Vol. 32 – Issue 12 | THURSDAY March 22, 2012 999 Tahoe Boulevard, Incline Village, NV | www.sierranevada.edu

S i e r r a N e v a d a C o l l e g e

The opportunity has always been there, but few students have heard it knocking.

For the past five years, Sierra Nevada College has had a formal Study Abroad program, although not many students seem to know about it.

Director of Academic Support Services Henry Conover has been involved with the program for four years and believes that more students should be aware of it.

Conover has a heap of information and recommends that anyone interested in the program should come talk to him. He would like to pro-mote the program at the beginning of every fall semester with a Study Abroad fair, much like the career fair SNC of-fers.

“Offering more presentations would definitely create awareness for the students who want to know about it, so they know the opportunity is there,” said Conover.

Conover said that some students may not pursue the program because it takes a lot of dedication and work. Prior to studying abroad, there is a lot of preparation and planning students have to do which he thinks is why some students don’t go.

“Unless they have an adventurous spirit, they might not pursue it,” said Conover.

Before traveling abroad students must

both attain a visa, a process that in some international bureaucracies is known to be quite difficult, and get an approval that their credits will transfer. Students want to make sure they are utilizing their time spent away.

Conover suggested that SNC could be more strategic and have a fair about the program.

“We work with Global Links and Inter-national Studies Abroad. It would help to have them on campus and to have students

stop by and ask questions,” said Conover.

He explained that the program utilizes a couple of the companies that help organize and structure the Study Abroad ex-perience, so most parts of the world are represented.

ISA offers trips to Europe, Cen-tral America,

South America as well as parts of Asia. Through GlobalLinks, students can travel to Europe as well as Asia, New Zealand and Australia.

“Most of the time in whatever country they are going to, there are multiple univer-sities they can attend,” said Conover. “It’s usually focused around the studies of the student, but there are different opportuni-ties such as service learning or volunteer-ing in some capacity.”

In September 2010 a three-credit class known as NWGN 430: Burning Man Installation embarked on a journey to Black Rock City, the third largest city in Nevada for one week out of the year. Twelve students spent the semes-ter planning, building and preparing for this week in the harsh environment of the Black Rock Desert, or “playa.” In 2012, due to a lack of tickets, the class is in dan-ger of not happening.

There have been many changes to the Burning Man ticketing system since 2010, as the event sold out its 50,000 tickets for the first time in 2011. Rather than the first-come, first-served ticketing system, event organizers decided to try a “lottery” sys-tem. Burners had the option to select from three separate price tiers, and three ran-dom separate drawings were held. The idea had many long-time burners raising their eyebrows.

After the lotteries happened and the dust settled, thousands of people found themselves without tickets. A panic spread through the community and Burning Man organizers sent out emails apologizing for whatever had happened. A later email stated that there had been “nearly three times tickets requested than tickets available.”

This year’s SNC trip is being organized by Professor Russell Dudley and Gallery Director, SNC alumnus Logan Lape.

“I believe we put in for 22 tickets through

a variety of people, to get the 16 we would need to go. We got six,” said Lape. The event organizers estimated that only 20 percent of the people needed to create the established theme camps received tickets.

Burning Man class uncertain due to ticket issues

COURTESY OF LOGAN LAPESNC ALUMNUS LOGAN LAPE AND PROFESSOR RUS-SELL DUDLEY stand together during the 2010 class NWGN 430: Burning Man Installations.

BY JASON PALADINONews Editor

SEVEN YEARS OF NATIONAL EXCELLENCE

Oh yeah? MHMM. Turn to page 11

Index News.............................1,6,7Campus............................2,3

Forum..............................4,5 Sports..............................8,9Features..........................10,11

Outdoor..........................12A&E................................13,14,15

Study Abroad program aims to get more students involvedBY ELIZA DEMAREST Contributor

See BURNING MAN, 6

“

“

“Offering more presen-tations would definitely create awareness for the students who want to know about it, so they know the opportunity is there.”Henry ConoverDirector of Academic Support Services

See STUDY ABROAD, 7

Sierra Nevada College Ski and Snowboard teams return to Lake Tahoe as national

champions once again

Eagle’s Eye

PATI SAINZ DE ROZAS

Turn to pages 8 and 9 to view photos and read about the Eagle experience.

Meet the SNC Championship Ski and Snowboard Team Athletes Tonight

6 p.m. March 22 at the Tahoe Biltmore$40 ticket includes dinner and cash bar

For tickets, contact Leroy Hardy (775) 881-7519

THURSDAY, March 22, 2012Eagle’s Eye 2 CAMPUS

of eventsCalendar

MARCH 22: THURSDAYCo-ed Soccer VS. Tahoe Blue

Painting9 p.m.

Incline Recreation Center

MARCH 22: THURSDAYClimate Change Lecture

5:30 - 8 p.m.TCES 139/141

MARCH 22: THURSDAYMeet the SNC Championship Ski and

Snowboard Team Athletes6 p.m., Tahoe Biltmore

$40/personIncludes dinner and cash bar

For tickets, contact Leroy Hardy (775) 881-7519

MARCH 23: FRIDAYSNC Movie Night

Departs Patterson Lobby6 p.m.

MARCH 24: SATURDAYSnow Down Open Big Air

& Dual Slalom CompetitionVS. SNC Ski & Snowboard Teams

Prizes IncludedSee Patterson Lobby for detailsRegistration at Patterson Lobby

Deadline 3/23

MARCH 24: SATURDAY2012 SNC Snow Down

12 - 4:30 p.m.Diamond Peak

MARCH 29: THURSDAY21st Century Speaker Series:Standards and Assessments

6:30 - 8:30 p.m. TCES 139/141

APRIL 4: TUESDAYBohemia Night

Time TBDPatterson Hall

APRIL 4: TUESDAYTie-dye & Hair Dye

Time TBDPatterson Hall

The Eagle’s Eye is produced by the Journalism students of Sierra Nevada College.

Managing EditorSavannah Hoover

News EditorJason Paladino

Campus EditorRich Cooch

Assistant Photo EditorsPatricia Sainz De Rozas

Assistant Photo Editor Danny Kern

Sports EditorAndrew Dunning

A&E EditorChelsea De La Rosa

Assistant A&E EditorNikka Campora

Copy Editor / Advertising Director Caitlin Khoury

Features EditorJennifer Sheridan

ReportersLiz HillJake PollockSpencer OwenPatrick Hoeppner

ContributorsMarissa StoneEliza DemarestRicko ErikssonTaylor PuscBrett Sobaski

AdviserTanya Caninotcanino@sierranevada.edu

Letters to the Editor:eagleseye@sierranevada.edu

Advertising:Please contact Caitlin Khoury at 603.913.5325 or email caitlinkhoury@yahoo.com

Corrections Policy:The Eagle’s Eye strives to be accurate, fair and complete in its coverage and corrects significant errors of fact. If you see an error, please e-mail eagleseye@sierranevada.edu or call 530.581.1020.

Corrections:In the March 1 edition of the Eagle’s Eye Aaron Wiener’s name was misspelled in the headline “Aaron Wiener named this year’s Mt. Sierra Nevada College”. A climber was omitted from the story “Climbing club competes in first event of season at Sonoma University” His name is Joseph Bianco. Camilla Rinman is the vice president of the Climbing Club. In the Presidents Cup article, Sabrina Belleci’s last name was incor-rect, along with the name of her company, Community Applications. The investment asking price was $6,200.We regret these errors.

Eagle’s Eye mission statementThe Eagle’s Eye is a student-run publication which covers news of interest and importance to the greater Sierra Nevada Col-lege community. We will remain open to your feedback as the Eagle’s Eye progressively im-proves.

The Eagle’s Eye is a member of:

A message from President Lynn Gillette

The staff of the Eagle’s Eye has graciously offered me the chance to write this column, an opportu-nity which I am pleased to accept.

I am passionately committed to student learning and to Sierra Nevada College. Nationwide, higher education is at the beginning of a revolution that could transform student learning. Current re-

search reveals that too many colleges are characterized by large classes where students sit quietly in lectures and where they rarely interact with faculty members inside or outside the classroom. In short, students are spectators.

At SNC, we are different. Here, learning is not a spectator sport—we actively engage students. Common sense and research both suggest that deep learning occurs when one is truly connected. Great colleges—and I consider SNC one—design curricular and co-curricular activities that engage students’ hearts and minds. That is where the magic of learning occurs. We are truly at the frontier of education, and I am convinced that the future of higher education depends on the types of innovation our faculty routinely produce here.

Let me share an example. Could you imagine trying to teach someone how to ski by merely lecturing to them? It is an absurd thought. Yet, the vast majority of collegiate classes do just this. At SNC, we believe that one learns how to ski by skiing, how to write by writing, and how to lead by leading.

We do quite well in skiing, actually. Please congratulate our ski and snowboard teams for their success at the 2012 National Championships. Here are the results:

Women’s Skiing: National ChampionsMen’s Skiing: National ChampionsWomen’s Snowboarding: 2nd Place Men’s Snowboarding: National ChampionsWomen’s Freestyle Skiing: National ChampionsMen’s Freestyle Skiing: 3rd Place Extraordinary, yes, but it doesn’t tell the complete story. We can celebrate the excellence of these athletes

in the classroom as well as on the mountain. Our SNC athletes are excellent students: the average GPA of these athletes is 3.50. Our coaches, Branko Zagar, Spencer Reeves, and Jon Cherry have demanded excel-lence out of each of them.

Next, I want to congratulate the staff of this paper, which recent-ly took Second Place for Best in Show at the Associated Collegiate Press Conference. Faculty members June Saraceno and Tanya Cani-no have been instrumental leaders for their students.

Suppose this newspaper did not exist, and your objective was to design an academic experience that engages students while improv-ing their writing. You might want to get students to spend hour after hour writing, editing, and preparing a finished product. Could you think of a better example than this paper? June and Tanya have engineered an incredible learning experience that engages each of the students listed in the masthead below.

These are just two of endless examples of active learning at SNC that I will share in this column. I would like to challenge every faculty and staff member on this campus—and those of you in the larger community—to think about how to create more of these ex-periences.

