November snow
Photo by Dustin Cox

Pueblo and the rest of Southern Colorado have experienced an extreme weather change over the past few days, and there are predictions of a very cold and snowy winter this year compared to recent years.

According to the National Weather Service, the surprising temperature drop in the United States was due to a huge typhoon that hit the western Pacific Ocean the beginning of November. The ferocious storm known as Typhoon Nuri severely affected Japan and the Philippines before impacting the U.S..

The after effects of Nuri not only affected the mainland U.S. but Alaska and Canada as well. More than 40 states in the U.S experienced below freezing temperatures last week due to Nuri.

Early last week, Pueblo had high, gusty winds that caused considerable amounts of tumbleweeds to travel all over the city and the surrounding areas. Pueblo West was hit the hardest, where tumbleweeds blocked the front doors of people’s homes. Some tumbleweed drifts piled all the way up to the top of the roofs, covering businesses and homes.

Immediately after the long day of wind, the cold front came knocking with one of the earliest snow events in recent history. Many schools in the Pueblo area have had delayed starts or cancellations due to the low temperatures and hazardous, icy driving conditions. CSU-Pueblo canceled evening classes two days in a row and scheduled a 10 a.m. start one day to allow road conditions to improve.

According to the Farmer’s Almanac, December through late March will have lower-than-normal temperatures and more precipitation than usual for Southern Colorado.

The National Weather Service said the cause of the recent snow was a polar vortex brought on by Typhoon Nuri. A polar vortex collects cold air receptacles in the polar hemisphere region and releases it to the Northern Hemisphere in the winter season.

The vortex can often cause freezing temperatures for many days at a time if the pressure system reaches other hemispheres.

In case the Farmer’s Almanac is correct about the severity of winter this year, Puebloans should be prepared.

Stocking up on nonperishable foods, storing blankets and emergency items in vehicles  and making sure cars have been fully serviced for winter should help those living in Southern Colorado handle the coming winter conditions.

Events throughout Pueblo will honor veterans. Photo courtesy of dealsinaz.com.

The Pueblo community is offering a helping hand to veterans on Tuesday, Nov. 11 in recognition of Veterans Day.

Local veterans can take advantage of discounts at local restaurants, as well as community events throughout Pueblo, including a few on campus at CSU-Pueblo.

Community members and students can enjoy live music from Colorado State University-Pueblo’s chamber choir.

The event will start at 11 a.m. at the Veterans’ Bridge on the River Walk in downtown Pueblo.

Following the music, CSU-Pueblo President Lesley Di Mare and Student Veterans of America officer Paul Hendrickson will speak about their experiences in the military, including their deployments.

A 2:30 p.m. ceremony at the CSU-Pueblo’s Southeast Asia memorial will honor soldiers who lost their lives in the Vietnam and Southeast Asia conflict.

The CSU-Pueblo chapter of the SVA is hosting the event, which will have speakers, aircraft flyovers, and music in honor of Veterans Day. CSU-Pueblo’s ROTC program will be presenting color guard and SVA officers Paul Hendricksen and Craig Stanley will be emceeing the event.

Both emcees will be honoring 50 veteran faculty and staff, as well as 500 students who have served their countries.

Pueblo District Attorney and air force veteran Jeff Chostner and veteran Thomas Banks will also be speaking at the event.

There will be free meals donated from Pueblo’s Buffalo Wild Wings for veterans at 5:30 p.m. in the university’s Occhiato University Center Underground.

At 7:30 p.m., the music department will host a concert in Hoag Recital Hall. The concert’s theme is “Home of the Heroes.”

The annual concert’s goal is to raise funds for music scholarships specifically for veterans. Tickets are on sale for $10.

Pueblo’s Texas Roadhouse and Applebee’s will be honoring active duty and retired military by providing them with free food.

Texas Roadhouse, which opens early on Tuesday at 11 a.m., will have a full staff to serve veterans free food from 11 a.m. until 2 p.m. Lunch options will include meals on the Early Dine menu.

Applebee’s will be serving free food to veterans from 10 a.m. to midnight. There will be a special menu presented to veterans with seven meal options to choose from.

CSU-Pueblo alumnus Sareth Ney
Photo from YouTube

Colorado State University-Pueblo alumnus Sareth Ney used the skills he learned while at the university to bring music and excitement to Pueblo last weekend.

