The 2010 Winter Carni-val turned out to be an astonishing experience

Wednesday night. Parents and members from the community who attended the event had the chance to witness the many ex-traordinary snow sculptures up close.

The theme this year was “Games We Know Captured in Snow.” Competitors were to build sculptures based on their favorite games. One statue in particular, carried out by Circle K International, presented a Wii console beside a large TV and couch. “It was amazing to see all the admirers,” says Jacquie Blom. “I was glad to see that everybody was getting together and having a good time. That is what Winter Carnival is all about.”

Construction of the month-long statues began on Jan. 11 and ended early Thursday morning. These sculptures were built by fraternities and sororities such as Sigma Phi Epsilon and Alpha Gamma Delta respectively. Oth-er organizations included Army ROTC, MTU Four-Wheelers, and certain residence halls such as Mama’s Boys.

Statue judging began early Thursday morning soon after all sculpture construction ended. Phi Kappa Tau, Delta Zeta, Army ROTC, and First Year Experience (FYE) won first place for the best month-long statues. On the all-nighter statues, first place was given to the National Associa-tion of Home Builders (NAHB), Concordia Student Ministries, and Bastille. There was also one tie for second place for the one-night statue competition; the Geology Club and Circle K Inter-national both tied as on-campus competitors.

The total results for student organizations came in Monday night for the Winter Carnival fair with Sigma Phi Epsilon topping off at 196 points with Delta Zeta trailing behind at 168 points. The fraternity also topped off the

Queens and Stage Revue results with 25 and 50 points respec-tively. Judges for the Stage Revue chose Sigma Phi Epsilon for first place, Delta Zeta for second, and Alpha Gamma Delta for third at seven, five and three points re-

spectively. Delta Zeta, Phi Kappa Tau, Army ROTC, and First Year Experience all tied for first place in statue building for 60 points. Phi Kappa Tau topped off the special events with 87 points with Sigma Phi Epsilon taking

second place.Several other events were also

held during Winter Carnival weekend. One of these events, the Beards Competition, decid-ed on who had the most facial hair based on three categories;

beards, goatees, and sideburns. Competitors were to apply clean-shaven early in December. They were then given two full months to grow their beards and side-burns. During competition, con-testants performed various skits to manifest their two full months of abstinence from shaving and were then judged based on facial hair and performance.

Other events included broom-ball, curling, the Human Dog Sled Race, ice bowling, skating, snow volleyball and snowshoe races. One of Michigan Tech’s exciting traditions which can’t be truly experienced outside of Houghton is broomball. Those visiting Winter Carnival week-end were given just that chance to see these thrilling games be-ing played out on the ice rinks in front of Lot 14.

Snow volleyball is very similar to volleyball except you’re play-ing on snow “Don’t fall down,” one person teased. “But it’s still not as hard as hardwood.”

Curling also brought a substan-tial amount of attention. The ori-gins of Curling date back to 1541 in medieval Scotland. The object of the game is to throw smooth Conitnued on 2a

Broomball HQThe Wedding Singer to be at the Rosza 6A5A 9A

The Michigan Tech LodeServing the Michigan Tech Community Since 1921February 11, 2010

Rail Transportatopm

Online exclusivesCheck it all out at: www.mtulode.com

Sports

Live blogs during gameGame recaps

Husky Hodgepodge

Check out the thoughts of one international student in the “Culture Shock Re-port #17.”

PDF Archives of all issues this year

Lode WriterZACHARY PAGE

Tuesday, Feb. 9, 2010 marked the first State of the Black Union in

seven years held on Michigan Tech’s campus. Twenty-five stu-dents, along with Gloria Melton, Dean of Students, Chris An-derson, Special Assistant to the President for Institutional Diver-sity, Susan Liebau, Interim Co-Director of Multicultural Affairs, Director of ExSEL, Associate Director of COMPASS, Kevin J. Walker, outgoing Coordinator of African American Student Sup-port, and Dr. Melvin Norwood, incoming Coordinator of Afri-can American Student Support, were all in attendance for the ad-dress. Nicole White, President of the Black Student Association gave the opening remarks. Kevin J. Walker delivered the address,

which highlighted the academic state of African American stu-dents on Michigan Tech’s cam-pus. Kevin began the address by stating, “We are not doing that great.” He announced that after the fall 2009 term, 27 percent of African American undergraduate students were on academic pro-bation. He further announced that the fall 2009 GPA for Afri-can American undergraduate students was a 2.43, with a cu-mulative GPA of a 2.48. Walker did acknowledge that the African American graduate student fall term GPA was a 3.1, with a cu-mulative GPA of 3.7. Walker also mentioed the decline of African American students enrollment from the fall of 2009 until spring 2010. The graph to the right of this column highlighs the Afri-can American student enroll-ment from fall of 1999 thru fall of 2009. For more enrollment stats, visit http://www.admin.mtu.edu/em/services/erlstat.

News Editor

CRYSTAL HIGGINBOTHAM

Indecent exposure suspectarrested

A joint investigation by the Houghton County Sher-

iff Office, Michigan Tech Public Safety, and Hough-ton City Police lead to the arrest of a 20 year old male subject, from Coburntown. The subject was lodged on a charge of indecent expo-sure for the incidents that had been reported within the City of Houghton, Michigan Tech Campus, and Portage Township. The subject posted bond and will be arraigned in the 97th District Court on Wednesday, Feb. 10, 2010.

Houghton County Sheriff Office

Press Release

Michigan Tech Winter Carnival results

State of the Black Union at Michigan Tech

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ion!of!students!by!ethnic!code

Michigan!Tech!African!American!and!International!students!enrollment!statistics!over!

the!last!ten!years

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enrollment

African!American!fall!

enrollment

International fall student

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2nd Place: First Year Experience takes second place during the Winter Carnival Ice Bowling competition. Ice Bowling was held at Dee Stadium Photo courtesy of Alex Cotton

Kickin’ skit performance: The brothers of Sigma Phi Epsilon Fraternity show off there acting skills during the 2010 WInter Carnival Stage Revue. Sigma Phi Epsilon’s skit was a crowd favorite. Photo by: Ben Wittbrodt

African American and International students enrollment statistics: Since data is based on ethncity code, there may be more students that chose not to identify with either demmographic.

Carnival Results contd. from

2AThursday, February 11, 2010Michigan Tech Lode News

House for rent in Houghton for 2010-2011 school year. Eight large bedrooms with two and a half baths. Zoned multi-residential. Li-censed for up to ten students. House completely renovated. Enjoy the indoor hot tub and warm up after a cold day in Houghton. Contact: Brad Davison (517) 202-6886.

