January 27, 2012

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The SpectrumF R I D A Y | J A N U A R Y 2 7 , 2 0 1 2 | S E R V I N G N O R T H D A K O TA S TAT E U N I V E R S I T Y S I N C E 1 8 9 6 | V O L . 1 1 5 I S S U E 3 1

1Page 5

WEATHER

H 31ºFRI SAT SUN MON

H 25º H 16º H 28º

During a student fee forum

on Tuesday, students de-

manded answers as to why

student fees are potentially ris-

ing again. Representatives

were posed with challenging

questions regarding how stu-

dents’ money is continuously

being spent.

Student government and stu-

dent fee advisory board

worked together to create the

student fee open forum. The

board was created to safeguard

the voices of students in the

fee increase proposal process.

The board discussed the five

mandatory fees – library, tech-

nology, student activity, career

services and health and well-

ness – with students at the

forum.

The current student body

president and vice president

realized that students needed

to get more involved in the fee

process.

“For our group, it’s very

helpful to get that feedback

from a wide angle of stu-

dents,” Cam Knutson, student

body president, said.

The student advisory board

has met four times this year, so

there was a limit on how much

information could be provided

during the allotted time at the

forum.

“That’s one thing. You can

tell there are some people who

are still looking for a little

more,” Knutson said. “I think

that’s where you trust in the

process.”

The majority of the student

fee advisory board is made up

of NDSU students. The board

includes six students and four

heads of departments on cam-

pus.

“It’s set up really well to

where they [members] can

give their feedback and con-

cerns and also have a very im-

pactful vote. Other schools

don’t have that,” Knutson said

of the new group.

In the past, students were

not able to have a direct im-

pact on the decisions made re-

garding student fee increases.

Although student government

could be consulted, students

did not have a real vote.

“We are the model for

what’s going to come in the

next years for the advisory

board, for NDSU and also for

the universities all across the

state of North Dakota,” said

Steff Johnston, a freshman at

NDSU. Johnston serves as an

at-large appointee on the stu-

dent fee advisory board and is

majoring in communications.

The Wellness Center pro-

posed an increase of $16 per

semester to help sustain its op-

eration and services provided

to students. The student activ-

ity fee is the primary funding

source for the center, and it

would be falling into a deficit

without the increase of the

Wellness Center fee.

Rising utilization of the

Wellness Center has caused

additional wear on the equip-

ment. The number of students

using the Wellness Center has

increased 25 percent since

2007.

Proposals from the library

called for student fees to also

double to $16 per semester.

Without the increase, the li-

brary would be forced to can-

cel the electronic resource

subscription given to students

for their studies, as they are al-

ready operating in a deficit.

The technology fee experi-

enced a 50 percent increase in

the 2004-2005 academic

years. This year, the technol-

ogy fee is proposed to increase

by 75.13 percent for full-time

students, which translates to a

$61.98 per capita increase.

An increase in technology

fees would allow the depart-

ment to avoid service cuts and

will give students a greater say

in the delivery of services.

Students brought up points

regarding the steep costs of

Blackboard licensing fees and

alternatives that the depart-

ment could make. All recom-

mendations discussed by

students at the forum will be

taken into careful considera-

tion when forming the final

decision.

“I came in supporting the

new technology fee and the li-

brary fee. These two compo-

nents directly affect the quality

of education that we’re get-

ting,” Sydney Hull, a senior

majoring in history and off-

campus student senator said.

“I am here to get the best edu

Story continued on page 3

Recruitment is off to a fresh

start this spring for both frater-

nities and sororities that are

looking for students interested

in becoming more involved

with the campus and the com-

munity.

Beginning Monday for the

12 fraternities at NDSU and

Tuesday for the three sorori-

ties, interested students who

missed the more formal re-

cruitment of the past fall se-

mester were able to experience

all that Greek life has to offer.

“Some people really appre-

ciate the more casual atmos-

phere of spring recruitment,”

Courtney Barstad, Coordina-

tor of NDSU Greek Life, said.

Sorority recruitment ran

Tuesday through Thursday

with events at different houses

being held between 5 and 8

p.m.

Barstad believes the shorter

events during the weeknights

accommodate students’ aca-

demic and work schedules

much easier than the slightly

more time consuming recruit-

ment at the beginning of the

fall semester.

“Our numbers might be

down from last year but we

have had more than 30 women

sign up for sorority recruit-

ment this spring as of Tues-

day,” Barstad said.

Bids to join a sorority will

be distributed to women who

participated in spring recruit-

ment by Barstad today. After

bids are accepted or declined,

if each of the three sororities

did not fill all available spots,

there will be a second recruit-

ment this spring, called contin-

uous open bidding.

“Our goal is to always ac-

commodate everyone inter-

ested in joining NDSU Greek

Life and assist the individual

chapters in reaching their re-

cruitment goals,” Barstad

added.

Recruitment for the 12

NDSU fraternities and other

non-Panhellenic Greek organ-

izations is handled by each

house individually.

Various events are held

throughout the week and range

from mini-golf to chili feeds to

LAN parties.

Many fraternities opted for

more unique events this year

in hopes of attracting more at-

tention and giving interested

students a more in depth look

into fraternity life.

While food-related events

are quite popular, Alpha

Gamma Rho fraternity hosted

a Blazin’ Wing eating chal-

lenge at Buffalo Wild Wings

on Tuesday and Kappa Psi

pharmaceutical fraternity pre-

pared a homemade meal and

offered free blood pressure

readings for a senior center.

Barstad, who helps oversee

recruitment events, said she is

happy to see an increase in

events revolving around serv-

ice and other important as-

pects of life such as wellness

and scholarship.

“It’s nice to see something

different going on -- especially

during the colder months --

that also matches with the or-

ganizations’ ideals,” she said.

Other fraternities such as

Farmhouse and Sigma Chi

also chose to host service-re-

lated recruitment events with

the hopes of educating inter-

ested men in the aspects of the

fraternity that aren’t just social

or academic.

Delta Upsilon, a fraternity

that has struggled with recruit-

ment in recent semesters, was

determined to create a lot of

hype for this spring’s events.

On Tuesday, Delta Upsilon

hosted a tour of Fargo and the

NDSU campus in a stretch

Hummer limo.

The event concept was

thought of by Delta Upsilon


Much like it did for NDSU

in 2007, the Barry Foundation

is making a big impact on the

Concordia College campus

and its Offutt School of Busi-

ness. A gift from the Barry

Foundation will fund a major

construction and renovation

project for the business school.

The project involves a $16

million renovation of the

Grant Center, which will in-

clude an approximately 8,200

square foot auditorium. The

new space will be named

Barry Auditorium, and it will

be able to accommodate 200

people with movable seating

to allow for flexible event

staging.

B. John Barry, chairman of

the Barry Foundation, is a

founding member of the Offutt

School of Business Global

Leadership Council. His fa-

ther, the late Richard Barry,

founded the Barry Foundation

in 1986.

North Dakota State Univer-

sity’s downtown campus also

received a significant gift from

the foundation in 2007.

Richard H. Barry Hall

opened in August 2009 as

home to the NDSU College of

Business, department of

agribusiness and applied eco-

nomics, North Dakota Trade

Office and Center for Global

Initiatives and Leadership.

Similar to the Concordia

project, the contribution to the

NDSU College of Business

cost about $15 million, which

went toward the renovation of

an already existing building

and incorporated the building

of an auditorium.

As part of the foundation’s

mission statement, they em-

phasize “proactive philan-

thropy where opportunity is

created to benefit individuals

and communities both locally

and globally.”

“Our family has a feeling of

responsibility to our roots and

a responsibility to rural philan-

thropy. We are delighted to

participate in what’s going on

here,” John Barry said.

Construction of the audito-

rium on the Concordia campus


Student fee open forum gives students voice

Josie Tafelmeyer | The Spectrum Student Body President Cam Knutson speaks with students, student leaders and department representatives about student fee appropriation Tuesday during an open forum event.

Emma Heaton

Co-News Editor

Greeks host recruitment eventsSpring recruitment underway

Cate Ekegren

Co-News Editor

BarryFoundationfunds ConcordiaprojectConcordia receivesgift for newauditorium andscholarship

Mike Liudahl

News Reporter

Act from China wows audiences inthe Festival Concert Hall

National championship earns players,fans national notoriety

High-flying acrobats take stage Success has trickle-down effects

Cate EkegrenCo-News Editor

Phone: 231-5260 | Email: [email protected]

2

News

F r i d a y, J a n u a r y 2 7 , 2 0 1 2 | T h e S p e c t r u m

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Each enrolled student isentitled to one copy of The

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and a free press. Opinions

expressed on these pages arenot necessarily those of thestudent body, faculty, staff,

university administration orSpectrum management.

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Main Office Number:231-8929

Editor in Chief: 231-8629Advertising Manager: 231-8994

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LETTERS TO THE EDITOR

The Spectrum accepts bothmail (254 Memorial Union,

Fargo, N.D., 58105) and e-mail

([email protected]

[email protected].)Please limit letters to 500

words. Letters will be editedfor clarity. They should include

the writer’s name, telephonenumber, major and year in

school.

vice president and recruit-

ment chair, Waylon Lind-

seth, with the help of an

alumnus who happens to

work for a limousine rental

company.

“We wanted people to

come to our event and

make it memorable,” Lind-

seth said. “Everybody gets

stuck doing the same types

of events and this way we

could set ourselves apart.”

The limo tour for inter-

ested new members turned

out to be a major success in

the opinion of Delta Up-

silon president Wesley

Rogers.

“We had seven guys go

on the Hummer tour with

us,” Rogers said. “It was

great to see them so inter-

ested in learning more

about the fraternity and not

just there because they

wanted to ride in a stretch

Hummer.”

Erik Schwarzkopf, a

member of Delta Upsilon

since 2008, was glad so

many men were able to at-

tend their recruitment event

to see what makes their

house so unique.

“Because we are the only

non-secretive fraternity, it

is important for those inter-

ested in joining Greek life

to know that that makes us

different from everyone

else,” Schwarzkopf said.

“Personally, my parents

were more accepting of the

fact that I wanted to join a

fraternity because I was

able to invite them to our

events and have them meet

my new brothers.”

Bids to join one of the

fraternities on campus will

be distributed by individu-

als from each respective

house today; however, on-

going recruitment will con-

tinue for most fraternities

including Delta Upsilon.

For more information on

NDSU Greek Life, visit

their website at http://

www.ndsugreek.com, or

contact Courtney Barstad

in the Student Activities

Office located in the Me-

morial Union.

Greeks continued from page 1

The Advising Resource

Center, or the ARC as it is

commonly referred as, an-

swered student demands and

gained administrative support

by hiring a full-time staff

member, taking effect earlier

this spring semester.

The new staff member, An-

drea Weber, will be available

to answer general academic

inquiries from 8 a.m. until 5

p.m. every day the university

is open.

Mainly geared towards un-

derclassmen, the mission of

the ARC is “to foster student

achievement and retention by

providing advising resources

in a centralized location.”

That location, somewhat lost

in the commotion of the Me-

morial Union, is located on the

main floor next to the Student

Activities Office.

