Gunnison County is often considered an outdoor paradise with enough public land to keep Davey Crocket entertained for a lifetime…Seriously it is that good!
 

So, Western is sponsoring the events to show our support and make it a memorable gala.  This Friday, June 26^th marks the beginning of the Gunnison River Festival which has one goal, to celebrate our outdoors. 
 

This year they have added two new events, the Gunnison LocoMotive Multisport Race and the 24 Hours of Gunnison Glory endurance climbathon, the first of its kind west of the Mississippi.  The LocoMotive will challenge racers to a 4 mile paddle down the Gunnison River, a 26 mile mountain bike and a 10km trail run. 
 

Believe it or not all of these events are taking place within 5 miles of each other. from the Gunnison Whitewater Park to Hartman Rocks Recreational Area just outside Gunnison.  It will tread on everything from the area’s infamous single track trails to its Joshua Tree style climbing. 
 

To have this type of locale outside our back door is incredible and is no wonder people flock from miles to partake in such an event.  Whether you’re an avid kayaker, adventure racer or climber, or just want to sit back and relax, the Gunnison River Fest has come to please.

Western graduated nearly 300 Mountaineers on May 9th.

It was a gorgeous day for Graduation! No rain or snow, that’s always good!
Governor Bill Ritter ventured to Gunnison to present the commencement address, and send our graduates out into the world.

We are proud of all of our graduates and can’t wait to see them succeed.

It finally seems like winter has gone…woohoo. The river is high, the grass is green, and the flowers are blooming. What a beautiful place to live - I feel so lucky to be in Gunnison this time of year!
Have a great summer guys!

What up people, Mad Jack here with my last blog before graduation. It’s an exciting time of year, and for many it represents the culmination of their college experience at Western.

Temperatures are becoming warmer, our campus is blanketed with green grass rather than white snow, and we all are floating out and about with social activities.

In the past week I’ve been to the Earth Day Celebration, a rap battle, a climbing competition, the Taste of Gunnison, SpringFest and even had some time to play some Frisbee on the Taylor Quad.

Today I’m going to share with you all about an honor that is being awarded to seven graduates this year, the Alumni Award for Excellence.

This may be strange to some of you reading this, as you probably haven’t even started at Western, but please read a few words about the AEE, as it is a good example of the WSC experience.

Levi Gill is one of the AEE recipients and this guy is a “rock-star” student. Now I don’t mean rock star in the sense that he’s partying every night, Levi is just involved in so many activities and is also quite a scholar.

Levi is going to be a teacher and has just secured his student teaching experience in Woodland Park. He also just got two poems published in the Pathfinder, the official student magazine for WSC. This summer he’s going over to Mississippi to volunteer with Together for Hope, an organization that works with poor children and aims to improve their lives.

He is honoring Dr. Alina Luna, a professor of English, who has been a mentor to him both in and out of the classroom. Each AEE recipient honors a teacher/staff member as part of the ceremony.

Cool, everyone, thanks for reading. Enjoy the summer. I hope you’re all getting psyched on Western State College.

Peace out, Mad Jack.

For two days in a row the weather has been close to the 60s, right here in the middle of the Colorado Rocky Mountains!  When spring hits at Western, students come out of the woodwork and start frolicking outside – naturally.

In the past couple of days I have seen lots of students interacting through various activities on the Taylor Lawn (something you will find out about when you come to WSC).  Even right now as I am typing this I can hear a student playing the African Drums while a couple of his buddies are sitting around enjoying the music. I’m enjoying the free, live music too.

There  is a group of guys and gals playing Frisbee, another couple of guys playing tennis golf, some people practicing their balance on a slack line, students and professors alike riding their bikes through campus. And oh, I can’t forget to mention the girls sunbathing and reading while basking in the beautiful Colorado blue skies and intense sun.

The scent of barbeque is filling the air.  I’m sure someone is having a get-together somewhere, yum - I’m getting hungry.  It’s so nice to see people energized and active – that’s Western folk!

Welcome to Spring everyone.  I gotta get to that BBQ.  That’s how you really know it’s Spring in Gunnison, the scent of BBQ.

Shane Carwin began his competitive spark as a wrestler and football player at Greeley West High School.  Shane was a standout wrestler and football player and won state titles as a Greeley West Spartan.  Shane’s academic and athletic achievements inspired him to attend the Highest Divisional College in the World and my beloved home here at Western State College of Colorado (7703’).  This is where Shane blossomed into a true athletic talent and is considered by many as one of the very best athletes to ever wear a Mountaineer uniform.

Shane ended his Mountaineer career as a Five time all American, 2 in football and 3 in wrestling.  Shane is part of the limited bunch of Division II athletes to make the Senior Bowl which is a gathering of the very best football players in all divisions of college football.  He also went on to win a Division II National title in wrestling and placed at the Division I National wrestling championships as well.

