This weeks paper covers an app created by UMD students and staff.
12
UNIVERSITY OF MINNESOTA DULUTH WEDNESDAY, MARCH 13, 2013 WWW.UMDSTATESMAN.COM INDEX: News: A1 - A4 | Opinion: A5 - A6 | Sports: B1 - B2 | Outdoors: B3 | Student Life: B4 - B5 BY MAEGGIE LLICHT [email protected]It happens all the time: one fresh- man says, “Hey, wanna go to the DC? I have a ton of meals leſt.” Or, they don’t use all 150 meals and the next semester they’re gone. To keep this from continuing, the 150 plan will be a thing of the past next year. A plan that includes 10 meals per week will replace it. “We had students who would run out of meals,” said Dining Services Director Lino Cardoso. “e 150 meal plan was designed to give stu- dents the maximum amount of free- dom. As a result, they thought of it as 150 meals, and invited friends and all their neighbors. en the meals are gone.” e problem with giving students their “maximum amount of free- dom” kicked in when UMD Dining Services could no longer calculate an accurate estimate of how many hun- gry people would be waiting in line to eat at the Dining Center (DC). “We actually have to project how many students we’re going to feed,” he said. “With the 150 plan, we didn’t know how many. Estimates could be off by 100 or 500. Sometimes, we’d run out of food or have too much.” Some students, like UMD senior Denise Brophy, welcome the change. She had the 150 plan as a freshman and ended up with leſtover meals. “I think this is a great idea,” she said. “Most people don’t even use all of their 150 anytime meals anyways. ey’re just paying for wasted food. I had about 80 of my meals leſt at the end of the semester because I was too busy to use them. I used to walk into the theatre and say ‘Who wants free DC?’ and then take five to ten people into the DC with me.” ough the 10 per week plan might sound like it leaves students with less food, according to Car- doso, it will actually give them ten more meals each semester for the same price. “It is of a higher value with the same total cost,” he said. “e good news for students is that it will carry them through the semester.” BY MICHAEL SCOTT [email protected]With Democrats and Republicans unable to reach a compromise, mandatory across-the-board spending cuts came into effect on March 1. e sequester, as the cuts are being called, will be split 50/50 between defense and domestic spending. e sequester will cut $85 billion this year from that spend- ing and a total of $1.2 trillion from 2013 to 2021. Student programs are among the programs targeted for cuts. e work-study programs will feel the squeeze of the sequester—they are expected to lose 8.2 percent of their budget. According to the National Association of Student Financial Aid Administrators, the Supplemen- tary Educational Opportunity Grants will receive simi- lar reductions as well. “Federal Work-Study would be cut by $49 million, eliminating 33,000 students from participation,” said Secretary of Education Arne Duncan. at means those 33,000 students will lose their chance at a work-study job. For Minnesota alone, the White House estimates that 500 fewer students qualify for work-study positions. For these students, the cuts will only come into effect in September. Ma Hodson, a University of Minnesota spokesper- son, told the Minnesota Daily that the school is fully funded at the moment, but the future remains unclear. “We really won’t know the full extent of how many of these positions may be lost and how we might be able to go forward,” Hodson said. Furthermore, other programs helping low-income students will need to cut back. “Supplemental Educational Opportunity Grants would be cut by $37 million, with a resultant reduction of 71,000 recipients,” Arne said. ese grants are meant to help low-income undergraduate students. Specifically exempt, Pell Grants were not marked for any cut. e program will remain fully funded for the moment. According to the Minnesota Office of Higher Educa- tion, there are about 5.4 million students who receive Pell Grants nationally. BY SHANNON KINLEY [email protected]About a week ago, one of the very first iPad applications to be created by UMD students and faculty was launched. e German Grammar Guide app has been in the works since fall 2011, and is now available for free in the iTunes app store. e app was produced and designed by students and faculty members from three dif- ferent collegiate units: the College of Liberal Arts (CLA), School of Fine Arts (SFA) and Swenson College of Science and Engineering (SCSE). “e app is a lot more portable and usable than the large-print tables it replaced,” said computer science and math double major Sean Breid , one of the students who worked on the app. Dan Nolan, associate professor from the Foreign Languages and Lit- eratures Department, was the per- son who came up with the original idea of making a German grammar app. He said he came up with the idea aſter he and other faculty mem- bers in the department noticed there were no apps for their iPads that did exactly what they wanted them to do. “I have always been interested in programming and have taken some German classes, so when Peter sent out the email I decided to look into it,” Breid said. “I just kind of got into it and kept going.” He thinks the hardest part about creating the app was communicat- ing. “It was hard to work with three different colleges and to coordinate times to all meet up when we all had opposite schedules,” Breid said. He also said trying to balance the creation of the app with school was a challenge. “If we had 40 hours a week to work on the app it would be done quickly, but being a student and doing it in our free time, it moves prey slow- ly,” Breid said. “I don’t get to put in as much time as I would like.” Breid recently had an interview with an employer and said that they were very eager and interested to talk about the app he had helped create. “It makes you stand out, because it is something different,” he said. “Not a lot of people know how to make them.” e German Grammar Guide app is designed for both beginner and advanced German language learn- ers. “e old print version had a table and it was big, complicated, and it scared students,” Nolan said, ref- erencing a printed grammar guide students could use. “is app tries to give that much information, but do it in a way that is appropriate for the student that is learning that particu- lar piece of German grammar.” e app includes a quick view for advanced students who wish to look up something and get an answer quickly, and a guided view that will give users a step-by-step explanation about a particular piece of German grammar. Nolan agrees with Breid in that the hardest part about making the app was communicating with people from different fields. “When talking with people from different fields, it involves differ- ent languages and different words; explaining what you need involves a lot of translation,” Nolan said. Nolan said that they could have paid a company to develop an app and it would’ve been a much quick- er process, but the collaboration among different fields offers a richer learning environment. “is collaboration amongst three collegiate units—CLA, SFA and SCSE—is not very common, if at all in precedent,” said instructor from the Foreign Languages and Litera- tures Department, Michael Mullins. “I believe our working model might be groundbreaking.” He went on to say: “I personally find the joint collaboration, and the resultant iPad app development and placing it on the iTunes Store, is a very good use of taxpayer dollars.” UMD students and staff create iPad app that’s first of its kind Dining Center changes meal options for next semester see DINING MEALS, A3 see GERMAN APP, A3 ALEX LEONE/STATESMAN Student and creator Sean Breid demonstrates how the German Grammar App works on an iPad. Student grants and loans are possible targets for sequester cuts see SEQUESTER CUTS, A3 Students pack the Dining Center to chow down lunch on March 11. The Dining Center currently allows students the opon to buy 150 meals per semester, but is changing that policy. ALEX LEONE/STATESMAN THE S TATESMAN Boys say goodbye to WCHA regular season, B1
Transcript
UNIVERSITY OF MINNESOTA DULUTH WEDNESDAY, MARCH 13, 2013WWW.UMDSTATESMAN.COM
It happens all the time: one fresh-man says, “Hey, wanna go to the DC? I have a ton of meals left.” Or, they don’t use all 150 meals and the next semester they’re gone.
To keep this from continuing, the 150 plan will be a thing of the past next year. A plan that includes 10 meals per week will replace it.
