Volume XLV, Issue 23: March 28, 2014

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volume xlv, issue 23 friday, 3/28/2014

Observer Smoke Screen The long-considered campuswide tobacco ban has moved forward in recent months with university administration working on a proposal to prohibit the use of all tobacco products on campus property and University Hospital grounds. How can students weigh in on the issue and how do Undergraduate Student Government representatives feel about the proposed ban?

see pg. 2 Harsha Chandupatla/Observer

Case Footlighters greet spring with dark musical Ellie Rambo Staff Reporter “Spring Awakening” opens in a quiet German village, but from the first scene tragedy looms over its young characters.

The rock musical features an original modern score and is based on a controversial 19th century play. This update works because of the unexpected combination of the play’s dark themes and the music’s often humorous tone, which drew the attention of the Case Footlighters.

“The first part is light and fun, and the sec-

ond act is more serious,” said Andrew Santin, who plays the teenager Melchior Gabor in the theater group’s spring production. “I like really serious and heavy material, but this isn’t a drama. It has a good balance.”

The musical confronts topics such as abortion, abuse and suicide through the stories of adolescents growing up in a repressive society. Many characters struggle with cultural restrictions on their sexualities, a problem prominently featured in dialogue and almost every song. “It’s bold and dark, but there are moments of light,” said Mara Grigg. Grigg plays

Wendla Bergman, a naive but curious girl who experiences more than her share of darkness as the musical progresses.

Although every character has a name and the narrative offers glimpses into their lives, the main focus is on Wendla, Melchior and his childhood friend Moritz Stiefel. At the beginning, Melchior is the only character who is prepared with any knowledge about puberty or sex. Moritz is plagued by erotic dreams that he thinks signal insanity, and Wendla begs her mother to explain pregnancy to her. Melchior takes his knowledge of the world seriously and believes that oth-

ers should share it, although his beliefs lead him to trouble. “Melchior is a rebel who feels oppressed by society,” said Santin.

“The musical is focused on building a better world, where people are understood.”

There prove to be many obstacles on the way to a better world, and most of them come in the form of adults. “We are the antagonistic driving force,” said Brandon McCourt, who plays every adult male in the production. “My characters are very strict and they impose their misguided values on others.”

to Footlighters | 12

USG Elections to occur today, March 28. For a look at the candidates and issues, go online to observer.case.edu/usgelections.

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USG debates proposed campus-wide tobacco ban Julia Bianco Staff Reporter It’s a fairly familiar sight: groups of students gathered together, shivering in the Cleveland cold, smoking cigarettes across the street from The Village Starbucks or outside of the Veale parking garage. Since 2005, these student, faculty and staff tobacco users have been asked to restrict their use to the 15 designated smoking areas on campus, a policy that, without much real enforcement power, has only been mildly successful.

Even with this policy in place, the argument over tobacco usage continued both behind the administration’s doors and between students on the street, with the debate now coming to the forefront with the university’s proposal to go entirely tobacco free.

The proposal, presented by Dr. Elizabeth Click, medical director and assistant professor at the Frances Payne Bolton School of Nursing, to the members of the Undergraduate Student Government at their Oct. 8, 2013 meeting, looks to ban all tobacco products, including cigarettes, chewing tobacco and e-cigarettes, from campus completely, eliminating the designated smoking areas.

“It is well known that tobacco use is unhealthy,” said Click. “The university is continuing to look at the policy to encourage better health among faculty, students and staff.”

Although some details regarding execution and enforcement still need to be hashed out, the gist of the proposal is clear: CWRU is a research university that prides itself on being ahead of the curve in health and technology, and it should not be allowing a practice that is widely acknowledged as being extremely unhealthy to continue on our campus.

To the members of USG, though, the we go to the extreme on either side, then issue isn’t as clear-cut. Many factors must someone is going to get trampled.” be considered before putting such a poli“I don’t smoke cigarettes,” he concy in place: enforcement, safety, student tinued. “But I have friends who do. I rights. What does going tobacco free have constituents who do. I’m not about really mean for our campus, and should to tell them, ‘hey, you need to stop right CWRU do it? now.’”

“With tobacco, there The idea of goOthers took ing tobacco free has the opposite view, are two extremes: either go been a possibility to citing health university adminis- completely smoke free, or allow concerns about tration since the fall problems unrestricted tobacco usage.” the of 2012, but it has with secondhand picked up steam recently, especially as other smoke. Secondhand smoke is widely schools in Ohio (including nearby Cleveland acknowledged as being a serious issue, State University) and around the country with 34 reports released by the U.S. make the commitment to go tobacco free. Surgeon General detailing its harmful There are currently over 800 tobacco free effects since 1964. campuses in the United States, a number that “Secondhand smoke is harmful,” said has been growing quickly in recent years.

Sarah Cate Pfister, an engineering represenThe new policy, if approved, would go tative who also serves on the public relations into effect as early as fall of 2014. Its ban and student life committees. “I’m not denying on tobacco usage within the university the right of smokers to smoke. If they want would extend across campus, and would to make that choice, that’s their right. But we also include the shouldn’t all have to “The representatives are grounds of Univerbreathe it in.” sity Hospitals.

Walter Huang, uncomfortable voting on behalf of The university a member of the approached USG their constituents without getting information techwith the hopes that nology committee, a better idea of their opinions they would be able agrees with Pfison the issue.” to provide student ter’s sentiment. input into possible enforcement and imple“We have smoking areas, but they mentation of the new changes. However, can’t perfectly protect students from secmany representatives struggled with the idea ondhand smoke,” said Huang. “I can’t of supporting the policy outright without first guarantee that with this policy smoking asking their constituents if they were even in- would disappear on campus, but it would terested in going tobacco free or not. at least be better than what we have now.”

“With tobacco, there are two extremes: Secondhand smoke isn’t the only safeeither go completely smoke free, or allow ty issue to be considered, though. Rengasunrestricted tobacco usage,” said Adi- wamy and other students were quick to tya Rengaswamy, a representative for the bring up the problems that the new policy Weatherhead School of Management. “If could raise for smokers at CWRU.

“If people who like to smoke aren’t allowed to do it on campus, then they may be forced to go to dangerous parts of the city to smoke,” said Rengaswamy. “The only way I would be in support of a tobacco free policy is if they could work out the logistics to make it perfect, which I just don’t see happening.”

Critics also focused on student rights, which may be violated by such a restrictive policy.

“Even though smoking is an unhealthy activity, I believe the students should have the right to decide if they’re going to smoke or not on their own,” said Connor Toomey, USG treasurer. “I think that a better alternative to going tobacco free is simply better enforcement of the current policy, making sure that people are using the designated smoking areas as they exist now.”

There has been a lot of debate on the issue within USG and, with the upcoming election, they’d like to open that debate up to the public. When voting for USG officers and representatives for the upcoming semester, students can also answer a poll saying whether or not they would be interested in a tobacco free campus.

“The representatives are uncomfortable voting on behalf of their constituents without getting a better idea of their opinions on the issue,” noted Taylor Gladys, Vice President of Student Life, who is running unopposed for USG president.

“We want to draw attention to the fact that the university going completely tobacco free is a possibility, and see where students fall on this issue,” she added.

The poll will only help with USG’s understanding of student opinion, and will have no direct policy implications.

USG voting is available online at usg.case. edu/vote from 8 a.m. on Thursday, March 7 until midnight on March 28.

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Arianna Wage/Observer Members of CWRU’s Kids Against Hunger student organization pack meals for impoverished individuals during Saturday’s packing event.

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Sexual misconduct Cleveland aims to be “a thriving green city forum to feature national, university experts on a blue lake” A look at where the city’s 10 year initiative stands half way through its run ability Summit in 2009, facilitated by Cooperrider and Dr. Ron Fry. Both men are members of the Fowler Center for In 2009, the city of Cleveland started Sustainable Value. a 10-year initiative to encourage resiAt the first summit, Jackson randomly andents and the community to design and nounced, “Based on the highest quality coldevelop economic, social and environ- laborations I have ever seen in our city, I am mental well being. going to make a commitment, as long as I am This movement began after Mayor capable, that we will do this every year for the Frank Jackson signed the U.S. Mayor’s next 10 years.” Everyone at the summit gave Climate Protection Agreement in 2006. the mayor a 10 minute standing ovation.

At the time, over 1,060 mayors from all Right after the summit, Jackson creat50 states committed to beat the Kyoto ed the Office of Sustainability, which is a Protocol. The Kyoto Protocol is the in- cabinet level position, and the Sustainable ternational agreement for 192 countries Cleveland Advisory Council. Since then, to strive to combat climate disruption. many more working groups formed from After that, Case Western Reserve this summit and committed their time to University professor David Cooperrider use collaborative problem solving to help invited Jackson to give the welcoming retaliate against climate change. address at the first Global Forum on BusiIn October of last year, Cooperrider, ness as an Agent of World Benefit, which founder and chair of the Fowler Center, was also sponsored by the Academy of held the fifth-annual Summit of SusManagement, tainable Cleveland “The role of leadership is to 2019.

We a t h e r h e a d Hundreds create the environment to School of Manof citizens from agement and the enable things to happen and different areas of United Nations Greater Cleveland then getting out the way to Global Compact. enthusiastically allow things to happen.”

Although the attended the conmayor agreed to be the welcome ad- ference and committed to Cleveland’s dress speaker, he made it clear that he transformation. There were residents primarily wants to attend the forum as from local neighborhoods, businesses, a learner so that he could really under- government, education, nonprofits and stand the sustainability value concepts sustainability advocacy groups present and practices. to help to turn this vision into a reality.

After the forum, Jackson concluded “The role of leadership is to create the some economic benefits would come to environment to enable things to happen the table. He realized that the best com- and then getting out the way to allow panies in the world were already trying things to happen. You have to get out the to find out how to use sustainability to way because once people believe their improve their businesses. voices will be heard and that their work Also, the mayor decided to invite has value, they will get it done. As long sustainability organizations and rep- as they stay within the framework of the resentatives from around the Greater vision, you let the people plug in where Cleveland area to the first Sustain- they have passion, “ said Jackson.

Tanvi Parmar Staff Reporter

Jonah Roth Staff Reporter Feedback may be closed for next year’s new sexual conduct policy, but the conversation is far from over. This morning, Friday, March 26, Case Western Reserve University will host a forum entitled “Sexual Misconduct in Higher Education: A National Conversation.”

Announcements for the forum highlight a notable guest speaker: Saundra Schuster from the National Center for Higher Education Risk Management (NCHERM). University administrators consulted with and received training from NCHERM while creating the new sexual conduct policy, the direct result of a “Dear Colleague” letter sent out to all schools receiving federal funding 2011.

The policy has been in development throughout the last several years; earlier this year an interim policy (a draft of next year’s new policy) was put into effect and posted on the website of the Office of Inclusion, Diversity and Equal Opportunity.

Throughout the year the university has collected feedback on the policy from the CWRU community.

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This is the latest in a series of steps the university took to include the community in the conversation surrounding the new policy. At the end of last month, the university extended the period for the community to provide feedback by an additional three weeks. Additionally, Louis Stark, vice president of student affairs, and Marilyn Mobley, vice president for inclusion, diversity and equal opportunity, who have been in charge of the changes, have presented the new policy to the Undergraduate Student Government, the Graduate Student Senate and faculty members, providing opportunities for discussion and feedback.

Stark and Mobley will participate in a panel discussion at the forum. The panel also includes Director of University Health Services Eleanor Davidson, Health Services physician Sara Lee, CWRU police chief Arthur Hardee, University Counseling Services director Jes Sellers and deputy of the General Counsel Colleen Treml.

The forum is free and open to everyone in the campus community. It will take place at 10 a.m. today, March 28, in the Toepfer Room at Adelbert Hall.

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CWRU student-founded companies attend conference to showcase inventions Mark Patteson Staff Reporter Last weekend, two teams from Case Western Reserve University attended the National Collegiate Inventors and Innovators Alliance (NCIIA) Open Minds conference in San Jose, California. The event provided representatives from Hole Patch and Disease Diagnostic Group (DDG), two companies founded by CWRU students, an opportunity to showcase their inventions and network with investors.

DDG, founded by CWRU alumnus John Lewandowski, featured their Rapid Assessment of Malaria (RAM) device at the Open Minds conference. The easily portable RAM promises to diagnose malaria cheaper, faster and more accurately than existing methods. It can detect the parasite before symptoms even appear, potentially saving lives with early treatment.

