www.themsureporter.com Minnesota State University, Mankato Thursday, September 15, 2011 Voices............................................4 Sports............................................9 Arts & Entertainment ................12 Classifieds..................................15 inSidE: twitter.com/@msureporter facebook.com /msureporter WEdnESdAY H 63 • L 47 THURSdAY H 63 • L 55 Coffee , Minnesota And Mason Jennings THe Show, The new album and an interview with the local artist During his visit to Mankato to perform a special show at the Coffee Hag, I had a chance to ask Jennings some questions regarding the new album, his music and what sorts of costumes he likes. BR: What can fans expect from the new record? How will it vary from what you’ve put out before? MJ: Well, it’s a lot more of a piano based record, that’s the biggest shift for me. It’s mostly piano, but yeah, same kind of idea. I shouldn’t say that [laughs] ‘yeah it’s the same thing man, it’s exactly the same as the other ones.’ No, it’s an evolution of sound for me, lots of piano, less electric guitar on this.” BR: What kind of themes are common through- out the record? MJ: I think the big thing is home and heart, those are two words that for sure come to mind. I just starting thinking ‘what’s the theme.’ Home and heart, my home and heart are in Minnesota.” BR: What does the tour behind Minnesota look like? MJ: I’ll do a worldwide, for sure, well… hopefully yeah a worldwide. This year it’ll just be the whole country. And it’s going to be more sparse. My friend Jake Hansen, from Halloween Alaska, will be helping out a lot. He’ll play a bunch of instruments, I’ll play a bunch of instruments. So we’ll just switch out. I’ll play some bass or some drums, and he’ll play some stuff like that. We’ll be more focused on the song, BRIAN ROSEMEYER a&e editor For the rest of the interview, a review of the new album, and a look at his Coffee Hag performance, turn to page 12. Jennings / page 12 Out with the old, in with the new page 5 Soccer Preview page 9 THE MSU VOLLEYBALL TEAM GEARS UP FOR ITS FIRST WEEKEND AT HOME
Transcript
www.themsureporter.comMinnesota State University, Mankato
C o f f e e , M i n n e s o t a And M a s o n J e n n i n g s
THe Show, The new album and an interview with the local artist
During his visit to Mankato to perform a special show at the Coffee Hag, I had a chance to ask Jennings some questions regarding the new album, his music and what sorts of costumes he likes.
BR: What can fans expect from the new record? How will it vary from what you’ve put out before?
MJ: Well, it’s a lot more of a piano based record, that’s the biggest shift for me. It’s mostly piano, but yeah, same kind of idea. I shouldn’t say that [laughs] ‘yeah it’s the same thing man, it’s exactly the same as the other ones.’ No, it’s an evolution of sound for me, lots of piano, less electric guitar on this.”
BR: What kind of themes are common through-out the record?
MJ: I think the big thing is home and heart, those are two words that for sure come to mind. I just starting thinking ‘what’s the theme.’ Home and heart, my home and heart are in Minnesota.”
BR: What does the tour behind Minnesota look like?
MJ: I’ll do a worldwide, for sure, well… hopefully yeah a worldwide. This year it’ll just be the whole country. And it’s going to be more sparse. My friend Jake Hansen, from Halloween Alaska, will be helping out a lot. He’ll play a bunch of instruments, I’ll play a bunch of instruments. So we’ll just switch out. I’ll play some bass or some drums, and he’ll play some stuff like that. We’ll be more focused on the song,
BRIAN ROSEMEYERa&e editor
For the rest of the interview, a review of the new album, and a look at his Coffee Hag performance, turn to page 12.
Jennings / page 12
Out with the old, in with the new
page 5Soccer Preview
page 9 THE MSU VOLLEYBALL TEAM GEARS
UP FOR ITS FIRST WEEKEND AT HOME
Page 2 • Reporter News Thursday, September 15, 2011Thursday, September 15, 2011 Advertisement Reporter • Page 3
Thinking big and looking to the future were the talk of Minnesota State Student Association’s Wednesday meeting.
President Richard Daven-port spoke about the growing enrollment and marketing strategies at Minnesota State University, Mankato.
“This is the most exciting year so far,” said Davenport.
Davenport said MSU is marketing all over the Twin Cities and southern Minnesota with commercials, billboards, social media and radio adver-tisements.
Davenport hopes to im-prove MSU’s retention rate in the coming years.
“We want students to come here and stay,” said Daven-port.
Vice President for Univer-sity Advancement Douglas Mayo introduced the Big Ideas Campaign, which centers on building a problem-solving in-stitution and developing more opportunities for students, faculty and staff.
“The campaign about tell-ing the story of what happens on this campus,” said Mayo. “The cool factor is the stu-dents.”
The plan is to raise $75 mil-lion by June 30, 2013.
To achieve this goal, Mayo said that shaping MSU’s brand definition and utilizing a stra-tegic vision through the help
of donors is essential.Mayo said MSU plans to
establish Global Solutions Scholarships and award grants to faculty and staff to develop real-world solutions.
The campaign also includes building a Global Solutions/College of Business Center with advanced technology. The center will house solu-tion labs that connect MSU students with other students at colleges and universities from all around the world.
The solution labs will give MSU students more opportu-nities to create innovative so-lutions to real-world problems such as pollution or poverty. The campaign also strives to incorporate a “Green Fund” that gives increased attention to faculty, staff and student ideas for campus sustainabil-ity.
The core of the campaign is telling the story of MSU students, and it will achieve this goal through providing more opportunities for study abroad, internships and ser-vice learning.
“Every one of you has big ideas and those are things that education enables,” said Mayo. “You are the most tuned-in of any generation. Keep doing the cool stuff, and you’ll help us get there.”
The kick-off event for the Big Ideas Campaign features the opening of the newly reno-vated CSU Ballroom Oct. 27 at 10 a.m.
Campus Special is intro-ducing a mobile application that is going to make getting deals on grub more convenient for Minnesota State Univer-sity, Mankato students.
For students with an Android or iPhone, coupons and specials regarding food and deals in the area will be accessible with the touch of a button. The application uti-lizes GPS technology to locate the nearest campus and then automatically provides order-ing options and coupon offers in the area straight through the phone. The Campus Special application essentially makes couponing accessible for busy college students who don’t have the time to sit with their mom and cut coupons for hours on end.
“Our goal was to incor-porate all of our services into one cohesive product,” said Campus Special Co-Founder Joe Jacobs. “What better way to do that than to place our product in the one thing students have with them at all times…their phone.”
With a more in-depth look at the application a student can also find business hours and delivery information from nearly any local restaurant, bar or store. Starving in class? The application allows stu-dents to build an order and set
a delivery time, so as soon as they’re done hitting the books their food will be at their door.
Some of the favorites with deals and steals in Mankato listed on Campus Special in-clude Tav on the Ave, Weggy’s and Pizza Ranch.
While the application is new to MSU students, those that have taken the opportuni-ty to utilize its benefits haven’t been disappointed.
“I didn’t really know too much about Campus Special until recently, but now I love using the app, it’s convenient and way easier than trying to remember to grab my coupon book every time I head out,” said MSU student Chelsey Ziebell.
