Mayor's commitment to work questioned by FoCo residents

BREAKOUT:

Official job requirements for the mayor of Fort Collins:

-Sign legal documents

-Lead and participate in ceremonial duties

-Serve as the face of the community

-Head city council

Subhead: Friends and peers believe in mayor’s promises

By Courtney Riley

JTC 320: Final Story

Karen Weitkunat

The recently elected mayor of Fort Collins, Karen Weitkunat, has disappointed many residents of Fort Collins within just a few weeks of holding her position.

In an article in the Coloradoan titled, “Weitkunat wants to be clear on role,” the mayor said serving as mayor was not meant to be a full-time job, which caused a stir from many readers.

Fifty-seven comments were posted on the Coloradoan’s website in regards to the article.

Some readers defended Weitkunat, saying people were taking her words out of context and didn’t fully understand the true job description of the mayor of Fort Collins.

But many were outraged, including a reader who said, “Slow clap, people. Our new mayor. God help us.”

When asked how she responded to the negative comments, Weitkunat said she generally doesn’t comment about criticism.

“You have to have thick skin,” she said. “You take it with a grain of salt and file it for future reference.”

She said bickering online doesn’t help the community at all.

“The article never said that I was not going to do the job as mayor,” she said. “My past history proves that I will. I was just saying we need to ask, ‘What is the role of the mayor?’”

In the city of Fort Collins, the mayor is responsible for signing legal documents, participating in ceremonies, serving as the face of the community and leading city council.

“Each person who becomes mayor kind of decides what else they want to do,” she said. “It’s not really clearly defined, which is why I want to have a discussion with council to see exactly what we want the mayor’s role to be.”

Fort Collins resident Julie Sanders said she interprets Weitkunat’s comments as a sign of laziness.

“This is like an employee getting hired and then saying they can’t fulfill their availability,” she said. “I’m pretty sure a logical boss would fire that employee.”

Weitkunat said this topic is an issue of governance as a whole in Fort Collins, and a lot of people don’t actually realize the mayor is only one vote out of seven.

“The job is misunderstood by a lot of people,” she said. “If city council wants the mayor to do more, I need to discuss that with them.”

Fort Collins resident David McClellan said he understands where Weitkunat is coming from. He said she isn’t trying to back out of a commitment or take any type of short cut by asking council members to do more work.

“Fort Collins is a big, growing city,” he said. “Residents expect a full-time commitment when the job isn’t even required to be full-time.”

Eric Sutherland, who lost to Weitkunat in the election, said this governance issue can be blamed mostly on city council as a whole.

“They just don’t do their business as efficiently as they could be doing it,” he said.

The city manager, Darin Atteberry, he said, needs to take more responsibility and alter the system if it has kinks in it.

“It’s really Atteberry’s continued allowance of poor process,” he said.

The former mayor of Fort Collins, Doug Hutchinson, said he usually worked 30 to 40 hours per week when he held the position, but the workload occasionally reached up to 80 hours.

“I can’t believe anyone would really expect the mayor to work 80 hours in a week,” Weitkunat said.

Hutchinson, who has known Weitkunat personally for years, said he has no doubts that she will work hard in her position and make the people of Fort Collins proud.

“She has a lot of good ideas,” he said. “I think she’ll successfully continue the work we’ve been doing and take it to new levels.”

While campaigning before the election, Weitkunat emphasized that she wanted to follow the same path Hutchinson and the city council members had set.

She plans to focus heavily on the role of businesses in the community because they are the underlying strength the city needs to rely on in order to move forward, she said.

“My goals aren’t different from Doug’s, and I plan to work as hard as he did to keep Fort Collins as one of the best places to live in America,” she said.

Weitkunat also plans to maintain and preserve parks, trails and open space, as well as restructure North and South College Avenue, improve the city’s transportation system and focus on using clean energy.

Promoting multiculturalism is another area of focus, which she plans to achieve by supporting all that Old Town has to offer and growing business in the area to increase the city’s economic stability.

“Old Town is such a unique place that is full of diversity. It’s such an artistic place full of different people and cultures,” she said. “It’s definitely an asset to Fort Collins.”

Lisa Poppaw, who was recently elected to serve a second term as city council member for District 2, said, like Hutchinson, that she has faith in Weitkunat’s work ethic and abilities.

