Back at Doane

And so begins my junior year.
The first week or so of my fall classes has been...hectic....but overall not too bad.
It's kind of like riding a bike in a sense...a bike with a messed-up wheel and no brakes. But I'm sure I'll get used to it again before too long.
I'm at my work study (at the marketing department again), so this will be brief, but I wanted to say hi again.
That is all.

Profile: Dustin Schwartz

Sophomore Dustin Schwartz loves to rope.
“I’ve probably been in over a thousand rodeos since I was in third grade or so,” Schwartz said.
All that practice paid off this past October, when Schwartz won the National Roping Competition in Guthrie, Oklahoma.
Nationals aren’t the end of the road, though. Schwartz is continually preparing for upcoming rodeos. He ropes every day during the summer, and as often as possible during school.
“I rope for practice three or more times a week and go to jackpots on the weekends. Every night I also throw100 loops at the roping dummy. While I’m at school I rope the dummy as much as I can. It is like any other sport; the more you practice the better you will be.”
The national roping title has been his career highlight so far. Schwartz won the #8 team roping with Dexter Becker of Beaver City. The team won with a time of 33.03 seconds for all four steers they roped, giving them the fastest total time in the competition.
“Down at Nationals, the kid that I won it with [Becker], we didn’t know each other,” Schwartz said. “But we both knew the same guy, and we walked up and wanted to rope with him, and he told us to rope together instead. So we ended up roping together and winning it [Nationals]. So it was kind of cool that we had just met some random guy end ended up winning a National competition.”
Schwartz also placed seventh overall with team member Darren Smith of Wellfleet with a time of 41.88 seconds.
“The competition at nationals is extremely hard,” Schwartz explained. “In order to get a national USTRC [United States Team Roping Championships] shootout I had to win at either a state or a regional level. There are ropers there from every state in the U.S. and also people there from Canada and Australia, including NFL football players and PBR [Professional Bull Riders].
Schwartz, who has been roping for most of his life, said his father taught him everything he knew, and that they train and practice on their ranch outside of Mullen.
“Mullen has a population of about 500 people, so everyone knows everyone. I live on a ranch where I help my dad raise Corrientes (Mexican rodeo cattle) and train our roping horses.”
One important factor to Schwartz’s success is Randy, his five-year-old quarter horse.
“Every night that I practice roping I rope off of him [Randy] to keep him in shape and ready for competition,” Schwartz said. “I also ride him when I move our cattle from pasture to pasture. To have a horse in top condition he must be able to trot two miles. Randy is one of the top horses in the country because I have spent countless hours training him. I keep him legged up and I wrap his legs to prevent injuries; a horse that knows he will not get hurt will perform better.”
First-year student Cammie Schwartz, Dustin’s younger sister, has also been involved in rodeo activities, although she said she participated mainly for the fun of it, and isn’t as competitive as the rest of her family.
Cammie said her favorite part of watching her family rope is when they are able to do it together.
“The best is when my dad and my brothers are partnered together, or when my brothers are partnered together and do well. My dad had a lot of success with rodeos, so it’s cool to see my brothers kind of following in his footsteps.”
Schwartz said one of his favorite parts about going to rodeos is getting to meet a wide variety of people, including country singers and world-class ropers.
“I like getting to meet a lot of people,” Schwartz said. “It’s a really good time overall.”
Schwartz has met a variety of singers, including Charlie Daniels, Red Steagall, Life House, Dierks Bentley, and George Strait.
Schwartz’s family attends quite a few rodeos throughout the year, although they try to stay close to home.
Cammie said that she enjoys watching her family rope.
“It’s really cool,” Cammie said. “When you’re at a competition it’s kind of nerve-wracking, just because you never know what’s going to happen. Sometimes it’s just bad luck; you draw the wrong steer or your partner doesn’t do well. But it’s awesome when they do well and you get to see it. It always makes you proud to be like ‘Oh yeah, that’s my brother.’”
Schwartz is also involved with football and track at Doane, and is a Directions student as well. He is studying Computer Science, with a minor in Math.
After graduating, Schwartz plans to manage the arena of a man from Kearney.
“This would involve me training horses and roping cattle, giving roping lessons, giving riding lessons, planning and scheduling rodeo events, along with many other jobs,” Schwartz said. “He [the owner] is very understanding and is going to let me take off work whenever I need to so that I can go to my rodeos.”

