University Chronicle: June 12, 2011

University

Chronicle

Page 4 SCSU Outfielder

Serving SCSU and the St. Cloud Community

Sunday June 12, 2011

WWW.UNIVERSITYCHRONICLE.NET

Volume 88, Number 4

Tio’s to open doors Samantha South News editor

mike runyon / staff photographer

One peanut plant grows in the community garden. The garden is volunteer-run by community members and SCSU students.

Community garden grows, doubles space Mike Runyon

ter come to pick off potato beetles. They use hot pepper spray to keep the rabbits and The community garden, squirrels out and kill any bugs a volunteer non-profit garden they pick off in a solution of open to both community and dish detergent. students, has doubled their “Everything is organic,” 500 ft space, expanding to the Ore said. “Not just the corner of Fifth street. plants.”

Tracy Ore, the founder The garden uses heirloom of the garden and sociology seeds that they purchase from professor at SCSU, said that Seed Savers Exchange, which obtaining the space was as is a farmer's cooperative in easy as asking the administra- Ohio. They also save and retion, saying, “The corner had use seeds from previous years. a house that had been vacant “We do heirloom plants, for years. with varieties that you don't Last year, the house was normally see in the grocery torn down so I asked Steve store,” Ore said, “We have Ludwig if we could have the about forty tomato plants. space and he said yes.”

They come in all colors; The volunteers at the green, yellow, red, purple and community garden can now brown. They are very pretty. move plants out of the old By planting those different space and into the new one, varieties, if there is a disease which will relieve the soil. that affects one of them it Ore said that the plants won't likely affect the whole will be benefit from the new crop.” space, as well as the soil.

The garden is given $500 “The first two years, we per year by SCSU for operahad no problem with pests tions. and diseases because nothThe rest of the funding ing had been planted there comes from members, donain a long time,” Ore said. tions and fundraisers. The “Eventually the pests and garden is a designated nondiseases found us in that space profit with an SCSU foundaso it will give plants a better tion account. chance in the new place.”

Ore said, “We had a The garden has a nofundraiser last August that chemical policy when it helped us raise a little over a comes to pests. Children from thousand dollars. We had a Lindgren Childcare Cenconcert in the garden during News editor

INSIDE

News.................1 Opinions...........2 Marquee............3 Sports...............4

St. Cloud Art Crawl

move-in weekend. We sell at the farmers market that the campus has. We will be selling at the Lemonade Fair.”

The garden has seen growth in members as well as space.

Andrea Lawrence, a volunteer since the garden's first year, said that she came for the organic food she couldn't grow in an apartment, but stayed because of the community aspect.

“The reason why this garden was formed was to grow community and I feel we have,” she said.

“I see friends there, we socialize there, and it's just a nice place to be. I still get food and I still have fun.”

The garden hosts community events as well, with cookouts every other Sunday and work days on Tuesdays and Thursdays.

“A member joined last year,” Lawrence said, “She joined because she was new to the neighborhood and she wanted to meet people.

This spring she got fairly ill and one of the things the members from the community garden do is go to her house every Friday and work on her garden because we're there, she needs help and we like to garden.”

A new business will hit downtown St. Cloud with familiar cuisine in a new location.

Tio’s Mexican Grill is opening a restaurant in the downtown area. The Mexican burrito restaurant will take over the old Milio’s sandwich shop.

“It’s a great location,” said Jerrod Peterson, General Manager of the new shop. “It’s pretty close to SCSU, there’s always people walking, always traffic, and always something going on around here.”

Tio’s originated in Alexandria and is now trying to expand its stores to other areas of Minnesota. St. Cloud was one of their choices, especially with an open spot downtown.

“We know we’re going to expand to other cities and it’s a good spot to branch out,” Peterson said.

Like Qdoba and Chipotle, Tio’s number one food of choice is burritos.

They will have a burrito line, where customers can order specifically what they want in their burrito.

The grill is known for its burritos, quesadillas, taco salads, tacos and Mexican potatoes.

“We’ve limited our stuff from the Alexandria store to this store,” said Peterson. “We’re still waiting for our menu to come.”

Tio’s has a few differences in their burritos in comparison to other burrito places.

Burrito sizes can be chosen on how a custom-

er feels. A small or large burrito can be purchased, ranging in size from 10 to 13 inches.

A naked burrito is also an option, where all ingredients are within a bowl instead of a burrito.

Their food isn’t just what they want to sell in their new downtown location, though.

Fast food in a burrito is one of their main goals for this new shop.

