March 25, 2010 Issue

The University Ruse Wishing you a ‘Happy April Fool’s!’ since 1921

Thursday, April 1, 2010

Vol. MMIV No. 4 8 15 16 23 42

Lady Gaga to take the reins, enters into bad romance with SLU Outgoing President BeyondMe will take a year to work on his pop music career

By SWORLEY

no comment to The University Ruse regarding his allegedly poor choice in dance moves.

Shortly after, Beyond-Me made his entrance.

Instead of sporting his usual Jesuit garb, the president was wearing a blue-and-white bejeweled jacket with a rhinestone fleur-de-lis, paired with garish gold leggings and what appeared to be a headpiece made out of telephones. Beyond-Me completed his outfit with facial make-up composed of a large, shiny silver lightning bolt, which ran across the eccentrically dressed president’s left eye.

Beyond-Me finally danced his way up to the podium and continued to give a statement concerning his future career plans.

The most recent President’s Coordinating Council meeting concluded on a very interesting note—in fact, a musical one.

T h e PCC meeting agenda stated that there would be a special Beyond-Me pr esentation by Saint Louis University President Larson Beyond-Me, however, judging by the reactions of those in attendance, no one was expecting what Beyond-Me presented.

When the final piece of business before BeyondRah-rah-ah-ah-ah, Me’s presentation concludro-ma ro-ma-ma. ed, the lights in the Saint Louis Room of the Busch Gaga, ooh la la!

Student Center dimmed —President Gaga and a trance-like beat reminiscent of a European dance mix began to play in the background. It was reported that Vice President “After much personal confor Students Developing, Ken Bellhopmeadow, was caught sideration and mentorship fist-pumping in tempo with from my now good friend, the strange music, but these Ms. Lady Gaga,” Beyond-Me rumors are yet to be fully sub- said, “I have decided to pursue a career in the pop music stantiated.

Bellhopmeadow offered industry.”

“

”

Rydawg Little James / Fack Bock Editor

Artist guesstimation of what Outgoing President Beyond-Me will look like a year into his electronic pop music career, under the stage name of Papa B. According to the artist formerly known as Beyond-Me, he and the famous pop singer Lady Gaga had been collaborating and trading expertise in their respective fields and ended up creating a contract.

“Now that I will be starting my world tour and thus unable to continue my duties as SLU president, Lady Gaga will be stepping in as my replacement,” BeyondMe said.

After Beyond-Me concluded his statement, he turned to leave the room in a manner only a new pop star could—with a choreographed routine. Beyond-Me broke it down as a posse of back-up dancers followed close behind.

Updates on Beyond-Me’s career (under the stage name Papa B) will be sent out periodically via Newslink.

When asked how she feels about her newly acquired position as SLU president, Gaga expressed confidence in the University’s future and even offered advice for students.

“Just dance, gonna be okay,” Gaga said. “Da da doodoo um, just dance.”

Not only is Gaga optimistic about the upcoming semester, but she is also planning on instituting new policies.

Such policies will include requiring that all Student Government Association presidents perform a dance routine with Gaga herself at the start of all SGA meetings.

SGA President-Elect Kourt-

ney Anteater expressed her excitement in the upcoming policy.

“Yes, I’m excited. I’ve already started practicing,” Anteater said. She also said that her elected executive board would serve as her backup dancers.

Finally, Gaga stated that the University motto would be updated in order to better fit the pop star’s eccentric persona, and she also anticipates the change will attract more students—especially those students interested in studying the romance languages.

“Rah-rah-ah-ah-ah, ro-ma, roma-ma, Gaga, ooh la la, want your bad romance,” Gaga said, “will replace the current motto on all University seals.”

Chartgood is at it again.

“We didn’t feel our green initiatives were quite enough,” District Manager Pat Thimble said, “So we stepped up our recycling efforts with a new restaurant.”

This new goal is manifested through the recent addition of the “Stuff We Found On the Side Of The Road Cafe” in Fuzz Food Court. SWFOTSOTR Cafe, promises fresh food made from entirely recycled materials picked up from the many roads in and around St. Louis, which would’ve otherwise gone to waste.

“The carcasses we pick up are never more than one or two days old, and they’re all locally produced,” Thimble said.

SWFOTSOTR offers students a medley of options for meals, including their popular dead possum taco and dead bird and egg salad sandwich.

They even include a Build Your Own Burger Bar. “Yeah, it’s pretty cool,” a sophomore no one’s ever heard of said. “You get to pick your own roadkill and they put it on some bread for you.

Then you can add stuff, like lettuce. I’m partial to dead deer.”

The café also serves breakfast options, including burnt rubber bacon, the “unidentifiable” meat on a biscuit and pancakes. Sort of.

“Our pancakes are pretty much roadkill that has been run over a bunch of times so they’re super flat. You know, like pancakes,” Thimble said.

Starting next semester, SWFOTSOTR will be offering a new daily lunch special called “Stuff We Fished Out of the Mississippi River This Morning.” What the special entails is fairly self-explanatory.

New student group on campus is ready to show the earth who’s boss

Stack ‘em up Housing woes may have a permanent solution

By KOJOE JINGLER Some Dude

Surely you can find the rest of the story yourself.

Or do we have to do everything ourselves? Sighhh.

Fine. It’s on Page 2. YOU’RE WELCOME.

Scientists around the world are working hard to prove that global warming exists, and that it is human-generated. However, junior Hillary Leviosa, a Liver Destruction and Klingon double major, recently realized something that most students have probably not thought about. Climate-focused organizations and groups all seem to have an ‘anti-change’ slant.

“I just woke up one morning, and after absentmindedly using several aerosol cans filled to the brim with chlorofluorocarbons, I realized that no one stands up for environmental change,” Leviosa said after not recycling her Coke Zero can.

Leviosa and several other environmentally unconscious students decided they needed to take action. After approaching Student Government Association, a new CSO was born, with the simple goal of playing a role in devouring Earth’s dwindling resources.

SLU Students for Climate Change (SLUSCC) is, as Leviosa described, a group for students who are “apathetic and/or destructive” and want to “do their part to speed up the process of creating a fi-

Opinion »

Arts »

By YOUR MOM ...But She Says I’m Cool!

Housing shortages have plagued Saint Louis University in recent years, as enrollment numbers have swelled despite stagnant housing options and a new requirement that underclassmen live on campus. However, it appears that this problem has been solved, due to some stealthy maneuvering by the Department of Houses and Residing On Campus.

Rather than building a new dorm, all rooms in Reinert Hall and Griesedieck Hall will become dodecatuplets, effective in the 20102011 academic year. Thanks to new bunk bed technology, rather than simply stopping at two beds, each bunk bed will be stacked with four.

Through this compact design, Houses and Residing On Campus will be able to fit three sets of these beds (12 beds total) into each room.

“The thing is, SLU has plenty of space for housing, but people are only looking at it from a limited, two dimensional, square-foot point of view,” Director of Houses and Residing On Campus Alan Sturdylamp said. “There is too much space wasted between the bed and the ceiling that could be filled with taller bunk beds and more students.”

Sturdylamp said he got his inspiration from Japanese capsule hotels, which feature small pods stacked on top of one another with room only for sleeping.

Houses and Residing On Campus has also explored the possibility of making each twin bed double occupancy, meaning each student would have not only roommates, but a bedmate as well. Determination of a student’s

By KIRSTEN MIAYES That Little Girl

Gaga ‘promises [she]’ll be kind,’ Looks Like Cory Matthews

Food: Fresh off the pavement

Illustration by “Uncle” Craig’s Favorite

Early sketches of a room in Griesedieck Hall.

big spoon or little spoon status in this case would be done on a lottery basis. Thanks to this move, SLU will be able to double the occupancy of each room, making it 24.

When asked about how students would feel about having only 1.5 feet of space between their bed and the bed above them, Sturdylamp said that studies have shown that sitting up is pretty overrated, anyway. Officials have also indicated a hope that this setup may ideally cut down on the number of inappropriate “hook ups” on University mattresses, due to the “sheer physical impossibility of it” in this narrow set up.

In addition, to make room for the beds, no longer will rooms be provided with a desk and dresser for each student. Instead, there will only be one of each in each room and it will come down to a desperate scuffle between the 24 residents to determine who gets a desk, who gets a dresser and who gets nothing.

Rydawg Little James / Pant Fack Bock

The SLUSCC logo.

ery, desolate, post-apocalyptic world for generations to come.”

The group, which runs a Facebook page almost 1,000 strong, is open to all SLU students passionate about climate change, except for those majoring in Earth Science.

“We don’t want to be exclusive, but those Earth Science majors, with their ‘facts’ and ‘figures’ just tend to acid rain on our parades,” she said.

SLUSCC holds weekly meetings in Tegeler Hall, where they discuss their plans for the future and how best to bring about a swifter end to it.

After only a few weeks of existence, SLUSCC has sponsored several trips into the heart of St. Louis, including one where they were given the opportunity to throw plas-

tic, six-pack rings into the Mississippi River. They also participated in an Anti-Earth Week exercise, in which every member turned on all their lights, electronics and faucets, and pledged to take jumbo jets instead of driving or using public transportation for short and otherwise unnecessary trips for a week.

Later, Leviosa used money allocated to the group to purchase 17 full-size Hummer limos, which SLUSCC rules dictate can never carry more than two people at a time, and must be driven a minimum of 150 miles per day, and left idly running at all other times.

When asked about the future, Leviosa seemed excited.

She described distant goals like the deforestation of Forest Park and the “sludgization” of the Mississippi. “I know those sound ridiculous and idealistic,” she admitted while dumping her garbage into a nearby lake. “We are working with similar groups all along the Mississippi, including the University of Memphis and the University of Minnesota in Minneapolis to eventually accomplish these goals.”

After SLU, Leviosa said she hopes to get a job as a lobbyist to fight for the right to destroy the environment as quickly as possible.

Inside The University Ruse »

News »

2

SLU reveals its strategic plan for increasing enrollment and recruitment.

The editorial board calls for less cowbell.

196

!

A new interpretive dance team prepares to face off with the JabbaWockeeZ.

Sports »

3.141592

Basketball team gets “stomped” by Godzilla Community College.

2

April Fool’s Issue

The University Ruse

Thursday, April 1, 2010

Let Us Introduce You

William C. Smith, Jr.

SLU’s new secret weapon shares his experiences from a rough and tumble life

By SCOTT BAIO’S SECOND COUSIN Pretty Fly For a White Guy

Saint Louis University has a secret weapon.

William C. Smith Jr. has been working with SLU this year to increase enrollment. Dean of Admissions Holly Robinson Peete hired Smith, who holds a Master’s in Collegiate Population Studies from the University of Southern California’s Semester-At-Sea program, when the numbers for the 2010-2011 school year were looking down.

“He came highly recommended,” Peete said. “When you’re looking for the best, there’s nowhere else to turn.”

Smith’s comprehensive, seven-and-a-half-year plan involves a revamped website that has already launched, convincing the city to officially name April 12 Billiken Day and organizing a contract with Virgin Atlantic Airlines to have the Billiken insignia painted on the side of a select number of jets.

“It’s a complicated plan,” Smith said. “But if we stick to it, I know we can succeed.”

Born and raised in west Philadelphia, Smith’s life journey from the streets of Philadelphia to a successful college recruiter seems like something straight out of a movie. Raised by a single mother who worked as a supervisor in a now-condemned button factory, he spent most of his days hang-

Latest SGA meeting under 5 hours

By NOSE GOES Creepy Person in the Back Pat Katke / URuse Doormat

Smith delivered an eloquent and delicately worded speech at a Student Government Association meeting last week. ing out with his friends and skipping school.

“I spent a lot of time on playgrounds,” he said. “I just wasn’t motivated.”

His life changed when— after a fight with a couple of local gang members— Smith’s mother decided that Philadelphia wasn’t a safe environment.

“I was mad at the time,” he said. “I didn’t want to leave my friends and my life behind.

