THE INDEPENDENT NEWSPAPER OF WASHINGTON UNIVERSIT Y IN ST. LOUIS SINCE 1878 The intersection at Wallace and Forsyth presents a real danger, posits Forum editor Jeff Stepp. Find out why inside. Page 4.
The Bears rocked two recent tournaments Noisy library getting you down? Never with their stellar gameplay. Read all about fear—we’ve got eight ways to avoid Olin and that and more in Sports. Page 5. stay sane during reading week. Page 5.
VOLUME 127, NO. 38
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STUDENT LIFE
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Snow and the holidays are on their way to WU. Find out what that means in Scene. Page 8.
MONDAY, DECEMBER 5, 2005
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Two student groups share Olin Cup By Troy Rumans Contributing Reporter Somark Innovations, a biotechnology company started by Washington University alumni Mark Pydynowski and Ramos Mays, took fi rst place in the Olin Cup Competition’s all-around category, winning a prize of $50,000. IMobile Access Technologies, led by Stephen Foster, placed second for a prize of $20,000. In the student category, introduced in this year’s competition, Suzanne Shenkman Designs, led by MBA graduate Suzanne Shenkman, and homeWUrk, headed up by junior Teddy Purnomo, split the $5,000 prize. The Olin
Cup Competition also saw the marking of Dec. 1 as Robert J. Skandalaris Day in St. Louis. Skandalaris delivered the keynote address at the Olin Cup ceremony on Thursday. Pydynowski and Mays met at the University during their undergraduate careers. After graduating in 2004 they went their separate ways, but shortly thereafter re-convened to form Somark Innovations, an enterprise that seeks to revolutionize the method by which livestock are tracked in the United States. The two agree that the greatest benefit from winning the Olin Cup comes not from the prize money, but from the visibility their venture has received.
“[The Olin Cup] is the connection to the resources. The visibility that was created for Somark by the Olin Cup…the prestige, the press, the contacts…was incredible,” said Pydynowski. Somark Innovations is currently seeking approval in its fi rst round of fi nancing, a total sum of approximately $3.5 million, as well as fi nalizing international patent protection and the formation of a partnership with a Missouri university to help with FDA/USDA approval studies. A key difference this year compared to previous years was the student category, a new addition to the Olin Cup Competition. “Just the fact they created
that category is amazing,” said Pydnowski. “It’s very hard for them to compete at this level— they still have full time jobs as students.” Pydynowski and Mays had experience starting companies during their University careers. Pydynoswki competed in the Olin Cup in 2004, but did not proceed past the fi rst round. “I started four companies while in college,” said Mays. “The amount of time spent was ridiculous. I don’t see how I could compete at the Olin Cup [as a student],” said Mays. Purnomo’s team at homeWUrk understands. His group consists of himself, junior Steve Xu, sophomore Alan Perlman, junior Ellen Lo and sophomore Aaron Budilov.
“We were the only undergrads. It felt strange,” said Purnomo. Despite that fact, Purnomo’s team felt very strongly about how they performed in the Olin Cup, as well as the overall process. “If you look at where our business was when we fi rst started—our operations are so much different now. We grew a lot,” said Perlman. “The Olin cup was like a support system.” HomeWUrk revolves around the idea of supporting students in moving into a new room. The company offers online decoration of a dorm room, assistance in purchasing furniture and setting up the purchased items in the dorm room all for the
student. It plans to begin offering its services this spring semester. “If you think back to your freshman year—you have no idea what your room or your roommate will be like,” said Pydynoswki, speaking about the company’s services. “There’s a significant convenience value that they’re providing.” The Olin Cup has expanded significantly over the last few years, coinciding with the University’s overarching push towards promoting entrepreneurship across all disciplines. “The overall caliber of participation has increased a lot. The level is a lot more intense,” said Xu. “They really want to get
See OLIN CUP, page 3
Students WU scientist finds lizards’ beat out unique evolutionary trend 129 teams
in region for ACM title By Helen Rhee Staff Reporter Three students sit in an isolated room, disconnected from the outside world, left only with nine puzzles to solve, five hours and one computer. Their brain and the computer are the key to winning the competition. The time is ticking. Every wrong answer will add penalty time to their score. Three Washington University students overcame these challenges to become this year’s Association of Computer Machinery (ACM) Midwest Regional Champions, beating out their 129 competitors. Since winning the Midwest title in November, medical student Albert Mao and juniors James Aguilar and Adam Norberg are training to head off to San Antonio to compete for the international title in April. At this year’s regional championship, held at Webster University, two teams from Washington University, WUSTL-1 and WUSTL-0, competed for the regional title. They were given several puzzles that required them to write a computer program that would answer the given problem. Scores were based on the number of problems each team solved correctly. For computer science majors Norberg and Aguilar, this year was the second time they had taken part in the contest. “I didn’t even start programming until freshman year of college. Last year, we were placed 45th out of 130 teams. We defi nitely improved a lot,” said Aguilar “It was a great experience to become the champion.” Mao, an M.D./Ph.D. student at the medical school, played an important role in the team, according to Aguilar. Mao, who already had the experience of competing from his undergraduate years at Duke, shared his experience and knowledge. To prepare for the regional competition, team members met once a week at the computer science lab. Mao mentored his younger team members for regionals, citing the importance of problem-solving as a basis for preparing for their fi nal competition.
See COMPUTATION, page 2
COURTESY OF JONATHAN LOSOS
Allisoni lizards are natives of Cuba. A Wash. U. researcher has found evolutionary patterns among different Anolis lizards that live in the Caribbean. By Laura Geggel News Editor If nuclear war were to destroy every living thing, would life evolve back exactly as it is now? “Many people think probably not,” said Jonathan Losos, a professor of biology at Washington University who studies the evolutionary background of Anolis lizards. “But at least in this particular case in the Caribbean, the same evolutionary outcome has occurred four times.” In effect, even though Anolis lizards have lived on completely different islands for millions of years, they share similar appearances and hab-
its, despite their differences in DNA. Researchers know of over 400 species of Anolis lizards, and nearly 150 of them live in the greater Caribbean area. Losos and his lab staff, including senior research assistant Kirsten Nicholson and biology lab professor Allan Larson, routinely travel to the islands of Cuba, Jamaica, Puerto Rico and Hispaniola—the island containing both the Dominican Republic and Haiti—to study the lineage of these colorful reptiles. Somewhere between 25-30 million years ago, two species of Anolis lizards colonized the Caribbean islands, said Losos, citing fossilized evidence
found from that time period. Although researchers will never be certain how the lizards accomplished the watery journey across the Caribbean Sea, they have several theories. “How did the lizards get on the island? Did they swim there, did they arrive on logs, is it due to plate tectonics?” asked Nicholson. Despite this uncertainty, Nicholson recently published an article in the Journal of Biogeography in 2004 with Losos and several other members of his lab. By comparing sequenced DNA from different lizard populations, Nicholson found that the Anolis species evolved on the mainland of Central and South America and invaded the Caribbean twice, where they diversified into many species. “Then one of those species, in turn, back colonized to the mainland where it proliferated greatly in Central America,” said Losos. “Mostly what you hear is islands being populated by the mainland. Rarely do you hear about movement from an island to a mainland,” explained Nicholson. “Usually the islands are [more] empty. The mainland does not have as many niches without something eating it or diseasing it; chances on the mainland are nil.” The Anolis lizards, however, have proven themselves
See LIZARD EVOLUTION, page 3
CURTIS MOHAMMED SPEAKS ON HURRICANE RELIEF
ALWYN LOH | STUDENT LIFE
Civil Rights Movement veteran Curtis Muhammed, a founding member of the Student Non Violent Coordinating Committee, speaks in Brown Lounge on Friday, Dec. 2, 2005. Muhammed is a founder of the People’s Hurricane Relief Fund and spoke about the reconstruction effort underway in New Orleans. He said that the rebuilding efforts are focused on business and tourism when they should be helping the poor who lost their homes.
PHOTOILLUSTRATION BY DAVID BRODY | STUDENT LIFE
A recent survey of Washington University students found that almost 40 percent have engaged in cut-and-paste plagarism and over 50 percent have collaborated on assignments.
