THE OREDIGGER

The student voice of the Colorado School of Mines

2
Volume 92, Issue 10 November 14, 2011
COURTESY DHONDUSAXENA

News

Researchers in New Zealand create lightning

Features 3

The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim review

The Diwali celebration of lights celebrates the triumph of good over evil, as signified by lighting rows of oil lamps.

Diwali night lights up Mines campus

BEN ALBU / OREDIGGER

Sports

Football finishes season 8-3

Opinion 6

Minds at Mines discusses new bike policy

light small oil lamps in their houses Josh Kleitsch throughout the day, and at night, the Staff Writer children light firecrackers to celebrate This time of the year is a time for the end of evil Naraka. celebration among Indians, as the The third day, Amavasya, is speHindus celebrate one of their most cifically made to worship Lakshmi. important festivals of the year, Diwali, Lakshmi is in her most benevolent which means festival of lights. Last mood on the third day of Diwali, and week, the Indian Student Association it is believed that she is most likely to of the Colorado School of Mines cel- offer financial blessings on that day. ebrated Diwali with music, dancing, The fourth day of Diwali is Kartika and, of course, great food. Shudda Padyami. During this day The Diwali celebration usually Hindus praise Vishnu for sending lasts five days King Bali to overand celebrates During the festivities, the take Patala, the the triumph of governor of the good over evil, Hindus praise their gods underworld. Bali as signified by was banished by lighting rows for vanquishing the demons Vishnu for his conof oil lamps. heaven. and banishing evil spirits quest offinal day of During the The festivities, the Diwali is Bhai Dooj, from the land. Hindus praise in which sisters intheir gods for vite their brothers vanquishing the demons and banish- into their homes and share meals ing evil spirits from the land. with them. This is specifically for The first day of Diwali, Dhan teras, brothers and sisters to intentionally is an auspicious day and normally show their love for each other and falls on November 13. Many busi- keep the bonds of family strong. nesses start their fiscal year on this Upon leaving the house, brothers will day, believing that all transactions give a gift to their sisters as a sign of and business deals begun on this gratitude and affection. day will be blessed by the goddess The festival of lights is one of the Lakshmi. most important celebrations in Hindu The second day of Diwali is culture, and is considered a time Naraka Chaturdashi, on which the of rejoicing and blessing by many demon Naraka was destroyed by Indians. Celebrating with the Indian Lord Krishna. Hindus celebrate by Student Association at Mines offers taking an oil bath before sunrise, for a glimpse into the lives and culture bathing under the stars is considered of those who have a vastly different to be the equivalent to bathing in the background to our own, and shows holy Ganges river. The people then support for the Indians at Mines.

Traditional Hindu dances were performed in honor of Diwali.

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november 14, 2011

Joshua Kleitsch, Staff Writer

Sheffield, United Kingdom - The disease Melioidosis, the bacteria for which was originally discovered in Vietnam during the Vietnam war, could be on its way to eradication. Melioidosis is known for its propensity to mimic other diseases and thus mislead doctors who were trying to treat it. The bacteria has a large arsenal of offensive weapons, one of which is a protein that works similarly to the E. Coli bacteria. This protein degrades cells in the body and limits their ability to reproduce. By inhibiting how the Melioidosis bacteria produces this protein, doctors may be able to significantly decrease the fatality rate. Houston, Texas - A treatment method originally developed for destroying cancer cells is currently being repurposed for something decidedly different. The cancer treatment attaches a drug to the proteins that are fed to cancer cells. But now the process is being tested for the treatment of obesity. The idea is that drugs could be attached to the proteins that are fed specifically to the adipose, or fat, tissues of the body, thereby killing the blood vessels in the fat and causing the body to expel the dead tissue. When researchers tested this idea on monkeys, the results showed some fat loss over time, but the full effects of the process is still unknown.

Santa Cruz, California - Astronomers have discovered what they believe is further proof of the big bang theory. The astronomers, from the University of Santa Cruz in Santa Cruz, California, have discovered a cloud of hydrogen and deuterium out in space, which they say is what would have existed in the early days after the big bang. As a result of the Big Bang, large clouds of hydrogen would have circulated, which in turn would develop into other elements and eventually metals. This hydrogen cloud is composed of virgin hydrogen, meaning it never produced any star material. If this cloud had produced star material, the astronomers would have seen oxygen and carbon instead, heavier elements produced through nuclear fusion.

Canterbury, New Zealand - A team of engineers and researchers at the Canterbury University in New Zealand have developed a method of creating massive arcs of lightning without using huge amounts of energy. The new technique involves stretching out a very thin length of copper wire and applying a high voltage to it. The wire then explodes, producing a plasma arc which then allows the voltage to pass through the air. Applications of this method could be used to further study atmospheric effects.

