Thursday, November 24, 2011

Radio Script

11/18/2011                                                                                                                 Brent Brattlof

Slug: Critical Mass

TRT – 01:05

Page 1 of 3

TRT- 00:21      

Anchor:

During the past few months, all across America, there have been people standing up for things they believe in. Many rallies and protests such as (Occupy Wallstreet) have been organized in the hope that, what they have to say will be heard. Many people fight for different ideas or beliefs, but everyone has a reason to participate. One of the ways that diverse cultures gather together to show others what they are fighting for is Critical Mass.

Reporter:

I am standing here at the Paul and Babe statues waiting for the critical mass bicycle ride to return. It is said that critical masses are formed to make drivers aware of bicyclists, and to share the road with them. These critical masses occur all across the nation on the last Friday of every month. We are waiting to have a word with the non-official organizer Luke Holden, and here he comes.

Cart # 1

MORE              MORE              MORE              MORE              MORE              MORE              MORE 

TRT -- 00:15

Page 2 of 3

Intro: “I have been to. . .

Extro:  . . . why we are doing this.”

Reporter:

Hearing what Luke has told us, the Bemidji critical mass doesn’t have 400 participants, but there are people here standing up for the cause. Listening to the chatter that is going on all around me, I understand that there are various reasons for participation in the critical mass.

Cart #2

TRT – 00:20

Intro: “There are so many . . .

Extro:  . . . able to drive a car.”

Reporter:

If you don’t have your license, or you have a firm belief in the way the world should be, there is no wrong reason for you to be here. Love for cycling is what ultimately brings all of these people down here today; passion is the best word that can describe the feeling that they all have.

MORE              MORE              MORE              MORE              MORE              MORE              MORE

Cart #3

Page 3 of 3

TRT – 00:10

Intro: “This is something . . .

Extro: . . . way of someone’s passion?”

Reporter:

 Now we can all understand the reason for these rallies. From the statue of Paul and Babe, this is Brent Brattlof, signing off. Back to you at the studio. 

Anchor:

Thanks Brent, we can see that Occupy Wall Street rallies are being protested all across America. Although we are the wealthiest nation in the world, there are still reasons that people need to stand up for what they believe in. Keep this in mind next time you are on your way home from work, the roads are meant to be shared.
END                 END                 END                 END                 END                 END                 END    

Wednesday, November 9, 2011

Opinion Article

BSU Requiring Health Insurance For Registration

Students Outraged In New Policy

BSU has required starting spring semester of 2012. Health issues have been coming up a lot for our health services center that they are making students have health care in order to admission to our campus. Making this a requirement in order to be a student at BSU is not only an outrage but it is unfair to the student population that does not have Insurance.

International students are being forced to purchase BSU’s health insurance regardless of their coverage elsewhere. Students who commute have a higher cost of living, and they do not need more bills. Although BSU has many students on campus they also have many that are strictly online. Even though this new Health Care issues does not affect the online students we are seeing trends that are taking place that may ultimately affect them in the future.

Criteria now for admission onto BSU campus has changed. If you are a student that takes classes face-to-face or on campus and are taking 6 or more credits you are being forced to have Health Insurance. I don’t know how they can make such a force onto students but it seems that the bill has passed and classes in January will only be offered to those who follow. Now if a student already has health insurance they are not going to be bothered. They just need to provide their insurance information and they are all done.

I am a student who is covered under my father’s insurance, who is a doctor, and I still believe that this policy is outrageous. I just turned 25 years of age and to be placed under my fathers’ health coverage would cost less than getting my own. With all the additional fees that students have to pay already this is just another one that we don’t need; Car Payment, Rent, Tuition, Athletic fees and green fees, etc. Obama-care has allowed us to maintain health insurance until we are 26 under our parents, but what about those students who are not? Many students on campus are unable to afford this extra payment, and I believe that if BSU allows this to continue they will see a decrease in numbers.

My friend attended the University of Minnesota-Moorhead, who has had this policy implemented for a few years now. He does not have health insurance and was never asked about it. The loophole in this policy is lying. If they really want to understand what the students want all they have to do is ask. I have not yet been polled on anything concerning this issue, and I have talked to a few other students who feel the same.

