Fourteen black football players were dismissed from the football team for planning to protest a Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints practice regarding black priests. After UW’s head coach Lloyd Eaton told these players that they could not protest during the game against BYU, the nation’s attitudes toward college athletes changed forever.

Kevin McKinney, senior associate athletic director of external affairs at the University of Wyoming, and radio announcer for Cowboy basketball, was working for UW Athletics during the Black 14 incident and, in the 41 years since, has seen the entire landscape of college athletics more forward.

“At the time, players were not only barred from protesting but from any self-expression. It was not explicitly a matter of race. Athletes couldn’t have earrings or tattoos at the time let alone protest,” McKinney said. “It wasn’t right, but it was what it was.”

For McKinney, the change was one that was ready to happen. The Black 14 represented the token moment in which the culture of college athletics changed.

“It has to start somewhere. The first person who went to an all-white school or this [the Black 14 protest] had to happen to accelerate the change to where we are now,” McKinney said.

That change was one that pushed the nation towards a sports culture more aware of individuals and of differences in identity.

“I think the value of it was that it made coaches more aware that every player has value,” McKinney said.

The current athletics program is now the most diverse place on campus, according to athletics director Tom Burman.

“The whole point to me of college athletics is to bring these diverse people together and make them play as one and feel as one. That [being diverse] is what college is all about. Bringing together people from everywhere. Then [1969], we had 14 black athletes. Now we have French kids playing with kids from Cody, Wyoming,” McKinney said.

The Black 14 represented a monumental change for UW and for sports in general. The freedom for athletes to protest now seems commonplace and individuality in sports is higher than ever. For McKinney, the change that Wyoming went through was important for all of college sports.

“It was a bad thing for Wyoming at the time. No doubt. But it was a good thing for accelerating the change,” he said.

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42 percent of the state’s 2007-08 high school graduates who attended a Wyoming college needed remedial help in college math in 2008-09, and 24 percent needed help in reading, according to the Wyoming Department of Education.   The scarier news is that most of these students earned at least a 3.0 in high school.  Luckily, educators across the state agree that the Wyoming education system needs to improve, but how do we fix the problem?

The newly elected school superintendent Cindy Hill advocates for more teacher accountability, local control, personal commitment, and test reorganization.

I agree with all of these goals.  Yes, if a teacher cannot teach, fire him.  If a test is flawed, restructure it.  If local control works, keep it.  But, these goals seem too evident.  These are the changes we are seeing throughout the country in education reform.  These are not new ideas thought up by Cindy Hill in response to an education crisis in Wyoming; these are suggestions by national policy makers in response to a national decline in education.

I am asking how we fix this problem in Wyoming. This state is unique because of its large size and secularity.  Those born in Wyoming most often stay in Wyoming, and that creates an education circle.  A voluntary survey conducted in 2007 showed that 80% of UW Education graduates stay and teach in Wyoming.

I heard recently from a friend that if a student can’t cut it as an engineer, he moves to a business major.  If he can’t hack it in the business department, he becomes a political science major, and, finally, if he fails political science, he becomes a teacher.  If this is true, we can assume that our teachers are not the best and the brightest of the state, but, instead, the slackers, idiots, crazies, and those “nice” students who generally can’t figure out what they want to do.

This is also a national phenomenon.  According to  a best jobs of 2010 survey published in the Wall Street Journal, “teacher” was placed right above “sewage plant operator” and right below “appliance repairer.”  This shows, pretty decisively, that a student needs to be either highly committed to becoming a teacher or simply has no other options.  Nobody wants to graduate from college and have the same public image as a handyman.

According to CBS’s moneywatch.com, education majors across the nation graduate with the highest GPAs of any other major.  I don’t think that this is because education majors are so much smarter than the math, chemistry, and physics majors, but, instead, the education classes are much easier.  Many students take education courses to boost their GPAs in order to be accepted into more difficult programs, such as business.