Oredigger Staff
Ryan Browne Editor-in-Chief Katie Huckfeldt Managing Editor Robert Gill Business Manager Steven Wooldridge Webmaster Barbara Anderson Design Editor Zach Boerner Copy Editor Ian Mertz Asst. Copy Editor Ian Littman Asst. Business Manager, Web Content Carissa Summerfelt Asst. Business Manager Trevor Crane Content Manager Deborah Good Content Manager Stephen Hejducek Content Manager

Headlines from around the world

Joshua Kleitsch, Staff Writer
Looking to resolve their financial problems, the Italian Senate passed a set of austerity measures that will force Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi to step down and set up a national unity government. This move came as a result of significant international pressure on Italy to stave off another financial meltdown. Greece and Italy have begun to work feverishly on solving their financial problems. They are currently looking at various technocrat leaders within their states to serve as interim Prime Ministers and prevent the government from defaulting. By installing these interim Prime Minsters over the new unity governments, Greece and Italy hope they have made the first steps on the long road to financial recovery. Activists have turned to the streets in Syria, calling for their governments suspension from the Arab League, a conglomeration of Arab states that support Arab nationalism within the Middle East, after Syria failed to implement a peace agreement from November 2. Protesters continue to defy the government security forces even in the face of violence and the possibly of death. The death toll in Syria continues to climb, making this current uprising one of the bloodiest the region has seen in years. Grand Ayatollah Ali Khamanei of Iran has denounced the United Nations and the US in his latest statement regarding Irans nuclear program. Khamanei has claimed that the UN and the US are trying to propagate what he calls Iranophobia, which could be used to legitimize an attack on suspected nuclear bomb sites in Iran. The Obama administration is pushing a plan that would give the USs allies in the Gulf a great deal of power if Iran were to pursue nuclear weapons. The US has been quietly shipping advanced weapons to the United Arab Emirates, giving the US some strength in the region should Iran prove militant. Germany is showing its financial strength by continuing to give income tax cuts and by spending money on infrastructure amid financial trouble in every other European nation. The German economy is at its best in years, with the lowest unemployment rate that it has seen in the last several decades. The Occupy Wall Street protests are becoming violent in some areas, as one man died from a shooting during an Occupy Oakland protest last week. Police are investigating the incident, and initial reports indicate that the death was a result of a fight between two groups of men at the Occupy Oakland encampment.

Local News
An emergency fire ban was enacted in Boulder, CO over the past weekend as high winds were blamed for three fires and the closure of a farmers market. Wind speeds reached 84 miles an hour, which fed the three small blazes and blew down power lines. The Boulder Farmers Market was closed after a woman was hit in the head by a tree limb. More than 150 residents were evacuated due to the fires.

E D U E

M B Z Y A P

E D U N

M Z Q Y O

At least 17 people were arrested last Saturday in the Denver Occupy movement. The protesters were interfering with police officers who removed illegally pitched tents. The police had told the protestors three days prior to their arrest that their tents in the Civic Center Park and on a nearby sidewalk were illegal. The police state that the tents were in the right of way and a public safety hazard.

A P B

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Q M C M T

A female bear and her two cubs were killed this past week in Grand Junction, Colorado. The Colorado wildlife authorities said that the bears had become a nuisance after eating from garbage cans. Parks and Wildlife spokesman, Mike Porras, state that the officers hate doing this, but have no choice to put down bears that become too comfortable around people. Porras asks for people to secure their garbage, especially in the weeks before the bears hibernate.

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november 14, 2011

Geek Week
among the dragons. Whats your favorite thing about being at Mines? I dont feel quite as out-of-place because everyone here is nerdy and weird too. If you could be dropped into any book or series of books, what would it be and why? The Enders Game series because I wish I was a super-genius child like them. I wish knowledge came easily to me. Do you have any plans for your future? Work at a mine. Im like a mole; I just love being underground.

f e a t u r e s

Jordan Francis Staff Writer

of the ...Nicole Henderson, Sophomore, Mining Engineering

[Oredigger]: So, why did you decide to venture into the world of Mining Engineering? [Henderson]: I like mines. Whats your favorite class and why? Calculus, because I can actually do it. Would you say that you are, in fact, a geek? No, Im normal just kidding! Id say Im a geek. I dressed up as a guy for Halloween; when a car breaks down, my reaction is to imitate a giant larva; my definition of a good night involves midnight tennis; [and] I study mine gases in my spare time. What do you do with that elusive myth known as free time? Mine Rescue! [Also,] tennis every once in a while and Pi Beta Phi. Whats Mine Rescue? Every other weekend we travel up to Edgar Mine to practice hypothetical situations with mine disasters. [We] learn to properly use mining apparatuses, gas meters, and other equipment to safely rescue people from mining emergencies. Plus, we get to play with cool stuff! What would you say are some of your greatest accomplishments to date? I successfully dressed up as LMFAO for Halloween. Oh, and I ate grasshoppers and walked a bee on a leash. In the event of a cataclysmic dragon attack on humanity, how would you react? I would combine How to Train Your Dragon and Avatar and tame one, use it to my advantage, and learn how to live harmoniously

