Alumni Association

Aspillaga named tennis head coach at Stephen F. Austin

CU-Boulder Alumni Association — Mon, 17 Jun 2013 22:46:07 +0000

BOULDER – University of Colorado women’s tennis Associate Head Coach Roberto Aspillaga is leaving the CU program to become the Stephen F. Austin women’s tennis head coach effective, Monday, June 17.

This is the first head coaching job for Aspillaga (pronounced ahs-P-a-ga). He replaces former head coach Stephanie Wooten, who resigned last month to pursue other career opportunities. The Ladyjacks compete in the Southland Conference.

“I want to thank coach Kenneally and the entire CU administration,” Aspillaga said. “It was a great experience to work at this institution and I am very grateful for all the wonderful people I had the opportunity to work with. I am very proud of all the team’s hard work and I will miss working with them.”

The Buffaloes finished the 2013 spring season with a 7-14 record. A pair of those victories came in the Pac-12 Conference, CU’s first conference wins since joining in 2012. The Buffs defeated Arizona (Mar. 10) and upset No. 59 Oregon (Mar. 29). Ironically, back on Feb. 2, CU upset No. 62 Stephen F. Austin marking the team’s first win over a ranked opponent since the 2010 campaign.

Aspillaga also helped the Buffs break into the Intercollegiate Tennis Association (ITA) rankings for the first time since April 2010, where CU spent the week of April 1-7 as the No. 75 nationally ranked team.

Prior to CU, Aspillaga spent the 2010-2012 seasons as an assistant coach at Purdue University. There he helped the Boilermakers win their first Big Ten Tournament Championship and earn an automatic berth to the NCAA Tournament. In two seasons with the Boilermakers, Aspillaga led Purdue to 31 overall wins and 13 regular season victories.

“We are excited for Roberto and his family’s appointment to be the next head coach at Stephen F. Austin,” CU head coach Nicole Kenneally said. “SFA has had a solid history and I know that Roberto will do a fantastic job with the program and put them back at the top of their conference. Roberto did a great job for us this year and we are thankful for his time at CU. We wish him all the success and support.”

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CU athletics records highest NCAA APR rate for third straight year

Linda Sprouse — Wed, 12 Jun 2013 15:30:47 +0000

   BOULDER — The University of Colorado Academic Progress Rate (APR) report based on information for the four year period between 2008-09 and 2011-12 was released by the NCAA Tuesday with those of all other Division I schools, with CU reporting good news for all 16 of its intercollegiate athletic programs.

For the third consecutive year, the APR rates are the highest in school history since the program was created nine years ago. In this latest report, the scores of CU’s teams are unparalleled over the history of the APR program, recording an average multi-year score of 979 out of 1000.

“In my role as Faculty Athletics Representative, I am gratified to see another strong academic performance, as measured by the NCAA’s APR standard,” said Dr. David Clough, CU’s Faculty Athletics Representative after examining the APR scores released for the 2011-12 academic year. “These results, coupled with the improvements in grade-point average, portend high graduation rates in coming years. We are now approaching a steady level of high performance in APR with normal ups and downs from year to year. I am most pleased by the dramatic improvement in APR for men’s basketball over the past four years, accompanied by unprecedented competitive successes. This documents that athletic and academic success can go hand in hand.”

Clough is widely considered one of the nation’s experts on the NCAA’s APR program and its intricacies.

Men’s basketball showed the most improvement in the multi-year score, improving 22 points from 962 (2010-11) to 984 (2011-2012). The team has shown steady progress over the last four years. In 2008-09 the team recorded a score of 897 but then rose to 926 the following year (2009-10). The football program has also continued to improve and increased its multi-year score from 919 (2008-09) to 946 in the most recent report. It is an eight-point improvement from last year’s score of 938. The team has shown steady improvement over the course of the last four reports rising above the new 930 penalty threshold.

For the ninth consecutive year all of CU’s other 14 programs are in good standing overall, none ever having been subject to any penalties, with seven showing improvement and four teams virtually holding steady in the four-year APR rate from the last report to this one and all with scores of 961 or above. Three teams did not improve, but those are teams with smaller squad size and are susceptible to such changes with the loss of single retention or eligibility point. Women’s golf had the largest drop going from 1000 to 971. The four that did not improve had very minor drops; women’s skiing from 966 to 961, men’s golf from 993-987, women’s basketball from 994 to 993 and volleyball stayed at 977.

“I am extremely gratified at the continued progress of our student-athletes in the classroom,” said CU-boulder Chancellor Philip P. DiStefano. “I echo professor David Clough’s contention that this progress demonstrates that academic success and athletic achievement are not mutually exclusive. Indeed, our university and our conference prove that every day.”

Overall, three programs earned perfect 1000 scores for the 2011-12 annual report. The women’s cross country team recorded their third consecutive 1000 score, fourth overall since the programs’ inception. Volleyball earned a perfect score for the fourth time overall and women’s basketball recorded its third perfect score.

That brings the total to 39 times that CU programs have earned a perfect score since the APR came into being. All one-year scores for all 16 of Colorado’s programs were 941 or above (14 above 964), with football showing the largest increase, jumping 39 points from 930 to 969, followed by women’s volleyball (22 points, 978 to 1000) and women’s basketball (21 points, 979 to 1000). Women’s skiing also showed improvement increasing its score by three points (971 to 974).

Although the annual average dropped some, it does show consistent improvement in multi-year average over the past four years. There are some drops in annual scores for certain sports where improvement is anticipated next year and beyond.

Though the NCAA doesn’t release data for all sports combined at every institution, Colorado’s overall APR picture is outstanding. The average APR for all CU student-athletes stands at 977 in the latest report. The annual figures was 943 in the 2006-07 report, and it has improved each year since, growing to 961, 967, 980 and 989 last year.

                Now nine years into the APR report card system, numbers continue to stabilize statistically as program histories take firmer roots. The NCAA instituted the APR in 2004, with member schools supplying information first for the 2003-04 academic year for an initial look at how schools fared across the country. The system analyzes a four-year period, thus new data for the most recent year replaces that on the front end of the previous year’s research.

                The reporting covered all 16 of CU’s intercollegiate sport programs; team-by-team statistical data (Column A—denotes number of perfect 1000 annual APR scores in program history out of a maximum seven; number in parenthesis is program’s high score if no 1000 scored as of yet; team GPA is cumulative value as of Fall 2012 and is listed for reference but is not strongly correlated with APR):

Program		2011-12 APR	Four-Year APR 2008-09 to 2011-12	A	Team GPA (Cumulative)
Men’s Basketball	MBB	979	984	2	2.710
Men’s Cross Country	MXC	983	988	3	2.746
Football	FB	969	946	(962)	2.683
Men’s Golf	MGF	949	987	4	2.723
Men’s Skiing	MSK	941	964	2	3.544
Men’s Indoor Track	MIT	989	978	1	…………
Men’s Outdoor Track	MOT	990	983	1	2.665
Women’s Basketball	WBB	1000	990	3	2.796
Women’s Cross Country	WXC	1000	991	4	3.235
Women’s Golf	WGF	964	981	4	2.986
Women’s Skiing	WSK	974	961	2	3.269
Women’s Soccer	SOC	975	981	1	3.239
Women’s Tennis	TEN	966	991	6	3.232
Women’s Indoor Track	WIT	976	977	1	…………
Women’s Outdoor Track	WOT	977	977	1	3.169
Women’s Volleyball	VB	1000	977	4	3.002

THE NCAA APR SYSTEM

While complicated, APR (Academic Progress Rate) can best be described as one that is based on two factors: eligibility/graduation (“E” point) and retention (“R” point). APR data are only collected for team members on athletically-related financial aid (full or partial scholarships). The “E” point is earned by maintaining eligibility at the end of a semester; the “R” point is earned by being retained in the following semester. Thus, each student-athlete accrues 0, 1 or 2 points per semester.

For example, if a team was comprised of 20 student-athletes on aid, and all 20 were in good academic standing and returned to school the next semester, the team’s semester APR would be 1000 (40 out of a 40 possible points). The next semester, if two became ineligible, one left school and one stayed, and the other 18 remained in good standing, the semester APR would be 925 (37 of 40). The team’s APR for the year would thus be 963 (for 77 out of 80 possible points). To determine an APR score for four years, the total points earned by the team over that period of time is divided by the total points possible and reported as a “batting average” on the basis of 1000.

Student-athletes who leave the institution and are ineligible cause a loss of two points in the APR calculation. These are traditionally called “0-for-2’s”. Student-athletes who leave in eligible status lose only one point and are called “1-for-2’s.” If the latter depart and sign a contract to play their sport professionally, the loss of the “R” point is forgiven. And, if they transfer to another four-year institution and depart with a cumulative GPA greater than or equal to 2.6, the loss is also forgiven. In these last two categories, the student-athletes are called “1-for-1’s.” A student-athlete who leaves eligible, loses the “R” point, and returns in a later year to continue their studies and graduates, achieves a delayed graduation point in the semester they graduate. And, finally, a student-athlete who is ineligible at the end of a term, but is retained, also loses one point, the “E”, and is also called a “1-for-2.”

The NCAA has established a new penalty threshold of 930 (increased from the current 900) that will transition in over the next two years. Teams with multiyear scores below this threshold will be subject to ban of postseason competition plus limitations on practice time, length of season and number of competitions. Thus the penalties above that currently kick in for teams below 900, will transition to 930 by 2014-15.

NOTE: There is not a precise relationship between APR and subsequent graduation rates, but APR scores in the range of 930 to 940 generally yield graduation rates in the neighborhood of 50% or greater. APR scores above 960 will usually yield graduation rates of 70% or higher, higher than the norm of the general student population at CU. These are Federal Graduation Rates (FGR). The NCAA also tracks a Graduation Success Rate (GSR) that accommodates transfers out of and into the institution and, consequently, is often about 10 percentage points higher than the FGR.

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Discover Boulder’s Beer Brewing History June 21!

CU-Boulder Alumni Association — Tue, 11 Jun 2013 21:27:27 +0000

Celebrate Boulder’s beer culture on Friday, June 21 at this unique evening centered on the history of brewing beer in Boulder, starting in the late 1800s and ending with today’s fantastic local breweries.

At the reception from 5:30 to 6 p.m., enjoy beer from local breweries including Twisted Pine, Fate, Upslope, Bootstrap Brewing and J. Wells Brewery and snack on appetizers. Then listen to a panel of CU alumni brewers. From 6:45-8 p.m. wander the Boulder History Museum’s exhibit “Beer! Boulder’s History on Tap,” sample locally-brewed beer, delight in delicious food and ice cream from local food trucks and enjoy a demonstration of cooking with beer from Boulder’s Auguste Escoffier School of Culinary Arts.

Your $15 admission price includes the following great items!

A flight of six beer samples
One beer of your choice
Admission to the museum exhibit on the history of beer brewing in Boulder
Samples from Escoffier School of Culinary Arts
Admission to the brewers panel discussion
Two items from the food trucks

A cash bar serving locally-brewed beer also will be available.

Children’s $5 entrance fee includes the following items!

