TUESDAY November

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Cauldron

The

November

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2007

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VOL. 105, NO.12

T H E S T U D E N T N E W S PA P E R O F C L E V E L A N D S TAT E U N I V E R S I T Y S I N C E 1 9 2 9 S T U D E N T N E W S PA P E R O F C L E V E L A N D S TAT E U N I V E R S I T Y S I N C E 1 9 2 9

Do You Feel Safe On Campus?

News

Culture

Sports

Cleveland Scholarship Program

Radiothon Helps Support WCSB’s Independent Aesthetic

Women’s Basketball Team Falls in Opener

T H E S T U D E N T N E W S PA P E R C S U C A U L D R O N . C O M O F C L E V E L A N D S TAT E U N I -

This Week

The

Cauldron

For the Students...By the Students

November 13, 2007

Editorial Staff: Francis X. Bova III, Editor-In-Chief Andrea Mitchell, Managing Editor Jayson Gerbec, Advertising Manager Madison Rabbitt, Advertising Rep. Ebony Cash, News Editor Ilona Westfall, Culture Editor Nick Camino, Sports Editor Steve Thomas, Layout Designer Michael Quintero, Cartoonist Jeff “Z” Stoskus, Distribution Manager Anne Werner, Business Manager Staff Writers: David Imburgia, Mark Jablonski, Faith Larraine, Laura Dynda, Jamie DuBois, Mark Katzbach, Christopher Enoch, Reid May, Scott Arko, Andrea Cervenak, Gary Typerstone, Robert Ivory, Sabrina Peacock Foreign Correspondent: Amanda Richards Contributing Writers: Dave Orzechowski, Sabrina Peacock, Johntay Brown, Alex Friedman, Audrey McCrone, Roman Verzub, Charlotte Morgan, Shanette D. Buford, Dan Hollowell, James Kneblik Cleveland State University 2121 Euclid Avenue UC 10 Cleveland, Ohio 44115 (216) 687-2270 / (216) 687-5155 www.csucauldron.com www.myspace.com/csucauldron The Melting Pot The Cauldron reserves the right to edit letters for space and clarity. All entries must include your name, year-in-school, and daytime phone number for verification purposes. All entries must be submitted by Friday at 5 p.m.

T he Melting Pot My Day as a Poll Worker Andrea’s Anecdotes Editorial: Writers Out, Reruns In

News The End of World Poverty?

News Anchor Tim White to Speak at CSU on Wednesday Cleveland Scholarship Program Urban Affairs Center for Health Equity Receives Grant Porn Nation

Feature Do You Feel Safe On Campus?

Culture Radiothon Helps Support WCSB’s Independent Aesthetic The Chosen Explores Friendship and Religion CSU Chic Puppets Take the Stage in The Firebird Are They Worth a Listen?

Singer/Songwriter Luca Mundaca Talks About Her Eclectic Sound Pyschic Music Scene

Sports Women’s Soccer Lays Foundation for 2008 SeasonCan’t Refuse A Look at the CSU Cheerleading Squad Women’s Basketball Team Falls in Opener

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Th e M elting Po t My Day as a Poll Worker

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A Litany of Seals and Codes, Narrated by Kilgore Trout Story by Mark Jablonski | The Cauldron Political Correspondent Upon returning home from the Monday Night Organizational Meeting, I made a peanut butter, jelly and cheese sandwich for the day ahead, and then set three different alarm clocks to ensure that I would wake up on time. I am not accustomed to rising at 4:30 in the morning.

Sometime after hitting the snooze buttons on the three different alarm clocks, I made my way out the door. The polling location I was to work at is a mere six blocks from my apartment, so I walked there.

The Orchard Elementary school doors were locked, so I had to knock loudly in order for the custodian to hear me. It wasn't long before he let me in.

Although I was a few minutes early, most of the other poll workers had already arrived. The Election Day technicians powered up the sleek Diebold Voter 2000s as I sipped a 50-cent cup of coffee. Looking at the giant bag of voting supplies on the table before me, I wondered if I was up to the task. After all, my duties that day consisted of ensuring that the very underpinnings of our democracy remained intact. People had to feel that their votes counted.

I was well aware of the importance

of the poll worker's obligations, and I took them very seriously. But there was no more time for thinking. The Presiding Judge, a kind, 78-year-old Hungarian lady named Margaret, was about to administer the Oath of Office.

It was time to get started.

At the meeting the night before, we had already ensured that everything we needed was in the supply bag, and all that was left to do was post the various “Election Today” signs on the inside and outside of the building. By the time that was done, it was 6:30 a.m., and the polls were officially open. After about 15 voter-less minutes, someone offered to go to McDonalds. I ordered a coffee and an Egg McMuffin without the meat. It came back with meat, which I offered to my fellow poll worker Agnes.

Agnes was born in Ireland, and her accent was very prominent.

We talked a bit about the Irish Republican Army and the recent developments with the British, who I guess the Irish are supposed to hate.

“There's not too much tension these days between 'em,” Agnes told me.

Throughout the day, Agnes was knitting a tea cozy, which is apparently a sweater for a teapot.

According to her it doesn't keep it warm or anything, it just looks nice if you're into that sort of thing.

One of our first voters was Agnes' husband, who used some kind of a thick stick wrapped up in electrical tape for a cane. I forget where Agnes told me he was from.

“Mary-Jo! Mary-Jo, you're over here,” Agnes called to a woman across the room, who had stopped at the wrong precinct table. Agnes knew probably half of the 45 voters we had that day. She'd talk with them about their sisters, brothers, about their children who had moved away. She asked one guy, who was also from Ireland, how he was doing.

“Not too bad, Agnes. They tore me up pretty good though.

I survived.” He had recently had his colon removed, in addition to a couple of other small organs that I don't recall. It sounded pretty major to me, but he seemed to be doing pretty well. Turned out that he studied history at Cleveland State, or “Viking High,” as he called it, decades ago, and went to law school at Akron University. His brother was a publican in Texas, which meant that he owned pubs.

All in all, the day continued on pretty much like that. A voter would come in, I'd look their name up in the Alphabetical Poll Book, they'd sign the book, and then they'd vote.

One of Agnes' neighbors would come in, they'd tell some story about how their father got arrested at a bar the week before, or that their cousin got real sick from some bad cheese. I also nearly finished reading Breakfast of Champions by Kurt Vonnegut Jr., which I highly

recommend. At around one o'clock, I had a one-hour break. I walked back to my apartment to bum a cigarette off my roommate John, who works at the furniture store below our apartment.

“You wanna see the greatest bathroom in Ohio City?” my landlord asked me when I walked in the store. He'd been keeping the furniture crew after hours for the past few weeks to work on the bathroom, and it was looking pretty good now. “It was just a big hole in the ground before,” he told me.

“How's all the voting going, Mark?” John asked me.

“Oh, kinda slow.” I replied. I then made my way back to the school, anxious to spend another six hours or so very slowly guarding democracy.

Eventually, the day wound down. At 7:30 p.m., the Presiding Judge declared the polls closed, and everyone frantically began the somewhat arduous task of closing down. The Voter 2000s had to be shut down, which involved lots of tape spitting out of the front of 'em. The provisional ballots in the ballot box had to be removed, and then the ballot box either had to be sealed and taken with us to the drop-off location, or it had to stay ....Continued on page 4

Th e M elting Po t Andrea’s Anecdotes

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Story by Andrea Mitchell | The Cauldron Managing Editor

The Power of One: Any child that has gone to school in the United States has been told from their earliest days

My Day as a Poll Worker Continued from Page 3 at the school. The directions were very ambiguous. I called the Board of Elections on the special phone we'd been provided to clear things up.

We sealed the ballot box and took it with us.

We had been given a litany of little plastic seals, which had serial numbers on them. We had to use them to seal the bag that contained the Voter 2000 memory cards, the supply bag, the ballot box, the canister bag, and a few other containment devices, each of which contained very important and serious types of documents and/or democracypromoting objects. After ensuring that all of the seals were in place, and that all of the various forms went into the correct envelops, and that all of those envelopes went into the corresponding larger envelopes (one of which was officially labeled “The Large Envelope.”) Margaret and I took everything to the dropoff location a few blocks away. This

that it is important to vote. I have always agreed with this ideal, but I never really believed that my vote mattered.

