Usually, men like to watch sports.  Or action shows.  Spike TV.  Basically…anything that can be constituted as stereotypically manly.

manly (ˈmænlɪ)   — adj , -lier , -liest

1.      possessing qualities generally regarded as appropriate to or typical of a man; masculine.

My dad, on the other hand, likes Home and Garden Television and Food Network.  For those of us unfamiliar with these channels, let’s first look at HGTV.  HGTV shows programs about decorating and buying homes, sprucing up gardens and landscaping around your abode, etc.   Food Network is pretty self-explanatory; it’s all about food!  Basically, all of these are programs typically classified as more girly than, say, Spike TV or ESPN.

girl·y

[gur-lee]  – adjective, noun.

1.      Possessing qualities that are usually appealing to women.  Makes manly men squeamish.

Now, Dad isn’t the type of guy to be called girly in any way, and with all fairness he does watch sports…sometimes.  But HGTV and Food Network are where his true passions lie.  Whenever I visit home during breaks from Concordia, I find him with his eyes glued to the screen of House Hunters International, Divine Design, 30 Minute Meals…the list goes on and on. With the amount of time he spends watching those shows, that should make him some sort of expert.  He has even taken the time to analyze the decorating style in our family home.

“Suzanne.  I think I have pinned it down.  Your mother and I, our style is a mixture between old English and post-colonial Spanish.”

…whatever that means.  I love Dad and I fully support his quest for increasing his HGTV knowledge, but…the perfect way I’d describe the style in our house can be summed up in one word: Montana.  Our house is filled with anything that has been made in Montana or what you’d expect to see in Montana.  Paintings of buffalo, mountain goats, geese and Montana landscapes line the walls.  Photos and paintings of our hometown, Butte, MT are scattered everywhere there is empty space.  The color scheme is all about the earthy tones.  Heck, our fireplace is even made out of a stone my parents personally handpicked – “Montana River Rock.”  Old English? Not quite.

My dad’s most recent fascination has been with bear wood carvings.  There’s a tree in our yard that, due to an unfortunate and incurable tree disease, has been deemed Dad’s Latest Project.  He figures that since it’s going to be torn down anyhow, he might as well do something with it.  HGTV to the rescue!

Here’s the link for wood carver my dad was interested in contacting:

http://woodsculpture.net/Woodsculpture.net/Welcome.html

I must admit that the artist’s work is pretty spectacular.  But, I’m not going to lie…when it came down to a decision between a possible hot tub and a wood carving on the tree, I sided with the hot tub.  What’s the best way for a Cobber to relax during breaks and summer holidays away from Concordia?  If you said staring at a wood carving, that’s a nice try.  But no.  Hot tub, please!  Sadly I didn’t win the battle. And I’m still not sure if bear wood carvings fit into the old English or post-colonial Spanish category, but my dad is pretty happy with the idea nonetheless.  Maybe one day there’ll be a bear waiting for me in my backyard.  For now, this idea remains in the planning stage.

I also mentioned Food Network earlier.  My dad has taken plenty of useful tips and tricks from Food Network shows and has tried to impart some wisdom to me at Concordia.  Alas, I live the dorm life, so I don’t have a kitchen to call my own.  The most cooking I do these days is the grueling process of microwaving Easy Mac.   The information he gives me usually isn’t applicable; I appreciate it anyways.  I keep hoping he’ll take what he’s learned and make dinner for me sometime.

Although he’s never attempted to cook dinner for the family on his own, he tries to help my mom out when he can.  Dad’s definition of helping is to sit at the breakfast bar in our kitchen and point out what he thinks Mom should do differently.  It’s pretty funny to watch them interact.

“Kathy, did you know that if you spice the chicken this certain way that Emeril showed me, it turns out more flavorful?  I don’t know if you’re doing it quite right.”

“Greg, are you doing the cooking right now?”

“No…”

“Then shush.”

He’ll never try to cook on his own – maybe the thought of tricky oven knobs, burner thing doodles, and what-cha-ma-call it’s seem intimidating – but there’s still hope for him.  I have heard rumors of Dad cooking during his bachelor days in college.  But I have yet to see photographic evidence of this or any attempts to cook me dinner.