THURSDAY, March 22, 2012 www.sierranevada.edu 3CAMPUS

BY RICH COOCHCampus Editor

What brought you to Lake Tahoe? My brother was a single dad so I moved up here to help him with his son and to

continue my college education, and at that time I was at Truckee Meadows Community College. I had my Associate of Arts from santa Barbara City College and continued to prosper at TMCC.

Tell us a little of your educational background.While studying at Santa Barbara city col-

lege, I initially only wanted to spend two years. However, as I dove into my studies I found that SBCC has a program in dance and theater arts, so that sparked my fancy to con-tinue for a third year. After moving to Tahoe, I obtained residency by attending TMCC so that I wouldn’t have to pay out of state tuition at The University of Nevada at Reno. After spending a year driving up and down Mt. Rose, I was a little on the fence of whether to continue my education or to travel. During that summer (2001), I got a phone call from my landlord telling me that SNC was offer-

ing 10 scholarships to residents of Incline Village. It was a full tuition scholarship so I decided to apply. I got all my transcripts, essays and general applications turned in and then two weeks later I got a phone call telling me that I had received the scholarship and that I would begin school in two weeks. I came here for my orientation and met with my advisor, Anne Shipley, who had my whole schedule laid out, thus beginning my journey at SNC. Due to my transfer credits, I spent 3 years working on my BFA with an emphasis on painting and drawing. I had one year left on my scholarship so I went to the board and asked them if they would allow me to enter the Teacher Education Department, and I completed the program in 11 months.

That’s quite the journey. Do you do any traveling for leisure, versus business?This last summer we went to Alaska, Paul and I. We started out in Vancouver then

traveled all the way up to Fairbanks. We took a cruise up the inside passage to Seaward, Alaska, and then drove from there up through Talkeetna, up to Fairbanks. But throughout the years we’ve been traveling mostly to Maine; “into the wicked forest, bub” as they say. I do aspire to go to Europe, but haven’t gotten there yet - one day. Lord knows I need to visit my Italian SNC family too.

Speaking of Maine, which is better: East or West Coast lobster? It’s a hard choice because being from the West Coast I’m used to pulling those bugs

from the ocean and putting them on the barbecue with a “big bucket o’ buttah.” But then on the East Coast, you’ve got those big beautiful claws.

You seem to be a veteran Tahoe enthusiast, where is your “spot?”I’ll tell you my second favorite spot because the first favorite is my own little Tahoe

secret. It’s in the lake and you can only access it by boat because it’s literally out in the lake. There’s a rock near Thunderbird Lodge that just barely peaks out of the water, so when you stand on it it looks as if you’re standing on water.

If you could change the world with one Facebook post, what would you write?“Don’t mistake my kindness for weakness.”

““

“I’m used to pulling those bugs from the ocean and putting them on the barbecue with a big bucket o’ buttah.”

Lizzie HernandezDirector, Student Affairs

COURTESY OF LIZZIE HERNANDEZLIZZIE HERNANDEZ, DIRECTOR OF STUDENT AFFAIRS smiles on an Alaskan cruise vacation.

Faculty of the FortnightLizzie Hernandez

THURSDAY, March 22, 2012Eagle’s Eye 4 FORUM

SAVANNAH HOOVER

“Our endless days are numbered.”

How six days with no plans prepared me for a lifetime of spontaneous travel and strange encountersIdleness has never been my strong suit.

Perhaps that's why I list six states when people ask where I'm from. Per-

haps that's why I love to drive. Perhaps that's also why I spontaneously decided to spend Spring Break drifting through South-ern California with no plans whatsoever.

Here's what I knew before the trip: It was Thursday. My roommate Kat would travel with me, and the only ride available would be leaving in two hours.

With a glance we agreed, packed our backpacks and hopped in a car to San Fran-cisco.

Our first night was at my friend Ducky's house, comfortable and warm. We played Scrabble and went to bed with dogs at our feet. Fresh ground coffee was brewed when we woke up. Before heading south, we walked across the hillside discussing the adventure ahead. The next leg of our journey would take us to a bed in San Luis Obispo, but where our heads would fall each night afterward was a mystery. Our laughter was electrified with anticipation.

My eager questions squeezed into con-versation with Ducky on the way down the coast. One of my first inquiries was if his friends with would think we were strange. Though I'm a fan of our style, Kat and I can come across as grungy, gypsy-like girls with somewhat offbeat humor and holes in our shoes. Only a moment's hesitation made me question his honesty when he said, "Nah... You guys are fine." San Luis Obispo

We arrived in San Luis Obispo around 8 p.m. Friday to the typical collegiate apart-ment. A few people were home, but they were tucked into bed with the TV tuned. I traced rings from cups previously stuck to the table while I absorbed the awkward vibes inherent in situations like this. Four people who barely share one mutual friend are gathered in a kitchen with nothing to talk about. Within 10 minutes, Kat was booking our train tickets for the next day.

Saturday morning meant strapping on our backpacks and bounding for the beach before our train that afternoon. For any lo-cal, Pismo Beach was unsuitable for vis-iting—clouds crossed the sky and a chill breeze blew off the ocean—but after a dis-appointing winter, nothing looked better to Tahoe kids. Despite forgetting a towel and blanket, I dove in and soaked up the sea.

Now headed south, we got in touch with Andrew and Tista, a cou-ple friends who were in Los Angeles for the break. "Fortune favors the bold," Tista informed us, so that is precisely how we continued.

Before boarding the train to Santa Bar-bara, a woman approached us, offering us jobs and a place to stay. Her face was lined with concern for two traveling girls, but I couldn't let her fret. I informed her that we were just enjoying time off from classes and would return to school the fol-lowing week. I thanked her for the oppor-tunity, and her face eased into a smile. This motherly stranger was relieved we weren't in trouble, or running from it.

The two-hour train ride showed us the best of SoCal: cliff-covered coastline,

happy cows on the hills and a sunset to color every inch of the sea and country. The viewing car had large windows so you couldn't miss a thing. I sipped coffee, wrote and doodled while my reflection did the same. Santa Barbara

We stepped off the train to fad-ing remnants of daylight and street lamps illuminating the dense ocean air. We didn't have a place to stay, so we wandered. Each passerby knew more about Santa Barbara than we did, but the first person we approached was Omar. He was a thin-ner man, white-haired and mustached, wearing a fleece jacket and name-brand khakis. He crossed our path after popping out of a boatyard's shrubbery. Kat asked the sprightly gentleman where we could find a cheap piece of pizza and with that inquiry, we were whisked into an evening of fine din-ing and even finer conversation.

Our traveling spirits sparked stories from his long-haired days of youth, and he told us about his early journeys through Tur-key and the U.S. We scrutinized modern politics and psychology over plates of swordfish, squid and octopus. Fire towers were littered around the Greek restaurant's quiet tables and one warmed our talk quite nicely.

While eating, I got a response about a place to stay through my Couchsurfing ac-count. The house was ready whenever we wanted. Though Omar had offered us an open house by this time, we were relieved to have our first option come through. You can't expect much as a guest who only needs a place to sleep for a night, but even the front door surprised me. Upon our knock, our host opened the heavy glass to a gorgeous, airy floor plan with high ceilings and a spectacular view—another warm and wonderful home. Kyle's wisdom teeth were recently removed, but he still talked with us late into the evening despite the ice bag on his jaw.

I couldn't help but smile until I fell asleep. I was fascinated by the people we were meeting by chance and what we had in common with our new friends. We gave

up on plans, released our fate to the wind and found ourselves in the middle of a grand adventure. Something buzzed beneath my skin, some great joy that sang me to sleep over Santa Bar-bara that night. Sunday morning started late, but

my eyes were wide with the possibili-ties for the day. Where to next? I won-dered.

As if to read my mind, Kat slid into the room with a crooked smile.

"So there's this lady Kiki that I found on Ride Share, and we can catch a ride down to L.A. with her if we drive her car." I read Kat's face, thought about it

and accepted the task in a second. Why the hell not.

Our sleeping bags protruded off our backpacks as we said goodbye to Kyle. We met Omar at the Daily Grind Coffeehouse, and talked over coffees until Kiki arrived, and it was time to leave Santa Barbara.

Tossing our packs into a Pontiac, we in-troduced ourselves. Kiki was dressed in a breezy top, jeans and sneakers. Her large sunglasses and friendly smile comple-mented her short bob and bangs. Meeting her made me wonder who was crazier—the woman who asks complete strangers to chauffeur her to the city or the women who accept such a job.

As the drive revealed, none of us were crazy at all. We were simply kindred spirits with no intentions of wasting a single chance to experience something

new. As we came up to a large dune cascad-

ing down to the road, Kiki told us she had always wanted to climb it. After dozens of missed opportunities over the years, she decided that this day was the perfect chance. I parked the car, kicked my shoes off and shot up the side of the hill.

Between the endless view of the ocean and my bounding heart, I knew I was alive there. The warm sun kissed me and my companions, and I knew they were alive, too. Nothing feels quite as good as doing exactly what makes you happy, never mind the risk of looking marginally insane. Our energy sent us flying down the sand, laugh-ing past cautious kids and their parents.

Our time with Kiki ended far too soon when we pulled into Santa Monica, but we knew we'd stay in touch. We hugged and thanked her goodbye and tromped onto the beach. Social networking at its finest. Santa Monica

With each new destination, our sleep-ing arrangements became more and more precarious. The only hostel in town was full and the friends we'd be meeting didn't have much space to offer. However, fortune favors the bold, so we carried on.

As my caffeine addiction requires, we stopped to grab coffee within a couple hours of arrival. The baristo perked up to our unexpected kindness and rough appear-ance, and he asked us our story. We gave him a quick summary, and he was charmed into wanting to get to know us. Though he had to return to work, he wanted to hang out afterward, so we gave him our numbers and continued our carefree journey.

Awhile later, we met Andrew and Tista at the beach. In a sense, they were the rea-son we found our way to Santa Monica, but now seeing them was a part of some-thing much bigger. Each moment of this journey had been a series of instantaneous actions in the hopes of happiness. We were far from disappointed at the results so far, if not purely ecstatic. The boys shared our excitement and wished us luck when we parted ways after dark. We headed back to the lively streets.

