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Chronicle
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Serving SCSU and the St. Cloud Community
Sunday, July 24, 2011
Volume 88, Number 9
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Over the years: a look at state college spending Michael Runyon News Editor
In the wake of the longest government shutdown in over a decade, questions about the budget loom on the horizon. One question that’s on many SCSU and other college student’s minds is: “How has the state been spending on SCSU and other colleges?” The answer is that the state has been constantly decreasing spending since the 90s. Steven Wagner, a Political Science professor at SCSU, gives some insight into the cuts. “There’s lots of answers really,” he said. “When the state doesn’t want to or cannot raise revenues, then something existent needs to be cut. So what to cut? They could cut food assistance to the poor. That means they starve. They could cut medical assistance to the poor. That means they bleed to death. They could cut daycare assistance to the working poor. The economic social repercussions for that would mean that people would lose their jobs. We could cut money from the cities. When we do that, that means the cities have to raise their property taxes or cut city workers.” Many different strategies have been discussed to deal with the $6.2 billion state deficit. Education was looked at as an option to cut. Wagner continued, saying, “A
city can survive a little bit of a cut, because they can raise property taxes. The transit, if they lose some money, they can raise the bus fairs or the train fairs. With regard to universities, we don’t get to tax. What we can do is raise tuition. I’ve heard this called low-hanging fruit. They can take a million and the school could be in fine shape because they could raise tuition.” MnSCU has raised tuition in response to the decades of government cuts. In 1998, MnSCU’s budget was covered by 68 percent of state appropriations and 32 percent tuition. Those numbers changed in 2011 to a 43 percent state share and 57 percent tuition share. Melinda Voss, a spokesperson for MnSCU expressed the need of college students, saying “Employers will need more skilled workers. There was a study done by Georgetown University that predicts that 70% of the jobs in MN will require some post-secondary education. They’ll require at least a 2-year degree, if not a four-year degree by 2018. We are a long way from that.” SCSU has seen it’s share of tuition increases as well. While not getting hit as hard by state appropriations as MnSCU, SCSU has raised tuition from $66 million in 2006 to $88 million in 2010. The state appropriations for SCSU have increased from $57 million in 2006 to $59 million in 2010. Wagner said, “Schools can raise
Michael Runyon / News Editor
tuition across the board, or they could raise tuition on high-cost programs. When I was a student, there was one tuition whether or not you were in pharmacy school, political science school or nursing. We know that pharmacy and nursing schools are more expensive than training a political science student. We know that graduate school is more expensive. We could raise tuition on high cost programs or raise on low cost programs where students will get more money in their fields. We could raise tuition on out-of-state people or international students. There’s things we can do. We can simply raise tuition.” Students utilize other means of dealing with rising tuition costs. The amount of SCSU students in debt because of student loans in 2007 was 68 percent. The average debt of graduates in 2007 was $22,721. “When I was an undergraduate, every once in a while I’d hear that somebody took out a loan for school. That was shocking,” Wagner said, “It was possible because tuition was lower. I think maybe a class in 1980 was 100 bucks. If you had a good enough connection, you could get a job in the summer and easily make enough money to go to school without having to work. It is probably impossible to find a summer job where you net $5,000 a month. You either have to work while you go to school, borrow money or maybe your parents can help.” The tuition has increased in surges and small steps. The percent of tuition increase from 1998 to 2001 ranged from 2 percent to 5 percent. The increases in tuition from 2002 to 2005 jumped from between 10 percent and 14.7 percent. The last three years have seen tuition increases from 2.2 percent in 2009 to 4.8 percent last year. Wagner said, “Some people are arguing that people will make a choice based on how much it costs to go to school. They will not choose to become teachers, they will not choose to become artists because they will starve for a while. Why go to criminal justice to become a cop, when you’re only going to get $30,000 per year, when you can become a civil engineer?”
This graph shows the differences in state appropriations and tuition for MnSCU from 1998 to 2011.
Michael Runyon / News Editor
This graph shows the differences in SCSU revenue through tuition and state appropriations from 2006-2010.
