Bemidji States most recent controversial issue among students

 The latest on the tobacco ban.

By Morgan Krause

Tobacco poster on campus
By Morgan Krause

  Bemidji State University recently passed a policy banning all tobacco on campus. Currently BSU is taking steps to ease into the ban. The idea was first proposed in the school year of 2009-2010 by a student led organization. Student senate sent out a survey to all students on campus and of the 409 who participated only ten percent was for keeping the rules as they are. President Richard Hanson first got the proposal on April 1, 2011, and by fall semester of 2011, BSU will be 100% tobacco free.

 Student Sen. Paige Timm, fully supports the idea. “It works well for other schools so why won’t it work for us?” she said. Currently, Winona State Univ. and Southwest State Univ. are tobacco free as well and there’s a big push by students and staff at St. Cloud State to do the same. The ban seems to be catching on, but will it catch on with current students?

The BSU student handbook on the tobacco ban currently states that tobacco products can be carried around but just not used. The only place tobacco can be used freely on campus is in students cars in the parking lots. “Personally I think it’s just a loophole for the students and staff smokers,” said Brown. 

Because of the tobacco ban there has been some concern about the amount of cigarette butts around campus. Both Brown and Timm think its nothing to worry about and that their probably wont be anymore litter then there is now. “It all comes down to the level of respect people have” said Brown. Both are confident in the student body to do their part and not contribute to litter on campus.

Enforcing the ban has been something of concern for some students. “Hopefully students will take responsibility and call people out if they catch them with tobacco.” said Timm “I know I will”. Small fees are going to be put in place for those caught but that wont stop fellow student Shane Duehn. Although Duehn is for the ban because of the funding he said “I think it’s stupid and it won’t stop me but whatever, we get funding.

Cigaret butts on school grounds
By Morgan Krause 

“The tobacco ban won’t work at first but since were doing it in stages I think I will catch on.” said Timm. “Not everyone is going to be on board at first.” Most people seem to be confident in the new rules aside from student smoker Grant Orinstien “I think it’s a good idea but I don’t think it will be effective.” said Orinstien“ “We pay so much money to go to school here so we should be able to smoke if we want.

“No matter what they’re not going to be able to stop everyone.”  said Duehn. Although there is a lack of confidence among some of the students many others are confident. “I think it’s a step in the right direction.” said Brown. “Were moving forward and helping with pollution and making a safer, healthier campus!”

           

Bemidji State University Passes a New Smoking Ban

World Champion Retires to Normal Life

Alexa Schillinger, three-time world power lifting champion, is now a student at BSU

By: Danni Steele

From first glance, Alexa Schillinger looks like a normal good looking teenager at Bemidji State University. The brunette with brown eyes can be typically seen in jeans and a fitted shirt. She is 5’2” and weighs about 123 pounds. Schillinger may not seem very strong at first, but take a closer look, and her defined muscles in her arms and legs become apparent. She is pure muscle. Schillinger is the three-time world power lifting champion.

Alexa ended with a deadlift of
336 pounds in South Africa in 2008.

Alexa Schillinger is from the town of Phillips, Wisc., pop. 1,675. She started her power lifting with her first competition in 6th grade. She was playing hockey on the boy’s team when her dad said she had to start lifting weights if she wanted to be strong and keep up with the boys. Schillinger’s dad, Jeff, is the coach of the high school power lifting team. He noticed her natural strength and got her into competitions. Once she was a freshman she was able to compete for state and took first place.

Power lifting took up a lot of Schillinger’s time and required a lot of dedication according to her. “It was a 24 hour affair,” explained Schillinger. She trained four days a week, two hours a day. “That was just the minimum,” said Schillinger.  Power lifting also involves cutting weight just like wrestling. Preparations for competition include protein shakes for breakfast, chugging lots of water, and going to bed early. “I always had to go to bed early even in the summer,” explained Schillinger.

Not only did she power lift in high school, but also she was very active in other things. Schillinger was in student council, choir and national honor society. She played softball, volleyball and hockey. She said she was able to participate in everything with balance. She also did not participate in hockey her senior year. “I would have gone crazy,” she explained. Schillinger said she could not have accomplished any of this with out her family. “I have always had lots of support from my family,” she said.

Alexa posing with the U.S flag after winning
the gold metal in Brazil in 2009.

Schillinger won state all four years of high school. She was the second in Wisconsin history to do so. In order to qualify for nationals all three lifts have to add up to a certain total to advance. To qualify for the world’s team, you have to have the best total lifts in your weight class. The three lifts needed to qualify are squat, bench and dead lift. Dead lift was Schillinger’s specialty. She holds the “unofficial record” of 405 pounds. It is the unofficial record because it was not done at the world’s meet.