“BSU does not want their student to stick around; they want them to gain admission and then graduate as soon as possible,” said Business Prof. Doug Leif. If this is true then why do they keep raising tuition? All they need to do is leave the students who have health insurance alone and the ones that don’t, let them make their own decisions. Forcing something on the students that is not required by anyone else is preposterous.

In order for this school to maintain its credibility and maintain its numbers, they need to understand that school is not cheap in general. Adding other bills to students who are barely making it in the first place is outrageous. Health insurance is needed, and why is BSU making student buy something that no one else is being forced to purchase.

Monday, October 31, 2011

Critical Mass and Occupy Wall St. Rally

Critical Mass Ride Takes To The Streets Of Bemidji
Occupy Wall Street Rally Greets Critical Mass Riders
During the past few months, all across America, there have been many people standing up in the things that they believe in. Many rallies and protests have been organized in hoping that what they have to say will be heard. Many people fight for different ideas or beliefs, but everyone has reasons to participate. One of the ways that diverse cultures gather together to show others what they are fighting for is Critical Mass.
Critical Mass is a gathering of people who congregate at one location and ride their bicycles around town to let motorists know that the road is not just theirs. It’s unstructured and unorganized. Having one person on the shoulder of the road riding to work or even for exercise does not prove that point, but by having a dozen to hundreds of people biking, gives them the power of the road and shows that drivers need to be more aware.
At noon this Saturday there will be a Critical Mass gathering at Paul and Babe, in Bemidji. BSU Art student Luke Holden is making posters for this rally and event “This is something that we have a passion for,” he said. Who would ever want to stand in the way of someone’s passions?” This group will be led by no one but followed by everyone participating. Leaving the waterfront  they will travel north on Paul Bunyan Drive, When they reach Target at the other end of town they will head back to the waterfront making their way back by the Middle School and then downtown Bemidji. Being that there is no leader this route may change, anyone in the front of the group could make a turn here or there. The point is to raise awareness that the road/highway is not just for vehicles.
Luke Holden explains, “There are so many reasons that people can be riding for, the list is endless. Believing that pollution is making our planet change and ultimately killing us, to not being able to drive a car due to, to many DUI’s.” Having people that love to be outdoors and not being able to enjoy their afternoon bike ride or late evening exercise is what they want to make aware to everyone. There are ads on the TV about watching out for motorcyclists, but nowhere does it say anything about bicyclists. This is the people making it known to the others that they need to watch out for them, have a little respect. “I have been to Portland, OR for a Critical Mass and there were almost 400 participants,” Mr. Holden said. “We need to make sure that the people know the real reason why we are doing this. It’s not to protest with vulgarity and hate, it’s to show them that we care and we want to have just the same rights as they do.”
Arriving back at Paul and Babe they will ride into the Occupy Wall Street Rally greeted by protestors and participants. This rally is going to help emphasis celebrating bike culture, along with many other topics. There is no structure to this event either but there is a timeline from approximately 1-4 p.m.
Occupy Wall Street is being protested all across America. http://occupywallst.org has many other protests that are being held as we speak; Occupy Baltimore, Occupy Chicago, Stop Stop & Frisk in NYC, Occupy Columbus Circle and many more. Although we are the wealthiest nation in the world, there are still reasons that people need to stand up for what they believe in.
Critical Mass Bike Ride, Saturday October 29th, Noon
Occupy Wall Street Rally, Saturday October 29th, 2:00 – 4:00 p.m.

Monday, September 26, 2011

Blog #4: Eurospring

Gain Credits While Expanding Your Horizons On Life In Europe

Trade BSU Classrooms for An Oxford Dorm

During the spring semester here at Bemidji State University, students get the opportunity to see the world and earn credits. Eurospring is an overseas study program that allows students to attend class and also see the world’s sights. Wycliffe residence Hall in Oxford, England, will host our students and Minnesota State University Moorhead students for five before sending them to continental Europe for their life experience.

