Graduate student Doe Renée performs at Tuesday Tunes. | Photo by Keelan Bailey

The popular campus event Tuesday Tunes hosted performer Doe Renée Nov. 17 in the Pack Café. Renée performed a unique style of music and incorporated a song she wrote as a tribute for Paris.

Renée is a second year graduate student at CSU-Pueblo. She is studying industrial systems engineering and works as a graduate teaching assistant on campus.

But Renée wasn’t always a CSU-Pueblo ThunderWolf.

After getting her undergraduate degree in mechanical engineering from the University of Colorado-Colorado Springs, Renée began to work in an office setting, where she was able to learn more about the railroad industry.

But after being in the office for nine hours a day, she realized that setting wasn’t for her. “I really missed education, and I wanted that vibrant atmosphere so I left the office,” Renée said.

Renée got into graduate school at CSU-Pueblo shortly after leaving her job.

“It was awesome because it turned out there was a extra position open for a graduate teaching assistantship, so it’s interesting how the universe works,” Renée said.

During her time working for her engineering job, she found that music was a solace for her in that time. “Now I feel like I can really express myself in this more vibrant educational atmosphere, and I hope to be a professor one day as well,” she said.

Renée said people always ask her what her genre of music is, and she tells them it’s pretty much a mix of everything. But if she really had to choose a few words to describe her music they would be local, acapella and soul.

When she performed on Tuesday, Renée added poems into her songs for the audience to hear. During the performance, Renée said she saw big groups of people walking in, and decided that she should stop the current song she was playing so she could share a poem with them.

“I wanted to just go with the flow and not be constricted with exactly what I had on my plan.”

“That’s a big part of what my genre of music is: going with what your soul tells you to do,” Renée said. And that’s exactly what she did during her performance.

She would incorporate her written poems into her songs, and she even wrote and song and poem for a tribute for Paris because of the recent attacks that happened there.

“I felt like the times people were listening the most was when I was doing my rap poetry,” she said.

CSU-Pueblo student Ric Quintana and professor Kelly Gehlhoff performed briefly with Renée. | Photo by Keelan Bailey

Renée also wanted the women in the audience to see her using powerful and forceful words in her poems and music, so they could see a woman speak powerfully in hopes empower them to do so as well.

“It was definitely something I had to learn how to do,” she said of powerful speaking.

Renée said it’s a huge challenge for women at this time to speak powerfully, and she wants to do everything she can to empower them to be everything they can be. She tries to convey this message in her poetry by using those powerful and forceful words.

“After being the only girl for years in engineering classes I had to learn to speak powerfully, and I really strive to empower women every time I perform poetry,” she said.

In addition to being a performer, Renée is also a Reiki master, which is a form of alternative medicine that originated in Japan.

Renée said that because of her practice as a Reiki master, she could sense that the tragedy that was happening in Paris while she was asleep before the news broke, and when she woke up, she wrote the song for her performance to pay tribute to those affected by the tragedy.

During her performance, Renée was accompanied by two other performers for a short amount of time. CSU-Pueblo English professor Kelly Gehlhoff and student Rick Quintana were on stage to perform a Native American song with Renée. Gehlhoff sang alongside with Renée as Quintana played the flute.

The three had never performed together before Tuesday, and only decided to do so after they met recently.

Renée really wanted incorporate Native American culture into her performance because it is currently Native American history month. She saw Quintana perform at a local Native American culture painting event and asked him to perform with her.

Students are served traditional Diwali food. | Photo by Keelan Bailey

Colorado State University-Pueblo organizations and clubs joined together Nov. 11 to host the 3rd annual Diwali Festival in the Underground of the Occhiato University Center.

The organizations and clubs that participated with the event were CSU-Pueblo International Students Association, CSU-Pueblo Asian Students Association, Center for International Programs, Diversity Resource Center and Student Engagement and Leadership.

Diwali, an ancient Hindu festival, is a festival of lights. The festival, consisting of a five-day celebration, is celebrated in India and other parts of Southern Asia. The festival spiritually signifies the victory of light over darkness.

The festival serves as a time of inner reflection and to draw out the darkness instilled within individuals and to instead fill themselves with light, hope, positive energy, happiness and new goals.

The event consisted of traditional Diwali food, henna, traditional prayer and a traditional Diwali dance from CSU-Pueblo students.