“We’ve done so much good work over the past couple of years,” she said. “There is no way that is going to stop. We have a good team, and we’ll keep moving forward.”

Sue Pawlak, who lost to Poppaw in the election, agreed, saying Weitkunat knows the right direction Fort Collins needs to go in.

Pawlak is a personal friend of Weitkunat’s and ran for council member of District 2 because Weitkunat encouraged her to, she said.

“When Karen won and I didn’t, it was a bittersweet moment for me,” Pawlak said. “Of course I was excited for her, but I was a little disappointed that we wouldn’t be able to work together.”

She said she shares the same vision for the future of Fort Collins as Weitkunat and believes that vision will come true.

Like Weitkunat, Pawlak supports the idea of focusing on expanding business in Fort Collins.

“Bringing jobs here is important,” she said. “Too often I see graduates from CSU who want to stay in Fort Collins but have to move to another city to find a job. It shouldn’t be like that.”

Weitkunat has more than a sufficient amount of business experience, Pawlak said, because she owned a motel for 23 years on North College Avenue.

She currently serves as a member of both the Colorado State Housing Board and the Larimer County Planning Commission. She has also been a city council member for District 2 for eight years in the past.

“She’s more than qualified for the job,” Pawlak said. “Accusations questioning her work ethic just don’t make sense.”

Sidebar:

Karen Weitkunat has been a Fort Collins resident for 35 years.

“I moved here to build a life, a home and a future,” she said.

She owned a motel located on North College Avenue for 23 years, which she said taught her all about the city of Fort Collins because her job was essentially to sell the city to her customers.

“I just thought it was a natural fit for me to run for mayor and be the public face of the community,” she said.

Weitkunat won the mayoral election on April 7 with 45 percent of the votes, triumphing over her fellow candidates, Rose Cunniff and Eric Sutherland.

Video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fpsBr0tzpSc

State of the Arts

State of the Arts:
How Europe Beats Our Off-Key System

By Aliese Willard

As Americans, we proudly live in the birthplace of Jazz, Rock n’ Roll, and rap music. We belt the lyrics of Broadway musicals along with Lady Gaga. We swing and square dance, but keep the Funky Chicken and the Macarena in our repertoire.

Our country has always been an eclectic mix of innovation and yesteryear: an entertaining variety show of ideas and cultures.

But we focus more on the new. The now. Whatever is fresh and challenges the norm. But in our quest for the contemporary, the classical arts—the creative life of our culture—have suffered.

Rachel Ellins is a professional harpist, and teaches music at Colorado State University. Her job is one of rich melody that varies with dissonance. Petite in stature, her passion is to sit behind a six-foot-tall oak harp and charm music from the silk strings. She merrily conducts students in concerts, and her joy in the harmonious chords is evident in every beat. The discord comes from her paycheck.

Rachel Ellins conducts CSU harpists at their May 1, 2011 concert

“I love what I do. I’m really busy, have great students, and I’m fortunate to have a job at CSU,” Ellins said. “I just wish the financial reward were greater. I made so much less money this year, and I worked twice as hard.”

Ellins balances teaching at CSU with playing as the substitute harpist at the Colorado Symphony Orchestra and principal harpist with the Longmont Symphony Orchestra. She also publishes music, teaches private lessons, and sells music supplies in her own store. And yet it’s still difficult to earn a living. For an artist this isn’t unusual, especially in the United States.

Though it is the richest of countries, The U.S. is one of the worst in terms of supporting its artists. Funding for the arts is extremely low. Government spending for its arts and cultural programs falls far below many European countries, though their populations are a fraction of the size.

As many American artists do, Ellins has resigned herself to the fact that her career may never be financially constant.

“If you go into the arts today, you have to realize that you won’t make as much money as other professions,” she said.

Dancing out of step: The U.S. arts funding situation

In what should be a national embarrassment, the U.S. spends billions of dollars less than its European counterparts in cultural support. A simple example to illustrate the U.S.’s incompetent spending would be to compare its arts expenditures (according to the National Endowment for the Arts) to those of France (numbers from 2009).

France's government arts funding is roughly 30 times the size of U.S. federal arts expenditures.

