Volume XLVI, Issue 2: August 29, 2014

the

Case Western Reserve University volume xlvi, issue 2 friday, 8/29/2014

Observer In the wake

Honoring their lives, pg 2 Editor’s Note, pg 12 Harsha Chandupatla/Observer

“We’re all nerds here” Anne Nickoloff Arts & Entertainment Editor Case Western Reserve University president Barbara Snyder walked on stage to thunderous applause and a Spartan drumline.

Then, she started talking into the wrong microphone (oops), was corrected with a different mic stand and gave her

speech about donations to CWRU. “We reached that goal [of one billion dollars] two years early!”

The crowd broke into applause. Fireworks shot off the top of the new building. Snyder started talking again, but one last firework cut off her speech with its sharp blast from behind the crowd (also oops). OK Go lead singer Damian Kulash giggled, standing just a few feet

behind her.

The beginning of “Let’s Go!,” the huge event of Tinkham Veale University Center’s (TVUC) grand opening on Aug. 24, wasn’t too graceful. But, with a bunch of nerds in front of her and a band of nerds behind, no one judged Snyder’s moments of awkwardness on stage.

After she delicately stepped down from the stage, Kulash jumped to the

microphone and remedied the situation.

“I hope you’re all too hungover to go to your first class tomorrow!” he shouted.

OK Go didn’t just sing songs on the stage. They cracked jokes, messed with audio equipment and constantly made jabs at CWRU’s nerdy reputation. Only a couple songs in, Kulash started getting

News

A&E

Opinion

Sports

pg.12 Seize your moments

pg. 15 Spartans open season tonight

pg. 3 pg. 11 Petition for mental Gaming & Gore in health services “The Evil Within”

to Let’s Go | 7

news CWRU honors the lives of four students lost in tragic plane crash

Mike McKenna/Observer Friends of the plane crash victims constructed a makeshift memorial in the front yard of the Zeta Beta Tau fraternity house. Hundreds of students visited to pay their respects at a vigil. Two of the fallen were members of the ZBT fraternity. Three were members of the CWRU wrestling team.=

Julia Bianco News Editor “Every student has been affected by this tragedy today.”

All is quiet on the Zeta Beta Tau’s house front lawn as students start gathering for the vigil, a memorial to the four Case Western Reserve University students who passed away in a plane crash on Monday night. They show up early— almost 45 minutes before the scheduled start time people begin to trickle in.

The fraternity house is large and open, with glass walls revealing the inner common room, where one brother sits, head in hands. Many other brothers stand outside on the porch outside—hugging, crying, laughing, as they recount memories of their two lost brothers and the two other students lost in the accident.

Tissues are passed around between the brothers, then placed back on the ledge, where the other boxes already sit, still in their plastic packaging. The students who show up to the vigil are perfectly silent, lining up in the yard like statues, as they watch the brothers and the others gathered on the porch.

A semi-circle path leading up to the house is lined with luminaries, many left over from last year’s Relay for Life event.

The small stickers are still on the bags.

The yard is quiet, except for the brothers, the quiet piano music they are

playing in the background, the sound of crickets in the trees and the loud generator of the Action News 19 truck.

When the speeches start, someone goes and asks them to turn it off. They do.

One of the crash victim’s parents, along with at least seven other students, make speeches honoring the lives lost.

They’re hard to hear in the back, even after the truck is turned off. Faint phrases fall through, and the general message is clear—live your life the way these boys did. Strive to be better every day, to give as much as you can and then more, to never take any moment for granted.

Some make it through their speeches without crying, others do not.

The vigil fills the yard and sidewalk, extending all the way past Leutner Dining Hall. More than 600 students are here to pay their respects. A few community members show up with therapy dogs, who sit in the back. Even the dogs are quiet, except for one soft howl. It’s an opportunity for the whole campus to come together to recognize and mourn one of the worst tragedies in the university’s history. *** Students woke up Monday morning to an email from President Snyder. “I write with profound sadness…”

The email didn’t give much information, just that four undergraduates, identities not yet confirmed, had died in

a local plane crash, and that counseling services were available for all those who needed it. Over the next 24 hours, students would hear that reiterated again and again—counseling services are available, please take advantage of them.

The men’s identities were released shortly after, identified as sophomores William Michael Felten and Lucas Vincent Marcelli and freshmen Abraham Pishevar and John Hill. Felten and Marcelli were both brothers of ZBT. Marcelli, Pishevar, and Hill were all members of the wrestling team.

The students rented the plane for four hours for recreational reasons. Felten was the pilot. He received his license a year ago.

Shortly after taking off, Felten requested permission to turn back. The plane crashed shortly after that. NTSB investigators are still looking into the exact cause of the accident, but it is likely that it had to do with engine trouble.

The plane was engulfed in flames after crashing. The four men were trapped inside, and they all died on scene.

News vans and reporters swarmed campus on Tuesday morning, pulling students aside as they walked to class.

Lou Stark, Vice President of Student Affairs, held a press conference. He called what happened “a tragedy of immense proportions.”

The boys’ wrestling coach, Mark Hawald, spoke. He said how hardworking,

how dedicated the boys were. How he could never prepare for something like this to happen.

The outpouring of love and support on Facebook and Twitter started quickly. Those who knew the boys, those who didn’t, everyone expressed their regret, their sadness, their complete inability to truly comprehend or deal with something this devastating. The university community was like a family, and whether or not they knew the boys personally, students felt that they had lost their brothers. *** At the vigil, people show up wearing fraternity letters or shirts from their sports teams. It’s a show of solidarity.

After the speakers, mourners mill around the yard, looking at the makeshift memorial to the students that the brothers made in front of the house. On a wooden picnic table, almost too clean, sits pictures of the four boys on glossy poster board. Three of the boys have headshots, while Marcelli has a wrestling picture. “Outstanding Wrestler 2013-2014” reads the text on the photo.

In front of the pictures is a single bouquet of flowers, red roses.

-additional reporting by Mike McKenna, Director of Print, JP. O’Hagan, Sports Editor, and Adithi Iyengar, Staff Writer

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Court rules against CWRU in medical student case University hopes appeals court allows them to revoke recent graduate’s diploma Anastazia Vanisko Staff Reporter For one Case Western Reserve University medical student, it took a court ruling to graduate.

Last spring, representatives from the CWRU School of Medicine told Amir Al-Dabagh that he would be unable to graduate just weeks prior to graduation.

CWRU cited character matters and a lack of professionalism as the reason for this decision.

Al-Dabagh appealed the decision, but CWRU denied the appeal on May 8. He was told to withdraw from school by May 19 or he would be dismissed, despite having completed all the academic requirements and paying $150,000 in tuition.

According to Al-Dabagh’s lawyers, however, there was nothing in the student handbook that justified his expulsion.

Al-Dabagh did have multiple disciplinary incidents throughout his time at CWRU’s medical school, including treating a fellow student rudely at a dance while he was likely drunk, jumping from a moving cab to avoid paying, earning complaints from a patient’s family and writing patient case summaries when he possibly didn’t examine the patient personally. None of these stopped the school from recommending

Al-Dabagh for a residency and saying he would graduate with distinction for his research. Yet when CWRU heard about a misdemeanor DUI that had occurred out of state and hadn’t been resolved, it took action and attempted to stop Al-Dabagh from graduating.

The case was brought before the U.S. District Court, who determined the university was not allowed to expel or dismiss Al-Dabagh until the matter was settled. Judge James Gwin ruled “CWRU went beyond its scope of duty.”

Gwin elaborated, saying that while the court should show deference to the university in academic matters, the judgment CWRU made on professionalism went beyond that. Thanks to the ruling, the young doctor will be able to continue on to a residency at Riverside Hospital in Columbus, OH. So far, the ruling doesn’t seem to be negatively affecting the school’s students.

First year medical student Sheena Tsai says that she’s unsurprised the school took the actions it did.

“CWRU School of Medicine holds their students accountable for their actions because we are considered medical professionals and junior colleagues from day one,” Tsai said.

She believes this displays that the school treats both its students and faculty equally, and that students need to act

Harsha Chandupatla/Observer A federal court ruled that CWRU School of Medicine had to award a degree they withheld over issues of professionalism. professional because they are representing “the medical profession and general health care at all times.” When asked if she thought undergraduate pre-med students should think twice about attending CWRU SOM, Tsai replied saying that she did not, and that “if you want to go into the medical profession, you should be prepared to act professionally way before medical school begins.”