CSU-Pueblo mass communications alum Muhammad Talha Qureshi was the coordinator of the event. Qureshi also currently serves as the Center for International Program’s Asian Recruiter.

“Our goal was to get 80 to 100 people at the event today, but we easily got over 200. This is by far the biggest Diwali we have ever had. It’s just awesome,” Qureshi said.

Assistant professor of history Judy Gaughan brought 27 of her students to the event.

“I decided to bring the students for a different learning experience. Also, the festival of light comes in a perfect time during the semester because we just began studying Hinduism,” Gaughan said.

Of Gaughan’s 27 students that were of attendance, student Jackie Alber was excited most about the henna portion of the event.

“I also got to dance and that was pretty cool,” Alber said.

Students and staff participate in a dance at the Diwali festival. | Photo by Keelan Bailey

In addition to the traditional Diwali festivities, the coordinators of the event held their own Diwali royalty court. CSU-Pueblo’s 2015 Homecoming Queen, Nicole Hulet, was present to crown the winners.

Among the nominees were students Lucas Rodriguez, Winter Naomi Vera and Fredlina Atencio. Hulet crowned all three of the nominees who all won.

Director of the Center for International Programs Annie Williams also helped facilitate and plan the event alongside Qureshi.

“I really want people to understand that it’s OK be friends with the foreign students, there is a lot that people can learn. I travel around the world everyday and never leave my desk, and I think that anyone gets the chance to get to know our international students is going to have that same experience,” Williams said.

Williams said she hopes students will attend other future events.

More information on events held at CSU-Pueblo can be found on the university’s website, under campus events, at http://www.csupueblo.edu/Communications/Events/Pages/default.aspx.

Hip-hop violinist SVET performs at CSU-Pueblo Nov. 3.

Hip-hop violinist SVET paid a visit to CSU-Pueblo Nov. 4 to perform at Hoag Hall in front of the campus and community. SVET, who was featured on season seven of America’s Got talent, covers various pop songs while remixing them with his violin.

SVET, 31, was born in Bulgaria, and moved to the United States with his parents at a young age. He was a classically trained violinist, but quickly changed his tune as soon as he discovered the fascinating world of hip-hop. Combining his classical skills with hip-hop, he creates his own unique sound.

During the event on Tuesday he played various popular songs, and showed the audience a preview of a song that hasn’t been released yet, a violin cover of the popular song “Here” by Alessia Cara.

“I think he did really well, I had no expectations coming into the event tonight, it was very unexpected. He really surprised me with lots of cool music,” said Tim Ballard, a senior studying biochemistry.

SVET also performed covers of popular Michael Jackson songs such as “Beat it” and “Bille Jean.” He talked to crowd between songs to ask them what they thought of the show in an effort to engage the audience. After the show, he signed autographs and met with fans.

Around a 60 students attended the event, as well about 30 community members.

Most of the people who attended the event said they had never heard SVET’s style of music before. “I was so amazed. It was such an amazing concept to mix hip-hop with violin. It was awesome,” said Angelina Perez, Hassan School of Business Dean Assistant.

Throughout his career, the hip-hop violinist has performed alongside many well-know artists, including Chris Brown and Kanye West. He has also played at many music festivals and concerts, and recently got back from preforming in Dubai.

SVET’s performance was part of the Distinguished Speakers Series program, which is hosted by the Student Engagement and Leadership office. The series features many well-known speakers, comedians and performers.

After the event SVET, told the SEAL office that he will be heading to perform in Miami to continue his most recent tour.

Hannah Compton, Tuesday Tunes musician | Photo by Keelan Bailey

Colorado State University-Pueblo’s office of Student Engagement and Leadership held the event, Tuesday Tunes, in front of the Occhiato University Center. The event showcases student musicians from the university with a different performer every event, who perform on Tuesdays once a month.

The event has been done in the past but has been brought back this school year by Tyler Hobson, SEAL graduate assistant of fraternity and sorority life & leadership.

“The two acts that we have had this year were amazing and I think the two we have so far have went really well,” Hobson said.

The musician who performed this week was freshman student, Hannah Compton. She performed her first solo live in front of students that featured popular covers of songs as well as some of her personal favorite songs.

