The Student Newspaper of Washington & Jefferson College
Red & Black
VOL. CV ... NO. V
Thursday, March 07, 2013
Washington, Penna.
INSIDE THIS ISSUE:
ESTABLISHED 1909
Peggy Noonan Shares Her Presidential Experience
Page 3 Peace Corps Senior, Alex Nallin looks at life after graduation and his upcoming Peace Corps project.
Page 4 Pretty Little Liars On March 4, bestselling author, Sara Shepard visited campus to discuss her books.
Page 7 Mapping the Brain President Obama unveils new plan to chart human brain activity.
Page 11 American Idiot Check out a review of this Green Day inspired musical.
Page 18 Indoor Track W&J’s Team sweeps at recent competition. Congratulations!
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On Monday, March 4, former Presidential speechwriter for Ronald Reagan and current Wall Street Journal columnist, Peggy Noonan spoke at W&J. During the speech, she reflected upon her experiences with past presidential administrations as well as her personal upbringing. From left. Abrianne Rhoad ’13, Adam Kmett ’15 and Hla “Jack” Hpone Myint ‘16 pose with Peggy Noonan at a pre-lecture reception.
Saturday, 3/9 High: 48°, Low: 32°
Sunday, 3/10 High: 57°, Low: 37°
Monday, 3/11 High: 51°, Low: 35°
SEE Leadership, PAGE 2
INDEX:
FIVE DAY FORECAST
Friday, 3/8 High: 38°, Low: 25°
Courtesy Robert Reid, W&J Communications Manager
Tuesday, 3/12 High: 44°, Low: 32°
Campus-News ..... 1-5 Life ......................... 6-9 Arts .................... 10-13 Op-Ed ............... 14-17 Sports ................ 18-20
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Red & Black
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Noonan Discusses Leadership, Integrity S e c u r i t y L o g S Abrianne Rhoad Red&Black Editor
It isn’t every day that two nationally-known speakers visit Washington & Jefferson College with plans to lecture the W&J community as a whole, at two separate venues at two separate times. The comment of luck was made in reference to current students having the opportunity to hear from Peggy Noonan, well-known “Wall Street Journal” columnist and former speech writer to Ronald Reagan and George H. W. Bush and Sara Shepard, the woman behind the “Pretty Little Liars” series. This article will reflect the lecture given by the former speaker, though both lectures were the talk of the night on social media sites like Facebook and Twitter from students and community members that were in attendance. Noonan was fascinated by how leaders reveal themselves in their professions of choice and much of her talk centered on the integrity of leadership and its recognition. In the political sphere, she focused on “Presidential personality” and went through a laundry list of what makes a candidate congenial and personable using current President Barack Obama and former presidents Bill Clinton, Ronald Reagan and George H. W. Bush as sources of comparison. “I’m interested in what Presidents learn and what Presidents fail to learn from each other,” said Noonan. The speaker looked to Reagan as an ideal model for “Presidential personality,” citing him as personable, approachable and never shouting. Her parallel to Reagan was President Obama, whom she felt was “singular, aloof, omnipresent and endlessly verbal.” “There’s something about [President] Barack Obama that continues to force things to come to a crisis,” said Noonan, referencing the current sequester issue and past issues where deadlines were met last-minute. When referring to Reagan and his conservative contemporaries, Noonan returned to her argument of approachability: “With Reagan, you know that guy,” his politics, his demeanor; you’re on the same page. Whether her familiarity with Reagan stems from her personal work experience and affects her reading of qualified leadership is up for speculation, but Noonan’s attempts at articulating what makes a true leader were received 50/50. Regardless of partisanship, the half-hour question and answer session was not without concerned inquiries reflecting the whole political spectrum.
Preview of Next Week’s Red&Black
3/1/13 Ambulance on Campus Protection Services was called to report that a person was sitting on the steps of Mellon Hall facing Beau Street. Upon arrival, it was found that the person sitting was a visiting recruit, and was found sitting on the steps disoriented. The student the visitor was staying with stated that the visitor had been throwing up for 30 minutes before Protection Services was called. An ambulance was called and took the visitor to the hospital. An inspection of the room where the visitor was staying was done. Inside was found one beer bong and an unopened bottle of vodka. The vodka was said to have belonged to the visitor. The visitor’s luggage was removed and placed into the ambulance. The visitor’s parents were called. 3/3/13 Criminal Trespass Protection Services was called to report that someone was trying to break into a chapter room. Officers responded, checked the outside of the building, and found no one around. Officers checked the window that the trespasser was trying to get into and found it cracked open. During the incident, a student saw one hand reach under the window and sprayed the hand with pepper spray. The person yelled **** and pulled their hand away. The trail of footprints led to Chestnut Street in the snow but mixed with other prints and could not be followed. The window was re-secured and the scene was cleared. 3/3/13 Criminal Mischief
Courtesy Washjeff.edu
On March 9 at 7:30 pm, The Washington & Jefferson College Camerata Singers will present in New York City’s Cathedral Church of St. John the Divine. This venue is the largest cathedral and the third-largest church in the world. Above, the W&J Camerata Singers are, in no particular order, Benjamin Altomari, Garek Anderson, Hannah Baldwin, Erin Barno, Travis Clark, Allyse Corbin, Megan Crawford, Sarah Depew, Samantha Farabee, Tayler Hansen, Michael Kozlowski, Ulysses Laman, Brennen Malia, Amber McGee, Kristin Ogden, Brandon Rauch, Hannah Russell, Noah Salama, Nicholas Stockert, Genevieve VanVoorhis, Kayleigh Verno and Kyle Weidman.
C ontac t
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On the above date, a student came into Protection Services to report that the driver’s side mirror on their car had been damaged. The student stated that they had not been to their car since 2/27/13. There appeared to be no other damages to the car. When checking the Taylor lot, it was found that a car one space away from the reported car was also damaged. This second student was called to be informed that both mirrors on the car were damaged. This second student had also not been to their car since 2/27/13. compiled by Mike Nemchick/Red&Black
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The Red & Black is the official, registered, student-produced newspaper of Washington & Jefferson College in Washington, Penna. It is published Thursdays with the exception of exams and break periods. Production run is 1250 copies, both on and off campus. Published by the Observer Publishing Company.
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Red & Black
3 CAMPUS NEWS
Alex Nallin ‘13 Makes Plans for Life After W&J Jake Meyers Red&Black Staff
Alexander Nallin, a senior, just received the news he’s been waiting to hear for the past couple of months. His Peace Corps assignment in Peru to work on economic development in the area has been approved. The two-year service assignment will entail advising and consulting businesses in rural areas, creating business plans, developing strategies and placing business finances in the most beneficial areas. He will also work to create partnerships for local businesses with investors and other entrepreneurs. The goal of the project is to promote independent, self-driven economic sustainability. This time last year, Nallin had little to no intention of joining the Peace Corps. Alex was busy preparing for an experience that would eventually lead him to his decision of applying as a Peace Corps Volunteer (PCV). Alex embarked on a journey to Palestinian Territories in the West Bank last summer as a Magellan scholar, researching how outbreaks of violence affect the tour-
ism industry. “It opened my eyes to how difficult life is for people in certain parts of the world, and what that actually looks like.” Alex explained of his inspiration to join the Peace Corps, “I knew from that time forward that I wanted to get involved in work in the ThirdWorld and use my Economics degree in development.” Upon returning home from an adventure full of stories, Alex pursued work with Non-Government Organizations (NGOs) in search of a similar experience that would satisfy his new desire of serving others. After conversation with a friend from church, Alex was able to connect with a director of an NGO called World Vision, where he has and continues to intern, learning more about NGOs and their efforts of giving aid to areas of the world that need it most. Also upon his return from the West Bank last summer, Alex contacted W&J’s Dr. East, associate professor and director of the environmental studies program. Dr. East is a fellow PCV who spent three years in western Kenya working with renewable energy and agro-forestry during his Peace Corps service. A phone call
Courtesy Alex Nallin
Above, a Palestinian farmer gets pushed back by an Israeli Defense Force riot shield. The Palestinians were protesting Israeli military presence in Palestine that was hindering the ability of farmers to transfer crops to markets. Alex Nallin, who took this photo and won a W&J photo contest for it, said that his trip to Israel and the West Bank was a large influence on his Peace Corps project.
with Dr. East confirmed Nallin’s ambitions of joining the Peace Corps among other networking with W&J PCV alumni through the career resource center, and Alex began the rigorous application process. “Overall though, I think one of the biggest factors influencing my decision was how supportive everybody at the W&J
community was to it. My ATO brothers, friends, professors and even the Parkhurst staff told me that I would be good for the job and always encouraged me when I started doubting myself.” Alex is quite excited for his assignment, stating how he is “looking forward to the challenge; getting myself into a completely new and different environment and being
given a job.” He continued, “I like that idea that my success or failure depends highly on me and my ability to work with the people in that community. I can’t wait to immerse myself in a new community, experience new people and ultimately to use the skills I have been building over the past four years to leave that community a better place than I found it.”
