issue 17, october 16, 2014 - grand valley lanthorn
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Issue 17, October 16, 2014 - Grand Valley LanthornTRANSCRIPT
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G R A N D V A L L E Y
THURSDAY, OCTOBER 16VOL. 49 NO. 17
GV STUDENTS PREP FOR FALL CAREER FAIR ON OCT. 21
SEE A6
STUDENT ORG URGES WOMEN TO ENGAGE IN POLITICS
SEE A3
GV WOMEN’S SOCCER TEAM EARNS “A” IN MIDSEASON REVIEW
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GV FOOTBALL EARNS“C+” IN MIDTERM EVALUATIONS
SEE A7
n Monday morning, Grand Valley State University student Alexander Aninos was killed in a car accident.
Aninos was a fifth-year music ed-ucation major, who hoped to become
a music teacher and a lacrosse coach.The 22-year-old was very involved with life at
GVSU. He was a founding member of the GVSU indoor box lacrosse club and a member of Phi Mu Alpha, a music fraternity.
Aninos was also a part of a saxophone quartet and other various music groups in the School of Music.
“Alex was a hard worker, he was very dedicated,” said Carol Aninos, his mother. “He couldn’t wait to be a teacher. He always strived, he always wanted to be better.”
According to his mother, playing music was the most important thing to Aninos.
“He was a great musician,” said Brett Ortiz, pres-ident of Phi Mu Alpha. “Everyone in the Perform-ing Arts Center is like a family, we were hit really hard by (his death). The day we found out, several people showed up, and we had a little memorial and bonded over that.”
Outside of his music, Aninos was very ac-tive. He was a lacrosse coach at Hudsonville High School and was an officer and captain on GVSU’s indoor box lacrosse team.
“He was our program’s first goalie,” said Kevin Scheiber, president of the club. “Without him, our team would have never started. His love for the game was unbeatable, and his compassion toward helping others was undeniable.”
Teammates, fellow musicians and fra-ternity members all remarked on how hard Aninos worked.
“Alex always pushed us to be the best we could even when we had nothing left to give,” Scheiber
said. “Alex never gave up; whether we were losing a game or conditioning at practice, he led by example and was our primary motivation to succeed.”
Aninos went to Walled Lake Northern High School, but adjusted well to life at GVSU.
“He has a lot of memories (at GVSU),” said Car-ol Aninos. “People welcomed him there; the music department, I can’t say enough. He grew up to be a wonderful person, he was a great kid.”
“The world will always be a little bit darker with-out his smile,” Scheiber said.
“I’ll never understand, but he’s still doing what he wanted, teaching, wherever he is,” said his mother.
Aninos was killed in a crash that occurred at 8:17 a.m. when he attempted to make a U-turn and was hit by a semi-tractor trailer on Belding Road in Cannon Township, Mich. Aninos was on his way to his teaching assistant job at Lakes Elementary School, near Rockford.
For those wishing to attend the memorial ser-vice, it will be held this Friday from 2 p.m. to 8 p.m. at Elton Black and Son funeral home. The funeral home is located at 1233 Union Lake Rd. in White Lake, Mich.
The funeral will be Saturday at 11 a.m. at St. Pat-rick Parish of White Lake, located at 9086 Hutchins Rd., also in White Lake, Mich.
BY AUDRA [email protected]
GV student killed in car accident on Monday
he Clery Act is a 1992 federal law that requires colleges and universi-ties to publish reported crimes. At Grand Valley
State University, the police department is one of the groups responsible for updating the annual security and fire safety report.
Capt. Brandon DeHaan, the GVSU Clery compliance officer, said the big-gest updates to the report this year are the new definitions of sexual assault, dating violence, domestic violence and stalking. These are the four crimes of the 1994 Violence Against Women Act, which President Barack Obama reau-thorized in March 2013.
“The federal government has said universities need to do better with what they’re doing to address those areas,” De-Haan said. “I think it’s important for stu-dents to understand those definitions.”
DeHaan said this year’s report pro-vides victims of sexual assault with spe-cific resources and information about where to go for medical care, who to contact for help both on and off cam-pus and how to report the crime if they want to have it investigated.
“The university encourages students to report to the police or the Women’s Center,” DeHaan said.
The updated report includes cam-pus programs that are offered for GVSU students, faculty and staff. These programs include Transitions week, ReACT performances, Take Back the
Night, the Clothesline Project and Walk a Mile in Her Shoes.
DeHaan said these focus on risk re-duction and intervention.
“We offer seminars to make stu-dents aware of what these crimes are and what to do if they are a victim,” he said. “The educational programs are built to identify these problems. We want to make sure this information is presented on an ongoing basis.”
In addition to the new sexual assault information, the report provides cam-pus crime statistics from 2011 to 2013. The VAWA crimes were not required to be reported until 2013.
Although it is not required to list larceny statistics, DeHaan said GVSU includes it because it is the number one reported crime. Liquor law violations
and drug arrests are the next highest re-ported crimes. Reported sexual assault crimes have decreased in recent years.
“We’ve tried to make it easier to com-pare statistics,” DeHaan said. “We want to be very transparent to make sure the policies, what we have in writing, are what we say we do. I would expect to see additional updates as time goes on.”
Trevor Wuori, president of Eyes Wide Open and Rock Against Rape at GVSU, said he thinks it was necessary to update the Clery Act and VAWA because sexual assault is an important topic that needs to be addressed on col-lege campuses.
“I’m glad that universities are going to be held accountable to report these crimes,” he said. “It’s important for stu-dents to know because they can educate
their peers and raise more awareness about the issue.”
Wuori added that he thinks of GVSU as a safe campus, but no system is perfect.
“Some people might think that a lower number of reports means that there are less instances and therefore that university is safer,” he said. “Some universities may see a jump in report-ing, but this doesn’t necessarily mean that more assaults are occurring, but that people are more comfortable with coming forward with their crime.”
Eyes Wide Open is a student organi-zation that works to raise awareness of sexual assault and other related issues through events and presentations to the
BY STEPHANIE [email protected]
GVPD releases 2014 security and fire safety reportUpdates to Clery Act report offers new definitions, more resources
rand Valley State Uni-versity’s College of Education began its 50th year anniversary “Golden” Lecture Se-
ries with a lecture by Hauenstein Center for Presidential Studies’ Di-rector Gleaves Whitney.
Whitney’s lecture entitled, “The Great Thresholds of Education,” was a seminar-style lecture which explored the history of education.
“We wanted to celebrate our 50 years, and a better way to do that would be to bring the community, because we have always been so closely connected to partnerships and programs and people. That is what education is about,” said Linda McCrea, director of teacher education at GVSU and chair of the 50th anniversary committee for the college.
Whitney has prior experience working for the state government and
he was part of a task force that helped bring major education and school fi-nance reforms to Michigan.
His training as a historian has al-lowed him to consider the big picture.
“I am always on the lookout for the big moments or the wild moments of history that have true significance to the way our civilization has evolved, our culture has evolved,” he said.
Whitney said the thresholds are what have brought us to our current systems of education. He spoke about the important thresholds within histo-ry, starting with evolutionary psychol-ogy and how homo sapiens developed the ability to survive.
He said homo sapiens developed three things that would help them: the ability to develop a complex language, emotional intelligence and the forma-tion of cooperative communities.
Whitney went on to talk about how the further development of civilization itself led to the formation of writing systems and the phonetic alphabet.
“Historians have said that the
greatest boost to democracy and to equality actually started 5,000 years ago with the Phoenician alphabet and Hebraic alphabet,” Whitney said. “The increasing numbers of people that can share in communication is going to lay the groundwork for common ground.”
Whitney linked education to finding common ground and form-ing a democracy. To illustrate his point, he read a passage about the role of education in America.
“The primacy of education in America is striking,” he said. “Ameri-cans believe that education is central to the realization of a truly democratic, egalitarian society. It is through educa-tion that the skills necessary to exer-cise citizenship and to benefit from the opportunities of the economy will be imparted no matter how recently ar-rived or previously disadvantaged.”
Whitney added that this idealism about American education is dif-ferent than how much of the world views education.
Whitney said that in recent years,
we have seen examples of how thresh-olds can lead to common ground, cit-ing examples such as Bill Gates and Steve Jobs and the changes they made in technology.
“As Steve Jobs said, ‘I want a kid in his dorm room at Stanford to be able to cure cancer,’” Whitney said.
Whitney said this goal was lofty but has changed the world.
“I thought of the threshold,” Whit-ney said. “They set the bar so high and that’s a threshold we are never going to let go of. All of this leads to the greater possibilities toward common ground.”
BY GABRIELLA [email protected]
College of Ed kicks off lecture series Golden Lectures begin with Hauenstein Center’s Gleaves Whitney
EDUCATION HISTORY: Hauenstein Center Director Gleaves Whitney speaks at the Golden Lecture Series at the Loosemore Auditorium.
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Laker family mourns loss
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IN MEMORIAM: GV fifth-year senior Alex Aninos was very involved in the campus community. Aninos was a member of the lacrosse club and a saxophone quartet, among other groups.
