Jazz bands to play familiar songs

On Thursday, Feb. 26 at 7:30 p.m. a free jazz concert will be held at the Reynolds Recital Hall, featuring performances by the NMU Jazz Band, the NMU Jazz Combo, the NMU Jazz Workshop Combo and NMU Vocal Jazz. The concert, the first of the semester for the ensembles involved, is intended to help prepare for the upcoming NMU Jazz Festival being held on April 17. According to Mark Flaherty, the band’s director, this semester’s Jazz Band and Jazz Combos are some of the strongest at NMU in the last few years. “The purpose of these groups is to expose students to various jazz styles. We present music by a wide range of composers, and particularly encourage students to develop their skills in the area of jazz improvisation,” said Flaherty. The jazz concert will feature music written by composers such as Miles Davis, Fred Sturm, John Lennon, Paul McCartney, Bennie Moten, Steely Dan and many more. “We’ll be playing some great music,” Flaherty said. “If you’re already a jazz fan, or even if you’ve never been to a concert at NMU before, I guarantee you’ll enjoy it.”

– Lukas Anderson

ASNMU survey results compiled

This week, ASNMU received the results of a student survey on a possible student union at Northern Michigan University. According to the survey, NMU students showed they are supportive of a new student union on campus, with 91 percent of the 440 people surveyed voting “yes” for the building. In a report done by the Student Leader Fellowship Program on the survey results, students stated what they wanted in a student union, how much they would be willing to increase tuition for this project and the incorporation of bringing in fast food chains. ASNMU President Hobie Webster says that the survey gives concrete evidence for administrators and donors of students’ support of the project. Webster also stresses that the survey was just one of the first of many stages to construct a building of this size. “Nothing is set in stone,” said Webster. “This will be a long-term process that will take several years to make this happen. We will have the foundation to take this further.” Professor Jon Barch’s Leadership Theory and Practice class wrote and compiled the survey.

– Brice Burge

Model UN returns to NMU with awards

NMU was represented well at the annual 2009 North American Model United Nations Conference at the University of Toronto last week, as the PS 299 Model United Nations (U.N.) class returned boasting three awards. Student delegates from Model U.N. clubs and classes from universities across the United States and Canada converge once a year to participate in the conference. Each person is either assigned a country and a topic on a specific U.N. committee, or they’re assigned to take the role of an actual political official from a certain country. Cameron Witbeck was assigned the role of Russia on the Security Council and received an award for Best Delegate. Brian Dzialakiewicz was assigned to be Disarmament and Security Committee for Russia and also received a Best Delegate award. Alan Donaldson was assigned the roll of Russian Minister of Foreign Affairs Sergei Lavrov and received the Outstanding Delegate award. This was the third and final year in which Donaldson competed in the conference. “I believe that we captured the essence of the conference really well,” Donaldson said. “We don’t necessarily go there with the intention to win, but it’s great when we do because it shows how dedicated we are . It (Model U.N.) gives students the option of a new style of learning, outside the classroom. It is different than your average class.”

– Jay Tomlinson