Vol. 15 (April 19, 2018) by University News

2 April 19, 2018

News

INSIDE SCOOP:

ARTS Exclusive interview with After Wednesday Page 6

SPORTS A Glimpse into SLU’s Chess Team Page 17

Becky LiVigni/ The University News

“Remember us” - How the Ochieng’ brothers helped Lwala By RILEY MACK Staff Writer

OPINION Busting immigration fallacies Page 20

Hanging along West Pine is a banner advertising for the ATLAS program. ATLAS Week focuses on diﬀerent world issues, specifically contiguous to the guest speakers. This year’s theme, “From Broken Walls, We Build Bridges,” became an evident message for the Signature Symposium, which was last Thursday, April 12. Fred and Milton Ochieng’ were the main act of the week as they explained their journey. From growing up in a small African village, playing soccer with a ball made of plastic bags and speaking in a nearly-full ballroom at a university about advancements for their community, the brothers engaged the audience with their life sto-

ries. These men helped to inspire others in the audience through their words. Upon finding out Milton and Fred were accepted into Dartmouth with a full ride but with no funds to buy plane tickets, the village of Lwala sold their livestock so that the boys could fulfill their potential within the world of health care. But before the brothers left, their village had one recommendation: “Remember us. When you come back, make sure you help our community.” This is exactly what the boys set out to do in America — except in a way their town could have never expected. In Lwala, the Ochieng’ brothers experienced firsthand the devastation that the lack of healthcare brought to the people. Particularly, Milton spoke of his teen years, when his friend, Ben, had a preg-

nant mother that began to have complications in childbirth. He spoke of how diﬃcult it was to get to the nearest hospital, with the whole trip taking nearly two hours; however, the men of the village got together that night to take Ben’s mother to get medical care. They then started on the long journey ahead of them. While being pushed in a wheelbarrow, Ben’s mother passed away along with her newborn. Milton recalls that “the next day, we woke up to the sound of the women in the village wailing, mourning Ben’s mom.” The images of the funeral of Ben’s mother and sister still engrained in the minds of the boys, Milton recalls that he will always remember this experience because See “Lwala” on page 3

News

Lwala: Ochieng’ brothers build hospital Continued from Page 2

it was so preventable with access to health care. This death, however, was the “death that made [Milton] want to become a doctor.” While in school, the brothers’ mother passed away from AIDS. They knew that they needed to implement a health care facility within Lwala. They used their goal for a class project at Dartmouth and began fundraising immediately. Fred, who was in charge of fundraising, recalled one instance when a little girl on the soccer team he coached emptied her piggy bank to donate to the cause, handing over $48 and a picture drawn of the future hospital. He remembered this moment and said, “When you’re on the brink of losing hope, these are the things that lift you up.” The last weekend of fundraising rolled around, but the brothers came up empty. However, Fred was asked to speak at a ministry conference about the cause. There, on that last day, the brothers earned $10,000 to start their clinic. “It was like seeing what God could do in the midst of all the misery that we had been experiencing,” Fred said. At that point, their project began catching speed. Jars of Hope Foundation donated $40,000 to the clinic, which gave them the monetary leverage to start building. Just before the hospital’s ceremony, the Ochieng’ brothers’ father passed away due to HIV as well. Without their father to see their dreams come true, they were disheartened. Their dean asked whether or not they wanted to continue the project because of the tragedy, allowing them a pass within the class. Without hesitation, Milton said, “That would be a pass for me, but what about the people of my village?” After the documentary, “Honoring a Father’s Dream: Sons of Lwala,” released on the success of Milton and Fred, the donations poured in, totaling over $230,000. With the money, the brothers started the clinic up with employees, medicine and some technology. After the address, Matthew Blankley said, “They’ve never forgotten where they came from, and how they still have a passion to help the community that raised them.” The theme of ATLAS week declares “Out of Conflict Rises Community,” and it could not have been more spot on for the signature speakers that night.

Trump signs bill stopping online trafficking By SAVANAH SEYER Staff Writer

On April 11, President Trump signed into law the Allow States and Victims to Fight Online Sex Trafficking Act, or “FOSTA.” This bill was introduced by Missouri Rep. Ann Wagner, passed the House in February and passed in the Senate with a vote of 97-2. The law’s intent is to hold websites such as Backpage, a website that was recently found guilty of being involved in creating the ads that aided sexual trafficking on its website, accountable for such ads that are posted online. Websites like these are often the main places where victims are trafficked through the use of online ads. The law will make it easier for victims and attorneys to file suits against the websites themselves. In the wake of the signing, sites such as these have begun to take down their classified ad sections, and have cut down on accepting advertisements relating to sexual content. The bill had widespread bipartisan support, as shown by its passing with a huge margin. However, it is not without controversy. Advocates for sex workers have spoken out against the bill, saying that it will create a more unstable and unsafe environment for sex workers. They argue that without sites such as Backpage or Craigslist, it is harder for sex workers to screen customers, and to safely post ads, instead having to resort to older, more dangerous methods of work. They also believe that it will make it harder for United States law enforcement to track those involved in sex trafficking. In an interview with the New York Times, Jean Bruggeman, executive director of an anti-trafficking advocate coalition, said, “Shutting down every service provider and website will not end sex trafficking. What it will do is push traffickers to overseas websites that are beyond the reach of law enforcement, making it harder to prosecute them.” Other arguments against this bill is that it is a step backwards for internet freedom. Opponents of the bill, including one of the two senators that voted against it, said that the bill infringed on the protections that websites were given under the Communications Decency Act. Before FOSTA was signed into law, users only, not the websites themselves, were held accountable for the things they

posted. This allowed websites to claim ignorance of any illegal or harmful posts made on its website. However, regardless of the differing opinions, it seems that the current legislative body in Washington sees this as a beneficial bill. Ohio Sen. Rob Portman was one of the main Senate sponsors of the bill. “This is a big victory for trafficking victims and survivors,” Portman said, “who for too long have been denied the opportunity to get the justice they deserve.” The authors of the bill have spoken out against the criticism, saying that this bill was drafted with care and careful investigation, and is the best option to fight the current issue of sex trafficking in the country. Wagner herself said that the bill was guided by members of the Justice Department and from prosecutors. In response to the worries that innocent website providers would be negatively affected, she said that the law should not affect those that are not knowingly violating criminal laws. President of the College Democrats and SGA Senator Robbie Lasky, said that he believes that the bill will have a positive impact, and that hopefully the arguments against the bill will remain hypothetical. “While I understand there is definitely concern, and that we need to have protections in place for sex workers, if my knowledge of the bill is correct, then this bill just holds websites accountable for advertisements,” said Lasky. “I think with the potential to prevent the advertising of sex trafficking and non-consensual sexual acts, we’re talking about saving lives.” With polarization plaguing the government, it is uncommon to see something have such widespread support from both sides, and seems like a positive direction for our leaders to move in. “I think that it is good in general that we have such widespread unanimous agreement that we need to stand together against things like this,” said Lasky. “I think that this is a pretty common-sense bill, and I think it is good that people are sticking together and saying this is something we want to work on and something we have the power to fight against.” Freshman Lyndsey Barillier, a member of the Diversity and Global Citizenship learning community, agreed, saying “It’s a great bill that obviously has strong bipartisan ties.”

April 19, 2018

Tweets

of the week @nytimes

Breaking News: Barbara Bush, wife of the 41st president, mother of the 43rd, has died at 92.

@CNN

Outrage over the arrests of two black men at a Philadelphia Starbucks has wounded the company’s reputation, so it plans to close 8,000 stores for one afternoon in May to teach employees about racial bias. Will it work? Experts weigh in. @ABC

Pennsylvania Senate unanimously passes bill making the most severe hazing a felony. The legislation was drafted after death of Penn State pledge last year.

@stltoday

Defense lawyers claim former FBI agent being investigated for perjury in case against Greitens

@stlpublicradio

Talk of impeachment is heating up in Jefferson City. Catch up on the latest Greitens news

@BillikenCareers

The Tax Auditor/Tax Auditor Trainee at New York State Dept of Taxation & Finance performs field audits of the financial records of taxpayers to verify that businesses and individuals are in compliance with tax laws, regulations & rules.

@piuslibrary

Don’t miss this lecture about the history of the Jesuits in St. Louis tomorrow at noon!