Ney hosted, promoted and produced a three-day music and comedy festival called Sareth-Fest, which was held at three different venues. The first and second days were held at Phil’s Radiator and Venue 1925 for a $5 cover. The final day of the event was held at the Downtown Bar free of charge.

During Sareth-Fest, over 50 performers  participated at no cost. Ney’s initial plan was to hold a one-day event, but he said the outpouring of support was overwhelming, and the majority of the musicians he contacted wanted to be part of the show. He had no choice but to make it three days.

Ney has performed stand-up comedy in the past, and so he wanted to give other comedians a chance to do the same. That is why he combined music and comedy at the event.

“I believe the event was a little over a year in the making. I returned home and decided to write the musicians of Pueblo. I discovered there was every genre of music in Pueblo, and there was no one to document it. Sure, there were photographs, but there was no story to go along with it,” Ney said.

Nate Baptist, Scott Limardo and Bryon Mick are also CSU-Pueblo alumni, and they each performed at Sareth-Fest. Baptist utilizes his degree from the university working as an executive producer and on-air personality at iHeartMedia, Inc.

While attending CSU-Pueblo, Ney wrote for the university’s online site and print magazine.

“When I wrote for CSU-Pueblo Today, I loved covering anything involving music. I wrote about some of the local DJs in town and wrote about my concert experiences,” Ney said.

After graduating from CSU-Pueblo, Ney moved to Los Angeles and had the honor of receiving an apprenticeship with English author, film director and visual artist Clive Barker.

“He taught me how to be an artist, to develop my own writing style and to not write about one genre. I took his advice, and I wrote about every genre from soft rock to death metal,” Ney said.

Ney become a professional journalist and photographer, covering sold out concerts. He has written about and interviewed B-Real of Cypress Hill, the Deftones, Soundgarden, Blaqk, Audio Augustana, Teddy Geiger, Wu Tang Clan and many more.

According to Ney, he has written over 340 articles, covered everyone from A to Z, published 15 books and covered 50 years of music.

“I married my two loves, concerts and journalism,” Ney said.

Ney currently manages a band from Pueblo West called Widowhood Effect. He took Widowhood Effect on tour, booked their concerts, wrote their articles, photographed them, and got them on KILO and RXP radio stations.

One of their biggest accomplishments together was opening for the band Everlast at the Black Sheep in Colorado Springs.

Sareth-Fest was especially important to him because it was his last weekend in Pueblo before he relocates for a while, taking his love of journalism and music elsewhere.

“As for my future plans, I hope to write 150 articles in Austin, Florida and Liverpool. After writing in those three places, I hope to return back home to Colorado and open my own concert venue,” Ney said.

Lambda Chi Alpha’s partnership with Care and Share will benefit Pack Pantry. Photo courtesy of salvationarmy.org.

Colorado State University-Pueblo is making a difference this school year both locally and nationally. Student Autumn Black and CSU-Pueblo’s fraternity Lambda Chi Alpha are partnering to generate some positive change by bringing a food bank to campus.

Black has taken on a huge task this school year to install and coordinate a food pantry on CSU-Pueblo’s campus through her President’s Leadership Program internship.  Black has researched numerous other university food pantries to help generate ideas for CSU-Pueblo.

“The Pack Pantry will provide the food-insecure students, staff, and faculty of the CSU-Pueblo campus with non-perishable food items and hygiene items once a week,” Black said.

Lambda Chi Alpha recently launched their monthlong Feeding America campaign to raise donations and canned goods for Pueblo’s local Care and Share food bank.

Lambda Chi Alpha fraternities nationwide are partnered with Feeding America to collect food and donations for the domestic hunger relief cause.

Care and Share is now also partnered with CSU-Pueblo’s food pantry, as well as Feeding America.

According to Black, Feeding America and Care and Share go hand in hand. Any of the food the fraternity donates to Pack Pantry will be going to Feeding America because of the partnership with the Care and Share.

Southern Colorado’s Care and Share food bank said they “provide food directly through Mobile Food Pantries, which provide perishable and non-perishable food to families living in rural communities or other areas where there are minimal food resources.”

Cisco Cervantes, Lambda Chi Alpha’s philanthropy chair, said every dollar raised for Feeding America will convert to ten pounds of food, which will secure nine meals.

Lambda Chi Alpha currently has barrels placed in front of the student resident halls for collection of canned goods.  Throughout the next two weeks they will be moving the barrels around to more heavily trafficked areas in the university.