Last year was the first year I was able to vote, so I did. Accompanied by my mother I went to the polls, used the electronic voting machine and left feeling as if I had done my patriotic duty.

This year was a little different.

I had to work on voting day, had homework to do and had to be to campus by 5:15 p.m. for an event. I did not want to go to the polls that day.

As I sat at the table eating a rushed dinner before I left for downtown my mother asked me if I had voted yet. I said I didn’t really is where all the poll workers in our Ward (or maybe even in the county, I'm not entirely sure) had to meet Board of Elections workers and securely hand them the democracyrelated goods.

So we did that. Margaret was then nice enough to give me a lift back home. She only lived three streets away from me, so I didn't feel too bad about it. When I got there, my roommates' brother Jonah was parked in front of our apartment unloading some items he'd found while scrapping.

“Will you help me a second, Mark,” he asked me. I told him sure, and grabbed an old picture frame.

Jonah often stops by our place and brings John all sorts of old stuff for him to evaluate, and maybe sell on eBay. John gets mad at him sometimes for hauling all sorts of junk up there and leaving it. We've got an old chest sitting in the living room right now from that night.

I went to sleep around 10 o'clock.

I'd jut spent 14 hours safeguarding democracy.

I was beat.

have time and was in a hurry to get downtown. She was the typical mother and gave me the guilt trip about how people died for this right I was taking for granted. I was mad she didn’t understand what kind of a day I was having and on top of everything it was rainy and cold.

But even still mother’s words don’t die easily, so I went and voted.

The next day after I got home from class my mom said to me casually, “Do you want to hear something interesting?” It being my mom I expected it to be some unimportant tidbit she picked up in The Plain Dealer that morning.

Instead she told me that the councilman from our Ward won by one vote. Now this wouldn’t have

mattered except for the fact that I had voted for that councilman.

Had I been too tired, or just too lazy it would have changed the course of that election. Amazing isn’t it. I’m sure I’m not the only one in the entire Ward who almost didn’t vote that day, but when I say I was close to not going, I mean wasn’t going to go.

One vote can change everything.

Last week mine did and even though its unlikely that this will happen again it makes me think. It makes me want to vote. It doesn’t matter how busy your day is going, or what the weather is like, what matters is that on the one day a year that your vote matters you cast it.

Th e M elting Po t Editorial:

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Writers Out, Reruns In From the Editorial Desk Wait, haven’t we seen this episode of The Late Show already?

Yeah, actually we have.

As most people already know, The Writers Guild of America, the labor union who represents the writers who pen most of the network television and movie scripts that we know and love (or not), went on strike on Nov. 5.

What does this mean for us as viewers? Since movies are written and filmed so far in advance it would be a long time before we would see any affect to that part of the industry.

On the other hand, if the strike continues as long as a five-month long strike in 1988, television as we know it will drastically change.

The first shows to be affected were late night talk shows that depend on having timely material written daily.

Less than 24 hours after the strike officially began last Monday, The Late Show and other talk shows

did indeed go into reruns.

Here we go again.

The next to go will be daytime soaps.

Primetime television shows will soon follow. After the networks have exhausted their stock of already written and filmed shows, we can expect reruns, more reruns, and lots of reality shows.

Because reality shows employ few writers, most of whom are nonunion, they will not be affected.

Networks will be scrambling to offset a glut of reruns so they will fill timeslots with tons of reality shows.

The Fox network did just this during the 1988 strike with the introduction of Cops, considered to be the first in the genre. After it unexpectedly gained in popularity, more networks jumped on the reality show bandwagon. Thanks a lot Fox. From a viewer’s perspective, it’s easy to resent the writers. What are

we supposed to do without 24, Lost, or The Office, all of which could be postponed for an indefinite length of time?

This seems to be the view much of the media has taken on the subject. Who cares about the poor little writers? We want our TV! When one examines the reasoning behind the strike, however, the writers don’t seem like bad guys so much.

The strike, against the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers, is in response to a failed attempt to renegotiate writers’ contracts. Members of the WGA currently receive the same amount in royalties, or “residuals”, from DVD sales as they have since 1985.

In 1985 home video was a new and uncertain industry. No one was sure if it would catch on or not. So, the WGA settled for a relatively small piece of the home video pie.

Today DVD and VHS sales are approximately twice what the box office brings in, according to the Video Software Dealers Association.

So the WGA wants to know why writers are still making the same amount of money off of home video sales as they were back in the 80s, far before DVDs were even invented.

They are asking for four more cents per DVD sold. It certainly doesn’t seem too fair for anyone to be making the same amount of money as they were more than 20 years ago.

The other reason for their strike is that writers don’t make any sort of royalties off of what they refer to as

“new media”; the downloading of a show or movie from iTunes or the free promotional airing of a show online, for example.

According to the eastern branch of the WGA, the AMPTP argues that since those forms of media have an uncertain future writers should receive only the same for downloads as they do for DVD sales. They also would receive no compensation for free airings of their shows and movies.

Yeah, because as we’ve seen with the Internet, all these new fangled forms of media are merely passing fads.

Needless to say, the WGA learned from its earlier mistakes and doesn’t intend on missing out on developing forms of media again.

Unfortunately, the 1988 strike resulted in a loss to the entertainment industry of about $500 million. What possibly hurt it more was the loss of many television viewers, 10 percent of whom never regularly sat back down in front of the tube after the strike was over.

The entertainment industry as we know it is suffering already.

Back in 1988 we didn’t have NetFlix, iPods, or YouTube to compete with traditional film and TV. It certainly makes one wonder if this strike could ultimately be devastating to the industry.

Nonetheless, without writers our favorite shows and movies could not exist. Soon, we may be subjected to what David Letterman did during the 1988 strike because of a lack of material. He joked about having someone shave him on the air.

It would be doing the nation a massive favor to simply give the members of the WGA a little more money. The alternative is to spend a hellish eternity watching reality shows.

News

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The End of World Poverty?

Story by Roman Verzub | The Cauldron Contributing Writer

His first loan was out of his own pocket: around $27 to help a bamboo furniture maker.

Thirty years later he has spawned an industry that has helped to lift millions of people out of poverty and has also earned him a Nobel Peace Prize.

He is the father of micro credit finance and the founder of the Grameen Bank.

His name is Dr. Muhammad Yunus.

Born and raised in a small village in Bangladesh, Dr. Yunus studied and received a PH.D in Economics at Vanderbilt University in 19696.

Disillusioned and frustrated that his lessons in the classroom did nothing to explain the extreme hardship outside of the classroom, he began a movement of giving loans to the poor.

Even though 30 years later his Grameen Banking system has been emulated in over thirty countries, Dr. Yunus says his fight is not over until everyone worldwide is lifted from the hardships of poverty.

Dr. Yunus began in 1976 by giving loans to the poorest people in his village.

What separates him from other bankers, he says is to whom he loaned money.

“I started giving loans to the

poorest people,” Dr. Yunus told AlJazeera English. “Without collateral without any legal instruments, without any guarantee from anybody, which is something quite different than conventional banks.”

Dr. Yunus’s biggest challenge, he says, was getting people to accept his idea that loans could be done without collateral.

“The biggest one was minds,” he said. “People completely refused to support us. I said that banking can be done completely without collateral, you don’t need it.”

His detractors told him that it was impossible, and if loans could be given without collateral it would have been done long ago; it would be in the U.S., in Europe, it would not have had to be discovered in Bangladesh.

“Just because they didn’t do it,” Dr. Yunus said, “that doesn’t mean it cannot be done. We can do it ourselves.”

Other major battles Dr. Yunus fought were not at the top, where his theories were dismissed for not being, “in the textbooks,” but at the very grassroots level where he could have to teach his customers, 96 percent of them women, how his system works and how they could apply it.

Dr. Yunus says he is fighting bat-

tles all around the social ladder.

“If you persuade a woman, her husband still needs to be persuaded,” Dr. Yunus said. “Her husband thinks it is an insult to him that we are trying to deliberately insult him by giving money to his wife because he thinks that all financial power should rest on him, not his wife.”

