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VALLEYTHEVValley VanguardMonday, April 22, 2013

Inside A3

Spring Fever Fest included a block party featuring inflatables, obstacle courses, a dunk tank and a spinning machine called the Gyro.

Inside A5

Team White defeated Team Red 28-14 in the football team’s annual Red vs. White Spring Game.

Inside A7

Culture District is a new RSO that hopes to produce a quarterly creative publication of fashion, art and design, titled “Cultured Magazine.”

An SVSU graduate and his sister were less than two blocks away from the finish line of the Boston Marathon on Monday when two explosions went off, killing at least three people and in-juring 180 more.

Derek Stone, a 2011 graduate and former GLIAC champion in the mile, was running his first Bos-ton Marathon with his twin sister, Hannah. She graduated from Northwood in 2010.

Jill Allardyce, assistant di-rector of publishing at SVSU and president of American Advertis-ing Federation’s Great Lakes Bay Region, also participated, tweeting a picture of her bib number, 15623, an hour before the race began.

“About 45 minutes after we finished, my parents and I and my sister were looking for a place to eat,” Stone said. “We were prob-ably about a block, block and a half away from where the explo-sions were, and we saw handfuls of people start running and crying.

“We thought someone had just passed out.”

Allardyce said she had been doing yoga and meditation to deal with cramps from finishing the race when she heard the explo-sions.

“It was far enough away, but I could see all the white smoke and hear it clearly,” Allardyce said.

At first, she thought the finish line set-up had collapsed.

“It sounded like a million pounds fell,” she said.

Two bombs about 100 yards apart went off near the finish line on Boylston Street at Copley Square about 3 p.m. during Mon-day’s race, according to media re-ports.

Stone said that while he was a safe distance away from the explo-sion, he saw the situation escalate.

“We were calm because we didn’t know what was happening yet, but as more and more police headed toward the situation and more and more people were walk-ing away from the situation, we could tell that more and more peo-ple were starting to panic,” Stone said. “We saw one police officer fly through, and then there were more police, and then unmarked cars and then SWAT units rushing to the scene

“There were more and more people walking in that direction, so we asked them what happened and they said ‘There were two ex-plosions,’ and that’s all we knew at that point.”

Stone and his family decided to leave the area as soon as pos-sible. They got on a train and trav-eled back to their hotel outside of the city.

Allardyce said that it wasn’t until a woman ran down the street screaming it had been a bomb that she understood what had hap-pened.

“I felt like my mind went to the past terror attack,” she said. “I thought to myself, ‘Am I safe here?’”

She tried to search for a friend still in the race, but was forced in the other direction for safety. She decided to go back to her hotel, but

For some students, a passion for collecting books has turned into an award-winning hobby.

Last Thursday, the winners of the 2013 Student Book Collection Contest were announced as a part of National Library Week.

Accounting senior Jason Schneider took home

first place and a $500 prize with his collection titled “Origami: The World of Folding Paper.”

“Origami has proven to have a great effect on my life,” he said. “Winning the contest was a pleas-ant surprise. It’s great to know that others appreci-ate the work I’ve put into finding these books.”

Creative writing and English literature senior Justin Brouckaert won the $300 second prize with his collection “Flash Fiction.” Peter Stevens’ collec-

Summer has almost arrived, and with summer comes a music lover’s favorite time of year: fes-tival season.

This past week, the SVSU Program Board put on a series of events via Spring Fever, one of which was a free lecture by Vans Warped Tour founder Kevin Ly-man in the Malcolm Field The-atre.

The Vans Warped Tour is a yearly music festival featuring more than 70 bands from the al-ternative music scene. The sum-mer-long tour hits 40-plus states with anywhere from 15,000 to 25,000 people in attendance at each date.

Lyman visits about 15 to 20 universities a year.

The audience was shown an episode of the Vans Warped Tour TV show “Warped Roadies.” The show follows the lives of stage managers and set crews during

the entire summer. This gave stu-dents a glimpse into what Lyman deals with every summer.

Focusing mainly on what it takes to run a successful busi-ness, Lyman shared his 10 points of success which included “Don’t underestimate anyone, includ-ing yourself,” “Teaching is the best way to learn,” and classic wise words such as “Follow your gut.” He also recommended to always keep integrity for oneself and respect for others, as well as to make sure to be involved with

the local scene if one is to do busi-ness in a new city.

“You always read the local paper and drink the local beer,” Lyman said. “I learned that in Pittsburgh...If I would have read the local paper I would have read that the local steel mill closed that day. So the guys in the bar were not really celebrating, they were mourning the loss of their jobs.”

Both business majors and casual music lovers had a lot to take away from the lecture, as Lyman’s personality elicited a

strong response and many ques-tions from the crowd.

Program Board gave away gift bags that contained CDs of bands featured on the 2013 tour and essential Warped Tour items such as hand sanitizer, sun glass-es and water bottles.

Lyman also gave away two certificates that were good for four tickets and VIP passes to any date of the 2013 tour.

In a close margin, Douglas Boehm Jr. was elected President of Student Association of Michigan (SAM). The economics and finance sophomore will represent 15 public universities across Michigan as they lobby for various education issues in Lansing.

Boehm has been a member of SAM for a little over a year and has represented SVSU in monthly discussions about voter registration, university affairs, legislative research and open fo-rums. Boehm was nominated for the presidential position by Lake Superior State University and beat out Daniel LaForest from Michigan Tech.

Currently, 12 of the 15 SAM universities attend conferences. Boehm hopes to attract a larger presence from the missing three schools to create a stronger voice in the organization.

“As the voice of the association, I want to unify all of the student governments across the state, and make sure that we are all on the same page,” Boehm said.

One of the major issues Boehm hopes to work on during his term as president is tuition increases and lack of federal aid.

“Tuition has always been on a constant rise,” Boehm said. “It is my goal to fight for tuition decreases, and more federal aid for students that are need.”

Boehm hopes to be the voice of SVSU and bring many stu-dents’ concerns to the state level and appeal to legislators to make improvements in the education sector. With the help of his cabinet and other student representatives, Boehm hopes to improve higher education costs and alleviate the stress of large student loans, among other concerns and issues.

“A lot of universities right now have the same issues,” he said. “And it is our goal, as students, to fight together to fix these problems.”

Vanguard photo | Alyssa EllisKevin Lyman, founder of the Vans Warped Tour, spoke to students about the yearly music festival and how to run and support a successful business.

Vanguard photo | Amelia Brown Accounting senior Jason Schneider was awarded the $500 first prize for his book collection titled “Origami: The World of Folding Paper” at the 2013 Book Collection Contest.

Book collection contest awards student passions

Doug Boehm elected as SAM president

SVSU grad & campus faculty finish Boston Marathon before explosions

Spring Fever gets warped

By Dylan Powell Vanguard Staff Writer

By Marie Nesbitt Vanguard Staff Writer

By Rachel Stocki Vanguard Campus Editor

By Justin Brouckaert & Tyler Bradley Vanguard Editor-in-chief & A&E Editor

See BOOKS, A2

Vans Warped Tour founder shares “Tips for Success” with Spring Fever attendees

See BOSTON, A2

The Valley Vanguard valleyvanguardonline.com125 Curtiss Hall vanguard@svsu.edu

campus editors Brandy Abraham e-mail bmabraha@svsu.edu Rachel Stocki e-mail rlstocki@svsu.edu office (989) 964-4482

News coverage continued from page 1

Page A2| Monday, April 22, 2013 | valleyvanguardonline.com | The Valley Vanguard

jumpthe

Police briefs are written according to reports from University Police. These indicate preliminary descriptions of events and not necessarily actual incident

Property Damage• At 11:20 a.m. Thursday, April 11, a 21-year-

old male student struck the rear end of a 20-year-old female’s car while leaving campus on Bay Road and College Drive, causing minor damage.

Larceny• At 4:16 a.m. Friday, April 12, police were

called to Living Center South for a pos-sible M.I.P. party and a male who was possibly carrying a gun. Officers made contact with the 19-year-old female victim who advised police that she had been sleeping in her room when her friend and another unknown male came into her room. When they left, she discovered that her cell phone was missing. Officers made contact with the two people in another room and were able to locate the cell phone. The suspect, a 21-year-old non-student, did not have a gun on him.

• At 8:40 a.m. Friday, April 12, a 20-year-old male student reported that some-one had stolen his wallet a few weeks ago but was not sure from where it was stolen, although he believes it was from Living Center South.

