Learning the Trade

It was standing room only on Thursday, March 15 as St. Ambrose University offered a journalism workshop for aspiring writers from local colleges in The Buzz office. The workshop featured reporters from the Quad-City Times and headed by Mark Ridolfi, opinion editor.

Ann McGlynn, health reporter, gave a 15-minute speech on tips and techniques she has picked up over the years. The main point of McGlynn’s speech was to never leave an interview without knowing what your lead for your story will be.

Following McGlynn’s speech, participants had to choose between four forums: opinion writing with Barb Ickes, special projects/multi-part stories with Sheena Dooley, photography with John Schultz and headline writing with Ridolfi.

“It’s important to speak to journalism students because they are our future. We are developing folks to carry on the tradition,” Ridolfi said. “Student journalism at the basics is the same as what we do. The differences lie in the skill level, but most young journalists balance that out with enthusiasm.”

The Buzz office was filled with not only journalism students from SAU, but Augustana sent three people and Black Hawk College also sent two representatives.

“Last semester Augustana hosted a similar event. We wanted to strengthen the inter-collegiate bonds between the journalism programs and give students a chance to ask ‘real’ reporters questions. Journalism is a craft best learned by experience and it’s valuable to discuss methods and theories with veterans of the profession,” says Christine Mastalio, editor-in-chief of The Buzz.

Katie Voelliger, news editor of The Buzz agrees.

“I learned so much valuable information and concepts were brought to my attention that I never have thought of before. The only thing I didn’t like was the shortness on time. I felt time went by way too quickly, but I guess that happens when you’re learning and having fun!”

Ridolfi also commented on what current graduates currently lack when they leave school.

“They lack a breadth of understanding and a level of confidence to ask the hard questions. They lack life experience and the ability to pursue with the questions they want answered and not get waylaid by the person that they are interviewing.”

No further workshops are scheduled for this academic year.

Riding the Wave

The St. Ambrose men's volleyball team look to ride their wave all the way to nationals after winning the Spring Break Tournament in Leesburg, FL.

“There was some really good competition in that tournament,” first year head coach Bill Gleeson said.

To win the tournament The Bees had to defeat #7 Eastern Mennonite, #11 Nazareth and #10 Warner Southren.

“The guys played like they wanted it more. They never thought they were going to lose,” Gleeson continues.

One thing is certain, the key to their winning ways is their youthful enthusiasm, with 10 of the 18 players being sophomores.

“We are always the loudest team in the gym,” senior co-captain Jim Finn explains. “Our youth helps us. We have more exuberance. We really are playing for fun.”

Freshman Jason Paplaski agrees.

“There is a lot of young guys, so we have a lot of fun. We get to really bond and we don't leave anyone out. Coach Gleeson does a good job with team bonding and keeping everyone involved.”

Gleeson is Finn's third coach in four years. Finn explains how Gleeson is different from the others.

“His number one priority is coaching mens volleyball. Our practices are more structured. He is there for us both on and off the court. His love for the game and his love for the team really shows.”

“Because he's younger he's all about the players,” Paplaski concurs. “He's the best motivational speaker I've had as a coach. He worries more about the team than outside stuff.”

And that “outside stuff” may include a trip to the nationals. The top six teams get to go and SAU is currently positioned at number six. This is the highest that the men's team has ever been ranked and is currently one win away from the most wins in school history. After last year's 8-22 record that is quite a turnaround.

“Last year we finished 8-22, but we were in every game. We were losing them because of experience. Now with that year under our belts, we are winning those games,” Gleeson acknowledges.

And experience is one of his goals for this year.

“My goals are to develop this team and get them more experience. I want them to take each game one by one and not overlook teams. I want to have them grow in confidence and reduce their errors. In volleyball is all comes down to the errors. If your team makes less than the team on the other side of the net, nine out of 10 times you are going to win. Then I hope we win the conference championship, which we host. From there, we would have a good shot to go on to nationals.”

The conference tournament is scheduled for March 30 and 31 and will be played at Lee Lohman Arena.

Getting Jazzy

Playing to a crowd of about 30 people, the St. Ambrose University Jazz Combos packed an hour with a mixture of jazz styles from some of the biggest names in jazz music. With selections from greats such as Horace Silver, Juan Tizol and Duke Ellington the concert covered different flavors of jazz including swing, traditional, and hard bop.

Both bands ended their sets with numbers that allowed their members to showcase their talents through solos. The SAU Dixieland Band finished with “Perdido” and the SAU Jazz Combo sent the audience home with a rendition of “The Preacher” by Horace Silver.

The Redstone Room at the River Music Experience was candlelit with red and white candles giving the room a cabaret look right out of a movie. Audience member Joanna Green found the room warm and pleasant.

“It was really romantic. I loved the candles on the tables and the wonderful music in the air.”

The jazz combos are actually split into two different bands, the SAU Dixieland Band and the SAU Jazz Combo. Each performed for roughly 25 minutes with a two minute intermission in between.

According to Tait Hillmer, percussionist, the jazz combos didn’t always play jazz.

“When I was a freshman, we were a big band group, but there wasn’t enough interest. In the spring semester of 2005 we changed to the jazz combos.”

Director Eugene Bechen spoke about the differences between the two groups.

“Our Dixieland group is made up of musicians that are new or have not had as much exposure. We use it kind of like our basic training, because if you can get the hang of Dixieland, the more modern stuff actually becomes easier.”

“I give the jazz combo pretty much total autonomy. They make good decisions about the music they play. If they are picking the music they are going to get a lot more out of it. It gives them more responsibility, but the stakes are a lot higher.”

The SAU Jazz Combos will play again Saturday February 24, 2007 at 7:30 pm in Allaert Auditorium in the Galvin Fine Arts Center on the campus of SAU.

The Redstone Room houses between 225 and 250 people and was opened in 2006. It is on the top floor of the River Music Experience in downtown Davenport, Iowa.

Krueger Confidential

Melissa Krueger is a first year softball player at St. Ambrose University. She is a right-handed pitcher with a deep repertoire of pitches. She throws a fastball, changeup, a slow curve, a rise-ball, drop-ball, screwball, and a regular curve that she considers her best pitch. When she is in the field, she swings from the right side and plays second base. She grew up in Illinois City, Ill., and graduated from Rockridge High School.

Krueger is a physical therapy major. She became interested after visiting her grandfather in the hospital.

“I thought it was interesting. Most people get into it after being hurt,” she says. “I was lucky. I’ve never been hurt.”

As for life at SAU, it is much different than she expected.

“I come from a small town. I had imagined it was one big party. I thought it would be all lectures in an auditorium. Everyone here takes it seriously.”

Kruger goes on to say why she picked SAU.

“I wanted to go to a place where my parents could come watch me play. This is far enough away from home so that I feel that I’m on my own, but yet close enough to go home when I want. I like how it’s small & everyone here is so nice.”

Home is very important to Krueger as she expressed her desire to move back to Illinois City later on. She lists her parents among her heroes, along with her high school softball coach.

Krueger and her family live on a 169 acre farm, which has five horses, two dogs and two cats. Both cats were strays that were rescued by Krueger and her family.