“We had students who would run out of meals,” said Dining Services Director Lino Cardoso. “The 150 meal plan was designed to give stu-dents the maximum amount of free-dom. As a result, they thought of it as 150 meals, and invited friends and all their neighbors. Then the meals
are gone.”The problem with giving students
their “maximum amount of free-dom” kicked in when UMD Dining Services could no longer calculate an accurate estimate of how many hun-gry people would be waiting in line to eat at the Dining Center (DC).
“We actually have to project how many students we’re going to feed,” he said. “With the 150 plan, we didn’t know how many. Estimates could be off by 100 or 500. Sometimes, we’d run out of food or have too much.”
Some students, like UMD senior Denise Brophy, welcome the change. She had the 150 plan as a freshman and ended up with leftover meals.
“I think this is a great idea,” she said. “Most people don’t even use all
of their 150 anytime meals anyways. They’re just paying for wasted food. I had about 80 of my meals left at the end of the semester because I was too busy to use them. I used to walk into the theatre and say ‘Who wants free DC?’ and then take five to ten people into the DC with me.”
Though the 10 per week plan might sound like it leaves students with less food, according to Car-doso, it will actually give them ten more meals each semester for the same price.
“It is of a higher value with the same total cost,” he said.
“The good news for students is that it will carry them through the semester.”
With Democrats and Republicans unable to reach a compromise, mandatory across-the-board spending cuts came into effect on March 1.
The sequester, as the cuts are being called, will be split 50/50 between defense and domestic spending. The sequester will cut $85 billion this year from that spend-ing and a total of $1.2 trillion from 2013 to 2021.
Student programs are among the programs targeted for cuts.
The work-study programs will feel the squeeze of the sequester—they are expected to lose 8.2 percent of their budget. According to the National Association of Student Financial Aid Administrators, the Supplemen-tary Educational Opportunity Grants will receive simi-lar reductions as well.
“Federal Work-Study would be cut by $49 million, eliminating 33,000 students from participation,” said Secretary of Education Arne Duncan.
That means those 33,000 students will lose their chance at a work-study job. For Minnesota alone, the White House estimates that 500 fewer students qualify for work-study positions.
For these students, the cuts will only come into effect in September.
Matt Hodson, a University of Minnesota spokesper-son, told the Minnesota Daily that the school is fully funded at the moment, but the future remains unclear.
“We really won’t know the full extent of how many of these positions may be lost and how we might be able to go forward,” Hodson said.
Furthermore, other programs helping low-income students will need to cut back.
“Supplemental Educational Opportunity Grants would be cut by $37 million, with a resultant reduction of 71,000 recipients,” Arne said. These grants are meant to help low-income undergraduate students.
Specifically exempt, Pell Grants were not marked for any cut. The program will remain fully funded for the moment.
According to the Minnesota Office of Higher Educa-tion, there are about 5.4 million students who receive Pell Grants nationally.
About a week ago, one of the very first iPad applications to be created by UMD students and faculty was launched.
The German Grammar Guide app has been in the works since fall 2011, and is now available for free in the iTunes app store. The app was produced and designed by students and faculty members from three dif-ferent collegiate units: the College of Liberal Arts (CLA), School of Fine Arts (SFA) and Swenson College of Science and Engineering (SCSE).
“The app is a lot more portable and usable than the large-print tables it replaced,” said computer science and math double major Sean Breid , one of the students who worked on the app.
Dan Nolan, associate professor from the Foreign Languages and Lit-eratures Department, was the per-son who came up with the original idea of making a German grammar app. He said he came up with the idea after he and other faculty mem-bers in the department noticed there were no apps for their iPads that did exactly what they wanted them to do.
“I have always been interested in programming and have taken some German classes, so when Peter sent out the email I decided to look into
it,” Breid said. “I just kind of got into it and kept going.”
He thinks the hardest part about creating the app was communicat-ing.
“It was hard to work with three different colleges and to coordinate times to all meet up when we all had opposite schedules,” Breid said.
He also said trying to balance the creation of the app with school was a challenge.
“If we had 40 hours a week to work on the app it would be done quickly, but being a student and doing it in our free time, it moves pretty slow-ly,” Breid said. “I don’t get to put in as much time as I would like.”
Breid recently had an interview with an employer and said that they were very eager and interested to talk about the app he had helped create.
“It makes you stand out, because it is something different,” he said. “Not a lot of people know how to make them.”
The German Grammar Guide app is designed for both beginner and advanced German language learn-ers.
“The old print version had a table and it was big, complicated, and it scared students,” Nolan said, ref-erencing a printed grammar guide students could use. “This app tries to give that much information, but do it in a way that is appropriate for the student that is learning that particu-
lar piece of German grammar.” The app includes a quick view for
advanced students who wish to look up something and get an answer quickly, and a guided view that will give users a step-by-step explanation about a particular piece of German grammar.
Nolan agrees with Breid in that the hardest part about making the app was communicating with people from different fields.
“When talking with people from different fields, it involves differ-ent languages and different words; explaining what you need involves a lot of translation,” Nolan said.
Nolan said that they could have paid a company to develop an app and it would’ve been a much quick-er process, but the collaboration among different fields offers a richer learning environment.
“This collaboration amongst three collegiate units—CLA, SFA and SCSE—is not very common, if at all in precedent,” said instructor from the Foreign Languages and Litera-tures Department, Michael Mullins. “I believe our working model might be groundbreaking.”
He went on to say: “I personally find the joint collaboration, and the resultant iPad app development and placing it on the iTunes Store, is a very good use of taxpayer dollars.”
UMD students and staff create iPad app that’s first of its kind
Dining Center changes meal options for next semester
see DINING MEALS, A3
see GERMAN APP, A3
ALEX LEONE/STATESMAN
Student and creator Sean Breid demonstrates how the German Grammar App works on an iPad.
Student grants and loans are possible targets for sequester cuts
see SEQUESTER CUTS, A3
Students pack the Dining Center to chow down lunch on March 11. The Dining Center currently allows students the option to buy 150 meals per semester, but is changing that policy.
ALEX LEONE/STATESMAN
THE STATESMAN
Boys say goodbye to WCHA regular season, B1
WEDNESDAY, MARCH 13, 2013 A2STATESMAN CENTRAL
Los Angeles Times Daily Crossword Puzzle Edited by Rich Norris and Joyce Lewis SUDOKU
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Complete the grid so each row, column and 3-by-3 box (in bold borders) contains every digit1 to 9. For strategies on how to solve Sudoku,visit www.sudoku.org.uk.
Complete the grid so each row, column and 3-by-3 box (in bold borders) contains every digit1 to 9. For strategies on how to solve Sudoku,visit www.sudoku.org.uk.
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WEDNESDAY, MARCH 13, 2013 A3News Editor / Anne Kunkel Christianson / [email protected]
The 150 plan cost $1,374 this semester. Next semester, the 10 per week plan will go for $1,349.
Another change for next semester is an increase in din-ing dollars. Every meal plan will have $25 more dining dollars, for a total of $175 dining dollars each semester. Cardoso hopes this will make up for some of the flexibil-ity lost on the 150 plan.
“Students will get bored, eating at the same place every day,” he said. “We thought this was the appropriate way for them to get more variety. I do think that students find it to be of great value, and that’s what we’re here for.”
Prices for the 14 per week and 19 per week meal plans will slightly increase. The 19 per week plan will go from $3,698 to $3,816. The 14 per week plan will shift from $3,648 to $3,766. Cardoso says this is due to inflation.
“We look at the Consumer Price Index (CPI),” he said. “It’s a projection of the prices of all kinds of goods, meats, and vegetables— the whole ‘basket.’ It says we’ll see a 3.5 percent to four percent increase. We always stick to the lower end. Our primary goal is that we want to keep up with inflation but keep the price low.”