A cup of iced tea, soda or lemonade
Two items from the food trucks
Samples from Escoffier School of Culinary Arts
Admission to the museum exhibit on the history of beer brewing in Boulder
Admission to the brewers panel discussion

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Robert Lyle Dressler

CU-Boulder Alumni Association — Tue, 11 Jun 2013 18:30:44 +0000

Robert (Bob) Lyle Dressler

Bob was born 7/2/1921 in Council Bluffs, IA, and raised in Omaha, NE. He graduated Phi Beta Kappa from the U. of Colorado in 1943. He was a member of Sigma Pi Sigma in Physics and Pi Mu Epsilon in Mathematics. He served in the USN 1943-46 as an officer on the USS Allendale in the Pacific Theater. He was honorably discharged at the rank of Lt. (jg). Under the G.I. bill, he attended Harvard Law School, earning a J.D. 1949.

In 1948 while at Harvard, Bob married Dawn O’Day (died 1996). They moved to Portland in 1949. In 1954, following various positions in private and public legal practice including the US Attorney’s Office , he went into private practice in the partnership of Buhlinger and Dressler and later Dressler and Granada in Southeast Portland. He emphasized school and real property law in his law practice from which he retired in 1986. Upon his retirement, the David Douglas School Board recommended him for the Flag of Learning and Liberty; the third Oregon citizen recipient of this education award. He was an active member of the Oregon Bar, Multnomah County Bar, and American Bar Association.

He donated his time to the First Congregational United Church of Christ, Friendly House, UGN (United Way), Kiwanis, Camp Fire Girls, Boy Scouts, Mt. Hood Community College (founding board member), Rose City Yacht Club, and Pine Mt. Observatory. He was an avid reader. When he was a young man, he enjoyed mountain climbing and photography. All of his life, he loved camping, hunting, canoeing, sailing, and astronomy.

Bob died May 1, 2013 in Portland. He is survived by his daughters, Elizabeth Meyer, Katherine Shea, Mary Belle Dressler, their husbands, his 4 grandchildren, his beloved friend , Gwen Pierce, and her family. His memorial service will be on Sunday, 7/7/2013, 3:30 p.m., First Congregational UCC in Portland, OR. The family requests donations in lieu of flowers to: Snowcap, Friends of the Pine Mountain Observatory, or First Congregational UCC, Portland.

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Meet Other Forever Buffs in Chicago

CU-Boulder Alumni Association — Mon, 10 Jun 2013 19:14:53 +0000

Summer is here and Chicago’s Two-Nine Martini Lounge has a great upper-level patio for you to mix and mingle with your fellow ‘burb Buffs! Join us Thursday June 20 from 5:30-7 p.m. for a great time with hosted appetizers, CU giveaways and a cash bar. This is a great opportunity to expand your social and professional network, meet Buffs in the area and let us know what other events you’d like to see!

The first 20 people to register get a FREE DRINK, so register now!

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Don’t Miss an Incredible Summer Concert with the Chicago Chapter

CU-Boulder Alumni Association — Mon, 10 Jun 2013 18:56:51 +0000

Gather your family and friends to join the Chicago chapter at Under the Sun, an enjoyable summer evening filled with fantastic music and Forever Buffs on Saturday, July 20 at 6 p.m. at Chicago’s beautiful Ravinia Pavilion. Tickets cost $27.

The excellent outdoor concert lineup includes Smash Mouth, Sugar Ray, Gin Blossoms, Vertical Horizon and Fastball. We have a limited number of tickets, so reserve your spot quickly!

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We Need Your Help!

CU-Boulder Alumni Association — Mon, 10 Jun 2013 16:27:41 +0000

We Need You to show your CU pride and help us reach new heights.

Today, CU-Boulder is third from last among its Pac-12 peers in the percent of alumni who give to the university. Help put CU-Boulder on top among Pac-12 schools and throughout the country. Our university’s rankings are, in part, based on the percent of alumni who give back to their university.

With CU-Boulder receiving less than 5 percent of its funding from the state this year, your donation — no matter the size — is more important than ever!

Give now at www.cufund.org/bouldergiving.

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16 Buffs Earn Pac-12 All-Academic Honors

CU-Boulder Alumni Association — Thu, 06 Jun 2013 16:56:45 +0000

WALNUT CREEK, Calif. – The University of Colorado track and field team placed 16 on the Pac-12 All-Academic teams, including two selections to the men’s and women’s first teams, the league announced on Wednesday.

Matt Biegner earned a degree in political science and finance in May and was named to the men’s first team with a 3.59 grade point average, while Nikki Look, who graduated with a degree in applied mathematics, was selected to the women’s first team. Look finished her career at CU with a perfect 4.00 GPA. Earlier this season, she was also named to the CoSIDA Academic All-District first team and earned an NCAA Postgraduate Scholarship which she will use to attend medical school this coming fall.

Diana George and Lindsy Mattson earned second team honors. George finished her career with a 3.79 GPA (mechanical engineering) and Sweeney is an open major with a 3.81 GPA. CU also placed 12 on the honorable mention teams.

To be eligible for the academic team, a student-athlete must have a minimum 3.00 overall grade point average and either be a starter or participate in a minimum of 50% of the schedule contests.

Pac-12 All-Academic – Men’s Track & Field
First Team
Matt Biegner                     3.59      Political Science/Finance

Honorable Mention
Cameron Hutchins          3.19      Classics
Mark Jones                       3.00      Open
Blake Theroux                 3.02      History

Pac-12 All-Academic – Women’s Track & Field
First Team
Nikki Look                       4.00      Applied Mathematics

Second Team
Diana George                    3.79      Mechanical Engineering
Bridget Sweeney              3.81      Open

Honorable Mention
Brianne Beemer               3.22      Speech, Language and Hearing Sciences and Marketing
Emma Coburn                  3.26      Marketing
Kelsey English                 3.18      Integrative Physiology
Emily Hunsucker            3.16      Finance
Lindsy Mattson               3.68      Communications
Allie McLaughlin             3.30      Communications & Psychology
Holly Odneal                    3.60      Finance
Gwen Ricco                      3.61      Anthropology
Jana Stolting                     3.42      Philosophy

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Buffs on Tap: A Taste of Boulder’s Brewing History

Jack Vertovec — Mon, 03 Jun 2013 14:41:00 +0000

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Athletic Director Mike Bohn Resigns

Tori Peglar — Tue, 28 May 2013 20:15:43 +0000

Athletic director Mike Bohn stands with former CU linebacker Alfred Williams (Soc ex’91) who became the fifth Buff to be inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame in December 2010.

University of Colorado Boulder Chancellor Philip P. DiStefano today announced he has accepted the resignation of CU-Boulder athletic director Mike Bohn, effective June 3.

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Changes to Our Email for Life Program

CU-Boulder Alumni Association — Wed, 15 May 2013 20:13:12 +0000

The CU-Boulder Office of Information Technology is retiring the CULink e-mail and calendaring service where @colorado.edu e-mail accounts currently reside. Accounts are being moved to Gmail where users will have 120 times more quota, access to video hangouts, easy-to-manage conversation threads, industry-leading spam filters, Google’s powerful search tools, and much more. Current users will get to keep their first.lastname@colorado.edu address with Gmail.

Until May 19 users can control when their account is moved by using the automated email migration tool at https://gogoogle.colorado.edu/. After May 19, all Gmail eligible accounts still on CULink will be scheduled to be moved sometime during May and June and account owners will receive an email with directions about how to access their account after it has been moved.

If you are a currently participate in our Email for Life program and want to move your account now, here’s how the migration process works:

Log in at https://gogoogle.colorado.edu/ using your CU-Boulder username and IdentiKey password (the same credentials you use to log in to CULink).
Check the box to migrate your e-mail, including all messages and folders, to your Gmail account. Once you do this, all new e-mail will start going to your new Colorado.edu Gmail inbox. You will be able to use your Gmail account immediately by logging in at http://gmail.colorado.edu with username@colorado.edu and your IdentiKey password.
The vast majority of migrations are taking less than two hours to complete; however, depending upon the number of migration requests being processed, it could take anywhere from 1 to 8 hours for all your messages to be moved from CULink to Gmail.
If you want to use an e-mail program such as Microsoft Outlook or Apple Mail with your Gmail account, we have step-by-step instructions for setting up a variety of e-mail programs.
After your migration is complete, your CULink account will still be available so that you can retrieve any information you need (contacts, calendars, etc.) before your CULink account is deactivated this summer.
You are encouraged to use the campus-provided Gmail service, but if you prefer to use a different e-mail service, you should forward your e-mail by changing your e-mail delivery location using CU-Boulder Identity Manager.

Details about how to forward e-mail or move your contacts from CULink to Gmail can be found on the Office of Information Technology’s Google FAQ page. You can learn more about the many benefits to Gmail and Google Apps on the CU-Boulder Google Apps page.

The Office of Information Technology wants to ensure all migrations to Gmail are as painless and free of concern as possible. If you have questions about migration to Gmail or about e-mail and calendaring in general, please contact the IT Service Center at 303-735-4357 (5-HELP from a campus phone) or e-mail help@colorado.edu. Phone help is available: Monday through Thursday, 7:00 a.m. to 10:00 p.m.; Friday, 7:00 a.m. to 7:00 p.m.; and Saturday and Sunday, 12:00 noon to 6:00 p.m.

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CU men’s basketball signs George King to national letter of intent

Andrew R Green — Tue, 14 May 2013 18:29:39 +0000

BOULDER – University of Colorado men’s basketball head coach Tad Boyle and his coaching staff announced Monday they have signed George King, a 6-foot-5, 205-pound forward from San Antonio, Texas to a National Letter of Intent. King will be a freshman at CU beginning of the 2013 fall semester.

King will be one of four true-freshmen on the Buffaloes team that will also feature a pair of redshirt-freshmen. He joins fellow freshmen Tre’Shaun Fletcher, Jaron Hopkins, and Dustin Thomas. The incoming class also features redshirt-freshmen Wesley Gordon and Chris Jenkins, both sat out this past season.

“He can rebound, block shots, shoot and defend,” Boyle said of CU’s latest addition to the roster.

Boyle also said CU was “kind of late to the party” in recruiting King, who conceded he was a “late bloomer” and didn’t start attracting major attention until late in his senior season and went through the April signing period unsigned.

During his senior year, King averaged 16.6 points, 11.5 rebounds and 1.6 blocks per game in leading the Brennan Bears to a 39-3 record and an appearance in the 4A state semifinals. He shot 60 percent from the field and was named both TABC All-State and District 28-4A MVP. As a senior he recorded 25 double-doubles and had two 20-20 games with 23 points and 20 rebounds against Warren (Nov. 12) and 20 points and 20 rebounds against Lanier (Jan. 29) including 12 rebounds in one quarter.

King was an all-area selection as a junior.

“They believe in me and I believe in them,” King told Rivals.com on signing with the Buffaloes. “I’ve only been to Colorado a handful of times and it was my first time in Boulder,” he said. “I knew I liked it as soon as I stepped foot in Boulder. It has a beautiful campus, really nice people.”

“They have a really good coaching staff, the players and I really clicked. I got up and down with the guys and got a good feeling. (The coaches) like that I’m good sized, I’m skilled, that I can shoot and that I have a lot of potential.”