Despite such protests and boycotts from husbands, religious conservatives opposed to women’s economic freedom and the extreme left-wing called Dr. Yunus a conspirator coming to destroy their political movement, Dr. Yunus stuck with his ideas.

“I always believed that what I was doing was right and I never faltered because I saw the result,” he said. “It’s not reading some theory it’s real people, real situations, and I see how it touches people’s lives.”

Ultimately Dr. Yunus says that his goal is to eliminate poverty completely from his native Bangladesh and ultimately from the rest of the world.

He has called human poverty “an insult to all of mankind.”

“I always felt bad that the world accepted that poverty will remain with us as long as human beings will remain on this planet,” he said, “and human beings are not created to remain poor. I would say that if

“I always believed that what I was doing was right and I never faltered because I saw the result” we can believe we can create poverty-free world, that all human beings can stay out of poverty and move on to achieve the missions of life that would be [the achievement] of the ultimate goals of all human beings.

“If I have contributed in some way to making that happen I would be the happiest man [because] I could play [a part] in that role.”

News Anchor Tim White to Speak at CSU on Wednesday Story by Ebony Cash | The Cauldron News Editor

Tim White, WKYC

Does anyone know “The Awful Truth About News?”

Well, popular news anchor Tim White of WKYC-TV 3 has the answer and is willing to share it with you on Wednesday at 12:15 p.m.

The event will take place in Drinko Recital Hall at Cleve-

land State University.

White is co-anchor of WKYC’s 6, 7 and 11 p.m. weekday newscasts. He started his broadcasting career at the age of 14, reporting high school news for the local radio station in Clare, Michigan. In the years since, he has worked

as a reporter, writer, producer, anchor and host for television stations and networks across the country. He has also hosted programs for PBS, CBS, CNN, Turner Broadcasting, Knowledge TV, Paramount Studios and WorldNet. White joined WKYC-TV3,

Gannett’s NBC affiliate in Cleveland, in 1999.

White has won many awards in his tenure, specifically a regional Emmy award for his anchor work at TV-3.

He has also been inducted into the Ohio Radio and Television Broadcasters Hall of Fame.

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Urban Affairs Center for Health Equity Receives Grant

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Story by Ebony Cash | The Cauldron News Editor First Cleveland State was awarded $600,000 in Stem Scholarships, now Cleveland State’s Maxine Goodman Levin College of Urban Affairs Center for Health Equity receives more than $900,000 in National Institute of Health (NIH) Funds.

The Center for Health Equity (CHE) has been awarded a $943,079 grant.

NIH export grants provide funding for the establishment of centers of excellence to address racial and eth-

nic health disparities.

CHE will partner with a few area colleges and universities to develop a comprehensive and collaborative program of recruitment, education, and retention designed to expand the workforce of health providers, researchers, and faculty working to reduce health disparities.

“This grant will be a great catalyst to a level of synergy between students, professionals and faculty that will increase knowledge and skill

set addressing health disparities in Greater Cleveland,” said Peter Whitt, associate director of the CHE, and principal investigator for Cleveland State’s portion of the grant.

Cleveland is the only city in Ohio to receive this type of funding from the NIH. The Maxine Goodman Levin College of Urban Affairs is ranked among the top eight schools of urban affairs in the United States.

“This grant will be a great catalyst to a level of synergy between students, professionals and faculty” - Peter Whitt, Associate director of the CHE, and principal investigator for Cleveland State’s portion of the grant

Cleveland Scholarship Program Story by Sabrina Peacock | The Cauldron Staff Writer Being a college student at Cleve- scholarships that help you complete "Trying to determine a starting Another Web site is The Colland State University, I am well aware your program, job searches, as well point in searching for scholarships lege Board, which is found at colof the financial aid process: start with as provide students with computer ac- and finding one to apply for is a very legeboard.com . The College Board a FAFSA (Free Application for Fed- cess during their office hours. challenging process that takes time," is a nonprofit educational website eral Student Aid), cross your fingers, "We are here to help students Moran said. that provides information regarding and hope for the best. prepare themselves in every way posTo begin your search, there are schools and financial aid, including However, as college students, are sible for the college or trade different Web sites how your parents can contribute to you aware that you are able to get ad- school of their that can be used to your education. You can also use genditional funds to pay for school? Did choice,” Nixon start the process. eral search engines, such as Google you know that you may be overlook- said. “Despite your One Web site, Ohio and Yahoo!, to help you locate scholing a vital resource pool located only age, it's never too Career Information System, ohcis. arships. minutes from campus? The Cleve- late to pursue your goals." intocareers.org , is a site supported by "When using a general search enland Scholarship Program (CSP) ofNot sure how to start the scholar- the Ohio Department of Education gine, be sure to be as specific as you fers a wide assortment of information ship process? Not sure how to search that provides accurate and current in- can when trying to find a scholarthat helps you locate scholarships and for scholarships? formation regarding careers, financial ship," Nixon said. "Instead of typing grants that can be used to pay your Don't worry, you’re not alone. aid and scholarships. engineering scholarships, adding meChristine Moran, Marketing AsTo access this site under the CSP chanical and the state Ohio narrows tuition.

In speaking with Mary Lou Nix- sistant for CSP, knows that starting the login key in the user ID as ocan, and your search by nearing 100,000 enon, a representative from the Student scholarship process can be difficult. the password as ohiocis03. tries."

Support Services in the Re"It's very important for source Center for the CSP, students to remember that Cleveland Scholarship Program Checklist it is clear that many students every little bit [of money] are not even aware of the ser- - Focus on scholarship deadlines. Complete scholarships in a timely manner helps," Nixon said. "If you get a small scholarvices offered by CSP. "Many students are not - Check school financial aid office for scholarships that are available ship ranging from $250aware that we are located in - Check within community groups to see if there are special scholarships that can be applied $500, be happy because Public Square and that we form that lessens the overall can provide them with other cost." assistance, not just scholar- - Review family history. If there was a family member part of the military, you may benefit by Cleveland Scholarship being awarded a scholarship ship searches," says Nixon.

Program is located at 200 Coming from personal - Be sure to complete the scholarship in its entirety to prevent a denial due to information not Public Square, and is open experience, I was not aware being provided from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. that CSP offered help in findFor more information - Any scholarship that you apply for, small or large, will be a big help ing the right school, finding call (216) 241-5587.

News

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Porn Nation: One Student’s Reaction

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Story by Laura Dynda | The Cauldron Staff Writer Wouldn’t it be cool if there was a discussion about porn at school?

A discussion about how the industry and America have both changed over the years. You know what I mean, a liberal discussion about sexuality at CSU. It doesn’t seem so far-fetched does it?

Well apparently it is, because there was recently a discussion about pornography at Cleveland State that had nothing to do with any of this.

On Wednesday Nov. 7, Cleveland State’s Campus Crusade for Christ sponsored a discussion about pornography titled Porn Nation.

When I saw a flyer for this event, I was excited that CSU was going to be having this presentation…that was until I actually saw the presentation.

Porn Nation’s speaker was Michael Leahy, a recovering sex addict who in 1999 dropped his porn habit for God. Since then Leahy has been to over 100 college campuses speaking about the destructiveness of pornography in the United States.

Leahy presentation is made up of a lecture with the help of a short film. With the film Leahy is able to present his facts in a very educational way. He starts off by telling the audience that pornography is a $57 billion a year industry worldwide, and that the United States makes up about $10 to 12 billion of that. According to Leahy that’s roughly more revenue than all football, baseball and basketball franchises in the United States.

Leahy says that Hollywood produces 400-

500 movies every year, compared that to the porn industry’s release of 11,000 new titles He also says that “If you look at adult book stores and retail outlets, there are more adult book stores and retail outlets in this country than McDonald’s on a ratio of 2:1.”

Now I came into this discussion with an open mind. I grabbed my free pizza and pop and sat down to listen to Leahy speak.

But as the presentation got under way, I started wondering why he wasn’t talking about actu- a l pornography? Instead he was showing pictures and clips from magazine advertisements and television shows. Leahy was saying that this was porn.