Students who do not own iPhones or Android phones need not worry. Campus Spe-cial is available via Facebook and readily provides saving and coupon opportunities through their Facebook wall.
While Campus Special may begin to help students just like Ziebell spend their money a little more wisely, the corporation also offers opportuni-ties for students to make money. Campus Special is widely known for the internship opportunities it provides every year to college students around the United States.
Campus Special
boasts its internship program to be highly interactive where student interns work directly with local businesses selling advertisement and promoting Campus Special. The program also provides students with an abundance of experience com-petitive employers everywhere are on the hunt for.
Students who obtain an in-ternship with Campus Special do not receive a set salary but make money based on their sales which many students could consider a fairly reward-ing factor for a day’s work.
So, as the new money-sav-ing Campus Special applica-tion downloads onto MSU student’s iPhones, there’s one more thing left to think about; is this application just another convenient money-saving trick or is this application a well-disguised link to an internship opportunity that will pave the way for a few lucky students’ futures?
CASSIE RAYMANstaff writer
MSSA’s new campaign to increase opportunitiesALLISON MATTHEWSstaff writer
Page 2 • Reporter News Thursday, September 15, 2011Thursday, September 15, 2011 Advertisement Reporter • Page 3
Thursday, September 15, 2011 News Reporter • Page 5
• If you have a complaint, suggestion or would like to point out an error made in the Reporter, call Editor in Chief Kyle Ratke at (507) 389-5454. The Reporter will correct any errors of fact or misspelled names in this space. Formal grievances against the Reporter are handled by the Newspaper Board, which can be contacted at (507) 389-2611.
• The Minnesota State University Mankato Reporter is a student-run newspaper published twice a week, coming out on Tuesdays and Thursdays. The Reporter generates 78 percent of its own income through advertising and receives approximately 22 percent from Student Activities fees. The Reporter is free to all students and faculty, but to start a subscription, please call us at (507) 389-1776. Subscriptions for the academic school year are $35.00 and subscribers will receive the paper within three to five days after publishing.
• Letters exceeding 400 words may not be accepted. The Reporter reserves the right to edit letters to fit space or correct punctuation. The Reporter reserves the right to publish, or not publish, at its discretion. Letters must contain year, major or affiliation with the university, or lack thereof. All letters must contain phone numbers for verification purposes.
Minnesotanewspaper association
EDITORS
EDITOR IN ChIEF: Kyle Ratke
(507) 389-5454
NEWS EDITOR:Megan Kadlec(507) 389-5450
SpORTS EDITOR:Lee handel
(507) 389-5227
VARIETy EDITOR:Brian Rosemeyer
(507) 389-5157
OUR pOLICIES & OThER INFORMATIONSUpERVISORSBUSINESS MANAgER:
On behalf of the Mankato Department of Public Safety, I would like to take this op-portunity to welcome you to the City of Mankato. Wheth-er you are returning for another year or are here for your first year, the Mankato Department of Public Safety wants for you to enjoy your time spent in the city and surrounding area. We look forward to working with you, not against you, to make the city a great place to live and learn.
Over the coming weeks and months you will hear
and see many of the things that are going on with the Mankato Department of Pub-lic Safety and the campus of Minnesota State University. We are transitioning towards a focus on Community Ori-ented Policing and Problem Solving, which means that we are going to be partner-ing with the community to work together at solving the problems of the community and work more at sharing information.
Officers Doug Frericks, Sean McClinton and I are assigned to work with the students, faculty and staff of MSU to provide a cam-pus that is safe, secure and
conducive to learning. This includes working with MSU Security, who we work with regularly to ensure that information is shared both ways with our agencies to provide for a well-informed campus. We all have a responsibility to be safe our-selves, but also to keep each other safe and look out for one another. I strongly sug-gest that everyone meet their neighbors and get to know one another. This will go a long way to strengthen the relationships that have been created, and will be created, over the coming school year.
I look forward to working with you. For additional in-
formation on what is happen-ing in the city, visit the City of Mankato’s website, www.mankato-mn.gov, and get connected to the city news. The Public Safety portion of the website gives you infor-mation on how to file police reports; it provides safety tips, and plenty of other Public Safety related topics. The City’s news is avail-able through Twitter, Face-book, local media, the MSU Reporter and a variety of other media avenues. Take advantage of the information sharing that we do to stay informed.
I look forward to the op-portunity to work with you
as a campus and make the college experience valuable and worthwhile. I can be reached by email or phone with any questions that you may have at any time. Good luck during this school year. As an MSU alumni, I’m proud to say GO MAVER-ICKS!!!
Sincerely,
Matt DuRoseDetective CommanderMankato Dept. of Public [email protected];(507)387-8770
A few words from the Mankato Department of Public Safety
You can find the MSU Reporter on Facebook @ facebook.com/
msureporter.
I don’t want to go to school today
Letter to the Editor
Go to college. You should, you pretty much have to. If you want a job, no a real job, you need a degree. A degree in what? It doesn’t really matter. Employers need to see that piece of paper. They need that signature and those credentials.
Today’s society finds students out of high school jumping into the sea of
higher education in major-ity. That does not necessarily mean that these kids even know what they want to study, or strive for.
When I got out of high school I had planned to at-tend MSU the year after. I didn’t know what for, in fact I changed my major halfway through sophomore year.
Why do we do this? Why
do we feel we have to sign up to pay vast sums of money, of which we will be pay-ing for years after we leave, and enroll at a university to prepare us for whatever we’d like.
High school, for what its worth, sets students up with basic knowledge of the world they are about to enter. School prior to that served a socializing purpose; it got children used to the idea of a world outside their family and homes. What does col-lege do?
As many of you will for the next portion of your life, I owe money. I owe lots of money to afford taking classes that don’t even direct-ly pertain to my chosen field: journalism.
In fact, the most I’ve learned about journalism has come from working at this newspaper.
I feel it would have been much more practical, afford-able and even faster to have
done an apprenticeship. The apprenticeship system
seems like the most logical method of higher, more spe-cific education.
If you want to be a me-chanic, work along side a mechanic and have him show you what to do.
If you want to be a graphic design artist, don’t waste your time and money on Intro To Bowling 101. Learn from your field within your field. It expedites the process of learning, and gears you directly to what you want to do instead of spending four years vicariously pretending to design advertisements and fonts.
Today, at MSU, we don’t even know where all our tuition money goes.
I know we have a new ballroom in the works, I know I’ve seen a few more f lat screen TVs around, I know there’s some pretty new lights on the corner of Stadium and Ellis. But I also
know I got an email over the summer saying we might not even have enough money to hold classes.
I also know there have been mass budget slashes on academics. Adjunct pro-fessors have been cut, the desks are falling apart, and it’s hard to even get into the classes you need anymore, but don’t you just love all those new Smart Boards kids?
So here I am, reaching for my shot at that piece of paper with the right signatures on it, the past five years of my life spent away from my field and in Intro To Pop Music, Environmental Perspectives, and Life In The Universe. In-teresting, but expensive and time consuming. I already knew the Beatles revolution-ized pop, I know the environ-ment is screwed and a Carl Sagan book could have filled me in.