CLASSIFIED:

of the game is to throw smooth granite stones across ice while a second person uses a broom to smooth the ice path that the stone will glide on. Results are

based on the distance the stone traveled.

Also held at the carnival was the annual Queens Contin-ued on www.mtulode/news

3AThursday, February 11th, 2010Michigan Tech Lode News

4AThursday, February 11, 2010Michigan Tech Lode pulse

The Wedding Singer is bringing back the 80s when it dances into the Rozsa Center on Wednesday, February 17th at 7:30pm. This musical comedy will take audi-ences back to a time when pastel was in, hair was big, and the wed-ding singer was the coolest guy in the room!

Based on the hit film starring Adam Sandler and Drew Bar-rymore, The Wedding Singer is crammed with 80s pop-culture and songs that have a familiar sound. Wannabe rock star Rob-bie Hart makes his living as New Jersey’s favorite wedding singer until he is left at the altar. Bro-ken-hearted, Robbie takes out his bitterness on stage at everyone’s weddings. Every wedding he plays is a disaster until a charm-ing waitress named Julia captures his affections. The only trouble is, Julia is engaged to a success-ful Wall Street broker and unless Robbie can pull off the perfor-mance of his lifetime, the girl of his dreams will be gone forever. Can he win her heart before she says “I Do” or will it be too late?

The 1998 film of The Wed-ding Singer captured hearts and grossed over $120 million na-tionwide. The Broadway musi-cal opened in April of 2006, with music by Matthew Sklar, and

book by Chad Beguelin and Tim Herlihy (former head-writer for “Saturday Night Live” and au-thor of the original screenplay). It ran for 284 performances and was nominated for five Tony Awards (including Best Musical and Best Musical Score); eight Drama Desk Awards (including Outstanding Musical, Music, and Lyrics); and three Drama League Awards. The Wedding Singer has gone on to tour the United States, U.K., Europe and Japan.

The Wedding Singer is pro-duced by Prather Entertainment Group, owned and managed by Will Prather with show direction by M. Seth Reines, choreography by Amy Marie McCleary, Musi-cal Directing by JR McAlexander and lighting design by Russell Thompson.

Ticket prices for the general public are $25 and $20; MTU student prices are $20 and $15 (MTU student ID required). To purchase tickets contact the Roz-sa Box Office at 487.3200, The Central Ticket Office (SDC) at 487.2073, Tech Express (MUB) at 487.3308 or go online at tickets.mtu.edu. No refunds, exchanges, or late seating, please

Sponsored by the Student En-tertainment Board (SEB) and the James and Margaret Black En-dowment.

5AThursday, February 11th, 2010Michigan Tech Lode Pulse

The Wedding Singer to be at Rozsa

John Oliver performs for Winter CarnivalAs Winter Carnival 2010 came

to a close, Feb. 6 brought come-dian John Oliver to a full house at the Rozsa center. Oliver first gained fame in the United States in 2006 when he joined The Dai-ly Show With Jon Stewart as the “Senior British Correspondant,” and also does occasional stand-up tours around the country.

Oliver opened his show by highlighting Houghton’s remote-ness: “Where the [expletive] are we?” He joked about Hough-ton’s weather, claiming that the audience consisted of the “har-diest nerds in the country” and must be expressing disbelief at the large recent snowstorm in Maryland “while you’re doing

a wheelie in the snow.” He also expressed amazement at some of Tech’s Winter Carnival tra-ditions, trying to get audience members to explain to him just what “Ice bowling” and the “Hu-man dogsled” were. He replied, “I want to know everything you are doing here… you seem like you could get away with anything, and by the looks of things, you are!”

As the show continued, Oliver moved on to other topics, includ-ing the annoyance of songs that play over and over in one’s head, the experience of firing a gun for the first time (Britain bans pri-vate gun ownership), the absurd things Americans sometimes do, and even a brief aside on obe-sity, specifically the implications of someone saying “least obese” instead of “most healthy.” Even

the existence of a reporter at the event became part of the comedy, as Oliver asked to see the report-er’s notebook, then expressed in-dignation at poorly-written notes that seemed to take his jokes out of context and joked that the re-porter worked for Fox News.

The audience was a large part of the show, and would often respond to Oliver whenever something relating to Tech was brought up. Oliver expressed frustration when audience mem-bers replied in vague generalities when he requested to know ab-solutely everything about Carni-val. Later in the show, after a joke about world records, an audience member shouted out that Tech holds three: biggest snowball, biggest snowball fight, and most snow angels in a single event. When Oliver pressed the audi-

ence for details, they responded with widely varying figures. Vari-ous claims included that the size of the snowball was 24 meters, 24 feet, and six meters (the ac-tual snowball was about 6.7 feet in diameter). In response, Oliver joked that the audience was a “bunch of liars.”

The nature of the audience was also an important factor: Oliver noted that some jokes that nor-mally get lots of applause fell flat, while other, more “geeky” jokes got a much bigger response than usual.

In addition to his work on The Daily Show and his stand-up tours, John Oliver also does a weekly news satire called The Bugle. He also has a new show on Comedy Central, John Oliver’s New York Stand Up Show.

Lode WriterNICHOLAS BLECHA

The Wedding Singer: Movie-turned-musical to be at Rozsa Center on Wednesday

Photo courtesy of Rozsa Center

Lode WriterRAEANNE MADISON

The sub zero temperatures, ice, and, of course, Winter Carnival say it all: winter is most certainly here in Hough-ton. To many, this means a chance work up a sweat while hitting the slopes or the trails. But for busy parents who work or go to school all day, and have to take care of little ones at home, finding the time to exercise is often a chore. The grey skies and chilly air can frustrate already tired moms and dads- making a cup of hot tea and the television look all too inviting when the chil-dren are in bed for the night. I wanted to know: do local par-ents have the time and energy to exercise in the long winter months? If so, how and when? And if not, why?

Jen Van Domlen is an STC student here at Tech. She has a 10-month-old daughter named Hannah. She says, “It’s really hard to find the energy to work out at home, so what I try to do is walk to campus every day. I’m trying to lose weight, so I also eat more healthfully than I used to.” Jen also has several work out DVD’s that she tries to use a few times a week.

