Cauldron The Volume 107 No.9 10/20/08

Cauldron The

10/20/08

Volume 107 No.9

CSU Debate Watch Party Round 3 of McCain vs. Obama Hits Campus in Creative Way

WWW.CSUCAULDRON.COM

The Contents

Volume 107 No.9 -October 20h 2008

Feature

“For the Students...By The Students”

Editor-In-Chief Managing Editor Advertising Manager Copy Editors

CSU Debate Watch Party

The Melting Pot

4

Opening Statements………Page 3 Preposterous Politics………Page 3 Value Pack………Page 4 Nationalization is Not a Dirty Word………Page 5

News

To Submit Editorials, Articles , Etc.: cauldroneditors@hotmail.com

Arts & Entertainment

7

4 19

Frank Grigonis presents: Elf & The Big Guy………Page 19 A Cartoon by Mike Quintero………Page 19

Sports

Viking Soccer Gears Up For Biggest Game of the Year………Page 20 Viking Madness Has Great Turnout………Page 21 Delta Omega Phi Roll in Powder Puff Football Game………Page 21

Contributing Writers Christina Niehaus Dan Langshaw Eric Sever Emily Ouzts Drew Cappy Alexes Spencer Melissa Alewine Cheryl D. Mello Jonathan ‘Killstring’ Herzberger Bob Demyan Robert Rozboril Stephanie Berhannan Ron Arnett

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.

Catching Up With Ron Paul…………Page 6 “¡Si se puede!” (Yes, it can be done!)………Page 7 SGA Update………Page 7 The Verzubian Political Notebook………Page 8 Hispanic Cartoon Artist Ends Hispanic Heritage Celebrations at CSU………Page 8 CSU GLASA Calls For Straight Allies………Page 9 Remembering Carl Stokes………Page 11

The Comics

Nick Camino Christopher Enoch

Jayson Gerbec Sairah Zaidi Laura Krawczyk News Editor Roman Verzub Arts & Entertainment Editor Faith Larraine Sports Editor Robert Ivory Layout Editor & Web Designer Steve Thomas Cartoonists Michael Quintero Frank Grigonis Business Manager Anne Werner

In just a few weeks, the next President of the United States will be chosen by you, the American voters. The 2008 presidential election has truly been one of the most historic of the last few decades. This will be the first time in U.S. history that there will be two sitting U.S. Senators running against each other for the presidency, and even more importantly, for the first time an African American is a presidential nominee for a major political party. …Page 12

Oliver Stone’s Cult “W” Personality………Page 14 Concert Picks of the Week………Page 15 Music Reviews………Page 16 A Quick Convo With Forever In Terror………Page 17

Cauldron The

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www.csucauldron.com

Campus Life Releases 100 words or less: Organization name and phone number must be included. Releases are for student organizations only and should include the event date, time, and location.

Letters to the Editor 800 words or less: Letters must be in response to a written article or campus issue.

Student Columns 600-800 words: Columns can be submitted by students regarding campus issues, positive or negative, and will be sent directly to President Schwartz in order to bring more student awareness.

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Contact Us: Cleveland State University 4th Floor Cole Center Cleveland, Ohio 44115 (216) 687-2270 / FAX (216) 687-5155 www.csucauldron.com

The Melting Pot 10-20-08

Opening Statements

By Chris Enoch The Cauldron Managing Editor University of Cleveland certainly has a nice ring to it these days doesn’t it?

If you haven’t been paying attention or if you’ve simply been missing some class lately (such as myself), the buzz around campus is that Cleveland State University is considering getting a name job, that is, changing its name.

CSU President Michael Schwartz suggested the switch from CSU to the University of Cleveland at his “State of the University” speech last Tuesday. A new name may prove cathartic for the University, or at least so the theory goes. Though a new name may not affect students graduating most recently, the change could provide a sense of prestige and quasi-accreditation that would make the costeffective yet marketable University education seem like quite the lucrative investment.

A rising university lifts all students, no?

The name University of Cleveland definitely conjures up a formalistic image. Just take a good look at other “University of” schools.

University of Chicago. University of Rochester.

University of Pittsburgh. These schools identify

as institutions of higher learning, as would a potential University of Cleveland.

We shouldn’t lapse into a stage of only being as credible as our name indicates, but this university is making improvements all the time. Sometimes those improvements are active participants in the noisy interruption of my classes, and though many material improvements have not been fully constructed at CSU yet, many intangible improvements have already been implemented and many more still need to be.

CSU last raised its admission standards in 2004. The new standard replaced open admission with the requirement that an applicant have at least a 2.3 GPA and score at least a 16 on the ACT. While the 2004 standards were an improvement from open admission, admission standards should advance once more. CSU’s focus should still center on providing a costconscious education to an extensive amount of students.

However, at this particular point in the revitalization of Northeast Ohio, the university

could afford to be more selective. While pessimists and cynics may tune out the idea that Cleveland’s economy may be ripe for business investment and revenue growth in the coming years, if this ambition is to become a reality, Cleveland needs to continue to produce and procure populations of the educated, preferably with some starter capital. An improved university education with higher admission standards could attract outside talent to come specifically to the Cleveland-area as well as create and advance career expertise within the local resident population.

Cleveland needs to counteract the brain drain and keep its own ambitious and educated.

We’re an intelligent, cultural, working class city. A “University of Cleveland” changeup may be just what we need right now. Our people tend to be our greatest export, lets try to keep at least some of them here.

The city and region make great people and those great people make this city what it is. Let’s keep up with both, and give us a football team while we’re at it, as Schwartz also proposed!

name is Lee. I guess that makes her a confederate soldier by that logic. Heck, my friend’s middle name is Elizabeth. She must be an English queen.

“Nader will legalize weed!” Okay, I think we can all mostly agree that it should be legalized since there are some legal prescription drugs that can do worse things to you than marijuana, but there are far greater issues out there than weed legalization like how you won’t be able to afford it anymore if the economy collapses. By the way, Nader wants to legalize the growth of industrial hemp, not marijuana.

“Sarah Palin’s daughter is a ho-bag.” So her daughter’s pregnant. This is often cited and rationalized by the “she can’t control her daughter so she can’t control a country” argument. Considering anyone can get pregnant regardless of how sexually responsible they are, this seems a bit harsh. And with the vast amounts of pregnant teens out there, it might actually help

to have a leader with some experience in that department.

“Obama’s last name sounds like Osama.”

Well McCain rhymes with pain. Palin shares four letters with Stalin.

“John McCain is old. Obama is young.” It’s amusing that half the country will throw out “age is nothing but a number” when they’re dating someone of a questionable age, but God forbid the presidential election includes stark age differences.

Whoever wins this election will inherit an array of problems to deal with. They will have to help get the economy rehabilitated, deal with global warming, fix the healthcare system, start to eliminate the growing deficit, come up with a solution to the Iraq war, amongst the problems of social security and illegal immigration.

Leave the race, gender, color, age, stupid name comparisons, and hotness factors out of the race and vote based on some real issues.

Preposterous Politics Ridiculous Reasons to Vote This Year

By Alexes Spencer The Cauldron Staff Writer The American healthcare system (for the lack of a better word) sucks.

The environment’s on the fence and the economy is bi-polar. This must be why people are voting, correct?

Wrong. Voters in this election have more ridiculously ridiculous reasons to vote than VH1 has crappy reality shows. (That’s a lot.)

“Oh, I’m voting for McCain and Palin, because Palin is super hot!” This is a great strategy, because scientific studies show that leadership capabilities are directly related to attractiveness.

Everyone knows about Abe Lincoln’s sex appeal, hence the 1860’s hit “Loosen Up My Corset” with its lyrics “loosen up my corset, Abe.” And how about voting (or not voting) for Obama because he’s black? Oh, puh-lease.

All of humanity started in Africa so we’re all essentially black. Look it up.

“But Obama’s middle name is Hussein. He must be a terrorist!” Well, my mom’s middle

Monday, October 20th • The Cauldron • Page 3

The Melting Pot Value Pack

Candidates speak out on values. We speak back.

By Jonathan ‘Killstring’ Herzberger The Cauldron Staff Writer

Value. Webster’s dictionary defines it as “relative worth, utility, or importance” – and it comes as no surprise that our current presidential candidates are absolutely full of it.

Value. Full of value.

Anyway.

We’ve been assaulted from all sides with warm fuzzy imagery – McCain cares about your family – no, wait, Obama cares about your family, even that annoying cousin who always forgets to flush the toilet. McCain will actually go in, and flush the toilet himself, that’s how much he cares. (And if that doesn’t work, he’s got ‘Joe the Plumber’ on Speed Dial.)

No one is a better friend to the working man than Joe Biden. No one since Bob Dole (or wrestler Dwayne ‘The Rock’ Johnson) refers to himself in the third person as much as Joe Biden. He’s kind of like a Pokemon in that regard. Sarah Palin will totally shoot a wolf from a helicopter for your right to drink a sixpack, or something. She’s talked with former Vice President Dan Quayle, and is apparently taking his advice to heart (we can only assume that this advice went something along the lines of “it doesn’t really matter what you do, it turns out that sabotaging a ticket from the VP slot is harder than it looks.)

Ralph Nader will totally clean up after your dog, it’s cool, he doesn’t even mind. This is what real ‘Grassroots’ campaigning looks like.

