MSyou Fall 2013

Faces from the campus of Minnesota State University, Mankato Minnesota

A supplement to the MSU Reporter

Fall 2013

2 • MSU Reporter

MSyou Fall 2013

Familiar face always gives help at Performing Arts Center To those that regularly attend classes and shows at the Earley Center for Performing Arts, Kent Paulson needs no introduction.

JAMES HOUTSMA A&E Editor A friendly greeting can brighten even the gloomiest of days. Those who have had the pleasure of meeting Kent Paulson already know this to be true.

Paulson has worked general maintenance at Minnesota State University, Mankato for 27 years and while he has worked all over campus in Wiecking, Nelson and the dorms, the Early Center for the Performing Arts building is the place he has taken the strongest liking to.

The PA is certainly one of the higher end buildings on campus and Paulson can regularly be seen working hard to make sure it stays that way, be it keeping the lobby

floors as sleek and shiny as possible or combating the epic snowfalls that find their way onto the building’s sizable stairways with a trusty shovel and ice-melt. Rain or shine, the building stays in pristine quality thanks to his efforts.

But it’s more than just a job to Paulson.

Not even hip surgery last spring could keep the Madelia-born Mankato native away from the music/theater students and faculty that greatly enjoy his presence around the building for too long.

Outside his work at the PA, now in its sixteenth year, Paulson is an avid bicyclist, loves to camp, fishes when he can and is in the process of visiting all the state parks in the area.

“I don’t know offhand but it’s close to 30 that we’ve been to,” said Paulson.

In addition to spending time with his wife and daughter, Paulson keeps busy by volunteering at the nearby Christ the King church teaching Sunday school, ushering and helping out in the kitchen on Wednesday night open dinners.

For many, Paulson is as much a part of the PA’s very

“The students are what make my time great here. I like to treat folks like my family beacue you are family here.”

“This is my home and you [the author and his classmates] are my family away from my other family,” said Paulson regarding his fondness for the people who frequent the PA. “The students are what make my time great here.”

James Houtsma • MSU Reporter Paulson has been all over campus, but his work in the Earley Center for Performing Arts and his smile that reaches thousands of students a day has made him another great member of our University.

soul as vocalists singing scales in the practice rooms downstairs or actors sword fighting in the lobby – the building simply wouldn’t be the same without him.

But if it sounds like only the mainstays to the Perform-

ing Arts establishment are likely to get to know him, think again. A simple hello will not go amiss.

“I like to treat folks like my M family because you are family h here,” said Paulson.

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MSU Reporter • 3

Faces on Campus

English professor Candace Black finds passion in poetry This MSU professor’s background might not be the normal makes of a poetry enthusiast, but Candace Black finds comfort in creating meaning with words.

Andrew Simon • MSU Reporter

MSU English professor Candace Black mixes her passion of poetry and teaching to become a great professor for her students.

ANDREW SIMON Staff Writer

“His eyes are the blue stripes of a plaid shirt.”

There is a defining moment in everyone’s life; writing that sentence, for Candace Black, poetry writer extraordinaire and professor in the English department of MSU, was her defining moment. It was then when she wrote a sentence that was unlike any other, original and wholly her own. Her passion for writing had, by this point, long been solidified, but the sentence proved that she had the skills and, more importantly, the drive to dedicate herself to the art of wielding sentences to create meaning.

Black’s path to her career is not a typical one. Born into a military family, her father a career marine who served two terms in Vietnam, she moved around a lot, which required a certain knack for easily making friends and adjusting to new environments, such as Camp Pendleton and Twentynine Ponds.

“Pretty much back and forth to the same marine training bases in southern California, because my dad was artillery, and you can only do artillery in

certain places. The most exciting, exotic place I ever lived was between his two tours of Vietnam – we lived in Key West, Florida. He was the CEO of the marine barracks of the navy base, the highest ranking marine in southern Florida.”

Living in Florida in the late sixties, she found Key West an interesting place to be at the height of sociological change.

“Key West is the end of the road, end of a continent, so we had people who were trying to escape, and then you had the artistic, creative types,” she recalls. Key West was called home to not only a growing hippie population, but also the likes of famous poets Elizabeth Bishop and Ernest Hemingway. Black’s time there influenced her writing greatly, seeping into her work even at this moment.

“Those years have shown up in my writing a lot. I have a whole book of poems – a manuscript, not published yet – set in Key West. It had a huge impact on me, everything about it,” she admits. However, before Black would have even considered a writing career, she had a different path in mind. “I started as a nursing major. Took one and a half years of prerequisites: two

chems, anatomy, physiology, bacteriology, and nutrition. All the sciences, but I had always written.”

An avid reader from a young age, she had started writing short stories that were “very Nancy Drew-esque, and autobiographical, in that me and my cast of friends would have adventures and solve mysteries, and helicopters would land in my backyard and take us off to do something.” During her junior year, it was an assignment to construct a poem anthology that initially ignited the spark of interest in poetry writing in a young Black.

“I just went to the library and started reading tons of poetry.