SCSU to construct ISELF building Staff Report As of fall of 2013, St. Cloud State University will have a brand new Integrated Science and Engineering Laboratory Facility (ISELF), costing $44.8 million. Plans to construct the new ISELF building were finalized this past Wednesday, after Legislatures passed and Gov. Mark Dayton signed the capital improvements bonding bill that outlined the uses and costs of the construction. According to SCSU’s website, ISELF is a facility that is meant to provide interdisciplinary education. The facility will create more resources and chances to do collaborative research with businesses and earn more National Science Foundation grants. After an increase in enrollment between 10 science, technology, engineering and mathematics majors, the ISELF facility will provide for more students. It will hold
classrooms and labs for mostly upper-level and graduate-level science, technology, engineering, mathematics, medical technology and radiology classes. ISELF has plans to also build relationships with other companies throughout the state. Companies throughout the state whom are global leaders in medical devices, pharma/biologics, animal science, bio-agriculture and renewable energy will be supported by the research done in the ISELF facility. According to university officials, this project will be the largest single construction project, cost-wise, in the history of the MnSCU system and Minnesota State Colleges and Universities. $2.5 million was spent planning ISELF. $900,000 was used from the 2008 Legislature and $1.6 million was used from the savings after the 2009 Brown Hall renovation. The bonding bill
will need the State to borrow $531 million for capital improvements by selling bonds. For roof replacements, mechanical and electrical system repairs, and health and safety improvements SCSU will also have to put in for a share in a $30 million building preservation appropriation to the MnSCU system. The new ISELF facility will be the newest part to St. Cloud State’s three part Science Initiative, which includes the $14.5 million addition to the Robert H. Wick Science Building and the $13.6 million renovation of Brown Hall, which both had been completed in 2009. The new facility will be located at the 801-building site on Eighth Street South and Second Avenue and will reach 100,000 square feet. Construction for the ISELF project has been planned to start this coming fall.
Above the Clouds Pride March set for next Friday Hannah Swift Associate Editor
With over 500 LGBT community members and allies planning to attend, the date is set for St. Cloud’s second annual Above the Clouds Pride March. On Friday, July 29, the peaceful march to promote marriage equality and equal rights will begin with a rally at 9:00 a.m. at the Atwood Mall on campus at SCSU. Last year over 140 people marched down Division Street, a heavily-traveled road in St. Cloud, to show their support for the LGBT community and that they will be voting “no” on the Marriage Amendment to the state constitution in 2012. This year’s march will begin at 12:30 p.m. with attendees walking from the Atwood Mall, down Division Street, and eventually ending at Lake George.
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For Jarrod Wiggins, a senior public relations major at SCSU, this will be his first year participating in the Above the Clouds Pride March. “I got the invitation on facebook and decided that I should participate,” Wiggins said, explaining how he heard about the event. Senior and women’s studies major Hannah Daniels heard about the march last year from an acquaintance who had fun at the event which made her want to participate this year. “I heard it’s kind of like a mini-pride in St. Cloud and the few acquaintances I know that went last year met a lot of new people in the community that they are friends with now, so that’s kind of cool,” Daniels said. Wiggins plans to march with either his roommates or some of his friends, but he said he wasn’t always such a vocal supporter. “I honestly never saw myself as the type of guy to rally for gay rights,” Wiggins said, “I mean, I believe that everybody should be
Game controllers to help disabled
treated equally and that right now gays and lesbians are not, yet, I always saw one type of protestor in the media.” The way some gay rights activists appeared in the media did not appeal to Wiggins, but he said as he has met more people he has come to realize there are many different types of people who support gay rights. “Activists come in all shapes, sizes, colors, religions, financial class, and sex. We really are people’s neighbors and classmates,” Wiggins said. “I decided to march to show that I am proud and that I do believe in equality for all.” Daniels, as a social justice and diversity advocate for Residential Life at SCSU, works to make all types of people find a welcoming place in the dorms on campus. “The advocate is a position in Residential Life for two returning community advisors that have a passion for creating inclusive communities for all sexualities, ethnicities, and other abili-
Page 3 New technology will be able to help disabled enjoy their gaming experience.