We were moving so quickly through people and places, I began to wonder what others thought of us. Two kids opening to whatever fate had in mind for them, re-fusing to slow down due to uncertainty. We were outside our comfort zones and shaking up everyone else's. Our presence could've easily been overwhelming. How do rocks view the rushing river?

Before even finding a bench to sit on, Jake from the coffee shop called and we

met him in front of a hotel. If he turned out to be an entirely strange stranger, we knew we could always come back and grab a room. We were all aware of how odd it was for us to be in that situation, but we hit it off and walked to his apartment. I made sure to tell Andrew and Tista of our whereabouts, just in case, but the worry proved unwar-ranted. He was simply a hospitable guy ac-knowledging the opportunity to meet new people, not unlike us. After several hours of chatting and playing music, he and his roommates offered their couches to us for the night.

We woke up Monday morning with the urge to make a big, delicious breakfast for, well, our new family. We ate egg, veggie and cheese burritos topped with pineapple salsa on the porch, looking out across San-ta Monica rooftops. The only task for the afternoon was to secure a ride home the next day, and once I confirmed it, we took a cruise on a couple loaned bikes with Jake. We watched Cirque de Soleil perform-ers practice on the boardwalk, tried some tricks ourselves, took a dip in the ocean and retired in the sand. Not much was ac-complished, but relaxing in the sun was a well-deserved luxury.

We stayed in Santa Monica another night and met an even wilder assort-ment of characters. My personal favorite was Neighbor Frank. Frank's day began at 8 a.m. with rockin' music blaring from every

opening in his home. This meant our day also began at 8 a.m., but I

wasn't bothered. With his happy de-meanor, he could be excused from al-most any social misstep. He also pro-duced his own films and made his own ice cream, furthering my tolerance of whatever he did.

Our friend Pete was on his way down from Big Bear to pick us up when we

realized how fast our trip had gone. Saying goodbye to Jake and his friends was dou-bly difficult because we'd spent so much time with them and because our adventure through the unknown was coming to an end. We made one last feast before packing up Pete's Jeep and heading home.

Kat and I were still exhilarated about what we'd done, but we couldn't quite fath-om it yet. Never again would we have that exact adventure or even be able to retell it in its entirety, but it happened and it was beyond our expectations.

We were unsatisfied with the comforts of staying still for our Spring Break, so we took an opportunity to suck the marrow out of life. Each moment was an explosion for our senses; every step a new path for our memories.

Here's what I knew after the trip: Exhila-rating experiences don't usually happen in familiar places, so travel often. Never underestimate other people's potential, for good or bad. Always give street musicians some pocket change. And, in any adven-ture, go forth boldly. The world will react accordingly.

THURSDAY, March 22, 2012 www.sierranevada.edu 5FORUM

Living in Lake Tahoe, it’s not entirely unusual to meet people who don’t partake in social media. It’s not

uncommon to know someone who does not have a Facebook or Twitter account, or even someone who doesn’t have a cell phone.That person might be you. In an age where technology is infiltrating every as-pect of our daily lives, will it be possible for these people to stay disconnected?

For those who do utilize social media, it has become increasingly important to be aware of your online presence. Recently, employers have been using social media sites such as Facebook, LinkedIn and Twit-ter to screen potential job applicants. In the

article “How Companies use Facebook to Hire and Fire Employees” on Huffington-post.com it is said that 45% of employers use social media sites to look at potential hires. It’s a good reason to remove those pictures of you doing keg stands last sum-mer from your profile, but could it be equally as damaging to have no online presence at all?

At the Associated Collegiate Press Na-tional College Journalism Convention in Seattle, many of the keynote speakers and panelists touted the benefits of having a Twitter account. Employers are not just looking for incriminating party pictures; they want to see strong networking skills.

Your online audience can be just as impor-tant as the hard skills and experience you list on your resume.

Linda Thomas, keynote speaker and first female drive time news anchor on Seattle’s KIRO radio, remembers the exact date she signed up for Twitter. She equates it to any other life-changing event. Through Twitter she has built a persona, @TheNewsChick, and attracted an audience that will follow her to any job she takes in the future. She stressed how good it looks to potential em-ployers to have a network of followers that you can bring to the company.

There is now a digital version of the philosophical question of the tree falling

in the woods with no one around to hear. Employers now wonder if someone has an impressive set of skills or powerful mes-sage but no online presence to sell it, will it be profitable?

While Twitter and other social network-ing sites will always be seen as a way for media consuming narcissists to tweet about what they had for breakfast or the hour they spent at the gym this month, it is also a useful marketing tool to share your message with a worldwide audience. It is a free way to show that what you have to share with the world is important to a certain number of people and beneficial to potential employers.

Social media shows off your worthStaff Editorial:

What social media do you update and why do you use it? BY PATI SAINZ DE ROZASPhoto Editor

“I use Pinterest more than Facebook. I use it a lot for artists I am interested in, or places I want to travel to, or recipes.”

Shannon O’LearySophomore

“I use Facebook the most, but I use Twitter to repost what I said because it sends to different groups of people.”Ethan MaloneFreshman

“I use Facebook to waste time and check with my friends at home.”

Tea PalicFreshman

“Facebook and I use it to contact and stay in touch with friends back home or from other schools. Also to look at pictures.”

Eddie EnriquezJunior

So you want to overthrow an African warlord? That’s adorable

JASON PALADINO

“Little by little, one travels far.”

J.R.R TOLKIEN

If you haven’t heard about the Kony 2012 viral video lately, chances are you’re a hermit living illegally under

tarps in Desolation Wilderness, in which case you should be scavenging for food right now, or using this newspaper as kindling. As I write this, the video is the single fastest spreading viral video of all time, reaching 82 million views in just un-der 15 days. The 30-minute video, created by the nonprofit Invisible Children (IC), documents the atrocities committed by Jo-seph Kony of the Lord’s Resistance Army (LRA), a militant group infamous for its capture and use of children as soldiers. The video features IC co-founder Jason Russel and his adorable blonde son, a soundtrack featuring The Glitch Mob, Flux Pavillion and Nine Inch Nails, and enough expen-sive-looking info-graphic-animations to almost distract from how patronizing and insulting the video actually is. Almost.

I’m not claiming to be some expert on African politics, on non-profits, or on humanitarian organizations. What I will claim to be is a skeptic, the last to blindly jump on a bandwagon of any kind, the first to question it. If I come off as cynical or of-fensive to your belief system, I apologize, and I’m sure if you turn a few pages you’ll find a story on snowboarding that will in-terest you far more.

As with many of you, I logged into Face-book on March 6 and was greeted by 58 of my friends all sharing the same video, with self-righteous captions like “Let’s get this bastard!” or “W0w, lyke, soops effed up!!!” I watched it, became instantly skep-tical, and decided to research both IC and this Joseph Kony character. What I found was appalling, and yet somehow I wasn’t the least bit surprised.

Let’s start with the video. After click-

ing “play” on the YouTube video, you will watch Joseph Kony portrayed in a light similar to Darth Vader, and the Ugandan people as helpless creatures who must be saved by white American college stu-dents, lest their limbs be chopped off by gold-plated AK47 wielding dictators. The video’s overall purpose is to “make Kony famous,” so his capture will become the priority of many nations. IC is in favor of direct military intervention into Africa to bring this monster to justice, and this video not so subtly hints at this goal. The film uses emotional appeal to hook us into believing that if we do not act, defenseless African children will continue to be ex-ploited. It features far more screen time of Russel’s white 5-year-old son than it does any Ugandan youth. It ends with an adver-tisement selling a $15 “action kit” includ-ing “Kony2012” wristbands, stickers, post-ers and T-shirts.

The video left a terrible taste in my mouth. I researched the situation in Uganda and Joseph Kony, and here’s what I found.

1. While Joseph Kony undoubtedly has caused immense suffering in the region, he hasn’t been in Uganda for six years. He is believed to be in poor health and hiding in the Congo jungles. His forces are believed to have dwindled and in 2011 were respon-sible for one death.

2. Previous military interventions (re-search “Operation Lightning Thunder”) going after Kony have resulted in violent backlashes from the LRA, and have caused the terror to spread over greater areas.

3. The LRA has been known to use kid-napped child soldiers as “human shields,” and previous efforts to save them have led to more being killed.

OK, OK, I know what you are thinking, “Of course it’s a messy situation, it’s Af-

rica! All IC is doing is raising awareness! How can that be bad?! You’re a real tool.” Well, name-callers, with a little research it became quite obvious that supporting this organization was not only unproductive, it’s downright harmful.

According to the non-profit’s financial data, a surprisingly small amount of rev-enue actually makes its way to Africa. Ugandan journalist and blogger Rosebell Kagumire writes “Invisible Children’s ac-counts show it is a cash rich operation that more than tripled its income to $9 million in 2011, mainly from personal donations. Of this, nearly 25 percent was spent on travel and film-making. Most of the money has been spent in the U.S. The accounts show $1.7 million went to U.S. employee salaries, $850,000 in film production costs, $244,000 in “professional services” – thought to be Washington lobbyists – and $1.07 million in travel expenses.”

Charity Navigator, an online service that rates charities on strict criteria, gave Invis-ible Children two out of four stars for its accountability, as it lacks an external au-dit committee. A response on IC’s website gives a weak explanation, basically saying “we’re working on it.”

The more I read, the more disgusted I became. I read of IC’s ties to gay-bash-ing evangelical organizations that funded Proposition 8 in California, and have spearheaded a bill known as the “kill the gays bill” in Uganda. I began reading the responses of African bloggers, journalists and professors about the viral phenom-enon. They seem to agree that a huge in-justice has been done, a dangerous misuse of viral power that will likely lead to more harm than good. Many felt the video be-littled Ugandans and furthered stereotypes.

Ethiopian writer and activist Solome

Lemma writes that she is disturbed by the “dis-empowering and reductive narrative” evidenced in Invisible Children’s promo-tional videos: “[It] paints the people as vic-tims, lacking agency, voice, will, or power. It calls upon an external cadre of Ameri-can students to liberate them by removing the bad guy who is causing their suffering. Well, this is a misrepresentation of the re-ality on the ground. Fortunately, there are plenty of examples of child and youth ad-vocates who have been fighting to address the very issues at the heart of IC’s work.”

