Colorado State University-Pueblo senior students are celebrated on Nov. 12, aka “Senior Day”

Image courtesy of Bailey Bair

Colorado State University-Pueblo students voted health and wellness senior Bailey Bair as the 2016-17 Associate Students’ Government director of student affairs in May.

Bair’s parents, Debbie and Jeff Bair, live in Arvada, Colorado. Bailey and her sister, Rachel, grew up moving around due to their father’s military career. The family spent four years in Yuma, Arizona, where Bair attended high school.

Bair wants to pursue a master’s degree in health promotion after she graduates next spring. She wants to incorporate her love of travel into her career plans.

“The more I listen and really understand who someone is at a deeper level, the more I can try and help them,” Bair said.

Her responsibilities as director of student affairs include working as a liaison between students and the ASG. She accomplishes this by engaging in conversations with students and letting them know that they can come to her with their thoughts and comments.

“Being in ASG has really tested my ability to utilize the resources I have. It has pushed and elevated me in a professional manner and helped me have more confidence in myself. It’s my job to listen to what the students want, what their needs are, and to report back to ASG,” Bair said.

Bair is also the chair of special events for the campus activities board and president of the CSU-Pueblo Health and Wellness Club.

“My favorite part of the club is seeing people learn something new and start to use that in their daily life. I’ve seen it happen a lot last year when I was secretary,” Bair said.

Aside from her studies and leadership roles, Bair manages to work two part-time jobs, one as a graduate office assistant at the university and the other at Chipotle.

Bair also plays sand volleyball at CSU-Pueblo, makes time for Pokemon Go, attending music concerts, drawing, playing the ukulele and binge watching shows on Netflix and Hulu.

She offered advice to fellow students who want to become involved in student organizations.

“Come to meetings and get to know those currently in ASG, and ask how you can get involved,” Bair said.

Bair credits her successes to her parents.

“They are some of the hardest working, most caring individuals I know,” Bair said.

Bair also credits faculty members Carol Foust and Bethany Kies for helping her develop and understand her passion and personal philosophy.

Students who are interested in becoming involved with the CSU-Pueblo ASG can join Bair and other members during their weekly meetings on Tuesdays at 6 p.m. in the General Classroom Building.

Edited by: Theresa Wolf

image courtesy of Student Engagement and Leadership

Colorado State University- Pueblo will host a Glow Casino Night on Friday, Aug. 26, in the Occhiato University Center ballroom from 7 – 11 p.m. The event is open to all CSU-Pueblo students.

The event serves as the finale of the Wolfpack Welcome Week endorsed by the Student Engagement and Leadership office. The five-day event also featured Rec Fest at the Student Fitness Center and a magic and comedy show.

SEAL hosts many other on-campus events, including DIY projects, Canvas Coffee and Conversation, the Paint U dance party, and the spring concert. SEAL also participates in events hosted by other organizations on campus.

Anna Jordan, a team member of SEAL, is looking forward to Casino Night. Jordan said that students could expect to take part in different card games, slot machines and relax in the VIP tent.

The card tables and other games will include blackjack, poker, keno, and slot machines. Students have volunteered to serve as dealers and contributors.

Jordan said she is excited to see how the event will look when it’s finished being set up. “I am most excited to see how everything is set up!”

“This is a glow casino so there are going to be lights everywhere and so much to see,” Jordan continued, “We’ve always had a casino night, but this is going to be like no other! I’m very excited to see how it’s going to be put together.”

Students can sip mocktails and take a break from activities to relax in massage chairs. Students will also have an opportunity to win prizes.

WolfPack Welcome Week has hosted many other student-oriented events. Jordan believes Casino Night is different than the others.

“Casino night is one of the events that draws any and all students of CSU-Pueblo to it. It’s a night event so more students are able to attend and so many students want to go,” she said.

“Every event that SEAL puts on is exciting, but this one is at another level than the other,” Jordan continued, “It’s not a chill movie on the lawn or a crazy concert, it’s something students can come to and talk with friends while they play some games and have some fun!”

Jordan hopes that SEAL’s marketing strategies pay off and hopefully draw a huge crowd.

Senior nursing major Lance Cox is one of the commuter students who will attend this event for the second consecutive year.

“I enjoy attending on-campus events, there is always food and a variety of fun,” Cox said.

Cox takes pride in his self-proclaimed gambling skills.“ I love to gamble. — Blackjack is my favorite. It’s all about knowing when to stay or hit- so you don’t bust and lose your hand.”

The senior nursing major encourages all students to attend the event.