Wyoming teachers with whom I have spoken hope to continue on to become principals and administrators in Wyoming.  Many of them will do online graduate programs from some unheard of college.  These “graduate” programs are geared for teachers who need something cheap and easy and, consequently, offer quick degrees that carry little in terms of real academia.  So, we are left with the worst students becoming education majors; education majors becoming teachers in Wyoming; teachers participating in easy graduate programs and becoming administrators and principals.

This has wide reaching implications for the state and for Cindy Hill’s theory of teacher accountability.  Teacher accountability only works if those who are evaluating the teachers are better learned than the teachers.  However, administrators, principals, and even State superintendent Cindy Hill were all educated by the University of Wyoming’s education department.  Does this mean that we have not, in fact, put our children’s future in the hands of the best qualified for the job, but instead those people who couldn’t make it in any other field?

I say yes.  We have, unwittingly, failed as a state and as a nation.  Teaching is one of the hardest jobs in this country.  Yet, we make our education program the joke of the university.  Change the program and make it more difficult.  We need to see students that can’t cut it in the education department become business majors, instead of the other way around.

This is easiest in a state like Wyoming.  I mean, 80% of education graduates go on to teach in the state. This means that if we make a conscious effort to be the best, most highly educated state in the nation, we could go a long way by simply changing the education department.  Require an entrance exam, a year of residency, tough classes and even tougher professors.  Bring in the best teachers and administrators from across the nation to show that teaching is not about curriculums, rubrics or lesson plans.  

If our teachers are the best writers, readers, mathematicians in the state, high schools will improve.  In time, the state will improve as more businesses are started or come to Wyoming in response to the better education and smarter graduates.

Until we change the program, Wyoming high school students will be taught by mediocre and unmotivated teachers.  Students will then enter college with little preparation in math and writing and will take remedial courses.  The brightest, most hardworking students will become lawyers, doctors, accountants, and scientists.  The worst students…well… they will become teachers.

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Freudenthal will return to his alma mater to teach in the College of Law. His seminar at the college will focus primarily on energy law and natural resources; although he may also work with UW’s School of Energy Resources and the College of Business.

“What I want people to understand, is that you’ve got to understand the law, but you’ve got to understand the context in which it’s being applied before you’re going to be either a fully rounded lawyer or decision-maker,” Freudenthal told the Casper Star-Tribune.

Freudenthal stressed that his position at the university was temporary and that he would remain separate from the college to pursue his other interests.

As both U.S. attorney for Wyoming and as governor, Freudenthal has accrued knowledge of Wyoming issues specifically, especially concerning energy and the states’ natural resources, which he plans on passing to UW law students.

President Tom Buchanan said the former governor will be an asset to the College of Law.

“We’re honored that he’s accepted our invitation to join our faculty as a visiting professor,” Buchanan said in a press release. ”This is a tremendous opportunity for our students to learn first hand from the state’s top executive, who has such extensive knowledge about Wyoming law, government, economics and history.”

Freudenthal graduated from UW in 1980, starting his own private law practice thereafter.

In 1994, he was appointed as U.S. attorney for Wyoming where he remained until taking the Wyoming governor’s office in 2002 and was then re-elected in 2006. Freudenthal’s second term ended Jan. 3 and the position was left to current governor, Matt Mead.

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Laramie fireman John Poulos and UWPD officer Jay Peyton talk after yesterday’s false alarm at the College of Business building. According to Poulos, false fire alarms are common in new buildings. 

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The Student Senate voted on three pieces of legislation at Tuesday night’s meeting, with one bill awarding $7,500 from the general reserve to sponsor a spring break trip to Washington D.C. for 12 students.

The Student Senate voted on three pieces of legislation at Tuesday night’s meeting, with one bill awarding $7,500 from the general reserve to sponsor a spring break trip to Washington D.C. for 12 students.