• Between 1 p.m. and 3 p.m. Sunday, April 14, a 22-year-old male student was playing basketball in the fitness center when someone stole his cell phone.

• Between April 12 and 13, an 18-year-old male student reported that he had left his wallet on the coffee table in the main room of his dorm in Living Center North and noticed that it was missing the next day. He then contacted his bank and was told that somebody had withdrawn $1,300 near Detroit. The case is still under investigation.

• Between April 13 and 14, a 20-year-old female student reported that on the evening of April 13, she had a party in her University Village residence with 10 other people. Her room was unlocked at this time and she discovered after everyone had left that her iPod and $80 in cash had been taken. The case is still under investigation.

• At 8:18 p.m. Tuesday, April 16, two 18-year-old students and one 20-year-old student reported that at around 7 p.m., several items had gone missing from their room in Living Center South, including an XBOX and controller, two video games, shoes and textbooks. The case is still under investigation.

Fraudulent Activities• At 7:55 p.m. Tuesday, April 9, police

received a call from a staff member in Student Life that an unknown male had come in, obtained a video control-ler and video game, and had left an ID card. When the items weren’t returned, the person on the ID was contacted and told police that it had been previously stolen from him and that he had not taken out those items. The case is still under investigation.

Minor in Possession•At 3:45 p.m. Sunday, April 14, police were called over to Living Center Southwest to meet residential life for a loud-noise complaint. Contact was made with two people and police could smell alcohol. The case is being handled internally.•At 2:15 a.m. Friday, April 12, police were called for to Living Center Southwest to meet with the residential assistants and residential director for minor in posses-sion. They were making rounds when they saw three males who appeared to be intoxicated go into a room and then heard them inside talking about the RA. Contact was made with the one student and two non-students, where one student and one non-student received M.I.P.s.•At 5:55 a.m. Monday, April 15, police were called over to meet a custo-dial worker in the Student Center. The custodian had located a small baggie inside the student game room filled with marijuana. It is unclear who dropped it.

Vehicle Impound• At 11:30 p.m. Tuesday, April 16, police

were notified by parking services that a vehicle was illegally parked in the lot outside University Village West. The vehicle also had numerous open, unpaid tickets. The vehicle, believed to not belong to a student, was impounded.

the other direction for safety. She decid-ed to go back to her hotel, but wound up waiting in the lobby of another hotel.

“People were talking they had found more bombs in the hotel,” she said. “The talks got worse, and I figured at that time, I was stranded. People didn’t know what happened still at that time.”

“It was pretty scary knowing that we could have been in that situation,” Stone said. “We were kind of walking back toward that spot by the finish line. If we had run slower, if we were 45 min-utes back — it was pretty eye-opening to be in that situation.”

Stone said he was swamped with friends and family checking up on him.

“With everything on TV and get-ting Facebook updates and people call-ing me, it was kind of unreal to actually see it happening,” he said. “You see this stuff on TV, but to actually be a part of it is a whole other experience.”

Toni Boger, a 2012 SVSU gradu-ate, works for a tech company just out-side of Boston. She was working from home when the explosions happened, but normally commutes to 20 minutes away from the Copley Square, where the explosions took place.

She said the city seemed to come together quickly to respond to the crisis.

“Contrary to what a lot of stereo-types about people on the East Coast and Boston are, people are nice and they are helpful,” she said. “I’m not at all surprised that in the videos you see of what happened, you see people run-ning to help those who got caught.

“People are just nice. People are just helpful. There’s a sense of camara-derie in this city that’s unbelievable.”

Ray Deeren, a 2012 graduate, was one of several current and former SVSU students to travel to Boston for a nation-al writing conference this March. He said he was shocked to see the tragedy take place not far from where he stayed in Boston.

“I honestly don’t know what to say — I walked Boylston just over a month ago. I drank and ate at the bars

and cafes there. I heard poetry about hope read at the Old South Church,” he said. “One can sympathize when they see cities they’ve never been to and people they never met in pain. When it’s a place you’re personally familiar with, it’s beyond surreal. You think, ‘I passed people on that street. They were happy.’”

Police captured the second of the two suspects after a chase and the death of an MIT police officer, according to media reports. Police found him cov-ered in blood hiding under a boat in a Watertown resident’s backyard.

The other suspect died from inju-ries after the shootout between suspects and police.

Representatives of Mid-Michigan Multisport announced Tuesday that the group would hold a run4boston 5k in place of its Zombie Dash and Bash at 3 p.m., Saturday May 4, at the Mid-land Brewing Company, in Midland, with proceeds donated to victims of the bombings. For information or registra-tion visit midmichiganmultisport.com.

tion “Dave Eggers: A Student Book Collection” received the $200 third place prize.

Five other finalists were recog-nized for their efforts with Barnes & Noble gift cards.

Library Director Linda Farynk said the event showcases students’ in-terests in a unique way.

“I think it shows us in the library and the faculty another side to stu-dents,” she said. “What’s interesting about this contest is it shows people that there are still students who enjoy printed books, and they have nice sto-ries to tell about them.”

In order to compete in the contest, students have to have a collection of at least five books that fit with a connect-ing principle or theme.

Students must also submit an an-notated bibliography and a two- to three-page essay explaining how the collection developed and the ways the books fit together.

This year’s contest received 20-25 entries, which were then narrowed

down into a group of finalists by the Li-brary Committee. The committee con-sists of faculty members representing the colleges at SVSU.

The final winners are chosen after students set up a display of their collec-tions.

Schneider said origami has been important to him for a long time. He first started folding paper in elementa-ry school, and has continued learning on his own since then.

“Now, it has gotten to the point where I no longer need books to fold whatever subject I’d like to fold, yet I keep collecting books on origami by paper-folders from other countries be-cause it’s amazing how cultures can affect even such a simple thing as fold-ing paper into animals and shapes,” he said.

Farynk said collections are often based around what students are pas-sionate about.

“A lot of people don’t really think they’ve got a collection per say, but having them go through this process and putting things together, a lot of students realize maybe for the first time that they actually have a collec-tion,” she said. “They’ve been buying and collecting things on topics that in-

terest them.”Schneider said his interest in ori-

gami has continued over the years.“Seeing what and how someone

folds has proven to keep my creativ-ity alive and inspired,” he said. “I have stuck with origami as my hobby and art form because it is essentially creat-ing something out of nothing, and al-most 16 years later that still provides a thrill for me after turning countless squares of paper into anything I can imagine.”

Schneider believes the various subjects displayed in the contest allow students to see different views.

“It’s important for SVSU to have events surrounding different aspects of students’ lives because it gives every-one a chance to prove they’re unique,” he said. “Anyone you meet knows something that you don’t, and there-fore diverse events designed to allow students to show their specialty and discuss it with other interested minds is a great benefit to the college experi-ence.

“Events like this let everyone teach, and in turn everyone gets a chance to learn something new.”

policebriefs

Vanguard photo | Sean DudleyStudents navigated obstacle courses at Spring Fever Fest’s block party.

Vanguard photo | Sean DudleyAlso included at the Spring Fever Fest’s block party was a Velco wall.

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Justin Brouckaert, editor-in-chiefevan Poirier, design editorBrandy aBraham, campus editorrachel stocki campus editornoah essenmacher, copy editorchris oliver, sports editortyler Bradley, A&E editorsean dudley, photo editorchris oliver, web editor

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CorreCtions and additionsIf you see an error, please let us know as soon as possible by contacting editor-in-chief Justin Brouckaert at (989) 964-4482 or vanguard@svsu.edu. In addition to printing a correction in our print edition, the online version of the story will reflect the cor-rection.

about usSince 1967, The Valley Vanguard has provided coverage of campus and community happenings to students, faculty, staff and community residents. An online edition of the paper is available at valleyvanguardonline.com and is updated weekly during the fall and winter.

publishingThe Vanguard is published by the students of Saginaw Valley State University weekly in the fall and winter semesters, with one issue published in the summer. Our office is located in Curtiss 125 on the campus of SVSU, at 7400 Bay Road, University Center, MI, 48710.

advertisingAll advertising inquiries should be directed to Shannon Davis at skdavis3@svsu.edu or (989) 964-4248.

BOSTONcontinued from A1

BOOKScontinued from A1

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News and events from on and around campus

The Valley Vanguard | valleyvanguardonline.com | Monday, April 22, 2013 | Page A3

courtyardthe

Debut novel ‘Starved’ educates on eating disorder dangers, gender assumptions

Howze aspires to help boost Detroit’s restoration

With nice weather finally on the horizon, Program Board is ready to get students out of their dorms and into the sun.