The Results for the SGA Elections Are In The New Executive Board: President: Adam Kmett ‘15 (Left) Vice President: Ulysses Laman ‘15 (Right) Secretary: Bianca Rajan ‘14 (Center) Treasurer: RJ Tate ‘14 (Not Pictured) Courtesy Adam Kmett
CAMPUS NEWS 4
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Sara Shepard Visits W&J International Spotlight: Elke Haslinger Tori Smith Red&Black Editor
Monday, March 4, Sara Shepard, the well-known author of the Pretty Little Liars and The Lying Game series, came to Washington & Jefferson’s campus. Shepard gave an intriguing speech about her life and her writing process. She has been writing for as long as she can remember, When Shepard was younger, she and her younger sister would make up stories about her sister’s blanket. They also made up stories about square-headed aliens and girls they wanted to be because the girls had pools. Shepard started out as a Biology major at New York University, but eventually switched to English. “Although I liked working by myself, I didn’t want to be in a lab all day,” Shepard said in regards to her major. She had many different internships and jobs, some related to writing and others unrelated. For example, she worked at Elle magazine in the fashion department. Eventually, Shepard went on to Brooklyn College, where she received her MFA in English. Her little sister worked for a company called Alloy, which was a company for entertainment and young adult books. This company hires people called “ghost writers” to write books that are already predetermined. The company gives the “ghost writer” an outline of the plot, characters, setting, etc. and the writer does the rest. Shepard tried multiple times to get hired at Alloy, when, eventually, after crashing a Christmas party, they hired her on. She wrote a seven book series called “Samurai Girl,” but soon realized she wanted to do her own thing. The good thing about her time as a “ghost writer” was that she learned to work on a deadline and also found the ability to write a book from start to finish. Eventually, Shepard received an offer from the editors to start her own series. In the meeting, she brought of the idea behind
Pretty Little Liars developed. In her speech, Shepard stated that her ideas for her novels and characters from aspects of her own life. But, that doesn’t mean she had a psycho stalker sending her creepy texts as a teenager. Each character’s attributes came from an aspect from her life, or from aspects of friends lives. An exception is the character Allison. Shepard said she doesn’t know where the character came from, but that, “She’s actually a lot of fun to write.” The setting for Pretty Little Liars is suburban Philadelphia, where Shepard grew up. She described the area as, “snobby, uppity, mysterious and boring at times.” Currently with the series, Shepard writes two books a year, and keeps herself on a strict deadline, writing about a chapter and a half a day over a six week period. She outlines each book before starting, but said that, because she is so far in the series, she knows the characters well enough that the writing comes easier to her. In the fall of 2009, Shepard was pleasantly surprised when she received a call from her editor telling her that ABC Family had called because they were interested in making a pilot episode of Pretty Little Liars. Shepard said she was exited, but definitely scared and worried, especially after receiving pictures of the cast and none of the girls looked like how she had imagined her characters would look. She became even more worried when she read the script for the pilot episode and it contained practically all of book one in her series. After watching the episode, though, she felt the actors worked perfectly. “I’m really thrilled with it.” She said, “It’s enabled me to write other series like The Lying Game.” In regards to her writing process, Shepard said she got lucky with never having writer’s block. She said that even if her writing isn’t good, she writes through it and revises later. Shepard now lives in Pittsburgh with her 18 month son, and continues to work diligently on her books.
Mike Nemchick Red&Black Staff
Elke Haslinger is a third year Austrian student currently studying at Washington & Jefferson College for a semester, on an exchange from the University of Vienna. She studies law and political science; however, here at W&J she is studying only the latter subject. When discussing the college here, Elke stated how she really likes the courses here with their small class sizes and how students can have personal contact with their professors. She was happy with how professors will know students’ names and give personal support. The class sizes here are much smaller than the University of Vienna, which boats 80,000 students and classrooms that rarely have less than 50 students in them at a time. When discussing the college further Elke noted how she has more homework and reading to do here than at her own university, where she spends less hours a week in class and is expected to learn more independently from the classroom. Seeing that school in the United States can be expensive compared to the government-funded universities in much of Europe, Elke observes, “you get what you pay for.” The college here has personal classroom sizes, activities, opportunities and resources that are not always available at European universities. Speaking about life on campus, it was apparent to Elke that Washington is “not the biggest or most exciting city.” However, she does keep busy with assignments and social life; activities available on campus along with the shuttle to Pittsburgh help to stave off boredom as well. She likes the large variety of clubs available and participates in the German Club herself. Again, this is much different from the University of Vienna where there is basically no on
Mike Nemchick/ Red&Black
campus life. Students do not live in campus dormitories and school buildings are spread throughout the city of Vienna. This is not Elke’s first time visiting the U.S. The first time she visited, she was 14, and she toured different areas along the East Coast. During her trip, she was surprised that she was able to talk in German to many of the Amish when visiting the area in central Pennsylvania. While she will be seeing some of the east coast again, she already has plans to visit the west and is very excited to see many of the big sights over there. Elke has travelled to other countries through-
out the world as well. Being from Austria, she had travelled to many places throughout Europe. She also spent some time in India where the volunteered at a women’s shelter for five weeks after finishing with high school. A few stereotypes were confirmed upon her arrival, including America’s prevalence of greasy and fried foods. Due to this, Elke is incredibly thankful for the salad bar in the commons. For Elke, the sort of college partying seen in movies and television is, in some ways, a confirmed stereotype in addition to the vast excess and cheapness of Wal-Mart.
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Obama Tightens Cyber Security Sara Mitchell Red&Black Staff On Feb. 12 President Obama signed an executive order cracking down on cyber security. According to the President, the order is designed to ““strengthen our cyber defenses by increasing information sharing, and developing standards to protect our national security, our jobs and our privacy.” This executive order comes out of frustrations from the failure of lawmakers to pass any one of a dozen laws that have been up for a vote in the past few years. The President has urged Congress to put together a plan to protect the country from cyber security, because he feels that “cyber threats are one of the most serious economic and national security challenges we face as a nation... America’s economic prosperity in the 21st century will depend on cybersecurity.” President Obama said “We know hackers steal people’s identities and infiltrate private e-mail. We know foreign countries and companies swipe our corporate secrets. Now our enemies are also seeking the ability to sabotage our power grid, our financial institutions and our air traffic control systems.” The President continued “We cannot look back years from now and wonder why we did nothing in the face of real threats to our security and our economy.” Also, this executive order is a welcome relief from major companies due to the drastic rise in cyber attacks in the past years. The order is aimed at improving the ease of communication between the government and private corporations that control vital aspects of the U.S. economy. Specifically, this targets power, nuclear and water corporations. This ease of communication will flow both ways. The Department of Homeland Security will provide information to these companies as well. The information they provide will be very basic, but should suffice to warn companies about
suspected attacks. Many critics, in both the GOP and private sector warn that this executive order is merely a gesture, and that there are underlying issues with existing laws and within the Order itself that it wouldn’t do any good. In a statement, Sen. Tom Carper (D-Del.), the leader of the chamber’s top homeland security committee, said that “While the President’s Executive Order on cybersecurity was an important step, bipartisan legislation is still critically necessary to address this serious security threat.” Rep. Mike Rogers (R-Mich.) and Dutch Ruppersberger (D-Md.), the authors of a cyber -security plan called CISPA, reiterated this point when they said “We will closely review the President’s executive order once it is released but we agree that our biggest barriers to bolster our cyber defenses can be fixed only with legislation.” A lot of the weaknesses lie in the information sharing aspect of the order, especially. The kind of information sharing required on the private sector side of this order, would require companies to potentially share information illegally. This would place companies liable in the court room. These liability suits would quickly become class action lawsuits, and potentially place the companies the law intended to protect out of business any way. This is one of the reasons none of the aforementioned laws have been passed. There is no current way for companies to legally share information, because most laws require the information to be several years old before it can even be shared. Information sharing on a whole is not illegal, but the kind of information the companies would need to provide Homeland Security with would be sensitive in nature and put them at risk to be sued. Despite all this, President Obama has definitely made a step in the direction of our technology driven society. Hopefully, one that will inspire others in Congress to act.
Red & Black
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LIFE 07 M arch 2013
LIFE 6
Red & Black
Tweeting After Death?
Just like every Halloween at Washington & Jefferson, we were all in for a treat. When it came to costumes this year, let’s face it, there was the good, the bad and the ugly. F
courtesy “Gray’s Anatomy of the Human Body”
Abrianne Rhoad Red&Black Editor
There isn’t a doubt in my mind that my addiction to Tumblr can be felt in trace amounts in nearly all of the articles I’ve written for the Red&Black as of late. I’ll be completely honest: if I’m writing about it, chances are I saw it on Tumblr before I saw it elsewhere else. And something piques my interest, I tend to write about it. Thank you, Tumblr. As you may have already guessed, I was drawn, yet again, to a rogue post on the aforementioned blogging platform and decided to share. The original source is uncertain, but the tumblr post can be resurfaced with little effort. If you’ve ever had a deja vu moment, the below may be of interest to you. 1. Deja vu “Deja vu is an experience of having seen or experienced a new situation previously. It feels like if the event has already happened before. The experience is usually accompanied by a strong sense of familiarity and a sense of paradox or bizarre. The “previous” experience is usually attributed to a dream, but sometimes there is a constant feeling that it really has happened in the past.” 2. Deja Vecu “Deja vecu is what most people experience when they think they are having a deja vu. Deja vu is when one has a feeling that he has seen something before, whereas deja vecu is an experience of having seen an event before, but with great detail as to recognize the smells and sounds. This also is usually accompanied by a very strong sense of knowledge about what will happen next.” 3. Deja senti “Deja senti is a phenomenon of having already felt something. The phrase “I have felt it before” perfectly captures deja senti. It is only a mental phenomenon and seldom remains in our memory later. Many epileptic patients often experience deja senti.”
4. Deja Visite “Deja visite is a less common experience and includes an unexplained knowledge of a new place. For example, you may know the location around you (a new city or a landscape) although you have never been there before.” 5. Jamais Vu “Jamais Vu describes a familiar situation that we do not recognize. It is often considered to be the opposite phenomenon of deja vu. The observer does not recognize the situation although it is known that he has experienced it before.” 6. Presque Vu “Presque Vu is very similar to the feeling in the “tip of the tongue”. When someone is ready to say something but his brain gets stuck and a word does not come out.” 7. L’esprit de l’escalier “L’esprit de l’escalier is when a smart thought comes to you when it is too late.” 8. Capgras Delusion “Capgras Delusion is a phenomenon when a person believes that a close friend or a family member has been replaced with an identically looking one. This illusion is often met in people with schizophrenia.” 9. Fregoli Delusion “Fregoli Delusion is a rare brain phenomenon which makes a person believe that different people are the same person in various disguises.” 10. Prosopagnosia “Prosopagnosia is a phenomenon in which a person is unable to recognize faces of people or objects he knows. “People who have this disorder are usually able to use the other senses to identify individuals, such as the person’s perfume, the sound of his voice or his hairstyle.” source: tumblr.com
courtesy mhscdn.com
Soon even death won’t stop you from making that latest status update.
