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Issue 40 - Feb. 7, 2011 - Grand Valley Lanthorn
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M onday, Februar y 7, 2011 w w w. l a n t h o r n . co m
STUDENT-RUN NEWSPAPER AT GRAND VALLEY
A A2 NewsA3 Opinion
B1 SportsB4 Laker LifeB5 Marketplace
What’s Inside
B
lanthorn.com
SPORTS | B2Laker LIfe | B6
Women’s basketball team puts up big points to defeat Saginaw Valley, Lake State
BOOgIe On DOWN
LanthornGrand Valley
Inside this issue
GVL / Eric Coulter
GVL Archive / Nicole Lamson
GVL / Eric Coulter
Rent-A-Rowers battle blizzard
GVSU rowers waded through waist-deep snow Wednesday to clear campus from 16 inches of snow. The rowers earn money to cover their fees by shovelling snow.
Best Coast and Wavves in concertBest Coast and Wavves will play Ladies Literary Club with No Joy Monday at 7 p.m. Tickets $20.
arts and entertainment
Play: Video of Men’s lacrosse vs. CentralLakers beat Central Chippewas 18-14 in season-opening game
See picture slideshow online
GVL / ongkick.com
View: Slideshow of Men’s Hockey vs. U of MLakers demolish the Wolverines’ Division II ACHA team in away game, keep No. 1 ranking
Blushing brides-to-be often feel on top of the world as they plan their weddings, but Grand Valley State University
alum April Chernoby isn’t content with a mere feeling. Chernoby, a self-described adventure junkie and world traveler, wants to get married on the top of the world,
literally and figuratively, in a North Pole wedding.
Chernoby and her fiancé, Paul Kiewiet, are competing for a trip for two to the North Pole in the Quark Expeditions “Blog Your Way to the North Pole” contest. The couple is currently in sixth place, with less than 100 votes separating them from a Top 5 spot. To be considered for the trip, they must be ranked fifth or better by Feb. 14.
“We are the Bonnie and Clyde
of adventure,” Chernoby said. “We live in the moment together. Discovering each more and more everyday and enjoying a life of discovery and adventure together. For example, we recently climbed the Willis Tower (formerly known as the Sears Tower in Chicago) for charity and last weekend did polar plunge together in Lake Michigan. The North Pole wedding would be the ultimate adventure, unique and
NOrTH POLe WeDDING
The process of determining the Student Senate budget is a difficult one, but the 2011-2012 budget has cultural groups at Grand Valley State University feeling excluded.
Every February, the Student Sen-ate sits down to divide its funds for the upcoming year. Last week, Student Senate drew up its 2011-2012 base budget proposal, allocating $1 million among various student organizations.
Student Senate has proposed to allocate $776,000 to councils, a 3.05-percent increase from last year. Councils saw funding increases across the board with the exception of the Cultural Council, which lost nearly 15 percent of its funding. The Cultural Council includes clubs such as the African Student Council, the Arab Culture Club, the International Club, the Latino Student Union and Russian Circle.
Alyssa Tierney, the Student Senate
Cultural Council funding cut proposedAt the end of 2010, Grand Valley State University became the first public university in Michigan to be certified by the Michigan Turfgrass Environmental Stewardship Program (MTESP).
The program aims to promote and communicate best management prac-tices, adopt pollution prevention prac-tices, control potential sources of pollu-tion, comply with environmental laws and regulations, and reduce waste, said GVSU grounds supervisor Ken Stan-ton.
“This is quite an accomplishment at the university level,” he said. “To do this project requires a large commitment of time and resources.
“We installed a new, more efficient fueling station, a space that is used for mixing and loading pesticides and a new equipment wash station that collects ex-cess grass clippings from our mowing equipment,” he continued. “All of these developments will help us to magnify sustainable efforts already taking place at Grand Valley.”
According to a GVSU press release, the completion of the certification pro-gram was responsible for the develop-ment of a campus-wide emergency re-sponse plan. The program also helped to identify and improve storm water man-agement practices, which have previ-
ously developed to help eliminate ero-sion of the ravines on the Allendale Campus.
“The certification really keeps with the university’s commitment to sus-tainability, so this is a natural fit for us,” Stanton said.
The MTESP certification typically takes three years, but GVSU was able to meet the requirements within a two-year period, said Tim Thimmesch, assistant vice president for Facilities Services.
“I was very pleased with the com-mitment on behalf of the Grounds De-partment and our Safety Management Department to complete this certifica-tion effort,” Thimmesch said. “Staff in these areas recognize the value of con-tinuously improving our grounds keep-ing efforts to enhance and protect our campus environment.”
For more information about GV-SU’s certification, contact Ken Stanton at [email protected].
GV receives environmental certification from MTESP
Facebook entrepreneurs Mark Zuckerberg and Eduardo Saverin did not expect their small idea to escalate into a global phenomenon with more than 400 million users on their website. However, what seemed like an overnight success was actually a fight to keep their idea alive.
The Michigan Small Business and Technology Development Center (MISBTDC) and Grand Valley State University’s Michigan Alternative and Renewable Energy Center (MAREC) have recently received grants to enhance efforts to help small business and entrepreneurship in West Michigan and across the state.
A small business involves few
Grants to boost small businesses growth
Courtesy photo / April ChernobyTaking the plunge: Paul Kiewiet (left) and April Chernoby pose on a Chicago beach before the Polar Bear Plunge in Lake Michigan. “Yes it was freezing and yes we are crazy,” she said.
GVL Archivegoing green: The Honors College (pictured) is one of several LeeD-certified buildings on campus, one of GV’s green initiatives.
GVL / Eric CoulterAllocations: GVSU Student Senate President Jared Martus speaks at President’s Ball.
GV alum competes for
By Samantha ButcherGVL Managing Editor
“We are the Bonnie and Clyde of adventure. We live in the moment together.”
-April Chernoby
GVSU alumSee North Pole, A2
By Molly Waite GVL Assistant News Editor
By Lauren ringger GVL Staff Writer
By Chelsea Stoskopf GVL Staff Writer
GV first certified public university in Michigan
See Budget, A2
See Business grant, A2
LAKer VICTOrY
BRIEFS!Workshop to discuss energy use for new library
The project team of the Mary Idema Pew Library Learning and Information Commons requests that members of the GVSU community participate in a two-day workshop to discuss reduction of energy use of the new building. The workshop, “Shaped By You,” will take place from 9 a.m. to noon and 1 p.m. to 3 p.m. today and tomorrow at the Seidman House.
The presentation will be given by representatives from Arup, an engineering, design, planning and project management firm that provides consulting services for all aspects of environmental building.
The project team hopes to reduce energy use in the new facility by 50 percent. The workshop will focus on the way students approach their work, how they currently achieve their tasks and how these actions will change in the new library building.
For more information, please contact Andrea Marz at [email protected] or email the GVSU Sustainable Community Development Initiative [email protected].
GV NEWS
1
Second annual Mr. GV pageant Wednesday
Almost a dozen male contestants will compete in the 2011 Mr. GV pageant with a $100 cash prize for the winner. The pageant will take place at 9 p.m. on Wednesday at in the Cook-DeWitt Center. Each contestant will take part in the opening number with introductions, on-stage questions in casual wear, a swimwear competition and questions in formal wear.
Support your choice by raising money for your favorite contestant before the show and during the intermission. The contestant that raises the most money will receive the people’s choice award.
The event will also include performances from Miss Grand Valley Krystal Wilson and Move to the Beat. Admission costs $4, and all proceeds will to go help the Children’s Miracle Network and the Miss Grand Valley organization.
For more information, contact Amy Post at [email protected] or Krystal Wilson at [email protected].
2
Volume 45, Number 40
Grand Valley Lanthorn
The Grand Valley Lanthorn is published twice-weekly by Grand Valley State University students 62 times a year. One copy of this newspaper is available free of charge to any member of the Grand Valley Community. For additional copies, please contact our busi-ness offices.POSTMASTER: Please send form 3579 to Grand Valley Lanthorn, 0051 Kirkhof, Grand Valley State University, Allendale, MI, 49401
At the Lanthorn we strive to bring you the most accurate news possible.
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unforgettable.”Kiewiet and Chernoby’s
relationship has taken them on an unlikely adventure around the globe, but it began with a Craigslist transaction. Cher-noby purchased a “Phantom of the Opera” ticket from Kiewiet over the website. Sparks flew.
“Prior to the show we de-cided to meet for dinner so I could get the ticket I had bought,” she said. “Following dinner we attended the musical together, sitting next to each other during the show. After-ward we’d both said we’d like to meet each other again. Thus the love story began.”