Spring Fever Fest came from a combination of several preexisting events that were bundled together to create one complete week. Instead of bringing Street Fest to SVSU this year, a dif-ferent direction was decided upon because of expected poor weather. Instead, Program Board decided to have multiple events strung together to create a cohesive week.

Starting last Monday, events included a ‘90s night, a showing of “Troll 2,” a lecture by Warped Tour’s founder Kevin Lyman and a glow party to finish off the block party Friday night.

The week has been in development for months. The block party had been in the plan-ning stages in February and guests like Lyman has been booked since last semester.

Communication sophomore Brittany Flowers, who is the programmer for Residents Housing Association and the president elect for Program Board, has been working hard to bring the Spring Fever Fest to campus suc-cessfully. One of her goals was to get as many councils involved from different living areas as possible. Not only was she trying to get RSOs

to participate, but older students as well. “We’re really trying to get the upperclass-

man to come on out,” Flowers said. “Cause freshmen are like ‘Yeah! Free stuff!’ but the up-perclassmen are all like ‘Ooh Netflix. I’d rather be in my dorm’. So we want to get everyone outside! It’s the end of the year and we may as well celebrate everyone working so hard.”

Flowers believes that events like the Spring Fever Fest are perfect for residents because it gives them chances to makes new friends and meet people who could be important later on in their academic or working careers.

“It helps residents a lot,” Flowers said. “It gives them an outlet to hang out with friends without having to go off campus. Also, stu-dents from all different organizations are able to talk and network with each other in ways they wouldn’t have thought of previously.”

Around 300 people came out for ‘90s night, which was filled with games and food that represented the decade. Just like the artists and pop culture that were celebrated, the event was just as popular as ever. The turnout was bigger than expected and boasted even more attendees than last year.

History senior Tony Cianciolo witnessed the success of ‘90s night and thought there was something fun and interesting for everyone.

“It was fantastic,” Cianciolo said. “People loved the life size bingo, but the real winner of the night was the ‘face in the hole’ pictures.

They superimpose your face on top of famous people. People were lining up for that all day. Space Jam was also huge.”

The block party ended the Spring Fever Fest with multiple RSOs bringing different events to the table. With inflatables, obstacle courses, a spinning machine called the Gyro and a dunk tank, there was more than enough for every student to enjoy.

Flowers not only enjoys seeing events like these be successful, but also uses the experi-ence of planning the events to help her reach her career goals in the future.

“It was great for me personally because I would love to get into event planning,” Flow-ers said. “It’s just good to talk to someone who’s been doing it for a long time. It was great to pick (Lyman’s) brain because he was so cool. He loved talking to the students.”

In the end, weeks like Spring Fever Fest are for the students to be able to have fun and help them take their minds away from the stressful exams coming in the next week.

“If we didn’t have events like these, what would students do?” Cianciolo said. “They would just go home and watch television. I think they need to get out and do something constructive. Socializing in a positive way is a good way for students to get out there and hav-ing fun.”

Challenge Detroit is an intensive fellowship program committed to the revitalization of the city of Detroit. Thirty young leaders are invited to live and work in the city for one year as they work with several nonprofit organizations who are committed to restoring Detroit.

One of SVSU’s own has the chance to become one of these leaders. Lynd-sei Howze, a social work senior is nearing the end of the five-phase applica-tion process and eager to start her work with Challenge Detroit.

The Detroit native is passionate about her hometown and is ready to be a part of history as she works to revitalize the great city.

“Nothing gives me more pleasure than the idea of restoring the city that raised me,” Howze said. “I truly believe in the power that comes when pas-sionate, innovative thinkers come together to put their ideas into action. I see a future where education will improve, jobs will be created and Detroit will become a more desirable place to live. Residents won’t have to leave to find opportunity because it will be in their backyards.”

Howze’s road to becoming a Challenge Detroit fellow began back in Jan-

uary. In the first phase she submitted a character statement introducing herself and proving why she is passionate and committed to the efforts of Challenge Detroit. She was then invited to continue on and make a short video about why she should be selected, then voted on by the community. \

Howze is now in the midst of awaiting the results of the community vote, and if she is selected to move on, will begin the formal interview stage before she can be officially selected as a fellow.

Those who are selected will then team up with several Detroit-area non-profits, including United Way, Team Detroit, Beaumont and Marketplace Homes. Howze is most interested in working with the Detroit Parent Net-work, which empowers parents to make Detroit a better place for their chil-dren to live and go to school.

“I believe that initial socialization begins in the home and I know that parenting can have an everlasting impact on children,” Howze said.

Challenge Detroit presents Howze and other young leaders the oppor-tunity to put their ideas into action and create a better future for the city, and in effect, the state of Michigan. For more information about Challenge Detroit and to follow Howze’s progress, visit challengedetroit.org.

Local author and Delta and SVSU professor, Michael Somers, opened up about his debut novel “Starved.”

“Starved” follows the story of 17-year-old Nathan Thomas, a high school senior who develops anorexia and bulimia to cope with the pressures of school and a dysfunctional home. The novel follows Nathan on his journey through an eating disorders treatment program and reminds readers that boys get eating disorders, too.

Somers as an author, speaker, consultant and educa-tor, spoke with students from five English 098 and 103 classes combined, discussing eating disorder awareness and survival and answering questions about his own struggles with the same eating disorders.

Somers explained that eating disorders are serious and they don’t just come from the cultural message to “be skinny.”

“One of the biggest (misconceptions) I have come across is claiming that they do not have ‘eating disor-ders’ but that they just need to eat,” he said.

Somers said that these are issues that can become life threatening, and he hopes people understand that through “Starved” and its characters.

Instructor of English Patricia Kilbourn Haller said she feels it is important to know where books come from.

“It is important for students to see how ideas cre-ated in someone’s mind appear in a book,” she said. “It is the journey of the writer telling their story.”

Both Killbourn Haller and Gillan Markey, a lecturer of English, agreed that the joining of reading and writing is very important.

“We take those connections and work with them,” Killbourn Haller said. “Reading is one hand and writing is another.”

Kilbourn Haller, Markey, and fellow lecturer of English, Ruth Copp, helped organized the event.

Somers said that his novel is for others as well as for himself. “Starved,” although fictional, was inspired by real life events.

As a writer, Somers said he reflected on what could actually happen in these situations and made them part of the complexity of the story. This included the charac-ter “George,” who is Nathan’s father in “Starved.”

“My childhood was not at all perfect, but George is not my dad,” he said. “George is a composite.”

Somers recalled the saying, “Asking a writer how much their work is biographical is like asking a spider where they get their thread.”

Communications freshman DeQuan Hill said that the family dynamic in “Starved” really interested him.

“I learned that your parents not being there, not just financially but personally, can really affect you,” Hill said.

Somers shared with the students that he was hospi-talized two times during his adolescence.

“If I never experienced it, then I would have never had the urge to write it,” he said.

One student asked Somers what he would change about his life during that time if he could go back.

“I would like to think I would be proactive,” he said. Somers said that he wanted to bring to everyone’s

attention the assumptions of gender that are attached to eating disorders. He explains that during his own hospi-talization he was hospitalized with mostly girls.

“I realized that they weren’t any different than me,” he said. “Eating disorders are eating disorders.”

He said that what saved him in the end was being a goal-orientated person, a role he has continued to hold throughout his life.

Somers is a foster parent to a seven-year-old and said that he always tries to inspire him in ways that Somers himself missed out on as a child.

“I want him to be the best person he can be,” he said. “I was never encouraged in writing and artistry so I want to do that for him.”

Somers is currently working on a sequel for “Starved,” currently untitled, which will hopefully be published by November or December 2013 or early 2014.

Jumping into spring with ‘90s fever

By Marie NesbittVanguard Staff Writer

By Matt OstranderVanguard Columnist

By Brandy AbrahamVanguard Campus Editor

Students who love history were given the op-portunity to share information about subjects they are passionate about.

Last Tuesday, the History Club hosted its first annual student speaker series. The student-led event allowed history students to give an academic pre-sentation to assist in preparing them for future en-deavors involving history. Three students presented topics that pertained to their particular interests.

By presenting topics in an academic setting, club president and history senior Jeremy Killion said the club wanted to do a professional presentation to help students going forward in the history field.

“We wanted to put on an event that gives stu-dents in the history program a chance to gain some good experience presenting topics,” Killion said. “In graduate school as well as in other areas of aca-demia, students will be expected to put on similar presentations and discuss their work and research.”