I truly believe that nothing good will come of this blind “clicktivism” campaign. In this case I do not believe that “some-thing is better than nothing.” Kony 2012 portrays an extremely complicated and delicate issue in a misleading manner that appeals to our blockbuster-movie-watch-ing, good-guy bad-guy mentalities, and in the process demeans the people it claims to want to protect.

The solution to this problem is not to ar-rest or kill the leader. Give it a year and there will be another Joseph Kony. The solution is to change the circumstances in Africa that give birth to these militias. The solution starts by spending those dollars not on bracelets and trendy T-shirts, or on $1 million videos, but on working to bet-ter the education, the infrastructure and the health of the Ugandan people, and that of other struggling African nations. Before you blindly adopt and promote a cause, be skeptical and do some research.

A critical look at the Kony 2012 campaign

THURSDAY, March 22, 2012Eagle’s Eye 6 NEWS

With hopes of the coffee shop making a return to Prim library pushed aside, the SNC bookstore has recently taken control of the situation, serving coffee, tea and other various snacks to keep study hungry students happy and busy.

Business plans are still under review,

now by Business department Chair Rick Normington who was appointed by Presi-dent Lynn Gillette to review the plans.

“My plan for the coffee shop is still in its young stages,” Sierra Nevada College alumni Steven Segal said. “Nothing is fi-nal yet, but it’s definitely a step in the right direction.”

Segal is hopeful for his plan while keep-

ing an optimistic outlook on the situation.“I don’t want to set any expectations at

this point in time but Steven and I will be working in his business plan to figure out the financials and logistics of bringing back a coffee shop,” Normington added.

Meanwhile, Bookstore Director Mia Quinn has filled the void of the missing coffee shop.

“People are loving the coffee and food sales have doubled since we started offer-

ing it,” Quinn said.Although the coffee shop business plans

are still in the process of being reviewed, the bookstore plans to keep selling coffee until a permanent solution is made.

“If someone wants to open the coffee shop back up, more power to them, I’m in full support,” added Quinn. “This is just a temporary solution to the problem and I would love to see someone successfully open up a coffee shop in the library.”

Prim coffee shop still in the worksJAKE POLLOCKStaff Reporter

In response, they pulled 10,000 tickets.“The current trajectory is not accept-

able,” said Andie Grace, Burning Man’s communications manager in a blog post. “Even people who did get tickets aren’t cheering right now, since so many of their camps and friends are standing out in the cold. Entire groups are worried they’ll have to scrap all their plans. Burning Man is a participatory and collaborative event, and many collaborations are perilously close to falling apart.”

According to the organizers, many peo-ple had their friends and family apply for tickets to increase their chances of securing a ticket. To attempt to deal with the extra tickets that some people have, organizers started a program to resell the tickets back to Burning Man, the Secondary Ticket Ex-change Program (STEP). Unfortunately, very few people opted to sell their excess tickets back and a mere 2,000 tickets will be given out.

Lape and Dudley have applied for a Burning Man Arts Foundation grant, which would allow them to access both

funding and tickets, or the opportunity to buy tickets. They are currently waiting for a response, according to Lape.

“Logan and I are certainly still waiting

to hear on the grant, and even if the grant doesn’t go in, the agency has a number of tickets that they may be willing to give out,” Dudley said. “I wouldn’t be surprised

if we got a few.”Even if Dudley and Lape do not get 16

tickets, they are going to attempt to have some form of an SNC presence on the playa.

“My thought at this point is that if it doesn’t look like we can secure enough tickets to make a full class, that SNC should still go out and, in a sense, have a presence,” Dudley explained. Even if that’s just a few students going out and getting some independent study credits.

An actual class attending Burning Man for credit is a unique phenomenon and SNC may be one of only two colleges among the 50,000 attendees, according to Dudley.

“I’m excited to be there, in whatever way it ends up, and that took me a while to get to,” Dudley said. “For a while it was just like, screw it, if we can’t have the class, I don’t know if I’ve got the energy for just a few students. It’s a lot of work to get out there.”

Dudley believes that the presence that SNC has built at the event is worth a lean year of just a few students attending.

BURNING MAN, from front page

PHOTO COURTESY LOGAN LAPEA SIGN WELCOMES wandering burners to SNC’s first Burning Man Camp, called Starland.

THURSDAY, March 22, 2012 www.sierranevada.edu 7OUTDOORS

The Eagle’s Eye earned second place in Best of Show at the National College Journalism Convention hosted by the Associated Collegiate Press (ACP) March 2-4 in Seattle.

“I honestly did not see it coming,” said Rich Cooch, campus editor. “I knew we had a good paper, but I did not know it was that good in the eyes of everyone who was at the conference.”

The Eagle’s Eye placed second in the category of four-year college, non-weekly publications against other newspapers whose students attended the conference. First place went to The Observer of Fordham University in New York City.

Eight of the 10 editors of the Eagle’s Eye attended the convention with Advisor, Tanya Canino. They met with colleges from all over the nation to learn reporting techniques and share experiences.

“We got to know one another, and learned how to make the Eagle’s Eye the best it can be,” said Savannah Hoover, managing editor.

Each day featured a different keynote speaker during the four-day convention.

The speakers covered different types of mediums and fields. The editors also attended various seminars and convention sessions throughout the weekend.

In addition to the seminars the Eagle’s Eye was critiqued by Bob Radziewicz, advisor of The Miami Hurricane student newspaper of the University of Miami, Fla.

“He said we need more exciting leads,

more photos and more breakout boxes,” said Jenn Sheridan, features editor. Sheridan explained the most important thing she learned at the conference was that there is a future in journalism.

The transformation of the Eagle’s Eye newspaper began when Canino became advisor a year ago.

“Four years ago, it was hand stapled and Xeroxed in the library,” said Hoover in an interview with Daniel Reimold,

editor of College Media Matters, a student journalism blog. “Now we are at 16 pages, bi-weekly publication, full-color and 5,000 distribution around the lake”.

Along with the improvements of the paper, there is an Eagle’s Eye club that began this semester.

The club meets twice a month at 5:30 p.m. on Mondays in the Mac Lab. It is open to any students interested in journalism.

The next meeting will be March 26.

BY PATRICK HOEPPNERStaff Reporter

Eagle’s Eye staff attends college journalism conferencein Seattle

The process is simple and there is not a minimum number of students to begin the process, according to Conover. In arriving at their destination, they may be combined with other students or sometimes the com-pany may put them in their own place. In-terested students can go see Conover to get material from the organizations.

“Depending on a student’s geographic area of interest, I have information they can look through and review,” said Conover. “The students decide on an area of travel and they need to contact the companies to start the process. They get a lot of sup-port and help from the companies to have the guidance and structure in which they would provide the direction for the whole process.”

Conover explained that the cost of the trips vary, depending on the geographical area. The companies will negotiate with students on costs and they will have the op-tion to pay it themselves or possibly utilize part of Financial Aid to pay for the trip.

Students can contact Nicole Ferguson, director of Financial Aid for more details.

“Depending on the area and their cost of living, it could potentially be less then what you pay for a semester of college here in the United States,” said Conover.

There are many benefits of studying abroad and Conover believes that experi-encing life outside of the United States and

a variety of cultures is one of the most ben-eficial aspects.

“To obtain a new awareness of the world and an awareness of what we have here. It’s easy to take for granted what we have here in the United States,” said Conover. “Depending on what your focus is when you do your Study Abroad experience, whether it’s volunteering, an internship or just studies, there’s really no comparison to that type of experience that you’re not go-ing to get in your regular education here.”

Senior Jenny Thompson is an Interna-tional Studies and Humanities major and traveled to Nepal with SNC in June 2011. She wanted to travel abroad because she loves the outdoors and had never been out of the country before. While she was there she took International Study Abroad, Buddhist Art History and Service Learn-ing. Thompson’s favorite aspect of her trip was her opportunity and ability to “help people.”

“We trekked 200 miles to deliver safe birth kits to women in eight different vil-lages throughout Humla, which is one of the most remote areas in Asia,” said Thompson.

Thompson’s advisor Katie Zanto in-formed her about the trip while she was signing up for classes for her Spring 2011 semester.

“There was an application process and many meetings open to anyone interested,” Thompson said.

The trip cost her $9,000, although stu-dents got the price reduced to $6,000 after participating in fundraisers.

Thompson’s class was in Nepal for a month, one week in Kathmandu and three weeks in Humla, deepening their knowl-edge about the culture. The class consisted of Thompson, six other female students and two female faculty members who all became her “very close friends.”

“My highlight of the trip was the ‘Saga Dawa’ festival that we trekked to on our third day in Humla,” said Thompson. “It is a festival that people from all over Humla trek to for a couple of days celebrating the Birth of Buddha. It was culturally enlight-ening.”

According to Senior Brandon Sorel, he’s never known anything about the Study Abroad program.

“If I knew that our school offered a Study Abroad program, I would have most likely taken part in it since I have never had a long enough break from school to travel,” Sorel said. “Taking classes in another country would have been an incredible chance to both learn about my major as well as ex-perience a different culture and lifestyle.”

This is Sorel’s fourth year at SNC, ma-joring in Outdoor Adventure Leadership (ODAL) and Entrepreneurship, and he suggests that the program should be more publicly advertised to students because he didn’t know anything about it prior to this interview.

“Spreading awareness about the Study Abroad program should be a priority at our school since being able to travel while in college is nearly impossible for most people who have both financial and time restrictions,” Sorel said.

The only public information regarding the program is on the SNC website, al-though the description and details for this are short and don’t include the destinations available.

Sorel took ODAL’s extended field course through NOLS in the canyons of Utah for three weeks for half the price of Thomp-son’s trip to Nepal.

“The Nepal trip seemed way too expen-sive even though it included backpacking logistics and not simply a classroom set-ting. Airfare, room and board, food and college credits are pricey regardless,” said Sorel.

According to the SNC website, students have been involved in the program for many years and have traveled to Norway, Australia, New Zealand and other various countries. If students have been involved, then why don’t more know about the pro-gram?