Cheaters ‘fess up
By Marla Friedman Contributing Reporter With the help of 1,000 students at Washington University, Donald McCabe, a professor of management and global business at Rutgers Business School in New Jersey, is compiling results from a survey on cheating at college campuses. The survey, which has continued over the past three years, has thus far picked out two cheating behaviors as most common. “The less egregious behavior, the more often students will cheat,” said McCabe. “A big one is things like collaborating assignments. The other big one is cut-and-paste plagiarism. I found that 37-38 percent of students have used ‘cut-and-paste plagiarism’ from Web sources and 38-39 percent from print sources over the last three years. Over half of students who responded to the survey say they have engaged in collaboration over the past year,” he said. Survey recipients, randomly selected, answered questions on different aspects of cheating. The survey asked students about their knowledge of the University’s policies on cheating, how often they have engaged in specific behaviors, such as “fabricating a bibliography, working on an assignment with others when the instructor asked for individual work and turning in work done by someone else,” their opinions on the seriousness of cheating and the social influence over cheating. The results collected on campus are part of 45,000 surveys at 28 universities.
“Just juniors and seniors were included in the survey because they have more experience. There is also evidence that either the juniors or seniors are more willing to admit what they’ve done or are just engaging in [cheating] more.” Among the universities surveyed, McCabe expects to see lower rates of cheating on this campus. “It is expected at schools like Wash. U. that hopefully a lot more students are more serious about their work,” said McCabe. “A reasonable number of students talk about taking pride in their work. At Wash. U. people look down on you [if you cheat] because you were not willing to do your own work and are representing someone else’s work as your own.” Even with McCabe’s optimistic outlook for the University, Dirk Killen, assistant dean in Arts & Sciences and academic integrity officer, still wants to decrease the University’s cheating rates. “The numbers that we’ve seen would indicate that our numbers are lower than the average, but not as low as I’d like to see them,” said Killen. “It is primarily good students making poor choices. Much of it is avoidable.” “In the academic integrity hearings we routinely ask students if they asked for an extension of time. Usually students did not ask for an extension and didn’t even think about asking, and professors say they would have granted an extension. If students would stop and think and say ‘wait a minute, I need some help,’ and contact the faculty member,
See CHEATERS, page 3
2 STUDENT LIFE | NEWS
Senior News Editor / Sarah Kliff / news@studlife.com
STUDENT LIFE
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Charges against U. Penn student for naked photography dropped
American folk song concert and Handel sing-along this Friday at Graham Chapel The Concert Choir of Washington University will sing “Works from the Renaissance to American Folksongs” at 8 p.m. this Friday, Dec. 9, in Graham Chapel. John Stewart, director of vocal activities, will direct the program, which is free and open to the public. On Sunday, Stewart will present the annual sing-along
of George Frideric Handel’s Messiah at 3 p.m. in the same location. Copies of the score will be provided for concertgoers who will to join in with the vocal festivities. These concerts are sponsored by the Department of Music in Arts & Sciences.
New grant and head for biochemistry and molecular biophysics at University medical school PHOTO COURTESY OF THE DAILY PENNSYLVANIAN
General Manager: Andrew O’Dell
Above is one of several photos taken by the U. Penn student.
Copyright 2005 Washington University Student Media, Inc. (WUSMI). Student Life is the financially and editorially independent, student-run newspaper serving the Washington University community. First copy of each publication is free; all additional copies are 50 cents. Subscriptions may be purchased for $80.00 by calling (314) 935-6713.
At least one student at the University of Pennsylvania faced sexual harassment charges after posting on the Internet photographs of students having sex seen through a large window in one of the dormitories. The photographs, taken by multiple photographers, made their way through various Web sites, including collegehumor.com. Although the pictures do not clearly show the subjects’ faces, students at University of Pennsylvania discovered
Student Life is a publication of WUSMI and does not necessarily represent, in whole or in part, the views of the Washington University administration, faculty or students. All Student Life articles, photos and graphics are the property of WUSMI and may not be reproduced or published without the express written consent of the General Manager. Pictures and graphics printed in Student Life are available for purchase; e-mail editor@ studlife.com for more information. Student Life reserves the right to edit all submissions for style, grammar, length and accuracy. The intent of submissions will not be altered. Student Life reserves the right not to publish all submissions.
the identity of the subjects, leading one subject to file a sexual harassment claim with the university. Student conduct officials at the university originally recommended that the photographer, a junior in engineering, write a letter of apology, an essay on why his action was wrong and be placed on disciplinary probation until graduation. U. Penn’s student newspaper, The Daily Pennsylvanian, reports that charges have since been dropped, however.
Beginning Jan. 1, 2006, Thomas Ellenberger, D.V.M, Ph.D, will be the new Raymond H. Wittcoff Professor and head of the department of biochemistry and molecular biophysics at the Washington University School of Medicine. The department has already pioneered research by eight Nobel Prize winners. Ellenberger is currently the Hsein Wu and Daisy Yen Wu Professor of Biological Chemistry and Molecular Pharmacology at Harvard Medical School, where he taught for the past 12 years. At the University he will succeed Carl Frieden, Ph.D, who has held the position
since 1996. The School of Medicine’s new $6 million grant to help fund research projects, purchase equipment and train new scientists from the Danforth Foundation helped to bring Ellenberger to the University. Ellenberger, who studies the structures of proteins that replicate DNA or repair damaged DNA, has already researched the body’s defense system against disease-causing mutations that lead to chromosomal instability or cancer and plans to develop antibodies and other treatments to battle these diseases.
NYU sets TA strike deadline
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With a new semester coming up, new opportunities arise.
The striking teaching and research assistants at New York University must return to classes this week or they will lose their financial stipends and eligibility to teach next semester. The announcement came from the university last week, after almost a month of striking for the right
to unionize that began on Nov. 9. Those who return to their classes this week face no repercussions from the university but, as The New York Times reported, leaders in the strike movement plan to continue until they had a contract from the university allowing for their unionization.
In particular, Student Life is looking for new writers for all sections to start working for us in mid-January. If you think you have what it takes, e-mail editor@studlife.com.
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“My philosophy was that it is possible to train very hard, but I also want to help them be a good programmer and a good problem-solver in general,” said Mao. “The thing that has a real applicability and what is actually interesting is the problem-solving.” The ACM International Collegiate Program was fi rst held at Texas A&M in 1970, hosted by the Alpha Chapter of the UPE Computer Science Honor Society. The contest quickly spread around the United States and Canada as a means to test the ingenuity of students in the field of computer science. Since 1989, the competition has evolved to include university students from 71 different countries on six continents. The contest is broken down into several stages: local, preliminary contest, regional and ultimately the world fi nals, which will be held at Baylor University in San Antonio in April 2006. Eighty teams from around the world will compete for the single international title. Since 1997, IBM has been the competition’s official sponsor. Doug Hentizman, director of technical strategy and IBM software and sponsorship executive of the ICPC, commented on the importance of supporting events like the ACM competition. “The competition’s most important object is to promote and to proactively support engineering and science, because their creativity, ingenuity and energy foster the innovation that will fuel our industry,” said Hentizman. “We believe that we have an important responsibility in encouraging the development of our next generation.” According to Hentizman, the competition provides an important venue to promote and introduce new IBM products and hire potential IBM workers. Since the competition, a few of the students involved have been hired by IBM. Washington University already has one world championship under its belt from the 1980s, and the team’s members are looking forward to making their mark in this April’s competition.
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MONDAY | DECEMBER 5, 2005
University steps up international student recruiting By Andrea Strand Contributing Reporter While the nation is seeing an increase in foreign graduate student enrollment, Washington University has watched its rate slightly decline over the past two years. As noted in the minutes of an Arts & Sciences faculty meeting, “2012 students applied for graduate school in Hilltop Arts and Sciences departments this year, 402 offers were made, and 190 students enrolled...somewhat down from a high achieved two years ago.” Across the nation, the number of enrolled foreign graduate students has increased even with declines in the number of applications, according to an annual report by the Council of Graduate Schools. American graduate schools saw a five percent decrease in applications from international students for the 2005-’06 school year but still experienced a one percent increase in enrollment. Even more intriguing is the upsurge of Chinese applicants, which in 2004 had declined by 45 percent from the previous year, more than any other country included in the report. In trying to explain this decline in foreign applicants to the University, Director of the Office for International Students and Scholars Kathy Steiner-Lang said that departments are reporting a lot more competition from other countries, like the United Kingdom, Canada and Japan. “[The universities from these countries] have recruited aggressively, and so international graduate students that would have come to the U.S. are now going to those countries instead,” SteinerLang said. “Visa processing [in the U.S.] has become more difficult in the last few years, and it’s more time consuming,
so that is definitely a factor, too,” she added. To attract more international graduate students, the University has organized a conference in Beijing, China, the University’s greatest source of international applicants, to be held next spring. Among the invitees: eleven other American universities and many more Chinese universities. According to the Arts & Sciences faculty meeting minutes, the goals of the conference are to “emphasize our interest both to the Chinese government and to Chinese students, and to raise the profile of Washington University among Chinese students.” Steiner-Lang emphasized the importance of bringing an international perspective to the scholarly community at the University. “Students from other countries really bring a lot of different kinds of ideas,” she said. “America has prided [itself] on having an excellent education system and has been a leader in the world in terms of education. We have to be able to draw the best students to stay the leader.” In addition, Steiner-Lang said the existence of foreign students in American schools has been a positive point for the United States in an economic perspective as well. “[Enrolling international students] is good for the country because students who come here for graduate school purchase American products and may continue to purchase U.S. brands or services when they go home,” she said. Steiner-Lang hopes to see a rise in the international applicants in following years to maintain the University’s reputation of a quality graduate application pool. “We want to maintain the highest standard of education,” she said. “We want to be the best in the world.”