Along with the spring break trip, there was a bill to require senators to volunteer for SafeRide once per semester and two bills were proposed to change some of the internal structure of ASUW in an elections reform act and committee reform act. 

On the spring break trip, the students will be given the opportunity to meet and interact with a federal congressional delegation as well as sight see in the nation’s capital.

Although ASUW is sponsoring the trip and the coordinators are looking for outside funding, students would be required to pay about $400 for the weeklong trip. 

However, some senators felt the bill was an inappropriate use of the general reserve fund.

“I see it as a PR trip where 12 students will have a phenomenal trip with ASUW footing part of the bill, and I don’t think that’s right,” said one senator. 

The coordinators of the trip said they would like to see it become an annual event that ASUW sponsors. 

The bill passed by a vote of 24-2. 

The senate also discussed, and once again voted down, a bill that would require senators to volunteer for SafeRide once per semester during their term. 

This is the third time in three years that a similar bill has come before senate and each time the bill has failed. 

“I like this bill because I realize SafeRide has a lot of issues finding volunteers,” Sen. Noah Hull said. 

yes on the bill and said he thought the only way to fix the problems with the program is go to and see what those problems are by volunteering. 

Senator for the College of Business Katie Cusack disagreed.

“I think we all come into a job with a job description and this was not in the one we had, it’s not fair to change a description half way through,” she said. 

Senator for the College of Health Sciences Bryan Dugas responded to her comments.

“I don’t think our description is changing, our job is to help and serve students its not changing at all,” said Dugas.

Senator Phil Abernathy, said that he didn’t feel volunteering for SafeRide guaranteed that he would talk with any of his constituents from the College of Business.

After the meeting, Senator Alex Sullivan-Brink, who also voted no, said he didn’t think ASUW should force senators to do the things they should already be doing. 

During the meeting senate also awarded $3,750 to the Chinese Students and Scholars association for its Chinese New Year celebration to take place next semester. 

Email: Erin Jarnagin 

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I know what it feels like to live in one of those northern sports cities like Minneapolis or Detroit, or even a little less northern, Cleveland. I go to school in Laramie, a place where the sports are, at times, as hard to deal with as the painfully cold climate.

It’s far less dramatic in Laramie than in places like Cleveland; Wyoming doesn’t have a LeBron James who left us in great disappointment and anger to a much warmer, more glamorous place like Miami. Something like that could have happened if Dave Christensen would have had the possibility to leave for Arizona State this upcoming offseason. Ten wins in two seasons and a 3-8 record this year doesn’t really build a firm stepping stone to lift your coaching leg into the Pac 10 though. 

Sorry Dave, guess you will have to wait one more year to construct your stairs made out of Cowboy football. Good luck in the WAC next year—I mean MWC; I’m sorry, I got the letters mixed up after TCU left this week.

If you have picked up this publication any time in the last two or three years, you probably know my stance when it comes to Cowboy athletics. I’m highly skeptical, bitter and brazenly sarcastic to a point of unkindness. This disposition, however, does not come from a hate for Cowboy sports.

When I was a kid, well actually I’m still a kid now, a 22-year-old about to graduate but still very much an immature college student. Personality analysis aside, before college (not sure what age, somewhere between whippersnapper and delinquent) when I was shorter than I was now and didn’t have to shave as often, I attended Wyoming football games as a wide-eyed Brown and Gold-loving Cowboy fan.

I loved watching the underdog Cowboys beat the hell out of Utah with nothing but scrappy defense and what could best be described as hard-nosed Cowboy football.  I would go with my dad and little brother and it didn’t matter that it was freezing cold; it was the atmosphere and experience that made you enjoy the game no matter if they won or lost.

Since then, in the four years I paid to go to school year and attend the games occasionally, my outlook has changed. I’m still a fan, but those aforementioned words like skeptical, sarcastic, and even bitter seem to dominate my perspective.