Now, I realize what a big sacrifice it was for her.”

After deciding the safest place for him was with her relatives in California, Smith’s mother picked him up from school one day and told him to pack his bags.

“It was a bit of a shock,” he said. “It’s hard to leave everything behind, you know?”

California was a big shock to the system for Smith.

“Ever ything was different,” he said. “At the airport, I whistled for this cab—it was the first time I ever took a cab—and when it came near I noticed that the license plate said ‘fresh,’ and there were dice in the mirror …

[I] thought it was weird, but I just assumed it was what California was like.”

Smith says that the second he saw his new home, he felt like royalty.

“I pulled up to a house about seven or eight … [I looked] at my kingdom, and I was finally there. I felt like I was sitting on a throne … like the prince of Bel-Air.” From there, Smith turned his life around—finishing school and getting his Master’s.

“Thanks to the sacrifice of my mother, this really is The Willennium,” he said.

New major a;is realllLly coOL

By KELLEY NOT-YETSTARTED Her Name Was On Her Freakin’ Backpack!

Students have a new opportunity to bring real-life experiences into the classroom, as the newest major—Consistent and Repetitious Indulging of Spirits or other Intoxicants into one’s Cerebral Cortex— going into effect next year.

“I was ecstatic when I heard,” sophomore Drinky McDrunkface said. “It’s nice to see the University recognizing the work these students are putting in, night in and night out.”

Dean of Student Scoot

Smoth said that the move was something the University wanted to make for a long time, and something University President Gaga had been vocal about accomplishing in her tenure.

“Many students were taking on their own initiatives, working and studying in their spare time,” Smoth said.

“We’ve received various phone calls and late-night text messages from students pleading their case for the major. … After researching it extensively at The Library, we decided it would be beneficial.”

According to Career Services, internships will be offered; upperclassmen will

be able to intern with Humphrey’s, while determined freshmen and sophomores will be accepted at Laclede’s.

“I’ve wanted to major in this since I was a kid,” junior Colin Aldruncks said. “It’s why I went to college in the first place. You know when you want to study every night of the week, you’ve found your calling.” Courses will be held on-site, and Smoth said that students will take at least one intensive study course.

SLU is currently looking for professors, as well as department chairs. Smoth said possible candidates include Duffman and one or more of the Budweiser Clydesdales.

Oh, and I suppose I need to point out the EXACT POINT where the story restarts, too?! Geez.

Blah blah blah gavel blah blah Cackels blah blah blah blah call to order blah blah blah blah. Blah blah blah blah blah blah, blah blah blah blah blah. Blah Dan Lobe blah blah blah blah blah blah blah resolution blah blah blah.

Blah blah blah blah blah blah blah. Blah blah blah blah blah blah President Harass blah slideshow presentation blah blah blah blah blah blah, blah blah. Blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah. Blah blah blah blah blah

blah blah; blah blah blah blah five-hour meeting blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah Blah blah placards blah, blah blah blah blah blah blah IMPASSIONED blah. Blah blah blah blah. Blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah.

“Blah blah blah blah blah blah blah!,” said Blah Blah Senator of Blah, Blah Blah.

Blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah.

Blah sobbed blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah. Blah, blah blah blah blah, blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah. Blah blah

blah blah blah blah blah blah.

Blah blah blah blah. Blah blah blah, blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah.

Blah blah Andrew Sullivan blah blah blah blah blah blah.

Blah blah blah; blah blah blah spot-funding. “Blah blah blah, blah blah!?,” blahed Blah Blah. “Blah blah blah blah.”

Blah hostile blah blah blah blah blah blah. Blah placard vote blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah.

Blah blah blah blah blah blah blah, blah blah blah. Blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah.

Blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah tabled.

Campus newspaper acquires its 10th reader

By PAT KATKE Quotes Herself in This Article

The sounds of celebration echoed in the halls outside of Suite 354 in the Busch Student Center (otherwise known as “the newsroom”) as members of the student newspaper The University Ruse heard that they had hit double digits in readership.

“You know, this is just so over whelming,” Editor-inChimp Pat Katke said. “I just feel so proud to be a part of an organization that’s reaching 10 students on a regular basis.”

The much-celebrated 10th reader has been identified as freshman Mary Menow, who picked up a copy on her way to class last week.

“I’m starting to move some stuff home this weekend, so I really needed some newspaper to wrap around glass things to prevent them from breaking,” she said. “I’m really thankful to The URuse for having newspaper so readily available to me and other students in need. There’s no doubt I’ll keep picking it up for all my packing needs.”

The discovery comes on the heels of what has been a rather turbulent time for newspapers, and Katke said

she very much felt vindicated by the news.

“Mark my words, this is a victory for newspapers everywhere,” she said. “However temporary. Is the newspaper industry still a metaphorical Titantic? Perhaps. But at least I got to experience a twinge of slight hope before I enter the realm of soul-crushing defeat and disappointment that is the journalism job market right now.”

Another reader, junior Paul McTrustfund, said he has regularly picked up copies of The University Ruse since he was a sophomore.

“Yeah, I like, didn’t know The URuse existed until my sophomore year, so I was doing all my Sodoku puzzles in booklets that I had to purchase, like a sucker,” he said.

“I’m eternally grateful to The URuse for providing me with a free source of Sodoku entertainment each week now. I mean, I’m in a lot of lecture classes, and if I’m buying new Sodoku books on a regular basis so that I have something to do instead of taking notes, that gets expensive.”

But The URuse isn’t just lauded as a dependable source of packing-peanut substitutes or number games. Another of the 10 readers, senior Mack

S. O’Stoked, said he sends a lot of ransom notes, and appreciates the ready availability of different fonts to cut and paste into his messages.

“The URuse has a great number of different fonts in different sizes that really help add the zing, the personal touch, that’s sometimes missing from other cut-and-paste ransom notes,” O’Stoked said. “Before I stumbled on The URuse, I just never felt that my demands were being taken seriously.”

Some other readers have also written complimentary letters about The URuse’s uncanny ability to catch bird crap when lining birdcages, but have complained about a lack of sturdiness when trying to use it as a makeshift umbrella in the rain. Katke promised swift action in response, and is looking into waterproof newsprint.

“Really, hearing this kind of stuff, it brings a tear to my eye,” Katke said. “This is the real deal. This is why students on The URuse staff spend hours upon hours every week getting the issue on the stand. To shield students from the elements, support their plates and prevent them from paying attention in class. It’s been an honor.”

Continued from Page Whatever

“Statistically speaking, only about 4 percent of students admit to studying on a regular basis nationally, so according to that statistic, only one student in each room will ever need a desk anyway,” Vice President for Students Developing Ken Bellhopmeadow said. “I might’ve made that statistic up. Wait, did you just write that down?”

Houses and Residing On Campus has a few other tricks up their sleeve to meet demands for housing, including setting up tents in the Quad and pushing together desks in classrooms.

Of course, students will still have the option to live off campus if they want.

However, an assistant director in the Department of Managing Students’ Financial

Panic, Tom Zeus, confirmed that housing scholarships will quadruple from $2,000 to $8,000 beginning next year, with the tacked on $6,000 subtracted from the merit portion of the scholarship so the total package remains the same.

So long as students are fine with losing $8,000 of financial help, there’s no reason they should feel locked in to living on campus.

This is a misleading headline

By XTIN McSOSA Suppp....Yeahhhhh!

Not a Billiken eye was dry today when Ben Folds, popular American singer, songwriter and multimillion dollar recording artist, announced his retirement to the music industry upon discovering that bitches are,¸ in fact, shit.

This revelation contrasts with the ground-breaking thesis of his hit cover, “Bitches Ain’t Shit,” and has caused the multi-instrumental musician to spiral downward into a “dark grotto of meaningless existence.”

“Can’t eat… can’t sleep…”

Folds said. “And I most definitely cannot be a bombastically hilarious, yet tender and introspective, middle-aged, key-board bangin’ pop star.”

When questioned on whether or not he would consider returning to the industry, Folds raised his arms to the heavens, proclaiming, “Why, God?! WHY!” Specialists speculate that this bout of nihilism and utter despair will wreak havoc upon Folds’ career.

“We estimate that each day of the hopeless identity crisis will decrease album sales by 1.84 percent,” resident expert

Peter Lund said.

This concert was supposed to be the grand finale of Spring Fever 2010. Students sobbed into their MacBook Pros (tragically shorting out many a keyboard) when they got wind of the cancellation.

“This, like, totally sucks,” lamented one student.

For some, the reality of not seeing Folds hit even harder.

“Ever yone won’t stop annoying me to ‘get involved,’” freshman Bobby Watson said, making air quotes with his fingers. “My counselor, my RA, my mom, Great Aunt Marian, various posters around campus. This was my first and probably last chance!”

He then ran into the sunset, screaming about his wasted youth.

Against all odds, the Students Activities Board is still optimistic about Spring Fever. “We’re probably replacing Mr. Folds with a band that got its inspiration from Kidz Bop. It’s called A*Children, and is a cover band of A*Teens, which is, in turn, a cover band of ABBA,” SAB Vice President Betsey Rossum said.

“The Saint Louis University pupils might not get the moving ballads of Mr. Folds, or the

laugh-out-loud humor of his high-spirited, sure-fire crowdpleaser, or his ironic, witty lyrics and joyful melodies… or his heart-breaking tenor voice, but we sure as heck will get someone approaching mediocre!” exclaimed the SAB President Sally McOptimism, weakly cheering before bursting into tears instead.

“It’d be so sweet if they could get Justin Bieber to come perform,” one disillusioned SLU Sophomore said.

“Or maybe Nickelback would be cool!” her equally foolish, equally wrong companion said. They added that they are stoked to see anyone “kinda famous.”

Rumors are also spreading about the possibility of a Taylor Swift and Kanye double-act performance.

Scientific polls reveal that students rank the idea somewhere between “balla” and “sick.”

When asked what he’ll be up to next, Folds seemed anxious and uncertain. “My whole life up until this point has been a repulsive, loathsome lie,” he said.

“I plan to start my career from the beginning and follow my childhood dream: lumberjacking. Is anyone hiring?”

Noah Vermin / <3s Glenn Beck

Freshman Kirsten Miayes has saved at least $25 on doormats by using her copy of The URuse to keep her carpets clean.

“How do you feel about the healthcare bill?”

“I’m a fit guy.

I clearly work out. I’m kind of a big deal. What do I care about healthcare?”

Doug Loves Him Some Sweat Pants

“While I concur with the general premise, I have to question the resolution to ...

Yeah. No. I don’t get it.”

That Statue You Always Think Is Real ‘Nuff Said

“Whenever there’s a problem, just cut it off. Healthcare is overrated.”

Billiken Bush Has Seen Better Days

“Um ... I’m a dog.”

Riley Kirk Dunn ‘Dorbs

And so ends our fake articles—thanks for indulging us, and on to the real newspaper!

We will be on hiatus until April 8th—happy Easter break!

The University News A Student Voice of Saint Louis University Since 1921 www.unewsonline.com

Vol. LXXXIX No. 22

Thursday, March 25, 2010

www.twitter.com/theunews

Email campaign demands a response

By JONATHAN ERNST News Editor

More than 120 emails filled the inboxes of five top Saint Louis University administrators, including President Lawrence Biondi, S.J., over the weekend, demanding for more action regarding the recent racial incidents on campus.

The unofficial student group Students for Social Justice has been reaching out to students and alumni to form and send this list of demands for action.

“The administration wasn’t handling it, the administration didn’t say much in the first response, and it wasn’t enough, and that’s when we demanded

a response,” senior Tianyi Li said. “It seems the administration is just kind of like they know what they are politically supposed to say, and I want them to feel uncomfortable.

I want them to feel embarrassed that they haven’t done their job.”