Lambda Chi Alpha’s biggest event is their bag drop off.  The fraternity will drop bags off at businesses, homes and student housing Oct. 25.

On Nov. 1 they will retrieve the bags in hopes that they will be full of canned goods.

Because of the partnership with Pack Pantry and Care and Share, the food pantry will be located on campus in the Occhiato University Center.

“A very important partner to the pantry is the Veteran’s Resource Center. Not only are they providing a location next door to their facilities, but their Military Support Club and Student Veterans Association have given full support to the project,” Black said.

The new location for the Pantry Pack will give Lambda Chi Alpha an area to store their canned goods during their campaign. “We have a 200 pound goal for the food drive, and we think that will really help the Pack Pantry,” Cervantes said.

Both Black and Cervantes show a great deal of interest in the future of the program after they graduate.

“I want this pantry to be a legacy that carries on after the termination of my internship and, ultimately, after I graduate in May 2015,” Black said.

Prizm’s 4th Annual Drag Show
Photo courtesy of CSU-Pueblo Prizm

Prizm, Colorado State University Pueblo’s LGBTQQA group, hosted their 4th Annual Drag Show Thursday night.

“A Night with the Stars” was held in the Occhiato University Center ballroom and included food and “mock-tails” for those who attended. The drag show was just one of the activities Prizm members hosted as part of the “Coming Out Week” celebration.

On Thursday, the OUC ballroom was decorated in 1950s Hollywood glam, and the event was packed to the brim with standing room only.

A catwalk was set up in the center to give the audience a great view of the performances. Prizm invited professional drag queens from Colorado Springs to showcase the true art of drag. The other performers were students who had auditioned to participate.

There was a rowdy energy in the room, and anyone sitting in the front row of the audience got a little extra attention from the performers as they took to the catwalk. There were roars of laughter and shouting as the crowd cheered their show favorites. Performances ranged from comical to classy and provocative, showing the audience an array of different styles of drag.

At one point, the master of ceremonies asked the audience, “Of everyone in here, who has been to a drag show before?”

Only a handful of people raised their hands, which meant this was a first-time experience for most of the audience. Some were shocked at the intensity of the performances, but it was clear that everyone enjoyed Prizm’s event.

For the contest, four judges evaluated each amateur performance and decided by the end of the show which of the students would be declared the winners.

The “Amateur Drag Award” included Best Queen and Best King. Adam Ward won “Best Drag Queen” for his performance as Voluptuous Temptation. Lexi Santistevan and Kaylynn Marie each took home an award for “Best Drag King” for their performances as Sixx D. Nine and Papa Cherry.

The winner of the “Judges’ Choice Award” was Jennifer Ball as Captain J, and the “Audience Choice Award” went to Dr. Karen Yescavage as Zig-E.

CSU-Pueblo’s Prizm supports the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender community on campus, and welcomes everyone to their group.

They stand strong with their campus mission, “to create and maintain an inclusive, safe, and accepting environment on the CSU-Pueblo campus for people of all sexual orientations and gender identities. We aim to defeat negative stereotypes and educate people by sponsoring social events and activities throughout the school year.”

Prizm has more campus events lined up for the rest of the semester, and they encourage everyone to attend or get involved. More information can be found on their Facebook page at CSU-Pueblo Prizm.

Photo by Dustin Cox

Photo by Dustin Cox

Cirque Zuma Zuma dazzled its audience with a unique and culturally rich show Tuesday at Colorado State University-Pueblo’s Hoag Recital Hall. The auditorium was filled with more than 400 students and community members who came to see this “African style Cirque du Soleil” performance, and drinks and dessert were provided for those who attended the free event.

Zuma Zuma performers flew 12 hours to reach Pueblo for their performance. Members of the group hail from Kenya, Tanzania, Zimbabwe and other parts of Africa. In addition to the  circus performers, there were five band members who played during the entire show.

Zuma Zuma brought high energy and impressive talents to the university stage. These included juggling, singing, dancing, contortionists and displays of strength.

One performer from Zimbabwe showcased his incredible coordination by balancing a ball, a candle holder, and glass bottles on a stick held in his mouth.

Jugglers used regular balls, pins and even hats. Some juggled up to seven balls simultaneously at a fast pace, and audiences were in amazement at the flawless feat.

Performers also included the audience in a couple of acts, which provided a roar of laughter. Many of the children watching the show were dancing and clapping, which demonstrates that Zuma Zuma brought something to the table for all age groups.