I can’t remember the moment I thought ‘I can write this’, but I did start writing, and they were these horrible unrequited love poems.”

“They’re just embarrassing to look at now. I started reading – and this is so embarrassing – Rob McKuen. All very free verse-y: ‘oh, I’ll break the line here’ or ‘oh, I’ll indent here.’

His poems were just horrible, but I liked them. They spoke to my adolescent mind and heart.”

Exposed to poetry of all sorts of swaying levels of quality, they

all nonetheless struck a chord.

“They gave me a very strong visceral reaction, and I really wanted to make someone else feel something strong, and poetry seemed to do it much better than fiction.”

Finding free class time in her northern California college, at the beckoning of her roommate, Black enlisted in a poetry workshop class.

“I called my parents and said I need to change my major to English. [Dad] said, ‘Well, how are you going to get a job?’ I said, ‘I don’t know, but I’ll be happy.” Dad said, “Well, there you go.” Bless his heart. For my dad, the marine to say that, was pretty cool, I thought.”

For Black, the workshop opened a whole new world.

Nestled in a room with writers just like herself, with completed drafts and critiquing and professional advice from published authors and teachers, it was there that the idea that writing mattered, that it was worth devoting a good part of ones life to, first took shape.

“Nobody in the family was a writer-writer, so everyone was kind of, ‘what’s she going

• • • • • •

to do? What’s going to happen with this?” Firmly in love with writing, Black soon found a new passion she would be excited for.

Becoming a teacher’s assistant in graduate school, she found the idea of getting paid to write, talk about writing, and help people with writing appealing. “Teachers are usually pretty important people in people’s lives, and that seemed like an nice thing to do.

And to talk about the things I love, books and writing, and get paid for it? I mean, you got to grade a lot of papers, but that’s alright.”

Between teaching and writing, Black’s work has been published in several magazines, her nonfiction essays and short poems alike. Her first book was taken in 2000, and through a series of unfortunate events surrounding the implosion of the publishing label, did not receive a proper release until three years later. Currently she’s courting two manuscripts around, and a series of essays surrounding Vietnam and her enigmatic father.

Inspired by Tim O’Brien’s

BLACK • Page 7

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4 • MSU Reporter

MSyou Fall 2013

MSU theatre student wowing on and off the stage with many different traits Ben Stasny might be more than just one of the characters in ‘Les Miserables’, the actor evades himself in many different activities to keep him busy.

MIRANDA BRAUNWARTH Staff Writer Ben Stasny, a junior at Minnesota State University Mankato, keeps himself on the go from theatrical productions, to cooking, to skiing down hills. Stasny is quite a character with all the things he’s got going on, and that can be taken quite literally, he just got done closing “Les Misérables” here on campus where he played the hilarious Monsieur Ténendier.

But for Ben, it is only a mere break as he prepares himself for the next thing.

Originally from Roseville, Minnesota he began acting when he was in preschool when he took an acting class; turns out that was his calling. He explains that he has always acted both in middle school and high school and now here at MSU, he can be spotted in nearly every production.

Ben speaks fondly of his first production on campus, “Endgame”, where it was a dream come true to be exploring one of his favorite playwrights, Samuel Becket. With a smile he says, “Plays will always be a special place in my heart”. Plays seem to be Ben’s specialty consider-

ing as a freshman he became a BFA acting candidate, rare for a freshman.

However Ben isn’t just doing straight plays, he’s involving himself in musicals as well, working “Les Misérables”, ”Avenue Q”, “Spamalot” and “Legally Blonde”. In fact he seems to be doing well there; he was just nominated for the Irene Ryan award for “Legally Blonde”, which means he gets the opportunity to theatrically compete against actors across the nation. This isn’t his first Irene Ryan either; last year he won it for the production of “The Mandrake.”

With all these productions you would think he would be stressed out, but again he just smirks and says its “good stress that prepares you for the real world.” He goes on to say there are so many wonderful skills he has learned while being here at MSU. For instance, he goes onto say that working Highland Summer Theatre here on campus really brings you into that real world scenario. He explains that in that sense the actors are contracted, they’re working more than one show at a time and they’re running and rehearsing within a two week period. He goes on to

Pleasant surprises that

explain, “It really teaches you to be able to memorize,” something Ben emphasizes is crucial to his career.

Ben seems to be setting up his career fairly nicely. As a freshman he was the recipient of the Paul J. Hustoles scholarship, the chair of the department of Theatre and Dance. As well Ben currently is the recipient of the Jane F. Earley scholarship, who the MSU performing arts building was recently named after. Ben remarks “she’s a huge influence on me. She created the theatre department.”

According the Ben the MSU theatre department is “beyond remarkable,” further he says, “There are so many amazing experiences [here]. There are all varieties of experience. “The staff are masters of their craft and I’m fortunate to have them to teach me.” Ben explains he doesn’t think going anywhere else would have allowed him to do what he has done. He explains that he gets to do some of his favorite shows that he never dreamed he would do in college.

With all these shows Ben chuckles when asked about other hobbies saying “I have no time to do anything,” not only

STASNY • Page 5

Photo Courtesy of Michael Lagerquist Stasny in character as Monsieur Tenendier in the MSU production of “Les Miserables.”