April 19, 2018

News

International students navigate tricky finances By GRANT MAYFIELD Identity Editor

Building bridges beyond the bubble in Dilley, Texas By MEREDYTH STAUNCH Managing Editor

Since 2001, ATLAS Week has focused on promoting discussions on current global challenges. With these discussions come informed action, through which the students are encouraged to critically think about the current issues and become involved advocates for social change. The 2018 ATLAS Week theme was “From Broken Walls, We Build Bridges: Out of Conflict Rises Community,” which accentuated the student, faculty and staﬀ connections beyond the “SLU bubble.” Spanning from April 6 through April 14, ATLAS Week featured the keynote address from Fred and Milton Ochieng’, both doctors and co-founders of the Lwala Community Alliance, a multifaceted nonprofit organization in Kenya that provides clinical care, public health outreach and educational and economic tools to benefit the country. Beyond providing healthcare to Kenya, the goal of the Ochieng’ brothers was to improve the quality of education through mentoring and allocation of school supplies to students. Like Lwala, each ATLAS Week event contained a global outreach component. But the presentations also oﬀered a way to make a global impact without leaving the states, whether it was through voting, becoming informed about one’s own biases toward a particular ethnic group or discussing the refugee crisis and how students can domestically make

an impact. Of those who presented, sophomore Marissa Orneal discussed her internship with CARA, a collection of organizations that created a family detention project to ensure that detained children and their mothers receive competent representation after crossing the border for safety. It also aims to end the practice of family detention entirely. The formation of the CARA Family Detention Project is in response to the Dilley Pro Bono Project, which opened the largest immigration family detention center, the South Texas Family Residential Center, in Dilley, Texas, in 2014. A prospective immigration attorney, Orneal recounted her week-long experience in Dilley through her ATLAS Week presentation called “This Bridge Called Our Backs: Walking With The Women and Children in the South Texas Family Residential Center.” She explained her time in Dilley as “life changing” as she listened to immigrants who were seeking asylum, and she provided legal support for families detained at the center. Because Orneal speaks Spanish fluently, she was placed in a room by herself with mothers and their children to discuss cases to prevent the families from being deported. “The United States does not protect [immigrants] from war or poverty or violence,” Orneal said. “You have to prove to the United States government that you have suﬀered some personal persecution or fear some personal persecution on these five protected grounds – race, religion, na-

tionality, political opinion and membership in a particular social group. You also have to prove that you did not receive any protection from the police or government, which is very diﬃcult.” Regarding the latter point, Orneal asked the women how far the nearest police station was from their homes in their native countries and whether they went to the police before and for what reason. Women are required to prove their answers to the asylum oﬃcer, and volunteers like Orneal help to formulate the women’s answers, so they have a greater chance of receiving asylum in the United States. Orneal’s talk funneled a crowded room of students and faculty members. Although not pre-law, junior Allison Jasper attended and expressed her interest in the topic because she is a Spanish major and had never heard about CARA before. “I thought that it was awesome that a SLU student who went [to the STFRC] presented on this topic and had a first person account,” Jasper said. “I had no idea that the US had these family detention centers that are like jails, even though families are trying to find better lives here. This is never publicized.” While Orneal’s event was the only ATLAS Week event that Jasper attended, she stressed the importance of attending at least one or two of these talks to learn how students like herself can get involved and potentially make an impact beyond St. Louis.

Nearly six percent of undergraduate students at Saint Louis University are from countries other than the U.S. They hail from 78 diﬀerent countries—some as close as Mexico and Canada, others as far as China and Saudi Arabia. International students may be prevalent on campus, but the road to St. Louis can be anything but easy, especially when it comes to finances. SLU students receive around $140 million annually in federal student aid. If you’re a domestic student, you were required to fill out the FAFSA form when applying to attend the University. This form defines eligibility for financial aid from the federal government. This can come in the form of federally-guaranteed students loans, which about half of SLU students receive, or Pell grants, which help fund around 22% of undergrad students on campus. But because most international students are not U.S. citizens, they are not eligible for these benefits and must find other means of financing their education. Although international students are eligible for merit-based financial aid through the University, this often doesn’t cover their entire cost of attendance. In fact, unless they receive the Presidential Scholarship, a full tuition merit-based award, they will have to pay out of pocket for some portion of their education. Even if they do receive that scholarship, they must pay room and board, which is not covered by the university. The cost of a private university in the U.S. like SLU is often much more expensive than in other countries. For instance, the cost of attendance at Peking University, one of the best higher education institutions in China is less than $4000 per year. The numbers are even more drastic in Western Europe. In Germany, tuition averages a little over $900 a year and France typically charges a little over $500. When compared to SLU’s rate of more than $43,000, this can be a pretty tough financial stretch for many international students. While SLU doesn’t have control over See “International” on page 5

News

April 19, 2018

Let Us Introduce You:

Sergio Bernabeu Peñalba By Megan Anthony Editor-in-Chief

By time this paper falls into the SLU community’s hands, Sergio Bernabeu Peñalba will be 21, but he points out that in his home city of Madrid, Spain, he has already been 21 for several hours. Sergio originally entered SLU Madrid as a freshman and spent three semesters there. He commuted from his home which was about 15-20 miles from school but he says that’s normal for students to live at home as the Madrid campus is “tiny.” He has been in St. Louis for two semesters and he enjoys all the events hosted for students. However, if given the choice, Sergio would live in Madrid. “I didn’t need a license [in Madrid]. I could walk around at night and know nothing bad was going to happen.” He transfered to SLU because, one day, he plans to be an engineer and SLU Madrid does not oﬀer an engineering

degree. In the little free time he has as an engineering student, Sergio enjoys mountain biking (which doesn’t happen often in St. Louis) and listening to music. His favorite type of music? Everything, except country. But if he had to choose, alternative indie music would be his favorite and, of course, “oldies are goodies.” Since moving to the states, Sergio has also found a new appreciation for Spanish music. “I love spanish music now,” he says of his home country’s tunes. Recently, Sergio was elected VP of International Aﬀairs for the 2018-2019 school year. He has several plans but his main focus will be on popping the SLU bubble. “It happens within international students too; we’re all segregated. We want to give them the opportunity to meet people from other cultures,” he says. As an international student, Sergio has a unique perspective on the needs of students who choose to spend a portion of their studies here at SLU. “We have an

orientation and they help us go through all the papers we need, which is great,” he says. “But they don’t try to help us incorporate into the rest of the university.” He also points to the lack of financial support international students recieve. While they can’t apply for FAFSA because they are not U.S. citizens, other forms of financial aid are also hard to come by. International students are only allowed to work on campus, however there is stiﬀ competition from permanent students who also desire the flexibility of an on-campus job and Sergio feels the university should be more supportive of its international students in financial situations. But for now, Sergio is looking to the future. He would love to be a pilot and he hopes to live in Madrid again one day. One thing he must accomplish before leaving, though: a visit to the Arch.

International: Students outside of US weigh expenses Continued from Page 4

federal regulations, they do offer a variety of services for international students. The INTOSLU program helps international students with their English skills as well as adjusting to the U.S. culturally. The Office of International Services also helps students with obtaining Visas, banking and finding employment on campus among other services. Another large expense for non-domestic students is travel. Coming from places all around the globe, many students have to weigh whether they can afford to travel home for breaks or to stay on campus. Often staying on campus for winter break involves moving into one of the few open dorms or finding someone to stay with in the U.S. “Some domestic students have the preconception that international students are rich because they’re studying abroad,” said Surabhi Swaminath, a junior in the college of arts and sciences from Bengaluru, India. “But things can be difficult for us on top of

the lifestyle change, the language and the culture shock. Finances are a big part of it too.” While international students are permitted to live off campus after two years just like domestic students, they often don’t have someone to co-sign the lease on their off-campus housing or act as a guarantor. This can result in the student or their family having to pay several months rent up front and out of pocket. In fact, Swaminath had to pay two months’ rent at the Standard just to be able to sign the lease. International students must obtain an F1 student visa, which allows them to study in the United States for a certain period of time. This visa offers no benefits to the student and costs $160 just for the application. It also restricts the amount of income international students can earn while in the U.S. Students are permitted to work a maximum of 20 hours per week or 40 hours during breaks. They are, however, ineligible for federal work-study jobs that are intended to help domestic students balance their schoolwork.