“We want to throw out burritos as fast as we can possibly go,” Peterson said. “We’re almost making a fast food out of burritos and they’re really good.”

As this new burrito shop comes in, comparisons to Qdoba and Chipotle seem to have no effect on Peterson’s hope for this business.

“I actually worked at a Qdoba before so I know what they’re like, I’ve eaten at a Chipotle and I think our product is really good that we have,” Peterson said.

“As far as going up against them, we are on complete opposite sides of town and we are the only burrito shop on this block.”

Other downtown food shops, like Jimmy Johns, are not sure how business will change with this new variety.

“If they have similar hours I can see it being a competition, especially for the people who want something other than a sandwich,” said Anne Stang, a shift-runner at Jimmy Johns.

During regular days and hours, Stang is sure that customers who love these local sandwich shops will stay true to them.

“I think we’ll have our loyal regulars, but who knows, sometimes they might want to change it up,” Stang said.

For the main downtown food places like Jimmy Johns, new competition does bring in more variety.

Outside of the work place, Stang has more enthusiasm for the variety.

“As a Jimmy Johns employee I don’t like it for our business, but I’m excited on a personal level,” Stang said.

The prices at Tio’s will land at about $5 a burrito. Memberships will be available for dedicated Tio’s lovers.

Memberships can get customer discounts on burritos.

Tio’s is also looking for employees as they are in the transition of rebuilding the shop.

“We’re pretty much open application right now, hiring for line servers, prep people who have to have a good smile, good attitude, and come to work happy,” Peterson said.

“We’ll probably hire 10 to 12 people and then we’ll keep the others on record just in case.”

Tio’s Mexican Grill is planning to open within the next two weeks. Their hours will be Sunday through Wednesday 10 a.m. to 10 p.m. and Thursday through Saturday 10 a.m. to 3 a.m.

They are located downtown at 26 5th Ave. S in St. Cloud.

For more information, view their website at www.tiosmexicangrill. com.

Samantha south / staff photographer

Tio’s Mexican Grill is still going through renovations and is hiring staff, but will be open within a few weeks.

Page 3 Local artists, crafters display and peddle their goods at the art crawl downtown Friday.

SCSU students play disc golf

Page 4 SCSU students get outside and play disc golf at area courses like Riverside and Calvary.

Opinions Sunday, June 12, 2011

Page 2 - University Chronicle

Nuclear power is vital in energy production

Chris Bremseth columnist

Imagine that you are sitting in your house reading a book and the civil sirens start to sound. You feel the ground start shaking as a magnitude 9 earthquake runs through the ground under your house, far surpassing the engineering limits of the building, cutting the lines from your house to the power grid. After the quake passes, you look out your window and see a 46 foot tall tsunami hurtling toward you, with only a 19 foot wall between you and it. The tsunami washes your power generators away along with their fuel tanks.

Your house is still standing, though barely.

A day later, a massive explosion occurs, knocking down one of the walls to your precious home as you try to control the damage from the day prior.

Two days later, another explosion occurs, yet your house still stands.

If this were true, your house would be an engineering miracle due to the fact that it was not designed to be capable of withstanding any of the things that hit it.

This is the exact sequence of events that occurred at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant in Japan after the earthquake on March 11, 2011.

Though the reactors have been leaking for months, the fact that the buildings and reactors were able to withstand all of these crippling blows within a matter of days without more widespread leaking and more damage to the reactors is nothing short of a miracle.

Using the Fukushima plant as a reason for abandoning nuclear power technology makes little to no sense for the simple reason that it had to withstand natural disasters outside of its safety parameters.

Should we quit flying in airplanes due to their inability to fly through tornadoes?

Or stop driving cars because they can’t drive through volcanoes?

It may sound silly, but countries like Italy are putting their nuclear power use on a referendum to see if the people would like to continue using it for roughly 20 percent of their electricity consumption.

A more rational approach, especially in our age of declining fossil

fuel supply, is to make the standards for these plants so high, that it would be near impossible for their capacities to withstand natural disasters to be reached. Of course, that is barring some type of “2012,” or “Day After Tomorrow” type scenario.

The life cycle analysis of nuclear power’s carbon dioxide output shows that it is on par with renewable energy sources, the pursuit of which is a goal stated by the United States at large and, more specifically, the Obama administration.

Through safe and fair Uranium mining, the development of more advanced nuclear technology, research into centralized nuclear disposal sites as well as new methods of reprocessing spent fuel, we will be able to secure our energy needs for the next decades for our increasingly electricity driven lives.

It reminds me of lines in a famous movie.

“Why’s don’t we use nuclear technology, Dad?” “Because of Fukushima.”

