Students created Kokopelli paintings at an event Nov. 6. Photo courtesy of Ben Hultman.

With the help of the office of Student Engagement and Leadership and the Diversity Resource Center, staff taught students about the legend of the Kokopelli: a fertility god, prankster, healer and storyteller.

Students had the opportunity to learn about the Kokopelli and socialize at a painting event Nov. 6.

“I am expecting that students would learn more about Native American Culture and engage in traditions as well as enjoying this event,” Michael Sun, a part of the DRC, said. “It is an educational event that is very inclusive. It brings students together to learn more about Native American traditions while they are having fun.”

Senator at large of the Associated Students’ Government, Rick Quintana, played the flute and gave history on the Kokopelli at the event.

“I was very pleased to take part of the Kokopelli painting event. It was my first time playing my flute for such an event honoring a spiritual legend known throughout the Americas,” Quintana said.

“I never thought that I would ever learn to play the flute that had to take part of such a mystical legend of the Native Americans. Learning about the flute and what it meant to the ‘Medicine Man’ and the healing properties that it has brought me closer to my own connection with the ‘Great Spirit’ which had changed the course of my life over the past eleven years, that I have been practicing,” Quintana added.

Referring to the Kokopelli, Quintana said that aside from teaching with storytelling, the Kokopelli’s interaction with music and art brings out the essence of Native American life and their direct connection with the “Great Spirit.” Quintana said that these small events honor and keep alive the Native Americans and their traditions.

“Taking part in events such as this one opens the mind and heart to those who seek a natural magic way of living. Being in harmony and one with the ‘Great Spirit’ and the universe which we partake in. To only take and use what we need to live and be thankful for what we are given is the Native American way of life.”

Coordinator of SEAL, Alexis King, said that she loved events where she gets to use her additional talents of hobbies to help students.

“Painting event like this come out of the Student Engagement and Leadership Office two times a semester,” King said.

Prior to the event, King researched extra information on the Kokopelli and learned a lot about the fertility deity.

“DRC hosts several events throughout the year that students can learn about through the Howl, online or by visiting their office,” King added.

According to King, the next painting event will include the Colorado flag in February. Students will be able to sign up for the event in January of 2016 in the SEAL office located in the OUC, Room 006.

The design concept of the Art and Music Building depicts walkways, plants and grass. | Photo courtesy of John Barnosky

The Art and Music Building at Colorado State University-Pueblo is undergoing major roof repairs and due to construction, the main stairwell is inaccessible.

The roof, which is 40 years old, started leaking into a few of the building’s classrooms last year. Because of this, the Associated Students’ Government worked with the state of Colorado to help fund a portion of the repairs, which started this semester. The majority of the funding comes from student facility fees that have accumulated over the course of the past decade.

“The primary purpose is to eliminate roof leaks in the studio spaces below by stripping off and completely replacing the deteriorated 40-year-old plaza deck surfacing,” said John Barnosky, director of Planning and Construction at CSU-Pueblo.

“This replacement will result in a new waterproof membrane. But also, new plantings and walkways will be added over the top of the membrane.”

The new roof will not include places for people to sit, but Barnosky said the roof will still serve as a spot of recreation on campus.

“The result will be a sustainable ‘green-roof’ system that will make the plaza and pathways more environmentally friendly, and available for impromptu gatherings,” Barnosky said.

The main stairwell of the building, which is level with the roof at its highest point and descends into a plaza surrounded by classrooms, will be blocked off for the rest of the semester.

“The stairs will be accessible again in February 2016,” Barnosky said. In the meantime, people will have to use detours to get inside the building.

Barnosky said the building is expected to be complete early in the spring 2016 semester, “except full growth of seeded areas will be achieved in summer 2016.”

A sketch designed by architect Demmon Design Studios depicts a walking path through the “green roof,” and plants and grass along the sides.

Barnosky said other upcoming campus construction projects are on the horizon, pending approval of state funding requests. Some of the repairs include upper roof replacement on Hoag Hall and repairs on the Art and Music Building stairwell.

CSU-Pueblo students visited Nicaragua in 2014 with Outdoor Pursuits. | Photo courtesy of csupueblo.edu

Colorado State University-Pueblo’s Outdoor Pursuits program is offering students the opportunity to travel abroad on a service trip to Nicaragua in 2016.

