The first week of school has come against this means it is the start of classes, students buying their books at the last minute and Welcome Week has come upon us. There have been many activities in the last week to help welcome new and old students alike back to campus.

The week started out with a school supply give away in front of the MUB and a bike clinic that OAP put on. Tuesday got even better with the Community Expo. The Community Expo showed off the many different businesses in the Houghton and Hancock area. The booths were set up around campus and many of them were giving away free things (swag) to the students at Michigan Tech. The Blood Drive also started on Tuesday with a very good turn out. Wednesday got even better with Chillin’ and Grillin’ with

Greek life. This is always a fun event for everyone on campus and really introduces everyone to the Greek life. The Blood Drive also continued on Wednesday.

Thursday was even better! The pudding giveaway in honor of the movie Billy Madison was greatly appreciated by the students. Later the movie was shown in Fisher 135. There was also a chance to brighten up your dorm room, apartment or house with the Inter Resident’s Hall Plant Giveaway. This was a great opportunity to get a free plant and learn the proper ways to take care of it.

Friday will be just as fun with the Balloon man, the world’s fastest balloon artist and comedian Jim Tarve performing. Saturday is just as exciting with the Tech’s Challenge Course Open House. This is also known as the high ropes course. Come and cheer on the Lady Huskies as the Women’s soccer team takes on Bemidji

Students and community walk against violence

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Guest WriterKARL KOIVISTO

Scholarship allows student to study abroad

Ben Sollee to play at Ontanogan Theatre

Starting the march: Sorority girls from Alpha Gamma Delta participated in the Walk Against Violence on August 31 to help the Copper Country Humane Society and the Barbara Kettle Gundlach Shelter Home raise awareness against domestic violence towards animals. Photos by Adam Marshall

Welcome week welcomes all back to Tech

My study abroad adventure started innocently. It was the second week of the 2010 fall semester, and I had all intentions of completing my full sophomore year at Tech. Studying in a foreign country was just a vague thought in the back of my head; I thought it would be fun, but I didn’t think that my engineering class schedule would allow it. As I was strolling through campus, I bumped into a flyer advertising Study Abroad 101, a short introductory meeting for those interested. On a whim, I decided to attend. Shortly thereafter, I left the meeting with a large buzz, because my sophomore year had just taken a drastic turn for the better. I was heading to Tampere, Finland for the spring semester.

When my plane lifted off from Terminal 5 at the O’Hare International Airport in Chicago, I had no idea what to expect. I had never been to a different country before, and due to the short notice of this trip, I only knew a

Ben Sollee is coming to the Ontonagon Theatre on Sept. 29—so mark your calendars, because it’s going to be worth the trip. If you don’t already know about this progressive, genre-bending singer-cellist, just take a look at some of the artists he’s worked with: Bela Fleck, Vienna Teng, Abigail Washburn and even Jim James from My Morning Jacket.

As a classically trained cellist, Sollee’s technical ability is superb. His music evidences an obvious love for folk music,

but with a modern, intrepid style that is refreshing. Fans of Nickel Creek, KT Tunstall, Brett Dennen and Amos Lee will are likely to find Sollee’s music a comfortable space. Some of Sollee’s tracks also resonate with a touch of the jazz fusion sound familiar to fans of the Dave Matthew’s Band.

My Morning Jacket front man, Jim James, said of Sollee, “I never expect to see that cello in one piece after Ben gets done playing it. He bows and beats and works it over with a passionate fury rarely seen. Don’t get me wrong – he can play it and hold his own with the most schooled and delicate

scholars out there, but more importantly, Ben makes it live.” James goes on to talk of Sollee’s approach to music, saying “Ben’s songs speak worldly wisdom and stand on their own, and he is out there in this world with those songs and that cello and that god-given voice of his, riding his bike and fighting the good fight and doing all he can to help make the world right.” And the bike part isn’t an exaggeration, either: in 2010 Sollee and his band went on a “Ditch The Van Tour,” making their tour circuit—and transporting all of their instruments and equipment—entirely by bicycle.

Not having heard Sollee’s music before, I was glad to have found him. Though I am not always a fan of traditional folk music, I found myself enjoying both Sollee’s technical skill with a cello as well as his blending of genre lines, seamlessly integrating elements of pop and jazz to create a solid, seductive sound.

Tickets are on sale now at the Ontonagon Theatre. Unless noted by the theatre, ticket prices are $10.00 in advance, and $12.00 at the door. For some events, students can receive a special pricing of $5.00 at the door.

The Barbara Kettle Gundlach Shelter Home and the Copper Country Humane Society co-sponsored the fifth annual Walk Against Violence on August 31. The event took place from 6:00 p.m to 7:00 p.m at the East Houghton Waterfront Park located near the Super 8 Motel on College Avenue.

The walk was held to help raise awareness against domestic violence within homes. The event was attended by both the local community and students in the area, and all the attendants were willing to walk despite the rainy weather. Some participants even brought along their pets for the walk. Adam Marshall, the attending photographer, spoke

with some of the participants and commented, “I got that this group of people were very down to earth and a close knit group. They cared deeply for the subject and wanted to get the word out.”

The Walk Against Violence was started by the Barbara Kettle Gundlach Shelter Home in July 2006. The walk was started not only to increase awareness of domestic violence, but also as an attempt to reduce animal abuse within these homes since it is believed that these actions often coincide. The Barbara Kettle Gundlach Shelter Home also offers a 24-hour crisis line, counseling and support groups, and other services for those victim to domestic violence. The crisis line number is: (906) 337-5632.

The Copper Country Humane Society, who also helped by

co-sponsoring this event. The humane society helps reuinite owners with their lost pets, and offers pets that have been abandoned food, water, veterinary care and shelter until they can find the pet a new home. To learn more about the Copper Country Humane Society, visit their website at (http://www.cchumanesociety.com/).