Photo courtesy of Sergio Bernabeu Peñalba

Bernabeu Peñalba is a junior engineering student and the VP of International Aﬀairs elect.

THE SLU SCOOP All Information Provided by Department of Public Safety and Emergency Preparedness

Wednesday, April 11 3:45 p.m. ATTEMPT THEFT A SLU student contacted DPS when she observed her bike cable damaged and small droplets of blood on the ground near her bike and bike rack. DPS showed the student how to secure her bike using the U-lock already in her position. Det. Chambers attempted to obtain video footage of the suspect. Monday, April 16 8:45 p.m. MOTOR VEHICLE THEFT Between 4-13-18, at 8:00 p.m., and 4-16-18, at 8:45 p.m. person(s) unknown removed a student’s vehicle from the west center of the parking lot. There was no broken glass on the ground. SLMPD took a phone report per report #18-16860. The vehicle is a red, 2002 Jeep, Liberty with Illinois plates BRBOSS1 Be a Responsible Billiken STOP. CALL. REPORT. 314-977-3000 witness.slu.edu dps.slu.edu

Arts&Entertainment UNews

e got the chance to sit down with a couple of band members from the Vibe opening band, After Wednesday, a three-piece punk rock band previously named Casper. These St. Louis natives described their approach to music which was seemingly technical and passionate. Along with their happy-go-lucky attitude, Pat and Jack expressed how they are honing their sound (which is seen in their newest single “Tattoo”) a change that is marked by the change of their own band name. By Chandana Kamaraj

What high school did you go to? How did you meet? Pat: We went to Chaminade which is in Creve Coeur. Funny story, Jack and I never really hung out until senior year of high school. I had been thinking about playing music for awhile, but it was really hard because it was hard to find people in high school who like common music. [But when I met Jack] I asked him if we could jam sometime and we [did that] in the basement with a small drum set that faced the wall. [Then we brought Bennett in] and he asked if it [was] something we would like to play live. Yeah, ideally we would like to play live. Jack: What we sound like is the closest in between of what we all listen to. So when we first started out, we were listening to all kinds of music.

How did you feel about

performing live at Delmar Hall and the Duck Room?

Jack: The first time we played at Delmar Hall we were in disbelief because we were playing these Utopia and Fubar shows, [and] The Crack-Fox. Luckily, Bennett [and I] had a friend from Mizzou who is from a bigger band and we [ended up opening] up at a Christmas Show. We opened up for Tidal Volume. Pat: We are thankful for those shows. The first time we played at Delmar Hall, I drank six cups of coﬀee before then. We were really nervous. [But] Blueberry Hill to this day is my favorite venue. It’s more of a restaurant and [it gets] a lot a people from the street in the Loop. It is one of the bigger smaller clubs.

Talk about your experiences while filming “Tattoo.” Pat: We did it on the spot. We’re very “do-ityourself.” Jack: Pretty much all we wanted to do was eat cereal in front of the camera and maybe do some improv things. We are not actors so that didn’t go really well. Pat: After 20 minutes in, I almost puked after eating that much cereal. [Two nights before shooting] we paint[ed] everything [including our shirts]. We didn’t think it through because

“

April 19, 2018 arts@unewsonline.com Natalie Riopelle, Arts Editor Chandana Kamaraj, Assoc. Arts Editor

We kind of sound like a step up from a talent-show band.

What are your favorite bands

and the influences for your sound?

Pat: My influences personally are Blink-182, Sum 41, Angels and Airwaves, newer Sum 41, Agent Orange, [The] Dead Kennedys and The Cure. Favorite band: Angels and Airwaves and The Cure. We don’t dislike mainstream. Our whole band is driven by pop punk to punk to hard rock. Jack and I also like a lot of The 1975. Jack: Tool because Danny Carey is a god [and Muse]. [Jokingly] Nick Jonas is our main inspiration. We really get our sound from his essence. [Bennett’s favorite band] is Year 3000.

After Wednesday will be the opener for Vibe on Saturday and then will play again at Delmar Hall on May 11th. Read the full interview and watch the snapchat Q&A video at unewsonline.com.

Trenton Almgren-Davis / U. News

Arts

April 19, 2018

Meet Morgan Saint El Sazon brings heat By CELINE REINOSO Staff Writer

By LAUREN SMITH Contributor

Morgan Saint and her girlfriend sat, preparing for her show in the back room of the upstairs of the Ready Room—not the most posh area for fairly famous musicians. Her black sweatsuit combo, black fringy hair, and dark eyeshadow highlighted her delicate, mousy features and bright blue eyes. “I almost feel more empowered the weirder I look,” she said in a recent Vogue interview. I asked her how she was enjoying St. Louis so far and she let out a light sigh, explaining that she was to get on the road for Texas right after the show. Her recent 17 Hero tour with Missio was just a means of filling an empty block in her otherwise hectic schedule. Saint recently performed at SXSW, the most influential of American music festivals for new artists and hadn’t even seen her new apartment on the Lower East Side since she bought it. A graduate of Parsons Design School in New York, Saint directs all of her album’s visuals and design. “I love music and I love using it as a foundation to express myself and make art but I love being able to express myself through the visuals and fashion,” she said. “I like to make myself and how I see the world visible and translucent to the people who are listening. I write all my own music and treat-

ments to my videos and photos as well. I want it to be super raw and authentic all round—I’m very adamant about everything feeling like me. Being able to tell that whole story and make it really personal is an extension of how honest[ly] I approach my music.” The line went out the door of the Ready Room for the show that night, and the average concert goer was between the ages of 16 and 25 and decked out in an eccentric outfit, leading me to believe most were there to see Saint. The low-key pop artist, who has been compared to Lorde, Broods and Banks, has taken off in the last year since she signed with Epic Records. “When I graduated, I was going through a difficult time in my life and I wanted to shift what I was doing and that’s how I fell into music,” Saint said. “I ended up getting the studio and making music that I had written really for myself to get me through that weird time in my life”. Saint’s songs tell true-to-heart stories about love, loss and self-identity. She explained a relationship she endured two years ago, in which the feelings weren't quite mutual. “Has anybody here ever broken their own heart?” she asked the crowd. Saint danced and jumped around stage in her teal two-piece windbreaker outfit. For well-versed fans and newcomers alike, the crowd left Saint’s set inspired by her genuine way with words and performance.

The last thing you would expect to see outside on a cold April night is Saint Louis University’s acrobatic salsa dance team, El Sazón. El Sazón performed on Saturday at SLU’s Relay for Life, a 12-hour fundraiser for the American Cancer Society. Alex Ocasio, along with five other people, founded the team three years ago. Ocasio is now the coach of El Sazón and Fuego, a subgroup duo within the team. “Sazón” is a Spanish word that translates to a Latin American seasoning that combines cilantro, achiote, garlic and salt. “Much like the spice, the dancers on the team come from around the world,” said Ocasio. “They represent the Czech Republic, Honduras, Iran, Italy, Mexico, Panama, Philippines, Puerto Rico, Spain, the United States and Venezuela.” Halfway through the fundraising event, El Sazón’s performance provided relayers with the high energy they needed at midnight. Despite the 40-degree weather, the audience could not help but dance along to the upbeat latin sounds blasting through Hermann Stadium. The crowd cheered and clapped as the dancers performed their stunts and flips on stage. After seven dance numbers by El Sazón, Fuego performed. Fuego is the name of a two-person team consisting of Chris Canedo and Elena Burke. Their piece included 23 intense acrobatic stunts in under four minutes. A combination of thrilling and gravitydefying stunts and Latin American music brought fire and exhilaration that warmed

up the crowd. “I have two good friends that are in it and watching them perform and do what they love always makes it so fun! They brought a lot of fun and spirit to relay and just made everyone smile with their energy,” said Angelica Rubi, one of the participants in Relay for Life. El Sazón was the first Latin dance team on campus. The diverse group of dancers who make up the team not only promote Latin American culture through their performances, but also the cultures of the countries they come from. Many genres of dance are integrated into their performances. Influences of salsa dance, acrobatics, ballet and jazz dance come together to create the magic that is El Sazón.