A group of 10 students at the university previously visited Nicaragua for a service trip during spring break of 2014. Director of student recreation, Jack Krider said that many of these students came back changed, touched by the lives of the families, children and the community that they served.

“We painted a school, worked in an orphanage and went door-to-door in the countryside handing out a week’s worth of food to 130 families,” Krider added.

The service trip to Nicaragua in 2014 was focused on the people in the cities of Managua and Jinotepe. According to Krider, the trip had many firsts for students that involved being on a plane, being out of the country, seeing the ocean and even zip lining where students saw monkeys.

“The main goal is to serve others. The underlying goal is to give opportunities to our students to experience some things they may have never or might not have the chance to experience again,” Krider added.

Trips organized by the Outdoor Pursuits program consists of a meeting first to discuss about the trip. Discussions involve the purpose of the trip, what students will experience, costs involved, pre-trip meetings, getting passports if applicable and possible fundraising to help fund the trip.

“The students had an experience of a lifetime. They worked with children and people that have so little and yet were so giving that they could not believe it. There were tears shed by some students the last day we left the orphanage because these children really touched the hearts of our students,” Krider said about the 2014 Nicaragua trip.

Krider said that many weekend trips are offered by Outdoor Pursuits and that current trips abroad are in early planning for 2016. Students interested in participating in trips with Outdoor Pursuits or have ideas about future trips can contact Krider at Jack.Krider@csupueblo.edu or at 719-549-2067.

“As far as international trips we have talked about Costa Rica. The main goal of most of our trips is to provide an opportunity for students to experience something they have never done or to develop a new skill, to experience new things outside their comfort zone,” Krider said.

CSU-Pueblo students visited Nicaragua in 2014 with Outdoor Pursuits. | Photo courtesy of csupueblo.edu

Colorado State University-Pueblo’s Outdoor Pursuits program is offering students the opportunity to travel abroad on a service trip to Nicaragua in 2016.

A group of 10 students at the university previously visited Nicaragua for a service trip during spring break of 2014. Director of student recreation, Jack Krider said that many of these students came back changed, touched by the lives of the families, children and the community that they served.

“We painted a school, worked in an orphanage and went door-to-door in the countryside handing out a week’s worth of food to 130 families,” Krider added.

The service trip to Nicaragua in 2014 was focused on the people in the cities of Managua and Jinotepe. According to Krider, the trip had many firsts for students that involved being on a plane, being out of the country, seeing the ocean and even zip lining where students saw monkeys.

“The main goal is to serve others. The underlying goal is to give opportunities to our students to experience some things they may have never or might not have the chance to experience again,” Krider added.

Trips organized by the Outdoor Pursuits program consists of a meeting first to discuss about the trip. Discussions involve the purpose of the trip, what students will experience, costs involved, pre-trip meetings, getting passports if applicable and possible fundraising to help fund the trip.

“The students had an experience of a lifetime. They worked with children and people that have so little and yet were so giving that they could not believe it. There were tears shed by some students the last day we left the orphanage because these children really touched the hearts of our students,” Krider said about the 2014 Nicaragua trip.

Krider said that many weekend trips are offered by Outdoor Pursuits and that current trips abroad are in early planning for 2016. Students interested in participating in trips with Outdoor Pursuits or have ideas about future trips can contact Krider at Jack.Krider@csupueblo.edu or at 719-549-2067.

“As far as international trips we have talked about Costa Rica. The main goal of most of our trips is to provide an opportunity for students to experience something they have never done or to develop a new skill, to experience new things outside their comfort zone,” Krider said.

Generations of forensics team trophies are on display in the Library and Academic Resources Center. | Photo by Ben Hultman

A Colorado State University-Pueblo professor has been working since the spring to return forgotten debate team trophies to generations of CSU-Pueblo alumni.

Last spring, the team’s director, English professor Kathryn Starkey, found 160 unclaimed forensics team trophies, all scattered around a room at CSU-Pueblo. Her goal, after discovering the trophies, was to return them to their rightful owners in a plan she called The Trophy Project.