BRIAN ROSEMEYER | a&e editor
Thursday, September 15, 2011 News Reporter • Page 5
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WELCOME BACK STUDENTS!
CALL KATO CAB 24/7!!
388-7433
New additions climb to new heightsOut with the old, in with the new
There will be two new addi-tions to Minnesota State University, Mankato within the next year. Cur-rently an outdoor rock wall is being built near the ropes course, on the south side of campus. Parallel to this, an indoor rock climbing wall is planned to be built in the upcoming spring 2012 semester by the Myers Field House.
The rock walls will be oper-ated by the Adventure Education Program at MSU now paired with the Office of Campus Recreation for plans.
The outdoor wall will be used by the Army ROTC program in order to train cadets in how to rap-pel and heighten climbing skills. The outdoor wall was funded by the Institutional Equipment 2011 Funds and University Repair and Replacement Funds, organizations devoted to rebuilding and restoring old facilities. The total cost of the facility will estimated at $130,000. A St. Paul based climbing wall con-struction company, NICROS, is in charge of building the facility. The aged structure was truly showing its maturity and after 25 years of use it needed to be replaced. It will approximate about 35 feet tall with five roped climbs and a rappelling lane.
The indoor climbing wall has
been a recommended addition to MSU’s facilities for the last five years. The University Wide One Time Funding Process has set aside 3.5 million dollars for various proj-ects, allowing MSU to pursue the indoor rock climbing wall project. The total cost for the wall will be approximately $150,000. Surveys were given to students of MSU by graduate students of Dr. Suzanna Armentrout’s Sport Management seminar class. MSSA supported the project through various votes and meetings.
The new indoor rock climb-ing wall is estimated to virtually touch the rafters of the field house, approximating 40 feet high and about 2,000 square feet of climbing surface.
There are many plans for the fu-tures of the new rock walls. Student wall climbing is planned to be open three days a week for an estimated four hours a day. The Office of Campus Recreation hopes to pair with an academic department to create an introductory rock climb-ing course to students. Advanced classes and workshops are expected to follow.
Special student events across the country have inspired staff and students at MSU to plan climbing and bouldering events. A club sport could easily be adapted as well.
About 15 to 20 new student
jobs will be opened coming next year due to the new additions to the university.
The Mankato community will have access to both walls to reserve either space for groups or events following the facility schedule on an annual basis. Open climbing hours will be facilitated to the schedule. In order to sup-port operating and upholding the maintenance of the equipment, a fee will be charged to those who are not students. As a student, it will be just like going to Otto Recreation Center, swipe a Mavcard, and go. All equipment will be included as well.
“There [are] really no nearby climbing opportunities around Mankato, this is one of the biggest facilities between the Twin Cities and Iowa,” said Samuel Steiger of the Campus Recreation staff.
Both rock climbing walls will be fee-based for non-MSU students. Anyone who is not a student at MSU will have to pay a small fee for climbing and rental.
“The great thing about climbing is that it is a fitness activity, it is fun, it is challenging, and there is a lot of learning involved,” Steiger said.
The outdoor rock wall will be opened at the beginning of October, while construction on the indoor rock wall will begin Spring 2012.
ELISE KONERZAstaff writer
• courtesy of samuel stiegerThe new rock wall behind Gage during construction.
Randy Todd
Business
“I really like the idea of a new rock climbing wall; it
would be fun for all students, give them something
to do on their free time and would attract a lot more
students because not many other colleges have a rock
climbing wall.”
Ashley Johnson
Graphic Design
“I have a pair of really sick rock climbing shoes I
would love to wear again! Rock climbing classes
are a great way to learn about nature’s way of
creating a very fun and precise sport; I think it’s
a great idea to give MSU students that kind of
exposure.”
Ryan BuelowLaw Enforcement“I feel like putting a new rock climb-ing wall would be beneficial to a lot of people. It’s an active sport that lets people get outside to get a great workout. It is something different for the people who may not like just running or lifting weights.”
David Meyers
Construction Management
“I think we should have a big rock wall
for more than just two or three people at
a time. Not only is it a great activity, it
is good exercise too!”
Madeline LeeElementary Education“I look forward to being able to do something new that has to do with fit-ness. It is a great new addition to the MSU campus.”
Do you think the rock wall is a good idea?
Page 6 • Reporter Advertisement Thursday, September 15, 2011Thursday, September 15, 2011 News Reporter • page 7
SEPTEMBER 16-18
MINNESOTA STATE UNIVERSITYMANKATO
FAMILYWEEKEND
2011
Welcome Minnesota State Mankato Families!
Family WeekendSeptember 16-18
Most events FREE or discounted for students, families, faculty & staff with MavCard or Family Weekend Button
www.mnsu.edu/familyweekend
FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 16
SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 17
REGISTRATION / CHECK IN: 4:30pm - 8pm CSU Main Entrance
REGISTRATION / CHECK IN: 8:30am - 2pm CSU Main Entrance
www.mnsu.edu/familyweekend
5pm-10pm Mahkato Traditional Pow-Wow, Land of Memories Park, Mankato5pm-11pm FREE Cosmic Bowling & Billiards, CSU Maverick Bullpen5pm & 8pm Stomper's Cinema: Cars 2, CSU Ostrander Auditorium6pm-9pm Hayrides & BBQ at Jack McGowan's Farm, 2001 Hawkeye Lane, Mankato6pm-9pm Open Recreation at Otto Recreation Center7:30pm The Shape of Things, Andreas Theatre, Performing Arts Center8pm Cirko Cabaret, Taylor Center, Bresnan Arena8pm-10pm Star Gazing at Andreas Observatory
8:45am/9pm Stomper Sprint/Family Weekend 5k Fun/Walk meet behind Gage10am-2pm Family Fun on the Mall, CSU Mall10am College of Business Reception, Recognition & Demo, CSU Heritage Room10am College of Education Reception, CSU Hearth Lounge10am College of Science, Engineering & Technology Open House, Trafton C-12111am-Noon Memorial Library Open House & Tours11am-11pm Free Cosmic Bowling & Billiards, CSU Maverick Bullpen11am-7am Open Recreation at Otto Recreation Center, 2-4pm Open SwimNoon-10pm Mahkato Traditional Pow-Wow, Land of Memories Park, Mankato12:30, 3 & 8pm Stomper's Cinema: Cars 2, CSU Ostrander Auditorium1pm MSU Football vs. U of M Crookston at Blakeslee Stadium2pm-4pm Family Carnival Sponsored by RHA, Performing Arts Center Lawn4pm MSU Women's Volleyball vs. SMSU, Taylor Center, Bresnan Arena4pm & 5:30pm Tofu Panda, Elias J. Halling Recital Hall, Performing Arts Center5:30pm Catholic Mavs Saturday Night Mass, CSU Ostrander Auditorium7:30pm The Shape of Things, Andreas Theatre, Performing Arts Center9pm-12am Mavericks After Dark Family Block Party, Lower Level CSU
The Small Business Develop-ment Center at Minnesota State University, Mankato is providing students with innovative and ad-vantageous tactics to spark their dreams through advising, work-shops and cutting-edge expertise.