Whether it’s the fans, the players, or just the oversized, flamboyant whoa “Black Betty” megatron scoreboard, I just don’t feel the same attachment to Cowboy football. Concerning the scoreboard, there are other songs besides “Cotton Eyed Joe” and whatever is playing in the Parlor at the Buck this weekend. You would think that all of the old Cowboy Joe Clubbers would have remixed the Cowboy playlist and turned down the volume a bit by now.

Students are wasted when they go to the games, I will not say if this is or is not my strategy of attending and coping with games, but it is an apparent part of the stadium atmosphere. This year, myself and 11 other guys rented an RV and drove down to Austin, Texas to the Cowboys-Longhorns game. Aside from it being the coolest thing I’ve ever done in my life–12 dudes in an RV for a 22-hour drive to Austin plus some beer is self-explanatory when it comes to coolness—the football game taught me what college football really is; college football in the south. 

Guys wore collared shirts to the game and the girls dressed up too. People cheered for the team, staying for the whole game without puking down the front of themselves and being dragged out by their flat-billed hat by a cop.

Sure, I’m aware that I sacrificed the privilege of attending football games like this when I decided to pay less than $5,000 a year to go to college. However, there is an unacceptable excess of flat-billed puking in the stands at War Memorial Stadium. 

There is nothing uglier than a yellow flat billed hat; “307” on the front in brown letters, just to make sure that nice Colorado girl knows not to answer the first three digits of the phone number that appears on her phone from out of state because “Oh, it’s that drunk Wyoming jackass that was falling all over himself at the game.”

The yellow is supposed to be Brown and Gold, but somehow each week Cowboy uniforms drift closer to Brown and Yellow—a wonderful color combination in every way (There’s some of that sarcasm I mentioned earlier)

Before I made some comment about Christensen using Wyoming as a stepping stone, this is purely speculation. However, if he stays here too long he could slowly turn into Joe Glenn and, as a combination of the poor performance of his players and the cold wind of Laramie, completely erode his football soul. 

Call all this four years of frustration with the culture of Cowboy football vented. 

Do I feel better? No, not really, because Cowboy basketball season is just getting started.

Email: Brad Estes  

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My favorite photo assignments aren’t athletic events, nor are they large events put on by campus organizations. My favorite photo assignments are the ones that allow me to document the everyday lives of college students. 

I like them because we have the most unique lives—and I enjoy capturing them. The life that is the college life isn’t found in classrooms or lecture halls. It’s found in the cheap apartments around Laramie. It’s found in the students ranting outside of the Union. 

After a year and a half at UW, I am completely convinced that only those in our age group could live our lifestyles and get out alive. 

Many students, myself included, live substantially unhealthy lifestyles largely due to the very fact that we’re college students. 

On a good day, I’m able to make it to McDonald’s just in time to get a McGriddle (sausage egg and cheese) and a coffee (crude oil black) and make it to my 8 a.m. class. On a bad day, I’m on my third cup of coffee and shaking due to high levels of caffeine and a lack of food by the time my political philosophy class rolls around. 

Many college students have stories similar to mine. We stay busy procrastinating (yes, procrastinating is an activity which keeps many college students quite busy), writing papers (often in a very short period of time) or studying. 

Most college students survive off booze, caffeine—and in some cases—illicit drugs and cigarettes. It’s an interesting lifestyle to say the least. 

Then, of course, there are the financial troubles that come with being a college student. I have woken up many times to find less than a dollar left in my checking account—and this isn’t unusual or surprising to me at all. In fact, I simply dismiss it as being just another part of the socioeconomic status of being a college student. 

I don’t even flinch when I hear stories of my friends pulling consecutive all-nighters because they were up writing a paper or studying for an exam. Again, this is completely normal and to be expected. 

