October 22, 2009

Thursday, October 22, 2009

www.msureporter.com

Minnesota State University, Mankato

On leave to advance the classroom Faculty sabbaticals are a contractual obligation JOHN FRITZ

staff writer

Fifty-one Minnesota State professors are taking full-year or semester-long sabbaticals this academic year while receiving all or most of their regular salaries.

Donald Larsson, professor of English and president of MSU’s branch of the Inter Faculty Organization, which represents faculty at seven state universities in Minnesota, said that sabbaticals are an ancient concept (the word sabbatical is derived from the biblical notion of the Sabbath).

“The book of Leviticus talks about letting the fields lie fallow everY seventh year, thus improving their overall fertility,” Larsson noted. “In modern times, especially in the field of higher education,

the concept has been extended.

Professors need time to reflect on their work, refresh their batteries, re-educate themselves … The current concept is that it’s a necessary element of professional life.”

The concept is reflected in the IFO’s contract with the Minnesota State Colleges and Universities system, which mandates that professors be considered eligible for sabbatical after seven years, and every seven years after that. Once a professor has been around ten years, “granting their request for a sabbatical is pretty much obligatory,” said Provost and Vice President for Academic Affairs Scott Olson.

“You’ll find this in the corporate world as well, where executives take a year

On leave / page 3

photo illustration by ann reichel • msu reporter

Giving help to the most helpless

Mankato Humane Society to move to bigger and better location in January The relocation of a Mankato area humane society will bring happy hearts to helpless animals this upcoming winter.

The Blue Earth-Nicollet County Humane Society (BENCHS) is currently located on Madison Ave. but will relocate to the new shelter, off Highway 169 along the Minnesota River, in January.

The inside of the new building will have 13 cat condos and 18 dog kennels lining the outer walls. “We are going to clump the staff in the center of the building because we get to go home and they don’t,” Humane Society President Susan Kroon said. “There will be no windows

in the offices because it’s their home and we are just stopping in to work for them.”

The cat condos will be co-mingled because Kroon said cats are very social and do much better combined than isolated.

The cat condos will have sliding doors for workers and interested adopters to enter into the cat’s environment. Also, outside the windows will be a butterfly garden and bird feeders.

“It will be better than television for the cats,” Kroon said, “because they will have interactive activity outside their window.”

The dog kennels will range in size from small to extra large.

Each dog will have a kennel that leads to an exterior kennel, which will ultimately lead to the

Dean of students holds open forum

Law enforcement majors petition for more teachers

Less Than Three preview

Mavericks defense stepping up at right time

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ASHLEY WALL

staff writer

index

nick jungers • msu reporter Blue Earth-Nicolette County Humane Society volunteer Marilyn Okey holds Google, the seven-month-old cat who is blind due to a neglected infection in his eyes.

Editorial...................................4 Classifieds...............................7 Variety......................................9 Sports....................................13 .................................................

combined outdoor play yard.

Other features of the new shelter include a community room, a public dog wash, gift shop, pet kitchen to prepare food, surgical suite for conducting spaying and neutering procedures, a laundry room, a cat quarantine room for sick cats and also a cat isolation room for new incoming cats.

The shelter is working towards a certification in Leadership in Environmental and Energy Design (LEED). There is only one other pet shelter in the country LEED certified located, in Milpitas, Calif.

“We wanted to make the shelter comfortable for the animals, but also welcoming to

Helpless / page 6

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ON LEAVE Professors must submit detailed plans of what they want to do during sabbaticals continued from 1 away … and come back better able to relate and perform in their jobs,” Larsson said.

This may be the case for executives, but in reality, outside the very upper echelons of the corporate ladder, extremely few business professionals are afforded the opportunity to take an extended paid leave of absence.

The contract’s language also stipulates that to receive a sabbatical, professors must submit a sabbatical plan, outlining what they hope to accomplish during their time away from the university, to the president and their department chairperson for approval. No more than 25 percent of the faculty in any department can take a sabbatical at one time.

For a single semester leave, professors receive full salary and benefits, while leaving for a full year entails 80 percent compensation and full benefits.

If professors don’t follow the plan, or don’t come back to the university for a year afterward, they must refund their compensation.

With the university looking at cutting faculty and staff jobs as a result of the current budget crisis, it is fair to ask if sabbaticals are really the best use of student and taxpayer money. Even with the university’s budget constraints, the number of sabbaticals won’t be cut, Olson said, “because they are a contractual obligation.”

“There’s really no budget for it,” he added. “We’re not hiring

replacements. Other professors in the department simply carry the extra workload.”

While a department may have to pay a professor more for teaching extra classes or, on occasion, hire an adjunct to cover these classes, sabbatical issues are factored into the total budget beforehand.

The terms of sabbaticals are an important part of the bargaining process, Larsson said.

“The purpose of a sabbatical leave,” according the IFO-

During her last sabbatical in 2000, she toured public relations firms in the twin cities, which yielded two new mass communications courses and other materials now used throughout the department.

•Professor of physics and astronomy Russell Palma is working on research for NASA at the University of Minnesota, where he has been an adjunct professor since 2002. He will be on sabbatical all year.

Palma was part of a group that discovered a new mineral, a manganese silicide, in an interplanetary dust particle that may While we can’t offer as many elective or have originated from general education courses, they [sabbaticals] a comet. He will continue conducting haven’t affected the core course offerings ...” research for NASA’s Stardust Mission

—John Banshbach, chairman of the English dept. and presenting at conferences in the U.S. and Europe.