A couple of investors showed interest in the RAM at the Open Minds

investor panel and various networking events. DDG already received considerable attention, winning $150,000 in various innovation and business plan competitions, including $25,000 from a previous NCIIA grant. The U.S. Navy is also experimenting with the RAM in clinical trials.

Looking ahead, DDG still needs to raise about $500,000 to continue clinical tests, find a manufacturer and hire a CEO. The RAM won’t reach sales without a bigger investment.

“We want to pitch towards as many investors as possible,” Lewandowski said.

“We are looking to find as many financing possibilities as we can get by showcasing the device and using it.”

Lewandowski believes DDG has made good progress.

“The timeline looks pretty good,” Lewandowski said. “We would like to sell them by next year.”

The engineers eagerly await more clinical data. Finding a manufacturer will bring production to scale: Lewandowski’s brother Mark, a mechanical engineering student, still makes prototypes in CWRU’s Think[Box]. By hiring a CEO, Lewandowski hopes to speed up the process and raise DDG’s profile.

For Hole Patch, which is still in the research and development phase, the NCIIA conference offered a valuable learning opportunity. Nicholas Barron, who co-founded Hole Patch with fellow senior Mayank Saksena, said “We were there to learn as much as we can and make good connections.”

Barron and Saksena used the conference to practice their pitching, presentation and networking skills and to refine working together as a team. The team participated in several exercises, including a five-word pitch. The team came up with “all weather temporary road repair”

to describe the company’s patent-pending product, a durable bag of fluid placed in potholes to support passing cars.

Like DDG, Hole Patch has performed well in various competitions, including CWRU’s Saint-Gobain competition and previous NCIIA events. Using grant money from the competitions, Hole Patch created several promising prototypes. Now, the team works to find an optimal design, weighing aspects like price against durability.

“The set of materials in our hands all work, we just need to find the best one” Barron said.

Though Barron acknowledged that juggling student and business responsibilities is a difficult time commitment, he remained optimistic.

“I'm working as fast as I can, and optimistic about staying on schedule,” he said.

He plans to develop a new prototype by next winter to use in large scale testing with various municipalities.

Number of harassment and discrimination reports fall in Ohio businesses Adithi Iyengar Contributing Reporter Good news for business employees in Ohio: The number of harassment and discrimination charges in Ohio businesses decreased seven percent in 2013.

This figure comes from a recent Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) report. The EEOC is an organization responsible for enforcing federal laws that make it illegal to discriminate against a job applicant or employee due to a person’s ethnicity, sex, age and disability. They have the power to investigate charges of harassment and discrimination.

According Dr. Marilyn S. Mobley, vice president for the Office of Inclusion, Diversity and Equal Opportunity at Case Western Reserve University, this drop in number of charges could be due to the increased awareness about these issues.

Mobley says that Ohio businesses may be increasing their efforts on raising awareness about these issues in the workplace.

“Providing information doesn’t necessarily prevent the problem, but it decreases the likelihood of it occurring,” she said.

She also stated that Ohio businesses and organizations provide more training

2012

3326 Ohio

99,412

U.S.

3.30% of population

and commitment from the top down to tackle these critical issues, thus resulting in a raise of awareness.

The information from the EEOC was summarized by The Network, a governance, risk and compliance (GRC) solutions provider that helps organizations create better, more ethical workplaces.

Jimmy Lin, vice president of Product Management and Corporate Development at The Network noted that there was actually increase in sexual harassment reports in 2012, but now Ohio is on the right track.

According to Lin, the best way to tackle the issue is to implement up-to-date training programs in these businesses, including periodic education as well as follow-up awareness learning. It can’t be done as a “once and done” exercise.

Lin also stated that Ohio is slightly ahead of the nation when it comes to harassment and discrimination in Ohio businesses. According to him, in 2013, the nation as a whole experienced a 6.5 percent decrease. This is slightly slower than Ohio’s seven percent decrease.

While there has been significant progress over the years, there is still a lot of work to be done. According to the Network, Ohio still makes up 3.3 percent of the total U.S. harassment reports.

2013

3071 Ohio

93,777

U.S.

3.65% of population

Above: the number of harassment and discrimination charges in Ohio as well as in the United States.

Arianna Wage/Observer Members of the Feminist Collective at CWRU hosted games and other events on Wednesday in the Thwing Atrium in honor of Women’s History Month.

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How to vote in the USG elections There is a lot of information out there about who to vote for, but everyone still needs to know how to vote. Luckily, it’s simple. Students can vote in the election in two different ways. The first way is by going to usg.case.edu/vote/, logging in and casting his or her vote. Additionally, if a student would like to vote in person, there will be multiple “polling areas,” which will have easily accessible computer stations for students to cast their votes. Keep in mind that certain locations will be open at certain times. Here is the list of all the “polling areas” for the upcoming election.

-Nord Atrium (day) -Hovorka Atrium (day) -PBL First Floor (day) -Thwing Atrium (day) -Leutner (night) -Fribley (night) Voting ends March 28 at 11:59 p.m.

Arianna Wage/Observer

USG candidates square off in Wednesday’s debate USG presidential candidate Taylor Gladys, running unopposed in this year’s election, answers questions submitted by audience members.

Editor’s Choice: Spotlight on research

Researcher finds fungus that could lead to cure for mouth infection Kushagra Gupta Staff Reporter Dr. Mahmoud A. Ghannoum, the director of Medical Mycology at University Hospitals Case Medical Center wants to fight fire with fire. More specifically, a fungus with a fungus.

The researcher has been studying Thrush, an infection caused by the fungus Candida. Through a study involving HIV-infected patients, he was able to isolate a potential microbial that could be used as a treatment for the infection.

Ghannoum was interested in the infection because of its incidence in Human Immunodeficiency Virus­-infected patients. The HIV virus attacks the immune system, reducing its ability to fight off microbial infections.

To counteract this, doctors prescribe HIV-infected patients with antibiotics.

While this may help fight off infections, many “good” microbes, such as bacteria or fungi, also live in or on the human body and a certain equilibrium of these microbes is required to maintain health.

So, Ghannoum wondered if it was the lack of a certain bacteria that caused the Candida fungus to grow uncontrollably.

He obtained oral mucus samples from 24 patients at University Hospitals, 12 infected with HIV and 12 unaffected, all who had Thrush. He then used an advanced form of culturing called pyrosequencing to identify the microbes living in these patients’ oral cavities.

“We noticed that there is no difference in the bacterial community, but in the fungal community,” he said.

It turns out that antibiotics in HIV-infected patients also remove Pichia, a fungus normally found in the human body. So, Ghannoum decided to test whether the fungi affected each other’s growth.

He did this test in vitro, which means in glassware, as opposed to a living system. And his results were fairly straightforward; an inverse relationship between the two different fungi existed.

“When there is Candida, which causes Thrush in the mouth, Pichia was absent,”

Ghannoum said. “When Pichia is present, Candida levels were low or absent.”

In other words, Pichia inhibited Candida’s virulence factors and its ability to adhere to tissue.

However, these results were irrelevant if they couldn’t be reproduced in a living system. So, Ghannoum went in vivo.

Using a mouse model, Ghannoum infected mice with Candida and then treated them with the liquid that the Pichia was growing in. He also treated infected mice with the current treatment of Thrush, nystatin, and a control containing no treatment.

The Pichia treatment did better than the nystatin, results that mean the researcher is hoping for Pichia to mean a new treatment for Thrush. Likely, it’s a molecule inside the Pichia that affects Candida’s growth.

“We believe it’s a protein,” he said. “So, we’re going to identify and purify the protein. Then, we’re going to see if it’s just that protein or if we need cocktail of proteins.”

On the other hand, it’s possible that Pichia itself could be used to treat

patients. Ghannoum already received the grant for the work and has started the project. Looking back, he laughs at his childhood thoughts of ending up where he is currently.

Ghannoum grew up in Beirut, Lebanon, but he has worked across the globe.

He went to college at the American University of Beirut, and then went to England, where he received his masters in Medicinal Chemistry and Ph.D. in Microbial Physiology.

But he didn’t know that he wanted to be a researcher at the beginning.

“As I was moving from one degree to another, I started to like it,” he said laughing. “I stayed with it.”

But, Ghannoum stresses the importance of research as a national effort.

While the U.S. does spend a lot of time and effort on research, the country isn’t doing enough to counteract recent dangers such as the government shutdown.

“It is important that they put money toward research,” he said. “Without research, you don’t have any discoveries.”

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On The Beat USG mass funding deadline approaching Spring break struggles Anastazia Vanisko Staff Reporter For everyone involved in a student group on campus, it’s important to know the upcoming mass funding application deadline: Wednesday, April 2 at 5:00 p.m. The application process is easy, with only one form to fill out for groups reapplying and for those requesting funding for the first time. A detailed description of how to apply, including funding guidelines and directions for how to fill in the mass funding spreadsheet, can be found at on Undergraduate Student Government’s website.

Since USG’s funding varies per semester, it’s hard to determine how much money will be available to allocate to student groups. Statistics for funding in Spring 2014 show that 147 groups applied for funding and the total allocation was $147,666.49, with the average group

allocation of $1,004.53. For Fall 2014, USG hopes to have between $186,587 to $206,782 to allocate to somewhere between 150 and 200 student groups, according to USG treasurer Chippy Kennedy.

When awarding funding, the finance committee must follow specific guidelines. These include awarding no more than $5,000 per group and no less than $100, which is the automatic allocation given to any student group that applies for funding. Out of the 147 groups that applied for funding in Spring 2014, only six received no more than their automatic allocation, one of which only requested the minimum $100.

In the future, the Finance Committee’s goal in relation to mass funding is to “bridge the gap between itself and the student organizations it serves.” The hope is that every student organization on campus will apply for mass funding, and they will understand and be satisfied with the allocation they receive.

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So it appears that, at long last, winter has come to an end. Time for us all to emerge from our burrows like rats that survived a nuclear attack and enjoy the flowering of plants and the singing of birds—those that didn’t get crushed under snow, frozen to death or otherwise annihilated by winter 2014. There is also that lovely yellow orb up in the sky we haven’t seen for several months.

As we gear up for spring, CWRU PD gears up for increased activity. My experience has been that criminal activity goes down in winter and rises in warmer months. Criminals don’t like frostbite any more than the rest of us do. So here a few tips to help get us all through the last few weeks of school safely.

The big concern during spring months is robbery. As we all start to move about a little more freely, let’s remember to use services like shuttle buses, Safe Ride or just walking in groups when moving around the area, especially during nighttime hours and if you are going off the beaten path. Ensure you have the CWRU PD dispatch number, 216-368-3333, in your phone should you need it, but don’t get

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so tied up in talking on that phone that you fail to notice what is going on around you, lest someone snatch the phone out of your hand, as has happened in a couple of cell phone snatch robberies this academic year.

Bicyclists have had to park their rides for a couple months now, but no longer. If you are a bike rider remember to always lock your bike when it’s not in use—bike thieves are waking up as well. Use a U-lock or other solid metal lock to secure your bike; cable locks and chains are pretty much useless against thieves equipped with shears, snips or bolt cutters.

This is also a time of year when alcohol-related incidents start to rise. Just because you feel like a bear coming out of hibernation doesn’t mean you can drink like one. A little moderation in your spring solstice celebrations can go a long way. So let’s all enjoy the return of spring—safely.

On the Beat is a weekly safety column written by Sergeant Jeffrey Daberko & Officer Mark (The Crossing Guard) Chavis of CWRU PD. Send feedback to this or other columns at policecolumn@case.edu.

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to the nominees for the 2014 J. Bruce Jackson, M.D., Award for Excellence in Undergraduate Mentoring and the

2014 Carl F. Wittke Award for Excellence in Undergraduate Teaching

The following outstanding faculty and staff are nominated for the Jackson Award.

Rebecca Benard Clemens Burda Jeffery Capadona Heather Clayton Terry Yoram Daon

John F. R. Duncan Mary Erdmans Jason Goodrick Paul Harding Vanessa Hildebrand Anthony Jack

Amie Jackson Bernard Jim Angela Lowery Lisa Nielson Tomasz Religa Deepak Sarma

Melanie Scanlon Crystal Sutton David Wald Todd Wojtkowski

The following outstanding faculty are nominated for the Wittke Award.

