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MONDAY, MARCH 12, 2012

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STUDENTS SEEK DONATIONS, ORGANIZE 5K FOR MGT 345

While some students visited hot vacation spots with friends and family for spring break, two Grand Valley State Uni-

versity organizations, Campus Ministry and Alternative Breaks, sent students around the world to volunteer.

Alternative Breaks sent out 13 service trips within the U.S., reaching as far south as Florida, as far east as Maryland and as far west as Missouri. Students chose from the following service issues: affordable hous-

ing, children at risk, disaster relief, domestic violence, hunger and homelessness, indi-viduals with disabilities, LGBT awareness, organic farming, park preservation, refugee resettlement, sustainability, wildlife refuge, or youth and education.

Alternative Breaks members applied and were accepted into the program without knowledge of the specific issue or location in which he/she will be working; they are only informed of their particular location just before break.

Kristoffer de Villa, president of Alterna-tive Breaks, said the locations of the trips are kept a secret because they want partici-

pants to choose a trip based on their personal service interests rather than where they con-sider the best vacation spot to be.

The motivation for students to join these service trips and the work that they hope to do varies tremendously.

Alternative Breaks site leader Megan Boundy went on the individuals with dis-abilities trip last year and decided to attend the wildlife refuge trip this year, in which students cleared four miles of beach to pre-pare for sea turtle nesting. Boundy said she wanted to try something new and loves be-ing outdoors, which is what the trip is all about.

“We will be working with an organization that works with rebuilding a town that was basically destroyed by a hurricane,” said ju-nior Jenna Brackett before she attended the disaster relief trip. “I chose this trip because it’s an area I don’t have much experience in but would like to know more about. While on the trip I hope to learn how the nonprofit organization (that we work with) runs. I also hope to learn how the families have been coping with losing their homes and neigh-bors.”

De Villa said the main thing that sets

GIVE ‘EM A BREAK

Students choose service through AB, CM over sun tans for spring break 2012

The Provost’s Office at Grand Valley State Univer-sity has conducted a “Uni-versity Wide Academic As-sessment” on undergraduate advising services based on the feedback from students, faculty, staff and administra-tors. As a result, colleges in-volved are already discussing changes they could make to improve students’ advising experience.

The assessment, which began in the summer 2011, has just completed its prelim-inary phase. Once all phases are complete, the provost of-fice will present its findings and use the assessment to improve or enhance services in the advising departments, said Nancy Giardina, assis-tant vice president of Aca-demic Affairs at GVSU.

“A majority of students are very pleased with ser-vices in general in Academic

Advising,” Giardina said. “However, we are waiting for the entire assessment re-port (to be completed).”

Giardina also said the aca-demic advising department has increased resources and personnel over the past six years.

“We have allocated more space and locations for aca-demic advising, and we are increasing use of technolo-

GV assesses advising resources

With the 2012-13 course registration opening next week, many students are hit-ting RateMyProfessors.com to decide which course sections they should aim for.

The website allows college students to rate their profes-sors on overall quality, clarity, easiness and “hottness” [sic]. Students can also comment about the professors and give positive or negative feedback on their educational experi-ence.

According to RateMyPro-fessors.com’s Facebook page, the site evaluates more than 1.5 million professors from over 7,500 colleges and universities in the U.S., Canada and the United Kingdom. GVSU has 2,453 professor reviews on the site and 200 comments about the school in general.

A 2008 study titled “Does

RateMyProfessors.com re-ally rate my professor?” for the “Assessment & Evalu-ation in Higher Education” journal said the site shows students’ bias based on a

professor’s personality, cha-risma and grading leniency, and that the information does not reveal a professor’s

The good professor or the easy professor?

GVL ArchiveGiving advice: GVSU film and video professor John Schmit meets with a student. The university has completed a preliminary university-wide assessment of academic advising services.

GVL / Allison YoungResearching profs: A GVSU student looks up professors on RateMyProfessors.com. Course registration opens next week.

GVL / Robert MathewsScenic route: Members of the Alternative Breaks Park Preservation trip take in the sights at Grayson Highlands State Park in Virginia. The trip was one of 13 service trips sent out across the U.S. through AB.

BY KRISY FORCEGVL STAFF WRITER

SEE BREAK, A3

SEE ADVISING, A3 SEE PROFESSOR, A3

BY LIz GARLICKGVL STAFF WRITER

BY SAMANTHA BELCHERGVL STAFF WRITER

champions, again track and field

b1

YOUR SPACE I A5 LAKER LIFE I B4

FEBRUARY 6-24 RESULTS FOR ON-CAMPUS RESIDENTS:

Residence HallNiemeyerSouth CDEMurray VanSteelandHoobler- Weed North A B CSiedman KirkpatrickSwanson StaffordWest A BRobinsonCopelandKistlerPew Pickard DevosCalder Residence

Bags of Recycling10784696459484528271817172

NEWSA2 MONDAY, MARCH 12, 2012Grand Valley Lanthorn

NEWS EDITOR L IZZY BALBOA news@lanthorn.com

At the Lanthorn we strive to bring you the most accurate news possible. If we make a mistake, we want to make it right. If you find any errors in fact in the Lanthorn, let us know by calling 616-331-2464 or by emailing editorial@lanthorn.com.

CORRECTIONS AND CLARIFICATIONS

NEWS BRIEFS

From the planning and design phase to the re-use or demolition phase, the life cycle of a wind energy farm includes several stages.

Iñigo J. Losada from the University of Cantabria in Spain will discuss the life cycle of offshore wind farms during a presentation at Grand Valley State University’s Michigan Alternative and Renewable En-ergy Center on Friday.

Losada, a professor of civil engineering, will dis-cuss the importance of marine climate information and modelling tools to achieve cost-effective func-tionality, technical quality and environmentally sus-tainable conditions. He will present methods and tools for the assessment of the life cycle of offshore and coastal infrastructures, and present examples suitable to applications in the Great Lakes.

News A2Opinion A3Your Space A5

SECTION A SECTION B

Sports B1Laker Life B4Marketplace B5

WHAT’S INSIDE

Representatives from Grand Valley State Universi-ty attended the grand opening ceremony of the Mary Walker Army Strong Community Center in Walker, Mich., on March 3. The community center is one of five centers of its kind in the U.S. and the first in the Midwest, and provides resources to service members and veterans and their family members.

GVSU was the only university from West Michigan to sign an agreement to participate in the Community Covenant program, which is designed to foster state and community partnerships with the Army to im-prove the quality of life for soldiers and their families. The covenant was signed by Grand Valley Assistant Dean of Students Steven Lipnicki, Commanding Gen-eral of the U.S. Army Reserve Jack Stultz and commu-nity and government members.

The Padnos International Center will sponsor an in-formation session for faculty members interested in ap-plying to be a Fulbright scholar.

Andy Reiss, from the Fulbright Office of the Council for the International Exchange of Scholars, will be avail-able to answer questions on Friday, March 16, beginning at 3 p.m. in the DeVos Center, University Club Room.

Fulbright awards are typically for U.S. citizens only. Register for the session at www.gvsu.edu/seminar (un-der FTLC programs).

Lecture to discuss wind farm life cycle

GV helps open army resource center

Padnos International Center to host session on Fulbright scholarship

VolumE 46, NumbEr 49

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What do Golden Globe nominee Patrick Sheane

Duncan, White Sox pitcher Matt Thornton and Former President of the Republic of Palau Tommy Remengesau have in common? They all drew on their experiences at Grand Valley State Uni-versity to make a name for themselves and advance in their careers.

While some Lakers dream big and set their sights on careers that are of-ten scarce and competitive, many are content with tak-ing jobs only in Michigan, West Michigan or even the Grand Rapids area.

“One thing that we real-ized repeatedly when stu-dents come to meet with us is that its just always kind of a challenge to get students here to think bigger and to think about the opportuni-ties that exist outside of Grand Valley and outside of West Michigan,” said Jackie Dickinson, graduate assis-tant in the Frederik Meijer Office of Fellowships.

Dickinson said the of-fice is looking to change the depth of alumni pursuits

with its first Dream Big Workshop Series, which she said are meant to get stu-dents to consider their ca-reer possibilities and imag-ine their potential.

Amanda Cuevas, director of the Office of Fellowships, said the series would help students realize the scale of their life goals and fig-ure out what a ‘game plan’ would look like to actualize their dreams. Cuevas said the office will get students a few steps closer to where they want to go.

“Our tagline in the Frederik Meijer Office of Fellowships is ‘Discover. Dream. Destiny.’ so we want to really encourage the Grand Valley community to be thinking bigger, to be dreaming bigger and, as a part of that, to consider ap-plying for nationally com-petitive scholarships and fellowships,” Cuevas said. “We want to find out what students particular goals and dreams are so that we can then see if there are any na-tionally competitive awards that might align with where they want to go.”

She added the workshops will help students discover the types of leadership and service opportunities they

should get involved in to be competitive for the awards they wish to pursue.