Do you have a favorite quote or saying? Theres one from when I was a kid, I like pigs. Dogs look up at us, cats look down on us, but pigs treat us as equals. Do you have any advice for fellow geeks and Mines students? Keep going. Dont hide. Theres more of us out there. Which would you rather be able to use in an emergency situation: the Force or a sonic screwdriver? A sonic screwdriver, because I would be unstoppable. Allons-y!
COURTESY NICOLE HENDERSON

This week in Colorado history

Mysterious luggage
Deborah Good Content Manager
Colorado governmental agencies were busy with a variety of issues this week in 1903. According to The Colorado Transcript, the State Land Board concluded their investigation of Las Animas sheep rancher P. H. Sweetmans unauthorized use of state land. The state had received numerous complaints that Sweetman was using 2,160 acres that he did not own. He complied with the states request that he lease the land if he was going to use it and agreed to pay the state $4,108 annually. The State Board of Child and Animal Protection, a rather broad agency, published a report of its activities from October. The organization had investigated seven cases, prosecuted three, and issued warnings for several others. Two girls and two boys were sent to the state home, while two more girls were given to private homes. In an early consideration of flu season, the State Board of Health sent circular letters to state school boards requesting that great care should be taken at this time in regard

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Hendersons greatest accomplishments include a successful LMFAO Halloween costume, eating grasshoppers and walking a bee on a leash.

Coffee shop warms Golden

Carmella Caltagirone Staff Writer
At the corner of 14th and Arapahoe, a crowded little coffee shop serves up mochas and cappuccinos. On any given day, Higher Grounds Caf is sure to have two or three Mines students, perhaps even a professor, sipping their drinks and catching up on recent happenings. With its friendly baristas and great atmosphere, it is no wonder Higher Grounds is a student favorite. Upon entering, the bright yellow and red seat covers are the first things that catch the eye. The counter in the back of the shop is cluttered with pastry shelves, biscotti, and boxes of tea. One wall is lined with fridges full of bottled beverages, from energy

to contagious diseases. The Board of Health requested teachers to ensure that students were vaccinated and that sick students and faculty remain at home. The letters also urged school boards to pass regulations on these health related issues. Mayor Wright of Denver sent his Commissioner of Supplies and Superintendent of Street Cleaning to Omaha and St. Louis to investigate less dusty, more effective street sweepers. They returned with news that in St. Louis a patent street flushing machine is utilized with substantial success. It involved water being forcibly applied to the street so that dust and debris is washed out of the crevices. Humane Society Agent Tuft created a controversy when he accused butcher Wolf Heller of using inhumane methods of killing cattle. He swore out a warrant in the County Court for the arrest of Heller on the charge of cruelty to animals. Heller was a kosher butcher, and a local rabbi found the charges absurd. As Rabbi Friedman said, I dont believe any cruelty has been practiced I hardly think any Jew would object to having such a thing investigated to the bottom.

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drinks to fruit juice. The other wall is lined with outlets, the perfect place to sit down with a laptop and use the free wi-fi. The cutout ceiling is painted with murals of individuals sitting in coffee shop settings. A community bulletin board and various paintings take up the rest of the wall space. The seating is well-lit and comfortable - a great place to do homework. Higher Grounds makes every coffee imaginable, and serves breakfast too. They have a variety of pastries, breakfast burritos, and smoothies. Salads are available for lunch. When a coffee is ordered in-house, it is served in a ceramic mug, making it feel a little bit like home. With the weather getting colder, Higher Grounds is the perfect place to order coffee, warm hands, and enjoy conversation with friends.
CARMELLA CALTAGIRONE / OREDIGGER

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Higher Grounds is the perfect place to order coffee, warm hands, and enjoy conversation with friends. w w w . O R E D I G G E R . n e t

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Deborah Good Content Manager