The 10 per week plan will stay off the chopping block for inflation. This is because its predictability saves the university money that used to be spent on uneaten food.
“By eliminating the current food consumption unpre-dictability caused by the 150 meal plan, we are actually reducing food waste,” Cardoso said. “If you don’t know how many students will show up to eat, you tend to over-produce. We are using the savings derived from reduced food waste to mitigate inflation. Bottom line, the 10 meals per week plan is a great value for students.”
At 2 a.m. on March 8, UMDPD officers were dis-patched to Griggs Hall to investigate reports of an intoxicated student that had been tearing posters off the walls. Upon arriv-ing at the scene, officers found the intoxicated male student and attempted to make contact with him. The student then took off running, and officers gave chase.
Officers pursued the stu-dent into the living area of Griggs B.
During the chase, the male suspect slammed a door into an officer’s face. The officer sustained inju-ries, and was treated at a nearby hospital.
Police were able to apprehend the male stu-dent, and he was brought to jail. He was issued cita-tions for underage con-sumption, drunk and disorderly conduct, and obstruction of justice with force. The suspect remains in jail, and formal charges are pending.
At 2 a.m. on March 9, an RA in Lake Superior Hall reported an intoxicated female student walking around in minimal cloth-ing. Officers found the female outside her dorm room, where they proceed-ed to do a welfare check on her. She was found to be extremely intoxicated, and was sent to a local detox facility.
Saturday evening, a UMD staff member reported a suspicious vehi-cle in a parking lot. Upon investigating the vehicle, officers found three stu-dents smoking marijuana. They were issued citations for small amounts of mari-juana, as well as possession of drug paraphernalia.
Around 3:20 a.m. Sun-day, officers approached a suspicious individual who was sitting near the Kirby Bus Hub. As the officers tried to approach the sus-picious male, he took off running into the lower lev-els of Kirby Plaza.
As officers conducted a search of the area, they found the suspect attempt-ing to leave the men’s bath-room near the Bus Hub, where he had been hiding out.
The male was discovered to be a nonstudent by the name of Matthew Rindt.
Officers found various damages to UMD prop-erty, including a payphone and what appeared to be an attempt to flood the bath-room. Rindt admitted to damaging the payphone, but denied involvement in the flooded bathroom.
Rindt was charged with criminal damage to prop-erty, and is barred from UMD grounds for one year.
According to police record he had been previ-ously barred from UMD 2011 for misuse of school computers in the library.
Continued from A1
German appPeter Willemsen, com-
puter science associate professor, said that the current app is only version one, and he has students who are interested in both updating and creating new versions of the app.
“We are not trying to come up with the best product ever initially, but we have something work-ing and we are going to try to get the students credit quickly,” Willemsen said. He also added that he’d like to add an instructional guide to help users under-stand the app.
Willemsen thinks the best part about the app was the fact that students and faculty were able to collab-orate and produce some-thing that the students can now add to their résumés.
“I don’t think anyone can comprehend how much effort went in on
the students’ and faculties’ behalf,” Willemsen said.
There are currently many apps in the works by students and faculty, some of which include: a Rus-sian version of the German grammar app, Android versions of apps, a study abroad app, a French pro-nunciation app and a bio-mechanics app.
Willemsen and Nolan both agreed that anyone who wants to participate in the process of creating an app can get involved in the Mobile Language Learning Group, which is composed of students and faculty from all different backgrounds and fields of study.
“Developing an app is great, but the process behind that and the num-ber of students who con-tributed, that is what is important,” Nolan said.
Ianni Hall dorms are recognized for sustainability
There are many things to consider when designing and constructing a building, and for UMD, sustainability is high on that list. UMD received its fifth LEED certifi-cation for green buildings on campus for Ianni Hall, which was given a silver rating for its sustainable construction. Leadership in Energy and Environmen-tal Design (LEED) is a rating system that looks at how environmentally friendly a building is. It offers four levels of certifica-tion: certified, silver, gold and platinum. “LEED is a ‘green report card’ for your building,” said Mindy Granley, sustain-ability coordinator at UMD. “It’s a way for buildings to be compared to each other.” Ianni Hall is the first residency building to receive LEED certification at UMD. The seven-floor building houses 280 students. The building features high-efficiency lighting fixtures, as well as large windows that allow for maximum natural light. The windows are also insulated to allow the light in without losing heat.
Low-flow water fixtures in the building have reduced the water consumption by upwards of 38 percent from the average building usage.
While this feature saves on water, some students are not excited about how it all works.
“It has its problems,” said Nick Bonko, resident advisor in Ianni Hall. “Some-times the water pressure in the showers isn’t the best, because they have the low-flow heads. Some of the girls have prob-lems with trying to wash their hair.”
“It’s fine, though,” Bonko added. “In the end, it’s all for a good cause.” The exterior of the building also has various sustainability elements
that include low-maintenance land-scapes and storm water runoff systems. “Storm water runoff is a big deal in our area,” Granley said. “We have streams and Lake Superior, and we have to protect water quality for fish that enjoy cool, clear water.” There are two filtration systems that help clean storm water runoff to reduce the amount of harmful chemicals that get sent off into the environment from the rain. One of those filtration systems doubles as a volleyball court.
The outdoor court’s sand is designed to filter storm runoff. The building also includes various regional materials. The rocks on the fireplace were collected along the shores of Lake Supe-rior, and most of the building’s construc-tion materials were purchased locally. Much of the furniture in the building was taken from elsewhere on campus. The rooms in Ianni Hall have elec-tric heaters, and a high-efficiency gas boiler heats the rest of the building. “Moving air around, keeping fresh air and moving heat is a big deal for ener-gy,” Granley said. “Optimizing these systems is an important part in how you model your building and show how much energy it’s going to use.” A central computer system records all the energy usage. There is a monitor in the lobby of the building that displays various data regarding how energy is being used.
Granley hopes this will inspire students to consider how they are using energy and look for ways to improve.
“I think that’s the real value of the build-ing: having students live and breathe and learn about sustainability,” Granley said.
“(Sustainability) is an important thing to me,” said Bonko. “Getting that sense of pride out of where you’re living is a unique characteristic about this building.”
The rocks in the fireplace of Ianni Hall are also eco-friendly; they were collected along the shores of Lake Superior.
Dining meals
However, this exemp-tion is only for the first year of the budget cuts.Pell Grants could be lia-ble to cuts for fiscal years 2014-2021. As Univer-sity of California Berkeley explains, “The program could face deep cuts in fis-cal years 2014-2021 due to the lower annual fund-ing caps, and a significant funding shortfall in fiscal year 2014, both of which could have devastating effects on student financial aid.”
TRIO, an organization which provides services for students from disad-vantaged backgrounds, will also receive cuts.
Why is this happening?The sequester is a result
of a compromise between the Democrats and Repub-licans as a part of the Bud-get Control Act of 2011. The Joint Select Commit-
tee on Deficit Reduction, a bipartisan “super commit-tee,” attempted to cut $1.5 trillion from the budget for the following decade. If they failed to come to an agreement, the automatic cuts would come into effect January 2013.
They failed to agree on terms.
However, as part of the “Fiscal Cliff” deal on Dec. 31, 2012, the sequestration was delayed until March. They attempted to reach a compromise in late Febru-ary, but Republicans and Democrats failed again to reach a deal on spending cuts. As a result, across-the-board cuts began last week.
