Volume XLIV, Issue 20: Feb. 23, 2013

observer the

friday, 02/22/13

volume xliv, issue 20

Ban it or grant it CWRU students pack discussion about legalization of marijuana

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Center for Women rolls out Women’s Empowerment Group >>alexisPARISI senior.newsREPORTER<<

Admit it: you’ve been reading the educational bathroom stall posters at least once a week since you’ve started going to Case Western Reserve University. While the censored stick figures and bullet-pointed resources might be informative, sometimes it’s best to talk it out. Erin Moran and Monica Yost Kiss of the Flora Stone Mather Center for Women have created a women’s empowerment group to do just that.

The group will be made up of women seeking to support one another through discussion. Members will cover themes that include healthy relationships, self-esteem, assertiveness skills, and communication. “Part of the idea for this stemmed from our knowledge base and part of it stemmed from a need we saw on campus,” said Moran.

Before Monica Yost Kiss became the associate director for women’s health advocacy, Katie Hanna, the previous associate director for women’s health advocacy, led a similar group. Yost Kiss explains it’s a much needed re-introduction for a variety of reasons. “In-

coming students have grown up with their own sense of normal and when they get to college that is challenged,” Yost Kiss said.

Due to the personal nature of empowerment and adjusting to college life, Yost Kiss and Moran encourage a safe and comfortable culture within the group. In order to maintain the safe sharing environment of the group, women interested must first meet with Moran to discuss the group and make sure that it will suit their needs.

Once women join the group, they promise to keep all discussions confidential.

“It’s important to remember that the support group is not the same thing as counseling,” said Moran. “It can be therapeutic, but it’s not therapy.”

While some meetings will cover topics like assertiveness and will be very light and empowering, others will have a more serious tone. With one in every four college women experiencing sexual assault, it is crucial for such topics to come up in this type of setting.

Even if somebody is not a survivor themselves, explained Yost Kiss, they can be affected

see WOMEN | 5

>>brydenSPEVAK senior.newsREPORTER<<

he topic is fascinating to some, taboo to most, and relevant to all. It is drug policy in America, a hotly contested, hyper-politicized issue calling to mind the “War on Drugs” mindset of the past half-century or so. And as the nature of war implies, there are two distinct opponents involved.

The gray area enveloping them is only expanding with time.

It is not as simple as the good citizens of America versus the evil drugs. More accurately, it is people like Peter Christ and the rest of the Law Enforcement Against Prohibition (LEAP) organization versus those hoping to keep all drugs, including marijuana, listed as Schedule I, or completely illegal, criminalized, and taboo.

Last Wednesday, Feb. 13, Case Western Reserve

University’s Young Americans for Liberty (YAL) student group held “Legalize It!” The talk intended to draw attention to those voices working to advocate for the positive side of marijuana legalization in America. Held in Thwing Center’s Bellflower Lounge, the event featured a 45-minute-long speech by Christ— retired police captain of Tonawanda, NY and one of the five founding members of LEAP—a brief Q&A segment, and, of course, free pizza.

Given students’ typical lack of desire to attend events when the ugly Cleveland winter stands in their way, the Bellflower Lounge was shockingly packed and energetic come 6:30 p.m., leaving a smattering of students leaning against tables or walls in the back, periodically grabbing more food while listening intently to Christ’s unusual viewpoint and description of LEAP. Banded together in 2002, his cohorts include a collection of current and former criminal justice professionals who have been on the frontline of the drug battle and have decided that the existence of drugs themselves is not the real problem. What is actually wrong has everything to do with the American prohibitive mindset he says, and LEAP claims that legalization is the way out of most drug-related

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CWRU makes gains in increasing diversity >>suneilKAMATH civic.engagementREPORTER<<

Diversity in college campuses is an increasingly growing concern amongst university administrators across the country. According to the American Council on Higher Education, diversity, not just racial, but also socioeconomic and sexual orientation, is important in part because people tend to gain a deeper understanding of issues

“We, and I say ‘We’ because

it is not just me who is working to achieve increased diversity, but the collective campus community, have an opportunity to make changes for good. As an enterprise, we need to figure out how to improve these values because we are educating students to be outstanding global citizens and human beings.”

-Dr. Marilyn Mobley, Vice President of Inclusion, Diversity, and Equal Opportunity from those whose opinions differ from their own. A diverse environment mirrors the fabric of society and generally increases respect and understanding.

Cleveland is known for having

underlying racial tensions amongst people and various neighborhoods.

Arguably, the most prominent is the relationship between University Circle and East Cleveland.

“Honestly, I think of East Cleveland as a more sketchy part of Cleveland. In my experience, East Cleveland seems to have a lot of abandoned buildings and run down shops. University Circle seems more uptown and modern,” said Case Western Reserve University freshman Freda Li. Last semester, the article “EC-UC Connections Program” prompted The Observer’s readers to question what CWRU is doing to improve diversity and, more specifically, engage students from all Cleveland Public Schools, not just feeder schools, to apply and then attend CWRU. Dr. Marilyn Mobley, the vice president of inclusion, diversity, and equal opportunity, said diversity is one of CWRU’s core values and she takes her role as vice president very seriously.

“We, and I say ‘We’ because it is not just me who is working to achieve increased diversity, but the collective campus community, have an opportunity to make changes for good,” said Dr. Mobley. “As an enterprise, we need to

courtesy case.edu Dr. Marilyn Mobley, the vice president of inclusion, diversity, and equal opportunity at CWRU, says that one of her main goals on campus is to have students that are outstanding global citizens. figure out how to improve these values because we are educating students to be outstanding global citizens and human beings.”

Since president Snyder appointed Mobley to the position of

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index 1 news 8 A&E 9 opinion 13 fun page 20 sports

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Outside the Circle News >>sarahGROFT national.newsREPORTER<<

courtesy washingtonpost.com Pope Benedict XVI announced last week that he would be leaving the papacy, the first to do so since Pope Gregory XII.

Meteor strikes Russia The meteor that exploded last week has been the talk of the news for days. It caused large amounts of damage, starting in Siberia where the shock wave from the explosion took the roof of a steel and brick factory off completely. Every top floor window in the city was blown out. Indoors, glass jugs exploded, dishes cracked, and electronics were fried.

Anna Popova, a citizen of Siberia, was at home with her daughter when she saw the flash and heard the explosions. She was surprised to find that her windows were blown in while her neighbors’ weren’t.

The random behavior of the destruction concerned Popova. “Who are we supposed to blame for all this?” asked Popova. “Nobody of course.”

Scientists believe that the meteor flew through the atmosphere on Friday morning and held the record for largest space rock to enter the atmosphere since 1908. It injured over 1,200 people and caused unbelievable amounts of property damage. According to scientists at NASA, a meteor of this size only hits the Earth once every one

hundred years.

The meteor landed in Chelyabinsk, Russia, who also experienced breaking glass and casualties. The shattering glass occurred because of the pressure waves the meteor emitted when it fragmented.

These low-frequency waves are called infrasound. They tend to be stronger in some places than others, and often resonate with glass. Alesksandr Dudorov, director of the theoretical physics department at Chelyabinsk State University, attempted to explain the waves, saying, “A shock wave is like a ball. Throw a ball into a room and it will bounce from one wall to another.”

“A shock wave can be coming from a particular direction, and if you face that direction you are more susceptible,” said Richard Binzel, a professor of planetary sciences at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Over 24,000 emergency vehicles were dispatched to inspect some of the more important or dangerous locations that might have been effected, such as hospitals, chemical factories, and a space launching site called Strela.

The “Blade Runner” accused of shooting girlfriend

Stranded cruise ships returns to land

Oscar Pistorius, a Paralympic runner, has been accused of shooting his girlfriend, Reeva Steenkamp, on Valentine’s Day in their South African home. He is also known as the “Blade Runner” because of his carbon fiber prosthetic legs that allowed him to compete in the London Olympics this past year. Pistorius has been named the official suspect, and he will appear in court on Friday. Police arrived at the house after calls from neighbors who heard the shooting. Other nearby residents said that they had heard other noises early in the morning.

A police spokeswoman reported that there had been other incidents at the house, including “allegations of a domestic nature.” However, no details were given on those previous incidences. In 2009, Pistorius was arrested and accused of common

The Carnival Cruise Ship Triumph arrived on the shores of Mobile, Ala. Thursday night. Its arrival marked the end of a four-day trial that started with an engineroom fire. This fire knocked out the power on the entire ship, leaving over 4,000 people without air conditioning or the use of toilets. An email from Carnival spokesman Vance Gulliksen said that not only does Carnival comply with all the safety standards set by the International Maritime Organization, but their standards and policies frequently exceed these regulations. Gulliksen also stated that Carnival along with outside agencies would conduct a detailed investigation of the accident.

Over the four-day period, toilets started to overflow, accompanied by intense odors and food shortages. Mike Padilla, a man whose wife was celebrating her 40th birthday on the ship, sent a text message that said, “It just hasn’t been the living hell that I’m sure many people will describe. Has it smelled like urine, poop, and rotting food?

Yes, at times it has.”

In response to the accident, Carnival cancelled fourteen scheduled voyages of the Triumph. The company also provided all of the affected passengers with a full

assault for slamming a door. The case was thrown out for lack of evidence. Some media sources say that Pistorius may have thought that Steenkamp was an intruder, but Denise Beukes, another spokeswoman, said that there were no signs of forced entry and that they area of the house was quiet and secure. Pistorius’ spokeswoman Kate Silvers said that he is helping with the investigation and would not comment until matters become clearer.

Steenkamp was 29 years old, three years older than Pistorius. She was remembered by her agency, Capacity Relations, as the “kindest, sweetest human being; an angel on earth and will be sorely missed.” Steenkamp’s father did not blame Pistorius for his daughter’s death. “There is no hatred in our hearts…he must be going through things that we don’t know about,” he said.

Pope Benedict XVI resigns In Vatican City on Feb. 11, Pope Benedict XVI announced that he would be resigning from his position. His venue was a typical meeting to discuss the canonization of three potential saints. During this meeting, Benedict said, “Before God, I have come to the certainty that my strengths, due to an advanced age, are no longer suited to an adequate exercise.” His official resignation date is Feb. 28. He will be the first pope in six centuries to resign.

The Pope continued his speech saying, “In today’s world, subject to so many rapid changes and shaken by questions of deep relevance for the life of faith, in order to govern the bark of St. Peter and proclaim the gospel, both strength of mind and body are necessary, strength which in the last few months has deteriorated in me to the extent that I have had to recognize my incapacity to adequately fulfill the ministry entrusted to me.”

His Papacy is eighty-five-years-old, and many have noted that he has been looking his age lately. However, his resignation still took everyone by surprise. Most of his followers saw Benedict as conservative and grounded. His resignation was a dramatic move, which Marco Politi, a Vatican expert, hopes will set an example for the future.

Benedicts’ age was the major propelling factor behind his resignation. His brother, Rev. Georg Ratzinger, said that Benedict’s age was taking a toll and that his declining health had him considering his resignation for months. After his resignation, Benedict plans to go to his summer residence in

Castel Gandolfo and then to a monastery in Vatican City.

Benedict was elected in April 2005 as the church’s 265th pope. He was the first German to have the title in half a millennium and at seventy-six, was the oldest pope to be elected since 1730. Sandro Magister, a Vatican expert, had this to say about Benedict: “[He] centered his papacy on giving faith to Christians, focusing on the essence of what it means to be a Christian, and he managed to do it in spite of the fact that his communicative capacities weren’t so brilliant.” Magister continued, saying, “Most common people, I don’t mean intellectuals, saw him as a disinterested man who spent all his life for a high cause, which was to revive the faith.”

>>police blotter

02/11 to 02/19

Feb. 13 - Purse taken from office, theft, Adelbert Hall Feb. 13 - Laptop taken, theft, Law School Feb. 14 - Cable lock cut and bike taken, bicycle theft, Millis bike rack.

Feb. 15 - Exterior mirror ripped off parked car, criminal damage, Mistletoe Road.

Feb. 19 - Previously warned male located on property, criminal damage, cited and escorted off property.

Feb. 19 - Unattended purse taken between 12:05 p.m and 12:15 p.m., theft, Dively Building

refund and discounts for future cruises.

Additionally, the travel costs from Mobile to Texas, where the cruise started, are being covered by Carnival. “As far as what they’re offering the consumer, I think it’s fair,” said David Crooks, Senior Vice President of Product and Operations at cruise agency World Travel Holdings. “I’m not sure what more they can do.”

However, questions are being raised about cruise ship safety after this latest incident. The first incident occurred about a year ago, when the Costa Concordia, a Miami-based Carnival cruise ship shipwrecked in Italy, killing 32 people. The most recent incident occurred about ten months ago when the Costa Allegra, another Miami-based Carnival cruise ship had an engine-room fire that thankfully did not cause any injuries, but did leave the ship stranded in the middle of the Indian Ocean.

“What this does is raise a question about operational procedures and safety procedures,” said Douglas Quinby, senior director of research at PhoCusWright, a travel industry research firm, “This may spur some additional and perhaps needed engagement within Carnival.”