Alexis Abramson Amy Absher Katia Almeida Eileen Anderson-Fye Rebecca Benard Christopher Butler Gabriella Celeste Harold Connamacher Andrew Cooper Yoram Daon Susan Dominguez

Richard Drushel John F. R. Duncan Haydee Espino Castillo Shannon French Robert Greene Ralph Harvey Valerie Haywood Emmitt Jolly David Jones Michael Kenney Irene Lee

Earle Luck Heidi B. Martin Gerald Matisoff Stacy McGaugh Janet McGrath Frank Merat Terri Mester Chris Mihos Claudia Mizutani Heather Morrison Jacqueline Nanfito

Lisa Nielson Emily B. Pentzer Fabienne Pizot-Haymore Lisa Rainsong Renee Sentilles Elizabeth J. Short Peter Shulman William Siebenschuh Jose Teixeira Cheryl Toman

Please submit comments to essinfo@case.edu

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fun page | 9

COM ICS

Twister would’ve been a much better movie if they’d cut out the bad-guy storm chaser and all the emotional romance crap. All you need for a good movie are tornados and scientists. Actually, that’s all you need for anything. By xkcd

Clock Tower

Crossword Puzzle Across 1. To cast aside (archaic) 5. Not those 10. Early 20th-century art movement 14. Chocolate cookie 15. Country bumpkins 16. Makes a mistake 17. Belonging to a club 19. At the peak of 20. Euro forerunner 21. Fable writer 22. Woman’s sleeveless undergarments 23. Venture to say 25. Pontiffs 27. Obtain 28. Produce 31. Risk 34. Acted presumptuously 35. Short sleep 36. “What a shame!”

37. Volumes 38. Have the nerve 39. Little bit 40. Fondled 41. Throb 42. Mythical animals

44. Caviar 45. Detached 46. Helium or hot air _______ 50. Pertaining to the moon 52. Exclamation expressive of regret 54. Regret 55. Circle fragments 56. Pirate written material 58. Fastens 59. Santa’s helpers 60. Require 61. Not difficult 62. Sacred hymn 63. Friend Down 1. Vaulted 2. Betel palm 3. Leg bone 4. Watch chain 5. Menace 6. _____ fit 7. Reflected sound 8. Captained 9. Clairvoyant’s gift 10. Trader 11. Using traditional skills

12. Let go 13. Vipers 18. Artist’s workstand 22. Hurried 24. Auspices 26. 1 1 1 1 28. Contests 29. Sailors 30. Type of sword 31. A Maori club 32. Distinctive flair 33. Coronas 34. Ruinations 37. Tropical tuber 38. Affaire d’honneur 40. Impoverished 41. A type of dance 43. Stylish 44. Bigotry 46. Deli item 47. Bay window 48. European blackbird 49. Poverty-stricken 50. Tardy 51. Murres 53. Magma 56. Liveliness 57. Ribonucleic acid

by Kevin Yong

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3/28/14

Philosofish

Kate Hart Ray Krajci

Horoscopes

Well, Brandon, based on your responses I would like to offer you a position here at Super Corp.

Your starting salary will be $100k, of course, and you‛ll fly out to Virginia Beach in a week!

Aries

Time to pack up your winter gear and freeze for the rest of spring! Bonus points if you pack up your pants and only wear shorts.

Taurus

Although you had planned for a busy week, you’ll find yourself having some blissful downtime.

Spend it wisely, like on Netflix or reading a book for fun.

Excellent. There‛s just one more thing. I need you to-

Gemini

The weather might have improved, but your workload has not. Spend some time in the sun, but don’t forget to do your homework.

Cancer

-to wake up.

Your March Madness bracket may have fallen apart, but your personal life is better than ever. Spend some quality time with your friends, and don’t let basketball (or the billion dollars you didn’t win) get you down.

Damn.

Leo

xkcd

Keep your inner lion in check this week when someone insults your friend. Sometimes it’s not worth the fight, so try to talk out your disagreements.

PhilosofishComics@gmail.com

I Don’t Want Directions

Virgo

As you walk around campus this week, watch out for shifty squirrels. The ones who have survived this long winter are especially ruthless, so don’t get too close to one of these shady characters.

Libra

This is your lucky week! You’ll find yourself in the right place at the right time more often than usual, so take chances that would otherwise intimidate you.

Scorpio

Yes, I understand that the turn is half a mile past the big field, but my GPS knows that, too.

This would be easier if you weren’t about to ask me to repeat it all back to you. rapid rebuke release rips savor scolded scrape seal seam seed seer shred sneak stack stared stoke stout task tense tread valet waste

Sagittarius

Wordsearch

assign bags bistro blank blare bolt burden chatter cheap dear dell difficult elegant glass gusto lager leers lilt marble needle ordinary palace rage

This week might be stressful, but don’t get overwhelmed by your work. If you budget your time well, everything will fall into place. Don’t forget to sleep!

Midterms are over, winter should be over, you are so over the school year. Power through because you’ll need all of your willpower to make it to the end.

Capricorn

Find your favorite album on vinyl. Find yourself a record player (if you don’t have one already). Now find yourself the time to listen to it, and you’ll find your stress melting away.

Aquarius

This semester has been difficult for you. Instead of getting discouraged, it’s time to hop on the horse and get back into the swing of things in time to finish stronger than you started.

Pisces

Upset about Chris Martin and Gwyneth Paltrow breaking up?

It’s okay, we are too. It’s time to listen to “Yellow” on repeat and wallow under the covers for a week.

arts & entertainment

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Maker Faire brings innovation and technology to the public

Courtesy Frank Lanza

Presenter at MakerFaire 2013 demonstrates a chemical reaction. The annual event is free and open to the public.

Jessica Yang Staff Reporter After the success of the first Cleveland Mini Maker Faire last year, the Cleveland Public Library and Ingenuity Cleveland decided to host the same event this year at the Cleveland Public Library at 325 Superior Ave. on Saturday, March 29 from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m.

The Maker Faire aims to “celebrate the processes of learning and doing and to share discoveries, curiosities, inventions, innovations and ideas,” and it fits in with Cleveland’s developing DIY spirit.

Cleveland was recently named by Slate as a potential place to move Silicon Valley.

It’s abound with institutions such as the Cleveland Public Library and Case Western Reserve University, where people have access to new technology such as 3D

printers that are available in the TechCentral at CPL and think[box] at CWRU. At the Maker Faire, there will be workshops for people of all ages, ranging from solar flowers how-to’s to a “LAN Party,” where people gather to play multi-player video games. Online signups for the workshops are available on the Cleveland Maker Faire website at makerfairecleveland.com.

In addition, there will also be exhibits

from various companies and people, featuring their own inventions and products.

CWRU’s own think[box] is doing a joint exhibit with Bird Technologies, showing people how to put together an EMG device, which displays the electrical signals in muscles. Rovar, a platform that makes augmented reality campaigns is also allowing the public to try on Google Glass.

The Cleveland Mini Maker Faire is free to the public.

Lake Effect Improv Festival a rousing success Patrick Clarke Staff Reporter The third annual Lake Effect Improv Festival opened last Saturday, March 22 to a chapel packed with those eager to be awed and humored by extemporized acting. Invited to perform alongside Case Western Reserve University’s IMPROVment, featured groups included Scared Scriptless (a professional troupe from Canton, Ohio), Oberlin’s Kid Business and Ohio State University’s Fishbowl Improv.

The crowd enthusiastically participated in the show at the performers’ behests, offering suggestions for the direction of a given scene.

Some simple, some utterly bizarre (e.g., find the Kool-Aid Man’s hidden Lego set), each scenario nevertheless provided an opportunity for the improvisers to demonstrate their adroit sense of timing and interjection within the confines of the short-form genre.

Despite the comedic virtuosity exhibited by all of the groups, the most entertaining performance, unquestionably, was given by none other than CWRU’s own IMPROVment, batting cleanup for the night. The audience’s

adoration for these connoisseurs of comedy was made obvious by the cheer used to greet the cast as they took the stage with playful pomp—like a basketball team streaming onto the home court. Our fellow collegians collectively navigated the formal restrictions of various improvisational games with remarkable finesse while maintaining a charming theatrical flair that was goofy yet disciplined.

Although they opened with a rather flat segment, IMPROVment nonetheless managed to execute along an upward slope, with each subsequent scene being more enjoyable than the last. True to this trend, the most memorable moment of the entire night occurred at the conclusion: an impromptu musical number designed to seduce a woman at a RadioShack using Facebook lingo. Indeed, IMPROVment member Tom Burke made his bones during the finale, winning both the girl and the limelight by the song’s conclusion with an exceptional stage presence perhaps rivaled only by Ben Hyams of Kid Business.

Far from being just an opening act, however, Kid Business also succeeded in delivering a delightful show that aroused a response comparable to CWRU’s own offering. Though the

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smallest in attendance, Kid Business’s fourman crew managed to craft a more personal connection with the audience, responding to input more frequently and eagerly than any other group. Each member’s unique expressive tendencies gave the crowd a personality to latch onto and follow throughout the performance, each crafting an endearing persona to neatly complement the myriad of clever witticisms. Though they may not have been the stars of the festival, Kid Business certainly delivered the most consistent entertainment of the evening, never once allowing the audience a dull moment.

Exhibiting a more pronounced degree of professionalism than the other troupes—and fittingly so—was Scared Scriptless. Their tightly formatted performance demanded that the participating members react quickly and purposefully to convincingly fit an improvised scene within a time limit. The structure was such that, for most of their act, teams of two were paired off to essentially compete against one another, both operating within a common narrative framework. The professional background of this group manifested itself in the composure maintained by each improviser,

Food

Film

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breaking character far less frequently than the student companies.

Perhaps the most disappointing act, then, was Fishbowl Improv. While the troupe did have its bursts of creative hilarity, its decision to omit the crucial element of audience participation resulted in noticeable droughts during which the cast would struggle to formulate or sustain an original premise on which to improvise. As such, the audience was significantly quieter throughout this performance, ostensibly confused by the ambiguous transitions between scenes that were often frustratingly directionless. Regardless, Fishbowl garnered quite a few laughs with their ludicrous caricatures and absurd narrative dilemmas.

Overall, this year’s Lake Effect featured a commendable assortment of improvisation, avoiding the risk of redundancy with four distinct groups that never seemed to gratuitously rehash the offerings of the others. IMPROVment promised a spectacular outing and delivered nothing less, and in doing so, effectively secured an opportunity for CWRU students to experience off-campus troupes for years to come—a most welcome addition to this university’s cultural traditions.

Writing

Music

Theater

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3/28/14

Pass the suds… …from Brew Kettle Taproom and Smokehouse

Flights of Brew Kettle beers and BBQ wings at Brew Kettle Taproom and Smokehouse.

Mike Suglio Staff Reporter The Brew Kettle Taproom and Smokehouse is the brewery for brewers. This brewery is quite unique compared to others; not only can you try nine different home brews and 21 different guest beers, but you can also brew beer yourself on the premises.

The Brew Kettle is Ohio’s first “do-ityourself” brewery. They provide eager brewers 70 different recipes to choose from and, with assistance, you and a small group can brew one to eight kettles of beer. On average, brewers brew enough for six cases of 22-ounce bottles of beer.

Brew Kettle offers 600,000 clipart images to use for labeling your bottles.

Patrons are also welcome to personal-

ize their design.

As I sat in the packed bar on a Tuesday afternoon, local patrons were eager to praise the brewery. The patron next to me proudly informed me that he had just brewed a “dunkel bock,” whereas the guy a few seats down chimed in that he had just brewed a “kolsch.” Sitting with several beer lovers tested my knowledge of beer. I passed with flying colors.

The bar is one of the larger wooden bars, if not the largest, that I have ever seen at a brewery. It stretches the entire width of the sizable restaurant. Adorning the walls are old beer signs that act as a memorial to beers that have come and gone. The bar hosts a chalkboard that painstakingly lists all 30 beers on draft and their various alcohol by volume (ABV) and international bittering unit (IBU). I was also handed an updated printout of this list upon seating.

The Brew Kettle beers are as diverse as the brewery and range from a stout to a scottish ale to a raspberry ale. The Vanilla Frambozen was one of the best raspberry ales I’ve ever had. This type is rather rare, so I have not had too many, but the aftertaste was amazing. The flavors of vanilla and raspberry fill your mouth and the aroma is to die for. It would have been perfect with a solid piece of chocolate cake.