The sequestration will affect students and uni-versities alike, however the future of these cuts remains uncertain for the moment.
Sequester cutsContinued from A1
Continued from
ALEX LEONE/STATESMAN
Molly Rush (left) and Jenna Lamb (right) eat lunch in the DC on March 11.
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There are nine weeks left of this snowy spring semester. Nine long and treacher-ous weeks until we can spread our wings and do something other than study. Luck-ily for us, next week is that glorious time where we get an entire five days off to do with what we please; otherwise known as spring break.
For those of you that are taking a trip, just remember to hydrate yourself and keep an open mind. If you’re going to that big bad spring break spot otherwise known as PCB—let me just say that I will see you there and to make sure to pack some SPF. Word on the street is that the prices for sun lotion are jacked up down there, so stock up or face the burned skin, or worse, the burned wallet.
Another thing to make sure to bring is water. I have to admit that I enjoy a little drunk and disorderly fun, but being dehy-drated could lead to some serious prob-lems—like passing out on the beach. You will be much happier if you drink a bit of clear liquid that doesn’t end in “–odka,” a few times at least.
The folks staying in good ol’ Minnesota have it good (so don’t be upset that you won’t be basking in the warm sun sur-rounding by chiseled abs and cold beer). You have the chance to do the Duluthi-an things you haven’t gotten around to because you’re reading 40 pages about vid-eo games (New Media Writing students: you know what I’m saying). Here are a few of my absolute favorite things to do in Duluth when I have time.
Number one, and far above the others, is going to Spirit Mountain to snowboard the day and night away. It’s the most fun you can have in the snow. Even if you haven’t been in awhile, or ever, you can pick it up fast and it’s an amazing workout! Day passes run about 30 dollars, half-day
passes are available as well. So strap up and get out there. My personal favorite thing to do is pop in my headphones, listen to something that makes me feel brave (see Kings of Leon’s “Aha Shake Heartbreak” album) and go crazy down the slopes.
The next thing that I love in Duluth is to pub-crawl. There really is something for everyone here in Duluth. If you like craft beer, try Canal Park Brewing Company. They offer a “flight,” where you can pick four beers of your choice, for you noncom-mittal people. Then you can run all over Canal Park trying new beers and making new friends.
I personally really like happy hours, specifically Mexico Lindo’s happy hour, because you get free chips. I’d suggest starting there, and then making your way down Superior to Tycoons, Carmody, and Dubh-Linn. Then take a taxi home. If you have all day, why not spend it wandering around Duluth drinking cheap beer and eating chips?
The last thing I would suggest, because it’s something I love to do, is to see a mov-ie. Who has time to sit in a theater for two-plus hours when you have essays and assignments due? Well, look no further, now that you have a whole week to your-self! I suggest heading to the Zinema or Duluth Marcus Theatre to catch a flick. I highly recommend “Oz: The Great And Powerful,” but know that you will never look at Mila Kunis the same way again. For you indie-film lovers, I’ve heard that “Amour” is an excellent film (albeit a little sad).
Well, there you have it, spring-breakers. I hope you all have a fantastic, relaxing (or not) week away from the stress of school. Remember, make the best of your week; whether you’re under the sun or the snow, you can have a great time no matter where you go.
I’ve been a consumer of news media for a long time. I remember when I was young, just coming to the real-ization that the world around me was run by half-mad politicians that want nothing more than to send me off to war for reasons I would never understand. I remembered thinking that I should really try to be more informed: I should start watching the news.
I started flipping through the channels on my TV, past MTV and Comedy Central, and into the more serious stuff with stock tickers, talking heads, and plastic hairdos that could make a Ken doll jealous. I distinctly remember stopping on one channel in particular. It had a slow-spin-ning logo in the left corner; it said “Fox News.” “News,” I thought. “This must be the news.” Luckily, thanks to my undiagnosed attention deficit disorder, I didn’t stick around very long. I didn’t learn about Fox’s questionable agenda until later.
I can only imagine what would have happened to me if I had stayed. I would probably be wearing a “don’t tread on me” t-shirt as I tooled around in my pickup truck, with a gun rack in the rear window and a NOBAMA sticker slapped crookedly on the tailgate.
Okay, that’s an exaggeration, but you get the point that I so rudely made just now. That is: the effect that news media punditry has on national political discourse. It makes us crazy. It divides us, and makes us view each other in broad-stroke stereotypes, like my above descrip-
tion of a Fox News viewer. MSNBC is not a whole lot different. But, as a typical
college lefty deeply rooted in the liberal indoctrination machine that is higher learning, I have a problem with Fox News. I have a problem with all corporate-run media for that matter, but Fox News really takes the crazy cake.
One of my biggest gripes concerning Fox News is their constant berating of the so-called mainstream media. It’s as if they believe themselves to be some rebel gang, out there broadcasting out the truth, much to the dismay of the dystopian CBS Nightly News. Fox News is one of the most widely viewed news sources in our culture. It is as much a part of the mainstream media as any network news hour. They are actually worse. They are 24/7. And while pretending to be fair and balanced, they are one of the least objective news outlets that I can think of.
Fox News is one of the main reasons why we can’t have honest political discussions that don’t somehow devolve into an argument about what socialism really means. They are the reason why we are talking about a “govern-ment take-over of healthcare,” and not insurance-profi-teering.
The idea that our mainstream media has a liberal bias is entirely confounding to me. The mainstream media does have a bias, just not a liberal one. If our media had an actual liberal bias, Green Party presidential candidate Jill Stein would have been on every major news network during this last election. Instead, you probably barely know who she is.
The “mainstream” media has a “status quo” bias. There
won’t be any stories about how badly the banks screwed us over. There won’t be any exposé on Monsanto’s hegemony over your “food product.” As long as Brian Williams can keep our eyes pointed at the screen long enough to run a Tide commercial into our brains, the mainstream media is doing its job. Fox News is just another part of that machine.
The word “titanic” refers to enormous size or strength, which is ironic, because the Titanic could not withstand scraping the side of an iceberg. Currently, Clive Palmers, 58, is an Australian billionaire whose titanic willpower will be the main material used in building the Titanic II. On March 2, Palmer revealed designs for the ship, Titanic II, which is scheduled to set sail from Southampton to New York in 2016.
The Titanic II is going to be an exact replica of the Titanic, save for a few minor variations intended to enhance the safety of the ocean liner. Titanic II will provide an authentic experience for educational purposes, which include costumes and prohibitions of the use of electronic com-munication among the passengers—which, for me, is a deal breaker. Unfor-tunately, the ticket prices will not be authentic. I would find it amusing if the tickets were as cheap as they were in the early 1900s, but for the maiden voyage of the Titanic II, there have been numerous people who have offered to pay up to $1 million for a ticket.
Palmer is not creating the Titanic II in order to increase his riches. He is fund-ing the production because he wants to deplete his fortune before he dies. The main reason why Palmer wants to repro-duce the iconic ship is to pay tribute to those who built the Titanic and perished with it. I believe Palmer has good inten-tions, but creating a replica of the Titanic is not an appropriate form of homage. If the victims knew of his plans, they would turn in their watery graves. Palm-er intends the Titanic II to be a genuine learning experience, but I feel some pas-
sengers will merely treat it as a sort of game or ride. Even though Palmer is not motivated by money, the large profit he is going to make at the expense of the lives of over 1,500 people is a disgrace to their memories.