MnSCU contract, “is to enhance journalism course. “While the “Universities aren’t in the professional development, industry and other universities teaching business, they’re in support department/unit goals, are increasingly emphasizing the knowledge business,” Olson and/or meet the instructional, skills in digital journalism, said. “Research is a big part service, or research priorities of we don’t offer anything like of what we do, and students the university.” that right now,” Mrja said, should care about accessing the Professors accomplish this adding that the style for most current and knowledgeable purpose by expanding their digital transmission is very sources of information possible. research, investigating grant different from traditional print If they don’t, a university isn’t opportunities, taking additional journalism. the right place for them.” classes, or going on field-related She will be recording True, but students can also lectures, making screen travel. be disappointed when they Some specific examples this captures, pod casts and videos aren’t able to take a class with year at MSU: — all very time intensive, she their favorite professor or when •Paul Hustoles, chairman said. In addition, she will tour the elective course they were of the theatre department, other state universities to see looking forward to gets cut. where productions have how they are incorporating “It can be a problem,” Olson won national awards and social and digital media into the conceded, “if two people in the recognition, is on sabbatical classroom. same department are eligible at

“

attending performances at other prestigious theatre schools to see what he can bring back to improve the MSU program.

“Imagine what an asset it is to a theatre major going to Broadway or Hollywood,” Olson said, “coming from an awardwinning university rather than some mediocre one nobody has ever heard of.”

•Professor of mass communications Ellen Mrja will spend spring semester continuing to put together material for an online

the same time. But our faculty are really good at working together to balance that.”

Sometimes, however, a department can’t quite stretch far enough. “[Sabbaticals] have limited our course offerings,” said John Banschbach, chairman of the English department, which has three professors on fullyear leave and another set to go in the spring. “While we can’t offer as many elective or general education courses, they haven’t affected the core course offerings or students’ ability to get the credits they need to graduate.”

Having four full-time faculty members from his 27-member department on sabbatical is more than usual, he said. Other departments with multiple professors on sabbatical this year include speech communications, with three gone, and sociology and corrections, with four.

Eight other departments have two professors taking sabbatical this academic year.

Forty to 45 professors have applied for sabbaticals next year.

“Every university does it,” Olson said, “and for a darn good reason … With such heavy workloads, it’s very challenging for professors to stay current in their fields and in their research. When they get back, professors are to give students the education they expect.”

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Thursday, October 22, 2009

(507) 389-5454

Wolff open and honest during forum Dean of students answered questions about the university’s budget problems, program suspensions

During an open forum Wednesday, Walt Wolff, the current dean of students, talked openly about the university’s budget problems and the proverbial cliff we could hit by 2012.

The state will hit a projected deficit of $4-7 billion, roughly $10 million of which could be absorbed by MSU. To soften the blow, the university is offering early retirement incentives to senior faculty members. They hope 60-70 people will take the incentive and lessen the burden,

but if less than expected take the offer, they will have to start cutting professors from the bottom, meaning they would have to cut two bottom-level professors instead of retiring a senior one.

This could have negative effects on already hurt programs, such as the law enforcement program — currently suffering with too many students and too few teachers — and tied in with contractually-obliged faculty sabbaticals, could further affect students’ class choices.

The university is also

considering suspending programs that could be left below the radar for a few years, such as ones that don’t meet enrollment expectations or fall in line with the goals of the university.

“There are no clean cuts with program suspensions,” Wolff said. “We have to take care of the students first.”

Wolff said the conversation about which programs to suspend would be an awkward, uneasy one. Any programs cut would be phased out slowly and be more difficult to bring back.

Kudos to Wolff for being honest about the university’s budget problems and his assurance that, while states such as California are considering raising tuition by as much as 30 percent, no one he has known in Minnesota has mentioned this as a possibility.

It’s a great relief to know the university’s reorganizational tactic and creation of a dean of students position was a good one, and a shame to know Wolff will retire at the end of the academic year.

compiled by Wale Agboola

How have you been preparing for midterms?

Michelle Reynolds • So • Human Biology “Studying by myself and with people from class, and made a lot of flash cards.”

College advice from seasoned educators

New York Times contributors make suggestions to students NEW YORK TIMES

Minnesota State University, Mankato

Change Course The first thing freshmen should know is that college is never what one expects.

The summer of 1950, before I went to Cornell, I was working as a bellhop at a hotel in the Adirondacks. One day the mail brought me a Cornell course catalog.

Reading it between carrying guests’ bags was for me like reading the menu of a good restaurant would be for a starving man. The philosophy and humanities departments had classes that I was sure would make me wise.

The physics department had courses given by famous physicists. The mathematics department offered a course on Hilbert space. Who knew that there were different kinds of space?

It didn’t work out quite as I had anticipated. I didn’t know enough to participate in the exciting physics research that was going on at Cornell. I took German, in which the main thing I learned was that I have no head for foreign languages. My courses in philosophy left me puzzled about how ideas of Plato and Descartes that seemed to me absurd could have been so influential. I did not become wise.

But I did graduate, and took away with me memories of several inspiring professors, of walks with friends under beautiful old elms, and of hours spent reading in the music room of the student union. I discovered that I loved chamber

music and history and Shakespeare. I married my college sweetheart. And I did learn about Hilbert space.

Steven Weinberg, a professor of physics at the University of Texas at Austin, has been teaching since 1958.

Go the Wrong Way It’s easy to think that college classes are mainly about preparing you for a job.

But remember: this may be the one time in your life when you have a chance to think about the whole of your life, not just your job. Courses in the humanities, in particular, often seem impractical, but they are vital, because they stretch your imagination and challenge your mind to become more responsive, more critical, bigger. You need resources to prevent your mind from becoming narrower and more routinized in later life. This is your chance to get them.

Martha Nussbaum, a professor of philosophy, law and divinity at the University of Chicago, has been teaching since 1975.

The Hunt for a Good Teacher I would give entering freshmen two pieces of advice. First, find out who the good teachers are. Ask your adviser; poll older students; search the Internet; and consult the teacher-evaluation guides available at most colleges. (As a professor, I am against those guides; too often they are the vehicles of petty grievances put forward by people who have no long-term stake in the enterprise. But if I were a student, I would take advantage of them.)

