Clam shells replace current to-go boxes

By Emma Stenzel
Managing & Advertising Editor

In an effort to become more sustainable, Saint Mary’s University will be eliminating the cafeteria’s disposable to-go boxes and replacing them with reusable “clam shell” containers beginning immediately in the fall semester of the 2012-2013 academic year.

The clam shells, suggested by Students Organizing Sustainability (SOS), were approved by SMU administration who is finalizing details with Chartwells staff, said Chris Kendall, vice president of Student Life.

Kendall said that next fall when, students want to take a meal to go from the cafeteria, they will be charged a one-time $5 deposit for clam shell access for the entire school year. Students must return their used containers in order to receive a new container each time they take a meal to go. If students give their clam shells back after each use without throwing them away or losing them, they will receive their $5 deposit back at the end of the year, said Kendall.

He added that administration still needs to determine how to track checked-out containers, either by monitoring them electronically by swiping student IDs or by exchanging a poker chip for the clam shell.

“This will take some serious cooperation and personal responsibility for people who do this,” said Kendall. “Like any change, it will take a little while to get used to, but I think it will work well. We’ve seen other schools carry this out successfully, so we know it’s possible.”

Founder and President of SOS Tina Swanberg also noted that students will need time to adjust to the change and take more initiative towards responsibility.

“Once this is implemented, I’m afraid of it becoming an inconvenience for everyone, like if they forget to bring it back and then can’t check out a new one,” said Swanberg. “We will just have to find ways to remind ourselves that we have to return the boxes, and
eventually the inconvenience will go away.”

Foam and paper products will not be available for taking meals to go from the cafeteria. Kendall said that clam shells will not be implemented into the Cardinal Club or Cotter Café until later in the school year, if at all.

“This is just another piece of a long series of awareness of our impact on the environment,” said Kendall. “Frankly, I am delighted in the fact that the students are concerned with what we consume and waste. We’re becoming part of the solution instead of part of the problem.”

For more information about the clam shells, contact Chris Kendall at ckendall@smumn.edu or SOS at sosustainability@smumn.edu and visit www.ecotakeouts.com.

Row Ride Run turnout best in six years

By Kelsey Hulbert
Cardinal Staff

Saint Mary’s University’s annual Row Ride Run Triathlon to benefit Serving Others United in Love (SOUL) retreats will take place April 28 at 9 a.m. at Lake Lodge in Winona.

The event consists of canoeing or kayaking 2.5 miles around Lake Winona, biking 14 miles from Lake Winona to SMU and running 3.1 miles through the bluffs surrounding SMU. Over 100 people will participate in the event, which is the best turnout in six years according to Director of Campus Ministry Chris McClead.

The idea for the triathlon originated from a student initiative and provides service opportunities for SMU students in diverse communities around the world.

McClead said the triathlon is unique because it uses the athletic talent of students to teach others about social injustice, and it is something not typically associated with a service trip.

“SOUL trips extend the Lasallian Catholic tradition from the classroom into the hearts and minds of students, which is then brought to vulnerable communities,” McClead said.  

The race this year will be hectic, McClead added, and he is excited to see everyone support the race all in the name of SMU.

For McClead, the most exciting part of the race is seeing one hundred canoes lined up in Lake Winona, hearing someone say “Go!” and seeing all of the chaos unfold.

Registration is $30 per individual or $60 per team. Awards will be given to the top finishing team and the three fastest individuals.

Quandt and Mockler named Outstanding Seniors

By Julianne Bartosz
Editor-in-chief

Regina Quandt and Michael Mockler were named Saint Mary’s University’s 2012 Outstanding Seniors during the Founder’s Day Ceremony on March 27.

The Outstanding Senior Award has been given to a male and female senior the past 46 years for their demonstration of the ideals of scholarship, character, leadership, service to colleagues and the university community, as well as their genuine concern for the needs of others.

“I have always admired the people here at SMU, so it is an honor to be able to represent SMU to the outside world,” said Quandt.