At this time, CWRU has appealed the

Village students evacuated after report of suspicious package

Editor’s Choice

Julia Bianco News Editor

Harsha Chandupatla/Observer

Students petition to expand University Counseling Services Adithi Iyengar Staff Reporter Sophomore Zack Williams and junior Barry Goldberg recently started a Facebook petition to draw awareness to the shortage of staffers at University Counseling Services (UCS).

The school’s population has increased by 1,200 in the last 14 years, while the number of UCS employees has only increased by one. Because of this shortage, UCS is submitting a request to employ two new fulltime staff members, including a staff assistant, who will help schedule appointments, and a trained counselor who will help with triage and patient follow-up. For the request to go through, however, they need the approval of the Division of Student Affairs.

Williams and Goldberg are hoping to help UCS accomplish this goal by organizing a Facebook-led email campaign to Vice President of Student Affairs Lou Stark. Participants were asked to submit a pre-written email or edit it to include their own personal thoughts on the issue.

“Nearly two-thirds of those who with-

decision, and is in the process of briefing the U.S. Sixth District appellate court in the hopes they will reverse the decision.

If CWRU wins the appeal, it will revoke Al-Dabagh’s degree.

A university spokeswoman noted in June that “Case Western Reserve has made its position clear in its original brief before the U.S. District Court. The university will not comment beyond the statements in that document at this time.”

draw from college (nationwide) are doing so because of mental health reasons,” said Williams.

“By getting the students involved, we can show the university that mental health services are important and matter to us. From this, we hope that it will make the university take the funding request more seriously and give UCS the funding for staff that it needs to be sufficient for the growing university.”

Goldberg was inspired to start the campaign because of his own experiences with UCS, as well as those of his close friends.

“I’ve had struggles with mental health in the past,” he said. “On many occasions, a friend would tell me how they wanted counseling yet didn’t want to go to UCS.” According to Goldberg, students were deterred by the long wait times and the difficulty in finding a counselor who fit their needs.

With the event on Facebook, Goldberg and Williams hope to give students an opportunity to voice their opinions and let the university know how important mental health is to the student body.

According to Goldberg, Stark has yet to respond with a decision.

Students in House 3A, House 4 and House 5 of the Village at 115 were forced to evacuate in the early morning on Tuesday after a suspicious package was reported by a security officer. The package, which was found outside Starbucks, was ultimately deemed inert, and the police ruled that the package did not contain an explosive device.

Around 6 a.m., a security alert was sent explaining that the campus police and the Cleveland Police Department were collaborating to systematically search the area, “in the interest of safety.” According to Sergeant Jeffrey Daberko, the Cleveland Bomb Squad

was also called to inspect the package.

“Evacuation was a precautionary measure,” said Daberko. He added that the police are still investigating what the package was and how it got there.

“I didn’t think much of it at first,” said Sean Moroney, a resident of House 4, who was evacuated for about an hour and a half early Tuesday morning. According to Moroney, many students were unaware of what was going on aside from what they were told in the security emails.

Students were evacuated using the buildings’ fire alarms, and then waited on the football field before being moved to the area outside of Leutner Commons. They were allowed to return to the buildings after police gave the all clear.

CWRU passes baton for cancer research

Tara Tran Staff Reporter

Case Western Reserve University, the Seidman Cancer Center of University Hospitals, and the Cleveland Clinic have all joined the Baton Pass, a national movement focused on raising money for cancer research.

The Baton Pass, which medical diagnostics equipment company Siemens introduced on Good Morning America on March 19, raises funds for Stand Up to Cancer, or SU2C, an organization that supports innovative cancer research. The Baton has been passed all around the United States, and has been passed a total of over 900,000 times.

Siemens donates $1 for every pass of the Baton, physically or virtually through Facebook. In Cleveland, the Baton was passed by staff, physicians, researchers, patients and even a Spider-Man imper-

sonator. The Baton was also passed to the Angie Fowler Adolescent & Young Adult Cancer Institute at Rainbow Babies and Children Hospitals, where it traveled to the Cleveland Clinic and then on to CWRU’s National Center for Regenerative Medicine Cancer Stem Cell Conference at the Cleveland Convention Center.

“The phenomenal progress in the field of cancer research that is being advanced by collaborative scientists at the Case Comprehensive Cancer Center and the National Center for Regenerative Medicine is greatly assisted by the focus and support Siemens and Stand Up to Cancer bring to the goal we are all working toward, making progress towards a cure for cancer,” said Stanton L. Gerson, director at the Case Comprehensive Cancer Center, Seidman Cancer Center, and National Center for Regenerative Medicine in a statement to The Daily.

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Spotlight on research

Researcher writes on proposed changes to participant consent regulations Kushagra Gupta Staff Reporter Participants are one of the basic necessities in any research study, but their contribution would be impossible without the government-civilian architecture that regulates their activity, ensuring that both the participants and the researchers are protected. Associate Vice President for Research Dr. Suzanne Rivera recently contributed a chapter to the book “Human Subject Research Regulation: Perspectives on the Future”, proposing changes to these regulations.

The Office for Human Research Protection (OHRP) creates regulations for human subjects. If it wants to alter a rule, the office has to release a notice, called the Advanced Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (ANPRM), which publicizes the proposed changes and opens

them to comments from the research community.

Rivera’s involvement comes from a proposed 2012 change, which has been the subject of much debate in the research community. In the past, if a subject gave consent to be studied, the data collected could be used for another study without getting consent from the subject. The change would require that researchers go back and ask the subject again for permission to use already collected data.

Rivera, along with a number of other researchers, were asked to give their opinions at a forum set up by Harvard University. Rivera, who sits on the national advisory committee at the Secretary’s Advisory Committee on Human Research Protections, was invited to share her viewpoint as part of the book.

According to Rivera, requiring this permission from subjects would make it

difficult, and sometimes impossible, to conduct research.

“There are many data sets, such as blood specimens, where the identifiers have already been removed,” she said.

“There is no way to go back to the original person to ask if they would object to reuse of the specimens.”

In her chapter, she argued that the change would force researchers to throw out certain data that could be reused, asking them to unnecessarily collect more data. She said that the new rules would make data unusable in a majority of cases.

“They may have been imagining a narrow set of circumstances, in which I still have all the identifiers,” she said. “I would have to go back and ask if they would mind if I stripped the identifiers and gave the data to someone else.”

Rivera, however, does think that current consent regulations need some

modifications. In her opinion, subjects should be notified when they originally give their information that some data may be used for other studies without their consent. This is a common practice, but it is not mandated by current regulations.

Rivera also thinks that there need to be changes made to reflect the advancements in current technology. According to Rivera, for some types of samples, it is impossible to remove DNA markers which would allow the researchers to identify not only the subjects, but their families as well. Rivera believes that there should be changes to ensure that researchers cannot use this information to circumvent the existing privacy rules.

The change will be further discussed with the release of the Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NPRM), which would modify the proposal to reflect comments from Rivera and other researchers.

Correction: In our previous issue, Mark Henderson was incorrectly listed as taking over the position of Interim Vice President for Information Technology Services & Chief Information Officer. In actuality, Henderson left the position, which is currently being filled by a consultant. ITS is still searching for his replacement.

Courtesy youtube.com/user/case Students complete the ALS Ice Bucket Challenge after taking their class picture on August 19.

CWRU Class of 2018 takes on the Ice Bucket Challenge

Gabrielle Buffington Staff Reporter The CWRU class of 2018 ended their class picture on Aug. 19 a little differently than most, with all 1,275 students taking part in the ALS Ice Bucket Challenge.

The challenge, which has become increasingly popular on Facebook, raises awareness for amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), also known as Lou Gehrig’s disease. The challenge gives nominees 24 hours to dump a bucket of ice water on their head and/or donate $100 to the ALS Association.

ALS is a disease that severely damages nerve cells in the brain and the spinal cord. It affects an estimated 30,000 people in the USA. Robert McCullough, director of undergraduate admissions, decided to bring the class together to do the challenge.

“ALS has hit people close to me, and it’s a scary and devastating disease,” he said. “A lot of people were interested in doing this— you can’t pull off a challenge of this scale in the amount of time we had to plan unless there’s broad enthusiasm and support.”

The Cleveland Bottle & Supply Co. sold the school buckets at a discount, while Olmstead Ice provided the ice. All of ma-

terials were loaded into trucks and delivered in less than six hours.

CWRU challenged their sports rival Carnegie Mellon, and their mascot, Scotty, accepted. He challenged Phil the Phoenix from the University of Chicago.

The rest of the university has also taken on the challenge, with the School of Dental Medicine, the CWRU Police Department, the entire 121 Fitness staff and the Department of Physical Education also completing it.

