Published by the students of Xavier University since 1915 Fiat justitia, ruat coelum
Volume CI Issue 28
April 13, 2016
DIFT majors premiere original films BY RAYMOND HUMIENNY Campus News Editor
As thesis defenses and student research come to a close, the Digital Innovation Film and Television (DIFT) program will FHOHEUDWH LWV VHQLRU Ă€OP IHVWLYDO D IRUPDO YLHZLQJ SDUW\ IRU WKH Ă€OPV senior students work all year to make. Television studio director Blis 'H9DXOW NQRZV Ă€UVWKDQG KRZ much labor her students put into WKHLU Ă€OPV “So much of what they do – the technology and problem solving – is what the 21st century learner needs to know how to do,â€? DeVault said. Senior DIFT projects come with a number of prerequisites, such as preproduction meetings, casting calls and script critiques, EHIRUH Ă€OPLQJ EHJLQV 'HYDXOW VDLG that her seniors have effectively learned to become leaders, delegators and team players during the spring semester. “I’m on sabbatical this semester, but I’m still working with my seniors because I love it,â€? DeVault said. (DFK Ă€OP FRQWDLQV D WKHPH based on social issues, including topics like euthanasia and psychological disorders. Senior DIFT major Wilke Cooper addressed
DOFRKROLVP LQ KLV ÀOP WLWOHG ´7KH Wagon,� a story about a recovering DOFRKROLF DERXW WR FHOHEUDWH KLV ÀUVW year of sobriety until he discovers his girlfriend cheating on him. Once a psychology major at Elon University, Cooper said he is happy about transferring to Xavier and being able to translate ideas into stories that, as he said, come from his head and his heart.
Cooper recalled his experience working as an intern on the production team for the Don Cheadle Ă€OP ´0LOHV $KHDG Âľ DGGLQJ KRZ his passion for movies motivated KLP WR SXUVXH Ă€OP DV D FDUHHU “I’d never edited anything – knew nothing about it,â€? Cooper said. “I came into this major kind of blind, and now I’m considered the ‘camera department’ of the se-
BY ERICA LAMPERT Staff Writer Wrapping up their 10th year providing healthcare to people in Guatemala, Xavier students and VWDII FDQ UHà HFW RQ ZKDW WKH\¡YH done and what still needs to be accomplished. A decade ago, Executive Director of the Center for Interfaith Community Engagement Rabbi Abie Ingber entered a 10-year moral compact with a small community in Guatemala. The goal was to provide every single home with ÀOWHUHG ZDWHU DV ZHOO DV D FOLQLF providing health care. The annual trip will now shift its focus to a different community, but Ingber and his students want their work in the original village to endure after their departure.
“What we said was that we were ready to come for 10 years. We are ready to be as involved DV ZH FDQ JLYHQ WKH Ă€QLWH GLmension of what we can do. But if we do that for 10 years, we would have raised up 120 amazing Xavier students with experiences that will last them for decades, and we would have spent half a million bucks. But, in the 11th year, when that child is sick, that child is going to die. So really, what are we doing?â€? Ingber said. The small village the team visited in Guatemala had no doctor to care for the 278 families living there. However, there is a thirdyear medical student attending Guatemala’s medical school that will take over what the doctors and Xavier students are leaving behind. There are also a few
young women who are nursing assistants to provide care to the community and help with the clinic. “The sustainability aspect of this trip is something I am very passionate about,� student Sean Lewis said. “Not only does this trip inspire us as aspiring medical doctors and nurses by immersing ourselves in the culture and giving us amazing experiences, but we wanted to make sure this helped out the people over there.� The team also successfully put an end to the chronic diarrhea that affected almost all of the infants born in the small village, as well as improved the dental hygiene of all of the village’s population through health education. Story continued on page 3.
Photos courtesy of Amelia Ryczek
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nior class. Which is astounding to me, because I’d never picked up a video camera, and I just found out that I have an eye for what should be on screen.� He thanks DeVault for helping him overcome creative barriers in script writing. “True stories, or stories that are real and deal with real issues, can really be the most powerful,�
Cooper said. Senior DIFT major Amelia Ryczek adapted a script written by senior English major Rachael Eklund about the realities of “aging outâ€? of foster care. “Aging outâ€? is an expression for children in the foster system who reach an age (typically 18-21 years old) where they are considered independent and released from foster care. 5\F]HN¡V Ă€OP LV WLWOHG ´&KDUOHV Âľ and it focuses on the life of a foster child turning 18 years old. “I read (Eklund’s script), and I cried,â€? Ryczek said. Ryczek recalls a friend at Lighthouse Youth Services that educated her about the disproportionate amount of homeless people in Cincinnati who were once in foster care. “You’ve got to make the connection that maybe these kids who have been neglected and abused and disadvantaged maybe weren’t the best equipped to head out on their own at eighteen,â€? Ryczek said. “If people knew about this, they would be furious.â€? Ryczek and Cooper both hope WR LQVSLUH FKDQJH DQG UHĂ HFWLRQ WKURXJK WKHLU Ă€OPV 7KH ',)7 VHnior screening will begin at 7 p.m. in Kennedy Auditorium on April 29.
Guatemala: Reflecting on 10 years of service
In this issue:
Campus News
Op-Ed
Dr. Christopher Pramuk responds to Taylor Zachary’s editorial “A white-washed Jesuit education.� page 5
Photo courtesy of Emmalee Phelps
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Photo courtesy of xavier.edu
Xavier Police, the Black Student Association and the Center for Diversity and Inclusion will host a police versus students basketball game. page 3 Photo courtesy of clipartpanda.com
Campus News See inside for a schedule of events related to Sexual Assault $ZDUHQHVV 0RQWK page 2
Photo courtesy of colby.edu