I usually find scotch ales to be hit-ormiss. The Scottish Ale had the perfect balance. There was a clear scotch taste, which is usually a turn-off to me, but despite its large presence, the balance of caramel and smoky flavors produced the perfect accompaniment of taste. I followed this with the dunkelweizen, which had a sweeter taste than most dunkelweizens, but still shared the amber taste and color. It was very malty, but like it traditionally does, it tasted like a

Courtesy Mike Suglio

darker hefeweizen.

Next I sampled the Amber Ale, El Lupulo Libre. This lighter ale was smooth and not too hoppy despite being brewed with Mosaic and other American hops.

This beer is brewed with Vienna malt, which adds to the lighter body. This multifaceted drink was a real delight to try.

The Irish Red Ale was decent. I am personally not a huge fan of red ales, but this was a lot lighter and much more malty. It lacked flavor compared to the rest of the beers, but was a good standby.

Seeing that it was Wing Night, I decided to sample some of Brew Kettle’s BBQ wings. I can honestly say these were some of, if not the best, wings I have had in Cleveland. The wings were full wings, not chicken finger-like, and smoked. The

to Suds | 13

Poetry in the Museum: A contest for poets Maria Fazal Staff Reporter The Cleveland Museum of Natural History is cosponsoring this year’s “Poetry in the Museum” contest with Case Western Reserve University’s Baker-Nord Center for the Humanities. Accordingly, this year’s theme is “The Nature of Nature.”

According to Administrative Director of the Baker-Nord Center for the Humanities Maggie Kaminski, this year marks the fifth “Poetry in the Museum” event. For the first two years, the event was held at the Cleveland Botanical Garden, and then took place at Cleveland Museum of Art in the subsequent years. This will be the first time the event will be held at the Cleveland Museum of Natural History.

Poets of high school age and above were welcome to participate, with those in high school being judged in a separate category.

Aspiring poets submitted their entries on March 14. This year, a record-breaking number of over 250 entries were submitted.

Several of these entries were from CWRU students and faculty.

The open-ended character of the contest allows poets to explore not only themselves, but also investigate the beauty and enigma that is the natural world. Fortunately, the Cleveland Museum of Natural History is certainly not lacking in stimulating inspiration.

Poets were encouraged to take advantage of the museum’s extensive resources and were invited to “visit a specific collection/exhibition—fossil, fish, birds, stars, dinosaurs, rocks, human evolution—or participate in one of the many field trips led by Cleveland Museum of Natural History staff.”

Each poet was permitted to submit up to three poems, and their entire entries could not surpass 10 pages. The poems themselves did not contain the poets’ names and were

assigned numbers for blind judging to ensure impartiality.

The judges, all renowned poets, are M.L. Smoker, David Hassler and Emily Wilson.

The “Poetry in the Museum” event will feature readings by these poets and Mandy Broaddus.

Hassler is an award-winning author and poet. He is also the director of the Wick Poetry Center at Kent State University. Additionally, he has been awarded Ohio Poet of the Year and has published two poetry collections, authored several nonfiction books and coedited multiple others.

Wilson has also been published and attended the University of Iowa Writers Workshop. Furthermore, she received a creative fellowship from the National Endowment for the Arts, and designs and prints letterpress books under the imprint, Spurwink Press.

Native American poet Smoker is a member of the Fort Peck Assiniboine and Sioux

tribes in Montana and is the Director of Indian Education for the Montana Office of Public Instruction. She has also had a collection of poetry published and co-edited an anthology of human rights poetry with Melissa Kwasny entitled, “I Go to the Ruined Place.”

These judges will attend and speak at the “Poetry in the Museum” event. However, they will first announce the winners, who will share their poems with the audience.

The winners will receive prize packages assembled by the Cleveland Museum of Natural History and Baker-Nord Center for the Humanities.

Winners will be notified by March 28.

The “Poetry in the Museum” event will be held on April 6 from 1:30-3 p.m. at the Rare Books Room in the Cleveland Museum of Natural History. Entrance to the museum is free for those who have registered for the event. Registration may be completed online or by calling the Baker-Nord Center for the Humanities at 216-368-2242.

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observer.case.edu

Courtesy Frank Lanza Footlighters, the student group that produces one theatrical performance each semester, performing “Spring Awakening” in Thwing Ballroom.

from Footlighters | 1 McCourt and Abby Walker, who plays every adult female, make their many characters distinct using subtle costume changes and by altering the way they move and speak. At one point McCourt transforms from a grieving parent on the edge of collapse to the hunched

from Suds | 12 BBQ sauce did not take away from the smoky wing taste. The wings are so juicy and cooked to perfection that they fall off the bone.

The next three beer samples were staple beers of Brew Kettle. The Four C’s is the perfect beer for hop lovers. It’s brewed with four different hops: Cascade, Centennial, Columbus and Chinook, hence the name of the beer. Despite the cacophony of hops, the drink is perfectly balanced and the hop flavors are not overbearing, but instead produce a smooth and multi-faceted beer.

Following the Four C’s was the hoppiest beer at Brew Kettle: the White Rajah. Unlike the Four C’s, this beer had a clear India pale ale (IPA) taste but was still rather light and not overbearing in hops. I really enjoy both the White Rajah and the Four C’s for their balance of hops.

The Big Woody had a big malty taste.

This light, Munich-style beer was very traditionally German and would have been perfect to drink out of a large beer stein. I would have loved to enjoy this beer with a large soft pretzel.

Lastly, I sampled the Dry Irish Stout

and bitter headmaster in a moment. Walker and McCourt are comical as scheming administrators, and adeptly distinguish these characters from the other adults they play.

Grigg and Santin also shine in this production. Grigg’s dramatic voice is well-suited for the score, and she plays a relatable Wendla, despite the character’s extreme innocence. Santin leaves room for some ambiguity in Melchior’s character,

on Nitro, which was an incredibly light stout. This beer was dry, dark and lacked the flavors that come from most stouts, but surprisingly had very low ABV and IBUs. I have never had a stout that resembled Guinness as much as this beer, so I was quite surprised when I sampled it. It still has more flavors than Guinness, and would have been a perfect beer for St. Patrick’s Day. I finished the evening with the bison burger. The bison was lean and juicy and the burger was filled with bacon, mushrooms, grilled onions and gooey pepper jack cheese. The fries were flavorful and tasty, but a little soggy and not very crispy; however, the coleslaw was hands down the best I have ever had. The use of horseradish sauce was the perfect companion and really brought out some excellent flavors.

The best way to describe The Brew Kettle Taproom and Smokehouse is with the word “unique”. Not only is it an exceptional brewpub with 30 different drafts and great food at affordable prices, but it also offers patrons the opportunity to brew their own beer, which seems like a lot of fun. If you are a beer nerd like myself, I would highly recommend you venture to this brewery.

We’re Hiring!

Letters of intent due April 9, see observer.case.edu/jobopportunities. the

Observer

which is a deft move, as our protagonist is not a saint. Zachary Palumbo plays a somewhat stiff Moritz, whose misery is not compelling. His acting is most convincing when he is accompanied on stage by Beth Magid, who sings well and temporarily breaks him out of his tense unhappiness.

Overall, “Spring Awakening” is an energetic play that tackles the dark subjects accompanying adolescence in a culture of re-

pression. The musical combines humor and heartbreak using contemporary music and an enduring story that feels fresh more than a century after it was written.

“Spring Awakening” premiered Thursday, March 27 at 8:30 p.m. in Thwing Ballroom, and will continue with 8 p.m. shows on Friday, March 28 and Saturday, March 29, in addition to an 11:59 p.m. showing on Saturday.

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Sisyphus album review Anne Nickoloff Staff Reporter In Greek mythology, Sisyphus was forced to repeatedly roll a boulder up a hill, watch it roll back down and repeat. Despite finding success at the top of the mountain, he saw it crumble away as the boulder rushed back to the starting point.

Maybe, in an abstract way, that’s what musical group Sisyphus goes for in their new self-titled album.

The trio consisting of Sufjan Stevens, Son Lux and Serengeti all got together in 2012 under the name s/s/s to make their first EP, “Beak and Claw.”

It’s a good guess that the guys chose to change their name to “Sisyphus” because it has three S’s in it (and it kind of sounds like “s/s/s”), but there is more to it than that. Like the poor Greek guy pushing his boulder, the band uses repetition to its advantage, weaving storytelling and genres together into an eclectic, mashed-up musical tale.

The first clear example of Sisyphus’ reiteration hides between the second and third songs on the album: “Take Me” and “Booty Call.”

“Take Me” drifts in and out of lyrics whooshing “I wanna be your friend,” repeated over and over, in this electronic, dreamlike song. It seems very different at first from the faster-paced, rap-based “Booty Call.” But at the end, lingering over the electronic beat, over the rapped lyrics, a soft repetition of the “I wanna be your friend” melody interrupts.

To me, it sounded like a relationship that messed up, and this was the singer’s form of compromise—to be friends afterwards.

Admittedly, however, it could be about a lot of things. Lyrics also leaned toward intoxication, a theme that recurs in later songs.

Plus, the chaotic twist between three vying musical forms (rap, indie and electronic) almost made each song feel like the artists were torn between desires and fears. …So, really, the album could have been about all these themes at once.

When “Rhythm of Devotion” came on, it was easy to think about the relationship theme again. “This is how I want to love you/ with an open heart/ and an open hand,” reverberates an idea of new beginnings. Perhaps it’s a new relationship starting after the breakup. Which makes sense, with the repeating “I feel more comfortable now” phrase over techno cascades.

Things take a dark turn in “I Won’t Be Afraid,” where layered, shimmering cymbals, piano melody and ever-steady beats combine. Lyrics like “I’m prepared for death/ I won’t be afraid,” and “I will give it up/ I won’t make a mess/ I won’t try too hard/ I won’t be afraid” seem to point in the direction of inner turmoil.

This is all reiterated with the lyrics “I am hardly hanging on,” repeated in both “Dishes in the Sink” and “Hardly Hanging On.” And then the final song, “Alcohol,” finishes it all off by trying to explain what’s actually going on. The robotic sounds in the background and constant, thumping lyrics make Serengeti sound like a robot.

Courtesy cdn4.pitchfork.com Plus, the whole damn album ends with a repeating phrase of “I am not my father.”

Hi, Sigmund Freud.

That’s not to say it’s just a philosophical or psychological adventure. Some songs are kind of funky and not too depressing; “Sisyphus” as a whole is filled with beeps, jawdropping lyrics and whooshing indie flares. I guess the only beef I have with the album is that all three artists are not truly enmeshed—

instead of truly combining the musical styles, they seem a little taped-together. Serengeti will pass it off to Sufjan, and he’ll pass it off to Son Lux, and so forth.

Still, the trio defies the barriers of preconceived genres and moves together to tell an inspiring tale.

Deep stuff.

8.5/10

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Apply online at: www.ohioscpa.com/students Benefits: • Résumé builder • Scholarship opportunities • Networking • CPA Exam information • Professional news & information • CPA Exam review course discounts • Web resources

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observer.case.edu

Editor’s Choice

New film concentration offered for English majors Rebekah Camp Staff Reporter The film program at Case Western Reserve University has been a point of interest and discussion among students—or at least students who know about it—for many years. A few students have created a major with the help of Associate Professor of Film Studies Robert Spadoni and have gone on to work on Emmy-nominated television shows, for top management companies and in Hollywood. The film minor, which was created over five years ago, is also very popular and a number of students are currently enrolled in the minor program.

However, while there is interest, there isn’t always time for students to take 15 credits of film courses.

A new English major has recently come into being with a nine credit concentration.

This means students can receive a major in English from the university just like any other English major, but their transcript will also say film.

Adam Church, a current film minor student, said, “This option is a good addition for …English majors; it gives them an option to explore film and other subjects without needing to commit to the minor for recognition…Before, the only option for people to take film courses and receive some kind of recognition was to take the minor. The concentration program is a significant step towards expanding the film program at Case, as I think this option will encourage more students to enroll in film courses.”

Spadoni is very excited about the new concentration, and describes it as “very broad and flexible in terms of the kinds

of courses you can take.” English 367 (Introduction to Film) is the only required course for the concentration, and Spadoni recommends that it is taken either first or as soon as possible in the sequence because it “lays the foundation for other film study.”

Students who have worked with Spadoni and the film program in the past said that while they felt supported and encouraged through their experiences, they found it difficult initially to find information and classes pertaining to their interests in film.

Daisy Wall, a former student who is currently working with Buzzfeed.com, said that this new concentration will be a great networking opportunity for students with similar interests.

Spadoni is the driving force behind all things film at CWRU, and with his encouragement, many students have gone on to work in the television and film industries.

