STUDENT VOICER I V E R F A L L S

www.uwrfvoice.com

U N I V E R S I T Y O F W I S C O N S I N

February 27, 2009 Volume 95, Issue 16

HOCKEY, PAGE 6Falcon women to host

NCHA conference tournament

RF HISTORY, PAGE 8Looking back at the

history of River Falls,from 1848 to today

SPARKS, PAGE 4Academy Awards,

entertainment news of littleinterest to columnist

Adrianne Pattersonadrianne.patterson@uwrf.edu

Next fall, students at UW-River Falls will experience a guar-anteed increase in tuition. The specific increase each studentwill face is still unknown and will not be released until theschool year is complete.

“The Board of Regents will set and release the tuitionamount in June,” Kristen Hendrickson, budget director of thevice chancellor of administration and finance, said.

According to Lisa Wheeler, interim vicechancellor for administration and finance,the reason behind the increase is necessaryfor the experience of students and faculty.

“We want to make sure we provide aquality education and for students to beable to afford that,” Wheeler said.

One student said she feels education isworth a few more dollars.

“It’s unfortunate, but if it’s needed tomaintain our strong educational needs,then it’s necessary,” UWRF sophomore

Jaclyn Rehmke said. Before the specific amount can be decided, there are a few

factors that will determine the outcome.According to Hendrickson, there are two basic factors that

mold the final tuition amount. The costs to maintain the qual-ity of the University and the financial support UWRF willreceive from the state.

The support from the state and the annual costs of theUniversity continue to change. Therefore, the tuition needs tobe altered.

“The state will not be able to support us in the future likethey have in the past,” Hendrickson said. “But unfortunately,the costs [of the University] continue to go up each year aswell, and we need to cover those costs.”

According to Wheeler, until the tuition increase isannounced, students should trust and know the Board orRegents have their interest in mind.

“Board of Regents is concerned for the students and want toprotect them,” Wheeler said. “It is a balancing act.”

The definite increase is not only affecting UWRF, but allUW schools.

According to Wheeler, the Board of Regents will set thesame rate for all of the Universities. Out of the total UWSystem budget cuts, UWRF will only experience 2.83 percentof the total deduction.

Through this tough economic phase, UWRF students will be

UW-River Falls toincrease tuitionnext semester

Struggling economy affectsRiver Falls, area businesses

Tim Stanislavtimothy.stanislav@uwrf.edu

Like a wounded beast, the U.S. economy isstruggling to survive, and local businesses arefeeling its death pains.

Game Quest, a local video game store andHotspot Coffee both reported a drop in sales.

“It’s definitely hurt. Videogames aren’t high on the prior-ity list when you can’t buyfood,” Game Quest store man-ager Bryan Wallace said.

Though some local busi-nesses are struggling,McDonald’s sales are up.Elizabeth VanSomeren, gener-al manager of the River FallsMcDonald’s, said her familycan be used as an example fora steady increase in sales.

“As a family of five it’sharder for us to go to a Perkinsor a nicer restaurant. Peoplewant to go out that can’t affordit and McDonald’s offers amore reasonable option,”VanSomeren said.

Sales have increased at McDonald’s but the fastfood giant does have its own share of problems.

“Corporate has put us on a hiring freezebecause of the economy. Food costs changemonth to month. I noticed the price of cheese andlettuce increased 17 percent from January toFebruary,” VanSomeren said.

U.S. total business sales in November were

down 5.1 percent and 3.2 percent in December,according to the United States Census BureauWeb site.

“In January, job losses were large and wide-spread across nearly all major industry sectors,”according to data reported by the U.S. Bureau ofLabor Statistics.

Measures are being taken by local businesses tosurvive the economic reces-sion.

Latashia West, owner ofHotspot Coffee on Main Street,said she promotes events andgives discounts on coffee. UW-River Falls students receive a15 percent discount on any-thing in the shop when theypresent their University identi-fication card.

Mcdonald’s began a bigpush on specialty coffee withits McCafe and VanSomerensaid that every Mcdonald’sshould have a McCafe by sum-mer.

Wallace was not so opti-mistic.

“It’s tough to do advertising. It’s expensive fora small town business,” he said.

Wallace said the store’s location near ShopKoon the outskirts of town makes it even more diffi-cult to do business because local people don’tknow about the store.

West said when she opened Hot Spot Coffee

Ken Weigendkenneth.weigend@uwrf.edu

The UW System Board of Regents isin the process of reviewing Chapters 17and 18. The chapters are part of the UWSystem administrative code; Chapter 17outlines the student nonacademic disci-plinary procedures and Chapter 18details conduct violations and sanctionson University lands.

The Board of Regents has proposedupdating the code, allowing provisionsfor UW System universities to issuesanctions to students for nonacademicviolations that occur off campus.According to the Regents, the geograph-ic boundaries for University sanction-able violations is limitless, meaning thatan infraction anywhere on the globecould conceivably result in Universityaction.

The UW-River Falls Student Senatededicated the first hour of their Feb. 24

meeting to a preliminary discussion pre-viewing the proposed changes to the twochapters. Sen. Matthew Dale led the dis-cussion, stating forthright that he did notagree with the proposed changes. Hewent on to say that his personal beliefswould not influence his report of the sit-uation, nor would it lead him to ignorethe conversation from those in agree-ment with the changes.

Dale began his presentation byexplaining the history of the proposal.UW-Milwaukee has had a large numberof community complaints involvingmunicipal violations towards UWM stu-dents who live off campus. The bulk ofthese complaints were noise related.UWM began to feel pressure from com-munity members to punish the studentssomehow.

The Board, who Dale described as the“supreme power of academic decisions,”was not able to offer any support.Chapters 17 and 18 allow for no explicit

powers off campus.“These rules shall regulate conduct on

all lands subject to the control of theboard of regents of the university ofWisconsin system,” according to the pol-icy statement of Chapter 18.

Chapter 17 follows the same principle,stating that all students and faculty of auniversity are subject to that university’sdisciplinary procedures for violationsonly on university property.

According to Dale, there is a lot of stu-dent concern that the University has nobusiness punishing off-campus viola-tions. Proponents of the changes claimthat they are needed to regulate studentto student interactions and bring sentenc-ing against those interactions thatinvolve harassment. Opponents say thatoff campus sanctions should be handledby the police, not school administrators.

Guest Benjamin Plunkett expressed

Sally King/Student VoiceSen. Matthew Dale addresses members of the UWRF Student Senate Tuesday night in the University Center.Dale said that he does not agree with the changes to Chapters 17 and 18 the Board of Regents has proposed.

See Tuition page 3

Sally King/Student VoiceComedian Michael Palascak entertains UW-River Falls students in the NorthHall auditorium Wednesday night. He was originally planned to performas part of the “Chillin on the Kinni” Winter Carnival week activities.

Palascak provides comic reliefto students Wednesday night

Senate previews changes to Chapters 17, 18

“Corporate has put uson a hiring freeze

because of the economy.Food costs changemonth to month. Inoticed the price ofcheese and lettuce

increased 17 percentfrom January to

February.”Elizabeth Van Someren,River Falls McDonald’s

general manager

See Local businesses page 3

See Senate changes page 3

Wheeler

Eric Pringle

eric.pringle@uwrf.edu

In just eight years of teaching at UW-RiverFalls, psychology professor Travis Tubré hasalready won one of the University’s biggesthonors.

Tubré is the recipient of the DistinguishedTeacher Award for 2008, which gives alumnia chance to recognize the University’s mostoutstanding and influential educator.

“Winning the award is very meaningfulbecause it originates with student nomina-tions,” Tubré said. “It’s also nice to be recog-nized for something that I truly love doing.”

The award is voted on by recent UWRFalumni who look for teachers that had animpact on their educational careers, accordingto College of Arts and Sciences Interim DeanBrad Caskey.

“To me, the Distinguished Teacher Awardrepresents a lot because this campus is knownfor teaching,” he said. “To be selected by for-mer students is really a great honor.”

Caskey, who has known Tubré since he washired in 2001, spoke highly of him.

“Travis is a dynamic person in the class-room,” he said. “He is edgy and willing to talkabout controversial issues with his students,and he does it well.”

UWRF Psychology Department ChairMichael Reich said he agrees.

“Travis has a lot of enthusiasm and carries

that over into his classes,” he said. “He has anatural ability to relate to his students...I can’tquite explain it, but he’s just very natural in ateaching role.”

Tubré, who received his Master’s and Ph.D.from Texas A&M University, said his “ener-getic enthusiasm” is part of why he is such apopular professor with students and facultyalike.

“I like what I teach and it shows,” he said.“I try to incorporate real-life examples intomy lectures so students are able to relate to theinformation better.”

UWRF student Alyssa Petrangelo, whomTubré advised on a paper that recently won aregional psychology award, said that what setshim apart from other professors is the way hechallenges students to get them to think in dif-ferent ways.

“I think his greatest quality as aprofessor/advisor is that he genuinely wantseach student to succeed and he tries his hard-est to make that happen,” she said in an e-mailinterview. “His teaching style focuses on thestudents and he relates concepts to real lifeexperiences.”

According to the Web site for the College ofArts and Sciences (CAS), Tubré is one of 10University award winners from the collegesince 2002, and the only one to win theDistinguished Teacher Award in the past sevenyears.

