FEBRUARY 7, 2011 ESTABLISHED 1929 ISSUE 4 | FREE

TheCauldron

THE MELTING POT

ARTS & ENTERTAINMENT

SPORTS

NEWS

Int’l Year of Chemistry

SUPER BOWLXLV: Packers Defeat Steelers

Kuumba Arts Fest

Dear Freyja:RoommateSleeping with Ex?

By Kristen Mott

By Kevin Vargo

By Shanette Buford

By Alexes Spencer

B L A C KHISTORY:

WHY ITMATTERS

aT CSUBy Ben Gifford

Pictured: Carter G. Woodson, Father of Black History

Sanctum ReviewPage 10

Horizon League Play ContinuesPage 6

First Lady and Disney Page 14

2_7_Master.indd 1 2/7/11 2:08 AM

VOLUME 112 • ISSUE 4FEBRUARY 7, 2011CONTENTS|

The Cauldron prints according to sound journalistic principles of accuracy,

accountability, integrity and transparency--with a recognition of press freedom and

student expression. It shall remain an unbiased forum in order to represent the entire campus

community.

arts & entertainment

mission statement on The Cover the Cauldron

melting pot

breaking news | CsuCauldron.Com

The StaffEditor-in-ChiefReid Jackson May

Managing EditorAlexes SpencerNews EditorKristen Mott

Arts & Entertainment EditorBen Gifford

Sports EditorMeredith Horrigan

Copy / Web EditorJustin Brenis

Photography EditorJonathan “Killstring” Herzberger

Graphic DesignerAndrew Treska

Advertising ManagerJayson Gerbec

Business ManagerAnne Werner

Student Media & Web SpecialistDaniel Lenhart

Faculty AdvisorDr. Edward Horowitz

Staff WritersSamah Assad,

Jon Conley, Ariana Johnson, Pete Lindmark, Kiel Shrefler, Matt Stafford, Dan Stanton,

Gabriella Tomaro, Meredith Traxler,

Kevin Vargo

Advertising:For advertising inquiries e-mailus at cauldronadvertisements@

hotmail.com or contactJayson Gerbec at (216) 687-2270

Contact UsCleveland State University

4th Floor Cole CenterCleveland, Ohio 44115phone (216) 687-2270

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sports

Super Bowl XLV Page 5

Horizon League Basketball Action Page 6

Cavaliers Need New Focus Page 7

Viking Schedule Page 7

The likeness of Carter G. Woodson, the founder of Black History week and the man

credited with the genesis of the celebration we presently observe.

Design by Andrew Treska

White House - Disney Collaboration Page 14

Dear Freyja: Roommate Issues Page 14

More Rigorous Work? Page 15

Cleveland 7th In Job Market? Page 15

IllumiNation: Egypt Page 16

Concert Picks Page 10

Sanctum Page 10

Book Looks Page 11

Kuumba Arts Festival Page 11

Noise Inspectors Page 12

Local Artist Spotlight Page 13

International Year of Chemistry Page 3

Rights of the Disabled Page 3

Aftermath of Katyn Massacre Page 4

Weekly Events Calendar Page 4

news

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3 csucauldron.com February 7, 2011

news

The CSU Michael Schwartz Library will be cel-ebrating the International Year of Chemistry through-out the month of February.

According to Theresa Nawalaniec, the sciences and engineering librarian, the International Year of Chemistry commemorates the “benefits of chemistry to mankind.”

The library, in conjunction with the CSU chemistry department, will host presentations and speakers dur-ing the month.

“We tried to get a broad group of speakers,” said Nawalaniec. She said that speakers range from schol-ars to chemistry professors.

Dwight Chasar, a research scientist and ornitholo-gist, began the series of presentations on Jan. 26 with a lecture titled “Chemistry is for the Birds.” His talk discussed the pigments that give birds their color and chemicals that birds use to survive in nature.

On Wednesday, Feb. 9, a professor from Baldwin-Wallace College, Joe Gorse, will discuss his research in renewable energy. Nawalaniec said that his research focuses on converting french fry grease into biodiesel.

CSU associate professor Michael Kalafatis will

speak on Wednesday, Feb. 16, about his research to combat cancer.

Kalafatis appeared in the news last March when his students discovered that a compound called CancerX killed human cancer cells when placed on the cells in a petri dish. He has continued to research the possibilities of CancerX and has applied for grants to fund further research.

The presentations will end on Wednesday, Feb. 23 with chemistry demonstrations by Jerry Mundell and Anne O’Connor from the CSU chemistry department.

“The demonstrations will be a fun thing to get peo-ple excited about chemistry,” commented Nawalaniec.

In addition to the presentations, an exhibit is set up in the library on the first floor to the left of the User Services desk. The exhibit, which will be on display until the end of the month, features periodic tables, contributions from women in chemistry, illustrations of molecules and various books about chemistry.

Nawalaniec remarked that the highlight of the

exhibit is a 12-foot tall DNA molecule that was con-structed by faculty, staff and students.

Although the library hosts exhibits each month, this is the first time that an exhibit has included a series of weekly talks.

Nawalaniec said that the purpose of the presenta-tions and exhibit is to increase the public’s knowledge of chemistry and to encourage students to go into the field.

The presentations will all take place from 2 p.m.-3 p.m. For more information, contact Theresa Nawalaniec at (216)687-3504.

The SGA Disability Inclusion Committee and the Office of Disability Services held a luncheon on Feb. 3 to inform students about the rights of people with disabilities both on campus and in the workplace.

Michelle Crew, an outreach and training coordi-nator from the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, was present to answer questions and provide information about filing a charge against an employer.

According to the U.S. Census Bureau, 49.7 million Americans suffer from a disability. Of those, about 18.6 million from the ages 16 to 64 are employed. These figures indicate that a large number of people with disabilities are currently employed or will seek employment at some point during their lives.

Crew said that employers are required to provide reasonable accommodations to employees with dis-abilities unless they can prove it would cause undue hardship to the company. Accommodations include anything that would facilitate an individual in per-forming their job, such as a modified work schedule.

“They can’t focus on the disability; they have to focus on the job,” remarked Crew.

Although companies are required to provide accommodations, employees are still discriminated against.

“Discrimination means you’re being treated differ-ently,” said Crew.

If employees do find themselves facing discrimi-nation, Crew described the process of filing a charge against the company.

The employee should first contact the equal oppor-tunity agency which will file a charge on their behalf. Once the charge is filed, the employer has a chance to explain their actions and try to correct the action if possible.

A team of investigators will examine paper work, statistics, documents and any other evidence they can find. “Our job is to see if there’s a violation,” com-mented Crew.

If a violation is found, the employer must then go through a reconciliation process. Crew said this pro-cess involves a wide range of options for the employer including paying fines or punitive damages, providing reasonable accommodations, paying for medical costs or increasing wages.

If the violation is not reconciled, the case can go to court or the agency will litigate the case on behalf of the employee.

Maria Codinach, the director of the CSU affirma-tive action office, said that some employers are known to retaliate against employees who file charges. Retali-ation can include firing the employee or continuing discriminatory actions.