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OLIN CUP v FROM PAGE 1 other schools’ involvement.” Purnomo noted that the tenants of entrepreneurship apply across all schools, rather than just a thing in which the business students dabble. “The motto of the Olin Cup is innovate, collaborate, compete. Those three concepts are fully applicable to other schools. As long as you get people together, form a team with an idea, the school doesn’t matter.” The Cup has been seeking to address the notion that the competition is for the business school and business people, rather than the entire campus. Though progress has been made, many students still feel ostracized or simply do not know it exists. “Somebody pointed out to me once that [the Olin Cup] is supposed to be cross-campus, but where do these events take place? In the business school,” said Pydynowski. “We need to get these kinds of events all over campus—in Crow, in January, everywhere.” HomeWUrk, in particular, seeks to bring students across disciplines together. It is actually part of a larger student
business, iWUrk, which houses enterprises across other disciplines. All of the advertising for homeWUrk was done by artWUrk, a subsidiary of of iWUrk, many of which are students from the Art school, or have backgrounds in art. The Olin Cup implemented the student award in order to entice undergraduates and graduates to compete alongside business professionals. Even so, some say prejudices still exist towards certain student groups. “I feel we’re not taken as seriously just due to our ages,” said Budilov. Pydynowski saw it as well. “[Some professionals] think [students] are competing not for their company, but for the money. Somebody actually asked me if I was just going to go spend to prize on having a good time instead of using it towards my business.” The two student groups, Suzanne Shenkman Designs and homeWUrk, will be implementing their business plans. Most importantly, noted Pydynowski and Mays, is the im-
COURTESY OF MARK PYDYNOWSKI
Ramos Mays (left) and Mark Pydynowski won the Olin Cup and $50,000 for their bio-tech company, Somark Innovations, on Thursday. portance of entrepreneurship in the world today, whether it be among students or business professionals. “Entrepreneurship is oxy-
gen for capitalism,” said Pydynowski. “The world has become flat for competition. If you fail to innovate, you’ll cease to exist.”
LIZARD EVOLUTION v FROM PAGE 1 very adaptable to all types of environments. In fact, they are the only known creatures to experience repeated evolution, in which species evolve independently of one another yet display the same characteristics. If evolution showed the same patterns in all animals after a nuclear war obliterated all life on earth, then, potentially, if the environment was similar, life would look very much as it does now after the passing of millions of years. Each of the four Caribbean islands has six ecomorphs, understood in this context as a population of lizards whose
appearances are determined by the environment in which they live. “If you go to Puerto Rico and you go into the rainforest there and look around, you’ll see different species using different parts of a habitat. You’ll have one species in the grass that’s very slender and another species on the ground in tree trunks that’s very muscular and stocky with long legs. And so you have a species that’s very adapted to using different parts of the environment,” said Losos. “The interesting thing is then, if you go to any of the
other big islands in the Caribbean, they look very similar to the ones in the same habitat on different islands, and you might say, ‘Oh, they’re the same thing,’ but in fact they’re not. The DNA studies we’ve done show they’ve independently evolved these adaptations on each island. Each island has had its own evolutionary diversification of species, producing the same set of habitat specialists independently on each island.” Repeated evolution is similar to convergent evolution, a term that describes how two species have evolved to be
similar even though they’re not closely related. “A good example of that might be birds and bats, which independently have evolved to fly, or sharks and dolphins because they swim in the same environment,” said Losos. According to Losos, these commonplace creatures tell an exciting tale of evolution. “Anyone who has been to Florida has seen these lizards. They’re great evolutionary success stories,” said Losos. “If you want to understand how biological diversity is generated, this is a very good group to use as a case study.”
get responses from students in which they challenge me and say, ‘Why are you wasting our time with surveys like this? Spend your time on something that matters.’” To Killen, such behavior does matter. He explained that the consequences for cheating can have students packing their bags. “It depends on the severity of the offense and it depends if they’ve had a previous offense. A fi rst time offense results in a failure of an assignment or failure of a class, but the most common is failure of class. A second time offense results in suspension, ordinarily for a year. A third time offense results in expulsion.” The punishments here are more forgiving than those at other universities.
“Some universities expel students after a fi rst time offense. Our mandate for the fi rst time is to perform an educative role to help students understand what they’ve done and how it can be avoided,” said Killen. The University is constantly working to create an honest environment. “All four-year advisors devote at least one of their fall meetings to the question of academic integrity. Instructors put a lot of info on their syllabi too about this. A lot of time it’s reaching out and trying to get the message out as early as possible and in different ways. We follow the policy of reaching out, educating at fi rst, and trying to make sure everyone hears the message,” said Killen.
CHEATING v FROM PAGE 1 the cheating is avoidable,” said Killen. Professors do not solely rely on services like turnitin. com, which matches student’s work to text found on the Internet, to root out cheating. “A lot of what’s suspicious is uncovered by Google and doesn’t require these other services. As a general rule, faculty take what’s suspicious and look at it more carefully. Most don’t pass it through one of these programs; they want to have a very good relationship with their students and not set up a barrier that comes from mistrust,” said Killen. McCabe offered his opinions on why students engage
in cheating. “For a lot of other students it’s a question of fairness— they see others cheating and getting away with it, and they’re in this great GPA race. So if they see cheating going on, they say, ‘I have no choice.’ Others feel that faculty members are unfair sometimes in either the amount of work they give or unfair in what they test you on. There is a big question of fairness and not wanting to be left behind,” said McCabe. McCabe also found a general sense of apathy towards cheating behavior, adding, “I think in general, part of the problem is students just don’t consider it to be a big deal. I
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4 STUDENT LIFE | FORUM
Senior Forum Editor / Molly Antos / forum@studlife.com
FORUM Give us a safer intersection
S
cenario One: It’s Monday, around four in the afternoon. I’m in my car, waiting to turn left at the light at the intersection of Wallace and Forsyth (the Mallinckrodt intersection). The light changes, and I’m fourth in line. One second goes by… three seconds …10 seconds. Finally I’m able to inch up a car length Jeff when the light Stepp turns red again. Now I’m merely third in line after one cycle, having been unable to move due to the constant stream of pedestrians and cars turning right at the other side of the intersection. Scenario Two: Same time, same place. Only now I’m trying to cross Forsyth on foot to go back to the Forty. The walk light comes on and the group in front of me starts crossing. I begin to cross, only to be cut off by a car trying to knife through us and turn left. My friend behind me is crossing as the light turns yellow and has to dodge another car trying to escape the intersection. While these certainly aren’t the only scenarios that can happen at that intersection, they are scenarios that have probably happened to all of us at some point this year, probably more than once. The fact remains that this intersection is a chaotic, uncontrolled, unsafe black eye on our campus. It frustrates drivers and pedestrians alike. Starting every weekday morning, and recurring every half hour, there is an exodus of cars and people coming from and going to class. Our school’s thousands of commuters meet its thousands of walkers at this intersection every day, and I’m surprised there haven’t been more tragic results. The Wallace/Forsyth intersection is a mess. Want to turn left from Wallace onto Forsyth? Don’t even think about making it on the first cycle, unless you’re first in line. Want to cross the street without being tailed by a car eagerly waiting to dart by? Forget it. The frustrating, disorganized mix of pedestrians and cars isn’t the only problem with this intersection. Although many people may not notice, you
cannot turn right on red. This is a good policy when there are lots of kids crossing the street, but is it really necessary at nine at night? There are also no leftturn arrows for cars, so rather than a smooth flow of turning and thru-traffic, you get a mass of cars trying to go different directions at the same time. The University owes us a better intersection. They created the hazard in the first place by building Wallace Drive, therefore it should be their responsibility to fix it. How best should that be done? I can’t say for sure. I would trust we have building and traffic planning experts to solve that, though I’m not hopeful, considering the intersection’s current state. Here are some ideas: Option One: Build an overpass, like the one over Forest Park Parkway. This is probably the least aesthetic solution, and maybe not the most efficient, but it would solve the problem. Pedestrians and cars would be totally separated. Would students be willing to walk up and over such short overpass? Would the University like building a structure like that? The answer to both those is probably no, but it is an option. Option Two: Build an underpass, like the one going to the Forty. This solves the safety problem and escapes the aesthetic issue, but it raises construction feasibility issues. It would have advantages, like increased painting space for student groups, and fewer stairs than an overpass. Option Three: Re-time the lights and have designated “Pedestrian Walk” sequences. I’d rather wait a little longer at a light and be able to go through the intersection freely once it does turn green, rather than a) battle/avoid mobs running across the street and b) not even make the light to begin with. Option Three is probably the most feasible and easily completed fix, for the short term, and maybe even the long term. I’ll leave that to our impaneled experts. Something must be done, however, and soon. Last month a bicyclist was hit by a shuttle; I imagine that to be only the beginning of the tragedies that could take place should the intersection’s problems be ignored. Jeff is a senior in Arts & Sciences and a Forum editor. He can be reached via e-mail at forum@ studlife.com.