View from Rhine Cruise
Traveling to Paris, Lucerne, Florence, Orvieto, Rome, Venice, Salzburg, Munich, Dachau, Nuremburg and Heidelberg these students will broaden their perspective on life as we know it, experience different cultures, languages, economic perspectives and learn how everything is done on a different level. As one BSU student said, “It will change your life. Every inch of this trip is worth everything you are leaving behind here in the States.”

WyCliffe Hall, Oxford
Taken from Google Images, Eurospring search
Associate Prof., David Smith, of the Business Administration department, will be this year’s BSU’s Academic Director “Many people think it is a lot of money, but the qualities that you will gain out of this experience are astronomical.”  He said, “Dr. Chapman is a genius and will teach you so many vital things that will broaden your perspective on life.” He wishes every student had this opportunity.

According to the BSU Web site, the cost of this year’s program is approximately $7,000; however, that includes transportation, room and board and all other costs except for personal spending money. BSU Journalism Prof. Louise Mengelkoch, who has directed the trip a number of times, pointed out that you could never do such a two-month trip to Europe on your own for that price. “Also,” she said, “your semester is only two months long when you’re on Eurospring. You can work to save up spending money until mid-March when you leave.” This is not your typical day of class here at BSU. The cost of this would be about $115 a day; this is what the $7,000 is used for. You will also need money for personal spending.

In order for you to be a participant on this trip you must have at least a 2.0 GPA, and have your entire freshman credits completed. Along with getting your tour of Europe and England you will obtain knowledge from courses that are given at the campus at Oxford. These courses include Influential Women in the Middle Ages; Politics and Law in Medieval Europe; Science, Alchemy, and Invention; The Knights of King Arthur; Romance East and West; Art and Architecture; and Music and Culture.

Being able to have this experience under your belt as a graduate from a highly established University such as Bemidji would be something to be proud of when you write out a resume.  Finishing your fall semester in the beginning of December you would have some time to think a little about your decision. Leaving in the middle of March there is time to work or to get all your things situated in your own life for your travels. One of the employee’s at the admissions office said, “This would be a huge advantage because you could work more and earn money for your trip, since you need some extra money for personal spending.”

While on Eurospring, you will enjoy viewing performances, museums and get to see artifacts such as the Stonehenge. Having this on your dossier would look pretty impressive to certain employers. Not only are you gaining credits for college but you are gaining a life experience that you could never find anywhere else. Once you look over the brochure and Web site, they will show you everything you need to know and give you the perfect outlook on this experience.

Friday, September 23, 2011

Blog #3: Obituary (not real)

Brent Brattlof, found underneath 60’ of snow at the base of Alaskan Mountain Range, Dies at age 52.

Brent Brattlof, long time CEO of the new world organization “Powder Packs,” was what looked to be like a week-long back-country hike, gave him the vision of how he pictured his life ending. Not having any cares in the world he was always looking for adventure, no matter what form in took; he loved every second of it. Died in an avalanche that was heard across the globe as the largest avalanche of the decade.

The company “Powder Packs” took a long time to break through to the world but he found a way of doing it. With his past in Sales and Marketing he found a way to understand and know what the public wanted and he gave it to them. Getting his degree from Bemidji State University he sought after the hotel industry for quite some time. Realizing that his passion was the mountains he headed west and starting from scratch brought fourth one of the largest back-country gear industries across the globe. Dealing with the United States was the easy part for his company, eventually he was so well known that he branched out to the rest of the world and became the only seller from America to have products and businesses in every continent.

Mr. Brattlof, born in Kirkland, Washington, of a mother he does not know, was adopted at 6 months of age. To his new parents Dr. and Mrs. Brattlof. Both parents deceased in a tragic plane accident while flying to Hawaii for a business conference about 20 years ago.  At age 3, Mr. Brattlof finally made it to his home in Park Rapids, Minnesota. There he lived out his childhood and remained there until he was 19. Throughout his childhood in Park Rapids he became quite well known for certain behaviors along with disliked for his attitude towards his town that he no longer enjoyed being in.