Professor Victoria Bergvall, a linguist at Tech, says that working out is easier on week-ends and breaks. “I am fortu-nate that we have a recumbent bike in our basement, and my husband and son have set up quite a system of weights, so I use them too. I like the basement bike because it is handy--no shoveling snow to get to it!” Professor Bergvall also stated that multi task-ing is a must. “I try to use the time efficiently: either I read or watch videos while I work out, usually either research or teaching related. “Local mom to two toddlers Jennifer Westman agrees with me that finding motivation is difficult, especially when you don’t care too much for the winter cold. Everything she does is inside. “Besides the usual chasing the kids around the house, I try to work out every morning before everyone else gets up. I use the treadmill daily, and go to yoga class once a week while my husband watches the kids. I use the Wii once in a while, and the trick to doing that is letting the kids work out next to me, using pillows as the Wii Fit Board.”

Clearly, finding time to work out in an already busy day is difficult, but not impossible for many local parents. The key is to be proactive: find fun things to do that may even get the whole family involved. Us-ing your scheduling savvy as a parent can wilt away those holiday pounds, and ward away Seasonal Affective Dis-order (S.A.D.) Working out will keep you, and your fam-ily, from getting cabin fever. Good luck!

Busy Parents:

Press ReleaseRozsa Center

Time for excercise?

6A Thursday, February 11, 2010Michigan Tech LodeFeature

Ask Sassy

Rail transportation. For so many in this country, the phrase has left an utterly

hollow ring in their ears. Although the products that

so many Americans depend on to fulfill their wants and needs depend on the freight rail net-work of the U.S., the passenger rail services provided within the U.S. over the past 50 years have been obsolete. The main service provider, Amtrak, has been (for the most part) an extremely in-efficient means for the average American to travel.

This may indeed be changing, however. In conjunction with the American Recovery and Rein-vestment Act of 2009, President Obama recently announced the granting of $8 billion dollars to-wards the development of pas-senger rail corridors across this country.

Among the notable corridors

to be receiving money towards this effort is the Tampa-Orlando corridor, which will receive $1.25 billion dollars towards the de-velopment of a high speed rail corridor with trains capable of reaching 168 mph, as well as the California High Speed Rail Cor-ridor, which is a planned high speed rail line that will eventually connect San Diego to Northern California, via Los Angeles.

Regionally, money was granted in the Midwest towards the de-velopment of a high speed rail corridor between Chicago and St. Louis, as well as $800 million towards the development of a high speed rail corridor linking Madison and Milwaukee within the state of Wisconsin.

Overall, this funding has co-incided with the beginning year of President Barack Obama’s term. While plans to develop re-gional high speed rail networks have been in the works for years, Obama’s administration has em-braced the development of such a network, pinning part of his

legacy on the success or failure of its development.

“It’s the boldest move I’ve seen since Eisenhower proposed the interstate highway system,” Meh-di Morshed, who is the executive director of the California High Speed Rail Authority.

The benefits of such a system could very well be abundant. En-vironmentally speaking, provid-ing a robust system of high speed rail domestically could reduce the use of oil by close to $100 billion per year. In large part, this will be because short trips between re-gional metropolitan areas, such as Minneapolis-to-Chicago or Los Angeles-to-San Francisco could be undertaken efficiently without the use of an airplane.

Overall, those who work within the current infrastructure believe that the Obama Administration has had a mostly positive effect on the rail industry as a whole.

“Clearly, Obama likes rail — be it transit, Amtrak, HSR, even freight — given the carbon foot-print issue and the inherently cost-effective infrastructure,” said Tony Hatch of ABH Con-sulting, who will be the keynote speaker for Michigan Tech’s Rail-road Night on Feb. 16, sponsored by the Railroad Engineering and Activities Club.

“As they get up to speed, I think they’ll shape a sensible transportation policy that in-cludes increased opportunities for passenger and freight rail.”

However, this move towards high speed rail undertaken by the Obama Adminstration, while important in the development of a viable passenger rail system in the U.S., is a drop in the bucket compared to what it will take to finalize such a system.

“Obviously, for high speed rail, it is a good development,” said policy analyst Jack Schenendorf. “But it will take a lot more money to get these systems built out.”

At this moment, it seems that America may be poised to make the largest move towards the development of a new, innova-tive transportation system since the Interstate Highway Act was signed into law by President Dwight D. Eisenhower. But it will take time, patience, and will-power for such a system to have a chance to work. However, the country will make up for it in in-creased efficiency and a reduced dependence on foreign sources of energy.

Rail TransportationObama administration supports expansion of railroad network

Pulse EditorLUKE GUBLO

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Dear Sassy,

I am terrified for Valentine’s Day. I really don’t know what to get my boyfriend. I thought about planning a romantic date, but every idea I have seems worst than the last. I’d like to avoid cliché gifts as much as possible. Can you help me pull off a ro-mantic, unforgettable Valentine’s Day? Sincerely,

Vexed ValentineDear Vexed ,

It is well known that Valentine’s Day is the leading cause of panic attacks, depression, and suicide in the United States. However, you can’t let the statistics intimidate you. Val-entine’s Day is your one chance to show your boyfriend how much you really care (because, honestly, who has time to do that during the other 364 days of the year?). On this day pink and red explode, and so will your boyfriend’s temper if you don’t do a good job. Pets are always a fun and surprising Valentine’s Day gift. Fish are cute, but are a bit of a cop out. Try something a little more...work intensive. Might I suggest a diabetic hamster with a grain allergy? Or how about an iguana with a rare skin disor-der that requires application of a lotion three times a day? Make this a Valentine’s Day that your boyfriend will never forget.

Dear Sassy,

I am in the midst of trying to find a place to live next year. I am torn between living in the dorms or in an apartment off campus. I need to decide quickly and I’m getting very stressed out! Do you have any advice to help me decide? Sincerely, Homeless and Hopeless Dear Homeless, You’re not alone. Every year, in late January and early February, renters are assaulted with droves of college students desperate to find a clean, habitable shelter. The dormitories go through a similar assault, al-though they have learned to digitalize the chaos, so the battle for dorm rooms takes place in an organized, pixel form. Both dormitories and off-campus housing have their pros and cons. It’s a simple matter of weighing them and deciding on the lesser of two evils. Off-campus housing can often be a bit of a gamble. Hard-to-reach renters and broken toilets are the bane of off-campus students’ existence. Repairs and updates are few and far between. With a dormi-tory, on the other hand, it is unlikely that the building will collapse under a heavy snowfall. That being said, life in the dorms is not without its flaws. The obligation to participate in hall socials and mixers can get annoy-ing; honestly, who wants to watch “Finding Nemo” on a Saturday night? Also, be-ing on campus gives little chance to escape from the pressures of campus. You might as well spend the night in your classrooms, as long as you haven’t spent the day sleeping in them al-ready.

Dear SassyI can’t help but notice you

never give very helpful ad-vice. You usually just make fun of us who write in or give us completely sarcastic commentary. Did some-thing happen in your past to make you so cynical?