Michael Nemchick Red&Black Staff
Sending Tweets from beyond the grave may soon be a possibility. Of course dead people cannot actually use social media applications because they are usually pretty dead. Also, as far as we know zombies do not exist or at least do not have the intelligence needed to use a computer. However, a person’s personality can be mimicked and LivesOn is attempting to create Artificial Intelligence programs that can mimic its users. By looking at a user’s previous posts on Twitter the service is attempting to keep a person’s personality alive on social media websites long after the person may have died. It will base Tweets off of a user’s previous posts, their likes and dislikes, their syntax and writing style, tastes in music and other areas. Honestly, it would be more exciting if LivesOn worked with spirit mediums that hold séances to summon the spirits of the dead or damned. Then the public can finally find out what Einstein has for breakfast every day as the tweets
are interpreted from the spiritual realm to the Internet. Instead, LivesOn can only provide a cheap imitation of our deceased loved or hated ones. LivesOn is not mean to be a serious project, more of an experiment and publicity stunt. However, it does bring up a few interesting questions. How predictable is a person? How unique are people when it comes to personality? If the program can actually successfully imitate a person then it would be surprising; it is usually pretty difficult for an artificial intelligence to fool humans into thinking the AI is a human. This is related back to the Turing test. In the test, if a human cannot distinguish whether or not a conversation partner is a human or computer in a text based conversation the machine can be said to be thinking. For the time being, LivesOn is little more than an interesting social and AI experiment. But, one can never know if the company is secretly trying to develop the matrix and enslave the human race as a biological energy source. Watch out for déjà vu, it means there is a glitch in the matrix and you are probably already trapped.
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Red & Black
LIFE 7
Obama's New Plan to Map the Human Brain
Courtesy wired.com
This new plan has been nicknamed "BAM:" The Brain Activity Map. Despite some reluctance on some scientists part, this endeavor has been compared to the Human Genome Project.
Jake Meyers Red&Black Staff The Human Genome project was an ambitious government funding project that mapped the human genome and ultimately made great strides in scientific advancements including molecular medicine, energy and environmental applications, risk assessment, evolution, agricultural applications and DNA forensics. The Obama Administration last week announced a similar undertaking, suggesting it is seeking billions of dollars from congress to map the human brain. The project will be named the Brain Activity Map or BAM for short. The ability to map the human brain is a tougher task than mapping the human
genome, for the brain has billions upon billions of neurons that communicate with one another via trillions of connections, following what amounts to a network of networks. These networks upon networks give the brain unique functionality, such as action and perception. Neuroscientists are hopeful that a successful Brain Activity Map will make advancements in neuroscience that will give us a better comprehension of cognitive function and maybe even selfconsciousness. Colombia University neuroscientist Rafael Yuste stated that “You could argue, in a very simplistic way, that everything that we are, our whole mental world, amounts to nothing more than neural circuits firing [in patterns] throughout the brain.”
By mapping circuit activity, Yuste thinks researchers can “discover patterns that are the physical representation and origin of mental states — of thoughts, for example or memories.” This Brain Activity Map is much more than a simple diagram; it is a functional map that allows researchers to see beyond the connections between the tens of billions of neurons that comprise a human brain, leading to a greater understanding about individual action of every cell in a given neural circuit. The very first step to completing BAM is to develop the necessary technology in the field of neuroscience to make these advancements. The technology demands techniques that can both measure and stimulate neurons with exquisite spatial specificity.
An injection of a multibillion dollar project has many neuroscientists worried, for they fear this could create a massive redistribution of already tight budgets from neuroscience grants in light of BAM. There has been some critique on the project thus far, mainly within the fact that the project goals for BAM are unclear. To understand more about the human brain is to understand more about ourselves. We are nothing without our brains; our habits, culture, personality and desires are all triggered by neurological actions within our brains. The Obama administration sees the enormous potential for not only scientific improvements to society, but even economical ones as well within the Brain Activity Map.
Just like every Halloween at Washington & Jefferson, we were all in for a treat. When it came to costumes this year, let’s face it, there was the good, the bad and the ugly. F
The 15 Colleges, Universities With the Richest Alums Sara Mitchell Red&Black Staff A private research corporation, Wealth-X, used 1100 sources to access the public and private holdings of the richest alumni from colleges across the globe and within the United States of America. From this data they established who the richest alums where, and their combined total net worth. This includes their liquid assets and their debt. 17 of the top 20 schools internationally are in the US. The three non-American schools are the University of Oxford, the University of Cambridge and the University of Mumbai. Bottoming out the top 15 public or private
American schools with the richest Alums is the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor. The school has 410 obscenely rich Alumni worth $72 billion. Next, at 14, is the University of California, Berkeley; with 447 alums at a total net worth of $72 billion. 13 on the list is Northwestern, with 451 alums worth $ 38 billion. 12 on the list is Boston University, with 491 alums worth $38 billion. The list continues to proceed like this, most schools having at least 400+ rich alums worth upwards of hundreds of billions. Coming as no surprise, the list is rounded out with Stanford at third with 1,174 alumni worth $171 billion; second is University of Pennsylvania with 1,502 Alumni worth $242 billion; and last, but certainly not least,
Harvard takes first with 2,964 Alumni worth $622 billion. The study even broke down the wealth into three categories, self-made, inherited and some combination of the two. The University of Virginia took first for the public American school category, and boasted that 79% of the Alumni were self-made. Harvard and several other schools came in right behind Virginia with 74% of their richest alumni boasting the title of self-made. Comparatively, some schools like Boston University can only boast a self-made rate of 52%; so no, the elite schools are not just for the elite. However, the elite schools seem to be mostly for men. Some of the lowest rates of Male to Female ratios were Oxford, where
only 6% of the richest Alumni are women; University of Virginia where only 5% of the richest Alumni are women; Princeton, where only 4% are women; Chicago where only 3% of the Alumni are women; and MIT where only 2% of the richest alumni where women. Some of the higher percentages included Boston University with 13% female; Brown with 14% female; and Northwestern with 15% female. So if you’re a woman, try to go to Brown; if you’re a guy you should probably go to Harvard or the University of Virginia. These demographics and statistics do provide interesting food for thought, as well as demonstrating that the typical gender roles do still exist.
8 LIFE
Red & Black
07 M arch 2013
New Smartphone Technology Gay Marriage For DC After Backlash
Just like every Halloween at Washington & Jefferson, we were all in for a treat. When it came to costumes this year, let’s face it, there was the good, the bad and the ugly. F
Courtesy nytimes.com
Developments in technology could make smartphones even smarter.
Shari Kaminski Red&Black Columnist Smartphones are just going to keep getting smarter. Daniel Burrus, a leading futurist on tech trends and innovation, published an article for CNN on the many new features we could find in our smartphones within the next decade. The first is a 3-D display. Smartphones could soon have a 3-D display and web browser. Instead of just viewing web pages on a flat screen like users do today, a 3-D display would allow them to enter environments (such as stores) and maneuver around them, similar to using an Xbox. 3-D glasses would not be required to use this feature, making it a game-changer for business. A second possible new feature is biometric security. Instead of passwords, smartphones would be able to recognize their user based on their fingerprints, facial recognition, voice recognition and even the user’s keystrokes and touch patterns, which are unique to everyone. Users would be able to pick the level of biometric security based on what they are doing. For example, the number of biometrics used to recognize a user before they browse their
news feed on Facebook might be different than the number of biometrics needed to access their text messages. The next feature which has already begun to appear is wireless payments. Websites like Amazon. com, and others used for shopping can be accessed on smartphones, allowing individuals to buy what they need without a computer. Wireless payments would expand on that, adding a user’s credit cards to the smartphone, allowing them to make all payments from their smartphone. Have you ever wanted a feature like Siri, but you could never afford the Iphone 4S? Soon, personal concierges like Siri could be the norm for smartphones. As the technology for creating a Siri-like feature becomes more advanced, smartphone users could have their own personal assistant right in their smartphone; with its own personality and their “assistant” would even have a face. Also, celebrities would be able to license the rights to their digital appearance and personality, so they would be an option when picking your own personal Siri. These are just a few of the possible features Daniel Burrus talked about. We’ll just have to wait and see what the future holds.
Courtesy comicbookmovie.com
Batwoman plead, “Marry me, Mags” to her longtime girlfriend in the most recent issue of her comic series.
Alexis Geeza Red&Black Staff
Wedding bells might be in store for one of DC Comics’ most prominent superheroines! And it’s the first of its kind for DC, as Batwoman proposed to her girlfriend, police detective Maggie Sawyer, in “Batwoman #17.” This is a big step for DC in a move that finally catches them up to Marvel, whose superhero Northstar married his boyfriend in May of 2012. In what was likely a reaction to the praise given to Marvel for that move, DC’s latest attempt at being more inclusive ended up with about a week of rumors proclaiming that a major DC character was actually gay (imagine lots of exclamation points and confetti and you’ll get the gist of how that announcement felt to readers). The character revealed? Alan Scott, one of the least popular Green Lanterns who doesn’t even live in DC’s mainstream universe but in Earth-2. Talk about being overhyped. Needless to say, Batwoman is a lot more prominent and much more popular than Alan Scott.
She’s the first gay member of the Batfamily and the first lesbian hero to ever headline her own series. Maggie Sawyer herself was one of the first out gay characters in the DC universe. So it’s nice to see some more progress on DC’s part, though whether or not the two actually get married remains to be seen. However, right on the heels of this proposal is the announcement that DC has hired Orson Scott Card to write a “Superman” story. For those that don’t know, Card is most well-known for his “Ender’s Game” series and for being a huge homophobe. Card has publicly expressed his negative views on homosexuality and is a board member of the National Organization for Marriage, one of the largest and most well funded anti-gay activist groups in America. Predictably, not everyone is happy about this. Angry fans and retailers alike are planning on boycotting Card’s run of “Superman” or even DC in general if Card is not removed from the project. DC is apparently standing up for Card. When asked for an official comment, a DC spokesman stated, “As content creators we
steadfastly support freedom of expression, however the personal views of individuals associated with DC Comics are just that — personal views — and not those of the company itself.” This move has baffled some fans who had applauded DC’s more recent efforts to diversify its cast, which has earned the publisher multiple GLAAD Media Awards and fan praise. Hiring Card, however, is like turning right around and backtracking over everything they’ve done. So far DC hasn’t even promoted Batwoman’s proposal the way it did with the big Alan Scott reveal, which seems strange considering what a big deal it is in the comic world. Of course, maybe they don’t want to draw attention to the backlash the whole Card ordeal has gotten them, but even a word or two of comment saying they’re serious about actually upholding their efforts to diversify their comics would be nice. Regardless, it’s too early to tell if Batwoman’s impending marriage will do anything to stem the criticism towards DC for hiring Card. For now, readers will just have to wait and see if Batwoman gets her happy ending.
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Scientists Create 3D Printed Ear Have You Sleep Texted?
Source: valleysleepcenter.com
Sleeptexting is a confirmed phenomenon, with its own Twitter hashtag.
Abbey Bashor Red&Black Staff
Courtesy nydailynews.com
3D printing is revolutionizing the field of prosthetics, making it easier, cheaper and more convenient for all.