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To some extent your options will be limited by distribution requirements (in colleges that still have them) and scheduling. But within these limits you should do everything you can to get a seat in the class of a professor known for both his or her knowledge of the material and the ability to make it a window on the larger universe. Years later you may not be able to recall the details of lectures and discussions, but the benefits of being in the company of a challenging mind will be yours forever.

Second, I would advise students to take a composition course even if they have tested out of it. I have taught many students whose SAT scores exempted them from the writing requirement, but a disheartening number of them couldn’t write and an equal number had never been asked to. They managed to get through high-school without learning how to write a clean English sentence, and if you can’t do that you can’t do anything.

I give this advice with some trepidation because too many writing courses today teach everything but the craft of writing and are instead the vehicles of the instructor’s social and political obsessions. In the face of what I consider a dereliction of pedagogical duty, I can say only, “Buyer beware.” If your writing instructor isn’t teaching writing, get out of that class and find someone who is.

Stanley Fish is a professor of law at Florida International University and a contributing columnist to The Times, who has been teaching since 1962.

Billy Markham • Sr •Law Enforcement “Rockstars and reading.”

Ryan Perlt • Sr • Finance “Energy drinks and studying in the library.”

Vanessa Bonahoom• Jr • Finance “Making flash cards and turning the TV off.”

OUR POLICIES & OTHER INFORMATION • If you have a complaint, suggestion or would like to point out an error made in the Reporter, call Editor in Chief Nicole Smith at (507) 389-5454. The Reporter will correct any errors of fact or misspelled names in this space. Formal grievances against the Reporter are handled by the Newspaper Board, which can be contacted at (507) 389-2611.

• The Minnesota State University Mankato Reporter is a student-run newspaper published twice a week, coming out on Tuesdays and Thursdays. The Reporter generates 78 percent of its own income through advertising and receives approximately 22 percent from Student Activities fees. The Reporter is free to all students and faculty, but to start a subscription, please call us at (507) 389-1776. Subscriptions for the academic school year are $35.00 and subscribers will receive the paper within three to five days after publishing.

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Thursday, October 22, 2009

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Doing too much with too little

Concerned about the lack of faculty and overfilled classes, law enforcement students ask for more professors for the program LYNN ZASKE

staff writer

Minnesota State students majoring in law enforcement have started a petition in an attempt to convince the university to hire more professors for their program.

Considering the number of students majoring in each discipline or program, the law enforcement program is the fourth- largest program at the university, and the largest within its college.

With roughly 450 majors and only six full-time professors, the program is understaffed, according to the students who started the petition, and confirmed by the director of the law enforcement program and associate professor, Dr. Tamara Tucker Wilkins.

“This number means each faculty member has to serve roughly 75 students as advisees,” Wilkins said. “There should

really be anywhere from 12 to 15 professors for the number of students in the program.” For example, if there were 12 faculty members, then each would still have roughly 37 students to mentor.

“

include minors.

Faculty members of the law enforcement program voted to stop expanding class sizes.

In other semesters they were overfilling classes in an attempt to fit the many students competing

When we start overfilling classes that require one-on-one instruction with 50 or more students, the students suffer as does the quality of the program.”

-Dr. Tamara Wilkins, director of law enforcement In comparison, the ethnic studies program has an estimated 50 majors with 4-5 full-time faculty members (one is between departments). Also, the gender and women’s studies department on campus has an estimated 20 majors and four full-time faculty members. These numbers do not

over seats into their required courses.

“We have the largest program in the state with many of our alumni working all over the country,” Wilkins said. “When we start overfilling classes that require one-on-one instruction with 50 or more students, the

students suffer, as does the quality of the program.”

With class sizes being made smaller, in a program that already has trouble fitting its student population, freshmen planning on majoring in law enforcement may need to anticipate taking longer than four years for them to graduate.

Wilkins explained that last year, the administration gave them permission to hire, but rescinded before interviews could be done. A couple of years ago an eighth position was granted, but was never filled. Since then they have lost one and have not been allowed to look for a replacement because of budget cuts, leaving the program with only six faculty members.

The program also suffers because money is distributed to the program by the number of faculty members, not by the number of student majors.

Law Enforcement majors Justin Turbes, Nathan Dingler and Donald Brennhofer started the petition after they learned from their instructors that the program got passed up by administration for additional professors.

“The petition is not aimed at the professors in our program, Turbes said. “The professors we have do a great job. We are trying to get the administration’s attention to help both the students and the professors.”

Turbes said he recently learned that Wilkins may be on sabbatical next fall, leaving only five instructors teaching about 450 majors.

“Our faculty members know students would suffer both on time and money by having to wait for classes,” Wilkins said. “We just can’t let our program’s excellent reputation be ruined by continuing to overfill classes.”

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HELPLESS Humane society received

more than $250,000 in donations continued from 1 the public,” Kroon said. “The existing building has neither. It’s neither good for the animals, nor for anybody to come in.”

Although the goal of a new shelter is accomplished, the fund raising is not over with.

The humane society fundraised throughout the community in a variety of ways from, hot dog stands to newsletters. Warner Zeno of Mankato died in January and the trustees of his estate wrote checks to four different Mankato organizations including the Humane Society, where Zeno donated a total of $232,000. The humane society also received a $25,000 grant from the Petco foundation.

Currently, BENCHS has about 65 cats and anywhere from 15 to 20 dogs, including the ones in foster care. Kroon said the number is higher than usual because of the economy and adoption has also been slow since the economic downfall.

Kroon said the current space is extremely crowded so she is not encouraging volunteers to come in and help right now. “Dog

walkers are great and if people come and work events with us that’s also great,” Kroon said.

But those who want to help out should not be upset — the new shelter will be developing a volunteer program with training available.

The volunteer dog walkers will enjoy this new location just as much as the animals will. Volunteers will have the opportunity to walk the shelter dogs for hours up and down the river trail to Sibley Park and the nearby dog park.