Across the country, arts organizations have been crippled from insufficient funds. In 2009, Bob Lynch, the CEO of the nonprofit organization Americans for the Arts, told the Associated Press that an estimated 10,000 arts organizations nationwide had shut down or were in danger of doing so. And as a result of the recession, The National Endowment for the Arts (NEA), the United States’ main agency responsible for government funding, will face a funding cut of 7.5 percent in 2011, from its already weak budget of $115 million.

For David Taylor, a professional dancer, making a living as an artist has never been easy. Trained in classical ballet and modern dance, Taylor has been dancing and choreographing for 41 years. But he says the meager funding in the U.S., coupled with recent economic instability, makes working a continual stressor.

“It’s unbelievably and constantly difficult, and it’s only getting worse,” Taylor said. “The first things they cut are the arts programs.”

Though organizations like the NEA exist to help arts organizations, Taylor says applying for and receiving grants almost isn’t worth the effort. “For the weeks and hours of filling out paperwork to get a grant, you only receive $10-15,000 in grants. It’s not worth the time. You can’t depend on grants, because one year you may get them, and the next year you’ll get nothing.”

So what’s an artist to do, if they want to avoid the “starving artist” stereotype?

Work. In as many areas as possible. Taylor’s career certainly reflects this. An adjunct faculty professor at CSU, Taylor has formed two dance companies, performs professionally, and teaches at up to six different dance schools per week. Similar to Ellins, he balances numerous tasks at once, and it’s the same situation for others in his field.

“In the U.S., some companies only perform for 24 weeks—it’s terrible,” Taylor said. “So dancers are picking up dance jobs if they can for a few weeks, then moving on to other companies. Sometimes they’re working six or seven jobs at a time.”

All That Jazz: differences between U.S. and European funding models

It’s obvious that American artists may face more challenges in their careers due to funding. But the greater question concerns why there is such generous support in Europe and so little in the United States. How is it for performers in European countries? In short, they have it easier. But it’s worth it to take a look at how they support their arts, as compared to the United States.

According to the 1999 Journal of Cultural Economics article “The Subsidized Muse: Government and the Arts in Western Europe and the United States,” by Annette Zimmer and Stefan Toepler, the difference in support can be attributed to public (government) vs. private funding.

Zimmer and Toepler conclude that in European countries, the governments “have played a dominant role particularly in the production of high culture, resulting in high levels of public spending for the arts and culture,” and “the government retain(s) almost exclusively the financial responsibility for the arts and culture.”

While in the United States, they say, funding is characterized by “a dominance of the private nonprofit sector both in the delivery and financing of arts and culture, with government only playing a supporting role.”

In the U.S., the government contributes very little to arts funding, in accordance with the American tradition of hands-off government policy. Monies for the arts come from nonprofit organizations, or from wealthy donors who support the arts. The problems arise when the U.S. has an economic downturn, such as the recent recession. Richer citizens make fewer donations, and money available for the nonprofits is reduced.

(Chart created from data found at http://www.suprastudio.aud.ucla.edu/summerarchive.html)

Whereas in Europe, artists can find stability in their careers. According to Taylor, European governments give enough money to provide full-time jobs for their artists.

“Performers in Europe get 52 weeks a year paid with vacations and benefits—a steady job,” Taylor said. “I’ve known dancers who have gone to Europe for the security of a paycheck.”

According to Ellins, European arts companies also have more flexibility in what they perform, because they don’t have to worry about appealing to a wide audience, as companies do in the United States.

“They (Europeans) have a lot more options with their programs, in that they can pick and choose what they want to perform,” Ellins said. “In the U.S. they do a lot more popular music in their programming that will draw more people.”

So why doesn’t the United States simply increase funding? Sadly, funding isn’t the only resource the U.S. government lacks. There is a widespread disinterest in the arts in the U.S., especially in genres that are considered “classical,” such as symphonic music and opera.

The divergence in attitude could also be a result of historical background. Taylor is from England, and thinks part of America’s negligence of the arts is due to its youth as a country.

“When I’m (in England), I’m driving through 2,000 years of history, while in the U.S. it’s only 200 years,” he said. “No matter where you go in European countries, from the largest city to the smallest town, they’ll have their own local opera, theater, symphony and dance company.”