CU returns two seniors (Ben Mills, Kevin Nelson) on the 2013-2014 roster; along with three juniors (Askia Booker, Spencer Dinwiddie, Beau Gamble); and four sophomores (Xavier Johnson, Josh Scott, Eli Stalzer, Xavier Talton).

By the end of the summer, the Buffs will have graduated three student-athletes (Jeremy Adams, Sabatino Chen, Shane Harris-Tunks). Andre Roberson, who had one more year of eligibility remaining, declared for the NBA Draft on April 28.

2013-2014 COLORADO MEN’S BASKETBALL NEWCOMERS
Tre’Shaun Fletcher (Wing • 6-6 • 195 • Tacoma, Wash./Lincoln HS)
Wesley Gordon (Forward • 6-8 • 225 • Fr. • Colorado Springs, Colo./Sierra HS)
Chris Jenkins (Forward • 6-7 • 180 • Fr. • Detroit, Mich./University of Detroit Jesuit HS)
Jaron Hopkins (Guard, Multi-Purpose • 6-5 • 185 • Mesa, Ariz./Dobson HS)
George King (Forward • 6-5 • 205 • San Antonio, Texas/Brennan HS)
Dustin Thomas (Combo Forward • 6-7 • 210 • Texarkana, Texas/Pleasant Grove HS)

(Some information in this report was provided by Rivals.com)

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Hats off to our 2013 Forever Buff graduates!

CU-Boulder Alumni Association — Mon, 13 May 2013 16:53:49 +0000

On Friday, May 10, 6,084 degrees were awarded to graduates, including 4,687 bachelor’s degrees, 903 master’s degrees, 171 law degrees and 494 doctoral degrees. Dame Julie Andrews gave an inspirational speech to the cheering crowd at Folsom, encouraging the graduates to continue learning, tackle adversity and to enjoy the arts. She ended her speech by saying, “The hills today are truly alive with the graduating class of 2013. Bravo.”

You can see more photos in our Flickr archive.

There’s also a Storify you may enjoy.

If you tweet about a CU event, please use the hashtag #ForeverBuffs

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Buffs Dominate Steeplechases At Pac-12 Championships

Linda Sprouse — Mon, 13 May 2013 15:44:07 +0000

Coburn and Van Halen Win Pac-12 Steeplechase Titles

LOS ANGELES – The University of Colorado dominated the 3,000-meter steeplechase, sweeping both the men’s and women’s titles at the 2013 Pac-12 Track & Field Championships on Saturday.

Seniors Aric Van Halen and Emma Coburn each won their first individual Pac-12 steeplechase titles. Van Halen won his race in 8:41.73 after a runner-up finish in 2012 and Coburn ran 9:55.67 after redshirting the 2012 season. This was the first time since 2007 that CU has taken home the men’s and women’s conference titles; that year Jenny Barringer and Billy Nelson won a pair of Big 12 titles.

Van Halen had a very good race and was running with Cal’s Collin Jarvis who won the steeplechase last year. The duo was 1-2 for the entire race and with about 500 meters to go; Van Halen went to the lead and started to pull away from Jarvis. He continued to put some distance between him and Jarvis and safely cruised to victory a full six seconds in front of Jarvis (8:47.82).

“Aric took a bad spill a couple weekends at the Payton Jordan Invitational,” coach Mark Wetmore said. “He’s been a little beat up since then, so we wanted to run a little bit conservatively today and see how his body felt. I told him that he was going to be fine once the race got going and he was. He’s a good closer, especially when he has some momentum going.”

Van Halen was pleased about his first conference title, especially since he is from the L.A. area so he had a large group of family and friends in the stands cheering him on throughout the race.

“I’m really excited,” he said. “I had a lot of people here supporting me and I wasn’t going to let them down. Collin took the race out at a pretty quick pace and it felt good to hang off of him and let him do the work.”

The CU men recorded 22 total points in the race. Blake Theroux closed very well and was just over two seconds behind Jarvis to take third overall in a personal best time of 8:49.99. Hugh Dowdy was right behind Theroux for fourth place in 8:50.75, also a PR. Jonny Stevens rounded out CU’s score in the race as he finished eighth overall with a PR of 9:01.85.

“We had not counted on 22 points from the steeplechase,” Wetmore said. “We thought Aric would be a contender for the win and then the other young guys would get a few points. We knew that if Jonny ran really, really well, that he could sneak up through the group and get eighth. It was the best that we could have hoped for.”

“It felt really good (to score 22 points in the men’s steeple),” Van Halen said. “During the race I could hear the public address announcer saying something about CU and then when I finished and turned around, I saw Blake and Hugh coming and then Jonny too. That was pretty good.”

Coburn also ran a very conservative race compared to what she normally runs as she ran the first half of the race in second with a pack of runners. At the halfway point, Coburn decided it was time to put some space between her and the rest of the field and quickly put 10 meters between her and the chase pack. As Coburn entered the final lap, she had worked up a 25 meter lead and cruised to the finish. Her time broke the Katherine B. Loker Stadium record which had been 10:33.70 (set in 2005).

“Traffic in a steeplechase can be problematic and a person who has no practice in it can be at a disadvantage,” Wetmore said. “When you are a 9:30 steeplechaser in the NCAA, you run alone all of the time, and then when you move on to the next level, all of a sudden the traffic is new. So, some of the plan today was to run a few laps with people splashing and bumping around.”

Despite not have a very aggressive start to her race, Coburn won by almost 13 seconds. Washington’s Marie Lawrence was the runner-up (10:08.19) and Washington State’s Caroline Austin was third (10:08.49).

“This was fun,” Coburn said. “I enjoyed staying with the group for the first few laps. Running in traffic is a skill I need to work on. Then at the end I picked it up so I could make sure we won.”

The CU men also had a nice showing in the 10,000-meter run. Pierce Murphy had a nice race and ended up passing teammate Richard Medina in the final 200 meters to place third overall with a PR of 29:36.48. Medina ended up finishing fifth (29:42.14) and Martin Medina also contributed to the team score with an eighth-place finish (29:52.91). In total, the trio posted 11 points for the Buffs’ team score.

“That is about the top of our most optimistic aspirations,” Wetmore explained. “We thought that Richard would be pretty close to third or fourth in this thing having not run a 10k in a really long time. And I thought Pierce might be about eighth. So, third, fifth and eighth is a nice little chunk of points and a very happy surprise.”

The Buffs picked up some points in the women’s field events. Abrianna Torres tied for sixth in the long jump after recording a jump of 19-11.75, which she earned on her third attempt of the day. Emily Hunsucker placed seventh in the hammer throw with a toss of 199-0 and Kelsey English also earned a point for the Buffs in the high jump, placing eighth overall after clearing 5-8.75.

“All three of them had pretty good days,” Wetmore said. “It’s hard to come here in these conditions and have your very best day, but to score at the conference meet is what we are here to do. This is a year where the women’s team is going to be punctuated by events other than the distances, which is rare.”

In the preliminary rounds, Jake Hurysz advanced to the finals in the men’s 1,500, finishing third in the second heat with a time of 3:42.98. The time placed Hurysz fifth overall heading into the finals at 1:30 p.m. PT on Sunday.

“I would say that Jake’s time was faster than what I would have expected in a conference prelim, but he looked strong in doing it and he looked controlled over the last 150 and I’m pretty sure he left a little in the well,” Wetmore said.

Joe Morris won his section of the 100 in 10.27 to earn an automatic spot in the finals on Sunday at 2:40 p.m. He also advanced to the finals in the 200 after finishing second in the third heat. Morris clocked in at 20.86 after UCLA’s Max Dyce edged him out at the finish (20.85). The 200 finals are on Sunday at 3:55 p.m.

“There is no room for leaving anything in the well in the short sprints,” Wetmore said. “Joe had two nice performances and he is going to be pretty high up in scoring some points for us tomorrow.”

The Pac-12 Championships will conclude on Sunday. The men are fourth overall in the team standings with 34 points and the women are sixth with 27. UCLA is the men’s team leader (53.50) and Arizona leads the women (60).
PAC-12 CHAMPIONSHIPS

Katherine B. Loker Stadium (Los Angeles, Calif.)

Team Scores:

Men (after 7 events):

UCLA, 53.50; 2. Oregon, 49.50; 3. Washington, 37; 4. Colorado, 34; 5. Arizona State, 29; 6. California, 22; 7. Stanford, 14; 8. USC, 12; 8. Arizona, 12; 10. Washington State, 10.

Women (after 8 events):

Arizona, 60; 2. Arizona State, 45; 3. UCLA, 33; 4. Stanford, 32; 5. Oregon, 30.50; 6. Colorado, 27; 7. Washington State, 23; 7. Washington, 23; 9. California, 20.50; 10. USC, 9; 11. Oregon State, 6; 12. Utah, 3.

Track Events

Women’s 1500 (prelims): (1. Jordan Hasay, UO, 4:19.96) 16. Staci Foster, 4:31.57; 27. Camille Logan, 4:37.17
Men’s 1,500 (prelims): (1. Lawi Lalang, UA, 3:41.87) 5. Jake Hurysz, 3:42.98Q; 15. Connor Winter, 3:49.69
Women’s 100-meter hurdles (prelims): (1. Cory Carter, SU, 13.00) 16. Brianne Beemer, 14.19; 19. Abrianna Torres, 14.42
Men’s 110-meter hurdles (prelims): (1. Johnathan Cabral, UO, 13.54) 11. Brock Emory, 14.75
Women’s 400 (prelims): (1. Phyllis Francis, UO, 52.21) 11. Lindsy Mattson, 54.34; 12. Eileen Gehring, 54.42; 21. Bridget Sweeney, 57.08
Men’s 100 (prelims): (1. Aaron Brown, USC, 10.07) 3. Joe Morris, 10.27Q
Men’s 800 (prelims): (1. Nick Hartle, UCLA, 1:49.09) 16. Matt Biegner, 1:52.88
Women’s 3,000-meter steeplechase (finals): 1. Emma Coburn, 9:55.67; 9. Diana George, 10:29.97
Men’s 3,000-meter steeplechase (finals): 1. Aric Van Halen, 8:41.73; 3. Blake Theroux, 8:49.99; 4. Hugh Dowdy, 8:50.75; 8. Jonny Stevens, 9:01.85.
Women’s 400-meter hurdles (prelims): (1. Georganne Moline, UA, 56.55) 9. Brianne Beemer, 59.92
Men’s 400-meter hurdles (prelims): (1. Reggie Wyatt, USC, 51.63) 10. Tyler Baker, 53.74
Women’s 200 (prelims): (1. Phyllis Francis, UO, 22.93) 13. Eileen Gehring, 24.17
Men’s 200 (prelims): (1. Aaron Brown, USC, 20.47) 6. Joe Morris, 20.86
Women’s 10,000 (finals): (1. Jen Bergman, UA, 34:17.09) Jana Stolting, DNF
Men’s 10,000 (finals): (1. Lawi Lalang, UA, 28:14.63) 3. Pierce Murphy, 29:36.48; 5. Richard Medina, 29:42.14; 8. Martin Medina, 29:52.91; 14. David Kilgore, 30:55.84; 15. Dillon Shije, 31:58.76

Field Events

Women’s Hammer Throw: (1. Chelsea Cassulo, ASU, 223-1) 7. Emily Hunsucker, 199-0
Women’s Long Jump: (1. Christabel Netty, ASU, 21-11) t6. Abrianna Torres, 19-11.75
Women’s High Jump: (1. Brigetta Barrett, UA, 6-6.25) 8. Kelsey English, 5-8.75
Men’s Javelin: (1. Sam Crouser, UO, 249-04) 10. Brian Owens, 205-0; 20. Brock Emory, 155-10
Women’s Shot Put: (1. Julie Labonte, UA, 57-00.25) 13. Abrianna Torres, 45-4.50

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Seven Steps to a Year of Adventure

Christine Sounart — Fri, 10 May 2013 16:23:07 +0000

By Kent Zimmerman (Edu’80, MPubAd’90)

Have you ever wondered what it would be like to head out into the world without an agenda and just see where you go? Five years ago my wife Christine Zimmerman (Edu’80, MA’90) and I did just that. We quit our great jobs and headed out to explore the world without a timetable.