Owning a pet is an enormous responsibility, so Kroon encourages individuals to think about their futures and not impulsively adopt pets. Potential adopters are encouraged to check the news and events tab on benchs.org for upcoming adoption events.

“This isn’t the first time this community has attempted to put together a pet shelter,” Kroon said. “There have been more failures than successes and we must have done everything right this time.”

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Thursday, October 22, 2009

Leadership conference to be held at MSU Friday Includes Midwest and Canadian colleges JENNY POLLOCK

staff writer

A Midwest leadership conference to promote the exchange of ideas about residence halls on different campuses will be hosted at Minnesota State this Friday.

The Midwest Affiliate of College and University Residence Halls (MACURH) includes colleges from Minnesota, Iowa, Nebraska, North Dakota, South Dakota and even a Canadian providence, Manitoba.

This is the first time MSU will host the annual conference. “It’s a privilege to host the conference,” said co-chair of MACURH, Michael Stanford.

Last year, the conference was at Missouri University of Science and Technology.

The year before, it was hosted at North Dakota State

University.

In order to host the conference, prospective universities form a bid team one year prior to the bidding.

The bid team writes a proposal that states why their university is the best place to host the conference. Once the bid is accepted, there is a year to plan it.

MSU expects 475 student leaders from other universities, who will stay at local hotels for the duration of the conference.

There will be more than 60 programs that people attending can sign up for. The 60 programs all fit in to four main categories: educational, social, leadership and diversity.

There is a variety of topics that fit in these categories.

“There will be a presentation on Sing for Your Wings, a karaoke program

hosted in Chet’s place. They will discuss how it could be implemented on other universities,” said Joshua Wuollet, public relations and programming co-chair.

Brianne Theisen, co-chair of the conference, attended MACURH before.

“I met lots of people from around the Midwest.

I attended programs that taught me how to improve our residence halls.” Theisen said.

Students who want to get involved can volunteer for this event by contacting madeline. greene@mnsu.edu to sign up for a time to help out.

It is too late for students to attend the conference this year but they can already start thinking about next year.

The best way to get involved in MACURH is to attend the Residence Halls Association general assembly meetings.

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Variety Thursday, October 22, 2009

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Less Than Three ready to rock

NATE BRENNAN

variety editor

The old adage that the third time’s a charm certainly does not apply to this weekend’s Less Than Three Fest. The electronic music concert at Mankato’s What’s Up Lounge has expanded and strengthened its lineup to make version 2.0 of the show an unforgettable series of live performances.

“Every band in this show brings something that you’ve never seen unless you’ve seen these bands perform before,” said Charlie Wheeler, co-vocalist of the Style Biters and the coordinator of the Less Than Three Fest. “I’ve never

seen a punk band like Forever Dumb, never seen an electroexperimental band like Taffee Machine, never seen a one-man band like The Show Is The Rainbow, a nerd-core band like Super 8-bit Brothers and never seen a band like [The Style Biters]. Everything is absolutely different than everything else but all the bands are connected through our love of electronic music, hence the less than three symbol being a way to electronically send love.”

The concert, which Wheeler has been planning since last December, will take place at 6 p.m. Friday.

Last year’s version featured

nate brennan• msu reporter Version 2.0 of the Less Than Three Fest will take place Friday at the What’s Up Lounge. The symbol “<3” is an electronic way to send love, as shown by members of fest performers the Style Biters (left) and Forever Dumb.

electronic bands with less than three members, hence the concert’s name.

“The difference between this year and last year is that this year every band is super put together and have really worked on their live show,” Wheeler said. “Last year had only about 50 or more people come solely to see the Super 8-bit Brothers since none of the rest of us had a big following yet.”

Jordan Carr, under his infamous alias, gives a strong reason why people should head further downtown than the bars

to see this concert. “#1 bad boy believes that the kiddies should come to the Less Than Three Fest because not only is every band on the bill mega dope, but Forever Dumb is the leading cause of kick ass in this town,” Carr said. “There will be such an electric charge in the What’s Up Lounge Friday that you will walk away like Ernest in ‘Ernest Goes to Jail.’”

Whilst Forever Dumb may be the “leading cause of kick ass” in Mankato, Wheeler believes the most unique aspect of the show will be The Show Is

the Rainbow.

“The Show Is The Rainbow is a multimedia extravaganza,” Wheeler said. “He has all sort of instruments in his music, all made by him, and has a projector that plays videos he made to accompany every song while he performs. He’s all over the stage, never standing in one spot, getting the audience involved and just being a wild fat man.”

As sole coordinator and promoter of the show, Wheeler

Fest / page 18

You’re the star of Comedy Central’s newest

SAM CAMPBELL

staff writer

If you have stuck around long enough after a new episode of “South Park,” you probably noticed the latest in reality TV — “Secret Girlfriend.”

Adopting the shaky hand camera angle of “Cloverfield” and “The Blair Witch Project” to suggest the viewer’s presence, “Secret Girlfriend” takes the first person viewer even further.

Giving the main character — assumed to be you — a cell phone, ex-girlfriend, two best friends and love interests, Comedy Central has made a bold new move in the arena of

photos by comedycentral.com The girl you’re hiding from your ex (left), your ex and your two dimwitted friends attempt to win your heart in the ill-fated Comedy Central comedy ‘Secret Girlfriend.’

cable television.

“The first show starring you,” the premier begins, “These are your friends, this is your ex, this is the girl you’re hiding from your ex. ‘Secret Girlfriend’ … welcome to your world.”

The premier starts with your supposed ex-girlfriend posing in lingerie, breaking up with you and then coming on strong. The appeal is simple — sex sells — and “Secret Girlfriend” does not attempt to hide it. Each new scene is stocked with beautiful women exploding out of their tops, flirting with your apparent

Girlfriend / page 11

Page 10 • Reporter

Variety

Rhymesayers rapper talks transformation CHRISTIAN HAGEN

staff writer

To truly understand Minneapolis-based rapper P.O.S., you simply need to consider the artwork for his latest album, “Never Better.”