William Osbourne, a composer and arts activist, made a similar observation in his 2004 article for ArtsJournal.com.

“Most cities and towns (in Europe) have thousand year histories that are reflected in the architectural and other cultural treasures of their various municipal centers. They employ…regulations, as well as public education, to protect their cities from the Wal-Martization that would be caused by embracing American-styled (cultural models). They would consider the losses to their cultural identity caused by corporate uniformity to be too great.”

It could also be that the U.S. attitude toward the arts is less reverent than that of Europe.

“I think there is less support and interest for the arts in the U.S. because it isn't considered one of the main three—reading, writing, and math,” said Hannah Pensack-Rinehart, a sophomore music and exercise science double major. “It is thought of and labeled as ‘extracurricular,’ and is therefore one of the first things to go when budget cuts need to be made, unfortunately.”

Hannah Pensack-Rinehart, a sophomore music and exercise science major, plays her harp at the CSU Harp Ensemble concert on May 1, at Zion Lutheran Church in Loveland.

According to Osbourne, the government funding for the arts is also used to educate citizens about the value of their culture, resulting in a greater appreciation and enjoyment in the plays, concerts and performances.

“Europeans combine arts education with the living presence of the performing arts within their communities,” he writes. “Classical music is far more relevant to young people when performing arts organizations are a highly present and esteemed part of their city or region. In America, the nearest genuinely professional full-time performing arts organization is often hundreds of miles away.”

Art is Long, Life is Short: why investing in the arts is essential

In discussing why it is important for governments to support the arts, it is relevant to wonder why the arts are important. According to Taylor, there is “a richness and history in dance and the arts. It’s an expression of the soul.”

The arts are also an economic stimulus. Policy makers may be surprised to learn that a thriving arts culture makes for a prosperous community.

In a 2002 study conducted by the nonprofit organization Americans for the Arts, analysts found that the U.S. nonprofit arts industry created $134 billion in economic activity each year, including $24.4 billion in federal, state, and local tax revenues.

In addition to financial gain, exposure to the arts is intellectually stimulating.

We’ve all heard about the pre-natal must for modern mothers: play some Mozart near your expanding belly, and as a result your baby is smarter. While experts continue to debate the validity of the Mozart Effect, numerous studies show that involvement in the arts may be enriching in a variety of ways.

In a 1988 study conducted by Michele and Robert Root-Bernstein, arts and culture crusaders with Ph.D’s in history science from Princeton University, researchers found that the most successful scientific geniuses were heavily involved in the arts.

The data showed that:

“the Nobel laureates and National Academy members were much more likely to:
• have one or more avocations (some as many as a dozen!) than their less successful colleagues;
• believe that knowledge of art, poetry, music, etc. was part-and-parcel of being an educated scientist;
• cite ways in which their avocations promoted their scientific work; and
• use a much wider range of mental "tools" during problem solving than their less successful colleagues, including various forms of two-, three-, and four-dimensional visual imaging, kinesthetic imaging, acoustic imaging, verbal and written forms, diagrams, and so forth.”

A Change of Tune: what now?

While there is little the U.S. government can do without fervent campaigns and endorsement from legislators, experts and artists alike agree that the U.S. needs more of one thing: arts education. After all, it seems to work for Europe.

“I have heard that funding for the arts has decreased dramatically (in the U.S.), especially in elementary and middle schools,” Pensack-Rinehart said.

Ellins, who teaches Pensack-Rinehart as part of the CSU harp ensemble, believes education early on will foster respect for classic and modern arts.

“We need more education in school: our youth need to appreciate the arts. I would like to see the budget for the arts improve too.”

She also advocates more companies establishing endowments to invest in their programs, as well as greater donations for the wealthy. However, since there is no certainty that the U.S. government will increase their support, American artists will have to cope the best that they can.

According to Ashley Greathouse, a junior music education major and another of Ellins’ students, it’s not so bad if the arts are your passion.

“I’ve heard of (lack of funding) and I know it’s really difficult,” Greathouse said. “But the thing is, if you love it, you’ll work hard and find a way to do it.”

Junior music education major Ashley Greathouse plays the harp at the CSU Harp Ensemble Concert on May 1, at Zion Lutheran Church in Loveland.