MONDAY | DECEMBER 5, 2005
Our daily Forum editors: Monday: Jeff Stepp Wednesday: Daniel Milstein Friday: Zach Goodwin jsstepp@wustl.edu daniel.milstein@wustl.edu goodwin@wustl.edu To ensure that we have time to fully evaluate your submissions, guest columns should be e-mailed to the next issue’s editor or forwarded to forum@studlife.com by no later than 5 p.m. two days before publication. Late pieces will be evaluated on a case-by-case basis. We welcome your submissions, and thank you for your consideration.
A flag football education A s a senior, there are certain things I’ve managed to learn at this school, despite all my efforts to the contrary. One of the most important lessons I’ve learned is that there are often experiences Matt you have Shapiro during college that are more important and that you can learn more from than any class you’ll ever take. Fortunately, there have been a lot of great experiences along the way for me so far, not the least of which is the season my flag football team had this year. This may sound absurd, but starting at cornerback for the AEPi flag football team this past fall was one of the most fun and educational experiences I’ve ever had at this school. Our football team was made up of a few guys who are athletes, including a current member of the track team and a former baseball player—and our one player who played both offense and defense was an allstate goalie from California. For most of us, though, the most
actual sports experience we’ve had is playing football in our backyards; we did not, however, let this lack of talent or knowledge stop us from trying our hardest. For the past two years, our house has won the overall point league championship for fraternities, and—driven by the desire to make it three years in a row—we set high goals for this year. These goals seemed attainable, as we managed to go undefeated in the regular season and beat Kappa Sig in our first playoff game. In the semi-final, we faced the Patriots to our Colts, SAE, who had beaten us the past two straight years in the semi-final. We fine-tuned our offense and added a wrinkle to our defense (a constant double-team of their best receiver due to his height) and were determined that we would not lose a third straight year to the same team. The game was a hard-fought battle the entire way, a low-scoring game where each point was important. Ultimately, the game was tied at the end of regulation and went into overtime. With college overtime rules in effect (each team gets a chance to score), the game was only getting started. In the first overtime, both teams scored (SAE on a controversial call that we
heavily disputed and, thanks to one of our pledges, had videotaped proof that they didn’t score); in the second overtime, neither team did (thanks to the refs’ incorrect ruling that our quarterback didn’t cross the goal line on a run). Finally, in the third overtime, our offense managed to punch the ball in and our defense stopped SAE one last time, getting the monkey off our back and sending us in to the championship game the next day. In the championship game, we found ourselves in almost literally a David and Goliath situation: AEPi (the Jews) against Phi Delt (the football players). Since it was the final, this game was on the strangely spongy turf of Francis Field in front of a crowd of about 100, between brothers from both houses and other assorted groupies (not too far off from the average attendance of an actual University football game). This game, sadly, was not as close or competitive as our semi-final; sparked by an interception returned for a touchdown early in the game, Phi Delt went on to win 18-0. Even though we lost in the final, we still managed to make it farther than any flag football team in AEPi history.
With organization, practice and teamwork, our team managed to go as far as it possibly could (I mean, honestly, was there any way we were going to beat a team with players who had actually been on the varsity team here?), and achieving the absolute maximum amount we could was very fulfilling. There is little doubt in my mind that between all the time I spent thinking about, practicing and playing IM football this fall, I worked harder on this sport that I have in some of my classes. Even though this might seem totally ridiculous (and understandably so) to others, the benefits I got out of football team also outweigh those I’ve received from some classes here. Not only did I get some exercise, but I got hands-on practice in working as a team, giving my all and being innovative, all of which are much more interesting and helpful than writing yet another sixpage analytic paper for another lecture class. So, thanks for the memories, AEPi football; maybe next year, we’ll even manage to beat Phi Delt. Matt is a senior in Arts & Sciences and a Forum editor. He can be reached via e-mail at forum@studlife.com.
Pay me and I’ll do what you say By John Hewitt Staff Columnist
A
merica has turned to a new strategy in Iraq: instilling a positive attitude into stubborn Iraqis before we withdraw troops and start our saturation bombing campaign. According to the Los Angeles Times, our military, working with a contractor called the Lincoln Group, has been translating pro-American stories ghostwritten by American “intelligence operations” soldiers and transplanting them into Iraqi newspapers. Some might think that this is hypocritical—that we’re supposed to be teaching Iraqis about “democratic values” and supporting “free speech.” But that’s not the American way, and I would be ashamed of my country if my government was promoting such degeneracy in our colonies.
After all, what do you think USA Today does? Most of the articles in it are designed to sell something. Some of them are just warmed-over press releases. Whenever Apple releases a new iPod, The New York Times splashes mentions of it wherever they can. Judy Miller was essentially an agent of the State Department during the run-up to the war. American journalists typically defer to the official state version of events unless they receive valuable leaks from within the government, with some exceptions. Shilling is standard practice. It’s an American tradition since the Revolution and before. This outrage is faked. The real outrage is the recently released Iraq National Strategy from the National Security Council, downloadable from the White House Web site. The paper consists of nothing but 35 pages of stupid bullet points about the war. The only way our govern-
ment can communicate is in Power Point-ese. The document is designed to persuade the public, at a time when a government project costing hundreds of billions of public dollars and thousands of lives is in danger of going down the tubes because of widespread outcry...and the best way the White House can think of to do this is to barrage people with sentence fragments created by the foremost brains in political science. The document doesn’t say anything that hasn’t been said already. All of the president’s “big speeches” sound the same, all loaded with the same jargon about Freedom, Democracy and keeping Iraq from Becoming a Haven for Terrorists. I don’t get it. If the government doesn’t think Americans are smart enough to understand anything that doesn’t have a bullet, check mark or dash to the left of it and can’t understand ideas that
take more than one sentence to explain, why bother using words at all? Maybe that’s the idea—making the war so boring that nobody cares about what we do there anymore. Face it, America: our war has become as stale as a rerun of “Friends”: the same characters, the same lame jokes, the same plot twists (oh no, we’re torturing innocent people again—never saw that coming). It’s a damn shame. Maybe Bush is unconsciously imitating the cancelled-after-9/11 sitcom about him— ”That’s My Bush.” The best America can hope for at this point is to get a couple cool movies out of it—and knowing Hollywood, they’ll probably screw that up too and we’ll end up with a Gulf War II version of “M*A*S*H” starring Ashton Kutcher and Adam Sandler. John is a sophomore in Arts & Sciences. He can be reached via e-mail at jkhewitt@wustl.edu.