“To me, retaliation is worse because a person has federal rights and you can’t interfere with federal

rights,” commented Codinach. She said that if retaliation occurs, the employee

should speak to the head of their Human Resources department or contact the agency.

Crew said that her agency will guide employees through the process of filing a charge. She said that the process is free for the employee, but the time it takes to resolve the case may vary.

“Our goal is six months, but it may take longer,” said Crew.

Codinach said that to avoid problems employees should think in advance about what accommodations they will need to perform their job. She noted that larger companies are usually more familiar with ac-commodations than smaller companies.

“Sometimes you have to educate the employers,” said Codinach. “You have to be assertive and ready to explain what you need.”

She continued to say that all employers operate differently and it is important for companies to look at employees on a case-by-case basis.

“Each person has to be treated individually,” said Codinach. “What may be good for one person may not be good for another person.”

To contact the Affirmative Action office at Cleve-land State, call (216)687-2223.

Students With Disabilities Learn Their Rights in the WorkplaceBy Kristen Mott, The Cauldron News Editor

International Year of Chemistry Celebrated at Michael Schwartz LibraryBy Kristen Mott, The Cauldron News Editor

Chemistry exhibit on first floor of library.

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PAGE 4 / February 7, 2011

Weekly Events Calendar

By Kristen Mott, The Cauldron News Editor

2/8

Book Signing with Rita Cosby Noon-2 p.m. in MC 134

2/9

Leadership roundtable @ 3 p.m. in Department of Student Life

2/10

African-American authors book fair 11 a.m.-1 p.m. in Cultural Center

2/11

Café Bellas Artes: Argentine Tango6 p.m. in SC atrium

TGIF: CSU Night Out 6-8 p.m. @ Rascal House

2/12

Cupid’s Cabaret 7 p.m.-Midnight in SC Ballroom

History buffs, law students and interested parties attended a panel discussion on the Katyn massacre last Thursday in the Cleveland-Marshall Law building.

The Katyn massacre involved the mass execution of at least 21,800 Polish military officers during World War II. The Soviet secret police carried out the mur-ders. The massacre was one of the largest executions of prisoners of war during WWII.

Panelists Maria Szonert and Alexander Gulyanov discussed the history, and the ongoing investigation, of the massacre. Law professor Milena Sterio moderated the event.

Sterio began the discussion with a brief over-view of the discovery of the massacre. She said the Germans discovered mass graves in the Katyn forest

(about mid-way between Moscow and Warsaw) in 1943. The Soviets denied responsibility for the massacre and even tried

to indict the Germans for committing the murders.Szonert provided further history of the massacre.

She said orders were given for 25,700 Poles to be killed, and about 21,800 Poles were actually mur-dered.

Of those killed, Szonert said 97 percent were Polish nationals. Because of this, she said there is currently an investigation to determine if the Katyn massacre can be legally defined as genocide.

Szonert suggested the anti-communist ideals of the Polish officers might have been the motive for the murders.

Gulyanov then spoke about more recent developments in the investigation. He said it was not until 1990 that Soviet President Mikhail Gorbachev acknowledged responsibility for the massacre.

He also said it was only in 1991 that KGB documents about the killings were released to the public. The KGB was the national security agency of the Soviet Union from 1954 to 1991.

According to Gulyanov, many Russian people today do not know about the Katyn massacres, or they still believe the Germans commit-ted the murders. He said the lack of knowledge of what happened at Katyn is a problem for Russia-Po-land relations, as well as a problem for Russia internally.

Gulyanov described the Katyn massacre as, “the most odious crime of Stalin-ism,” and he said there are still classified KGB docu-

ments that have yet to be released.Following the presentation, Szonert and Gulyanov

took questions from the audience.Some of the more intriguing questions involved

the contents of the still classified KGB documents and why they have not been released.

Communications professor Michael Rand asked if the KGB documents have not been released because they may contain information stating the Germans and Soviets may have known what the other was doing during the war.

However, Gulyanov said no member of the general public knows what is contained in the documents.

Several students expressed their opinions about the massacre and the panel discussion.

Alison Lancaster, a social science major, said the panel provided an “interesting aspect of history.” Lan-caster said he was “especially interested in history and how it shapes how we live.”

He also commented that the discussion helped to clear the “muddy water” of history, where he assumed, “the Soviets were the ‘good guys,’ and the Germans were the ‘bad guys.’”

Marcel Wieth, a law student, said he took an inter-national law class taught by Sterio that dealt a great deal with genocide.

“I thought [the discussion] was great. I definitely think I’m going to do a little bit more research on [Katyn], said Wieth. “Although [Katyn] happened so long ago, it’s very real to Russia and to Poland, and their relations.”

The discussion was free and open to the public. It was hosted by CSU to increase the scope of Eastern European studies at the university.

Students Learn about the Haunting Aftermath of Katyn Murders During WWIIBy Dan Stanton, The Cauldron Staff Writer

Alexander Gulyanov discusses the investigation of the massacre.

Photo by Dan Stanton

“Although Katyn happened so long ago, it’s very real to Russia and to Poland and their relations.” -- Marcel Wieth

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sports

February 7, 2011csucauldron.com 5

Well, Northeast Ohioans, we can all breathe again. Thankfully, a man who once backed up arguably the best quarterback of all time, has beaten the ever-so-loathed Steelers and saved us from months of agony and torture from Steeler fans.

The Vince Lombardi Trophy is returning to its original home as the Green Bay Packers defeated the Pittsburgh Steelers on Sunday, 31-25. On a night full of surprises, including the questionably good, or bad, halftime performance, the Packers turned a plus-three turnover margin into their first Super Bowl win since 1997.

Aaron Rodgers, who lived in the shadows of Brett Favre for years before becoming the man in Green Bay, was named the Most Valuable Player of the game after his flawless performance. As I said last week, this game would come down to the play of the quarterbacks. For-tunately for Green Bay fans, Rodgers won that battle easily. Not only was Rodgers flawless, he broke the re-cord for most passing touchdowns in a single postsea-son. He finished the game 24-of-39 for 304 yards and

three touchdowns.On the other side of the quarterback spectrum, Ben

Roethlisberger was poor. While Roethlisberger did have two big touchdown passes, he threw interceptions that may have been even bigger. The second was re-turned for a touchdown by Green Bay’s Nick Collins, which gave Green Bay 14 points in just 24 seconds. Roethlisberger walked off the field with a 77.4 passer rating, going 25-of-40 with two touchdowns and two interceptions totaling 263 yards.

The game was much like the Steelers’ AFC Cham-pionship game against the New York Jets. This time, though, the Steelers came up on the short end. One team jumped out to an big early lead, but it was wiped away quickly and at the end of the game the losing team was only one score away. Green Bay led 21-3 on Sun-day, before Pittsburgh finished the game on a 22-10 run. The Steelers had the ball with less than a minute left, but the Green Bay defense, already without Nick Bar-nett for the season and after losing one of its veteran de-fenders in Charles Woodson during the game, was able

to hold up and hang on for the “W”. After “Big Ben’s” final pass fell incomplete, Green Bay Head Coach Mike McCarthy was showered with Gatorade and the Packer faithful could breathe again.