CSU Sees Increase in Minority Enrollment for the Semester

The number of minority undergraduates enrolled at Colorado State University, CSU, this semester was at 13.8 percent, putting it at the highest percentage in the last five years. The entire student population at CSU is 22,723.

“For spring 2011, we had 2,906 undergraduates who identified as minority; that is 14.3 percent of the total undergraduate student body,” said Robin Brown, CSU’s vice president for enrollment and access. “For spring 2011, we had 436 international undergraduates, which comprised 2.1 percent of all undergraduates.”

Excluding international students, 962 students (4.7 percent) of undergraduates did not identify their race or ethnicity. International students comprised 2.1 percent of all undergraduates.

Brown said she saw the increase as a welcome development because it showed that CSU’s effort to diversify its campus was yielding positive results.

“We are doing a much better job at reaching out to families and students and letting them know that we are a great option for them,” she said. “We have various scholarships and financial aids available to enable them afford the education here.”

When asked about assumptions from various students that the university admitted minority students just to further diversify its campus, Brown was quick to refute these statements.

“Such assumptions are not true. We admit any qualified student that we believe has the potential to succeed and graduate from CSU,” Brown said. “That is why we went to holistic file review instead of the old index 50 percent test score and 50 percent GPA being the admit criteria.”

She added that holistic file review has given CSU the opportunity to bring in students with many different geographic experiences, cultural experiences, creative and outstanding talents to campus, which in turn enriches the academic/classroom setting, as well as experiences outside the classroom for all students.

In terms of its minority numbers, CSU is not far off from its rivals, Colorado University, CU, Boulder. Although reports have not been released for this semester’s minority enrollment numbers, fall 2009 reports obtained from CU’s official website, www.CU.edu, showed that minority undergraduate enrollment was at 15 percent.

There was no change from fall 2008, as the minority undergraduate enrollment number for CU was at 15 percent for that semester too.

Matthew Lopez, who is CU’s associate director of admissions, said though the number did not change from fall 2008 to fall 2009, he was confident the institution was making great strides in ensuring that it created a more diversified and welcome environment for everyone.

“CU Boulder has always had very aggressive recruitment plans towards the establishment of an inclusive environment,” Lopez said. “This plan includes campus visit programs, scholarships, and retention programs that have one of the highest graduation rates for student of color in the region.”

According to the University of Denver’s website, www.du.edu, 19 percent of freshman undergraduates enrolled in the university for fall 2010 identified as minority.

Programs and Initiatives

In the past few years, CSU has implemented several programs in its bid to reach out to students from diverse backgrounds in high schools.

These programs include the Alliance Partnership Program, the Dream Project and the Reach Out Program. The Alliance Partnership Program was launched in fall 2007.

“These are all new programs in the past few years designed to increase enrollment of low income, first generation, and/or racial/ethnic diversity at the undergraduate level,” Brown said.

As part of the Alliance Partnership Program, CSU partners with 10 high schools around the state.

“These high schools are primarily in communities characterized by families with low income,” Brown said. “As part of the program, students that successfully gain admission to CSU receive an automatic $2,500 scholarship, with full tuition paid for in grants for Pell grant recipients.”

The Pell grant is a federal education grant targeted toward select students from low income families.

One of the first Alliance Partnership Program high school graduates enrolled at CSU in fall 2007 was Perez Ansah-Mensah. Ansah-Mensah, 20, graduated from Hinkley High School.

Ansah-Mensah, who is a junior business administration student, said following the program, he chose to attend CSU because he received more financial aid than the other schools he applied to.

“I applied to the University of Denver and the University of Colorado, Colorado Springs; however, the Alliance Partnership Program played an important role in me choosing CSU,” Ansah-Mensah said. “The partnership helped me with some of my tuition, and it is an annual aid I receive from CSU.”

The Dream Project, according to the CSU access center website, accesscenter.colostate.edu, assists low income and first-generation high school students in attaining higher education and to raise awareness among university students about the issues of educational opportunity and social mobility.

“Under the Dream Project, which is a CSU course as well as an outreach program, participating CSU students meet with the high school students to work on that week’s focus area, which varies from different social to political issues,” said Oscar Felix, who is CSU’s executive director of the access center.