WCHA threatened
ties,” Daniels said. “We program special events with a committee around social justice issues that students can participate in.” Both Daniels and Wiggins said they were not concerned about their safety during the march, Daniels added, “It’s a safe way to hang out with my friends and other like-minded people.” Wiggins said he believes there is power in numbers. “I think St. Cloud becomes safer when people finally meet someone from the LGBT community,” Wiggins said. “When they realize that the stereotype put forth by the media isn’t the only type of gay or lesbian out there, they connect with us and become very accepting. It should be a fun event and everybody should come out for it.”
Page 4 The arrival of a new division I hockey conference threatens the future of the WCHA.
Opinions University Chronicle - Page 2
Sunday, July 24, 2011
Both parties at fault with gay rights protests
Kyra Loch Columnist
We are fortunate to live in a country where we have the ability to express our opinions freely. While most people may not always agree with each other, we are allowed our right to free speech. With the freedom of speech, people choose to express their opinions in many different ways. One of the most common ways to see this is during the time we elect new political leaders for our country. Between the various views of the candidates, voters, and different political parties, there
tends to be some disagreement. Since the beginning of the current campaign season, gay rights activists have begun protesting at various GOP political events to have their voices heard, and they are doing this by using glitter as their main ammunition. The glitter attacks all started with GOP presidential candidate Newt Gringich; he had a manila envelop full of glitter poured all over him at a book signing by a gay rights activist. Fellow GOP candidates Tim Pawlenty and Michele Bachmann have also become victims to similar glitter attacks at their own events. The latest person targeted is Bachmann’s husband, Marcus Bachmann. In an recent interview, Mr. Bachmann related gay people to “barbarians,” and also said they needed to be “educated and disciplined.” In response, a group of gay rights activists decided to protest at Mr. Bachmann’s clinic and place of work. The group dressed up as a “horde
of barbarians” and visited the clinic, where they asked to see him. In a video recording of the visit, viewers can hear the group shouting, “we are barbarians and are here to be disciplined.” When they were asked to leave, the group played Lady Gaga music and danced in the lobby while chanting and throwing glitter around the room. While this is a highly entertaining and clever response to the inexcusable words spoken by Mr. Bachmann, these types of protests tend to hurt the cause more than help. However, Mr. Bachmann should not be considered just an innocent victim either. Marcus Bachmann is the significant other of someone who in the running to be president of the United States. No matter what his or his wife’s beliefs are, referring to part of our population as “barbarians” is incredibly wrong. It is pretty clear that Pawlenty, Gringich, and both of the Bachmanns are not
going to change their closeminded views on the issue of allowing gay couples to get married. These types of responses and protests exhibited by gay rights activists do bring awareness and attention to the cause, but it is not always the right kind of attention. By disrupting a place of work or an event with dancing and glitter, the actions of the activists come off as immature and do not allow others to take their cause seriously. Gay rights activists should be addressing the issue from an educational standpoint. Instead of walking up and dumping glitter on the various candidates, they should focus their energy and use their resources to help either campaign against them or campaign for the candidate that has same views as they do. Educating voters on why they believe the GOP candidates’ views are wrong would be more effective than disrupting events and attacking people with glitter.
Change the channel, TV
Will Imholte Contributing Writer
The fundamental problem with television is that the content creators are distracted by methods of money making that became outdated years ago. In the late 1920s, when television was a burgeoning form of communication it was extremely expensive to send signal across the airwaves. As the technology improved, and there became a wide enough audience to allow it, ad driven content became commonplace. It was still expensive to create and distribute content, but the network model proved profitable. Again, the technology improved, but in a milder way. In the 1970s cable and satellite transmissions became available to the general public, and the amount, diversity, and focus of networks increased. Instead of a handful of available channels packaging content, viewers could order doz-
ens (now hundreds), and the network model of advertisement supported content could be adapted by the Home Box Office and similar, more expensive channels. It took nearly 100 years but according to ACNielsen, over 42% of US households have Digital Video Recorders, which will hopefully be the last segment in the history of broadcast television. The idea behind the DVR is very similar to that of the videocassette recorder: being restricted to specific programming schedules makes it more difficult to watch television, so the device aims to allow users to timeshift their content and watch shows when they please. While a huge technical improvement from videocassette recorders, DVRs are simply a life support system keeping the dying business of television broadcasts alive. The profit system of television networks and television distributors has changed so little in the last 50 years that it is facing dire straits. It has been possible, easy even, to access television shows through means other than official broadcasts for the past decade. We have finally reached a point where it is so easy that it becomes viable to watch an unhealthy amount (whatever that is) of television without paying television networks a dime.