Since she started The Trophy Project, she has narrowed that number down to 12 unclaimed trophies.

The debate team has had a long and important history for CSU-Pueblo, going all the way back to 1939. However, in 1996, the team was cut from the university due to budget problems. It returned to CSU-Pueblo last year, with Starkey at the helm.

Since her discovery, Starkey has worked more than 200 hours and has scanned over 1,000 documents “to find the history of alumni students who have debated on the team,” she said in September.

The group created Excel work sheets to document the information she received, including team history, archives, travel schedules, team accomplishments and coaches to pin down every alum.

Throughout the years, the team “brought even national debates form Japan, Ireland, and British,” Starkey said. Starkey also found newspaper articles dating back from 1939 through 1996 about the team’s history and alumni involved.

“I have two goals: one give back all the trophies to the owners, and if not I would like to have display case for unclaimed” Starkey said. “We take trophies to recruiting events, Discover Day (and) Debate Events to show off our history.”

Since the school has drastically changed over the years, “we want to have display cases for the alumni event to display the trophies through every name change,” she said. The university has previously been called Southern Colorado Junior College, Pueblo Junior College, Southern Colorado State College and the University of Southern Colorado.

During homecoming weekend, the team brought together alumni and current students to debate in an event called “Tailgate and Debate.” The team hosted the event in part to try to return trophies back to alumni.

The event, which took place in the Occhiato University Center, featured local lawyer Steve Croshal and Steven Henson, managing editor of The Pueblo Chieftain. Croshal graduated in 1973 and Henson graduated in 1976, when the school was named University of Southern Colorado.

“Each of the alumni who attended were very successful during their time as a competitor,” Starkey said. “There were tons of awards and newspaper articles about each of them.”

Current debate students Gene Wilson and Nalene Ayala debated on the negative side about whether or not Pueblo City Schools should abandon standardized testing.

“The debate was the focus of the event. The team put together an exhibit now located in the LARC called, ‘A legacy through the ages,’” Starkey said. “Part of the research highlighted each name change.”

“After the debate concluded, we watched the video, and the audience voted for the winner. At the end of the event, the alumni team won by 15 votes,” Starkey said.

Starkey said around 50 people, including alumni, the team, community members, faculty, staff and their families attended the event. She also said she hopes to host the event every year.

“This would be a future goal and aspiration for our team, as we are prioritizing reconnecting with the alumnus to, learn their stories and receive advice for currents students,” she said.

None of the trophies were claimed at the event, but some alumni gave their trophies back to the team so that they could be put on display. The team does not currently have a case of their own to display the trophies. Some of them are on display in a case on the first level of the Library and Academic Resources Center.

“Hopefully one day we can get a trophy case and show all the success,” Starkey said.

“I’m grateful for everyone involved to help make the event possible: the sponsor and students who helped, the Department of Foreign Languages, Alumni Association,” she said.

For more information about the forensics team contact Kathryn Starkey at Kathryn.starkey@csupueblo.edu or visit PSY 106.

Fright Night at CSU-Pueblo flyer courtesy of Medical Science Society Club

Colorado State University’s Medical Science Society and Pre-Veterinary Club will be hosting their annual haunted house that will be held on Oct. 23 from 8 p.m.-12 a.m. and Oct. 24 from 7 p.m.- 12a.m. The haunted house will be hospital themed.

President of the Medical Science Society Club, Jorge Medina, said that pre-sale tickets are $6 and will be available in Room 210 or 239 in the Life Science Building. Tickets at the door are $8 and door tickets included with a student ID are $7.

“The main name of the haunted house is Fright Night at CSU-Pueblo,” Medina said.

Medina said that the clubs have been working on ideas since school started but set-up for the haunted house will not start until the day of the event due to classes.

Regarding to the process of the haunted house, Medina said that, “It’s going good, just keeping us super busy between trying to make sure we have everything for the best scariest set-up and between trying to advertise our Haunted House.”

Medina said that the Medical Science Society has been consistent with the haunted house, going back as far as 2007.

“MedSci has helped to put it together but every year, we have different clubs that want to collaborate,” he said.

Some of those clubs include the Biology, Chemistry and Pre-Vet Club.

