The El Movimiento exhibition documents Chicanos’ struggle for justice in the ’60s and ’70s. | Photo by Paulina Alarcon

El Movimiento: The Chicano Movement in Colorado, sponsored by Colorado State University-Pueblo, will be on display at El Pueblo History Museum beginning Jan. 22. El Movimiento documents Chicanos’ struggle for justice in Colorado during the 1960s and 1970s through boycotts, demonstrations and organized events.

The event had an open reception on Jan. 22 that consisted of food and live music with a trio that played popular Mexican-American songs to the public.

Rita J. Martinez, coordinator of the event, explained that the “El Movimiento” exhibit started in Denver, February 2015 and ran through October 2015. By the summer of 2015, the Pueblo community arranged the exhibition to travel to Pueblo.

The exhibition in Pueblo is a combination of the original exhibition plus some of Pueblo history.

Thanks to the successful outcome of “El Movimiento” in Denver, CSU-Pueblo offered a new class in the beginning of the spring semester called el movimiento, which features historical events and names related to the movement.

There is also a book that follows the exhibit along with the class offered at CSU-Pueblo. Publisher, editor and author at Vanishing Horizons, Deborah Martinez, published “El Movimiento.”

The book is used as a text book for the class that will be available while the exhibition is held in Pueblo, spring and fall semesters.

According to Martinez, the success of the exhibit will determine whether the El Movimiento exhibit will be kept permanently in Pueblo or not.

“The one in Denver stood because of its popularity. It was very well-received by the Colorado community,” Martinez added.

Part of the exhibit will focus on Pueblo’s history. | Photo by Paulina Alarcon

Martinez said that her company can help writers identify and develop a memoir project, guide the research, edit the writing and publish the book in print.

“As an author, I choose to define and redefine the Southwest through children’s stories, articles or books. History is constantly changing and I want to be a part of that,” Martinez said.

The exhibit will run until Dec. 12, 2016 in Pueblo and is open and free to the public.

Photo courtesy of Take Back the Night

CSU-Pueblo hosted a Take Back the Night event to raise awareness about sexual assault April 15.

This was CSU-Pueblo’s first year hosting a TBNT event, which is a movement that started in the 1960s.

TBTN events have been documented in over 30 countries in hundreds of communities around the world. When it was created, the foundation’s board members and supporters came together to unite the hundreds of events being held under the TBTN banner around the world.

Women from many countries meet together as a tribunal council to discuss women’s safety when walking down public streets.

According to the event’s official website, takebackthenight.org,  “TBTN has focused on eliminating sexual and domestic violence in all forms. Thousands of colleges, domestic violence shelters, and rape crisis centers have held events all over the country.”

Roosevelt Wilson, CSU-Pueblo’s gender equality and sexual misconduct coordinator, said TBTN events are necessary when widely publicized assault cases overshadow the needs of victims.

“This is another avenue of showing a commitment to the survivors of sexual assault. We want to show that, regardless of certain events such as the UVA rape case that misleads the attention of events like TBTN,” Wilson said. “We want to make our students feel like we are doing everything we can do to educate our audience to create awareness.”

Wilson said that after an assault case, the attention is generally placed on the victim, not the perpetrator.

“It’s not about what you can do to avoid the situation, but rather what you need to do to not commit sexual assault,” he said.

The event, which was held from 6 to 8 p.m. in the OUC ballroom, encourage participants to reclaim the night as a safe place for women.

Stephanie Tanny, who was the featured speaker, works with organizations and individuals across the country who feel stuck discover and build their dreams.

A performance by Pullman Standard, a power rock quintet based out of North Hollywood, concluded the evening.

Jake Jabs speaks to students at the second annual Pueblo Entrepreneurship Competition. Photo by Daniel Potter

President and CEO of American Furniture Warehouse Jake Jabs spoke to students at the second annual Pueblo Entrepreneurship Competition, which was held at the Sangre de Cristo Arts and Conference Center Feb. 27.

The competition is a collaborative, non-profit activity coordinated by the Colorado State University-Pueblo Hasan School of Business Healy Center, Junior Achievement and Pueblo Economic Development Corp. The event is also made possible in part by a grant from the Southern Colorado Community Foundation.

Jabs spoke at the finale of the event, which had the theme of “One idea changes everything. What’s yours?”

Outgoing and confident with a sense of humor, Jabs took control over the audience of students hungry for knowledge.

He started out the conference by handing out buttons that read, “I’m an entrepreneur.”

The American Furniture Warehouse founder talked with the students about his “39 keys to business success.”

