12/01/2011

A Christmas Carol comes to Michigan Tech

4

The

Huskies ready for a dogfight

The way Facebook changes friendship

5

6

Michigan Tech Lode

December 1, 2011

Serving the Michigan Tech Community Since 1921

Strict drug testing for Tech athletes TAYLOR STIPPEL Guest Writer For Tech athletes, returning to school at the beginning of every year usually means new books and new classes, but the same, familiar informational meeting with Athletic Trainer Brian Brewster. When Tech athletes arrived at their annual pre-season team meetings this fall, however, they were presented with something that they had never faced before: a new, in-house drug-testing policy.

While Tech athletes have always been subject to the drugtesting policies of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA), they are now required to sign a consent form, subjecting them to Michigan Tech’s in-house policy, which requires them to remain drug-free while participating in Michigan-TechAthletic-Department-sponsored activities, conditioning, practices and competitions. The new policy, which was modeled after similar policies created at other institutions, was created by a Drug Testing Advisory Committee consisting of Athletic Director Suzanne Sanregret, Athletic Trainer Brian Brewster, two head coaches, two student-athletes and a representative from counseling services, among others.

The policy’s drug-testing component consists of six types of tests for alcohol and other drugs: unannounced, random testing; pre-season testing; reasonable suspicion testing; postseason/ championship testing; re-entry testing; and follow-up testing.

Employing the specimen-collection methods of the National Center for Drug Free Sport, Tech

prohibits— and may screen student-athletes for— alcohol, anabolic steroids and marijuana and other street drugs.

Athletic Director Suzanne Sanregret said, “We’ve recognized that there’s been an increase in street-drug use across the country, and the current NCAA drug testing policy is very stringent.” Indeed, the NCAA randomly selects athletes from each collegiate institution twice a year (once in the fall and once in the spring). If an athlete tests positive for a substance, he or she will be deemed ineligible for an entire year. According to Sanregret, “We felt that a policy needed to be there, but that (the NCAA) policy is pretty harsh.”

One of the most beneficial aspects of Tech’s new drugtesting policy is its protection of Tech student-athletes from the NCAA’s heavy penalties.

Because in-house drug-testing policies are distinct from the NCAA’s policy, the NCAA may not impose penalties unless an athlete tests positive during one of its own testing periods. Thus, a positive, in-house test is not reported to the NCAA, and Tech athletes are shielded from the threat of ineligibility for a year.

Under Tech’s policy, athletes who test positive once are deemed ineligible for only 10 percent of their games, but they must also produce a negative test before returning to play and commit to educating and rehabilitating themselves through counseling sessions and community service.

Tech’s policy specifies that the University will strive to “prevent substance use, abuse and dependence by student-athletes

through the following objectives: prevention, education, testing to provide a timely diagnosis, and professional guidance, treatment and rehabilitation.”

Among the objectives of the Tech drug-testing policy is education. Sanregret said, “We need to educate our student-athletes on what is illegal and how it will hinder their performance.” Although American Athletic Institute President and Founder John Underwood was unable to make his scheduled visit to Tech earlier in the school year due to hurricanes in the east, Tech is planning to recruit more highquality speakers to impress upon student-athletes the negative effects of alcohol and drugs on performance, both on the court or field and in the classroom. Senior Women’s Basketball player

and member of the Tech Drug Advisory Committee Krista Kasuboski said that the new policy “is great for us because it’s not meant to punish athletes; it’s meant to open their eyes before they are caught by the NCAA, whose punishments are stricter and harsher.”

In addition to educating student-athletes, the policy also strives to impress upon them the importance of representing both the University and the Michigan Tech community in a positive light. Brewster said, “studentathletes must be held accountable more than other students” since they are typically more visi-

ble to the community. Adding to this, Sanregret said that the new policy “ensures that our athletes are the role models that they are supposed to be.”

While only in its first year, the policy is arguably already encouraging healthy choices among student-athletes. Two groups of student-athletes have been tested thus far, and none have tested positive for any banned substances. As Brewster said, “it’s about staying healthy, staying away from steroids and performance-enhancing drugs and, hopefully, leading (studentathletes) to a healthier life.”

tour guide and said that people on the tours are often shocked to hear she is a communications major. The Career Fair is another area that lacks resources for non-engineering majors. Banda mentioned that she often feels her major is not on the same level as engineering here on campus. She would like to see a Career Fair that caters to the large number of non-engineering majors on campus or one just for humanities and social sciences majors. In addition, Banda said, “At the end of the day, I wouldn’t trade my Michigan Tech experience for anything. With that said, I’m looking to attend a Liberal Arts institution, where my line of work is valued, for graduate school.” Banda also pointed out that research funding is disproportionately greater for engineering.

I am an STC major as well and have felt a lack of support many times. For instance, when I went to the International Programs and Services (IPS) office to get more information about studying abroad, I inquired about a

school that specializes in writing.

The IPS representative I spoke with said that writing schools are not part of the Study Abroad program because Michigan Tech is an engineering school.

He then spent the remainder of the meeting trying to convince me to go to schools with which Michigan Tech is already affiliated, which was not helpful at all since he was speaking to an STC major. I also found it interesting that he took this stance in spite of the fact that Tech’s STC program won the National Writing Program Certificate of Excellence in 2005.

When asked about this experience, Director of IPS, Thy Yang, said that despite its world-renowned engineering programs, IPS does not consider Michigan Tech to be an engineering school. IPS works with all students equally to find study-abroad opportunities for them. IPS also oversees all international-student admissions.

Yang said that many of Tech’s study-abroad partner schools favor non-engineering majors.

In addition, Yang said that such partnering requires a demand on both sides. For instance, Tech may want to partner with a certain school, but if that school does not think they will benefit from a partnership with Tech, no partnership will be created.

Yang also said, “If you have your heart set on a particular country or school we don’t have a formal agreement with, IPS will work with you to find a way to achieve your dream. Sometimes it may mean going to a school or country different from your original intention. Other times it means going outside or independent of IPS. In any case we want all students to go abroad and we will try our best to help you!”

Assistant Director of Graduate Marketing and Advancement Kristi Isaacson was able to shed some light on graduate-school opportunities for non-engineering majors. Isaacson said that graduate school is a personal decision, and students need to research what graduate programs an institution is known for in addition to its undergraduate ma-

jors. She also said that in choosing a graduate school, students often work more closely with faculty members with a background in their research interests rather than the department as a whole. Therefore, after you pick a specific area of interest, even a school with a highly reputable program may not be the best option for you if that school does not have a faculty member who can serve as an appropriate advisor in your specified area.

In addition, funding varies for graduate studies constantly, depending on who is providing the funding and why. Funding may be provided by the university or from the department. Isaacson said that money brought in by professors for their research will be spent in those research areas.

Therefore, a disproportionate amount of funding may be available for graduate students in engineering if engineering faculty secures more research funding.

Isaacson also said that graduate students might benefit from

Photo by Chance Agrella

“It’s about staying healthy, staying away from steroids and performance-enhancing drugs and, hopefully, leading [student athletes] to a healthier life.”— Athletic Trainer Brian Brewster

Non-engineering majors at 42% KRYSTEN COOPER Lode Writer Michigan Technological University has 7,031 students, both undergraduate and graduate, 42 percent of whom are studying a subject other than engineering.