“A lot of students have ques-

tions about their academic

plans but don’t always know

who to talk to or where to go

on campus to get answers or

more information,” Weber

said.

“My job in the ARC is to

serve as an available resource

to answer general questions

and give students the informa-

tion to connect with their ad-

viser or other campus

resources to answer the more

specific questions,” she added.

Weber graduated from

NDSU in 2009 with a bache-

lor’s degree in health commu-

nication and returned to

NDSU to complete a master’s

degree in mass communica-

tion.

“I earned both my bache-

lor’s and master’s degrees

here, so this new position

means a lot to me because

NDSU is a place I care about

and I want to see students suc-

ceed.”

Weber also taught in the

communication department

before being hired as the coor-

dinator of the ARC.

“I was a lecturer before and

really enjoyed working with

students,” she said. “This new

position is great because I get

to continue that work but in a

different way now.”

Serving under the direction

of Carolyn Schnell, the associ-

ate dean of university studies,

and Lisa Nordick, director and

associate dean of distance and

continuing education, Weber

said part of her role in the Ad-

vising Resource Center is to

research and work on advanc-

ing the technology the univer-

sity uses for advising not only

on-campus students but also

students taking online classes

that may never visit the physi-

cal NDSU campus.

Short-term and long-term

goals for the ARC are being

set and for now Weber said she

encourages students to stop by

and become familiar with how

the ARC can aid in their stu-

dent success.

“It’s great seeing students

take the initiative to get infor-

mation and advice as they

make decisions and navigate

their academic progress,”

Weber said.

The Advising Resource

Center is located in the Memo-

rial Union Gunkelman Room

on the main floor. Students do

not need an appointment when

visiting the ARC. Weber can

be contacted by phone at (701)

231-8662 or by email at

[email protected].

May will mark the 10-year

anniversary of the ground-

breaking of the Living Learn-

ing Center East. Much has

changed since 2002, and per-

haps the most notable of these

changes has been the climate

of the financial market.

Before the groundbreaking,

NDSU sold 30-year revenue

bonds to fund the construc-

tion of Living Learning Cen-

ter East, a practice not

uncommon in capital project

systems.

It is now 10 years later, and

the bonds face a call date. The

call dates, which for this se-

ries of bonds come every 10

years, allow the university to

refinance by buying them

back and selling them with

reduced interest.

Gary Wawers, controller in

the accounting office, says

that because of the magnitude

of the project, an adjustment

of even a single percent can

amount to significant savings

for the university.

“We’re coming up to the

call date, and now the interest

rates, where they are, they’ll

be much better interest rates,”

Wawers said. “We’ll be a

good full percent under the

old rate. ... We’ll be in the 3.8

percent neighborhood -- or

hopefully lower than that --

when we issue these new

bonds.”

With the outstanding bal-

ance on the bonds at just over

$6 million, the projected sav-

ings from the refinancing, ac-

cording to North Dakota

University System docu-

ments, is approximately

$688,240.

Robert Vallie, the student

member of the State Board of

Higher Education, which is

an advocacy body for the

University System at the state

level, said the refinancing is a

routine, but developed, plan.

“It was simply trying to get

a better deal than what was

already out there,” Vallie

said. “It’s my understanding

they’re taking a proactive

measure and just trying to

make sure that if there’s a

way that we can make more

of a decent kind of a deal,

we’re making it happen.”

In order to get the best deal,

the bonds will be put into a

competitive sale environment

and receive bids from various

firms.

“It’s typically an invest-

ment firm. It might be Smith

Barney, Merrill Lynch, or it

might be RBC Dain Rauscher

or Bank of America,” Waw-

ers said. “These bids, they’ll

be a competitive sale. We

want to get the best rate we

can.”

Though the original bond-

holders will be bought out

and replaced by new firms or

holders, the 30-year term of

the bond will remain the

same. The new bonds will be

issued with a 20-year term, at

which point the university ex-

pects to have them paid off.

“They’re revenue bonds be-

cause the revenues that come

later -- when students live in

those halls, when students

pay money to the university

-- that’s revenue to the uni-

versity, and that’s used to

make bond payments,” Waw-

ers said.

The bidding on the bonds

will take place in mid-Febru-

ary.

The NDSU CounselingCenter has listed its groupcounseling programs that willstart during the spring semes-ter. These groups span a widevariety of issues that studentsmay deal with and have beencreated for students who feelthat they need help in theseareas.

This semester, some of theprograms include a graduatestudent support group, a be-reavement group, a meditationgroup, an alcohol and drugabuse group, a mood manage-ment group and a group enti-tled “Unpacking Your FamilyBaggage”, which is designedfor students with family con-cerns or issues.

Some groups, like the medi-tation and alcohol supportgroups, recur every semester.However, there are alwaysnew groups announced eachsemester. If a program re-ceives enough feedback andattendance, the CounselingCenter may make it a moreregular group and offer it eachsemester.

All of the services at theCounseling Center are free forstudents. The Counseling Cen-ter, alongside support groups,offers individual counseling aswell. While some studentsmay feel wary about joining agroup, Teresa DeMers, a coun-selor at the center, explainswhy groups can be beneficial.

“It’s helpful to be able tomeet with other students whohave similar concerns to beable to relate with one another,to be able to find support andto find ways to cope withsome of the concerns theyhave,” DeMers said.

Marlys Borkhuis, the assis-tant director of the NDSUCounseling Center, said thatstudents feel relieved whenthey realize that they’re notthe only ones with a certainproblem and learn to trust theother members of their group.

“I think sometimes you haveto be able to trust the otherpeople to tell them somethingand they’re not going to laughat you or act like, ‘That’s re-ally weird,’” she said.

Both DeMers and Borkhuissuggest that students try tochallenge themselves if theyfeel that they need help. Join-ing a support group can be abig step, but it can also be avery beneficial one. The peo-ple in these groups help eachother out, especially whensome are further along in theirhealing journey than others.

Even though the sessions arewith multiple people, confi-dentiality is required.Borkhuis stressed that no stu-dent will have to detail infor-mation that is uncomfortablefor them to say to the groupand that confidentiality willnever be broken.

Once a student contacts theCounseling Center, they canusually get into a group withina week. If a student doesn’twant to try groups, or hasfound that the groups don’twork for them, the Center of-fers individual sessions aswell.

“Everybody’s got stuff inlife, you know? And I think ofit as an opportunity to grow,”Borkhuis said, encouragingstudents to take the first step tohelping themselves.

For information, studentscan visit the Counseling Cen-ter’s webpage athttp://www.ndsu.edu/counsel-ing. The Counseling Center islocated in Ceres Hall 212.

Advising ResourceCenter hires full-time staff

Cate Ekegren

Co-News Editor

Bond refinancingto result in savingsfor university

Matt Severns

Spectrum Staff

Counseling Centerannounces spring support groups

Hannah Dillon

News Reporter

www.ndsuspectrum.com

Emma HeatonCo-News EditorPhone: 231-5260 | Email: [email protected]

3 F r i d a y, J a n u a r y 2 7 , 2 0 1 2 | T h e S p e c t r u m

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cation possible. I don’t want

to get an inferior education.”

Students who attended the

open forum additionally

brought up the issue of being

more informed of issues, as

they felt the upcoming propos-

als were secluded to a small

group. Knutson said that one

of the strong recommenda-

tions for next year is to post

the proposals on the student

government website to allow

students to provide continuous

feedback.

Students involved in the fee

advisory board included

Michael Paolini, Luke

Broader, Michael Nagel,

Rachel Black, Sam Ewen and

Steff Johnston.

Representatives from each

department were also in atten-

dance, including Marc Wall-

man, assistant vice president

for enterprising, computing

and infrastructure; Jean Os-

trom-Blonigen, interim assis-

tant vice president for infor-

mation technology services;

Barbara Lonbaken, dean for

student wellness; Chris Suri-

ano, associate director of the

Wellness Center; and Alissa

Kuntz, assistant to the dean of

libraries.

For more information re-

garding the proposed student

fee increases, visit the student

government office in the Me-

morial Union.

Student fee continud from page 1

Josie Tafelmeyer | The Spectrum The Barry Foundation, which provided funding for NDSU’s Barry Hall, has gifted Concordia’s new auditorium.

will begin this spring and ren-

ovation of the Grant Center for

the Offutt School of Business

is scheduled for completion in

the fall of 2012.

“This fantastic new space is

designed with state-of-the-art

technology capabilities,” Greg

Cant, Offutt School of Busi-

ness dean, said in a recent

press release. “Barry Audito-

rium will be the ideal space for

business lectures and events.”

In addition to the building

projects, the Barry Foundation

is funding a Barry Scholars

Endowment, which honors the

Offutt School of Business’

mission to educate and inspire

generations of leaders who

demonstrate individual entre-

preneurial spirit and leader-

ship.

The new Barry Scholars

Program will be the most sig-

nificant scholarship opportu-

nity for students in the Offutt

School. The prestigious

$20,000 scholarship will be

provided to four junior and

senior level students annually.

“Barry Scholars will be ex-

pected to assume leadership

and service responsibilities in

the Offutt School, including

leading seminar discussions,

organizing specific events and

mentoring peers,” Cant said.

“During their senior year,

scholars will also present a

public lecture on original re-

search that addresses global

economic and social changes.”

Barry continued from page 1

A new opportunity offered

at NDSU this year is the

Global Food Systems Study

Abroad Program developed by

NDSU’s animal sciences de-

partment in the College of

Agriculture, Food Systems

and Natural Resources. A

group of students from NDSU

will be traveling to China in

May to learn about Chinese

culture and the global food

system.

This year’s program, the

first of its kind, is a 15-day trip

to three areas of China from

May 19 to June 2. Not only

will students be learning about

agriculture on a global level,

but they will also be engaging

in a whole new culture full of

exciting new sights and expe-

riences.

“One of the goals of our de-

partment, and I guess I would

say our college and university

for that matter, being the Col-

lege of Agriculture, is taking a

lot of the experiences we give

students right now beyond the

classroom,” David Newman,

Animal Sciences Department

assistant professor said.

The trip will consist of visit-

ing three areas of China: Bei-

jing, Xi’an and Shanghai. In

each location, students will be

participating in cultural activ-

ities such as visiting the Great

Wall of China, Tiananmen

Square, The Forbidden City

and the Terracotta warriors in

addition to learning about how

China’s agricultural economy

affects our own.

An important point for stu-

dents to keep in mind is that

this trip is not only limited to

agriculture or business majors.

The opportunities for cultural

experience are endless when

being exposed to new customs

and ways of living through in-

ternational travel.

“When you start to talk

about culture, one thing that

really comes into the forefront

is just seeing how people live

and understanding how people

would take on daily [tasks] …

this makes it a very versatile

opportunity for students from

all different types of majors,”

Carl Dahlen, an assistant pro-

fessor in the animal sciences

department, pointed out.

This year’s destination,

China, was chosen because of

its vast amount of people and

its increasing affluence in the

global economy. According to

Newman, when “talking about

expanding agricultural oppor-

tunities, you can’t have a con-

versation without discussing

China.”

