No. 16 Jan. 26 2011

The University News Celebrating 90 Years as a Student Voice of Saint Louis University

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Vol. XCI No. 16

CRAVING MEXICAN FOOD? Check out a new place to eat >> ARTS

Thursday, January 26, 2012

SLU BEATS XAVIER SLU takes lead in Atlantic 10 conference >> SPORTS

Case dismissed: Law School to leave Frost Aspiring attorneys to attend classes downtown

By JONATHAN ERNST Editor-in-Chief

Since dropping out of the U.S. News and World Report top 100 schools of law in 2010, falling from a Tier 2 university to a Tier 3, the Saint Louis University School of Law has searched for revitalization.

University administrators hoped that would come with a planned $35 million expansion of the current School of Law building at Morrissey Hall. Those plans were delayed due to a faltering econ-

Salaries stuck in neutral

omy.

Expansion appeared years away, but on Tuesday, the School of Law received a boost as SLU announced that the school will move into a donated 11-story, 260,000-square-foot building in downtown St. Louis. The move will make SLU the largest educational institution located in downtown St. Louis with the school’s more than 1,100 students, faculty and staff.

“We are really excited about our new home. This is a

great opportunity for students and alumni to be in the heart of the legal community in St. Louis,” said Annette Clark, J.D., dean of the SLU School of Law. “This move opens up so many opportunities for our students.”

St. Louis businessman Joe Scott Sr., the founder and current owner of Scott Properties, which owns and manages more than 2 million square feet of office space in the St. Louis region, and his wife Loretta donated the building, located at 100 N. Tucker Blvd.

In recognition of the donation, SLU will name the building the Joe and Loretta Scott Law Center.

“The donation of this building is a true blessing,” SLU President Lawrence Biondi, S.J., said in a press release.

“Thanks to generosity of Joe and Loretta Scott, we can now realize our dream of creating a modern space that reflects the outstanding teaching and scholarship taking place in See “Law Center” on Page 3

Photo Courtesy of Saint Louis University

The Joe and Loretta Scott Center is scheduled to house the SLU Law School as early as the 2012-13 academic year.

SLU announces annual tuition increases

By JAMES MEINERS Managing Editor

Saint Louis University will not be increasing salaries for faculty, staff or administration, except for those who have contractually obligated raises.

Interim Vice President and Chief Financial Officer David Heimburger said the University was very mindful of the financial situations of students and their families when setting next year’s rates.

President Lawrence Biondi, S.J., wrote a message to all SLU students, faculty, staff and trustees saying, “This year we spent $3.6 million above the $112.7 million we had previously budgeted to meet the financial needs of our students and their parents.”

The University maintains that the bottom line of family budgets weighed heavily in the decision-making process.

Another major reason for the wage freeze was the increasing uncertainty of SLU’s health care system, SLUCare.

The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, the health care reform plan passed by Congress in 2009, will begin to be implemented at SLUCare in the next few years. Due to the new legislation, SLU must begin to deal with any ambiguities of the new laws.

Regarding the health care legislation, the President’s Message said, “Additionally, the potential for significant upheaval to the health care industry through legislative or legal actions remains a concern.”

Heimburger also spoke to the importance of SLUCare, adding that the physicians’ practice contributes about 30 percent to the University’s overall budget.

“Our clinical practice is dedicated to our mission, so we don’t have the same revenue stream coming in that an operation without the same mission does [like University of Missouri or University of Missouri-St. Louis],” Heimburger said.

According to the mission statement on SLU’s website, “[The University]

Source: The College Board

Source: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics

Illustration by: Tess Hejna / Design Director

By BRIAN BOYD News Editor

On Jan. 17, Saint Louis University President Fr. Lawrence Biondi, S.J., announced in his monthly President’s Message that undergraduate tuition would increase by 3.8 percent for the 2012-13 academic year, raising the annual amount to $34,740.

The SLU Board of Trustees approved the increase in December.

In the message, Biondi emphasized the University’s commitment to its mission of education, research, service and health care and acknowledged the need to keep tuition increases at a moderate level.

“To fulfill our mission --while moving the University forward — means that we must keep tuition increases reasonable and affordable while controlling our expenses in relationship to our accumulative revenue sources,” Biondi said in the message.

In addition to the increase in undergraduate tuition approved by the Board of Trustees, graduate and professional tuition will increase by 2 percent. Room and board will

also see a 2 percent increase.

Student Government Association President Matt Ryan characterizes annual tuition increases as “tough,” but he sees SLU as a valuable university.

“If you look at our top Jesuit school competitors, out of the top 25 schools, we have the 12th highest tuition but are consistently ranked in the top five best schools,” Ryan said. “It’s not that we don’t need to be constantly cognizant of our costs. We need to match every dollar increase with an increase in value.”

Some students, such as senior Joe Andreoni, hope that the increased tuition brings some minor changes to campus.

“Hopefully, with the raise in tuition, they can afford to open DeMatt and Fusz food courts before 11 a.m. for hungry students like myself,” Andreoni said.

The 3.8 percent undergraduate tuition increase stands as the lowest amount since the 2009-10 academic year. In 2010-11 and 2011-12, tuition increased 4 percent each year.

According to a 2011 report

titled “Trends in College Pricing” by The College Board, the national average undergraduate tuition increase for four-year private nonprofit colleges (such as SLU) was 4.5 percent in 2010-11 and 4.6 percent in 2011-12.

Interim Vice President of

“

A [college] education is expensive, as [students] know. Our goal was to keep our tuition rates manageable for our families.

-David Heimburger, interim vice president of business and finance and chief financial officer

”

Business and Finance and Chief Financial Officer David Heimburger said that at least six other Jesuit universities will have higher tuition increases than SLU next year and that SLU’s increase will be in line with the expected U.S. Consumer Price Index.

The CPI serves as a measure

By KRISTEN MIANO Associate News Editor

Blue the Billiken College is expensive!

Minghao Gao / Staff Photographer

The University News prints on partially recycled paper.

higher education drives the price.

“As the workforce becomes more skilled, the more the product, or college degree, will be needed,” Gladson said.

“Over a lifetime, the degree reaps benefits and outweighs the cost. A college degree offers a higher wage profile and an insurance policy in the job market.”

In the President’s Message, Biondi said that SLU remains in a solid financial position overall and cited the impact of external forces on the University, such as “the turbulent U.S. economy, growing challenges to student recruitment and retention, as well as the uncertainties of health care” and economic uncertainty in Europe.

“If a meltdown in the European economy were to occur, it would significantly affect American markets as well as our endowment, which was significantly impacted by the economic crisis that began in 2008,” Biondi said in the message. “It is important that we prepare ourselves for similar stormy economic weather.”

See “Tuition” on Page 3

SGA president and Patankar promote forward thinking

See “Salaries” on Page 3

Read and Recycle

of the changes in the price level of goods and services purchased by U.S. households. It is published monthly by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.

“A [college] education is expensive, as [students] know,” Heimburger said.

“Our goal was to keep our tuition rates manageable for our families.”

As a whole, the annual price increases in higher education have outpaced the CPI. According to the “Trends in College Pricing” report, from 2001-02 to 2011-12, tuition rates at four-year private colleges rose 2.6 percent above the inflation rate.

SLU Professor of Economics Lisa Gladson said that colleges and universities are human endeavors and therefore possess high labor costs due to the need for highly skilled, and often times expensive, labor in the form of faculty and staff.

Another factor affecting college costs is the need for schools to attract students and the resources required to do so. Above all, however, Gladson said that the increasing demand and necessity for

SGA president Matt Ryan addresses the senate during their Jan. 25 meeting. Ryan presented the President’s annual State of the Assocation Address.

This Wednesday’s Student Government Association meeting largely focused on the future of the University and the senate.

The meeting started with a presentation on Recyclemania, an intercollegiate recycling competition in which schools compete to produce the most recycling per capita.

The eight- week competition’s goal is to raise awareness and encourage recycling on college campuses.

Vice President of Academic Affairs Manoj Patankar presented to the senate on the structure of Saint Louis University’s strategic plan. The plan, which was approved by

the Board of Trustees, calls for the deans and vice presidents of the University to begin to develop their own plans for their respective areas. Patankar said that the University is currently in the process of building teams and structures while collecting input from various stakeholder groups, including students, faculty and staff.

Patankar also talked of University plans to improve the core experiences for both graduate and undergraduate students and ways in which he hopes to see SLU become more globalized.

Flats Senator Krishi Peddada questioned how the strategic plan hoped to increase the school’s rankings.

“We have been talking

about how to improve rankings across the board,” Patankar said. “We are shooting for the top 50, but we want to focus on improving student interaction and quality of education as well.”

Education and Public Service Senator Nathan Klosterman asked about the process by which the University has started assessing the academic departments and colleges. Patankar said that the plan involves using old and new processes to assess the effectiveness of the various academic programs, looking at how they can be improved or how they could be presented in different ways.

See “SGA” on Page 2

News

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Thursday, January 26, 2012

Let Us Introduce You

Mona Hicks

New dean of students is an avid sports fan, loves cooking

By KRISTEN MIANO Associate News Editor

Like most new additions to Saint Louis University, Mona Hicks, the new dean of students, is baffled by the concept of the Billiken.

“I don’t know what a Billiken is, but so far I’ve heard a lot of different stories,” said Hicks, “and I know some are true and some are not. I’ve heard it’s like a some kind of Alaskan-indigenous, god of fortune thing.”

The Texas native officially began her new job at SLU on Jan. 11, though being a college administrator has not always been her ideal job.

Hicks attended St. Edwards University as a pre-med biology major with the hopes of becoming a physician.

“It’s something I miss,” Hicks said, “but it helps me think more of a pattern, systemic inquiry type of way.”

Hicks first heard about the position from Vice President of Student Development Kent Porterfield. While she was intrigued by the position, it was what she learned about SLU students and the school’s Jesuit mission that really drew her to the job.

“I did what everyone does: I went to the website,” Hicks said. “Hearing students talk about what it means to be a Billiken was really compelling and felt sincere. I feel like I have been pursuing truth for ‘The Glory of God’ my whole life, so this was like hitting the professional jackpot.”

Since starting at SLU, Hicks said she has been impressed with how kind everyone has been. She said the experience has been exciting, but also extremely humbling.

“I’m not a morning person,” Hicks said. “I’m a grouchysaurus in the mornings, but I feel like being at SLU might change that. I don’t know, maybe the Billiken is a morning person.”

Hicks said she is most looking forward to meeting students, both as the dean and on a personal level. She regrets that, so far, she has been too busy learning about

THE SLU SCOOP All Information Provided by Department of Public Safety and Security Services

Friday, Jan. 20 11:55 p.m. - Accidental Injury A security guard lost control of his golf cart and collided with an entrance gate arm. Upon impact, the guard struck his face on the steering wheel causing a bloody nose.

The guard refused treatment.