The limited edition packaging for the disc contains several transparent squares with designs including a skull, a snake and the words “Kick & Snare & Kick & High-hat.” The liner notes can be folded out to reveal a series of squares with various images on them ranging from a sketch of the rapper himself to a drawing of actor Danny Glover, all of which can be torn into individual squares the size of the cover art.

The sleeves containing these pieces are transparent plastic, allowing the listener to arrange

all of these things together in whatever manner he or she chooses, making the visual art of the album every bit as personal and creative as the sounds contained on the CD. P.O.S. explains it best himself: “The overall theme of the record is to do something yourself, and I wanted the art to reflect that.”

This individualized approach exemplifies the spirit of the rapper’s career. Born Stefon Alexander in Minneapolis, P.O.S. actually started as a punk rock musician, finding his kindred spirits in the world of hardcore. For a long time, he ignored rap music. What made him change?

“Basically, my band broke up,” he says with a laugh, “and I was looking for something I could do by myself. I didn’t

web photo P.O.S. will bring his hybrid hip-hop to the What’s Up on Monday want

to rely on other people anymore.”

Thus started the young man’s transformation into a hip-hop artist. But what makes P.O.S. so unique, among other things, is that instead of simply moving on from the punk and hardcore sound, he has managed to incorporate them into the music he makes today. He pulls music from his influences, getting throaty screams over a chorus here or blasting a grungy guitar chord there.

The result is a sound unlike any other in the rap genre, a sound that confuses critics and journalists who sometimes refer to him as being “rap/rock” or “emo rap.” But when asked how he defines his music, he is perfectly clear what it is he creates.

“Hip-hop. Straight up.”

According to P.O.S., “Anyone who calls it ‘rap/rock’ or whatever isn’t listening. You’re not going to find anything that sounds like Limp Bizkit. There are no breakdowns. If you took any of my songs, if you put a cheesy hip-hop beat under any of them, it would still be a hiphop song, just with different rapping.”

Thankfully for P.O.S., and for his fans, his beats are anything but typical hip-hop beats. His synthesis of punk and rap is immediately impactful, and for first-time listeners it’s surprising to hear two genres that seem so different sound so good

POS / page 12

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FEST Less Than Three Fest 2.0 hopes to bring the ‘kick ass’ Friday continued from 9 acts as such, calmly talking up the bands performing strengths and highlights. But as a musician involved in the show, he’s a bit more forward with his excitement.

“The big thing for Alex (Wheeler’s co-vocalist in the Style Biters) and I is that the Super 8-bit Brothers and The Show Is The Rainbow are two bands that when we saw them, we decided that we could make a band,” Wheeler said. “We saw from them that we could make great music without having to worry about finding a lot of people who play instruments that are connected.”

The all-ages show will last until around 10:30 p.m. The cover is $5. Along with the

performances by local acts the Style Biters, Taffee Machine and Forever Dumb, Chicago act Super 8-bit Brothers and Nebraskan act the Show Is The Rainbow, the Euphoric Fayreez Dance troupe will perform in between sets.

The What’s Up Lounge is located in Old Town Mankato atop the Oleander Saloon, which will be serving alcohol for those wishing to drink during the concert.

Wheeler left those undecided on whether to attend the show with a last bit of information.

“It will be like seeing Lady Gaga, Nine Inch Nails, NOFX and Lil’ Wayne all in the same night.”

nate brennan• msu reporter

Thursday, October 22, 2009

Variety

Mankato all-ages venue has upside and downside, hosting concert Friday NATE BRENNAN

variety editor

This Friday, downtown Mankato’s the Tank, an all-ages music venue surrounded by a sea of bars, will play host to a variety of relative newcomers to the Mankato music scene.

The show will feature Dirty Rain, the Selectives, Mystery Moth, Shotgun Fiction and headliner rDJw. The Tank opened up its location sandwiched between weekend hotspots South Street Saloon and Erbert and Gerbert’s in August. Since then, weekend downtown dwellers have come across the venue with curiosity and confusion, some mistaking it for a bar.

But the all-ages venue is alcohol-free, which presents advantages and disadvantages alike for a music venue in a town with a somewhat struggling music scene.

“Since the show is all ages, a younger crowd will have the opportunity to hear our music… and since the venue is alcoholfree, the audience is there for the music, not for drinks and then music,” said Colin Scharf, guitarist for the band Shotgun Fiction. “It’s nice when music, not booze, is the entertainment for the evening.”

Scharf expressed that the downside to an all-ages venue is, of course, the inevitability

that the show may lose a 21-plus aged audience to the bars.

“This being our first show at the Tank, however, we don’t really know what to expect.” Scharf said. “There’s definitely a music scene in this town, but it’s been stifled due to the lack of a decent venue booking consistent shows.

Hopefully the Tank will help bring some cohesion to the Mankato dan moen • msu reporter music scene.”

Shotgun Fiction, who performed as part of MSU’s Beauty of Cultures (Scharf pictured) will be among Friday night’s concert the five rock bands performing Friday at the Tank. could be act Shotgun Fiction could easily mistaken as be mistaken for the offspring of just another rock n’ roll show, late ‘80s college indie acts the but it’s not as cut and dry as Pixies and the Breeders. that. The duo rDJw bring a Williams said the biggest distinct hip-hop style, while reason people should come is the recent winners of Mankato the immersion in the downtown Ribfest’s battle of the bands, party atmosphere.

Dirty Rain, has a very barroom “It’s an attractive part of blues sound. The Selecters have town to be in on Friday night.” been described as “Sublime-ish The concert will begin at 7 reggae-rock” and Mystery Moth p.m. and has a cover of $5. as “psychedelic funk.” Opening

Reporter • Page 11

GIRLFRIEND Comedy Central’s newest series puts you in the driver’s seat, but is it enough to be successful? continued from 9 good looks and uncanny wit.