Although the Chronicle of Education recognized GVSU as one of the na-tion’s top producers of U.S. Fulbright scholars in 2010, Cuevas said she looks to expand GVSU’s alumni profile and secure more na-tionally competitive fellow-ships for students who want them. An increase in award winners would also benefit future GVSU students by broadening their network and giving current Lakers a chance to connect with suc-cessful alumni.

“Of course our goal is to be able to get more scholarships and fellowships, students be-ing awarded these types of fellowships and being able to grow our network,” Cuevas said. “We are developing a network of alumni that we are able to connect current stu-dents with.”

The different Dream Big workshops will help stu-dents develop professional-ism, learn how to get pro-fessional recommendations, make good first impressions through E-mail and identify their strengths when writing personal statements.

Cuevas said the skills ac-

quired through the workshops will be beneficial for students applying for both fellowships and graduate schools, which also require impressive per-sonal statements.

“There’s a value added in the pursuit of the process,” Cuevas said, “ So students really gain confidence, they gain a focus in who they are and where they want to go and what their next steps are, and without a doubt, students then as a conse-quence start dreaming big-ger, they start thinking big-ger, they start applying to graduate and professional schools that they may not have otherwise considered.”

Cuevas and Dickin-son will be facilitating the workshops, which are open to both undergraduate and graduate students of all pro-grams. Certain time slots will be geared toward fresh-men and sophomores and others will be intended for juniors and seniors.

Students can attend each of the five workshops from Mar. 15 to April 4. For more information on the Dream Big Workshop Series, visit the website at www.gvsu.edu / fe l lowsh ips /work-shops-21.htm.

news@lanthorn.com

‘DrEAm bIG’

Office of Fellowships debuts ‘Dream Big’ workshop series

GVL / Bo AndersonLimitless: Grand Valley State University junior Kristen Wellman looks at the “Dream Big” display in Niemeyer Living Center.

bY lIzzY bAlboAGVL NEWS EDITOR

teaching effectiveness.GVSU freshman Anna

Biggio said she uses the site to help choose her classes.

“I want to find an easy and helpful professor for the class,” Biggio said, adding she finds the website help-ful and effective because all of her professors have been great so far.

Although many students depend on the site, Bart Merkle, dean of students at GVSU, said students should be careful and cautious when using RateMyProfes-sors.com.

“You don’t know who is putting stuff up,” said Merk-le, who has explored the site, himself, but said there is no real way of knowing if the information is credible. He added that there is not a way for students to crosscheck and validate comments that are being written on the website. “I think you are better off talking with people you know and trust.”

Biggio said she does not believe everything on the site and takes into account that “people who are inter-ested in a class may find it easier than students who are indifferent,” and therefore give the professor better rat-ings.

The study argued that rat-ings on these websites could potentially be positive for both students and profes-sors. For example, students can choose professors who

fit their particular learning styles, and professors with negative comments can learn from the ratings and improve their performances.

While many students use the website to evaluate professors, Mary Schutten, associate dean of students for CLAS, said she does not know of any deans that use the site to determine whether to hire or keep certain pro-fessors.

“Deans would not use this site as it is not part of the evaluation process of pro-fessors (at GVSU).” Schut-ten said.

Merkle said the univer-sity uses its own course evaluations at the end of each semester to get student feedback about classes and professors.

The study also showed that professors with charac-teristics such as easiness and attractiveness, as perceived by students, had more posi-tive ratings and comments.

RateMyProfessors.com has been around for 13 years and was the inspiration for other evaluation websites like Myedu.com, Professor-Performance.com and Rate-MyTeacher.com.

For more professional ad-vice about course selection, visit an advisor or the GVSU advising department. For more information on course registration dates, check the website at www.gvsu.edu/schedule/registration-sched-ule-for-2012-2013-72.htm.

sbelcher@lanthorn.com

Alternative Breaks apart from other service organiza-tions was the promotion of service learning. Alternative Breaks trips combine as-pects of education and ser-vice together so participants work with a purpose and are able to immerse themselves in the issue.

They did this by follow-ing the organization’s three pillars: reflection, education and service. At the end of every day, volunteers gath-ered and discuss what they learned. De Villa said shar-ing experiences helps to open people up to a different light, and he added that vol-unteers leave the trip with more than service hours be-hind their belt.

“As a junior, and a so-cial work major I can apply almost everything I learn through AB directly to my

daily life,” Brackett said. “I feel more inspired that I can make a difference because of AB and will carry this through the rest of my life.”

Campus Ministry sent out 17 trips around the country and to Guatemala, El Salva-dor and Puerto Rico.

“These trips involve different service activities including physical labor projects, homeless minis-try and after-school kids’ programs,” said Kristin Repucci, who went on the Guatemala trip. “Every trip is different, and they never really turn out how you ex-pect them to.”

The members who at-tended the Guatemala trip worked with the organiza-tion Worldwide Hands to help build a Christian school in the city of San Cristobal.

Campus Ministry mem-ber Brad Teeple joined other members in the trip to El Salvador.

“Our main service oppor-tunity while being there will be running the skate park there, which gives the kids an alternative for a hang out

place rather then being on the streets,” Teeple said be-fore he left.

He added that he was most looking forward to

seeing firsthand the issues that are currently effecting El Salvador and participat-ing in the effort to ease the problems.

“I wanted to go on an international trip to get the sense of service needs out-side of the U.S. and to expe-rience a different culture.”

Repucci said the biggest difference between Alter-native Breaks and Campus Ministry trips is the Minis-try’s incorporation of reli-gion. Alternative Breaks is not religiously affiliated.

“Alternative Breaks is different than Campus Min-istry spring breaks, but I’ve heard that they are really awesome, as well,” she said. “The only major difference is that Alternative Breaks does not have the religious component that Campus Ministry trips do; we spend a portion of our time on the trip praying together and doing devotionals and wor-shiping and such.”

Students returned from their trips during the last few days of break.

kforce@lanthorn.com

MONDAY, MARCH 12, 2012 A3NEWSGrand Valley Lanthorn

ADVISINGcontinued from A1

BREAKcontinued from A1

PROFESSORcontinued from A1

GVL / Robet MathewsServing the community: Members of the Alternative Breaks Park Preservation trip climb a rock formation at Grayson Highlands State Park in Virginia during their service trip last week.

gies in addition,” she said, adding that ooVoo is one of the most recent advancements.

Giardina said the student-adviser ratio varies with each academic department, and so does satisfaction.

The responsibilities of be-ing an adviser are not just to pick classes, but to help stu-dents consider co-curricular options outside of class, such as internships. Faculty advisers can also help students connect with resources to make prog-ress on and complete their de-grees in a timely manner. Ad-visers in any field should also work with students to see if they are hitting the right land-marks throughout their college careers, such as signing up for the appropriate classes for up-coming semesters.

College of Health Profes-sions’ Student Services direc-tor, Darlene Zwart, said three academic advisers in the col-lege have been able to meet with more than 700 students over the course of each semes-ter.

“In terms of complaints, the main concern expressed by our students is that we do

not offer enough academic advising appointments in Al-lendale,” Zwart said. “We currently have access to an office two days a week in the Connection but it isn’t enough for us to serve all the students in a timely manner.”

Zwart said she realizes vis-iting the downtown campus for health-related advising appointments involves a time commitment, and her hope is to obtain a “permanent satel-lite office in Allendale” with a CHP academic advisor or fac-ulty member who is available for students five days a week.

Paul Plotkowski, dean of the Padnos College of Engi-neering and Computing, said the assessment conducted confirmed a need to be more proactive in the department’s advising process.

“We’ve started to more heavily invest in early out-reach, even before students get to campus,” Plotkowski said. “We started this with our incoming freshman students

and are now in the process of integrating more proactive ad-vising with transfer and inter-national students.”

The dean described the students’ feedback as “over-whelmingly positive,” and said he knows that not all students come in and take ad-vantage of what is available, but those that do often come back multiple times to discuss academic plans and career and life goals.

Mike Messner, director of the Student Academic Success Center, which specializes with pre-major students at GVSU, said he believes these students make good use of his office.

“It is always important to start working with one’s ad-viser early in one’s academic career to start strategically planning educational goals

and narrowing down ma-jor and career possibilities,” Messner said.

He added that students have an overall positive view about pre-major advisers in the office.

“I often hear that students are appreciative of the time staff takes in working with them as individuals and assist-ing in guiding them to resourc-es that help in their educational planning,” he said.

The university assess-ment is not yet complete, but changes will be made once the assessment is reviewed and have already been considered in some colleges.

For more information about academic advising, visit the website at www.gvsu.edu/advising.

egarlick@lanthorn.com

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Lanthorn Advertising Sales Team Member

Job Requirements: - 15 hours per week minimum

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Job Description:- Meeting and building

relationships with clients- Prospecting new clients- Selling ad space in the

Lanthorn’s Print and Online editions

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Experience you’ll gain:- Professional client

interaction- Media planning

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management skills - Relationship building

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Compensation: - 10% commission on ad sales + stipend - May be used for internship credit

When do I start? Positions open to start immediately, Summer and Fall 2012

If Interested: Contact: Kevin Hausfeld Email: advertising@lanthorn.comPhone: (616) 331-2484Pick up an application from the Lanthorn O� ce 0051 Kirkhof and return with a resume and cover letter. Please indicate when you are avail-able to start.