He said that his biggest dream when he was in college in the mid-1950s was to become a musician.

Jabs said he didn’t start out selling furniture. In the ‘50s everyone knew how to play the guitar, so he bought a guitar store downtown in Billings, Montana for $1,500.

When he met with the bankers to pursue a loan to support his business, they asked him about his financial statement. Jabs said he had no idea how to respond and that he didn’t know what he needed in order to make his business a success.

He advised the young student audience to take as many courses related to business as possible. If he knew how to answer all the questions the bankers asked back then, he would have accomplish his goals faster, he said.

Jabs’ advice for overcoming fears to promote ideas was to “figure out what the people need, examine it and research it, be as prepared as you can possibly be and be sure and confident that your idea is going to work.”

He said that when he founded American Furniture Warehouse, he recognized that people wanted furniture to fit their lifestyles, so he started marketing his product as “lifestyle furniture.”

“As a business owner one needs to understand that that every year people’s needs change, and if you want your company to success you have to understand and target their needs,” he said.

“In this case, I decided to add lifestyle furniture to the company’s name because people are specific, and have different tastes, so by adding that simple word to the title, customers feel like individuals, our job is personalized, and the staff is always happy to help to find specific needs,” Jabs said.

At the end of the conference, a member of the audience asked Jabs what his goals are now that he has accomplished a career on the furniture business.

Jabs said, “I don’t believe in goals, I believe in opportunities. When something is presented to you, you take it, you risk it, you go for it with confidence. That decision makes the difference on the future success on whatever it is you decide to do.”

“I take the opportunities that are presented to me, and I go from there. Then, I turn them into ideas and then into success,” he said.

Photo courtesy of thevirtualcooler.com.

The career fair at CSU-Pueblo will be held in the Occhiato University Center on March 4 from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m.

Michelle Gjerde, Director of Career Center at CSU-Pueblo, has been working for months to put this year’s career fair together. The number of employers that registered for the event exceeded the numbers of past years fairs, she said.

The coordinators of the event said professional attire is required, as the fair is an opportunity to show potential employers how serious the applicants are about their careers.

Gjerde also encourages students and staff to research the companies that are attending the event.

There will be 83 employers this year.

All majors have opportunities to be a part of these well-known companies and associations.

The construction management and civil engineering fields will have especially heavy representation at the event.

The career center is also partnered with seven school districts that CSU-Pueblo students regularly collaborate with. They want to encourage students to apply not only for teaching positions but also for accounting, finances and CIS technical jobs.

Chick-Fil-A and Panda Express are two of the numerous food chain companies that are attending looking for management and team member positions.

YMCA and Colorado Lions Camp are some of the associations that are offering summer opportunities for the applicants.

Gjerde said CSU-Fort Collins graduate and PhD programs will also be represented. CSU showcases over 300 graduate programs.

The staff of the event suggests students and faculty members to bring a portfolio with their resumes and questions they have for the employers. The goal is to make a connection, impress and network with employers in order to ultimately obtain an interview in the future.

The career center wants to encourage freshman and sophomore students to attend the event as well because it helps to build a professional environment.

The career center hosts a variety of career-focused events and workshops throughout the year. For more information about this event, the center can be contacted at 719-549-2980 and through email.

Reservations for the career fair will be made upon receipt of registration and payment is on a first come, first serve basis.

The music department is holding a benefit for Charles Ortega as he recovers from his injuries. Photo courtesy of reverberation.com.

CSU-Pueblo students and faculty will be holding a benefit concert on Feb. 20 for adjunct music professor Charles Ortega as he recovers from injuries he sustained in an accident in Colorado Springs Jan. 18.

The concert, which will be held in Hoag Recital Hall, will include two performances at 4 p.m. and 7 p.m.

Ortega is recovering in Penrose Hospital.

“He continues to be more aware and is working to communicate. He is still being affected by the brain injury, but he is out of the coma,” said Ortega’s fiancée, Amy B. Elmont.

“The doctors use a scale with 10 different levels of awareness and he is somewhere in the middle of the scale at this point,” she said.

At the concert, there will be at least one tuba euphonia that Ortega created last fall, according to faculty members. Students and faculty will perform a repertoire that is still being decided, they said.

Ortega has been teaching tuba and euphonium courses at CSU-Pueblo since last fall. He has been on the faculty of some of the top schools in Colorado, and has had an active teaching studio in Denver. He has also been expanding his studio to include the Colorado Springs area.