Trenton Almgren-Davis / U. News

Concensus ‘Death of Stalin’ a winner By KARL O’BRIEN Staff Writer

Courtesy of Main Journey & Quad Productions

Though it has come out in the United States in limited release, “The Death of Stalin” has garnered significant coverage for its black humor and skillfully executed satire of strong-man politics. All of this press is well deserved, as Armando Ianucci has turned out more riotous political humor along the lines of Veep. Based upon a graphic novel, “The Death of Stalin” chronicles the leadership struggles and accompanying vicious backstabbing by the members of the Soviet Union leadership following the title event. The film begins in a radio station in March 1953, where a Mozart concerto that Stalin had asked to be recorded has to be given again because the radio station did not begin the process of recording. Maria Yudina, an accomplished concert

pianist, must be bribed by Nikita Khrushchev to play again, and she leaves a scathing note for Stalin in the record’s sleeve, as the NKVD, his security forces, had killed nearly her entire family. Stalin suffers a cerebral hemorrhage while laughing at reading Yudina’s note, and the Party leadership soon reveals their own agendas as they scramble to choose a new leader to fill the totalitarian Stalin’s shoes. Lavrentiy Beria, the head of security forces, wishes to continue the terror of Stalin and further crush dissent; Khrushchev desperately wants to pass reforms and stop repression; Vyacheslav Molotov wants revenge for his mistreatment under Stalin, including his wife’s imprisonment, and Georgy Malenkov; the Deputy Party Secretary, wants nothing more than to be left alone and carry out his duties. The men reluctantly agree to put Malenkov in charge until a new leader is found, allow

all Soviet citizens to come to Moscow for Stalin’s wake, and make numerous concessions to each other in the name of carrying on the government’s work. Along the way, Khrushchev and company must deal with the demands of the Red Army and its bombastic leader, Field Marshal Georgy Zhukov, the ravings of Stalin’s unstable son Vasily and his overly assertive sister Svetlana, and general bureaucratic dysfunction as the situation further disintegrates into possible civil war. By the nature of its title, The Death of Stalin ruthlessly mocks not only the dysfunction of the Soviet Union, but also of authoritarian governments in general. Every action the leadership must take has to be verified by numerous offices that bicker constantly, sometimes with deadly results, as seen in the See “Stalin” on Page 8

8 April 19, 2018

Arts

‘Stalin’: Hammer’s home

To do in STL Majeed Mediterranean Restaurant Opened February 4658 Gravois Ave.

Bloody, Bloody Andrew Jackson Tuesday, April 26 - Sunday April 29 University Theatre

“Avengers: Infinity War” Release: Friday, April 26

Record Store Day

Saturday, April 21 3224 Locust St. #203

Jack White with Mattiel

Wednesday, April 25, 8:00 p.m. Chaifetz Arena

Continued from Page 7

spats between the security forces and the regular military. Willfully imprisoning and executing swaths of the population on the mere command of the leader inevitably leads to disastrous results when their talents are later needed; this is shown with darkly humorous effect when “doctors” must be pulled from the streets to tend to Stalin as he lies unconscious, as all the good ones were sent to the gulags under suspicion of poisoning him. An overinflated bureaucracy naturally leads to miscommunications with the Eastern Orthodox bishops attending Stalin’s funeral without the knowledge of Beria and Khrushchev. Many critics have said that the film is analogous to the problems in President Trump’s administration, but all of these parallels were lost on me. I enjoyed “The Death of Stalin” for its sheer comic value, as well as its blinkand-you’ll-miss-it historical references. While in Molotov’s apartment, Khrushchev laments the poor utilities and lack of privacy, which he aimed to fix as Soviet premier by building upgraded public housing with more walls to give individual families more space to themselves. The lack of good doctors references an anti-Semitic outbreak in the Soviet Union in the early 1950s, when

Stalin’s doctors, most of them Jewish, were falsely accused of attempting to poison their patient. In the ending scene, once Khrushchev takes over the Soviet Union, his successor Leonid Brezhnev eyes him suspiciously under his distinctively prominent eyebrows, alluding to his crusade to remove Khrushchev from power after the end of the Cuban Missile Crisis. All said, most anyone can find something enjoyable about “The Death of Stalin,” and I highly recommend trying to find one of the few theaters where it is playing.

Courtesy of Main Journey & Quad Productions

For AJR music is in the family By MADISYN SIEBERT Staff Writer

Friday, April 13, what is supposed to be an unlucky day, was quite the opposite for the people lucky enough to get tickets to the sold out AJR concert at Delmar Hall. AJR is a group of three brothers from New York City who started street performing when they were kids and developed their passion into a full-time job, producing their music in their family’s living room. The name of their band is actually the initials of the brothers, Adam, Jack and Ryan. The sound of the band is indie-electric pop that uses different elements to make up-tempo beats into a unique sound that no other band is using. They demonstrated how they are able to remix songs

and make them completely different at their concert by performing the song, “Chim Chim Cheree,” from the movie, “Mary Poppins.” The concert started off with high anticipation, and the band played their song, “Overture,” as the actual overture to their concert, with different light displays to get the crowd amped for the performance. Then, Jack, the lead singer, came out and started off with an acapella version of the song before the stage went black and the other two brothers appeared. They immediately went into their song, “Come Hang Out.” After finishing this song, Jack took time to explain that they started off with this song because we are all coming together to “come hang out” with one another. Jack then gestured to the huge pyramid light behind them after a few more high energy songs and explained how he wanted to show

the crowd what this pyramid could really do. He put on a blazer and white gloves to look like a musical conductor and then began to control the pyramid with different movements and actions, with the pyramid lighting up in different ways and making different noises before transitioning into the next song. The band continued to play their upbeat songs all night before taking a minute to slow things down by leaving Ryan alone on stage to perform the song, “Call My Dad.” He explained how they did not want to just write and perform songs that were labeled as relatable, because songs are not relatable to everyone. They made an album based off of personal experiences that are unique to them and they just wanted people to hopefully understand them and relate to them on some aspect.

They all came back out to the stage and got the crowd excited again by playing their first single, “I’m Ready,” that went platinum. Jack went on to explain how they started after this song and gave a moving speech of how people told them they were cute as kids for street performing, and that when they started to make music, it was just a hobby. Then, once they had a hit, they were being labeled as just a one-hit wonder. Jack explained how they were not going to let these labels keep them down and they worked harder than ever to make their latest album, “The Click.” They then disproved everyone by making their song, “Weak,” which blew up over the summer of 2017. Jack wanted everyone to know that no matter what, do not let people define you. This motivating speech was then followed by

their song, “Turning Out,” to go along with the message Jack was just explaining. The band then returned back to their high energy performances before leaving for the encore and coming back to the stage to play their song, “Weak,” the crowd going absolutely crazy as they danced and sang along. They ended the performance by the brothers, their drummer, and trumpeter all taking on traditional marching band instruments and marching on stage together before taking their final bows. This concert was one of the most high energy, engaging concerts I have ever been to. Having seen AJR back in 2015 when no one really knew who they were, it was amazing to see them show that they are not only musicians, but they are performers.

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April 19, 2018

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Photography

ATLAS in Pictures By TRENTON ALMGREN-DAVIS & REBECCA LIVIGNI Photo Editors

Top Left: SLU students participate in the ATLAS event, Dancing ‘Round the World. Bottom Left: Nisha Rao, a member of the classical and fusion Hindu dance group, Omkara, teaches students the fundamentals of the Bharatanatyam dance. Top Right: Haruka Ikeda and Hiroki Yuda exuberantly show off traditional Japanese attire in the international fashion show, Stylin’ Around the World. Bottom Right: Seema Kakar presents her elegantly designed Afgan outfit to those in attendance of the ATLAS Kickoff.

April 19, 2018

Photography

SLU students line up in droves to feast on international cuisine from food truck vendors Wednesday evening. With a break in the wintry weather, students enjoyed the warm sunset as they ate.

Photography

Milton Ochieng’, M.D., explains his journey to build a hospital in his hometown, Lwala, Kenya as part of the ATLAS Week Signature Symposium.

April 19, 2018

Maysoon Zaid speaks to SLU’s Disabilities Club and AED Pre-medical Club about her experience as an actress with cerebral palsy. She says, “If a person with a disability can’t play Beyonce, then Beyonce can’t play a person with a disability... and she can do anything.”