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Create Ads to Client’s speci� cations and meet biweekly deadlines

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Position open to start in August for Fall 2012

$8.10 per hour

Making the Invisible Children more transparent

Helping countries that help themselves

BY CHRIS SLATTERYGVL COLUMNIST

EDITORIAL

The ultimate goal of the Grand Valley Lanthorn opinion page is to stimulate discussion and action on topics of interest to the Grand Val-ley Community. Student opinions do not reflect those of the Grand Valley Lanthorn.The Grand Valley Lanthorn welcomes reader viewpoints and offers three vehicles of expres-sion for reader opinions: letters to the editor, guest columns and phone responses.Letters must include the author’s name and be accompanied by current picture identification if dropped off in person. Letters will be checked by an employee of the Grand Valley Lanthorn.

Letters appear as space permits each issue. The limit for letter length is one page, single spaced.The editor reserves the right to edit and condense letters and columns for length restrictions and clarity.All letters must be typed.The Grand Valley Lanthorn will not be held responsible for errors that appear in print as a result of transcribing handwritten letters or e-mail typographic errors.The name of the author may be withheld for compelling reasons.The content, information and views expressed are not approved by nor necessarily represent those of the university, its Board of Trustees, officers, faculty and staff.

SAMANTHA BUTCHER Editor in ChiefANYA ZENTMEYER Managing EditorHALEY OTMAN Web Managing EditorKEVIN HAUSFELD Advertising Manager

The student-run newspapers at Grand Valley State University

Lanthorn

CHALLENGING

“I celebrated my birthday by taking a trip to Chicago with friends.”

AVANA JOHNSON Senior, nursing major Kentwood, Mich.

“I relaxed with my family and played with my beagle puppy.”

KAYLEEN HAMMITTE Sophomor, allied health science major Flat Rock, Mich.

“I went home and saw my family and just took a break from my hectic schedule.”

JEFF SORENSEN Sophomore, public relations major Little Lake, Mich.

“Spent time with friends and familiy.”

SUZANNAH SIMON Sophomore, allied health science major Charlevoix, Mich.

“Doing bad stuff in the ghetto.”

ISSAC CLARK Sophomore, allied health science major Detroit, Mich.

QUESTION OF THE ISSUE

GVL OPINION POLICY

EDITORIAL PAGE BOARD

How did you spend your spring break?

COURTESY EDITORIAL CARTOON I KING FEATURES

OPINIONA4 MONDAY, MARCH 12, 2012Grand Valley Lanthorn

LANTHORN OPINION ONLINE AT LANTHORN.COM

VALLEY VOTE: LAST ISSUE’S QUESTION:Do you use websites like RateMyProfessors.com to decide which classes or professors to take?

Vote online at lanthorn.com

Did you vote in the Michigan GOP primaries?

YES 38% NO 62%

With course registration around the corner, it can be tempting to take it easy, but it is important to challenge yourself, too

Welcome back from Mid-semester Vacation! Hope you’re ready to feel guilty!

In case you were away from the internet last week (I know Señor Frogs can have some spotty WiFi), the newest Invisible Children video came out, titled “KONY 2012.” The subject of the video is Joseph Kony, leader of the Lord’s Re-sistance Army, an army of children who slaughter and murder. And they don’t even get their Saturday morning cartoons.

Having totally forgotten about the Invisible Children campaign for the past five years (despite owning a shirt), I was surprised at the amount of backlash this

video received within its first 24 hours. It seemed ri-diculous that anyone would protest a non-profit organi-zation that looks to end the abduction and brainwash-ing of children in Africa. However, due to some shady financing and questionable motives, plenty of blogs (the epitome of factual evidence online) are thinking twice before joining the campaign to make Joseph Kony the world’s most famous villain (even more than Voldemort) and donate to the Invisible Children movement.

There seem to be two main points that everyone should be able to agree upon: Kony is a very bad guy and this is a very complicated issue, far beyond the scope of what this column can reach. I know I’m known to write hu-morous columns, but let me just say this: child soldiers are not funny (they have ter-rible comedic timing).

Much of the opposition of Invisible Children comes

from what they do with donated money. Alleg-edly, only 32 percent of the donations go directly to the efforts of helping free these kids. Many blogs are upset that the rest of the money goes to filmmaking and travel expenses. However, to be fair, Invisible Children is, first and foremost, an awareness organization. Their primary focus is to provide information to the nation’s youth in hopes that this knowledge will result in action, like what happened with SOPA or the “For every tweet, we’ll give $1 to Mark Zuckerberg” campaign.

And even though IC claims that they do not finance the Ugandan Army directly—a force that has committed rapes and mur-ders of their own, much like Kony’s LMA—challengers argue that assisting this mi-litia in any way is similar to advocating their actions.

I encourage everyone to do their own research into

this topic if they have any questions because there re-ally are arguments for both sides and I’m surprised how black-and-white these two sides are making this issue.

I agree that awareness is an important aspect to putting an end to Kony’s reign (whether he has 300 or 30,000 child soldiers, depending on the source). It may be “slacktivism”—which is a remarkably clever name for assuming a “like” or a repost constitutes social change—but for an ADD generation like ours, constant reminders from a consistent organization is what we need to stay on track. Otherwise, it’s easy to forget that we’re still fight-ing for a worthy cause.

Speaking of which, NBC’s brilliant show “Com-munity” is in danger of can-cellation, so please watch it, this Thursday at 8 p.m.

I mean, focus. Child soldiers; bad.

cslattery@lanthorn.com

Between you, me, and whoever else reads this - the whole “KONY 2012” thing bit seems silly. If my name were Rambo or Chuck Norris, I’d already be in Uganda and have won the war there outright, and with-out needing to be prompted by Facebook. Surely, the hu-man rights violations taking place in Uganda at the hand of one Mr. Kony are terrible.

Forcing children to fight in a rag-tag army represents a robbery of their innocence, their future and their lives.

The recent Facebook fad of posting movie clips and raising awareness of such atrocities and war crimes does more to make people feel good in western countries than it does to put things right in far away lands. The only way to stop Mr. Kony is with military force, something most Fa-cebook users are incapable of bringing to bear. Even if there were an operation to kill or capture Mr. Kony, the political cost of having to kill off the child army he surrounds himself with

would be immense.Too many times are

we urged to come to the aid of those in other far-off countries who do not appear to be first helping themselves. Why not plea for aid to those in Tunisia, Libya, Egypt or Syria? People who are going to such lengths and even giv-ing their lives to fight for a better and more just future for themselves and their children.

Why should the U.S. or any other country come to the aid of the people of Uganda? Why can’t the government of that country put down Mr. Kony’s forces with their regular army? It

would seem rather easy for an army of men to defeat a band of a few hundred that includes some children.

I’m sure some people who haven’t already set their newspaper on fire by now think I must be heart-less or have my own army of kidnapped children, but I don’t mean to be insensi-tive. I only mean to argue that the people of the world cannot always expect the U.S. or other countries to be a global police force and must at times fight for their own rights as people have done throughout hu-man history.

assistantnews@lanthorn.com

BY ANdREw JUSTUSGVL ASSISTANT NEWS EDITOR

As GVSU students flock to MyBanner to plan out next year’s schedule, it’s easy to fill

up a coarse load with easy professors and blow-off classes, but play to your strengths and take a challenge or two.

Websites like RateMyProfessors.com and word-of-mouth recommen-dations can help shape your sched-ule, but take them with a grain of salt. Remember that people, whether

commenting anonymously online or talking face-to-face can be biased, es-pecially in classes they don’t perform well in, and play to your strengths. Know when to play it safe, taking easier courses and professors in the subject areas you struggle with, and challenge yourself in your major and in subjects that excite you.

Too difficult of a schedule can add undue stress and burn you out, but

a course load full of blow-offs will have you coasting and bored, which is a miserable way to spend a semes-ter.

A mix of challenging classes or professors mixed in with easier ones can help you maintain a balanced schedule that allows you to grow without biting off more than you can proverbially chew.

When it comes time to select your

schedule, the best advice is to know your strengths and weaknesses. Know where you can afford to stretch your-self to your limits and know where you need to reel back and give your-self a break. And when you inevitably get stuck with a required course you hate, or one taught exclusively by a professor you don’t like? All you can do is grin and bear it and do your best to make it through.

your spaceA5 MONDAY, MARCH 12, 2012Grand Valley Lanthorn

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BY ROBERT MATHEWS BY MICHELLE REUADBLAW

In an effort to reach out to the Grand Valley State University student body, the Lanthorn is kicking off it’s first installment of “What’s Your Problem?”

Students, faculty and staff are invited to sub-mit questions or concerns regarding university poli-cies or conflicts to the Lanthorn. Reporters will then contact the appropri-ate sources, find answers to readers’ questions and feature the story in Mon-day editions.