Three-dimensional printers gradually layer materials to form shapes, and are typically applied in manufacturing industries. Sounding awfully close to science Now applied to the field of fiction, scientists are now able medicine, doctors and researchers to print out body parts. Cornell alike are excited for what it to University researchers have come out these recent findings developed a 3D printer that from the Feb. report. can take injections of living Currently, people who cartilage producing cells and “This new 3D printing require a new ear can only create a replacement ear. choose to undergo prosthetics The research group from can produce synthetic ears that require a rod fastened to Cornell has hopes of one head. that are more personalized theFor day printing out replaceable children, doctors ears for children born with and lifelike in a speedier and usually take cartilage from malformed ones or for people the area of skin around the more efficient time.” who lose one to accident or ribs and create a new ear, but disease. this is a big operation that This advancement is just can have lasting impacts on one of many in the field of tissue task, especially considering these child patients. regeneration, with research labs the distinctive flexibility of the With this new 3D printing all around the globe racing to cartilage in the human ear. technology, the practice of synthesize many different types of If this 3D printer were to be prosthetics can be discarded in organs for medical applications. utilized by a patient, doctors its entirety and produce synthetic This advancement with the would extract any remaining ears that are more personalized three dimensional printer gives cartilage from the patient’s ear and and lifelike in a speedier and more scientists hope for speedier, more regenerate it using the printing efficient time. lifelike results. technology. The implantation Only the future knows what The 3D printer also provides would occur right on the spot, is in store for the seemingly more flexibility for biomedical significantly increasing the endless application of the threeengineers to customize these recovery time of the patient. dimensional printers. Jake Meyers Red&Black Staff
regenerative tissues for whoever may need them, resulting in an even more lifelike finish. The Cornell research team obtained cartilage from a cow to grow the synthetic human ear, noting that extracting human cartilage is a much more mundane
For any young person who is part of the technology age, the act of sending an embarrassing or unintentional text message is almost a given. We all seem to have a lovehate relationship with our smartphones. However, a new phenomenon seems to be spreading among cellphone usersand it’s something they cannot even recall. “Sleep-texting” is the new spectacle of both the technology and psychology worlds. Although concrete data is absent, wordof-mouth stories regarding this cultural trend has been rising at alarming rates. Much of this information has been gathered from the commonly used Twitter hashtag “#sleeptexting,” in which individuals recount the puzzling messages sent from their phones that they do not remember sending. Such tweets include comments such as: “There are texts sent from my phone at 5am that I do not recall sending” and “I should stop sleeping next to my phone,” to name a few. Interestingly enough, the majority of these texts appear to be gibberish and mainly unintelligible messages. According to the medical director for OhioHealth Sleep Services, Dr. Jim Fulop, while some individuals may “get up and go get something out of the refrigerator…others may grab their smartphone, which is right next to them, and they may text or do other things.”
Dr. Shelby Harris, director of behavioral sleep medicine at Montefiore Medical Center in New York, further clarifies what the truth behind “sleep-texting” really is. “It’s like your brain is on autopilot,” she explained. “Think about the rate at which people are texting nowadays, and most people sleep right next to (their phones), so if they wake up its automatic behavior…This is sort of a form of sleepwalking, that’s kind of the way I look at it.” Basically, the term “sleeptexting” is largely deceiving. It is more an act of “half-sleep” texting, where the individual is not fully awake, yet not fully asleep. Not surprisingly, many health professionals believe that younger generations are most vulnerable to the habit of sleep-texting. From adolescents texting friends all hours of the night, to young professionals answering business emails and other messages, young people feel the pull of technology as a greater necessity than the average adult. While the sleep-texting craze is laughable to many, it continues to have far-reaching effects. Texting during the night is interrupting the vital sleep needed by young people at an age when it is most crucial. Also, young people are facing the risk of over-sharing personal information that may damage reputations and selfesteem. No matter if you have sleep texted many times in the past or maybe just once, professionals suggest the best way to avoid this mishap is to set all passcode locks, turn your phone off, and even place it across the room from you if necessary.
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UPCOMING ARTS “Little-Known” Little Big Town Abrianne Rhoad Red&Black Editor If there's anything free-lance writing will teach you, it's learning how to stomach writing reviews about artists you wouldn't normally give a listen to (read: it teaches you some twisted semblance of patience that hinges on the potential of making a few, extra dollars). At any rate, I recently began such work writing reviews and publicizing for little-known artists and came across a band that surprised me with a sound that channeled the heart-breaking lyricism of Lady Antebellum and the intensity of Kings of Leon. To clarify, I'm the kind of person that will literally cringe when a country song comes on and it takes quite a bit of summer heat (any maybe a few light beers) to get me anywhere near in the mood to listen to country music. I make an exception only for Lady Antebellum, Kings of Leon and, now, Little Big Town (it's okay, you've probably never heard of them). Karen Fairchild, Kimberly Schlapman, Phillip Sweet and Jimi Westbrook form the Country quartet better known as Little Big Town, who hail from Homewood, Alabama, USA. The band traces its origins back to 1987, when two
of the founding members, singers Kimberly Roads and Karen Fairchild, met while attending Samford University in Alabama. Ideas to form a band didn't coalesce until the two moved to Nashville, Tennessee in the following year. When Jimi Westbrook joined Roads and Fairchild in 1998, the trio had performed for a full year before adding final member Phillip Sweet. By 1999, the name "Little Big Town" was christened and the quartet was complete. Apart from other vocal groups, Little Big Town is best known for their four part harmonies and a fixed lead is virtually absent. This versatility allows for each member to have a feature role in leading the song and enables all four to join in with a syncopated rhythm. Little Big Town attributes their first label signing with Mercury Nashville Records but, instead of releasing singles or albums on the record, they would sing vocals and background music until the drafting of a second contract. Signing with Monument Records Nashville provided the group with their first big break since debuting in 2002 with their self-titled album "Little Big Town." After a handful of awards, chart-topping Billboard hits
and label changes, the band averages a new record every three years. The group's sophomore album "The Road to Here" (2005) produced by Wayne Kirkpatrick and Little Big Town under the Equity label peaked on U.S. Billboard Top Country Albums at 12 and rested at the number one on U.S. Billboard Independent Albums. Junior album "A Place to Land" (2007) was released under the same Equity label, and again produced by Wayne Kirkpatrick, and climbed to a peak of 10 on U.S. Billboard's Top Country Albums and 24 on U.S. Billboard 200. Recent albums "The Reason Why" (2010) and "Tornado" (2012), both under the Capitol Nashville label received more critical acclaim. The latter peaked U.S. Billboard 200 at the number two seed with and topped U.S. Billboard's Top Country at number one. The album would continue to stay on top of Billboard's Country Albums for its first five weeks. It was their hit single, "Tornado," that drew me to Little Big Town in the first place, and I sincerely hope the band continues to make records and continues to stay relevant. For country doubtfuls, I suggest giving a quick listen to LBT if you haven’t already.
Friday, March 8
Art Gallery Talk and Opening: George Lorio Exhibition runs through April 7 Olin Art Gallery 7-9 p.m. ARTS SERIES: Grande Romanza (Ticketed Event) Olin 8 p.m.
Tuesday, March 12
W&J Jazz Ensemble Concert Olin 7:30 p.m.
Thursday through Saturday April 11-13 Theatre Department: “Grease” Matinee: Saturday 2 p.m. Olin 7:30 p.m.
Friday, April 12
Art Gallery Talk and Opening: W&J Senior Show 1 Exhibition runs through April 21 Olin Art Gallery 7-9 p.m.
Tuesday, April 16
W&J Jazz Ensemble Concert Olin 7:30 p.m.
Sunday, April 21
W&J Wind Ensemble Concert Olin 3 p.m.
Thursday, April 25
ARTS SERIES: Jeffrey Siegel, “Keyboard Conversations” (Ticketed Event) Olin 7:30 p.m.
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Green Day’s “American Idiot” Album Now A Broadway Musical Michael Nemchick Red&Black Staff For the non Green Day fans, “American Idiot” is Green Day’s seventh album, released all the way back in 2004. This album is also a rock opera of sorts following the story of an anti-hero protagonist called the Jesus of Suburbia. In 2009, the popular album was adapted into an on stage musical that made it to Broadway by 2010 and won a Grammy for the best musical show album in 2011. The performance just ran in Heinz Hall, staying in Pittsburgh from Feb. 18 to the 24. To start off, if you do not like Green Day, you definitely will not enjoy the show. However, you do not need to be a huge fan to enjoy it either. It includes all of the songs from the American Idiot album, a few from 21 Century Breakdown and a number of other assorted tacks. The popular songs are there for the casual fan. However, the full track list for the musical is enjoyable and the performers do a good job adapting Green Day’s music live on stage. The story of the musical starts with three suburban teenagers who are dissatisfied, disillusioned and tired of their life. Each dreams of escape and eventually all take a different path with their lives. One stays at home
with their pregnant girlfriend, and quickly becomes dissatisfied with his life wishing for escape. The other two go to the city. The main character, Jesus of Suburbia, becomes addicted to drugs, loses the girl he falls in love with and eventually sells his guitar for a bus ticked back home. The other character joins the army and returns back home as an amputee. So in the end, all of the characters end up back where they started but have grown in different ways. Honestly, the story is somewhat difficult to follow in the musical if you do not know about it ahead of time and the plot itself is not the highlight of the show. The performance shines with the musical numbers themselves along with the atmosphere of the show expressed through the vibrant punk costumes and choreography. The show really gives off the punk rock vibe effectively, getting the audience absorbed into that theme; it gets you really into the whole **** the system mentality which can be fun. Many college students likely heard all of this music in middle or high school, so nostalgia is a big factor as well. Overall if you are a fan of Green Day or punk rock in general, the show is worth a see if it is in town. If you aren’t into this type of music, you will not be into this show just for the plot.
