Volume XLVII, Issue 18, 2/05/2016

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Case Western Reserve University volume xlvii, issue 18 friday, 2/5/2016

Observer UNDER REVIEW D SF T F K D E Fraternity members upset over sanctions

Anastazia Vanisko Copy Editor

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The Greek Life Office (GLO) aims to create a “culture of care” within Greek Life, meaning that they want chapters to work towards self-improvement and bettering the community. However after the membership reviews undergone by Sigma Phi Epsilon (Sig Ep), Phi Kappa Psi and Delta Tau Delta (Delt), some members feel that the term “culture of care” is more a tool for maintaining an ideal image than for helping chapters work towards improvement.

Membership reviews are an extreme measure used to remove or suspend Greek members. According to Mark Starr, the director of Greek Life,

membership reviews usually occur only after minor punishments, such as sanctions, prove to be ineffective in correcting a chapter’s misconduct.

All three of the chapters who underwent reviews had a history of problems with the GLO, though the reasons for their sanctions varied.

Current and past members from each fraternity shared what they felt triggered their own chapters’ reviews. Sig Ep’s problems began when a guest at one of their parties was sexually assaulted. A member within Phi Psi reported that the fraternity had a drug problem. Delt had a history of failure to comply with previous alcohol-related sanctions.

The membership reviews for Sig Ep and Phi Psi occurred in the end of November 2015.

Delt’s began in

January 2016.

Former Vice President of Administration and current Member-at-Large for the Interfraternity Congress Craig Shook said that, from his experience, members displayed varying degrees of resistance to sanctions.

“I saw everything from completely shutting down to not wanting to work with anyone at all to accepting the process and going along with it and trying to make the best of it,” said Shook.

While fraternities may not have felt that the GLO was a resource available to them, Shook said that they have always been able to come and speak with the GLO to seek advice on how to deal with the problems they’ve been facing.

“I would talk to the chapter presidents, said Shook. “I made myself available, but they wouldn’t always reach out for my help. Some of it would be advising chapter presidents. Honestly a lot of my involvement stopped after they were notified of hearings.”

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Drag Ball challenges misconceptions

When people think of a drag ball, they might imagine members of the transgender community getting dolled up and putting on a show. But the event is much more than that, and Spectrum’s CWRU Drag Ball plans to challenge this misconception.

Taking place on Feb. 12 from 5 p.m.-11 p.m. in the The Kelvin + Eleanor Smith Foundation Ballroom at the Tinkham Veale University Center, the show is more than just a chance to dress up. Participants can show off their catwalk in the runway segment or show off

their lip synching skills in the performance category. The show is organized so that there is a runway section and performance section followed by voting. Votes can be submitted in the form of a $1 donation, and all of the proceeds from the show benefit the LGBT Center of Greater Cleveland.

Sweta Naik, one of the CWRU Drag Ball’s organizers, hopes the show will open people’s eyes. “We usually find that a lot of people come and are surprised because drag has such a big reputation, but they don’t know a lot about it and there are many misconceptions about the queer community,” she said.

Auditions are still taking place for the CWRU Drag Ball before the final

cutoff on Feb. 9 and rehearsal on the Feb. 11. Naik encourages those that are interested to audition. “You might think you have to be trans to take part but you don’t, so if you feel like you want to bend your preconceptions of what you can dress in, this is a great opportunity to do it,” said Naik. “People are always surprised by how much fun they have doing it and I love seeing everyone put so much effort into their personas.”

Students interested in becoming a part of the show may email lgbt@case. edu, and should prepare music. Students interested in only attending the show just have to show up. There will be free cupcakes.

News

A&E

Opinion

Sports

pg. 2 SAGES reforms considered

pg. 8 Elle King rocks Cleveland show

pg. 5 Inform students ahead of time

pg. 14 Rock climbing club grows

Anastazia Vanisko Copy Editor

Courtesy Spectrum Participants and attendees of last year’s Drag Ball pose after the night’s event. The event will take on Feb. 9 this year.

news SIS graduation requirements are “not met” for many seniors Hunter Overstreet Staff Reporter It’s the email every soon-to-be-graduating student hates to see: “IMPORTANT: Spring (May) 2016 Degree Requirements are Not Satisfied.” The email proceeds to inform the many students who receive it that they are missing some element needed for a May graduation according to the Student Information System (SIS).

For some students, ensuring their graduation requirements were satisfied simply meant finally completing their SAGES portfolios.

For other students, however, things were a little trickier, as SIS said they needed to take courses which either no longer had the same course number or no longer existed.

According to Nancy DiIulio, the senior associate dean of Undergraduate Studies (UGS), this inconsistency between what courses a student needs to take and what courses are available happens when a department changes their degree program requirements but a student does not update their degree requirement term to match these new requirements.

Occasionally an academic department in the university chooses to update their degree requirements by renumbering courses, removing requirements, switching required and elective classes or changing a variety of other things. When this happens, a student is able to update their degree requirements to the newest degree program offered by the department, or they are able to continue to graduation while sticking with the original graduation requirements they had.

The Political Science department, for example, changed a couple of course numbers in 2013, and seniors now have to seek approval for the previous course numbers. Hayley Rassuchine, a graduating fourth-year student, did not mind having to submit a form for this.

“I think the polisci department did their job,” said Rassuchine. “I think you have to be in charge of your own academics and know what has to be done.”

According to DiIulio, there have been cases where a department updates its degree requirements and every student chooses to continue on an older program for the degree.

DiIulio says that updating to the newest set

of degree requirements after a department changes their requirement seems to be a more common path for students. Students are not updated to the nearest degree requirement term automatically because they are “expected to adhere to the degree programs present when they matriculated.”

Despite this, students sometimes have no choice but to update their requirement term to the newest one as departments remove or replace courses that were previously required. When this happens, a student can fix their graduation requirements in a couple of ways. They can submit an Advisement Report Correction Form with either an adjusted requirement term or with selected course substitutions, which is available in the UGS office or at the first link on case.edu/ugstudies/ forms. They can also choose their preferred requirement term when filling out the Major Declaration/Change Form, which is available in the UGS office.

Once a student submits one of these completed forms to the UGS office, it is given to the appropriate undergraduate dean’s office, who, after approving it, sends it to the Degree

Audit and Information Services Specialist, who manually sets a course exception for each student in SIS. This whole process takes less than a week according to DiIulio.

Justine De Angelis, who graduated last semester, said that it took about a week for her graduation requirements to be adjusted in SIS. “Undergraduate Studies was pretty helpful and responsive when I emailed them,” said De Angelis. “As long as I graduated, that’s what mattered to me.”

There is one issue with this process that she admits: If a student enrolls in a course and then chooses to use it as a substitute for a different course, the degree requirement for that substituted course will not be shown as satisfied until final grades for the enrolled course have been posted, which is opposed to SIS’s normal practice of showing a degree requirement as satisfied unless a student fails the class. This is an issue on Oracle’s end (the company that handles things like SIS and Human Capital Management for the university), she says, and it’s something that the university has been working with them to fix.

Editor’s Choice

Ten years after its creation, SAGES program under review

Celia Wan Staff Reporter When English Professor Michael Clune started college as a first generation college student, he wanted to be a lawyer. However, after being exposed to various courses under his school’s distribution requirements, he felt that a whole new world was open to him.

“It felt like freedom,” Clune says about his experience in an article discussing general education programs.

Worrying that many students today sacrifice opportunities to acquire a comprehensive academic experience as they strive to move ahead, Clune feels that Case Western Reserve University should work to revive its general education requirements. More specifically he feels that the university’s general education program, the Seminar Approach to General Education and Scholarship (SAGES), has space for improvement, 10 years after it was first implemented.

The Provost’s Commission on the Undergraduate Experience (P-CUE), a group recently formed to advise the provost on undergraduates’ academic and campus experience at CWRU, is also reviewing the SAGES program.

“What I have been struck by at CWRU is, although many students focus on their careers and are pursuing the degrees that lead to their careers, there is a great thirst for other kinds of knowledge,” said Clune.

Besides the breadth requirements of different departments, undergraduates’ general education requirements also include the SAGES program, where students participate in a sequence of seminar courses: a first year seminar, two university seminars, a department seminar and a senior capstone project. Piloted in 2003 and implemented in 2005, SAGES was designed to equip students with skills of effective communication, problem solving and interdisciplinary exposure.

P-CUE will be looking at a variety of aspect of SAGES in their review of the

Jessica Yang/Observer The Provost’s Commission on the Undergraduate Experience will be reviewing the SAGES program to determine whether it is living up to its purpose. program. One of the group’s missions is to assess current general education requirement programs in different departments and suggest improvements.

“It is written in the charge of this commission that we review SAGES,” Kimberly Emmons, English professor and chair of P-CUE, said. “SAGES is a very ambitious program, and therefore it deserves a chance to pause and look back at its original intentions and whether or not we are living up to those.”

Emmons has already seen some areas where revisions to the program may merit consideration.

“I think SAGES has given students a broader exposure to different ideas and thoughts,” said Emmons. “Its interdisciplinary aspect has actually done what we hoped it would. The trade-off there is depth. I think that there are some blurring of disciplinary expertise. There is a difference between broadly looking at something, and what a disciplinary scholar would do [to study it]. I think that’s problematic.”

Though Emmons is not the only professor who thinks that the broad, general liberal arts exposure students receive from SAGES courses could not fully convey more rigorous disciplinary

knowledge and research skills, Professor Peter Whiting, the director of SAGES, feels that this breadth is beneficial.

“Many of the seminars are, by nature of their topics, interdisciplinary,” said Whiting. “However, for example, the students in the college of arts and sciences, in addition to SAGES, have to take two courses in social science, two in arts and humanities, and two in math and science, plus a diversity course and a quantitative reasoning course. Those courses are there to broaden their experience. They are designed to help students make connections in a disciplinary way.”

In addition, there is also concern about the SAGES program’s staffing system.

“The way SAGES courses are staffed does not require the instructors to have expertise in the area that they are teaching in, or expertise in the skills that they are supposed to be teaching,” said Clune.

To be able to teach a SAGES course, a faculty member first has to submit a course proposal to the SAGES program.

The proposal is reviewed by other faculty members, and permission to start the course is granted to the proposer if the proposal is approved. However, the SAGES program does not require the

instructor to be from the same academic field they wish to teach. This means that a math professor may be able to lead a SAGES seminar in history, if his proposal is approved. Some instructors therefore teach SAGES courses without expertise, or even experience in leading a seminar in the content they teach.

According to Whiting, the SAGES program provides resources like weekly workshops, writing instructors and orientations for faculty to prepare themselves, though those are currently optional. “[Leading a seminar] is a new way of teaching for many faculty, so we certainly need to provide supports,” said Whiting. “Could we provide more? Yes. There is a delicate balance here between the intellectual and academic freedom of faculty to teach the content that they know, and the program desired to make sure that students are having a comparable experience.”

Many faculty also feel that the SAGES course proposal review system, the proposal judgment criteria and the panel which reviews the proposal remain unclear. They feel that a greater transparency is needed in course proposals.

Whiting has not felt that this has been an issue.

“We have a fairly standard document that we send to faculty who are considering leading a first year seminar,” said Whiting. “[It is a] starting document to explain what we need.”

In students’ past course evaluations, there is better feedback towards individual SAGES courses than the SAGES program itself, both Emmons and Whiting have observed. Students generally find their SAGES courses beneficial and helpful, even though they have less positive feeling to the overall SAGES program.

“I like my SAGES professors a lot,” said first-year biochemistry major Tarun Jella. “The discussion is really different than my other lectures. I usually go to a big lecture hall, so it is nice to get some individual attention from professors.”

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observer.case.edu from REVIEW | 1 According to Shook each chapter had undergone judicial hearings run by the university instead of the GLO for their alcohol related incidents. Though it was not these hearings that triggered the membership reviews, a university hearing for an alcohol related incident requires that the chapters either have a long history of judicial action or that they have demonstrated an unwillingness to cooperate with past sanctions, which is what usually leads to a membership review.

Sig Ep 41 active members after review In Fall 2014, a group of Sig Eps threw a Halloween party on Hessler Road and, despite the fact that the brothers stated they were following risk management policies, someone was sexually assaulted. Many Sig Ep members didn’t know what actually happened until much later, stated a couple of brothers that were suspended from the fraternity until graduation and who requested to remain unnamed. When the GLO gave the fraternity sanctions, a lack of communication at some point in the process led to the belief that members were being reprimanded only because the friends they partied with happened to be their brothers.

Being punished without actually knowing what they had done wrong led to a changing culture within the fraternity, say some suspended members. One such member said there was so much guilt and confusion that he began to question whether he could even have a beer.

“We were walking on thin ice all the time,” said another member, also suspended from the fraternity until graduation. “When I wanted to relax, I was walking on thin ice.

We’re in college, and we obviously want to partake responsibly in a lot of the activities that a college student would.”

Since even the fraternity members weren’t sure what was going on, rumors became especially poisonous.

“Either people think I’m in this terrible organization and it’s the worst thing that’s ever happened, or all these rumors are false,” said one of the suspended members, whose friends told him the stories they heard about Sig Ep. “But on the other hand I don’t know what to believe. All we heard was that we had a party and now we’re in huge trouble.”