Justin Russ: “Grand Valley State University posts all of its students’ email addresses and phone number on People Finder. I find it a breach of priva-

cy that GVSU posted my cell phone number with-out my permission.”

Jerry Montag, univer-sity registrar, said there is no breach of privacy in the way GVSU handles student directory infor-mation, which Montag said they consider to be a student’s name, local phone number and email address.

“The student maintains their own phone number in Banner,” Montag said. “So if they choose to put that in as a cell number that’s fine — we ask for a permanent number. There is no breach of confiden-tiality. Plus if a student wants to opt out, they can also opt out of it.”

Montag pointed to the GVSU Student Directory, which states: “If you do

NOT want your name and information to appear, please stop by the Student Assistance Center at the Allendale or Grand Rap-ids campus to complete the appropriate form. This form is also available on-line.”

“The student controls the information,” Montag said.

For information re-garding your right to pri-vacy, visit www.gvsu.edu/studentprivacy.

If you have a problem you want the Lanthorn to solve, e-mail your inquiry to whatsyourproblem@lanthorn.com. Inquiries cannot be anonymous, and must be sent from a valid, GVSU e-mail ad-dress.

managingeditor@lanthorn.com

BY ANYA ZENTMEYERGVL MANAGING EDITOR

MONDAY, MARCH 12, 2012A6 Grand Valley Lanthorn

ORDERS MUST BE PLACED BY 3/31/12 / MUST TOTAL $50 OR MORE

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Central Michigan University can help you out! Take classes this summer at one of CMU’s 12 local centers or online.

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• CMU offers affordable classes – we’ll waive the $50 application fee*.

• CMU allows you the flexibility to get ahead or catch up on classes.

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*Must apply between January 2 and March 31, 2012. Applies to Off-Campus and Online admissions, except DHA. Does not apply to admission fees to the Mount Pleasant Campus. Scan the QR code or visit www.cmich.edu/summer for necessary promo code.

SPORTSB MONDAY, MARCH 12, 2012Grand Valley Lanthorn

SPORTS EDITOR BRADY FREDERICKSEN sports@lanthorn.com

SHORTSS P O R T S

Swim and dive sends 25 athletes to NCAA Championship

The Grand Valley State University swimming and diving teams will send 25 athletes to the Division II NCAA Championships in Mansfield, Texas on Tues-day.

GVSU will head to the event after both teams fin-ished in second place in the GLIAC behind Wayne State University.

The championship meet will take place over a six day period and will conclude on March 18.

A season ago, both teams finished the NCAA Championship ranked in the top 10 with the men finishing in seventh place while the women ended the year in ninth place.

Basketball teams place seven on All-Academic Teams and two on Academic Excellence Team

Seven different ath-letes from the Grand Val-ley State University bas-ketball teams were named the 2012 GLIAC basketball All-Academic teams.

The All-Academic teams are comprised of athletes who maintain a GPA of 3.0-3.49.

The men’s team had two selections in sopho-more guard Dan Newell and senior guard Mike Przydzial. Newell and Przydizial are studying computer science and physical education, re-spectively.

The women’s team had five different athletes named to the All-Academ-ic team including Dani Crandall, Kara Crawford, Emily England Brittany Taylor and Briauna Taylor.

Additionally, sopho-more Breanna Kellogg and junior Lauren Stodola were named to the Aca-demic Excellence Team for maintaining a 3.50 GPA or higher.

Kellogg and Stodola are studying health pro-fessions and Physical Ed-ucation, respectively.

STANDINGSG L I A C

BASEBALLWayne StateGVSUAshland Ohio Dominican Findlay Tiffin Hillsdale Saginaw Valley Lake Erie

SOFTBALLNorthwood GVSU Saginaw Valley Lake SuperiorFerris State Hillsdale

M. TENNISNorthwood Findlay Tiffin Ferris State Wayne State Michigan Tech Lake Superior GVSU Ohio Dominican Lake Erie Wayne State

6-25-36-43-24-43-41-23-80-0

1-011-17-73-46-80-2

4-05-22-15-36-52-33-52-61-60-46-5

F riday and Saturday, Mankato, Minn., witnessed a team so hun-gry it made the “Hunger Games”

competitors look stuffed, as the Grand Valley State University women’s track and field team won their second-straight NCAA Division II Indoor Track and Field National Championship, while the GVSU men’s team claimed three All-America honors.

“This is a total team, program, athletic administration and school, ac-complishment,” said GVSU men’s and women’s head coach Jerry Baltes. “It is not just the kids that were out here competing and the coaching staff. Ev-eryone involved had a little bit to do to help us get where we were today.”

Five National Championship event winners, three second-place finishes and five additional top-eight placers that earned All-America honors cul-minated in the women scoring 94 team points, greatly outdistancing second-

place Adams State University with 51.“Everyone did the best that they

could do and we all worked hard to get here,” said junior Sam Lockhart, who claimed the first individual National Championship of her career on her final toss in the weight throw with a mark of 67 feet, 6 inches, a NCAA Di-vision II National Championship meet record. “I think we are still hungry for even more. It is awesome, but it is still not enough.”

The distance medley relay team of grad students Betsy Graney and Rachel Patterson, and sophomores Leiah Hess and Lisa Galasso, finished in 11 min-utes 23.35 seconds, also a meet record. Meanwhile, sophomore Kristen Hix-son earned an individual title, winning the pole vault by clearing a career-best 13 feet, 1.50 inches.

Another thrower, senior Lauren Bu-resh, captured the individual crown in the shot put with a toss of 52 feet, 10.25 inches, just beating out Lockhart, who held a slim margin prior to Buresh’s final throw.

Patterson also claimed another title in the 5,000-meter run, finishing with a meet record time of 16:07.28, demol-ishing the previous record of 16:16.77, held by former GVSU Laker Mandi Zemba.

“Our kids really did a great job of staying focused on themselves and just competing to the best of their ability,” Baltes said. “You can’t worry what everyone else is doing. We did a very good job of that.”

The men, meanwhile, finished 22nd in the team results with 10 points. Grand Canyon University captured the men’s National Championship.

In his first-ever National Champi-onship meet, GVSU senior Anthony Witt earned All-America honors. Fel-low senior Tyler Emmorey also re-ceived All-America recognition, as did sophomore Bret Myers.

“We didn’t bring as many people as we were hoping to coming into the season,” Witt said. “We are happy to come away with three of the five as All-Americans. Hopefully we can im-

prove on that vastly going into the out-door season.”

Witt finished fourth in the 5,000-me-ter run with a time of 14:20.46. Em-morey, competing in his final race in a Laker uniform, crossed the finish line eighth in a time of 14:28.66, earning his fourth All-America honor.

“It is one of the best life decisions I have ever made was coming to this school because of the program and the people,” Emmorey said. “Really all the guys on the team I can count on. It has been a great ride and it is sad to see it end, but I wouldn’t trade it for anything.”

Myers tallied a fifth-place finish in the pole vault, clearing 16-04.75 to earn All-America honors in his first-ever appearance at the NCAA National Championships.

“They competed well and com-peted hard,” Baltes said. “They didn’t have as many bodies, but we are very proud of our men as well. I am proud to be a part of it.”

zsepanik@lanthorn.com

Laker women break records, defend titLe; men quaLify three aLL-americans

With their indoor seasons finished, a new era in Grand Valley State Uni-versity men’s and women’s track and field will soon begin when the Lakers open the 2012 outdoor season at home against Saginaw Valley State Univer-sity on their brand-new outdoor track complex on March 31.

It will be one of five meets the Lak-ers host in the outdoor season, a far greater number than they are accus-tomed to.

“It’s going to be great because we can sleep in our own beds,” said senior sprinter Xavier Parnell. “But it is really going to be a great year to open and see what we can do on this track. We have been waiting for this for a while.”

Not only is it something that the stu-dent-athletes have been counting down the days to, but the coaching staff has had a profound exuberance for the new facility.

“To have some home meets so our student-athletes have the opportunity to compete in front of friends and fam-ily, that will definitely be a plus,” said

GVSU men’s and women’s head coach Jerry Baltes. “In addition, not having to miss as much class time will really help us and then not traveling will save wear and tear on the body.”

The outdoor season holds some distinct differences from indoor. There are several new events including the 400-meter hurdles and 4x100-meter relay in sprints, the 10,000-meter run and steeplechase in distance, as well as the discus and javelin for throw-ing events. However, the elements of Mother Nature are something not to be forgotten, especially in Michigan.

“The weather is variable so that may not be the best,” Parnell said. “The meets give us the best opportuni-ty to succeed. Say the distance runners make a trip to California, it gives them an opportunity to compete in warmer weather, which we all need.”

As two-time indoor National Cham-pions and reigning Division II outdoor National Champions, the women’s fo-cus is strictly on repeating just as they did in the indoor season.