Courtesy onwardstate.com
Courtesy earth911.com
Courtesy trustarts.culturaldistrict.org
Two performers from PNC Broadway Across America in “American Idiot” here in Pittsburgh, PA. Courtesy bostonbroadway.com
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Rupert Grint: Wizard to Superhero Kanye West Rants to Crowd About Oscars Bailey Mudrick Red&Black Staff Ronald Weasley has made quite an impression on Harry Potter fans for the past decade. Here's hoping that all of those years battling Dementors, Death Eaters and other assorted forms of sinister sorcerers left an impression on Rupert Grint, who played the character of Ron Weasley, because based on his latest role he's going to need all the battle experience he can get. After years and years of starring in the "Harry Potter" film series as the redheaded boy wizard and reliable best friend to Harry Potter, Ron Weasley, Grint has landed his biggest follow-up role to date as the lead character on a new CBS single-camera comedy pilot, "Super Clyde." "Super Clyde," which has been given a pilot order from CBS, follows Clyde, a meek, unassuming fast-food worker who decides to become a superhero. Clyde, described by The Hollywood Reporter as a: "well-meaning and sweet yet slightly neurotic guy who never feels like he really fits in. The avid comic book reader considers himself a borderline agoraphobic with mild to severe anxiety issues who wishes he were a super hero himself. When Clyde inherits a $100,000 a month inheritance from his long-dead eccentric Uncle Bill, he decides that the cash will be his secret super power and will use it only for good and reward the goodhearted."
“Super Clyde” is the brain child of Greg Garcia, who also created the series “Raising Hope,” “Yes, Dear” and “My Name is Earl.” Garcia is writing and executive-producing the single-camera project with Mike Fresco, who helped direct “My Name Is Ear” and “Raising Hope.” The plot is criticized as sounding more like a KickAss/Super type deal than something where the character will have actual super powers. And while the feel good rag to riches story is sentimentally sweet, is it enough to attract a viewing audience? Rupert Grint, to many people around the world, will mostly likely be known as Ron Weasly, Harry Potter’s best friend for the remainder of his life. But what a lot of people are asking is if this role will make him known as something other than Ron Weasley. The show marks Grint's first series regular role on a television series, but it's not his first post “Potter” projects. He'll next be seen in the World War II drama "Into the White," about a group of British and German pilots forced to work together after they're shot down in the bitter cold, snowy wilderness of Norway. The movie hits theaters on April 12. Grint also has a number of films in the works, including the punk offering "CBGB," in which he plays musician Cheetah Chrome. He has also booked a part in "The Drummer," a Beach Boys biopic reportedly co-starring "The Dark Knight" actor Aaron Eckhart and "Kick-Ass" badass Chloe Moret.
Shanel Grabowski Red&Black Staff It is hard to forget the infamous moment when rapper Kanye West interrupted musician Taylor Swift’s acceptance speech at the 2009 MTV VMAs. If that moment taught viewers one thing, it was how Kanye West does not have any type of filtered speech. One of his best qualities is how outspoken and honest West is with his music and when it comes to his life. Although the 35 year old musician and father-to-be (little Kimye is on the way) was at it again on stage in London recently. West criticized Taylor Swift for beating Beyonce at the most recent Grammy Awards. West blurted to the London
audience, “Taylor Swift beat Beyonce at the Grammys? Beyonce be dancing in heels and s***.” Swift has yet to respond to the criticism from West, but it seems that it may be in her best interest to keep her mouth shut. She is better off letting a celebrity such as Jay-Z confront Kanye about his harsh comments towards his fellow musicians. West not only spoke of his negative feelings toward Swift, but spoke of his friend Jay-Z as well. West continued his rant when he stated, “I got love for Hov, but I ain’t f***ing with that 'Suit & Tie'." Kanye attacked Jay-Z’s most recent collaboration with Justin Timberlake despite Jay-Z being quite a close friend of his.
The reasoning behind Kanye’s abrupt criticisms toward fellow musicians is completely unknown yet entertaining. It could quite possibly stem from stress about his upcoming role as a father or maybe Kanye and Kim. K had an argument the day of London appearance and rant about Swift and Jay-Z. Nevertheless, Kanye surely can keep us viewers intrigued with his bizarre behavior and words. Kanye may only need to reconsider his actions when he starts to drastically lose fans, which has not been an issue thus far for him. If Taylor Swift and Jay-Z want to confront Kanye West about his rude remarks they should only be prepared for West to come back with more criticisms.
Get Involved, AmeriCorps at W&J *On thePanel: One AmeriCorps Fellow, Two current fulltime volun-teers and one AmeriCorps alumni * Refreshments provided * AmeriCorps week: March 11-15
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Books to Add to Your Library What ABC Has in Store for New Shows Ashley Burk Red&Black Staff For those of you who love to read, whether it be on a handheld book, iPad or kindle, there are many new releases and soon to be releases that you should think about adding to your libraries. One of the most highly anticipated releases is that by author S.C. Stephens, author of the bestselling novels, Thoughtless and Effortless. On March 5, Stephens released the third novel in the series, titled Reckless. Incase you have never heard of this series before, it follows the relationship of Keira and Kellen, who first meet in Thoughtless and follows the trials and tribulations they face throughout the other two novels. The story of Kellen and Keira is without a doubt one of my favorites, even if the majority of the time I want to chuck my iPad across the room. I would definitely give this series a chance because once you start it you won’t be able to stop. Another highly anticipated release is Walking Disaster by author Jamie McGuire. McGuire is the bestselling author of Beautiful Disaster. Although both books may follow the same story, they are completely different because they are told from completely different points of views. Beautiful Disaster is told from the main female character Abbie Abernathy and Walking Disaster is told from the view point of the main male character Travis Maddox. Both Reckless and Walking Disaster are YA novels and
are definitely tailored to the female genre. Sorry boys, but mystery and sci-fi fiction are not my cup of tea. Walking Disaster will be released in stores and on eBooks on April 2. Lastly, New York Times bestselling author Jodi Picoult released her highly expected novel, The Storyteller, on Feb. 26. Picoult has been known for her novels for a long time now and always seems to garner a lot of attention for the subjects she addresses. Picoult has addressed everything from Asperger’s Syndrome, Osteogenesis Imperfect (better known as brittle bone syndrome), school shootings and suicide pacts. She is an extraordinary writer who has the ability to draw readers completely into the story. The Storyteller is expected to be no different and asks the questions of when does a moral choice become a moral imperative? Another one of my favorite authors; I recommend reading at least one of her books in your lifetime, and it doesn’t have to be this one.
Shari Kaminski Red&Black Columnist Last week, I talked about what the CW has in store for viewers when it is time for old and new television shows to begin their regular season this fall. This week, I am going talk about what ABC has planned. Arguably, the most interesting projects ABC has planned are all dramas. The first is called “Big Thunder.” Inspired by the frontier-like atmosphere used in the “Big Thunder Mountain Railroad” roller-coater in the Disney theme parks, “Big Thunder” takes place in a 19th century frontier mining town. A New York doctor and his family move to the town, which is run by a powerful and mysterious tycoon. They quickly learn that not everything in town is as it seems. There has not been many announcements on the cast
for “Big Thunder,” but it is bound to be interesting. A second drama planned by ABC is called “Gothica.” “Gothica” was most likely ordered after the success of the fairytale-inspired “Once Upon a Time.” “Gothica” brings together the stories of “Dracula,” “Jekyll and Hyde,” “The Picture of Dorian Gray” and “Frankenstein” among others. Actress Janet Montgomery has been cast as a character named Grace Van Helsing. Tom Ellis has been cast as Dr. Frankenstein, and Chris Egan has been cast as Dorian Gray. The most buzzed-about drama ABC is working on is “S.H.I.E.L.D.” “S.H.I.E.L.D,” the new show from Joss Whedon, will follow the agents of the covert, quasimilitary peace-keeping organization run by Nick Fury, last seen in 2012’s “The Avengers.” The show will obviously take place in the same universe as the Marvel movies,
and will begin after the end of “The Avengers.” While Samuel L. Jackson will not be around to reprise his role regularly (if at all), Clark Gregg will reprise his role as Agent Phil Coulson, who (spoiler alert) appeared to die in “The Avengers.” Cobie Smulders may also get to reprise her role as Agent Maria Hill, but not right away as she will be busy as Robin on the last season of “How I Met Your Mother.” Finally, a new comedy coming from ABC is “Super Fun Night.” A pilot for “Super Fun Night” was made last season by CBS, but it did not make the weekly schedule. “Super Fun Night” stars Rebel Wilson (“Bridesmaids” and “Pitch Perfect”) as one of three nerdy female friends who set out to have “super fun” every Friday night. The premise alone may sound boring, but with someone like Wilson involved, I am sure it will gain an audience.
Tori Smith/Red&Black
Courtesy cleo.com.au
The Disneyland ride that inspired the “Big Thunder” TV show.
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Staff Editorial: “Is It Spring Break Yet?” Spring Break is right around the corner and yes, we all feel it. The mid-March doldrums, the after holiday depression, the post-epiphany-that-Punxsutawney-Phil-is-a-mangysardonic-rodent-who-dropped-out-of-weatherhog-schoolfirst-semester slump, is gnawing at my attention span. I guess what I’m advocating for is a pre-holiday holiday, because when do you need a holiday most?—right before a holiday. And while you’re still editing your car/dog/ (insert name of ensemble based T.V. show here) calendar, mark it for a “pre-pre-holiday, holiday.” The same reasoning for the introduction of the first preholiday, holiday stands for the aforementioned pre-pre-holiday, holiday. It’s hard getting back to class after the holiday too, so why not a post-holiday, holiday? I realized that this may become a problem when I crossed out the entire month of March and half of April on
my “Seinfeld” calendar (fine, it was a Labradoodle calendar, alright. Don’t judge me, ok?). I hope those of you playing at home weren’t using pen, because I’m calling the whole thing off. We have to finish out the next week and a half. For what it’s wortj, it’s important that you do the best you can. It’s going to be rough, believe you me the line at the Barista is going to turn into the “Hunger Games” in about 48 hours, but future-you will hate past-you if you fizzle before March 15. The point here is President Obama is swamped and can’t be concerned with making the pre-pre holiday, holiday into a national month of lethargy. Please know I tried. If, however, the next week is extra difficult for you because of an awesome, Spring Break trip you have planned, let us at the Red&Black know (read: send us your pictures if you travel to places, especially if it’s the Amazon)!