Three key plays of the game: Nick Collins INT return for TD - Fresh off the

first touchdown of the game, the Green Bay defense made its mark as Nick Collins picked off Ben Roeth-lisberger and returned it for a 37-yard touchdown to go up 14-0.

The Option - After scoring a touchdown, the Steel-ers drew within 28-23 with seven minutes remaining. Instead of going for the extra point, they went for two to pull within a field goal. Roethlisberger ran a quar-terback option to Antwaan Randle El, and the Steelers drew within just three and put all the pressure on Green Bay.

Continued on Page 7

Green Bay Beats Pittsburgh to Win 4th Super BowlBy Kevin Vargo, The Cauldron Staff Writer

Courtesy Al Bello/Getty ImagesMVP Aaron Rodgers of the Green Bay Packers celebrates with the Lombardi Trophy after winning Super Bowl XLV against the Pittsburgh Steelers.

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PAGE 6 / February 7, 2011

Photo: Brian Smith Photo: Brian Smith Photo: Brian Smith Photo: Brian SmithThe student section was diligent with both its cheering and jeering from tip off of the Butler black out game.

Tim Kamczyk launches himself in the air, winning the ball. He had the team’s high number of rebounds on the night with six.

Norris Cole drives to the hoop. He contributed 15 points and five assists on Saturday.

Coach Waters paced in usual form during both Thursday’s win and Saturday’s loss.

The Vikings Split This Weekend’s Games to Remain First in Conference

Last week’s split with Valparaiso and Butler meant different things to dif-ferent people. For those looking to see the Vikings vindicate their season, on national television, by beating a well-respected team, Saturday’s loss to But-ler was wholly disappointing. However, for those fans that are already turning to the box scores to better understand what Cleveland State needs to win the Horizon League, they can be consoled in knowing that the win over Valpo was much more important in the standings.

Let’s not forget something: But-ler was last season. The half-court shot that fell just short of beating Duke for a national title was eleven months ago. The shooter, Gordon Hayward, is now averaging eleven minutes a game in the NBA out in Utah. This season’s Butler Bulldogs came into the game in fifth place in the Horizon League with a pe-destrian 6-5 record. Whatever Butler had last year when they were 8-0 in Horizon League play, the only part they’ve re-tained is the ability to be a major thorn in Coach Waters’ side this season. And ultimately, who cares if they can’t beat Butler? They may not have to beat them to win the Horizon League tournament anyway.

“It was one of the days that they did not dictate the defensive tempo,” Butler coach Brad Stevens said after the game, and the stats seem to verify his com-ment. The Vikings simply did not have

their usual defensive intensity and only forced five turnovers while giving the ball away 12 times. Worse, the Vikings played the game at Butler’s speed. They are better with Norris Cole transitioning opponents’ turnovers into quick scores on the other end. Norris Cole averages 5.3 assists per game for the season. In this game, the entire team had 6.

What a difference from Thursday night. Then, the Vikings lit up the arena and put some distance between them-selves and Val-paraiso at the top of the Ho-rizon League. Norris Cole was his usual fabulous self and combined with Jeremy M o n t g o m -ery to score 51 points. It’s difficult to imagine how Coach Waters will replace Cole’s stat line in a big game like this next season: 25 points, 11 rebounds, 7 assists, 2 steals and a perfect 8-for-8 from the line.

The Valparaiso game was encourag-ing for almost as many reasons as the Butler game was not. Against Valpo, Tre Harmon made up for a poor shooting night with a season high 12 rebounds. His usual disruptive defense on PG Erik Buggs kept Valpo out of sync all night and resulted in Buggs fouling out five

minutes into the second half. Harmon played only 25 minutes against But-ler because of early foul trouble, and his missing presence allowed Butler to shoot 47 percent from the floor.

Tim Kamczyk played his type of game on Thursday with solid defense inside and out. He made the few shots he took, earning six points. Butler dared him to shoot, however, leaving him wide open for all the three’s he cared to take. He was 2 for 6 on three’s, 2 for 9 over-

all, and opted to take the ball to the rim late in the sec-ond half when his shots just weren’t fall-ing. That was probably a better idea as he got to the

line six times, hitting them all. Coach Waters was also limited in

how to answer Stevens’ strategy of dou-bling Cole and leaving a shooter all alone on the perimeter. The Vikings bench has some strengths: length, athleticism, and the same defensive energy that the start-ers bring, but Waters’ substitutions on Saturday provided only six points on three of ten shooting, and they clearly lack a bench shooter that can relieve a slumping starter around the perimeter.

“They have not gotten our best game

yet. That’s a positive,” coach Waters ob-served shortly after the loss to Butler. Yes, it’s too bad that Cleveland State didn’t take the throne from Butler in front of a sold out crowd on Saturday. It would have been nice to see Brad Ste-vens hand off the Horizon League crown to Coach Waters at center court while ESPN’s cameras zoomed in on the rol-licking student section. But it would have been ceremonial anyway. Win or lose, this season’s script is far from fin-ished.

If Cleveland State fans are learning anything from the wild world of Hori-zon League basketball this season, it’s that yesterday meant very little and to-morrow’s predictions mean nothing at all. The Vikings still have six important games left, including another marquee matchup with Old Dominion.

Butler has fallen to both Valpo and ninth-place Youngstown State. Valpo has lost to Butler and Cleveland State. Therefore, Cleveland State may still have to beat Butler to reach their final destination. If Coach Waters is right and they haven’t played their best game yet, they better be prepared next time; they are running low on whatever breathing room they created with their torrid start.

Horizon League Play is Exciting, Not Decisive

“They have not gotten our best

game yet.”

By Ray Danner, The Cauldron Staff Writer

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February 7, 2011 / PAGE 7

Monday, Feb. 77:00 p.m.Men’s Basketball at Detroit(Coverage on horizonleague.org andCBSsports.com Game Tracker)

Thursday, Feb. 107:00 p.m.Women’s Basketball vs. Valparaiso(Coverage on horizonleague.org and CBSsports.com Game Tracker)

Friday, Feb. 1112:00 p.m.Softballvs. Loyolain Corpus Christi, Texas

Saturday, Feb. 122:00 p.m.Men’s Basketballlvs. YSU(Coverage on horizonleague.org andCBSsports.com Game Tracker)

Sunday, Feb. 132:00 p.m.Women’s Tennisvs. Dayton

Viking Schedule

3:00 p.m.Softballvs. UT Arlington in Corpus Christi, Texas

2:00 p.m.Softballvs. Texas A&M Corpus Christi in Corpus Christi, Texas

TBASoftballChampionship Play in Corpus Christi, Texas

7:00 p.m.Men’s Tennisat Xavier7:00 p.m.Wrestlingat PittsburghAll DayMen’s GolfBig East Match Playin Tampa, FL

All DayMen’s GolfBig East Match Playin Tampa, FL

4:00 p.m.Women’s Basketballvs. Butler(Coverage on horizonleague.org andCBSsports.com Game Tracker)

7:00 p.m.Wrestlingvs. Clarion(Coverage on nwcaonline.com Scorebook)

As the Cleveland Cavaliers walked off of the hardwood and entered the locker room with looks of defeat paint-ed on their faces, you could tell Sat-urday’s game wasn’t just another loss.