“It didn’t do anything wrong.”

“Because it’s the energy Earth deserves, but not the one it needs right now. So we’ll stop using nuclear technology because it can take it. Because it’s not our hero. It’s a silent guardian, a watchful protector. A radioactive knight.”

Power is not the same as privilege

Kyra Loch Columnist

It is a known fact people make mistakes. Mistakes are a part of life and how we learn our lessons.

When people own up to their mistakes and accept the consequences of their actions, it makes it easier to forgive them.

This is what Representative Anthony Weiner needs to do.

After lying about contacting various women through social media networks and tweeting inappropriate photos of himself, Weiner has finally come clean about his actions.

However, he seems to be refusing to accept the

consequences to his badly chosen behavior.

Being a congressman, Weiner is in a position of power. Being in a position of power means people are relying on him and his judgment, and that people were looking up to him and respected him.

And as always, being in a position of power can be dangerous when the power is abused.

It is becoming too common to see another politician in the news, wrapped up in some shocking scandal; whether it is having an illegitimate love child, tweeting inappropriate pictures to women, or cheating on a significant other, it is hard to imagine why someone in a position of power chooses to take these risks.

Are their egos that big where they think they will not get caught or have to face the consequences of their actions? Or perhaps they just like the thrill of risky behavior.

Most public figures that are caught in these types of scandals do the acceptable thing and seek help or step down from their positions of power. Weiner must really think of himself as so privileged that he finds no shame in inappropriate behavior anymore.

There is a difference between power and privilege.

People who are in positions of power, like Weiner, may think they have certain privileges that others do not. Holding a position of power does not allow the privilege to do whatever one feels like and get away with it.

Holding a position of power comes with certain responsibilities. As a leader, a public figure, and a role model, one should know the appropriate behavior that comes with the job.

There needs to be consequences for certain actions, such as lying to the people you are representing.

Even if Weiner feels he should not have to resign

and can still do his job, things will not go back to the way they once were.

The fact that Weiner was contacting women, especially ones under the age of 18 years old, and sending inappropriate pictures through social media sites is bad enough. It is even worse that he lied about it.

Lying is unforgivable and has burnt bridges with the people he represents and the people he works with. His behavior displays poor judgment and bad decision-making.

If we cannot trust our political leaders to control their inappropriate impulses, what can we trust them with? Obviously this proves they do not have good judgment.

We are all capable of making mistakes. It is a human thing to do, and in time most can be forgiven.

However, understanding the consequences of those mistakes and how those mistakes affect others makes the difference.

Quote of the Day

“The city is not a concrete

jungle, it is a human zoo.’’

Desmond Morris

Material things or experiences

Hannah Swift Associate Editor

Many opinions and stories in this paper revolve around the assumption that most college students are strapped for money.

It is a pretty fair assumption to make, considering the ever-rising amount of tuition and rent, paired with the current state of the economy.

One of the main life skills people in college learn is the value of money. Students need to know how to stretch every dollar.

When you have to start paying for everything yourself, you learn pretty quickly just how expensive life can be.

Deciding what to spend your money on can be extremely difficult. Should you attempt to save? Or take that spring break trip to Las Vegas with some friends? Or even spend the money on the new computer you’ve been wanting?

The question I asked myself this week: is it better to spend money on material things or experiences?

The first thing I would like to do is pay off my college loans if I had money, but say if I didn’t have any debt to pay off, what would I rather spend my money on?

At this point in my life, I think spending money on experiences is more worthwhile.

There are a few reasons I feel this way.

The first is that I don’t like owning a lot of stuff. I live a nomadic lifestyle, moving at least twice a year. The less crap I have, the easier it is to move. Since I really hate mov-

ing, I have also come to hate all the things I have to move while changing homes.

It is amazing how much stuff one can fit into a dorm room or a small apartment.

The second reason I think experiences are more important is because I’m young. I haven’t lived long enough to have a lot of life experience under my belt – in fact, I would say from the teens till the late twenties people should try to take in as many experiences as possible.

As most people grow older, they usually develop more commitments in life such as having a full-time job or having children. Even though most young people have less money to spend, it is probably the time in life when they have the most freedom from responsibility.

Of course, not everyone decides to settle down, allowing for them to have more freedom later in life.

For myself, I think I will want more material things when I have my own house (that I’m not going to move from) which probably won’t happen for a long time.

Up until this point, I’ve been discussing my thoughts on spending money on more expensive things, such as vacations or flat screen TVs, but what about when it comes to everyday spending decisions?

