Life After Senior Year

Preparing For A Career Before Graduation

By John Hanson

The end of the college school year is approaching fast. It’s time for seniors to plan for the future after their college career has ended. Where can college students find help to start a job career? All students should visit the Career Services department in 102 Sanford Hall. As a senior student, I called to make an appointment with the Career Services office. The next day I met with Graduate Assistant Elizabeth Letson to discuss job-seeking skills.

At a career service appointment, students can get a BSU Senior Guide for Life after College binder filled with a job seeking handbook, instructions for the BSU Careers online resource and a career service event schedule. The handbook features a variety of instructions on how to type a cover letter, resumes and reference sheets and a list of words employers look for in each document. Graduate Assistant Elizabeth Letson recommended keeping cover letters “short and to the point.” She said employers want a short and accurate description of you and do not want to waste time reading a long cover letter.

Ms. Letson also recommended students have a simple, clean resume because many jobs today are posted online and applications are sent electronically. She said employers primarily look for related employment and experience with people on resumes so they know if a potential employee can work well with others. Reference sheets are not always required, but if they are needed, students should ask people for permission before adding them to the reference sheet.

Career Services provides the BSU Careers job Web site for Bemidji State students to upload their resume and search for jobs and internships. Students need to register with BSU Careers before uploading their resume. Career Services personnel will review and approve the resume before a student can submit their resume to employers. Registered students can update their profile, upload documents and apply for jobs through the BSU Careers Web site.

At the end of the appointment, Ms. Letson suggested I visit with the Advising Success Center to discuss my stressful, busy class schedule. The Advising Success Center assists students with their experience at BSU and advises them for academic success. Advising Success Center Graduate Assistant Hillary Barron inquired about my stress and said I may have taken on too much work for the semester. She suggests to every student use a planner to organize his or her schedule. Also, if a student does have a busy school schedule, she recommends to “take on the important projects first and not worry about the less important things.” 

Career Services Office located in Sanford Hall.

Career Services Binder given to Students.

March Madness

March Madness

A True Underdog Story

By Andy Brown and Frank Panzer

March Madness or the NCAA Men’s division 1 basketball tournament is a single elimination tournament that is held each year at the end of the basketball season in March where 68 teams have one common goal. That goal is to win a national championship. There is two ways to get into this tournament. Winning your conference tournament automatically gets you a bid into the tournament regardless of your record. These bids take up 32 spots and the remaining 36 spots are called “at large bids” that are selected by the NCAA selection committee.

Photo taken by Frank Panzer

Getting an at large bid and tournament seeding is based on several factors. Some of these include team rankings, win-loss records, and strength of schedule. Getting into this tournament is what every team aims for. The beauty of the NCAA Men’s division 1 basketball tournament is that a team who doesn’t have a strong strength of schedule or a good record can still get in by winning there conference. Two of these teams who are often called “underdogs” are in the final four out of 68 teams in this year’s March Madness tournament. VCU and Butler University will be playing each other in the final four and are two of the biggest underdogs in this tournament. There is four regions that consist of 16 teams each and Butler is an 8 seed and VCU an 11 seed. This is a very rare thing to happen considering they had to go through some of the toughest teams in the country to get to the final four.

I wanted to find out some of the teams people around Bemidji picked to win it all, so I went to the local bar during one of the games and asked Dennis Harsch who he picked to win the NCAA Men’s basketball tournament. He said” I picked Duke and they only made it about half way. Shows you how much I know about college basketball. The underdog teams like Butler, VCU, Richmond, and Morehead State kill your bracket. You just don’t see them coming and those teams are dangerous ones.” I also asked him which do you like more the March Madness tournament or the MLB playoffs. Dennis responded by saying “without a doubt the March Madness tournament. You get more quality of games in the basketball tournament and a lot more upsets. These college kids go out and play their hearts out.”

UCLA, who has won 11 national titles, is at the top of the list for universities winning this tournament. University of Kentucky is second with 7 national titles, and Indiana University and University of North Carolina round out the top 3 with 5 national titles. According to ESPN.com only two out of the 5.9 million people playing the bracket challenge on ESPN picked the correct final four teams out of 68. This is the main reason why they call it March Madness. You never know who is going to win and lose. Only a 192 people out of the 5.9 million picked VCU and Butler to meet in the final four. This just goes to show how big of underdogs these two teams are. 

