The University News A Student Voice of Saint Louis University Since 1921 www.unewsonline.com
Vol. LXXXIX No. 18
Thursday, February 11, 2010
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How the Soulard party began By CARLY DOENGES Senior Staff Writer
Every year, in the midst of the end-of-winter-beginning-of-spring chill, there comes an outlet for the cabin fever that has welled up over the past months. People of the city of St. Louis make the trek downtown to Soulard to partake in parades, music and general reverie. What is the event that draws the masses? The annual Mardi Gras celebration. Histories of where exactly Mardi Gras started are varied, but it’s generally agreed that Mardi Gras originally began as a time for Christians to let off steam before entering the season of Lent. Once the 40 days of Lent rolled around on Ash Wednesday, Christians were supposed to
fast and be penitent, and Mardi Gras was a day of indulgence to bring in the season. Traditionally, Mardi Gras—which is French for ‘Fat Tuesday’—was a one-day event that took place on the Tuesday before Ash Wednesday. These days, however, Mardi Gras has become a weekend-long series of parties for all ages—although the events in Soulard do tend to appeal more to the 21+ crowd. In the United States, New Orleans has the reputation of being the place to go for Mardi Gras festivities. However, St. Louis has held a strong second to New Orleans in regards to its own Mardi Gras events. Soulard becomes draped in green, gold and purple, with revelers strutting about wearing beads, masks and even costumes. It’s not
St. Louis Mardi Gras by the numbers
surprising that New Orleans and St. Louis would have the biggest celebrations, considering that both cities were originally French colonies, and would share the traditions brought to the colonies by French settlers. Although the festival itself has been around for centuries, within St. Louis, Mardi Gras is still fairly new. According to stlouis.com, it was only about 30 years ago that regulars at a bar in St. Louis created their own mini version of Mardi Gras, trekking from bar to bar. That first group of celebrants consisted of only 50 people, but now entering its fourth decade, the celebration draws half a million people from all around the country. While mid-
3 12 30 50
Number of paid staff members in charge of organizing the festival Number of months it takes to prepare for the Soulard events Approximate number of years ago that Mardi Gras began in St. Louis Number of participants in the original Mardi Gras celebration
500,000
Number of annual Soulard attendees today
See “Mardi Gras” on Page 2
Infographic by Lila Wahidi
Focus shifts to racial issues SGA ponders recent incidents
Race panel takes an in-depth look
By KELLEY DUNN and SEAN WORLEY
By JONATHAN ERNST
News Editor
News Editor
Senior Tianyi Li stated during a panel and discussion regarding racism on campus that she and four African-American students, including the victim of a recent racial incident, were sitting in the Cross Cultural Center in the Busch Student Center when, according to Li, the perpetrator of that incident walked by the center six times in a 15 minute time span. “Maybe we need to think about that for a second as the victim; what message was he trying to send?” Li said. “I am scared for my life because he threatened to lynch. Would it really take a dead body on this campus for the administration to be proactive instead of reactive?” SLU President Lawrence Biondi, S.J. sent out an email message to the SLU community an hour and a half before the beginning of the panel and discussion. In this message, Biondi responded to student concerns regarding these alleged incidents. “If you feel you have been the victim of a bias incident or if you think you have observed one, I urge you to immediately report it to the Department of Public Safety,” he wrote. Vice President of Student Development Kent Porterfield stated that the panel and discussion was the first time he had heard about the incident at the Cross Cultural Center described by Li. He added that he would like to talk to the students who felt threatened, and that “we may need to intervene.” On Wednesday Feb. 10, a panel and discussion was held in the Wool Ballrooms on the topic “Does Race Matter at SLU?” A lot of concern was
“Would it
really take a
dead body
on this campus for the administration
to be proactive rather than
reactive?”
—Tianyi Li, senior
Photo Illustration by Ryan Giacomino/Photo Editor
Racial issues remained on the top of people’s minds at Wednesday’s Student Government Association meeting. Black Student Alliance Senator Myiah Johnson started open forum with a plea to her fellow senators. “My friends are coming to me dealing with racial issues. … One of my friends, they told her they were going to lynch her,” she said. Myiah said she was coming to the Senate as a student, asking them for help as a constituent. “I’m a student at SLU, you’re my voice. What are you going to do?” she asked. “They came to SLU, they thought they’d feel safe. They haven’t. As a student, I’m not satisfied. As a senator, I’m pissed.” Fellow BSA Senator Charles Turner read a letter he had received from one of his constituents, focusing in on apathy on campus. President Michael Harriss said that he felt SGA needed to do more to address the situation, but admitted that he was unsure of what actions to take. “We need to focus our attention, figure out what we can do now, what we can do in the short term, what we can do in the long term,” he said. “Venting is good, and it’s good for us to hear that, but we need direction, we need focus. … I don’t know what steps to take. … Tell me what we need to do and we’ll do it.” Arts and Sciences Senator Kalé Kponee talked about the University-wide email sent by SLU President Lawrence Biondi, S.J. addressing the issue. “All I see in this message is a focus on African Americans and blacks. … What about the other
Photo illustration by Lila Wahidi
See “Panel” on Page 4
Associate News Editor
See “SGA” on Page 3
Speaker Cornel West will address similar issues today at 7 p.m. in the Wool Ballrooms in the BSC in his speech entitled “Race and Democracy in the Age of Obama.”