Quandt is an elementary education and Spanish double major who has been active on campus in a variety of ways.  She has been a member of SMU’s cross country and track and field teams for four years.  Also, Quandt has been involved in liturgical ministries, Volunteer Services and SOUL Council.  Furthermore, she has served as an admissions ambassador, a resident assistant, a Literacy Clinic tutor, the secretary of ASCD and the treasurer of Students Organizing Sustainability.

After graduation, Quandt would like to teach kindergarten in the Twin cities or in Winona.  Then, she would like to volunteer teach in South America before teaching at a Spanish-immersion school.

“It was an honor to even be nominated,” said Quandt who spoke highly of her fellow nominees.

Quandt said that she is proud to share the Outstanding Senior title with Mockler, a fellow member of the cross country and track and field teams.

“It is an honor and a humbling experience,” said Mockler.

Mockler is an environmental biology major with a Spanish minor who has participated in TEC, Knights of Columbus, intramurals, phonathons, SOUL Trips, Relay for Life, Cardinal Plunge, liturgical ministries, SMU volunteer services and three honor societies.

Mockler will spend three months after graduation working with the Iowa Department of Natural Resources’ (DNR) aquatic invasive species program.  In the future, he would like to continue to work with animals and volunteer in his community.

Both Quandt and Mockler expressed gratitude to their parents, family, friends, coaches, teammates, classmates, teachers, Campus Ministry and Brother William.  Mockler also expressed great appreciation to everyone at SMU, specifically those who started the Cardinal Plunge.

Senior gift doubles past figures

By Emma Stenzel
Managing & Advertising Editor

Three weeks after launching its Senior Gift Campaign, the Saint Mary’s University Class of 2012 has already more than doubled past donation figures.

As of April 13, 42 percent of the senior class had pledged a total of $3,181.14 in a one-year commitment, well surpassing the average one-year senior class gift total of about $1,200 in past years, according to statistics provided by the Senior Class Gift Committee.

“We could not be more pleased,” said senior Emily Munns, co-chair of the committee. “People have been very responsive about this so far, and we never imagined we’d receive this kind of support already.”

With the theme “Birds of a Feather Give Back Together,” the committee began the campaign by holding an evening event in the Cardinal Club where SMU seniors were invited to make a one-year pledge to be fulfilled June 1, 2012-May 31, 2013.

Along with the kick-off event, Munns said the Senior Class Gift Committee set up tables, visited classrooms and sent emails to raise awareness about the importance of giving back to their alma mater and encourage seniors to pledge.

Rather than selecting one project, this year’s class gift will be given to four different areas at SMU: Financial Aid, Athletics, Friend of the School of the Arts and the Saint Mary’s Unrestricted Fund.

“We wanted seniors to choose where their money should go,” said Munns. “When I personally made my donation, I kept in mind what has impacted my life at SMU and how I wanted to contribute to that in the future.”

Seniors may pledge until April 27. The Senior Class Gift Committee will thank all seniors who contributed toward the fund at the Senior Gift Benefactor Reception on May 8 at 5-6 p.m.

PR/Business Club visits 3M Corporation

By Mary Nordick
Cardinal Staff

The Saint Mary’s University Public Relations and Business Club visited 3M Corporation and Peterson Milla Hooks (PMH) Advertising in the Twin Cities on March 27.

In the morning, the group went to PMH Advertising, a small advertising agency located in Minneapolis. The firm specializes in advertising for corporations such as Gap, Target and JCPenney.

Dean Beckman, SMU professor and PR/Business Club advisor, said trips like this are advantageous and that this trip especially was “good for the public relations and marketing majors in order to show them what real advertising is like.”

In the afternoon, the group traveled to St. Paul to visit 3M Corporation.

“3M is a huge corporation with over 30 separate divisions,” Beckman said. “It had a more corporate feel, which was able to give the students a different taste of what a larger corporation is like as compared to the smaller advertising agency.”

Beckman said that the trip was a great success overall.

“[It’s] good for the students to get out of the classroom,” Beckman said. “That’s why we take these trips, so students can go out and get this experience of being at both a small and large business environment.”

Diversity Coffee Hour

By Keotta House
Cardinal Staff

A discussion panel is held every Friday to invite and welcome Saint Mary’s University students to talk about the issue of diversity on campus.

