Fall 2019 Marquette Journal

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To Our Readers

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here is one highway and 56 minutes between the two places I call home. When I was first hired as the Managing Editor of the Marquette Journal in the spring semester of last year, I was excited to start planning an issue that would encompass a project our reporters and producers could relate to; something we all know a little bit about. It was on a ride home from my spring internship when I got the idea. I took the Gold Line bus from Straz Tower down to the Third Ward three days a week. On the bus and along the route each day, I saw the same buildings and felt the same bustling energy of the city. I even saw the same person, standing on the same corner playing their guitar, every single day I was on the bus. I had no idea who this man was or why he was out playing the guitar. His name and his story were a mystery to me. But what I did know was where he would be on Tuesdays, Thursdays and Fridays at 11 a.m. I knew the guitar had a broken string. Each time I rode the bus, I saw this man. Each time I thought, ‘What makes this the place?’ What makes us comfortable in a big space? Where do we find the courage? How did this man find the courage to break out a guitar and play among strangers passing by? What makes this the place we call home? It stuck with me, and now it’s the theme of this issue. We explored the different aspects of what makes the Marquette University and Milwaukee community our home. In this issue, I believe every story, every video and every podcast is personable and expresses that feeling you just can’t describe when you’re on Wisconsin Avenue or in downtown Milwaukee. There’s a piece called “Finding a Blessing of Place” in this issue. It has advice from a reporter’s grandmother, in which she advises you to find your blessings in the places you call home and encourages you to find a place that is more than just a physical location. It couldn’t be more true. We looked into the science behind home field advantages and how local athletes are recruited to Marquette. We explored Milwaukee to find grilled cheese sandwiches that take us back to our childhoods. Our projects series, “Finding Home,” explores the ways in which Marquette plays a role in the Milwaukee community, such as what it 4

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Photo by Jordan Johnson

means to live out the Jesuit mission and how we can transform the world to a community. We looked into our drinking water and the health of our campus and city in the piece, “Troubled Waters.” Then, we looked into the homeless population on Marquette’s campus and in Milwaukee, talking with Marquette University Police Department and local shelters about their efforts to help these individuals. In this issue, we talk with Jeff Stingley about his journey from living in Carver Park, his home when he didn’t have one, to now living in a fully equipped apartment. I often think about the differences and similarities between the places I call home. In my hometown, Sheboygan, Wisconsin, you have to drive everywhere you go. There’s one street marking our downtown with more pizza places than we need. Between both cities, there’s Lake Michigan, too many seagulls, brick buildings and the friends and family I know and love. When I drive by the corner or hop on the Gold Line, I make sure to look out for the man with the guitar. He’s sometimes there, and other times he’s not. But I know that this place, Marquette, Milwaukee, that corner and that same electric feeling is what drives us together. It’s what makes our paths cross. It’s what makes this place home.

All the best,

Natallie St. Onge Managing Editor of the Marquette Jouranl


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Executive Director of the Marquette Wire Sydney Czyzon Managing Editor of the Marquette Journal Natallie St. Onge EDITORIAL

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Executive Editors Alex Garner, Matthew Harte, Sarah Lipo, Emily Rouse, John Steppe

General Manager of Marquette University Television Kennedy Coleman

Assistant Editors Kelli Arseneau, zoe Comerford, Alexa Jurado, Lizzi Lovdal Daniel Macias, Matthew Martinez, Annie Mattea, Grace Schneider Copy Chief EMMA Brauer Copy Editors Skyler Chun, Haley Hartmann, Nora Mccaughey, Shir Bloch

General Manager of Marquette University Radio Mackane Vogel Executive Producers Kendra Bell, Maragaret Cahill, Jack Phillips Assistant Producers Shane Hogan, Aimee Galaszewski, Michelle Gomez, Vanessa Rivera Assistant Radio General Manager Alec Fischer

Contributing Writers Jack Aler, Andrew amouzou, Aminah Beg, Lelah Byron, Sheila Fogarty, Aimee Galaszewski, Bryan Geenen, Kate hyland, Ariana Madson, Nicholas Magrone, Amanda Parrish, Tyler Peters, Jaiden Schueller, Matt Yeazel

Audio Producers DAN AVINGTON, Bridget Fogarty

ADVERTISING Sales Manager Audrey roth

Executive Photo Editor Jordan Johnson

ART Design Chief CHELSEA JOHANNING

Designers Nell Burgener, Skylar Daley, Grace Pionek Photographers Jimmy Chen, ELENA FIEGEN, Claire Gallagher, Katerina Pourliakas

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FIVE The Milwaukee Art Museum is located on the Lake Michigan Lakefront. PHOTO BY CLAIRE GALLAGHER

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FIVE Butterflies land on pink flowers outside of

LaLumiere Hall.

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FIVE A house located in the northern suburbs of

Milwaukee is covered with foilage. PHOTO BY JORDAN JOHNSON

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FIVE The Milwaukee Art Museum overlooks the city in a winter night.

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FIVE Milwaukee City Hall is located between Wells Street and Kilbourn Avenue. PHOTO BY JORDAN JOHNSON

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Finding a Blessing of Place Sarah Lipo

Photo Courtesy of Sarah Lipo

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s an only child, my grandma grew up in a small town outside the huge, always busy metropolis that is New York City. Her mother and grandmother are her best friends, her confidantes and role models. Today, I look up to her as my own role model. She’s someone I love to call when I’m at school, her calls usually ending with a witty remark, but often saying goodbye with compelling, personalize advice. One of my favorites is her advice on finding a “blessing of place”, a saying she uses to describe having special places that quickly become important parts in your life. As she grew up, her small town comfort that stems from her church and community, provides her anchors of trust and values. She often tells me stories about her small town, meeting my grandpa and raising her five children. Like our phone calls end, our conversations end with a piece of advice too, something I file away in my head for later. I think about a ‘blessing of place’ frequently, questioning my definition of home. I realize home is often a feeling rather than a physical place. It can take the form of a person, meal or a warm, safe feeling you never want to go away. For me, it is speeding down side streets in my hometown, screaming words to my favorite tunes with the windows down. It’s watching the clouds shift and change by Lake Michigan during sunny days in August, taco night in my kitchen and sitting by the pond in my backyard, with the sun warming my tanned legs. Home encompasses so many things, people and places. It allows me to step back and feel grateful for the places and the people I hold close. Since coming to Marquette, I realize where you plant your roots and form your connections do matter. There are certain people you stick with while learning and growing, and 16 16

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those who are often the ones who push you to become the best version of yourself. My grandma’s words of wisdom ring true because entering college uproots you, places you somewhere far from your home and your connections, and it allows you to grow in discomfort alongside new people who may become your best friends. Those places can be an Amtrak ride away from home, to the Les Aspin Center for Government in Washington D.C., or across the world to Delhi, India, where I learned about different world religions, and met people who pushed me to delve deeper and think critically about other’s experiences. I remember the overwhelming feeling of coming to campus for the first time freshman year like it was yesterday. Those unfamiliar aspects turned into the places I go to to seek comfort, like the fifth floor of Memorial Library buried deep in the bookshelves, or the electric feeling of Tuesday night Mass at St. Joan of Arc Chapel. Wisconsin Avenue during October lined with the bright colors of fall, my favorite table in the Brew, doing homework in the turret room of my sorority house with a mug of hot chocolate during dark and dreary winter afternoons, the familiar path to the lake I have run more times than I can count, a BroYo breakfast sandwich during the Saturday morning rush and twinkly lights in the screened in porch of my apartment are all part of my own “blessing of place.” Finding that “blessing of place” can take time and it can feel daunting. It is helpful to slow down, sit back and think about how eight semesters can be full of so many people, organizations, new coffee shops, undiscovered diners, early evening Milwaukee clouds, inspiring professors and forever friends that give you that feeling that you know you are in the right place.

Art By Nell Burgenen


Blue and Gold Runs in the Family Jack Aler

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erese Landreth met Bob Dysart at the square dance. No, not the traditional square dance that wraps up orientation week for freshmen before the school year starts, but the square dance at the Freshman Frontier Program the summer before their own freshman years. They were paired up as partners, started dating in January of their first year on campus and the rest is history. Before the dance, there had to be a decision to go to Marquette University. For Terese, Class of ’89, she says she decided to go to Marquette because she had family attend too. “I had an older brother and sister who went there, so I would go visit them, and I realized that Marquette was the school for me,” she says. For Bob, it was the best option as it was not “too far from home but far enough.” From meeting significant others to having generations of family attend Marquette, family ties are in every aspect Wisconsin Avenue has to offer, holding a special meaning in everything. After marrying, the Dysart’s three children, Ryan, Annie and Lily, all decided to come to Marquette. They grew up noticing how much their parents enjoyed their time at school, which impacted the decisions when it came time to choose a university of their own. “I have been going up to Marquette for basketball games and other events, pretty much as long as I can remember,” Ryan, who graduated from the College of Arts & Sciences in 2018, says. “By the time my college visits rolled around, they offered us a

Photo Courtesy of Jack Eddinger

tour but it was pretty much just a formality because I felt like I already knew everything about it. I like to say I started the trend among my siblings.” Lily Dysart, a junior in the College of Arts & Sciences, says she didn’t want to go to Marquette because her family had, but eventually, she says she came around. “I realized how good of a school Marquette was and it kind of felt like a home away from home,” she says. “I was just like ‘you know what? We’re just going to send it, we’re going to go to Marquette.’” Similar to his parents, Ryan met his fiancé, Grace, at Marquette. After his finals junior year, he noticed how he did not want to go back home. The Dysarts are originally from Park Ridge, Illinois. “That was the time where things clicked with me and my fiancé, Grace, and I found myself not wanting to go home, but to experience everything about Milwaukee with her and everything about Marquette with her and that’s really where we got our start. So I guess it all happened at Marquette,” Ryan says. Among the Dysarts are the Eddingers, whose family finds a home away from home at Marquette too. Thomas Eddinger, a biology professor and director of undergraduate studies for biology, has been working at Marquette for more than 20 years. His sons Albert, a sophomore in the College of Arts & Sciences and Jack, a junior in the College of Engineering, say having a dad as a professor gives them a different perspective on all professors. “Seeing how much he cares about his students and how much work he puts in, I know all of my other professors are doing the same,” Jack says. Normally, the three see each other on campus frequently. Last year, Jack had a job in the biology department where he would see his dad often. Now, Albert has that job. “But, you can pretty much just pop into his office whenever and say ‘hi’, which is really nice,” Jack says. For Albert, taking a class taught by his dad was always a “cool idea.” “Ever since I was a kid, I always thought it would be a cool idea if I could go where my dad taught and then I could just walk into my class and like, ‘there’s my dad, as a professor’…,” Albert says. Inherently, Marquette was always on Jack’s radar because of his dad. “Then I came and I learned about a lot of cool innovations on campus … and that seemed really cool to me,” Jack says. Photo Courtesy of The Dysart Family

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History Lives On Photos by Jordan Johnson & John Steppe

Annie Mattea

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ithin the three years Laura Klinger, a hall director for university apartments, has been working with Marquette University, she says she has seen numerous changes to residence life. “We’ve seen a lot of changes and developments with the President’s beyond Boundaries plan,” she says, referring to The Commons and Marquette’s acquisition of the Marq in 2017. To William O’Brien, a research analyst and knowledge officer for university advancement, Marquette residence halls are incredibly different from the university’s beginning. He focuses on university history and sends weekly emails to faculty called “Old School” where he covers different aspects of the history on campus. When Marquette opened in 1881, he says, only Jesuits lived there. All students were commuters as there were no residence halls. O’Brien says it wasn’t until the 1950’s when Marquette started acquiring and building more residence halls. Straz Tower, Carpenter Tower, Cobeen Hall were purchased rather than built by the university. McCormick Hall, a former residence hall, is a more tangled story, O’Brien says. In the first year it was built, McCormick was simply referred to as “Dormitory One”. Victor McCormick, an alumnus of the Marquette law school, became the namesake of McCormick Hall after pledging $2.5 million to the building — but he never actually gave the money. The university kept the name in hopes he would eventually come through. “For the whole of his life, even once his financial affairs became so tangled … we were hoping it would come out of his estate,” O’Brien says. McCormick was also originally meant to be two towers, with a bridge connecting at the eighth or ninth floor. “It would’ve looked like a big pair of binoculars,” O’Brien says. 18

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Women’s residence halls were especially uncommon on Marquette’s campus, as women were not incredibly valued at Marquette due to a much larger male population, O’Brien says. The Alumnae Association, which was an association for women who graduated from Marquette, owned residences of their own, such as the Alumnae House and Lisette. Alumnae House was near where Aurora-Sinai hospital is now. The Alumnae Association used it until the 1960s. After being used as a residence hall, it became the journalism school for about five years. From there, Marquette sold it, O’Brien says. Peg Fennig, Class of ’53, lived in Lisette, the other women’s residence hall owned by the association. It was located at 32nd and Highland Streets, far from campus. Since the Lisette residents lived so far from campus, Fennig says they were expected to take the bus to class. However, she says most of them hitchhiked with other students on campus. Lisette was also a mansion, she says, with huge rooms. “It was just incredible,” she says. “It had the most gorgeous hallway when you entered. The hallway was probably larger than many homes.” She says living there felt magical. During the holidays, the residents decorated the hallways with garland and other decor. “Walking down that at Christmas time … that was the most gorgeous I’ve ever felt in my life,” she says. “It was just amazing.” She says she is still in contact with many women who lived there, and the people she met there are “friends of (her) lifetime.” The university eventually built a residence hall for women in 1953, known as O’Donnell Hall, which remains on campus today. O’Donnell has switched from all girls to all boys over the years and became co-ed in 2016. Lois O’Brien, a 1977 graduate says her time at Marquette was very different than what it is like now, mentioning the former underground walkways under busy streets. “(Marquette) was a different world,” she says. Design By Nell Burgner

Photos Courtesy of Department of Special Collections and University Archives, Marquette University Libraries


Nine Halls and One Million Memories Ariana Madson

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tudents can call nine residence halls home at Marquette University. Each hall has its own unique styles and traditions too, just ask those who live there. Abbotsford Hall: Abbotsford’s ‘open door’ philosophy is what Andrew Pytlak, a sophomore in the College of Business Administration, says makes strangers friends. He thinks Abbotsford is a great place to meet more people because Abbotsford is known for its triple rooms. Carpenter Tower: More than 300 first and second-year students live in Carpenter Tower. Its’ friendly vibes has each floor feeling like a community, says Edward Davies, a junior in the College of Engineering. Though Carpenter Tower is fun, Davies says it’s about those he lives around. Cobeen Hall: As the only all-female residence hall on campus, Cobeen Hall has a positive dynamic throughout the entire building. For Theresa Akinbobye, a sophomore in the College of Nursing, Cobeen provides a perfect bonding experience for residents and resident assistants: going to Cobeen’s dining hall on Monday evenings for Hot Cookie Night. The Commons: As the newest residence hall on campus, The Commons draws students with its luxurious dining hall and modern rooms. Adam Romanski, a junior in the College of Health Sciences, says it brings a different experience rather than his first year at Straz Tower. At The Commons, Romanski says there are many inter-floor gatherings that include watch parties for Marquette basketball games. For The Commons to be divided into two towers, Romanski says, the staff there does a great job integrating its students to feel like one community. Humphrey Hall: Christian Apilan, a residence assistant in Humphrey Hall and a junior in the College of

Health Sciences, says the culture in Humphrey is inclusive for residents and staff. Though he says it can be tough to integrate the floors, its the regular floor events that helps enhance a great social setting. Mashuda Hall: Community nights and an ‘open door’ philosophy are what makes Mashuda Hall one of the hot spots to live on campus. Margaret Maguire, a freshman in the College of Arts & Sciences, says she appreciates her floor’s events and that other residents respect one another in a safe and fun way. O’Donnell Hall: Ray Butler, a sophomore in the College of Business Administration, says O’Donnell may receive a bad reputation from those who lived their previously, but it’s one of the ways her and her floor mates bond. Butler says living in O’Donnell provides a community to openly talk about likes and dislikes. Schroeder Hall: Home to only sophomores and a dining hall with Marquette’s infamous chicken parmesan, Schroeder Hall has a special social atmosphere, Riley Knapp, a junior in the College of Arts & Sciences, says. Shay O’Brien, a junior in the College of Communication, says Schroeder never has a dull moment. Straz Tower: There are four total communities in Straz Tower: Honors Living Learning Community, the Latinx LLC Nuestro Hogar, the sophomore community, and a transfer student floor. Going on her second year as the residence hall director, Kristina Davilia says community nights are a big highlight, an initiative started last year that allows other students to learn and engage in other communities. For Straz Tower, it’s only one motto: One staff, One family.