Sunday, Jan. 22

1:00 a.m. - Violation of Missouri Controlled Substances Law Officers met with an RA to check on an odor of marijuana. Upon interviewing a resident, he admitted to smoking marijuana outside and discarding the partial “roach”. The RA located a pipe with green residue in a desk drawer.

Tuesday, Jan. 24

11:04 a.m. - Fraud Two students received emails stating they would recieve checks in the mail. They were to cash the checks, keep ten percent and send the re-

maining money back to the sender of the email. One student tried to cash a check with U.S. Bank on campus. The bank refused to cash it. The other student called her parents and they advised that this was a scam.This matter was reported by DPSSS to the FBI, St. Louis Metropolitan Police, Information Technology Services Division, Marcom, General Counsel, and Student Development Division.

Be a Responsible Billiken STOP. CALL. REPORT. 314-977-3000 witness.slu.edu dps.slu.edu

SGA: Patankar presents strategic plan Minghao Gao / Staff Photographer

her new job to really get out and meet the SLU population.

In her free time, Hicks enjoys cooking. She hasn’t found a place to live in St. Louis yet, and she said she misses cooking things that don’t just require pushing buttons on a microwave.

Hicks is also an avid sports fan. She played soccer for 28 years, but loves all sports.

“I check Sports Center every morning and I have it on my phone,” Hicks said. “It’s a little ridiculous. I promise, I’m going to be an avid Billiken fan.”

Hicks is also interested in the theater and the arts and is looking forward to seeing activities and events that SLU has to offer.

A recent love of Hicks’ is not a hobby or a sport, but is chocolate. Due to a childhood allergy, she spent the majority of her life avoiding it.

“I just started eating chocolate in 2009,” Hicks said. “ I had some other food issues and the doctor just told me to start eating everything again so we could figure out the cause. So, now chocolate is back on the table.”

Since discovering chocolate, Hicks said she has created what she believes is the best brownie recipe ever.

“It’s a brownie that’s cakey and dense, but while it’s still warm, cut it in half and spread peanut butter on it. It’s great.”

As Hicks gets settled into her new role, she said she continues to be impressed by the sincerity and kindness of SLU students.

“When you transition, regardless the experience you have, it’s exciting but extremely humbling. Its nice to know people sincerely care or do their part to say hello and good morning,” Hicks said.

Continued from Page 1

The meeting closed with SGA President Matt Ryan’s State of the Association Address.

The State of the Association is historically given in the last SGA meeting of January; it looks at the accomplishment

Patankar also presented plans to improve research on Frost Campus, to update classrooms and the plans concerning the new Law School.

After the presentation, the senate turned to new business, passing bills to seat two new senators and confirm There is one set of the appointment of a new staff officer of promotions. people who can do A bill to amend the constitution of the Diversity Leader- that, and it is all the ship Cabinet to give voting power to all twelve members people in this room. of DLC voting power has -Matt Ryan, been tabled until next week.

Finally, a bill was passed SGA president to express gratitude for the donation of the AT&T building as a location for the new of senate and details plans for the future. law school building.

Ryan promised that de“We wanted to express how we felt in a resolution from spite the upcoming SGA electhe student body,” said author tions, his executive board will of the bill and Law School not be moving into a lame senator, Grant Fransworth. duck session. So far, the sen-

“

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ate has finalized plans to renovate the library, conclude the Oath of Inclusion and to improve updates via social media while creating better outlets for transparency. Ryan also said SGA has set funding guidelines that focused on financial responsibility, pushed for improvements to the Vandeventer field and the Bauman-Eberhart building, implemented SLU Groups, and made sure student voices were heard on the housing and security policies.

Ryan stated he was not yet satisfied and more can be achieved.

“There is one set of people who can do that,” Ryan said, “and it is all the people in this room.”

Ryan stated he wants to see more work done by the senate, including promoting the Oath of Inclusion to make changes on campus and taking a closer look at SLU’s Speaker Policy.

News

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Pius upgrades come to fruition Construction begins on Jan. 31, ending a year-long wait

By BRIAN BOYD News Editor

After nearly a year of gathering student input, planning, revising, debating and planning some more, Saint Louis University’s Pius XII Memorial Library will finally receive its long-awaited facelift.

Unlike the original plans put forth by the 2010-11 SGA which stressed an architectural revamping, Pius Library’s interior will receive the bulk of the improvements.

According to Director of Pius Library David Cassens, the project will begin on Jan. 30. The fourth and fifth floors of the library will be the first to be upgraded and will not be available to the public until their completion date on March 16.

Beginning March 19, the second and third floors of the library will begin their improvement process and will remain closed until April 27.

Finally, the first floor will receive renovations beginning on April 30. Cassens said that the first floor, along with the entirety of the Pius Library improvements, should be finished by June 1.

The upgrades include all new furniture through most of the library, additional direct lighting sources, new floor and ceiling tiles, added study spaces, improved wireless internet connectivity, more electric outlets and an entire new entranceway to Pius Library.

Student Government Association President Matt Ryan said that “95 percent” of the existing furniture in Pius Library will be replaced.

“There will be almost all new furniture,” Ryan said.

“We actually found that on the fifth floor people like the carrels, those really big study things, so they’ll stay. Some people like that boxed in feel.

3

Thursday, January 26, 2012

Ryan Doan / Staff Photographer

The second floor of the Pius Library stands barren.

Other than that, it’s 95 percent all new furniture.”

Ryan also added that new study rooms will be added throughout Pius Library, with capacities ranging from two to 10 students.

According to Cassens, construction on the new entrance will begin in mid-February.

The entrance will lead to West Pine Mall and face the Simon Recreation Center.

“We’re returning to the original Pius,” Cassens said.

“The footprint where the new entrance is going to be is where the original entrance to Pius existed when there was actually a street where West Pine Mall is.”

Cassens said that the new wireless internet will allow students to connect to more data points throughout the library while increasing speed and user capacity.

“When the library is heavily used, particularly during exam period, a lot of people are trying to connect with tablets or laptops. We currently have a simultaneous

capacity of 330 users. When approached it gets sluggish,” Cassens said. “The connection will be improved, and it will be at least six times faster than it is now.”

During the construction periods, students will be able to check out books located on inaccessible floors via the circulation desk or by requesting the book via the Pius Library website.

The Lewis Annex and St. Louis Room will remain open throughout the entire semester.

When construction on the first floor begins on April 30, Cassens said it will be “the most significant construction project”.

When all is said and done, the staff offices located on the first floor will be removed as well as the Knights Room.

The computer area will be moved to the western side of Pius Library facing the Samuel Cupples House.

In the meantime, the first floor computers will be moved to the second floor in

the Anheuser-Busch wing, allowing students computer and printer access.

Both Cassens and Ryan agreed that students will be accommodated and given study space in the library.

Typically, students are forced to relocate to the first floor after 1 AM; however, Cassens said that students will be allowed in other parts of the library past this time.

With midterm and final exams leaving students seeking solitude, Ryan said that steps will be taken to ensure that student privacy remains respected.

“Construction is never pretty, we’re ready for that.

Worked heavily to make sure that midterms and finals are respected and construction crew is aware,” Ryan said.

Cassens said that the Pius Library’s best efforts will be given to place students in quiet areas during midterms and finals.

“During midterms, we will place them in areas where noise is at a minimum.”

Even with a protracted period of construction looming, junior Eddie Desecki said he is excited for the updates.

“The construction will probably get annoying, but there are plenty of places to study on campus. It’s only one or two floors at a time,” Desecki said. “Plus, the new interior decorating is totally worth it.”

Cassens said that he is impressed with the University’s response to student needs and that the Pius Library is worthy of an upgrade.

“The university really responded to the desires of students for an improved space.

Pius is open longer than any building but dorms,” Cassens said. “Pius is viewed not only as the info center for students, but the 24-hour living room for students to study and socialize.”

Library SLUth-ing for search efficiency

By MARTINA BOYTER Associate News Editor

Saint Louis University libraries have introduced a Google-like search engine, SLUth Search-Plus, which revolutionizes users’ search for information sources.

SLUth was unveiled in December of 2011, just six weeks after initiating discussion with providers of potential discovery services and assessing each option.

Implementation of the search engine was motivated by several factors, according to Georgia Baugh, Electronic Resources Reference Librarian. The libraries sought to satisfy students’ requests for a search system that covered many databases and other resources at one time. Students desire a program that helps them focus in on the most beneficial sources for their academic needs.

The SLUth program chose EBSCO Discovery Service (EDS) as its new search provider. EDS is also currently used by the University of Georgia Libraries and the George Washington University Libraries, among others.

Several other universities have implemented similar technology. Baugh explains that two products similar to SLUth Search-Plus have gained popularity at other universities. SUMMON from Serials Solutions is used at University of Missouri—Columbia. Emory University in Atlanta, Ga., uses another competing product, PRIMO from EX Libris.

The new search engine provides both electronic and print results. It scans the library’s online catalog of hardcopy books available in any of the library locations, as well as online sources.

SLUth scans content from almost 20,000 publishers and

electronic resource vendors.

Baugh said it is helpful to have “more discoverable resources” where one search can reveal relevant materials in many disciplines and in special collections.

These electronic sources include online journals, digital collections, and select databases available through SLU subscriptions.

The online databases from which results are offered include Academic Search Complete, JSTOR, LexisNexis Academic, Web of Science, and more.

Baugh explains that, “In unfamiliar subject areas, they [students] will be able to discover the databases or other resources that they should focus on for a given topic.”

In addition, Baugh believes searching across multiple databases simultaneously will save a great amount of time.

Students have already begun to discover the value of SLUth. Junior Rebecca Callahan said, “I used the database for a short paper I just wrote. I liked how it cut out an extra step for me because I could view online articles and already had a list of books to pick up in Pius Library.

I’ll definitely be using it a lot from now on.”

Amidst the efficiency of SLUth - Search Plus, Baugh warns it does not search all of the SLU Libraries’ databases.

The program is still being experimented; the special collections resources, for example, are not yet complete.

Access to SLUth is available on the home page of the SLU libraries website. For more information or help using SLUth - Search Plus, contact your liaison librarian or use the Ask-A-Librarian service.

EDS raises expectations for the strength of students’ sources and the variety in their bibliographies.

Salaries: Wage freeze hits faculty, staff and admins

Law Center: New seven-floor building provides students with pleasant surprise

mixed, but none of the faculty members who were contacted wanted to go on record Fosters programs that link against the University’s plan.

“We hope that the issue of University resources to local, national and international faculty and staff compensacommunities in collaborative tion will be addressed in the efforts to alleviate ignorance, University’s new Strategic poverty, injustice and hunger; Plan,” said English Departextend compassionate care to ment Chair Sara van den the ill and needy; and main- Berg. “We understand the tain and improve the quality many economic challenges of life for all persons [in sup- that face the University, our students and their families. port of its mission].”

The ambiguities of the We strive to provide an outeconomy was also a factor in standing education for SLU the decision making process. students and want to work Heimburger said uncer- with the Administration to tainties in the U.S. and Euro- make compensation a priority pean economies were other in the years ahead.”