SMU is home to a growing number of diverse students. Though the diversity is growing, students’ attitudes toward this diverse population are growing at a slower pace. A program called Diversity Coffee Hour was recently implemented by the SMU Wellness Center to help start the discussion on diversity with the possibility of bringing up ideas of how to maintain it at SMU.

Jeff Walter, a counselor at the SMU Wellness Center, said that the point of the coffee hour is not to discuss only racial diversity but every kind of diversity presenton campus.

“There are many types of diversity on campus,” Walter said. “Class, gender, sexual orientation and other groups.”

An example of one of these other groups that sometimes feel discriminated against, which people in attendance recently learned, is vegetarians.

SMU senior Chelseanne Davidson talked about the perils of being a vegetarian.

“The food service often will serve pasta with meat in the same pan as without leaving random chunks of meat,” Davidson said.

The Diversity Coffee Hour is not a “group” on campus but more so a diversity panel which takes place every Friday from 3-4 p.m. The group has a wide variety of people that attend on different occasions. During the coffee hour’s name tag event, the students in attendance got to label themselves a different stereotype than they had been called throughout their life, and there was a wide range in attendance.

The coffee hour serves as an educational experience for the people in the Saint Mary’s community. They want to have a ripple effect and have friends invite friends until they get the whole campus talking about diversity.

SMU senior moving up in the U.S. Army ranks

By Meg Beerling
Feature Editor

Saint Mary's University senior David Weir has a long journey ahead of him after graduation this May.

On the same day he graduates from SMU, Weir will become 2nd Lieutenant and will head to Fort Benning, Ga., on July 8 for a 16-week infantry basic officer leadership course. After that, he will spend nine weeks at Ranger school, then Airborne school. Next March he will report to his first unit in Texas.

Weir always knew he was interested in the military, and freshman year he joined the National Guard. From there he went to basic training, and his sophomore year he joined the Reserve Officer Training Corps (ROTC).  Since, Weir has served simultaneously with the National Guard and ROTC.

Weir joined ROTC because he has always been a natural leader, he said. Whether it was on sports teams or elsewhere, he was always told that he had natural leadership skills, he said. Weir said he wanted to utilize those abilities and maximize his potential by joining ROTC.

This May Weir will graduate with a degree in political science and criminal justice. Weir said his political science degree will aid him because he will have a better understanding of the United States as a political system. Being overseas he will be more well rounded, he said.

He said his criminal justice degree fit nicely, and it’s something in which he has always been interested.

Ultimately, Weir would like to get a rotation into Afghanistan before the war is over, he said. And someday he’d like to make colonel, said Weir.

Weir’s favorite part of the process has been his own development, he said. Weir said he couldn’t see it at the time, but looking back he sees how much he has changed.  He has also really enjoyed working with the people he has gotten to work with, saying “they’re great people.”

What Weir has enjoyed least about the entire process has been going into the gas chamber.

Weir said he is looking forward to graduating from ranger school, which he said is a very intense combat leadership course. “It’s 62 days of very little sleep and very little food,” said Weir.  He said it is the most challenging thing he’s ever done and ever will do.

In December 2013 Weir will make 1st Lieutenant.

SMU senior accepted into pharmacy school

By Kelsey Haugh
Cardinal Staff

Saint Mary's University senior, Sarah Adie, decided to take a not-so-traditional path after graduating with a degree in education.

Adie recently applied and was accepted to pharmacy school. That may seem a bit odd to some, but to Adie, it makes perfect sense.

Adie said she wanted to do something related to the health field, but she also wanted to help educate people. She had been volunteering at a hospital, and when her dad saw an opportunity in the pharmacy department, she jumped on it, said Adie.

Adie loved it so much that she decided to apply for pharmacy school so that she could help educate people about their medicine while interacting with them, she said. When she graduates, Adie said she hopes to work at a children’s hospital, preferably close to her family, educating people on how to handle their medicine.

Adie applied at three different pharmacy schools and has decided to go to Creighton University in Omaha, Neb. The wait to find out if she was accepted was only around two weeks, which she said  worked out well because she was full of nerves.

Along with actually applying to the school, Adie had many requirements she had to fulfill. She had to take classes that would allow her to even think about pharmacy school, said Adie. She said she had to take the PCAT test in addition to being interviewed at each school.