1-800 Condom Delivery Service Bailey Mudrick Red&Black Staff When two people are looking to get intimate, not having “protection” can really kill the mood. Sophomore Kyle McCabe discovered that there was a sizable market at the College of New Jersey for a condom delivery service, where the delivery guy goes door-to-door, hands rubbers to couples and wears a blue light on his head (and no, this isn’t a joke). For students at the College of New Jersey in Ewing Township, New Jersey, those in a bind can simply call CondAm, and contraception will be on its way. “CondAm,” is short for Condom Ambulance, which is the emergency condom delivery service created by the sophomore. CondAm’s tagline is, “Saving lives… and preventing them too.” CondAm promises to deliver competitively priced condoms in extremely short time frames. For students who need condoms quickly, they can simply call or place an order on CondAm’s website, and one
of the members of CondAm will deliver Trojan or other well-known, brand-named condoms right to the customer’s door. “There’s a need for this on all college campuses,” McCabe told the Associated Press. “Health services are not open all the time. Some students don’t have cars; they can’t get to a store.” McCabe said he came up with the idea when he and some of his buddies were debating on the subject of not being prepared and how it can be inconvenient. While the concept may seem like a joke, McCabe told the Associated Press, “I’m here to help people who do decide that sex is right for them, I just want to help them be safe when they do.” One student, Shady Waxman told the Associated Press, “Its actually really helpful, it sure beats having to run out to find a store.” And other students agree that this service is really helpful on campus. During express hours, CondAm promises delivery in five minutes. While McCabe often delivers with a large rotating light on his head, customers can opt for “discrete delivery,” so no one will know what they
C ontac t
E ditorial P olic y The Red & Black is the official, registered, student-produced newspaper of Washington & Jefferson College. It is published Thursdays with the exception of exams and break periods. Editorials are based upon the opinion of the respective writers and do not necessarily reflect the views of the newspaper, the College, nor the
views of its students, faculty or administration. The Red & Black welcomes all reader contributions, but reserves the right to reject letters of pure promotional nature, as well as letters which do not meet its standard of integrity, accuracy and decency. The Red & Black also reserves the right to edit submissions.
Letters are due the Monday before print publication and may not exceed 600 words. All letters must include the author’s name, campus box and telephone number. Names may be withheld upon request under certain conditions on rare occasions. All letters may be submitted to redandblackstaff@jay.washjeff. edu.
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Abrianne Rhoad Editor-in-Chief Mina Ademovic Managing Editor Meghan Watelet Production Manager Kara Beck Business Manager Kyle Sossi Campus News Editor Deidre Parker Life Editor Tori Smith Arts EIC, Managing Opinions Alex Bernardi Sports Jacquelin Radin Photography Editor Antoinette Arabia Copy Editor Morgan Mattingly Copy Editor Open Distribution Manager Dale Lolley Adviser are having delivered. According to CondAm’s website, you can buy one condom for three dollars or ten condoms for fifteen, but of course they have different sizes and quantities in between online. They also have all types and brands of condoms to please the need of the buyer. The concept isn’t new, Harvard freshmen started delivering condoms in 1985 to decrease the spread of HIV and AIDS, but McCabe’s website takes the convenience to a whole other level. It’s just like when Peter Griffin went around selling butt scratchers. Sometimes it just takes one unique person to go around selling an item everyone wants or needs, but they are too afraid or lazy to go out and get it themselves.
S taff Carley Adams Abbey Bashor Ashley Burk Gretchen Cline Allyse Corbin Chelsea Cummings
Ashley Figlar Lauren Fisher Alexis Geeza Shanel Grabowski Shari Kaminski Brittany Lander
Jake Meyers Bailey Mudrick Hla Hpone “Jack” Myint Mike Nemchick Harley Straub
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OPINIONS 15
Memorable Professors, But Not in the Good Way Compiled by Red&Black Editors
After a 4 a.m. breakdown from one of our editors, a small meeting was called during which we reflected on all of the annoyances we’ve dealt with during our years of college. We submit, for your consideration, a list of the worst kinds of professors. 1. Professors who act like their class is the only class you have (or at least the only one that matters)– We’ve all had to deal with this one. The entitled professor who feels like you should have hours to spend every night reading the assignments for one class because you don’t have three other classes, a job, a sport, clubs, friends or the need for sleep. It’s understandable to have a long assignment every once in a while, but these professors love to pile it on every week. Read 150 pages of archaic poetry in a day and a half? Completely reasonable. Oh, you have a long weekend or a school break? It’s the perfect time to assign an entire novel, an essay and some critical articles for good measure. Maybe some professors should look up the definition of “vacation” (I promise it’s in the OED). 2. Professors who don’t know their subject material – It’s always a joy to be in class with someone who has absolutely no idea what they’re talking about. When it’s a professor, that warm fuzzy feeling is even stronger. I definitely feel like I’m getting my money’s worth when I know more about the subject than the poor professor the class was foisted off on. Bonus points if they assign material you’ve covered in more than two other college classes. Another reading of “The Road Not Taken” anyone? 3. Professors whose tests do not reflect the material you actually learned in class – You walk into class on test day, confident that you’re going to do well. After all, you took notes, read the assignments and paid attention in class. Unfortunately, when the professor hands out the test, you stare down at the first problem with a mixture of horror and rage. What the ****? When exactly was this EVER mentioned in class? And what relation does it even have to the purpose of the course? Give me a short answer about the feudal system, not a fifth grade gotcha question about an old bell-maker whose name was mentioned once for two seconds in a documentary from 1982. 4. Professors with ridiculous grading standards – “No one gets an A in this class.” “If you get a 10/10 on this assignment, it means you went above and beyond even the above and beyond.” Totally seems fair, right? I love having my hopes crushed on the first day of class with comments about how despite how much time and effort I put in, if I’m not F. Scott Fitzgerald my work isn’t going to warrant an A. I take similar issue with professors who hand assignments back with a letter grade and no comments. Believe it or not, “B-” doesn’t really help me figure out how to do better next time. This also goes for professors with ridiculous standards of any kind. “Must use at least five book sources.” Really? Thank you for specifically forcing me to waste my time. (Just because you barely know how to access the internet doesn’t mean it isn’t a wonderful source.)
5. Professors who think that they should be the master of your time, a.k.a. class ended five minutes ago so why are you still talking?–To be fair, sometimes this isn’t entirely the professor’s fault. We’ve all had to deal with that annoying kid in class who can’t just ask a question in private. No, by all means, force the rest of the class to sit through a 10 minute explanation of something only you’re confused about. When this IS the professor’s fault though, it’s one of the most irritating things to deal with. From the time the class starts until the class ends, let’s say 9:15 to 10:20 for the sake of argument, I am on your time. You can do whatever you want with it. At 10:21, the time ceases to be yours and once again becomes mine. Now, I’m not unreasonable. I usually give a 3 minute grace period for trying to finish up a lecture. Anything beyond that is annoying, and honestly uncalled for. I don’t care how interested you are in the economics of eighth century China, I have to get to another class after this. Same thing goes for starting a new concept two minutes before the class period ends. Just let it go! 6. Professors who assign expensive textbooks that you never use or can find free elsewhere–Is there a greater feeling than finally looking up your required textbooks (assuming the professor has bothered to post the information online by the time you look) only to see that you need five of them, including one that’s $80? I doubt it. Especially when you get the syllabus and realize that every single thing included in the critical anthology is available for free online if you take two minutes to Google it. But hey, why bother finding something and making photocopies when you could just ask everyone to spend $200? It’s also super fun to get halfway through the semester and realize that the book “EVERYONE IS REQUIRED TO BUY!” and that “MUST BE WITH YOU AT ALL TIMES!” is useless and you haven’t even opened it yet. 7. Professors who assign additional homework for the day an essay is due–Really? This is kind of ridiculous, especially if the required paper length is over five pages. Essays are a necessary test of reading comprehension, ability to argue, writing skill, etc. I’m not arguing that professors shouldn’t assign essays; merely that assigning an essay AND 40 pages of reading is excessive and annoying. I’m already dividing my time between other classes and other assignments, and now my focus has been split one more time. 8. Professors who don’t know how to plan their class, follow their syllabus or manage time–Remember back in high school history classes when the teacher always promised you’d make it to the modern day but you were lucky if you even broached Vietnam? Well, it still happens in college, although it’s generally in the form of taking two weeks longer to cover a book than was necessary. Did we really have to go over every single paragraph of this sociology book? Are we really popcorn reading right now? Really? I also feel obligated to include in this section a complaint about professors who feel like three, four or even five weeks is an acceptable length of time to take to grade a paper or test. If you don’t have enough time to grade something in a reasonable amount of time, don’t assign it. It’s that simple.
9. Professors who get angry if you don’t agree with them – Does this really need an explanation? We’ve all been afraid to write our actual opinions in an essay in at least one class in college. You might have thought some play was awesome, but if the professor spends an entire class listing every single thing that’s wrong with it, it’s best to just fake disgust rather than risk being looked down on. There’s something especially irritating about having to write like a kiss *** in order to be liked or respected. 10. Professors who think they still need to assign our groups–Is there anyone out there who actually enjoys working in groups? Spending time outside of class with people you don’t know or like, and then having to share a grade with them (especially if they are incompetent and you’re forced to do their share of the work if you want to pass) is one of the worst frustrations to deal with. Okay, I get it, interpersonal skills are important and in the workplace we’ll have to work with all different kinds of people, and we might not like those people, and working in groups now helps us learn the skills required to manage these situations (there’s probably a trademark required in there somewhere). I’ve heard it all so many times that I’ve memorized the whole spiel by now. You could argue the necessity of group projects, but seriously, we’re in our 20s. I don’t need you to make my group experience even worse by pairing me with someone whose favorite weekend activity is knocking over trash cans and blacking out on a lawn somewhere. I know who I like and I know who I work best with. Let me decide for myself. 11. Professors who are always late to class and then not prepared. If you expect us to be on time and prepared, then you need to do the same. I don’t care enough to do the homework if I know that it’s for a professor who is not even professional enough to respect the time students put into their class. And what is even more irritating is the professor that skips out on us to start vacation early. If they require us to show up in class, we likewise require them to be there, not a substitute who is cranky that they’re filling in for their colleague who is clearly somewhere far away enjoying a day of paid sick leave. 12. When Professors make un-hip circa-1964 music references or casually drop quotes from long out of print movies into normal conversation that you know, by the expression on your classmates’ faces, flew 13,000 feet above their collective heads. The only two people in the room who got the joke were the speaker and yourself, and you’re forced to sit there, smothering the flames of a grin from showing on your face, lest you be alienated from the rest of your class. 13. Professors who go on tangents on topics completely unrelated to what is supposed to be discussed in class. If you ask us to read an entire book for the next class, we expect to talk about what happened in the book, not what happened on the episode of 60 Minutes you watched last night. This is especially irksome when half the class has gone by and we have still haven’t said a word abut the actual assignment. Next time, I won’t even bother staying up until 2 a.m. reading since chances are, we won’t be discussing the book anyway.