Photos By Claire Gallagher SPRING Fall2019 2019

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A Tour Guide’s Path Annie Mattea

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or Hannah Quijano, a junior in the College of Engineering, tour guiding is the most enjoyable job on campus. “I wanted to be a tour guide because I just loved Marquette and felt it was important for me to share that information with everyone,” she says. Quijano is not alone. Many tour guides love the experience. Sabrina Galang, a senior in the College of Nursing, says her tour guide during her tour as a high school student made her want to attend Marquette. “I wanted to be able to share what I learned at Marquette and why I love it so much,” she says. She says tour guiding allows people to share their own Marquette stories. Jake Lafleur, a junior in the College of Arts & Sciences, says he has enjoyed tour guiding since he was selected his sophomore year. “I fell in love with the idea of creating my own Marquette experience and sharing that with prospective students,” he says. Lafleur says he was originally unsure about coming to Marquette, but his tour guide sold the university to him. Tour guides can influence incoming students’ decisions to come to Marquette, Kate Bracciano, director of visit programs in the Office of Undergraduate Admissions, says. Marquette receives about 18,000 visitors per year, Bracciano says. This includes tours and significant events, such as Discovery Days and admitted student days, which tend to have about 1,000 visitors each. Each day, Marquette has two to four tours, with summer days, Mondays and Fridays tending to be on the upper end of the spec20

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trum, Bracciano says. Bracciano says Marquette tours will showcase certain buildings on every tour: an academic building, Raynor-Memorial Library, St. Joan of Arc Chapel, the Rec Center, Alumni Memorial Union and The Commons dining hall. Although there are facts and talking points, most of the tour is personalized to each tour guide’s college experience. “You get a sense of what you want to talk about on tour,” Quijano says. When tour guides are not taking families on tours, they work in the tour guide office doing administrative work. Each tour guide is required to work at least six hours a week, Bracciano says. Most of a shift is giving a tour that lasts about an hour. Bracciano says she emphasizes to tour guides they are representing Marquette. “(Tour guides) have a great responsibility in the role to impact prospective students and families,” Bracciano says. She says sometimes students will see Marquette isn’t the best fit for them but still make a connection with their tour guide. Some tour guides say this role can make them feel pressure to make a good impression. “You definitely just want to give your best impression and make (potential students) feel like you’re 100% for them … (Sometimes) you are not being everything they need you to be,” Quijano says. Many tour guides say that being a tour guide allows you to have a huge group of friends to work with. Galang says tour guides are a very unique and diverse group of people, because everybody comes from different experiences at Marquette. “Being a tour guide is like becoming a part of another community at Marquette,” she says.


Zilber Hall

Raynor Library

Lalumiere Hall

St Joan ofArc Chapel Photo By Katerina Pourliakas Art By Grace Pinoek

Alumni Memorial Union SPRING Fall 2019

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Miles Apart Sarah Lipo

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t was always Eduard Zeledon’s dream to study in the United States. A sophomore in the College of Engineering, Zeledon is from Nicaragua, about a 1,790 mile plane ride from Milwaukee. He says he is excited to meet new people in a new place. “To be honest, I feel like I am the exception. I was really excited to come,” Zeledon says. He says he believes other international students may feel more nervous before coming to an unfamiliar place. Ellen Blauw, the assistant director of the Office of International Education at Marquette, says 45% of the Marquette community is from outside of the United States. She says the university hopes to continue to increase that number. Blauw says international students are invited to an early orientation to “help get their feet on the ground.” The orientation runs Monday to Wednesday the week before classes begin first semester and Blauw says current international students are also invited to talk about their experiences. She says the goal is to “set the stage to make it their home.” Sharon Yu, a graduate student in Student Affairs and Higher Education, completed her undergraduate education at Loyola University Chicago. For Yu, coming to the United States for school was a dream. “It was a whole new educational system, pushing for innovation and being a leader in academia,” Yu says. She says she came to Marquette for graduate school because she believes Marquette students are very involved and take their academics seriously. Yu says it took her awhile to find her place at Marquette. She called Marquette a “new beginning to navigate … I feel like I was back in square zero.” Yu and Zeledon both say they began to find their place at Marquette through the relationships they formed. Zeledon was in the Engineering Living Learning Community 22

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in The Commons during his freshman year. He calls the LLC a “really big family,” and says everyone helped each other with homework. Blauw says freshmen and sophomore international students live in the dorms. “Resident assistants are very attuned to diversity issues. We have worked with them in RA training for inclusive community,” she says. Yu says it is important for her to share parts of her culture with her friends. “It really comes down to finding the right people. I found friends in my cohort I can really be honest with and can share parts of my culture with,” she says. Both Yu and Zeledon have found niches at Marquette to become involved in. Zeledon is the secretary of Tabletop Club, a group that meets Tuesdays to play board games and eat pizza. This year, he helped plan the club’s table at O-Fest and helped find more people who may be interested in Tabletop Club. Yu is the assistant hall director for the Evans Scholar House and says she often goes out to dinner on special holidays in her culture with friends. While Zeledon has not been back to Nicuargua since starting school, Yu goes home most summer breaks and every Christmas break. Yu says she hopes the Marquette community continues to work to see the uniqueness of different cultures. Although being in a new place was difficult for Yu at first, it opened up new opportunities in the long run. “It pushed me to develop a sense of self-efficacy, ” she says. “That continues to what is important to me and what community I want to see. I wish to see a more inclusive community in more differences people bring in,” Yu says.

Photo Courtesy of Ellen Blauw


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t’s freshman year. Ali De Luca steps onto Marquette’s campus with two suitcases full of summer clothes. From Puerto Rico, she doesn’t have many warm clothes to wear past October. Instead of partaking in orientation activities with the rest of her class, she goes shopping with her mom. With her absence at orientation on top of roommate problems starting her second semester, she says the situation stresses her out and causes her to be anxious. “When I started experiencing bad roommate issues, I felt like I was trapped, and I didn’t have anywhere to go. But I did reach out and make the best of the situation that I could,” De Luca, now a senior in the College of Communication, says. College students report feeling anxiety and depression, according to the American Psychological Association, with 43.6% anxious and 36.4% depressed. De Luca says she talked to her resident assistant and hall director to let them know she was struggling with her mental health. “You’re not alone. Whether you know it or not, people are so good at putting a mask on and hiding what they’re actually going through, but the first step is saying you want to talk or you need help,” De Luca says. De Luca says there are many resources for people who are struggling with their mental health on Marquette’s campus, such as the counseling center, and other professors and professionals who are willing to help. However, there are also resources in Milwaukee. Wraparound Milwaukee is a program that helps children and teenagers around the Milwaukee area who suffer from mental illnesses. Steven Dyksta, a psychologist at Wraparound Milwaukee,

says they offer a program specifically toward college-aged students called O-Yeah. O-Yeah is designed to provide support in managing the stress of life, school, work or family, and increase health and well-being in their transition to adulthood, according to its website. Dyksta says Wraparound is available to all college students who need help with mental health. They also offer specialized programs to assist with serious challenges for students who have severe cases of mental illness. Dyksta says it is important to reach out to people who seem like they are struggling. “If you’re worried about someone, a friend, a roommate, a family member, an acquaintance, find a way to approach them and say, ‘I’m worried about you.’ … Share it with them in a really personal way, as a way to open a door to conversation,” Dyksta says. Maeve LeFevour, a sophomore in the College of Communication, visited the Counseling Center on campus during the second semester of her freshman year. She says she struggled with anxiety in the past and visited the center when her schedule got hectic. “It was helpful because (her counselor) was someone I could talk to. The one hour that I had that was free, I would go and talk to her,” LeFevour says. LeFevour says the Counseling Center helped her realize the differences she had in her life and why certain things were happening. “I can truly say that I found a home at Marquette, and I think it’s something about this school. I feel like I talk to so many alums and other friends, and there’s just something different about Marquette. People love this place,” De Luca says.

Photo by Andrew Himmelberg Design By Nell Burgener

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Spotlights, Inspirations Grace Schneider

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ights. Camera. Action. The thrill of performing a theatrical production on opening night is a hobby for some students — others hope to make it their career. Maaz Ahmed’s first experienced theater when he was in the seventh grade, when his friend convinced him to join the technical crew where he ran the light board for the show, “Beauty and the Beast Jr.”. It was then when Ahmed found a love for theater. Later on he auditioned for his eighth grade production of “The Musical Adventures of Flat Stanley Jr.”. By his freshman year of high school, Ahmed says he joined the drama club and the rest is history. During a production of “Sweeney Todd” his junior year of high school, Ahmed says it was then when he decided to make his theater hobby into a career. Now, Ahmed is a sophomore in the College of Communication, and is studying theater arts and digital media. He’s learning how the two majors coincide. As Ahmed grows older and continues his theatrical career, he says he contemplates his identity and spends time seeking representation in the entertainment industry. “My whole life I’ve been relating to stories about people very unlike myself. My career goal is to show to all those other brown kids that they’re allowed to relate to people like them, rather than 24

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disliking themselves for being different,” Ahmed says in an email. Hasan Minhaj, a comedian and actor best known for the Netflix show “Patriot Act with Hasan Minhaj”, is Ahmed’s inspiration in the entertainment industry. Ahmed says seeing the Muslim community represented gives him passion in his work. He says he aspires to be a leader in the Muslim community. “Entertainment and media are changing the representation and perception of the average American,” Ahmed says. One step further in his dream, Ahmed chooses Marquette for his education. Although Ahmed says he was skeptical of Marquette at first for it not being the most well-known theater program, a friend convinced him to take a tour. Ahmed says he fell in love with the campus and the people. “The prospects that Marquette can offer and the scholarships appealed to me rather than other universities that have well-known programs but are more expensive,” Ahmed says. Like Ahmed, Jackson Hoemann, a junior in the College of Communication, was inspired to take on theater when he saw a play as a child. He grew up watching shows at the Children’s Theatre Company in Minneapolis. “Seeing those professional actors on stage, I knew that this is what I wanted to do in my life. I wanted to be like them,” Hoemann says. Hoemann says his biggest inspiration in the entertainment industry is Jim Henson, the creator of the Muppets. Hoemann says

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and a

Dream

to

he sees the same work ethic and passion for entertaining people that Henson exhibits, reflects in his own life. Professor Deborah Cecsarini, adjunct instructor in digital media and performing arts, is an inspiration to Ahmed, he says. She’s been an inspiration throughout his career at Marquette, specifically during the 2019 production of “Image of an Unknown Woman.” “Seeing the way that she works and her passion and drive inspires me,” Ahmed says. For Katie Dickey, a junior in the College of Communication, a fellow and former classmate at Marquette inspires her and her work. “Marge (Margaret) Tomasiewicz was one of the first friends that I made at Marquette,” Dickey says. “She was older than me, so she took me under her wing.” Tomasiewicz is an alumna of the College of Communication. Dickey says she is a talented actress and helped her prepare for auditions. “I aspire to be something like (Tomasiewicz) especially when I graduate,” Dickey says. In addition to performing, Dickey says she enjoys being a spectator. “I love watching really good theater. … I love watching people do what they love, and I can tell when people are on stage and they just love (performing),” Dickey says. Dickey says she hopes to pursue a career in the entertainment industry either on a production team or behind the scenes with Photo By Jordan Johnson Art By Skylar Daley

Come True communications — though she did not always want to take this path. During one of her high school musicals, Dickey says she finally got the courage to sing in front of people. But during one of the performances her voice cracked. Dickey says that although this experience was once a “mortifying” one, she is now able to look back at it and laugh. “Once I was able to be comfortable laughing at myself and laughing at my mistakes, that was when I realized that this was something that I was okay doing,” Dickey says. “I was okay making mistakes, and I was just willing to be okay with whatever the world threw at me.” Like Dickey, Ahmed says theater is all about being in the moment with people. He says theater is a place where people come together. “When you’re creating something, it elicits emotion and elicits reactions from the audience. The connection and electricity that you feel as a performer, there’s a connection and it breaks down walls. People are different, and through art it bridges that gap,” he says.

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How to Heal in a New Place Jaiden Schueller

When sleeping feet from a roommate (or two or three), sharing bathrooms and showers with an entire floor and sharing desks and dining halls with the entire student body, germs are destined to spread. As the school year starts off and the weather begins to cool down, it can be easy to catch the common cold, or sometimes a more severe illness like mono or pneumonia. Before racing to the Marquette University Medical Clinic, there are a few different home remedies to try to help cure your sickness from the comfort of your own residence hall or apartment. The following remedies and treatments have been gathered from reliable sources and has proven to work by recommendations from my mom and grandma, so they must be the best.

Marshmallows Is the dry, cold winter making your throat sore? Try eating a marshmallow, or a few. The gelatin in marshmallow has the ability to coat your throat after you swallow it. It allows your throat to be soothed and moist, providing a saturated barrier from the brisk Milwaukee weather.

Honey Nothing is worse than an ongoing cough during a lecture. A Pennsylvania State University study shows a spoonful of honey has the same or sometimes an even stronger effect than over-the-counter cough medicine. Other than being a natural remedy, honey also prompts a better night’s sleep while one is sick. In general, honey is also a great natural source for stimulating immune systems.

A hot shower Most of us underestimate the effects of a plain and simple hot shower. Although taking a hot shower may not cure sickness fully, the benefits of standing under steaming water are plenty. A hot shower can: Loosen congestion in nasal passage and chest Dilate blood vessels Relieve headaches Relax muscle aches Wash away germs and prevent them from spreading If you are congested and cannot gather the energy to jump in the shower, run hot water into the sink. Once the sink is full and steaming, place your head just above the water and drape a towel over the back of your head. As you breathe in the steam, it will loosen congestion in your nose and chest without the hassle of full submersion. After taking a shower or breathing in steam, make sure to drink a full glass of water to prevent dehydration and cool down your body.

Green tea Tea, especially green tea, contains an abundance of antioxidants and vitamins useful for sustaining a healthy lifestyle. Antioxidants in green tea protect the body’s cells from damage or sickness and can help fight off disease. Aside from drinking green tea while sick, drinking it every day can lower the odds of heart disease and certain kinds of cancers, according to an article from Healthline. The Brew and every dining hall on campus offer a plethora of beverages, including teas. To save money, take a trip to one of the dining halls or The Brew to grab a tea bag or two. For those who despise the taste of green tea, you can get the same results as drinking it if you simply gargle and spit it out, a BMC Public Health study shows. 26

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Daily Care

Ginger From the beginning of time, ginger has been used to cure all different types of sicknesses. As science advanced, it has been found to be best used to cure body aches, specifically stomachaches. Ginger is an all-natural anti-inflammatory remedy and can make you feel better within minutes of consumption. The best part? Ginger comes in many different forms, most of which work the same. So take your pick: all-natural ginger ale, fresh ginger root in tea, ginger chews and supplements, candied ginger, the list goes on.

To prevent yourself from getting sick initially, always remember to take general care of yourself each and every day: Stay hydrated, get proper sleep, wash your hands frequently and eat healthily. Taking proper care of your body while you are healthy can aid you in remaining healthy.