Sincerely, Concerned for

Columnist

Dear Concerned,I realize my advice may

often come across as sarcas-tic or cynical. This is clearly a grave misinterpretation. Very early on in my child-hood, I felt compelled to help my fellow human be-ings. And what better way to fulfill that dream than to start an advice column?

In defense of any possible sarcasm or cynicism evident in my responses, the post-ing of a private dilemma in a public forum nearly begs for insult and ridicule. Espe-cially when presented with particularly petty or absurd dilemmas, I really can’t be blamed if my responses have undertones cynicism.

If you think you have it rough, ask yourself this: whom does the advice col-umnist write to for help?

7AThursday, February 11, 2010Michigan Tech Lode opinion

Visuals Staff - Becky Boeve, Liz Nigro, Antti Knutas, Lukas Lund, Caitlin

Pionke, Ben Wittbrodt

Copy Editors - Amanda Gardiner

Editor in Chief .................................Kayla HerreraVisuals Manager ....................................... Alex CottonBusiness Manager................................Richard GoodellOnline Editor..................................Jeremiah BaumannNews Editor...............................Crystal HigginbothamOpinion Editor..........................................Elijah HainesSports Editor ..................................Stephen AndersonPulse Editor................................................Luke Gublo Winter Carnival Pictorial Editor ..........Rebecca Boeve Advisor ........................................................Kara Sokol

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Sotirin, Anna Stasek, Lena Wilson, Lauren Wiza

Michigan Tech stu-dents might soon see an additional fee

added to their bills. A commit-tee was recently formed to inves-tigate the possibility of changing Michigan Tech’s current health care and health insurance poli-cies. The committee, headed by Dean of Students Dr. Gloria Melton, has yet to form an offi-cial proposal but has begun to in-vestigate possibilities for changes to existing policies. Although no official proposal has been made yet, the committee’s main focus at this time centers around open-ing a new clinic for Michigan Tech students.

According to meeting minutes from the Jan. 25 meeting of the Wadsworth Hall Student Asso-ciation (WHSA), the “proposed location was where COMPASS [located in the basement of Wad-sworth Hall] is currently located.” The proposed clinic has received positive feedback from WHSA but has faced a mixed reaction from Undergraduate Student Government (USG) members.

Some USG members are con-cerned about the increase in the number of sick students present in the residence hall. However, proponents of the clinic claim that the convenience of having a clinic located closer to students would increase the chances of a sick student visiting a doctor.

Michigan Tech’s contract with Portage Health, the company that currently runs the clinic at-tached to the SDC, expires this year. One of the main concerns of the health care committee is the lack of preference shown to-wards students. According to Lucia Gregorakis, USG repre-sentative, “The committee felt that the new contract needs to be reformed because students are not coming before other patients which is the reason Portage is at the SDC.”

In order to fund the new clinic, students might see a new fee ap-pear on their bills. Much like the Experience Tech fee, students would essentially “buy in” to the service; by paying a small fee, any visit to the new clinic would be free. According to Griffin Roblyer, WHSA secretary, the clinic would provide “free, basic healthcare for the entire student

population” and would provide services such as “diagnosis of athlete’s foot, flu, strep throat and pink eye but if they want to test for something serious, you still would go to the hospital.” Since the new clinic would not feature a pharmacy, students would still have to fill their prescriptions at an off-campus location.

I think that the proposed add-ed fee for students in exchange for basic medical services would be a smart decision for the Uni-versity. Many other schools in the state already provide a simi-lar service to their students. The University of Michigan offers clinic visits, eye care services, nu-trition counseling, radiology and other services under their health service fee. Michigan State Uni-versity offers students three free medical office visits each school year. The cost of these visits are subsidized by the University. Of-fering these types of services to University students is certainly not a novel idea.

By providing a free clinic to students, Michigan Tech would be able to require students to receive immunizations before coming to school. Currently, freshmen and transfer students

are highly encouraged to receive a set of immunizations before coming to Michigan Tech, but are not required to do so because the University currently does not provide these services to stu-dents through a free clinic. By introducing a free clinic, the Uni-versity could shift their policies from “strong encouragement” to “requirement” of certain immu-nizations.

Graduate students could also see a potential benefit from a change in current health poli-cies. Health insurance provided through Michigan Tech offers the option to add a dependent but the associated costs often de-ter graduate students from using it. The health care committee is interested in providing graduate students with families a less ex-pensive way to insure themselves and their dependents.

Some students who have health insurance provided outside of the University have voiced concern about paying for both their own health insurance and the pro-posed medical services fee. Al-though some students would be paying for their health care twice, the added benefit of having ac-cess to a clinic on campus would

be worth the nominal added fee. The argument that a certain group of students will not use the services they are paying for was an issue heard when the Experi-ence Tech fee was first proposed. Many students who did not use the facilities covered by the Ex-perience Tech fee were upset that they were funding other stu-dent’s recreational activities. In an effort to get as much student input as possible, USG created an online survey that offered stu-dents the chance to voice their opinions. The survey showed that there was strong support for adding the Experience Tech fee. A process like this will be abso-lutely crucial to the success of a change in the University’s health care. The stark contrast between WHSA’s approval of the clinic and USG’s split reaction shows the potential for disagreement among students regarding these changes.

Once a formal proposal has been drafted by the commit-tee, it will likely be reviewed by USG, Hall Councils and Housing (since the clinic may be placed inside Wadsworth Hall) before being voted on by the Board of Control.

A step towards a healthier campus

Lode WriterDANNY MESSINGER

Is there the possibility of a free clinic on the horizon for Michigan Tech students?

Dorm delightsThings to keep in mind when deciding where to live next semester

It’s the time of year again when the frenzy of deciding where and who you’ll live with next semester takes hold. Classifieds are scoured, halls investigated, and contracts are hastily made to ensure, if nothing else, that the next semester will not be spent sleeping in a broom closet in the most dejected house in Houghton. Although panic may set in, it is vital to keep a level-head to avoid making a horrendous mistake.

Perhaps the first concern for students is finding a roommate or housemates to share the next year with. People instinctually gravitate towards people they like the most. Besties, bros, and home-slices are perhaps the most sought after roommates. At first these comrades-in-arms may seem like the ideal roommates; they are sure to be friendly, considerate , and thought-ful. These a d m i r a b l e characteristics will eventu-ally fade and disappear over the course of your semester. Sure, a movie night with the bestie may be great on a Fri-day night. But what about on Monday nights? Or Tuesday after-noons? Or the Thursday after a bad break-up? Playing video games with your buddy is surely a fan-tastic way to vent testosterone-infused anger. But what about at two in the morning right before a big exam?

