A piano score rests on a surface. Photo by Carol Kramberger

The Chadron State College Department of Music presented a duo piano concert Tuesday in Memorial Hall’s Auditorium.

The concert featured Chadron State College employee-pianists Jim Margetts and Brooks Hafey.

The duo opened with “Variations on a Theme by Beethoven, Op. 35.” The piece is based on Beethoven’s staccato movements, Margetts said.

The duo then performed “Fetes, From Nocturnes.”

In the 1800s and 1900s small towns, such as Chadron, were unable to access many recorded orchestra songs, Margetts said. The music was then transcribed for piano. The music is often broken into two piano parts because it makes it easier to transcribe voices of the music and allow those voices to be satisfied, he said.

After a short intermission the duo played “Symphonic Dances, Op. 45.” This piece had three parts: Non Allegro, Andante con moto (Tempo di valse), and Lento assai – Allegro vivace.

“I thought they were really good at painting emotion with the songs,” sophomore, Lauren Morris, said.

Margetts is an associate professor of music at Chadron State College. He is currently finishing up his ninth year of teaching at CSC.

“My mom said that boys should learn to play hymns just like the girls,” Margetts said when talking about what attracted him to the piano.

He has been playing the piano since he was six years old, Margetts said in a Tuesday interview.

Hafey is an accompanist and events coordinator at Chadron State College and has been playing the piano for 24 years.

“I was envious of my cousin and I wanted to be like her,” Hafey said when talking about his attraction to the piano.

Hafey will be leaving Chadron State College at the end of this academic semester to teach opera and production of opera in Novafeltria, Europe.

The Department of Music is looking for a new accompanist, Margetts said.

Country music singer Keith Anderson flexes while singing “Podunk” in the NPAC arena Friday night. –Photo by T.J. Thomson

Roaring crowd, kicking bass, and jamming guitars rang out as country recording artist Keith Anderson took the stage Thursday night in the NPAC arena at Chadron State College. Not only did Anderson feature his old hits “Every Time I Hear Your Name” and “Pickin’ Wildflowers,” but he also performed some of his new songs that he has just recently recorded.

In December of 2004, with his debut of “Pickin’ Wildflowers,” the song that launched him to virtual stardom on the country scene, Keith Anderson quickly became a name that everyone knew. Over the next three years, the country artist Toured America, playing shows, and even performing at the CMT Music Awards in 2005. However, from 2008 to the present, Anderson dropped off the country music scene, and due to his large success, it left a lot of people wondering why.

The Eagle interviewed Anderson prior to him taking the stage at last night’s concert.

THE EAGLE: What happened [from 2008 to the present]?

ANDERSON: “We exploded in 2005 and my mom died in 2008. I got off the road to start a family. When my mom died, it made me put a lot into perspective. Like, what did I want to leave behind one day, music, or a family that loves me?

THE EAGLE: Who was the one person who inspired you to do this as a profession?

ANDERSON: “My brother would have to be my biggest inspiration. My brother took the stage in the senior talent show with a rinky dink introduction, but when he sang, everyone shut up. And when he was done, all the girls were screaming. This made me think. I could continue to be a quarterback, and getting hurt to impress girls, or I could just be a singer. Singing is a less painful way to get chicks.”

THE EAGLE: What keeps you going? As in, what makes you want to keep singing and touring?

ANDERSON: “It’s the fans. To hold out the microphone and people know the lyrics to your song, it’s an awesome feeling.There’s a lot that goes into it, good and bad. Not only do we travel somewhere different every night, but sleeping on the bus sucks. You’re always up late, and you can never sleep well seeing as the bus is always rocking back and forth on the road. I’ve always loved music, and who wouldn’t want to do what they loved for a livin’?”

So not only did Keith Anderson rock the stage Thursday night, but he also rocked as a person. I’ve met celebrities before, but sometimes, they know they’re famous, so it makes them stuck up with a pompous attitude. Keith Anderson however, is just a normal guy with everyday problems like you and I, except for the country music stardom. But beneath that, he is just a guy in love with his job and in love with his life. And that’s something that anyone would want to strive to have.

