Jan 31, 2018

The Student Newspaper of Saint Joseph’s University

Volume XCVII | Est. 1929 | www.sjuhawknews.com

Jan. 31, 2018

Closing of Lancaster Courts changes housing options SAM HENRY ’19 Editor Emeritus

From left to right: Natalie Walker Brown, Director for Student Inclusion and Diversity; Jennifer Dessus, Director for Inclusion and Diversity Access Programs; Maggie Oliver, International Student Advisor, Office of International Students and Scholars; Meryl Halpern, Director, Office of International Students & Scholars (Photo by Luke Malanga ’20).

Making a house a home Office of Inclusion and Diversity: One year later ANA FAGUY ’19 Editor in Chief On the one-year anniversary of its move to renovated space in Campion Hall, the Center for Inclusion and Diversity (CID) has become a place where students can feel at home on campus, according to the center’s director.

“They came early and often and felt like this was a place where they could learn a little bit, be themselves,” said Natalie Walker Brown, director for student inclusion and diversity. “I wanted it to be the home base that we knew it could be.”

The new CID, which is the physical space occupied by the Office of Inclusion and Diversity, opened Jan. 24, 2017.

“I’m even more pleased and happy about having this new space,” Walker Brown said. “We’ve really gotten to see what we can be, and there’s just so much opportunity and potential for our space.”

Last May, the International Students and Scholars moved into the space as well.

Previously they had been located with the Center for International Programs on City Avenue.

Sydney Villard ’19 visits the CID every week and describes it as a safe space for her to be around “like-minded individuals and people who look like me.”

“As a black queer person on this campus, sometimes you’re not feeling the most open to engage or interact with everyone because you don’t know how people are going to take you,” Villard said.

Like Villard, Guillermo Caro ’21, who is from Puerto Rico, was looking for a space to call home on campus when he arrived on campus for freshman orientation. It was his

first time in the United States.

“I was seeing there wasn’t much diversity on campus when I got here, and I remember I said that at orientation as well,” Caro said.

Caro was looking for a spot where he could find fellow students of color. Walker Brown offered him a work-study job, and the space quickly became on of his favorites on campus.

“Since I got here, it’s one of the places where I feel most comfortable at,” Caro said.

“When stuff wasn’t that good back home, everybody was asking and trying to help,, and it just made me feel like they really wanted to hear what I had to say.’”

Maggie Oliver, international student advisor in the Office of International Students and Scholars, said the CID is a perfect place for international students to acclimate

to the new environment around them.

“Every week I see a new face hanging out here,” Oliver said. “I think you benefit the more that you talk with people and hang out with people and are around people that aren’t necessarily just like you.”

Joel Tharian, M.A. ’19 is a graduate student from India who spends time hanging out in the CID. One of the aspects he likes most is spending time with people from different cultures and understanding their mindsets better.

“It’s such a nice place, and I’ve gotten to meet so many people,” Tharian said.

“They’ve understood my perspective as a person from India a lot better now, and I’ve understood their perspective a lot more. I’m not just talking about a certain race or a certain color people but religions as well.”

CONTINUED ON PG. 3

Gabby Stevenson ’21 works in the CID study room. (Photo by Luke Malanga ’20).

Beginning next year, Lancaster Courts will no longer be a housing option for students at St. Joe’s.

Currently housing sophomores, Lancaster Courts is made up of two separate buildings and houses about 222 students.

St. Joe’s entered the lease with Lancaster Courts in 1999.

“There has been some discussion, or an intention, to manage enrollment so it is a little bit more consistent from year to year,” said Kelly Bersett, Associate Director for Housing Operations in the Office of Residence Life. “So with the stabilization of enrollment it has given us the opportunity to examine our current beds and we have the ability to take Lancaster Courts off and use our existing stock of beds.”

Unlike most of the residence buildings at St. Joe’s, Lancaster Courts is not owned by the university. Bersett said that it was decided in the past year to not extend the lease beyond the Spring semester of 2018.

“We have two master lease properties. Lancaster Courts is one of them, Pennbrook is the other one,” Bersett said.

“The rest of the residential buildings are owned by Saint Joseph’s University.

Those two buildings are really unique in that element of the master lease.”

Bersett said that it has always been interesting to talk to people about living in Lancaster Courts because it is the farthest residential building from main campus.

Lancaster Courts is located on the 6300 block of Sherwood Road in Philadelphia.

Vilma Fermin ’20 has been an RA at Lancaster Courts since August of last year, and has enjoyed her time there, though she believes closing it to students is a good decision.

“I think it’s kind of nice because Lanc was farthest away, and it gives students more options closer to campus,” said Fermin. “There’s enough housing around campus that there’ll be enough housing for rising sophomores.”

Cam Rice ’20 lives in Lancaster Courts and has had a positive experience living there.

“The apartments are of decent size and, although it is far from campus, it is nice to disconnect,” Rice said. “The kitchen is updated, and the walk-in closets are a nice addition to have.”

CONTINUED ON PG. 4

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News

Jan. 31, 2018

Department of Public Safety reports (Jan. 18 – Jan. 28) Jan. 22 Jan. 19 Public Safety was notified by a St. Joe's student in regards to person(s) unknown removing his laptop computer which was left unattended in the Campion Student Center. A report was filed with the Philadelphia Police. Incident under investigation.

Jan. 21 Public Safety was notified by Residence Life regarding a confiscation of several empty beer cans from a student’s room in the Pennbrook Apartments. Public Safety Officers responded and took custody of the beer cans. Community Standards notified.

Public Safety was notified by a St. Joe's student in regards to a suspicious person in the 5700 block of Overbrook Avenue. Philadelphia Police, along with Public Safety Officers were notified and responded to the area, but were unable to locate the person.

Public Safety was notified by an SJU student in regards to person(s) unknown removing coins from her personal vehicle which was parked and left unlocked in the 5400 block of Woodcrest Avenue. A report was filed with the Philadelphia Police. Incident under investigation.

Public Safety was notified by an St. Joe's student in regards to person(s) unknown removing coins from her personal vehicle which was parked and left unlocked in the 5600 block of Wynnefield Avenue. A report was filed with the Philadelphia Police. Incident under investigation.

Jan. 23 Public Safety was notified by a St. Joe's student in regards to person(s) unknown removing jewelry and clothing from her personal vehicle which was parked and locked in the 5700 block of Ov brook Avenue. A report was filed with the Philadelphia Police.

Incident under investigation.

Jan. 24 Public Safety was notified of a fire alarm inside the McShain Residence Center. Public Safety Officers responded. Preliminary investigation revealed the alarm was activated from possible cigarette smoke. Facilities Management notified.

Jan. 25

ALCOHOL RELATED INCIDENTS

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On campus

Off campus

DRUG RELATED INCIDENTS

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Off campus

Call Public Safety:

610-660-1111

Public Safety was notified by a St. Joe's student in regards to person(s) unknown taking his basketball from the O’Pake Recreation Center. Incident under investigation.

ELECTION 2018 Pennsylvannia congressional map ruled unconstitutional

ALEX KARPINSKI ’20 Assistant News Editor 1. PA Supreme Court Decision The Pennsylvania Supreme Court ruled on Jan. 22that the state’s Congressional map “cearly, plainly and palpably violates the Constitution of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania.” The court affirmed that the map was unconstitutionally gerrymandered in favor of Republicans. The old map was created by a Republican dominated legislature in 2011, and split Pennsylvania into 18 oddly shaped districts.

2. The Republican and Democratic Reaction Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Wolf said in a press release that he was happy with the decision.

"I strongly believe that gerrymandering is wrong and consistently have stated that the current maps are unfair to Pennsylvanians,” Wolf said. “My administration is reviewing the order and we are assessing the executive branch's next steps in this process.”

Republican Senate President Pro Tempore Joe Scarnati and Senate Majority Leader Jake Corman said via a press release that the ruling was “a partisan action showing a distinct lack of respect for the Constitution and the legislative process.”

3. What is Gerrymandering?

Gerrymandering is the purposeful manipulation of Congressional maps by partisan state legislators in order to gain a numeric

advantage over an opposing political party.

"The purposes of gerrymandering are to maximize the number of legislative seats that can be won by the political party in charge of redrawing the district boundaries, and to create 'safe' seats for the party’s incumbent legislators,” according to a 2009 study on Gerrymandering and Legislator Efficiency by University of Delaware professor John Mackenzie, Ph.D. “It has been recognized as an American political art form since 1812.”

In a 2017 study, the Brennan Center for Justice found Michigan, North Carolina and Pennsylvania’s Congressional maps as the three most consistent examples of extreme levels of partisan bias. The study notes: “The distortion in their maps has accounted for seven to ten extra Republican seats in each of the three elections since the 2011 redistricting, amounting to one-third to one-half of the total partisan bias across the states we analyzed.”

4. Is one party responsible for Gerrymandering?

While Republicans are currently facing criticism for their Congressional map in Pennsylvania, it is important to note that, according to David Wasserman, U.S. House editor for the Cook Political Report, gerrymandering is by no means a uniquely Republican quality.

“Democrats haven’t gerrymandered any less aggressively than Republicans.

They just had less than a quarter of the power to do so in 2011, hence the GOP’s current advantage,” Wasserman said an article in an article for ESPN affiliate

“FiveThirtyEight.” “As politics in the U.S. has polarized along geographic and racial lines, drawing political maps has become a partisan arms race.”

5. The impact of a new map A new map could open up the possibility for Democrats to put a dent in the 13 to 5 majority that Republicans currently hold in the Pennsylvania House of Representatives.

In Pennsylvania, the majority of Democratic voters are concentrated around Philadelphia and Harrisburg. The Democratic party consistently wins these districts by large margins, as exhibited in the 2016 Presidential election, but their numbers are low compared to the rest of the state.

Republican voters are much more evenly spread around the state, and win many

more districts.

“First, more than in past decades, Democratic voters are inefficiently clustered in big cities and college towns,” Wasserman said. “That means that in many states, it’s easier for Republicans to pack Democratic voters into a few lopsided districts than vice versa — a natural geographic advantage for the GOP.” 6. Timeframe for a new map?

According to the court decision, a new map will have to be created by the Republican controlled general assembly, and submitted to Gov. Wolf by Feb. 9. If he accepts the proposed plan, it will then be submitted to the court by Feb. 15.

A map of the old Congressional Districts of Pennsylvania. The dotted shading indicates districts in which the Democratic party won in the 2016 Presedential election; the solid shading represents districts in which the Republican party won (Graphic by Luke Malanga '20).

News

Jan. 31, 2018

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Progress in the Office of Inclusion and Diversity after one year CONTINUED FROM PG. 1 With more organizations and students, now calling the center home, Brown emphasized that the CID is for all St. Joe’s students.

“As much as possible we’re trying to make sure that everybody at the university feels like this can be a space for them rather than for a particular group of students,” Walker Brown said. “I think if you come to the space we do as much as possible to make you feel that way.”

Walker Brown said she wants more students to use the CID space both “organically and intentionally.”

That works for Kiana Porter ’19, who visits the space during any free time she gets.

“People think that it’s only for certain groups of students, and I also think people are afraid of the word ‘diversity’ and feel like they don’t fit into it if it’s not a certain category so they just don’t come in here,” Porter said.

As the CID moves into its second year in its news space, its administrators are looking toward even more that they can do with it.