Summer at Doane- First Day on the Job

So, I will be on campus over the summer, working with the Marketing Department. It's nice, because working for them also doubles as my journalism internship, so it's kind of a 'two birds with one stone' situation. However, this means I get to live in Smith hall, sans air conditioning...so far it hasn't been too bad, though, so hopefully it stays pretty cool.

I actually started my job today. I'm there now, in fact...it's been fine so far. I haven't had a whole lot to do (just writing and sending out some press releases), but I'm sure it'll pick up some once there's more people here (three of them are gone today). I'm pretty optimistic, even though I've never had a full-time job before.

Ah yes, I'm also working another job, which will be 8 hours a week, so all in all I'll be working around 48 hours a week. Not too bad, but still more than I'm used to. I guess we'll see how it all turns out.

Finals week so far

It's that time again- finals!! Who doesn't love finals?! Well...a lot of people, I'd guess. Especially me. However, it does mean free finals snacks at Tiger Inn (I think they have them every day this week- you should go check them out!). I only have on 'official' exam this week, and one take-home exam, but then I have lots of lovely papers. I'm working on an 8-page paper today, and another 8-page paper tomorrow. And I did a 5-page paper in Spanish yesterday. Good times, I tell ya.
In any case, you should leave me a comment about what all you have to do this week!

Cinco de Mayo

For the past couple years, at least (I'm not sure how long before that), Doane has had a Cinco de Mayo celebration. This year, however, I didn't hear of anything going on as far as school sponsored activities. Do you think the multicultural office is doing its job, if the only things we seem to celebrate are Black History Month and maybe one other holiday? Leave a comment and let me know!

Finals Week

So, with finals being next week, I have cut down on updating my blog. Unfortunate, yes. However, it's been somewhat necessary with my workload. So, this post is going to be reader-based. Sometime this week I will be doing an audio story about what students do to prepare for finals and not get too stressed. So that is my question to you! It'd be great if you left me a comment and let me know what all you do to stay calm and prepared for finals week. Thanks, guys!

Procrastination

So, as we near the end of yet another Doane school year, I've come to realize that I may have been procrastinating too much...now I have three papers (one 5-page and the other two are 8-page papers) a twenty minute presentation on Pakistan, and a book review. All to be done within the next week and a half.
My point? It might be a little too late to say "don't to what I do," for this year at least, but I think I've learned my lesson; while procrastination is OK in small quantities, you shouldn't let it take up too much of your time.
So, if you've been procrasting, let me know!

Star-Cakes and Relay Review

So, Doane's Relay for Life this year raised $61,662!!! Thank you to everyone who contributed!! It was a great time. Even though I didn't get to bed until around 7 in the morning, it was completely worth it.

Now, for our next event. Tonight, Frees Hall Council will be putting on "Star-Cakes," which is a combination of eating pancakes and watching Star Wars. Sounds awesome, right? Well, it will be! So come by the Frees Hall basement starting at 6 p.m. tonight, and going until we've watched all the movies. I'm not sure how long the pancakes will last, though, so come early if you want to eat!

Relay Update

So, in the first two hours, Doane's Relay for Life raised over $10,000!

Chet Miller and Blake Tobey won Relay Idol with their crazy dance number to "Party in the USA."

Locks of Love collected quite a bit of hair.

And the Luminary and Fight Back Ceremony will be starting soon!!

Relay for Life

Hey, everyone. I'm here at Relay for Life! Chris Owens and I will be here all night, so feel free to stop by and say hi! The event goes until 6 a.m., so come see us!

Relay for Life

I just wanted to remind everyone that Doane's Relay for Life is tomorrow! Events start at 6 p.m. in Fuhrer Field House, and it will go until 6 a.m.

Events include:

Opening Ceremony 6 p.m.

Basket Auction 7 p.m.

Locks of Love 8 p.m.

Relay Idol 9 p.m.

Luminary and Fight Back Ceremony 10 p.m.

Fear Factor 12 a.m.

Relay Relay 1 a.m.

Miss Relay 3 a.m.

Closing Ceremony 5:50 a.m.

Feel free to stop by. It's a fun time with a great cause!