I’ve come to a conclusion.  Even though my dad’s interests aren’t typically what I’d expect him to have, I love him dearly and I think it makes him unique.  He hasn’t tried any hands-on applications for the knowledge he learned from HGTV and Food Network, but that’s okay.  Maybe he’s more of a scholarly type and the pursuit of decorating theory and cooking research are what he prefers.

…but maybe, JUST maybe over Christmas break I can persuade him to spread the holiday cheer by decorating the living room and cooking with me.

By: Nikki Stibal

Photos by Nikki Rae

Flashing red lights call out on the bright sunny Sunday afternoon of November 7^th broadcasting the phrase “Keep a Song in Your Heart- Lawrence Welk”. People from all around flocked in their Sunday best towards the Ramada Plaza Suites Ballroom for the long awaited Lawrence Welk Gala hosted by the Fargo Moorhead Jazz Arts Ensemble.

The event, which had a surprisingly well turnout, consisted of a 26 song set list from the Lawrence Welk Show preformed by the Jazz Arts Ensemble accompanied by various performers from the community including professors like Dr. David Ferreira from Concordia College and Dr. Kyle Mack from NDSU. The gala itself was put on to honor the life and achievements of a man who affected so many people.

Welk was born in Strasburg North Dakota in 1903. At the age of 21 he decided to pursue music as a career and left the family farm behind. He preformed with a couple various bands until he finally formed his own orchestra. Over time the orchestra toured and became widely known. This led to the ABC network giving Welk his own show.

The Lawrence Welk Show started out airing locally in 1951 and five years later was broadcast nationally. The program was a musical variety show that featured big band music. The show aired from 1951 to 1982 and has over a thousand episodes. The show itself became a staple of American culture and many were sad when Welk retired from the show in the early 80s.

Welk lived a successful life; being a pop culture icon, happily married and had a thriving family and business. Welk died in 1992 at the age of 89 from pneumonia. His family along with the FM Jazz Arts, threw this gala in his memory.

Those who came were treated to some of his greatest hits while being able to see some of his old memorabilia including his accordion, played by former first lady of North Dakota Nancy Jones Schafer, and his iconic baton that he directed all of his shows with.

Happy nostalgia set over the crowd and they enjoyed the afternoon, honoring things both present and past all in the name of a man who helped shape the American society and taught us all to keep a song in our hearts.

The Jazz Arts Ensemble is putting on other events later this year starting in late January. For more information check out www.JazzArtsFM.com

Four Loko is the new phenomen sweeping across colleges all across the nation. The controversial beverage is causing college students to blackout all across the nation. The drinks main ingredients are alcohol, caffenine, taurine and guarana. There have been alot of publicity about the drink because the ridiculous stories associated with the drink. One of the most notable was in my home state of Washington. During a “Loko Party” Students at a Central Washington party all drank the Loko and went through the stages of Loko…

“Four Loko got its name because it sends the person who consumed it into FOUR STAGES OF CRAZY:

Stage 1: Tipsy (loud, might stumble, laugh)

Stage 2: Drunk (embarrassing, stumbling, slight slur)

Stage 3: Wasted (heavy slur, falling, hitting on fat girls)

Stage 4: Black Out (no ability to speak, vomiting, waking up next to a fat girl, memory loss)”

None of these students woke up with any fat girls, but that would have certainly been a better scenario for them. There were 22 students hospitalized with alcohol poisoning and 1 of them died. That is LOCO. Last night while watching one of my favorite television shows ” The Colbert Report” the sauvy comedian weighed in on his opinion of the drink. All students should drink Loko, you must be Loco to not drink loco. This obvious statement of sarcasm was after disclosing some alarming facts about the drink. In the beverage there is an equivalent to three cups of coffee and two beers. All of us remember in our wellness classes that it is a dangerous mixture when drinking caffenine and alcohol. This is literally the worse fear of my wellness instructor Brady Larson.