Before you lived together, these dilemmas were easy to solve. You could go home, close and lock your door and have been done with it. Now, however, your heartbroken friend will be standing outside (or perhaps inside if they are a particularly gifted lock-picker) your bedroom accusing you, amid incoher-ent screams and tears, of not wanting to be their friend anymore.

It is nearly impossible for a friendship that was once given a healthy buffer zone, to flourish in such an intimate environment. Friendships, like bears, are best enjoyed from an appropriate distance.

If you manage to settle on an individual to room with, the next, and perhaps most monumental decision, is to determine where to live.

On-campus housing is an expensive, but

extremely rewarding option. If you are plagued with loud neighbors, a peeved Resi-dent Assistant will appear within minutes is-suing write-ups left and right. If the shower pressure isn’t what it should be, a crew of maintenance staff will be there the next day to fix it. Almost every day, a full Resident Assistant staff, student government, and hall student association provides you with engag-ing activities and free t-shirts. As far as the college living environment goes, dorm life is a breeze. However, the cost and pressure of keeping to anti-alcohol regulations drive many students off-campus in the search for a home away from class.

Over the years, houses in Houghton and Hancock have been plagued with the most persistent and damaging of pests: college stu-dents. This demographic is the number one cause of severe home damage in the United States today. It is amusing that naïve, first-time renters believe their space will be in

even the re-motely same condition at the end of the rent pe-riod. Their s c r u b b e d floors and freshly paint-ed walls will be covered with a layer of grime whose composition would require an electron microscope and a hazmat suit to define.

If you man-age to find an a p a r t m e n t or house in

which the walls aren’t spattered with a gro-tesque mixture of beer and vomit, you’re in luck. Off-campus housing can provide a welcoming reprieve from campus activity; one can only take so many socials of cookie baking and movie watching. However, you’ll begin to miss the activity when you’re doz-ing off during Gilmore Girls with your hand buried in a bowl of Cheez-its on a Saturday night because you don’t have hall-mates to relieve you from your isolated stupor. The peace and independence offered by off-cam-pus housing is a mirage. This siren will lure you with promises of off-the-chain house parties and daily vacations from academia.

Obviously on and off-campus housing each have their respective pros and cons. As for me, the stability and safety of the dorms is far too tempting to resist. I’d rather pay the extra bucks in exchange for pre-made food, patrolled hallways, and a toilet that doesn’t threaten to spew its contents with every flush.

Opinion EditorELIJAH HAINES

First of all, I would like to express my frustration against the Colts, who cost me another week in the Shootout. See, there are few things in life that I see as locks… I saw that game as a lock, and was completely robbed. That onside kick was a kick to the skull for me. As for this week, I will stick with the horse that’s carried me of late and pick AGAINST Detroit. Cleveland is a solid team, Orlando is too streaky. Toss-up in Pittsburgh, with the Panthers edging out a victory.

8A Thursday, February 11 2009Michigan Tech LodeSports

By

numberthe#

Editor’s Shootout

210-win streaksthis year by the Michigan Techwomen’s basketball team this season. Northern Michigan handed the Huskies their only loss of the season on Jan. 2.

18straight gameswon by the Michigan Techmen’s tennis team (two 9-0 victories in Ripon). The Huskies open their play at home tomorrow and Sunday.

3 of the last four Michigan Tech men’s basketball home games have been won by the Michigan Tech Huskies, after going more than a calendar year without a home victory.

71of 75 totalshots saved byHusky freshman goaltenderKevin Genoe in last weekend’s split of No. 6 Minnesota Duluth. Genoe has started six of the last seven games for Michigan Tech.

The Editor’s Shootout is a competition of knowledge, luck and wits between sports editor Stephen Anderson, business manager Richard Goodell, pulse editor Luke Gublo and online editor Jeremiah Baumann. Stephen won two years ago with former opinion editor Rob Devaun winning last year. This will be a weekly feature where each editor picks his winners of the three biggest games/series of the week and backs up his decisions with a short rant. THIS WEEK:Ottawa Senators at Detroit Red Wings, Orlando Magic at Cleveland Cavaliers, West Virginia Mountaineers at Pittsburgh Panthers (College Basketball)

So to start this week I have to go with Ottawa over the Wings as Detroit tends to let me down when I pick them. When it comes to the NBA, Cleveland is on a hot streak. Going over 10 games straight, I have to choose them even without incorporating the home court advantage. As for college hoops, I have to go with Virginia as they are sitting in the top 5 spot on both the USA Today and AP polls.

Senators 3-2Cavaliers 98-94Mount. 92-84

Ottawa and Detroit appear to be two teams destined for different things this year. While Ottawa in right in the middle of the playoff pack in the Eastern Conference, Detroit is fighting for their lives in the West. Expect a win by a desperate Detroit team. Both the Magic and Cavs are tough teams, but being that the game is in Cleveland, I will go with the Cavaliers. Big rivalry game in the Big East Friday night, as West Virginia travels up to Pittsburgh. I believe the Mounties have what it takes to beat the Panthers.

Red Wings 4-2Cavaliers 102-99Mount. 70-64

Senators 4-3Cavaliers 114-100Panthers 87-85

1-2 Last Week, 29-22 Overall

STEPHEN ANDERSON

Sports Editor

1-2 Last Week, 26-25 Overall

RICHARD GOODELL

Business Manager

2-1 Last Week, 31-20 Overall

LUKE GUBLO

Pulse Editor

2-1 Last Week, 25-26 Overall

JEREMIAH BAUMANN

Online Editor

Schedules/Results

Nordic Skiing

M. Basketball (6-15, 5-11 GLIAC)

Sat., Sun. @ CCSA Championships

Visit gliac.org for full standings

Only Jeremiah got the Super Bowl winner right (I knew I should have went with my heart instead of my head), and the Texas pick blew up in my face, but this week I’m hoping to rebound. The Red Wings need wins in the worst pos-sible way heading into the Olympic break, and I think Howard will stand on his head en route to a big win. The Cavs have been dominant at home and will prove that they are the best team in the East. Finally, even with the Panthers at home, I think West Virginia will easily take care of business, but not by the 19-point margin from Feb. 3.