Compton said that she has never performed solo in front of an anyone before Tuesday but has performed in a large group called the East High School Tone Troopers before entering college. The group traveled around performing for various groups and at events such as churches, retirement hones, concerts at her school and the lighting of the Riverwalk ceremony.

“Being a part of the East High School Tone Troopers gave me the experienced I needed to get out here and perform today,” Compton said.

She said that she attended the last Tuesday Tunes and saw CSU-Pueblo student, Josh Floyd, perform and immediately wanted to be a part of the event herself. Although performing a majority of the show solo, Compton’s little sister, Lynn Compton, joined her for a few duets.

Lynn Compton said that she doesn’t like performing alone, so she usually makes her sister perform with her. The sisters were both in acapella groups and have sang together in various high school performances.

Students Courtney Horn and Emily Ackerman who were in attendance said they loved the singing.

They both agreed to attend more Tuesday Tunes events in the future.

Coming closer to winter months, Hobson said that they will be moving the event indoors where he thinks it will attract more people to watch the performers.

According to Hobson, more people are needed to audition in order to continue having Tuesday Tunes events.

For more information regarding to this event, contact the SEAL office in RM 006 in the lower level of the OUC or contact Hobson at tyler.hobson@csupueblo.edu.

Jackson Galaxy, host of “My Cat From Hell” on Animal Planet, speaking at the OUC Ballroom during the Distinguished Speaker Series at CSU-Pueblo. Photo by Dustin Cox.

Jackson Galaxy, star of the TV show “My Cat From Hell,” visited a crowd of students and cat enthusiasts Oct. 9 in the Occhiato University Center ballroom at 7 p.m.

Otherwise known as the “Cat Daddy,” Galaxy attracted a crowd of 415 campus and community members.

During his talk, Galaxy discussed various animal topics, including some that have been featured on his Animal Planet show. The event was followed by a signing and opportunities for photos with Galaxy.

On his show, Galaxy helps cat owners who are struggling with pets that won’t behave. He finds ways to help the family and furry animals overcome obstacles and get along.

Many different organizations from around Colorado attended the event, including zoos, humane societies and shelters.

One of the organizations that attended the event was PAWS for Life. Located in Pueblo, PAWS wanted Galaxy to come to the area about a year ago, but it never happened. When they saw the ad for the event in the Pueblo Chieftain this year, they decided to attend.

“We need to be much more educated on the aspects of cats, and I think this is a great way to do it,” said Ruth McDonald, president of PAWS. McDonald said the shelter just opened up a cattery in the last couple of years at PAWS in an effort to expand the shelter’s emphasis to other animals, not just dogs.

The cattery manager at PAWS, LeAnn Miller, also attended the event. “I’m so excited that Jackson is able to be here tonight, and that the campus of CSU-Pueblo was able to get him to come,” she said.

Cheryl Hindsley, PAWS board member said, “He did a amazing job, and some of the things that Jackson did in the book we have actually done in our shelter. It is great to know that we are going in the right direction.”

Students and community members listen intently while Jackson Galaxy speaks. Photo by Dustin Cox.

There were also around 150 students who attended the event. Student Laura Kerwin, a senior at CSU-Pueblo studying biology said she was excited that Galaxy was able to come to campus.

“The event was overall really beneficial. Everything was really great. It was awesome to see his style and see what he’s like off camera to see that he is exactly the same,” Kerwin said. “It was great to connect with him at this level.”

Student Trenton Bridwell, also a senior, said he hopes to use some of the tips Galaxy shared in his career as a veterinarian.

“It’s great to have Jackson here tonight and to learn more about veterinarian side of things, and the physiological understanding of animals,” he said. “It will truly be something I can use my veterinary field.”

The Humane Society of the Pikes Peak Region also attended the event. Veterinarian Ana Hodgson and her team traveled from Colorado Springs to hear how Galaxy dealt with cats, as well and some common cat behavior problems.

“It was great to hear how he handles with the cats, and what the most common problems are with cat behavior. So it was great to hear what he thought,” Hodgson said.

Melissa Schumacher, a veterinary technician and the humane society said she liked to hear about Galaxy’s experiences.

“I liked how he told us he had trouble with a specific cat, and still had issues even though he thought he was really good at it. It shows that there are still some animals out there that are extremely hard to deal with,” she said.

Sara Ferguson, director at Happy Cats Haven in Colorado Springs said she had heard of Galaxy once before and thought he was amazing.