Fred Ochieng,’. M.D., speaks alongside his brother, Milton, in discussing their passion for healthcare to SLU facualty and students in the Wool Ballroom.

SLU Shakti members leap in the air as they perfrom for the Kickoff ATLAS Event in the CGC.

April 19, 2018

Photography

The Parade of Nations is one of the main events during ATLAS Week . Starting outside the Busch Student Center, and accompanied by marching bands, SLU students walk down West Pine, weave around the clock tower, and flow into the Center for Global Citizenship benath a stream of vibrant world flags.

Sports

April 19, 2018 sports@unewsonline.com Bobby Stilwell, Sports Editor Monica Ryan, Assoc. Sports Editor

Saint Louis University Athletics RETURN: Sophomore Mariluz Rojo watches the ball all the way into the racket. Rojo, a native of Spain, has adapted well to life as an international student-athlete.

Rojo loves challenges of international college sports By Erin McClelland Staﬀ Writer

Saint Louis University’s student-athletes are not only from every corner of the United States, many are from various countries throughout the world. Women’s Tennis sophomore, Mariluz Rojo, comes to SLU from Burgos, Spain, a city in the northern part of the country. She is a student in the Parks College, studying Biomedical Engineering on a Pre-Med track. Mariluz was familiar with the idea of playing a sport in the United States growing up, because some of her older friends had done it before her. She also knew that playing in college overseas was becoming more popular for European students, especially in tennis, because they didn’t have the same opportunities to play for their universities like they do in the US. The university systems in Europe, specifi-

cally Spain, diﬀer from those in the United States because students in Europe don’t live at their schools. Many people go to the university closest to their home and attend classes, but continue to live at home. These schools don’t have sports teams attached to them and people that want to continue playing sports must go to local clubs outside of their school. As a kid, English was a subject in school that Mariluz really enjoyed. She started learning how to speak English at the age of 6 and she went to a language school, because she really enjoyed it. Her confidence in the language made her decision to study in America that much easier. She was excited to study abroad because she loves to travel, and it was a great opportunity to visit a new country in a financially possible way while continuing to play tennis. In her recruiting process, Mariluz didn’t

come to SLU; SLU went to Mariluz. International students have a diﬀerent method of being recruited because often coaches aren’t able to travel around the world to see the talent. Students interested in playing sports for NCAA schools from foreign countries go through agencies to reach out to potential coaches. She had only heard about SLU after her agency had contacted the coach and had heard back. One of the hardest things about being away from home for Mariluz is missing her parents and sister, but she loves that she gets to be independent and solve her own problems. “You have to be more mature, even if you don’t want to,” she said. Despite being far from home, she isn’t alone on her team in that aspect. Mariluz is one of 4 international students on the 8-woman tennis team.

Coming to SLU was the first time that Mariluz had ever come to America. She loves to travel but “in Europe [they] don’t have the same mindset [that Americans do] where everything is close-by.” To most Americans, a 5-hour drive doesn’t sound all that bad, yet if you were to drive 5 hours in Europe you would likely end up in a diﬀerent country, maybe even 2. She really appreciates the opportunities she has had to travel within the US due to tennis. Her favorite trip was the one the team took to New York before spring break. She had never been, and it was a great experience she got to have with her teammates. Although her favorite place she’s visited is New York, her favorite memory from tennis, so far, has been traveling to Orlando, See “Tennis” on Page 18

Sports

April 19, 2018

Trenton Almgren-Davis / The University News CRACK: Sophomore designated hitter Kaylea Chappelle hits the ball into play. Chappelle batted in four runs in the doubleheader split against Dayton.

Softball snaps drought with some small ball By Bobby Stilwell Sports Editor

SLU Softball has faced numerous opponents over the last two weeks. The Billikens swept SBU in a doubleheader and split another with Dayton, before losing a pair of games each to No. 19 Arkansas and UMass. SLU traveled to Dayton on Thursday, April 5. Dayton struck early in the first game, taking a 5-0 lead after four innings. SLU rallied in the fifth with a solo shot from senior infielder Alyssa Tarquinio, followed by an RBI single from senior infielder Allie Macfarlane and a two-RBI single from sophomore designated hitter Kaylea Chappelle. Dayton answered with six runs across the fifth and sixth in the 11-4 loss.

CHEER

Dayton tallied a run early in game two, but SLU answered with a pair of runs in the second and third. Chappelle hit a two-run dinger in the second, with an RBI double from freshman outfielder Sadie Wise and RBI single from Macfarlane. Dayton added a tally in the sixth, but Tarquinio sent another one out of the park for an insurance tally 5-2 win. Freshman Sadie Wise broke the single season home run record in a neutral-site sweep of St. Bonaventure on Friday, April 6. SLU scored seven times in the bottom of the second. Junior catcher Kaylyn Breitbach drove in a run off a single, junior infielder Mackenzie Lawson drove in two off a double, and freshman outfielder Maria Connell drove a sacrifice fly out to center to score an-

WHO TO CHEER NBA REACTS Erin Popovich (wife of Miami Heat Head Coach Gregg Popovich) unfortuantely passed away on Wednesday, April 18. Other NBA players and TV commentators took to Twitter to offer support and prayers for the family.

other. Junior outfielder Lauren Lomax drove another one in and Wise scored two off a rare two-RBI sacrifice fly. Breitbach scored on an error in the third, with Wise and Macfarlane launching a homer apiece in the fourth for three additional runs in the 11-0 win. Wise broke the record with a two-run shot in the first, before the Billikens tallied four times in the second—a wild pitch, sacrifice flies from Connell and freshman outfielder Kat Lane, and a Wise RBI single. Connell drove in another in the third, with Macfarlane doubling to clear the bases in the fourth. The Bonnies tallied just once in the fifth in the 10-1 win. SLU returned to St. Louis for an afternoon doubleheader against No. 19 Arkansas on Tuesday, April 10. The Billikens were shut-

JEER

out 7-0 and 5-0 in the sweep. Arkansas struck early, with three runs in the first inning, and a pair of runs a piece in the fourth and fifth. In game two, Arkansas tallied an unearned run in the second, scored another on a solo shot in the fourth, and three more on a three-run homer in the sixth. SLU loaded the bases in the seventh, but Macfarlane was thrown out attempting to score to end the game. Head Coach Christy Connoyer provided a bit of insight into practice leading up to the Arkansas series. “We worked on what we anticipated seeing…they don’t strike out See “Wise” on Page 18

FEAR WHO TO JEER

WHO TO FEAR

NFL INEQUALITY After posting a one piece swimsuit picture of herself on Instagram, New Orleans Saints cheerleader Bailey Davis was fired. She has since filed a complaint with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission.

CHICAGO WEATHER The MLB season is underway, but Chicago weather is not cooperating. The Cubs vs. Cardinals series, set to start on April 16, has had two game days switched. This month, the Cubs have had five postponed games.

Sports

Thursday, Apr. 19 Track & Field Multiple Meets Multiple Locations

Friday, Apr. 20 Track & Field Multiple Meets Multiple Locations Men’s/Women’s Tennis 12 p.m./12:15 p.m. vs. UMKC

This week in Sports

Saturday, Apr. 21

Track & Field Multiple Meets Multiple Locations Softball 12 p.m./2 p.m. v. Fordham Baseball 2 p.m. vs. Jacksonville

Sunday, Apr. 22

Softball 12 p.m. vs. Fordham Baseball 1 p.m. vs. Jacksonville

Tuesday, Apr. 24

Baseball 3 p.m. @ Eastern Illinois

April 19, 2018

Wednesday, Apr. 25

Thursday, Apr. 26

Softball 4 p.m./6 p.m. vs. Southeast Missouri State

Men’s / Women’s Tennis @A-10 Conference Championship Orlando, Florida

Rebecca LiVigni / The University News CONCENTRATION: SLU Chess coach Alejandro Ramirez looks on at a game of chess during Atlas Week. SLU Chess has placed twice in the President’s Cup Tournament.