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OCTOBER 16, 2014GRAND VALLEY LANTHORN
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POSTMASTER: Please send form 3579 to: Grand Valley Lanthorn0051 Kirkhof CenterGrand Valley State UniversityAllendale, MI 49401
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LanthornV O L . 4 9 N O . 17
NEWS BRIEFS
INTERFAITH IN THE MIDDLE EAST: RAYS OF LIGHT IN DARKNESS
Grand Valley State University’s Mary Idema Pew Library is hosting Thomas Uthup this afternoon at 1 p.m. in the Multipurpose Room.
Uthup founded Friends of UN Alliance of Civilizations to promote cultural diversity, interfaith relations, migrant integration and youth empower-ment. His presentation will focus on the relationship between culture and society, with an emphasis on how religion affects politics.
For more information about the event, contact Leslye Allen at [email protected].
INCLUSIVITEA DISCUSSIONThe Grand Valley State University Mary Idema
Pew Library is offering students the chance to voice their opinions in a spiritually inclusive environment at 8 p.m. tonight in the Multipurpose Room. This event is open to LIB 100/LIB 201 students.
A panel of GVSU students will speak on topics such as religious discrimination, intolerance and stereotypes of various groups.
For more information, contact Patrick Weisgerber at [email protected].
START WITH WHY: CREATING A COLLABORATIVE YOUTH LEADERSHIP PROJECT
Grand Valley State University students, faculty and staff are invited to a workshop Friday at 10 a.m. in Room 107C of the DeVos Center on the Pew Campus. This event is part of the Community As Classroom series.
The event will focus on teaching, learning and research. Attendees will learn how to connect with diverse partners and break barriers to com-munication.
Registration is required. For more information, visit www.gvsu.edu/community/classroom.
VIDEO CONVERSATIONS WITH LAKERS ABROADThe Grand Valley State University Padnos
International Center is presenting a study abroad discussion on Friday at 11 a.m. in the Mary Idema Pew Library Learning Alcove on the first floor. The event is LIB 100/LIB 201 approved.
Attendees will have the opportunity to talk with former Lakers who are currently studying or liv-ing abroad in places such as Jordan, Palestine and Oman. These students will focus on the religious tolerance in those countries. The event is part of the library’s current religious tolerance exhibit.
For more information, contact the Padnos International Center at [email protected] or (616) 331-3898.
GMAT WORKSHOP - VERBAL SESSIONThe Seidman College of Business is providing
a free Graduate Management Admission Test preparatory session for students from 8 a.m. to noon on Saturday in Room 203D of the DeVos Center on the Pew Campus. The second session will occur on Oct. 25.
The session is open to students who are potential applicants for the Seidman full-time integrated MBA or the traditional MBA, the MSA or MST program. Students may attend if they are currently enrolled or plan to enroll in 500-level foundation courses.
Students will learn about the verbal and writ-ten parts of the test, along with effective study methods. In the second session, students will learn how to develop their study program in quantitative analysis. It is recommended that students attend both sessions, but it is not required.
To register, contact the business graduate office at (616) 331-7400.
rom Oct. 17 to 18, Grand Valley State University will be hosting the conference
Michigan Teachers of English to Speakers of Other Languag-es. On Oct. 17, the conference will be held in the Eberhard Center at 4 p.m.
MITESOL is a state-level af-filiate of the major internation-al professional association for English as a second language professionals, named TESOL International Association, which has about 8,000 mem-bers worldwide. The purpose is to provide leadership, edu-cation and support for profes-sionals involved in teaching English to speakers of other languages in Michigan.
MITESOL accomplishes this mission by holding a con-ference every year that brings together teachers, teacher edu-cations, material writers and publishers from around the state and country to offer pro-fessional development for ESL professionals at all levels.
Colleen Brice, the chair of this year’s conference, said the theme, “Expand-ing our Perspectives: From the Classroom to the Com-munity,” is a response to the
increasingly diverse needs of their membership.
“Historically, our member-ship has been comprised of professionals in post-second-ary and K-12 contexts, but has more recently included growing numbers of profes-sionals in community-based and government-funded adult education programs across the state,” Brice said. “While ESL among im-migrants and refugees with limited literacy and/or education is the theme of the conference, we invited and accepted propos-als addressing all aspects of ESL in all student popu-lations.
“So the con-ference aims to serve the needs of all Michigan’s ESL professionals.”
The conference will in-clude two speakers that will focus on how educators can support low-educated second language and literacy acquisi-tion students, as well as stu-dents with limited or inter-rupted formal educations.
On Friday, Andrea DeCapu will present Bridging the Gap: Connecting S.L.I.F.E with U.S.
classrooms. On Saturday, Patsy Vinogradov, the director of the adult basic teaching and learn-ing advancement system (AT-LAS) at Hamline University, will present Literacy, Language, and the Lifespan: Tapping our Teacher Know-how.
There will also be 71 total presentations addressing vary-ing English language teaching
issues, includ-ing 10 hands-on workshops tar-geting English as second language learners at dif-ferent levels and ages, a presenta-tion by the Mich-igan Department of Education’s manager of spe-cial populations on identifying English as sec-ond language students with
special needs and exhibits by nine publishers of English Lan-guage teaching materials.
Andrew Domzalski is a professor at Madonna Univer-sity in Livonia, Mich., and has been presenting at MITESOL conferences nearly every year since 1997. Domzalski chaired the 2012 conference that took place at Madonna University. He believes the conference is important for professional de-
velopment and networking.“It provides a forum for dis-
cussing current research in the field and its classroom applica-tions,” he said. “It allows for the exchange of ideas about instruc-tion and issues affecting English language learners of all ages.”
Jane DeGroot is the pro-gram manager of the custom-ized workplace English pro-gram at the Literacy Center of West Michigan in Grand Rap-ids. She began attending the MITESOL conferences the first year she was at GVSU in gradu-ate school in 2003. She was also the Michigan delegate in 2013 for TESOL in Washington D.C.
DeGroot believes this con-ference makes people better teachers and stronger advo-cates for the field, while also learning about other pro-grams and other ways ESL instructors can move forward in their careers.
“Someone from George-town University will be pre-senting about the English language program, which I participated in after I graduat-ed from GVSU,” DeGroot said. “I was selected to teach Eng-lish in Congo for 10 months. I would have never had the opportunity to apply had I not attended the conferences. Networking with others in the field is probably the greatest benefit of the conference.”
BY ALYSSA [email protected]
GV to host ESL conferenceEducators to discuss new resources, research for teaching English
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campus community. The group meets every Monday at 9 p.m. in Room 1142 of the Kirkhof Center.
GVPD worked with the Women’s Center, the Dean of
Students Office, the Human Resources Department and the University Counsel to update the Clery Act report.
To read the full report, visit www.gvsu.edu/gvpd. To report a crime, contact GVPD at (616)-331-3255 or the Women’s Cen-ter at (616)-331-2748.
CLERYCONTINUED FROM A1
“...the conference
aims to serve
the needs of all
Michigan’s ESL
professionals.”
COLLEEN BRICE
CONFERENCE CHAIR
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Name: Bre’onna RaymoMajor: Health Information ManagementYear: Sophomore Why Bre’onna Reads The Lanthorn: “To see all of the important events that happen here on GV’s Campus”quote: “I believe in God even when he is silent”
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OCTOBER 16, 2014GRAND VALLEY LANTHORN
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he Laker Line Study, a yearlong effort to deter-mine how best to improve the bus
system at Grand Valley State University, held its final results meeting on Tuesday, Oct. 14.
Over the past 10 years, student commuters at GVSU have seen a rise in public transportation participation. The Rapid’s Route 50, which connects GVSU’s Allendale and Pew campuses, currently transports 9,000 to 10,000 stu-dents each day, and that num-ber is on the rise.
In the past, the reaction has been to add to the number of buses to increase frequency. However, it is no longer fea-sible to simply add more ve-hicles. For a new system to be put in place, however, the Laker Line Study has to show there is a need.
Tuesday’s meeting was the
third and final community event. The results of the study were shown and explained to attendees before the next phase of the project begins.
“We want the public to give feedback. That’s the most im-portant, critical part of this pro-cess,” said Nicholas Monoyios, the project manager for the Laker Line study.
Monoyios said the way to get funding is to demonstrate to the Federal Transit Adminis-tration that the plan is not only feasible and beneficial, but also supported by the public.
“We need to know what the public thinks. That’s what makes this worthwhile,” he said. “It’s what the public wants, it’s what businesses want. It’s not a designer sitting in a cubicle.”
The three-hour event was held open-house style; guests could show up at any time to ask questions and view infor-mation about the plan. Presen-tations were given each hour by consultants who detailed the big picture of the project,
including the purpose of the study, the alternative solutions considered and the progress of the project thus far.
Jeromie Winsor, a transpor-tation planner with URS Corp., conducted the presentations and led the question and an-swer sessions.
