THE OREDIGGER

The student voice of the Colorado School of Mines

Volume 94, Issue 22 April 7, 2014
PHOTO CREDIT

News

50 year anniversary of Good Friday Earthquake

Features 4

Learn how to make Mrs. Fields Cookies

Mines alums pursue passion

Katerina Gonzales Content Manager
The E-Days carnival provides a place to eat and be merry; however, for some, the carnival is a chance to return to old stomping grounds. The Oredigger caught up with Shamus McNutt, a Mines alum and cofounder of Belong Designs, at the E-Days carnival. What inspired you to start Belong? So we started about eight months ago at School of Mines. We were sitting through our nal year of engineering classes and kind of realized, What are we passionate about in life? Skiing, snowboarding, helping others follow their true passions, and when you follow that passion, you Belong, and that birthed Belong Designs. And so right now we are making apparel. We make hoodies, hats, shirts...we started to make outerwear jackets, and well be in full production of these in about a month and have them in August. And yeah, we have been sponsoring events: we sponsor fourteen athletes, a few Mines athletes actually, from slackliners to skiers to snowboarders. Were looking to go full-time in about a year. So well start our own headquarters in the Highlands, and hopefully start hiring some Mines grads. Were making long boards right now, and well be starting skis and snow-

Mines alumni advertise new company Belong Designs at E-Days Carnival on Saturday.

boards in about a few months. Yeah, were looking to expand. How does having engineers benet the business? Being from Mines, you have that technical background, and honestly when people ask me Whats the most valuable thing you gained from going to Mines?, its not the classes Continued at Belong Designs on Page 3

E-Days 4

Photo recap of 2014 Galax-Edays

ACS lecturer discusses interaction between science and policy

Hope Sisley Staff Writer
On March 5th, Dr Ryan Davison of the American Chemical Society (ACS) came to speak about how sciencerelated political policy is made. Davison is the Advocacy Manager in the ACSs Oce of Public Aairs, which means it is his job to educate legislators about the issues pertinent to science and engineering. The ACS is the largest scientic society in the world, so it often serves as the voice of the scientist on Capitol Hill. Davison began with a quick overview of how the legislative branch of the government works. The Senate - controlled, at the moment, by the Democrats - places each state on equal footing, regardless of population. Every state has two senators, who serve for terms of six years. The House of Representatives, which is controlled by the Republicans at the moment, has a xed limit of members, which are then broken up by relative population proportions. In other words, both Wyoming and California have two senators each, but California holds 53 seats in the House, while Wyoming holds only one. Representatives have two-year terms; four seats are currently open due to deaths or resignations. In order for a law to be passed, both the House and the Senate must agree to it; when the two bodies of legislation are controlled by opposing parties, very little lawmaking gets done. Last year only thirty laws were passed, including a number of symbolic laws that is, laws without actual meaningful eects, such as the naming of a public building. The reason for this signicant lack of productivity is because, while the two parties have the same goals, they approach those goals dierently. To illustrate this, Davison used the recent (and continuing) budget crisis. Each day, he explained, $2.7 billion are added to the national debt. Unemployment is at 6.6%, having peaked in 2010 at 10%. In the past, the debt ceiling would be raised every time it was reached, without fanfare. This time, however, the parties refused to compromise, leading to an extended shut-down of the government before the passage of the Budget Control Act, which cut $900 billion worth of public spending in exchange for an increase in the debt ceiling. The Republicans refused to cut defense spending while the Democrats refused cut domestic

Opinion 7

MAC defends USGs decision to increase fee

spending. This resulted in sequestration, the automatic cutting of the budgets of governmental organizations such as the National Science Foundation (NSF) and the National Institute of Health, both of which lost 5% of their funding. Only the Department of Energy (DOE) did not suer as a result of the sequestration. The budget cuts mean less grant money, which aects schools like Mines, whose students often depend on grants from the NSF, the US Geological Survey (USGS), and other governmental groups to fund their research. Arguments that the one-time infusion of cash in the 2009 stimulus package oset the damage are faulty; a slow, steady increase in Continued at Science and Policy on Page 3

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Ramiro Rodriguez, Staff Writer

Leipzig, Germany - A study coming from the Max Planck Institute for Human Cognitive and Brain Sciences shows that, similar to adults, infants show a very specic touch receptor is activated in response to stroking at a specic velocity known as pleasant touch. In infants, pleasant touch corresponds to increased engagement with the device used to create the stroking velocity, in this experiment a paintbrush, as well as a decreased heartbeat. Researchers are linking this to a vital role that touch plays in early childhood development. Halifax, Nova Scotia - Biologist Shelley Adamo of Dalhousie University has discovered a form of sexually transmitted cricket disease that both renders its host infertile but also acts as an aphrodisiac to encourage host transfer. The virus was discovered after some of the crickets under study had stopped producing eggs and were found to have swollen, blue, fat bodies that had hexagonal viral particles inside. In addition to acting as an aphrodisiac, the virus also turns o signaling that makes sick crickets appear to be less attractive mating partners; normally due to the changes, diseased crickets are seen to be less attractive.

La Serena, Chile - Researchers at the Las Campanas Observatory outside of La Serena, Chile, have observed six luminous blue stars in the leading section of the Magellanic Stream. The stars are believed to be new, coming from the gas of the Magellanic Clouds, as they are too new to have come from any other place in space. The Magellanic Clouds are two nearby galaxies that unlike other nearby systems in that they are full with gas capable of forming stars.

Rome, Italy - Researchers at the University of Rome led by Dr. Luciano Less have conrmed that the ice covered water ocean of Enceladus is liquid underneath ice rather than wholly ice. The water is kept liquid because of the generation of waves which, in turn, creates internal friction and thus heat. Enceladus is also notable because this ocean is in contact with the moons rocky core, which means that elements useful to life such as phosphorus, sulfur, and potassium are able to leech into the ocean.