Coming from the standpoint of a his-tory buff, Palmer’s idea is inspiring and ingenious. It is the opportunity of a life-time to explore the most majestic vessel in maritime history. Although I have res-ervations about actually taking a cruise on the ship, because I have an immense fear of open water, I would definitely pay top dollar to tour the finished product. I have very high hopes for the successful completion and voyage of the Titanic II. On the other hand, I have uneasy feelings about the Titanic II and think it is a bad idea to try and recreate history. I have misgivings about the mental soundness of Palmer. As Homer Simpson would say, if you were to look in the dictionary under the word foolish, there would be a picture of Palmer. By constructing a replica of the Titanic, Palmer is asking for trouble. Even though Titanic II will be much safer, the name Titanic still has bad mojo attached to it. I am usually not a very superstitious person, but Palmer should provide the ship with another name, even though it may hurt business.
Niccolò Machiavelli said: “Whoever wishes to foresee the future must consult the past; for human events ever resemble those of preceding times.” History has a way of repeating itself; hopefully, Clive Palmer has learned from the past and done his homework so the Titanic II is not doomed to join its twin on the bottom of the ocean.
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With a strong performance in the pentathlon Saturday at the NCAA Division II Indoor Track and Field Championships in Bir-mingham, Ala., UMD’s Chanel Miller became the first Bulldog on the women’s side to claim All-American honors for a multi-event. After placing 14th out of 19 in the long jump Friday, her first of two events, Miller turned in steady showings in all five legs of the pentathlon on her way to a sixth-place finish in the 16-ath-lete field. Miller, a sophomore, was the lone UMD representa-tive—the eighth year in the last nine that at lease one athlete on the women’s team has advanced to national competition.
Four members of the UMD women’s hockey team were named All-WCHA last week for their efforts during the 2012-13 season. Jessica Wong, Jenna McParland and Brigette Lacquette were selected as all-conference second-teamers, and freshman goaltender Kayla Black was awarded a position on the All-WCHA Third Team, in addi-tion to securing a spot on the All-WCHA Rookie Team. The Bulldogs tied North Dakota for the second-most selections, while Minnesota landed a conference-high seven players on the All-WCHA list.
Men’s Hockey WCHA playoffs: first roundWisconsinMadison, Wis.Fri./Sat./Sun., 7:07 p.m.
Baseball
NTC Spring GamesClermont, Fla.
Softball
NTC Spring GamesClermont, Fla.
Schedule
A look at the week aheadfor UMD Athletics.
All events are subject to change.
All-WCHA
Bulldogs thump Nebraska-Omaha; first-round series with Badgers awaitsBY EVAN [email protected]
Teams always want to play their best heading into the playoffs, and the UMD men’s hockey team is doing just that after dis-mantling the 16th-ranked University of Nebraska-Omaha 5-4 and 6-0 in the regular season finale at Amsoil Arena.
The Bulldogs (14-17-5, 10-13-5 WCHA) cap-tured their fourth week-end sweep of the year and their second consecutive after taking out Alabama-Huntsville last weekend.
“I thought we played
really well and responded to the challenge,” head coach Scott Sandelin said. “Our guys played smart and aggressive, and we finally got a couple of wins to show for it. We’ve been putting it together since the Bemidji and Minne-sota series, but didn’t come out with wins until now.”
A key aspect of the turn-around is success on spe-cial teams.
“Our power play was pretty good (this week-end) and all of our lines were working well,” said Austin Farley, whose six-point weekend (two goals, four assists) propelled him
to second in the nation in freshman scoring (34), alongside teammate Tony Cameranesi. “We wanted to win the special teams battle because most of the games come down to that later.”
Nearly a month ago, UMD was in a slump on the power play (3-for-34 during a six-game span), and their penalty kill wasn’t great either. But against the Mavericks,they went 7-12, while holding the visitors to one goal in six opportunities.
Minnesota’s rich hockey tradition not lost on Bulldogs
There are more Minnesotans playing professional, junior, and college hockey than there are from any other state.
According to new informa-tion from Let’sPlayHockey.com, there are currently 1,476 Minnesotans playing hockey at the professional, junior, and collegiate levels. As of this 2013 NHL season, there are 36 Min-nesotans on an NHL roster and just short of 50 playing in the American Hockey League.
“You seem to have some con-nection to Minnesota on every team,” said UMD forward Tony
Cameranesi, who hails from Plymouth, a western suburb of Minneapolis. “Almost every team I have played against in the past two years, I have known someone from high school or played against them at some point.”
Duluth natives that have moved on to college or profes-sional hockey include Cade Fair-child, Brett Olson, Zack Fitzger-ald and Rob Bordson. Some of the former Bulldogs on these lists include J.T. Brown, Justin Faulk, Mason Raymond, Matt Niskanen and current men’s hockey assistant coach Derek Plante.
Currently, 20 of the 26 players
on the UMD men’s hockey ros-ter are from Minnesota.
Burnsville native and Bull-dog goaltender Matt McNeely weighed in on advantages that young Minnesotans have. “There’s a lot more exposure for young players in Minnesota, since it is an important sport and popular in our state,” he said. “There are a lot more scouts and coaches watching kids as they grow up.”
So at what point does a young player really know when he has a shot at something bigger than high school hockey? For McNeely, Bloomington native Caleb Herbert and Duluth native Andrew Welinski, the realization came early in their high school years.
“Being from Duluth, I had always dreamed of playing col-lege hockey and specifically for UMD,” Welinski said. “Hav-ing the chance for my dreams to become reality was really an eye-opener for me. It helped me see that if I wanted to start to achieve my goals, I would need to be fully committed to hockey on and off the ice.”
McNeely also notes a time in which he recognized that his dedication to the sport became a lifestyle after being contacted by colleges during his freshman year of high school.
“It gave me a huge confidence boost,” McNeely said. “Once I got the thought of playing col-lege, I would do anything to get myself there.”
While there are many fac-tors separating Minnesotans
from players of other states, the camaraderie that develops among players from the “State of Hockey” binds them to a com-mon goal.
“We all love the game the same way,” McNeely said. “And we all want to play at the same level at some point in our careers.”
From Mites (for those ages eight and under) to the NHL, Minnesotan players are always being scouted and examined, but players don’t always feel the effect of the pressure.
“There’s a lot of eyes on play-ers that come from Minnesota just because it is such a small hockey world,” Caleb Herbert said. “With all the college teams here in the state, it’s easy to keep an eye on those players that come from Minnesota.”
This past weekend, thou-sands of people packed the Xcel Energy Center in St. Paul to watch the Minnesota State High School League Boy’s Hockey Tournament—more people than are drawn to many profes-sional events. The competition that lives in Minnesota is what pushes players to their best per-formances and highest skill lev-els.
“Work as hard as you can to stay in the moment and don’t become complacent,” McNeely said. “You can’t worry about who is watching at your game, and you just have to work your hardest to do the extra things to make you better than the other guys competing for the same spot.”
STATOF THE WEEK
Women’s captain calls it a career Jessica Wong looks back on her time in maroon and gold, four years and one national championship later
The UMD women’s hockey team was less than a minute away from having played the equivalent of a record-setting two full-length games on March 21, 2010.
The score was tied at two through regu-lation and nearly three overtime periods. Then, with only 34 seconds left in triple OT, Jessica Wong—then just a fresh-man—tipped the puck in to win the 2010 National Championship for the Bulldogs.
Reflecting back on that day four years later, the Baddeck, Nova Scotia, native gives all the credit to her teammates.