“The level of involvement,commitment and rapport thathe is able to build with his stu-dents is amazing,” Reich said.“He’s approachable yet still ademanding professor at thesame time.”

Petrangelo said she canattest to the level of involve-ment Tubré displays.

“I believe that Travis has ahands-on approach when itcomes to doing research withthe students,” she said. “Notonly does he want us to getinvolved, he himself takes thetime to walk us through eachstep of the way so we have anidea [of] how the researchprocess works.”

In addition to his teachingduties at UWRF, Tubré, a self described“active person,” is also involved in numerouscampus and community-wide events.

“I participate in research, am involved withthree organizations on campus...I have alsodone community programming type events atthe library and given presentations in the resi-dence halls,” he said. “I’m also teaching at theWisconsin in Scotland program this summer.”

Tubré’s area of expertise lies within thefield of industrial and organizational psychol-

ogy, which includes the psychology of theworkplace and conflict between employees,among other things.

Aside from the awards and recognition,however, Tubré said he appreciates the “facul-ty-student collaboration” he so often takespart in.

“Winning awards and being recognized isnice and I feel honored,” he said, “but I stilllove teaching and interacting with students. Ibelieve that good teachers draw from their stu-dents.”

Ken Weigend

kenneth.weigend@uwrf.edu

Robert Butler, a professor of agricultural engineering atUW-River Falls, retired in December, ending his 25-yearcareer teaching at the University.

“It was just a matter of time,” Butler said. “Age was catch-ing up to me.”

Butler’s class load will be juggled between several differentadjunct professors, Dean Olson, the chair of the agriculturalengineering department, said.

“Dr. Butler expressed an interest in retiring a couple yearsago, but continued to work an additional year due to the deathof Kamal Adam in our department,” Olson said. “Dr. Butlerwill be greatly missed in the department, but we completelyunderstand his desire to spend time with family and pursueother interests. We have extended a standing invitation toattend department meetings and to stay in touch with the pro-gram.”

Butler graduated with a bachelor’s degree in agricultural

engineering from the University of Minnesota in 1967. Thefollowing year, from the University of Nebraska, Butlerreceived his master’s in the same field. Butler finished his for-mal education at Pennsylvania State University, receiving hisdoctorate in 1972. Both the master’s and doctorate carry anemphasis in soil and water engineering.

“The degree is relatively the same thing as majoring in civilengineering, but it focuses a lot more on agricultural issuessuch as pollution, manure usage and tillage,” Butler said.

During his time working towards his doctorate at PennState, Butler was employed as a full-time assistant professorthere.

“Penn was a fantastic environment,” Butler said. “But Istrongly feel that in order to teach, you must have real-worldexperience.”

In 1974, Butler left Penn State, and academia altogether, tojoin his brothers in assuming control of their father’s confine-ment hog farm.

In 1983, after nearly a decade running the family business,Butler took a chance in responding to an opening at UWRF in

the ag engineering depart-ment.

“I called the departmentchair in early August of ‘83,”Butler said. “I decided that Iwanted to try for, at least ayear or two, the academicside as opposed to the busi-ness side.”

Butler began teaching thatfall, bringing with him moreof an emphasis on engineer-ing. Up until then, the agengineering curriculum atUWRF was focused on moremechanical aspects.

Butler said he takes greatpride in knowing he helpedlead UWRF towards new andexciting agricultural tech-nologies.

Butler said he felt comfort-able almost immediatelyteaching ag technology,something he referred to as amix between mechanics andengineering, bringing togeth-er more practical and appliedtheories than comparablemajors in design engineer-ing. His overall focus in theprogram, according toButler, was to teach studentsthe same theories as tradi-tional engineering, but tosupplement that with theability to troubleshoot exist-ing products, provide cus-tomer support and knowl-edge on how to sell new,more innovative ideas.

Butler’s time at UWRFwas spent almost exclusivelyin the classroom.

“I was involved in myearly years in the typical fac-ulty committees,” Butlersaid. “But I never had aninterest in faculty gover-nance. I just wanted toteach.”

Butler did, however, serve

as the department chair for agricultural engineering for nearlya decade, from 1993-2002. During that time, the departmentwent through a process of self-justification against UW-Platteville and UW-Madison. All three schools had ag engi-neering programs, but the UW System wanted to eliminatetwo of them. Butler submitted his analysis of the UWRF pro-gram and presented it to the UW Board of Regents, success-fully convincing them to choose his program as the only agri-cultural technology program to remain intact in the state.

“In terms of majors, our program is fairly large,” Butlersaid. “But for some reason we were viewed as relatively small.We actually had to self-justify several times while I was chair,each time convincing the Board we were a strong and validprogram.”

Butler believes that his former program is in a very strongposition going into the future.

“Ag engineering is at the center of so many hot-buttonissues today,” Butler said. “We work in renewable fuel sourcesand alternative energies, and we make sure that our grads enterthe work force ready to implement real-world skill sets andtheories.”

Butler said he prided himself on bringing out the best inevery student.

Olson agreed, saying that Butler was a rigorous, yet fair ,teacher.

“Dr. Butler challenges students in the classroom to ensurethey understand the material,” Olson said. “Frequently I hearstudents say they are studying for ‘a Bob test.’ Several alumnihave commented on how well Dr. Butler prepared them forengineering careers.”

One of Butler’s major achievements came when he devel-oped a senior level capstone course called experiential learn-ing. Butler got a grant for the class in 2002, and he spent threeyears piloting the course, working out the kinks.

“The course is an opportunity for students to get some realworld experience,” Butler said.

In the class, students from across disciplines are bunchedinto small groups of roughly four to five, and the teams workon real projects from local businesses.“If the program is suc-cessful,” Butler said, “then we’ve helped students in threeareas: teamwork, written and verbal communication and theability to solve open-ended problems.”

Butler said the class is also a great tool in assessing how thedepartment is doing in teaching the skill sets. Ideally, any fourrandom students could be picked for a project. If the team can-not complete any area of the course, then that is a good indi-cation that the area in question is not being properly addressedin the curriculum.

Although Butler said he loved the classroom, there wereother things he wanted to dedicate his time to, such as sendingtime at his cabin in Ladysmith, Wis., on the Flambeau River.There, Butler enjoys relaxing with his wife, hiking and boat-ing. Butler also said he looks forward to spending more timewith his 11 grandchildren, three of whom live in China, givinghim a great opportunity to travel abroad.

Butler is currently working in his wife’s certified publicaccountant firm, Butler CPA’s, in North Hudson. There, Butlerhelps mostly in the background, but does get the opportunityto work with budding entrepreneurs on developing businessplans and organizing investor portfolios.

“My job is to lay out the info in ways that bankers andinvestors can easily understand,” Butler said. “There are a lotof parallels to working at UWRF, in sitting down and talkingwith an eager mind, drawing out of them exactly what theyknow and need to know.”

Butler said he will miss most the camaraderie with his fel-low faculty at UWRF, as well as the personal interaction withstudents.

“I was really good at playfully teasing students,” Butlersaid. “I will really miss that, and I will miss seeing them growinto successful individuals.”

Student Voice 2 NEWS February 27, 2009

RT02

0609

Sally King / Student VoiceTubré sits in his office in Centennial Science Hall.

Ag engineering professor Robert Butler retires

February 20Ryan T. Christensen, 21, was arrested and cited for retail theft at the Holiday Station store at302 S. Main St.

RIVER FALLS POLICE/UWRFPOLICE DEPARTMENT

Editor's note: Information for this section is a colaboration of River Falls Police and UWRFPolice Department incident reports.

Professor receives high honor

Student Voice 3NEWSFebruary 27, 2009

Collin Potecollin.pote@uwrf.edu

A national Gallup Poll conductedthroughout 2008 suggests Wisconsin is aless religious state than those around it,with 61 percent of interviewees sayingreligion is an important part of theirdaily life.

Wisconsin’s religiosity is just fourpoints below the national average of 65percent. In contrast, the four surroundingstates all had scores of 64 percent.

Campus organizations relating to thesubject of religion were asked to offerinput on this statistic. The UWRF FreeThought Society noted factors whichmay explain Wisconsin’s lower score inthe poll.

A large factor could be the fairly liber-al environment in cities such asMilwaukee and Madison. Madison wasof particular note because as FreeThought member Trevor Tomesh said,the capitol is where the Freedom FromReligion Foundation is headquartered.

The FFRF is a freethought organiza-tion formed to promote separation ofchurch and state and the removal of reli-gion from public life. It is the onlyorganization in the country to produce anational freethought radio broadcast.

Like the Free Thought Society, mem-bers of the Intervarsity ChristianFellowship were also asked for input.Rather than stating why Wisconsin waslower, however, it was said why the sur-rounding states were likely higher.

“Something about the surroundingstates, I think there are states that arereally churched,” Fellowship memberTim Prince said.

According to Prince, there is a slightlystronger presence of Christianity inWisconsin’s neighbor states. The WillowCreek Association, an organization withover 1,200 member churches, is head-quartered in Chicago. Also, Michiganhouses a large Christian publisher, andaccording to Prince, the Twin Cities areain Minnesota has more mega-churchesper capita than anywhere else in thecountry.

Regardless of why Wisconsin scoredless in the poll, both groups interviewed-said they believe that UWRF is at leastmarginally more openly religious than

other colleges in the area. Prince sug-gested this may be due to the demo-graphic that attends UWRF.