“We’re still looking at, given the offices that have their homes in the Center for Inclusion and Diversity, how do we facilitate more international and domestic interaction,” said Monica Nixon, Ed.D., assistant provost for inclusion and diversity. “That’s something we’re still working on. Also,

Guillermo Caro '21, a work study student, welcomes students at the front desk in CID.

Students talk in the lounge area of CID one year ago when the office first opened (Photos by Luke Malanga '20).

how do we create a space where people who are interested in inclusion and diversity feel like they can come in and just learn and be present, that you don’t already have to know someone to go into the space but just be curious and want to learn more.”

But students who already care about inclusion and diversity are only part of the equation. They are already utilizing the space, Nixon said.

“I think seeing more a mix of students who already know that they care about inclusion and diversity and then the

students who are newer to that conversation with themselves and others would be good,” Nixon said.

Such conversations could happen through programming or casual interactions in the CID, Nixon said.

Walker Brown is looking to welcome those new students, too.

“I want it to be viewed as more inclusion, more welcoming, more education, more supportive, [just] more,” Walker Brown said.

Evaluating campus diversity

Campus climate survey launching in February NATALIE DRUM '20 Hawk Staff The St. Joe's Climate Study survey will officially launch on Feb. 6 and will be open to all students, faculty and staff to voluntarily participate until March 2.

Monica Nixon, Ed.D., assistant provost for inclusion and diversity and chair of the study, anticipates the need for more efficient opportunities in training and development to come out of the study.

“The outcome is not the finding, the here is what we have learned about our campus, it is actually: Here are the programs and policies that we are putting into place so that we can make a difference in how people feel,” Nixon said.

The Climate Study working group is made up of thirteen members, with representatives for all student, faculty,

and staff members.

“People in the group add layers of the university,” said Ergkys Alizoti, international graduate student from Greece and member of the group.

Rankin & Associates Consulting, a consultation company that provides institutions with an examination of current campus culture, was officially chosen to administer the study in May of 2017, as per to the Campus Climate Study timeline.

A greater sense of transparency and importance of managing all perspectives factored into

using Rankin & Associates Consulting according to the university announcement sent out July 17, 2017 from President Mark C. Reed, Ed.D. “As the facilitators of this project, our goal is to truly help Saint Joseph's University develop an instrument that will allow members of the community the opportunity to share their feelings, views, and opinions,” said Emil L. Cunningham, Ph.D., senior executive associate for Rankin & Associates Consulting.

The relationship between the Climate Study working group and Rankin & Associates Consulting is a

crucial element.

The main reason for the working group is ultimately to educate Rankin & Associates on St. Joe’s so that they are better able to personalize the assessment questions and use appropriate language according to Katie Bean, M.A. assistant director of student outreach and support wellness, alcohol and drug education (WADE), The opinions and ideas shared during the Climate Study working group’s monthly meetings are impactful and valuable in terms of how people see St. Joe’s, Alizoti said.

In a matter of weeks, survey-style questions will be sent out to all members of the St. Joe’s community. Feedback on the information gained from the survey will be intended as a baseline for continued growth, Nixon said. “[The study] will be able to see that we have advanced in terms of how people feel respected and included because of the programs we have created,” Nixon Graphic by Kaitlyn Patterson '20. said.

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News

Jan. 31, 2018

CIP experiences decrease in staff members Office begins search for new employee CHARLEY REKSTIS ’20 News Editor The St. Joe’s Center for International Programs (CIP) is down to two staff members and a part-time position until a candidate can be picked to fill the position of Manager of Study Tours and Summer Programs.

The permanent position has been posted internally, and the CIP expects to have it filled within two months.

“We have just hired a part-time temp to help out until the Manager of Study Tours/Summer Program position is filled,”

said Tom Kesaris, director of the Center for International Programs in an email.

Ten years ago, seven staff worked in the CIP office, serving 164 students in semester-long study abroad programs and 239 students in study tour and summer programs.

In the 2017-2018 academic year, 195 students participated in semester-long programs with an estimated 150 students expected to participate in 2018 summer programs, according to Cary Anderson, Ed.D., vice president of student life and associate provost.

Staff in the CIP was reduced after the university evaluated finances and decided that three positions in the office would

accomodate the needs of students who are going abroad, Anderson said.

“The decision was made to reduce staff in that area so that we would have enough coverage to make sure that the students are supported and still be able to have the logistics that need to be done at this end,” Anderson said. “We believe that three dedicated staff is lean but meets the needs of students seeking to study elsewhere.”

Anderson said two international student support positions were moved to the Office of Inclusion and Diversity when the CIP was reduced to a three-person staff.

“The remaining three full-time posi-

tions at the Center for International Programs are responsible for providing study abroad services to our students, faculty and staff,” Kesaris said.

Kelly Gregg, assistant director for Semester Abroad and Health & Safety, said while it is difficult for only two staff members to manage the office until the temporary position is filled, services are operating as normal.

“We are fully capable of handling everything,” Gregg said. “We may not get back to students as quickly as we normally would. Both of us have been here a long time, so we know what we are doing.”

Farthest sophomore housing option will no longer be affiliated with St. Joe's CONTINUED FROM PG. 1 Rice said that he first heard rumors of Lancaster Courts not being a housing option for students in the beginning of the first semester.

“I think that Lancaster Courts closing is a good thing for future St. Joe’s students,” Rice said. “I personally think that Lancaster [Courts] is too far for student living, especially if you’re heading to class and you miss the shuttle.”

With the closing of Lancaster Courts, Rice hopes that students will have a different options that are closer to campus and that shuttle will be rerouted for faster transportation to campus.

“It is just going to decrease some of

the variety of options that we have for sophomores going forward, particularly into next year,” Bersett said. “The apartment options are going to be larger occupancy apartments as opposed to having those two person spaces [which were provided in Lancaster Courts]. In terms of the other options, Moore Hall and the campus houses and all of the other apartments will still be available. It’s just there won’t be this extra apartment community that is available.”

Lancaster Courts will no longer be available to students in fall 2018 (Photo by Luke Malanga '20).

Opinions

Jan. 31, 2018

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A campus-wide effort

Next steps for promoting inclusion and diversity Editor in Chief Ana Faguy ’19 Managing Editor Nick Mandarano ’18 Copy Chief Rose Weldon ’19 Faculty Adviser Shenid Bhayroo Contributing Adviser Jenny Spinner Copy Editor Hayley Burns ’20 Copy Editor Annie Clark '19 Copy Editor Kaila Mundell-Hill '20 Copy Editor Julia Snyder, M.A. '20 News Editor Charley Rekstis ’20 Assistant News Editor Alex Karpinski ’20 Assistant News Editor Alex Mark ’20 Editorial Page Editor Ann Marie Maloney '18 Assistant Opinions Editor Dominique Joe ’19 Lifestyle Editor Amber Denham ’18 Assistant Lifestyle Editor Emily Graham ’20 Sports Editor Alex Hargrave ’20 Assistant Sports Editor Nick Karpinski ’21 Photo Editor Luke Malanga ’20 Assistant Photo Editor Matt Barrett '21 Creative Director Kaitlyn Patterson ’20 Social Media Manager Kelly Smith ’19 Assistant Social Media Manager Erin Castellano ’20 Business Manager Jarrett Hurms '18 Advertising Manager Richard Bell '18 Distribution Manager Addie Guyer '19

The Center for Inclusion and Diversity (CID) celebrated its one-year anniversary on Jan. 24. The center represents the hub of inclusion and diversity at St. Joe's, with offices for staff members of the Office of Inclusion and Diversity (OID) as well as spaces for Student Inclusion and Diversity (SID) groups to host meetings and events.

The opening of the CID one year ago marked a major step forward for the formerly named Office of Multicultural Life, whose offices were crammed into the back hallways of Campion’s second floor two years ago.

One year after its opening, the CID has become a welcoming, comfortable space for students of color, LGBTQ students, international students and SID groups. On a campus that’s about 85 percent white and is largely homogenous in other ways (including religion, class, language, and other identities) students deserve to have places where they feel represented and don’t have to feel like the “minority.”

In the CID’s inaugural year, our campus has also held several events that focused on race, diversity and inclusion on campus, hosted by student groups, the OID, and other school administration officials.

Poorly attended though they were, these opportunities are an important way for students, faculty and staff to learn about inclusion and diversity efforts on campus and hear the concerns and suggestions of others different from them.

We encourage all parts of the university community to think about how they could help to make our campus more welcoming to more people.

Students: part of attending a liberal arts school ought to be learning outside the

FLY EAGLES FLY Super Bowl mania has taken over St. Joe’s, not to mention the entire city of Philadelphia. From the celebrations after the National Football Conference (NFC) championship game to the frantic planning of Super Bowl watch parties, Eagles excitement is in the air.

GROUNDHOG DAY IS ON ITS WAY January is such a long month that we get excited about anything that means this interminable month is over. Groundhog Day may not be the biggest holiday for the rest of the country, but here in Pennsylvania, we wait with baited breath to see Punxsutawney Phil’s predictions. Here’s hoping for our early spring to continue!

Letter to the Editor

To the Editor: Last week’s staff editorial, “Pedestrian Safety on Campus: What we can do to make our campus safer” correctly stated the importance of developing traffic safety solutions that directly involve and benefit St. Joe’s students. Along with our neighbors, university employees, and faculty, St. Joe’s students have to deal with a United States highway route running through the middle of an 8,000-student campus, with several bus stops and an elementary school close by. It’s a challenge as visceral, unavoidable, and steady as the traffic itself. To meet that challenge, the University Student Senate is

classroom. Be curious to hear from others who are different from you and to hear different perspectives. A lot of students don’t engage with inclusion and diversity efforts on campus because they feel they don’t have anything to contribute. But listening is often the most important way you can contribute and advocate for others. We ought to engage with the community that we’re a part of for the four years that we’re here. Stopping by the CID space and attending these events are ways to listen and contribute.

Student leaders: Consider ways that the groups and communities you lead can become more inclusive and welcoming spaces, even outside the CID. At the same time, think of ways to engage your community with the OID and CID. This year, the Office of Admissions hosted an interest meeting for Hawk Hosts in the CID. Even a small decision like this could bring people into the CID that otherwise may never have set foot in the center. Just getting more students into the center could be a way to get more students interested and involved in the efforts of OID and SID groups.

Faculty: As a group, you interact with every student on this campus. You have a major role to play in encouraging students to engage with our campus and with issues of inclusion and diversity. Incentivizing students to go to OID events is one way. Attending those events yourselves is another. Ultimately, you can be an example to your students. If you demonstrate that you care about inclusion and diversity at St. Joe’s, students, especially those who are least represented on this campus, will notice your example.

The administration ought to be more transparent about its efforts to address in-

ready to lend whatever help we can.

The University’s current efforts offer some real hope for a safer future. Electronic speed signs, better audio signals, and textured warning stripes are all steps in the right direction. If lowering the speed limit is, disappointingly, not an option, any other possible steps to curb speeding should be top priorities. City Avenue must be a singular zoning challenge; however, if the process for installing traffic controls is complicated, the goal is simple: to maximize students’ safety and prevent traffic accidents caused by drivers.

Toward that goal, Student Senate

clusion and diversity. Students have a right to know what concrete steps the school is taking to make our campus a more diverse and welcoming community.