So this brings me to the sport Shane is now excelling at: a sport that is taking this world by wildfire, UFC or Ultimate Fighting Championship.  It is everywhere you turn, in commercials, headlined in sports sections of newspapers, spreads in Sports Illustrated are devoted to the sport.  Why is this apparently dangerous and gruesome sport so intriguing to many and hated by many more?  I think it is so alluring because of how insane it actually is, essentially two opponents willing to enter a caged arena to battle for their life. For fighters and for WSC grad Shane Carwin, it is quite possibly the paramount experience of adrenaline that most of us thrill seekers are constantly craving and searching for within our chosen passions.

After graduating from Western with an Environmental Technology degree Shane continued his education at the Colorado School of Mines and is now a Mechanical Engineer subsidizing his UFC income.  Good luck fellow Mountaineer, Shane Carwin, we are rooting for you!!

Signing out for now,

Mad Jack

Though it was a little cold it was my time to shine, as it was Preview Day, and Mad Jack had to represent. My leather outfit kept me quite warm as I headed out to the front steps of Taylor Hall to welcome the visiting students.

All decked out and ready to greet, I grabbed my boombox for some tunes I could entertain myself with, and dance a little to stay warm. It was quite a chilly spring morning, with snow blanketing the campus.

Slowly but surely, families showed up, and Lindsey and I offered hot chocolate and a picture with me to our visitors. It’s always quite a trek to get to Gunnison, and we spoke with people from all over the country -  from Alaska to Maine. With the giant snowstorm that shut down Denver I was thankful all of these nice folks made it in safe.

There’s a reason that people come from so far away to visit Western, and it’s because of our unique setting, the great people, and the hands-on educational experience that we offer.

Right now I’m just chillin’ in my office, which is secret of course, Mad Jack has got to lay low. But I will resurrect again for our next Preview Day on April 10th.
If you haven’t visited campus and want to join us on April 10th, sign up here: http://www.western.edu/admissions/preview.php
Hope to see you then!

Peace out,
Mad Jack

A 2005 Western graduate has found recent success!

Heather Brown was given the opportunity to illustrate a children’s book entitled “Bee & Me.” The book was published last October and is climbing its way to the top of the New York Times’ children’s best seller list.

The 100,000 copies that were released have nearly sold out, and the next round of 50,000 are on their way.

Check out “Bee & Me” here: http://books.google.com/books?id=I9NpH8UbVbcC&printsec=frontcover&dq=Bee+%26+me&ei=Qri_Se67FouINoztocsL

Just wanted to give a big shout out to our wresting, basketball and indoor track teams – CONGRATULATIONS MOUNTAINEERS!!!!

Our men’s and women’s basketball teams both secured a spot in the playoffs this past weekend.  For the men, it’s the first post-season appearance in 10 years!  We’ll travel to Durango to take on the Skyhawks this week….best of luck basketball teams!

Indoor track teams both placed 2^nd last weekend at the RMAC conference championships.  31 individuals were named to All RMAC teams, 15 athletes qualified for the Division II National championships and Nathan Dorzweiler was named Athlete of the Meet.

Wrestlers claimed the RMAC Championship title this past weekend!  This is our first championship since 1997.  Along the way 7 wrestlers qualified for the Division II National Championship tournament, 3 wrestlers earned RMAC Championship titles, Donovan McMahill was named RMAC Wrestler of the Year and Coach Miles Van Hee was named RMAC Coach of the Year.  Great job wrestling team!

And good luck to all our athletes competing at the Division II National championships in Houston next week!!

Who doesn’t love to wear Purple, Gold, & Green and get free beads?  I know that I do!!

Well, last Friday Western students were celebrating with these colors.  It was the Amigos Club 20^th Anniversary of Carnaval which is the Latin Marti Gras.  It was held at The Last Chance Bar for everyone 21 and up.

They had a DJ, dance competitions, crowned a king and queen for the night, raffled off two iPod shuffles and provided lots of fun for everyone that came.  I know that I had fun dancing the night away with fellow friends and students.

People were letting loose and relaxing.  It’s a great event to forget about school, work, and troubles and just enjoy celebrating Marti Gras Latin style.  Students wait for this event to come around every year.  If you are going to choose one event to go to,  Carnaval should be that event.

So our Mountaineer athletic teams are ROCKIN right now!!!  Our wrestling team had a HUGE win over the #4 ranked University of Nebraska Kearney last weekend.  We actually didn’t lose a single RMAC dual this season and are on a 9 dual winning streak – how awesome is that?!?  We have 5 wrestlers who are nationally ranked right now: #5 Eddie Lopez, #4 Marques Bravo, #5 Larry Wilbanks, #1 Donovan McMahill, #9 Charlie Alexander.  Wrestlers are gearing up for the Regional and National tournaments in March – good luck guys!

Our men’s and women’s basketball teams are also hot right now!  With big wins over rivals Adams State and Ft. Lewis last weekend, our men are tied for 2^nd place in the RMAC west.  Women are holding their own ranked 3^rd in the west.  Both teams are looking to clench a spot in the post-season tourney for the first time in several years.  I’ll be there cheering them on this weekend as we host the Grizzlies and the Skyhawks in Paul Wright Gymnasium.   GO MOUNTAINEERS!!!