According to the other suspended member, the initial sanction led to obsessive worrying amongst brothers about their partying.

People even began to let the risk manager know if they were drinking privately in their apartments.

Eventually the fraternity, rather than focusing on improving itself as a whole, spent most of its time trying to avoid angering the GLO, said the suspended members. Chapter became a two to three hour ordeal, focusing mainly on what the chapter was doing wrong.

In Fall 2015, a new member was accused of sexual assault. According to one of the suspended members, many Sig Ep brothers questioned whether he should actually be a part of the organization. But because a bid was extended to him, his choices were seen as a reflection of the culture within Sig Ep. Sig Ep was asked to turn in an action plan to the GLO. They turned it in late, and the chapter apologized for the mistake, but they were given more sanctions as a result.

“It felt like [the GLO’s] only job was to maintain their image, their culpability,” said one of the suspended members. “If something does go wrong they’re not at fault.”

Phi Psi 25 active members after review Phi Psi has a history of problems with the GLO, said a former member who asked to remain unnamed.

“They always like to say we had nine sanctions in the last five years,” he commented. “But five of those happened in

kind of research. “[We’re] not terrible people, but we’re being judged purely on some questionable things that, in my opinion, should just be accepted as normal on a college campus,” said the former member.

Delt 21 active members after review

Jason Linn/Observer “We’ve never really been able to move forward from any of these things that have happened,” said one member of Delta Tau Delta. “Whenever we start getting somewhere another thing happens, so we have to address that issue.”

2011 before any [of our current] actives were in the chapter.”

With ongoing reminders of their past misdeeds coming from the GLO, many felt like the office never actually gave the fraternity a chance. To some members, it even seemed like the president was powerless.

“For the past few years our president’s job, instead of actually helping us to be an autonomous organization, was to be the whipping boy of Greek Life,” said the former member.

In Fall 2015, a member reported to Amie Jackson, the associate director for Greek Life, that the fraternity had a drug problem, and the university contacted the fraternity’s nationals, resulting in a membership review. The former member recalled that the alumni performing the review mostly focused their questions on whether or not members believed that the fraternity had an alcohol or drug problem, but questions fishing for names were also asked.

The former member said one of the questions asked was, “Would you attribute any of these problems to individuals within the chapter?” That was followed up by, “Would a person need to be all bad to want to kick them out of the chapter, or would it still be right to kick them out if they had both good and bad traits?”

After the review finished, he felt that it appeared as if anyone who had a reputation for going out, anyone who was affiliated with someone who had a reputation for going out or anyone who had said they didn’t think alcohol or drugs were a problem in the chapter was expelled from the fraternity. This included members who held leadership positions at the time and a former president.

“It’s kind of crazy how I was allowed to party with everybody except for my brothers,” the former member said. “More than half of my close friends were brothers.”

The GLO originally promised that they would inform members of the membership review results as soon as they were available, but as time progressed and the results still had not been released, the chapter submitted a petition emphasizing that the delay was causing them stress and some members needed a chance to find cheaper housing before being placed into CWRU housing. The results were given on Dec. 17, after about a month of waiting.

After many members living in the house were told they were “not conducive to positive cultural change” and would have to leave, they were informed that the house would be closing for winter break—something that had apparently never happened before. Some upperclassmen found living arrangements off-campus in the four days they were given to move, while underclassmen were placed in random suites.

CWRU’s Phi Psi chapter had been doing well for itself prior to these events, some members felt. The members had broken their philanthropy record two semesters in a row, their GPA was higher than their fraternity’s national average and a poll they conducted within their chapter showed that the majority of their brothers had been involved in some

Delt’s struggles with the GLO come from events last semester. Although the chapter has a history of failure to comply, last semester a transport from the house after one of the chapter’s parties and a group of brothers caught smoking marijuana in The Village at 115 sparked a review, believed a current member who requested to remain unnamed.

Many of the risk management policies Delt has in place today stem from past alcohol incidents. These policies include a guest list, a closed second floor, no drinking in rooms and the chapter’s own bar so that it can ensure all the drinks are safe. Despite these precautions, alcohol-related incidents still occurred, ultimately leading to the most recent membership review.

Members learned that Delt would undergo a review over winter break, and during the first weekend of school they went through the process. They heard their results the next day. People who were expelled from the fraternity weren’t given a reason, but members who were only suspended were told they needed leadership training or drug and alcohol training.

According to the unnamed member, some of the results for both the expulsions and suspensions were surprising to everyone in the chapter.

“There were people who got suspended for leadership training that have demonstrated leadership,” said a member. “They’ve held executive positions in Delt and other clubs.

There were people who got drug and alcohol training and they’ve smoked weed one time … There were other people who got expelled that had contributed a lot to the chapter.”

Both expelled and suspended members living in the house had to find new housing by the Wednesday after the Sunday when they received the results. Most of them ended up in randomly assigned suites in upperclassmen housing or across campus in the South Residential Village.

Similar to Sig Ep’s situation, there were problems with communication between the GLO and Delt in the past, but according to the unnamed member these problems with transparency were alleviated when the president two years ago stepped down. The new exec better communicated what the GLO was asking of the chapter, making it easier for them to work towards fixing their problems.

Some members still remained frustrated, however. Though he felt like the GLO was trying to help them, the unnamed member said that many others within the chapter felt frustrated.

“We’ve definitely gotten better since I was a freshman,” said the member. “We just had unwanted incidents where bad things happened and we’ve have to make up for it.

We’ve never really been able to move forward from any of these things that have happened … Whenever we start getting somewhere another thing happens, so we have to address that issue.” *** Amongst all these fraternities’ stories was a theme that the members who felt frustrated by the reviews also felt that they weren’t receiving necessary help from the GLO. At the same time, Shook says the GLO was open to anyone seeking help. With such varied stories, it seems to some former members as if CWRU Greek Life’s focus on maintaining its image may have prevented the GLO from helping the individual needs of each chapter, as a constant “fix this” mantra made people feel as if the office was working against them.

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Cleveland catch-up Anne Nickoloff Director of Print Megabus eliminates some services in Cleveland As a result of low gas prices, Megabus has cut services which offered rides from Cleveland to Columbus and Cincinnati.

In an interview with cleveland.com, Sean Hughes, the director of corporate affairs for Megabus North America, said, “It wasn’t performing to expectations … We had to make a change.”

Megabus has previously decreased Cleveland rides to out-of-state locations, such as Pittsburgh, as well.

Local comedian added as Plain Dealer columnist Local comedian Mike Polk Jr., most well-known for his viral Youtube video titled “HASTILY MADE CLEVELAND TOURISM VIDEO,” has been hired on at the Plain Dealer in order to attract younger readers.

This comes with several other changes to the paper, including shrinking the physical paper itself by one inch and adding another page to the Diversions section.

Polk’s first column, where he introduced readers to the modern world of journalism, ran Jan. 31.

Details on high-rise apartments behind the Triangle released Though the announcement of building high-rise apartments in the parking lot behind the Triangle Apartments happened a few years ago, new details about the project have just been released.

The project will break ground in the spring, and the building will be seven stories tall, with retail on the ground floor and parking. Unlike many other apartment complexes in the University Circle area, the apartments in the Centric building will be focused to appeal primarily to upperclassman students.

Half of the offered living spaces will be one-bedroom micro-apartments, while the remainder will be studios and two-bedroom apartments.

The project is not a Case Western Reserve University development.

Cleveland mayor proposes income tax of 2.5 percent After over 30 years of a steady income tax, Mayor Frank Jackson proposed raising the current income tax of two percent to 2.5 percent. This comes in anticipation of a projected deficit for next year.

The tax increase would raise more than $80 million for the city.

Only Cleveland residents can vote on the issue, despite the fact that the majority of people affected by the hike can not vote because they live outside of city limits.

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2/5/16

Spotlight on research

A fly on the wall

Researcher uses insect models to study sensory processing

Julia Bianco Director of Web & Multimedia

As a neuroscientist with an established interest in entomology, Assistant Professor of Biology Jessica Fox wields a distinctive approach to research. Her laboratory’s current work involves using insect flight as a model for how sensory systems process information, which holds broader implications for human health and engineering.

By investigating how mechanical and visual sensory systems interact to direct insect flight, Fox hopes to gain an understanding of sensory processing as a whole, which can then be translated into real-world applications.

“We don’t have a machine that can fly through the air, avoid obstacles, track odors and vision at the same time and then land upside down on the ceiling,” said Fox. “If we can understand how flies can do that, then that lets us build some interesting new machines or sensors for machines that will let them do that.”

According to Fox, flies, which move at high speeds in three dimensions, serve as ideal genetic model organisms. Flies breed quickly, exhibit interesting behaviors and have few neurons that are easily accessible.

These qualities make the creatures perfect subjects for Fox’s research, in which she utilizes two main techniques to study flies.

The first technique is a more traditional one, using electrodes in flies’ brains to measure how they process information and how their neurons communicate. The second approach involves observing the insects’ general behavior and changing the given stimulus in complicated, quantitative ways to better understand the insects’ responses.

Manipulating the various stimuli can lead to a better understanding of how the nervous system operates without close examination of individual neural networks.

“Flies are great animals … they’re little robots,” Fox said. “If you get an interesting response from a fly, chances are good that the next three flies will do the same thing.”

These similar responses make for good behavior data, which paves the way for fur-

ther investigation. Fox’s plans for the future include compiling more recordings of the flies’ brains to understand how their brain cells incorporate mechanical and visual sensory information.

The research project will be funded for the next three years by the Air Force Office of Scientific Research through the Air Force Young Investigator Program, meaning that one of Fox’s initial hurdles—securing funding for her research—has been overcome.

“I think that the value of basic research is a really important one, even if there’s not an immediate practical application,” said Fox. “And I think, when budgets are tight, we tend to fund things that are going to have an immediate practical application and I think we should go in the opposite direction.”

According to Fox, funding basic research will potentially lead to more fruitful discoveries that can be used in more practical ways to develop targeted therapies and tools, especially in regard to human health.

“Instead of looking for a cure for Alzheimer’s disease—which is an important thing to do, and we should be doing that—it’s also important to understand how healthy neurons function, because, if we don’t understand how that works, then it’s very difficult for us to cure Alzheimer’s disease,” said Fox Fox says there is a general need for more information about the nervous system and how it functions, in addition to a need for more tools that can be used to access the nervous system. Her current research can aid in this quest for discovery, particularly in better understanding how interplay between sensory data influences behavior.

Fox believes there is much to learn from animals and how they perceive the world, which can hold significant implications for how human problems are targeted.

“There are animals that can detect magnetic fields,” said Fox. “There are animals that can see ultraviolet light. There’s just a whole world out there that we don’t experience and animals can tell us about it. And they can tell us a lot about how our own brains are functioning.”

On the beat

Attack of the creepers The University Circle (UC) area, of which Case Western Reserve University is a part, is often a hub of activity. Between people going to a symphony, getting a new heart or trying to get to class without being blown across the quad by a winter wind, this area is almost always packed with people.

Along with the upsides of being a busy area come some downsides: Areas with a large population can draw thieves because lots of people means lots of stuff to take. Busy, high traffic areas also provide cover or anonymity for potential thieves. A particular type of thief that sometimes visits the area is someone we at the CWRU Police Department classify as an office creeper. While not a dictionary term, this refers to people who enter buildings looking for unattended stuff to steal or unlocked offices they can enter to grab items like laptops, purses, wallets or cell phones, among other things. This is a common problem at many busy UC institutions like the Cleveland Clinic and University Hospitals of Cleveland, and one individual may hit several institutions in the course of a few days.

We know this happens here at CWRU be-

cause CWRU PD was recently able to arrest an office creeper caught in the act of stealing from an open office. If as a staff member or student you encounter a situation like this, making a call to 216-368-3333 as soon as possible, as giving your location and a suspect description is your best and safest course of action. We will take it from there.

As with many things, a little prevention can be useful as well. Locking offices and suites when you’re away or at least locking away valuables can be a big deterrent to what are often crimes of opportunity—so take away the opportunity. If you see someone in an area they probably shouldn’t be in or some type of suspicious activity, a quick call to CWRU PD or a simple “Can I help you?” can be a deterrent. The police can’t be everywhere, so we need your help to turn back the creepers. Let’s look out for each other.

On the Beat is a weekly safety column written by Sergeant Jeffrey Daberko of CWRU PD. He welcomes questions, suggestions and gripes/groans/moans/complaints about campus life at policecolumn@case.edu.

Campus insider

IFC and PHC presidents talk moving forward, co-sponsorships and Culture of Care Julia Bianco Director of Web & Multimedia This week campus insider sat down with William Oldham, the president of the Interfraternity Congress (IFC) and Gina Belli, the president of the Panhellenic Council (PHC).

Moving forward from membership reviews Both Oldham and Belli want to use the recent struggles within the Greek community to push for positive change moving forward.

Specifically, they discussed the membership reviews that many chapters have undergone recently following repeated sanctions from the Greek Life Office (GLO). (For more, see “Under Review,” front page.)

The IFC Judicial Board is meeting with the presidents of the fraternities involved to discuss what they felt was missing in their chapters that led to the membership reviews.

