Clayton Villa Sending it at The North Face Park and Pipe Open

Truckee, California -The North Face Park and Pipe Open Series (PPOS) will return to Northstar California Resort February 9- 12, 2012. The second stop on the three-stop tour will feature slopestyle and halfpipe competitions in which a worldwide roster of competitors will vie for the chance to claim a prize purse worth over $20,000. In addition athletes will have the rare opportunity to compete on Northstar’s 22-foot-high, 500-foot-long halfpipe.

The North Face PPOS works in conjunction with the Association of Freeskiing Professionals (AFP) on competition judging, and is a gold-level event. Judging is based on overall impression with categories including creativity, degree of difficulty, combinations, variations, style and amplitude.

“The North Face PPOS has created huge opportunities for pro and amateur freeskiers to showcase their talents in an open format competition. With over 90 competitors at the upcoming stop at Northstar, and Waterville Valley, NH, being one of the highest level competitions of the year on the East Coast, The North Face PPOS is cemented in the sport as the premier Open tour for both prize purse and AFP World Ranking points,” said Steele Spence, Head Judge and General Manager, Association of Freeskiing Professionals.

The North Face Park and Pipe Open Series Northstar Event Schedule

Thursday Feb 9 – Registration / Practice
Friday Feb 10 – Slopestyle Qualifying
Saturday Feb 11 – Slopestyle Finals
Sunday Feb 12 – Halfpipe Qualifying / Finals

The North Face PPOS wraps up at Waterville Valley, NH, March 8-11, 2012. Originally slated for slopestyle and halfpipe competitions, the event at Waterville Valley will include two days of slopestyle and a big air competition.

Athlete registration for the two remaining stops is now open at http://www.thenorthfaceppos.com.

Bipartisan Politics

By Patricia Leavy, PhD., author of Essentials of Transdisciplinary Research

Americans have long grown sick of political in-fighting. Our leaders seem unable to get anything done because they’re too busy waving their party flag and flat-out refuse to work together to solve our many pressing problems. Politicians are in a game of Color-War that is reminiscent of kids’ summer camp. However, the consequences are very grown-up. The failure of our leaders to work together responsively and responsibly grows more tiring as our problems increase. What many Americans may not realize is that the same fruitless grid-lock has long plagued higher education, although perhaps less visibly.

Academics are charged with teaching the next generation and conducting research on issues of import— roles that impact all Americans. Academics often hear that we are in ‘ivory towers’ disconnected from the real-world we aim to understand—implying we are useless. Unfortunately, the structure of higher education makes this somewhat true.

Academic institutions are based on disciplinarity—teaching students the content of individual, specialized disciplines (such as biology, psychology, etc.) and conducting small-scale research within disciplines. Academic researchers are pressured to work within these confines in order to receive grants and promotions. As a result, the natural sciences, social sciences and business are positioned as separate camps, competing for scarce resources. The problem is that, just like in Washington, academics can’t solve real-world problems or properly train students how to do so within this model. The major challenges of our time—such as sustainability, health and well-being, the environment, violence— cannot be solved through the lens of any one discipline. Researchers need to work together. Here’s an example that impacts us all: Cancer research.

We are all impacted by high rates of cancer, if not personally than through someone we know. We all have a vested interest in cancer research and teaching the next generation of innovative health researchers. Cancer research obviously has biological/medical components such as family history/genetics, physiological abnormalities, etc. However, disparities in cancer rates across different groups point to social issues that also impact the health profile of a group or community. These factors include: access to healthcare and screenings, access to quality healthcare, the effectiveness or ineffectiveness of specific health education programs for different groups, and the ways that gender, race, ethnicity, sexual orientation and religion influence health screenings.

In addition to biological and social issues, differences in cancer rates have environmental dimensions such as: exposure to toxic materials (sometimes through one’s job), pollution (air and water quality) and food quality (for example, the availability and price of organics).