Student reactions, in comfactors that the administraparison, tion kept w e r e in mind largely w h e n against building t h e the budWe strive to provide an w a g e get. outstanding education freeze.

These “ I f uncertainfor SLU students and tuition ties have is being af fected want to work with the raised the entire a s economy, administration to make much as seen compensation a priority as it is, by the w h y Federal in the years ahead. exactly Reser ve’s a r e statement - Sara van den Berg, teacht o d a y ers and that they English department chair faculty w o u l d memkeep inbers’ terests rates low for the foreseeable salaries not going up as well?” future. The compressed in- John Cook School of Business terest rates seek to stimu- First-Year, Stacey Tucker, late investment and stave off said, “I think that, next to the recession in the economy.

However, given the recent fi- students, the administranancial climate, the economic tion’s number one concern should be the teachers, beclimate remains uncertain.

These uncertainties led to cause without the teachers the recommendation to freeze and their hard work—and wages for the majority of em- they’re already probably unployees for the upcoming fis- derpaid—most people would agree there is no university” cal year.

“The decision [to hold sala- Jordan Slavik, a junior in the ries] was not easy, but it was College of Arts and Sciences, necessary to prevent dramat- said. “People come here to ic cuts in the future,” Heim- get taught by teachers, and not giving them a raise when burger said.

He noted that Washing- they clearly deserve a raise is ton University had a salary unacceptable.”

Some students had a more freeze two years ago and that the University of Missouri-St. nuanced view of the issues.

“It’s a complicated issue— Louis had not given merit increases during the past two a balance between students paying more and teachers years.

“This is not an uncommon getting paid what they more than deserve,” College of Arts practice,” Heimburger said.

Faculty reaction to the an- and Sciences senior Alex Salanouncement last week was zar said.

our School of Law.” SLU plans to open the new Law Center in August for the start of the 2012-2013 academic year. The building currently features seven occupiable floors, a main lobby, an enclosed, three-story parking garage and a ground-floor auditorium.

“We are honored to donate this facility to Saint Louis University, and we are excited to see it put to great use as the home of SLU’s renowned Law School,” Scott said in a press release.

The building’s transition from an office building to the Law Center will be designed and developed by the Lawrence Group Architects, the firm that designed and developed Hotel Ignacio and several other University properties.

Clark said that the plans are in the developmental stage, but a lot of emphasis will be placed on designing the facility to meet the direct needs of law students. Some of those needs include more state-of-the-art technology including video conference rooms and small collaborative legal spaces.

“Students will be instrumental in this planning process ahead and so far, we have received a lot of positive feedback on this move,” Clark said. “The needs of our students are always our first priority.”

The Law School hosted a question and answer session on Wednesday night to address the concerns of law students about this move and to gather feedback. Law stu-

Continued from Page 1

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Continued from Page 1

Shah (Yuqing Xia) / Staff Photographer

Justin Mulligan, first-year law student, enters Morrissey Hall, the current home to the SLU School of Law. The school will move to the Joe and Loretta Scott Law Center downtown. dents were informed about the move in an email sent by Clark on Tuesday morning.

Aaron Moores, a 2nd year law student, was “surprised” when he heard the news.

“We have been told for years that a renovation was coming, but I was really shocked and surprised when I heard about the move,” Moores said. “The current building is outdated and it will be really neat being downtown.”

Moores said he was concerned about studying away from the Frost Campus due to being away from dining facilities and the Rec Center.

“It will be an adjustment for sure and it will be weird not having the campus around us,” Moores said.

A shuttle system is believed to be in the works to transport students to and from the Law Center and the Frost Campus.

Faculty members were equally surprised by the news and some faculty were even more surprised of the University’s plan to move into the new facility by August.

“This is a great opportunity for the Law School to get a building that is up to 21st century standards, but I think the timeline for that is a bit optimistic,” McDonnell Professor of Justice Peter Salsich, Jr. said.

SLU is not the first university to have a law school located in their cities’ downtown law community. Fordham University, Georgetown Uni-

versity, Loyola Marymount and the Loyola University of Chicago all have downtown law centers.

“To be right in the heart of the legal community will be a huge benefit for SLU Law,” Professor of Law Michael Wolff said. “I think it is terrific to be able to walk to all the courthouses and major law firms.”

The Law Center will be located next to the Civil Courts and near the Thomas F. Eagleton U.S. Courthouse.

“The move of our Law School to downtown St. Louis will be a major highlight of my nearly 25-year tenure as president,” Biondi said. “This is truly a momentous day for Saint Louis University and our School of Law.”

Tuition: SLU focuses on student financial assistance Continued from Page 1

Despite this, Biondi said that the University expects approximately $7 million more available for institutional scholarships and financial aid in 2012-13, bringing the total provided to approximately $123 million.

According to Assistant Vice President and Director of Student Financial Services Cari Wickliffe, the University

has increased the overall aid awarded to undergraduate students by $25 million over the past five years. SLU also offers aid to students whose families encounter sudden financial difficulty.

“The University has emergency scholarship and loan funds specifically for families experiencing unexpected financial changes,” Wickliffe said. “These programs were designed to be temporary but continue to be supported.”

In addition, SLU engages with the Keep Me In College coalition, an effort by the Missouri Independent College and University Association to preserve state aid available to Missouri college students.

Wickliffe said that students can take individual action to reduce their college costs by striving to earn their degree on time and searching for scholarships online.

SLU maintains an online database that shows addition-

al scholarship and funding opportunities for students. She also said that small, personal changes may help students financially.

“It sounds simple, but budget wisely. It’s important that students track their spending.

A good question to ask is, ‘Do I need a $5 cup of coffee five times a week?’” Wickliffe said.

SLU’s searchable financial aid and scholarship database can be accessed at www.slu. edu/x11511.xml

Opinion

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Thursday, January 26, 2012

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Brandon Woods / Illustrator

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

The 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.

University’s business focus detracts from enhancing academic programs With the purchase of the Pevely Dairy complex in August 2011, members of the Saint Louis University community began to question the soundness of the administration’s financial decisions. As students, we now question the University’s aspirations and whether this educational institution is where it should be.

Although there were no plans originally made for how to utilize the building, the University later decided to demolish the building and construct space for SLUCare. This would allow the healthcare facility to expand and serve more patients. However, due to the St. Louis Preservation vote against the decision, Pevely will not be demolished and it rests forsaken until further notice.

The purchase of the Pevely complex has been justified with various excuses. With many of the recent purchases and actions taken by the University, such as Hotel Ignacio and the new track and field on the Medical Campus, there has been little mention of the University’s academic goals and needs.

Requests for creating more housing space for students remain rejected. Students are being left out of SLU’s decision-making processes. Furthermore, it appears that SLU joins the nation-wide university epidemic of mal-allocation of financial resources largely in favor of non-academic programs. We here-

by question whether SLU regards itself as an academic institution, a health care institution, a business institution landmarks of the city or something else entirely.

While it is desirable for a university to show versatility in its scope and establish itself as an integral part of the city it occupies, no university should neglect to perfect and expand its academic versatility and quality.

What can be seen at SLU is continued attention to a few successful programs of the University, but we have also seen continued budget cuts and more recently the dissolution of the Counseling and Family Therapy program and possibly other programs that may not be regarded as “profitable.”

Students would like to see more of the University budget spent on expanding SLU’s academic programs and opportunities. Hiring more full-time professors will build strong and lasting academic foundations. There is also room for many of the departments, such as Philosophy and Women’s Studies, to grow into outstanding programs of study.

The University administration must keep in mind its focus on students here now and prospective students in the coming years.

Expanding academic programs and facilities most directly relevant to students should be the administration’s immediate concern, rather than its business objectives.

Basketball season lifts spirits, unites students If there is one thing the Saint Louis University community can rally behind, it is the Billikens.

More specifically, as basketball season rolls around, students find the Billikens to be one of the few uniting forces, and the basketball atmosphere as become an atmosphere of hope and excitement.

Athletic programs are often underrated among those students who do not have athletic interests or aspirations. It is not often pondered how much having a strong basketball program adds to the image of a university.

Few can forget that only two years ago, Butler University’s success in its new basketball program drew a record-breaking freshman class of 1,067 students, which was a 13 percent increase from their previous freshman class, according to the Butler University website.

At SLU, this strong basketball program

“

gives students something to reminisce about after they graduate. Particularly with free admission to games this year, more students have been taking advantage of basketball games. Basketball is becoming more a part of college experience.

Furthermore, a strong athletic program makes SLU appear more inviting to prospective students.

National attention and publicity not only uplift the University community itself, but it also attracts more incoming freshmen.

A reputable basketball program may also compensate for SLU’s lack of a football program, which is often a disappointment to students.

For students who have not yet taken part in SLU’s athletic programs and offerings, cheering for the Billikens is one of the best ways to feel unified with the University community and become more a part of the University itself.

Cheering for the Billikens is one of the best ways to feel unified with the University community.

”

Posted below are the results from our web poll on The University News’ website.

(40 votes total) What do you think should go in the current Law School building?

45%

Student housing

28%

Classrooms for humanities/ social sciences

20%

Student space

7% 0

20

30

40

50

I can recall the hour when Kent Porterfield and Roland Corvington entered the doors of SGA and told all of us what was going to take place. There were no questions asked about whether or not we approved of their actions. Several of us voiced significant criticisms, I personally made it clear that any ‘auto-mated’ system will never been as sufficient as one with actual man-power.

Cameras do not prevent crimes, they only help law enforcement identify criminals after the incident has been reported. And for the criminals smart enough to wear ski masks, and gloves, they can essentially leave no physical identity, and once this occurs cameras become useless. The chief argument still lies on weak claims that cameras help prosecutors. But in the end, I’d much rather prefer that a crime never occurred... (read more online) - Andrew Sova on “Overnight shifts raise concern for students, contradict University ethics”

I think that this is another example of college students wasting their valuable time and resources.

Chick-fil-A and no business for that matter needs to be subject to this progressive “accept gay people or you are a bad person” nonsense. Chick-fil-A has a right to do whatever they want and I will remain a loyal customer.

- RAD on “Chick-fil-A on the wrong side”

Quotes of the week

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I’m not a morning person.

I’m a grouchy-saurus in the mornings, but I feel like being at SLU might change that. I don’t know, maybe the Billiken is a morning person.

- Mona Hicks, Dean of Students.

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60

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See Page 2.

[The Spring Fever concert] is a lot of work, but we’re hoping that the students will enjoy the final product.

- Christi Thieben, SAB president.

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”

See Page 7.

We can see our morale is picking up and we are as strong as ever. We see the light at the end of the tunnel, and now that we have our goal in sight, we are focusing a lot better.

- Taylor Streid, senior in the Doisy College of Health Science.

Professor offices

10

Website comments

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See Page 10.

Opinion

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Thursday, January 26, 2012

SOPA and PIPA endanger the future of the Internet While it may seem to many that the greatest inconvenience of the proposed Stop Online Piracy Act was that we had to live for 24 Commentary hours without Wikipedia, the true horrors of the proposed bill are much greater. Thankfully, SOPA (and its counterpart in the Senate, the Protect IP Act) Vinnie Schneider has been shelved

by Congress for the time being.