“Half come from the Twin Cities, theother half come from rural Wisconsin. IfI were to guess, River Falls is more reli-gious by a little bit,” Prince said.

Members of the Free Thought Societysaid River Falls may appear more reli-gious due to socialization reasons.

“I think a lot of people go along withit because they have friends in it,”

Society member Jessica Kohls said inreference to religious groups on campus.They also mentioned how religions,Christianity in particular, tend to getmore exposure and funding than someother groups.

Nationwide, the most religious state,according to the Gallup Poll, wasMississippi at 81 percent. The least reli-gious state was Vermont at 42 percent.Wisconsin placed 31st overall.

2008 Gallup Poll suggests Wisconsin a lessreligious state compared to national average

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financially impacted by an increase of anyamount.

“Students are living through the same eco-nomic times everyone else is, as well as theirfamilies. So I think it will be hard to pay, buton the other hand, with a slight higher cost,students will be getting a value with themoney,” Wheeler said.

Alternative methods of payment and finan-cial support are available for students who areworried about every additional dollar.

“The good news is that the stimulus was justpassed that increased financial aid, which willhelp students,” Hendrickson said.“Scholarships are also available.”

New programs are also being introducedthat will encouragestudents to continuewith education,despite the increase infinances.

According to theMilwaukee JournalSentinel, the $38 mil-lion increase in finan-cial aid is currently inprogress to benefitstudents in familieswho make less than$60,000 a year.

According to Wheeler, “Students being heldharmless” is a beneficial program in progress

that will protect students in lower-incomefamilies from theincrease in tuition.

Students aroundcampus are hear-ing the news andhave developed anopinion towardstheir future withUWRF.

“Unless it was adrastic increase inprice, it would notaffect my decision

to go here,” elementary education majorStacia Kozel said.

Feelings vary with each student, yet the

decision to raise tuition does occur almostevery school year.

According to Hendrickson, within the last10 years, on average tuition has increasedbetween 6 to 7 percent each year. Some yearshave seen as low as 3 percent, while otheryears have seen 10 percent.

This annual decision may put students in anuncomfortable financial situation, but the out-come is necessary and until June, the specificamount is still up in the air.

“I know you hear many things, but we justdon’t know,” Hendrickson said. “Don’t getworried if you hear a big number—they aresimply rumors.”

Tuition: Average tuition at UWRF has increased between 6-7 percent over past 10 yearsfrom page 1

almost two years ago she decided not to serve alcohol in theshop.

“I want to provide a family friendly atmosphere,” West said.But with a coffee shop moving in two doors down, serving

beer and alcohol, and the economy the way it is, the originalbusiness plan may change in the future, she said.

McDonald’s and Hot Spot reported they noticed a shift insales beginning in November or December. Wallace said thatGame Quest sales began to slip as they normally do in thesummer when college students leave, but stayed abnormallylow when students returned in the fall.

Wallace offered his opinion on how local businesses canimprove sales.

“Find a niche,” he said. “If you’re the only one selling some-thing it’s easier to do business.”

Local businesses: River FallsMcDonald’s, Hot Spot noticed shift insales beginning in November

from page 1

his concern at the meeting overschool administrators becomingpolice.

“I’m no expert on the subject, butisn’t there a governmental body incharge of dealing with the discipli-nary actions involving crimes in thiscountry?” Pluenkett asked.

“I believe that would be the crim-inal court system, Ben,” Dale said.

Plunkett went on to express hisbelief that the court system is fairand it works, and that he would only

trust those violations investigated bytrained police and ruled on by pro-fessional lawyers and judges, notschool administrators.

Dale is forming an ad hoc com-mittee to address the proposedchanges. The committee is planningon hosting an open listening sessionin which any members of UWRFcan come and voice their opinions,either for or against. The meeting isslated for sometime in March, but anexact date has yet to be determined.

Dale also said that the Board ofRegents is hosting a listening ses-

sion revolving around the Chapterson March 5. He urged his fellowsenators to spread the word and tryand convince as many people aspossible to journey to Madison tospeak at that open forum.

“It is extremely important that stu-dents from UWRF be heard in frontof the Board of Regents,” Dale said.

Fielding several Senators’ ques-tions regarding the impact of thispower being given to the University,Dale said he wanted to stress that hedid not feel that UWRF wanted toabuse this power if it were to pass.

“There has been no major move-ment at UWRF to implement anextreme form of 17 and 18 and pun-ish all municipal violations. No onein administration has even remotelyhinted at this,” Dale said. “The rela-tionship between students and facul-ty on this campus is quite good.”

A reoccurring concern brought upby the Senate was how vague theproposed revisions to the code are.According to Dale, the changes havebeen left purposely vague so eachUW campus can mold the rules to fittheir individual campus.

Dale responded to his peer’s con-cerns. He said that although he didnot believe the current administra-tion would purposely try to hurt stu-dents with the new power, it isimpossible to predict what futurestaffs would do.

“There could be unintended con-sequences,” Dale said. “These rulesare only revised every 10 years, sowhatever changes are made we willhave to live with for a very longtime.”

Senate changes: Board of Regents to hold Chapters 17, 18 listening session March 5 from page 1

“I think it will be hard to paybut on the other hand, with a

slight higher cost, students will be getting a value

with the money.”Lisa Wheeler,

interim vice chancellor for administration and finance

RT02

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CORRECTIONS:

In the review ‘River Falls bars defy expectations, servesurprises’ that appeared in the Feb. 20 issue of the StudentVoice, some incorrect information was reported about TheLibrary. It should be noted that ladies get free cover before10:30 p.m. on Wednesdays. Also, ladies drink for freefrom 11 p.m. to midnight on Saturdays.

In the article ‘Fantastic Sams sponsors hair donation eventat University’ that appeared in the Feb. 20 issue of theStudent Voice, Rachael Hilbrand’s name was incorrectlyreported as Rachael Hilb.

Renae Bergh/Student VoiceUW-River Falls freshmen Paul Linzmeier, David Rozman and Justin Lutherpray with other members of campus religious organizations. The FreeThought Society and Intervarsity Christian Fellowship are non-religiousand religious groups that UWRF students can take part in.

VIEWPOINTS February 27, 2009Student Voice 4

Read the Student Voice online atwww.uwrfvoice.com

The Student Voice is a student-writ-ten and managed newspaper for UW-River Falls, and is published Thurs-days during the regular school year.All editorial content in the Student

Voice is determined by the newspaper’sEditorial Board. The opinionsexpressed in editorials and columns donot represent those of the newspaper’sadvisor, student population, adminis-tration, faculty or staff.Letters to the editor must be 300

words or less, and include a first andlast name and phone number. They canbe submitted at 304 North Hall, RiverFalls, WI, 54022 or to editor@uwr-fvoice.com.

The Student Voice reserves the rightto edit any material for content, libel orspace. It also reserves the right to with-hold letters. All letters, news releases,briefs, display ads and classified adsmust also be submitted no later thanWednesday at noon.

Single copies of the Student Voice are free. Printing is paid forthrough student fees.

Editorials represent the opinion of the Student VoiceEditorial Board and are prepared by the editorial staff.

STUDENT VOICEUNIVERSITY OF WISCONSIN RIVER FALLS

EDITORIAL

Editor Ben Brewster Assistant Editor Ken Weigend

Front Page Editor Eric PringleNews Editor Aaron BillingsleyViewpoints Editor Abby MaliszewskiSports Editor Justin MagillEtcetra Editor Jenna Nelson

Chief Photographer Sally KingStaff Photographers Renae Bergh

Tennae Maki

Cartoonists Emily EckJon Lyksett

Chief Copy Editor Andrew Phelps

Proofreader Joy Stanton

General Manager Kirsten BlakeAd Manager Alaina Arthurs

Circulation Manager Kyle FlanaganOnline Manager Cristy Brusoe

Faculty Advisor Andris Straumanis

Winter Carnival, an annual event put on by theTraditions Committee, was cancelled this year dueto a lack of participation and interest.

The Student Voice feels that an annual part ofUW-River Falls history, one grounded in tradition,has been sullied and cheapened by the procrastina-tion and laziness of a few, unnamed people.Looking around campus the last few weeks, adver-tisement promoting the event was scarce, if visibleat all. The poor marketing campaign implementedto spread the word about Winter Carnival was theleading factor to the event’s untimely demise.

Such a poor job of promoting the event is espe-cially inexcusable with all the different wayssomething could be advertised. Multiple bulletinboards in every building on campus, sandwichboards in front of the University Center and an e-mail system capable of sending out a mass of let-ters to the entire student body. Posters and fliers inthe residence halls did not show up until a weekbefore the event, and by then everybody had to besigned up already.

The only way to sign up was to e-mail theTraditions Committee directly, but the e-mailaddress wasn’t widely publicized; directions onhow and where to sign up were missing. The sys-tem was not user friendly, and it is hard to believethat busy students would take the time out of clut-tered schedules to hunt down information thatshould have been provided and easily accessible inthe first place.

But the planning committee responsible forWinter Carnival is not completely to blame. A fre-quent and reoccurring complaint heard from stu-dents across campus is that there is a lack of activ-ities geared towards students, designed to keepthem on campus over the week and weekend. Butwhen an event does come up, such as WinterCarnival, there is such apathy that it forces thecoordinators to alter their plans, even cancel theactivities. It is downright shameful that any eventshould ever need to be cancelled due to a lack ofinterest.