Though students may have never guessed it, MSU’s Small Business Development Center (SBDC) is encouraging count-less students to take a stand in their futures and the business world. The SBDC is a generally free resource for those students looking to start a business of any kind, or who are just looking to broaden their real-world business knowledge.
“For our current students, our direct interaction with 400 plus local businesses per year cre-ated internship opportunities and consulting engagement,” said SBDC Program Coordinator Julie Nelson.
Students can be assigned an adviser who is available almost seven days a week to answer any ambitious students’ burn-ing questioning about starting a successful business or setting off on a successful career path. In addition, for those students with a fiery passion to start their own business, the SBCD offers several seminars and courses.
Nelson mentioned that through a partnership with other organiza-tions the SBDC is able to offer government contracting semi-nars and sales tax seminars: and through the IRS, general tax topic seminars.
The relationship between the University and the SBDC is a vital one for both students and alumni, one that Nelson attributes to many influential individuals.
“In reality, the leadership of Bob Hoffman, Rick Straka, Mari-lyn Fox and President Davenport
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Successful beginningsSmall Business Development Center aids MSU students
The Small Business Develop-ment Center at Minnesota State University, Mankato is providing students with innovative and ad-vantageous tactics to spark their dreams through advising, work-shops and cutting-edge expertise.
Though students may have never guessed it, MSU’s Small Business Development Center (SBDC) is encouraging count-less students to take a stand in their futures and the business world. The SBDC is a generally free resource for those students looking to start a business of any kind, or who are just looking to broaden their real-world business knowledge.
“For our current students, our direct interaction with 400 plus local businesses per year cre-ated internship opportunities and consulting engagement,” said SBDC Program Coordinator Julie Nelson.
Students can be assigned an adviser who is available almost seven days a week to answer any ambitious students’ burn-ing questioning about starting a successful business or setting off on a successful career path. In addition, for those students with a fiery passion to start their own business, the SBCD offers several seminars and courses.
Nelson mentioned that through a partnership with other organiza-tions the SBDC is able to offer government contracting semi-nars and sales tax seminars: and through the IRS, general tax topic seminars.
The relationship between the University and the SBDC is a vital one for both students and alumni, one that Nelson attributes to many influential individuals.
“In reality, the leadership of Bob Hoffman, Rick Straka, Mari-lyn Fox and President Davenport
made this happen. In every meeting that we had, the bottom line has been what benefits our students and our region,” Nelson said. “It has been a great first eight months, we have been able to leverage so many great re-sources at MSU and have a great impact on our community.”
Success rates are not measured in fiscal numbers or professional connections, but instead the im-pact they have on MSU students. The SBDC helped a MSU senior start not just one, but two suc-cessful businesses since he began attending MSU.
“The SBDC helped me start my detailing business, Overboard Detailing, three years ago. In three years I have seen my detail-ing business triple in business each year,” said senior Taylor Woitas.
Woitas’ business has been featured in Minnesota Valley Business Magazine and made the front page of the business section in the Mankato Free Press.
Woitas also began his most recent business, Why Not! Events, through working with the SBDC and his SBDC advisor, Wendy Anderson. Woitas said his time with Anderson has been incred-ibly valuable and that he always leaves her office inspired to keep working.
“Wendy has helped me think of new marketing ideas, sent me tons of links of places to look for things like T-shirt printing,
website design, companies that can put my logo on things like pens or mugs,” Woitas said. “She has helped me massage my busi-ness plan and really, really helped break down the legal aspects of running a business.”
As noted, the resources at SBDC are vast and seemingly endless. If a student has a ques-tion about any small business development hopes or desires, they can almost always bet that the SBDC has an answer or an opportunity for the student to discover the answer.
A student can satisfy their curiosity craving by visiting the SBDC official website where pro-gram and workshop opportunities are listed, as well as contacts for students to reach who are eager to take the next step into owning their own business.
While some of their courses, workshops and programs require a fee in order to attend, many of the programs offered by the SBDC do not cost a dime. Free educational tools and resources are something every student can enjoy and take advantage of with a zero-risk factor at the SBDC.
The SBDC will be hosting an open house in celebration of their new location at MSU, Sept. 28 at 4 p.m. in the Alumni Founda-tion Center. The open house will allow interested students the op-portunity to meet and speak with staff and business consultants while enjoying refreshments.
CASSIE RAYMANstaff writer LONDON (AP) — The wife
of a suicide bomber who tar-geted Christmas shoppers in Stockholm has been arrested by British police on suspi-cion of helping to prepare for the attack.
Taimour Abdulwahab, an Iraqi-born Swede who stud-ied at a British university, killed himself and injured two others when he detonat-ed explosives in a crowded shopping street in December.
British police confirmed Wednesday they had arrested a woman at a house in Luton on Tuesday — the city where Abdulwahab lived with his wife and three children. Officers also searched two properties in the city, about 34 miles (55km) north of London.
Asked if Mona Thwany, the 28-year-old wife of Abdulwahab, was arrested, police read a statement con-firming a 28-year-old woman had been detained.
Police said the woman was arrested in the early hours of Tuesday and questioned at a central London police station on suspicion of carrying out preparatory acts for a terror-ist attack.
The offense — which carries a maximum sentence of life imprisonment — cov-ers actions such as gathering equipment or information,
attempting to assemble ex-plosives, or helping some-one to carry out other work which could assist a planned terrorist attack.
Police said the woman was released on bail and would return for further question-ing by officers in mid-No-vember.
In an interview with Britain's now defunct News of The World tabloid in January, Thwany denied any knowledge of her husband's plans. "He never revealed his secret side to me," she was quoted as telling the news-paper.
Her father, Ali Thwany, has also previously de-nounced his son-in-law, branding him "a rogue person bent on crimes and disillusioned by an unknown group," in a letter sent to media organizations follow-ing the attack.
In March, another sus-pected accomplice was arrested in Britain. Ezedden Khalid Ahmed Al Khaledi, 30, has faced a Scottish court charged with raising funds for terrorism and aiding Ab-dulwahab's attack.
Al Khaledi, whose na-tionality is not known, also faces immigration and fraud charges and did not enter any plea during the hearing.