Knowing the dangers of Loko and hearing the horror stories involved with the drink that has been labeled in some groups blackout in a can or liquid cocaine. I had to try the drink myself. My curiousity got the best of me. This was a terrible idea! My friends and i all drank Loko and went through the stages of loko. I do not have a definite recollection of that night, which verifies to me that i made it to stage four and suffered from the memory loss. The next day i was determined for figure out what happened the previous night. The events that occurred that night are entirely too embarassing to disclose in this blog. But i did wake up the morning in search of my phone and discovered the battery in my pocket. THATS IS THE BATTERY! The phone has still not been found and luckily i had a backup phone.

Loko is Loco. It is soon to be banned and Cobbers if you are not interested in blacking out stay away from the drink! Its not safe

Aug. 21, 2009 started out like any other day for Concordia basketball player Darrin Olmscheid. He left for work and returned home like every other day. When Olmscheid, a junior at the time, got out of his car, something didn’t feel right: He had major pain in his chest that eventually moved into his left shoulder and down his arm. Because the pain was so intense, Olmscheid told his mom that he needed to go to the hospital.

Once at the hospital in Buffalo, Minn., Olmscheid was informed that his left lung had collapsed.

“At first, I wasn’t sure what was going to happen,” Olmscheid said. “I thought I wouldn’t be able to play any contact sports again.”

According to the Mayo Clinic, pneumothorax, also known as a collapsed lung, occurs when air leaks into the space between your lungs and chest wall, creating pressure against the lung. A pneumothorax can be caused by a chest injury, certain medical procedures involving your lung, lung disease, or it may occur for no obvious reason. Depending on the cause of the pneumothorax, your lung may only partially collapse, or collapse completely.

In Olmscheid’s case, 25 percent of his lung had collapsed. He had surgery to put a chest tube in that would remove the excess air between his lung and chest wall. After six days in the Buffalo Hospital, Olmscheid was moved to North Memorial Hospital in Robbinsdale, where he would spend the next four days. There, he underwent arthroscopic surgery to scrape up his lung wall. Another tube was inserted to drain the blood that resulted from the arthroscopic surgery.
For Olmscheid, it was only the second time in his life he had ever been injured. As a senior at Buffalo High School, he broke his ankle and missed the first part of the season.

“My first thought was, ‘How do you get a collapsed lung at his age?’” Rich Glas, Concordia’s men’s basketball coach said. “In 40 years of coaching, I’ve never had a player go down to a collapsed lung.”

Olmscheid was released on Aug. 31 from North Memorial and returned home to Buffalo to recover. When he went to sleep that night, everything was thought to be over, and recovery was all that lay ahead.

It wasn’t.

He awoke the next morning throwing up and was taken back to the hospital where he found out he had appendicitis. He underwent surgery to remove his appendix, and was released the same day.

Olmscheid was eager to leave the hospital as soon as he could.

“You kind of get sick of the hospital after a while,” he said with a laugh.

Even scarier than the incident itself is the thought that it could happen again. The doctors told Olmscheid that there is a 50 percent chance his right lung could collapse.

“In perspective, I know there is much worse that could happen to me,” Olmscheid said. “But I’d rather not have that feeling again. I’ll just have to take it on one step at a time. It’s all part of God’s plan and I just have to dig deep and pass His test.”

Olmscheid’s said his girlfiend, Concordia graduate Amy Gabrielson, was the biggest help throughout the entire process, though he gave plenty of credit to his mom. Gabrielson stayed at the hospital with Olmscheid every night.

“When I finally got to the hospital, I had never seen him look so pale and gray,” Gabrielson said. “Seeing him like that was the biggest reason I didn’t want to go home to sleep.”

Two days later, Olmscheid was on campus for the start of classes and patiently awaited the day he could play basketball again.

He walked on a treadmill on Sept. 15, lifted weights on Sept. 28, and played pickup basketball for the first time since the incident on Sept. 30.

“[Olmscheid] was so happy playing pickup that Wednesday,” said Karl Olson, teammate of Olmscheid at Buffalo High School and current teammate at Concordia. “Seeing that was probably the best part of the year so far.”

The doctors told Olmscheid it could take up to seven months before his stamina returns to where it was before the injury. His endurance has dropped from being able to run about four to five miles to now only two. Throughout the entire process, he has lost around 15 pounds.

“I fear my cardio during the season won’t be where I want it to be,” Olmscheid said. “But I’m also worried about getting that weight back. Gaining weight is a tough thing to do.”