“You get the opportunity to meet people you might not get the chance of meeting day-to-day on campus.”

For more information, please visit the My CSU-Pueblo Facebook page.

photo by Lindsay Wolking

A new change will allow undergraduate students to pursue a master’s degree while obtaining their teacher’s certification for K-12 education.

“Previously students had to do the music emphasis at the bachelor’s level and then the master’s of education with a music emphasis was for teachers who were already certified,” said department chair David Volk.

Students will now be able to earn an undergraduate music degree in the area of their choice, and then pursue a graduate degree in education with an emphasis in music.

“This a move for us to attract students to CSU-Pueblo who might be interested in music but would like to do something other than music at the undergraduate level as well and not accrue an enormous amount of undergraduate credits in obtaining teacher certification,” Volk said.

Several minors have also been added, including music technology and audio production, composition and theory, jazz studies and organ performance studies.

According to the CSU-Pueblo website, music majors declaring the aforementioned minors, must complete a minimum of 18 hours beyond required courses of the BA-Music, or general emphasis, degree to include required hours in the minor and any electives beyond major and minor degree requirements.

These hours fulfill the College of Humanities and Social Sciences graduation requirements that 18 hours must be taken in a minor or in courses outside the major discipline.

“We were looking at various curricular options that would benefit our students,” Volk said of the initiative to condense and restructure the existing program.

CHASS requires a minor to be declared in most programs, which were often problematic for music students due to the required practice time.

“The additional options gave them the opportunity to earn credits in a minor, keep them in their discipline, as well as alleviate the financial burden students face,” Volk said.

According to CSU-Pueblo’s music degree curriculum, a bachelor’s of arts — with an emphasis in music performance — is appropriate for those students who plan to perform, teach privately, or pursue further study at the graduate level, while a music education emphasis provides the essential training, knowledge, and skills necessary for a teaching career in choral, instrumental, or general music.

“We are excited about partnering with the mass communications department by incorporating a music technology and audio production minor, in our program,” Volk said.

Volk credited music and mass communications faculty across the board for making the changes possible.

Faculty members were able to restructure existing courses in order to boost enrollment while remaining within the program’s existing budget.

 The Colorado State University-Pueblo Foundation is calling for a final push to meet its $25 million On the Move campaign, which has an Aug. 31 deadline.

Todd Kelly, president and CEO of the CSU-Pueblo Foundation — a nonprofit 501c3 — is confident that the university will reach its goal, even as the three-year window is coming to an end. So far, the organization has raised $19 million toward its ambitious goal.

“Pueblo County has roughly 160,000 residents. If every resident just gave $10, that’s $1.6 million — that’s a big impact to CSU-Pueblo — for scholarships and new programs to benefit our students,” Kelly said. “Every gift counts, no matter how small it is. It makes a big impact on our students.”

A ‘Text Ten’ fundraising effort also will take place during the final weeks of the campaign, encouraging the Pueblo community and alumni across the country to text PACK to 80888 and donate $10 per text.

Image courtesy of csupueblo.edu

“We’re still on track,” Kelly added. “We haven’t changed anything on the timeline or the dollar amount.”

This far, no contingency plans are in place should the campaign should funds fall short of the goal. In May 2013, 40 percent of the campaign’s goal had been met.

“In most campaigns, you see a big push at the beginning and at the end. In the middle, there’s a lull. What we see is normal to multi-year multi-million dollar campaigns,” Kelly said.

The three focus areas of the campaign — launched in 2013 — include $15 million towards scholarships and academic programs. The foundation committed $5 million of the $30 million budget for the Occhiato University Center remodel and remaining $5 million funded the expansion of the athletic department as a way to increase enrollment.

Since the campaign launch, the administration of the university added six new sports, including lacrosse and soccer.

“We’ve been fortunate to connect with a lot of citizens here in Pueblo County, alums, former donors that have been very gracious to us and got us to the point we are today.  We’re still out there connecting and developing relationships with alums and citizens of Pueblo,” Kelly said.

“If people understand that for CSU-Pueblo to thrive, we need Pueblo to thrive and vice versa. We’re the university of this city. By us being able to grow enrollment and offer more scholarships, programs and student life ventures, we need more faculty and staff, possibly build more facilities. By investing in CSU-Pueblo and our students, you’re creating better citizens and you’re also benefiting one of the big economic businesses here in Pueblo.”

Even though the campaign is still on-going, the foundation noted students have already seen the impact of its fundraising efforts. In 2013, the foundation awarded $1.18 million in scholarships. In 2014, the foundation increased scholarship awards to $1.53 million and then again in 2015 to $1.68 million. In 2016, the amount of scholarships was record-breaking with $2.5 million awarded to students.