Dovahkiin dances Fools brings laughs with its curse of stupidity with dragons
has been under a curse of stupidity for 200 years, and Tolchinsky must break the curse. He has also fallen in love with Sophia at first sight. Complicating matters is that he has only one day, or twenty-five hours, according to one resident, to break the curse. Also, Count Gregor Youskevitch (Tyler Orr) desires to marry Sophia in order to break the curse. Ultimately, Tolchinsky manages to team up with and then outwit Youskevitch to marry Sophia and break the curse. On the whole, the cast was entertaining and captured Kulyenchikovs madcap idiocy. Special note must be given to Orrs performance as unwilling villain Gregor Yousekevitch. His second act monologue complaining about the audiences apathy towards his fate was greatly amusing. Spaeth captured Tolchinskys bewildered, arrogant, love-struck intelligence, and Bybee, Kron, and Gifts characters were impressively clueless. The townspeople were somewhat more understated but still performed admirably. The audience had a wonderful evening watching the idiocy of Kulyenchikov and its ultimate redemption. Though MLTs fall season has concluded, the club will return with the musical Urinetown in April.
DEBORAH GOOD / OREDIGGER

f e a t u r e s

november 14, 2011

Zach Boerner Copy Editor

Mines Little Theater continued their season last Friday and Saturday with a production of Neil Simons Fools. The play was directed by Thorn Svendson and starred Will Spaeth and Angela Gift. The play opens as arrogant young teacher Leon Tolchinsky (Will Spaeth) enters the small Ukranian town of Kulyenchikov. He is responding to an ad asking for a school teacher, which oddly enough had every word spelled wrong. Tolchinsky soon meets some of the citizens of the town and discovers them to be profoundly stupid. A shepherd named Snetsky (Wesley Pfeiffer), walks with his crook upside-down, has lost either two dozen or fourteen sheep, and cannot remember his first name. Mishkin the mailman (Noah Langford), Yechna the fish seller (Dasha Tolmacheva), the Magistrate (Thorn Svendsen), and butcher Slovitch (Ethan MortonGaught) are all equally unintelligent, further mystifying Tolchinsky. However, the height of idiocy comes when Tolchinsky meets his pupil Sophia Zubritsky (Angela Gift) and her parents Dr. Zubritsky and Lenya Zubritsky (Travis Bybee and Kari Kron). Nineteen-year-old Sophia has only just learned to sit down and cannot master 1+1=2. Her parents, who believe the reason for mans existence is 12, struggle to explain that the town

Communicating to New Heights

Leadership

A Leadership Conference for Mines Students

Sessions on leadership, communication, networking, and overcoming adversity. Save the Date!

Summit 1.28.2012
http://leadership.mines.edu
O LO

Left to right. Tyler Bybee as Dr. Zubritzky, Kari Kron as Lenya Zobritsky, Will Spaeth as Leon Tolchinsky, and Angela Gift as Sophia Zubritsky, perform in MLTs Fools.

As my body sailed across the room from the one-hit kill, I reflected on how much time I had spent on this one boss and how much time I had spent on this game already. Make no mistake, Skyrim is a time sink like no other, but you will be too busy trying to kill dragons to care. Skryim, the successor to Oblivion, and Morrowind before it, is a real-time RPG. Your left and right mouse buttons are bound to your (opposing) hands and you swing, draw your bow, block, cast a spell, etc. by clicking for the hand you wish to do an action with. This means battles become much more dynamic, as you attack, defend, and dodge based on the positioning of you and your enemy in the game world. Skyrim does away with the standard attributes found in other RPGs. Instead, your character has a set of 18 skills that are improved based on how much you use them. This means that your character, instead of growing artificially based on a defined class, grows based on how you play. Gone are the days of trying to tack on an extra skill to a class that does not use it by default as all skill levelling contributes to your overall character growth. In addition, there are perks associated with each skill. When you level up - obtained after levelling up

skills - you are given a perk point. Each skill has an associated tree that you can spend these points in, from making your brewed potions more powerful to enabling you to combine the same type of spell in both hands to create a more powerful version. The weaponry is largely western based. There is the usual assortment of swords and knives if you like stabbing things, while hammers, largely absent in other RPGs, and maces provide a more blunt route to your opponents death. Staves exist in the game not for hitting, but for acting like a magical gun, having a set number of charges of a spell and can store any spell in the game. In Skyrim, the player gains the ability to refine weapons using crafting benches and forges scattered around the world. This can turn a normal weapon into one that is superior for its level, and gives more variance in an upgrade path than in previous games. The sounds are amazing. There are a number of moments where the feeling of sitting in a room is lost. It is incredibly immersive, with birds, bugs, and weather noises all adding to the feeling that this really is the bleak north. Fighting sounds do not sound like the same four noises repeated over and over again, while almost everything that can be moved has a unique sound associated with it. Continued on oredigger.net/features.