Schillinger is the three-time world champion. She has traveled all over the world to do so. Her first world’s competition was in Le Guard France. Her second was in South Africa and her third was in Brazil. Schillinger said her favorite experience was in South Africa. “The team was so close we were just like family,” said Schillinger, “everyone represented the united states in a respectable way.” The girl’s team, consisting of eight girls also won that year. The boy’s team consisting of ten, also traveled with the girls. Schillinger’s dad was asked to be a world’s coach and he was able to travel with her.

Extensive fundraising was how Schillinger was able to attend worlds. “I had to fundraise my entire way there,” she said. “Power lifting is a very popular sport, but there is no money in it.” Schillinger was unable to be sponsored because she would have lost her amateurship and would not have been able to play other high school or college sports.  “I literally just wrote letters to companies and families we were close with. We were really proud that I was not only representing the U.S, but our tiny town as well,” said Schillinger. “Everyone was very supporting.”

Alexa's squat in 2008 was 330 pounds
at a body weight of 115 pounds.

Schillinger could have gone to an Olympic training center, and attended college in that town but decided not to. Olympic lifting and power lifting are different lifts and she did not want to relearn everything. Schillinger said she just wanted a “normal college experience.” She chose to retire from power lifting. “I was burnt out, it was my entire life in high school.” She chose to participate in softball at Bemidji State University. “I wasn’t ready to give up athletics all together, it would have been a huge culture shock,” said Schillinger. For her, softball is a “happy medium between a normal person life and a happy athlete.”

Schillinger’s roommate Bronwin Boid, another freshman and athlete at Bemidji State University explained her first thoughts about living with Schillinger. “I thought she was going to be a super healthy person and do nothing but lift weights,” said Boid. “I was proved wrong. Alexa is down to Earth and very humble.”

It is now almost the end of Schillinger’s first year of college. She is no longer on the softball team and has decided to do choir instead. “Softball ended up not being for me, I didn’t have the passion as I did for power lifting to dedicate my time,” she said. “I am very happy with doing choir.”

Schillinger lives by a quote her father always says; “The only thing you can control is you.” She said it is applied to power lifting because you weren’t interacting with your competition. “All you could do is keep your mind on what you had to do and go from there,” said Schillinger. She went on the explain, “it was a very good thing to keep in mind not just for power lifting, but in life.”

Proficiency test is given to BSU students

Skewed results are inevitable.

By: Ciarra Paulson

It’s 8:00 a.m. on a Friday morning. Presentations are due and must be given today. The entire class is dressed up and shaking with anticipation. As the last of the students shuffle in, the teacher announces, “presentations will be postponed, I’ve volunteered you for a test.” The classroom explodes in confusion and panic. The teacher says, “this test doesn’t count for a grade, it’s just a proficiency test. Just have fun with it.”

This proficiency test is given to freshman and seniors at Bemidji State University. This is to find out if our students at BSU are expanding on their education as they progress in the program. Only about 60 tests are given out total for the year. Half are given to freshman, half are given to seniors. The only benefit to the student for taking the test, is to have a chance to win an Ipad2 through a drawing. The test includes reading, grammar, comprehension, and math.

Students taking a proficiency test at Bemidji State University. 

Barb Hanus, a professor at Bemidji State University in the design technology program, has always volunteered her classes in the past to take this test. She was under the impression that the same test would be given every year like it had been done previously. This year was different. “The test normally takes about 15 minutes. This is the impression I was under. When the tests got to my classroom and they said they were going to take up to an hour, I was shocked,” she said.

Jason Lien, a student in the design technology program, said, “This is stupid, how do they expect us to remember this stuff? We haven’t taken tests like this since high school. It’s been four years since I’ve done any math.” When talking to the other students in that class, that was the general conclusion. They felt it was unfair. Andrea Bodin, another student in the design technology program said, “freshman have just taken these kinds of tests. They are taking writing and math right now for their lib eds [liberal education]. It’s been four years since I’ve taken anything like that.”

Computers in the Mac Lab where Design Technology

students do most of their work. 

The students in Hanus’s class took the test without question and complaints. After the test was given and taken away, Hanus explained, “ I’m sorry for that. I didn’t realize it was going to take an hour to complete it. It’s never been that long in the past. And so you all are aware, I informed the test giver that his findings are going to be skewed. You guys haven’t taken math in years, and probably failed that part of the section. Freshman will probably ace it. Tests prior to this one were nothing like this. I’m sorry.”