Like many Buffs who have spent time in Boulder, we had itchy feet and there was no doubt that experiencing other cultures and places would play a big part in our lives. In a window in Stockholm, we had read the words of Saint Augustine, “The world is a book and those who do not travel read only one page.” We had no desire to read only one page in any book of life and we were not interested in a destination as much as we were in the proverbial journey.

We thought it would take about a year…It’s now been more than five years, and we are still exploring. This year we will be living in Argentina, Bolivia, Italy, Ecuador and Latvia.

When we first started planning our crazy adventure, we couldn’t find anybody who had done anything quite as radical as quitting their jobs to head out on an unstructured adventure. We asked people who had taken “sabbaticals” about their experiences — almost everyone said that six months hadn’t been nearly enough. They were embarrassed to say that they had felt honored and cheated at the same time, honored that they had had an opportunity to do something that most people never get a chance to do, and cheated because they were pulled back in before they were ready. Having not had more than three consecutive weeks of vacation in my working life, the idea that six months wasn’t enough time was mind-boggling.

When we began our journey in the beginning of 2008, I wrote, “Christine and I have now been off 56 straight days, which is by far the single longest period of our adult lives. So far it feels like a long weekend.”

When was the last time you had eight weeks off? How about fifty-two? How about two hundred and fifty? Enough time to reset your dial and remember who you were and what it was you dreamed about back in the dorms at CU-Boulder before the 8 a.m.-5 p.m. schedule took over. Enough time to take a look at who you were, combine it with who you are and determine who you want to be in the future. I laugh now at the concept of being “off,” as, unless you are retired, it does not exist. The concept of owning your own time does exist, however, and that has been an offshoot of our adventures.

In the process, as is true of many others who head off chasing a dream, we have created a successful and fulfilling business that allows us to continue our romantic gypsy lives while paying the bills. Our overseas experiences inspired us to create a new type of travel: month long “soft immersion” programs focused on learning languages while living in a new culture with lots of support and fun. We spend our time discovering vibrant Boulder-like “college towns” in countries around the world and we bring groups of individuals from the U.S. and Canada to experience them and help them rediscover the energizing pure joy of learning and living in a brand new place.

One of the most satisfying aspects of this life abroad is watching how much of a life-changing effect we can have on others. Like the couple who went home after our program in Cuenca, Ecuador, sold their suburban house of 40 years, moved to downtown Chicago and now love being within walking distance of a whole new world of exciting things to do. Others who had never left the country before now join us around the world learning Spanish, Italian, an appreciation for wine…and wondering why it took them so long.

With our motto of an act of courage a day, we now keep in touch with hundreds of people who have joined us over the years and had a chance to taste the life we created for ourselves. Many now credit our programs with changes and epiphanies in their own lives, even if it’s as simple as realizing they really like living at home.

We compare ourselves more to farmers than road warriors, tending to the needs of our business with long-term goals, under our own rules, at the scale and scope we choose. Most importantly, we are free to determine the ebb and flow of our own days, weeks, months and years, knowing that we are doing something we love and are able to do it together.

Are you ready to head out as well? Here are seven steps to help you move from thinking about it…to actually walking out the door and doing it.

Step 1: Set a date. There is nothing like having a specific date to work from. We suggest you chose a date in the next two years, something doable but with enough sense of urgency that it pushes you to start filtering all decisions through that date.

Step 2: Figure out how much time you can afford to be gone. I once wrote an article for a magazine called International Living for people who were considering moving abroad. The focus was “6-3-6″ to break the big jump of a year away into smaller bites with the first trip being an exploratory six weeks, the second three months and the third six months. There is nothing wrong with coming home for a few weeks in the middle of your adventure. In fact it may be the best thing you can do.

Step 3: Choose a country and research a place in that country where you want to stay for six weeks to two months. During this time, don’t stay in a hotel or hostel. Rent an apartment instead. Apartments are far more comfortable and quickly make you a part of the culture rather than an observer (you have to take out your own trash). If you are going someplace that speaks a different language, contact a language school and let them help you find a place to live. Focus on what you want in an apartment and look only for that. For us it is always in the center of the city with a view. We never drive in foreign countries as we love discovering new places on foot and have found the face-to-face encounters of pedestrians are far more positive than those involving cars.

Step 4: Rather than buying a round-the-world ticket, set aside the money you would have spent on that ticket for use as you travel. Many people when thinking about such an adventure choose the 34 different countries that they are going visit during their year and never really get to see any of them. Don’t make that mistake. Land in one place long enough to feel like a local or stay long enough to feel proficient in the local language (about two months with language lessons each day). After you have settled in and have gotten to know the culture decide where you want to go next, if anywhere. The local options for travel once you are out of the U.S. are far greater than American carriers would have you believe.

Step 5: Determine how much you have to spend. Remember many of your biggest expenses are at home: the mortgage, insurance, car payments. In many countries around the world, you can live for much less than you can at home. In some ways this can make a difference in where you might want to go. When we first started we headed to Norway where we learned $100 bought a pizza and two beers. Our next destination was Ecuador where $100 bought us lunches for a month. Both were wonderful places, but Ecuador was a more satisfying experience. See how you can reduce or eliminate your expenses at home — sell the car, rent your house fully furnished, change your health insurance to a $5,000 deductible catastrophic care plan and get used to the idea that around the world, good, basic, affordable health care is a right, not a privilege.

Step 6: Decide what to do with your things. We were able to rent our house fully furnished to a couple and their son who took such good care of it that when we returned after three years to rent it again, it was like we had been away for a long weekend. Try to avoid paying hundreds of dollars each month to store things that aren’t worth the price of their storage. We now look at our “things” in terms of how much it costs to store them and a lot of stuff doesn’t pass the test. This is also the time to deal with a lot of practical issues such as studying more language, arranging to pay bills online, dealing with change of address forms, setting up websites, figuring out what will fit in one carry-on (yes, we travel with one carry-on each and you will too after a few weeks of dragging bags around).

Step 7: Figure out how not to burn your bridges. For us, Colorado will always be home and it is important to remember that someday we will be coming home. Make sure people want to see you succeed in your adventure and are happy to see you come back, not happy to see you leave. Always assume you will be making a second trip to wherever you are going. It will take the pressure off and allow you to enjoy a smaller but richer chunk of the world without feeling overwhelmed.

Most of all, always remember that your journey is your journey and as much as it will change your life, most people are interested in hearing about it for about ten minutes.

¡Hasta la proxima!

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Bill McCartney to be inducted into college football hall of fame

David Plati — Tue, 07 May 2013 18:05:47 +0000

Seventh Buffalo Headed For The Hall

CU coaching legend Bill McCartney selected for induction into the College Football Hall of Fame

BY DAVE PLATI
BOULDER — Bill McCartney first set foot on the University of Colorado campus in Boulder in June 1982; little did he know at the time that just over a dozen years later he would retire as the winningest coach in CU football history.

And now the turnaround “Mac” orchestrated in Boulder with a program that won just 14 games over a six-year span to one that claimed three Big 8 Conference titles and the 1990 consensus national championship is being rewarded on college football’s biggest stage.

McCartney has been selected by the National Football Foundation for induction into the College Football Hall of Fame this December 10 in New York City. He will join 12 players and two coaches in the Class of 2013 (complete list at end of release).

He will become the seventh Buffalo enshrined in the Hall, joining Byron White (inducted in 1952), Joe Romig (1984), Dick Anderson (1993), Bobby Anderson (2006), Alfred Williams (2010) and John Wooten (2012). He is the school’s first coach to be so-honored.

“It’s a surprise and it is very humbling when you look at the men that have been recognized with this honor over the years,” McCartney said. “It’s very gratifying and rewarding. Keep in mind I’ve been out of coaching almost 20 years, so to be remembered after such a long absence was a complete surprise to me.”

McCartney was 93-55-5 in 13 seasons at the reins of the Buffaloes, guiding the program to its first and only national championship in football in 1990, doing so by playing the nation’s toughest schedule, just the second time that feat was ever accomplished. He coached CU in more bowl games, nine, than anyone before or after him, as well as to three consecutive Big 8 titles in 1989-90-91 during a run of 10 consecutive winning seasons in league competition. After a 4-16-1 start in conference games, the Buffs finished 58-29-4 against Big 8 competition, going an impressive 54-13-3 over his last 10 seasons.

In the six-year span from 1989-94, Mac’s last six seasons, Colorado was 58-11-4, the fifth-best record in the nation behind Miami, Fla. (63-9), Florida State (64-9-1), Nebraska (61-11-1) and Alabama (62-12-1). CU’s 36-3-3 record in the conference games in the same period was the nation’s best. CU finished in the nation’s top 20 each of those six years, including a No. 3 ranking his final season.

All 93 wins came against Division I-A/FBS competition, with just nine against so-called non-BCS schools (though five of those versus in-state rival Colorado State). He coached the most games ever (153) at Colorado, with his 13 seasons are second to only the legendary Fred Folsom (15) in the number of seasons working on the “hilltop.”

“This is one of our strongest classes of Hall of Famers,” said Steve Hatchell, the president and CEO of the National Football Foundation and College Football Hall of Fame. “Mac had tremendous support and received a strong vote from the Honors Court. We’re very proud to have someone like Bill McCartney make it into the Hall, and he will be part of the first class to be enshrined in the new Hall of Fame in Atlanta in the summer of 2014.”

“Bill McCartney is the seventh Colorado affiliate to be recognized by the College Football Hall of Fame,” said Philip P. DiStefano, chancellor of the Boulder campus. “This honor is both a testimony to the legacy of our program and to the hard work and vision that culminated in the 1990 national championship. We wish him all the best in receiving this award.”

“Coach McCartney possesses a relentless passion for his profession and the Colorado Buffaloes,” CU athletic director Mike Bohn said. “We join his coaching staff, players, loyal fans and alumni in congratulating him on this national recognition.”

Mac was quick to credit two specific groups for his election to the Hall.

“It all started with my first recruiting class, that winter of ’83,” he recalled. “I asked all the in-state players not to make a decision until they visited CU, and we wanted them to come in the last weekend before signing day. They gave their word and most of them held to it. They stuck together, and they helped recruit our great class in ’87 that made up the core of the national championship team.

