Articles by Emily McNair

Emily McNair is a down-to-Earth artist who is rarely seen without some form of video game regalia. She is from the small town of Monument, Colorado and loves to spend her precious spare time outdoors. She has been with The Oredigger for three years and is currently Managing Editor. She is working on a degree in chemical engineering and will graduate in May.

Scientific discoveries this week: 10/28/13

Stanford Woods Institute – Rebecca and Doug Bird have found that Aboriginal hunters in Australia use hunting methods that increase the populations of the animals that they hunt. The Aboriginal hunters use fire to clear patches of land. This practice creates areas of regrowth that enhance habitats. Scientists used the populations of monitor lizards to study the habitats and found that the lizards were more abundant in the Aboriginal hunting areas.
University of Montana, Missoula, Montana – James W. Sears of the University of Montana proposed that the Colorado River could have once flowed into the Labrador Sea. The river would have flowed toward the southwest corner of the Colorado Plateau and turned north into the vicinity of Lake Mead. The river would have then flowed across the Rockies to the Great Plains and joined the pre-ice age Bell River. The Bell River then discharged into the Labrador Sea.

Game Review: The Last of Us

When a deadly fungus infects the world’s food supply, everyone is left to fend for himself. People infected by the mutagen roam the streets in search of their next kill, and the few survivors have to cower in fear. These survivors go up against impossible odds to survive. In these deplorable conditions, morality has all but disappeared. The one bright spot in this torn-up world is the relationship between Joel and Ellie. In their fight for survival, they prove that, even during the apocalypse, there is always some hope for humanity.

South Table Mountain’s demise

South Table Mountain’s time has come and gone. The Golden City Council has now approved a plan to destroy this monumental stone landmark. Residents of Golden have been complaining about South Table’s aesthetics for years. The boxy mountain blocks views of otherwise beautiful sunrises and is a horrible eyesore.

A new version of reality – Portal Gun

For years, professors at the Colorado School of Mines have been working in secret to create the world’s most coveted fictional device—the portal gun. This device is the Mona Lisa for geeks everywhere. As popularized in the game “Portal,” this gun allows people to move between two places without going through the area in between. The user shoots a blue portal on one surface and an orange one on another. When he walks through the blue portal, he emerges from the orange one. This simple manipulation of space proved to be quite the engineering conundrum. Scientists all over the world have tried to perfect the device since its debut in 2007, but only recently have any been successful.

Updated Campus Drug and Alcohol Policy

With recent changes in Colorado Law, Mines has updated its Alcohol and Other Drugs Education and Prevention Policy. However, due to Mines’ status as a federal contractor, these new laws do not significantly change anything on campus. The Drug Free Schools and Communities Act of 1989 requires universities to have programs that prevent the use of illegal drugs on campus. However, the definition of “illegal drugs” comes from the federal government, not the state. This poses a major dilemma in Colorado.

Too many uses for duct tape

Everyone knows about that wonderful grey tape that can repair everything from shoes to furniture, but lately the household staple has been under fire. From teachers using the stuff to quiet children to cowards using it to fake their own kidnappings, one must wonder if the creator of duct tape realized what his invention would do for society.

Should Americans wear the Postal Service?

Everyone in America knows about the United States Postal Service (USPS), the friendly people that drive those ugly trucks down the street just to put advertisements in mailboxes. Yet, the Postal Service does much more for the average American. In some ways, it is a symbol of good old American ingenuity. After all, these people go house to house nearly every day, in both the snow and rain, just to deliver seemingly useless paper. Now, those friendly faces that once brightened days may be gone. With the looming fiscal crisis and USPS’s lack of business sense, those white trucks may be coming to an end unless something happens.

Bastion: The Simple yet Addicting RPG

The Calamity destroyed the world as everyone knew it. Cities crumbled, mountains fell, and forests burned. Only a few people survived the disaster, and even fewer knew how to reverse its effects. In a glorious quest to rebuild the Bastion, the character known as the Kid faces countless villains in an effort to collect cores and learn the truth about the Calamity.

Assassin’s Creed 3: An Imperfect trip to the past

“Assassin’s Creed 3,” the fifth installment of the popular franchise, takes players to the beginning of the Revolutionary War. Connor, an American Indian, must fight to protect his home and, in doing so, realizes that his life will never be the same. As the continuation of an established franchise, “Assassin’s Creed 3” builds upon the previous games, providing some new features, but in other ways falling short.

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