Features

Vibha Kapuria-Foreman, Economics Department

Joan Ericson, East Asian Language Department

On March 14, six Colorado College professors were chosen to fulfill honorable professorship positions. Each professorship provides $7,500 for its holder’s personal professional development. 

Students have quickly taken a liking to Worner quad’s spirited new architecture. Photo by Samantha LaBue

CC students are used to encountering random events and sights around campus, so the giant tipi set up amidst the bustle of the Worner quad outside is no surprising scene. This structure, a huge cloth cone supported by even taller wooden poles, is the work of the Native American Student Union, or NASU. Last time the tipi made an appearance in November for National Native American Heritage Month, but its current presence is to help promote NASU’s team participating in upcoming Relay for Life, a fundraising event that will occur on April 29 and 30.

Ashley Speyer is basically your typical CC student. She spends her days dabbling in club field hockey, her afternoons not doing work in the library and makes a regular appearance at Rastall breakfast. But after more than a quick afternoon with her, it becomes apparent that there is more than meets the eye. Being secretly awesome is par for the course for most CC kids, the ones who seem normal until you learn they whittled their own skis from a tree they planted themselves or that they are the youngest person to climb Kilimanjaro…blindfolded. Ashley gracefully falls into this category.

During fifth block, 23 students were fortunate enough to avoid the freezing Colorado Springs temperatures and head south towards warmer climates. Following the Geology department’s annual fifth block tradition, this year’s senior Geology majors embarked on a trip to culminate their educational experience at Colorado College. 

Some of the Theta girls setting up for Tuesday’s charity event. Photo by Josh Raab.

Who doesn’t like a good pair of jeans? Especially if the money you pay for that snazzy cut of denim goes towards a good cause. On Tuesday, Kappa Alpha Theta hosted a charity event selling designer jeans for ridiculously low prices. All proceeds went directly to the sorority’s foundation. Upon walking into the Kappa Alpha Theta hall, you’re greeted by the sorority’s girls in bright yellow, graphic t-shirts and tables piled with attractive denim. The sound of laughter, talking, and light music fills the room as you peruse the multitude of washes and styles (and admire the prices).

The Carriage House, where students enjoy live music on campus. Photo by Josh Raab.

When Friday finally comes around, the weekend mindset takes over and stressed out students just want to relax, dance and hang out with their friends. After an exhausting week of classes, however, sometimes the last thing students feel like doing is spending their hard-earned weekend nights fighting the drunken masses at house parties. 

There are many phenomena specific to the block plan. Midterms after a week and a half, livin’ for the block break mentality, and my personal favorite, the “block crush”. That one person in your class who you’ve somehow never seen before but looks damn good biting the end of their pencil. That boy or girl who makes you wonder, “Where did you come from?” and “Why do you torture me by sitting across from me?” It may sound strange, but let’s be honest, we all have them. 

The potter’s wheel twirls and the glaze is applied to 350 ceramic bowls in the basement of Worner in an effort to fight hunger. Empty Bowls, a fundraising event that began as a Michigan high school art project in 1990, is a community event that has evolved into a nationwide charity phenomenon that collects money to fund and raise awareness for hunger and homelessness.

It’s hard to miss the sleek building with the metallic, burnt-red exterior on the corner of Cascade Avenue and Cache la Poudre. The Edith Kinney Gaylord Cornerstone Arts Center is the newest addition to the Colorado College campus. $33,400,000 went into creating the LEED-certified space, the opening of which received a lot of hype. 

60 percent of Argentine children live below the poverty line. Photo courtesy of Flickr user Zeigen_was.

A villa on the outskirts of Buenos Aires. Photo courtesy of Wikimedia Commons user Aleposta.

Standing on a street corner wearing approximately seven layers of sunscreen and a giant white t-shirt emblazoned with the word LIFE, it becomes clear that any notion of anonymity I had entertained was wildly misguided. Bright red hair and freckly arms don’t exactly help matters. Not to mention the four other volunteers standing next to me, matching in shirts and sunscreen slathers. Furtively glancing around, we scan for the unmarked van that is to be our lifeboat to the slums. 

Stephanie Coba and the Mayor of Yangzhou, China at a World Expo event. Photo courtesy of Stephanie Coba.

Coba stands in front of the Chinese Pavilion, which showcased sustainable development intiatives.

No strangers to adventure and travel, average CC students graduate with impressive resumes of independent research, Venture Grants, semesters spent studying abroad and unique experiences with internships and jobs. Then there are the 22-year-olds who have already represented their home country among an exposition that houses every nation of the world. Well, there’ s at least one. 

The daily scene shepherds experience in the Black Mountain Diné homeland. Photo: Michele Christiance

For the past 15 years of my life, I have celebrated Thanksgiving with my family in Denver. This year my holiday was unique. For the first time, I trekked to Black Mesa, AZ (known to locals as “Big Mountain”) to volunteer with the Diné (Navajo) community through Black Mesa Indigenous Support (BMIS). Big Mountain is a place where the land and the people have historically suffered and continue to suffer from environmental and cultural degradation caused by the Peabody Coal Mine, the U.S. government and the decisions of non-traditional tribal councils. 

High up in a third floor Packard studio overlooking Pikes Peak, senior Art Studio major Sonja Lokensgard is nestled away, painting for hours on end. There are two gorgeous pieces leaning against the walls. One is an abstract image of what looks like psychedelic popcorn and the other is an exquisite landscape of a river scene. 

Prominent rock formations at the Garden of the Gods. Photos: Phoebe Parker-Shames

How should we interact with our natural environment? What parts of the natural world have value and why? What are our obligations to the natural world? There are just some of the questions that I, along with my classmates, have been pondering in the class of Environmental Ethics.

A view of Santiago, Chile. Photo: Chile by Eli Michaels

There are moments – so rare and perfect – that you look around and wonder: “Is this real life?” Your circumstances are literally too good to be true. Pinch me, you might say. Or not, and let this dream persist. The block plan is particularly conducive to epic experiences. Nothing says “this is not real life” quite like comforting a stressed friend from home during their week of midterms, cell phone wedged between ear and helmet, while you are happily ensconced in a chairlift somewhere on the side of Breckenridge. Don’t ski?