Olmscheid started all 25 games last season and led the team by averaging 13.3 points per game. He was also second on the team in minutes per game.

Through eight games this season, Olmscheid, now a senior, is averaging 13.4 points per game including 27 in a win against cross-town rival Minnesota State University Moorhead.

 “His presence makes our team better,” Glas said. “He has the ability to play on the perimeter or in the post. He needs to become a consistent force on the floor on every possession and do it on both ends of the floor.”

As Olmscheid looks back on his incident, he has words of wisdom for everyone that can inspire people both on and off the basketball court.

“Just appreciate the moments,” he said. “Stay humble. The minute you think you’re on top of the world, it can all come crashing down.”

By: Brandon King

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I remember sitting in my eighth grade study hall one day talking about a recent episode of Extreme Makeover: Home Edition. My friends and I were talking about how great it would be to work for the show. Fast-forward seven years and I ended up doing that when the crew set up in Moorhead.

Ty Pennington stands with volunteers who are building a house for a disadvantaged family.

ABC needed three full-time production assistants during the week, so an ABC rep called Concordia to find some eager younglings who would fit the bill. I was recommended because of my involvement in the college television scene.

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It’s a cool gig, right? A production assistant for a national television network. People asked me what I would be doing, but ABC didn’t tell. I only knew what I’d be getting paid, that I would need to work nights, and of course, that regal title: production assistant. Oh, how important I would be.

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But soon I realized why they wanted a member of production to work completely through the night. I was to be the “go-to” guy that ABC staff/security turned to if they wanted their garbage cans changed or their Red Bull delivered. As an optimist, though, I conceded and obliged.

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So I spent the first couple days on my knees, doing things like rubbing the dirt out of Ty’s trailer (which must be set to exactly 75 degrees, by the way) and fetching people coffee. But there was a twist; this was a test.

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On the third day, my boss approaches me and says, “You know, Brandon─you’re a good worker, and I’m going to step this up a little.” He leads me to a trailer for producers and says, “You’re going to shoot video for us tonight.” Then he hands me a Sony Z1U and tells me to explore the construction site and capture as many shots of the action as I want. He instructs me that the director will look at the footage tomorrow.

ABC captures the moment when one family learns it will be getting a new home.

At this point I learned that there is some value in getting on the boss’ good side, and that there is some value in being an ABC employee holding a five thousand dollar video camera.

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I never really thought I would ever get asked for an autograph, but there were people who wanted them as I walked by the spectators. There were radio stations that were requesting interviews, and there were volunteers eager to talk about my experience in show business. During some down time, I even set up a date with a nice girl from NDSU─the camera might have helped.

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Overall, though, I focused on doing a good job and got a lot of good shots. But I put my faith in the director, and wondered what he would think. Then that moment came.

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The director, a tall, burly man in his 50s who is always seen wearing cowboy hat, called me to his trailer to say that he loved my work. He told me to expect to see of my shots when the show airs on January 2nd.

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So it’s funny how things can change so quickly. One day, I’m seen as your ordinary college student, and the next, I’m being asked for autographs. One minute, I’m wiping the floor, and the next, I’m shooting video for a large-scale commercial television program.

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Now that the show is over, I’m a college student again, but I wonder if people will be asking for autographs again when my name pops up in the credits.

For much of the season, Oregon and Auburn have been top of the BCS standings and for good reason; the Ducks have had one game in which their margin of victory was less than 11 points, and the Tigers remained unblemished in what is highly regarded as the top college football conference in the country, the SEC.

It’s tough to argue against that either of these teams has not earned the right to play in the National Championship game. The problem with the system sits with also undefeated Texas Christian University (TCU). TCU is a member of the Mountain West Conference, a conference that does not receive an automatic bid into one of five BCS games. The Horned Frogs lead the nation in scoring defense, allowing just over 11 points per game and are fourth in scoring offense at over 43 per game. The argument is not that TCU deserves to replace either Oregon or Auburn simply that the system the NCAA uses determines its National Champion does not grant a fair chance to everybody. Last season, TCU was matched up with Boise State in a BCS bowl game as both teams were undefeated. However, rather than granting both the opportunity to play a team from a major conference, the BCS avoided the potential embarrassment of both teams winning and proving the BCS is a crap system by matching them against each other.