They have also been showing the open cases, with chapter names removed, at general body meetings for both IFC and PHC to help increase transparency and accessibility.

“We want the risk managers to know what steps they should be taking,” said Belli.

Co-Sponsorships Both IFC and PHC will be offering co-sponsorships to campus groups and departments that fit within their values of leadership, scholarship and citizenship.

“A big theme for Greek Life is development, so any time we can find development opportunities for the campus as a whole that fall within our values, we want to help provide for those,” said Oldham.

Students and organizations that aren’t affiliated with Greek Life are still welcome to apply.

“We think it’s important to create programming and events that go beyond just the Greek bubble,” said Oldham.

Culture of Care The IFC and PHC Vice Presidents of Social Responsibility will be working together to ensure that the GLO’s Culture of Care is fully represented in the chapters. Oldham and Belli want to ensure that chapters know how to report a sexual assault if a member comes forward and how to deal with mental health issues and medical amnesty policies, among other topics.

“We want to make sure that each chapter has all their resources laid out plain as day,” said Belli.

“I think that’s cool because Culture of Care is something we talk about a lot, but it’s hard to wrap your head around,” added Oldham. “It’s very much a lens to look at things through. The tangibles of Culture of Care are things we already are doing but can do better. We want to focus on prioritizing people over the processes.”

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opinion Administrators should provide key Editor’s Note information in advance of forums Editorial When we saw President Barbara R. Snyder’s email on Jan. 25 concerning changes to modify the admissions process, we weren’t sure what to expect. A couple paragraphs down, it became clear that this email was sent to promote discussion about the need-aware debate, rather than announce that a decision had been made.

The email featured a link to a website laying out the issue. We commend Snyder and CWRU administrators for this step.

The well-organized online FAQ will help reduce misinformation and promote better dialogue moving forward about changes to the process. Now all students have the chance to learn about arguments for and against the proposed changes at their own pace, and to actively engage when the time comes to discuss the issue with their peers. For example, students can now evaluate both sides before approaching the Undergraduate Student Government’s (USG) new Admissions Policy Commission, which will meet for the first time this Saturday, Feb. 6.

This is a fantastic step towards fully engaging the undergraduate student body. The editorial board hopes that this approach can become the norm when discussing campus issues, instead of being something so unique.

For example, this Friday, Feb. 5, Provost

Bud Baeslack will engage in the now annual tradition of hosting a forum to explain the reasons behind this year’s tuition increase.

An email announced the event with the subject line: “Reminder: Pizza Lunch with the Provost on Friday.” In the email’s vague 105 word email speaking of “initiatives to enhance student learning and life experiences,” the provost managed to not only avoid any information that would actually make a CWRU student concerned or even more informed, but also didn’t even mention the tuition increase.

Somehow, there was an understanding that pizza, rather than a tuition increase between 3-4 percent, was what students needed to hear about.

Pizza might be a good way to open doors, but not necessarily a conversation.

USG’s newsletter, in contrast, began with “Do you have questions about CWRU’s rising tuition costs?” USG has also put up flyers around campus, promoting the forum.

USG’s and President Snyder’s email show how information should be communicated and why it should be done ahead of time.

To put this situation in more relatable terms, think of the classroom. One new initiative across CWRU is the “reverse classroom,” where students do their “homework” in class after learning how to do it the night before. In this new system, students learn and think critically about information at their own comfortable pace and are ready to engage in problem

Clarissa Cuevas/Observer solving when it comes to class time.

Instead of hoping to entice students with pizza, let’s give them the opportunity to look up the information and let them form their own opinions ahead of time. Much like the informative website concerning the admissions process, this action would allow students to better understand their own concerns and the administration’s stance on the issue. Instead of simple balking, reasonable CWRU students may even agree with tuition increases, after getting a chance to learn on their own time.

Creating a website may be excessive for every issue, but basic info about tuition rates would better prepare students for conversations about campus issues.

Providing the facts and arguments in detail about all sides of a campus issue ahead of a Q&A session is the fairest approach to discussing something as important as tuition increases.

While Pizza with the Provost is an attempt at engaging the campus community, it can be improved next year by follow Snyder’s example.

Sugar babies are escorts, not in relationships High Ground Chandler Holcomb In this technological era we live in, the pervasive power of the internet has undoubtedly influenced relationships, dating and even love. Computers are now commonplace and the digital landscape they’ve created offers a variety of services and commodities to be purchased by customers all over the globe.

In the recent year, we have seen people take to the web to find one of the most powerful human wants—the comfort of another human being. Love is an abstract concept that means many different things to many different people; I do not wish to compare types and kinds of love or determine which kind is most meaningful.

I do wish to address a recent article published in the Observer titled “College students increasingly becoming ‘sugar babies’ to help alleviate student debt.” I feel the story took a very shallow view and advertises being a sugar baby to my peers.

Humans, being inherently social creatures, often look for people to relate to and share experiences with. It is hard to draw generalities about what people look for because people have varying wants and those wants can manifest in many different ways. Still, it

is a safe to assume most people seek a baseline level of comfort and acceptance in others to soften life’s woes and magnify life’s joys.

And, of course, when human wants are to be considered, one cannot help but think of the ever-coveted dollar.

People have been paid for dates, relationships and sex for a long time. It is no surprise that the Internet has capitalized on this phenomenon through websites like SeekingArrangement. This website matches young men and women, called “Sugar Babies,” with older men and women with money, called “Sugar Daddies” and “Sugar Mommas.” In exchange for their time, these men and women are given allowances.

I assure you this is not a website I would have come across on my own. No, to my surprise, I saw what read like a press release for the site on the cover of my school’s paper. The article attributed the rising amount of collegeaged girls on the site to rising tuition costs.

Sarah, an alias used by the girl interviewed for the article, described it as “a way to finance [her] future ... If you can find a guy to provide a lifestyle you want, help you with school, mentor you, be a kind of rich boyfriend, you can graduate debt free and have connections after graduation.”

Now, I have no problem with using what you have at your disposal to shore up your

The Observer is the weekly undergraduate student newspaper of Case Western Reserve University. Established in 1969, The Observer exists to report news affecting students and to provide an editorial forum for the university community. Unsigned editorials are typically written by the Opinion Editor but reflect the majority opinion of the senior editorial staff. However, Opinion columns are the views of their writers and not necessarily of The Observer staff.

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future prospects. We do that every day in our studies and general practices. In fact, I have no real problem with anyone using this site.

On the contrary, if that is what you are looking for, I feel transparency is commendable.

What concerned me was the diluted logic and shameless rationalization that seemed to mask what this site is really doing. Let’s call a spade a spade shall we?

Directly after Sarah commented on how the site was a way for her to graduate debt free and with connections, she contradictorily stated, “I’m not seeing people just to get something out of me knowing them.”

Ignoring the fact that most Sugar Daddies are much older than the women they pursue, ignoring the fact that a third of them are married and ignoring the massive amount of controversy generated by the site, Sugar Babies are still conducting a transaction for their company.

They are escorts. Sugar Babies may enjoy being an escort, and they may not even have sex with the man paying them—that is their business. But advertising a site whose creator’s tagline is, “Love is a concept invented by poor people,” as a way to make meaningful connections with people is a joke.

A lot of people face financial struggles— attaching one’s self to someone with money is not a way to find new and interesting people

despite how many times Sugar Babies tell themselves that; it is a way to satisfy their material needs and be “pampered” as the website professes.

Equating money with compatibility is nothing new. Sugar Babies often confuse sexual or material love with emotional love—creating surface level connections and material comforts becomes paramount. Love has always been this enigmatic concept I had heard about since I was a child yet never truly understood, and I doubt anyone can fully realize it until they experience it and shape it for themselves.

Love is a subjective experience. As such, the mindset a Sugar Baby will have when entering into any kind of romantic relationship with another individual will have an effect on how they perceive and value their relationship.

There are no constants: If one goes into a relationship looking for money, job connections or material comfort, they will be inexorably intertwined with what Sugar Babies refer to as love. That is a surefire way to create vapid connections with superficial people.

SeekingArrangement is a monument to this kind of shallowness that seems widespread thanks to the Sugar Baby view of the world.

Chandler Holcomb is a fourth-year student at Case Western Reserve University.

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established in 1969 by the undergraduate students of case western reserve university executive editor & publisher MIKE MCKENNA director of print ANNE NICKOLOFF director of web & multimedia JULIA BIANCO director of business operations TAYLOR MORAN advertising & marketing manager JACK WEBB news designer CHRISTINA CHENG a&e designer MATTHEW ZYLE opinion designer ALEXANDRA GOLDBERG sports designer AMANDA LI graphic designer CLARISSA CUEVAS pr manager ASHLEY CHAN video editor SAI SUPRIYA VUDA social media editor JENIECE MONTELLANO photo editor LIZZY KALIKASINGH

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opinion

2/5/16

Crisis in Flint improving but irreversible Poisonous water poises problems for city health

Student Mind Brian Eckert The water crisis in Flint, Michigan has been going on for over a year. The residents are facing high levels of lead in their water supply. This is potentially dangerous not only for drinking purposes, but also for any other uses of water.

With high levels of lead, it becomes dangerous to bathe and wash clothing. The dangers of lead can be are severe and

your health. The major effects of lead consumption are hair loss, skin lesions, vision and memory loss and mental health problems.

None of these things are typically attributed to high levels of lead in the blood, but because of the water problems, further investigation found the water supply to be culprit. In children, who are also suffering from this hazardous situation, consuming lead can lead to developmental problems which include low IQ and learning disabilities.

The problem with this water is that it’s too corrosive and is dissolving the lead solder on the old pipes which, in turn, leaks into the water supply and harms anyone who drinks, baths, or washes in it. extensive—it’s nothing to take lightly.

The dangers of consuming lead are some of the most worrying. The Environmental Protection Agency action level of lead in drinking water is 15 parts per billion (ppb). Even this small amount of lead can be detrimental to

The city of Flint is going to need to make a lot of changes to prevent these problems in their residents.

The negative effects of lead on the human body aren’t the only problems Flint faces. The city is also stuck with the task of finding a new water supply

The scariest, truly dangerous candidate is not Trump Case Western Reserve United Josh Lehrer Yep, that’s right. It is the guy who took Iowa in stride: Republican junior senator from Texas Ted Cruz.

Despite being the favorite, at least for the time being, among the Republican candidates, Ted Cruz still scares me, and should scare you, the most. In case you didn’t know, he appeals most to the evangelical, far right Republican constituency, as well as the Tea Party movement.

But, any person who received his undergraduate degree from Princeton University, received his law degree from Harvard and has argued before the United States Supreme Court surely must reasonable, intelligible and coherent, right?

In my opinion, Cruz represents the opposite. He is the kind of guy who, during the 2013 government shutdown that he and other Republicans successfully organized, filibustered on the Senate floor for 21 hours straight. That is not the worst part, though: he read Dr. Seuss’s “Green Eggs and Ham” to prove some of his points. That is the most childish thing I think I have ever seen or heard in my lifetime of any public official who is supposed to have the American people’s best interests in mind.

Cruz also does not clearly understand how things work. Firstly, he is reviled by his own party. Most of the “mainstream” party members, at the local, state and federal level, have noted their utter dislike of the candidate. Moreover, it is quite apparent that he does not understand how military strategy and foreign policy properly operates.

Cruz has claimed that the United States “will utterly destroy ISIS. We will carpet bomb them into oblivion. I don’t know if sand can glow in the dark, but we’re going to find out.”

But wait … This approach violates international law, as per 1977 Additional Protocols to the Geneva Conventions.

Another fact: It does not work and has not been done since the unsuccessful Vietnam War. Furthermore he is one of the most outspoken candidates who wants to repeal Obamacare, the health care law that has enabled nearly 18 million Americans

to obtain health coverage, but does not have any legitimate plan to help remedy the consequences of doing so or come up with an alternative in general.

In addition, he has called for the abolition of the Internal Revenue Service, the federal governmental agency that collects and manages taxes, the Department of Education, the Department of Energy, the Department of Commerce, and the Department of Housing and Urban Development.

As a son of a Cuban immigrant father himself, he is one of the Republicans who is in the strongest opposition to comprehensive immigration reform, or so he claims now. (His record seems to show otherwise, but this is his most recent positioning on the issue.)

Following his statements in the light of the United States Supreme Court ruling favor in 2015 of Obamacare and declaring same-sex marriage a federallyguaranteed constitutional right, the type of person Cruz is became clear.

He was in Iowa, and said “This is not a typical moment in American history.

The last 24 hours at the United States Supreme Court were among the darkest hours of our nation.”

He is among the far right in declaring global warming and climate change a conspiracy, saying in the fall of 2015, “climate change is not science. It’s religion.” In terms of Ted Cruz’s Senate tenure, his claim to fame is getting one bill passed, out of 44 he directly sponsored and the 187 he co-sponsored. And, this is data from last March of 2015.

I think that is kind of sad, don’t you?

He is a staunch opponent of a woman’s right to an abortion, and was one of the lead Republican senators who sought to shut the government down in 2015 in order to defund Planned Parenthood.

That’s just the tip of the iceberg. Ted Cruz, simply stated, would be the worst president of the United States in American history. I would fear for our nation if he ascends into such a role.