Often the best remedies are not at the pharmacy or clinic but rather in the kitchen cabinet or around the residence hall. On the other hand, make sure you get necessary medical attention. If you feel as though home remedies or over-the-counter medication may not be able to help, contact your doctor or a physician at the Medical Clinic.

Art By Chelsea Johanning

Marquette Student Off-Campus Housing (262) 721-6280

One $500 Bonus Per House Expires August 31, 2021 Call for Details

Fall 2019

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Finding Home Finding Home is a series of projects looking deeper into the aspects of what we call home in the Marquette and Milwaukee communities. The series explores homelessness, the Jesuit Mission, the rising cost of tuition and the health of our enviornment.

Photo By Jordan Johnson

Fall 2019

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A New Lease on

Life

This is the story of Jeff Stingley as told by Matthew Harte.

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don’t bring anything permanent in during my first year living here. I keep my clothes to a minimum, enough for a duffel bag. I don’t pack too much food in the freezer. No pictures are on the walls. It’s a one-bedroom unit on the first floor in a building at 28th Street and Highland Avenue in Milwaukee. When I first walk in, I get to work making fried chicken. The apartment has a large living room, a small kitchen, a bedroom and bathroom. The white carpeting in the bedroom and living room has recently been shampooed. The shutters for the kitchen window are missing and one of the stove burners does not turn on. Other than that, it’s a nice place to live. It’s all mine, too. I come and go as I please. I can lock my stuff up and take a shower any time I want. There’s heating and air conditioning, too. Housing First brings the couch, bed, table and dishes for me. They call it a ‘starter kit’. My first night here my friend Ronald stays over. In the early days, I’m never sure when I might have to leave, when I might have to go back to sleeping on the streets. Freedom in Carver Park For two years, I stayed in Carver Park. It always feels like home. Ronald and I remember our childhoods there. The park has a swimming pool with a diving board and 6-foot and 12-foot deep swimming areas. My auntie and cousins live across the street. We watch Fourth of July fireworks from the grass. On hot summer nights, we climb the pool fence and go swimming. We run when the police come by. The park has changed since we were kids. The swimming pool is gone and now it’s a splash pad. The north side used to be filled with houses, like the one my auntie lived in. Now, there are three baseball fields in their place. It is a small and friendly park, even today. There are barbecues and music everyday. Beckum-Stapleton Little League has its baseball games on the fields, and other groups play kickball. Mr. James Beckum played for the East St. Louis Giants in the Negro leagues when he was younger. After he stopped playing, he set the fields up for youth baseball teams to use. He’s a good man. Mr. Beckum comes everyday to look after the fields. He knows a lot of us are sleeping down at the park. He just wants us to be safe. He opens up the bathrooms early to let us wash up. In return, we help him clean up the park. There’s about five of us in the park, including Ronald. We have QUEST cards we use for food, or we go down to St. Ben’s for breakfast and St. James Cathedral for dinner. On summer nights, I put two picnic tables together, put my sleeping bag down and go to sleep. Other people sleep in the dugouts. Every morning, I use the bathroom sink to brush my teeth and 30

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Photos By Jordan Johnson


wash my face. I hide all my stuff in the bushes and head over to Repairers of the Breach, a daytime homeless shelter, to shower and change my clothes. On the north side of the park, there’s a small building with bathrooms. The heat is left on in the winter, so I sleep in the men’s restroom. Ronald takes the women’s. It’s an interesting situation. There’s freedom in Carver Park. Not like the shelters from before. I spent previous winters at Milwaukee Rescue Mission or The Guest House — whichever one I can get into. Trials and Tribulations Before breakfast, lunch, dinner and even bed, there’s a service you go to at the Rescue Mission. They just push the church on you so much. The staff members talk to you like you’re beneath them, like you are dirt. People come in drunk because they don’t want to deal with the staff. At night when you shower, your clothes and belongings go in a milk crate. If you put money or valuables in that crate, they are gone. After showering, you can’t wear your own clothes or underwear to bed. Two-hundred men sleeping in hospital gowns with no underwear; but that’s the Mission’s way of doing things. You do it, or you leave. Guest House is nice. They push you to get a job or go to treatment, but they don’t force you. They give you goals and help you if you want help. I have a disk in my back that slips out, so it is hard for me to get a job. Most companies do not want to risk an employee getting it and it is hard to get workers’ compensation because it’s a preexisting injury. Though in 2010, I get a job at Quad/Graphics through a temp agency while living between the Mission and the Guest House. One day as I am heading to work, my back gives out. I go to my boss with my medical records, but they say the job is too stressful and let me go. I never like the work much, anyways. A couple years before Quad/Graphics, I am a line cook at the Cathedral of St. John’s. I work in a lunch program to feed the homeless and get a lot of compliments from the people who come to eat. It’s my favorite job. I have experience cooking. At 18 years old, I’m sentenced to 15 years in jail for a robbery on the East side. I did it with some people I went to high school with. After probation and everything, it feels like 20 years. When you do something that young and you’re black, it follows you for a long time. I start time at Green Bay Correctional Institution, but they ship me around Wisconsin, between Kettle Moraine, Thompson, Oregon, Winnebago and Waupun. Inmates are expected to do support jobs during their time in prison, like janitorial duties or laundry. I’m a cook, so I make food at all the different locations. I’m determined not to go back once I leave prison. I don’t have any money and can’t get a job because of my back problems. It’s

best to go to shelters or to the streets. Either that or hustle and steal and just end up back in jail. I’m in a better place now. I can talk about my struggles. Home I meet Mary Ann Patti when I’m in Carver Park. She’s from a nonprofit called Community Advocate, the organization that coordinates outreach programs that support the homeless. I tell her my story and she makes a call to Housing First. Housing First provides funding to find homeless people a permanent place to stay. I have an initial interview with them and afterwards, the interviewers identify that I’m chronically homeless. A week later, Housing First starts taking me around to look for apartments. It takes only three weeks after the initial interview to get me into the apartment on Highland. Without Housing First, I would still be living in Carver Park. They brought me into a stable living situation for the first time in my life. I know I can keep more permanent things in my apartment. A new dresser, a bigger TV, more food and clothes. I know I won’t have to pack it up and leave in a moment’s notice. I suffer through a heart attack last year and Housing First encourages me to move to a new apartment. It’s in Walker’s Point and on Jan. 1, I move in. It’s where I live now. It’s a lot nicer. It feels like a permanent home. I stay healthy and keep up with my medications and doctor visits. I have a case manager from Community Advocate who comes to check on me twice a month. She makes sure I keep my appointments and helps file medical paperwork to determine if I can work again. My back problems keep me from getting a new job, but she helps me fill out vocational rehabilitation forms. I go back to the park every day to see everyone I know, Ronald, Ty and James. We sit around and barbecue, talk about old times and about the people we haven’t seen in awhile. We just kick it. They’re in housing now, too. I’m on the advisory board for Housing First. I go to the office every few days. I work with other board members to learn how to help people better. It helps to share my story to help others. I also work with the Police Academy and even went to Madison to talk with Wisconsin Senator Lena Taylor about homelessness. People are becoming more aware about why people are homeless. I’m getting my story out there. It helps me grow. We are not bad or evil people. We are just going through the trials and tribulations of life. Some of us get stuck and some of us can move forward. We are all just human beings. I’m still Jeff Stingley, but I’m more at peace now. I don’t have to worry about the rain anymore. Last night, I saw a man sleeping outside at the bus stop. It was pouring rain. You just have to say, ‘Lord, look out for that man.’ Just like you looked out for me.

“We aren’t bad or evil people. We’re just going through the trials and tribulations of life. Some of us get stuck and some of us can move forward. we are all just human beings.”

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Under the Overpass Matthew Martinez

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ake a moment to consider life without four walls and a roof; without shelter from the storm; without safety, or warmth, or a place to call your own. A house or apartment provides more than a place to rest: it provides security, stability and certainty knowing that there’s a place to call home. These protections were not guaranteed for 553,000 Americans on an average night in 2018, according to the Department of Housing and Urban Development. That includes 4, 907 Wisconsinites, among them 660 families and 332 veterans, according to the United States Interagency Council on Homelessness. During the 2016-’17 school year, a study by the National Center for Homeless Education found more than one million homeless students in America, including more than 19,000 from the state of Wisconsin. The McKinney-Vento Act is a federal law ensuring the right of students to go receive an education even when they do not have a permanent address or who are experiencing homeless. The act counts students who are living doubled up in another residence due to economic circumstances. Doubled up is defined by “children and youths who are sharing the housing of other persons due to loss of housing, economic hardship or similar reason.” “About 75% of our homeless students are living doubled up,” Kristine Nadolski, co-coordinator of the Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction’s homeless education program, says. “HUD doesn’t really account for that.” Homelessness is a complex problem that does not have a single solution. However, many Milwaukee community members are working toward the goal of ending homelessness their own ways. Eric Collins-Dyke is a homeless outreach services manager for the Housing First program. Its mission is simple: end homelessness by giving shelter to those who need it most. Housing First has given shelter to more than 400 people since 2015. It has a retention rate of 96%. Collins-Dyke says a large reason for the program’s success is the utilizations of vouchers. Housing First, Section 8 (otherwise known as the Housing Choice Voucher Program) and shelter care vouchers are all useable with landlords around Milwaukee county. The vouchers provide assistance in paying for rent and utility expenses for low-income tenants. Applicants for vouches are given priority based on the vulnerability index, a nationwide test HUD determines on how urgent it is to place 32

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someone in housing. “There’s a couple of weeks here this summer … where we’ve seen families with multiple children on the street,” Collins-Dyke gives as an example of someone with priority. “Generally, if you have minor children, you’re prioritized into shelter housing placement.” Those whose lives are at risk if they remain homeless are perceived as a priority status. The vulnerability index accounts for risk of those experiencing homelessness, including time spent on the street, substance abuse and chronic homelessness. Chronic homelessness defines a person who is prone to experience bouts of homelessness for extended periods of time. Collins-Dyke says a person is considered chronically homeless if they are without shelter for four periods of time, equal to 365 days over the course of three years. Collins-Dyke says Housing First tries to provide tenants with furniture, like a bed, dresser couch or coffee table, as funding allows. Tenants can also connect with Housing First’s support system which includes onsite case managers provided by seven different community partners. Tenants at Housing First can receive help for any medical or behavioral health issues, secure legal consultations or receive aid in re-entering employment. In order to make this happen, Housing First gets part of its funding from Milwaukee County, particularly the county tax levy, a property tax that funds government affairs determined by the county assessor. Collins-Dyke credits Milwaukee County executive Chris Abele for the funding stream. Collins-Dyke says Milwaukee’s current housing market is optimal for Housing First, as low rent and a 6-8% vacancy rate make vouchers easier to distribute. “You can still get a one-bedroom here for like $650,” Collins-Dyke says. “We’re pretty unique in that sense.” He points to the city of Madison as an example of where vouchers are priced out of the rental market. He warns, however, rapid economic development in Milwaukee might draw a similar outcome in the next five years. New housing practices are also complicating the program. Many landlords are amenable to Housing First as they appreciate the guaranteed money that comes from tenants with vouchers, but new application fees fall in a funding gap for Housing First. “For any apartment at this point, whether it’s mom-and-pop private landlords or larger, everyone is charging application fees,” Collins-Dyke says. “What we’re seeing is … 30, 40, 25 dollars that we don’t have.” Beth Weirick, CEO of Milwaukee Downtown, is hoping to fill that gap. Photo By Elena Fiegen


Key to Change, a nonprofit organization Milwaukee Downtown formed in 2017, is one of the funding streams for Housing First, as it facilitates donations to the Housing First endowment fund and movein kits for Housing First units that include clothes, toiletries and blankets. The organization recently expanded to provide donations to pay application fees for voucher applicants. Weirick says Milwaukee Downtown also helps cover security deposits. “We can make that cash available to offset or completely cover costs that might be affiliated with either of those processes,” Weirick says. “I’ve been told that’s anywhere from 100 to 300 dollars, it really depends on the unit and the landlord agreement.” As of Oct. 4, the future of the encampment is now in jeopardy. The Wisconsin Department of Transportation served the encampment an eviction notice citing the need to begin work on that stretch of I-794. Residents of the camp have until Oct. 31 to clear their belongings. “The DOT has been a patient and understanding partner in all of this, and has assured us that we will have the necessary time needed to find indoor placements for everyone at the encampment,” Collins-Dyke says in an email. Collins-Dyke says the next steps will be to get camp residents into temporary housing that will double as an assessment center to move into more permanent solutions. Housing First will work in conjunction with Outreach Community Health Centers, Homeless Outreach Nursing Center (Community Advocates) and Impact 2-1-1 to set up temporary shelters. The Red Cross is donating cots, blankets, water and food for the shelters. The United Way of Great Milwaukee and Waukesha County are donating $75,000 to the effort, which Collins-Dyke says he is grateful for. While Collins-Dyke says there are pockets of drug use and some assaults that have occurred at the camps, he says people experiencing homelessness are not unsafe human beings; they live in unsafe environments and unsafe things happen there. “When you’re painting the population with a broad brush, it does a massive disservice,” Collins-Dyke says. Between Collins-Dyke and Weirick, there’s a common sentiment: “Housing is a human right.” Visible to Marquette students is the Milwaukee Rescue Mission located on the corner of 18th and Wells streets. President of the Rescue Mission Patrick Vanderburgh says he’s glad to be a neighbor to Marquette. The Mission has 150 bed and houses around 170 men on average, Vanderburgh says. During the winter, the shelter can have up to 250 single men staying there in a night. He adds the population at the shelter is constantly changing. Since Jan. 1, he estimates 1,200 different individuals have rotated through the shelter. “The number isn’t static,” Vanderburgh says. Vanderburgh says he’s recently seen a greater influx of people at the shelter from the suburbs, particularly “young men from affluent or middle-class communities.” The Mission’s guiding principles come from the Christian faith, Vanderburgh says. It offers a number of programs, including overcoming drug addiction and helping men enter the workforce. It organizes the Joy House, which provides support to homeless women with children and the Door of Hope that provides similar support to unaccompanied women. The goal of these programs is “transformation through the Gospel,” Vanderburgh says. He add the church can be helpful, especial-

ly when it comes to lifelong struggles against addiction. “We make it very clear to people (that) if they come here, they’re going to hear about Jesus,” Vanderburgh says. “But our food, clothing and shelter are open to everyone.” The Mission’s policies also reflect on safety. Tenants can come and go as they please, but there is a 7 p.m. curfew. There’s also a metal detector and tenants are expected not to be intoxicated, though Vanderburgh says they can be flexible if tenants are cooperative. Vanderburgh says Marquette UniverPhoto By Jordan Johnson sity Police DepartEric Collins-Dyke talks about housing ment has been a first. great help in providing security for residents of the shelter. MUPD officer Gary Bray says the Mission is the “go-to location” for MUPD when trying to help an individual locate a shelter because of how close it is to campus. Bray has been leading MUPD’s homeless outreach team for five years. The team has received training in conjunction with the Milwaukee Police Department to learn about services it can provide to people experiencing homelessness. While the department does not have specific policies in place to address homelessness, Bray says it’s covered by the unwritten rule of the department: “We just try to help people,” Bray says. “Maybe it’s, you know, kind of a new start on life.” Though, Bray says MUPD does not forcibly relocate homeless people off of Marquette’s campus. MUPD also provides resources from different organizations in its roll call room. Bray cites the Church of Gesu as a major donor, but also says that students and employees have dropped off clothes and toiletries. However, a recent interaction with a local non-profit indicates that people distributing food to the homeless on their own might receive tickets. Eva Welch, co-founder of the non-profit Milwaukee Street Angels, posted to Facebook Sept. 19 about MUPD sending a response team when the Street Angles tried to distribute food in the parking lot of the once Ramada Inn that Marquette has purchased. The post says MUPD officers arrived at the scene and asked about the Street Angels’ activity on the lot, stating that tickets would be distributed if they return. MUPD did not respond to comment before deadlines regarding this incident. However, Bray says things have changed over the last few years from when organizations would act independently and do things on their own, citing a willingness for organizations to talk more to each other about what they can do to better serve Milwaukee’s homeless population. “Things are changing and we’re starting to talk a lot more with different organizations and trying to have a collaborative effort,” Bray says. “That’s kind of changing, which is very positive.” Fall 2019