China is just the first step

however, with both Dahlen

and Newman having high

hopes of the program expand-

ing with each year to come.

Eventually, Dahlen said a des-

tination on every continent ex-

cept Antarctica is the goal,

hoping to have students taking

part in the program this year

become the biggest advocators

for the future trips.

Jody Hanson, a senior at

NDSU majoring in agricul-

tural engineering, said her

main reason for joining the

study abroad program is that

“our economy is not a U.S.

economy anymore; it is very

much a global one.”

“Coming from an [agricul-

tural] background,” Hanson

added, she is well aware of the

fact that “anything we don’t

use in the United States gets

exported.” To see where

everything goes and comes

from will be quite an experi-

ence as she travels internation-

ally for the first time.

The ultimate goal of the pro-

gram, according to Dahlen, is

to open the eyes of the stu-

dents to the “huge and pro-

found influence that [other

countries’] cultures have on

our own,” and to always “rep-

resent NDSU with pride.”

Application for early enroll-

ment is open until Friday, Feb.

10. Anyone with questions or

concerns regarding the pro-

gram, application, or cost, can

contact Newman at (701) 231-

7366 or

[email protected] or

Dahlen at 701-231-5588 or

[email protected].

STATE

MINOT, N.D. (AP) —State health officials thisweek are running radioactiv-ity tests on bags filled with anoil field material that arestacked in downtown Minot.

BISMARCK, N.D. (AP) —The director of NorthDakota's Pipeline Authoritysays the state may need to en-

courage more construction ofnatural gas pipelines. Theagency is commissioning astudy of North Dakota's natu-ral gas production trends andwhether there's enoughpipeline capacity to carry thefuel.

UNDERWOOD, N.D. (AP)— More than 200 acres ofcrop land near Underwoodthat were mined for coal morethan 20 years ago are set to beturned back to farming.

It will be the first time inthe Falkirk Mine's 35-yearhistory that any land will goback to agriculture.

NATIONAL

BRIDGEPORT, Conn.(AP) — Four police officers,including the president of thelocal police union, were ar-rested Tuesday by the FBI oncharges that they used exces-sive force against illegal im-migrants and covered upabuses in a New Haven sub-urb where a federal investiga-tion found life was mademiserable for Hispanics.

MINNEAPOLIS (AP) —Minnesota Rep. MicheleBachmann announcedWednesday she will seek afourth term in the U.S. House

following her failed presiden-tial bid.

(AP) Stocks mostly fellearly Wednesday ahead of astatement on interest ratesfrom the Federal Reserve anda news conference by itschairman. Traders also frettedabout Greece's slow progressin talks with private bond-holders aimed at reducing thenation's crushing debt load.

WORLD

SARAJEVO, Bosnia-Herzegovina (AP) —Bosnia's war crimes court hasconfirmed a 31-year prison

sentence for a former BosnianSerb police officer convictedof genocide.

Judges found that RadomirVukovic participated in theexecution of over 1,000 men— part of the notorious Serbmassacre of some 8,000 Mus-lim Bosniaks from the eastBosnian town of Srebrenicain July 1995.

CAIRO (AP) — Tens ofthousands of Egyptians ral-lied Wednesday to mark thefirst anniversary of the coun-try's 2011 uprising, with lib-erals and Islamists gatheringon different sides of Cairo's

Tahrir Square in a reflectionof the deep political dividesthat emerged in the year sincethe downfall of longtimeleader Hosni Mubarak.

SANAA, Yemen (AP) —Fresh clashes in southernYemen have killed six al-Qaida militants and injured10 soldiers, military officialssaid Wednesday. The fightingsoutheast of the city of Zin-jibar is the latest since mili-tants seized a number oftowns in the area last spring.Yemeni forces have so farfailed to push them out.

Briefs

Students study abroad withglobal food systems

Allison Pillar

News Reporter

Features4

Linda VasquezFeatures Editor



Three years ago from Feb. 8

will mark the anniversary of

Chris Brown’s assault of his

then-girlfriend Rihanna. Al-

though these artists are to be

separated by court order, it

may just be that they are se-

cretly back together, at least

that’s how it seems.

It was a shock to people

back in May 2011 when both

artists followed each other on

Twitter especially after both

individuals were very public

about their violent break-up.

The recent Twitter incident

caused quite a stir when both

artists reportedly exchanged

love messages on the popular

social networking site.

According to an article on

www.huffingtonpost.com,

Brown and Rihanna send each

other coded messages. Back

in December, Brown tweeted,

“Love U more than you

know!” Not more than a

minute after his tweet, Ri-

hanna tweeted, “I’ll always

love you #1LOVE.”

Us Weekly magazine re-

vealed that the artists “have

secretly been hooking up for

nearly a year” and that a Ri-

hanna insider admitted that

“Rihanna loves to live dan-

gerously, and talking to and

hooking up with Chris is all

part of that.” Of course both

Brown and Rihanna have de-

nied the rumors but do state

that they are only friends.

Although the re-kindled re-

lationship is only speculation,

Brown and Rihanna were re-

cently spotted partying at the

same venue Sunday night.

TMZ reported that the two ex-

lovers were seen at Greystone

Manor, a nightclub located in

West Hollywood, CA.

They did not leave together,

however, and did not have

contact with each other.

Brown, with his girlfriend

Karrueche, left the venue

through the front door. Ri-

hanna exited through a side

door of the club.

It is not clear if Rihanna and

Brown have any intentions of

getting back into a relation-

ship. After their public do-

mestic violent experience

though, it may be that they

won’t due to reasons of public

backlash.

Despite whether or not they

plan to get back together, I

think it would be a mistake.

No woman should ever have

to be in a domestic situation

where she feels she might be

in danger. And as much as I

enjoy listening to Brown’s

music and Rihanna’s hit sin-

gles, for them to get back to-

gether would be a bad idea.

Why? Because most do-over

relationships that contain do-

mestic violence end up the

same way.

Professor Stephenson

Beck’s work in the field of

communications can be de-

scribed as fascinating. A man

dedicated to family, sports, his

students and work in research

sums up what his life revolves

around.

The most interesting facet of

the life of Beck is the fact that

he has always wanted to do

something that matters.

Whether it is being a family

man to his wife and two kids,

helping his students succeed in

the classroom, helping his stu-

dents achieve their career

goals or doing research in the

field of communications, he

makes an impact on those

around him.

In 2002, Beck received his

Bachelor of Arts in broadcast

journalism from Brigham

Young University. A pro-

claimed sports enthusiast, he

worked for stations such as

PBS and Fox Sports.

“I had always wanted to be

a sportscaster,” Beck con-

fessed. “I am a sports nut.”

Being a sports broadcaster

was a dream job for Beck, but

he soon found that he had no

time for family and came to

the realization that he needed

to do something else.

“I could not see where I

wanted to be family-wise with

the lifestyle of being a sports

broadcaster, and I did not feel

like I was doing something

that actually mattered,” Beck

stated.

Becoming a teacher was the

next part of the agenda for

Beck. After receiving his Mas-

ter of Arts at the University of

Illinois in speech communica-

tions in 2005, Beck became a

teaching assistant for the uni-

versity. He says this was the

start to a successful career in

teaching.

“I found a research area I

loved and found a job in teach-

ing that met all of the needs

that I wanted,” Beck shared.

Beck continued on to get his

doctorate at the University of

Kansas, graduating with a de-

gree in communication stud-

ies, serving as a graduate

teaching assistant for the

school.

NDSU was not a school that

Beck expected to teach at.

“The North is a familiar

place for my wife because she

is Canadian. I applied here,

and was given an interview,”

he said. “A lot of the concerns

we had initially like not know-

ing a lot about Fargo, and if it

was a good place to raise a

family disappeared immedi-

ately. I realized that it was a

great place to raise a family,

and I felt like I could make an

impact here as a teacher.”

Beck received the job and

has been teaching here at

NDSU since 2008.

Taking pride in being a

teacher is something that Beck

lives by. He strives to influ-

ence his students and learn si-

multaneously.

“My teaching philosophy is

to get students to learn how to

think and learn how to learn,”

Beck explained passionately.

“It is a very uncomfortable po-

sition to be put into. Students

will feel vulnerable and un-

comfortable, but the students

who figure those things out

will enjoy their college expe-

rience the most and continue

to grow as people.”

Doing research in the field

of communications that makes

an impact on groups of people

is also part of Beck’s work.

His research focuses primarily

on groups of individuals. Cur-

rently, Beck is working with

the special education teams in

the public school systems.

“Right now we are trying to

collect a basic data on how

knowledgeable the students

and members of those groups

are about conflict manage-

ment, and how conflict and

decision management influ-

ences the welfare of both,” he

said. “These teams are de-

signed to help these students

out. Education workers are a

lot of times not trained in the

area of group communication

skills. They do not have the fa-

cilitation, decision-making

and conflict skills.”

Beck hopes that his research

can help better the communi-

cation in groups, based on be-

coming better decision makers

and managing conflict.

Outside of NDSU, Beck is

heavily involved with his fam-

ily, loves to watch sports, and

is devoted to his church. Tak-

ing vacations with his wife is

also something that he loves to

do. Beck admits that they both

love to travel.

Usually being put into a

good situation brings success

in what you do. Beck is no

stranger to this theory, as he

attributes most of his success

as a professor here at NDSU

and all of his research to what

he says is a good situation.

Beck loves the feedback he

gets from his students on his

teaching style. He also loves

the thank-you notes he gets at

the end of each semester and

enjoys hearing that his teach-

ing helped get some student a

job or an internship.

As a man of faith, a dedi-

cated father and an inspiring

professor, he truly understands

how to teach, and he offers all

of his students a chance at the

best college experience.

ChrisBrown andRihannabacktogether?

Linda Vasquez

Features Editor

NEWS•

GOSSIP•

TRENDSfeatures

@ndsuspectrum.com

Professor profile: Stephenson BeckA professor committed to students and research

Andrew Koch

Staff Writer

Linda Vasquez | The Spectrum Stephenson Beck of the department of communication has had successes and interests both within and beyond the classroom.

Grains are any-

thing made from

wheat, rice, oats,

cornmeal, or bar-

ley. These are bro-

ken down into two

subcategories: re-

fined grains and

whole grains.

Make sure at

least half of your

four daily ounces

(which is equiva-

lent to four slices of

bread) is whole.

•

Yes, all kinds of

fruits count—includ-

ing fresh, frozen,

canned, or dried.

Even 100 percent

fruit juice! Just make

sure they do not con-

tain a lot of added

sugar. You need

about two cups of

fruit every day.

Fruits do not contain

cholesterol, and they

are rich in potas-

sium, fiber, folic

acid, and Vitamin C.

•

All milk products

are included in the

dairy group. Drink-

ing three cups of

milk each day will

supply your body

with a sufficient

amount of calcium,

keeping your bones

and teeth strong.

•

Vegetables can be

drank as juices, or

eaten as raw, cooked,

dried, frozen or

canned. Different

types of veggies

offer various nutri-

tional value: dark

green (spinach),

starchy (corn), beans

and peas, red/orange

(carrots), and “oth-

ers” (cauliflower).