The foundation’s staff of seven people, along with its 21 board of directors are responsible for driving the fundraising effort and attribute their success to a team effort with the university.

“We get tremendous support from the university, from administration to faculty and staff.  The whole campus has come together to help us raise money and move forward,” Kelly said.

Colorado State University-Pueblo will offer the MAESTRO Summer Program from July 14-August 13.

MAESTRO stands for Mastering Academic Excellence, Scholarship, Teaching and Research Opportunities.

The month-long program offers a unique, hands-on curriculum that will provide 60 students with an opportunity to earn up to 11 credit hours, including General Education credits in math, English, history and elective credits in Outdoor Pursuits.

This is the first year that CSU-Pueblo will offer the program, which is part of a $2.6 million Title V grant initiative. Over the next five years, it will continue to develop an innovative Center for Teaching and Learning to serve faculty and its highly diverse student population. 

CSU-Pueblo will see funding of over $523,000 during the 2015-16 academic year, which will be used to begin development of the four primary innovations of the program, which include support for ongoing faculty teaching and assessment, collaborative research on student learning and experiential education; integrated writing across the curriculum program; “Pack on Track,” an advising and mentoring program that will feature an academic summer program for incoming students who wish to become more fully-prepared for college-level academics; the purchase of new and updated advising and degree and graduation audit software.​

“We created a Center for Teaching and Learning that was really faculty driven, where we’re asking faculty to hold each other accountable to work on best practices in the classroom and to all serve our students even better,” said Donna Souder Hodge, executive director of the Center for Teaching and Learning at CSU-Pueblo.

Souder Hodge and Derek Lopez, director of the Center for Academic Enrichment at CSU-Pueblo, wrote the multi-million dollar grant.

The principles of the MAESTRO program align with those of previous Study Abroad programs, providing students with the opportunity to learn about and experience the local history and culture first-hand.

“Our objective is to focus is on general education, first-year programming, Hispanic and low income students.  We thought this was a really ideal program,” said Souder Hodge.

“It is going to be an intense experience. We’re working with faculty and staff all over campus to coordinate putting all the moving pieces together.”

The three tenured faculty who collaborated in getting the program off the ground are Fawn Amber Montoya, director of Chicano Studies, Jonathan Poritz, associate professor of Mathematics and Souder Hodge, the university’s director of writing.

Funding is provided by the Developing Hispanic-Serving Institution Program of the U.S. Department of Education.

The total cost is $2,700 per student, which includes room, board, tuition, books and off-campus trips to historical sites in Southern Colorado. The program was marketed to freshmen students from all walks of life. Currently, 45 students are enrolled.

Students will also learn and incorporate algebraic, geometric and statistical methods in order to better understand the history and arguments they’ll be contemplating in class.

“The content of the course is Southwest history, and we are wrapping math and writing into the historical and place-based content,” Souder Hodge said.

The “one-room schoolhouse” model of instruction allows students to engage in hands-on learning experiences, such as adobe brick making, working with native textiles, and several other survival skill-building experiences.

At the conclusion of the program, a student-led and created symposium will give students the opportunity to make an argument for the importance of cross-cultural, interdisciplinary, hands-on learning and enrichment.

Image courtesy of historycoloradocenter.org

The tumultuous 1960s and 1970s gave rise to Chicano activism in Colorado. Disadvantaged Hispanic-Americans fought to end discrimination, secure rights and gain political and social power through education, culture and the arts. This is still case today, especially in Southern Colorado.

In 1979, former Pueblo City Councilman Al Gurule led an effort to recall District Attorney Joseph Losavio. Losavio was a controversial figure whose aggressive tactics contributed to his reputation as an overzealous prosecutor.

Veteran police reporter and retired Night City Editor, Juan Espinosa, wrote about the involvement of a former FBI agent in a plot to plant heroin on Gurule in retaliation for his efforts to derail Losavio’s campaign for reelection.

This and and other historical accounts of intimidation and victory inspired 10 local Chicano authors from the Pueblo Chapter to pen “El Movimiento de Pueblo: An Anthology of Chicana and Chicano Activism” – a series of poignant accounts of civil rights activism in Pueblo.

“El Movimiento” transports the reader back to the 1970s in Pueblo, when Gurule and other Chicano activists led crusades for equality, often in the face of staunch opposition. Protests and sit-ins were commonplace at the time. Yet, despite intimidation, citizens were willing to stand up and voice their objections.