History senior Jonathon Bennett kicked off the speaker series with his presentation on the Sagi-naw Valley Lumber Boom. Bennett’s presentation detailed the history behind people traveling to the

Saginaw Valley area and sparking the rise of Sagi-naw and Bay City.

History and creative writing sophomore Han-nah Meyer spoke second, talking about the history of the creation and eventual sinking of the Titanic. Meyer described several details pertaining to the construction of the Titanic, the media’s claim that it was “unsinkable” and the ship’s first and final voy-age.

Killion rounded out the series with his presen-tation about common misconceptions in history. He listed different topics that are commonly mistaken and explained the origins of the mistakes and why some are so frequently stated as facts.

Killion said he chose this particular topic be-cause of how often he hears wrong information passed off as fact on an everyday basis.

“I can’t really pin down exactly when I decided to talk about historical misconceptions,” he said. “But when you’re into history and you hear these things all of the time, you’re inspired to kind of set the record straight.”

Both students and faculty were present at the event and enjoyed the wealth of knowledge pre-sented by Bennett, Meyer and Killion. Associate professor of history Jules Gehrke emphasized that going forward, students in history need to be able to

demonstrate their knowledge in their specific topics. “I am impressed by the initiative each of the

students displayed in developing expertise in a specific area and then sharing it with the wider uni-versity community and public,” Gehrke said. “A critical point for students choosing graduate study is coming to understand their disciplines as fabrics continuously woven by the research, interpretations and conclusions of a variety of scholars.

“The presenters have come to this point, and with a new appreciation of the complexity of their topics, are well-positioned to conduct ongoing re-search and critical analysis.”

Students also talked about how much they learned getting to hear from students specializing in certain topics.

“I was impressed with the whole event as a whole, but in particular (Hannah) Meyer’s presenta-tion on the Titanic was very interesting because of all the details and facts she presented,” said history education sophomore Kyle Noel. “There were a number of things I would have never known per-taining to the construction and sinking of the ship.”

Even students not going into a history-related field said they enjoyed the presentations.

“I found the whole event to be pretty interest-ing, especially the presentation about the history of

lumbering in Michigan and Saginaw,” said Spanish senior Michael Garontakos. “You don’t normally get to hear about local history like that so it was a nice change of pace.”

Killion stated that the SVSU History Club is looking to make the speaker series an annual event. With the turnout and support for Tuesday’s speaker series, he hopes that more people can find interest in history as well as get involved with the History Club.

“We are dedicated to making history accessible and available to a larger audience,” Killion said. “We want to provide students within the depart-ment with more opportunities with networking and faculty input while letting others interested in his-tory learn more.”

With events like the speaker series, Killion hopes to expand the opportunities for history stu-dents going forward.

“We’ve had pretty good feedback in regards to this first event,” Killion said. “The club would love to keep it going along with some of our other proj-ects like the Saginaw Valley Journal of History.”

Vanguard photo | Sean DudleyStudents play a game of Jenga as part of Spring Fever Fest’s ‘90s night.

Vanguard photo | Sean Dudley ‘90s night included life size bingo and popular food from the decade.

History Club’s first annual speaker series highlights student researchBy Chris OliverVanguard Sports Editor

editor-in-chief Justin Brouckaert office (989) 964-4482 e-mail jjbrouck@svsu.edu

Page A4| Monday, April 22, 2013 | valleyvanguardonline.com | The Valley Vanguard

opinion

The Valley Vanguard valleyvanguardonline.com125 Curtiss Hall vanguard@svsu.edu

Editorial Cartoon

Rashad Baiyasi is a physics and chemistry senior and the Vanguard’s cartoonist. Reach him at ribaiyas@svsu.edu.

There are some weeks where the world seems to strike us speechless, and this

has certainly been a week that has done just that. A combination of both the news across the globe and personal events within my own life seem to have conspired to drive me to write a very uninspired or tragic article. However, that is not the kind of column I have any desire to write for you this week.

Instead, I want to make a personal call out to each and every one on this campus who reads The Valley Vanguard. I want to ask each and every one of you to make a change in the way you think about the world. I want each and every one of you who reads this to the end to take something away from it that can benefit you for the rest of your life if you simply start striving to make a change today.

First, I want to ask everyone to avoid becoming a part of the rumor mill. Whether it involves a national event or simply something going on among your group of peers, it is time to stop doing so now. Noth-ing about it is funny, doing it will almost never better your current standing in life, and all it serves to accomplish is to damage those around you or lead to the spread of misinformation and a lack of proper education on current events throughout the community. If you do not have anything that you are certain is true to share in conversa-tion, it is never a reason to make

something up.Second, I plead to all my read-

ers to take a look around them and recognize the strength of the bonds they share with those around them. Ask yourself if the relationships you have with your friends, family, and even your acquaintances have been reciprocal. If this inward looking reveals to you are taking more from your loved ones then you are giving back to them, then you should take the soonest opportunity to thank them for everything they have been doing for you and seek to change your ways. Those who take far more from others than they give back are doomed to burn all their bridges in the long run.

Third, I will make a call that I have made often before to remem-ber what is truly important in the wake of tragedies like the one that occurred in Boston just last week. As individuals and as a nation, let us each remember it as an event in which many innocent lives were lost and mourn those that died. Those that attempt to find a government conspiracy or focus all their atten-tion upon the perpetrator of this terrible act have placed their focus on the entirely wrong area.

Humor should not be found in this tragedy even though the digital age have found an anonymous way to make such dark and twisted attempts at comedy possible within minutes of the event’s occurrence. Allow the senseless destruction to end in the realm of the physical world before we destroy the true moral mentality that we all should hold and before the memories of those that passed away that day are left in the dust while we follow the perpetrator in the news for the following year.

Finally, I want to ask each and every student at Saginaw Valley State University to make the most out of their college experience while they have it. Enjoy the time you spend here and relish what may seem like the ‘hard’ life of a college student. If you don’t start treasur-ing each moment now, you may

just wake up some day to find that your entire college experience has passed you by and you have made absolutely nothing of it. If you see a student organization on campus that you just don’t seem to have time for, procrastinate a little bit less and schedule yourself a little bit better. A wise student would make the time to find a group of peers on campus. Anything you have even begun to consider doing to better your college experience (within reasonable limits; nothing you have to say YOLO before doing is smart) you should go out and do as soon as you return in the fall or before final exams if it is possible.

Ultimately, we are to be the next generation that comes to represent our world and the values it stands behind. You can either work to change the world for the better or you can just blend in with the crowd. Following this guide will make you a better candidate for molding the future of our world and even simply will lead you to live a far more enjoyable life. I hope you take my words to heart and adopt them into your life.

In the words of the great journalist Edward Murrow, “This instrument can teach, it can illumi-nate; yes, and it can even inspire. But it can do so only to the extent that humans are determined to use it to those ends.”

Beyond the ValleyLearning from the tragedy at the Boston Marathon

By Gerhardt SchuetteVanguard Columnist

Gerhardt Schuette is a secondary education junior. Reach him at gjschuet@svsu.edu.

Letter to the EditorColumn

PoliciesLetters may be edited for content, grammar and length. Letters containing abusive content will not be published. Letters should be sent to The Valley Vanguard and no other publication.

Letters for publication must be no longer than 350 words. Students writing letters must include their major and class standing. All others must provide a title or job description.

We do not publish open letters, news releases, public postings or notices of any kind.

Justin Brouckaert, editor-in-chiefBrian Hlavaty, adviserBrandy Abraham, Campus EditorTyler Bradley, A&E EditorChris Oliver, Sports editorNoah Essenmacher, Copy editor

Editorial Board, April 2013

Permanent memBers

Editorial board meetings take place Sunday evenings during the fall and winter semesters.

University students, faculty and staff are encouraged to share their views with the Vanguard.

meeting times

tHe vanguard vision The Vision is written by the vanguard editor-in-chief in collaboration with the newspaper’s adviser and editorial staff.

columns and commentaries Columns and commentaries do not represent the views of the Vanguard staff. Opinions are solely those of the individual.

How to suBmit

letters and oP-ed PoliciestHe valley vanguard

lettersSend letters to vanguard@svsu.edu or visit our submission form at valleyvanguardonline.com.

oP-edWe accept op-eds from faculty and staff on any topic. Interested parties should e-mail editor-in-chief Justin Brouckaert at vanguard@svsu.edu to arrange an op-ed.