The show was not only entertaining for the crowd but was also an educational opportunity. The acrobats and singers taught about African culture through dance, music and performance.

During one act, dancers approached the stage in yellow work boots, hard hats and head lamps. They showed the audience a dance from a time when their relatives were miners in Africa.

The lead male vocalist told the audience that, although working in the mines was a tough job, to get through those long, grueling days the miners would dance, stomping their feet in rhythm while clapping and singing.

There was never a dull moment in the Cirque Zuma Zuma performance. Audience members were constantly applauding, laughing or gasping at the impressive talents of the performers, and as people exited Hoag Hall and headed home for the night, they talked about the unforgettable show they had just seen.

CSU-Pueblo student Kelsey Lovato said, “This is so awesome. I wasn’t even going to come, but I am so glad that I did.”

Cirque Zuma Zuma

Cirque Zuma Zuma is coming to Colorado State University-Pueblo Tuesday as part of the Distinguished Speakers Series.

Described as, “African-style Cirque du Soleil,” the group has traveled the world, performing a high-energy show that features acrobats, jugglers, dancers, contortionists, singers and much more.

Zuma Zuma performers hail from many different parts of Africa and bring their talents together in a circus-like event that showcases different African cultures.

According to the Cirque Zuma Zuma website, their training schools in Kenya and Tanzania are part of African Acrobats International, a family-like organization that works with young people from 16 African countries.

“African Acrobats International, Inc. has established the ultimate African Circus. The cradle of all cultures, the ultimate source for all music, dance and ritual for all humanity. The thought of this rich continent brings in mind at once mysticism, magic and excitement. The African Acrobats International, Inc. has something new to bring to the American Audiences: the allure of the African Circus.”

The 90 minute show will begin at 7 p.m. in Hoag Hall.  It is free to students and community members.  The Cirque Zuma Zuma performance and other events in the Distinguished Speakers Series are sponsored by student activity fees.

Pueblo’s seventh annual 24 Hour Film Festival was held Friday, and about 200 people came together at the Sangre de Cristo Arts and Conference Center to view the 18 submitted films. The evening was filled with excitement and a range of emotions from laughter to tears.

The 24 Hour Film Festival has had an increased number of filmmakers entering every year.

“I think the first year, everyone received an award because we only had three films submitted,” said Sally Lincoln, a film festival judge.

There are always a few particular requirements that every film must fulfill. This year the specific location was “in a dream,” and props were a hot pepper, a ticket and a large hairy creature. There was also a required George Eliot quote: “nothing is so good as it seems beforehand.”

At the end of the film festival screening, awards were given in six categories: Best of Festival, Audience Choice, Best Performance, Best Mobile Movie, Best Cinematography and Most Creative.

Winners were given handcrafted ceramic statues by Kate Fox of Foxy-Wolff Jewelry. Fox has been the creator of the film festival awards for all seven years.

After all films were viewed, there was a brief intermission for judges Dustin Hodge, Sally Lincoln, and Kellie Cason O’Connor to decide which films would be the winners.

“Brighter Side” by LyonMan Productions won Best of Festival, Audience Choice and Best Performance.

“Mystery Den” by DreamTellerVideo won Best Mobile Movie; “The Fall” by Arcsky won Best Cinematography, and “Pecus Magna” by Unicorns of Justice won Most Creative.

Credit was given to all involved in creating these quality films, which require the groups to finish shooting, editing and submitting their works by the 24 hour deadline.

“The Pueblo 24 Hour Film Festival is quite a challenge for me as I always find myself still editing at the 22^nd hour. That is when my computer usually crashes,” said filmmaker Adam Gazzola.

The Pueblo City-County Library District and the Sangre De Cristo Arts and Conference Center presented the 24 Hour Film Festival and there are lots of people involved in making the festival successful. This year’s festival director was Susan Wolf, who had help from Associate Director Niki Hart, Technical Director David Hartkop, Screening Manager John Mark Wiley, customer experience specialists Jenn Pastoor and Sara Schwartz, and Master of Ceremonies Lisa Conway.

The US Constitution is a staple subject in every civics class around the country. Colorado State University-Pueblo recently quizzed students at the university to see if any of the information they learned about the Constitution had stuck.