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november 14, 2011

Athlete

of the

Trevor Crane Content Manager

Seven years ago, the only soccer at Mines was the Mens team practicing on the Intramural fields just west of campus. The next year, the Lady Orediggers were awarded a varsity soccer team. That year Mines finished a respectable 7-8 despite limited equipment and no real practice facility. Now in their seventh season, the Lady Orediggers have wasted no time in their rise to success. They finished 14-2-1 overall and 19-2-1 in the RMAC, good enough for second place. In a dramatic overtime thriller in the RMAC Tournament, Mines defeated Fort Lewis on penalty kicks to advance to their first ever RMAC Championship game. In the championship, Mines shutout Colorado Mesa 2-0 to claim the programs first RMAC Tournament Championship and earn a #1 seed in the NCAA Division II National Championship Tournament. The accomplishments of the 2011 season must be attributed to the entire team, but during the late run it is impossible to ignore the stellar play by goalkeeper Penny Rogers. Rogers, a senior in mechanical engineering, suffered a broken finger that side-

Week Senior, Mechanical Engineering: Soccer ... Penny Rogers,

the most fun Ive ever had, even though my mom was always scared that I would get hurt with all the shots coming at me. What is it like to watch the program grow so much so fast? Its been crazy. We havent just gotten better skill level-wise, but... all over. We didnt even have a field at first, so getting all the support that we have, its been amazing. What has made this team special? You know, its been so great. Ive played on several teams and this is honestly the closest team Ive been a part of. Its like a family; we dont have cliques and we all share the same goals and support each other outside of soccer. Being a senior, what is it like to see the end in sight? It hasnt hit me yet, but I know Im not going to be ready. Ill probably play adult league soccer but it wont be the same. I had such a great experience here. How do you stay focused with school and soccer? I try to have as much of a social life as I can. I know thats sort of a joke here, but still. I was an RA last year, and I just try to do... fun things outside of soccer to keep me sane. What has been your favorite class? Even though its crazy right now, Advanced Mechanics of Materials.The professor is just really stoked about teaching it. Worst class? Tie between chemistry and fluids. Those were just bad news bears. If you could change one thing at Mines...? Oh my goodness... I guess it would be the course load, if I could spread it out a little more. What advice would you give yourself if you were an incoming freshman? Go to tutoring. Office hours.
COURTESY PENNY ROGERS

s p o r t s

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CONTINUED ONLINE...
Womens basketball begins season at Wayne State University Swimming hosts home dual meet vs. Utah University Football caps off a winning season with 21-20 win over UNK Weekly sports recap: 11/14/11

lined her for half of the season. She returned in strong fashion, making six saves and allowing only one goal in the RMAC Tournament, earning her the title of RMAC Tournament MVP. For her success and her part in building a perennial powerhouse, Rogers is this weeks Athlete of the Week. [Oredigger] What was going through your head when you won the overtime thriller against Ft. Lewis? [Rogers] It was weird. Penalty kicks usually scare me and make me so nervous, but, before, my coach just came up to me and said, Penny, just be ice cold. I dont know why, but that is the calmest Ive been and I just went out there. I actually didnt know when we won. I looked away for our kicks, because I didnt want it to affect my play. I just trusted my teammates and tried to do my job. What do you love about playing goalie? Its just that intense moment. That feeling when you save an impossible shot that no one thinks you can save. Its that adrenaline rush. How did you start playing goalie? Ive almost always played goalie, since I was like, ten. The coach just asked who wanted to play it, and I just tried it. It was

See oredigger.net/ sports

Penny moves the ball forward.