Nevertheless, students outside the field of engineering often feel like they are not getting the same Michigan Tech experience.

In an article posted on the Michigan Tech News Web page, Assistant Vice-President of enrollment John Lehman said, “People are recognizing us for our strong programs in addition to engineering.” This may be true, but as an undergraduate student studying humanities, my experiences, and the experiences of others, have shown that despite our excellent programs, non-engineering majors are still lacking support.

Jess Banda, a Scientific and Technical Communications (STC) student, has had such experiences during her time at Tech. Banda works as a campus

continued on page 2

Check out our extensive online presence! mtulode.com Subscribe to our RSS feed and check out our mobile-friendly website 24/7, with frequent updates and additional content.

facebook.com/mtulode Text “like mtulode” to “32665” to follow us on Facebook. Regular prizes offered to our Facebook fans (over $500 worth in 2011 already!).

twitter.com/mtulode Text “follow mtulode” to “40404” to follow us on Twitter. Receive an instant update for every new article posted to mtulode.com.

NEWS

Michigan Tech Lode Thursday, December 1, 2011

Hope in Egypt amid uncertainty MICHAEL HILLIARD Lode Writer The Arab Spring movement began in Tunisia, when a vegetable peddler set himself on fire in response to police corruption. His act of self-immolation, back in December of 2010, sparked a wave of protests that have since taken the entire Arab world by storm.

Although the then Tunisian President, Zine el Abidine Ben Ali, tried to quell the growing protests, by January 16 he finally gave into the protestors and fled to Saudi Arabia. Since its beginning in Tunisia, the Arab Spring has been linked to uprisings in Libya, Bahrain,

Syria, Yemen, Algeria, Iraq, Jordon, Morocco, Oman and others.

Shortly after its start in Tunisia, the Arab Spring movement (a name that references the 1968 uprisings in what was then communist Czechoslovakia; an event that many had termed the “Prague Spring”) came to Egypt. The world watched in wonder as protestors took to the streets by the millions, calling for Hosni Mubarak’s decades-long dictatorship to end. Within weeks, the protestors gained victory when Mubarak resigned on February 11. Since that time, the military took control of the country, the constitution was suspended, the parliament

dissolved, and elections were scheduled to take place.

Although the Egyptian people were successful in deposing Mubarak, the process has had its share of pain and strife. In the initial protests leading to Mubarak’s resignation, nearly eight-hundred people died, with many more wounded.

Later, in June, it was reported that the military had arrested 18 women who were involved in the Tahrir square protests, stripped them of their clothes and performed ‘virginity tests’ on them, beat them and gave them electric shocks. An unnamed general in the Egyptian army eventually confirmed the ‘tests’, justifying them by saying that “[w]e didn’t want them to

August 2011, but it has already made a name for itself in the community. Café Rosetta owners Patrick Wright and Carley Williams had guarded expectations when they first opened the café, but the community has quickly warmed up to their new business. “The business has gone above and beyond what we expected it to,” Williams said.

The café already has regulars who come specifically for French-pressed coffee and fresh raspberry scones, two of their most popular items. Café Rosetta is the only shop in the area to offer the French-pressed method, which Williams said, “gives the coffee a more full-bodied and richer flavor.” Café Rosetta serves breakfast and lunch daily, with

vegan and gluten-free options to suite everyone’s tastes. A full menu, hours of operation and more are available online at www. cafe-rosetta.com.

Our next stop is the 5th and Elm Coffee House, also on Fifth Street in downtown Calumet.

Opened in 2008 by the Fiala family, the shop is attractive inside and out. Many renovations have been made to convert a oncecrumbling piece of history, once a Mobil gas station, into a business with many unique products.

In 2007, the lack of a shop like this in Calumet along with the prospect of restoring a historic building were great incentives for the Fialas to open 5th and Elm. “Coffee is definitely a main attraction,” says Boone Fiala, part owner of 5th and Elm. When asked about the prosperity of the business, Fiala said, “Business is seasonal, but we have a nice local clientele throughout the year.”

Coffee drinks are only one of the many treats that 5th and Elm serves on a daily basis. Others include sandwiches (brought fresh from 5th and Elm’s second location in Houghton), a variety of steaming soups and delicious fruit smoothies. Homemade baked goods are abundant in the showcase near the front counter, and Jilbert’s ice cream is a special treat during the warmer months.

5th and Elm also has a drive-thru window, perfect for when you don’t want to leave your vehicle in bone-chilling temperatures.

For more information, visit 5th and Elm on Facebook at www. facebook.com/5thandelm.

Our third and final stop is the Omphale Gallery and Café, owned by Julie DePaul Johnson, on the northern end of Fifth Street in Calumet. Another fairly

say we had sexually assaulted or raped them, so we wanted to prove that they weren’t virgins in the first place.” Just this last week, when large groups of protestors returned to Tahrir square to call for the military to release control of the country to a transitional civilian government (which would run the country in place of the military until elections are completed), 42 of the protestors died.

Despite the challenges, the revolution has allowed the Egyptian to achieve tremendous victory.

After more than 30 years of being under Mubarak’s corrupt dictatorship, the people now have hope for a new democratically

2

elected government. In fact, this week has marked the start of the election process. Some Egyptians stood in lines longer than a kilometer waiting to vote, and a member of the military ruling council (the Supreme Armed Forces Council) described the turnout as, “unprecedented in the history of the Arab world’s parliamentary life.” There is still a great amount of concern and uncertainty, both in Egypt and in the rest of the world, as to where the elections will lead and whether Islamic political parties will gain control of the new government, but the overall feeling among Egyptians is a feeling of hope for the future.

Calumet’s 5th Street coffee shops delight customers KATELYN WAARA Guest Writer Coffee shops and cafés have grown in popularity in recent years. Students like to get a cup of hot coffee and a quick bite to eat while they finish their homework in a friendly atmosphere filled with the aromas of home.

Fortunate for coffee-lovers, Fifith Street in downtown Calumet is home to a variety of shops, offering customers unique products and friendly atmospheres.

Our first stop on this tour of delights is Café Rosetta, the first café reached when driving north down fifth Street in Calumet.

This quaint eatery and coffee shop has only been open since

Photo by Katelyn Waara

new café, the Omphale opened its doors in August of 2011. What at one time was just the Omphale Art Gallery is now a thriving café as well.

Johnson decided to put a full kitchen in the building to satisfy her idea of what the café should be. She recently brought in an in-house cook, who has been making breakfast to order for customers since October 29, 2011. Offering daily lunch specials and breakfast all day, the café has a wide variety of food and drink options. One of their most popular coffee items is a

Little Buck Up, a 10-ounce cup of freshly ground coffee for just a dollar. The café also boasts an espresso bar, numerous baked goods, soups and salads. “We’re working at bringing many new items to our menu,” Johnson said.