Worse still, it is possible to do so without viewing their advertisements, which, if done en masse, could effectively reduce their income to zero. The majority of these options are, of course, illegal, but that doesn’t seem to stop many people. There are certainly legal ways to get content digitally, but Hulu’s library is constantly being threatened by tenuous studio deals, and with an impending sale, they are facing an uncertain future. Netflix does a better job negotiating with studios, but for the most part don’t get content until well after it has aired. iTunes and Amazon (amongst others) take a more direct route, with the sale of individual episodes becoming available soon after broadcast date. This brings us to an interesting point in the history of television: studios can produce content and sell near-directly to viewers, but are still relying heavily on networks, cable and satellite companies to distribute content for them. Which means the inconveniences of the legal options are starting to outweigh the inconveniences of the illegal options for a wider market. Of course, nerds will always be able to get content for free, but the networks need to embrace the internet as a distribution channel soon or more customers will be turned into pirates.
Have an opinion? Send a letter to the editor. Web - www.universitychronicle.net Email - opinions@universitychronicle. net Mail - 13 Stewart Hall, SCSU, St. Cloud, MN 56301
Harry Potter will live on
Hannah Swift associate editor
The first time I heard about Harry Potter was in my second grade class. Some of the older kids at school had been carrying books around school and reading them at recess. When kids are reading at recess, you know something strange is going on. It wasn’t till a few years later when I finally had enough interest to read “Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone,” the first book in the series. I was either 10 or 11 when I opened the book of my own accord and began to read. Strong memories of sitting in my bed reading for hours always come back to me when I think of the Harry Potter series. The first Harry Potter book was the first book I ever read where I could see the words in my mind’s eye. Before that moment I had never realized the power that a good book has to take you out of reality for a while. Needless to say, from that moment on I read every book I could get my little hands on. Even today, I believe I have Harry Potter, or more specifically J.K. Rowling, to thank for my love of books and writing. As I write this opinion about how the Harry Potter series has affected my life, across the coffee shop I see a
twenty-something man reading one of the Harry Potter books as he eats his lunch. Coincidence? Not really. For some reason the Harry Potter books have an amazing ability to reach a large audience and entertain millions of diverse people. They give people who have lived in the past 15 years a common thread, a strange phenomena in any circumstance. Almost everyone has at least heard of Harry Potter, the boy wizard who fights the evil Lord Voldemort. And now with the release of the final movie for of the series the world must say farewell to the boy who lived. I’m sure that Harry Potter will be re-packaged and re-sold for many years to come, because that’s how our consumer-driven world works. And honestly I don’t really mind. The iconic books and movies will live on the hearts of fans, probably for the rest of their lives, as I know it will in my own. Fans will never really be able to say goodbye to Harry Potter and his pals, but the great thing about a fictional character is that they will never have to. It’s funny when you think about it, but Harry Potter will outlive all of us. Very few books have been able to have such world-wide success and when they do, they live on for hundreds of years. While some may be sad to say a final farewell to Harry Potter with the last movie, remember that Harry will always be there, on your shelf, waiting for you to turn the pages and read his story.