You need 2 1/2 to

three cups of vegeta-

bles every day.

•

Protein foods con-

sist of poultry,

seafood, beans, eggs,

and nuts. You should

consume five and

half to six and a half

ounces of protein

foods daily, which is

like eating, for ex-

ample, five eggs, two

small lean hamburg-

ers, or 12 almonds.

•

Health talkWhat’s on your plate?A look at the daily recommended intake of food

Jessie Battest, Contributing Writer

As college students, we tend to forget sometimes the im-portance of nutrition has on our bodies. Midnight snackingand late dinners are nothing new to college years, but the re-cent campaign first lady Michelle Obama has headed makesit simple when choosing the best thing to put on your plate.

1

1

2

2

3

3

4

4

5

5

Nick ProulxArts and Entertainment EditorPhone: 231-5261 | Email: [email protected]

5

Arts and EntertainmentF r i d a y, J a n u a r y 2 7 , 2 0 1 2 | T h e S p e c t r u m

HAIRBALL

Friday, January 27The Venue @ The Hub

ROSTER MCCABE

Saturday, January 28

SEBASTIAN BACH

The Venue @ The Hub

STEPHEN KELLOGG & THE SIXERSw/ Chris Koza & Katrina

JIM BRICKMAN CAROLINE SMITH & THE GOODNIGHT SLEEPS

T-PAIN & GYM CLASS HEROES& Dextrious

The Venue @ The Hub

BUDDY GUY

The Venue @ The Hub

The Golden Dragon Acro-

bats performed Tuesday night

at the Festival Concert hall,

putting on a routine that raised

the roof -- literally. A spectacle

of high flying and gravity de-

fying feats was capped off

with a towering display that

left a lone acrobat high enough

to rub up against the ceiling.

The display of time-honored

Chinese tradition wowed a

hefty number of spectators and

NDSU students on hand.

“I thought the performance

was pretty cool. I was amazed

how synchronized their group

was,” said Brendan Skime, a

freshman studying sports and

recreation leadership. “The

guy who climbed the ladder of

chairs blew me away because

he was actually in the rafters

of the auditorium,” he added.

“The Golden Dragon acro-

batics show last night was

awesome! Definitely one of

the coolest things I've seen in

a while,” said sophomore

Grady Anderson, adding, “It

was pretty much mind-blow-

ing from start to finish.”

The performance was so

good it even took some people

by surprise, like Andrew Fill-

more, a graduate student in the

plant science department. He

initially had doubts about how

entertaining a free show could

be, but the Golden Dragon Ac-

robats shattered those suspi-

cions.

“It really makes you appre-

ciate how hard acrobatics can

be. It looks fun and easy but it

has to be a lot more difficult

than it seems,” Fillmore ad-

mitted.

Extravagant costumes and

tone-setting music helped to

create an overall experience

that Anderson described as ab-

solutely unreal.

“I'd see this act again.

Where else can you get such a

mind-blowing cultural experi-

ence by guys who look they

could do Ab Ripper X at least

three times in a row?” he

asked.

The Golden Dragon Acro-

bats are the only Chinese com-

pany that tour year-round

across America. More infor-

mation and a tour schedule can

be found at goldendragonacro-

bats.com.

The Forum is once again

putting on the Fargo Star

competition this year, and al-

ready two NDSU students

have made their way to the

finals.

Mary Jo Hotzler, deputy

editor at The Forum, was

one of the individuals who

started the contest five years

ago. She says they had an

idea to do an “American

Idol” spinoff of sorts, with a

trip to an “Idol” audition of-

fered as a grand prize.

“A few of us were sitting

around, thinking that we

could do something like

‘Idol’ here,” Hotzler said,

adding that the first compe-

tition was put together in just

a matter of weeks. “It was

small then compared to what

we have now, but we knew it

had potential when we

looked around at the very

first Fargo Star event and

saw that the place was

packed,” she continued.

It’s the first year entering

the contest for Shelby Heim-

buch, a sophomore triple-

majoring in apparel, retail

merchandise and design,

public relations and pre-law.

She travels throughout the

summer and competes at

events like the North Dakota

State Fair, and she ap-

proaches music as more than

just a hobby and perhaps a

back-up plan. In addition to

being an NDSU student,

she’s currently taking les-

sons at the Elevate Rock

School here in Fargo.

Heimbuch says she’s been

singing since around 8 years

old and writing songs since

she was 10. She doesn’t see

herself as outwardly musi-

cal, so she prefers to write

her feelings as a song with

an overall message or theme.

Her sound is derived from

influences like Dave

Matthews, Garth Brooks,

Toby Keith and Miranda

Lambert, and she performed

Sugarland’s “Stay” for her

audition.

“You can only go so far

with luck, and you have to

take yourself the rest of the

way,” Heimbuch said. She

already plans on getting to

an American Idol audition

one way or another if she

doesn’t win Fargo Star, since

she’s hoping to get her foot

in the door on the music

scene. However, she sees

this as a much easier way to

do it financially. At the mo-

ment, she’s thinking about

performing something by

Carrie Underwood for the fi-

nals.

Jordan Thornburg, another

NDSU student, is giving the

contest another shot this

year. The senior, studying

business administration with

a minor in music, has ad-

vanced to the finals twice

now.

“I made it to the finals last

year, and my sister said I

should try to go for it again.

The last two winners had en-

tered it in years previously,

so I figured why not try

again,” Thornburg said.

He’s considering singing

the Johnny Cash classic

“Folsom Prison Blues” for

the finals but says nothing is

set in stone just yet. For his

audition, played guitar while

singing a cover of the Bee

Gee’s hit “Stayin’ Alive,”

because he says it’s a fun

song to do. He rendered it an

octave lower though, citing

the fact that he sings bari-

tone in the NDSU Concert

Choir.

“Ideally, I just want to get

as much exposure out of this

as possible,” Thornburg said.

“I know it’s hard to get into

the music industry, and it’s

such a winner-take-all mar-

ket. There are a lot of great

bands and artists out there

that people don’t know

about. I think it would be

great to get into the

singer/songwriter genre

though,” he added.

Thornburg started singing

in elementary school and has

more recently begun writing

his own songs, claiming to

have two completed and a

few works in progress cur-

rently. Some of his material

is soft and based on crushes

he’s had, but a song he titled

“Stoplights” is an edgy,

bluesy, metaphorical tune

about a homeless man teach-

ing him life’s lessons.

Hotzler touts the competi-

tion as an opportunity for

young people like Heimbuch

and Thornburg to get no-

ticed.

“It has given a lot of peo-

ple an outlet for showcasing

their talents,” Hotzler men-

tioned. “Because of the way

we have our paper and web-

site set up, and because we

get so much traffic through

them, there’s an opportunity

for aspiring singers or peo-

ple just looking to have fun

to have so many eyes on

them,” she explained.

The competition is set up

in three waves of auditions,

and is currently in its third

week of voting. The two

competitors who receive the

most votes advance to the fi-

nals automatically, and all

remaining competitors are

pooled into a fourth week of

voting afterward. The top

four performers from that

week advance to the finals,

which is scheduled to hap-

pen Feb. 25 at The Venue at

The Hub.

Heimbuch earned her spot

during the first week of vot-

ing, while Thornburg was

chosen just last week,

pulling in 26 percent of the

roughly 25,000-vote tally.

All performers will have

musical backing from Post

Traumatic Funk Syndrome

during their final perform-

ances, which will happen be-

fore a panel of judges and an

audience that will decide on

a winner. For more informa-

tion or to vote online, visit

fargostar.areavoices.com.

Golden Dragon Acrobats stun crowd at Festival Concert Hall

Nick Proulx

A&E Editor

Josie Tafelmeyer | The Spectrum The Golden Dragon Acrobats, a traveling group based out of China, impressed students and community members with high-flying acts Tuesday night.

Two NDSU students makeit to Fargo Star finalsContest offers trip to ‘American Idol’audition as grand prize

Nick Proulx

A&E Editor

Do you have an affinity for the arts?

Wr i t e a b o u t i t .

contact the A&E editor at [email protected]

6 F r i d a y, J a n u a r y 2 7 , 2 0 1 2 | T h e S p e c t r u m

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Exp Date: 5/8/2012

Arts and Entertainment

Here are three new albums

released this month that are

worth the listen.

Laura Gibson – “La

Grande”

It’s not a coincidence that

the artwork of the album and

the songs written by Laura

Gibson coincide with one an-

other. The pounding drums

and rhythm of the upright bass

of “La Grande” immediately

make you feel as if you are sit-

ting around a campfire listen-

ing to tales of the Wild West.

As the album progresses, you

move into tracks like “Milk

Heavy, Pollen-Eyed” where

all of the instruments begin to

center around Laura’s sooth-

ing voice. Here you start to

witness her story-telling abil-

ity that was influenced by her

childhood growing up in the

Pacific Northwest. Each and

every song conveys a serene

melody that is faintly reminis-

cent of a lullaby.

In addition to producing and

playing most of the instru-

ments, Laura received help

from members of The

Dodos, The Decemberists, and

Calexico. Fans of Jessica Lea

Mayfield, Caroline Smith and

the Good Night Sleeps, and

Regina Spektor will thor-

oughly enjoy this album.

Gonjasufi- “MU.ZZ.LE”

Low-fi’ hip-hop, middle

eastern, experimental, elec-

tronica, industrial, punk:

These are just a few of a hand-

ful of words that have been

used to describe Gonjasufi’s

music. To actually label his

music as one specific genre

though is a relatively difficult

task. It’s probably more accu-

rate to say that he disregards

the whole concept of genres.

Instead, Gonjasufi incorpo-

rates a collection of different

samples and dices them up to

create these unique layers of

sound. In his brand-new

album titled MU.ZZ.LE, Gon-

jasufi continues to follow his

previous production methods

used in his critically acclaimed

debut, “A Sufi and a Killer.”

One noticeable difference is

his approach at making the

album a little more structured

and not as sporadic as his last

release.

First Aid Kit- “The Lion’s

Roar”

When you think of Ameri-

cana/bluegrass, what artists

come to mind? Gillian Welch?

Allison Krauss? How about

First Aid Kit? Ever since their

Fleet Foxes cover of “Tiger

Mountain Peasant Song” was

first discovered on YouTube,

the two Swedish sisters, Klara

and Johanna Söderburg, have

slowly begun to develop a

growing fan base. Their new

album “The Lion’s Roar” ri-

vals some of the best Ameri-

cana that has come out within

the past year or so. Klara and

Johanna vocals harmonize

perfectly together and at times

it is hard to distinguish them

apart. The opening track “The

Lion’s Roar” tells about how

much we yearn for what’s best

while “Emmylou” pays hom-

age to their musical heroes.

Although people may be unfa-

miliar with this duo, I would

highly recommend this album

to anyone who is a fan of

country and/or bluegrass.

Every Friday, DJ Vincent

Favard introduces an upcom-

ing underground electronic

artist to NDSU students. After

DJing and producing music

for seven years in Europe, he

has now moved to NDSU to

study education. He is one of

the electronic music refer-

ences of the Fargo-Moorhead

area and is going to share his

passion for underground

music throughout weekly pre-

sentations of his favorites un-

derground producers. Genres

will vary throughout the

weeks, exploring the different

sub-genres of electronic

music.