Many celebrities have also taken the challenge, including Lady Gaga, Ben Affleck, Oprah Winfrey and George Bush. The challenge was originally inspired by Peter Frates, a 29-year-old former Boston College baseball player who was diagnosed with ALS in March of 2012.

So far, the challenge has raised $53.3 million towards funding research for treatments and the search for a cure.

According to McCullough, CWRU did not make a donation after completing the challenge.

“It can be challenging for the university to make a donation directly, because of so many other deserving causes and because of where the University’s revenue comes from, but what we can do is use the resources we have to spark support from members of our community,” he said.

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fun page | 5

COMI C S

Ivory Tower

by Kevin Yong

I’M PLUGGING IN MY PHONE BUT THE BATTERY ON THE SCREEN ISN’T CHARGING. by xkcd

Crossword Puzzle Across 1. Keen 5. Bog hemp 10. Not legs 14. Gentlewoman 15. Go-between 16. Jump 17. Loyalty 19. Twosome 20. Prompt 21. Comment to the audience 22. Father 23. Protein in hair and nails 25. Impertinent 27. Barbie’s beau 28. Earthquake waves 31. Cabs 34. Express gratitude to 35. Genus of macaws 36. Baking appliance 37. Publish 38. Norse god 39. A very long period 40. Allow 41. Not those 42. Fainting 44. Flee

45. Strollers 46. Error 50. “Hogwash!”

52. Tailless stout-bodied amphibians 54. Historic period 55. Sweeping story 56. Meteorologist 58. Quiet time 59. Grain disease 60. Church alcove 61. Tall woody plant 62. Russian emperors 63. Troubles Down 1. Exclamation expressive of regret 2. Worth 3. Lazybones 4. Coloring agent 5. Dried grape 6. Another time 7. Fix 8. Ceaseless 9. French for “Summer” 10. Lama pacos 11. Commercially produced 12. A female domestic

13. Agile 18. Fence “doors” 22. Immerse briefly into a liquid 24. Analogous 26. Parental sister 28. An object 29. Colored part of an eye 30. Rational 31. Foot digits 32. Affirm 33. A lover of foreign culture 34. Exchanges 37. Dainty 38. Units of resistance 40. Chew 41. Thigh armor 43. Seer 44. Lamps 46. Engine 47. Musical time 48. Delete 49. Windows 50. Fur 51. Prod 53. Indian music 56. Damp 57. Uncooked

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Horoscopes Aries

Your week will be awesome. Everyone else.

You’re not as cool as Aries.

Taurus

You’re regretting your choice to enter the Melt University Challenge on Friday. I see a day of fasting in your near future.

Gemini

The stars have aligned in a way that you should avoid all Leos.

Unfortunately this is most CWRU teachers, just try to learn from the book this week.

Cancer

Your first week got out to a rocky start, but don’t lose hope. The stars have aligned for you, and the rest of your semester will only get better. Go for the 4.0.

Leo

The class you have a bad feeling about will turn around, but don’t be afraid to drop it if you think you signed up for too much.

xkcd

Literally

Virgo

It will be a busy week, but you may find love in a hopeless place.

Libra

You’ve worked hard and have definitely earned a break! Go ahead and take Monday off!

Scorpio

again agree banner championship channel chill collapse compete couch count drink economy embrace first labor match

meal music never offroad perform pies result rough score soccer stage still studio tire trouble truck wonder

Wordsearch

The chemistry experiment had me figuratively — and then shortly thereafter literally — glued to my seat.

You will soon come into a large fortune! Those 10,000 cans of Spam will serve you well during the coming zombie apocalypse.

Sagittarius

You want to keep the peace with your new roomie, but you need to discuss the cereal bowl that’s been sitting in the sink all week.

Capricorn

Your summer fling has come to a stormy end. But pizza and ice cream will never leave you.

Aquarius

You are a standout on campus this week!

Unfortunately, it’s because everyone saw you fall down the elephant stairs.

Pisces

Take some time to reconnect with an old friend. Facebook stalking does not count.

arts & entertainment The Tink’s grand opening brings out CWRU’s inner geekiness From front page self-conscious about the sweat spots rapidly growing across his shirt.

“I really want to impress you,” he said nervously, “and I don’t want to be a sweaty nerd.”

For a band with multiple top hits and a range of successes (a Grammy for Best Music Video, an MTV Video Music Award and multiple Webby awards), it was cool to see that they still showed some of their nerdiness onstage.

Kulash was personable, even when technical difficulties got in the way of a quick start to “There’s a Fire.” And even when they were stalling, bassist Tim Nordwind found a way to keep the pace up with a question and answer session with the crowd.

Audience member: “How long did it take you to grow your beard?”

Nordwind: “Well, for our last music video, I shaved half my beard,” (here, he talks about the video, aka trippy optical illusion-filled “The Writing’s on the Wall”), “but it took me three months. Sorry that wasn’t an exciting answer. Now we’re ready to play.”

OK Go wasn’t a by-the-books kind of live band. If the audience expected to hear “Here it Goes Again” in studio quality, they were sorely disappointed.

But, if they were prepared for an icebucket challenge on stage, Kulash playing an acoustic song in the middle of the crowd, children’s toy instruments and an all-out party onstage at the end of the show, then it was a night to remember.

Harsha Chandupatla/Observer

And even though Kulash wouldn’t stop going on about our nerdiness, it was endearing. After the show, when asked if he really thought we were all nerds, he stopped near the gate. “Well, yes,” he said. “But I went to Brown. We’re all nerds here.”

Anne Nickoloff/Observer

Harsha Chandupatla/Observer

University increases fundraising goal to $1.5 billion Mark Patteson Staff Reporter Amid the fanfare of Sunday’s dedication of the new Tinkham Veale University Center, President Barbara Snyder made the announcement that, due to the generosity of over 47,000 donors, the university had reached its $1 billion Forward Thinking goal two and a half years early.

On stage with the viral rock band OK Go, who was performing at the dedication, Snyder also revealed that the university would be raising the goal to $1.5 billion.

“The new university center is dedicated to you, the members of the university community,” said Snyder, who had the hundreds of students, alumni, faculty, and staff gathered

dedicate the center by collectively followed by fireworks from the roof of the building.

“If you like the university center, just wait until you see what comes next,” she added. Several upcoming construction projects have been paid for with the recent fundraising efforts. These projects include the expanded think[box] and the Milton and Tamar Maltz Performing Arts Center, both of which are already under construction; the new Health Education campus in partnership with the Cleveland Clinic; and a new interdisciplinary science and engineering building.

The extended fundraising campaign will focus on supporting student scholarships and fellowships, faculty recruitment and endowments, and new or renovated build-

ings. So far, $145.8 million has gone to student support, $126.7 million to faculty support, and $176.1 million to capital projects including the new university center, funded entirely by donations.

“As humbled as we are by the generosity of our alumni and friends, we also are inspired by what their support allows us to achieve in education and research,” said Snyder in a press release. “We are continuing this effort so that we can extend this university’s positive impact on individuals, communities and society at large.”

The university set a new fundraising record of $151.6 million during fiscal year 2013-2014, including record-breaking donations for the individual Schools of Medicine, Engineering, Management, and Nursing.

Anne Nickoloff/Observer

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Barrels of fun...

CWRU Thoughts ... at Rubblebucket

Mike Suglio Staff Reporter As many new students unpacked on Thursday, Aug. 21, I was experiencing the best indie rock Cleveland has to offer at the Grog Shop.

Opening band Village Bicycle played to what was at first a rather sparse crowd. The band hails from Cleveland and is led by the small and cheerful Liz Kelly, who has a voice to be reckoned with. Heaving bass by Ty Craemer and keys and drums by Karah Vance and Debbie Randazzo follow her vocals.

This three-girls-and-a-guy band was very diverse in sound and their music alternated from 90’s punk, to pop, to rock, to alternative, to screaming. Though it kept the music fresh, the band did not have a clear style.

Next was the psychedelic band, Kitschy.

This sextet of guys played peaceful, mellow music that emitted good vibes all around.

Their instrumental talent was a blessing to all as they jammed away. The band had several long, hypnotic guitar solos with incredibly effective use of reverb. The music never ended, and instead constantly had a new beginning.

Kitschy brought a sizable audience, and it was hard not to rock out to their tunes. As I panned the audience, everyone was dancing and having a good time, which set the stage for the headliner, Rubblebucket.

Alex Toth (bandleader and trumpet) and Kalmia Traver met at University of Vermont where they were both music majors. The two moved to Brooklyn, New York, where they

would go on to form Rubblebucket. I was lucky enough to see them last summer at the Grog Shop and was ecstatic to see what new songs they had to share to eager listeners.