Student Activities conducted a Constitution trivia event on Sept.17 in honor of Constitution Day. A table was set up in the main hall of the Occhiato University Center with an array of prizes students could potentially win. Prizes included CSU-P water bottles, backpacks, key lanyards, football fingers, folders, hats and shirts.

Tyler Hobson, a student and technical support person for Student Activities, ran the trivia event. Any student was eligible to take part in Constitution trivia as long as they were a current student and provided their PID number.

Constitution Day trivia table in the OUC

There were three difficulty levels to the trivia, easy, medium and hard. Easy and medium questions were multiple choice, however hard questions are not. If you chose an easy question and answered correctly, you could choose from the “easy” pile of prizes.

You could then risk that prize to get a chance to answer a medium difficulty question. If you answered the medium question correctly, you could pick a prize out of the “medium” pile or risk it and go for the hard question to win a larger prize.

According to Hobson, there was a catch; if the student answered a question wrong at any point, they walked away empty-handed.

Student Stewart Leatherbery was the first to attempt the Constitution Day trivia. Leatherbery’s first question was, “Laws of the United States are made by…?” With ice cream cone in hand, Leatherbery answered “congress,” which was correct.

With incentive to win a bigger prize, Leatherbery risked his first prize and tackled a medium difficulty question. “How long did it take to write the Constitution?” Leatherbery answered “three years,” which was incorrect. It took one hundred days to write the Constitution. Unfortunately Leatherbery walked away empty-handed, but learned something new.

“We had around 50 students participate in the Constitution trivia event and nine of those students won prizes. Only one of the students advanced to the hardest trivia question and answered it correctly. Overall the Constitution Day trivia event was a success,” Hobson said.

courtesy of FeedingAmerica.org

Lambda Chi Alpha fraternity’s main philanthropic focus this year is a nationwide effort to raise awareness, money and canned-goods for the Feeding America Campaign.   Colorado State University- Pueblo’s chapter of the fraternity previewed their Feeding America Campaign last week with a squirt gun and water balloon fight called the Water Mafia to raise money for the cause.

“There (were) four teams with eight to nine members per team,” said Mike Weiner, president of the CSU-Pueblo chapter of Lambda Chi Alpha.

Points were awarded to each individual based on how many other members of the rival teams they hit with their squirt guns or water balloons.

“Water balloons are called grenades, and if you hit an opposing team member with one balloon it counts as three points. If you shoot someone with a squirt gun it counts as one point,” said Anthony Herrera, chapter vice president.

“The team with the least points donated $25; third place, $20; second place, $15 and first place, $10.  $70 will be donated from the Pueblo chapter to the Care and Share food bank in Pueblo for (last) week’s event.  Every $1 donated is 10 pounds of food, so our combined $70 will be turned into 700 pounds of food,” said Herrera.

By the end of the week, Lambda Chi Alpha raised the $70 in donations with the Water Mafia contest, but the purpose of this first event was to raise awareness on campus and generate some excitement within the fraternity.

Beginning in October, the group will officially launch their campaign, holding numerous events to raise money.

“We will be sitting in front of the Library on campus to collect spare change or canned goods from those interested in contributing,” said Herrera.

In order to promote the giving campaign, they will be putting posters up around the university as well as attend club meetings to inform others of the campaign.  Fliers with information about the events will be passed out at the student housing facilities according to Weiner.

When the fraternity solicits businesses to donate, those businesses will get their logo or name on the fliers passed out to students.

“We are trying to get the community involved,” said Herrera.

Nov. 2, 2014 is the last day of the Feeding America Campaign and the deadline to have all proceeds turned in.

“On November 2, every food bank gets a bunch of food from Lambda Chi worldwide,” said Weiner.

“Mad Rush Week” is the last week before the Nov. 2 deadline.  During the week of Oct. 25-31, Lambda Chi will be collaborating with student government, asking them to help collect canned food.

“In the beginning of (Mad Rush) week, we get volunteers to drop off bags at all the student housing and ask them to fill their bags with food.  At the end of the week we pick up the bags and weigh the food,” said Weiner.

At the end of the campaign, the group plans to give all of the cash collected to the Care and Share Food Bank, located on the south side of Pueblo.  All food proceeds will be given to St. Joseph’s Parish church in Pueblo County where it will be distributed to people in need, according to Weiner.

“November 2 is our Founder’s Day when Lambda Chi Alpha was founded in 1909, and it is also right before Thanksgiving, so it’s really cool that we are able to collect all this food and money for people in need,” said Herrera.