“We looked at a pretty broad range of transit modes,” Winsor said. “(The plan in-volves) the use of higher ca-pacity buses (and) optimized station locations.”
Monoyios added that higher capacity buses could decrease the university’s costs.
“Grand Valley State Uni-versity could save money,” Monoyios said. “Instead of five regular buses you could have four that fit more people.”
Members of the commu-nity, including GVSU students, attended the event to learn more about the project and ask questions. When asked by one student about the effect the new plan would have on cost to students, Winsor responded
BY DUANE [email protected]
The Rapid to evaluate efficiencyLaker Line results show interest in higher-capacity buses
here are 435 members in the House of Rep-resentatives, of which only 79,
or 18 percent, are females.In light of these statistics
and the continual fight for equal gender rights, the Bach-elor of Social Work Student Or-ganization (BSWSO) at Grand Valley State University decided to organize the event Ladies Love Politics.
“We cannot live in a soci-ety that looks the other way in regards to gender issues,” said BSWSO Vice President, Amanda Mar-tin. “Although we have come a long way, and the women before us did most of the hard work, there are still issues be-ing fought every day that continue to need atten-tion, specifically an increase in women’s involvement.”
At a presentation last year, Clerk Barb Byrum struck a chord with Martin and other members of the BSWSO.
“I instantly was amazed by her charisma and her desire to be a successful woman in the political field and for fighting against the idea of ‘shouldn’t you be at home with your chil-dren because they need their mother’ mentality that women often get,” Martin said.
It was under this notion that club members approached
their faculty advisor Brandon Youker to pitch the idea of La-dies Love Politics.
“The presenters are all social workers,” Youker said. “It high-lights women representatives and one that hopes to be a rep-resentative in the profession.”
The speakers for Ladies Love Politics, which takes place on Oct. 20 at 6:30 p.m. in the Loosemore Auditorium on the Pew Campus, are Rep. Marcia Hovey-Wright from Muskeg-on, Rep. Winnie Brinks from Grand Rapids and candidate Stephanie Change from district six near Detroit.
“The speak-ers will be dis-cussing their i n v o l v e m e n t in the political field and their experiences as women in such,” Martin said. “They will also be talking about the importance of women’s in-volvement, and an increase in the involvement of women, and
why they feel it’s important to have a stronger participation level of woman voters and po-litical figures at local, state and national levels.”
The selection of this topic was fueled by two main factors, according to Youker. The first is the gender inequality within politics and the “vagina-hatred” movement that occurred when Rep. Byrum was silenced on the House floor after she used the word vagina to describe the female reproductive organ.
In a 2008 study done by the Pew Research Center for
BY SHELBY [email protected]
Women’s equality in the political sphereLadies Love Politics event encourages women to get involved politically
PUBLIC TRANSPORTATION: Jeromie Winsor, a transportation planner with URS Corp., discusses the results of the Laker Line study with GVSU students on Tuesday.
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the People and the Press, 37 percent of women identify as Democrats, 33 percent as in-dependents and 24 percent as Republicans. The three speak-ers for the event all belong to the democratic party.
“All three of these repre-sentatives are members of the democratic party,” Youker said. “There are not a whole lot of female representatives in the Republican party.”
However, she added, the purpose of the event is to get all women involved in politics, no matter what their political ideology is.
“This conference is work-ing to empower women and to give attention to the need for more participation,” Martin
said. “We wanted only women speakers to show that it can be done and the amazing work that women in the political field are accomplishing right here in Michigan and how they are working to bridge the gap (between) men and women in our government offices.”
The event, organized com-pletely by students, is set to help stimulate attendees’ inter-est in politics.
“We tend to get mobilized for the presidential election, but we tend be kind of apathet-ic when we are talking about local government,” Youker said.
Ladies Love Politics is a free event and is open to the public.
that there would be no cost.Student Eric Cousins, the
vice president for campus af-fairs of Student Senate point-ed out that this is a five-year plan, and asked if there were any immediate, temporary solutions in the works such as additional buses. According to Monoyios, they can’t jus-
tify having more buses as too often buses leave overflowing with passengers, only for the next one to have only five or 10 people riding.
“It’s great community building,” Monoyios said of the meeting.
Many students who have been involved in the study will
not be students by the time the system is put into place. Monoyios applauded them for being involved to represent the next generation of students.
“This conference
is working to
empower women
and to give
attention to the
need for more
participation.”
AMANDA MARTIN
BSWSO VP
GO TO:www.lakerline.orgFOR MORE INFORMATION
rand Valley State University is known for having a safe campus. In 2012, it was ranked the sixth safest cam-pus in Michigan and in 2011
it was in the top 10. Many students have a sense of security at the university and normally feel safe walking around campus.
This sense of security isn’t always found on college campuses, and GVSU is lucky to have it. However, the university isn’t a haven exempt from all bad things. On Oct. 14, members of the GVSU community received an email regarding a reported sexual assault that occurred last week out-side of the Robinson Living Center on the Allendale Campus. The suspect was not known at the time the email was sent.
On Sept. 11, students received an email regarding a reported sexual assault that occurred off campus at Country Place Apartments on Sept. 7. In this instance, a man reportedly broke into the student’s apartment around 3:50 a.m.
To say that it is unfortunate that a stu-dent is not safe in or near his or her own home is an understatement. It is fright-
ening and sickening. It is also clear that students always need to be aware of their surroundings, whether they are on campus or at home, and they need to be informed of what is occurring around them.
At GVSU, there were 14 incidents of larceny, two burglaries, one aggra-vated assault and four reported sex of-fenses (two occurred in 2012 but were reported in 2013) in 2013, according to the 2014 Annual Security and Fire Safety Report released by the Grand Valley Police Department.
Universities are required to publish an Annual Security Report by Oct. 1 includ-ing incidents of homicide, sex offenses, robbery, assault, burglary, motor vehicle theft and arson. The Jeanne Clery Disclo-sure of Campus Security Policy and Cam-pus Crime Statistics Act, more commonly known as the Clery Act and the Campus Security Act, is a federal law that requires colleges and universities across the United States to disclose information about crime on and around their campuses.
This year, GVSU has included ad-ditional information that goes beyond
the requirements of this report to better inform students on campus. For this effort, we applaud GVPD.
Students should have this informa-tion available, and including additional information shows the commitment that GVPD has to the safety of campus and of keeping students informed of the incidents that have occurred. Though GVSU is a pretty safe campus, students should look at the report and find out how much has been reported so they are aware.
For example, larceny was the highest reported crime. Many students think that they don’t need to keep and eye on their belongings or don’t need to lock their door when they leave their dorm room or apartment. Taking these simple precau-tions are still necessary at GVSU though to reduce theft.
This year’s report is now available to students, faculty and staff. It is important to look at it to see what occurrences have been reported on campus, and to learn what resources are available to the GVSU community.
e’re quickly ap-proaching the time when room-mate situations start to fall apart,
when you can walk through campus and hear at least two people gossiping about the weird stuff their roommate does, or their refusal to wash their dishes, even though they’ve started to mold. You’re out of the room-
mate honeymoon phase, and now you’re starting to notice their annoying tendencies.
I’ve lived in four different roommate situations. They’ve all started out fine, but within a couple of months, the household harmony has taken a turn for the worse. Alliances are formed; food is missing from the fridge; boyfriends decide to move in.
In my last living situation, one of my roommates and I would literally flee the house and walk around Meijer just to avoid hearing her and her boyfriend.
Before I moved in with my current roommates, I promised myself this time that we’d write up a roommate contract, decide on an elaborate chore chart and live happily ever after.
But then move-in week was too busy to write the con-tract. And the chore chart was
reduced to dishes and trash. And people weren’t abiding by the rules that I had in my head but we had never really spelled out on paper.
It’s much easier to go on, pas-sive aggressively, hiding in your room. It also definitely gives you something to rant about when you’re talking to your friends.
But roommate problems drive you insane like almost no other problems do. They’re insidious and they’re constant. They turn what should be your home base into a war zone.
If possible, save yourself some trouble. If you’re having a grand old time with your roommates now, use that trust to set up some good boundar-ies. If you search for sample roommate contracts online, you’ll find some alright ones. Decide on rules for mundane
things like sleepover guests and vacuuming procedure. Give yourself some cover in case stuff starts going south.
And if your roommate is already driving you insane, talk to them before midterms are over. Tell her gently to stop leaving moldy green peppers in the fridge, or leaving hair in the drain, or playing Zelda until 3 a.m. at full volume. They might not even know it’s bothering you.
Having an honest conversa-tion with your roommates will actually probably strengthen your relationship in the long run. You’ll learn some good conflict-resolution skills.
And at the very least, hopefully you’ll be able to get through the rest of the year without completely compro-mising your sanity.
have a Bachelor’s Degree in foreign languages and literature from Ukraine. I find
it fascinating to learn about different cultures, the way they preserve the world and, most
importantly, learn. It is amazing how different education can be around the world.