As the lights turned on, the large band took the stage followed by a small girl with a black-brimmed hat that reminded me of Heisenberg from Breaking Bad. In seconds, the space was filled with loud instrumentals and powerful vocals from the petite Traver.

The audience immediately came to life with clapping, dancing, jumping and foot stomping. Traver shared with the audience that this was their first performance on their new album tour. Needless to say, the audience cheered.

Another first was the use of a flute in their songs. The brass and flute accompaniment was a fantastic addition and drove the beat as the musicians danced in unison as they played.

Towards the end of the show, band members brought a tarp out to the audience who held it up high as Traver sang and danced under the tarp with other dancers.

Rubblebucket closed their set with their signature song, “Came Out of a Lady,” which involved plenty of singing and dancing from everyone in the room. The brass section and Traver on the saxophone then paraded out into the audience and toured around the Grog Shop while still jamming.

This was by far one of the most fun and lively shows I have been to at the Grog Shop, and Rubblebucket knew how to put on a highenergy and dance-y show.

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Maria Fazal Staff Reporter Q: What made you decide to work at Case?

A: Before I came here, I used to work in a prison system. The floor I worked on had 60 male youths. I did that for 12 years. After 9/11, budgets everywhere were being cut, and I found myself coming to work and working by myself. I was getting burnt out. I got tired of being locked up myself—that’s what I started feeling. I always wanted to stay in a situation where I still dealt with youths, so

Maria Fazal/Observer

now I’m at Case Western Reserve University giving all the love I have to this institution and the student body.

Q: What’s your favorite part of your job?

A: You guys—and I mean the student body. If it weren’t for you guys, I would not be here. You guys are what keep me going. You guys are my fuel. Without you guys, my engine would run out, and I would just leave.

Neon Trees set to play at this year’s fall concert Sunny Kalidindi Contributing Reporter Recently, University Program Board announced its highly anticipated fall concert headliner, Neon Trees. They beat out other popular acts, such as M.I.A and Juicy J, as well as underground artists, such as A$AP Rocky.

To select the band, UPB went through a process involving a campuswide vote, figuring out schedules to secure the band and pricing. Brianna Thompson, the co-chair of UPB Concerts Committee stated, “We try to grab the opinions of the student body in order to bring the best performer to campus, since we’re using the campus’ money.”

The voting process occurred last spring in a survey sent out asking students to choose their favorite artist from a pre-selected short list. After the vote, UPB got in contact with the artists and worked out logistical details, such as transportation and scheduling. While the planning happens well in advance, the actual physical work takes place the day of the concert. UPB members then work together on set-up and

tear down to prepare the concert venue.

“It’s a large amount of work for the board, but we love putting on such a big event that the campus enjoys,” said Erika Brentar, president of the UPB. Originally from Provo, Utah, Neon Trees is composed of four members: lead singer Tyler Glenn, guitarist Christopher Allen, bass guitarist Branden Campbell and drummer Elaine Bradley. They rose to prominence with their hit track “Animals” from their 2010 album “Habits.” In 2012, they followed up the success of “Animals” with “Everybody Talks” from their “Picture Show” album, and their latest single “Sleeping with a Friend” was released from their 2014 album, “Pop Psychology.” In addition to those three studio albums, Neon Trees has toured with popular bands, such as The Killers and Maroon 5. Currently, they are on tour promoting their new album.

The Neon Trees concert takes place on Nov. 1, and in the meantime, UPB is hard at work to get the campus as excited as possible. Neon Trees was the current board’s first choice of the academic year, and they look forward to sharing the experience with the CWRU community.

@CWRUObserver The Observer

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Restaurants repurposed Teddy Eisenberg Staff Reporter

A culinary preview of University Circle

Trentina is the latest restaurant from Chef Jonathon Sawyer (of Noodlecat and Greenhouse Tavern fame). Inspired by northern Italian f lavors and locally sourced Cleveland ingredients, Trentina replaces the beloved Sergio’s beside Glidden House on the north side of campus.

just as many new reasons to visit.

Crop Kitchen is Crop Bistro chef Steve Schimoler’s latest culinary undertaking, a result of his partnership with Umami chef Matthew Anderson intended to bring their version of comfort food to the Uptown district. Crop Kitchen will occupy the space left by the former Asian-Fusion restaurant Accent, and soon: Schimoler hopes to open the second week of September to capitalize on students coming back to school.

Whereas many restaurants are a simply a stop before a movie or show, dining at Trentina is an event in itself. This restaurant’s 40-seat patio offers a la carte service from 5-10 p.m. Tuesdays through Saturdays. A 12-course Menu Bianco tasting menu is also available for $100 and by reservation only.

Ninja City’s bold signage is hardly as stealthy as its name would suggest, instead choosing to pay homage to the campy karate video games and comic books of the 80s. This new University Circle restaurant splits the difference between the casual grab-and-go of Chipotle with a more formal full service bar and 80-seat interior. This fits with owner and Case Western Reserve University alum Bac Nguyen’s vision for the restaurant as a student-friendly lunch spot with broader, regional dinner appeal come nighttime. Better still, no item on Ninja City’s notepad style menu is more than $8.95.

Happy Dog at Euclid Tavern is set for a highly anticipated late-summer opening that will revitalize the historic Cleveland bar that originally opened in 1909.

Co-owner Sean Watterson aims to preserve much of the tavern’s recognizable features, including its signature sign, while also working to bridge East and West Cleveland with the Happy Dog’s signature blend of tots, music and trivia.

This new hangout will sport a similar menu, but will feature different toppings and sauces, giving fans of the original Teddy Eisenberg/Observer

Live in the ial or Mather MemFree!

Courtyard.

Attend an Interest Meeting to Learn How Bring friends, a picnic, some lawn chairs or blankets but DO NOT bring glass bottles!

1PM on Sunday Sept. 7 or 7PM on Monday Sept. 8 at Mather Memorial 225

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ORIENTATION WEEK During orientation week, first year students at CWRU had the chance to meet other students at various events, including Casino Night, New Student Check in and VIP xNoble Bookstore. Here are a few peeks into what they got to experience the week before classes began.

Photos courtesy Harsha Chandupatla, Anne Nickoloff, & Jessica Yang.

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Playlist of the Week: Aug. 29, 2014 Teddy Eisenberg Staff Reporter

“Brill Bruisers” — The New Pornographers After a four-year break, indie rock’s most accomplished supergroup is back with “Brill Bruisers,” the absurdly big-sounding title track from their latest record. It took seven different recording studios to assemble the sounds heard on “Brill Bruisers,” which sounds like too few after hearing to the song’s chugging walls of vocals and thundering drums. If you’re looking to fearlessly take on the world, this album is a recommended indie rock soundtrack.

“Confusion” — Joy

If Black Sabbath and Cream had a love child, Joy would be the result. Guitarist Zachary Oakley’s lead playing is sloppy yet skillful on “Confusion,” giving new meaning to the words thick and distorted. After an endless cycle of solos, including some by Hawkwind’s saxophonist Nik Turner, the song returns to its reckless opening riff in the style of Iron Butterfly’s “In A Gadda Da Vida” just to make sure that you’re still dialed in and listening.

Joy’s second album, “Under The Spell of Joy,” was released on Aug. 19 and sounds best played at earsplitting volume through a mid-priced car stereo.

“Every Morning” — J Mascis J Mascis is still exploring folksier acoustic pastures on his second solo album, but thankfully for fans of Dinosaur Jr., that doesn’t mean abandoning his trusty electric guitar. “Every Morning” is both a guitar and vocal showcase for Mascis, showing just how much his mumble has improved over the years between the song’s many patented, fuzzed-out solos. “Tied to a Star” was released on Aug. 26 and is another step in an unexpected but agreeable musical evolution.

“90s Music” — Kimbra

“90s Music” finds New Zealand diva Kimbra stretching the boundaries of what pop music can be. With a little help from her friends (Matt Bellamy of Muse and Mark Foster of Foster the People) Kimbra presents a hyperactive pop collage that name drops both TLC and Mary J. Blige.

Kimbra’s recently released second studio album “The Golden Echo” lives up to its name, refashioning the best of pop music’s past into something transfixingly modern.

“Tie-Dye (Your Life)” — Literature

At first listen, “Tie-Dye (Your Life)” sounds like most any other indie pop song trying to recreate The Smith’s debut album. Somewhere around the :40 mark, however, the song’s shimmering guitar lines and recessed vocals come together into an impressive, crystalline chorus, reflecting a band that isn’t afraid to work hard to win the listener over. Literature knows and has what it takes to make a short, simple tune really connect, making their newest record “Chorus” a must have for indie pop fans.

