A list of must-see movies to add to your Netflix queue this holiday season. By Hannah Blatter

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Author and CU English professor Paul Levitt writes one page a day during the month of November. Each sentence is a carefully crafted step toward a global writing event’s 50,000-word minimum. National Novel Writing Month flips the typical writing scheme on its head — the challenge is to complete as much as possible in as little […]

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A CU Independent writer spends a weekend night riding the Buff Bus
By Hannah Blatter

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Drag show performers put on an excellent show despite multiple technical difficulties.
By Hannah Blatter

The post CU drag show makes “camp” exciting appeared first on CU Independent.

Here are two things that college kids love: free stuff and good music. At Fool’s Gold Day Off, both will be available.

On Sunday, a host of indie rap and electronic artists will gather at Balch Fieldhouse for a free concert from 2-8 p.m. Entrance is gained via RSVP.

The concert was arranged by Fool’s Gold in collaboration with Program Council.

“They’re using our facilities, and we’re helping them out a little bit with some other aspects, but really they have their own setup,” Thomas Regur, a senior at CU and public relations director for Program Council, said. “They came to us and proposed the idea.”

Performers include DJ Canada, Danny Brown, Carnage, Casey Veggies, Nick Cathdubs and Gladiator. In past Fool’s Gold events, DJ Premier, Kanye West and Drake have made appearances.

Students are drawn to the event by the prospect of free entertainment. Some, like freshman theater major Alyson Cohen, know many of the artists who will be in the show.

“I like music, and I like being involved,” Cohen, 18, said. “I just like going to concerts in general.”

Christian Hee, a 22-year-old senior majoring in advertising and psychology, emphasized she’ll attend because she enjoys supporting new and independent artists.

“I think it’s really important to support independent musicians,” Hee said. “I intern for a music management company, so I know how hard it is to be successful in the music industry.”

Contact CU Independent Staff Writer Hannah Blatter at Hannah.blatter@colorado.edu.

Norlin Library was one of as many as 70 CU buildings that were damaged during September flash floods.

Contrary to the photos shared on Twitter and Facebook, the real damage was “minimal,” according to Programming and Communications Librarian Deborah Fink.

Zach Henderson, 20, Junior bio medical engineering major, files books back into the shelves of the Norlin Library basement Thursday, September 26, 2013. Last week Norlin’s basement’s roof leaked due to the flood in Boulder. (Connor Dudley/CU Independent)

Fink said the extent of the flooding was a pool of water in Laughing Goat and Norlin Commons and The Laughing Goat Coffeehouse. Leaks around the building and into the basement and backed-up drains which dripped water into the basement.

Water also seeped into a few offices the basement stacks in Norlin. Other than minimal splashing, no books in the basement got wet and of the 100 books of the general collection that were damaged, most will be successfully replaced or have saved by air drying.

“There was no damage to Archives,” Fink said. “There has been a persistent thing in social media that the basement of Norlin flooded… And then there are pictures of water being pumped out of the loading dock door.  It is all misleading.”

While the basement and books were not entirely void of floodwaters, the overall situation in campus’s iconic library was not as bad as students believed it to be, as political science major, Emma Woodyard, discovered.

“I walked by Norlin and expected to see excessive damage, but there was practically nothing,” Woodyard, 19, said. “I expected to see a lake.”

Larissa Brewster, an Asian studies major, was also surprised by the small amount of damage to Norlin despite media saturation.

“From the way that the school was talking about it, in the warning emails and analyzing the flood damage, it all sounded so ominous,” Brewster, 20, said of the library. “Now that I know the truth, I’m not surprised. I think it’s kinda funny.”

Contact CU Independent Staff Writer Hannah Blatter at Hannah.blatter@colorado.edu.

Eating disorder experts are seeing a new and dangerous trend among college-age students. “Drunkorexia” involves refraining from consuming any calories other than alcohol to control weight.

While anorexic tendencies are what gave “drunkorexia” its name, any form of an eating disorder can be paired with alcohol consumption. Bonnie Brennan, clinical director of partial hospital service at the Eating Recovery Center of Denver, said that the key to “drunkorexia” is the restriction of calories, be it through over-exercising, controlling the diet or purging.

A new and common trend is occurring amongst college students, which doctors are referring to as “drunkorexia.” This disease is where people limit their food intake so that they can drink without gaining weight. (Haleigh Jacobson/CU Independent photo illustration)

“We have a dieting culture. We want to control emotions by wanting to control our body, enhancing our self esteem,” Brennan said. She later added, “People may limit their calorie intake or over-exercise during the day so that when they go out with their friends they don’t have to worry about gaining weight.”

Brennan explained that “drunkorexia” is commonly seen not only in anorexics, but in bulimics as well, who likely find it easier to purge their intake of calories without arising too much suspicion.

Gaining weight is a common fear that prompts eating disorders in college students. A 2011 study of over 7000 students shows that the dreaded “Freshman 15,” however, could be no more than a myth. In reality, Brennan added, people typically gain between 2 and 3 pounds their freshman year, mostly from malnutrition.

Nonetheless, the fear of gaining gross amounts of weight is a common prompter of eating disorders in students, Brennan said. “Drunkorexia” is the latest disorder to fit the bill.

Students are aware of “drunkorexia”‘s existence. In a conversation, they may not know the term, but the notion of preserving calories in favor of partying is nothing new for CU students around campus. Erin Eckstein, a 19-year-old psychology major, knows people that have done this.

“It starts from wanting to be confident about your body, but that stems from other stuff,” Eckstein said.

The pressure to be thin and fit in, Brennan says, is but one factor that may cause an eating disorder. “Thinspiration” posts on social media and other socially inflicted norms can motivate a largely female audience not to eat.

“They want to ration out their calories, and they like to drink,” said Lillian Waters, a 19-year-old international affairs major. “If you really want to drink, and food is your second priority, you’re going to drink rather than eat.”

Not limited to girls, men also exhibit the eating disorders, Brennan says. She has treated people of all genders and ages 9-81 years old.

Other possible motivators are stress, financial need and genetics. Simply having a mother or father with an eating disorder can increase your chance of developing one.

Brennan explains that an eating disorder alone is a health risk, but paired with alcohol it becomes an even more dangerous condition. The alcohol is absorbed faster, so three shots becomes five, and alcohol poisoning is more likely. Alcohol is an astringent by nature, Brennan said, which wears on your organs.

The other common risks of overdrinking are also associated with “drunkorexia,” but come on more quickly because of the lack of a buffer of food to slow absorption into the blood stream. Risky behavior and physical limitations occur at a faster and more dangerous rate due to the lack of a buffer in food. Brennan warns of cardiac problems later in life, especially in victims who purge.

Contact CU Independent Staff Writer Hannah Blatter at Hannah.blatter@colorado.edu.