The school year in Ukraine starts on Sept. 1. It is a huge holiday for the countries that were part of Former Soviet Union. It is the day of knowledge – the most awaited day for those who would enter into the world of school life for the first time in their lives. It is all about little people in suits and dresses and white bows, first school bells, excite-ment and bunches of flowers and, of course, first lessons.
For the university level stu-dents, it is another step forward to achieving their career. Every-body is dressed up and attuned
to productive year. Students bring flowers to their teach-ers, professors or deans. After classes, there is a big celebration in downtown. A colossal stage is set up in the middle of the Freedom Square, where famous artists perform their hits. It is a free event to attend.
We do not buy the books. Usually libraries provide the books for the semester or the whole year. There are certain days and hours when freshmen, juniors, seniors and others can come and pick up the books. The librarian scans the book and the software puts it under your student ID. At the end of the year, you have to bring all the books back.
Each semester we have about fourteen subjects. We do not have an option to choose the classes. The classes are set up already in accordance to the degree you are to pursue. In the beginning of December, the exam weeks start. Most exams are in written form, open ques-tions, oral form or sometimes multiple choice. So at the end of the fourth year, you will have approximately 8,850 hours of classes. The grading in the uni-versity is similar to American system of grading.
The grading in the uni-versity is similar to American system of grading. An “A” is worth 90 to 100 points, “B/C” worth 75 to 89 points, “D” is
worth 60 to 74 points and “E” is worth 0 to 59 points.
The tuition in the top uni-versities varies from $2,000 to $4,000 a year. For you it might seem cheap, but we should take into account the local wages and expenses.
Unfortunately, in Ukraine, we do not have Blackboard. All the assignments are given in the class and the grades are announced in the class. However, the exam grades go to the student record book. It is a thin notebook with the university logo on it, where all your grades are transferred from the first year of univer-sity to the last year.
Also, students do a lot of
printing, but printing is not free at the university in Ukraine.
We also do not have tutors available in the university. Usu-ally you can get help from your classmates. They will always share information with you. On the other hand, you could hire a tutor if you feel that you feel that you are failing.
I think it is a priceless experience to study abroad. It is a great opportunity to learn new approaches and culture, look at the world with totally new perspective and, perhaps, appreciate what you have.
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Campus caution
The education system in Ukraine
Defusing the roommate time bomb
BY ANUSH [email protected]
BY MACKENZIE [email protected]
@GVLNEWS
OCTOBER 16, 2014GRAND VALLEY LANTHORNO P I N I O N
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Though GVSU is a safe campus, crimes still occur. Students can be aware of these incidents by reading the annual report
By Taylor Scholtens
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OCTOBER 16, 2014GRAND VALLEY LANTHORN
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N E W S
he Cook-DeWitt Cen-ter was constructed by Grand Valley State University in April of 1991 on the Allendale
Campus. Primarily put in place to house campus ministry, the build-ing is also home to a 250-seat audi-torium, a conference room, a green room and a lounge.
There has been some speculation in the past as to the true ownership of the Cook-DeWitt Center. Ac-cording to the lease associated with the building, it is under the owner-ship of GVSU, and it is the univer-sity’s responsibility to lease out the building to organizations wishing to use the premise.
With an expanding and increas-ingly more diverse campus life,
there is a demand for more space for religious practices and other organizations across campus, which may not be able to be met solely using the space available in the Cook-DeWitt Center.
Currently, there is a small, ad-ditional interfaith space available to students in the Kirkhof Center with plans to expand to better accommo-date the increasing needs of students for religious space on campus.
“There is no restriction on the (Cook-DeWitt) center’s use, other than the lack of additional space,” said Mary Lyon, associate vice president of University Communi-cations. “The building’s design and location near a busy sidewalk make it a challenge to expand.”
Though the space is generally used for religious means and is traditionally associated with religions of Christian-
ity, it also plays host to guest speakers on GVSU’s campus as well as private, off-campus users and other organiza-tion’s presentations in the auditorium.
Since religious expansion is an important issue on campus, there is also an exhibit in the Mary Idema Pew Library showcasing the world of Islam. It is hoped that with this exhibit, students will have a better understanding of other faiths on and off of the GVSU campus.
While space is limited in the Cook-DeWitt Center, students are encouraged to utilize the space for different events or organizations.
“All student organizations and campus departments may use the auditorium, conference room, and lobby space for meetings and events,” Lyon said. “With off-campus users, generally we have customers who use it for wedding ceremonies.”
BY HANNAH [email protected]
Location of Cook-DeWitt leaves no room for expansion
nyone interested in chemistry, specifically self-healing polymers, will get the chance to see Jeffrey Moore speak
tonight at 6 p.m. in the Grand River Room in the Kirkhof Center at Grand Valley State University. Moore’s lec-ture is part of the Arnold C. Ott Lec-tureship in Chemistry series.
Moore is a professor of materials science and engineering at the Uni-versity of Illinois at Urbana-Cham-paign and is in charge of the Moore Group, which researches ways to make materials safer and last lon-ger. He is an award-winning chem-ist, has published over 300 articles and served as an associate editor for the Journal of American Chemical Society for 14 years.
He is most known for his work on interesting properties of solid materi-als, such as self-healing. In response to the damage of a material, or poly-mers such as plastic and rubber, the material will start to repair itself.
“For example, an automobile tire that will regrow new rubber to cov-er a hole if a hole gets punched in,”
BY ALLISON [email protected]
GV welcomes award-winning chemist to campus
SPACE CRUNCH: Chelsea Vanderzwaag, an office intern, works at the Cook-DeWitt Center. The location doesn’t leave room for an expansion.
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TEACHING SCIENCE: The Arnold C. Ott Lectureship series was estab-lished in 2001. Ott was a co-founder of Grand Valley State University.
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explained George McBane, chemis-try professor and chair of the chem-istry department at GVSU.
The Arnold C. Ott Lectureship series was established in 2001 by Ott, who was a co-founder of GVSU. Ott received his doctoral degree from Michigan State University and was
greatly involved in chemical compa-nies, even founding his own. He was a significant member of the commu-nity, as he was a local employer, and held various positions on the Board of Control for GVSU.
“He was a big believer in the ability of science in general, and in chemistry
in particular, to better people’s lives,” McBane said. “That’s part of why he founded the lecture series, to try and give people in West Michigan an ap-preciation of high quality science.”
Ott passed away in 2008, but his series and his other contributions, such as the Ott-Steiner Fellowship Chemistry and Natural Sciences which provides assistance for stu-dents conducting research over the summer, continue on.
Jackie Stiner, Ott’s daughter, and her husband Les Stiner continue to fund this program and have pledged they will match the dona-tions to the fellowship through Nov. 7. They will also be in attendance at the lecture tonight.
Once a semester, the lectureship brings scientific individuals from around the world to GVSU’s campus. Past lectures include Nobel Laureate Ada Yonath, known for her work on the structure and function of the ri-bosome, and Roderick MacKinnon, for his work on the structure and op-eration of ion channels.
“Science is all connected, and it’s good for students to see that connection between different sci-ence disciplines,” said Felix Ngassa,
GVSU professor of chemistry and chair of the communications com-mittee in chemistry.
Ngassa expressed his excitement for Moore’s arrival to GVSU after hearing the high praise individuals in the chemistry community gave Moore when Ngassa attended the National American Chemical Soci-ety meeting in San Francisco.
“It’s a great thing for students to be able to see somebody of that level of expertise that you don’t see every day around here,” Ngassa said.
The reception begins at 5 p.m. to-night in the Grand River Room. This is a chance for individuals to speak one-on-one with Moore before the lecture, which starts at 6 p.m. Fol-lowing the lecture, a question and answer session will allow attendants to ask Moore further questions.
Tomorrow at 1 p.m. in the Pere Marquette Room at the Kirkhof Cen-ter, Moore will host a seminar on “Polymer Mechanochemistry and the Concept of the Mechanophore.” The seminar will be more technical and geared toward students with a chem-istry background or major. GVSU’s President Thomas Haas will be in at-tendance to introduce Moore.
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OCTOBER 16, 2014GRAND VALLEY LANTHORNL A K E R L I F E
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t may not be a stretch to say that the ultimate goal for univer-sity students is to
secure employment, especially in the fields of their study.
To facilitate that goal, the Grand Valley State Univer-sity Career Center is hosting a Career Fair, which will take place Oct. 21 from 1 p.m. to 5 p.m. at the DeVos Place Con-vention Center.
The event, which is free and open to students and alumni, will host 230 em-ployers, with over 8,000 po-tential employment and in-ternship opportunities in a wide variety of disciplines.
Employer Development Manager for the Career Center, Susan Proctor, said employment is an impor-tant factor as students near the end of their academic careers, but they should feel confident about the emerg-ing job market which has experienced an unexpected increase this year.
“We’ve seen an over-whelming response in terms of employers coming this year,” she said. “We’ve actu-ally sold out three times, we anticipate 235 exhibitors and have a 20 company waiting list at this point and time. There’s a lot of available jobs and internships, so obviously it’s a job hunter’s market right now for sure.”
The improvement in the economy does coincide with
the 2013-2014 Accountabili-ty Report done by the univer-sity to judge students’ return on investment.