Starting out after graduating High School at Park Rapids Area High School, Mr. Brattlof headed north to Bemidji, where he received his degree in Business Administration and Marketing Communication. During his time here he traveled a little bit, and moved to Colorado to obtain some life experience as a Ski/Snowboard Technician. Coming back to Bemidji in 2009 he continued to go after his degree. Another little bump in the road sent him to the oil fields in North Dakota where he worked for Nabors Drilling Co. and was there for a year. After this experience was over he decided to obtain his degree, graduating in 2014. Upon graduation Mr. Brattlof became the head Sales leader for the Hampton Inn, making his mark in the Advertising world he started to think bigger. Getting a few letters of recommendation he moved to Denver, CO. and worked for a Hilton Hotel and headed the Sales team there. 2022 Mr. Brattlof left the Hilton organization and started his own business, Powder Packs.

Marrying the beautiful Lilly Matheson shortly after graduation in 2015 Mr. Brattlof seemed to have all the things a man could want in life. Knowing that everything was in place there were no worries in any aspect of his dream life.

Given the gift of life in the year 2005, to a beautiful son Mayson. Mayson became well known around the area and was married to his wife Coreen MyFeld in 2030. They gave Mr. Brattlof three grandkids; Joselynn, Riley and Xander. Mr. Brattlof’s son now is the owner of the company he left behind and is making sure all the necessary requirements are being fulfilled. Being given a multi-billion dollar company is no easy task but he seems to be doing the job perfectly.

 One of Mr. Brattlof’s close friends William Ryan said “he will be missed, and everyone’s world has become just a little darker because of this tragic loss.” Not accompanying Mr. Brattlof of his back-country trip Mr. Ryan is living life to the fullest as Mr. Brattlof would have wanted. “That should have been me in this article with him” Mr. Ryan said just as he was exiting our lunch meeting.

Mr. Brattlof is an only child and survives through his son Mayson, Mayson’s wife Coreen and their kids Joselynn, Riley and Xander. There are no other parties in which need be mentioned with Mr. Brattlof’s decease.

Blog #2: Letter to the Editor


To the Editor: RE: “Park Rapids man turns junk into riches; Donates bicycles to area children in need”.

When I was a young boy, going to daycare was so much fun. I got to play with my friends, meet new ones and play with new toys in a new place. Going over to Sharon and Tom Condiff’s house was a new experience every day, but the memories that make me smile now are of the times when grouchy old Mr. Condiff yelled at us for reasons I do not remember and having to sit in time out, anywhere from 1-10 minutes. We all thought it was torture, because we were kids and hated discipline, but it did us good. And now that I am a father I can see there it was all coming from. This article made me chuckle. Everything from then to now I understand a lot more from going to daycare and being scared of him, to going to church and becoming friends with him. He is an amazing man and I commend him for doing what he is doing. I remember my mother selling him our old van; he came back to us a few weeks later letting us know that we just needed a few parts to fix it and it ran like a champ. I can see where, and why he loves to tinker; all of us guys do! He is an amazing man and I wish him all the best. Mr Condiff, keep up the tinkering and putting smiles on our future faces.

Wednesday, August 31, 2011

Blog #1: Oil Rig Work

Long days, great pay for risking my life everyday at work
Williston, N.D.
By Brent Brattlof

For the day shift I would get up at 5 a.m. and drive in the dark about 20 minuets until I would come over the hill and there I would see the lights to my Rig, 149.  Pulling in to the Rig Site, seeing the Top Drive moving fluidly up and down drilling our hole and meeting our quota made me wake up without even taking a sip of my coffee.

Being to work by 5:30 a.m., putting on my fire retardant coveralls and steel toed boots. These are one-piece suits, not breathable, and I was not allowed to roll up the sleeves to feel any gust of the wind that was present.  Have a safety meeting and discuss the quota for the day. After that it is about 6:15 a.m. and I got to go on my own and play. I check my portion of the rig and make sure everything is running smoothly. Fill up oil, check for leaks, spray out the shakers (separate the water from the cuttings). This would be considered a smooth day of drilling.