Bob Barr will… hell, I don’t know what Bob Barr would do. No one knows. No one can – he’s an enigma, wrapped in a mystery, wrapped in a delicious flour tortilla.

Okay. Now that we’ve got some of that out of our systems, this would normally be the part where Yours Truly agonizes about how to condense the hours of painstaking research into neatly categorical bullet points. Problem is, values aren’t that simple, or easily definable – for anybody. What sort of person a candidate is at their core, when the lights are out, the microphones off, and nobody’s looking – that is a difficult thing to ascertain. Every comment made will be scrutinized to the moon and back by cynical pundits such as yours truly, because that’s our job – to keep politicians honest.

Okay, seriously, stop laughing. That one wasn’t supposed to be a joke.

When we talk about values, it usually means, ‘will this person make good decisions?

When they get stressed, when things don’t go the way they’d planned – how will they react?

Page 4 • The Cauldron • Monday, October 20th

Joe the Psuedo Plumber

What’s important to them? Are they the same things that are important to me?’ And there are some things we can look at that might bring the picture a little more in focus.

Heading to www.johnmcain.com, I clicked on ‘Values.’ The first thing that came up was “Overturning Roe v. Wade.” He goes on to say that “the reversal of Roe v. Wade represents only one step in the long path toward ending abortion.” So there you go. That is more than an idea, that’s a goal based on a value, one on which many people will find themselves on sharply opposite sides.

In perusing a stack of various newspapers on campus, I read an interview in the Gay People’s Chronicle in which Obama states “I think it is not acceptable that we would in any way carve out exceptions for our broader human-rights advocacy to exclude violations of human rights based on sexual orientation.” So in terms of LGBT issues, you have a Candidate who is called “the most LGBT-friendly candidate running for president in history.” There is certainly no shortage of opinions regarding

sexuality, and the Civil Rights discussion therein. That’s a value with which Obama has been fairly consistent. Moving on, (not .org or anything, those guys irritate me) the D.C.based watchdog group, Americans United for Separation of Church and State, has issued rankings on both McCain and Obama – McCain has a split record at about 33 percent, whereas Obama has a 100 percent record supporting the separation of church and state. What do you think – is the notion antiquated? Do we actually have a separation between church and state?

Can we, and if so – should we?

There is no bottom line here, just a buck – and it stops with you. Figure out what your values are. Not only will this be eight hundred billion times easier than figuring out what the candidates’ values are, but once you know where you stand, it gets a tiny bit easier to figure out who you’d like to stand with.

And if you can’t figure it out, I’m pretty sure that Ron Paul will give you a back massage, if you ask very politely. Because he cares about your tense, knotted shoulders, America.

The Melting Pot

Nationalization is Not a Dirty Word

By Sairah Zaidi The Cauldron Copy Editor

Adam Smith must be turning over in his grave.

And Ronald Reagan. And Milton Friedman. And Ayn Rand. Many other names also beg mentioning, such as Margaret Thatcher and Alan Greenspan without the grave reference, of course.

What is certain is that the version of capitalism envisioned by all of these figureheads appears to be on its deathbed. At the very least, laissez faire is having an extended sick day.

The federal government announced last Tuesday that it will spend $250 billion to buy stakes in U.S. banks, a move intended to shore up troubled institutions and kick-start lending in a frozen credit market that has stubbornly refused to thaw. This direct injection of capital into banks follows the lead of Britain, and is a stunning aboutface from the initial plan proposed by Treasury Secretary Hank Paulson to buy up troubled assets and securities in order to clean up the balance sheets of these businesses.

I suppose the appropriate metaphor is that instead of taking a load off of someone’s back, you give them a potent elixir (Monster? Red Bull?) in order to endow them with superhuman amounts of strength so they can handle the burden better.

Oh yeah, and by the way, you also now own part of their soul!

A more direct description, of course is that this move amounts to a partial nationalization of U.S. banks. Such wording fares far better across the Atlantic in Europe, where government intervention in national economies is far more common, than it does in the United States. Perhaps Paulson summed up the obvious distaste for the measure best, saying Tuesday that “Government owning a stake in any private U.S. company is objectionable to most Americans — me included.

Yet the alternative of leaving businesses and consumers without access to financing is totally unacceptable.”

Contrary to popular perception, such a move is not without historical precedent – during World Wars I and II, the government seized various industries in the name of national defense. In 1932 the Reconstruction Finance Corporation was established to make loans to, and buy stock in, some 6,000 troubled banks. In each case, all stakes were returned to private ownership once the respective war or economic crisis had ended or been stabilized.

In fact, the RFC’s expenditures were approximately proportionate to the $250 billion being spent now, in terms of the size of the U.S. economy. Experts largely agree that the program

was a good one but was implemented too late in the game, something which contributed to the prolonged agony of the Great Depression. The lesson, then, is to act quickly.

It is also important that the government will receive preferred shares without conventional voting rights, a move clearly intended to make the government more of a ‘silent partner’ rather than an active participant in the decision-making process. The government will not, as per the previous description, now own the souls of these banks.

This is not to say that fears of government involvement are completely unjustified – the disasters of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac demonstrate what can happen when political interests and pressures are allowed to play a long term role in ‘quasi-governmental’ institutions.

But it’s clear that the purist free market ideology which asserts that the invisible hand of the free market will fix everything, without exception, is exactly what got us into this mess and it’s time to shift gears. Nationalization – at least in the partial, temporary sense of the current context – is not a dirty word. The next step, after we’ve emerged from this crisis, will be to realize that regulation isn’t either.

Monday, October 20th • The Cauldron • Page 5

News 10-20-08

Catching Up With Ron Paul (R-TX)

Former Presidential Candidate and Current U.S. Congressman Talks With The Cauldron

By Nick Camino The Cauldron Editor-in-Chief

W

ith the election almost here and the United States in a financial crisis, The Cauldron wanted to interview an individual with experience in politics and valuable insight into the current presidential campaigns. After thinking and debating who to interview for this fine student publication, Republican United States Congressman Ron Paul from Texas’s 14th District came to mind and seemed like a perfect fit.

After placing a call to his office in Washington, D.C. last week, I was permitted an interview with the former two-time presidential candidate and chatted with him for quite awhile.

Since he was the final Republican candidate to withdraw from the 2008 presidential race, Paul and I talked about his former campaign, his ideas on how to fix this country, the election between Sen. John McCain and Sen. Barack Obama, and the future of this free nation.

Below is the very interesting conversation we recently had over the phone from my home in Solon, Ohio to his office in Washington, D.C.: The Cauldron (TC): First of all thank you for your time Congressman Paul, I know you are very busy.

Ron Paul R-TX (Ron Paul): Ok no problem.

Page 6 • The Cauldron • Monday, October 20th

TC: You were the last Republican to drop out of the primary, why did you remain in to the end?

Ron Paul: Well we had a lot of supporters who were enthusiastic and they wanted me to stay in because instead of doing worse as time went on we kept doing better so I decided to hang around.

TC: Your message appealed to a unique minority, many being young voters, why do you think you were so popular with them?

Ron Paul: I tried to figure it out, and I talked to a lot of them; the answers were varied. A lot of times they told me it was because I cared about the Constitution, I seemed to be telling the truth where others did not seem to be as truthful, and they liked my position against the war, and a lot of young people to my surprise and delight told me that they liked the idea that I talk about the Federal Reserve System and the monetary system.

TC: You call yourself a Constitutionalist.

What does that mean and how does that differentiate you from the two candidates who are currently running for President?

Ron Paul: Well they pay lip service to the Constitution. Everyone in Congress takes an oath into office, but then they rationalize and say that the document is a living flexible

document and then they do whatever they want.

But a strict Constitutionalist is someone who is strict to the word and the letter of the law.

If they go to Article I Section A and say this is what the Congress is allowed to do, if its not there you are not supposed to do it and others though have generally accepted this idea that you can do pretty much what you want and that’s why I think the Constitution has so little meaning and now there is not respect for the rule of law. In many ways it’s a lawless nation because the President does what he wants and the Congress just does what they want to do and the courts are all over the place as well.

TC: Congressman you have publicly stated that if you were President you would totally phase out the IRS and federal income taxes. What would you replace it with?

Ron Paul: Well Nick the President can’t do it by himself, you have to have a consensus to do it, but yes that would be my goal and my position is to get rid of the income tax and the 16th Amendment and I wouldn’t want to replace it with anything because I’d want to cut spending. We didn’t have an income tax until 1913 and we did quite well. But if you and the young generation think we have to police the world and we need to send out Continued from Page 22

News

“¡Si se puede!” (Yes, it can be done!)

Latino Awards Luncheon Recognizes Latinos on Campus

By Cheryl D’mello The Cauldron Contributing Writer

What do Rita Hayworth, Raquel Welsh, Jimmy Smits and Anthony Quinn have in common with Ralph Alvarez, CEO of McDonalds, or Carlos Gutierrez, the current head of the U.S. Department of Commerce?

They are all Latino.

Over 140 Cleveland State University faculty, staff, students and prominent Latino community leaders gathered at the Fenn Tower Third Floor Ballroom on Oct. 2 for the 19th Annual Hispanic Awareness Month Latino Awards Luncheon, sponsored by the Office of Diversity and Multicultural Affairs (ODAMA). The theme, “Reflections: Latino Identities in the U.S.,” was reinforced throughout the celebration.