“I just love his energy, and it’s great to be in the same room with this many of my people,” Ferguson said.

CSU-Pueblo students participate in this year’s homecoming dance. | Photo by Keelan Bailey

After years of low attendance at the homecoming dance at Colorado State University-Pueblo, the Student Engagement and Leadership office decided to transform the event by hosting a paint party and concert. The dance was much more successful this year than in recent years.

The SEAL office hired a recreation company called GlowRage to come to campus for the dance, which was held Oct. 10 in the student recreation center. The company travels to universities across the country.

During the concert, the DJ played music that was remixed to audience’s liking. Unlike a traditional homecoming dance, however, people started throwing and spraying paint all over the audience. There were buckets full of neon and black light active non-toxic paint. As the songs reached certain points, the crowed was sprayed with paint.

With more than 300 student and community attendees, the event was more successful than previous homecoming dances. “I got a lot of positive feedback about the event in comparison to homecomings we have had in the past. Our numbers have doubled for this one,” said Alexis King, a coordinator for the SEAL office.

Homecoming attendance has been so low in recent years that the school decided not host the dance last year. But this year, students actively participated in the event.

“The Paint Party was sweet. GlowRage did a really amazing job. I really hope we bring them back soon,” said CSU-Pueblo student Caleb Flack. “I’m really glad that they decided to do this as the homecoming dance instead of the regular homecoming dance, because no one goes to the regular homecoming dance.”

King said the event was a fun recreation alternative for students.

“I don’t think that all students want to go out and party on the weekends. It doesn’t really create the college atmosphere they’re looking for. So it was nice to have an event like this where students have an alternative, and create a fun atmosphere for students,” she said.

Students who attended the event were told to wear clothes that they didn’t mind getting paint on because it would stain clothes.

CSU-Pueblo student Jordan Petty said he enjoyed the event because it was different than homecoming dances at other universities.

“The Paint Party was awesome,” Petty said. “It got a lot of people, and it was a more productive event that we’ve had here on campus during a Saturday night.”

Tyler Hobson is the advisor for the LEAD program. Photo courtesy of csupueblo.edu

The little known Leadership Education and Development Program at Colorado State University-Pueblo is using its resources to turn students into leaders.

The LEAD program was established to create leaders who are confident in themselves and their leadership abilities. It also provides an outlet for students to think bigger than themselves and make positive changes.

Many students on campus are not aware of this program or what it consists of. For the 2015-2016 school year at CSU-Pueblo, only 10 students have signed up for the program.

Tyler Hobson, graduate assistant in the Student Engagement and Leadership Office and coordinator of the program, is striving to change that.

A goal of CSU-Pueblo’s has been to promote leadership on campus and in its students. The LEAD Program does just that for students.

“I want to help students improve their leadership skills,” Hobson said.

The program gives students the ability to step up and be leaders in the field they are getting into.

Students can apply to the LEAD program at any time during the school year. The program is structured for students to complete it in a year, but they are able to take up to four years if needed to complete it.

Along with applying, the LEAD Program expects that individuals are current CSU-Pueblo students and have a GPA of a 2.75 at the time of completion.

The program also requires that students document 100 hours of experience in four different activity areas, complete four different online modules, and choose between completing a capstone paper, website or presentation reflecting personal growth and impact on others. Students also have to sign an ethics statement upon program completion.

This year Hobson reworked the program to be more student friendly when it comes to time management, marketing and its content. Hobson said that in previous years, students had a hard time completing some of the requirements because they were not able to make up any of the conferences or events that they could not attend.

“I think the program is key for our students at CSU-Pueblo,” Hobson said.

He said he believes it provides an opportunity to help build skills that future employers are looking for after graduating college. Most of the skills employers look for aren’t necessarily taught in the classroom such as being able to speak in front of people, teamwork, collaboration and more.

Some learning outcomes that students can gain from the program include increased self-awareness, recognition of impact on groups and community, ability to understand application of learned skills and to be more prepared for interviews and jobs after college.

“The program forces you to get involved on campus because while you are in the program you have to be on a student organization leading by example and with your passion,” Hobson said.

He also said the program helps students become citizens of the community due to the requirement of completing 50 percent of the community service hours from an off campus organization.

“Everyone should take advantage of the opportunity. They wont regret it,” Hobson said.