Oredigger Staff
Lucy Orsi Editor-in-Chief Emily McNair Managing Editor Taylor Polodna Design Editor Connor McDonald Webmaster Lucy Orsi Business Manager Arnaud Filliat Copy Editor Katerina Gonzales Content Manager Jared Riemer Content Manager Karen Gilbert Faculty Advisor

Headlines from around the world

Ramiro Rodriguez, Staff Writer
The Supreme Court in a 5-4 decision has struck down the decades-old aggregate political spending cap on a First Amendment basis. While the $2600 per candidate per election limit is still legal, individuals are no longer limited in the total amount of political contributions that can be made every two years. Justice Breyer, in his dissenting opinion writes that the ruling would allow a single individual to contribute millions of dollars to a political party or to a candidates campaign. Mississippi has passed Senate Bill 2681, known as the Mississippi Religious Freedom Restoration Act. This bill will allow businesses and individuals to deny products or services to an individual or organization if servicing the individual or organization would substantially burden an individuals religious exercise. LGBT advocacy groups are condemning the bill and drawing comparisons to Arizonas SB 1062 which failed to pass after a large amount of national outrage regarding the implications of the bill. Protests against the militarization of American law enforcement have sparked in response to the shooting death of a homeless man in Albuquerque by police ocers. The shooting was captured on one of the ocers helmet cameras and depicts James Boyd, a homeless man being asked to gather his things and leave the foothills outside the city. As he gathered his things, a ashbang grenade was thrown towards him and he was then shot by law ocials. Earlier this week, protests leading to serial arrests were staged in response to the shooting as well as the citys claim that the shooting was in self-defense. The European parliament has passed a law that cements net neutrality in Europe and makes it illegal for mobile phone companies to charge roaming fees within EU member states. This law will make it so that internet service providers within Europe cannot throttle or block packages from specic sites. One of the articles of the originally proposed bill that did not pass is an article outlining methods to enforce net neutrality. In response to the annexation of Crimea, NATO has announced that it will suspend all practical civilian and military cooperation with Russia. This will involve the ending of all cooperation between NATO and Russia, with the exception of the their joint anti-narcotics operations in Afghanistan, as well as deployments to reinforce the military assets of NATO member states in Eastern Europe. Police ocers in Keller, Texas have begun announcing the location of speed traps to promote safer driving. This is being done in an attempt to get drivers to slow down in the areas where speed traps normally are instead of only when motorists see a police vehicle. While initially met with skepticism, the response by the public has been overwhelmingly positive. The move has been followed by the Dallas Police Department.

Local News
Mines students are invited to an open house concerning the intersection of highway 6 and 19th Street. CSM has pledged $1 million to the $25 million project due to how much this project aects student life. A community meeting will be held Monday, April 14 from 6:00-8:00 pm at the Fossil Trace Clubhouse. Students are encouraged to attend. The Blue Key Honor Society, in collaboration with the Golden Chamber of Commerce, is hosting a school supply donation drive. The purpose of the drive, which will be held from April 7th to May 9th, is to collect school supplies for economically disadvantaged children in Commerce City. Donation boxes can be found at the Golden Chamber of Commerce and on the rst oor of the Student Center outside of the Student Activities oce. Donation items may include notebooks, writing utensils, gently used backpacks, calculators, et cetera. All donations will be greatly appreciated. Senator Scott Gefroe introduced a bill in the State Senate to ban red light cameras and photo radar vans within the state of Colorado. While Gefroe previously introduced the bill in 2012, his recent attempts have garnered more attention. He has backing from several prominent lawmakers including Senate President Morgan Carole and House Speaker Mark Ferrandino. The Colorado Rockies will now take the eld to a new theme song. Emmy Award-winning composer Charles Denler developed the new song Take the Field. The piece will be played in full at the beginning of every Rockies game and smaller portions of the song will be played during commercials. 80 members of the Colorado Symphony Orchestra recorded the piece in February.

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Science and Policy cont. Belong cont.

Hope Sisley Staff Writer
budget over time would have been much better for funding research. Davison next gave an overview of the committees and legislators most important in deciding science policy. Committees break down the responsibilities of the legislators among smaller groups, each of which is headed by a particular senator or representative. In an eort to increase their power, committee chairs often volunteer to take new topics into their committees, leading to some odd agglomerations of committee topics. What began as the House Space Committee in the 1950s has now broadened to Science, Space, and Technology, for instance; its current chair, Lamar Smith, was a major sponsor of the notorious censorship law SOPA. Other committees that matter to scientists and engineers include the massive House Energy and Commerce Committee and the Senate Commerce, Science, and Transportation Committee, whose chair, a moderate and a 6th generation Rockefeller, is retiring soon. Both the House and the Senate have an Appropriations committee, the oldest and most powerful of the committees, which controls the destination for all of the governments money besides defense; the Budget committee then authorizes the range of money that can be appropriated for each destination. In this way, the Budget committee can limit funding, but only Appropriations can increase it. The chair of Senate Appropriations, Barbara Mikulski, is also chair of the subcommittee on science. The House Appropriations, too, has a pertinent subcommittee, Commerce, Justice, and Science, headed by Frank Wolf, an NSF-friendly representative who is also retiring soon. Finally, the House Ways and Means Committee, in charge of taxes, Medicare, Social Security, and so on, is about to lose its own moderate chair; Davison asserts that, when this happens, there will be a bloodbath for his seat. At this point Davison changed topics, discussing recent legislation in Continued at www.oredigger.net

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Katerina Gonzales Content Manager

Continued from Page 1 Ive been through, you know, I dont exactly remember what I learned in Thermodynamics, but it is how to learn and how to learn eciently, and thats why its great for Mines grads. Where do you see Belong going? I see Belong going pretty big; were hoping to grow it to a goodsized company, probably a midsized company from a hundred to ve hundred people working for us. Eventually, sponsoring athletes,

sending to the X-Games, sending to the Olympics...you know, really helping develop athletes and making sure theyre going down the right path in life, and thats what Belong is about. We kind of want to keep it a clean brand in really following your true passions, with a lot of positivity coming out of the brand. Whats your favorite E-Days memory? Oh man, favorite E-Days memory...theres too many. I would say it would be coming to see Air Dubai and we actually afterwards knew a guy from the band and were hanging out with the guys. It was cool to see that.