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MSU Reporter • 5

Faces on Campus

Soltani sees ‘undiscovered talents’ in this area’s world of film Ashkan Soltani, an assistant film studies professor has expansive knowledge in film and theatre, making him a great educator in more than one facet.

STASNY “Ben speaks fondly of his first production on campus, ‘Endgame’, where it was a dream come true to be exploring one of his favorite playwrights, Samuel Becket. With a smile he says, ‘Plays will always be a special place in my heart.’ ” continued from 4

does he do shows he also works at Caribou Coffee. But with a little more of a nudge he explains his fascination with books; particularly World War ll content and his love for films. He said he loves absurdist creations such as “Men Who Stare at Goats”, but is also well varied in a love for “Schindler’s List” as well as the “The Big Lebowski”, as well as anything Spielberg, Stasny says. He continues saying that he enjoys studying the acting in films, once more proving his passion and dedication for the theatre.

He mentioned that recently he took up cooking, saying he’s very proud of his homemade alfredo sauce. He says recently he’s taken up grilling and has some misfortunes in his new hobby but he believes it’s one he will have for life.

But when it comes to Ben’s favorite hobby it involves snow and ski poles. Ben lit up when he described himself as an avid downhill skier, saying it’s the one sport he has really connected with and has connected him to many friends. When he was younger he explains he took a class and asked for skis for Christmas one year. He has loved it ever since. He says for him it’s a way to get away in the winter and be with friends.

He shows excitement for a trip to Colorado he has planned, in intention to ski his heart out.

In reference to the future Ben says for now he’s looking into Seattle Washington and leaving Minnesota for a different point of view however he keeps in mind that “New York would be the dream.” He mentions he would be eager to looking into national touring theatres as well as cruise ships. He also listed any place that let’s him follow his dream, “do work, get paid and be happy.” Wherever life takes him he feels his time here at MSU has prepared him for the future.

Photo courtesy of Ashkan Soltani Soltani (far left) filming on the set of “Denis and Friends” in Bulgaria.

JAMES HOUTSMA A&E Editor They weren’t lying when they said ‘video killed the radio star.’

Film has developed far beyond just a popular pastime and for assistant film studies professor Ashkan Soltani, it’s the dominant form of communication.

“It’s not just about filmmaking,” said Soltani. “It’s about learning the language of the 21st century, which is a visual language.”

Students in Soltani’s introductory and advanced film production classes are rarely just focused on a film minor, many being from diverse majors such as marketing, mass media and philosophy. They realize that knowing their way around a camera and editing software is a marketable skill in today’s world.

“People do not read manuals anymore,” said Soltani. “The first place they go when they want to learn about something is Youtube.”

Before Soltani joined the film studies program four years ago, the Mankato area was far from famous for its outlets to produce films. Having come from teaching film studies and screen acting courses in Los Angeles, Soltani saw an opportunity to let area filmmakers flourish.

“I still strongly believe there are so many undiscovered talents here in the area,” said Soltani, “by taking a risk and creating a program that can help students, both academic-wise and by providing them some sort of marketable skill that they can carry over when they graduate.”

Through the making of a scavenger hunt video, and an experimental, narrative and documentary film, among other

projects, students get to dive right into the world of filmmaking and presumably have fun while they’re at it. The student film festival at the end of spring semester serves as a platform for film students to showcase their hard work.

Outside Soltani’s classes, the Iranian-born independent filmmaker has directed a handful of theatre shows and has an expansive list of film projects under his belt, ranging from the artistic passion projects he enjoys to the aptly-named “bread and butter” projects that pay the bills.

His most recently completed project, a documentary short called Tuning the Pulse, chronicles the mysterious improvisatory musician Jandek, who performed on campus last fall and, in a rare move, opened up for the first time for Soltani’s

SOLTANI • Page 9

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6 • MSU Reporter

MSyou Fall 2013

MSU Theatre and Dance professor a true jack of all trades Professor John Paul traces his job as a scenic design professor to three areas: artistic, technical and teaching.

ADAM MILLER Staff Writer If you are a regular that attends the productions put on by the MSU Department of Theatre and Dance, than you have probably seen the work of scenic design professor John David Paul.

This is the seventh year that Paul has been working at for MSU. Before coming to MSU, he has worked professionally as a scene designer and art director, all which Paul draws upon when teaching and working here at MSU. Some of his more notable works before coming to MSU include the Scenic Designer for the premiere musical Reefer Madness in Los Angeles, for which he won the LAWeekly Award for Best Production Design in 1999. He has also worked as an Assistant Art Director for the feature films Fargo and Grumpier Old Men. He worked as the Set Designer the feature films Jingle All the Way, The Cure and Feeling Minnesota. Paul has also worked on commercials with some big

name film directors such as Ridley and Tony Scott.

Before MSU, Paul served on the faculty of other higher education institutions like the California Institute of the Arts, Chapman University, College of the Canyons, Northwestern College and Dordt College.