With limited funds, is it better to spend money on a pair of shoes or gas for a one-day road trip to the Twin Cities?

I think most of the time I would choose to have the experience rather than the new shoes, but it depends on the situation and the mood I’m in.

One could also argue that shopping is an experience, so you can have your cake and eat it too.

No one can tell you how to spend your money or your time, but we should count ourselves lucky that we have to even make such decisions in the first place.

Politicians like Schwarzenegger, Weiner are undesirable role models Samantha South News Editor

“Alright everyone, it’s show time.”

Right you are Arnold, now that everyone knows about your true past of adultery and lies.

Rumors about Arnold Schwarzenegger have risen the past couple of weeks as new knowledge of an affair he had a decade ago has been uncovered.

The former Governor of California had a lot more secrets than he was “running” for. <<*What does this mean? It’s unclear* According to ABC News, Schwarzenegger had an affair with a woman who has been his housekeeper and assistant for 20 years. A secret love child was borne from this affair 14 years ago. This child and Schwarzenegger’s other son (Christopher, whose mother is Schwarzenegger’s wife, Maria Shriver) were born only a week apart. Shriver has now left Schwarzenegger.

Schwarzenegger is well-known as an actor and, more recently, a politician. Is this what a politician should be doing?

Surprisingly, this by no means the first

person in the recent history of politics that has had some type of sex scandal.

Anthony Weiner, a Democratic U.S. Representative, has had recent shady activities in his personal life, also.

Congressman Weiner finally admitted to tweeting his “weiner” to some of his followers, before and during his marriage.

Newt Gingrich, a previous speaker of U.S House of Representatives, had an affair with a woman while his wife was going through major health problems. He plans to run for President in 2012.

The list goes on, sadly.

A previous President, Bill Clinton, is well-known for his famous affair with Monica Lewinsky during his presidency. This resulted in his impeachment.

These events tend to be a pattern amongst politicians.

The question is, is should these people be looked up to as role models, just because they are in politics?

Role models are supposed to be people who others can look up to. They’re the people who are motivated, hard-working, and dedicated to doing what’s right.

In politics, the question between what is right and wrong stands with business and personal life in hand. Are we supposed to stay out of their personal life, even if it makes it in the news every day for weeks on end?

Or are we supposed to look at their personal life and judge them on what they do for us and for themselves?

The list of politicians and their personal sex scandals could go on for days and for a long time this has been the biggest issue with them. They’re people who choose to be in the light of everything and they are meant to be judged. We judge them based on what they can do for us, what plans they bring about, and how they go about it.

Their jobs have a lot to do with doing things for the people and the government and if we, the people, judge the government on a day-to-day basis, then how we view them can change dramatically over something that happens in their personal life that goes against our beliefs.

When we vote, we vote based on what they can do for us and how we view that person.

Whether others like to believe it or not, we don’t just base our judgment on politics -- it’s

also personal, it’s the whole package So are these people supposed to be role models?

Absolutely. They’re people who need to be role models but are not acting as they should be. Sure, the times are different now and divorce rates are high today.

Yes, the media takes control over publishing politician’s personal lives. Yet, when they choose this career, they know those responsibilities and what their job entails. If we’re voting for them and their job is about doing things for the people, then the people will always be looking to them and how they display themselves.

No matter what, we are going to see what goes wrong in their lives and will base our judgments off our own beliefs.

What they should be doing is focusing on the things they promise the people they work for and focus on what their career is about.

The opinions expressed on the Opinions page are not necessarily those of the college, university system or student body.

Marquee

REVIEWS

University Chronicle - Page 3

Sunday, June 12, 2011

.movie.game.album.book.theater.

‘Panda 2’ attempts to do too much with too little Jason Tham Movie Review

The unexpected sequel to Dreamworks Animation’s “Kung Fu Panda” now tells the story of a deceived ruler of China, a villain peacock, who is not satisfied for being kicked out by his emperor parents.

The previous emperors brought to China happiness with their development of fireworks. Their son, Lord Shen, has found another application of his parents’ invention. With his “unstoppable weapon,” Lord Shen throws the country into complete terror.

The entire story of “Kung Fu Panda 2” revolves around Dragon Warrior Po and the Furious Five who embark on a journey to defeat Lord Shen’s mission of taking over China.

“Kung Fu Panda 2” brings back the A-list voices with Jack Black as Po the panda, now comfortably fulfilling his celebrity role as the prophesied Dragon Warrior, and the Furious Five consisting of Angelina Jolie as the no-nonsense, hard-hitting Tigress, Seth Rogen as the wisecracking Mantis, David Cross as Crane, Lucy Liu as Viper and the underused Jackie Chan as Monkey.