The atmosphere at the Omphale is open and inviting. Make sure to stop in the gallery and see the work of regional and national artists. For more information, head over to Facebook and to view the Omphale Gallery and Cafe’s page; simply search “Omphale Gallery & Cafe.”

Non-engineering majors at 42% of student body Continued from front studying in an area with fewer students—such as non-engineering at Tech—because then there are fewer students competing for funding. This sometimes causes a better financial experience for a non-engineering graduate student. Overall, more than 45% of graduate students at Michigan Tech receive financial support.

Career Services was able to provide some insight into the question of how non-engineering students are perceived on campus and beyond. Career Advisor Julie Way believes part of the disconnect may stem from the fact that the role of Career Services at Tech is misunderstood. Way said that Michigan Tech Career Services is not a placement service, but many students think it is because of the Career Fair. However, students in any major may meet in-

dividually with a Career Services advisor and get help finding their dream job. Since not even every engineering major will get a job from the Career Fair, Way recommends every student begin career planning during their first semester. Career Services offers a list of steps for students to complete that will help to make them competitive when they enter the job market.

Director of Career Services Jim Turnquist agrees that Career Services is misunderstood. To put the Career Fair in perspective, Turnquist said that an important thing for non-engineering majors to consider is that companies that hire non-engineering majors do not usually recruit at job fairs. For instance, a communications major may want to work at a magazine or newspaper, but those companies wait for prospective employees

to come to them, instead of actively searching out candidates.

Turnquist also said that Career Services, like non-engineering majors, has a difficult time dealing with Michigan Tech’s reputation as an engineering school. He said that when trying to recruit companies to come to the Career Fair, it’s very difficult to get them to understand that they can come for majors outside of engineering. Although this can be accomplished, Turnquist said that Career Services does not have the staff or the resources to travel around and attempt to sell companies on non-engineering majors. Turnquist, like Way, recommended that students who are serious about finding their dream job should meet individually with a member of Career Services, as that is the best resource they have to offer.

Michigan Tech Lode Thursday, December 1, 2011

NEWS

Projecting your problems: Classroom technology at Tech ED LEONARD Guest Writer Imagine this: you arrive for class and pull out your materials—you’re ready to begin.

Meanwhile, your instructor arrives and begins fiddling with the technology in front of the room, attempting to display something on the screen.

You tune out, perhaps chatting with classmates to fill the time. Several minutes after the designated time for class to start, your instructor has succeeded in displaying their material and calls class to order.

Odds are that you have experienced a similar, or worse, delay. In a recent anonymous online survey of 74 Michigan Tech students, an overwhelming 71 (96 percent) responded that they have seen an instructor need to ask for help operating classroom technology, either from a student in class or from someone outside class, such as a lab consultant.

Most times, as in the case described above, disruption is minimal. But 43 (58 percent) of the respondents said that, in general, delays because of “technical difficulties” have a negative impact on class.

Assistant Professor of Rhetoric and Technical Communication Jingfang Ren acknowledged that such delays may be significant. “It depends on time constraints,” she said,

explaining that a few minutes out of her class does not concern her or her students; however, when several students are scheduled to present in class on the same day, an early delay can cause a cascading effect, possibly even spilling over into the next class day.

Visual and Performing Arts Lecturer Dennis Kerwin agreed that delays can be significant, referencing a recent incident in his Presentation Skills class after another group had used the classroom: “They had rewired (the computer setup) and didn’t put everything back.” He was grateful that he was able to get outside help, because several students in the class had been unable to sort it out. Kerwin said that if he had not called in a consultant, “We wouldn’t have been able to use the screen that day.”

Kerwin said that he normally teaches the class in a different room where he is more comfortable with the equipment. Nevertheless, he said he would appreciate an optional workshop for instructors who are less fluent with classroom technology.

Audrey Reenders, an undergraduate media/technology consultant for the Humanities Digital Media Zone, said it is common for instructors to seek help for technology issues during class. She said, “I definitely think there should

be more training,” but she also pointed out that instructors are generally pretty busy. “The last thing they need is another meeting,” she said.

Humanities Professor Bob Johnson said that managing instructional technology is somewhat less of a problem.

“I’ve taught in computerized classrooms for a number of years,” Johnson said. He went on to say that many younger faculty members do not need to be trained because they’ve grown up with the technology.

On the other hand, Johnson said, “I think some faculty are more than a little bit apprehensive.” Johnson himself said he is reluctant to base an entire class on technology-based presentations, just in case the equipment breaks down.

In spite of the problems, students who answered the online survey were mostly understanding. Of the 74 respondents, 58 (78 percent) said that instructors are generally adequately prepared to use classroom technology.

Three students indicated that more training for instructors would be appropriate, and three others said that an instructor loses credibility when things do not go smoothly, especially in computer-related classes. In general, however, students and faculty both indicated that the situation varies from one instructor to another and even from one

ristor. The memristor was to be the theoretical fourth tool for engineers to use, but at the time no one knew how to make this tool. The only clue anyone had to what this fourth tool was going to be was a series of equations left by Chua that stated if a circuit matched these outputs, then it was the memristor he had predicted.

Using this research, Williams’ began developing a circuit to match these equations, and when he finished he had created the memristor.

The memristor created by Williams is a simple device using two platinum electrodes on either side of a thin fill of titanium dioxide. The platinum electrodes act as conductors for the current to move through and criss-cross each other in areas with the thin fill of titanium dioxide is used.

The titanium dioxide is then manipulated via the charges moving through the circuits to create a switch indicating whether the particular circuit is ‘on’ or ‘off ’. In other words, it means that engineers now have a circuit that operates with a switch (the titanium dioxide) that keeps track of the circuit’s current state even in the absence of power.

After this breakthrough, Williams and his team in the HP labs began working on basic systems utilizing the memristor in different microchips pushing to find out what new possibilities this discovery would hold. What was found is that the chips using the memristor system could go through almost ten-times more read-write states than the standard flash memory used today, and that a potential terabyte (1012 gigabytes) could be fit on each chip. On top of this, the design used to create these chips can be stacked on top of each other

to save even more room and increase the already impressive amount of memory they can offer, as well as be configured to act as a switching network.

However, Williams and his team at HP are not done yet.

There are still a number of hurdles that have to be dealt with before we will be able to see this technology in the marketplace. Just to test the microchip a new system had to be created, and as Williams said in a conference presenting the memristor, “Nobody ever does anything [in this industry] until the gun is there, it’s cocked and it’s ready to

3

What sort of activities would you like to see in the Lode? Let us know by e-mailing lodecomment@mtu.edu. This week’s puzzle will be a normal puzzle. Spend some time with your final projects—we don’t want you wasting too much of your brain power on this though! The answer to last week’s puzzle is below. Enjoy!

classroom to another, with one student even saying that sometimes the equipment itself is “buggy.”

Technology in classrooms allows teachers at all levels to present greater varieties of information in class and to present it more quickly than

ever before. Instructors who use the equipment often must learn it on the fly, which can cause class disruption and potentially diminished credibility. But, despite minor delays, students still reap the benefits of having regular access to instructional technology.

