Volume XLVI, Issue 24 April 3, 2015

the

Case Western Reserve University volume xlvi, issue 24 friday, 4/3/2015

Observer Four Spartans swim at NCAA championship

Caffeine

JP. O’Hagan Sports Editor

at a

cost Village Starbucks ends $2 reusable mug program; keeps $1 coffees Meredith Dykehouse/Observer

Four Spartan swimmers stand on a pool deck in Texas. Junior Aaron Tam rocks out to classic rock and roll. Drew Hamilton shuffles across the floor, dancing and listening to his EMD playlist, “Limbo Daddy Yankee” likely blasting through his headphones.

Teammate and senior Eric Haufler listens to rock band “Rise Against,” while freshman Oliver Hudgins jams to up beat hip hop.

This is all a part of their pre-race preparation, but these races are different: They are the National Collegiate Athletic Association Division III Swimming Championships. “Everyone these is fast,” said Hudgins. “Nobody is slower than you.”

Hudgins, Hamilton, Haufler and Tam were invited to compete in 10 events at the swimming championships, which were swam back on March 18-21 at the Conroe ISD Natatorium in Shenandoah, Texas.

Hamilton, who was rookie of the year in the University Athletic Association (UAA), qualified in the 500-yard freestyle 400 IM and will also swim in the 1,650 freestyle. Hudgins swam in the 200-yard backstroke, his CWRU record-breaking race. Tam swam the 100-yard butterfly and the 200-yard fly. Finally Haufler swam alongside his teammates in the 800-freestyle relay, the 200-yard free relay, the 400yard free, the 800-yard free and finally the 400-yard medley relay.

The team earned All-American Honors for their 800-yard freestyle relay performance, after placing 14th and finishing with a time of 6:45.37.

“We were all like, ‘Damn, this is really fast,’” said Tam of their first day at the championship races. “After that, though, we got used to it.”

“The nerves are always there,” said Hamilton. “It’s just like any other race.”

“It’s really loud above the water,” said Tam. “When you are in the water, it’s just you. You kind of let your mind go blank and focus on the goal.”

“For me it’s just tunnel vision,” said Haufler. “It’s just you and your thoughts, and I’m telling my arms to pull harder.”

It was an outcry heard all over Yik Yak, but not over Leutner Commons. The Village Starbucks announced the end of their $2 drink program, which ignited social media with student fury, but no one showed up to the Residence Hall Association’s (RHA) publicized food forum with Bon Appétit management to discuss the issue in person.

The $2 drink program allowed students to get any size drink for $2 if they brought a reusable cup. Students could also get hot or iced drip coffee and shaken iced teas for only $1 if they brought a reusable mug. The goal of the program was to reduce plastic and paper cup waste by creating an incentive for students to bring reusable mugs.

On March 31, the $2 program ended. However the $1 program is still intact. Students will also receive a 25-cent discount on drinks when they bring in a reusable mug, which is an additional 15 cents on top of the 10 cents off that Starbucks offers nationwide.

“It was definitely not a knee-jerk decision,” said Jim Boland, director of Operations for Bon Appétit, adding that the decision has been in the works for months. “Our number one priority on campus is the students, but sometimes you have to make tough decisions.”

With rising food costs, offering $2 drinks that would normally cost at least $3 or $4 was no longer cost-effective. However the deci-

sion also has sustainability implications.

“The Office of Sustainability thinks it’s a really good thing to incentivize reusable mugs,” said Director of Sustainability Stephanie Corbett. “Giving discounts is one way to do that.”

The Office of Sustainability and the Student Sustainability Council (SSC) have been working with Bon Appétit on other sustainability plans on campus, including reducing plastic bag waste at Grab It and Bag It. Although they were not contacted about this decision, Corbett said that the Office of Sustainability plans on doing studies to see if there are any dramatic changes in usage of reusable mugs.

“I was disappointed to hear that the Village Starbucks is going to stop the $2 drink program,” said Grace Cammarn, president of the SSC. “It was a forward-thinking way to incentivize using reusable cups, as it taught the students to break the habit of settling for the disposable. I only hope that the customers continue to bring their own thermoses and tumblers if not for the sake of saving money, for the sake of the environment.”

Still Corbett acknowledged that the Village Starbucks offered the most generous mug discount she had ever heard of and that no other college campus that she was aware of gave a discount so steep.

“Bon Appétit and Starbucks have to make business decisions,” she said. “They’ve been really good partners in other sustainability

initiatives. While I’m personally sad to see the $2 mug discount go, sometimes business decisions are made that take into account not just environmental sustainability, but other sustainability factors as well.”

Boland echoed her sentiments, saying that, while Bon Appétit was happy to offer such a discount to students and to help reduce waste, it was no longer economically feasible for them to continue.

However many students were still upset over the decision.

“Personally the price change seems a bit unbelievable because both Starbucks and Bon Appétit are multi-million dollar companies, and yet they find it necessary to demand those with less give them more,” said freshman Rachel Payne. “It was also a Starbucks that was supposed to be there for the students, not necessarily to make a profit. The fact that they just changed their mind about wanting to provide a nice service for a reasonable price shows a lack of empathy towards the consumers.”

Boland, along with other Bon Appétit managers, attended the monthly RHA food forum on April 1 in Leutner Commons. Although many students had been posting on social media about how angry they were about the removal of the $2 drinks, and RHA had been pushing the forum as an opportunity to express their concerns, no students were present.

Bon Appétit encouraged students who have feedback on this decision or their other products to contact them via their website.

News

A&E

Opinion

Sports

pg. 2 Flower power means spring

pg. 14 Relax and roll at hangout

pg. 6 Speak up on what matters

pg. 19 NCAA rocks Cleveland

Julia Bianco News Editor

to Swim | 19

news The secrets of Safe Ride Aneeka Ayyar Staff Reporter David Allen runs a computer business and has two sons at Case Western Reserve University. He spends his nights working as a Safe Ride driver, a position which has given him a lot of exposure to the school and its students.

“I really like the intellect of the people here,” said Allen. “I learn so much from the thoughtful questions that passengers ask.”

Mike Goliat, Director of Transportation, Facility Security and Access, describes his Safe Ride program as a “great service to have at a university.”

Safe Ride serves CWRU, The Cleveland Institute of Music, The Cleveland Institute of Art, the Case School of Dental Medicine and the Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine. It is open to students and faculty alike.

Most drivers are security officers from a corporate company who have different work during the day. Being a Safe Ride driver allows them to work night hours while saving their days for work at their regular jobs.

Currently there are three Safe Ride ve-

hicles with one more during colder weather. There has been no discussion of adding a fifth vehicle despite nearly constant complaining from students that the system takes too long.

Safe Ride driver Randy Davis said the biggest problem is that students are not ready when they call dispatch. 10-15 percent of Safe Rides are no-shows because students decide to walk without telling dispatch. When one student does this, the driver has driven all the way there, thus delaying the passengers riding at that time as well as students who still need to be picked up.

In addition Safe Ride drivers are not told at what time a student requested a ride. A preconceived notion is that drivers pick up students in order of requests received. However this is in fact not true.

The drivers have no idea how long a student has been waiting for a ride.

“It’s actually not that easy,” said Allen. “As a driver it is up to me to figure out the best possible way to go to pick up as many students in the shortest amount of time. The better you know the area, the better you do.”

Each vehicle is equipped with a tablet, which uses an app called RideCell to as-

sign pick-ups to the drivers working that night. A chart displays the pick up location, the drop off location, the number of passengers and the name of the person who requested the ride. Once the driver arrives at the location and the student is notified of the driver’s arrival, a three-minute timer begins. If the three-minute timer runs out, and the student has not shown up, drivers are instructed to move on to the next request. Often the student will come out after the driver has left and call for another Safe Ride, which then gets piled onto someone else’s pick-up list.

Each night somewhere between 115145 Safe Ride requests are made.

Something else that Safe Ride drivers have to deal with—that is frequently forgotten—is students under the influence of alcohol. These students will make strange comments, harass drivers or other passengers or even vomit in the car. Every six months, someone vomits in a Safe Ride vehicle. When this happens, CWRU police is immediately called. First they verify that the passenger is over the age of 21 for legal alcohol consumption and then the passenger is taken to the hospital. Next a biohazard officer is called to thoroughly deep-clean the car, thus putting the vehicle

out of service.

Recent updates to the Safe Ride mobile app include a feedback system for students to rate their experience with a driver, receiving a text and phone call upon arrival of the vehicle and a ride-tracker system.

However there are still issues.

While the Safe Ride drivers do not get much say in their work, they do have their opinions.

“I think we should keep the added fourth driver,” said Allen. “We only use it in cold weather but honestly it just makes things a lot better. We can work nonstop for four to five hours in continuous routes rather than rushing 50 plus rides each night.”

I shadowed Allen for a Friday night.

Most passengers were quiet and did not speak much other than a hello in the beginning and a thank you at the end. One group of medical students stumbled into the car groggy-eyed and drunk. They made inappropriate comments and waved their hands in the air obstructing the view of the driver. After they were dropped off, the one sober member of the group asked the driver if he accepts tip, as she wanted to thank him for being so patient with the others. Allen politely refused and wished them a good night.

Editor’s choice

Blooming into a new season Anne Nickoloff Arts & Entertainment Editor The tulips are rising.

Green shoots have popped out of the mulch patches in front of the Thwing Center, and that means one thing: Spring is here. In the next couple of months, flowers will appear all over a once-gray campus, brightening the walkways between classes and the entrances to buildings.

While the flowers are planted seasonally, their timing lines up well with Case Western Reserve University’s commencement. According to Grounds Supervisor Daryl Costanzo, the flowers help create a first impression for visiting family members in the early weeks of May. However it is usually students who have been attending classes all year who notice flowers the most, especially after months of snow and slush.

Costanzo doesn’t deny the struggle of planting delicate flowers in Cleveland’s unpredictable weather.

“We live in a rough climate,” said Costanzo. “It’s all risky.”

Despite this the tulips survived the months of record-breaking chill. At the

Sapna Sundar/Observer This set of flower are among the 9,500 flowers which will be planted this spring. end of April, grounds staff will take three weeks to plant large annuals, specially grown in six-inch pots.

“That’s why they look so big,” said Costanzo.

The soil used to grow the flowers is made mostly out of composted tree branches and leaves collected from campus in the fall. Using these natural materials saves CWRU money not only because

they get free soil out of it, but also because they don’t have to pay to dump the natural trash anywhere. What was once trash becomes CWRU’s springtime flowers.

While many of the brighter plants come in for commencement, other perennials will continue to flourish throughout the summer and into the fall semester.

With all said, 9,500 flowers are planted each spring, produced by two local growers. They consist of annuals and perennials, along with carefully selected shrubbery.

“We’re going for a tiered, layered effect,” said Costanzo.

Costanzo’s favorite is the SunPatiens flower. Peter Yanosko, who works for grounds maintenance, says his favorite flower is the begonia.

Yanosko believes that grounds maintenance gets the most recognition for their yearly flower work, even though the bulk of their job is keeping campus functional and presentable to both students and visitors. “[The flowers] get more recognized,” Yanosko said. “Everything else we do is behind the scenes. People look at color before they look at broken benches.”

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Spotlight on research

Senior nursing student investigates how transport may affect patient health

Kushagra Gupta Staff Reporter Only a few students on campus spend 12 hours working in a surgical Intensive Care Unit (ICU), but that’s what senior nursing major Katie Broderick does at the Cleveland Clinic three times a week. From 7 a.m.-7 p.m. she monitors patients recovering immediately after surgery.

“It’s an exciting place,” she said. “You get to learn a lot.”

Before surgery patients are often transported from a local hospital to the main campus, such as the Cleveland Clinic on Euclid Avenue. However patients who are transported have been shown to have a worse outcome than those who weren’t transported.

Seeing what frequently happens before surgery, last summer Broderick measured the effects of transportation on patients.

She used a device that recorded sound, temperature, pressure and vibrations.

Broderick explained that while patients who are transported are likely to be in a worse condition in the first place, not enough research has been done to substantiate that transport doesn’t have any effects. It is a tricky situation, since already poor conditions or transport, or a combination of both, could explain a resulting bad outcome.

Over the summer, she would start her shift at 6:30 a.m. While it was supposed to end at 6:30 p.m., she would sometimes end up working well past 8 p.m. Along with her, a nurse, a paramedic and an EMT rode in the ambulance. When they got a call, Broderick would place what she calls the black box on the ambulance’s cot, where it would measure all the physical stimuli that would affect the

patient. Even after the crew had picked up the patient, she would keep the device on the edge of the cot. She gathered more data this way.

“The entire thing is transport,” she explained. “For the patient, for us coming to the room, moving them onto the cot, putting all the equipment on the them and moving them to the ambulance is all transport.”

Broderick had to keep track of time on the spot, noting the point of important events precisely. This included the time interval from when the cot was being removed from the ambulance, and when the patient was moved onto the cot and placed in the ambulance.

One of her main findings was that the conditions of an ambulance weren’t as the researchers expected. Even within the ambulance, the siren would often sound over 300 decibels. The device the team used only measured up to 200 decibels. However a lot of the time, the siren was still not used. Broderick explained that the siren and lights would only be used if an operation had to be done quickly (for example if a stent had to be put in after a patient had a heart attack).

Surprisingly helicopter transports contained fewer vibrations.

“They ensure that helicopters that will be used for transport are smooth,” she said.

Broderick did notice that blood pressure and heart rate changed more on helicopter transports, meaning they weren’t necessarily safer.

The researchers are comparing the data from transport and the events Broderick catalogued with heartbeat and patient outcomes.

As for Broderick, she is now occupied with her 12-hour shifts. Here she often has

Sapna Sundar/Observer Senior nursing student Katie Broderick studies what effect transports can have on patients’ health. She often has to put in twelve hours shifts as part of her research. to change patients’ dressing and bandages.

She says there are often drains that need to be re-bandaged. Drains are used to capture excess blood or pus after surgery.

She will graduate this May with a de-

gree in nursing. While the job may be grueling at times, she has fun with it.

“It will be really busy for two hours, and then it will go away and then come back,” she laughed.

Turning up the heat

Ohio based start-up to launch new thermal imager Sruthi Meka Staff Reporter It is difficult to imagine a sixth sense— sight, touch, taste, sound and smell seem to encompass everything that relates to human experience. However with the HemaVision, a new thermal imaging device, you can come close to experiencing an additional dimension of sensory perception.

The HemaVision, a product developed by Northeast Ohio-based company Hema Imaging, will be launching a Kickstarter campaign on Monday, April 6.

The HemaVision is a thermal imaging device that uses computer vision and analytics to diagnose structural problems usually seen in houses, offices and other buildings.

However its uses can extend far beyond simply detecting issues in construction.

Erik Beall, an MRI researcher at the Cleveland Clinic and co-founder of Hema Imaging, says the fragmentation of the consumer market allows the HemaVision to be applicable in an expansive range of fields, spanning from equipment installation to home inspection to art.

“We’ve gotten to the point where we think we can make [HemaVision] into a general purpose tool that many different types of professionals can just have in their toolbox,” Beall said. “Everyone uses [thermal imaging] for something slightly different.”

Hema Imaging revamped its product design and marketing strategy with the HemaVision. After its initial unsuccessful campaign with the Hema-Imager in

Andrew Hodowanec/Observer The HemaVision, an affordable thermal imager, will launch a Kickstarter campaign on Monday, April 6.

August, Hema Imaging aimed to develop a tool that would be more multifunctional than its predecessor. “[The Hema-Imager] had a very limited market,” Beall said. “It was just good enough to identify problems.”

A major problem with the Hema-Imager, according to Beall, related to the difficulty in interpreting the thermal images, which usually required the expertise of a professional.

Similar thermal imagers on the mar-

ket at the time were manufactured by larger companies with larger budgets for product promotion.

“There’s always been a big problem with big thermal imaging companies using customer acquisition,” Beall said. “[The companies] spend a tremendous amount of time and effort acquiring customers, and a lot of it goes to training, showing people handson how to use it and how it can save them money.”

Priced at $250 for early backers, the

HemaVision will have an image quality comparable to that of far more expensive imagers. And unlike the pricier options, the HemaVision also offers computing abilities that make it more user-friendly.

“We can help in a wide range of specific scenarios,” Beall said. “None of this is perfectly automated, but with computer vision, we can bring it 90 percent of the way to where people can pull [the HemaVision] off the shelf and start using it.”

Since the first campaign on Kickstarter, there have been over 650 pre-orders for HemaVision. Crowdfunding backers will receive a significant discount on the product during the four weeks following its launch.

After the campaign ends, the HemaVision will have a retail price of $750.