Checkmate: A glimpse into SLU’s chess team By Sam Glass Staﬀ Writer

Many beginner chess players know a simple trick called the “four-move checkmate” that allows for a quick defeat of the opponent in four simple moves. I know from personal experience that this does not work against the Grandmasters on SLU’s Chess Team. The SLU Chess Team held a meet and greet last Tuesday, April 10, as part of Atlas Week in order to expose other students to the world of chess. “Chess is small world,” said coach Alejandro Ramirez. Being such a small world, there are not many people who understand what the community is like. There are only around

1,400 people who hold the title of Grandmaster, the highest-level players can attain. With such a small number of people globally, Ramirez uses this to his advantage. He goes to tournaments and talks to players and coaches to recruit people to the university. He has done just that. In the past two years since the chess team began, SLU has picked up a seven-player roster, all Grandmasters. The team, comprised of five undergraduate and two graduate students, has seen remarkable success in the President’s Cup, known as the final four of chess, with a third place run in 2017 and fourth place in 2018. These successes do not come overnight. The players have been working on their

craft since they were children and all of them come a long way from home to pursue their studies and chess in what Cemil Can Ali Marandi calls “the chess capital of the world.” St. Louis is home to the two top chess colleges, SLU and Webster University, making it an ideal location for aspiring chess players. As international students, many people would assume that the move to the United States would be diﬃcult. For the chess team, it is less diﬃcult than one would think. “We have to go play tournaments with other people,” said Francesco Rambaldi, the youngest player on SLU’s team. “We travel a lot, so we get to see a lot of other things.”

It is a common story among chess players; they travel and compete from a young age. Like most students, it is hard for players to be away from their families for extended periods of time, but their families are no strangers to hectic schedules. Junior Dariusz Swiercz left his home in Poland, leaving his sister and parents to pursue higher education and chess mastery. “It is easier, because we are used to such situations,” said Swiercz. “Still, it’s hard, because the distance is the entire Atlantic ocean.” SLU now has a chess facility that grants the team adequate space and technology See “Chess” on Page 18

18 April 19, 2018 Chess finding openings all the time

Tennis—always part of Rojo’s life

Continued from Page 17

Continued from Page 15

to meet and train. As an individual sport, the team largely practices on their own, and players compete in individual tournaments. A big part of keeping up with each other and with other players comes from the individual training. Players get to target specific parts of their game and work to improve them. “I analyze openings,” said Rambaldi. “The main part of studying openings is trying to get into positions that your opponent didn’t expect.” These small steps taken each day keeps players sharp, so they can perform well as

a team. The team meets once a week on top of their individual training by themselves and with coach Ramirez. Ramirez says the team meeting is important because, “they can still learn an incredible amount from each other…because even though it is an individual game, the team atmosphere is very important.” The team has performed well in its young age. Ramirez and all the players are hoping to improve in the final four next year and are looking to pull ahead of their local rival, Webster.

Wise shatters homerun record Continued from Page 16

much, so we knew that we would have to play defense against them.” SLU traveled to UMass on Saturday, April 14, falling 10-0 and 4-0 in a doubleheader series. In game one, the Minutewomen batted in a run, but the Billikens committed three errors in the second, which translated to four UMass runs that inning. UMass scored five more times in the opener. In game two, the game was scoreless until the fifth. UMass tallied four times—a solo shot and a three-run homerun. The Billikens put runners on second and third in the seventh but couldn’t get them across the plate. Looking to rebound, SLU crossed the Mississippi River for a local game against SIUE

on Wednesday, April 18. SLU plated a run in the second, with an RBI double from Breitbach. SIUE threatened in the second, putting a runner on third with nobody out. Freshman catcher Alyssa Chavez and Macfarlane got the runner caught in a pickle, with Macfarlane making the tag. Junior pitcher Kallen Loveless sat down the next batter to end the rally. SIUE threatened again in the fifth with a pair of hits. However, Chavez caught the first runner stealing and Macfarlane snatched a line drive to end the rally. Loveless went the distance in the circle, sitting down five batters in the 1-0 win. SLU hosts Fordham for a three-game series this weekend. Saturday’s doubleheader and Sunday’s single game both start at noon.

Baseball rolls past Flyers By Monica Ryan Associate Sports Editor

Billiken baseball has been slaughtering its A-10 opponents one by one. The men are currently 11-1 in the A-10 with the only A-10 adversary they’ve lost to being VCU. They went 3-0 against St. Joseph’s, 2-1 vs. VCU, and now they have swept UMASS and Dayton. This weekend against Dayton, the Billikens were explosive on offense, scoring a combined 34 runs. The Billikens put up a huge lead early in Friday’s first game with a score of 5-2 by the fifth inning but fought adversity in the bot-

tom of the ninth when the Flyers put up 6 runs. Senior left-handed pitcher, Aaron Patton, was able to get the Billikens out of the inning and give them the win by striking out the last batter at the plate with a runner on first. The final score was 9-8. The Billikens had three homeruns hit by seniors, Alex King, Parker Sniatynski and James Morisano. The nail biting was at a minimum in game two. Junior right-handed pitcher Jackson Wark struck six batters out and allowed only two runs in six innings to earn the win for the Billikens. Game two was Wark’s seventh win of the season. He leads the A-10 this season.

Sports

Florida For the conference championship match last season. College tennis is a spring sport, but teams have a few competitions in the fall for their oﬀ-season training. It also diﬀers from many other organized tennis teams because each player competes in both singles and doubles, a reason collegiate tennis teams are so small. Mariluz prefers doubles to singles because, “it is super fun, very fast, very intense, and you aren’t alone on the court.” The team tries to keep their

doubles teams together so the two grow as a team and know how to work together on the court. In her freshman year, Mariluz posted a singles record of 18-14 and a doubles record of 9-9. So far in her sophomore year she has gone 9-9 in singles play and 10-7 in doubles. The Women’s Tennis team has one more match this Friday against University of Missouri Kansas City before they travel to Orlando for the Atlantic 10 Conference Championship match.

The Billikens showed their offensive dominance with King’s second homerun of the day—his sixth of the season—and Sniatynski’s three hits. The final score was 8-4. Saturday, the Billikens let their bats do the talking in their sweep against Dayton. The men recorded 20 hits against the Flyers. In the first inning, King sent a message by hitting his seventh homerun of the season. Sniatynski then singled and made it to second on his fourteenth stolen base of the season, then senior first baseman Nick Reeser hit a single to center field, giving Sniatynski the go ahead to run home. After allowing three hits and a walk that led to two runs on the board for the Flyers, junior Drew Reveno was exchanged for sophomore Charlie Sheehan. Sheehan got the Billikens out of the second inning without irreversible damage as he tossed the last out of the second inning to the first batter he faced. The real scoreboard explosion happened in the third inning. The bases were loaded with a hit batter, a walk and an error. Then Reeser stepped up and hit a grand slam with no outs. Senior catcher James Morisano singled after the celebration at home plate. After him, senior Aaron Case doubled, and King singled to bring them both across the plate. At the end of the third, the score was 9-2. The scoring just kept coming after the third. The Billikens crossed the plate two more times in the seventh, three times in the eighth and another two in the ninth. They ended the game 17-4. Tuesday, the men traveled to Southeast Missouri State for a midweek competition. SEMO seemed to always find a way to answer back at the plate after the Billikens got on the board. After going one run in the first for SLU, then one run in the second inning for SEMO,

SEMO took the lead in the third with another run. The Billikens then answered back in the fourth inning with a two-run homerun driven in by Morisano. The bottom of the fourth was then met with two runs by SEMO. By the end of the sixth inning, the score was 6-3. In the top of the seventh, the Billikens knew that they needed to catch up and scored 5 to make it 8-6. Then in the bottom of the seventh, the Billikens lost control with a hit batsman, a wild pitch and an infield hit that culminated in SEMO sending four players across home plate. The rest of the game went scoreless. The final was 8-10. Wednesday, it seemed that the Billikens had it in the bag against SIUE. With backto-back three run innings in the fourth and fifth, the Billikens were up 6-0. Then in the sixth inning, SIUE stepped up and got six runs to score. They then pushed it over the edge in the seventh inning with one extra run to get the win. The Billikens start another three-game series on April 20 against Jacksonville at home.

Trenton Almgren-Davis / The University News FOCUS: Senior Alex Case makes contact with the ball at the Billiken Sports Center.