LETTERS TO THE EDITOR
Taco Bell ‘Word on the Street’ unrepresentative Dear Editor: I’m writing this with regard to your “Word on the Street” for Friday, Dec. 2, 2005. In there you have a bunch of students talking about how they don’t care Taco Bell is gone. How can you only ask the opinions of four students who never ate at Taco Bell? Why didn’t you have the opinion of one of the hundreds of people who ate there every day and are pissed off that Taco Bell is leaving? It is that sort of bullshit that got Taco Bell gone in the first place. I never heard about the survey, and when they revealed it to everyone it was so poorly done that any person with a class in high school statistics and the mental prowess of a child could figure out that it wasn’t a valid survey. What I’m generally trying to get at here is that Taco Bell was awesome, there are people pissed off that
it’s leaving and don’t bias your “Word on the Street” thing to four assholes who don’t know what they’re talking about and shouldn’t even be speaking because they never bothered to try Taco Bell.
imagined political preferences upon people based on a fiveminute interaction. You note that this submission is the first time you’ve felt compelled to contribute to Student Life; here’s hoping it will also be the last. -Matthew Limoli Class of 2007
-Jeremy Carroll Class of 2008
Claims unfounded
Column was sexist
Dear Daniel Katz:
Dear Editor:
I’m curious as to the basis of your assertion that the officer described in your account was racist, and by connection, a supporter of George W. Bush. You argue that University City does not need police officers like “S. Young.” I venture that this university does not need prejudiced assholes who feel it is necessary or relevent to project
Re: Brad Nelson’s “Return to the woman, or stay away?” Same thing goes for many hetero ladies and gay men: “That ‘bastard’ is so bad for me, but I can’t stop thinking about him.” Brad, in your article, you talk about men who are brought down by bad women, “bitches.” I think that a more complex and realistic analysis of the matter
would have concluded that both parties are bad for each other. Your article made it seem like the men in these unhealthy relationships don’t contribute to the unhealthiness in any way. Your article also made it seem like the women in these relationships are the only ones being selfish, aggressive, manipulative and confused. It takes two people using poor judgment to have an unhealthy relationship (à la the cliché: two to tango, Brad). Other than the fact that your article paints men as the unequivocal victims of the “brazen female she-devil,” I find your use of the words, “bitch,” “pussy” and “obligatory sex” to be problematic—especially since your word use is so one-sided towards the women—bad direction. By saying, “I know talking about this shit is a pussy thing to do,” you’re equating female anatomy with “weak,” “lame”
and “stupid.” By saying “obligatory sex” you worry me because you undermine the important issue of consent: Is obligatory sex safe, fun, consensual sex? Is your friend only having sex with his ex because he feels the pressure to “be a man,” to never turn down an offer, no matter how bad it is for him, no matter how little he actually wants to do it? You say your friend valued your opinion because he says you’re good at being objective. I say you do a poor job at being objective because your article, “Return to the woman, or stay away?” not only invoked the “women are black widows and to blame for everything” stereotype, but also used a lot of sexist language. While you say “Matzel Tov” to your friend for “banging” lots of nameless, faceless, “holes” over spring break (like any good man should and would, clearly)—I say
“Matzel Tov” to you for trying to sound like a manly man and coming off like a pig. I know what it’s like to write for the newspaper, so I know that writers often come off worse than they actually are. (For instance, I’m aware that my language above, while it sounds more sarcastic and mocking to me, surely sounds, to use your word, really “bitchy,” to you.) I bet, aside from this article, you’re a good, intelligent guy. That’s why I challenge you to this: look at these relationships that you described—look at your own relationship. Observe them and ask yourself how the men—how you—also play a role in their unhealthiness. Then ask yourself if it’s right to paint these women so unfairly and paint yourself so well. -Melissa Miller Class of 2006
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Senior Sports Editor / Justin Davidson / sports@studlife.com
MONDAY | DECEMBER 5, 2005
STUDENT LIFE | SPORTS
5
SPORTS
Ruths leads Bears to Lopata Classic ‘W’ By Justin Davidson Senior Sports Editor The Washington University men’s basketball team found success this weekend as the Bears hosted and won the 22nd annual Lopata Classic in the University’s Field House. The squad knocked off the University of Dallas on Friday night with a 6743 showing. The game was marked by a staunch defense and offensive blasts that left the Crusaders slowed and confused. The Red and Green kicked off the game on an 8-2 run before the defense took over. They forced 18 first-half turnovers and held the Crusaders scoreless for a 9:35 span midway through the first half. Led by sophomore Troy Ruths and freshman standout Tyler
Nading, the Bears headed into the locker room at halftime with a 12-point lead, 29-17. The second half was also owned by the University, with senior Mike Grunst joining the RuthsNading duo to contribute to the Bears effort. The second frame started off with a 9-3 Bears run. During that span, Grunst blocked four shots in the first five minutes and Ruths got his sixth steal of the game, dunking over a Dallas player to cap the run. There was no turning back for the Red and Green, as they continued to play an impressive offense with solid defense to earn the victory. It was a career day for Ruths, whose seven steals tied a Washington University school record, shared by five other Bears. Ruths
also added a team-high 18 points while grabbing five boards in the effort. Nading had one of his best collegiate games yet, as he led the squad with eight rebounds and was close behind Ruths in points with 15, good for a team second best. Senior Scott Stone hit a milestone mark on the day; the 6’2” point guard hit his 143rd career threepointer midway through the first half, which puts him in sixth place on the University’s all-time list. After defeating Dallas, the Bears faced off against Wisconsin Lutheran College in the Lopata Championship game, where the Red and Green stood up to the challenge and posted an 80-65 victory on Saturday. Like Friday, the Bears got on the board early and pressured Wisconsin Lutheran early into making
mistakes while the Bears capitalized and continued to extend the lead. But Wisconsin Lutheran would not give in easily, and despite the University’s 19-0 run in the first frame, the Warriors were able to keep it a close game and pulled ahead of the struggling Bears as the first half wound down. At the sound of the whistle, the teams headed into their locker rooms with a Warrior advantage, 39-32. With the start of the second half, the Bears came out swinging, as the Red and Green kicked off the second half with a 27-6 run. They knotted up the game at 45 apiece as Stone hit two critical three-pointers five minutes in. The Warriors kept the game close, but after the 7:29 mark, where Wisconsin Lutheran’s 61-54
deficit would be the closest they would get to the Bears the rest of the event, the game belonged to the University. Ruths led the Bears to victory on Saturday with a career-high and team-best 25 points, while also leading the team in rebounds with nine and steals with three. Nading, too, was a key player for the 5-2 Bears, as he contributed 14 points and seven rebounds in 35 minutes of play. Stone moved into a tie for sixth place on the University’s all-time assists list, as his four assists gave him 287 for his illustrious career. The University returns to action on Tuesday, Dec. 6, on the road against Blackburn College.
Women slam the competition at Eleanor Moyer Tournament v With tournament win, the Lady Bears extend their win streak to seven By Carrie Jarka Sports Reporter The ninth-ranked women’s basketball team added two
more victories to their rap sheet this weekend, as the team moved to 7-0 overall in Hanover, Ind. En route to the Eleanor Moyer Tournament
PAM BUZZETTA | STUDENT LIFE
Freshman Shanna-Lei Dacanay rockets the ball to a teammate. The women won both their games this weekend to become the Eleanor Moyer Tournament champions.
championship, the Bears easily defeated both Thomas More College and Hanover College. In their first game of the tournament, the Bears faced Thomas More College. Down early behind Thomas More’s blazing three-point shooting, the Bears rallied to take a 41-38 lead at halftime. Behind senior Danielle Beehler’s career-high 24 points, the Bears were able to extend the lead in the second half for an 80-64 victory. Senior Kelly Manning collected 20 points while moving into seventh place on the Bears’ all-time scoring list with 1,113 points scored. Juniors Rebecca Parker and Sarah Schell added 11 and 10 points, respectively. Continuing their solid play, the Bears dished out 20 assists while only turning the ball over eight times. In the tournament championship game on Saturday, the Bears defeated host Hanover College, 82-53. Again, down in the first half, the Bears rallied to take a five-point lead at half before starting off the second frame with an 11-4 run. Tournament MVP Kelly Manning scored a careerhigh 32 points, draining six three-pointers in the effort. Parker added nine points of her own, while Beehler added
eight. Collecting 13 steals, the Bears limited Hanover to 34.5 percent shooting from the floor. Beehler was also selected to the all-tournament team. Head coach Nancy Fahey continually stresses the importance of continuing to collect rebounds and boxing out. If the Bears continue to limit their turnovers, scoring points should not be a problem with the balanced offense in the lineup. Led by Captain Manning, who is on pace to have a career year, the Red and Green have outscored their opponents by a 571-379 margin so far this season, and it looks like they have no plan of slowing. Manning has gone 18-for39 from behind the arch, good for a .462 three-point percentage. She leads the team with 125 points and 10 blocks, averaging 17.9 points per game. Junior guard Sarah Scnell is also set to have a big season; she has already quietly made a statement for the Bears. She leads the team with 35 assists and 12 steals, as well as shooting .615 from the free throw line and contributing a team second-best seven blocks. The Bears will play the Beavers of Blackburn College this Tuesday night in Carlinville, Ill.
WUSTL PHOTO SERVICES
Scott Stone is in his fourth and last year with the Bears. Stone played vital roles in the team’s victories this weekend to win the 22nd Annual Lopata Classic.