Mississippi adopts 13th amendment, bans slavery Mississippi lawmakers have finally ratified the 13th Amendment, which was originally instated in 1865. This amendment abolished slavery in the United States under the presidency of Abraham Lincoln.

Dr. Ranjan Batra, a University of Mississippi Medical Center professor, saw the recent film, “Lincoln,” and decided to look into what happened after the states voted on the amendment.

He discovered that Mississippi had originally rejected the slavery ban, but in

1995 the state legislature finally voted to approve it. The decision cleared both legislative chambers, but was never sent to the Office of the Federal Register and never became official.

With his findings, Batra contacted Ken Sullivan, a Mississippi resident, who got in touch with Secretary of State Delbert Hosemann. Hosemann’s office took immediate action and made the ratification official on Feb. 7. The most recent state before Mississippi to approve the ratification was Kentucky in 1976.

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observer.case.edu from MARIJUANA | 1 problems in the U.S. The man drawing the crowd to Thwing was tall and stocky, with gray hair slicked back into a ponytail, a gruff voice, and an unfalteringly sarcastic sense of humor. Fitting the persona of a weather-beaten ex-cop, he carried himself like a favorite uncle might, making those in attendance want to listen, to laugh with him, to help him reach his goals.

And his speech was undeniably compelling.

“Whichever drug you want sold by 14 year-old children on the street corners of your community…you keep that drug illegal, and if there is a market for it, that’s who’ll be selling it,” Christ said, delving into the more human side of the controversy right off the bat.

He went on: “Prohibition in the history of our species has never worked… ever.”

The ultimate goal of LEAP, according to Christ, involves taking all drugs including marijuana out of the untouchable category of Schedule I. Behind this contentious goal are smaller issues that everyone can agree on. LEAP wants to eliminate the opportunity in our society for drug-related violence, mobs, or drug cartels. They want to stop drug-related arrests where no harm has been done to others, allowing otherwise-harmless drug abusers to feel safe in seeking the help they need. But their more direct goals lie in educating the public and restoring respect for their fellow police officers.

LEAP’s cause is shaky, and the complexities became once again evident after the contagious excitement of his speech died down.

Despite the recent strides toward decriminalization in states like Washington and Colorado, President Obama has

news continued to express his disapproval, albeit casual, for marijuana legalization.

The White House website lists reasons to keep pot illegal, combating most of the major pro-legalization claims using statistics and history. Additionally, his administration claims that legalization would lower the price of the drug, thereby increasing use.

In his speech, Christ acknowledged that an increase in usage was, indeed, likely to occur immediately following legalization. But ultimately, he argued, better ways to prevent usage would be more readily available with the decriminalization of marijuana and other drugs.

He claimed that strategies that have worked in decreasing Americans’ use of cigarettes would be effective with harder drugs as well, and allow those who cannot stop to get the help they need.

President of YAL Victoria Granda later commented on her frustration with our current system of dealing with drug abusers. “Instead of helping them through voluntary rehabilitation programs, such as Alcoholics Anonymous, we throw them in jail and permanently ruin their lives,” she explained. “With our current drug policies, there is no recovery.”

Attendees on both sides of the issue left feeling provoked into thought. Some murmurings of “I’m still not convinced” could be heard at the conclusion, but other students had more favorable reactions to Christ’s ideas.

Senior attendee Shawn Rupp said, “It’s really interesting to hear the policy of drug prohibition being discussed rather than the drugs themselves. I think it’s a discussion worth having, and it may lead people to realize that drug prohibition is actually more harmful than the drugs themselves.”

Looking toward the future of the debate, senior Rakesh Guha said, “I think

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shannon snyder / observer Peter Christ, a member of Law Enforcement Against Prohibition, spoke at an event sponsored by Young Americans for Liberty supporting the legalization of marijuana. more and more states are going to start decriminalizing, and then legalizing, marijuana. But I don’t think the federal government is going to change anything soon.”

Granda takes a different view of what is to come. “Organizations such as LEAP and YAL have their work cut out for them,” she admitted, “but I do think that, through education, we can convince the majority and politicians that prohibition must end.”

Granda is strongly in favor of drug legalization. In terms of prohibition, she said, “I see a completely failed policy that has hurt low-income and minority

citizens overwhelmingly. Prohibition has done nothing but make criminals out of drug addicts.”

It is possible that the “War on Drugs” may be fought indefinitely, with all viewpoints endlessly circling one another and leading to no actual results.

But there is hope. First, the circular discussions must end.

Christ and Granda both recognize that the conversation needs to switch from spotlighting drugs to being about prohibition. “Once that happens,” said Granda, “I don’t think it will take much for Americans to realize we are reliving the 1920s.”

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Opportunities available for student input in open forum strategic planning meetings >>mikeMCKENNA asst.newsEDITOR<<

Students interested in providing input into the Case Western Reserve University’s ongoing strategic planning will be able to have their voice heard in several opportunities in the next few weeks. Open-campus forums for each of the five work groups will be held, at which members of each group will answer questions and have discussions with all interested students, faculty, and staff.

arianna wage / observer CWRU is part of the national recycling campaign called RecycleMania where colleges compete against one another to see who can recycle the most.

RecycleMania kicks off for the 2013 nation-wide competitions >>jennaMILLEMACI senior.newsREPORTER<<

Next time you go to throw your Starbucks cup in that convenient trash can this month, think again about that one-way ticket to the landfill. Case Western Reserve University is competing in the RecycleMania national recycling competition from Feb. 3 through Mar. 30, just part of the Student Sustainability Council (SSC) plans for the next few weeks. “[RecycleMania] is the nation-wide collegiate waste reduction and recycling competition,” said senior Elena Stachew, former president of the SSC and co-chair of this year’s RecycleMania. “We see it sort of as a time to educate the campus and make them aware of material consumption, recycling, and just sustainable behaviors, and get more people thinking about it for those eight weeks and possibly make some improvements in the infrastructure.”

RecycleMania holds its roots in the state of Ohio. The national competition started between Miami University and Ohio University in 2001, but it has grown to include 500 participants nation-wide, including some schools in Canada. All of the schools participate in the competition during the same eight-week period.

This year’s RecycleMania at CWRU is measuring paper, cardboard, plastic, glass, metal, and e-waste, which is a new category this year. According to Stachew, the new e-waste drop-off areas are located in the Fribley and Wade office areas and are labeled for batteries and small electronic waste, such as cell phones, cameras, mp3 players, iPods, and ink cartridges.

“The overarching theme [of the competition] is to get to be the school with the most waste to be in the recycling instead of a landfill,” said James Hochadel, freshman and RecycleMania co-chair. “CWRU has historically had some room for improvement, and we’re definitely hoping to go up this year with a lot of the publicity we’re doing,” he said.

The SSC is planning on appearing around campus within the next couple weeks to quiz people on their recycling knowledge, hand out sustainable giveaways, and encourage people to sign a banner that signifies that they’ll be think-

ing about reducing their waste throughout the competition, or even create their own personal pledge to sustainability.

“We will be doing some art displays and marketing campaigns on campus that people will discover as the competition unfolds… it will be a secret until it’s revealed.

It’s just getting people to think about their waste, [and] it just sort of pops up and surprises you,” Stachew said.

The SSC is also hoping to dawn their garbage-picking gear of lab coats, goggles, and gloves on the quad on Friday, Mar. 1 from 12:00 p.m. to 2:00 p.m. for a public waste sort. “We’re going to be out on the quad, and we’re going to be pulling trash from a building with ideally very little food and sorting through it in the afternoon in the public with two tarps separating trash and recycling,” Stachew said. “We’re going to build an impromptu art sculpture with the recycling, and then people can take pictures with it when we’re done and help us knock it down,” she said. The SSC is open to other student groups collaborating with them in this creative display of disposal.

“Our recycling rate on average is 13 percent, so it’s not terribly high,” Stachew noted. “[Our goal] is to improve [the recycling rates] during the competition and then keep them at that level… and it’s even more important this year because the freshman class is going to produce an even larger volume of output than any class before. It’s even more critical to get the message out to them as well as the upperclassmen,” Hochadel said. “I think we manage to get about 10 percent higher year after year, so ideally we’d like to continue the trend.”

The SSC is also offering brief three to five minute presentations on the logistics of RecycleMania for classes, office departments, and students. The presentations cover the new color coated branding program for recycling bins and general tips on how to recycle efficiently at CWRU. Anyone interested in the presentations can email James Hochadel at jth92@case.edu.

The SSC encourages campus members to “like” the Office for Sustainability’s Facebook page for more updates on CWRU’s RecycleMania competition.

As of press time, only two of the forums have been scheduled for a specific time.

The CWRU 2026 group will meet on Feb. 25 from 11:00 a.m. to 12:00 p.m. in Adelbert Hall Toepfer Room and the Academic Excellence group will meet next Thursday, Feb. 28, from 11:00 a.m. to 12:00 p.m. at the Inamori Center for Ethics and Excellence in Crawford Hall. The Finance, Operations and Infrastructure, Our People, and Research and Innovation work groups will meet at a later date.

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New survey to help analyze mental health of CWRU students >>brianSHERMAN campus.eventsREPORTER<<

Last Monday, students who checked their school email accounts may have noticed an email inviting them to participate in the Healthy Minds survey. Unlike the standard survey spam, this project has a nobler goal; it has been brought to Case Western Reserve University for the first time to shed light on some of the mental health issues that affect college students at CWRU and universities nationwide.

The Healthy Minds Study is a survey that was developed by the University of Michigan in 2007. Used by many universities throughout the nation, each survey is adjusted to fit the specific university at which it is given. In other words, the Healthy Minds survey offered to CWRU students will focus on CWRU only.

Dr. Jes Sellers, Dr. Sara Lee, and Dr. Eleanor Davidson are the co-researchers who helped bring the Healthy Minds survey to CWRU. They are working in conjunction with researchers at the University of Michigan and the Survey Sciences Group, an independent firm that will oversee the data collection and management of the study.

The survey was sent out to a random sample of 8,000 CWRU students via email and will remain open until the middle of March.

The anonymous and confidential survey is administered online, and takes 15-20 minutes to complete. It has several sections, covering several aspects of mental health.

The first section is demographic information, to help categorize results. Participants will be asked their age, gender, race/ethnicity, residence type (on or off campus), field of study, degree program, and year in program, among other things. The responses to these

from WOMEN | 1 by what’s called secondary trauma in which they feel compelled to help the survivor, but are unsure of how.

“When you have a support group and you bring people together that can share concerns about this sort of thing, it’s really empowering for women,” said Yost Kiss.

Skeptics may wonder why men are not part to the group, but Moran and Yost Kiss have thought that through.

Much of society, they explained, embraces a culture of victim blaming.

“Since women are disproportionately affected by that, it makes sense to start with them,” said Yost Kiss. “Women have to learn how to work towards changing that culture.”

questions will not be associated with any participant.

The second section asks participants about general mental health status, including whether the participant is flourishing or languishing, and whether the individual has displayed depressive, anxiety, or panic disorder like symptoms.

The third section covers lifestyle and health-related behaviors, including drug and alcohol use, exercise, school work, job work, and satisfaction at CWRU. This year, the Healthy Minds Study added an Alcohol Module. The Alcohol Module is an additional set of questions regarding substance use. A random selection of the 8,000 CWRU students invited to take the survey were selected to participate in the Alcohol Module.

The next three sections cover the awareness of, use of, and barriers and facilitators to mental health services. These sections focus on the participant’s need of these services and where one can go if these services are needed.

The seventh section focuses on the academic environment of a student, including supportiveness of the participant’s degree program, willingness to talk with academic personnel about their mental health, and estimated performance in school.

The final section inquires about the social support to a participant, specifically, the participant’s perceived support from family and friends.

The university hopes to achieve a response rate of at least 30 percent from the sample of 8,000 students that were invited to participate.

While there is no penalty for not participating, participants who complete the survey will be entered into a sweepstakes to win a $500 prize.

Though this particular survey is making its debut at CWRU this year, mental health While the empowerment group is limited to women, Flora Stone Mather Center for Women’s services are not.

Their doors are always open for anyone who wants more information, or simply to talk to a privileged or confidential source. They even offer couples counseling as long as one member of the partnership is a CWRU student.

Should the women’s empowerment group really take off in its first semester, a men’s empowerment group or even one just for graduate students may soon follow. So, it may be time to look away from the bathroom stall posters and begin the conversation. Once the conversation starts, the empowerment begins.

For more information contact Erin Moran at etm45@case.edu.

shannon snyder / observer Last week, 8,000 CWRU students received a request to participate in a Health Minds survey, which seeks to gain information on the mental health of college students. surveys are not uncommon. Two years ago, CWRU joined the University of Texas and many other universities in a survey to measure factors of stress, anxiety, and depression and where students went to seek help in dealing with these factors.

The survey found that the majority of students, approximately 60 percent, sought help from their friends. However, it was also found that only 13 percent of students sought help from University Counseling Services.