Red Wings 3-2Cavaliers 108-90Mount. 73-61

Hockey (5-22-1, 4-18-0 WCHA)

Next Fri., Sat. @ DenverNo games this weekendMinnesota Duluth 3-2 MTU

Visit uscho.com for full standings

W. Basketball (20-1, 15-1 GLIAC)

40

Thurs. vs. Ferris State, 5:30 p.m.MTU 73-34 AshlandMTU 88-39 Tiffin

MTU 65-57 AshlandMTU 58-52 Tiffin

Lode WriterDAVER KARNOSKY

Sat. vs. Grand Valley State, 1 p.m.

Thurs. vs. Ferris State, 7:30 p.m.

continued at mtulode.com

points scored by Michigan Tech’s Mike Hojnacki over the last two men’s basketball victories over Tiffin and Ashland, including a career-high 22 points. The Huskies host Ferris State and Grand Valley State this week.

Sat. vs. Grand Valley State, 3 p.m.

Hockey Huskies have extra week to prepare for No. 2 Denver

MTU 3-1 Minnesota Duluth

Huskies earn split, win MacInnes Cup

After nearly being left for dead by most of the WCHA and much of their own fan base, the hockey Huskies have revived themselves in stunning fashion since Jan. 12, rattling off a 2-4-1 record over their last seven games, including wins over Minnesota State and No. 6 Minnesota-Duluth. The Huskies have earned a much-needed week off to prepare for the No. 2 Denver Pioneers in Denver, CO.

“It’s a lot easier when you pop in a few wins every once in awhile,” said Huskies’ assist captain Brett Olson. “Any time we can get a win now, it’s good. We have nothing to lose and we just want to finish

strong and have fun doing it.”The Friday night Winter Car-

nival win marked the second win for the Huskies over the Bulldogs this season, becoming the first WCHA opponent to do so. The Huskies pushed the Bulldogs to the brink of a possible sweep on Saturday, but couldn’t hold onto the lead for the 43 minutes neces-sary to finish the win.

“I think we took a good step [this weekend],” said junior center Eric Kattelus. “We can’t dwell on it for too long.”

Over the recent stretch, the numbers show that the Huskies have indeed turned the neces-sary corner to make some noise heading into the WCHA Playoffs. They have scored a power play goal in each of their last six games. They are averaging 2.57 goals per

game over the last seven, up from the 1.90 they were averaging over the previous 21 games.

The increase in scoring is di-rectly tied into the play of assis-tant captains Olson (seven goals, two assists) and Jordan Baker (three goals, six assists). Kattelus, the Winter Carnival Most Valu-able Player, has notched one goal and six assists over the stretch. Captain Malcolm Gwilliam and junior winger Bennett Royer have both picked up two goals and three assists. Freshman defense-man Steven Seigo has four points

on two goals and senior Drew Dobson also has four points on the strength of three assists.

Between the pipes, freshman Kevin Genoe has earned six of the last seven starts in goal for the Huskies. He is averaging 34.2 saves a game over that stretch. He is 2-3-1 over those starts.

“All it takes is a couple of bounces to get the momentum swinging our way,” said Genoe. “We’re starting to come along and everyone is starting to click. All we want to do is build it up to the playoffs.”

Trailing Friday for 34 minutes, the Huskies stunned the Bulldogs with two goals in 23 seconds and skated away with a 3-1 win. Kat-telus and Olson each notched a goal and an assist in the first Huskies’ win when trailing after two periods since Nov. 30, 2007, when they knocked off the Min-nesota Golden Gophers in Min-neapolis, 2-1.

To take the lead: The Huskies have not led much this year, but freshman Steven Seigo put Michigan Tech ahead 1-0 on Saturday night after Friday’s win. Duluth went on to win the game 3-2.

Brick wall: Freshman goaltender Kevin Genoe stopped 71 of 75 shots against the high-powered Duluth Bulldogs over Winter Carnival weekend.

Photos by Ben Wittbrodt

Lode WriterDAVER KARNOSKY

Basketball winning streaks on the line against Ferris, GVSU

Stat Category Pts/GamePts Ag./GameShoot. %Shoot. % Ag.FT Sh. %Reb. MarginAsst./Turn.

Michigan Tech62.367.443.344.468.1+2.30.8

Ferris State73.872.646.043.470.0+0.61.0

Grand Valley63.558.043.439.670.5+4.00.7

Stat CategoryPts/GamePts Ag./GameShoot. %Shoot. % Ag.FT Sh. %Reb. MarginAsst./Turn.

Michigan Tech76.756.248.235.781.4+5.11.6

Ferris State61.970.542.140.770.6+2.00.6

Grand Valley72.661.046.339.569.5+6.60.9

Visit mtulode.com/sports/basketball for full game previews

For just the second time this year, the men’s basketball team is on a two-game winning streak after defeating Tiffin and Ashland. Game recaps are on-line.

This week, the Huskies have a tough task ahead of them, avenging four- and 17-point losses to Ferris State and Grand Valley State respectively.

The Bulldogs and Lakers lead the GLIAC North Division. The Huskies are two games outside of a GLIAC tournament berth with just six games remaining.Mike Hojnacki scored 40 points in

victories over Tiffin and AshlandKatie Wysocky scored 33 points in just 46 minutes of play last week.

The women are riding their second 10-game winning streak of the season. Their only loss came on Jan. 2 against North-ern Michigan.

The Huskies are ranked at No. 4 in Division II in the coun-try for the third straight week, and have been in the top five all year long.

Michigan Tech beat Ferris State by 17 points in Big Rap-ids, but it took double overtime to escape Allendale with a vic-tory. Grand Valley is two games behind Tech in the GLIAC.

TennisSun. vs. Lewis, M 9, W1Fri. vs. Lake Sup. St., M 1, W5

Photos by Ben Wittbrodt

This weekend the women’s tennis Huskies return to action at the Gates Tennis Center in a pair of matches that will set the tone for the spring portion of their season. Coming to Hough-ton are a fellow GLIAC member, Lake Superior State, on Friday and a regional opponent, Lewis, on Sunday.

The Lakers come in looking for some revenge for a 6-3 loss to the Huskies back on Oct. 17.

9AThursday, February 11, 2009Michigan Tech Lode Sports

Lode WriterMARC SANKO

Look for our special “Reader Interaction” section at www.mtulode.com/sports

Vote online in this week’s polls:

How many basketball wins will the Huskies get this week (four games)?

How closely will you be following the 2010 Winter Olympics?

What is your favorite broomball rink (Gold, Black, Silver)?

We want to better serve you. Answer our short sports readership survey online now!

Article continuations •All game recaps posted online the same day•Interactive reader/fan polls (see below)•Regular blog posts by sports staff•Digital PDF archive of print editions•Become a Facebook fan of the “Michigan Tech Lode”•

This week on www.mtulode.com:

Lode SportSTalk Radio

91.9 FMSat. 10-Noon

Check out the “Michigan Tech Lode” Facebook page on Friday night to see this weekend’s special guests!