Wife of Stolkholm suicide bomber arrested in UK
page 8 • Reporter Advertisement Thursday, September 15, 2011
Sportswww.msureporter.com/sports
Thursday, September 15, 2011
Mavericks avoid a fifth set, put away Winona StateVolleyball
MSU used a 9-3 run to clinch the final set, fending off the Warriors in its home opener.REECE HEMMESCHstaff writer
After suffering its first loss of the season last weekend in Missouri, the MSU volleyball team had a good start to its tough conference schedule Tues-day night at the Taylor Center, defeating Winona State 3-1. The Warriors came into the game 5-4 overall, but the Mavericks were ready for them early on. The Mavericks (8-1) began the first set with six straight points, breaking a tie at 4-4. They would not look back and take the first set 25-15. It seemed as if everything went MSU’s way in the second set, as junior Jill Storlie pounded a spike home, giving the Mav-ericks the win and sending them into the locker room with hopes of a possible sweep. But MSU came out of the locker room a little flat, as they could not accumulate anything on the floor and dropped the
third set to Winona 25-14. “Our adjustments need to come quicker,” said junior outside hitter Chelsea Fogarty. “We just need to realize about the other team what they have realized about us, and stop that from happening.” Those adjustments came at about the perfect time; during the fourth set with the match tied at 16, as the Mavericks went on to receive seven straight points and take a commanding 23-16 lead. Winona State would score two quick points after the run, but MSU would get the final two points they needed and win the set 25-19 to win the match. “Overall it went well,” Foga-rty said of MSU’s first confer-ence matchup, “We still have some corrections to be made, but overall we put a great effort in and it works.” Fogarty led the Mavericks offensively with 19 kills in 40 attempts. Storlie also added 17
kills for MSU, and once again senior Brittany Stamer had a game-high 46 assists. The Mavericks looked good on the defensive side of the ball as well, as they recorded 63 digs, with 14 apiece coming from Alli Rice, Jenna McNallan and Stamer. Rice also contrib-uted two service aces for the Mavericks. Katie Froehle led the way for Winona State, recording 15 kills. Shannon McGowan contributed 24 digs in the losing effort, lead-ing the Warriors defensively. The Mavericks will next be in action this Saturday, as an intense battle will be in the making when the Mustangs of Southwest Minnesota State come to town. Southwest is cur-rently 7-2 and recently ranked No. 8 in the nation. “I’m pumped,” said Fogarty. “I’m ready to play Southwest and I think it’s going to be a re-ally good game.”
angela kukowski • msu reporterJunior outside hitter Chelsea Fogarty returns the ball against Winona State as junior middle blocker Jill Storlie looks on in MSU’s 3-1 win.
MSU soccer’s unsung trio of seniors leads
Defenders Sarah Schellinger and Marissa Santana, as well as goalkeeper Briana Hendricks don’t dazzle you with numbers. But their leadership speaks for itself.
The Right WaY
2011 Women’s Soccer Preview
JOEY DENTONstaff writer
The Minnesota State, Mankato women’s soccer team takes a lot of pride in its hard work on the field, its team chemistry and its success in the classroom. To make all of this happen a team has to have really devoted players and outstanding leadership, and the Mavericks have that in their senior class this season. The team will be graduat-ing three seniors at the end of the season, and all three of them want to make this season
the best one yet. Goalkeeper Briana Hendricks, defender Sarah Schellinger and defender Marissa Santana all are leading this team by example, and the program is lucky to be able to have these hardworking and devoted student-athletes. Schellinger graduated from Sartell High School, and signed with MSU as a forward, the position she played all of her high school career. After playing forward her freshman year, the coaching staff de-
cided to make her a defender, and she was glad they did. “There was certainly a turning point my sophomore year where the coaches and I discovered the impact I could make on defense as opposed to offense,” said Schellinger. “I would have to say the biggest moment in my career was real-izing that. By playing outside back I’m able to contribute more and capitalize on my strengths.”
Once making the transition to the defensive side, Schell-inger’s career took off. Her sophomore year she played in every game and started seven of them, and she was named a 2009 NSIC All-Academic. In her junior year, she played in and started all of the games, and was named a 2010 NSIC All-Academic. She was also named a captain for the 2011 season this past offseason. “My time here, playing soc-
cer for the Mavericks, has been a pleasure and an honor. I’ve made many close friends, and it has given me the opportu-nity to experience college in a totally different way,” Schell-inger said. Fellow senior Santana didn’t start her collegiate career here at MSU, but she is sure glad she transferred here. “I was a transfer student
Senior Leaders / page 11
wale agboola • msu reporterFrom left: Senior defender Sarah Schellinger, senior goalkeeper Briana Hendricks and senior defender Ma-rissa Santana.
THIS WEEKEND IN MAVERICK SPORTS:
FOOTBALL VS. MINNESOTA-CROOKSTON: 1 P.M. SATURDAY, BLAKESLEE STADIUM
VOLLEYBALL VS. SW MINNESOTA STATE: 4 P.M. SATURDAY, BRESNAN ARENA
Page 10 • Reporter Sports Thursday, September 15, 2011Thursday, September 15, 2011 Sports Reporter • Page 11
Brittany Henry #6 • Soccer Brittany Henry, a Stillwater, Minn. native, graduated from Mahtomedi High School in 2008. That year she was named Class A Ms. Soccer Minnesota and captured a state title, her third in four years. She is coming off a sophomore season where she led the Mavericks in scoring with 12 goals and one assist, and ranked third in the NSIC with 25 points. Henry was named NSIC All-Conference Second Team and was on the 2010 NSIC All-Academic team. Q & A with junior forward Brittany Henry
Q: What was attractive about Minnesota State coming out of high school?A: The thing I liked best about Minnesota State coming out of high school was the atmosphere of the campus. I loved how lively and friendly everyone is.
Q: What does it mean to hold school records at Mahtomedi for goals, assists and points?A: Holding school records at Mahtomedi was a huge accomplishment for me. I honestly didn’t know I was even close until my coach told me I was only a few points away from beating it. I hope some day I will be able to meet the next girl to beat it. There is a chance it could be my younger sister.
Q: What position do you play and what are your primary responsibilities in that spot?A: I have been playing forward since day one of soccer. I’ve always been the player wanting to score lots of goals. My primary goal is to do what I can to help my team win.
Q: What are the team’s goals for the 2011 season?A: Our team goals for the season are to win the conference, win the conference tournament and advance into the NCAA tournament.
Q: With four game-winning goals last season, do you consider yourself to be a “clutch” player?A: I would consider myself one of the “go to” players on my team. My team has confidence in me to pass me balls and then to turn that into scoring goals, that’s my job.
Q: What did a 1-1 tie against No. 1 ranked Grand Valley State do for the confidence of your team?A: We knew going into the game against Grand Valley that it was going to be a tough game, but we were capable of a victory. Even though it ended in a tie, it was a huge success for us. Now our team knows that we can play against anyone and be successful.
Q: What does a typical game day consist of for you?A: A typical game day for me consists of waking up, eating a big breakfast and just keeping myself mentally focused for when game time approaches.
Q: What is going through your head in the moments leading up to a match?A: In my mind, right before the game starts I like to picture myself scoring a goal or maybe two and imagine our team celebrating at the end for our victory.
Q: What does the #6 mean to you?A: The #6 to me means that I am part of a Maverick team. It is a privilege to be able to play with such a strong and high-level soccer team. Not many people get the opportunity to continue a career playing soccer for this long.
Q: Who is your role model as a soccer player? A: My role model growing up as a child was Mia Hamm, and still to this day is my role model.
Q: Do you try to emulate your game after her?A: When I think of Mia Hamm as my role model, I think about how much she accomplished and what a great player she is. She worked so hard to get where she is today and she has inspired me to want to do the same.
Q: Who do you look up to off of the pitch?A: I look up to my parents off of the pitch. They have done such a good job raising me and being supportive of everything I do.
