The Oredigger

CSM President speaks at climate change symposium

Mon, 28 Apr 2008 04:00:00 GMT

"Climate change has been going on since this earth was formed," said Dr. Myles Scoggins, President of the Colorado School of Mines, at last week's Climate Change Symposium. "Now, the real focus is on the pace of emissions and our ability to forecast various impacts and the timeframe in which they occur," he said.

NCAR expert discusses future models

Mon, 28 Apr 2008 04:00:00 GMT

"Human fossil burning, not changes in ocean uptake or natural variations, have caused global climate change," said Caspar Ammann of the National Center for Atmospheric Research (NCAR), in Boulder, Colorado. The presentation, held on April 22, outlined many of the projections and model forecasts that we may face in the upcoming century as the result of global climate change.

Panel discusses Sustainability at CSM

Mon, 28 Apr 2008 04:00:00 GMT

"There are a lot of things we can do together in the arena of sustainability, none more important than what we can do right here in Golden, and we look forward to working with the city on these projects," CSM President Bill Scoggins told a group of students, faculty, and community members gathered in Berthoud 241 last Tuesday to watch Everything's Cool. The screening was followed by with a discussion which focused on local sustainability issues.

Passing the gavel: ASCSM presidential transition

Mon, 28 Apr 2008 04:00:00 GMT

Former ASCSM President Casey Morse, right, passes the officiating gavel to incoming president Kevin Duffy, left, during the annual transition meeting last Thursday. For the past year, Duffy has served as the ASCSM Treasurer, managing a half-million-dollar budget annually.

Recycling forum examines CSM's move to a sustainable campus

Mon, 28 Apr 2008 04:00:00 GMT

One of CSM's Green Initiatives and sustainability plans is improving its recycling program. As part of the Climate Action Days celebrations, there was a forum on the current program, run by Environmental Health and Safety (EH&S).

Top academic fraternity at CSM suspended for alcohol incident

Mon, 28 Apr 2008 04:00:00 GMT

Through the 2008-2009 academic year, the Sigma Phi Epsilon chapter at Colorado School of Mines will be placed on suspension for an unauthorized alcohol event that took place one week before Engineering Days.

World News in Brief: 4/28/08

Mon, 28 Apr 2008 04:00:00 GMT

United Kingdom: Teenager Stephen Howarth has undergone a unique surgery that improved his eyesight in his right eye, which had failing light-detecting cells. The new and delicate surgery, known as Gene Therapy, helps patients by inserting the functioning genes in the back of the eye. So far, three patients have had the surgery done with promising results.

Choir and band showcase the musical side of CSM with spring performance

Mon, 28 Apr 2008 04:00:00 GMT

Mines students have been unjustly stereotyped as "uncreative." Within the last month CSM has seen the release of the newest issue of High Grade, stellar performances by Mines Little Theater, and most recently, the spring concert for the CSM Choir and Band. The band program, which was started over 50 years ago, has seen a variety of manifestations and performance venues, from football games to concert halls. The choir, which also has a rich history of performance and excellence, opened the night.

Earth Day Festival celebrates innovation and sustainability

Mon, 28 Apr 2008 04:00:00 GMT

"Out motto is to make a small difference, today," said Sean McVay, owner of Colorado company All Things Renewable. McVay, along with a number of other climate-oriented retailers and scientists, spoke at the Earthworks Earth Day Festival on Kafadar Commons last Friday, April 25th. The festival was part of Climate Action Days, the week-long set of festivities, lectures, and movies put on by the CSM Sustainability Committee, the Student Council on Sustainability, Engineers for a Better World, and Earthworks.

Green Tip of the Week: "Spring's Sprung"

Mon, 28 Apr 2008 04:00:00 GMT

This week's theme is "Spring's Sprung." The tips below are for a more community oriented and stress-less Spring:

Are you feeling the spring in your veins and needing to see some outdoor action? Well, instead of using your nice gear and sneaking in a few runs, try something totally different - Volunteer at a local farm sanctuary/pet shelter! There are places like this located all over Colorado (at the very least in places like Boulder and Colorado Springs).