“That’s how I am in the Hall of Fame,” he said boldly. “This means something to the state of Colorado, it’s part of our history. What led us to the national championship is that seven years earlier, the in-state kids stayed home.”

He also had great assistant coaches through the years, coaches he only hired because they could recruit; he would pass on coaches they were great with X’s and O’s if they couldn’t recruit.

And those who worked under him formed a pool that eventually would produce 11 future collegiate head coaches: Gary Barnett, Jim Caldwell, Ron Dickerson, Gerry DiNardo, Karl Dorrell, Les Miles, Rick Neuheisel, Bob Simmons, Lou Tepper, Ron Vanderlinden and John Wristen.

McCartney, 72, had coaching in his blood almost from the get-go.

“When I was 7 years old, I knew I was going to be a coach,” he said. “My friends, other kids at that age were going to president, businessmen, attorneys, firemen. Ever since I was a little kid, I imitated my coaches, critiqued them, always followed and studied them. I was a student of the great coaches. I was a disciple of Bobby Knight’s when I was (high school) basketball coach.”

McCartney attended the University of Missouri on a football scholarship and lettered three times as a center-linebacker for the Tigers. He played in two Orange Bowl games and was named second-team All-Big 8 as a senior.

He graduated from Missouri in 1962 with a degree in education and immediately turned his attention to coaching. His first job was as an assistant at Joplin (Mo.) High in 1963 and 1964. He then returned to Michigan to coach the basketball team at Holy Redeemer High School in Detroit. He coached there from 1964 to 1968.

The next stop for Mac was at Divine Child High in Dearborn, where he was the head basketball coach from 1969 to 1973 and the head football coach from 1971 to 1973. His ’69 hoops team won the Detroit Catholic League title, and his ’73 team won the state class B crown. His three Divine Child football teams compiled a 30-5 record, winning the DCL title all three years and the state championship in ’71 and ’73.

His feats of winning state title in football and basketball in 1973 made him the first coach ever in Michigan high school history to win both the same season, and it would serve as his entry into the college ranks.

“After we won the state championship in both sports, (the University of Michigan’s) Bo Schembechler and Johnny Orr both offered me an assistant’s job within one week of each other,” McCartney said. “I played college football but wasn’t good enough to play college basketball, so that settled that,” he jested. “My first love really was football, and being a Michigan native (born and raised in Riverview), to become a part of Schembechler’s staff was the opportunity of a lifetime.”

He joined the Michigan coaching staff as a defensive aide in 1974, coaching outside linebackers for the next three seasons. In 1977, he took over the chores as Michigan’s defensive coordinator, a position he held until he departed for CU. One publication had Mac rated as one of the top five defensive coordinators in the nation in 1981, and he was considered one of the finest recruiters in the country.

McCartney gained national recognition at Michigan in 1980 when he devised a scheme to stop Purdue quarterback Mark Herrmann (using six defensive backs to neutralize Herrmann and his receivers). He was named the Big Ten’s “player” of the week for his plan.

He points to Schembechler as the coach he owes the most for his successful coaching career.

“Bo won more games in a 20-year stretch than any other coach in history,” he said. “Fame comes in a moment, but greatness comes with longevity. I had the privilege of serving under him for eight and half years, and that’s what prepared me for the Colorado job.

That call came the first week of June in 1982. The late Chuck Fairbanks abruptly resigned on June 1 to become president and head coach of the New Jersey Generals in the fledgling United States Football League. (The late) athletic director Eddie Crowder was faced with hiring a new coaching staff with the season opener just 102 days away.

Mac had started entertaining thoughts about becoming a head coach.

“I went in to talk to Bo, and I told him that if the right opportunity came along, I’d be interested. He said, ‘Okay, when the right job comes along, come see me.’ The Michigan State job opened shortly after that, and I went in to see him and he said, ‘You do not want to go there and I am not considering helping you get there. Get that out of your mind.’ And I did. So that was the first one that came along I was interested in and I didn’t pursue it.

“When the Colorado job opened, it was the perfect time for me,” McCartney recalled. “Because of the timing, there was really no head coach in America who could have applied for the job, because if you didn’t get it, you would have been run out of town because you were willing to abandon your team. Chuck Shelton interviewed from Drake, which had just beat CU twice, but I didn’t have to fight several head coaches who would have been interested had the job opened at a more opportune time. When I saw that Chuck resigned, I was immediately interested, I went in and saw Bo. At the appropriate time, Bo called Eddie Crowder. He was instrumental in my getting strong consideration.

“It was my good fortune, the timing was such that I was in position to be a candidate because of the success Michigan had had and the fact that I worked for Bo.”

“Colorado was one of the premier jobs in the country,” he continued. “It was in a prestigious conference, the location, the history, and there was something about raising your family in a college town. All the opportunities you can ask for in a dynamic collegiate environment. Boulder is just the right size, not too big, not too small and has access to a major city in Denver. The populace and all that goes with that, the professional teams, the arts, a major airport providing access to wherever you’d want to go. The aesthetic beauty of Boulder, Colorado is that it has no parallel, and offers what I call the ‘maximum experience.’

“You look at its extraordinary beauty, when every day you wake and say, ‘All right, let’s get up and get it on.’ When you look at the academic experience, there’s none better. But when you look around at everything, raising your family, tell me there’s a safer place than Boulder. We have more winter sunshine than Phoenix, Miami or L.A. You look at the whole experience and not just focus on football and say, ‘What do you want out of life?’ When you add all those things up, Boulder and CU can’t be matched. I’ve been looking around all these years, and nobody else can match what Colorado can offer—the premier college experience in America. And I say that not trying to recruit anybody—I’m done.”

On a roll, he continued on: “When I was recruiting, I would say there are other schools that have won more games, others that have better academics, others that might have a better campus. But not all three in a package like the University of Colorado. I personally believed I had the greatest product to sell, and I truly believed what I was saying. I never had a kid say to me even once, ‘Coach, you oversold me on Boulder.’”

It wasn’t a slam dunk that Crowder was going to hire him, though. In fact, he was the longshot. He wasn’t even contacted until six days into the search. He told the story best to CUBuffs.com back in 2007:

“What happened was that Eddie Crowder called me on a Sunday night (June 6) and asked if would I be interested; I said absolutely. He said ‘When can you be here?’ And I said the next morning. So I took the first flight out of Detroit and got to Colorado pretty early in the day, but I got here so fast that they weren’t ready to interview me. It took him until Tuesday morning to put together an interview panel. That gave me a day here where nothing was happening and I was able to get acquainted. I had been here before as an assistant with Michigan and as a player with Missouri, so I had a little familiarity with the place. Eddie assigned me to (the late associate AD) Fred Casotti; when the interview took place Tuesday morning, there were about 15 people representing all kind of factions on campus and the alumni. About 15 minutes before I was going to go before them for the interview, I said to Fred, ‘What do you think my chances are?’ He said, ‘Coach, it’s third and long. You’d better make a big play.’

“That was the best thing he could have told me, otherwise I might have tip-toed into the interview. But after Fred told me that, I threw caution to the wind, decided to get aggressive and put my best foot forward. The format was for them to ask me questions, or that’s what they had in mind. But I stood up, and I said before I take any questions, I want to make a statement. I spoke for about 20 minutes and told them who I was, my background, what I had done at the University of Michigan, my philosophies and values, and what I would bring to the University of Colorado if I was to get the job. I was the only one talking, and after I was done speaking, nobody asked me a question.

“I went from there to meet the president, Arnold Weber, and he had already gotten a phone call following the first interview. He was energized and anxious to see me, and was warm and welcoming. Later that night, they took me to meet the Board of Regents, as by chance they were having their monthly meeting in Denver. I was waiting with Casotti in the car, waiting for a break in their meeting to be introduced, and I asked Fred again, ‘What do you think my chances are?’ And Fred said, ‘Coach, fourth and short. You just need to make a first down.’ So I just needed to move the chains. That Tuesday night, Eddie offered me the job. Really it all happened so fast, we didn’t have a lot of time because of the unusual circumstances.”

McCartney was hired as the 20th head coach in CU history on June 9, 1982, taking over a team which had just suffered through three of its worst seasons in an otherwise tradition-rich football program.

Upon his arrival in Boulder, he had but 94 days to hire a staff and prepare for his first season. When the season opener against California rolled around some three months later, he had only 77 players on scholarship, and only 73 in uniform to line up and play.

His first three teams posted records of 2-8-1, 4-7 and 1-10. The offense came alive his second season, primarily the passing game, helping CU to improve its record. His third team was better than the record showed (four of the ten losses by seven points or less), but was also injury plagued. Though those three teams passed for over 6,700 yards, the rushing game was almost nonexistent and the defense nowhere near McCartney’s standards.

The foresight of athletic director Bill Marolt, just two months into the job, also played a tremendous role. Despite a 1-7 record at the time, Marolt extended McCartney’s contract. Mac was now working with a net, and it led to one of the boldest and most daring moves in CU history, if not college football’s.

He announced in March ahead of the 1985 season that the Buffaloes were switching to the wishbone formation on offense. What did switching from a passing to a running game do for CU? Colorado posted a 7-5 mark, the most wins in seven years at the school, and netted the Buffs the NCAA’s Most Improved Team honor. CU also went from last to ninth in rushing offense and from last to first in net punting, two of the most dramatic turnabouts in NCAA history. And CU’s 4-3 league mark, which tied the Buffs for third place, helped McCartney gain the Big Eight’s “Coach of the Year” award. Colorado also earned its first bowl appearance in almost a decade in 1985, opposite Washington in the Freedom Bowl, but dropped the contest by a 20-17 count.

In 1986, the Buffs staggered to an 0-4 start, but McCartney’s fifth team never threw in the towel. Colorado rebounded to post a 6-1 mark in the Big Eight, finishing second in the league’s race, CU’s best effort since winning it in 1976. And McCartney’s Buffs became the first at CU to defeat Nebraska (20-10) since 1967. Colorado made its second straight bowl appearance (a 21-9 loss against Baylor in the Bluebonnet Bowl). His 1987 team posted a 7-4 record, but the team was left out when the bowl committees made their selections.

The 1988 Buffaloes posted the best record at CU since 1976 by going 8-4 (with a new-fangled “I-bone” offense), which included a win at No. 19 Iowa. Mac’s team again battled the Big Eight’s top two to the wire, losing 17-14 to Oklahoma and 7-0 at Nebraska; CU placed fourth with a 4-3 mark. However, the Buffs fell short again in postseason play, losing 20-17 to Brigham Young in the Freedom Bowl. The biggest stride the 1988 team made was a return to the national Top 20 for the first time in over a decade.

As the unanimous National Coach-of-the-Year selection for 1989 (UPI, Kodak/ AFCA, Bear Bryant/ FWAA, The Sporting News, Dodge/ Maxwell Football Club, CBS/ Chevrolet), McCartney’s eighth CU team roared to an 11-0 regular season record and the first ever No. 1 national ranking in CU’s 100-year football history. The Buffs won their second outright Big Eight title, to go with 1961, which earned McCartney unanimous Coach-of-the-Year honors in the league. Colorado became the first team since 1969 to defeat Oklahoma and Nebraska in the same year and all told the Buffs defeated five top 25 and three bowl teams. Only a 21-6 loss to Notre Dame in the Orange Bowl kept CU from being crowned the national champion, but the No. 4 final ranking was still the second best ever for the Buffaloes at that time.