The trip takes place from June 22 to July 8, and the cou-ple is eyeing a July 4 wedding date. If they win, they plan to dress as Santa Claus and Mrs. Claus and pass out elf hats to other passengers aboard their Russian icebreaker ship.
By day, Chernoby is an eighth-grade history teacher in Belding, Mich., but Chernoby is anything but a small-town girl. With a goal of travelling to all seven continents before she turns 30, the North Pole wed-
ding would be another notch in Chernoby’s belt. It would also place her on both ends of the world within eight months
- Chernoby spent time in De-cember in Antarctica with the same travel company who is hosting the contest.
“This trip would be particu-larly unique for me because having just returned from Ant-arctica over Christmas I would be at the top and bottom of the world in one year,” she said. “Combined, we’ve traveled to over 30 countries and six con-tinents.”
Chernoby said the support from students, teachers and families from Belding has been incredible. If she wins, Cher-noby plans to bring a piece of Belding with her to the top of the world.
“I created a huge banner with the Belding Area Schools logo that students and staff have been signing after they vote,” she said. “There are over a hundred signatures on it so far. If I win I’ll bring the sign with me to the North Pole to be photographed and hung in the school.”
GVSU students have also been extremely supportive, Chernoby said, as she has
earned a reputation on campus as “the North Pole girl.”
“At first, most people are shocked when I ask if they will vote for me to get married on the North Pole,” she said. “The shock is usually followed by a huge smile and words of en-couragement and congratula-tions.”
Chernoby and Kiewiet have launched a social me-dia campaign in the hopes of making their dream a reality, implementing YouTube and Facebook to spread the word to friends, families and strangers. If the couple does not win, they are eyeing some place warmer - but still unconventional - for their summer wedding.
“Winning this trip would be the wedding of a lifetime,” she said. “I believe we would be the third couple in history to get married on the North Pole. It would also mean starting an exciting new life together, set-ting an expectation of contin-ued adventure and discovery for the rest of our lives.”
To vote for the couple, visit www.northpolewedding.com. Voting will continue through Feb. [email protected]
North Polecontinued from page A1
vice president of Finance, said Student Senate takes several factors into consideration when proposing a budget, like how much was allocated to the coun-cil last year, how much remains the council’s budget, how many requests the council forwarded to the Appropriations Commit-tee and how many active orga-nizations are within the council.
“The main reason Cultural is being cut is because they still have $31,000 of unused money left in their budget,” Tierney said. “Last year they were a re-ally active council but this year they haven’t been nearly as ac-tive as before, and $31,000 is a lot remaining in the budget, which is why we are cutting it.”
However, cultural groups ar-gue that the cut is undeserved.
“The Cultural Funding Board isn’t too pleased,” said Sandra Braden, president of the Arab Culture Club. “We use all of our resources really well, our
events are really popular and I feel like it has helped make GVSU more diverse, and I don’t know why people are try-ing to change that.”
In contrast to the Cultural Council decrease, the Honor-ary/Professional Council, which includes groups such as Kappa Kappa Psi, Rho Lambda, Order of Omega and the Omicron Del-ta Kappa National Leadership Honor Society, is proposed to receive a 150-percent increase.
Under the current budget proposal, the council to receive the largest amount of money is the Sports and Recreation Coun-cil, which consists of clubs such as Ballroom Dancing, Dance Team, Lacrosse, Pompon, Ice Hockey, Wrestling and Tennis Club. These organizations are proposed to receive $358,000 in funding, a 2.29-percent increase from last year.
Student Senate will vote to finalize the budget at 4:30 p.m. Thursday in Room 2204 of Kirkhof Center.
Budgetcontinued from page A1
employees, small market share and often relationship-based clients while an entrepreneur is someone who, hoping to create a successful business, can take an idea and form a business strategy around it.
Headquartered at GVSU, MISBTDC received a $1.6 million grant that will allow it to hire nine new finance and strategy specialists to work with the existing Manufactur-ing Assistant Team (MAT) and the Growth Group Team (G2), which offers no-cost counseling
services to Michigan manufac-turers, said Jennifer Deamud, MISBTDC associate state di-rector.
“The new staff will help small manufacturers to diver-sify in new industries and to re-duce their automotive reliance,” she said. “The specialists will double the work force of high-level assistance throughout the state and will focus on small businesses in the growth phase, in strategic alignment with the state of Michigan’s initiatives.”
Arn Boezaart, MAREC di-rector, said with small business and entrepreneurships forming the backbone of our workforce,
many people look at this busi-ness sector for possible job op-portunities because manufac-turing has had such great job loss.
MAREC received a $100,000 grant to advance new business developments and help entrepreneurs im-prove MAREC’s physical fa-cility – five small businesses – strengthen it’s marketing and promotion, provide start-up capital to help the small com-panies and hire paid personnel who have the ability to counsel the small business owners in subjects such as marketing and promotion, finance and busi-ness strategies, Boezaart said.
Kyle Denning, a 2008 GVSU graduate who majored in international business and finance, now works for a small business called Viability, LLC, which focuses on providing sustainable energy through re-newable resources. Denning said unless a person has a real passion for the small business industry, he does not recom-mend going into it because
most fail.“It is
extraordi-narily hard to make it work,” he said. “Re-m e m b e r that only one thing matters in any busi-ness, es-pecially small: cash flow. Pay attention to it to the penny. So many people with great ideas, work ethic, etc. fail because they do not understand how to follow the true cash flows of the business.”
Denning said being an en-trepreneur and running a small business is a huge and always present challenge.
“Don’t read the stories about Steve Jobs, Bill Gates, Michael Dell and Mark Zuckerberg and get excited thinking it was easy,” Denning said. “These guys had great a great work ethic, intelligence and personal-ity, but just as important was the timing and luck side of it. Suc-cess is always another week, month or year away for all of us, but remember that you have to survive today to get there.”
Business grantscontinued from page A1
Selections from the 2011- 2012 Student Senate Base Budget Proposal
2010-2011 2011-2012 % Change
Cultural $88,000.00 $75,000.00 -14.77%
Honorary/Professional $2,000.00 $5,000.00 150%
Interfaith $6,000.00 $7,000.00 16%
Performing Arts $20,000.00 $23,000.00 15%
Service and Advocacy $32,000.00 $32,000.00 0%
Special Interest $24,000.00 $30,000.00 25%
Sports $350,000.00 $358,000.00 2.29%
Greek Life Council $25,000.00 $30,000.00 20%
Media Council $56,000.00 $66,000.00 17.86%
Traditions $35,000.00 $ 40,000.00 14.29%
Athletic Entry Fee $10,000.00 $0.00 -100%
you should know....BUDGET BASICS
Courtesy photo / April ChernobyArctic adventure: Chernoby poses on Spigot’s Peak in Antarctica on Christmas morning on a Quark Expeditions trip. Chernoby hopes support from GVSU students will help send her to the North Pole for her wedding.
BOEZAART
NewsGRAND VALLeY
Grand Valley LanthornMonday, February 7, 2011A2
[email protected] Valley Lanthorn
Monday, February 7, 2011 A3
When Hollywood isn’t busy making remakes of old movies or film adap-tations of original novels or comic books, it generally looks to real-life history in search of inspiration for the next box office blockbuster. Think about what’s playing in theaters at this very moment: “The Fighter,” starring Mark Wahlberg, follows the life of former boxer “Irish” Micky Ward, who in real life, won the WBU Light Welterweight championship in 2000 as depicted in the film, and “The King’s Speech,” starring Colin Firth, followed King George VI in his quest to overcome a stammering problem with the help of unorthodox speech therapist Lionel Logue (Geoffrey Rush).
And then there’s “Justin Bieber Never Say Never 3D.” Yeah ... that’s a thing.
Inevitably Hollywood will get its hands on collective accounts from the events in Egypt and repackage it into a feature-length film, but from what perspective will such a movie be told? It could document Egyptian Presi-dent Hosni Mubarak in his rise to power, gradual corruption and inevitable downfall, or it could follow a group of Egyptian citizens in their outrage and action as a result of Mubarak’s leadership. It could focus on the social media aspect in how Egyptians organized their protests through Facebook and Twit-ter before the government shut down Internet and text messaging services, or it could highlight the former conditions of Egypt and the Tunisian influence that dispelled the notion of fear among its people, culminating in the country’s own version of the “Million-man March.”
It could even follow journalists in their determination to get the story out of the country despite police and army seizure of cameras and recorders and numerous attacks by pro-Mubarak protesters (for reference, see Anderson Cooper).
When everything is done, the movie (let’s call it “Day of Departure”) will be released and, depending on casting, will make those involved very wealthy and very respected among the film industry, but whether or not it’ll be a rivet-ing tale of a nation’s collective march for freedom, a dramatic account of said nation’s collapse or its misguided effort to trade one oppressive party for an-other will be up to the U.S. government in how involved it wants to become in Egypt in the coming weeks.