16 OPINIONS
Red & Black
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Decades Later, Still “Stuck” with Student Loans? Lauren Fisher Red&Black Staff
If you are one of the many college students currently racking up debt because of your college education, take some comfort in knowing that you are not alone. When you think of the average person dealing with debt, you normally do not think about the leaders who make everyday policy decisions. Although they retain their top positions in the government realm, they also make up a great amount of the student debt our nation has accumulated. The new 113 Congress is packing more student loan debts than ever. Financial disclosure forms from 2011 revealed that forty-six federal lawmakers
are still thousands in student loan debt. Sources claim that the total amount of 22 Democrats and 24 Republicans is between $1.8 million and $4.3 million. Although the exact number is unknown, that is a hefty sum, regardless. President Barack Obama and first lady Michelle Obama have noted that they made student loan payments until 2004. For some lawmakers like Senator Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass), this debt comes from co-signing loans of their children. Other lawmakers claim that this debt has been repaid since the information
SGA Election Results Mike Nemchick Red&Black Staff When Washington & Jefferson’s Student Government Association elections only have one candidate for three of the four open positions, it is apparent there is an issue with getting involved with campus affairs but also with SGA itself. I didn’t even bother voting because there weren’t any choices. I’m not saying that those elected will not do a good job. It just seemed like the elections were a secret; they were publicized very little and there was little, to no campaigning. Part of this lack of participation with Student Government may be that the organization’s actions are not very transparent. If someone is just attending the meetings every other week, it seems like the only thing government does is approve new clubs and manage the budget by allocating funds. Sometimes this is the only thing that happens at meetings other than some announcements about campus events that are made. I personally know that SGA plays a larger role on campus than is easily visible, but many students I talk to have little or no knowledge of its role. With the amount of clubs who
have their budgets frozen by not attending meetings, it is apparent that much of the general student population knows very little of SGA procedures. There is a lack of transparency on the side of SGA, but an apparent apathy and dis-interest on the side of the student population. The fact that it took a number of meetings for the Student Representative positions to fill is also a testament to apathy. It only takes a few signatures and an hour every other week to fill these positions. If SGA meetings were seen as an outlet for public discussion about changing the campus and not just an obligation for clubs to not lose their budget, maybe attendance will improve. SGA needs to shows the campus population what it does and what can be accomplished by students who attend the meetings. Students need to care about what happens on campus and want to make change. I think SGA can and should play a more central role with campus affairs. For now we can see how things change with our newly elected representatives. However, I do not feel representation exists when there was no choice or competition.
was initially reported in 2011. Ironically, this Congress also has more members with student loan debts on education committees, such as Senator Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass) and Senator Chris Murphy (D-Conn) than ever before. Four Republican House of Representatives members are also drawing criticism for their student loan debts despite the Republican party’s opposition to federal student loan programs in the 2012 election. However, this current student loan debt situation might actually work to benefit college students.
“For some... debt comes from cosigning loans of their children. Other[s] claim that this debt has been repaid.”
Sources claim that Congress is set to revisit last year’s student loan interest rate battle, and Congressional Republicans have issued a letter asking the president to work towards a “long-term solution to the student loan interest rate issue.” Last year, Congress passed a oneyear extension of the federal student loan interest rate, which would keep the rate at 3.4 percent instead of 6.8 percent. However, this current interest rate will expire on June 30 of this year. Congress is urging for a long-term fix to this problem, rather than another short extension. While we have a while to pay off our own student loans, rest assured that you are not alone in this battle against college loan debt; Congress members, at least 46 of them, are also with you.
Seth MacFarlane “Entertains” at Oscars
Seth MacFarlane courtesy latimes.com
Ashley Burk Red&Black Staff The Oscars is always one of the biggest events, but it is usually known for being a little boring and at times absolutely dreary. So, when news first caught word that Seth McFarlane was hosting the Oscars this year many did not know what to expect. Seth McFarlane is best known as the creator of Family Guy and the writer of the movie Ted. His humor is, to say the least, crude, sexist and sometimes over the top. During the entire night of the Oscars, McFarlane leaned on a lot of sexist jokes to bring his so-called “humor” to the show, particularly when he sang a song about seeing actress’ boobs. He called out many A-list stars for their different performances in
movies where their breasts were revealed to the camera during one scene or another. McFarlane also went on to call actress Jennifer Aniston a stripper when he said, “Our next two presenters, at least one is honest about being a former exotic dancer. Please welcome Channing Tatum and Jennifer Aniston. McFarlane even took a jab at 9-year-old best actress nominee, Quvenzhane Wallis, saying that it would be sixteen years before she was too old for Clooney. However, even with all of his sexist, outrageous and over the top antics, he was still quite charming during the majority of the three and a half hour long Oscar show. He threw everything he had into the show. He told a fair number of jokes that managed to garner laughs from the crowd
and he even made Tommy Lee Jones laugh at a joke about getting Tommy Lee Jones to laugh, which counts for something. When someone like Seth McFarlane is chosen to host the Oscars, audiences have to be prepared for the type of humor he will essentially bring to the table. Although McFarlane has his high points and low points, he never hit a confident and comfortable stride during the show. At times it even appeared that the awards show had taken a backseat to the entertainment for the night. It is clear that through everything, Seth McFarlane put obvious thought and effort into the show. McFarlane is definitely not the best host the Oscars has ever had, but he is also far from the worst. Anyone remember James Franco?
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OPINIONS 17
America’s “Saddest Map,” Missed Connections Abrianne Rhoad Red&Black Editor
Published in “Psychology Today” in late Jan. Dorothy Gambrell’s “Missed Connections: Seen But Not Spoken To: An Atlas of Where We’re (Almost) Finding Love” (pictography shown below) has been rapidly circulated around the Internet. Popular blogger Andrew Sullivan dubbed the map the “Saddest Map in America” (on andrewsullivan.com). Sullivan wrote at length on the results of Gambrell’s scholarly study of the “missed connections” section of Craigslist. “This [map] is ... in some ways, a sign of where we are now most likely to see people we don’t know in various parts of the country. It’s also a sign of male loneliness or romance: men seeking to find a possible love-mate outnumber
women 86 – 14.” He continued, “nationally, the chart shows that great arc of life. In your twenties, you are most likely to think you’ve caught the eye of someone in an ice cream shop; in your thirties, in a bar; in your forties, a strip club or adult bookstore (those still exist?).” The blogger noticed a general trend in the bigger cities–NYC and DC–in that they tend to have more instances of interaction on the subway or metro based on the heavy use of public transportation. Sullivan ends his speculation with a very sobering, very somber comparison to Harold Pinter’s plays. Like the plays, there is nothing to inspire an audience or give its members anything to feel good about. “I say saddest [missed connections],” wrote Sullivan, “[but] maybe they’re just the most honest.” Whichever the case may be, the study is certainly something to mull over.
courtesy Dorothy Gambrell
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SPORTS Red & Black
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courtesy washjeff.edu
W&J’s Indoor Track Teams Sweep All Competition
Men, Women’s Track Teams Honored with Titles at Start of Season Harley Straub Red&Black Staff
On Thursday Feb. 21, the Washington & Jefferson men’s and women’s track and field teams competed in the first ever President’s Athletic Conference Indoor Invitational. W&J swept the men’s and women’s throws competitions. Leading the men’s throwers was Gavin Donathan, ‘13. Donathan placed first in both the shot put and weight throw. Donathan’s distance for the shot put was 14.75 meters (48’4.75”) and for the weight throw his distance was 13.60 meters (44’7.5”). Donathan was happy with his performance and is looking forward to outdoor track. “It felt good to win and made me realize the men’s team has a good shot at taking the overall championship,” commented Donathan. “This will definitely help in outdoor; I am showing signs of progress in practice. This outdoor season will be interesting to watch, “ stated Donathan Harley Straub, ‘14, also claimed victories in both the shot put and weight throw. Straub threw 11.84 meters (38’10.25”) in the shot put and 12.09 meters (39’8”) in the weight throw. W&J also claimed all of the sprints on the women’s
side. Freshman Brittney Traynor continued her successful rookie season by winning the 60 meter dash with a time of 8.04 seconds. With this time, Traynor set the school record again. Traynor was happy that she won and is looking forward to the outdoor season. “It felt really good to win, especially because the second place girl beat me by thousands
“I am highly satisfied to be the conference champion in high jump, but I know that I must continue to work hard to maintain that title.” —Erin Oberg ‘14 of a second in the preliminaries. She also went to a rival high school of mine and that gave me extra motivation to beat her,” explained Traynor. “This win will give me some confidence going into the outdoor season and I really look forward to going to Wake Forest and also the outdoor PAC Championships.” Cheyenne Mangold, ‘14, also took first in the 200 and 400 meters. Mangold’s time for the 200 was 26.04 seconds, which broke her own school record that she
set earlier in the season. Her time in the 400 meters was 58.60 seconds. Mangold was excited for her victories and wants the other schools in the PAC to watch out for W&J in the outdoor season. “It felt awesome to win because I finally beat my rival at Westminster. “I feel like my teammates and I made a statement to all the other PAC teams that Dubjay is coming for them in outdoors and we are going to reclaim the title of PAC champions,” stated Mangold. “My victories boosted my confidence because I beat my rival from Westminster in both races. Also, I almost broke 26 seconds in the 200, which is a goal of mine this year. I really hope that in outdoor my times will continue to drop and I will qualify for nationals,” said Mangold. Kristen Galligan, ‘15, broke the school record in the mile while claiming first place with a time of 5.11.94 minutes. Even though Galligan does not normally run the mile, she feels good for outdoor PAC and hopes to continue her successful year. “This is not my main event so I was just running to get in some speed without doing a longer race/ my main event (5K) before ECAC’s,” mentioned Galligan. “I feel very confident for outdoor PAC’s because I know I am
still at the top of the field when it comes to distance events, so my goal is to win the 1,500, 5K and 10K again this outdoor season to help my team get a decent amount of points.” Erin Oberg, ‘14, claimed the victory in the high jump with a
“Winning was my number one priority in the race.” —Jared Jones ‘13 jump of 1.53 meters (5’0.25”). Oberg has been jumping since seventh grade and this win has given her more confidence and looks to the outdoor season to be even better than indoor. “I love the thrill of temporarily ‘defying gravity’ yet it is also a tedious feat to conquer; therefore, when I won my first collegiate high jump competition, I was incredibly excited. To win at this meet with my family there, especially, was a large boost in my confidence and increase in my determination to become better,” stated Oberg. “I am highly satisfied to be the conference champion in high jump, but I know that I must continue to work hard to maintain that title. “That win boosted my confidence in my ability and also increased my excitement to see what outdoor has in store for my
fellow high jumpers and me. “We all have been working incredibly hard since Sept. and this small victorious step is just a little milestone in our track and field journey, “ said Oberg. On the men’s side, Jared Jones, ‘13, took first place in the 60 meter dash with a time of 7.07 seconds. With this time, Jones broke the school record for the 60. All Jones wanted to do was win his race, and hopes his wins will continue into the outdoor season. “Winning was my number one priority in the race. This success will most likely carry into the outdoor season, where I hope to place first in all of my events at the PAC Championships in April,” commented Jones. “I believe this meet helped build the confidence of our entire team after losing key seniors from last season.” Benjamin Kopchick, ‘13, and Scott Ryan, ‘13, teamed with Joshua Makepeace, ‘15, and Nico DeMaio, ‘16, to win the distance medley relay with a time of 10.36.67. This time broke the old school record by seven seconds. The women’s team finished third overall with a total of 110 points. Westminster won and was followed by Waynesburg. On the men’s side, W&J came in 4th place with 68 points. Thomas More was first followed by Waynesburg and then Bethany.