Boise State went on to win that game but with both teams brining back multiple starters on both sides of the ball, it set up the potential for another BCS disaster. Thankfully, for the BCS, Boise State lost a few weeks ago to Nevada, avoiding the potential that, for a second straight season, four teams remained undefeated at season’s end. So why does such a terrible system exist? One word; money. Many of those against the current BCS system suggest a playoff, or some sort of plus one scenario, but the playoff would be far-less lucrative which is why the system remains the way it is. In fact, because changes do not appear in the making, the system has forced TCU to change conferences. That’s right, as dumb as it sounds, a team from Texas is joining a conference where a majority of its teams are based in the Northeastern United States. In fact, the system is not even perfect. Just recently, it was discovered that the BCS had made an error that allowed Boise State to move from 11 to 10 and dropped Louisiana State University from 10 to 11. The error did not change what bowl Boise State decided to play in, but simply added more fuel to the argument that the system does not work. Boise State President Bob Kustra sent an e-mail to fellow university presidents and conference commissioners stating;  

“How many times have we heard calls for transparency on our campuses and how many times have we shared our governance and communicated with our faculties and other constituencies in transparent fashion,” Kustra wrote. “Yet, in intercollegiate athletics, with the NCAA standing silently on the sidelines, we allow the BCS to work its magic with no idea of how accurate its rankings are on a week to week basis.”

He has a point. Nobody knows entirely how the system works, just that it’s what determines who plays in what bowl games. In fact, programs such as Boise State get no credit from major universities. Ohio State President Gordon Lee was even quoted as saying “We do not play the Little Sisters of the Poor.” A statement like this shows how the automatic-qualifying schools feel about schools that are not. Each team deserves a fair chance, and the system isn’t fair.

“I don’t mind somebody stating that they don’t think we ought to be in the national championship, but to do it with such erroneous information as Gordon Gee has used, gets under the skin of all of us who thought university presidents were supposed to be standing for fairness, equity and truth in how we portray our universities,” Kustra said.

True that Kustra. Drop the “C” and you’ll find exactly what the BCS is full of.

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One of the best opportunities I have ever had came this past semester, best part is, I received credit to do what I have a passion for, video production.

I decided to do a Co-op with the Fargo Force hockey team through Concordia, and I must say, despite paying tuition to work for free, I have learned more about media production this past semester than ever before. There is no better way to jump into your field or area of study than doing a Co-op. Let’s be real, class time is good, but getting out and actually doing what you want to do, while receiving credit for it is the best way to learn. Others, may think why should I pay to work? I guess that is one negative way to look at it but the experience is worth it. I was given the opportunity to create television commercials for the Fargo Force, along with many other video pieces. I able to do a lot of post production videos, such as intro videos as well as live video for the in house video boards, whether it was operating a camera or doing instant replay.

My Co-op was for 8 credits which required 30 hours of work a week, it did get to be a lot of work, with going to class at the same time, but on the upside of things, that comes out to be two classes worth of homework that I didn’t have to do. It has all been well worth it.

Below is one of the commercials I have made, as well as a link to the Force website where you can see all of what I do. Come check out the Force this weekend, December 17th and 18th!

FARGOFORCE.COM<a

FargoForce December 17th and 18th

Many college students can be seen with their heads buried in books during this time of year. Image from Google Images

Piles of papers, projects, journals, and tests are forming and reaching new heights and competing with stress levels for the majority of students at Concordia College.  We see this time twice a year, but somehow the frustration and anguish always seem to swarm students and interfere with their capability to perform to the best of their ability and remain healthy. Without preparation skills and self-knowledge finals week and the preceding days can destroy not only a student’s social life but also their mental and physical well-being.

So how can one form those sanity-saving preparation skills and self-knowledge?  The self-knowledge is probably the most important of the two because it will help you identify which preparation skills you need.  How do you learn information best?  By writing it? Reading it? Maybe even by summarizing information and explaining it to others.  A lot of people find that last one to be most helpful because it encourages them to put it into words and a sequence that makes most sense to them making it less likely to be easily forgotten.