Paul didn’t start out wanting to have such an impressive background in theatre however. He went to school for Psychology and Counseling, and like others in his field grew into his role in the theatre.

“Very few people grow up and say ‘I want to be a scene designer,’ ” said Paul. “Which is one of the great things about theatre, people from a diverse backgrounds come together to make a production happen.”

As the scenic design professor at MSU Paul designs some of the sets for the Mainstage productions here at the university. This includes Rent and most recently, Les Miserables.

Some of the more memorable ones include The Mandrake because of the challenge of designing for theatre in the round, where the audience is on

all sides and Enchanted April because the set completely changed from the first act to the second act.

However, Paul is not the only one who designs sets for Mainstage productions. He is also in charge of supervising both graduate students and undergraduate students who are designing sets as well.

This is one of the reasons Paul chose to work at MSU, we do more theatre shows then most other universities, and because of this a lot of other colleges don’t even have a chance for graduate students to design, let alone undergraduates.

Paul loves the fact that his job has three different aspects to it. There is the artistic side of the job where he gets to design and create things. The technical side of things where he gets to enact his designs and make them work and come alive. And then there is the teaching side of things and helping students get the “a-ha moments” that are so great with scene design.

“It is the best job in the world because I get to do all three,” Paul said.

Web Photo Professor Paul has not just been an outstanding member of the MSU Theatre community, he has also served on faculty at the California Institute of the Arts, Chapman University, College of the Canyones, Northwestern College and Dordt College.

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MSU Reporter • 7

Faces on Campus

Prew uses social issue to get into Sociology SAM WILMES News Editor Sporting a long beard and hair, Sociology Professor Paul Prew looks like the life he has led - full to the brim with experience and knowledge that has led him to pursue a lifetime in the field of knowledge.

Prew, a seventh-year professor at Minnesota State University, grew up in Prairie-du-Chien, Wisconsin.

After graduating from High school, Prew went to college in in Lacrosse, where he obtained his bachelors degree.

Following that, Prew led the life of a nomad, albeit for only six months.

“I was out of work for six months in the 80’s when I lived in Lacrosse,” Prew said. “I lived on other people’s couches.”

Following a move to Burnsville, Minnesota, Prew saw the opportunity ahead of him.

Mankato was close, and he needed to finish his degree, so he enrolled in MSU’s masters program for Sociology.

While obtaining his Master’s, Prew met friends that he still keeps in touch with - people he still goes hiking with and provide the format Prew needs to continue to nurture his sociological interests.

Prew did his graduate stu-

dent work at the University of Oregon, where he taught seven courses, including developing areas and Marxist theory.

What drew Prew to the study of sociology was an event that occurred at the University of Wisconsin- LaCrosse.

There was a controversy at UW-L over the use of their mascot at the time, the Indian.

Prew, who had formally been on the side of keeping the mascot, realized that like most sociological issues, the issue behind the mascot laid beneath the surface.

After conducting extensive research, Prew realized that the name-change was due to racist comments from other schools regarding the mascot.

Chants like “Kill the Indians” and “Massacre the Indians” became all too common, especially for a racial group who had experienced this in the past. Prew realized following this the need to always examine the deeper elements behind the story, something he still does every day.

Prew’s favorite part of the job involves the daily interaction he holds with students.

“Interacting with students, when you have 160 students, it tends to be very one-sided,” Prew said. “In covering controversial subjects, I discuss issues with students oftentimes after class in my office. That’s where

the learning takes place.”

Some of Prew’s favorite moments as a professor have come in his theory class.

“I like in theory class when students ask what theorists would think about things,” Prew said.

He enjoys the flow of communication common in his classrooms.

“I like to think about what students have questions about. I enjoy the back and forth,” Prew said. “I like to get students to see things through a different perspective.”

He knows that one of the most important things to know when getting students to learn and acquire knowledge is to know where the students stand.

“You need to know what people are thinking and why they are thinking that,” Prew said.

Prew’s long-term goals involve a life other than the classroom.

“I’m thinking retirement,” he said.

He wants to write, but not necessarily in a serious format.

Prew aims to be more active in the community, and he places his future ambitions around participating in the public interest.

He enjoys pulling lectures and panels together, but knows the struggle of combating the media.

BLACK “I just went to the library and started reading tons of poetry. I can’t remember the moment I thought ‘I can write this’, but I did start writing, and they were these horrible unrequited love poems.” continued from 3 The Things I Carried, to explore Vietnam and, most importantly, the enigma that her father presented.

“My dad and I used to have really strong arguments about Vietnam when I was in college, after the war ended,” she noted. “I think, at the time, I was mad at my dad, because he was a drinker, and emotionally unavailable, and I blamed the marines for all that so I started writing essays. I just started writing those because I couldn’t do it in poems. I needed prose to really explore what it was that I was trying to work out.

When I started, I thought I was writing about the marine corps, and then I realized, ‘oh no, I’m writing about my father! I’m trying to understand my father!

“He was a mystery to me, and you always write about mysteries,” says Black. Originally a lengthy piece, Black is now setting out to separate the work into shorter, more publisher-friendly installments.

