

This year’s Progressive Poetry Project will feature three poets: Alysse McCanna, Andrew Ketchum and Aaron Anstett. All three poets have been published and various volumes of their work will be for sale at the conclusion of the event.

There are still plenty of fun opportunities available after the festivities end. Fabulous PFidays Comedy and Variety Open Mike will have an adult themed comedy show starting at 8 p.m. at the Artcorp Art Gallery on Union Avenue, and the Razz Band will be performing at Patsy’s Nightclub at 7 p.m. on Santa Fe Avenue.

The Writing Room’s new coordinator Chad Pickering hopes to create a warm writing environment for students.

Colorado State University-Pueblo offers numerous tutoring programs in order to assist its students throughout their college journey. Located in LARC 251 is one such tutoring service known as the Writing Room.

The room is focused on helping students improve their writing, which can include essays, resumes or creative musings.

Last semester, the Writing Room received a new head coordinator, Chad Pickering.

In order to learn more about Pickering and his vision for the Writing Room, the CSU-Pueblo Today sat down with the newcomer.

CSU-Pueblo Today: Why don’t you tell us a little about yourself? Where are you from?

Chad Pickering: Well, I’m from the wonderful island state of Hawaii. In fact, it’s the 50th state of the union. It’s funny because people tend to forget that. I recently went to the post office in order to mail something back to Hawaii, and the postman said, “International? That’s going to cost more.” I had to laugh at that. I said that Hawaii was still part of the union, and he said, “Oh, that’s right.” It’s kind of amusing to me. So, yeah, I’m from the island of Oahu.

What did you get your degree in?

Before this, I was earning my master’s degree from the English department at the University of Hawaii at Manoa. I specialized in a sub-discipline called composition and rhetoric. I’m really into the history of rhetoric and rhetorical theory in general. It also opened my eyes to more cultural studies-based approaches to studying language. While I was getting my master’s degree, I was also fortunate enough to earn one of those coveted graduate assistantships. It allowed me to join the faculty as a junior member. I worked as a teaching assistant and as a Writing Center tutor. Luckily, the director of that Writing Center also happened to be a professor of mine, and she soon asked me to become her assistant director. I was reminded that Writing Centers were great, and I enjoyed being in them. I enjoyed working in them. Before that I was getting my bachelor’s degree in English at the same university.

Is becoming a writing room coordinator something you always wanted to do? When you graduated, what did you want to do?

I can’t say that I always wanted to be the coordinator of a writing center for a college. That’s probably a more recent development of mine. I think, when I entered graduate-level courses, I thought to myself that I was going to be an English professor. I would join a faculty somewhere and teach courses. At some point, before I graduated with my master’s degree, I allowed some of my family to convince me of the virtues of seeking other career paths outside of academia. I don’t know why I let people convince me of that. Maybe it was because those kinds of job opportunities at the time were kind of crappy. Eventually, though, I reminded myself that I envisioned working at a college institution, and I refocused my attention on getting a job in academia again. I’d worked in Writing Centers a lot, so I started searching for those types of positions. One of the first job openings that came up was this one, so I immediately applied. It helped that Colorado was one of the states I wanted to move to. It was something that I eagerly and aggressively applied for.

How would you say your experience here has been so far?

I’m happy to say that it’s been very pleasant. The important thing is that everyone here has made me feel extremely welcome. I had such a warm reception.

As the Writing Room coordinator, what do you believe the mission of a Writing Room should be?

That’s a great question. I envision the Writing Room to be a place that promotes academic literacy among college students—a place that makes the conventions of academic and professional writing more explicit.  Our mission is to assist students at this fine institution to become more confident and sophisticated writers and to help them meet the challenges posed by their classes. We also want to make it a warm environment for writers to share their work.

Do you have any future plans or projects you want to incorporate into the program?

That’s somewhat of a difficult questions to answer. We would really like to increase the training for our tutors. We want to give them a place where they can talk about their challenges, concerns, or hopes when it comes to craft of tutoring. I’d also like to increase the presence of the Writing Room on campus. I’d like people to know about us and about what we could do for them. So increasing our presence would be good.

The Writing Room is open Monday through Friday, from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Students are recommended to make an appointment in order to ensure tutor availability, although walk-ins are also welcome.

LARC 251 also offers tutoring assistance in certain general education courses such as foreign languages and political science.

For those who don’t have time for a face-to-face session, the Writing Room has an online tutoring service. The Online Writing Lab, which is headed by coordinator Felicia Tapia, can be accessed through the Writing Room’s homepage via CSU-Pueblo’s website.

Once an assignment is submitted, a tutor will look over the student’s paper and make suggestions about how they can improve their writing. Submitted papers are returned within two business days.

Tempered Steel is CSU-Pueblo’s creative writing publication.

Calling all CSU-Pueblo’s ink slingers, wordsmiths and lyricists!

Have you written a poem about zombies in love? What about a short story recounting a mime’s struggle to survive the end of days? Or how about that one time you saved the planet by defeating alien invaders in a dance off?

OK, maybe that last one is a bit more science fiction rather than inspired non-fiction. However, if you are a creative writer and want a chance to have your artistic voice heard, Tempered Steel is seeking submissions for its upcoming 2015 issue.

So far no publication date has been announced, but it is expected to be circulated before the end of the spring semester.

Tempered Steel is CSU-Pueblo’s literary magazine and features the creative works of the college’s student population. Although it used to be run as a club and as an extension of the English and Foreign Language Department, “Tempered Steel” is now offered to students as an elective for the professional writing minor.

According to its online profile, the Tempered Steel mission statement is “to create a literary presence and appreciation for CSU-Pueblo and the community.” Article II of the literary magazine’s constitution expands on this goal stating that, “The purpose of the club is also to provide CSU-Pueblo students with a creative outlet and an opportunity to be exposed to a literary environment.”

Jynecca Cronk, president of CSU-Pueblo’s English Club and part of the Tempered Steel’s editorial staff, encourages everyone to submit their creative pieces for consideration.

“Creative writing is important because it gives people a chance to express themselves,” she said. “It also gives the students an opportunity to get experience in submitting to publications and how to interact with the editors of that publication. It’s also a great way to give the student’s credibility. They can graduate and be able to say that they’ve already been published in a literary magazine.”

Katelyn Waldo had her piece, “A Non-Artist’s thoughts on the Mona Lisa,” published in last year’s issue.

“I feel excited and surprised that it got published,” she said. “What I like about creative writing is that it is fun, and I’ve always liked reading, so I really like writing my own stories.”

The magazine accepts submission of poetry, short fiction and non-fiction pieces, although all genres of creative writing will be considered. Students may also submit multiple entries. So if you have a poem devoted to your love of french fries and a short story about the world of snail racing, you won’t have to make that heartbreaking submission decision.

For those who are thinking about submitting a creative piece but are unsure what to write, or for those who want to work on their entry, CSU-Pueblo’s English Club also offers biweekly writing workshops aimed at inspiring and improving creative works. All students are welcome to attend, and this year’s first workshop will be held Jan. 22 in the lobby of the library at 6 p.m.

To submit a creative writing piece for consideration, visit https://temperedsteel.submittable.com/submit and follow the instructions. Submissions are due no later than Feb.16 and writers will be informed whether or not their entries will appear in the upcoming issue prior to the magazine’s publication.

So if you’re a writer, raconteur or a rhythmic master, grab your pens and capture that creativity. You might just find that inner poet who has been waiting for the right opportunity to shine.