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odd jobs and academics Lelah Byron

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or Alfonso Martinez, it’s hard to even sit in a classroom without thinking about money. Martinez, a junior in the College of Business Administration, was a freshman when his parents got divorced. On top of the transition from his home in Milwaukee to an on-campus dorm, he found himself dealing with another obstacle: paying his own way through college. “Being able to support myself and support my education was a very hard task,” he says. He worked as a cook, a membership analyst, a teen program leader and a Badger Boys State counselor just to stay financially stable. Now, Martinez is the chairman of Marquette University Student Government’s Diversity, Equity and Social Justice Committee, and works in the Milwaukee Public School system as a mentor and workshop coordinator for high school students. He says his dream job is some form of social work, but it’s difficult to find the financial support for it. “You only have so many hours in a day, and having to devote that time to working takes a lot of time away from … the things that can really help you in your career,” he says. Every year, Martinez has to save up for food, books, miscellaneous school products and tuition. When the Board of Trustees approved a $2,060 tuition increase to be implemented in the 2019-’20 school year, he says it came as a surprise. “I didn’t see it as a possibility,” he says. “I thought Marquette would be more (financially) stable.” Acting Provost Kimo Ah Yun explains that tuition rates are set by the Board of Trustees after considering certain costs. The costs include benefits for faculty and staff, student scholarships in the form of tuition discounts, support services like technology, public safety and residence life and various administrative expenses like insurance. The reason for the tuition increase wasn’t clear to Martinez, and says he didn’t budget for it. Although his two jobs at MPS and MUSG have taken up most of his time, the tuition increase has forced Martinez to look for another. “With rent and everything … I’m not up to par with what I need,” he says. “Two grand is almost unattainable. It also doesn’t account for the things that can go wrong,” Martinez says, referring to potential health emergencies due to unforeseen circumstances or the loss of a job. Martinez isn’t alone. A petition to freeze tuition for students currently enrolled at Marquette racked up more than 2,000 signatures in 2018. Although it has since stalled, a Facebook group started by 34

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Timothy Gomez, a junior in the College of Arts & Sciences, advocates for a similar goal. When Gomez started his Facebook group, he sent it to about 30 of his friends via email. He says he was “a little” shocked when it jumped up to 112 members. The page includes memes and graphics representing Marquette’s tuition rates over the years. “Instead of just having a bunch of people grumbling, you can have one group working together trying to solve the problem,” he says. Gomez says he believes the group is beneficial to facilitate conversation. Additionally, if he ever schedules a meeting with administrators like President Lovell to address his concerns over the tuition increase, he says he feels more confident in large numbers. “I think it gives you more legitimacy because if a few people go in there, it doesn’t really matter,” Gomez says. What he and Martinez both want to know, they say, is where the money from the tuition increase is ultimately going. Daniel Brophy, executive vice president of MUSG and a senior in the College of Arts & Sciences, says he expected students to be confused about the increase. “It’s just like, if you were being charged $10 more for a haircut, you would want to know why you were being charged that extra $10,” he says. Brophy says petitions aren’t particularly effective because he doesn’t see the possibility of Marquette completely freezing tuition. He says petitions do, however, help identify some problems students have about tuition. “The idea that I kind of got was a lot of students want transparency on this,” Brophy says. The desire for transparency is what led Brophy to organize a meeting with several key executives from the Budget Office. Jay Kutka, university budget director, is one of the administrators who gave a talk to MUSG Senate in 2018 about the tuition increase. Kutka says Marquette gets the majority of its money from tuition and fees. Tuition and fees accounted for 61.4% of total revenue from the 2018-19 fiscal year. Room and board was 11.4%. Those numbers alone, Kutka says, prove how dependent Marquette is on its students. “You can try to change (how dependent Marquette is on tuition) … but it would be hard,” Kutka says. Ah Yun says he understands what a significant sacrifice college is for students and families. “Knowing the financial burden that higher education places on many of our students and their families, we cannot rely on tuition increases to pursue our ambitious plans,” he writes in an email. The plans were not specified. Ah Yun includes a link in his email that leads to a Marquette web-


site which includes graph representations of tuition breakdowns. According to the website, 47% of tuition dollars are used for faculty and staff compensation, 26% is used for student scholarships and 16% is used for student support. The other 11% goes toward facility and administrative services. The site’s last update was from 2017, but university spokesperson Chris Stolarski says it always references one solid fiscal year behind. It won’t be updated until later this fall when the Board of Trustees announces new tuition rates. “The tuition breakdown seldom changes much, if at all. If anything, a few categories may move by a cent or two on the dollar. Though it’s older, it’s still a fair representation of an average tuition dollar breakdown,” he writes in an email. The university makes some difficult decisions to keep its cost structure in line, Kutka says. To manage costs and efficiencies, Marquette recently chose not to fill 49 current and future employee vacancies, and it laid off 24 staff members across the administrative, academic and athletics departments of the campus. The goal, according to University President Michael Lovell’s Sept. 5 letter to faculty and staff, is to ensure the institution remains financially stable. He cites rising tuition as a factor for the decision. Ultimately, Kutka says, tuition increases are for the benefit of the students. “Marquette is very diligent about where they’re putting the resources to keep Marquette viable,” Kutka says. Kutka says the money students are paying the university isn’t going toward frivolous causes. He cites the occupational therapy and physician assistant programs as areas of particular focus. “Those are all good things for Marquette’s survival because that’s where the need is growing,” he says. “I think we’re being proactive in that.” Marquette is also building new online courses, Kutka says. David Cheval was recently hired to expand the Marquette University online program. He also says Marquette is fundraising specifically for increased scholarships and financial aid. Brophy says that due to the complex nature of Marquette’s hierarchies, students who are not in leadership positions may not have the opportunity to meet with administrators. “There’s this general information and communication barrier between students and the university, and I think that has always existed,” Brophy says. To bridge the gap between students and administrators, Kutka and Brophy say they both hope to orchestrate another presentation, similar to Kukta’s presentation about the tuition increase last January, that will be open to the general community, Brophy says. In the meantime, Brophy says he encourages students with questions about tuition to approach MUSG. While they play no role in decreasing tuition, he says they do want to hear any concerns that may arise in hopes to bring it to the administration.

“We don’t want students thinking ill or thinking badly of university administrators just because there’s a bad communication or miscommunication there,” he says. Ah Yun says he stresses the university takes matters of affordability seriously and recognizes it is not just a Marquette-specific problem. According to the Commonfund Higher Education Price Index, inflation for U.S. colleges and universities is forecasted to rise 2.6% in fiscal year 2019. Projected inflation for salaries alone is 2%. The U.S. annual inflation rate is 1.6%. Educational institutions in Wisconsin are tackling the issue of national tuition rises in different ways. Carthage College, a private liberal arts school in Kenosha with a student population of 2,800, announced it will decrease its sticker price by $13,000 for the 2020-’21 academic year. Brandon Rook, director of public relations, says the school arrived at the decision after an administrative task reviewed a Sallie Mae study that reviewed how students and parents pay for college. “Given this research, the effect of the new Carthage model will be to help more families see that Carthage is more affordable than they would have thought,” Rook says. The Carthage College change may also be purely cosmetic, Kutka says. “I don’t know if the net benefit for the student is going to change,” he says. According to the Carthage website, families can expect to pay the same Photo By Jordan Johnson net price as they would have before the tuition slash. Essentially, the move decreases the sticker price of the school, not what students have been paying all along. Gomez says he isn’t expecting a drastic tuition slash but is hoping his Facebook group tests the waters for small-scale reforms like book vouchers and streamlined communication. He says he suggests sending a school-wide email outlining what money is used for. “People do struggle a lot, and people’s families are struggling to send them here,” Gomez says. Martinez says the burden of funding his own college education has taken a mental and physical toll. Going to parties and grabbing dinner are luxurious Martinez says he can’t afford. “There are a lot of times where you wish you didn’t have the financial trouble that you do because you could do so much more,” he says. “I don’t see it as a healthy thing.” Martinez is currently working on a financial literacy event with Diversity, Equity and Social Justice Committee and Chase Bank. He says he plans on teaching how to navigate loans, mortgages and credit. “Instead of viewing (financial insecurity) as a preexisting condition, I saw an opportunity to change it,” he says. Ultimately, Martinez says he views his time in college — and his financial struggles — as a stepping stone. He says knows he’ll be able to help people like himself in the future. “I think the mindset that I have has really pushed me through,” he says. “I’m sacrificing myself for the person I will become tomorrow.” Fall 2019

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TRANSFORMIng the wor Emily Rouse

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n order to “set the world on fire”, one must acquire the tools to make the flame. It’s the mission of Marquette University to have their students be “ready in every way to go” and become problem solvers and agents for change in the footsteps of St. Ignatius and Fr. Jacques Marquette. To change the world, everyone must do their own part, Fr. Beausoleil, adjunct professor in the College of Education and pastoral minister in Schroeder Hall, says. “I like to say to students, ‘Not only be the difference, but be a difference, individually,’” Fr. Beausoleil says. Before Marquette reached students globally, it started small. The current cost of a Marquette education in 2019 is over three times the $16,000 grant that started the university. It began as an all-male, liberal arts college named by Fr. John Martin Henni in 1881 in honor of missionary and explorer Fr. Jacques Marquette, according to the university’s website. Today, Marquette is one of 27 Jesuit universities in the country and one of 188 in the world, according to the Association of Jesuit Colleges & Universities. The commitment to “academic excellence, service, leadership and caring for the whole person” ties these institutions together. Fr. Beausoleil says during his time in college, one political science professor changed his view on the power of education. “He invested time in me, he mentored me. … I was all over the place.” Beausoleil says. “First I was pre-business, then I was theatre, then I was history. But this political science course and this one professor changed my life.” Fr. Frederick P. Zagone, director of operations for the Jesuit Residence and acting vice president of the Office of Mission and Ministry, says the value of a Catholic education comes in learning beyond “practical course content.” “One of the things that I’ve learned from our alumni is they feel like at a place like Marquette, they learned how to think,” Fr. Zagone says. “That’s real important, especially when we’re in such a rapidly changing world.” Pausing throughout one’s day to think about accomplishments and goals is an essential extension of Ignation Spirituality, Fr. Zagone says. Reflection allows people to discover themselves. “I learned about myself and about my values (through reflec36

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tion),” Fr. Zagone says. “(In prayer) we often use the prayer of our Father Arrupe: What is it that gets you out of bed in the morning? What is it that excites you? What is it that you’ve fallen in love with?” Fr. Pedro Arrupe was a figure in the church who still influences current practicing Jesuits. To become a Jesuit, the formation process can take between 10-15 years, according to the USA Midwest Province Jesuits. The first two years consist of prayer and spiritual exercises in a stage of formation called the novitiate. Novices then participate in an extended period of academic training, studying philosophy and theology and often teach at a Jesuit institution. Jesuit brothers are then ordained, and in tertianship — the last stage of formation — they go on a final spiritual retreat at a Jesuit retreat center and make vows to the faith. Like many undergraduates, Jesuit graduate students partake in a variety of activities. “Because I’m doing a Ph.D., I’m studying, reading (and) I also get a good workout in,” Fr. Chris Krall, a graduate student and the youngest Jesuit Father at Marquette, says. “I pray (and) I celebrate Mass with the rest of my community.” Jesuits take four vows to the faith: poverty, chastity, obedience and a special vow of obedience to the pope, in which they must be ready to accept a mission wherever their services are needed. In February 2019, the Society of Jesus released four priorities to guide the mission of Jesuits for the next decade; these priorities include showing the way to God, walking with the poor, accompanying the young and caring for the environment. Fr. Beausoleil is currently in the process of his 13-month tertianship. He says he felt called to start tertianship this past summer, and as part of the process participates in faith sharing and volunteers in areas needing social justice. He will conclude his formation in summer 2020 with another silent retreat, reviewing the Jesuit constitution and final vows. While every Jesuit priest goes through formation, the process is highly individualized, Fr. Krall says. “The formation process is not like a cookie cutter that’s just trying to shape us into being all the same,” Fr. Krall says. “It’s highlighting the talents and the gifts … that each person has and then (looking at) how those gifts can best be developed and enhanced … for the greater glory of God.” Marquette and other Jesuit institutions seek to highlight these talents through “cura personalis,” or care for the whole person. The Jesuit Institute London, a group providing instructional resources for Jesuit schools, defines the role of both teachers and students in


orld to a community accomplishing this goal. Teachers are to be “more than academic guides” and take interest in instilling in students “a commitment to service that will make (students) agents of change”; students should actively participate in — and not passively receive — “his or her own personal call from God, (which is) a vocation of service in personal and professional life.” Fr. Beausoleil teaches Philosophy of Education to undergraduates and his goal in doing so is to “instill a passion … (toward) excellence in teaching.” He adds that part of the Jesuit education’s purpose is to inspire development of “faith that does justice.” “St. Ignatius is famous for saying, ‘Love shows itself in deeds more than words,’” Fr. Beausoleil says. “So, I think that carries on into the classroom. You’ve got the theories and all these words — but you want those words to be put into practice.” The fifth teacher in a family of seven, Fr. Beausoleil says he was inspired to become an educator not only by his family, but also by the priests of his past. “The priestly role is a teaching role,” Fr. Beausoleil says. “One of the reasons I’m a priest is because I’ve had good spiritual direction with priests throughout the years, … (and) being touched in the heart that way, you want to give back.” Jesuit influence on student life extends to having pastoral ministers in the residence halls. Fr. Beausoleil, the pastoral minister in Schroeder Hall, says his job includes offering pastoral care, providing spiritual direction and, as a former pastry chef, baking sweet treats for residents. “I’ll bake a bunch of stuff and put it out on the front desk and it’s first come first serve — I’m definitely not making 1400 cookies for 700 residents,” Fr. Beausoleil says as he laughs. The Dr. E. J. O’Brien Jesuit Residence, located at 1345 W. Wells St., is a living space that students may be less familiar with. The building houses many of Marquette’s Jesuit priests, and although undergraduates do not live there, Fr. Krall says the Jesuit Residence plays an essential role in building a sense of community by hosting opportunities for students to receive spiritual direction, attend advising sessions, go to Mass or even eat a casual meal. “I think (the Jesuit residence is) a pretty hospitable house,” Fr. Beausoleil says. “We don’t say no to opportunities for hospitality, and it’s been the most hospitable community that I’ve lived in as a Jesuit.” Fr. Zagone says what called him to being a campus minister rather than a parish priest was the opportunity to exercise his ministry among students, with part of this experience being move in day.