On Tuesday, March 24, Vice-President of Frost Campus Manoj Patankar responded to all of those who emailed him. In his email, Patankar stated that the administration “shares your concern about any incidents of hate or intolerance, and we are deeply committed to making sure that every SLU student feels safe and respected on our campus.”

The other administra-

tors that received the emails besides Biondi and Patankar were Vice-President for Student Development Kent Porterfied, Dean of Students Scott Smith and Assistant Vice President of Undergraduate Initiatives Leanna Fenneberg.

Since they are currently out of town, Biondi and Porterfield were unavailable for comment.

Patankar said he had been tracking the emails since Friday afternoon, which is when the administration began developing its response.

The emails included a list of eight demands, such as SLU students should be notified immediately regarding any threats to students, the incorporation of a 24-hour

hotline to assist students who are feeling threatened, and that protocol developed in the committee to address hate incidents and crimes go into effect immediately.

“I really didn’t know what the motivation was to start the emails now in terms of timing, because we had not heard of any new incidents, so I didn’t quite know what their motivation was,” Patankar said.

“But as the number of emails built, clearly it is a serious issue from the perspective of students. It is a serious issue from our side and the faculty side, and the seriousness of the issue was definitely conveyed.”

In the response, Patankar reiterated part of Biondi’s

Feb. 10 message to the University community regarding the administration’s commitment to diversity.

“Half of his response was just regurgitating what Father Biondi said; we had an issue with this message two months ago and you are just kind of feeding fuel to the fire right now, saying that this is going to be your ultimate response,” Li said. “I call bullshit; essentially, I just call bullshit because he just said this is everything we can do.”

Since January, several racial incidents directed toward students have been reported on campus. Freshman Genise Sherrill was one of those stuSee “Campaign” on Page 3

Internet falters, spurs concern ITS says little can be done without an official report about any outages

By SEAN WORLEY Associate News Editor

The last thing a student wants to experience on the night before a midterm exam is an Internet blackout. Yet this supposedly happened multiple times during exams week and students are still reporting issues.

“The [Information Technology Services] problems on campus are like a Kanye West to my Taylor Swift,” Anne Heaton, a freshman in the Doisy College of Health Sciences, said.

“It’s really frustrating when you’re trying to be productive and the Internet stops working. Especially when a majority of my homework is online.”

Students also seem to be observing a trend in the Internet ceasing to work during specific times of day.

“My friends and I joke, even though it’s not a joke, that between 10 and 11 p.m., it goes out,” Amanda Riechers, a junior in Parks College of Engineering, Aviation & Technology, said. “There have been multiple times when it has just gone out.”

Though there seems to be widespread grievances about the Internet issues, Saint Louis University’s ITS has only received seven official complaints from students.

“We are dedicated to the highest level of support to our customers, especially the students,” Katherine Krajcovic,

To file a complaint or get tech help: • Walk-In Help: ITS Tech Service Desk on the ground floor of the BSC

• www.twitter.com/ SLU_ITS (Coming soon to Facebook)

• Phone Assistance: ITS Help Desk 977-4000

For more information: its.slu.edu

• Email Support: helpdesk@slu.edu

Noah Berman / Associate Photo Editor

Senior Michael Vladkov works the phones, fielding calls from students, faculty and staff regarding various technical issues, serving as an operator for ITS. manager of Communication possible culprits, more stuand Training for ITS, said. “If dent feedback will help aid one person doesn’t have ser- the process of fixing the alvice, that’s a big deal to us.” leged issues.

Krajcovic expressed that “We’re not afraid of conevery single received com- structive criticism,” Senior plaint was addressed, and ITS Communication Specialist Kit Network Architect Michael Breshears said. “We want the Moore even went as far as giving his personal cell phone number to each concerned student. “[Moore] did not receive We are dedicated responses from any of the to the highest level students that reported Internet issues,” Krajcovic of support to our said. customers ...

With the minimal com—Katherine Krajcovic plaints received by ITS, some actions have been taken in order to better attempt to diagnose any Internet issues. students to tell us [about the Moore has set up a “test issues].” workstation,” which is conAccording to Breshears, nected to the Marchetti East measures have been taken in wireless network. This work- order to increase communicastation will allow for Moore to tion between ITS and its custest Internet connectivity from tomers, which are primarily his home outside of business SLU students.

“I can acknowledge that hours.

Though Moore has taken we know [students] are most measures to troubleshoot likely on Facebook more than

“

”

on SLU email,” Breshears said. Due to that assumption, ITS has created and launched a Twitter page, and is in the process of launching a Facebook page. The Twitter page web address and other ITS contact information can be found in the fact box on the left.

Ideally, the social networking pages will provide opportunities for the creation of more dynamic dialogue between students and ITS service agents. However, if students want to file formal complaints, and thus allow ITS the opportunity to fix the problems, the help desk needs to be reached. This can be done so by email, by phone or by simply walking into the ITS Tech Service Center.

Not only is ITS moving forward with its travel into the social networking realm, but it is also in the process of conducting a survey which will be sent out to students.

See “ITS” on Page 3

SGA doles out spot-funding money, debates allocation rules

By ALLISON REILLY Senior Staff Writer

The details of the funding guidelines were the biggest points of discussion at yesterday’s Student Government Association meeting.

Beta Alpha Psi originally had a finance committee recommendation of zero, but the bill was amended up to $310, to allow for two students to attend the organization’s regional conference in Kansas

City, Mo. The committee originally made a zero dollar recommendation because the committee felt that this conference provided information similar to that of the iLead program and the Leaders of the Pack retreat.

There was an attempt to amend the bill upwards a second time to accommodate for four people to attend the conference, but there was more hesitation for this amend-

ment.

“We didn’t ask if they had two other people that were going to go that week,” College of Arts & Sciences Senator Paul Lederer said. “I don’t want to fund two people if they can’t commit to having two additional people go.”

The honors organization was selected to present about fundraising.

There was also hesitation regarding sending students who weren’t part of next

year’s executive board.

“I would normally agree [to send just two students],” First Year Senator Chris Ackels said. “But not when those two people are graduating in a few weeks.”

Vice President of Internal Affairs Andrew Miller disagreed.

“If there’s people presenting, I think we should support that,” Miller said.

The bill passed with an amended allocation of $310.

The Club Rugby team came up with a spot-funding request of $3,817.54. The team qualified for the regional tournament in Baton Rouge, La. The team only found out during the last weekend of spring break that they had qualified for the tournament.

The biggest point of discussion was whether $2,900 should be counted as personal contribution from the team See “SGA” on Page 2

Speech to tackle racial issues

By KELLEY DUNN News Editor

With issues about diversity and racism swirling around campus, Great Issues Committee decided to address the situation headon with its last event of the year.

Former football Boone coaches Herman Boone and Bill Yoast—whose story was adapted into the 2000 film Remember the Titans— will speak about their experiences working with a newly integrated high school football team in Alexandria, Va., in 1971. The film focuses on the first year that Boone and Yoast took over the team, after the consolidation and, Yoast ultimately, integration of three of the area’s high schools into one.

The T.C. Williams Titans, coached by Boone and Yoast, overcame their differences and went on to win the AAA state football championship.

“We felt that they would be really good to talk about how to unite a community,” GIC Chair Steve Della Camera said, tying this event in with the “We are all Billikens” wristband campaign put on by GIC earlier this month.

Freshman Sarah Kamp said that she would probably go to the event.

“It’s an inspiring movie, and a lot of students know about it,” she said.

Della Camera said that he thought this would be an event that all SLU students could relate to.

“I think that it’s going to be inspiring, but also something for us to learn from,” he said.

“We all have our differences, but I think it will be a good opportunity for us to learn about our differences.”

The event will take place on Monday, April 12 at 7 p.m. in the Busch Student Center Wool Ballrooms. Like other recent events, early entrance tickets will be available in the Office of Student Life in the BSC. Della Camera said that, overall, he feels this year has been a success for GIC, citing the large turnouts as a parameter for success. He said that GIC has had 6,600 people come to its events this year, which is as many as the previous two years combined.

“We’ve really pushed ourselves and gone in different directions,” he said. “It’s been extraordinary and better than I could have imagined.”

Questions regarding the event can be sent to gic@slu. edu.

Inside The University News »

News »

This SLU junior personally flew to Haiti to help those in need.

2

Opinion »

4

The Editorial Board urges all to support public transport and vote yea on Prop. A.

Arts »

7

Some SLU students are flexing their musical muscles on and around campus.

Sports »

See if men’s basketball was able to get past Princeton and into the CBI finals.

10

2

News

The University News

Thursday, March 25, 2010

Let Us Introduce You Diana Rice

Junior takes to the skies flying airplanes, wants to be a missionary pilot

MLK Scholarship changes ready for next year’s incoming class

By KRISTEN MIANO Associate News Editor

Ryan Giacomino/Photo Editor

Junior Diana Rice takes the controls, using her knowledge of airplanes to help others. She recently flew to Haiti to help aid the people following the devastating earthquakes.

By ALLISON REILLY Senior Staff Writer

Last month, Diana Rice spent four days performing mission flights for disaster relief in Haiti.

The junior Flight Science major first heard of this opportunity when her father, a doctor at Saint Louis University Medical Center, went to Haiti to do mission work.

During his flight home, he told the pilot about Rice and her aspirations to become a pilot. The pilot, according to Rice’s father, offered to let her come down and serve as a co-pilot.

“Of course I said ‘yes’,” Rice said. The pilot was a volunteer for Bahamas Habitat, a non-profit organization based in the Bahamas; Rice will be interning with the organiza-

tion this summer.

As a co-pilot, Rice flew from Nassau in the Bahamas to different parts of Haiti, delivering food, medical supplies and dropping off missionaries. Because a roundtrip takes about seven hours, including a fuel stop, only one flight could be performed per day.

“We had to start early to get back before night,” Rice said. “The radio coverage is bad, and there’s no radar.”

Rice said she flew in a multi-engine plane, which has two engines. Flight time with a multi-engine plane, she said, is very difficult to get at SLU. “Flying is expensive,” Rice said. “At SLU, you get 15 hours in a multi-engine versus 250 hours in a single engine.”

Though Rice found the

multi-engine time valuable in terms of hours and learning experience, those were not the only reasons why she jumped at this opportunity.

“I want to be a missionary pilot,” she said. “This gave me the chance to see if I wanted to do that. It was also something to do to help out.”

Rice had never previously flown mission trips beforeher trip to Haiti, but she has known that she wanted to be a missionary pilot since she shadowed a flight instructor at SLU during high school.

Rice has wanted to become a pilot ever since middle school.

“It fits my strengths. It’s very hands-on, visual and involves problem solving,” Rice said. “I really want to do missions. This was a good affirmation.”

The UNews elects 2010-11 EIC

By SARAH FENTEM Staff Writer

• Sophomore news editor of The University News Jonathan Ernst has been officially named as The UNews Editor-in-Chief for the 20102011 academic school year.

As EIC, Ernst will oversee the entire newspaper production process, from deciding what goes on the front page to the design of the nameplate.

Ernst will be succeeding graduating senior Kat Patke in the position.

According to The UNews’ production coordinator, Jason Young, to become EIC, a candidate must go through a three-part process.

First, the candidate must be elected by a 2/3 majority of the sitting Editorial Board.

After the Editorial Board makes its decision, the elected candidate gets his or her name sent to the University to see if he/she is in good standing.

Finally, after the candidate has been cleared, members of The UNews’ Advisor y Board­—which is made up of faculty members, journalism

professionals, students and the Dean of Students—vote to say that the election protocol has been followed correctly.

Even though Ernst ran unopposed in the election, he didn’t let that stop him from working hard to prove his worth as an editor.

“Because he was running unopposed, it would have been easy to sit back and just let things happen, but he didn’t do that,” Patke said. “He worked hard in the election and throughout the year.”

Young is equally generous in his praise.

“He has a lot of strengths, but the one that excites me the most is his undying passion,” Young said. “He views journalism as a civic duty, not just producing a tangible product, but as something that serves the community.”