“A lot of people say that I scored the goal, but I wouldn’t have scored the goal
if I didn’t have my teammates,” she said. “They made it happen, and, luckily, I was just right in front of the net.”
Wong, who is seemingly always put-ting her team before herself, was an easy choice for team captain this season—a position in which those around her say she excelled.
“She’s a great captain,” freshman goal-tender Kayla Black said. “We talked quite a bit before I came (to UMD) and she was a lot of help. If I ever had questions, I knew I could go to her. She’s a great person all around—great to have in the dressing room, very positive, and kept the team energized.”
the number of points collected by the fresh-man class of the UMD men’s hockey team over the weekend. First-years Austin Farley and Tony Cameranesi are tied for the club lead with 34 points on the season.
13:UMD’s newest All-American, B2
see MEN’S HOCKEY, B2
see WONG, B2
ALEX LEONE/STATESMAN
ALEX LEONE/STATESMAN
UMD Bulldog Mike Seidel slips the puck past the Nebraska-Omaha goaltender on March 9.
Several Bulldog players watch their fellow teammates against the Mavericks on March 9.
Chanel Miller making huge leaps in sophomore seasonBY KYLE FARRIS [email protected]
Rarely does Chanel Miller get nervous before a meet. In fact, the Burnsville native and track and field standout begins her long jump trials with a pre-event ritual con-sisting of what Miller calls a “goony smile” toward assis-tant coach Tony Evans.
But she couldn’t help but feel anxious last week.
“I wasn’t nervous until about yesterday,” Miller said last Monday, hours before she boarded a plane en route to Birmingham, Ala. for the NCAA Division II Indoor Track and Field Champion-ships. “I think it’s because I can’t picture it. I have memo-ries of all my other events, but I’ve never been to a national meet with all those people.”
Perhaps those nerves were on display early in Birming-ham, with Miller placing 14th in a 19-woman field Fri-day in the long jump. It was a disappointing open to her first national meet, but the second-year responded the next day by placing sixth out of 16 in the pentathlon—a showing that earned her the first All-American honor in a multi-event in program his-tory.
“For her first time going to a national meet like that, I thought there were some nerves, but there were times when I think she was able to correct them and get it together,” head coach Joanna Warmington said. “I really feel like this was a great opportunity and she learned a lot.”
Receiving the chance to compete on the national stage would be a dream realized for most track athletes, but there was a time when contending nationally wasn’t a top prior-ity of Miller’s. It wasn’t even on her radar.
While in junior high, Mill-er took up track and field as a hobby of sorts. By the time she reached high school, she was on the dance team and had added soccer and intramu-ral football to her schedule, leaving little time to devote to becoming one of the coun-try’s top track athletes.
Miller even admits that she wasn’t fully committed to the
sport last year, a season that still saw her claim NSIC Out-door Newcomer of the Year accolades.
“I don’t really know how I got the Newcomer of the Year last year,” Miller said. “I guess it’s just luck, because I wasn’t very good. But this year, I’m eating right and not eating at the (Dining Center), and I’ve been training and lifting a lot harder. I didn’t really take it seriously last year.”
Now seemingly more invested and dedicated to developing her game, Miller has already earned the NSIC Indoor Athlete of the Year award and is beginning to show that she’s an altogether different competitor than she was a season ago.
“A huge difference,” Warm-ington said. “She’s in the weight room—she lives in there. Her diet she has com-pletely changed. She’s able to focus more this year. She has the confidence of where she belongs.”
And that confidence has never wavered. According to Miller, it was a matter of har-nessing that confidence and incorporating it into her work ethic.
“I always saw it,” Miller said. “I always imagined myself getting there and I knew I could. But it’s defi-nitely something you have to work for.”
Elevating her performance and transforming her life outside the lines hasn’t come without a great deal of pres-sure, though—a pressure Miller both welcomes and approaches with caution.
“You hope to improve each
time you do something,” said Miller, who has topped her scores from last season in every event she has participat-ed in this spring. “I feel like if I reach my peak this year at nationals, next year is going to be hard to continuously hit it.”
That’s one theory, but those who work closely with Miller are convinced the pressure will only help push her per-formance to new heights.
“I know she is hard on herself and really expects a lot from herself,” teammate Amelia Maher said. “But that’s not necessarily a bad thing. I know it helps her… because she’s so determined.”
Warmington believes Mill-er possesses even more poten-tial that she hasn’t yet begun to exploit.
“Ultimately, she is going to shoot for a national cham-pionship,” Warmington said. “I have no doubt in my mind that Chanel can do that. She’ll be there. I really think that there are bigger and bet-ter things out there for her yet.”
Said Miller: “I’d hope that I can keep improving. I’m afraid that maybe if I’m too successful this year, if I’m not next year or my senior year, I’m going to get down on myself. I guess that would be considered a good pressure.”
She may or may not achieve the goals being laid out for her over the next two years, but when the time comes for her to try, expect to see Mill-er at the starting line poised to take on the challenge—goony smile and all.
The 6-0 shellacking of Nebraska-Omaha Saturday (18-16-2, 14-12-2 WCHA) was the most lopsided vic-tory for the Bulldogs since Alaska-Anchorage two years ago. It also provided most of the power-play fireworks. UMD’s first five goals came off power plays, tying a school record.
Farley and Cal Decowski gave the Bulldogs an early 2-0 lead after the first period. Then, junior winger Joe Basaraba sandwiched a pair of goals between an Andy Welinski goal on the two-man advantage to give UMD a five-goal cushion with 14:01 left in the third. Mike Seidel tallied the lone even-strength score with 5:41 remaining to help pad to lead.
Goaltender Aaron Crandall stopped all 32 shots he saw for the Bulldogs, picking up his second shutout in as many starts.
Even with the convincing win Saturday, the Bulldogs’ more impressive victory came Friday, as they battled back after facing a pair of two-goal deficits.
Nebraska-Omaha opened up an early 2-0 lead 7:12 into the first period. Farley cut the lead in half late in the period, but Nebraska-
Omaha brought the lead back to two moments later.
Then the floodgates opened for the Bulldogs, as they rallied for four unanswered goals. Senior Dan DeLisle, skating in his 100th game as a Bulldog Friday, charged in toward the net and pounced on a rebound to make it 3-2.
Basaraba squared the game up at three at the 7:22 mark of the sec-ond, and Seidel capitalized twice on the power play to give UMD a 5-3 advantage. The Mavericks would tack one on a minute into the third to end the scoring.
“It was a great team effort by everyone tonight,” said Seidel, who was named the Bulldog Fan Favor-ite Friday. “We have been play-ing well the past three weeks and tonight was no exception. We made a few mental mistakes, but we never gave up.”
UMD, which is moving to the new National Collegiate Hockey Conference (NCHC) next year, capped off its 48th and final regular season in the WCHA by finishing in ninth place in the standings and will play Wisconsin in a best-of-three series starting Friday night in Madison, Wis.
Her positive attitude was more necessary than ever this season, as the team would see the injuries stack up and be forced to play many games with a shortened bench.
“I don’t think a team has ever had that many injuries,” Wong said. “I could probably count on one hand how many times we all practiced together, with everyone on the ice at the same time.”
The team would fight through the adversity, however, much to the credit of Wong’s leadership and on-ice example.
“I’m a different leader than most, I think,” Wong said. “I’m not really vocal and a lot of people, I think, know that, so I try to do everything on ice. As the year went on, I grew. I think I talked more and I thought I improved as the year went on.”
