Claver Smoothie Bar Review

By: Morgan Jacobus, Editor in Chief

photo credit// Morgan Jacobus

There has been a buzz around campus about the new smoothie bar. It is downstairs in Claver Hall, at the Grill. Many students have stopped by Claver before for the market, but now there is so much more being offered. There is the Grill, which has similar items to the Grill in the caf, but with the addition of other menu items like quesadillas (which I hear are pretty good).

Be sure to get there in the afternoons though because it is only open 11am—3pm on weekdays. Don’t miss it! 

There are four smoothie flavors available, or you can craft your own. I decided to give each a try. Below are my reviews, in the order that I tried them. 

Strawberry Citrus

This smoothie caught my eye first, because it sounded like the Strawberry Surf Rider at Jamba Juice, aka my favorite smoothie ever. It features strawberries, pineapple, peaches, lemonade, lime juice, and Greek yogurt. However, I think my expectations may have been a bit too high. This smoothie isn’t like the smoothie I was envisioning, but it was still tasty. The one that I got mainly tasted like pineapple, which I personally think overpowers it. I am a peachy citrusy gal, and I didn’t taste those flavors, so that was a little disappointing. The yogurt in it makes it thick and creamy, which lingers on your tongue and coats your mouth. 

My roommate Mikaela Taylor said it was “wangy but good,” and that it made her face pucker a bit. After trying the Berry Blast, she said she preferred this smoothie. 

Overall rating: 3/5 stars, would recommend if you like pineapple and Greek yogurt 

Mango Tango 

This smoothie is made with mango, pineapple, strawberry, orange juice, and Greek yogurt. Overall, it is more balanced than the strawberry citrus smoothie. Though the pineapple was still a heavy hitter and had the most prominent flavor, you could taste the mango and the other ingredients. It was still smooth, but not quite as creamy as the other, though perhaps the person who made mine didn’t add as much Greek yogurt as before. It was not as tart as the other one either; it still makes you pucker a bit. It is more of a smoothie that I would expect. 

I think if you are a pineapple fan, go for the ones with pineapple in it because it is definitely the main flavor that I taste in these smoothies. 

Overall rating: 3.5/ 5 stars, not my favorite, but I liked it better than the strawberry because it had more well-rounded flavors. 

Berry Blast 

There is a story that goes along with my review for this particular smoothie. One day I went to get smoothies with my friends, and three of us chose the berry smoothie, which is made with strawberries, blackberries, blueberries, apples, and cranberry juice. My friend Lexi Wrich tasted hers, which was the first one to come out, and she said it had a little after taste of pine tree. Confused, we each tried it, and it did have a taste of “tree” in it. Then mine was ready, but it didn’t taste like a tree. We brought hers to the lady who made it, who says that she must have put the mint that was supposed to be in the green machine into the berry smoothie. 

Without the aforementioned mint incident, the berry smoothie was very tasty. My friends used Mikaela’s description of “wangy” for this smoothie as well. Normally I am not a big berry fan, but this smoothie was really good. A little tart, with a nice berry flavor in addition to the taste of apples and cranberry juice. It was also sweeter than some of the other smoothies I tried, which I was a fan of. Perhaps my liking of this smoothie was because of the lack of pineapples and Greek yogurt, but either way I quite enjoyed it. 

My overall rating would be 4/5 stars. Out of the four smoothies, this would be my favorite. Lexi’s rating is 5/5 for color (it was a beautiful magenta/ purple), and 4/5 for flavor. She commented that it has a good apple flavor.

Green Machine 

Featuring all things green, it includes kale, spinach, apples, honeydew, mint, apple juice, and chia. In my experience, people either really like or really don’t like green smoothies. My friend Shelby Plummer is someone who likes this kind of smoothie and tried it. Though I am not a very big green smoothie person, this smoothie was not bad. However, this smoothie didn’t have the mint (because of the mix-up where it ended up in my friend’s berry smoothie), so I cannot accurately represent what it would taste like with that in it. I would caution people of the affect of the mint on the overall taste, since when it was in Lexi’s berry smoothie it made it taste “like a tree.” 

 “I like this one. It is sweeter and more delicious than I thought it would be. I don’t mind the taste of the kale. I am happy with it. One downside is that you have to stir it up a lot so it isn’t grainy,” said Shelby. 

My roommate Mikaela tried it and said to her it “tasted like a salad in a cup,” and Lexi said it is a “good way to get your greens.” 

For me, I would give it a 2.5/5 stars just because of my personal preferences, but Shelby, who enjoys green smoothies, gave it 6/5 stars.  

My Concoction:

In addition to the four smoothies on the menu, there is also the option of building your own smoothie. After trying the smoothies on the menu, I wanted to see if I could modify the strawberry citrus to be more of what I wanted it to taste like, so I decided to include: peaches, strawberries, lemonade, and lime juice. It was my favorite! The taste is definitely reminiscent of the Strawberry Surf Rider at Jamba Juice. I definitely recommend trying the menu smoothies and finding what you like.