Dr. Lee and Dr. Sellers hope the results found in the Healthy Minds survey can help guide the programs and services available at CWRU.

“I hope this can create an awareness of the University Counseling Services, both in accessibility and outreach,” said Sellers. “I want to change our perception by students for the better.”

“The survey will give us more information about how students are using services and what services and programs might be more helpful in the future,” said Lee. “If we know how students use these services now, hopefully we can guide them to make them better for our students.”

The results of the survey will be compiled by this summer, with the dissemination process to be determined.

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dents such as Upward Bound and Project Step-Up, which greatly increase Cleveland students’ success, but the two programs are geared more towards students who are at high risk of academic failure. Although CWRU does not have any specific university-wide programs in place to engage a broader range of Cleveland Public School students at the moment, the university does have various programs and initiatives that are gradually tackling this issue.

“We have met with the Cleveland Public Schools’ Board of Education and the chief academic officer,” said Mobley. “This is important because in order to know how to attract and engage students, we have to truly understand their side of the story. In addition, we always do outreach to specific Cleveland Public Schools, such as John Hays, that tend to have more CWRU geared students.”

Other programs CWRU has initiated include the Social Justice Institute and the Emerging Scholars Program (ESP).

CWRU’s Social Justice Institute develops and funds several research projects and programs to understand and improve social inequity, especially in Cleveland and on campus. The Social Justice Institute, for example, hosts the “Power Up Conference.” During the conference, high school and college students discuss prevalent social justice issues and develop goals to try and combat them.

In addition, two years ago, CWRU started ESP, a summer program that connects 12, mostly minority, students from greater Cleveland with academic resources and guidance before their freshman year.

Meetings with the Cleveland Public Schools, the Social Justice Institute, and ESP are testaments that CWRU is making strong efforts to solve this problem. However, as Mobley said, “We are always exploring and trying to strengthen future opportunities to reach inclusive excellence.”

vice president in 2009, diversity at CWRU has steadily improved each year.

14 percent of the class of 2016 is from underrepresented groups, a five percent increase from the class of 2015. In addition, in 2012, 271 staff, faculty, and students also completed the Lesbian Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender Safe Zone training compared to 137 last year.

Those statistics, though great and a testament to CWRU’s emphasis on the importance of diversity, are university wide, and do not demonstrate if CWRU is trying to attract Cleveland high-school students to attend the university.

It is important for universities to strengthen community relations, including attracting local talented students because a stronger community means a stronger university.

A report published by the Institute for Higher Education Policy, however, reveals that many students in urban cities, like Cleveland, who are qualified to attend institutions like CWRU, do not take the necessary actions to apply and enroll in college, especially when it comes to applying for financial aid. Most times this is because they are unaware of the process of applying to and benefits of a postsecondary education.

Some universities are at the forefront in community relations, especially when it comes to helping local students prosper. In 2012, the University of Chicago announced a partnership with the City of Chicago called the UChicago Promise. The UChicago Promise lets admitted Chicago high school students “attend the university without receiving any loans in their financial aid packages.” It also provides Chicago students and families professional support about the admissions and financial aid process.

CWRU has programs for Cleveland stu-

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02/22/13

USG Brief >>nooraSOMERSALO student.affairsREPORTER<<

At its General Assembly (GA) on Tuesday, Feb. 19, Case Western Reserve University’s Undergraduate Student Government (USG) spent most of the meeting discussing the organization’s internal logistics.

The open forum section of the meeting, during which representatives are able to freely bring up issues for discussion, started with a conversation about the possible change of the drop/add policy. Vice President of Academic Affairs Taryn Fitch brought to the assembly’s attention that the drop/add period could be changed from the first two weeks of the semester to one week with the possibility of adding a new class during the second week only with instructor consent.

Many representatives reasoned that a change in the drop/add policy would make the process more complicated in case an instructor would not be able to give consent in time. It was also noted that a new policy would be problematic in larger classes, where the instructor would possibly have to deal with a significant number of students requesting consent.

Another subject of debate concerned the pledge of allegiance, which the GA

members recite at the beginning of each meeting. Some argued that the pledge adds a sense of formality to the meeting while others stated that it could possibly make the international members of the GA uncomfortable. In an unofficial poll, the majority of the GA expressed support for ending the tradition.

The GA also discussed going back to the old model of having meetings every week instead of the current, biweekly assemblies. Many representatives spoke for the weekly model, stating that the current system hurts student organizations that have to wait more than a week to get officially recognized by the USG. Some also argued that the biweekly system makes the GA ineffective. It was suggested that perhaps the GA should take voting on the recognition and funding of student organizations completely off its agenda and leave the executive power to the Finance Committee. Despite these arguments, a majority of the GA supported staying in the current system in an unofficial poll.

Besides the aforementioned issues, the GA also voted on Bill B. 22-17, a bill to recognize additional student organizations, and it passed with 94 percent approval. The bill recognized two organizations, Writers Writing Words and the Case Aikido club.

xiaoyu li / observer At the most recent USG meeting, representatives spent much of the meeting in unofficial discussion, including a discussion of changes about drop/add.

Bill B. 22-18, a bill to provide additional funding to recognized organizations, was also passed with 94 percent affirmation, granting a total of $3,575 out of the $7,498.78 requested to different student organizations. Four funding requests were

denied in full.

In committee reports, president James Hale informed the GA of an upcoming meeting with the Board of Trustees, explaining that this year the board’s focus will be on sustainability.

SLJC Spotlight on…The Holistic Health Club >>jennaMILLEMACI senior.newsREPORTER<<

On a campus where it seems that nearly everyone, whether undergraduate, graduate student, or faculty member is a bona fide overachiever, is it even possible to get a quiet moment of solace in to simply contemplate and experience your surroundings? The Holistic Health Club, established early this month by three undergraduates, has come to prove that ambition and relaxation can go hand-in-hand.

London Holt, the third year undergraduate and vice president of the Holistic Health Club who focuses on meditation for the organization, traveled to Beijing for nine weeks in the summer of 2012 to study abroad. While he was there, he climbed two mountains in the Wu Tai Shan Mountain Range and meditated with the native Buddhist monks.

He was so enlivened by his experience that when he returned to Case Western Reserve University, his stories caught others’ attentions and caused a ripple effect of ideas to bring cultural forms of healing to campus.

“My family background is very into Chinese medicine and alternative medicine, so I missed all of the practices and the tai chi meditation,” said Lisa Liang, second year undergraduate and president of the Holistic Health Club.

Liang, who focuses on tai chi, teamed up with Holt to form the organization.

“Coming to campus, I saw that a lot of the students were stressed. I thought that bringing [the Holistic Health Club] to campus would help a lot of people.”

According to the executive members of the club, holistic health is in high demand on campus. Faculty and students, including a CWRU medical anthropology professor, petitioned to see the club in full fruition at the beginning of their development. Not even a month in the running, the Holistic Health Club held their first general body meeting in the beginning of February.

“Personally, I’ve been through a lot of stress, and I see my peers go through a lot of stress. The imbalance has not only impacted their academic selves but

also their social life and their personal ful art of slow moving meditation. It development… I wanted to introduce originates from martial arts, so there’s this holistic practice to the campus so actually a lot of defense and attacking people could learn and practice and abilities. Through the slow moving, utilize it in their everyday lives,” said your body is synchronized,” Liang said.

Liang.

“The moving meditation is centered Johanna Lam, a second year under- about the theory of yin and yang… That graduate student and the treasurer of balance in energy is basically what tai the club was one of those “stressed out chi stems from.” peers.”

Holt explained that meditation origiHe and Liang practiced meditation nated in the Hindu belief system, but it and yoga together every morning and does not necessarily take on a religious enhanced their understanding of holis- label. tic healing from their SAGES course, “I think that a lot of meditation is Chronic Illness in the context of Cul- connected to many different belief systure, before they formed the club. tems, and it is just a belief that it can “You can feel the stress [on cam- help you connect not only to higher pus],” Lam said. “I powers but want this club to be a the divine esresource for us to learn sence within hen you have blockages in these how to do better with- different energy points, it can manifest in yourself,” he out stressing out, by your consciousness… and that connects said. “Even if living a healthier life- to reiki healing, which is used to open people don’t style.” believe in a up these different energy points. It’s like Holt describes him- you’re healing the person, and the person higher power, self as the living em- is healing themselves with energy that’s it just helps bodiment of “medita- flowing through you.” you at the biotion.”

-London Holt, vice president of Holistic logical level “Not only do I have Health Club by releasing a passion for holistic different neumedicine, but my marotransmitters jors are psychology and Chinese. I want that are conducive to helping you.” to become a marriage therapist that According to Lam, yoga takes its uses holistic modalities,” he said. “I roots in Indian culture. “It is actually also have a passion for personal devel- very closely linked to Hinduism,” she opment and bringing the ‘amazingness’ said. “It is also a moving form of mediout of people… Meditation and other tation. A lot of it is based on the chakras modalities of relaxation have helped me [different center points of energy in so much,” he said. “This group is the your body].” manifestation of a huge paradigm shift “When you have blockages in these that’s taking place in American culture different energy points, it can manifest because people aren’t just using west- in your consciousness… and that conern medicine.” nects to reiki healing, which is used to The Holistic Health Club plans to open up these different energy points,” focus on three main practices: tai chi, Holt said. “It’s like you’re healing meditation, and yoga, but they are also the person, and the person is healing open to exploring other forms of cul- themselves with energy that’s flowing tural healing such as integrative nu- through you,” he said. trition and reiki. The club’s executive According to Liang and Holt, the board also includes their secretary, typical reiki style that is practiced is second year undergraduate Amber Be- laying hands, or a massage with enserra, who is currently studying abroad ergy. Reiki healing is now being pracin India to enhance her understanding ticed at the Cleveland Clinic, and the of yoga. club hopes to get in contact with a reiki “[Tai chi] is basically a very grace- healer from there.

“W

Liang, who is a majoring in nutrition, shed her perception of the impact of eating habits on campus health. “I think that integrated nutrition, such as herbs or natural eating habits, is very important, especially in today’s world.

I think that what we eat directly impacts not only our bodies, but also our minds, so we’re really hoping to—” “Make ourselves a resource,” Lam said, finishing Liang’s sentence. “Make people more aware of what they’re eating, essentially.”

The group would also like to collaborate with the Student Dietetic Association (SDA) for future events.

If the Holistic Health Club could give one snippet of advice to the whole campus on how to lead a healthier lifestyle, what would it be?

“You see everyone caught up in their own lives, deadlines, this and that— take five minute, set a timer, and just deep breathe,” Lam said.

“Breathe in for five seconds, hold it for five seconds, and exhale for five seconds,” Liang said.

“You’ll feel that your life isn’t just run by deadlines,” added Lam. “I feel like a lot of kids at case are extremely ambitious individuals, so they place these huge goals on themselves to the point where if they don’t reach these goals, they’re not giving themselves love energy.

I tell people that unconditional love is kind of like breathing oxygen,” Holt said. “You don’t ‘become’ successful, you are already worthy of ‘amazingness.’ You are amazing because of who you are – you’re not earning it through your GPA.” “Just like the people, I’m curious… we just set the space for the curiosity,” Holt continued. “Our group is just open for anyone who is curious—for the atheist, for the Christian, for the Hindu, for the Buddhist—it’s open for everyone because these practices within themselves may have originated with certain religious or spiritual beliefs, but even if the person doesn’t have those certain beliefs, they can use [these practices] in their everyday life.”

The Holistic Health Club meets on Tuesdays and Thursdays at 7:30 p.m. in Spartan Room of the Thwing Student Center.

observer.case.edu

news

7

Inamori Center announces recipient of award, Patagonia owner Yvon Chounard >>gregBOKAR newsEDITOR<<

This week, Case Western Reserve University’s Inamori Center for Ethics and Excellence announced the recipient of their annual award would be the founder of burgeoning company and environmental enthusiast Yvon Chounard. He is the founder of Patagonia Inc., a privately held clothing company that earned over $340 million in 2010 and is only positioned to make more moving forward.

Chounard will receive the award at the start of the academic school year on Sept. 6.

After founding his clothing company in 1972, Chounard has been at the forefront of the environmental movement by pushing his desire for social responsibility through his company.

Shannon French, the director of the Inamori Center, said in a statement this week, “Yvon Chounard’s leadership defines corporate social responsibility.”

“He has proven that if you prioritize people and the planet, you can still make a profit,” the statement continues. And Chounard has in fact prioritized both his 1,400 employees and the planet as a whole.

The company, which was originally founded as a retailer for rock and alpine climbing, commits the greater of one-percent of its annual sales or ten-percent of its profits to environmental efforts. The commitment has led to a cumulative donation of over $46 million to environmental organizations since the company began to institute the program.

In addition, Chounard is the co-founder of the nonprofit organization One Percent for the Planet, which is an organization of both large and small businesses that have made the same commitment to donate onepercent of their sales to environmental organizations. The organization, which was founded in 2002, has over 1,000 member companies ranging from small to large companies.