All were greeted by lilting Latin American folk music played by CSU student Patricia Merrado, along with Felipe Mercado and Graciela Emerson on traditional instruments including the charango, cuatro, claves and keuna. Lunch was catered by Lelolai Bakery & Café from West 25th Street in Cleveland and included arroz con gandules (rice and beans), cerdo asado (pork), chicken empanadas, pollo (chicken) seasoned Spanish style and cheese and vanilla flan.

Dr. Njeri Nuru-Holm, Vice President for Institutional Diversity at CSU, warmly welcomed all to this year’s celebration and noted the increase in Latino enrollment at CSU, at both the undergraduate and graduate levels. Dr. Nuru-Holm also reported that for the first time ever, hiring of faculty in tenure track positions reached 50 percent for people of color and 54 percent for women. Dr. Donna Whyte, Director of ODAMA, kept the program moving smoothly as Mistress of Ceremonies.

Lorraine Vega, Senior Vice President and Senior Program Officer of the Key Foundation at KeyBank, gave an enlightening keynote presentation which demonstrated

the historic and current realization of Latino accomplishment, and that “¡Si se puede!”

(Yes, it can be done!). Ms. Vega said, “As Latinos, we tend to tie our identities to our heritage, place of nativity and culture. The media has been slow to align its depictions with reality.” Speaking of the growing Latino market, she said, “In 2000, about one in eight people living in the U.S. was Hispanic; by 2012 that will be one in six. Currently, we are approximately 15 percent of the national population, and in places like Cuyahoga County, the Latino population grew while the rest of the population declined . . . Each of us should tell the story about our culture and proactively give voice to the Latino effort.”

She stressed that, “by knowing our strengths and expertise we can help create the Latino image . . . It is each of our responsibility to create a positive image for ourselves and our children, who rely so heavily on images created in the media and on the net. I ask nonLatinos to help Latinos create the image.”

Vega also spoke of the many accomplishments of Latino leaders on the national and local level, from those in the corporate world to others in the arts and entertainment business. “We have gone from a sombrero-wearing siesta man and a junkie on the streets of New York to dancing with the stars, being a desperate housewife, serving as TV judges, and two of my personal favorites: Latinos serving as president of the United States of America on a prime time award winning TV show, and reality, which is Latinos serving as CEOs of Fortune 500 corporations!

While there is still much ground to cover, Cesar Chavez was right “¡Si se puede!”

She applauded Jamie Vega, Senior Admissions Recruiter at CSU, saying, “I congratulate Jamie Vega, who lifts our community every day through her work

in bringing educational opportunity to our students - serving as a role model to her community and taking the game to higher levels.”

Next on the agenda was awards and recognition. The first award, the Latino Faculty and Staff Association (LFSA) Sister Alicia Alvarado Award was presented by Lourdes Dorsey, sister of Sr. Alicia Alvarado and Antonio Medina-Rivera, Ph.D., Associate Professor, Spanish, and Director, Spanish M.A. Program to Jamie Vega in recognition of her commitment and dedication to the recruitment, retention, mentorship of students and overall enrichment of CSU and the Latino community.

Jamie Vega was visibly surprised and moved when she was also presented the Latinos Unidos Award by Dariana Delgado, President of Latinos Unidos, the Latino student organization at CSU, in recognition of her exemplary dedication and outstanding contribution to the Hispanic community and students at CSU. Jamie is also the co-advisor of Latinos Unidos at CSU. The LFSA Student Leader Award was presented to Claudia Blaha by Stephen Gingerich, Ph.D., Assistant Professor, Spanish, in recognition of her outstanding commitment to education and demonstrated leadership while completing her degree in Spanish at CSU. Blaha, who is also involved in the community, is credited with starting the Le Mesa conversation group at CSU. The Madrina Award was presented to Delia Galvan, Ph.D. Associate Professor, Modern Languages Department by Roberto Chavez, Chair of the Hispanic Awareness Month Committee and Coordinator of Multicultural Programs and Retention, Office of Diversity and Multicultural Affairs. Dr. Galvan was recognized for her service to the Latino community and her commitment to education.

The awardees were commended by all on their service, contribution and commitment to the CSU community and the larger Cleveland community.

Awardee Claudia Blaha (left to right), with Roberto Chavez Jr., Coordinator of Multicultural Programs and Retention, Lorraine Vega, Senior Vice President, Senior Program Officer, Key Foundation, KeyBank, awardee Delia Galvan and awardee Jamie Vega at the Latino Awards Luncheon, Oct. 2, 2008

Monday, October 20th • The Cauldron • Page 7

News The Verzubian Political Notebook Fact-Checking Debate #3

By Roman Verzub The Cauldron News Editor The third debate of the potential presidents, at Hofstra University in Hempstead, NY, proved that the art of political manipulation knows no political boundaries and crosses all party lines. Both Rep. John McCain of Arizona and Dem. Barack Obama of Illinois engaged in their fair share of misstatements, fabrications and outright lies.

To start off, McCain said that the liberal group The Association of Community Organizers for Reform Now (ACORN) was out to steal the election.

ACORN employees have been charged in some cases for voter registration fraud. Most recently, more than two thousand registrations in Lake County, Ind., have turned out to have been falsified. This isn’t quite “stealing the election,” though. In fact, Dan Satterberg, the prosecuting attorney in King County, Wash., said that “[A] joint federal and state investigation has determined that this scheme was not intended to permit illegal voting.”

Obama repeated his campaign’s dubious claim that his tax plan will cut the premiums for the average family by $25,000. Most experts believe this figure to be far too optimistic and hard to believe.

Obama went on to claim that 100 percent of McCain’s advertisements were negative - a charge which McCain called “not true.”

It was almost true, at least for one week.

Obama was referring to a report by the Wisconsin Advertising Project at the University of Wisconsin that concluded that during the week of Sept. 28 through Oct. 4, nearly 100 percent of McCain’s ads were negative, while only 34 percent of Obama’s were negative.

McCain’s ads were not found to be even

close to 100 percent negative in other weeks, though. In the week following the Republican National Convention, the Washington Post reported that 77 percent of Obama ads were negative, compared to only 25 percent of McCain ads.

McCain called Columbia the largest importer of our agricultural products. The U.S. Department of Agriculture website says, however, that Canada is.

Obama stretched the truth as to his willingness to defy his party. When pressured, Obama noted a class-action lawsuit bill (S.5). It would be a stretch to say this was Obama “defying” his party - as nearly 41 percent of Democrats voted the same way he did. Furthermore, according to Congressional Quarterly, Obama has voted 97 percent of the time down the line with his party in his three years in the Senate.

Both candidates proposed unrealistic expectations for balancing the budget.

McCain’s proposal wouldn’t work, says the Urban Brookings Tax Policy Center, unless he cuts spending to an unrealistic degree.

Furthermore, Urban Brookings predicts that under McCain’s plan he would still leave a deficit of $662 billion.

The Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget estimated that by 2013 Obama’s proposal would still leave a federal deficit of $281 billion.

McCain alleged that Obama voted against two Justices (Breyer and Roberts) because they did not match his ideology. McCain probably meant to say Roberts and Alito, as Obama wasn’t in the senate when Breyer was nominated (by former president Bill Clinton in 1994). Obama did not become a Senator until January 2005.

Both candidates also recycled old falsehoods.

McCain once again said that “we need to stop $700 billion a year to countries that don’t like us very much.” $700 billion would be the cost of all oil imports per year when the price was $140 a barrel. It’s down to about half of that now.

Obama repeated his claim that oil companies have “68 million acres” they are being leased on which they are not drilling. Actually, exploratory drilling is being done on most of those lands. Obama probably meant to say that since no oil has been found there are 68 million acres of land that isn’t actively productive.

Finally, navy historian buffs noted a statement in McCain’s closing argument that “we’ve sailed Navy ships around the world for 60 years with nuclear power plants on them.”

For the record, the first nuclear-powered submarine, the USS Nautilus, was launched Jan. 21 1954.

The real star of the debate seemed to be “Joe the Plumber”. First mentioned by McCain, Joe (who by the way is not actually a licensed plumber in Ohio) wanted to buy his business, but feared he would have his taxes raised under Obama’s plan.

This is true, assuming a few things.

Joe (who does have a last name Wurzelbacher, by the way) would have to have a pretty successful plumbing business. If his business earns more than $200,000 per year and he files business taxes as personal ones (as many small businesses do) then his taxes will, in fact, increase. Otherwise, he may actually get a tax cut under the Obama plan, according to ABC News.

Hispanic Cartoon Artist Ends Hispanic Heritage Celebrations at CSU Hector Cantú Asks, “Why is Everybody So Touchy about Stereotypes?”

By Robert Ivory The Cauldron Sports Editor Closing out the month long Hispanic Heritage celebration and beginning the 2008-2009 Cultural Crossings Lecture Series, cartoon artist Hector Cantú spoke last Wednesday night at Mather Mansion.

Cantú, the award winner and second generation Texan, spoke to a packed room on the third floor of Mather about the importance of the introduction of the Latino experience to the mainstream media.

“I wanted to create a character and create things that I hadn’t seen in the paper,” Cantú Page 8 • The Cauldron • Monday, October 6th

said during his speech. His creation, Baldo, is circulated by over 225 papers nationwide and has been looked into by the Spanish speaking Television channel, Univision, for an half and hour show. Cantú pointed out that there have been not many Hispanic cartoons in the past 20 years as Gordo, a cartoon featuring a Mexican bean farmer turned tour guide, was the last one.