His ninth Colorado team won the biggest prize possible in college football: the national championship. The 1990 team, with an 11-1-1 record, was also the first Buffalo team to claim back-to-back Big Eight titles. He was once again named as the league’s Coach-of-the-Year, the third time he was afforded that honor.

Colorado’s 10-9 win over Notre Dame in the Orange Bowl paved the way for the Associated Press along with most of the other recognized organizations to select the Buffaloes as the 1990 national champion. Nine members of the 1990 team were drafted into the NFL, and three players earned Colorado’s first ever unanimous All-America honors (Eric Bieniemy, Joe Garten and Alfred Williams). Williams won the Butkus Award, with Garten finishing second for the Outland Trophy and Bieniemy third in the Heisman Trophy race. With wins over Stanford, Texas, Washington, Oklahoma and Nebraska among others, CU played the nation’s toughest schedule and joined the ’82 Penn State team as the only schools at the time to win the national championship while doing so.

His 1991 team became the first at CU to win three straight Big Eight titles, going 6-0-1 in league play. He did this despite having the second youngest team in the nation’s top 25, as he started nine freshmen or sophomores and utilizes 24 of the pups in each week’s game plan. Center Jay Leeuwenburg earned unanimous All-America honors, Mac’s fourth unanimous selection in two years. His 10th team went 8-3-1 overall, earning McCartney’s sixth bowl appearance (the Buffs lost to the following season’s national champion, Alabama, 30-25, in the Blockbuster Bowl).

McCartney and his staff did another excellent coaching job in 1992, leading the Buffs to a 9-2-1 record, despite a total overhaul in the offensive system. The Buffs switched gears to a one-back, more pass-oriented attack, and the season produced a school and conference record 3,271 yards passing. The team was also McCartney’s best defensively, surrendering only 278 yards a game and boasting the Thorpe award winner in cornerback Deon Figures. The ’92 squad also featured tackle Jim Hansen, CU’s first Rhodes Scholar in 30 years. The 9-1-1 regular season mark was the fifth best in school history, and CU went to its seventh bowl under McCartney, a 26-22 loss to Syracuse in the Fiesta Bowl.

In 1993, he assumed the responsibilities of coaching the quarterbacks, the first time during his head coaching career that he worked with a specific position other than special teams. This team posted an 8-3-1 mark, the losses by a combined 14 points. The team earned a sixth consecutive bowl appearance, defeating Fresno State by a 41-30 count in the Aloha Bowl. The offense continued to evolve, finishing 10th in the nation, averaging 470 yard per game. It was the first CU team in history to average over 200 yards in both rushing and passing, and the first time since 1975 that Colorado led the league in total offense. A youthful defense matured during the league season, overcoming five seniors’ graduation from the previous year’s team into the NFL.

What would be his final CU team in 1994 posted an 11-1 record and was ranked in the nation’s top 10 the entire season (17 consecutive weeks, a school record). His 13th and last Buffalo team had several memorable moments, from Kordell Stewart’s 64-yard touchdown pass to Michael Westbrook (via a Blake Anderson tip) to beat Michigan, 27-26, on the final play of the game, to Rashaan Salaam’s dramatic 67-yard touchdown run in the season finale against Iowa State that pushed the eventual Heisman Trophy winner’s season rushing total to 2,055 yards. The Buffs finished second in the Big Eight with a 6-1 record, losing only at Nebraska, which cost CU a chance at the national championship in what would eventually be the last year McCartney strolled the CU sideline.

From 1985, when he made the bold move to the wishbone, until the end of his career, McCartney’s teams posted an 86-30-4 record in registering 10 straight winning seasons, both overall and in league play. His 1988 to 1992 teams went 25 straight games (23-0-2) without a loss in the Big Eight, the fourth longest streak in the now-defunct conference’s history.

He worked under four contracts at CU, with a 15-year deal signed in 1990 one of the longest contracts ever in college football history. It would have expired in the year 2005, but he had the option after five years of stepping down if he so chose. He did just that on November 19, 1994, deciding to retire after that team’s final game, a New Year’s appearance in the Fiesta Bowl.

The Buffs were inspired to send him out a winner, and Stewart, Salaam and company had huge games as Colorado routed the Irish, 41-24, the game literally over in the second quarter after CU built a 31-3 lead.

Mac’s two favorite games during his CU tenure resonate with most of the fan base. “Without a doubt, when we beat Nebraska in Lincoln when we were behind 12-0 going into the fourth quarter. We scored 27 in the fourth quarter. And then the second Orange Bowl against Notre Dame, because it was our only national championship. That Notre Dame team was as good a Notre Dame team as (coach) Lou Holtz had. We lost our QB at halftime and still found a way to win that game.”

In 1999, he was inducted into the Colorado Sports Hall of Fame, just the sixth coach at the University of Colorado to be honored so. He was enshrined in CU’s Athletic Hall of Fame in 2006.

Born on Aug. 22, 1940, McCartney was raised in Riverview, Mich., and graduated from Riverview High School in 1958, having earned 11 letters in three sports (football, basketball, and baseball). He was captain of the football and basketball teams his senior year.

Bill was married to the former Lynne (Lyndi) Taussig of Santa Monica, Calif., for just over 50 years until her death this past March 21. The couple has four grown children, Michael, Thomas, Kristy and Marc, and 10 grandchildren, two of whom are currently in the CU football program, brothers T.C. (a graduate assistant coach) and Derek (a freshman defensive lineman).

McCartney was extremely active in the Fellowship of Christian Athletes, and was voted the FCA’s “Man-of-the-Year” in Colorado for 1986. He was also one of the co-founders of “Promise Keepers,” one of the nation’s fastest-growing Christian organizations in the late 1990s and whom he worked and represented for almost a decade after retiring from coaching.

“All you have to is recruit, and if you recruit the right kids and get them, you’ll find yourself playing in a lot of big games,” he concluded. “So it’s not about me, it’s about the University, what a great place it is, it’s about all the good assistants we had, and it’s about that first recruiting class that got things going for us.”

Colorado Buffaloes

The 2013 College Football Hall of Fame Class:

Players: Ted Brown (TB, North Carolina State, 1975-78); Tedy Bruschi (DE, Arizona, 1992-95); Ron Dayne (RB, Wisconsin, 1996-99); Tommie Frazier (QB, Nebraska, 1992-95); Jerry Gray (DB, Texas, 1981-84); Steve Meilinger (E, Kentucky, 1951-53); Orlando Pace (OT, Ohio State, 1994-96); Rod Shoate (LB, Oklahoma, 1972-74); Percy Snow (LB, Michigan State, 1986-89); Vinny Testaverde (QB, Miami, Fla., 1982, 84-86); Don Trull (QB, Baylor, 1961-63); Danny Wuerffel (QB, Florida, 1993-96).

Coaches: Wayne Hardin (118-74-5; Navy 1959-64 & Temple 1970-82); Bill McCartney (93-55-5; Colorado, 1982-84).

Learn more at www.cubuffs.com.

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Free Spring Tree Walk on CU’s Boulder Campus

CU-Boulder Alumni Association — Mon, 06 May 2013 18:31:07 +0000

Led by Senior Grounds Specialist Alan Nelson

The days are growing longer and warmer (we hope). This is the time of year that the University of Colorado Museum of Natural History and CU Facilities Management—Outdoor Services team up to host the semi-annual, free tour of CU’s historic campus forest. Two similar tours are being offered this year, the first at 5 p.m., Monday, May 13 and the second at 5 p.m., Tuesday May 14. The tours meet at the south entrance of the University of Colorado Museum of Natural History at 15^th and Broadway (just west of the University Memorial Center) and are led Senior Grounds Specialist Alan Nelson (a.k.a. Tree Man) and Facilities Operations Arborist Vince Aquino.

Along with the lovely spring blooms, Nelson will share the unique characteristics and special historical significance of CU’s trees. It has been a crazy and snowy spring season, but Nelson says that he will lead these tours even if it does happen to snow. “Typically by mid-May” according to Nelson, “the trees are showing their true colors with leaves appearing and flowers blooming.”

Since the time when the first plains cottonwoods were planted near Old Main CU’s tree population has grown to nearly 5,000 and more than 100 species, many imported from across the United States, Europe and Asia.

In April 2011, the CU Boulder campus was recognized by the Arbor Day Foundation as a Tree Campus U.S.A. for its excellence in tree management, as well as for student and community involvement. This takes the university full circle to its beginnings when in 1888 the students and faculty started planting trees on Arbor Day in an effort to transform the treeless plain into a lush campus similar to those in the east.

For more information, to receive exhibit, lecture, Family Day, workshop and membership information and to sign up for regular museum updates visit http://CUmuseum.colorado.edu or call 303-492-6892.

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Everyone’s a Member!

Tori Peglar — Fri, 03 May 2013 17:41:50 +0000

Graduation has happened, and we want you to know that all students and alumni are members of the Alumni Association!

In 2008 the Alumni Association dropped its membership dues program and invited all students and alumni to become part of the Forever Buffs family. The goal is to provide a lifetime of services and programming, so students and alumni can build robust professional and social networks while celebrating their CU pride.

Whether you live in Shanghai or San Francisco, there are many ways to engage with CU-Boulder and our 280,000-strong Forever Buffs family. Network through our dozens of alumni groups around the nation and world, connect online through Facebook, LinkedIn and Twitter and gain career guidance from our alumni career counselor or through workshops, one-on-one counseling and webinars.

Don’t forget to celebrate your CU pride by attending our spectacular events and pregame parties before athletic games in Boulder and throughout the West as we compete in Pac-12 territory or travel with the Roaming Buffs on one of our stimulating trips around the world.

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Julie Andrews to speak at Spring Commencement May 10

CU-Boulder Alumni Association — Fri, 03 May 2013 16:29:59 +0000

Due to traffic delays, and ongoing construction on U.S. 36 leading into Boulder, early arrival is strongly advised. Gates open at 7 a.m. and guests should plan to be seated by 8:15 a.m. The ceremony will be held outdoors in the stadium regardless of the weather. In the event of heavy rain or snow an abbreviated ceremony will be held.

For the safety of all guests, only soft-sided bags or containers no larger than 12x12x12 (the size of a purse or small backpack) are welcome at Folsom Field. Clear, plastic grocery-type bags are strongly recommended to facilitate security screening at the gates. All persons and packages are subject to screening prior to entry into the stadium. Please report unattended or suspicious bags to police immediately.

The ceremony, which is free and open to the public, will honor candidates for 6,084 degrees, including 4,687 bachelor’s degrees, 903 master’s degrees, 171 law degrees and 494 doctoral degrees.

Dame Julie Andrews will give the commencement address. Andrews is the winner of numerous prestigious awards throughout her career, including Academy Awards, Golden Globes and Grammys for her iconic performances. She was invested as a Dame Commander of the British Empire by Queen Elizabeth II in 2001. Her career spans over 60 years and includes her enormous success as a best-selling children’s author of more than 27 books. Andrews is well known for her advocacy of the arts and education, and also has spent a great deal of time devoted to philanthropic endeavors.

