May 2, 2010 – Page 2 – The Oredigger

Kick-Ass redefines the superhero

With all the excitement due to the upcoming release of Iron Man 2 in May, many superhero fanatics find themselves craving a movie to wet their appetite for adventure and over the top action, a movie such as Kick-Ass.

From the beginning of Kick-Ass, the main character Dave Lizewski, (Aaron Johnson), defines himself as the socially awkward high school outcast. He goes on to explain that his life is rather average in the fact that he is neither extremely smart nor is he extremely athletic. The girl of his dreams doesn’t notice him, even when she looks directly at him.

Santiago’s proves half and half isn’t only for coffee

From the Colorado School of Mines, head down Washington Street towards highway 58 to find a small Mexican restaurant called Santiago’s. Santiago’s is known as the home to some of the best breakfast burritos, making it a campus favorite.

These are not your run of the mill breakfast burritos. Santiago’s actually shapes their burritos, well…like burritos, contrary to the bizarre-shaped versions offered at other burrito joints. And unlike other restaurants, these burritos remain intact while they are being eaten.

Tau Beta Pi initiates largest class in history

On Monday, April 26th the Colorado Alpha Chapter of Tau Beta Pi Engineering Honor Society initiated 61 new members into the organization. To be eligible for Tau Beta Pi membership, you must be in the top eighth of the junior class or top fifth of the senior class. Candidates for Tau Beta Pi must also demonstrate good character and integrity by completing an interview process. Tau Beta Pi is an active honor society on campus and sponsors the annual E-Days Cardboard Boat Race and Trebuchet Contest. Tau Beta Pi members also participate in a number of community and campus service events, including the Castle of Cans food drive, EPICS II Judging, and Engineering Futures sessions.

LAIS expands program opportunities

You may think of Liberal Arts and International Studies (LAIS) as a pision that offers some writing classes but no majors, masters programs or real value for a Mines graduate. But that old reputation is rapidly changing. LAIS still offers required courses like Nature and Human Values and Human Systems, but it also has growing offerings in minors like STEP (Science, Technology, Energy, and Policy), LSE (Literature, Society and Environment), Humanitarian Studies, IPE (International Political Economy), and an outstanding masters’ program called MIPER (Masters in International Political Economy of Resources). MIPER has no GRE requirement and can be completed with a Mines undergraduate degree in as little as an additional year.

Headlines from around the world: 5-3-2010

Democratic Denver Mayor, John Hickenlooper, has raised about 1.1 million dollars towards his campaign since he entered the race for Colorado governor in January. His campaign began when incumbent Bill Ritter announced that he would not seek reelection.

The unemployment rate in Spain was reported to be up to 20.05 percent from 19 percent in the last quarter. Spain has the second highest unemployment in Europe after Latvia, and the government says that there are 4.6 million unemployed people in the country.

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CSM Mining Team brings home bronze

For the first time in three years, the Colorado School of Mines attended the International Intercollegiate Mining Competition, regarded as the measuring stick for worldwide mining universities. Consisting of seven events based on historical mining methods, the games were established to commemorate the 91 Idaho miners lost in the 1972 Sunshine Mine Disaster. At this year’s competition, held in Kalgoorlie, Australia on April 8 and 9, the Oredigger team placed second in four events, solidifying an overall bronze medal in the games.

Mines continues to support Haiti

Amidst cramming for final tests, projects, and papers, it is easy to lose sight of everything you experienced and learned this semester. In two weeks, you will probably be ready to get past the struggles of these last weeks. But before you check out, I’d like to return your attention to another ongoing struggle: disaster relief in Haiti.

The earthquake on January 12 that killed some 230,000 people garnered support from around the world, and Mines was not absent from the efforts. Late January, a committee formed to fundraise for Haiti relief by selling used textbooks donated by students and faculty. The result was at least 240 books donated, 38 books sold, and nearly $1,000 raised to be donated to the American Red Cross!

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AISES Powwow Parties Down

Katie Huckfeldt / Oredigger

Friday night in the Field House, Mines celebrated its 3rd annual David Nelson Friendship Powwow. The event, hosted by the American Indian Science and Engineering Society (AISES), showcased Native American culture with food, dance and fun. The event arose as a tribute to David Nelson, a former CSM student and active AISES member, in hope that his spirit may be honored through the energy of the night.
The event began with a sampling of free traditional food including Navajo tacos, and flat bread. Ben Michaud, a freshman at Mines, commented on the food saying, “I have never had flatbread before and it’s quite the experience-a good one.” Another student, Emily Nicholas, agreed saying, “The food is amazing.” But aside from the draw of free food, student came to enjoy the culture of the night.

Tech Break: Early 2010 MacBook Pro 13″

By all reports, Apple’s 13-inch MacBook Pro is its hottest-selling computer these days, and for good reason. The price isn’t stratospheric, its features are well-balanced, its style is impeccable and its battery life is superb. However, the cheapest aluminum Apple portable had been lagging behind the rest of the computer world, foregoing the latest graphics and CPU technologies… until April 13. At that point, Apple announced specification bumps across the board for their MacBook Pro line. At first glance, the 13-inch MacBook Pro was the least impacted by these changes as this model still includes a Core 2 Duo processor, with only the most minor of speed increases. Yet there were two very important enhancements made to that line: significantly better graphics and significantly better battery life.

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Geek of the Week: Ashley Young, Senior, Chemical and Biochemical Engineering

Courtesy Melinda Bartel

Do you consider yourself a geek?
Well, I am definitely a band geek. And I’m probably an all-around geek too, because I like things like calculus and public policy.

What is the geekiest thing you own?
I have a large costume closet because I like to dress up, especially for McBride presentations. I have safari and mafia outfits and home-made pirate costumes. Also, I kept my AP Government study guide that I wrote in high school to study for the test.

What is the geekiest thing you’ve ever seen or done?
I’ve memorized the first 25 digits of Pi. I can solve a Rubik’s cube in less than 3 minutes. And I know all the US and European capitals.

Daily Archives: May 2, 2010