His efforts have encouraged and helped many students, including Dave Forman who said, “Professor Rob Spadoni [has an] infectious passion and unique teaching style. Being able to take his classes was a true gift and he was one of the best mentors I’ve ever had. His wide breadth of knowledge, his guidance but not domination in class discussion and his kind and quirky sense of humor made taking his courses a treasure.”

Spadoni’s efforts in the film program have resulted in this new concentration, and it is surely a step in the right direction for the CWRU Film Department to grow and take on more students.

For more information about the Film Concentration and the Film Minor please visit case.edu/film or email Professor Spadoni at robert.spadoni@case.edu.

La Alianza celebrates Carnival in upcoming event Katy Witkowski Arts & Entertainment Editor La Alianza is exactly like what it sounds like: an alliance of students of Hispanic descent who have joined together to celebrate their respective cultures. However, La Alianza is open for all who identify or have an interest in celebrating Spanish language, cultures or histories.

And that’s exactly what they’ll be doing this weekend. On Saturday, March 29, La Alianza will host a Carnival cel-

ebration in the Brazilian spirit in Thwing Atrium, hosting a samba band and featuring food from all over Latin America.

The event begins at 4:30 p.m. and ends around 6:30 p.m.

Along with this event, the group is also hosting a panel discussion on Monday, March 31 at 6 p.m. in Hovorka Atrium to discuss Immigrants’ Rights and the fears that illegal immigrants face when working for a better life.

Daniel Villamil, president of the student group, says that although there is no set meeting time for the group, all are in-

The Observer’s Playlist of the Week

Teddy Eisenberg Staff Reporter “100” —Eternal Summers Do yourself a favor and buy this entire record right now. Not only will it provide you with the perfect pining-for-summer soundtrack, but their album “The Drop Beneath” is killer from start to finish. The warm guitar sound on this track churns the bass and vocals into a swirling mix of pure pop perfection.

“Spirit” —Future Islands Combining the synth pop of MGMT and groovy world beats of Vampire Weekend, Future Islands will take you aback if you’ve never heard them before. The deep baritone of Samuel Herring, the group’s lead singer, provides a nice contrast to this song’s bopping rhythms. Future Island’s latest album, “Singles,” was released on Tuesday.

“A Beginner’s Guide To Destroying The Moon” —Foster The People High expectations follow these hipsters of “Pumped Up Kicks” fame. While their sophomore release, “Supermodel,” doesn’t exactly live up to the hype, this track is a fun collection of disjointed guitar, synth and vocals that somehow meet to create one catchy dance-pop tune.

“Supermodel” was released on Columbia Records this Tuesday.

vited to participate in their public events coming up this week, and can talk with him about becoming involved. They also host cooking lessons and movie nights, which are open to all students.

Not only does La Alianza celebrate Hispanic culture on campus, but the group also strives to make a positive impact on the Hispanic community in Cleveland.

They need support not only from the students, but also from faculty and staff.

“Mouthful Of Sand” —Nights Nights is about to embark on a month-long tour of Japan and will be playing one last U.S. show at the Happy Dog Saturday night.

This group is native to Cleveland’s West Side and fuses the grungy guitar blast of the Smashing Pumpkins with an ethereal falsetto.

“Fever” —The Black Keys The first new material from Akron’s rock heroes in three years, “Fever” is the first single off of “Turn Blue” which will be released on May 13. Featuring a funky bass line that undercuts syncopated guitar and Dan Auerbach’s signature croon, the psychedelicblues of this track harkens back to the Key’s “Attack & Release” days.

I was personally underwhelmed at first, but this track is a grower.

Advised listening volume: LOUD. Retro Pick of the Week: “The Ballad of El Goodo” —Big Star America’s quintessential powerpop band, Big Star sports sweet vocal harmonies reminiscent of the Beatles and a jangly guitar sound evocative of the Byrds. Big Star proudly carried the legacy of these two groups into the 70s, an era in which no one (except maybe the Raspberries) wanted to write light pop songs. “The Ballad of El Goodo” is a shimmering and gorgeous testament to the timelessness of pop music.

The newly formed faculty and staff group, the Latino Alliance, provides support to faculty and staff who identify as Hispanic, and gives any kind of help that the student group asks to receive.

“My undergraduate career was transformative, and a Latino group mentored me through it,” says Suzanne Rivera, associate vice president for research. “I’m glad that I can play that role for these students now.”

New! Leadership Minor Starting in Fall 2014

Weatherhead School of Management

For more information or assistance declaring the minor, contact Weatherhead UG Services at WeatherheadUG@case.edu Website: http://weatherhead.case.edu/degrees/undergraduate/academics/minors

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a&e

3/28/14

cAlEndar Friday March 28th 11:00 am - 1:00 pm — Food Trucks, UPB, Case Quad 6:30 pm — Cleveland Critical Mass Bicycle Ride, meet in PublicSquare 8:00 pm — “Spring Awakening,” Footlighters production, Thwing Ballroom CIFF, Tower City Cinemas, check clevelandfilm.org for film screenings

Saturday March 29th 9:00 am - 12:00 pm — Coit Road Farmers’ Market Benefit Breakfast, 15000 Woodworth Rd. 1:00 pm — Hidden Mother Gallery Talk with Laura Larson, Cleveland Print Room, 2550 Superior Ave 4:30 pm - 6:30 pm — Carnival, La Alianza, Thwing Atrium 8:00 pm and 11:59 pm — “Spring Awakening,” Footlighters production, Thwing Ballroom CIFF, Tower City Cinemas, check clevelandfilm.org for film screenings

Sunday March 30th 12:00 pm - 3:00 pm — Greek III, Veale Center’s Horsburgh Gym CIFF, Tower City Cinemas, check clevelandfilm.org for film screenings

Monday March 31st 6:00 pm — Panel Discussion on Immigrants’ Rights, La Alianza, Hovorka Atrium 7:30 pm — SKATERS/Team Spirit concert, Grog Shop, 2785 Euclid Hts. Blvd

Tuesday April 1st 12:00 pm - 1:00 pm —“Vitamins and Supplements—Do we need them?,” 121 Fitness Center 12:00 pm — Thwing Tuesday, UPB, Thwing Atrium 6:00 pm — Community Yoga, Holistic Health Club, location TBD 6:00 pm — Light It Up Blue Benefit Dinner, Autism Speaks!, Thwing Ballroom 7:00 pm — Nellie McKay, Nighttown, 12387 Cedar Rd

Wednesday April 2nd 6:00 pm - 8:00 pm — Greek Sing, Greek Week, Strosacker Auditorium 6:30 pm — SEVA Banquet, WISER, Hovorka Atrium 8:00 pm — Chucklefck.com presents Chelsea Peretti, Grog Shop, 2785 Euclid Hts. Blvd 8:00 pm — Keep Talking: A Storytelling Show, Happy Dog, 5801 Detroit Ave

Thursday April 3rd 11:00 am - 4:00 pm — Banner, Greek Week, Case Quad 6:30 pm - 9:30 pm —Variety Show, Greek Week, Lakewood Civic Center, 14100 Franklin Blvd 7:00 pm — Italian Film Fest first screening, Department of Modern Languages and Literature, Strosacker Auditorium

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17

opinion Editorial

USG candidate endorsements

To be as fair and objective as possible in the endorsement process, a committee of select staff members of The Observer, chosen by the editorial board, interviewed all candidates running for Undergraduate Student Government executive positions, excluding those who are running unchallenged (i.e., president, vice president of public relations and vice president of information technology).

The committee chose not to endorse a candidate in the vice president of student life race because one of the candidates, Mary Kate Macedonia, is a staff photographer for The Observer. The committee members were chosen with the intention of providing the most comprehensive representation of the Case Western Reserve University student body. Among the interviewers were first-, second- and third-year students, a transfer student and an international student. The editorial board populated the committee with students of diverse backgrounds to ensure the candidates were evaluated through multiple lenses.

All of the candidates brought something different to the table, and thus the decision to endorse any candidate does not mean that the other candidates were meritless. The intention of this editorial is to showcase those qualified candidates who we felt would best serve their undergraduate student constituency.

State Your Case Do you think CWRU handled the news of Dean Lawrence Mitchell’s resignation well on The Daily?

18.18%

Chief Judicial Officer In the race between representative Kerrik Woyshner, Adam Younger and Xiaoyi Ren, the editorial board endorses Woyshner for the position of chief judicial officer. Out of the three candidates running for the position, Woyshner demonstrated the most knowledge of what the position entails, as well as specific ideas to improve the position and its influence among the student body and the members of USG. He had spent the most time researching for the position by talking to the previous chief judicial officers and familiarizing himself with the USG constitution and bylaws. Woyshner referenced reaching out to student leaders and collecting feedback from them about current legislation, an idea that would be warmly welcomed by campus organizations.

The endorsement committee interviewed the two other candidates, Ren and Younger, and expressed excitement that students without prior USG experience were motivated to run for the position. But, the committee felt they both needed more preparation with USG’s operations before assuming an executive position. The editorial board would be more than content to see these two candidates involve themselves with USG in the future.

72.73%

Vice President of Finance In the race between Treasurer Chippy Kennedy and Representative Ali Mahmoud, the editorial board endorses Kennedy. Kennedy impressed the board with his ideas for easing the funding and reimbursement process, particularly his goal to use his computer science background to bring the arduous system into a new era.

He was open to experimenting with how students could get the money they needed; he dreamed of a system where students could possibly send in receipts virtually to speed along the reimbursement process. Kennedy also had a better grasp than Mahmoud on how the Student Activities Fee and Student Executive Council worked, a critical quality for securing the funding USG, and therefore each student group, requires. Additionally, Kennedy was not as complacent as Mahmoud, and was more apt to offer ideas.

However, the endorsement committee was impressed with Mahmoud’s honesty and willingness to admit concerns regarding how the finance committee presently operates. But Kennedy’s ideas, and experience working directly with student groups as USG’s social service and special service treasurer, steered the decision in his favor.

Vice President of Academic Affairs In the race between incumbent Xiaoyu Li, Representative Nishant Uppal and Representative Arjun Gopinath, the editorial board endorses Uppal. Uppal was extremely informed and passionate about the variety of issues that face the student body in the sphere of academics.

Uppal believes that MediaVision is a critical tool for students and is unwilling to accept a lack of funding as a reason for the lack of expansion on this project. He passionately spoke about the lack of workload standardization across department courses, as well as the varying difficulty between different offerings of the same class. Uppal believes the best way to tackle problems involves the committee collaboration process, as opposed to one-on-one time between the vice president and the representatives. He believes that initiatives could be pursued better with the use of peer feedback and assistance through teamwork.

The board was impressed with the work already done by Li as the current vice president

to Endorsements | 19 The Observer is the weekly undergraduate student newspaper of Case Western Reserve University. Established in 1969, The Observer exists to report news affecting and/or involving students and to provide an editorial forum for the university community. Unsigned editorials are the majority opinion of the senior editorial staff. For advertising information, contact The Observer at (216) 368-2914 or e-mail observerads@case.edu.

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

LETTERS TO THE EDITOR should be e-mailed to observer@case.edu or submitted on our website at observer.case.edu. Letters can be mailed to 10900 Euclid Avenue, Suite A09, Cleveland, OH 44106. Letters need to include the writer’s full name, address, and telephone number. Anonymous letters will not be published. Letters from organizations must contain the name of an individual for contact purposes. Writings may be edited for clarity and brevity, and while The Observer makes an attempt to print all correspondence; space and date of publication are not guaranteed. Letters over 600 words may be returned to the sender. Letters must be received by 5 p.m. on Tuesdays.

9.09%

Yes; support Yes;CWRU CWRU showed showed support forfor himhim as as the they should have.

No; nothave have shown Mitche No;CWRU CWRU should should not shown Mitchell in such flattering light.

II haven't beenfollowing following news about haven’t been the the news about the resignation.