Bemidji State University gives out a proficiency test every year. Every year they say they want the seniors to beat the freshman. Is a proficiency test the best way of finding out BSU student’s education levels?

Look Out— the FYRE is Spreading

Bemidji State University’s Residential Program for freshmen is Gaining Speed

By Jake Hertwig and Jillian Cordova

College can be a very rewarding experience.  For some, it is the best years of their lives.  However, studies conducted by the College Parents of America, an organization designed to help parents and students transition into college, have shown that the chances of a student continuing his/her college career depend greatly on what their first year experience is like. 



Oak residents eating pizza before the homecoming game. The FYRE

program treated students to this and other free events throughout the year.



It can be very difficult for students to break out of their shell, make new friends, and partake in new experiences, as many older BSU students would say. Bemidji State University is well aware of this, which is why a special program was implemented in one BSU dorm back in 1995. Oak Hall is the current host to the First Year Residential Experience (FYRE) Program.  This program is geared towards freshman students who wish to have a much more hands-on experience in the social and academic aspects of college.

           

The FYRE Program has grown throughout the years.  Up until fall of 2008, the program was hosted in Maple Hall, housing about 300 residents.  The sight of this program is now Maple’s neighbor, Oak Hall, which now holds more than 500 residents.  The building consists of 10 floors: two all-male, two all-female, three co-ed, one co-ed nursing, and one co-ed outdoors floor. 418 freshmen participate in the FYRE program; the remaining residents are freshman or older students who want a quieter living experience. If incoming students wish to experience this program first hand, all they must do is sign up for it when applying for residency.

           

In a traditional dorm floor, residents would have one Residential Assistant (RA) who lives with them on the floor.  Because the FYRE Program is highly geared towards the social aspect of college, every FYRE floor has two RAs. These RAs aim to provide an overall healthy living community for residents, which includes following university rules as well as setting up programs in which the residents can partake in to better become connected to their floor and beyond. 

The second aspect of FYRE that differentiates it from other campus programs is its focus on extra academic success for residents. This is done with the addition of two Peer Academic Assistants (PAAs) who live on each floor and serve as a tutor and an overall academic resource for the residents.  The PAAs set up times to meet with the students throughout the semester to talk to them about any academic concerns, from how classes are going to how they study for tests. Freshmen do not realize how much more difficult college is than high school; having these PAAs available helps keep them academically motivated.

As Tony Hansen, Residential Life staff member put it, “There are many misconceptions that imply that college is just one big party. Some students literally enter college and do not realize that you have to keep your grades up in order to stay here.” 

             “It was extraordinarily helpful having the PAAs incorporated into my living quarters,” said Matt Volkman, a freshman who participated in the FYRE program. “It gave me the opportunity for academic assistance that I otherwise wouldn’t have had.”

The overall goal of the FYRE Program is to make sure that students get off to a good start in their college career. This is difficult at times considering the temptations that students are faced with on a daily basis. FYRE focuses greatly on planning and executing activities that are both fun and safe so that residents have an easier time meeting people and socializing in an environment that makes everyone feel comfortable.

 For example, students have the opportunity to attend a Twins game in the spring. Freshman and staff members ride a bus down to Minneapolis and get to experience a game for a mere $5. Other activities include FYRE barbeques, Family Visit Weekend, free bowling nights, and the end of year FYRE Banquet which are all funded in part by an expanded budget the program receives due to its significance. 

According to freshman Kayla Brown, “FYRE brings students together during their first year on campus, which can be an overwhelming for some. The activities they plan, such as free hockey tickets or the $5 Twins game tickets are great opportunities that are fun and help you meet new people.”

A group of FYRE students pose in front of the fireplace at the
annual Oak Christmas party. The program hosts this event in order
for students to relax just before getting ready for finals.

            Despite all the positive feedback the FYRE program has received, there are still some students who have mixed feeling about it.

“It’s been sort of helpful,” said Alyson Lehman, who partook in the program this year. “The FYRE program itself hasn’t helped me too much, but it has allowed me to help myself better. I still would have made friends this year, just not as easily.”

Gina Hurt, another resident at Oak Hall said, “I signed up for Oak Hall not really knowing about FYRE. The activities were fun sometimes, but it could have focused more on what the students wanted to do. Overall, it did help me meet people I might not have if I wasn’t in the program.”

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Bemidji State Hockey looks for players to step up

Matt Read leaves big shoes to fill at Bemidji State 

By: Jordan George and Travis Bosch 

The Bemidji State Beavers hockey team will have their hands full next year, when they will try and compete for a national championship without star forward Matt Read.