The Eagle’s website is no stranger to the NCMA awards. csceagle.com was launched in December of 2010 which made the website eligible to compete in the 2010-11 NCMA Golden Leaf Awards. On the year of the website’s birth, csceagle.com earned second best in the Overall Excellence Digital Medium Division. The following year csceagle.com stole first place in the same category, The Eagle’s adviser, Michael D. Kennedy, said.

“I got to be proud of these guys,” Kennedy said

There are ten individual categories providing individual awards within the digital medium category. T.J. Thomson, Ashley Swanson, and Kevin Olesky were of those students earning points for the website.

Going six months without a dedicated web editor didn’t stop csceagle.com from maintaining excellence, Thomson said.

“Each page editor would upload their own content instead of having one person to do it all,” Thomson said, “this allowed more time for innovation.”

The Eagle has been a charter member at the NCMAs, founded in 1992.

The proposed funding increase, planned for the coming two academic years, would also bring a tuition freeze for in-state student tuition for the Nebraska college system, which includes the University of Nebraska system as well as the Nebraska State College System.

The funds to the college system would see an increase of 4.5 and 4 percent for the 2013-14 and 2014-15 academic years respectively.

This higher than average funding increase, as noted in the appropriations committee’s preliminary budget report, comes in exchange for the proposed freeze to in-state tuition over the next two academic years.

The funding to the college system would be less than what Gov. Dave Heineman included in his budget proposal, but the funding is more than what several appropriations committee members had included in their budget plans.

This increase in funds is due in part to a forecast from the Nebraska Economic Forecasting Advisory Board of increased tax revenues in Nebraska by up to 5.5 percent for the current fiscal year and 3.1 percent for the 2013-14 fiscal year.

State Senator Heath Mello who is the head of the appropriation’s committee and Gov. Dave Heineman could not be reached for comment.

Heineman’s and Mello’s head spokesmen said they were not speaking further on the issue until after the proposed budget plans had been submitted.

This proposed budget is tentatively approved and is expected to be part of the state budget plan and is due to the Legislature by May 1.

Kennedy just finished his second two-year term as President for NCMA.

The NCMA is an organization that was founded in 1992 that includes the following Nebraska colleges: Chadron State College, Wayne State College, Peru State College, Hastings College, Doane College Western Nebraska Community College, Northeast Community College, and Nebraska Wesleyan University.

“I am proud to be part of this association and represent all students equally. I am grateful to my colleagues for entrusting me with these responsibilities,” Kennedy said.

High schools have the opportunity to offer dual credit courses. This means that a high school student can take a class within their high school and, upon the completion of that class, earn college credit.

Chadron High School allows junior and senior students to take classes at CSC.

Chadron High School Student Liaison Carolyn Hinrichs supports dual and college credit classes.

“The classes allow students to get generals taken care of as well as an exploratory route for students taking introduction classes in their possible major of choice,” Hinrichs said.

The availability to take introductory classes gives students the opportunity to decide if that is the area of study they would like to major in before they get to college, Hinrichs explain.

With a large number of high schools, not only allowing, but promoting dual and college courses the process of transferring those classes comes into play.

START Office Academic Adviser Danielle Hencey, says transfer credits are beneficial to incoming freshman as long as the credits are coming from an accredited school.

“We have articulation agreements with community colleges in the area,” Hencey said

The list of accredited schools is located on the CSC Transfer Student page on the Chadron State College homepage, Hencey said.

“There is a process a student must go through to transfer credits and the Transfer Student webpage is very helpful,” Hencey said, “However, this is a general overview. If a student is planning on transferring credits they need to come talk to us.”

With high school students spending seven hours maximum in the classroom plus sports practice and extra-curricular involvement it can be demanding to be taking a college course on top of an already hectic schedule. However, Hinrichs does not see a downside to dual credit availability.