However, an in-depth examination and understanding of how this legislation would destroy the free and open Internet is crucial to ensuring that such an egregious attack on freedom shall never come to pass.

SOPA was first introduced in the House of Representatives on Oct. 26, 2011 by Lamar Smith (R-TX) with the expressed purpose of reducing online piracy of copyrighted images, audio, movies and other digital property.

This was, perhaps, a noble goal.

However, the way in which the bill was written puts a frightening amount of power and control in the hands of the government.

Section 102(a)(2) of the bill permits the Attorney General to take action against a website if “the owner or operator of such Internet site is facilitating the commission of [copyright infringement].” This may sound harmless on the surface, but let’s deconstruct the language.

Notice that the website need not have an expressed intent to engage in illegal activity; it must only facilitate it. In theory, any website that allows any sort of submission of content from its users could be “facilitating” the piracy of copyrighted material.

How many videos on YouTube contain copyrighted music or other content? How many pictures on Flickr would be infringing? Under SOPA, such a website is solely responsible for the copyright infringe-

Erika Klotz / Illustrator

ment of its users and is subject to sanctions by the government.

Furthermore, it’s not the government that determines whether or not a site is guilty of copyright infringement – it’s just the Attorney General. The power to banish YouTube, Vimeo, Flickr and any other website from the Internet would rest in the hands of one person. An inherent trait of our nation is our reliance on a system of checks and balances.

To give such power to one person is entirely un-American.

And what happens when the Attorney General deems a site to be a facilitator for copyright infringement? Every Internet service provider in America has five days to block access to it; search engines like Google, Yahoo! and Bing have five days to take the site out of search results; and payment gateways like PayPal have five days to stop servicing the website. In short, the site is permanently censored.

There is a possibility for the site owner to seek an appeal, but it must be presented in that same

five-day window. However, the bill doesn’t specifically say that anyone has to alert the site owner that he is breaking the law, meaning that in most cases they wouldn’t even know that their site has been censored until service is shut down to it. This means that by the time the site owners realizes that he has been hit by SOPA, it’s too late to appeal anything.

But say an appeal is requested in the five-day window. First, the site owner must agree to put the site under U.S. jurisdiction permanently (meaning the government can still shut down the site in the future, whenever they feel like it, with or without our reason), even if they are a foreigner.

Then, they must swear under penalty of perjury that their site does not facilitate copyright infringement.

According to SOPA’s definition, any site which allows for any sort of user submitted content at all is a facilitator of copyright infringement, meaning that being able to swear otherwise and not commit perjury

is virtually impossible. So even the option for appeal is a lost cause in every regard.

The fact that this bill could systematically block access to any website in America is scary. Its supporters claim that the bill protects American innovation by protecting the rights of artists, musicians and other creators of content for commercial purposes. However, innovation can only be stifled by censorship.

Though his musical talent may be doubted by some, pop superstar Justin Bieber was discovered through videos he posted of himself singing songs on YouTube. Copyrighted songs. Under SOPA, Justin Bieber would not be famous; he would be a felon, guilty of the newly instituted felony of copyright infringement.

Clearly, SOPA is a toxic and dangerous bill which would create an Internet where everyone and everything is subject to censorship by the decision of one person.

Vinnie Schneider is a junior in the College of Arts and Science.

First World grievances make up the next popular website There are a lot of websites out could not get all of our electronic there that are ruining our lives. devices to work on the same uniRemember LikeALittle? That versal remote. The big-screen telesucked.

Face- vision, DVD player, Blu-Ray player, book? That one surround sound system receiver, Commentary is ruining actual VCR and cable box just would not human commu- cooperate, and that made us angry. nication, leading After cursing at the uncooperative to dangerous lev- electronics, I took a step back and els of stalker ac- thought, “Man, I’m a jackass.” tivity and providWe were setting up a rather opuing a plethora of lent entertainment system in the opportunities for basement of our house, and all we employers and could do is complain about a misbeparents to see us having remote. Wow. Doug Anstoetter at our drunkest.

The third, and possibly most emI am usually barrassing First World Problem I the first to bash ran into over break involved Netflix on popular websites. However, first- instant streaming. world-problems.com is hilarious.

On a lazy Sunday afternoon, I was Basically, the website presents a laying in bed at my parents’ house series of problems that can hardly and streaming episodes of “How I be considered real problems. Some Met Your Mother” through the teleare funnier than others, but they all vision in my bedroom. share a common theme: Only a perTime and time again, the connecson living in the First World would tion kept slowing down, and I had ever face (and be bothered by) these to wait (heaven forbid) for Netflix supposed problems. to buffer. This one annoyed me the When I heard about first-world- most. problems.com, I thought the idea I literally yelled at the television. was great. The term First World The concept of Netlflix is such a Problem was not one I had heard blessing in and of itself. It is a nearbefore. ly limitless Now, I can’t database help looking at of movies the majority of and shows the problems that we can If a person were in my own life watch at the as ludicrously push of a facing extreme poverty inconsequenbutton. I was tial. If a perin bed doing or star vation [...] they son were facexactly that. would probably want to ing extreme But when poverty or the connecslap us. starvation and tion slowed, they heard I was livid. us complainHaving ing about the the term short battery life on our iPod, they First World Problem is a good thing would probably want to slap us. And because it gives us a title for our own we would deserve it. ridiculous ideas of what we deserve.

Over Christmas break, there Don’t get me wrong, living in the were three particular occasions that First World is absolutely fantastic. made me reevaluate how spoiled I I love every minute of it. However, am. These were First World Prob- let’s remember how lucky we are. lems.

I don’t think I’m alone in my frusThe first happened when a tration with some of the aforemenfriend of mine came to pick me up tioned issues (or similar ones). We one night. I came to the passenger all complain about inconsequential door and had to wait for him to lean problems. across and unlock the door. It didn’t Perhaps if we take a minute to take long, maybe 12 seconds, but I reflect on our own good fortune, it found that I was annoyed. can put things into perspective. We It was cold outside, and that door go to a university that costs more should have granted me access to than $33,000 a year. Granted, most the warm car at the press of a but- of us have scholarships or financial ton. Here I was, about to get into aid, but we still manage to attend. a motor vehicle and go wherever I I’m going to complain less about wanted (probably to a bar or restau- things that really aren’t worth comrant or something), and I was ag- plaining about; and I suggest you gravated by a lack of automatic door do the same. When the gentleman locks in my buddy’s car. at the Grand Blvd. crosswalk crossThe second happened shortly ing asks if we are able to give to the after Christmas. My dad had just homeless, maybe we can give him gotten a new, gigantic flat-screen something rather than avoid eye television for Christmas, and we contact. After all, we suffer from were working on setting it up. Both First World Problems. of us were getting frustrated as we tried to get the whole system funcDoug Anstoetter is a senior in the tioning properly, and here’s why: We College of Arts and Science.

“

”

Starla Salazar / Illustrator

SLU Ride policy takes a gamble Stranded, alone, cold and ready for bed. We have all been there.

A go-to solution previously was to call SLU Ride to get chaufCommentary feured across campus after the sun goes down and when the thought of crossing Grand Boulevard is terrifying.

Whether the request is a matter of safety or tryStephanie Woods ing to escape inclement weather, SLU Ride used to be a dependable source for traveling from Reinert Hall to the Lindell West Apartments without dilemma.

Not anymore.

Upon calling 314-977-RIDE, the dispatcher will ask your name, phone number, location, destination and the number of riders. Beware, they will almost immediately offer you a walking escort instead of a van if you mention there is even one other person with you. Never mind that the callers could be two girls weighing a combined 210 pounds and could not defend themselves from a blindfolded toddler. Would an armed and dangerous criminal truly be deterred from approaching a group of three students if he knew he could restrain two of them with his left arm?

What are the requirements for these walking escorts anyway? The online Department of Public Safety and Security Services Student Employment Application does not require that the applicant list his/her height, weight or ability to protect defenseless girls. Furthermore, what about the safety of the walking escort after he or she drops off the student in need?

It is quite troubling that a SLU Ride dispatcher would consider the distance between Vandeventer Apartments and The Flats a “short distance.” It is completely in their power to judge whether or not the student calling for help even warrants a ride. It is up to her if she would rather send the caller a walking escort. Based on these varying

and subjective judgments, calling in is more like entering a SLU Ride lottery, and only few will be lucky enough to sit in the bucket seat of a mint-condition, University-owned minivan.

Even if an unoccupied SLU Ride vehicle is hailed down on Laclede Street after midnight, the driver follows policy over ethics when denying a cold, stumbling, lonely girl a ride across campus. Where is the line drawn for safety?

If you are lucky enough, you might even encounter a knight in shining armor, or at least a DPSSS officer in reflective gear. It is normal to be deterred from flagging down a man wearing a ski mask in the night, but in this case, make an exception.

He could be your ticket to safety.

If SLU Ride is not able to comply with your needs, DPSSS is another - and an even more reliable - alternative to arrive to the destination in one piece. Avoid any and all reckless college decisions until the number 314-977-3000 is programmed into your phone.

It is also a gamble whether or not the ride in the van will prove to actually be safer than walking alone in the night. Whether the driver is texting at red lights, taking sharp turns a little too quickly or just rocking out to Katy Perry, it is natural to wonder what kind of test they have to pass in order to be accepted as a driver.

We have a diminishing “student taxi service” that recently changed its policy for the worse. It used to be a breeze catching a ride late night, but now, for unknown reasons, the dispatchers feel far more entitled not to send a van. Is it really necessary to punish lazy students at the risk of putting their safety in jeopardy?

My suggestion would be to hire more students, acquire another van or even invest in several golf carts.

If a walking escort is absolutely necessary, I request that he is a doppelganger of the young Hulk Hogan.

Please note that the number is not 977-RIDE to imply that you will ride piggyback to your destination if a walking escort is sent.

Stephanie Woods is a junior in the John Cook School of Business.

Technology is great, but don’t forget the human factor If you turned on the television recently, you would have seen what appeared to be a remake of the movie “Titanic,” which turned out to Commentary be the news.

Broadcasting from the coast of Tuscany, numerous photos and videos showed a 4,200-passenger cruise ship submerged on its side.

Maeve Donahue These types of cruise ships are built to sustain all sorts of weather conditions, so what happened with the Costa Concordia? Initial investigations explained that the ship was simply too close to the coast and that the damage was caused by the ship’s collision into the rocks by the shore.

Although the damage is obvious through the reports of 16 deceased and at least 20 missing passengers, the question still remains: Who let this happen, and how, in this day and age was this accident not prevented?

New versions of the iPhone and laptops seem to come out within months of their previous versions, and we seem to be obsessed with the idea of being the first to own something new.

Scientists and researchers are constantly working to make improvements and advances to their current technologies, and, because of this, technology today is more advanced than anyone could have predicted 30 years ago. It is not uncommon to hear people debate both the importance of technology and the fear of technology taking over the work of humans.