According to the report, students graduating from GVSU have an employment rate in Michigan of 81.4 per-cent, and 71.5 percent in West Michigan specifically. How-ever, whether those students are currently employed in their field of study is unclear.
“There should be oppor-tunities for any student re-gardless of what their major is,” Proctor said.
Proctor said students are surveyed every year before they come to school and the top two reasons for why they’re coming to college is to get a better job after graduation and learn the skills to help them become more employable.
“So for us, this is a natural progression that involves ev-ery student that comes here to really help them reach that ultimate goal,” she said.
Proctor added that students should dress professionally, have a resume prepared and do their research beforehand on employers they want to make an impression on – even if it is only to get information.
“Even though it is a good job market out there, the best and brightest candidates are going to be the ones that know something about the employers,” she said.
For more information on the event, visit www.gvsu.edu/careerfairs.
t’s a six-letter word known for being the most inevi-table feeling among any college student: stress. For some, it can act more as
encouragement to meet goals, complete tasks or study harder, but for others it’s a slow defeat in the mind of a student who has pushed as hard as they can.
As Grand Valley State University stu-dents reach the half-way point of the fall se-mester and endure their share of midterm exams, it’s a common time for students to often feel “burned out” or overwhelmed with class loads. While it’s impossible to eliminate all negative stress, there are still ways to control reactions to it.
KNOW THE TRIGGERSStress triggers are different for every-
one. These may range from people, plac-es or specific situations that cause an unbearable blend of anxiety and stress. If public speaking or class presenta-tions spark stress, perform research and practice ahead of time to calm nerves. If there are friends or social situations that cause uneasiness, it may be time to avoid them if tense feelings arise.
PACE YOURSELFA large school project
can be the last thing any-one wants to be work-ing on the day before it’s due. It’s crucial to know your limits and realize what needs to be done ahead of time to avoid extreme pro-crastination, and potentially, the lowering of a class grade. Breaking large projects down into several small tasks can make full completion simple to achieve. Even more so is to set personal due dates if a professor hasn’t done so already. These due dates can act as checkpoints along the way to make sure everything is right on track. When it comes to study-ing for an exam with a large amount of material, break it down into smaller sec-tions to prevent information overload.
Work Life Consultant for GVSU Human Resources, Susan Sloop, ad-vises students to reach out and get support when encountering large
stressors in life, as well as taking proper care of yourself physically, mentally and spiritually.
“You don’t have to suffer in silence and try to go it alone,” Sloop said. “There are so many resources right here at GVSU to help students, faculty and staff manage stress. Take advan-tage of them.”
BY COLLEEN [email protected]
Fight off stress the simple way
BY BEN [email protected]
Career Fair to highlight employment opportunities
STUDY: Trungvuong Pham works on homework.
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ARTS AT A GLANCE
GV THEATRE PRESENTS “BETHANY”Theatre at Grand Valley State University will pres-
ent “Bethany” this weekend as part of the GVSU performance studio series. The comedic show fol-lows a young single mother struggling to overcome financial hardships. The Louis Armstrong Theatre will host the show on Oct. 19 at 2 p.m. and 7:30 p.m., and Oct. 20 and 21 at 7:30 p.m. Tickets purchased beforehand run $6, and they are $7 at the door. For more information on the show, visit http://www.gvsu.edu/events/performance-studio-series-4/
MASQUERADE BALLThe Bachelor of Social Work Student Organization
at GVSU is hosting a masquerade ball as a charity event at McFadden’s in Downtown Grand Rapids in honor of domestic violence awareness month. The dance starts at 8 p.m. and tickets run between $10 and $12. Cocktail attire and masks are encouraged, as prizes will be awarded to those with the best mask. The first 25 people at the door will get a free drink as well. All proceeds from the ball will go to a local domestic violence agency. For more informa-tion, visit https://orgsync.com/65321/events/877380/occurrences/1892997
PRESERVING THE ECOSYSTEMRobert Allen, an adjunct faculty member of Grand
Valley State University’s movement science depart-ment, has written a piece urging people to vote against the National Resources Commission’s new proposal regarding wolf hunting, that may appear on the next ballot. His research explains the vitality of wolves to preserving not only Michigan’s ecosystem, but also the ecosystem of North America. To learn more about the truths and myths of wolf hunting, contact Allen at [email protected].
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GV Truck Club hosts series of food drives
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OCTOBER 16, 2014GRAND VALLEY LANTHORN S P O R T S
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ARMSTRONG SIGNS WITH BOSTON BRAWLERS
Former Grand Valley State University stand-out Matt Armstrong was recently signed by the Boston Brawlers of the Fall Experimental Football League.
Armstrong lost out to fellow GVSU standout Tim Lelito in a battle for a spot at center with the New Orleans Saints earlier this season.
This season is the first season for the FXFL, which features four teams and is hoping to become a feeder league to the NFL.
The FXFL kicked off its season on Nov. 8.
NACWAA HONORS JOAN BOAND WITH LIFETIME ACHIEVEMENT AWARD
Grand Valley State Uni-versity coaching legend Joan Boand was honored with the National Associa-tion of Collegiate Women Athletics Administra-tors (NACWAA) Lifetime Achievement Award.
Boand was the head coach of the GVSU women’s basketball, volleyball, soft-ball and track & field teams over her 33-year tenure at GVSU, racking up more than 700 total wins and 10 GLIAC Championships.
She also held the posi-tion of associate athletic director.
Six honorees were rec-ognized for the Lifetime Achievement Award, which was presented at the 2014 NACWAA National Conven-tion in Louisville, Ky.
QUICK HITS
VARSITY SCHEDULE
VOLLEYBALL
GLIAC-GLVC Crossover
Friday - Lewis 3:30pm
Saturday - Missouri S&T 11am
Saturday - Rockhurst 5pm
WOMEN’S TENNIS
Friday at Ferris State 3:30pm
Sunday at Northwood 12pm
SOCCER
Friday vs ODU 7pm
Sunday vs Ashland 1pm
WOMEN’S GOLF
Saturday at Malone Invite
Sunday at Malone Invite
CROSS COUNTRY
Saturday at UWOsh 12:15pm
FOOTBALL
Saturday at Michigan Tech 1pm
SWIM & DIVE
Saturday at UWM 1pm
fter the first weekend of the 2014 season, there were several question marks regarding the Grand Valley State Uni-
versity volleyball team. The Lakers posted a 2-2 record at the Oredigger Classic in Colorado, leading many to question if GVSU was worthy of its No. 14 ranking in Division II.
A month later, the question marks have been erased as GVSU has rattled off 11 straight victories, bringing its overall record to 13-2 (11-0 GLIAC).
“We have grown so much mentally since that first trip out west,” said head coach Deanne Scanlon. “Our girls have had the attitude of getting better
each and every day in practice, and it has showed in the win/loss column.”
Now, with only 10 games remain-ing on the schedule and just seven in GLIAC play, it’s time to evaluate the work the Laker volleyball team has done thus far.
Defense: AGVSU’s defense has been a staple of
the Lakers’ success so far this season. GVSU has swept eight of 11 confer-ence opponents, a testament to the de-fense’s ability to close out games.
“I think our defense has been so strong in large part because of the ex-perience that we have on this team,” senior Christina Canepa said. “We re-ally don’t get flustered, and everyone knows where they need to be. It takes the thinking out of it, and we just play.”
Outside Hitters: BSenior Abby Aiken and junior
Betsy Ronda have anchored GVSU’s outside hitters and have done a for-midable job. However, the Lakers are ranked 13th in the conference in er-rors with 210 – a number they would like to see decline.
“We’ve been getting better offen-sively, but I don’t think we’re really close to where we want to be,” Aiken said. “We have to become more con-sistent within our offense to really see the progress that we’re striving for.”
Middle Blockers: A-The trio of senior Ally Simmons,
junior Kaleigh Lound and freshman Sydney Doby has platooned at the net to give the Lakers different looks to keep the opposition guessing. Ranking
third in the GLIAC with 2.29 blocks per set, the Lakers have found a system that has worked.
“Lound is the explosive middle that can come in swinging, while Sim-mons has a knack for digging under the opponents skin,” Scanlon said. “(Simmons) knows the game so well and always seems to be a step ahead of everyone. Then there’s Sydney, who brings that added athleticism. It’s great knowing that any one of them can step up at any given time.”
Bench: AScanlon has proved she’s not
afraid to mix things up whenever she feels necessary. The competitive atmosphere that she has created
BY TATE [email protected]
Aces and A’s: Despite dominating GLIAC opponents,GV volleyball finds areas to improve
ast season, the Grand Valley State University women’s soccer team earned an A for effort, and an A+ for execu-
tion. The Lakers romped to a 24-0-1 record, including their third national championship in five years.
This year, however, GVSU is not the same team – and it would be fool-ish to compare the two. The Lakers graduated eight seniors from last year’s squad, and head coach Dave DiIanni wound up taking the same position at the University of Iowa.