“You have a national stage,” Cantú said, “and it’s just a matter of having different voices on the national stage. It’s a chance to entertain people, and if you are good at it, you survive.” Survive

he has as Baldo has been circulating throughout national papers for over eight years. With the popularity of Hispanic actors, such as Carols Mencia and George Lopez and Cantú, Latin Americans have been able make their culture known and hopefully breakdown the stereotypes in today’s society.

“Breaking down stereotypes is important so that people can have another look at things,” Cleveland State Director of Cultural Crossings and host of the event Dr. Antonio Continued from Page 9

News

CSU GLASA Calls For Straight Allies

By Alexes Spencer The Cauldron Staff Writer

Hispanic Cartoon Artist Ends Hispanic Heritage Celebrations at CSU Continued from Page 9

Medina-Rivera said after the speech. The most important idea that Cantú had during the night was to introduce Hispanic and other stereotypes, not to perpetuate them, but to make light of them.

This was illustrated by Presidential candidates Sen. John McCain in a queen’s dress and Sen. Barack Obama dressed as a street thug since the event was the same night of the debate.

“It’s also good to play with them [the stereotypes], like Hector does,” Dr. MedinaRivera added. “We have a low number of Hispanics at the University, so having a Hispanic entertainer, like Hector, I think is an inspiration to show to them.” Hector and his illustrator, Carlos Castellanos, have also encouraged more activism throughout the Latino community.

Baldo, who is influenced by both his American and Latino cultures, is accompanied by his knowit-all sister, Gracie, his stern yet proud Hispanic father, Sergio, and his aunt who is the embodiment of a traditional Hispanic woman, Tia Carmen. The comics of Baldo are quite funny, but also make readers think of the stereotypes put on Hispanics.

“Most of the time people have stereotypes because of one bad experience that they had.

You can’t fixate on that, you have to look around more,” Dr. Media Rivera said on the awareness of stereotypes in the public.

Cantú did share the personal emails he did get about the negative stereotypes people think he displays, ranging from Caucasians being very law

enforcing people to Hispanics being superstitious, lazy, and uneducated. His most telling email, however, was from an angered fan that wrote to him about his stereotypical treatment of people wearing costumes after Baldo wore a chicken suit in one of his strips. The email received a great laugh from the crowd.

“You want people to be aware of stereotypes.

Stereotypes are tied into awareness. I think people who are more aware to their surroundings are probably less to have stereotypes,” Cantú would add to his point.

Cantú has also helped the boost the image of the Hispanic heroes of World War II, when he included the stories of his men and women into his comic strip. Cantú would say it was to show not only the pride the servicemen and women had, but also show their patriotism to the United States, even though they were still actively discriminated against.

Cantú’s engagement at Cleveland State kicked off the Cultural Crossings: Memories, Reflections, and Recollections. Other events throughout the series includes Eleanor Lerman (Vampires are Happier When They Are Homosexual, or Adventures in the Poetry Trade) on Nov. 13, Jim Northrup (I AM Anishinaabe and You Ain’t) on Nov. 20, Steve Cagan (El Chocó, Colombia, Struggle for Cultural and Environmental Survival: An Everyday Resistance) on Feb. 5, 2009, and concludes with Arn Chorn Pond (Child of WarMan of Peace) on Apr. 9. 2009.

All throughout last week, the Gay, Lesbian and Straight Education Network (GLSEN) celebrated Ally Week. The Cleveland State chapter of the Gay, Lesbian and Straight Alliance (GLASA) held an Ally Drive on campus in recognition of the event.

Tuesday night, GLASA members met at Rascal House to design pledge cards and decorations for their Ally Drive to be held the next day.

On Wednesday, GLASA set up a table in the MC and invited people to sign Ally pledge cards. The cards simply stated that the signer would not use discriminatory language, would intervene in harassment if possible, and support efforts to end bullying and harassment. Over 30 people signed pledges.

“I do all of this anyway,” one student said.

The table offered candy, safe sex kits, GLBT student services pens, and a CSU GLASAinvented campaign dubbed “Get Your Facts Straight.” The campaign used signs to display homo- and bisexual stereotypes to draw attention to and dispel them. Signs were bold, displaying phrases such as, “Homosexuals and bisexuals are child molesters and recruiters,” and “Lesbians are man-haters.”

“These are things you guys are against, right?” a female student asked with a shocked look on her face.

“We want people to get their facts straight,” GLASA Education and Outreach committee chairman Alexis Lancaster said.

The table offered those who came by the facts that dispel traditional stereotypes and emphasized why being an ally is so important.

Non-heterosexual students are more likely to commit suicide, and according to GLSEN, 30 percent of LGBT students have missed days of school out of fear for their personal safety.

Allies strive to make those in the LGBT community feel safe and equal to all other students. For more information on allies including how to become one, visit www. allyweek.org.

Monday, October 6th • The Cauldron • Page 9

Crime

Prevention Tip Traveling Around Campus

• Stay alert!

• Walk with head up and be aware of your surroundings • Walk with confidence and purpose. This non-verbal communication shows that you are aware and in control.

• Trust your instincts. If you feel uncomfortable in a certain place. LEAVE • Avoid short cuts. Choose the safest route. Use well lit, heavily traveled routes. Avoid vacant lots, alleys, and construction sites • Carry purses bladed across the front of your body • Don’t flaunt expensive jewelry, clothing, or purses • Don’t overburden yourself. Keep a hand free to use for your self defense • Carry only what you absolutely need Remember to use the safety escort service when traveling at night or if you feel unsafe.

216-687-2020

Brought to you by the CSU Police Department Page 10 • The Cauldron • Monday, October 6th

(l to r) Ralph Locher, Ralph McAsllister, Ralph Perk and Carl Stokes at the 1965 Cleveland Mayoral Debate Photo Courtesy of Cleveland SGS

News

Remembering Carl Stokes

Speaker and Local Exhibition Keep Stokes’ Legacy Alive

By Laura Krawczyk The Cauldron Copy Editor

The impact that Carl Stokes had upon Cleveland is undeniable, as the first black mayor of Cleveland during the tumultuous political climate of the 1960s. Any Clevelander will remember his fearless leadership confronting the racial tensions during the sit-ins, protests, and shootouts that embodied the civil rights movement. While he sided with the inner city black citizens, the vast oppressed majority, he turned the protests and violence into tangible political evolution.

Our very own local gem, the Western Reserve Historical Society, began an exhibit in 2006, free to CSU students, honoring the achievements of the Stokes brothers. While Carl was Cleveland’s mayor, his brother Louis was elected to represent Cleveland’s East Side in the U.S. House of Representatives. The housing projects that the two grew up in were among the first in the nation.

Beside a picture of Carl Stokes, holding the hands of three black boys gathered around him, was a recording of Leon Bibb, a local TV anchor, saying of the Stokes brothers: “They were role models in the 60s; they were like my Kennedys.” On one wall was a myriad of hand-drawn pictures by second graders from Captain Arthur Roth Elementary, sent to Mayor Stokes after the Glenville shootout in ‘68. A letter from the class, on tracing paper in large, practiced letters, read, “We know that you will make Cleveland a better place to live.

Good luck to you!”

Memorabilia was scattered throughout the exhibit: silk election scarves, letters of correspondence between the brothers,

newspaper clippings from The Plain Dealer or the Call and Post. Old campaign posters read “Don’t Vote For A Negro,” in huge letters, going on to say, in smaller print, “Vote for a man,” “Vote for intelligence,” and “Vote for dedication.”

One corner highlighted his attempts to limit the pollution going into Lake Erie, the first made by any mayor. After the Cuyahoga River caught on fire in ‘69, Carl Stokes worked hard for environmental issues, passing a $100 million bond issue to eliminate water pollution which reopened Edgewater and White City beaches.

Dr. Leonard Moore, Associate Professor at the University of Texas, chronicles the eventful career of Stokes in his book Carl B. Stokes and the Rise of Black Political Power. The author came to Cleveland State last Thursday to speak on his book, explaining his experiences growing up in Cleveland Heights nearly a decade after Stokes’ two terms as mayor. Although the city he grew up in has a much more diverse setting, he encountered racial tensions yet, describing the west side as “foreign,” where you didn’t venture unless you had to go to the airport. He recalled instances between rivals Shaw at high school athletic games, when the escalation of violence led authorities to disallow spectators.

“People were poor, housing was run down, people didn’t have jobs,” Moore said, describing the same urban problems Cleveland faced in the 1980s as they did in the 1940s.

He left his hometown in ‘89, he said, to pursue two things: to understand what generated the current situation in Cleveland, and to get a

PhD while he was doing it.

While Moore spoke of Stokes, his speech focused more on relating to the college students in the audience and engaging them in the conversation. Some of these attempts created awkward, uncomfortable situations, asking the classroom to name off stereotypes of a black worker, or what our instincts lead us to do when we drove through the ghetto.

The best example by far, though, was trying to relate to the students the racially biased questions that existed in police examinations prior to Stokes’ reform, asking what we thought was meant by the phrase “My grandma’s got sugar.” It solicited a handful of responses, including one girl who confusedly answered “Cocaine?”