Knife Party is the electro-

house/dubstep project of Rob

Swire and Gareth McGrillen,

members of the Australian

drum’n’bass band Pendulum.

They only started collaborat-

ing on this new project last

year and are already hitting

the biggest electronic music

festivals, headlining with

huge DJ acts such as Tiestö,

Skrillex, David Guetta and

many others.

They recently released a

free EP (four tracks install-

ment) called “100% No Mod-

ern Talking.” The EP features

“Internet Friends,” “Destroy

Them With Lazers,” “Tourni-

quet” and “Fire Hive.” “Inter-

net Friends” is a huge

electro-house banger. After an

intro perfectly sets the mood

of the song, it features a long

rising break that drops on the

computer-generated female

voice saying, “You blocked

me on Facebook, and now

you’re going to die.” After

those comforting words, pic-

ture what Totallyvivid.com

describes as “pummeling as-

sault of laseriffic synth over-

drive.” It is a very solid

electro-house club hit that

propelled Knife Party to a

whole different level.

If you are more into the

dubstep scene, then “Fire

Hive” is for you. Not as pop-

ular as the track previously

presented but surely as effi-

cient. It belongs to the reg-

gae-rhythm-inspired dubstep

style that has been recently

growing. Similarly to “Inter-

net Friends,” the beat drops

right after a voice. This time,

it is a Jamaican-sounding

male voice that relates di-

rectly to the reggae overall

feel that the rhythm reminds

heavily.

I encourage all of you to

check them out at

http://knifeparty.com and to

download their free install-

ment by leaving your email

address in the top right cor-

ner, after which they will send

you an email with a download

link. If you like what you hear

and do not have plans for

spring break 2012 yet, they

will be in Miami for the Ultra

Music Festival, one of the

largest electronic-music festi-

vals on the planet.

You have really got to

feel sorry for the fine folks

at THQ. In recent years, the

video game publisher has

completely redefined its

portfolio and brought itself

up out of the muck of

mediocrity.

There was a time when

THQ seemed to be nothing

but a mill for bad licensed

movie games. However,

over the past couple of

years and with the help of

fine developers like Voli-

tion ("Red Faction: Guer-

rilla," "Saints Row The

Third") and Relic

("Warhammer 40,000:

Dawn of War," "Space Ma-

rine") the company has be-

come a force to be

reckoned with. Well, the

critics seem to be in on all

of the reckoning, anyway

Unfortunately for THQ,

high quality and high

praise have not translated

into the highest of sales.

Even with IPs like "Dark-

siders" doing at least well

enough to warrant sequels,

the publisher's stock has

congealed at an all time

low.

It was then not especially

surprising when word

spread over Twitter (which

is increasingly becoming

the number-one source for

immediate news) that THQ

had cancelled its entire

video game line-up for the

year of 2014 as it prepared

for sale.

Now, try not to get too

worked up about who will

be making the next "You

Don't Know Jack" title.

While the story took the

web by storm last week,

word of the company's de-

mise has evidently been

greatly exaggerated. Or, at

the very least, it was an-

nounced prematurely. THQ

officials quickly made a

statement denying any

plans to terminate their

2014 line-up or them-

selves.

What is worrying, how-

ever, in the company's offi-

cial statement regarding its

planned “Warhammer

40,000” massively multi-

player online game

(MMO), "Warhammer

40,000: Dark Millennium

Online". Ludicrous name

aside, the game seemed to

be in fairly decent condi-

tion the first (and only)

time it was shown to the

public. Never the less, the

company was quoted as

saying that it "...has not

made any decisions regard-

ing the planned MMO."

For those not well versed

in the language of corpo-

rate runaround, that's not

necessarily a good sign. If

the planned MMO was

doing alright internally,

THQ probably wouldn't

have seen fit to mention it

specifically. The quote

should certainly not be

taken as an admission of

cancellation, but neither

does it bode well for a title

that was first announced in

2007. Other than a single

trailer in 2010, nothing else

has been seen of the game

since.

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He Said: “I would say a week prior because it’s not too late to re-arrange plans or too early for plans to get ruined.” – Tony Kelley, afreshman with an undecided major.

She Said: “A week if he/she is a keeper, a couple days if youhaven't been dating long. Planning is important so that it is as mem-orable for your boyfriend or girlfriend as can be.” – Jennifer Wick-lander, a junior majoring in public relations and advertising.

With Valentine’s Day coming up in a few weeks, it is no surprise that everyoneis talking about the romantic holiday. But is there really a certain time limit re-quired to prepare for this special day? Some people say yes, but how early shouldyou plan?

Well, it depends. If your valentine has been yours for a while, it may requiremore time for you to think of something new and plan at least two weeks in ad-vance. For instance, you might be considering a romantic dinner at a fancyrestaurant. Find out if reservations are needed; some restaurants require themand may have limited space, especially during Valentine’s Day.

Another reason to plan ahead is if you are planning a getaway. Sometimes air-lines, resorts and travel agencies offer early bird deals. Also, planning a trip takesa lot of organization because it is important to have itinerary plans ahead so thatyou get the most out of your time with your significant other.

If you and the person have only been dating for a couple days, or haven’t datedat all, one week in advance is the right time to start planning. One week givesyou enough time to search for a gift and communicate the plans with your part-ner. However, if you have never dated the person make sure to ask them beforeValentine’s Day, just in case they have already made plans.

There really is no right or wrong answer to how early is too early, but keep inmind that the earlier you plan, the more reliable your plans will be. In fact, ifthe person is special enough for you to start thinking about Valentine’s Day plansthen your effort should take more than just one day.

Dear Bison Pack,I live in an apartment and my lease is coming to an end soon. This wouldn’t

really be a bad situation under other circumstances, but I have a roommate whowants to renew. To be honest I don’t have a problem renewing, it’s just that Idon’t want to renew it with him. I don’t hate the guy, but he is messy, late on pay-ments all the time and never chips in for groceries. How do I tell him I don’twant to renew our lease without hurting his feelings too bad? After all, he is myfriend and I don’t want him to stop talking to me because of this situation.

Sincerely,Renewed Roommate

Dear Renewed Roommate,

Unfortunately, the only way for your roommate to understand you don’t want him to move in

with you is by telling him. There really isn’t any easy way to give him the news than to just sim-

ply sit him down and say, “Hey, I know our lease is coming up and I just wanted to let you know

that I’m renewing with someone else.” Follow up by telling him you are willing to help him

find a new roommate together, so that he doesn’t feel like, well, you are just walking away from

him. As his friend, you should also be considerate that he has a place to stay even if it’s not with

you.

-Tough Bison


I understand why you are uneasy about renewing with him. It would be stressful trying to live

with someone that doesn’t value cleanliness, is awful with paying bills on time and eats the

fruits of your labor. Perhaps try giving him a second chance before deciding to not renew with

him. You could explain that you want him to meet your expectations of a good roommate, and

if he changes his ways you might be able to live with him another year. Don’t give up yet; per-

haps the best is yet to come.

-Insightful Bison


Having to tell your roommate that you don’t want to live with them can be awkward. However,

if you really don’t think that you can live with your roommate anymore, an uncomfortable con-

versation is necessary. I advise that you bring up your future living situation in a tactful manner,

at an appropriate time. In other words, don’t wait until the last minute, and talk to your roommate

in a kind yet firm fashion. Let your roommate know that you truly value him as a friend, but

living together just hasn’t worked out like you had hoped.

-Bison Blondie

Brunette girl liked at OtherYou were just at the w in the cereal area sitting with ablonde girl. You were pretty tall and had on a shirt thatwas yellowish on the bottom and whitish on the top.I've never seen you before, wow. So beautiful

Brunette guy liked at OtherIs sick.of guys. :( they are all so mean. Sincerely a girlthst needs some lovin.

Blonde girl liked at wellness centerCutie on the abs mats upstairs. We always make eyecontact around campus I see you everywhere. I wishI just knew your name and could take you out...

Brunette guy liked at OtherI use to see you all the time at the R for lunch wetalked on here before i never see you anymore cuz imnever up the way...you told me your name before itstarts with an L you should message me sometime!

Brunette girl liked at Othergirls i know its janu"hairy" and all but please shavethose mustaches! one of the biggest turn offs

“We Found Love”- Rihanna ft. Calvin Harris

“Set Fire To The Rain”- Adele

“Good Feeling”- Flo Rida

“It Will Rain”- Bruno Mars

“Sexy And I Know It”- LMFAO

“The One That Got Away”- Katy Perry

“N**as in Paris”- Jay Z and Kanye West

“Rack City”- Tyga

“Young, Wild & Free”- Snoop Dogg & Wiz Khalifa ft.

Bruno Mars“Turn Me On”

- David Guetta ft. Nicki Minaj

courtesy of www.billboard.com

Early Tuesday morning, the

2012 Oscar nominees were

announced. Every year there

are always locks that everyone

knows will get nominated, and

to keep things fresh and every-

one on their toes the Academy

always seems to throw in a

few surprises. This year is no

exception.

In the best picture race, you

have the early favorite, “The

Artist.” The black-and-white

silent film pays tribute to Hol-

lywood’s past. The next front-

runner is “The Descendants.”

Starring Best Actor nominee

George Clooney, the film is

about a land baron who tries to

re-connect with his two

daughters after his wife suffers

a boating accident. Other

nominees include audience fa-

vorite “The Help,” Martin

Scorsese’s “Hugo,” Woody

Allen’s “Midnight in Paris,”

“Moneyball,” Terrence Mal-

ick’s “The Tree of Life,”

Steven Spielberg’s “War

Horse,” and the true surprise

“Extremely Loud & Incredi-

bly Close.” Critics, giving it a

48 percent rotten score on Rot-

ten Tomatoes, panned the film

starring Sandra Bullock and

Tom Hanks about death during

9/11. Keeping it at 9 nominees

also leaves some surprising

snubs including almost lock

“The Girl With the Dragon

Tattoo,” and last summer’s

breakout hit “Bridesmaids.”

The best actor race is

fronted by a couple familiar

names including George

Clooney (“The Descendants”),

and Brad Pitt (“Moneyball”).

Supposed to come up just

short for a nod was acting vet

Gary Oldman who finally got

his first nomination for his

turn as retired Cold War spy

George Smiley (“Tinker, Tai-

lor, Soldier, Spy”). Next we

have a couple lesser-known

nominees, including Jean Du-

jardin (“The Artist”), and

wildcard Demian Bichir (“A

Better Life”). Not on many

speculators’ radars, Bichir

snuck in over the trio of

Michael Fassbender

(“Shame”) Ryan Gosling

(“Drive, Ides of March”) and

Leonardo DiCaprio (“J.

Edgar”)

Best actress looks like a

two-woman race between

Viola Davis (“The Help”) and

Oscar veteran Meryl Streep

(Iron Lady). Michelle

Williams (“My Week with

Marilyn”) will try to sneak

into the race for her portrayal

of the woman herself, Marilyn

Monroe. The nominees are

rounded out by Glen Close

(“Albert Nobbs”) and an unex-

pected yet deserving nomina-

tion for Rooney Mara (“The

Girl With the Dragon Tattoo”).