Fr. Zagone participated in move in day this school year, as many students prepared to start a new journey on campus. “Well even just working (move in) this morning and seeing the life and the energy of the students that are moving in and seeing the new journey that they’re beginning, … I still sense that kind of excitement myself,” Fr. Zagone says: “It’s a new year and … new people will come into place, and so much of what we do or what we become is based on where we’ve been and who we meet.” Students who are not Catholic can still find value in a Jesuit education, Fr. Beausoleil adds. “We have people of all faiths on our campus — we have people of no faith on our campus — so usually for people of no faith I change (‘finding God in all things’) to ‘finding good in all things,” Fr. Beausoleil says. Fr. Krall, who is pursuing a Ph.D. in both theology and neuroscience, says there is potential to integrate faith into all areas of study, including the sciences, and this is core to the Jesuit identity. “I go into Schroeder Complex (where) the biological sciences (are), and I’m wearing my collar and (I’m asked), ‘Father are you lost? This isn’t the theology department,’” Fr. Krall laughs. “(But) the Jesuits have been the ones to be on that frontier of bringing into dialogue theology with the sciences (and) the humanities. It’s about how do we find God in all things … (and) to see the greater glory of God alive in the world.” Faith is also essential to solving the issues plaguing the world around us, Fr. Krall adds. He says the key to resilience is a “faithbased approach” and “faith in some kind of tradition.” “(If we) take a pill to make (ourselves) feel better and make (ourselves) feel happy, like this easy way out, that’s never going to give us full satisfaction,” Fr. Krall says. “That’s where there’s something deep about coming together as a community, coming together as a church, … and (touching) into some of those deep wounds and longings that we have that no drug or alcohol can quench.” Above all, Fr. Krall says he believes the most important takeaway from a Marquette education is something intangible: a team mentality. “I think it’s neat that when you go to a basketball game, it’s like the one time the entire Marquette community is together, … but I hope (that mindset) can extend beyond simply the basketball court,” Fr. Krall says. “We are all together working for one common mission. We’re a team (and) we’re a community — we all bring different gifts and talents that we have to transform the world.” Photo By Jordan Johnson

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waters Amanda Parrish

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olling out of bed, Marquette students begin their day, perhaps, by walking into the bathroom and turning on the shower. Once the water turns off, drips from their hair and begins to dry from the shower floor, their hands might next reach to let the water flow from the faucet. Then, throughout the day they seek out water fountains to refill water bottles, on their way passing by bathrooms with toilets flushing and sinks running. Despite its prominence, rarely does it come to mind what is in the water that runs throughout their day. Water not only hydrates and cleans, but also sustains islands of green in the swath of city streets to bring clean air and places to hang hammocks. But an excess of nutrients can put the health of water, and subsequently home, at risk. Nitrogen and phosphorus, specifically, play a large role in water health as they can lead to issues like that of eutrophication. Like all living things, plants need nitrogen and phosphorus to survive, and when they don’t receive an adequate amount, fertilizers rich in those nutrients are often applied to soil. Plants then take up the nutrients through their roots to grow taller and stronger. Without nitrogen and phosphorus, plants would be unable to produce the proteins and energy needed to grow. But a mixture of too much fertilizer and heavy rainfall can pose a problem. Runoff — water that does not get absorbed into the ground — can pull excess nutrients along with it into rivers, says Anthony Parolari, assistant professor of civil, construction and environmental engineering at Marquette. Once in waterways, these nutrients can stimulate the growth of algae. He says its growth uses up oxygen, creating dead zones and leaving aquatic life without the oxygen that is essential to its survival. “There can be other impacts like when oxygen is low, different bacteria start to grow that don’t need oxygen,” Parolari says. “Those bacteria make hydrogen sulfide, which smells bad. They make methane, which is a greenhouse gas.” Some algae caused by excess nutrients, such as cyanobacteria, Parolari adds, can also produce toxins that have harmful effects on both the environment and human health. Milwaukee’s waterways have been victim of algal blooms in the past, according to the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources. The Milwaukee River Basin has received grades ranging from D+ to C+ since 2014, receiving a C- in the most recent 2017 assessment. Waters within the C range have “a mix of healthy and unhealthy water quality indicators or indicators are only meeting water quality targets 70 – 79% of the time,” according to the 2017 Milwaukee Water Basin Report Card. This denotes fair water quality and conditions for

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most aquatic life. The impact of excess nutrients on waterways have a health, aesthetic and recreational impact, says Cheryl Nenn, riverkeeper at Milwaukee Riverkeeper. As a riverkeeper, Nenn assesses and patrols Milwaukee’s rivers for pollutants or other concerns, and finds solutions to these issues. Pollution, such as that caused by nutrients, can be dangerous to humans and animals, and Nenn says, is often to blame for beach closings. Additionally, algal blooms and other impacts of pollution can leave waterways unsightly as pollutants kill aquatic life and nearby vegetation. Nutrient pollution threatens clean waters and can also prevent the enjoyment of beach days and kayak trips down the river. Ultimately, it comes down to a simple case of all things in moderation. “Nutrients are interesting because we need them to grow food — we need fertilizers to grow food that we eat — but they’re also considered a pollutant,” Parolari says. “They’re a good thing and a bad thing.” Marquette uses a nitrogen based fertilizer that is moisture activated, which helps to ensure sufficient nutrient levels with lower rates of application, says Christopher Bartolone, assistant director for facilities services, over email. The product also includes potassium, but no phosphorus. It gets applied once or twice a year, using 4,200 pounds of product each application. “The university’s turf management program is designed to maximize the environmental benefits of healthy lawns, as well as the overall aesthetic appeal,” Bartolone says. A possible contributor to nutrient pollution throughout the city, including Marquette’s campus, is construction, says Brooke Mayer, an associate professor of civil, construction and environmental engineering at Marquette. Construction sites, she says, can alter the infiltration of water. With more soil exposed, it becomes easier for soil and fertilizer to get washed into waterways. There are rules, however, that minimize the environmental impact of construction sites, Parolari says. Storm grates should have fabric coverings and barriers around them to trap sediment. An even less glamorous way for excess nutrients to enter our waterways is through pet and human waste, Mayer says. Under Milwaukee’s streets runs a combined sewer system, a setup that can contribute to the contamination of our waterways from human waste, says Paige Peters, founder and CEO of Rapid Radicals Technology. Peters is a Marquette graduate.


In a combined sewer system, both storm and waste water flow into the same system. During intense storms, which are becoming more common, the sewer system can become overwhelmed and result in water overflow, Peters says. This brings untreated storm and waste water into the streets and directly into Milwaukee’s watersheds. Rapid Radicals Technology is a product of Marquette’s Water Quality Center and is working on the rapid treatment of storm water to reduce flooding and the contamination of watersheds. “In Milwaukee we put our waste water in Lake Michigan, and we get our drinking water from Lake Michigan,” Peters says. “We have to constantly be thinking about how those two systems are linked and the connections between them.” Filtering drinking water, Peters says, is a good way to avoid consuming harmful contaminants, emphasizing the importance of regularly changing filters. Both an excuse to avoid responsibilities and a way to protect water, Peters suggests no longer equating rainy days with laundry days to lessen the chances of an overflow. “It doesn’t make a huge impact, it might not seem like it is, but it’s changing the way you think every single day,” she says. “And that is huge.” While it may not seem to have a large impact on the environment, Peters says small habitual changes like laundry day can help us to shift the way we see the environment and how we function within it. Peters says Milwaukee is an industrial town that used to use the river as its own sewage release. “And that was a really long time ago, but it takes a long time for these systems to heal.” Ways to prevent nutrient pollution and increase water quality generally might include bans or restrictions, Mayer says. Fertilizers are becoming more regulated with cities like Minneapolis and Madison, Wisconsin, introducing restrictions on lawn fertilizers, she says. While fertilizers and nutrient pollution can be an issue on any managed land, urbanization presents unique challenges. In addition to an abundance of buildings and impermeable roadways, soils can become compacted when equipment drives over it, preventing infiltration, increasing runoff, thus causing pollution, Parolari says. However, all is not lost once nutrients have entered the water. Nu-

trient recovery, Mayer says, can be used to pick out nutrients from waste water and turn them into different forms, such as fertilizers. Additionally, Parolari says, we are now shifting from simply paving over everything and building storm water systems meant to move water as quickly as possible to working to protect greenspace. “Engineers are starting to develop systems that sort of rely on these plants and these soils to actually retain the nutrients, or retain the pollutants,” Parolari says. “We’re using greenspace now as a pollutant mitigation mechanism.” Parolari says he thinks it’s all about tradeoffs. Similar to the dichotomy of the impact of nutrients, adding greenspace can be a good thing but can also introduce issues like pollutants. Researchers, he says, have found that green roofs like the one on Engineering Hall can be a source of phosphorous to streams because it introduces a new site full of compost and nutrients. He says the soil of the Victory Gardens near the Alumni Memorial Union tend to have a high amount of nutrients because the plants need to grow, but this can also be a source of excess nutrients. “This is really what we are trying to figure out now,” Parolari says. “How much greenspace can you have? How do you choose the right mix? What are the tradeoffs?” As Marquette’s campus continues to grow, this balance of greenspace is inevitably going to be altered for better or worse. As long as they are managed appropriately, Mayer says she believes the benefits of increasing greenspace will outweigh any negatives. “Greenspaces are not inherently bad…Going back to are we applying fertilizers onto them, or are we gathering a lot of organic matter like leaves and grass clippings and leaving them on site?” Mayer says. “The benefit is probably a lot more than any sort of drawback that you would ever see because you have the infiltration and natural cycling.”

“In Milwaukee, we put our waste water in Lake Michigan and get our drinking water from Lake Michigan.”

Photo By Jordan Johnson Fall 2019

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Mondays Golden Eagle Sports Report 7 P.M. Fall 2019

Wednesdays Marquette Now 7 P.M. Marquette Lately 8:30 P.M. Join

the

Live Audience

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THE ROOMMATE QUIZ

Jaiden Schueller

The start of the school year means it is time for adjustments to many new things like classes, professors, adventures and even roommates. As students, we want our time at Marquette to be as enjoyable as possible and finding the right roommate is a key way to make the college experience memorable. Use this roommate compatibility quiz below to get insight on what your priorities and expectations are for living. Then, let your roommate take the quiz. Match up the agreements and discuss any disagreements.

What time do you go to bed on weeknights? a. 10 p.m. or earlier b. Between 10 p.m. and midnight c. Around midnight d. 2 a.m. or later

When do you usually wake up? a. Before 6 a.m. b. Between 6 and 8 a.m. c. Between 8 and 10 a.m. d. After 10 a.m.

Where do you prefer to do your homework? a. At my desk in my room b. In the library c. In a study lounge d. It varies

How often do you play music out loud? a. It’s constantly on b. I turn it on when I’m chilling out c. It’s rarely playing d. Never

What is your ideal room temperature? a. Frigid b. I’d rather be cold than hot c. I’d rather be hot than cold d. Nice and toasty

t with lly hangou Do you usua or e ac pl ur yo at ds frien theirs? in my a. I like having people room. ing out in b. I like hang s. om ro ’ rs he ot c. 50/50

, what aoruer you Overagllfo y hopinmater?in m o ro id of will beamny ma a. They/b honor est m ng, great. b. If wewgeectaanlostill live in If not,ony harm d tereste c. I’m nogtcin ving n Li . e s lo in e in b er doesn’t mea togethg to be best needins friend

How often do you clean? a. Every. Single. Day. b. 3-4 days per week c. 1-2 days per week d. Rarely

Who will kill the spiders and bugs? a. I’m all in — no fear at all b. I’ll squish them if they’re small c. I will, but I’d rather not d. Never. Nope. Goodbye.

What are your ughts on sharing andtho bor ing clothes, food or disrow hes? a. I’ll share eve no need to ask rything — b. I can loan my stuff, but I need to be asked first c. I won’t say no in an emergency d. I would rather not share

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SPRING Fall 2019

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A Smile, A Wave and a Friendly Campaign Alexa Jurado

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ollege can be difficult. There are numerous ways students strive to make Marquette University their home and create a community on campus. Marquette University’s Black Student Council is aiming to do just that. After talking with administrators and advisers this past summer, BSC has created a campaign called “Just Say What’s Up!”. The campaign asks students, especially students of color, to just say “What’s up?” on campus to greet other students, faculty and staff alike, even if they don’t know them. “It could be someone you’ve never seen before,” Breanna Flowers, a sophomore in the College of Arts & Sciences and president of BSC, says. One of the campaign’s goals is to create “positive synergy” in the Marquette and Milwaukee community, according to BSC’s website. Tyanna McLaurin, BSC adviser and assistant director of the service learning program, says the campaign was created to encourage black students to get involved with BSC and build unity on campus. Flowers says the campaign is about being more open to one another and to know that you have a friend on campus. Lazabia Jackson, BSC vice president and sophomore in the College of Communication, says the campaign sets the tone for the rest of the school year. Part of BSC’s mission “is to make a change, highlight our culture and create an environment where Black Students can thrive and flourish,” according to its website. McLaurin says one of the goals of the campaign is to “encourage students, faculty and staff, especially minority groups … to build community and be a source of support for each other.” Myles Buchanan, a freshman in the College of Communication and an event coordinator for BSC, says it allows him to connect with black faculty and staff he doesn’t usually get to see. “It has created an environment which emphasizes community … and makes me feel as if this campus has a warm welcome for me,” he says. 50

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BSC is looking to partner with other cultural organizations on campus with “Just Say What’s Up!” “We’re reaching out and collaborating more with different organizations,” Flowers says. “We’ve been creating different connections throughout Milwaukee, letting more people know about the campaign.” Flowers says BSC has become more involved with the Marquette University Police Department, the 707 Hub and the Center for Urban Research Teaching and Outreach, as well as businesses, churches and nonprofits in Milwaukee. The club has also reached out to Milwaukee high schools to let students know about the organization. “It’s been opening a lot more doors in the Marquette community but also outside of Marquette,” Flowers says. “It’s allowed us to become more of a staple in the city.” McLaurin says Flowers and Jackson, who are native Milwaukeeans, have been intentional about getting involved with the local community. She says they “bring their community everywhere.” “They know the impact of being students at (Marquette) and want to continue to inspire others while never forgetting where they come from,” she says. Students express a lot of excitement about BSC events and even more students are feeling welcomed on campus, McLaurin says. “Everyone I’ve talked to thought it was a great idea,” McLaurin says. McLaurin says some black students often feel isolated on campus, and student organizations like BSC provide ways to connect and get more involved. She says it’s now up to faculty and staff to support their efforts. “I think it’s beautiful to see black students at a predominately white institution asserting, advocating and supporting one another,” McLaurin says. “The campaign is a great example of students, particularly black students on this campus, supporting one another.” Flowers says she’s seen the impact of the campaign at Marquette. “It’s become a much more unified campus,” Flowers says. Art By Grace Pinoek


A I C o m m o n

Nicholas Magrone

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n an English class taught by Thomas Durkin, a professor in the College of Arts & Sciences and a research and grant coordinator for the Center for Peacemaking, students are learning what “home” means and how it pertains to human behaviors. Durkin’s class encompasses the theme in various, creative ways as he guides his students through powerful works, discussions in small groups, informative videos, short stories and reflective writing assignments. “I taught literature courses around identity as a graduate student,” Durkin says. “I think it is very important to explore how we are all similar.” Durkin has been teaching for 21 years. For five and a half years, he was a teaching assistant at Marquette University and spent five years teaching English courses. In a class in early October, Durkin begins by leading his students through the 2005 Kenyon College commencement speech, “This is Water” by David Foster Wallace. The speech explores how humans are concerned with the effects of certain situations on themselves without showing consideration for others. In different situations in people’s lives, there is a challenge to think about others. The ‘Natural Default’ setting, a core term for the class meaning an ‘unconscious mindset’, sets examples for the students to discuss with one another. After watching “This is Water”, the class watched a video relating to the speech, depicting how humans often fail to care about others. An example in the speech is people waiting in a grocery line are quick to get angry, therefore the anger has the chance to continue on the ride home. Mario Ochoa, a freshman in the College of Arts & Sciences and a student in Durkin’s class, says he enjoys the topic and lecture. “My favorite part is being able to explore ideas of identity perspectives,” he says. “In other words, different people’s perspectives in the

world around me.” Durkin’s class also explores the theme of “home” and human behaviors with the “Choice of Thinking” factor, which influences how people see the world. It also notes how those may not know they are in “Natural Default Setting”. In class, Durkin goes over a document called “The Invitation” by Oriah Mountain Dreamer. It examines how people can judge others for their choices and decisions and how identity’s relationship to choice is important. Eric Bryniarski, a freshman in the College of Arts & Sciences and student in Durkin’s class, says the lessons on “Natural Default Setting” and “Choice of Thinking” reminds him of his personal life. “One situation is being in a routine,” Bryniarski says. “In high school, I had the same routine, but after learning this concept in college I realize how important it is to not be in the ‘Natural Default Setting.’” Durkin asks his students to think critically, challenging his students to a multitude of things, such as annotating texts for homework through essays, writing down key words and meanings in the margins. Another concept Durkin talks about is “Capital-T Truth”. It’s the concept of Photo by Katerina Pourliakas what life is before death and the journey you take before the final destination. Though Durkin teaches many theories and concepts, his lessons all relate back to human behaviors relating to what “home” means. “Home is important because (Marquette) becomes your home for four years. It’s important to be able to come back to it after being away and still feel comforted and welcomed,” Durkin says.