Since its initial conceptualization three-and-a-half years ago, the HemaVision has caused Beall to gain a “healthy respect” for marketing. It works out well since Beall’s wife, Courtney, who is the director of marketing for Hema Imaging, has professional experience in the field, in addition to a master’s degree in business administration from the Weatherhead School of Management.

Beall believes the HemaVision will be a more affordable and effective option in comparison to other thermal imagers. He plans to develop a customer acquisition model in the future that will further the HemaVision’s appeal as a general-purpose tool.

“We’re striving to make something that’s useful to as many people as possible,” Beall said.

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Spreading the word

Campus insider

Introducing Case Riding Club

SAVE event aims to highlight the issue of sexual assault on college campuses

Miriam Ridge Staff Reporter

Julia Bianco News Editor

This week Campus Insider sat down with Jessie Nash, the president of the Case Riding Team. For those of you wondering, “Since when does Case Western Reserve University have a horse riding team?” the answer is about a month ago, when a post to the CWRU Facebook page assessed general interest in the organization. The responses were quick and larger than expected, and with that momentum Nash was able to make the horseback riding team a reality.

The Sexual Assault and Violence Educators (SAVE) are looking to turn campus into a visual statistic with their upcoming event, a part of Sexual Assault Awareness Month. The event is designed to bring attention to the issue of sexual assault on college campuses.

From April 6-10, interested students will be asked to wear teal armbands, which can be plain or have a personalized message or statistic written on them.

What is the Case Riding Team?

Case Riding Team meets at a barn that is about a half-hour away from campus. The club consists of two groups: one for more experienced riders who want to ride competitively on behalf of CWRU with other colleges in the area, and a second for beginners and people who ride for stress relief.

The more intensive, competitive team will meet twice a week once the club has gotten up to full speed. The second team will meet once a week, but will also be open to members who can only attend intermittently.

The beginners’ team doesn’t require any tryouts or previous experience. Riding lessons with the Case Riding Team currently costs around $35 for an hour.

“It’s really cheap,” said Nash. “It’s usually around $50.”

“In the future we’re definitely going to attend the intercollegiate shows, and hopefully in the next couple of years, we may host shows in the future, which would cool and bring in a lot of money,” she added.

Funding Most of the fundraisers Nash presented would likely take place next academic year, so they’re still fairly conceptual at this point. Of the many plans mentioned

by Nash, the most memorable by far was “Buy an Equestrian Day,” where students can buy the labor of members of the team to do chores and the like. (It must be said that there will be ground rules for this to prevent any awkward situations.) Another possible fundraiser event is a fair at the CWRU Farm, potentially featuring pony rides.

Next semester the team will be able to apply for more funding to help pay for the riding fees. Once the team is eligible for more funding, Nash hopes they can host shows of their own.

“Once we get established and have the notoriety of a sports club, we may host; but as of right now we’ll have to settle for competing at other venues,” said Nash.

Membership Joining the team only requires liking the Facebook Page and contacting Nash to join the email list. In the future membership will require much more paperwork once the group is officially an intercollegiate riding team. According to Nash, membership is currently in the 20s.

Rides to the barn and funding are limited, so it takes a fair amount of arranging and maneuvering to get transport, but next semester Nash hopes to be able to have more readily available rides. The team’s membership fees will be a lump sum at the beginning of the year, which will help to cover expenses related to lessons, shows and transport. The costs of the competitive versus the casual/beginners’ team will differ so as to be proportionate to the amount of time members will be at the barn.

“Any students and any disciplines [English, Western, etc.] are welcome to join,” Nash said.

“The goal is to create a visual statistic of survivors and allies,” said Margo Suryanaga, president of SAVE. “Our goal is to create a campus wide message.”

Suryanaga hopes to make students more aware of the statistics about sexual assault, specifically the fact that one in five women and one in 16 men are assaulted during their college careers.

“People don’t know the statistics,” she said. “Our main goal is to show that this is a real issue, and on a college campus itself, the statistics are shocking.”

SAVE is reaching out to other groups on campus, including umbrella organizations like Greek Life, the Undergraduate Student Government, the University Program Board, the Residence Hall Association and individual clubs, to see if they would like to participate. The group is shooting for at least 200 participants, but they are hoping for more.

“Hopefully if people see all these student leaders do it, they will realize that its a big issue,” said Suryanaga.

If you are interested in participating, email SAVE at saveeboard@case.edu.

Tapingo to expand to more than just food Julia Bianco News Editor Starting soon you’ll be able to use Tapingo for more than just skipping the line on your late-night Denny’s run. With a new $22 million national expansion, the app hopes to move into other markets, making it your go-to for all mobile commerce.

“Students should be able to get everything they want, whether it’s toilet paper in the middle of the night or anything at all, on Tapingo,” said Vivek Wagle, senior director of marketing for Tapingo.

The app will expand to also include

local businesses and retailers, with both delivery and pickup options. “We know that students and people generally have a really great relationship with their local merchants, so that’s a big priority with us,” said Wagle.

Tapingo is extremely popular at Case Western Reserve University, with vendors ranging from the Jolly Scholar to Bon Appétit operated properties in the Tinkham Veale University Center to off-campus restaurants. The Undergraduate Student Government also recently started using Tapingo to allow students to buy tickets and make dona-

tions for events.

According to Wagle, CWRU is one of Tapingo’s biggest campuses, with over 1,000 transactions a day and 2,000 students using the application per week.

“Case is an amazing campus for Tapingo,” he said. “Students have really adopted it. We are thrilled with the student love we’ve seen.”

With the new expansion, Wagle hopes that students will be able to use Tapingo even after they graduate.

“The idea is that Tapingo becomes a hub for mobile commerce, so what you want when you need it,” he said.

Medical professionals work to improve food options in US hospitals Adithi Iyengar Staff Reporter With the growing obesity epidemic that has plagued the United States, medical professionals are protesting the presence of junk food options in hospitals.

Large fast food companies, including McDonald’s, Wendy’s and Chick-Fil-A, have contracts with many hospitals across the nation. In one example, a McDonald’s inside Ben Taub Hospital in Houston has a leasing contract that states that the more sales they make, the greater their rent increases to the hospital.

Cleveland Clinic is one of the hospitals near Case Western Reserve University that still has fast food restaurants.

“I used to work there, and it has McDonald’s, Mexican Grille and a lot of other

unhealthy things,” said licensed practical nurse and phlebotomist Veronica Gregory who works in University Hospitals (UH).

“They should definitely bring more health awareness, especially in a hospital.”

However there is still hope. Many hospitals, through the advocacy of their employees, are switching to healthier options to provide their patients and cafeterias. For example UH has a Mindful Nutrition Program, a program run by the Sodexo, the company that provides food to the hospital. Its focus is to make good-tasting food that is healthy and well-balanced.

“Since UH switched over, they have more oven-baked food and less fried food,” said Gregory. “Everything is much healthier, which is different than before when everything we had here was unhealthy. All the patients on the floor eat healthy food and get very good nutrition.”

Having healthier and fresher food in hospitals also provides knowledge about health to individuals. Showing them what food is healthy and what is not can decrease the list of ailments that come from the growing obesity problem.

“My opinion is that people are gonna eat what they want eat, but in a hospital, the patients should be able to have a better variety of food and know how to eat healthy,” said Gregory.

As of 2014, the rate of obese people in the U.S. had increased to 27.7 percent.

This is the highest rate that has been measured in seven years. These rates are prevalent in low-income areas where people do not have the knowledge of or access to healthy food.

Obesity leads to many health problems.

These include diabetes, high blood-pressure, high cholesterol and heart disease.

Submit tributes in memory of Antonio Candau, former Spanish professor Mike McKenna Director of Print Case Western Reserve University community members are invited to submit short tributes in memory of Antonio Candau, the former longtime chair of the Department of Modern Languages and Literatures and Spanish professor.

Candau who was an avid soccer fan and Spanish film connoisseur, lost his battle with pancreatic cancer in September

2013 at the age of 51.

Linda Ehrlich, associate professor of Japanese, will collect the tributes. She asks that they be emailed to linda.ehrlich@case.edu by April 6.

Stories will be translated into Spanish and presented at a ceremony held in his honor at the University of Valladolid in Valladolid, Spain, a city about a two-hour drive northwest from Madrid.

Candau completed his undergraduate degree at the University of Valladolid

and met his wife Cynthia there.

The ceremony will feature academic presentations from seven speakers in addition to the reading of the submitted tributes. Ehrlich says that Candau’s wife and children will be in attendance at the event.

Speakers will include researchers from Texas State University, Arizona State University, University of Valladolid, New York University, University of Iowa and Princeton University.

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On the beat

Hill street blues Unless you have been living in a cave, you have probably noticed that the police have been in the headlines a lot lately. From events in distant places like Missouri and New York City to events here in Cleveland itself, the relationship between the police and the communities they serve has been placed under strain. This strain has been felt by us here at Case Western Reserve University Police Department as well, so here is one campus cop’s perspective.

Policing is a difficult occupation at any time. You realize that a certain percentage of the population is always going to hate you.

You learn that part of your job is to run towards what others run away from. You see human suffering, death and evil with far greater frequency than most occupations. You learn that in the right circumstances, everyone will lie, and you learn to be hypervigilant. Yours is a profession where about 150 of your peers will be killed in an average year in the U.S. You are in a society where millions of guns are in circulation, and anyone you meet could potentially be armed, even legally so, unlike in many other countries.

While fishermen and miners may die in greater numbers, there is no occupation outside of the military where exposure to violence is so constant. Many Americans can go through their whole lives without getting into a violent confrontation—all police officers do; the only variable is the frequency depending on where you work. All these things change anyone who stays in this profession for any length of time.

Policing on a college campus is certainly different than policing in a city, and I have done both. While campus policing is more focused, the larger world still intrudes—CWRU PD officers have arrested bank robbers and other dangerous—and armed—criminals since our founding in 2006. While interaction with college students, along with the energy and ideas they bring, is one of the fun parts of this job, students can do wrong too, especially when alcohol gets involved. Police officers are given a lot of authority in our society and need to be held up to a high standard. However it can be a helpful exercise to try and picture yourself in someone else’s shoes for a minute.

Let’s look out for each other.

On the Beat is a weekly safety column written by Sergeant Jeffrey Daberko and Officer Mark (The Crossing Guard) Chavis of CWRU PD. We welcome questions, suggestions and gripes/groans/moans/complaints about campus life at policecolumn@case.edu.

CWRU Police Blotter Mar. 25 to Apr. 1

March 26: Obstructing official business—fake ID presented at door, The Jolly Scholar.

March 27: Assault—employee assaulted by former boyfriend, Case School of Dental Medicine.

March 28: Obstructing official business—fake ID presented at door, The Jolly Scholar.

March 28: Theft—bicycle, 2272 Murray Hill.

March 30: Property damage—to common area, Sherman House.

March 30: Disorderly conduct— two males arrested, ABC Tavern.

Graduate and Professional Student Appreciation Week right around the corner Gabrielle Buffington Staff Reporter The fourth annual Graduate and Professional Student Appreciation Week (GPSAW) starts this Monday. The Office of Student Activities & Leadership (OSAL) is organizing the week-long celebration, in conjunction with the Graduate Student Senate (GSS) and Graduate Professional Council (GPC).

All graduate students and professional students are urged to attend the available events that week.

Undergraduates get a lot of attention throughout the semester, so this week serves as an opportunity for the university to give another student body their share of parties, free food and discounts.

From April 6-10, OSAL will host a different event each day, exclusively for graduate students and professionals with a Case Western Reserve University ID. The CWRU community can also show their gratitude with something as simple as a note of appreciation, or something as noticeable as acknowledgement at a departmental meeting.

The first event of the week is the Kick-Off Pizza Party, which offers a huge chance for student body networking since the turnout is typically immense. It will be April 6 from 12-1:30 p.m. in the Thwing Ballroom. The last event will be the GPSAW Formal Ball on April 10 from 6 p.m. to midnight.

Students must purchase tickets in advance to attend this dressy shindig at Windows on the River, a banquet hall in downtown Cleveland.

There are a variety of events in between these two happening throughout the week and a variety of places where grads and professionals can get dis-

counts. If students present their CWRU IDs at places like Barnes & Noble, The Coffee House or even Piccadilly, they will receive at least 10 percent off a product.

Graduate Assistant Courtney Diener works in the OSAL and is excited about the upcoming week for two big reasons.

First she is happy to be part of a long tradition where graduate students and professionals can have fun together in an atmosphere just for them.

“I started getting involved in different graduate organizations to help market the programming and started noticing that there was almost a divide between graduate students and professional students on campus,” Diener said. “But from the perspective of an engaged master’s student, there is value in mingling and getting to know the entire graduate student community.”

The second reason is that she hopes the week will propel graduate and professional organizations at CWRU to come together as a strong collective.

With the recent creation of the Associate Director of Graduate Student Engagement position in the OSAL, Diener has become even more aware of just how many different organizations exist that work toward similar goals. She previously served under a task force that had discussed how great it would be if these groups were unified, and it seems like this may happen in the very near future.

“GSS and GPC have voted to unify as one organization recently,” she said. “This is really important because it means [there will be] more powerful voices for graduate students in all programs.”

Visit the GPSAW website a full list of events and discounts.

Career Center warns students about phishing scam Julia Bianco News Editor A student recently received a phishing email from someone claiming to be a representative of financial firm Merrill Lynch, saying that they received the student’s résumé from the Case Western Reserve University Career Center. The Career Center immediately notified the student body of the issue, warning others not to fall for the scam and to report any further related incidences.

The email told the student that the Career Center sent them their résumé, and that, in lieu of an interview, the student would be asked to complete an assignment involving depositing a check into their bank account and withdrawing cash.

Essentially this was a phishing scheme to obtain the student’s bank information.

The student was suspicious because the message came from a Gmail account, instead of a Merrill Lynch email account.

The student notified a professor about the email, who then sent it to the Career Center. Representatives from the Career Center informed Merrill Lynch of the problem and also immediately sent out an email to students, alerting them to what was going on. As of press time, they had not heard of any other students receiving a similar email.

According to a representative from the Career Center, they screen every employer in their system, and they have to have a company email address, not a Gmail address. A representative from the Career Center said that this was an isolated incident and that the Career Center was able to handle it well due to their close relationship with employers.

Look online Wednesday for exclusive coverage of the USG debates Find it at observer.case.edu

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Cleveland catch-up Julia Bianco News Editor We boil down what happened in Cleveland this week.

Ohio University students protest over president’s $1.2 million new home after bats force him out of old house More than a hundred students gathered outside of Ohio University President Roderick J. McDavis’ house on March 31 to protest his new $1.2 million residence. The university moved him into the home after bats forced him out of his historical on-campus home.

McDavis and his wife, Deborah, will stay in new home while their original house undergoes repairs.

Mrs. McDavis broke her right foot in February after a bat startled her.

The house’s lease will be paid by the University Foundation, a fundraising nonprofit, but students will pay the $4,318 monthly bill on the property.

The students held a “bat rally” on Tuesday, which was also attended by a number of faculty.

“Ohio University buying a $1.2 million home to fix a ‘bat problem’ is bat shit crazy,” said the Facebook event for the rally. “This shows how out of touch our administration is with the OU community. Meanwhile, there are decaying residence halls, classrooms, poor student wages and rising tuition costs.

Why should students have to struggle to get by on loans while our highly paid administrators live in gross luxury?”

More than 100 faculty also signed a letter asking administrators to reconsider the expensive off-campus lease.

“The house is a symbol of what [the president, vice president and Board of Trustees] want to spend money on,” said OU history professor Kevin Mattson to The Post, OU’s student newspaper. “It’s about what they want from the presidency. What better symbol than to seclude the president from the campus that he’s responsible for governing?”

Canton woman stabs boyfriend over salsa dispute Phyllis D. Jefferson, a 50-year-old Canton resident, stabbed her boyfriend, 61-yearold Ronnie Buckner, on March 29 because he had been “eating all of the salsa.”

Jefferson stabbed Buckner with a pen three times, then tried to knock over his TV. After that she got a small kitchen knife and stabbed him in the stomach. Jefferson left the scene but was later caught on an interstate highway.

Buckner was treated at a local hospital for non life-threatening injuries. Jefferson was meanwhile charged with felonious assault and criminal damaging.

According to Buckner, the two were sharing chips and salsa when Jefferson started yelling at him for eating all of the salsa. Jefferson later told the police that she stabbed Buckner because “she wanted to leave.”

opinion Editor’s Note

Speak your mind The case for free expression

It can be difficult to speak up. When surrounded by those who are different or even when around friends, it’s tempting to just smile, nod and move on. We stage internal monologues where the person is proved wrong, read some blogs that reflect the perspectives we share and know in our own minds that our opinion is completely correct. Unfortunately by doing this, we also get in the habit of letting things slide.