RELIGIOUS COUNSELINGChristian counseling/Life coaching - Relationships, stress, addiction, more. Call Larry Hoard B.A. 989-842-3982. christianlifecoaching.net.

Visit valleyvanguardonline.com for more opinion articles:

Information Technology Services (ITS) would like to thank Matt Ostrander for his April 15 Vanguard article titled: “Technology on campus has room for improve-ment.” As with anything, there will be opportunities to improve; and that is some-thing ITS will strive for in its commitment to partner with the campus community to provide exemplary service and support.

Our commitment will be seen in new initiatives that will improve upon and resolve many of the items mentioned in Mr. Ostrander’s article. Here is a short list of commitments to the campus community:

• A new call center solution that will allow us to better track and address issues in a timely manner; as well as, improve communication about campus IT is-sues/projects/etc.

• A new print management strategy that will include web printing from your own device to various print release stations throughout campus.

• A new tool called LabMaps will provide online access to view the availabil-ity of computers in the Open Labs (you can find this now at: www.svsu.edu/com-puterlabs).

• Strengthen and improve support provided by student lab employees; pro-viding them training and tools to better assist you, and to resolve issues that occur in the labs.

ITS takes your feedback seriously, and we need the campus community to part-ner with us. We encourage everyone to report any technology issues, or concerns, as they occur. Please contact the ITS Support Center at 989-964-4225, or send email support@svsu.edu.

Mike HollidayManager, Information Technology Services Support Center

“Collecting vinyl: The benefits of picking up a new old hobby”By Landon Defever

“Minimum wage increases not necessarily beneficial for all”By Joey Oliver

Dear Valley Vanguard,

My hopes are crushed and spirits are wavered as the Battle of the Bands from April 6 was omit-ted from the Valley Vanguard on now two occa-sions.

While we did receive a preview article that we greatly appreciated, we were surprised to find out that no follow-up occurred post Battle of the Bands.I’m not mad, just disappointed because the people in my organization did not get their cur-tain call for this event and they deserve one.

10 people collectively worked together and accomplished something great on April 6.

Steve Ingham, Landon Defever, Rebekah Wachner, Lucy Kalinowski, Will Yates, Scott Anderson, Wade Westfall, Laura Riley, Emelia An-spach and Jeff Neracher juggled their academics and other affairs on top of collecting insurance, placing t-shirts orders, acquiring food and alloca-tions for the event.

Middle Children of History, Passage to India, Last Night Saved My Life, The White Oranges and Giraffe Attack put on a show for over 100 SVSU students and non-students alike and tore the roof off of the TSAR.

Our adviser Merry Jo Brandimore helped us with all the contracts and legalities to make sure everything was kosher. Campus facilities made our dream a reality with the two stage layout we wanted. Work n’ Progress gave us an improv goody-bag to be auctioned off. Valley Nights came and helped out with snacks. Plus, Program Board allocated us money to cover band insurance.

All proceeds went to the Rainbow Connec-tion, an organization that grants wishes for sick children and children with life threatening ill-nesses.

In three hours the SVSU community helped raise $967 for that cause.

I need a new word that Oxford or Webster has not yet discovered to put into words the emotion that I feel when it comes to those people in my organization.

They say you may not be able to pick the ones you want to go into battle with.

I would go into another Battle of the Bands with this group any day of the week.

Sto lat,

Aaron ZaremskiPresident of Cardinal Radio

Letter to the Editor

sports editor Chris Oliver office (989) 964-2629 e-mail cgoliver@svsu.edu

Page A5 | Monday, April 22, 2013 | valleyvanguardonline.com | The Valley Vanguard

sports

The Valley Vanguard valleyvanguardonline.com125 Curtiss Hall vanguard@svsu.edu

Defensive miscues lead to series losses at Walsh

White’s defense sparks 28-14 win

Provisional marks grabbed at multiple meets

FOOTBALL

Baseball•Wednesday,April24,vs.Hillsdale

College,2p.m.,UniversityCenter•Wednesday,April24,vs.Hillsdale

College,4p.m.,UniversityCenter•Saturday,April27,vs.WayneState

University,1p.m.,UniversityCenter•Saturday,April27,vs.WayneState

University,3p.m.,UniversityCenter•Sunday,April28,vs.WayneState

University,12p.m.,UniversityCenter

Softball•Tuesday,April23,vs.Ashland

University,3p.m.,UniversityCenter•Tuesday,April23,vs.Ashland

University,5p.m.,UniversityCenter•Wednesday,April24,vs.FerrisState

University,3p.m.,Saginaw•Wednesday,April24,vs.FerrisState

University,5p.m.,Saginaw•Friday,April26,vs.LakeSuperior

StateUniversity,3p.m.,UniversityCenter

•Friday,April26,vs.LakeSuperiorStateUniversity,5p.m.,UniversityCenter

•Saturday,April27,@NorthwoodUniversity,1p.m.,Midland

•Saturday,April27,@NorthwoodUniversity,3p.m.,Midland

•Sunday,April28,@HillsdaleCollege,12p.m.,Hillsdale

•Sunday,April28,@HillsdaleCollege,

2:30p.m.,Hillsdale

Golf•Saturday,April27,@GLIACPreview

Tournament,Bath

Men’s Track•Saturday,April27,@LyleBennett

Open,CentralMichiganUniversity,MountPleasant

Women’s Track•Saturday,April27,@LyleBennett

Open,CentralMichiganUniversity,MountPleasant

sportsbriefs

Lacrosse club looks for playoff berth

By Joey OliverVanguard Staff Writer

By Chris OliverVanguard Sports Editor

By Hannah MeyerVanguard Staff Writer

By Chris OliverVanguard Sports Editor

The baseball team dropped two out of three games against Walsh University last weekend.

Sunday, the Cardinals came into the bottom of the ninth inning up 3-1 before the Cavaliers rallied, scoring two runs to tie and send the game into extra innings. In the bottom of the 10th, Walsh scored an unearned run to take the series.

“Errors and defense have been our Achilles heel this season,” said senior catcher Chet La-Fave. “It seems like we commit every error at the wrong time, when the game is on the line and we just can’t finish.”

Heading into the ninth inning with a one-run lead, senior third baseman Andy Orr sin-gled to left, scoring freshman second baseman Dylin Eschenburg to give the SVSU bullpen some insurance.

It wasn’t enough to stop the Cavaliers.

Following a stellar pitching performance from senior right-hander Mike Schaaf, fellow se-nior Justin Drzewicki came in to close the game out. Drzewicki ended up walking three and giv-ing up three hits, leading to the Cavaliers’ three-run comeback.

Schaaf pitched eight innings, striking out five, walking four and giving up one run.

“It’s tough because Mike (Schaaf) really went out there and pitched a gem today,” La-Fave said. “We just need to really focus on de-fense and start making plays on the defensive end.”

SVSU split Saturday’s double-header against Walsh University, losing 4-2 in the first game before winning the offensively explosive 13-10 second game. The first game featured a solid pitching performance from senior right-hander Carson Beauchaine. Beauchaine struck out 10 batters, walked two and gave up three runs in the losing effort. Offensively, the Car-

dinals were capable of getting men on base, but ultimately unable to drive them in, leaving nine on base in total.

The second game proved to be far more im-pressive for the Cardinals offense. In the sev-enth inning SVSU scored seven runs, including a three-run blast from senior outfielder Kyle O’Boyle to seal the deal for the Cardinals. Both teams combined for 28 hits and six players for SVSU had runs-batted in.

“It was the craziest game I’ve ever played in or seen,” LaFave said. “We knew it was a must-win game and every time they scored a bunch of runs we’d come out and do the same.

“Then Kyle (O’Boyle) hit his monster home run and put it out of reach.”

So far this season, the Cavaliers have taken four out of five games from the Cardinals.

Last Wednesday, the Cardinals lost 12-5 to the rival Grand Valley State Lakers in Allen-dale. Following a six-run second inning, the

Cardinals were unable to put the fire out on the mound, despite fighting back and scoring runs of their own. Game two of the double-header was rained out.

The losses drop SVSU to a record of 11-18 on the season, 9-10 in GLIAC play, good for sixth place in the conference.

“We are definitely not where we want to be,” LaFave said. “But we need to stay focused, improve our defense and go to work in this final stretch.”

The Cardinals will be back on the diamond on Wednesday, April 24, when they host Hills-dale College for a double-header at 2 p.m. and 4 p.m. Hillsdale comes in with an overall record of 15-21.