James Kergosien Staff Writer

The Football Informant: A giant falls into deepest darkness

problem and hope it would go away, but the truth always surfaces in time. There had been speculation for years about how this impending end of an era would be realized, but nobody could have predicted this. No one, not even his bitter rivals, would wish an exit in disgrace upon the man who was, for many decades, the classiest figure in all of American sports. Paterno is a living legend, and his 409 victories - most in the history of Division I football - stand as one of the all-time great records, one which will not likely ever be equaled. Those 409 victories will stand beside Joe DiMaggios 56game hitting streak, Jerry Rices 1,549 pass receptions, and Brett Favres 322-game starting streak as the ultimate benchmarks of greatness, pinnacles of excellence which will withstand the test of time. Paterno kept his team relevant through the revolutionary changes that have taken place in footballs last five decades, outlasting every great and legendary coach of the time - Bear Bryant, Bo Schembechler, Woody Hayes, Lou Holtz, Larry Coker, Howard Schnellenberger, Bobby Bowden, the list goes on and on. His teams won with stifling defense and with the newfangled shotgun spread, and Penn States run of dominance in the 1980s was the match of any modern dynasty save Florida States incredible run in the 1990s. Through it all, Penn State football was not once investigated by the NCAA for any infraction, serious or petty. It was the ultimate clean program, maintaining its sparkling reputation and academic integrity long after high-road programs such as Notre Dame had given in to the temptation of winning at all costs. Penn State won with honor and dignity, it played fair and hard, and through all of the turmoil engulfing college football - near-constant conference realignment, tidal waves of scandal and corruption, the evolution of the sport itself Penn State just kept winning. It was, in Paternos own words, a Grand Experiment to prove that college football could indeed be held to the ideals of amateurism and fair play. The era of amateurism is coming to a screeching halt, perhaps for the better, with the NCAAs recent allowance of $2000 stipends per semester to scholarship athletes. The experiment came to an equally stunning train wreck of a close. In an age where money mattered most and egos ran rampant, Paterno was the ultimate little guy. He donated back to his university, he emphasized teamwork and sportsmanship, and he was always willing to congratulate an opponent, win or lose. The timeless, spotless uniforms worn by Paternos teams, famously the simplest in all of major football, stand in sharp contrast to the flashy, attention-grabbing uniforms of today. In an age when Oregon has almost completely abandoned its original school colors, when classic uniforms at Notre Dame, Michigan, LSU, Florida, Georgia, and many others have been replaced by gimmicky one-time special outfits, the Nittany Lions are still just navy and white. Paterno seemed like a Pee-Wee league coach who had built his side on teamwork and humility. In the end, he was the face of Penn State, the eternal beacon of good sportsmanship, the man who was more than a man. Of course, this facade was impossible, a dream rather than a reality, but this was perhaps the most painful way imaginable for the illusion to come crashing down. Paterno, lifelong defender of class and sportsmanship, met his end for failing to defend those who were most vulnerable of all. I pity the man, I pity the victims, and I speak for the entire college football nation when I pity that it had to end this way. Of all the saddening stories of the past year the destruction of timeless rivalries and leagues for moneys sake, the continued failure of the powersthat-be to permit a fair championship system, the near-constant revelations of corruption and excess, from Columbus to LA to Miami - this one hurts the most. Paterno was everyones favorite coach, the man who defined the profession, and his downfall was a dark day for all that is good in college athletics. Despite the anguish in Happy Valley, the games went on as scheduled. Football is, after all, a business, these days. Paternos Nittany Lions were spirited but ultimately lost their home finale and their unblemished Big Ten record against determined Nebraska. Clemson escaped a serious scare against Wake Forest to clinch a spot in the ACC final. Boise State was not so lucky, as the Broncos title window came to a close one last time when Dan Goodales kick sailed wide right as time expired against TCU. The Broncos will remain strong for the foreseeable future, but the graduation of star QB Kellen Moore after this season means that any hope of a national title seems to have vanished. This year was make-or-break for Boise, and the Broncos broke. Meanwhile, Oregon ran wild against Stanford to firmly reinsert itself into the national title hunt. Should Oklahoma State fall to their archrival Sooners in two weeks, the Ducks will be squarely in the mix to advance to their second consecutive national title game. Houston also benefited tremendously from the Broncos loss, as the Cougars have a golden opportunity to break

This week in college football was exhilarating in every sense of the word, filled with spectacular plays and thrilling matches as well as a titanic shakeup at the top of the standings. An incredible eight games involving ranked teams were decided by three points or fewer. There were statement games and pesky underdogs, frantic comebacks, and several instances in which Arkansas skill players flagrantly violated several laws of physics. In short, it was a beautiful weekend of football, and it could have been remembered as one of the greater fall Saturdays in recent memory. If only. The truth is, all of this was overshadowed yet again by an off-field scandal, one which cuts to the heart of everyone who loves collegiate sports. On the evening of November 5, Penn State Athletic Director Tim Curley was charged with perjury for attempting to cover up alleged child molestation by the football teams former defensive coordinator, Jerry Sandusky. Just ninety-seven hours later, the venerable, universally-esteemed, seemingly above reproach Joe Paterno, head coach of the Nittany Lions since 1966, was unceremoniously fired on the spot. The man who was incorruptible, the person who above all else personified integrity and scholarship in college football, was found to be fallible and human. I do not wish to defend Paterno, nor do I feel that his punishment was unjustified. Paterno was always very independent and somewhat hard-headed, but his abject failure to pursue bona fide reports of Sanduskys wrongdoings within team facilities is simply inexcusable. Paterno chose to ignore the