We get complacent. We start seeming like we don’t really care about anything at all.

At this point in our lives, it becomes critical that we push ourselves past the awkwardness to find a voice and make a stand for what we believe. You can stand your ground when it comes to the removal of $1 and $2 drinks from the Village Starbucks, or on some of the more sensitive issues that weigh on individuals within our community and generation.

Most of us agree that talking things out is the only way to fully come to understand one another. However we’re a campus community that is growing all the time as the student body expands; we add new faculty and support staff, and University Circle draws in new businesses and restaurants. With this growth, the opportunities we have to say what we think and stand by those opinions are diminishing.

It may have become easier to post

anonymous critiques online, but it’s become more of a challenge to find venues where people are willing to say what they think about a topic and then claim that opinion by printing their name directly alongside. Every week in this section, we publish the perspectives, musings and impassioned ramblings from members of our campus who are willing to do precisely that. These individuals are mostly students, and their arguments and ideas reflect their personal experiences and concerns.

Though the editorial staff may make some adjustments to columns to form better arguments or to increase the level of clarity, we stand by our policy to not hold our own beliefs as a benchmark for what gets printed. These individuals who choose to make themselves vulnerable by sharing their perspectives and experiences with everyone who picks up a copy of The Observer do not always represent the opinions of the majority, but we believe in giving them an open forum to argue for their sides.

In equal measure, we give everyone from the community a chance to refute that argument or add their own. Not only are we always looking for new columnists at The Observer, we also accept and publish nearly every Letter to the Editor we receive. In this issue you’ll see two of these which speak with the voices of two

community members who have recognized that they need to speak up and contribute to a discussion rather than just getting frustrated by what others have said.

I’ve been extremely grateful for the fact that most of our issues this year have included submissions from our readers, who felt compelled to craft a reasoned and passionate response to one of our articles or columns. Without these letters, arguments are monologues rather than open dialogues, something we never want to occur.

Our pages aren’t the only place to share what you think. With the end of the academic year, the Undergraduate Student Government, Class Officer Collective (COC), and the Residential Hall Association will be asking for the student body to vote on next year’s representatives. It is essential that all members of this group take the time to learn about the candidates and cast their vote for the individuals they feel represent their best interests.

Within the past year, this organization has motivated some major changes in the lives of students, particularly those who are members of a student group. It’s important not to take for granted that people will act in the way you would or in a way which reflects your wishes. We all have to protect ourselves from being misused, which means we have to make sure our voices are heard either in committee, in the voting forums or

in a printed publication. Even if you can’t find a candidate that supports what you believe in, consider running as a write-in campaign like COC’s class president of 2017, Gabriel Murcia. When you have a chance to make a positive change, it’s your responsibility to do so.

I’m getting ready to graduate this semester and my time at CWRU is coming to a close. I haven’t agreed with everyone I’ve met here. Sometimes I’m shocked at the opinions expressed by my peers, and I wonder how they came to such a conclusion. When these instances occur, it’s tempting to just end the conversation as quickly as possible, but as we’ve stated in this section earlier this year, we have to lean into discomfort. Only by having difficult conversations and arguments can we discover the root of our grievances and find a way past them. So please take the time in the next few weeks to speak your mind and claim your beliefs. You may not enjoy the experience, but you just may influence a change in our community.

Katie Wieser Executive Editor

Administrators: fix Clark Hall and give KSL money The meaning of Spartan life Jacob Martin The end of this semester marks a roughly three-year stretch of Clark Hall’s status as “under construction.” I still don’t understand why there is green scaffolding obscuring the entrances around Clark Hall, but I have a few ideas.

First, administrators (and all those who are in charge of building maintenance at the decision-making level) just don’t care about Clark Hall. After all they did just build a brand-new university center practically next door, not to mention the New Residence Hall being built in the North Residential Village.

Second, older buildings are on the radar of these decision-makers but they are not priorities. The only reason for this is politics, the conflict over scarcity. Money and other resources are scarce, and a new university center and residence halls will bring in more profits and serve as centerpieces for marketing ploys.

Clark Hall and other older buildings are

just classrooms, but shouldn’t the upkeep of classrooms be near the top of a priorities list, especially when the problem has persisted as long as it has? By neglecting Clark Hall, administrators are quite possibly saying that students are not the priority here at Case Western Reserve University.

For example if the Tinkham Veale University Center is distinctly not a student center, why is the Office of Faculty Development located in the Thwing, which is considered a student center?

My guess is that it’s some political manifestation of a monetary underpinning because let’s face it, money is the only thing that matters at CWRU. This brings me to my third idea, funding. Is the university lacking in funds to repair Clark Hall? I haven’t asked about this matter because frankly I don’t care what the building needs or how much its repair would cost. If we can afford to construct a university center, a new athletic facility, new dorms, a new think[box] and a new medical building in conjunction with the Cleveland Clinic, as well as restore an old

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. However, Opinion columns reflect the views of their writers and not necessarily of The Observer staff. For advertising information, contact The Observer at (216) 302-4442 or e-mail observerads@case.edu.

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

LETTERS TO THE EDITOR should be e-mailed to observer@case.edu or submitted on our website at observer.case.edu. Letters can be mailed to 10900 Euclid Avenue, Suite A09, Cleveland, OH 44106. For policy and guidelines related to the submission of Letters to the Editor, refer to observer.case.edu/submit-a-letter.

temple, can’t we afford to fix Clark Hall?

Fourth idea, humanities are less important than other university pursuits. The CWRU Daily email newsletter’s main story is overwhelmingly dominated by heath, science and technological news. CWRU is a medical and STEM powerhouse, but apparently it doesn’t care about the humanities housed in Clark Hall.

Fifth, to reiterate, CWRU only cares about things that make it money. For example students are getting new dorms because students pay tuition and need a place to stay. The university center was built, and it has already brought a return on investment. The new building to be built in partnership with the Cleveland Clinic benefits the largest budget allocation entity, the CWRU School of Medicine, and allows both partners to pool not just academic but financial resources.

What I find so fascinating is that all this money spent on new buildings and not Clark Hall, but also the fact that other areas of the university are in financial crisis, namely Kelvin Smith Library. Another

columnist and I wrote a piece on this last spring, and recently a news story ran outlining the persistence of a poor library.

Do CWRU administrators and financial decision-makers not see the irony?

What good do fancy, shiny new buildings matter if scholarship isn’t supported? A novel solution: fix Clark Hall and give the library more money. I’ll be more than happy to attend a donor’s or board of trustees meeting to lobby for funding these things, but I’d like to think our administrators are paid to ensure such essential things are taken care of.

CWRU administrators need to remember that they have jobs because of students.

If students have increasingly unsafe classrooms and under-resourced research spaces, then students will leave and a big glass barn won’t do any good.

Jacob Martin is a weekly opinion columnist for the Observer. He’d like to again see Clark Hall without green scaffolding. It has more character than any university center.

the observer

established in 1969 by the undergraduate students of case western reserve university executive editor & publisher KATHLEEN WIESER director of design MEREDITH DYKEHOUSE director of print MIKE MCKENNA director of web & multimedia JESSICA YANG director of business operations TAYLOR MORAN advertising & marketing manager COLE MORRIS account manager MARCUS GUTIERREZ news editor JULIA BIANCO a&e editor ANNE NICKOLOFF opinion editor AQUENE KIMMEL sports editor JP O’HAGAN advisor BERNIE JIM multimedia editor HARSHA CHANDUPATLA news layout CHRISTINA CHENG web editor JOE SATTERFIELD a&e layout ROBERT BROWN copy editors MARIA FAZAL sports layout AMANDA LI ADITHI IYENGAR sports BROWN opinionlayout layoutROBERT BETH MAGID

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opinion

4/3/15

Letters to the editor In response to Jacob Martin’s March 27 letter to the editor m. c. Perrin To the editor, It is completely unacceptable to publish an article that persistently misgenders a trans person. I’m referring to the most recent misguided article Jacob Martin wrote about my friend, Zak Khan.

This is not a good look for this paper or this school. You can’t say that you “acknowledge the presence of emotional triggers” and then write an entire article that does not respect a transgender person’s identity, obvious proof that you do not understand triggers. Reading this article as another non-binary trans person who uses they pronouns which are never respected by others, is just further proof that we are not seen as people who exist or deserve to be respected at this school or in society at large (like the proof isn’t everywhere else we look, too).

Khan’s pronouns are used clearly in the byline of each of their articles, which Martin must have seen after reading the article he is responding to. Misgendering them after seeing that is not accidental: It means that he saw the “they” pronoun, decided that he knew better than it and chose to assign a binary gender to this person. Especially when Khan’s has written articles addressing their nonbinary status before, there is no excuse for Jacob Martin, and there is no excuse for anyone who assigns a gender to others without their consent.

For the record, before using pronouns for Martin in this letter, I checked all of his bylines for one that used a pronoun and have been in a class where his pronouns were confirmed. Martin has denied that we live in a world that consistently uses and exploits people’s bodies in nonconsensual ways, then makes judgments about another person’s body nonconsensually. Martin’s misgendering is an example of the rape culture that he has adamantly denied; his flippant suggestion

that he has been discriminated against based on a statement in Khan’s article that did not cause him any harm or bar him from opportunity is harmful and trivializing to those who do experience discrimination. His article upholds actual systemic oppression— oppression that has been killing people for thousands of years.

Cis-gender, white, neurotypical, temporarily able-bodied, financially privileged white men need to stop acting like they know anything. They need to stop talking about people’s lives like they’re just theories. They have no understanding of what it is like to be systematically erased, dehumanized and oppressed. They need to shut up and listen, and I don’t mean wait around for other people to stop talking so they can spout their willfully ignorant hate speech. They need to stop posting articles that are triggering like they’re just “harmless opinions,” and the editors need to step up. And not let persistent misgendering of one of their own columnists just slip through. They’ve succeeded in creating an unwelcoming environment for anybody who’s different. Of course, that’s the goal. m. c. Perrin Junior

Siba Saker To the editor, One of the first things I do when I visit another university is pick up their school newspaper to get a feel for the culture that exists on that campus. The newspaper is a reflection of the student voices and is a platform for discussing the things that they find important. This past semester, there have been times when I have felt shocked at what was

being voiced in my school newspaper.

I would like to respond in particular to Jacob Martin’s recent letter in response to “How do I adult” and “When we’re too afraid to fight back,” because it embodies a collection of attitudes that I find disappointing in some of my peers at Case Western Reserve University.

I have two main points that I want to address.

1) “The virus of radical political correctness (PC)” I would like to call into question the vague nature of Martin’s concern regarding political correctness.

Throughout his entire response, he neither defines what he means by political correctness, nor does he cite ways in which CWRU has specifically implemented “an increasingly PC culture” (although he alludes to the Bias Reporting System as being reflective of this culture, without talking about how it does this). By “politically correct” does he mean discussing things in a way that’s respectful and affirming to the identities of others? By “politically correct” does he mean discussing things in a way that steers clear of racist, sexist (etc.) language?

Conflating acts of discrimination with merely “things [people] don’t want to hear” (as per Andrew Breland’s description) is harmful because it brushes off the strong negative impact that discrimination has. Discrimination is rooted in systematic mistreatment and power, and writing people off as being overly sensitive to language fails to situate this discussion within that context. Our academic institution has the responsibility to understand the causes of discrimination in order to foster a community of respect and safety for all members.

This “PC language” creates the space to have discussions in a productive and respectful environment. This leads into

my second point.

2) “A bias reporting system is not a bad thing, to be sure, but it should be established after the tough discussions are had.”

“Without having discussions on these issues in a safe, constructive and critical arena, a bias reporting system is like putting a Band-Aid on a broken spirit.”

I want to emphasize that these discussions are happening. The Bias Reporting System was not implemented on a whim and with no input from the community. Students have continuously been voicing concerns, and the Bias Reporting System grew out of these discussions (again, discussions that are still taking place).

“How can one effectively talk about race, LGBT issues, diversity and economic issues on campus if we are always worried about offending someone and being fearful of saying what we believe or think?”

You have these discussions by being respectful. Involving oneself in these discussions requires both careful listening and recognition of people’s experiences. Involving oneself in these discussions requires ensuring that you’re not perpetuating invalidating attitudes by insisting that people who experience discrimination necessarily adopt your perspective on how they should feel.

I completely agree with you; it is time to “grow the hell up.” Growing up and becoming an adult involves educating oneself about privilege and power. It’s time to “grow the hell up” and learn how to have mature discussions while being cognizant of the impact of one’s language. These issues are deep and complicated, and to talk about them we need to make sure we’re listening intently and thoroughly doing our research.

Siba Saker Senior

Note from the editor In last week’s issue, we published a Letter to the Editor from columnist Jacob Martin in which columnist Zak Khan was misgendered several times as “he” instead of “they”. Using correct pronouns is completely essential toward building a community of respect, and we sincerely apologize for the error.

This letter, as do all of our articles, went through several rounds of editing by different editors, and we strive to follow Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation (GLAAD) media guidelines; that we missed this was a mistake which we all deeply regret. On behalf of The Observer staff, we apologize to Zak Khan and our readers.

Sustaining the bridge Cleveland in Color Sarah Jawhari Your university is the center of a poor city, a relic of the industrialized riverside hub it once was. Despite Case Western Reserve University’s expansion in recent years (Uptown and MOCA come to mind) and despite consistent volunteer efforts throughout Cleveland, communities “across the bridge” on Euclid have preserved their poor, rundown structures, their unhealthy, uninformed inhabitants and their problematic reputation, spotted with CWRU Security Alerts.

Groups on campus work tirelessly to remedy this, providing an environment for students to acquire community service experience. They give invaluable services to the public, notably health screenings and education. But I wonder what is so flawed about this model and why these communities have stayed the same for decades—poor, unhealthy, uneducated?

I believe that what we do is a start, but it is not enough.

For example as students at the Case

School of Dental Medicine, one of the services we provide yearly is a “Sealant Program,” which delivers sealants and dental checkups for elementary and middle school children. For many children, this is their first encounter with a dentist. For some it may be their only exposure.

A noble effort with many benefits, but I’ve always felt we get more out of it than the kids do. As our first true patients, we deliver a service while using their mouths to learn—sometimes something as simple as how to hold the dental mirror.

This means the tone is give and take, and it shouldn’t be. Efforts should be sustainable once begun.

It may not be true of all volunteers, but how many students will proudly stack up community service hours on their applications to graduate school or internships, never to volunteer again?

Even if we love making a change, the change, even in the most generous eyes, is very small. Despite all the hours we volunteer, Cleveland stays Cleveland. The impact is a ripple from a pebble tossed into Lake Erie.

The solution does not have to be a massive institutional change. We don’t need funding from outside benefactors, or paid positions for volunteers to provide incentive. We don’t even need a new view of volunteering (the idea, for example, that it should go unreported on college and program applications). We can keep things as they are.

But what about changing our program approach? What about sustaining the bridge we claim we are building?

Population education and screening does nothing if the influenced populace cannot afford what they now know they need.

Our volunteering model centers on education and prevention. But if a patient has an obvious tumor and can’t afford care, what good is the screening? It may benefit them to learn, but it would benefit them more to have access to treatment.

If the patient knows their family’s diet is all saturated fats, but cannot afford healthy vegetables, what good is our pamphlet? A community garden would be a better, more sustainable approach.

Turning lots into gardens cures an eyesore and a hunger pain.

The services we currently provide are a start—a wonderful start, at that—but as I think beyond the possible, I envision an altered approach.

If I asked inhabitants of lower-income families in Cleveland what they needed, they would tell me about essentials: clothes for their children, healthy food, acceptable health care, sanitary transportation systems, safe educational institutions, improved neighborhood safety and nicer housing.

While many groups already cater to these needs, my thinking is: the more, the merrier. My goal in the next few years as a student will be to add to our current volunteering model and challenge CWRU groups to do the same. Let’s make a sustainable impact that the community can grow from, and eventually the disparity between our little college town and the hood down the road won’t be so big or so bad. What good is the bridge, if we are the only ones crossing it?

Sarah Jawhari is a student at the Case Western Reserve University School of Dental Medicine.

opinion

observer.case.edu

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Keep CWRU clean Don’t be a butt Guest column Anne Nickoloff Arts & Entertainment Editor One day as I worked my way toward my psychology class in Gund Hall, I approached the regular smoking corner, sandwiched between the Peter B. Lewis building and the Cleveland Institute of Art. It’s a popular one.