Future Tech: a computing breakthrough CAMERON SCHWACH News Editor Electrical engineers may want to go back through their notes and study what they know about resistors, capacitors and inductors. Everyone else will want to prepare themselves for the next line of computing technology. Working hard in the Hewlett Packard (HP) labs, Richard Stanley Williams has been striving to create a solid-state version of Leon Chua’s memristor and has finally succeeded. So what is a memristor and who is Leon Chua? Two very good questions.

Before Williams’ discovery, those who work with circuitry and create the latest and greatest processor we use in every computer-controlled appliance across the globe had only three fundamental tools to work with: the resistor, the capacitor and the inductor.

Each of these tools offered a new means of manipulating and controlling electrical charges and have been the foundation for important tasks such as saving information to your iPod, or operating system-based commands using logic for years. In fact, the last basic tool discovered in this field was the inductor back in 1831 by Michael Faraday and Joseph Henry.

During the 1960’s, a mathematician name Leon Chua was working on creating a mathematical proof for a nonlinear circuit theory when he noticed from the circuit equations that there was a missing element in the Electrical engineer’s toolkit. What he found was that there were six equations relating these fundamental tools, but only three tools present. This led to Chua’s theory of the mem-

Close-up of a memristor.

Photo courtesy of Morton Lin

go off.” Yet, Williams and HP would like to begin building a foothold in this market as soon as possible and HP has

announced that the first memristor based device should be released sometime in 2013.

Thinking law school?

THINK WAYNE • • • • •

LAW

Top Michigan Law School Best Value Law School Best Standard of Living Top Green School Top 32 Part-time Program

“I chose Wayne Law for its outstanding reputation and value. I have received a robust and well rounded education, as well as tireless support and dedication from the faculty. My legal education far exceeded my expectations. I feel prepared for a successful career in law, and will be a proud alumnus and lifelong supporter of this Law School.”

— Eric Berg, ’11 Undergraduate degree: University of Michigan, Ann Arbor

AIM HIGHER

go.wayne.edu/ law-michigan

Wayne Law offers students a strong and comprehensive legal education in Michigan’s historic, economic and cultural center – at a more affordable price than most law schools.

Plus, Detroit’s vibrant legal market provides students with direct access to internship and employment opportunities at state and federal courts, government offices, multinational corporations, unions and major law firms. law.wayne.edu • lawinquire@wayne.edu

Michigan Tech Lode Thursday, December 1, 2011

Take a study break for a Dickens classic NICK BLECHA Pulse Editor

The Fall 2011 semester may be ending on Dec.16, but that isn’t stopping the Rozsa Center from bringing in one last show to finish off the year. On Friday, Dec. 16 and Saturday, Dec. 17 at 7:30 p.m., the RozsaCenterwillhosttheNebraska Theatre Caravan’s national touring production of Charles Dickens’ “A Christmas Carol,” the classic story of Ebeneezer Scrooge meeting the ghosts of Christmases past, present and future and becoming a better person through the experiences he sees.

The Charles Jones adaptation that the Nebraska Theatre Caravan

produces is faithful to the original novella in story and dialogue but pushes the date of the story from 1843 (when the original was published) to 1886. As Jones explains on the NTC’s website, “by [1886] the secular English Christmas customs were fairly well established as we know them today. By 1886 the German Christmas Tree had become an English form. We also found that the costume silhouettes from the 1880’s were more attractive and created more readily a ‘Dickens Christmas look’ not unlike those found in the paintings of Currier and Ives.” The result is a presentation that looks “like Christmascards,”or“likeChristmas in your mind when you were a child.”

Also interspersed throughout the production are ensemble Christmas songs, such as “God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen,” “Wassail, Wassail,” “Good King Wenceslas” and “Greensleeves” to punctuate and enhance the story. Jones is emphatic that the production “is not a musical comedy. The songs do not move the story forward; they stand apart, completely separate from the text. Each song or carol was chosen for the dramatic atmosphere it contributes to the total experience.”

Tickets can be purchased at rozsa.tickets.mtu.edu or at the Central Ticket Office in the Student Development Complex.

Prices are $28 for adults, $24 for seniors and $20 for students.

“A Choral Celebration!” at the Rozsa NICK BLECHA Pulse Editor Songs from many different eras of music will fill the Rozsa Center on Saturday, Dec. 10, as the Michigan Tech Concert Choir will present concert “A Choral Celebration!” The concert, which will begin at 7:30 p.m., will feature music as old as 1620 and music so recent that it will be debuting at this concert.

The concert will begin with the song “With a Lily in Your Hand”

by Eric Whitacre, who lectured at the Rozsa last month and who is famous for his two “virtual choir” videos on YouTube. Following the opener, the choir will sing three motets, including one written

by Concert Choir director Jared Anderson and debuting in this concert. The other two are written by the seventeenth-century Italian composer Claudio Monteverdi

and by the modern Lithuanian composer Vytautas Miškinis.

The next part of the concert will be titled “Songs for Peace.” This part will also consist of three songs, each from different musical eras: “Verleih uns Frieden Genädiglich”

by Felix Mendelssohn (nineteenth century), Johann Sebastian Bach’s “Es ist Genung” (seventeenth century), and another Eric Whitacre song, one that featured in his second Virtual Choir: “Sleep” (twenty-first century).

The fourth part of the concert focuses on a series of songs adapted from poetry of Octavio Paz, every song written by Whitacre.

Paz, a Mexican-born poet whose parents were exiled to the United States for political reasons, is currently considered an important figure in Mexican literature. His essay “The Labyrinth of Solitude” is widely considered to be a key work in understanding Mexican culture.

The final part of the concert will take a different direction: American Spirituals, with songs such as “Ain’t That News” by Stephen Hatfield and “Go Down, Moses” by Moses Hogan, will perform.

The Michigan Tech Concert Choir has been performing since 1980, originally founded under the name Michigan Tech Chamber Chorus. It currently boasts 90 members, drawn from the community, students and Michigan Tech faculty, and is currently directed by Michigan Tech Assistant Professor Jared Anderson.

Tickets for the concert are available online at tickets.mtu.edu, by calling 906-487-2073 or by going to the Central Ticket Office at the Student Development Complex.

Prices for tickets are $10 general admission, $5 for students and free for Tech students.

This left the impression that “No one is invincible”. Some of the stories about social media got the crowd giggling, however other stories had some wondering about their past weekend activities, and how things could have panned out. Ritz explained that he was not here to stop anyone from drinking, but to show that one decision can alter not only your life forever, but that of any victim involved.

During a portion of the presentation, Ritz had students do a mock radio newscast about news

breaking stories. One story included a mother who provided alcohol to under aged teens that resulted in the death of a 19-yearold boy and is now facing 20 months in prison. Though 20 months doesn’t seem very long, Ritz said, “She would face a lifetime of looking at the ceiling and thinking about the life that was lost on her watch”. He explained if you are going to have parties just take the time to come up with a game plan, make sure people have a place to sleep, they are not going to drink and drive, and

Pulse

4

Batman: Arkham City CAMERON SCHWACH News Editor The last time gamers were allowed to play through the Batman experience was during “Batman: Arkham Asylum”. In that release, players were set loose in Arkham Asylum after the Joker had orchestrated a takeover of the facility. Using gadgets, detective skills and some kung-fu players were enthralled with a story that led them into encounters with a large number of villains from the Batman universe. Now in the latest release, “Batman: Arkham City,” the fight continues as Batman’s archnemesis has a whole new plan in bringing down the dark knight.