To add to her nerves, when Adie was talking to other kids being interviewed, she found that they were applying to multiple schools – one having applied to 21 schools.  Her worries and nerves jumped through the roof, she said, but they all disappeared when she found out that she was accepted to Creighton.

Senior makes plans to run across Minnesota after graduation

By Jenna Capelle Cardinal Staff Senior Robby McGuire, a Secondary English Education major, is currently planning a three-week run for about 475 miles after graduation.
McGuire is going to run from Rochester, Minn., to Split Rock Lighthouse north of Duluth, Minn. He es

timates that his “adventure” will take about three weeks, lasting until early June. McGuire said he will pack clothes and a tent in a jogging stroller that he’ll push the entire run.
Although he hasn’t been training for this type of activity, he’s been running on the Saint Mary’s University cross country and track and field teams throughout college.
“This isn’t the type of run you can train for,” said McGuire. “I’m going to run 20ish miles per day, stop somewhere, set up a tent, get up and do it all over again.”
Besides planning a run across the state, McGuire thinks of what he wants to teach his students as an English teacher in middle and high schools. McGuire said he wants students to choose their own books, but he would love to teach Into the Wild by John Krakauer because it will provoke interesting classroom discussions.

“I'm a big proponent of students picking a lot of their own books,” said McGuire. “Reading a book you can't get into really kills the experience.”

When it comes to hunting for a job, McGuire is open to many places. He’s been applying at middle and high schools throughout Minnesota, with a handful of small towns.  He said he’s applied for a job in Colorado and one in Iowa, and is contemplating applying in Alaska.

“The male to female ratio in Alaska is 80 to 20, so I’m not sure if I want to be in that sort of situation,” said McGuire.

After graduation, McGuire said that he will miss running in the bluffs, chatting with professors and spending times with all of his friends. He will mostly miss his favorite breakfast of blocks of scrambled eggs, he said.

When thinking back on the “best four years of his life,” McGuire recommends that underclassmen make a bucket list of things to do before they graduate and then follow through. He also advises students to not eat their vegetables because they are gross, and to wear socks to prevent itchy feet.

Poly Sci./English grad off to law school

By Laura Polzin
Design Editor

In the fall of 2012, senior Trisha Stachowski will be attending William Mitchell College of Law after graduating from Saint Mary’s University with a degree in political science and English literature.

Stachowski’s inspiration to attend law school occurred on a fifth grade trip to a courtroom, she said. “We had a mock trial with Goldie Locks and the Three Bears,” she said. “We also got to see her judge chambers.” From that experience alone she knew she wanted to go to law school and become a lawyer and possibly a judge one day, she said.

“I was influenced by my parents in the sense that they always told me to try my best and to try and accomplish as much as I can,” said Stachowski. “My grandparents also influenced me by telling me to step out and reach for the stars.” Another influence on Stachowski’s life was her brother. Their healthy competition pushed her to her fullest potential, she said.

“The application process [to law school] itself was not that hard; all of the schools in the metro area used the same method,” said Stachowski. “The difficult part was the LSAT because I did not know what was going to be on it. It was the type of test that
helped predict how someone would do in law school rather than what someone actually knew,” she said.

Stachowski said she decided on William Mitchell after she had the opportunity to visit the school and other schools as well. She knew it was the right school for her when she stepped foot on the campus, she said, because it was the same feeling she had when she visited Saint Mary’s, a decision she is still happy with. She anticipates being equally happy with her decision to attend William Mitchell.

Stachowski said she hopes her English major will give her a strong foundation for law school in terms of research papers and academic writing in general. Additionally, it has prepared her for the amount of reading she will be doing in law school, said Stachowski.

Her political science major has given her a good idea of how the government works and how the legal system works, said Stachowski. She said it has also given her a global perspective of the world.

Stachowski said her goal is to practice corporate law or some type of mediation or litigation, but she is open to the idea of that changing and pursuing other opportunities.

SMU senior accepted into SMU education master’s program

By Samantha Borawski
Cardinal Staff

Senior Annie Ivansek will be attending the Saint Mary’s University Graduate School of Education next year to pursue her dreams of becoming a teacher.