As a student dragged the last puff from his cigarette and exhaled a breath of smoke into the cold air, he looked to his left. Then he dashed the small cigarette butt on the sidewalk, ground it into the slush with his boot, and ran into PBL. A trashcan was approximately threeand-a-half feet from where the student previously stood.

Let’s be real; I have no idea who this student is, but he’s probably done it before, like a select handful of classmates here at Case Western Reserve University. He might be like the group of five who, as they meet near the trash can every few days, all decide that it’s not worth it to dispose of the cigarette butts, and instead scatter them in the same area.

Note: Not all smokers, not even most smokers, engage in littering their cigarette butts. This is a small group, and I commend the vast majority of students who take littering seriously.

Also I don’t smoke cigarettes, and I don’t really care if other people smoke; that’s a personal decision. In the fall of 2013, Andrew Breland wrote an opinion discussing the cons of smoking and included an argument against having a smoking campus. He included the fact that cigarette butts are a huge form of litter at CWRU. I don’t agree with Breland’s opinion of having a no-smoking campus. However

I do agree that littering needs to stop.

I’ll relate this to an analogy: Sometimes in the mornings, I eat a banana for breakfast. If I was walking to class with a banana peel, and threw it on the ground (and to be more accurate, if I threw it three-and-a-half feet away from the garbage can), would it be littering?

Yes. “But it’s biodegradable!”

Nope. It’s still littering.

(Something worth pointing out: At least bananas are biodegradable; those little filters at the end of a cigarette are actually plastic, not natural fibers. If it weren’t for CWRU’s custodians and facilities teams, those cigarette butts would be around for much longer than we will be.)

Speaking of CWRU’s custodians and facilities teams, they’re already overworked enough. Now that it’s finally spring and the snow and ice have melted, those little fibrous ends are still there, waiting for someone to scoop them up, along with the new ones deposited daily.

Sure this isn’t going to show up on the Police Blotter. People aren’t going to get arrested for this, not on CWRU’s campus. But did you know that any litter, in the state of Ohio, is punishable with a fine of $500 and potential jail time?

Tell me I’m making a big deal of this, go ahead. If you’re going to say that though is it a big deal for this handful of students to take two steps and throw their cigarette butts into the trash can?

They might have to deal with butts, but they don’t have to be butts.

Anne Nickoloff is a junior studying English and Psychology, and hopes to be an arts and entertainment journalist someday. She loves the city of Cleveland and all its squirrels.

Please, take care of your garbage My commuter life Abby Assmus Recently I got a study room upstairs at the Kelvin Smith Library with a friend. After walking into the room, I was surprised at how dirty it was. There were empty pop and juice bottles on the ground and granola bar wrappers and empty chip bags flowing out of the very full trash can. The table had a broken pen on it and pencil shavings spread across it. Technically the room should have been cleaned by this time since the signs in every study room say that rooms will be cleaned out every night. However I do not understand how the room got so bad in the first place.

If the garbage can was already full, it would have been easier to hold onto the trash and throw it away in a trashcan on the way out of the library, instead of leaving it spread across the room for someone else to clean up. I have noticed the same type of litter in other public places on campus, such as bathrooms with paper towels flowing out of the trash and onto the ground, where people seem to take the housekeeping staff for granted. We are all technically adults here at Case Western Reserve University and are responsible enough to at least properly dispose of our own trash instead of solely relying on cleaning staff.

Not only is it inconsiderate to them, it is also rude to other people that want to use these public spaces.

It is easy to forget that we are respon-

sible adults while in the bubble of college. However simple things like being considerate with your trash make all the difference when preparing for adult life after college. There won’t be a janitor or cleaning person that will pick up the extra trash and wipe off tables when you are living alone. It is also just the polite thing to do. The cleaning staff on campus should not have to deal with so much built-up trash when there are plenty of trash receptacles in buildings and across campus. Instead of letting trash pile up and leaving it everywhere, just walk it to the closest trash can.

Small actions like picking up your trash, especially in public and shared areas on campus, make these places nicer for everyone. It is not a difficult thing to do, especially since we are not children and should not have to rely on a cleaning staff. Picking up the garbage and keeping places clean is a basic adult skill that everyone will one day have to deal with if they do not have to take out their trash already.

Even though CWRU might not teach the everyday skills of adult life such as getting a mortgage or a car lease, it should not have to teach responsible adults how to keep public spaces neat and to pick up their trash. Not only is it something that is pretty easy, it will also just make public places look nicer for everyone and show an appreciation for the cleaning staff here.

Abby Assmus is a senior English and History major.

Brag about yourself, Cleveland Pup peeves Zak Khan I like to think I have talent in some things. I did manage to land this writing gig. But like most Clevelanders, I don’t actually often tell others about what I do. Newly admitted Case Western Reserve University students often have the complaint that “nothing happens in Cleveland,” but perhaps the better claim is “nobody talks about what happens in Cleveland.”

In the mash-up that is New York values combined with Midwestern niceness, Cleveland does most of the things the coasts do—we just don’t seem to tell anyone about it. For instance Cleveland

is home to such diverse activities as wintertime surfing on Lake Erie, LGBTQ roller disco parties, pinball competitions, Cleveland-Style Polka parties, Dyngus Day, street fairs, farmers markets’ and more. Its population growth of recent college graduates outstrips places like NYC. It contains hundreds of restaurants and cuisines. Yet it seems one can only find this out if one digs.

Perhaps our reluctance to brag and boast about what we do, unlike locales like Portland or San Francisco, is a reflection of a distinctly Cleveland mindset: We do the thing; we just see little need to brag about doing the thing.

Our food culture is based on real food that actually tastes good, not long lists of adjectives describing fads like cronuts

or foam. Our work ethic leads to a strong sense of getting things done, and not talking about getting things done.

This may also be part of where the problem lies. If we don’t talk about the things we do, how can we introduce newcomers?

In days of Cleveland past, when it was home to nearly a million people and fostered scenes like Jazz and Modernism, there were simply enough people around to continue on traditions like Cleveland Kurentovanje (a Slovenian late winter-early spring carnival) or clambakes. But now after it has seen a great exodus to the suburbs, its traditions and history deserve broadcast. Cleveland is not a generic spot on the American landscape. Its history is rich, diverse and incredibly complex. Its traditions are unique and distinct, a wonderful hybrid of Middle

America with Eastern Europe and New York City. Newcomers add the influences of Asia, Africa and beyond.

As CWRU students, we too can learn a lesson here. It is not always best to keep one’s head down. Sometimes our accomplishments deserve to be shouted down from Terminal Tower’s observation deck. We are capable of great things, even in the face of a crippling workload and an administration that at best is described as “benevolently neglectful.” We are as much a part of Cleveland as anyone else, and we should make that clear. So go on, brag about yourself.

Zak Khan doesn’t even go here anymore, but they have a lot of feelings and angry barking.

Thumbs up/thumbs down Aquene Kimmel Opinion Editor The second installment of everyone’s favorite whenever-we-have-room-inthe-layout feature.

Flowers are blooming because it’s spring now.

If there’s one lesson to be learned from Cleveland winters, it’s that Seasonal Affective Disorder is very much a real thing. If there’s a second thing to learn, it’s that wind obeys no natural laws save for maybe the law of conservation of evil, as no matter which direction you are walking in the wind is going the opposite way. This is finally at an end though, and flowers are growing up through the soil as our warm weather victory flags. Let’s enjoy them and

try not to think about how fast time can pass and how soon enough winter will be upon us again.

See “Blooming into a new season,” page 2 Village Starbucks eliminates most cheap drinks If I were to give Bon Appétit’s Starbucks decision a 0-Star rating, that would just leave “bucks.” Which, conveniently enough, is what motivated this decision. Bon Appétit is a corporation, and we can’t really change the fact that they are driven by profit (sorry, Marx), but that doesn’t mean we have to keep playing along. There’s another, better Starbucks just a few blocks away on Euclid. I know we’re all lazy college students, but isn’t it worth a few weeks of less convenient coffee to show Bon

Appétit that we care more about cheap frappuccinos than literally any humanitarian or environmental cause you can throw at us? Boycott Village Starbucks!

(No, seriously. Let’s do it.)

See “Caffiene at a cost,” page 1 Chefs at Euclid Tavern Yummy food, the always-fun Euclid Tavern and drinks—that of course I could have no opinion on due to my under-21 status. It’s tempting to give this a thumbs down because this fantastic food was going on less than a mile away while I enjoyed my daily gruel at Leutner. However that wouldn’t be journalistic ethics or something, so I’m stuck giving it the positive rating it deserves.

See “Happy Dog brings Uptown chef to Underdog for inspired tasting,” page 14

Browns sanctions We cheated (okay, we possibly cheated). Shame on us. Except that we really didn’t get all that much in terms of punishment, so yay for us. Much like the National Football League seems to have when they gave the Browns a fairly low fine and no cut in draft picks following the “text-gate scandal,” I am giving the Brown a symbolic “tisk tisk” with the above thumb down.

See “Text-Gate Scandal Penalties Revealed,” page 18

For more sassy comments and simplified ratings of this week’s big stories, see “Thumbs up/thumbs down” at observer.case.edu.

arts & entertainment Chutney Rolls shutters doors due to lack of foot traffic, catering orders Mike McKenna Director of Print Case Western Reserve University lost one of its most unique restaurants earlier this month when Indian restaurant Chutney Rolls closed its door after a year and a half.

Located on Murray Hill Road near Rising Star Coffee and Valentino’s, Chutney Rolls was a quick walk away from the South Residential Village dorms. Its menu featured wraps and bowls inspired by classic Indian dishes, as well as appetizers, including samosas, and smoothies.

According to sophomore Sammie Jacobs, who started out helping with marketing and then moved into the catering and office manager position, the restaurant wasn’t profitable. She said that the business looked lucrative a couple of times, but it just didn’t work out in the end.

She noted that high employee turnover, low foot traffic and a less than expected number of catering orders were all troubles for the restaurant .

It closed unexpectedly on Saturday, March 14. Jacobs said that the decision came quickly. She noted that she was the first person who the owner, Hrishue Mahlaha (a CWRU graduate), told. She wasn’t alerted until the Monday before the closure. She said she was unsure if

Ki Oh/Observer With little warning, Chutney Rolls closed early last week to the disappointment of many CWRU students. all the employees knew it was going to happen.

Chutney Rolls was born out of Mahlaha’s dream to open a restaurant, said Jacobs. It started originally as a food cart, gaining popularity until he moved into the restaurant business.

Chutney Rolls prided itself on being active in the campus community, frequently hosting fundraisers for various campus groups. One such event included a collaboration with Case Cycling Club, where the group delivered orders for the restaurant in exchange for 10 percent of

the week’s profits.

Sophomore Arjun Gopinath was really disappointed by the news.

“It was really close to South Side residential halls and was available till late at night, so it was nice to have food options so close by,” Gopinath said.

Welcome to Urinetown Footlighters’ opening show glitchy, but good Anne Nickoloff Arts & Entertainment Editor

Courtesy Eric Su Footlighters put on a captivating performance of “Urinetown” last weekend, full of political commentary and humorous musical pieces.

At the opening night of a show, you need to take mistakes with a grain of salt.

Actors are still fully getting into their roles, set changes can be a little clunky and lighting and sound crews often have only had a couple of days to actually practice their complicated changes.

That’s why there is definitely a lot of wiggle room in reviewing the Case Footlighters’ production of “Urinetown” last Thursday, March 26.

While there were lighting mishaps and a couple of muted microphones, the troupe still performed well for an opening night.

And despite the Jolly Scholar’s Karaoke Night thumps occurring throughout the entire play (which was held directly upstairs, in the Thwing Ballroom), the show still went on.

Although it took place in the chaos of Greek Week, the group managed to fill around 40 percent of the audience seats, due to a prospective student night free-ticket deal. The lights dimmed, the small pit band began to play and the show was off.

“Urinetown,” a dystopian musical comedy about a world with too many people and not enough water, is self-aware to say the least. Characters constantly break the fourth wall to speak out about what will happen in the next scene or to comment on the ridiculous nature of some dialogue.

All actors in the play took up a specific flair, whether it was adopting New Jersey accents or repetitive twitches. Still it took

a few of the actors a little while to warm up into their roles. When Officer Lockstock (junior Suraj Saifullah) first entered the stage, he lacked the meanness his sort-of evil policeman character needed. But later when he came back with a growled warning, “Not in my town!” there was no coming back from his humorous (but still evil) character.

Similarly freshman Aaron Magid started out as seemingly too nice for his role as Caldwell B. Cladwell. He seemed like a greedy but caring father, rather than the corporate monster he really was. It wasn’t until “Don’t Be a Bunny” that his despicable nature came forward, complete with a nefarious cackle to top it off.

These supporting actors were stronger highlights in the show than the main characters. Bobby Strong’s teenage rebelliousness was his only noticeable characteristic in the plot; even though junior Jacob Lang tried to break his character out of its cookie-cutter mold, it ended up staying stuck in its starstruck hole. Honestly this character’s most memorable moment onstage was his death, when he was pushed off a building by villainous fiends.

Much the same can be said of Hope Cladwell, played by freshman Bessie Bulman. Her bubbly, lovely personality was a little more quirky than Bobby Strong’s, but the character fell into the same trap of the “love interest.” Still one couldn’t help but utter an “aww” when Lang and Bulman embraced onstage for a kiss after an endearing (and slightly nonsensical) song together.

The acting was mostly spot-on, and if it wasn’t great at first, it improved throughout

the show. However the same can’t be said for the technical aspects of “Urinetown.”

Microphone problems led to hushed whispers being transmitted over the sound system, and certain microphones were not turned on during key moments in the show.

Lockstock’s microphone took between five and 10 minutes to function properly in Act II of the play.

Additionally toward the beginning of Act II, the lights in the hallway outside of Thwing Ballroom turned on, flushing the entire stage with a faded white light. It took a couple of minutes to turn off and distracted from all stage action during this time.

It’s also worth mentioning, once again, the ever-thumping bass from the Jolly Scholar just one floor below, even during tender moments, like Lang and Bulman’s kiss.

From what I hear, the performance only got better over the weekend. As with any theater show, most of the issues in Footlighters’ production of “Urinetown” were probably due to the troupe’s freshness onstage. The show had many more highs than lows, and the lows were easily excused.

Overall it was an entertaining night full of singing, laughs and (not so surprisingly) political messages. Despite the laughs in “Urinetown,” the show still provided a thought that lingered long after the show.

As Lockstock looked out at the audience and asked, “Don’t you think people want to be told that their way of life is unsustainable?” the audience was forced to ask themselves that question too, despite the giggles.

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observer.case.edu

CWRU Thoughts The Case Western Reserve University community is known for thinking beyond the possible. Each week, this column aims to capture a slice of campus life.

Association (uISA) at CWRU, and every year we have the cultural show, ANDAAZ. It’s been an amazing experience.

Just knowing that I’m part of something on that scale is awesome, and I feel like uISA allows people to experience new things when they come to college.

Q: What are you majoring in?

A: Biomedical engineering.

Q: What made you decide to major in that?

A: I moved from India after high school, and I wanted to do pre-medicine. I guess I chose BME so I’d have a fallback if medicine didn’t work out, and I didn’t know how the medical field worked here.

Over time in my sophomore year, I realized I liked BME better, and I decided to drop pre-med.

Q: What are some differences between India and the U.S.?

A: In India everything is more based on memorization, but here you learn why things work, how things work—it’s more logical, the way you learn. I really like that about the educational system. Everyone is a lot more open socially, and it’s a more accepting culture.

Q: What’s been your favorite experience at CWRU? A: I’ve just met a lot of awesome people, joined some great organizations and I feel like I’ve learned a lot here at CWRU. I’m in the Undergraduate Indian Students

Stephanie Kim/Observer

Maria Fazal Copy Editor

The Case Western Reserve University community is known for thinking beyond the possible. Each week, this column aims to capture a slice of campus life.

Stephanie Kim/Observer

Carpe Summer

Q: What are you majoring in?

A: Finance.

Q: What made you decide to major in that?

A: I was always interested in money and how companies can go about making it or not.

Q: What are some of your memorable experiences at CWRU? A: I really enjoy my film classes with Professor Spadoni. I take away a lot from that. I’m minoring in film, and that’s what I want to do when I get out of college, work in that industry either on the creative side or the business side.

It’s something I’ve always been really interested in.

Q: What’s been your favorite part of the class?

A: Learning how to watch movies outside of class. You start to pick up on things, like what to look for and different motifs.

Q: Do you have any movie recommendations?