“I think some people would get complacent after winning one national championship,” said junior mid-dis-

tance runner Ashley Botham. “For our team, it keeps us hungry to win another one just because we do want to come back and defend our title. It only fuels the fire to push us harder.”

While there is a significant layoff between the end of the indoor season and the start of the outdoor season, it is a time where either taking some time

off or continuing to progress is neces-sary, depending on the athlete.

“It really depends on the individual, the event group,” Baltes said. “You definitely have to take what we call a deep breath, whether it is one day, two days, or a week and just let your body catch up.”

zsepanik@lanthorn.com

Team to begin outdoor season on new trackBY Zach SepanikGVL STAFF WRITER

BY Zach SepanikGVL STAFF WRITER

T R A C K A N D F I E L D

Champions, again

GVL ArchiveBreaking it in: Members of the indoor track and field team compete at a past meet. The team begins its outdoor season March 31 on a new outdoor track complex.

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MONDAY, MARCH 12, 2012B2 Grand Valley LanthornSPORTS

Last season, the Grand Valley State Univer-sity baseball team

found itself just a few games from a national championship at the NCAA Division II College World Series. Although the team was eliminated two games in, that experience is some-thing fueling the team in their attempt to recapture that success this season.

“We have a lot of new guys, a lot of freshman and transfers, so I think we’re just trying to take away all the positives from last year and put them into this year,” said senior pitcher Kyle Schepel. “I think overall we’ve been playing pretty solid and were just trying to get rolling and get everyone used to each other.”

The team, which finished last season 52-5, opened their 2012 campaign with their annual spring training trip to Winter Haven, Fla.

While those seven spring games served as the

Lakers first big stretch of the season, the team offi-cially opened their season late last month, taking two of three from Bellarmine University. Along with those early-season games, the team played a set of games in Cuba against their junior all-star team in early January.

“Something all coaches strive for is get off to a good start, and 6-4 is not bad,” said GVSU head coach Steve Lyon. “We felt like we played ok, and we played down to the level of competition a few times … but that’s the game of base-ball.”

While their record stands at 6-4 through their first ten games, the young team has gained valuable experience. They’ve played close games, extra-inning games and even a loss to Seton Hill University that saw the teams combine for an eye-popping 30 runs.

“Certainly, the one-run games and extra inning games are important, a lit-tle more pressure on at bats and more pressure on guys

coming out of the bullpen,” Lyon said. “Hopefully we aren’t going to play an-other game like (18-12) all year. The value comes in playing close games, and of course feeling like you can win those like we did against (Minnesota State) Mankato.”

That ability to win close games comes down to the team’s ability to execute in key spots, something Lyon said the team will look to improve upon as the season goes on.

Along with that execu-tion comes offense, which saw the team score 10-plus runs 19 times last season. Despite losing outfielder Cody Grice, drafted by the New York Yankees in the 12th round of the 2011 Ma-jor League Baseball draft, the team returns a solid portion its offense, led by senior outfielder Steve An-derson, who’s hit .419 to go with two home runs and 15 RBIs this season.

“I just think (close games) help us understand our team and our chemistry and how we work togeth-

er,” said junior outfielder Chris Ripple. “Really, it’s just repetition, that’s the only thing you can do to build chemistry.”

Chemistry is key for the offense, but GVSU’s pitch-ing will also be key. Seniors Cory Rademacher, Ryan Garman and Kyle Schepel return to lead the staff, al-beit to the tune of some early-season struggles.

“I think we are pitching well, but other teams have just been hitting,” Schepel said. “A lot of it is just min-imizing mistakes and going out there and competing every time.”

Garman, who threw the seventh no-hitter in GVSU history last season, has struggled this season, standing 0-2 with an 11.32 earned run average, but Lyon has said he expects him to return to form as the season progresses.

The Lakers will return to practice this week before heading on the road to take on Urbana University on Saturday and Sunday.

sports@lanthorn.com

Rounding into shape

A season ago, the Grand Valley State University soft-ball team belted an NCAA-leading 76 home runs, but as they open their opened their 2012 season, the Lakers proved they can win games without the long ball.

In its first 12 days of competition, GVSU (11-1) out-hit its opponents 124-55 with only four of those hits resulting in home runs.

The Lakers won in domi-nating fashion with 15-1 and 10-1 victories over Univer-sity of Minnesota Crook-ston (0-7) and University of New Haven University (0-2), respectively. However, GVSU also snatched two come-from-behind efforts, knocking off Wayne State College Nebraska (7-3) by a score of 3-2 and Northern State University (7-9) by a score of 7-5.

“We had a very good hit-ting team from last year and we have everyone back so I think it’s carrying over into this year,” said GVSU head coach Doug Woods. “They have that confidence that if we get down by one or two runs… we’ve got a great chance of coming back.”

In 2011, GVSU advanced to NCAA Division II Super Regionals and compiled a re-cord of 46-11. With its entire roster returning, junior Katie Martin said expectations are high for 2012.

Martin, the 2011 Dak-

tronics National Player of the Year, and 2011 GLIAC Freshman of the Year Miran-da Cleary will look to lead the way for the Lakers.

Martin, who sees time as the designated player and is a pitcher for the Lakers, led the team with .468 batting average, 20 home runs and 65 RBI last season. Cleary, a third baseman, returns for her second season with GVSU after racking up 59 hits and 19 home runs as a freshman.

Although the duo has the ability to trot around the bas-es, the Lakers roster features 12 returning players who hit

.300 or better last season.“It’s great everyone on

our team can hit because if there is one good player on a team you can pitch around d them,” Martin said. “With our team you can’t pitch around anyone because the next person is just as likely to hit a home run as the last person.”

Throughout the spring break trip to Florida, junior outfielder Nellie Kosola led the team with 22 hits while sophomore shortstop Bri-auna Taylor led GVSU with three home runs.

“Nellie is our lead-off and Briauna is our second

hitter and the two of them, for the weekend, hit over .500,” Woods said. “When you have people on base right at the beginning of your batting order, it gives you a great chance to score some runs.”

Offensive firepower aside, the GVSU pitching staff showed they can also turn in dominating performances. Collectively, the four pitchers through three shutouts and combined for 11 wins.

Senior pitcher Andrea Nicholson said all four pitch-ers had solid first outings and she expects that the depth within the pitching staff will help the Lakers keep oppo-nents at bay this season.

The lone loss on GVSU’s record came in a 1-0 deci-sion to Kutztown University (11-1). The Lakers mustered four more hits than the Gold-en Bears, but could not pull off a victory.

“Kutztown is a very good team,” Woods said. “We played them last year and we beat them in extra innings. They played very well; we had six hits and just couldn’t punch them together. Early in year, it’s good to see we can play good teams, can stay close and have a good chance at winning.”

The Lakers will open up the home portion of their schedule on Tuesday against St. Joesph College with a double header slated to be-gin at 3 p.m.

assistantsports@lanthorn.com

Offense leads Lakers to 11-1 start

Friday is set to be a big day for Laker athletics at Grand Valley State University.

The Lakers have expanded their list of varsity sports to include a women’s lacrosse team, which will take their home field for the first time against Lindenwood Univer-sity.

The team has been pre-paring for the upcoming de-but season over spring break in North Carolina, where it played exhibition matches against Pfeiffer University, Converse College, Lenoir-Rhyne University and Queens University of Charlotte.

The 10-day trip was long and tiring, head coach Alicia Groveston said upon return-ing home, but her team is itch-ing for Friday’s match and a chance to play at home for the first time.

“It was very exciting and at times intimidating for our team to play in its first ever games,” Groveston said. “However, I think they are su-per pumped to play in front of a home crowd this week. This is when they get to show their families, friends and the entire community how hard they have been working and how far they have come.”

Junior captain Allyson Fritts brushed off the concerns of this being the first season for women’s lacrosse at GVSU.

“Just because we are a new team doesn’t mean anything,” she said. “We work extremely hard to get better and stay in shape for the season,” Fritts said. “We want success and hope that everyone will sup-port us on our journey.”

Groveston said the trip was very beneficial to get match experience out of the way be-fore the Lakers come home to begin the season.

“Our team got its first win against Converse College, but overall we went 1-3 on Spring Break,” Groveston said. “As a whole, we learned a lot about what we need to work on and

how much harder we need to push ourselves.”

Groveston said the team is still developing and that the trip to North Carolina helped in identifying areas that the team needs to fine-polish in order to have a successful first season.

However, she said she is confident her team has what it takes to compete at a high level.

“After our first four games we have seen what we need to work on and which positions we need to develop,” Grove-ston said. “Our coaching staff has worked hard to create an athletic, hard working and ag-gressive style of play. Each of our players are working out their roles. We have the talent to be successful and our play-ers believe that they can play and win at the next level.”

As far as the season goes, the women’s lacrosse team has big goals set to continue a winning tradition at GVSU.

Fritts said though the team is excited, they do feel some pressure from the athletic legacy established by other teams.

“GVSU does nothing but excel at athletics so I feel a pressure to push my team-mates and myself to be the best that we possibly can,” Fritts said.