Photo taken by Frank Panzer- picture of final four teams left in 2011 tournament.

President Obama even joined in on the fun of filling out a bracket since he is such a huge sports fan and his bracket is officially busted with none of his teams reaching the final four. President Obama picked all # 1 seeds to reach the final four. The top seed in the final four is a # 3 seed.  He predicted Butler to win only one game and VCU to be eliminated in the first round.  

I asked Garth Russell who is a basketball fan from Bemidji how his bracket turned out and he said” terrible. This year was full of upsets and no one saw any of them coming. I even watched ESPN to see what the experts were saying who to pick and still managed to have busted bracket. I love March Madness though. This is what it’s all about. This is my favorite time of year I love college basketball.” Butler University ended up making it to the national championship game beating VCU but eventually lost to national favorite University of Connecticut. It was the second time in two years Butler made it to the final game and lost. 

Word Count: 751

KBXE to join Bemidji’s FM Dial

Northern Community Radio Develops a Sister Station

By Maggi Stivers and DJ Haffely

KAXE is located in Grand Rapids where
volunteers take over the microphones. 

May 13^th 1976, was the first time KAXE signed on the air, to serve the northern Minnesota community from its studio located at Itasca Community College in Grand Rapids. Steve Downing, a long time volunteer and now consultant to Northern Community Radio (NCR), said, “it was so cramped it was hard to move without running into each other.”Five years ago, KAXE changed locations and is now located right along the Mississippi River. The building, decorated with art and stacks of papers, had several employees working diligently on radio papers and spring cleaning. The station seemed to be in a buzz about the new station, KBXE, being built in Bemidji.

 In the beginning, its signal serviced Grand Rapids on, 91.7 FM, Bemidji, 105.3 FM and Brainerd, 89.9FM.

As time passed on, Bemidji gained several radio stations. Today, Bemidji hosts 25 FM radio stations. Several people from the Bemidji area are listeners of KAXE and the idea of providing the area with their own community radio station had been on the mind of the NCR Board of Directors. The best idea was to simply build a new sister station; and with that, KBXE was born to serve Bemidji, Bagley and other surrounding communities. KBXE will be found at 90.5 on the FM dial and the Federal Communication Commission (FCC) construction permit states that KBXE will go on the air no later than March 2012.

KAXE and KBXE are community radio stations, which are supported by the listening community and programmed for the community. In legal terms, both stations are defined as public but are completely separate from Minnesota Public Radio (MPR) or National Public Radio (NPR).  The majority of the programming on NCR stations is done by volunteers. However, some programming is purchased from MPR, such as “Car Talk,” “All Things Considered” and “World Café.” The station will also be featuring folk music, rock music, blues, bluegrass, jazz music, world music, and more selected by its listeners.

Every weekday morning from 5 to 9 a program from NPR is broadcast, 9 to 12 programming is provided a various of different volunteers, 12 to 2 is a program from NPR starring David Dye, 2 to 4 a show called “Currents,” done by the staff, 2 to 4 is “All Things Considered”, the rest of night is either volunteers or the system is placed on autopilot. Volunteers of all ages can participate including young children but all are subject to being trained and screened rigorously for sight-reading abilities.

KBXE is located at the corner of 3rd
and America Avenue in downtown Bemidji.

Downing, spends the majority of his time preparing for the start of KBXE in downtown Bemidji on America Avenue. KBXE and Harmony Food Co-op will be located in the same building, renovations are planned to start next week. Many walls are being replaced for the studio as soundproof walls are need.  The KBXE studio will have a couple of studios, library of music, and an engineering room. 

To ensure the radio station’s success, “We’ll be relying on volunteers at KBXE, just as we do at KAXE,” said Downing. The company does not have a plan for exactly how KBXE will be staffed, but some employees may have to spent time working at work KAXE and KBXE.

 KBXE is also considering partnering with schools and other organizations to provide internship opportunities. It’s a great opportunity, and I already have one applicant,” said Louise Mengelkoch, BSU mass communications professor.