Mara beat out Tilda Swinton

(“We Need to Talk about

Kevin”) for the fifth and final

slot.

Best supporting actress

brings a bunch of new faces,

as four of the five are first-

time nominees. The current

front-runner is Octavia

Spencer (“The Help”).

Spencer’s co-star, and the third

“Help” lady to get nominated,

Jessica Chastain had a break-

out year in multiple films in-

cluding two best picture nom-

inees (“The Help,” “The Tree

of Life”). Flat out comedy is

typically passed over when it

comes to the Academy, but au-

dience favorite Melissa Mc-

Carthy gets her first

nomination for her comedic

turn (“Bridesmaids”).

Berenice Bejo (“The Artist”)

continues the movies domi-

nance in the major categories.

The category is wrapped up

with previous nominee Janet

McTeer (“Albert Nobbs”).

Best supporting actor had a

few surprises of its own. The

front-runner is Christopher

Plummer (“Beginners”) play-

ing a gay man with terminal

cancer. Next we have Jonah

Hill (“Moneyball”). Known

for his comedies, Hill changes

it up and gives a strong per-

formance portraying real-life

stats analyst Peter Brand. The

surprising nominee belongs to

Nick Nolte (“Warrior”) who

gives a touching performance

as a former alcoholic trying to

reconnect with his two sons.

Kenneth Branagh (“My Week

with Marilyn”) and Max Von

Sydow (“Extremely Loud &

Incredible Close”) round out

the nominees. A shocking

emission would be Albert

Brooks (“Drive”). Brooks was

the early front- runner for the

whole category at one point in

time.

Only time will tell who

comes out on top, but what-

ever happens should be inter-

esting. The 84th Academy

Awards airs Feb. 26 and will

be hosted by Billy Crystal.

Billboard Top

10 FlirtsLAL

TruthHonestTheHe said,

she saidHow early should you start planningfor Valentine’s Day?

Linda Vasquez

Features Editor

Oscar nominations announced

Matt Paulsen

Staff Writer

Are you part of the herd?Like The Spectrum

on Facebook

If I could pick two teams in

the National Football League

that I did not want to see in

this year’s Super Bowl, it

would be the New England

Patriots and the New York Gi-

ants.

This is a rematch of Super

Bowl XLII where the Giants

miraculously upset the Patri-

ots, whom were previously

undefeated. My reasoning for

not liking these teams is sim-

ple and biased.

First, the Giants went into

Lambeau Field and beat my

hero Brett Favre in 2008 and

now in 2012, Eli Manning and

Coach Tom Coughlin again

went into the Frozen Tundra

and upset the 15-1 Green Bay

Packers.

This was a complete waste

of a great season for the green

and gold. However, the run

that the Giants are making

now is similar to that of the

Packers last year when they

hoisted the Lombardi Trophy.

Another reason I do not like

the Giants in particular is their

quarterback, Eli Manning. He

is the baby brother to a much

better quarterback, Peyton

Manning. Every time the cam-

era is on Eli, it looks as if he is

seriously confused or about to

cry. He just doesn’t have the

swagger to be a Hall of Fame

quarterback.

Second, I feel as though

coach Coughlin belongs in a

nursing home. He is the oldest

coach in the NFL and he looks

the part. In 2008 when the Gi-

ants were in Lambeau, Cough-

lin looked as if he had a seri-

ous case of frostbite and spec-

tators didn’t know if he would

make it through the game.

I personally thought he

would die at any moment and

delay the Packers from going

to another Championship

game. However, Old Man

River continues to win games

at the right time of the year

and make it to the big dance.

When the Giants play in these

games, they are commonly

known as David in a David

versus Goliath matchup.

The reason I do not like the

AFC team, the Patriots, could

simply be jealousy. It seems as

though they always have a

team capable of making it into

the Super Bowl; this is ex-

tremely annoying and I am

sick of watching them play the

last game of the year.

They also have the pretty-

boy quarterback Tom Brady

who has more beauty tips than

his wife, ex-Victoria’s Secret

model Gisele Bundchen. He is

also infamous for crying out to

refs to throw a penalty flag

any time someone bumps into

him or looks at him wrong.

Coach Bill Belichick also

grinds my gears. He is arro-

gant and pompous, and he also

disrespects other coaches

whenever his team faces a

loss. Belichick is about as ex-

citing as watching paint dry

when it comes to his inter-

views with reporters after a

game. He gives simple, indi-

rect statements that do not an-

swer anyone’s questions.

And his fashion is terrible.

No one thinks cut-off sweat-

shirts are cool, Bill. Time to

dress more professionally and

represent the NFL in a digni-

fied way.

All I want out of Super

Bowl XLVI is hilarious com-

mercials and an entertaining

half time show. As for the

game itself I don’t care who

wins because of how much I

dislike both teams, mostly

their quarterbacks and

coaches.

Either a confused baby is

going to win with an ancient

coach or a male model has the

opportunity to win another

title with his arrogant, worst-

dressed contender coach.

However, the infamous Super

Bowl party should be enjoy-

able, even though the green

and gold will not be playing.

Lukas is a junior majoringin political science.

Jaime JarminOpinion Editor


8

OpinionF r i d a y, J a n u a r y 2 7 , 2 0 1 2 | T h e S p e c t r u m

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Welcome back students!Welcome back students!

Remember when popular

Christian radio personality

Harold Camping predicted

when the world was going to

end a few months ago? He de-

veloped a loyal group of fol-

lowers, some who had quit

their jobs and wholeheartedly

believed that what this man

said was the truth.

But Camping was so, so

wrong. After three failed pre-

dictions prior to the one in Oc-

tober, it just goes to show that

people are easily influenced

and carried away.

The same can be true about

what’s happening in American

politics today.

In the midst of the heated

Republican presidential pri-

maries and reelection tactics

brought on by Obama’s elec-

toral team, the long-winded

“birther” debate has been

brought up once again. The

debate questions the validity

of Obama’s natural-born citi-

zenship and qualifications to

be president.

Recently a Georgia judge re-

quired Obama to make an ap-

pearance to one of the birther

hearings. However, I believe

the president should not be de-

fending his citizenship status

when he has other priorities

such as running the country

for instance.

With the upcoming presi-

dential election pushing for-

ward, our country does not

need to be distracted by point-

less, irrelevant lawsuits when

there are real issues that need

to be discussed instead.

Similar to Camping, a lu-

natic named Orly Taitz has

been the birthers’ leading

woman in the birther debate.

In this quest to remove Obama

from power, Taitz is trying to

inform the public of Obama’s

unconstitutional position in of-

fice. However, she does not

seem to do so with grace and

tact.

You may have seen this

woman with her bleach-

blonde hair, dark eye makeup

and high, ear-piercing voice

butcher interviews on

MSNBC or CNN. Eventually

the interviewers seem to lose

hope in her due to her never-

ending babble and tendency to

not answer any of their ques-

tions.

Mind you, this same woman

has been previously fined

$20,000 for a “frivolous” suit

in which she tried helping two

soldiers from getting de-

ployed. Their reasoning: They

didn’t believe Obama was

qualified to be president due to

his birth status.

People like Taitz need to re-

alize that groundless lawsuits

only distracts the people of

America and wastes our pres-

ident’s time when he has more

important problems to deal

with.

It doesn’t matter whether

you’re a Republican, Democ-

rat or neither; what matters are

real issues that actually carry

substantial weight. Such is-

sues are jobs, withdrawing

troops, gay marriage, health-

care and taxes. Not birth cer-

tificates. Ever.

Even though Taitz may have

garnered a following, Camp-

ing did as well. We all know

how that ended … or should I

say didn’t end.

Jaime is a junior majoringin English education.

Our society has taken God

and swept him under the rug in

our ethics and in our society.

We have made him into a

white elephant in our class-

rooms and irrelevant in our

Congress.

Our money, the very thing

that holds this country to-

gether, currently proclaims a

blatant lie, plainly stated in

rarely read text. On our coins

and our bills, “In God We

Trust” holds sentiments of an

old code that used to set a

standard for ethics.

Just as in our courtrooms,

where the Bible used to be

something of an ethical ac-

countability or in classrooms

where the beginning of every

school day used to set perspec-

tive with the recitation of the

words “one nation under

God.”

We currently value diversity

and “freedom,” but at the price

of leaving out God. Our values

of life, liberty and the pursuit

of happiness have recently left

the context of Christianity. We

have taken freedom of religion

to read, “freedom from reli-

gion” and that the Christian

faith is something to be feared

not equally respected.

This past Monday marked

the 40th straight March For

Life that annually protests the

decision of Roe vs. Wade. This

event supported by many

Christian faiths, as well as oth-

ers, was largely ignored by

news coverage.

Specifically, the New York

Times hardly gave any cre-

dence to the 500,000 people

that marched on the Washing-

ton Mall protesting abortion.

This is a glaring example of

where the Christian culture is

being squelched by societies’

overreaction to a fear of Chris-

tian dominance.

To me this is irritating, but

it’s not necessarily surprising.

What is surprising is the recent

audacity of the executive

branch in the latest brash

move of unchecked power.

Last Friday, President

Obama mandated that almost

all employers must adopt

healthcare that covers contra-

ception, sterilization and abor-

tion inducing drugs. The

exceptions include Churches

or houses of worship, but they

do not apply to church affili-

ated businesses, which include

schools or hospitals that hire

with no faith discretion.

Speaking specifically from

the Catholic perspective, this

mandate is directly against my

moral code. In effect, I will

likely be forced to fund these

services, which I am morally

against. Also, businesses will

no longer have the freedom to

insure through a provider who

they know holds similar val-

ues.

This right to insurance is

more than a particular prefer-

ence; these are deeply held

values that go against our free-

dom to beliefs, religion and all

three of the preamble tenants.

This mandate has now

moved to suppress the

Catholic faith in opposition to

one of our major tenants. Not

only is society taking my

Lord’s name and presence out

of the public square, but now

Obama is reaching into my

personal life through my em-

ployer health care provider to

mandate unethical coverage.

It is very hard as a Christian

to see my beliefs and values be

constantly squelched in socie-

tal arenas in the name of diver-

sity. It’s hard to know that

there’s a social stigma on pub-

lic prayer or even the mention-

ing of the name of Jesus. But

it is downright painful to see

laws enacted that directly in-

fringe my rights to personal

values found in my Catholic

religion.

Society has a fear of God

that is overwhelming. We have

developed an unreasonable

phobia of all things Christian

and have recently reached a

new height entering suppres-

sion.

We have taken for granted

all the good that Christianity

has done for us, including its

moral system and educational

infrastructure. We have in-

stead focused on its weak-

nesses and transgressions

common to us all.

I’m not saying you must be

Christian (though I would love

it if you would consider it), but

let me live my faith just as you

live yours.

Rylee is a senior majoring incommunications.

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Moorhead

Put the ‘birther’suit to rest

Jaime Jarmin

Opnion Editor

From liberty to oppression

Rylee Nelson

Contributing Writer

Super Bowl XLVI:Could the teams be any worse?