For aspiring writers, she pulls from her own experiences in her advice.

“All my life I was an

observer, I was always paying attention to things. When I’m writing memoir pieces, and my family reads it and they say, ‘how do you remember this stuff?’, and I just don’t know. I was just paying attention. And I think that’s the sign of a writer. You’re paying attention to how people act, and listening to how they talk, storing it all up for future characters. Writers are born and they are made, but I think being an observer, a watcher and listener is the start of being a writer.” Most importantly is the need to write and keep writing, despite the inherent imperfections of a first, second, and third draft, etc. “It’s okay to fall, okay if it fails, but you might find out something of interest along the way.”

Married, published, and a brilliant teacher, Candace has only one real goal left to accomplish.

“I wish someone would read one of my poems, and turn it into a song that makes a lot of money. Someone would see a poem, and think, that’s the start of a movie!

That would be very cool.”

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8 • MSU Reporter

MSyou Fall 2013

Amundson still doing it one day after another for MSU Head coach Dennis Amundson has been just about everywhere in terms of volleyball in the state of Minnesota, but is leaving a legacy in his ninth year at MSU. LUKAS CARLSON Staff Writer One word that came to mind when talking with Minnesota State Head Volleyball Coach Dennis Amundson was humble.

Another was professional. The highly-regarded coach that runs the volleyball program here at MSU is both of those words and much more.

In the middle of the volleyball season this fall and in his ninth season as the head coach, Amundson has his players in the right mindset and firing on all the right cylinders in order to be competitive out on the court and also to have fun.

The seventh head coach in the history of the MSU volleyball program, Amundson came to Mankato after spending several seasons as an assistant coach at two other prominent universities in Minnesota.

From 1996-2003, Amundson helped lead the University of Minnesota Golden Gophers to seven NCAA tournament appearances, five Sweet 16 appearances, one regional title, a Big Ten title and an appearance in volleyball’s Final Four.

The year before he came to

MSU, during the 2004 season, Amundson was responsible for scouting, recruiting, technical training and teaching defensive systems to the volleyball team at the University of St. Thomas.

But even before assistant and head coaching jobs at the collegiate level, Amundson was already deeply involved with club volleyball programs in the upper Midwest and in the state of Minnesota since the late 1980’s. Amundson helped guide the St. Paul Harding High School volleyball team to three state tournament appearances in 1987, ’89, and ’91. He also coached the Mosquito Coast Junior Olympic team during that time.

With such an excellent track record of winning, leading and developing winning players and teams, it was no wonder that MSU was hot after him in 2005 to recruit him as the head volleyball coach. Wherever Coach Amundson has led a volleyball program, he has won.

That hasn’t changed with his direction of the volleyball team here at MSU. This fall, just like the previous eight years, Amundson has the team in fighting shape week in and week out.

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He always has them focused on the match directly ahead and he demands from his players a mentality of working as a team on the court.

When he prepares for games, he says that “it’s really no different than any other day.” He talked wisely about how there are only so many things that he can control as head coach of a team of volleyball players and that he just wants “to prepare them well and then when the match gets here, it’s about managing the players as well as what goes on in the match.”

Approaching games during the week, the mindset of the team and of the coach changes as the games inch closer.

“At the beginning of the week it’s more of ‘how can we get better?’ Later on at the end of the week it’s about ‘how can we beat them?’ and once we get to the match its ‘what can we do to score a point right now?’ At that point, it’s about scoring and preventing points,” Amundson said. When asked about what’s going through his head in the middle of a match he quipped, “How to score a point. Or why aren’t we scoring a point?”

His approach to coaching

the team does, however, change every week according to which opponent they face in a given week.

“Yes, because the team we play this week plays a different style of defense or offense, a different style of game, than the one we’re facing the week after,” Amundson said.

When asked about the rest of this season in particular,

Amundson put it in appropriate terms.

“It’s going to be a battle,” exclaimed Amundson. He went on to describe this year’s team as being raw but ready to prove their mettle out on the court.

“We have a lot of young players on the team this year. As the season has gone on, they seem

AMUNDSON • Page 12

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MSU Reporter • 9

Faces on Campus

Stevens revolves classroom around concept of “open dialogue” A philosophy professor at MSU, Chris Stevens makes sure his students voices are heard while making them keep an open mind on anything from God to government.

Sam Wilmes • MSU Reporter

2

SAM WILMES News Editor If ever in life there were perfect symbols of a man, this is it. Sitting in his office looking out wide windows, I quickly realized that the only thing more open than the window itself was the man himself, philosophy professor Chris Stevens.

A middle- aged man with long blonde hair, Stevens looks every part of the California native he is. Raised in Newport Beach, Stevens literally went to high school on the ocean.

“I would come home from school with sand in my shoes,” Stevens said.

He has an extensive background in education and began his undergraduate studies at the University of California-Humboldt before quickly moving up the academic ranks.

He earned a Masters Degree from City University of New York Graduate School and a PhD from the University of Maryland.