Prepare yourself for unemployment
Christian Bursch Sports & fitness Editor
Jobs are scarce in today’s economy. Many people are unemployed or are in-between jobs. People who are receiving unemployment may get a form of a paycheck but usually it is nowhere near the amount that they are used to receiving. The national average amount
of an unemployment check is $270 a week for a total of about $1215 per month. This does not replace their normal paycheck but it does help. This form of a paycheck must or come close to paying the monthly bills. These bills include: rent or mortgage, vehicle payment, vehicle insurance, cell phone bill, cable bill, groceries, gas, electric and internet. Other bills that people may have: gym membership, life insurance, diapers and clothes. The primary purpose of an unemployment check is to assist people between jobs. It is not supposed to replace an income from a job. The unemployed person should be continuously looking for a new job. The government also provides
other services for people who are unemployed. Medical Assistance is a service provided allowing the beneficiaries to seek medical treatment for little to no cost to them. The money paid for this medical treatment comes from taxes and other means of government income. There are many in this country that sit on the couch and watch TV rather than attempting to find a new job. They live off the system that was created for those who need it as a temporary means of income. Although there are people that use it and truly need it, they also look for a new job but are unable to find one. During this time they live check to check attempting to try to pay bills with the little amount
of income they are receiving from unemployment. This causes great amount of stress especially in relationships between significant others and even with children. One thing that families or people need to remember is to take time for themselves and not just pay bills. This is in no way saying to take an entire check and blow it on shopping or going out and partying, but rather take $20 for gas and take a drive. Go to a park, go fishing or something similar that is relatively inexpensive yet gets you out of the house. With the recent government shutdown, some people learned what it is like to attempt to make money last. Some that were paid right be-
fore the shutdown were broke only a week and half later. If they were unable to make their normal check last longer than say 11 days, how would they survive on an unemployment check if the shutdown continued? People like that are in serious need of budgeting help. For those that are currently employed, save for a rainy day when you might need it. A such instance may occur if you lose your job and are receiving unemployment that does not cover one’s monthly expenses.
The opinions expressed on the Opinions page are not necessarily those of the college, university system or student body.
Marquee Sunday, July 24, 2011
University Chronicle - Page 3
Custom controllers level playing field Jun-Kai Teoh Game column
Gamers are, in general, a divided group. We’ve got the hardcore/competitive gamers, we’ve got the casual gamers, we’ve got the console gamer, we’ve got the strictly PC gamer and the list goes on and on. But a group often forgotten, and terribly underrepresented, are the disabled gamers. Occasionally you’ll hear about that one gamer playing “Forza Motorsport” with a single hand, or you’ll see a video of a person playing “Call of Duty” with his face, or a person playing “Madden NFL” with a mouth-controller. A study in 2004 by the International Game Developer’s Association found that about 7 percent of the population suffers from a severe physical disability, while another 5 percent suffer from a mild physical disability. That’s a sizeable population there, and it would bode well for game developers to take that into consideration when they’re developing their games. And it gets worse when we take a look at the evolution of game controllers. The original NES controller had a directional keypad and two buttons (the original A, B buttons). Fast forward to today, and all of a sudden we have controllers with easily more than 10 buttons. The PlayStation DualShock 3 controller has two analog controls, six-axis sensor, “shoulder” buttons, directional keypad and four other face buttons. Suffice to say, these controllers aren’t very friendly to the disabled. Topping it off, console games often don’t have remap-able keys. While remap-able keys are usually a given on PC games, there are many arguments against it on the console front (unfair advantages and the like). That said however, a simple thing such as that can easily make the difference between a playable game for the disabled or not. Even though PC games usually have remap-able keys, it still doesn’t make them very friendly for the disabled. An alternative that handicap gamers have is one-handed controllers. There are independent hardware hackers and designers that make custom one-handed controllers for
photo courtesy of www.disabledonline.com
Independent hardware hackers and designers can make custom one-handed controllers to make it easier for the disabled.
REVIEWS
Photo courtesy of www.amsvans.com
7 percent of the population suffers from a severe physical disability and 5 percent suffer from a mild physical disability.
specific individuals, and there are also various do-it-yourself (DIY) guides available online. And for the PC gamers out there, there’s a handy software that allows console controllers to be used on PC games (and remap those keys) called “MotionInJoy.” While we wait for a hack to make the Kinect controller friendly for all, there are other similar controllers as well. SmartNav for example has a head-tracker that can emulate mouse movements. Ken Yankelevitz, a retired aerospace engineer, has been making custom controllers since 1981 – including mouth controllers for the original Atari and newer, more complex consoles like the Xbox 360. Gamers who are disabled are not alone. That’s a message that you’ll fine with a simple Google search online. There are a lot of resources and websites online that offers support or information. AbleGamers.com, AskACapper.com, Accessibility.nl/Games, OneSwitch.org.uk. These are but a few of the websites and resources available online. But even with all that provided, the most important thing for a gamer who is disabled is support from game developers themselves. A common argument is that there isn’t a large market for that. And while that’s a profit-driven ideology and game development is a profit-driven market, it’s still arguably a form of discrimination. Or at least the exclusion of a group of individuals.
