LOGOS- The NIACC Student Newspaper ONLINE

Feature Editor- Jana McBride
Volume 26, Issue #3	North Iowa Area Community College	October 6, 1999

[ Saxophonist Expresses Himself ] [ Jazz Band ] [ WWB Orientation Changes ]

RYAN ENJOYS PLAYING SAX... by Jennifer Schlicher, reporter

Dave Ryan, a NIACC sophomore, known locally for his musical capabilities in the instrumental department has toyed with the saxophone since the fifth grade.
Since that initial introduction to music, Ryan has decided he may make music his life.
In fact, the sophomore saxophonist spends a great deal of his time involved in activities devoted to his music.
Ryan, who is involved in a variety of musical groups on campus, participates in jazz band, concert band and the group for the musical.
He also takes an applied instrumental lessons, basically the same as private lessons.
Ryan said he has enjoyed his musical experience at NIACC.
“Last year was really fun playing at NIACC, because I was involved in a jazz quartet which allowed me to do a lot of improv soloing,” Ryan said.
Another experience, Ryan said he enjoys involves playing with the North Iowa Community Band.
Playing with the North Iowa Community Concert Band has a unique twist to it that allows NIACC students to develop a working relationship with other non-NIACC musicians.
“Concert band on Tuesday nights is really neat because it gives the students of NIACC a chance to play with community players of all ages from around the area,” Ryan said.
Chris Bell, a member of the North Iowa Community Concert band and Ryan’s high school music instructor, said she is ecstatic about Ryan’s success in the NIACC music program.
She said that she enjoyed playing with Ryan last year in concert band.
“I got to see David on a whole new level,” Bell said. “I think he has the nicest sound on the sax that I have ever heard. He has a lot of natural ability, and a lot of talent.”
Ryan said he feels his talent is constantly being enhanced and improved by other people who are skilled in the music profession.
In addition to Bell, Ryan credits John Klemas, the instrumental music instructor at NIACC, as an excellent teacher and mentor.
“He’s a good instructor. He recognizes the kind of talent people have and he pushes you and makes you strive to be a better player and to bring out things more,” Ryan said.
Ryan said he plans to continue his career in music at the University of Northern Iowa next year.

JAZZ BAND NEEDS MEMBERS... by Erin Trappe for the LOGOS

Classes may be closed, but it is not too late to become part of a success in the music world.
Even though Jazz Band rehearsals started several weeks ago, the band is still short on musicians and is looking for talented students to join.
The NIACC Jazz Band, which usually has 15-20 members, started this year with only four people enrolled in the class. “Every couple years, we run short,” John Klemas, NIACC Jazz Band director, said. Klemas said he is not worried though “Between myself and the present band members, we will be able to scout out new recruits and the chairs will fill up.”
The band is looking for basically all sections: trumpets, trombones, tenor saxophones, baritone saxophones, a bass player and pianist.
Rehearsals are held every Tuesday and Thursday afternoon from 2:45 to 4:00 in the Fine Arts Center.
The first performance will be in January during the Jazz Festival, which is run by the Jazz Band members. The final concert will be in April with a date yet to be determined.
Klemas started the Jazz Band at NIACC in 1989 and looks each year for another successful year with two fine performances.
“I enjoy teaching the music and I always strive for a good performance, just like the rest of my students do,” Klemas said. “The motivation that comes with jazz music is amazing and is such a joy to direct.”
“We would be happy to have anybody join us, they just have to come in and see me,” Klemas said.

WRITER'S WORKBENCH CHANGES... by April Lien, reporter

Any student taking Communication Skills or Basic Writing at NIACC knows the words Writer’s Workbench.
This year, any new student using Writer’s Workbench for the first time previewed a 20-minute presentation on the computer in the Beem Center, room 100, along with a short do-it-yourself writing.
Writer’s Workbench is a computerized text analysis that helps students improve their writing skills by giving suggestions and positive directions to follow for their paper. The program gives suggestions on a few of the following; organization and development, style, diction and grammar, capitalization and punctuation.
Josh Viet, who is currently taking Basic Writing, said he liked the presentation and got a lot out of it.
“The typing part was real good because it was hands-on,” Viet said. Even though Viet hasn’t had the opportunity to actually use the analysis program, he said he is sure that “it will help out quite a bit.”
According to the Writing Lab Specialist Sally Becker,“The students get more out of the presentation when they watch it on the computer because they interact one-on-one with it, compared to last year when each class watched the presentation together.”
Writer’s Workbench is also offered in other computer labs around campus which includes MH 110 and the dorms, but they don’t provide student/lab specialist help.
In BC 100, a student with questions can find someone to assist them during every open hour.
Becker said she likes the lab to always have a relaxing, learning atmosphere where students can feel good about NIACC when they leave after using the lab. “If we don’t have answers, we try to find it,” Becker said.
Writer’s Workbench does pay off. “I saw a big improvement in my papers by using the program. It made me think about how my sentence structure was,” sophomore Carissa Kane, who used Writer’s Workbench last year for her Communications Skills I and II, said.
Becker said that former NIACC students call her during their Christmas or Spring break and ask to use the Writer’s Workbench again for their papers for school

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