50th anniversary of largest earthquake in US

Hope Sisley Staff Writer
Anchorage, Alaska, 1964. At 5:30 PM on March 27th, Good Friday, the ground began to shake. Eyewitness Patrick Sanfords father stopped his car to see what was wrong with his steering. Airman Patrick Hames thought the rumbling he heard was the thump of footsteps at shift change, while James Midlothian assumed it was a pilot revving his airplane engines; another airman suggested it was a bomb. Easter lilies began to fall o the shelves on top of Merry-Rae Brook and her fellow Girl Scouts, who were selling cookies in a grocery store. The cups in Patrick Keulans cupboards began to shake against each other, and a moment later the china hutch fell over. It would not be a good day for dishes. The quakes epicenter was in Prince William Sound, east of Anchorage. All around the Sound, in Anchorage, at Elmendorf Air Force Base, in Seward and Kenai and a dozen other small settlements, cupboards disgorged their contents onto kitchen oors, parked cars crashed into each other, powerlines danced and refrigerators were toppled. The shaking lasted several minutes, a rare situation, as most earthquakes are of fairly short duration - about 30 to 40 seconds for a magnitude 6 quake. But this was no magnitude 6 - this was a magnitude 9.2, the second largest earthquake ever recorded and the largest in North America. The degree of shaking was so strong that the seismographs in the College, AK measuring station could not record the waves, leaving the seismogram blank until the earth nally calmed down and the needle, stuck on an unrecordable extreme, could be reset. At Fort Richardson, Patrick Keulans mother thought the world was ending and refused to leave the house. Over the sound of breaking glass and masonry, the rumble of moving plates could be heard. Eyewitness Clark Jillson said the roar of the earthquake sounded to me like I was standing next to a railroad track with a train roaring past. The shaking continued violently, seeming to go on forever. Rocky Plotnick, another survivor, described it like being on a small boat in confused and stormy seas. Many people who lived through the quake described the trees swaying so violently they seemed to be laying on the ground one minute and upright the next. Witness Robert Williams said, The ground in the front yard looked like water waves. In Valdez, a babysitter had to throw her charges across a ssure that opened in the oor of the house she was working at, then jumped herself, falling and breaking a rib but making it out alive; the childrens father was swept away

with the towns docks by a massive mudslide triggered by the quake. When it was over, the neighborhood of Turnagain had been swallowed by a 130-acre landslide, and the waterfronts of Valdez and Seward had collapsed into the sea. Around 130 to 140 people died as a result of the quake, but only about ten of those were killed thanks to the immediate damage of the earthquake itself; the vast majority died due to the tsunami waves produced by the quake and the resultant subsea landslides These casualties included beachwalkers in California and Oregon as well as over a hundred Alaskans.. Continued at www.oredigger.net

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Ore Cart Pull: A walk to remember at Mines

Jessica Deters Staff Writer
Waking up at seven in the morning with the intention of walking eight miles down Colfax Avenue to the capitol building does not sound like the most appealing of plans; but throw hundreds of Mines students, an ore cart and free burritos into the mix and that eight mile march becomes a cant miss Mines tradition. Students gathered in the Jones Road parking lot early Friday morning in wait of buses. Burritos in hand, students loaded the buses and headed off to the starting pointa parking lot on Colfax Avenue. The flock of students and the anticipation grew until the final bus arrived. Police halted traffic, and the mass of students began the journey to the capitol. The school fight song rang throughout the crowd, almost harkening back to the falls M-Climb. Modes of transportation for the eight mile journey lacked no variety. Some rode unicycles, even stopping along the way the perform stunts. Others skateboarded; some rollerbladed. Some were lucky enough to hitch a ride in the ore-cart. Senior in mechanical engineering Gabe Alvarado happened to be one of those lucky few, participating in more of an Ore-Cart Ride than an Ore-Cart Pull for a portion of the trip. This year was Alvarados first year participating in the Ore-Cart Pull. I got up this morning and was like, this is going to be terrible. It was terrible and then a friend gave me a drink, a drink, okay a beer. I drank it, and then I went to some liquor stores and got more. Though drinks are likely the highlight of the trip for most, the walk provided plenty of entertainment to its more sober participants. Causing a traffic jam, receiving support from passing drivers and walking with hundreds of friends and peers made the journey enjoyable. In addition, fashion statements abounded in the crowd with students sporting everything from onesies to space tights to a beer mug hat worn by Alvarado. Alvarado found the hat in a box of Halloween stuff a few years ago. I was like, ehh, this is kind
COURTESY COHEN TURNER

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of cool. And then today I was like, yes, Im going to wear this. Just because its a beer hat. I mean, why not? Honestly, I like to stick out. So I was like, f- it, Im going to wear the hat. As the walk neared the end, excitement grew. With the capitol in sight, students took off running, sprinting the final stretch of the eight-mile walk. Those pulling the ore cart sprinted to keep up. When they arrived and the ore cart was settled on the steps of the capitol, the entire body of students erupted into the fight song. Following the fight song, a proc-

lamation from Governor Hickenlooper was read, officially declaring the start of Engineering Days. Alvarado says the Ore-Cart Pull was the best experience of his life and encourages all future Mines students to take part. Even without the alcohol, I have to say its an experience that you have to do before you graduate... Literally this is so much fun. Anyone who graduates from Mines has pulled an ore- cart seven miles to the capitol. Whats not awesome about that? Theres no other school that does anything like that.
JESSICA DETERS / OREDIGGER

After an eight mile walk, students storm the capitol while singing the Mines fight song.