The school recently released its strategic plan, in which it committed to recruiting a more diverse faculty and admitting a diverse student body. The university community needs to be continuously updated on the university’s progress in meeting these goals, and needs to know the purpose behind the administration’s efforts to gauge the feelings of students, faculty and staff about inclusion at St. Joe’s.

Although the administration has included efforts to address inclusion and diversity in its strategic plan, other members of the university community have to continue to be outspoken about our desires for our campus to be more inclusive for people of all types of backgrounds— in terms of race, class, religion, language, sexual orientation, ethnicity or nationality. It is not the job of OID and the administration alone to work for this type lasting change on our campus.

As students, most of us spend four years at St. Joe’s. Let’s use that time to work to leave our campus better than we found it, and better for the students yet to arrive.

—The Hawk Staff

The Hawk welcomes Letters to the Editor, typically no more than 300 words. They can be emailed to hawk.editorial@gmail.com.

SNL SLAMS PHILLY “Weekend Update” anchor Colin Jost made a lousy joke about Eagles and Patriots fans having “even worse brain damage than the players” on the Jan. 27 episode of “Saturday Night Live.” We can’t speak for Patriots fans, but Philadelphians are used to New Yorkers making lame jokes at our expense. The game is what matters. We can’t be bothered by a city whose team finished last in the division.

AWARDS SEASON SNUBS Whether you’re watching the Golden Globes, the Grammys, or the Oscars, it’s always a bummer to see your favorite shows, movies, actors and musicians get snubbed during awards season. It’s the greatest time of the year for pop culture fans, and we’re bummed that some of our favorites have been dissed so far in the nominations.

will aid these efforts, however possible, from keeping students updated through our contacts in the University, providing students’ perspectives on plans, to working with the Office of Public Safety to promote safe crossing practices. Numerous senators have already begun working together with President Natale to develop a coordinated, long-term approach to maintain through the safety process, with one simple goal: to keep students involved in their own wellbeing. If the problem involves the students, so will the solution.

Respectfully, Ali Natale ’18 President, University Student Senate Julian Lutz ’19 Community Relations Chair, University Student Senate Whitney Jones ’20 Public Safety Chair, University Student Senate

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Opinions

Jan. 31, 2018

Would Amazon be good for Philly?

Why HQ2 might not be as desirable as it seems

ETHAN FLANAGAN '18 Guest Columnist When Amazon announced that it was going to be establishing a second headquarters, cities across North America immediately laid plans to roll out the proverbial red carpet for one of the largest and most profitable corporations in the country.

Over 200 cities provided plans for the new headquarters, complete with infrastructure developments and tax breaks.

Philadelphia, like any midsize-to-large city in the country, was among those cities, and was chosen as one of the 20 finalists for the so-called HQ2. But would bringing Amazon to Philadelphia actually be valuable?

On the surface, the benefits of becoming host to the new Amazon headquarters are indisputable: the company has assured that whichever city is chosen, it will receive up to 50,000 new jobs. That possibility

alone is incentive enough for most cities to vie for HQ2. Additionally, the prestige that accompanies having a global corporation headquartered in your city is undeniable.

Having one large corporation usually pulls in others, a force known as a talent vortex.

The city of Seattle has added “53,000 jobs (on top of the roughly 40,000 at the Amazon headquarters), some $17 billion in new wages, salaries, and other compensation, and $38 billion in new investment,” from having Amazon in the city, according to Politico,. It’s hard to dispute growth on those figures alone.

But that’s not the whole story.

Amazon has promised 50,000 new jobs at their headquarters, and while not all of these jobs will be in tech positions, it is hard to imagine a city that has enough tech workers at the ready to fill these positions. While obviously there are talented tech workers here in Philadelphia already, many of these new employees at the Amazon headquarters

Graphic by Kaitlyn Patterson '20.

"Bringing in up to 50,000 new people would destroy traditional neighborhoods and uproot communities that have existed long before Amazon did in Seattle." would likely be from out of town.

While an influx of new people into a city can be a good thing, it often leads to an erosion of the city’s cultural identity.

Philadelphia already struggles with gentrification of both traditionally black and white neighborhoods.

Bringing in up to 50,000 new people would destroy traditional neighborhoods and uproot communities that have existed long before Amazon did in Seattle. Neighborhoods like Fairmount and Fishtown have already seen the impacts of gentrification and they have not been positive for long-time residents.

The wealth disparity in Seattle has increased exponentially between low-wage workers and those working at tech companies like Amazon. Although Seattle has a $15 minimum wage, that increase alone has not done enough to mitigate the effects of having a large number of higher paid

workers while many in the city do not make more than $50,000 a year. In Philadelphia, that disparity would be even more extreme.

Of the 10 largest cities in the United States, Philadelphia has the highest percentage of residents living below the poverty line— 25.7 percent as of 2016. Philadelphia also has the highest rate of deep poverty (residents living at 50 percent of the poverty line or below) among the 10 biggest cities with a rate of 12.2 percent.

Bringing a large corporation whose impact would raise housing prices to the extreme, like it did in Seattle, would hurt those in this city who need help the most.

Although there are benefits to bringing Amazon to Philadelphia, the erasure of the city’s cultural identity through gentrification and the burden it would place on those Philadelphians who are already struggling to get by are reason enough for Philadelphia to pass on this wolf in sheep’s clothing.

Continuing the fight against censorship Legacy of the controversial Hazelwood v. Kuhlmeier lives on DOMINIQUE JOE ’19 Assistant Opinions Editor The first ever Hazelwood Day of Action is Jan. 31, and marks the start of a yearlong campaign initiated by the non-profit Student Press Law Center (SPLC), to draw attention to the First Amendment rights of high school and college media. The Hazelwood Day of Action references the 1988 US Supreme Court ruling in the Hazelwood v.

Kuhlmeier case.

In this case, the Supreme Court ruling upheld a high school principal’s decision to remove articles written by student journalists at Hazelwood East High School in St. Louis County, Mo. The principal, having deemed articles about teen pregnancy and divorce inappropriate for The Spectrum’s audience, felt within his right to exert editorial control and remove pages of the finished issue without the student journalists’ knowledge.

This exercise in censorship by the Hazelwood East High School’s principal was considered an egregious display of absolute editorial power that infringed upon the students’ rights of free speech. Three Hazelwood students ended up taking the Hazelwood School District to court, inevitably ending up in the U.S. Supreme Court,

where the controversial ruling was made.

The Supreme Court ruling held that public schools are allowed to prohibit the publishing of content if it poses a pedagogical concern by violating the educational

states, which protects the student press’ First Amendment right to publish content and provides additional free speech protection for students. Pennsylvania is one of the 18 states that has adopted the New Voices bill

"The Supreme Court ruling held that public schools are allowed to prohibit the publishing of content if it poses a pedagogical concern by violating the educational mission of schools. " mission of schools. Today, the SPLC understands the damaging effect of this 1988 ruling to be the sanctioning of administrative censorship of student media, which is why the Hazelwood Day of Action came to be.

Thus the first objective of Hazelwood Day is to promote discussion of the Hazelwood decision through activities and conversations about the importance of student press independence. The SPLC sees the Hazelwood case as the ultimate infringement on the student press’ ability to publish articles, but also their independence.

Another objective is to bring awareness to New Voices legislation, passed in 18

in their Administrative Code. When looking at the local application of New Voices legislation in Pennsylvania, there are ways in which this particular legislation provides protections for high school and college student journalists’ First Amendment rights.

In the PA Administrative Code, lawmakers provide these “protections” of free speech and “curtail” administrative censorship through the insistence of responsibilities that students have when publishing news. For example, the Code says that “students have the responsibility to obey laws governing libel and obscenity and to be aware of the full meaning of their expres-

sion” and that they “have the responsibility to be aware of the feelings and opinions of others and to give others a fair opportunity to express their views."

Student journalists and their schools, to whom the PA Administrative Code is directed, are provided a much clearer understanding of the possible ramifications of what could be published, as well as reminded of their responsibilities as student media affiliated with public schools.

The New Voices legislation does seem to be correcting a lot of vagueness in the Supreme Court decision for Hazelwood v.

Kuhlmeier (1988) and de-emphasizing this administrative control of censorship over student media. With the implementation of this legislation, student journalists,are being held to the same standards as professional journalists. So, by having the New Voices legislation in place, student press is provided the same protection of independence as the professional press.

The New Voices legislation, and its promotion by the SPLC through the Hazelwood Day of Action, is taking much needed steps to place more power into the hands of the student press and make sure that their freedoms are not infringed upon.

Opinions

Jan 31, 2018

7

Clean energy takes a hit

President Trump's tariff on solar panels taxes environment CARTER TODD '19 Guest Columnist Last week, President Trump imposed a 30 percent tariff on solar panels imported into the United States. While there is a larger discussion about Trump’s motives for these actions, one thing is for sure: this move does nothing but delay the progression of the switch to clean energy amongst both large companies as well as households.

Solar energy has continued to benefit not only our environment but also our economy more and more each year since 2008. The steadily increasing number of people switching to solar energy, leading to a more expansive job market, has naturally made solar panels more affordable each year. This tariff placed on the solar panels will surely deter more working-class American families from considering utilizing solar energy in 2018 and beyond.

On the surface, the move by Trump to place a tariff on such products seems like an unnecessarily harsh repercussion

on the solar panel industry. While that is a fair assessment, there is a bit more to it.

China and South Korea will be most impacted by Trump’s decision because both are major distributors of solar panels to U.S. companies and households.

Clearly, one motivation for Trump’s move could be a desire to become less reliant

Al Gore spoke publicly on the matter. Gore noted how the U.S. companies’ stubbornness played a huge role in this move as well.

“I don't typically defend him. [But] I will say, in this case, it really did not start with him,” Gore said. “It could have been handled differently, should have been handled differently, but it's not an utter catastrophe."

" This tariff placed on the solar panels will surely deter more working-class American families from considering utilizing solar energy in 2018 and beyond." on foreign companies to provide energy and to follow through on his promise to be more strict on foreign trade. Nevertheless, it is curious that Trump has skipped his promise to place a tariff on foreign aluminum and steel and has instead gone straight to taxing environmentally-friendly energy sources.

Former Democratic presidential candidate and renowned environmentalist

A positive outlook on the situation would be to hope that the money collected by the government through this tariff is properly allocated towards benefitting solar energy companies within the United States. Allocating the revenues this way could represent a hopeful sliver of bipartisanship in a time where that seems all but entirely lost.

Making long term investments to

diminish the effects of climate change is far from the top of Trump’s agenda, but if Democrats were to push for the tariff to benefit the industry it affects, there is no reason this policy could not serve to benefit environmental causes in the long term.

Unfortunately though, time is of the essence in the most sincere way when it comes to switching to clean energy around the country. Most families who, from a moral standpoint, would like to install solar panels will be less likely to do so considering the hefty tariff.

While some may feel that the long term effects of strong-arming Americans into buying American solar panels will stimulate our economy over time, the effect of tariff right now will be to hurt American solar companies that rely on foreign products and to hurt the American solar panel industry for the time being. This tariff means budget cuts and fewer working class, blue collar jobs supplied by solar panel companies.

This is not a decision made with the betterment of our environment in mind.

Once again, our planet hasn’t been considered, and when she loses, we all do.