Ernst, who is also in the Micah service program at SLU, feels very strongly about about serving his community.

“It goes back to that service idea, the core that journalism is a community service,” Ernst said. “That’s my motive. … I have a passion for journalism. ... You do it

because you love it. It’s so much time out of your week, you have to love it and appreciate it.”

Ernst’s goals as editorin-chief include implementing a more multi-media approach to the publication.

He cites the revamped website as an example of the direction he would like the newspaper to take.

“The website is going to make us a multi-platform organization, [with] coverage through the Internet and through the printed edition,” Ernst said.

He said that he also plans to bring back the managing editor position.

“This person would act as a liaison between the editorial and advertising department, and develop a marketing plan for selling ads and connecting ads with content,” Ernst said.

Ernst said that he can’t wait for the new year to get started.

“We’re going to learn and have fun and challenge people,” he said. “We’re going to hit on the core elements, and we’re going to have a great product.”

SGA: Senate talks various spot funding bills Continued from Page 1

or funding from the Student Activity Fee. The group spent their dues and fundraising toward the games that the $2,900 was originally allocated for. The spot funding allocation was amended up to $4,711.05, and was passed.

Club Tennis qualified for its national tournament in Phoenix. Senators contended over whether the group should receive 100 percent funding, or whether the group should pay for 40 percent of the travel costs.

“They’ve earned this privilege to have the 100 percent,” College of Arts and Sciences Senator Kale Kponee said.

There was also contention about what kind of precedent this spot funding decision would set.

“This assembly has a bad problem with consistency,” College of Arts and Sciences Senator Max Jordan said.

“Why do we set guidelines if

we don’t follow them?”

SGA passed the bill with a 100% spot funding allocation of $3,225.

The dance group Xquizit also received spot funding at the meeting. Xquizit was allocated $1,400 to host a dance performance on campus.

SGA also amended its bylaws, allowing the finance committee to note and track speculative funding.

It was also enacted that $500 of the Student Activity Fee be put toward the the “Say NO to Racism” campaign.

“It’s straightforward, blunt and gets the message across,” SGA President Michael Harriss said.

SGA also passed a resolution supporting Congressional passage of the Collegiate Housing and Infrastructure Act. This act adjusts tax law to allow “housing corporations” to count their improvements and investments as tax deductible.

Housing corporations are

non-profit entities of Greek organizations. These corporations maintain and improve their respective chapter rooms in DeMattias Hall.

Miller felt that there were “not a lot of national tractions” for this act, as it has previously died in committee during congressional session.

Kate Maxwell, co-author of the bill, said that “bills die frequently,” and that the death of a bill is not “a reflection of the bill.”

Maxwell was chosen as one of 100 students selected across the country to represent the Greek community at a caucus meeting in Washington D.C. on this act.

Maxwell, a Delta Gamma at SLU, is working to get campus support on this act and to bring this support to the caucus.

“This is good for Greek organizations on a national level,” Maxwell said. “[Passing the resolution] will make the bill have this traction.”

This past weekend brought flocks of prospective Martin Luther King Jr. Scholars to Saint Louis University, and with them came the new changes to the MLK Scholarship.

“The scholarship will still be a minimum of $13,000, as it has been in the past,” Cari Wickliffe, assistant vice president of the Division of Enrollment Management and Director of Student Financial Services, said. “The difference will come into play for certain categories of students who have merit scholarships that are more than $13, 000.”

MLK Scholarship recipients for the 2010-2011 academic year will be receiving the scholarship as a “stackable” package.

In years past, scholars accepted into the program could only receive $13,000, even if a larger merit-based scholarship was applicable.

With the new program that has been implemented, students with merit scholarships that are greater than $13,000 can receive an additional $3,000.

“The students who interview for the MLK Scholarship already have a merit scholarship of some kind,” Wickliffe said. “So, basically, how it’s being communicated [to the

students] is that it will be a minimum of $13,000 in combination with their other merit awards. Then for students who exceed $13,000, they can receive an additional $3,000 to what they’re already receiving.”

Students who attended the MLK Scholar Weekend were already aware of the new system upon arriving at SLU. “We were told it’s either $3,000 or $13,000,” prospective MLK Scholar Stewart Heatwole said. “It’ll be added to our merit scholarships, so we’ll get at least $13,000.”

With this new program, the maximum amount of money a MLK Scholar can receive is $18,000, with the addition of the Provost Scholarship.

Although the dollar amounts are getting larger, the number of students who will receive the MLK Scholarship could potentially shrink.

“The number of students has not been determined,” Wickliffe said. “We will probably look at less overall because we anticipate a smaller amount just based on the numbers. We want between 50 and 60 students.”

With the new program and preparation, however, the same amount of money, if not more, is being spent on bringing next year’s MLK Scholars to SLU. While it is still too early

to discern whether this new scholarship system will be better, Wickliffe is optimistic about the outcome.

“These are students who are very passionate about what the MLK Scholarship stands for and the service components, but the financial incentive wasn’t there,” Wickliffe said. “So we did see more students apply this year than we’ve ever had before, and we feel good about the application and the students who came this weekend.”

Corrections In the article “Campus racial incidents spark student responses,” the time of the Town Hall was incorrectly labeled. The event will take place from 5:30-7 p.m.

In the article “Students on break help others,” the student featured and photograph used were from Alpha Phi Omega’s spring break service trip.

In the article “Speaker policy, funding debated,” Dean of Students Scott Smith was incorrectly identified.

The University News regrets the errors.

News

Thursday, March 25, 2010

Racial discussion leads to talks about Cross Cultural Center

By KRISTEN MIANO Associate News Editor

Why does race matter at Saint Louis University? On March 18, SLU held an open forum discussion to find out.

This meeting was the third in a three-part series of racial discussions held this semester.

An even mix of staff, administrators and students, both graduate and undergraduate, came to discuss why issues of race still need to be scrutinized at SLU. The event turnout totaled about 30 people.

“We often say to people of other races, ‘I don’t see race when I look at you,’ and we think that is a good thing,” Karla Scott, director of the African American Studies Program, said. “But to the person on the receiving end, it might not be.”

Scott facilitated the discussion by asking the participants how they felt affected by race at SLU. More specifically, she asked how students felt affected by it in interpersonal relationships.

Many students and staff present agreed that, while they felt interracial interaction in college was an important part of education, there were few opportunities in dayto-day life to have them.

Some proposed integrating diversity discussion into classes, such as University 101 courses, so that students would have the experience from the beginning.

The discussion then turned to a conversation about how race worked in campus decisions, such as admissions and employment.

Kenneth Fleischmann, director of Human Resources, said that, since the Martin Luther King, Jr. Scholarship was broadened from a racebased scholarship to a diversity scholarship in 2003, the University has been working hard to ensure that racial minorities are represented on campus.

But there have been some difficulties due to what Fleischmann referred to as an ineffective administering of aid.

Scott asked those in attendance to voice their opinions and recommendations for further events and specific ways to address diversity on campus.

“Part of the dialogue on campus should continue to educate about white privilege, so that we may be able to have an open conversation about our real experiences,” Fleischmann said.

A few students wanted more discussion about what those with “white privilege” could do to alleviate diversity issues.

Outgoing Student Government Association President Michael Harriss voiced his opinion about the apparent segregation in the Cross Cultural Center.

“Are we separating people with the intent of creating diversity? The Cross Cultural Center doesn’t have a lot of

white students,” Harriss said.

“Maybe it’s because of the presence of all the multicultural organizations there, but are we building a home for diversity or are we still keeping groups separate unintentionally?”

This comment sparked more discussion about how the discomfort many white students feel in the Cross Cultural Center is good, as it represents how racial minorities feel everywhere else on campus.

“There are students of color who go into all these other places, who feel the same unease you feel walking into the Cross Cultural Center,” Dean of Students Scott Smith said.

Several representatives from the Cross Cultural Center present said they would love to see more white students in the Center, as it would certainly help to facilitate more interaction with minorities that the University seems to be lacking. The forum ended with an agreement among everyone that the discussions about race and diversity couldn’t end here.

“The best universities understand that these conversations are ongoing,” Smith said.

Overall, those in attendance felt that the discussion was a success.

“It went well for the turnout,” sophomore Mike Sumpter said. “The biggest challenge is that we all want to be here. We need to apply it to the entire University now.”

The University News

3

Keynote speaker addresses gender equality

Kristen Miano/Associate News Editor

Saint Louis University’s 10th annual Atlas Week, a period devoted to emphasizing SLU’s international presence and attention toward worldly social justice, was highlighted by the words of Keynote Speaker Hauwa Ibrahim, one of the first and few female lawyers in Nigeria and a working defender of women’s rights. Junior Tyler Schuster noted that Ibrahim “spoke on gender roles and Islam, which are two things that are difficult [to talk about]. Bringing the two together is very interesting and eye-opening.”

Campaign: Racism problem persists ITS: Internet issues frustrate students Continued from Page 1

dents who felt targeted.

According to Sherrill, on Feb. 24 several Caucasian males were outside her door, tearing down her nametag.

“One of them said, ‘F you, n[*****].’” Sherrill felt attacked from this incident, since she is the only AfricanAmerican on her floor in Reinert Hall.

“I want them to know what this is about, and I want you guys to know that this is not a game. This is serious and it does involve you because we all go to this school,” she said.

The fifth floor of Reinert had a floor meeting regarding this incident, and Sherrill stated to her floor that she felt uncomfortable living there.

“People were saying ‘Well, we feel safe, why don’t you feel safe?’ One boy said ‘Well, Lil Wayne says it, so why don’t you get offended when he says it?’ And that just put me over the edge,” Sherrill said.

According to Sherrill,

Smith has since informed her that the student who used the racial slur was asked to leave campus.

Graduate student Sarah Holland, an organizer with Students for Social Justice, has been communicating with students who have had similar experiences.

Holland belives this communication is important for building community.

“We are trying to build that community, and it is a very long and arduous process.

And so that’s what we are trying to do, is build trust between allies and people who are suffering. We are trying to include as many voices as we can,” Holland said.

The Students for Social Justice Facebook group currently has 501 members, as awareness of the group has been increasing since the vigil on Feb. 28, when students marched in silence to protest the hate incidents on campus.

“At the end of the day, [Student Gover nment Association] is still the stu-

dent body representative,” Outgoing SGA President Michael Harriss said. “I think the message they are trying to send is that there are a lot of students who are concerned.

It’s not just one student who’s sending these emails, but it represents the concerns of a lot of students.”

A Town Hall for Diversity and Social Justice will be held on Thursday, March 25 at 5:30 in the Busch Student Center in the Saint Louis Room.

Patankar, Por ter field, Smith and Fenneberg have confirmed their attendance.

Students for Social Justice is planning to arrive wearing black to show the administration its presence at the Town Hall.

“For us to make progress, we have to come together and that is what we are trying to do,” Smith said. “That is what I would say the students are trying to do. I think we all want to do the right thing, the best thing for the University community.”

Additional reporting by Kat Patke and Kristen Miano.

Continued from Page 1

Krajcovic and Breshears expressed that the survey will offer more meaningful comments from students in order to fix current issues and hopefully prevent further problems.

“The students are the reason we are all here,” Krajcovic said. “We really are focused around being proactive.”

“Fixing [issues] is what we’re here to do,” Breshears

said, and those issues can only be addressed after receivingofficial student inquiries.

While ITS does not seem to be receiving many student complaints, Student Government Association has. SGA President Michael Harriss confirmed that students had come to him, expressing their frustrations with the system.

“We’ve received around 25-30 requests to look into the wireless issues,” Harriss said.

A majority of the complaints came during midterms week.

Due to the influx of the Fixing the Little Things requests, Harriss said there has been a committee formed to try and fix the concerns regarding the Internet, instead of addressing each individual request.

According to Harriss, Parks College Senator Ben Orr is heading the committee, and committee members have already spent time meeting with ITS officials.