The question is, how is lingerie pornography? It’s not. Saying that the cover of Maxim, or the Victoria’s Secret Runway Show is pornography is just ridiculous.

Hello, women are clothed. To say that this is porn is like saying that any woman that shows a little bit of cleavage or who is dressing preventatively is porn. It’s not, it is an expression of femininity, fashion, and freedom.

What stuck me the most when watching this presentation was just how sexist it was.

Only pictures of women shown.

Men were either shown in an authoritative role or not at all. If showing a woman in a bikini or bathing suit is considered porn, than isn’t a guy who’s not wearing a shirt or showing off his boxer shorts also porn? It is as

if the woman’s movement never happened. For Leahy was basically saying that if women didn’t dress proactively, there would be no porn, eating disorders, or issues with self-esteem.

The 90 minute discussion was interesting to say the least.

Leahy quoted sources sparingly throughout the entire presentation.

O n e of the only sources that he used was Webster’s

Dictionary.

He said that according t o Webster’s Dictionary “pornography is any material designed with the expressed purpose of arousing you sexually.”

Leahy never used any charts or any sources when he was quoting different statistics. Usually if one has statistics from a source, they quote them. All college students are taught that, so why didn’t Leahy get the memo, since after all he has visited over 100 college campuses.

So why college campuses and not old age homes or churches to tell his story and give his presenta-

What stuck me the most when watching this presentation was just how sexist it was. tion? Well according to Leahy it‘s because, the largest targeting group for pornography is our college age demographic. I am sure that the sexual awakening stage to pornography starts much earlier, but due to the fact that at the end of this presentation is about him deciding to “accept Jesus Christ,” I highly doubt that public schools would let him come in a speak. Also the reason for choosing colleges and universities is because Leahy knows that they will pay for him to come and speak.

I am not sure if Cleveland State had to pay in order for Leahy to speak, but I do know that according to his representation, the National Speakers Association, Leahy gets paid $4,000 per public speaking engagement. The University of Chicago for instance paid $8,000 for Leahy’s services. I don’t know about you but I would prefer not to spend any of the school’s money on something like this where there are no cold hard facts, and only opinion and speculation.

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Feature

Do You Feel Safe On Campus?

Story by Francis X. Bova III | The Cauldron Editor-In-Chief

“My main concern is that nothing like this happens to another student at Cleveland State University,” Adam arrived at the CSU Bookstore around 10:40 a.m. on Sept. 24 to pick up a copy of Long Day’s Journey into Night by Eugene O’Neill. The book was for his Intro to Fiction and Drama class which was slated to start at 11 a.m. Adam would not make it class that Wednesday.

By Adam’s account, he hurried to catch a spot in line and while leafing through the paperback copy of O’Neill’s autobiographical play he accidentally dropped it. The book bounced forward and grazed the shoe of a young man in front of him.

Adam not thinking it was a big deal, scooped up the book and continued through the line.

After paying and grabbing his backpack from the lockers in the front of the store, Adam darted outside worrying he’d be late for class.

Outside the young man was waiting.

“I wasn’t aware that I’d done anything wrong, so I didn’t think twice when I exited the store,” Adam said. “I walked to the curb, looked both ways, and instantly felt something smash the left side of my face. I quickly realized that I’d been assaulted when the young man started circling me, asking, ‘Why didn’t you say you were sorry?’”

Adam was only punched once, but it was severe enough that he underwent surgery at Parma Community Hospital and had two titanium steel plates and eight screws inserted to hold his face together.

Cleveland State University police sergeant Scott Secor said the investigation is still open.

A witness spotted the young man heading east on Euclid Avenue after the incident and a police lineup was unable to pinpoint the assailant. The young man was seen perhaps corresponding with a female CSU student in the bookstore, but a connection has not been verified.

However, bookstore security cameras caught a majority of the incident on film.

“My main concern is that nothing like this happens to another student at Cleveland State University,” Adam said. “I understand that it’s a campus in the middle of large metropolitan area, but I think that there are certain precautions and procedures that the school can take to ensure the safest possible environment possible. I truly feel CSU had let me down that day by not offering security to the best of their abilities.”

In the following weeks after the assault Adam, a senior,

dropped out of his remaining classes mainly because he doesn’t feel safe on campus, and was unable to make up a majority of his class work. In the spring, Adam is transferring to BaldwinWallace College.

Are there others like Adam?

Valerie Hinton Hannah, judicial affairs officer in Student Life, deals with roughly 75-80 cases a year involving students.

Issues can range from threatening letters and language to professors having disruptive students to student-on-student violence.

“Nothing is formal until it is put in writing and conduct code charges are filed,” Hinton Hannah said. “It has happened where students have struck other students.”

While student-on-student violence is low, the young man in Adam’s case is more than likely not a student at the university, and safety concerns continue to be a gripe for students who’ve approached The Cauldron.

In compliance with The Jeanne Cleary Act, Cleveland State provides crime statistics on a yearly basis.

From 2004-06, 24 aggravated assaults occurred within the Cleveland State campus.

Two occurred on campus and the rest on public property.

Public property includes the streets and sidewalks ranging east to west and north to south on the downtown campus, the West and East Centers and the President’s residence in Shaker Heights.

Incidents reported can include people with no associate to the university.

“Adam is one of the first to have said it and made it know,” Hannah Hinton said of transferring because of safety concerns. “I am not going to say others haven’t.”

Hannah Hinton sees a wide variety of reasons for transferring as a part of Student Life.

“We’ve kind of set up a minisurvey like why are you leaving. It is not scientific, but the anecdotal information is that CSU is just not a warm, fuzzy place that people feel connected too. That’s not a criticism, but I have not

heard that it’s a safety issue.”

C r i m e prevention: CSUstyle “Students feel that entities have the responsibility to make them feel safe,” Hinton Hannah said. “We need an army to handle everything.”

The Cleveland State security budget for 2007 is roughly $2.3 million, according to director of Campus Safety Bernard L. Buckner.

In Adam’s case, the CSU Bookstore is responsible for the security inside the store.

Once outside, the jurisdiction is either Cleveland State police or Cleveland police.

“The bookstore is a private contractor, I am not sure at this point if the bookstore has decided to take any other [security] measures,” Buckner said.

In the meantime, the university is moving forward with plans to hire 11 security officers.

So far, two have been hired and the rest of the applicants are being narrowed down for the brand new initiative.

“They will be assigned by a zone. For example, one will stay at Rhodes Tower and be familiar with staff and familiar

with students,” Buckner said.

Buckner also notes developing partnerships with the Cleveland Police, the Quadrangle Development Corporation, Partnership for a Safer Cleveland in which he is a trustee, and the Downtown Cleveland Alliance as progress towards a safer campus.

Students must be aware and take action Hinton Hannah feels Adam’s case is random, but recognizes the incident probably couldn’t have been avoided.

“I am sympathetic to that.

If you’re that one you’re going to be mad as hell. I understand, whatever the odds are. If it’s 97 percent it won’t happen, but if you’re in that three percent, you’re mad and it’s legitimate.

I think at the same time, it’s the randomness of the situation that can not be controlled.”

Hinton Hannah offers up the low traffic area between the Music & Communication Building and the Law Library as an example of being aware of possible dangerous surroundings.

“Someone could be in a classroom and pull you in. I’ve come around there at one in the afternoon and there is no one coming back from Urban [Affairs Building]. There is a ladies room there and I won’t

Speak Your Mind The Cauldron asked students and employees of CSU about where they feel unsafe and compiled places where you probably shouldn’t be traveling alone.

The majority of those asked said they prefer traveling around campus with another student or in groups.

use it.”

Incidents can happen anywhere, but students must take action and responsibility, according to Hinton Hannah.

“It doesn’t have to be spaces in the corner or in the dark that are tucked away,” Hinton Hannah said. “And we don’t have a way to man it, and what we need to do and I advocate is the students can host forums on how to be safe or what you need to do to be safe.”

Forums or safety tip education programs can be associated with the Cleveland State police like a Nov. 14 event at 4:30 p.m. in UC1 geared for international students.