The funding for KBXE was provided by several different organizations, including a grant by the Public Telecommunication Facilities Program located in Wash. D.C. This money, totaling $ 449,910, was used for the tower and other technical systems. The tower is located near Shevlin. The primary signal will encompass most of Clearwater Country, plus major portions of Beltrami, Mahnomen, Red Lake, Becker and Hubbard counties,” said Downing.  This means the signal will reach are Bagley, Bemidji, Lengby, Clearbrook, Shevlin, Solway, Pinewood, and other locations in the north central and northwestern Minnesota. However, as with all radio stations several things can affect the signal including antenna and tuner quality, weather and other radio signals.

KAXE community radio sends its signal to its listeners.

The George W. Neilson Foundation of Bemidji donated $150,000 to renovate the studio space. $50,000 was received from other grants. Corporations and businesses donated $40,000, member campaign supported KBXE with 50,000, and a major donor campaign provided $200,000. The last two sources of revenue include special events with $7,000 and KAXE reserves with $8000. The total amount of revenue source was $1,026,910.

The estimated costs include $484,628 for transmission facilities. This includes $320, 603 for tower, antennas and land. $107,280 for transmitter and shelter, $36,150 for tower and transmitter installation and $20,595 for other transmitter-related equipment are also built-in with the total.  

The studio facilities funds included $160,000 for studio construction and renovation, $13,185 for studio furnishings and office equipment, $15,800 for studio acoustics and $136,309 for studio broadcast equipment. The subtotal for the student is estimated to be $325,924.

Two links were needed for the studio one connecting the studio to the transmitter link and linking KAXE and KBXE together. The total both for links was $92,138. The last of the money was used for other things including legal, engineering, FCC, fundraising was allotted $124,850.

The total estimated cost is $1,026,910, the same amount of money that the revenue sources had totaled.

KBXE will allow people to become members of the radio station just as KAXE does. There are different levels of members, and KAXE has 6 different levels.  The levels range from $60 to $1000 dollars. “Members have the right to vote for the NCR Board of Directors,” said Jennifer Poenix, KAXE Member Services Manager and 2003 BSU Mass Communication Graduate.

As of now, KAXE’s Web site features events, programs, and the ability to listen to the radio shows live.  The KBXE Web site is under construction www.KBXE.org.

KAXE only reaches 13 people per square kilometer. The population of the coverage area is approximately 250,000 listeners. The signal of KBXE won’t reach much more. Despite that, both stations are dependent on the willingness of the community to support them in this endeavor.  

Student Athlete Strives for Success

Leonhardt Carries the Load

By Brandon Miles



Standing six feet five inches tall and weighing two hundred and fifty pounds Brian Leonhardt stands out amongst a crowd of students. His laid back demeanor is reminiscent of a gentle giant but his skills on the football field paint a different picture. Brian earned academic all-conference in 2009 and both academic all conference and first team all conference in 2010. However, Brian is not just confined to one sport. He is also a very established track and field athlete, throwing both shot-put and discus and being all conference in both.

Originally from Spring Lake Park, Minnesota Brian was a three sport athlete in high school. Track, football and wrestling took up most of his time and if he wasn’t in a sport he could be found studying. “I was a bit of a bookworm in high school, all my friends would tease me,” he said with a chuckle “but I didn’t take offense to it because I knew they were all just kidding.”

Like all seniors in high school the next step was to figure out where to go for college. Brian’s height and size got him a lot of attention from various athletic programs for both track and football. “I got recruited hard for football by pretty much all the schools in the NSIC (Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference) and even the University of Minnesota offered me a scholarship for track.” Everyone has their own reasons and motivations for picking a school and Brian was no different. “I really thought about going to the U of M for a while but in the end I loved football and track and I wanted to continue doing both. That’s when I really started looking at Bemidji because they were one of the few schools who would let me do both sports.”

Leonhardt Competing in a Track Meet
Picture by BSUbeavers.com

In the spring of 2008 Brian signed at Bemidji State University as both a track and football athlete. Obviously being a student athlete is very time consuming as sports require a substantial amount of time a week. However, being in two sports leaves Brian with very little time to relax, “sometimes I get a little overwhelmed with both sports. Obviously coaches from both sports want my full commitment and it’s very seasonal.”The seasons often conflict for him, “track season starts as football season wraps up so instead of getting a month off like most guys on the team I immediately start track. Then on the other side as indoor track season ends spring football starts as well as outdoor track season so I have to balance between the two for the three weeks of spring ball.”