Stevens has also spent extensive time overseas in a different political culture. Due to those years, he is thankful for the United States. According to Stevens, with taxes high in the Netherlands, innovation was low. Food was expensive and quality did not necessarily cor-

respond with the price paid.

Despite this, Stevens says there were both good and bad parts of living in a foreign land.

He entered the world of philosophy due to his dissatisfaction with the way the world works.

“I started studying philosophy because I was dissatisfied with nearly everything else,” Stevens said. “Nothing else went deep enough. You want to understand something, and the explanations end before you can understand. I’ve just always though there has got to be more.”

Stevens is concerned about the future of Western civilization. He is a firm believer in Alexis DeTocqueville, a French political philosopher and historian. DeTocqueville warned of the majoritarian democracy. A classical liberal, he also warned of the perishing of society to mediocrity.

Stevens warns of the same thing. He credits DeTocqueville with his transformation of thinking from in his words, “An extreme liberal to more of a moderate.”

His class consists of a solid combination of textbook readings and interactive discussions.

Stevens is an atheist — although, true to his philosophical views, he maintains an open

mind.

“I am overseeing a senior thesis right now that involves arguments in favor of God’s existence.”

In a world where many are shouted down just for stating different opinions, and open minds are often met with closed ones, the philosopher maintains an open mind, which is essential to upkeep wisdom.

Stevens enjoys his job.

“You get to talk personally with people,” Stevens said.

“Conversations that matter, the conditions are best for conversations that matter.”

In one of his classes, Stevens teaches with seven chairs in a circular diameter, which is ideal for open dialogue and discussion.

Stevens says dialogue and discussion are critical to learning. By forming the chairs in the room to accommodate the seven students in a circle, Stevens symbolizes the kind of classroom he likes. It’s an environment that makes it easy to talk and easy enough to disagree.

“In what other class can you argue against ones central beliefs?” Stevens said, whose long-term goals revolve around the university. “I would like to stay.”

SOLTANI “People do not read manuals anymore. The first place they go to when they want to learn about something is Youtube.” continued from 9 film about his creative process and the supposed mystique surrounding him.

“We established a mutual trust and based on that there are plans to make a feature length film with Jandek involved,” Soltani revealed.

Tuning the Pulse is making the rounds in several film festivals all over the world and was shown in London just last week.

For his current project in production, Soltani spent a week in Bulgaria shooting footage for a documentary looking at the country’s current state of protest and the long history of rock and roll that goes hand in hand with civil discontent. While there, Soltani got to visit and capture footage from legendary Bulgarian heavy metal drummer Denis Rizov’s daily show, Denis and Friends.

Something you’re not likely to see in many of Soltani’s works is a heavy reliance on anything but the visual to tell the story (no sermon-y scripts in sight here).

“One thing I don’t like is the over explanation,” said Soltani.

“You see some movies and TV shows where the characters enter a dark room and say something like ‘it’s dark in here, I need to find a light.’ Sometimes some filmmakers underestimate the intelligence of the audience.”

As with so many lifelong passions, Soltani recalls how his love of film started early.

“I owned a super 8 mini projector with no sound and from the beginning I started editing those things,” said Soltani.

“Some of my old friends from back home have emailed me and told me that some of their earliest memories of me were of me splicing these film strips together.”

In an industry dominated by pitching ideas to producers for funding, Soltani found a way to mostly circumvent the groveling portion of the job and find an additional career that’s just as fulfilling.

“I’ve been very fortunate because I have two careers. One was a teaching career – that’s another thing I did which helped me to focus on my film career and self-finance my own films because I always had a day job.”

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MSyou Fall 2013

New coach comes with winning ways, making him a perfect fit for MSU This past spring, Mark Schuck decided to hang up the whistle and retire after coaching the MSU men’s cross country team for 34 years. Now its Loren Ahonen’s turn to start his own legacy.

Jacob Ball finished first for the Mavericks. Allbaugh took ninth place with a time of 19:43 and Ball was right behind his tail with a 19:43.5, giving him tenth. Ahonen saw the two runners he can build the team around.

“Two of my top guys ran very well, and I was happy to see that. They stepped up and ran with confidence like you expect your seniors to do,” Ahonen said.

Even though it was the first meet of the season, the Mavericks think they are a better team than last season, who made it to nationals.

“The first meet of the season was definitely not an indicator of where we are at, definitely more of a ‘testing the waters’ thing and not a full out race effort,” Allbaugh said.

“We learned a lot of valuable things at the meet that we will definitely use to our advantage the next time out. We’re a better team than last year and last year we won this meet.”

Junior Josiah Swanson took

26th after running a 20:53.8 and junior Matthew Stocker rounded out the top four Mavericks with a 31st finish in 21:53.8.

One of the weaknesses of this year’s squad is numbers.

With just nine runners on the team and seven runners running in the starting line, it gives the team small room for error.

“It makes things kind of

“The goal has been to R prepare those new guys for the E level of competition needed to get to the national meet and to keep my top level guys progressing and hopefully have one to three of them AllAmericans,” Ahonen said.

Before the season, the NSIC named MSU second in their preseason polls with Allbaugh the cross-country athlete to watch. When he described Ahonen it resembled a lot like the man who coached here the previous 34 years.