Also returning are Dustin Hoffman as Master Shifu and James Hong as Mr. Ping, while joining the frontline are Gary Oldman as the chief villain Lord Shen the vain peacock, Michelle Yeoh as The Soothsayer, Jean-Claude Van Damme as Master Crocrodile, Dennis Haysbert as Master Oxen and Victor Garber as Master Thundering Rhino.

Meanwhile, Po begins to question his identity as he sees visions of his mother abandoning him,

which bothers him.

Po becomes so disturbed that he can not fight the enemies attentively and finally runs to his so-called father to find out about his real background.

In the end, we learn that Po was adopted and that he was not really the son of a goose (thanks for the clarification!) Po’s parents had to abandon him in order to save him from being killed by Lord Shen’s army. It is this divine love that Po feels towards his parents that later helps him to overcome his fear.

The comedy became a mashed-up drama when Master Shifu tries to teach Po how to discover “inner peace.” That is the only part of the movie that is really related to Kung Fu. Too many things in the film tried to compete as the most important, including the two jailed Kung Fu masters that come out of nowhere.

Yet, the hilarity of the furry warrior did not decrease. His clumsiness, sometimes stupidity, and jokes continue to keep audiences entertained.

One thing that audiences may take away from this sequel is that staying true to ones self can help them to overcome obstacles.

The ending of the story is a recycle of (almost all) superhero stories where the warrior returns home bringing victory and peace.

“Kung Fu Panda 2” is overall a pleasant story and a visually striking movie for the family.

Rating:

Photo COurtesy of Epk.tv

Jack Black returns as the intrepidus Po, the panda.

Art crawl promotes, unites artists within community PHOTO STORY BY: Tara Gorman

The third annual Downtown Art Crawl last Friday, though briefly interrupted by rain, was successful once again in uniting local residents, businesses and artists.

Microsoft unveils new gadgets during E3 Brent Johnson Contributing Writer

The promise of greatness in the near future can be highly exciting. However, with that promise, excitement cannot be properly utilized unless one is made to believe in the promises being made. It is for this reason that Microsoft’s E3 2011 Press Conference falls desperately short.

All of the big hitters showed up to this conference. It started with a look at the newest Call of Duty game, which offered a rather familiar look at something that appears fairly unchanged. The environment of the game is now set in America, but other than that, it appears you’re getting the same Call of Duty, once again.

After the Call of Duty demonstration we were given a look at the new Tomb Raider game. This game is a complete re-creation of its predecessors, and it looks stunning. The graphics are eye-popping, and the action is exciting.

This will definitely be a game to keep your eyes on.

Only seconds after Crystal Dynamic’s presentation of Tomb Raider, the troubles began.

EA Sports’ President Peter Moore arrived on stage, and when he finished boasting about how great and revolutionary his company’s games were, the unsound promises began.

“I’m proud to announce that four EA Sports titles will feature Kinect support in 2012.”

Moore revealed.

He then went on to say that other games in the Electronic Arts line-up will also feature Kinect support, including “Hasbro Game Night 4,” and “The Sims 3: Pets.”

These may sound like good promises to make. We all want to see this new technology do well; we want to see it excel. Nothing was shown to prove to us, however, that it will be great. We weren’t told how it would be used. We were just told that the Kinect peripheral will be used. A promise to use it was there, but it had no backing. Why do we need the Kinect to play these games? Why should we even care that it’s being brought to the Kinect? Who knows?

The show went on with previews of “Mass Effect 3,” and “Tom Clancy’s Ghost Recon: Future Soldier.” Each of these games promised added features that would be brought on

through Kinect. The problem here is, while these features were cool little add-ons, they kept us from knowing much else about either of those games, and these features were both things that could have easily been implemented through the use of a traditional controller. It was starting to become clear what Microsoft’s game plan was.

The application of their Kinect peripheral to anything and everything.

Next, they took a break from the games to show off a new Xbox Live Experience. First, we were shown a new “home,” once known as our “dashboard,” that is basically just a more vibrant version of the Playstation3 “home.” After this, the implementation of new features such as Bing, YouTube, and Live TV were revealed.

Bing isn’t anything great. The Xbox 360 is still left without the ability to browse the web, and the search engine will only search through content that is available within the Xbox Live system. Bing will find movies you can watch, or games you can play, but not much else.