Cardboard Boat Race amuses onlookers

Jacqueline Feuerborn Staff Writer
The E-Days Cardboard Boat Race found people gathering on the sides of Clear Creek on Saturday morning. The morning provided excellent weather for the race; however, the water of Clear Creek was a little chilly. After their races, various contestants stated that their legs were still shaking and tense after about an hour. But that is what happens when people try to sail down a river two days after a snow storm. Luckily for all of the contestants and for the school, no one was harmed during the cardboard boat race. There was a large variety of boats at the race, everything from rocket ships to rafts to Pokemon. With the theme of GalaxE-Days, a large variety of boats came a range of creative names, some inspired by Sci-Fi television shows or movies and some simply witty. Some of the most memorable names were: A Little Piece of Ship, Jimmy Neutron and Discovere. As these majestic boats headed down Clear Creek, not all of them did as well as others. Some of the boats lost small decorative pieces of cardboard but there were other, less lucky contestants who lost their entire ship to the rapids. But sometimes losing a boat was not that bad; the worst was when passengers of the boats lost their oars and were left stuck either in the shallows or squished against a rock. Sometimes observers, other contestants or even other team members were able to help them out. More often than expected, contestants would get out of their own boats in order to pull them from the shallows or over small rocks. One of the frequent occurrences during the cardboard boat race saw boats being turned every which way. This led to some participants becoming stranded because they could no longer see where they were going. However, in order to avoid this pitfall, some teams had people facing in different directions. The ability to do that depended on the number of people in the boat. Some teams were made of just two or three people but there were others with more. One team even managed to make a big enough boat to fit eight people; however, this led to other issues such as their boat becoming too weighed down. There was even one team, A Little Piece of Ship that appeared to only have one person in the boat because three of the other passengers fell out long before anyone saw them inside of it. With each new road block, or river block, participants were forced to say goodbye to sections of their boats. Luckily children all along the banks were eager to seize up any discarded pieces of soggy cardboard; however, even with all of that help there is still sure to be numerous pieces of cardboard still drifting down Clear Creek, perhaps for weeks to come. In the end, it was Team Jimmy Neutron who pulled ahead and won with the fastest time with a little more than 3 minutes, leaving all of their components behind in their ripples. Their boat was well constructed and looked like a rocket ship, but, in addition to that, it was conveniently the same shape as a kayak or a canoe. This allowed them to be able to steer it like a kayak or a canoe. This saved them in the end as they were able to comfortably maneuver around rocks and sandbars. At the finish, they showed everyone watching that a cardboard boat can, in fact, stand up to the currents of Clear Creek and they definitely inspired many onlookers to participate in next years Cardboard Boat Race.

Some students, including Gabe Alvarado, rode in the ore cart.

ALL PHOTOS COURTESY KATERINA GONZALES / OREDIGGER

Some teams were well prepared to navigate the creek,

Others, however, had to get creative to dodge the rocks.

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Geek Week
of the
pactsthats the best part. Also, helping them get a green box and clearing the frustration. Being the savior who got the green box is pretty awesome. Whats been your favorite class thus far at Mines? Probably Intro to Space Exploration. It made me want to go out and be a rocket scientist! What are your plans after Mines? Im going to stick around for a fifth year and get my masters in Mechanical Engineering. Then Ill hopefully get a job in the Aerospace industry. I want to be a rocket scientistit would be pretty sick. I like the idea of being a rocket scientist and a mom at the same time. I have a role model Penny (Pettigrew) who is a rocket scientist (at NASA) and a mom. She shows that you can do both because a lot of people say you have to pick one. Best memory at Mines so far? I got recruited to race with the planetary EPICS moon buggy team because NASA required a girl to race the buggy. The girl who was on the team couldnt go on the trip, so I got randomly recruited in Diff EQ by the guy who sat in front of me to go with them. It was the best experience of my life. That whole experience is what made me want to do Mechanical Engineering. He just said, Are there any girls in here who want a full paid trip to Alabama? I was like, ME! My mom said she didnt know how she felt about it, but I was sold at NASA. Do you have any traumatic memories from Mines? When I was in CSM 101, I had to meet with Chuck Stone for the meet with your advisor assignment. I told him I was interested in physics and ended up getting an entire tour of Meyer Hall for an hour and a half with Chucks voodoo doll. I was like held hostage for an hour and a half seeing every inch of Meyer Hall. I saw the particle accelerator, which was pretty cool, not gonna lie. I had to take pictures of me and the voodoo doll and the particle accelerator. That wasnt so much a traumatic experience as an interesting one. Getting a private tour of Meyer Hall with Chuck Stone and his voodoo doll. What might we find you doing on a Friday night? It depends on which season it is. If it is the springtime you will find me in Lockridge Arena cheering at basketball games. Or you will find me playing Cards Against Science with my physics major friends. Or in Meyer Hall 247 doing homework. Thats super lame though. My weekends consist of cheering, nerdy board games and homework. Would you consider yourself a geek? I can watch The Big Bang Theory and understand everything theyre talking about. So if that counts then yes, (I am) totally a geek. I also get more enjoyment out of playing Cards Against Science than I do playing Cards Against Humanity. And my idea of fun is going to the Denver Museum of Nature and Science. What do you do for fun outside of the classroom? Go to Caf Rio. Its my favorite restaurant. Ive made so many great friends going to Caf Rio. So, if you had to choose a last dinner It would be at Caf Rio. Favorite movie? Frozen! Just kidding. Actually, its not my favorite movie. I really am a sucker for Cars, or The Parent Trap. I always wanted a sister. I used to watch that movie and pretend like I had a secret sister. Favorite quote? My favorite quote is definitely: Do not go where the path may lead. Go instead where there is no path and leave a trail. (Ralph Waldo Emerson) Favorite fictional character? Olaf from Frozen. Hes just so fricken cute and quotable. I have this relationship with Olaf. Olaf just wants to be in summerhe dreams of summereven though snow cant exist in summer. Even though snow melts in summer, Olaf still wants to be in summer. Hes like, yeah Im snow, whats your point? And here (at Mines) Im one of six girls out of 70 physics majors (in my class). Its like, Im a girl, so what. I feel like Olaf breaks a stereotype about snow and summer. I relate to Olaf. Theres a deeper meaning behind Olaf, or I at least created one in my mind. Favorite equation? Im kind of a fan of the Schroedinger equation. Its really fun to write. Theres just so many Greek letters. Psi, its mainly psi. Thats the fun one, and Im real good at drawing it. Plus, I feel super smart when Im like, check out this equation I know. People think Im wicked smart because I can write the Schroedinger equation. Favorite April Fools prank?