Josh Lehrer is a fourth-year student who has a deep love for following politics and its recent developments. He identifies politically as a centrist who leans slightly to the left.

that will help fix this problem. Currently the city receives its water from the Flint River. The water meets federal standards according to the Genesee County Board of Commissioners.

The problem with this water is that it’s too corrosive and is dissolving the lead solder on the old pipes which, in turn, leaks into the water supply and harms anyone who drinks, bathes or washes in it. The city has requested funding to switch back to their old water source, which is the Great Lakes Water Authority. The water crisis in Flint may be on its way to improving, but I doubt that many residents will be quick to return to their drinking water.

The future problems facing the city of Flint are high in number and also widespread. The city will need to improve mental health centers, school programs for learning-disabled children and also foster homes for children and teens affected by the water crisis.

This will be a huge task for the city and will take a lot of funding. Michigan’s governor, Rick Snyder, has already done a lot to help with the prob-

lem. Recently he went as far as declaring a state of emergency in Genesee County as well as requesting funding to switch Flint back to the Great Lakes Water Authority. In November, citizens filed a class action lawsuit against Snyder, the city of Flint, the state of Michigan, and other city and state offices and officials.

Flint’s problem of contaminated water has been going on for far too long. In today’s world, we shouldn’t be having water supply problems. With the technology and resources that are available, the city should be more than equipped to take on a problem like this.

Instead of fixing the problem, or hedging it and stopping it before it starts, the various governments and agencies forced thousands of people to switch to bottled water, which begins a whole new problem of where the bottles go.

This problem may be on its way to being fixed, but that won’t prevent the repercussions of a problem that can’t be reversed.

Brian Eckert is a first-year finance and economics double major.

Ever-present Trump’s clever vanishing act The Salt Pile Danny Miles The Republican Party held its latest debate on the night of Jan. 28. Seven of the leading candidates for the presidential nomination were present, but one was conspicuously absent, and he made sure everyone knew it.

Donald Trump was very much not present at this debate, yet the most fascinating thing about it is that he won it anyway.

At the outset of this election cycle, I, like many other political viewers, wrote Trump off as a non-issue. There was simply no way that he would have the attention span to actually pursue the

with no one the wiser for it.

He had everything to lose at this debate; one gaffe could cost him the candidacy, as it has for so many before him (although, with his current record, I don’t know what he could possibly do to invoke the ire of his voting base).

His opponents were out for blood; every single one wants to take down the front runner.

So, instead, in a brilliant maneuver, Trump simply didn’t give them the chance. He instantly stole the show, as the nation was in an uproar over the leading candidate skipping the debate; all eyes were on him. Instead, he aired a fundraiser for veterans—a move vastly appealing to conservatives, if not nearly everyone—and raised $5 million in one

He instantly steals the show, as the nation is in an uproar over the leading candidate skipping the debate: all eyes are on him. presidency; furthermore, there was simply no way that he’d ever attract public support.

Well, the pundits of the nation have been completely blown away, as have I, as Trump first gained, then secured, the lead in the Republican race. I feel that “dominated” is a strong word to use, but Trump has simply dominated the field.

His policies range from reasonable and clear to barbaric and maddeningly vague, but he wins with them anyway.

Jabs from his opponents simply don’t stick, and his attacks on other candidates carry a certain weight to them that no one else can match. Call it a perfect storm, but Trump has certainly swept the nation.

It is with a certain amount of irony that I say Trump won this debate without being there. He thrives on media attention, and one could say that this was totally out of character. I, on the other hand, would argue that it was perfectly in line with his normal behavior. I thought Trump an utter buffoon, but by now I’ve realized that he is a master in public manipulation. He has the United States eating out of the palm of his hand,

night, as his opponents spent the evening trading snipes at each other. Incredibly, Trump got more attention than every other candidate put together, and he wasn’t even there.

I have to hand it to Donald Trump.

Many thought his candidacy was a fluke and that he was just another arrogant rich man teasing the idea of a presidential bid. His actions since have proven both of these ideas irrevocably false.

Trump is an incredibly gifted persuader, and I sincerely believe he has the potential to win the primaries.

And yes, Ted Cruz won the Iowa caucus, Trump came in a close second. But I know this: It’s still going to be an uphill battle for everyone else. How can you beat Trump if he’s not even there?

Danny Miles is a second-year student who is now completely fascinated by Trump. Still not voting for him, though.

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observer.case.edu

What makes a “good” feminist?

Feminist Food for Thought Kate Rasberry “Feminists.” When you hear the word, most people think of a set few types of people. Some recall a woman who insists upon women’s rights without appearing particularly supportive of her views in her own practice. Some think of boyfriends who have been “whipped” into participating in their girlfriends’ interests, or female philosophers who propose that the vagina means more than what we think it means.

Most jump to an image of the extremely proactive, single-minded woman constantly attending events and arguing about anything from civil rights to universally present social stigmas to evolutionary theories of gender and sexuality. It’s a narrow set of roles we’ve allowed feminists to occupy, but it begs the question, are these the only valid types of feminists?

Recently, due to more media coverage of feminism and self-proclaimed feminist celebrities, we have ironically forgotten what it means to be a feminist. More specifically, we’re uncertain what it means to be a “good” feminist.

Feminism in its most basic form means to support the idea that men and women should be allowed political, economic and social equality in rights and opportunities.

Within this definition, there are no contractual obligations to be the loudest supporter of feminism or to be an active rally-goer; there are no lifestyle ties to feminism other than believing that feminism is the way that societies should operate.

That isn’t to say that anyone who does more for feminism’s cause is a “bad” feminist or not a feminist at all; certain people are driven to spread feminist values and to educate those who refuse or fail to un-

Anne Nickoloff / Observer derstand what feminism entails. However, by working towards feminist values in everyday life, while less involved, is just as valid.

But what ideals of feminism should one work towards if one wishes to be a “good” feminist?

It’s an important question, but one which most people have to figure out themselves. For some, the ideals you should work towards depend on what wave of feminism you most agree with or from a mix of ideals from different waves, different philosophies, different feminist academics from whom you can cherrypick.

As of right now, most of the world experiencing feminism is seeing the oncoming of fourth wave feminism. Fourth wave feminism is all about accepting one’s body, embracing sexuality and demonstrating one’s prowess in knowledge of oneself, making efforts to be all-inclusive to all other minorities (race, disability, LGBTQ+, etc.) and empowering women to see differences, but learning to over-

Need for commuter voices Real Talk Anna Galipo Last semester I shed light on some of the unfair ways commuters have been treated at CWRU. From a dingy lounge space to an overall lack of recognition, it seemed that this past fall, things were dismal for commuters seeking improvements, myself included.

Since the needs of commuters have been made known, a great deal of progress has been made, especially with regard to our status as an organization on campus. One of the biggest changes has been the creation of the Commuter Advocacy Council (CAC), formerly the Commuter Student Association.

I spoke with Barnabas Brennan, the Chair of CAC, about the organization’s standing and plans for the future.

Brennan said, “At this point, the Commuter Advocacy Council is considered an Ad Hoc committee of USG, with the ability to make our concerns known and be heard by student leadership and the CWRU administration.”

Now, the CAC has the benefit of being recognized by the Undergraduate Student Government, which allows the CAC to better serve the unique needs of commuters. One of the most important advantages the CAC has now, unlike in the past, is an allocated budget from USG for both basic necessities and community-building events.

The CAC is now working on a confirmed budget so that commuters no longer have to pay for events and materials out of pocket.

Brennan saw a warm reception from the USG when discussing representation and financial backing. Ultimately, change will come slowly.

“We have a ways to go, and there are still many issues surrounding commuter needs, but we have taken some vital steps in advocating for our fellow students,” Brennan said.

The CAC, with the help of USG, has worked to make life better for commuters at CWRU. Now, it is up to commuters to make

use of these resources and continue the growth of the CAC. It is no secret that commuting at CWRU is not very common. Students who do commute usually either make a huge attempt at fitting into campus life by spending as much time on campus as possible, or they simply come to their classes and leave, spending as little time on campus as possible.

Neither of these behaviors helps to improve the quality of life for commuters, especially if resources specifically designed for commuters are not utilized. Students often do not care to be associated with commuters because there are so few on campus; it is almost as though there is a stigma attached to commuting.

The reality is that, though it may seem rare, there are students who commute. This is something that professors, students and even commuters all need to remember at times. For whatever reason (usually financial) there will always be some students who are from the Cleveland area who do not live in the vicinity of campus.

These students should feel accepted on campus, which is something I personally cannot say I have always felt during my four years at CWRU. There were various times when I would rather tell others that I was unable to attend one thing or another due to a scheduling conflict, instead of being truthful and admitting that it was because of my bus schedule.

Ultimately, now that the CAC has gained the support of USG, there is no better time to collaborate and truly address the needs of commuting students. However commuters need to be willing to come forward and vocalize their needs. Commuter students are finally being recognized on campus, and quite frankly, it’s a big deal.

Hopefully this progress can continue until commuter students build a community within CWRU as a whole.

Anna is a fourth-year English and political science double major.

come them. This is in stark contrast to second wave feminism, which still wanted to empower women, but only focused on improving lives of more socially conservative cis-white women who were above working class and carried hefty prejudices towards women in the sex industry.

For others, the previous method sounds far too in-depth for most everyday people, or at least people who are less invested in feminism’s history. In that case, the feminist ideals that you should work towards are also ones you recognize as important from your own experiences.

Personally, I remember as a preschooler climbing to the top of a playground set in the schoolyard where all the boys in my class would go during recess and block any girls from entering. Being the person I was I decided to change the standard the boys set in place by forcing my way into the playset. I might have pushed some boys out of the way a bit too aggressively, but when I reached the top of the playset I recall yelling, “Girls can play here too.”

As cheesy as my five-year old self was, it was important to me that the boys share the playset with the girls because it was nonsensical to bar one half of the class from playing in a certain area because of a preconceived notion about how little kids should act around the opposite gender. And let’s be real, they didn’t own the playset.

Historically speaking, that wasn’t the only incident where a group of people set up a standard that I didn’t agree with. I guarantee that other people have experienced similar things. Maybe they were small things, things that you could overlook at the time, but nevertheless discomforted you.

Those things, those behaviors that you see as unfair or unjust are worth paying attention to. They allow you to set up a system for yourself to improve how you interact with others and employing others on how to interact with you.

As for what makes one a “good” feminist, the best answer I can provide is simply that a “good” feminist is one who is open-minded and has feminist ideals that they make the best attempts to live by.

Granted, everyone does something they are against; we are all hypocrites at one point or another.

But those feminists who recognize their hypocrisy and humbly work to diminish it are the better feminists. They will also recognize that feminism is an ever-evolving movement: It comes in many forms and increasingly changes, making feminism all about reevaluation and striving to be better, more fair to each other.

Those who recognize this are the “good” feminists.

Kate Rasberry is a second-year student.

Don’t judge by majors The Different Perspective Ankita Chakraborty The standard introduction in college consists of your name, year and major.

And this is where the judgment comes in.

Whenever I introduced myself as a biology major, others would either nod or probe further to find out if I was pre-med, still acknowledging my major with no negative input. I acknowledge that I have always been inclined toward the sciences but some of my friends simple abhorred anything mildly STEM related and I understood that too.

However I have had friends who are social science or humanities majors tell me that when they reveal they are majoring in journalism, people immediately respond with “Oh, that’s an easy one” or

whether it’s flat-out insult or a snide comment about ‘no work.’

Certain thoughts are just appalling: While someone studying theatre may get mocked for not being the smartest, a biomedical engineering major may be assumed to be one of the most intelligent people on campus. Some may say that these are just overused stereotypes but that does not change the fact that they are still very much ingrained in the college student mentality.

Most students enter college with preset ideas to what career paths are more profitable, which will make you work harder and which are less taxing. Many are already biased towards certain majors and their areas of specialization and may not even realize their inherent negativity towards different majors. These mental presets are hardest to break through.

It’s time for people to realize that most students choose their majors based on what will be useful to them.

“Your classes must be less stressful.” Often when mentioning to people that I am minoring in psychology or maybe even thinking about double majoring many people respond, “Why?” or “ That should be easier.”

If someone is stating their major or minor, it is because they are legitimately interested in that area to the point where they wanted to study it more in depth. To somehow devalue a certain major for not fitting a scheme of what seems to be acceptable to you is totally unacceptable.

Just a few unsupportive words about a major someone is fully invested in and clearly loves is damaging.

If someone’s path of studies doesn’t align with one’s preconceived notion of an ideal college major, it doesn’t grant one the right to degrade it in any way,

Eventually, all majors are equal and creating any sort of ranking system, even one that remains unshared, is faulty.

It’s time for people to realize that most students choose their majors based on what will be useful to them, not to mold to anyone’s expectations or for a certain salary. Yes, at the end of the day not everyone will have the same starting amount.

Does it really matter as long as someone is pursuing a career they love?

The whole point of choosing a major in college is to specialize in a field that captures your interest and helps you make an impact later in life. This decision is one that should be applauded, not penalized.