Senior year soundtrack

Why graduation is more Imagine Dragons than MGMT VIVIAN MILAN '18 Guest Columnist As my denial of being a second semester senior at St. Joe’s dwindles, I find myself constantly listening to two songs to help me cope with this newfound acceptance: MGMT’s “Time to Pretend” and Imagine Dragons’ “It’s Time.” Both songs clearly have an emphasis on time— how time moves so quickly, how we should look forward to new beginnings, how time can’t really change us or how it will change us entirely.

I find the themes in “Time to Pretend” more realistic, though extremely depressing, to what college seniors actually go through. The members of the bands, Ben Goldwasser and Andrew VanWyngarden, wrote the song during their senior year of college, so the song was meant to resonate with people going through the same time of their life. The feeling of fear and of the unknown is apparent through the lyrics of the song, but not as much the actual music.

MGMT’s electronic rock and psychedelic pop makes me feel like I’m on an acid trip. The song, which celebrates its tenth anniversary this year, summarizes the transition from college life to the “real world” pretty accurately in its first verse: “This is our decision: to live fast and die young/ We’ve got the vision, now let’s have some fun/Yeah, it’s overwhelming, but what else can we do?/Get jobs in offices and wake up for the morning commute?”

While we’re expected to enjoy our time as college students, have fun, be a little crazy, this time of our lives is only temporary. The music represents the distraction that college gives us, while the lyrics reflect our eventual reality and current fears of not getting the job we want,

leaving our friends, leaving the place that we’ve spent the last few years of our lives, getting stuck in traffic with a nine to five and entering the real world.

The song continues with flashbacks of common childhood memories that we have all left behind: “I’ll miss the playgrounds and the animals and digging up

lege. Again, while there are some dismal feelings in this song, I still believe it’s a better senior song than “Time to Pretend.”

Instead of fearing the future, we should enjoy and make the best of the present, that is, our time remaining at St. Joe’s.

The song begins with a powerful sentiment: “... now it’s time to build from

" ...we were all scared to leave our hometowns and we all have people in our lives we don’t want to disappoint. Obviously we’re going to struggle, we’re going to face challenges and the real world is a frightening place." worms/I’ll miss the comfort of my mother and the weight of the world/I’ll miss my sister, miss my father, miss my dog and my home/ Yeah, I’ll miss the boredom and the freedom and the time spent alone/But there is really nothing, nothing we can do.”

It’s terrifying and nauseating, but this is the bleak truth we must deal with as seniors. The real world doesn’t always allow our parents to bail us out of difficult situations, we don’t get to play on our playground and despite what Peter Pan told us, growing up is inevitable. Yet, the future doesn’t have to be as scary and depressing as MGMT makes it seem.

I find myself listening to “It’s Time” when the dread of the future has subsided after listening to “Time to Pretend,” for an important reason: it offers a much more optimistic viewpoint.

“It’s Time,” released five years after “Time to Pretend,” seems to embrace changes as they come along. The lead singer of the group, Dan Reynolds, wrote this song after he had dropped out of col-

the bottom of the pit/Right to the top/Don’t hold back/Packing my bags and giving the academy a rain check.” Even if you’re at your lowest point in life, Reynolds believes the only way to go from there is up, right to the top. No one else will help you achieve your goals if you’re not willing to take pride in your work. It’s a little harsh, but Reynolds speaks from experience.

The lyrics continue addressing the fears people have when it comes time to go forth into the real world: “I don’t ever wanna let you down/I don’t ever wanna leave this town.../The path to heaven runs through miles of clouded hell...” As reflected in the song, we were all scared to leave our hometowns and we all have people in our lives we don’t want to disappoint.

Obviously we’re going to struggle, we’re going to face challenges and the real world is a frightening place. The good news is that we’re not the only ones who have these feelings.

Everyone is scared, but if we’re willing to accept the challenges, we become

stronger, tougher individuals. As Bob Kelso, the fictional doctor from the TV show “Scrubs,” once said, “Nothing in this world that’s worth having comes easy.”

With all of this taken into consideration, “It’s Time” is a better senior year song. It acknowledges that life comes with challenges and difficult decisions, but these things are arbitrary and can be overcome.

So when it comes time for graduation, instead of dreading the real world and the post grad life, take a breath and say “It’s time to begin.”

It’s Time Imagine Dragons

IMAGINE DRAGONS NIGHT VISIONS

Graphic by Kaitlyn Patterson '20.

8

Opinions

Jan. 31, 2018

Perpetually the underdog

What the Eagles’ Super Bowl journey means to Philadelphia CORINNE MCGRATH ’18 Guest Columnist There is nothing I love more than an underdog; it makes success significantly sweeter. I was born in Northeast Philadelphia, and, out there, we know a thing or two about being doubted. It is in our blood to prove the world wrong, and that is a common theme for the city of Philadelphia. Thus, it is easy to see why we care about the Eagles more than

Graphic by Kaitlyn Patterson '20.

anything else on this planet right now.

I was eight years old when the Eagles last went to the Super Bowl and I had never felt more excitement in my life. I cried for days after they lost to the Patriots, and the city felt lifeless for weeks. Philadelphians know disappointment intimately, and while losing like that hurt, none of us were too surprised.

This season has been a whirlwind, and I noticed that every time I talked to someone about the Eagles, the response would be “sure, they’re playing great, but we all know that they’ll let us down in the end.”

Still, it was hard to keep hope down as whispers of Minnesota began to stir, but in true Philadelphia fashion, the Eagles could not let us sleep easy – and when Carson Wentz tore his ACL in week thirteen, the dream started to slip away.

If Philadelphians know anything, though, it’s that doubt can be powerful.

Once again the underdogs, the Eagles skidded through the end of the regular season and the divisional round of the playoffs – but the Vikings? There wasn’t a person outside of this city who thought the Birds could pull that one off. That’s what the

people of Philly wanted, though – the more doubt the rest of the country placed on us, the more our hopes grew.

I bought my tickets to the game and couldn’t help but smile as I walked through the Xfinity Gate, with shaking hands and

behind, who’s been waiting over 65 years for this. I thought of my dad, who’s nearly as old as the Super Bowl itself, and still hasn’t seen the Eagles win the championship. I thought of eight-year-old me, who wanted nothing more than to watch her team beat Tom

"My dad, my uncle and I, as well as the rest of this wonderful city get one last chance to beat Brady this coming Feb. 4.

And we are once again the underdogs." excitement bubbling in my chest. I turned to the first stranger I saw and uttered in disbelief, “I can’t believe it.” He tugged on my shoulder and yelled in reply, “We’re really here.”

Throughout the evening, as the Eagles completely dominated a team that was expected to crush them, there was lots of screaming, singing, chanting, and on my part, a lot of tears.

As the crowd started to chant “We want Brady,” I looked back at my uncle, a few rows

Brady, and to be able to share the Eagles’ win with the people she loved.

My dad, my uncle and I, as well as the rest of this wonderful city get one last chance to beat Brady on Feb. 4, and we are once again the underdogs. That would cause uneasiness for any other city, but here it brings a fire to each of us that can’t be put out. Hope is dangerously high as we rest on the precipice of greatness.

Looking at you, New England. Go Birds.

Eagles fan responds to Minnesota criticism Vikings fans voice their judgements on the city of brotherly love

JOSEPH PANICHELLI '19 Guest Columnist The Philadelphia Eagles defeated the Minnesota Vikings 38 to 7 in the National Football Conference (NFC) Championship matchup on Jan. 21. Despite their team getting blown out, Vikings fans seemed more appalled and frightened by the behavior of the Eagles fans than they did with their team’s horrendous performance.

Media stations in Minnesota set up their cameras in the airport to try and get raw reactions from Vikings fans who flew back from Philly. Many had nothing but horrible things to say about Eagles fans, and our city as a whole. Some suggested that the Eagles should be stripped of the NFC title for their willingness to allow bad behavior. Others took to Twitter to devise a plan for Vikings fans to sign up for Uber, through which they would drop Eagles fans off at the wrong location on game day.

Unfortunately for me, I could not afford a ticket to the game, given the cheapest tickets started at $135 for standing room.

However, for the combined price of around $10, I was lucky enough to be squeezed into a train car and subway, both filled with sweaty, booze-infused football fanatics, on my way to Lincoln Financial Field.

I feel as though it is necessary to

preface this column by saying I have been to countless Philadelphia sports games, so I am no stranger to the realities of how Philadelphia fans, specifically Eagles fans, act at any given game. That being said, I understood that a game with this much at stake would surely be no exception.

Taking advantage of the mayhem in the train systems, some riders were openly drinking alcohol, urinating, and doing pretty much whatever they pleased.

When I finally got to the stadium, Vikings supporters looked like tiny, purple grains of sand in the seemingly never-end-

"The camaraderie amongst Eagles fans is unlike that of any other community, and I am extremely proud to be a part of it. But, as with all great organizations, groups, or fanbases, there are individuals whose actions reflect poorly upon the whole."

Before even arriving to the stadium, I saw more passion and enthusiasm from Eagles fans than I have ever seen at any sporting event. Students from St. Joe’s were gathered at Overbrook Station, waiting for SEPTA trains to arrive. Random strangers seemed as though they were friends for years, by administering a simple “Go Birds.”

On the train lines, hundreds of fans gathered in unison to chant the beloved fight song, and mixed in a customary blend of cheers and slogans that the uninitiated would find inappropriate and distasteful.

ing sea of green.

To say that I did not see any Eagles fans acting aggressively or rudely towards Vikings fans would be completely and utterly false. Most of the Vikings fans I saw were accompanied by a surplus of boos and expletives as they tried to make their ways through the tailgate lots. In specific cases, beers or hotdogs were thrown at Vikings fans. One Eagles fan even had a small Viking doll that he dragged on the street with a leash. All in all, these things did happen; I saw them up close and personal.

It seems to me as though Philadelphia fans have had this perception from the national media and sports world for quite some time. From the time Eagles fans threw snowballs at Santa Claus in 1968, to the most recent criticism regarding the Vikings game, Philly is notorious for its insane and ill-mannered fans. I believe that through all this talk, we have now adopted and even embraced this pattern of behavior, since no matter what, it seems like we will always be labeled as the rowdiest and meanest fans in sports.

The most crucial concept to take away from the NFC game is that not all Philadelphia fans are behemoths or irrational lunatics. The camaraderie amongst Eagles fans is unlike that of any other community, and I am extremely proud to be a part of it.

But, as with all great organizations, groups, or fanbases, there are individuals whose actions reflect poorly upon the whole.

I similarly propose that this type of behavior is not specific to Philadelphia sports.

These incidents happen in major sports cities around the world. The combination of hours of aggressive alcohol consumption and the intensity of emotions that are brought forth through professional sports will always result in individual cases of misconduct. I find it unfair how the media and opposing fans continue to generalize an entire city and condemn an entire fanbase.

Lifestyle

Jan. 31, 2018

9

Overcoming a daily challenge Past and present students share their journeys with dyslexia STEPHANIE MCCARTHY '18 Special to The Hawk

Everyone has their own challenges they must face, some beginning earlier than others. For individuals with dyslexia, a language-based learning disability, this challenge is one to be faced each and every day.

For Will Marsh ’18, sixth grade was a defining year in his journey with dyslexia.

One day in class, Marsh’s teacher was discussing students’ scores for the state’s standardized test.

“I remembers feeling defeated and upset that I had a teacher who did not understand dyslexia and my processing issues,” Marsh said.

In fact, he ran from school that day. At home, he wept.