Retro Pick of the Week: “Safe European Home” — The Clash

The snare hit that starts off “Safe European Home” is just as much a wake-up call now as it was in 1978. Throughout its nearly four minute running time, The Clash takes the listener on an incredible sonic journey, marrying complex and urgent guitar riffs with an unforgettable pop hook that fades into oblivion before forcing its way back for one final push. The record label CBS marketed The Clash as “The Only Band That Matters,” and after listening to “Safe European Home,” it’s easy to see why.

Courtesy theobelisk.net, matadorrecords.com, boomingmusicscene.wordpress.com, consequenceofsound.net, stereogum.com, & rollingstone.com

Teddy Eisenberg is a third year programmer at WRUW-FM 91.1 Cleveland. He hosts The ’59 Sound, an exploration of rock music, every Thursday morning from 8 a.m.-10 a.m. and co-hosts the variety talk show Max and Teddy in the Morning at Night (Sometimes) on Mondays from 5 p.m.-6 p.m. The crackle of vinyl warms him on cold Cleveland nights.

“The Evil Within”set to impress

Editor’s Choice Josie Krome Staff Reporter

For those interested in all things disturbing and spine-chilling, look no further than “The Evil Within.” It’s a survivor horror game by Bethesda (you know, they made “Skyrim”?) and Shinji Mikami, the creator of the “Resident Evil” series. It’s set to come out this October on both current and next gen consoles.

My experience with survival horror games is sort of a love-hate relationship. I like to play them because of the scares, but I also hate the anxiety before the scare. I’ve played various games of the “Silent Hill” series, “Shattered Memories” on the Wii being the most memorable since it’s such a physical horror experience, and “Amnesia: The Dark Descent” (which is really good and you should get it if you’re not sure about the survival horror genre yet).

Personally, when it comes to survival horror games, on a scale of sleeping in my desk chair to hiding in my closet, my ideal level of intensity is me jumping in my seat and shouting “holy shit” repeatedly (if that helps you gauge my judgment system at all). And “The Evil Within” looks either absolutely terrifying, at the top of, or at least very close to my maximum horror level. The gameplay video of the game had me holding my breath and swearing continuously.

It begins when the main character (who vaguely reminds me of Booker DeWitt from “Bioshock Infinite”) is hung by a rope by his legs, while a shadowed man chainsaws another victim in a similar situation in half.

It’s extremely gory and made very human in ways I’m not sure I could handle. If you don’t want to see dead people or blood, then here is a major trigger warning against this game. It sounds so real; I definitely wouldn’t be caught dead playing in a dark room with headphones (I’m not that hardcore).

As expected from a publisher like Bethesda, the graphics are high quality, which only adds to the immersion into the horror of the game. The lighting is especially eerie; you can expect your own shadow to scare your pants off before you realize what it is.

The beginning of gameplay is set in a closed world, something like a hospital or an insane asylum (a popular trope for these sorts of games; something about facing our own mortality or fragile mentality, I guess).

After some seriously tense escapes from your captor, you finally reach a door to the outside which leads to a world in ruins, seemingly after a great disaster. The enemies of the game are humanoid and grotesque, impaled by metal and glass and chimera-like and terrifying.

“The Evil Within” is definitely not for the faint of heart and not for a beginner of the survival horror genre.

But, I want you (yes, you) to play it and tell me how it is and maybe let me come over and watch because I don’t know if I’m brave enough to get this game either.

In any case, the game looks great and it will breathe some air into the genre. Good graphics, great story, good characterization; if survival horror is what you’re into, “The Evil Within” will definitely not disappoint.

“Guardians” breathes fresh air into Marvel franchise Winston Eng Staff Reporter In a universe filled with beloved crusaders such as Spider-Man, Iron Man and Captain America, Marvel has done extremely well in transitioning these comic book heroes into 3-D blockbuster adaptations.

So well, in fact, that the idea of producing a film based on a lesser-known comic without the same previously established mass appeal seems extremely risky if not foolish. Combine this with the lead role given to an actor known for his television contributions rather than film appearances and a director known for his low-budget contributions to the independent scene, and “Guardians of the Galaxy” has all the right ingredients to spoil the success Marvel has previously created, as well as its future fan-base for soon-to-follow prospects.

Despite these risks, the combined brilliance of Director James Gunn alongside his eclectic cast of Chris Pratt, Zoe Saldana, Dave Batista, Vin Diesel and Bradley Cooper keeps the party going through the combination of unexpected, sincere drama and welltimed dirty jokes.

“Guardians of the Galaxy” is a wonderful and lovable story of a ragtag band of misfits trying to come to the realization that often what matters most is beyond their individual differences. It’s a misshapen soap opera of comic proportions and, in my opinion, has breathed fresh air into the Marvel franchise.

“Guardians of the Galaxy” follows the space bandit Peter Quill, or Star-Lord, as he likes to call himself (played by “Parks and Recreation’s” very own Pratt) who comes across a mysterious orb during one of his many adventures. Gamora (Saldana), a mysterious assassin, is sent to track down StarLord and take back the orb, while bounty hunter Rocket Raccoon (Cooper) and his lumbering companion of few words, Groot (Diesel), are after a recently placed bounty on Star-Lord’s head.

Eventually, all characters are captured and reluctantly agree to team up in order to

break out of prison and prevent the orb from falling into the wrong hands. Along the way, they meet Drax the Destroyer, an extremely strong, literal-minded blockhead who joins their crew. After being sarcastically deemed the “Guardians of the Galaxy,” they resolve to take back the orb, set it in its rightful place, and by doing so, save the universe from utter destruction in standard superhero fashion.

“Guardians of the Galaxy” isn’t perfect by any means. Gamora and her sister Nova (played unexpectedly by “Doctor Who’s” Karen Gillan) fail to produce enough character development to show anything more than effective, badass assassins. Gunn develops just enough backstory to give each character some dimension, yet there is no doubt that each could have benefitted from being more fleshed out.

However, these discrepancies do not by any means take away from the highest highs of the film. Cooper does an awe-inspiring job with Rocket Raccoon, producing a foulmouthed, Han Solo-eque animagus. Pratt, with his pop culture references and slick dance moves, provides a lighthearted, comical, yet troubled Peter Quill who, by far, steals the show. Moreover, the pop-heavy soundtrack is spectacular not only for its ability to appeal to younger and older generations, but also for its seamless integration within the storyline. The score is infectious and adds a humorous, boyish charm to these characters who are struggling to accept their status as roguish anti-heroes.

Overall, “Guardians of the Galaxy” is one hell of a ride, and it would be a mistake to miss an opportunity to witness the laugh-outloud humor and serious drama that produces this very balanced and gratifying film.

Those familiar with Marvel’s other franchises (“Iron Man,” “Thor,” “Captain America,” “The Avengers”) Sony’s “Spider-Man” or Fox’s “X-Men,” are heavily encouraged to check out “Guardians of the Galaxy.” Fans of James Gunn’s previous works such as “Slither” and “Super” will find “Guardians of the Galaxy” to continue in a similar style.

opinion Celebrating life by seizing the day The meaning of Spartan life Jacob Martin Tuesday, 9:04 am. I was walking out of the Office of Student Affairs in Adelbert Hall when my iPhone vibrated. The email preview window read, “From: President Barbara R. Snyder… Subj: Tragic News.”

On Monday evening, Case Western Reserve University undergraduates William Felten, Lucas Marcelli, Abraham Pishevar and John Hill died when the plane they were flying in crashed.

The beginning of every semester should be a moment of anticipatory reverie. But the second day of classes for the Fall 2014 semester was marred with a heavy blackness the entire campus felt by the end of the day.

Most fraternities cancelled their rush events out of respect, freshman dorms held their own vigils in the evening, and a vigil was held at 10:30 p.m. in front of the Zeta Beta Tau fraternity house. A number of students gave testaments to how their friends touched their lives and those around them. Despite the somber tone, laughter broke through in certain moments of elevated remembrance.

Why does something like this happen?

What does it all mean?

Of course, there are no concrete or correct answers to those questions, but they are important questions to discuss.

On Aug. 11, 2014, the world lost comic icon and acting genius Robin Williams.

Playing prep-school English teacher John Keating in “Dead Poet’s Society,” he uses old pictures of students as props to deliver one of the best monologues in film, establishing the Latin concept of carpe diem as a fixture in modern society.