Rating: 4.5/5 stars (not quite Jamba, but still really good)

Overall thoughts: 

I will definitely be stopping by Claver more often to grab a smoothie, because it is a nice, sweet treat or a healthy snack between classes. You get a nice big boba straw, which lends itself too easy sipping. The lady who made my smoothies would thank me and express how she appreciated me after I thanked her for her smoothie. I would recommend to any Regis student or community member to give these smoothies a try!

Basketball Season Recap

By: Hannah Ury, Staff Writer

The men’s basketball season recently drew to a close, and although people were not allowed to watch the games live, there was still plenty of action to be seen on the court. Although their record of 6-10 was a bit underwhelming, they put together a strong season defensively and certainly look to be promising in years to come. 

There were some struggles with shooting, as the Rangers trailed their opponents in all statistical categories for the season overall. Rebounding was also a weak point, and it is clear that a strong forward would significantly improve the team. Freshman forward Alex Cartwright, who rebounded well and is on the right track to becoming a high-scorer, should be a step in the right direction for the team. 

Although there were some offensive struggles throughout the season, the team played consistent, strong defense. The Rangers had almost twice as many steals per game as their opponents, and scored well on turnovers. Not only did they score well on turnovers, but Regis was able to limit their own turnovers as well, as turnovers were consistently low throughout the season. 

Point guard Brian Dawson had a very strong season and eclipsed 1000 points in his tenure at Regis, leading the team in free throws, steals, and scoring with 327 points scored, surpassing the second highest scorer by 164 points. His strong performance this season earned him 2 RMAC Offensive Player of the Week awards, as well as All-RMAC First Team honors. This is Dawson’s last year with the Rangers, and his presence on and off the court will surely be missed. The future looks bright for the team as recruitment for the 2021-2022 season has already begun. 

A Letter from ASA: Stop AAPI Hate

Provided by ASA

In light of the tragedy within the AAPI community in Atlanta, we wish to share our thoughts with Regis University. 

We, Asian Student Alliance, condemn this tragedy as a racially-charged hate crime fueled by white supremacy. This recent incident is one of many in a history of hate against the AAPI community, and unfortunately, the rhetoric in response to the COVID-19 pandemic has only increased this discrimination and harassment. It has been reported that there were over 3,800 instances of discrimination in the past year (Stop AAPI Hate https://stopaapihate.org/reportsreleases). Types of discrimination include verbal harrassment, physical asaault, civil rights violations, and online harassment.

At the heart of this issue is the model minority myth. This myth perpetuates the idea that Asian people have more privilege than other people of color. This creates tension between communities of color and blindsides us from the real issue, which is white supremacy. The model minority myth was originally a political tool used by white supremcists who claimed that racism doesn’t exist—since Asians were a “successful” people of color, hardships among other communities of color were attributed to laziness. This is a false and harmful claim because it leads to other issues, including the segregation of education amongst East Asians and South East Asians. It also covers up the racist past of the US Government and ignores how white supremacy has used Asian people as a scapegoat for previous immigration and job issues, as was evident in the Chinese Exclusion Act of 1882.  

The rhetoric that blamed COVID-19 on Asian countries has created a bigger target on our backs, especially for those in the elderly community because they are considered an easier target. Again, this feeds into the harmful myth that Asian people will not fight back because they are considered non-confrontational. Scapegoating the AAPI community in this way has clear and deadly consequences.

For this reason, we are disheartened by the portrayal of this attack as motivated by a “sex addiction” rather than race. In reality, these issues are interconnected. The AAPI community has endured decades of stereotyping, all of which have caused the AAPI community to be perceived as foreign. This has caused a dangerous fetishization of Asian people that, as we saw already, can prove to be life-threatening. Asian women are especially at risk; Stop AAPI Hate reports that women in the AAPI community experienced 2.3 times more hate incidents when compared to AAPI men. Reducing the problem to a “sex addiction” prevents us from addressing the real issues at hand. We must instead address the harassment these women have faced and the reasoning behind it.

Furthermore, we are disheartened by the claim that this was simply a “bad day” for the domestic terrorist who attacked the parlor in Georgia. This excuse minimizes the devastation of this attack. As a society, we have witnessed how women are forced to internalize their “bad days.” Meanwhile, men are excused for committing hate crimes on their “bad days.” Neither outlet should be accepted.

We understand that this is not an easy subject to talk about. Our best recommendation is listening. We want our voices to be both heard and echoed. The best help you can provide is through extending our message to others. The Asian community has already spent decades suffering from stereotypes that encouraged us to stay quiet.

This is true of other communities of color, too; however, we wish to address that this issue should not be compared to the Black Lives Matter Movement. Our problems and communities each suffer from our own struggles and histories. Forcing a comparison between the two can downplay the realities that both communities face. 