“Loren genuinely cares about all of the guys on the team. He truly wants everyone to succeed to the best of their ability and realizes not only the physical, but psychological aspects that go into running and will work with you on both,” Allbaugh said. “Loren has the credentials and experience to know what it takes to be not only a great athlete, but a wellrounded individual outside of athletics.”

“From being a student at Western State in 2011 to now the MSU men’s cross country coach, Ahonen uses his experiences as a winner to land this job, and that’s what pushed athletic director Kevin Buisman to bring him on board.”

Photo Courtesy of MSU Athletics

JOEY DENTON Sports Editor For many years, students would notice a man walking aimlessly around Myers Fieldhouse with a wristwatch on the left hand and a smile on his face. That would be Mark Schuck. For more than a third of a century, Schuck pushed Maverick athletes to not only succeed on the track but in life as well. In August, MSU had to decide whom to pass the torch to and that man is Loren Ahonen.

From being a student at Western State in 2011 to now the Minnesota State University, Mankato men’s cross country coach, Ahonen used his experiences as a winner to land this job, and that’s what pushed athletic director Kevin Buisman to bring him on board.

“As a former student-athlete and now as an assistant coach, he has built a foundation of experiences that I believe will prove to be very beneficial to the young men in our program and which lay the groundwork for his future success,” Buisman said.

All of those experiences took place at Western State.

As a Mountaineer, he was

named an All-American in multiple events. Two of them in cross-country and three of them came in the 3,000-meter steeplechase. After he graduated in 2011, the Temperance, Mich. native stayed there to start his coaching career as an assistant for men’s track and field. In his two seasons, he worked with 42 All-Americans, including five national champions.

After the first day of practice, senior runner Devin seemed very excited for Ahonen to start his own legacy here at MSU. “I’ve never been more excited. I know he is gonna take this team and program to a new level. Proud to be one of the first,” Allbaugh said.

His team participated in the Oz Memorial meet at the University of Minnesota this past Friday and Ahonen got a real grasp of how his team competes and was impressed.

“The first meet at MSU was a positive start for us,” Ahonen said. “We just had to get out, a lot of guys haven’t raced in a long time and just looking to kind of how the starting line and once the race had started, kind of how they looked and if they’re confident.”

With a fourth place team finish, seniors Allbaugh and

tenuous,” Ahonen said. “We got to try to keep everyone healthy because you don’t want to get on the line with six guys or five guys.”

The nine is made up with just two seniors, but with the young talent and leadership from Allbaugh and Ball, Ahonen has nationals in his mindset.

What Will YOUR Story Be? “I loved becoming more and more like a local, and speaking the language was amazing. Every person I spoke to impacted me and the culture changed me.

Stepping outside of my comfort zone and trying to become part of something bigger than myself was amazing. It was eye-opening to learn the differences between the US and other countries. I had no idea what it was like to be different. It was an amazing, eye-opening, life changing experience that everyone should find a way to do and I can't even explain it half as well as I know it was.”

– Kaitlyn, Summer 2012

Study • Intern • Volunteer Abroad International Programs Office www.mnsu.edu/studyabroad

MSU Reporter • 11

Faces on Campus

Newcomer Mark Constantine brings experience and passion to CSU The newest director of the Centennial Student Union and Student Activities Mark Constantine sits down with editor-in-chief Reece Hemmesch for a Q&A regarding his new role at the University.

REECE HEMMESCH Editor in Chief RH: How has your first week on campus been?

MC: It’s been a great start for me. A lot of what we do is all about the people and the people have been very welcoming from the staff, the students and the different groups I’ve worked with. When you’re first starting a job it’s about learning the information and what goes into my job, so there’s a lot to learn.

A job in any building is about the people and the services we have. My philosophy is very student-driven; we should be the student center as this building is paid with student fees. I feel confident pretty blessed to have a real confident staff and that makes it important.

RH: How do you compare this (MSU) adjustment to what you’ve done before?

MC: I think a lot is pretty similar in that the things that are under this job description are similar to some I’ve had in the past. The building is a little bit larger with a few more moving parts in the building, with a few more partners. Here we have a lot more dining services in the building, the bank and other administrative offices and we’ve some of that before but this is a little bit more here.

It’s a little more all-encompassing when it comes to who the tenants are, so that part is a little more than I’ve had in the past which is one of the reasons I liked the job in a new challenge to learn some of those things. A lot of the other things are similar in that we’re here to help support the program and services of the students, making sure that we are there for things that they want to do and can be supportive throughout.

I’ve worked a lot with the operation-end of things, the programmatic part of student activities so those in a sense are similar, I just think as students, if they haven’t gone other places they find out pretty quickly how nice of a building we have and how active it is.

RH: What was your route that led you to your current post at MSU? MC: I, like a lot of people in higher education started out in residence life, a lot of people get their feet grounded by being a residence hall director, which

is great because you learn a lot about a lot of different things.

I thought I would go in career planning placement work, which I took a job in that direction after working in res life.

