F.Y.I: The word “nerd” was first coined by Dr. Seuss in “If I Ran the Zoo.

” • THE METROPOLITAN • NOVEMBER 19, 2009 • NEWS • A7

Student lobby
fears financial
Veteran tells of ocean’s horror
cliff in 2010 Survivor of was certain someone would no-
tice it was gone. Murphy said
naval disaster the U.S. Navy took the view that

Continued from A6
Colorado legislators had received
many hundred phone calls, letters
and e-mails, and the action had an
effect.
“This year we need many, many
more students participating,” An-
drew Bateman, Metro’s Student Gov-
ernment Assembly president and
president of the ASC, said.
The question is: How do you get
the elusive students’ attention?
“When you’re trying to explain
the connection between higher edu-
cation and the broader economic
stability of the state … that’s not
something people have an instant
connection to,” Bateman said. “We
need to find that instant reaction,
that taps into the pulse … that’s one
of the things we need to do.”
The delegates elected a commit-
tee which will begin planning ac-
tions for the coming legislative ses-
sion, beginning January.
In the next two weeks before the
next meeting scheduled Nov. 28,
each school’s delegation will design
a plan to best suit its campus on how
to reach its students.
The ASC organizers will be send-
ing out a “how to” packet on engag-
ing students in political action.
But “what you say to them, your
issues,” Bateman said, “is up to what
each school decides.”
Each school has different cir-
shares story
By Taryn Jones
tjone101@mscd.edu
Sixty four years after the
USS Indianapolis was attacked
by Japanese torpedoes, Paul
Murphy, one of the survivors,
still tears up when recounting
his story of loss and persever-
ance.
The Metro Office of Student
Activities invited Murphy to the
Tivoli Multicultural Lounge Nov.
12 as part of Auraria’s Veterans
Day commemoration.
On July 30, 1945, the India-
napolis sank in 12 minutes leav-
ing a few hundred men to fend
off shark attacks in the middle
of the Pacific Ocean while wait-
ing to be rescued.
“As the day went by, the
burn victims, and the ones with
broken bones, in the rafts, soon
started to die. They died a hor-
rible death. But as they passed
away their life jackets were tak-
en off and given to those that
didn’t have any, and their bodies
were left to float away. That, I
think, is one of the main reasons
the sharks began to appear,”
Murphy said.
The ship was a large 610-
foot aircraft carrier so the crew
the ship must have changed
course on its own, that surely
they would know it if had been
sunk.
Several hundred sailors
fought off starvation and dehy-
dration while floating on only a
few life rafts and cargo nets.
Remaining survivors were
discovered by chance Aug. 2 by
a Navy pilot who disobeyed stan-
dard operating procedure and
made a water landing to save
the first few.
Rescue efforts proved dif-
ficult due to effects that an ex-
tended stay in sea water can
have on the body.
As the first men were hoist-
ed from the water, their skin was
inadvertently pulled from their
arms.
Out of 1,196 men originally
aboard the Naval vessel, only
317 survived.
For the past 15 years, Mur-
phy has been meeting at least
25 others that rode the waves of
the event with him that day in
Indianapolis, IN for their annual
Survivors Reunion.
“It’s still a big part of who
they are. It’s worth repeating [to
others],” said Mark Schwartz,
director of student activities.
Veteran Paul Murphy prepares to recount his World War II survival ex-
periences Nov. 11 in the Multicultural Lounge in the Tivoli. Photo by Taryn
Jones • tjone101@mscd.edu

Preparing for tragedy

cumstances: some have dorms, some
not, some have more campus com-
munity events, and others have al-
most none.
What the delegates had in com-
mon was the message: Colorado’s
politicians need reminding about
the importance of higher education
to the state, before they sit down to
write the budget.
William McCullough, student
president of Pikes Peak Community
College and an Iraq veteran, said
supporting higher education for him
was about serving “the people.”
McCullough receives money
for college from the G.I. Bill, federal
money given to soldiers for serving
the country so they can study.
McCullough said if tuition goes
up, the government would still pay
his bill.
But higher education needs to be
affordable for everyone if Colorado
is going to stay competitive in the
global economy, he said.
“What I am trying to do is help
the system,” McCullough said. “Even
though I got this free ride — I still
want to see this state better off for
when my children go to the school
system, when I sent them to higher
education.”
Chelsea Moller, 23, pretends to moan in agony as she lies on a stretcher Nov. 11 near an “injured” infant dummy during a mock
mass casualty event at Aurora Community College in Aurora. Emergency personnel participated in the drill, a part of CCA’s First
Responder Training Program, which involved a couple hundred participants including actors who played victims, protestors and
members of the media. Photo by Leah Millis • lmillis@mscd.edu