The Common Threads Recycling Program is another program organized by Chounard to stop Patagonia products from

courtesy supertopo.com The Inamori Center for Ethics and Excellence announced this week that the founder of the popular clothing brand Patagonia, Yvon Chounard, will be receiving their award next September. ending up in landfills. In a statement to Entrepreneur magazine regarding Common Threads Recycling Program, Chounard said, “In our catalogs, we’re going to tell people not to over-consume. Buy what you need, and hopefully it will be a Patagonia product. But if you’re tired of it, we’ll help you find another home for it by telling you where it can be sold on eBay or given away.”

He continued, “It forces us to make prod-

ucts that don’t wear out, but by taking this risk, it will make it easier to take business from our competitors in the end.”

The 74 year-old rock climber and businessman also has demonstrated a commitment to his employees by offering dynamic programs that both help the environment and company morale.

In a special program for employees, Patagonia Inc. members are allowed to take up to

two months off of paid leave to work on environmental endeavors anywhere in the world.

Over 700 employees have already participated in the program.

In addition, employees at the company’s headquarters in Venture, CA are allowed to leave at any time to take a break and go surfing. The company has appeared on Fortune’s coveted list of the best companies to work for.

Juniper Community Council holds Star Search Talent Show >>tanviPARMAR special.assignmentsREPORTER<<

On Saturday, Feb. 16, from 8:00 p.m. to 11:00 p.m., the halls of the Spot resonated with acts of the talented performers and the cheer of the 300-person audience for Juniper Community Council’s (JCC) Star Search talent show.

This free event was open to all of campus and intended to commemorate Ally Piepho, a first year student who passed away during this past winter break. All $320 raised in donations went to the scholarship in loving memory of the former Juniper resident.

“I’m glad that so many people came out to celebrate Case Western’s talents and support Ally Piepho,” said co-executive head planner, Krishna Janakiram Mahadevan.

Every person of Juniper Council was involved in at least one committee to plan for the event.

The JCC’s executive planners for the event included freshmen co-executive heads of the planning process Mahadevan and Chris Nguyen, public relations committee head Jane Lu, entertainment committee head Mindy Amornwichet, decorations committee head Jaiden Deschene, and food committee head Marcel Youkhana.

The four judges, math professor Chris Butler, SAGES fellow Bernard Jim, police officer Mark Chavis, and chemistry professor Mike Kenney, and the audience enjoyed the eighteen talented acts.

The acts included a capella by Case in Point, individual singing, poem readings, viola medleys, piano playing, rapping, Indian classical dancing, Latin remix danc-

ing, and juggling. Some student bands like Pushing Sparks, Paper Only, the Squirrels of Case Western, and the Irish-music-playing family band entertained the crowd.

“It was really nerve-racking standing in front of a crowd of people I hardly knew, but it was totally worth it. To hear the applause at the end was what made it all worth it. Even if the applause was premature for my act I was so glad that everyone was so enthusiastic about all the performances,” said freshman Pushing Sparks band member, Jeniece Montellano.

Every now and then, the audience had the chance to hear real time updates from the judges about the recent performances.

“I really enjoyed watching everyone perform. There are so many talented students here,” said freshman Sapna Shah.

Third place went to Teddy Hecht who performed a few original CWRU raps.

Second place went to Henry Hershey with his unique singing rendition of the songs “Low” by Flo Rida and “Toxic” by Brittany Spears on the piano. Hershey announced that he would be donating half his winnings to Ally Piepho scholarship and the other half to the CWRU Dancea-thon.

Brendan Hearn and his family band won first place with their Irish music on the cello, guitar, and violin.

“JCC is incredibly proud that Star Search, which we have been planning for the past two months, was such a success. We’re so thankful to all of our acts and those who came to support. Thanks for making it a great event,” said stage and sound head, freshman Aravindan Krishnan.

shannon snyder / observer Last Friday, provost William Baeslack III held his annual update on the state of Case Western Reserve University’s finances. At the sparsely attended event in Strosacker Auditorium, Baeslack noted tuition is only set to increase by 3.25 percent for the upcoming school year, with a four percent increase in room and board costs. During the question and answer portion, the focus of most undergraduates involved concern over varying housing issues, including why financial aid is tied to living on campus, and deteriorating conditions of the Village at 115 apartments on North Side.

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arts & entertainment 02/22/13

Eldred Theater presents: the 5th of July >>josephVERBOVSZKY new physical limitations and realize theatre&danceREPORTER<< what he can and cannot do. Olivos, who

sheehan hannan / observer

What do we do after the day of celebration is over, after the big event? We might sleep. We might think about what we did and saw the night before, about the fireworks bursting in the sky. We might even feel a bit of sadness – something approaching nostalgia – for all the preparation and thought we devoted to the plans we had made. In the end, we always try to avoid the inevitable clean up, and we return our lives to a sense of order. We can’t live permanently in the aftermath.

But that is exactly what the Talley family, the main characters in Eldred’s latest production, does. It is 1977, eight years since Ken Talley, the main protagonist, returned to Lebanon, Missouri from Vietnam, missing both legs. He, his sister, June, and friends Gwen and John all went to Berkeley and took part in the protests against the war. But when Ken was drafted, he went. Now, eight years later, they are all living in the aftermath, trying to mend their lives and accept who they have become.

The play, written by Lanford Wilson in 1978, explores the metamorphosis that characters go through as they try to figure out their new identities. Ken, played by Zac Olivos, must accept his

has to walk on crutches to play, describes the experience as transformative.

“Everyday things like getting a glass of water or getting up from the couch become much more difficult, and you have to consciously think about these things, which before you didn’t notice.” In order to gain a better understanding of Ken, Olivos spent entire rehearsals, not just the time on set, using crutches so he could have a better understanding of the character. I said that it must have given his arms a workout. He agreed, but said that the far more difficult task was for Jay Lee, who plays Ken’s lover, to pick him up during certain scenes and for which he built up a considerable amount of muscle.

But it’s not just Ken who has to face his new situation. His friends, John (played by Thomas Burke) and Gwen (played by Kelsey Petersen) face their own trials. Petersen describes Gwen as a “drugged out country heiress” that wants to make something of herself as a music star. She has high energy and no filter.

Meanwhile, Ken’s sister, June (played

by Hannah Cooney) was an ardent anti-war activist who now has to contend with being a mother to Shirley (played

see ELDRED | 15

CWRU Orchestra’s spring symphonies >>anneNICKOLOFF musicREPORTER<< You may not have even known that Case Western Reserve University has a student orchestra, much less that they had a concert coming up. Symphony Orchestra director Kathleen Horvath knows this is a common fact at CWRU. “Many don’t even know of CWRU’s Music department,” she said.

The CWRU Symphony Orchestra has already performed once this semester and put on three other concerts in the fall semester. The orchestra’s past performances include the Blue Block Party, accompanying Museum of Contemporary Art’s (MOCA) grand opening, and a rock orchestra.

The group will also be performing two more shows later this semester, including their more popular “Bach to Rock” concert.

Typically, the CWRU Symphony Orchestra does not garner that much attention on campus. Horvath noted that with more advertisements, they sometimes have sold out shows, but they usually only expect up to 100 people attendees, usually comprised of parents, colleagues and friends of students.

At this concert, the orchestra will be performing four classical pieces by three different composers: Rimsky Korsakov, Tchaikovsky, and Franz Berwald. There will also be one intermission. Most loved by the student musicians, according to Horvath, is the larger orchestral repertoire.

“They typically like the biggest and splashiest piece,” she said.

Horvath does not just choose the music sporadically, though. “My job is to take strengths in the orchestra and find pieces that make us sound really good,” she said.

To get a good mix of music, Horvath

mary kate macedonia / observer

The CWRU Orchestra practices before their performance at the Church of the Covenant on Monday. chooses popular songs that will not only attract more people, but also lesser-known works. She also chooses specific songs to highlight individual students’ musical talent.

At the upcoming concert, Tchaikovsky’s “Violin Concerto in D major, Op. 35” and Berwald’s “Konzertstück for Bassoon and Orchestra” will feature students Lok Lei and Frankie Delgado on violin and bassoon, respectively.

Students featured in the concerto pieces were chosen through last year’s annual concerto competition that the orchestra hosts.

Lei, an undergraduate Music and Biology double major, encourages people to

come see the show. “CWRU is a very sciencey school, but it’s good to see an artistic side of that. It’s good to support lesser known groups,” she said.

Unlike Lei, many students in CWRU’s Symphony orchestra are not music majors.

Physics major Joe Szabo plays the trumpet as a form of escape from schoolwork. “It’s really a lot of fun because everyone’s really committed to putting on a good performance and doing the best they can,” said Szabo.

Other campus orchestral groups include CWRU’s Camerata Chamber Orchestra, which is less intense than the Symphony Orchestra. “We have about the same number of concerts. We share personnel and

equipment,” said Hovorka.

The music facilities in Denison Rehearsal Hall are undoubtedly being stretched thin. Practice rooms are usually all booked, with musicians playing in hallways or lobbies to try to get extra in practice time. For how little the orchestra meets, this additional practice time is necessary.

Twice every week, the orchestra meets for 90 minutes. With only two weeks to prepare for upcoming shows featuring all new music, the group moves at an impressive pace.

Horvath attempts to strike a balance so the students will not be overwhelmed with

see ORCHESRA | 15

a&e 9

observer.case.edu

Kentucky Route Zero: entrancingly simple, engrossingly atmostpheric Adding to the air of minimalism is an im- ditional RPGs and adventure games, Ken- perhaps suggesting that the player should >>sheehanHANNAN arts&entertainmentEDITOR<< pressively well-conceived set of art assets. tucky Route Zero is something of a frus- not always be the ultimate decider of their Developer: Cardboard Computer Platform: Windows, Mac. Price: $7 (Act I), $25 (Act I-V) Some games fit nicely into square little boxes. They’re easy to describe, even easier to grasp, and disappear from the mind just as quickly as they come. There’s no mystery, nothing compelling that sticks in the mind for days afterwards. “Kentucky Route Zero” is anything but one of these games.

Ostensibly, the game is about a delivery driver for a small antiques store. Named Conway, he is tasked with tramping through rural Kentucky in a beat-up truck to make a delivery to an address that doesn’t exist, at least not in any familiar world. To get to said address, he must find a secret, and possibly mythical, highway: Kentucky Route Zero.

In the simplest sense, “Kentucky Route Zero” is a side scrolling adventure game, complete with all the trappings therein.

What sets this game apart from others in its genre, however, is the inclusion of what can only be described as partial three-dimensional space. The simple vector artwork stands out through the manipulation of the player’s perspective, sometimes giving the impression of three dimensional space, other times shifting to somewhere in between flat and 3D.

Though the set pieces are fairly sparse, they flesh out the environment in an engrossing way and are extremely pleasing from an aesthetic point of view. Shadows are defined in an almost noir sensibility, and an air of mystery and discovery hangs over every locale.

Location is indeed important in this game, perhaps more than anything else. The story and characters are intentionally vague, lost in the perfectly presented Kentucky night. Crickets chirp, engines hum, and footsteps clack. But beyond simply assigning sound effects, this game seems to present sound as the primary storyteller. Given the minimal nature of the art style, every sound takes on an entirely different meaning. The soundtrack itself, which consists of actual music only at key moments, seems to be focused on creating a profoundly enveloping sense of place. The sounds of bluegrass played by a phantom band on a hillside, or of a scratchy tape recorder playing choir music in an empty church, are what take this game into the realm of experience. They strip away the player’s preconditioned attempt to construct a narrative, with concrete characters and clear events, and drop them lightly down into a cushiony space where discovery is both welcome and terrifying.

For players that are accustomed to tra-

trating revelation. The game uses a fairly common trope, the speech bubble, to communicate dialogue, story, and player choices. But beyond that, “Kentucky Route Zero” seems to actively mock player choice. Despite what path the player seems to choose, the outcome is always the same, and the narrative unchanged. At first it’s annoying, but after a while the player’s lack of definite decision-making ability becomes something of a constant companion. The assumption that the player makes with other games, that their decision is gospel, suddenly seems almost childish as the game proceeds. It proceeds without them, pushed forward by a force unseen. The player is no longer the determiner of his or her own destiny, or even the driver of the game’s action.

A review of Kentucky Route Zero, of course, invites a comparison with “The Walking Dead,” a series that emphasizes player choice to almost absurd levels. In “The Walking Dead,” the decisions that the player makes have extreme consequences and place them as the primary motivator of the game’s action. Despite the minimization of traditional game mechanics in favor of storytelling in both games, Kentucky Route Zero seems to be mocking the emphasis on player choice. At least in Act I, the player’s choices really don’t matter in the overall scheme of things, putting an emphasis instead on environmental experience as the primary way of telling a story. This is, in a way, a criticism of “The Walking Dead,”

destiny.

If the critical reception of “The Walking Dead” is any indication, video-game writing is still in its infancy. Truly, the “innovations” found in “The Walking Dead” are comparable to anything a casual viewer could pick up on a mediocre network television series every day. Which makes Kentucky Route Zero even more important. Despite having nowhere near the audience or scope of “The Walking Dead,” it has managed to put forth a work that is experiential, story-based, and something akin to a meta-game (at least in its current form).