Any loss is hard to take. The stigma attached to the Cavs’ loss to the Port-land Trailblazers this weekend, how-ever, is harder to accept. This defeat comes with further blows to the team’s disheartening season; it is a piece of history that will weigh heavily on the players for quite some time because records like these are hard to beat.

Sounds dramatic? A bit exaggerated, perhaps? Not really. If you are not a sports fan, or even a Cavaliers fan, then you may not find this information upsetting, and you probably won’t un-derstand why it is such a big deal.

If you have been graciously standing by your home team even after they’ve won just eight games this year, then I feel your pain. This recent twist of the knife hurts.

The record for the longest los-ing streak during a single season in NBA history was bestowed upon the Cavaliers after their unfortunate 24th straight defeat, 111-105 against Port-land. Still not earth-shattering news for you? Let’s look at it this way: the Cavs won 61 games last year, and lost just 21. As of now, they’ve lost 43 games this season. It’s pretty crazy to think about.

Coach Byron Scott, however, seems to have his focus in the right place.

“As far as the record, I couldn’t care

less about the record,” said Scott. “I care about our guys progressing and getting better as basketball players and as a basketball team.”

The last few games, including the Saturday loss at home, have been so close that the Cavaliers could just taste the wins on the tip of their tongue. In the box scores, however, there’s a thick line between almost winning and actually closing out a basketball game.

“Anytime you start losing close games, it’s always a little mental,” Scott said, knowing what the Cava-liers are going through. In the 1995-96 NBA season, Scott played on the first year expansion team Vancouver Griz-zlies. He was part of a 23-game losing streak himself. “Mentally, it starts to wear on you a little bit until you can get over the hump.”

By the half, the wine and gold led 57-55, and there’s no doubt that the Cavs’ offense had hit it’s stride. An-tawn Jamison had 17 points while young talents Christian Eyenga and Manny Harris had 12 points apiece. Four other Cavaliers scored in double digits.

Lazy perimeter defense overshad-owed all of the Cavs’ hard work, al-lowing the Blazers to shoot 12 of 19 from the arc. Let’s just say the ‘three’ dismantled any chance of hope that the Cavs had of breaking their cursed los-ing streak.

Andre Miller was given the space to hit a dagger three pointer with over a minute left after the Cavs trailed by

just two points. With a chance to inch their way back up the scoreboard, J.J. Hickson (11 points, six rebounds) didn’t catch a vital pass, and even though it somehow landed in the hands of Ramon Sessions (15 points, seven assists), he couldn’t finish to the basket with an open, left-handed lay-up.

“We just have to keep playing that hard and when it comes down to the last four or five minutes, we just have to believe that we are going to win the game,” explained Scott. “We made some careless turnovers and we missed some easy shots.” Coach still has faith in his team, and knows that a win for the Cavaliers is in their near future.

“The last week or so, as hard as we have been playing, I told the guys it’s not a matter of if we’re going to win, it’s a matter of when.”

Daniel Gibson, who finished with 12 points and nine assists after being out with a quad injury for three games, had similar feelings. He says the team can-not be worried about whatever records they are unfortunately breaking.

“The thing about it for us is just win-ning the next game. You can’t think about how many we have lost to this point. You can’t. You just have to go out there focused,” said Gibson.

He continued that the team has to use their mistakes to improve in the next game. “That has to be our focus, it can’t be anywhere else.”

Cavaliers Need New FocusBy Samah Assad, The Cauldron Staff Writer

Superbowl XlVcontinued from page 5

4th and 5 - On the final play (outside of a Green Bay kneel-down) Roethlisberger mis-fired to convert the fourth down and the Pack-ers felt 1,000 pounds lifted off of their back as they knew the trophy was coming home.

Super Bowl Sunday, as always, was packed with entertainment. The commercials, which cost millions to air, were less than magnifi-cent this year. The half-time show, performed by the Black Eyes Peas, was good if you took out the actual performers. The light show was awesome, but the voices were not.

Deion Sanders, who was recently elected into the Pro Football Hall of Fame (along with Marshall Faulk, Shannon Sharpe, Richard Dent, Chris Hanburger, and Les Richter) threw the coin toss, and Tom Brady was unanimous-ly named as the 2010-2011 NFL Most Valu-able Player. Fortunately, the entertainment of a great game took center stage around all of the extra-curriculars. Football fans will have to wait six months before we begin the quest to find the next Super Bowl Champion.

cSu Score SheetMen’s BasketballThursday, Feb. 3W, CSU 76 vs. Valpo 65Saturday, Feb. 5L, CSU 61 vs. Butler 73(First in HL with 10-3, 21-4 overall)

Women’s BasketballThursday, Feb. 3L, CSU 63 at Green Bay 87Saturday, Feb. 5L, CSU 64 at Milwaukee 73(Sixth in HL with 5-7, 12-11 overall)

Women’s Swim & DiveSaturday, Feb. 5W, CSU 127 at UIC 106(15-4 overall)Men’s Swim & Dive

Saturday, Feb. 5W, CSU 127 at UIC 114(HL 4-0, 12-3-1 overall)

Men’s TennisSaturday, Feb. 5X, CSU X vs. Niagara X(1-2 on the year)

WrestlingSaturday, Feb. 5L, CSU 12 vs. Bloomsburg 34(Sixth in EWL with 0-2, 3-9 overall)

Men’s FencingSunday, Jan. 30L, CSU 10 vs. Florida 17W, CSU 20 vs. Detroit 7L, CSU 13 vs. Swarthmore 14L, CSU 11 vs. Northwestern 16L, CSU 6 vs. Air Force 21

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PAGE 8 / February 7, 2011

BLACK HISTORY:WHY IT MATTERS at CSU

By Ben Gifford, The Cauldron A&E EditorIt has been 85 years since Carter G. Woodson found-

ed Negro History Week. Needless to say, the world has changed a great deal in that amount of time. In 1964, the Civil Rights Act was passed ending segregation in schools and removing unequal voting application re-quirements. In 1976, Negro History Week expanded into Black History Month. Skip ahead to 2008, and the world witnessed the election of President Barack Obama, the first person of African descent elected to the United States’ presidency.

T h e O r i g i n s o f B l a c k H i s t o r y M o n t h

Woodson was a notable scholar in black history. He was only the second African American to earn a Ph.D. from Harvard (after W.E.B. Dubois). Before Woodson began his work, black history was largely stereotyped, incomplete, or distorted.

In 1915, Woodon founded the Association for the Study of Negro Life and History (the Association), now known as The Association for the Study of African-American Life and History (ASALH). Woodson’s idea was to make black history concrete and to assure that black scholars had a proper outlet for publication.

Less than a year later, he started the Journal of Negro History: a scholarly journal that still exists today under the name “The Journal of African American History.” Woodson would write over 100 articles and 125 book re-views for his journal throughout his lifetime.