Ankita Chakraborty is a second-year student majoring in biology and minoring in psychology.

arts & entertainment Students gather at Quidditch club’s annual dance Lar Torres Staff Reporter Late Saturday night, students showcased their bountiful love for Harry Potter at the Yule Ball, hosted by CWRUcio Quidditch. It took place in The Kelvin and Eleanor Smith Foundation Ballroom C from 8 p.m.-11 p.m., and featured a wide variety of activities pertaining to the world of Harry Potter.

The event was atmospheric from the start, with the path into the ballroom laden with lights and the massive Tink television screen displaying “Harry Potter” movie trivia. The ballroom itself was adorned with decorations appropriately befitting the theme, including hanging candles, a butterbeer station, an owlery and a table dedicated to tea leaf readings. These activities were joined by the Wizarding Chess tables located outside the ballroom.

All of these events were intriguing, and the refreshments were also excellent. The butterbeer, a sweet concoction made from cream soda, marshmallow cream and butter and rum extracts, was definitely worth trying. There were also generous amounts of food in the form of hors d’oeuvres like dumplings and burger sliders. Under the wall decorations showcasing the four houses of Hogwarts, house cakes were showcased. Each house had a differently flavored cake: Gryffindor’s was red velvet, Ravenclaw had chocolate, Slytherin had pistachio, and Hufflepuff’s was a vanilla flavor.

The music was varied, and the DJ included everything from fast, throwback hip-hop and rap to peppy pop. Dancing was unusually fun in this setting, espe-

All photos Christopher Gittings/Observer The Tink ballroom was decorated like the Great Hall at Hogwarts, with house banners and floating candlesticks. cially as a few songs, such as “Do the Hippogriff,” paid homage to the movie version of the Yule Ball from “Goblet of Fire.” Another major event was the interactive side quest regarding the traversal through the “Chamber of Secrets.”

The side quest included appearances by

Moaning Myrtle and the basilisk, adding an entertaining hour to the ball.

Overall, the event was well managed with a plethora of activities to do, including a fun spin on a photo booth with costumes and props. The catchy music was a welcome addition to the atmo-

sphere, creating a great experience that will not be forgotten any time soon.

Event: CWRU Yule Ball 2016 Date: Jan. 30, 8 p.m.-11 p.m.

Rating:

Alessia Cara was not, in fact, “Here” Openers for her tour still take the stage

Jeniece Montellano Social Media Editor “DUE TO AN ILLNESS, ALESSIA CARA WILL NOT BE PERFORMING TONIGHT. HER BANDMATES WILL STILL BE GOING ON STAGE.” These two sentences were plastered on every door outside of the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame. At 6:25 p.m., their Facebook page had posted a link to Cara’s tweet in the event page: a 28-second long video in which a very hoarse Cara apologizes and explains that it is medically unsafe for her to sing tonight.

But, hey, her openers were still going on, so why not stay?

Disappointed fans still loitered near the front of the stage, talking about how excited they were to see Cara’s performance.

One girl pointed and lamented about how Cara’s famous red piano was still on stage.

Another mentioned how she had driven an hour to get here, but had looked up the openers and seen they were cute, so she was okay with staying.

The concert started at 8 p.m. with first opener Craig Stickland. His voice gave

off a very Phillip Phillips kind of vibe; his body screamed California hipster. Shoulder-length, wavy black hair, just the right amount of stubble and minimalistic clothing completed his look. He played through his songs with just a guitar, leaving the teenage girls swooning. His cover of Cara’s “Wild Things” was very emotional, and she was on FaceTime the entire time.

In fact, one of the stage managers held up a phone for Cara the entire concert, periodically showing her to the fans as they enthusiastically waved hello.

Leaf came on the stage next, a woman clad in a red velvet bodysuit with two backup dancers. She sang with a backing track, and her songs were hip-hop and R&B. It was a very strange transition from the folksy Stickland, but her dance moves and soulful voice were impressive. Confidence exuded off of her, and when she sang her song “Money,” a kid in the front row actually tried to hand a dollar bill to her—when she refused to take it, he dropped it on the stage. At the end of her set, she picked up the dollar bill, gave the kid a smug look and glided off the stage.

The most popular of the three artists,

Kevin Garrett, came on last. He played the piano and sang, but he also had a drummer and synth player. Garrett’s style of music was more indie electronica, although the mixing during his act made it hard for the audience to hear his high, ethereal voice over the bass drum.

Stickland came on stage halfway through Garrett’s set to sing a cover of Cara’s “Snow,” and it was one of the best songs of the night. Stickland’s harsher tone blended with Garrett’s light, easy voice effortlessly, and the harmonies were perfect.

Garrett’s set ended up going for longer, as they covered another Cara song and a song that melded directly into one of Garrett’s newer songs.

“We had our sound check at six, and while we were doing it, they told us that she wasn’t going to play,” said Sean Mullins, drummer for Garrett’s band. “So we were like, ‘Shiiiiit …. well should we still play?’”

Mullins mentioned that Garrett normally plays for only 35 minutes; at this performance, they played for about an hour.

“We threw in a few extra things, and I was definitely a little worried, the fans aren’t here to see us, but it was a good op-

portunity for us to spread out our music,” added Mullins.

“It was cool, yeah, it was fun, I feel like even if you don’t know Kevin’s music, we can convey something to the audience,” Mullins said. “It speaks to people who have never heard of it before, which isn’t always the case. Most people want to hear things that they’ve heard. But to play something that they’ve never heard and to have it grab them is, I think, a pro of his music.”

Although Cara was not there, fans still left smiling. Her tourmates put on a good show, and even stayed for pictures and autographs afterwards. Plus, she promised that she’ll come back when she can, and all original tickets will be honored for her return.

Event: Alessia Cara Know-It-All tour with Craig Stickland, Leaf and Kevin Garrett Venue: Rock ‘n Roll Hall of Fame Date: Jan. 28, 2016 Rating:

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Head to Uptown for spring art exhibitions

Playlist of the Week Sarah Lisk Staff Reporter Santigold - “Chasing Shadows”

As the third teaser track from Santigold’s upcoming album “99¢,” “Chasing Shadows” and the rest of the 12 track album have big shoes to fill based on the artist’s previous success. Luckily “Chasing Shadows” is a cool tune with a relaxed pulse, more suited to hangouts than parties. Santigold and her easy vibe won’t wander into Cleveland until April, but her album is set to debut on Feb. 26.

ZAYN - “PILLOWTALK”

Holly Chen/Observer New exhibitions opened this week at MOCA Cleveland, including ones focusing on the body and emotional expression.

Holly Chen Staff Reporter

This season the Museum of Contemporary Art Cleveland (MOCA) offers several compelling exhibitions centered around the theme of the body. The exhibitions, organized by Associate Curator Rose Bouthillier, are among her last exhibits at MOCA. “Stranger,” an exhibition featuring nine international artists (Huma Bhabha, Valérie Blass, Sascha Braunig, Antoine Catala, Ian Cheng, Simon Dybbroe Møller, Cécile B. Evans, Andro Wekua and Lynette YiadomBoakye) indicates the resurging interest in the figure. In particular these nine artists are interested in how the viewer confronts the figure. The exhibition features diverse works, including Huma Bhabha’s primitive-inspired sculpture, several digital installations that make use of artificial intelligence and Lynette Yiadom-Boakye’s Van Dyck-like paintings.

The exhibitions are arranged semi-chronologically: When one enters the gallery, the viewer is immediately confronted by Bhabha’s primitive works and Yiadom-Boakye’s figure paintings. As the viewer continues through the gallery, Braunig’s surrealistic paintings are paired with Blass’s surrealistic sculptures. Throughout the exhibition the works become increasingly progressive, incorporating technology and facets of modern life.

Bhabha, a Pakistani artist, creates familiar-looking works based on well-known pieces like Munch’s “The Scream.” She also draws inspiration from primitive art, as well as horror and sci-fi movies. Like Bhabha, Yiadom-Boakye desires to create contradictions in her works. She intentionally omits details from her figure paintings in order to create a conflicting sense of recognition and unfamiliarity.

Braunig, a Canadian artist, also paints the figure. Braunig paints meticulous, illusionistic and obscured faces, focusing on the inner psychology and dream-like states of the figure. Another surrealist-inspired artist, Blass, shares the exhibition space with Braunig.

Blass is interested in the deconstructed figure, the figure as a collection of fragments.

Her sculptures utilize materials such as synthetic hair and mannequin parts.

The next artist, Catala, worked with an advertising agency. Catala’s interest lies in the ability of people to feel empathy. A pushpull relationship exists between the viewers and the people in the pictures, as some pictures allow the viewer to engage with them, and some close the viewer off. Next to Catala’s works are those of Wekua, an artist from Georgia. Wekua utilizes a more typical depiction of the figure in his work, favoring faceless, androgynous figures.

Dybbroe Møller uses contemporary television to construct a narrative about the body’s desires. His video installation is surreal and poetic. Evans utilizes media in a different manner: to construct an imagined future. Utilizing different characters which exist online, the artist constructs a narrative which explores the ideas of mass media.

Lastly, Cheng’s installation uses computer applications to construct a programmed creature which learns and therefore interacts with the environment in different ways.

Besides “Stranger” there are a few other exhibits. “Teenage Lombardo” is a sound installation by Marina Rosenfeld and “abduct” is a video installation created by artist Xavier Cha. This video focuses on expressions of emotion, and the effect of her work on the viewer ranges from disturbing to exhausting.

The last exhibition is a video installation

by Oliver Laric called “Untitled.” Laric explores the body in multiple forms; the video is composed of morphs through animations stills. The video is both uncomfortable and nostalgic, due to the recognizable style of animation, which may remind viewers of animated works from childhood.

This season MOCA offers several intriguing exhibitions, which are likely to inspire dialogue as well as offer a respite from the busy life of a college student.

Title: “Stranger,” “Untitled” and “Teenage Lombardo” Dates: Jan. 29-May 8 Location: MOCA (Museum of Contemporary Art Cleveland) Price: Free for CWRU students, $9.50 general admission Rating:

Love him or hate him, Zayn Malik’s moody new R&B vibe has already soared to the top of the charts.

“PILLOWTALK” is the ex-1D member’s premier single as a solo artist.

The track’s repetitive lyrics and music video feature his girlfriend Gigi Hadid, a dark-hued kaleidoscope of colors and copious amounts of yonic flowers. These are components of a clear effort by the singer to separate himself from his boy band days.

Malik is as mainstream as ever, but at least he’s exploring his musical range.

Vance Joy - “Fire and the Flood”

Musical festival favorite Vance Joy is both tranquil and energizing in his debut album, “Dream Your Life Away.” In his folky track “Fire and the Flood,” the indie darling and former Taylor Swift opener is comfortable in his contradictions: his soulful voice is backed by a lonely guitar until a swelling instrumental ensemble catches up to him. Vance Joy’s style is familiar and appealing, reminiscent of popular contemporaries Hozier and James Bay. Catch him at House of Blues Cleveland on Feb. 15.

Soft Fangs - “Birthday”

Underrated indie artist Soft Fangs’ second single, “Birthday,” is an anxious (and successful) attempt at soul-searching. Raw and real, the song pulls at heartstrings as it explores the fear of growing older while remaining static. Soft Fangs’ full premiere album The Light will be released on March 18.

#tbt track: Matt and Kim - “Cameras”

Students, welcome to the inevitably hellish fifth week of the semester. Although Matt and Kim have fallen off the map in the past few years, the duo’s upbeat jams can still inspire. Give “Cameras” and the rest of Matt and Kim’s 2010 album “Sidewalks” a relisten or two. The group’s boundless enthusiasm and repetitive lyrics just might give rise to a final few hours of studying.

Find all these tracks online with our weekly Spotify playlist at observer.case.edu.

All photos courtesy of amazon.com, youtube.com & softfangs.bandcamp.com,

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Noise rock at its quietest, then its noisiest Anne Nickoloff Director of Print

When we walked into the Beachland Ballroom on Thursday, Jan. 18, we didn’t know a concert was happening down the hall.

But we were a little late; Yo La Tengo’s set had already started.

The thing was, it was just really, really quiet.

Yo La Tengo does a different thing for each performance; I’ve heard of aquatic-themed concerts, “Seinfeld” reenactments and performances under their alter-ego name Condo Fucks. Better yet, they’re known for sometimes spinning a wheel to determine exactly what kind of show they’d play.

There was no wheel at their Beachland stop; instead, their whole predetermined schtick for this show was to divide up their music into a quiet hour, and a loud one. Unlike Case Western Reserve University’s quiet hour rules, they saved the noisy stuff for last.

Although the system was only arguably effective, it was understandable. Mothers danced with young children in the back of the ballroom, and older members of the crowd departed after one half of the show so they could get up for work the next day. (And they probably left pretty relaxed and ready for bed, so that’s a plus, too.)

The quiet half of the show was peaceful, but damn, was it quiet. I stood behind two men wearing beanies in the middle of the crowd, and could overhear their words.

“He sings like Kermit,” one of them said, stifling a giggle.

Someone gave them a mean look, and they stopped their conversation.