It is true that we depend on technology for many things in our lives.

No matter how early it is, students cannot deny that they use technology at least once before leaving for class, whether it be an alarm clock, cell phone, laptop, blow dryer, coffee maker or one of the many other things that we have started to depend on in our daily lives.

It is true that technology is extremely helpful and, at times, can be smarter than us but there comes a point where people begin to fear the day that they will be officially replaced by a machine.

The advanced technology in our lives can have both positive and negative effects. In the case of the Costa Concordia, the captain of the ship was solely responsible for the accident. He allowed the ship to travel more than two miles off course when he became distracted, and he decided to trust a machine with the lives of 4,200 passengers.

Although the ship was built with a system that was supposed to alarm the captain when the boat got off course, in this instance, the alarm did not go off and caused major damage. The captain of the ship relied too much on the power and technology of the ship and was convinced that it would be impossible for any technological glitch to occur.

As investigations continue, reports are saying that not only did the captain of the ship cause the accident, he also failed to take action or any responsibility for it. Instead, he abandoned the ship and left the thousands of passengers stranded.

Not only were his actions completely unprofessional, they were inhumane.

Our actions cannot always be fixed by technology. This man should have taken responsibility for his mistake that could certainly have been prevented.

We can’t always rely on technology. We have to remember that machines can break and that is one of the reasons why we will not be completely replaced by them. We are not only responsible for researching about and advancing technology, we are responsible for initially creating it, and therefore, we are the only ones who can fix the little glitches that may occur.

Although it is great to have hitech gadgets and machines, we have to remember that these things break. Despite all of the research, tests and experiments, technology malfunctions from time to time, and we have to remember that we can never fully rely on it. We can’t let our lives be taken over by our things, and we cannot forget how to function without them because one day, we may be put in a position where we have to survive without them.

Maeve Donahue is a sophomore in the College of Arts and Sciences.

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Thursday, January 26, 2012

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Diablitos: Open and cooking New cantina adds zest, dinosaurs to local restaurant scene

MUSIC Tuesday, Jan. 31 8 p.m.

Ryan Adams The Peabody Opera House Doors open at 7 p.m.

Wednesday, Feb. 1 7 p.m.

Andy Grammer Old Rock House Doors open at 6:30 p.m.

MOVIES Friday, Jan. 27 Midnight Fight Club The Moolah Mark Campos / Staff Photographer

Saturday, Jan. 28 7:30 p.m.

Bond-A-Thon: Celebrating the 007 Series with GoldenEye Moore Auditorium at Webster University Tickets are $5 Saturday, Jan. 28 Midnight Fight Club The Moolah Sunday, Jan. 29 7:30 p.m.

Bond-A-Thon: Celebrating the 007 Series with Casino Royale Moore Auditorium at Webster University Tickets are $5 Sunday, Jan. 29 8 p.m.

Screen Actors Guild Awards NBC

OTHER

Diablitos, a Mexican street-vendor-themed cantina, opened in December. The restaurant, located on Laclede Street, was home to Iggy’s Mexican Cantina. rice, wrapped up and placed in an “ocean” of queso blanco.

Needless to say, I left nothing on my plate. It was a nice blend of tender meat and crisp, spicy veggies. The rice and tortilla were a great base to bring it all together, combining the flavors in one easyto-eat pouch.

By now you may have noticed that the once-vacant building on Laclede that formerly housed Restaurant Review Iggy’s is vibrant and alive a g a i n .

From the creators of Café Ventana and Chuy’s c o m e s Richard Pugh Diablitos Cantina, the newest restaurant near SLU’s main campus.

The verdict

The atmosphere Upon entering the restaurant, one cannot help but notice the copious amounts of lanterns and rustic artwork everywhere. They have everything from fake shutters to depictions of the Virgin Mary.

Even the chairs are decorated with little suns and flowers, and are covered in vibrant colors.

Add a canopy section outside, and we are talking about the full dining experience here. The owners have done a stunning job of making this an attractive eatery.

There is a full bar with lots of drinks to choose from, including eight tequila cocktails alone. Other selections include sangria, the house margarita, wine and more than 20 beers on tap or in bottles.

With two big screens, this is a great place to watch your

Mark Campos / Staff Photographer

According to Diablitos’ menu, the Baja Fish Tacos (pictured above) “put the B.A. in Baja! Rich and buttery Baja battered tilapia with cilantro cabbage slaw, lime and jalapeno tarter sauce.” favorite sports team and grab some drinks with your buddies.

On to the meat of the review: the food (pun intended.)

Those expecting upscale fast food will be disappointed.

This is a full-blown restaurant, and you will have to sit down in order to be served by a waiter or waitress.

That being said, the food is worth the wait.

Appetizers and drinks Our waitress sat us down immediately, and started us off with water to drink. One special touch is that drinking

water is served in empty tequila bottles. So, if a full bottle makes its way onto your table, remember not to act too excited.

The first option, before any food is delivered, is the salsa bar. Four cups for a buffet of salsas to choose from and a bag of chips runs for only $2.

Varieties of salsa include, but are not limited to, the house salsa, mango salsa, watermelon salsa (not sure if that was ever a good idea) and roasted vegetable salsa.

These salsas are not anything to write home about, because they lack flavor and the chips are paper thin, but, for

$2, they are certainly worth a try.

Entrées The main menu is small, but has many options. The menu includes most of what you would expect from a Mexican restaurant, including enchiladas, fajitas, burritos, quesadillas and, of course, tacos. Almost everything has a vegetarian option, for those who prefer no meat. My table ordered a burrito, fajitas and a quesadilla. I thoroughly enjoyed my food. The burrito came filled with beans, lettuce, pico de gallo and green

The food was full of flavor, but was not overwhelming.

It seems Diablitos is comfortable with what they are making, and I would not have been surprised if I had been told they had been open for several years.

These guys are ready for the long haul, and with a great drink menu and the late hours that the SLU campus is desperate for, it should be a hot spot for years to come.

Important things to remember: 1. This is a sit-down restaurant, so plan your time and budget accordingly (approximately an hour and fifteen minutes and $12, without drinks).

2. This place has a full bar, so take advantage of it. Look for weekly drink specials in the near future 3. If you’re looking for something late, don’t forget about Diablitos. It is a great change of pace from chain fast food restaurants.

Best of all: they do carry out.

Thursday, Jan. 26

SAB plans to revamp Spring Fever concert

4:30 to 7 p.m.

Chartwells and SAB Chili Cook-Off Griesedieck cafeteria

Outdoor music festival will replace traditional headlining performance

By EMILY CAVALIERE Enterprise Editor

Friday, Jan. 27 6 p.m.

Spirit and History Art Exhibit Opening and Reception SLUMA Runs through Mar. 4 Friday, Jan. 27 7 p.m.

Lunar New Year Festival: “To Be a Dragon” Edison Theatre at Washington University Friday, Jan. 27 7 to 10 p.m.

Open Mic Night The Billiken Club Admission is Free

At the moment, it may seem like the pleasures of springtime are light-years away.

As students settle into the new semester and look over their syllabuses, it becomes certain that the luxuries of Winter Break are over and that tests and papers are looming in the near future.

The old tale rings true — all things seem bleak when even the sun calls it quits by the time five o’clock rolls around.

Nevertheless, spring is on its way, promising sunshine, warmth and, of course, palm trees.

Along with these delightful feats of nature, this spring will bring with it a new SLU tradition. Instead of the usual Spring Fever concert hosted by the Student Activities Board, SAB is planning a spring festival for students.

“We want this event to be a combination of Quad Day and the spring concert,” Christi Thieben, SAB President, said.

“Students can expect an outdoor festival in April, with at least three bands with differ-

ent types of music.”

SAB is planning for the music event to feature smaller artists playing throughout the afternoon. By having artists playing music from different genres of music, SAB hopes to reach a wide range of students.

“

Students can expect an outdoor festival in April, with at least three bands with different types of music.

-Christi Thieben, SAB President

”

Hosting a few smaller artists, as opposed to one big performer or group, will be a relatively new feat for SAB, but they are excited for the challenge.

“Just because an artist is smaller doesn’t mean it isn’t what students want to hear,” Thieben said.

SAB is also hoping to collaborate with different local

businesses and restaurants for the event, and plans are being made to have free items and giveaways available for students.

Thieben said that the event will no longer be referred to as “Spring Fever,” as it has in the past. SAB hopes to create a new image for the event, and felt a name change was necessary.

A tentative name for the event is “The SLU Festival,” but SAB is open to suggestions.

According to Thieben, one of SAB’s main goals is to “get people invested in the event.”

In addition to the student body, SAB also hopes to get various student groups involved with the festival, which will take place on campus.

Games, food and activities will stretch from the back of Griesedieck to the Georgetown parking lot.

When considering the decision to change from the annual Spring Fever concert to a festival style event, weather was certainly a factor.

“Everyone is happy in the spring, and there are good

Courtesy of Ben Folds and the St. Louis Symphony Orchestra

Singer-songwriter Ben Folds performed SAB’s Spring Fever concert in 2010, followed by Motion City Soundtrack in 2011. vibes outside,” Thieben said.

“College students seem to enjoy outdoor festival events, and many universities already have them.”

Putting on a big show like October’s Lupe Fiasco Homecoming concert is “really different from putting on a festival,” Thieben said. Without the assistance of Chaifetz personnel provided for Homecoming, it is up to SAB to take further initiative.

Everybody on the board is on a committee, each of which is responsible for tackling a different aspect of the planning process.

“We wanted to do something that the students felt like was theirs,” Thieben said of the festival, as opposed to a traditional Spring Fever concert event. “It’s a lot of work, but we’re hoping that the students will enjoy the final product.”

h

Arts

8

The University News

unewsonline.com

Thursday, January 26, 2012

Mara breathes fire into ‘Girl With the Dragon Tattoo’ An evening with piano This adaptation of the Stieg Blomkvist reluctantly acLarsson novel of the same cepts after Vanger promises name begins with a gnarly to help him nail down Wenneintro from rstrom for good.

Blur StuMeanwhile, troubled youth Movie Review dios fea- Salander arrives on screen in t u r i n g full black leather, with piercr a n d o m ings aplenty and a spiky colbodies and lar around her neck. She m a s s e s has been declared mentally e m e r g - incompetent by the state and ing from she has almost no friends, a dark liq- yet she has become the best uid. Set to researcher at Milton Security. a cover of Salander has been asRichard pugh Led Zep- signed to do a background plin’s “Im- check on Blomkvist for Vanmigrant Song,” the intro sets ger. She reports that he is the tone that this movie will clean and, when prodded, be gritty and spare no gro- admits that she thinks he is tesque detail. innocent.

David Fincher (“Fight When Blomkvist needs Club,” “The Social Network”) help researching, Salander is at the helm of this dark is suggested- and when he thriller about journalist Mi- reads his own background kael Blomkvist (Daniel Craig) check, he realizes that she is a and his unlikely partner, world-class computer hacker.