“Lake Tahoe has been a perfect location for my four years of college, however in-dulging myself in a new culture and lan-guage for a year or even a semester would have been more rewarding,” Sorel said. “I wish I would have known about the pro-gram the first year I was enrolled at SNC.”

STUDY ABROAD, from front page

TANYA CANINOTHE EAGLE’S EYE EDITORS attend the National College Journalism Convention March 2-4 in Seattle. Left to Right: Feature Editor Jenn Sheridan, Sports Editor Andrew Dunning, Photo Editor Pati Sainz De Rozas, Managing Editor Savannah Hoover, News Editor Jason Paladino, Campus Editor Rich Cooch and Copy Editor Caitlin Khoury

THURSDAY, March 22, 2012Eagle’s Eye 8 CAMPUS

NATIONALS

THURSDAY, March 22, 2012 www.sierranevada.edu 9NEWS

SPENCER REEVES give Cameron Colenda some last words of adivece before the gate drops on the final Boardercross heat. IAN DAILY nose presses the flat down bar at the top of the slope style course. BEN CURRIER does a rodeo flip on the second jump of the slope style course. IAN ANDERSEN gets lifted up by Coach Reeves after his victory run down the halfpipe. KIM SMITH absorbs a roller while battling for the first place possition in the final Skiercross heat. BRADY LEM performs a backside 720 over the second jump on the slope style course. MEN’S SKI race team stands proud on the podium in first place. WOMEN’S FREESTYLE ski team smiles together after earning first place with their overall results. DO-ING A huge method Brady Lem finishes up his second run down the halfpipe. TOGETHER THE men’s snowboard team takes first place and dominates the top of the podium. IAN ANDERSEN graps tail on his way through the halfpipe. KATIE SOUZA gets lofty air and is rewarded a first place possition for the halfpipe event. She dominates the field in the halfpipe catagory. THE WOMEN’S snowboard team is stoked on their second place finish.

The 2012 USCSA National Championship, March 6-11, hosted by Sunday River, Maine, was a total success for the Eagles. The team swept their competition in every aspect of the event, bringing home four team titles and

several individual titles.The competition was tight-

er than ever, but SNC team members managed to rise to the occasion, bringing sev-eral medals home.

The men’s snowboard team won the national title for the seventh year in a row. Snowboard disciplines in-cluded giant slalom, boarder cross, slopestyle and half-pipe.

Ian Daly, who was com-peting at home, placed third on the overall individual re-sults, Eric Verillo fifth and Cameron Colenda seventh.

“It was so good being back in Maine. Some friends came down from back home to shred, and my family was there giving me plenty of support. Just competing where I did as a kid made all the competitions so mellow for me,” Daly said.

The women’s snowboard team earned second place with combined results. Ash-ley Vander Meer finished first place for overall results, Jenise Spiteri fifth and Ari-elle Shipe eighth.

“The level of competition exceeded my expectations. This was my first year at Na-tionals so I don’t have any-thing to compare it to, but from what other team mem-bers have told me it seems

like the bar is being raised every year,” said Spiteri. Kimberly Smith, Katie Souza and Rebecca Roberts won

the national title for the women’s ski freestyle, placing first, second and fourth for their overall combined results for the disciplines of skier cross, slopestyle and halfpipe.

Men’s freestyle skiers placed third as a team with Shawn Warren earning second for combined individual results, Bryant Knowles third and Ben Currier fifth.

On the discipline of alpine ski, SNC earned the national title on both men’s and women’s categories, with Luca Ricou finishing first and Tea Palic third, overall results from GS and slalom. Matea Ferk earned an individual na-tional championship for the women in giant slalom.

According to SNC website, the men’s team had all five of its skiers finish in the top six in the GS, defending the National Championship with Jaka Jazbec leading the way by winning his first race in Sunday River.

The week presented ideal conditions for the competi-tors; the snow was soft, the skies were blue and everyone was having fun, according to the competitors.

Sunday River also organized a big air contest at night that Freshman Brady Lem won throwing two perfect 540’s.

“It was a super fun contest and it felt great winning for the school,” said Lem.

Especially threatening was boarder/skier cross where multiple competitors got injured due to the course’s level of difficulty.

“It was definitely fun riding pipe, even though it was small and not perfectly groomed. The features of the free-style events were not the best, but the boarder cross course was pretty legitimate. I had fun riding it, but ended up in the fence of my first heat,” Ian Andersen said.

Andersen took a victory run in the halfpipe, but West-minster College coach protested the run and Mallan Prior was given the gold medal, finishing first for his overall scores.

“Everything reminded me of riding contests back home in Norway, so I was stoked,” Andersen said.

Ski competitor Ricko Eriksson said, “as a conclusion to nationals I would say that it has been a very tough week with a lot of skiing. Being able to meet a lot of new and fun people will make Nationals a memory for life.”

The Eagles returned home tired after a long week with several medals hanging from their necks.

PATI SAINZ DE ROZASPhoto Editor

Ski and Snowboard teams succeed for the seventh time

THURSDAY, March 22, 2012Eagle’s Eye 10 FEATURE

It was Thursday and the tension of midterms week was waning, turning into an electric anticipation: Spring Break.

Some of us went on school trips, while others traveled home to see family. But wait, all the way to Nor-way for just nine days?

With so many international stu-dents attending Sierra Nevada Col-lege, the typical spring break is not the usual agenda among students for this short yet sweet vacation time.

Many of the international stu-dents, especially from the Scandi-navian countries of Norway and Sweden, are here at SNC for the snow sports. So it is no surprise that these students choose to stay right here in Incline Village for break.

Luckily, credit while snowboard-ing in the sunny spring conditions through the freeriding class which is a three credit course.

Juniors Henrik Mikkelsgaard and Sebastian Krohn of Norway are two of the international students who stayed here and took advantage of this course. In addition to riding all day in the warmth of March, Krohn said they partied it up with friends.

Senior Helle Throndsen, who

said she is not into the whole snow-boarding fad, had other plans, which included doing absolutely nothing. She looked forward to just being able to relax and hang out.

Camilla Rinman of Sweden took advantage of her time off by trav-eling to different snow destinations including Colorado. Since it’s too far to go home, she wanted to go somewhere away from Tahoe.

Evelina Rutdal, also of Sweden, spent time in the Chico, Calif. visit-ing friends.

Emma Abrahamsson of Sweden and Stine Lunde of Norway chose to get away from the snow, traveling to San Diego and Las Vegas. They retreated to hotels in Las Vegas and downtown San Diego; going from snow-covered mountains to bikinis at the beach and poolside were a sure recipe for some rest and relax-ation.

Marianne Madsen of Norway also went to the sun and the sand of Southern California.

“It was really nice to get away and enjoy the warm weather, being healthy and active,” said Madsen. “I haven’t been to So Cal since I was really young; It was exciting to see the Cali that we see in Norway in the movies, Hollywood baby.”

International students on Spring Break… Where do they go?

Learning to integrate ideas rather than looking at life as a choice between “either and or” is the goal of the Interdisciplinary Studies program at Sierra Nevada College. Katie Zanto, Interdisciplinary Studies pro-gram chair, said she strives to demonstrate this through a number of ways including stu-dent/faculty interaction.

On Tuesday, Feb. 28, students from Inter-disciplinary Studies and Digital Arts classes met to watch a presentation given by Rich-ard Gire, assistant professor of Business, and Chris Lanier, assistant professor of Digital Arts. The presentation covered copyright law in relation to the music industry.

“The concept was to give students a based-on-real-life issue to apply integrative think-ing,” said Zanto.

Gire and Lanier looked into the current state of copyright law through the lens of their disciplines, providing opposing view-points for students to consider. Through the lens of Digital Arts, Lanier argued that current copyright law restricted creativity because it benefits the owner of the piece, which is not always the person who created the piece. On the other hand, Gire said that copyright law is meant to incentivize artists by protecting their works in such a way that they can earn a living.

There was no resolution at the end of the lecture. Students of Zanto’s Interdisciplinary Studies class were asked to take ideas from both sides of the argument and integrate them into a solution that satisfies both view points.

Case studies that allow students to inte-

grate ideas help them to apply what they learn in text books to real life issues.

“If you can’t find the correlation between what you learn here and what’s out there, then we’ve failed,” said Gire.

To make a strong argument, one must understand why someone would argue the opposite viewpoint, said Lanier. Interdis-ciplinary thinking gives students the tools to evaluate arguments rather than teaching them “here is what you should think.”

Both Gire and Lanier presented a passion-ate argument, but each admitted to playing devil’s advocate for the presentation to pro-vide a stronger contrast of opinion.

“Its fun, within the context of that class, to have a civil argument about something with-out actually resolving it,” said Lanier.

Interdisciplinary thinking: Teachers, students practice and apply through public debateBY JENN SHERIDANFeatures Editor

BY CAITLIN KHOURYCopy Editor

CAITLIN KHOURY

FRESHMAN MARIANNE MADSEN breaks from her beach run in Del Mar, Calif. to do yoga.

“

If you can’t find the correlation between what you learn here and what’s out there, then we’ve failed.

RICHARD GIRE Assistant Professor of Business

Case studies that allow students to integrate ideas help them to apply what they learn in text books to real life issues.ACCORDING TO INTERDISCIPLINARY STUDIES DEPARTMENT

THURSDAY, March 22, 2012 www.sierranevada.edu 11

MHMM Productions: A new up and coming media company

MHMM Productions, a film and editing company started by Juniors Nick Cahill and Trevor B. Jackson has grown rapidly since it in Summer 2011.

Started by two students with similar interests in digital arts, MHMM Produc-tions, not an acronym but the affirmative sound, is a collaborative project that has began to turn into a legitimate company.

“Trevor and I met in our Design class at Sierra Nevada College and quickly re-alized we both shared similar interests, the main one being our passion for film-ing and producing video works,” said co-founder of MHMM Productions Nick Cahill. “A huge motivator for us starting MHMM productions was a desire to bring unique cinematography, a higher produc-tion value and an overall higher quality of web-based marketing videos.”

Prior to the establishment of MHMM Productions, both Cahill and Jackson had worked separately on their own personal film making and editing. However, there was very little subject matter compared to what they have been working with lately.