“Did they wait until it was too late to make from their lives even one iota of what they were capable? Because you see gentlemen, these boys are now fertilizing daffodils. But if you listen real close, you can hear them whisper their legacy to you…Hear it? (whispering) Carpe. Carpe Diem. Seize the day boys. Make your lives extraordinary.”

I cannot and will not try and answer why those four students died Monday night, but perhaps these words and their implications offer a possible meaning.

Perhaps we must not look at what was lost in that tragic crash, but instead celebrate their legacies.

While I did not know William, Lucas,

Abraham or John, I know a number of students who did. After speaking with them, it’s clear that these four young men did not wait until it was too late to begin tapping into what they were most capable of.

And as if any validation of this claim is needed, they were studying at CWRU, a top institution of higher education.

Personally, I tend to find symbolic meaning in seemingly trivial things.

Around sunset on Tuesday, a daunting blanket of clouds situated themselves above our campus, only there was a hole over Mather Quad and the North Residential Village. The ganglions of lightning were impressive, the thunder echoed, and the sun cast an orange-purple-pink-red hue across the facades of campus buildings while kissing the tops of the clouds leaving traces of its bright yellow lipstick.

But it never rained. By the time the ZBT vigil began, stars were all that littered the sky.

After I read President Snyder’s email Tuesday morning, I talked with our crossing guard and good friend Officer Mark Chavis. After some back and forth, he said, “If there’s a loved one you haven’t called in a while, call them and tell them you love them. Tomorrow’s not promised, Jake.”

The sheer amount of pain this campus has felt this week is enough to demonstrate the grief of mourning. But it also shows the lesson we all must take away after the grief subsides. In his “Meditations,” Roman Emperor and philosopher Marcus Aurelius wrote, “Death smiles at us all. All a man can do is smile back.”

That is how we get through this tragedy.

We can get through anything if we embrace each other and stoically bear it. On Tuesday, CWRU did just this, going through the hardship as a strong, connected, and loving community.

We celebrate the lives of those four young men by seizing the day and making our lives extraordinary. We honor their lives by rising each day, making it to class on time, and succeeding in all that we do.

Most importantly, we smile and do it together.

Jacob Martin is the opinions editor.

When in pain he’s always found solace in Jack Johnson’s lyrics: “All of life is in one drop of the ocean waiting to go home. And if the moon can turn the tides it can pull the tears and take them from our eyes and turn them into monsoons.”

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

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Editor’s Note Reaching out As a campus, we’ve dealt with plenty of challenges in the past few years but few have hit us as hard as the events of Monday night.

People always mention how a tragedy can bring a community together. It makes a group of people forget their petty differences and remember what makes life important. But at CWRU, people have always been close. It’s always been easy to feel connected living all together on a few square blocks and sharing so many experiences. Everyone knows how quickly the optimism of a new semester becomes dread for midterms. We’re all familiar with the excitement of going out with friends, new and old, to soak the most out of the few weeks of sunny weather before the rain and snow. We all feel the expectation. For the end of our time here.

For life.

Many new students and visitors cite this sense of community as one of the factors which contributed to their decision to attend our university over others. But as the news broke about Lucas, William, Abraham and John, and as the groups of students huddled together on the lawn on Zeta Beta Tau on Tuesday, it became clear that this community doesn’t break apart once you leave a classroom, the gym or your residence hall floor. It doesn’t even stop at the level of students or administrators. It became clear that we need each other.

Grief can shut you down. Things lose color and depth. Laughter seems forced and thinking about anything else becomes impossible. Even for those of us who didn’t know Lucas, William, Abraham or John, you can feel the loss and the emptiness that closes in. You feel your throat close as you pass Greek houses or student athletes. In reality, the feelings grief brings on are so completely individual it is difficult to imagine being a part of anything. But the only way for us to grow stronger after the events of this past week is to come together.

Our professors are taking time at the beginning of lectures to share in our loss and let us know they’re here for us. Administrators have made efforts to make extra services available for students who want help coping. Students are reaching out to each other. As the brothers of ZBT or wrestling teammates move through their day, sporting black ribbons of remembrance, we all feel their loss. The sense of community is what brought so many of us here to CWRU and we’ll need it now more than ever as we mourn this terrible loss.

We here at The Observer are also trying to make peace with what’s happened.

We’re struggling. We’re trying to capture what everyone is feeling in words or photos, but we know it’s not possible for us to define or quantify these emotions with prose or print. We’re all still reeling. When it came time to put this issue together, many of us felt there was little else to discuss. We just want to find a way to keep moving forward. We’ll do our best to facilitate conversation and reflection, but it seems that the most important thing for all of us now is just to reach out.

We need to find someone or something that helps us heal or find time to be extra attentive to what others need.

Lucas, William, Abraham and John were our classmates, our teammates, our brothers. When their journeys were cut short, we also realized how essential it is for us to all make the most of our journeys. To be daring and courageous and kind.

To live in a way that represents something that’s worth experiencing. Whether you work to connect with those around you, or just try to make positive changes in your own life, the only way to honor the lives of these men who left our community too early is to remember them and the impact they made in a way that is true to their memory. The memory of men who aspired to attend a top-rated university, men who reached out to organizations that represent our school in varied and wonderful ways. The memory of men who dared to take flight.

Katie Wieser —Executive Editor and Publisher

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Ex unitate vires The elephant in the room Andrew Breland On Tuesday morning, most students woke up to a series of emails detailing a potentially scary but all-too-common occurrence in our society. A suspicious package was spotted outside the Village Starbucks. In a fashion similar to the TSA at Cleveland-Hopkins International Airport, Case Western Reserve University police closed in on the package and determined it was not a threat to the campus. This was not before, however, waking and evacuating the students lucky enough to live in Houses 3A, 4, and 5.

To those of us lucky enough to not live there, our sleep or morning routines went uninterrupted. We got up on our own schedule, or maybe that of our alarms. Some of us walked to class.

Others rode a greenie. Still more stayed in bed until noon or later, relishing the last possible day of sleeping in—sleeping off the excitement of the first night of class, extracurricular activities and fraternity rush.

Monday was altogether a good first day of the semester. The weather was beautiful if not a bit warm. Cleveland exhibited a day of sunshine and clear skies, to which CWRU students responded by sitting on the quad, outside dorms and in other grassy fields on campus, enjoying the fleeting last days of summer. Aug. 25 was a day we could all remember in January when the snow approaches knee height, the tempera-

tures dip below zero and the campus as a whole exhibits the enthusiasm and energy of a large rock.

If Aug. 25 was the example day, the next day made up for it in a big way.

After the perceived bomb threat, an episode most of campus probably found more amusing than frightening, we all received an email from President Barbara Snyder. This email was more than likely followed by immediate google searches. As news spread of the night’s events, students clamored for more information.

Of course, the email contained the announcement that overnight four CWRU undergraduates were killed in a plane crash. The reactions to this news ranged from incredulity (who dies in a plane crash?) to outright shock (how does something like this happen?). Even if students had never met those involved in the accident, they understood the gravity of the situation. The teary-eyed faces and aimless stares around campus that day told the whole story. Something was wrong and the whole of the CWRU community was feeling the impact.

That’s an important fact though. It is very rare that a community as diverse and disjointed as our own can unanimously understand anything. Students interpret things differently. This time something was different. It was especially notable that evening as hundreds of students came out in support of the brothers of Zeta Beta Tau; two of the victims were brothers of the CWRU chapter.

The fact that the support did not only come from the Greek community

is amazing. Students, Greek and nonGreek, broke what are the “traditional” boundaries of the college campus and came together when our community was at its most damaged and vulnerable point.

The support on Tuesday and in the days that followed brought to mind a CWRU tradition. In September, hundreds of students will participate in the Case for Community Day. The event, run by the Center for Community Partnerships, challenges students to volunteer to make a difference in the Cleveland area—our “community.”

It is apparent, though, that the community defined by that advertisement is not necessarily the one to which we belong. Our community after this week is more than your residence hall or suite. It is more than your 500 Facebook friends, 1,000 Twitter followers or the other 1,200 people in your class at CWRU. Our community is the group that came out Tuesday night to support our injured brothers. Yes, that night our whole campus became brothers with each other. It did not matter what letters, if any, were on your chest. That night, we were all a brotherhood. We were all a community.

But with that bond comes an even higher charge. It is simply not enough to attend a vigil, pray for those we lost and hope the problem dissipates. As a community, as a brotherhood, we owe each other far more than that. In the coming weeks, we will find that this cataclysmic shock to our soul will gradually get easier to understand. Campus life will return to normal. In the short term, fraternity recruitment, largely put

on hold Tuesday, has resumed and will conclude next week. Classes will continue on. Any academic delays due to the accident and resulting issues will be absorbed into the regular calendar. But the event will remain. In the meantime, we owe it to each other to be there as a resource.