And you don’t even have to do anything. The show skips when the main character is required to talk, so all the viewer gets is the flirtatious batting of eyelashes followed by that same girl asking permission to sleep with him.

In one scene, a girl walks across the apartment pool only to fall for your buddy’s cardboard ‘nude beach’ sign, taking off all her clothes and asking, “How come you’re not naked?”

The best friends are equally as simple, although definitely more funny, as they go around chasing women, drinking beer and sticking forks into each other’s heads. Although their humor is relatable and somewhat entertaining, it isn’t that creative and apparently Comedy Central doesn’t think it has to be.

It is every 13-year-olds dream, placed neatly between

colorful slots of quality advertising. But for some reason while I watch it I feel dirty. Something seems wrong about watching a show that capitalizes on so many vices.

This is why “Secret Girlfriend” fails — the humor isn’t creative, the actors play one-dimensional stereotypes, it’s fairly offensive and (sorry to all you thirteen-year-olds still reading) it’s not realistic.

I mean, even if an avid fan of the role-playing Sims were to stumble across this on the way to another bag of Cheetos they would find it ridiculous.

Which is probably what Comedy Central was hoping for — that through the show’s overthe-top antics and exaggerated stereotypes they would make you laugh so hard you wouldn’t notice them stroking your ego beneath the table. But you do and it’s kind of gross.

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Page 12 • Reporter

Variety

Internet battles over music LOS ANGELES (AP) — Internet power players Google, MySpace and Facebook are adopting strategies to better compete in a music industry that is rapidly shifting online.

In separate developments Wednesday, it emerged that Google plans to launch a music search service, MySpace said its music videos will be spread on competing social networks through recent acquisition iLike, and Facebook said it will now allow friends to send each other song-streaming gifts for as little as 10 cents each.

The developments, all of which came with the blessing of the major recording companies, are examples of attempts to reap online revenue as compact disc sales continue to fall.

According to people familiar with the matter, Google Inc. next week will launch music search pages that will package images of musicians and bands, album artwork, links to news, lyrics, videos and song previews, along with a way to buy songs on one search results page.

The people spoke on condition of anonymity because they weren’t authorized to speak publicly about the deal before next Wednesday’s announcement.

The package is similar to how companies get individual pages for Google’s financial news service.

The effort also marks a new way for Google and the recording companies to promote alternatives to Apple Inc.’s iTunes, the leader in song downloads.

Song previews and sales on Google will be provided by online music retailer Lala and iLike, a music recommendation application bought by News Corp.’s MySpace this month.

Song previews will appear in Lala or iLike online music players, and users won’t have to navigate away from the search results page. Videos will appear through iLike’s player.

The major recording companies — Vivendi SA’s Universal Music Group, Sony Music Entertainment, Warner Music Group Corp. and EMI Group PLC. — pitched the idea to Google a year ago and are

cooperating with the project, according to one person.

The music companies will benefit by sharing revenue from song sales with Lala and iLike, while making the discovery, experimentation and buying process simple for Google users.

Google hopes to improve itself as a destination for music discovery. Although Google won’t get a share of song sales, it will collect revenue from advertising that will be shown with the search results, according to the people familiar with the plans.

A Google spokesman declined to comment.

Meanwhile, MySpace announced Wednesday it is replacing YouTube videos on its iLike music recommendation service, which it bought for $20 million earlier this month, with videos it has licensed on its own.

MySpace Music, a joint venture between MySpace and the four recording companies, benefits most from the deal.

The videos also will have a dedicated MySpace Music Videos page and be featured more prominently on artist pages and in search results on both MySpace and on the Google music search service.

Thursday, October 22, 2009

POS Rapper discusses punk and hiphop continued from 10 together.

For P.O.S., it all makes perfect sense. “Essentially, punk and hip-hop come from the same place,” he says. “I need to capture that [punk] energy.”

On Monday P.O.S. will continue what’s been a long tour to promote his new album, stopping by the What’s Up Lounge in Mankato with fellow Rhymesayers act Eyedea & Abilities. He says he looks forward to the show.

“Every time we play there it’s fun. [The] crowds are cool. When we do these short Midwest runs, it’s always really small rooms. It’s always a blast.”

Being on the road for such a long stretch has been difficult for the performer.

“It’s so hard,” he says, “but I understand that’s what you gotta do to make it work. Nobody buys CDs anymore.”

And for P.O.S., the hard work pays off in the reactions of fans like those he expects to see in Mankato.

Referring to his new album, he says, “I mean, it’s not a major success in the world, but it’s a major success to me personally, and the way people have been treating it makes me feel like it’s a job well done.”

reporter-sports@mnsu.edu

Sports Thursday, October 22, 2009

(507) 389-5227

Creating opportunities

The MSU defense has continued to show signs of improvement KYLE RATKE

sports editor

During the first four weeks of the season, the Maverick football team allowed opponents to score an average of just under 24 points per game.

While this is not a bad stat, but the sense in the locker room

was that the defense would be better than that.

Since allowing 34 points in double-overtime in a victory over Wayne State, the Mavericks have allowed on average, only nine points per game.

While the offense has certainly gotten their recognition, the defense has certainly proved their

value on the playing field.

“Ever since we have played Augustana, we have started to get on a roll,” said sophomore linebacker Bryan Schmid. “The guys don’t find it acceptable to give up points, let alone first downs. If we go about our business, we think the skies the limit.”

dan moen • msu reporter Linebacker Bryan Schmid is just one of many Maverick defenders that has stepped up during the last few games.

The sky might certainly be the limit for the Mavericks, as they have already eclipsed school records, including being the first team in school history to become 8-0.