Our holes would be drilled 2 miles straight down and 2 miles in the direction of the oil pocket. Other people would calculate that out way before we even got there. I was interested but when you’re making $25/hr starting out, there were no complaints.

I started out working as a “floorhand.” This was the bottom of the totem pole, the gopher or the bitch. Everyone had me do whatever they wanted me to do, at any time during the day. I would be eating lunch and my co-workers would ask me to do something. It was kind of my initiation into their world. As the way things would go, typically someone would go from Floorhand to Motorhand, Derrickhand, and then Driller. There are a few other spots in between but there usually aren’t that many workers on a rig to fill, so we all kind of did everyone else’s jobs. I surpassed a few positions and made my way to the Derrickhand. Contents of this job would make a grown man shake in his shoes.
The Climb up to the Monkey board


170’ – 200’ above the rig floor, comparable to being at the top of Tamarack Hall, and even higher when you’re at the top, will give you quite a view. The rig floor itself is 30’ off the ground. I would have to climb up and detach from the stairs using a harness, monkey clips and, staying 100% tied off, climb all over this “derrick” taking things apart, tying things down, breaking parts down or put them up on rig moves. This was the exciting part of my job. And I loved every second of it. I am what you would call an adrenaline junkie.

When I was first learning this job I was up this high with my derrickhand and he was showing me what to do. I detached and he had to pick me up so I could reach something to fix. My leg was shaking so much he had to call down to our boss and say “everyone needs to get off the floor just in case Brent shakes something loose.” Made me laugh and then I was fine. But that is how I had to learn, and it is how I do learn, by just doing it.

Building the curve, change the tool, ream the hole or push down collars is when it got to be fun. This is what we would call tripping in or tripping out of the hole -- Instead of taking our pipe joint by joint and laying it down and moving holes, we would stack our pipe in 90’ stands on our rig floor. The Derrickhand (me), would climb up into the derrickboard, which is 170’ above the ground, strap myself in and just wait.

When I say that you would pull back pipe while you are tripping out of the hole, you would literally have to wait till the 90’ section of pipe was detached from the rest, have the driller and floorhands set the pipe where they want it on the rig floor, then I would detach it from the top drive, which is the mechanism that would drill the hole, have a rope around 90’ of pipe weighing in at about 700 lbs a piece, total about 1 ton of pipe and pull it back into my derrick board and tie it off. Now needless to say I enjoyed this very much, it got you away from everyone and into my own little world. It was pretty much a 12 hour work/workout day all alone. There would be other duties that would make my knees shake, so I wasn’t 100% unafraid of it.

There was a lot of down time where it got pretty simple. I would have to check out “mud” weight which is what would take all the cutting from our hole and pull it out. It had to stay at a certain weight and we would have to add a lot of chemicals to it. Also I was responsible for the top drive motors which would pump the mud into our system. Another fun job with having to change parts and hoping that someone doesn’t turn the pump on and cut off a limb or two. I would also have to teach the newbies how to work on the rigs. This was another job all in itself. I kind of liked it because I didn’t have to do everything alone anymore; I had my own personal gopher.
                                                           
Typical Flare off of all Rigs

Being in western North Dakota the weather was never the same. One day it would be 102 degrees with no wind and I almost died of heat stroke. The next day I would be working and nothing would bother me because the weather was so perfect, lite breeze about 50 degrees, pure bliss. Then to the other extreme I wouldn’t want to be outside at all with it being negative 30 degrees with a 40 mph wind-chill. Not very fun when I’m working where I was. This made for a long day, especially when I was on my feet for 12 hrs.

All in all with everything that I would have to do and everyone that I worked with made this job, by far, the best job I ever had. To this day I still get calls from my old co-workers, asking me to come back. Brandon, my Derrickhand, said “Once I get my Driller card I want you to come work for me and you will have control of the rig, you can do whatever you want.”  Kind of hard to refuse an offer like that. Once I get my degree who knows, maybe I will. But until then it will just be a memory and a hefty bank account! Also the way we worked was a week on and a week off. So I got to spend my hard earned money. It was worth every second!