Students on this campus cannot complain about alack of events if they refuse to participate in thosescheduled. If scheduled events don’t appeal toyou, than speak up and get involved. Join a plan-ning committee, appeal to a coordinator, write aletter, just do something. There is no excuse forthe apathetic to sit high on their clouds of judg-ment, coming down from on high to chastise thosewho dare to take action.

Laziness sabotagesWinter Carnival

Something on your mind?Write a letter to the editor.

Submit your letter to editor@uwrfvoice.com or deliver it in the box outside 304 North Hall.

By Emily Eck

Maybe this won’t be asurprise to anyone, but

I didn’t watch the Oscarsthis year.

Actually, I don’t think I’veever watched the full presen-tation of those awards...ortheGrammys,the Emmys,the Tonys orthe GoldenGlobes either.

But itseems youcan’t getaway fromthem. For atleast a week before and afterthese events, every news siteis guaranteed to have a fewheadlines about them.

The hot topics this time(they may already be coldby the time you read this)included weird femalecelebrity outfits, HeathLedger’s posthumous awardand George Clooney meet-ing President Obama.

Not only am I indifferentto Jessica Biel’s droopingcorpse-colored gown orWhoopi Goldberg’s leopard-print muumuu, I don’t

understand why anyone elsecares either. They had towear something, and at leastthey’re making someattempt at originality. I saythat if they want to throwtheir money at goofy over-

pricedclothes in aspiralingeconomy,that’s alltheir busi-ness.

As far asLedgergoes...weall knew he

was getting an Oscar. Even Iknew, and I hardly paidattention. He was in themost popular (though maybenot the best) flick of 2008,and he’s dead. He was ashoo-in. Now let’s all lethim rest in peace.

As for George Clooneymeeting Obama, good forhim. For his visits to Darfurand efforts as a UnitedNations representative, heshould be commended. Butfor the life of me, I cannotstand to look at that man’sface. He looks like a wax

dummy, with dead eyes for-ever frozen in a creepysquint and a perpetual mad-dening smirk...and millionsof women go nuts for thisguy. I don’t claim to under-stand things like that. I justignore the evening gossipshows, and when I see a pic-ture of Clooney, I look awayas soon as possible. It’sworking well for me.

Believe it or not, thesearen’t just random com-plaints on my part. They addup to a mat-ter of per-sonal pref-erence.

If I couldchoose anyoccupationI wantedand succeedin it, “celebrity” would beone of my last choices. Itwould rob me of somethingI hold very dear: my privacy.

Unless I wore a disguise, Icouldn’t go anywhere with-out being surrounded byfans begging me to auto-graph their boxers. I could-n’t relax at home for longbefore the paparazzi came

sniffing around, staringvacantly through the win-dows and clawing at thedoors like a horde of zom-bies.

Sure, it might be fun torev up a chainsaw and runthem all off the yard, butthey’d come crawling backin five minutes anyway.

That’s another reason whyI usually avoid entertain-ment news at all costs. Notjust because I find itdepressing, tacky and artifi-

cial, a dis-tractionfromwhat’strulyimportantand valu-able in life.

I alsopass on the celebrity dirt tomake sure that somewherein the neon void that is popculture, there’s at least oneguy willing to leave thosepeople alone. And that’sNathan Sparks, the perpetualmiscreant.

Nathan is a perpetual miscreant. Heenjoys death metal and the color blue.

NathanSparks

[The celebrities] hadto wear something,and at least they’re

making some attemptat originality.

Oscars add little substance to society

Obama’s speech covers array of issuesPresident Barack Obama gave his

first address to a joint session ofCongress on Tuesday night. Thespeech was of the same annoying for-mat that all presidential speeches are,where there is an interruption, due toclapping, nearly every five minutes.

Obama’s speech began with discus-sion of our struggling economy.However, the tone quickly turned posi-tive with the mention of job creationfrom the stimulus package. He also promised a tax cut for 95 per-cent of American families (familiesthat make under $250,000 a year).

Obama then turned his discussion tothe credit crisis, and the necessity toget credit and lending back to normal.He was very sly in approaching theissue of needing to give more moneyto the banks, making clear that heunderstood the dissatisfaction ofCongress and the American people ofthe last large bailout.

“This time, CEOs won’t be able touse taxpayer money to pad their pay-checks or buy fancy drapes or disap-pear on a private jet. Those days areover,” Obama said.

He stated that we will not be givingmoney to the banks, but to the people.Obama made clear the necessity forrenewable energy, calling on Congress

to pass legislation on their end for afederal cap on carbon emissions, whichhe hopes will promote renewable ener-gy.

He said he plans to invest $15 billiona year into renewable energy technolo-gy and research. The auto industry isalso included in this plan (though noreal specific goal mentioned) withObama stating, “I believe the nationthat invented the auto-mobile cannot walkaway from it.”

Obama then movedon to his commitmentto a better healthcaresystem. The plan is toget affordable compre-hensive healthcare forevery American, investin preventative careand “seeking a cure for cancer in ourtime.”

Obama stated that he will workacross party lines to achieve this goal.

The last element of Obama’s speechwas education. There has been a greatinvestment in education with the recentstimulus package, with more plans ofinvestment and reform to come in thefuture.

Obama also called upon citizens todo their part and take one year or more

of higher education or career training,and for young people to not drop outof high school, which he says is nolonger an option.

Obama briefly mentioned the closingof Guantanamo Bay (YAY!) and leav-ing Iraq in a responsible manner(YAY!), but sending more troops toPakistan and Afghanistan to fight Al-Queda (BOO!) and increasing benefits

for veterans (YAY!).Obama ended his

speech with the prom-ise of hope for ourcountry, asking theAmerican people toremain optimistic inshitty times.

Though I disagreewith some of thepoints of the speech, I

am cautiously optimistic of the effortsof this new administration in dealingwith energy, health care and education.

Obama is talking big and makingvery nice sounding commitments. Ihope that our Congress and Obama canfollow through with these promises,though I’m not holding my breath.

(To read the transcript of this speech, visit theNew York Times page.)

TraceyPollock

Student Voice 5VIEWPOINTSFebruary 27, 2009

voicesSTUDENT

“I’m new, nothing ridiculous...yet!”

Sara Chavie, freshman

Jodi Kauth,senior

Student Voices compiled by Tennae Maki.

“Our grade was based on if we could sella product to him by the end of the term”

What is the most ridiculous thinga professor ever made you do?

Rufino Rodriguez,freshman“To get him a cup of coffee.”

“To write a ridiculous paper that hadnothing to do with the class”

Jason Klapmeier,freshman

“To save our sneezes and yawns for beforeor after class. We were not allowed to do

either in the classroom.”

Renee Kaufhold, junior

After one of my classes was canceledlate after registration began, I decided

that I’d quick pick up a class at CenturyCollege.

Small Group Communication was thecourse, mainly because it fit into one of therequirements of my minor. This class israther interesting and provides some uniqueopportunities.

The main goal of the class is to complete10 hours of service learning. The 30 stu-dents were divided into groups of five. Wethen, as a group, are responsible for contact-ing a nonprofit organization and completingour volunteer work within a certain timeperiod.

I must admit that theconcept of the class isfascinating. In fact, thisclass was my predictionfor favorite this semester.

As it turns out, a profes-sor’s poor execution of aclass can ruin even thegreatest idea.

At this point I will notethat everything I’m aboutto explain is not exaggerated or taken out ofcontext. It’s the truth, and it happens. I “tat-tle” not to complain, but rather to inform.

Twice in class, we’ve been “sent homeearly” for “bad behavior.”

If it sounds ridiculous, it is. I’ve foundthese past occurrences comical.

Most community colleges do have thereputation as being an extension of highschool. When we’re not being sent home,

we’re taking quizzes. But no, not ordinaryquizzes. Each chapter in our textbook is atmost 20 pages long.

We are allowed towrite one page of notes(front and back) on thechapter and use it on thequiz. I can’t fill the page.The quizzes are com-posed of 10 questionsthat basically give a def-inition to a term which,of course, is written onour sheet of paper.

It sounds easy, won-derful, but it’s not. I have no idea what

these terms mean; I don’tread the chapters.

I have never felt thisway about any topicbefore and it’s scary. I lit-erally know ... nothing.

Anyway, back to classthis past Tuesday. Afewof thestu-dents

had questions concern-ing a grade on an assign-ment we had gottenback. The more the stu-dents questioned the pro-fessor, the more defensive she became. Asif to say, “How dare you question myassignment’s guidelines!”

After a few minutes of back and fortharguing, she became very hostile and told

us to go take a 10 minute timeout. Our eyes darted back and forth... a time-

out? What grade are we in? To make a longstory short, after our“timeout,” she cameback to class and told usthat ganging up on ateacher was a bad idea.

Then, pulled out thetextbook and instructedus to write a paper on theterm “groupthink” andwhat mistakes we hadjust made in questioningher.

I was frustrated, upset and wanted to dosomething about this. I felt helpless andunable to make a difference.

I know professors and teachers deserve tobe respected. That wasn’t my issue. Theproblem is college students should not beput in a time out, feel threatened, punishedor insignificant.

Every educator I’ve had has told me toask questions, speak upand express my opinion.In fact, every professorI’ve had at UW-RiverFalls has followed thisphilosophy.