The band showed hardly any emotion

Andrew Hodowanec/Observer Yo La Tengo took an innovative approach to its Cleveland show, starting the concert out quietly and ending on a loud note. while performing their music at this point, even during their pleasant cover of “Friday I’m In Love.” No smiles, no frowns, hardly any banter. The only visible expression on singer Ira Kaplan’s face was one of determination. Drummer Georgia Hubley slapped her sticks at the cymbals lethargically. Bassist James McNew looked down at his hands or the floor as he strummed.

The sold-out show had a packed-in crowd, but despite the attendance, there was no dancing. Applause was louder than the songs, and phones were rarely pulled out, even for photos. Yo La Tengo’s fans are some of the most dedicated, respectful crowd members I have ever seen.

The band has had some time to build its following, though. Since forming in 1984, they’ve put out 14 albums and countless pop-

ular cover songs. Yo La Tengo might not be a mainstream indie band, but they’ve gained a following that packs venues, as seen at the Beachland show.

Though, yes, some members of the audience left after the first half of their performance, there were still a ton of people left for the loud portion of the show. Before the band came back after intermission, the audience scrunched together near the stage.

Then, things changed.

I made the mistake of thinking that the loud part of the show couldn’t be too loud—I mean, I could overhear people’s whispers, for crying out loud. If they were chill enough to do that, how were they going to rock out?

That was bad logic. Their jam-indie-rock was at a consistent deafening volume. This was noise, the more experimental side of Yo

La Tengo.

(PSA: Remember to bring ear plugs, kids.

Save your ears and enjoy the music.)

But the audience, even the unfortunate few who were stuck in front of the floor speakers, loved every second of it. And during this song, the band finally got a little more expressive and engaging. During “Ohm,” Kaplan passed his guitar to the front row. As they slammed their hands against the guitar strings, the song still sounded similar to its recorded version.

When Kaplan and Hubley sang a quiet duet at the very end, they even cracked smiles.

When they waved to the audience and left the stage, all members of Yo La Tengo looked content with the concert, unlike their previous stoicism.

The audience looked much the same as they streamed down the Beachland Ballroom’s hallway.

I questioned the quiet, then loud method that Yo La Tengo used at this show because to be honest, my ears needed a break at the end. But it was unlike anything I’d ever seen before and that’s the thing—they’re not like other bands live, and they’re not like other bands recorded. I’ll never be to another show like the one I was at, because even if I saw Yo La Tengo again, they’ll be doing something different. Every show the band does is a oncein-a-lifetime show.

There’s something very, very special about that kind of experience, no matter how deafening it might be.

Concert: Yo La Tengo Date: Jan. 28, 2016 Location: Beachland Ballroom Rating:

Comedy with a cause Anastazia Vanisko Staff Reporter

While the Democratic Party was busy deciding who won the Iowa Caucus with a literal coin toss, Bernie Sanders’ Cleveland supporters came out to Make Em Laugh Mondays at Grog Shop to promote their candidate with a night of comedy.

The audience reflected Sanders’ support base—mostly white—and the hosts, John Bruton and Nelsin Davis, immediately engaged the room by pointing that out. The pair’s jokes about the audience were fun and light-hearted, establishing a comfortable atmosphere and providing a promising start to the evening.

Although they introduced the first comedian, Jasmyn Carter, as a rookie, her innocent twist on the standard sexual joke was refreshing. Since each comedian had a very limited amount of time, she spent most of that time doing a bit about dry humping. While that at first seemed too tame to be funny, her frankness and outright ridiculousness made the bit hilarious, especially when slipping a finger into someone’s “penny pocket” turned out to maybe not be a euphemism after all.

Unfortunately the comedian who followed set a very different tone. Intending to continue with the sex jokes by talking about the conception of his children, John Collins immediately stepped into uncomfortable territory when he said his second child was conceived during “rape … role play.” Too drunk to notice the sudden silence that had fallen over the audience, the comedian continued. Eventually he moved on to equally uncomfortable territory, describing how, because his stepson is black and he’s white, people think he’s kidnapping his stepson. Even though the

audience was predominantly white, most people seemed to recognize that there are some things that just might be too racist to laugh at, especially if you think about how true the perceived discomfort of the situation would be if the pair’s races were reversed.

When Bruton and Davis finally had to walk on stage because the comedian had gone over time, it almost seemed as if they were lying to him about his time limit just to get him off the stage. Luckily they managed to ease the tension in the room by sarcastically calling out the racism in the act and just blatantly admitting it was awkward.

From there, the acts were either great or just average. Comedians introduced as regulars always delivered, but after an hour into the show the audience was so distracted by their own chattering it was difficult to enjoy the show. Few comedians managed to captivate the audience’s attention, and by 11 p.m. the highlight of the show were the conversations between a drunk Bruton and a much more sober Davis, which included some much-needed passive aggressive jabs at the audience for talking during the acts.

While the show itself was entertaining and it would be worth going to the next Make Em Laugh Mondays on Feb. 15, the distracting audience at this show took away from even the best performers.

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Show: Make Em Laugh Mondays-Comedians for Bernie Venue: Grog Shop Date: Feb. 1 Rating:

UCS IS A DIVISION OF THE UNIVERSITY HEALTH & COUNSELING SERVICES

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“The X-Files” hasn’t aged well Michael Wu Staff Reporter “The X-Files,” FOX’s seminal sci-fi hit, returned for its 10th season with its first batch of new episodes since it went off the air in 2002. As should be expected after a 14 year break, “The X-Files” finds itself stepping into a bold new world. This world is filled with modern concerns about technology and personal security, a fact the show makes us aware of by its first mention of the name “Edward Snowden.”

Creator Chris Carter reiterated this at the show’s premiere at MIPCOM in Cannes last October.

“It’s a perfect time to come back with ‘The X-Files’ considering global politics,” Carter said. “We’re trying to be honest with the changes dealing with digital technology: the capability of spying. Clearly we’re being spied on in the U.S.—or at least spying on you— and there seems to be no shame in it.”

While Carter sees our country’s current fervor over privacy as a fertile and welcoming atmosphere for his show, he may have been a bit overzealous. After nine seasons and two feature films (the last one released in 2008), Carter battered his show’s once gripping mythology into overwrought, confused paranoia pandering. As “The X-Files” enters its 10th season, it feels like just that: a show

Courtesy FOX The show has recaptured its nostalgia but not its originality in the Fox reboot. that’s been on the air for 10 seasons.

Opening with an episode entitled “My Struggle,” the show finds its two leads Fox Mulder (David Duchovny) and Dana Scully (Gillian Anderson) broken up and no longer in the FBI. But they soon find themselves drawn back into the conspiracy that plagued them for so many years as an ultra conservative talk show host (Joel McHale) calls on them to help investigate the case of

Editor’s Choice

Elle King rocks Masonic Auditorium Jeniece Montellano Social Media Editor

Elle King claims to be a terrible person.

“People always ask me if my songs are true,” King told the crowd. “Unfortunately, they are. I’m a terrible person!”

Her proclamation was met with screams from the nearly full Cleveland Masonic Auditorium. Originally, the show was scheduled for the Grog Shop back in November; the popularity of her hit single “Ex’s and Oh’s” sold out the show, so they decided to change the date and venue.

Opener Horse Thief got the crowd into a groove, with their indie rock songs melding and meshing together, with no real break between the songs.

This was in stark contrast to King’s entrance, during which she was greeted with cheers before instantly launching into “Jackson,” a powerful rock ballad.

King was interactive throughout the entire concert, and frequently spoke to her family or referenced how much she loved them. Her set was punctuated with encouragements to the audience about never apologizing for who they are.

“To be a man would be just fine, I’d only have to worry about my receding hairline,” crooned King in “Good to be a Man.” Many of her songs focus on the men that have been in her life, and the lyrics are bitingly honest.

At one point, King called out to her grandfather, whom she endearingly calls “Paw Paw,” to ask what the next

song should be. He responded with “Oh! Darling” and she laughed.

“That’s why I love you, Paw Paw,” said King. “You have the same favorite song as I do!”

During “Last Damn Night,” the lead singer of Horse Thief came out onto the stage with his shirt completely unbuttoned and pantsless. He then proceeded to grind up on all of the band members individually throughout the entire song.

Afterwards, he embraced King and she laughed loudly, exclaiming how fun it was to tour with them.

After her last song, she ran off the stage with the band, only to have the crowd cheer continuously until she came back on to sing three encore songs. Her mash-up of her mom’s two favorite songs, “Jealous” and “Can’t Feel my Face,” was flawless, with her raspy, crooning voice nailing the high notes in both songs.

It was a concert filled with life. With King cracking jokes and praising her family, the venue felt a lot more intimate than the massive Masonic Auditorium usually does.

“This night was one for the books, Cleveland!” exclaimed King at the end of her set, perfectly summing up how everyone felt.

Event: Elle King with Horse Thief Venue: Masonic Auditorium Date: Jan. 29 Rating:

a woman who claims to have been abducted by aliens several times.

What follows is a convoluted storyline about aliens (but probably the government) abducting innocent people and harvesting them with what appear to be alien embryos (but are probably government experiments). This season’s purpose is clearly to tap into the current television trend of 90s nostalgia, Carter is successful with this approach. This

storyline would have felt fresh in 1995, but after nine seasons and countless XFile knockoffs, it just doesn’t seem to be saying anything new.

While the show’s mythology may have grown old, Anderson and Duchovny are as strong as they’ve ever been.

They step back into their iconic roles with impressive ease, even when the scripts force them to spit stilted, overexpository dialogue throughout its first hour. They’re also able to maintain chemistry, consistently cited as one of the show’s greatest strengths, that is as electric as it was when the show first aired.

Though the first episode busies itself with expanding the show’s overarching mythology, the second episode, “Founder’s Mutation,” presents Mulder and Scully with a self-contained case.

In it, they investigate a series of genetic mutations in children that are possibly the work of the Department of Defense.

It won’t rank among the show’s best standalone hours, but the episode, written by series veteran James Wong, does everything an episode of “The X-Files” should do in 2016. It’s unsettling, smart and just slightly unbelievable.

Title: “The X-Files” Season debut: Jan. 24, 2016 Network: FOX Rating:

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fun page | 7

Horoscopes

Comics

Aquarius Sleeping is not everything, it’s the only thing.

Pisces Let’s be real, you’re only watching football as an excuse to be drinking.

Aries Go Browns! We love you, Johnny Football!

Taurus Scoop deep into that sevenlayer dip.

Gemini Don’t buy everything advertised during the Super Bowl. Yes, I know the ad was good, but you can’t afford it!

Cancer The Coldplay halftime show will speak to your soul.

Leo Why do you even care about the Super Bowl? Really, though.

Virgo Sports, go sports! Athletics are number one!

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Can you find all these words related to articles in this issue?

Art Candidate Cash Commuter Debate Economics Feminist Grease Majors Membership Requirements Sages Soccer Water

Want to see the return of crosswords? We’ll bring them back with your help. Email observer@case.edu if you’re interested in making them for The Observer. We’ll have one next week but are looking to add a cross-word creator to our staff.

Libra Skip the Super Bowl and go to Mitchell’s instead.

Scorpio You know you’re here for Beyonce, but honestly, who isn’t?

Ophiuchus You know nothing (about football), Jon Snow.

Capricorn Peyton Manning had an awful season and made it to the Super Bowl. So in other words, it’s going to be fine.

Sagittarius Always make sure you follow the blockers...on your way into Rockefeller.

sports

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Point/Counterpoint

The most turned down invitation in sports Is the NFL’s Pro Bowl worth it?

Welcome to Point/Counterpoint, the back and forth sports bar style debate column. This week we are looking at why the NFL’s annual Pro Bowl, an all-star game for the top players not competing in the Super Bowl, is the most turned down invite in sports. This transcript has been lightly edited.

Billy Heyen (Staff Reporter): There is always going to be a problem if the All-Star game for football is an actual football game. Football has probably the highest risk of injury on a per-play basis of any of the major sports, and it is too risky financially and healthily for the players to give their full effort. That is the inherent problem with a football all star game. However I do not think it is all bad. I actually enjoy watching the Pro Bowl, seeing a lot of the gimmicks. It is like you are just playing a street football game, players playing out of position, trick plays, and more. It is disappointing if you tune in to see a hard-hitting matchup. However it is not inherently without entertainment value.

JP O’Hagan (Sports Editor): It may not be without inherent entertainment but it keeps being tweaked to keep it that way. Remember two years ago when they narrowed the goal posts because maybe that would be a change in the NFL? They only added the draft aspect a few years back which has helped but still isn’t great. It’s weird because the MLB and NBA games are ‘go out there and play a game of the best’ versus the best. Sure, the NBA can’t stick to a slam dunk contest they like and MLB changes up the home run derby every few years but these are side shows to the annual entertainment of seeing the best players play the other best players. I feel like the Pro Bowl lacks this but I can’t put my finger on it.

Billy: It seems like every year, there are tons of “replacement players,” or players who were not picked by the fans, who play in the Pro Bowl. If I am not mistaken, this year had the highest number of replacements yet. However, it makes some sense. What is the incentive for all the veterans who get selected to play in this game? Almost nothing. They get their recognition as popular or talented, and younger players get to represent the sport in general. I don’t enjoy it as much as the MLB or NBA all star games, but that is because it is just more possible to portray those sports accurately in an all star setting. As I established, football can just not be played the same. I just am against all the cries to abolish the Pro Bowl; it’s a good time if you take it for what it is.