“We are looking for volunteers; actors, make-up artists, set-up crew, etc. We hope to see everyone out here that weekend and get their scare on,” Medina adds.

Senior Jasmine Mathew said that she thinks the haunted house would be a good attraction.

“What I like best is that they have good themes, good price, and it’s on campus. What I don’t like about it is that the line can get really long and last year it didn’t seem to be manage well, so I didn’t go,” Mathews said regarding to past experiences at the haunted house.

For more information on tickets, or to sign up to volunteer contact Medina at ja.medina@pack.csu.pueblo.edu or visit the Life Science Building in Room 210 or 239.

Courtesy of collegiatelink.net

The office of Student Engagement and Leadership at CSU-Pueblo has placed restrictions on College Night at the movies this semester. Students who don’t use their free ticket to the movies after signing up will not be allowed to sign up for the event until next semester.

The SEAL office changed the policy due to a recent increase in ticket prices at Tinsletown, Pueblo’s only movie theater, and because some students didn’t attend the event last year after signing up.

“We’re not trying to be a stickler; it’s the way the world works,” said Tyler Hobson, graduate assistant for the SEAL office. “We want to be able to give more students opportunities to attend.”

CSU-Pueblo partners with the movie theater to give the first 125 students who sign up a free ticket to any movie of their choice.

SEAL pays for the tickets with money generated from mandatory student fees. Hobson said that because the price of movie tickets increased to $8 this year, SEAL had to limit the amount of students eligible to attend. Last year, 150 slots were open to students.

“We just want to show students they need to commit,” Hobson said.

Since there are fewer opportunities for students to attend College Night at the movies, the office added an outdoor movie night to its list of activities.

“It’s part of our Commuter Start Program which brings in family and friends of relatives to watch movies that haven’t come out yet,” he said.

Tinseltown is Pueblo’s only movie theater. Photo courtesy of tinseltown.com

Students who want to sign up for movie night must present the SEAL office with their student ID, Hobson said. Under the new policy, students have until noon on the Friday before the event to cancel.

“We used to have a limited selection of the movie students could see, now they watch what they want and the time they want. The new policy will track how many students sign up, uses their student ID’s more,” he said.

The new policy “gives us less hassle of tracking everyone down on a piece of paper.”

College Night is the SEAL office’s most popular event, Hobson said. This year’s movie nights are scheduled for Oct. 3, Nov. 14, Dec. 5, Feb. 14, March 19 and April 16.

The SEAL office is located in the Occhiato University Center Underground in room 006, across from La Cantina.

Frederica Mesa Farms carved the CSU-Pueblo logo into its corn maze. Photo courtesy of csupueblo.edu

Frederica Mesa Farm has taken on a CSU-Pueblo theme this fall by cutting the university’s logo into its corn maze, donating to the On the Move campaign and offering discounts to students, faculty, staff and alumni.

The farm hosted a CSU-Pueblo night Sept. 25 in which athletes and members of the dance and cheer teams signed autographs. The event also featured CSU-Pueblo’s mascot, Wolfie, and a live remote from campus radio station Rev 89.

“My aunt was a CSU-Pueblo alumni and we’re all big football fans and big supporters of the community,” said Keli Orr, operator of the Thunderwolf Corn Maze

“We hope to continue as long as we can and support the student body, Lacrosse, Rev 89. We will do another live remote on Oct. 2 when the haunted maze opens,” she said. “Students can get discounts by bringing the flyer also but showing their student ID will get $1 off.”

The farm, which is located about 15 miles east of Pueblo at 47522 McHarg Rd. in Avondale, is also offering discounts to community students with specially marked fliers, according to a university news release. For every flier that is brought in, the farm will donate $1 to the CSU-Pueblo Foundation’s On the Move campaign.

Faculty and staff members can buy discounted tickets through the President’s Office for $3 to the event and tickets for the haunted corn maze are offered for $5.

The Frederica Fall Festival, which made the ten best on USA Today, will open its haunted corn maze at the beginning of October.

Through the end of the month, students, staff, faculty and community members can adventure through the corn maze, participate in night bonfires and hayrides, visit a pumpkin patch and family fun area and have food and drinks.

