Tornado Destroys Community Café

 

By Emily Wheeler / May 10, 2016

 

Local woman helps asses the damage done to the Joliet Café.

 

A tornado ripped through the Turtle Mountain reservation yesterday, destroying the beloved Joliet Café owned by young Lyman Lamartine.

 

A deadly tornado ravaged the Turtle Mountain reservation late last night. Caught in its path was a major town staple: the Joliet Café. Lyman Lamartine, owner of the Joliet Café, was quoted saying, “I don’t know what I’m gonna do now, but I guess I’ll figure something out.” Upon assessing the damage, it was found that the café’s fryalator had been lifted into the air and dropped into a nearby tree. The grill was also found torn in half. Lamartine fears the total damages will be too much and doesn’t expect the café to rebuild and reopen.

 

Officer Gregory House was one of the first called out to help assess damages and clean up the town. “We’ve never seen anything this bad around here. It’s scary to think your whole life can be literally ripped apart in one night.”

 

Lamartine, possibly the youngest business owner on the reservation at only 16 years old, has worked his way up through the ranks at Joliet Café. He started as a dish washer and quickly rose to become the owner about one year ago.

The Battle Continues...

Is so-called 'pop country' even 'real' country?

 

By Emily Wheeler/March 5, 2016

 

Whether you are aware or not, an all-out civil war has been raging for some time now in Nashville, Tenn. The two sides: modern country artists versus ‘old-school’ country artists. The conflict: is today’s ‘pop country’ really country music?

            Now, before we start this discussion, it’s important that I say a few things regarding my personal feelings about country music. First, I love every kind, style and time period of country music. You can go through the music on my phone and find everything from Johnny Cash and Patsy Cline to Luke Bryan and Florida Georgia Line. So in this case, I am not biased toward either type of country. As fairly unknown country artist Shannon Brown said, “I love ‘em all.”

            Second, for this discussion, I think it’s important to define ‘real’ country music. Dictionary.com defines it as “a form of popular music originating in the rural southern US. It is traditionally a mixture of ballads and dance tunes played characteristically on fiddle, guitar, steel guitar, drums, and keyboard.” I personally like this definition and think it fits pretty well. So we’re going to base our discussion of what is and isn’t country music using this definition.

            The last thing to mention is what we’re going to call modern country. I’ve heard it called everything from hick hop to bro-country (coined by New York Magazine’s Jay Rosen), but for our purposes, we’re going to refer to it as pop country.

The battle more or less began when artists like Luke Bryan and Blake Shelton began topping the charts with songs like “That’s My Kind of Night” and “Boys ‘Round Here”. It caused irritation within the fans and artists of more traditional country music. However, according to an article in Entertainment Weekly, everything really started around January 23, 2013 when Blake Shelton publically spoke out in a GAC special saying, “Nobody wants to listen to their grandpa’s music. And I don’t care how many of these old farts around Nashville going, ‘My God, that ain’t country!’ Well that’s because you don’t buy records anymore, jackass. The kids do, and they don’t want to buy the music you were buying.”

Shelton’s comment caused country legends Ray Price and Willie Nelson to retaliate, however they did it in very different ways. Price slammed Shelton on his Facebook, while Willie took a more humorous route, renaming is tour “Old Fart and Jackasses Tour.”

One of the most recent outbreaks in this battle happened when singer Zac Brown called Bryan’s “My Kind of Night” the “worst song I’ve ever heard.” His remark caused Jason Aldean, fellow pop country artist and Luke Bryan’s best friend, to retaliate on Instagram, telling Brown, “trust me when I tell u that nobody gives a shit what u think.” But later in an interview with The Province, he explaining his outburst saying, “there’s certain artists I really like what they do and certain artists I’m not that big of a fan. But I’m not publicly going to go out and trash ‘em. I know Zac, I don’t have anything against the guy, he’s always been cool to me, but I didn’t like that. And of course Luke’s one of my best friends and it rubbed me wrong. You don’t have to go out and say those things. I don’t agree with any artist bashing another artist.”

            In my opinion, it’s all country music. It doesn’t matter how many genres you split it into, what kind of instruments they use, what they sing about or who likes the songs. No, it doesn’t sound the same as country music from the 90s, the 80s and definitely not the 60s. But that’s just the point. Country music continues to evolve as it’s fan evolves.

            Country music has taken many different forms ever since it’s beginning. According to country weekly, there have been seven specific types of country. In the 1950s it was Honky-tonk. The 60s gave us Countrypolitan and artists like Patsy Cline and Glen Campbell, who are now considered two of the most important people in country music history but were at the time hated by then country music traditionalists. However, it’s the 1970s that gave us some of the most iconic legends of country history. This outlaw country gave us Waylon Jennings, Willie Nelson, and Merle Haggard.

            These, and the other types of music, were all hated at one point or another for their differences compared to the ones that came before. For those that understand that, this feud between old school and pop country isn’t that difficult to understand. It’s just another wrinkle in our long-lasting history.  

