The Western Concept

reported by Chris Aarhus

 After a rough 0-3 start, the Dickinson State University football team finally got into the win column. Junior running back James Macey rushed for 120 yards on 24 carries and sophomore Derek Beadle added 60 yards on the ground as the Blue Hawks triumphed 24-3 over South Dakota School of Mines (2-2) Saturday at Whitney Stadium.

DSU (1-3) struggled early on as Blue Hawks quarterback Jared Tuma got sacked on a third-and-nine play, taking the home team out of field goal position. On the ensuing drive, South Dakota Mines running back Lou Bruketta fumbled on his own 10-yard line and DSU defensive end Carl Gauthier recovered. Macey went nine yards on his first two carries, but couldn’t get in the end zone on third or fourth down, turning the ball over on downs at the 1-yard line.“The first half I was very dehydrated,” Macey said, “but I thought our offense looked good.”

From there on, Macey was on a mission. The Stockton, Calif. native ran with a vengeance, breaking off a 32-yard touchdown run down the right sideline to give the Blue Hawks a 10-0 lead early in the second quarter. DSU struggled getting anything going offensively until the fourth quarter. After South Dakota Mines kicker Justin Whalin brought his team within a touchdown with a field goal in the third quarter, it didn’t take the Blue Hawks long to get back to work.

 Back up quarterback Caleb Midura entered the game for starter Jared Tuma, who injured his collarbone in the third quarter. Midura led an eight-play, 76-yard drive, culminated by a 10-yard touchdown pass to Max Pearson.The score was set up by a 42-yard strike over the middle from Midura to junior wideout Jon Breitbach, who made a tough catch over a defender. It was the first catch of the year for Breitbach and Pearson. “I don’t know if we executed that well or not,” Biesiot said. “We ran some of our base plays a little better. It was a matter of execution.”

 After another South Dakota Mines’ fumble, the Blue Hawks drove down the field to put the game away. Beadle put the finishing touches on the contest with a 7-yard TD run. Tuma played most of the game and finished 7 of 13 for 71 yards. Midura ended 2 of 3 for 52 yards. Tight end Derek Pauley also got into the act, catching 2 passes for 39 yards. Though Beilstein finished 18 of 30 for 127 yards, DSU’s defense held South Dakota Mines’ rushing attack to 35 yards on 36 carries, thanks to seven fumbled snaps by the Hardrockers.

Dickinson State plays host to Black Hills State on Saturday in the Blue Hawks’ annual homecoming game.Black Hills State (1-3) was the favorite to win the conference in the preseason coaches’ poll, but lost its starting quarterback due to eligibility reasons. Black Hills State freshman quarterback Drew Hodgs has thrown 12 interceptions to just four touchdowns in four games this season.  

Dickinson State 24, South Dakota Mines 3
SDM 0 0 3 0 – 3
DSU 3 7 0 14 – 24
DSU–Shawn O’Brien 22 FG
DSU–James Macey 33 run (O’Brien kick)
SDM–Justin Whalin 33 FG
DSU–Max Pearson 10 pass from Caleb Midura (O’Brien kick)
DSU–Derek Beadle 7 run (O’Brien kick)

TEAM STATISTICS SDM DSU
First downs 12 12
Rushes-yards 36-35 43-161
Passing yards 127 123
Comp.-Att.-Int. 18-30-1 9-16-0
Total yards 162 284
Fumbles-lost 9-2 0-0
Penalties-yards 4-24 0-0
Punts-Avg. 7-32.4 4-35.3

INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS
RUSHING: SDM, Joshua Jones 17-46, Lukas Munsell 10-27, Ed Waliczek 1-25, Louie Bruketta 1-0, Jason Beilstein 7-(minus-63). DSU, James Macey 24-120, Derek Beadle 13-60, Punk Humphrey 1-1, Michael Williams 1-0, Matt Gittings 1-(minus-1), Jared Tuma 2-(minus-20).
PASSING: SDM, Beilstein 18-30-1 127. DSU, Tuma 6-12-0 60, Caleb Midura 3-4-0 63.
RECEIVING: SDM, Jones 5-34, Munsell 4-23, Tony Osteheimer 4-15, Dustin Rougeau 1-29, Logan Smidt 1-11, Waliczek 1-6, Eric Taylor 1-5, Trevor Roberts 1-4. DSU, Clint Grosz 3-15, Derek Pauley 2-39, Derek Beadle 2-17, Jon Breitbach 1-42, Max Pearson 1-10. 