Over the summer Phi Kappa Tau’s Gamma Alpha chapter at Michigan Tech received several awards at the Fraternity’s inaugural Conclave in the birthplace of the Phi Kappa Tau society, Oxford, OH. More than a 100 undergraduates, alumni and guests were in attendance.

The awards the local chapter of Phi Kappa Tau received were the Administrative Excellence Award, the Order of the Star award, and the Philanthropy Award.

The philanthropy award is only presented to the chapters that are able to raise funds to assist both local philanthropic causes and the chapter’s national philanthropy cause, Hole in the Wall Camps. The Phi Kappa Tau Gamma Alpha chapter at Michigan Tech managed to raise a total of $2,628.00 for these causes. This is coupled with the fact that the award for Administrative Excellence is only given to chapters that file all of their required reports on time. Congratulations Phi Kappa Tau.

Thursday, September 1, 2011Michigan Tech Lode 2NEWS

News EditorCAMERON SCHWACH

Students make blood drive a success

few choice words of the Finnish language, with only one or two of those words appropriate to say in the presence of a child. According to my seatmate on the plane, most of the people in Finland knew English, but my anxiety was not quelled as I realized I wasn’t picking up any English chit-chat from those around me. But since I was running on pure adrenaline, I smiled and watched as the dark forests of Canada faded into the Atlantic Ocean, eventually giving way to the frigid icebox of the far reaches of Northern Europe that would be my home for the next 5 months.

Those next five months proved to be one of the most memorable experiences in my life thus far. From the time that I landed in Finland, until the moments that I left, I met

new people; and it’s the people that came to define my whole adventure. I was introduced to a multitude of different cultures and perspectives, and it was amazing to see the differences that we had, but also the many similarities that we shared. Every day that I was there proved to be an adventure. Spontaneity ran rampant, and because of the easy travel throughout Europe, off-the-cuff trips to anywhere from Helsinki to Spain were commonplace. One day, my buddy and I were sitting in the library working on a particularly bothersome assignment for our Differential Equations class. To waste time, we decided to look online for some cheap flights to anywhere. The first ticket that came into our crosshairs was a round-trip ticket

to London. With no hesitation, we pulled out the plastic and made our purchase. Two weeks later we were standing outside

Buckingham Palace, watching the wedding preparations for Prince William’s wedding.

One of the things that you may be wondering is how I could afford all of this. I am not wealthy in the least bit, and when I decided to study abroad, my bank account brought to mind images of a large drought and the Great Depression. The

International Office at Tech was very helpful with everything relating to studying abroad, and they didn’t disappoint when it

came to finances. There are many scholarships available for studying abroad, but the biggest and best that I found was the Benjamin A. Gilman International Scholarship, which is rewarded through the U.S. Department of State. Without the Gilman, I couldn’t have done this trip, and I encourage anyone who is studying abroad to apply

for it. Once you have the money, or at least an idea of where it is going to come from, you are golden, and nothing should hold you back.

My decision to study abroad was one of the best decisions that I have ever made. The many memories that I created and the friends that I have met will be with me for a lifetime. Although it is a bit cliché, I found it very true that once you take your worldview out of the little box that you are living in, you can never go back, and your life is changed forever. So I am telling each and every one of you to get out of your box, get in to the International Office, and get off this continent. Study abroad, the world and its people are waiting for you.

Future Tech: Gaming tool for iPads

Lode WriterKIMBERLY GRIGG

Modifying your touchpad: Logitech offers iPad users a small accessory to help them play games that often have tempermental touch-response controls. See it attached to an iPad above. Photos courtesy of logitech.com

Study abroad Continued from front

The spirit of giving was at Michigan Tech on Tuesday and Wednesday. Many students here at Tech participated in Welcome Week’s Blood Drive. The Blood Drive was put on by the Red Cross in the Library’s reading room from 10 a.m to 4 p.m. The students who donated not only received the satisfaction of helping save a life, but also received juice and other treats given to them by the Red Cross. The students said that they greatly appreciated the juice and treats that were given to them.

The turn out for the Blood Drive was outstanding, like it is every year. Many students take the time out of their day to donate. By the end of the day the Red Cross was carrying out 15 large boxes at a time. These boxes

were filled with blood bags that were donated throughout the day. Overall the blood drive was a success.

If you still wish to donate blood, but did not get the chance to do so during the blood drive you still have a chance to donate. Portage Hospital is always in need of any blood type and will be willing to have people donate blood there. There are also many other blood drives throughout the year. One must meet a few requirements before donating blood. First, one must be at least seventeen years of age. Next, one must be at least 110 pounds and in good health. A person also cannot have donated in the last 56 days. If a person meets all these requirements, then they are more than welcome to go and donate blood now if they choose. The need for blood is great and the donors from this blood drive are greatly appreciated.

Every day I that I was there proved to be an adventure.

““

Phi Kappa Tau wins several awards

As the craze for iPad gaming continues to grow, iPad users have begun to notice some small issues with the touchpad concept for gaming. Namely, the interface is known to occasionally mis-interpret the screen touch input which creates a moment where the player will miss out on points towards their latest high score. Logitech has taken the initiative in this case to create a joystick accessory for the touchpads that

will reduce the occurrence of this happening.

The joystick is a small, coil shaped, joystick similar to the joysticks used in console gaming systems. To use the joystick, simply apply the two suction cup mounts to the edge of your iPad, and begin your game. It’s that simple. The base of the joystick will stay in contact with the screen and register as a user’s touch, while the coiled shape of the joystick will always return the accessory to a centered position. This accessory was developed for the iPad and iPad2, but should

be able to work with a large array of touchscreen interfaces that follow the same standards as the iPad.

Logitech released a list with the accessory stating that the joystick can be used with just about any game with an on-screen joystick or d-pad. The joystick is already shown to work with a large number of popular games such as Armored Tank Assault, Death Rally, Geometry Wars: Touch, Meteor Blitz, Super Mega Worm, and many more.