A: “There Will Be Blood”—that’s my favorite movie. It’s just an awesome movie, and it’s by the best director [Paul Thomas Anderson] that’s working right now, in my opinion.

summer.case.edu

Feel like you’re swimming against the tide? Don’t let your course load pour cold water on your graduation plans. Maybe it’s time to ride the Summer Session wave!

Taking summer classes can help you work ahead or reduce your course load, graduate on time (or early), or improve your performance in a previously completed class.

And the cost? Well that’s another kettle of fish altogether. Tuition for courses numbered 1-399 is just 50 percent of the regular rate, so you’ll save money, too.

With more than 100 courses—including 25 new offerings and eight study abroad courses—Summer Session allows you to focus on completing core requirements or electives during a term that’s shorter and less stressful than the rest of the school year. And summer courses offer the same high-quality CWRU education with smaller classes and significant savings.

Stop feeling like a fish out of water—carpe summer by making your plans now.

Registration starts March 30, but view the course schedule at summer.case.edu.

May Term: May 11–29 8 Week Session: June 1–July 27 5 Week Session: June 1–July 2 4 Week Session (1): June 1–26 6 Week Session: June 15 – July 27 4 Week Session (2): July 6–31

Summer Session 2015

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ZBT’s Nearly Naked Mile streaks again Brian Sherman Staff Reporter Residents of the North Residential Village may be raising an eyebrow on April 4 if they look outside their windows, as they’ll probably see a large crowd of people running in nothing but their undies.

While this may at first seem like a large portion of the student body has finally snapped under pressure, these people are actually participating in Zeta Beta Tau’s (ZBT) Nearly Naked Mile event.

This charity event, which was started last year by senior Max Young, starts on April 4 at noon and will have participants running a mile-long course starting at the ZBT fraternity house and travelling past many of the residence halls on the North side of campus. Food and refreshments will be provided once the run is over.

Participants who haven’t already registered will need to show up an hour earlier with $5 and two articles of clothing to donate. Despite the name, participants are not required to be “nearly naked.”

“The idea is to essentially donate the clothes off your back and go running,” said Young. “But if people don’t feel comfortable running in their underwear, they can run in a costume or another set of clothes if they choose to.”

When proposing the event last year, Young wished for this to be a culminating event, capping off ZBT’s charity Get On the Ball Week, which had started about four years before.

“Get On the Ball Week had always been doing pretty well, but it always sort of just ended at the end of the week,” explained Young. “I felt like we needed some big event to wrap everything up at the week’s end.”

Get On the Ball Week, which began earlier this week and ends on April 3, had several ZBT brothers roll a giant beach ball around campus to raise awareness for Children’s Miracle Network Hospitals (CMNH) and Rainbow Babies & Children’s Hospital

Runners pose for a picture after last year’s Nearly Naked Mile, many sporting ZBT t-shirts.

(RBCH) and collect signatures on the ball.

Various businesses in the area have pledged to donate a certain amount of money to CMNH for every signature collected.

Proceeds from the Nearly Naked Mile and t-shirt sales will also go to CMNH, who will put the money directly towards RBCH. RBCH uses this funding to provide various special services to the children in the hospital to help improve their time in the hospital while struggling with severe medical conditions or illnesses.

“Waking up without any sort of pain or discomfort is something we tend to take for granted,” commented Young. “You don’t

think about it, but these kids are dealing with that every day. CMNH makes good use of the money we donate to help improve these kids’ daily lives.”

While the money raised by the Nearly Naked Mile will go to CMNH, clothing donated by the participants will instead go to Junior League, an organization that helps teenagers leaving foster care at age 18 find jobs, clothing and a direction on where to go in life.

“Once they turn 18, the state of Ohio gives these kids a check for $200 and sends them on their way,” said sophomore Joseph Palmeri, who will be organizing the event this year. “Junior League is designed to help them get their lives started.”

Courtesy Joseph Palmeri

“It’s easy to connect with Junior League, being a student around that age myself,” continued Palmeri. “I don’t know what I’d do if I was just given some money and not told anything else.”

Last year’s events have been pretty successful, with around 120 runners in the Nearly Naked Mile and over 2,000 signatures on the ball, raising over $2,700 for charity. This year ZBT hopes to grow the Nearly Naked Mile even further, ultimately raising more awareness for CMNH and Junior League.

“These events are a good way to get involved,” said Palmeri. “It’s great that everyone is coming together to support people who benefit from these charities.”

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From Broadway to Euclid Playhouse Square announces 2015-2016 lineup

Sunny Kalidindi Staff Reporter This year’s Annual Broadway Season Launch Party focused on bringing back some youthfulness to the season with not only its show, but also its lineup of plays for the 2015-2016 season.

Like in many Cleveland programs, there was a focus on reinventing the city and bringing people downtown, as reflected by President and CEO of Playhouse Square Art Falco’s speech. He began the show by introducing the vision he had for the theaters at Playhouse Square. This included renovations for some of the theaters, as some have them have not been renovated for over 30 years. He cited recent renovations to the Ohio Theatre as an example.

In keeping with the theme of engaging with a younger audience, Falco also discussed introducing more children’s shows to the district to attract the younger audience and their families. Another end goal was to bring more pre-Broadway shows.

“Producers around the country look at Cleveland as a market with a really strong fanbase,” said David Greene, the director of programming.

Greene is hoping to introduce preBroadway shows to the Cleveland audience over the next couple of years.

The modernizing aspect of the future of Playhouse Square was also reflected in the launch show. There were several attempts to connect with the younger audience with a twitter hashtag of “BWYinCle,” which was displayed before the show began with a rotating display of tweets and Instagram pictures that people in the audience shared. Speakers also encouraged the audience to tweet about the event on their “Tweeter accounts” and the host of the evening, Playhouse Square executive producer Gina Vernaci, also led a group tweet.

After all the speakers presented, the show began with a performance from “The Lakewood Project,” a rock orchestra from Lakewood High School. The young musicians were excited to perform on such a beautiful stage, and the audience simply loved their show.

The event’s target audience were the 32,000 season ticket holders who filled the theater. According to Vernaci, this was the highest amount of season ticket holders for any off-Broadway location.

The crowd consisted of mostly middleaged to older Caucasian viewers. Judging by the whoops and claps, they were definitely excited for the direction Playhouse Square was going and were even more excited with the lineup.

First up will be “Bullets Over Broadway,” written by Woody Allen and directed and choreographed by Susan Stroman (of “The Producers”). Infused with Allen’s signature style of humor, the musical is set in the 1920s and tells the story of a young playwright who tries to make it big and ends up being financed by a mobster. The musical features pop and jazz tunes and as Vernaci noted, it is essentially a “musical version of Allen’s films.” The musical is set to run from Oct. 6-18, 2015.

Up next, running from Nov. 3-15, is the 2014 Tony Winner for Best Musical, “A Gentleman’s Guide to Love and Murder.”

The musical was described as a combination of “Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street,” “Monty Python” and “Downton Abbey” and is also set in the early 20th century. In this witty musical, the main character, Monty Navarro, finds that he is ninth in line for an earldom with

eight pesky relatives (all played by the same actor) who are in his way. As you can guess from the title, there’s really only one solution to this problem.

The first musical of 2016 is the more modern “If/Then” which will run from Feb. 9-21. It is told from the perspective of a 40-year-old woman, Elizabeth, whose marriage has ended. She finds herself debating whether she should follow Cupid or her career path. This introspective musical explores a series of “what if?” questions, as Elizabeth tries to figure out in what direction her life is going. Directed by Michael Greif, who also directed “Rent,” this show promises an exciting soundtrack with a couple of pop-rock ballads.

Following “If/Then” is the smash hit “Beautiful: The Carole King Musical,” which was nominated for seven Tony Awards. This musical tells the story of singer-songwriter Carole King, who first started in the industry at the young age of 16. The introduction of this musical also featured a brief performance from Meggie Cansler, who sings “(You Make Me Feel Like) A Natural Woman.” Several people in the audience sang along softly and it seemed that this musical will feature a foot-tapping soundtrack. “Beautiful: The Carole King Musical” will run from April 5-17.

“Matilda the Musical” comes to Cleveland next from May 3-22, after a successful run on West End and Broadway. It has won seven Olivier Awards and five Tony Awards, including “Best Book of a Musical.” The production will feature a rather unique set composed of letter blocks and a younger cast, which the directors hope will attract families and younger crowd. Greene hopes that the musical will also attract college students who grew up with the book that the musical is based on.

“Steel Magnolias” will follow “Matilda the Musical” from May 21- Aug. 21 and will bring a new sense of Southern charm into town. Not much has been revealed about this production, but the classic promises to throw it back to a time of big hair.

Closing off the season is the highly popular Sir Andrew Lloyd Webber period piece, “The Phantom of the Opera.”

The announcement of this show, running from June 15-July 10, received the loudest cheers from the audience. The show has been produced here in Playhouse Square several times since its 1986 West End opening. Greene noted that it has always been a crowd pleaser, and he’s excited to see how the audience will react to this recent production. It promises to be opulent at the very least, with 18 trailer trucks carrying set pieces, lighting, costumes and more for the production.

The show ended shortly after with a closing number from Cansler and The Lakewood Project, which reflected this upcoming year’s lineup of old and new, traditional and modern. The variety of the shows offered this upcoming season also showed that the directors were interested in attracting larger and newer audiences, from classics like “Phantom of the Opera” to traditional Broadway glitz in “Bullets Over Broadway,” to the family-friendly favorite, “Matilda,” the dark humor of “A Gentleman’s Guide to Love and Murder,” to the nostalgia of “Steel Magnolias,” the jukebox and foot-tapping “Beautiful: The Carole King Musical” and finally to the modern production of “If/Then.” Tickets are on sale for all seven shows and Playhouse Square’s Smart Seats gives balcony seats to all of these productions for the price of $10.

Jessica Yang/Observer Playhouse Square’s Broadway series announcement came with a party in downtown Cleveland.

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Playlist of the Week Teddy Eisenberg Staff Reporter

“Dream Lover”— The Vaccines The biggest British band you have probably never heard of, The Vaccines, are four platinumselling blokes from West London that mix the fuzz of The Black Keys with the swagger of the Arctic Monkeys and the cool of The Strokes.

“Dream Lover” is the newest dark and poppy single off of the group’s yet to be released third album, “English Graffiti.” Look for it May 26 on Columbia Records.

“Billy Not Really”—Death Grips

If asked to describe the sound of experimental hip-hop group Death Grips in one word, “schizophrenic” may be the first that comes to mind. The dissonant keyboard samples and complex rhythmic raps of Stefan Burnett (also known by his stage name, Ride) seem to skip and skid off of every sonic surface, making the listener sprint just to catch up with “Billy Not Really.” Although there is still some uncertainty about their status as a band, it is nice to hear Death Grips back doing what they do best on their newest double album, “The Powers That Be,” out March 31 on Third World Records.

“Spring (Among The Living)”— My Morning Jacket “Boy, I was ready for spring,” croons My Morning Jacket frontman Jim James on the group’s latest single, “Spring (Among The Living).” The sentiment of this tune is certainly one that many Clevelanders can identify with, as this sprawling, six-minute epic finds My Morning Jacket perfectly at home amongst intricate guitar work, thundering drums and ethereal harmonies while they shake off the shackles of winter. “Spring (Among The Living)” joins nine other tracks on “The Waterfall,” out May 15 on Capitol Records.

Cultural groups come together for Night Market Anne Nickoloff Arts & Entertainment Editor This past Saturday, March 28, Thwing Center’s atrium transformed into a market of different foods and stores at World Expo: Night Market, the first collaborative event between cultural groups.

Though this was the first time the event has occurred, President and founder of The International and Multicultural Exchange (TIME) Brittany Chung said that planning for the event started in the fall of last year.

The Night Market was a collaboration between TIME, Taiwanese American Student Association (TASA), Asian American Alliance (AAA), African Student Association (ASA) and La Alianza. The theme of the night itself came from TASA, the group which took the lead in planning the event.

Different booths included foods like bubble tea, pad thai, peanut brittle and candies. Others included ornate elephant statues for sale, bowl painting and bracelet-making.

Nana Afia Mensa, a member of ASA, sold foods at her booth for the majority of the event, but had the chance to explore other booths during downtime.

“It was pretty cool that we were able to collaborate together,” she said. “I think collaboration is very important to cultural groups.”

Mensa also stated that the event allowed ASA to present to a group of people they would not have normally been able to reach.

This helped the group advertise its upcoming

cultural show, Africa Rising: From the Ground Up, on April 11.

World Expo used tickets instead of currency for goods at each of the different booths. Tickets were 50 cents each, and items could be bought for varying amounts of tickets. Once the cultural groups got their tickets, they were later reimbursed for the monetary amount of the tickets.

According to Chung, all money earned through the tickets was pure profit for the organizations involved. “At this time of year, some groups have started scrounging for cash,” she said.

World Expo: Night Market is the start of what will hopefully become a tradition.

Though only 10 organizations had booths this year, Chung said that even more groups wanted to be involved next year and continue to expand the inclusive event.

In a year with as much focus on diversity as this, World Expo: Night Market was a chance for all types of students to celebrate the cultural differences inherent to Case Western Reserve University’s student body.

“All these groups were able to come together under a unifying theme,” said Chung.

“It was pretty inspiring. No matter what our differences are, we should be able to come together and unite.”

Event: World Expo: Night Market Date: March 28 Location: Thwing Center Atrium

“Something Good”—Dead Sara “Something Good” represents a soulful change of pace for hard rockers Dead Sara, a group known for their love of loud guitars and the snarl of lead singer Emily Armstrong. While both of these signature elements are present in spades on this new track, the flavor of “Something Good” is distinctly different, more like Alabama Shakes and Paramore than previous work. Dead Sara’s latest, “Pleasure To Meet You” is out March 31 on Pocket Kid Records.

“Way She Moves”— Scott Weiland & The Wildabouts

Retro Pick of the Week:

After being kicked out of both Stone Temple Pilots and rock supergroup Velvet Revolver due to drug-related problems, Scott Weiland is back with The Wildabouts, a group that mixes the psychedelic glam of his vocals with robust bluesrock. The tune “Way She Moves” in particular calls to mind the riff from T. Rex’s “Bang a Gong (Get It On),” conjuring up a healthy supply of classic rock vibes. These vibes are particularly bittersweet, however, as guitarist Jeremy Brown passed away on March 30. Rock out to the group’s first album, “Blaster,” in his memory, available on Softdrive Records March 31.

“I’ve Seen All Good People”—Yes

Yes are the definitive British progressive rock band, painting vast musical tapestries filled with gorgeous melodies and virtuosic playing. “I’ve Seen All Good People” is just one song in their catalog that displays those, marrying a dainty folk melody with resplendent acoustic guitar before transforming into a guitar-driven jam. With progressive rock having vanished almost completely from the mainstream of music, bands like Yes are an essential musical touchstone for those curious about the genre’s origins and rock and roll in the 1970s.

Find all these tracks online with our weekly Spotify playlist at observer.case.edu 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 8-10 a.m.. and co-hosts the variety talk show Max and Teddy in the Morning at Night (Sometimes) on Mondays from 5-6 p.m. The crackle of vinyl warms him on cold Cleveland nights.

All photos courtesy static.gigwise.com, genius.com, rockcellarmagazine. com, grimtgoods.com, 91x.com & wikipedia.org

Jessica Yang/Observer World Expo: Night Market brought together different cultural groups from CWRU’s campus for an evening of food and fun.

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IMPROVment shows the campus a good time Julia Bianco News Editor

Courtesy Brittany Bishop Improvment’s Lake Effect event brought togehter local improv comedy groups from around the state of Ohio to perform in a day of laugh-filled performances.

Happy Dog brings Uptown chef to Underdog for inspired tasting Teddy Eisenberg Staff Reporter There are a lot of things to admire about the new Happy Dog at the Euclid Tavern. They restored a legendary institution, and it can now be enjoyed by a whole new generation of Clevelanders.

Their business model is based around hiring and helping musicians, because they understand the importance of a steady income to a budding rock star’s career. Perhaps even more impressive than these things, however, is the Happy Dog’s desire to foster a sense of community by experimenting with new and different ways to bring people into their bar and restaurant.

This week Happy Dog at the Euclid Tavern debuted “Uptown Chefs in the Underdog,” a unique dining experience that draws upon the immense culinary talent situated within University Circle.

Chef Doug Katz of the Cleveland Museum of Art’s Provenance and Shaker Square’s Fire Food & Drink, teamed up with the Euclid Tavern’s own head chef, Daniel Garcia, to present an inspired four course Italian meal. Each tackling two courses, Katz and Garcia dazzled the palate with ingredients that stretched far beyond the Happy Dog’s usual hot dog toppings and tots.