Lisbeth Salander (Rooney The two become the most Mara), as they attempt to unlikely pair of coworkers and solve a mystery over 30 years casual lovers, as the search in the making. for Harriet’s killer takes off The film starts off with on a twisted ride for the ages.

Blomkvist being convicted of Fincher shows grit and libel for an article he wrote in brutality, along with an inhis magazine about business credibly in-depth look at the tycoon Hans-Erik Wenner- human psyche, as the viewer strom, a shady character. tries to analyze the mindset of Knowing that he was set each character. up but unable to do anything The film is very graphic, about it, Blomkvist decides to and takes full advantage of its lay low. Blom“R” ratkvist is feeling ing by indown about cluding himself and The two become the b o d i l y his career, and mutilaisn’t sure what most unlikely pair of t i o n , to do, until a coworkers and casual s e v e r a l former CEO graphic of the massive lovers, as the search for r a p e Vanger Cor- Harriet’s killer takes off s c e n e s poration calls and plenasking if he on a twisted ride for the ty of nuwants to solve ages. dity to go a mystery. around.

Henrik VanCraig ger (Christocontinpher Plummer) has been in ues his dominance of male agony for over 30 years, since leading roles with another the mysterious disappearance solid performance. He comes of his niece, Harriet Vanger. off as a more realistic James He believes that someone in Bond. Picture the spy a bit his own family murdered her. clumsier, while maintaining He wants Blomkvist to inves- the usual staples of being tigate the murder under the good-looking, drinking a lot cover that he is writing a bi- and, of course, womanizing. ography of the deeply twisted Craig nails the role as well as Vanger Family, almost all of anyone could and will hopewhom live on Hedeby Island fully be reprising in the rest of in rural Sweden. the trilogy.

“

”

band Jack’s Mannequin

Courtesy of impawards.com

Rooney Mara (left) and Daniel Craig star in “The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo,” based on the Stieg Larsson novel.

But his costar Mara steals the show. Her transformation into Salander is nothing short of a miracle. Take a look at her as Mark Zuckerberg’s girlfriend in “The Social Network,” and you will see just how drastic the change is.

Mara’s portrayal as the icy cold Salander is spot-on, and she has received critical acclaim, including a Golden Globe nomination and an Academy Award nomination for Best Actress. Don’t be surprised to see her showing up in more prominent roles down the road.

Salander is what makes this movie interesting. She is the definition of an unlikely hero, and her unorthodox ways and no-nonsense attitude leave the viewer anxiously waiting to see what she does next.

This movie is actionpacked and, while it drags a little, with a running time of 157 minutes, it is definitely worth a watch.

Those who read the book will find some discrepancies in the plot but, as a whole, the adaption flows fairly well, and readers won’t be disappointed.

The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo

ATHE GOOD

Strong performances

by Mara and Craig, with Fincher at the helm, evoke strong emotion in the action hero genre.

THE BAD

The plot gets caught up in the tangled web of the mystery and sometimes drags too much.

THE VERDICT

If you can stomach the film’s raw brutality, it is well worth the watch and will not disappoint.

This is David Foster Wallace: ‘Long live the King’ When David Foster Wallace died in 2008, he left behind pages and pages of notes on his next big projBook Review ect.

W a l lace, called “one of the most influential and innovative writers of the last 20 years” by T.J. Keeley Los Angeles Times, carved his own niche out in contemporary American fiction by responding to what he saw as the dangerous tendencies of postmodernism– namely, cheap cynicism and hip irony.

By age 46, when Wallace eliminated his own map (as he would say in “Infinite Jest,”) he had become one of the prophetic voices of his literary generation. Forging the path into post-postmodernism, his encyclopedic yet accessible essays, his insightful and incisive short stories, and his two voluminous novels (“The Broom of the System” and “Infinite Jest”) accounted for one of the most creative and observant minds in modern literature.

Wallace’s editor compiled the notes Wallace left behind into a novel. Released in 2011, “The Pale King” is an incomplete mess of a book. Characters wander in and out of the story unexplained, only to appear again 200 pages later, or not at all. The 540-page novel explores meta-modernist memoir, tax agencies in Peoria, Ill., Jesuit university professors, airplanes, loneliness and boredom. With his trademark hysterical realism and maximalism, Wallace paints an incredibly detailed account of his settings and his characters’ psychologies without ever seeming indulgent.

While “The Pale King” is so incoherent one can barely call it a novel, all of its errors can be forgiven when the reader

Photo courtesy of davidfosterwallacebooks.com

“The Pale King,” David Foster Wallace’s last novel, was released unfinished in the spring of 2011 to critical acclaim. knows its genesis. Instead, what we are left with is a blueprint of an epic masterpiece, a magnum opus that could have rivaled Wallace’s own “Infinite Jest,” which clocks in at 1,100 pages.

In fact, reading “The Pale King” makes the loss of Wallace unbearable at times. The reader is treated to notes of a genius mind work, the vague sketches of a literary giant at the height of his powers. America still obsesses about discovering “The Great American Novel.” “The Pale King” may not have been it, but one gets the sense that many great American novels could have flowed from Wallace’s pen.

“The Pale King” can be a tough slog at times, partly because of its maximalist nature. Like “Infinite Jest,” which contains 90 pages of endnotes, including the entire directorial filmography of one of his characters, “The Pale King” provides more informa-

tion than the casual reader would care to know. After reading the novel, I know way more about tax codes than I would ever care to. Entire chapters are given to intricate explanations of a “trickledown economy,” etc.

Yet, the real strengths of “The Pale King” lie in the passages in which Wallace indulges in his true philosophical passions. One chapter, totaling about 100 pages, reads like a pseudo-memoir, where Wallace writes himself into the novel and addresses the audience directly. When describing how he got into accounting, Wallace describes one experience he had in a college classroom, where he felt the words of one professor, a substitute, no less, were directed directly at him. He learned, as he remembers, that if one “can find the cure to boredom, there is literally nothing you cannot do.”

In a similar passage, Wallace writes a 12-page tran-

UNEWSONLINE.COM >>Check Follow blog, Keeping it SPECIAL FEATURE>> outT.J.’s www.unewsonline.com for coverage andofphotos from The Script at The Pageant on 9/14!

Reel, for more his pop culture know-how.

script of the thoughts of one journey aboard a transfer flight from Chicago to Peoria, roughly 45-minutes. His bored mind wanders from passenger to passenger to the consequences of biting his own fingernails. I have never read anything like it.

Later, one of the chapters, almost a stand-alone short story, chronicles the desperate attempts of a lonely schoolboy to create strategies to lessen his excessive sweating and to keep his schoolmates from noticing. At once sad and hilarious, this chapter recalls the best moments of “Infinite Jest.”

I would not recommend “The Pale King” to anyone who is not a self-defined Wallace worshipper. It is an important work of contemporary American fiction, but frustratingly enigmatic and obviously unfinished. But, for the fan of Himself, “The Pale King” is a must-read. The novel can be imagined as the fictionalized version of Wallace’s now-famous commencement speech at Kenyon College titled “This Is Water.” Boredom, Wallace seems to suggest, can never be cured, but only treated by choosing what it is we let our minds wander and wonder about. The key is to avoid solipsism and dodge the notion that “I am at very center of my every experience.”

Perhaps, Wallace posited, this could offer the solution to the daily trenches of the day-in and day-out nature of adult life. Or else, it just might change your life. “This is incredibly hard to do,” Wallace wrote. “Although, of course, you end up becoming yourself.”

Anyone who attended the sense of watching a rock Saint Louis University’s 2008 concert in your own home, Homecoming concert at rather than in a nearly soldC h a i f e t z out arena. Atop the piano sat A r e n a a synthesizer. McMahon used Concert Review w o u l d it sometimes exclusively on have wit- a few of the less piano-driven nessed a songs, but usually as a supplef a m i l i a r ment to the piano, often playscene at ing both at the same time. the Pag- Further illustrating his musieant last cal talents, he even did some Thursday, pretty sexy things with a harJan. 19. A monica once or twice, makh i g h - e n - ing more than a few audience Doug Anstoetter ergy band members— I’m sure— jealfour years ous of that harmonica.

One of the set’s highlights ago, Jack’s Mannequin continues to rock out as only a was “Holiday From Real,” from the 2005 album “Everypiano band can.

Singer/songwriter Allen thing in Transit.” McMahon Stone performed first, fol- described his early days on lowed by Jukebox Ghost— a the road and how much he young band eerily reminis- missed “California in the cent of early Jack’s Manne- summer.” Toward the end of quin. The two openers suc- the show, they played a single ceeded in warming up the from their most recent album, crowd and provided some “People and Things.” The song, “My Racing Thoughts,” good tunes to boot.

After a short break, Jack’s received an enthusiastic reMannequin took to the stage action from the crowd and with force, headed by lead caused some conflict in the singer and pianist, Andrew balconies. It was one of those McMahon. They began with awkward situations where two powerhouse rock songs: some people wanted to stand “Bloodshot” and “Spinning.” and others wanted to sit.

The songs, both from the Luckily, folks at a Jack’s Manband’s 2008 album “Glass nequin concert are not generPassenger,” set the tone with ally a violent group, and this an energy that rarely let up crowd was no exception.

Roughly an hour into the throughout the performance.

With the baby grand set set, the band left the stage center stage, it was hard to with some quick goodbyes, pay attention to anyone be- only to return moments later sides the driving force be- for an encore.

“We wouldn’t run off so hind Jack’s Mannequin. Unlike other piano performers, fast,” McMahon announced, such as Ben Folds and Billy before serenading us with Joel, McMahon required two the song “A Lullaby”. While microphones, instead of one. “A Lullaby” was not the best One mic, to the left of the pia- encore song, it transitioned no, allowed McMahon to turn spectacularly into the much his pretty, bearded face to the faster paced “Dark Blue.” screaming audience and sing Anyone sitting down was directly to the swooning la- quickly on their feet, and remained so for the rest of the dies. show.

A second As the mic, over the last notes piano, was w e r e more conveA sur vivor of Leukemia s t r u c k , nient for the confetti surprisingly r o c k t a s t i c as well as a successful e r u p t e d piano solos musician, McMahon has f r o m the ceilhe hammered out from time a lot to be thankful for— ing and onto the to time over crowd in the course of and he appreciates it. a fitting the night. end to an A true exceedrockstar, McMahon left the piano on oc- ingly energetic show.

Jack’s Mannequin has a casion to dance around the stage, flirt with the first row history of great shows, and and generally act the fool. A this one kept with tradition. bottle that looked suspicious- Over the course of the night, ly like booze occupied a spot McMahon joked with the atop the piano to complete crowd, telling one disappointthe image.Unique for such a ed fan, “You’re a dude. You rockin’ show was the stage can’t have my baby.”