When Brian isn’t participating in football or track events he spends a lot of his time in the library pursuing his degree in business. “Business management has always interested me. I want to be able to make good money and be my own boss, make my own hours.” Clearly motivated and carrying a 3.76 G.P.A. he seems on his way, however, he doesn’t have everything figured out just yet. “I know I want to manage my own business but it’s not quite as simple as that. I realize that starting your own business is expensive and I’ll have to make a pretty substantial amount before I can pursue it on account of I don’t really want to take out loans to finance it.”

Although his attitude is good and his motivation is high Brian seems to be at a cross-road in his collegiate career as the BSU men’s track team was recently cut. This presents a major conflict for him as the number one reason he chose Bemidji was because of its lenience towards two-sport athletes. “As I said before the reason I chose BSU was because they allowed me to do both sports. Now one of the sports is gone and I have really contemplated transferring.” The thought of transferring has not been the easiest decision, “If this had happened freshman year it wouldn’t be that hard of a decision. But now I’ve established a really good group of friends, I have a girlfriend of almost two years now and transferring would most likely lose me credits.”

Although Brian has many decisions to make still his status as an elite athlete and good student is undeniable. Most people would crumble under such physical and mental pressure but Brian seems to handle it just fine. The future looks bright for this student athlete.

For more information on Brian Leonhardt. http://www.facebook.com/home.php#!/profile.php?id=1422701101

Leonhardt Moves in for the Kill Shot

Picture by Mary Gramm

Meredith Kehoe: Professor, Reading Specialist, Mother, Coach

Many different aspects of one woman

By Jillian Gandsey and Raielle Peterson

BEMIDJI, Minn. – Bemidji State’s ESL (English as a Second Language) professor, Meredith Kehoe, plays many other roles than just a very helpful professor.  She is also a reading specialist, a mother of five, and was once a well-known basketball coach.  She has opened up her home to her students and welcomed them as family.  “She is more like a big friend than a teacher,” said Junior Political Science major, Fang Fang.

Kehoe was born in St. Paul, and moved around a lot because of her father’s job.  As a result, she went to three different schools.  She attended grades first-third in North Dakota and fourth-tenth in Barnesville, MN.  Just before her junior year of high school her parents made her move to Bemidji.  “I was a cheerleader, editor of the yearbook and all that.” Kehoe said jokingly, “I still haven’t forgave them for that and I’m 62!”

After she graduated from Bemidji High School in 1966 she began attending BSU.  It was a rough beginning; she was placed on academic suspension after her third quarter. (BSU had a quarter system at that time.)  “I did all the things you weren’t supposed to do – got pregnant, drank, and all that stuff,” claimed Kehoe.  She did eventually graduate and earn degrees in Physical Education, Health and English.

As a mother she has raised one son and four daughters.  “We have yours, mine and ours,” said Kehoe.  Her only son ended up being a special education teacher and the girl’s basketball coach at Bemidji High School.  Two of her daughters became nurses and one is a Biology/Chemistry major and another is a daycare worker.  Out of her five kids, four of them graduated from Bemidji State. 

Coaching girl’s basketball and track was a significant chapter of Kehoe’s life as well.  She started every girl’s sport at Barnesville High School including basketball, track, volleyball and softball.  “It was a big deal when I was paid just as much to coach volleyball as the football coach was to coach football,” said Kehoe.  She coached there for twenty years before returning to Bemidji. 

She now works as a reading specialist for the sixth, seventh, and eighth grade at Bemidji Middle School during the day and converts to a professor for ESL on Monday and Tuesday nights for BSU.  “My favorite is enjoying the kids,” said Kehoe.  She has worked both jobs for 15 years.

Kehoe didn’t exactly have to apply for her job here at BSU.  In fact, she doesn’t even have an ESL degree.  An old college friend of hers, Jon Quistgaard, offered it to her the day before the position started. 

Kehoe thought that the ESL program wasn’t going to make it through Bemidji State’s recent budget cuts.  “I thought the program would be gone,” she said, “but I’m an adjunct professor.”  An adjunct professor is someone who isn’t promised a permanent position at an institution and primarily works part-time.