Q: What is your favorite quote?A: “You win some, you lose some.”
Q: What artist is on your iPod?A: Adele.
Q: What is your favorite movie/TV show?A: TV: Grey’s Anatomy/Friday Night Lights – Movie: Bridesmaids.
Q: Who is the craziest person on the team?A: Lianna Morrow! -- Compiled by Cole Kukowski
Breaking Down The MavericksLEE HANDEL | sports editor
DOOHER VALLARELLI
WEIK SOMERS
CYGAN McGOUGH
FORWARDS
MIDFIELDERS/DEFENDERS
GOALKEEPING
OUTLOOK
The Mavericks have a solid group of forwards this season despite losing Laura Leber to graduation. They will be led by junior Brittany Henry, who paced MSU on offense last year with a team-leading 12 goals and 25 points. Henry already leads the team with three goals this season. She is joined on the front line by fellow junior Nicole Dooher, who contributed nicelu last season after transferring to MSU from UW-Green Bay. Dooher finished second on the Mavericks with 21 points and might be the team’s best all-around player, as she tallied seven goals while assisting on another seven last season. Sophomore Courtney Vallarelli is the wild-card of the group, as she showed a lot of promise in her rookie campaign while notching three goals and three assists. Junior Jen Jackson, a transfer from Clackamas Community College, also figures to contribute.
The midfielders for the Mavericks are also strong and very deep this season. They are led by junior Brianne West, who is probably the biggest threat to score goals of the bunch. West started in every game last season and scored one goal on 20 shots, which was the third-most on the team last year. She comes back much-improved and already has one goal and three assists in 2011. She is joined by junior captain Cassie Weik, who also started in every game she played in last year and will have more of an offensive role this season. Sophomores Tori Meinhardt and Ashley Sykora, along with freshmen Kari Becker and Emily Moris, will also contribute. The defenders aren’t as deep as the attackers for the Mavericks, but are a solid and veteran group nonetheless. They are led by seniors Sarah Schellinger and Marissa Santana. Schellinger, a team captain who started every game in 2010, brings a lot of experience to the group and does a lot of things that don’t show up on the stat sheet. The same can be said for Santana, who started 16 games last year. Junior Lauren Somers might be the biggest addition to the Mavericks, as she transferred to MSU from UW-Green Bay and has a very impressive resume on the soccer field. Fellow junior Lianna Morrow also leads the unit.
The women in net should also be solid for the Mavericks all season long. Sophomore Brittany Cygan played in 15 games last season and did well in her rookie campaign with a 5-4 record. She recorded one shutout while posting a stingy 1.22 goals against average and should be even better in 2011. She has been splitting time early on with freshman Molly McGough, who has already looked impressive this season. They are joined by senior Briana Hendricks, who completes the strong group of stoppers.
This year’s group of Mavericks is already off to a good start at 2-1-1 and has impressive victories over Regis and Augustana. They also tied No. 1 ranked Grand Valley State 1-1, which was a great sign after the team failed to capi-talize on chances to get points against ranked teams last year in nonconfer-ence play. The NSIC shedule is tough as usual, but the Mavericks look to be one of the top two teams in the conference, along with rival Winona State. If they can gel and get better between now and playoff time, they could make a nice little run .
PREDICTED FINISH: SECOND IN THE NSIC. NCAA BOUND.
Men’s Cross Country
REPORTER STAFF
Page 10 • Reporter Sports Thursday, September 15, 2011Thursday, September 15, 2011 Sports Reporter • Page 11
Golden Eagles improved, may test Mavericks
TIGE HUTCHESONstaff writer UP NEXT
Minnesota-CrookstonWhen: 1 p.m. Saturday
Where: Blakeslee Stadium, Mankato
After clicking both offen-sively and defensively in last weekend’s emphatic home win over Northern State, the Min-nesota State, Mankato football team finds itself at 1-1; a place they’d rather not stay for very long. Enter Minnesota-Crook-ston, the Mavericks first chance to push their record over .500 and start enjoying some of the swagger reserved for programs with winning records. But this does not appear to be the Crookston we’ve grown used to. Would the old, pushover Golden Eagles find themselves second in the con-ference in rushing offense with 462 yards per game? Would the old, undisciplined Golden Eagles rank second in the NSIC (+2) in turnover margin? And most shockingly, would the Golden Eagles of old have the kind of individual offen-sive weapon that was capable of leading the NSIC in rushing yards per game? Probably not. These Golden Eagles, at least so far, appear to be for real, and MSU absolutely cannot afford to underestimate them or think they are the Golden Eagles of old. “We know they have a few new guys and transfers. They have a good running back, a good quarterback, a good new
wide receiver and just a lot of new and unfamiliar guys,” said MSU starting defensive end Brad Kemnitz. Among the names most Mavericks have never heard before is running back Richard Haley; a transfer from Grand
Rapids Community College that leads the NSIC in average rush-ing yards per game (154.0)
after the first week of play. In order to shut down Crookston’s offense, the Mavericks will first have to shut down Haley—a challenge MSU’s defense seems to be excited for. “We’re definitely working a lot on stopping the run,” said Kemnitz. “We’ve been looking at some of the specific plays we’re expecting [Crookston] to run and we’ll just try to defeat those and just go from there.” But defense is only half of the game, and after carving up Northern State’s secondary last weekend, MSU’s offense seems more confident than ever about its ability against yet another defense designed
to stop the run. “This defense is very similar to the first two we’ve played. They’re both the three-man front, so a lot of it is the same,” said MSU starting quarterback Jon Daniels, who threw for 236 yards against Northern State last Saturday. Until MSU faces a differ-ent defensive scheme, there’s no reason to expect them to stop playing to its strengths and throwing the ball. Until Crookston proves they can keep up with MSU’s receivers, fans should be excited about once again watching offensive coordinator Aaron Keen’s “pass first, run later” style of offense. Even with as much confi-dence and mystique Crookston has coming in, on film they’re just another Northern Michi-gan or Northern State, and MSU should feel very com-fortable about what to expect. If the Mavericks can stay disciplined and do the things they’ve done well over the past two weeks, they should be over .500 by Saturday night. But if the Mavericks over-look Crookston as the “easy win,” which they may have been in the past, the Golden Eagles have enough weapons to upset the Mavericks at home and leave a serious scar in Blakeslee Stadium. Either way, we’re in for another interesting Saturday afternoon.
Kemnitz
After MSU’s 42-3 romp over Crookston a year ago, the Eagles have added some talented players this season.
Football
from Oregon,” said Santana. “This school was really just a random place to look at and the coaches flew me out here to see the school and once I saw it I fell in love with the campus and the girls were all really fun, so I knew I had to come here.” Santana graduated from North Eugene High School in Oregon, where she was named First Team All-Conference her senior year. She signed with Clackamas Community College and played there for two seasons. Then her junior year, her first year at MSU, she played in all 20 games and started in 16 of them. “My favorite part of my career, so far, has been ty-ing Grand Valley this year,” said Santana. “Just knowing how far we have come and
how hard we have worked and playing a team like that so well really shows a lot.”