IMPROVment brought the laughs to the Tinkham Veale University Center Ballroom on Saturday, March 28, with their fourth annual Lake Effect improv show, which brought Case Western Reserve University’s team together with two teams from Ohio State University and one from Bowling Green State University for a night full of fun.

The 250 attendees were welcomed in by the upbeat pop hits of Taylor Swift. The event was free for all, including a Bon Appétit-catered intermission, and the ballroom was practically filled.

The night started with Ohio State’s Fishbowl Improv, who did a long set that had the audiences in stitches. Highlights included an art teacher facing the harsh reality of his divorce through his students and a dramatic love story between two second-grade drawing partners split by one’s promotion up to the third grade.

The bit escalated quickly, when the girl (played hilariously by one of the team’s largest men) witnessed her two love interests fight in a dramatic drawing contest, a 48 pack of Crayola crayons acting as their weapon. Of course granny smith apple had to be taken out, because, “We both know if you have granny smith it’s basically cheating. Street rules.”

The next team, the Plastic Shatners from Bowling Green State University, were not as funny as Fishbowl, but they were still good. Their set involved quicker improv games, including a singing game, which, while funny, was difficult to hear at times.

The third team of the night, 8th Floor Improv, was also from Ohio State. Their set was long form and much more connected than Fishbowl Improv’s— all of the bits started to come together and the elements bled over into each other in a very funny

Editor’s choice

Relax and roll at the hangout

Tiffany Cheung Two exquisite parsnip agnolotti started Staff Reporter the meal, accompanied by a savory broth, onions, chili oil, herbs and a garnish of thin slices of radish. Of the four dishes prepared, this Chef Garcia original was undeniably the highlight of the night. A refreshing salad of kale, brussels sprouts and pine nuts prepared by Chef Katz followed, with croutons composed of polenta and ricotta cheese. These croutons were so delicious they could have constituted a dish all their own.

Moving into the entrées, Garcia cooked walleye to perfection and complimented it with a medley of romesco, braised fennel and chickpeas. Housemade pork sausage finished the menu; served with a cauliflower puree, white bean ragout, fennel, carrots and peppers.

For the four dishes, a pairing of three drinks that included a classic Negroni, choice of Italian beer or red wine, and newly minted bourbon and gin cocktail called “The Mutt” perfectly complimented the meal.

The meal served for the inaugural “Uptown Chefs in the Underdog” rivaled the best of the best Cleveland cuisine. Here’s to hoping this becomes a monthly addition to the Euclid Tavern’s repertoire in their ongoing mission to bridge Cleveland’s East-West divide. With more meals like this, anything is possible.

way. Ranging from aliens doing Madonna’s “Vogue” dance, to kids wanting to surf on top of a school bus, to an 87 on a test coming back to haunt someone in a job interview (a fear of CWRU students everywhere), their set had something for everyone.

IMPROVment was up last, playing a few shorter improv games that showcased the humor that they bring to campus at their weekly shows. Sophomore Stephen Kolison brought some of the best lines of the night: “Pretty people get what they want.

And people who aren’t pretty have to try hard and become engineers,” and “This is Harriet, she’s my frenema. It’s like a friend who helps you pee,” were just a couple of examples from some really great stuff.

Another bit that also really stood out was an improvised fairy tale about a girl forced to live with smelly hands, which really showcased the team’s talent for physical comedy.

The show ended with a massive game of Freeze, played with all of the teams. Even though there were too many people to fit on the stage, it was nice to see the game expand to include more and more people from all of the schools.

Although one of the teams scheduled to perform, Kid Business from Oberlin College, couldn’t make it, their absence wasn’t hard-felt. The show went on for the perfect length of time, and the teams really came together in a great way.

I left the show with sore abdominals and an endorphin rush that lasted all the way through the late night Denny’s run and “The Even Stevens Movie” screening that rounded out my night (because, you know, Saturday night). If you’re interested in seeing IMPROVment in action, they have free shows every Saturday night in the Eldred Black Box theater, including a special April Fool’s show on April 4 at 9 p.m., where they will be playing a set of brand new and rarely played improv games.

Ready to roll? CWRU Hammocking Club and Case Western Longboard Club will be having a hangout on Sunday, April 12 at 2 p.m. in Doan Park. The two clubs will meet students at the bottom of the elephant stairs so everyone can walk over to the park together.

Case Western Longboard Club describes themselves as a club with an open and inclusive environment for all members and potential members. Since its start, the club has been looking for members that want to longboard and have a good time. “We want to show people that they do not need much previous experience to be in the club,” said Ettore Fantin-Yusta, vice president of the club.

“I hope to build interest in longboarding as a club,” added Longboarding Club President John McCaffrey.

CWRU’s Longboarding Club has weekly meetings, open to all students, on Fridays at 4 p.m. outside of Veale Athletic Center—weather permitting.

CWRU Hammocking Club describes themselves as one of the most chill clubs around, that just wants to have fun (in their hammocks). Students have probably seen the club around campus casually relaxing in the middle of the engineering quad and Leutner Pavilion. Since

they are a new club, they are looking for anyone who will be interested in hammocking with them.

Earlier this year, the Hammocking Club took its members on a hammock camping trip to Cuyahoga Valley National Park, where members were able to explore the wild outdoors. The club also partook in CWRU’s Farm Festival earlier this year.

The goal of the hangout event is to build campus awareness of the two clubs.

“Most people would be interested in both of these clubs, and this event is to bring the two clubs and its potential members together,” said President of the CWRU Hammocking Club, Claire Holliday.

At this event, there will be hammocking and longboarding. For those that do not have their own hammock or longboard, the two clubs will make sure that there are enough extras for everyone.

It would not be a proper hangout without food; at this event, there will be fruits, vegetables and a peanut butter and jelly sandwich station. They will be selling white t-shirts for $2, which can be tie-dyed at the event as well. Additionally Landyachtz Longboards is sponsoring giveaways at the event, including tshirts, hats, dice and more.

The two clubs are excited to work together and even more excited for the event. “We really want this to be an annual hangout,” said McCaffrey.

a&e 15

observer.case.edu

“Get Hard”: Offensive, but funny Roy Chan Staff Reporter Offensive? Definitely. Homophobic and racist? Check. Prison rape? Mentioned every 30 seconds. But is the movie hilarious? Oh yes it is, very much so.

“Get Hard” will not garner stellar critical reviews due to its crude and sometimes cringe-worthy humor that so very often walks the tightrope of attempted satire. First-time director Etan Cohen— a comedy writer for films like “Tropic Thunder” and “Idiocracy”—carefully infuses “Get Hard” with exaggerated American stereotypes and blatant class inequality. It will make you erupt with dirty laughter or utter disgust, and then it will make you slowly realize that people like this actually exist.

First, we meet James King (Will Ferrell), a hedge fund manager who lives in Bel-Air. After the chief executive officer of the company, who is also his future father-in-law, makes him partner, King is unexpectedly framed for fraud and sentenced to 10 years in San Quentin State Prison. He hires Darnell Lewis (Kevin Hart), his long-time car washer, to help him survive prison life, simply because Darnell is African-American and therefore must have been to prison.

A working-class father who has never been to jail, an offended Lewis accepts the job for the money.

The absurdity of a white-collar crime resulting in a 10-year sentence at one of the oldest and most notorious U.S. prisons sets the tone of the film fairly well. Ferrell bolsters the ridiculousness by depicting the privileged “one percent” in its worst fashion, whether it be stretching naked behind a floor-to-ceiling window inside his mansion in front of his gardeners or suggesting blackface

as a method of blending in in Crenshaw, Los Angeles’ largest African-American community.

It’s undeniably funny because of King’s convincing unawareness of his offensiveness. Hart pulls his own weight as well, showing us homophobic attitudes and racial stereotypes. In one scene, Lewis describes the frequency of gay sex in prison, and King recoils in fear and disgust, while in another scene, Lewis simultaneously acts as three prisoners: one gay, one black and one Latino.

By placing racist stereotypes and homophobia in the same vein as class differences, Ferrell and Hart present them together as issues that society still has to deal with despite strides of progress.

Although much of the material borders on being simply mean-spirited and insulting, Ferrell and Hart’s deeper satirical intent shows. They take the most deplorable people in this country (e.g. neo-Nazi skinheads and corrupt whitecollar criminals) and present their vilest qualities on-screen, pushing the limit of provocation for some viewers.

Regardless of whether you find certain scenes insulting or hilarious, “Get Hard” says enough of the right dialogue at the right time enough to generate consistent laughs. Rude jokes abound in the film, and they will make you acknowledge the level of familiarity that disturbing (and funny) scenes have. If you want to laugh hard at a film that is a mashup of a satire and a farce, go watch “Get Hard.”

Film: “Get Hard” Starring: Will Ferrell, Kevin Hart Release Date: March 27, 2015 Rating:

WRUW 91.1 gives students a chance to redo their high school prom Campus radio station to host second annual Punk Prom Temi Omilabu Staff Reporter Did you miss your high school prom, or was your high school prom an experience you would rather not revisit? If you would like the chance to redo the promenade that marked the end of your high school years and ushered you into college, or even if you had a blast and would like to do it all again, WRUWFM 91.1 can help. This Saturday April 4, from 9:00 p.m. until midnight, WRUW will host its second annual Punk Prom at Happy Dog at the Euclid Tavern.

Punk Prom is an alternative-style formal dance and concert that allows you to do prom again—the right way. No more mediocre DJs that insist on playing “Call Me Maybe” and Taylor Swift.

Say goodbye to the extremely awkward adolescent experiences that come with the idea of asking your cute classmate to dance with you. Grab your friends, your formal outfit of choice and head down to Happy Dog for a spectacular musical experience. Enjoy retaking a cheesy prom photo and all of the decorative hallmarks that signify high school prom.

This event saw its inception last spring, but Teddy Eisenberg, a junior

who has been involved in planning Punk Prom, assures us that this year, it will be bigger and even better. Eisenberg reminisces that last year the headliners, Shannon and The Clams, were beyond enthused and got really into the event— they even came dressed in prom attire and made sure to perform a variety of school-related covers.

“We’ve brought in rising indie pop stars Beverly as our national headliner and moved the event much closer to campus,” said Eisenberg.

Last year, the event was at the offcampus Mahall’s 20 Lanes, but with the new nearby location, transportation to and from the event should not be a problem. Eisenberg also added that any person with a Case Western Reserve University, Cleveland Institute of Music or Cleveland Institute of Art student ID will gain free admission.

Join Eisenberg and the rest of WRUW on Saturday for a night to remember.

Event: Punk Prom Location: Happy Dog Date: April 4 Price: Free with student I.D.

Theorist Charles Altieri discusses his new book on aesthetics in art Sierra Blanton Staff Reporter On Friday, March 27, Charles Altieri, an English professor from University of California, Berkeley, visited the Tinkham Veale University Center to give a presentation on his upcoming book, “Reckoning with Imagination: Wittgenstein and the Aesthetics of Literary Experience.”

The book is coming out later this year and Altieri wanted to summarize and

He spoke of the relationship between philosophy and literature. Altieri also went into detail of the “valuing” that happens in text with morality and the self-reflection of a reader’s actions. discuss the ideas he wrote about, which involved philosophy, expression and aesthetics in art.

In the Senior Classroom, rows of

chairs were set in front of the podium and most of the seats were taken. Light chatter filled the room until Altieri was introduced.

Altieri stepped up to the podium and made some humorous remarks as he introduced his work. Prepared with a speech in hand, Altieri read out his summary to the audience. He took pauses to explain things further and to give examples in a loud clear voice, showing his enthusiasm for the topic.

He spoke of the relationship between philosophy and literature. Altieri also went into detail of the “valuing” that happens in text with morality and the self-reflection of a reader’s actions.

Afterwards discussion ensued as several hands went up to ask questions to get a further understanding of his theories.

With his good humor, Altieri answered the questions and even demonstrated a point with the Robert Creeley poem, “Something.”

The thoughtful discussion ended once the clock hit 4:30 p.m., an hour and a half after beginning. However, Altieri remained to speak and answer more questions with some as they went up to him while the rest of the audience trickled out.

Movie treats at Short.

Sweet. Film Fest Alex Clarke Staff Reporter Short. Sweet. Film Fest is perfect for those that either love film, love Cleveland or get bored easily. According to one of the Short. Sweet. Film Fest’s film judges Dave St. Clair, you’re “never committed to a two hour movie that sucks.” Sign me up.

This festival has been progressively growing each year and is an amazing example of a CWRU Alumni accomplishment.

Mike Suglio, a Case Western Reserve University graduate, started this film festival as a local Cleveland filmmaker who wanted a chance to showcase his own films on a smaller scale (as compared to the Cleveland International Film Festival held annually) and thought other local filmmakers might have the same problem. That first year, 50 people showed up, but each year it has been growing with both attendance, film submissions, length (that is, the number of days—the films are still short) and variety of what’s going on at the festival.

Coming close is Short. Sweet.’s fourth festival, and the estimated attendance has grown to the point where the location has moved to Metropolitan at the 9’s Alex Theater. Metropolitan at the 9 was named top new hotel in Cleveland this year, and Suglio is really excited to be hosting the festival there.

This year there were 100 submissions of films under 20 minutes in the categories of fiction, non-fiction, animation, local, student and international. Sixtyfour were chosen. Also, Suglio will be showing one of his own films, titled “A Tribute to the Fallen,” for the first time at any of the festivals.

Some of the films that will be showed at the festival range from a documentary created by chicken farmers about the inhumanity of chicken factories (“Chicken Factory Farmer Speaks Out”) to a fictional film about a guy approaching a girl at a bar (“Blush”), to a film about the return of Lebron James (“Welcome Home”). The film judge, Dave St. Clair, said that this may be the best year of submissions, calling the films “dynamite.”

Some other differences between Short. Sweet. and other film festivals is that you aren’t restricted to normal movie food (aka overpriced popcorn); there will be actual restaurant food and alcohol served. Also many of the filmmakers will be there to present their film and to answer questions about their process, inspiration, etc. On top of that, there are seven local bands playing (including some CWRU alumni) and local businesses. Even representatives from the Jolly Scholar will be there to announce future plans and changes.

Event: Short. Sweet. Film Fest Location: Alex Theater; 2017 E. 9th St. Date: April 10-12 Price: $15-40

fun

observer.case.edu

fun page | 15

Horoscopes Aries

Spring is here. Bust out those umbrellas.

Taurus

Spring is here. Grab some allergy medication.

Gemini

Finals are quickly approaching.

Though your first instinct may be to run and hide, face your fears.

Netflix will be there for you when all is said and done. Relax and prepare for the academic battle.

Nutcase

Cancer

April Fools may be over, but that won’t stop someone from making you look like a fool.

Leo

Go outside and enjoy as many sunny Cleveland days as possible.

Virgo

Knock knock. Who’s there? CWRU. CWRU who? What? Who? Okay.

Libra

April showers bring May flowers, now is a good time to get in touch with your green thumb.

COMICS Ivory Tower

Kevin Yong

Scorpio

You can’t stop the beat.

Ophiuchus

You’re going to find great wealth this week.

Sagittarius

Take time to explore downtown.

Capricorn

Like, does he have a car?

Aquarius

You’re pretty. Good for you.

Pisces

Across 1. Roll a ball 5. To the rear 10. Bristle 14. Dull pain 15. Steam 16. Visual organs 17. Unnecessarily 19. Harvest 20. Glass container 21. Signed 22. Anagram of “Stabs” 23. Burdensome 25. Country of the Nile 27. Half of a pair 28. Standards 31. One who is excessively proper 34. Wild Asian dog 35. Arrive (abbrev.)

36. Breezy 37. Brandish 38. Perishes 39. Neither ___ 40. Roof overhangs 41. Feel 42. Disciplinarian 44. Calypso offshoot

45. Nerds 46. Inauspicious 50. Tribes 52. Implied 54. Ribonucleic acid 55. Horse feed 56. Billy club 58. Place 59. Habituate 60. Competent 61. Contributes 62. S-shaped moldings 63. Fastens Down 1. Stringed instrument 2. Sea 3. What place?

4. Directed 5. Boulevard 6. Savors 7. Church alcove 8. Drivels 9. Attempt 10. Colorful wrap 11. Asthenopia 12. Nipple 13. Vipers

18. Kings of the jungle 22. 8 bits of data 24. Optimistic 26. Decorate with gold leaf 28. Inspire 29. Angers 30. Backside 31. Shallow metal containers 32. Violent disturbance 33. Watered 34. Disinvesting 37. Travel on foot 38. University administrator 40. Anagram of “Seek” 41. Sketches 43. Nose count 44. Hits 46. Fall color 47. Small African antelope 48. Parental brother 49. Purposes 50. Soft drink 51. Placed 53. Chills and fever 56. Prefix meaning “Modern” 57. Make lace

Crossword Puzzle

Try your hand at making a homemade meal this week.