This civil war unfortunately isn’t just between the artists, it’s also between the fans. As a lover of all kinds of country, it’s difficult being in this world. I know plenty of people who absolutely hate pop country and bash me all the time for jamming out to Florida Georgia Line. But on the other hand, I have friends who, the second I turn on some Merle Haggard, they cringe and turn up their noses, questioning how I can, “listen to that old hillbilly crap.” But as writer David Eldridge said, “Country music fans are the most loyal in the music business. In the meantime, they’ll shake up country music – and the genre will survive.”

Country music will forever continue to evolve. If you spend all of your time comparing each style of country music, you’ll never get the chance to enjoy it. And let’s face it. The question shouldn’t be whether it’s ‘real’ or not, but whether YOU like it personally and if you don’t, change the station. It’s pretty easy. There’s no need for bashing or hating, everyone is entitled to their own taste in music, even the artists themselves.

One Last Hurrah for Eichelberger

Found Brady Eichelberger (Wheeler)

By Emily Wheeler/ March 10, 2016

MAYVILLE, N.D. – Big Brothers Big Sisters of America is an organization that was started more than 100 years ago in New York City. The organization strives to provide children who face adversity with strong, one-on-one support from an adult within their community. With programs in communities all across the United States, and in 12 countries around the world, Big Brothers Big Sisters has impacted many lives.

This organization pairs adult volunteers, called Bigs, with children between the ages of 6 and 18, known as Littles. After an extensive background check and interview process with both the Bigs and Littles, they are matched based on location, personality and preference. From there, Bigs and Littles meet according to their personal schedules and do all sorts of things, from playing catch, to doing homework or even going to museums. The organization stays involved throughout the entire process and provides support to ensure healthy, long-lasting relationships grow between their Bigs and Littles.

At Mayville State University, senior Brady Eichelberger has been working diligently to create a similar program and get it up and running before he graduates in the fall. He calls this program: Big Comet Little Comet (BCLC). Eichelberger has always had a great love for volunteer work and thought this kind of program could really benefit the community. He started working on this project during the 2015-2016 school year. Earlier this semester, BCLC sent out its first set of applications to students interested in volunteering and held their first meeting, finally getting the program off the ground.

According to Eichelberger, Big Comet Little Comet will pair volunteers, mostly consisting of Mayville State students, with area children in the hopes of building strong, healthy relationships. “The Big Comets are then required to spend time with their Little Comet at least twice per month and it could mean a number of things, such as helping them with homework, taking them to an MSU game/event, playing basketball with them, etc.”  

Eichelberger knew from the get-go that it would not be easy to get a program like this started. Luckily, he has not had to work alone. When choosing an advisor, he knew just who to ask. Lonamalia Smith, professor of sociology at MSU, has taken on the role as the advisor for BCLC.

 Eichelberger says, “Asking Lona to be the advisor for the program was nowhere near a mistake. She has unbelievable organization skills and does an excellent job of looking at things in a parent’s perspective, making it easier to understand the worries many parents have. Without her and the other Big Comets, the program would not be getting off the ground so smoothly.”

Even with help, starting an extensive program like BCLC has its difficulties. Eichelberger says, “Seeing as it involves both MSU students and students in the community, there is a lot of extra work we had to do to make sure it would be successful, including packaging and sending out Little Comet applications to each kid at the elementary, middle and high school. Besides sending letters out we had to draft a liability form for both Little Comets and Big Comets, BCLC applications, forms to help with matching, figure out how to go about background checks, make sure the schools were on board, find Big Comets and various other tasks.”

Eichelberger’s only regret was not starting this program sooner. “I’ve been throwing the idea around in my head for about a year now and finally decided to try going through with it.”

Although he didn’t get BCLC started as quickly as he had wished, Eichelberger has high hopes for the program as it continues to grow. “The ultimate hope is that is becomes a thriving program in the community that helps many people along the way.”

Eichelberger plans to graduate in Dec. 2016. While at MSU, he has been involved with a few different programs on campus. Namely, the Cometeers Volunteer Organization, which Eichelberger started alongside his good friend Jacob Allam. Eichelberger has also been very involved with Student Senate, acting as Student President for the last two years.

Eichelberger has loved his time here at Mayville State University. One of his favorite things about MSU is the small school atmosphere. He says, “It’s nice to know a lot of the people you go to school with […]. For the most part we are pretty tight knit and just act as one big, dysfunctional family.”

Programs like Big Brothers Big Sisters have taken the initiative of helping our countries children and helping them to succeed in the ways that they deserve to. Brady Eichelberger sees great things for Big Comet Little Comet, even though he may not be here to see its success for himself. As a senior, this program is almost a last hurrah, but one he should certainly be proud of.

"I wouldn't have done anything different"

Bakken works with bass singers during choir practice. (Wheeler)

By Emily Wheeler/ March 31, 2016

 

 

MAYVILLE, ND – The saying goes, “If you do what you love, you’ll never work a day in your life.” Not everyone can say that they have never gone to work a day in their life, but one professor at Mayville State University feels exactly this way.

 

 

Michael Bakken is the Associate Professor of Music and the Fine Arts Series Coordinator at Mayville State University. Earlier this semester, Bakken announced his retirement. He said that after teaching for over 40 years, he doesn’t want to miss the chance to enjoy his retirement and enjoy waking up “like every day is Saturday.”
 