Opinion

4 Thursday March 25, 2010

Talk to us: call Roberta Singer 314.977.2812, or e-mail oped.unews@gmail.com UNEWSONLINE.COM

The University News

Quotes

The University News reserves the right not to publish any letters that are deemed intentionally and/ or inappropriately inflammatory, more than the 300-word limit or unsigned by the original author. The following are letters and/or website comments. Because the identities of website posters cannot be verified, all website comments should be treated as anonymous. Actual letters to the editor can be e-mailed to oped. unews@gmail.com. Please include your daytime telephone number.

of the week

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There’s a very small South African scene, far less bands.... All your hero bands live here [the U.S.], and amazing music comes out all the time.

Comments

-- Andrew McKellar of the South African band “Civil Twilight”

from the website Strict SLU speaker policy limits CSOs’ possibilities

This is ridiculous. Dozens of groups have suffered under the current speaker policy, not just two. What Smith doesn’t realize is that organizations self-censure so that they don’t have to deal with administrative stalling. Why request an interesting and dynamic speaker if you know that it will just get held up in Saint Louis University’s bureaucracy?

I also think it is frustrating when Student Government Association changes budget rules after Chartered Student Organizations have already submitted their budgets. It doesn’t do us a lot of good for them to remove the cap on speaker funding if we can’t change our budget request.

--ThomasJBloom

Web Poll: Posted below are the results from the last issue’s web poll on The University News’ website. Be sure to check our website this week for our next exciting poll: What did you give up for Lent? www.unewsonline.com

What pieces of American history will Texas include in the new grade school textbooks?

Rachel Mezinis/Illustrator

Editorials Editorials are opinion pieces written by the Editorial Board of The University News.

The unsigned editorials printed in this space represent the opinion of The University News. Commentaries and Letters to the Editor represent the opinions of the signed authors but do not necessarily represent the opinions of The University News.

Mass mailing calls University to act Over the weekend, students flooded administrators’ mailboxes with over 100 emails detailing demands for improving social justice and acceptance on campus. The letter was pioneered by Saint Louis University Students for Social Justice, who sent it far and wide across the student body, as well as to alumni.

The email’s creators urged all to forward it to the top echelon of campus administrators, including President Lawrence Biondi, S.J., and Interim-Frost Campus Vice President Manoj Patankar.

Their demands echoed student concerns about safety and awareness. They demanded, among other things, to be notified every time a hate crime happened on campus, for stricter, more efficient disciplinary procedures to be taken against the offending student, for a Vice President of Diversity and Social Justice position, more staff for the Cross-Cultural Center and for staff to be regularly trained in dealing with different cultures.

They have set their goals under no uncertain terms, though some of them are perhaps more feasible than others. As Patankar outlined in an email response, the administration

has already started several training sessions and bias response teams. But other things, like an official alert system and improved, constant staff training, would only involve changing protocol, not substantially changing funding, and are thus more practical to achieve.

It’s important that students have made this step, and we support their dogged determination to not just let things lie. Many may perceive college students as apathetic to those things that don’t directly impact their lives, but this action and figurative uprising among students flies in the face of that stereotype. It also shows that many students at this University will not sit idly by while blatant hate crimes are perpetrated here. It shows that students will not forget those actions so easily, that students can use the momentum of the past months to make much-needed changes to the University. It shows the solidarity of the student body, how terrible actions can, in the end, unite us.

The students have spoken. Now, it is up to the administrators to keep listening, and keep working with students to take steps toward ensuring this doesn’t happen again.

Metro transit depends on Proposition A 6 percent: Nixon’s main reason for opening up China was his love of Kung Pao chicken.

33 percent: The Boston Tea Party was followed by the little-known Philadelphia Coffee Rave.

33 percent: Thomas Jefferson was not only a Deist but also a wizard!

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The benefits of public transportation are for senior citizens who can’t drive themmany: it creates green jobs, decongests the selves. roads and highways, enhances city infraOpponents of the measure cite structure and accessibility, and, for those MetroLink’s irresponsible use of funds in that can rely on public transportation entire- the past, as well as the fact that expanding ly, keeps them from dumping money into car light rail requires millions of dollars that insurance, gasoline and maintenance. could be better used to beef up bus transit.

We know this, and we’ve long rued St. However, not funding MetroLink would Louis’s lack of a decent light rail system. do more harm than good: already, jobs MetroLink is fine if you want to go to Laclede’s and service are threatened, and failing to Landing or to the airport or frolic about provide funding would deal a possibly fatal across the river, but blow to the St. Louis it’s expensive, and transit system. doesn’t provide For those of us access to many St. who live in the county, Now again with the we are able to actuLouis neighborhoods and landvote on the issue, April 6 elections, we have ally marks, like the but even those of us the chance to provide unable to cast our balBotanical Gardens, the Cherokee/Lemp can make our voicnecessary funding to the lots district, Dogtown, es heard. distressed public transit Soulard and Lafayette There are several Square. Metrolink’s actions already being system. well-being declined taken: both Saint even further in 2008, Louis University and when St. Louis failed Washington University to approve a half-cent in St. Louis have coalitax increase to sustain it and fund other tions of students working to push the issue projects. Fares went up, jobs were cut, the on voters. Wash. U students have pioneered city suffered. the City Tracks Soundtracks music festival, Now again with the April 6 elections, which aims to promote Proposition A. This we have the chance to provide necessary outpouring of support from city and county funding to the distressed public transit sys- residents alike shows the importance of the tem by voting “Yes” on Proposition A, a issue, how necessary MetroLink is for all of second go at that half-cent tax increase for us, especially students.

St. Louis County. This wouldn’t just benefit Even if we can’t vote in the April 6 MetroLink, either. The bus system, which elections, we can urge our professors and had some service cut after the last mea- peers to do so, and turn out to these events sure failed to pass, would be given funding, in support of Prop. A. Let’s make our as well. So would Call-A-Ride, a service voices heard.

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28 percent: George W. Bush decided not to pursue Reagan’s Star Wars military plan after seeing Attack of the Clones.

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See Page 7.

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percent of the vote

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We have to start from somewhere to get our earth back into shape.

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-- Kelcey Towell, junior, who paints shoes and does other art for Earth Day.

See Page 5.

“

The biggest challenges have been the touring life, being away from our families and homes.... But if that’s the hardest thing, really, life is easy for us.

-- Chloe Agnew, vocalist for Celtic Woman.

”

See Page 7.

“

The administration wasn’t handling it, the administration didn’t say much in the first response, and it wasn’t enough, and that’s when we demanded a response.

-- Senior Tianyi Li on the administration’s response to racial issues on campus.”

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See Page 1.

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The [Information Technology Ser vices] problems on campus are like a Kanye West to my Taylor Swift.

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-- Freshman Anne Heaton on the recent internet problems on 33 percent: Six more weeks of campus.

30 percent: Anything, as long as it arguing about health care

takes Flex

See Page 1.

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The Editorial Board of The University News recognizes Avis Meyer, Ph.D., as the newspaper’s faculty mentor.

Opinion

Thursday, March 25, 2010

The University News

5

French relish International students face struggle, isolation at SLU quieter, finer aspects of life I must admit, there are days here when I think to myself “Why can’t the French just do things the American way?” I often miss being in the Commentary United States, where stores are open 24/7, supermarkets carry every kind of food, health or hygiene product you could ever imagine and where the Sara Brouillette interstate can cut your transportation time in half.

I took for granted how convenient life is back home. But what if, with all these new conveniences, we’re missing something? And if so, what are we missing?

My parents came to visit a few weeks ago, and my Dad mentioned something he had read about French culture. He said that while Americans live to work, the French work to live. I had never thought of it that way before, but the more I considered the idea, the more it explained the parts of French society that had baffled me since I arrived.

The American in me could not understand why the shops on my street didn’t open until 10 or 11 a.m., close in the afternoon between noon and 2 p.m., and then close again for the day as early as 7 p.m. Nearly every store is closed on Sunday, except for a rare few that are often owned by people of non-French descent. Some are even closed on Monday. I wondered how they made any money. One of my French friends told me that they usually receive enough business on Friday and Saturday to cover the rest of the week.

What I realized today is that business and efficiency are not as important in French culture as they are in American culture. We Americans keep trying to think of new ideas, new tricks and new inventions to make life simpler or more convenient. We want to do our everyday

“

We’re trying to fill our lives with shortcuts... [yet] we are missing out on the mundane but important details of daily life.

”

chores faster and with less manual work. But as we make all these advancements in efficiency, our everyday life is no longer everyday life. We’re trying to fill our lives with shortcuts, and by only taking shortcuts, we are missing out on the mundane, but important, details of daily life.

In France, people take pleasure in going to a bakery every day to get a new baguette and going to the outdoor markets on Sunday to stock up on produce and farm-fresh goods for the week. Even something as simple as walking along the streets and seeing other people running their daily errands makes the city seem friendly and welcoming.

I thought living without a car in Lyon would be confining and restrictive, but it has had the opposite effect. I feel like I’m part of the life here. Sometimes when I go out on the street, people will stop me and ask me directions. If they hear that I have an accent, they’ll ask me where I’m from and what I’m doing in France. I have started a lot of interesting conversations with people this way.

France has taught me that convenience should not always be a priority. And even if daily activities here are sometimes more time consuming or inefficient, there’s often at least a good story involved.

Sara Brouillette is a junior studying abroad in Lyon, France.

Roberta Singer/Op/Ed Editor

I am an international student here at Saint Louis University. In the wake of racial incidents on campus, as well as a host of new internaCommentary tional events and inclusion campaigns, I have been thinking hard about what it really means to be an international student here.

Little over Ana Patricia Esguerra a year ago, I moved to St. Louis from Madrid. Before that, I had been living in the Philippines, where I grew up and where all my family is still based. I’d been living abroad for a while in Madrid, so I thought moving here wouldn’t be a big deal. I anticipated a change of scenery and a new culture. But I did not anticipate the isolation I would feel as someone “different.”

St. Louis isn’t exactly the easiest place to move to. I wasn’t used to the cold, or the lack of public transportation, which made me feel stuck and suffocated on campus. I wasn’t used to the faster pace nor the social norms. Most of all, I wasn’t used to experiencing all these differences alone. I wasn’t used to not having a support group who understood how hard all this change was.

Before moving here, I was told that SLU was pretty diverse, and the international student community here was very active. Yet what I found out when I got here was that these are mostly organizations with ethnically diverse American students, and though I have immense respect for them and truly appreciate their efforts to spread their cultures, I personally could not relate my culture shock and attempts to assimilate to American culture with them.

In fact, I not only found a lack of an international student support system, I found that life in general at SLU oftentimes isn’t conditioned for non-Americans. Many of my classes regularly refer to “our” culture (American culture), American history, American examples and other distinctly American things that I didn’t grow up with and cannot relate to. I struggled to do things people from here take for granted: getting a driver’s license, setting up a cell phone line, paying taxes, making sure I’m legal to stay in the country.

The international student office was indeed helpful in giving infor-

Rachel Mezinis/Illustrator

mation and pointing me to the right direction, but that did not help my feeling singled out and alone in dealing with these things that the majority of students around me didn’t have to. I struggle with ignorance more than I should on a college campus. I understand that information about where I’m from is not widely known, but I’ve been faced with stereotyping, such as people assuming I’m good at math just because I’m Asian, or people thinking I don’t know what McDonald’s is because I grew up abroad.

In addition to this, though I grew up in a fairly Westernized country, so much of Asian culture runs perpendicular to American culture.

We’re generally quieter and more conservative, and a lot of social norms here still shock me. We’re generally not as aggressive, and we like to act in groups, which is so different from individualistic American thinking.