Swinging away

Spartans split week’s series Spartans show flashes of greatness while dropping key games

Spartan softball wins seven straight

Andrew Hodowanec/Observer Senior Pitcher Andrew Rossman prepares to pitch during the Spartan’s game against Otterbein last week.

The Spartans continue their struggles this season, splitting their week with a strong pair of wins followed by a pair of losses. The Spartans started their play last week on Sunday, playing their doubleheader against Denison University, which was originally scheduled for Saturday.

The Spartans won both caps of the doubleheader by narrow margins of 9-7 and 8-5 to move back above the .500 mark, albeit briefly as with a pair of losses to Baldwin Wallace, the Spartans have dropped back to a game below .500.

The Spartans’ uneven play has been a concern, and their losses have come more from defensive errors and offensive miscues than from much stronger play on the part of the Spartans’ opponent.

In the Denison set, the Spartans relied on pitching down the stretch to capture the W in both games. Dan Sondag picked up the save in both games with shutdown pitching. The Spartans came from behind to win the opener 9-7 and

Baseball

then coasted to a strong 8-5 victory in the second game.

Down three runs in the first game, the highlight for the week came with two outs in the bottom of the seventh.

The Spartans showed a splash of their true potential as they scored five runs to jump to a 7-5 lead. Senior Kerrigan Cain began the rally with a single and senior Jordan Swisher walked to put two men on base. Sophomore Eric Eldred doubled to left field and scored both Cain and Swisher to kick off the rally.

Sondag sealed the win, as he struck out the side in order in the ninth inning to cap his two innings of scoreless relief, earning him his fifth save of the season. Five of the six outs he recorded were by strikeout.

The Spartans will attempt to climb once again above .500 with a trio of games against Allegheny College, one at home on Friday and a doubleheader on Allegheny’s home turf on Saturday.

The Spartans stay on the road as they take on crosstown rival John Carroll University on Monday at 2 p.m. and 5 p.m. in the afternoon.

CWRU Baldwin Wallace

1 0 0

2 0 0

3 0 1

CWRU Player

AB

H R RBI BB SO

AVE

10

N. Glasser

5

1

1

0

0

0

0.083

2B

14

Z. Tobias

4

1

1

1

1

0

0.200

C

26

E. Eldred

5

1

1

0

0

0

0.450

CF

23

D. Watson

5

2

0

1

0

2

0.300

1B

27

S. Dayton

3

0

0

0

2

1

0.222

PR

1

A.Cain

0

0

0

0

0

0

0.288

PH

37

W. Hopper

4

1

0

0

1

1

0.200

LF

13

M. Winick

4

2

0

1

0

1

0.400

SS

40

A.Capetillo

3

0

0

0

0

1

0.237

3B

5

M. Weigand

3

0

0

0

0

2

0.167

3B

36

A.Gronski

0

0

0

0

1

0

0.333

20 K. Johnstone Totals

0 36

0 8

0 3

0 3

0 5

0

0.000

Pos. CF 2B 2B 1B 3B PH LF SS LF C PR C RF PR CF

20

Pitcher

K. Johnstone

Totals

IP

H

R

4 0 0

5 2 0

6 1 2

7 0 0

# Player AB H 9 Z. Ferster 4 1 16 C. Nieto 4 1 2 S. Montgomery 0 0 11 K. Chontos 3 0 10 M. Zimmerman 4 1 25 H. Handel 4 2 32 C. Knodle 0 0 5 E. Murphy 4 0 4 L. Heffernan 3 1 39 A. Marcum 2 0 6 S. Badia 1 0 13 T. Kaltenbach 0 0 12 A. Green 2 0 23 N. Dowling 1 0 7 J. Taylor 0 0

8

Totals

CWRU Pitching #

A Spartan baserunner rounds second and heads to third. The Spartans’ aggressive approach on the bases has helped them win seven straight games.

8 9 Final H 0 0 3 8 1 X 4 6

E 0 0

The Spartan women have kicked their season into high gear as they currently have compiled a seven-game win streak since their return from the University Athletic Association (UAA) tournament.

“We have been really playing well,” said Head Coach Josie Henry. “Good pitching performances, our strong offense have done really well.”

This may be an understatement, as the Spartans have knocked in an astounding 67 runs since returning from the UAA tournament in a total of seven games. The Spartans have jumped out to narrow wins in the opening caps of double headers and then followed the hard-fought wins with blowouts in the second matchup of the day. The close wins have come courtesy of strong Spartan play.

“We have been really aggressive in the opening games,” said Henry. “Using pinch runners and just attempting to jump on the ball has helped us get to victory.”

Despite the red hot nature of the Spartans’ play, the team has had multiple games moved due to weather and have played just as many in the cold, wind and rains that accompany Ohio in the spring. It has been an ongoing battle for the team to find and keep games scheduled.

“We have the right equipment for it,” said

Softball

Baldwin Wallace

RF

P

Andrew Hodowanec/Observer

JP. O’Hagan Sports Editor

JP. O’Hagan Sports Editor

Pos. #

ER

17

sports

observer.case.edu

32

6

R RBI BB SO AVE 1 0 0 1 0.319 0 0 0 1 0.329 0 0 0 0 0.091 1 1 1 0 0.318 1 0 0 1 0.406 1 3 0 0 0.333 0 0 0 0 0.375 0 0 0 2 0.355 0 0 0 1 0.313 0 0 0 0 0.208 0 0 0 0 0.429 0 0 0 0 0.208 0 0 0 0 0.125 0 0 0 0 0.250 0 0 0 0 0.313 4

4

1

6

BB SO HR ERA

9.0

6

4

4

1

6

1

9.0

6

4

4

1

6

1

5.68

#

Pitcher

IP

H

R

ER

26 27 22 4 20

C. Murphy J. Scholle A. Albright L.Heffernan B. Cichocki

5.1 0.2 1.0 1.0 1.0

7 0 1 0 0

3 0 0 0 0

1 0 0 0 0

2 0 0 1 2

3 0 1 2 2

0 0 0 0 0

Totals

8.0

8

3

1

5

8

0

Player

AB H

2 0 1

3 0 0

4 0 2

16

M. O'Brien

4

1

1

0

0

1

0.386

CF

21

K. Wede

4

4

2

3

0

0

0.459

1

0

1

0

3

0

0.477

P

25 A. Wennerberg

5 3 1

6 1 0

7 0 X

Final 4 5

H 7 9

E 0 0

Wittenberg R RBI BB SO AVE

2B

DP

12

G. Roberts

4

0

0

0

0

1

0.406

RF

8

A. Parello

3

1

0

0

1

1

0.433

Pos. # 1B

Player

AB H

R RBI BB SO AVE

11

K. Hughes

4

1

1

2

0

2

0.250

SS

4

C. Hobbs

4

2

0

0

0

1

0.354

LF

15

A. Baker

4

1

0

0

0

3

0.298

RF

8

C. Clark

3

0

0

0

0

2

0.213

DP

23

A. Wright

2

0

0

4

1

0

0.261

PR

2

L. Robinson

0

0

0

0

0

0

0.333

3B

18

G. Tritchler

4

0

0

1

0

1

0.290

P

19

C. Zang

3

1

1

1

0

1

0.368

SS

24

E. Dreger

3

1

0

0

0

1

0.289

CF

3

S. Lance

3

1

0

0

0

0

0.128

C

28

R. Taylor

3

2

0

0

0

0

0.368

1B

15

K. Klemmer

0

0

1

0

0

0

0.100

2B

9

L. Blair

2

1

1

0

0

1

0.188

LF

23

M. Waldner

3

0

0

0

0

1

0.235

3B

6

S. Bausch

2

0

1

0

0

0

0.135

C

2

A. Newton

0

0

0

0

0

0

0.000

Totals

27

7

4

7

1

10

27 A. Groseclose Totals

BB SO HR ERA 2.89 3.38 3.10 3.65 2.61

1 0 1

Wittenberg CWRU

CWRU Pos. #

C

Baldwin Wallace

Henry about the weather. “From handwarmers to sweatshirts and jackets, we are prepared for the cold. Plus we practice in it so we are acclimated to the cold.”

Despite the cold, the Spartans have clicked in over the past weeks. The Case Western Reserve University squad has had many leaders step forward and help the team win. The UAA Athlete of the Week, sophomore Annie Wennerberg, who set the CWRU softball home run record last week, hit .600 with four homers last week, scoring nine runs and putting up 12 RBIs. In addition to Wennerberg, leadoff hitter Molly O’Brien has been a driving force for the team. “Molly has the ability to have the will herself to win, no matter the school,” said Henry.

Freshman outfielder Katie Wede has been a great addition for the Spartans as well, giving full effort on every play. Wede’s highlight from the weekend was when she made a diving catch onto the warning track.

When she attempted to repeat the feat on a following play, Wede skidded straight into the chainlink fence. She jumped straight up and continued full strength right into the next play. “Katie’s [Wede]’s play has been infectious for our team,” said Henry.

The Spartans will look to continue their winning streak as they take on Wooster on Saturday at 1 p.m. and 3 p.m. and will return to campus to take on Denison on Monday.

0

0

0

0

0

0

29

9

5

4

4

6

0.241

CWRU Pitching

Wittenberg Pitching

#

Pitcher

IP

H

R

ER

28 3

R. Taylor K. Dzierwa

5.1 1.2

6 1

4 0

4 0

BB SO HR ERA 1 0

8 2

1 0

Totals

7.0

7

4

4

1

10

1

3.53 3.13

# 19

Pitcher C. Zeng Totals

IP

H

R

ER

BB SO HR ERA

6

9

5

4

4

6

1

6

9

5

4

4

6

1

2.32

18

sports

4/3/15

Arko’s Cleveland Corner

Text-gate scandal penalties revealed At the end of the day, not so bad for Browns

Joey Arko Staff Reporter Not too long ago, ESPN’s Adam Schefter reported that penalties against both the Cleveland Browns and Atlanta Falcons for separate investigations into violations against National Football League (NFL) rules were expected to be steep for both teams.

Schefter reported that Atlanta piped fake crowd noise through speakers when opposing teams had the ball, and Falcons owner Arthur Blank later admitted that the team was indeed guilty of such actions. As for the Browns, in what was to be called the “textgate scandal,” it was reported that General Manager Ray Farmer had on multiple occasions throughout the season used his cell phone to text the Browns coaches on the sideline. This is a direct violation of NFL rules that prohibit certain uses of electronic devices during games. Both teams were found guilty of these violations, and the NFL promised to crack down on them.

On March 30, Schefter reported the news that the penalties were determined.

As it would turn out, the penalties for the Browns aren’t nearly as bad as they are for the Atlanta Falcons.

Lucky for Cleveland.

ent for the draft process and finalizing the roster—two very important aspects of a General Manager’s job. Essentially the first four games of the regular season are one of the quietest and least busy times for NFL General Managers.

According to Cabot, his suspension will reach its conclusion immediately following the fourth regular season game, and then Farmer can resume his normal busy activities for the franchise.

NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport shed some light as to why the Browns as a franchise didn’t get heavier penalties and why most of the punishment was bestowed on Farmer alone. Rapoport tweeted out on March 30 that, “There was no evidence in the NFL’s review that Browns ownership or any other team executives had any knowledge of the prohibited conduct.”

Although the penalties could have been worse for the Browns, the fact that the NFL did not mess around with the investigations and subsequent consequences handed down upon Atlanta and Cleveland shows that the NFL is prepared to take steps to eliminate future violations by other franchises.

For now the Browns simply must take their punishment and move forward, thankful that the penalties they received weren’t even worse.

According to Schefter’s report, Atlanta Falcons President Rich McKay will be suspended from the NFL’s competition committee, which will not actually affect the team’s roster or how they play on the field.

However the team will also be stripped of a pick in the 2016 NFL draft (believed to be a fifth round pick), and they were also reportedly fined $350,000.

The Browns, on the other hand, have been reportedly fined $250,000 and will not lose any future draft picks as a consequence for the textgate scandal. In addition Farmer is subject to individual punishment for his actions and will serve a four-game suspension starting at midnight before the first regular season game, according to The Plain Dealer reporter Mary Kay Cabot.

When it’s all said and done, those penalties for the Browns aren’t all that bad.

They were fined $100,000 less than the Falcons, and they also weren’t forced to forfeit any future draft picks—which could prove to be crucial for developing the team moving forward.

Also Ray Farmer’s suspension comes at a time when most of his significant contributions to the team will have already been finished. Since his suspension is reported to start the night before the first regular season game, Farmer will have already been pres-

Tennis pushes down final stretch Evan Rose Staff Reporter Both the men’s and women’s tennis teams completed a difficult mid-season stretch, with the men returning to action after their spring break trip with four games in three days and the women competing in the Blue-Grey Invitational.

The 12th-ranked Spartan men were 3-1 in the stretch from March 27-29, scoring three straight wins over Ohio Wesleyan University, John Carroll University and the Stevens Institute of Technology before losing to Division I Cleveland State University.

In the morning of March 27, the Spartans swept Ohio Wesleyan 9-0, with every singles and doubles team earning a victory.

Senior Bas van Lent and sophomore Joshua Dughi, the top two spots for the Spartans, both won their matches in straight sets. The No. 1 and No. 3 doubles teams also both recorded 8-0 victories over the Bishops.

That afternoon the team almost completed another sweep over John Carroll, finishing 8-1 and extending their win streak to four. Five of the six singles matches finished with Spartan victories in straight sets, with JCU only winning in the No. 4 match.

All three doubles teams defeated their opponents again as Case Western Reserve University handled John Carroll with ease.

Senior Will Drougas and juniors CJ Krimbill and Louis Stuerke were all double winners in the victory.

The next day the Spartan men claimed their fifth in a row, beating No. 24 Stevens, with every player on the squad earning at least one point.

Stuerke was a double winner on the day, as he defeated Stevens’ No. 4 player to win the fifth point and seal the game for the Spartans. Freshman Andrew Komarov also won both his singles and doubles matches.

However CWRU’s winning streak ended March 29, as they faced off with Cleveland State and lost 6-1. Krimbill was the team’s only winner, winning the tiebreaker third set 10-5.

throughout the tournament.

The team managed to push forward and earned an 8-1 victory over 22ndranked Hope College on their senior day last Saturday.

Marianne Bonanno, the team’s sole senior, finished her last match in Cleveland with a win and won both her singles and doubles matches to boost the Spartans ahead. Kanagasegar also pulled off the double win, securing her position as fourth in the Central Region.

The women move on Friday to the Midwest Invitational, located in Madison, WI. After that the Spartans only have two more competitions until the University Athletic Association Championship.

The men’s team currently holds a 13-8 record and will play ninth-ranked Carnegie Mellon on Saturday in Pittsburgh.

On the women’s side, the Spartans are ranked 23rd in Division III, with an 8-4 record. They competed in the Blue/Grey Invitational on March 20-22 in Fredericksburg, VA. Case Western finished with a 0-3 record in the tournament, with losses to No. 23 University of Mary Washington (5-4), No. 14 Sewanee (7-2) and No. 20 Skidmore College (5-4).

The No. 2 doubles team, made up of junior Sara Zargham and freshman Nithya Kanagasegar, and No. 4 singles player Michelle Djohan, both won all of their matches

Men’s Tennis

CWRU

1

Cleveland State

8

Singles Winner

School

Over

School

By

C. Krimbill J. Van Der Vloet M. Bellutti A. Shabib M. Radosevic C. Buffington

CWRU CSU CSU CSU CSU CSU

J. VanMeter W. Drougas V. Simhadri L. Stuerke J. Dughi B. van Lent

CSU CWRU CWRU CWRU CWRU CWRU

7-6 (7-3), 5-7, 10-5 4-6,6-3, 6-3 7-6, 6-3 7-5, 6-3 6-4, 6-3 6-1, 6-1

Men’s volleyball concludes season in Pennsylvania tournament Noah Staton Staff Reporter The Case Volleyball Club men’s team competed in the Pennsylvania-Ohio Volleyball League Championships this past weekend. Coming off a perfect 9-0 season of conference play, our Spartan men landed a first seed for the pool play on Saturday.

After making a two-hour voyage to the courts in the morning, the squad had a rough start, splitting a game 1-1 with Carnegie Mellon University (CMU). Junior rightside hitter Thomas Pech commented, “It was our first game of the day, and a lot of the guys were tired. We played down and got what we deserved.”