In the following decade, Woodson realized that nei-ther his nor the Association’s scholarly work was enough to gain the attention of white historians—they were largely being ignored.

Woodson sought the help of his Omega Psi Phi fraternity brothers to create the very first incarnation of Black History Month in 1924: “Negro History and Literature Week.” It would later be renamed “Negro Achievement Week.”

In 1926, the Association refocused their goals into “popularizing the truth of the Black achievement” for their new program, Negro History Week. The response was mostly positive across the country with black history clubs opening and whites endorsing the effort as well.

Eventually, the week would be expanded to Black History Month in 1976.

“There are a lot of urban legends about how Black History Month got started,” said Michael Williams, di-rector of the Black Studies Program at CSU.

Mittie Davis Jones, an associate professor of urban studies as Cleveland State, agreed. “There’s a lot of my-thology out there.”

One of the common misconceptions or jokes about Black History Month is that February was chosen be-

cause it’s the shortest month of the year.In truth, Woodson chose a week in February that

would meaningfully coincide with the birthdays of two important civil rights leaders: Frederick Douglas and Abraham Lincoln.

S t u d e n t p e r s p e c t i v e s : W h a t d o y o u t h i n k a b o u t B l a c k H i s t o r y M o n t h ?

“I don’t think it’s relevant anymore in today’s society where we all live together...The more you identify that there are differences, the further it separates people.”

- anonymous

“I remember initially when it was a week; now it’s progressed to a month. I think it’s great that it’s a time that has been set aside to acknowledge the accomplish-ments and achievements of African Americans.”

- anonymous

“I think it’s important that we have Black History Month to remind others what happened back in the 20s and 50s, also because that (black history) is something you should know in today’s society.”

- Beverly Garvin, 20, Cleveland

“The goal of Black History Month is to give proper recognition and respect to a historically marginalized population that has had a profound social, artistic and historical impact on our country. At best, it serves as an inspiration to underprivileged children who desper-ately need it and as a reminder of how far our country has come over the past few centuries. At worst, it is an annoyance to members of the dominant group who are quick to imply that it is some sort of intellectual affirma-tive action and would like nothing more than to ignore the ways in which racism still affects the black population today.” - Joseph Barko, 24, Medina

C o n t r o v e r s y O v e r B l a c k H i s t o r y M o n t h : W h a t i s i t s R e l e v a n c e To d ay ?

In the year 2011, institutional racism is long gone. There are those who do not see the need for a Black History Month anymore. Actor Morgan Freeman once said “I don’t want a Black History Month. Black history is American history.”

Keep this in mind: as of 2009, only eight black in-dividuals had ever been named CEO of a fortune 500 company. Also, in 2009 the median income of blacks in the United States trailed behind that of whites by almost $12,000.

Now that does not necessarily mean that blacks are paid less for doing the same job, it can also (and more likely) means that a majority of blacks hold lower-pay-ing jobs than whites do—still a disheartening statistic in its own right.

Woodson wrote in his 1933 book, The Mis-Educa-tion of the Negro:

This is part of what Black History Month is all about. “Progress has been made, but there’s still a lot that needs to change,” said Jones.

“There are problems we continue to face. (At CSU), the graduation rate (of black students) is almost half that of white students.”

Celebrating Black History Month is not just about recognizing the accomplishments and achievements of the past, but “It’s certainly about self-esteem we have for ourselves,” said Dillard Poole, an adjunct history professor who currently serves as an academic adviser at CSU.

“We needed to lift our self-esteem, about our-selves—period,” Poole continued.

“To him (Woodson), black history was 24/7. We’re trying to promote the idea that it (still) is,” said Michael Williams.

“If you make a man feel that he is inferior, you do not have to compel him to accept an inferior status, for he will seek it himself. If you make a man think that he is justly an outcast, you do not have to order him to the back door. He will go without being told; and if there is no back door, his very nature will de-mand one.”

This comic was published in June 4, 1969 issue of The Cauldron; It’s racist overtones, specifically belittling the student body’s requests to President Enarson, caused a great deal of backlash.

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February 7, 2011 / PAGE 9

“(Black History Month is) a time for the entire na-tion, if not the world, to celebrate the contributions of African-descended peoples to world history, culture and civilization,” said Regennia Williams, an associate pro-fessor of history at Cleveland State.

I t ’ s N o t J u s t A b o u t ‘ B l a c k ’ H i s t o r y

In looking at the accomplishments of black individ-uals throughout history, it’s possible to lose sight of the bigger picture: Black individuals do not merely contrib-ute to black history.

“When you’re in a minority, often times your group doesn’t get represented in the majority,” said Michael Williams. It’s important to look at and remember “how your group contributed to the history of the nation.”

People often ask “Why don’t you just...integrate it (black history) into the history of the country?” said Poole. It’s not about compacting all the elements of history into one tell-all source, “Everything is not just around creating a text book that tells the whole story.”

While each race, ethnicity, culture, etc. has its own unique histories, it’s generally impossible to look at the small details without seeing the big picture.

“There are people like myself who believe we can keep our differences and still come together as a group.”

“It (Black History Month) is not an offense or a put down to other cultures,” said Michael Williams.

S u c c e s s a n d T u r m o i l a t C l e v e l a n d S t a t e

Poole was born in Alabama, but has lived in Cleve-land since around the age of 5.

“We caught the train...(during) the second half of the black exodus from the south,” he chuckled as he reminisced.

Poole’s experience at Cleveland State extends back to the late 1960s. He originally worked at a factory in Cleveland, but decided that he needed an education.

“When I left Warner & Swasey, I never looked back in terms of going back into factory work,” said Poole.

He obtained both his bachelor’s and master’s de-grees from CSU before pursuing his Ph.D. at Indiana University.

“Cleveland State, like anything, was a work in prog-ress...There were moments of conflict here and there, but it never got so bad that we had massive uprisings or anything,” Poole continued.

The closest thing Poole recalled to an uprising was in the summer of 1969.

It had been a tense school year in terms of racial relations. In the Oct. 23, 1968 issue of The Cauldron, Cathy Korach wrote an article about the foundation of an entirely student-run Black Advisory Board.

From the article: “The main purpose of the council is to advise the administration on the needs of students attending an urban university...’We feel that there are courses in the existing curriculum that are not relevant to the 20th century black student,’ Dr. [Raymond C.] Bowen explained. ‘Cleveland State is an urban college. It has an overall commitment to deal with various prob-lems, it can’t be just a prototype of Harvard or Yale.’”

In the Feb. 26, 1969 issue of The Cauldron, James Harris wrote an article entitled “Blacks Demand Ac-tion.” Students created 12 demands for then president Harold L. Enarson.

Some of the demands included that a black pro-fessor be retained, “or that some other black history teacher of whom we approve take his place.” They also demanded “that the programs which were established because of their relevance to black students be kept,” and asked for “more Black faculty in the University.”

Among other things, the students also asked for “funds to be allocated for a black newspaper” and “fa-cilities and supplies for the above newspaper.”

In its June 4 issue, The Cauldron, printed an objec-tionable comic strip under the editorial approval of William G. “Bill” Murman. The comic “summarized” the events of the 1968-1969 academic year with a heavy emphasis on race.