He made sure that we all knew that these racial problems weren’t just in the past. “My driving apparel is a pair of slacks, shirt, sports coat and a laptop on the passenger seat - if I get pulled over, I have to give the assurance to that cop that I am a good Negro,” Moore said in a booming voice. “What message is society sending you,” he asked about black children growing up in the city, “when the Gund Arena looks like this, the Browns Stadium looks like this, and your classroom at school is all raggedy?”

Although Stokes made significant advances in Cleveland in terms of exclusionary zoning practices, police brutality, and discrimination, there is still a long, hard road ahead for urban equality and standards. But, as Rev. Jesse Jackson said in the eulogy of his dear friend, “Cleveland must remember Carl Stokes!”

Monday, October 20th • The Cauldron • Page 11

CSU Debate Watch Party Round 3 of McCain vs. Obama Hits Campus in Creative Way

By Dan Langshaw The Cauldron Contributing Writer

Page 12 • The Cauldron • Monday, October 20th

T

he final countdown has arrived.

In just a few weeks, the next President of the United States will be chosen by you, the American voters. The 2008 presidential election has truly been one of the most historic of the last few decades. This will be the first time in U.S. history that there will be two sitting U.S. Senators running against each other for the presidency, and even more importantly, for the first time an African American is a presidential nominee for a major political party.

Even the Vice Presidential candidates are making history, with the possibility of the first Roman Catholic or a female Vice President.

Americans decide whether they want Senator John McCain and Governor Sarah Palin (the future oldest President and first woman Vice President) or Senator Barack Obama and Senator Joe Biden (the future first African American President and first Roman Catholic Vice President).

Of course, the voters will probably decide based on issues that transcend the interesting possibility of historical firsts. The presidential debate last week offered voters a third and final chance of the election season to see and hear the nominees discuss important topics.

On Wednesday, Oct. 15 the Cleveland State University’s “Ultimate Debate Watch Party” was held. The event was sponsored by the Student Government Association in conjunction with CSU Alumni Association, Department of Student Life, Political Science Student Association, Power Vote, Residence Hall Association, Young Democrats and Young Republicans. In attendance was a fifty-plus crowd of Obama and McCain supporters and CSU faculty. They gathered in the Fenn Tower Ballroom for a Pre-Debate Panel Discussion and to watch the third and final debate between McCain and Obama on the big screen.

Like any good pay-per-view fight, there must be a pre-fight discussion on who will win. A four member panel consisting of CSU professors Dr. Govea (Political Science), Dr. Jones (Urban Studies), Dr. Goldberg (History), and Dr. Dolar (an economist) discussed a variety of topics moderated by the Political Science Student Association regarding the presidential election and the debate strategies of the two candidates. The panel covered issues on the economy, universal health care, national polling, war in Iraq, NAFTA, and education in great depth.

The panel seemed to be in consensus that overall, presidential debates need to be reformed from the typical series of little sound

bites and return back to a serious discussion on the real issues facing the country.

“There is a lack of real discussion in the debates,” Dr. Goldberg said.

On the economic crisis, Dr. Dolar agreed with Sen. Obama’s proposal for the creation of a universal healthcare system. “Universal healthcare is beneficial for the U.S. economy and even here in Ohio,” he said, arguing that it could provide a possible solution in correcting the current economic crisis which plaques Wall Street and Main Street.

The panel discussed the war in Iraq and what the best course of action would be for the next president, calling for withdrawal and a return to diplomacy.

“Iraq is a mistake; a way to fix a mistake is to drop it and get out,” Dr. Govea stated unequivocally. A majority of Americans support a full U.S. withdrawal from Iraq; however, Obama and McCain have deferred on the whens and hows of getting out.

Finally the panel discussed what strategies the candidates needed to implement in this final round. They agreed that Obama is currently winning in the polls and needs to continue to focus on his strength of addressing domestic economic issues.

Dr. Jones took great issue with McCain’s campaign strategy: “Choosing Sarah Palin to get the women’s vote is seriously flawed because not all women are alike.”The panel also agreed that McCain’s trailing in national polls is a result of this flaw in strategy. However, they argued that McCain could redeem himself if he returns back to his message of “Country First” and focuses more on issues of national defense and the war on terrorism.

The debate was then shown live on a big projection screen at 9:00 p.m. The general feeling from students in the room was that this final debate would end in a knockout win and the victor of the overall debate would also be the likely winner on Nov. 4. Going into the last debate, all the experts said that this was John McCain’s last best chance to turn the tide and decline in the polls.

McCain took the experts’ advice and came out of his corner strong and on the offensive against Obama; challenging his rival on his policies, judgment, and character. Obama responded by trying to convince the voters that he is better equipped to steer the nation through these troubled times. Both candidates threw off their boxing gloves and switched to hard core, bare-knuckle fighting on the issues of taxes, healthcare, abortion, and the economy.

Before the candidates debated the issues of domestic policy; they got into a heated exchange about each others’ judgment and

character. Obama tried repeatedly to link McCain to President Bush; McCain responded by saying, “Senator Obama, I am not President Bush. If you wanted to run against President Bush, you should have run four years ago.”

Obama hit right back, saying “100 percent of your ads have been negative.” Obama also criticized the McCain campaign for inciting hateful speech.

“I think Congressman Lewis’ point was that we have to be careful about how we deal with our supporters,” he said when McCain mentioned that Obama had not repudiated Lewis’ remarks. Congressman Lewis had recently said that Republican rhetoric in the presidential contest reminded him of words spoken by segregationist Alabama Gov. George Wallace. Obama also explained his dealings and relationships with ACORN and William Ayers. “Ayers has become the centerpiece of McCain’s campaign and the fact that he keeps bringing Ayers up, says more about your campaign than it says about me” said Obama.

A major highlight of the debate was the time spent by each candidate talking about a mysterious ‘Joe the Plumber’. McCain brought up the story during the debate to talk about tax policy and to symbolize Middle America. Joe was a man Obama met on the campaign trail in Holland, Ohio who wants to buy a company that makes more than $250,000 a year and was concerned that Obama’s tax plan would hurt him because of it.

McCain criticized Obama’s tax plan, saying, “We’re going to take Joe’s money, give it to Sen. Obama, and let him spread the wealth.”

McCain tried to make it clear that Obama’s plan would hurt middle-class Americans like Joe who want to purchase a small business and live the American Dream. Obama countered back that he and McCain want to cut taxes, but his plan would cut taxes for “95 percent of American families”, more than McCain’s plan.

So, who won this last debate?

Many analysts said that McCain had his best performance so far, but that he failed to deliver the elusive knockout blow rarely seen in debates that was needed to turn momentum back towards his direction. According to a national CNN poll conducted after the debate, 58 percent of people felt Obama won the debate, while 31 percent felt that McCain won.

Perhaps “Joe the Plumber” won this debate, because the candidates finally talked about the critical issues that middle class Americans are facing in this grave economic crisis.

For further debate analysis and fact-checkng, see the Verzubian Political Notebook.

Monday, October 20th • The Cauldron • Page 13

Arts+Entertainment 10-20-08

Oliver Stone’s Cult “W” Personality

By Chris Enoch The Cauldron Copy Editor

The only true divine vocation George W. Bush ever received must have been when the Lord called to him and commanded that he keep the world entertained. And for eight long years, whether we are liberal or conservative, young or old, black or white, we have been.

In these eight, long, lengthy, protracted and still lingering years, Americans have watched in awe as their bold President played Texas Hold Em’ with the economy, Cowboys and Indians with his foreign policy, and I Spy with domestic issues.

Real entertaining stuff.

He was here for eight years, and with an election just two weeks away, the curtains are rapidly closing on the Presidency of George Bush Jr. That is, until “W”, Oliver Stone’s latest film, released Oct. 17 at theatres everywhere comes out on DVD to capture the Bush legacy forever.

While “Dubya” himself made the accurate assertion that “in history we’ll all be dead” W the film battles to solve the enigma American history textbooks may grapple with for generations to come. While the substance of this film may leave both political addicts and abstainers hungry for answers about the future, Oliver Stone didn’t direct this movie to provide them.

Instead, he examines the aura of intrigue surrounding the Bush biography.

Stone’s film begs one question. just how did this dim-witted yet charming, happy go lucky black sheep, alcoholic turned ‘Born Again’ Christian, son of an ex-President rise to the summits of national power to become leader of the free world?

Sure, the last name Bush is a start, but there’s Page 14 • The Cauldron • Monday, October 20th

more to this than name recognition. Throw in the silver spoon upbringing, legacy admissions, familial wealth, some daddy issues, the excellent campaign strategists and the charming demeanor of a folksy Texas Christian and you may find yourself one step closer to just how he did. Stone’s W manages to “answer” all of this in just over two hours of screening time.

So, while W may not provide the true meaning for Bush’s life, it does run through all of the Bush motions. Viewers may wonder why the subversively satirical W, Stone’s third “President” movie, deviates from his previous award-winning formula of equal parts intellectual dramatics and conspiracy theory.

Two of stone’s previous films, JFK and Nixon dealt directly with their respective Presidents years after their presidency. This movie was filmed in 46 days and was released mere months before the conclusion of the Bush presidency. Simply put, Bush’s legacy remains incomplete. We can speculate and conjecture over the obvious, but we simply don’t know whether pens of future historians will write favorably or negatively about GWB’s tenure as president (I’ll make my own assumptions). W is about the Bush story, not the Bush impact. Even so, the magnitude of this project is simply colossal.