Currently, Egyptian Vice President Omar Suleiman has promised changes to the country’s governmental structure after meeting with “key opposition groups,” according to CNN. Several key members of Mubarak’s regime have already resigned from their respective posts, but Mubarak has yet to vacate his position despite the protesters’ collective proclaimation that it would not leave Tahrir Square until he does so. He instead opted to announce his intention to not seek another term during the September elections. Among these “key opposition groups” are representatives from the Muslim Brother-hood and six young people who claim to represent a Jan. 25 movement that sparked the protests.
In the streets, there have been constant clashes between pro- and anti-Mubarak protesters, some of which have turned deadly. Many of the anti-Mubarak protesters, according to CNN, have never heard of the Jan. 25 group that claims to lead the revolution. There have also been more somber scenes where groups of Christians have gathered, surrounded by Muslims who formed a human wall to protect them from the Egyptian army, to honor those that lost their lives during the protest.
If Mubarak remains in power until September, then things could continue to deteriorate in the country. If he leaves immediately, then another oppres-sive leader could seize power and put the country in the same state it was in before, if not worse.
If the country is to survive and emerge from this crisis better than it was before, then it will need some form of U.S. involvement. The U.S. must take steps to ensure that the upcoming transition is one that represents the will of the Egyptian people as a whole and not the will of any single faction wishing to seize power. If nothing is done soon, then the world could lose one if its most historical countries.
Valentine’s Day criticism is for zombies
The events that have taken place over the past few weeks in Egypt will eventually be recorded, dramatized and turned into a full-length feature film, but the ending to this movie will be highly influenced by U.S. involvement.
“Yes. I feel as though the U.S. should be willing to help out other countries that are in need of assistance.”
Kelci SemrowJuniorSpecial educationPort Huron, Mich.
The revolution will eventually be televised
GVL STUDENT OPINION
YOUR INSIGHTS
EDITORIAL CARTOONEDITORIAL
GVL / Jacob Bowen
GVL OPINION POLICY
Valley VoteDo the benefits of social media
outweigh the risks?
Yes: 86% No: 14%
Should the Cultural Council’s budget be cut?
This week’s question: Vote online at Lanthorn.com
The ultimate goal of the Grand Valley Lanthorn opinion page is to stimulate discussion and action on topics of interest to the Grand Valley Community.
Student opinions do not reflect those of the Grand Valley Lanthorn.
The Grand Valley Lanthorn welcomes reader viewpoints and offers three vehicles of expression for reader opinions: letters to the editor, guest columns and phone responses.
Letters must include the author’s name and be accompanied by current picture identification if dropped off in person. Letters will be checked by an employee of the Grand Valley Lanthorn.
Letters appear as space permits each
issue. The limit for letter length is one page, single spaced.
The editor reserves the right to edit and condense letters and columns for length restrictions and clarity.
All letters must be typed.The Grand Valley Lanthorn will not be
held responsible for errors that appear in print as a result of transcribing handwritten letters or e-mail typographic errors.
The name of the author may be withheld for compelling reasons.
The content, information and views expressed are not approved by nor necessarily represent those of the university, its Board of Trustees, officers, faculty and staff.
“I don’t think so. At most give advice though the media, but no major involvement because we have enough of our own issues to deal with already.”
Kellen YoungPost baccalaureateUndeclaredEscanaba, Mich.
“I think the United States should help out as much as they can without interfering too much. I don’t know much about the issue, though.”
Shannon YoungJuniorRadiation therapyEscanaba, Mich.
“Yes, the United States should have a role in the Egyptian conflict. If a country has the military strength to control ‘chaos’ and ‘keep the peace,’ then they should be involved. It’s mostly like a ‘help the society’ mission.”
Adrianna GibsonSophomoreBiologyDetroit, Mich.
“Yes. The United States seems to always have the habit of sticking its nose in other people’s business. As desperate as the Egyptian people are getting, in my opinion it’s a cry for help.”
Asia ClaytonSophomoreInformation SystemsDetroit, Mich.
Editorial Page Board
Editor in Chief Business ManagerManaging EditorNews Editor
Emanuel JohnsonKim Sander
Samantha ButcherAnya Zentmeyer
The student-run newspaper of Grand Valley State University
Valentine’s Day is just one week away, and I figured I would take this opportunity to talk about it, despite the fact that anyone could tell you that I am the least romantic person ever. Maybe even less so than zombies, but that’s a topic for another column.
But here comes my obligatory disclaimer: I don’t hate affection. This isn’t some rant about how all relationships are terrible or that couples need to stop shoving their love in other peoples’ faces or that some boy-friends need to stop being so cool because it makes me look substandard in comparison.
Moving on…My point is that our
generation has grown up in a world where love is saturated in literally
everything we see, hear, consume, what have you:
The only shows more customary on televi-sion than ones about geographically-specific police forces are the numerous programs centered on romance.
The only subject tackled in popular songs more than dancing (whipping hair back and forth, nodding heads like ‘yeah,’ etc.) is love - ei-ther gaining it or losing it (and subsequently keying naughty words into cars).
So how are non-romantics such as myself supposed to survive in a society where everything is bound by the laws of Cupid? Shouldn’t there be something else people care about? Why can’t people write songs about something meaningful besides love, like playing Jenga?
It’s likely that it is already too late to make any real changes in the world. People love “love” and the idea of be-ing in love. The Beatles
say it’s all you need while we’re all living in our yellow submarine. (Evidently LSD only had an effect on writing one of those two songs…)
This notion, while entirely vast and indefin-able, ultimately boils down to the necessity for human connectedness. And while Valentine’s Day may seem like a huge marketing ploy by the greeting card conglomerates, much like Halloween with the costume industry and Columbus Day with the Native American-slaugh-ter industry (which we can all agree is in really bad taste these days), I believe that all of this so-called superficiality of the holiday is actually done out of an attempt to find this connection.
The chocolates and the flowers and the cards tossed around on Valentine’s Day are not bought simply for the sake of buying them (we’re college students, and we don’t have the
money to haphazardly blow on unnecessary presents). They’re bought for what we’ve been told they represent. We give metaphors on Valentine’s Day, regardless of how well your fourth-grade teacher taught you poetic techniques.
What do disappointed liars say? “It’s the thought that counts,” and behind all the artificial-ity of paper hearts and ensemble movies starring every rom-com actor, there is at least some sentiment behind most Valentine’s Day ex-changes.
Therefore, despite all of the criticism us unromantic people have about the holiday, none of it should matter if you have the brains to put a little thought in it.
Strange… I guess I‘m still stuck on the zombie thing…[email protected]
Chris Slattery
GVL Columnist
Should the U.S. have a role in the Egyptian conflict?
see LANTHORN.COMto view “What makes a bigot”By Kevin VanAntwerpen
LETTER TO THE EDITORDear Editor,
While I enjoyed your article which highlighted the February 3, 1959 deaths of three Rock ‘n’ Roll legends. Your omission of certain facts relating to your thesis is objectionable. You write that “In 1959, claiming Feb. 3 “The Day the Music Died” likely captured the sadness in the hearts of music lovers, but it stopped there.” This statement is historically inaccurate and demonstrates a lack of knowledge about the event and music history in general.
I think you would be hard pressed to find anyone in 1959 who referred to the deaths of Buddy Holly, Ritchie Valens and J.P. Richardson as “The Day the Music Died”. That title was not given to the event until 1971 when Don McLean paid tribute to these legendary rock pioneers
with his hit single “American Pie”. This incidentally is a fact noted in the first paragraph of the Wikipedia entry regarding the plane crash.
I understand that you wanted to say that music didn’t really die in February of 1959 and I am sure that even Don McLean was aware of that in 1971 when he released his musical tribute to these 3 rockers. The fact is the title was part of a tribute to these men and is important for that reason. There are numerous expressions that we use to describe the famous, John Wayne was the Duke, Roy Rogers was the King of the Cowboys, Elvis was the King of Rock ‘n’ Roll, and Michael Jackson was the King of Pop. None of these people were royalty, but who cares.
The point really is this, using this tragedy to point out that
musicians still make money even after death is somehow offensive. The fact is any death takes from us something that means something to our humanity – Michael Jackson was a great dancer who people enjoyed, Randy Rhodes was a great rock guitarist, Stevie Ray Vaughn was a great blues guitarist, and Duane Allman was a great rock guitarist – The reason that February 3, 1959 is called “The Day the Music Died” is because humanity lost a part of itself and we want to commemorate that — so please don’t cheapen it.