Groveston added that the team would like to finish with an even record and that the Lakers will be targeting spe-cific opponents, who could become conference rivals at some point in the future.

“The goal we set out to accomplish at the start of the year was to have a .500 re-cord, which I feel is a very achievable,” Groveston said. “In addition, we would like to beat those opponents who will be in our conference in the future such as Tiffin, Lake Erie, Notre Dame College and Urbana.”

First draw for the women’s lacrosse team will be this Fri-day at home at 4 p.m.

jmaheredgin@lanthorn.com

SHOwtiMe

W. lacrosse debuts on spring break tripBY Joe MaheR-edginGVL StAFF wRiteR

GVL ArchiveStaying ahead: Head women’s lacrosse coach Alicia Groveston standing in front of the display case at GVSU’s Recreation Center.

w . L A C R O S S e B A S e B A L L

S O F t B A L L

BY BRadY FRedeRicksenGVL SpORtS eDitOR

GVL ArchiveWinding up: GVSU senior baseball team member Jared Cowan steps up to bat during a previous match. the Lakers will be on the road Saturday and Sunday to face off against Urbana University following last week’s spring training in Florida.

BY stephanie deiBleGVL ASSiStANt SpORtS eDitOR

GVL ArchiveOut of the park: Grand Valley State University’s Briauna taylor swings the bat during a previous softball match.

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MONDAY, MARCH 12, 2012 B3SPORTSGrand Valley Lanthorn

While some students may have spent spring break lounging on the beach some-where warm, the Grand Valley State University men’s and women’s tennis teams took a vacation to Orlando for team bonding while also competing against a host of colleges.

Last week, the teams com-peted daily, playing eight matches in just four days. Preparing for the end of the season, they faced teams from Division I opponents in the University of Creighton and the University of Toledo and a tough Division III team from Olivet Nazarene University.

The men’s team, currently ranked No. 9 regionally, came away with a 3-4 record after the week’s matches, putting them at 3-9 on the season. They captured their first win of the season on Tuesday against Le Moyne University in a 9-0 sweep, but fell later in the day to Olivet Nazarene 6-3.

The women’s team started off Monday by dropping their first match 5-2 against Creigh-ton, but turned it around with a 9-0 sweep of Minnesota State University, Mankato. The team finished up the week with a 6-2 record and stands at 21-7 for the season.

“Both teams have played very solid tennis,” said GVSU head coach John Black. “Just being outside and in the sun, we have had a great opportu-nity to bond as a team, work on our doubles and just im-prove our play for upcoming competition.”

The women stepped up when competition got tough allowing for half of their wins ending in shutouts. Freshman Morgan Patterson and senior Tara Hayes were the most con-sistent single players through-out the week, helping the team play “on a whole other level.”

“This break was all about going against the toughest

competition,” Black said. “I tried to schedule matches fac-ing opponents who are better than us so we could improve and that is what we have done.”

Now that the Lakers have returned from their “vacation” they will be working on mak-ing their doubles game stron-ger and continue to improve as a whole. The women have moved up in the ITA National Ranking to No. 24 but they will be seeking “revenge” to-wards the end of the seasons, possibly playing rivals Drury University or Northwood University during tournament play.

“This was a vacation even though we have played a lot of matches on the trip,” Hayes said. “We pushed to get stron-ger and we did, but we can’t bring back the “vacation” mentality. We have to still work hard because we want to compete at nationals.”

The men’s team will be focused on fighting hard dur-ing upcoming conference play and have treated the spring break trip as “turn-around” for their season. With their post-season play relying on crucial wins against conference teams the men feel ready to take on the competition.

“We have only had one conference match so far, so our season really hasn’t be-

gun,” said senior Josh Ka-zdan. “We are very optimistic starting those matches and we competed against very tough teams in the beginning just to prepare ourselves for these up-coming conference teams.”

Both teams are prepping to continue their seasons on a high note with the women hosting Lewis University on April 9 and the men hosting Aquinas College on March 31.

huhn@lanthorn.com

SpRiNG SeRVe

After preparing for it all season, the Grand Valley State Univer-

sity Division II hockey club team is heading to Nationals, where the Lakers are look-ing to achieve their second-consecutive National Cham-pionship.

“We’re going in with a lot of confidence,” said ju-nior defender Craig Marrett. “We’re also going in with a huge target on our back as returning champions. We can’t take anyone lightly. Ev-eryone is there for the same reason we are.”

Beginning on Friday, Florida Gulf Coast Universi-ty will host the 16 top-ranked Division II teams from across the nation for five days of win-or-go-home hockey. The teams will be divided into four pools, with four teams in each pool facing off with hopes of advancing to the semi-finals and eventually the finals.

“Everyone’s always ex-cited for this point, even right when the season starts,” said senior forward Brad Keough. “We should have a good chance if we play smart and play our game. Anyone

can beat anyone else on any given night, but we feel like we have a good enough team to beat anyone there.”

The Lakers, who were placed in Pool D, will play the Northern Arizona Uni-versity on Friday, the Siena College on Saturday and Penn State University on Sunday. Should the Lakers advance, they will take on the victor from Pool B in the semi-finals.

“We’ve got one of the more difficult pools,” said GVSU coach Mike Forbes. “Ours has the best balance. We’ve got our hands full in pool-play, and if we’re for-tunate enough to advance out of that, then who knows from there? Every team that is there has the ability to win the Championship, that’s the catch-22 of Nationals. There are several very good hockey teams. It’s important that we clean our game up so that we’re ready to go when the puck drops.”

The Lakers will depart for Fort Myers, Fla., on Wednes-day, and despite the tempta-tion to look ahead to the fi-nals, the team is committed to taking every day one game at a time.

“We can’t get overcon-fident,” Marrett said. “It’s

pretty easy to get ahead of yourself at Nationals. We have to take everything a day at a time. As soon as you start looking ahead, you run into problems.”

With so many excellent teams battling for the Na-tional Championship title, it would be easy to get intimi-dated. However, the Lakers are confident that, if they play to the best of their abil-ity and avoid any of their past mistakes, they will be able to take a shot at the title once again.

“It’s just going to be a matter of who is strongest and who can withstand play-ing five games in five days and keep their level of play high,” Forbes said. “I think our team can do that. Our goal was to make it to Nationals to give ourselves a chance to repeat our success from last year and we’ve put ourselves in a good position to do that. I think it will be a great ac-complishment to have back to back National Champion-ships, but it’s a tough road to accomplish that goal. I won’t be disappointed if we don’t win, but on the other hand, I wouldn’t be surprised if we ended up winning it.”

jvanzytveld@lanthorn.com

Club hockey heads to nationals

G O L F H O C K e Y

T e N N i S

BY Melanie HuHnGVL STAFF WRiTeR

GVL ArchiveSwing: Sophomore Bryan Hodges (pictured) and the men’s and women’s tennis teams spent Spring Break competing in Florida.

The Grand Valley State University men’s and wom-en’s golf teams are looking to duplicate the success they saw in the fall, carrying it with them into the spring half of their season.

On the men’s side, the team captured the program’s fifth-ever GLIAC Championship this past fall. The Lakers shot rounds of 290, 295 and 302 to finish 23-over-par, 16 strokes better than second-place Tiffin University.

“Before the GLIAC’s I thought we played well,” said head coach Don Underwood. “I thought the fall season was very strong for us. Chris Cun-ningham and Nick Gunthorpe were very good and we expect-ed that going in. We knew we had what I felt, two of the top players in the conference.”

Cunningham took home the individual GLIAC title with a one-over-par score, shooting rounds of 73, 71 and 73 for a total score of 217. The sophomore became the first GLIAC individual champion for GVSU since Matt Mal-loure did it in 2007.

Senior Nick Gunthorpe took second place in the in-dividual scores at the GLIAC tournament and finished with a three-over-par 219. He shot rounds of 73, 72 and 74.

The Lakers carried their success over from the GLIAC Championship’s and won the next week at the Out-back Steakhouse Invitational, which was hosted by the Uni-versity of Findlay. GVSU took first place by shooting a score of 583.

“We had a very good fall,” Underwood said. “We’d like

to get back to getting into the routine of playing the game again and getting our guys comfortable playing golf com-ing off the winter. Hopefully it won’t take us long to pick up the momentum we had at the end of the fall.”

For the Lakers, taking home the GLIAC title was a confidence booster for the team. They hope that experi-encing success in the fall will help them in this upcoming spring season.

“At conferences, we kind of ran away with it,” said se-nior Nick Gunthorpe. “I think we are more confident now after beating everyone in our conference.”

The GVSU women had their own share of success in the fall season as well. GVSU took first in four tournaments: the Michael Corbett Fall Clas-sic (603), Ferris State Invita-tional (588), Bing Beall Clas-sic (625) and the Laker Fall Classic (618).

Senior Sarah Hoffman was the highlight of the GVSU women’s team, taking first

individually in the Bing Beall Classic (147), Dallas Baptist Classic (146) and the Laker Fall Classic (145).