Correction In our election guide included within Issue 22, we listed Chief Judicial Officer candidate Adam Younger as currently holding that position. This was incorrect as Younger does not currently hold a USG position. The Observer apologizes for this error and any confusion caused.

the observer

established in 1969 by the undergradute students of case western reserve university executive editor & publisher TYLER HOFFMAN director of design MEREDITH DYKEHOUSE director of web & multimedia KYLE PATTERSON director of print KATHLEEN WIESER director of business operations BENCE TAMAS advertising & marketing manager COLE MORRIS account manager JAMES VELETTE digital publicity & communications manager VINCENZO VOLPE news editor MIKE MCKENNA a&e editor KATY WITKOWSKI news layout HEATHER HARGROW opinion editor NOORA SOMERSALO a&e layout AMBER ALBERGOTTIE sports editor JP O’HAGAN sports layout EDWIN LO multimedia editor ARIANNA WAGE opinion layout CHRISTINA CHENG copy editors ANNE NICKOLOFF, JENIECE MONTELLANO distributors SAGE SCHAFF advisor BERNIE JIM

opinion 19

observer.case.edu

Have you been to Legoland lately?

Staff commentary Andrew Breland & Jacob Martin Last Friday afternoon, we walked into the Kelvin Smith Library intent on getting some work done before the weekend set in.

We climbed the sterile white spiral staircase and started towards our normal spot on the second floor when we froze, looked at each other, and Jacob Martin said aloud, “It’s a f***ing library!?”

The tables and chairs, computers, and anything resembling a campus study space had disappeared. What appeared before us was a random collection of partitions, dry erase boards, relocated computers and new furniture reminiscent of a 1980s science fiction movie. The second floor was turned into a makeshift collaboration space.

Now we don’t particularly have a problem with this move towards collaboration, what we have a problem with is the execution of this move. We, like many students we have talked to, feel the first floor is the appropriate collaborative space. And all students know the frustration of trying to find a place to study in KSL during midterms and finals.

What will happen with less quiet space and a more fragmented second floor at these times?

Andrew Breland spoke with Associate Provost and University Librarian Arnold Hirshon last semester about similar worries and Martin spoke to him Wednesday.

We both found him very open, inviting and willing to meet with any students, and committed to total transparency.

The second floor among other things is a temporary experiment. “My staff and I use a principle of experimentation for innovation,” Hirshon told Martin. “One purpose of

a library is to respond to what its users want, and through observation we’ve noticed there is more collaborative and active learning going on among students.”

However, the library’s move to purchase furniture and completely redesign the space appears to be here for the foreseeable future.

There also seems to be a move towards technology in libraries, especially here at Case Western Reserve University. But is this a wholly good thing? We acknowledge that technology cannot be stopped and is the way of the future, but it has its limits, especially in a library setting. Digital scholarship does not necessarily yield smarter students.

On technology, Hirshon said, “Librarians and staff members have told me there has been a surge in the checkout of technological equipment. Since we’ve displayed what we have like a Best Buy store feature, students now know what’s available to them.” He spoke about databases like JSTOR and their collective merit, a point that is well-taken. The existence of digital scholarship, however, does not undermine the importance or necessity of a wide catalog of physical library materials. Likewise, our horror at what the second floor has become—and what the library is becoming— is justified.

CWRU is currently constructing an 82,000 square foot building intended to be used in part for student collaboration; meanwhile, Thwing Student Center is currently underutilized. Wade Commons serves north side residents while Carlton Commons and Fribley serve the south side residents. There are buildings like Nord and the Peter B. Lewis Building that have 24-hour access for students—the former open to anyone while the latter serves business students. The Village and KSL have group study rooms. And then there’s the coffee: Three different Starbucks,

one at the Village at 115, one inside the bookstore and one on Euclid Avenue at Cornell, plus there’s always the Coffee House at University Circle on Juniper Road.

So what is a library? On a college campus, a library is that one magical place where no one talks because the sole purpose for being there is for students to accomplish course-related work, especially individual pursuits like writing, reading or research. So we ask, what the hell is KSL? In our opinion it’s turning into something other than a library.

In recent days, the library has seen largescale presentations and parties, Mario Kart video gaming sessions and a seemingly endless deluge of tours walking through the building. Each of these events distracts from the library’s primary mission as a place for academic investigation. Students cannot study when others play video games 10 feet below them. Sadly, it appears that one of the last places for true scholarly work on campus now spirals into irrelevance.

In February 2013, a news article written by current news editor Mike McKenna was run in this paper about college library funding which identified CWRU as 103rd in terms of library expenditure out of 115 research universities according to 2011 data collected by the Association of Research Libraries. Associate Professor of History and Law Kenneth Ledford was quoted, “The library is the laboratory for all of the humanities and the social science faculty. No one would think about closing the laboratories of the biomedical engineering professors or the biology or biochemistry professors.”

The article also notes that less than one percent of CWRU’s operating budgets in 2011 and 2012 went towards the purchase of physical library texts. So we must ask, why all of the expenditures on new furniture and a laptop

computer rental kiosk when there is so little money to be spent on texts? Shouldn’t books and other academic texts be given priority?

Apart from our cosmetic and spatial issues, it is very clear that the biggest issue facing KSL is that of funding. This gets at what the university values and prioritizes. Perhaps our most biting criticism should be directed elsewhere, namely at library budget allocations.

According to the Library Materials Budget Overview: FY14 and FY15, which was provided by Hershon on Wednesday, from FY 2010 to FY 2013, CWRU’s average spending for library materials ranked 24 percent below the next lowest institution on the peer list (the University of Rochester), which spent on average $1.7 million per year more than CWRU. Peer institution average library materials expenditures excluding CWRU for FY 2013 were $14,256,878—nearly double CWRU’s $7,271,241.

Providing so little funding for library services sends a number of messages, including that some research is important while other research is not. When there is no money to acquire needed academic materials and texts, student and faculty scholarly work suffers.

If CWRU wants to tout itself as a bigleague, prestigious research university, shouldn’t it set its libraries—the places where research materials are kept and the research is done—as one of its highest priorities? We think so.

Last Friday, after we struggled to study on the new second floor, we resolved to study in the carrels nestled away in the stacks on the third floor, away from the Legos and piano, away from the art exhibits and collaboration spaces. We resolved to be among the books.

Andrew Breland and Jacob Martin are opinion columnists. Both of them use the library practically every day.

The power of diversity What CWRU is really teaching Abby Armato Registering for classes last semester, I was a little bitter about my computer freezing for 10 minutes. Frustrated, I sought for classes that were not filled and stumbled upon COGS 317: Cultural Diversity. The description seemed promising, plus it was taught by one of my favorite cognitive science professors (a statement made for the sake of honesty, not to suck up on the offchance she reads this).

As its name would suggest, Cultural Diversity is built around empirical studies of differences in cognition, based on cultural differences. We spend our hour and 15 minutes with a peer review journal article or two focused on aspects of diversity like language, gender and race. Usually I leave the class with more questions than answers, but that’s never a bad thing.

If COGS 317 has taught me anything, it’s that cultural diversity is hard. Maybe this is everyday-common-household knowledge, but my mind was blown. I had always thought that if we all just try hard enough to get along, we will. Admittedly, this thought looks naive in print. Shame on me and my optimistic tendencies, I guess. Despite my previous beliefs, actually merging cultures together is quite difficult. Our culture shapes our cognition, the way we think and interact

from Endorsements | 18 of academic affairs, but we believe that Uppal, with his fresh perspective, could give the committee the jump-start it needs on initiatives that have been stymied by administrative obstacles. We were interested in the exciting ideas proposed by Gopinath, but believe that Uppal’s experience within the committee will help the organization hit the ground running in the coming semester.

with the world. Which means, if we were to hypothetically bring a bunch of people from a bunch of different cultures and put them all in a hypothetical place like a college campus, their minds would process things differently because of the culture they grew up in.

This concept sounds pretty simple, right?

We already know that nature and nurture both play a role in how we function as human beings. The mind-blown part of this idea is the extent of the role of nurture, culture, if you will. For example, one recent study looked at the differences between race and visual attention. The researchers used East Asians and Caucasian Westerners and a Navon figure (a large letter made out of different, smaller letters) to see how each race would respond to the visual cue.

The results showed that East Asians most often found the larger letter, suggesting a strong global advantage in attention, whereas Caucasians Westerners saw the little letters more often, implying a more local advantage in attention. What does this mean? It means that culture can affect cognition to a crazy extent, can make us more likely to see the details or the overall picture.

With all these subtle differences in cognition created by our culture, it seems like an impossible endeavor to mix all these differences in one community. Of course, it is necessary to learn how to interact with people from different cultures, especially as the world becomes smaller and more in-

tertwined. But bringing culturally different people together is still a struggle, at least in the beginning. Despite this challenge, Case Western Reserve University tries to do just this. There is no denying that CWRU is proud to value diversity. This was honestly one of the reasons I came to CWRU. Here, the cultural diversity is not just in ethnicity but also in gender, community and ideology. The idea of having a safe place where so many differences can come together very much appealed to me.

CWRU, like any diverse college, must find a way to bridge the gap between cultural differences. A friend of mine put the ways very simply: “You either learn about the differences and celebrate them or find the commonalities and ignore the differences.” In his personal opinion, CWRU does a great job at the latter but falls short with the former.

While I think it’d be interesting to discuss this idea further with him, I do think it’s fair to say that CWRU at least makes an effort to teach and celebrate differences.

I’m thinking about the cultural nights at Leutner Commons. Whether it’s Native American night or Mediterranean night, Bon Appétit attempts to bring aspects of different cultures to the community. Of course there’s Juniper Residential College, whose tagline is “Knowledge Through Multiculturalism,” a bold statement on the level to which CWRU prides itself on diversity. While one of my friends said he

signed up for Juniper because he didn’t feel like he’d fit in any other residential college, he assured me “every kind of people” was living in his building.

And what about the different clubs on campus? I remember walking through the Activities Fair during orientation week and, despite not being Middle Eastern, the Middle Eastern Cultural Association being very happy to add me to the email list. Or, during MLK week, the African American Society who had brilliant presentations to discuss history and culture with the greater CWRU community.

Cultural diversity can be challenging to overcome. Because it manifests itself in ways we are not even consciously aware of, finding ways to bring people from different cultures together can be a tough hinderance to overcome. On a college campus, where collaboration is a necessity, being able to either celebrate the differences or find the similarities is imperative. While there may be some discrepancies in the community as to whether or not differences in cultural are fully integrated, I do appreciate CWRU’s effort at making our campus a diverse and accepting community.

Vice President of Student Life The editorial board abstains from making a formal endorsement of this position because one of the candidates contributes to our publication. However, we do believe that some critical issues separate representative Mary Kate Macedonia and representative Jacob Ma in this race. Macedonia is focused primarily on campus safety, as her primary initiative during her time with USG has tackled pedestrian and bike safety. During our in-

terview, she spoke about mental health issues on campus including the common diagnosis of student stress and the need of administration to address this issue directly.

Ma focused more on the role of the student life committee to ensure that students have an enjoyable experience on campus; he wants to ensure students recognize the current methods available to provide critical feedback and input on campus services. His current work as a member of USG involves

improving the shuttle transportation tracking system, potentially doing away with NextBus in favor of a more reliable feedback tool.

Both representatives seemed to focus attention on internal committee practices and procedures. While this is a critical aspect of the organization, The Observer hopes that whoever assumes this position places priority on the welfare of the entire student body, and not on the social benefits of committee time.

Abby Armato is a first-year student currently majoring in English and anthropology.

When she is not freaking out about impending adulthood, she enjoys various strokes of creativity, determination and passion.

20 opinion

3/28/14

Questions and methods The elephant in the room Andrew Breland As a political science and English major, there are rarely opportunities to showcase research in my disciplines beyond publishing books, articles, etc. Or at least, that is the impression you get talking to an engineer (or “hard” scientist) about political science “research.”

That last word is in scare quotes simply because that is the reaction you receive when your research includes no “discoveries,” important new laws or theories or “experiments” done in a “laboratory.” Most of the time, when research fails to meet any of these categories, the aforementioned students and experts will cast disdain or incredulity toward the notion of calling this research.

But at its most basic level, research is the idea of seeking answers to seemingly hard to answer (perhaps impossible to answer) questions about life, the human condition and the world around us.

In fact, research is derived from an old French word meaning, roughly, “looking into with care.” This definition is patently more helpful when considering the types of academic and social work that can qualify as research.

This week, I submitted an abstract to the SOURCE Intersections research symposia. Coming out of my capstone, I realized that developing an argument has been a feet-first encounter with Political Science research. Thus, I submitted the abstract. As I did so, I talked with Dr. Sheila Pedigo, the director of the SOURCE office. And she, much like me, agreed that research as it stands has too shallow a definition on most of our campus.