-Andy Sanford-Senior - Philosophy
Want us to publish your thoughts? Email us at
NewsGRAND VALLeY
Grand Valley LanthornMonday, February 7, 2011
Anya Zentmeyer, News [email protected]
A4
Although he can quote “The Princess Bride” from start to finish and plays a mean hand of poker, what Patrick Johnson really wants to do is teach Grand Valley State University students how to become better writers.
Starting this July, Johnson will take over as the new assistant director of the Frederick Mei-jer Center for Writing and Michigan Authors. At his new job, Johnson will be responsible for training the center’s more than 55 tutors and ad-ministrating the tutors’ schedules. He will also help professors implement the Writing Center’s services in their classes.
Johnson received his undergraduate degrees in advertising and English and his master’s degree in rhetoric and composition, all from Washington State University. While studying at Washington State, Johnson began working at the university writing center, his “sanctuary,” and he continued working at the center after the university hired him as an English professor. Af-ter about two years, Johnson became a writing
center administrator.“I feel as though I’ve done what I can do (at
Washington State), and Grand Valley is a very exciting school and has a great writing center,” Johnson said. “So when the job listing and the opportunity came about, I thought that it would be foolish of me not to apply for it. It was right up my alley and for a school that I respected, and so I was really flattered that they seemed to want me as much as I wanted to work for them.”
Johnson, who finishes his Washington State position in May, will begin working at the GVSU Writing Center on July 1.
“Pat’s a great fit for this position because he has so much experience as a writing teacher and in writing centers,” said Writing Center Director Ellen Schendel. “…Pat’s experiences in writing center administration are broad. He’s trained and supervised tutors, developed writing center programming, participated in assessment of the center’s services, and coordinated online tutor-ing. He’ll bring new ideas to our busy center as well as years of experience in working with stu-dents, tutors, and faculty to ensure our services meet the needs of writers across the university.”
While Johnson said he initially looks for-
ward to simply learning the hows and whys of GVSU’s system before introducing any chang-es, he said eventually he would like to explore the possibility of further developing the Writing Center’s online tutoring program.
In addition to preparing for his new position, Johnson, who grew up in Maryland and Con-necticut, is also prepping for the harsh Midwest-ern winters.
“In Washington, we do pretty well for snow,
but people who live in, like, Iowa tell me I haven’t seen anything yet,” he said. “So I’ll be getting used to the weather in some ways.”
In his spare time, Johnson enjoys writing, reading, video games and blogging about mov-ies. His favorite films include “Fight Club,” “A Clockwork Orange” and “The Princess Bride.”
Johnson is also an accomplished poker play-er and won a trip to play at a World Poker event in Aruba a few years ago. He also runs an online comic strip with a longtime friend at Washing-ton State, though he joked that his artistic abili-ties are not as up to snuff as his poker skills.
“I used to be an artist and do a lot of drawing, but that kind of went by the wayside after I saw how much better other people are than I am,” Johnson said.
Although he may not be the next Picasso, his future Writing Center co-workers are confident Johnson will make his mark on GVSU.
“We’d like to continue developing innova-tive programming, and hiring Pat will ensure we can do that,” Schendel said.
Writing Center welcomes new assistant director
Grand Valley State University intro-duced its first living and learning com-munity in 1990 with the Honors Col-lege, a modest group that shared a floor in Robinson Living Center. Twenty years later, on the cusp of a new de-cade, GVSU has introduced three new program themes to the living and learn-ing communities in a joint effort by the Division of Student Services, Housing and Residence Life, the College of Lib-eral Arts and Sciences and the Brooks College of Interdisciplinary Studies.
Colleen Lindsay-Bailey, assistant director of Housing and Residence Life, said each theme aims to bring students with a common academic in-terests together to help enrich their aca-demic experiences.
Women In Science Engineer-ing (WISE) and Pre-Law Residential Living (PERL) are among the newer
residential learning themes, which Di-rector of Housing and Residence Life Andy Beachnau said tend to be faculty or program driven by student demand.
WISE supports women interested in the science and engineering field while the PERL community brings together students of any major interested in at-tending law school or pursuing a career in law.
Mark Richards, faculty advisor of PERL, said he regularly holds office hours at PERL to give students the op-portunity to get advice on courses and preparation for law school. Events rel-evant to the living centers’ themes are held often as well. Richards, Senior Academic Advisor Caroline Cascini from the CLAS Advising Center and Office of Fellowships’ Director Aman-da Cuevas held an advising event about globalization and graduate schools at-tended by about 40 students.
Sharing space with PERL on Mur-ray’s first floor, the International House opened its doors in August of 2010 as
GVSU’s most recent living and learn-ing community with political science professor Polly Diven as the adviser of the globally based community. Five of its members are international students.
“The others students are studying international topics: international rela-tions, international business, modern languages, political science,” she said.
Faculty from the aforementioned departments also hold regular office hours in the International House and offer tutoring services to residents, in-formation sessions on study abroad, grad school and law school and intern-ships.
“Grouping students along a com-mon theme or curriculum increase stu-dent persistence and retention,” Beach-nau said.
He added students who participate in residential learning communities tend to report a higher institutional sat-isfaction and a higher graduation rate.
“I can’t think of any disadvantages to a free program that helps students connect to the university and connect to other students with the same inter-ests,” Lindsay-Bailey said.
Living and learning communities unite disciplines under one roof
Courtesy photo / Heather CoarResidence life: Students in the International House in Murray Living Center study. Living and learning centers like International House unite students in a supportive atmosphere.
Themed communities on campus unite students with common interests, goals, majors
By Chelsea Lane GVL Staff Writer
JOHNSON
“I feel as though I’ve done what I can do (at Washington State), and Grand Valley is a very exciting school and has a great writing center.”
By Anya Zentmeyer GVL News Editor
see LANTHORN.COMto view the video
>>EGYPTIAN PROTESTS
Courtesy photo / totallycoolpix.com
That old saying is true: there is a first time for everything.
It was just a scrimmage, but Satur-day’s matchup against Trine Univer-sity was a historic day for the Grand Valley State University men’s la-crosse team. The face-off marked the first time GVSU competed against an NCAA varsity team in its history.
Down by four goals with just more than seven minutes to go, the Lakers stormed back to capture a dramatic 16-14 victory.
“Overall, the thing I’m most happy with was just the will to compete that
our team showed,” said Tim Murray, first-year GVSU head coach.
The Trine University lacrosse team is in the NCAA Division III while the GVSU lacrosse squad still remains a club team. Howev-er, Murray and his players will be the first to tell you that the work they put in is equal to any oth-er varsity team at GVSU.
“If we are not busting it in every single drill in practice then we are going to
run afterwards,” said senior m i d f i e l d -er Max Biel-by. “When we practice, it gets us in a rou-tine of playing fast, so we go
out there and a lot of teams that like to settle the ball down to start with aren’t ready for a team to come at you every single time they get the ball.”
The team’s hard work helps one understand the physicality of the sport, a significant part of the game. Lacrosse is played on a field with limited pad-ding and a metal shaft ranging from 40
to 72 inches long, depending on one’s position.
Senior goalie Alex Bill-ings believes this game
against an NCAA var-sity team really helped the team, even though it was the first game of the season. He also commented on the typical physical play.
“The most common sport
in which a collarbone or arm is broken is lacrosse , if that tells you any-thing,” Bill-ings said. “Agains t Trine, we came out hot and we were a little
flat in the middle and we finished real-ly strong. I don’t think we were intimi-dated at all by Trine.”
Though the match against Trine was just an exhibition, it helped coach-es and players measure where the team currently sits.
“There are certain teams that we will play throughout the course of the season that we can just overwhelm physically,” Murray said. “But the types of teams we have been playing, from a physicality standpoint, require another level of play. Our win was quite a statement and it’s a testament to our kids.”
Murray added that the competition the team faced in the fall helped raise the bar and also helped the team in-crease their stamina.
“If you don’t play a high caliber op-ponent in the fall it really forces a lot of negative habits that you think you get away with against the lesser teams,” he said. “But we play up against the Michigan’s of the world, where ev-ery mistake you make, they capitalize on; so it really forces you into a better brand of lacrosse.”
The team plans to continues prac-ticing like they are in game mode and hopes to build off their performance against Trine, their first NCAA varsi-ty opponent. The Lakers lacrosse team next plays against Butler University on Feb. 26 in the Laker Turf Building.
SportSGrAND VALLEY
Grand Valley LanthornMonday, February 7, 2011
Greg Monahan, Sports [email protected]
B
Gutsy overtime victoryMen’s basketball team rebounds from 13-point deficit to defeat Lake State 68-63
GVL Archive / Eric CoulterSecond-half rebound: Sophomore guard Tony Peters anticipates a pass from sophomore guard Breland Hogan, in a past game. The Lakers recovered from near defeat Thursday to beat Lake State.