After the exciting conclusion of Arkham Asylum, the Joker was left in a withered state and the asylum was in shambles. Gotham City, now desperate to recapture and contain the mass of villains Batman had defeated, turned to an upcoming psychologist who had a radical new idea for prisoner therapy. Without having another option to turn too, Gotham walled off a large section of the city and began putting the recaptured criminals within its bounds.

With no cell walls, security officers or wardens to keep them from each other the sectioned off city soon became a criminal war-zone and rumors quickly spread that the initial proposal for Arkham City was only the beginning of a much larger scheme. Bruce Wayne (Batman’s alter-ego) immediately began raising a political campaign against this detention center and desperately tried to remove the threat using the city’s political power. However, once politics failed, Wayne found himself inside the madhouse known as Arkham City. Left with no other choice, Wayne dawns the guise of Batman and begins working to find a way to bring down the detention center from the inside.

From there, players are set loose

in a massive warzone controlled by criminals such as Two-Face, the Joker, Poison Ivy, Mr. Freeze and Cobblepot (the Penguin).

Amongst this warzone are also many other criminals that fans of the comic-book series will be quick to recognize, and those new to the game will be excited to encounter.

Overall, the story-line offers hours of gameplay that will lead players to iconic areas throughout the sectioned off portion of Gotham City, test their intellect as they attempt to solve puzzles and riddles left by the Riddler and for those who purchase the bonus content (or buy a game with a content code inside) will be able to test their ability to steal from the best a second storyline adventure as Catwoman.

The gameplay is easy to use so that any player can pick up a controller and begin playing, but for the more skilled gamers the harder difficulty levels are designed to test how fast you assess and respond to various situations.

There were no major glitches or bugs found while playing through the game, and the graphics are amazing in both quality and detail. However, even though there are hours of gameplay, the game still feels exactly like the Arkham Asylum release. Not that there’s anything wrong with this (necessarily), but it feels like the only new aspect of this game were the gadgets and storyline. Overall, I was hoping for more when this game came out, but I am more than impressed at how in-depth the storyline is and how immersed any player can become in the dark knight’s next chapter.

Final Grade:

B8.2/10

Adam Ritz makes an impression on Tech students

MANDY BARBUL-COUCH Lode Writer Wednesday night, Adam Ritz presented to nearly 200 students in MUB Ballroom A on the effects of alcohol and decision making while under the influence. Ritz shared recent news stories on students who made a decision to drink and the unfortunate consequences. The stories he shared included athletes, men, women, and even administrators.

that someone will be responsible.

“College is a time to explore”, he said, but went on to acknowledge that he understands that it’s fun to be reckless. “It won’t happen to me.”, Ritz explained how many students don’t stop and think about what would happen in the long run.

In the end, he shared his own story about his run-in with alcohol and how it changed his life forever. He would not go into details about what events led up to his sexual assault conviction.

He did not want to offend any of

the female students in the room, but did share his sexual offender file with us. Ritz said he was not proud of what he had done, and he was sorry for the lives that were altered because of his moment of stupidity. Ritz showed that no matter your values, alcohol can change them in an instant, and your life will be forever different.

He encouraged students to follow him on twitter @AdamRitz or on Facebook and stay in touch. The Inter-Fraternity Council would like to thank the Parent’s Fund for making this event possible.

Michigan Tech Lode Thursday, December 1, 2011

OPINION

5

Is the “message” of the Occupy Movements really that confusing?

JESSICA KENNEDY Lode Writer One of the most frequently heard media criticisms of the Occupy Movements that are rapidly spreading around the world is their apparent lack of a shared, coherent list of demands. Liberal and conservative commentators alike, who commonly agree on absolutely nothing else in the world, seem to both believe that the Occupy protests will accomplish little or nothing unless they develop a set of key demands.

It’s hard to believe that wellfinanced, corporate-owned media outlets like cable television news operations, newspapers and network television news departments couldn’t engage in a little investigative journalism by sending a few reporters to uncover the full range of issues that brought these protestors into the streets.

A 2005 opinion piece by Brian Montopoli in the Columbia Journalism Review, entitled “Press Release Journalism,” described the increasingly common practices of news departments quickly rewriting press releases they receive from corporations, interest groups and governmental agencies and broadcasting and publishing the result as hard news.

Montopoli wrote that, “Reshaping a press release into story form without adding any real context, pertinent information, or countervailing opinion isn’t journal-

ism, appearances notwithstanding. It’s actually not all that different from...packaging PR so as to give it the imprimatur of editorial legitimacy.”

If interviewing a few dozen protestors is a bridge too far for mainstream journalists, perhaps searching the Web or scanning social media, in between rewriting press releases, might provide the media with some insights into the range of issues that sent the Occupy protestors into the street. Even a casual scan of the Internet reveals that the Occupy Wall Street protests that appear so mysterious to mainstream media outlets were strategically initiated by the actions of a Canadian activist group called Adbusters. The Occupy Wall Street page on Wikipedia, with its 267 accompanying citations, says that the New York Occupy Wall Street protestors, “are mainly protesting social and economic inequality, corporate greed, corruption and influence over government - particularly from the financial services sector - and of lobbyists. The participants’ slogan, ‘We are the 99%,’ refers to the difference in the U.S. between the wealthiest 1% and the rest of the population.” If, indeed, those are representative of the demands of the protestors, a list of appropriate remedies would seem to be quite obvious; namely, we demand a more equitable society, a tempering of corporate greed, active investigation and prosecution of those engaged in corrupt

activities and a government that operates for the benefit of all of the people it represents.

If those demands are consistent with the protestors’ ideas, it can be understood why mainstream media outlets, who are the primary beneficiaries of lavishly financed, seemingly endless political campaigns with their hefty media budgets, might feign a little confusion.

The Occupy Wall Street movement employs a sophisticated multi-media apparatus to get its message out and keep the movement alive. According to the Columbia Journalism Review, the Occupy Wall Street media team maintains a series of Web sites and distributes regular protest updates on Twitter, Facebook and Tumblr. The group keeps in contacts with Occupy protestors in other cities via Skype. Given the proximity of mainstream media outlets in New York City, it appears that the Occupy Wall Street leaders would rather depend on their own direct communications with sympathizers than having their messages mediated by sources with obvious conflicts of interest.

In the 1976 movie “Network” actor Peter Finch plays an extremely frustrated network-television-news anchor whose job is threatened due to falling ratings.

In an ironic turn, Finch’s character announces that he will commit suicide in an upcoming newscast, and his ratings spike in response.

In despair, one evening, the news

The effects Facebook has on friendship LUKE GUBLO Opinion Editor It can be said that a friendship between two people is a snapshot of a place and time. At least this is how I perceive friendship to be. Friends may come and go, but they represent a place and time.