Upon starting MHMM Productions, Cahill and Jackson partnered with Status Snowboards and music artist Elm and Oak to make their first snowboard video. Shortly after, Cahill and Jackson worked again with Status Snowboards as well as Mammoth Mountain to create a second video.

Upon recognition of their first two vid-eos, Cahill and Jackson partnered up with Tunerplayground.com, an auto import website, to make their third film.

Stepping away from snowboarding, their third video is a marketing film for the web-site. Turnerplayground.com was very sat-isfied with Cahill’s and Jackson’s work.

“We’re absolutely thrilled to be work-ing with Nick Cahill and Trevor Jackson from MHMM Productions this year,” said race car owner, and founder of Tuner Play-ground, Tom Tang.

Tuner Playground prides itself on form-ing constructive partnerships with talent-ed, driven individuals who have a lot of creative vision.

“We feel MHMM brings exactly all of that to the table on each and every project that we do together,” said Tang.

Cahill and Jackson’s efforts landed them another shoot for the website in the near future.

“We have been hired for another video in the end of April to shoot the same time attack race car for our partners over at Tunerplayground.com. Following our first teaser video of Tunerplaygrounds time at-tack Honda s2000, the team has acquired a new sponsorship by GoPro,” said Jack-son. “We will be shooting at Buttonwil-low Raceway for their first official GoPro sponsored video. Keep an eye out on go-pro.com for the final product.”

Aside from their recent partnership with TunerPlayground.com, Cahill and Jackson have been contacted by Heckler and Tahoe Snowboard Magazine for numerous edit-ing and film jobs as well. Unfortunately, due to their school and work schedules they have been unable to take advantage of these opportunities.

Having already worked with people from diverse fields such as Mammoth Mountain, CV Sports, Shred Soles, Local Knits, PrimaRacing.com and with future engagements planned with Volcom and GoPro, Cahill and Jackson look forward to the growth of their venture.

“Obviously we would love for MHMM Productions to be a full-time job right now. Unfortunately school and work have an extreme priority over filming. Although we would love to spend all of our time growing our business, we can only allow the time left in between our obligations,” said Cahill. “With the limited time we can spend with MHMM Productions, we just want to continue to put out videos of the highest quality on a pretty consistent basis until we can turn this into a full-time en-deavor. In the meantime we are currently growing our contacts, sponsorships and partnerships with a variety of companies. We hope this will allow our company to be in full swing by the time we graduate.”

To see MHMM’s videos or check its up-dates, visit the website at mhmmproduc-tions.com or on Facebook.

BY SPENCER OWENStaff Reporter

Imagine having an out-of-body experi-ence, watching yourself from a third per-son perspective while being filmed by a mini remote-controlled helicopter flying around you. Copter Kids, a two-man op-eration freelance aerial cinematography company hit the video production scene two years ago when Trent Palmer, Truckee native, saw an online video of someone with a camera attached to a remote control helicopter.

Palmer created a homemade remote con-trol helicopter to accommodate a Canon 7D or 5D DSLR camera to shoot aerial video footage. The custom-built chopper can fly up to 80 mph and soar up to 400 feet high, according to the Copter Kids website. It runs off of 50v lithium batteries and can fly for about eight minutes per battery pack.

Errol Kerr, Palmer’s childhood friend of 16 years, collaborated with Copter Kids when Palmer asked him to test out the cam-era while Palmer flew the remote control helicopter.

“He killed it,” Palmer said. “I had a cou-ple other people try it out but Errol defi-nitely controlled the camera the best.”

After Kerr and Palmer combined tal-ents in 2010, they created a 3 minute, 35 second demo reel and posted it on video sharing site, Vimeo, as well as their own site. It quickly attracted a lot of attention. By word of mouth the Copter Kids blew up. They have been called “the young-est in the industry” and are considered the “kids” on the set earning them the name ‘Copter Kids. But don’t let age fool you. Camera Operator Errol Kerr, 25, and re-mote control helicopter Pilot Trent Palmer,

23, have over 20 years combined experi-ence in remote control and over 10 years working with video and film. “Trent and I have been friends since we were nine yearsm old,” Kerr explained. “We used to race BMX and played with R/C planes together.”

The two teamed up in the spring of 2010 after the Vancouver Winter Olympics for a California Tourism commercial shoot. Palmer was filming the commercial with FLF films, and Kerr was to partake in the commercial after finishing ninth place in skier cross at the Winter Olympics repre-senting Jamaica, the country in which he was born. Since then, Copter Kids has taken off.

These two have worked with musicians such as Gucci Mane, filming the music video for Gucci time, as well as compa-nies like BF Goodrich. They filmed Shaun White for a commercial that aired during X-Games 15, and a Billabong boardshort campaign called “Life is Better in Board-shorts” which included pro surfer Joel Par-kinson. They have also worked with other production companies such as Original Films and Bandito Brothers. Palmer and Kerr have accomplished 17 commercial ads and are constantly working on new projects, as the demand for their newly created remote controlled helicopter and camera soars.

“We travel a lot,” said Palmer. “The last local shoot we did was a Fiat commer-cial in Tahoe, but we’ve already traveled around the world two times this year.”

Kerr and Palmer’s success with Copter Kids is a reminder that following your pas-sions and being creative can lead to great achievements and an amazing experience.

BY JAKE POLLOCKStaff Reporter

Copter Kids: An innovative movie production tool

COURTESY OF COPTER KIDS THE SMALL DOG stares in curiousity at the camera and helicopter as it hovers a few feet away. Copter Kids produce professional quality footage with their expensive helicopter filming setup.

COURTESY OF MHMM PRODUCTIONSMHMM PRODUCTIONS demonstrates multimedia skills with this sequence photo created by taking mul-tiple shots and putting them together in photoshop.

COURTESY OF MHMM PRODUCTIONSTHIS RACECAR was one of MHMM Productions latest projects. MHMM specializes in making promotional and marketing videos for race teams and other extreme sports.

FEATURE

THURSDAY, March 22, 2012Eagle’s Eye 12 OUTDOOR

Pushing yourself to your physical limits, coming face-to-face with your personal weaknesses, and finding out what you are truly made of are just a few of the high-lights students mentioned during the Ex-tended Field Course presentation that took place at noon March 7 in Prim Library 302.

The classroom was transformed into a pseudo-campsite for the hour-long pre-sentation, where 11 students shared their experiences last summer from the first Ex-tended Field Course in the Canyonlands National Park of Utah. In one corner of the room were a tent and a backpack full of the typical gear one might bring on the trip. On the other side of the room a tarp, strewn across the floor, displayed the types of foods students ate during the trip, personal jour-nals from the trip and some of the required reading materials including “Desert Solitaire” by Edward Abbey. The audi-ence lounged on the floor in the middle of the campsite.

As tattered personal jour-nals were passed around the audience, one of the partici-pants warned those looking at the journals: “Don’t mind the bloodstains.”

The discussion, led by se-niors Katy Lambert and Ste-phen Costas with the input of others who had participated in the course, highlighted the students “true and full immer-sion” into their experience during the 21-day capstone course that is a requirement for the Outdoor Adventure Leadership major. The course,

ODAL 450, is worth six units and is taught in conjunction with the National Outdoor Leadership School (NOLS). In addition to working on one’s expedition behavior and leadership skills, students also earn a mas-ter certification from the Leave No Trace program.

Through a slideshow, Lambert and Cos-tas walked the audience through their en-tire trip starting with a photo that Costas describes as the moment he realized there was no turning back. The photo shows the group of students focused intently on pack-ing last minute items into their packs next to the school bus that had delivered them to the trailhead of their adventure.

The slideshow continued to show clips of students as they hiked through ancient ru-ins, swam through freezing cold water, and rappelled down steep canyons. The group even had the opportunity to participate in a Native American sweat lodge ceremony.

“You had to force yourself to find a state of meditation,” said Lambert, describ-ing the intense heat, crowded space and pitch black dark she experienced inside the sweat lodge.

Part of the adventure was being the lead-er of the day. As the leader, students made all the decisions regarding navigation, safety and where the group would stay for the night. Being the leader put one’s weak-

nesses out in the open, said senior Sonya Hernandez, as she described the humbling experience of having to admit that she needed help interpreting maps during her time as the leader. Students also taught les-sons in the field using a white trash bag over a sleeping pad as a whiteboard.

In the last days of the trip students were forced to evacuate one of their team mem-bers, Camilla Rinman, due to complica-tions of an upper respiratory infection. Lambert described the ordeal where the group had one day to back track over terrain that had taken them three days to initially cover. The uncertainty of whether Rinman and the rest of the group would have the

strength to continue was “horrifying,” said Lambert.

In order to inspire experiential learning, the instructors allowed leaders to made mis-takes and learn from them rather than in-terfering, said Costas. One such decision led to the group spend-ing 16 delirious hours without water, accord-ing to Lambert.

When asked if she would take the course over again, Lambert answered

“Yes! Right now,” displaying the enthusi-asm that seemed to be shared throughout the group. While describ-ing a particularly vivid memory senior Chase Cohee said “I knew I was going to do this for the rest of my life.”

Students reminisce on experiences from summer during the Extended Field Course presentation

BY JENN SHERIDANFeatures Editor

My ears popped. I put a finger in each and adjusted my jaw. At that moment a muffled blast shook the mine shaft. Dust and small pebbles bounced off my helmet.

“The miners are blasting deeper into the mountain.” Jesus chuckled and brushed dust off the mouth of his whiskey bottle, as if in this environment he was concerned with contamination.

“The pressure of the blasts can blow your ears out.” I added it to the growing list in my mind of things that could maim me within these mines.

Jesus led us through a tight opening in the ground of the mine shaft, muttering something in spanish about giving birth. He led us to a cavern that housed an alter of sorts, a clay representation of the god of the miners. A large man-like creature sat on a candle-wax thrown, devil horns emerged from his head and a comically large phallic protrusion from his torso. He was covered in cigarettes and coca leaves.

“El diablo de las minas” Jesus said. “The

devil of the mines.” The miners believed that his well-endowed alter scared away

the evil spirits of the mines, protecting them from mishaps and injuries.