Schmid and the defensive unit are led by upperclassmen with a good mix of younger players, which balances the team. Schmid has done his part this season, ranking first in sacks (3), third in tackles for loss (5.5) and sixth in tackles (35).

Schmid, along with other sophomores such as defensive back Jesse Hamilton, have made great strides from just a season ago.

“It’s a lot better this year because everything comes natural,” Schmid said. “I don’t have to do as much thinking. I just play ball now.”

The special teams unit has also been a huge part of the Mavericks success lately.

Blocking punts and returning kicks has been a strong part of MSU’s gameplan all season long, and is also a major part of every practice.

Linebacker and special team’s player Kevin Klug definitely takes it serious, as he

was named Division II Special Teams Player of the Week after his two blocks against MSUMoorhead.

“Klug is the man. The guy goes 110 percent, “ Schmid said. “We have a lot of good athletes on that unit and a lot of speed. We are pretty explosive.

Coach [Todd Hoffner] emphasizes a lot on that. It’s been a big factor for us.”

The Mavericks will be playing their last regular season game at home this Saturday as they face off against Southwest Minnesota State. The Mustangs currently hold a 3-5 record and sit in ninth place in the Northern Sun Intercollegate Conference. Despite the subpar record, the Mustangs are averaging nearly 35 points per game.

The defense will be put to the test by junior quarterback Ryan Ratekin and Southwest’s 291-yard average passing attack. The Mustangs are ranked

UP NEXT

Southwest Minn. St. 2 p.m. Saturday Blakeslee Stadium

Football / page 14

Mavericks to face rival Winona State at home LEVI ZIMMER

staff writer

While there is snow predicted for Friday, the Mavericks women’s soccer team will be busy hosting long time rival Winona State University at The Pitch on Saturday.

Both teams are clawing their way back up the rankings in the Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference after they both swept their weekend series a mere five days ago.

“Our confidence and enthusiasm is sky high for this weekend’s games,” said junior forward Laura Leber. “We always get super pumped up to play Winona in general because they are our biggest conference rivals.”

The Maverick’s currently share the four slot with Mary University in the conference standings, while Winona State is sitting comfortably in second — one win behind Minnesota Duluth.

The Mavericks have to be pleased that this match-up takes place on home turf, as they are almost unflappable when at The Pitch. They have a 5-0-1 record and have allowed just a single goal this season at home. That goal came against Augustana this past Sunday.

“We really love playing at home,” said junior forward Ann Kincaid. “Having our own fans to cheer us on and being completely comfortable in our home field setting can’t be replicated.”

The Maverick’s defense has

INSIDE SPORTS:

allowed only five goals all season and will be tested by the last week’s NSIC player of the week, Winona’s sophomore forward Melissa Sellier.

Sellier played a big role in Winona’s two wins this past weekend scoring seven points (three goals, one assist). She lifted her team past a tough St. Cloud State team with two goals and an assist.

Saturday’s game plays a pivotal role in determining conference seeding. The regular season championships are rewarding with home field throughout the conference tournament.

“Many things are up in the air right now and we need to come out and play our best the rest of

Soccer / page 15

dan moen • msu reporter Senior Kristen Coughlin unsuccessfully attempts to score a goal in last weekend’s action.

PAGE 14 - VOLLEYBALL PREVIEW FOR THE WEEKEND

PAGE 15 - MEN’S HOCKEY GAMEDAY VS. WISCONSIN

Page 14 • Reporter

Sports

Mavericks begin “Month of truth” MSU volleyball has just eight NSIC matches left

Thursday, October 22, 2009T

FOOTBALL Pachan to start at quarterback again after Fick’s injury continued from 13

Maverick defensive stat leaders after first eight games SACKS INTERCEPTIONS TACKLES

PAT DELANEY

staff writer

Match intensity has really began to heat up for the Minnesota State women’s volleyball team.

That will remain the same this weekend when the Mavericks hit the road to play another pair of very important conference matches.

MSU will first travel to Wayne, Nebraska to take on No. 18 ranked Wayne State. They then will follow that up the next day playing Augustana for the second time this season. After a great start to the season, the Mavericks enter a very crucial dan moen • msu reporter stage of the season where the final eight matches will be vital The Mavericks will try to recover from last weekends loss to No. 1 ranked Concordia-St. Paul when they hit the road this weekend. for all NSIC team’s postseason chances.

As big as a test last weekthe Mavericks enter the gym.

“We’re beginning a new segend was for the Mavericks, this In a very tight race, the Mavment called the month of truth,” weekend may prove to be more ericks can not afford too many said head coach Dennis Amund- important in the long run due to more losses. While both teams son. “In the next two or three the quality of both teams. Wayne this weekend will be good, these weeks we are going to have State knows that their No. 18 are matches that the Mavericks some hectic battles that will start ranking could jump up drastical- need to win to prove they are to decide how our season is goly if they can knock out a team among the nation’s best. ing to go.” ahead of them. Beating MSU “We have to keep having The Mavericks are no longer will also propel the Wildcat’s better energy,” said Stamer. “We undefeated in conference play into a second place tie in the need to really believe that we’re after losing to Concordia last conference. a great team.” weekend but they showed reAugustana is beginning to The Mavericks, (21-3, 11-1 silience beating St. Cloud State make a strong case for a postsea- in conference) will play Wayne the next day. The loss however, son opportunity if they can conState Friday at 7 p.m. MSU will did drop the Mavericks out of a tinue to win. The Vikings will be then take on Augustana Saturday first place tie which will make playing with desperation when at 4 p.m. it even more important to get as many wins as they can in the final matches.

The Mavericks have played Last chance for three nationally ranked opfresh, local produce. ponents this season and have The Mankato Farmers' Market is beaten one. They will have to your source for fresh, local produce, improve that number as MSU baked goods, and more. will play two ranked opponents Visit us at 1400 Madison Ave. on Tuesdsays, Thursdays: 3:30 - 6:00 p.m. in the next week starting with Saturday from 8:00 a.m. - Noon.