He bantered with the scenery. Under the piano lay a large Persian rug. Scattered crowd, but, most noteworthy, around the stage, near each of he made it clear that he recthe instruments, were lamps ognized his good fortune of of varying sizes and shapes. playing music for a living. A The props made the entire set survivor of Leukemia as well look more like a living room as a successful musician, McMahon has a lot to be thankthan a concert hall stage.

Even the piano, a beat-up ful for— and he appreciates it.

It was an entertaining, enBaldwin, looked like it had been used for years by a fam- ergetic show performed by a ily with children. It was pretty fantastic band that never fails cool, actually. The set up gave to impress.

“

”

Jennifer Wang / Photo Editor

Jack’s Mannequin made a stop at The Pageant on Thursday, Jan. 19. The band performed at SLU in 2008.

Sports Billiken Briefs Preseason Baseball The Atlantic 10 preseason baseball coaches’ poll predicts SLU to finish sixth in the conference this spring.

The Billikens finished 10th last year and hope to take down defending champion and early favorite, Charlotte.

Twenty-one players are returning from last season for the Billikens including pitchers Alex Alemann and Damien Rivera. Darin Hendrickson will once again coach the team.

Tennis Begins The men’s tennis team stumbled this weekend in a 6-1 loss to Wright State. The doubles pairings of Vuk Poledica/Drew Feder and Joe Flanagan/Dave Welkener won their matches against the Raiders. Dave Welkener and Patrick Kella had competetive matches in their losses. Their next meet is against Eastern Illinois University Feb. 6.

BILLIKEN SCOREBOARD

The University News Talk to us: Joseph Cacchione 314.977.2812 sports@unewsonline.com

Thursday, January 26, 2012

unewsonline.com

SLU triumphs over Xavier, 73-68 Win over rival puts Billikens on top of Atlantic 10 conference

By CHARLES BOWLES Associate Sports Editor

The Saint Louis University Billikens men’s basketball team defeated at Xavier on Wednesday night with a final score of, 73-68.

For this season, this victory is a defining win for the Bills as they have beaten Xavier who won the previous five regular season Atlantic 10 conference titles.

This win leaves the A-10 wide open as Xavier has struggled since their infamous brawl with Cincinnati.

SLU is in prime position to take hold of the A-10 as this win gives them a share of the lead in the conference standings.

“The guys did a good job,” SLU Head Coach Rick Majerus said.

The Bills (16-4, 4-2 A-10) were led by Brian Conklin, who scored 19 points. Ten of his points were scored in the second half. Roe Loe contributed 14 points, and Kwamain Mitchell had 9 points and 7 assists. The Bills have won three straight conference games.

The Bills jumped out to an early 11-6 lead. The Bills maintained a slim lead for most of the first half.

The Bills slowly started to build their lead, but Xavier cut the lead down to four with 2:37 remaining in the first half.

After a Bills timeout, SLU went on a 9-0 run to extend their lead, 39-26 with 0:50 left in the first half. The run was capped off by a Cody Ellis 3pointer.

The Bills took a 41-29 lead going into halftime. Roe Loe scored 13 points and Ellis scored 12 points on four 3-pointers both in the first half

SLU struggled out of gate in the second half. After the first media timeout, Xavier started an 8-0 run which cut the Bills lead, 49-46.

Xavier then scored four more points which tied the game at 50-50. This was the only tie of the game.

After Xavier tied the game, SLU went on a 6-0 run to retake the lead 56-50.

Xavier began to foul the Bills. Brian Conklin and Kwamain Mitchell began hitting some clutch free throws.

However, Xavier continued to stay in the game.

With 35 seconds left, Xavier was within three points.

Xavier fouled Mitchell who hit his two free throws to make it a five point lead, 71-66.

Jordair Jett fouled a Xavier player with 22 seconds left in the game and Xavier converted their two free throws.

After fouling Mike McCall Jr., he hits his two free throws which sealed the deal for SLU. “It is a big team win for us. We all came together and played great team defense.”

McCall said.

With the victory, Saint Louis is now tied for the lead in the conference standings with Massachusetts, La Salle, Dayton, and St. Bonaventure.

SLU will be playing all of these teams within the next two weeks starting with Massachusetts.

Xavier has fallen mightily since their brawl against Cincinnati. During the Cincinnati game, Xavier was ranked 8th nationally and since then have lost 7 out of their last 12 games and are now unranked.

Xavier also dropped their second straight conference game.

Xavier was led by Mark Lyons who scored 27 points and Tu Holloway who scored 22 points.

Shah (Yuqing Xia) / Staff Photographer

Mike McCall, Jr. drives towards the basket against Duquesne last Saturday at Chaifetz Arena.

Xavier’s 43-game home conference winning streak was snapped. The last team to beat Xavier at the Cintas Center was Saint Joseph’s in 2006.

Two of Xavier’s regular starters, Mark Lyons and Kenny Freese, did not start the game due to a coach’s decision.

“It is an accomplishment to beat Xavier, I know they had a long home conference winning streak, but right now I’m excited and it feels so great to be a part of this,” Mitchell said.

Saint Louis continues their road trip on Saturday when they face Massachusetts.

Massachusetts (15-5, 4-2 A-10) will be a tough conference challenge for the Bills.

UMass is led by sophomore guard Chaz Williams who averages 15.9 points per game and 5.9 assists per game.

SLU has claimed a huge victory over traditional A-10 power Xavier, but with UMass waiting on Saturday, the Bills cannot celebrate this win for very long.

TEAM

CONF

OVERALL

Saint Louis

4-2

16-4

Massachussetts

4-2

15-5

La Salle

4-2

15-6

Dayton

4-2

14-6

St. Bonaventure

4-2

11-7

Temple

3-2

14-5

Xavier

4-3

13-7

Saint Joseph’s

3-3

13-8

Duquesne

3-3

12-8

Richmond

3-3

12-9

George Washington

3-3

8-12

Charlotte

2-4

10-9

Fordham

1-5

8-11

Rhode Island

0-6

3-18

MLS team drafts Michael Roach in fourth round SLU soccer standout begins his professional career with New England attention of several of Division I schools for soccer. He ultimately decided to go to Indiana University, but after one year of playing, Roach decided to come back to St. Louis.

By CHARLES BOWLES

Men’s Basketball

W 68-41 vs. Duquesne

L 73-68 @ Xavier Women’s Basketball

W 70-55 vs. Rhode Island

L 58-68 @ George Washington Men’s Swimming and Diving

W 69-44 vs. IUPUI

W 88-25 vs. Western Illinois

L 67-44 vs. Xavier

Women’s Swimming and Diving

L 64-49 vs. IUPUI

W 100-10 vs. Western Illinois

W 64-47 vs. Xavier

Associate Sports Editor

Michael Roach’s journey to MLS has been nothing short of a miracle.

In October 2005, while Roach was in high school, he was in a near-fatal car wreck that almost derailed his soccer future. His car flipped into a ditch, and as Roach struggled to get out of his car, something was wrong.

“Someone saw the accident and asked me to sit back down and get my wallet,” Roach said, “and that’s right when I couldn’t reach into my car, and I was pretty much frozen. I just couldn’t believe that I couldn’t move.”

Roach had broken his secold vertebrae, and his bright soccer future suddenly turned bleak. He quickly shifted his focus on his recovery as soccer took a back seat, but it was not out of the picture.

“Soccer wasn’t really on my mind at that point. I just had to figure out what was wrong with me,” Roach said.

The Trials and Tribulations at SLU Roach was recruited by Dan Donigan to come back to Saint Louis University.

Roach’s redshirt sophomore year was his best year at SLU, as he had 30 points (14G, 2A). However, after that year, Roach’s strength would be tested once again.

Donigan left to become the head coach at Rutgers, and Roach sustained a knee injury that kept him sidelined the majority of his junior year.

During his senior year, Roach saw limited action because of injuries, but he lead SLU that year with 4 assists and had 8 points, which was third most on the team.

However, there was one dream that Roach wanted to reach: an opportunity to play professional soccer.

Before The Wreck Roach started his soccer career at a young age with Scott Gallagher Soccer Club and continued playing there for many years.

After success at Scott Gallagher, Roach attended Chaminade High School, where he continued to play soccer.

“I know when I was younger that my dad took me to some of the Chaminade games, and I would look at those guys, and I would look up to them and want to be like them. I always thought one day that I wanted to play there, and then I actually ended up playing there,” Roach said.

Before the fateful car accident, Roach had one of the best games of his high school career, as Chaminade defeated Saint Louis University High, 3-0.

“He was on top of the world on Saturday, and then the next day he could not get out of bed. It was our worst nightmare,” Mike Roach, Roach’s

Shah (Yuqing Xia) / Staff Photographer

Mike Roach gives it his all as he prepares himself to shoot in a game last fall. Roach will now be taking his shots with the New England Revolution. father, said.

Recover y Begins After the car wreck, the soccer player had two options for recovery. According to a 2006 article that appeared in Sports Illustrated, Roach could have had a screw placed in his spine, which would have ended his soccer career, or take a chance on a halo brace, "to get bone on bone to fuse,” which would have allowed him to continue to play soccer if successful.

Michael chose the halo, which gave him a chance to play soccer once again, but he was worried.

“There were times when I didn’t know if it was going to possible (to play again),” Roach said. “Before the accident, I had a good run, and

then after the wreck, there were doubts in my mind. I wasn’t sure if I was ever going to be the player I ever was before.”

After the operation, Roach had to endure a grueling sixmonth recovery period with three months in the halo and three months in a neck brace.

“Through the entire process, Michael never felt sorry for himself. He never complained, never shared his pain with anyone. I saw a very mature man who worked his hardest to get back on the field,” Roach’s father said.

Finally, in May 2006, Roach got clearance to play soccer again.

He started to play at the same high level he had before the wreck and began to win at Chaminade once again.

“A lot of guys on my team, when I came back, said that it did not look like I was out at all, and [they] probably thought that I had come back stronger than I was before,” Roach said.

After recovering, Roach and Chaminade won the Class 3 state championship with a 31-1-1 overall, and they won the state championship on Roach’s birthday. Roach had 54 points that year, with 17 goals and 19 assists.

“To go through everything that I did and to have all the guys around me when things were really bad, and then to win a championship with them, was definitely one of the better feelings of my career,” Roach said.

After Roach’s incredible comeback, he garnered the

A Dream Realized Roach had a dream. After all of his trials and tribulations, he still wanted the opportunity to play professional soccer.

Roach sustained a few injuries while at SLU, but that did not deter him. After all, this was the same person who fought for six months with a serious neck injury just to get an opportunity to play soccer again.

Angie Willis, assistant athletic trainer, oversaw Roach through his time at SLU and knew about his dream of playing professional soccer.

“Mike has always been very focused and vocal about his goal to play professional soccer. We were both under the pretense of getting him back healthy not just for SLU, but for playing See “Roach” on page 10

Sports

10

The University News

unewsonline.com

Thursday, January 26, 2012

Who to

CHEER

>>Women’s Basketball

>>Commentary

Lady Bills search for midseason rhythm Pay for the

Courtesy of Askmen.com

Eli Manning Despite being overlooked for most of the season, the Giants’ QB has possibly been the best quarterback in the NFL. His father, Archie Manning, claims, “It’s pretty great. I can’t think of the last time I loved Eli as much as Peyton.”