SPRING Fall 2019

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Life Beyond the Traditional Meal Plan Kelli Arseneau

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obeen’s hot cookie nights. Schroeder’s chicken parmesan. Straz’s stir-fry. For most underclassmen living on campus, the meal plan provides both a variety of choices and some beloved constants. But once a student is no longer on the Anytime Dining Plan, required for everyone living in residence halls, campus diet changes. Meggie Hart, a junior in the College of Health Sciences, moved into her apartment this past summer. She says she got used to cooking then because she had little experience before. “This was like the test run,” she says. While Hart says she misses the convenience of having meal swipes, she says she has found it is easier to maintain a healthy diet, as she can shop for ingredients herself and easily manage portion sizes. “I’ll have food here, but it’s not the same as late night McCormick,” Hart says, recalling the 24-hour dining hall from her freshman year that for many was a site of midnight snacks, like macaroni and cheese and chicken nuggets. While many juniors and seniors put their days of Erbert & Gerbert’s sandwiches and “Mac and Nug” nights behind them as fond memories, some continue to reap the benefits of the meal swipe. Lily Wieringa, a junior in the College of Arts & Sciences, still has the Anytime Dining Plan as part of her position as a resident assistant in O’Donnell. Wieringa says she appreciates the meal plan, especially because it provides convenience in her busy schedule as an RA and allows her to interact more with her residents. Wieringa usually uses her meal plan at The Commons because of its proximity to where she lives now and because the dining hall has options that accommodate her dietary restrictions. The one downside of being an upperclassman on the meal swipe, Wieringa says, is the fact that she rarely runs into friends she used to eat meals with. Still, she is occasionally able to share a meal with her peers. “It can be really fun to guest swipe them because they get really excited that they’re getting free food,” she says. Upperclassmen — as well as any other student and faculty not living in a residence hall — have the option to purchase a Loyalty 50 meal plan, which provides 50 meal swipes per semester, amounting to an average of three per week, the “Sodexo My Way” website states. Some students, like Tom Wattelet, a senior in the College of Engineering, says he relies on this option. Wattelet, who says he is not a chef, did the math to decide how best to feed himself as a student in an apartment. He then developed a system. 52

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This semester, as well as last year, Wattelet purchased two 50meal swipe packages per semester for a total of 100 meal swipes per semester. “Essentially on Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays, I’m on my own for eating. … I either make something in my apartment, or I go out somewhere with friends or something like that,” Wattelet says. “And then I eat two meals a day, Monday through Thursday, there with the exception of Tuesday night, where I get the (discounted) pizza … at Papa John’s.” He says he typically sticks to the schedule unless he has plans to go out to eat with a friend. He allows himself to spend no more than $25 — outside of his Marquette cash — on food each week. Wattelet says he spends his meal swipes exclusively at The Commons, and he has developed his own meal plan. “My usual routine is I go to the back corner, and there’s that nice grill over there, … (and) occasionally sometimes I’ll go over and look at the pizzas,” Wattelet says. “Once I get all the food, … I camp out by the dessert bar until they put some good stuff out there. … If I’ve got some time, I’ll sit there for half an hour waiting for some good (dessert) just to come out.” Wattelet says he recommends the Loyalty 50 meal plan for people seeking convenience and those who tend to eat out often and rarely cook for themselves. At a price of $422 a semester, each meal costs $8.44. Wattelet says it’s rare to find a meal at a restaurant for under that price and the meal plan offers an especially good deal, considering the fact that when used at The Commons, Cobeen or Straz, guests can get numerous helpings of food. While Wattelet advocates for purchasing a Loyalty 50 plan (or two), he says the Anytime Dining Plan is not worth the cost for upperclassmen. Many students’ diets change throughout their college years, as they graduate from residence hall living and required meal plans to increasingly independent lifestyles marked by the need to take personal responsibility to feed themselves. Still, those that miss the Sodexo classics that characterize the meals of their early Marquette days can always reminisce with a friend’s guest pass.

Photo By Jordan Johnson


A Quest for Mom’s Grilled Cheese in MKE Kelli Arseneau What does home taste like? For some, it’s a family recipe. For others, it’s food from a restaurant they regularly visit. Comfort food — whether it’s a full healthy meal, a greasy appetizer or even a big bowl of cereal — offers a feeling of contentment and consolation. For me, it’s a grilled cheese sandwich. Preferably, it’s made by my mom. A pretzel bread grilled cheese reminds me of every childhood birthday meal spent in a restaurant, ordering it with a side of fries or soup. Gooey, melted cheese between two slabs of warm carbs — you can’t go wrong. I ventured out to a few of Milwaukee’s most popular destinations to find where I can taste the best grilled cheese that brings me back, the meal that melts my heart the way the warmth from the toaster grill does to the cheese. If I’m lucky, I’ll even find one that beats the sandwich straight from my kitchen. Sorry, mom.

Ma Fischer’s: Double Decker Grilled Cheese

Comet Café: Grilled Cheese & Tomato Soup

The Soup Market: Three Cheese Melt

Art By Nell Burgenen

The Double Decker Grilled Cheese is the size of one-and-a-half standard grilled cheeses: bread-cheese-bread-cheese-bread. It comes with a side of fries, coleslaw, a pickle and a cup of soup. There were two soups of the day, but neither were tomato, so I did not get the soup with the sandwich. Besides the bonus cheese and bread, the grilled cheese is pretty basic. It is standard white bread with American cheese and reminds me of most grilled cheese sandwiches I would order off the kid’s menu; the double-decker factor did allow for more fluffiness and surface area of cheese. Was it worth the Rating: added calories? Probably. But I would rather have had more cheese than extra bread. Personally, I’m not a fan of coleslaw, but I loved the big juicy dill pickle spear and crispy french fries. I dipped both my fries and sandwich in ketchup and felt very much like a 12-year-old. The grilled cheese itself is good, but not extraordinary. However, I love Ma Fischer’s and definitely plan to go back. I might choose pancakes next time, though.

For $9, the grilled cheese came on sourdough bread with American, mozzarella and provolone cheeses with a side of hand-cut fries and tomato soup. The menu offered customizable options of tomatoes for $1, bacon for $2 or ham for $3, but I opted for the standard cheese and bread. Served on a bed of fries with a small cup of soup on the side, the grilled cheese was buttery and had a nice crispy crunch. The hand-cut fries were delicious; not too salty and had a nice, full potato-y flavor. The soup felt vaguely Rating: healthy, with small chunks of tomato. Overall, the Comet Café grilled cheese, fries and tomato soup is hearty and filling and reminds me why I used to exclusively order a grilled cheese at nearly every restaurant I went to.

6/10

7.5/10

As a child, I was especially picky with my soups and while I am significantly less now, I do not typically go out of my way to eat soup. Even most of the grilled cheese sandwiches I ate growing up were not paired with tomato soup and were instead dipped in ketchup. I order the three-cheese melt and a cup of the vegetarian tomato bisque. The sandwich is actually not listed on the public market’s menu; I had seen the grilled cheese on a menu online. However, I ask about the three-cheese melt and the worker behind the counter said they had them available. For $6.89, the three-cheese melt came with swiss, cheddar and pepper jack cheeses on French bread and is larger than my face. The 8-ounce cup of soup for Rating: $4.59 added expense to the meal, but the pairing is too good to pass up. The Soup Market’s three-cheese melt was delicious. The French bread is crisp and flaky and the mixture of the three cheeses left a gooey inside with a slight deliciously greasy, buttery coating. I know this is a review focused on grilled cheese, but the tomato bisque was equally delicious. The creamy, flavorful soup was the perfect pairing. It may have been that, on this particular day, the weather was chilly and overcast, and I had a very long week recovering from a cold, but the warmth of this sandwich and soup filled me with comfort and love, and it is one of the best meals I have had in a long time.

9/10

Fall 2019

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The Grass is Greener on the Home Field John Steppe

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sk men’s soccer head coach Louis Bennett why the team has a home field advantage at Valley Fields, the first thing that comes to mind has nothing to do with proximity to campus, the noise of the Valley crowd or familiar Wisconsin weather. It’s the grass. Yes, the grass. Bennett’s squad has the largest differential between home and overall winning percentage since 2013 among all spectator sports on campus. The impact is quite noticeable. “(Homefield advantage) exists,” Bennett says. “Unlike the unicorn, that doesn’t exist, home field — when it’s like this — that kind of advantage exists if you know how to use it.” Men’s soccer center back Manuel Cukaj says the teams feels more comfortable on the grass. “Valley is looking great right now,” he says. Analytically, the team’s home field advantage looks better than men’s basketball at Fiserv Forum, and before that, the BMO Harris Bradley Center. It’s better than women’s basketball at the Al McGuire Center in its run of three consecutive BIG EAST regular season or tournament titles. It’s even better than the volleyball team at the Al McGuire Center that hasn’t missed the NCAA Tournament since 2010. Marquette is one of two BIG EAST teams to use natural grass as opposed to artificial turf. Georgetown is the other. It leads to an advantage when turf schools come to Valley and need to adjust to the grass. MU, on the other hand, gets experience on both grass and turf. “Most of the time they just get that (turf) surface unless they’re on the road somewhere,” women’s soccer head coach Markus Roeders says. “I’m sure there’s a little bit of an adjustment. I think speed of play, maybe the way you strike the ball, just the movement on the grass compared to the turf.” While the field surface is one of many factors, these two grass schools are responsible for four of the last six BIG EAST men’s soccer titles and five of the last seven BIG EAST women’s soccer titles. Some of those titles have come on their home fields. The grass creates a softer surface, which gives coaches more comfort when their player goes for a slide tackle or makes a diving play in goal. “Yes, we slide tackle on the turf, but it’s definitely not as consistent as when we do it on the grass,” Roeders explains. “If you ask any goalkeeper, they would tell you like, ‘Hey, get me on grass 10 out of 10 times before you get me on turf.’”

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It’s not just slide tackles or goalkeepers’ dives, Bennett says. “The twisting and turning is not the same on grass. If you twist or turn the wrong way, you fall on the grass and mud,” Bennett explains. “If you do it on turf, you fall on a hard surface.” Bennett likes the field wet and cut very short, so the sprinkler system turns on pregame and at halftime, creating a surface that “replicates the ball rolling (similar to a professional field).” “We’d prefer to have it slick so the ball moves fast,” Bennett says. Not all of the benefits of a grass field come on game day, Bennett and Roeders say. When recruits come in, a high-quality grass field can be a major selling point, especially in warmer climates. Many schools in warmer climates have Bermuda grass, which is softer and does not need as much water. “We want someone to come from down south where they’re playing on grass and they’re playing on Bermuda grass,” Bennett says. “We want to make sure people know this is a great surface to play on.” Valley’s grass surface is a way of competing with nearby rivals who Bennett describes as “noisy neighbors” since many of the top teams in the world and in the collegiate game use grass fields. “All the top players in the world have no problem playing on grass,” Bennett says. “Some of the top players in the world have a huge problem playing on artificial turf.” It is also one of the reasons for Bennett left the turf field at University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee to take the same job at Marquette in 2005. “(UWM’s field) is an unbelievably tricky surface,” Bennett says. “You know what you’re getting (at Valley Fields).” At the same time, the soccer teams practice on an adjacent turf field year-round. A seasonal dome at Valley allows the teams to practice, even when it’s otherwise too cold to play soccer in Milwaukee. “In the Marquette Gymnasium, you couldn’t strike the ball further than 20 yards, and if you did that, it was probably bouncing off the walls,” Roeders says. “Now we can play a full spring game in the middle of February without any restrictions.” Other schools have found ways to make sure their turf fields allow the ball to move quickly. Creighton, for instance, uses water cannons to submerge the turf in water, Bennett says. Bennett and Roeders, whom Roeders admits are “traditionalists,” will not be giving up Valley’s coveted grass any time soon. “Grass is the ultimate thing to play on,” Bennett says.

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Art By Nell Burgener


Dynamics of the Hills Tyler Peters

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even years ago, a change from Ozaukee Country Club to Erin Hills golf course shifts the dynamics of the Marquette University men’s golf program. Just a half-hour northwest of Milwaukee, the course has a beautifully rugged yet serene landscape with farmland surrounding it. Erin Hills has been open since 2006, but it isn’t until 2013 that Marquette can call the course home. Head coach Steve Bailey says it is a truly special opportunity for him and his players. The relationship between Erin Hills and Marquette golf starts with a conversation between Bailey and Rich Tock, a former professional at Ozaukee Country Club. Tock made the switch to Erin Hills in 2009. Tock is the catalyst in getting Erin Hills to be the team’s home course, along with competition director John Morrissett and owner Andy Ziegler. “(Tock) had moved onto Erin Hills and was really eager to host a college event out there,” Bailey says. “(They) really got behind it and from there that sparked it and we’ve been fortunate,” Bailey says. He says the moves is a “big carrot” for the program in terms of attracting other schools to the tournament. Erin Hills hosted Wisconsin’s first-ever U.S. Open in 2017. Marquette uses that to its advantage, selling it to recruits considering Marquette and its opponents choosing between tournaments to attend. “That’s really helped us in the recruiting world,” Bailey says. “The other thing it’s done for us is that it’s allowed us to build our tournament schedule. So many of the top teams want to come to play (here).” Sophomore golfer Connor Brown, who is from California, says Erin Hills blew him away the first time he came to visit Marquette. “It’s different coming from Los Angeles. You don’t see a land that size and courses with that much space,” Brown says. “The views are incredible.” Junior golfer Hunter Eichorn has a similar reaction to seeing the course for the first time. “I’ve loved Erin Hills ever since the first time I ever stepped on it,” Eichorn says. “It’s just such a massive piece of property

and such a cool place to play. There are so many different shots you can play around there.” Playing on the same course as some of the greatest players in the world changes the dynamic of the program, Bailey and his players say. “We remind our guys all the time not to take it for granted,” Bailey says. “Not too many programs across the country get to play (at) a U.S. Open venue.” Brown says being able to practice and spend time at Erin Hills is like competing at a professional level. Bailey says the professional elements of such a challenging course provides the team with a championship-caliber test. “It challenges all facets of (a golfer’s) game,” Bailey says. “It’s long and tough, especially if the wind blows out there, but (it) does a really good job of preparing us for our season and the year.” Brown says it’s a fun opportunity to compare his performance to professionals who have also shot on the course. Erin Hills is the host of the 2017 U.S. Open, the 2022 U.S. Mid-Amateur and 2025 U.S. Women’s Open. Brown says the other challenge of playing at Erin Hills is the inconsistent weather conditions. He was not expecting the weather to be the toughest part of playing at the course. “It was a completely different course (each time), that’s what I love about it,” Brown says. “It’s one of those courses that can play so differently depending on the weather. Getting as many reps out there as possible is pretty important.” Erin Hills continues to improve its practice facilities. The course has cabins on-site where the team can stay for retreats. The course also has a caddie barn that includes ping-pong tables, darts, and TVs, which makes Erin Hills more than just a golf course for the Golden Eagles. “It’s a really cool place to hang out,” Brown says. “When we go over there, they treat you like a king. We’ve all got our own bedrooms. … It’s a blast.” Bailey says the relationship between Marquette and Erin Hills has been getting stronger as each season passes by. “It’s been a great relationship, they do a phenomenal job of hosting. We’ll continue (to play) there as long as they’ll have us,” Bailey says. “We’re very thankful for the opportunity to play there.” Fall 2019