However, in modern times, the proliferation of social media has changed how we interact with each other. No longer are friends simply the people front and center in your life at a certain point in time; they are now people across the globe, across many different social circles. Excellent examples of these interactions are through the use of Facebook.

There are many positives that come from using Facebook. Certainly, one can find it fulfilling to be able to interact and see into what friends from far away are up to, the developments of their life, what person they are dating, so on and so forth. But the older I get, the more it becomes evident

that Facebook complicates our lives. One commonplace situation that arises from Facebook is what a person should do when two people end a relationship. Do you keep them on your friends list, hoping that someday you’ll be able to maintain a normal friendship with that person, or do you unfriend them?

A lot of how people deal with these situations is based on personal preferences. People have different motivations in how they use Facebook. Some people see Facebook as a means to keep in contact with family and close friends far away. Others are more like social butterflies, adding friends with very little discretion about what kind of relationship they have with the other person. Many people fall in between these practices, keeping a moderate level of friendship. In addition to this, there’s also the matter of how much of an insight a person wants into the lives of others. The Facebook wall can be a very good way for people to express them-

selves to their friends, but at a certain point, information overload can take hold.

These are a couple of our main motivations in how we use Facebook, however I’m sure there are other factors as well. The main takeaway here is that Facebook, while positive, complicates our relationships. If you unfriend someone on Facebook, a statement is made to that person, while the actual act itself may simply be that one wants to unclutter their life. One may not feel malice towards that person, per se; it simply reflects a reality of a friendship drifting.

This isn’t necessarily meant to be a parable against the use of Facebook. We all have our personal preferences, and we will all exercise them. Rather, the main takeaway here should be that while being connected with those far away is good, it’s best not to get too wrapped up in it. The life best lived is the one right in front of you. There is no substitute for one-on-one human interaction.

CLASSIFIED Seeking individuals to work as Secretary/Bookkeeping/ Accounts/Mail Dispatcher/Payroll Specialist Clerk, Typist and Sales Rep. Qualifications: verbal/written communication skills, extremely organized. Interested candidates should contact wardromanx@hotmail.com

E-mail lodeads@mtu.edu for information about placing a classified ad.

anchors encourages his audience to open his window and symbolically addresses the world at large.

He tells his audience, “I don’t have to tell you things are bad, everybody knows things are bad.

It’s a depression. Everybody’s out of work or scared of losing their job. The dollar buys a nickel’s worth. Banks are going bust, shopkeepers keep a gun under the counter…We know the air is unfit to breathe, our food is unfit to eat, and we sit watching our TVs while some local newscaster tells us that today we had 15 homicides and 63 violent crimes as if that’s the way it’s supposed to be… We sit in a house as slowly the world we’re living in is getting smaller and all we say is, ‘Please, at least leave us alone in our living rooms. Let me have my toaster, and TV, and my steel belted radials and I won’t say anything.’ Well I’m not going

to leave you alone. I want you to get mad. I don’t want you to protest. I don’t want you to riot.

I don’t know what to do about the depression and the inflation and the Russians and the crying in the streets. You’ve got to say, ‘I’m a human being. God Da**it, my life has value.’ So, I want you to get up now. I want all of you to get up out of your chairs… and yell, ‘I’m as mad as hell, and I’m not going to take this anymore!’

Things have got to change my friends. You’ve got to get mad.

Then we’ll figure out what to do about the depression and the inflation and the oil crisis.”

Maybe, some 35 years later, that’s what the Occupy movements are all about. A flood of concerned citizens entering the public square knowing that something terrible is wrong, and they can’t just sit by and let it get worse.

Michigan Tech Lode

106 Memorial Union Building, Houghton, MI 49931 (906) 487-2404 • www.mtulode.com

Editor in Chief ...................................Erika Peabody Business Manager............................Abhishek Gupta Online Editor.................................Priyanka Anand Design Editor.................................Michael Hilliard News Editor......................................Cameron Schwach Opinion Editor...........................................Luke Gublo Sports Editor ......................................Jordan Erickson Pulse Editor...................................................Nick Blecha Advisor ........................................................Kara Sokol

Staff Writers - Jack Ammerman,

Krysten Cooper, Mandy Barbul-Couch, Taylor Domagalla, Gianna Gomez-Mayo, Elijah Haines, Michael Hilliard, Kedar Jumde, Jessica Kennedy, Sawyer Newman, Zachary Page, Jacob Shuler

Circulation - Christopher Fongers Visuals Staff - Satyajeet Deshpande, Adam Marshall, Kevin Madson, Caitlin Pionke, Jacob Shuler, Ben Wittbrodt

Copy Editors - Corey Huhta, Jeni Jobst, Zach Ziemke

Unless otherwise noted, unsigned editorials represent the consensus of opinion of the senior editorial staff of the Michigan Tech Lode.

Opinions expressed in the Lode are not necessarily those of the student body, faculty, staff or administration of Michigan Technological University or the Michigan Tech Lode.

The Michigan Tech Lode is designed, written and edited

by Michigan Tech students.

The paper is printed every Thursday during fall and spring semesters.

The Lode is available free of charge at drop-off sites around campus and in the surrounding community.

To the best of its ability, the Michigan Tech Lode subscribes to the Code of Ethics of the Society of Professional Journalists, the text of which is available at http://spj.org/ethics_code.asp.

The Lode is funded in part by the Michigan Tech Student Activity Fee.

1. lodecomment@mtu.edu for submitting comments to the Lode. Messages posted to this address are received by the editor in chief and faculty advisor and are forwarded to others on the staff as appropriate.

2. lodeads@mtu.edu for submitting classified ads to the Lode. Messages posted to this address are received by the business manager and secretary.

3. lodesubmit@mtu.edu for submitting articles and letters to the editor. Messages posted to this address are received by the editors and the faculty advisor.

Please submit all work as a Microsoft Word or plain text attachment.

Work submitted to the Lode should be submitted with the understanding that it may be printed by the Lode and/ or posted to the Online Lode, www.mtulode.com.

The Lode reserves the right to edit submissions for length, clarity and potentially libelous material. Submissions should not exceed 500 words.

6

Michigan Tech Lode Thursday, December 1, 2011

Sports

Huskies ready for a dogfight JORDAN ERICKSON Sports Editor Returning from over 9,000 miles of traveling all in the search of wins, the No. 20 hockey Huskies return to the John MacInnes Student Ice Arena as they host the No. 4 Minnesota-Duluth Bulldogs for the teams first matchup of the season.

The Huskies return after spending the past two weeks traveling to Alaska where they squared off with Alaska-Anchorage, splitting the weekend in a 1-3 loss and a 5-0 win the next night. Leaving the west, the Huskies headed across the country to Canton, New York to take on St. Lawrence. The Huskies fell the first night in a 2-3 final but were able to rebound for the final game, defeating the Saints 3-1.

The Bulldogs travel to Houghton bringing with them a 10 game unbeaten record, having gone 8-0-2 since their last loss October 15 when the University of Minnesota swept them. In their last weekend of play, fifteen different Bulldogs tallied at least one point in the team’s 5-2 and 7-3 decisions against MinnesotaState Mankato.