GVL / Nicole LamsonFirst time: Sophomore Andrew Van Wylen goes for the ball during a scrimmage held Saturday in the Turf Building.
16-14 victory marks historic day for LakersComeback victory over Trine University is team’sfirst-ever win against an NCAA varsity opponent
SPORTS SHORTS
PRESIDENT HAASNAMED To NCAA D-II PRESIDENTS CoUNCIL
GLIAC STANDINGS
MeN’S BASkeTBALL:1. Findlay (12-1, 19-1) 2. Wayne State (12-2, 16-4)3. Ferris State (12-2, 16-5)4. Hillsdale (11-3, 17-3) 5. GVSU (11-3, 16-5) 6. Lake Superior State (7-7, 13-8)7. Michigan Tech (6-8, 11-10) 8. Saginaw Valley (6-8, 10-10)9. Ashland (5-8, 11-9) 10. Northwood (5-8, 8-14)11. Tiffin (4-10, 6-15)12. Northern Mich. (2-12, 7-14)13. Ohio Dominican (2-12, 5-15)14. Lake Erie (1-12, 5-15)
WOMeN’S BASkeTBALL:1. Michigan Tech (13-1, 18-2) 2. Lake Superior State (11-3, 14-6)3. GVSU (10-4, 17-4)4. Findlay (9-4, 14-6) 5. Ashland (8-5. 13-7)6. Hillsdale (7-7, 13-7)7. Tiffin (7-7, 13-8)8. Northwood (6-7, 10-9)9. Ferris State (6-8, 10-10) 10. Wayne State (6-8, 6-14) 11. Northern Mich. (4-10, 9-12)12. Saginaw Valley (4-10, 6-14)13. Ohio Dominican (3-11, 5-15)14. Lake Erie (2-11, 3-16)
By Zach SepanikGVL Staff Writer
Down 13 points late in the second half, the struggling Grand Valley State University men’s basketball team was staring defeat square in the face.
Playing without the assistance of senior K’Len Morris and juniors Alvin Storrs and Nick Waddell, the Lakers (16-5, 11-3 GLIAC) trailed on the road against a Lake Superior State University team (13-8, 7-7 GLIAC) looking to send GVSU back to Allendale with a third-straight conference loss after falling to Saginaw Valley State University on Thursday.
Much to the disappointment of the Lake State team and fans, GVSU senior Justin Ringler and junior James Thomas had other plans as they combined to score 23 of the team’s 29 second-half points to lead GVSU to a gutsy come-from-behind win in overtime with a final score of 68-63.
“This is one (game) that we really, really needed bad, and our guys really picked up the defensive intensity,” said GVSU head coach Ric Wesley, whose team recorded 10 consecutive defensive stops in the second half. “We’re not really worried about (losing) streaks – we’re just trying to figure out our team.”
The win kept GVSU within a game of first-place Ferris State but also served as a confidence builder for an injured team struggling to find chemistry on the fly.
After leading by nine midway through the first, the visiting Lakers went cold from the field and the home
Lakers took advantage, going on a 23-4 scoring run to end the first half. During the run, Lake State found consistent open looks from 3-point range, shown by its seven makes.
GVSU’s struggles against the 3-point shot were a big reason for the Lakers’ recent two-game slide, but as the second half came, so did GVSU’s perimeter defense.
“We called a timeout with around 10 minutes left and knew we had to step up the intensity,” said Thomas, who grabbed a career-high 11 rebounds in the win. “But we just wanted to pick it up, and after that we got the ten stops in a row.”
With 12:34 remaining in the game, GVSU found themselves in a 13-point hole, down 44-31. It was at that point when Ringler and Thomas - who led a 18-5 GVSU run late in the second half - took over the scoring and rebounding load.
“We just got to the point where we knew we had to go on a run or lose the game,” said Ringler, who scored 12 points to go along with his eight rebounds and five steals. “It came down to (defensive) stops, which helped us on offense to work the ball and get better shots.”
Following the run, GVSU suddenly had the confident Lake State team backpedaling after they tied the game at 49 with 2:20 left.
A Justin Williams’ jumper gave Lake State a two-point lead on the next possession, and a Breland Hogan turnover led to a Derek Billings’ lay-up to extend the deficit to four. But it was the all-around
play of Thomas that gave GVSU a chance at the end.“James was tremendous today, especially late in
the game when we needed him; he wanted the ball and he hit shots,” Wesley said.
Thomas’ late play proved important as he scored the last five GVSU points, including a pair of free-throws to tie the game at 54 with 12 seconds left.
“I knew we were down two, and we needed a bucket,” said Thomas, who paced GVSU with 18 points. “When I saw the lane open up, I put my body out there and I knew it was going to be a foul and I knocked the free throws down.”
GVSU will be on the road again next week as they travel to Ohio to face Ashland University on Thursday and Lake Erie College on Saturday.
By Brady FredricksenGVL Staff Writer
“We just got to the point where we knew we had to go on a run or lose the game.”
-Justin RinglerSenior forward
HOCKEY VICTORYLAKERS ToPPLE WoLVERINES B2
Grand Valley State University head football coach Matt Mitchell an-nounced the signing of 24 student-athletes on Thursday.
GVSU’s 2011 class will be com-prised of 24 players from Michigan (18), Indiana (4), Illinois (1) and Can-ada (1). Wideout Dan Hummel, the brother of Purdue basketball stand-out Robbie Hummel, had 26 catches for 481 yards and nine touchdowns in his senior year. Plainfield South High School (Plainfield, Ill.) running back Dondre Adams ran for 1,026 rush-ing yards and 12 touchdowns on 63 carries despite battling injuries in his final season. Quarterbacks Josh Harris (Detroit Country Day) and Jeff O’Brien (Stockbridge, Mich.) also join the team.
GVSU will open its 2011 season on Sept. 1 against Western Oregon Uni-versity.
FooTBALL SIGNING24 SIGNED FoR ‘11 RECRUITING CLASS
Grand Valley State Univer-sity President Thomas J. Haas was named to the NCAA Di-vision II Presi-dents Council on Feb. 4. Haas will represent the Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Confer-ence and the GVSU Lakers during his four-year term on the council, which will last until 2015.
The Presidents Council is the top-governing committee in Division II, or-ganized entirely of presidents or chan-cellors from Division II institutions with the task of legislative oversight and policy making for Division II athletics. The current chair is Drew Bogner, of Molloy College in New York.
GVL Archive / Nicole Lamson
GVL Archive
HAAS
SportSGrAND VALLEY
Grand Valley LanthornMonday, February 7, 2011B2
After being named the No. 1 team in the American Col-legiate Hockey Association’s Central Region on Friday af-ternoon, the Grand Valley State University men’s ice hockey team needed a weekend sweep against the University of Mich-igan’s club team to stay in the region’s top spot.
On Friday, the team almost lost it, and on Saturday, the Lakers showed why they’re No. 1.
The Wolverines gave GVSU all it could handle in the first game, twice forcing the Lakers to come back from one-goal deficits to force overtime. But just 36 seconds into the extra frame, senior Brad Keough scored the game-winner to seal the Lakers’ comeback win.
Saturday, the Lakers used a five-goal second period to turn a once-close game into a blow-out, skating away with a 9-1 victory and a weekend sweep.
“We didn’t play our best on Friday,” said senior forward CJ Pobur, who had a goal in Saturday’s 9-1 win. “We kind of played down to a team we should have beaten and got lucky to squeak out an over-time win. But (Saturday) we
knew that it’s time to get back to business, so we just came out and ran them out of the rink.”
Keough had four goals on the weekend, including Fri-day’s game-winner.
It was his second goal of the game, both of which came on the breakaway. Keough used the same move to beat Michi-gan goalie Sean Puranen on each occasion.
“The first goal I was go-ing to fake a shot and then go backhand, but then he opened up so I slid it in between his legs,” Keough said after Fri-day’s game. “But on the game-winner I was going five-hole the whole time.”
Friday’s game saw an unfa-miliar face in net for the Lak-ers as sophomore goalie Cutter Hurst got the start and the win, his third in four starts.
Hurst is the third goalie on the Lakers’ depth chart, but with senior goaltenders Grant Lyon and Josh LaVigne gradu-ating at the end of the year, Hurst is next in line. GVSU head coach Mike Forbes saw it as his time to get a shot against ACHA Division II talent.
“We’ve got three solid goal-tenders and I wanted to get Cutter in the lineup,” he said. “The other thing was to send a message for next year, to see if he was of capable playing against top competition, and I have every bit of confidence that he can do that.”
After a Michigan goal right off the faceoff to put the Wol-verines up 2-1 midway through
the second period, Hurst shut Michigan out for the rest of regulation and through the brief overtime session.