Wayne State on Friday. www.mankatofarmersmarket.com “We have to be ready to play,” said sophomore setter, Brittany Stamer. “We have to finish strong and make sure we beat the teams like Wayne and Augustana.”

Wayne State is fourth in the conference with a record of 9-2.

They also are very good at home only losing once, which like MSU was against Concordia.

The Mavericks will have to find a way to counter the Wildcat’s outstanding defense which leads the conference in blocks.

Following Friday’s match, the Mavericks will look to beat Augustana for the second time this season. This isn’t the same Augustana team though. The Vikings have won three matches in a row and sit in seventh place in the NSIC with a 6-5 record.

“This is a different Augustana team then the first time we played them,” Amundson said.

“They are playing some different players and are winning matches. Both matches will be very tough.”

ONLY FIVE DAYS LEFT!

Dan Fehlberg - 64

Bryan Schmid- 3

No. 2 in passing yards per game.

Defensive backs’ Kelvin Rodgers, Jesse Graves and Jesse Hamilton will be put to the test.

The No. 5 Mavericks are currently ranked No. 2 in the NSIC in scoring offense and will go with their same plan of attack as they’ve had all season long — having a balanced attack.

Quarterback Steve Pachan will be starting under center and it appears as if he will for the rest of the season. Senior Ryan Fick attempted to come back from his leg injury last weekend and ended up injuring what appeared to be his left arm or shoulder.

This injury could sideline him for the remainder of the season.

Jake Aberg will look to get most of the carries at the running back position, and has been explosive from the backfield all season.

The Maverick offense will

Jesse Hamilton- 8

be missing out on explosive playmaker Vinny Flury. Flury is the No.1 receiver for the Mavericks.

Although he will be on the sidelines, Flury has a lot of confidence in his squad.

“Our defense has been playing amazing,” Flury said. “They will get more of a test this week, but I feel like we have the best defense in the conference.”

This will be one of the late tests the MSU defense will get this season with the explosive and versatile Mustang offense.

It’s easy for any team to look past an opponent when an undefeated record could be approaching towards the end of the season, but the Mavericks have gone by the same motto since the first day of practice — finish 1-0 after every week.

“I think coach Hoffner has done a great job on having us focus on one game at a time,” Flury said. “I think we are a veteran team, we gotta win each game, and I think we will.”

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Thursday, October 22, 2009

Sports

MSU Men’s Hockey Gameday Josh Berhow • staff writer

No. 17 Wisconsin (0-1-1, 0-1-1 WCHA) at Minnesota State (2-2-0, 0-2-0 WCHA) 7:37 p.m. Friday, 7:07 p.m. Saturday Verizon Wireless Center — Mankato, Minn.

RECAP: The Badgers lost and tied with Colorado College in Madison last weekend, while the Mavericks were swept by MinnesotaDuluth in Duluth. Justin Jokinen, Mike Louwerse, Geoff Irwin and Eriah Hayes all had a goal for the Mavericks and Evan Mosey (plus-4 rating this season) had two assists.

HISTORY: The Badgers are 1-7-2 under Mike Eaves in the Verizon Wireless Center. The Mavericks tied and won in overtime against the Badgers last season in Mankato, but were swept in Madison in the first round of the WCHA playoffs last year.

UW NOTES: Ben Street is back in the Badgers’ lineup after playing in only four games last year due to injury, but the Badgers might be without senior center Blake Geoffrion (day-to-day) who suffered a concussion Friday against CC. Michael Davies was a healthy scratch for both games last weekend even though he’s one of Wisconsin’s top scorers. Davies has never been a strong two-way player, and he sat because of it last weekend, which wasn’t his first time. He should be back in the lineup Friday. Scott Gudmandson and Brett Bennett each started a game in net against CC, and don’t be surprised to see both again this weekend. The Badgers’ defensemen — like every year — are good. Five of them have been drafted.

MSU NOTES: Austin Lee and Kevin Murdock split time in net for the second consecutive week, but this time Murdock might have earned a start Friday night against the Badgers. MSU coach Troy Jutting was undecided of a starter as of Wednesday. Freshman forward Eli Zuck will make his MSU debut Friday. Zuck missed the Mavericks’ first series against Bowling Green with an illness and didn’t make the trip to Duluth last weekend. Zuck will play on a line with Jokinen and center Andy Sackrison. The Mavericks have three Canadian players on their roster (Irwin, Kael Mouillierat and Rylan Galiardi) and all three will be on the Mavericks’ top line Friday. The trio started Saturday’s game in Duluth together, which was the first time ever.

PREDICTION: The Badgers have always had a good program with their defensive-minded play, but for some reason or another, they can’t win in Mankato. The Mavericks need a win more, and they’ll at least split or maybe even have a three-point weekend.

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Reporter • Page 15

SOCCER continued from 13 the regular season,” Leber said.

Last season the Mavericks took second to the regular season champs Winona, but revenged the loss a few weeks later downing the Warriors in the conference championship game 1-0.

Although, the big game is on Saturday the Mavericks will have no rest and will welcome Upper Iowa University on Sunday.

Upper Iowa boasts a 8-7-3 record and is parked in the middle of the pack in the conference standings (9).

Sunday’s game will hold some extra weight as the team will pay tribute to their 10

seniors. The senior class as endured a head coaching change and has been apart of two consecutive appearances in the national championship tournament.

“We’ve been looking forward to this weekend for a while now,” Kincaid said. “Not only the big games, but it’s also senior day Sunday, so we’re pretty pumped up. We had a great day at practice yesterday and I’m sure it will carry out through the week and into the weekend.”

Saturday’s game against Winona State is at noon and Sunday’s game at 1 p.m.

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Page 16 â&#x20AC;˘ Reporter

Sports

Thursday, October 22, 2009