into a BCS bowl game behind record-setting QB Case Keenum, who figures to be a dark-horse Heisman candidate. LSU and Alabama shrugged off understandable slow starts to win with ease, while Arkansas beat Tennessee in spectacular fashion. Joe Adams provided one of the great plays of all time with his weaving, backpedaling punt return in which he escaped the entire Tennessee coverage team, evading no less than seven tackles, before breaking down the sideline for an impossible touchdown. He neatly upstaged teammate Jairus Wrights 40-yard circus catch a few minutes later, in which Wright bobbled the ball four times and deflected it off of his own facemask before snagging the catch two inches off the turf. The highlight reel for that game is must-see TV. The national title picture is currently clear with the losses by Stanford and Boise, as only three unbeaten teams remain, LSU and Oklahoma State control their own destinies absolutely, and Houston is not drawing a whiff of consideration. Should either of the top two lose, however, chaos will be immediate and overwhelming, as Oklahoma, Alabama, and Oregon stand next in line with almost indistinguishable resumes and strong arguments all around. As the season winds down, the excitement will build ever higher, and in the end the Paterno situation will fade away as a bad memory. Perhaps it should not be forgotten, but that is simply the way of things. After all, as the past few months have proven beyond any reasonable doubt, business is business. Week 12 Picks: -Nebraska by 10 at Michigan -Oklahoma by 17 at Baylor -Kansas State by 6 at Texas -Stanford by 14 vs. Cal -UCLA by 10 vs. Colorado

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o p i n i o n

Minds bikes Mines at Maple Plaza

Ian Mertz Asst. Copy Editor
With construction on Maple Plaza coming to a close, the issue of bike riding on the new campus thoroughfare has become a hot topic. In a recent interview with The Oredigger, Chief of Police George Hughes explained that bike riding is not allowed on the plaza and that riders must dismount once they reach its boundaries. To gauge whether or not students agree with the restriction on bicycle riding, Minds at Minds asks, Should bikes be allowed on the new campus walkways? Why or why not?

Bikes should not be allowed because they are a safety hazard. Bikes are too quiet, not maneuverable enough, and move too quickly to be safe on the campus walkways. Troy Neal

I see no reason why not to allow bikes on the walkways. They are wide enough for anyone who wants to use them. Paul Holcomb

Parkers article concerning the Occupy Movement is a typical opinion based entirely inside the mind of someone that has been inculcated by our current technocratic society, without regard for a historical reference as to why the 99% that will no longer tolerate the greed and corruption of the 1% are behaving as they are. The following comes from page 580 of Howard Zinns A Peoples History of the United States: In America: Who really pays the taxes, two investigative reporters with the Philadelphia Inquirer, Donald Barlett and James Steele, traced the path by which tax rates for the very rich got lower and lower. It was not the Republicans but the Democrats the Kennedy-Johnson administrations-who under the guise of tax reform first lowered the World War II era rate of 91% on incomes over $400,000 a year to 70%. During the Carter administration (though over his objections) Democrats and Republicans in congress joined to give even more tax breaks to the rich. The Reagan administration with the help of Democrats in congress lowered the tax rate on the very rich to 50% and in 1986 a coalition of Republicans and Democrats sponsored another tax reform bill that lowered the top rate to 28%. Barlett and Steele noted that a schoolteacher, a factory worker, and a billionaire could all pay 28 percent. The idea of a progressive income in which the

Letter to the editor

rich paid at higher rates than everyone else was now almost dead. As a result of all the tax bills from 1978 to 1990 the net worth of Forbes 400, chosen as the richest in the country by Forbes magazine was tripled. About 70 billion dollars year was lost in government revenue, so that in those thirteen years the wealthiest 1 percent of the country gained a trillion dollars. Note that these statistics were obtained well over 20 years ago. I cannot fathom how dire the situation has gotten since. I can safely assure you that most people involved in the Occupy Movement have not read Howard Zinn. The answer to that is that they do not have to in order to feel the impacts in their lives that stems from a governmental effect. The fact that they are influencing commerce by impeding it is a consequence of a government that has failed to provide for our basic rights of life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness (which is what it says supposedly in that silly document called the Declaration of Independence). The movement may not have a defined purpose simply because our government has wronged us in countless/undefined ways, such as restricted our independent access to food, water, shelter and placing them inside something called a wage economy or used the tax dollars of people in need to provide the rich with further resources (our occu-

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pation in the middle east) so that the economy will continuously expand at the expense of exploiting the nations poor. Our government has long forgotten where their powers originate. Government does not precede the citizenry that comprises it. The government exists by way of a citizenry that supports a body of collective beliefs. If that government no longer supports its peoples original intentions and only supports the megalomaniacal agenda of the wealthy, then it is up to the people to decide a mode of action. The Occupy Movement may not have a specific agenda as of yet simply because there is no collective way to define the pervasive wrongs that have been placed upon the people of this nation by its own government. Parker mentions that the Occupy Movement will most likely turn into a bad dream. I believe that this movement is a part of a common belief that revolution is a dream that can be realized through appropriate and necessary action. Maybe Thomas Jefferson would say that to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed, --That whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it. - Richard Oates