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... Libby Booton, Sophomore: Engineering Physics

One time, I put wasabi on a chip and told my brother it was guacamole. Kid was drinking milk for like an hour. Best big sister ever! When I was really little, I used to do the thing where you tie a rubber band around the sprayer on the sink. Then they turn on the sink and totally get sprayed in the face. That was my favorite one as a kid. Whats your favorite part about E-Days? Ore Cart Pull. Its a great experience walking however many miles that is with everyone else. It makes you feel like really close to all of the other students. You just feel like one big pack going down Colfax. Almost like the M-Climb. That bonding experienceyou feel like a community with the other students and the school. Thats my favorite part about Mines. Do you ever have free time? How do you spend it? My favorite thing to do growing up was dance. Now what I do with my free time is work. That doesnt sound like free time, but it is. Its my favorite thing to do. I work at the APEX center teaching dance. I dont have time to be a part of a dance team anymore, so my favorite thing to do with my non-school used time is work teaching little kids dance. Its the best part of my week. It really is. Work is the most rewarding part of my week. Theyre just all so fricken cute! Whats on your bucket list? Before I die, I want to travel the world. I want to go back to Italy, and see all 50 states. Ive got 19 down so far. Any advice for younger students? If you want to do something, do it. Dont let anyone else change your mind. If you want to major in something or you want to join a club and someone doesnt agree with it, its your choice, not theirs. Dont let someone else make you think that what youre doing isnt worth it. Dont let someone else bring you down. Also, even though it may not seem like it, everyone else is struggling just as much as you are. You may be going home and crying to your pillow at night, but youre not the only one. People just dont show it. Theres a great quote that says failure is not for failures; its for everybody. Failures just have more experience with it. Failing is apart of life, and its about how you overcome failing, not the fact that you did.
COURTESY LIBBY BOOTON

Jessica Deters Staff Writer

Juggling two jobs, multiple clubs and cheerleading with Mines coursework is no easy feat. Arvada native and Mines sophomore in Engineering Physics Libby Booton does just that. Booton works as a TA for Physics 100 and teaches dance to children at the APEX center in Arvada. Between practices for the Mines Cheerleading team and meetings for various on-campus clubs, The Oredigger caught up with Libby to discuss her geekiness and love for Mines. [Oredigger] What made you choose Mines? [Booton] I knew I wanted to be an engineer, and its super close to home. Staying super close to home was important to me because I have younger siblings. I knew I wanted to be an engineer, and I knew I had an amazing engineering school in my backyard practically. I love the campus. Mines met all the criteria so I did not even apply anywhere else. What made you choose physics as a major? To be honest, I had no desire to do anything related to chemistry, and I really enjoyed physics. I (also) was not completely sure what I wanted to do. They (the physics department) had the five-year (masters) program, and I thought, cool, that gives me more time to decide. Plus, five-year programs are a sweet deal. Once I found out that they had five-year programs in everything I was potentially interested in, I was sold. Did being a Physics 100 TA help you decide at all? Yes, because it connected me with physics majors whom I talked to about what physics is and what people do in physics and with physics. That was when I was pretty much sold. I dont think it was so much being a TA as being connected to other physics majors. Whats your favorite thing about being a Physics 100 TA? The aha moments. I love explaining something to a student that they clearly never understood before. You get to be the one who finally helps them understand the concept. I had a girl who never understood how a pulley worked. I sat with her for 20 minutes explaining how a pulley works and different ways to think of pulleys. No one had ever explained pulleys to her before, and she still thanks me for explaining that to her. Deep im-

Cooking Corner: Mrs. Fields Cookies a winner

Jacqueline Feuerborn Staff Writer
Looking for a good cure for the munchies? Or just a tasty treat? Well, this is the perfect solution to any craving. Mrs. Fields chocolate chip cookies are simply to die for. This is a family recipe that has been used for generations and it has been proven to make some truly scrumptious cookies. Mrs. Fields Cookies (Makes 112 cookies) 2 c. butter 1 tsp. salt 2 c. sugar 2 tsp. baking soda 2 c. brown sugar 2 tsp. baking powder 4 eggs 24 oz. bag chocolate chips 2 tsp. vanilla 3 c. chopped nuts 4 c. unbleached white flour 5 c. oatmeal (or 3 c. of coarsely ground oats)* Cream together butter, sugar and brown sugar. Add eggs and vanilla. In separate bowl, combine flour, oatmeal, salt, baking soda and baking powder. Mix all ingredients together and add chocolate chips, and nuts. Place golf ball sized cookies 2 inches apart on an ungreased cookie sheet. Bake at 375 for about 6 minutes or until flattened and golden brown. *To make coarsely ground oats, put oatmeal in blender or food processor until somewhat ground.. they should not be as powdery as flourstill some coarseness. Enjoy some cookies and, to make some new friends, feel free to share them as they make an excellent ice breaker.

Libby Booton is an active member of the Mines community.

JACQUELINE FEUERBORN / OREDIGGER

Mrs. Fields cookies are a proven family favorite.