written by Ashley Martin

Timur Zhilenkov has just begun his latest teaching endeavor as the new Russian teacher at Dickinson State University. He teaches Russian I and Russian II, but considers both courses to be introductory. The main difference between the two classes, according to Zhilenkov, is that in Russian II, he expects correct pronunciation.

DSU accepted Zhilenkov’s application for the teaching position through the Fulbright Foreign Language Teaching Assistant program. Zhilenkov described the program as a kind of lottery in which universities place faculty members. The Fulbright program also provides the teaching assistants with adequate living conditions. Zhilenkov has been provided an apartment, transportation, and a meal plan.  

He wasn’t very enthusiastic about being placed in North Dakota, since many of his friends were placed in New York. Zhilenkov’s arrival on campus on August 15 made him even more hesitant: “I saw a deserted campus, a deserted town; it was really lonely.”

It is no surprise that he felt a bit uneasy when he first laid eyes on our tranquil little town. Zhilenkov is used to the crowded streets of Moscow. “Moscow has a lot of people (and) traffic; you never can relax. It’s hard to find a quiet place,” he stated.

Since classes have begun, though, he is starting to relax. “I feel perfect; I like this place. This is like a vacation. I wouldn’t call it a job,” he said.  He describes the people on campus as “too friendly to be real; it’s amazing. I don’t feel all alone.”

Zhilenkov received his education in Moscow where he attended Ivanovo State University. He received degrees in language arts, education, and philology. He is qualified to teach Spanish and English. Although he has never taught Spanish, he did tutor Russian high school students in English for four years. Zhilenkov also took on an internship in Alabama where he taught British Literature and English. He said that so far, teaching at DSU is comparable to Alabama.

Zhilenkov prefers a more traditional method of teaching. He stated that there is no simple way to learn a language. He feels that innovative teaching techniques only teach language “on the surface.” He believes that traditional education gives you the power to continue learning without an instructor. According to Zhilenkov, this is because it is a very thorough approach to teaching. He said he teaches his students “Russian structures and Russian culture. They learn how to pronounce sounds correctly. They know what organs of speech they are using when pronouncing Russian words.”

He dislikes the fact that most textbooks contain photographs. “The core of traditional education is text, not pictures,” he stated. In his opinion, pictures distract students. “Is there any point of putting a huge cat picture with a small line underneath saying ‘cat’?” he asked. Instead of reading the text, or paying attention to their instructor, he believes that students are more likely to daydream about the content of the photographs or illustrations.

While he may seem to have a bit of a different style of teaching than many students at DSU are used to, Zhilenkov’s students seem to enjoy his class. “It’s tough, but I’m learning,” said Megan Green who is enrolled in Russian I. She said he expects a lot from his students, but overall “It’s a great class.” Students will have the opportunity to receive instruction from Zhilenkov until May of 2008, when he will be returning to Moscow.

written by Ashley Martin

If you happen to be passing through Klinefelter Hall, it would be a good idea to take a break out of your busy schedule to view Shaftesbury and Sills, the latest show in the campus art gallery. Dickinson State University has the privilege of displaying Ninos Aghakhan’s first solo show.

Aghakhan was born in Bagdad, but moved to Chicago, Illinois when he was thirteen years old. He received his B.F.A. from Western Illinois University. He received his M.F.A. in Normal, Illinois. While attending grad school, Aghakhan’s committee asked him to withdraw from the program, because they did not think that he would be able to successfully write his thesis. “When I got kicked out of grad school, that’s when I really kicked it into high gear,” Aghakhan said.