How, then, have these things

shaped my experience at SLU? I’ve found that there is an international student population at SLU, but you have to work hard to find it. I’ve found that most of the international students I’ve met tend to stick together, not integrating with the greater American population. This is all done in an informal setting, of course, and I may be mistaken, but I don’t know of any formal school groups solely for international (nonAmerican born) students. I’ve wondered about this separation, and some international students I’ve talked to say that they tend to stay this way because many American students seem uninterested in what is different, and they just don’t understand the difficulty of being foreign here.

I am at the brink of graduation, and I think it is a shame to leave SLU without sharing these observations, in the hopes that it will wake people up to what I perceive as a lack of true integration and multicul-

turalism at SLU. I personally know fascinating people from all over the world who study here in St. Louis, and I am sad that more people do not get to know them and their stories. I know I have a lot more to share, but I feel like most people lose interest about my culture after learning a word or two in my language or asking about my food. I have found few who are willing to listen to stories about the developing world and its drastically different social norms. In other words, I have found few who are willing to go beyond the surface, and delve deeper into what is different.

I have not personally experienced racism or intentional prejudice at SLU. However, I do feel that the community has a long way to go before everyone can truly say that “We are all Billikens.”

Ana Patricia Esguerra is a senior in the College of Arts and Sciences.

U.S. must help Haiti rebuild, but not foster its dependence

Rural life contrasts with fast pace of city living

The Haiti earthquake in January a food shortage that people were claimed more than 225,000 lives, and selling “dirty cakes,” meaning they since then the world has poured out were literally eating dirt. What did support, of which the international community do?

I am immensely They sent them some money and Commentary thankful for. called it a day.

There are many questions still People have held bake sales, donat- plaguing me about the state of Haiti. ed food, given How is a country like Haiti contheir time and stantly suffering while its next-door money, donated neighbor The Dominican Republic toiletr y items seems to be doing far better? Why and participated is it that Haiti is one of the poorest in many other countries in the Western world?

There are many answers to this campaigns.

Anuoluwapo Daramola H o w e v e r , question. Haiti was in constant debt about three from the minute it gained indepenweeks ago I was having a conversa- dence. Also, few Haitian immigrants tion with my boyfriend and he said are allowed entrance into the United something that stuck with me even States. Furthermore, we are unwillas I am writing this article. He said, ing to give Haiti infrastructure pro“You can give money to the situa- grams without demanding a huge tion, but that will not be a long term amount of money.

The United solution; for Nations says it all it causes is will cost more dependence.” than $14 billion With that to rebuild Haiti. quote in mind, I star ted Haiti should not become Now, no one is that the researching the countr y that, asking inter national history of Haiti, another and to say it has within its first years of c o m m u n i t y completely foot been turbulent is an understate- independence, becomes that bill. What am saying is ment. dependent once again on Ithat, in the first According couple of weeks to the website its colonial masters. after the earthwww.globalrequake, I just search.ca, Haiti saw money and was colonized more money underneath the French, and gained independence being donated, but I hardly saw after a slave revolt and constant bat- one building be rebuilt. We need to tles between the country’s natives be able to give them the tools and versus the imperialistic power of the equipment to rebuild Haiti by France. Eventually, the natives themselves.

Haiti should not become another burned down most of the crops on the island and killed many of its country that, within its first years of independence, becomes dependent European inhabits.

Yet even after Haiti claimed vic- once again on its colonial masters. tory, France refused to recognize its I ask in these couple months that independence until 1825, when Haiti we give them tools to help them was forced to pay 150 million gold rebuild themselves, that we do not francs. This amount was to make up force them to become dependent, for the lost property, such as land, that we make sure that everything equipment, people killed and slaves. is played by the books. But more Haiti finally decided to pay the than that, we need to show Haitians amount due to the fact that France, that we stand with them and not on Britain and the United States would top of them.

I do not want Haiti to become continue to impose an embargo on another forgotten country that was them until they paid.

Since gaining its so-called inde- decimated by disaster; rather, I pendence, the country has been would have it live up to its title as quite unstable, with more than half one of the first black republics in the of its inhabitants living in constant Western hemisphere. poverty on less than $5 dollars a day. There were reports a couple Anuoluwapo Daramola is a junior in the College of Arts and Sciences. years ago that Haiti was having such

This summer, I visited a small town, tucked away deep in the mountains of rural Bulgaria. It was picturesque. The houses gently Commentary peeked over the side of the mountain. On the way there, the long, skinny, steep roads let out sighs of dust as the car gears shifted uncomfor tably.

The Dorotea Lechkova sun was setting and the hills displaced the light above the crafted rooftop shingles.

I looked out of the car windows at the women outside. They were sitting on the front stoops after a hard day in the fields, watching the mountains, fixing their head scarves, looking at the car that drove passed them, wondering the same thing I was: Who are these people? What are they doing here?

As the car slowly rolled by, we observed each other. Me: a city-girl completely out of her comfort zone, wearing a tank-top, fashion sunglasses and a hot pink polka-dotted purse.

The women: wearing long dresses and tired faces, looking curiously at the license plate, trying to guess where we were from.

It was an inevitable, incredible and paradoxical clash between city and country, between the modern and the rural, between two different lifestyles, two different worlds. I looked out of the window, mesmerized, wondering how life was in this

“

”

small town.

What do people do when they wake up? They don’t throw their coffee in the microwave as they hurry to get dressed for work because they have woken up late after a long night of dancing. They don’t run to the bus stop, or get on a crowded bus where no one talks to anyone else.

They don’t try to balance the coffee mug and the giant purse while reading the newspaper so they can at least appear informed and prepared, even though they’ve arrived late to work.

Seeing people live differently made me rethink the way I lived.

It was odd. In the same country, just 400 kilometers away, the people were nothing like what I expected, nothing like what I was used to.

When we arrived at the town we were trying to reach, I took my camera. I wanted to capture the stillness, the horizon reflecting off of the shingles, the silence and serenity of this region.

When I returned to the city, I felt strangely displaced. Almost as if the fast cars and the endless noise made the clocks unstoppable. Time took on a different role. But those few country days allowed me to compare, to see how things don’t work the same way everywhere. They allowed me to step out of the bounds of the city and to understand.

It is odd how we can only come to know ourselves after we have experienced something different.

Dorotea Lechkova is a senior in the College of Arts and Sciences.

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Sophomore Adrienne Edson of Hither and Yon performs earlier this year.

Students moonlight as local musicians

By ASHLEY JONES Associate Arts Editor

Ryan Giacomino/Photo Editor

Senior Tony Burwinkel records an original song in the make-shift studio he made by removing the doors from his closet and hanging sheets. He currently plays his music under the name Y2Canine.

They are students by day, musicians by night. Like normal students , they attend classes and do homework.

However, when they are not doing their scholarly duties, they are writing, practicing and performing their music.

For student musician Jennie Zelenak music will “definitely always be a hobby.”

Although the senior English major has only been seriously playing guitar since she began attending college, she taught herself to play.

“I never took lessons,” Zelenak said.

In addition to playing guitar and singing, she is picking back up the piano by taking lessons on campus.

Zelenak writes her own music, which is inspired by day-to-day life.

“I will be messing around and a note will inspire song, or I’ll write a poem and put it to music,” Zelenak said.

She previously played at open mic nights at The Billiken Club, and has also played at places such as Felix’s Restaurant in Dogtown and Iron Barely in South St. Louis. On April 15 she will be playing another show at Felix’s.

Although she typically tries to play every day, Zelenak has found it difficult.

“This semester has been hard because it is my last semester,” Zelenak said.

Civil Twilight looks ahead to its musical future

By CARLY DOENGES Senior Staff Writer

Last Tuesday, the audience at Cicero’s in The Loop was treated to a fantastic show from all four bands in the night’s lineup: local band Peach, Chicago-based AM Taxi and Company of Thieves, and South African natives Civil Twilight.

Without exception, every band fully delivered, making for a show that, from beginning to end, was everything one looks for in a concert experience: fun, intimate and completely rocking.

For Richard Wouters and brothers Andrew and Steve McKellar of Civil Twilight, this was a far cry from some of the shows the band played when they were first starting out in the United States.

“Our first tour had some of the toughest shows,” Steve said. “We were going into the world as a new band with warped expectations, and

then people walked out during our set.”

Sometimes there would barely be an audience to play for at all. The band cites a show in Connecticut where only two people showed up as one of the most disheartening experiences of their career.

But in St. Louis last Tuesday, far more than two people made up the audience, with Civil Twilight being one of the main draws for the evening.

Civil Twilight was first formed back in 1996 when Andrew and Wouters were in high school, and Steve was only 13 years old.

It was “one of those situations where you have a band before you can play instruments,” Andrew said.

But the guys quickly worked out the logistics of who would play what, and two weeks later they played their first show.

However, it would be a while before they played

again since “we didn’t really know that bands gigged,” Andrew said.

What they did know was that they wanted to make something of their music, and that staying in Cape Town, South Africa, was not the way to do that.

“There’s a very small South African scene, far less bands,” Andrew said. “All your hero bands live here [ in the U.S.], and amazing music comes out all the time.”

In what Steve refers to as a move of “youthful ignorance,” Civil Twilight and friend Kevin Mitchell, who serves as band engineer and tour manager, packed their bags and relocated to L.A. “just to see what would happen.”

What ended up happening was years of playing around Los Angeles, learning the business side of things, “just the way it works. You think it’s something like you go to see someone famous, they see you play, and then you

just start getting played. But there are a million little things to negotiate,” Wouters said.

With the help of their manager, Michael Carney, in 2007 Civil Twilight made an album and began touring. Their songs also went on to be featured in several TV shows, including the popular CW drama One Tree Hill.

Since then, things have started taking off for the band.

They moved to Nashville, signed with Wind-Up Records and have spent the last two years touring, as well as re-releasing their self-titled album Civil Twilight. From being a band that played to an audience of only two people, Civil Twilight now has a growing fan base, including one in particular, a man named Rob who first saw the band play at a bar in Tennessee and has now followed Civil Twilight on tour.

They’ve also had the ultimate See “Twlight” on Page 8

After graduation, she is looking forward to having more free time to write music. She is thinking about going to San Francisco and playing in the streets.

“I don’t expect fame out of it,” Zelenak said.

Check out her fan page on Facebook for more information.

Freshman Ellie Meyer is another student musician on campus. She has been playing the acoustic guitar for six or seven years.

“My dad used to have a guitar. He used to play and I’d be in awe,” she said.

She explained that her grandma was the one who pushed her to continue playing. Like Zelenak, she also writes her own music.

She is inspired by “Everything that goes on…life experiences. I’ll just be messing around and something will sound good… [I] build it up from there.”

Meyer said that although she doesn’t play in public very often, she is looking for opportunities. In the past she has played at coffee shops in Texas, where she is from. She also organized a concert that took place in Reinert Hall in February.

See “Musicians” on Page 8

New show at The Rep isn’t quite so ‘Fantastick’ The Repertory Theatre of St. Louis’ new show isn’t quite living up to its name, and it’s a real shame.

Arts Editor Featuring book and lyrics by Tom Jones and music

by Harvey Schmidt, the 1960 m u s i cal The WILL HOLSTON Fantasticks has gone on to hold the record as the longest running musical in history. It’s closing out The Rep’s 2009-2010 Mainstage Season, and, unfortunately in this case, they didn’t save the best for last.

The Fantasticks, despite its record-breaking success, is the perennial scrappy underdog—a show that’s minimalism and earnestness seem to work better when less

slickly and carefully mounted than this. It’s a small story and, unfortunately, one that doesn’t really come together in the end in its current incarnation.

The story is a simple one— but sincere—that parodies the myth of the star-crossed lovers found most prominently in plays like Romeo and Juliet.

Luisa, played by Stella Heath, is a daffy 16-year-old girl whose dreams of storybook adventures are encouraged by her 20-year-old neighbor, Matt, played by Cory Michael Smith. In an effort to drive the two together, their fathers have built a wall between their two houses, hoping—as they sing in the number ‘Never Say No’—that pretending to forbid a romance will ultimately drive the two children to fall in love. El Gallo—a See “Fantasticks” on Page 8

Student logo clinches top prize

By ALLISON REILLY Senior Staff Writer

Ryan Giacomino/Photo Editor

Junior art major Kelcey Towell wears the official T-shirt that bears the logo she designed. They can be purchased at www.stlouisearthday.org.