She continued her personal suc-cess this year as well, becoming part of an elite club of those who have played in over 100 career games and also scored over 100 career points.
Wong was also recently named to the All-WCHA Second Team for the second time in her career after putting up 23 points in just 33 games this season for a career total of 122—all this while dealing with injury upon injury of her own.
After having surgery on her right hip last spring and suffering through a painful recovery this fall, Wong was only able to prac-tice a couple of times per week throughout the season. She also experienced problems with her left hip, which may need surgery in the future, on top of back problems and cartilage issues in her wrist.
“The story goes much deeper than most people realize—how much that injury affected her and affected our team,” head coach Shannon Miller said. “She fought through to play for us and to lead, and that really embodied a cham-pion, a warrior. That’s the word I would use to describe her this year—a warrior.”
With the recent loss to Ohio State putting an end to the Bulldogs’ sea-son, Wong’s next chance to play on a big stage could be with Team Canada in the 2014 Winter Olym-pics. But for now, she’s focused on recovering and spending time with her family.
“I know for sure I’ll go home and spend some time with my family because they definitely deserve it with all the support they’ve given me throughout the years,” Wong said. “Right now, I don’t have too much planned. The Olympics have always been in the back of my head, but, for now, it’s recovery time for me. You might see me playing next year, but I’m just gonna recover and try and get things back on track.”
One thing is for sure: no matter what Wong does in the future or where she ends up, those who had the honor of watching her play the past four years will not soon forget her.
“She’s a great person, a great player, and she’s one of those people we’ll remember—that I will remember, that the fans will remember,” Miller said. “And I think that says a lot about her.”
Continued from B1
Men’s hockey
Continued from B1
Wong
UMD ATHLETICS/SUBMITTED
STATESMAN ARCHIVES
UMD’s Chanel Miller leaps over a hurdle in a race last year.
Jessica Wong handles the puck this season against Minnesota.
WEDNESDAY, MARCH 13, 2013 B3
WEDNESDAY, MARCH 13, 2013 B2 OUTDOORS Outdoors Editor / Eric Lemke / [email protected]
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This past Sunday, the 29th annual run-ning of the John Beargrease Sled Dog Marathon got underway just north of Duluth. Over 40 teams were registered for the race, including 10 teams for the 373-mile, full-distance race and 30 teams for the mid-distance race. This year’s list of participants included a former runway model, a young man with cerebral palsy and a musher from Tennessee.
Mushers blamed wet snow and warm-er temperatures for the slower pace. Because most of the dogs are Siberian Huskies, their optimum running temper-ature is cold weather, mushers had to be careful not to run their dogs to hard and overheat them. The race, which was origi-nally scheduled for January for 27th, was delayed this year because of lack of snow and canceled altogether last year.
The annual race is held in commemo-ration of John Beargrease, the son of an Anishinabe chief born in 1858 in what
is present day Beaver Bay. Beargrease delivered the mail between Two Harbors and Grand Marais for more than 20 years by primitive means, including dog sled. His fastest trip was 28 hours with a fully loaded 700-pound sled and a team of only four dogs. Modern day mushers can do little better with lighter equipment and 16-dog teams.
The mid-distance race runs 103.2 miles to Grand Marais, Minn. with the full-dis-tance race ending back in Duluth. Most of the mid-distance racers spend between 18 and 20 hours running the race, with most taking about eight hours of rest time.
This year’s mid-distance race winner was just 17 years old. Jenny Greger, from Bozeman, Mont., finished the race in just under seven hours. Competitors in the full marathon were about 30 hours into their race as this story went to print.
Racers are averaging about 8 to 9 mph along the trail. Of the original ten teams that started the full marathon, only six remain.
Billy Koecher rides in the sled with his father, Adam Koecher from Mahtowa, Minn. Billy Koecher has cerebral palsy but trains with his father. The team left the start line with the loudest cheer heard that day.
ERIC LEMKE/STATESMAN
WEDNESDAY, MARCH 13, 2013 B4STUDENT LIFE Student Life Editor / Kaitlin Lokowich / [email protected]
TOP TRACKS:Artist: Youth LagoonAlbum: Wondrous Bughouse
It’s always hard to top a good debut. Fortunately, Youth Lagoon’s sophomore release entitled “Wondrous Bughouse” plunges you into the absurdist/surreal/creative brain that is the man behind the band: Trevor Powers. This record’s unexpected vast instrumentation, unforgettably lush melodies and, like most of Youth Lagoon songs, incredibly hard-to-understand vocals really immerse you into Powers’ very own conscious,
as he describes the complications of death and life. The first single released from the record “Dropla” describes the beginning of life and the end. The song’s overarching melody only grows and expands with trippy synthesizers and an array of effects that can’t even be described on paper, but only heard on the song itself. For all of the poets out there: while the lyrics are very poetic, this is not an album to listen to for its lyrics. The overall moods and shapes are formed throughout the album’s instrumentation. The track “Through Mind and Back” serves as the shortest song on the album, giving you a trippy portal to enter into the second song, “Mute,” which twists and turns from a very bright spacey march into a trippy
and sluggish stroll as the effects become more and more vast. Other tracks, like “Pelican Man” and “The Bath,” have a mysterious grandness about them, while tunes such as “Attic Doctor” or “Raspberry Cane” branch out on the lighter psychedelic side. In comparison to his last record, “Year of Hibernation,” Youth Lagoon reinvents his sound, growing in musicianship and overall original songwriting, unafraid to be weird even if it’s for the sake of being weird. While “Wondrous Bughouse” may not be what we were expecting (especially in comparison to his debut “Year of Hibernation”) Youth Lagoon has truly proven he is an artist to be reckoned with, making a less accessible, but still remarkable, record.
Duluth-based organization Choice Unlimited is a nonprofit agency that serves adults with disabilities, helping them primarily with employment and commu-nity involvement. The organization has a very strong arts program, with a traveling theater troupe called BOLD-Choice.
“The overall organization is about seeking employ-ment,” said Emily Bullivant, a theater and psychology student and volunteer for BOLD-Choice theater. “Their mantra is ‘opening doors to employment and opportuni-ty.’ So, it’s to kind of prepare them to live independently or seek job opportunities. By doing theater stuff, you’re introducing public speaking skills, you’re introduc-ing communication skills, so all of that stuff is geared towards making art, but it also has the impact of them gaining skills so they can get a job someday and be inde-pendent.”
BOLD-Choice stands for “battling obstacles living with disabilities,” and provides audiences with a unique style of theater performance that exposes the commu-nity and student audiences to the talents of individuals with disabilities.
“What we’re trying to do is outreach to students and raise awareness,” Bullivant said. “And it is a really unique thing in Duluth that people don’t know about.”
The theater’s latest production is called “TIMBER!:
The Story of Paul Bunyan.” The show looks at the larger-than-life Paul Bunyan and how he navigates in a world where he literally and figuratively does not fit in. The troupe recently performed their show in the Kirby Ball-room, hosted by the campus disability awareness group, Access for All, on Tuesday March 12. The free show filled the Kirby Ballroom and entertained viewers with songs, dancing and lots of humor.
“I primarily write it, but with a lot of work-shopping and improv work and ideas from the cast,” said Annie Roseen, the BOLD-Choice theater director. “We decide what things we want to tackle and what messages we want to give and in what way, and what things would be fun to add.”
The group of actors is made up of people with and without disabilities.