The other senior whose job is to protect the goal, Briana Hendricks, has been a great leader on and off the field. She has always worked hard and her teammates love her. Hendricks graduated from Burlington Community High School in Burlington, Iowa, where she set the school’s record for saves in a season. She is majoring in pre-physical therapy. These seniors have dedicated a lot of their time to this team, because of their love for this sport. They are also great leaders, and they expect nothing less than great success this season.
SENIOR LEADERS continued from 9
SCHELLINGER “My time here, playing soccer for the Mavericks, has been a pleasure and an honor. I’ve made many close friends, and it has given me the opportunity to experience college in a totally different way,”
UP NEXT Concordia, St. PaulWhen: 12 p.m. Saturday
Where: St. Paul, Minn.
Eklof tabbed NSIC cross country athlete of the week
Men’s Cross Country
REPORTER STAFF Minnesota State, Mankato ju-nior Garrett Eklof is this week’s NSIC Cross Country Athlete of the Week after his stellar show-ing at the Oz Memorial Run in St. Paul on Friday. Eklof was not only MSU’s top performer at the event, but also had the best time of any NCAA Division II finisher at the event and finished eighth overall in the meet. The distance of the course was six kilometers, with Eklof finishing with a time of 19:38.10 in the meet. Eklof is a Madison, Wis. native who transferred to MSU from Iowa State. He heads a
Mavericks cross country squad that took second-place as a team at the event, as Drake University finished atop the team standings at the end of the meet. This year’s men’s cross country team is led by lone senior Adam Noll. Other upper-classmen on the squad include juniors Eric Anenson, Jacob Bastyr, Thomas Becker, Nick Emmans and Joshua Mellman, who also finished in the top 25 at the Run at number 18. Up-and-coming freshmen Josiah Swanson and Matthew Stocker also finished in the top 25, at 23 and 25 respectively.
Eklof
UP NEXT St. Olaf InvitationalWhen: Saturday
Where: Northfield, Minn.
Thursday, September 15, 2011 A&E Reporter • Page 13
This year is maturing. Summer has been set-tling down, cooling off and will soon become autumn.
Sept. 12 was a beautiful night. The overpow-ering buzz of cicadas in the trees quelled as the last remaining few fizzled their own swansongs to the evening.
The leaves and all the plants around had passed their primes, and were gently fading into what would be their last forms before snow buried them.
The Coffee Hag in Oldtown Mankato sat co-zily at its perch on Riverfront. The sun started to duck down for the night as Jill Riley of 89.3 The Current stood on the wooden stage, only a foot or so off the f loor, with a microphone in her hand. The last few drops of light splashed through the Hag’s window as she proudly intro-duced one of Minnesota’s native sons, Mason Jennings, onto the stage.
Jennings settled in to play that evening to an intimate crowd of only 80 or so.
He made the trip down to Mankato to support his new record, aptly titled Minnesota, which was released Sept. 13.
Riley stated that Mason had wanted to play somewhere in Southern Minnesota, and asked The Current for some help. The Current referred Jennings to the Coffee Hag, as they had been there before with Roma Di Luna as apart of the 89.3 Road Trip.
“The Coffee Hag is like The Current of cof-
fee shops,” said Riley.
The Current had opened a link on its website a short time before the show for fans of Jennings to get their names on a guest list to be admitted into the show. Only a limited number of people could be allowed into the Hag, and openings filled almost immediately.
“I’m ecstatic [to have Mason here], it’s gonna be a blast,” said Jen Melby, owner of the Coffee Hag. “I’m really excited, and I’m really proud that he wanted to come to the Coffee Hag.”
Jodi Reeb-Myers and Melissa Herrig, who made the drive down from Minneapolis, were among the small group of fans who were quick enough to nab a pair of passes to see the show.
“We’ve been fans of Mason for 11 or 12 years now,” said Herrig. “We got the tickets online, and we were lucky enough to get them. I love the new song they’ve been playing on The Cur-rent, and I look forward to being able to buy the new album.”
The night consisted of Jennings playing a number of his new, at the time unreleased songs from Minnesota. Fans were treated to the expe-rience of hearing Jennings play the slightly out of tune Hag house piano, which reverberated of
the Hag’s original ceiling remarkably.
The set list had Jennings alternat-ing from sitting down at the keys to standing with his acoustic guitar to chatting with Riley about his current life and the new album.
During one break in the set Riley took handwritten
questions from the crowd and posed them to Jennings.
The ques-tions ranged from what good books Jennings has been reading, to what he felt the most “musical” food was, to if he prefers dogs or cats, and finally, if he would bless a fans unborn child. Jennings blessed the pregnant woman’s bundle with a single chord he struck on the piano.
Each song Jennings played felt genuine, and caught the wonder of the fully tuned-in crowd.
After at least half a dozen performances from Minnesota, Jennings asked the crowd for some suggestions for his last song. The crowd chose “Ballad For My One True Love” from his 2000 release Birds Flying Away. After his heartfelt rendition of this, Jennings asked for another suggestion, not because the fans demanded it, but because he seemed like he honestly just wanted to keep playing. His final song of the night was “Ulysses” from Use Your Voice.
After the final notes faded out, Jennings walked off of the stage and into the crowd, where he signed copies of Minnesota and chat-ted with fans.
Thursday, September 15, 2011
A&Ewww.msureporter.com/arts-entertainment
some stuff like that. We’ll be more focused on the song, instead of having a rock band. It’ll be us two and then the band The Pines will be opening, they’re from Iowa. There’s three of them, so at the end of the show, the last five songs, they’ll come up and fill it out, so it will be a staggering kind of show.
BR: Where did you write most of the new material? What kind of state of mind were you in?
MJ: Most of it was written at home, in Minnesota, in my studio. I think the state of mind is mostly just like, coming off of this big rock tour for a couple year, I think I was just more in the mindset of like ‘I really need a breather.’ It was the idea of a break or rest, you know? That’s why I probably gravitated more to the piano than to the guitar. I’d get off a rock show and be like ‘oh look at that, the piano’s glowing right now.’ So I’d look over at it, want to play it.
BR: Are you planning on keeping up the pace with the album releases?MJ: Yeah I think so, I don’t know. I haven’t really written any songs in a bunch
of months now, so I wish I could say. I just go by what the songs do. If the songs are there, it’s fun.
BR: What’s your favorite band right now? What record is in your CD player?MJ: Let’s see… I like the new Strokes record. A lot. And then I like… how many
other new bands do I like? I like a lot of new bands. I like the Kooks new song, the one they’ve been playing on the radio a lot. New Janes Addiction song.
BR: I didn’t even know they still made music.MJ: Yeah it’s a different bass player now, but it’s a super good song. BR: One last question for you; What are you gonna be for Halloween?MJ: I was Han Solo last year, so I had a vest and something, so I went up on stage
and wore it, that exact same thing. So my kids were like ‘wow! That’s so cool, you were Han Solo on stage!’ So I dunno what I’m gonna be this year, maybe… some sort of ninja. Singer-song-ninja.