With a cast that bridges the generations of Hollywood stardom, W lends a familiar face to Bush, his family, as well as nearly every major member of the Bush Administration. Josh Brolin immaculately emulates the President, effectively mastering Bush’s mannerisms in a way even the

most astute Bush impressionists have not. Brolin offers perspective into Bush’s mind and draws empathy toward the man’s humanity.

You may even find yourself feeling sorry for Bush if you don’t check your emotions. Actor James Cromwell and actress Ellen Burstyn lead the dysfunctional Bush dynasty as George H.W. Bush (better known as “Poppy” in the film) and Barbara Bush. This couple may give the impression of staleness within the context of W, but such coolness is intended given the persona of the 41st President and First Lady.

The lovely First Lady Laura Bush appears as the lovelier Elizabeth Banks. To their credit, Brolin and Banks’ dramatic chemistry produces an all too recognizable Laura and “Dubya”. While W may include a few lackluster performances, such as Toby Jones as Karl Rove and Thandie Newton as Condoleezza Rice, the fact that these two key Administration roles landed in the hands of two highly qualified celebrities is itself a victory. Even so, the individual performances of Richard Dreyfuss as Dick Cheney salivating over the prospects of empire and Jeffrey Wright as the sober, serious voice of reason in Colin Powell more than break through any sense of mediocrity that might gravitate toward the film.

Hopefully, all of us will be voting November 4. If you want to see one high profile director’s vision on how we got to where we are, who was officially in the pilot seat for those years, and an uncanny portrait of that misunderestimated man’s life: see W. After all, “it’s your money. You paid for it.”

Concert Picks of the Week

Arts + Entertainment

By Alexes Spencer & Jonathan ‘Killstring’ Herzberger The Cauldron Contributing Writers

Alexes’ Pick: Anberlin at House of Blues, Thursday Oct. 23 I could never accurately describe an Anberlin show with words.

Stephen Christian brings a type of energy that I have never seen from any front-man. It is not necessarily the quantity (that would belong to Dallas of Maylene), but rather the type of energy that is unique and entertaining. The clarity of Christian’s voice is nearly equal to what you’d expect on a digitally mastered recording, and he speaks to the crowd as though they’re family rather than fans. It is only $16 dollars ($22.20 once Ticketmaster gets through with you), and as someone who has been there, seen that, I’d definitely shell it out to be there, see that again.

Jonathan’s Pick: Forever In Terror at Peabody’s, Friday Oct. 24 If Cleveland has a modern musical identity, it is rooted deeply in the Local Metal/Hardcore/Very Angry Music Scene. From earlier acts like NIN and Marylyn Manson, to Ringworm and Mushroomhead, this city produces a lot of Yelling. Forever In Terror is possibly the best of the current crop – with impossibly frantic guitars, epic soundscapes, some of the most mercilessly brutal drums around, FIT brings virtuosity approaching Dragonforce levels together with the accessibility of fellow local boys Chimaira. They will be playing their Metal Blade debut Restless In The Tides in its entirety, and then packing it in to write new material. $10. A slew of cool openers. Go to Peabody’s, and have your face ripped off by the nicest boys in Metal.

If these concerts don’t get you exited, you must hate music. Bet you’ll hate these, too; 10/21 Coldplay at The Q, $49.50 10/21 Atmosphere (w/Abstract Rude) at the Beachland Ballroom, $20 10/23 The Wiggles at the Wolstein Center, $20 10/24 Jefferson Starship (The Human Fund benefit) at House Of Blues, $25-$300 10/25 Cobra Verde (CD release) at the Beachland Ballroom, $TOTALLY FREE And the stinker of the week (which Alexes and Jonathan slightly disagree on): 10/22 Metro Station at House Of Blues. I mean, if you get excited about soulless, plastic music manufactured to pander to your 14-year old sister, go right ahead. Alternatively, you could set your $17 dollars on fire, and get more honest entertainment from watching it burn, unless your plan is to stare at Trace Cyrus, which is Alexes’ plan.

Monday, October 20th • The Cauldron • Page 15

Music Reviews Now Hear This!

Music You May Have Missed

By Jonathan ‘Killstring’ Herzberger The Cauldron Staff Writer

“There’s no good music anymore.”

We’ve all heard this. Some of us are saying it. It’s a legitimate question: adrift in a world of factory-fresh teen starlets, soulless vanilla rockers, and cookiecutter wannabe tough guy rappers, what’s a discerning listener to do? I’ll tell you what you’re going to do.

You’re going to read Now hear this! – and you’re going to be exposed to an entire world of music that may have slipped right under your radar.

Today’s Act: Vampire Weekend.

Now, when first presented with these guys, I expected a very specific sort of mopey, eyelinerdrenched gloom rock, or at the very least, some angry, angst-filled industrial beats. Imagine my surprise, instead being greeted by some of the most unironically chipper music ever recorded.

Vampire Weekend was formed at Columbia University (the name is taken from a student film produced by frontman Ezra Koenig his freshman year,) and derives its sound from equal parts British pop, Congolese soukous music, and as near as I can tell, the Merriam-Webster Thesaurus. Unsurprisingly, the Ivy League campus was receptive to their unique Euro-African literate Indie pop, and they’ve been on a landslide of success ever since, with SPIN magazine naming them the best new band of 2008, and even the almighty Rolling Stone ranks their song “Cape Cod Kwassa Kwassa” #67 on their Top 100 songs of 2007.

Their major label release, titled (yeah, you guessed it) Vampire Weekend is a light-hearted romp through pop convention. Songs like Mansford Roof (which was the first single released, in addition to starting the record off) blend vintage organs, strings, and the atypical drumbeats that exemplify the band’s quirky approach. Koenig’s trademark falsetto is never forced, never strained – and that goes for pretty much everything else on the record. A-Punk delivers a more straightforward approach, with its bright, clean guitars, and persistent rhythms.

The guitars on this record really bear mentioning.

In an age where even contemporary pop and country artists have big, distorted electric guitars, Koenig and co-conspirator Rostam Batmanglij keep it clean on the 6-string front – there’s nary an aggressive snarl in sight, and the album’s lone guitar solo is more an exercise in melodic exploration than gratuitous face-melting axework. Batmanglij’s Harpsichord takes center stage for ‘M79’, before giving way to driving violins, bouncing bass, and one of the catchiest melodies in recent memory. The driving, piano-pounding Walcott is a tongue-in-cheek tale, loosely tied to the titular hero of the ill-fated Vampire Weekend film. The album’s concludes with arguably its strongest track, the Clashesque The Kids Don’t Stand A Chance.

Page 16 • The Cauldron • Monday, October 20th

Dear Science TV On The Radio

By Jonathan ‘Killstring’ Herzberger The Cauldron Staff Writer

“A lot of bands have something to say,” says TV On The Radio Composer/MultiInstrumentalist/Producer/Mad Scientist David Sitek. “We have something to ask.”

Ironic then, that TVOTR’s latest offering provides more answers than their collective body of work combined. Whereas the early collaborations between Sitek and vocalist Tunde Adebimpe shared more in common with a performance art piece gone terribly awry than your average rock band, and 2006’s Return To Cookie Mountain was essentially a high-concept film soundtrack (in many ways the bastard child of The Who’s Quadrophenia and Pink Floyd’s The Wall – and I’m not sure I mean that in a good way), the band finally settles down on Science, sounding like, well – a band.

Don’t get me wrong here – the mix here is still pretty eclectic. But whether it’s Adebimpe channeling Bowie on the grand pop of ‘Stork & Owl’, or the charmingly Coldplay-esque orchestral ballad ‘Family Tree’, this disc is full of some genuinely moving songs. The band’s loose approach to songwriting and performing (members flip back and forth between instruments with casual frequency) is at its best in songs like the unapologetically Anti-War Funk of ‘Red Dress’, or the steadily building defiance of ‘DLZ,’ where even though they remain characteristically elusive (are they a rock band?

R&B? Experimental electronic?), there’s a sense of cohesion here that previous efforts sorely lacked, and the album greatly benefits from it.

Much like their contemporary, Gnarls Barkley, TVOTR has put out a record that is unapologetically weird and atmospheric, while simultaneously catchy and accessible.

I’ll admit – my expectations were completely obliterated. Science simply works.

4.5 out of 5 stars.

Appeal To Reason Rise Against

By Jonathan ‘Killstring’ Herzberger The Cauldron Staff Writer

The first Rise Against song I ever heard was ‘Swing Life Away’, the nostalgic, heartwarming ballad from Siren Songs Of The Counter Culture. It was a quiet, gentle, affirming experience. The second was the blistering ‘State Of The Union’ from the same record, which accosted me with blistering aggression, and lyrics about genocide, and accepting responsibility.

It was anything but gentle and affirming, but it nevertheless got me thinking.

Their newest CD, Appeal To Reason, espouses both of these qualities to resounding effect. Upon opening the CD case, you’re greeted with a list of recommended reading and viewing, and a lengthy quote by Picasso – Sex Pistols this ain’t. Political Punk Rock is all about creating a sense of urgency, and few (if any) bands have perfected this art like Rise Against. From the driving single ‘Re-Education (Through Labor)’ to the Cure-influenced ‘Long Forgotten Sons’, Appeal delivers plenty of literate, highimpact anthems.