“I think a lot of people with disabilities worry that they’re always going to be the student in life and have someone always helping them,” Roseen said. “But it can do a lot for people to be the leaders.”
The organization is relatively young and unique for the region.
“I know there’s organizations like this throughout the U.S.,” Bullivant said. “But they really are hidden gems; there’s not too many of them, and so I just think it’s really unusual that Duluth would have one that’s this quality.”
Bullivant herself is involved with the troupe because of her interest in combining her two majors: psychology and theater.
“I’ve been trying to combine both of those things and
it’s been really not as hard as I thought with places like this,” Bullivant said. “I’ve been looking for other oppor-tunities to use theater as a tool for social change, and how we change people’s perspective on things. I’ve been find-ing that I see these people and they’re just segregated; they’re this little section of the community and you don’t see them in other areas of the community. They’re segre-gated, and even though we don’t try to segregate them, you see them only in these certain places and this theater program is a way to get them out into the community more and bring the community in.”
While a lot of the shows have something for kids, like music and costumes, the stories relate to adult audiences with their themes and morals. BOLD-Choice attempts to break down the social barriers by exposing the com-munity to these issues.
“I really think it makes a difference,” Roseen said. “It makes a difference to the audience, it makes a difference to our actors who identify themselves as having dis-abilities, and it makes a difference to people who have become advocates by working with these people. It has a huge impact on everyone’s lives who come to see it.”
Many of these community issues go unnoticed by col-lege students.
“I think it’s important to bring to any adult audience,” Roseen said. “Because you’re still learning and a lot of preconceived notions and even prejudices that follow disability, they go into adulthood. I think a lot of people, if they haven’t had a lot of experience with people with disabilities, they still think of them as an ‘other.’”
BOLD-Choice theater comes to UMD
ALEX LEONE/ STATESMAN
Actor Pete Barnett, playing Babe the Blue Ox, sits with Robbie Hagberg, as Paul Bunyan, in “TIMBER!: The Story of Paul Bunyan” March 12.
(Left to right) Actors Lloyd Goodman, Kevin Ressie and Annie Roseen address the audience about Paul Bunyan’s birth.
ALEX LEONE/ STATESMAN
ALEX LEONE/ STATESMAN
The crowd gives the cast of TIMBER a standing ovation after their show in the Kirby Ballroom March 12.
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UNIVERSITY OF MINNESOTA DULUTH
UMD THEATREp r e s e n t s
The University of Minnesota is an equal opportunity educator and employer. Sunday matinees are ASL Interpreted and Audio Described.
March I4 – I6 & 26 – 30, 20I3 | 7:30 pm March 3I, 2013 | 2 pmMarshall Performing Arts Center Dudley Experimental Theatre 2I8-726-856I www.tickets.umn.edu
HOW I LEARNED
BY PAULA VOGEL
TO DRIVE
WEDNESDAY, MARCH 13, 2013 B4
BOLD-Choice theater comes to UMD
ALEX LEONE/ STATESMAN
WEDNESDAY, MARCH 13, 2013 B5Student Life Editor / Kaitlin Lokowich / [email protected].
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This past January, UMD theater stu-dents took home five awards from the Regional Kennedy Center American College Theater Festival held in Lincoln, Nebraska. This regional festival had 325 actors competing, with 64 semi-finalists, and 16 finalists. UMD alone has had six people win the regional competition in the last 12 years—that’s an average of one every two years. Students Caity Shea Violette, Kate Zehr, Daniel Novick, and Topaz Cooks all took home awards for UMD this year.
“There are a lot of theater programs in our region,” said Mark Harvey, the head of the UMD Theater Department. “And for us to get that kind of notoriety, it sure makes us look good.”
The festival looks at designers, actors and playwrights, and breaks up the coun-try into eight regions by population—meaning UMD’s region spans most of the Midwest.
Schools can enter the competition in two ways: by entering as an associate production, meaning judges come see the shows the school produces and pick individual actors, or the school can enter a show as an ensemble entry, where the entire show travels to the festival.
“To have just one student chosen to go is just an amazing thing, and so for UMD to do it this often, it really does say some-thing about our program,” Harvey said.
Violette won the top acting award at the festival and is now moving on to compete in the national Irene Ryan acting festival/competition in Washington, D.C., this April, where she will be showcasing her awarded 10-minute play. Novick won the Best Acting Partner Award and will move on to the national D.C. competition with Violette.
“It’s saying that your training program is the best in the region,” Harvey said. “Now, I’m going to give Caity Shea a lot of credit because she’s a very talented per-son, but it’s very interesting that UMD has had a lot of success.”
Zehr, a senior acting student, won the Best Classical Acting Award and was first runner-up for the Irene Ryan Act-ing Award, won by fellow theater student Violette.
“It’s really just a big conference—a big get-together of people that love the same stuff,” Zehr said.
Actors competing in the festival pre-pare a package of material for the judges. The competition consists of three rounds. During the first round, competitors get three minutes for a scene or a musical number. The second round narrows the competition down to 64 of the original 325 actors, and the actors have five min-utes to do two scenes with or without a partner. The final round gives actors five minutes plus a one-minute monologue.
“It’s one of those things where I feel like theater isn’t a competition,” Zehr said. “It’s so subjective. I was there more just to have fun, and if I got it, I got it.”
It is all up to the actors to determine how much work they put into their scenes and monologues.
“I worked on mine for probably a week or so before I went,” Zehr said. “In the grand scheme of things, it’s only six minutes, so you learn, and your mind is very trained at this point to memorize very quickly. Once you’re memorized and you’re on your feet, you can just play around, and it doesn’t take too terribly long to figure stuff out.”
Zehr’s experience with the UMD The-ater Department has helped her polish her acting skills.
“It’s the people; the people is what makes it,” Zehr said. “The professors here are really great and every experience is a little bit different. I feel like I’ve grown and learned something with every show. Even if it hasn’t been a necessarily large role, I’ve learned or gained something from it. I’ve worked with some really great actors and really great directors here.”
All the regional buzz about UMD’s Theater Department has resulted in inter-est from across the nation.
“It just gives up instant credit,” Har-vey said. “And, in fact, we’re starting to get students from all across the country, which is really cool. Students are sending us DVD auditions from places like San Diego.”
UMD not only took home awards for acting, but in set design as well.
“The festival looks at designers, actors, and playwrights,” Harvey said. “Kennedy Center American College Theater Festi-val tries to be inclusive; they try to make cool stuff for everybody, not just actors,
but directors, designers and stage managers.”
The UMD Theater Depart-ment works to further the phi-losophy they call the “ensemble a p p r o a c h ” — a n idea which states that an actor always strives to make the per-son he or she is acting with look good; it is all about the work between the actors.
“(The actors) get extremely nervous, but they rehearse, rehearse, rehearse, rehearse, so they can just do it in their sleep, so when they’re on stage and they feel that nervousness, they feel like they can kind of channel that and use it,” Har-vey said.
Because Harvey was unable to attend the festival, he watched the students perform their scenes once they returned from Nebraska.
“I’d have a very difficult time just rank-ing our five,” he said. “These guys are
really good and have worked really, really hard.”
With all this recognition, Harvey admits the department likes to tell per-spective students about their successes.
“When students come in and say, ‘Well, how good is your acting program?’ we can say, ‘Well, we’re in this region with 325 candidates and our person has won on average every other year. That says something,’” Harvey said.
UMD theater takes home 5 regional awards
WEDNESDAY, MARCH 13, 2013 B6
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