Order of Omega designates faculty appreciation awards

Mon, 28 Apr 2008 04:00:00 GMT

At the annual Faculty Appreciation Luncheon on April 16th, several faculty and staff were recognized for their outstanding performance this past year by Order of Omega, a Greek honor society. We feel that each of this year's winners have shown a dedication to CSM's students that is unparalleled.

Tech Break: Freebie alternatives to common applications

Mon, 28 Apr 2008 04:00:00 GMT

So you want a word processor, but you don't want to pay for Word. You want Adobe Photoshop, but don't want to pay the price. You want a computer, but don't want to pay for Windows. What to do? Get free software, of course.

The CSM shared bicycle proposal

Mon, 28 Apr 2008 04:00:00 GMT

Everyone knows the feeling. It strikes as you are walking in the brisk morning air on the way to your 8:00 class. As the morning breeze blows the leaves calmly across the sidewalk, you look down at your watch, and suddenly realize, "Oh my gosh! Class starts in two minutes!" Suddenly panic overcomes you as you remember the professor threatening to fail the next person who is more than 10 seconds late to his most sacred class.

Bagpipes fill Arthur Lakes Library

Mon, 28 Apr 2008 04:00:00 GMT

The music of the bagpipe was in full swing at the last Concerts in the Library performance of the school year.

Geek of the Week: Matthew "MattMatt" Vigil, Freshman: Fun-Decided

Mon, 28 Apr 2008 04:00:00 GMT

[Oredigger] Where did 'MattMatt' come from?
[Vigil] Well because it's like Matt, right? But it's like twice as fun!

Tell me something very geeky about yourself.
I beat Super Mario Brothers without using any of the warp tunnels. All 8 glorious worlds of it.

A system to make webmail obsolete

Mon, 28 Apr 2008 04:00:00 GMT

Has anyone noticed that the Mines e-mail system is rather slow, old-looking, and unreliable? I'm placing my bets that the techs who have spent at least several hours this month fighting virtual fires have. I've certainly noticed over the past two semesters when I've inexplicably been unable to login to webmail. Add to that the service outages maybe once a month for planned maintenance and expansion, and you've got a system that doesn't even come close to "three nines" of reliability that any modern web system should realize. How do you get to 99.9% reliability when services fail under the load of 500 megabyte mailboxes for thousands of users and require hours of time to get back working?

Earth Day: Not just for hippies anymore

Mon, 28 Apr 2008 04:00:00 GMT

It was during the 1960's when the late Senator Gaylord Nelson noticed a problem. The state of the environment had begun to slip, and unless something was done, things would only get worse. The full story is available at http://earthday.envirolink.org/history.html, but here are a few highlights. According to Nelson, "�the state of our environment was simply a non-issue in the politics of the country� At the time, anti-Vietnam War demonstrations, called 'teach-ins,' had spread to college campuses all across the nation. Suddenly, the idea occurred to me - why not organize a huge grassroots protest over what was happening to our environment?" And so it happened, the very first Earth Day took off. It had begun in one senator's mind and become reality on college campuses across the country. Nelson was astounded: "Earth Day worked because of the spontaneous response at the grassroots level.

Threat of the Weak: Deadly Silence

Mon, 28 Apr 2008 04:00:00 GMT

An event took place this past Friday called the National Day of Silence. It is coordinated, mostly in high schools around the country, by the Gay, Lesbian, and Straight Education Network, or GLSEN.

2008 NFL Draft offers few surprises

Mon, 28 Apr 2008 04:00:00 GMT

For months, football fanatics have been reading mock drafts and watching footage from the combine in anticipation of the off season's biggest event, the draft. ESPN became rife with speculation about the final destinations of some of the league's future stars like RB Darren McFadden or QB Matt Ryan. The best players were constantly ranked and reranked with any tiny bit of new information. The consensus determined that many players like OT Jake Long, DE Chris Long, and DE Vernon Gholston were to be some of the top few picks. But the "experts" are rarely right about the top picks, as evidenced by Brady Quinn's dramatic drop in the first round last year.