But another key according to Hinton Hannah is acting on the impulse that someone seems suspicious. Or as Buckner says, “See something, say something.”

According to police log reports from Sept. 23 to Sept.

29, the week of Adam’s assault, five reports involved suspicious behavior, four criminal trespass warnings were issued and one criminal trespass citation was handed out.

At a glance, criminal trespass warnings appear regularly on the weekly log reports.

“The operative word is suspicious,” according to Hinton Hannah. “If someone made a call and says this person looks suspicious [walking in the MC],

CAT Scan

our security personnel can look around the building and see if everything is okay. Now if we say this person is trying to open doors, suspicion becomes a behavior… So, the university can take steps to provide a safe environment by responding to notices and information.”

Finding the delicate balance is also important.

Cleveland State’s buildings are open to the public including the library.

“We can’t just arrest people because they look weird, they sound weird and they do things we think are weird,” Hinton Hannah said.

For more information on police policies and statistics visit csuohio. edu/police.

For a safety escort on campus call 687-2020.

Safety escorts are available 24 hours a day and seven days a week.

Places You Shouldn’t Travel Alone Z Lot. CSU had 290 reported cases of motor vehicle theft from 2004-06. Consensus is that Z Lot located behind Viking Hall and across from the Wolstein Center is an easy target. According to director of Campus Safety Bernard L. Buckner, the lot will be gone in Jan. or Feb of 2008 to make room for a RTA parking garage. Until then, police have increased security at the location.

Chester Avenue at night. The recreation center glows at night, but the trot down to East 18th Street is not well lit. Consensus is that either side of the street is not fun to walk down when the sun goes down.

Lower levels of all buildings. Basements usually get a bad rap, as do the parking garages.

The main reason is not a lot of traffic flow.

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Radiothon Helps Support WCSB’s Independent Aesthetic Story by James Kneblik | The Cauldron Contributing Writer

WCSB DJ Tara Shimooka

WCSB music library

“I’m offering a date with myself for a $50 donation,” said Ryan Kuehn, Tuesday’s host of Jazz Inquisition on the CSU radio station, WCSB. Ryan’s desperate plea for a listener’s

pledge, though sadly unsuccessful, was self descriptive of the fun natured and unpredictable staff of 89.3. His offer was for the greater good of the 24th annual WSCB Radiothon Pledge Drive.

The student run station hosted the radiothon last week, ending Sunday at noon.

Their goal was $30,000 for operational costs and a location move from Rhodes Tower to the Cole Center taking place in the spring.

Shelves of crammed CD’s and vinyl records, some 15 rows high, form the backdrop of every available wall and corner of the studio. A sign in the broadcast room reads, “NOT AN EXIT,” humorous because it hangs on the ninth floor window. It mirrors the spirit of countless inside jokes and band posters peppered throughout the studio.

Though Kuehn does not typically host the Tuesday Jazz Inquisition show, he has a weekly program on Saturday morning from 4 a.m. to 7 a.m. He focuses on experimental music where they may beat on the chairs in the studio, play five records at once, or bring full “noisy” bands in to play. The show is called the Record Exchange.

Kuehn says he likes the “weird” music.

Kuehn is obviously an advocate of commercial-freeradio.Hedoesthe “charting” for WCSB, by submitting the music played on WCSB to the College Music Journal. “We have to pay $500 a year to subscribe to their magazine. If you don’t subscribe to it, you can’t report charts, and if you don’t report charts people won’t send you records,” said Kuehn as he describes the commercialization that ironically and inevitably creeps its way into commercial-free radio.

Beauty and the Beat, a hip-hop show broadcast on Wednesdays from 3 p.m. to 5 p.m. is another show WCSB listeners enjoy. Tara Shimooka cohosts the show with “DJ Jack the Ripper” and weekly guests.

Shimooka feels strongly that more students need to know about WCSB. “I would say 90 percent of students don’t know we have a radio station,” she said.

Her estimate was not far from the truth. After surveying nearly 100 staff and students around campus, only 15 people could identify the name of the CSU radio station or where to find it on the dial.

Sara Corrigan, the promotion manager for WCSB, says, “What we’re doing is keeping the more traditional approach to radio alive.

But it’s definitely a dying breed.

That’s because there’s just so much money in the commercial play of music.”

Other college stations, such as JCU and Baldwin Wallace, seem to have “junior versions of giant media conglomerates,” said Corrigan.

WCSB works hard to give freedom to the DJ. There is no format or play list required by upper management.

“I would say 90 percent of students don’t know we have a radio station” “What we’re doing is very pure,” said Corrigan. Trust is given to the DJ to be creative.

WCSB is broadcast in Cleveland at 89.3 and around the world at www.wcsb.org. They have “regular listeners from Japan and Europe,” said Corrigan. Programming ranges from various genres of music, political commentary, and public affairs.

WCSB’s soon to be new home at the Cole Center was formerly occupied by WCPN, the NPR station now located on Playhouse Square.

According to Holly Whisman, business manager for WCSB, it will contain a live performance studio and be “much more conducive for radio.” The Cauldron, Vindicator, and WCSB will all relocate to the Cole Center by summer 2008.

Corrigan asked me at the end of our interview, “So are we reforming you into a WCSB listener?”

They most certainly are.

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The Chosen Explores Friendship and Religion

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Story by Whitney Allen Foster | The Cauldron Contributing Writer The Cleveland Playhouse’s production of The Chosen, a play based on a novel

by Chaim Potok opened last week.

“The Chosen is a powerful drama that combines the personal, political and religious,” says Cleveland Playhouse Artistic Director Michael Bloom. “It’s a deeply moving story of the relationship between fathers and sons, but it also heightens religious tolerance and diversity.”

The novel, The Chosen was published in 1967 and was made into a movie in 1981.

The story follows the friendship of Danny Saunders and Reuvan Malter.

Danny is a Chasidic Jew and Reuvan is a more liberal Jew. The boys are growing up in Brooklyn, New York. They meet at the age of 15 when Danny accidentally injures Reuvan

during a baseball game.

After this they speak for the first time and find that they have a lot in common.

The play follows the boys through their last year in college.

Through conversation, they discuss deep secrets, such as Danny’s struggle in his relationship with his father and his desire to experience many aspects of 20th century America that are forbidden in his world.

Reuvan, on the other hand, wants to be there for his friend, but this creates tension with his own father, who wants to help found the State of Israel.

This does not go over well with Danny’s ultra-religious father.

The stage is set up to show the two contrasting worlds of the two boys; Danny’s strict, uptight world on one side and

Reuvan’s looser, more open world on the other.

The play is broken down into two acts.

Act one is an introduction of the boys and their characters, while act two focuses on the struggles that they face as friends.

“The Chosen is a loving look at Jewish life, but most importantly, it’s about the power of friendship — so anyone who has ever learned about themselves through a friendship as close as the one in the play will relate,” says Seth Gordon, director of The Chosen and Cleveland Playhouse associate artistic director.

The story is narrated by an older Reuvan looking back on his childhood.

Adam Richman plays this role very well. He also shows a lot of versatility by playing several minor roles.

I only realized halfway through the production that there were only five actors on stage.

In addition to Richman, The Chosen also features Andrew Pastides as Danny Saunders, Jeremy Rishe as young Reuvan Malter, George Roth as David Malter, and Kenneth Albers as Reb Saunders.

Kenneth Albers returns to the Cleveland Playhouse after being a member of the resident company of the Cleveland Playhouse in the 1970s and 80s.

All five of the actors did an excellent job and the audience was quickly immersed into the performance.

The Chosen runs through Sunday, Nov. 25. Single ticket prices start at $10.

For single tickets call (216) 795-7000, ext. 4, or visit clevelandplayhouse.com.

CSU Chic

by Andrea Cervenak | The Cauldron Staff Writer

Name: Amber Giehler Age: 19 Major: Biology Style Inspirations: Audrey Hepburn and Sienna Miller Favorite Clothing Stores: The Gap Favorite Fashion Magazine: Elle Favorite Fashion Eras: She likes different aspects of all of the eras.

Fashion Philosophy: “I dress based on my mood.”