In short, natural scientists, social scientists and environmental scientists need to forge trans-disciplinary coalitions in order to understand and respond to the cancer crisis. This would mean that the problem at-hand, not allegiance to any one discipline, dictates our response and pushes us to work together responsively. Higher education—the major institution of research and teaching—simply isn’t set up to facilitate this work. The public has the right to expect researchers to pool all available resources in service of public needs and to train college graduates to do the same. Whether it’s in the White House or ‘ivory tower’ we need to restructure powerful organizations so that leaders can stop working to keep their jobs and start doing their jobs.

About the Author
Patricia Leavy, PhD is a sociology professor, author, expert commentator and internet radio show host as well as a leading qualitative researcher with a dozen books to her credit. She is the author of the new book, Essentials of Transdisciplinary Research: Using Problem-Centered Methodologies (Left Coast Press, 2011). Please visit www.patricialeavy.com for more information.

Colorado Buffaloes Basketball on a Roll

Boulder, Colorado – With the year’s first big snowstorm descending outside, the Colorado Buffaloes cooled off one of the PAC-12’s hottest teams, cruising to a 82-60 win over the Oregon State Beavers.

The Buffs struggled early figuring out how to attack the Beavers’ unique 1-3-1 zone. But the beaver dam defense couldn’t hold back the fast-break CU offense for long. Sixth man Askia Booker was the early spark plug yet again, coming off the bench to push the tempo in CU’s favor. The freshman guard accounted for 7 of CU’s first 17 points.

“The best way to beat a zone is not let it set up,” said an obviously pleased head coach Tad Boyle, “Askia came in and made plays and was aggressive”

Senior guard Nate Tomlinson put on an impressive passing clinic. The senior looked like a poor man’s Pete Maravich for stretches of Thursday’s contest, finishing with 6 assists, including an alley-oop pass to Carlon Brown from half-court that brought the Coors Event Center roaring to its feet.

“I thought that got our students into it, got our players juiced up and we kind of took it from there” said Boyle.

By the time halftime rolled around, the Buffs were owners of a comfortable 46-31 point lead. CU didn’t cool off at all at the half, augmenting the lead to an almost insurmountable 28 points.

By the time the carnage had stopped, five Buffs were in double figures. Booker (15), Carlon Brown (12), Austin Dufault (14), Spencer Dinwiddies (10) and Andre Roberson (16) led the way in a balanced offensive attack that Oregon State simply couldn’t match. Roberson added 15 rebounds for his 14th double-double of the season.

Even more impressive though was Colorado’s defensive effort against an Oregon State team that was averaging 82 points per game – the fourth highest average in the country. Unlike the Beavers, the Buffs shied away from the defensive gimmicks, playing good old-fashioned one-on-one defense to shut down the Oregon State offense. Boyle was particularly happy that his team held Jared Cunningham – the PAC-12’s leading scorer coming into Thursday’s game at 18.2 points per game – to just 12 points on 5 of 12 shooting from the field.

The win moved the Buffs into a two-way tie with their next opponent – the Oregon Ducks – for 3rd place in the conference standings. The Ducks were stranded in Salt Lake City after beating the Utah Utes 79-68 Thursday night and Boyle joked that he hoped they don’t get in until 15 minutes before game time. All kidding aside, the Buffs face an Oregon that has won 5 of its last 6 games and is 4-1 in PAC-12 road contests this season.

USA Pro Cycling Challenge Poster Contest

Denver, Colorado – The 2012 USA Pro Cycling Challenge will again host a nation-wide contest inviting artists to create unique event posters for not only each of the 12 host cities, but also a national event poster that will be seen throughout the world. All types of artists – professional, amateur, aspiring – are encouraged to let their creativity flow and submit their designs via the USA Pro Cycling Challenge Facebook page beginning today. Entries will be accepted until Friday, March 16, with the winners being announced on Monday, April 16.

Artists will have plenty to draw upon as the 2012 Pro Challenge route guides the world’s elite cyclists through some of the most picturesque settings in the country. From the world-renowned mountaintop resorts in Aspen and Breckenridge, to legendary cycling cities like Boulder and Durango, no two posters will look alike.