Every week on www.mtulode.com:

Today (Feb. 11): Current Huskies in the pros, list of 2010-11 football recruits, basketball game recaps, broomball recapsFriday: Broomball game recaps, Tennis recapsSaturday: Basketball game recaps, Broomball game recapsSunday: Blog posts, Broomball game recaps, Tennis recaps, Nordic Skiing recapsMonday: Broomball week previewTuesday: Broomball game recap, feature articleWednesday: Broomball game recap

Broomball Power Rankings

Lode WriterDAVER KARNOSKY

Broomball HQGames of the weekTMNN (5-0) vs. Excello I (5-1) - West Wads 1

JAX (6-1) vs. Goon Patroon (6-0-1) - West Wads 3

Cotton’s Candy (5-0) vs. Fighting Artichokes (7-0) - Off C. 3

INit2WINit (6-0) vs. O, You Betcha (6-0) - East Wads 1

Friday, February 12, 7:30 p.m., Black Rink

Monday, February 15, 9:45 p.m., Gold Rink

Tuesday, February 16, 10:30 p.m., Gold Rink

Wednesday, February 17, 5:15 p.m., Gold Rink

Even despite Ben Wittbrodt’s (right) strong play in net, the Assassins of the Youth fell to We Talk Like T-Pain on Monday night.

The Lode’s coverage of broom-ball continues this coming week with 16 more featured games. Game recaps from all of them are posted the same night of the game.

Be sure to also check out our

online power rankings, vastly ex-panded from what we can include in print.

Any questions, comments, game suggestions, etc. can be directed to Sports Editor Stephen Anderson at steander@mtu.edu.

Five teams have at least four victories in West Wads Confer-ence No. 1, and with these teams being the lone five-win teams, this will be a critical game in

terms of deciding playoff posi-tioning. Excello has scored 71 goals and TMNN has only sur-rendered two, so it should be a fascinating game.

JAX has scored 71 goals this season, while Goon Patroon has only put in 32, but Goon Patroon leads the division by virtue of a tie earlier this year.

Four teams have four wins be-hind these two, but it will clearly come down to these teams for the playoffs coming out of West Wads Conference No. 3

The Artichokes are the class of Off Campus No. 3, but Cot-ton’s Candy will likely provide the toughest opposition yet. No other conference team has fewer

than two losses, so even with a few games left, this game looks to have major playoff implica-tions. Check it out; it’s the only featured game on Feb. 16.

With a 61-4 goal differential, INit2WINit is among the best teams in broomball, but they have not faced a team the cali-ber of O, You Betcha, who have

scored 31 goals, while surrender-ing six. Both have faced weak op-ponents so far, so they both had better come out hard if they hope to win this crucial game.

Other featured games for Feb. 11-17:Cotton’s Candy vs. Progress Our Goal, Feb. 11, 10:30 p.m., GoldCaliente vs. T9X, Feb. 12, 9 p.m., SilverSummit Street Hooligans vs. Black Ice, Feb. 13, 7:30 p.m., SilverHeadless Hitmen vs. Flying Penguins, Feb. 13, 10:30 p.m., GoldSPARTA...vs. We Talk Like T-Pain, Feb. 14, 11 a.m., BlackO RLY? vs. Jay Wooz, Feb. 14, 2 p.m., GoldWe’ll Do It Live vs. Classy Gents, Feb. 14, 10:30 p.m., SilverMooCrew vs. Mighty Mor. Power Mooses, Feb. 14, 11:15 p.m., GoldITK vs. Ges Ges Kaczka, Feb. 15, 9 p.m., GoldTeam ver. 5.0 vs. Brick House, Feb. 15, 9:45 p.m., BlackMooCrew vs. Dump and Chase, Feb. 17, 6 p.m., SilverBaby Sheep vs. 4D Portals, Feb. 17, 9:45 p.m., Gold

Photo by Stephen Anderson

1.

2.

3.

4.

5.

Visit mtulode.com/sports/broomball for a full list of the top 20 teams and those earning honorable mention. Feel free to sound off on the rankings as well.

continued on mtulode.com

Ridikilus (McNair 1): 7-0

Incognito (East Wads 2): 5-0

Arctic Warriors (Off Campus 1): 7-0

Misnomer (DHH 1): 6-0

Excello I (West Wads 5-1): 5-1

They faced quite the scare against Sum It Up, but with three more victories, and a 74-3 goal differential, they continue to roll.

Their 36-1 goal differential against strong opponent’s keeps them at No. 2. Even with only one game last week, they’re looking strong.

They were nowhere in sight on last week’s rankings, but four strong victories against strong opponents vaults them to No. 3.

Their 46-4 goal differential bumps them into the top five with two more victories this past week.They handed Ginger Haus their only loss.

They did nothing to deserve dropping a spot, but other teams have come on strong. They cling to the top five with another win.

More than ever, publications are abandoning their print editions in favor of online versions. The Lode is not by any means doing that, but don’t think that our content stops with the print page. With only two print pages for sports, print is re-ally only scratching the surface of our coverage.

You may notice that many ar-ticles each week are continued on mtulode.com/sports. You may also notice to the right that we fea-

ture online exclusive content, with new stories being uploaded every day. Interactivity is also becoming increasingly popular and we’re do-ing our best to keep up with and ahead of the curve. All of our ar-ticles feature space for comments.

We are on Facebook and Twit-ter, and our search engine optimi-zation continues to improve. We are slowly building our network of other resources, and the Sports section will now include links to

other relevant information at the end of each article online. Since we did not have room for columns in print, we are now bringing them online in blog format.

Throughout the semester, we will explore video and audio con-tent more than ever. We already have a weekly sports radio show (right and above).

Please contact Sports Editor Stephen Anderson at steander@mtu.edu with any feedback.

Lode Sports section features daily online content at mtulode.com/sports

The Michigan Tech ski teams enjoyed a Winter Carni-val at home this past weekend and won’t be traveling all that far for their next races this coming weekend as they head down US-41 to Ishpeming. The ski teams will compete in the Central Collegiate Ski Association Championships against some familiar oppo-nents like Northern Michi-gan and Alaska – Fairbanks, who they skied against in the US Championships in Alaska. Though it isn’t necessarily a home meet (as Ishpeming is a stone’s throw from Marquette) it is close enough where Tech might be able to claim a bit of a home course advantage.