YouTube is a nice addition to Xbox 360, however, and it almost seems overdue when you think about it. As for Live TV, I still don’t really understand what they are doing there. Nothing was said about whether they will have their own TV subscription service, or if you’ll be able to watch things through your cable provider, overall it seems like a pointless feature though, unless the perceived TV subscription comes free with your Xbox Live Gold subscription.

Next up, a new affiliation was unveiled with UFC. This seems like it may be something that is very welcome within the UFC watching community. Interactivity is available, and leaderboards are there for people to climb up on by earning points after correctly predicting a match’s outcome.

Finally, after all of this, almost halfway into the presentation, Microsoft’s Phil Spencer came out and told the audience that everything from here on out was exclusive to the Xbox Live experience. Why it hadn’t been Xbox exclusive prior to that is beyond anything that my brain can wrap itself around. This is Microsoft’s press conference, and they spent almost half an hour showing us things we can get with a different console.

I’ll also add in that in all of that time, noth-

ing was ever even mentioned about one of the will be able to bring something good to the biggest upcoming multi-platform titles, “The El- Kinect experience. der Scrolls V: Skyrim.” I think it is safe for all of Then, just as the presentation was ending, us to make the assumption that this is because a first look at new project that Don Mattrick, the game didn’t include some futile attempt at president of the Interactive Entertainment Business at Microsoft, is, “very excited about.” The implementing the Kinect technology, and the excitement comes in the form of a dawn of a others that were shown before this were given a new trilogy for the Xbox 360. step up against their competition because they Then, a “Halo 4” teaser trailer was exposed. added a few pointless uses of said technology.

So, aside from the “Halo: Combat Evolved” When the actual presentation centered being remastered and re-released for the Xbox around a Microsoft experience tardily began, we were shown “Gears of War 3,” which looked 360 on November 15, 2011, Xbox 360 owners will also receive an all new Halo experience at wonderful, presented to us by Cliff Blezinski the end of the next year. and Ice T. A lot happened at this year’s Microsoft press Next up, a new game from Crytek was unconference. Some of it was exciting, and much veiled, titled “Ryse.” This title is a Kinect game of it was vastly underwhelming. The entire that actually appears that it may do something presentation was filled with promises about the good with the technology. It’s nice to know that Kinect peripheral, and none of those promises someone showed up to the event prepared to appeared to be bringing their “A” game. We’ll show off something that the Kinect may be all see in the future though, as each of these useful for, but unfortunate that the most of the projects gets released. other Kinect presentations were laughable at best.

Included in these other future titles utilizing Kinect was “Fable: The Journey,” “Forza Motorsport 4,” “Minecraft” (Yes! “Minecraft” is now being brought to the Xbox 360.), “Disneyland Adventures,” “Kinect Star Wars” (Which looks like it may be the biggest failed use of the Star Wars license to date), “Sesame Street: Once Upon a Monster,” “Kinect Fun Labs,” “Kinect Sports: Season 2,” and “Dance Central 2.”

Of these, Photo courtesy of e3expo.com “Forza Motorsport The annual Electronic Entertainment Expo is the biggest elec4” looks to be the only other title that tronics conference in the business.

Sports & Fitness Page 4 - University Chronicle

Sunday, June 12, 2011

Outfielder lays it all out Christian Bursch Sports & Fitness editor

“Growing up, I had a fantastic childhood,” Phil Imholte said, adding it was filled with baseball and music.

Imholte just completed his junior year at SCSU and has played Husky baseball for all three years.

Imholte is a St. Cloud area native, growing up in the Waite Park and Pleasant Lake areas.

Glenn Imholte was not only Imholte’s father but also his role model.

He thanks his father for introducing him to both music and baseball. Not only was his father a musician, but also a salesman and loved sports, especially baseball Imholte said.

“His kids were his life and he taught us to always do our best in everything we did,” said Imholte of his late father. Imholte said he is thankful for the time he was able to spend with his dad; he was a great person and a great friend.

“I am thankful for him and what he gave to me. I hope someday I can give it to someone else,” Imholte said.

Imholte’s baseball career started when he was four years old playing BamBam ball for a St. Cloud recreation league.

“At 12 years old I was able to try out for the travel league. It was a big part in the development of the player I became and some of the funnest times,” Imholte said.

Imholte played travel baseball with teammates Logan Birr and Steve Rindelaub, who play with him at SCSU. “It is interesting,” Imholte said of playing with Birr and Rindelaub for about 10 years. “[You] Don’t really get time to step back and realize we’ve been playing together that long.”

While playing travel baseball the Waite Park team went to the World

Series twice in Arkansas and North Carolina. Birr and Imholte stayed with the same host family in Arkansas.