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‘Yours Truly’approaching adequacy Will Imholte Contributing writer
It was 1996 when Bradley Nowell, the lead singer and guitarist for Sublime passed away. After Nowell’s death, remaining members of the band, Eric Wilson and Bud Gaugh were most known for their involvement with the Long Beach Dub Allstars, a larger group that consisted of many contributing members of Sublime. However, after releasing two albums, Allstars fell apart. In 2009 Sublime With Rome, which features Wilson on bass and Gaugh on drums with Rome Ramirez replacing (or is it tributing?) Bradley on guitar and vocals, was formed. Quickly after starting their tour they signed with Fueled By Ramen Records, and their new album “Yours Truly” was released in North America on July 12, 2011. Which brings us to a juncture: How do we review an album from a band whose influential lead singer died 16 years ago? Is it fair to compare this album to Sublime’s original framework and lineup? When AC/DC brought Brian Johnson on board the band was clear with their message; the group was different, but the direction, the music and the energy would remain the same. With Sublime With Rome this isn’t as clearly addressed. The group inevitably asks to be compared, the concerts are comprised mostly of the hits of Sublime, the website lists Sublime’s album in its discography page, the album is dedicated to Nowell and produced by Brad Leary — hell, even the name of the band includes Sublime (rumor has it they wanted to use the name Sublime, but the Nowell state, which owns the trademark, wouldn’t allow it). Far more important than random guesses at the groups’ intentions is the harsh reality; it will be impossible for anyone familiar with Sublime to ignore the influence of the original trio on the direction of
the new group. But enough pedantry, let’s move on to the album. To a newcomer, “Yours Truly” is an adequate summer album, 12 tracks (15 if purchased on iTunes) of punk-rock reggae-ska. A bit short, with the guitars mixed a bit too hotly, the album sounds a bit overly produced. Thankfully the album uses raw voices (a heavily tuned Rome would have fit with the musical climate of 2011, and also relegated the album to the trash pile). There are a healthy amount of studio effects, some great doubling, but they are taken a bit too far in a few tracks. “Yours Truly” moves through the genre’s quickly, covering quite a bit of ground in 12 tracks. The album begins with a previously released single “Panic.” The fast moving guitars and drums kick off the sound on the right foot, loud and fast and exciting, but not aggressive. In fact, the chunky horns and sporadic guitar riffs are reminiscent Sublime’s breakout hit “Date Rape.” Which brings us to the fundamental problem with this album: It doesn’t really sound unique. Make no mistake, it is really solid, the musicians don’t seem to have aged 16 years (perhaps matured though) — Ramirez is a far better guitar player than Nowell was, and the album is a fun listen, it just doesn’t have the charm of the original group. Perhaps the biggest difference is in subject matter, whereas Nowell seemed to be writing songs inspired by his unique life in California, the changing racial climate, and the tensions involved in dealing with police and drugs, Ramirez’s songs seem to be mostly about women. Of course, the band cannot be blamed for staying away from the touchy subject of drug abuse, even without the tragedy of Nowell’s death. The movement away from singing about problems with authority could be attributed to the 16 year maturation of
Photo Courtesy of www.celebritysmackblog.com
Sublime With Rome’s, ‘Yours Truly,’ is not unique but is approachable for a wider variety of audiences.
Wilson and Gaugh, and the changes in the lives of Long Beach community in general, but the fact remains: the subjects of Sublime’s songs were far more interesting than the subjects of Sublime With Rome’s. This also carries into the music, although more subtly. While “Yours Truly” feels somewhat produced, the majority of Sublime’s music (with a few notable exceptions) seems wholly unplanned. Many of the songs, especially tracks that weren’t released during Nowell’s life, seemed to fall out of the musicians, with little or no intention. That lack of apparent intention made Sublime a great band. Maybe the best way to summarize the new album isn’t by saying it is not unique, but rather to say it is approachable. Approachable songs that will appeal to a wider audience, while not quite reliving the magic
Rating:
of the original group. Fans of the original group might not adore this album as much, but if approached as a new group with ties to Sublime it will fit nicely alongside the discography. If you’re only familiar with the radio favorites “What I Got” and “Santeria,” this album will create a good intro to the rest of the library. Hopefully we’ll see some more great things from Wilson, Gaugh and Ramirez, but until then it will be hard to replace “Lets Go Get Stoned” (track 8 from “40 Oz. to Freedom”) with the far less interesting “Can You Feel It?” (track 12 from “Yours Truly”).