That single loss against CMU came back to haunt Case Western Reserve University in the end of pool play. In their final match of the morning against Genesee Community College (GCC) in New York, our Spartans fought hard in two exciting sets. An initial win of 2520 gave them a shot of landing a first seed in the playoffs. Junior outside hitter Ricardo Baco had an amazing game, racking up seven kills and two blocks.

However GCC came back strong in the second set and beat the men in an intense 27-29 set.

Coming out of pool play with a second seed, CWRU went up against Geneva College to place into the semifinals bracket. Again our men had a rough start, giving up a 9-1 run in the opening of the first set. In this game, freshman middle hitter Noah Staton came out of a slump and made some big plays, scoring four kills and four blocks. CWRU proceeded to lose both sets 18-25 and 25-27, ending their playoff run there.

Geneva went on to victory, placing first overall in the tournament.

Despite having a perfect season, this tournament shows the conditional nature of volleyball. Sophomore middle hitter Greg Beery made a huge difference this weekend, having many big blocks and nasty kills that kept his opponents in the dust. While our Spartan men conclude their season, they look towards next year when they plan on making a much bigger splash in the Pennsylvania-Ohio Volleyball League.

Doubles Winner A. Shabib M. Bellutti J. VanMeter

School

N. Marks M. Radosevic J. Van Der Vloet

CSU CSU CSU

Women’s Tennis

Over C. Krimbill W. Drougas V. Simhadri

L. Stuerke A. Komarov B. van Lent

School

By

CWRU CWRU CWRU

6-4 6-0 6-0

CWRU

8

Hope College

1

Singles Winner

School

Over

School

By

N. Kanagasegar M. Bonanno M. Djohan S. Zargham Paige Courts S. Khadilkar

CWRU CWRU CWRU CWRU HOPE CWRU

N. Benda C. Cooper C. Capestany A. Garcia S. Berchuck K. Mader

HOPE HOPE HOPE HOPE CWRU HOPE

6-3, 6-1 6-0, 6-1 6-3, 6-2 6-3, 6-3 7-6 (7-5), 2-6, 10-7 6-2, 3-6, 13-11

Doubles Winner N. Kanagasegar S. Zargham M. Bonanno M. Djohan S. Khadilkar S. Berchuck

School CWRU CWRU CWRU

N. Benda C. Cooper A. Garcia

Over C. Capestany K. Daniel M. Holaway

School HOPE HOPE HOPE

By 8-4 8-6 8-4

Courtesy Case Volleyball Club Men’s volleyball players compete earlier this season.

sports

observer.case.edu

Editor’s choice

Luck of the Irish runs dry in Elite Eight loss Kentucky narrowly escapes Notre Dame in downtown Cleveland JP. O’Hagan Sports Editor Cleveland hosted the Midwest Regional of the NCAA Division I Men’s Basketball Tournament, affectionately known as March Madness, at the Quicken Loans Arena last weekend. The Q played host to three games, the Sweet 16 matchups of undefeated Kentucky vs. West Virginia and of Notre Dame vs Wichita St. The Thursday night matchups saw the setup of the Regional Championship, Elite Eight, meeting of Kentucky and Notre Dame as they squared off Saturday night to punch their ticket to the Final Four, hosted in Indianapolis this weekend.

Kentucky, undefeated and considered by many to be the best collegiate team in years was the favorite, but the Notre Dame team and fanbase were primed for an upset. Downtown Cleveland was busting at the seams with fans of both teams and served as a perfect backdrop to the drama at the Q. A small group of Notre Dame fans without tickets to the big matchup gathered at the pre-game rallying spot of the Fighting Irish, Flanery’s Irish Pub to watch the game. This is their story: 8:00 PM At the end of 4th street in downtown Cleveland sits Flannery’s, a block from the Quicken Loans Arena.

Hundreds of Notre Dame Fighting Irish fans pass in and out of the bar, preparing for the big game. Thousands more Irish fans and thousands of Kentucky fans rumble down 4th streets and pass on the sidewalk, headed to their seats in the Q. Scalpers on the street corner call out prices for tickets, while cops attempt to

from Swim | 1 Each swimmer has a different preference on where he wants to race from, though. Hamilton likes being right in the middle. Tam wants to be placed right or left of the top seed, giving him the motivation to catch the supposed fastest guy in the pool. Hudgins is most comfortable swimming two lanes removed from the middle. However Haufler thrives for an “outside smoke,” which is where the racer in the farthest outside lane, ranked the lowest, ends up beating the rest of the field. “My favorite race was the 200-freestyle relay race at the UAA championships a few years ago,” said Haufler.

“We were seeded in lane eight, dead last, that outside smoke position, and then we killed it. We came in second.”

For those who only watch swimming once every four years when the Olympics roll around, the sport seems

direct both cars and pedestrians through the intersection. It’s game time.

8:10 PM I make it inside of Flannery’s after a brief wait. An Ohio State banner hangs from the ceiling but today the bar is all Irish, Fighting Irish. The pub is packed as people crowd the bar and some younger fans share a round of festive green shots.

The Wisconsin-Arizona game is on television and while it has some importance on the potential future it is an afterthought, only the second game of the night matters.

8:20 PM A pair of dads find their way toward the large windows facing the street and grab chairs for their 8-year-old sons; the boys are best friends and the four of them are going to watch the game together. The boys are excited and at the same time fight back sleepiness, while decked out in their Notre Dame green and gold.

8:27 PM The Wisconsin-Arizona game comes to a close. As the Wisconsin Badgers players cut down the net celebrating their win, the masses flow out of the bar and into the stadium, but a loyal fan base remains behind to watch the game. “Go Irish!” cries bellow through the pub and on the street.

9:30 PM Tipoff from in the Q means excitement at the bar.

9:16 PM Cheers and high fives explode as Notre Dame ties the game at 19 all on a monstrous dunk.

9:24 PM A drive to the hoop ties the game again, as a Notre Dame fan stands on his stool and cheers, getting his fellow fans going.

9:30 PM “Hit it!” Breaks the silence as Notre Dame jumps out to a lead on a long three-pointer, late in the first half.

9:35 PM The teams head into the lock-

er room tied and the fanbase looks both worried and excited.

10:05 PM The Irish grab the lead for the half and the crowd explodes into cheers and high fives.

10:30 PM Following an ongoing back and forth game Notre Dame hits a clutch three to jump to a 59-53 lead. “Go Irish!”

10:32 PM A controversial foul on Notre Dame causes another unified outburst: “What? You have got to be kidding me.”

10:42 PM Notre Dame up 62-61, Irish have possession, victory seems within reach. The upset of the decade on the verge of happening. The bar erupts in the Notre Dame fight song, seeming to almost be trying to calm nerves.

10:44 PM “Ugh!” Kentucky takes back a one point lead.

10:45 PM “Downtown!” Notre Dame hits long three-pointer for a 66-64 lead.

Flannery’s erupts as fans jump and scream in excitement.

10:50 PM “Our ball, our ball,” murmurs float into the air, after the long wait to determine possession and time left on the clock as Notre Dame awaits their fate.

ND turns the ball over on the following possession, their first turnover in 29 minutes of play.

10:52 PM Six seconds, Kentucky goes to the line to sink two free throws. The crowd is silent.

10:53 PM Notre Dame misses their final second shot, as time expires the collective breath of the crowd lets go, their chance at history slipped through their fingers.

10:55 PM The crowds begin to leave the Q, the Notre Dame fans flow past, solemn, so close to victory.

straightforward enough: be the fastest to the wall. However as all the Spartans mentioned, transferring their knowledge of the sport to their friends can be difficult. “There are multiple strokes and races are decided by tenths on even hundredths of a second,” said Haufler. “Trying to explain that all our training comes down to that small of a difference can be hard to explain. In other sports, it’s straightforward—the other team scored two goals or whatever.”

“It’s hard to try and explain that even though we didn’t win, we still could’ve done really well,” said Hudgins.

Despite competing in a more obscure sport than the team sports everyone thinks of, each of the Spartans has a love for the sport, grown since they all began swimming at a young age. Each has his own trials he has overcome to reach this level of athleticism and of success. For Haufler this marks the end of his competitive swimming career. Hamilton and

Hudgins stand at the beginning of their collegiate careers. However for everyone it is the now the offseason, and both Hamilton and Hudgins are looking forward to not doing much, though they know the consequences. “Taking a day off in swimming makes a huge difference,” said Hamilton. “The few weeks we go without working out affect getting back into it.”

However as Tam pointed out, the offseason brings nearly as much working out, maybe just not in the pool. “I lift a lot during the offseason,” said Tam. “It’s all endurance training during the season, so the offseason is the only time we get to work on strength and on different lifts.” Hamilton and Hudgins are new to the college process and will join their teammates in staying somewhat ready for next season, but Haufler has the biggest adjustment of all to make.

“I have a lot of time on my hands,” said Haufler with a smile. “I actually have

19

The view from the other bar Mike McKenna Director of Print Across the street and an empty parking lot from the Irish fandom kingdom, sits the Harry Buffalo, a bar filled with the University of Kentucky faithful.

Kentucky fans are dedicated. There are no teams from the NBA, NFL, NHL or MLB in the state so their state university fills the void. The fans are fanatic.

Before the bar clears out five minutes before tip off, it’s full of Kentucky devotees waiting for the game. Here’s some of the characters: Mark: When prodded for a last name, Mark sternly replies Mark. He opens up a bit though when he begins to talk about his team. Mark Mark says he has travelled to all of Kentucky’s NCAA Tournament games over the past five years. He put the odds at his two time alma mater beating ND at 98 percent.

Tina and Louis: Louis has lived in Lexington, Kentucky, the home of the University of Kentucky, for her whole life. Tina on the other hand now calls Cleveland home but lived in Lexington for over 15 years. Both are dressed in Kentucky jackets. Both are confident, pegging Kentucky’s odds at 100 percent. They say that the university’s games are treated like an NBA team and that “everything in Lexington is blue and white.”

Steve and Kyle: Steve attended University of Kentucky, which he admits was “mainly for the basketball and football.”

Kyle on the other hand, didn’t go there, but visited Steve frequently and “enjoyed the hell out of it”. Steve was in the crowd for all but two home games this season and even attended four away games. He put Kentucky’s odds at 50 percent so that he wouldn’t jinx the game. Kyle set his at 80, but admitted if the team lost it would be his fault.

You almost blew it Kyle.

time for Netflix and video games, which is really weird considering I have nearly three more hours a day.” However the freedom is bittersweet. “I love racing, and it’s weird knowing I won’t be in my top physical form like I was while swimming,” said Haufler.

As the season draws to a close, the Spartans can hold their heads high for representing CWRU at the highest level.

NCAA DIII Swimming Championship

Men’s Swimming Events Event

Time

Winner

500 yr. Free

4:32.58

D. Hamilton

200 yr. Free Relay

1:24.89

CWRU Team

400 yr. IM

4:03.30

D. Hamilton

400 yr. Medley Relay

3:28.46

CWRU Team

100 yd. Butterfly

49.85

A. Tam

800 yr. Free

6:45.37

CWRU Team

200 yr. Butterfly

1:51.27

A. Tam

200 yr. Backstroke

1:53.18

O. Hudgins

1,650 yr. Free

15:56.83

D. Hamilton

400 yr. Free Relay

3:06.23

CWRU Team

sports Sun and baseball fun A journey to MLB Spring Training

JP. O’Hagan Sports Editor As the plane took off from Cleveland Hopkins International Airport, a casual glance around the cabin confirmed my suspicion, that half the flight was heading to the same place I was, other than the obvious flight destination.

That flight destination was Phoenix, Arizona, but the true journey was to Major League Baseball’s (MLB) Spring Training.

The Cleveland Indians, as well as my hometown team the Chicago Cubs, join 13 other MLB clubs in the Phoenix Metropolitan area each February and March in making up the Cactus League, while the other 15 clubs play in Florida’s Grapefruit League. This year the Indians’ pitchers and catchers reported to their Player Development Complex in Goodyear Arizona on Wednesday, Feb. 18, as the full squad suited up for the first time a few days later on Monday, Feb. 22. With Spring Training drawing to an end with Sunday’s Opening Day, this system makes for an exciting 46 days of baseball under the clear blue skies of the Arizona desert and Florida sun.

The purpose of Spring Training is simple: gather one’s team together and begin to shake off the rust that builds up during the off-season. Furthermore teams build chemistry with the new acquisitions, work on baseball mechanics and finally determine final rosters from their current pool of baseball talent, from the veterans to the minor leaguers fighting for a spot on the major league roster. These important preseason processes are carried out both in the training facilities and practice fields and also through daily games at the 10 stadiums for the 15 major league clubs.

Last season the Indians also had high hopes entering the season. With a Cy Youngwinning and breakout year from right-handed pitcher Corey Kluber and a high-powered offense led by left fielder Michael Brantley, catcher Yan Gomes and second baseman Jason Kipnis, the Indians looked primed to contend for the American League division title and advance past the Wild Card game,

where their season ended the year prior.

However the Indians faded down the stretch due in part to injuries and saw division rivals, Kansas City Royals, come to not only take their spot in the playoffs but also make their way to win the American League Pennant and compete for the World Series.

This spring the Indians have been focusing on enhancing roster, staying healthy and finding a balance of veterans and new blood in the major league clubhouse. A few of the decisions have come down to this final week, as Zach McAllister and T.J. House have won the two remaining open jobs in the Cleveland Indians’ starting rotation. The addition of Brandon Moss from Oakland Athletics along with Brantley and an improvement from right fielder David Murphy should create a formidable outfield. Murphy attempted to make the transition from left field, Brantley’s position, over to right. His struggles last season have led to an increased dedication to learning the position this spring. This is a part of the spring training process. The Indians have a 13-16 record thus far this spring training, and while this record seems disappointing for a team, the focus is on improvement and making the tough decisions on building a competitive team for this season.

The Cleveland Indians play at the small but intimate Goodyear Ballpark, which they share with their Ohio neighbors, the Cincinnati Reds. The fairly-new facility opened its doors in 2009 and has served as the joint home of the Reds and Indians ever since. The stadium holds 10,000 fans, and the layout places each seat close enough to the action that there is no bad seat in the house. The paths from the parking lot to the gates are lined with palm trees, a rarity in Ohio, and they serve as reminder of this place being a baseball-focused paradise. However Goodyear and all the parks attempt to bring the flavors of home to the Phoenix area as well.

Goodyear provides Bertman’s Ball Park Mustard for your hotdog at each concession stand, which is a Cleveland fan-favorite. On the other hand, a Skyline Chili-dog can be bought at a stand down the left field line, a Cincinnati staple.

Center Field Michael Bourn

Left Field Michael Brantley

Right Field Brandon Moss

Shortstop José Ramirez

Second Base Jason Kipnis

Third Base Lonnie Chisenhall

First Base Carlos Santana

Pitcher Corey Kluber

Designated Hitter Nick Swisher

Indian’s Opening Day Roster Catcher Yan Gomes

Meredith Dykehouse/Observer Spring Training games are baseball at its purest, but perhaps not finest. The fans who attend are some of the most dedicated baseball fans in the country. A typical conversation ranges from debating the top prospects to talking about the quirks of each team’s home stadium, discussing each team’s potential. Every fan is filled with hopes for the upcoming season. The players are laid back, and the roster cycles through both the expected starters and the prospects. Kids and adults alike line up by the dugouts before and after the game, hoping to meet their heroes and maybe snag an autograph. Baseball is in the air, and the weather isn’t half bad either.

The Indians have been flying rather under the radar this spring but seem comfortable with their approach to the season. The Tribe is still without slugger Nick Swisher and will start the season without him due to injury.

While they should be able to start the season

fine without him, the team is obviously at its best when everyone is healthy. However despite the quiet offseason that saw high-profile trades and free-agent signings from other clubs, the Indians are once again considered the top opposition for the Detroit Tigers in the AL Central. As such the Indians are consistently ranked amongst the top 15 ball clubs heading into Opening Day. During spring training every team is on equal footing. However this is baseball and anything could happen, any and every team could win the World Series come October. A week at Spring Training is an escape from reality, with shorts and baseball in March.

This escape from the cold and reality of the season ends this weekend, as the MLB kicks off its season on Sunday, but the stadiums will patiently await until hope springs anew in baseball fans next year and another spring training begins.

All photos JP. O’Hagan/Observer Top: The Arizona desert gives way to the sun and fun of spring training. Left: Trevor Bauer pitches for the Indians during spring training, Bauer re-earned his spot in the starting rotation this spring. Middle: The Indians watch the games intently from the dugout. Right: Indians minor league prospect Giovanny Urshela connects with a solid pitch in a spring training game against the Chicago Cubs.