I recently found myself preparing for an exam in Coe Library. There’s just something about the environment in libraries that is conducive to studying, or for those like me, procrastination. I had my laptop screen split into two screens: On one screen was my Facebook page, and on the other I was watching “Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back.” It just wouldn’t feel right for me to sit down and actually begin my assignment in a timely manner. 

This is simply apart of the American college experience: getting drunk on the weekends, living off caffeine and Burger King, and being forced to get a Buck Double because you can’t afford anything else. The American college experience is poverty and decadence packed into a caffeine-filled and, for some, a pharmaceutically-driven rite of passage. 

I wouldn’t have it any other way. We only get this experience once, so why not live off caffeine and Burger King and four hours of sleep (on a good night)? 

So have another Buck Double or coffee. Smoke another cigarette, if that’s your thing, and enjoy the American college experience. 

Email: Zach Spadt 

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Though they occasionally see other drugs including methamphetamine, cocaine and ecstasy, marijuana is the number one illicit drug found on campus.

According to Mike Samp, assistant chief of police at UW, approximately one third of drug related citations on campus are issued in the residence halls and other housing facilities.  

The rest of the citations are issued elsewhere on campus, often as a result of contact with pedestrians on main campus and during traffic stops.

The penalty for consumption of marijuana includes a monetary fine and possible jail time.

Samp said that if officers are able to meet their standard of probable cause, often students are issued a citation in either circuit or municipal court.  

The fines can range up to $750 and a year in jail for possession or use of a controlled substance in misdemeanor amounts.  

Yet to some students, the use of marijuana on campus is just something that is part of campus culture.

“As long as kids are passing school and they aren’t letting it interfere with responsibility it shouldn’t be an issue at all. 

As long as they can continue on with their responsibility, marijuana is just fine in my book,” Claire Wooster, a student at UW, said.

Tyler Webber, a sophomore, agrees that the use of marijuana does not seem to be an issue for students or the university.

“I know a couple of people who use it, and they aren’t hurting as far as grades are concerned,” he said. 

Tucker Bean, a junior, also stated that he did not think that it was an issue and that the abuse of alcohol by students was much more troubling. 

Zachary Hanson, a senior, says that he has never witnessed marijuana use on campus, only suspected it, but says that he would not be surprised if it was something that happened regularly. 

In terms of university and Laramie police departments addressing it, Hanson said that he does not think it should be a big priority.   

“It is a law; we should observe the law. But there are other, more important things that could be addressed,” Hanson said.

The most popular age group for marijuana use is 18-25, according to the National Survey on Drug Use and Health.

In that age group, the drug is most popular with college students. 

The Center for Disease Control reported this year that 30.2 percent of college students have used marijuana in the past year.

At UW, that would mean that 3,749 students have smoked marijuana in the last year.

This number does not come as a surprise for students at UW.

“I would say the number sounds pretty low from the experiences I have had,” Bean said.

Wooster said that she thought the number was low, especially because of all the students who are trying the drug for the first time as an experiment.

The problem is not just with college students. 

According to the National Survey on Drug Use and Health, in 2009, 16.7 million Americans age 12 or older used marijuana at least once in the month prior to being surveyed. 

According to the most recent numbers from the Office of National Drug Control Policy, in Wyoming, 10 percent of the state reported using marijuana from 2004 to 2005, over 44,000 people.

Laramie’s position next to I-80 makes the town susceptible to marijuana, and drug dealers stop by while smuggling drugs across the country. 

In 1996 the Office of National Drug Control Policy labeled Albany County a High Intensity Drug Trafficking Area.

According to the Wyoming Highway Patrol website, just a month ago troopers seized 35 pounds of marijuana approximately 19 miles east of Laramie on I-80, though the marijuana was not bound for Laramie.

To combat the use of marijuana and other drugs on campus, the UWPD has two certified Drug Recognition Experts on staff that can testify in court regarding illicit drug use.  

Samp said that the police department, like the university administration, works hard to make campus safe for students, faculty and staff, which, as they see it, means enforcing the law against illicit drugs in a timely fashion, and utilizing the various resources UPWD has on campus and the City of Laramie.