Sports & Fitness
Sunday, July 24, 2011
University Chronicle - Page 4
Summer fitness provides simple exercises Christian Bursch
Bigya Pradhan / staff photographer
SCSU’s hockey team may not be eligible to play in the NCAA tournament unless the Western Collegiate Hockey Association finds another team to join them by the 2013-2014 fiscal year.
New hockey conference threatens future of WCHA Christian Bursch
Sports & fitness editor
The creation of the Big Ten Conference and the National Collegiate Hockey Conference in Division I has shaken up the Western Collegiate Hockey Association. A total of 11 colleges left the WCHA and the CCHA (Central Collegiate Hockey Association) to form two other conferences. “The biggest shake up is in the West… that is where we are seeing the dramatic change,” Bob Motzko said. Motzko is the head coach for Husky Hockey. The SCSU Hockey program is a part of the WCHA. When the five teams finalized the decision to leave the two conferences to form the NHCA, the WCHA was left with only five teams. “You must have six teams to form a conference and be eligible for the NCAA tournament,” Motzko said. “Obviously it’s a tough day for the WCHA and a sad one for me personally,” said Bruce McLeod in a press release.
McLeod is the Commissioner of the WCHA. On Wednesday the WCHA voted to allow Northern Michigan University back into the conference. NMU left the conference in 1997 after winning a title in 1991. “We’ve known about this for the better part of a year but when it was finalized two weeks ago we were left sitting with five teams in the WCHA and that opened the door to Northern Michigan University to come back,” Motzko said. The shakeup is making headlines now but the first season will not start until 20132014. “We still have two years left of the WCHA… In the next year as it sorts itself out, it can affect the entirety of college hockey,” Motzko said, adding “If I’m a betting person, I’d bet we’d be more than 6 [teams in the WCHA] when the dust settles.” With the teams left in the WCHA, hockey is a major sport at all the universities. “It is an economic engine to those
universities. It is a fabric of the universities and the communities they are in,” Motzko said. With only 59 teams competing at the Division I level, the formation of the Big Ten Conference brought the news of Penn State sponsoring hockey at the Division I level. “That was one of the things that kick started this,” Motzko said. It has been a while since a major university has sponsored hockey at the Division I level Motzko added. “The hope of all of us is that the sport continues to grow at the Division I level,” Motzko said, which is something that Division I hockey has not been able to do in the past. Penn State will join the University of Minnesota and the University of Wisconsin from the WCHA and Michigan, Michigan State and Ohio State from the CCHA, creating the Big Ten conference team. The NCHC will consist of Colorado College, University of Denver, University of Minnesota Duluth, University of Nebraska Omaha and Univer-
sity of North Dakota from the WCHA and the University of Miami from the CCHA. “The Western Collegiate Hockey Association is not going away. The league will proudly mark its 60th season this fall and we will continue to operate as a full-fledged association and continue to do business the way we always have – in a first-class and forward-thinking manner,” McLeod said. “When you talk about SCSU, when the dust all settles… I don’t think a lot is going to change – we are in the right state, we have a tremendous university, a large university of 18,000 students with a community that fully supports our program,” Motzko said. “It is one of the most exciting sports in the country… with one of the best facilities in the country,” Motzko said about the sport and the remodeling project planned for the National Hockey Center. Motzko added, “when it all settles we are going to be dropping pucks, playing games and scoring over time goals again.”