FALL SPORTS UPDATE FOOTBALL W STANDINGS 3 U. Chicago 2 Washington U. Carnegie Mellon 1 Case Western Reserve 0
VOLLEYBALL W STANDINGS Emory University 11 Washington U. 11 New York University 8 Rochester 6 Carnegie Mellon 5 Brandeis 2 U. Chicago 3 Case Western Reserve 1
MEN’S SOCCER STANDINGS Rochester Carnegie Mellon U. Chicago Emory University New York University Case Western Reserve Washington U. Brandeis University
WOMEN’S SOCCER STANDINGS Rochester U. Chicago Emory University Carnegie Mellon Washington U. Brandeis University Case Western Reserve New York University
UAA L Pct. 0 1.000 1 .667 2 .333 3 .000
OVERALL W L Pct. 5 4 .556 6 4 .600 5 5 .500 3 7 .300
UAA L 1 1 4 6 7 10 8 10
OVERALL W L Pct. 32 6 .842 35 2 .946 35 8 .814 22 18 .550 26 14 .650 5 31 .139 10 21 .323 16 22 .421
Pct. .917 .917 .667 .500 .417 .167 .250 .083
W 7 5 5 4 3 1 1 0
UAA L T 0 0 2 0 2 0 3 0 4 0 5 1 5 1 5 2
W 6 5 5 3 3 2 2 1
UAA L 0 1 2 4 4 5 5 6
T 1 1 0 0 0 0 0 0
Pts. W 21 16 15 13 15 14 12 15 9 11 4 8 4 8 2 6
OVERALL L T Pct. 1 0 .941 3 1 .794 5 1 .725 4 0 .789 7 1 .605 9 2 .474 7 4 .526 9 2 .412
W 16 18 13 12 11 8 6 7
OVERALL L T Pct. 2 3 .833 3 2 .826 2 .778 3 5 2 .684 7 1 .605 9 2 .474 9 3 .417 9 1 .441
Pts. 19 16 15 9 9 6 6 3
Get out of the library! v Eight ways to remain sane, happy and wildly entertained during reading week By Erin Fults Scene Reporter Reading week is fast approaching. Students withdraw into their books and notes, the library becomes a fortress of studying and test-takers work to pack knowledge into their brains while also packing their suitcases for the upcoming winter break. These are tough times, during which stress levels, multitasking skills and a semester’s worth of information are tested. But amid the flurry of notes and papers, it is important to take some time off in order to maintain a degree of sanity and social interaction. So in between tests, do something fun and try some of these ideas, for starters:
1
Snow permitting, walk to Forest Park and have a snowball fight. Provided no one is golfing, the golf course is a good battleground. What better place to take refuge than in a sand trap?
2
If a ride is available, get into the winter spirit and gather some friends to go ice skating at the Forest Park rink. Dress warmly, though, because it’s outside, and a cold isn’t going to be conducive to test taking.
3
Take a walk on the wild side and catch a squirrel. They’re every where, so how hard can it be? Just make sure to safely return it to the wild,
because pets aren’t allowed and your roommate’s sock drawer is no place to keep a squirrel.
4
After a final, use unnecessary notes and papers from that class to make a papier mâché object d’arte. Who says economics and chemistry can’t inspire creativity?
5
For the discerning palette, try further refining your tastebuds with this activity: Get a bag of M&M’s (or maybe several bags) and eat them until you can accurately guess each color by taste alone. Red 40 is bound to taste a little bit different than yellow 5.
6
Hold a candlelight vigil for a roommate who has been at the library so long that you’ve already placed his or her picture on the milk carton as a missing person.
7
Add a creative culinary twist to dinner and have a potluck with friends, with all food coming from Bear Mart. Try some of the interesting microwaveable meal options.
8
Make some hot chocolate, relax and cut out some paper snowflakes to make a room a winter wonderland. Consider keeping those non-safety scissors away from pre-med friends, though.
OLIVER HULLAND | STUDENT LIFE
Claire Caplan takes a study break as she cuts paper snowflakes out of old homework.
6 STUDENT LIFE | SCENE
Senior Scene Editor / Sarah Baicker / scene@studlife.com
MONDAY | DECEMBER 5, 2005
SAVOR
Savor 4356 Lindell Blvd (314) 531-0220 Price Range: $15-30
STEPPING OUT By Margot Dankner and Alexa Nathanson Scene Reporters Where in St. Louis can you sample cuisines from four different regions of the world in a lavishly decorated 1890s mansion complete with a nouveauGreek exterior decked out with majestic Corinthian columns? This past weekend, we were fortunate enough to dine at just such a place. Savor, one of St. Louis’ most creative recent culinary additions, defies standard restaurant tradition by dividing its menu into four categories: the Near East, the Far East, Europe and the Americas. Each region is represented by several appetizers and entrees, a side dish and a dessert selection, which allows you to mix and match as you please. The wait staff is extremely knowledgeable and ready to assist you in making a selection from the diverse and exotic menu. Luckily, they are also happy to explain some of the more esoteric items, of which there are many. Even
these food-obsessed critics did a double-take at the “banyuls vinaigrette” and the “tomatokalonji chutney.” As impressive as the menu is the ambience. From the striking entrance, we were led through the beautiful rooms of the mansion up an antique staircase to one of several dining rooms. Decorations from all corners of the globe adorn the walls and underscore the international menu. Even the beautifully ornamented bathrooms espouse the grandeur of the restaurant. Once we had settled in, our waiter, John, a recent graduate of the Culinary Institute of America, guided us through the entire menu. On his recommendations, we ordered several of the appetizers, most notably the warm smoked trout served with crisp corn crackers, wilted spinach, red and golden beets and a warm dressing full of thick and juicy chunks of bacon. The very
generous portion of trout was smoked to perfection and was impeccably complemented by the tangy, sweet bacon vinaigrette. A golden heap of perfectly cooked chickpea-flour dusted, flash-fried calamari served with a piquant Bombay dipping sauce was another of the kitchen’s successes, and the inventive Saag-Paneer flatbread, which resembled something like what a pizza might look like in India, was a hit as well. The green papaya salad, however, was a letdown. It was a bit too heavy on the fish sauce and lacking any real zing. While there was one slight disappointment with our appetizers, we were all taken aback by the consistent high quality (and generous sizes) of our entrees. Not to be missed is the melt-in-your-mouth mediumrare grilled venison, which arrived on a bed of roasted winter vegetables, pistachios, water chestnuts and Swiss
chard—a wonderfully earthy, leafy green vegetable. Although one member of our party had never tried venison and was apprehensive about tasting it, she was quickly rewarded for her adventurousness and surprised at how much she enjoyed it. The quality of the meat was excellent, and the taste was something akin to a lean and tender steak. The alder-planked grilled wild salmon, a twist on the ubiquitous grilled fish dish made by imparting the flavor of the alder wood into the salmon while cooking, and the mushroom farroto, a perfectly cheesy, full-flavored risottolike dish made from a barleylike grain, were also top-notch. To fi nish, we ordered the delightfully decadent “beggar’s purse,” a phyllo-doughwrapped flourless chocolate cake infused with chilé and served with a dollop of buttermilk ice cream. The dish
MARGOT DANKNER & ALEXA NATHANSON I STUDENT LIFE
The exotic food at Savor, while a little on the pricey side, is not to be missed. wowed our senses with its unique, complementary flavors and left us teetering just over the edge of contented fullness. Bottom line: Savor is a very classy and sophisticated restaurant that manages to produce extremely varied but consistently excellent dishes.
The menu may seem intimidating and a bit on the pricey side for the average college student, but don’t let that that stop you from eating at Savor. This is a fantastic place to be adventurous and try a variety of foods that you’ve never had before.
Surprise.com: special gifts for special people By Jessica Sommer Scene Reporter Holiday gift-buying is one of the most stressful tasks of the year. Whether that hard-to-shop-for person is getting you down or crowded malls are inducing claustrophobia, avoid the stores this year and let w w w. surprise.com take care of your gifting needs. The site permits the user to shop by different broad categories: recipient, occasion, gift type or hobbies and interests. While typical gift baskets, flowers and electronics are readily available, the site’s main attractions are the quirky gifts perfectly tailored to the recipient’s interests, ensuring a pleasant surprise. Although shopping online may prevent a trip to Santa’s lap, the originality of the available presents certainly makes up for a Polaroid of you next to a man with a fake beard.