Ryan Doan / Staff Photographer

Junior Mallory Eggert pulls up for a jump shot against Rhode Island at Chaifetz Arena.

By CHARLES BOWLES Associate Sports Editor

Who to

JEER

The Saint Louis University women’s basketball team won their first Atlantic 10 conference against Rhode Island on Sunday, Jan. 22, 70-55. The game was broadcasted on national television.

The Lady Billikens (7-12, 1-3 A-10) were led by freshman Desirae Ball who scored a career-high of 18 points.

“What our fans saw today was a team that was hungry for a win, a team willing to do everything necessary to get our first A-10 win of the

season,” Head Coach Shimmy Gray-Miller said to Saint Louis Athletics.

Morgan Johnson had a career-high of 12 points, making four of her seven 3-point attempts and also contributed an assist and a rebound.

Lorreal Jones completed the trifecta of Lady Billikens in double digit scoring with her 14 points. She also recorded 3 rebounds.

Mallory Eggert played solidy on both offense and defense with a game-high 11 rebounds and also 7 points.

The Rams took an early lead at 7-6, but it was the only

point in the game that they were ahead.

SLU extended their lead to 15-7 and never turned back in their rout of the Rams. An 11-2 run ended the first half with a 35-18 lead for SLU. The Lady Billikens maintained a double-digit lead the rest of the game with the largest lead being a 21-point advantage with 16:37 left in the game SLU dominated in every aspect of the game, dincluding shooting, rebounding, and assists.

They shot 45 percent overall, 50 percent from behind the arch and 70 percent from the free throw line.

Sloppy ball handing by Rhode Island cost them as the Lady Billikens scored 22 points off of Rhode Island’s turnovers.

Rhode Island has now lost 17 straight games and their overall record dropped to 1-19, 0-5 in A-10 conference play.

SLU ended their three game losing streak with this dominant victory and hoped to win consecutive games for the third time this season with a win over George Washington University on Wednesday.

However, the Lady Billikens did not achieve in their mission, losing to the Lady Colonials 68-58.

The Lady Billikens dropped to 7-13 overall, 1-4 in the A-10 in the one-sided affair.

SLU did lead by 10 in the first half, but an 18-5 run ignited the Lady Colonials, and they never surrendered the lead again.

As a team, the Lady Bil-

likens shot only 38.6 percent and an even worse 25 percent for 3 points.

Courtney Webb led the Lady Billikens with 14 points and pitched in 3 rebounds as well. Ball and Eggert both scored 12 points and brought in 6 rebounds, showing strong offensive and defensive play.

Nearly half of the Lady Billikens points came off the bench, including another 7 from Sophomore guard Halee Castleman.

23 turnovers cost the Lady Billikens though by not allowing them to set up a consistent offense and giving the ball to George Washington to continue to score.

The Lady Colonials scored 26 points off of SLU’s turnovers, compared to just 13 from SLU off the Lady Colonials’ turnovers.

SLU’s defense could not stop star guard Tiana Myers, who scored a game high 24 points in just 34 minutes.

The Lady Billikens remain in 10th in the A-10 Conference and must face 15-5 Richmond University on Saturday at Chaifetz Arena at 7 p.m.

Jan 28 vs

RICH

Feb 1 @

XAV

Feb 5 vs

DUQ

Feb 8 vs

TEM

Feb 12 @

JOES

>>Swimming and Diving Billiken Media Relations Courtesy of The Baltimore Sun

Swimming and diving thrives in Indianapolis

Billy Cundiff

By JOSEPH CACCHIONE

The Ravens’ kicker missed a 32-yard field goal at the end of the AFC Championship that would have tied the game against the Patriots.

While most agree that Cundiff’s foot was at fault, some sources believe that Joe Flacco’s mustache scared the ball away from the uprights.

The women’s swimming and diving team begins their final stretch of the regular season this week after backto-back successful meets at Washington University and Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis. The Billikens won two out of three meets, beating Western Illinois and Xavier, but losing to the host team, IUPUI. Junior Taylor Streid, last year’s team MVP, excelled in Indianapolis, winning the 200-yard individual medley at 2:09.83, and the 500-yard freestyle at 5:07.96. Streid also competes in backstroke and breaststroke events.

For the second straight meet, sophomore Lizzy Osterman performed well, breaking the school record in the 200-yard freestyle at 1:56.17, and also winning the 100-yard freestyle. Lizzy broke another school record in the 200-yard freestyle during a meet at the University of Missouri on December 3rd.

“The meet at Missouri was a good indicator to where we were individually and as a team. We faced larger schools such as the University of Missouri and the University of Missouri-Kansas City and were able to hold our own,” Osterman said.

The Missouri meet was during tapering week, where the team does not train as rigorously as normal, giving

Who to

FEAR

Courtesy of NBA Draft Depot

Andrew Nicholson The Billikens men’s basketball team will welcome St. Bonaventure to Chaifetz on Wednesday, Feb. 1. Their star big man, Andrew Nicholson, is expected to be a first-round pick in next year’s NBA draft. Some say that Nicholson should be a top 10 pick, except that no one wants to draft a player from a team called “the Bonnies.”

By: Jonathan Auping Staff Writer

Sports Editor

Courtesy of Saint Louis Athletics

The swimming and diving team has had recent success thanks to a successful tapering period following a brutal training period. their bodies time to recover so they do not burn out during more competitive and important meets. Because of this tapering system, it is difficult to predict which team is going to perform well on any given day.

This previous weekend was the middle of another brutal stretch of practice for the swim team as they prepare themselves for the conference tournament at the end of February. After two more weeks of strict, difficult training, the team will once again begin to taper and rest their bodies before the Con-

Name: Michael Roach Position: Forward Jersey Number: 10 Highschool: Chaminade Highschool Coach: Mike Gauvain Former College: Indiana University Coaches at SLU: Dan Donigan, Mike McGinty College Stats: Senior - 2 goals, 4 assists Junior - 1 goal, 1 assists Sophomore - 14 goals, 2 assists

ference tournament.

“We can see our morale is picking up and we are as strong as ever. We see the light at the end of the tunnel, and now that we have our goal {swimming well at the conference tournament} in our sights, we are focusing a lot better, “ said Streid.

Having just beaten Xavier, the team is confident that they will perform better than last year during the tournament. Then freshman Christiana Eltiste won her diving event and hopes to repeat as champion this year.

“We have a lot of solid

freshmen this year. It adds more depth to our roster and makes us a stronger team than we were last year,” said Streid.

Other potential standouts are freshmen freestyle sprinter Jalynn Gieseke, freshman breaststroker Keevyn Sholl, and the only senior on the team Molly Culver.

Culver will receive a nice celebration during this weekend’s “senior meet” against Eastern Illinois and Evansville. The final meet before the Atlantic 10 Conference Championship begins at 2:30 p.m. on Saturday.

Roach: SLU soccer star achieving his dream Continued from Page 9

after SLU,” Willis said.

Also assisting Roach was Assistant Coach Mark Santel.

Santel worked with Roach before his combine.

“Michael deserves a lot of credit. It is fantastic what he has done,” Santel said.

Santel helped simulate drills that Roach would have to go through during his combine and attempted to give him situations in front of the net and in full-team training.

“Michael has gone through some frustrating times, but he stayed strong physically and mentally,” Santel said.

However, there was still one question to be answered: Would Michael Roach be drafted by a Major League Soccer team? The answer was yes.

With the third pick in the last round of the MLS supplemental draft, the New

England Revolution selected Roach.

“The main thing is that Michael has a desire to compete.

He always loves challenges, and I’m very excited for him,” Mike Roach Sr. said.

However, being drafted is just one step of the process.

Roach is currently in Arizona for an 11-day training camp with the Revolution.

“It is a completely different environment. People have kids and wives, and everyone is playing for a spot, so you have to be focused and bring everything you can,” Roach said.

It is a miracle that Roach has made it this far. From being on the verge of never playing soccer again to being drafted by a MLS team, Roach certainly recognizes the position that he is in and the opportunity he must seize to live out his dream.

play?

By NICK SHACKELFORD Staff Writer

Picture an enormous number of workers in an industry who attend school full-time, work full-time and produce millions of dollars for their employers.

No, this is not a labor camp; this is the multi-million dollar industry where student-athletes produce large amounts of revenue for the NCAA. Controversy is now surrounding the NCAA and whether their decision to add $2,000 to current athletic scholarships for Division I athletics will come through.

It is understood that not all NCAA sports deserve to be compensated by means of a stipend.

But sports that generate large revenue and merchandise sales, such as Division I men’s football and Division I men’s basketball, would create an argument in receiving such stipend. This would also extend to other schools that excel in Division I women’s sports.

The NCAA website says, “Student-athletes are students first and athletes second. They are not university employees who are paid for their labor.

Many student-athletes receive athletics grants-in-aid that can be worth more than $100,000.”

Athletic scholarships, unlike academic scholarships that are given as four-year scholarships, are given on a yearly basis.

If athletes decide for whatever reason to no longer participate in their respected sport, the scholarship becomes void.

If the NCAA elects to add a stipend for revenue-making sports at schools, it would indeed take away the temptation that student-athletes have of selling personal items to afford daily living.

According to espn.com, Ohio State football’s star quarterback Terrelle Pryor and four other teammates were suspended for the first five games of the 2011 football season because they sold championship rings, jerseys and awards.

However, some athletes feel that they are entitled to sell their jerseys, socks, pants and awards because they were given to them.

Recent discussions have been held within the NCAA for an allowance of $2,000 of athletic scholarship to be added annually by various conferences to existing athletic scholarships.

NCAA President Mark Emmert said, “I know there’s a lot of debate out there for pay for play, but that’s not even open for discussion. It’s so antiethical to what college athletics is.”

Generally, student-athletes spend between 10 and 15 hours practicing, depending upon when seasons are and what sport it is. Add this to a general student-athlete course schedule, which falls between 12 and 16 hours of classes per week.

This does not take into consideration traveling and class work. This takes away any chance of obtaining an outside job in order to gain some sort of income for living.

Without a football team or a perrenial NCAA basketball tournament qualifying team, SLU does not receieve as much publicity as teams with already strong athletic programs.

Because SLU does not have as much money to spend on athletics, their recruitment efforts are not at the same level as the aforementioned schools.

This forces SLU to recruit and then develop a weaker caliber of players. The weaker calliber of players causes the team to not perform as well, which continues the spiral of downward athletics.

Other schools with more revenue to spend on stipends only increases the gap between the top recruiting schools in the country and the weaker ones.

One can say that the schools in the Big Ten or SEC are “the one percent” and schools in the Atlantic 10 or SWAC conferences are the 99 percent.”

Maybe the A-10 and SWAC can join together to form an “Occupy NCAA” protest. I could write about, “Biondi and athletes joining hands against the University of Missouri.”

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