News EditorCAMERON SCHWACH

3Thursday, September 1, 2011Michigan Tech Lode NEWS

What sort of activities would you like to see in the Lode? Let us know by e-mailing lodecom-ment@mtu.edu. This week’s puzzle will be an extremely hard puzzle. At least that’s what the generic number rating promised —we don’t want you wasting too much of your brain power on this though! The answer to last week’s puzzle is to the right. Enjoy!

Editor-In-ChiefERIKA PEABODY

Lode WriterMICHAEL HILLIARD

Welcome Week Continued from front

Michigan senate race heats up

on Saturday and the University of Minnesota on Sunday. Both these games are at 1 p.m. Also taking on at 1 p.m on Sunday is the gold scramble at Portage Lake Golf Course. Labor Day is not quite as busy but exciting all the same. Motion City Soundtrack will be performing at the Rosza Center at 7:30 p.m. The cost is

$20 for students and $25 for non-students. Next Friday is the last day of Welcome Week and the most poplar day too. This day is K-Day. K-Day is when all of the originations and all of the students come out so they can have a good time and students can learn what organizations are offered on campus.

Welcome Week has always been a great event for students and has always been a fun time! So get outside and enjoy the sun and everything Welcome Week has to offer!

Last Monday, Michigan Governor Rick Snyder formally announced his support for Senate hopeful, Pete Hoekstra. Hoekstra’s campaign heralds the Governor’s endorsement as a tremendous boon but the endorsement may prove polemic as Snyder’s approval rating continues to plummet—down to 32 percent in a poll released from

MSU on August 5.Fellow Republican Senate-

runner Clark Durant released a statement praising Snyder for being active in the political process and encouraging all Michigan residents to follow his lead, but cautioned voters to support a candidate who would work for “the American Way, not the Washington way,” a subtle sting no doubt directed at Hoekstra’s 18 years in the U.S. House of Representatives.

The Governor’s endorsement

also serves to highlight the divide in the Republican race, as Betsy DeVos, Spence Abraham and Saul Anuzis—all well-known Michigan GOP leaders—have thrown their support behind Durant, rather than Hoekstra. The goal of unseating Democratic incumbent Debby Stabenow, however, may prove difficult, as Stabenow has been leading in polls (vs. Hoekstra) by an average margin of 6.7 points since last December.

It is not uncommon to find students living in rental houses without leases and without even knowing who their landlord is. They have been told by their friends that it is unnecessary and that the landlord won’t care.

This might work out in many situations. However, many times the landlord will care and living somewhere without a lease makes students vulnerable. At any time, the landlord can come by and evict them.

This goes the other way too, if a landlord does not require a check-in process a student may

feel that they are free to remodel the house as they see fit. For example, sticking push pins in the wall to hang up pictures or banners. Usually you have to check with your landlord before you do anything that could cause permanent damage.

For this reason, many students don’t realize that they are in danger of not receiving their security deposits back. If there is no inspection, or check in process, there is no way for the student to prove that they did not cause existing damages. Some landlords may not care, but some may take advantage of the student’s situation.

A third-year student, who

wishes to remain anonymous, ran into this problem recently when his landlord decided to charge him and his housemates for a new kitchen floor. “We had scrubbed and cleaned that place from top to bottom before we left. In all honesty, it was cleaner than when we moved in. The floor looked way better than it originally did” he said.

Unfortunately, he doesn’t have any proof to back up his claims, and is going to be charged the $400 for a new floor.

Many students may not realize that they are opening themselves up to get burned. They are just excited about moving off campus, or moving in with a couple of

buddies. Many landlords don’t realize that they are opening themselves up to the possibility of having their house destroyed.

However, it is imperative for both students and landlords to think about this sort of thing. There are a few easy ways to protect yourself or your house.

First, both the landlord and the student should meet to discuss the terms of the lease. The student and landlord should both sign the lease and have a copy on hand in case something comes up in the future.

Second, when you move in take pictures of everything. It may seem silly at the time, but you never know when they will

come in handy. Also, fill out a check-in sheet; it protects both the lessor and the lessee if any damage is done to the house. On a check-in sheet both the tenant and the landlord sign off on the condition of specific things in the house like appliances, walls, ceilings and floors.

Lastly, don’t settle. If your landlord is unwilling to provide you with a lease or a check-in sheet, or a renter won’t sign the papers or is slow getting back to you, just know you can do better. There are plenty of other houses in the Houghton/Hancock area and plenty of other students looking for housing as well.

Dangers of renting and how to avoid them

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For More Information or a Tour of the FacilityContact Brian Or Eric at 906-487-1700brian@houghtonlodging.com eric@houghtonlodging.com

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Keweenaw Day (K-Day) will be held this year on Friday, Sept. 9 from 12:00 p.m. to 4:00 p.m. at McLain State Park. Michigan

Tech classes will end at noon so students can go and enjoy the fun and games.

K-Day is a longstanding

tradition that promotes student involvement on campus. There are currently 128 student organizations registered this year. Other organizations have the chance to register until this Friday, September 2nd.

About 2,000 students are expected to attend K-Day this year to see all of the displays and demonstrations; receive free food and prizes; and learn about involvement opportunities on campus.

Students can either drive out to McLain or take the bus for no

charge. Buses leave from outside the Memorial Union Board (MUB) every half hour during K-Day events.

Students are reminded to drive slowly when approaching McLain park due to the large amount of pedestrian traffic that will be present, and to be patient while other students park and cross the street to attend the festivities.

For more information on K-Day, visit (www.kday.mtu.edu).

Keweenaw Day coming soonEditor-In-Chief

ERIKA PEABODY

Get ready for music, laughs and Harry Potter! Jim Tavere is coming to Michigan Tech to perform in the MUB on Friday September 2nd at 10pm. This comedian is sure to be a good time with many laughs.