The Women’s team will have to rely on the steady perfor-mance of Henna Riikonen-Purtsi in order to keep in the mix of things. If the team looks to win this weekend there must be help from team-mates in order to pull it off. Seniors Jenna Klein and Eliza-beth Quinley must step up and perform well to help give the Huskies much needed points in races with so many teams. Thankfully for Tech both se-niors performed well the last time the teams went out.

On the Men’s side, there will be a similar leaning on senior Oskar Lund, with help from the two Jesse’s, senior Jesse Lang and sophomore Jesse Smith in order to get a good result. Like the Women’s team, the top trio for the Hus-kies seems to be clicking at the right time, as the three all had top ten finishes last time on the course. Even though the field will be more crowded this weekend, Lund did fin-ish first the last two times out, and for the Huskies to finish on top, they will need that to continue.

After the Championships in Ishpeming, the Tech skiers will come home and ski here in Houghton at the Michigan Tech Ski Trails for the NCAA Central Region Champion-ships.

Skiers eager for Central Collegiate Ski Association Championships this weekend

Club sport spotlight winds downVisit mtulode.com/sports for links to our spotlights on the following sports:

Wrestling Club•Tennis Club•Women’s Hockey Club•Rowing Club•Ultimate Frisbee Club•Volleyball Club•Running Club•

Women’s LaCrosse Club•Men’s Hockey Club•Baseball Club•Rugby Club•Men’s Soccer Club•Women’s Soccer Club•

Tennis teams prepare to host LSSU, LewisWomen’s tennis returns to action

Looking to build off the mo-mentum of beating a pair of Di-vision III schools, the men’s ten-nis Huskies continue their non-

conference schedule with a pair of home matches this weekend against the Lake Superior State

Lakers and the Lewis Flyers.The Lakers posted a 7-11 re-

cord overall last season that saw them go 2-5 in GLIAC action. This season, they’ve set their sights on a top-four finish.

Men hope to continue strong start

continued on mtulode.com

Michigan Tech

LSSU

Michigan Tech

Lewis

FridayMen 1, Women 5

SundayMen 9, Women 1

8A Thursday January 14th, 2010Michigan Tech LodeHusky Hodgepodge

CultureShock

Report #17

I hope all of you had an awesome Winter Carnival last week and are ready to switch the gear back to studying. I know this week and the week following are exam weeks for most of you. Work hard and get a score that you deserve to have.

I apologize that I didn’t have time to continue my column last week. I was busy with my school stuff and tried to finish them before Winter Carnival. Are you ready for this week’s?

When I was in class last week, I felt a little bit sleepy and took out a small red container. “What’s in it?” my friend asked.

“Smell it.” I open the cap and handed to him. He smelled it and bent his brows.

“What is this? It smells weird,” he asked again.

“My mom sent it to me. It is a Chinese medicine. It can help you stay awake. You want to try it?” He gave it back to me with his head shaking. Are you curious about this? This is just an example about Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM).

China is a country with 5,000 years of history. Medical care is a big reason that China has survived in East Asia for thousands of years. Much of the philosophy of traditional Chinese medicine derives from the same philosophy that influences Taoist and Buddhist thought and re-flects the classical Chinese belief that the life and activity of individual human beings have an intimate relationship with the environment on all levels. Based on this, Chinese academics of various schools have focus on the observable natural laws of the universe and their implication for the practical characterization of humanity’s place in the uni-verse. Chinese doctors usu-ally spend their whole life try-ing to discover new medicinal plants. They travel through the whole country and test unknown plants on them-selves. Some of them even lose their lives because of poisonous plants. The most famous Chinese index book of herbs is Bencao Gangmu. It includes over 3,000 plants with their drawing and me-dicinal functions.

Even now, TCM is still pop-ular in China. Approximately 500 Chinese herbs that are in use today, 250 of them are very commonly used. Rather than being prescribed in-dividually, single herbs are combined into formulas that are designed to adapt to the specific needs of individual patients. An herbal formula can contain anywhere from three to 25 herbs. This is a complex theory. We even have TCM major in Chinese medical colleges.

Compared to western medicine, TCM is a long-term treatment. However, because it’s 100 percent natu-ral, it has fewer side effects to the human body. Western medicine can heal your body very quickly, but those com-bined chemicals will stay in your body and harm your or-gans, especially the liver and kidneys. My grandma has had nephropathy since her 40’s and she has been taken prescription medicine for 20 years. Her kidneys are still in a good condition and haven’t had any more trouble.

The Chinese medical care system is a combination of science, philosophy, and cul-ture. Herbal medicine is just a small part of it. To most Americans I think acupunc-ture is most familiar. Want to know more about it? I will fol-low up the TCM in the com-ing few weeks. I really want to introduce this great culture to you guys. Hope you like it and I will see you next week!

Lode Writer

JUN (MILES) NI

Event reminders

Student poll

On this day

Vote at: www.mtulode.com

1254

Proof: Tech Theatre Company

Where: McArdle Theatre

When: Feb. 12 7:30 - 9:30 p.m.

5th Annual Railroad

NightWhere: Best Western Franklin Square Inn

When: Feb. 167:00 - 10:00 p.m.

The Wedding SingerWhere: Rozsa Center

When: Feb. 17 7:30-9:30 p.m.

Student responses are based on our weekly online poll. Please vote on next week’s question:

Do you have a Valentine?

The British Parliament first convened.

Courtesy of www.reference.com and www.statesymbolsusa.org

1975Margaret Thatcher became the first woman to lead the British Conservative Party.

I can’t remember anything from this past weekend!- 14%

1990South African black activist Nelson Mandela was freed af-ter 27 years in captivity.

Sure, it was great!- 86%

Friday:20% Chance of precipitation

Weather Outlook

Sunday:30 % Chance of precipitation

Saturday:Partly Cloudy

220F / 130F

220F / 130F

230F / 160F

Weather Courtesy of www.wunderground.com

Do you remember the All-Nighter?

2006Vice President Dick Cheney accidentally shoots a friend during a quail hunting trip on a southern Texas ranch.

February 4th:Cameroon Youth Day

And the winners are...

Queens: Anna Uhl sponsored by Sigma Phi Epsilon

Stage Revue: Sigma Phi Epsilon

Statues:Month-Long

Fraternities Women's Groups Student Organizations Residence Halls

Phi Kappa Tau Delta Zeta Army ROTC

FYE

All-Nighter On-CampusOff-Campus Residence Halls

NAHBConcordia Student Ministries Bastille

Overall Winner: Sigma Phi Epsilon

Special Events: Phi Kappa Tau

Photo By: Alex Cotton

Photo By: Alex Cotton

Photo By: Ben Wittbrodt

Photo By: Rebecca Boeve