Student Congress Senators

Congrats to the Student Congress Senators for 2010-2011:

Jacob "Fluff" Francis
Jens Lehman
Quint Geis
Laura Jacob
Nicole Tegtmeier
Tony Odem
Brooke Segerstrom
Anh Nguyen
Sam Eschliman
John Wiemer

Relay For Life

Hey, again. Just wanted to let you know that Doane's Relay for Life is coming up pretty quickly. It's next Friday night (the 23rd) to Saturday morning (the 24th). In will be held in Fuhrer Field House, and it should have another great turnout this year. Chris Owens and I will be there that night, taking pictures and video for a package on the event. If you have any questions about the event, feel free to leave a comment.

Registration

Just to let everyone know, Pre-Registration for the 2010 fall semester will be starting tomorrow. The schedule is as follows:

Seniors
April 14
(95+ credits already earned)
Juniors
April 15, 16
(60-94 credits already earned)
Sophomores
April 19, 20
(30-59 credits already earned)
Freshmen
April 21, 22, 23
(0-29 credits already earned)

Doane Honors Program participants can schedule their courses one class level ahead.

Also, be sure to add classes to your 'preferred sections' list to make things go quicker with your advisor.

Stop Day

Hey, guys. Just wanted to let you know that tomorrow is Stop Day!! This means that there will be no classes for the day, and there will be lots of fun games and events. Make sure to come join in the fun, but be sure to wear some sun screen!

Tom Robbins

Tom Robbins, author, will be speaking tonight at 7:30 in Heckman Auditorium. I've heard a lot of people talking about how much they love his books, so I'm planning on going to his speech.

To check out an interview with Robbins, visit:http://januarymagazine.com/profiles/robbins.html

Campus Fiber Installation

So, for the next two weeks Doane will be having cables places in the vicinity of Frees, Sheldon, and Hansen Halls, as well as a variety of educational buildings on North Side in an attempt to upgrade the fiber-optic network that provides Internet and data services to the Crete campus, according to an e-mail sent out by Mike Carpenter.

The work will take place from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. daily, but should not interrupt daily life, although it does make some amount of noise.

Doane Forensics

The six first-year members of Doane's forensics team placed first at this past weekend's Novice National Tournament in Hutchinson, Kan.

The tournament was split into three divisions based on the size of the school, and Doane faced teams from across the country. The novice members took first place overall at the competition.

The first-year members of the team who competed are:

Erik Buser (freshman, Crete)
Kyle Carroll (sophomore, Geneva)
Bekah Ehly (freshman, Omaha)
Jordan Johnson (freshman, Grant)
Tyler Mohs (freshman, Sidney)
Lindsey Oelling (freshman, Roca)

For more about the story, visit http://www.doaneline.com/novice-speech-team-wins-nationals-1.2204409

Room Checks

So, Doane has once again managed to be a...jerk, let's just say. Recently, there has been a bug problem in Frees due to a room having a cockroach-infested bean bag chair. Becuase of this, Frees needs to be sprayed for said bugs, which is quite understandable. ResLife sent out an e-mail saying,

" On Monday starting at 10am, Residence Life will be going through every room in Frees Hall to ensure that the room meets the following standards:

• The floor is swept
• All trash is removed
• No food is left out that will attract bugs

If a room is found that does not meet these standards, then that room will be cleaned to meet these standards and a cleaning fee of 100.00 dollars minimum will be assessed to the room. Additionally the college will move forward with a Residential Living Standards violation."

When they actually went through the rooms (if a resident was in the room, they only glanced around for a couple of senconds and then left), they found 35 rooms in Frees "not to be up to standard," which, pardon my language, is bullshit. I have seen many of the rooms that's 'weren't clean enough' and they were cleaner than other rooms that didn't get cited.

Basically, Doane/housing needs to get its act together and start making sense (HA, like that's going to happen). By the way, nobody has been fined the $100; it was just a scare-tactic used by Kevin Bollinger and the rest of ResLife. Good for them.

Does anybody else have a problem with this situation? Either way, leave a comment and let me know!

Varvaro Play

So, Brian Varvaro has come up with another play, this one entitled "Bigfoot and Santa Claus Start a Cockfighting Ring." The play will be shown tonight at 7:30 and Saturday at 1:30 p.m. in the Whitcomb-Lee Conservatory. Admission is free. I haven't seen it yet, of course, but from what I hear it's about exactly what the title suggests...this should be interesting.