We don’t expect you to relate to the issues we have shared with regards to the AAPI community, but we plead for recognition in a society that has tried to silence us. We are optimistic that the rest of the university will follow suit in our call to action.  Our hearts go out to the families and friends of those who lost their lives in this tragedy. May their memories live on through the actions we take to become a better country. #STOPAAPIHATE

Resources:

https://stopaapihate.org

https://anti-asianviolenceresources.carrd.co

My Friend for President

By: Lauren Alvarez, Guest Writer

Bio: Hi! My name is Lauren Alvarez I’m a junior this year majoring in Communication with an emphasis in Public Relations and minoring in Environmental Studies. I’m from San Mateo, California. I enjoy reading books from Tiktok, going to Trader Joe’s and ominously staring out my window. Fun fact: I often tell people I’m 5’12 instead of 6’0 and 95% of people don’t notice.

photo credit// Malia Olson

I stroll into the pub on campus at 5:25. I wanted to be here early, but of course she’s sitting at our usual table working on some homework. Crap. Malia Olson has her reusable water bottle, recycled materials phone case, and half a dozen rings on her fingers. She is engulfed in her bio homework when I sit down. She’s not nervous, nor should she be. This doesn’t feel much different than our thrice a week dinner at The Caf. The only difference is that Malia Olson is running for Regis Student Body President, and I’ve got the scoop. 

I’m approaching this interview through the bias of a good friendship and my sincere belief she brings something brilliant to the table. The table we are chatting at, our conversation is slightly dulled by the roar of the dinner crowd. 

“So, Malia, would you rather have teeth for toes or toes for teeth?” She laughs—I’m hilarious. 

“Teeth for toes.” 

Ah. A woman of culture. Though the interview is supposed to be formal, we ebb and flow through the conversation, mixing in her glimpses of her personality while discussing some ideas Malia has for the future of Regis. 

Ms. Olson has a background at Regis as a Violence Prevention Educator. This work not only prevents stalking, intimate partner violence, and sexual assault on campus but also trains athletes as well as classes and facilitates programs like V-Day and Denim Day. When asked how her work as a VPE affects the way she hopes to lead Malia responds, “Since I am a survivor of sexual assault, that really motivates me to make campus feel like a safe space for students. I know it’s not always easy being a student here and that shitty things can happen.” She continues, sharing some questions that are not only incredibly important to her campaign but to her values as a Regis student, “How do we create space for students who’ve had rough experiences to feel safe and feel heard, and give opportunities to tell their stories?” 

When asked about reinstating the soft-serve machine from our freshman year—if you weren’t here before The Caf remodel, I’m sorry—Olson laughs, “I could certainly try. [I’m] not sure if RUSGA necessarily has a lot of control over what Bon-Appetit decides to do.” Although this is not the answer I was hoping for, it does lead into a bigger conversation about Regis as a school. 

Malia is candid in her admiration for Regis. Of course, we all know the appeal of a smaller school, its prime location between downtown and the breathtaking Rocky Mountains, but Malia emphasizes that it’s a Catholic school. While this is slightly unexpected—both of us are non-practicing—she explains that the Jesuits add that, “Social justice focuses on all of these classes.” She goes on to say, “Even science classes ask how this matters and how it affects us?” Looking through the lens of intersectionality between science and social justice is something Malia is quite comfortable doing, as she is majoring in Bio with an emphasis in Molecular Biology & Genetics with a Psychology minor. 

Malia is not afraid to criticize Regis too. Talking about the administration’s handling of the tech hack of Fall 2019 and their response to COVID-19 when it started last March, (can you believe it's been a year!?!) Malia uses the shortcoming of our school to emphasize how valuable what the students are saying is, “There are really powerful instances when students really made a change.” We, as students, were outspoken about our disapproval of their actions and they made changes because of our demands. 

Beyond the confines of running for Student Body President, Malia is also a student during the time of COVID-19. These are difficult times. Meeting new people is hard enough, not even considering the restrictions we all must make to stop the spread of the virus. She talks about the idea of “missing out” on the college experience, “Regis sometimes lacks that sense of pride… pride in your school. RUSGA is a really good place to address those things because that's the [students’] money going towards programming… they can go to their Senators, they can go to their representatives and be like, ‘hey I want to do this thing where I hand out utensils’ or whatever.” 

I then ask her the most intimidating question of all time: how would you describe yourself? Usually this question brings instant panic, but Malia doesn’t hesitate, “I’m very introverted and I’m a helper.” This intrigued me, as you often don’t see introverts holding a lot of power. I pick her brain and I’m pleasantly surprised when she says, “Any sort of government is built and structured so that it benefits extroverted people. So, when you have somebody holding a leadership position that is an introvert, that is so important because…[you] notice when other introverts are not in the conversation or their voices aren’t being heard.” 

As we are wrapping up, I realized that I forgot to ask her some basic questions. So, for the audience: her favorite color is a teal blue, her favorite movie is The Princess Diaries, and her Spotify top artists are Queen, Yolk Lore, and Alexander23. She’s from Crested Butte, Colorado, a lovely little ski town. She has an incredible tea collection and loves matcha. She’s about 5’2, her hair is insanely healthy (genetics). And most importantly she is incredibly genuine and someone I get excited to see every time she walks into the Student Center. 

When the interview is over, I press the stop button on the recording app on my phone. We both sigh a breath of relief and I ask her, “You wanna go get some dinner?” 

She giggles, “Yeah, I’m starving.” 

**RUSGA has pushed all elections to the fall