For that special teen girl in your life, surprise.com offers a chandelier locker light or scented pencils, ensuring your little sister or cousin will be the talk of the seventh grade. Or, for the teen boys amongst us, The Fart Game is sure to be a hit, unless the recipient has recently became eligible to drive, in which case a A A A membership would be a practical stocking stuffer. Between Thanksgiving and New Year’s is the biggest eating season of the year, but for those who adore eating all year ‘round, a custom-flavored ice cream could be the perfect way to show you care. If chocolate coins for Hanukkah won’t satisfy the cravings of your favorite chocoholic, try a chocolate fondue fountain or a chocolate garden growing kit to keep this person happy well into 2006. Everyone has a friend who just can’t sit still in class, so indulge this
fidgeter with a lick-o-meter key chain so she can end the eternal mystery of how many licks it takes to get to the center of a Tootsie Roll Pop. For empty-nested parents, try a hot air balloon ride to keep their mind off you, or perhaps a book on letting go would better fit the occasion. If there is another lonely party in your life, perhaps a membership to a singles social group would be the best for this holiday season. Got a friend who won’t be home for the holidays? Try a blizzard in a box to ensure a white Christmas no matter how far away home—or, to keep Christmas in the air, an authentic letter from Santa should be enough to lift your recipient’s spirits. Often the hardest people to shop for are the most important, so if you find yourself stuck when looking for something for that special guy, try the opportunity
to be a NASCAR driver for a day or maybe even a personalized brewery kit. And for that lovely lady in your life, maybe a British title of nobility is just the thing to say that she’s your princess. If someone on your shopping list is the adventurous type, give him a gift this year that will truly get his adrenaline going: a seven-day space exploration complete with astronaut training. But if that’s a little too adventurous, perhaps a suit of armor will inspire the same daring inclinations while keeping his feet safely on the ground. In an effort to support our vegetable-loving friends, vegan-friendly shoes could be the perfect gift for those who steer clear of meat. Soy candles are another option for anyone avoiding animal byproducts. Whether you’re shopping
WWW.SURPRISE.COM
The Fart Game, from www.surprise.com, is just one of the many unique gift ideas found on the site. for a Krispy Kreme maniac, an “American Idol” fan or someone who loves natural fibers, surprise.com has nearly every imaginable gift
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By Mike Duncan Scene Reporter How would you define your spirituality? For me, it’s something that is deep inside of me that helps me conduct my life. It’s the way I think about things and shapes my world. It is something that runs my entire life. What kind of home were you brought up in? A very, very Jewish one. I went to orthodox Jewish school, and every holiday was celebrated—everything was done to the [greatest] extent. My whole family is Jewish, most of my friends were Jewish, I always went to [Jewish] summer camp; most of the things I did in my life somehow revolved around the Jewish community. When did you start to have uncertainties about the traditions that you grew up with? Last year I moved in with a
group of girls who were of a different faith than mine. We had a lot of discussions and they sparked things that I questioned about Judaism. As I have grown and learned, I have started to think about things in other ways. I started to admire things about people that I didn’t see before. I don’t know where life is going to take me. I realized that and that I moved in and became close with these girls for a reason. I don’t know why I did right now, but we’ll see.
that there are other things out there. I am at the point where I need to figure things out for myself. I want to know for sure in my heart.
Have you talked with your family at all about what is going on in your spiritual life? What do or what would they think? In my family there is one person who moved outside of the religion and that person is totally ostracized. They are never talked to but often talked about. I haven’t because I want to make sure that things in my heart and my life are sure before I tell others. The Jewish culture is such a part of me, but also I realize
You say your spirituality guides your everyday life. How does that happen? I try to be as selfless as I possibly can and not live for myself but do things for others, whether it is for friends or the less fortunate. I think [about] the morals that I have, like not lying and not stealing and those things, [and] I take them very seriously. I try to uphold the standards that I think people have for me.
When do you feel closest to God? When I am sitting and thinking about things by myself in a room—looking for answers, wondering what path God has for me. I think about where I am going and why certain events happened in my life. MIKE DUNCAN I STUDENT LIFE
Melissa Shtulman - Junior - Jewish Why do you think the majority of our campus is not actively spiritual? I think some people are afraid or nervous, some don’t realize the options out there, and some are at a point in their life where they are very selfish and that is what they want and where they are right now. A lot of people care about their image and are nervous about where that next step in their spirituality would put them. Some people don’t feel welcome in their respective community. I went to Hillel at first and people were not friendly. I was in a corner the entire time and I didn’t feel welcome or want to go back. I think a lot of people try and it doesn’t click with them. Some people see the opportunity but don’t want to put in extra effort to discover their spirituality.
MONDAY | DECEMBER 5, 2005
STUDENT LIFE | CLASSIFIEDS
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CALL FOR SUBMISSIONS: Mapping your Environment. Create 2-D 8.5” x 11” map of WashU. Maps will appear in artwork on view April 2006. Submit envelopes in Lewis Center/ Bixby beginning November 28th. Attach information sheet with name, year, major, and email. Questions? Email lkoniell@art.wustl.edu GET PAID TO drive a brand new car! Now paying drivers $800-$3200 a month. Pick up your free car key today. www.freecarkey.com MAD SCIENCE INSTRUCTORS: Enthusiastic instructors needed to teach part-time (after school, 1 to 5 days per week), fun, hands-on science programs in elementary schools. Must have transportation. $25.00 - $27.50 per 1 hour class. Call 314991-8000. SEEKING PART-TIME (WED 12-6; FRI 2:30-6) experienced child care provider for our infant twins. $10/hour. Near W.U. Med school. Call Carol @314-853-9555. SEMESTER BREAK WORK $14 base/appt, 1-5 week work program, flexible sched., customer sales/service, may continue in spring or secure summer work, all ages 18+, 314-997-7873.
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GORGEOUS COMPLETELY RENOVATED 1-BR at 7321 Wise. Minutes from campus. New hardwood floor kitchen, new and modern appliances, carpeted living and bedroom, walk in closet, marble bath, common w/d, workout room and storage, on site parking, secure entrances. $550-$750/mo. Call 314-503-7076, 314-503-4181.
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1 BEDROOM APARTMENT. LARGE 1+ bedroom, 1510 McCausland, close to campus, dishwasher, hard wood floors, central air conditioning, covered parking, $450/month. Please contact 922-6715 or 374-6259. 810 PENNSYLVANIA. DUPLEX 2 BEDROOM/1 new bath. Central air, hardwood floors, washer/dryer hookup, off-street parking, garage, quiet street, front deck. Call 314-680-2883. AFFORDABLE SOUTH CITY APARTMENTS, clean & quiet, appliances, central air, updated systems, energy efficient, 4 unit bldgs. 1 bedroom $370. 2 bedroom $530. Owner/Broker 636-938-1447 or 314-509-2241. HOUSE FOR RENT 2 bedrooms, 1bath, living room, dining room, garage, fenced yard, refridgerator, stove, central air-heat, $625/mo. Overland. Please call 314313-1244. STUDIO AVAILABLE NOW 5 minutes walk to Hilltop campus; $520/month incl. all the utilities; Free Parking; nice, brights, safe and quiet. For graduate students, staff and faculty only. 314.935.4538 (Tracy). tracy_ lotus@hotmail.com.
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START AT $70 FOR a 5-hr event! Promote brands by distributing samples/ brochures and demonstrating products to consumers. Premier in store Promotions Company and authorized agency of Mass Connections, Inc. has a great opportunities in Various MO cities. Positions available are part-time, mostly weekends, and typically 5 hrs. For more information and to apply online, visit www.eventsandpr omotions.com.
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LOOKING FOR 3 ROOMMATES to share 2 story house w/ 4 bedrooms. 5 minute bike to main campus. On gold shuttle line. H/W floors, kitchen, W/D in basement. C/A, cable, backyard. Rent 3 rooms for $800 or pay for one room only $270, $310 or $340 each. Facilities not included. 3148636141 or hluo_ us@hotmail.com ROOMMATE FOR SPRING 2006 wanted to rent 1 room of 3-bedroom apartment with 2 males at 6164 Pershing Ave. 5 min. walk from campus, student preferred. Email lblogh@wustl.edu for details.
BRAND NEW DELL 720 color printer in retail box for sale. $49 plus tax on dell.com. Asking only $20 Email huilulu2@yahoo.com. FOR SALE: BEAUTIFUL Persian rug. Please call 314725-9878
FOR SALE: SWAROVSKI crystal beads necklace and earring set. 314-369-6331. BRAND NEW MICROSOFT Wireless Optical Desktop Pro, asking only $65! The package includes one enhanced natural keyboard, one 4-way tilted-wheel optical mouse, and a mireless receiver. It’s new and never been opened. Great gift for the holiday season! E-mail henryleesd@gmail.com if interested. FURNITURE - LIKE NEW! 4 piece neutral bedroom set: queen bed frame, desk, bookcase, and nightstand. Priced to sell. Call Marcie: 314-997-7614.