Some students prefer making note cards or flashcards and some have realized that they do better just doing an outline.  Look back at your academic career and figure out what method has best helped you retain information. Is it easier for you to just read through the outline again and again or do you do better quizzing yourself with the note cards?

Also, try to discover whether you work best solo or in a group.  Groups can be extremely helpful in some cases. If you don’t understand part of the material, there is another student to explain it to you.  You can cover a broader portion at once.  But, along with being in groups comes more distraction.  As young adults, we are in a very social period of our lives.  If you are someone that is going to put talking and joking high above productivity, opt to find a place for just yourself and your nice pile of books and notes – because those may be your companions for a few hours or even days.

Lastly, it may be helpful to use a tactic called “chunking.”  I first learned about chunking in my psychology class my freshman year of college. The basic concept is to break down what you need to learn into manageable pieces.  It implies that the human brain best understands information when there are only five to nine pieces introduced at a time. Don’t try to learn everything that is going to be on the test at once.  Take your time to break it down.  Study for a certain amount of time and take 10 or 15 minute break.  Repeat.  It’s also been proven that music stimulates the brain, so if you are someone who can focus with background noise, try this.  If you have a little more trouble with a lot of noise while you are studying, either try music that is simply instrumental with no vocals, or stick with no music. Michael Griffin explains it further in Learning about Learning.

When it comes to studying don’t feel like you need to study exactly how your A+ roommate does.  Sure, they may do well by studying in groups while listening to music and looking at an outline, but that doesn’t mean your brain will intake information best that same one.  So take a few minutes to figure out what works best to you and you will save yourself from a lot of stress this finals season.

For more study suggestions, take a look at this page.

By: Brandon King

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Switch on your television set at 10 and you’ll see the local news. Switch it on at 9:30 and you’ll see the latest episode of Two and a Half Men. It’s a big programming change when you consider the dramatically different purposes of journalism and entertainment.

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Let’s look at the word, journalism. According to Michael Ventura of the Austin Chronicle, it comes from the French, “jour” meaning “day,” then from the English, “journal,” referring to those people who kept written records of the day. “Journalist,” then, was the word chosen to describe people who provide records of the day─records used by us as well as by future historians.

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But Wester defines “entertainment” as “amusement or diversion provided especially by performers.” But a diversion from what? Well, life. We are amused only when we focus on the sensory experiences directly in front of us, which require a temporary disconnect from the larger world. If broadcast writers want to entertain, they can’t make a buck unless they get people laughing─so they’re going to focus on the gags and ignore the larger story.

Valley News Live at 6, with the two hours that follow.

Here, then, we see two completely different missions of journalism and entertainment. Journalism, above all other pursuits, provides records that lend themselves for use now and forever. I can use journalism to make informed decisions about my community, and my great-grandson can use it to write the history books. I can use journalism to make decision in the voting booths to benefit myself and the people around  me, and my great-grandson can use journalism to determine what our people did right and wrong in the early 21st century.

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But the big picture is not of primary interest in entertainment. Entertainment (remember: a diversion) seeks to amuse an audience only at the time that it is presented. Entertainment writers want as many of the superficial laughs that they can get, and they do that with every show.

Two more hours of CBS/NBC programming.

So we have a problem when news/public affairs programming is afforded a buckets-worth of air time when entertainment is given a truck-full. We’ve been socialized to believe that television is an entertainment machine. How can we understand journalism’s mission when every day it is embedded within mountains of the superficial?

Valley News Live at 10, lasting a half-hour. Late-night comedy picks up until 12:30 a.m. on CBS and 1 a.m. on NBC.

It’s tough to place the blame. The fact is, television wasn’t designed as a public service. But we allow ourselves to accept this status quo; to accept the idea that television = entertainment. What about all the good it can do?

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Of course, I am not anti-entertainment; in fact, I believe this occasional “diversion” from life is appropriate to live life better. But it is so easy to cross the line, and we crossed way over it a long time ago.

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I believe the Rx is to provide a more appropriate mix of public affairs and entertainment, and the line between them must be clear. Of course, this will frighten broadcast executives. But you can have public affairs programming that is interesting, even entertaining─the difference is that you are not creating the product with the aim to entertain. Your focus is the public interest.