I don’t know whatneeds to be or will be

done about this particular professor. I hopeothers don’t experience this because I canpersonally say it’s disheartening.

Cristy is a journalism major. This is her second semesterworking for the Student Voice.

Century College students given time-out

CristyBrusoe

Twice in class nowwe’ve been

“sent home early” for “bad behavior.”

If it sounds ridiclous,it is. I’ve found

these past occurrences comical.

... students should notbe put in a time out,

feel threatened, punished orinsignificant.

So I recently had the opportunityto meet someone very important,

controversial and effective. I say he’s important, because with-

out him we wouldn’t exist. I saycontroversial because he’s never inenough abundance for or all of us toappreciate. And I say he’s effectivebecause he’sextremely gifted inthe art of pissing meoff.

My watch has awatch, and that watchhas a mediating,judgmental and verystiff upper lippedteam manager stand-ing over its shoulderwith a stop-watch.

I grew up in a fam-ily of four, includingmyself, and my parents are my origi-nal parents, still married and raisingmy younger brother. I’ve never dealtwith stepparents, but I conclude thatFather Time is the unwanted, mum-bling stepfather who gets drunkevery Tuesday night and never shutsup.

He’s not abusive,no-he’s just obnox-ious and in a constanthover. Whenever heoffers to take you outto dinner you end upgoing to Denny’s andthe only thing heever orders is theultimate omelet. Heasks the waitress to hold the pepperswhile scarfing-directly from thespout-an entire bucket of black cof-fee. When his entrée arrives, hecomplains that there are no greenpeppers.

This is Father Time—total turd.Nobody likes you. Go away.

I want Father Time to take a vaca-tion, like a month. Imagine what youcould do with yourself if time justheld the hell still for30 days. You couldcatch up on every-thing that you neededto get done within themonth.

You could even sitaround and doNOTHING for thewhole month, andwhen time resumedyou’d be still be inthe state of procrasti-nation you were inbefore it stopped, butyou’d have a month’srelaxation under yourbelt.

I (B) took the time to sit downwith Father Time (T), both for myown personal benefit, and for yourown clarification purposes.

I feel it should also be brought to

your attention that Father Time was13 minutes late to our interview,which I held last Thursday after-noon. The conversation went some-thing like this:

B: Thanks for taking the time tosit down with me today (mild chuck-le).

T: Not a problem,Bradley. (no chuckle,he appeared lost inthe humor).

B: I just have a fewquestions for youregarding your occu-pation.

T: All right.B:Why do you

make fun things goso fast, and not-funthings go slow?

T: It’s my alter-ego, really: Father Douchebag. I’mreally an OK guy.

I stopped the interview because heboth answered all my other ques-tions, and I was running late forwork. I was happy with my findings,

though.

B: 1, T: Zero.

Time’s a thief. Iftime is money, thenmoney is time, andI’m always strappedfor cash, and it’sbecause FatherTime is pickpocket-

ing me. It’s a no wonder people drink, and

I mean that ambiguously: booze andcoffee. The booze internally slowsthings down for us at night, and thecoffee speeds things up the nextmorning.

Interesting. I will be perfectly hon-est and say that if I met Father Timeon the street, no matter the time ofday, I’d deliver a concise punch to

his wrinkled chin.It’d be the kind ofthud-punch thatwould knock the guyout before he hit thefloor.

I would immediate-ly feel bad after slug-ging him, so I’d gethim a pack of ice,call his wife (MotherNature), and prop hisfeet up on the curb soas to keep him alivein the cold. Old ManWinter’s got it outfor Father Time and

I’m just doing my part to keepmyself as far away from a thirddegree murder charge as possible.

That’s all for now. I will see youall in exactly 168 hours.

BradBrookins

Time’s a thief. Iftime is money, thenmoney is time. and

I’m alwaysstrapped for cash,and it’s because

Father Time is pickpocketing me.

It’s a no wonderpeople drink—and

I mean thatambiguously: booze

and coffee. Thebooze internally

slows things downfor us at night, and the coffee

speeds things upthe next morning.

Father Time prolongsboredom, kidnaps fun Iused to argue that living off-

campus was cheaper than get-ting a dorm. For all intents andpurposes, it should be cheaper.But what I didn’t take intoaccount was something called theenergy bill—have any of you everheard of thisbefore? I hadn’t.

Apparently an“energy bill” isthis piece ofpaper—quite likethe check at arestaurant—thatthey mail out toyou if you useelectricity andyou’re living off-campus. And Iguess it makes sense—you useenergy and then you have to payfor how much you use. New con-cept to me.

Last year, in South Fork Suites,I never got energy bills like this.And I used electricity like mad. Iguess it was all included in thecost somehow, or something.

I’d leave my window jackedopen in the heart of January, butI’d stay nice and warm in my bedthanks to the industrial spaceheater I bought and mountedabove my bunk. Eventually I evenbought my space heater a spaceheater, so it wouldn’t get cold atnight either. A month later, myspace heater complained that itwas TOO hot, so I bought it its

own air conditioning unit. It’s allabout balance, people. Everythingin moderation.

Halfway through last year Istopped using towels in my apart-ment. I bought a cheap leatherholster and began carrying a

salon-gradehairdryer (1000-watt, as I recall)around. I used myholstered hairdry-er to dry every-thing—my bodyafter a shower, thedishes after a loadin the wash andother people’s

eyeballs if I felt like watchingthem cry.

The hairdryer had the unfortu-nate effect of sparking in me, fora short while at least, an interestin fashion and salons in general. Ialso was spending my time secret-ed away in the dark, away fromthe sun.

So I got a tanning bed and oneof those special sunlights thatbeams endorphins into your reti-nas to make you feel better. Nowthis year I’m looking back merci-fully-with no energy bills I had noidea how much it actually costs torun a tanning bed and a sunlight24/7.

I felt guilty turning off myXbox 360 at night—I mean, whatdid it do to deserve being shut

down and unplugged every day? No, I left it busy crunching

hotly through kilowatts all night,every night. It used to get so hotthat I could cook chicken que-sadillas on the side while simulat-ing some murder in Grand TheftAuto IV. Oh, the memories.

This year is a vast change. Nowthat these slips of paper-theseenergy bills-are being sent to me,I can no longer blindly hoardenergy to myself. I can no longerallow myself to disregard thefinancial costs of energy use.

It was tricky at first—in myapartment the knobs that controlheat are labeled “Comfort Zone.”So of course, a knob that says thatwill spend most of its time in theON position.

But apparently, comfort costs.I’ve since had to part ways withmy space heater, my spaceheater’s space heater and myspace heater’s air-conditioningunit. Simply too much comfort formy wallet.

Now that I know that energycosts money (crappy, huh?), I amdetermined to struggle forward,one step at a time, without myhairdryer and my four spaceheaters and my endorphin lamp. Isuggest you all attempt the same.

Joe is a Marketing Communications major

with a creative writing minor. He is interestedin movies, culture, politics and religion.

JoeHager

Energy bills raise cost of comfort

This past weekendwhile on my wayto work, I was

wondering what the daywould bring. Would theday just drag on? Wouldthe time fly by? Whatneeds to be done? Iwalked in, only to findmy co-workerexcited toshow meyet anoth-er new tat-too shehad gotten,added tothe twoshealready had.

“Doesn’t it look awe-some? It didn’t even hurtthat much!” she said,taking pride in it. To topit all off, she recentlyhad gotten her tongueand lip pierced also.

While I feigned someof the enthusiasm in myvoice, I wondered whatall the hype was aboutgetting multiple tattoos

and piercings. Since I have two pierc-

ings in each ear and onein my belly button, Ican’t exactly contest tothem, but I can’t exactlysee why anyone wouldwant piercings in theirtongue, lip, eyebrow or

anyotherplacethatseemslike itshould-n’t bepierced.Butpiercings

don’t bother me as muchas tattoos, much lessmultiple ones—that issomething I really don’tunderstand.

Honestly, I just don’tsee the hype. I don’t seewhy you would wantsomething like that onyour body permanent-ly— big or small. Not tomention all the pain thatcomes along with it andpossible infections.

Yes, it did take a littlemental coaching frommyself to get my bellybutton pierced, but it’snot permanent—it can betaken out anytime. Butwith a tattoo, there’s noturning back, unless youwant to endure evenmore pain to get itremoved.

Getting something puton your body permanent-ly may seem cool now,but how are you going toexplain to your (possi-ble) kid one day whythey shouldn’t get one,because we all know thatall, if not most, adults tryto persuade otherwise.

I know a lot of adultsnow that have tattooswho say, “I don’t knowwhat I was thinking” or“I was just a stupid kidback then who didn’tknow any better”.

After asking my co-worker why she gotanother one and whatprompted her to startgetting them in the firstplace, she told me what

each one represented. The first one repre-

sented her first place winin a pageant in herhometown, the secondone was to honor herolder sister who unfortu-nately lost her life twoyears ago and the thirdwas another symbol thatrepresented her sister.

After hearing eachdescription of her tat-toos, I could now some-what see the reasonswhy she chose to getthem.

They were the thingsthat meant the most inher life, things that shewanted to define herselfby.

Those reasons kind ofmade sense to me as towhy you would wantsomething that perma-nent put on your bodyfor the rest of your life.