Kentucky Route Zero successfully creates an atmosphere and environment that is altogether entrancing and worthy of a play through. Act I is a resounding success, and the game’s meta-critical aspect makes it all the more excellent. I have hope for the upcoming chapters, and if Cardboard Computer stays in the same vein, they’re bound to be worthy of praise.

The game is episodic in nature, with seven scenes making up the first act. Currently, there’s only one act available, but there are more to come throughout the year for an eventual total of five. Just the first act costs $7, while the entire game (with all subsequent additional chapters) can be purchased for $25. It’s worth every cent.

Kentucky Route Zero was reviewed on a Macbook Pro w/ Retina Display, 2.6 Ghz i7, 8GB DDR3, Intel HD 4000 512Mb.

The Observer’s app of the week

Versu

>>owenBELL say something rude, the characters’ will regames&techREPORTER<< member and change their behavior to match.

Platform: iOS (iPad) Price: Free Publisher: Linden Research Inc. Versu is an app created by Linden Labs, the company famous for making the game “Second Life.” It is an experiment in “interactive fiction” that puts the reader in the role of a character in one of several Jane Austen inspired short stories. The app comes bundled with a few of these stories and more can be paid for and downloaded.

At first, Versu seems like another fancy ebook that includes a few bits of reader interaction to differentiate it from something you might read on your Kindle. There is a lot more to what the app is doing, though.

Versu’s big trick is using artificial intelligence to direct the behavior of the characters in the story.

At any point, the reader can make a decision about what they want to do. Once they make a decision, or even if they don’t, the app uses AI to determine how the other characters in the story react.

The app gives the reader a lot of different options to play with. They range from the complicated, like participating in a conversation, to the simple, like smiling when you receive a compliment. Not only is there a lot you can do, you can also pick any available option at any time. There is no need to wait until the app tells you it is time to act, it is up to you to choose the moment.

Through all of this, the AI is constantly evaluating. If you compliment someone or

This system gives the reader’s interaction the potential to be nuanced and realistic. You actually feel in control of the action, rather than like you’re flipping through a chooseyour-own-adventure book.

The problem is that the system just does not work.

The AI regularly fails to actually process what you say correctly. Characters often pull out strange non-sequiturs or change emotions randomly.

During one of my play sessions, the characters suddenly started talking about a horse as if I had mentioned it in conversations.

There had been a dialogue option about the horse earlier and even though I never chose it, the AI mistakenly thought that I had.

The interface is an issue too. Although it does a good job of providing all the information you need in a clean and simple way, it regularly freezes or fails to register input.

You will sometimes be unable to press buttons or your touch registers wrong and you say something you never meant to.

The many problems leave the entire experience feeling unfinished.

At a price of free, I really do recommend downloading the app and playing around with what it can do. It is interesting to see just how the AI reacts to your decisions and see how much freedom you have in the story. In its current state, though, the extra content is not worth the asking price.

After some polish this app might work really well, but for now it is just an interesting tech demo.

opinion

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02/22/13

The amazing mole rat >> aditya RENGASWAMY | WEIRD SCIENCE Nature tends to favor species that can adapt to their surroundings the best. Humans, for instance, have been effectively adapting to almost every crevice of our planet. This speciesspecific evolution of sorts occasionally yields some extremely interesting behavior. Let’s take a moment to explore the life of the female mole rat, an animal very different from humans, and discover some of their unique characteristics: The female mole rat is scuttling around in her tunnels when she spots a predator approaching her. Immediately, the mole rat reacts in fear and runs backwards. Unlike most other mammals, they can run just as fast backward as they can forward. After taking some various tunnel routes, they successfully escape the enemy.

This crevice of the tunnel is much cooler in temperature than most of the other areas in the network. The oxygen levels are much lower than normal.

According to University of Illinois, Chicago neuroscientist Thomas Park, these animals can block calcium absorption that contributes to easier living in low oxygen environments. Eventually, the almost coldblooded features of these creatures make it tough to regulate temperature. This mole rat will find its fellow mole brothers and sisters to cuddle and warm up.

In our story, the next day, the queen mole rat dies due to old age. It is now a chance for our scurrying female to

dominate its colony and take control.

After fighting vigorously with other females, this rat becomes the new queen of the colony. She prepares to breed, and as other females look for opportunities to breed, she rams them hard from behind.

The stress that comes from hurting the weaker females results in them being unable to breed, allowing her to maintain her queen status. She will live for many years as the ruler, enjoy the attention of the males, and lead her colony to prosperity.

Mole rats are by far some of the oldest mammals in existence. Scientists are exploring the mole rat’s evolutionary process to better understand how humans can live in extreme environments.

There are plenty of opportunities to understand our world so much deeper when we are willing to risk facing the extremes. Discoveries are made on the edges of the universe and our land, and those that are the most worthwhile have the most at stake.

Join me next time as we continue to explore the weird of our universe.

From the vast monuments erected by mankind to the peculiar discovery of scientific phenomena, there is plenty left to discover around us.

Aditya Rengaswamy is a sophomore accounting student at CWRU. He enjoys doing various service projects like Kids Against Hunger, being a part of USG, and hanging out with his brothers in θX.

courtesy others-nations.com

Disclaimer: The opinions expressed by the columnists and contributors in this section are solely their own.

They do not reflect the views of The Observer or Case Western Reserve University.

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The Observer is a proud member of the CWRU Media Board.

Editor’s Note Empty chairs at empty tables During the week of Feb. 11, students were invited to attend a student-focused forum on tuition, room and board rates, and improvements planned for the next academic year. The problem? When the event arrived on Friday, Feb. 15, the rows of seats filling Strosacker Auditorium were mostly bare.

Provost and executive vice president W.A. “Bud” Baeslack III hosted the forum, and it aimed to provide “an update regarding 2013-2014 tuition, room and board rates, as well as program improvements planned for the next academic year,” according to The Daily, Case Western Reserve University’s official newsletter produced by University Marketing and Communications.

Unfortunately, this latest attempt by university administration to connect with students resulted in the same background noise that tends to frequent similar events, such as president Barbara R. Snyder’s annual State of the University Address and the semi-annual open forum held by the Student Executive Council: the sound of chirping crickets.

The provost’s forum is indicative of an increasingly prevalent -- or, more alarmingly, tolerated -- trend at this school, which anticipates students will not attend informational events about institutional issues.

To be fair, our predominantly academic-focused student body should share in the blame. After all, for many students, mountains would have to move before they could justify looking up from their textbook long enough to hear information that will not affect them until next year.

But this isn’t to say university administrators shouldn’t put their backs into moving some boulders.

The communication strategy leading up to the provost’s forum was ineffective at reaching students. The Daily published an article about the event on the Monday preceding it, while a banner advertising the forum was published on the homepage of case.edu.

The short notice of the forum aside, the majority of students I know instruct Gmail to filter The Daily out of their inbox and haven’t visited case.edu since the day they enrolled in this institution. (The Observer was not informed of the event prior to its appearance in The Daily, which occurred after our latest edition had hit newsstands.)

Meanwhile, the text chosen to advertise the forum did not have students in mind. Phrases such as “one-hour meeting” and “reviewing proposed charges” made the forum sound like a lunch date with a dry accountant rather than an engaged conversation between students and CWRU’s second-highest ranking official .

The next opportunity for the university to connect with students will occur throughout a series of panels comprised of members from CWRU’s strategic planning working groups. As of press time, two of the forums had been scheduled for the week of Feb. 25.

I certainly hope university officials will work to ensure as many students as possible attend these forums. This means explaining in no-nonsense language why students should tear the textbooks out of their hands long enough to be present, and then mobilizing campus and social media to convey the message. In turn, I hope students recognize each of these forums is an opportunity to help stear the direction of the institution for the foreseeable future.

At a time when our university is undergoing a significant transformation, connecting the administration to its student constituency couldn’t be more important. Bridging such a long-standing gap will not be easy, but it won’t be impossible, either. We just have to get good at moving mountains.

Tyler Hoffman –EXECUTIVE EDITOR Want to connect with the editor?

Follow him on Twitter @tylerehoffman or drop him a line at observer@case.edu.

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Letters to the Editor Regarding your story about KSL and its funding, I have one simple question: Where would the money come from to fund the library? I sincerely hope that the increased funding does not come from tuition.

Without increasing costs on the student body, can the university find a way to fund the library? Most likely, this would require cuts from other parts of the university. I would love to see opinions by the writers at The Observer saying which departments they would accept cuts in.

Many students, including myself and several of my friends, worry about the increasing cost of attendance, year after year. Some of us would rather have the university focus more on cost control than expanding or offering new services.

Therefore, personally, I accept low funding for the library if that means holding down costs of attendance for students.

Andrew Simeroth Undergraduate Student

In response to the editorial regarding sophomores living in Village housing, I would like to pose a simple question. Why would the underclassmen only be allowed to live in a single house but this single house is connected to three other houses within the Village? If housing wants to keep a separation between underclassmen and upperclassmen and how many resources they have available, it does not make sense to put the underclassmen in a house that gives them access to half of the Village complex. It would be a better idea to put the underclassmen in House 5. This way they are restricted to a single section of the Village and swipe access can be denied for them to get into any other part of the Village. This would allow upperclassmen to still have special access to all parts of the Village and would also keep out immaturities of the younger undergraduate population.

Janis Cava Undergraduate Student

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11

Provost presents on CWRU strategic initiatives for 2013-2014 >> CWRU House Mafia | FROM THE MAFIA On Feb. 15, provost and executive vice president W.A. “Bud” Baeslack III spoke about upcoming strategic initiatives to an audience of approximately 50. Less than half of those in attendance were undergraduate students despite the event being billed as a chance to “hear and be heard.”

There was an effort to market the event via The Daily, a banner on Case Western Reserve University’s homepage and an email to select student leaders from the Undergraduate Student Government, but attendance was underwhelming.

This might not be surprising when the description of the event stated “Join Provost Bud Baeslac Friday, Feb 15. for a forum on next year’s tuition rates and enhanced academic initiatives.” That sounds like an awful way to spend a Friday afternoon; sorry provost Baeslack.

In an only-at-CWRU moment, there were more students filing out of Intro Physics than students waiting to enter Strosacker for the event with the provost directly afterward. Professor Chottiner joked that he should probably erase the physics on the board while the provost’s support staff set up for the presentation.

Maybe next year they will consider leaving the physics on the board in an attempt to confuse overeager first year students to stay for the forum.

In a series of posts starting this week, CWRU House Mafia will attempt to cut through the university doublespeak and

courtesy cwruhousemafia.tumblr.com offer a balanced assessment of some of the projects highlighted in the provost’s presentation.

A new weekly contributor to The Observer, CWRU House Mafia is a blog beyond The Daily that strives to engage and develop a deeper sense of community at Case Western Reserve University.

They’re only a click away at cwruhousemafia.tumblr.com.

State Your Case What do you think of second-year students being allowed to live in the Village at 115?

How safe are we at CWRU? Who should own guns and which should they own?

15%

Do guns contribute to our security or to violence?

27%

The Observer and Share the Vision host

Safety, Our Community, and Guns: A Conversation with...

Arthur Hardee, Chief of CWRU Police

Rylan Pyciak, President of Spartans for Concealed Carry Mark Singer, Ph.D., Co-Director for Center on Substance Abuse and Mental Illness

43%

15%

Time: Wednesday, Feb. 27 @ 7:30 p.m.

Location: Thwing Center, 1914 Lounge Free desert provided Want to make your voice heard before the event?

I see nothing wrong with the idea.

I think it unfavrably divides the second-year class.

I think it is unfair to upperclassmen.

I think it makes the Village less attractive to upperclassmen.

Take the Share the Vision poll online now at students.case.edu/programs/sharethevision/poll/.

For the newest State Your Case poll, visit observer.case.edu and voice your opinion!

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02/22/13

fun page

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easy How did the career fair go?

Hi, I‛m Brandon.

I‛m hoping you‛ll overlook my total lack of experience and appreciable skills.

Hi, I‛m Brandon.

I have a 3.5 GPA mainly because of generous curving practices.

Sudoku

Hi, I‛m Brandon.

I‛m not sure this position will be a good fit beause you seem to be looking for someone who knows what he‛s doing.

I think I was too honest.

hard(er)

*Crossword*

ACROSS 1. Not quiet 5. Affirm 9. Semiaquatic salamander 13. Sea eagle 14. Inhabited

16. Mormon state 17. Cards with just one symbol 18. Feudal lord 19. Remedy 20. Lights 22. Incompetence 24. Head 26. Exchange 27. Accept as true 30. Imagined 33. Immensity 35. Palm cockatoo 37. An official of the Ottoman Empire 38. Directs from the front 41. Pen point 42. Besmirch 45. Trachea 48. Esteem 51. Fortification consisting of a low wall 52. Sanctify 54. South American country 55. The fetal cord 59. Part of the United Kingdom 62. A period of discounted prices 63. Exploded stars 65. Wise one 66. Distinctive flair 67. Wear away 68. Auditory 69. Amount owed 70. Arduous journey 71. In order that not DOWN 1. Loyal

2. Killer whale 3. Out of work 4. Hopelessness 5. Each and every one 6. Eight in Roman numerals 7. Happening 8. Esteem 9. Atomic 10. Decorative case 11. Blemish 12. Not we 15. Prevent 21.