City and campus roads may be congested for approximately one and a half hours before the ceremony and about an hour afterward. Parking lots and gray meters near the Coors Events Center are free for commencement parking. Traffic officers and parking supervisors and attendants will be available to assist campus visitors.

Many departments within CU-Boulder’s schools and colleges will hold events to personally recognize their graduates. Students should check with their individual departments for more information. For a schedule of individual ceremonies visit http://commencement.colorado.edu/ceremonies/spring/other-events/.

For more information about the commencement ceremony visit http://commencement.colorado.edu/ceremonies/spring/. The ceremony will be broadcast on the Web and can be accessed by visiting the commencement website and clicking on the webcast link anytime during the ceremony.

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Andre Roberson Opts To Leave CU, Take Early Shot At NBA

Tori Peglar — Mon, 29 Apr 2013 01:43:21 +0000

By B.G. Brooks, CUBuffs.com Contributing Editor

BOULDER – Junior Andre Roberson has decided to forgo his final season of eligibility at the University of Colorado and make himself eligible for the 2013 NBA Draft.

Roberson, a 6-7 forward who was on the verge of becoming CU’s career rebounding leader, made his decision about midday Sunday and notified CU Coach Tad Boyle.

Roberson was scheduled to announce his intentions at a Friday morning news conference at the Coors Events Center, but he and his family canceled the conference because Roberson apparently was torn between leaving school and turning pro.

He had until 9:59 p.m. MDT Sunday to declare himself eligible for the NBA Draft, which will be conducted on June 27 at the Barclays Center, home of the Brooklyn Nets.

“We support Andre and want what’s best for him and his family,” Boyle said Sunday afternoon. “We wish him the best.”

Roberson leaves CU with most of the school’s rebounding records within his reach and a legitimate chance to likely have put some of those marks out of reach for any future Buff.

The odds favored Roberson becoming CU’s top career rebounder in the first game of what would have been his senior year; he needed 10 rebounds, which would have given him 1,055 – one more than Stephane Pelle (1999-03) – with the remainder of his final season ahead of him.

Nonetheless, in three seasons Roberson left his mark. He was the only CU player with 1,000 points (1,012) and rebounds (1,045), 150 blocks (150) and steals (164), and 100 assists (119). He also was the first Buffs player to lead the team in rebounding, blocked shots and steals for three consecutive seasons.

At the team’s annual banquet earlier this month, Roberson was presented the Stephane Pelle Rebounding Award and earned the Best Defensive Player Award as voted by his teammates. He also was selected as the Pac-12 Conference’s Defensive Player of The Year and was a first-team all-conference pick.

In the Buffs’ school-record third consecutive 20-win season (21-12, 10-8 Pac-12 Conference), Roberson became the first CU player in 22 years to average a double-double (10.9 ppg, 11.2 rpg) in consecutive years. He finished second nationally in rebounding and he leaves CU with a career average just shy of a double-double – 9.6 points, 10.0 rebounds.

What’s to become of the 2013-14 Buffs minus Roberson? He’ll undoubtedly be missed but Boyle believes his team can thrive anyway. At a season-ending wrap-up on April 11, Boyle said his fourth CU squad will “be good with or without him . . . Andre knows we’re going to have a good team next year; it’s not going to be a make-or-break decision for Colorado basketball.”

Before Roberson’s decision, several Internet news outlets projected the Buffs to be in the preseason Top 25 for 2013-14. Among the more reputable, Sports Illustrated had them No. 11, CBSSports.com No. 12, and USA Today No. 16. With Roberson out of the picture, those projections could change. Roberson’s return might have kept the 2013-14 Buffs among the most highly touted preseason teams in school history, but CU isn’t likely to suffer.

Boyle’s roster is far from barren. He gets an immediate frontcourt replacement in 6-8 redshirt freshman Wes Gordon and will count on improved board work from 6-10 Josh Scott and 6-6 Xavier Johnson, both sophomores-to-be. And with the addition of 6-7 redshirt freshman Chris Jenkins and 6-5 Jaron Hopkins, 6-6 Tre’Shaun Fletcher and 6-7 Dustin Thomas – all true freshmen – the Buffs should receive an immediate influx of length and athleticism to help with rebounding and a revamped defensive strategy.

Most draft projections omitted Roberson from the first round, and only first-round selections get guaranteed contracts. However, the NBA’s new collective bargaining agreement gives agents the chance to negotiate guaranteed pacts for second-round picks. Yet there are no guarantees Roberson will go in the second round.

A sample of Roberson’s positioning in the Top 100 draft prospects: ESPN.com – 54th overall; CBSSports.com – 54th overall; DraftExpress.com – 57th overall; HoopsWorld.com – 57th overall. If those projections reflect a general consensus among NBA directors of player personnel, Roberson could be a late-second round selection.

At the conclusion of CU’s season, Boyle and Athletic Director Mike Bohn flew to San Antonio to meet with the Roberson family. Boyle also applied to the NBA Undergraduate Advisory Committee for an evaluation of Roberson’s “draftability.”

The committee is composed of NBA general managers and other team officials who scout college games and players. Two years ago, the committee projected CU sophomore Alec Burks, a 6-6 shooting guard, to be a mid-first round selection if not a potential lottery pick. He was chosen 12th overall by Utah and signed a three-year rookie contract worth $6.3 million.

Boyle contrasted the situations of Burks and Roberson, saying each players’ decision boiled down to “risk/reward,” with not much risk for Burks but significantly more for Roberson. Boyle believes Roberson will polish his offensive game and improve in other facets next season, but the critical question of “where?” won’t be answered until the NBA Draft.

Contact: BG.Brooks@Colorado.EDU

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Coburn Takes Eighth At 104th Drake Relays

Tori Peglar — Sat, 27 Apr 2013 15:31:54 +0000

DES MOINES, Iowa – In a field of some of the nation’s top 1,500-meter runners, University of Colorado senior Emma Coburn raced to an eighth-place finish through stiff, windy conditions at the 104th Drake Relays on Friday night.

Coburn finished the race in four minutes, 11.36 seconds, the fastest time by a collegiate athlete this year. The previous top time this season was 4:13.64 by Arizona State’s Shelby Houlihan. Coburn was just .05 seconds behind New Balance runner Sarah Bowman (4:11.31) and finished well ahead of Morgan Uceny (adidas), who placed 10th in 4:17.71. Coburn was the only NCAA runner in the field. Coburn’s time was just shy of her personal best (4:09.42), which she recorded last season while competing unattached. It also tied the fifth-fasted 1,500-meter time in CU history.

The race was her first of the outdoor season and it will be a quick turnaround for Coburn as she is slated to race in her premiere event, the 3,000-meter steeplechase, on Sunday, April 28, at the Payton Jordan Cardinal Invitational, hosted by Stanford University.

Former Buff Jenny (Barringer) Simpson, the reigning world champion in the 1,500, was also competing in the star-studded field and broke the Drake Relays and Drake Stadium record when she crossed the finish first in 4:03.35, four seconds in front of runner-up Sheila Reid (4:07.35). Simpson broke Suzy Favor Hamilton’s former Drake Relays record of 4:05.14 from 2000.

Her mark is the top time in the world this young season. Drake Relays Drake Stadium (Des Moines, Iowa.) 1,500-Meters (London Games Rematch) 1. Jenny Simpson, New Balance, 4:03.35; 2. Sheila Reid, Nike, 4:07.35; 3. Kate Grace, U.S., 4:08.24; 4. Shannon Rowbury, Nike, 4:09.05; 5. Gabrielle Anderson, U.S., 4:10.32; 6. Mary Cain, U.S., 4:10.77; 7. Sarah Bowman, New Balance, 4:11.31; 8. Emma Coburn, Colorado, 4:11.36; 9. Morgan Uceny, adidas, 4:17.71; 10. Ashley Miller, Asics, 4:19.86; 11. Heather Kamph, Asics, 4:20.80; Renee Tomlin, U.S., DNF

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Football Team To Host A Marrow Donor Registry Drive

CU-Boulder Alumni Association — Thu, 25 Apr 2013 19:01:38 +0000

The University of Colorado Football team along with Be The Match and the Bonfils Colorado Marrow Donor Program will host a Marrow Donor Registry Drive on Friday, April 26, at Balch Fieldhouse (map) from Noon to 6 p.m.

The drive will encourage participants to sign up for the Be The Match Registry, which is used to match potential donors to those whose only or best hope for survival is a marrow transplant.

“I got involved with the Marrow Donor Registry at San Jose State,” CU Head Coach Mike MacIntyre said. “About 12,000 people a year look on the registry and only about 5,000 find matches, and this is a last resort. You could save a life.”

Once a person is registered, they have the opportunity to save a life until the age of 61. Healthy young adults are especially needed for the registry and patients are most likely a match of someone of their own racial and ethnic heritage, meaning often times a person’s unique ancestry may make them the only person who can save another’s life.

“It’s an honorable and life-changing thing to do, so I’m excited our guys will be a part of it,” MacIntyre said. “We’ve had kids that have matched before, it’s really a neat deal and worthwhile for our players and the entire community to look into it.”

There are two ways to donate marrow, either from a peripheral blood stem cell donation or a marrow donation. The PBCS donation is a non-surgical, outpatient procedure after which a donor would be back to their regular life in one to two days. The marrow donation is a surgical procedure that is usually an outpatient procedure after which the donor would be back to their regular life in two to seven days.

CU’s Balch Fieldhouse is located on the west side of Folsom Field on the CU-Boulder main campus. There are parking meters and a metered parking lot located on Colorado Avenue west of Folsom Avenue. (map)

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A Public Trust in Jeopardy: An Insider’s Look at the Unresolved Constraints on U.S. Public Media

Tori Peglar — Mon, 22 Apr 2013 18:04:41 +0000

Join CU Journalism & Mass Communication (JMC) on Tuesday, April 23 for ” ‘A Public Trust’ in Jeopardy: An Insider’s Look at the Unresolved Constraints on U.S. Public Media.” The lecture by veteran public broadcaster and media scholar Willard D. “Wick” Rowland begins at 5:30 p.m. in Eaton Humanities Room 250 on the Boulder campus.

Rowland will explore the contradiction between the strong public faith in public media and the fact that the system remains under-resourced and struggling to find its way. From the perspective of a “friendly critic” he will offer ideas for change.

Rowland is the former CEO of Colorado Public Television (CPT 12), former dean and professor emeritus of CU’s School of Journalism & Mass Communication. His speech is part of JMC’s annual Ralph L. Crosman Lecture Series. Paid parking is available in metered lots on University Avenue at the north end of campus or at the Euclid Auto Park near the University Memorial Center. E-mail michelle.fulcher@colorado.edu for more information.

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Congratulations to the Directors Club Scholarship Winners

Christine Sounart — Wed, 17 Apr 2013 19:14:33 +0000

We want to offer our congratulations to our 2013 Directors Club scholarship winners! This year’s winners are Lindsay Goldworm, an aerospace major, Justin Inslee, a chemical and biological engineering major, Jasjit Mangat, a business marketing major, and Blair Swearingen, a neuroscience major. Read more about the winners.