Lukas Croaker

Contributing Writer

Opinion9F r i d a y, J a n u a r y 2 7 , 2 0 1 2 | T h e S p e c t r u m

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On Wednesday, Jan. 18, a

form of protest that is becom-

ing more and more common

appeared again. The blackout

of websites like Wikipedia,

Google and Mozilla was

staged in protest of two bills,

SOPA and PIPA, going be-

fore congress on Jan. 24.

Wikipedia in particular

made the English-version of

their site inaccessible for 24

hours, opting to educate any

visitors on the protest and en-

courage contacting their local

representative in protest.

With the blackout over, I

have to wonder what impact

they had. The website called

sopastrike.com, which organ-

ized the blackout, boasted

more than 75,000 websites

had participated.

As of last Friday morning,

the number of senators op-

posing PIPA had risen to 45

from the 29 senators who op-

posed the bill on Jan. 18.

It seems to me that this

form of protest is working.

Given the apparent success, I

wonder what other interests

would benefit from an organ-

ized blackout. The traditional

forms of protest, sit-ins and

picket lines have had mixed

reactions. Especially consid-

ering the propensity for vio-

lence once confrontations

arise.

In the past, Gandhi's civil

disobedience through nonvi-

olence has been adopted in

more direct fashions. Martin

Luther King, Jr. adopted

Gandhism in his struggle to

win civil rights. Cesar

Chavez used it in his protest

of the treatment of farm

workers in California.

In 1989, the Velvet Revo-

lution to overthrow commu-

nism in Czechoslovakia

followed Gandhi's nonviolent

principles. Most recently the

occupy movement shows an

example of Gandhism in

practice. This blackout form

of protest is nonviolence for

the new age; Gandhi's ideal

refined and re-imagined for

the virtual frontier.

Unfortunately, like every

movement, there are extrem-

ists willing to break the law

to make their point. A group

of “hacktivists” named

Anonymous launched a mas-

sive attack against the propo-

nents of SOPA and PIPA on

Thursday, just 24 hours after

the apparent success of the

blackout.

The target sites included

The White House, FBI, De-

partment of Justice, Motion

Picture Association of Amer-

ica (MPAA), Recording In-

dustry Association of

America (RIAA) and a host

of recording label sites.

With SOPA and PIPA virtu-

ally defeated by the blackout,

one has to wonder what will

come from these illicit at-

tacks from Anonymous. Will

SOPA and PIPA see a bolster-

ing of support?

I am certain that Gandhi’s

response to this sort of ex-

tremism by one of his sup-

porters would have been

admonishment in the most

severe of tones, followed by

the gentle lecture of a patient

father who seeks to guide his

wayward child to the correct

path.

In order to see the overall

success of the blackout, I be-

lieve we need to chide

Anonymous for acting as the

bully and using the equiva-

lent of virtual violence once

the peaceful protest has

gained ground. I say shame

on Anonymous. Like my fa-

ther always told me: Just be-

cause you can do something,

doesn’t mean you should.

Matt is a junior majoringin history.

In response to the article, “The players can’t take all the credit” written in The Spectrum news-paper, I have to disagree with Joe.

I know that the Bison fans are incredible, but I don’t agree they were the “X factor” in theBison’s success this season. Yes, they cheered them on and traveled to Texas in a herd, but sodid the fans of the other team.

I also don’t believe that Fargo is unique in the way it supports its team. Coming from Min-neapolis, I know we have a professional football team, but it seems like the city gets just ascaught up, if not more, in the college teams.

You are more likely to hear conversations about how the Gophers are doing than how theVikings are doing. I believe not only Minneapolis and Fargo, but any town or city that has a col-lege, make the teams part of their family.

I believe the “X factor” is the players. The fans are just the icing on the cake. The football play-ers have to be dedicated all year round to make their team successful.

They have to train and keep their bodies in shape. They have to do summer practice sweatingtheir butts off. They have to practice and play in freezing cold temperatures. The players have tolearn all the plays and be able to memorize and execute them.

They have to walk off the field with cuts and bruises and sometimes broken body parts, andthen get right back in the game next week. The fans only have to show up for the game and cheer.

I think it is wonderful to acknowledge the fans, but I have to disagree with calling them the “Xfactor.”

Sincerely,Beth Oelfke

While browsing the interna-

tional papers this past week-

end I came across an article

that struck a dissonant chord.

A couple in England has raised

their child for the last five

years as gender neutral and

have just announced, “It’s a

boy!”

The family is composed of

Beck Laxton, Kieran Cooper

and the five-year-old in ques-

tion Sasha Laxton.

Miss Laxton posted a video

on YouTube with Sasha echo-

ing her views about “silly” dif-

ferences between boys and

girls when colors were consid-

ered gender specific.

However, in the article from

the Sun, Miss Laxton said she

encouraged him to play with

dolls to hide his masculinity

when he started running

around the garden naked. He

is also forbidden from wearing

“combat trousers” and is en-

couraged to wear flowery tops

on the weekends.

His parents are continually

overriding any masculine im-

pulse he has with traditionally

feminine options. This is not

gender neutral. This is at-

tempting to raise a boy as a

girl.

As a parent, this struck me

as fundamentally wrong. I

have both a daughter and a

son, and there are things I ex-

pect and have experienced that

follow gender stereotypes.

Understanding these stereo-

types helps you make the ad-

justments to your parenting

style necessary for raising ei-

ther a boy or girl. It helps you

encourage ongoing develop-

ment in positive ways and al-

lows you to expect different

skills to develop at different

times.

For instance, knowing that

girls have a tendency to take

on a more passive role I en-

courage my daughter to make

choices and to think her way

through her homework. I can

be a little less intuitive about

how she is feeling because she

tells me constantly.

Knowing that boys develop

communication skills more

slowly, I am more patient with

my son when he tries to com-

municate his thoughts or feel-

ings, and I encourage him to

do so more often. I know not

to ask my son if he wants help

figuring something until he

seems to be getting frustrated.

I am not touting a strict

“trucks are for boys and dolls

are for girls” policy. I am quite

simply saying that recognizing

the difference between boys

and girls is nothing to be

ashamed of as a parent or a

person.

As a member of the US

Army I see little difference in

the capabilities of men and

women. I see only the individ-

ual.

Nevertheless, there is a dif-

ference between boys and girls

that needs to be recognized in

order to allow your child to

find their identity.

I can only hope that Miss

Laxton and Mr. Cooper don’t

go too far in their experiment

and cause any lasting harm to

Sasha.

Matt is a junior majoring inhistory.

iProtest:Shame on you, Anonymous

Matt Church

Contributing Writer

He, she or it?Gender important when raising children

Matt Church

Contributing Writer

Letter to the editor

Good

humo

r

StevenStrom | The Spectrum

What’s Your

Opinion?Let us know!

Email [email protected]

www.ndsuspectrum.com

1 0 F r i d a y, J a n u a r y 2 7 , 2 0 1 2 | T h e S p e c t r u m

With the first portion of the

regular season Summit

League schedule completed,

there’s a log jam in the middle

of the standings. It’s a log jam

that is going to work itself out

eventually, but eventually

could mean two weeks or the

beginning of March, which

happens to be the beginning of

the Summit League tourna-

ment.

The two teams that top the

standings are no surprise.

South Dakota State and Oral

Roberts are first and second

respectively with only one

game separating them in wins

and losses column. The

Jackrabbits and the Golden

Eagles have one game left

against one another on the

schedule. ORU took the first

game in Tulsa against SDSU

earlier this season.

Missouri-Kansas City and

Oakland are one game ahead

of the four-way tie with 5-4

records in the league. North

Dakota State will square off

against Oakland on Saturday,

and the Bison have one game

left against UMKC after the

‘Roos took care of business

against the Herd last week on

the strength of 22 first half

points from LeaAndrea

Thomas.

The four teams tied for

fourth place are South Dakota,

Western Illinois, Indiana-Pur-

due Fort Wayne and North

Dakota State. The teams’

records in the conference are

4-5, but there is one slight dif-

ference between the four.

After starting off the confer-

ence grind with a 2-5 record,

South Dakota has won two

straight to pull themselves

back into the thick of things.

The Coyotes have done it on

the strength of senior forward

and current Summit League

Player of the Week Amber

Hegge. Most recently, Hegge

put up 16 points and 12 boards

against the Bison a couple

weeks back.

After losses to Oral Roberts

and South Dakota, Western

Illinois bounced back with a

big win against UMKC on

Monday, and they have, what

should be, a very winnable

game against IUPUI on Satur-

day.

IUPUI and Southern Utah

are the two bottom feeders in

the league at the moment and

they are spiraling downward.

IUPUI is 3-6 at the midway

point, but have lost two

straight games, and have a

tough stretch ahead with

games against WIU, IPFW

and Oakland. Southern Utah

has just one win on the season

with a conference record of 1-

8 and an overall record of 5-

15.

With a tough road trip this

weekend, the Bison will seem-

ingly have to at least split to

keep pace with the three other

teams they are tied with. Oak-

land and IPFW will play host

to the Herd over the weekend,

before NDSU hosts Oral

Roberts and Southern Utah to

start the month of February.

During the final stretch,

finding some sort of offensive

threat is going to be key for

NDSU. Abby Plucker is aver-

aging well below what was ex-

pected coming into the season

at just over 10 points per

game, but a mid-season take-

off would be nothing new

NDSU fans, coaches and play-

ers. Plucker took off in the

very same category last season

and carried her team during

the final stretch.

The Bison will play their

final nine games of the season

from now until Feb. 27 before

the Summit League Champi-

onships begin on March 3 in

Sioux Falls, S.D.

1 1

SportsF r i d a y, J a n u a r y 2 7 , 2 0 1 2 | T h e S p e c t r u m

Following a National Cham-

pionship, a Missouri Valley

Football Conference Champi-

onship and many awards, the

NDSU football season is over,

and the seniors who have ded-

icated five years of their lives

to the school are moving on.

One of those seniors is former

tight end and National Cham-

pion Matt Veldman.

“My hometown is Becker,

Minn.,” Veldman stated.

“[NDSU] is really a rich foot-

ball tradition. It’s a football

town and that’s how my high

school was growing up.”

Matt wasn’t a stranger to

Fargo when he came here,

which made the transition for

him a little bit easier. “I have

family up here too, my

grandma and my uncle live up

here, and my brother lives up

her now too,” Veldman men-

tioned of his Fargo familiarity.

“I’ve been coming up here my

whole life, really a comfort-

able fit in the community.”

Veldman already has his de-

gree, but has been recently

working on his master’s de-

gree and a minor in Agricul-

tural Economics. “I grew up in

a small town, maybe about

3,500 people,” Veldman said

of his agriculture background.

“I lived in town, but there

were potato farms and stuff

around.”

Veldman hasn’t always

called the Midwest home,

however. Before moving to

Minnesota and North Dakota,

he called home to a few other

cities.

“I was born in Pittsburgh,

Penn., that’s technically my

hometown,” Veldman said. “I

lived there, and then I lived in

Cincinnati for a little bit then I

moved to the cities and I grew

up in a suburb of Minneapolis.