Flower stalk 23. Brainstorm 25. Wickedness 27. What we sleep in 28. Bowel cleasing 29. French for “Summer” 31. Control shrewdly 32. Balderdash 34. Deviate erratically from a set course 36. Assist 39. Downturn 40. Break 43. Completely enveloping 44. Small brook 46. Sketched 47. Sunshade 49. French for “Queen” 50. Accompany 53. Enjoy 55. Utilized 56. He’s a guy 57. Give away 58. Place a load on (archaic) 60. Breastplate 61. Religious offshoot 64. “Yikes!”

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Bigg Inner by Matthew E. White

>>jasonWALSH musicCRITIC<< eration White has put into composing all of

Album: Big Inner Artist: Matthew E. White Rating: 4 / 5 Two of my favorite experiences as a music listener are having a new album from a band I love be better than my expectations, and having an album from someone I’ve never heard of come out of the blue and be great. Matthew E. White’s Big Inner is the latter.

Big Inner came out in the U.S. in August 2012 and didn’t get very much press; I only discovered it because it was recently released in the UK, and it was being reviewed and talked about by British publications.

White is originally a jazz composer and arranger, and Big Inner occupies a strange place between smooth jazz, soft rock, and R&B. The first thing you notice about Big Inner is that it’s sprawling. It only has seven songs, but it’s 42 minutes; the shortest track is over four minutes. Songs go through different movements, starting and ending in different places without you really noticing. Songs change rhythm and tempo every couple of minutes, subtly shifting between moods for verse, chorus, endings, etc.

Songs never feel disjointed or jarring, however. Plenty of the shifts and changes within a song are barely noticeable until you sit down and do nothing but listen to the album, at which point you realize how much consid-

these songs.

For the most part, songs follow a trajectory similar to the opener, “One Of These Days.”

Things start out mellow and laid back, with White singing over a simple bass line and percussion. These unwind and loosen up for the chorus, when a backing band comes in with horns. A guitar line comes and goes while backing vocals appear every now and then.

For the most part, this is White’s M.O. Songs start simple, usually with him singing over bass and drums. Throughout the song, he’ll layer on anything from guitars to shakers, horns to handclaps, and string quartets to backing vocals. These elements come and go as songs develop over their ample, running times.

For example, after a few minutes of the second track, “Big Love,” everything drops out except for some shakers and occasional stabs from a saxophone and piano. It sticks to this for a while, then a bass line comes back in and the song fades out for a few minutes over call and response vocals between White and background singers. Every shift in the song comes with a change in some combination of tempo, mood, and instrumentation, but you never feel like you’ve started listening to a different song.

This is the greatest strength of Big Inner, and probably comes from White’s time spent as a composer and arranger. He can dramatically change multiple elements of a song without fundamentally changing the song; in fact,

The Observer’s playlist of the week 2.15.13

>>jasonWALSH musicCRITIC<<

The Strokes - “All The Time” “All The Time” is the second single from the upcoming Strokes album Comedown Machine, set to come out Mar. 26. “All The Time” has a lot less synths and is a lot better than the first single “One Way Trigger,” which is a good sign for the album.

AraabMuzik - “Never Have To Worry” AraabMuzik is maybe the most technically impressive hip-hop producer. Watching him use an MPC is truly mind-blowing.

“Never Have To Worry” is his new single and it’s worth listening to if only because it’s AraabMuzik.

Ghostface Killah - “The Rise of Ghostusually without you consciously noticing it unless you’re listening closely.

This lends a laid back feel to the album as a whole. These songs feel developed and fully fleshed out. The changes within a song aren’t just to throw a curveball at the listener; they feel like a natural development and each song feels cohesive and carefully considered.

Even if White changes things around multiple times in five minutes, it never feels like he’s in a hurry to get somewhere.

Unfortunately, composing is definitely White’s forte. He is not a particularly compel-

face Killah” Apparently Ghostface has a new album coming out? It’s called Twelve Reasons to Die and is a “crime/horror concept album,” so take that for whatever it’s worth. This first single (along with the fact that RZA executive produced the album) is encouraging.

Blondie - “Heart Of Glass” It came out in 1979, but “Heart of Glass” is one of my favorite 1980s songs. And who doesn’t love 1980s.

Toto - “Africa” What, did you not read the previous one? Who doesn’t love the 1980s. ling lyricist or singer (although he’s not bad either).

The first four songs on the album deal with a breakup, and the last three mostly have vague religious themes while coming back to the breakup every now and then. Most of the time, White sounds slightly disinterested or emotionless when singing, and he has a pretty limited vocal range.

Fortunately, these aspects are overshadowed by White’s composition skills and the music of the album, which are enough alone to make it a very good effort.

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observer.case.edu

My Dinner with Doritos, dreams and death Watershed Down est film of the 1990s. Hoop Dreams is, Clinic. Unless, of course, the Clinic is cho Cheesier chips because they are full >>drewSCHEELER in many ways, like a prequel to Space playing the long game and actually try- of grated cheese. But when these films film&tvCRITIC<< Jam if Space Jam turned into a docu- ing to target young adults, in which case, are so easily found on the Internet from What do you get the dead president who already has everything? I like to imagine the spirit of George Washington took advantage of the Internet this past weekend to catch up on some of the wonderful cinema he’s missed over the last two hundred years. People on the Internet love free things. So imagine the rejoicing when The Criterion Collection – a specialty film imprint that schedules home releases of well-regarded contemporary and classic films from world cinema – announced that some 800 movies posted to Hulu Plus would be free for the entirety of Presidents Day weekend.

Now, in an era where virtually any film can be accessed on the Internet through 10 or fewer clicks, this might not seem that special. But, there’s still something to say about seeing a film in a theatre as a shared viewing experience with your fellow theatregoers. Then you look at the snow out of the window decide that the ghost of Georges Méliès will forgive you just this one time for watching Kurosawa and his mad films in the comfort of your own dorm just this once.

I took this as an opportunity to binge and marathon on as many classic films as I could stand. If I could cross off several seminal works in between studying for a volley of exams this week, then my otherwise quiet weekend would be a success. But by the time I learned of this free film development it was already late Saturday night. My first selection was Hoop Dreams based primarily on the response of Roger Ebert who named it both the best film of 1994 and the great-

mentary about 1990s sports culture and the characters from “the Looney Tunes” were replaced by poverty. Hoop Dreams tells the parallel stories of William Gates and Arthur Agee, two black youths born in the poorest areas of Chicago who try to use their talents at basketball to make it to college. It’s easy to see why Ebert loves Dreams and the documentary holds up so well today: the best-scripted films feature characters with strong motivations. No motivation is stronger than trying to raise your family out of poverty in the face of cultural, social and financial adversities trying to hold you back.

The exact same film could be produced today with a few minor edits: the excessively short shorts, other outdated fashions, a visit to an old-school Pizza Hut. But the idea of players trying to reach the next level and failing is a story that still happens every season. 20 years later, the film Dreams holds up, even if the dreams of Gates and Agee to play in the NBA did not come to pass.

But only a few minutes into Dreams it became apparent that there was a catch to the goodwill of free Criterion: viewers were still expected to sit through commercial breaks lovingly inserted every eight to 10 minutes. Hulu claims to tailor a unique ad experience to each of its viewers. Unfortunately, Hulu’s advertising algorithm is not as carefully constructed as Hulu might suggest.

Hoop Dreams is three hours long. And by the fourth ad break, I had seen the same 90-second commercial describing the prostate health specialists at the Cleveland Clinic four times. This is an excellent use of your advertising money,

bravo sirs and madams. I’ll be sure to schedule a checkup in 30 years.

In My Dinner With Andre, playwrights Wallace Shaun and Andre Gregory sit down in a restaurant and have a meal in real time as they catch up with each other and deliver novellalength speeches on the nature of humanity. Think 24 without the explosions and with more monologues about soulsearching trips to the Sahara Desert and the fleeting nature of happiness in today’s society. I loved My Dinner With Andre to no end. I first became familiar with Andre through Community’s parody of the film, and as much as I loved that television episode the film exceeded pretty much all of my expectations. But what My Dinner With Andre is not about is 12 commercials for Doritos over 90 minutes. Frito-Lay, I have seen the Super Bowl commercials before. And I have seen what both Mr. Shaun and Mr. Gregory order in the film and nowhere are they offered a bowl of Doritos. Shaun orders a spritzer at the start: perhaps the Frito-Lay marketing department is trying to reposition Doritos as the official chip of spritzer drinkers everywhere? In fact, I’d hazard a guess that most people that start My Dinner With Andre at 2:00 a.m. on a Saturday are not big partiers like those football fans seen in the ad.

And their parties are more likely to feature boxes of wine than your pedantic snack chip. If Doritos is subsidizing my exposure to great films then I guess that I should be grateful, just like those Na-

both legal and questionable websites, can websites really afford to alienate viewers by repeating the same two commercials?

It is for these very reasons that I failed in my fourth attempt to finish Ingmar Bergman’s The Seventh Seal.

Seal famously features a game of chess played between Death and the protagonist: the protagonist will die when Death wins the game. Doritos are death, and to this critic each additional Doritos commercial felt like one step closer to checkmate. I quickly switched films.

But every time a new film came to its first commercial I was shown the same clip. Inspecting great films through the lens of a Dorito chip is something that I don’t recommend. The Lord of The Flies becomes normal children driven mad by Doritos commercials. The Doritos clip came only 10 minutes into Seven Samurai. I felt Death follow me into each new film. Quite simply, each crunching of a Dorito was a blow. A blow to my intellect and a blow to my human spirit.

I have now lived through at least 200 punches. At this rate only 200 more and the title to that Truffaut film I thought about queuing up will be strangely relevant to my own existence. It is for these reasons I had a perfectly pleasant time watching Hoop Dreams and My Dinner With Andre then ran away crying from my Criterion experiment. And I will not be signing up for Hulu Plus: no man or woman should ever have to pay for this insanity.

from ELDRED | 8 the war, condemned also the soldiers

by Eliana Fabiyi). Shirley had been left with her great aunt and uncle because of June’s political activities and has grown into a precocious and fantastical child, very confident in herself and her future.

Fabiyi says Shirley is a bit naïve, but also unintentionally tells the truth since she just “says what she sees.” The tension between her and her mother is immediately apparent. June meanwhile, Ken’s older sister, tries to bring a sense of order to the family. Cooney describes her as a “control freak” who finds she can’t control everything; not only that, she must also contend with the creeping feeling that all her political activism actually had little impact on the end of the war. Cooney explains that the main question for June is, “How do you move forward when you feel that you failed?”

Aside from exploring the characters’ own process of healing, the play examines larger political themes related to the Vietnam War. The director, Catherina Albers, has personal connections both to those who protested the Vietnam war as well those who fought in more contemporary wars and explains the importance of understanding both sides. The protesters, in their righteous zeal to condemn

conscripted to fight it. When they returned home, the veterans, some amputees like Ken, were shunned and derided by the protestors rather than granted the warm welcome they had hoped for. The protest movement faced its own waterloo with the realization that its activities had done little to end the war it had so ardently opposed. Thus, the atmosphere of the play portrays the disillusionment and bitterness of failure as well as the hope for healing and reconciliation.

On the technical end, the sound design

by Kelly McCready brings the era of sex, drugs, rock ‘n roll, and civil rights to life with period music and speeches by Martin Luther King, Jr. In terms of design, the set is beautiful. It effectively evokes the 1960s and 70s with the browns and earth tones of the era. At the same time, the gothic windows are a throwback to the house’s Victorian past. The coolest aspect of the set is that the pulled fabric that serves as the walls are translucent, giving them an ethereal nature. Set designer Michael Roesch says he made the walls like that because the characters often argue about the house. “But that’s not the main focus of the conflict,” so he shows that by giving it some transparency.

from ORCHESTRA | 8 the orchestra’s rows during practice. orchestra work on top of their academics.

“For two practices a week, they are really great– that’s what makes CWRU what CWRU is,” said Horvath.

Membership usually settles around 80 to 85 members, but different pieces require different orchestration. To prepare for this particular concert, the orchestra pushed their chairs closer together for their last few practices to acclimate itself to the type of sound they will be getting inside of the church.

Unfortunately, the close proximity of orchestra members has led to a problem with norovirus, and now empty seats dot

However, Horvath is filled with nothing but faith and admiration for each of her students, regardless of their majors.

“They’re a really great group of people,” she said. “I’d love to see the audience base build largely because the students deserve it.”

The upcoming concert is a perfect opportunity to show support of CWRU music programs with its intense tunes performed by the some of the best student musicians.

It is also free to the general public.