When they do slow it down, personal songs like ‘Audience of One’ resonate with emotion, benefiting tremendously from the context. But it’s in the acoustic ballad ‘Hero Of War’ that the band finally reconciles their bipolar tendencies. An amalgamation of stories from soldiers who wrote the band, ‘Hero’ takes the listener on an emotional roller coaster – a heart-wrenchingly earnest question, with no right or easy answers.

It is quite simply as moving a piece of art as I have experienced in some time.

The album can at times seem pretentious, or heavy-handed – which is going to be par for the course for anything as provocative, impassioned, and vulnerable as Appeal.

In Picasso’s words: “How could it be possible to feel no interest in other people, and with a cool indifference to detach yourself…? No, painting is not done to decorate apartments.

It is an instrument of war.”

rts& +EEntertainment ntertainment AArts

A Quick Convo With Forever In Terror

By Alexes Spencer The Cauldron Staff Writer

Homegrown MetalBlade artists, the members of Forever In Terror are returning home after touring the U.S. for about four months. They plan on playing their debut album, Restless In The Tides, in its entirety before it is retired.

“It’s due time to retire our first album and there’s no place more we would want to do this then at home.” vocalist Chris Bianchi said.

After the show, they plan on taking a break to live their normal lives.

“It’s been long past three years of our lives.

We have spent every waking minute touring, playing, promoting, and trying to expand as much as possible,” Bianchi said. “We are all very excited to be taking some much needed

time off.”

According to their MySpace page, they all have jobs and other adventures planned.

“We need to take time to go to school, and take care of our personal things,” Bianchi said.

“It’s going to be more of a side thing for a little while, still playing shows on weekends, doing small tours, etc.”

It’s no surprise that the band mates needs time to get their lives together considering how young they were when they got their “break.”

“I personally never thought I could live my dream, let alone being only 18-20 years old during it all,” Bianchi said. “Being a normal 20-year old you would be worried about

working, school, and partying. During the last three years of our teen lives, we were running a serious business, being responsible, paying bills, and it was quite a challenge” Reviewers of the band’s album often bring attention to their age, with VH1 calling them a “young band” and lordsofmetal.com citing their age (at the time) of nineteen.

“We all actually took the time and effort to try and master our instruments the best we could…basically trying to put out some good f***ing music,” Bianchi said.

Almost anyone who has seen, met, or listened to Forever In Terror would agree that they’ve succeeded and perhaps even surpassed expectations.

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Elf & The Big Guy

A CARTOON BY MIKE QUINTERO

by Frank Grigonis

The Comics

Monday, October 20th • The Cauldron • Page 19

Sports 10-14-08

Viking Soccer Gears Up For Biggest Game of the Year “Battle of Ohio” Will Be Most Important Match

By Robert Ivory The Cauldron Sports Editor Cleveland State men’s soccer head coach Ali Kazemaini knows he has his best squad so far since his return three seasons ago.

With that said, the forest green and white have a tough challenge ahead of them as they travel to Jesse Owens Memorial Stadium in Columbus, OH on Wed. Oct. 22. The Buckeyes (7-4-2), ranked No. 22 in the country, will not be a pushover, as they take time out of their Big Ten conference schedule to take on the Vikings.

The Buckeyes have not had much luck against the Horizon League, however, as they lost to the University of Detroit-Mercy 1-0 in an exhibition and were involved in a goalless draw with the Flames of Illinois-Chicago at Chicago, less than two weeks ago. Despite that setback, the Buckeyes have only conceded two goals at home going into the last weekend, as they hosted the Wisconsin Badgers.

Their season has gone well, but this maybe the ‘catch game’ that they may be overlooking.

At the beginning of the season, this match up did not look like it would be much of a match, since the Vikings stumbled out of the gate.

After two losses to start the year in Irving, WA, the Vikings would win only once in their next seven matches. The win came at Missouri State at Missouri’s home park, but they would go on Page 20 • The Cauldron • Monday, October 20th

to win four straight games at home, bringing the squad to 3-2-0 in the Horizon League. That would be good enough for third place. But their 5-0 loss to Loyola was no good measure for the team to look at.

Coming into the game, the Vikings have the all-time series edge, leading the Bucks 14-7-2, but dropped their last match 1-0 back in 2001.

In fact, the recent history against Ohio State has not been nice for the Vikes. The last time the Vikings won in the series was a 1-0 decision in 1996. Since then, the Vikings have not won and have been outscored 13-0 in five games. This also included a 6-0 embarrassment in 1999 in Cleveland.

After breaking down each team’s season and the series, now let’s look at the key players both squads will put on the pitch for the match: The Vikings are led by sophomore goalkeeper Nick Harpel who has logged the most time among the other Horizon League keepers with over 1,240 minutes. More importantly, Harpel is tied with 65 saves with two other goalies in the league.

Harpel will be pitted against redshirted junior Drew Czekanski who also has been the backbone of his squad. Czekanski has started 11 of 13 games and has only given up nine goals.

He boasts a .804 save percentage, with a 7-2-1

record with three shutouts.

Cleveland State is lead by junior Mitch Boyer, who has five goals, which is good for sixth best in the league. Despite being a defender, Boyer has scored when it is expected, converting well on the penalty kicks he has taken for the CSU squad.

If the Vikings are going to win the game, however, they are going to take care of the ball and then capitalize with the chances they get.

Shots will be few and far in between, so goals will come at a minimum.

The Buckeyes offense have stuck often and in great numbers, as the team has 19 goals during the season and have only given up 11.

The team has nearly 200 shots, so Harpel will be busy. Scoring, their threat has been their whole roster, but Danny Irizarry has led the team with four goals. The difficult part of figuring out the Buckeyes is where the goals are going to come from; 11 different scores have put the ball into the old onion bag, so variety is their key.

Finally, the Vikings will be led by Kazemaini, who will have to keep a clear eye on the Buckeyes coaching staff. OSU head coach John Bluem has been with the squad for 12 seasons now, but has three Big Ten Titles, 10 Major League Soccer draft picks, and the 2007 College Cup.

Viking Madness Has Great Turnout

Sports

Viking Community Shows Up To Cheer On Their Squads

By Robert Ivory | The Cauldron Sports Editor

Although most people did not know, Friday was a national holiday.

All around the country, students at college campuses got together to see a first glimpse of their collegiate basketball programs gear up for their season.

Cleveland State was no different.

At precisely 8:45 pm, the Wolstein Center lights dimmed and a long white stretch hummer limo pulled into the arena. Inside it contained the men and women that will put their hearts and souls into the hard floor at the Wolstein Center throughout the winter. When the car door opened, the team’s players came out in their suits and dresses as they were dressed to kill.

If you didn’t know your surroundings, the atmosphere and the start made you think you were in line, waiting for a movie premier in Hollywood. The crowd went crazy and was soon to greet their 2008-2009 Viking basketball teams with a warm and gracious welcome.

“I was just nervous,” senior Lady Viking Dominique Butler said laughing, “I am not used to wearing heals.” Dom and the other girls were escorted down the red carpet by the members of the men’s team. Homecoming king Cederic Jackson and senior J’Nathan Bullock ventured down the red carpet solo. Homecoming queen was won by none other than the women’s Angel Roque.

The highlight of the introductions was head

coaches Gary Waters and Kate Petetson Abiad joining their players as they entered in similar fashion, but in a separate limo with suicide doors.

Both coaches had a chance to speak to the crowd in the spotlight.

“We want to make sure you come out again,” Peterson Abiad said in the spotlight. “We are sure you are going to like what you see when you come to see our club this year.”

Peterson and her squad will defiantly deliver on those words as they are favored by many to repeat as Horizon League Champions.

Coach Gary Waters had a similar message to the Viking faithful.

“I am glad to see we have fans like you. You the fans bring strength to the team.”

The night was a great way to see the other side of the basketball squads. For at least the next five months, and hopefully longer, the teams will be in their practice unis, jerseys, and their sweats, but seeing them in their best clothes made you believe that these two groups are more than great athletic stars, but also very intelligent men and women they are.

After the glitz and glamour of the introductions, both coaches had their teams on the floor for a ten minute workout. Before the teams had their separate practice, the gloves truly came off, as the men won the three point contest in a tight battle.

The night kicked off with fans shooting around

on the basketball floor. The Wolstein Center floor was crowded with fans as they had choices between laser tag, a digitalized golf course, and air hockey tables while music played. Even Magnus had his dancing shoes on, as he busted out into a dancing machine. The best part of the night for the fans was the chance to get posters and pictures of their favorite players signed throughout the night.

No Cleveland State athletic event could happen without the student athletes that make up the McCafferty winning school. The student athletes from softball, tennis, swimming and diving, wrestling, golf, and cross country were introduced and paraded on the Viking floor.

After their introductions, the famous Shaw Cardinals High School Marching Band played several numbers for the fans. The tone was set for the main attraction and the energy level in the building was high. Fans knew what time is was and were anticipating the entrance of their beloved Viking basketball teams.

After the practice, it was time for the teams to get some sleep; for they knew that the long hard practices that started at 8:00 a.m. Saturday morning were just around the corner. The dresses and the suits may be put away for awhile, but hopefully they will be taken out again in March, when the Vikings look to bring home a pair of trophies; both men’s and women’s Horizon League trophies.

Delta Omega Phi Roll in Powder Puff Football Game Stingy Defense Helps Win Title

By Robert Ivory | The Cauldron Sports Editor

In the spirit of Vikefest at Cleveland State, the annual Powder Puff game took place last week at Krenzler Field.