Hoffman was named GLI-AC Woman’s Golf Athlete of the Week for three consecutive weeks. She averaged a score of 73.9 for the fall season.

The women have some of their most important meets of the year coming up in the spring season, including the GLIAC Championships, the NCAA Division II Super Re-gionals and the NCAA Divi-sion II National Champion-ships. GVSU has set their sights on these tournaments, and they look forward to hav-ing good showings.

“Some of our team goals this year include winning conferences, regionals and a top-three finish at nationals,” Hoffman said.

The men will next be in action Saturday at the NKU Spring Classic. The women’s next meet is March 31 at the ODU “Give 18 Fore for Can-cer” Classic.

bderouin@lanthorn.com

Springing back

GVL ArchiveNationals-bound: Freshman Blaine Marney stays focused during a previous match against Hope.

GVL ArchiveReturning to the green: Senior Travis Shooks (pictured) and the rest of the men’s golf team will be back in action Saturday.

BY BrYce DerouinGVL STAFF WRiTeR

BY Jon Van ZYtVelDGVL STAFF WRiTeR

why she reads the Lanthorn:

While most classes at Grand Valley State University try to integrate teamwork with group projects, one class in par-ticular breathes it: MGT 345, or Team Building.

There are four sections, taught by professors Monica Al-len, William Mothersell and Joshua Gerlick.

In Allen’s class, the students are given the following cri-teria to complete a team project: The project must be large enough to entail a group effort, the project should be man-ageable enough for you to address in one semester, the proj-ect can be within the university or the community at large and the project must make some contribution to society.

Although the students can select any project to work on, the goal is to produce a creative outcome.

“I try not to get too involved in the decision making be-cause I do not want to stifle the creativity of the teams,” Allen said.

Overall, Allen has been pleased with the results she has seen.

“I have been thoroughly amazed, semester after semes-ter, at the amount of creativity and work that the students put into their projects,” Allen said. “Some teams choose proj-ects that focus on the GVSU community, while others focus on the city of GR, West Michigan as a whole and some even do projects that go beyond our state. This project allows the students to ‘give back’ their time and talent to others and to also learn how to work with their teammates to make some contribution to society.”

Mothersell offers a similar assignment, while Gerlick spreads multiple team building assignments throughout the semester.

“For me it is very rewarding to see the students learn,” Allen said. “I would rather they learn by doing than to sit and listen to me lecture about how to be a team. The best way to learn is to just do it.”

Soles4SoulsStudents in Allen’s class — Lindsey Marvicsin, Julia

Hisey, Topher Jarman, Nhat Nguyen and Liz Slatin — chose to work with the Soles4Souls organization. This organiza-tion “collects new shoes to give relief to the victims of abject suffering and collects used shoes to support micro-business efforts to eradicate poverty,” as noted on the mission section on their website.

“We knew that organizations existed that gave shoes to children in need, and thought this one would be a good one to partner with because it helps individuals in over 127 dif-ferent countries and 55 percent of their distribution occurs right here in the U.S,” Marvicsin said.

To help this organization, this group is hosting a 5k run/walk on campus to raise money for Soles4Souls.

“We decided to raise money for the Soles4Souls because it’s one of two ways that we could help the organization,” Marvicsin said. “We figured that raising money through reg-istration fees for the 5k would be easiest for college students to help in a fun way, rather than having them find or buy shoes to donate.”

The 5k will be held this Friday at 5 p.m. Due to the prox-imity to St. Patrick’s Day, the race has taken that theme.

“I am really looking forward to seeing all of the creative costumes and outfits that people show up in for the race,” Jarman said. “This project has led to starting an event that we hope can start a yearly Shamrock Run.”

Team member Hisey noted that it is not only a good cause, but may be fun for those who attend.

“We’ll be having donations from Louie’s Locker Room for prizes given to the race winners and winner of costume contest,” she said. “It should be a good time and for a great cause.”

For more information about the event, search Shamrock Run 2012 on Facebook.

Kids’ Food BasketStudents that are a part of Mothersell’s class — Erica

Avram, Tiffany Blossom, Jeff Anderson, Steve Childs and Judson Rodriquez — chose to go for a different approach, working with Kids’ Food Basket.

Kids’ Food Basket is a local organization to benefit the greater Grand Rapids area. Their work includes making Sack Suppers that serve more than 4,800 kids every day, which include 1,000 calories and the five food groups.

“We all wanted to find something that we were all be pas-sionate about when asked in our management class to pick a way to help out in the community,” Anderson said. “We decided what better way then to help feed kids in need.”

The MGT 345 group will be have a table set up in the Kirkhof lobby beginning tomorrow and will continue through Thursday from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. The group will be looking for any size of money donations as well as non-per-ishable food items for the Sack Suppers like cracker packs and juice boxes.

In addition to donations, they will hold a bag-decorating contest.

“The kids who receive the Sack Suppers love when the bags are decorated,” Avram said.

For $1, anyone can take a white bag home to decorate and return it. The dollar is enough to provide a dinner to one hungry child. The best bag will win a gift card to a restau-rant and/or clothing items from Kids’ Food Basket.

“We decided to have a couple different events and to hold the food drive at Kirkhoff, as well as a Dine To Donate at Applebee’s,” Anderson said.

lakerlife@lanthorn.com

laker lifeB4 MONDAY, MARCH 12, 2012Grand Valley Lanthorn

LAKER L IFE EDITOR RACHEL MELKE lakerlife@lanthorn.com

Team Building class learns through service

Courtesy Photo / Getty ImagesContender: Rep. Ron Paul (R-Texas) addresses the Conservative Political Action Conference in Washington, D.C. Paul visited Hudsonville, Mich., where he discussed changes to education and Social Security.

GVL ArchiveSack Suppers: Volunteers make sandwiches during a previous Kids’ Food Basket event. The organization is one being assisted by students in MGT 345, Team Building.

By Rachel MelkeGVL LAKeR LiFe eDiTOR

Following Texas Rep. Ron Paul’s pre-primary visit to Hudsonville, Mich., Grand

Valley State University economics department chair and professor Paul Isely said both students and schools would have to make significant ad-aptations if Paul is elected and goes through with proposed measures such as eliminating the federal De-partment of Education, subsequent-ly eliminating student loans.

“The expectation would be that it would increase cost,” Isely said.

However, this increase in cost of attendance would lower the stu-dent population and force schools to change their ways.

In an article in the American Bar

Association Journal, published this past December, authors wrote that the legal world is taking a very seri-ous look at what they have deemed “the law school bubble.” Under-graduate and professionals schools are part of the larger “school bub-ble” which will, as the housing bubble did, eventually burst. This will result in a correction one way or the other.

As a whole, the U.S. student debt now totals at $1 trillion, none of which can be erased if a person declares bankruptcy. Eventually a correction will occur, but how it will occur is the question that remains.

“The other major problem we have faced these last five years is the inability of politicians to allow the correction to occur,” Paul said. “When mistakes are made you’re

supposed to have a correction.”Isely responded to Paul’s pro-

posals.“If he got everything he wanted,

you should expect a recession in 2013-2014,” Isely said.

However, as Isely sees it, this temporary pain would most likely lead to better investments. Although Paul’s plan could lead to another re-cession, it would seem that another recession is already in the cards. The New York Times reported on it in August 2011.

“There’s a lot of credibility in that argument,” Isely said.

Among other issues discussed at the Hudsonville rally, Paul men-tioned allowing 25-year-olds and “under the ability” citizens to opt out of Social Security, which would free up their money to be spent in

more lucrative ways to help stimu-late the economy. Generations al-ready dependent on Social Security would not have to worry about their coverage being cut, as individu-als between the ages of 26 and 64 would still be contributing to Social Security.

Although it may not seem like a pressing issue to most college stu-dents, Social Security, originally an optional program, evolved into its current form that in a report released by the Congressional Budget Office, has been decried as “broke.”

Instead of taxing people for So-cial Security and having that money eventually lost through inflation or mismanagement, much like Paul’s “token cut of one trillion dollars,” the opting out of Social Security would work much in the same way.

“It would be that the government would quit spending it, and the peo-ple would spend it,” Paul told rally attendees.

jcampbell@lanthorn.com

Economics prof discusses how Ron Paul’s hopeful plans would affect higher education and its students

By Joel caMpBell GVL STAFF WRiTeR

Professor reflects on Ron Paul’s Hudsonville visit

ISely

Food items on their wish list:Cracker packs100 percent fruit juice boxesIndividual fruit, pudding and gelatin cupsPeanut butter100 percent fruit packs (.9 oz or similar)Snack size zipper-lock bagsSandwich size zipper-lock bagsBrown/white paper lunch sacks (8 lb. or extra large)Individual serving size cerealBulk pretzelsVeggie straws (snack)Cheerios – plain

10

MONDAY, MARCH 12, 2012 B5Grand Valley Lanthorn

MARKETPLACEFREE CLASSIFIEDS FOR STUDENTS, FACULTY AND STAFF some restrictions apply

FOR COMMERCIAL RATES CALL 616-331-2460

classifieds@lanthorn.com

AnnouncementsGVSU Facilities Servicesthanks you for helping to re-duce energy, natural gas andwater costs by making smallchanges to your daily routine!