Tavere is an English come-dian from Thurrock, England, and is the only overseas act to have ever made it into the top five of “Last Comic Standing.” Overall Tavere finished 4th. He also toured with “Last Comic Standing” for quite some-time. Before that he got the chance to tour with Michael Buble. Tavere also has his own sketch comedy show called “The Sketch Show” and his own show he hosts called “Jim Tavere Pictures Presents….” He also now has his own docu-mentary: “Surviving Hitler: A Love Story.” Tavere also played Tom, the owner of the Leaky Caldron in “Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban.” He also has many other TV and movie roles under his belt too. Tavere also has won a BAFTA in 2002, among being nominat-ed for many other awards.

Tavere has been known to bring a double bass to his show and wear a tuxedo. Most of the time he will wear a tuxedo that resembles a conductor’s. The bass is mostly for show, but he has been known to play it just to get some laughs out of the audience. The hilarity that Tareve ensures may not be for your parents or younger sib-lings, but most college students would find what Tareve has to say funny. It is actually rather hard to find a bad review about this man. It is highly suggested that one would go see him. This could very well end up being the funniest thing at Michigan Tech for the entire year!

Football season is upon us, and with a new football season comes another installment of EA Sports’ Madden NFL series of football simulation games. Sports games are often re-leased on a yearly basis to keep up with changing rosters, and it’s often claimed that there’s no need to buy each year’s in-stallment. Instead, the argu-ment goes that gamers need only buy entries that make “sig-nificant” changes. Is “Madden NFL 12” that entry? EA certainly seems to have tried to make it so, with major changes to the game’s Franchise Mode, the collision system, and the play-er AI. The question is whether these changes are enough for fans to buy a new installment of the same game.

After all, at its core, Madden 12 is still the same game. The control scheme is still the same, the game still plays mostly the same, and it’s still unmistak-ably Madden, for better or worse. Those expecting radical changes in the game are going to come away disappointed. Most of the additions from the past couple of Madden games are also in 12.

That said, one of the biggest and most noticeable changes in the game is the new colli-sion system. Previous Madden installments had issues with “suction” blocks and tackles, where players would be tack-led or blocked even though the locations of the players on the field would seem to suggest that should not happen; this is mostly eliminated. Blocking, tackling, and most of the ac-tion on the field looks and feels much more natural. This is a huge improvement, one that might be enough alone for some lapsed fans to return to the series.

The other major changes to the core game are “Dynamic Player Performance” and “Player Traits.” Dynamic Player Performance is EA’s attempt to implement a system where players react to the results of plays, possibly changing how they play. For example, a run-ning back that fumbles the ball might try to be more protec-tive, and a defensive back that makes an interception might be more aggressive in that area. While the game outright tells you to what players this is hap-pening to, it’s not clear from the gameplay that there are chang-es. While this isn’t necessarily a bad thing (it wouldn’t be good if players routinely experienced large shifts in skill level during games) it does mean that this feature is probably not the “Big Thing” EA may have wanted it to be. Player Traits, on the other hand, does seem to have a no-ticeable impact on gameplay. Player Traits tries to give the AI more distinct playing styles; for example, Aaron Rodgers might scramble or force a throw un-der pressure, while Peyton Manning would more likely stay in the pocket and throw the ball away. Again, it’s subtle and not likely something that will attract tons of new fans, but it’s a nice touch.

While most of the game modes haven’t seen a lot of work this year, particularly on-line, Franchise Mode has seen plenty of changes. Players who enjoy the General Manager mode now have that aspect hugely revamped, with a new draft, free agency, and pre-season cut system. Players can also switch which teams they play as between seasons, which is nice for players who might want to play only a season or two with some teams.

Finally, Madden 12 has com-pletely overhauled the presen-tation of games to make it look more like a TV broadcast. Here,

the game has mixed success; while many of the new camera shots and on-screen graphics are more “TV-like,” the choice of replays is sometimes odd, and the commentary from Cris Collinsworth and Gus Johnson remains a mixture of the obvi-ous and the seriously out-of-place.

Ultimately, if you own Madden 11 and the new colli-sion system doesn’t excite you, this probably isn’t a game you’ll find a need to buy. On the other hand, if you’ve skipped a cou-ple of years, between the addi-tions in this game and the past couple of games, this might be a good time to get back in. “Madden NFL 12” is still deep down the same game, but the series continues to improve, however slowly, and it remains fun for what it is: video game football.

Motion City Soundtrack, an American rock band from Minneapolis, Minnesota, is set to perform at the Rozsa Centre on Aug 5, 2011 at 7.30pm. Their al-bum, “My Dinosaur Life,” launched January 2010 with Columbia re-cords, and was a resounding suc-cess, giving the band a new high. The album debuted at number 15 on the US Billboard 200 and an astonishing 30,000 copies flew off store shelves in its first week! “My Dinosaur Life” is a collection of 12 songs that push the limits of pow-er-pop and challenge the ideals of the boombox generation.

The songs have different styles and are special in their own way. The album’s first single, “Disappear,” for example, is remi-niscent of ’90s-era angst rock, with its muffled guitars and cautionary vocals. On the other hand, “Pulp Fiction” is a piano-driven rock

overture that frames the rous-ing adventures of a stranger in a strange land. Finally, “A Lifeless Ordinary” is a perky yet pensive romp that ponders themes of escapism and displacement—emotions that are felt and ex-pressed throughout the lyrics of “My Dinosaur Life.”

“We’ve battled for every one of our fans. We went from playing in front of 150-200 kids to 1,500-2,000 kids without an issue” says Josh Cain, guitarist and vocal-ist for Motion City Soundtrack. Cain plays with his band mem-bers Justin Pierre (vocals, guitar), Matt Taylor (bass, vocals), Jesse Johnson (keyboards) and Tony Thaxton (drums).

The event is sponsored by the Michigan Tech student entertain-ment board. Tickets are priced at $25 for general public, and $20 for Michigan Tech students. For more information on the event, visit the Rozsa website www.rozsa.mtu.edu or call 906-487-2073.

Lode WriterKEDAR JUMDE

Lode WriterKIM GRIGG

4Thursday, Suptember 1, 2011Michigan Tech Lode Pulse

Jim Tavare Coming to Tech!