As we contin-ued down another

tunnel, we were stopped abruptly by a loud rattling noise. A bright light ap-proached us at a scary speed. A full mining cart, propelled by some invisible iner-tia, hurled down the tracks. Jesus yelled something in Span-ish and I jumped out of the way, press-ing my body as flat against the uneven stone walls as I could. High from adrenaline, I watched as the cart hurled around a corner and out of my sight.

Jesus decided, most likely from the hor-ror on my and my brother’s faces, that it

was time to make our out of the mines. As we slowly emerged, my pupils seemed to be screaming at me to run back inside.

“Amigos,” Jesus said, a smug smile on his face, “you still have some dynamite left.”

This guy is abso-lutely nuts, I thought.

“Yes, we do. Should we give it to a miner?” I asked, feeling guilty that I hadn’t earlier.

“No, no, no. No necessary.”

We followed Je-sus to a meadow and gathered around a particularly tall cac-tus. We seemed un-comfortably close to a residential area for what we were about to do. Jesus tied the stick to the neck of the

cactus, giggling madly, displaying a bit of inebriation.

As he secured the blasting cap, I slowly took a few steps backwards.

“When I say run, run.” He pulled out a lighter and lit the fuse. “Corre, corre, corre.”

I hesitated for exactly the time required for my brain to translate “corre” into “run.” We sprinted through the meadow, hopping over rocks and low bushes until Jesus sig-naled that we were a safe distance.

The meadow was silent, except for the distant chirping of a bird, and the fizzle of the fuze. A second later, where the 12-foot cactus had once stood, having acquired that height over centuries I imagined, a small crater had been formed. My ears rang and my brother and I stood speechless. Jesus eagerly awaited our reaction, his dark, bloodshot eyes searching our faces.

“You like?”We nodded in unison.After leaving Potosi, we frequently remi-

nisced about Jesus’ life and philosophies. He could turn lung disease into humor, make any near-death experience hilarious. He, despite his living standard and brutal working conditions, seemed to live a hap-pier life than anyone I’d met.

Cerro Rico part two: My experience inside an active Bolivian mineBY JASON PALADINONews Editor

DANNY KERNSENIOR KATY LAMBERT gives her Prezi presentation on the ODAL Extended Field Course to faculty, staff and students.

JASON PALADINOAN ALTER to scare away evil spirits is covered in coca leaves.

THURSDAY, March 22, 2012 www.sierranevada.edu 13FEATURESPatrick O’Neil: Plucking the strings of mind and music

Name: Patrick O’NeilMajor: Music and Psychology.Hometown: Sacramento, Calif.

Why did you start playing music?I was hanging out with a buddy of mine

that I met at a job that I had before. I no-ticed how he always had a guitar around. So one day I asked him, ‘hey man do you want to teach me how to play guitar?’ So he did. He started to teach me some basics. I definitely struggled at first, but then he was the one who told me that I should be a bass player because he saw something in me that he said was characteristic for a bass player. He gave me that and ahh, I just fell in love with the bass guitar; it is just an amazing instrument.

When did you start?I started just before I turned 20.

Isn’t it kind of late to be a guitarist?It is kind of late, actually one of my big-

gest regrets is that I didn’t start playing earlier. But you know, I just never gave myself the opportunity to actually do it. Once I started, I was so amazed that I had never found something else that amazed me as much as playing guitar did before in my life.

To clarify, do you play bass or guitar right now?

I play both but my main instrument is the bass, that is really what I prefer to play.

What band did you grow up listening to?

You know if there is one band that I have to say I grew up listening to I must say it is Earth, Wind and Fire.

What do you like other than music?I like hanging out with friends. Being

around all of my buddies and just doing

whatever, you know, we like to go out to bars, do a bunch of stuff like that. I like to snowboard a little and I’m glad we finally are getting a little bit of snow.

Why did you move to Tahoe?Well I was looking for a school. I was

looking for some place to continue my education and I saw an ad in a local news-paper back in Sacramento that my dad had shown me, so I checked it out online and I looked at what their programs were and I saw music and psychology on there so I was just pretty interested right away.

Had you ever been up in this area be-fore then?

Not really. You know I had been up here once or twice but only as a kid.

Other than music I have heard that you are a fantastic athlete, can you tell me about that?

I used to love sports! All type of sports

but the one I used to be really great at was racquetball. I used to play a lot, I was about 16 when I really got into it. That was right around the time I quit playing baseball.

There are stories saying you were the guy to beat on the West Coast?

I did really well at one point! I got my sponsor at that time.

It was by Prince. So I had my sponsor and I was playing tournaments just about every weekend around in California. I was ranked in the state of California relatively high.

Did you play tennis as well?No, you know I have played tennis may-

be once in my life. I never really got into tennis, it is a very

different sport to me. But what I do love is table tennis which is referred to as ping pong. That is a sport that I absolutely love!.

So if you were at a party and there is a

table around, would you stay and play a round or two?

Haha well yes if someone wants to play me! I’ll be there absolutely! But unfor-tunately it is hard to find people to play around in this town!

What is your feeling about the music culture around campus?

Around campus? I think that there is re-ally a great amount of talent around cam-pus and school. I feel like they are really disconnected from each other.

I feel like getting together and jamming more would form more bands, you know there is a lot of talent, it is just that people are not making use of it at all.

Tell me what music means to you?Music is life essentially. It is a crucial

part of anyone’s interaction, socially. It is a lot about how people act, dress and whom a person hangs out with.

To me, it is being able to cope with life, deal with struggles. It is a way of actually understanding life, applying just every-thing that I know about music to life, and open the world and see what is out there. It is a way of creating a little bit of mystery.

Are you currently playing in a band?No, I am not currently in a band. I have a

couple of guys that I like to play with time to time, but we haven’t played shows since last year.

When you played shows did you guys play cover songs or your own music?

Mainly covers. That is because the bar that we were playing at wanted to hear the covers that are songs that most people know about. But we did have a few times where we had our own jams.

Tell me who you are in five words.Come and hang out and drink with me!

Then you will get to know me!

BY RICKO ERIKSSONStaff Reporter

Imagine coming home from a long day at school to a warm homemade meal ready to serve. Slow cookers, also commonly re-ferred to as “Crock Pots,” are one way to achieve this dream. Crock-Pot is actually a specific brand of slow cooker that was introduced in 1971 and was one of the first slow cookers on the market. It remains one of the more popular brands on the market.

While slow cookers provoke the image in my mind of a grandmother concocting a hearty stew in the kitchen while the snow piles up outside, I have come to find that they provide a number of advantages for

the busy college student. It turns out that slow cookers are not only for making soups and stews either. A wide variety of foods from roasts and ribs to chicken wings and even bread can be made in a slow cooker.

TimeMany college students do not leave them-

selves enough time during the day to create healthy home-cooked meals. With a little prior planning and prep work, students can have a warm meal waiting.

Slow cooker meals also yield enough servings for leftovers. By setting aside the extra time one day a week, one can create multiple meals.

For example a pork shoulder can turn into pulled pork sandwiches one night and pork tacos the next.

MoneySlow cooker recipes can save students

money because they use fewer ingredients and smaller portions of seasoning.

Slow cooker website Slowandsimple.com recommends using cheaper cuts of meat when cooking with a slow cooker because they tend to be less fatty which makes them more suited for the slow cook-er.

Also the long cooking process makes tough cuts of meat come out tender and moist. It is suggested to use half the amount of dried herbs and spices when us-ing a slow cooker as some of the flavors will intensify during the long cooking pro-cess.

Clean-upMany slow cooker meals can be cooked

in one pot and therefore contribute to easier clean up. I recommend purchasing a slow cooker with a removable liner as they are easier to clean.

TipsDo not overfill your slow cooker. This

can lead to your pot boiling over and leav-ing you a big mess. It can also cause your food to not cook properly.

Resist the temptation to open the lid un-necessarily. Opening the lid causes heat and moisture to escape and changes the cooking time.

In contrast to the above tip, be sure to taste your food before it is finished. It is difficult to guess how certain spices and seasonings will change during a long cook-ing process. Test it and adjust the flavor as needed.

Add tender vegetables during the last 45 minutes of cooking to ensure they don’t get overcooked.

When cooking at high altitudes, allow for a longer cooking time. This is because wa-ter simmers at a lower temperature at high altitude. Food needs to cook longer to al-low it to reach a safe cooking temperature.

Slow cooker prices range from approxi-mately $15 for a 2.5 quart pot with no frills to $50 for a 5.5 quart Crock-Pot custom-ized with your own pictures and various extra settings for cooking. I have also found slow cookers at thrift stores, and ga-rage sales for some very low prices.

BY JENN SHERIDANFeatures Editor

PATI SAINZ DE ROZASPATRICK O’NEIL majors in music and psychology at SNC’s winter wonderland.

The slow cooker: a hidden gem in college life

THURSDAY, March 22, 2012Eagle’s Eye 14 A&ETahoe Gallery to feature junior, senior show

Sierra Nevada College’s Tahoe Gallery continues to gain recognition for its shows and improvements.

“We’ve already had our two receptions for visiting artists this semester. First was LIGHT ON YOUR FEET: A Study in Play, Participation and Collaboration,” said Logan Lape, president of the Tahoe Gallery. It was a group show out of Los Angeles curated by Autumn Beck and fea-turing artwork and inspiration by Jahan Khajavipour, SCTV, Eve Fowler, Book Club, Jason Gomez, Justin Vivian Bond, Christine Finely, Dawn Kasper and Jason Akira Somma.

Currently on display in the Tahoe Gal-lery are the works of Zoë Sheehan Salda-ña, titled “TBD.” Saldaña’s work will be displayed through Spring Break until the gallery moves to Bachelor of Fine Arts and student exhibitions.

“BFA exhibition season is a really excit-ing time for graduating art students and the community,” said Lape. “The fact that we are able to offer solo shows really sets us apart from other programs and grants a priceless opportunity to our students. These shows are serious business.”

Aside from the series of BFA shows coming to the gallery in the near future, more changes will begin to be added to the gallery.

“This is more of a future addition, but starting with the Juried Student Exhibition and continuing next year, all of our visit-ing artists will be invited to host a Friday workshop after the reception.” said Lape. “These workshops will be open to stu-dents, faculty, and the community much in the same way the Writers in the Woods series operates.”