Regardless, not much has fazed the Lakers in 2014. The dynamic squad is off to an 11-1 start this sea-son, including an unblemished 7-0 mark in GLIAC play.
How good, exactly, has GVSU been? Let’s take a look.
Forwards: B+GVSU has 43 goals and 42 assists
this season.The starting forwards (Jenny
Shaba, Kendra Stauffer, Gabriella Mencotti) have taken on the brunt of the scoring, post-ing 18 goals and 16 assists between their talented feet.
Shaba, the reigning GLIAC Offensive Player of the Year, has yet to hit a goal-scoring roll, but has main-tained produc-tivity through her vision and playmaking abil-ity. Stauffer, a sopho-more, has followed up an astounding freshman campaign with adequate scoring, but has sent just 11 shots on net this year.
The biggest revela-
tion in the forward ranks has been Mencotti. The true freshman leads the team in goals (nine) and shares the lead for points (14). She has
showcased devastating power and sublime placement on her shots, while demonstrating solid chemistry with her
fellow attackers.The team’s starting
forwards hold three of the top six spots in total points for GVSU. The crew is well balanced, and
rarely goes a game without significant production. There re-
main a few gaps, how-ever, for the Lakers to
fill.“We’re still working on
that final ball to finish the goal off,” Shaba said. “We’re
working on being organized in the box and communicating
with each other on where our runs are going.”
Midfielders: A-GVSU coach Jeff Hosler has
done minor shuffling with his mid-field starters throughout the season, but the depth of skill overflowing from the position makes each move seem justified.
Marti Corby, Gabbie Guibord and Charlie Socia have all started 10 or more games, while Katie Klunder has nine starts.
Offensively, the group has con-tributed all season. The always-lethal Corby has racked up eight goals and 14 points. Guibord has added seven points, and Socia an-other two goals. One of the biggest strengths from the Laker midfield, however, is the poise and leader-ship that stems from the core.
BY ADAM [email protected]
A refrigerator-worthy report cardGV soccer earns high marks at midseason evaluation
ack-to-back-to-back tests in the first three weeks of a semester? As unfair as it seems, that’s how one par-
ticular group of Grand Valley State University students was welcomed back from summer break.
The GVSU football team (3-3, 3-2 GLIAC), which was expected to finish near the top of its class, did not ace those early tests. It kicked off the semester with three straight
losses to ranked opponents.However, the team has been im-
proving since. Three straight wins have given the team an opportunity to earn a solid grade, but there’s no time to procrastinate. They’re go-ing to need As for the duration, and maybe some extra credit.
Coaching: CCoach Matt Mitchell and his
staff have had to deal with sky-high expectations, countless injuries and a brutal schedule so far. Whether it’s fair or not, .500 football is not
the standard at GVSU.Mitchell and Co. have, however,
done a nice job of correcting the early on-field mistakes in the last three games.
“I think we’re getting better as a staff,” Mitchell said. “It’s showing up as we go. At the beginning of the sea-son, we weren’t as good as we need-ed to be as a staff but I think we’ve continued to stick with the process.”
In this program, success is defined by the final exam: the postseason. It all comes down to whether or not the Lakers make the
playoffs.The NCAA Division II Cham-
pionships Committee did not pick a single three-loss team for post-season play last year, but six three-loss teams made it in 2012. In other words, the NCAA grades with a curve, but it’s not lenient.
GVSU’s strength of sched-ule could be worth a boatload of brownie points, but the Lakers will probably need to bank on the mis-fortunes of their peers. The team
BY JAY [email protected]
Lakers left with no time to slack after 0-3 startGROUND GAME: GVSU’s Kirk Spencer rushes for a TD earlier this season. The Lakers will look to their rushing attack to spark the offense.
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SEE SOCCER ON A10
Midterm grades:football earns C+
SET IT UP: Abby Aiken sets the ball for 13-2 GVSU volleyball team.
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NCAA Division II semifinal game. Through six games in 2014, “Pop-Smash-and-Dash” is just slightly off last year’s per game average of 156 yards per game (150).
That trio, however, has been depleted.
Ratay (Dash) suffered a season-ending ACL tear for the second year in a row after lead-ing the Lakers with 1,002 rush-ing yards through nine games in 2013. Spencer (Pop) left the 17-3 homecoming victory over Wayne State University with an injured foot, leaving Robin-son (Smash) – who rushed for 56 yards on 20 carries against WSU, and for 157 yards on 22 car-ries in a victory the week before against Hillsdale -- to carry the load.
“With so many different types of backs in the running back room – and there have been since I’ve been at GVSU – your job then becomes easy knowing you just have to go in, and work to be one-eleventh of the offense,” Robinson said. “I’ll have to step up to fill (Ratay and Spencer’s) roles to become a bigger part of the offense like I did in high school, but it’s just another thing on my plate that I can and am going to have to be able to control.”
Then, there are things be-yond his control. Even with these obstacles, Robinson thumps on.
Robinson wanted to honor best friend Nick Greenhoe, who passed away due to leuke-mia following the 2008 season,
by continuing to wear No. 2 as a tribute. As a senior at Ovid-Elsie, Robinson made the jer-sey switch from No. 28 to No. 2. Unfortunately, Robinson lost an impromptu best-of-seven rock-paper-scissors showdown to a teammate, which prevented him from taking No. 2. Now, Robinson, wearing No. 3, takes it all in stride, grateful for what’s there instead of lamenting upon what’s not.
What perhaps separates Robinson most – even more-so than his patented spin move or breakaway speed – is his ability to make the best of situations. Endowed with the drive to
run through his problems north-to-south, never from east-to-west, Robinson will play his part to sustain GV-SU’s slim playoff hopes – start-ing again with a game at No. 20 Michigan Tech on Saturday.
“Obviously, we didn’t start the season off the way that we
wanted to – we didn’t expect to be 0-3, even with three tough games to start the schedule, and I don’t think anyone else really did either – so we’re just taking it one game at a time,” Robinson said. “But hey, in football things don’t always work out the way you want them to, and what went wrong can’t be the focus. We have some momentum built up now, and we know the kind of football team we’re capable of being. “Hopefully we can keep winning the next game, but we’ll control what we can and trust the rest to take care of itself.”
SwitchSaveto
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@GVLSPORTS
OCTOBER 16, 2014GRAND VALLEY LANTHORN
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S P O R T S
fter compiling one of the most prolific careers in Michigan prep football history,
running back Chris Robinson has run through every obstacle in his path. Robinson is in pur-suit of the one accomplishment that has continually eluded him: A championship.
With pads set low beneath his No. 28, and cleats dug deep into the Midland Community Stadium turf in a Michigan High School Athletic Associa-tion (MHSAA) state semifinal game in 2008, then-Ovid-Elsie junior Chris Robinson purveyed the field. Perched behind his offensive line, Robinson glanced across the scoreboard that announced his Marauders led 21-13 early in the third quarter.
With the stage set and the stakes high, Robinson broke free for a 24-yard gain from midfield, only to have the play brought back on a holding penalty. It was a momentary setback, but in a way it serves to represent Robinson’s football ca-reer in a microcosm -- perhaps
even more than the successes.On the very next play, Rob-
inson ran the ball across the goal line from 52 yards out. There wasn’t a flag in sight. Over the next seven minutes of football, Robinson ripped off touch-downs of 35, 43 and 42 yards for 204 total yards on 11 carries.
Robinson finished the 55-20 victory with a line of 370 yards and five touchdowns on 25 car-ries and helped secure Ovid-Elsie’s first ever state champion-ship game appearance.
Robinson needed just over 200 yards to break the state single-season rushing record of 2,890 yards, and was eight rush-ing touchdowns from tying the single-season record of 48.
“Kind of like here (at GVSU), I was focusing on the games one week at a time and we always had one goal as a team, as we still do – and that’s to win. All the other statistics get pushed to the side, as long as we’re win-ning,” Robinson said.
Fast forward six years and Robinson, a fifth-year senior, is the leading rusher for the Grand Valley State University football team. Robinson has racked up 414 yards and five touchdowns on 76 carries for an average of
5.4 yards per carry and 67.8 yards per game.
The 3-3 Lakers, however, are clinging to abbreviated playoff hopes. A trio of losses against tough opponents to start the season has placed GVSU’s -- and Robinson’s -- dreams of champi-onship glory to the brink.
Ovid-Elsie and Robinson fell in the Division 5 state cham-pionship game to Muskegon Oakridge, which was quarter-backed by then-sophomore and current GVSU wide receiver Jamie Potts. Robinson and the Marauders failed to snag a championship in 2009, and it was off to college for C-Rob.
Despite having the look and resume of a Division I talent, Robinson slipped through the cracks during the recruiting process.
The visits to elite programs – including trips to the Big House and Spartan Stadium – came early, but the official of-fers, limited by ACT scores, did not. What started as Robinson’s loss became GVSU’s gain when coach Matt Mitchell traveled to pitch the promising prospect.