Madden 12 Offers Needed Improvements, Same Game

Musicians at Tech still don’t have to look far for lessons to keep their skills up. The Visual and Performing Arts department, pleased with the success of their private lessons pro-gram, is continuing it for another year.

The program offers a series of twelve 45-minute sessions for a vari-ety of instruments, including guitar, piano, voice, woodwinds, brass, and percussion. Lessons are available for students, faculty, and adult commu-nity members, and are taught by lo-cal professional musicians.

Those interested should contact lessons@mtu.edu for information about rates. Local and group rates are both available.

VPA Dept. Continues Music Lessons

Pulse EditorNICK BLECHA

Motion City Soundtrack Set to Rock Michigan Tech

September 19:00 PM - 11:00 PM:Fisher 135Film: Billy Madison

September 210:00 PM - 11:00 PM:MUB BallroomLate Night Programming presents Jim Tavare

Upcoming Events

Pulse EditorNICHOLAS BLECHA

Overall Grade: B

Sept. 2 - 8 at Roger’s CinemaApollo 18 Fri-Mon Matinees at (1:10) (3:10) and Daily at (5:10) (7:10) (9:10)Cars 2 Sat - Mon Matinees at (2:40) and Daily at (4:50) (7:10)Colombiana Fri-Mon at (12:45) (2:55) and Daily at (5:05) (7:15) (9:25)Our Idiot Brother Fri-Mon Matinees at (1:15) (3:15) and Daily at (5:15) (7:15) (9:15)Don’t be Afraid of the Dark Fri-Mon Matinees at (1:10) (3:15) and Daily at (5:20) (7:25) (9:30)Spy Kids: All the Time in the World Fri-Mon Matinees at (12:50) and Tues-Thurs at (9:20)

Members of Motion City Soundtrack from (L-R): Jesse Johnson, Tony Thaxton, Matt Taylor, Josh Cain, Justin Pierre.

Photo Courtesy of Lindsey Byrnes

Madden 12 Cover: Running back Peyton Hillis of the Cleveland Browns won the cover vote over Michael Vick

Photo Courtesy of amazon.com

Photo Courtesy of jimtavare.org

5Thursday, September 1, 2011Michigan Tech Lode OPINION

Soil Should Not Equal Freedom

Gov. Rick Perry (R-Texas) speaks at a campaign event in Greenland, N.H. on August 13, 2011. Perry has emereged as a controversial, but popular candidate for the 2012 Presidential Election.

Photo courtesy of Associated Press

You wake one morning to find your child asleep in her bed; her breathing shallow yet consistent. As she sleeps you walk slowly to the kitchen and open the refrigerator door. The floor is cool, and, as you stand searching for milk to warm, your whole body shakes as tears swell your eyes. You know you have nothing to feed your baby girl yet keep the refrigera-tor door ajar. She soon wakes. As you enter her room, all you can imagine is her future lying in shambles if she were to stay in this country. You now know what you must do, and the per-ilous journey you both must take. Due to the large influx of illegal Cuban immigration, the United States government established the “wet foot, dry foot” policy. This policy en-dangers a substantial number of people every year and dis-

criminates against other world cultures; effects that can be stopped by the simple removal of this mandate.

The United States was found-ed upon the ideas of freedom and the ability to work towards your goals in order to achieve a better future for you and your family. Today, many believe that immigration is essential in demonstrating the United States as a world power as well as diversifying this nation. The “wet foot, dry foot” policy al-lows more immigrants who leave Cuba, due to political prosecution, to enter the Unit-ed States and work towards a better future. This policy also encourages freedom in other nations by showing America’s understanding of the rough situation in which Cubans are placed. Although this policy is thought admirable, few seem to understand the probability of danger simultaneously pro-moted. Disguised as an aid, the

“wet foot, dry foot” policy only serves to enlarge American ego by attempting to prove to a communist government that democracy is superior, an ac-tion that is despicable and self-ish.

With hopes to achieve bet-ter futures, thousands of fami-lies risk their lives and depart from Cuba every year. Families may gather materials such as empty jugs, old car seats, and even palm tree leaves in order to build a barge and risk all they have for the potential pros-perity that awaits them in the United States. We are inclined to believe that these vessels are filled with adults who have made the conscious choice to gamble their lives, yet this is not the case. Many contain scared children, some even under the age of five. These children face not only harsh environmental factors but the possible deaths of travelers around them. The “wet foot, dry foot” policy

wrongfully promotes risks that lead to many fatalities. To the families that depart Cuba every year, this is a very worthwhile risk. Yet it appears when weigh-ing risk versus reward, the only reason families are willing to risk their lives is because of this policy.

The “wet foot, dry foot” pol-icy is completely unique to Cu-ban immigrants, although there are illegal foreigners entering the United States daily from various countries. When immi-grants from these countries are discovered, they are deemed, in most cases, to be economic ref-ugees and immediate deporta-tion occurs. This policy can be said to be an act of discrimina-tion against these nationalities. The United States was founded upon the idea that everyone is created equal, yet we deport men, women, children, and entire families because they are not of a certain nationality. This is not constitutionally just,

according to our very own laws. If removal of this mandate were to occur, the United States gov-ernment would still be able to aid Cuban immigrants in other ways. Programs such as the implementation of more visas and refugee aid could be instru-mental in helping more Cubans escape an oppressive govern-ment, achieving the same goal as the “wet foot, dry foot” pol-icy without the discriminatory effects.

Sophocles, a Greek play write, once stated, “The greatest griefs are those we cause ourselves.” A law such as the “wet foot, dry foot” policy epitomizes this belief. This mandate discrimi-nates against other nationalities because they are not Cuban and endangers many in the course of just one year. A policy that repeatedly proves that it causes more sorrows than happiness has no place in our nation and should be eliminated.

Lode WriterGIANNA GOMEZ-MAYO

3 bedroom mobile. 52018 Oskar Canal Road, 5 miles from Houghton. Contact Roger Riutta at (906) 523-5307 or (906) 869-5964.