The CWRU/University Circle Symphony Orchestra will be performing at the Church of the Covenant on Monday at 7:30 p.m.

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No. 17 men’s tennis ace opening weekend Men’s tennis top No. 12 NCWC 6-3, No. 21 Eagles 7-2, Vassar 9-0 >>peterCOOKE sportsEDITOR<

chen bai / observer Junior Eric Klawitter went 2-1 on the weekend, headlined by a 6-4, 4-6, 6-3 win over No. 12 N.C. Wesleyan’s Johan Ljungdahl.

The No. 17 nationally-ranked Case Western Reserve University men’s tennis team picked up a 9-0 dual match win on Sunday versus Vassar College during the final day of the Mary Washington Invitational. The Spartans completed a perfect weekend after Saturday victories versus No. 12 North Carolina Wesleyan College and No. 21 Mary Washington.

The Spartans bested North Carolina Wesleyan by a 6-3 tally before defeating the host Eagles, 7-2, during the first day of the two-day Mary Washington Invitational.

With Sunday’s victory, the Spartans, also ranked No. 3 in the competitive Intercollegiate Tennis Association Central Region, improve to 3-0 for the young season. With the loss, the Brewers fall to 3-4.

Versus North Carolina Wesleyan, the Spartans notched two of three doubles points. The Battling Bishops took a 9-7 decision at No. 1, but Case responded as the duo of seniors Richard Brunsting and Alex Solove defeated Johan Ljungdahl and Peter Hviid by an 8-5 tally at No. 2. At No. 3, the team of freshman Christopher Krimbill and junior Eric Klawitter gave Case the lead headed into singles with an 8-6 win versus Marcus Pola and Mikhail Konnov.

The Battling Bishops picked up the first two points in singles and grabbed a

quick 3-2 team lead as No. 2 nationallyranked Robert Kjellberg defeated sophomore Will Drougas by identical 6-1, 6-1 scores and Artisom Prostak beat Krimbill in the second singles slot.

However, Case regained the momentum and took the match with four-straight wins at No. 3 through No. 6. Klawitter and Ljungdahl traded the first two sets with 6-4 scores at No. 3, but the thirdyear Spartan grabbed the team point via a 6-3 score in the deciding set. At No. 4, junior Derek Reinbold defeated Konnov 6-4, 6-2, and at fifth singles, freshman Harrison Smith grabbed his first collegiate victory versus Pola 6-0, 6-2. Junior John Healey was victorious at sixth singles, 6-3, 6-2 versus Irakii Marutian.

In the afternoon matchup against the nationally-ranked Eagles, the duo of Healey and senior Nicolas Howe began doubles with a 9-8 victory versus the tandem of Donato Rizzolo and Evan Charles. Mary Washington picked up a point at No. 2, but the tandem of Klawitter and Krimbill gave the Spartans a 2-1 team advantage with an 8-6 victory at No. 3.

Singles play began with Drougas cruising to a straight-set victory versus Alex Blakhin by a 6-2, 6-1 tally at No. 1 and Krimbill with a 7-6, 6-2 score at No. 2. In the third slot, the Eagles pulled to within two, 4-2, when Charles defeated Klawitter in a match between regionallyranked opponents, 6-4, 6-4.

However, Case secured the team victory with wins from Reinbold at No.

4 (6-4, 6-4), Smith at No. 5 (6-4, 3-0, retired) and Healey at No. 6 (4-6, 6-1, 10-4).

Case picked up all six singles points and dropped just one set. Drougas started things off at first singles with a victory versus Andrew Guzick by a score of 5-7, 6-2, 6-3. At No. 2 singles, freshman Christopher Krimbill blanked Dan Freeman in straight sets, 6-0, 6-0.

Klawitter was a winner at third singles against Nick Jasso, 6-1, 6-3. In the fourth slot, Reinbold moved to 3-0 and defeated Christian Phelps 6-1, 6-2. At fifth singles, Smith also stayed perfect and took down Evan Udine 6-2, 6-1.

Freshman Viswajit Simhadri notched his first collegiate dual victory at sixth singles, 6-0, 6-0 versus Josh Kessler.

The Spartans also picked up all three doubles points. Healey and Howe took an 8-2 decision versus Guzick and Freeman. Solove and Brunsting also scored a win at second doubles, 8-3 versus Jasso and Kessler, while Krimbill and Klawitter rounded out the win with an 8-3 decision versus Phelps and Udine.

The Spartans are back in action on Friday through Sunday, Feb. 22-24, at the ultra-competitive DePauw University Invitational in Greencastle, Indiana.

Case will battle a trio of nationallyranked foes in No. 28 DePauw on Friday at 5:30 p.m., No. 29 University of Wisconsin-Whitewater on Saturday at 2:00 p.m., and University Athletic Association No. 4 Washington University-St. Louis on Sunday at 9:00 a.m.

sports

observer.case.edu from BASEBALL| 20 tied for the most in a season in Case history. Over the past three seasons, Hora has accumulated an impressive track record of 18-5 with a 4.47 ERA, 10 complete games and 120 strikeouts in 177.1 innings pitched. The lefty enters his last season three wins shy of tying a Case record of 21 career wins. Hora is also a second-team member of the 2012 All-UAA squad.

Complimenting Hora at the top of the rotation will be fellow senior Jarret Gish.

Gish returned from shoulder surgery that forced him to miss the entire 2011 season to turn in a breakout performance in 2012.

The lefty pitched 12 games and logged a 6-2 record with 3.78 ERA, 59 strikeouts, and two complete games through 69 innings of work. Gish led the team in innings pitched and strikeouts while pacing the starting rotation in ERA. Accompanying Hora and Gish is sophomore righty Kevin Johnstone, who will replace the injured, fellow sophomore Edward Abramson. During his rookie season, Johnstone played in 11 games with only one start. The righty struck out 18 in 27 innings of work and posted a 1-3 record. A major performance came against the nationally-ranked DePauw University where he pitched 8.2 innings without surrendering an earned run.

Infield Four starters return in the infield for the Spartans led by three-time All-UAA first baseman Bret Ossola. The senior tied for the team lead in batting average (.329) including two homeruns, 26 runs batted in, eight doubles, 14 walks and four stolen bases. Ossola has been as consistent as

they come; the first baseman started in all 92 games during the past two seasons and is a career .333 batter with six homers, 110 RBIs and 32 doubles in his 162 games for the Spartans.

The Spartans are also returning a dynamic double-play duo in senior shortstop Matt Keen and junior second baseman Andrew Frey. Keen is another three-time AllUAA selection and in 2012, he batted .292 with the team bests of 38 runs scored and nine stolen bases. The shortstop also had a pair of homers with three triples, nine doubles, and 24 RBIs. Throughout his Spartan career, Keen has started in all 134 games with a career .357 average, 38 doubles, nine triples, 10 homeruns, 102 RBIs, and 33 steals. Currently Keen is ranked second in school history in both triples and runs as well as third in hits. Entering 2013, he needs six runs and one triple to tie those records.

Andrew Frey will be taking over second base from graduated Bobby Marko.

In 38 games played – splitting time between second and third last season, Frey batted .319 with six doubles, 13 RBIs, 18 walks, and 15 runs scored. Rounding out the returning starters is third baseman Andrew Gronski. As a freshman last year, he played in 40 games while batting .311 with three homeruns, five doubles, two triples, 17 RBIs and 29 runs scored. Gronski’s 23 walks were also the most on the team. Sophomore Robert Winemiller will see time at backstop. Last season, he saw action in a combined 17 games at catcher and reliever.

The remaining infielders include sophomore utility man William Meadoer, sophomore catchers Jordan Swisher and Ethan Pickering.

Outfield

angie lee / observer Austin Fowler earned third-team Academic All-American honors, averaging 15.2 points and 7.9 rebounds per game. Fowler, a biology major, has a 3.60 GPA.

Fowler named to Capital One Academic All-American team >>peterCOOKE sportsEDITOR<

With his career coming to an end this weekend, Case Western Reserve University senior forward Austin Fowler has added a prestigious piece of hardware to his trophy case with the announcement of the Capital One Academic All-America® Division III Men’s Basketball Team by the College Sports Information Directors of America (CoSIDA).

Fowler, a third-team honoree, carries a 3.60 grade point average as a biology major. Currently, the senior captain ranks fifth in the University Athletic Association in scoring (15.2 per game) and second in rebounding (7.9 per game).

A two-time UAA All-Academic pick, Fowler leads the team with six doubledoubles this season and has 17 for his career. In just 73 career games since transferring to Case in 2010, Fowler has totaled 1,160 points and 534 rebounds.

In addition to being a two-time UAA All-Academic honoree, Fowler is a twotime All-UAA selection, a 2012 D3Hoops.

com All-Great Lakes Region pick and a 2011 National Association of Basketball Coaches All-District selection.

The Spartans (12-12, 5-8 UAA), fresh off of an upset at then No. 6 nationallyranked University of Rochester, conclude the 2012-13 campaign this Saturday, February 23 versus rival Carnegie Mellon University at 5:00 p.m. at Horsburgh Gymnasium.

The Capital One Academic All-America Teams recognize the nation’s top student-athletes for their combined performances athletically and in the classroom.

To be eligible for Academic All-America consideration, a student-athlete must be a varsity starter or key reserve, maintain a cumulative GPA of 3.30 on a scale of 4.00, have reached sophomore athletic and academic standings at his/her current institution and be nominated by his/her sports information director.

Since the program’s inception, a total of 79 Case Western Reserve studentathletes have been named Academic AllAmerican. That number includes six in 2011-12 and 20 combined over the past three-plus academic years.

The Spartans will be bringing back two starters to its outfield. All-UAA centerfielder Paul Pakan, in his first season since transferring to Case, started all 44 games and batted .325 with a UAA-best seven homers. He also led the team with 55 hits and ranked second with 29 RBIs to go with 10 doubles, 34 runs, 14 walks and six stolen bases in six attempts.

Head coach Englander said, “He knows the game so well, it keeps him from going into long slumps. Our team approach on offense is different than what he experienced on previous teams, and he’s figured out what his role need to be here. He’s done really well in centerfield too, and that’s a new position for him. He’s such a great athlete, but he didn’t just rely on his athleticism, he focused on making that position his own.”

Joining Pakan in the outfield includes junior Jordan Dague in right and sophomore Kerrigan Cain in left field. Dague batted .291 with 17 RBIs, six doubles, seven runs, and seven steals over 39 games. Cain, who played 23 games, batted .239 with six RBIs, 10 runs, and five steals.

Newcomers A new season means many new faces for the Spartans. Transfer sophomore pitcher Sammy Altman, freshman pitcher

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Neal Krentz, freshman infielder Mike Ilacqua, and freshman outfielder Zach Tobias. Also joining them are pitchers Connor Tagg, Andrew Wood, Lee Penzarella, along with outfielders Mitch Bennett, Marques Winick, and Noah Sherman.

Head coach Englander spoke of the new crops, “we’ve got 30 guys that we really like and really feel can help us win games, and that certainly includes the newcomers. We won’t shy away from utilizing our depth throughout the season.”

The Opener The Spartans will begin their season with five games over three days, including double-header on two straight days.

The first match is this Friday, Feb. 22, against cross-town rival John Carroll Blue Streaks. Over the weekend, the Spartans will travel to North Carolina to visit Guilford College for four straight games, including a double header on Saturday and Sunday, Feb. 23-24.

“Our goals are pretty simple – win the UAA, win regionals, and then go to the World Series,” said coach Englander.

“They are realistic goals, and we know that they won’t come easy because of the tough teams we have on the schedule.

But, we’re not going to be afraid of any of them; we’re going to play the best we can to get where we want to be.”

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English, Hall named All-UAA, wrestlers third at conference championships >>courtesyOF case.sportsINFORMATION<

Graduate student Dale English and freshman Josh Hall each earned allconference honors, while Hall was also named the league’s Rookie of the Year as the Case Western Reserve University wrestling team went 0-2 versus No. 17 nationally-ranked New York University and host University of Chicago during the 2013 University Athletic Association Championship on Saturday at the Ratner Center.

The Spartans lost to the Violets, 436, and the Maroons, 40-9. Overall, the Spartans drop to 1-7 overall in duals this season.

English earned a pair of decisions in the heavyweight division. Hall won via decision and forfeit at 125 pounds.

Versus NYU (14-1, 1-0 UAA), the Spartans jumped to a 3-0 lead when Hall earned a 9-6 decision over Janik Santana-Quintana at 125 pounds. From there, NYU scored 43 in a row via four pins, two technical falls, a decision, and a forfeit. Case picked up its final points on another decision by English by a count of 5-2 versus Anthony Chu at 285.

Versus Chicago (3-2, 1-0 UAA), Hall picked up the win by forfeit to put Case ahead 6-0. Chicago came back with 40-straight points on three pins, a technical fall, two major decisions, a decision and a forfeit before English earned his second win by a score of 3-2 versus Jeff Tyburski.

austin sting / observer Dale English earned All-Conference honors with a pair of wins at the UAA Championship. English won a 5-2 decision over NYU’s Anthony Chu and a 3-2 decision over Jeff Tyburski in the heavyweight division.