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Opinions&Editorials

April 19, 2018

opinion@unewsonline.com

Fiona Clair, Opinion Editor

Busting common misconceptions of immigration

Celine Reinoso Staff Writer

If you hear the word “immigrant,” you might have some specific images or words in your head. And it’s probably not because you are racist or bigoted, but because you have been led to believe a single story about immigrants in the United States. This dominant narrative about immigration and what it explicitly means is communicated via the news, social media and even authority figures in your life. As someone who comes from an immigrant family, even I was led to believe in the single story—the story that says immigrants are dangerous, illegal and a burden on the U.S. economy. I read the articles and watched the films and believed every false message shown to me about my

own parents’ experience. After a long process of breaking down the stereotypes I had against myself and other families like mine, I can hear the word “immigrant” and not assume a false, monolithic definition of the term. I want to challenge that narrative and tell you why all of the stereotyped perceptions about immigration are false. The Teaching Tolerance Project, created by the Southern Poverty Law Center, published an article that details how to teach immigration in the midst of the misconceptions students b r i n g a b o u t the topic. Four statements in their article that I want to focus on are: “most immigrants are here illegally,” “immigrants take good jobs from U.S. citizens,” “‘the worst’ people from other countries are coming to the United States and bringing crime and violence” and “we can stop undocumented immigrants

coming to the United States by building a wall along the border with Mexico.” When I was younger, I believed that “immigrant” was a synonym for “illegal,” but the truth is that of the 43 million foreign-born people who were living in the United States in 2014, 44 percent of them were naturalized U.S. citizens, 27 percent were legal permanent residents or green-card holders and the rest were immigrants who were unauthorized. This means that about 71 percent of foreignborn people who live in the United States live here legally. Another misconception about immigrants is the tale that they come to our country to take our jobs. According to The Teaching Tolerance, however, natural-born U.S. citizens outnumber naturalized citizens and non-citizens in every industry and occupation. Additionally, undocumented im-

“When I was younger, I believed that ‘immigrant’ was a synonym for ‘illegal’...”

migrants only make up five percent of the entire civilian workforce. When President Trump uses vocabulary like “bad hombre,” “drug dealer,” “rapist” or “criminal” when referring to immigrants, he further demonizes the image of an immigrant in the minds of the people he serves. On an influential and powerful platform, the president has the ability to make the public believe in the stories he tells. The stories he does not tell are the ones of immigrants coming to the United States to work, to be reunited with family or to escape a dangerous situation. Those stories represent most of the immigrant population, not situations of violent crime. One of the most dominant narratives about immigrants in the United States is the one about immigrants who come from Mexico. Many people believe that a wall along the border is the solution to undocumented immigrants and the destruction they cause in the United States. While the majority of unauthorized immigrants in the United States are

from Mexico, that number is declining as the number of immigrants from Asia, Central America and Africa are increasing. If this is the case, a wall would be useless. The four statements I disproved in this article are only the baseline for what else needs to be dispelled. I urge people to challenge single-story descriptions of immigrants and think about where those stories are coming from. Listen to and support people who come from immigrant families because they can prove first-hand why those narratives are false. It is diﬃcult, because those messages have been explicitly and subliminally told to us over time. What will make it easier, however, is the consistent pursuit of the truth. The dominant narrative of immigration being told to Americans is not the truth, and in seeking that, we can realize that the truth surpasses any political aﬃliation or message of those in power.

THE UNIVERSITY NEWS 2017-18 EDITORIAL BOARD unewsonline.com

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Opinions & Editorials

April 19, 2018

Say my name, say my name...Or don’t

Nish Gorczyca Design Editor

Whether it’s the first day of class with a professor I’ve never had, ordering coffee at Starbucks or waiting for a nurse to get me for my doctor’s appointment, having a stranger try to pronounce my name is always awkward and sometimes stressful. Every time I think I’ve heard every possible variation, someone goes and butchers it into a whole other dimension. Hi. My full name is Agnieszka Gorczyca, but you can call me Nish. To answer your questions, I’m 100% Polish. Yes, I was born there. Yes, I still speak it. No, I won’t say “something in Polish.” No, I won’t teach you to say my name. This last part is what usually gets people. I get it, you want to pronounce my name correctly. Here’s the thing: if you don’t already speak my language, you won’t. Not even after the tenth or ten thousandth try. Having a very obviously cultural name has its ups and downs. I can always count on it to be a conversation starter; it’s always described as “beautiful” and “unique.” But, to be honest, it’s kind of just cumbersome. I have to repeat myself a million times before most people get even

close. It’s long to have to write out every time, and I’m lazy. I wouldn’t change it for anything, but it does get annoying that no one with English as their first (and usually, only) language can really say it or spell it without looking it up. I know I say I wouldn’t change it for anything, but I always tell everyone to just call me Nish. Just Nish—no last name, either. I’m like Beyoncé in that sense; I’ve made it to the point where I don’t really need one. It’s become an integral part of my personal brand, and it makes everyone’s life easier. For me, I don’t have to cringe while listening to you butcher it; for you, it saves you the awkwardness of having to try to force your tongue into a sound that doesn’t quite exist in the English language. The weird thing is, my nickname doesn’t even come directly from my actual name; it’s shortened from a mispronunciation of it. I could technically go by Agnes, the English version of my name, but I do recall bursting into tears every time my preschool teachers called me that. I didn’t always go by Nish. In fact, it’s been maybe six years since I began telling people to call me that. Coincidentally, I became a regular Starbucks customer at around the same time. That’s not to say they always get it right, because I’ve had my fair share of times when they wrote “Dish” or “Mesh” on the sides of my vanilla lattes. Another strange coincidence is

“ I’m 100% Polish. Yes, I was born there. Yes, I still speak it. No, I won’t say ‘something in Polish’.”

See “Say my name” on page 22

Dine out and feed the hungry Savanah Seyer Staff Writer

Do you like dining out? Do you like to help those in need? A St. Louis-based startup is helping individuals find great restaurants while feeding the hungry in our community. GiftAMeal is a mobile app that gives a meal to someone in need through Operation Food Search each time a user takes a photo at a partner restaurant. The app is partnered with over 80 restaurants in the St. Louis area, and with numerous restaurants around the country in Chicago and Detroit. The service was started by Washington University graduate Andrew Glantz and his business partner, Dartmouth student Aidan Folbe, when they sought to create a non-profit with a purpose and a solution to the struggles restaurants face engaging customers. I found out about the GiftAMeal app after Glantz came to speak to our SLU chapter of the Alpha Kappa Psi professional fraternity. He was extremely passionate about the mission of the app, and it was clear that the team behind this business had the betterment of the community at the forefront of their vision. I immediately downloaded the app, and I use it every chance I get. There are a lot of restaurants close to SLU that participate in GiftAMeal, including The Fountain on Locust, Urban Chestnut Brewing Co., Triumph Grill, BaiKu Sushi Lounge and Narwhal’s Crafted Urban Ice.

It is extremely easy to use, and it is a win-win-win for everyone involved. This app helps local food shelters to provide meals to people who desperately need them. On the business side, joining GiftAMeal is fantastic PR for local St. Louis restaurants. For the user, it is an awesome way to give back at no cost. It allows me to feel engaged with the community by trying the local restaurants that are partnered with the app here in St. Louis and with new restaurants signing up and being added to the app every day—there is never a shortage of good food to try. GiftAMeal gives users the opportunity to help others with just a click of a button. Service is a huge part of our mission here at SLU, and this effortless way to help others fits seamlessly into everyone’s schedule. It is the easiest way to donate a meal, and it also allows you to eat amazing food and hang out with your friends around St. Louis. Between downloading games and chat services, it takes up very little space on a smartphone, and it always makes me feel great when I use the app. GiftAMeal continues to grow and gain local and national attention. This year, the app reached the very important milestone of donating over 100,000 meals to people in need in the local community, and they are hoping to donate over 250,000 by the end of this year. Going out to eat is something that most of us love to do, and if we can help others while enjoying a taco, well, why wouldn’t we?

“ GiftAMeal gives users the opportunity to help others with just a click of a button.”