Once his committee saw the progress he had made, they allowed Aghakhan back into the program. He showed such talent that he was the first person to receive the Fischer Thesis Award in studio art. This award was usually given to students who majored in music or theater.

All of Aghakhan’s works that are displayed in DSU art gallery are of different buildings he has photographed. Upon close observation of his work, you may notice that Aghakhan has a unique painting technique. Twenty-two of his paintings in the gallery are oil on a square, wood panel. The paintings themselves are made up of 144 individual squares. More impressively, the paint for each square is mixed individually, even if he needs two or more squares to be the same color. This process creates a kind of grid. The finished work is something you surely have to witness to appreciate.

Aghakhan stated that he works with squares because “it’s a sense of control. It slows me down, makes me look longer.” It is also visually appealing to the viewer. “It breaks down the painting as you approach it, but it disappears as you step away,” he stated.

When preparing for this show, Aghakhan did break the mold of his work. He was given the layout of the gallery and decided to compose one piece to cover the entire west wall of DSU’s art gallery. This piece, titled West Roosevelt, is composed of enamel on wood. It is a three dimensional scaled model of a building in Chicago.

At first glance, the title of this show (Shaftsbury and Sills) might not mean much to a person. Aghakhan named it this for a few very creative reasons. Part of the reason he decided to give this show this name was because he said he likes the way the words sound together. He stated that some people claim that Shaftsbury was the first philosopher to write an interpretation of beauty. Since sills are building materials, the title means the “intersection of artistic beauty and basic building blocks,” he said.

Although Aghakhan has worked with many other mediums, he works almost exclusively with oil paint to recreate architecture. He stated that although he may switch in the future, “as of right now, I’m sticking with these guys.” His main goal is to get his work out of his studio and into museums and galleries. “Mainly, I just want to travel and show my work,” he said. His next show is in a museum in Shenyang, China.\

Although Aghakhan has already returned to Chicago, we will be able to enjoy his work until September 28. The DSU art gallery hours are 8:00 a.m.-5:00p.m., Monday through Friday. You can check out more about Aghakhan at www.ninosaghakhan.com.

Sitting alone, over six thousand miles from home, Navy corpsman Sergeant Melissa Bartelson enjoyed reading her copy of Western Horseman. It was by mere chance that she stumbled upon an advertisement for Dickinson state University’s online degree in Equine and Animal Science.

She was stationed in the Al-Anbar province of Iraq in the spring of 2005 when she decided to enroll in college here at Dickinson State, via our online program. Sergeant Bartelson began her generals while serving her first tour of duty in the gulf. She came home to Wisconsin for a few months after this tour but continued to take classes through Dickinson State.

Bartelson was called to a second tour in the gulf, this time in Kuwait. She continued her job as a medical corpsman and her career as a student during her down time. It has been a struggle for Bartelson to be both military personnel, ready to do what was required on the spot, and a student having to meet deadlines for online tests and papers; however, her drive and desires are what pushed this remarkable Wisconsin woman to obtain her degree in Equine and Animal sciences, which she will complete this fall with her final class.

After serving for five years in the regular Navy, Bartelson is now state-side and living at home in Wisconsin where she still serves in the Navy, only now as a reservist.

Bartelson plans to pursue a BSN in Wisconsin and combine that with her Equine and Animal science degree. Her dream is to open a ranch and use horses for therapeutic riding purposes for children. 

Hello fellow Hawksters and welcome to another fantastic semester here at Dickinson State University. There are a wide variety of events to take advantage of this semester as well as a wealth of clubs and organizations.

The staff of the Western Concept would like to apologize for our recently infrequent editions. We would like to encourage all to submit to the paper. We are implementing an array of new items in our small paper including our very own advice column, Dear Lady Hawk.

You can check us out online at westernconcept.wordpress.com or by clicking into the DSU home page, clicking on the “What’s happening on Campus” link at the top of the page, and scrolling to the fourth link down.

Once again, welcome home to Dickinson State University and we hope you have a great and safe semester.