“I sat next to my bed and cried, telling myself that I was stupid,” Marsh said.

But from that moment on, Marsh said, he decided to fight to overcome future obstacles. Part of that fight is not just for him but for other people with dyslexia.

Marsh become an advocate for students with dyslexia during his

junior year at Union Catholic Regional High School in Scotch Plains, N.J., especially when he realized that, three years after his diagnosis, nothing had changed in his school district. Marsh planned a conference called Spotlight on Dyslexia for teachers, parents and students at Union Catholic.

Marsh has continued his advocacy at St. Joe’s, last fall participating in the 39th Annual Dyslexia and Learning Disability Conference, which the university hosted.

One in five students at St. Joe’s has a language-based disability like dyslexia, according to Christine Mecke, Ph.D., director of Student Disability Services.

While many people think dyslexia is about reading words backwards, that is not the case, Mecke explained. Instead, dyslexia is often characterized by difficulties in reading, spelling and sometimes pronouncing unfamiliar words.

“More importantly for others to understand it that dyslexia is not due to a lack of intelligence but rather a neurological impairment that impacts reading skills,” Mecke said.

Abby Carlino ’19 said that dyslexia is not tied to IQ, although it may look that way from an outside perspective.

“I tell people that I am dyslexic because I do not want them to think that I am stupid because I can’t spell or read something quickly and understand it,” Carlino said. “Dyslexia is not just flipping letters around. It’s not seeing things the same way and understanding how they fit together necessarily.”

Although Carlino was not diagnosed with dyslexia until she was in high schoo as early as kindergarten, teachers wondered if she might have a learning disability. Like Marsh, she recalled her early years in school were marked by anxiety because of her struggles.

“I remember when I was little, and we had to write stuff on the board. I would get so nervous that I was going to write my words backwards or something,” Carlino said. “It would just overwhelm me a lot.”

Carlino said she has grown from these experiences, however, and that her struggles have made her a hard worker.

“I think it made me more resilient because it is a lot to overcome, especially when you are little, and everyone is excelling and reading and you are not,” she said. “It taught me to have a really good work ethic because it did take me a lot longer to understand it. I have to study two times longer than everyone else to get the same grade.”

Hailey Miller ’18, was diagnosed with dyslexia in third

Barbelin Hall shone red for National Dyslexia Awareness Month in October (Graphic by Luke Malanga '20).

Will Marsh '18 planned a conference advocating for dyslexia at Union Catholic Regional High School (Photo by Luke Malanga '20).

grade. She also worried that people would mistake her disability for laziness.

“Growing up and especially in high school, I always felt like teachers would think I'm not trying or slacking off because I wouldn't finish my tests or homework or have to bring my classwork home,” Miller said.

Miller still struggles with such fears in college, worrying that her professors will fault her work ethic instead of understanding her struggles with dyslexia.

“I love learning,” Miller said. “It just takes me a while. Usually I'm not able to finish my work because it takes me at least twice as long as someone without a learning difference. Unfortunately sometimes that needed time is just not available.”

Reading in class is especially challenging, Miller said.

“A teacher tells the class to read [however many] paragraphs or a handout, and I'm maybe halfway through it, and since pretty much everyone else is finished, the teacher's like, ‘okay, so who can summarize this for me?’” Miller said. “And I'm just getting anxious because I'm only halfway or less through, thinking 1) please don't call on me right now and 2) can we have a few more minutes because I want to be able to participate and know what is going on.”

One of St. Joe’s most well-known alumni is James Maguire, ’58 who was diagnosed with dyslexia by a Jesuit professor while attending St. Joe’s. Maguire said that Hunter Guthrie, S.J., professor of philosophy, noticed that Maguire was dyslexic, took him under his wing, and helped Maguire realized his potential as a student.

“I could not read, I could not spell, and what normally look somebody a half hour to read took me an hour and a half to read,” Maguire said.

Maguire’s academic life was turned around when, with Guthrie’s encouragement, he realized he could excel with the right learning tools and with the realization that he just had to work harder than the other students.

“As a result of that, I actually became a pretty good student,” Maguire said. “It changed my perspective on myself. I always felt that I was inferior because I could not keep up with the rest of the class in studying or comprehension. Recognizing that it would take me a lot longer to read something than the other people in the class, I had to make that adjustment, and I did.”

After graduating from St. Joe’s, Maguire used what he had learned from Guthrie and applied it to the business world. Maguire founded Philadelphia Insurance Company and is co-founder, along with his wife Frances Maguire, of the Maguire Foundation.

“My dyslexia handicap never really hurt me in business because I recognized when I came out of St. Joe’s that I just needed to manage my dyslexia,” Maguire said. “I find that in meetings where there is a subject manner that has to be read, such as a legal document that has to be read, the lawyers in the room read the document and put it down, and I am still reading it. That is all right! It just takes me a little longer to do it.”

Teachers like Guthrie, who support students with dyslexia, is a key to their success, and Miller said she believes it is important to educate instructors about dyslexia so they can help their students who struggle from it.

Miller said she has found the support she needs at St. Joe’s, but she also credits her own tenacity.

“SJU is filled with tons of quality people ready to support you, and it's okay if you mess up, just take that opportunity to learn and grown from it.” Miller said, “And if it's an obstacle you'll have to deal with your whole life, like dyslexia, own it, stand in your truth and discover and optimize your strengths and recognize and work on your weaknesses, with as much passion and courage of conviction as possible.”

That’s one of the important lessons that Marsh has learned over the years, too.

“One of the greatest strengths of dyslexia is our ability to persist and be resilient,” Marsh said. “We don’t back down.”

Lifestyle

Jan. 31, 2018

10

A golden ticket to food

SUB hosts Restaurant Week trip for students LAUREN BOURQUE '19 Hawk Staff St. Joe’s Student Union Board (SUB) hosted a trip to three of the restaurants featured in Philadelphia’s Restaurant Week.

Over 120 restaurants in Philadelphia participated during the week of Jan.14 and offered deals including lunch prices at $20 and dinner prices at $35. SUB's $15 tickets included the meal, tip, tax and transportation.

The bus took students to one of three restaurants: Morton's Steakhouse, Max Brenner or Bellini Grille.

I bought a ticket for Bellini Grille, a small Italian restaurant off of South 16th Street. The dinner started off with a salad option or “anti-pasto.” Of the six salad options, I chose an arugula salad, which consisted of pomegranates, walnuts and goat cheese.

For the second course, we were able to

pick one of six different pasta dishes. I enjoyed a linguine dish with mushrooms, peas and artichoke hearts in a light red sauce.

Finally, for the third course, we chose from six entrée options. While there were many chicken and meat options, I decided on the salmon with green beans, which was coated in a white wine sauce topped with lemon. All of the food was heavenly and the whole night in general was a steal for $15, when normally a night at this restaurant, including transportation, could cost over $50 a person.

Restaurant Week allows students to try out new foods and restaurants without spending a lot of money. Students might not normally be able to go to these restaurants, especially on a college budget.

SUB's Restaurant Week trip is also a great way to meet new people on campus, since everyone who goes to the same restaurant sits at the same table. While eating at Bellini, I met some sophomores that I

probably would have never met otherwise.

I have gone to Restaurant Week every year since starting school at St. Joe's and each year, I experience something that I have never tried before.

My freshman year, my friends and I chose a sushi restaurant, marking the first time I had tried sushi. I used this opportunity to try new foods without having to worry about spending too much money on something I might not enjoy.

As a sophomore, I went to another Italian restaurant. Even though it was the same style of food that I ate this year, the restaurant would have been very expensive if I had gone at any other point in the year.

Each year, Restaurant Week reminds me about how many fun events SUB hosts and how it is great way to get excited about the spring semester. This event and others offer students new opportunities that they might not otherwise experience.

Bellini Grille, an Italian restaurant on South 16th Street (Photo by Lauren Bourque '19).

Hawks' healthy habits

Maintaining a healthy diet in college ALYSSA THOMPSON ’19 Hawk Staff New diets surface faster than consumers can finish saying the word “diet.” The paleo, vegan and Atkins diets are among the most popular. One of the issues that dietitians believe they each share is that they may not be sustainable and could cause people to fall back into their old, unhealthy habits.

Beginning to lead a healthier lifestyle may seem overwhelming and daunting, with plenty of questions plaguing the mind What’s a healthy option? What isn’t a healthy option? How much should I be eating? Sometimes, there isn’t a clear-cut answer. However, adopting these five healthy eating habits would be a great first step.

Drink the correct amount of water The Institute of Medicine states that women should drink at least 72 ounces of water per day and men should drink at least 104 ounces. The institute cites many reasons it is beneficial to drink enough water daily, including keeping one’s body hydrated and improving brain function.

Infusing water with lemon and other fruits is a great way to enhance its taste as well.

Pay attention to portion size The serving sizes on the nutrition labels of all packaged foods are based on a 2,000 calorie diet, which is just a general suggestion. To get a more individualized calorie count, there are several calorie calculator websites and apps, like “My Plate.” My Plate will even break down a person’s individualized calorie count into the percentage of each food group that person should

consume per day.

Choose healthy snacks There are several healthy snack options out there, with one of the most common being fresh fruit. Tiana Santos ‘19 notes fruit as being one of her favorite snacks.

“I love eating pretty much all fruits, getting smoothies in Campion, and having yogurt bowls,” Santos said.

Keeping a fruit bowl stocked up will make it much simpler to snack on some fruit daily.

who have adverse effects from any of the foods in this category. Some of which include lactose, found in dairy products, and fructans, found in gluten grains.

Each individual is different and requires a personalized diet, so FODMAPs may be something worth paying attention to.

Although leading a healthier lifestyle is important, it is also important to remember it’s not necessary to completely cut out all of those unhealthy foods forever. Moderation is key.

“I don’t believe in depriving myself of the unhealthy things that I like, because I’m too young for that nonsense,” Santos said.

“If there is a treat in sight, I’m definitely not going to avoid it.”

Get creative with meals Chicken breast with a side of veggies may tend to get boring and dull. Try making some classic dishes in healthier ways, like a zucchini spaghetti dish or a burrito bowl with chicken, avocado, rice and fresh salsa.

Maria Gallo Pavajeau ‘19 has lost over Being creative makes healthy eating more interesting.

40 lbs since starting at St. Joe’s and said that one of the reasons for her weight loss is her love for cooking and creating fun meals.

“My new obsession is making these turkey burgers with peppers and onions,” Pavajeau said. “I also love looking up new recipes and making meals in my slow cooker. I make really good beluga lentils.”

Fresh fruit make a great healthy snack option.

Experiment with cutting out FODMAPs Certain foods trigger bloating and poor digestion, which in turn affects overall health. Studies conducted by the American College of Gastroenterology have shown that eating a low amount of fermentable oligosaccharides, disaccharides, monosaccharides and polyols (FODMAPs) diet is beneficial for those

A healthy meal option of chicken, avocado, rice and fresh salsa (Photos by Alyssa Thompson '19).

Lifestyle

Jan. 31, 2018

11

Prepare for the Megashow

Performing arts groups to host first-ever variety show AMBER DENHAM '18 Lifestyle Editor The performing arts community of St. Joe’s will come together to showcase their different talents in what they call the Megashow on Feb. 2.