What She Loves About Fashion: “It expresses who you are and what you like.”

What She’s Wearing: Red Plaid American Eagle Blouse, $30. Silver Ring necklace from Thailand, gift from boyfriend. Grey American Eagle Sweater Vest, $30. Acid Wash American Eagle Boyfriend Jeans, $20. Grey Knit Report Flats, Famous Footwear, $5.

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Puppets Take the Stage in The Firebird

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Story by Whitney Allen Foster | The Cauldron Contributing Writer The Russian fairy tale The Firebird will be performed here at Cleveland State… in the form of a puppet show.

Experienced puppeteer Eugene Hare will be directing this family friendly show.

The production process started with voice auditions. This was a unique auditioning process in which the director is only interested in one thing, your voice.

By reading aloud from the show’s script, actors were able to mold themselves into whoever they wanted to become.

Since the casting was gender blind as well as color blind, anybody could read any role. When auditioning, voices had to be able to articulate, and they had to have an interesting sound.

“Recording was fun and organized.

[When] working on this process, you can go wild with the voices,” says Michael Mauldin, a voice actor in The Firebird and

also chair of the theater department.

“Really interesting was the treatment of the story,” Mauldin said, ”[It] opens up the eyes of the audience and the majors.

There isn’t very much of a chance to see puppetry in this way.”

Eugene Hare has worked with puppets for almost 40 years.

It all started with a book on puppets from the bookstore and grew to a family owned theater company called Le Petit Amis, translated to “My Little Friends.”

The first show that the company performed was at The Laurel School.

Later, the company put on a production of A Christmas Carol at the Cleveland Playhouse. The show continued to run yearly before Hare became to Cleveland State.

Hare says that his motivation for deciding on The Firebird to produce at CSU

The

Cauldron

News Politics Culture Psychic Music Sceene Game Reviews Are They Worth A Listen?

The Melting Pot CSU Athletics Sports News Comics by Michael Quintero online@csucauldron.com

is because he always liked Russian literature. And The Firebird is one of his favorite stories.

The colorful characters are part of the reason.

Hare says a favorite character of his is a witch called Baba Yaga. “While [Baba Yaga] is a witch, the character is not evil.”

Hare said. “She merely gives off what you give her.

“If you are bad to her, she will be bad to you. If you are good to her, she will be good to you.”

While it is a puppet show, it is not solely for the entertainment of children.

The enjoyment of the adults is just as important.

When putting on a puppet show, Hare says that the weight shouldn’t fall all on the puppets.

The focal point is the entertainment;

the secondary points are the puppets.

The stage will be set up to include three panels with one facing the audience. They will all be covered with fabric decorated with golden apples.

The show will be expected to be a big performance.

“I don’t believe in [holding back] on the shows for children. They should be just as imaginative and with as much quality as possible, Hare sai. “We must entertain the adults as well. They are paying for the ticket, and they will find any excuse not to come.”

The Firebird will be performed at 2 p.m. on Nov. 24-25 and Dec. 1 and at 10 a.m. on Nov. 30.

The shows will be in the Studio Theater in the Dramatic Arts building. Tickets are $5 and reservations can be made by calling (216) 687-2109.

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Are They Worth a Listen?

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Story by Faith Larraine | The Cauldron Staff Writer They look like a group I have seen before, but their sound is… neat. Neat seems to be the best word here because this band’s music is clean and well organized.

It’s not messy, it’s not loud…it’s just neat. So, this neat band is going to be playing at the Agora Ballroom on Dec. 9 and they might just blow you away. Or, they could just leave you hanging. That is why it is once again time to decide…are they worth a listen?

Band of Choice: Straylight Run 10 Reasons Why You Should Listen to Straylight Run 1. Interesting tale: The way the band formed is quite interesting.

Lead vocalist John Nolan used to be the guitarist for Taking Back Sunday.

He had written many songs that he thought would not fit the group’s image. Bassist Shaun Cooper was also part of Taking Back Sunday and he left to join Nolan in their adventure to create a new band of their own. Drummer Will Noon joined Nolan and Cooper after his band Breaking Pangaea broke up.

Fred Mascherino from Breaking Pangaea would take Nolan’s place in Taking Back Sunday. Shortly after, Nolan’s sister Michelle DaRosa would join the group. In the end Nolan, Cooper, DaRosa, and Noon would form Straylight Run. That was definitely a mouth-full.

2. Free Downloads: The band gained their popularity after they posted six free demo songs on their official website.

3. Hot Off the Plastic: Their self-titled debut album sold over 11,000 copies in the first week and made the Billboard’s Top 100 Albums list.

4. Sounds like: Straylight Run has The Hush Sound’s energetic sound with Dashboard Confessional’s depressing mood and rhythms.

These two characteristics combined

give the band a unique sound.

5. “Soon We’ll Be Living in the Future”: Finally, a music video I can say something good about. It’s pretty amazing. It’s got lots of bright colors and a Mary Poppins’ magical touch.

6. Halloween Tour: On Oct. 31, once they returned from their UK tour with Motion City Soundtrack, Straylight Run began their tour with The Bravery. Again, they will be in Cleveland Dec. 9 at the Agora Ballroom.

7. The Needles The Space: This is their sophomore album, which the song “Soon We’ll Be Living in the Future” appears. Nolan said he was proud of the song because it finally gave him the chance to pinpoint how he felt about living and dying.

8. Fiona Apple: If you like this lady, she can be found singing on the song “How Do I Fix My Head” on The Needles The Space.

9. Nice Website: Straylight Run’s website is as organized as their music. Members of the band even have their own little blogs.

10. Easy Listen: All in all, their music is pleasant. It’s not a headache but it’s not a sleeping pill either. Again, I will say “neat”.

10 Reasons Why You Shouldn’t Listen to Straylight Run 1. The Hush Sound Clones: They may have their energy, but that’s not all they have. Straylight Run has three men and one woman, just like The Hush Sound. They dress like them, they sort of sound like them, they are indifferent like them, and there’s more. It’s a little odd how much they are like them.

Even though Straylight Run was formed before them, The Hush

Sound is still better known.

2. Creepy birds: Organized, yes.

But their website has some intense, staring birds. It’s not the most attractive.

3. Another piano band: Piano’s don’t seem very rock-ish to me. I think Augustana and maybe a few others can pass with it, but the growth of piano bands is going overboard.

4. John and Michelle: I think it’s cute that brother and sister have decided to play band, but do they seriously have to do everything the other one does. They both play piano, both do vocals, and both play guitar. DaRosa even said that sometimes when she is listening to the songs, she can’t tell when she stops singing and Nolan begins because they sound so alike. Creepy much?

5. Victory Records: Nolan and Cooper were still tied to their contract at Victory Records after they left Taking Back Sunday. This forced the band to put out their first album under a Victory Records label. Maybe Nolan and Cooper should have thought about that before they up and left.

6. Cyberpunk: The band’s name

was taken from a section of William Gibson’s novel Neuromancer. Around 1984, it was most famous for being an early cyberpunk science fiction novel. …the origin of the band’s name just seemed odd to me.

7.Thrown in: DaRosa had never played in a band before she joined Straylight Run. She had only played piano and guitar for a short while before she joined the band. Luckily, she had some decent vocals. Still, it was a big risk.

8.Confusion: Some sites say that Michelle’s last name is Nolan, while others say its DaRosa. I was unable to find out if she was married or not, so maybe she is in a witness protection program. Well, I just killed that secret.

9.DVD: There was the thought of one coming out, but apparently that idea got tossed. Maybe The Hush Sound already came out with one.

10. Just Music: I don’t really know what to say about this band in general. They almost confuse me because they are so…off the scale.

That could be good…or it could be bad. I’m guessing we are going with bad since it’s in the con section of the column.

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LSD March

Suishou No Fune

PSYCHIC SCENE

“Suishou No Fune channels distorted guitars of massive, ear-shattering proportions through a slightly more Western/ European shoegaze-y filter, creating a fuzz-soaked dream pop sound like no other.”

Story by David Imburgia | The Cauldron Staff Writer

Oh, hello again.