According to the CSU access center website, accesscenter.colostate.edu, the goal of the Reach Out program is to develop learning and engagement opportunities in a way that historically underserved communities identify as important, as well as to increase access and opportunity to CSU for students of diverse background.

CU also has a wide range of programs geared toward students from diverse backgrounds, one of which, according to Lopez, is the CU Leadership, Excellence, Achievement and Diversity, CU-LEAD, Alliance.

“The goal of CU-LEAD is to provide a unique set of academic learning communities whose students, faculty and staff are united to promote inclusive excellence,” Lopez said. “Recipients receive a scholarship annually and may participate in the program for four years at CU-Boulder contingent upon their academic progress and fulfillment of program requirements.”

Side-bar: Student Perspective

Mido Al Hajji arrived at CSU in January 2006 from his home country, Saudi Arabia, with no prior knowledge about Fort Collins, or CSU except the recommendation about CSU from his friend who had been attending the university for a couple of months.

After Al Hajji settled at CSU, he realized that there was a large contingent of Saudi Arabian students at CSU.

“CSU hosts a large community of Saudi students, which makes it very appealing. The presence of a friend or relative makes the moving process much easier as far as sending or receiving paper works from school, setting up housing and bank accounts,”Al Hajji said.

Al Hajji, 23, who graduated last semester (fall 2010), said he found his stay at CSU exceptional.

“I was greatly welcome wherever I went. In my first couple of years at school, I would be rather shy and nervous to speak up and express myself in front of Americans because I wasn't confident enough of my English language,” he said. “But later on, I gradually started to feel quite normal as I made a lot of good friends and started to get more involved. CSU is a good host, indeed!”

According to Al Hajji, the Office of International Programs was quite helpful to him throughout his stay at CSU.

“They have a lot to offer and have been developing a lot of programs aimed towards accommodating international students,” he said. “They have have been really helpful in the times I needed logistic help.”

On his opinion on diversity at CSU, while Al Hajji admitted that the university lacked diversity, he also acknowledged that CSU is very active in trying to provide a more diverse environment.

“I know that most of my Saudi fellows who had decent high school grades have been admitted at CSU,” he said. “That indicates the fact that CSU opens its arms to everybody as long as good academic credentials are possessed.”

Ansah-Mensah agreed wholeheartedly with Al Hajji.

“My stay at CSU has been a welcome one, and I feel like CSU is doing a good job at trying to provide a more diverse campus environment,” Ansah-Mensah said. “However, I feel there is always still room for improvement, for instance, increasing grants for financial aid.”