With only a handful of games sched-uled for the remainder of the season, the men’s lacrosse club is looking to make a playoff push.

Sunday, the team improved its record to 8-2 on the season with a 14-5 victory over the University of Michigan – Flint. With most of the team’s season cut short due to inclement weather, most of the players are just happy to be on the field and be in the playoff hunt.

“It’s been fun getting out onto the field and winning, especially getting to play on the football field,” said first-year club member Jeffry Wood. “It’s been great getting to play on turf and enjoying a field that doesn’t flood.”

The team has enjoyed multiple home games in Wickes Stadium this season. Club members say that playing on the football field has brought new faces into the crowd and has improved the team’s relationship with the athletic department.

“We really appreciate the athletic de-partment letting us use the field a lot this year,” said assistant coach John Brand. “We really can’t thank them enough for the help they’ve given us in using the Ry-der for practice time and the football field for games.”

Looking forward, the lacrosse club plays a final home game against Akron on Saturday, April 27. Due to the shortened season, club president Patrick Gross said it’s a game the team must win.

“It’s basically a situation where we win or go home,” Gross said. “They’ve

got a good team, but we’ve had some suc-cess this year too and as long as we don’t think about it and stay loose, we’ll do well.”

Going up against Akron, the team is both hoping to play its best but knows that the shortened season hasn’t given it the most opportunities to shine against quality opponents.

“We really haven’t had the toughest run this season,” said second-year club member Ben Kovalcik. “Our two losses were to probably our toughest opponents, but at the same time, we’ve progressed and gotten better as the season has gone on.”

While the team’s two losses have come to solid teams, the lacrosse club’s victories include quality wins over higher-conference opponents.

“We’ve beaten two MCLA (Men’s Collegiate Lacrosse Association) teams this year,” Gross said. “Technically they are a tier above us in talent, but we’ve played well against those opponents.”

Coming down to the final stretch, club members believe they can beat Ak-ron and move forward into the conference playoffs.

“I’d say we’re healthy and hungry, which is what we need to be if we want to go deep into the playoffs,” Gross said. “We’ve had a ton of younger, newer guys stepping it up during the short season and we’ve been leaning on our veterans from the start.”

With a win against Akron, the club will move on to the conference bracket to take on the defending champions Cincin-nati Bearcats.

The track and field team stretched its wings under the California sky this weekend as select members of the men’s and women’s track and field teams took part in three separate track meets.

The first meet to take place was the 2013 Mt. SAC Relays where one lone Cardinal competed.

Senior Tyler Grob took eighth place in the two-day decathlon with a total score of 6,560, earning him an NCAA Division II Provisional Qualifying Mark. Grob would finish first in the 1500-meter portion with a time of 4:40.73 and finished second placed in the 400-meter dash

portion with a time of 50.98 seconds.On April 19, the men and women of the

track and field team competed on day one of the 2013 Bryan Clay Invitational hosted by Azusa Pacific University in Whittier, Calif.

On the men’s side, senior Gareth Gose fin-ished second in the 3000-meter steeplechase competition with a time of 9:30.10 while sopho-more Drew Meylan placed second in his section of the 1500-meter run.

Senior David Ray gained an NCAA Divi-sion II Provisional Qualifying time of 14.31 sec-onds in the 110 meter hurdles, finishing in fourth place. In the 5000-meter run, senior Joey Burelle would place second with a time of 15:13.17.

Sophomore Travis Toye placed fourth in the

third head of the 800-meter run and senior Josh Arnold would finish second in the fourth head of the same run.

On the women’s side, the 4x100-meter relay consisting of junior Shavonne Roberson, fresh-man Yanisha Edwards, freshman Kim Balls, and junior Diamond Taylor finished first with a time of 47.17 seconds.

Edwards would go on to place first in the fourth heat of the 200-meter dash with a time of 25.08 seconds. Taylor would finish in third place for the 400-meter dash with a time of 56.27 sec-onds.

The 4x400-meter relay compiled of Taylor, freshman Taylor Stepanski, freshman Ola Hen-dler, and Roberson finished in third place with

a time of 3:53.52.This would lead into day two, on April 20,

when the student-athletes returned to finish up their times.

Athletes were also scheduled to compete in the Cal State Invitational, but authorities evacu-ated the whole campus after receiving a bomb threat and the meet was canceled.

You can show your support for the men’s and women’s teams when they return this Sat-urday, April 27, for the Lyle Bennett Open at Central Michigan University.

Fans filed into Wickes Stadium on Saturday to watch the SVSU football team play its annual Red vs. White spring game.

Red kicked off the scoring when sophomore quarterback Joe Boisture con-nected with senior wide-out Jeff Janis on a three-yard strike. Janis was a major part of the Cardinals’ offense last year, having averaged nearly 150 yards per game and hauling in 17 touchdown receptions.

In response, senior starting quarter-back Jon Jennings led team White’s of-fense down the field. The drive stalled before sophomore kicker Scott Stanford connected on a 22-yard field goal. At the end of the first quarter, the score was 7-5, Red team, after team White was awarded a two-point safety on a holding penalty in the end-zone.

In the second quarter, a fumble gave team Red the ball in enemy territory. This allowed Boisture to show off his arm again, connecting once more with Janis, this time on a 31-yard strike to extend their lead to 14-5.

Freshman quarterback Keith Moore relieved Jennings and showed what he could do by quickly finding junior re-

ceiver Michael Albrecht. The 19-yard strike made it a two-point game. Things continued to go the way of team White as they kicked two field goals, capitalizing off from a short punt and an intercepted pass with just under 30 seconds left in the first half. At the break the score was 18-14, team White.

Team White extended its lead to 21-14 following Stanford’s fourth field goal of the game. The second half was low

scoring until the fourth quarter when sophomore defensive back Major Metcalf picked off a pass and returned it 33 yards for a team White touchdown. The score would hold at 28-14, team White.

Despite not playing more than just a few early series, Jennings was happy to be back out on the field.

“It was really exciting to be back out there,” he said. “It was exciting to see what some of the young guys could do.

“It was a really fun atmosphere and it was just a really good time.”

Jennings added that he was happy to see how successful the offense was on Saturday.

“The offense looked good and we were able to score a lot of points,” he said. “Usually in the spring games the defense is a step ahead but we were able to put up some points.”

The success of Jennings’ favorite tar-get, Janis was also something to get ex-cited about.

“We’ve been on the same page in spring practice,” he said. “He’s tremen-dous and really makes it easy for me.

“The chemistry has been there all spring.”

Jennings described the team’s chem-istry as strong and notes the excitement to begin the season.

“We’re trying to build a family,” he said. “On the team, we’re a bunch of brothers and we’re just really excited to play for each other this year.”

SVSU’s fall camp opens in early Au-gust. The season opener for the Cards will be on the road as they travel to Northwest Missouri State to play Sep. 5.

Vanguard file photo

Junior quarterback Jonathon Jennings started all 11 games for the Cardinals in 2012. His 27 touchdown passes helped lead SVSU to an 8-3 record.

TRACK & FIELD

BASEBALL

MEN’S LACROSSE

The Valley Vanguard valleyvanguardonline.com125 Curtiss Hall vanguard@svsu.edu

A&E Editor Tyler Bradley officE (989) 964-4482 E-mAil tsbradl1@svsu.edu

Page A6 | Monday, April 22, 2013 | valleyvanguardonline.com | The Valley Vanguard

a e&

It’s not just a play. It’s an experience. The Whistling Idiots Dinner Theatre’s production en-

titled “Fox on the Fairway” is described as a tribute to the farces of the 1940s. It takes audience members on a hilarious adventure at a country club.

Two rival country clubs find themselves competing in a tournament, and all sorts of drama ensues.

Relationship issues surface and characters go behind each other ’s backs, which cast members said keeps the audi-ence captivated.

Jennifer Wilk, a 2009 theater and graphic design gradu-ate who is also part of the show, said the show involves more humor than sports.

“Whether you like golf or not, I guarantee you will laugh throughout the show,” Wilk said.

“It’s like watching a sitcom right in front of you,” said Erin Holm, a 2010 theater graduate and actress.

Holm plays the role of Muriel, who is the wife of Henry Bingham.

She said it is a fun role to play because Muriel has a way of always making things go wrong and tends to fall in love with people other than her husband.

Both Holm and Wilk said they are pleased to have such a great audience.

Wilk said it’s not the size of the audience that matters, but rather how it responds. She is happy to see that members seem to enjoy the show just as much as the cast enjoys per-forming it.