“The students went around and grabbed all of the papers up (The Cauldron) and burnt them (outside),” said Poole.

The Student Affairs Committee censured Murman, who later apologized. The committee also noted that though The Cauldron had been irresponsible, the burn-ing of papers was uncalled for.

In the notes from the hearing the committee stated that although the student body had the right to free speech, The Cauldron also had the right to free press. “This act (burning the papers) was wrong and can not be tolerated in a democratic and academic community. Two ‘wrongs’ can simply not make a ‘right.’”

B u i l d i n g a n O p t i m i s t i c F u t u r e

Perhaps the world did tilt some when Obama was elected. It was certainly a great accomplishment for not only the black community, but it also marked a signifi-cant Milestone in American history.

Yet the struggle is not over for the impoverished and the under-educated—the students of the inner city schools, a majority of which are black.

“It’s just one of the worst failures that has ever been recorded,” said Jones. “I would really like to see more done with the youth to give them some sense of hope and connection to the larger society.”

“It seems to me that for a lot of people in failing school systems... (they) don’t necessarily see that con-nection between finishing high school or working hard in high school or college and getting a good job,” said Regennia Williams.

“I venture to say there are probably a few people on this campus who know folks who have college degrees who are unemployed or underemployed...I think we have to do a better job, not only preparing our students at every level, but also creating opportunities.”

“If we can look back at that era (slavery and U.S. reconstruction) and see how wretched those conditions were, not just for the black people who were defined as property, but poor and working-class white people struggled with all kinds of things in the 19th century...relatively speaking, things have gotten better. If we know that things can get better, that we can move from slavery to freedom, then we can look at this recession...and know that if people are determined to make things better than they are know, it can be better still.”

References: Kellemen, Bob. The Origins of Black History

Month. Everyday Christian, Jan. 31, 2011.National Park Service. Carter G. Woodson National

Historic Site.Woodson, Carter G. The Mis-Education of the Ne-

gro. African Tree Press, 2006.

“King wasn’t a civil rights leader. He understood that as long as there was prejudice, whites would not be free either—there would always be this ten-sion,” said Michael Williams.

“I would have to say in all of my experience here (at Cleveland State), through all the years has been pretty much a positive experience,” said Poole. “The institution had to be challenged on occasion to look at the issue early on of what we now take for granted: this whole diversity thing. (For example), there were very few (black) faculty persons here at the time.”

“The Earth kind of tilted on its axis a couple of years ago when Barack Obama showed up and some people, frankly speaking, have not gotten over it yet,” said Poole. “They cannot wrap their minds around the possibility that there is no white male president...I saw it coming out of some of those town hall meetings around the country—people saying some really crazy things.”

Barbara Brown, CSU’s controversial, 1st Black Homecoming Queen

First Issue of the Vindicator, 1970, started as a ‘Black’ newspaper.

2_7_Master.indd 9 2/7/11 2:08 AM

2/7 Death Angel w/Lazarus A.D., Bonded by Blood @ Peabody’s, $162/10 Underoath w/Thursday, A Skylit Drive, Animals as Leaders

@ House of Blues, $232/11 The Movement w/ModQuad, Skagtones @ The Grog Shop, $102/12 C-Town Beatdown (A smattering of local hip-hop)

@ Peabody’s, Free with online flyer

2/12 Cabinet w/Hoots & Hellmouth, Holy Ghost Tent Revival @ Beachland Ballroom, $10

2/12 Doop & The Inside Outlaws w/The Not So Good Ol’ Boys @ Beachland Tavern, $6

2/13 Streetlight Manifesto w/Terrible Things, A Loss For Words @ Peabody’s, $17

Other Shows of Note:

killString’S pick:Rooney w/Eisley, The Chapin Sisters, Nick Zuber Band @ The Grog Shop

So, Rooney. Slightly saccharine, jangly britpop. Inoffensive, and maybe even enjoyable – but hardly extraordinary. So why, dear reader, why do I recommend this as the single show that you should value above all others this week in particular? Simple.

Little band called Eisley. Now, there are some other interesting acts on this bill,

to be certain, but the salient bit here, the thing you need to understand, is that this little indie band called Eisley is possibly the most criminally under-appriciated act you will come across all year.

Cross my heart, and swear to see a Mushroomhead concert.

Difficult to classify, but distinctly identifiable by the signature vocal style of sisters Stacy and Sherri DuPree, with occasional help from additional sister Shauntelle in that department. Add a brother and a cousin and you have an interesting take on the family band – but that doesn’t really matter so much, as does the fact that their music is smart, sassy and packed with gorgeous emotion.

Worth your fifteen dollars, even if you don’t stay for the headliner.

James Cameron has fired through opus upon opus of material. Never ceasing to amaze himself, he rose from the depths of Piranha II: The Spawning to triumph with movies like Aliens, Termina-tor, Terminator 2, Abyss and Titanic. After a blockbuster hiatus which saw Cameron filming underwater docu-mentaries and co-developing digital 3-D, he returned with 2009’s big-blue, big-brother monster Avatar.

The statement was made apparent that James Cameron and crew are now forging an industry. A movie movement based on submersion, virtual

reality, and visual stimula-tion. Sanctum follows the mantra set by its predeces-sor: movies that are bigger, faster and more thrilling than those that are primarily story-based.

Sanctum is simple. Five cave explorers are on the prototypical “mother-of-all” explorations in Papua New Guinea (this is based on a true story, which means nothing to me). A cyclone comes to land sooner and with more feroc-ity than expected.

While the crew heads deep-er and deeper into the moun-tain searching for the cave’s blowhole to the sea, said cave

begins to fill with water. Lim-ited supplies of oxygen and increasing amounts of water mean that the crew cannot go back from whence they came.

They can only proceed through unknown space and time, destined to see places where no man has ever shined a light while haughty-taughty adventurous antics will en-sue.

The Cave is the ultimate character. Stronger than all of mankind with the power and resolve of mother nature. The Cave can amaze and entrance and seance and become the life-giver and death-bringer.

The Cave is the end-all-

being for the trapped. They are sheep being shepherded through. The trapped become Susan Atkins. Not trapped by the cave itself, but held in the slippery grasp of a megalo-maniac being.

Apart from taking the pow-er of The Cave immensely serious, Sanctum treats its third dimensional aspects with delicate seriousness.

Rule out the squeamish and particularly the claustropho-bic. The pacing of the ups and downs and quick, stomach-dropping turns is reminiscent of a roller coaster fantasy.

It’s another interesting week, cats and kittens: some high-profile acts sandwiched with a big smor-gasboard of not that much. Things you need to know – Underoath and Thursday are here, in what might be the best Post-hardcore lineup you’ll see for a while. Streetlight Manifesto is always worth the time, and the Beachland has an unorthodox weekend planned.

One word of caution: Mush-roomhead is playing on Friday. It’s been at least a decade since that’s qualified as good news. If there’s a local band on the bill you must see, then sure, catch it. Otherwise, you could just as easily spend that $22 by paying a homeless man to yell at you about aliens. It’ll be more interesting, and briefer.

That is all.