JP: But why be content with it? The NFL knows that it is overshadowed by the rest of the playoffs and if they can’t get the top players to go why have it?

That is the point of an All-Star game. It isn’t accessible to a large enough portion of the NFL fan base to make a large event (weekend) out of it and the crazy

rules make it look like a Madden minigame rather than an actual game. I say cut it. No one will care. You can still name people to All-Star nods, do it like they do in college All-Conference teams; those players don’t all get together and play each other, it gives the honor without worrying if the best players will even show and it makes sure no one gets hurt if that is the issue.

Billy: I enjoy watching it; you just have to acknowledge that it isn’t exactly the same. I mean I wouldn’t care if they wanted to put the Pro Bowlers in a flag football game. The best part of most of the guys in this game is their explosiveness. The quarterbacks have great arms.

Let’s just enjoy it being wide open and seeing them put all their skills on display JP: That’s fine and dandy but I think that there is obviously room to make it better. The NFL prides itself on doing things bigger and better than any other pro-league. While if they actually do could be debated in an entirely different point/counterpoint, really it comes down to the NFL not doing anything to fundamentally improve the game. I have my ideas and I’m sure every other fan as a few of their own. I guess I would say if that is all the NFL wants the game to be that is fine, but I won’t be tuning in next year, just like I didn’t tune in this year.

I used to watch the game annually, now it just seems like there are much better ways to spend my time.

Billy: I do think they are going to be attempting changes in the next few years to make it more appealing. I am not sure what those things are. I just don’t think it is bad as it is right now. For entertainment value, I have no problem seeing Richard Sherman playing offense, Odell Beckham playing defense. It’s the kind of thing you could only see here. Sure, maybe some fans don’t like the lack of authenticity, but it is more about the crazy stuff than anything else anyways.

I think it can be improved, but I don’t think it is as broken as everyone thinks it is.

JP: It is an interesting concept, but if that is what they want to do why not play that up? I don’t think the NFL cares about the game because they don’t promote it the way the other sports do. I mean sure, the playoffs and the Super Bowl advertise themselves. Heck, the Super Bowl doesn’t have to be promoted by itself since it is already done by all the sponsors and other companies looking to cash in. The Pro Bowl needs to either be celebrated and fixed or be finished and forgotten.

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Spartans triumphant in senior day meet

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Viejay Raj Staff Reporter Last Saturday, Jan. 31, here at Case Western Reserve University, the women’s and men’s swimming and diving teams dominated Baldwin Wallace University. Neither team has lost since their second meet of the season as the men moved to 10-1-0 and the women moved to 10-1-1.

The women defeated Baldwin Wallace 206-80, winning 12 of the 16 events. Diver Emily Budziszewski led the way in the onemeter dive, edging out Baldwin Wallace’s top diver 191.75 to 189.80.

In the swimming portion of the meet, fourth-year student Rebecca Pakradooni took first place in the 100-yard butterfly, finishing in just over a minute. Second-year student Jenny Eurich added onto a strong season, winning the 50- and 100-yard freestyles handily with times of 25.26 and 55.91 respectively.

In addition to controlling the individual races, the women swept the 200-yard medley relay. The team of first-year students Bhavya Kumaran, Alli Drohosky, Madeleine Farnham and Suhan Mestha led the way finishing in 1:52.68. “We have a strong freshman class this year” said Drohosky. “It has been a privilege to swim along with them. The relays are always exciting and fun as everyone feeds off of each other’s energy.”

Mestha, Kumaran and Drohosky all added another victory each for the Spartans as it was a strong showing from the first-year swimmers who have helped the team compete at such a strong season thus far. Mestha won the 200-yd freestyle in a time of 1:52.68. Kumaran won the 100-yd backstroke in a minute and two

seconds of swimming and Drohosky touched the wall first in the 50-yd breaststroke, finishing with a time of 32.43.

“To have an impact on our team’s success during my first season here at Case has been amazing. Coming into my freshman year I didn’t know what to expect, but I couldn’t be happier with the outcome,” said Drohosky.

On the men’s side of the meet, CWRU won 11 of 16 events, leading them to a 19488 victory. In their last home 200-yard medley relay, fourth-year students Jason Arne, Elliott Kerbel, Alec David and Aaron Tam took first easily with a time of 1:37.70. The fourth-year students added several individual victories to contribute to the overall score of 194.

Fourth-year student Connor Farrell carried his impressive season into his last home meet.

Farrell took first in the three-meter and onemeter dives with scores of 290.10 and 260.30.

He earned his sixth University Athletic Association Diver of the Week award this season after the meet.

The team honored its nine senior members, Jason Arne, Alec David, Connor Farrell, Felipe Gomez del Campo, Andrew Howes, Aaron Tam, Jackie Dowling, Rachael Loek and Rebecca Pakradooni before the meet. Speaking of what he will miss about this strong senior class, Coach Milliken said, “Pretty simple: their leadership, work ethic and energy.”

The team will be off next weekend before traveling to the University of Chicago for a meet on Feb. 12. As the season winds down, Milliken said, “The focus turns to our big final meets. Other than that focus, we will continue to work hard, be energetic in our workout, and trust the process.”

Take the sexism out of sports Taylor Moran Director of Business Operations Sports are a huge part of my life. I love playing them and I love watching them. I have been excited for the 2016 Olympics since the 2012 Games ended.

Like many other viewers of the Olympic Games, I love watching gymnastics. Just walk into a room and ask people about their favorite Olympic sport. Half those answers will be gymnastics or ice skating. The fan favorite Olympic events are the ones where women dominate the conversation, but the amazing athletes that compete in these events don’t get half the respect of their male counterparts.

During spirit week, I was watching the Carnegie Mellon University vs. Case Western Reserve University women’s soccer match.

The match was intense, and all the athletes were playing well. Five minutes into the game, though, I was ready to leave. It had nothing to do with the game itself, but rather the rude group of boys next to me demeaning women’s soccer.

It sickens me to hear people rag on women’s sports. Just because women are playing doesn’t mean a sport should matter any less.

What differences are there between women’s soccer and men’s soccer that give people such polarizing opinions of the two? Gender isn’t a good enough answer, but it seems to be the only one people have.

That kind of talk discourages young girls from aspiring to higher levels of athletics.

Maybe one day we could have a WNBA league as large as the NBA, but if people keep undermining women’s sports it won’t happen.

It’s fine not to like watching women’s

sports, but saying they are less interesting or less intense than the male counterpart is blatant sexism. There is literally no point in ruining women’s sports for everyone else based solely on personal opinion. Women’s sports matter to half of the world’s population, and more to little girls who aspire to be athletes.

Enjoying women’s sports doesn’t mean enjoying men’s sports any less, it just means appreciating the hard work of every athlete. Female athletes train just has hard as their male counterparts and deserve the same level of respect.

It might be easy to believe women’s soccer is getting the respect it deserves due to the U.S. Women’s team crushing the competition at the FIFA Women’s World Cup. The final match vs. Japan shattered the record for the most viewed soccer match in America, male or female. But their prize money was only 5.7 percent of what Germany’s team earned for winning the Men’s World Cup. As soon as the World Cup ended, people slipped right back into old habits of teasing female soccer players.

If there is to be real change, we need to give more respect to female athletes. Women are becoming more visible in sports reporting as well as in coaching positions, but until we see more women being celebrated on the actual field of play, the sexist undertone of the athletic community will never fade. Athletes are powerful and inspirational, regardless of their gender. As sports fans we should offer them our respect or disdain based on our fan affiliations, not on gender.

So next time you want to make a rude comment about women’s sports do the world a favor; shut up and keep your sexist views to yourself.

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2/5/16

Basketball snaps skid, looks to round two on Throwback Weekend Jacob Rayyan Staff Reporter The Case Western Reserve University Men’s Basketball team picked up an important win this week, ending a four game losing streak. The team split the weekend, winning at Brandeis University and losing against New York University. The team is now 9-9 on the season and is 2-5 in the University Athletic Association conference.

“The UAA is one of the best basketball conferences every year so we know going into it that it’s going to be a grind,” said fourth year student and point guard Jimmy Holman, “One of the biggest challenges is managing the long travel weekends that make it extremely difficult to win on the road. The UAA has top talent across the board and excellent coaching, so you know you can’t win unless you play a great game.”

In the first game against Brandeis, the Spartans picked up a key victory winning 84-80. Spartan second-year student and forward Eric Black and fourth-year student and guard Matt Clark each had 17 points to lead all scorers in the game. The game was a nail-biter throughout, with neither team able to build a large lead. After building a 21-12 lead with 12:26 left in the game, the Judges responded with a 9-1 run to tie the game up. Forcing 16 first half turnovers, the Spartans finished the first half with a 4544 lead. Clark led the way with 11 points and five assists. Holman also added to his record-holding assist total, with four more against the Judges.

“I’ve always really enjoyed finding teammates for open shots,” said Holman.

“As a point guard I feel that it’s a big part of my job. I’ve played with some really great shooters during my career and my job is really easy when I’ve got players around me who I know can finish the play.”

The Spartans made sure they finished the plays as they surged ahead in the second half. Black was key in pushing the Spartans ahead, scoring the first seven points for the team as the Spartans built a 73-61 advantage with just under 10 to play.

Once again, however, the Judges would not go away, forcing an 83-80 score with just under a minute. The Spartans would prevail as they caused a timely turnover with 30 seconds left and hit their free throws to seal the win. Neither team had fast break points in this slow-tempoed game. The Spartans had 19 assists in this game versus only 11 Judges assists.

In the second game against 22nd-ranked New York University, the Spartans were defeated handily 100-82. The Spartans held their own for the first half and parts of the second half but were unable to close out the game. Matt Clark had 19 points in the effort.

After the game had numerous lead changes through the first five minutes, the Spartans built a 21-14 lead. NYU responded, going on a 17-5 run to take the lead 31-26 with just over seven minutes remaining in the first half.

After the Spartans would get close, The Violets would go on a run and they ended the first half up 46-40. The last effort for the

Stephanie Kim/ Observer Colin Zucker drives toward the basket earlier this season. The Spartans split their games last weekend against tough UAA opponents and look to take advantage of their home court this weekend.

Spartans arrived when they came within one point, 49-48 with 18:28 to play. The Violets controlled the game from that point forward.

An 11-2 run pushed the score to 60-50 with just over 15 minutes to play. The Spartans were down by as much as 25 as the Violets rolled to an easy win. The Spartans shot an abysmal 39.7 percent for the game as compared to 59.7 percent for NYU. The Violets outscored CWRU in the paint 62-31.

When asked how to prevent teams from scoring inside, head coach Sean McDonnell said, “Their big guys hurt us last Sunday, especially in the second half. We’ll need to take better shots and make a few more so we can set our defense.”

The Spartans got back on the win column this weekend, but are still 1-5 in their

last six games to fall to .500.

When asked about how to get two key wins this weekend, McDonnell said, “We want to make our opponents uncomfortable because if UAA teams operate in a comfort zone, they’re all incredibly tough to beat.”

Holman echoed the sentiment.

“I think we have to take advantage of playing at home,” he said. “We know we’re going to have a good crowd and a full week at home to prepare. If we use those two things to our advantage we can be really successful this weekend.”

The Spartans will look to take advantage as they host Brandeis University on Friday, Feb. 5 and New York University on Sunday, Feb. 7 in Adelbert Gymnasium.

Women’s basketball looks to win in second crack at UAA rivals Billy Heyen Staff Reporter This past weekend, the Case Western Reserve University Women’s Basketball team played two conference games on the road, dropping both games by close margins.

“I’m extremely proud of how the team has come together,” said third-year student and guard Jessica McCoy. “We’ve had our setbacks, but everyone is really beginning to click and find a way to contribute to the team. Our conference is incredibly competitive and I’m very proud of the fight we’ve shown during the first half of conference play.”

In the first game of the weekend, the Spartans traveled to Waltham, Massachusetts, to take on Brandeis. McCoy had a big game for the Spartans, putting up 21 points, while Laura Mummey was able to add 18 points and seven rebounds to the effort. The game would head to overtime, tied at 60 apiece. In overtime, the score went back and forth, until Brandeis was able to close it out and win 69-66.

“As a team, we’re working on maintaining aggressiveness throughout the game,” said McCoy. “This is key offensively, where we need to keep scoring and getting offensive boards.”

The Spartans turned the ball over seven more times than Brandeis, and they also lost the second chance point

battle 20-9. They outshot Brandeis from the floor 46 percent to 25 percent, yet still could not come away with the victory. This loss brought the Spartans’ overall record to 6-11, with their conference record being 1-5.

Following this game, the ladies would hit the road again and head to New York City. There they would take on the number eight ranked New York University. NYU was just a bit better all game, winning each quarter by five, two, one and four, respectively. It all added up to an 82-70 victory for NYU. This was not without a valiant effort by the Spartans, as Laura Mummey matched her career high with 24 points and also added five blocks. Kara Hageman was able to contribute 18 points and eight boards and Hillary Hellmann had 16 points, eight boards and six assists, a career-best.

The Spartans again outshot their opponents from the field and actually forced more turnovers.