But despite all of that,another part of me thinksthat there are better waysto show who you are andwhat you yourself repre-sent to the world.

ChristieLauer

Sentimental ink justifies permanence

Student Voice 6 SPORTS February 27, 2009

Falcon women host O’Brien CupRenae Bergh

renae.bergh@uwrf.edu

For the first time since 2003, theUW-River Falls women’s hockeyteam won the NCHA regular seasontitle and secured the opportunity tohost the Northern Collegiate HockeyAssociation O’Brien Cup tourna-ment Feb. 27 through March 1.

Even though the Falcons still hadtwo road games against UW-EauClaire in their regular season sched-ule, they knew that they had takenthe regular season conference titlewith their 6-1 victory over FinlandiaUniversity Feb. 15.

Every year the NCHA tournamentis held on the home ice of the teamthat wins the regular season confer-ence title, with this year going toUWRF. The Hunt Arena will playhost to six teams competing in thetournament including UW-StevensPoint, UW-Superior, Eau Claire,

Concordia University and LakeForest College (Ill.).

To prepare for the tournamentHead Coach Joe Cranston said thatthe team will be doing business asnormal.

“There is nothing special we reallydoing to prepare,” Cranston said.“We just try to stay consistent, befocused and play every shift.”

With all the teams coming intotown, the Director of Hunt Arenaand Knowles Center Steve Stockersaid the arena staff are also prepar-ing for the tournament.

“We have all the logistical stuffalready done like scheduling offi-cials, goal judges, camera people,locker room assignments and mak-ing sure the arena is up to par,”Stocker said.

The Falcons finished out their reg-ular season with a record of 13-2-1in the NCHA and a 15-5-3 overall.They come into the tournament hav-

ing lost only two conference gamesto Stevens Point and Superior.

With their season going as well asit has, Cranston said he is confidenthis team will perform well.

“With only two conference losseswe are definitely the team to beat,”Cranston said. “We always play wellat tournament time, so I expect wewill play hard and fast hockey.”

Falcon captain Stefanie Schmitzsaid she agrees that team will dowell in the tournament.

“Our team has been playing reallywell this year,” Schmitz said. “Ithink we really have a shot at takingthe title.”

The Falcons have not participatedin the national tournament since2003. Assistant Coach MandyStokes was a member of thewomen’s hockey team when it lastwent to nationals in 2003. She saidshe believes that the team this yearhas what it takes to make it to the

national tournament again this year.“This team has the best chemistry

and skill than any other year,”Stokes said. “They all have the samegoal and same hope and know thatthey can do it.”

Having the opportunity to host thetournament is a definite advantagebecause of the atmosphere it creates,sophomore Lauren Conrad said.

“I’m pretty excited because wealways have pretty good attendanceand a decent student section so it’snice that we’ll have them to helpbring more energy to the rink,”Conrad said.

Last year, the Falcons were on theverge of taking the title in the cham-pionship game against Superior.With a minute left, the Falcons wereup by one goal. Tragedy struck withonly 25 seconds left when theYellowjackets tied it up forcing asudden death overtime. TheYellowjackets scored again shortly

into the overtime and took the play-off title, dashing the Falcons’dreams of competing in nationals.

Falcon forward Abby Sundermansaid she remembers how hard it wasto come so close and lose it in over-time.

“With seven seniors on the teampeople were just devastated,”Sunderman said. “I think those play-ers who returned are looking forrevenge and even more determinedto win this year.”

If the Falcons win the playoff tour-nament this year they receive anautomatic bid to compete in theNCAA National Tournament, ofwhich the location is yet to be decid-ed.

The Falcons play their first game3:05 p.m. Feb. 28 against the lowestremaining seed. The championshipgame will be held 3:30 p.m. March1. The NCAA tournament is sched-uled to start on March 13.

Joe Engelhardtjoseph.engelhardt@uwrf.edu

The UW-River Falls trackand field teams are nearingthe end of the indoor season,with only three meets leftbefore the outdoor seasonbegins. The most recent eventwas the Coca Cola Classicheld here on Feb. 13-14.

“The event went well,”Head Coach Martha Brennansaid. “With 12 teams partici-pating, it was the largest eventheld here.”

The men and the womennow look towards their finalthree meets of the indoor sea-son, the WIAC meet, the LastChance Meet and then theNCAA Nationals in the mid-dle of March.

Junior Kali Meurer said thatshe would rather have meetsindoors, because of the envi-ronmental factors that comeinto play.

“During the indoor season,

there are only a few thingsthat can affect your perform-ance, but outdoors it’s veryunpredictable because of theweather. You have to takewind, temperature and precip-itation into considerationwhen looking at times/dis-tances/heights,” Meurer saidin an e-mail interview.

The environmental factorsalso seem to put UWRF at aslight disadvantage in certainevents. Runners seem to pre-fer the outdoor events morebecause they tend to run bet-ter, Brennan said.

Junior Tony Hart, who runssprints, said he agreed.

“The turns are not as sharp,the tracks are softer, it’s easi-er on the legs,” Hart said.

Brennan added that it is eas-ier to keep athletes healthyduring the outdoor season.

Even though the season islong, Brennan said she has thesame excitement as she didearlier in the year.

“Every week, there are goodthings happening; someone isalways improving,” Brennansaid. “I look forward to everypractice and every meet.”

Brennan also added thelevel of play differs betweenthe men and the women.

“The women are better,because they have had a teamlonger,” Brennan said. “Themen’s team is fairly new, butalways improving.”

Meurer and Hart both founddifferent things they said theywould like to improve on.While Meurer looked at theteam aspect, Hart set hissights on personal goals.

“I would like set my ownpersonal best time at the 400meter dash,” Hart said. “I justlike to know that I am gettingfaster each year.”

Meurer said she wants theteam to improve in the con-ference, saying that improv-ing in the conference is thekey to improving at nationals.

“Though we are in Div. III,we are guaranteed a lot ofgood competitors from theWIAC; each year there aremultiple athletes from thisconference that qualify andcompete at nationals. If wecan improve in our confer-ence, it’s a good indicator thatwe are also improving on thenational level,” Meurer said.

For fans, Brennan said shewould like to see more at themeets.

“This is an exciting team towatch,” Brennan said. “Morestudents should come out to ameet, even if they don’tunderstand everything abouttrack and field.”

The WIAC meet begins Feb.27 at UW-Stout. The NCAAmeet for the indoor seasonbegins on March 13. TheFalcons outdoor season isscheduled for March 28 at theAlabama Relays prior to theFalcon Invitational, whichbegins on April 3.

Track and field finishes indoor, preps for outdoor

Sally King/Student Voice

Men’s basketball team falls to WhitewaterThe UWRF men’s basketball teams lost to UW-Whitewater on Tuesday 86-81 in the WIAC playoffs.

No. 1 UW-River FallsFalcons 15-2-1 (17-5-3 over-all)The NCHA regular seasonchampions come into theO’Brien Cup as winners of itslast four games and are 8-1-2in its last 11. The Falcons arethe conference’s best scoringteam this season averaging4.04 goals a game, whichmeans they have balance thisseason. Six players have eightgoals or more. AbbySunderman leads the teamwith 15 goals. Jamie Briski isright behind her with 13 andStefanie Schmitz finished theregular season with 12. Also,Jessica Thompson tied for theNCHA lead in points with 28(eight goals, 20 assists) toform the most potent offensein the conference. UWRFcoach Joe Cranston saidfreshmen have been impor-tant for the Falcons offensethis season. Chelsey Calder,Katie Flannagan and EmmaNordness all reached double-digit points in their first year,with many of them coming inbig games. Cranston canthrow any line on the ice and

not have to worry about theFalcon offense not producing. Defensively, UWRF is just asgood. The Falcons have asolid goalie tandem in sopho-more Cassi Campbell andMelissa Deardorff, both fromAnchorage, Alaska. The duohas combined for all of theteams 17 wins, 6 shutouts anda stingy 1.76 goals against,second best in the conference.

No. 2 UW-SuperiorYellowjackets 12-4-2 (16-7-2)The 2008 O’Brien Cup cham-pions won its first and onlychampionship on home icelast season. Superior has wonthe regular season title fourtimes, so it knows how to winin the regular season, but nowhas the experience to winwhen it counts. TheYellowjackets come into thepostseason on a similar streakto UWRF. They have wontheir last four games and are7-1-0 in their last eight.Superior has the conferencesdeadliest goal scorer in JodiHolland, who scored 19 regu-lar season goals in her junioryear. Seven of her goals cameon the power play, so she willbe the one Superior will go towith the man-advantage.A two goalie system is alsoused in Superior and hasworked equally as well asUWRF’s. With a 1.76 goalsagainst per game, tied forsecond with the Falcons, sen-

ior Rikki Nespor and MelissaKunzelman have done it all innet for the Yellowjackets.Both finished the regular sea-son with eight wins to helpSuperior to another solidyear.