Forty years from now, junior Kelcey Towell will remember this Earth Day, every day.

This is because the art major won the St. Louis Earth Day Festival Logo Design contest, and her logo will be featured on T-shirts, posters and advertisements. Towell’s logo was selected as one of six finalists out of more than 40 entries. Then, the public got to narrow it to one design.

The theme for the contest was “40 Years Later: Living Earth Day, Every Day,” in celebration of the 40th anniversary of Earth Day. Towell’s design, called “Tree with Roots,” depicts a tree with a peace sign in its leaves. The peace sign also doubles as the recycling symbol.

“The peace sign is also 40 years old,” Towell said. “I wanted to bring together two really cool ideas that are similar.”

Towell also said that the roots symbolize that sustainability isn’t “skin deep.”

“We have to start from somewhere to get our earth back into shape,” she said.

Towell learned about the competition through two of her professors, who usually notify their students of opportunities like this contest. She spent time doodling in her notebook to come to her final ideas, and then spent about six hours putting it together on a computer.

This is the first time Towell has won an award or contest outside of Saint Louis University. At SLU, she won the Provost Purchase Award, where the provost selects an artwork for his or her office.

Former Provost Joe Wiexlmann was the one to purchase Towell’s artwork. Now that Wiexlmann is no longer at the University, Towell isn’t sure what has happened to it.

Towell is no stranger to using her artistic skills outside of the University. This year, she participated in an event at the Missouri Botanical Garden called TOMS: Style Your Sole during which she painted TOMS shoes—an Internetbased brand in which the owners donate a pair of shoes to a child in

need for every pair purchased— according to the requests of customers.

“I painted nine pairs in four hours,” she said. “And I took another nine home with me.”

Towell describes her artistic ability as an “innate talent that I’ve always relied on.”

“My mom always said that I was born with a pencil and a paintbrush in hand,” she said. “I’ve always been able to draw.”

Coming from a family of doctors and pharmacists, Towell said she’s going against the grain by pursuing a career in art.

“I actually started as a pre-dentistry student. There’s lots of visual elements in dentistry,” she said. “But I want to do something that I love, not just be able to do something.”

She isn’t fazed by the future.

“Anything that doesn’t grow was designed by someone,” she said.

“I’m confident there’s a job out there for me.”

For more information or to purchase a shirt with Towell’s winning design, visit www.stlouisearthday. org.

8

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Thursday, March 25, 2010

Musicians: SLU students rock out Continued from Page 7

The first time she played in public was at her high school, where someone told her that her song was moving.

“I am glad people can relate,” Meyer said.

While Meyer is only a freshman, she plans on pursuing a career in Occupational Therapy, which is her current major, music or perhaps a combination of the two.

For more information about Ellie Meyer and her music visit her MySpace page www.myspace.com/elliemeyer8.

Student musician Tony Burwinkel currently plays under the name of Y2Canine.

The senior Philosophy major previously played with the student band Ithaca.

Although Bur winkel is unsigned, he has already recorded one album and is in the process of recording another.

He started playing the drums through a grade school program and has now been playing for 11 years. In addition, he plays the acoustic guitar, which he has been playing since he came to col-

lege. He also plays a little bit of piano.

Burwinkel, like Zelenak and Meyer, writes his own music.

He said that his songs are “inspired by people and relationships.”

Burwinkel wasn’t sure if music would become a career in the future or remain a hobby.

“It’s hard to make anything I want to do into a lucrative [job] … [I might] get a regular job that I enjoy and do music on the side,” Burwinkel said.

For more information about Burwinkel and his music, check out his MySpace page www.myspace.com/y2canine.

Some student musicians choose to play in a band, as opposed to playing solo.

“There is something more tangible when you can share the experience with other people. There is give and take,” sophomore Owen Needham said.

Needham, an English major, is a member of student band Hither and Yon. Along with him, the band is made up of sophomore Theology and Music major Adrienne Edson, freshman English major

Patrick Gibson and Pre-Med student Mike Tarkey.

Edson and Needham have been playing together since their freshman year, and were later joined by Gibson and Tarkey. Edson sings and plays guitar. She said she has been playing some sort of instrument for four-and-a-half years, but guitar for three.

“I was interested in learning guitar for liturgical purposes … Once I had the skills to play, then I was able to branch out,” Edson said.

Needham also sings and plays guitar. He has been playing guitar for four or five years. As he started developing different musical interests, he started playing mandolin and has been for about a year and a half.

The Haiti Benefit concert hosted by The Billiken Club in February was the band’s premiere, and they are looking for other benefits.

“All of us are part of Micah.

There is a common awareness of … helping people through our gifts,” Edson said.

Keep a lookout for more news from all of these musicians around campus and online on their MySpace and Facebook pages.

Twilight: Band adapts to tour life Continued from Page 7

rock star experience of witnessing a girl crying because she was scared to come up to them.

The surrealism of their life now doesn’t escape the members of Civil Twilight.

“It’s weird to think of life outside the band,” Wouters said.

“It’s a really weird lifestyle.

I’m not sure what extensive touring teaches you, but it’s what’s really important about what we do,” Steve said.

And how does the band deal with the constant touring? With “as little communication as possible,” Steve said. The band acknowledges that one of the most interesting parts of their life is that they have known one another

and their manager since they were kids, and now they live and work together.

To keep things balanced, “in the last two years we’ve found individual passions,” Andrew said.

These range from painting to woodworking, interests that keep them from being overwhelmed by band life.

So what’s up next for Civil Twilight?

Aside from touring, “we haven’t really been big on goals,” Andrew said, but the general consensus among the band’s members is to just stay on their current path.

“As long as we can keep doing what we’re doing and experience growth, we’ll be happy,” Wouter said.

Civil Twilight hopes to headline a tour in the future,

Jerry Naunheim, Jr./The Repertory Theatre of St. . Louis

Stella Heath and Cory Michael Smith as Matt and Luisa are reunited with a little help from The Mute, Sara M. Bruner.

Fantasticks: Show needs a little bit more whimsy Continued from Page 7

mysterious man they hire to concoct a scenario wherein Matt saves Luisa—hires two aging actors to help him in the charade, and a character known only as The Mute serves as a Puck-like bit of whimsy, fulfilling a variety of incidental and comic roles.

The actors are all giving it their all, with varying results, but the production as a whole never seems to capture the ultimate whimsy at the heart of this show that can make or break such thin material. It’s hard to put a finger on what exactly the problem is, but it’s clear that the show’s second half suffers the worst from this. The second act—which begins as all of the action described earlier has already occurred—tones down the whimsy and, instead, offers up a kind of critique of the happily ever after ending.

Unfortunately, the direction of the show’s second half is jumbled and hard to follow,

losing grasp on the show’s message in the process. This is a fairly delicate show, and if you don’t handle it with care, it can fall to pieces.

All of this is not to say that the show is a total wash. All of the actors, from Smith and Heath to Sara M. Bruner as The Mute, are full of energy and spunk and are endearing stage presences, and though their voices are not as consistent throughout as one would hope, the music is such that the orchestration itself is charming to hear.

Ultimately, The Fantasticks is a show that trades on nostalgia and will, therefore, work better for those with fond memories of past productions. The actors give it all they’ve got, but it’s sad to see the show never fully come together.

The Fantasticks will be playing at The Rep until April 11.

For more information about this or any show upcoming at The Rep, visit www.therepstl. org.

and its members would love the opportunity to someday play with Radiohead or Elbow.

In the meantime, Civil Twilight remains focused on touring, while, as Andrew puts it, also “keeping the dreams and stuff alive. It’s really important remembering those things, like the first time we ever played music.”

Steve has a message for those who haven’t heard Civil Twilight’s music yet.

“Give it a listen,” he said.

“What we do, we do with love and passion as a service to you. If you like it, or don’t, please tell us.”

Visit the band’s official website at www.civiltwilightband.com or their MySpace page at www.civiltwilightband.com.

Lili Forberg

Celtic Woman has been performing together since 2004, when it put on a one-night show in Dublin. After a performance on PBS in 2005, the group became an international success.

Irish singing group set to bring Celtic stylings to St. Louis area

By PAULINE ABIJAOUDE Staff Writer

Celtic Woman, an Irish, all-female musical group, was assembled by David Downes in 2004. Originally, the five women were all solo artists.

“I was 14 years old when David asked me to join Celtic Woman,” Chloe Agnew, a vocalist in the group, said.

“He came up with the idea and asked all of us if we would do a one night show at the Helix Theater in Dublin.”

The group went on to become the sensation it is today.

“It hasn’t slowed down once, it’s a constant roller coaster ride,” Agnew said.

The group has been to Japan, Europe, all over the United States and hopes to go

on a tour of Australia sometime soon.

“The biggest challenges have been the touring life, being away from our families and homes,” Agnew said. “But if that’s the hardest thing, really, life is easy for us.”

According to Agnew, the group has been lucky to be trouble-free from day one.

“Everyone said that there’s no way five women could ever work together, but we are like five sisters. It’s been wonderful,” she said.

Celtic Woman has released five albums so far and the debut album, Celtic Woman, reached number one on the Billboard World Music Charts within weeks of their March 2005 PBS performance. The album remained number one for 68 weeks,

breaking Andrea Bocelli’s record. Celtic Woman is currently touring the U.S., with an expectation of adding summer shows due to the high demand.

“I mean this from my heart, St. Louis is one of our absolute favorite places to come and perform,” Agnew said.

“We are so honored to play at such a beautiful place … We hope that people will take two hours to get away from life and just enjoy themselves,” Agnew said.

The Celtic Woman will be at The Fabulous Fox Theatre on March 30 and 31.

For more information about The Fox, visit www. fabulousfox.com.

For more information about the group, visit www. celticwoman.com.

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Billikens defeat Tigers in semis

Ryan Giacomino / Photo Editor

Sophomore Kwamain Mitchell led all scorers with 21 points during the semi-final match-up against Princeton on March 24. Mitchell added five assists to help the Bills in a 69-59 victory.

SLU to face off against VCU in best-of-three

By DERRICK NEUNER Senior Staff Writer

The Saint Louis University Billikens may be post-season champions, after all.

The 23-11 Billikens took down Princeton 69-59 on Wednesday, March 24, to advance to the College Basketball Invitational Championship. They will face Virginia Commonwealth University in a best-of-three series that starts Monday in Richmond, Va. SLU will

return home for game two at Chaifetz Arena, which will tip off at 7 p.m. on Wednesday, March 31, while game three, if necessary, is slated for a 7 p.m. start at Chaifetz Arena, Friday, April 2.

Kwamain Mitchell led all players with 20 points, while Willie Reed knocked in 20 for the Billikens. Reed also collected 10 rebounds, giving him nine double-doubles on the season. Brian Conklin and Cody Ellis both finished with nine points for the Bills.

“Princeton is a good club.

They don’t beat themselves, you have to beat them,” head coach Rick Majerus said.

“Our defense was good again; it’s hard to score against us.

It’s been our staple. Our guys were really well prepared for having one day of preparation. It was a good win for us.”

Both teams started hot, trading the lead for most of the first half; each team had cleared 20 points by the 9:30 mark. The teams continued

to trade jabs until a tip-in by Reed started a Billiken run that would put them up by nine at the half. Ellis scored two free throws, and Reed got a dunk, in addition to a Mitchell lay-up.

SLU shot a blistering 57.7 percent in the first half against one of the best defenses in the nation. Mitchell was almost perfect, hitting six of his eight attempts from the field, including going two for three from outside the arc, to pace the game with 17 firsthalf points.