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SPORTS 19
Red & Black
Hidden Cameras Tape Abusive Coach Wife’s Miscarriage Sends Spurs
Superstar Through Emotional Loop
courtesy onlinetvsports.net
After a hidden camera captures Coach Brevell’s rant, he was promptly removed from his position.
Abbey Bashor Red&Black Staff In today’s sports world, technology knows no bounds. While it can be a force of good when it comes to reporting statistics and improving methods of practice, advancements in technology can also bring to light great controversy. Thanks to a hidden camera recording by several of his own athletes, a highly successful Texas baseball coach found himself in hot water after a video exposed him berating his players before a practice. Port Neches-Grove High School baseball coach Mark Brevell was quietly reinstated this past week after temporarily being “removed from his position” by the school athletic department and administration. The storm surrounding Brevell began just before a preseason practice, in which Brevell entered the locker room and lashed out at a few of his players for not being dressed to play. Brevell proceeded to reprimand the players, as he was unknowingly being recorded by one of the players. The rant eventually made its way to YouTube, and while it was then quickly taken down, it did not escape reporter Stephen Douglas taking down its transcription. According to both those who saw the video, as well as Douglas’ transcription, Brevell made many explicit comments toward his
players. “What were y’all hoping? That practice was cancelled? Yeah, you were…” he remarked. “I ain’t even going to practice with y’all today. Y’all want to go to practice? I’m going [expletive] home to spend time with my family. If you want to work, work. If you want to go home, go home. I couldn’t even care less. Just be ready because there might be some things changing.” Brevell continued to threaten the senior players with being cut from the team, in which he stated that “Things are going to change right now or I swear to God, I’ll play… I’ll play JV and freshman teams.” According to reports, little was mentioned in the local media regarding Brevell’s actions or the fact that he was quickly removed from his position. However, this was only until the video reached the Texas online community and word quickly spread. Despite this, Brevell was then reinstated just before the start of the 2013 season. Speculation regarding Brevell’s return has much to do with the coach’s successful 2012 season, in which he led his team to the District title. Regardless of Coach Brevell’s motives, the fact remains that demeaning young players with choice words and discouragement is never the correct way to lead. The argument to allow Brevell to continue as head coach obviously won out, leaving a group of players, and the team in general, with an extremely awkward season ahead of them.
courtesy yahoosports.com
Stephen Jackson returns to the team after missing three games due to personal reasons which later was found out to be the miscarriage of his first child.
Ashley Burk Red&Black Staff Whenever a player leaves their team for “personal reasons” right before an anticipated matchup, there are numerous speculations made behind the reason for the departure. When San Antonio Spurs player, Stephen Jackson, left the team prior to their Feb. 11 game against the Chicago Bulls for “personal reasons,” it was no different and many were left to wonder. The Spurs were not only in the middle of their annual “Rodeo Road Trip,” which is thought to be an important stretch for one of the West’s top teams, but Jackson is also someone who once tired to practice the day after being hit by a car. So for Jackson to leave the team for “personal reasons,” it had to be a pretty big deal. It has now come to light that what happened with Stephen Jackson is so much more than a “pretty big deal”. Mike Monroe, of ExpressNews, reported that Stephen Jackson returned to the Spurs for their
Feb. 21 matchup against the Los Angeles Clippers after missing the three prior games to be with his wife Renata, who suffered a miscarriage the week before and lost the child she had be carrying for six and a half months. It’s hard to imagine that Jackson suffered such a debilitating
“Tim Duncan called him everyday he was away and emphasized the supportive familial atmosphere created by the Spurs.” lose. This would have been Jackson’s first child. Jackson learned of the loss when the Spurs were on the first leg of the rodeo road trip and left the team after they arrived in Chicago for their Feb. 11 match. “I’m as good as I can be,” Jackson said before Thursday’s SpursClippers game at Staples Center.
“I’m happy to be back with the team. I need to be back with the team, just for my own sanity. Basketball and being around these guys helps me a lot, so it’s definitely something I needed”. Stephen Jackson without a doubt played Thursday’s game with a heavy heart. However, even though he faced such a tragedy, Jackson was able to find solace within his team and teammates. Jackson said that
“I’m as good as I can be. I’m happy to be back with the team. I need to be back with the team.” — Stephen Jackson Hall of Fame center and longtime teammate Tim Duncan called him everyday he was away and emphasized the supportive familial atmosphere created by the Spurs.
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Red & Black
Coyne Commands W&J Women’s Lax
Season 16 “Dancing with the Stars” cast, courtesy abc.com
NFL Player Dances to a New Beat
Pictures courtesy washjeff.edu
Left, Head Coach Tracy Coyne. Above from left, team captains, Julia McLellan ’13, Kelsey Kraus ‘13, and Brittany Fradkin ’13.
Bailey Mudrick Red&Black Staff The Washington & Jefferson College women’s lacrosse team achieved success almost instantly after becoming a NCAA Division III varsity program in 2008. The Presidents won 50 matches during the first five seasons and have made three consecutive appearances in the ECAC Division III Mid-Atlantic Tournament. In Aug. W&J hired the program’s second-ever head coach, former University of Notre Dame Fighting Irish Head Coach Tracy Coyne, who roamed the sidelines at the University of Notre Dame for 15 seasons. Coyne is a recipient of the 2011 The Intercollegiate Women’s Lacrosse Coaches Association Diane Geppi-Aikens Memorial Award. As well as a Pittsburgh native, Coyne led the Fighting Irish to the 2006 NCAA Final Four. Coyne also owns experience at the Division III level with seven years in Virginia at Roanoke and two in neighboring Ohio at Denison. She spent the 2012 season as an assistant with the Duquesne University women’s lacrosse team.
“We are pleased to add Coach Coyne to our coaching staff,” said Bill Dukett, W&J’s athletic director. “With her proven record and experience, we believe she will be a great addition, not only to just our women’s lacrosse program, but our entire athletic staff.” In 24 seasons as a head coach, her lacrosse teams have a combined 261-124 record, including 18 seasons of 10-plus wins. Coyne also owns international coaching experience, as she headed the Canadian National Team from 1999-2005, which included appearances in the 2001 and 2005
“With Coach Coyne’s proven record and experience, we believe she will be a great addition.” —Bill Dukett World Cups, and also served as an assistant for the United States women’s lacrosse team in 1992. The credibility and expertise Coyne brings to the program could vault the Presidents ahead
to their next goal, earning a spot in the NCAA Division III Tournament field. Coyne will face some challenges to obtain that NCAA goal; however, as she inherits a limited roster of 14 players; seven seniors, two sophomores and five freshmen. Headlining the senior group are two of the team’s three captains, midfielder Brittany Fradkin and goalkeeper Julia McLellan. Defensively, Coyne will have to rebuild a unit that loses 2011 ECAC Division III Metro Region Defensive Player of the Year and 2010 Womenslacrosse.com AllAmerican Cayla Grodotzke to graduation. Senior Kelsey Closen returns with the most experience, having played in 42 career matches. Coyne’s first season with the Presidents begins with a threegame home stand at Alexandre Stadium, starting with the firstever meeting with Buffalo State on March 1. Hopefully with Coyne’s experience and the player’s willingness to play with passion no matter how many are on the team, the Presidents will be able to prove their greatness this season.
Jacoby Jones, courtesy usatodaysports.com
Abrianne Rhoad Red&Black Editor A certain 29-year-old wide receiver and kick return specialist for the recent Super Bowl champs, the Baltimore Ravens, is tossing his football footwork into the fray with the other contestants on ABC’s “Dancing with the Stars.” We saw him dancing around San Francisco’s 49ers early in Feb., now we see him on commercials-”Jacoby Jones just won a Super Bowl ring. What’s he going to do next?”--advertising his TV dancing debut of season 16 of “Dancing with the Stars” March 18. If you aren’t familiar with Jones, now is the time to get acquainted. While Jones won’t be the first NFL player to feature in “Dancing with the Stars,” he will certainly either join the pack of forgotten, dancing stars or the growing list of past winners, including former Dallas Cowboys running back Emmitt Smith and former wide receivers Hines Ward of the Pittsburgh Steelers and Donald Driver of the Green Bay Packers. Athletes from other sports have competed, most recently in the fall when the All-Star season
brought back former contestants, including speedskater Apolo Anton Ohno, gymnast Shawn Johnson and driver Helio Castroneves. As SBNation was quick to point out, Jones is coming off of “one of the greatest Super Bowls ever,” where he set a Super Bowl record with a 108-yard kickoff return for a touchdown. His 290 all-purpose yards were also a record. Whether Jones will walk away with another win under his belt is a story for a later date. “Dancing with Stars” fans and Jones hopefuls will have to wait until the football star joins Tom Bergeron and Brooke Burke Charvet as they make a return to their hosting duties and Carrie Ann Inaba, Len Goodman and Bruno Tonioli all as returning judges. The star-studded cast for season 16 is expected to include the country music powerhouse Wynonna Judd and her partner (who won last season’s “All-Star” competition) Tony Dovolani, stand-up comedian D.L. Hughley and his partner Cheryl Burke, “Real Housewife of Beverly Hills” star Lisa Vanderpump and her partner Gleb Slavchenko and last but not least, comedian Andy Dick and his partner Sharna Bur-