Game changers like Gurule did not back down on issues related to education, health and civil rights matters – some of these still persist in the Pueblo community.

Deborah Martinez Martinez, author and owner of Vanishing Horizons – El Movimiento’s publisher – wrote about ongoing concerns in education among Hispanics in Pueblo.

Martinez, for example, recounted when the Associated Students’ Government at the University of Southern Colorado – now CSU-Pueblo – allocated $25,000 for tuition and fees for 100 disadvantaged students in 1971, allowing them to take the required Chicano Studies 101 course requirement.

Martinez, who graduated from USC with a bachelor’s degree in mass communications, said, “I feel that some of the issues are still the same. There are still issues with education and the number of Hispanic teachers to students.”

Richard Rivera of the Pueblo Neighborhood Health Centers writes candidly about his own experience after he came to Pueblo in 1975 to open a clinic-style health service center to serve the low-income and indigent with dignity and professionalism.

“We had a backlash from the private sector primarily, but they mobilized the newspaper, district attorney and the local medical society that tried to terminate our funding, he said.

“We lived under a state for siege for a number of years. In 1982 they finally managed to get our funding terminated.”

Rivera was the first Chicano graduate from Harvard Medical and Business schools.

“It’s disappointing, especially the health care situation.  I think in many ways it deteriorated,” he said of Pueblo’s future.

Martinez feels that the important issues are still not addressed publicly.

“A lot of things didn’t appear in the newspaper, or it was told in a one-sided manner. The Chieftain has been staunch Republican and some of these issues aren’t written about in the newspaper,” Martinez said.

In the book, one of the first Pueblo’s first Chicano lawyers and judges, Joe T. Ulibarri, wrote about the lawyers that led the way through tangled civil rights legal issues in Pueblo, while Espinosa writes about the local newspaper “La Cucaracha,” which served to educate people about topics of the times related to education, health and civil rights.

Other contributing authors are Lenny Valdez, Pablo Mora, Augustine Vega, Rita J. Martinez, Dave Marquez, Walter L. Garesh, Esq. and Rick C. Archuletta.

The book launch is scheduled for July 21 from 5 p.m. – 7 p.m. at the El Pueblo History Museum on 301 N. Union Av in Pueblo according to a news release from the publisher.

The authors will be on hand to autograph the book and the History Colorado “Movimiento” exhibit will be open free of charge.

Rick Kreminski | Photo courtesy of csupueblo.edu

Rick Kreminski, Provost and Executive Vice President for Academic Affairs at Colorado State University-Pueblo, is excited about the future of cannabis research at the college.

The university recently received a grant from the State of Colorado in the amount of $900,000, after a bill was signed by Gov. John Hickenlooper June 6. The Pueblo County Board of Commissioners awarded an additional $270,000 in marijuana excise tax revenue to the university.

According to an agreement between CSU-Pueblo and the Pueblo County Commissioner, Sal Pace, $50,000 of the $270,000 will be allocated for socio-economic impact studies, while the remaining funds will be applied towards medical marijuana research.

The following is an edited interview with Kreminski about the latest marijuana research initiative at CSU-Pueblo.

What are the goals for marijuana research at CSU-Pueblo?

There’s the immediate, shorter term, one-step-at-a-time research; and then there’s longer-term research. Right now we’re actually very focused on the next year. We have funding coming in from the county and then we have funding coming in from the state, so we have to make sure that we are very good stewards of those monies; we have already begun undertaking research for the county because we have a contract obligation to do so.

We have more latitude with the state because the funding is more generally for research and we will be coordinating with numerous state agencies for that, and we will have to make sure we navigate that effectively.

As far as long term, the hope is that by having a year or two of such funding, we’ll have developed enough background data and will have established the research expertise to become strong candidates for competitive federal contracts and grants.

What are the greatest challenges you face in the research on marijuana?

There are lots of federal restrictions on what you can do with cannabis. Cannabis is still a Schedule I drug but there are certain legal intricacies with regard to hemp that allow us to work with it but not with high THC Cannabis. Because Colorado is a state that has a certain type of well-established regulatory environment, we can federally legally grow hemp and do extractions. Hemp is low tetrahydrocannabinol Cannabis sativa. We can do some research with Cannabidiol, such as how CBD affects the interactions between and responses of, say, animal neurons in important parts of the brain like the hippocampus and amygdala. But as far as large scale studies on how THC affects mice neurons and other areas, we are limited in that we don’t currently have a Schedule I license, and the amount of THC that we can acquire through some of the large chemical companies will probably be insufficient.