The Husky team has played the past couple years in Arkansas. “They [the host family] come to our games when we’re down there and it is nice to see them again,” Imholte said.

“We represent central Minnesota,” Imholte said of Rindelaub, Birr and himself.

Imholte played basketball and baseball throughout high school and played football for three years.

“I didn’t like the idea of getting killed [in football] as a little kid,” said Imholte as a reason for taking off a year of football. He added that he also wanted to try fall baseball. Imholte said he did not regret taking the year off of football and enjoyed the experience playing fall baseball.

During high school Imholte played third base and pitched. When coach Dolan recruited Imholte, Dolan wanted him to play outfield because of his speed.

“When I was very small and very young, like 10, I played outfield,” Imholte said on a team his father coached, adding “the only experience I had was standing out there as a 3 foot tall kid.” This was part of Imholte’s reason for being red-shirted for his freshman year, he was learning to play outfield.

SCSU was a good fit for Imholte, being close to home, the mass communications and baseball programs.

Imholte said it is nice to live and go to school in St. Cloud, he can just drive across town and do whatever he wants to with his family whenever he wishes.

Imholte has two younger siblings.

A sister, Marie, who walked onto the SCSU softball team and just finished her freshman year at SCSU and a brother, Tom, who plays baseball

and is a freshman at Cathedral High School. Imholte said that it has been difficult because they cannot always make it to each other’s games but they attend the ones they can.

Going to school while playing baseball can be difficult but Imholte said that communication with the professors is important and getting his stuff done a head of time.

“It is fun during the season with all the guys but school baseball season can be a grinding journey,” Imholte said.

The mass communications major with an emphasis is radio is glad he got into the radio program. Imholte said he always knew he wanted to do something in mass communications but did not know what.

He has recently found an interest in the audio production part of radio.

Although Imholte said he has not had time to commit to a radio show he has spent a lot of time getting to know the new multi-track studio SCSU has.

If he finishes up his temporary contract with the Brainerd Lunkers and comes back to St. Cloud, Imholte will pursue an internship at Rockhouse Productions.

In the offseason of baseball Imholte wants to become a more disciplined player all around with an emphasis on becoming a disciplined hitter. He also wants to become physically stronger.

During the summer when baseball is done he also wants to enjoy the summer and have some fun.

During his childhood Imholte said he always enjoyed playing sports like activities with his friends. He described a story of an activity his friends and him did when they were younger.

They had a park near his house and they would luge down a hill with skateboards on a 5 foot path, two at

Christian bursch / staff photographer

Phil Imholte, junior outfielder for the Huskies, swings his bat at home base at Stewart Mills Field in Brainerd. a time.

“It was very dangerous. I ran over my arm one time,” Imholte said.

Outside of baseball Imholte likes music. He plays the guitar, piano and sings. In high school Imholte was in a band called the “B Team All Stars, we thought we were cool,” Imholte said and added that they even recorded a CD. This year one of Imholte’s friends, Ted and himself won the battle of the bands at St. Johns.

Imholte is also an accompanist at

St. Peters Church in St. Cloud.

In his spare time Imholte likes to spend time with friends and play any sports type activities.

“I’m going to graduate. School is number one,” Imholte said of his short term future goals. His future plans also include getting a job he enjoys and seeing what happens.

“I just want to do my best in everything I’m doing and see where it takes me,” Imholte said.

Free falling from 10,000 feet is an advantage Christian Bursch

Sports & fitness editor

“Plummeting towards Earth at 120 miles per hour” is one of the main attractions of the skydiving club, according to Miles Hubbard.

Hubbard is the faculty advisor for the club and has been since it started in 1992.

Students approached him with the idea of getting others involved in skydiving. Hubbard, being an active skydiver, then became the advisor.

“I have the most jumps of anyone in Minnesota with more than 15,000 jumps,” Hubbard said.

Students who join the club are able to carpool with others to Chippewa Falls to Skydive Wissota. Here students choose from one or two options of skydiving.

Option one is where the student will perform a tandem jump with an experienced jumper attached to their back from 10,000 feet. The cost for this jump is $185.

The second option is the student can sit through a static line training course. This training will instruct them on how to exit the airplane, making flight, patterns and what to do in emergency situations.

For the instruction and one static line jump the cost is $140. For $240, the student will receive the instruction and five

static line jumps, with every jump following costing 30 dollars.

“Students will do five static line jumps from 3,000 to 3,500 feet where the static line is attached to the plane and releases the parachute when taught,” Charlotte “Charlie” Selix, president of the skydiving club, said.