“He was a late commit... but we kept grinding away,” Mitchell said. “We had him up on an of-
BY PETE [email protected]
A {Chris Robinson} runs through it: Senior running back gives one finalpush toward his first championship
GOALS IN MIND: Chris Robinson (3) attempts to break away from another player during a recent game. Robinson is a leader on the team and is in pursuit of a championship.
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“...in football,
things don’t
always work out
the way you want
them to...”
CHRIS ROBINSON
RUNNING BACK
A
ficial visit and then when I went back after some of the bigger schools didn’t come with what he had thought or had hoped they’d come with, I think he thought that this was a great place to extend his education and playing career.”
Mitchell was right.“I had dreamed of going to
a big-name school as a kid, but after all the flash of the process, I remember coach Mitchell coming down to the school and saying to me ‘hey, we’re a Divi-sion II program’ – which I really didn’t know much about at the time – ‘but we have a winning tradition and national champi-onships’ and that got my ear real quick,” Robinson said.
Robinson was red-shirted as a freshman in 2010, but came on strong towards the end of 2011 as a sophomore. Then, as a starter in 2012, he picked up right where he left off until an ACL injury sidelined his season.
Rather than throwing in the towel, Robinson reset instead of relenting. He rehabbed hard, grew out his distinctive beard and dreads, and transformed his body from a speedy 205-pounds to a powerful 220-pounds. The new-look tailback was ready contribute as part of a three-headed monster backfield with Michael Ratay and Kirk Spen-cer. The backfield was coined by Robinson as “Pop-Smash-and-Dash”.
The trio paced GVSU’s of-fense last season with 2,342 combined yards with a 5.9 per carry average all the way to an
amongst her team has allowed for GVSU’s depth to be instrumental game in and game out.
“These girls are battling each day at practice because they know that just about anyone can step up and make an impact,” Scanlon said. “How far we go this year will depend greatly on the role that our bench plays.”
Coaching: AScanlon has done a tre-
mendous job of mixing up the lineup and finding ways to challenge her players to reach out of their comfort zones. The move to include Doby in the lineup has add-ed athleticism and size to the Lakers, and is just one example of how Scanlon has been successful `managing the roster.
“We have too many weapons on our team to not use multiple lineups for dif-
ferent situations,” Scanlon said. “It was a learning curve at first, but these girls are around each other so much in practice and off the court that they have been able to
adapt to just about any line-up that is out on the court at any given time.”
Overall grade: A (3.74 GPA)
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Applications are currently being accepted for Winter 2015.Visit www.gvsu.edu/wri/internships
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After volunteering at AWRI in 2013, Fallon was selected to be a summer intern in 2014. As an assistant for AWRI’s Outreach and Education Program, she played an integral part in the K-12 classroom and vessel-based programs. Fallon has traveled on the W.G. Jackson research vessel to various ports of call on Lake Michigan for the “Making Lake Michigan Great” outreach tour. She is a senior majoring in Biology, with a minor in Chemistry."Being an intern at AWRI was the best decision I made this summer. The experiences that I was able to be a part of have reconfirmed my interest in aquatic sciences and have helped with the growth of my future."
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OCTOBER 16, 2014GRAND VALLEY LANTHORN
A9
S P O R T S
will need to pass every test from here on out -- starting with a huge game at No. 20 Michigan Tech on Saturday -- in order to keep improving these grades.
Offense: CQuarterback Heath Parling missed
two games. Running backs Michael Ratay and Kirk Spencer missed more and are still sidelined. Various O-linemen have been dropping like flies since the offseason.
Injuries have certainly been a factor to this point.
“They’ve played a role up front,” Mitchell said. “Zach Jolly, who was probably one of our starting tackles, blew his ACL in the summer and we’ve been managing that. Eric LaBuhn has been out now for two weeks, a senior tackle, so that played a role, and we lost Ratay and Spencer and that’s going to play a bigger role. At the same time, we’ve got enough talent there.”
It hasn’t exactly been smooth sail-ing for the offense. The injuries have been at key positions, and the Lakers have had to face the top two scoring defenses in the GLIAC.
However, the offense is heading in the right direction. After the 0-3 start, GVSU dropped 108 points in a two-week span against Lake Erie and Hill-sdale. Against Wayne State, the Lakers were able to protect the football and eat the clock in the second half.
The passing attack (238 yards per
game, fourth in the GLIAC) has been able to make plays with Parling in the lineup. He’s completed 56.1 percent of his throws for 982 yards, eight touch-downs and three interceptions.
GVSU’s ground game (154.2 yards per game, ninth in the GLIAC), how-ever, has not been able to get the job done against strong defensive fronts.
“It’s not going to get any easier throughout the course of our sched-ule,” Parling said. “That’s got to be something we focus on in practice and we always do, it’s not like we haven’t been, we’ve just got to find a way to be more consistent.
“I have confidence that we will.”The rushing attack has shown
flashes. The Lakers pounded the rock with ease against Lake Erie and Hill-sdale, posting some huge totals in the process, and were adequately effective against Wayne State.
Running back Chris Robinson has been running the ball emphatically in the last few games, and leads the team with 76 carries, 407 rushing yards (5.4 average) and five touchdowns. His play will be key moving forward. The Lakers still have much to prove offen-sively, but the best is yet to come.
Defense: BGVSU’s opportunistic defense is
starting to reach its potential, and that’s bad news for the five opposing offenses left on the schedule.
The Lakers have 20 takeaways this season – the second most among Di-vision II teams – with 11 interceptions and nine fumble recoveries.
“We had a couple big plays we gave up in the losses, but overall I feel like we’ve played outstanding,” said senior safety Deonte’ Hurst, who has two sacks, two interceptions, a fumble re-covery and a return touchdown to go with a team-high 7.7 tackles per game. “We’re forcing turnovers, we bring a lot of pressure, we’re covering up guys well now and I hope we can keep pushing it forward.”
GVSU gives up the fourth fewest yards per game in the GLIAC (330.8), and the second fewest passing yards (166.7). Much of that can be chalked up to the disruptive defensive line, which has made a difference in every game.
Injuries have kept a number of starters on the sidelines, but reserves are starting to step up, particularly in the secondary.
On Saturday, the Lakers held Wayne State to just 132 total yards of offense in a 17-3 win. If GVSU’s de-fense plays like that consistently, this group could be scary good.
Special teams: CSenior punter Chris Picano has
been one GVSU’s top players this sea-son. He’s been booming the ball for a GLIAC-best average of 41.9 yards, and 13 of his 29 punts have pinned oppo-nents inside their own 20 yard-line.
Sophomore kicker Joel Schipper has also been impressive for the most part. He’s 24 for 24 on extra-point at-tempts, and has split the uprights on seven of nine field-goal tries.
However, three special teams sna-
fus have stood out for GVSU.Schipper missed a 25-yard field
goal that would have given GVSU the lead at Azusa Pacific with fewer than four minutes remaining. In week two, a first-quarter Picano punt was blocked and returned for a touchdown in what proved to be a 28-24 loss to Ohio Dominican. In week four, GVSU had to overcome an early 7-0 deficit after Lake Erie took the opening kick back for a score.
“It’s almost like we’re good when it doesn’t count sometimes,” Mitch-ell said. “Our kickoff team gives up a touchdown against Lake Erie, but they’re good when the score gets out of hand. There’s enough potential there but the performance is not consistent
enough.”
Overall grade: C+ (2.25 GPA)It was a deflating debut, but GVSU
still has a chance to recover.The fifth-place Lakers already lost
to the top two teams in the conference, but can gain some serious ground against the GLIAC’s next-best teams. Following the game at Michigan Tech, GVSU plays Findlay (4-2), Ashland (5-1) and Tiffin (3-3) in the same or-der.
It won’t be easy, but GVSU certain-ly appears capable of finishing with an 8-3 record -- and perhaps a playoff berth. If that happens, the C+ becomes a B+.
FOOTBALLCONTINUED FROM A7
VOLLEYBALLCONTINUED FROM A7
LOCK DOWN: DeVonté Jones anchors the secondary for GVSU football.
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SPRAWLING OUT : Christina Canepa dives to reach a ball during a recent practice. GVSU has won 11 straight games.
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Barber available to cut yourhair close to GVSU. Ratesare very reasonable. Con-tact me at 734-560-0249.
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Student Org Events
Come out to KC 2270 everyTuesday to meet with theGV Fashion club to talktrends!
Join Spotlight Productionsevery Monday at 9pm in KC2270 for our GeneralAssembly meetings.
Roommates
Female subleaser neededfor Country Place for Winter2015 with optional springsemester. 3 awesomeroommates and rent is [email protected]
Looking for a subleaser formy apartment ASAP! Leaseruns from now until it ends inAug 2015. One bedroomone bath located in PineRidge Apartments. Rent is633 a month plus utilities.P lease ca l l o r tex t a t1 (810)728-8800
Male sub leaser needed forCountry Place Town home.If interested contact Tristanat [email protected]
One sub leaser is needed fora 4 bedroom 2 bath apart-ment in Country Place. Rentis $380/ month. ContactTristan at 269 910 6640 withany questions.