Where does CSU-Pueblo acquire the materials from for marijuana research?

We currently do not receive any whole plant materials from any outside entity. We can acquire seeds to grow hemp via the Colorado Department of Agriculture. Essentially, we can acquire seeds as long as the CDA approves the supplier. We grow the hemp ourselves.

How do you think the new marijuana research facility will impact the surrounding communities?

There are many possibilities. Just as one example, as a plant that grows in the area, hemp can possibly assist with the uptake of heavy metals in this area, especially selenium. The Pierre shale that originates in South Dakota, sometimes breaking above the surface of the ground and sometimes below it, is a source of selenium; it happens to come up between Southern Colorado Springs and here, and we’re at a hot spot for selenium. It’s a problem for our area, including for the farmers and ranchers out east.

Another example is that one of the studies that the county wants us to do relates to buffer zones, i.e. how far apart can you grow low THC hemp away from high THC cannabis so you don’t have to worry about cross-contamination, so you can minimize that effect. You still have to monitor the low THC hemp, given our wind patterns and establish what is the best buffer zone distance. The county also requested electrical power and water studies as it relates to the local cannabis industry.

In terms of hemp per se, it’s only been the last few years really that you can grow hemp legally – only in research environments and states that allow other kinds of growing operations – so there’s really a lot of opportunities just looking at hemp.

Do you think anti-pot groups have valid concerns about the legal cultivation and sale of recreational marijuana in Pueblo?

The university almost always takes a neutral position on any ballot initiatives; we’re not a political entity. Voters need to decide on all kinds of issues. We’re getting some funds from the county and the state, which are based on voter’s decisions to legalize statewide cannabis.

People in the community want us to look at the impact of recreational marijuana in Pueblo County; that’s a big part of two out of four impact studies that the county wants us to do the socio-economic impact studies.

How can unity be achieved on the issue when there is so much controversy involved with the growth of recreational marijuana?

I’m a strong advocate for research and education and that’s what we’re all about at the university. I don’t mind controversy as long as people are very well informed and to be well-informed, you’ve got to do the research; it is the model for how the scientific world, and really civilization, advances. High-quality research, with replicated studies and peer reviews, are essential for this endeavor to succeed.

What is your vision for the future of marijuana sales in Pueblo?

If the sale all of medical and recreational cannabis was made it illegal in Colorado, that wouldn’t directly affect our current funding because we have a one-time allocation. Longer-term, there are various philosophical issues that people raise, and I can’t comment on it because we haven’t done the socio-economic studies on that yet. We’re going to have to do the research first.

How far out do you do you project human trials to be?

We can already conduct observational work, where people self-report usage. No one can administer marijuana to individuals without basically having a Schedule I license.

One of the studies that is being supported by the county funds involves individuals who have seizures that aren’t well-regulated by current medication, so they are taking medical marijuana – they’re basically self-medicating – and we can give them wristbands of a certain kind that measure physiological responses (including electrophysiology). It’s a way of monitoring continuous data 24/7. I think that over the course of this year, we’ll learn a lot more about the potential hurdles we face with regard to studies involving both animals and humans.

Do you think the research at CSU-Pueblo will affect enrollment?

I think that overall if you have a campus intellectually engaged in a highly visible way, you’re going to have an increase in enrollment. We have and we’ve had strong programs academic programs, many of them, but what this research area does is create a specific focus area that allows for many programs to collaborate.

About a year ago, as part of our accreditation process, we developed what’s called a quality initiative and we started developing a focus on experiential education. While many of our courses already had such a focus in the past, now we have certain courses directly designated as experiential education courses. That’s the direction the campus as a whole is thinking of: CSU-Pueblo as an institution that is going to place even more students in the community, conducting research, increasing the number of internships they’ll have, and making sure that a lot more practical research and service work is done. It’s a good thing.

The 2016 Colorado State University-Pueblo Future Freshmen Festival will take place on June 24, from 1:30-4:30 p.m.

The festival is a great opportunity for incoming students to get their questions answered and experience ThunderWolf Country up close and personal!

Participants can look forward to fun and educational activities, including:

• Meeting other members of your ThunderWolf class of 2020
• Live Music by featured band Trapdoor Social
• Complimentary Food
• Campus and Residence Hall Tours
• Water Wars (if you participate you will get very wet; please be prepared)
• Carnival games

The Transfer Student Orientation will take place from 6 p.m. and 9 p.m. on the same day.

Those interested in attending can contact the Visitor Center at 719-549-2418 or visit the goCSUPueblo website for more information.