“That was a really, really tough spot that we put him in,” Forbes said. “I think he did a fantastic job and I couldn’t be happier for him that he got the win.”
Josh LaVigne was in net for the Lakers’ win on Saturday and made 14 saves on 15 shots for his sixth win.
Saturday’s game was played at Yost Ice Arena in Ann Arbor, a historic brick building built in 1923 that has been home to dozens of NHL players and is widely considered one of the top college rinks in the nation.
“It’s definitely a cool at-mosphere,” Pobur said. “We get the opportunity to play at a couple of Division I rinks. We play at Ferris State, (MSU’s) Munn Ice Arena, we play here, and it’s definitely a good time. It’s cool to play in a big rink where there’s a lot of history, so it’s a little extra motivation.”
The Lakers will look to up-hold their No. 1 ranking with two home games this weekend against the Miami University of Ohio. If the Lakers can hold on to the No. 1 spot over the last two weeks of their season, the team will get an automatic bid to nationals in San Jose, Calif.
Friday’s game against the Redhawks will begin at 8 p.m., followed by a 9 p.m. puck drop on Saturday.
Lakers sweep Michigan club hockey
By Greg MonahanGVL Sports Editor
Neither two conference opponents nor a 370-mile road trip could slow the Grand Valley State University women’s basketball team, which beat Saginaw Valley State University and Lake Superior State University this weekend to extend the team’s winning streak to four games.
The Lakers (17-4, 10-4 GLIAC) won two close games on the road, beating Saginaw Valley (6-14, 4-10 GLIAC) 66-61 on Thursday before a 76-71 win over Lake Superior (14-6, 11-3 GLIAC) on Saturday afternoon. The win against Lake Superior was made all the sweeter considering GVSU suffered a 79-72 overtime loss on Jan. 8 in the first meeting between the teams.
“We knew we kind of let one slip away last time we played them so we came out and knew we had to get the job done and get this one back,” said sophomore guard Briauna Taylor.
Taylor had 21 points, six rebounds and was 7-of-8 from the free-throw line in the win. Sophomore center Alex Stelfox added 16 points and
four rebounds, marking the 13th time this season she has scored more than 15 points in a game.
Despite the challenge of playing Lake Superior on the road in one of the most important conference matchups left on the schedule, Stelfox said the team was undeterred by the significance of the game.
“We just knew that we have four losses so far and we’ve learned our lesson from each and every one of them,” she said. “We’ve had a few tough losses and we’ve needed to bounce back. We can’t afford to lose any games right now and that was our mindset on this road trip.”
GVSU shot an even 50
percent from the floor but gained an edge in the game by converting on 24-of-31 from the charity stripe, good for 77.4 percent.
“We’ve been getting to the foul line by being really aggressive off of the dribble and making extra passes down low,” said GVSU head coach Janel Burgess. “I think if you
look at the last four games we’ve been successful in going to the free-throw line over 20 times in each of those games.”
With every game down the stretch growing in importance as the GLIAC tournament draws closer, the team will look to replicate the 2-0 start on its current four-game road trip, which will continue
with visits to conference foes Ashland University and Lake Erie College on Thursday and Saturday, respectively.
“When you go on the road at this point in the season you’re looking to get a win in every game,” Burgess said. “I like our team on the road and I really like our focus on the road. We don’t have any distractions when we’re traveling.”
The Lakers defeated Saginaw Valley State 66-61 on Thursday night to kick off the road trip. Taylor cited playing defensive basketball and continuing to get key stops late in the game in order to wrap up the second half of the trip against Ashland and Lake Erie.
“We have to come out with the same intensity that we had in the first two games,” she said. “We know that we can go out and repeat what we did in these two games and get the job done.”
GVL Archive / Eric CoulterSophomore sensation: Sophomore center Alex Stelfox charges through the defense towards the basket in a past game. Stelfox has scored more than 15 points in 13 games this season. She was one of several high scorer in weekend games marked by a high number of baskets from the foul line.
GVL Archive / Nicole LamsonThe mighty Lakers: The Laker team celebrates a goal in a past game.
“When you go on the road at this point in the season you’re looking to get a win in every game.”
-Janel Burgess
GVSU head coach
WOMEN’S BASKETBALL
MEN’S HOCKEY
Team holds on to No. 1 position, skates toward National Championships
One long trip, two big weekend wins for LakersLakers in midst of four-game win streak after wins over Lake Superior, Saginaw Valley
By Derek WolffAssistant Sports Editor
SportSGrAND VALLEY
Grand Valley LanthornMonday, February 7, 2011 B3
As the snowpocalypse dumped it’s snow down on Allendale Wednesday, most Grand Valley State University students were celebrating the snow day by hiding beneath extra blankets. But at 5 a.m., seven members of the univer-sity’s rowing team were wide-eyed with shovels in hand, fighting to clear the 16 inches of snow that smothered the Al-lendale Campus.
“The sidewalks – we couldn’t even see them,” said Robert DeWeerd, junior rower and leader of the shoveling team that morning. “We had to dig holes to find them.”
The rowers are part of the Rent-A-Rower program, which allows GVSU to hire members of the rowing club in order to help them pay their club dues.
“These are true student ath-letes with a strong work ethic,” said GVSU head rowing coach John Bancheri. “I’m not sur-prised that I’ve received calls saying they did an excellent job, given the situation.”
Mornings after snowfall, the Rent-A-Rowers are sched-uled to shovel between 5 and 8 a.m., and usually manage to clear up their allotted segments of campus in about two-and-
a-half hours, but the blizzard saw them working their entire scheduled three hours and only managing to clear the south side of the GVSU campus.
The rowers usually trans-port their equipment with motorized vehicles slightly larger than golf-carts, but “waist-high” drifts forced them to traverse a long dis-tance on foot, wasting much of their time, DeWeerd said.
Ken Stanton, grounds su-pervisor at GVSU, said that snow removal after the storm was difficult because of the unusually high volume that had fallen the night before.
“I’ve been here 14 winters and I’ve never seen an 18-inch snowstorm,” Stanton said. “We had a 15-inch snowstorm back in the December of 2000. What makes it more difficult is the amount of snow and the time it takes to clean it up.”
The rowers were relieved by student employees at 8 a.m. Stanton said extra stu-dent workers were called in throughout the day, and it took until Wednesday evening to re-turn the grounds to “function-al” order. Grounds employees were still removing snow in some areas of the school on [email protected]
Rent-a-rowers battle through the blizzard
If the Grand Valley State University women’s tennis team felt any pressure to live up to its highest-ever national ranking, they didn’t show it.
The No. 15 Lakers began the 2011 season by dominating Bellarmine University on the road Friday, coming away with an 8-1 win against the Knights. The team followed up on Saturday with the University of Indianapolis, winning six singles matches as well as three doubles to sweep the competition, bringing the team’s weekend win total to a convincing 15 wins in 16 matches against Indianapolis and Bellarmine.
The GVSU women traveled with the men’s team to Indianapolis to play three games in three days. The men beat Indianapolis 6-3 on Saturday. Both teams competed on Sunday, but scores were not available at press time.
Seniors Chelsea Johnston and Darylann Trout are ranked No. 2 in the Midwest region and No. 12 nationally as a doubles team. The pair took home two victories defeating Indianapolis 8-5 and following up with an 8-3 win over Bellarmine.
Johnston said the team knows that to keep its national ranking, it will need to play its best during each match and into the national tournament at the end of the season.
“It’s really exciting, but it also just means that we have to go out there and perform every single time we step on the court to ensure that we maintain that ranking,” Johnston said. “We’d like to host nationals in May – that’d be a lot
of fun. We did that one year so it would be great to do it again and make it as far as we can in the NCAA tournament.”
The tight-knit team is led by a small group of seniors that Johnston said work hard to be leaders for the younger players as the season progresses.
“We’re pretty much together on and off the court,” she said. “It’s fun to see them starting out on the team, and all the seniors work together that we keep the rest of the team in line so we can win.”
Senior Jackie Shipman said that she and the rest of the seniors on the team are excited to have achieved their ranking going into their final season.
“I thought it was awesome; I was so glad to be a part of it because it’s our last year,” she said. “I think we set a good example of putting the team first and doing what’s best for the team before yourself, and all the girls kind of look out for one another.”
Shipman added that the team is looking forward to getting to test themselves against tough competition and beat them consistently.
“I have a lot of confidence in everyone,” said Shipman. “I think that’s how everyone feels when they walk out on the court; everyone pretty much knows how to do their job and normally does it pretty efficiently. There’s pressure, but there’s also a confidence there.”
The GVSU women will compete next in Illinois on Feb. 18 against Lewis University. The men are in action this weekend at the Grand Rapids City Tournament, which starts on Friday at 4 p.m.