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even if that victory feels a bit anticlimactic after the amount of work required to obtain it. Because this is the internet, it The new Flash game 2048 is inevitable that a popular game (available at http://gabrielecirulli. and a popular meme must intergithub.io/2048/) is free to play sect. Thus: Doge 2048 (available and fast to load. The game is also at http://doge2048.com/), a free available as a phone app, which is customization of 2048 in which also free (http://git.io/2048), and is the number tiles have been rebased on two non-free phone apps placed with tiles bearing animated called 1024 and Threes. But be forewarned: this is the COURTESY IRONYCA.WORLDPRESS.COM gifs of the Shiba Inu dog whose face has overtakPringles of computer en the Web, known simgames. In other words, ply as doge. This version once you pop, you canis harder to play, since it not stop. is much more difficult to The author was inkeep the sequence of troduced to this game, doge tiles straight than it offhand, by a friend. is to do simple addition. Within seconds of clickOn the other hand, it is ing the link, all hope was far more enjoyable to lost, and from that point look at. Every time a pair onward, every moment of tiles are matched, an of I need something to encouraging message do with my hands was flashes on screen: great taken up by playing it. jorb, much winning, The premise is simsuch score, and so on. ple. A four-by-four grid Some of the tiles are tercontains numbered tiles, ribly charming (at least, starting with two, either for fans of the meme) two 2s or a 2 and a 4. and will make the player By using the arrows reluctant to match them keys, the player tips the The 2048 tile isnt the end...How far can you go? away. (A useful guide board left, right, up, or This game is stupidly addictive. as to which doge corresponds to down, and all tiles slide to that side. Any two tiles with the same number It is also an inveterate tease, be- which number is available at http:// will combine into a single number cause that precious 2048 requires gaming.stackexchange.com/questhat is the sum of the two. In this twice as many moves as the 1024 tions/160556/which-doge-repreway, using powers of two, the play- tile, yet the 1024 tile - which is sents-what-number for those who er must get up to the 2048 tile in considerably easier to get - makes do not wish to spoil the suspense order to win (ie. two to the eleventh the player feel like victory is almost as to what the next doge in the sepower). Things are complicated by within their grasp. The good news quence will be.) The long and the short of it is, the fact that every move causes a is that the more a person plays, new tile - either a 2 or a 4 - to ap- the better they will get, and while both versions of this game are a pear in a random free space on the there is an element of chance to the highly addictive - possibly dangergrid. When the grid fills up and no game, skill is more important. Play- ously addictive - means of wasting tile combinations are possible, the ing also feels like slightly less of a time, or of occupying ones hands game is over. After winning, the waste of time than many other sim- while talking on the phone, sitting player may continue to play until no ple Flash games since it involves in on a meeting, waiting for a bus, math and spatial intelligence. If and so on. Just make sure not to moves are possible. At first blush, winning seems someone asks, the player can al- start playing right before a deadlike it should be simple. Not so. The ways say the game is helping them line. Case in point? This article was author only just now won, for the brush up on their math skills. And, turned in three weeks late, mainly first time, after playing the game for of course, the game is winnable, thanks to its subject matter. over three weeks. The player must think spatially as well as mathematically in order to succeed, and one wrong move can kill a good game. It helps to use the up key only when on the verge of victory, or when no other moves are possible, as this allows high-number tiles to collect at the bottom, without 2s appearing in their midst and screwing everything up.

2048: Deceptively simple LHC: A new 2048

Hope Sisley Staff Writer Jacqueline Feuerborn Staff Writer
The game 2048 is currently sweeping across campus, but there is another game that is equally as addicting. LHC is the more science based cousin of 2048. LHC is a physics-based collision game. Instead of colliding numbers like in 2048, physics particles are smashed into each other in order to create larger, more impressive particles. LHC is based off the Large Hadron Collider, a particle accelerator located in Geneva, Switzerland, and run by the European Organization for Nuclear Research (CERN). The actual particle accelerator works by accelerating particles around large loops and colliding them in order to create different particles. The game LHC follows along the same lines by having the player collide two of the same particles in order to create other particles. The final goal of the game is to create the Higgs Boson particle or the God particle; however, that is easier said than done. The player has to work their way up through collisions to be able to form the Higgs Boson. Along the way, they

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will encounter copious amounts of electrons and electron neutrinos, but, eventually, they will find their way to the Z and W Bosons and from there to the final Higgs Boson. This game has a basis in real physics so some players will try and justify their playing by claiming that it is helping them study physics. This is most definitely not the case, but, none the less, there is some educational value to it, just nowhere near enough to justify playing it for as long as most players do. This game is ridiculously addicting and after playing it just once, anyone who goes down that dangerous path will be forced to keep going. While there seems like there is no end in sight for the game, there is an unavoidable urge to beat the game. This even includes people who usually have no difficulty at all avoiding addictive games. Anyone who fears becoming far too addicted to a simple collisions game, avoid this game at all costs. But for someone who wishes to waste a weekend or a month of their life, then this is the game for them. Beware, this game can be played on a computer or on a phone, so once the addiction begins, there is no way to escape it.
COURTESY ELEMENTRY.RU

Alpha-Traz Island Party with Sound Remedy

Sarah Dewar Staff Writer
someone out of jail, but to increase their bail amount and keep them in jail longer. This clever concept actually worked to raise more money than the original bail amounts while throwing in some fun for those who contributed to keeping a friend in jail for a longer period of time. The day was full free food and raffle prizes, all in the spirit of raising awareness for womens heart health. The women of Alpha Phi heartily appreciate everyone who shared their time in volunteering to participate for this event. It could not happen without the tremendous campus support that was received. Alpha Phi is also incredibly grateful to everyone who donated financially to the event. The Alpha Phi philanthropy is an organization that funds scholarships and sisterhood support programs throughout the United States and Canada. The Alpha-Traz event this year is the most successful event to date for Alpha Phi, and all of the money will go directly to the Alpha Phi Foundation to continue fostering awareness for womens heart health. To learn more about the Alpha Phi Foundation, please do not hesitate to ask an Alpha Phi on campus about how the Foundation works and how financial donations are used. Also check out http://www. alphaphifoundation.org for more information.

LHC plays parallel to 2048, but with particles, not numbers.