“Being able to combine scenic backdrops, the intense competition of the USA Pro Challenge and the creative eye of artists should result in some of the most stunning portrayals of our sport we have ever seen,” said Shawn Hunter, CEO of the USA Pro Challenge. “The level of talent and creativity we witnessed with the submissions last year was so incredible; we knew this was something we had to do again in 2012.”

Once entries are submitted, the race’s thousands of loyal Facebook fans will have a chance to cast their votes for the three best posters for each host city and the ten best national posters. From there, special panels of judges consisting of dignitaries, media and city officials will select each of the winners. Winners receive a cash prize in addition to having his/her poster produced and sold to race fans both online and onsite during the race August 20-26. A portion of the proceeds from the national poster will be donated to America’s Road Home, while proceeds from many of the 12 host city posters will benefit local charitable causes.

All entries must be submitted via the USA Pro Challenge Facebook contest page (only online entries will be eligible). This requires either that the artwork be in digital media format or that a digital photograph of the artwork be posted in accordance with the rules, terms and conditions adopted by Facebook. Each file must be in JPEG format and otherwise comply with Facebook’s requirements for posting images. Multiple entries can be submitted, but must be submitted at the same time.

This is a skill-based contest and chance plays no part in the determination of winners. There is no fee to enter and no purchase is required. Official rules for the program can be found at http://www.facebook.com/USAProCyclingChallenge.

About the USA Pro Cycling Challenge
For seven consecutive days, the world’s top athletes race through the majestic Rockies, reaching higher altitudes than they’ve ever had to endure – more than two miles in elevation. One of the largest cycling events in United States history, the 2012 USA Pro Cycling Challenge will feature the best of the best in professional cycling, competing on a challenging course through some of America’s most beautiful scenery.

Referred to as “America’s Race,” the second annual USA Pro Cycling Challenge will take place August 20-26, 2012, a week proclaimed by Governor John Hickenlooper as “Colorado Cycling Holiday,” and travel through 12 host cities from Durango to Denver. More than 1 million spectators are expected to once again line the route to see if Levi Leipheimer will defend his title as reigning champion, while millions more around the world watch the race live on television and online through the Tour Tracker.

More information can be found online at http://www.USAProCyclingChallenge.com and on Twitter at @USAProChallenge.

Oakley Airbrake Review

Oakley created a new set of snow goggles for 2012 called the Airbrake featuring Switchlock technology. When my sample pair arrived in the mail I was stoked to try them on and even more pumped to take them on the hill for some testing.

Over the past month I have been rocking the Airbrake goggles with the Red White Shattered frame and H.I. Persimmon lens. The Airbrakes come with a Switchlock mechanism that gives users the ability to swap out lens within seconds however I found the Persimmon lens to work so well at Mt Baker I have only tried swapping lens at home. It literally takes under 10 seconds to switch lens.

Airbrakes can easily fit over or under your helmet (I prefer under) and have yet to fog while hiking. A triple layer of polar fleece foam balances pressure and wicks moisture away from your face. There is nothing worse then mocking down run and having cold air get inside your goggles forcing your eyes to water up. After more then two decades of creating goggles we think Oakley makes the best in the business. With a MSRP of $220.00 the Airbrakes may seem pricey to some however Oakley throws in a second lens, so really you have a second pair of goggles. Just like with cameras, the lens cost more then the body.

I can’t say enough about the Persimmon lens, it really allows me to see each grain of snow and roll in the terrain. My riding is feeling strong and I can honestly thank the Airbrake goggles for giving me extra clarity and in turn confidence.

My favorite feature is the new nose piece. It really allows you to breathe with ease and stops fogging almost entirely. With a lightweight frame the Airbrakes sit higher up on your nose which helps to avoid any pinching or discomfort when wearing the goggles for hours on end.

Flat light conditions not a problem with the Aibrakes Mike Hardaker Mt Baker 2-1-11 Photo Morgan Hebert

Switchlock™ Technology the quickest and easiest lens change for any light condition