“The audience is not afraid to interact with you,” she said. “It adds so much.”

Wilk plays a quirky character named Pamela. She said she hasn’t been in many comedies, which is why she’s en-joyed being a part of this production so far.

As an undergrad, she was often involved in the univer-sity’s productions, whether her role was on or off stage.

The stage is her home, and she said her experience in theater has made her who she is.

“It’s a type of escape while challenging yourself as a per-son,” Wilk said.

Holm said she has grown from this production, as well, and her experience as a theater undergrad has helped her learn to work with all sorts of people.

“It’s all about how you collaborate,” Holm said. “It’s just really powerful and exhilarating while you’re onstage.”

Wilk said she works with a great cast who works well together to make the production a success.

“Everyone’s going to bring something different to the show,” Wilk said. “And that’s what gives the show its depth.”

The show was performed the last two weekends and will also be performed on April 26, 27 and May 3, 4, 10 and 11 at the Whistling Idiots Comedy Dinner Theatre in Bay City.

Guests can make an evening out of it, with a cash bar starting at 5:45 p.m., dinner at 6 p.m. and the show beginning at 7:30 p.m.

For ticket information and directions to the theater visit whistlingidiots.com.

“I can’t tell you my secret.”That was fifth-year creative writing major,

Emily Gennrich’s response when asked about her poem “She Told Me Her Teeth Were Preg-nant Once.”

That poem and another one were published in Cardinal Sins’ recent fall issue, and she has also been accepted into the winter issue that’s coming out Monday, April 22.

These poems are the culmination of a writ-ing process that began with a random creative writing class Gennrich took a few years ago.

“It was amazing,” she said. “I was still real-ly bad though. I was bad until this year, really.”

Gennrich continued to take more classes and write but didn’t feel confident in submitting her work.

“It was a big first step for me just to submit to Sins,” she acknowledged. “I’d had writer’s block for a long time before that. Getting pub-lished definitely helped that.”

Despite Gennrich’s uncertainty about her own talent, the Sins editors were completely confident.

She’d never submitted before being pub-lished in the fall and had been asked before to enter pieces.

Regardless, Gennrich described hearing that she’d been published as a complete surprise.

“I was kinda like…I was kinda shocked,” she said. “It was one of those ‘I figure I’ll give this a shot’ and submitted five minutes before the deadline. It was really unexpected.”

For the poem form itself, Gennrich said she likes it because it can be less structured and stressful.

She doesn’t think she uses a very long or complicated process of editing and revisions to get a poem.

“You know when you’re meditating and you aren’t supposed to think anything, but the thoughts come anyway,” she said. “I take those thoughts and use them. Make them into poems.”

She also appreciates the creative process that the reader brings to the piece.

She said everyone she’s shown “She Told Me Her Teeth Were Pregnant Once” to has a dif-ferent interpretation.

“That’s their process, and I don’t want to take that away,” she said.

For new projects she working on right now, Gennrich has begun experimenting with prose poems.

She is involved with Cardinal Ink and en-joys trying out new pieces with the feedback of the group.

For a taste of her prose poetry, her bio at the back of the fall Sins issue is a piece of its own.

“I was having writer’s block and couldn’t think of what to say,” she laughed. “Then I thought the bio is a work in itself and I figured my poetry is better than my story.”

She plans to continue working in the prose poem form and finding her niche within it.

She is going into geographic information systems, but also wants to continue submitting part-time throughout her time at SVSU and be-yond.

new releases

Grads land on ‘Fairway’ for local country club comedy

‘Pregnant Teeth’ poet gets publishedBy Rachael BlaylockVanguard Staff Writer

By Andrea McBrideVanguard Staff Writer

Vanguard photo | Sean DudleyCreative writing senior Emily Gennrich has received publications and awards from Cardinal Sins for some of her poems, such as “She Told Me Her Teeth Were Pregnant Once.”

Vanguard photo | Tyler BradleyCalifornia comedian Sam Comroe performs a routine about his experiences of living with Tourette’s syndrome. Program Board sponsored Comroe the event as part of Spring Fever Fest.

Bankrupt!

Category: Music

Release: Tuesday, April 26

Artist: Phoenix

Genre: Alternative rock

Tape Deck Heart

Category: Music

Release: Tuesday, April 26

Artist: Frank Turner

Genre: Folk rock

Wheel

Category: Music

Release: Tuesday, March 19

Artist: Laura Stevenson

Genre: Folk rock

The Terror Tapes

Category: Music

Release: Tuesday, April 26

Artist: Gama Bomb

Genre: Irish thrash metal

Mega Man 4

Category: Video game

Release: Thursday, April 25

Publisher: Capcom

Platform: Nintendo 3DS

Genre: Action

Mud

Category: Film

Release: Friday, April 26

Director: Jeff Nichols

Starring: Matthew McConaughey, Reese Witherspoon

Genre: Coming-of-age

Pain and Gain

Category: Film

Release: Friday, April 26

Director: Michael Bay

Starring: Mark Wahlberg, Dwayne Johnson

Genre: Action, comedy, crime

The Big Wedding

Category: Film

Release: Friday, April 26

Director: Justin Zackham

Starring: Rob De Niro, Diane Keaton

Genre: Comedy

Courtesy | whistlingidiots.com

The Valley Vanguard valleyvanguardonline.com125 Curtiss Hall vanguard@svsu.edu

The Valley Vanguard | valleyvanguardonline.com | Monday, April 22, 2013 | Page A7

a e&

A&E Editor Tyler Bradley officE (989) 964-4482 E-mAil tsbradl1@svsu.edu

Music Inspiring Change (M.I.C.), a campus choral group, took the stage last Saturday to raise awareness about the outcasts of our society. Parents, friends and siblings joined to listen and hear M.I.C.’s mes-sage that life gets better if one keeps pressing on. On a small-intimate stage in the Thompson Student Activities Room, President Haley Martinez introduced the group and explained the show’s concept to the crowd. “Throughout the night, I want you to notice that we’re going to start with songs about how it feels to be an outcast and then progress into songs about coming out of that into a more confident space,” Martinez said. The songs progressed telling the story beginning with a rendition of “God Help the Outcasts,” featuring the entire ensemble. A song highlighting the belief that everyone is a child of God. Next, Martinez took a solo singing “Angel” by Sara McLaughlin. As she left the stage, another soloist, Marissa Schneider, sang “Safe and Sound.” Schneider’s voice danced between the notes with wonderful accuracy. As a group, M.I.C. then sang a song called “He Still Loves Me,” showcasing the idea that it’s OK if one isn’t perfect – God still loves them. Schneider took the stage again to

sing a duet rendition of “Beautiful” by Christina Aguilera with fellow M.I.C. member Mallory Trumble. Each took a verse and shared the choruses elicit-ing many supportive hollers from the crowd. The song drove the message

that everybody is beautiful in their own way. The rest of M.I.C. then joined the two after their duet and proceeded to belt out “What Makes You Beautiful” by One Direction.

Schneider and fellow M.I.C. mem-ber Jake Tucker sang a song about weath-ering the bad in life times called “Every Storm.” Following the duet, M.I.C. sang “Loser Like Me” before Tucker and Mar-tinez took the last solo of the night sing-ing a song called “Stand.” The night was closed out with “Fol-low Me” by Uncle Kracker, during which the accompanying pianist Mary Iott took vocal solos during each verse. The 45-minute show ended with “It’s Time” by Imagine Dragons which served as the finally. After the performance, Martinez thanked pianist Mary Iott for taking on the job and learning the songs only two weeks before the show as the group’s original accompaniment could not make the date. She also thanked His House, a Christian organization on campus, for lending their keyboard to the show. “I think it went really well for where we were three weeks ago,” performer Andrew Whitman said. “Not knowing if we’d have a piano player and switching leaders mid-school year was tough on the group, but we pulled through.” Whitman and his fellow perform-ers were all smiles as the congratulat-ed each other on a good show. “I think everyone did a really good job, Schneider said. “I had a good time.”M.I.C. will be holding elections next week for its new E-board.

artbriefs

BFA Exhibition• Today through Saturday, May 4,

the University Art Gallery will host

the Bachelors of Fine Arts exhibition

featuring two senior artists. For gallery

hours visit svsu.edu/artgallery/gal-

leryopenhours.

Cardinal Sins Reception• At 7 p.m., Monday, April 22, in the

Roberta Allen Reading Room, Cardinal

Sins will host a publication reception

for its Winter 2013 issue. Free snacks

and refreshments.