Music has been his whole life and he feels like it’s in his DNA.
 

In third grade, Bakken began taking trumpet lessons for a dollar an hour. It was right then that he knew he wanted to teach music. He said, “I was just lucky I guess. A lot of people don’t know what they want to do in life, I knew right then that that’s what I wanted to do.”
 

 Bakken graduated from the University of North Dakota with a B.S. in Music Education in 1972. Right after he graduated, he began teaching in public high schools. He was teaching at May-Port CG High School when the position opened up at Mayville State.

 

 

 “I often wondered what it would be like to teach in a college,” Bakken said. “When the part-time position opened, they asked me to come direct the choir. Then the full-time position opened up and I asked myself, “Do I want to do this?” I decided to go for it. I kind of needed to recharge my batteries, a new focus in my life.”  

 

 

 Bakken described MSU as a place of opportunity.

 

 

 “Mayville State gave me the opportunity to do what I love and in return I wanted to give students the opportunity to be a part of a team,’ he added, “Maybe you’re not on the varsity football team but you can be part of the choir team or the band team, and be a part of a team effort.”

 

 

 Bakken said that he has many fond memories of his time at MSU, but one thing he will remember the most is how the program has grown through the years. From the band and choir sharing the stage during their first concert, to having about 75 students in choir alone.

 

 

 “There are things I’m going to miss, but miss in a good way,” he said.

 

 

 Bakken is well known and loved by many students on campus and within the Mayville community.

 

 

 Senior Jon Brenden, who has been involved in the MSU choir for many years, said, “I’ve never known someone who loves music as much as Bakken. He’s kind of crazy, but that’s why we love him. We’ll definitely miss him.”

 

 

 Greta Paschke, a music alumnus of MSU and now instructor of music and science at MSU, has worked closely with Bakken for many years. She met him for the first time in her sophomore year of high school when he was her band director.
 

 Paschke said, “I just want to thank Bakken for giving me the opportunity to teach music and for bringing music back to Mayville State.”
 

 When Michael Bakken arrived at Mayville State, the only thing he really had left to work with, after the dismantling of the music program, was a band. Over the years, he has worked to raise money for the music program and to get students involved. His work has allowed the program to grow and brought a music minor back to MSU.
 

 His retirement came as a surprise for many, but Bakken said that it’s time.
 

 “It has been a great run and I want to go out on top,” he said. “These next five weeks is going to be a celebration. We’ve got a lot do to and we get to do it together. And we’re going to go on our way rejoicing.”

Security increase at Alerus Center upsets concertgoers






 

 The Alerus Center in Grand Forks, N.D. is a popular concert and event venue. (Emily Wheeler)

 



 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

By Emily Wheeler/ January 30, 2016

Grand Forks, N.D. – Fans who attended country music star Jason Aldean's “We Were Here” concert on Jan. 29 were frustrated by the increased security measures taken by the Alerus Center. This was the first event at the venue in which handheld metal detectors were used. This increase also required fans to place any loose items on a table before being scanned by the detectors. All bags were searched and only bags following size requirements were allowed into the concert. Also, tobacco products were confiscated. Some concertgoers said it felt like they “were at an airport instead of a concert”.

Doors usually open an hour before the concert is set to begin. However because of the increase, doors opened an hour and a half ahead of time to allow for any delay. Unfortunately, many attendees seemed to be unaware of this earlier opening. The lines continued down the halls of the event center, into the main lobby, and onto the sidewalks outside. The delay led to some missing most of the first act, A Thousand Horses.

One concertgoer, Ranita Rodriquez, said in a Facebook post, “That was quite ridiculous if you ask me! The concert was already started when we got in and there was still a huge group in the main entrance and down the sidewalk. We even got there 45 minutes early.” She then added, “With that being said..at least our country stars were safe because of all the security wands.”

Another attendee, Katelyn Wertz, said that she had heard about the security increase the morning of the concert. “My friends and I made plans to get there as early as possible. We ended up getting there an hour early and had no issues getting in.”

In an interview with WDAZ News in Grand Forks, executive director of the Alerus Center Cheryl Swanson said “the lines moved slower than they had hoped.” Swanson also said that the Alerus Center is looking to purchasing walk-through metal detectors which would help keep things moving at a steadier pace.

These security measures are considered the ‘norm’ in many venues around the country. They are expected to continue for most, if not all, large events held at the Alerus Center in the future.

The Alerus Center is not the only venue that beefed up their security for Aldean’s “We Were Here” Tour. The Denny Sanford Premier Center in Sioux Falls, S.D. also implemented the new bag-size requirement. The Premier Center already uses handheld metal detectors for most of their events.

Many promoters, and even performers, are now requiring higher security measures before a venue can host a concert or event. Live Nation, the promoters of Jason Aldean’s tour, made a statement saying that, “Due to the recent attacks in Paris and in an abundance of caution we have implemented heightened security procedures globally.” It’s likely that many promoters will follow suit and require higher security for their future events.

The fear of terrorist attacks occurring at high-populated, public events has increased in the past year.