We talked about the experiences we’ve had trying to illustrate the value of social science and humanities research to biologists and physicists. Perhaps the most telling quote from the conversation was, “[Engineers] look at social science research and say ‘What’s the point? They didn’t discover anything.’ And I respond ‘It’s not about finding the new thing, but a new way of looking at something.”

To an extent that quote is right. In many of the social sciences and humanities, new discoveries are rare. For psychologists, schizophrenia has been around for a long time; we just named it.

For historians, things are happening now, but now we know what happened before.

For political scientists, democracies have been around for thousands of years, now we know how.

The list continues on, but exploring that simple and hastily-constructed ex-

ample shows that discoveries happen. Of course there are more esoteric example.

My research, for one, involves a reinterpretation of the strength of the presidency. Is it a weak office? Or is it strong? In the end, when a chemist asks me what the practical application of it is, I might have to answer that it simply looks at history and politics in another way. I’m reinterpreting what has happened since 1789, and coming to a conclusion about the way the presidency was envisioned.

To the unacquainted individual, the most immediate application might be the ability to criticize Carter for being too weak, or Reagan for being too strong.

But still that project is research.

There is: a set-out and defined question, a formulated hypothesis, a process and method by which I am investigating my question and, ultimately, a conclusion about the hypothesis. Even the scientific method I just described has its roots in the work of a man equally known as a biologist, physicist and philosopher: Aristotle.

With a method, questions to answer and a plan of attack, it is hard to see that social science, humanities and the liberal arts could not be included with “hard” sciences and engineering as researchoriented subjects.

For some this comes as no surprise, including some of the same scientists I am criticizing. I personally know many medical doctors, physicists, chemists and others who find great delight in exploring the expanding frontiers in social science.

Simply look at the attendance at the weekly Public Affairs luncheons (talks centered around politics, policy and research) or at the events of the Baker Nord Center for the Humanities where at least half of the audience comes from a strong science or engineering background.

The point is, research takes place across campus. For those (hopefully few) who only envision research as professors’ work in the buildings of the old Case Institute, look around and experience some of the exciting work accomplished by professors outside your discipline. We all hear about yours, thanks to the incessant Daily.

And on April 18, I look forward to standing among students of all disciplines, excited to hear about the work being done by our promising undergraduates. Hopefully they will be willing and excited to hear mine too.

Andrew Breland is a double major in political science and English, vice president of the Phi Alpha Delta PreLaw Fraternity and former chair of the Case Western Reserve Constitution Day Committee.

Mutual respect – the foundation of a successful community The meaning of Spartan life Jacob Martin Last week I wrote in this space about a meeting with Case Western Reserve University President Barbara R. Snyder. After reading my editorial in print and recalling our discussion, I began thinking more about the importance of community to students and administration.

Essentially, my contention is that through a strong sense of community— where community is synonymous with dialogue, diversity, camaraderie, collegiality and solidarity—personal growth develops exponentially quicker than in a fragmented and hyper-individualistic environment.

There is importance to individualism insofar as motivation is important to academic success. But what if the environment at CWRU was one where everyone encouraged each other to sustain those things?

What if we prided ourselves on honor and civility? What if we could be totally open with one another about what we’re feeling and thinking and our discussions reflected earnest interest in one another?

To illustrate my point, I provide the following anecdote. I ran into someone I hadn’t seen since before spring break.

After customary introductory formalities, she asked me, “How was spring break?” Admittedly, I was out of town in a fun place, but I returned to Cleveland knowing I was to bury my aunt who had passed away. So I replied, “Most of it was great, but it ended badly.” She just looked at me with an unsettled expression and essentially walked away with a brief, “Oh, I’m sorry.”

When I spoke to Snyder she described a place where every conversation was like the one I had with that young lady. She made it clear that it is up to students to create their community. While I agree that community building is a top to bottom model, I disagree that the responsibility should fall solely on the students’ shoulders.

Earlier this month, there was talk that Diversity Weekend would be cancelled this year. Many underrepresented students felt upset when they learned of the administration’s tentative plan, explaining that many of them had come to CWRU based on how included they felt by the events of that weekend. Tell me, how can students create a diversity program like Diversity Weekend on their own?

I mentioned all of this to Snyder and we basically agreed to speak about diversity in the future, but this is what I’m talking about. If students don’t feel like they belong here in the first place and our administration doesn’t take steps to foster a sense of belonging, then students will be discouraged and their motivation for a better com-

munity will be deemed futile.

Given that Undergraduate Student Government elections are going on right now, I spoke with outgoing USG President Dan Gallo before the general body meeting Tuesday evening. “Maybe the solution is awareness, a proliferation of knowledge about organizations, programs and options available to students. Personalities are inherently pointed in one direction. You don’t wake up one day and say, ‘I love CWRU.’ You wake up one day and want to feel part of something bigger.”

He reminded me that there are a large number of USG officially recognized student organizations and pointed out that the freshman caucus explained that first years are largely unaware of campus organizations and events. Let’s change that.

There are 41 academic, 20 athletic, five competitive, 24 cultural, one governing, 27 performance, 29 philanthropy, five political, 18 religious and 58 special interest groups for a total of 228 USG recognized organizations on campus. Surely there’s something there for everyone to get involved with.

Yet the reality that students need to feel supported by the administration remains a factor. Gallo highlighted this need specifically with Snyder. Gallo said, “USG has been trying to get her to show her support for students by getting her to events, but she doesn’t know about them. With all the events that happen on campus, she only receives a handful of invitations every year and she’d love to attend.”

And I don’t mean to single out Snyder.

The belief that administrators are off-limits to students is ludicrous. Without students, administrators don’t have a job and the university ceases to be. Their job is to maintain the university, but without CWRU students there is no CWRU. In a direct way, they serve us. Whether they believe this or not, what one thinks and what reality actually is are two different things.

“I want to walk down the Quad and not see one student with their head down. A significant portion of our campus community [is] like this, but at the same time there is a significant portion who deeply care about CWRU,” Gallo said. “At the same time, cooperation from administration is crucial, and they acknowledge that.”

Maybe, with a little resourcefulness from students and more communication with administrators, we can change the attitude of CWRU. Maybe then kindness, mutual respect and encouragement will run rampant across our campus. Maybe then all students will feel like they belong.

Jacob Martin is the senior opinion columnist. Like USG President Dan Gallo, he too wants to walk down the Quad and not see students with their heads down.

The merits of being a terrible student The senior inquisition Sheehan Hannan I am, unlike so many others on our repeatedly snow-drowned campus, a god-awful sack of crap student. I procrastinate. I can’t resist the siren song of Netflix when I should be doing other things. Even the very process of writing this column is a sad attempt to put off doing a bit of real work. To add insult to injury, the time-honored tradition of senioritis started kicking in at about week five of this seemingly endless semester. My professors are probably quietly cursing me as they hunch over their grade books.

But being a bad student isn’t, well, bad. In fact, it’s rather enjoyable. Being a bad student lets you get away with looking at things differently, with challenging the way things are sup-

posed to work. It means looking at what your professors are word-vomiting at you every day, and how it actually applies in the real world.

It means using one of your absences to pursue something that makes you genuinely curious.

The process of education is supposed to make us think in progressive ways, open up our eyes to the way the world works. But all too often, education does just the opposite. It teaches us how to pass a test, how to memorize then promptly forget information and, all too often, how to pretend like exorbitant stress is somehow a good thing.

Being a bad student can remedy that.

Taking the time to goof off in moderation won’t do wonders for your grades, but it will let you take control of your education, instead of your education controlling you.

For many college students, the consen-

sus that schooling is simply a rite of passage, something to be done on the way to full-fledged employment, means that they’re missing out on the truly fun part: shaping your learning to fit your own needs.

The classroom approach doesn’t work for everyone. Ask around and you’ll find countless stories of former roommates and friends who had to drop out or leave CWRU because it wasn’t what they needed. They typically get painted in the brutal language that cloaks academic discussions at competitive universities, with mentions of how “they couldn’t handle the pressure” or “simply didn’t have what it takes.”

But failure shouldn’t be painted in such a simple black and white. Failure is a good thing. It tells us where our strengths and weaknesses are, brings forth the simple

human truth that we are all fallible. Even more importantly, it prepares you for the reality of a wider world in which everything will be less than perfection.

So take the time to fail. I did, painfully and repeatedly, and I am a better person for it. Be a bad student. Grasp for that stupid, interesting thing and don’t let it go. Take the time to explore and fall down on the job.

Question your professor’s assumptions, even as you learn from them. Nobody you admire ever got to be where they are by following the beaten path, so why the hell should you?

Sheehan Hannan is a senior English major.

He was formerly the director of print for The Observer and the chairman of Media Board.

His writing has also appeared in Cleveland Magazine and Inside Business Magazine.

observer.case.edu

sports | 21

Springing into the outdoor season Skyler Phillips Staff Reporter The weather is finally starting to warm up, and with perfect timing. The track and field team started their outdoor season over the weekend with the Washington and Lee Track and Field Carnival. The team has been preparing for outdoors for a while now, so it must be nice to finally take a step outside.

This also means adding outdoor events to the meets, giving the members more chances to participate and win. This meet went unscored, but the team didn’t need numbers to know they did well.

In total, six Spartans placed in the top three places for their events (impressive, as there was a large amount of competitors at this meet). Those six were split evenly between men and women. For the men, David Dixon took

first in the 3,000-meter relay with a time of 9:45.08, Mark Kulinksi came in third in the pole vault by clearing a height of 14’5”, and Henry Weintraub placed second in the weight throw with a mark of 181 feet and six inches. As for the women, Christen Saccucci and Sophia Herzog placed second and third in the pole vault, both clearing the bar at ten feet and six quarter inches, while Asante Brown took third in the triple jump with a distance of 34’4.25”.

There are some big meets coming up with the All-Ohio outdoor championship arriving in three weeks, and the UAA outdoors in five. After that, just a few more invitationals and then the NCAAs. The Spartans have started the outdoor season well, and hopefully will continue to rank among the top tier places as the days get warmer and the season comes to a close.

Case Kung Fu members warm up during practice.

from Kung Fu | 23 end up panting for air with their backs on the mats. Ranging from a stress relief for some, to a way of life for others, to an almost addiction to the adrenaline rush of the fight, each member finds that their passion lies with the art.

It is an art even though it is a highly physical athletic competition, seen through the strength, flexibly and endurance needed to compete at a high level. It is performed at that high level even during practices. Despite the connotations of art as flowery and pretty, Kung Fu, and Shuia Jiao in particular, is a form of art that requires a lot of athletic ability. It becomes the perfect mix, a martial arts focus, played out as an athletic event, or perhaps more accurately the most brutal art of all. “The key is it takes the athleticism of a sport but it also takes the technique that you would associate with an art,” said Khalid. They all talked about how the club is a family, a great group of friends. This important aspect is easily seen in the joking lighthearted interaction between the group minutes after throwing each other to the ground.

Through the instruction of Van Doren, the team has learned a wide variety of moves and, while they may not be masters in any particular move, their ability to utilize so many throws has garnered success for the team. The seven

Arianna Wage / Observer

women who made it on the team mark a particularly huge accomplishment for any team, and Case Kung Fu has put a big emphasis on the women as well as the men. This is the second year they have sent teammates to an international tournament, after competing last year in China. “Since we are a sports club, and we only really have members for a few years, we don’t focus on mastering a few moves or even styles. We study many styles and it gives us an advantage, if the first move doesn’t work, we try another,” said Van Doren. The team has risen to competing on the world stage due to this style but also through their personal dedication.

In preparation for Rome the team is holding a Shuai Chiao tournament of their own this weekend in the Veale Center. They all spoke with a lot of excitement about using this competition as a time to prepare for their international trip. They are also fundraising through a GoFundMe page and a bake sale. A lot of preparation, and sacrifices go into making the trip. However the team is evidently excited to show the world what they can do.

“It feels good to be able to train enough to the point where you feel strong enough and skilled enough to handle yourself in a fight,” said DeLessio. By every indication the Case Kung Fu team is strong and skilled enough to do just that at the international level.

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3/28/14

from Cycling | 24 came down to be pretty last-minute because as of three weeks ago, the potholes on the course had not been filled. We knew for sure it was going to happen on Wednesday, but we didn’t get the actual finalized permits until Friday.”

The full-day event featured the collegiate divisions of Men’s A, B, C and D, as well as Women’s A and B/C, which are sorted according to racer skill with the “A” level being elite pro-level riders and the “D” level being the most recreational division. The criterium also had the advantage of organizing three open amateur USA Cycling races, allowing one-day entry memberships to recreational riders who had no previous experience in a USAC race, allowing all interested parties to enter.