Photo By Elena Fiegen

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Ike Eke Shares succes Daniel Macias

about the donation. Adams is Eke’s legal guardian until he turned 18 and the communications director at the University Seven thousand dollars spent and over 5,000 miles travof Detroit Jesuit High School where Eke attended school. eled: Those are some of the hurdles over which Marquette “To tell you the truth, (I) didn’t even know he was planning University’s men’s basketball player Ike Eke jumped to give to build the basketball court until he got (to Nigeria),” Adams back to his hometown, Enugu Nigeria, this summer. says. “I was talking to him on the phone, and he was like, Using his own funds, Eke decides to make a new court to ‘Hey dad, I want you to know I’ve been saving my money. replace one in Enugu that is in bad shape. I’m doing this while I’m here.’ So I was like, Eke also decides to give multiple pairs of ‘You’re kidding.’ He wanted it to be a sur“When I built the court, prise for everybody, including (me).” basketball shoes to those who practice on the court the most. Marquette men’s basketball chaplain Rev. I wasn’t even thinking When he went to Nigeria to begin the proJohn Laurance says he wasn’t surprised when cesses of build the court he talked with some about doing this, but the he heard and calls Eke a mensch, a German of the players there. Though Eke didn’t attention that I got from word meaning man. But, he calls him that for know each player personally, he had his reason. building the court I was a deeper friends from home help him decide who to “I think that his good heart and his good like, ‘OK, let me use this fortune, he just wanted other people to expegive the shoes to. Eke was going back to Nigeria for month. opportunity to see if I can rience what he was experiencing,” Laurance While he normally visits once a year during says. help people’.’ the summer, he didn’t let anyone know his Though, there were times when Eke didn’t plans to build a basketball court. think he would end up building the court. “Just come back (to America) with no one When he felt this way, Eke made sure to call knowing, but when I told my host family back in America and his little brother, Edu. Edu encouraged Eke to keep going. they were like, ‘Oh this is a good idea, I think we should put “He kind of helped me to finish it by talking to me everythis out there.’ So I said ‘OK,’” Eke says. day. ‘Just keep going, keep going,’” Eke says. “(He would) A tweet from University of Detroit Jesuit High School and tell me what kind of paint to use (and) what to do.” Academy spreads the word quickly. After building the court Eke says he saw almost 100 people “I mean I won’t say it … I was like God,” Eke jokes. “I there on the court. Once it was done, he says he felt good. mean, I don’t know how to say it, not God, sorry God. I don’t “After that first tweet I was like, ‘Wow, I really did this,’” know the word to use. They liked what I did.” Eke says. “It felt so good. I got so much joy from doing it.” Jim Adams says he was really proud of Eke when he heard Eke says he wants to continue his service by creating a pro56

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ss with home Country Photo Courtesy of Marquette Athletics

gram to help pay for people’s tuition to attend a higher learning institution in Nigeria. Eke knows he wants to do more with the attention he received. “‘OK, let me use this opportunity to see if I can help people,’” Eke says. Much of his passion ties with his Jesuit education, first at U of D and now Marquette. “Ad Majorem Dei Gloriam” which means for the greater glory of God, is etched into every building Marquette has built, is on Eke’s Twitter bio and even is one of Eke’s tattoos. Eke’s relationship with the Catholic Church goes back to his time in Nigeria. “I grew up Catholic. If I called my mom today (and said) I didn’t go to church Sunday, if I was in Nigeria, she would beat me up,” Eke says. “Growing up Catholic and going to a Jesuit school has helped my journey (in life).” Eke says the Jesuit tradition is why he chose Marquette, and it gives him and Laurance something to bond over. “There was a connection I already had with him because he went to a Jesuit high school,” Laurance says. “He’s very much at home with talking to another Jesuit.” Eke points to his faith and relationship with God as what he leans on — his foundation — especially as injuries have

plagued him throughout his collegiate career and taken away any chance of him playing in a Division I game. “Me being injured for a couple of years, not being able to play, if you’re not strong (in your faith) that can just hit you,” Eke says. Eke says his situation of not being able to play and being injured can cause others in similar situations who are not strong in their faith to turn to other means of coping, like alcohol. But he says his faith has always been there. Even though Eke has been through tough times, he says he knows it’s for the greater glory of God. “Everything happens for a reason,” Eke says. “Even though I blame God (for the bad stuff in my life), I shouldn’t.” “Growing up, I had so many cousins at home, and every time they came to my house they were in need of something, money, food and Photo By Elena Fiegen stuff.” Eke says. “My mom was always giving away. She would never ask why, just give.” Now, Eke just wants to give too.

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A Place At the Plate Bryan Geenen

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unning across home plate 145 times last season means something more than a score for Marquette’s club baseball team. With each new semester, different club sport teams prepare and compete at Marquette University. Some teams have a couple of competitions each year while other teams travel and play year-round. For club baseball, the season spans from tryouts at the start of the fall semester and runs to the end of the spring semester. The 25-man roster travels across Wisconsin for conference games against teams like University of Wisconsin-Madison, University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire, University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, University of Wisconsin-Whitewater and Northwestern University before entering playoffs in the spring. The team also takes a trip to Florida each year to play games against different teams from across the country. The most important game t0 senior in the colleges of Health Sciences and Education David Reske is against Madison, he says. “Beating them is always really high on our list,” Reske says. “We almost beat them last year, and beating them this year is a goal.” The club team will play somewhere between 30 and 36 games this year, including practice about three to four times a week. The team will spend a lot of time with one another competing, practicing and improving on the field as baseball players. Nicholas Claxton, a senior captain for the team and a senior in the College of Engineering, says the team is making strides at becoming more of a team this year off the field. “It just seemed almost split initially between young guys and old guys freshman year but now, I feel like it’s more intertwined,” Claxton says. As a captain, Claxton says he’s been trying some other things to help build the team chemistry. 58

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“I brought a new thing this year (with) the idea of a baseball house where people can come in whenever they want to watch baseball, play Xbox,” Claxton says. “Everybody’s just closer than any year I’ve been here. Our chemistry is so much better. In practice you can tell, and just talking with the guys.” Reske says he is grateful for the opportunity to help out the younger players as they come to Marquette for school. He says he remembers the relationships he built with older players and says he is a better leader now because of it. “It’s a good opportunity to teach them even just about Marquette and college life. When I was a freshman, I think back to some of the seniors and juniors who were there at my time. They helped me registering for classes — they would come over and help me sign up,” Reske says. “For housing registration, I went over to (a) senior’s house which senior’s house, and he helped me register for housing.” Past club president and present part-time assistant coach Austin Higgins recalls the camaraderie he enjoyed on the team before graduating in 2017. “It’s just really a brotherhood. Obviously, everyone has different self-interests, everyone is different majors, but really everyone is pretty tight knit. You just know that you have a group of guys who will always have your back,” Higgins says. As all three men say, the bonds go beyond the field. The team is there to practice, compete and get better but also to make sure nobody is left out, Claxton says. As a freshman, Higgins clearly remembers how the team is a family. “I remember as freshmen we would always go to our captain’s house to watch the new episodes of ‘It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia’ because we didn’t have the FXX channel in the dorms,” Higgins says. “It’s just little things like that. Like, ‘Why is he talking to us, we’re freshmen.’ But once you’re on the team, you’re friends with everybody.” Art By Sklar Daley


Fall 2019

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From Star Athlete To Coach Aimee Galaszewski

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t’s a unique, indescribable feeling walking into a place and knowing immediate comfort. “I kind of got that feeling, and it just felt like home,” assistant Marquette women’s soccer coach Ashley Bares says. While one might assume Bares feels this way about her childhood home in Belgium, Wisconsin, she is actually referring to the time she took her first step on Marquette University’s campus. Bares says she started kicking around a soccer ball with her older sister, Brittany, when she was four years old. She even followed Brittany when she was looking at colleges years later. “Once (my sister) visited Marquette, she just kind of fell in love and had that family feel. Naturally she’s my best friend, so I tagged along with her like I always did growing up,” Bares says. She says the “family feel” lingered into her decision with where she wanted to play collegiate soccer. In 2007, she joins the Golden Eagles, finishing as one of Marquette’s top offensive options in recent history. But 2010 is when Bares makes her mark on Marquette women’s soccer. “That year was just something special,” Bares says. “We went undefeated in conference and did a lot of things for the first time, which was really great to be a part of.” Bares’ involvement in soccer does not end there. She grew up having dreams to play for the U.S. Women’s National soccer team, but the window quickly passes as she gets older. She says she remains patient until an opportunity to play overseas arose in 2011. From 2011-’12, she plays professional soccer with Stjarnan, part of the Úrvalsdeild League in Iceland. Bares says she always knew she wanted more. She travels back to the United States, completes her unfinished semester at Marquette and graduates with plans to go back to Europe. Stepping foot on Marquette’s campus again changes everything for her. Bares says she experiences that indescribable feeling once again. “It just clicks. When you’re at home, you feel that,” 60

Bares says. “It felt great to be back.” It wasn’t long until the position for Marquette women’s soccer assistant coach opens. She applies, goes through the interviews and earns the position. Now, Bares is entering her seventh season as assistant coach. Bares explains she wants to do more than just coach the game — she wants to make a long-lasting impact. There are so many doors opening for women in the soccer industry, Bares says. She wants to inspire her players to stay connected with the sport even after they graduate. “I push them to know that this is only the beginning of what they can do and leave their mark somewhere else after they leave it here,” Bares says. Bares leaves this influence on many of her players, especially senior goalkeeper Maddy Henry. Henry is in one of Bares’ first recruiting classes and this is the first time she is able to see one of her recruits finish the program. “If it weren’t for her, I don’t think I’d be here,” Henry says. “She’s kind of like a sister and an aunt in a weird way, while being our coach.” Other members of the team say they feel the same way about Bares’ coaching tactics. “She just helps with little things, and she just knows everything about Marquette soccer — lives and breathes it,” senior Emily Hess says. While she does have other interests like listening to live music and attending to her dog, in the end, soccer encompasses her life. When Bares is asked what she enjoys doing outside of soccer, she laughs and says watching and playing soccer. She will continue to mentor her 30 younger sisters at the place that feels most like home.

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Photo Courtesy of Marquette Athletics


Recruits stay in Brew CIty Matt Yeazel

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hile the recruiting process changes the rosters for fall sports teams on campus, the process never slows down. “It’s always an ongoing process,” says Sean Hughes, Marquette men’s soccer assistant coach. “The process never stops. We’re always looking at athletes for either the immediate or distant future.” Recruiting is typically one of assistant coaches main responsibilities in the program, in addition to some work from the head coach and potentially talent scouts as well. The principles of recruiting remain the same for men’s soccer and other teams on campus: keep the same focus on many of the best athletes in the area. “First and foremost, we look local,” Hughes said. “If we can find a player local, we can find out more about academics, character, and see them play in person. Then we’ll look regional and international.” Many athletes embrace being at a university so close to where they grew up. For A.J. Catorozoli, a sophomore track and field athlete from Milwaukee, being close to home has its perks. “Having friends and family be able to see our meets is awesome,” Catorozoli says. “We had a home meet last year, and I ran my fastest time ever in front of my entire family. It was a really cool experience.” Alex Mirsberger, freshman on the men’s soccer team and Brookfield native, says Marquette coaches discovered him at a camp and their relationship grew from there. “The coaching staff really showed interest in me,” Mirsberger says. “They showed me they were going to take care of me and help me get through four years while having a good time doing it.” Aubrey McLaren, a freshman on the women’s lacrosse team and native of Whitefish Bay, says growing up close to Marquette allowed her to get to know head coach Meredith Black far before her recruiting process began. She played for Black on a club lacrosse team called “Black Lax.” “Coach Black worked with us a lot on recruiting,”

McLaren says. “With how good of a coach she is, and with how much she has done for the sport of lacrosse in Wisconsin, it made me want to come here and play for her. It feels like home.” There are different ways of recruiting, but the most important part of bringing in an athlete and selling them on the program is the relationship and trust being built, Hughes says. “When we bring an athlete in for a visit, we already have a relationship with them,” Hughes explains. “We identify that academically, character-wise and of course play on the field that they would be a good fit, and then the visit is usually one of the final steps.” Catorozoli, Mirsberger and McLaren say even if playing a sport wasn’t an option, they are still interested in Marquette as a school. “I knew Marquette was a good school and good university,” Mirsberger says. “To be able to come to school here along with playing soccer in front of friends and family is awesome.” Experiences of seeing hometown players succeeding at Marquette keep recruiters like Hughes passionate about shaping the lives of young athletes. “You get to make young athlete’s dreams become a reality,” Hughes says. “You see players develop from when you first make contact in high school to when they graduate from Marquette. You have a big impact on someone’s life.”

Fall 2019

Photo Courtesy of Marquette Athletics

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It’s Game DaY

Zoe Comerford

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or many students, home game days consist of dropping everything, forgetting about homework, and dressing up in blue and gold before heading to Valley Fields, Al McGuire Center or Fiserv Forum. But for Marquette student athletes, home game days start with a more complicated routine. “Honestly, the minute we wake up, (the excitement) is always what we think about,” senior men’s soccer midfielder Luka Prpa says. Both soccer teams typically eat three and a half hours before kickoff. While the women’s team caters food on campus, the men’s team provides the same pregame meal every time: chicken, a fast carb like pasta or a potato, some vegetables and plain spaghetti. “The dessert for them is the game plan,” men’s soccer head coach Louis Bennett points out. “They’ll think about that, and they’ll slowly get changed and ready to go.” About 90 minutes before the game, the women’s team finishes off with the last pregame talk in the Marquette Gymnasium locker room. “Sometimes you hear music in the back,” women’s soccer head coach Markus Roeder explains. “We just try to refocus ourselves one more time about (the) game in hand, any highlights that we want to point out one more time.” “I like to usually dance with my teammates before in the locker room,” senior women’s soccer defender Emily Hess says. “Get a little hype and some music in there.” Next the teams take shuttles down to Valley Fields about an hour prior to kickoff, when Bennett has his team repeat pertinent points of the game plan back to him. Forty-five minutes before kickoff, teams take the field for warmups. When warmups start 45 minutes before kickoff, the men’s soccer goalkeepers get loose together and substitutes practice together while the starters work with coaches. 62