Narrowing The Stereotype
By Mike Freismuth
At five in the morning the sun is just starting to shine on the star light sky. Most of the town still slumbers, hours away from waking to greet the day. However a not so average college sophomore, Morgan Ackley, is up at this ungodly hour. A student at Colorado State University, she is one of the few female Army ROTC cadets and she is about to join the other cadets for their morning physical training.
Ackley is one of 140,000 women carrying the flame of a tradition that is longer than the United States itself. For more than 230 years women have served a vital role in the United States Army. And over that time women have continually proven that limiting their choice of occupation in the military is wrong.
The physical training is “too easy,” Ackley says, “PT is nothing more than a maintenance program.”
After all Ackley did post one of the highest scores as an incoming freshman for the Physical Fitness Test and she was one of the few female cadets that competed in the Ranger Challenge. At 6:00 am cadets are to be at CSU’s intramural fields and in formation. After a quick roll call the Cadets break up into groups for a timed run up to five miles.
Just as in Army recruit training, male and female ROTC cadets train together, from PT to classroom sessions even out in field exercises, there is little segregation between the male and female cadets.
It hasn’t always been that way however, when the United States first created an Army during the Revolutionary war, women served more traditional roles such as nurses and camp cooks. As the years progressed so did the integration of women in the military.
In 1942 Congress approved a bill to create the Women’s Amy Auxiliary Corps, later re-named the Women’s Army Corps. Upon completion of basic training in the WAC women were assigned to units that had spaces for clerks, typists, drivers, and cooks.
Shortly after World War II the WAC schools and training centers were closed down, and it wasn’t until 1948 did President Eisenhower sign a bill integrating the WAC into the regular Army.
1962 marked the WAC’s 20th anniversary. The WAC’s strength grew to nearly 9,500 female soldiers.
It wasn’t until 1976 that women were admitted to all academics in the Army that men were admitted to, such as ROTC. One hundred twenty women enter the US Military Academy, to become the first female graduates in 1980.
After her grueling morning PT session, Ackley and the other Cadets attend military science classes twice a week, which provide leadership and tactical training. The classes provide Cadets with training beginning with basic military structure and conduct to tactics and battle scenarios, preparing them for their weekly labs.
The labs teach everything a Cadet needs to know for success as an Army Officer. They consist of weapons familiarization to battlefield tactics. “Even the females learn how to perform attacks and defenses,” says Junior ROTC Cadet Alex Bass, “because of the way the battlefield is changing; women are finding themselves closer to the front lines than ever before.”
This is very much true, due to the way war has changed in the modern era. Women casualties have undoubtedly increased from previous wars fought. Mainly due to the fact that there are no distinct front lines, women that go on convoys are vulnerable to attack. According to the U.S. Department of Defense over 900 females have been either killed or wounded in Iraq and Afghanistan.
The goal of the labs is to prepare the Cadets for Leadership Development and Assessment Course, which all Cadets take in the summer between their Junior and Senior year. LDAC is a five-week long leadership evaluation that takes place in Fort Lewis, Washington and is the Cadets’ capstone course. This course is designed to put Cadet’s in roles that they will test their leadership abilities as well as their ability to take responsibility of a large group of soldiers.
“Ackley is one of the most fearless young women I have seen come through the program,” says Lt. Col. Channing Moose, commanding officer of the CSU Army ROTC “Ram Battalion.” Not only is Ackley fearless but she is unselfish as she is always open to help out junior Cadets who may be struggling to grasp the knowledge.
Upon graduation of college Cadets are commissioned as 2nd Lieutenants in the Army. Before the end of their Junior year, Cadets pick a branch of the army, whether it is active, reserve, or national guard, and from there they decide on a Military Occupational Specialty. Men are completely unrestricted from what MOS they want to select, whereas women are barred from choosing an MOS that is a ground combat position.
Ackley carries on the legacy from the first women ROTC graduates in 1980, however she wants to begin a new legacy for women in the future.
“It really sucks,” says Ackley about how she feels about the Army’s policy to restrict females from being in combat roles. Ackley feels so strongly about how unfair women are treated in the military that she has written multiple papers on the subject, even a speech for one of her classes. She wants to be one of the pioneer women to serve in a combat unit. While it may be difficult to accomplish, it helps starting as an officer as it allows her to talk to key figures within the Army.
Despite the lack of opportunity, Ackley really enjoys the rewards that come with being an Army ROTC cadet; she has been able to ride in a black hawk helicopter. She has learned how to shoot a M16 assault rifle as well as how to take it apart and put it together in under two minutes. She has competed in the ROTC Army Ranger Challenge, which she vows never to do the grueling event again. She has spent three days in the mountains eating nothing but Meals Ready to Eat, and not being able to shower or sleep much. And maybe one day Ackley and other women will prove the stereotype wrong and integrate women into combat units.

Engineering Building Promises Innovation

Colorado State University's population has been growing steadily for the last few years; according to CSU admission records, by next fall, the projected attendance is expected to be 25,329 students. That is a 3.3 percent increase since last year with 800 more students entering. The College of Engineering is also seeing a significant rise in students, with the total student population doubling in the last five years.

Several plans have been drawn up by school officials to build, expand or remodel buildings on campus in response to the growth. The new additions are hoped to not only sufficiently accommodate more students, but to also make the campus more energy efficient and give it a more modern look.

Many of the school's plans have come to fruition and construction and remodeling projects have begun; most of which have already been completed. Some of the recently completed projects include a new parking garage on Lake Street, the Computer Science building adjacent to the plaza, an expansion of Rockwell Hall, and the Behavioral Sciences building.

"Many of these buildings have been in their planning stages for a very long time," said Vice-President of Finances, Lynn Johnson. "With all the new students coming in, there is no better time than now to put these plans into action."

Morgan Library and Engineering II are among the latest building projects in 2011.