E-mail lodeads@mtu.edu for information about placing a classified ad.

C L A S S I F I E D

Rick Perry and the Defense of Scientific ResearchOpinion EditorLUKE GUBLO

If any of you have been fol-lowing the 2012 Presidential Campaign (that’s right, it’s the Summer 2011 and we’re already talking about it), it would not be lost on you that the Republi-can candidates have conducted somewhat of a “race to the bot-tom” on issues related to science. Specifically, the issues of climate change and evolution have been particular lightning rods.

On the topic of climate change, Governor Rick Perry (R-Tex) has been particularly zealous in making statements against the consensus of most American and world scientists in his criticism of climate change data. Drew Cline, Editorial Page Editor of the New Hampshire Union Leader, has quoted Perry as being not only critical of this science, but also in the belief that it’s a conspiracy to increase research dollars to uni-versities.

“A substantial number of sci-entists have manipulated data so they will have dollars rolling into their projects,” said Perry while campaigning in New Hampshire last month.

As students at a leading sci-ence-research institute such as Michigan Tech, there should be serious concerns about one of the leading candidates in the Repub-lican Party accusing scientists and other members of academia of concocting a scheme to pilfer money from the federal govern-

ment for bogus research. There should also be reservations about supporting someone for Presi-dent as hostile to science as Perry has showed himself to be.

Perry later went on to say that, “Almost weekly or even daily, scientists are coming forward and questioning the original idea that man-made global warming is what is causing the climate to change.”

The fact of the matter is that there isn’t some grand conspir-acy. And as absurd as the prior statement about project funding was, the latter statement may possibly be even more absurd. Perry tries to argue that scientists are dropping out of the move-ment like flies, but this simply is not the case.

After all, according to a 2010 study of climate researchers by the National Academy of Sci-ences, between 97 and 98 percent of the 1,372 climate researchers surveyed believed that anthro-pogenic climate change is oc-curring. Certainly, this is one of many other surveys which show that a diaspora of scientists from the reality of climate change is merely a figment of Perry’s politi-cal imagination.

The comments purport-edly exclaimed by Perry are the types of comments normally re-served for fringe candidates. As it stands, Perry is currently in a dead heat in the polls with Mitt Romney (R-Mass.), former Gov-ernor of Massachusetts, who has been much more reserved in his

belief in climate change during the latest right-ward shift of the Republican Party. It should be noted that Republican candidate Jon Huntsman, former Ambas-sador to China, has been much more vocal in criticizing Perry’s rejection of scientific consensus on this issue, but by and large, sticking with science is increas-ingly unpopular with the Repub-lican constituency.

Ultimately, looking at the over-all politics, one doesn’t see how an outright rejection of consensus serves the Republican candidates going forward. President Barack Obama and his Administration, mired in an economic malaise, has become increasingly unpop-ular with the body politic. How-ever, for Republican candidates, giving the appearance of being anti-science serves absolutely no purpose in helping them.

Simply put, it appears that to-day’s Republican Party is perfectly fine with the idea of rejecting sci-ence they don’t agree with. One feels that as students at Michi-gan Tech, many of us to enter the field of science and engineering upon graduation, this is a very dangerous and hostile tact being undertaken by one of the major American political parties.

Ultimately science, coupled with human ingenuity, has brought us this far as a society, bringing us much of the techno-logical advancement we enjoy. We shouldn’t allow the demoni-zation of science to corrupt this progress.

Visuals Staff - Jack Ammerman, Ahsan Iqbal, Caitlin Pionke, Ben Wittbrodt

Copy Editors - Zach Ziemke, Courtney Clay

Editor in Chief ...................................Erika PeabodyBusiness Manager............................Abishek GuptaOnline Editor.................................Priyanka AnandDesign Editor.................................Michael Hilliard News Editor......................................Cameron SchwachOpinion Editor...........................................Luke GubloSports Editor ......................................Jordan EricksonPulse Editor...................................................Nick Blecha Advisor ........................................................Kara Sokol

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Staff Writers - Michael Friesen, Elijah Haines, Jack Ammerman, Matt McGuire, Jun Ni, Zachary Page, Marc

Sanko

The 2011 Huskies football team brings hope of building on the strength of their pre-vious season with hot new recruits and a solid returning group. With 16 seniors return-ing to starting positions, the Huskies look forward to having an experienced core to work with the newcomers and build on for the feature seasons.

On the defensive end of the Huskies team, 10 of 11 starters return to the roster, including defensive ends Todd Storm and Drew Vanderlin. Storm lead GLIAC in sacks, tallying up 10 in the 2010 season. Vanderlin was selected as the Defensive Lineman of the year and was second on the team for tackles with a loss last season.

New faces will make an ap-pearance in this year’s line up as starters to replace the loss of veteran quarterback Steve Short and running back Phil Milbrath. Filling role as quar-terback for the first game of the season this Saturday for the Black and Gold will be freshman redshirt Tyler Scar-

lett. Scarlett has been battling for the start all throughout the fall camp with Ray Wojtala, a junior from Allen Park, Mich.

Filling the running back po-sition will be seniors Cedrick Barber, Josh Houswirth and freshman Charlie Leffingwell, with junior Akeem Cason tak-ing the top spot for the job, Cason was named the Daniel Dopp Memorial Award, which is given to the Tech Special Teams Player of the Year. Last year Cason had a kick return average of 26.7 yards per car-ry, which ranked him third in the GLIAC.

The Huskies have been working hard in the offseason to get ready for the season. “I believe in a good work ethic,” said head coach Tom Kearly. Summer conditioning went well for the huskies.

The first game of the season is on Sept. 3, pinning the Hus-kies against the Winona State Warriors. The Warriors shared the NSIC South Division Title in 2010, posting a 7-4 record. The Warriors, like the Huskies, also have a large number of return-ing players from last year.