Since Cleveland will soon be visited

by Japan’s neo-psych rockers UpTight at Now That’s Class (11213 Detroit Avenue, 216-221-8576) with supporting acts Terminal Lovers (avant-motorik-garageraygun-rock), Kouhutek (improvpsych with noise tendencies and abstraction), and Black Wolf (sixman improv-grinding non-stop fuzz-blasts), I’ve decided to review a couple of rippingly swell Jappsych CDs that I just snatched.

Suishou No Fune – The Shining Star - Live (Important Records) This trio from Tokyo cut a distinct slit in the psychedelic atonal underground last year with the Where the Spirits Are CD released on ex-Sleep guitarist Matt Pike’s Holy Mountain label. Where the group’s neo-psych contemporaries can mostly be found a bit more

melodically hard to swallow than a one-four-five chord progression, Suishou No Fune channels distorted guitars of massive, earshattering proportions through a slightly more Western/European shoegaze-y filter, creating a fuzzsoaked dream pop sound like no other.

The four live tracks on the new The Shining Star CD start ablaze with the somber nodding of a spacey dual guitar wave on “Your Tears Drop From the Sky”.

The intertwining vocal whines of the two guitarists Kageo and Kurenai hit like the cries for help of a stranded islander dying of starvation.

The sound of these shamans trapped in the loneliest of spacetime rifts, presumably by dint of their capacity to suffer, sets a new bar for melancholic rock music in or out of Japan. The sounds continue to burn harshly through

the album, on through the final track, “The Storm of Light”, where the music stubbornly scorches on for 22 minutes, alternately searing with rage and gently glowing until it disappears in a tuft of smoke.

LSD March – Constellation of Tragedy (Important Records) On his sixth full-length release, Shinsuke Michishita, under the guise LSD March, slowly mutates his own sound (one part loner psychedelic folk, one part 70’stinged riff-rock) into a strange new sound, which incorporates music boxes, a theremin, harmonia and harmonica. The result brings to mind the Velvet Underground playing in a cave with a crate of odd instruments from a thrift store.

The Himeji native’s tortured vocals are black paint splattered against a grainy, spiraled red

canvas backdrop in songs like “Kimi Wa Tengoku”, where the clinks and clanks of accompanying instruments behind the steady electric guitar strum evokes a mood so alternately grey and giddy, it may as well have been recorded in hell’s insane asylum.

Meanwhile the harmonium drone in “Kanashii Seiza” whirrs to a mind bending degree.

The album’s lone rocker, “Moeru Pyramid”, recalls a sound that Michishita originally pupated on records like the crashing Empty Rubious Red. Doom rock riffs crush everything in their path with an echo-y fire that touches bases with the stomping sounds of bands like Black Sabbath and Sir Lord Baltimore.

Artist Links: www.myspace.com/lsdmarch, www.myspace.com/suishounofune www.importantrecords.com

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Singer/Songwriter Luca Mundaca Talks About Her Eclectic Sound Story by Christopher Enoch | The Cauldron Staff Writer

Q: How did you get your start musically?

How did you decide on a music career?

In the modern music industry, style often dominates substance.

Seemingly as years pass the average listener grows more and more disheartened with the lack of real, meaningful essence they see from the musical mainstream.

Plenty of musicians pigeonhole themselves with distinct brands in their image, their genre, and their performances. Moreover, as listeners, we must have accepted this sad status quo. That’s just about business as usual in the music trade, right?

Wrong.

If you read between the lines and look in the right places, you may just stumble upon a few hidden gems. Take as an example, Luca Mundaca.

Born in Chile and raised in a little town south of Sao Paulo, Brazil, this self-taught guitarist/singer/songwriter is re-inventing what exactly it means to be a true artist.

Having once been signed to Atlantic Records, she parted ways amicably to join Lumeni Productions, a local and family-run operation who believed in Luca’s talent and finesse.

With full creative control, she then went on her way back to Brazil, and with the help of Lumeni Productions, self-produced her album titled Day by Day. When I recently sat down with Luca over coffee, I let her explain her sound and work for herself.

A: The first time the sound of the guitar caught my attention, I was at a friend’s house, and I saw this boy, and he had a guitar. He started playing. He started playing the song “Stairway to Heaven” by Led Zeppelin. I thought it was so beautiful, magical. It was like being in a movie when people talk but you can’t hear what they’re saying. When I got a guitar, I learned three chords, and wrote a song. I played for my neighbors and friends.

In 1998, I started playing some of my songs, and to my surprise people really enjoyed it. I went to New York in 1999. Eight months later I was signed with Atlantic. It didn’t give me much time to think about being a professional singer/songwriter, everything just came and happened.

Q: How would you describe your sound to the average person?

A: I could call myself a bossa nova singer, but I’m not only a bossa nova singer. You can still play in your language, but it’s about the ways you can touch people. The fact that people don’t always know what I’m saying makes things go deeper for people. People come to me and say, “You make me feel relaxed, you make me feel good, you make me feel like I can do. I get so many e-mails from people that don’t always know exactly what I’m saying but through the music, they know exactly what I’m saying. In terms of label, I can play all kinds of music.

Bossa nova, more jazzy, more bluesy,

I have a pop song, I have songs from many different styles.

Q: Is it better to be that versatile sort of artist, someone who can reach people in a variety of ways?

A: Exactly. I’d rather not have a label. I’m a Brazilian singer, yes, but Brazilian music is made of so many elements and so I have that many elements. So, you can say I’m a Brazilian singer, but not just a bossa nova singer, a pop singer, and so on.

Q: Staying on the subject of versatility, one thing I noticed when I saw you play was the diversity of the crowd who attended. Is it important to cater to all types of listeners?

Do you plan that when you write music?

A: If you were to ask me if when I planned Day by Day I looked at what was selling right now, and what kind of public I wanted to touch…no. I never think about that. I wouldn’t let my heart feel that. My music is made from my heart, and that’s why it touches people’s hearts. I believe in vibration. The only thing people feel is my guitar and my voice, that vibration that touches them. The only thing I think about when I write a song is what I have to say today and how I want to touch people.

That’s my language, my eyes, the sound of my voice, the words they may not understand, but that’s what motivates me: touching people in some way, in a good way, always in a good way.

Q: You’re a self-taught musician.

How does that shape your music?

A: There are two sides to that.

One is that I’m able to not question myself to be right or wrong. I just go with my heart and I write the song

and it’s very surprising for many musicians I’ve met before who say, “Wow, what you did there, it’s so cool you went from doing this to here to doing that there and…” Sometimes the theory, it’s something that I miss though and would like. Sometimes I write a song and I’m in the middle of the song and I can hear what I want but I can’t find what I want.

If I had that theory, I could find it easier, but it takes me longer. I will find what I want eventually, but it still takes me longer.

Q: What have been some of your experiences on tour thus far?

A: I’ve played in so many states I can’t even mention all of them. I definitely always get good responses to all of my shows. I always leave satisfied with my performance. 2007 was my first national tour. It was fantastic.

Q: To wrap things up, you’re in a position to have your advice taken seriously by other aspiring musicians.

What sort of advice would you give to a struggling musician?

A: First make sure to learn the legal part of the music. Second, believe in your music. Believe in what you are writing. If you think what you are doing is right, hold on to your ideas, don’t listen to others telling you to play this or play that.

If your ideas are right, you can feel it. Trust in your heart, not in your mind.

Check out Luca Mundaca at her website: lucamundaca.com, or visit myspace. com/lucamundaca.

Luca will be playing a set Dec. 15 at Barnes and Noble Booksellers in Westlake, come by to hear tracks off her acclaimed album, Day by Day.

Spo rts Women’s Soccer Lays Foundation for 2008 Season

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Story by Robert Ivory | The Cauldron Sports Writer

When the whistle blew last (5) in a year, defeated Youngstown to have a talented and grudge full Clapacs, and utility player Amber weekend in Milwaukee, the Vikings State in the postseason, and had Cleveland State team to contend Rasmussen), the chemistry on this season ended with a five- win, 14- junior Jennifer Wieland receive with next year. year’s squad will most definitely loss, and a one draw record. But, All-Horizon League Women’s With the win over the Vikes, carry over to next year, when more importantly, they headed Soccer Second Team honors to Milwaukee will face Butler this the Vikings will compete in their off the field with their heads held add to the team’s achievements. weekend with the winner heading fifth year of play in the Horizon high.