Ivansek applied last year to the program. She completed an online application that included a writing portion in addition to an interview process. She was required complete all the general education requirements for Elementary Education majors.

Ivansek has always wanted to be an Education major; however, she will be graduating this year as a literature major with a theatre minor.

“I always wanted to be a teacher,” said Ivansek. “I had great teachers throughout all of my education, and I want to inspire kids the way that I was inspired by my teachers.”

Because Ivansek has not taken any of her education classes yet, she does not know what class she wants to teach. Shhe said she is leaning towards kindergarten through second grade.  Besides teaching, Ivansek hopes to start an improvisation class for kids and coach lacrosse. Eventually, she wants to return to the Chicago area to teach.

Like other applicants, Ivansek had fears of not getting accepted because of the long process.

The most exciting part about entering the master’s program is finally being able to start teaching and taking education classes, said Ivansek. By being accepted into the master’s program, Ivansek said she is finally able to work to become the teacher she always wanted to be.

Short Play Showcase is a SPlaSH for SMU

 By Trisha Stachowski
Arts & Entertainment Editor

Saint Mary’s University students directed and acted in the short play showcase (SPlaSH) on March 28 through April 1 in the Valencia Arts Center’s Academy Theatre.

The SPlaSH productions are held one time each semester, typically featuring three one-act plays.

SMU junior and SPlaSH participant Aaron Henry said, “It is an opportunity for student theatre majors to gain experience directing and sometimes writing pieces in a very professional manner.” Henry said the students present their ideas to the theatre department and the department then chooses which one-act plays will be performed.

This year the three one-act plays were: “The Swing Set,” written by senior Tom Conry and directed by theatre faculty Judy Myers; “So, I Wrote This Play…!,” written and directed by senior Rick Baustian; and “Blackout,” adapted from Davey Anderson’s original play and directed by junior Mary Doctor.

Senior art show dazzles the SMU community

By Trisha Stachowski
Arts & Entertainment Editor


The second segment of the senior art show is now open in the Lillian Davis Hogan Art Gallery. The senior art show gives seniors the opportunity to showcase their work at the end of the semester. The show occurs twice a year, once at the end of the first semester for seniors graduating in December and once or twice at the end of the second semester depending on how many graduating seniors there are. Four seniors participating in this semester’s show have shared their experiences about the art show and their artwork.

Laura Polzin
Majors: Graphic Design and Studio Art Minor: Electronic Publishing.

What did you aim to do with your pieces?
LP: I hope to spark an interest in others or a feeling that compels them. I assume that everyone will interpret them in different ways. I hope that people are able to follow the path through the paintings.

Do you have a theme or any influences?
LP: My theme is nature and the paths that take you through life. The things I see and feel every day and the changing of seasons influence me.

Who have been your major mentors or influences?
LP: I have been influenced by many people that have crossed my path in life. It started in middle school with my teacher Mr. Wyman, and then was pushed further in my career when I entered Saint Mary's. I felt like I really belonged in Preston Lawing's classes as well as my advisors, Rob McColl, and I was always inspired by my professor John Whelan.

Favorite art-related memory?
LP: My favorite art-related memory was when I painted a picture for my aunt and uncle's 40th wedding anniversary this past summer. They both went through a rollercoaster of emotions. To evoke that much emotion from a painting is priceless.

Maria Harris
Major: Graphic Design and Studio Art

What did you aim to do with your pieces?/Do you have a theme or any influences?
MH: All of my pieces are of something very valuable to me. My theme was "Home." I have artwork of my family members, one of the First National Bank building in downtown Saint Paul and the rest are from my cabin. These are places or people that I am most comfortable with. I could have kept going, but I ran out of room and stopped before it looked cluttered. I guess they are just some of the many people and places I highly value in my life.

What are your artistic plans for the future?
MH: I plan to keep creating drawings and paintings on the side, but I would love to get a job in graphic design. If there were one thing I have learned is I would not be me without art in my life. It gives me balance.

Favorite art-related memory?
MH: One is when I would babysit; I would draw with the kids. I would draw anything they would ask me to draw. Watching their faces was priceless. Even to this day I love drawing with my younger cousins. I would sit down and draw Scooby Doo, Madeline, SpongeBob and more.