With a strong defense and many returning seniors, the

Huskies football team has the opportunity to be a strong team in this season. The Hus-kies were picked second in a football preseason poll trailing behind Grand Valley, a team that the Huskies defeated last

season with a score of 20-17. Coach Kearly acknowledged that one of the teams chal-lenges lies in filling the quar-terback and running back po-sitions, how ever he has high expectations for this season.

Husky women’s soccer is looking for a solid start to their 2011, and second overall season. The squad has 17 returning players this year.

The Lady Huskies finished their inaugural season with a 7-10-0 overall record and a 5-10-0 finish in the Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference.

Looking to come out strong in their second season, the Huskies have 11 freshman joining the squad, looking to add depth for years to come.

“We are really excited to have such a large number of players returning from last year,” said head coach Michelle Jacob. “They will provide leadership for the team while our freshman class will pro-vide depth and continue to help build the program.”

Of the returning players, sopho-more Melanie Hoffman stands out as an offensive leader. In the 2010 season, Hoffman made history when she scored the first goal for the new program, leading to five goals for the season, the school re-cord. Hoffman ended the season leading the team in points with 13 (five goals three assists).

Also returning to the Huskies’ of-fense will be sophomore Lindsey Van Rooy and Katie Boardman. Van Rooy racked up five points for the Huskies last seaon, while Boardman also finished with five points and tallied 17 starts last sea-son.

Incoming freshman Marlee Buss will also add to the program this season, along with returning sophomore Amber Hynnek, who

had two goals and 16 starts last season.

Janelle Riedl and McKenzie Hengesh, also freshmen, are look-ing to add depth to the midfield for the Huskies. Riedl comes to Tech from Appleton, Wisc. where she won the state title at Appleton North High School. Hengesh hails from Canton, Mich. and earned all-region and all-state honorable mention honors while playing for-

ward at Plymouth High School.Goaltending anchor, sopho-

more MaryBeth Spoehr returns to the net after playing every min-ute in goal last season, with seven wins, including five shut outs.

In front of Spoehr, leading the defense, will be sophomore cen-terback Katie Pappas. The Cloquet, Minn. native started all 17 games in the inaugural season. Danna Kason and Sarah Hielsberg also return after playing in a combined 29 games last season.

Freshman MacKenzie Jordon will be seen on the defensive side for the Huskies. Jordon hails from Jackson, Mich. and was a three-time all-conference selection at Columbia Central High School.

Also new to the Husky defense will be Jenna Proctor. Hailing from Blue Island, Ill., the defender helped her club team, the Windy City Pride, to a national champion-ship.

The Huskies will start their 2011 season with a pair of home games, hosting Bemidji State and Min-nesota Crookston on Sept. 3 and 4. They continue play on Sept. 7, when they open GLIAC play against Northern Michigan. The team will play 15 conference games, includ-ing seven home games.

6 Thursday, September 1, 2011Michigan Tech LodeSports

Bynumberthe

#date in Sept. of the first Huskies’ Football game in Winona, Minn. against the Winona State Warriors

17number of games played by goaltender MaryBeth Spoehr, thats every single game last season.

5 number of games Husky

Volleyball will be playing in this

weekend

172field goals made this season by center Lisa Staehlin. She set a new school record by making 59.7 percent (172-288) of her field goal attempts this season.

Editors’ ShootoutThe Editors’ Shootout is a competition of knowledge, luck and wits between Sports Editor Jordan Erickson, Editor in Chief Erika Peabody, Opinion Editor Luke Gublo and you,

the reader, via online poll. Stephen Anderson won last year and has won two of the last three years (former opinion editor Rob Devaun with the other win). 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.

CHECK BACK NEXT WEEK FOR UPDATED CONTENT

Schedules/Results

Womens Soccer

Football

Cross CountrySept.2 Mich Tech Meet 3 p.m.Sept 9 Northland Inv. 4 p.m.

Volleyball

62

Lode WriterJACOB SHULER

points Husky

football had against

Northwood last season. The

Huskies won by a score of 62-31

Husky Football ready for the start of season

Sept. 3 at Winona Sate 5:30 p.m.Sept. 10 vs. Lake Erie 1 p.m.Sept. 17 at Wayne State 12 p.m.Sept. 24 at Indianapolis 1 p.m.

Sept. 3 vs. Bemidji State, 1 p.m.Sept. 4 vs. MN Crook. 1 p.m.Sept. 7 vs. N. Mich. 7 p.m.Sept.9 at Ohio Dom. 3 p.m.

Sept. 1-3 at St. Joe. Inv.Sept. 9 vs. Ferris State 7 p.m.Sept 10 vs. Saginaw Val. St. 4 p.m.Sept. 11 vs. Grand Val. St. 3 p.m.

Visit gliac.org for full standings

Womens Soccer prepping for second season

Sports EditorJORDAN ERICKSON

Michigan Tech’s Cedrick Barber runs the ball inthe 2009 spring intrasquad game. Barber will serve as back up running back this year. Lode file photo

3

Photo courtesy of Michigan Tech Athletics

Left: Matt Curtin prepares to cradle a flea-flicker touchdown pass from quarterback Steve Short during the Fall 2010 season. Above: Several members of the Huskies defense work together to make a stop against Ohio Dominican during the Fall 2010 season.

Photo credit Ben Wittbrodt

Husky volleyball is on the road, heading down to Indi-ana for their first games of the 2011 season in which the Hus-kies will be playing five games in a three day period at the St. Joseph Puma Invitational in Renssalaer, Indiana.

Competition will begin to-day as the Huskies take on the home team at 7 p.m. Regard-less of the winner, the Huskies will continue play on Friday at 12 p.m. when they face Frank-lin Pierce.

Play picks up again on Satur-day, Sept. 3, when the Huskies face off against Notre Dame College at 9 a.m. and then again at 11 am against Cedar-ville.

The games will be the first test of the Huskies new squad, which features six freshman who have yet to be tested in the Black and Gold uniform.