The Associated Students’ Government held a meeting in front of the fountain plaza Sept. 15. | Photo by Keelan Bailey

The Associated Students’ Government at CSU-Pueblo held an event to encourage students to become more involved with the campus and its organization.

Members held their weekly meeting on Sept. 15 outside around the fountain plaza in front of the Library and Academic Resources Center in an effort to encourage students to attend meetings.

ASG meetings, like those of many other campus organizations, are traditionally held in the upper levels of the Occhiato University Center.

ASG President Sarah Zarr wanted to hold the meeting outdoors as a way to attract students to their meetings. ASG members set up a popcorn machine as well as a snow cone machine for the students who attended the meeting.

“The event went awesome. A professor’s entire class came, and there was audience participation from students that attended. I thought that it was probably less intimidating to come and walk to the fountain as it might be to come to the ASG chambers,” Zarr said.

Chris Turner, a business professor, brought his class to the event. He said he dealt with an issue about international students not knowing where to go for help on campus. He said he told them to go to ASG.

The meeting started at 6:00 p.m. and lasted until 7:30 p.m. Students stopped by the meeting on their way to class to talk with ASG members and around 13 campus community members stayed for the event.

Zarr said her vision of ASG includes growing it to become an even more integral part of campus than it already is. She also said she wants to make students more aware about ASG and let them know that the organization is there to support them.

“I really want it to be a staple, as well as a tradition on campus. I want students to know that that’s ASG, and they can help us,” Zarr said.

During the meeting, there was also update about Wi-Fi upgrades in the residence halls. They will be pushed back to the spring 2016 semester because of problems with wiring.

Students create duct tape art at the SEAL office’s second DIY event of the semester. | Photo by Keelan Bailey

The Student Engagement and Leadership office held a DIY Duct Tape Art event Sept. 9 as part of a series of upcoming fall events. The event was held in front of the Library and Academic Resources Center with various tables filled with different types of duct tape.

The event was free to students as long as they had their student ID or their Personal Identification number. Students were able to come up, check in and make art pieces out of duct tape.

They were able to choose from various colors and patterns to create lanyards, flower pens, wallets and anything else they could envision.

“We have a really great turn out here today, we have a lot of people here and they really seem to enjoy it,” said Juliette Mogenson, an employee of Student Engagement and Leadership.

Students who attended said they would come to the event again if it were to be held again during the school year. The only request that students made was more ideas about the types of art projects they could make since they were only given a select few preset duct tape idea sheets.

Students at the duct tape art event | Photo by Keelan Bailey

About 26 students attended the event within its first hour. All of the available tables were filled with students, leaving little room for anyone else.

In addition to the SEAL staff, members of the Associated Students’ Government attended help facilitate the event, answer questions and give ideas about the types of art students should create.

By time it was over, 41 people had attended the event, which lasted two hours and had a limited supply of duct tape.

The SEAL office regularly hosts similar DIY events throughout the school year.

The opening of the coffee shop in the General Classroom Building saw delays due to design errors.

A coffee shop in the General Classroom Building is still in the process of being completed. It will be one of the last projects to be finished on CSU-Pueblo’s newest building.

The GCB opened in time for students to attend classes there for the fall 2015 semester but the coffee shop is still being completed due to some design errors.

Vice President of Facilities Management Craig Cason said the electrical lines for the refrigeration equipment are being relocated to match the connections for the equipment.

Many students have said once the new cafe is completed they will probably go over to the GCB to get their snacks instead of the library cafe, even if it is farther away than the library.

“I like it because the area is a lot nicer, and it is more of a coffee shop environment,” said CSU-Pueblo student Jessica Rein. This could mean for increased use of building if students choose to stop at the new cafe instead of the library to get a snack or study.

The addition of the new cafe will be a new option for students who dine on campus and need places to eat during the day. For students who have classes in the GCB, the coffee shop will be more centrally located than other campus coffee shops.

“It’s nice that there is a new building where there is a great area to get snacks and coffee on your way to class,” said student Trevor Hardin.

The remodel of the cafe will take another few weeks while Facilities waits for the parts and installation. After the parts are installed, it will undergo an inspection by the Pueblo City County Health Department. The cafe will be open by the end September.

The General Classroom Building has three floors with 10 large lecture classrooms that are fully connected to online campus IT systems, as well as wireless throughout building.