“I came prepared to play, I was in the zone and everything I shot was falling,” Mitchell said. “I was excited to play a good team, and we were playing the same offense that Richmond runs, so I knew what to expect.

They were big and strong down low, and it was a different look for us. We tried to stay patient on offense and let the game come to us.”

The Bills continued their hot shooting into the second half. They would go up by as much as 17 after a Kyle Cassity three-pointer before the Tigers would try to claw their way back into the game. At the 13:59 mark, Princeton had the lead into the single-digits before backto-back-to-back layups from Reed, Christian Salecich and Conklin would advance the lead to 14.

But the Tigers weren’t done. Taking advantage of missed shots and an Ellis turnover, a deep three by Douglas Davis and a layup by Zach Finley closed the gap to six.

Clutch free throw shooting by the Billikens would keep SLU from letting the Tigers pounce. Reed hit two to keep the lead at 11, and Conklin sealed the deal with two of his own with 1:42 remaining.

Both Mitchell and Salecich would visit the line, giving SLU the padding to advance to the championship.

“We put ourselves in the opportunity to knock down See “Basketball” on Page 11

May introduces McGinty to SLU community

Bill Barrett/ Saint Louis University

Saint Louis University Director of Athletics Chris May (left) presents Mike McGinty with a No. 6 jersey. McGinty was presented to the media as SLU’s sixth head men’s soccer coach on Tuesday, March 23. McGinty was an assistant coach at Virginia for nine seasons.

By DERRICK NEUNER Senior Staff Writer

Saint Louis University formally introduced Mike McGinty as the sixth head coach of the men’s soccer team on Monday, a move the school hopes will lead to a record 11th NCAA championship. McGinty comes to SLU from the University of Virginia, where he won a national championship last season as associate head coach.

“I am passionate about what I do, I have a clear idea of what I want out of my players and I know what it will take to move the program for ward,” McGinty said. “I am inheriting a team that just won an Atlantic 10 Conference championship, and the players should feel good about that. My job is to build upon that and help us

move forward nationally.”

McGinty received a longterm contract from SLU, though the details of that contract were not released.

McGinty’s predecessor, Dan Donigan, operated under a year-by-year contract, a policy that some felt held back the most successful program in the nation. SLU Director of Athletics Chris May noted that the soccer program “received support from the University that our soccer program hasn’t had before” from University President Lawrence Biondi, S.J. and the Board of Trustees.

McGinty immediately announced that he will retain assistant coach Tim Kelly, and will begin looking to add new members to his staff. Kelly had assumed the responsibilities of the head coach prior to McGinty’s hiring. The new Billikens coach indicated that

he plans to make “particular and smart” staffing decisions, but that he is in no hurry to round out the staff. He also hopes to finalize the 2010 schedule within the next few weeks.

In his remarks before the media, May listed several qualities SLU was looking for in a coach, among them, the mission of the Jesuit University.

“How do we educate young men and women? How do we compete at the highest level and how do we build community around those [values]?”

May asked. “Next, we were looking for someone who had championship experience ...

Finally, [we had to ask ourselves who] is passionate about teaching our players?

Who is going to connect with our players and recruits?”

“It is clear that [McGinty] has a vision for what it is

going to take to be successful. He is very passionate, very disciplined and has the sales acumen to recruit the best players to come here,” May said. “He understands the history and legacy of SLU soccer.”

McGinty inherited a team that has failed to meet the expectations of alumni and program supporters. Although the Billikens captured the A-10 championship and advanced to the second round of the NCAA Tournament, recent success has not matched what has historically been a storied program. He believes that all the pieces are in place for SLU to regain its national prominence.

“I spoke quite a bit with Coach Donigan before and he let me in on where he felt the team was, the unique aspects See “McGinty” on Page 11

Ryan Giacomino / Photo Editor

Sophomore Jerry Mancuso pitches during the second Billiken victory over Kansas University on March 20.

Baseball team takes on ranked opponents

By BRIAN BOYD Staff Writer

Under head coach Darin Hendrickson, the Billikens baseball team has been improving at an exponential rate. After finishing 16-37 in the 2007 campaign, Hendrickson was hired to revive a slumping Saint Louis University program. Thus far, he has been delivering on all accounts. In Hendrickson’s first year at the helm, the Bills improved their win-loss record by eight games, finishing with a 24-29 record, the most wins ever under a first-year head coach.

The Billikens continued to improve in Hendrickson’s second year, posting a 30-25 record, only the third time the team has reached 30 wins in program history.

This season, Hendrickson has helped the Billikens continue their winning ways, even against top-tier competition. Nationally, the Bills have posted a 3-2 record against opponents ranked in the top25.

Picked to finish sixth in the Atlantic-10 by the coaches of the league, the Bills came into the season looking to capitalize on their wealth of talent and offensive firepower. The team returns three of their top four hitters from last season’s squad, including senior first baseman Danny Brock, senior catcher Ben Braaten and sophomore Zach Miller, who was named to last year’s freshman All-America team.

Brock posted an impressive stat line last season, hitting for a .336 average and knocking in 38 RBIs. Braaten posted a solid average as well, hitting .335 while hitting eight home runs and leading the A-10 in walks with 49.

“There is no doubt [Brock] has the ability to be our senior leader,” Hendrickson said, in an interview with Billiken

Media Relations. “He is one of the smartest players I have coached. He has good gap-togap power and is an excellent defensive first baseman.”

As for the rest of the infield, there were gaping holes in the beginning of the year at shortstop and third base, but two players have stepped in and made consistent contributions. Freshman Mike Levine has seen most of his action at shortstop this year, and junior-college transfer Jon Meyers has gotten most of the action at third base.

Senior J.D. Dunn also returned to his perch in center field this season to anchor the outfield. Last year, Dunn started all but three games. “[Dunn] is one of the best defensive center-fielders that I have coached. I look for him to have a much better year, offensively,” Hendrickson said. “He is one of the hardest workers on the team who leads by example.”

The Bills took a tough loss on March 16 to Indiana State, falling by a score of 14-9. SLU gave up 9 runs in the final two innings of play. Relief pitcher Matt O’Neal had a solid appearance, going six innings in relief while giving up only two earned runs.

The Bills recovered from the loss quickly, though, defeating Evansville the next day by a score of 8-7.

This past weekend saw the Bills complete their second doubleheader of the season against a ranked opponent.

The Bills split two games against the No. 16 Ohio State Buckeyes back on March 6.

Playing at home on March 19 though, the Billikens swept the No. 19 Kansas Jayhawks.

In the first game, the Billikens posted a 12-8 victor y. Brock continued to lock in on opposing pitchers, See “Baseball” on Page 11

Sports

Thursday, March 25, 2010

The University News

11

Sports Shorts:Billiken Briefs Swimming and Diving According to a release from the league office on March 23,three Billikens were recognized as members of the Atlantic 10 Conference swimming and diving All-Academic teams.

Seniors Anna Larson and Sal Cruz were joined by junior Michael Dahle on the teams. Larson, a psychology major, won the A-10 three-meter title for the third time in four years this past February.

Larson finished her Saint Louis University career as one of the program’s top divers of all time. The senior holds the top seven one-meter performances and the top 10 three-meter performances in school history.

Cruz, an aerospace engineering major, gave SLU its top 200-IM performance this season at the A-10 Championships with a time of 1:57.51.

Dahle is a biomedical engineering major and registered a team-high 20 individual wins this season. He collected three individual first-place finishes at five separate meets in 2009-10. He broke the school

record for the 400-IM with a time of 4:01.17 during this year’s A-10 Championships.

Baseball Danny Brock, SLU’s senior first baseman, was named to a pair of national Teams of the Week for his efforts during a week that saw the Billikens win three games, including two over No. 19 Kansas University.

CollegeBaseball360.com named Brock the CB360 Primetime Player of the Week, while CollegeBaseballInsider. com named him its Northeast Region Player of the Week.

Brock was also dubbed the Atlantic 10 Conference Baseball Player of the Week.

As of March 23, Brock is third in the nation with 36 RBIs and fourth with 10 home runs. His numbers for slugging percentage (.892), walks (17) and runs scored (24) are all good enough for first place in the A-10. He is currently third in the league with 30 hits and fourth with .525 onbase percentage.

The Billikens open conference play against Xavier University in a three-game

series begins on March 26 at home.

Softball Freshman Laura Bohning came through in the clutch for the second time in three games for the Billiken softball team. Her two-run homer in the bottom of the ninth on March 23 lifted the Bills to a 5-4 victory over Memphis.

Bohning’s other late-game heroism was a single in the bottom of the eighth to plate the Bills’ lone run in a 1-0 victory over Western Michigan on March 20.

The Billikens dropped the game between these two victories, 1-0, to Memphis.

Memphis starter Carly Hummel put on a stifling performance, striking out 13 Billikens during her completegame, one-hit shutout.

Softball begins conference season on the road this weekend with a two-game series against Temple that starts on March 26. The team will stay in Philadelphia for a doubleheader against Saint Joseph’s on March 28.

--Bobby Schindler

Baseball: Billikens fall to Ole Miss

Ryan Giacomino / Photo Editor

Justin Jordan and the Billikens needed to two overtimes to take down the University of Wisconsin at Green Bay on Mar. 22. That win placed the Bills in the semifinals where they defeated Princeton.

Basketball: Bills in finals of the CBI

Continued from Page 10

Continued from Page 10

going 3-4 with five RBIs in the game, including a three-run homer.

Bryant Cotton picked up his fourth win of the season, and in the nightcap, SLU notched another win, this time by a score of 8-5, completing the sweep of the Jayhawks. Braaten went 4-4 in the second game, collecting five RBIs along the way.

Jerry Mancuso picked up his second win of the year in the decision, and O’Neal came in and collected his first save of the year.

Brock, Meyers and Braaten, the 3-4-5 hitters, combined to go 14-23 with 16 RBIs in the doubleheader.

The victor y put their overall record at 11-9. On March 23, the Bills traveled to Southeast Missouri State for another game against the Redhawks. The Billikens fell to SEMO 8-4. SLU, ranked

good shots,” Reed said about the win. “It’s always exciting to play for a championship. I really believe we are going to play our hearts out for this; we’re playing for each other and for our city, and we’re all excited.”

The Billikens finished the game shooting a hot 54.5 per-

cent from the field and 50.0 percent from the arc. They are only the third team this season to shoot over 50 percent against Princeton. SLU also hit 63.0 percent of their free throw shots.

They dominated underneath, getting 32 points in the paint compared to just 24 for the Tigers. Due to the loss of Justin Jordan to injury, SLU

received just nine points, all from Conklin, off the bench.

In related Billikens news, SLU fans will get a chance to see incoming freshmen Mike McCall and Dwayne Evans at Harris-Stowe State University on Sat., March 27, when they participate in the MidWest All-Star Classic. Tip-off is expected at 7:30 p.m. and admission is free.

McGinty: New soccer coach arrives Continued from Page 10

Ryan Giacomino / Photo Editor

The Billikens celebrate after J.D. Dunn’s (25) home run during a victory over the No. 19 Kansas Jayhawks on March 20.

14th nationally in home runs with 29, hit three four-basers in the game.

The Billikens fell 14-5 at

Ole Miss on March 24. The loss brings the Bill record to 12-11 overall with a 3-2 slate against ranked opponents.

of the St. Louis community, where soccer is respected not just at the University but throughout the city, and I was convinced that this is a school that [could] win the national championship,” McGinty said.

One player that will help McGinty move toward that goal is junior forward Mike Roach. Roach, who was tabbed Most Outstanding Player of the A-10 Championship, said that he was impressed with his new coach’s discipline.

“He commands your respect immediately, and I think he started off on a great

note.” Roach said. “I think he will teach us some things we haven’t thought of before.”

“We had a lot of uncertainty. We weren’t sure of what was going on,” Roach said.

“But now that he’s here, some nerves are settled, and now it’s time to get focused and look at how we’re going to play his style of game.”

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Thursday, March 25, 2010