The static line assists the jumper in knowing when to pull the rip cord for their parachute.

“On the fifth static line jump the student will still be connected to the static line but will have a practice rip cord [to pull] to show the instructor that they are proficient to start pulling the rip cord by themself,” Selix said.

If they prove their proficiency the next jump will start at an altitude of 3,500 feet with each jump rising in altitudes up to 10,000 feet.

“At 10,000 feet they will start learning new tactics to do in the air: barrel rolls, flips, turns, moving forward and backwards and jumping in formations with other jumpers,” Selix said.

“Formations are fun,” Hubbard said. This is where the jumpers connect to form shapes from circles and squares to stars and diamonds.

Former club members have moved on to teams after college. A former member was part of a team that took first in the U.S. Nationals, according to Hubbard.

The teams are comprised of experienced skydivers who create formations as they plummet towards Earth from altitudes of about 10,000 feet. These teams have 35 second to

create the designated formation.

According to the National Skydiving League’s rules there are two kinds of formations, called randoms and blocks. The randoms are singular formations with full separation of all grips both before and after building the formation.

Blocks are double formations with a special designated movement pattern in between, called an inter.

The start formation may or may not be similar to the ending formation. Here are some examples of inters: Inter 1: The grips are released between some of the flyers, so they become two pieces of two team members. they both do a 270 degree turn, and reconnect to a different formation Inter 2: Three people stay connected and do a 360 turn while the last person flies alone.

Blocks are designated by numbers, while randoms get letters. Blocks are worth one point for each correct formation, that makes two points, and randoms count as one point. There are 22 blocks and 16 randoms.

A competition consists of 10 rounds each worth five or six points.

The SCSU skydiving club is eligible to compete in the Northern Plain Skydiving League.

“The skydiving club meets about once a month during the fall and spring semesters,” Hubbard said. The club is free to join and anyone interested can email Selix at skydive@ stcloudstate.edu.

Disc golf gets students outside in the summertime Hannah Swift Associate editor

Summer is a slow season for sports at SCSU -- at least for the official university teams. For many students who stick around St. Cloud after spring classes are over, the start of summer also means the start of disc golf season.

Deemed the “poor man’s version of golf ” by SCSU senior Brent Schoepf, disc golf is a popular sport among the college crowd.

“I’ve been disc golfing for about 12 years, since I was eight,” Schoepf said. “You pay 10 bucks for a disc or two, have a good time and try to throw it in the basket; it’s as simple as that.”

The official sport of disc golf has no clear place of origin, according to the Professional Disc Golf Associate’s website. The first documented game of golf played with a disc was in Vancouver in 1926.

Before the invention of the

modern plastic discs, which resemble small Frisbees, people would play with tin lids, and the game was called “Tin Lid Golf.”

Since the 1920s, disc golf has faded in and out of popularity, while slowly developing into the

game most people play today.

Schoepf said the game is very simple to learn and it only takes about two or three games to begin to develop some skill.

“The basics are, you start at a fixed point, we call it a tee just

Hannah Swift / staff photographer

Shawn Finstad, an SCSU senior, forehands the disc for his drive on the eighth hole.

like in regular golf, you take a disc and you aim it towards the basket which is usually about 100 yards away,” Schoepf said, explaining how the game is played.

“The goal is to get the disc into the basket with a few throws as possible,” Schoepf said.

Disc golf has much of the same terminology as traditional golf. Players drive the discs at the tee, they putt, try to get hole-inones, and play holes on courses.

There are even several different types of discs, for the more serious players, which include drivers, putters, and mid-range discs.

The holes at disc golf courses consist of baskets. Baskets are normally made of chains and a metal basket that catch the discs.

Many official courses also have nine or 18 holes.

In the St. Cloud area, there are two official disc golf courses: Riverside, which is located on the East bank of the Mississippi across from the SCSU football

field, and Calvary, which is at Calvary Park in the South side of St. Cloud.

“Out of the St. Cloud courses, my favorite course is definitely Riverside,” Schoepf said, “actually it’s probably my favorite course in Minnesota that I’ve played.”

The convenience of Riverside may be one reason why it is popular among SCSU students, but Schoepf said it is his favorite because it was made for disc golf.

“They haven’t changed it much over the past 12 years, and the whole area is geared towards disc golfing,” Schoepf said. “They plant trees and take down trees just specifically for disc golf and the layout is really well done, it’s not randomly done like most places.”

If you are seasoned disc golf veteran, like Schoepf, or have never thrown a disc in your life, disc golf is an opportunity to get outside and enjoy the best of Minnesota summers.