WEDNESDAY SEPT. 15, 2004 Vol. 126, No. 8
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STUDENT LIFE T H E I N D E P E N D E N T N E W S PA P E R O F WA S H I N G T O N U N I V E R S I T Y I N S T. L O U I S S I N C E 1 8 7 8
Heinz: Kerry ‘smart’ to visit if Bush declines By Rachel Streitfeld Contributing Editor
DAVID BRODY | STUDENT LIFE
Chris Heinz, son of Teresa Heinz Kerry and stepson of Senator John Kerry, speaks to University students on campus yesterday.
Road Trip! The men of soccer open their diaries and let us into their deepest, darkest thoughts.
PAGE 10
Gregg Keithley is all “fired up” about the University’s gun policy.
PAGE 5 Forum flashback recalls a controversy that sparked Underpass painting rules.
PAGE 4
The women’s volleyball team is psyched up for another championship season.
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INDEX News Forum Classifieds Calendar Sports
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Chris Heinz, the stepson of Democratic candidate John Kerry, said yesterday that the senator might still come to St. Louis if President Bush skips the Oct. 8 debate. “It’d be smart to do, if he just showed up and did a rally where [the debate] wasn’t happening,” said Heinz in an interview with Student Life. “I think it’s probably something they could do.” He said the Kerry-Edwards campaign hasn’t given up hope that the debates will continue as planned despite rumors to the contrary. “I would feel better if there wasn’t this ’96 precedent looming over everyone’s heads,” said Heinz, referring to the debate cancellation at Washington University in 1996. “Certainly we’re going to try to make it happen. The most important thing is to get them to do any debates.”
Heinz, 31, spoke to a group of about 50 students yesterday to encourage student participation in politics and to answer questions about his stepfather’s policy proposals. He also shed some light on Kerry’s more personal side—his life outside the camera lens. “I love the guy,” said Heinz, who left his job 18 months ago to campaign for the Democratic candidate. Heinz called Kerry a “good listener” who could never tell a lie. Heinz took half an hour to field audience questions ranging from elementary school education to the lack of policy discussion in this election cycle. “I thought he was fantastic,” said junior Nicole Soussan, president of the College Democrats. “He talked a lot more about specific policy details than I expected, which I thought was fabulous, because that’s what we need to be talking about—policies and the issues.”
Debate Ticket Lottery Opens Starting today, students can sign up online to participate in the debate ticket lottery. Students can register via a link at debate.wustl.edu until October 4. No determination has been made how many tickets–if any–will be available for students. SOURCE: DEBATE.WUSTL.EDU
Several of students’ queries took an obviously Democratic slant, but at least one pointed question on Kerry’s plan for “winning the peace” in Iraq
Students fear Ivan’s wrath
Sending prayers via AIM
By Liz Neukirch Senior News Editor
By Matt Rubin Contributing Reporter Students can now use AOL Instant Messenger to fi nd more than a party or a poker game. When a student sends a message to WashUPray, a student-run screenname, a group of Christian students around campus will pray for the requested person, issue or nation. Sophomore Stephanie Potts started WashUPray near the end of last year and started promoting the service this semester. After two weeks online, WashUPray receives an average of one prayer request per day. “Students can send in prayer requests for family, friends or anyone else,” said Potts. “No request is too big or too small—we’ll pray for whatever needs someone might have.” Potts noted that although WashUPray has a Christian affi liation, a student does not need to practice Christianity in order to make a prayer request. “Anyone can send in their requests, whatever their beliefs are,” said Potts. “Even if they don’t have any religious beliefs, we encourage them to send in requests.” Once messages are received, Christian students all over campus pray for the requests. Potts said about 30 students are currently involved with the screenname, and the number is constantly growing. “The group of students praying for the requests are involved with several different Christian ministries on campus,” said Potts. “We are fi rm believers in the truth that God answers prayers, and the more people praying, the more God listens.” Students such as sophomore John Spratt expressed generally positive views about the concept. “I think it could go either way,” said Spratt. “It’s important for people to keep [things] in perspective and not become disillusioned with prayer if it goes unanswered. If I were faced with a problem that I was having trouble coping with on my own, I might consider using WashUPray.” Sophomore Justin Davidson expressed minor concerns. “Even though it would be a good idea for some, I personally would not like complete strangers praying for my own causes,” said Davidson. “Also, being Jewish, I wouldn’t feel comfortable
See HEINZ, page 3
EMILY TOBIAS | STUDENT LIFE
Freshmen Akshay Iyengar, Wes Brock, Casey Turbo, Helen Chananie and Amy Wolf enjoy Sunday brunch in the newly renovated dining section of Center Court.