Opinions & Editorials

April 19, 2018

Why local elections matter

Jakob Benedetti Staff Writer

Among all the drama of the Trump presidency, and with the Fight for Our Lives in full swing, voters in the United States are activated and excited about politics in a way that people have not seen in many years. Despite the surge in people registering to vote and actively participating in the national political discussion, America’s democratic system is still nursing one of its best kept secrets: No one actually votes. As much as pundits and politicians alike are often seen encouraging people to do so, the latter usually preceding raucous applause, it seems as if very few people actually take their advice seriously. Although the US has one of the higher rates of voting according to the number of registered voters who actually show up on election day at 86.8% in 2016, it has one of the lowest voter rates among all eligible adults at 55.7%, according to Pew Research Center. For comparison, 82.6% of all voting-age Swedes showed up to vote in their last election, as did 72.9% of Koreans and 67.9% of French adults. Especially when you consider that turnout was considered by the French to be particularly low in their last election, and it was still higher than it’s been

in the US since 1900 (when women and most minorities weren’t allowed to vote), it doesn’t take a professional pundit to figure out that America has a democracy problem. This isn’t just a problem in presidential or midterm elections, however. The numbers in state and local elections are even worse, with the average turnout in local elections standing at merely 30%—half of a presidential year turnout, which was itself considered way below average, according to the US Vote Foundation. This is particularly alarming, as although local government would seem to be the least important level of government, it’s probably the most impactful to people’s everyday lives. At the end of the day, whatever drama is going on in Congress or in Trump’s White House probably isn’t going to affect your daily routine or the problems you have to deal with on a day-today basis. The decisions that state and local government make, however, can. For example, while a plan to rebuild and expand our nation’s crumbling infrastructure is something both major parties supposedly support, there hasn’t been one even debated on the floor of Congress since 2009. Meanwhile, the decision by officials in the Flint, Michigan city government to replace the city’s water system with cheap materials and drawing off an untested water source in April, 2015, had an almost immediate impact on the city’s 100,000 residents. The cheap piping and tainted source led to mass contamination of the city’s tap water, leading to a widespread

“America’s democratic system is still nursing one of its best kept secrets: No one actually votes.”

outbreak of lead poisoning and other diseases that still persist to this day. Through the apathy of city officials and the misconduct of state environmental regulators, several of whom lost their jobs, thousands of people have fallen ill and the entire city has been forced to drink only bottled water for over 2 years. Although every city isn’t a Flint or a Denver—which is facing similar problems along with nearly 20 other American cities—we can see how the decisions of state and local officials can have a drastic, immediate, and constant impact on the daily lives of their constituents. And maybe the drinking water in your town is safe, but maybe it won’t be someday. When that day comes, you’d want to know who is dealing with it. You’d want to feel comfortable with the elected officials you’ve helped choose to serve you and your community and rest easy with the knowledge that if they don’t fix the problem, you’ll know exactly who not to vote for next time around. The reality, though, is that really the only people who vote in state and local elections, which make up the vast majority of all elections in the US, is a fraction of the elderly population and an even smaller fraction of the middle-aged population. If young people and activists really want to change politics in America in a lasting way and fundamentally alter the power structure in the country, we should emphasize participation in elections for local positions like city council, school board and mayor; state elections for the legislature and supreme court; and governor and statewide office. Until we do, no matter how much Washington changes, politicians that do not represent the majority of America will continue to hold most of the levels of power.

Say my name Continued from page 21

that I never had a job until after I graduated high school and began filling out applications with just Nish instead of my full name. I was actually inspired by my Introduction to Human Communication and Culture class; we discussed a case where a man sent out two different resumes to different employers. Both had the same content, but on one, he called himself Juan, and, on the other, he called himself John. Guess who got more calls? I tried it with my name. It worked. While Nish isn’t a more American name by any means, it’s much easier to pronounce. Could past potential employers have looked at my applications and immediately discounted me purely because they couldn’t figure out how to address me correctly? Using Nish on job applications is actually kind of a power move. No one expects a white girl to show up; it’s a pretty gender and ethnically neutral name. I can’t even tell you how many times I’ve had emails addressed to a Mr. Gorczyca. It’s sad that it gives me an advantage, but I’ll milk it for as long as I can. Names are important. Most of us can’t imagine calling ourselves or anyone we know by anything else than the name they choose to go by. To me, it’s a constant reminder of where I’m from, and I’m grateful for that. Maybe someday, I’ll go back to using my full name; after all, if they can pronounce Tchaikovsky and Dostoyevsky, they sure as hell can say my name, too.

Opinions & Editorials

April 19, 2018

Guest Essay Challenging Categories: International Students at SLU-Madrid

Paul Vita Director and Academic Dean Saint Louis University–Madrid Campus My office is in San Ignacio Hall, making it easy for me to take a break in the cafeteria downstairs. I’ll sit down and chat with just about anyone. I feel welcomed, usually, even after explaining that I’m, um, the Dean. These conversations help me take the pulse of the campus and get to know our students. SLU-Madrid takes great pride in its international student body, which a stroll through the cafeteria, especially during crunch-time, 1:55 p.m. - 2:25 p.m., makes clear. At one table you’ll hear Spanish, at the next English, at a third Arabic or French. You’ll see engineering students (textbooks open) and nursing students (wearing blue scrubs) and students in torn jeans and others in headscarves. What’s curious to me is that, in spite of this celebration of international diversity, SLU-Madrid students, faculty and staff can’t help but place every student in one of two categories: “visiting” or “permanent.” I’m guilty too: These categories are the preliminary data points I gather each time I sidle into a conversation. Here’s a second-semester sophomore, in SLU’s occupational therapy program, from southern Illinois (visiting). Another is from Baylor, double-majoring in accounting and Spanish (visiting). A third reminds

me how we’ve met before: She’s from Ghana, yes, studying communication, and, no, it’s not her first term; she’s a senior (permanent). While it’s humiliating to have a weak memory for names, I continue on as best I can. Ah-hah! Here’s someone who desperately hopes I don’t join him: He’s on academic probation—his name I remember! I’m politely corrected (permanent). From visiting students, I hear about their experiences, which often include adventures that I doubt they’ve shared with their parents: the tattoo acquired in Dublin, for example, or paragliding off an alp. They update me on their housing: Our host families, I’ve learned, are phenomenal; on occasion, just okay. As midterms approach, I hear how classes in Madrid are either harder than those at home or easier or about the same. I also hear how faculty in Madrid are more demanding or not, more accessible or not and so forth. These comparisons help me gauge how we’re doing institutionally. The permanent students also share their views of what’s going well or not. I love hearing about why they chose to study here. It’s most often because we’re American and in Madrid. Students from Spain or Morocco say it’s because it’s close to home; students from the U.S. and else-

where, because it’s another culture. In general, they’re happy with the choice and fiercely proud of their campus: a testament to SLU’s success in offering four-year degrees overseas. The permanents get to know me, so they’re comfortable registering complaints: more majors are needed, extended library hours as well and a pool table. Since we’re at it, how about a bigger cafeteria? Interestingly, each group is critical of the other, at times. The visiting students see the permanents as standoffish, a bit too cosmopolitan, hard to get to know. The permanents feel that the visiting students treat the campus as if it were a travel hub; they’ve not integrated into our international community. The conversations I’ve had help put these perceptions into perspective. It’s understandable that students in Europe for only four months would want to see as much as they can. As they set off on their weekend trips, they are having an experience of a lifetime, literally. They are also making decisions and gaining insights into themselves in ways they’ve never done before. That’s not to say we need not assess the study abroad experience we are currently providing. We do. It’s also understandable that our per-

manent students may feel that the different waves of visitors each semester detract from the sense of a campus community. It’s hard to invest in a friendship with someone who will be leaving in a few months, who doesn’t hang out on weekends. To the permanent students, the visitors haven’t had to immerse into and adapt to a new culture—life in Madrid, life on an American campus—for the long term. The visitors, so busy with their studies and travel, may not appreciate the extraordinary project that our permanents participate in: pursuing university degrees within an international community shaped by SLU’s mission. The permanents, so comfortable on campus and so familiar with Madrid, may not appreciate the challenges the visitors face: U.S. visitors are, above all, international students in Spain. Differences aside, both kinds of students have much in common, of course. My conversations consistently teach me that both groups value—deeply—the international experiences they are gaining and recognize how these experiences contribute to their own formation, as men and women for others. Together, they contribute to and indeed create SLU-Madrid’s diverse community.

Courtesy of slu.edu/madrid

April 19, 2018