University Chronicle

The road taken…

by Michael Vadnie

University Chronicle adviser

1988-2013

I’ve taken to calling my imminent retirement “rounding the clubhouse turn” after a famous call in the sport of kings.

The privilege to teach and to mentor adult children of other people for 32 years during the one of most important times of their lives cannot be understated.

Perhaps more challenging — and fulfilling — is having served the SCSU community for a quarter of a century as adviser of the fiercely independent University Chronicle.

Keith Kirchoff played a show on April 16 as part of the New Media Guest Artist series at SCSU. His style of play is unique, although it is necessarily fitting to my taste.

Kirchoff’s style of play can be categorized as electro-acoustic piano, a mixture of audio bytes from his laptop while he plays the piano.

I will say this: Kirchoff is incredibly talented with a piano and creative in the way he presents his style. However, I did not like his mixtures of electronic sounds and sporadic play of piano for the most part.

Human trafficking is the fastest growing black market crime on the planet. Women on Wednesday held a presentation with Breaking Free on April 10^th titled Ushering in the Safe Harbor Act: Stopping Sex Trafficking and Prostitution.

Breaking Free is a non-profit organization based in Minnesota dedicated to helping women and girls escape sex trafficking, sexual exploitation, and systems of prostitution through advocacy, direct services, housing, and education.

Noelle Volin, staff attorney and public policy manager for Breaking Free, said, “Breaking Free creates a legal safe harbor for those who have been involved in prostitution.”

The team of Eric Petersen and Lindsey Gunnerson will take office next year as Student Government president and vice president.

Snow conditions led to the cancellation of the weekly SG meeting this week.

Election results were posted on the SG facebook page on Thursday night.

Petersen and Gunnerson received 610 of the 1,066 votes cast in the election.

In second were Mable Fale and Sara Salas-Ramirez with 267 votes, followed by Ian High and Jacob Thomfohrda with 154 votes.

There were 35 empty ballots.

The Husky Softball team is staying hot with a solid year, reaching a 22-15 record as they near the end of the season. The Huskies have won seven of their last eight games and currently hold a 7-3-conference record.

The team is coming off sweeps of University of Minnesota Crookston and the University of Sioux Falls, both series being played at the Husky Dome.

SCSU senior catcher Mikayla Hogan was named the NSIC Softball Player of the Week on April 8. Hogan is batting .335 with 10 home runs and a .669 slugging percentage. She leads the team in hits, RBI’s, home runs and doubles.

Hundreds of Husky Hockey supporters gathered for the viewing of the Frozen Four game on Thursday evening in the Atwood Ballroom.

“It’s a great way for us to get together with friends and cheer on the Husky hockey team,” said SCSU student Sarah Rodelius.

There was free food from the House of Pizza, chicken wings, cracker jacks, and beverages provided by Pepsi. Free prizes were given away to those who attended, everything from t-shirts to $50 gift cards.

Fans of all ages lined up in Atwood hours before the doors even opened, and prizes were given out to the loyal hundreds that showed up so early.

The SCSU Husky baseball team is surging this season, putting up a 21-2 record through April 8. The team is currently on a 14-game winning streak with sweeps over University of Sioux Falls, Minot State University, and University of Minnesota Crookston.

The Huskies are 10-0 in the NSIC, which is ranked at the top in the conference. SCSU is ranked fourth in NCBWA poll and fifth in the National DII Baseball News Poll.

Part of the reason for such great success is their pitching. The Huskies currently lead the NCAA DII ranks with a 1.40 ERA. Scott Lieser leads the team with 7 wins followed by Kyle Fischer’s 6 wins.

Korean Pop Music, or K-Pop, as it is commonly called, has become reasonably popular here in America, mostly thanks to the viral hit “Gangnam Style” by PSY.

SCSU had their first K-Pop Dance Party in the Quarry of Atwood, which turned out to be a huge hit. The event was sponsored by USP and was organized by Alexa Hope and Caitlin Murphy of the Tumblr site Harsh K-Pop Truths.

The Quarry was made up like an everyday dance club, with balloons and strobe lights. It was like walking into any other downtown rave club.

The team results for the squad didn’t end the way Drew LeBlanc wanted to as the SCSU Huskies lost to Quinnipiac on Thursday night.

Individually, though, the senior forward has to be quite proud of himself and probably needs to clear some space on his trophy case if he has any room left.

After capping off a historic season, LeBlanc was named the 33^rd NCAA Hobey Baker Award Winner, which was announced on Friday afternoon at the CONSOL Energy Center in Pittsburgh.

April is sexual assault awareness month across the nation, and SCSU was getting the word out with a series of films, as well as a bake sale, on April 9.

The first of the films was called “Flirting with Danger”, and was shown in the Miller Center on Monday night. The film involves Professor Lynn Phillips of the University of Massachusetts and her interviewing of 30 girls who have been involved sexually with men.