By Jonathan ‘Killstring’ Herzberger, The Cauldron Photography Editor

Concert Picks of the Week2/7

By Jon Conley, The Cauldron Staff Writer

A Hopelessly Shallow CaveSanctum

Continued on Page 12

Rooney

Eisley

csucauldron.com February 7, 2011

Arts & Entertainment10

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February 7, 2011 / PAGE 11

“We have to create and celebrate Black History everyday,” said Michael Williams, the director of the Black Studies Program.

The Black Studies Program kicked off Black History Month on Feb. 3 with art gallery and talk with Cleveland-na-tive visual artist Jerome T. White.

This year’s Black History Month theme at CSU is “Expressions of Us.” All the events at CSU, like film pre-sentations and lecture discussions, will address the frequently occurring issues in the African-American community, as well as more general issues between men and women.

The Howard A. Mims African-Amer-ican Cultural Center was packed with Cleveland State University students, faculty, staff and community members to hear and see White’s work. Differ-ent issues and topics were addressed in the welcome address and with White himself.

In the welcome address, Prester Pickett, the Coordinator of the Howard A. Mims African American Cultural Center, and Williams addressed some

important current and recurrent topics within the African-American commu-nity.

In the weeks leading up to Black His-tory Month, facets of the media have addressed topics such as “Who repre-sents and expresses us, the African-American community?” and “Why do we wait until the shortest and coldest month of the year to celebrate Black History Month?”

These two topics have been very im-portant lately because as an African-American, community we have been trying to get out of the habit of waiting until February to celebrate, create and address black history. Both Pickett and Williams agreed that “Black History Month should be celebrated 24/7, 365 days a year and not just in February.”

White was born and raised in Cleve-land. He graduated from Cleveland Heights High School, then went to Tuskegee University but graduated with his B.A. in fine arts from Bald-win Wallace. White later earned his Master’s degree from Case Western Reserve.

He is currently teaching at his for-mer high school alongside his old art teacher and credits artists such as Win-slow Homer, John Biggers and Charles White for shaping his style and influ-encing his art. White uses spiritual symbolism and features both social and historical messages in his artwork.

“My journey started out when I started college at Tuskegee University where I wanted to be an architect, but that is when I transferred to Baldwin Wallace and majored in visual and stu-dio art,” said White. “Everyone has a journey that they go through in life to find themselves as individuals, what type of career they want to have and what type of person they want to be.”

In White’s journey, he tried to get a job in animation with Walt Disney Studios. He was actually able to audi-tion, but never received a call back. He moved to Norfolk, Va. briefly in 1994 before returning to Cleveland in 1997 when he started teaching art in the pub-lic school system.

Greetings from Afghanistan, Send More Ammo: Dispatches from Taliban CountryBy: Benjamin Tupper

The Rundown: This book is a collection of

excerpts from Captain Benjamin Tupper’s blog that detail the “ordinary” day to days of a U.S solider fighting in Afghanistan. Tupper and Corporal Radoslaw “Ski” Polanski are given the mission of training soldiers of the Afghan National Army. It’s no easy task to accomplish – language barriers, surprise attacks from the Taliban and Afghan soldiers’ prefer-ence of flip flops to army issued boots all throw Tupper for a loop. He and Polanski learn to cope, finding innovative ways – some involving Pop Tart bribes – to fight the Tal-iban. Lots of heart-pounding combat scenes and also poignant war stories balance out the narrative.

Afterthoughts: This book is a great read.

Tupper writes with a casual, dry humor that’s entertaining, but also informative. One par-ticular story that involves a U.S solider risk-ing his life for a Taliban solider brought tears to my eyes and truly warmed my heart. Most of the excerpts however, are light and funny to read.

BeauvalletBy: Georgette Heyer

The Rundown: A swashbuckling, romantic

adventure takes place on the high seas in this gripping novel. A handsome English priva-

teer named Beauvallet overtakes an Spanish ship carrying a fiery, Span-ish maid named Dona Dominica. Beauvallet is charmed by Dona’s feisty attitude and promises to return her and her father back to their home, pro-vided that she will marry

him in a year. Troubles arise for Beauvallet and he must use his bravery and wits to col-lect on his proposition.

Afterthoughts: This book is a re-issue of one of the novels written by Georgette Heyer, one of the pioneers in Regency romance. The book uses some lofty words, many of which you won’t be able to find in a dictionary. The character of Beauvallet carries a charming Errol Flynn likeness that is addicting to read about. Dona Dominica doesn’t grab you like Beauvallet, but the story concentrates more on his exploits than hers.

By Meredith Traxler,The Cauldron Staff Writer

Book Looks Kuumba Arts Presents: Art, Gallery Talk with Jerome T. WhiteBy Shanette Buford, The Cauldron Staff Writer

White explains his thought processes and the nature of his artwork at the Kuumba Arts Festival on Feb. 3Photo: Jonathan Herzberger

Continued on Page 13

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PAGE 12 / February 7, 2011

The Civil Wars -Barton Hollow

It seems that there’s been a re-surgence of popularity in male/female duos lately: She & Him, The Bird and the Bee, Beach House, The White Stripes (who just announced their breakup incidentally), etc. Add another one to the list: The Civil Wars.

Their single “Barton Hol-low” charted at number one in the iTunes store when it was re-leased. It’s an energetic, bluesy track that sounds like it was inspired by equal parts Black Keys and Elbow’s “Seldom Seen Kid.”

The rest of the album is a slightly different story. Barton Hollow is mostly full of low-key folk ballads, tinged with hints of country.

Joy Williams’ and John Paul Whites’ voices compliment each other nicely and they share

the spotlight rather equally.If there’s one fault with the al-

bum, it’s that it feels rather flat. Many of the songs have both similar tempos and volumes.

While there aren’t necessar-ily any low points, there aren’t many highs either. The album could have benefited immense-ly from just one more track like “Barton Hollow.”

Rating: B+

The Go! Team -Rolling Blackouts

In the complete opposite di-rection from the sparse, intimate arrangements of The Civil Wars, The Go! Team’s Rolling Black-outs is frenetic and dynamic.

The first track on the album, “T.O.R.N.A.D.O.” creates a fast pace, only to give way to “Sec-retary Song,” a mid-tempo track that’s equal parts MGMT and 60s-style pop.

The reliance on synthesized horn blasts other effects can get overwhelming, but Rolling Blackouts is unlikely to get bor-ing.

Still, many of the tracks lack powerful hooks, which makes them difficult to remember after the album has finished.

Instead of using hooks, The Go! Team focuses on and suc-ceeds in creating an upbeat atmosphere blending retro soundtrack styles with hip-hop influenced vocals.

While the songs are pleasant, their atmospheric nature and lack of hooks suggest that most of Rolling Blackouts would be better suited as very unique and energetic background music, though the previously men-tioned “Secretary Song,” along with “Apollo Throwdown” and “Buy Nothing Day” are all standout tracks.

Rating: A-

Noise InspectorsBy Ben Gifford, The Cauldron A&E Editor

Left aside from serious con-sideration: The Plot.