The variety show will include a scene from student-run theatre company Followed by a Bear, music from a capella groups City Belles, 54th and City and Hawkapella, comedy from the SJU Improv Team, and an open mic show from 1851 Entertainment.

Additionally, the SJU Irish Step Dance Team will perform, highlighting one of the more recent student organizations on campus who usually compete off campus.

Stephanie Crispell ’20, co-president of the Irish step team, said she is excited to perform for the school community.

“When we were [contacted], we had already started doing choreography for performances around the community and just gotten flooring funded by Student Leadership and Activities,” Crispell said. “So we’re really excited to start going on the St. Joe’s campus and give a preview for our Spring Show in March.”

Though the evening will showcase performing arts as an entire community, each individual organization will have their moment in the spotlight, but this time for a

more diverse audience.

“All of the different groups are going to have a certain segment of the night where we do the things [performing] we usually do, but now exposing our talents to each other’s audiences to show everyone the kind of variety this campus has in terms of entertainment,” said Tom Smith ’18, president of Followed by a Bear and a member of the Improv Team.

Planning for such a diverse and inclusive event meant a lot of time needed to be set aside for organization. At the start of the 2017 fall semester, the performing arts communities met to start discussing the best and most effective ways to host an event which showcased each group’s talents both individually and cohesively as one arts community. The easiest part of it all was getting everyone together.

“We have a lot of friends in the different groups so it works out that way where we can all work together and communicate in that way,” said Morgan Hayes ’18, vice president of Followed by a Bear.

Though St. Joe’s is an average sized university, the number of clubs and organizations available for students to explore is more than meets the eye, specifically within the performing arts community. This was the unifying reason behind the creation of the variety show.

“I hope more people get to see how

The Irish step team is one of the participating groups in the Megashow (Courtesy of Stephanie Crispell '20).

many different arts groups there are and how many different outlets there are for your talents on campus,” said Aly Seechock '18, former president of City Belles. “You know, even if you just sing in the shower, or you’re the funny friend, it’s a great opportunity to see what we have on campus.”

Part of the planning for this night included hosting the event in an area which is easily accessible to all students who wish to attend, such as The Perch.

“The community of people, not even

just seeing all the groups, but they’ll feel part of this whole network we have of arts at this school that you might not necessarily think about, but it’s definitely there,” Hayes said. “It’s a very living, breathing, vibrant community of all these fun different people and now they all get to come together and perform together.”

The Megashow takes place in The Perch on Feb. 2. Admission is free and the show starts at 7 p.m.

40,000 miles to peace

John Noltner's pictures of peace in America AMBER DENHAM '18 Lifestyle Editor EMILY GRAHAM ’20 Assistant Lifestyle Editor St. Joe’s welcomed award-winning photographer John Noltner to display his exhibit “A Peace of My Mind” on Jan. 22 and Jan. 23.

For Noltner, this project is a way to use his career in photography and his interest in storytelling to address the need for compassion in today’s world.

“We live in perhaps one of the most connected and interconnected times in history, but we continue to struggle with the way that we connect with one another on a human level,” Noltner said.

Noltner’s project took him all over the country to ask people from diverse backgrounds the question, “What does peace mean to you?” His exhibit features pictures of the individuals he interviewed and a description of their unique story of peace.

The exhibit invited St. Joe’s students and faculty to engage with Noltner’s work by reading his subjects’ stories and quotes, displayed in the North Lounge in Campion Student Center. Noltner also gave a presentation titled “Lessons on the Road to Peace,” in which he gave more insight into his journey throughout the process.

Noltner began this mission in 2009, when he faced a financially difficult point in his career. During the recession, Noltner struggled to find jobs, but realized he did

Noltner's photographs and stories displayed on multi-sided boards (Photo by Luke Malanga '20).

not feel spiritually fulfilled with the work he was doing.

“In my house, we’ve embraced a saying that you might be familiar with,” Noltner said. “Some jobs feed the belly, and some jobs feed the soul. And if you’re really lucky, your job can do both.”

This expression gave him inspiration to start a project that would feed his soul and help him appreciate the good in the world. After reflecting on the common human experience and the values of his Lutheran background, Noltner arrived at his question of peace.

“A Peace of My Mind is not a story about faith, but it is a project that’s rooted in my own faith,” Noltner said. “I contin-

ually come back to Jesus’ call to love one another, and I’ve looked for the loopholes, and I’ve looked for the exceptions to that. It doesn’t say love the ones who look like you, and it doesn’t say love the ones who live like you. It says love one another, period.”

The project has taken Noltner 40,000 miles across the country, meeting individuals from Santa Fe, Nashville, Philadelphia and towns in nearly every state. While his exhibit is on tour, he continues conducting interviews as he travels. He spends at least five hours with his subjects, listening to their story, following their daily life and learning their view on peace.

Noltner has worked to meet a wide variety of Americans, representing differ-

ent races, religions, social classes, sexual orientations and more to demonstrate how everyone’s definition of peace is different.

The goal of the project was to inspire more people to join the conversation. To achieve this, viewers of the exhibit were asked to consider their own perspective on peace. Noltner invited 40 members of the St. Joe’s community to share their ideas in response to the question, “What is the unique challenge of talking about race at this moment in history?”

Noltner took portraits of those who participated and recorded their insights, which he tied into his presentation. These ideas called Noltner to reflect on the message of Martin Luther King, Jr. “If we can find the way to listen to one another, to recognize the humanity, especially in our adversaries, I think we’ll get a little closer to the beloved community Dr. King talked about,” Noltner said. “We’ll move towards a world of peace and justice.”

Candace Hightower ’18 was one of the students who visited the exhibit and was delightfully overwhelmed with the amount of stories that were highlighted.

“Once I read one [story], I needed to read everyone else’s,” Hightower said.

“There was almost this sense of urgency, and being able to hear these stories that aren’t always told was super important to me.”

All of the profiles have been collected in Noltner’s book “A Peace of My Mind, Exploring the Meaning of Peace One Story At a Time,” which is now in its third edition.

The stories are also accessible on Noltner’s website, www.apeaceofmymind.net.

Lifestyle

Jan. 31, 2018

12

Leaning on the power of music Review of The Hillbilly Thomists

ALEJANDRO GOMEZ, M.A. '19 Special to The Hawk When I first heard The Hillbilly Thomists, I couldn’t help but recall the English poet G.K. Chesterton’s words when he said, “it is the paradox of history that each generation is converted by the saint who contradicts it most.” Indeed, it was St. Francis’ stark poverty in contrast to the opulence of the church that gave rise to a great order of mendicants, and it was St. Thomas’ heavenly metaphysics which has inspired generations of scientists from getting trapped in materialism.

The Hillbilly Thomists are a group of 10 friars in the Dominican Order, from the Order’s Northeast Province. The band takes its unique name from the Flannery O’Connor novel “Wise Blood,” with the latter part of the name referencing Dominican scholar St. Thomas Aquinas. Today, we have The Hillbilly Thomists’ first album as a powerful counter-cultural force to modernity, pitting the old world instrumentation of banjos, bagpipes and drum sets into the new millennium, and the result is a joy to hear.

The album begins with “Leaning On the Everlasting Arms,” a glorious ode to living a life solely dependent on Christ.

Right from the start, the song bursts with toe-tapping energy, solidly carrying the message of fellowship and peace into the bluegrass genre. Half-tuned violins fill the melodies with excited riffs, accompanied by that distinctive, vocal sound of Kentucky bluegrass. “Angel Band” slows down the

tempo with its sparkling guitar accompaniment, while Gregorian chant-trained Dominicans add a touch of the divine to an otherwise earth-scented genre.

Although many are recompositions of classic songs, “I’m a Dog” is an original composition by the band’s lead vocalist, Br. Justin Bolger, formerly a professional singer and songwriter before entering the order of the Dominicans. The “dog” is a reference to the popular symbol of the Dominicans as a dog with a torch in its mouth. The lyrics convey the paradoxical message that life is short and passing, yet it’s most well-lived by giving it away: “Making noise while I got time / Spreading fire while I got earth.” There’s no trace of melancholy or sadness in this sacrifice, rather it's an exuberance that can only be described as childlike in sincerity.

My favorite song, however, would be “What Wondrous Love Is This.” It asks the impossible question of why our Lord suffered such a terrible death for us, who are insignificant and imperfect as seen through the lyrics, “What wondrous love is this that caused the Lord of bliss / to bear the dreadful curse for my soul / for my soul.” But the song never gives an answer to this question. It’s reminiscing of God’s answer to Job: “Where were you when I founded the earth? / Tell me, if you have understanding” (Job 38:4). The song goes through one last, short chorus (“Through eternity I’ll sing on”) then breaks away into an epic 3-minute banjo and violin accompaniment. Drums beat steady and strong, while strings ring in vibratto, as if they

tremble at the existential question that has been posed.

All in all, the album conveys the energy of a soul’s heroic journey through life, asking this same question but never being provided a direct answer, because it’s impossible. In the meantime, all we can do is “sing on” in praise of such “wondrous love.”

Graphic by Kaitlyn Patterson '20.

Students on double duty

A look at students with local babysitting jobs ERIN CASTELLANO '20 Special to The Hawk Kasie Bourque ’18 is one of many students at St. Joe’s who takes advantage of the surrounding suburban areas as an opportunity to find babysitting jobs.

“I’ve always been around kids,” Bourque said. “In high school I babysat my neighbors and for people my mom worked with.”

Bourque prefers babysitting over any other side job because of the the great pay of 15 dollars an hour, and also the comfortable environment.

“I used to work at the Kinney Center, and I still work at the Writing Center to earn extra money,” Bourque said. “But I love babysitting because it is a great way to make money, I’ve always had such great experiences and the family I am with makes it easy.”

Bourque’s responsibilities include homework help, activities like playing games to entertain the two girls, and some light chores around the house.

Some students, like Megan Mancinelli ’20, prefer the hours of a babysitting gig.

“I’m an only child, so I have no direct experience with kids, but I love babysitting because you’ll work better hours than you would working in a restaurant,” Megan Mancinelli ’20 said. “I work one day a week and occasionally weekends when they ask me too and I make dinner, get the kids ready for soccer and help them with their homework.”

There are several outlets that St. Joe’s students can go to in order to find babysit-

ting opportunities in the surrounding area, including a Facebook group called Babysitters Club of the mainline. That’s where Mancinelli got her current babysitting job.

The Babysitters Club of the Mainline Facebook group that mothers in the surrounding areas created is meant to reach out to students at St. Joe’s, Villanova University, Cabrini College and other nearby universities. Students have to request admission to this group on Facebook and the mothers have to accept it.

Babysitters Club of the Mainline not only offers students long-term nanny jobs but also quick last-minute gigs.

“If I’m looking to make some extra money on the weekends, I’ll go on Babysitters Club of the Mainline for extra job opportunities,” Bourque said.

Online platforms such as care.com allow students to find babysitting opportunities in the areas nearby as well. Bourque got her first babysitting job as a student at St. Joe’s through care.com.

Care.com allows both caregivers and care-seekers to create profiles to either post job opportunities or to apply to those jobs.

Both caregivers and care seekers can message each other and request access to their profile, past experiences and references.

Not only can students turn to the in-

ternet for babysitting gigs, but they can also look to each other to grab a job.

“I’m a commuter and have been a part of the babysitting network in areas near St. Joe’s for a long time,” said Sara Clark ‘19.

“I’ve directed other friends to many families who need babysitters.”