JENNINGS “I’d get off a rock show and be like ‘oh look at that, the piano’s glowing right now.’ ” continued from 1
Jennings Brings Some Sugar To The
Coffee Hag
Brian Rosemeyer • msu reporterAbove; Jennings on stage at the Hag, fans watched intently. Below Right; Jodi Reeb-Myers (right) and Melissa Herrig (left) made the drive down from Minneapolis to enjoy the music. Bottom Left; The Coffee Hag started to fill in after the doors were opened, fans enjoyed coffee and conversation as they waited to hear Jennings.
BRIAN ROSEMEYERa&e editor
Thursday, September 15, 2011 A&E Reporter • Page 13
Mason Jennings is an artist who has cement-ed himself in Minnesota music history. Among the ranks of Prince, Bob Dylan, Soul Asylum, the Jayhawks and many others, Jennings has marked himself by not only being vastly tal-ented, but also by being proudly from the North Star State.
After his self-titled debut in 1998, Jennings showed listeners just how creative he could be, both lyrically and musically. His gripping stories and sharp wit in songs have made him a staple in a number of fans’ hearts around the world.
He is most commonly affiliated with his singer/songwriter style. An acoustic guitar or piano and his trademark voice are all he really needs to forge his success.
But as we have seen over the years, Jennings is a creative musician in any realm or method. 2009’s Blood Of Man showed that Jennings had a slightly bitter side. On that record, he turned up the volume and introduced a full band format; electric guitars, drums and bass took the idea of a Mason Jennings record to a new level.
This year, on Sept. 13, Jennings released his follow up to Blood Of Man.
Fans were interested in what Jennings had left to show. His lyrics had already covered a wide range of topics, and even his music had pushed itself into different frontiers.
The new record, titled Minnesota, brings Jen-nings back to his familiar platform. However, the music is far from overplayed or stale.
Jennings is the type of artist who puts his cur-rent emotion into his medium. He doesn’t write songs that he figures fans want to hear, and he doesn’t strive to come up with ways to make his listeners relate to him. Rather he allows his audi-ence to follow his experience through life, with honesty.
Minnesota finds Jennings hot off of a long tour backing Blood Of Man. The shows he played in support of the album were with a full band, with full sound.
That sort of traveling and performing can be strenuous for any person. And in Minnesota, listeners are able to hear a homecoming, almost a sigh of content and relief.
The record opens with just this type of mood. The first sounds of Minnesota
are of a lone piano, playing a simple cascading melody. “Bitter Heart” starts the re-cord with Jennings appropri-ately stating, “Hold me closer, I am open. I’ve been waiting, don’t be shy.” This line alone suggests a man returning from a wearying world tour.
The first single from Min-nesota, “Rain Drops On The Kitchen Floor,” brings the fuller type of sound heard on Blood Of Man into the feel-ing that runs throughout Min-nesota. It’s soft and gentle, subtle and sweet, and at the same time it retains a good amount of musical weight.
As compared to some of the darker themes that run throughout Blood Of Man, Jennings returns to his simple, intimate songwriting.
Jennings has created some-thing truly deep and personal on Minnesota. The songs are either stripped down because they have to be, or expanded because the theme calls for it.
The fourth song on the record, “Clutch,” alter-nates from a bare verse to an ever-growing cho-rus. And “Witches Dream” shows that Jennings took a lot from his Blood Of Man mentality, and hasn’t completely abandoned that particular aspect of emotionality.
The closing number, “No Relief,” brings the record to a screeching halt. The driving rhythm and painful storyline leave listeners fully satis-fied. However, if Jennings brought the dessert menu, we’d have a look anyway.
Minnesota is a fantastic continuation of Jen-nings’ career. As listeners grow, Jennings grows, and as listeners keep listening, Jennings keeps playing. This symbiotic relationship is a benefit not only for the good state of Minnesota and Jennings, but also for music as a whole.
Mason Jennings Finds Sucess In His
Roots And His Home, In Minnesota
BRIAN ROSEMEYERa&e editor
• web photoThe new record, Minnesota, is Jennings’ ninth full-length studio effort. It was released on Stats And Brackets Records on Sept. 13.
Page 14 • Reporter Where To Worship Thursday, September 15, 2011
ServiceS:Saturday: 5:30 pm contemporarySunday: 8:00 am traditional 9:30 am contemporary 11:00 am contemporaryWednesday: 7:00 pm contemporary
Young Life Support (YLS) timeS: Wednesday: 5:45 pm with dinner served at 5:00 pmSunday: 9:30 am
HoSannaLutHeran cHurcH
www.hosannamankato.com
105 Hosanna Dr.Mankato
(507) 388-1766
SERVICE TIMES:Sunday: 8:30 am ... Family 9:45 am ... Traditional 11:00 am .. Contemporary
- Excellent Bible-based teaching- Choice of music styles:- Contemporary includes full band playing relevant worship songs- Traditional includes organ and hymns
1250 Monks Avenue - 345-4011On the corner of Monks Avenue and Balcerzak Drive.
Close walking distance from MSU!
Give Bethel a try and see if it can be your 'church home away from home'! Come - just as you are - now is the time to worship.
Join us for worship, prayer, fellowship, and life-transforming Bibical teaching.
sUnday EVEning WOrsHiP 7:00 pm With Holy Communion
BiBLE sTUdysmall groups formed at times you can meet
329 Ellis avenue(kitty-corner from
McElroy residence hall)
Facebook:Campus LutheranChapel-Mankato
"NAV NITE"
Large group worship
WEDNESDAYS@ 9pm
in CSU 284mSuNAVS.com
...to know Christ and make Him known.
CONNECT•GROW•WORSHIP
SUNDAY WORSHIP8:00 & 10:30 am
ADULT EDUCATION9:30 am
EVENING PRAYERTues. & Thurs. 5:30 pm
302 Warren Street507-388-1969
stjohnsmankato.org
Thursday, September 15, 2011 Classifieds Reporter • Page 15
For Rent Notices5 OR 4 OR 3 OR 2 OR 1 bedroom houses/ apartments available right now. Some for next year. Many to choose from. Check out our website. www.ottoh.com owner/ agent or call 507-625-1010. 12/1
S T U D E N T PAYO U T S .C O M PAID survey takers needed in Mankato 100% free to join! Click on survey. 12/1BARTENDERS WANTED! $250/DAY potential. No experience necessary. Training available. Age 18+ OK. (800)965-6520 Ext 170. 5/23
FREE SHOTOKAN KARATE classes offered M/T/TH. 6-8 pm. Room PH 102. Beginners are welcome. Need not be a MSU student to join. For info call Brad @ 507-388-5301 or [email protected] or search MSU Shotokan on facebook or yahoo groups. 4/26
ADULT HOCKEY LEAGUES FORMING NOW. Email: [email protected] for details. 10/4
HOCKEY PLAYERS WANT TO earn $20 an hour reffing adult league games? No certification needed. Flexible schedule. Email [email protected] for details. 10/4FOOSBALL PLAYERS FOR weekly tournament. Oleander Saloon every Wednesday night. Sign up @ 7:00 p.m. [email protected]. 10/4
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