One of my favorite songs is the classic “How Do You Keep the Music Playing.” In a particularly evocative rendition, Aretha Franklin, in a duet with Tony Bennett, asks the opening questions: “How do you keep the music playing? How do you make it last?

How do you keep the song from fading too fast?” Ostensibly a song about love, the song seems particularly befitting to our current situation. In the face of tragedy, how do we keep the music playing?

How do we make sure our work, lives, and community are not irrevocably torn apart by these events?

It is more important now than ever to be involved, to be engaged, to make sure things move on. It is important to not forget, but equally important to not let tragedy and sadness consume us.

Community, nay brotherhood, is built in times of emotional stress and difficulty. Tuesday was one of those days.

Tuesday we became community.

God, grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change, The courage to change the things I can, And the wisdom to know the difference.

Andrew Breland is the senior opinion columnist. Contact him at awb69@case. edu.

I’m a grown-up… kinda The sophomore slump Stephen Kolison For the past week, I have eaten nothing but popcorn, salad and smuggled pizza from Fribley. After completing a full year away from home, you would think that I would be able to eat a balanced meal. It has been well over 700 days since I turned 18 and the United States Government deemed me a fully legal adult; I should be able to throw things on the ground and yell about how much of an adult I am.

Grown-ups definitely do not eat cruddy food. They eat caviar and fancy cheeses with wine that they didn’t buy from a Target.

From the bottom of my heart, I want that to be true. I think that to a certain degree, all of us want the official title of “Certified Adult” without having to experience what makes us one.

It’s fun to be a kid. I would know be-

cause I was a kid from 1994 to 2013. We all look at kids with some form of envy whenever we see them play or hear them talk about ridiculous things. Children have these rose-colored glasses that seem to be glued onto their faces. We want those glasses too, but what sucks is that once those glasses are taken off, they are hard to put back on.

We can’t go to the eye doctor and ask him to prescribe rose colored contacts.

When the grown up life is thought about, the high life is always there. Not once are the low parts of life considered.

Unlike saying “ignorance is bliss,” innocence is bliss because it offers true opportunity. With innocence you can perceive the world however you want and you can refuse even the most terrible of answers. However, just like an unstoppable Terminator, Life will find you.

Life happens whether you want it to or not. When it does happen, you are forced against your will to grow up.

the the

As a good friend once told me, we are all “training to become.” You cannot expect to become a doctor without going to med school first. Even being preunemployment like myself requires some form of training. Let’s think of training to become in a higher sense. We were sent here not only to become doctors, researchers or teachers, but to also develop into something else. The beauty of saying that you are “training to become” is that it is purposefully ambiguous. I could see it as becoming a happier and more confident person while my roommates could see it as becoming something else.

Either way you interpret it, training to become means you are getting ready to be the best possible version of yourself. To stagnate that growth by wanting to return to a simpler time is not fair to you at all.

You will hate me for stating the worst cliché on this planet, but life needs to happen because it makes us stronger. Life needs to happen because it makes us human.

When life happens, we need to be honest with ourselves. Feel angry, upset, confused, happy, etc. as long as it is honest.

When we are in tune with our own hearts and minds, whatever is thrown at us will keep us from losing ourselves. Those that sent us here and care for us would hate to see us lose that sense of self. The world is a scary place to live in sometimes, but living life without truly living is no fun.

I understand wanting to stay in your place after the unexpected happens, but we all have to get going again. Just maybe when we decide to get out there and grow some more, we can find the brightest of things even in the dark.

Stephen Kolison is a sophomore psychology major and pre-unemployment student. He is a jack of all trades and master of none in training, a member of IMPROVment, and knits while watching Downton Abbey. He hopes to be a talk show host.

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Our thoughts and prayers are with our friends who lost their lives this week.

Our deepest sympathies to their families and friends in this heartbreaking time.

If you see a ZBT brother or a wrestler, be sure to give them a big hug.

They will not be forgotten.

Love a Cavalier Superstar comes to Cleveland in long-hyped trade

JP O’Hagan Sports Editor

Perhaps this will become a quadrennial sporting event to look forward too, much like the Olympics or the World Cup. Four years ago an NBA owner trashed his former superstar when said superstar left his team to join another in search of a championship. Can anyone guess who it was?

Anyone in Cleveland? Anyone? Bueller?

Four years ago, Cleveland’s own Dan Gilbert trashed hometown hero turned traitor turned prodigal son LeBron James in what has since been dubbed “The Letter” in response to James’ own “The Decision.” Gilbert trashed James’ decision to “take my talents to South Beach,” as a “cowardly betrayal.” Four years later Minnesota Timberwolves owner Glen Taylor trashed talked superstar Kevin Love after trading the three time all-star to Gilbert’s—or James’, it depends who you ask—Cavaliers.

However, the bigger story, at least for those outside of the at times bored national sports media, is that the long discussed trade of Love to the Cavaliers has finally been completed. Love received a call mere hours after James

announced his return to the Cleveland.

James was on the other end and asked if Love would like to join him in his quest to bring a national championship back to Cleveland. Love answered with an obvious yes: he, like James four years prior, was looking for a championship after years of playoff plight.

The Cavaliers introduced Love on Tuesday after finalizing the deal that sent back-to-back first overall picks, Andrew Wiggins and Anthony Bennett to Minnesota. The acquisition cements the Cavaliers as NBA Championship favorites as Love is the final piece in James’ new “Big Three.”

The Cavaliers are undoubtedly the city’s best chance at breaking the 50 year championship drought in the foreseeable future. However, the pressure and the level of excellence throughout the league will not make the road to the finals an easy one.

The pressure will be immense and the scrutiny even bigger. For now, the discussion is light and hopeful. Love chose the number 0 as his jersey number since his Minnesota 42 is already retired by the Cavs; the city can only hope the number isn’t predictive of the level of success this new team will achieve.

Suspension Browns star Josh Gordon out for season

JP O’Hagan Sports Editor

During the greatness Cleveland sports saw over the summer, everyone knew we would come down from the clouds sooner or later. We were just hoping it would be later.

As of Wednesday afternoon the Browns leading wide receiver, Josh Gordon, has been officially suspended for the entire 2014-2015 campaign. The wide out has been one of the few bright spots for the Browns since they returned to the city in 1999. The young star has already put up monster numbers in his short career pulling in 137 passes for 2,451 yards and 14 touchdowns over the past two years. His suspension removes the biggest aerial threat for Week 1 starter Brian Hoyer, the winner of the NFL’s most highly publicized quarterback position battle.

Gordon was suspended for a second failed drug test which came back positive for marijuana. There has been plenty of outcry over the past two weeks; the suspension was appealed on the basis that his urine sample tests came back with only one of two samples positive and just barely over the limit. He claimed to have gotten the positive test due to secondhand smoke. The appeal was considered by the NFL and took an

the

unusually long 22 days of time to be returned. The issue that has arisen is that this was not Gordon’s first failed drug test, as he has had positive drug tests in both college and since arriving in the NFL. He served a two game suspension last season; cutting back on the fantastic numbers he managed to put up in just 14 games.

The biggest story that will come out of this decision is the widely perceived lack of consistency for player discipline in the NFL. The league has banned Gordon off of failing half of a two-part drug testing policy. Furthermore, the NFL has been unusually gracious in the largest discipline story of the off-season, that being Baltimore’s Ray Rice caught on video physically abusing his girlfriend, and only being handed down a two-game suspension in response warranting a large public outcry. However, this is Gordon’s second failed test and the league did follow the players’ agreed upon, while misguided, disciplinary rules. The harshest sanction to come out of the suspension is that Gordon is not allowed to attend any Browns practices or function. This seems very counterproductive if the idea of the suspension is to get Gordon back on the straight and narrow.

Gordon’s suspension puts any hopes of a Browns revival on the back burner.

Hopefully the Browns can surprise the city and pull off a Cinderella story of a season.

Observer

@CWRUObserver The Observer observer.case.edu

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observer.case.edu

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Men’s soccer looking to raise the (cross)bar for season JP O’Hagan Sports Editor Spartan head coach Brandon Bianco will be looking to fine tune the promising young men’s soccer team he inherited and enhanced last season.

Entering his sophomore season as head coach, Bianco has a strong core of players and the entire organization has a year of experience under their belts. The Spartan squad will feature nine returning starters from last year, and will look to further improve on last years 6-7-4 record. Despite finishing a game under .500 last season, the Spartan’s four ties were true indicators of promise, as they were one play away from coming away with the win. In addition the Spartans doubled their wins from the 2012 campaign and cut their loss column stat in half.