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John Branch (Mktg’89, MJour’96) Wins the Pulitzer Prize for Feature Writing

Christine Sounart — Tue, 16 Apr 2013 17:03:58 +0000

John Branch (Mktg’89, MJour’96) was awarded the 2013 Pulitzer Prize in the feature writing category on Monday, April 16. His winning story, “Snow Fall: The Avalanche at Tunnel Creek,” told the harrowing story of a group of expert skiers trapped in a deadly avalanche.

The story was written months after the avalanche happened and was told through the eyes of the survivors and the families of those who were killed. “Snow Fall” also received national recognition for the digital effects added to the online version which included video interviews, clips from the skiers helmet cameras and graphics of the avalanche’s destructive path.

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Aerobic exercise may protect cognitive abilities of heavy drinkers, says CU study

CU-Boulder Alumni Association — Tue, 16 Apr 2013 16:04:28 +0000

Aerobic exercise may help prevent and perhaps even reverse some of the brain damage associated with heavy alcohol consumption, according to a new University of Colorado Boulder study.

The study results indicated that regular aerobic exercise like walking, running or bicycling is associated with less damage to the brain’s “white matter” among heavy alcohol users. White matter, along with gray matter, are the organ’s two major physical components. White matter is composed of bundles of nerve cells that act as transmission lines to facilitate communication between various parts of the brain, said lead study author Hollis Karoly, a doctoral student in CU-Boulder’s psychology and neuroscience department.

“We found that for people who drink a lot and exercise a lot, there was not a strong relationship between alcohol and white matter,” said Karoly. “But for people who drink a lot and don’t exercise, our study showed the integrity of white matter is compromised in several areas of the brain. It basically means white matter is not moving messages between areas of the brain as efficiently as normal.”

A paper on the subject titled “Aerobic Exercise Moderates the Effect of Heavy Alcohol Consumption on White Matter Damage” was published April 16 in the journal Alcoholism: Clinical & Experimental Research. Co-authors on the study included CU-Boulder psychology and neuroscience professors Angela Bryan and Kent Hutchison, CU doctoral students Courtney Stevens and Rachel Thayer and Washington State University Assistant Professor Renee Magnan.

“This study is preliminary, but promising,” said Bryan, study co-author. “From my perspective, the major finding is the possibility that exercise might be able to either buffer against or undo some of the damage that heavy alcohol use does to the brain.”

The new CU-Boulder study was funded by the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism and by the National Institute on Drug Abuse.

The study group included 60 people, 37 men and 23 women, ranging from moderate drinkers to heavy drinkers and who were drawn from a larger pool of people under study for alcohol and nicotine issues, said Karoly. The study participants had each taken a standard, written test known as the Alcohol Use Disorders Identification Test, or AUDIT, used to detect hazardous or harmful drinking behavior. The subjects also self-reported their successes or failures in attempting to control their drinking, as well as the amount of exercise they were undertaking.

Each of the test subjects previously had undergone a modified type of MRI known as Diffusion Tensor Imaging, or DTI. The imagery allowed the researchers to track the position and direction of water molecules traveling parallel to axons, or nerve fibers, in the white matter as they move through the brain. DTI allows researchers to see the orientation of the axons — different colors represented different directions of travel — providing valuable information about the brain’s communication superhighways.

The research team specifically looked at several parts of the brain, including the external capsule, a collection of white matter fibers connecting different layers of the brain. They also looked at the superior longitudinal fasciculus, two long bundles of neurons connecting the front and back of the cerebrum, which is the largest part of the brain and is believed to be the place where the origin of thoughts, perception, judgment, decision-making and imagination takes place, according to neurologists.

“What our data suggest is that beyond just giving people a different outlet for cravings or urges for alcohol, exercise might also help to repair the damage that may have been done to the brain,” said Bryan. “It might even be a more promising treatment approach for alcohol problems because it is both a behavioral treatment and a treatment that has the potential to make the brain more healthy. The healthier the brain is, the more likely a person with alcohol issues is to recover.”

In general, aerobic exercise is recommended because of its benefits to brain, heart and muscles, said Karoly. Other studies have shown that aerobic exercise is associated with greater white matter volume and integrity among older healthy adults.

“This is an exploratory study and it is not our intention to suggest a person can erase the physiological damage of years of heavy drinking by exercising,” said Karoly. “Some of the specific mechanisms in the brain linked to heavy drinking and exercise are not well understood, and we hope our study will inspire future research on the subject.”

Alcoholism: Clinical & Experimental Research is the official journal of the Research Society on Alcoholism and the International Society for Biomedical Research on Alcoholism.

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Information Concerning the Alumni Directory

CU-Boulder Alumni Association — Tue, 16 Apr 2013 15:56:30 +0000

We are looking forward to the publication of our long-awaited alumni directory in September. The goal of this project is to improve our alumni data in order to better serve and engage more alumni. Thank you to all who responded. Please go to our directory page if you have any further questions.

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Our Thoughts Are with Boston

Christine Sounart — Mon, 15 Apr 2013 20:15:23 +0000

Our hearts and thoughts are with everyone injured or affected by the explosions.
Read More

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MAVEN mission to Mars

CU-Boulder Alumni Association — Thu, 11 Apr 2013 19:16:28 +0000

Get ready to have three-fun-filled days in Cocoa Beach, Fla., during the Mission to Mars Weekend, Nov.16-18.
Read More

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Small satellites becoming big deal for CU-Boulder students

CU-Boulder Alumni Association — Thu, 11 Apr 2013 19:11:53 +0000

For some University of Colorado Boulder undergraduates, designing, building and flying small satellites is becoming a large part of their hands-on education.

NASA recently selected CU-Boulder as one of 24 institutions or organizations to fly tiny satellites as auxiliary payloads aboard rockets planned for launch in 2014, 2015 and 2016. The selections are part of NASA’s CubeSat Launch Initiative, an effort that began in 2010 and involves students at institutions like CU-Boulder developing and flying CubeSat satellites, which are about the size of a loaf of bread, have a volume of about a quart and generally weigh less than 3 pounds.

From 2010 to 2013 CU-Boulder was awarded five launch opportunities for CubeSats by NASA, the most of any university in the nation. Each launch is worth the equivalent of roughly $300,000, the going rate for commercial space payloads of that size and weight, said aerospace engineering Professor Scott Palo, whose team was selected by NASA in 2013 to design and build a flight-ready CubeSat satellite.

The CU CubeSat, known as the High Latitude Ionospheric Thermospheric Experiment, or HiLITE, is a collaboration between the aerospace department and two small Boulder-based companies, Blue Canyon Technologies and ASTRA, which are supported in part by the U.S. Air Force to help develop CubeSat hardware, said Palo.

HiLITE will be designed and built using aspects of the design and architecture of an existing small satellite known as CubeSat for Atmospheric Studies in Orbit and Re-entry, or CASTOR. The CubeSat was developed as a senior design project in 2011-12 by eight students in CU’s College of Engineering and Applied Science.

John Stark, CASTOR team member and a Denver native who plans to stay on campus for his master’s and doctoral degrees in engineering, said he felt fortunate to work with a high-caliber research group. “I can’t imagine getting a better education anywhere else — the faculty here are dedicated to seeing that the students succeed,” he said. “Ideally I’d like to keep working with small satellites — they are going to be a game changer for the industry in the coming years.”

HiLITE’s mission will be to measure atmospheric density, which impacts satellite positioning and other space weather conditions, said Palo, who will select a new team of seniors for the project beginning next fall. “I’ve been involved in the senior design projects for 15 years because I really enjoy project-based learning,” he said. “It’s a passion of mine. It’s fun to work with students for extended periods of time on satellites that will be going into space and taking compelling measurements.”

Palo also has co-authored a joint proposal to the National Science Foundation involving CU-Boulder, Stanford University, the University of Michigan and Johns Hopkins University for funds to collaborate on CubeSat developments at each of the four institutions. The NSF proposal by the schools is targeting the launch of the CubeSats as part of the QB50 program, a European effort led by the Von Karman Institute for Fluid Dynamics in Belgium, which has a goal of launching 50 CubeSats on a single rocket.

In addition, Palo is the co-investigator on a student satellite known as the Colorado Student Space Weather Experiment involving more than 60 students from five academic majors that launched in 2012. Led by aerospace engineering Professor Xinlin Li, also a research associate at the Laboratory for Atmospheric and Space Physics, the CubeSat project is returning data to a CU ground station to help understand how particles emitted by powerful solar flares affect Earth’s radiation belts.

A third group headquartered at CU-Boulder, the Colorado Space Grant Consortium, or COSGC, has been designing and building space hardware, including CubeSats, since it was created in 1989 by NASA. COSGC has provided hands-on experience to more than 10,000 students, primarily undergraduates, in designing, building and flying satellites, said COSGC Director Chris Koehler.

The Colorado consortium involves 17 colleges and institutions said Koehler. In the past two decades, Colorado student teams have designed, built and flown 20 sounding rocket payloads, three NASA space shuttle payloads, three orbiting satellites, 10 sounding rocket payloads and more than 1,000 high-altitude balloon payloads. As part of the program the students work directly with industry engineers and scientists on cutting-edge space technology, said COSGC Deputy Director Brian Sanders.

COSGC in 2007 was selected to design and build a CubeSat satellite known as Hermes as part of NASA’s first Educational Launch of Nanosatellites, or ELaNa program, a mission that launched in 2011. “Although the rocket carrying the tiny communications satellite failed to achieve orbit, “the educational benefits of an interdisciplinary team designing, building, testing and preparing for the launch of a small satellite is immeasurable,” said Sanders.

“The Hermes project was a pivotal moment for our program, because we were one of only three universities selected by NASA to design and build the first CubeSat satellites that were a part of ELaNa,” said Sanders. “Since then there have been an increasing number of opportunities for schools across the country to design and build CubeSats. And the hands-on experience undergraduates get with small satellites can be applied through their graduate studies and beyond.”

A second CubeSat satellite designed and built by COSGC with the help of scientists and engineers from Lockheed Martin in Littleton to provide hands-on experience in applying science, technology, engineering and mathematics skills to building operational space systems also is slated for launch on a commercial SpaceX rocket. The CubeSat is known as ALL-STAR/THEIA and will carry an Earth-observing camera to take color images of the planet from space.

COSGC also is working with CU-Boulder’s National Snow and Ice Data Center and the Center for Environmental Technology in CU’s engineering college to design and build a CubeSat known as PolarCube that will take meteorological data over the Arctic in an attempt to better understand the large decline of Arctic sea ice now under way as a result of climate change, said Sanders.

“I wasn’t expecting to be able to work on satellites during my undergraduate years,” said junior aerospace engineering student Glenda Alvarenga, who grew up in Aurora, attended Hinkley High School and currently is working on her third satellite project at COSGC, PolarCube. “I learned about Space Grant through a class I took my sophomore year called Gateway to Space, and it was a lot of fun.” Alvarenga, who is minoring in electrical engineering, said she may go on for a master’s degree in engineering at CU or may go to work in the aerospace industry if the right opportunity comes along.

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