Anonymous Po-ed Mines Student

Locked out in the cold

locked on weekends, but I can sort of convince myself that that makes sense... not really, but whatever. The question stands, though. Why is an academic building locked on a school night? Geez, I mean, do you really think Im not going to need to do homework at night? In what universe does a student at Mines finish all their homework before 9:00 PM during the week? Lets think about this some more. When you enroll as a freshman, you are told to expect to spend two hours working on homework for each hour you spend in class. For the average freshman, that translates to roughly 50 hours a week of pure school work. That is ten hours a day just school, every day. Assume that each student spends one hour per day eating, one hour per day showering, getting dressed, and using the restroom (a very conservative estimate, mind you), and 30 minutes travelling, walking, etc. If youre incredibly focused and have no fun, youre looking at being busy from 8:00 AM to 8:30 PM every day. We all know thats ridiculous. So it begs the question, what do our department heads think we are going to do when we need a powerful computer lab for some

Bikes need to say on the street and not on the walkways. They are vehicles and should abide by the rules of the road. Bikers dont respect the right-ofway of pedestrians on campus. Collin Butler

Biking is a fast and efficient way to get between classes on campus. As long as bikers remain careful and watch out, they should be allowed throughout campus. James Trumble

The new area is very large, which makes it different from other walkways on campus such as the one near the CTLM. I havent seen many problems by the CTLM, so I dont think there is much of a problem by Brown and the student center. Matt Buland
ALL PHOTOS IAN MERTZ / OREDIGGER Editorials Policy The Oredigger is a designated public forum. Editors have the authority to make all content decisions without censorship or advance approval and may edit submitted pieces for length so long as the original meaning of the piece is unchanged. Opinions contained within the Opinion Section do not necessarily reflect those of Colorado School of Mines or The Oredigger. The Oredigger does not accept submissions without identification and will consider all requests for anonymity in publication on a case-by-case basis. Submissions less than 300 words will receive preference.

The other day I walked up to Brown Building to do some homework. The time was about 9:45 PM on Tuesday night. When I got there, I expected to just walk right in and hopefully snag a study room or a table. To my shock and disbelief, the door was locked. No worries, I will just try the others, maybe one of the custodians just mistakenly locked the door. To my further dismay and unhappiness, all the doors were locked. What is this crap, I thought to myself. Why is an academic building locked down on a weeknight? Thinking it was just a fluke, I went to CTLM to study, thinking that just having a desk would be adequate for the night. Not ideal, but it will work. This odd trend seemed to continue, as the next week I attempted to do the same thing. Walk up to Brown on a school night, snag a study room, knock out some homework... no such luck. I have since tried four times to get into Brown after 9:00 PM and been foiled every time by stupid locked doors. Why is an academic building locked on a school night? Incidentally, it is also

simulations, a whiteboard for some involved calculations, or just plain space to sit your butt down and study? Not all of us have adequate places to do these things off campus, so we like to have academic buildings for those uses. Now if every student was granted Blaster-Card access to their departments building, I would not say a thing about the building being locked. Whatever. But we are not given access automatically. Instead we have to request it, and there is no guarantee that we will ever get it! So I say again, why is an academic building locked on a school night? I have more like 16 hours worth of work to do per day, and do not have a powerful computer on which to run simulations. That means I am screwed if I have five homework assignments to finish in one week and no where to sit and do them. Im not the only one in this position, either. Most upperclassmen have this problem, and many underclassmen, too! There is one solution to this problem. Open the freakin doors! Let us use the buildings! We have frick-tons of homework, and being forced into a non-ideal situation will hurt our grades in the long run. Please, just think about it.

Davids Math Problem of the Week

Let's say you have a single engine airplane sitting on a runway that is 5000 feet long, and through some great engineering the runway is actually a giant treadmill. It's engineered so that when the plane starts to move forward the runway moves in the opposite direction at exactly the same speed, i.e. as the airplane's wheels pick up speed the runway matches it in the opposite direction. Will the plane get airborne?

"The physicists defer only to mathematicians, and the mathematicians defer only to God" Leon M. Lederman
Please submit your solution to this weeks problem to DLosoff@mines.edu Answer to last problem, first solved by Tara P.: (1^3)+(12^3) = (10^3)+(9^3) = 1729

Math Quote of the Week

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