Last season the Spartans established a team culture, which greatly enhanced the squad’s camaraderie and on-field production, seen in the 50 percent increase over the 2012 season and produced three All-UAA selections. The next step for the Spartans is to turn that culture into a “personality,” looking to create a Spartan style of play. The team sets their competitive goals, but Bianco is looking to establish this on-the-field identity.

“This ‘personality’ will manifest itself

in our edge, mental toughness and reaction to adversity,” said Bianco, “All of these things will lead to more consistent results. We have a good culture, but now we need more of a personality.”

The start of the season brings with it new recruits who will bring with them a unique skill set to add to the Spartan roster.

“We have a talented, balanced 11-member incoming class. All newcomers will contribute at some point, but I wouldn’t be surprised if freshmen Michael Balog, Ryan Rice and D1 transfer Matt Bahnij seeing time on the attacking side,” said Bianco, “Freshman Evan Powell and Jack Rademacher both have the ability to contribute in our backline as well.”

However, the Spartans will be looking to their experienced core who lead the charge to improving on last year’s strong season. All UAA First team selection Chris Cvecko will step into a big role in holding down the Spartans from midfield.

Sophomores Jacob Grindel and Brandon White will be big supporters of Cvecko’s in the midfield with Matt Zembas and Josh Prosser following up good spring seasons being the best weapons in the Spartan attack. Seniors Ryan Meyer and Taylor Fletcher will anchor the defense and will serve as

mentors to the incoming players.

Since the Spartans play in one of the toughest Division III soccer conferences in the country, the improvement will not be automatic nor easy by any means.

“The biggest challenge right now is finding the right mix of players who will play well together and compliment one another. If we can do that, have a

strong collective play on both sides of the ball and put to the team first then we’ll be fine,” said Bianco.

The Spartans will kick off their season tonight, at the Roanoke Invitational against the tournament host, Roanoke College at 7. The Spartans will then play Lynchburg College tomorrow evening at 5.

Courtesy Case Sports Information Men’s soccer will look to midfielder Chris Cvecko to produce in both halves.

Cross Country waits for starting shot JP O’Hagan Sports Editor

Courtesy Case Sports Information Winner of back to back Bill Sudeck Classics, Kelsey Aamoth will look to lead the Spartans to victory again this season.

The CWRU cross country teams will be kicking off their season tomorrow with the 14th annual Bill Sudeck Classic.

Both the mens and womens teams are coached by Kathy Lanese, and this will mark her 14th season leading the Spartans.

Lanese is the longest tenured female coach at Case Western Reserve University, starting back in June 2001. Lanese has coached 12 NCAA All-Americans in cross country and track, while earning multiple Coach of the Year awards. She has led the Spartan cross country teams for the past 13 years and served as an assistant for the track & field program for seven.

Lanese was appointed for her second stint at CWRU on June 5, 2001. Until 2006, she also served as head coach for the women’s track & field team. Due to Lanese’s strong leadership, CWRU cross country has been represented at the NCAA Championship Meet in each season since 2006. That stretch looks well poised to continue this season as the Spartans have plenty of experienced runners to lead the team.

Timothy Travitz will lead the men’s squad competing in all six varsity team races last season. Travitz was named a USTFCCCA Scholar-Athlete and earned UAA All-Academic honors, big awards for any student athlete. Travitz also scored in all six races and finished amongst team’s top three in each, a season which was capped by the season-best 8k of 25:45.7 to place 27th at Calvin’s Knight Invitational.

Galen Caldwell with also lead the Spartans after running in five-of-six varsity team races as a freshman. Caldwell placed ninth and was the third Spartan to cross the finish line at the seasonopening Bill Sudeck Classic with a 6k time of 20:27.19 last season and will be looking to improve upon his time at this year’s race.

Kelsey Aamoth led the women’s team in all six varsity races last season. Aamoth was also named a USTFCCCA Scholar Athlete and a member of the

UAA Presidents Council Scholar-Athlete Team. In addition, Aamoth was honored with CWRU’s Dorothy L. Hoza Award and earned first-team All-UAA honors with a fifth place performance (22:15.7) at the UAA Championship in Pittsburgh and was a NCAA All-Great Lakes Region performer for the second year in a row with a 21st-place time of 22:34.3 at Calvin. In last seasons, Bill Sudeck Classic Aamoth won the race for the second year in a row with a 4k mark of 15:33.53 and will look to add a third straight win to her already length list of laurels.

Lastly, Kristen Ruckstuhl also competed in all six varsity races last season and was the second Spartan to cross the finish line in five. She will be looking to continue to lead the Spartans and was also named a USTFCCCA Scholar Athlete and earned UAA All-Academic honors for the second straight season.

Ruckstuhl earned a NCAA All-Great Lakes Region honors with a 34th place time of 22:53.5 at Calvin and ran her career-best 4k time with a 16:07.19 at the season-opening Bill Sudeck Classic and ran a collegiate-best 5k of 18:48.4 at Calvin’s Knight Invitational and a recorded a personal-best 6k of 22:31.8 at Oberlin’s Inter-Regional Rumble.

All in all the Spartans look poised to continue on the successes of past seasons as they kick off the season bright and early tomorrow morning.

16

sports

Spartan women looking to return to success Soccer team trusts in their approach

Courtesy Case Sports Information

Spartan’s star forward Jessie Sabers collects ball in the offensive half last season.

JP O’Hagan Sports Editor Trust is a vital part of every human interaction. Trust is just as important in the heat of battle, especially on the soccer pitch.

The Spartan women will look to bounce back after an off year last season and the key to that will be a strong sense of trust. This trust will be the defining characteristic of the Spartan’s squad and something head coach Tiffany Crooks will be pushing.

“Our trust in each other will define us this year,” said Crooks “Accountability to do the work when no one’s watching, competitiveness on the field, and toughness are our keys.”

Crooks has led the Spartans to four winning seasons in the past five years with last year being the off year, when the squad went 8-9-2. Despite the losing record, the Spartans lost eight of those nine matches by one goal. These factors point to the Spartan’s positioning to bounce back into typical season

form. With this in mind, the Spartans have set the goals to return to the upper bounds of soccer excellence. “(Our goals are) to be highly competitive within our conference and the region,” said Crooks. “And to push for a return to the NCAA tournament.”

This return journey will be lead by the four seniors who have NCAA tournament experience from the 2011 campaign. The Spartans will be led defensively by senior goalkeeper Abbey Smith. Smith was a breakout star for the Spartans after transferring in last season as she started all 19 matches, worked five shutouts and kept 61 shots out of the back of the net.

Lauren Wichman is returning from injury and will be one of Smith’s supporting defenders.

“Abbey manages the game so well as a goalkeeper. Her teammates trust her and I believe she’s ready to step into a true leadership role,” said Crooks, “and Lauren is returning from injury with great determi-

the the

nation and competitive spirit and she’ll be back in our backline.”

Jessie Sabers also received an All UAA nod and led the team last season in points with seven goals and two assists. Christine Straka who is also coming off of injury will look to help fill the role left by former star Leah Levey who graduated last year and help support Sabers in the offensive half.

“Jessie is at her fittest and has the most fire of anyone on the team. She’s put in the work to have a great season. She’ll be a leader on and off the field. Also Christine Straka is back from injury as well is one of our most skillful players. She can make a big impact,” said Crooks.

To supplement this talented and experienced group of upperclassmen the Spartans will be looking to incorporate some of the younger talent. “‘New’ is a relative term with this group.

We didn’t get the chance to see a few sophomores because of injury during their freshman season, so those women will be excit-

Observer

ing to watch play,” said Crooks. “We have a good group of freshmen that are competitive and will make contributions.”

The Spartans will face plenty of challenges on their return trip to the NCAA tournament. The Spartans play in one of the toughest Division III conferences in the country and in the one of the strongest regions (the Great Lakes Region). This provides for a strong set of matchups to truly test the Spartans in this year’s campaign.

With 11 away games in comparison to the only seven at home, it will be even more difficult to pull off wins. The Spartans are prepared for such challenges though.

“There are no breaks (in the season), every game will challenge us and give us the opportunity to find out who we really are as a team,” said Crooks.

The Spartans will be kicking off their season at home tonight and will be the first official varsity athletic event on campus for the season as the faceoff against Ohio Wesleyan at 7:30 at DiSanto field.

f cwruobserver @CWRUObserver observer.case.edu