The Reference Gallery, located in the third floor hallway of Prim Library, has also gained attention for some of its works currently displayed. “Currently, in ‘Doo-dlism’ there are a few pieces getting a lot of attention. The main one is a portrait of Dr. (Robert) King as a cat,” said Gallery Club president, Anna Jarschke. “There is a possible love note and a tiny lifejacket mimicking the ones in the Tahoe Gallery

Show. Since this is a different type of show we don’t know who did what doodle, al-though there are rumors about who did certain ones.”

While these pieces gain attention in the Reference Gallery, for the most part they are not available for purchase.

“We very rarely have the art in the Ref-erence Gallery available for purchase. We’ve tried to do so in the past, but it isn’t what we want to bring to the community. It’s difficult to decide percentages and pay-ing the artists. Instead we think of this as a great way for artists to add more shows to their resume,” said Jarschke.

The next show in the Reference Gallery is the Junior Art Portfolio Review. The JAPR is a show of which all junior level art students create a mid-way review of their artwork. Students will present their work and will answer questions from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. and will be open to the public to come watch.

Carrie Hall will be producing snow-boarding jackets for her JAPR. By taking her day-to-day surroundings she will cap-ture her experiences by translating nature and snow into outerwear.

“I’m developing my portfolio to further my career as an outwear designer,” said Hall. “I will always be involved in the snowboarding lifestyle and am excited to create and combine work with my pas-sion.”

Maggie Newman will be displaying her drawings which were created with sharpies and Indian ink.

“It will be my first experience sharing my ideas with everyone,” said Newman. “The hardest element in creating was to not smudge my drawings. If I messed up one little bit, I had to start over.”

This show will be up at the end of March for two weeks. Following that show will be a “Gallery Club Swap,” where the Ref-erence Gallery will find a student Gallery Club from another college with gallery space and swap personal artwork with them.

For more information and updates on the Tahoe Gallery, visitt the department’s Facebook page facebook.com/SNCFA, or its blog at sncart.blogspot.com/

BY SPENCER OWENStaff Reporter

UPCOMING BFA SHOWS

April 5- Jessica Hayworth (Jessica Weaks)

April 12- Glen Cheriton

April 19- Megan Barry

April 26- Annual Juried Student Exhibition with guest juror David Horvutz

ANDREW GAUTHIERABOVE: Junior, Bryan Wilkins puts on his JAPR game face. BELOW: Junior Dylan Glasgow creats edible model of self-sustainable home. Bottom Left: Junior Maggie Newman creates drawings using sharpies and Indian inks.

Junior Art Portfolio Review to be displayed in Prim Library’s Reference Gallery

THURSDAY, March 22, 2012 www.sierranevada.edu 15A&E

MUSIC“Late Night” with Sean Murray & Crispylicious Saturday, March 24Crystal Bay Club Red RoomCrystal Bay, Nev.Show: 11:30 p.m.Tickets: Free

“Red Tuesday” w/ Supervi-sion (Pretty Lights Music) & Shane SuffritiTuesday, March 27 Crystal Bay Club Red Room Crystal Bay, Nev. Show: 11 p.m.Tickets: Free

http://www.prettylights-music.com/therecordlabel/supervision.html

SPORTS SNC’s 2012 Snow DownSaturday, March 24Diamond Peak Ski Resort Incline Village, Nev.12 a.m. - 4:30 p.m.All-day free lift ticket and lunch for the first 30 SNC stu-dents to sign up. Compete in the Big Air Comp against SNC Freestyle teams. Open to all SNC students, with no entry fee. Registration at the Pat-terson front desk is required,

as limited spots are available. Prizes will be awarded to

the top team and non-team participants for both men and women.

2012 Ability Challenge Fri. and Sat. March 30-31 Alpine Meadows Ski ResortRegistration: 8 a.m. This event is an all-mountain fundraiser, designed to ac-commodate and challenge

skiers and snowboarders of all levels and abilities. Utilizing GPS technology, participants will enjoy the day by covering as much ter-rain as possible. All proceeds benefit Disabled Sports USA Far West, a non profit orga-nization.

EventsNorth Coast Brewing Co. Beer DinnerSaturday, March 23Cutthroat’s SaloonHyatt Regency, Incline Vil-lage, Nev. 6 p.m. - 9 p.m. Tickets: $59 per personReservations: Call Aspi War-den at 775.886.6730 oraspi.warden@hyatt.com

A Pioneer in the craft beer

movement, North Coast Brewing Company has won more then 70 awards in national and international competitions. Join us for our beer dinner at Cutthroats Sa-loon. Chef’s Wade Eybel and Jeremy Wilken will pair a five course dinner with selected craft beers from North Coast Brewing Company.

Reno Tahoe Comedy pres-ents Hypnotist Dan KimmFriday, March 23Pioneer Underground

100 S. Virginia St. Reno, NVTickets: $16 in adv., $21 day of show

HYPNOT!C is a mesmerizing,

comedic, laugh-a-minute show that not only busts the myths surrounding hypnosis but also showcases the hid-den talents of the volunteers’ subconscious minds. Dan Kimm, the featured stage and clinical hypnotist, has appeared in showrooms, classrooms and boardrooms throughout the country. Dan transforms volunteer audi-ence members into enter-taining stars of the show.

BY NIKKA CAMPORAA&E Assistant Editor

BY CHELSEA DE LA ROSAA&E Editor

On March 6, to truly open the flood gates of Spring Break, Mont Bleu Casino in South Lake Tahoe, Calif. hosted legend-ary band 311, and more than the ordinary opening act, The Dirty Heads.

Beyond security being tighter than Fol-som Prison just down the hill, the overall atmosphere was clouded with secondhand smoke and the energy of a hefty crowd

awaiting the flowing, harmoniously-driven grooves of both 311 and The Dirty Heads.

With limited-access to the floor being given on a first come first-serve basis in the Mont Bleu showroom, security had its work cut out for them returning, “wall hoppers” back to their designated standing only area in each level up from the pit.

Overall though, a good view and good sound could be heard all night from all around the showroom.

The extra security did not damper the

crowds enjoyment of such hits as Stand Tall, Lay Me Down and Check the Level from The Dirty Heads and the dancing went with anticipation for 311 to get the night even more elevated.

Although 311 is a much more well-known band with longevity under its belt, the show was evenly balanced and thor-oughly enjoyable from start to finish.

The lighting was superb for 311 that cre-ated a wonderful ambience of a night sky at times, topped with a thick cloud just

above the audiences’ heads. 311’s All Mixed Up, Amber, Down and

Beautiful Disaster were among the crowd pleasers performed and intermingled with the crowds voices in unison with each fa-vorite being played.

With over 21 years of musical fusion, 311 brought the energy to yet another pumped up crowd pleasing performance in The Tahoe Basin.

Looking for an excuse to let the dreads loose? Look no further. Resting at 7,800 feet, Kirkwood Mountain Resort will host a one-day music event that will showcase a confluence of reggae, rock and hip-hop for winter sports enthusiasts and music lovers alike.

Kirkwood’s High Up Fest will provide “a great opportunity to hit the slopes, shred some powder and wind the day down with today’s most talented and nationally ac-claimed reggae, hip-hop, and DJ artists,” said investor and coordinator, Tim Wagner.

The line up will include Iration, Collie Buddz w/ New Kingston, The Movement, Zion I, Kelley James and the Cozbykidz (DJ RyOn & Mic-Rob).

“Inspiration for the line up of this festi-val came from my love of reggae and hip-hop,” said Tim.

Sierra Nevada College Junior Colby Wagner, son of Tim Wagner, also had an influence on who would be performing.

“I told my dad that Iration and The Movement would be pretty sick to add to the line up,” said Colby, “and somehow my dad got it done.”

The High Up Festival is the first of its kind in the Tahoe area and was inspired by a specific culture that the local area can provide. Popularity for this event is grow-

ing rapidly.“We are advertising heavily in radio,

print, and social media in San Francisco, Sacramento, Tahoe and Reno,” said Tim.

Lots of time and planning has gone into the event.

“It has taken the help of dozens of talent-ed experts in the areas of creative design, marketing, stage production and advertis-ing,” said Tim.

The event is a collaboration of planners from the Reno/ Tahoe area, California and

Arizona.Battle Born Entertainment is working

together with Kirkwood who will host the event in a mountain setting. Battle Born Entertainment will produce the event in conjunction with the week long Free Ride Flow Festival.

“Battle Born Entertainment is very ex-cited to be working in conjunction with Kirkwood Mountain Resort to showcase the inaugural High Up Fest 2012. It prom-

ises to be a great day of music, powder and fun,” said CEO of Battle Born Entertain-ment, Carly Liston.

“Kirkwood has been extremely support-ive of High Up Fest 2012,” said Tim. “As founder of this locally owned, up-and-coming promotion company, I have to say it’s an honor to have Kirkwood and the rest of the Vail family standing behind Battle Entertainment LLC.”

High Up Festival will take place at 1:30 p.m Saturday, March. 24, at Kirkwood Mountain Resort. Ticket options include a Kirkwood all day lift ticket and High Up concert ticket combo for $89. Concert only tickets are $39. SNC students will receive $5 off any ticket by entering promo code SNC12. Vail Corporations just bought Kirkwood, so all Northstar and Heavenly Epic Season Pass holders receive free lift tickets at Kirkwood.

BY TAYLOR PUSC Staff Contributor

Kirkwood Mountain Resort to host High Up Music Festival

• Who: Iration, Collie Buddz W/ New Kingston, The Movement, Zion I, Kelley James, and the Cozbykidz (DJ RyOn & Mic-Rob

• When: 1:30 p.m. Saturday, March 24• Where: Kirkwood Mountain Resort• Tickets: Kirkwood all day lift ticket

and High Up concert ticket, $89 Concert Ticket, $39

HIGH UP MUSIC FESTIVALCOURTESY PHOTO

Review: 311 and The Dirty Heads rock Mont Bleu with a passionate crowd

THURSDAY, March 22, 2012Eagle’s Eye 16 CAMPUS