SAC event

Hello, everyone. Doane's Student Activities Council (SAC) will be hosting a free viewing of Alice in Wonderland tonight starting at 9:45 at the Isis theater in Crete. Doors will open at 9:30; make sure to bring your students ID's to get in for free!

Summer Jobs

For students looking for a summer job, there's still a chance of getting one at Doane. Simply contact Cindy Alberts, the Executive Secretary for Financial Affairs, for an application. She can be reached at 402.826.8200

Spring Break

So, now that Greek Week and Midterms are over, it's spring break! I'm in Colorado with a friend for a few days, which should be nice.

Leave a comment and let me know what you're up to for the week.

Tuition

Tuition at Doane has gone up another five percent, leaving the cost of tuition for the 2010-2011 school year at $22,170. Is this too much for already struggling students? Leave a comment and let me know what you think.

Procrastination

With midterms coming up, it can often be a stressful time for students. Ofter, it seems like students will procrastinate, even though this is the worst time to do so. Next week, my group in Multiplatform Journalism will bring you a video on ways students procrastinate, and how to keep from falling into that trap.

Dead Man's Cell Phone

Doane's Theatre Department is putting on it's newest show, Dead Man's Cell Phone.

The preview night for the show is Wednesday at 7:30 p.m., and the regular shows are Thursday, Friday, and Saturday starting at 7:30. Admission is $5, or free with a Doane ID.

The theatre department puts on two mainstage shows each semester, with student-directed plays in between. Later this semester, the department will put on Three Sisters.

*note: That's not the poster Doane is using, just a picture I found on the internet since I couldn't find a copy of the one Doane's using.

Something New

Hey, everyone. For my post today, I wanted to do something a little different. I haven't told you much about me, so I thought I'd share a little. I'm a sophomore at Doane, I live in Frees and am on the Frees Hall Council. I'm a member of Chi Delta sorority, I'm in the Honors Program, and...actually, I think that's about it. I am a Journalism and International Studies major, with Art and Spanish minors, which keeps me pretty busy.

So now you know a little more about me and what I do on campus. So now I'd like to know more about you; what are you involved it? What topics would you like to see me cover? Leave a comment and let me know!

Talent Show

Doane's annual talent show is back for its final round of performances. The winner(s) of the contest will receive $200 and a contract to perform at Springfest this year.
The talent show will take place tomorrow at 7:30 p.m. in Common Grounds, and will feature the following performers:

-Sammie Ware
-Janelle McGinnis
-Brian Varvaro
-Tatton Jacob
-Tony Odem
-Many VanLaningham
-Samuel Eschliman
-Trevor Bohlender
-Sam Henline
-Nick Kaufman
-Derrik Castillo
-Michael Olmer
-Sydney Readman

Staying Healthy

It's that time of year again; the time when everyone around you seems to be getting sick. In order to avoid this tragedy, here are some tips to staying in good health:

1. Wash your hands often
2. Don't cover sneezes or coughs with your hands (use your elbow)
3. Drink lots of water
4. Get fresh air
5. Avoid touching your face
6. Eat yogurt (studies have shown that eating a cup of low-fat yorgurt each day can cut your chances of getting sick by up to 25%

These tips can help students avoid getting sick and spreading illness to others.

Tax Help

It's tax season again, something many students dread. With various forms and facts you have to have, it can sometimes seem like a tough time

At Doane this year, however, the Accounting Club is helping students complete their 2009 income tax returns for free. Just come to CM 20 on one of the following days with your forms, and they'll help you fill everything out:

Friday, Feb. 26 from 4-5:30 p.m.
Thursday, March 4 from 7:30-9 p.m.
Wednesday, March 24 from 7-8:30 p.m.

Gandhi

For students interested in learning about Gandhi, a film about him will be shown in the Frees theater tonight starting at 6 p.m.

Sponsored by the Hansen Leadership program, the movie is a chance to let students get some background information before Arun Gandhi, Gandhi's grandson, comes to speak at Doane. Arun will present "Lessons Learned from Grandfather" in Heckman Auditorium at 7 p.m. next Monday. For more information, e-mail Carrie Petr at carrie.petr@doane.edu.

Weather Watchers

For students interested in what the weather's like on campus before they step outside, Doane has a weather station at their disposal. Information is automatically updated every hour, so you can be sure it's up-to-date.