“Our team is constantly striving to improve on the defensive end of the court,” said Mummey. “We’ve had the most success in the games in which we’ve played great defense, so that’s a huge focus going into the remainder of the season.”

However the Spartans lost the second chance point battle by seven points, which proved to be most of the difference. “Denying second chance points to other teams

Andrew Hodowanec/ Observer Jessica McCoy drives around her defender. McCoy and the Spartans return home to take on Brandies and NYU for Throwback Weekend. is huge,” said McCoy. This second loss dropped the CWRU women’s record to 6-12. In University Athletic Association play, they are now 1-6.

Next up on the docket is Throwback Weekend. The ladies will play two games at Adelbert Gymnasium, wearing uniforms from Mather College to honor that institution. It will be a repeat of this weekend, with Brandeis coming in on Friday, Feb. 5, and NYU following on Sunday, Feb. 7.

“One of the greatest things about the UAA is having the opportunity to play each team in the league twice in such close proximity,” said Mummey. “We get

to learn from the mistakes we made the first time around and have the chance to fix them the very next weekend. We’re fired up and ready for a second chance to get two big wins in Adelbert this weekend.”

Throwback weekend is a cool weekend to be a part of, so head down Adelbert and hit up two games this weekend to support the ladies. It is a weekend that is full of some different energy from playing in a different gym in different uniforms. Surely this can only help the squad back onto track in conference, and after playing these two teams just last weekend, they should know what it takes to beat them.

sports

observer.case.edu

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Editor’s Choice

Case Climbing: Once you’re in, you’re hooked Eddie Kerekes Staff Reporter The Case Climbing Club helps members, both experienced and inexperienced climbers, develop their skills in a structured, collaborative environment. Sometimes the club breaks out of the Case Western Reserve University bubble and climbs at the Cleveland Rock Gym, on the eastside of Cleveland, as they did on Jan. 28.

The off-campus events bring in new members, explains Club President James Gurian. “Once we started doing stuff, people started showing up,” he said.

And the numbers back him up. While a typical practice has between 10 and 15 participants, there were 17 club members at the gym on Thursday night.

Gurian considers just being able to go to the gym a success for the club, considering that in the six year history of the club, they have only managed to venture off campus a handful of times. Gurian explained that he worked with Undergraduate Student Government all of last semester to make offcampus climbs a recurring event.

Members’ experience levels range from seven years to only a few months. Gurian added that the club tries to teach one new climbing technique per week, from belay-

ing to rappelling. At practices at the rock wall in the Veale Athletic Center, new members are literally shown the ropes.

Second-year member Jim Jaworski feels this is the right direction the club should be going in. He wants to “turn [the club] into a learning experience.”

Most members of the club, including second-year student Anneliese Braunegg who has been climbing for seven years, joined because it was an easy way to find friends interested in climbing. “I wanted to connect with other climbers,” she said.

The club gave her the opportunity to do that. Knowing other climbers is important for a good climb because for belay, the form of indoor rock climbing most people think of, two people working as a team are needed. The belayer needs to know how much rope to give the climber and also points out potential holds the climber can use.

Many of the club members share a similar origin story when it comes to climbing.

They were either invited by a friend to try or went out with their family, and then they couldn’t stop climbing. There are many different theories explaining the addiction, as diverse as the climbers themselves.

Jaworski says it’s the “gratifying [feel-

All photos courtesy Case Climbing Club The Case Climbing club is rising to new heights as they expand their training and adventures. Taken on one of the team’s recent outdoor climbs the team enjoys taking on each new challenge. ing you get] as you touch the top.”

First-year member Alex Jensen, a climber with seven years’ experience, says it “challenges [him] both physically and mentally,” and that is what keeps pushing him back.

Second-year student Ken Andrews gives the simplest explanation: “It just [becomes] a thing you do,” something easily integrated into a weekly routine.

All addictions do have their price, however, and climbing is no different. Through-

out the climb time, a climber’s hands become red, weak and painful. Second-year student and member Zach Roshon told a story where he couldn’t even write his own name after a climbing session because his hands were shaking so much. The highly experienced climbers have few problems with it, though, as they have built up both a high mental and a physical pain tolerance.

Case Climbing Club hopes to expand its experiences more, so it can climb to the top of the student group list.

Super Bowl, anything but predictable With the culmination of the NFL season upon us the entire football fanbase and even a lot of non-football fans are gearing up for the annual tradition of watching the season’s last teams standing duke it out for the chance to hoist the Lombardi Trophy. The annual spectacle has grown larger and larger each year, and since this year is the 50th Super Bowl it makes for an enormous stage. This year’s game pits the Carolina Panthers and explosive young star quarterback Cam Newton, this year’s league MVP, against the Denver Broncos and veteran quarterback Peyton Manning, one of the games’ all time greats. The two could not be more different molds of a quarterback and will be searching for very different things. Manning will be looking to cement his legacy while Newton will be looking to start his. Of course the two sides have not made it this far on the backs of their quarterbacks alone. The Panthers arrive off a near perfect record and look to clinch a coronation of their season. The Broncos were the dark horse of the playoffs, placing in top five of team stats in the playoff only in defensive yards allowed rushing. Everyone expects a hard fought battle between the two squads, though the Panthers have the edge in predictions. However, as we know in football, anything can happen, and below are the sports fans of the Observer and their predictions for Super Bowl 50. Check them out and see which ones come true this Sunday, Feb. 7.

Andrew Hodowanec

Eddie Kerekes

JP. O’Hagan

Noah Crowley

Photographer

Staff Reporter

Sports Editor

Staff Reporter

28-21

27-24

35-24

24-10

Prediction: Game goes into overtime for the first time in Super Bowl history.

Prediction: Left Shark returns and dances perfectly in sync with Coldplay.

Prediction: The broadcasters say at least 10 things that they then contradict later in the broadcast.

Prediction: Broncos have as many three and outs as the Panthers, if not more.

Mike McKenna

Aquene Kimme

Taylor

Billy Heyen

Executive Editor

News Editor

Business Manager

Staff Reporter

30-17 Prediction: C.J. Anderson will finally actually contribute, rushing for 85 yards and two scores.

24-13 Prediction: I will cry at the stupid beer commercial again, the one with the horses.

37-30 Prediction: The world will suddenly run out of beer, causing thousands of middle aged men to watch sober.

31-13 Prediction: If a Broncos player sacks Cam Newton, they will Dab.

sports Return of the obelisk Spartan track and field beat Carnegie Mellon for the second straight year

Shounak Bose Staff Reporter

The Case Western Reserve University Men and Women’s Track and Field team defeated Carnegie Mellon University by a score of 146-126 in the annual Battle for the Obelisk on Saturday, Jan. 30.

Multiple Spartans were able to beat school, meet and career records. Fourthyear student Christen Saccucci set a CWRU pole vault record, clearing 3.5 meters. She had set the meet record three years ago at 3.21 meters.

“I guess the record was not really at the forefront of my mind,” said Saccucci. “I was focusing on clearing one bar at a time and getting as many points as possible for the team. I was feeling good and knew that I could clear the height and that I had to get over the bar for my teammates.”

The Spartans also had records from second-year student Skylar Braga, who won the 200-meter dash with a career best 27.29 and also won the 60-meter dash with a time of 8.08. Second-year student Sam Merriman came in first place and beat the meet record with a time of 15:03.08 on the 5000-meter run.

“I was thrilled to see that I got a big pr and even more happy that I ran a hard race,” said Merriman about his record.

Regarding the records, coach Eric Schmuhl replied, “Records are great because it’s advancing the program culture and expectations, but we don’t put too much stock in them. We preach winning events and scoring for the team. 10 points is better than any record. You don’t get team trophies for school records.”

The Spartans were indeed successful in scoring for the team by sweeping in multiple events. Throwers third-year student Temi Omilabu, first-year student Mikhaylan Price and second-year student Nimi Gupta swept the women’s weight throw with distances of 14.20 meters, 14.00 meters and 13.64 meters respectively.

“I feel like I finally found my rhythm and what works for me, and I think that shows in my increased distances,” said Omilabu. “The dual meet is always so much fun because of the rivalry. Usually you’re competing for yourself and trying to improve your own marks, but at the Battle For the Obelisk, it was cool to see us all come together to beat Carnegie Mellon. I think we’re only getting better.”

Sprinters first-year student Rasheed Ajala, third-year student Nathaniel Wahner and second-year student Zak Hurd took the top three spots in the 60-meter dash, with times of 7.18, 7.21 and 7.26 respectively. Ajala broke the program record in the 60-meter dash and then broke it again two weeks ago. His dominance in the event helped the Spartans beat Carnegie Mellon.

“My overall goal is to stay healthy and stay hungry,” said Ajala. “The success that I’ve had so far only gives me the confidence that I need to become a dominant sprinter in the UAA... There is a very high correlation between the environment I get to practice in daily, and my success on the track.”

Fourth-year student Kelsey Aamoth, third-year student Olivia Zabrodsky and

Andrew Hodowanec/ Observer Top: The Spartans sprint for first in Veale against archrival Carnegie Mellon. Right: The Spartan field team contributed in full force to the effort. Left: Rachel Laveson raises her hand in victory, winning the 5,000 m women’s and thus clinching the meet and Obelisk for the Spartans. first-year student Jennifer Hoffman swept the mile runs with times of 5:25.87, 5:33.18 and 5:34.15, respectively.

When asked about noteworthy performers, Coach Schmuhl mentioned two athletes in particular. “Rachel Laveson winning the 5k was a big moment,” said Schmuhl. “Clinched the meet for us and was an outstanding performance from her.

Cassandra Laios jumped out of the pool (literally) from the swim meet and won the shot put for us.”

The Spartans had great performances in the long distance races, much to the delight of Merriman. “Last year [CMU] almost swept the distance events. It was great to beat them, but it was even better to see how upset their distance team was,” he said.

On the women’s side those distance races were won by second-year Danielle Kulpins with a time of 10:41.00 in the 3000-meter run and fourth-year Rachel Laveson with a time of 19:02.57 in the 5000-meter run.

“The entire time I was racing I was thinking about running for my team. All I could think of while I was finishing was running hard to help us win,” said Kulpins.

“Beating CMU was a dream come true.

Last year we started a tradition of smashing a watermelon. This year we took that to another level with a giant hammer Coach

S constructed. We get so excited for this meet, so winning again was really achieving the goal we set after last year’s win.”

Other first-place finishes by the Spartans included Nicholas Heim with a distance of 15.16 meters on weight throw and Grant Mlack with a time of 8.69 on the 60-meter hurdles.

Saccucci summed up the entire day for the team. “Everyone is fired up and ready to compete and there is an air of intensity

as if our duel with CMU is a championship competition,” he said. “It might as well be. The team came together and encouraged everyone to push themselves to times, heights and distances they did not know were possible. I am amazed and so very proud of everyone for this weekend’s performance.”

CWRU’s next meet is the Jim Wuske Invitational, Saturday at the University of Mount Union at 10 a.m.

Track and Field Men Women

CWRU Carnegie Mellon CWRU Carnegie Mellon Women’s Track Events

78 58 88 48 Men’s Track Events

Event

Winning Time

Winner

School

Event

Winning Time

Winner

60 Meter Hurdles

8.08

S. Braga

CWRU

60 Meter Hurdles

7.21

R. Ajala

60 Meter Dash

27.29

S. Braga

CWRU

60 Meter Dash

23.31

N. Wahner

School Carnegie Mellon CWRU

1 Mile Run

59.37

S. Cook

1 Mile Run

50.93

N. Wahner

Alma

400 Meter Dash

1:58.45

E. Larrick

CWRU

800 Meter Run

4:20.46

C. Watro

GC

200 Meter Dash

8:47.34

T. Vandenberg

CWRU

15:03.08

S. Merriman

Alma

8.69

G. Mlack

Alma

400 Meter Dash

2:26.03

R. Ciriello

800 Meter Run

5:25.87

K. Aamoth

Carnegie Mellon Carnegie Mellon CWRU

200 Meter Dash

10:41.00

D. Kulpins

CWRU

4 x 200 Meter Relay

19:02.57

R. Laveson

4 x 400 Meter Relay

9.94

S. Farber

Distance Medley Event

4:11.64 Team A Women’s Field Events Winning Score Winner

CWRU 4 x 200 Meter Relay Carnegie 4 x 400 Meter Relay Mellon CWRU Distance Medley

Shot Put

11.37m

C. Laios

School Carnegie Mellon Carnegie Mellon CWRU

Shot Put

13.80m

Weight Throw

14.20m

T. Omilabu

CWRU

Weight Throw

15.16m

N. Heim

Triple Jump

10.17m

A. Hair

Carnegie Mellon

Triple Jump

12.95m

E. Fernandez

Pole Vault

3.50m

C. Saccucci

CWRU

Pole Vault

4.10 m

T. Mansfield

High Jump

1.60 m

T. Allen

Long Jump

4.90 m

A. Hair

Event

3:25.37 Team A Men’s Field Events Winning Score Winner

High Jump

1.80m

C.Smith

Long Jump

6.95m

R. Walters D. Trzcinski

Alma School Carnegie Mellon Carnegie Mellon Carnegie Mellon CWRU Carnegie Mellon Carnegie Mellon