Lakers dominate competition in weekend gamesMen and women destroy University of Indianapolis, women topple Bellarmine
GVL Archive / Andrew MillsDoubles defeat: Senior Darylann Trout prepares to send the ball back during a past practice. Trout and her partner, Chelsea Johnston, are ranked No. 2 in the Midwest and No. 12 nationally.
GVL Archive / Eric CoulterSnowpocalypse now: Junior Hanna Jones applies salt to the sidewalks. Members of the rowing team shovel snow everyday starting at 5 am.
WOMEN’S TENNIS
By Jon AdamyGVL Staff Writer
ROWING
By Kevin VanAntwerpenGVL Staff Writer
GVL Archive / Andrew MillsStrong start: Junior Jeff Globerson hits a backhand during a past match. The Laker men defeated the University of Indianapolis in Indiana 6-3 Saturday in their first scored meet.
Susie Skowronek, Laker Life [email protected]
lakerlifeGrand Valley Lanthorn
Monday, February 7, 2011
B4Your life at Grand Valley
A couple of students have invested time and money in a project to inspire random acts of kindness and promote one-for-one gift purchases. However, earning the trust of public is one obstacle they could not factor
into their budget.Senior Kyle Fetner and junior Brock Hyder co-
founded the Random Acts of Kindness or RAOK (pronounced ROKE) - Project. The project launched Jan. 1.
“(It’s) kind of like a TOMS Shoes-meets-Meals on Wheels type of thing,” Hyder said.
As with TOMS Shoes, the RAOK Project operates on the one-for-one principle: when a customer purchases a t-shirt, the company will donate a t-shirt.
Shirts come in pink or blue and cost $20 bought locally or $25 purchased from the online store with free shipping. The project has sold about 25 shirts.
“The online store just launched. That’s kind of a new thing,” Fetner added. “We’re trying to get people geared there, but then again it’s hard to gear people for the website to give us their credit card number when they don’t really know who we are yet. … I think people are a little skeptical right now.”
Half the money from shirt sales goes toward the purchase of the matching shirt for charity. The rest of the money goes toward investment in the RAOK Project, Fetner said.
“For each shirt that is purchased, one will be given to a child in need,” the RAOK website reads.
Fetner and Hyder said they want to give the t-shirts donated to the Helen DeVos Children’s Hospital, but they cannot yet confirm that the hospital will indeed receive the t-shirts.
“This is a building point,” Fetner said. “We call Helen DeVos Children’s Hospital. We tell them what we’re doing. We tell them who we are. To be honest, they’re still kind of skeptical about who we really are.”
Despite its many obstacles, many have shown their support for the RAOK Project. About 500 Facebook users have “liked” the project, including GVSU student Kristen Kloosterhouse.
“They help the underprivileged with their
donation of shirts, but more than that, I appreciate the reminder that those shirts give others,” she said. “They remind us to be kind to others and to think about the way our actions affect those around us. Even the smallest of actions can give hope and make someone’s day a little brighter, causing a chain reaction of kind moments.”
Fetner said the project welcomes suggestions from people who purchase the shirts – wherever they see a need.
“We’ve talked about literally walking around Grand Rapids and finding a family that’s in need and giving them five shirts for a whole family,” Fetner added. “Just because that’s what we’re about. We’re about affecting people that we don’t know directly but that we know are going to get an impact from it.”
The RAOK Project’s slogan is, “New reason to buy. New reason to wear. Make the change.”
Fetner said he wants people to remember to do the simple things for other people when they wear the project t-shirts – to perform random acts of kindness. Hyder offered a personal example.
“There was a gentleman who got on the bus, the 50, coming back to Allendale on crutches,” Hyder said. “So I let him sit down in my seat because it was a bus full of people.”
Still, at this time, the RAOK Project is categorized as a for-profit business. Traditionally, owners and shareholders receive a share of the profits from such corporations. However, Fetner said that until he can find a nonprofit partner, he will run the project like a nonprofit.
“We don’t take money from this,” he added. “I’ve spent money, (Hyder) has spent money, and we’re not asking for repayment. Our repayment is making a difference.”
The cofounders hope to find a nonprofit partner in the near future.
Fetner and Hyder said they also hope to have a second series of t-shirts available soon, and the money from these sales will benefit a charitable organization – preferably one that benefits children.
“We hope, especially with younger children, to get our generation connected with the younger generation, to pass on the idea that passing on acts of kindness is what you should do,” Fetner said. “And then through that, we hope to bring up the morality of our generation, feeling that we’re actually making a difference.”
To learn more about the RAOK Project or to purchase t-shirts, visit www.raokproject.org.
Student business struggles for credibilityT-shirt brand urges Random Acts of Kindness
Courtesy photo / Kyle FetnerKind shirts: RAOK Project t-shirts (above) come in blue and pink. For every shirt purchased, one goes to a child in need.
By Susie SkowronekGVL Laker Life Editor GVL Archive
Do gooders: A student offers another a helping hand. Senior Kyle Fetner and junior Brock Hyder hope their project will inspire random acts of kindness.
“To be honest, (Helen DeVos Children’s Hospital is) still kind of skeptical about who we really are.”
-Kyle FetnerRAOK Project founder
GVL Photo Illustration / Andrew MillsSweet dreams: Sophomore Junior Campbell dreams of snow. Students can submit accounts of their dreams to participate in the TinDip podcast, which GVSU art history professor Kirsten Strom hopes will help create a dialogue about the history and science of dreaming.
Podcast to provide forum to share dreamsOften, students give up pre-
cious hours of sleep to write papers and prepare for tests, but they may be able to literally study in their dreams.
Grand Valley State Uni-versity art history professor Kirsten Strom said people can learn even while resting.
Strom teaches an art history class in Surrealism, and dreams are important to the Surrealists. The philosophy of Surrealism is based on the belief of supe-rior reality, of certain forms of previously neglected associa-tions and in the omnipotence of the dream.
“They viewed dreams as contributing to our world as much as waking life,” she said. “In my Surrealism class, stu-dents have the option of choos-ing a dream journal from a list of possible projects, and the dream journal has consistently been the most popular option.”
Strom has taught art history at GVSU since 1998. A few years ago, she learned GVSU had signed on to iTunes Uni-versity, a network that allows faculty to post audio and video files for availability to specific classes or to the general public.
“This is the first year of the project being in podcast form,” Strom said. “It seemed like a promising forum, but I didn’t have a particular idea about how to use it until now. The ba-sic idea is that it will become a forum for story telling through dream sharing.”
She has named the podcast
“TinDip,” which stands for This Is Not A Dream Inter-pretation Podcast. The title re-fers to a Surrealist painting by Rene Magritte, “The Key of Dreams.” The painting features a pipe with the text, “This is not a pipe.”
“Beyond that, the specific inspiration for TinDip came from a French radio show from the 1930s produced by Robert Desnos, one of the Surreal-ist poets. The show was called “The Key of Dreams” and it consisted of dreams submitted by the general public.”
The podcast will not pro-vide interpretations of dreams. However, guests might be in-terviewed and engage in con-versations about the history and science of dreaming.
To submit a dream, include a name or pseudonym, any ad-ditional information relevant to listeners (occupation, home-town, age, etc.) and a theme for the dream (animals, flight, school, travel, work, war, etc.). E-mail dream submissions to [email protected].
By Marcus J. Reynolds GVL Staff Writer
“(iTunes University) seemed like a promising forum, but I didn’t have a particular idea about how to use it until now.”-Kirsten Strom
GVSU professor
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MARKETPLACE Grand Valley LanthornB5Monday, February 7, 2011
By Samantha Weaver
• It was beloved American comedian, actor, producer and author Bill Cosby who offered the following advice to new parents: “Always end the name of your child with a vowel, so that when you yell, the name will carry.”
• Those who study such
things say that it takes one sec-ond to vacuum 1 square foot of floor.
• You probably don’t real-
ize it -- and you certainly don’t notice it -- but experts claim that the Atlantic Ocean is get-ting about 1 centimeter big-ger every year, and the Pacific Ocean is shrinking by the same amount. It’s due to continental drift, they say.
• If you’re planning a trip to
central Africa, you can pay a visit to both the shortest people in the world (the Pygmy tribes) as well as the tallest (the Tutsi, also known as the Watusi).
• If you’re a blood donor,
you help to make up a signifi-cant minority. In the United States, less than 5 percent of the population donates blood every year.
• It was Nobel Prize-win-
ning Russian author Boris Pasternak who wrote the novel (later adapted to film) “Doc-tor Zhivago.” It was originally published in 1957 in Italy, to great acclaim, but it wasn’t published in the Soviet Union until 1988.