Meredith Kehoe teaches English as a Second Language
at Bemidji State.

Kehoe's students have viewed her more as a friend than
a teacher.

Photos taken by Jillian Gandsey

Zuzana Tomcikova: Between the Pipes

BSU Women’s Hockey Goalie is Gaining National and International Attention

By Cheyenne Horien and Alexandria Leister

For most at Bemidji State University, home is a car ride and a quick trip away. For Zuzana Tomcikova however, going home takes a little more effort. From her hometown of Bratislava, Slovakia, Tomcikova first drives 45 minutes to Vienna, Austira, where she hops on a plane to either Amsterdam or London. She then continues to fly into Minneapolis, ending her trip with a flight from Minneapolis to Bemidji. The total number of miles from Bratislava to Bemidji is 4994.9, with at least 12 hours of flight time.

Why does she endure such a long trip to go to school at BSU? According to Tomcikova, she wanted to play hockey at an upper level while getting her college education at the same time. “College in the states seemed like a great match, and Bemidji just worked out,” explained Tomcikova in an email interview.

She is currently a junior at BSU and majoring in Mass Communications. She is a goalie for not only the BSU women’s hockey team, but the Slovakia national hockey team as well.
Tomcikova has lived away from home since the tender age of 16 and is no stranger to traveling. She attended high school at Caronport High School in Caronport, Saskatchewan. She won a gold medal with the Slovakia national team at the North Korea World Championships. And she earned a spot as the starting goaltender for Team Slovakia at the 2010 Winter Olympics, which brought her all the way to Vancouver, British Columbia.

Living away from home for so long has left Tomcikova little time to be homesick. “My parents raised me to be independent,” Tomcikova stated. “I’ve been away from home, so I don’t really think about it (being homesick). I mean I miss them, but it‘s ok.”

Tomcikova’s family isn’t able to follow all of her BSU games as they are being played. “They read about the results online,” she stated, “but they don’t watch them because of the seven hour time difference.” She added that “When we talk on the phone or Skype, they ask me about my games. I know they care about my hockey and they support me all the way.”

The family that supports her across the miles and raised her to be independent include father, Pavel, and mother, Dana, both of whom are doctors, and older brother Martin, who is studying to become a teacher. In fact, Zuzana has Martin to thank for her hockey career, because he is the one who got her started with the sport in the first place.

“As kids, my brother and I would play street hockey outside in a school yard, and he started to play ice hockey, so I wanted to play as well,” stated Tomcikova, “so my dad brought me to the rink. I was 9 years old.”

The drive to keep up with her older brother paid off, and soon Tomcikova was being nominated to represent her national team for different tournaments. Her favorite part of playing for her national team? “The main thing is that when you put a jersey on that has the logo of your country on it; it’s a different kind of pride. And there are no words to describe the way it feels when you win an important game and then you get to sing the national anthem.”

Tomcikova has now played goalie for Slovakia’s national hockey team for 10 years. “I’d always play goalie during street hockey with my brother and his friends when we were little, so when I started to play ice hockey, I wanted to be a goalie also,” Tomcikova stated. She hopes to be starting goalie for the upcoming international hockey tournament this spring in Zurich. The Slovakian team will begin by playing the USA, Russian and Sweden national teams. The results of those games will determine who the Slovakians will play for the rest of the tournament.

She has also been honored multiple times at the national level. Last season as only a sophomore, she was named WCHA Co-Player of the Year, All-WCHA Second Team, WCHA All-Star Team member and Academic All-WCHA member.

As only a sophomore during the 2009-2010 season - her second consecutive season as the Beaver’s starting goaltender - Tomcikova broke numerous team records. She set the record for career shutouts (8) and shutouts in a single season (5), among others.

“Zuzana has set a number of goaltending records here at BSU in her three years,” BSU women’s hockey coach Steve Sertich stated in an email interview. Sertich, was has coached Tomcikova for all of her three seasons added that “Zuzana has become one of the top goalies in the WCHA (Western Collegiate Hockey Association) and in the country.”