Sarah Dewar Staff Writer

The Iota Zeta Chapter of Alpha Phi at the Colorado School of Mines hosted Alpha-Traz, the annual Alpha Phi International Philanthropy event which raises money for the Alpha Phi Foundation, champion of womens heart health. The event was moved from its original location on Kafadar Commons to the Alpha Phi House due to the rainy weather forecast. Nevertheless, the event was an astronomical success. Over seven thousand dollars were raised which exceeded the goal of five thousand dollars. Money is raised by students, faculty, and other community members donating money to bail their friends out of jail. Members of Greek life, athletics, and campus organizations were placed under cardiac arrest and could not leave the Alpha Phi jail until their bail was met. Participants were able to set their bail accordingly to how much money they felt they could raise. Very proudly, Natalie Boldt, the Chapter President of Alpha Phi, was able to raise over eight hundred dollars alone. The women of Alpha Phi introduced a new dimension to the bailing out process this year with the concept of counterbail. This means that donations were taken, not in order to bail

SOUND REMEDY lit up the stage on Friday night, delivering a stellar performance of his signature electronic musical talents. SOUND REMEDY perfectly intermixes his own original songs, such as Liberation and Chiaroscuro with remixes of songs created by other artists. SOUND REMEDY has enchanting remixes to some of the most current popular songs. To name a few favorites, SOUND REMEDY lends his creative influence to Ellie Gouldings cover of an Active Child song, Hanging On. While this is a lesser know Ellie Goulding song, it is definitely gaining popularity despite its release in 2012. Other popular remixes come from Imogen Heap, Lana del Rey, London Grammar, and John Newman. Daughters song Medicine is a beautifully crafted remix, which is challenging to do with slower, more emotional-lyrically based music that generally stays on the chill side of the alternative genre. However, this song meshes cohesively with stronger electronic beats native to the electronic genre. SOUND REMEDY captures attention with his remix of this song, considering most electronic artists only do remixes of hip hop, or other higher tempo songs. SOUND REMEDY has the unique quality of

making well-known songs in the alternative genre seem as if they were fabricated not only in the electronic genre, but in his very own SOUND REMEDY genre. In an 2012 interview, SOUND REMEDY said, I want to make music that makes people happy, or even sad, as long as it makes them feel something. A criticism of some electronic music, and especially dubstep songs, is that they can be so charged with energy, that the original artist intent of chord progression and intertwined melodic symphonies can be lost in translation. SOUND REMEDY captures the emotion from the original songs and enhances it - even going so far as to illuminate the passion hidden within. SOUND REMEDY has a strong stage presence; even behind his computer, he is able to connect with the audience and instill his passion for his music through each and every song. It is apparent that he really feels his music, not just at a surface level, but at a deeper, emotional level. His music is appealing, fanatical, wild, and ravishing.

COURTESY SOUND REMEDY

SOUND REMEDY is originally from the midwest, even attending Indiana University for a finance degree, but now he calls LA home. SOUND REMEDY started producing music full time just four years ago. He attributes his music upbringing from his parents who trained at Juilliard as a credit to his love of listening to, making, and living music. SOUND REMEDY was the perfect musical talent to bring the Colorado School of Mines GalaxeDays stage. He is on the cusp of superstardom and he is a talent to watch become a permanent fixture on the electronic scene. SOUND REMEDY produces delightfully captivating tracks, proving his radiant love for making and sharing his spirited fervor with his listeners.

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f e a t u r e s / o p i n i o n
Kit Pfeiffer Guest Writer

Ethics Across Campus

Brian Zaharatos Guest Writer

Fees=More E-Days
As some readers no doubt know, USG voted unanimously to increase student fees to $100 during a joint operating meeting. The fee increase passed despite a unanimous no vote from the smaller GSG delegation. This extremely unusual split highlights how out of touch and self interested GSG has become. I am the President of the Mines Activities Council (MAC) and this semester, for the rst time, MAC has been added as a voting member of USG. In fact, every governing body on campus has been added as full members of the council. Additionally, budget committee, which used to control all fee allocation, has been disbanded so that the entire USG council has a voice in allocating student funds to student groups. MAC is the recipient of the largest allocation on campus (~$210,000 last year). The small council of 9 students is responsible for planning and executing entertainment programs for the entire student body including both undergraduate and graduate students indiscriminately. We are responsible for all of E-Days, Homecoming, movie nights, comedians, special events, and o-campus activities. All of those programs are limited by budget and we spend considerable time seeking outside nancial support (we have already taken in over $100,000 this year outside of our allocation). Unlike any other club on campus, we do not require membership for any one of our events and we program targeting every single student possible. When we have events that lack attendance, the majority of the time the cause can be attributed to lack of awareness on campus for the event. When students attend our events, they largely en-

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Sustainability at Mines
and reduce the environmental impacts of meat eating Discounts for customers who bring reusable cups, plates, etc. Ethically sourced coee and tea Sustainable purchasing commitments (e.g., cage free eggs) Beyond MinesDining, there are other actions that Mines has taken to promote sustainability. Many of the buildings and new construction projects on campus are LEED (Leadership maximizing the amount of natural light to reduce energy use. The practices mentioned here could have a lasting positive eect on the environment; but many of these practices require that we, as individual consumers, do the right thing. For example, we should take responsibility when dining to make sure that we compost what we can, bring reusable containers, etc. Also, we can show MinesDining that we care about sustainability by participating in meatless Monday, and by suggesting that it happen more often. Further, as a community, we should pressure those making decisions to do even more to promote sustainability. As an engineering campus, we should be leading the way in renewable energy use and demand that new projects be built with sustainability as the most important goal. This goal is certainly achievable; just minutes away from Mines, the National Renewable Energy Lab is home to several LEED platinum buildings. Further, some of their buildings are net-zero energy, which means that they produce as much energy (through renewable sources) as they use! We should be proud that Mines understands our environmental obligations and is taking such big steps in promoting sustainability. Yet, we should strive for more! If you have sustainability suggestions for Mines, please feel free to contact me at bzaharatos@mines. edu. I will be sure that the Mines Sustainability Committee hears your suggestion.