EmploymentMake lifelong friends. The Is-land House Hotel and Ryba’sFudge Shops are looking forhelp in all areas: Front desk,Bell Staff,Wait Stuff, SalesClerks, Kitchen, Baristas.Housing, bonus and dis-c o u n t e d m e a l s .(906)-847-7196 www.theis-landhouse.com

HousingAt 48west enjoy individualleases, private bathrooms,on-site bus stop & muchmore! Call today for leasinginformation 616-895-2400,48west@48west.info,www.48west.comBol twood Apar tments ,Pet-Friendly, Huge Bed-rooms, & a Bus Stop. Leasesstart at $395.00 per month.Call today to schedule a tour.616-895-5875.www.boltwoodgvsu.com

Campus View, live close tocampus and get the most foryour money. Apartments andTownhouses avai lable,Leases start at $285.00 permonth . Ca l l Today !616-895-6678 or visitwww.campusviewhousing.com

InternshipsEmerson Climate Technolo-giesJob Title: Corporate SafetyInternshipLocation: Grand Rapids, MISalary: UnpaidSearch Job ID: 15561718For more information visitwww.gvsu.edu/lakerjobs/

CitelighterJob Title: Knowledge ExpertLocation: Grand Rapids, MIHours: 3-5 hrs.Search Job ID: 15560789For more information visitwww.gvsu.edu/lakerjobs/

National Heritage AcademiesJob Title: Compensation andBenefits InternLocation: Grand Rapids, MISearch Job ID: 15561729For more information visitwww.gvsu.edu/lakerjobs

Safe Kids West MichiganJob Title: Video ProductionInternshipLocation: Muskegon, MISearch Job ID: 15561876For more information visitwww.gvsu.edu/lakerjobs

Institute for Humane StudiesJob Title: IHS Journalism In-ternship ProgramLocation: Arlington, VASearch Job ID: 15561807For more information visitwww.gvsu.edu/lakerjobs

Spectrum Health FoundationJob Title: Administrative In-ternship (Fundraising)Location: Grand Rapids, MISearch Job ID: 15561825For more information visitwww.gvsu.edu/lakerjobs

CrossTec CorporationJob Title: Marketing InternLocation: Allegan, MISalary: PaidSearch Job ID: 15561928For more information visitwww.gvsu.edu/lakerjobs

Nor-woodJob Title: Marketing Intern-shipLocation: Colorado Springs,COSalary: $9.50/hr.Search Job ID: 15561903For more information visitwww.gvsu.edu/lakerjobs

Holland Board of PublicWorksJob Title: Multiple InternshipsAvailableLocation: Holland, MIFor more information visitwww.gvsu.edu/lakerjobs

Wolverine World Wide, Inc.Job Title: Multiple InternshipsAvailableLocation: Rockford, MISalary: PaidFor more information visitwww.gvsu.edu/lakerjobs

MiscellaneousGet Caught Promotion. Rulesand Restrictions. Only onestudent or faculty is a winnerper issue. Readers will bechosen at random through-out the week on campus.The prize awarded isto-be-determined at randombut may include gift cards,t-shirts, etc. Winners are re-quested to have their picturetaken and answer somequestions to be published inthe Lanthorn.

OpportunitiesBartending. No ExperienceNeeded. High incomepotential. Training coursesavailable.Call1-800-965-6520 ext. 226

Institute for Humane StudiesJob Title: IHS Journalism In-ternship ProgramLocation: Arlington, VASearch Job ID: 15561807For more information visitwww.gvsu.edu/lakerjobs

Nor-woodJob Title: Marketing Intern-shipLocation: Colorado Springs,COSalary: $9.50/hr.Search Job ID: 15561903For more information visitwww.gvsu.edu/lakerjobs

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It’s a new day in Detroit. One filled with high-tech startups. Cutting-edge medical research. One-of-a-kind restaurants.

World-renowned museums. Fashion trend-setters. And affordable, desirable places to live.

Live Work Detroit! 2012 Finale

Saturday, March 31, 2012 12 pm - 7:30 pm - The Rattlesnake Club

Hear from organizations like Urban Science, D:Hive, and En Garde Detroit. Learn about opportunities that make Detroit a great place for young professionals. Tour the downtown area and network with employers

who are hiring college students and graduates now. End the day with a Detroit Rock Party featuring The Sights.

Registration Fee: $10 before 3/21 or $15 after

Bus transportation included with registration.

For more information, scan the QR code below or visit mitalent.org/LiveWorkDetroit

MONDAY, MARCH 12, 2012B6 Grand Valley Lanthornlaker life

EVENTS TO CHECK OUT

“Exploring the Back to Africa Exodus and Settle-ment of the African Hebrew Israelites and the African-African American Commu-nities in Elmina, Ghana”

Date: Today Time: Noon to 1 p.m. Location: Kirkhof Center, Rooms 2215/2216

De-Valera N. Y. M. Botchway is a lecturer in the Departments of History and African Stud-ies at the University of Cape Coast, Ghana. His research interests are African and African Diaspora cultures, colonial and post-colonial history, indigenous knowledge systems, biographies, popular culture, African nation-alism and pan Africanism. He was a research fellow in African studies (history) at the University of Cambridge in England and a Global Academic Partner and Fellow at the University of South Florida.

“Atlantic Slavery: Lost in Trans-lation: How Ghana’s Schools Address the Transatlantic Slave Trade”Date: Wednesday Time: Noon to 1 p.m. Location: Kirkhof Center, Room 2270

Mary Owusu is a graduate of the Uni-versity of Cape Coast, where she currently works as a lecturer in the Department of History. She was the elected Cadbury Fellow at the Center for West African Studies at the University of Birmingham in the UK. Her research interests cover issues related to Asante history, environ-mental history and the history of the oil palm industry in Ghana. She is currently a Fulbright scholar-in-residence at Bald-win Wallace College in Berea, Ohio.

Scott Stabler’s research focuses on post-Civil War governmental policy and race. Currently in his eighth year in the history department at Grand Valley State University, he has most recently taught at the University of Cape Coast in Ghana on a Fulbright Scholarship in 2011.

‘Many Mexicos: Indigenous Music and its Impact on Re-gional Styles of Mexican Folk Music’ Date: Wednesday Time: 4:30 to 6 p.m. Location: 107 Manitou Hall

Sones de Mexico, Chicago’s premier folk music ensemble, special-izes in Mexican ‘son,’ including the regional styles of huapango, gustos, chilenas, son jarocho and more.

The group formed in 1994 to keep the tradition of Mexican ‘son’ alive in its many regional forms. The ensemble has developed and popu-larized many original arrangements of Mexican traditional tunes touring mostly in the Midwest, East Coast and southern U.S.

Some of its original work has experimented cross-culturally with symphonic, Irish, folk, C&W, jazz, and rock music, though never aban-doning its roots in Mexican ‘son.’

“Voices of Our People: The MAM People in Our Community, Mayan Languages and Cultures”

Date: WednesdayTime: 7 to 9 p.m. Location: 107 Manitou Hall

Do you know how many Mayan languages are spoken? Have you ever heard them? We invite you to learn about Mayan cultures, traditions and languages.

Come, join us... and taste a ‘tamal’!Our Guests are:Maria and Francisco de Pablo

(MAM Community Members)Moderator: Prof. Mike Vrooman

(MLL)

“La Voz Mapuche: One Nation, One People - Undivided by the Andes”

Date: ThursdayTime: Noon to 2 p.m. Location: Cook DeWitt Center Directed by Pablo Fernández and Andrea Henríquez2008 - 113 min

The Mapuche defeated the Spanish crown invad-ers, and do not recognize the border that Chile and Argentina have tried to impose. Presently, the struggle is focused on maintaining the identity as a people, and stopping the encroachment of multinational corpora-tions in Mapuche ancestral territory. In an effort to increase profits, logging, hydroelectric, oil, mining, and tourist companies — among others — cause destruction and pollution on both sides of the Andes Mountains.

“From Violins to Vicunas: Indus-trious Indigenous Communities in the Andes”

Date: ThursdayTime: 4:30 to 6 p.m. Location: Cook DeWitt Center

Veronica Salles-Reese, associate professor of Spanish at Georgetown University and the director of Latin American studies certificate will be presenting the keynote address.

Her research focuses on colonial Latin America, the Andean region, especially the daily life in colonial Peru, and cultural hybridization. She is the author of “From Viracocha to the Virgin of Copacabana: History of the Repre-sentation of the Sacred” and the editor of numerous books, including “Authors and Actors of the Colonial World: New Multidisciplinary Approaches and Remembering the Past, Retrieving the Future.”

For more information, or special accommodations, contact the area stud-ies office at areastudies@gvsu.edu or 616-331-8110.

CHECK OUT MORE EVENTS ONLINE.

www.LANTHORN.COM