Bon Appétit ranking falls n New Princeton Review
listing based on student questionnaires By Laura Geggel Contributing Reporter For the fi rst time in at least four years, Washington University’s catering service, Bon Appétit, has not made the top-ten list for the Princeton Review’s college food rankings. According to Kathy Carmody, general manager for Bon Appétit, the University’s absence from the rankings is the result of a lack of student contribution to the survey. “We don’t think that the Princeton Review received enough responses from students [to rank us],” said Carmody. Last year Bon Appétit came in eighth place for best overall college food, following a fi rst place ranking the previous year. This year’s numberone ranked college for “great campus food,” Wheaton College in Illinois, also uses Bon Appétit and is usually the University’s number-one rival in dining services. Undergoing a transformation from last year, Bon Appétit has opened a new café on Hilltop Campus and swapped old items from last year’s menu for new cuisine in order to better cater to student demand. “We’re making changes for students that they will be happy with,” said Carmody. As many students have noticed, the main cafés on campus no longer serve Freshen’s smoothies. “We did taste tests last spring at Hilltop Bakery, Ursa’s and Bear’s Den,” said Rick Turner, director of operations for Bon Appétit. “We had an opinion ballot for students to fi ll out, [and] out of 500 responses, only five were [in favor of] Freshen’s. The responses were overwhelmingly for Kaldi’s.” However, the new Kaldi’s smoothies, which are served at Ursa’s, Hilltop Bakery and Whispers Café, have been received with mixed results. “I liked [the smoothies] last year better,” said senior Rachel Mercer. “They were more fruit-oriented.” Sophomore Anne Greenberg agreed.
EMILY TOBIAS | STUDENT LIFE
New carpeting is among the changes greeting visitors to Center Court. The renovations there were completed over the summer. “I think the Kaldi’s smoothies taste too sweet, but they’re starting to grow on me,” she said. As the newest café on campus, Whispers has surged in popularity since its opening last May. Conveniently located in Olin Library, Whispers is usually packed with students at all hours. “[Whispers] will probably provide a much needed distraction from studying in the library,” said sophomore Joe Thomas. Whispers, which offers traditional Bon Appétit menu items such as salads, muffi ns and fresh fruit, also serves bubble tea and Kaldi’s coffee and smoothies. Although he enjoys the food selection, junior Ethan Arpi found fault with the enormous amount of waste products that customers at Whispers Café produce. “I’m not into all of these disposable products,” said Arpi. “[Whispers] should have reusable plates like Center Court.” Even Bear’s Den has changed the options on its menu. Both the salad and pasta bars have new small and large sizes. According to Turner, the new salad sizes are smaller in response to student complaints that the salads last year were too large. “The (new) containers [also] ensure consis-
See PRAY, page 3
STUDENT LIFE
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Residents of coastal cities from the Florida Panhandle to Louisiana are evacuating in anticipation of Hurricane Ivan, a Category Four storm predicted to hit the area sometime Thursday morning. Mandatory evacuation orders went into effect in most cities on Tuesday. A hurricane warning—which means hurricane conditions will likely affect an area within 24 hours—was issued for Grand Isle, south of New Orleans, to Apalachicola, FL. In the New Orleans area, over one million people were encouraged to evacuate after Mayor Ray Nagin declared a state of emergency. Sophomore Danny Kolinsky from New Orleans said he’s aware the evacuation in his hometown is voluntary, and he is not certain whether his family will heed the mayor’s recommendation. “Right now, it’s possible that they’re going to evacuate,” said Kolinsky. “My dad works at a hospital downtown, and he’s on the hurricane alert team, so he’s not allowed to leave. It’s just my mom and my brother there now, so they might stay with him.” Though her family is not currently in New Orleans, senior Tina Ho expressed concern regarding what could happen to her home if the storm hits the city directly. “My parents are in New York right now, and my sister is in Baton Rouge in college at LSU,” she said. “[But] if the hurricane does hit New Orleans directly, our house will be gone.” For freshman Rebecca Tucker from Mobile, AL, the hurricane’s threat is nothing new. “We’ve done this three times already,” said Tucker. “[After Hurricane Danny hit right over our house] we flooded three days straight without electricity[…]You can’t get out or drive around. You just have to make sure you have plenty of canned food.” To prepare for Ivan, Tucker explained that her family is taking down all the pictures in their home, moving furniture upstairs, and buying gas for their generator in anticipation of losing power. “They might go to my mom’s office at the University of South Alabama and wait it out there,” she said. “It’s on higher ground, and it’s a new building. We live in an old house at very low levels. We always flood and we always lose power.” On a more positive note, both Kolinsky and Ho noted that past storm systems have averted hitting their hometown of New Orleans. “I’m not exactly sure about the strength of Ivan, but I know the past five or six hurricanes have all veered off to the northeast and haven’t gone to the mouth of the
See IVAN, page 3
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