Matt Read Celebrating one of his many
goals scored as a beaver. 

Matt Read, two-time all American senior, has been a big part of the teams success over the past four years. He has led the beavers in scoring three of the four years, contributed to three conference championships, two NCAA tournament births, and a historic frozen four appearance. “He (Read) was a big part of our program here and he will go down as one of the best players to ever wear the green n white.” Stated Tom Serratore, head coach of the team. Read signed with professional contract with the Philadelphia Flyers of the National Hockey League. With Read gone, Serratore is looking for players to step up and help fill the role Read left behind. “There is big shoes to fill, and we will have to wait and   see who steps up their game.”

Serratore points to his junior class led by Brad Hunt to take on the task.  “Hunt has been here for three years now and has learned a lot. He has the ability to lead his junior class and team to a championship.” For this junior class championships are nothing new. “These juniors have experience on winning championships, they will set the bar for the underclassmen.” This will be one of the beaver’s most challenging tasks it has ever faced. “It is never easy to lose a superstar to the NHL, but things happen in this game and we as a staff are confident these six juniors can lead to us greatness.”

Although this program relies heavily on upper classman, the beavers have some pretty talented recruits coming in who can chip in and make the program better. “We have six players coming into our beaver hockey family next year who will all get the chance to help this program out.” Serratore stated. He highlights Mitch Cain’s name, who is expected to get drafted in the NHL, according to NHL Central Scouting.

2010-2011 Bemidji State Beavers

Mitch Cain, a native of Fort Francis, Ontario, is supposed to get drafted in this year’s 2011 NHL entry draft. He finished off a marvelous year with the Des Moines Buccaneers of the USHL (United States Hockey League) where he was third on his team in scoring with 27 points (19 goals) in 52 games. “Mitch is electric in the way he plays the game,” Said Serratore. “ He can take you out of your seat every time he is on the ice.” With most of the scoring coming from Read, the two-time coach of the year finalist is expecting Cain to deliver. “We are very pleased to have this type of player come to Bemidji State, the expectations are high for him (Cain) and we are hoping he can come in and help produce in the scoring department.”

With such a rich tradition here at Bemidji State, the fans have no doubt that this team will be in contention yet again. Todd Melrose, a long time fan of the beavers said, “This program has accepted just about every challenge it has been given and has exceeded expectations.”

The Beavers will be back in action next year at the Sanford Center where they play host in an exhibition game against the Regina Cougars on October 2^nd. For farther details you can go to www.bsubeavers.com

Falls High School Cheerleading Dispute

By Emma Pavleck, The Daily Journal

April 26, 2011

Falls High School varsity cheerleading tryouts were held in International Falls on March 18^th. This year, due to lack of participation, the tryouts were open to next year’s seventh through twelfth grade students. This was the first time this opportunity was made available to upcoming seventh and eighth grade students.

Bronco Cheerleaders Supporting the Falls High School Hockey Team

After getting the go-ahead from athletic director, Don Rolando, try-outs were held. While girls from all grades participated in the try-outs, about half of those chosen were in the seventh and eighth grade age bracket.

It was not until after the new Bronco cheerleaders were chosen that concerns were raised.

“I think a lot of people felt like the spots were taken unfairly because the coaches who judged the try-outs had family competing,” said Derek Smith, a student at Falls High School. “Coach Crosby’s daughter and three of her friends were chosen for the squad and they are all currently in sixth grade.”

Coach Jessica Crosby could not be reached for a comment.

Once questions were raised about the appropriateness of allowing seventh and eighth graders to join the squad, it was soon discovered that the student handbook clearly stated that cheerleading was only offered to students in ninth grade to twelfth grade.

At the school board meeting on March 21^st, student representative Joseph Toninato voiced his concerns.

“Many students feel like those spots should be filled by upperclassmen. The seventh and eighth graders who made the squad will not know the players they are cheering for,” said Toninato. “It is a big deal for freshmen, sophomores, juniors and seniors.”

Yet there are many other students and parents who feel that the students who initially made cheerleader rightfully got it.

“They all tried out together; some made it and some didn’t. It is just how it works,” said a Falls High School student. “It doesn’t seem fair to tell those students that they made the cut, but then take it away from them later.”

Jeff Peura, the ISD 361 Superintendant stated at the school board meeting, that he would reevaluate the policy with the support of the board members.

The 2006-2007 student handbook will soon be reviewed to resolve the issue along with several other inconsistencies in the manual. An updated activities handbook will soon be in the works.