Maggie Villaume
Majors: Graphic Design and Studio Art.

What did you aim to do with your pieces?
MV: Make an impression and create a new twist on something traditional.

Do you have a theme or any influences?
MV: Combining both of my majors, and family.

What does the show mean to you?
MV: The show is a culmination of everything I've learned in college and how I've progressed as an artist. It lets my friends and family see that being an art major really does take an effort, like any other major at this school.

What are your artistic plans for the future?
MV: Hopefully to be employed as a designer and to do freelance studio work.

Favorite art-related memory?
MV: When I was in preschool, I remember having to draw pictures in pudding on the tables, and instead of drawing, I ate the pudding.

Sarah Kennedy
Majors: Studio Arts and Graphic Design

How long has art been a part of your life?
SK: All of my life. I have a VERY long history of artists from both my mom and dads' sides of the family, so art has been incorporated within everything I do.

What did you aim to do with your pieces? /Do you have a theme or any influences?
SK: I didn't necessarily have a concise theme. I really just wanted to show my diversity and range of media in a way that was still a little bit, for a lack of a better word, “different” like myself.

Who have been your major mentors or influences?
SK: I'd have to say that my grandfather has been, by far, my greatest influence in my life. I remember him drawing me cartoon characters on sheets of paper as a little kid, and I would sit there and color them in for hours.

Favorite art related memory?
SK: Well, it most definitely wouldn't be MY favorite art-related memory, but I'm still hearing about the time that Preston had just gotten done telling us how dangerous a tool we were using can be, and to be EXTRA careful as to not slice your finger when using it. He left the room, and five minutes hadn't even gone by when I sliced my finger down to the bone. To make a long story short, there was blood all over the floor, and I had to finish up the semester doing everything left-handed. As a right-handed artist, that wasn't ideal.

SMU clubs keep their names

By Nick Bravos
Sports Editor

In an April 20 decision, Vice President of Student Life Chris Kendall announced that the names of each athletic club team on campus will not be forced, but can instead choose, to adopt the Cardinal name and logo.

Kendall said he initially raised the issue of whether or not all athletic teams on campus should look the same to promote feedback from the student body, and he learned a lot about how people connect with each other and the clubs during the process.

“The way I see it, how you represent Saint Mary’s University matters more than what you’re called,” Kendall said. “I value some counter-culture, it creates some room for individuality, and so, as long as I’m here, [clubs] will stay the way they are.”

It’s been a university initiative to keep improving the safety and quality of club sports, said Kendall. For this reason, he said, an athletic advisory board was established two years ago to promote club sports, recreation and healthy lifestyles.

“Club sports are a great vehicle for attracting people to SMU,” Kendall said.

Kendall added that he is working on establishing funds so that each club team will have a coach, access to athletic trainers and an athletic club coordinator position. He said a decision hasn’t been made yet if he will implement any of these.

However, sophomore captain of the MUTs Eric Amerling said, “Before all club teams are given coaches in the future, we need to consider the benefits of being student-run, most importantly the skills that the leaders are gaining.”

Amerling said that he has gained valuable organizational skills and leadership qualities in his role as a captain. He added that “captains of these club teams need to be more than just a player but also the role of an accountant or secretary, and all these positions are explored without the aid and hand-holding of a coach.”

SMU hockey player goes national

By Keotta House
Cardinal Staff

Playing at the international level of any sport is rare opportunity and it is almost unheard of for a NCAA Division III.  However, Saint Mary’s University senior Sheree Haslemore joined the New Zealand National Women’s Hockey team at the age of 14 and has never looked back since.

“I have been playing for the team since I was 14,” she said. “There is nothing better than putting on the black NZ jersey and singing my national anthem.”

After playing on a national team one would think a Division III team would have little to offer, but Haslemore disagrees.

“I have enjoyed the professionalism that is brought to the athletic programs and that you are continually held to a higher standard,” she said.  “You learn so much about yourself through your interactions with your teammates, but also through the balancing act of being a student-athlete.”