“I like to pick up new families generally but I do stay with families for a long time and I have a handful of families I've been babysitting for over 2-3 years now,” Clark said.

The families whom students babysit for can also introduce them to their friends and other family members with children, opening up even more job opportunities.

“I find that even being at the playground with the kids I babysit, talking to other moms and dads introduces me to even more jobs,” Clark said.

St. Joe’s students who babysit find that having this job opportunity does more than just give them some extra pocket money after all. They are able to connect with and get close to the families they work for.

“I’ve been with the same family since my junior year, I helped them throughout this past summer and I will until the end of this year,” Bourque said.

These opportunities allow student be a part of children’s lives and get to watch them grow up.

“I like to stay with families for long periods of time,” Clark said. “I like to build connections and watch them grow.”

Stand up for the Grammys LAUREN BOURQUE '19 Hawk Staff The 60th Annual Grammy Awards were hosted by James Corden in New York City on Jan. 28.

This year especially was important for Grammy nominations, as this was the first year in the awards’ history that a white male was not nominated for Album of the Year.

On top of this, SZA was the most Grammy-nominated woman out of all categories with five nominations; an impressive statistic for any artist, but especially impressive for someone in the New Artist category.

The Grammys are a great way to look back over the years and see what were those songs and albums that we had on repeat for weeks, months even. The nostalgia we get when we go back and hear words we can recite over and over and not get sick of make it an award show different than the rest.

Just like the other award shows that have happened over the past year, there were many different trends in fashion and political statements. One of the political stands presented was the Time’s Up movement.

Some of the female artists decided to wear black to stand in solidarity with women who have been sexually assaulted, just like at the SAG awards on Jan. 21 and at the Golden Globes on Jan. 7. Lady Gaga, Miley Cyrus, Kelly Clarkson and Rita Ora were just a few of the women who wore black gowns in solidarity with the Women in Black.

Another stand in solidarity was the white roses both men and women wore to stand in solidarity with the Times Up campaign. Stars from Anna Kendrick, Alisa Cara, Camila Cabello, Heidi Klum, and the members of Little Big Town all brought flowers as well as all the E! News hosts. Lilac and silver were was also a very popular colors worn by a lot of the women including SZA, Cardi B, Cyndi Lauper and Julia Michaels.

For the men, styles tended to stick with suits, some of traditional material, others of velvet which included options from DJ Khaled and Ne-Yo. Shoes were also used as a popular accessory with the men which included embellished loafers from Rick Ross and Gucci Loafers from Thomas Rhett.

Some of the best looks of the night, however, were the ones that stood out from the rest in terms of color, cut or style. Sam Smith showed variety in a green Cerruti 1881 suit, as well as Jaden Smith in G-Star pants. As for the women, some standouts included Janelle Monáe in a Dolce & Gabbana suit, P!nk in an Armani dress and Lady Gaga in Armani as well.

Viewers and fans can always count on the Grammys to bring us an entertaining night full of fashion and music like no other award show, and always get those who watch excited for what the next year will bring.

Men and women wore white roses at the Grammys in solidarity for Times Up (Photo by Matt Barrett '21).

Graphic by Kaitlyn Patterson '20.

Sports

Jan. 31, 2018

13

Men's basketball falls to Penn Newkirk's nineteen points not enough

SAM BRITT ’20 Hawk Staff The St. Joe’s men’s basketball team lost 67-56 to the University of Pennsylvania before a packed Palestra on Jan. 27.

Both teams entered the game seeking their first Big 5 win, yet Penn ultimately found it. Led by sophomore A.J Brodeur’s 13 points and 11 rebounds, Penn was able to take advantage of St. Joe’s missteps throughout the game.

“We played sloppy,” redshirt sophomore Pierfrancesco said Oliva. “I think that is

what killed us tonight. We started forcing shots and didn’t move the ball well.”

St. Joe’s struggles can be traced back to three key factors: field goal efficiency, rebounding and lack of depth scoring.

The Hawks shot a paltry 30.9% from the field. This was due to Penn’s defense not allowing a lot of uncontested shots.

Head Coach Phil Martelli looked at the lack of offense when reviewing the game.

“We didn’t have anybody play well offensively,” Martelli said. “We didn’t run a great offense. We aren’t winning games where we score 56 points. We need to get into the low 70s. We just weren’t good enough.”

Sophomore guard Nick Robinson shoots a mid-range shot over a defender (Photos by Luke Malanga '20).

The Hawks didn’t fare much better on the glass as they were outrebounded 51-36.

In an even more impactful statistic, St. Joe’s came down with only eight offensive rebounds out of their 47 missed shots, leading to a number of offensive possessions ending after a single shot attempt.

“They crushed us on the glass,” Oliva said. “I can’t remember the last time we got outrebounded like that.”

Martelli credited Penn’s rebounding to the fact they had a lot of opportunities.

“When you take that many shots there are going to be rebounds,” Martelli said.

What seemed to separate the two teams was depth. Penn came into the game completely healthy and off of a weeklong rest. St. Joe’s has struggled with key injuries all year and were coming off of a hard fought road loss to Saint Bonaventure.

“St. Joe’s played Wednesday night in a game they probably should have won,” Penn head coach Steve Donahue said. “They come back here and we are rested. The rest was a big part of this game because they don’t have great depth and we have great depth and we are sitting here all week waiting for this game.”

This lack of depth showed on the scoresheet as St. Joe’s failed to get any scoring from their bench. 53 of their 56 points came from four players. Senior Shavar Newkirk led the way with 19 points with 15 coming in the second half.

St. Joe’s must beat La Salle on Feb. 3 to avoid being swept by the Big 5 for the first time since the 2010-2011 season.

Senior Shavar Newkirk drives to the basket.

Despite the result, Oliva still reveled at the chance to play in the historic Palestra and its tight quarters that leave fans on top of the game.

“It's very loud in here,” Oliva said. “We came from an away game at St. Bonaventure where it was insane, and the fans were really good. Penn is nothing less.”

The team returns home to Hagan Arena on Jan. 31 to take on Atlantic 10 foe Saint Louis University.

The Hawks impress at Penn State The team makes notable strides

SARAH JOSEPH ’20 Hawk Staff The St. Joe’s women’s and men’s track and field teams traveled to compete in both the Penn State National Open Indoor Track and Field and the Monmouth University Winter Invitational from Jan. 26-Jan. 27.

Putting their best runners forward, the Hawks came back with impressive results during these two events.

At Penn State, junior Lucy Harmon came in second place for the 1000m with a time of 2:55.61.

“Lucy Harmon had a fantastic week-

end out there, 1200m she ran,” head coach Melody O’Reilly said.

Harmon and senior Cassidy Weimer, with 4:58:82, qualified for the ECAC Indoor Track and Field Championships this upcoming March. Nathaniela Bourdeau competed in the semifinals for the 60m and finished 11th overall with a time of 7.79.

The effort and hard work of the women’s 4x400m relay team of Harmon, graduate student Sydney Coughlin and Weimer paid off. They gained a new best with a time of 11:56.02, with sophomore Caroline Duffy running anchor for the relay with a time of 56 seconds.

“Someone who stood out to me was

Junior Lucy Harmon runs relay at Penn State (Photos courtesy of Tom Connelly).

Caroline Duffy, because she ran 56 as the anchor for the 4x400m relay, and she came from last in that heat to win,” O’Reilly said.

The men’s squad had notable performances.

Senior Steve Thompson won his heat in the 800m and came in second place overall with a time of 1:53.73. Sophomore Zach Michon ran the 1000m in 2:28.07, and the two were able to qualify in various events for the IC4A. Sophomore Aaron Lemma ran 50.91 in the 400m, allowing the Hawks to make their presence known at the PSU National Open, and proving to be contenders against large division I schools.

The Hawks earned a total of 88.5 points in comparison to Monmouth, totaling 206.5 in the Winter Invitational.

At the Monmouth Winter Invitational, freshman Claire Podles won the 500m, and sophomore Karley Hess competed in the 400m, with the fastest time in collegiate history.

Sophomore Aaliyah Stokes place third in the 60m and eighth in the 2000m. In the high jump, sophomore Emily Clayton placed third at 1.55m and sixth in the 60m and in the 800m.

On the men’s side, sophomore Collin Gallagher won the 3000m with a time of 8:53:37, with three teammates coming in behind him to place in the top five in this race. David Bryant has shown much improvement in his performance from the beginning of the season by placing fourth in both the 60m and the 200m. St. Joe’s came in second in the meet with 56 points, and Monmouth totaled 229 points in the competition.

In preparing for upcoming meets, the team is trying to make adjustments to not

only their time, but also their positioning throughout the events.

“I look forward to being able to improve on the things I know I can do better in,” Bryant said. “My coach always tells me to get the arch on my back and stay straight upwards, so that I’m not leaning back. I’m trying to get getting better at that.”

The Hawks will have their next meet at Frank Colden Invitational at Ursinus College in Collegeville, Pa. on Feb. 3, along with the Villanova Invitational at the Ocean Breeze Athletic Complex in Staten Island, N.Y later that day.

Senior Steve Thompson runs relay at Penn State.

14

Sports

Jan. 31, 2018

Super Bowl bound

St. Joe's students get the opporunity of a lifetime BRUCE HOWARD ’20 Hawk Staff Three St. Joe’s students are getting the opportunity of a lifetime - they’re headed to Minneapolis, Mn. to watch the Philadelphia Eagles in Super Bowl LII (52) on Feb. 4.

As lifelong Eagles fans, watching the “big game” in person will surely be a significant moment. The last time the Eagles made a Super Bowl appearance was over a decade ago in 2004 when they were defeated by the New England Patriots. This year’s game is a rematch of their last shot at the Vince Lombardi trophy.

Kevin Ryan ’18 was born in raised in South Jersey, just 20 minutes from Lincoln Financial Field. Ryan has been an Eagles fan for his entire life.

“Both sides of my family are huge Eagles fans, and I spent many fall Sundays going to games with my dad or watching them at home with my parents and little sister,” Ryan said.

After seeing his dad attend a few Super

Bowls of his own, he wanted the opportunity to see this one. His dad surprised him with tickets after telling him they couldn’t go.

“Once the Eagles were about to win the NFC Championship game, I started joking with my dad,” Ryan said. “I said, ‘when are we getting tickets?’ and he said ‘I don’t know, they’re really expensive.’

Ryan will fly out to Minneapolis with his dad and some family friends to experience the big game. Regardless of the result, this game means the world to him.

“Having this opportunity to go out to Minnesota and see this Super Bowl with [my dad], will be allow us to make memories of a lifetime,” Ryan said. “Ones that we will talk about forever, win or lose.”

Nat Gallen ’20 has had a connection to the Eagles since birth; he was born during a Monday night football game against the Dallas Cowboys. He recalls some of the ups and downs of the Eagles throughout his life.

“I remember being devastated while watching the Eagles lose Super Bowl XXXIX,” said Gallen, who’s been a season ticket holder

since the 2007 season. “We have seen some good seasons and some very bad seasons.

Watching a season like this one has been incredible.”

Gallen found out Monday night, a day after the Eagles advanced to the Super Bowl, that he would be attending the game. He was emotional as is expected of a diehard fan like himself who has yet to go to a Super Bowl.