There are good reasons to believe that humans have some ethical obligations with respect to the environment. This claim is true even if we believe that our only direct obligations are toward other human beings. For example, biodiversity plays an important role in the health of our food and water supply and in the development of modern medicine. So, doing right by the environment and promoting biodiversity, in addition to being good for nonhuman organisms, can be seen as a means to the end of meet our obligation to promote human ourishing. Other obligations that we might have toward the environment include reducing consumption of energy and the use of other products that use large amounts of natural resources, working toward minimizing the suering of animals, and reducing carbon dioxide emissions to curb COU RT the eects of climate change. ES YU SG Given these obligations, we BC ought to ask ourselves what Mines ergy and is doing as a community to pro- in enmote environmental sustainability. Environmental Design) buildings. One group that has made huge LEED buildings are categorized strides in promoting sustainability into four levelscertied, silver, on campus is MinesDining. Here gold, and platinumbased on are some sustainable practices the extent to which they are environmentally friendly. Maple Hall that MinesDining has adopted: An extensive recycling and is LEED gold, and Marquez Hall composting program in Slate Caf is LEED silver. In general, LEED and Diggers Den, including fryer buildings have less environmental oil recycling program and com- impact by, for example, recycling postable cups, plates, cutlery, etc. materials during construction, usMeatless Mondays, to highlight ing locally sourced materials, and

Tesla Coil Demonstration a shocker for students

task that led him to discover the Tesla Coil by Thomas Edison. Tesla was born in Croatia but was SerThe Tesla Coil Demonstration bian and came to America looking might not be the most interactive for more opportunities. It was then E-Days event or the most attended, that he began to work for Edison. but it is undeniably the most awe in- Edison promised Tesla fty thouspiring event. During the Tesla Coil sand dollars if Tesla could come up Demonstration, arcs of purple and with a more ecient form of energy blue lightning lled the room and transfer than with a direct current, which was even made a really music. At the E-Days Tesla Coil Demimpressive A Tesla Coil is onstration, which was hosted by amount of money for composed of sev- campus branch of IEEE, viewers the time period. eral sets got to watch two dierent types of When Tesof rings la did this, of metal Tesla coil. with his coiled together, hence the name, Tesla Coil. discovery of alternating currents, Nikola Tesla invented the Tesla Coil and returned to Edison for his monaround 1891. They were originally ey, Edison claimed that Tesla just invented to be a replacement for didnt understand American humor power lines because they allow and refused to pay him. Despite all electricity to ow through the air. of this, Tesla went on to be a quite However, they were never used for successful and well known scienthat purpose due to their incredibly tist. However, he is probably best low eciency. Rather than removing known for his invention of the Tesla cables from power exchange, Tesla Coil, which has no real convenient gured out alternating currents uses; it is simply fun to play with. At the E-Days Tesla Coil Demon(AC), were far more ecient than the direct current (DC) that was be- stration, which was hosted by campus branch of IEEE, viewers got to ing used at the time. Tesla was originally set on the watch two dierent types of Tesla

joy them, but we can always do better, we can always reach more, and this often requires additional funding. The $6 increase to student fees enacted by the joint meeting between USG and GSG will benet student groups on campus. The group poised to reap the largest benet will be MAC, and by denition, the students of Mines. Unfortunately, MAC was only present at the joint session for the nal vote as it was scheduled during our regular weekly meeting. If we had predicted the derision that occurred at the meeting, we certainly would have liked to have been present and voiced our opinion that this fee increase, if allocated as it has been in the past, will greatly benet the less involved. GSGs opinions that the raise was arbitrary and nondescript as to its destination are fair. $6 does not make up for the allocation requests not met last year and the new monies were not earmarked for certain clubs (as much as we want it to go to MAC). The increase, as MAC understands it, was lessened to ease the burden on individual students and not earmarked in order to be consistent with the USG allocation process. GSGs stark opposition to the fee increase is understood by my council; however, we feel that such a position is detrimental to the campus community and displays a singular mindset of the organization to oppose the out-ofthe-classroom activities at Mines. Hopefully their votes are not representative of the greater graduate student population at CSM who have often vocalized their support for E-Days, MAC and everything we do. Our unocial motto is making Mines bearable, for a 1-2 hours each week. We would like to add another hour, but that costs money and we are extremely grateful to the USG council for supporting our eorts.

Jacqueline Feuerborn Staff Writer

coils. The rst was the smaller of the two. It did not make large arcs of electricity, as most people picture with Tesla Coils; instead, it produced a small, about 2 inch long, arc that glowed brightly. However, along with this small arc of lightning was the truly impressive part. The Tesla coil was able to perfectly play music from an ipod, functioning just like speakers do. The crowd got to listen to several songs played by the Tesla coil, each more impressive than the last. The second Tesla coil was much larger and looked more like a typical Tesla coil. This one did shoot of large arcing beams of electricity that seemed to form trees and webs of lightning all around the Tesla coil. This Tesla coil also played music, but it wasnt nearly as clear and could only play a few notes. However, despite that, the Tesla coils music was incredible and some of it even sent physical shudders down spines in the audience. Whether the shudders were from the music or from the electricity humming around the room, there is no way to tell, but either way, it was a truly awe inspiring experience that everyone could enjoy. Look out next E-Days for the Tesla Coil Demonstration because it isnt something to be missed.

JACQUELINE FEUERBORN / OREDIGGER

Tesla coils were originally meant to replace power lines.

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KATERINA GONZALES / OREDIGGER

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JESSICA DETERS / OREDIGGER

The Cardboard Boat Race challenged even the best engineers.

KATERINA GONZALES / OREDIGGER

The Mattress Races at the eld day were a hit.

Human bowling during the Carnival entertained students and community members alike.

RAMIRO RODRIGUEZ / OREDIGGER

ENERGIZING
YOUR FUTURE

The E-Days car show included vehicles from many eras, including various Mustangs.

JESSICA DETERS / OREDIGGER

THE MINES FUND FUELS YOUR EDUCATION

Hydropower dates back thousands of years, yet is essential to fueling our future. Much like water generates electricity, The Mines Fund generates essential support for a comprehensive Mines experience, from the M Climb to E-Days, from the classroom to the lab, and to more than 170 student organizations.

Learn how THE MINES FUND has made a difference for you at

giving.mines.edu/students
Contestants prepared for the Hottiest Hottie hot wing eating contest. w w w . O R E D I G G E R . n e t