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PLEASE BE OUR angel! Local academic couple seeks egg donor of Korean or Japanese descent. $10,000 plus expenses. steph2004@fastmail.us. WANTED: RECORD PLAYER, good condition. Contact casey at hargerc@msnotes. wustl.edu to discuss details.
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FEEL GOOD LATELY? Therapeutic Bodywork. Revive. Relax. Feel better! Experienced, professional, licensed. Jennifer S. Peters, LMT. 314-805-0972. j e n s p e te r s @ n e t ze r o.n e t . Convenient UCity location. Need a great gift? Gift certificates available! TYPING AND TRANSCRIPTION Services. Expertise in all academic formats. Specializing in qualitative research transcription. Over 30 years experience. Rush jobs welcome! Contact Karen at 314-732-0000 or wkprogress@aol.com. Conveniently located in CWE.
8 STUDENT LIFE | SCENE
Senior Scene Editor / Sarah Baicker / scene@studlife.com
MONDAY | DECEMBER 5, 2005
SCENE
Gifts from the Galleria
1 $10 and under
Go! The Game Store has some amazing gifts, and one of its best is also one of its cheapest ($7, but often on sale for half of that). The store carries a whole line of pens with games built into them. These are great for friends who go to class but don’t take notes. While everyone else is busy scribbling every last word the professor says, your friend will be deeply involved in a game of Connect-Four or blackjack.
By Felicia Baskin Scene Reporter It’s the same thing year after year. December rolls around, and you figure you have plenty of time to get your holiday shopping done. Speedily, the month progresses, and soon you fi nd yourself in a tight spot: you have very little time to fi nd some very perfect gifts. To help ease your shopper’s cramp this holiday season, here are some suggestions for not-soexpensive yet not-completely-boring gifts. They can all be purchased, for your convenience, at the nearby, shuttle-accessible St. Louis Galleria.
of the aforementioned holiday symbols. When put in water, these miniatures grow to be significantly larger than their original size. These kits provide ideal dorm holiday décor, because, even when grown,
STORE.LSDISTRIBUTION.NET
The Disney Store may seem an odd place to shop for college students, but it really has some oddly fascinating merchandise. One of its most interesting items is a “Micro Air Puck Bowling Set.” This bowling set includes three bowling pins decorated with the adorable aliens from “Toy Story” and an air puck which glides through the air like the air pucks on an air hockey table. Without a clunking ball, this game is much quieter than the average bowling game. Also, since it’s probably intended for 10-year-olds, you can be sure that it’s relatively safe and strangely fun.
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$25 and under Since candles aren’t dormlegal, why not buy your candleobsessed friend a Flameless Wax Candle? These candles are made out of wax and look just like the real thing—only instead of relying on a wick to light up, these candles rely on LED lights. You simply pass your hand over the sensor on the top of the candle to turn it on or off. Unlike normal candles, these last for 100,000 hours when continuously used. One set of AA batteries will provide 100 hours of use. The candles also give off subtle scents like Apple Picking Red and Pumpkin Pie Orange. The candles are available at Brookstone for $20, and the batteries will run you about $5. Ear warmers may not sound like an exciting gift, but
$15 and under The Dry Ice store at the Galleria sells awesome, quirky accessories—and it’s going out of business. Translation: major sale, just in time for the holidays. One winning gift that Dry Ice sells is the HIPCE One-Touch CD Box. The box is square at one end and rounded at the other. To use it, one simply taps the round end. The holding case then shoots out, allowing the user to easily pick a CD from its sixty sleeves. It’s practical and fun to play with. Additionally, it is available in a wide spectrum of colors, for just $14.98.
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For your festive friends, holiday decorations are always a good idea. Urban Outfitters sells “Grow-a-Santa Claus” and “Grow-a-Dreidel” kits that include miniatures
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they are rather small. They also make great gifts because, at $4 a kit, they won’t rob you of all your funds.
Crazy Coyote Games makes a Cocktail Drinking Game set that is only $13. The set
$50 and under For the gambler in your life, why not buy a personalized poker set? Things Remembered sells a version in shades of blue, red, crème and brown, and a “Girl’s Night Out” version, which includes shades of pink, brown and crème. Each set contains 200 poker chips and playing cards. The set, which costs $49.95, comes in a convenient carrying case with lid adorned with an engraving plate that can be personalized with a name or other saying.
WWW.BROOKSTONE.COM
they’re undeniably practical for St. Louis winters. Brookstone sells a pair for $25 that wraps around the back of one’s head. Despite the ear warmers’ incredible thinness, they
block wind, keep ears warm and reduce pressure on the head. When not in use, the ear warmers can be folded to one inch, so they are easy to carry around campus.
For $49.95, you can give someone the gift of music. Or, rather, you can give someone the gift of playing iPod music over the Griffin iTrip FM Transmitter. This device transmits music from an iPod to any radio system and gets its power from the iPod itself
includes counters, dice and cards that list various drinking games. As a bonus, the set comes in a cocktail shaker. This game set is available at Go! The Games Store. Note: exercise caution when buying this gift. Not all parties will appreciate it.
WWW.HIPCE.COM
(so no batteries are needed). This upgraded version of the Griffin iTrip allows the user to select different broadcast frequencies for the best sound. Also, the iTrip can be set to international tuning mode, which gives the user access to all frequencies worldwide. It’s available at the Apple Store.
WWW.GRIFFINTECHNOLOGY.COM
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Freshman snow excitement By Amanda Ogus Scene Reporter
Rovina Broomfield is unimpressed with the level of dress she has seen on campus leading up to the cold winter. “They clearly don’t know how to dress in cold weather,” said Broomfield. “They wear these sleeveless vests, and that’s no warmth at all: their arms and hands are still cold! Also, 90 percent of your body heat escapes through your head! Would you put a hat on? These people don’t wear hats!” Freshmen from cold climates, like Broomfield, have not taken the past few “snowstorms” as seriously. Freshman Mike White, who hails from Louisiana, experienced this difference in perspective on the night of the fi rst fl urries. “Everyone on my floor was laughing at me, because I wanted to go play in the snow,” said White. “They all were telling me that it’s not even snowing outside! I just wanted to make snowballs, and when there’s more snow, I’m going to be the fi rst person to dive in that fi rst pile of snow.” Floridian freshman Kyle Bukowski has a different plan of attack for the fi rst snowfall. “I’m not excited at all for
OLIVER HULLAND | STUDENT LIFE
Sophomore Kate Friedberg, unused to the cold, bundles up in anticipation of snow. snow,” said Bukowski. “It’s wet and nasty and fricking cold. I’m not going outside when it snows. I’m just going to stay in my bathrobe in my room all day.” Within the group of students hailing from warm-weather climates, Bukowski appears to be an anomaly in his disgust and lack of excitement for snow. Whether one is from Hawaii or
Alaska, anyone can look forward with excitement to the fi rst big snowstorm and the season of winter wonderland to follow. “Snow will never get old,” said Luber. “I think every snowfall will be more exciting than the last, because it’s just a fresh layer— you get to start all over.
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As the little pictures on weather.com start incorporating snowfl akes, it starts to look as though the St. Louis winter is fi nally here. While we’ve arguably already had snow here, many students are gearing up for the fi rst big snowstorm. A select group of students is more excited than most. As a prestigious university, Wash. U. attracts students from all ends of the planet who merge into a diverse student body with people of many backgrounds. Much to the astonishment of the many students from the Northeast, a handful of Wash. U. freshmen has never seen snow. Therefore, what may seem like the same old cold weather to some might be a life-changing experience for others. One such freshman is Phoenixraised Adam Luber. While he has embarked upon miscellaneous skiing trips in the past, Luber is beside himself at the thought of the fi rst big snowstorm, and at his preconceived notions of snow. “When it snows for the fi rst time, I will probably jump out of my third-story window and
fall into a big, giant, soft layer of snow, because that’s what snow is,” said Luber. Luber was already so energized by the fi rst fl urries from a few days ago that he called a few of his hometown friends still in sunny Arizona. “While I was tasting the fl urries, I described it,” said Luber. “I said, ‘It’s like those shaved ice things, but without the juice on it: really good shaved ice, really fi ne, and almost hairy. A furry fl urry.’ They were confused and I think a little bit jealous.” Freshman Tiina Luning, who arrived at Wash. U. from Florida having only seen snow as a baby, has also developed a plan for the fi rst day of real snow. “I’m really looking forward to the fi rst snowfall,” said Luning. “I have an agreement with someone down the hall that on the fi rst day of snow, we are not going to classes. We are going to sit outside in the snow and freeze our butts off.” Freezing their butts off almost seems the last thing that these freshmen will do in the snow. Most are prepared to put on close to everything in their wardrobe to prepare for the icy chill. However, Chicago-born freshman