This weekend will be the first of a nine-week road trip for the Bulldogs, but they have high hopes for success for the road.

“Two months without a home game will be a difficult stretch,” said sophomore J.T. Brown following his team’s 7-3 victory over Minnesota State-Mankato two weekends ago. “But it was a great thing to finish here at home on a good note and hopefully we can keep it going on the road.”

Leading the Bulldogs into the weekend is two-time AllAmerican Jack Connolly, who also captains the team. Connolly has had at least one point in the

past 12 games, a career high for the center. The senior also leads the Western Collegiate Hockey Association (WCHA) in overall scoring with 21 points (eight goals, 13 assists).

Sophomore J.T. Brown has also been a pivotal part of the Bulldog’s offense this season. The Burnsville, Minn. native follows Connolly in points tallying 19 this season (five goals, 14 assists) giving him 56 career points in two seasons.

“We need to be aware of their top players. [Jack] Connolly is a great hockey player and J.T. Brown has tremendous spend and he’s strong,” commented Husky’s head coach Mel Pearson when asked what it will take to defeat the Bulldogs this weekend.

Perhaps one of the biggest challenges for the Bulldogs this weekend will be stepping into a tough playing atmosphere. So far the Huskies have only dropped one game at home, coming from a 3-6 loss to Minnesota State November 5.

“We’ve played well here so far this year and it has been a while since we’ve played at home,” commented Pearson on the homecoming. “I think we’ll have the energy and the excitement when we play a team like Duluth so we wont have to do a lot to get our team ready to play.”

The Huskies will look to senior goaltender Josh Robinson to anchor them in net this weekend.

The Frankenmuth, Mich. native is 7-3-1 overall this season and

gained his second shutout of the season against Alaska-Anchorage.

Returning this weekend will be junior defenseman Tommy Brown who has spent the last month and a half recovering from appendicitis. Brown, who had played in all games previous to his illness, was forced to take a leave of absence before the start of the series against the University of Wisconsin.

The Huskies will need to be on their toes this weekend as the Bulldogs bring a strong power play and an even stronger offensive line to face the Huskies. The teams face-off 7:07 this Friday and Saturday at MacInnes Arena.

By

the

#

s r e b m nu

2

Upper Peninsula Nordic Ski races planned for this weekend facing postponement due to the lack of snow.

The first at Northern Michigan and the second here at Tech.

Number of rebounds averaged by Sam Hoyt in the Radisson Roseville Classic over Thanksgiving Break. The women’s Basketball Huskies meet the Wildcats this Saturday in the Wood Gym.

4

20

Hockey Huskies’ rank in the USCHO poll.

The Huskies have dropped in the polls since their high of no.15 but look to get back on top this weekend as they host Minnestoa-Duluth.

17

Points scored by junior Ali Haidar in the Huskies’ 5863 loss to Bemidji last weekend. The Huskies return home to face Northern Michigan on December 3rd at 3 p.m.

2

Senior forward Jordan Baker takes the puck behind the net during the Huskies’ 1-0 win over Minnesota State on November 4th.

Photo by Ben Wittbrodt

Weeks since the Hockey Huskies have had a home series.

Catch the games at the John MacInnes Student Ice Arena this Friday and Saturday at 7:07 p.m.!

Men’s basketball starts conference against rivals JACOB SHULER Lode Writer After going 1-1 on the road over Thanksgiving break, men’s basketball returns to the wood gym as they open conference play against rival from the east, the Northern Michigan Wildcats .The Huskies and Wildcats each have a similar starting record of 2-3, both having struggled to gain much ground this season. These two teams bring a lot of talent to the court meaning a very competitive game.

Offense for the Wildcats comes from several fronts.

Several players on the team contribute greatly to the twopoint game. Several others have over 40 percent three-point margins. The Huskies will be looking to limit this offense.

The threat from a distance and close to the net keeps the Huskies on their toes.

The Wildcats hit the court with a trio of players scoring more than 10 points per game on average this season. DeAndre Taylor leads the team with an average of 14 points per game. Close behind, Haki Stampley and Jared Benson average 13 and 12 points per game. Pressing the group from the Huskies are players like Ali Haidar who has five blocks this season. Austin Armga helps with defense leading the team with six steals.

From behind the three-point line, the Wildcats have four

players with over 40 percent completion percentages. Notable players are Stampley and Matthew Craggs. Stampley has a 48 percent three-point margin and Craggs has a 41 percent free throw margin.

Trying to stop the Huskies from scoring for the Wildcats are Benson and Taylor. Benson leads the team with seven blocks this season. Taylor has 11 steals and two blocks for the year.

Rebounds have been a problem area where for the Huskies.

In their most recent loss against the Bemidji State Beavers, they were out-rebounded 32-24.

For the Wildcats, rebounds are led by Taylor and Craggs. Taylor, a 6-foot 4-inch senior from Chicago, IL, has 30 this season, and Craggs, a 6-foot 6-inch sophomore from Kimberly, WI, has 25. Rebounds are often the difference in a basketball game, but the Huskies have lost by very few points in each game this year with rebounds often making the difference.

Keeping up with the rebounds will help the Huskies win their first Conference game. They face a team with very similar statistics. Both have three players who average more than 10 points per game as well as several good defensive players, which will provide for a very competitive and exciting game, given such a close matchup.

Join the Huskies in the Wood Gym this Saturday at 3 p.m. to cheer them on to a victory!

Photo by Ben Wittbrodt

Michigan Tech Lode Thursday, Dec ember 1, 2011

QUICK LOOK HOCKEY Nov. 18-19 at Alaska 3-1 L 5-0 W Nov. 25-26 at St.Law. 3-2 L, 3-1 W Dec. 2-3 vs. MN Duluth 7:07 p.m.

Dec. 9-10 at Minnesota 8:07, 9:07 Went 2-2 over two week road trip • Netminder Josh Robinson tallied second shutout of season • Moved down to No. 20 in the USCHO polls • Only one home loss this season • 8-5-1 overall •

WOMEN’S BASKETBALL Nov. 25-26 at Concordia 2-0 Dec. 3 vs. Northern Mich. 1 p.m.

Dec. 8 vs. Ohio Dom. 5:30 p.m.

Dec. 10 vs. Tiffin 3:30 p.m.

• Won both tournament games over Thanksgiving break• Ranked No. 9 in national poll • Three game home streak starting this weekend against Northern Michigan • 4-1 so far this season •

NORDIC SKIING Dec. 3 at Wildcat Challenge Dec. 4 Huskies Challenge Dec 10-11 Ironwood Invitational Nov. 12 at Northern Mich. 1 p.m.

• Races this weekend are weather permitting, currently there is no snow to race on • Travled to Montana over Thanksgiving break • Huskies Challenge is one of two home races •

MEN’S BASKETBALL Nov. 25-26 at Bemidji Inv. 1-1 Dec. 3 vs. Northern Mich. 3 p.m.

Dec. 8 vs. Ohio Dom. 7:30 p.m.

Dec. 10 vs. Tiffin 5:30 p.m.