Sabermetrics: A geekier side of sports

Mon, 28 Apr 2008 04:00:00 GMT

Statistics lie. It's not that all statistics are necessarily inaccurate, but they often convey the wrong message. This is especially prevalent in baseball. The holy grail of stats in baseball is and has always been batting average, runs batted in, and home runs. They constitute baseball's Triple Crown. But they don't tell the whole truth. While the greatest hitters in the game, like Alex Rodriguez, Albert Pujols, and Miguel Cabrera, usually have great numbers in all three, there are also some less talented individuals who also post great numbers in those categories.

Green Tip of the Week: Eat More Cows

Mon, 28 Apr 2008 04:00:00 GMT

This past week the Environmental Protection Agency released their investigative report entitled "Agriculture's Relation To Climate Change." The report detailed the adverse affects of methane and solid wastes, produced by cattle, on the environment. From the report: "Estimates of methane emissions in 2006 were 34 percent higher than in 1990... THE TIME TO PANIC IS NOW!!! SAVE YOURSELVES!! AL GORE SAVE US!!!" In addition to the report, a new documentary titled An Inconvenient Cow: A Global Cookout has been released by the former Vice President.

Meteorologist breakdown: CDOT scandal unveiled

Mon, 28 Apr 2008 04:00:00 GMT

The Denver Metro Area's favorite meteorologist, Stan Jaworski, had an emotional collapse last Thursday morning. Stan's shocking deterioration, assumed to be brought on upon by years of Colorado's bi-polar weather, quickly became Fox News' top story of the week.

Mines Freshmen storm like galaxy cruiser

Mon, 28 Apr 2008 04:00:00 GMT

Yes, it is almost summer and everyone knows what that means: Puerto Rico and Pedro Al Horny's three for one tequila shots!!! No, it means summer sessions and freshmen tours! Like waves of Doritos falling from my bag into my widespread mouth, freshmen and parents hit the campus over and over during the summer to see if it's the right place for them.

TOP TEN: Things to bring to CSM as a freshman

Mon, 28 Apr 2008 04:00:00 GMT

Things to bring to CSM as a freshmen

10. Pencil
9. TI-89
8. X-box
7. Poster of Nancy Reagan
6. Your favorite frisby shorts
5. bottles of Patron for your RA
4. Razor for your new "beard"
3. Pet snake
2. Computer
1. Beer

WEB EXCLUSIVE: Oakland Raiders Draft Andre the Giant: Team signs late Frenchman to 6 year, $80 million deal

Mon, 28 Apr 2008 04:00:00 GMT

The Oakland Raiders shocked the NFL on Saturday when they passed on an opportunity to draft the highly regarded DT Vernon Gholston and instead drafted the wrestling superstar Andre the Giant. Andre, a 7'2" giant who once wrestled Hulk Hogan at Wrestlemania and appeared in the movie The Princess Bride, was selected because of the impossibility to push him around and his propensity to snack on smaller players.

WEB EXCLUSIVE: Why do we need Earth Day?

Mon, 28 Apr 2008 04:00:00 GMT

Last Tuesday the 24th, the northern hemisphere celebrated Earth Day. Actually that's an overstatement. Most Americans didn't know what day it was, let alone the purpose of the ridiculous celebration.

Gov. Ritter and Sen. Salazar announced a new solar energy group at the Colorado Renewable Energy Collaboratory that will focus on solar power; CSM, NREL, CSU and CU-Boulder will work collectively on the project.

Mon, 28 Apr 2008 04:00:00 GMT

On Thursday April 24, 2008, ASCSM heard formal arguments in the contested MAC Presidential election; the ASCSM Senate voted and confirmed Jessica Bowser as the next MAC President.

Mon, 28 Apr 2008 04:00:00 GMT

The CSM Emergency Alert System (MEA) recently conducted its first test, sending 1,567 voice messages and 1,151 text messages to subscribers in the CSM community.

Mon, 28 Apr 2008 04:00:00 GMT