The station, which is located at the top of the Lied Science and Math Building, lets students know the current weather conditions on Doane campus, as well as a link to the Saline County forecast from the National Weather Service.

Bottled water v. Tap water

On Doane campus, it's a common thing to see students walking around with bottled water; it's quick to grab, it's easy to carry, and it's better than tap water...right?

Maybe not. Over the past few years, more information has come to light regarding bottled water. It turns out that in some cases, tap water can be better for you than bottled, and some companies (such as Coca-Cola) started to simply put purified tap water in their bottles of water.

Tiger Inn and Common Grounds are two places on campus where it's easy to grab a bottle of water when you're on the go, but just because it's easy to grab, that doesn't necessarily make it good for you.

What are your opinions on the bottled water v. tap water debate? Leave a comment and let me know!

For more information on bottled water, visit AllAboutWater.org.

What's the Buzz?

For fans of Twitter, a new status-sharing site is now being offered. Google has recently revealed its creation Google Buzz, which is used through gmail. Google Buzz also allows users to share videos, pictures, updates, and "start conversations about the things you find interesting," along with a variety of other applications, such as Google maps.

Will Google Buzz become more popular than Twitter? Leave a comment and let me know what you think!

Greek Groups

Greek Groups on Doane campus have started their rushing season. With five fraternities and four sororities on campus, students interested in Greek life have a variety of options to choose from.

The sororities on campus are Chi Delta, Gamma Phi Iota, Omega Psi Theta, and Phi Sigma Tau. The fraternities are Alpha Omega, Alpha Pi Epsilon, Delta Kappa Pi, Sigma Phi Theta, and Tau Sigma Zeta.

Greek Week this year will start on March 6th, and end March 13th, in time for spring break.

Zombies: The Phenomenon

Zombies have always had a cult following. Since Romero’s Night of the Living Dead, zombies have become more and more popular, leading to zombie movies, re-makes of zombie movies, zombie video games, and even zombie books. Over the past couple years, zombies have even become an addicting topic for some students at Doane.

Students on campus have come up with plans for what to do during a zombie apocalypse, and strategies to kill the zombie invaders.

Junior Adrian Draney said that while he didn’t have a set plan, he had a general idea of what he would do. “I would probably hit up a big Wal-mart for weapons and supplies to create some sort of defensive bunker,” he said. “And then others could hole up at attempt to hold off the infestation….I don’t have an ‘official’ plan, but I do have my zombie-killing bat.”

With books such as “The Zombie Survival Guide,” students are given a manual on how to react if a zombie apocalypse were to occur; where to set up, what weapons to use, and how to re-create civilization once the zombies are destroyed.

This semester, Doane’s theatre put on a production of Evil Dead the Musical, and with recent movies such as Zombieland, Quarantine, and 28 Weeks Later, students have re-found their love of the flesh-eating menace.

“I’ve always been a fan of horror films,” said junior John Carvana. “And zombies are really cool. I’ve always loved zombie movies, especially since I saw Romero’s movies. He shows us that you don’t just have to worry about zombies, but about people too; not too many people take that into account.”

Draney said his favorite aspect of zombies was that they are so many kinds of zombies. “There’s such versatility to the zombie mythos; so many different versions exist, but at the same time, you always know when a zombie is a zombie.”

Whatever their reasons, students at Doane are fascinated by zombies. Whether it’s for their versatility or their fear factor, zombies will always have a home at Doane.

Fights and Vandalism

Since last night, a variety of disturbances have occured on Doane College campus. First of all, a number of fights broke out at the annual toga party in Butler Gym. The police were called onto the campus, and Doane went on a campus lock-down.. According to an article on the Doane Line, the fights were relatively small, and the police didn't remain on campus for very long.

Along with this, a number of cars have been broken into on campus, mainly from the freshman Sheldon lot. The windows of the cars were smashed in, and the stereo systems were stripped, according to an e-mail sent out by the Safety Office. If you have any information, you're encouraged to call the Doane Safety Office at (402) 826-8669. A reward is being offered.

For more information on the lockdown, visit http://www.doaneline.com/campus-on-lockdown-1.2156014 for more on the car vandalisms, visit http://www.doaneline.com/stolen-stereos-vandalized-cars-in-sheldon-lot-1.2156173

Micaela Fikar