I went to Wayzata, a public

school, through seventh

grade.”

Transition from city to city

wasn’t difficult for Matt. As he

stated, he had seen the cities

and experienced that life. “I

was used to the city,” Veldman

added. “We grew up going to

all the [Minnesota] Gopher

games, I’ve been to Min-

neapolis a ton of times, so I

was used to all that.”

Like any college student,

and especially student-ath-

letes, there is always some sort

of difference that a person will

find when they leave home.

Matt was no exception. “The

biggest change coming from

Becker to Fargo would be just

being on my own. I wasn’t

with my parents; I wasn’t with

people I knew. It was kind of

a fresh start I guess.”

Veldman never failed to

mention the people that have

helped him throughout his

time at North Dakota State.

Coming to college in a new

city has potential to be diffi-

cult, but being on a team with

friends going through the

same thing never makes it any

harder.

“It made the transition eas-

ier, but whenever you have a

group of people sacrificing for

the same thing it makes every-

thing easier,” Veldman said.

“That’s what we did for five

years. Put everything aside

that you want to do, and

knowing that I’m sacrificing

along with everyone else for

something else, it’s so much

easier to do that than if you’re

on your own.”

Matt is pursuing a long-time

football dream of his at the

moment, but he realizes that

he can’t play football forever

and has other dreams -- big

dreams -- to run down. “I want

to work for a Fortune 500

company,” Veldman said with

a smile. “Preferably out of the

cities, but honestly I’d really

like to work overseas. Europe

or anywhere like that would

definitely be my dream job.”

It wouldn’t be the first time

that Veldman has traveled

abroad, so some familiarity

would be there for him. “I

went to Italy with my family

my senior year of high

school,” Matt said. “We went

to Rome and a smaller town

south of Rome. This last

spring break I went on a trip

through the school, and we

went to Berlin, Krakow,

Poland and Luda fest.”

The future is wide open for

Matt in terms of the rest of his

life, but for now, it’s time for

him to chase down his biggest

dream, a dream that he’s had

since he was a small child:

Play in the NFL. Recently

signing with an agent, Veld-

man will be heading to Indi-

anapolis to prepare for the

combine and to start the next

chapter in his life.

In what turned out to be a

banner year for the North

Dakota State football team,

the Argus Leader's Terry Van-

drovec might have put it best

when he tweeted in December

that the Bison won with a lot

of good players, but not many

superstars that would neces-

sarily garner the national spot-

light come time for the

All-America nominations.

That said, plenty of Bison

players have found themselves

on the award lists across the

media sphere, recognized for

the part they played on a

championship team.

Interestingly enough (and

deservedly so), the biggest

name on the national scene has

come from the least spoken-of

group on the field, that being

senior tackle Paul Cornick.

Cornick's honor’s started

with a first-team AP All-

American title, and has been

featured on several other All-

American lists, notably those

of the Walter Camp Football

Foundation and Beyond

Sports College Network.

Cornick was also named na-

tional Offensive Lineman of

the Year by College Sporting

News, and on Wednesday was

announced as a participant in

the 2012 Players All-Star

Classic, a game featuring

some of the top college play-

ers from around the country

that allows those involved to

showcase their game in front

of NFL scouts.

Cornick is currently rated as

a top-20 offensive line

prospect by ESPN.com, and

holds some chance of being a

potential draftee in April.

The other big-name star has

been on the defensive side as

sophomore corner Marcus

Williams has done his best to

keep pace with the lofty bar

set by Cornick. Also a first-

team AP All-American,

Williams' electric play on the

field has garnered the College

Football Performance Awards

Defensive Back Award in ad-

dition to a Fabulous Fifty

nomination by CSN.

Williams' partner in crime,

freshman corner Christian

Dudzik, was honored on the

College Sports Journal's FCS

All-Freshman team, and the

online authority's All-Ameri-

can team also featured (in ad-

dition to Williams and

Cornick) senior tight end Matt

Veldman. Senior linebacker

Preston Evans was named the

group's Playoff Most Valuable

Player, an award that seven

other Bison were in contention

for.

Some of the successes were

not solely had on the field,

though, as Veldman also

picked up a spot on the FCS

Athletic Directors Association

Academic All-Star Team. The

list highlights those student-

athletes that excel in the class-

room, which Veldman

achieved with a 3.53 cumula-

tive GPA.

The regular season All-Mis-

souri Valley Football Confer-

ence Team was similarly

stuffed with Bison names, in-

cluding four on the first all-

conference team in Cornick,

Williams, defensive end Coul-

ter Boyer and linebacker Chad

Willson. Five second-teamers

were also Bison: Veldman, of-

fensive lineman Austin

Richard, kicker Ryan Jastram,

safety Colton Heagle and re-

ceiver/return man Ryan Smith.

Receiver Warren Holloway,

quarterback Brock Jensen and

punter Matt Voigtlander were

included as honorable men-

tions on the all-conference

lists, as well.

Finally, head coach Craig

Bohl pulled in multiple honors

for guiding the team to a 10-1

regular-season record and na-

tional championship, notably

the Coach of the Year Awards

from the MVFC and Field-

Turf. Bohl was also a finalist

for the Eddie Robinson Award,

which identifies the top coach

in the country.

Meet-A-Bison: Matt VeldmanTravis Jones

Sports Editor

Image courtesy of gobison.com Matt Veldman ended his college football career with the national title winagainst Sam Houston State. From here, he hopes to work for a Fortune 500company, though he wouldn’t mind continuing on with football.

NSDU players, team ladenwith accomplishments

Kyle Roth

Staff Writer

Bison middle of pack at halfway pointNorth Dakota State women find themselves in tie for fourth place in Summit League

Travis Jones

Sports Editor

Matt Severns | The Spectrum Dani DeGagne passes the ball to Hannah Linz during a game againstSouth Dakota State. The Bison women have some work to do before Sum-mit League tournament play.

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1 2 F r i d a y, J a n u a r y 2 7 , 2 0 1 2 | T h e S p e c t r u m

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Located in the basementof the Memorial Union

701-231-7425

Providing a variety of services for both men & women

The North Dakota State

men’s basketball team will

travel to IPFW and Oakland

this week to try to improve

their 6-3 conference record,

which is currently good

enough for a third place spot

in the Summit League halfway

through the league schedule.

The Bison have had their ups

and downs so far this year but

have been playing well

enough for a chance at a very

high seed in the upcoming

tournament.

The Golden Eagles of Oral

Roberts were selected as the

preseason favorite in the Sum-

mit League, and have proved

why so far as they are cur-

rently sitting in first place with

an undefeated 10-0 record.

The Golden Eagles are led by

Dominique Morrison’s 20

points per game and Michael

Craion’s 11.5 points and 6.5

rebounds per game. Oral

Roberts will need to test their

skills come early February,

however, as they will have

their perfect record challenged

by road visits to the second

and third placed teams in the

conference.

Sitting in second place in the

Summit League standings is

South Dakota State with their

8-1 league record. South

Dakota State is fresh off a big

overtime win against the

Bison and will look to ride that

momentum toward the Sum-

mit League tournament. Nate

Wolters of the Jackrabbits is

currently second in the league

in scoring with his 21 points

per game, and will look to lead

his team throughout the re-

mainder of the Summit

League schedule and into the

tournament.

Oral Roberts, SDSU and

NDSU have all pulled away in

the conference early on, but

sitting in the middle of the

pack, ready to make their

move are Western Illinois,

Oakland and Southern Utah,

all of who have a 5-5 confer-

ence record and will be look-

ing to finish the season strong.

Western Illinois missed the

Summit League tournament

last year, but thanks to Terrel

Parks, Obi Emagano and

Ceola Clark, all of whom are

averaging around 13 points

per game, the Leathernecks

look like they are ready to

compete in Sioux Falls come

March.

The Golden Grizzlies of

Oakland have underachieved

so far this season as they were

predicted to finish second in

the league in the preseason,

and even made an early ap-

pearance in the mid-major top

25. Despite being home to the

league’s leading scorer in Reg-

gie Hamilton, the Golden

Grizzlies are sitting in the

middle of the pack and will

look toward their experience

to get back on track for the end

of the year.

Southern Utah has been a

surprise so far this season as

they were picked to fall to the

bottom of the conference and

missed the tournament last

year as well, but have been

playing well enough to put

them in a three way tie for

fourth place in the league. The

rest of the schedule will not be

any easier; however, as they

still have a matchup against

each of the top three teams in

the conference.

Rounding out the bottom of

the conference are IPFW and

UMKC, each holding a record

of 3-7, and South Dakota and

IUPUI, each sitting at 2-8 in

conference play. Only eight

teams will make the Summit

League tournament in March,

so the remaining games will

be critical for these four teams

as they will all be fighting for

those last two spots.

Just the same as nearly

every sports fan across the

country, I’m saddened by

the death of former Penn

State head coach Joe Pa-

terno. All the coverage and

media attention that it’s re-

ceived would normally spell

overkill for me, and I’d tune

my color television to an-

other channel, but not this

time. This time I sat,

watched and learned.

I grew up a Minnesota

Golden Gopher fan. A large

chunk of my family is from

there, and I’ve had the

chance to see them play a

few times as well. I knew

the Big 10; I knew college

football so I obviously knew

who Joe Paterno was and

what he meant to the sport,

because it’s tough to say col-

lege football without having

his name come up.

I don’t write a column

about national sports very

often, but I couldn’t help it

for this one. Joe Paterno is

the greatest college football

coach of all time. It’s not

necessarily because of the

success he’s had on the field,

which he’s had a lot of, but

it’s what I’ve learned this

last week about the man he

was off the field that really

made me grow to appreciate

him.

I was watching ESPN on

Tuesday night, and I

watched Tom Rinaldi’s in-

terview with Paterno’s son,

Jay, four times that night. I

read every article I could

find, and I soaked in every

bit of color television that

showed a picture of State

College and the scene in

front of his statue by the sta-

dium.

15,000 tickets sold out in

eight minutes for a public

service for JoePa. Eight

minutes.

Like I said earlier, he was

more than just a football

coach. He had a fund set up

into which he and his wife

donated a lot of money to a

library on the PSU campus

that bears the Paterno name

on the front of it. I was

watching ESPN, and to hear

what some of the players

were saying about this man

was astonishing. The one

that stuck out most to me

was a player saying that he

never had a father, until he

went to Penn State, and Pa-

terno treated him like a son.

I hope that everyone re-

members Paterno for what

he is and what he was. He is

a legend and will always be

one. He was a great football

coach and an even better

man. I can’t help but think

what it would have been like

to know him or to simply

shake hands with him, so I

will have to admire what he

did during his time on earth.

Bison in top tier of Summit League grindNDSU currently sitting in third place in league standings halfway through the conference

Matt Severns | The Spectrum Taylor Braun goes up to score against South Dakota State last weekend. Braun leads the team in points per game,averaging 16.2.

Ryan Bendixson

Contributing Writer

A legacy that’s not forgotten

Travis Jones

Sports Editor

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January 27, 2012

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Transcript of January 27, 2012