The farm hosted a CSU-Pueblo night Sept. 25. Photo by Ben Hultman.

Orr said sponsors for the festival include CSU-Pueblo, Blue Sky, District 70, Pueblo County High School, South High School, and April Style, a company that takes family portraits.

“It feels good to come out here and become a part of a, well, team,” said Miranda Prickett, a freshman cheerleader attending CSU-Pueblo for her pre nursing degree. “I love to see Wolfie involving all the kids. They treat you like a celebrity and really look up to you.”

A few local businesses, including distribution company Nicky B’s, offered snacks to the community, students and staff.

“This is our first year attending and we hope to get involvement from CSU-Pueblo and the community,” said Nicole Benavidez, who worked with Nicky B’s at the event.

Students, staff, community members and business owners all came together to celebrate the grand opening of the Thunderwolf Maze. Family activities at the event include a bounce house, a corn pit for toddlers and the festival’s newest edition, a corn cannon participants can use to shoot corn at different targets.

The haunted maze will be open Oct. 3-31 every Friday and Saturday from dusk until midnight. A limited number of tickets will also be available for students through the Office of Student Engagement and Leadership.

For more information about the campaign or about the haunted maze visit www.fredericamesafarm.com.

The Colorado Business Fair was open exclusively to business students. Photo by Ben Hultman.

The second annual Colorado Business School Career Fair was held on Sept. 17 in Denver at Sports Authority Field. More than ten different colleges and universities were in attendance including CSU-Pueblo, University of Denver, Colorado State University and University of Colorado.

The event gave students and alumni the opportunity to interact with attending business organizations. For CSU-Pueblo students, the fair was open exclusively to those majoring in business or marketing.

Organizations attending the fair looked for prospective employees for internship and entry-level positions. Over 150 different companies such as Verizon, Target, Yelp, Apple, Comcast, Wells Fargo, Frontier, among others were looking to hire individuals with the best talent across Colorado.

Alex Moore, a junior mass communications major with an emphasis in integrated communications at CSU-Pueblo wasn’t able to attend the event but said that she would have wanted to attend the event to further her networking and find opportunities to network more.

“I wish the invitation extended out to minors in the field, I would love to see where a potential job I’d be working some day,” Moore said.

Hassan School of Business student at CSU-Pueblo, Desiree Martinez said the fair helped her gain guidance for future jobs.

“I would attend the fair again if I had the opportunity. I think it should be available for everyone, it could help everyone find a job and what everyone is interested in,” Martinez said.

Martinez is currently a senior majoring in business management and marketing. She said that the fair should be extended to every major at the university.

“The variety of companies, the experience to give up opportunities, talk to people, beverages and distributors and Target sparked my interest in my career. I highly recommend other majors to experience the career fair,” Martinez said.

The Pack Cafe’ | File photo

CSU-Pueblo’s primary dining service for students will look to renew its contract with the school after it ends in June 2017.

Chris Fendrich, director of auxiliary services at CSU-Pueblo, said there will be a proposal to renew Chartwells’ contract during the 2017-2018 school year.

Chartwells has various locations across campus, including the Pack Café, La Cantina, among various other coffee and food venues. The company also has partnerships with Einstein’s Brothers Bagels and Starbucks.

In the upcoming year, Fendrich said he would like to add Pepsi machines to locations across campus. Chartwells also started serving sushi in the library during the first week of the fall 2015 semester.

Over the past year, the auxiliary services department has made changes in the cafeteria “to reduce waste and save money,” Fendrich said. For example, he said, food is now served on washable plates and fresh hamburgers are being served.

For some students, though, Chartwells isn’t an ideal dining service.

Jasmine Mathew, a senior health promotion major, said CSU-Pueblo could be “more health conscious (and offer) more variety of food. Chartwells should offer good opportunities and more options.”

Mathew said, for example, that she thinks Chartwells could change peanut butter and jelly sandwiches that have “only a smudge of PB and J.”

Fendrich said he encourages students with similar concerns to take part in Associated Students’ Government and that he appreciates feedback from students.

Students can take part of an anonymous feedback by filling out questions, comments, and concerns in the La Cantina, located in the basement of the Occhiato University Center.