“It gives students confidence that they will be successful in college,” Hinrichs said. “They have a support system here. If they have trouble logging into Sakai or with the class we can help them.”

Lane Swedberg, sophomore of North Platte, said the transfer of his 24 credits from high school was a smooth process. The secondary math education major was able to become a math tutor at the STRIVE Learning Center because of his transfer credits.

“I didn’t have to take the classes here in order to qualify as a tutor which allowed me to start tutoring earlier,” Swedberg said.

Even if a student comes in with a college credit from a non-accredited school CSC will recognize most classes as long as the student gets a “C” or above as an elective credit if the college does not have an equivalent class, Hencey said.

“We are doing our best to streamline the process,” Hencey said.

There are many different motivations for incoming freshman to earn college credits during the duration of their high school career.

“I wanted to get as many generals out of the way so I could start in on my major,” Swedberg said.

“I think offering college courses to high school students is very beneficial to the students that take advantage of the opportunity,” Swedberg said.

During this past year, students have been complaining about the current meal plan system because of its inflexibility, Senior Director of Dining Operations Tracy Shuck said. For example, under the current system, students can only use one meal during each meal period. Meals not used during a period are lost and cannot be redeemed.

As a result of students’ feedback, Shuck proposed changes to the meal plan for approval from the Nebraska State College System’s Board of Trustees.

“The new proposed change came basically after years of research and watching how the students eat, what mean plans they use and what meal plans are not used,” Shuck said. “I took those proposed changes to the school,” Shuck said.

With the new meal plans, students do not have to worry about their meals when they are busy with classes or appointments because their meals are secured and can be used whenever they want.

“One of the things that students wanted is that being able to use their meal plan when they want; they don’t want to be confined to that one meal for a meal period, so by putting in larger meal plan with more flexibility, the students can get what they wanted,” Shuck said.

The 14-meal plan, the most popular among students has not changed; it will be kept as is, but the 9-meal plan and the 19-meal plan are being phased out due to lack of use, Shuck said.

The meal plans that Shuck proposed to the board are a 150-meal block plan for $1,280 per semester and a 280-meal block plan for $1,475 per semester. Both plans include $200 in discretionary Bonus Bucks.

“We are happy to announce the finalists in the 2013 Great Plains Journalism Awards, which honors journalists in Oklahoma, Arkansas, Kansas, Missouri, North Dakota, South Dakota, Nebraska and Iowa,” contest organizer Ashley Parrish stated. The Great Plains Journalism Awards is hosted by Tulsa Press Club and Benevolent Association. The competition aims to promote the highest standards of journalism across an eight-state region, its website states.

Nebraska is one amongst seven other states that is given the privilege to enter in this competition, and out of many schools that sent in their pieces, Chadron State College’s ACCLAIM magazine became one of nine finalists.

Michael D. Kennedy, instructor of social and communication arts, said he was very pleased with how well the staff performed.

“I’m very proud that our inaugural edition of ACCLAIM has achieved finalist status in such a prestigious competition. If we win, great, but just to be nominated fresh out of the gate is indeed a big honor. I’m very proud of T.J. and the entire staff for making ACCLAIM so successful.”

“ACCLAIM was brought to CSC’s campus in 2012,” Executive Editor T.J. Thomson said Wednesday. “Student government funded the project and supported it the entire way. The success of ACCLAIM is tribute to the faculty members in the Communication Arts Department and the staff members of The Eagle.”

“Linda was very open with our staff about her condition,” Tracy Shuck, Senior Director of Dining Operations said. “The staff notices her absence and has been working even harder to pick up where she has left off.”

Brownlee’s main duties were doing food orders, retail for the food court, and catering events. Everyone has been doing double duty to make sure all of these things are being done and being done well, Shuck said.

“Katie Hunter has been brought in to help with the catering events,” Shuck said, “She has been doing a great job.”

Shuck said that he has been in contact with Brownlee and she has been helping over the phone as much as she can without hindering her recovery.

“We are waiting for her to return, and she will return,” Shuck said.