In October, she was named Defensive Player of the Week by the WCHA. Making it the eighth weekly win of her career, Tomcikova broke the previous record for a BSU women’s hockey team player set by former goaltender, Emily Brookshaw.

“She is a leader on the ice by challenging her teammates, and taking the play to a higher level,” Sertich stated.

When it comes to being a goalie, Tomcikova said “I just can’t imagine doing anything else.”

Zuzana Tomcikova, junior goaltender for the BSU women's hockey team.

Photo by bsubeavers.com

Tomcikova holds numerous records for BSU, including most shutouts in a single season.

Photo by bsubeavers.com

 

More than meets the eye

“Forget the vin, it’s just Mel”

By Nicole Solum and Kara Smyth

When you take a first glance at Melvin Nygaard you might think that he is a nice older gentleman, or a fun- loving grandpa, or even your nice neighbor who you greet every morning when you get the morning paper. Nygaard’s silver hair is mostly hidden by a BSU beaver hockey hat.  He stands at just 5’7’’ and can strike up a conversation with just about anyone.  “I’m a people person, I can’t just sit at home and watch Oprah and Judge Judy,” said Melvin Nygaard.  That is exactly what Nygaard is - a people person.  You can see him working in, what athletes call, “the cage” down by the gym, cleaning up the John Glas field house, or walking around Haag-Sauer. Nygaard always has a smile on his face and a story to tell. There is more to Nygaard than a maintenance man who works at BSU.  

          Mel’s story begins way before his time here at Bemidji State University.  Born in Rugby, North Dakota, he is the middle child in a family of five children.  After growing up in Minot, North Dakota Nygaard joined the Navy and was stationed in Yokosuka, Japan for three years.  “Yes, I was in Vietnam,” Nygaard said with a humble laugh.  “That’s a question I always get asked.” Stationed as a signalman, Nygaard would send and receive messages as well as encode and decode messages. Mel was also on the football and baseball team while he was in Yokosuka. 

            Nygaard graduated from the Northwest Technical School (no longer an institution) as a dental technician, in the Twin Cities.  For 35 years, he traveled the United States working in dental labs making crowns and bridges.  “I loved traveling and meeting new people all the time,” Nygaard said.  While working at a dental lab in Houston he met his wife “. . . Peggy, not Margaret, she’s the real deal.”  Mel and Peggy have been married for 30 years and have two sons, Andrew, 27 and Adam, 23. 

         In 2003 he began working at BSU, while continuing to work in dental labs.  Two years ago Nygaard decided to leave the dental profession and only work at BSU. Currently his title is GMW, general maintenance worker.  He works 2:00p.m. until 10:30p.m. Monday through Friday. He has worked in every building on campus except Bangsburg and the library.  He is most commonly known by the athletes.  He works in the cage where laundry is done and where athletic equipment is stored.  The cage is located by the downstairs entrance to the gym.  Student athletes can get their laundry done and team jerseys can be stored.  The cage also stores athletic equipment, when not in use, such as hockey sticks and pads, football pads, and tennis racks.  “He always has a smile on his face,” said sophomore volleyball player Bethany Thompson “it’s always great to talk with him.” 

            Mel has also coached football Bemidji middle school.  “I believe in playing everyone equally,” Nygaard said. Even though he truly enjoyed coaching at the middle school, due to time conflicts he could no longer continue to coach there.  “I can see him being a great coach for middle school,” said junior football player Alex Mock.  “He has this love for life that’s hard to find.” 

         Nygaard believes that it’s the people that make the job, “I enjoy the people more than the job.”  His favorite part about working at BSU is the students.  “Every time I would go to the cage to grab our laundry he would have a joke or a story for me,” said senior volleyball player Nicole Olson.  “He can always make me laugh.” 

            During this time of budget cuts and downsizing at BSU Nygaard and his position is still up in the air.  “I don’t have a permanent position,” said Nygaard.  He is currently waiting to hear if he will return next year.  Even with his job unsecure for next year Nygaard continues to stay positive, “I love my job,” Said Nygaard. “I just like to be around the students.” 



Melvin Nygaard works as a general maintenance worker at BSU.
Photo/Nicole Solum

Inside "the cage" athletic uniforms are stored.

Photo/Nicole Solum

Mel works in "the cage" where laundry is also done.
Photo/Nicole Solum