“Often university disciplinary sanctions also apply through the Dean of Students office and/or Residence Life and Dining Services even if no citations were issued in a case,” Samp said.

To help students recognize the dangers and their potential addiction to marijuana, the AWARE program at UW has sponsored the electronic THC Online Knowledge Experience, or e-TOKE, which is a marijuana-specific brief assessment and feedback tool designed to educate college students about marijuana use. 

Any student can take the survey online in less than 15 minutes.

Email the author: mdonofri@uwyo.edu 

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The Office of Admissions and Pre-College and Student Visit Programs will host the event. 

“UW Discovery Days gives prospective students a chance to engage in a number of activities including tours of campus, informational sessions on each college and a resource fair, which gives prospective students the opportunity to speak with various Recognized Student Organizations that are present on campus,” Mary Aguayo, assistant director of Pre-College and Student Visit Programs, said. 

The event will also provide prospective students the chance to visit some of UW’s unique facilities on campus such as the Geology Museum, the planetarium, the interior and fashion design areas, the UW Honors House and the nutrition and food labs.

Discovery Days also includes a “nuts and bolts” informational session where prospective students will be able to ask questions regarding the various challenges associated with transferring to UW from other colleges within Wyoming and nontraditional student related issues. 

Aguayo said the typical demographic of students who attend the event is varied. 

“It’s a pretty evenly mixed group. We have prospective students from both Wyoming and out-of-state and also have a number of nontraditional students who are looking at continuing their education,” she said. “While the age group we see at this event is largely traditional students trying to make their decision on which college they will attend next year, the nontraditional prospective students are well represented.”

According to Aguayo, the yearly series of events has been well attended in the past, averaging between 500-600 students in total.

Discovery Days will be held in the spring semester on Feb. 19 and April 2.

“We also offer individual campus tours to prospective students and families by appointment through our office and I encourage anyone who is interested in attending UW to take advantage of these opportunities,” Aguayo said. The event runs from 8 a.m. to 2:15 p.m. and include lunch at the Washakie Dining Center. 

Prospective students participating in the event are asked to arrive at the Union at 8 a.m., for check-in and to visit the resource fair.

Email the author: rkubiche@uwyo.edu 

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The event will take place 9 a.m. to 1 p.m., Saturday in the Union Ballroom.

“This event is a great opportunity for students and the community to come and get a general snapshot of their overall health situation,” Jessica Hopper, pharmacy student and organizer of this year’s fair, said.

“Younger students don’t often think about their health care situation,” Hopper said. “While we are not diagnosing specific conditions, we are offering services that can help in catching some health problems early.”

“We will be offering a number of services that should prove to be very beneficial to individuals looking to get a general idea of their overall health.”

Services provided will include blood glucose testing, osteoporosis screening, rapid HIV testing, blood pressure testing, depression screenings and sexual and reproductive health information.

The event will also offer acupuncture treatment, hearing and vision tests and information about the importance of immunization.

“We generally get a pretty even split between students and members of the community,” Hopper said. “We also get a very broad spectrum of people from the ages of 18 all the way to 75,” Hopper said.

The program is also a venue for the students in the College of the Health Sciences to gain valuable experience in their field of study.

“Student groups within the College of Health Sciences run the various health services stations, which gives students valuable experience in their specific field of study,” Hopper said.

Third year pharmacy students will also be participating in the event. They will answer any possible questions students may have about prescription drugs. While the event is free, individuals who wish to receive a full blood workup will pay a fee of $25. Individuals requesting a full blood workup are asked to fast for at least twelve hours before the procedure.

Email the author: rkubiche@uwyo.edu 

Editors Note: The acronym “COSC” in the headline was intended to be “COHC”, for College of Health Sciences. The Branding Iron Online apologizes for the misprint. 

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