The SMU Athletic Department is happy to have not only someone with her experience, but someone with her personality. As SMU Women’s Hockey Head Coach Terry Mannor said, someone with her sense of leadership and a positive attitude is a good thing for any team to have.

“Sheree was a good influence to the girls on the team and she added a bit of maturity that we were more than happy to have,” he said.

Athletic Director Nikki Fennern felt similarly to having Haslemore here at SMU.

“She has brought [SMU] to a country we have never been before, and it’s a lot of good promotion to have someone like Sheree here,” she said.

Haslemore is a senior and she said she will always have a special place in her heart for SMU after she graduates. As for hockey, she said she will always have a special place for it as well, but that doesn’t mean she is done.

“I plan to continue playing as long as my body will let me,” she said.  “Hockey is something that I have been a part of so long that it has become engrained in my being.”  

SMU hosts Ultimate Frisbee tournament

By Brandon Matis
Guest Writer

Ten collegiate Ultimate Frisbee teams from across the MIAC and parts of Canada and South Dakota gathered at Saint Mary’s University to compete with hopes of going to regionals and nationals in Appleton, Wis.

With three teams ranked in the top ten in nationals (St. John’s, St. Olaf and Carleton-GOP) and only four spots available for regionals, the pressure and nerves were high.  The games were played on April 14 and 15, with pool play on Saturday and bracket play on Sunday.

Due to the powerhouse teams in the top three seeds, the other seven teams fought hard and long to get the all-important fourth spot to advance to regionals.  This made for incredible competition.  All but one of SMU’s own MUTs’ games were within five points, which was a testament to how long and competitive the weekend was.

As expected, number three ranked St. John’s won the tournament with a perfect 5-0 record.  St. Olaf and Carleton-GOP took second and third respectively, each with one loss to each other.  Augustana finished in fourth, allowing them to join the top three finalists at regionals during the weekend of April 28 and 29.

The MUTs finished in a slightly disappointing seventh, but overall played very well. This was yet another reminder of how close their games were throughout the whole year.

The MUTs will lose five players this year: Captain Nick Bravos, Mitchell May, Mike “Sunshine” Ostman, Jeff “JT” Thomas and Tim Sheedy.  However, they look to continue to rebuild into next year and make the regional and national tournament.

Baseball holds game to battle prostate cancer

By Sam Nord
Guest Writer

The Saint Mary’s University baseball team, along with all other MIAC baseball teams, participated in the second annual Strike Out Prostate Cancer Week April 15-21.

For the Cardinals, the week included double-headers against St. Olaf and St. John’s. Much like the SMU Volleyball team’s Dig Pink for women, Strike Out Prostate Cancer was held in an effort to raise funds and awareness about a good cause.

Assistant Baseball Coach Pat Jacobsen is the founder of the week-long awareness campaign that involves all of the MIAC baseball programs.

“It all started when I realized that the men’s sports teams at SMU did not have a disease awareness week like the Volleyball team’s Dig Pink,” said Jacobsen. “Around the same time, my friend’s father was diagnosed with prostate cancer, which really sparked the beginning stages of starting Strike Out Prostate Cancer.”

The SMU baseball team helped raise awareness by wearing baby blue baseball jerseys along with coaches and the other MIAC baseball programs wearing baby blue wrist bands and sweat bands.

SMU’s first baseman and designated hitter Jon Schlemmer  said, “I look forward to this week each year now because of how well it went last year.” He said, “It’s awesome having people come out and watch us while helping support a great cause.”

This is the second year the SMU baseball program and the rest of the MIAC baseball programs have participated in the weekly campaign.

Letter to the Editor

Steve Schild
Associate Professor
Mass Communication Program

I write to commend every student who’s had work in the recent art shows in the Lillian Davis Hogan Gallery. It takes courage to publicly display something as intimate as artistic expression, and it takes talent to create work of the quality that has impressed me about student shows over the years.

I enjoy the show not only because of the artwork itself, but for the glimpse it gives me of the huge slice of student life I don’t encounter in the classroom. Students’ artwork provides a lovely and telling insight into the multi-faceted human beings they are.

To the student artists, thanks again. And to anyone who hasn’t yet seen the show, I urge you to go.