Academic Construction

The new engineering building's current cost is over $65 million, one of the most expensive construction projects on campus alongside the Morgan Library remodeling project and Braiden/Parmelee Hall's fourth floor addition.

The building will have a number of new features: among which are a 24-hour study area within a three-story atrium that will be available to all students, new laboratories and classrooms, and an "engineering student success center". The success center will have resources for minority and women engineers, as well as advisors' offices and career centers and information all in one place.
With the new facilities also comes a new program plan for Engineering II. One of the implemented plans for the college is research groups that are organized into "pods". These pods represent a specific area of research for students and faculty to conduct research with other like-minded individuals.

According to the College of Engineering Program Plan, written in June 2008, the pods are just one of the ways that Engineering II will be designed to "facilitate the engagement of students, faculty, staff and visitors in new ways of discovery and learning".

Engineering II also plans on being a part of the Clean Energy Supercluster, a University-wide "academic infrastructure" made up of researchers, social scientists and business experts that will work in the facility. Research pods will be formed focusing on energy conservation, as well as society and environmental themes that will further facilitate the energy initiative.

In the past, utility savings from previous building upgrades were used to fund new projects at CSU. However, there is not an actual funding program in place to raise capital.

According to an operations & maintenance feasibility report that was written earlier in 2011, the proposed option to gain extra funds and increase efficiency within campus buildings is to remodel existing buildings to be LEED certified. This remodeling would allow the money normally spent on utilities and maintenance to go towards building projects.
Beginning in 2008, seven buildings at CSU met the conditions for LEED certification, and there will be five more that are on the verge of certification. Even before CSU began actively adopting green standards, the Lory Student Center's Transit Center addition and the Guggenheim Hall renovation had received LEED certification, gold and silver respectively.

Engineering II will be built for gold standard LEED certification (which is the second highest LEED certification), and will focus on the sustainability of water, energy and atmosphere, materials, resources and more.

In order for a building to get LEED certification, there are a number of prerequisites and standards that must be met. While many of these standards will increase the costs of the overall remodeling of the building, they create a more efficient building that will last for many years while reducing energy usage and keeping the general utility bills lower according to the U.S. Green Building Council. Some of the observed prerequisites are: plumbing fixture and fitting efficiency, energy efficiency performance, fundamental refrigerant management, sustainable purchasing policy, and solid waste management policy.

A Student View

In the face of these changes, student's opinions remain mixed, with some being excited for the project, while others either disapprove or do not care at all. Physics major, Ben Griego has a bittersweet view about the building.

"There are some nice ideas that are being put into [the Engineering II building] that will definitely make future students have a better learning experience," Griego said. "I just wish I could use some of the stuff they are planning for it now. I won't be around long enough to see its completion."

While most engineering students who were confronted about the building had mainly positive thoughts regarding it, other students from outside the engineering field wanted more pressing building issues on campus to be addressed first.

"It doesn't make sense how all of these buildings are getting brand-new classrooms and remodeled, while the visual arts building still barely has any working windows and a leaking roof," said art major Kaitlyn Birdsall, calling the art building a "deathtrap".

Ashley Lauwereins, a CSU technical journalism major, also thought that CSU's priorities were "in the wrong place".

"I don't have a problem with construction, especially since CSU really does need it," Lauwereins said, "But there are buildings that desperately need more work and attention than they are getting."

Some students also had concerns about where the funding for the new building is coming from. This question did not arise from the construction of Engineering II alone, but also from the other projects happening on campus.

"I want to know how CSU affords all of the construction around campus," Katherine Carmichael said. "I've been going here for five years, and have seen massive amounts of construction -- some that I'll never see results of despite paying for part of it."

Lynn Johnson stated that tuition will not rise to accommodate the costs of the projects. However, students may be seeing an increase in their student fees.

In the case of Engineering II, a majority of the costs will be covered by the facility fee that students voted for in 2007. The rest will be made up of private gifts, such as alumni Suzanne and Walter Scott's $10 million contribution, and indirect research costs.

Engineering II's estimated completion is June 2013. The building itself will be ready for use by students and faculty by fall of the same year. It will be located on the corner of Meridian Avenue and Laurel Street north of Green Hall.