No. 3 UW-Stevens PointPointers 11-4-3 (14-5-6)There is no team that hasbeen more successful in theO’Brien Cup than StevensPoint. Champions in 2002,2004, 2005, 2006 and 2007,the Pointers know how to winthis thing. Do not let thethree-seed fool you. Theyhave only one non-confer-ence loss, that being toAdrian College (Mich.),which swept UWRF in RiverFalls in January. StevensPoint has also played No. 1Gustavus Adolphus Collegeand tied the Gusties twice.If it comes out to be a lowscoring game, chances areStevens Point will win it. ThePointers’ 5-feet tall goalied’Andra Phillips is small instature but huge in net. Her1.31 goals against is tops inthe NCHA and 11 wins is thebest as well. Phillips finishedwith five shutouts this season,which has guided the Pointersto the best defensive team inthe conference allowing 1.32goals a game and an NCHAbest 88.9 penalty kill percent-age.Senior Nicole Grossman tiedfor the conference lead in

points with 28 points (16goals, 12 assists) and hasbeen a major asset to theNCHA’s best power play,19.1 percent, which compli-ments the conference bestpenalty kill, stopping oppo-nents at 88.9 percent.

No. 4 UW-Eau ClaireBluegolds 7-9-2 (12-10-3overall)The Bluegolds are cominginto the O’Brien Cup a littleblue. Losers of four in a rowand seven of its last nine, EauClaire is not coming into thepostseason in the best shape.The Bluegolds were right inthe thick of the conferencerace a month ago, but a toughschedule to close out the sea-son hurt them. UWRF, whichhad the regular season titlealready wrapped up, sweptthe Bluegolds last week to.Kristen Faber leads EauClaire with 13 goals and 25points. Lauren Havard com-pliments her well with 21points. Those two are the bigoffensive threats for theBluegolds, who have notscored more than one goal intheir last four games.Defensively, Eau Claire ispretty solid. It allows lessthan 25 shots on goal a game.Morgan Pieper has been theleader in net for theBluegolds. The freshmancompiled an 8-7-2 and had a2.33 goals against, which wassixth best in the NCHA.

No. 5 Lake Forest College(Ill.) Foresters 7-10-1 (11-13-1)Lake Forest feels EauClaire’s pain during the lastmonth of the season. It didget a nice 3-2 win againstSuperior on Jan. 17, but thatis its only marquee win.Melissa Kravich has been theoffensive sparkplug all seasonfor the Foresters, finishingthird in the NCHA with 26points (seven goals, 19assists). Junior CourtneyBean has been bringing itoffensively from the point allseason with 20 points, thebest of all defensemen. KimHerring leads the team with11 goals, six on the powerplay, making her one of thescariest players with the extraman..

No. 6 Concordia University-Wisconsin Falcons 4-11-3(6-16-3)The sixth seeded team getsrewarded by playing the con-ference’s best postseasonteam. Concordia allows 4.44goals a game, worst amongteams in this weekend’sO’Brien Cup. When it gets inpenalty trouble, the Falconshave a hard time killing themoff. Their 79.8 penalty killpercentage is near the bottomof the conference.Sarah Luberda leads in goals,13, assist, 12 and points with25.

JustinMagill

What to watch for at the NCHA playoffs

Student Voice 7ETCETERAFebruary 27, 2009

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Angst-ridden ‘God LovesUgly’ transforms harshrealities into poetry

Earlier this year, Twin Citiesnatives, Atmosphere recently re-released their out of print 2002album “God Loves Ugly,” whichserved as theduo’s spring-board fromneighborhoodheroes to nation-ally recognizedartisans. If youmissed it the firsttime around,then it is recommended that youbecome acquainted with Slug(Sean Daley) and Ant (AnthonyDavis) at their creative zenith.

The fact that the best hip-hoprecord in recent memory is actual-ly a re-release of an acclaimedseven-year-old album says a lotabout the current state of the genre.In fact, can you even name a rapalbum released in the past sixmonths? I didn’t think so.

Yes, I know that the demise ofhip-hop has been cliché for sometime now (Nas even dedicated anentire album to rail against thedeath of his profession). But withKanye wailingi n d e c i p h e r a b l emush into an Auto-Tune device andsomeone who goesby the name of“Ron Browz” cur-rently occupying atop spot on thecharts, can we safe-ly assume that we as an audiencehave become desensitized to theabsence of meaningful vocal con-tent?

No matter whether the answer isyes or no, fans will always be ableto find solace in the rawness andfamiliarity of homegrown inde-pendent artists. Slug, the intro-spective, lyrical half of the duo,displays an ever-present humilityas well as worldly knowledge: “I’llplay a show in Australia and

Europe, and there will be peoplewho came to the show that don’teven know who the fuck I am,” hesaid in 2006. “What I’m saying isthat I don’t think the kids inAustralia take [hip-hop] for grant-ed yet.”

“God Loves Ugly” is essentiallya collection of broken, urban lovechronicles and personal reflec-tions. It begins in traditionalAtmosphere fashion—with a stiff,steady beat. The first sounds togreet the ears of listeners are thechants of “you’re so ugly, you’re

so ugly” by anassembly of younggirls. The openingt r a c k ,“ O n e m o s p h e r e ”contains one of themost indelible lyri-cal gems of theirentire discography:“My life is as trite as

your favorite rap record / And I’mpossessed with that insight thatenables me to laugh better.” Thinkabout that one for a while.

Listeners also get a snapshot ofSlug’s past flings in “ModernMan’s Hustle,” in which heremembers “The first time I metthe Devil was at a Motel 6 / Sheleft Hell to spend a weekend onEarth just for kicks.” The creativefocal point of the record is thetrack “Godlovesugly,” which pro-vides a frame of reference for sev-eral of the songs to follow. Thistrack finds the MC struggling tocome to terms with personal angst:

“Appears moreclear in its sim-plest form /Nobody seestears whenyou’re standin’in the storm /Abandonin’ thenorm, and han-dlin’ the har-

vest / Measuring the worth by thedepth of the hardship.”

This release is painted head to toewith a thick layer of self-doubt anddepression, and saturated with joy-less gloom. Amidst the backdropof Ant’s desolate beats, Slugthrows down his emo monologueswith such incredible cadence, he isable to rhyme about the harshest oflife’s realities and make themsound as beautiful as aShakespearian sonnet.

Horror genre steadily weakens, reachesnew low with ‘My Bloody Valentine 3-D’

I am convinced that the horrorgenre is in a terrible slump. Whatlooked like a promising resurgencein the early to mid-2000s that tookelements from old-school horror(from “Shaun of the Dead” to“Grindhouse”), may have died short-ly after. Any enjoyment or fright weused to feel while watching is nolonger present. Cookie cutter horrorlike “My Bloody Valentine 3-D” is aprime example of what the genre hasnow become.

A remake of a 1981 Canadianslasher film, it begins 11 years priorto present day, when a mineshaftcollapsed and trapped six miners. Ashelp finally comes, five of the min-ers are found dead, having beenkilled with a pick ax. The remainingminer, Tom Harry Warden, went intoa coma. A year later, he wakes fromcoma, and returns to the mine wherea party is going on (why party insuch a dangerous location?), andkills everyone, except Tom (JensenAckles), Axel (Kerr Smith) andSarah (Jaime King). Fast forward 11years, and Tom has returned to townat the same time murders are occur-ring. He is now under suspicion forthe killings by Axel, who is now the

sheriff and married to Sarah. Therest of the movie is spent trying tofind out who the killer is and creat-ing tension with a love trianglebetween the three leads.

Some of the elements that makehorror movies stand out from therest are gore, suspense, scares andbrutality. But “MBV” has none ofthese qualities. Like many horrorflicks these days, you know when

the kill is coming, because camerashots andmusic tell you.The structuremainly worksfrom kill tokill, with unin-teresting melo-dramatic gapsin between.Kill, break forplot, repeat.You can prettymuch antici-pate each char-acter’s demise, as their deathsdepend almost entirely on their ownstupid decisions. There is a signifi-cant amount of blood, but not muchof the good stuff (organs, brains,etc.).

The 3-D aspect of “MBV” doesnot do much for the film. One wouldthink it would bring about a wholenew viewing experience, but there isno difference between the three-dimensional antics here and that of“Spy-Kids 3-D” (except the violencelevel, of course). The effect is all agimmick to get asses in the seats. Itonly takes a killer one or two timesto stick a pickax in your face before

the effect gets stale (the same goesfor squirting blood as well). You alsoget treated to prolonged awkwardshots of actors holding out objects toshow how 3-D the movie is.

Speaking of the actors, perform-ances range from atrocious to sub-par. Ackles has the emotional rangeof a carrot, while Smith tries to pulloff the rebel act, but just makes thecharacter come across as a loser andincompetent. Lead actress Jaime

King is the onlydecent actor, whopulls off a believ-able character.

Maybe this wouldhave been better if itactually gave acrap. “My BloodyValentine 3-D” is ahalf-hearted slashermovie, neatlywrapped in 3-D dig-ital package.Everyone involved

seems to take the whole thing soseriously, while the movie is prettyunintentionally laughable. Victimstrip on God knows what whilethey’re being chased. People go tosee what that strange noise is. Yeah,it’s that bad.

José Cruz,Jr.

Nathan is a digital film and television major with afilm studies minor. In his spare time, he attempts

to be a professional lottery winner.

‘Slumdog Millionaire’ earnsOscars, inspires audience

With the awards season beingover, the obvious movie that standsout from 2008 is Danny Boyle’s“Slumdog Millionaire.” The filmtakes a classic plotline of a boygoing from rags to riches, but does itin a way that is not only new, buttruly inspiring. The film’s structure,cast and incredible music all add toits greatness.