Coffeehouse• At 10 p.m., Monday, April 22, in the

Marketplace at Doan South Wing,

Program Board will host its final Cof-

feehouse show of the semester. Free

music, coffee and donuts.

Percussion Ensemble• At 7:30 p.m., Tuesday, April 23, in the

Rhea Miller Recital Hall, the depart-

ment of music will present the SVSU

Percussion Ensemble under the direc-

tion of Brandon Haskett. Free.

Zumba for Parkinson’s• At 7 p.m., Thursday, April 25, in

Campus Rec Center Court 3, the Health

Science Association will host a zumba

event to raise money for The Parkin-

son’s Foundation. Minimum donation

of $5 is requested. Free T-shirt for

participants.

Jazz Ensemble• At 7:30 p.m., Thursday, April 25, in the

Rhea Miller Recital Hall, the depart-

ment of music will present a jazz

ensemble concert.

Free Fashion Square Film• At 6 p.m., Thursday, April 25, in the

Student Life Center, Valley Nights will

give out free tickets for any Fashion

Square Cinema film. Good for Thursday

films from 6 p.m. through midnight.

Work ‘N Progress Improv Show• At 10 p.m., Thursday, April 25, in the

Alumni Lounge, improv group Work ‘N

Progress will perform. $3.

Choral group measures power of confidence

Green light for Culture District RSO

By Will WoodVanguard Staff Writer

Two months ago, the styles of 2000 were brought by the Organization of Black Unity’s fashion show. That event gave birth to one new RSO: Culture Dis-trict.

The goal and driving force of this RSO is to produce a quarterly creative publication titled “Cul-tured Magazine.”

The project was begun by its president, Garrett Shovan, in collaboration with Justin Cook, both of whom were involved in the fashion show.

Shovan is a graphic design junior and has a pas-sion for this new group he has started.

“Our goal is to showcase creative avenues such as fashion, art and design,” he said. “We want to incorporate all mediums.”

The magazine is designed to have a broad fo-cus. Music across the genres as well as art and even architecture are other categories Shovan is consider-ing.

Shovan has a background in hip-hop music, which he said will definitely play into the magazine,

but he wants the focus to be as all-encompassing as possible.

However, even in this early developmental stage, Culture District members made clear that this magazine will be professional.

“It won’t be gossip,” Shovan said. “We want to feature new, upcoming artists, reviews and informa-tion.”

The idea is to not only inform students of what is new in fashion, art and music, but to give them an inside look at the people responsible.

“We want to showcase the fashion final product but also the background of the creator,” Shovan said. “Things like where they’re from and their process.”

He also stressed a local focus and would love to be able to highlight what artists and designers are doing in this area.

This is not the first creative publication on cam-pus though.

Shovan recognizes the similarities “Cultured Magazine” could potentially have with works such as Cardinal Sins, but he wants to keep a clear dis-tinction.

“We are showcasing similar creative things,” he agreed. “But Sins is a display of art. We want to

show the culture and passion behind the art too. To get into the thought process.”

That ‘thought process’ mentality is what gives Culture District its own niche according to Shovan.

Shovan is even interested in having articles about the craft of making the art as well.

Things like how to write lyrics are areas he would like to pursue with this publication.

Shovan said he doesn’t want students who aren’t strong writers or designers to think they can’t be a part of this group.

“Everyone can be involved,” Shovan said. “You can help by creating events, promotion, setting up, anything.”

Members are eager and excited for each new member and ready to get their magazine into this area of Michigan.

“The possibilities really seem endless,” Shovan said.

Culture District has weekly meetings on Wednesdays and Sundays from 4 p.m. to 7 p.m. in Curtiss 221 through Wednesday, May 1, and a sum-mer schedule is in the works.

Online, the group has a Facebook page and can be followed on Twitter at @cvltvred.

By Rachael Blaylock Vanguard Staff Writer

Justin Brouckaert is a creative writing and literature senior and Vanguard editor-in-chief. Reach him at jjbrouck@svsu.edu.

Finding light in Salesses’ flash fiction novel

I’M NOT SAYING, I’M JUST SAYING

AUTHOR: MATTHEW SALESSESPUBLISHER: CIVIL COPING MECHANISMSRELEASED: FEB. 17, 2013

Courtesy | goodreads.com

Vanguard file photoElizabeth Calloway sings in M.I.C.’s anti-bullying concert last year.

The novel in flash is a form has been growing in popularity over the past few years as flash fiction—defined simply as very short fiction, usually under 1,000 words—becomes more prominent.

The challenge of this form, of course, is to not just write each piece of flash as you would a chapter in a novel. The challenge is in having each piece stand on its own as something that contains a story all its own, while at the same time combining with the other pieces in the collection to create a much larger story. This is something that Matthew Salesses does very well.

“I’m Not Saying, I’m Just Saying” is a novel told in 115 very short fictions, none of which span more than a page. In these quick flashes and explosive bursts, Salesses tells the story of a man who learns he has

a 5-year-old son, just as the mother of the child—a woman he met only once—passes away.

Each short-short builds on the complexity of the story. The narra-tor must not only learn how to be a father, but also how to be a respon-sible man. He struggles to balance the relationships with the women in his life—the “Asian wifely woman,” the “white girlfriend,” the “Asian girlfriend” and his mother—as he comes to terms with fatherhood, an entirely different chapter of life he fears he is not ready for.

Salesses accomplishes the task of building this large, complicated story with short-shorts under 300 words by taking advantage of a lyrical form that, at times, borders on prose poetry. Salesses works completely in paragraph form, with each short-short occupying a single block of text, and nothing more. There is dialogue and action, but also a heavy share of lyrical introspection and a careful attention to how words and sentences are linked together (two qualities that, in my mind, distinguish prose po-etry from flash fiction).

As a result, each piece of flash is revealing, but teasingly coded. Each piece builds on the multiple layers and thematic threads running through the novel, but not explicitly. There is a poetry to the writing, an ambiguity and secrecy to each short-short that adds to the depth of the story and shows the graceful guardedness of a man slowly learning things about himself, and slowly learning how to reveal those things to others.

Salesses passes most of the tests I try to put these kinds of books through. The voice of the narrator is clear and consistent throughout, which is no easy feat when you’re working with more than 100 pieces of flash fiction. The language is quick and sharp, pleasantly surprising with a lot of movement. The characters are developed in pieces, but the information Salesses provides for each is strong and memorable without being plodding or overly descriptive. They are strong characters.

And above all, the end result justifies the form. That is, Salesses has succeeded in convincing me that this story of identity, maturity, father-hood, commitment and morality could really only be told in the way that he told it—that the themes and narratives linked together are developed best through these flashes and bursts, these moments of clarity and con-fusion.

It is a work that has the quickness and sharpness of flash fiction, the lyricism and mystery of prose poetry, and the unmistakable presence of a strong novel.

advertising manager Shannon Davis office (989) 964-4248 e-mail skdavis3@svsu.edu

Page A8| Monday, April 22, 2013 | valleyvanguardonline.com | The Valley Vanguard

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The Valley Vanguard valleyvanguardonline.com125 Curtiss Hall vanguard@svsu.edu

Zahnow Library’s Extended

End of Semester Hours* *Includes the last week of classes and finals week.

Sunday April 21 1:00 p.m. to 1:00 a.m.

Monday April 22 8:00 a.m. to 1:00 a.m.

Tuesday April 23 8:00 a.m. to 1:00 a.m.

Wednesday April 24 8:00 a.m. to 11:00 p.m.

Thursday April 25 8:00 a.m. to 11:00 p.m.

Friday April 26 8:00 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.

Saturday April 27 9:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m.

Sunday April 28 1:00 p.m. to All Night

Monday April 29 Still Open to 1:00 a.m.

Tuesday April 30 8:00 a.m. to 1:00 a.m.

Wednesday May 1 8:00 a.m. to 11:00 p.m.

Thursday May 2 8:00 a.m. to 11:00 p.m.

Friday May 3 8:00 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.

Saturday May 4 Closed

989 964-4240 http://www.svsu.edu/library/

$Do you have strong communication skills?

Are you looking to make some extra money

for those summer trips or make your resume

stand out?

The Valley Vanguard is looking for an advertisement representative to assistwith advertising sales for the remainderof the school year.

Representatives will be paid by commission,and students returning for the 2013-2014school year will have an opportunity for advancement that brings additional income.

New Representatives will be briefed and trained prior to starting.

Interested students may contact editor-in-chief Justin Brouckaert at vanguard@svsu.edu.