The top finishers in the collegiate races were awarded points which went toward a team total. USAC participants in the top division were awarded cash prizes and the lower division winners won prizes provided by Barrio, a restaurant who sponsored the event and had a food truck on site. Between the sponsorships and attendance, the organizers are happy with this initial outing. “It went really well, it was a huge success…We expected to get complaints about the course or for something to not run correctly but everyone seemed pretty happy... and it’ll be a million times easier next year,” said Swartwout.

The race brought in participants from Ohio, Indiana, Michigan, Illinois, Missouri and Kentucky. The top spots in the men’s races went to John Pratt, of the University of Notre Dame in the A race, Tyler Carlton from the University of

Michigan-Ann Arbor in the B race, Michael Hart from Lindsey Wilson College in the C race and Austin Ventura from Lindsey Wilson College in the D race.

The women’s A race winner was Jacqueline Denny from Lindenwood University

March Madness, worth the hype JP O’Hagan Sports Editor The NCAA men’s basketball tournament isn’t called March Madness for nothing. Over the last weekend the field of 64 was trimmed down to the Sweet 16, through some of the largest bracket-busting upsets and downright surprises in tournament history. For those who haven’t been following along, many fan’s brackets were no longer perfect after the just first game as Dayton knocked off Ohio State. Then Mercer, a small school from Georgia, knocked off No. 3 seed, and perennial powerhouse, Duke in the first round as well. Stanford beat the Kansas Jayhawks and Harvard managed a second consecutive first round win against Cincinnati. Only one known bracket survived the first round, and even that was busted the next day.

Now that the dust has settled and the Sweet 16 and Elite Eight are the nation’s focus, here are the Observer’s suggestions of the top games for you to watch this weekend. #4 Michigan State vs. # 1 VirginiaFriday 9:57 PM President Obama’s (as well as almost every sports pundit in the nation’s) pick for national champions goes up against one of the remaining No. 1 seeds in what is sure to be a close game. Either

the

Katie Wieser/Observer

Cyclists pass checkpoint during downtown criterium.

team has a good shot at making a run for the championship and that should led to some great basketball and some Sportscenter Top 10-worthy moments for Saturday morning.

UCLA or Florida vs. Dayton or Stanford – Saturday While it can be difficult to know who will win, this Elite Eight match up will feature the lowest seed to make it to this round since 2011, guaranteed as either Dayton (who knocked off Syracuse) or Stanford (who beat Kansas to advance) will go up against either Florida (the national favorite for champion) or the underdog UCLA. Either way this will be an exciting game to watch, as everyone loves rooting for the Cinderella story, unless of course you are a Florida or UCLA fan.

Kentucky or Louisville vs Tennessee or Michigan – Sunday This will likely be the highest scoring, most explosive Elite Eight game of the tournament. Louisville has so far lived up to expectations, as the entire nation felt they were ranked too low as a No. 4 seed.

However Kentucky, Tennessee and Michigan are all high-powered offenses and no matter who advances to the Final Four, they will be a force to be reckoned with coming out of the toughest region of the bracket.

All Thursday games occurred after The Observer went to print.

and Catherine Hollibaugh from Marian University won the B race.

The Case Cycling team had a strong showing, with Spartan Mathias Ellegiers earning second place in the men’s C race and David Takahashi finishing in sixth

place in the B race. Full race results can be seen through the Case Cycling website at www.casecycling.com and updates on future events can be found here as well as on the club’s facebook page, facebook. com/CaseCycling.

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observer.case.edu

sports | 23

Editor’s Choice

Athletes of a different type, a different art Case Kung Fu prepares for international competition

JP O’Hagan Sports Editor On the top floor of Veale Center, a group of artists gather to practice their skills in preparation for an international display.

These are no ordinary artists however; this small group of dedicated martial artists hones their skills in Northern Shaolin Kung Fu. This particular Saturday the focus was on Shuai Jiao or (or Shuai Chiao), an extremely practical type of Kung Fu, focused on grappling and attempting to throw one’s opponent to the ground. The classic “everyone was Kung Fu fighting” certainly popped into my head, but this group showed that Kung Fu and especially Shuai Jiao go far beyond that catchy beat. As the team prepares to send many of its members to Rome, Italy to compete with Team USA in the Shuai Jiao World Tournament, there dedication and passion is evident in their heavy breathing and sweat as they leave everything on the mat.

Shuai Jiao is one aspect of Northern Shaolin Kung Fu. The fighting is considered a practical style, focused on gaining a point of control, and then throwing one’s opponent. The competitors wear durable jackets, color-coded to help judges distinguish between the fighters. The jackets provide a point of contact and control, similar to judo.

“Unlike judo we wear short sleeve jackets, and the lapels are farther apart, in order to grapple since we work the legs and stuff but focus on the throws,” said coach James Van Doren. “It is one of the traditional pieces.”

Van Doren, the team’s coach trained under one of the father schools of Shuai Jiao. He is seen as a trainer by this school and when Team USA has spots to fill, they approach Van Doren and other

trainers like him. As a result, the members of Case Kung Fu have the unique opportunity to compete on an international stage. The tournament they are attending will be occurring May 16 to 18 and they will be competing against teams from 27 countries including France, Germany, Great Britain, Italy, Israel, Russia, Brazil, Canada, Argentina, Australia, China, Mongolia, Taipei and Hong Kong. Team USA has four teams competing in a double elimination tournament. The tournament has multiple weight classes and the U.S. is allowed to bring two men and two women to the competition. This opens up a lot of opportunities for participation, but the Case team still competed to be considered for those positions.

The Case Kung Fu team is honored to send nine of their members to Rome to compete. Sophomores Katieri DeLessio, Amy Wang and Ameera Khalid, will compete in the 48 kg, 52 kg and 60kg weight classes. Shannon Harkin and Elanor Drushel, both alumni, are competing in the 56 kg class. Khalid and Heather Hall will compete at the women’s 60 kg class and Jonathon Cole will compete in the same class in the men’s class. Leah Neustadt will represent Team USA in the 75 kg class and Raymond Zackowski rounds out the Case delegation competing in the 115 kg class.

The entire Case Kung Fu team forms a diverse yet fun team of members. Their passion for their art, while an extremely athletic art, shines through their daily lives. Khalid, this year’s vice president and next year’s president, even came to Case for the opportunity to be involved with Kung Fu. Each member had some experience in martial arts, but they all have a different reason that they continue to come back, even though they often

to Kung Fu | 21

Cleveland cold holds back Spartan Softball David Hoffman Staff Reporter The calendar tells us that it is the last week of March, meaning spring began and softball season is well under way. Unfortunately, the weather here in Cleveland has yet to receive the memo. In the last week alone the Spartans have endured two rained out games, with the other two scheduled games moved to Cleveland State’s Krenzler Dome. Those games constituted a doubleheader for the Spartans against Trine University, currently ranked as the number 13 softball team among division three schools in the country.

Unfortunately, the disparity between the teams showed during both ends of the doubleheader as the Spartans got swept. In the first game Trine pitcher Bree Fuller kept the Spartans hitters off balance all afternoon, pitching her team to a 5-0 victory. Fuller went the distance in the game, surrendering only five hits and recording seven strikeouts.

For the Spartans pitcher Annie Wennerburg got knocked around, yielding five runs on a whopping 11 hits in 5.2 innings. Trine’s team wasted no time taking the lead, scoring a first inning run to put the Spartans behind before they even came to bat. Although Wennerburg held them at bay for a while after that,

Trine’s team eventually broke through for two runs in the fifth inning and two more in the sixth to ice the game.

In the second game of the doubleheader, the Spartans actually faced an even larger deficit before making a spirited comeback attempt in the late innings. Despite surrendering seven runs, Fuller pitched her second complete game of the day. Pitchers Rebecca Taylor and Marisa Kohley did not fare quite as well for the Spartans, combining to surrender nine runs in five innings. When the Spartans came to bat in the bottom of the fifth inning, they were facing a 9-2 deficit. However, they quickly rallied for four runs in the inning, highlighted by a three run home run off the bat of shortstop Makenzie Lein. In the blink of an eye, the deficit was cut to 9-6 and the Spartans had new life. The comeback bid ultimately fell short as the Spartans dropped the game 10-7, but they could hold their heads high knowing they put a scare into one of the best teams in the nation.

With the doubleheader sweep, the Spartans fall to 10-8 on the season. Weather permitting, the Spartans will hit the road on Saturday as they play Wittenberg University.

The results of their doubleheader on Thursday against Westminster University can be found on the Spartans’ athletic department website.

Arianna Wage/Observer Two Case Kung Fu members practice Shuai Jiao throws.

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24 | sports

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sports

Rolling through the City of Rock and Roll Case Cycling team hosts criterium downtown

Courtesy David Takahashi

Cyclists brave the cold to compete in Midwest Collegiate Cycling Conference criterium hosted by Case Cycling.

Katie Wieser Director of Print Case Cycling hosted their premier Midwest Collegiate Cycling Conference criterium on Sunday, March 23 in downtown Cleveland. The swirling winds and snow may have postponed a less hardy group, but the team and local spectators were in full force in the below-freezing weather, as the racers made the 1.1 km loop around FirstEnergy stadium on Lake Erie.

This event has been a year in the mak-

ing. As the club gained popularity on campus and sponsorships from the community, leadership looked to showcase the city of Cleveland and the team’s hard work by hosting a race. Club President Matthew Swartwout was one of the members who wanted to see the Case team take things to the next level. “There are always the same clubs throwing races. So we just wanted to participate and just put our names on the map as more than just a team that just sends a couple riders to every race.”

Most collegiate races last an entire

weekend with a road race and a time trial as well as the criterium, a race for points where racers complete a course for a specified amount of time. However, with the relative inexperience of the team and lack of suitable course availability, Case Cycling decided to keep the event to a criterium only. “Since it’s the first time we’re hosting a race, we wanted to focus on doing one event and doing it really well,” said faculty advisor Ryan Pierce.

In order to make this plan a reality, the club determined several possible sites around the Cleveland area that

could serve as the course for the event.

Many factors played a part in the decision to host the race downtown. The event needed a distance road course that could be blocked from traffic and free of potholes on race weekend. The team started working to find an ideal location early, but the recent weather and road problems in Cleveland left the club scrambling in the final week. “We started working with the city in November about the event,” said Swartwout. “But it

to Cycling | 22

Spartan baseball keeps up winning streak on the road Team prepared for home opener this weekend

JP O’Hagan Sports Editor The Spartans are still hoping for the warm summer sun from their tournament in Florida to follow them up to Cleveland.

Following two strong wins on Saturday, the Spartans had the second day of their four game series against Ohio Wesleyan postponed and then had their Wednesday doubleheader against Heidelberg pushed to Thursday, after The Observer went to print.

The Spartans continue to bring in accolades as they climbed to 21st in the nation and had a player named to the national

team for the fourth week in a row. Catcher Jordan Swisher was named to the national team for the second time this year as well as being named UAA hitter of the week.

Swisher collected five hits on Saturday in the first of the two scheduled doubleheaders. Second baseman Kerrigan Cain added five more as the Spartans added the 6-3 and 13-8 victories to the program’s best start in history. The Spartans’ bats continue to be explosive as they combined for 24 hits and 19 runs in 18 innings. Noah Sherman and Andrew Gronski, week-toweek leaders of the Spartans’ offense added hits of their own, and both Gronski and Zach Tobias sent long balls over the fence.

The Spartans’ pitching staff continued to dominate on the mound as John Fortunato picked up his third win of the season in the opening game, and is currently 3-0.

Kevin Johnstone picked up his second win of the season as well, helped by the offense as he allowed eight runs in his five and third innings on the mound but still managed to strike out nine.

The Spartans are well prepared for the challenges of a long season, and are obviously itching for the chance to play consistently. In sitting down with head coach Matt Englander, the strong positive team atmosphere is evident. The team’s game-by-game mentality is hold-

ing off the lingering winter blues, and is prepared for the toil of a compacted spring season.

With a UAA championship already in the bag, the focus for the Spartans remains on their single goal: Compete for a national championship. The way this team is playing, they certainly have a shot.

The Spartans played two games against Heidelberg and, because these games took place after The Observer went to print, check for game recaps online at observer. case.edu. The Spartans are gearing up for their home opener on Saturday at noon followed by the second game of the double header at 3 p.m.