The film follows the story ofJamal Malik, a lowly tea carrier whohad grown up in the slums of India,as he participates in the Indian ver-sion of “WhoWants to be aM i l l i o n a i r e ? ”Being a lowly per-son, it is highlyexpected that hewill lose quickly.However, the audi-ence sees throughthe course of hislife, he has learnedthe answers to all the questions bypersevering through the rotten handhe was dealt.

After his first night on the show,he is arrested and interrogated tofind out how he cheated, but tells theofficers his life story, in an effort to

prove his innocence, and also thathe is not on the show to win money.

The film is presented in a non-linear fashion, jumping from onetime to another very quicklythroughout the film, and utilizes agreat deal of editing techniques tomake this work. Although the rapidprogression ofshots may attimes seemconfusing, theviewers shouldstill be able tofollow what ish a p p e n i n g .Also, if thisfilm were to bepresented in astraight chrono-logical order,the suspenseand mystique of the film would bebroken.

The cast of the film is filled most-ly by people who are not big name

actors in India, butthey add to the effectof the film, makingslum life seem com-pletely believable.Although there are notruly outstanding per-formances, all of theactors together makethe film come to life.

Of note especially are the youngerchildren who are featured for thefirst third of the movie that give real-istic performances that don’t seemforced by the director.

The music of A.R. Rahman gracesthe aural sense of the audience

throughout the film. All of the musicseems to be especially made to fitfor the particular scene that it residesin, something that doesn’t seem tooccur as much in Hollywood films.There is also a treat for Americanaudiences as the song “PaperPlanes” by M.I.A., who has recently

grown in populari-ty in the states, isfeatured duringone scene. Also,the catchy “JaiHo” that is playedduring the endcredits, which alsohas a traditionalBollywood dancesequence, will bestuck in the headsof most audiencemembers.

It is no surprise to me that thisfilm swept the Oscars. In a timewhere corporate backed featuresdominate the screens of the popu-lace, it is good to see an independentfilm get the credit it deserves.

Altogether, it is not only a well puttogether film, but is also inspiringand uplifting, something that is rarewhen it comes to winning awardsand a pleasant breath of fresh air formovie lovers. It can only be hopedthat Hollywood takes notice and fol-lows suit in the years to come.

NathanPiotrowski

José is an English/creative writing major at UWRF.He enjoys documentaries, horror and independent

films.

Although there areno outstanding

performances, all ofthe actors togethermake the film come

to life.

AndyPhelps

The first sounds togreet the ears of listeners are the

chants of “you’re sougly, you’re so

ugly”...

...fans will always beable to find solace in

the rawness andfamiliarity of homegrown

independent artists .”

Andy is an English major with a journal-ism minor. He enjoys gambling

and Korean soap operas. He possesses adeeply-rooted dislike for Nickelback.

Student Voice cartoon

Cartoon by Jon Lyksett

Voice ShortsTheater department hosts new playThe UWRF Masquers Theater will put on the play “Twelve Dreams.” Showtimes are 7:30

p.m. Feb. 26-28 and March 5-7 in the Blanche Davis Theater in Kleinpell Fine Arts building. Tickets will be $8 for adults and $5 for stu-

dents.

Student Reading Series presents writersThe Offices of the Provost, Grants and Research, and the Chalmer Davee Library is hosting a Celebration of Research, Scholarly and Creative Achievement. The event honors the intellectual and creative accomplishments of UW-River Falls faculty and staff. The celebration will take place at 3 p.m. March 12.

Tim Stanislavtimothy.stanislav@uwrf.edu

UW-River Falls students and citizens of River Falls reside,work and attend classes in a city with a vibrant history andprogressive future.

River Falls was originally called Greenwood—the namewas later changed due another town in Wisconsin that was alsocalled Greenwood—and was a prosperous mill town. The cityhas transformed into a rapidly growing University center.Sustainable development has become a primary concern inRiver Falls and construction is currently underway on a newenvironmentally friendly city hall.

“The new town hall is L.E.E.D [leadership in energy andenvironmental design] certified. The building will eventuallybe run by solar panels,” River Falls Mayor Don Richards said.

HistoryJoel Foster was the first settler of River Falls. Foster was

attracted by its beauty and commercial properties, according toan article written by Ursula Peterson, a local resident and his-torian.

“The town is interesting because it breaks a normal patternof city design which arranges streets north to south,” RiverFalls Planning Director Mariano Lucero said. “Instead streetswere arranged along the flow of the Kinni.”

Streets were arranged to follow the flow of the Kinnickinnicfor economic efficiency, Lucero said.

The first flour mill was erected by C.B Cox in 1850.

Massive quantities of wheat were grown and milled into flourin River Falls. Between 1850 and 1880 the mills were modern-ized. River Falls was established as a nationally known millingcenter in the region, second only to Minneapolis.

In 1874 River Falls was established by the Wisconsin Boardof Regents to house the University, called River Falls NormalSchool, because of heated lobbying by locals and area support-ers.

Depletion of soil from excessive wheat production lead tothe demise of flour production in River Falls. A combinationof droughts and bug invasion from 1884-86 ultimately endedthe industry in the city.

A volunteer fire service was established and made officialby the city council in 1885. The establishment of the PioneerHook and Ladder Company No. 1 was timely, only 12 yearsafter its inception the Normal School building was incineratedby a fire of unknown origin.

Again, the city was forced into defense of its school.Newspaper editors battled ferociously over where the schoolshould be rebuilt.

The Normal student paper, called the Badger, wrote a com-pelling piece in defense of its school.

The denizens from that section look upon this region as aland of sand banks and pine stumps; a section whose inhabi-tants have not yet emerged from the semi civilized state andwhose schools and other social endowments are in perfectkeeping with the savage condition of the barbarians...we havemore handsome girls to the square acre than these less fortu-nate southern aborigines have to the square mile (NormalBadger, 1897, p. 47-48.).

River Falls won the legisla-tive battle in a hotly contestedmeeting of the Board ofRegents and celebrationensued.

“Whistles blew. Bells rang.People shouted. The city bandassembled on Main Street andbegan to play,” according to aUWRF Centennial History article written by James King andWalker Wyman.

The Normal School was rebuilt in the same location andclasses began in September 1898.

In 1893, the Ringling Brothers circus came to town. The cir-cus included a display of at least seven elephants, cages full ofother wild animals and many horses, according to a historicalarticle reprinted from the River Falls Journal.

After the afternoon performance, lightning struck the maintent pole twice and caused a gasoline reservoir to explode.Seven people were killed and at least 19 more were thoughtdead. The Ringling Brothers circus declined to release anyinformation on its employees.

Years later, what were thought to be dinosaur bones werediscovered in a field and brought to the University. The boneswere found to be elephant bones from the Circus disaster,Alyson Jones, University archive manager, said.

River Falls continued to prosper throughout the 1900s but

its size remained relatively stagnant. The population boombegan in the 1940s and took a major leap in the decade of 1950to 1960. In 1940 the population was 2,806; in 1960 it was4,857. The next major leap began in 1990 at which time thepopulation was 10,610. The population as of 2007 is 13,930,according to a Pierce County Historical Association publica-tion.

The current population boom is the largest in River Fallshistory.

Prohibition in the 1930s and 40s did not bring an end toalcohol consumption. Alocal business called TubsMedicine sold “medicalcures” that contained highalcohol content to locals,Katie Chaffee, a previousmayor of River Falls andlocal historian said.

During prohibition, theKu Klux Klan was active inthe community.

“They held big rallies and targeted Catholics and Jews. TheKKK chose from its individual members to go door-to-doorand recruit from the community,” Chaffee said.

John F. Kennedy visited River Falls on his campaign tour ofthe Midwest before he was elected 35th president of theUnited States.

The 1960s and 70s were marked by student demonstrations.Students protested the Vietnam War on campus. There was astrong anti draft movement. People held coffee house discus-sions and in classes there was heated debate, Chaffee said.

There was an uproar in college campuses around America. “At UWRF a teacher burned a flag and it caused a big stu-

dent demonstration. I went to check out what was going on.There was a huge crowd and I wasn’t sure if they were protest-ing for or against the burning of the flag,” Chaffee said.

In the 1980s and 90s, urban sprawl became a problem. Therewas an increase of people who bought fertile land on the out-skirts of town but did not farm. As a result, the city tried vari-ous measures to curb this practice and encouraged conserva-tion development by protecting fertile land.

“The measures were mostly unsuccessful and as a resultwidespread development has increased,” Chaffee said.

Progress“The town of River Falls and UWRF are working together

to encourage sustainable development,” Richards said. “Thecitizens of River Falls are above average.”

River Falls is the first Wisconsin city to receive an EPAgreen community award. The award was mostly attainedthrough the efforts of the student community to encourage sus-tainable practices on campus and with the creation of theUniversity Center, an icon of sustainability.

Lucero expressed his historical opinion of River Falls.“A community with a past is a community with a future.”

Student Voice 8 FEATURE February 27, 2009

River Falls has rich history, promising future

SabmittedJohn F. Kennedy visits downtown River Falls in 1960.

SubmittedMain Street in River Falls thrived during the 1870s.

SubmittedJohn F. Kennedy visits River Falls in 1960 during his campaign to be elected president ofthe United States.

“A community with apast is a community

with a future.”Mariano Lucero,

River Falls Planning Director

“The citizens ofRiver Falls are

above average.”Don Richards,

mayor of River Falls