Then I got engaged and my wife and I were looking to work in different places and she was at Shippensburg University (Penn.). It was a live-on position and I back-doored into student activities and union work and I found out really fast that I really liked it. I got involved with the National Association for Campus Activities and I really found out how much I enjoyed the programming and operations piece.

From there I knew my boss wasn’t going to retire anytime soon so I started looking after a year there and went to the University of Tennessee as the director of student activities, that was more of a programming position, working with larger programs, similar to a lot of the things we do in concerts, special events, comedies, films and art.

I went to the college of William and Mary in Virginia, because it was a little more of a global position, so I had a nice portfolio working with a lot of different areas.

RH: What does your dayto-day entail here as the CSU director?

MC: I think what I’ll find out is that a big part of my role is to support the staff and the programs and services that they’re responsible for. It is important

for me to be a sounding board so that I know inside and out enough to be dangerous about what goes on in a building. I have to work very closely with my directory support areas with many different people.

I think another big piece is to

try to be a good sounding board with two things: with our people that are in the building to make sure we’re working collaboratively with people that have space in this building, and some

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MSyou Fall 2013

CONSTANTINE “I think what I’ll find out is that a big part of my role is to support the staff and the programs and services they they’re responsible for. It is important for me to be a sounding board so that I know inside and out enought to be dangerous about what goes on in a building.” continued from 11 of the outside people as well with dining services, auxiliary services, Wells Fargo, you name it, the rest of the things that happen with the building. The other thing that is most important is working closely with the student groups. From the CSU board to the Student Allocations Committee, we work with them as an administrative liaison so when it comes to budget time, we are helping be the historians with them.

What’s great about here is the students make the decisions related to the fees, which is terrific, but as students come and go it is important to have an administrative support and I think that is what our role will be.

RH: Any long-term goals for the CSU you had in mind?

MC: Not really, I really don’t have any certain thing. I don’t want to get too far ahead of myself, my role here the first month or even longer will be to listen and learn and those type

of things and then find out a few things that we think might be lacking and what we think as a staff to implement it.

I didn’t come in with any specific thing that said ‘this is something I want to implement.’ My style is more sitting and learning and then working together to find out what we can do better.

RH: What does a building like this mean to a campus?

MC: I think it means the world to the campus. It’s a building, meaning its bricks and mortar, but really the building is the lifeblood of the campus.

It’s a place where people can come here and learn and grow and they can put programs on they can go to programs, they can sort of forget about their academic life sometime.

It really is, from a historical standpoint, the living room of the campus and I believe it needs to be a welcoming place and a gathering place, a place

people feel comfortable with.

RH: As the director of Student Activities as well, do you have anything to say to the 15,000-plus students on campus?

MC: I would say two things: that hopefully the students take advantage of everything offered on campus through all the different facets. I would always challenge the students to not get in a rut and try to take advantage of things that happen on a regular basis.

The other is that this building is their building and if there are things that are happening on campus, we want to get feedback from the students to find out how we can do it better, and that is why the student union board is a great place to do that.

Involvement for them and taking advantage of what we have to offer and giving us good feedback on how to make it a better place.

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continued from 8 to be developing. But they’re going to have to come out and play well for us every night for us to be competitive, and the players learn better every time they’re out there.”

After nine years, Amundson has enjoyed every bit of his time here at MSU. “My favorite part has always been the people,” Amundson said. “The people and the experiences; we’ve had some signature wins and things that have really gone well for us. And I cherish all of those things.”

It is his undying love of the game, as well as the countless meaningful relationships he has made here with student-

athletes and fellow coaches, that largely fuel Amundson’s passion for coaching and for leading his team to victory.

When questioned further about what this coaching experience means to him, he said that “when I was younger and had found out that I could make it in the business world and could be successful by investing properly and living within my means, I had to choose between whether I wanted to make a million dollars [in business], or make a million memories coaching volleyball. I’m already working on memory number four million.”

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Child Development and Family Studies Child Life Specialist (hospital setting) Childcare Teacher Program Coordinator or Director Social Service Agent Family Advocate Additional Opportunities with Graduate School

AMUNDSON “The seventh head coach in the history of the MSU volleyball program, Amundson came to Mankato after spending several seasons as an assistant coach at two other prominent universities in Minnesota.”

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Since 1932 the Minnesota State Student Association has been a voice for students at MSU. Make your voice heard by getting involved! The opportunities are waiting and the only person holding you back from success is you.

FAMILY CONSUMER SCIENCE The Department of Family Consumer Science promotes the health and wellbeing of individuals and families in today’s society by combining science with professionalism and integrity. Our students are trained in an environment that fosters the integration of knowledge into practice with a focus on positively impacting the quality of life for the people they serve. ahn.mnsu.edu/fcs | 507-389-2421 A member of the Minnesota State Colleges & Universities System. Minnesota State Mankato is an Affirmative Action/Equal Opportunity University.

A member of the Minnesota State Colleges & Universities System. This document is available in alternative format to individuals with disabilities by calling the Department of Family Consumer Science at 507-389-2421 (V), 800-627-3529 or 711 (MRS/TTY).

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