For the season, Hall is 12-9, while English moves to 8-8.

The Spartans now return to Cleveland for their first home action since early December with the annual Si Os-

trach Meet on Saturday, Feb. 23. Case wrestles Muskingum University, Thiel College, and Rochester Institute of Technology with action set to begin at 11:00 a.m. at Adelbert Gymnasium.

from SWIMMING| 20 junior captain Maggie Dillione, who earned a conference championship with a record-breaking performance in the 200-yard butterfly. Dillione lowered her school record to 2:03.20, missing the NCAA “A-Cut” by just .27 seconds.

Dillione also picked up a runner-up finish in the 100-yard butterfly finishing in 56.57 seconds.

Junior Sara Tillie also had an impressive performance at the UAA Championship, setting a school record and earning a NCAA “B-Cut” in the 200yard individual medley. Tillie finished 11th in the event with a time of 2:07.53, breaking the program record set by 2012 graduate Stephanie Campbell of 2:08.55. Tillie also picked up a “B-Cut” with an eleventh place finished in the 400-yard individual medley with a time of 4:35.20.

Sophomore Brianna Cain picked up a school-record of her own with a time of 1:06.84 in the 100-yard breaststroke preliminary heats. Cain ultimately finished eighth with a time of 1:07.52 in the final.

The women also picked up a seventhplace finish in the 400-yard medley relay with a time of 3:59.57. Swimming in the relay were freshman Rachael Loek, Tillie, Dillione, and freshman Rebecca Pakradooni. The same quartet also had a sixth-place finish in the 400-yard freestyle relay. The Spartans also had a fifth-place finish in the 800-yard freestyle relay with a time of 7:51.96 with a team of Pakradooni, freshman Alison Thirion, Dillione, and Tillie.

A handful of Spartans will travel back to Chicago this weekend for the Midwest Invitational in an attempt to earn qualifying times for the NCAA Division III Championship.

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Spartans host Tartans on Senior’s Day

Women’s basketball looks to reach best record since 2002 >>peterCOOKE sportsEDITOR<

The Case Western Reserve University women’s basketball team will host the University Athletic Association’s fifth place Carnegie Mellon University on Seniors’ Day. The two teams are locked into the fourth and fifth place positions in the UAA and will be playing with pride on the line.

Carnegie Mellon (13-11, 5-8) upset the Spartans (15-9, 7-6) in the teams’ conference opener 82-76 in Pittsburgh on Jan. 5.

A win in the closing game of the season will match the Spartans 8-6 conference record from last year. Hitting eight wins will be the highest for the Spartans in the UAA since the 2001-02 season when the Spartans went 20-7 overall and 10-4 in the conference. The Spartans also sit at 15-9, matching last seasons total, with another win improving their record to the highest win total since the 2001-02 season.

The Spartans are coming off of a pair of heartbreaking losses, losing to No. 16 Emory University in overtime 62-61 and No. 27 University of Rochester, 72-68.

The Spartans had chances to win both games late and can take solace in their ability to hang late with some of the best teams in the nation. The Spartans lost to both teams in January by 18 and 20 points, respectively.

The Tartans are also coming off a weekend against Rochester and Emory but fared much worse than the Spartans.

Carnegie Mellon fell to the Yellowjackets 72-67 in Rochester and 76-55 to the Eagles in Atlanta.

The Spartans and Tartans match up extremely well on both sides of the ball.

The visitors have averaged 66.9 points per game, just under three more than Case’s 64.0. The Spartans have edge out Carnegie Mellon defensively, 60.6-60.7 points per game, respectively.

The Spartans will be led on Seniors’ Day by a trio of the program’s most accomplished seniors. Senior point guard Eria Iafelice set the school career assists record in her most recent game in the loss to Rochester. Iafelice passed Jeanne Scott’s school record of 364 and now has 370 for her career. Iafelice also leads the UAA in assists per game with 5.3.

Senior Evy Iacono has been one of the key reasons the Spartans has surged late in the season. Iacono leads the UAA in scoring with 17.7 points per game. She has also run away in the competition for the scoring title. Iacono averages 17.5 points per game in conference games, 2.7 more than Washington University’s Melissa Gilkey’s 14.8. No one else is over 12 points per game.

Iafelice and Iacono are also a pair of the top defense players in the conference, ranked second and third with 2.5 and 2.4 steals per game, respectively.

Another of the Spartan seniors who is tops in the UAA is center Emily Mueller who is averaging 2.5 blocks per game.

Mueller averages 7.5 points and 4.9 rebounds per game as well.

The Spartans final senior is forward

Men look for winning season, match second best UAA finish Spartans take on CMU in conference finale after upset of No. 6 Rochester >>peterCOOKE sportsEDITOR<

The Case Western Reserve University men’s basketball team will close out the 2012-13 season at home against Carnegie Mellon University on Seniors’ Day. The Spartans are 12-12 overall and 5-8 in the UAA. A win will give the Spartans their first winning season since 2009-2010.

Carnegie Mellon comes to Cleveland at 5-19 overall and 2-11 in the UAA. A win would give the Spartans at least a share of fifth place in the conference.

The Tartans have clinched a last place finish in the UAA. A fifth-place finish would be the second best ever. The Spartans have only finished higher than sixth once, in 1999-2000 when they finished fourth.

The Spartans topped Carnegie Mellon in the two teams’ first meeting this season back on Jan. 5 in Pittsburgh. Dane McLoughlin and Austin Fowler each scored 22 points and the Spartans rallied from 19 down in over 13 minutes to win 76-73 in the conference opener.

The men come into the game coming off a huge upset of then No. 6 University of Rochester. The Spartans were led in the upset by 21 points from junior Tim Chung, who hit four three-pointers. Case also dropped a shootout to Emory University 106-87 in Atlanta.

The Tartans come to Cleveland after facing both the same teams as the Spartans last weekend. Carnegie Mellon also pushed Rochester to edge on Friday, but lost 81-77. The Tartans then traveled to

Emory where they were blown out 84-61.

The Spartans will be led by senior Austin Fowler who is fifth in the UAA in scoring at 15.2 points per game and second in rebounding at 7.9 rebounds per game. Fowler, the team’s only senior, was recently named Capital One Academic All-American Third Team. Fowler is sixth all-time in program history in rebounds and 27 points away from cracking the scoring top 10.

McLoughlin currently leads the nation in three-point shooting percentage with 54.6%. McLoughlin shoots 54.1% overall and 84.2% from the free throw line. McLoughlin is second on the team in scoring with 14.0 points per game. He also averages 4.7 rebounds per game.

Chung has excelled in the past few games, scoring 21 points in the team’s upset of then No. 6 Rochester and has averaged 13.3 points in the past few games.

Chung has shot 43.3% from behind the arc in the past four games and is seven in the UAA with 52 treys on the season.

The Tartans will be led by a trio of players scoring over 10 points per game.

Andrew Moore, Asad Meghani, and Rob Mohen are averaging 13.2, 12.7, and 10.8 points per game.

The Spartans are the top defensive team in the nations in terms of blocking, averaging 6.0 per game. They are also third with 144 total blocks this season.

Junior David Thompson is second in the UAA with 42 total blocks and Julien Person is third with 38.

The game will tip off on Saturday, Feb. 23 at 5 p.m. in the Horsburgh Gymnasium.

austin sting / observer Senior Erica Iafelice set the school career record for assists in the Spartans’ game against Rochester. Iafelice leads the UAA in assists with 5.3 per game.

Marissa Miles. Miles has started every game this season and is averaging 4.8 points, 2.3 rebounds and 1.1 assists per game.

The biggest problem for the Spartans will be stopping the Tartans’ variety of scoring threats. Carnegie Mellon’s Emily Peel, Gabrielle West, and Liza Otto all average over 10 points per game with

Jacquie Shaw and Lindsay Poss putting up over nine points per game in conference play. Those players make up over a quarter of the UAA’s top 20 scorers and will need to be contained for the Spartans to end their season on a high note.

The game will tip of on Saturday, Feb. 23, at 3:00 p.m. in the Horsburgh Gymnasium.

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Applications due March 1, 2013. http://www.case.edu/artsci/noyce/ Contact Dr. Denise K. Davis, CWRU Director of Teacher Education 216 368 1505 denise.k.davis @case.edu

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02/22/13

angie lee / observer Sophomore Andrew Bollinger finished fourth in the 100-yard backstroke at the UAA Championship with a time of 51.73 seconds, earning a NCAA “B-Cut”.

No. 16 men swimmers fourth, women sixth at conference championships Spartans set nine records, Dillione 200 fly champion >>peterCOOKE sportsEDITOR<

The No. 16 Case Western Reserve University men’s swimming and diving team picked up a fourth-place finish while the women finished sixth at the 2013 University Athletic Association Championship.

The men dropped a spot from their third place finish in 2012 to fourth, while the women moved up one place.

Emory University continued

its unprecedented dominance with its 15th- straight title on both the men’s and women’s side.

The No. 6 Emory men finished first with 1,818.5 points.

No. 13 Carnegie Mellon University surged on the final day to finish second with 1,300 points. No. 12 University of Chicago finished third with 1,230.5 points. The Case men finished fourth with 1,184.5 points.

No. 14 Washington University finished fifth with 1,067 points.

The women’s side was won by defending national champion No. 1 Emory who finished with 1,955 points. No. 8 Chicago finished second with 1,435 points and No. 10 Washington was third with 1,219.5 points.

No. 7 Carnegie Mellon was fourth with 1,192.5 points and

No. 19 University of Rochester was fifth with 874.5 points.

Case finished sixth with 739.5 points.

Individually, sophomore Elliott Kerbel sped through the water in the second-fastest time in school history in the 50-yard freestyle, picking up a thirdplace finish and All-UAA recognition with a time of 20.83 seconds. Kerbel was a hair away from John Erikson’s record of 20.79, set in 2007. The time also qualified Kerbel for an NCAA “B-Cut”.

Junior Scott McHenry picked up an individual school record with a time of 1:41.85 in the 200-yard freestyle preliminary heats. McHenry ended up seventh overall with a time of 1:42.05.

Junior Sean Nickley also picked up a fifth-place finish

and NCAA “B-Cut” in the 200yard breaststroke in 2:05.61.

Freshman Aaron Tam posted a sixth-place finish in his first UAA Championship with a time of 16 minutes, 22.24 seconds in the 1,650-yard freestyle.

Freshman diver Connor Farrell had an impressive debut at the UAA Championships and was the men’s leading diver.

Farrell picked up a fourthplace finish on the one-meter springboard on the opening day of competition with a score of 463.25 points. Farrell then set a program record with a score of 506.10 points on the threemeter springboard finished in fifth place.

The men also picked up a second-place finish and AllUAA honors in the 200-yard freestyle relay as Kerbel, sophomores Caleb Allen and Eric

Haufler and junior Gus Bailey finished 1:22.83, over two seconds faster than the school record of 1:24.68. Also earning All-UAA recognition was the 400-yard freestyle relay of junior Heath Hudgins, Kerbel, Bailey, and Allen who finished third in 3:04.90, also setting a school record.

A fifth-place finish in the 200-yard medley relay also earned the men another school record as sophomore Andrew Bollinger, Nickley, Bailey, and Kerbel touched the wall in 1:32.98. The men also set another school record in the 400yard medley relay as Bollinger, Nickley, Haufler, and Kerbel finished sixth in 3:25.50.

The women were led by

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Sluggers look to continue rise after two-best records in program history Spartans return four All-UAA members from 4-4, 3rd place conference finish in 2012 >>shinichiINOUE asst.sportsEDITOR<<<

austin sting / observer The Spartans will look to continue their dominance in the UAA in slugging. The team batted .300 as a team and led the UAA in home runs with 21, eight more than second place Brandeis.

Over the past two seasons, the Case Western Reserve University baseball team has consistently outperformed and established the Spartans as a top-notch Division III program. Heading into 2013, the veteran-laden team is aiming for a University Athletic Association Championship and a return trip to the NCAA Tournament.

The Spartans finished the 2012 campaign with a 27-16-1 overall record – the second-highest win total in school history. A season earlier, Case won a school-record

33 games and placed third at the NCAA Midwest Regional. With many key pieces returning to the team, including 20 letter winners and 10 starters, seventh-year head coach Matt Englander is excited about the upcoming season.

“We feel pretty good about the group that we have,” said head coach Englander. “It’s a talented group on the field, but it’s a group that is willing to both lead and also be good teammates.

That is crucial to having success over the course of a long season.

These guys know what it takes to win important games against good teams, and they have been a part of those games, they haven’t

just watched. So, the meaningful experience is there.”

Starting Rotation The Spartan’s starting five will be led by two top-notch lefthanders in Jamie Hora and Jarrett Gish. A two-year captain, Hora appeared in 12 games with 11 starts as the team ace. The senior “southpaw” posted a perfect 8-0 record along with a 4.16 earned run average, 51 strikeouts, and one complete game over 62.2 innings of work. His eight victories

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