“I was sitting in DB with a couple of my friends and my dad was messing with my family hinting at it but not outright saying that we were going, so I was really nervous and wasn’t sure,” Gallen said. “He finally said we were going, and I’m pretty sure I fell out of my chair. I didn’t talk for like two minutes, because I was so in shock.”

As an avid Eagles fan, Gallen doesn’t like to make predictions about the game.

He does think the city of Philadelphia will respond to the end result.

“I hope there aren’t riots or anything like that,” Gallen said. “If we got lucky enough to come out with the win, the first super bowl in Eagles history, I think there would be one

of the biggest parties the U.S. has ever seen.”

According to Gallen, the Philadelphia football fanbase should be revered rather than hated for their passion, as they come out to and sell out games in winning and losing seasons.

Alec Arena ’19 said he wants to see the Eagles win, not only for himself but for all Eagles fans.

“I wholeheartedly want the Eagles to win the Super Bowl in my life more than literally anything else in the world,” Arena said. “For my family, friends, the city itself, it’s just the most mythologized concept and I think about it every single day.”

So far, through its existence the Super Bowl has eluded the Eagles. They’ve only made three appearances and have never won the championship. Arena emphasized what a Super Bowl win would mean for the city.

“Philadelphia is my home and in a city that is constantly considered losers, this is our chance to prove to the world that we’re winners, champions and specifically, Super Bowl champions,” Arena said.

Left: Kevin Ryan '18 (far left) with friends at an Eagles game, middle: Nat Gallen '20 (right) with his brother at an Eagles game, right: Alec Arena '19 (right) in an "underdog" mask (Photos courtesy of Kevin Ryan '18, Nat Gallen '20 and Alex Arena '19).

Graphic by Kaitlyn Patterson '20.

Sports

Jan. 31, 2018

15

On the offensive

Sarah Veilleux leads women's basketball effort DREW RHOADES ’20 Hawk Staff

Having a player who strikes fear into the other team is a must-have in basketball.

The ideal player is versatile, can attack in multiple ways, and makes a team better as a whole. For the Hawks, this player is Sarah Veilleux, a junior guard/forward.

Veilleux is an alumna of RHAM High School in Connecticut where she played basketball for four years and set the school re-

cord for total points scored with 2,079 points.

She was also a volleyball star in high school and was named the 2013-14 Gatorade volleyball player of the year in Connecticut.

Veilleux has been an offensive machine this season, leading the Hawks in points in seven of their 18 games played. She’s averaging 13.7 points per game, as well as 4.8 assists per game. She has a three point shooting percentage of .418, which is the highest on the team.

Her defense is just as impressive, as she’s led the team in steals in eight games, with a total of 19 steals on the season to go

Sarah Veilleux focuses on the basket while shooting a free throw (Photo by Luke Malanga '20).

along with a total of six blocked shots.

The Hawk Classic MVP knew St. Joe’s was where she belonged from her first visit.

“I came on my visit and really just loved the school, loved the atmosphere, loved the basketball program,” Veilleux said.

According to Veilleux, the coaches, particularly head coach Cindy Griffin, and their attitudes drew her in, as well.

Despite the Hawks carrying a 9-10 record (4-3 in A-10 play), Veilleux still feels positive that the team can accomplish their goals.

“Our goal this year is to win the A-10 [Atlantic Ten] championship and get to the NCAA tournament, that’s definitely been one of our goals the last few years,” Veilleux said.

Veilleux feels that she’s gained much more than just playing time from women’s basketball at St. Joe's.

“I think I’ve learned a lot about discipline and time management here,” she said.

“You really need to manage your time if you want to be successful on the court and in the classroom.”

Veilleux’s coach, Griffin, feels that her consistency and work ethic are what make her a great player.

“She’s a terrific shooter,” Griffin said about Veilleux’s qualities on the court.

On the season, Veilleux is 93 for 183 and carries a .508 shooting percentage, which is good for second among the team.

She also has a .848 free throw percentage, shooting 28 of 33 from the line.

Griffin noted Veilleux’s efficiency

and ability to move well without the ball, as two tendencies that may go occasionally unnoticed, but are nonetheless extremely important.

Off the court, she is just as special.

“She’s very conscientious,” Griffin said. “She’s a very good student. She is goal-oriented.”

Veilleux was named a Big 5 scholar-athlete over the 2016-17 season, as well as being twice awarded the Reverend Emory Ross Award for Academic Excellence, as well as making multiple honor rolls.

With Veilleux being a be a senior this fall, Griffin expects her to be looked upon as a leader on the team.

“She leads by example,” Griffin stated without hesitation.

While some players have game day routines, Sarah says she doesn’t have anything special that she does.

“I usually get out and shoot before the game and that’s about it,” she said with a laugh.

When she’s not running on the court, Veilleux has other ways of occupying her time.

“I love to cook, and when we have time off in the summer, I love to go hiking and be outside,” Veilleux answered.

Fans can see Veilleux and the rest of the women’s basketball team at their next home game, where they will play George Mason University on Feb. 4.

Smooth as ice

Club hockey excels during regular season NICK KARPINSKI ’21 Assistant Sports Editor

The St. Joe’s club ice hockey team boasts quite a talented roster this year and is set to accomplish their season goals. Anything short of winning the division would be a collective disappointment, according to multiple players.

“Our goal this year was to win the division,” said junior team captain John Tarantino. “We have a strong team this year and we know we’re capable of being a playoff team. A few injuries have hurt us but we are in playoff contention with a few games left.”

Fellow junior captain Andrew Sarre echoed Tarantino’s thoughts while also providing insight as to how far the team thinks they can go.

“Our goal was to make it to the playoffs,” Sarre said. “Not only do we want to make it to the playoffs, we want a high seed so we can make it passed the first round.”

The team maintains a great balance in chemistry both on and off the ice, each player knowing just when to flip on their competitive switch.

“The competitive level on our team is very high come game time,” Sarre said.

“We like to keep things loose in the locker room and practice. But when it comes to playing meaningful games, we all take it very seriously.”

Teammates make it a priority to form a close bond both on and off the ice; making sure to be around each other a lot on campus.

“We have a really tight knit team this year,” Tarantino said. “We really have been since I got to St. Joe’s. The team takes a lot of classes together and we’re constantly with each other. We play a lot of poker and go to the gym a lot.”

The team captains certainly think it’s a necessary responsibility to set a standard for younger teammates.

“This year we have an easy group of guys to lead,” Sarre said. “We’re always on the same page and striving towards a common goal. We as captains try to set a standard for the underclassmen to look up to.”

Thus far, the team has already made memorable moments throughout the season, one in particular coming from senior Tim Michel.

“He scored his first career goal in an away game against Duke,” Tarantino said.

It was awesome to see. He’s worked really

hard over his four years and it was cool to see him get rewarded for it. He’s a great example of what it means to be a team player.”

The North Carolina trip seems to be a highlight for most players. It occurs early in early October, and St. Joe’s plays three league teams over the course of their stay .

“It’s my favorite trip every year be-

cause it’s usually in the beginning of the year,” Sarre said. “It’s a good time to see what the new group of guys is all about and how they perform.”

St. Joe’s looks ready to make a playoff push and, potentially, win the division.

Their next game is at George Washington University on Feb. 3.

Senior Ryle Harper takes on a defender (Photo courtesy of head coach Hugh Walsh).

Sports

Jan. 31, 2018

16

'The cathedral of college basketball' History of the world famous Palestra

ALEX HARGRAVE ’20 Sports Editor College basketball fans know the building dubbed 'The Cathedral of College Basketball' located just five miles from St. Joe's on 33rd street: the Palestra.

The 91-year-old basketball arena is home to the University of Pennsylvania Quakers, but it was, at one-time, home to the Philadelphia Big 5 – St. Joe’s, Penn, Temple University, Villanova University and La Salle University. The historic ‘Holy War’ between St. Joe’s and Villanova was the first Big 5 matchup held on Dec. 14, 1955.

Men’s basketball head coach Phil Martelli spent a lot of time at the arena on Penn’s campus during the 2008-09 season, when Alumni Memorial Fieldhouse was being renovated into Hagan Arena. Like Hagan Arena, the space is loud and the fans are close to the game.

“It’s the intimacy; the locker rooms are small and the media room is small,” Martelli said. “It’s a building built for basketball, and every seat is a great seat. They might be un-

comfortable, but you’re close to the action.”

The storied arena can hold 8,722 fans, with seatings on top of the action. There are no barriers between the bleachers and the court, so there isn’t a bad seat in the house.

Martelli has been a coach of the St. Joe’s men’s basketball team since 1985, but before this, he attended Widener University in Chester, Pa. and grew up in Media, Pa., both just outside of Philadelphia.

He is extremely familiar with the historic stadium, having spent his entire life in Southeastern Pennsylvania.

“Growing up in Philadelphia, you can look around the crowd and pick out someone from your neighborhood, your church or your dorm,” Martelli said. “There was a person in every seat.”

Because of its age and nostalgic atmosphere, the Palestra has hosted more games and visiting teams than any other facility in the country. Fans and players alike recognize the rich history held on the gymnasium floor.

The court was refurbished in 1955, expanding to 10,000 seats and adding other features. On Dec. 14 of the same year, St.

Joe’s and Villanova were the first teams to face off on the court in University City.

A Greek Studies professor at Penn, William N. Bates, Ph.D., bestowed the Palestra with its name, based on events in ancient Greece. Men would train and then compete with one another in a rectangular enclosure called a palestra, and citizens would gather to watch.

The arena is aptly named, as the Big 5 continually duked it out to see who would reign supreme in the city of brotherly love from 1955 to 1986. The league was like no other in the fact that all five teams resided within 15 miles from one another.

Former head coach Jack Ramsay, who led the Hawks to seven Big 5 titles between 1955-66, is quoted as saying, “winning the Big 5 championship was more important to me than winning the national championship” in Robert S. Lyons’s book “Palestra: A History of the Big Five Pandemonium.”

Fans of Philadelphia sports teams have a history of being passionate observers, which is why The Palestra’s intimate design is so fitting.

“Anyone who wants to experience

college basketball, there can be no better place than a January Saturday night at the Palestra,” Martelli said.

With the footsteps of prominent basketball players like Wilt Chamberlain, Jerry West and Oscar Robinson having walked across the court at one time, it is an experience for today’s players unlike any other. Jameer Nelson, Langston Galloway and DeAndre Bembry are former Hawks who frequented the arena and are currently in the NBA. It is easy to see why players are so excited to follow that legacy with the Hawks' prolific history at the venue. Redshirt sophomore basketball forward Pierfrancesco Oliva played in the Palestra in a game against Penn on Jan. 27.

"It’s part of the Philly tradition," Oliva said. "It’s a great atmosphere to play in.

The [Penn] fans made it hard for us but we had a lot of fans here. It's great; it's the Palestra. It's amazing."

No matter how fans feel about Big 5 basketball, there is no question that the Palestra put the city on the college basketball map.

Top left: St. Joe's and Penn prepare to square off at the Palestra on Jan. 27, top right: A mural in the concourse of the Palestra shows Big 5 legends, middle right: A display case shows a photo of former Hawk Jameer Nelson with his St. Joe's jersey, bottom right: Banners of the Big 5 teams hang from the Palestra rafters, bottom middle: Fans look at a tribute to the hawk mascot, bottom left: The Big 5 logo on the hardwood of the newly replaced Palestra court (Photos by Luke Malanga '20).