Sports & Ftiness Editor
During the summer people go to the gym and work out but there are other things that one can do to get their exercise in. Going for a walk gets the blood flowing and will burn some calories. Not only will one burn calories but they will also get outside and enjoy the summer while it is still here. Many like to grab their clubs and hit the golf course but don’t take the golf cart, walk. This will allow one to enjoy the game of golf while increasing the heart rate. People need to be aware of the heat. “Some days when it is really hot you need to watch what you are doing outside,” Jeremy Lang said. Lang is the owner of Granite City Crossfit gym. “You need to be hydrated,” Lang said, “if you are not consciously putting water into your body often you are not hydrated enough.” Women should drink a gallon of water a day and men should drink up to two gallons a day. Drinking water will help you feel better, flush the radicals out of your body and make your skin look better. It will also help with soreness said Lang. Many workouts can also be done outside, lunges, sit-ups, push-ups, running and picking up a rock and put it above your head Lang explained. Playing a sport will also benefit one’s physical strength and stamina. Little things like taking a dog or children on a walk are good for one’s self. It does not have to be strenuous just enough to get the heart rate up and blood pumping. “You don’t have to be in the gym six days a week but you should be doing something six days a week,” Lang said. “Go play with your kids, go for a walk, ride bike, play catch and go to the gym three or four days a week.” Lang added, “get out and get active.”
SCSU Athlete Profile
SCSU catcher hunts down big dream Christian Bursch Sports & Fitness editor
“My uncle built a baseball field on my grandparent’s farm,” Enger said of the field he played on with his father when growing up. “I would get a lot of practice hitting and throwing when we would go up there,” Enger said. His uncle worked at the Metrodome, when the Twins played there Enger revealed. “It had a grass infield… it was perfect and fun to play on,” Enger said of the field his uncle built. Enger credited his father for introducing him to the sport of baseball. He admitted he started playing catch with his father when he was four years old but the first league he played on was tee ball. As a family the Enger’s would take trips to spring training in Florida. Another trip the Enger’s took was to Hilton Head, South Carolina. They went golfing on their trip. “We were driving down the fairway and there was an alligator in the middle of the fairway,” Enger said. He also revealed he was scared and didn’t know what to do, sitting in the golf cart on the fairway. “A course manager drove out to us and he told us if the alligator runs at us, we should run in zig zags,” Enger said. The manager informed them that alligators can only run straight. Fortunately, the alligator did not run towards them. Hunting is another past time that Enger enjoys. He explained that he shot gun hunts and bow hunts but doesn’t get out very often with his bow. He added that he will get out more this year because he “has to get a deer.” “It has been a while, unfortunately, I keep missing,” Enger said and admitted it
Christian bursch / staff photographer
Travis Enger practices his swing at River’s Edge baseball field in Waite Park.
is a sore topic. He said he gets “crap” from his friends. “I always say I’m going to get a deer and come back empty handed,” Enger said. Enger’s biggest dream however is to be drafted. “I would love to be able to call my parents and tell them,” Enger said of his dream to be drafted by a major league baseball team. Taking steps toward this dream, Enger
came to SCSU to play baseball for the Huskies. When asked the best moment in his life, Enger paused, reflected and answered “signing with SCSU.” He explained that he was just excited that the SCSU coaches were talking to him much less ask him to play for the Huskies. “I was happy,” Enger added. “You are in every single play and you don’t get bored you are back there calling pitches it is fun,” Enger said referring to his
favorite part of baseball and catching. Enger’s older brother attends SCSU and “buddy of mine [Travis Kulla] was going to SCSU to play baseball” Enger revealed as some of the reasons for signing with the Huskies. Growing up in Maple Grove, SCSU was close to home Enger said was another reason for choosing SCSU. “I knew if I was close to home my parents could come to games and I knew they would like that,” Enger said. Enger is currently playing baseball for the Duluth Huskies in the North Wood League, along with Brian Hansen. “It’s easier to go to a new team when you know someone right away but when you get to know everyone it is simple you are just playing baseball… it is fun,” Enger said of playing baseball with SCSU teammate Hansen. Enger disclosed he always knew he wanted a career involving sports. “To be a field crew maintenance for a major league team… I think it would be amazing,” Enger said. Enger admitted with a smile that he would rather play baseball than work on the field. “It put a smile on my face,” Enger said of being named catcher in the NCAA Division II Central Regional All-Tournament Team. “I was honored,” Enger added. Disappointing his parents is a fear of Enger’s. He also admitted he is afraid of heights. “Im scared to death of skydiving,” Enger said. Enger revealed he has ridden the Power Tower at ValleyFair once but will never do it again. “You sit up there for 10 seconds, you don’t know when you are going to drop and I panic,” Enger said with a hint of pink coming to his cheeks.