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In Roeders’ case, his team warms up together without a ball and then with a ball. His starters work on various possession drills depending on a player’s position. During the national anthem, Roeders’ squad all holds onto a rope. “It’s been a traditional thing for many years now. It just brings us together one more time,” Roeders says. “We’re all pulling on the same thing, and then it’s almost kickoff time.” Every time senior goalkeeper Maddy Henry hears her name announced and walks onto the field, she gets chills. “I thought it would become a normal (feeling) throughout the four years, but it just keeps getting more and more (exciting),” Henry explains. “We do our walkouts and high five everyone and clap. It will never get old. It is the coolest feeling in the entire world.” Bennett will never walk out onto the field before his players. While he used to have a special tie for game days, he is trying to get rid of superstitions. Meanwhile, Roeders has many habits, like taking a walk around campus from the Marquette Gym to the Joan of Arc chapel before games and always wearing shorts. “I’ve always been known for wearing shorts, no matter what the weather is,” Roeders discloses. “The most important thing is actually the players. … They’ve got to feel comfortable.” Superstitions and habits vary from how the players put on their uniforms to which vans they take. “I always put my shoes and socks, the left one always goes first just because I’m left footed,” Prpa describes. Men’s soccer senior defender Patrick Seagrist absolutely cannot go to treatment or the team dinner without drinking a Starbucks passion tango herbal tea. “After that, I’ll drink two to three full Gatorade bottles,” Seagrist says. “I’ll tape both my wrists, and then I’ll always put on my right shoe before my left.” Henry’s pregame routine, as well as stretching, consists of doing her hair and makeup, listening to music, eating particular foods and


trying to “vibe out and get zen.” “I’ve worn the same headband and done my hair the same since freshman year,” Henry illustrates. “I always listen to the same five songs in a row before the game. I don’t do anything weird with my shoes which is funky, but I will always chew a piece of gum before and after warmups. … I always pray like 20 times before a game.” Hess says she also leaves her shoes untied until she gets on the field. “Just lacing up and tying them there is more so like ‘We’re here, on the field now, let’s go,’” Hess describes. Similar to the soccer teams, women’s volleyball also has a specific routine before a game at the Al. For a Saturday night game, the routine includes a morning video session, a 45-minute serve and pass walkthrough practice with downtime from 12 to 3 p.m. The athletes come back for a pregame meal around 3:30 p.m. before getting treatment with trainers. With more downtime in the locker room, the Golden Eagles sign the balls they throw to the audience and play the team song, which changes every year. An hour before the match, junior libero Martha Konovodoff works with her strobe glasses while setters have their own practice. “Coaches go into the locker room 45 minutes before the match, and then 40 minutes to match time they’re doing their prep stuff on the court,” women’s volleyball head coach Ryan Theis explains. Though Theis is against superstitions, Konovodoff says her passing pads always have to be loose and on the same side. “I always make sure that they’re not too new before I put them on,” Konovodoff says. “Home games, for sure my hair has to be perfectly put up.” After the national anthem and lineup announcements, each player throws a signed volleyball to fans. “I just lift my hand up, and I don’t even know if I smile. I just look up and try not to hit anyone with my ball,” Konovodoff says with a smile. “It’s just that quick reminder of gratefulness, and you continue to do what you do.” While athletes see game days one way, managers and fans see it a

different way. Junior Quinn Faeth has been a women’s basketball student manager since his sophomore year, which means he helps more behindthe-scenes. For a 7 p.m. game, Faeth helps with an 11 a.m. shoot around. At around 3 p.m., the four managers set up towels around each bench and in the visiting team’s locker room. When they finished all that, there is a pregame meal, which Maggianos usually caters. “I probably go down to the court about an hour and fifteen minutes before the game to change, kind of get ready and do some last-minute stuff just to kind of wrap up,” Faeth says. During the team’s warmup, Faeth and the other managers rebound for them, pass the balls to them and do whatever the players need. For superfans like junior Nathan Marzion, game days consist of waiting outside of Fiserv Forum an hour to an hour and a half before the doors open, even on days with below zero temperatures to sit in the front row. Growing up in nearby Muskego, Wisconsin, Marzion has been going to MU games since he was seven years old and started sitting in the student section in high school after acquiring tickets via Facebook. “You feel like you’re kind of in the center of it all and helping the team,” Marzion says. “It feels good to be the leaders of that and be the ones to really get the whole student section going.” For Marquette pep band members, their game day routine begins with call time at Varsity Theater about two hours prior to tipoff to get their instruments set up before taking a bus to Fiserv Forum with the cheer and dance teams. Fifth-year student and saxophone player Connor Skelton memorizes the music after performing it for four years while still having fun. “With pep band, you’re able to go all out and be loud and not worry about concert tone,” Skelton describes. “It’s more than just playing. We’re also kind of super fans.” Whether it is a fan, a pep band member, a player or a coach, there’s just something about home game days that gets everyone excited. “It’s just the level of comfort of that you have that 12th man behind you,” Roeders exclaims. “It could be a big crowd, it could be a small crowd, but you still have it. It’s your home.”

Photo By Claire Gallagher Art by Chelsea Johanning

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A Responsibility to Hold Sheila Fogarty

Where can I get Marquette basketball tickets? I really want to see that guy Markus Howard play,” Tim, a patron of Project Homeless Connect, asked me at the event. All morning I had been directing Tim through the AMU, which was transformed into a hub of resources and services for people experiencing or at risk of experiencing homelessness. I had helped him check off his to-do list, including a haircut and apartment consultation until this last request remained. And I was unable to fulfill it. I noticed that the sense of pride that Tim held for Marquette was held by other patrons as well, which constantly reminded me that Marquette has a home in Milwaukee. The harsher flipside of this reminder was that Marquette does not reciprocate that welcome. Marquette must acknowledge and fight social inequities, specifically poverty, in Milwaukee not because it is in Jesuit nature to do so, but because it is integral in identifying as part of Milwaukee and embracing Milwaukee as part of Marquette. In the years 2017 and 2018, the city of Milwaukee’s poverty rate was above 25%, with a low estimation of 871 people experiencing homelessness, according to the Milwaukee Rescue Mission, a Christian organization offering several programs including temporary housing for citizens experiencing homelessness. The city’s efforts to combat homelessness have been extremely ambitious, such as The Milwaukee Continuum of Care’s unsuccessful 10-year plan to eradicate homelessness by 2020. The fulfilment of this goal is very unlikely, considering the amount of people experiencing homelessness in Milwaukee dropped only by about 600 people between 2010 and 2018, according to its reports. In order to fulfill goals that are this extreme, such as United Way’s recently announced plan to end family homelessness by 2025, they must be supported by able organizations and institutions, namely Marquette. I believe Marquette should prioritize supporting United Way’s plan to end family homelessness by providing finances and resources. In the past, Milwaukee has turned to Marquette to help combat homelessness. In 2018, Alderman Bob Donovan of the 8th district urged Marquette to open the former Ramada City Center Hotel as a shelter, purchased by the university in 2018 instead of tearing it down. Marquette said the university was “not in the position” to take on this project. Regardless of whether Marquette should or should not have complied with Donovan’s request, this incident demonstrates that the university itself cannot be relied upon to “do its part” in the fight against poverty in Milwaukee– it is up to the students. As a student body, we define Marquette culture and principle. While administrative decisions are powerful, our student-faculty 64

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ratio of 14:1 proves that we have potential as a student body to redefine the university’s role in the Milwaukee community. A perfect example of this potential being exercised is student-run organizations like Midnight Run, MARDI GRAS and the 414 Fellows. MARDI GRAS and Midnight Run focus on addressing the needs of Milwaukeeans living in poverty, Midnight Run on a weekly basis and MARDI GRAS on a yearly basis. The 414 Fellows is an AmeriCorps program offered through Marquette in partnership with Next Door, an organization that works towards the educational success of Milwaukee youth. While joining these organizations is a great start to addressing and challenging social inequities in Milwaukee, independently following their example in various projects and organizations would multiply the impact. In addition to finding organizations that directly help the Milwaukee community, students and faculty need to support local businesses. The narrative about northern Milwaukee specifically is oftentimes reduced to facts and statistics, specifically applicable to the 53206 zip code: it’s known for containing the poorest neighborhoods in Milkwaukee , two-thirds of children live in poverty and there is a 12 year difference in life expectancy between 53206 and 53217. Still, knowing these facts and failing to acknowledge the sense of community in 53206 and surrounding areas only further isolates the community and the socio-economic issues that exist within it. Supporting local businesses is a great way to economically support the Milwaukee community while simultaneously embracing what our city has to offer. There are numerous locally owned businesses that Marquette students can support just by showing up and dining. Go to the south side’s new Zócalo food park (and try my personal favorite Ruby’s Bagels), or choose from dozens of vendors at the north side’s Sherman Phoenix, and you’ll see how many options of local, affordable and delicious cuisine can be in a single space in Milwaukee. Marquette community members should support local businesses because it promotes economic prosperity in northern and southern Milwaukee neighborhoods. I urge students and faculty to make an effort to support these businesses as individual consumers as well as any organizations they take part in. Ditch the Papa Johns for your club meetings, invest in small businesses! It is just as important to invest our allegiance into businesses in our central city communities as we invest our volunteer hours. Volunteering in organizations that aim to combat poverty and being mindful to which communities and business students invest in is not going to end poverty, homelessness, or the risk of homelessness among Milwaukeeans. However, these steps are integral in moving towards that direction, and they are a powerful way for students to work to better our city, even if Marquette administration is not directly involved.


One Goal, One Campus, One Police Department Andrew Amouzou At Marquette University, Milwaukee Police Department is not the only law enforcement presence on campus. The Marquette University Police Department was commissioned May 1, 2015 with the state of Wisconsin’s Department of Justice and Attorney General’s office, becoming a police department. Originally the Department of Public Safety, MUPD consists of many officers from different backgrounds with one common goal: Ensure the safety and security of the students, faculty, staff and community, MUPD chief Edith Hudson says. Hudson says her passion for service influences her decisions to be part of MUPD. Hudson previously worked for 25 years with the MPD. “After leaving the Milwaukee Police Department, I spent some time doing nothing and worked with security management and it was not fulfilling,” Hudson says. “There is something about this work that is fulfilling to me and that is why I came back to it.” Assistant Chief of MUPD Jeff Kranz says he spent 26 years with the Milwaukee Police Department and stopped working for the department at a fairly young age. “To go from delivering that service to being a consumer and calling the police for help and seeing deficiencies in how that service was being provided, I got invited to come here and was part of the process of creating this department … I wanted to try and fix those deficiencies and create a small town police department in an urban setting,” Kranz says. The staff that make up MUPD contain registered police officers by the state of Wisconsin and campus safety officers, Hudson says. “In our hiring process for police officers, we only accept those with certification by the state of Wisconsin for law enforcement,” Hudson says. “There are rules governing certification for law enforcement. The Law Enforcement Standards Board dictates the standard for training … they provide the framework for what police officers should know and the type of training they should

have.” Molding potential officers into Marquette police goes hand in hand with their vision statement of “seeking to be a national model in creating an empowered community through innovative police practices that foster a safe environment in which to live, work and learn” according to the MUPD website. Along with training the police officers. MUPD also trains their police dog Nattie who has a large prescence on campus. Officer Katie Berigan, who works with Nattie the most, says an Instagram page was created for the dog. “(It) was created so that people can follow Nattie and make that connection,” she says. Berigan says being a police officer in a large city starts with being an educator. “It’s a bigger role for us to make that connection to the campus community,” Berigan says. Whether it’s with MPD or MUPD, it is not always easy being a police officer, Hudson says. “We want to go home too,” Hudson says. “We do not want anyone to hurt us and we do not want to hurt anyone. So making sure we can safely go home to our families and making sure folks we come in contact with are safe after their interaction with us (is important) … and having the willingness to still go to work knowing the potential danger that exist.” Kranz further illustrates what it is like getting ready for work as a police officer. “It’s crazy because everyday when you are getting dressed for work and you are putting your bullet proof vest on, I just pause for a second,” Kranz says. “I think that I am going to work and the work that I do requires me to wear this so that people do not shoot me, (that) just kind of strikes me every now and then.” Hudson adds that “part of the concern for officers, is not being able to help people who need help. Not everyone wants our help or takes our advice that we give them.” At the end of the day, MUPD wants to change the way that culture has perceived the police with the amount of police brutality stories in the news, especially in recent years, Kranz says. The relationship between the MUPD and the people are essential for not only stopping something from happening now, but also for future encounters, he says. “If something happens in Charlottesville or Houston and it goes viral, you feel like you get punched in the gut and it’s totally out of our control and it is so frustrating (to see),” Kranz says. “We work so hard to change the perception of police or bridge the gap that has occurred.” Art By Grace Pinoek

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Marquette Tribune Our staff is dedicated to accurate, truthful, quality journalism that impacts lives. 2017 WCMA first place newspaper for general excellence 2010, 2011, 2012, 2014, 2015 and 2016 SPJ award-winning newspaper Read our stories online or view editions of the Tribune at WWW.MARQUETTEWIRE.ORG 66

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Comfortable with being U ncomfortable

Aminah Beg

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y 2018 summer is clouded by my mother’s and I’s elongated frustration with Marquette University. Those four months are filled with countless back and forth phone calls with Marquette faculty and administration trying to discuss the conditions of my living situation for my upcoming sophomore year. Marquette University requires underclassmen to live in residence halls and have a meal plan. At the end of my freshman year, I worked hard to have the chance to commute to school my second year instead of having to live in a residence hall again. This process includes requesting for a residential status change in Marquette’s system and waiting for approval. The process becomes seemingly impossible after housing and residential office staff members continue to give us pushback, refusing to consider the conditions of my situation. I give detail and emotion-filled rationale describing the personal reasons I felt the need to commute my sophomore year. It felt like nobody was truly listening. Instead, I faced innumerable messages from people who never had answers for me. Consequently, I was forced to walk into my sophomore year distraught and anxious about my college experience. After dealing with the housing conflict, I believe that if I was not allowed to commute to school, at the very least I should have freedom over my own diet. This seemed reasonable as I rarely used the meal plan during my freshman year because of the limited options for my zabiha halal diet. Zabiha halal is a term that references the type of food Muslims are allowed to eat. Products such as pork and alcohol are not halal, or permissible, for any practicing Muslim. To also be zabiha means to eat meat cut in a certain Islamic way, similar to kosher in Judaism. Marquette University’s dining halls fail to give zabiha halal options for the Muslims on campus. Because of this, I thought it was obvious for Marquette dining services to authorize a bypass to the $4,000 meal plan. This again proved to be difficult because both Sodexo Services and the university failed to address my needs. They continued to claim that halal options would be readily available at the dining halls and Marquette Place. The cycle of phone calls began again. It felt endless. The school I thought was supposed to be my home for the next three years was denying me the right to feel comfortable and receive adequate accommodations for my dietary needs. Sodexo Services and the university were abusing their power in order to get the $4,000 required of every freshman and sophomore. Even if this is not their intention, that is how I felt.

Marquette advertises itself as an institution who is “accepting of people from all backgrounds.” Its inability to meet my dietary needs shows that the administration is not doing enough. They are tolerating students’ differences rather than truly acting as a support foundation and accommodating minorities’ differences. Minorities cannot feel comfortable in a place that does not listen to them. By the beginning of my sophomore year, Sodexo employees promised me they would meet with me to discuss my options for the year. I thought we would have a meeting to compromise on my dining situation and not force me to waste $4,000 on food I couldn’t eat. In reality, the university did not have the heart to make an effort to support Marquette minorities. I thought about the other students on campus who fall into a dietary minority, such as vegans, kosher eaters and vegetarians. They all face similar restrictions when required to stay on the meal plan. I walk into The Commons with an optimistic attitude, so my past does not affect making Marquette my home. I want to give Marquette a chance to recover from its shortcomings in the past. I walk into the breakfast line, and when I get to the front, there is bacon sitting right on top of the pancakes. I walk out frustrated with Marquette’s empty promises. In Sodexo’s defense, specific dining halls like The Commons apparently had special meat for Muslim students. Though, whenever I would ask for this meat and the rare occasions they had it, there was never shorter than a 30-minute waiting period before I received my food. For two years, my diet consisted of cheese pizza and salads. There was no concept of a balanced diet with any sort of protein from the food I was provided at Marquette. I may be one person out of the thousands of incoming underclassmen Marquette students, but I am not the only one facing these problems. My minority friends face similar issues and this feeling of being ignored. Not being advocated for is a feeling we have gotten used to. There are obstacles students experience on campus others may not think about. Marquette must reconsider the strict requirements it places on its students, especially if it cannot fulfill the promises made to us. These limitations prevent every student from considering Marquette a second home. I want Marquette to feel like home. I truly do. Now, I am a junior who feels like she lives in a place who consistently delivers me empty promises. I have become comfortable in knowing the university will continue to act in ways that hinder minorities from feeling truly welcomed. It will act in ways that force minorities to be comfortable with being uncomfortable, instead of making them feel like the school they attend for four years can become their home.

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The Marquette Wire would like to thank MU Law Alumnus Mike Delzer and Delzer Lithograph Company for generously printing the Marquette Journal. You made our dreams come alive on the page.


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