After a tough 2010 season in which the Huskies went 5-21 overall and a sixth place finish in the North Division, the Hus-kies are looking to make some changes this season.

“Last year we found our-selves in several close matches,” said head coach Orlando Gon-zalez, who is entering his third season leading the squad. “We need to battle through those moments this season to com-pete with the other teams in the conference. We are much improved in the areas of serve reception and defense.”

The Huskies return six play-ers who played a majority of the minutes last season, how-ever the battle for the starting positions is ongoing.

“We have some talented players on this year’s squad

who will compete against each other for playing time. Our team is much more ath-letic than we have been in the past.”

The Huskies will return to Houghton for their home de-but on Sept. 9 to face Ferris State.

The Husky’s women’s cross country team is looking to pick up where they left off last sea-son. The Huskies roster boasts six out of their eight top finish-ers returning for this season, and with several new faces to round out the squad.

Sophomore Deedra Irwin, who won three races last sea-son, is once again expected to lead the team. As a fresh-man Irwin lead the Huskies team and also earned Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference Freshman of the Year honors. Juniors Sarah Daniels and Amanda Halonen also have high hopes, as the pair consistently finished in the top five last season for the Huskies.

With many returning run-ners, head coach Joe Hanggen-miller has high hopes for his team. “We have a lot to build on from last year, said head coach Joe Haggenmiller,“We had a lot of young talent last year and we are excited to see how they matured coming into this season after a year of college training under their belt. We expect to be competi-tive with many teams in the GLIAC.”

Men’s cross country is also looking for a big season and someone to replace the role Brian Stetter left on the team. Setter was a two time All-GLIAX selection and also won three races for the Huskies in 2010. A contestant for the spot is sophomore Matt Dugan who was last season’s second/third runner.

The squad has a promising freshman class, lead by Janie Lane and Brandon Kampstra. Lane comes to Houghton af-ter a standout prep career in Alaska ,where he won the Alaska state title for the 800 and finished 11th at the US Junior Track and Field Cham-pionships.

The Huskies open their sea-sons on Sept. 2nd and then compete in the Northland In-vitational the following Friday. The Huskies will then travel to Minnesota as they compete in the highly competitive St. Olaf Invite in Northfield, Minnesota on Sept. 17, and then the Roy Griak Invitational on the 24. Both teams take a week of be-fore returning to compete in the Upper Peninsula Champi-onships Oct. 7 in Marquette.

7Thursday, September 1, 2011Michigan Tech Lode Sports

Visit

mtulode.com/sports

to catch up on all your Huskies sports and keep your

eye out for athlete features throughout the semester

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

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

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Would you like your club team featured in this section? E-mail Jordan Erickson at jcericks@mtu.edu

Michigan Tech Cross Country looks to open the season on a high note

Sports EditorJORDAN ERICKSON

Volleyball set for first games in IndianaSports Editor

JORDAN ERICKSON

Husky volleyball listens to head coach Orlando Gonzalez before a game last season.

Photo credit Michigan Tech

Press Release: First-Year Coach leads women’s tennis into 2011

HOUGHTON - Michigan Tech women’s tennis enters a new era in 2011 with first-year head coach Kevin Kalinec. And while the new skipper will have some holes to fill in his lineup, there is reason for optimism at Gates Tennis Center.

The obvious choice to play No. 1 singles for the Huskies in 2011 is senior Ploy Suthijinda-wong. The two-time All-Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference First Team selec-tion has a 31-10 singles record over the last two years. She was 10-9 at No. 1 singles, but looks to return to her 2009-10 form when she went 21-1.

Sophomore Natalia Lebede-

va will push Ploy for the top spot. The hard-hitting Russian was 13-4 in singles and an All-GLIAC Second Team pick as a rookie a year ago.

Juniors Kira Eck and Chelsea Uganski will provide depth for the Huskies. Eck saw the most action a year ago, posting a 5-12 singles mark with all but three of those matches at No. 6. Uganski was 3-2 in singles matches in 2010-11.

A trio of newcomers will all fight for spots near the top of Tech’s lineup.

Ploy’s younger sister, Kwang Suthijindawong (Bangkok, Thailand) brings a strong ground game to the Huskies.

Sophomore transfer Dunja

Imran Al-Sous (Jerusalem, Israel) has a year of collegiate experience under her belt af-ter helping Reedley College to a Big 8 league title last sea-son.

Erika Tenizbaeva (Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan) possesses a rare, one-handed backhand and the kind of game that could be successful in the GLIAC.

All in all, Tech could have one of the hardest-hitting lineups in program history. Coach Kalinec will lead his squad into action beginning Sept. 9 vs. Ohio Dominican. The Huskies 12-match fall schedule will culminate Oct. 21-23 at the GLIAC Tourna-ment in Midland, Mich.

(Right) Serve’s up: Madeline Haben serves against Lake Erie during last year’s season

Photo by Ben Wittbrodt

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8 Thursday, September 1, 2011Michigan Tech LodeHusky Hodgepodge

The Dirty Work TourAll Time Low

The Michigan Tech Student Entertainment Board presents All Time Low in concert at the Rozsa! All Time Low comes to Michigan Tech on The Dirty Work Tour with Yellowcard, Hey Mon-day and the Summer Set. Tickets on sale now!

Tickets: $25

Rozsa Center: Saturday, April 23, 6:00 pm

The Big Ticket music festival takes place annually in Ionia, MI. Whatever your

thoughts on a Christian music festival, this is a music event you shouldn’t miss.

Christian music often gets a bad rap, but don’t let that keep you from listening or

you’ll be missing out. For fans of symphonic metal, if you’re not listening to Skil-

let, you should be. Fans of chick rockers will love Fireflight and Flyleaf. Red is

an awesome Nu-Metal band that I heard for the first time this year--fans of Linkin

Park and Coheed and Cambria should definitely take a listen.

For more information on next year’s festival, check out bigticketfestival.com.

All Photos by Michael Hilliard.