• Ranked at No. 1 in the preseason poll • Dropped one game at tournament in Bemidji • 2-3 overall this season • Visit gliac.org for full standings

Sports

7

Women’s basketball continues 35-year rivalry JORDAN ERICKSON Lode Writer Back at home fresh off a 2-0 weekend in Minnesota, the women’s basketball team hosts rival Northern Michigan Wildcats as they open Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (GLIAC) play.

The no. 9 Huskies look to show off their powerful offense against the 3-3 Wildcats for the teams first meeting of the season. Overall, the Wildcats own the series with their northern neighbor, leading 47-35 in the rivalry that dates to the 1975-76 season. However, the Huskies swept the Wildcats in their two meetings last season and defeated the Wildcats 17 times in their last 20 meetings.

With a mediocre start to the season, the Wildcats last win came in a 56-50 win over Davenport University November 28, breaking their two game losing streak.

Freshman guard Alyssa Colla set the pace for the Wildcats, tying her career high of 12 points. Senior guard Chelsea Lyons leads the Wildcats in points with 66, averaging 13.2 per game. Last season the Wildcats finished sixth in the GLIAC with a 7-12 conference record.

Over Thanksgiving break in Minnesota, the Huskies took on Minnesota-Crookston in the first game on the tournament. Huskies dominant offense took center stage in the first half of the game, helping the Huskies to a 30 point lead at one point. The second half, however, proved less productive to

the Huskies. “We had a great first half. It was the best half we have played this year,” said head coach Kim Cameron. “Our second half was not our best. We lost our aggressiveness and we need to continue to attack. We need to work on putting two halves together.”

Saturday, the Huskies improved their second half effort the next day, outscoring host team Concordia- St. Paul 49-24 in the second half leading to a 66-52 win putting the team at 4-1 for the season.

Individual Huskies were honored for their efforts over the weekend. Junior Sam Hoyt was named the tournament’s Most Valuable Player after scoring a career high 26 points in Saturday’s win. Senior Lynn Giesler also stood out, brining home alltournament honors after netting

a career-high 18 points in the last game of the weekend.

So far the Husky’s only loss of the season comes from a 52-79 defeat while visiting Indiana University. The Huskies have yet to be defeated on home court. The game also marks the first conference competition of the season.

Last season the Huskies dominated the GLIAC, ending the season 18-1 in conference play and took first place in the North Division. Second year head coach Kim Cameron and assistant coach leads Black and Gold, both former players for the Huskies with winning experience under their belts.

Tip off is at 1 p.m. in the Wood Gym of the SDC with the men’s game following at 3 p.m.

an opportunity to hit the trails, however, when they traveled to Yellowstone. “Yellowstone was primarily a training camp for us.

We don’t focus too much on racing in November,” commented Coach Joe Haggenmiller. “We had some encouraging results from Alice Flanders and Rachel Mason.” Mason posted a top 30 finish at the sprints in Montana. Flanders held her own, finishing 22nd overall in the 10k freestyle, giving the Huskies their highest place of the weekend. These results are promising given these racers were not preparing specifically for the race. They were simply using it as a training exercise for experience

needed later in the season.

“Each time you go to [a higher] altitude, it’s usually an easier transition when it comes to acclimating. Hopefully the trip this fall will help them acclimate a little bit better in March,” said Coach Haggenmiller. March brings the NCAA Championships in Bozeman, Mont.. This race is at an altitude that will make a quick transition necessary for the Huskies to compete there.

Stuck on the pavement and in the weight room until the snow starts falling, the Huskies aim to be prepared for when the ground is white again. The Huskies keep busy with things like running flags

and roller skiing. All of these exercises are designed to keep the teams in shape so that when the snow does start, they are ready. In place of this weekend’s competitions, the Huskies are trying to set up a scrimmage with the Northern Michigan Wildcats. This could be anything from a roller skiing time trial to a running time trial. The scrimmage will help both teams prep for a season without snow so far.

Temperatures are forecast to be consistently below freezing after Thursday of this week, giving Houghton a good chance of seeing snow soon.

Nordic ski team keeps busy until snow sticks in Houghton JACOB SHULER Lode Writer Following a week in Montana, the nordic skiing teams return to a snowless Houghton. Despite the difficulties that the lack of snow provides, the Huskies are actively training to be ready when the white stuff starts falling again.

This weekend, two Upper Peninsula races were planned. The first race was planned to be in Marquette at the Wildcat Challenge on Saturday and the second at the Husky Challenge on Sunday on the Tech Trails.

The Huskies have already had

GLIAC honors Sam Hoyt JORDAN ERICKSON Sports Editor

Photo courtesy of Michigan Tech Athletics

For the first time this season, junior Sam Hoyt has been honored as the Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (GLIAC) Basketball North Division Player of the Week. The junior earns the honors after having a standout weekend playing in the Radisson Roseville Classic in St. Paul Minnesota November 25 and 26. Throughout the tournament, Hoyt averaged 17.5 points per game, as well as averages of 4.0 rebounds, 3.5 assists, and 2.5 steals.

Hoyt started her power-weekend racking up nine points, five assists, four steals and two

blocks to help the Huskies to a 62-52 victory over MinnesotaCrookston in their first game of the tournament.

The Arkansaw, Wisconsin native continued to impress as she tallied a career high 26 points for a 66-52 Husky win over Concordia- St. Paul. In the second victory of the weekend Hoyt also made six rebounds and shot eight for 16 from the field and six for six from the foul line.

No stranger to the spotlight, Hoyt has been honored on the national level as well as conference. Last season she was named to the NCAA Elite Eight All-Tournament Team after the Huskies finished as runner-up in the national tournament. In the 2010-2011 season Hoyt lead the GLIAC in 3-pointers and was eventually named to the GLIAC All-Tournament Team.

So far this season she is averaging 13.6 points per game and leads the Huskies with 68.

Hoyt and the Huskies return to the Wood Gym this weekend as they host Northern Michigan.

We’re here because of you.

Check it all out at: www.mtulode.com PDF archives of all issues this year and last

See any problems with this week’s paper? Tell us about it.

Write a letter to the editor and tell us what we are doing well, what we can do better or just send us a letter.

We love to hear what you think.

You can slip a note under our door in MUB 106 or in our mailbox in the same room. We also have office hours throughout the week posted on our door, so feel free to stop in and chat. You can also email us at admin@mtulode.com

8

Michigan Tech Lode Thursday, December 1, 2011

Go faster in Houghton.

AT&T’s mobile broadband network has arrived.

9

$ 99 AFTER MAIL-IN REBATE $30 mail-in rebate AT&T Promotion Card; with 2-year wireless svc agreement on voice required.

3999

$

PANTECH LINK II™ Full keyboard for easy text messaging

AFTER MAIL-IN REBATE $50 mail-in rebate AT&T Promotion Card; with 2-year wireless svc agreement on voice required.

PANTECH PURSUIT II™ Text and picture messaging

FREE SHIPPING | 1.866.MOBILITY – ATT.COM – VISIT A STORE With AT&T’s mobile broadband network, you’ll now experience:

Faster music downloads | Faster picture downloads | Talking and surfing the Web at the same time*