Born in the Rio Grande Valley of McAllen, Texas, Ortega received his bachelor’s degree in tuba performance from the University of North Texas in 2000.

He also received his master’s degree from the University of Wisconsin-Milwakee.

Music students said Ortega has been influential on their education.

“He gave me not only advice about playing music, but advice about life. He got to know me in my lessons and convinced me to get better every week. My friends and family urged me to be a player, but Mr. Ortega persuaded me to be a musician,” said current student Kameron Schmidt.

Schmidt said Ortega has also influenced the community.

“He set up the first Tuba Christmas in the Pueblo area and it was a great hit. This is a man of change for the Pueblo area and the people living here, I hope he can continue doing great things,” he said.

Donations will be taken at the door, through Ortega’s website charliesfund.com or by making a check payable to

Marshall Bryan

8177 E. Hunters Hill Dr.

Centennial, CO

80112.

The ASG is contacting local businesses to expand the discount program. File photo.

The Associated Students’ Government at CSU-Pueblo is working with local businesses to expand the student discount program at businesses throughout Pueblo.

Available for immediate use, the program will impact students, alumni and the newly formed parent discount program.

ASG Director of Public Relations Sydney McIntyre said the program is a viable way for ASG to impact the student body.

By maximizing the student dollar with the participation of local businesses in the program, students can reap the benefits of the program right away, she said.

McIntyre will be collaborating with faculty and other members of ASG to enhance and promote the program. She has been researching the spots that CSU-Pueblo students visit most frequently.

McIntyre said her goal is to attract 50 local businesses to the program by the end of the 2015 spring semester. Once a list is compiled, students will be able to check the ASG website (www.colostate-pueblo.edu/ASG) to find out which businesses offer discounts.

Information would be also available at the ASG corkboard in the Occhiato University Center as well as all social media sites, including the ASG Facebook, Twitter and Instagram accounts.

McIntyre said that her job within program is to approach businesses that already offer discounts, and inform them that ASG wants to help build and promote their business through the discount partnership.

The discounts will vary from 10 percent off a meal, service or merchandise, and each discount is different.

SCTCPueblo.com

The Pueblo based Steel City Theater Company is celebrating its first anniversary in its new location.

Though founded 13 years ago, SCTC was taken over eight years ago by Jason Laughrey, Andrea Garrett and Brandie Brown, with the help of friends and family.

The company has performed in different theaters around Pueblo, including CSU-Pueblo, Pueblo Community College, Sangre de Cristo Arts Center and Central High School, but the trio said they always had the dream of one day having their own theater to call home.

Central High School was the SCTC’s unofficial theater home for about four years, but just last year, after research and fundraising, they found a new, permanent location for their company.

SCTC is now located in the heart of Pueblo at 241 S. Santa Fe Ave., where Patti’s Restaurant used to be located. Oct. 1 was SCTC’s first anniversary in their new home.

“I remember the feeling of having our new theater,” Jason Laughrey said. “As the artistic director, I know that things are not always going to work out perfectly when it comes to performing, but just knowing how hard all of us have worked to become who we have become, (made) that opening night at our new home unforgettable.”

As part of their anniversary celebration, the nonprofit group will be bringing a well-known seasonal performance to the stage: “The Rocky Horror Picture Show.”

Garrett said “Rocky Horror” has always been one of the most requested by SCTC’s audience. She said she wanted to direct the show for a while, but it never seemed to be a perfect time.

Although SCTC has a history of making big productions happen, such as “Chicago” and “Grease,” Garrett said she wanted to wait for the right time to perform the infamous “Rocky Horror.”

Now that they know the facility better, and all the little details of the building have been taken care of, they considered this to be the time to bring “Rocky Horror” to the SCTC stage.

Many people are excited for the “Rocky Horror” show, but there are also some locals who consider the show vague and tasteless.

Brown said that what is really important is that the audience understands that the show is based on a spoof of B-rated movies.

“It was meant to be ridiculous,” she said. “Those that love the show, love it because it is (a) silly and fun cult classic.”

“Rocky Horror” is known for controversy and the sexual exposure of its characters in chaotic and weird situations.

Performances for “Rocky Horror” will be held Oct. 10-25 at the SCTC. Garrett will direct the show with the help of Laughrey, and Rachel Jaco as dance captain, will perform in the show.

In addition to “Rocky Horror,” SCTC will also be performing “The Iliad,” “A Charlie Brown Christmas” and “The Eight: Reindeer Monologues” this fall.

Information about the SCTC can be found on their website at sctcpueblo.com.