For Delta Omega Phi it was a chance to show their great football skills as they beat Chi Delta Epsilon 38-6 with defense the New England Patriots would be proud of. The top performances of the teams were the arm and the legs of Delta’s quarterback, junior Megan McGervey. Megan would go ahead and throw a 25-yard touchdown pass, and also ran for a touchdown and an extra point as well.

The star of the show, however, was senior Natalie Wilson that had an all-star performance. Natalie started the game off with an interception return on the second pass of the game. After a McGervey extra point, Delta led 7-0.

“We practiced three times, and I think we looked good,” Wilson said after the game.

Wilson and McGervey had the right hook-

up all through the game, as they stretched the Epsilon’s defense as they continually ran the halfback option to perfection. The option went for two touchdowns and had the Epsilon’s defense scratching their heads.

At the half, the Delta offense was ahead in the driver seat as they lead 22-0.

In the second half, there was much more of the same, as McGervey hooked up for 25 yards with senior Lauren Bullard. Just when the Delta ladies thought they had the shutout, Epsilon was able to sneak on the scoreboard with a great touchdown pass. Kimmie DiBenedetto was the quarterback that launched that pass and put her squad on the board.

The final score was 38-6, but both teams had great experience. In the true powder puff tradition (and the highlight of the day), Jason Gamble was spotted wearing his cheerleader garb and brought the attention of all in his pink cheerleading skirt and his pom poms.

Monday, October 20th • The Cauldron • Page 21

Sports

Catching Up With Ron Paul (R-TX) Continued from Page 6

troops into other countries, and not think that other countries can take care of themselves than sure you need an income tax. But I don’t believe in any of that.

I think our troops should be at home, we should save money, we shouldn’t be involved in all of these wars, we shouldn’t have a welfare state, we should cut spending by 80 percent, then you don’t need an income tax.

TC: If you were President would you bring the troops home immediately?

Ron Paul: I would if I could. The President can’t do it himself and you can’t do it in one day unless you have a financial crisis which we might be working on. The President needs to stop spending because we have lived on borrowed money for so long. If the dollar quits working and we keep printing money to pay our bills, then yeah, we’ll have to do a lot of Page 22 • The Cauldron • Monday, October 6th

things differently, we won’t be able to take care of anybody, because we don’t have the wealth that we used to have, and if you keep printing money and people don’t trust the money then something might happen rather suddenly.

TC: You remained firm in your opposition to the $700 billion dollar bailout, why?

Ron Paul: The first thing is, it’s immoral to take money from one group and give it to somebody else, so why should poor people bailout rich people; so morally it was wrong.

There is no authority in the Constitution to do that type of redistribution of wealth, so that was wrong. And also economically it was downright foolish.

We got ourselves into a mess because we spent too much money, we had too much debt, we had too much regulation, and we printed too much money. So they were going to solve the

problem by printing too much money, running up the debt, spending too much money, and taxing people. So they offered absolutely no answer to our problems and it looks like the markets are agreeing with that because they’re not all that excited about us spending $650 billion.

TC: So how do we fix this economic mess?

Ron Paul: Well it’s not easy because it took essentially 35 years to develop this financial bubble. The bubble has to be allowed to deflate; we have to allow bad debt to be liquidated, we have to allow prices to go down, and we have to go back to work, and if you just get out of the way and let the bankruptcies occur, this could happen in about a year, but as long as you prop up that debt, and keep allowing prices to get too high than you’ll see what happens.

The problem is we let housing prices get too high. So now, they’re trying to find out what the right price is and the government comes in and says, “we don’t want the prices dropped we want to prop the prices up,” but they don’t know either. So as long as the government interferes and tries to prop up all the mistakes made, all it does is prolong the correction. And so instead of it all happening in one year, it might take 10 years and a depression. So the reason why this is so tough is backing away and allowing debt to be liquidated makes the politicians and the people very nervous, and gets them screaming because they have been taught that government has to take care of them.

Yet, the more they do the worse they make the problem, and it’s a lack of understanding in economics and the depression, as well as now they want to blame free enterprise, capitalism, the gold standard for all our problems. They have no confidence. There is no easy way out because you can’t say, “well if we do A.B.C., tomorrow everything is going to be O.K.” It’s impossible.

The mistakes were made, we ran up debt, and we have to pay for it.

TC: Do you feel comfortable supporting either of these candidates running for President now?

Ron Paul: No, no way.

TC: People in the military contributed towards your campaign in 2008 more than any other candidate. What do you think that says about the troops?

Ron Paul: Well that tells me that they are paying attention and they think through some of this stuff that we’re doing in Iraq or Afghanistan that doesn’t make any sense. I’ve talked to many of them and their families because they are sick and tired of the whole thing. They’re the closest to the front lines and they’re not for it, so I’ve been very pleased that they have given me that much support.

TC: If you were currently still running for President who would be your running mate and why?

Ron Paul: I really hadn’t gotten that far along, so I don’t know exactly right now on the spare of the moment.

TC: If you were President, what would you accomplish in your first month in office?

Ron Paul: The most important thing you can do where you wouldn’t have to get a vote from Congress is you could change foreign policy.

We could bring the troops home. You might not get them all home in 30 days, but you can make an announcement and say, “look, we’ve had enough of this. We’re turning Iraq back over to the Iraqis you take care of your problems. We’re bringing our Navy back from the Persian Gulf, we’re not going to invade Iran, we’re not going to provoke the Pakistanis, and we’re not going

send any troops or training help in Georgia just to provoke the Russians.”

So I think this would go a long way to helping. But it would take longer than a month to solve all of these problems.

TC: A lot of people thought you were going to run on a third party ticket. Why didn’t you run on a third party ticket? Did you think about doing that at all?

Ron Paul: I never did, and from the very beginning I told people I never had any intention of doing it. People wanted me to and I guess a lot of people thought that that’s what would happen but the system is so biased against third parties. I didn’t have the stamina to fight the system. I thought I was doing more headway by doing what I did by running in the Republican Primary.

TC: But it definitely had to have crossed your mind correct?

Ron Paul: No, not this time. I did it back in 1988 and I’ve had the experience, so I promised myself I wouldn’t do it.

TC: You have been described as a “true conservative”. Some political experts wouldn’t describe you as such, why are they wrong and what is a true conservative, Congressman?

Ron Paul: Well those are tricky words Nick. I mean if you truly want to conserve all the principles of the Founding Fathers and the Constitution, that could be a true conservative, but the Founding Fathers happen to be Libertarian (laughs).

People call me a radical because I want to radically change the system that we have now, because it’s Socialistic, and it’s Fascistic, and I want to change it, so in some ways I associate with Progressives who don’t like our foreign policy, so I think these terms are very very tricky.

I would like to divide it up into two groups of people; Interventionists and NonInterventionists. If you’re an Interventionist you are somebody in the government that wants to tell people how to live and you want to tell all the countries what to do. If you’re a NonInterventionist you don’t want to tell people what to do in their personal lives or in the economy. You don’t want to tell other countries what to do. So, that to me is more clear than figuring out if you are a conservative or not.

TC: What are some of your thoughts on global warming? That seems to be a hot topic.

Ron Paul: Yeah it is. I think there is a lot of emotion in there so I talked a little about that during my campaign. The first thing is I think you shouldn’t belittle it. But I think there is a lot of misinformation and young people who have become radicalized and fearful that in 10 years from now there will be no ice in the

Sports

whole planet. I am trying to say just read both sides to the story.

There is a lot of scientific evidence on both sides of the argument. You shouldn’t panic over this, but you shouldn’t ignore the fact that pollution is not good for us, and you don’t have the right to pollute your neighbor’s air, water, or property, so we should adhere to those rules and make sure that pollution is minimized.

But we shouldn’t ignore the fact that probably the greatest amount of CO-2 is put out by volcanoes and other natural things. But I think that too many people use the environmental issues as a tool for having more control of our government.

TC: Why do you oppose the Patriot Act? It seems a lot of people are shocked that you oppose something that would protect the American people.

Ron Paul: Because it violates a person’s privacy. It ignores the Fourth Amendment.

Even in the practical sense I don’t think it’s going to do one bit of good. We were spending $40 billion before 9/11 gathering intelligence and we had adequate intelligence about what we might expect and yet it didn’t do us any bit of good.

To spy on every single American as an effort to try to prevent problems in the future I think is going in the wrong direction. I think it’s more important that we protect freedom. Liberty is a greater protector of ourselves and our security and it would be to tell the government, “take care of us no matter what, it doesn’t work economically, it doesn’t work physically either.”

TC: What’s next for Ron Paul?

Ron Paul: Well…I don’t know. I go a day at a time and a week at a time. I’m up for reelection, I’ll go back to the Congress and keep telling people what I believe in and we need to deal with our economic problems and why markets are better than government controls and why we need to bring our troops home, just talking about the same things I have been talking about for the past 30 years.

TC: Finally, who are you going to vote for President in November?

Ron Paul: I haven’t really decided because I did give an endorsement and said I support Chuck Baldwin, but his name does not appear on our ballot here in Texas. All I tell people is you can be assured that I am not going to vote for either of the top two candidates.

TC: But you will exercise your right to vote correct?

Ron Paul: Oh yeah! I have to vote for the Congressional District.

TC: Alright Congressman well thank you for all of your time.

Ron Paul: Surely, have a nice day.

Monday, October 6th • The Cauldron • Page 23