“I’m proud to say our kids to the Horizon League finals. But League.

It was a 1-0 defeat to “We feel we No. 1 seed University of don’t need to target Wisconsin-Milwaukee that one area, but we sent the Vikings back to need to find the Cleveland, but the game dynamic forward,” created the solid foundation, Falor said of the which will be the 2008 improvements of season. next year’s squad.

It was a hard fought It will be game, but that game could exciting to see not have happened if not for another scorer on a sweet diving header goal the squad to team

by Abbie Kakias in overtime up with Wieland, to push the Vikings past the who finished with Youngstown State Penguins eight goals this in the opening round season.

Don’t of the Horizon League forget the solid play tournament. of the midfield “Without a doubt, that and defenders (win) was a turning point for to hopefully get the program,” Coach Derek another good year Falor said. of brilliant soccer Top-(ac) Railene Thorson, Jamie Burkhart, Elizabeth Norton, Katie Burke, Jessica Larsen, Madeline Singer, (hc) Derrek Falor, Maggie The win was seen by under the team’s Pugliese, Jackie Pangle, Rachel Johnson, Abbie Kakias, Valerie Hil, (ac) Lauren Geiger. Bottom - Allie Zajaros, Ivana Milovic, Melissa Wood, many of the Cleveland State Jennifer Wieand, Amber Rasmussen, Samantha Casey, Nicole Homsher, Heather Clapacs, Kelly Pankuch, Shayna Back, Ashley Kidwell. belt. Next year student body that created everyone will be a great atmosphere for the thinking big, and if postseason match. That crowd ended their season playing their now the Vikings are focused on the team has anything to say about was a sign that the number of best soccer of the season,” Falor next season. it, it will be a big year. people are ready to see a winner said, “They didn’t mail it in.”

Next year will again be a on the field, now the team will try Falor would continue to say challenge for the women’s team, Congratulations to hold up their end of the bargain that it is the first time that a season but 2008 may be the year that and become a powerful force in to the 2007 women’s the Horizon League. Although soccer team and it’s the results of the turnaround will come next year, the 2007 season coaching staff from was not as bad as the record may The Cauldron. indicate.

To state that this year has been a step forward for coach Falor Looking forward to and the program would be a huge ended with a bitter taste in the the Vikings again set the mark for understatement. team’s mouth for losing because most wins in school history. another Not only did the team rack up they know that Milwaukee is a Although the team will lose great season! their first Horizon League win beatable team. Most importantly, three key seniors (defender ever, they set a record for most wins its certain that Milwaukee is going Shayna Back, midfielder Heather

“I’m proud to say our kids ended their season playing their best soccer of the season”

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The Most Fun and Supportive Team on Campus

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A Look at the CSU Cheerleading Squad

Story by Nick Camino | The Cauldron Sports Editor

Now that the men’s and women’s basketball seasons have gotten underway, yet another varsity sport also begins simultaneously with the two: The CSU cheerleading squad.

The members of the cheerleading squad will be providing spirited support for many other CSU varsity sports teams.

These men and women put in countless hours of hard practice and sheer dedication, just like any other varsity sports program at the university.

The mascot and cheerleaders not only cheer and rally fans around CSU teams during games, they also serve as ambassadors for the university, connecting Viking athletic programs and promote the university to the city of Cleveland.

Under the direction of secondyear head coach Giuseppe Di Iulio, the squad and their mascot cheer at all home men’s and women’s basketball games, pep rallies, volleyball games, campus events, and have also devoted their time to various community outreach programs.

Even when the CSU cheerlead-

ers are not cheering, they still represent Cleveland State in numerous ways.

They participate in the breast cancer walk “The Race for the Cure” as well as the Ovarian Cancer Walk.

The squad has also taken time to visit Rainbow Babies and Children Hospital, the Zelma George Family Shelter, and assisted with the collection and donate non-perishable food items to the Cleveland Food Bank.

Most of the squad this year consists of freshmen or first year members, sophomore cheerleader Erika Williams said.

“We only have five members returning this season from last year,” Williams said. “This year there are many new faces, but we definitely have a lot of talent as a squad.”

The only thing the CSU cheerleaders lack are male members Williams said.

“We are always trying to recruit male members,” Williams explained.

“Men are very important when it comes to stunting, holding and throwing girls in the air.”

As any Division I coach would, Coach Di Iulio has set up a rigorous practice schedule for the cheerleading squad and their new mascot.

When preparing for Mid-Vike Madness, which officially opens the basketball season, the squad practiced four times a week, sometimes twice a day.

Now that the men’s and women’s basketball seasons have begun the squad practices two nights a week for three hours. Their practices are scheduled on Monday’s and Wednesday’s from 6 p.m. to 9 p.m.

C S U cheerleaders put in many hours of work on their own time as well, by working out and with aerobic conditioning. They are rewarded for their hard work and dedication. Not only is joining the squad an excellent way to make new friends and create a lifetime of memories, there are perks and financial incentives as

well.

Upon completion of a semester as a CSU cheerleader or mascot, all members are eligible to earn a full book scholarship for classes at Cleveland State University.

Last season the squad traveled to Columbus to cheer on the men’s basketball team as they took on the No. 2 nationally ranked Ohio State Buckeyes.

Members of the team were able to cheer on the Vikings in front of a sold out crowd of 19,200 fans at Value City Arena.

Look for the CSU cheerleading squad at the next men’s or women’s basketball game, they will be there, rallying the crowd around the Vikings.

So, how do you support the cheerleading team?

Simple, cheer along with them, and have some fun.

Spo rts Women’s Basketball Team Falls in Opener

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Story by Robert Ivory | The Cauldron Sports Writer

The women’s basketball team opened the 2007-08 campaign with a 82-62 loss to the University of Wisconsin at the Wolstein Center last Friday.

The Vikings got a first hand view of why Badgers guard Jolene Anderson is up for the several national awards, as she led the Badgers with 37 points in route to her nineteenth career doubledouble (12 rebounds).

Although the final tally reads like Badger dominance, the Vikings were in the game until the final six minutes, when Wisconsin went on

ond chance points and had 36 points in the paint.

“I give [CSU] a ton of credit, they ran a small lineup and a weaving offence that we had difficult stopping,” Wisconsin coach Lisa Stone said.

And troubles the Badgers had, sophomore Angel Roque led the Vikings with 13 points, sophomore Kailey Klein dropped in 12 and freshman Shawnita Garland started her collegiate career with 12.

Garland also had the tasks of covering the Badgers’ Anderson in her first regular season game.

“I give them credit, they play hard,” Stone said. a 23-4 run to finish the game.

“It’s a learning experience, we “I feel disappointed by the final know what we are capable of,” score of this game, but I feel we Angel Roque said. “When we play played a little bit more individually, as a team, is when we have our rather than our team offence and most success.” defense,” Cleveland State head The Vikings flirted with coach Kate Peterson Abiad said an upset going into the half after the loss. only down seven points.

The hype of the Badgers is the The team never held height they bring to the floor and a second half lead, but it was obvious for the Vikings who Wisconsin had trouble putwere out rebounded offensively 24- ting the Vikings away, creat12 and 54-39 for the game. ing turnovers and playing Too many of the offensive sluggish basketball. rebounds for the Badgers hurt the The Vikings had the Vikings, Wisconsin put in 32 sec- Badgers’ lead down to three,

when Junior Natalie Miller, who scored four of her six points in a two and a half minute span, hit a jumper to make it a 61-58 deficit with 6:14 left in the game.

But the Badgers would answer back and went on a long run to put the game out of reach. “I think we can play so much better, and win a lot of games,” coach Peterson Abiad said.

The Vikings will now have a week of practices and time to heal the team’s injuries. The next fixture for the Lady Vikings is a 3 p.m. game against in-state rival, the University of Akron at the Wolstein Center.

They will be looking to avenge a 61-59 home loss to Akron last season, and improve on their 22-15 mark against the Zips.

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