Seeking a fourth roommatefor the 2015-2016 schoolyear. Living in Full CircleTownhouses.Contact me at(630)-815-6955 if interested
Entertainment
GVSU presents the 2014Fall Arts Celebration event.Free and open to the public.Seating is limited for everyperformance, visit us on theweb gvsu.edu/fallarts for fullitinerary.
New this October: Hal-loween in Hollygrove theHalloween Musical ComedyDinner Theater and the Hor-ton Lake Outbreak interact-ive 5k Zombie ObstacleCourse every Saturday andSunday October 18-26. VisitHalloweenInHolly.com oryou can call 248.634.5552for more information.
Roommates
1 female roommate wantedto share apt in CountryPlace with 3 fun, respons-ible girls for 2015 – 2016school year. Low rent! Email:[email protected]
Housing
Looking for lodging. If any-one needs a roommateplease email me at: [email protected]
Male sub-leaser needed.Rent $277/month in the Her-i tage Hil l Neighborhooddowntown. Please [email protected] if in-terested.
Hous ing / Roommates :Looking for male roommatefor our 3 bedroom apart-ment. Rent is $550 (in-cludes utilities). Includesshared living room, diningroom, kitchen, laundry room,and bathroom. Can be 9month or 12 month [email protected] or734-560-3477.
Room available immediatelyin Large Downtown Housefor male student with otherGVSU Guys! $425 permonth. Must find renter forsublease 1 bedroom! Email:[email protected]
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Field's Fabrics in Standalenow has Cotton and Fleeceon sale! Great for ultra easyblankets, pillows, PJ's, dec-orating, scarves, totes andmuch more! Open 9am-9pmMonday - Saturday. Visit usat shop.fieldsfabrics.comMotman's Farm Market isopen 8am - 7pm Monday -Saturday and is located 4.5miles west of Standale on M-45. Come check out thegreat prices going on rightnow for apples, pears, toma-toes, squash and peppers!Also, bring your valid Stu-dent or Faculty I.D and re-ceive 10% off your pur-chase of 5$ or more.
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IMMEDIATE SUBLEASERNEEDED. October is paid!Looking for someone to takeover my lease at 48 West.1st floor with private FULLbath. Roommates are funl o v i n g . e m a i l m e a [email protected] or textme 5175261011.
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Live without regrets, learnwithout borders. Discoverwhere you'll study abroad atusac.unr.edu and find us onsoc ia l med ia @s tudy -ab roadusac
Only use what you need.Electric usage per squarefoot has decreased 5% from2013-2014 at Grand Valley.Help GVSU keep it up.Brought to you by FacilityServices Energy Depart-ment.
Stop by Boardwalk Subs inStandale right across thestreet from the Walker FireStation Park and Ride for10% off a 15 inch sub whenyou use a valid student ID.
Employment
Personal assistants needed.Need to be detail oriented,have customer service skills,be organized, and have ba-sic computer skills. WeeklyRate of $475 contact:[email protected]
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OCTOBER 16, 2014GRAND VALLEY LANTHORN
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S P O R T S
he long and arduous road to achieving am-bitious goals is paved with blood, sweat and tears. When it comes
to giving their all, the Grand Val-ley State University women’s rugby
team rarely falls short.The Lakers, who are 2-2 on the
season, are looking to close out with a win in the final game of the regular 15-player campaign. GVSU has found a recipe for success – utilizing veteran and rookie players, playing harder and adding to the coaching staff.
“The seniors have really stepped up this year and its been great to see
them all being leaders,” senior Taylor Carpenter said.
With a plethora of returning players this season, it has been up to the seniors to lead the young guns on the pitch. For rookie play-ers, there have been some obstacles. Learning how to play and making the right calls in a game comes with experience and serves as a steep
BY NICK [email protected]
Leadership and learning link Laker rugby
Mix of veterans and rookies paces 2-2 GV
HITTING HARD: The GVSU women’s rugby team has one game left in their regular season, against SVSU.
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learning curve for new talent.Leadership among the veterans,
however, has made all the difference for the newer players. They have also found guidance, in part, due to in-creased practice times and the coach-ing staff this season.
Senior Amy Jedele said new assis-tant coach Emma Pesci has been wild-ly beneficial in teaching the rookies the fundamentals and helping them develop in hopes of reaching the level the veterans play at. Pesci, a GVSU alumna and former player, touts five years of experience and a strong knowledge of teamwork.
“She has really helped teach new players the basic skills they need and has incorporated them into our line-up,” Jedele said.
The Lakers also added extra prac-tices prior to the start of the season, including more intense sessions and live drills. Staying focused and work-ing hard has been a top priority for coach Abe Cohen.
“Practices have been much more physical and the intensity has definite-ly gone up,” Cohen said. “They’ve been grinding it out this year with true grit and determination.”
Leading by example, the veteran players have made it their goal to be
better than last year. In an effort to make the young players feel like they belong, the veterans have spent more time having the team interact and bond both on and off the pitch.
“The seniors have put in more ef-fort than ever and have taught the rookies in a coachable leadership type of way,” Cohen said.
With the regular season con-cluding following this weekend’s game, the seniors have worked on ways to help the new players after the veterans leave.
“We want rookies to keep in mind that we have a bond like no other,” Je-dele said. “Being friends on and off the pitch is always important.”
The bond born from the tough practices, hard-fought games and time outside of practice will have the great-est impact on the team.
“I want the players to take the les-sons from practices and games and apply them to life and to look at the big picture,” Cohen said. “We’ve had a successful season and I’m hoping the seniors will be able to make one final playoff run for their final season.”
The Lakers square off against Saginaw Valley State University this Sunday at 12 p.m.
T
Socia, a senior, and Klun-der, a junior, have been mak-ing an impact since their re-spective freshmen seasons. Corby and Guibord, both sophomores, also contribut-ed – in some cases heavily – to the 2013 national champi-onship squad. This midfield knows what is takes to com-pete for a title, and will do what it takes to get it done.
“At the beginning of the season we struggled on win-ning aerial balls and we’ve re-ally improved,” Socia said. “We can definitely improve on our defensive shape. We know we can put some goals in the back of the net, but we need to not let in as many goals.”
Defenders: A-On defense, age and experi-
ence reign supreme.Seniors Juane Odendaal
and Kaely Schlosser have started all 12 games for the Lakers, backing a defense that has yielded just 0.5 goals per game to opposing offenses. GVSU has surrendered only 6.1 shots per game and has
stopped nearly every offense from sustaining in-zone pos-session. The defense has ad-justed admirably since losing sophomore Clare Carlson, who has been sidelined since late September with an injury.
“Our organization in the back has been really good, as well as the communication,” Odendaal said. “We could work on getting into the attack more.”
Goalkeeping: AHeading into the season,
the goalie position was the biggest question mark on Hosler’s clipboard. There was a four-way race for the top depth chart spot, and Andrea Strauss won out.
There is little to nitpick in Strauss’ performance thus far.
The senior has started all twelve games, logging 1,080 minutes and racking up an 11-1 record.
Strauss has made 37 saves, good for a .860 save percentage, and has allowed a minuscule 0.5 goals per game. In tandem with the Laker defense, Strauss has posted seven clean sheets in her 10 wins.
Further, Strauss has shown impressive poise, making two
saves on the two penalty shots she has faced.
Reserves: AOften, the Lakers accrue a
wide lead late and give way to their bench. Often, the Lakers use subs to kickstart the of-fense. Rarely does either move backfire. GVSU’s reserves fea-ture both high-impact spark plugs and minute-eating subs which complement the starters.
Forward Katie Bounds falls into the spark plug category. Bounds, a junior, has netted six goals and dished out two assists while coming off the bench in each contest. Freshman Sara Stevens has added three goals, while players like Alyssa Wes-ley, Shannon Quinn, Tracey McCoy and Maddison Reyn-olds have logged minutes in nearly each game.
In addition, freshman Dani Johnson has switched to de-fense to help make GVSU’s change in formations go off without a hitch. Every Laker position player has seen time in at least four games.
Coaching: A-When Hosler was hired by
GVSU, he knew he inherited
a team chock full of talent and strong recruits. Now, 12 games into the 2014 season, the Lakers look like an effective winning machine once again.
Hosler holds an imposing presence on the sidelines, and clearly commands and deserves respect from his squad. Former GVSU soccer standout Kristen
Walker brings practical GLIAC experience to the coaching staff, while graduate assistant An-nette Stromberg has focused on working with goalies. If Strauss is any example of Stromberg’s work, it has been nothing short of top notch.
Volunteer assistant coach Scott Modisher, who was part
of DiIanni’s staff, has helped Hosler and Co. understand cer-tain aspects of the way things were run before. The transition from DiIanni to Hosler has been without major hiccup so far, and GVSU seems to have made a strong choice.
Overall grade: A (3.73 GPA)
SOCCERCONTINUED FROM A7
MAKING THE GRADE: The GV women’s soccer team has garnered one of the top athletic evaluations of the Laker teams, according to the midterm performance reports.
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