• If you took all the Tootsie Rolls produced every year and placed them end to end, there would be enough candy to stretch to the moon and back. Interestingly, the Tootsie Roll isn’t actually considered to be chocolate -- not according to the definition used by federal officials supervising the candy industry, anyway.
• The world’s highest tides
are found in the Bay of Fundy, located in Nova Scotia, Cana-da. There, the difference be-tween high and low tides can be as much as 50 feet.
***Thought for the Day: “I am
free of all prejudices. I hate ev-eryone equally.” -- W.C. Fields
(c) 2011 King Features Synd., Inc.
Look for Sudoku answers online at
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STRANge buT TRue
GVL / Eric CoulterBust a move: Students tear it up in the ballroom during the President’s Ball. The event, which was attended by about 4,500 guests, commemorated Grand Valley’s 50th anniversary with its theme, “A Golden Gala.”
Laker LifeYour life at Grand Valley
Grand Valley LanthornMonday, February 7, 2011
B6
Eastern food, dance, litera-ture, martial arts, politics and a host of other aspects of history and culture will give students a taste of Asian traditions through-out the months of February and March.
Grand Valley State Univer-sity will take part in the cel-ebration of Asian and Pacific Is-lander American Heritage now through March 26.
“Everybody has a story to tell,” said Connie Dang, direc-tor of the Office of Multicultural Affairs on Grand Valley State University’s Allendale campus. “From upbringing, background, ethnic group, family tradition, by sharing your identity, it makes it easier for others to understand who you are.”
Festivities kicked off Thurs-day with a celebration of Chi-nese New Year. The OMA and the Asian Student Union offered free traditional food and enter-tainment as they showed their appreciation for their heritage.
“It’s the only big holiday we
have,” said Dan Ayotte, a Ko-rean GVSU student. “We don’t have big celebrations for Christ-mas or Halloween – all we have is New Year’s.”
While the Western culture offers many opportunities to take holidays, the Eastern cal-endar provides fewer opportuni-ties to take breaks from the daily routine.
“Our culture is so fast-paced,” said George Weaver, a Filipino-American GVSU student. “This is the only time where we slow down to celebrate.”
This will be the eighth an-nual celebration on the GVSU campus – the first took place in 2004.
Traditional celebration of Asian culture in the U.S. takes place in May, the time desig-nated by a 1978 Congressional resolution to commemorate two historical events: the end to the construction of the Trans-Continental railroad by Chinese immigrants in May of 1869 and the arrival of the first Japanese immigrant to the U.S. in May of 1843. However, due to the small number of students that are on campus for the spring and sum-mer semesters, Dang said she decided to celebrate in February to both maximize student expo-sure to Asian culture and to co-ordinate with the celebration of the Chinese New Year.
“It’s a great way to connect and share history,” Dang said. “It’s about promoting and un-derstanding. The more I can show you about my history and
my culture, the more we can connect.”
This year, Dang said the one event she recommends most is the Ütaké event on Wednesday in the Cook-DeWitt Center, which will feature art, poetry, music and philosophy in one all-encompassing event..
“It will showcase students, alumnus, faculty and citizens,” Dang said. “...There are so many racial and ethnic groups within Asian culture,” Dang said. “I try
to include all of them in the cel-ebration.”
Ütaké is also a part of the GVSU 50th Anniversary cel-ebration and will feature many guests from across the nation.
For a complete list of the events for the Asian and Pacific Islander American Heritage Celebration, view the accompa-nying schedule of events or visit the OMA website at www.gvsu.edu/oma.
GV dedicates two months to Asian cultural celebrationBy Marc MaycroftGVL Staff Writer
Monday “A Walk To Remember” from 1-2 p.m. Room 2263 of Kirkhof CenterThe Hmong American Student Association will share their families’ ancestry.
Tuesday Philippines folk dance from 3-4 p.m. Room 2215/2216 of Kirkhof CenterThe performance will feature Minnie Morey, artistic director of the Pacific Island Dancers of Grand Rapids.
Wednesday Music and Poetry from 5-7 p.m. Cook-DeWitt CenterÜtaké, a trio of Rob Foster, Kurt Ellenberger and Ric Troll, will present songs from their CD, “The Name of the Wind.” Traditional Japanese poetry will also be read.
Thursday “Broken Promises of the Model Minority Narrative” from 4-5:30 p.m. Room 2215/2216 of Kirkhof CenterAmanda Kim, director of the Center for Multicultural and Diversity Studies at the Chicago School of
Professional Psychology, will present.
Feb. 14 “ExplorAsia” from 4-6 p.m. Room 1240 of Kirkhof CenterThe program will highlight the diverse histories, languages and customs of the 50 countries represented by Asian Pacific Islander Americans.
Feb. 16 “East of Main Street” from 3-4 p.m. Room 2204 in Kirkhof CenterThe 2010 HBO documentary that features stories of Asian Americans and Pacific Islander Americans will be shown and discussed.
Feb. 17 “Unveiling the Truth: The
Muslim Women” from 3-5 p.m. Grand River Room of Kirkhof CenterThe event will feature Tahera Ahmad, the first Muslim woman chaplain at Northwestern University.
GVL / Rachel DwyerCelebrating culture: Lan Huynh, Linda Truong, and Linda Teng, members of Delta Phi Lambda, pose for a picture at the Asian Pacific Heritage Celebration.
Upcoming Events
“The more I can show you about my history and culture, the more we can connect.”-Connie Dang
OMA Director
Women wore extravagant dresses and the men dressed with class. The lighting accent-ed the flowers that decorated every second table. Laughter and music filled the air for the 2011 Golden Gala President’s Ball on Friday.
The 25th annual event was held in the Amway Grand Plaza Hotel and the DeVos Place in downtown Grand Rapids.
“It’s a great way to see the university in action and get to talk to the faculty,” said junior Ali Zimmer, chair of the Presi-dent’s Ball. “And it’s just a good time to get out and dance.”
The evening began with cocktail hour at 5:30 p.m. Can-dles lit the room for students, faculty, and administrators who circled the tables. The cocktail hour participants moved swiftly into the dining room for the din-ner service.
“It’s an extraordinary ex-perience with so many people everywhere,” said Matt Don-danville, member of the cycling club who worked the cocktail hour coat check.
Dinner began with speeches full of humor and bright person-ality and with awards to recog-nize outstanding individuals. Tim Selgo accepted the Presi-dential Award, Dorothy John-son accepted the Distinguished
Individual Award and Danielle DeMuth accepted the Student Award for Faculty Excellence. The audience gave them fre-quent and standing ovations.
Between awards, student coed a capella group Euphoria and student dance group Mo-mentum provided entertainment throughout the hour. They col-laborated to featured songs and dances in celebration of Grand Valley State University’s past by reliving the decades, begin-ning with the 1960s.
“The dinner this year was really good,” said senior Kristie Hopkins. “It was good food and good entertainment.”
President Haas gave a speech to thank everyone for attending
the Presidents’ Ball as well as Student Senate for sponsor-ing the event. Shortly after his speech, people enjoyed dessert and coffee.
At 8:30 p.m., the 500 din-ner guests gathered their coats to join the additional 4,000 ex-pected guests at the dance.
Once the doors opened, the music poured out and danc-ing began. Guests even danced while waiting to reach the dance floor.
“We are dancers so we love this event,” said senior Greg Kwiatkowski. Kwiatkowski and his date, Katherine Key, danced their way into the ball-room. “It’s a lot of fun and a
nice excuse to look nice.” Music echoed through the
ballroom and brightly colored lights shimmered around a disco ball. The stage set for DJ Mark
Witz was front and center. Women kicked off their
shoes and the men loosened their ties. Music shook the floors and boomed through the room.
For junior Emily Visger, the President’s Ball was hard to compare to previous years.
“Freshman year was almost the best – everyone knew a lot of the music,” she said. “But it’s really hard to compare. But it’s a really good event for GVSU to do. It’s a great opportunity to hang out with other students. Plus, it’s something fun for a Friday night.”
Students recommend attend-ing the event for the future.
“It’s a great social event to meet other students and teach-ers,” said senior Jacie Fountain.
Zimmer said the President’s ball takes more than six months of planning. With this year be-ing the Golden Gala, the event took a lot of hard work.
“Overall it was a success,” she said. “We’re celebrating 50 years of GVSU, and it was done well.”
By Samantha ArnoldGVL Staff Writer
GVL / Eric CoulterJust dance: Members of the dance group Momentum perform for students at President’s Ball. Momentum performed with a capella group Euphoria.
“We are dancers so we love this event. It’s a lot of fun and a nice excuse to look nice.”-Greg Kwiatkowski
GVSU senior
4,500 dance night away at 25th President’s Ball