Questions arise over MLK scholarship Worried recipients had heard it would be cut by $10,000; Not true, says administrator By KRISTEN MIANO Associate News Editor
Recently, there has been some uncertainty about possible changes being made to the Martin Luther King Jr. Scholarship. “Director Molly Pierson told me that there’s a committee for the scholarship,” Student Government Association President Michael Harriss said. “They’re talking about making changes, but no changes have been made yet.” The MLK scholarship is an award given to students whom the University believes will promote diversity at Saint Louis University and exhibit
director of leadership on campus. The assistant scholarship annually gives Counseling and Outreach at $13,000 to 150 students. In Student Financial Services, said. “No recent days, student will h o w e v e r, receive less there have than $13,000, been rumors and we will that the not see a scholarship No student will decrease.” will be receive less than Students decreased expressed by $10,000, $13,000, and s o m e and will only we will not see a concern be offered to decrease. about what 50 students a change to in the —Tim Hercules the MLK 2010-2011 scholarship academic would mean year. No for the promotion of diversity such change has been made. “There’s been some at Saint Louis University. “I am a proud MLK scholar confusion,” Tim Hercules,
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Inside The University News »
News »
SLU’s head politicos face-off in the Let Us Introduce You article to end all.
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Opinion »
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The ed-board praises Obama for his environmentally friendly light rail plan.
and I [was] very upset to hear that it may be cut next year,” freshman Briana Wright said at Feb. 10’s Diversity Roundtable. “[My fellow MLK scholars and I] always talk about how we feel that SLU did us a disservice by naming this scholarship the MLK scholarship, which means that they promote diversity here. Once I got here, it was a huge reality check that there isn’t much diversity here. I just feel very disappointed in SLU when the scholarship gets stripped in its meaning.” In this week’s SGA meeting, Harris assured the student body that the rumors were not true and that the integrity of the scholarship was not
Sports »
being tampered with. “This is not affecting current scholarship recipients, and the reduction from $13,000 to $3,000 is not true,” Harris said. “The package may look different, but students will still receive the same amount of scholarship.” Harris mentioned that the Assistant Vice Provost of the Division of Enrollment Management and Director of Student Financial Services Cari Wickliffe would be attending the SGA meeting the following week to clear up any misconceptions on the matter. As of right now, no changes have been made, Harriss said.
See how sophomore Kwamain Mitchell has adjusted to his role as captain.
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TV time?
Not in Reinert
SLU TV still missing from Channel 22 By MIKE HOGAN Contributor
This year, students tuning in to Channel 22 in Reinert Hall have found that they are cut off from the rest of campus by more than just Forest Park Parkway. According to David Koeller, resident adviser in Reinert and president of SLU-TV, last semester, “before anybody moved in, somebody decided to physically cut the cable.” The cable was then repaired by Charter Communications, the company that provides TV on campus, but the cable was hooked up to the wrong feed. As a result, for the last several months, students in Reinert have not been receiving SLU-TV. The student-run station is typically viewable to about 3,000 people on campus. SLUTV airs student-produced programs, as well as movies and promotions for on-campus events. “We’re trying to increase viewership,” Koeller said, and with approximately 570 of the potential viewers not receiving the channel, this poses a problem. Koeller said he spoke to his supervisors regarding the issue. “They contacted Charter, and [Charter] said it was fixed,” Koeller said. Yet the televisions in Reinert are still not receiving SLUTV. Van Vieregge, director of Business and Auxiliary Services at Saint Louis University, initially contacted Charter to try and address the problem. When the cable was still not fixed, Vieregge said he contacted Charter again, who told him that they have scheduled a service technician to fix the problem. “If the repair has not been made by next week, I will contact the regional manager,” Vieregge said. Until the problem is resolved, TV watchers in Reinert will remain without the station. But for all those living in Reinert who are interested in SLU-TV, Koeller says there is only one thing to do to make sure the cable gets fixed: “Make some noise.”
Arts »
KSLU is bringing music to the student masses on campus.
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