Two films into James Cam-eron’s foray to alter movie mak-ing forever and we’re out of material. “Hmm...insane corpo-rate parody with blue titties and hippie-euphoria alien planets. Check. What’s up next? A new Tron movie? I think they’re al-ready doing that. A movie about traveling into the earth? Yeah, great for 3-D, but Brendan Fra-ser did it first—as usual. We can do it more serious with a “true story” angle? Okay. Fine. But I won’t do both substance and surface.”

The plot is desperate. The fa-ther/son paradigm of explorer extraordinaire Frank and his dragged-into-it son Josh is tired and pulls on all of the sad plot lines about overcoming hatred for a father who at times seems less than a man. There’s no way this part was true. Maybe they were father and son, but I find it hard to believe that heart strings and natural disaster can func-tion so intensely in the presence of each other. People would be-come mentally comatose from emotional overdrive.

So what will satisfy people who notice the forced emotion-al liberties taken with the film? Cameron and company obvi-ously recognized the shortcom-ings in depth.

The characters are faceless and future-less. Aside from Frank the father/leader, the rest

of the cast is annoying at best and saturated with overacting at worst. Frank plays something of a balls-to-the-wall Indiana Jones. A Tough Man competi-tion of a father with a knack for poetry. Richard Roxburgh infuses Frank with the enough onscreen grit to at least find one character likeable. Lump the rest together, I’ve never seen ‘em before.

So the characters won’t save the film from its emotional lib-erties. The 3-D will keep people watching for an hour, but it’s just a souped-up Discovery Channel special. There’s no room for nu-dity in the story. So like most American compromises, we must resort to violence.

This is where Sanctum arch-es its back around quality and shoots for the moon. Death comes early. Death comes quickly. Death is looming, close, and likely. Characters are killed in rapid succession. Vivid drowning, shiny-blood face mutilation, assisted sui-

cide, murder. Death and the third dimension are intertwined to overshadow the characters, their weak relations, The Cave and its omniscience and the lack of semblance.

So did it work? Well, kind of. I love roller coasters. It’s kind of cool that some of them now last 1 hour and 43 minutes. 3-D remains a practice. It’s getting much better, but it still has its peripheral blurs. Everyone sees it – don’t patsy around, Cam-eron. But I did notice small instances in the movie where human flesh seemed more...humane, more real. Something more visceral actually came from the screen in James Cam-eron’s latest venture.

However, that remains a dia-mond in the rough. And that diamond is hopelessly small. It’s awash in a sea of sand, complacent script construction and movie flatulence. Immer-sion experimentation in movies has yet to penetrate beyond the flesh.

In last week’s issue of The Cauldron, Pete Lindmark’s review of The Mechanic was incorrectly changed to read that Jason Statham has not appeared in any Uwe Boll movies. Statham has in fact ap-peared in In the Name of the King: A Dungeon Siege Tale, directed by Boll. Poor Jason Statham, what were you thinking?

Editor’s Note

Feb. 1, 2011Memphis Industries

Feb. 1, 2011Sensibility

Sanctum

continued from

page 10

Frank (Rick Roxburgh, left) and his son Josh (Rhys Wakefield) puzzling over the disappearance of women.

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February 7, 2011 / PAGE 13

Cleveland may have the worst pro sports teams, but when it comes to gifted talents, our city is not recog-nized enough for the talented writ-

ers, journalists, artists (studio and visu-al), filmmakers and other extraordinary individuals who reside in the area. To get great recognition in your hometown it takes networking, making a difference through mentoring and your philan-thropic work and (eventually) making a name for yourself. In this Cleveland Lo-cal Artist spotlight S.C. Versilllee, who was born and raised here, tells us about her story as an local artist.

Q. What type of art do you do (visual, performing, sculpture, painting, etc)?

A. Oil is my absolute favorite medium, it’s very versatile and forgiving in com-parison to say, watercolor. As far as sub-ject, I really don’t have a fixed subject. I love the human figure, and I‘m attracted to form, contrast, dynamic composition and rich, deep colors. I also love hors-es or large animals with complex bone structures or accentuated musculature. My work tends to focus around strength and beauty, and the intrinsic power found in the natural world. I strive to tell stories with my work, whether it’s a simple por-trait or something more complex.

Q. As a Cleveland local artist and native how do you incorporate the city or your neighborhood into your art work?

A. Cleveland is surrounded by a wealth of park lands and we are lucky to be situated next to a beautiful lake. Nature is a very powerful muse for me. The city itself also provides a wealth of inspiration; I draw references for my

work from sounds, textures and colors, whether these elements originate from an abandoned factory, an old cemetery, or the lake during a summer sunset.

Q. Have you been featured in any galleries or openings?

A. Yes, I try to have work exhibited in at least two shows a year.

Q. What artists have been your in-spiration in the past and present?

A. Contemporary artists whose work I admire include: Dean Mitchell, Phil Hale, Poteet Victory and Philippe Faraut. Past masters whose work I find inspir-ing include John Singer Sargent, Cara-vaggio, Ludwig Deutsch and Jean Leon Gerome.

Q. How did you get your big break as an artist? When did you know this was a gifted talent?

A. I wouldn’t say there has been a “big break” as much as just steady work; de-fining my goals, building my skills, and setting my art journey on a trajectory that I desire. My art career is a work in progress and I prefer it that way other-wise I would end up getting bored. As far as being gifted or possessing a spe-cial talent, I take Malcolm Gladwell’s view on the subject, what appears to be “magical” or a “gift” is more likely the result of continuous study, practice and dedication to your craft.

Q. Has your work been featured anywhere else besides Cleveland?

A. Yes, I’ve participated in several na-tional shows, most recently in a summer show at the Marietta/Cobb Museum of Art in Marietta, Georgia.

Q. What local artists do you admire or have great connections with?

A. There are several local artists whom I admire because of their dedication to their craft and the quality of their work, one of those is Virgie Patton-Ezelle. I

had the honor of participating in a four-woman show called the “Darkest Sis-ters” with Virgie several years ago and just being in the presence of a talented artist who’s practiced her craft for as

long as she has made a great impact on me.

Q. What is your website where peo-ple can view your art work?

A. www.scversillee.com

Being a Cleveland native and local visual artist, White has teamed up with other local artist such as Anna Ar-nold, Ed Parker and Neal Hamilton to give back to the community. This past summer, they were all part of the Community Arts Mural Project, where they painted dif-ferent murals in three neighborhoods in Cleveland.

White’s community mural can be found at the Glen-ville Development Center. He has also done some mu-ral artwork for NASA to celebrate 100 years of avia-tion. This is not the first time White’s artwork has been on display at CSU. Both he and Arnold had pieces fea-tured in the 2007-2008 art exhibit “Have We Forgot-

ten... ‘Still in Chains’” in the CSU art gallery.The artwork that White has on display in “The Un-

veiled Journey” exhibit is related to Black History Month. “Whenever I do any type of artwork, I love to tell and record history,” said White.

“The Unveiled Journey” is about the different jour-neys African-Americans had to go through to get to where we are now. Some journeys are untold because individuals do not tell it or bring it to light. White’s “unveiled journey” is told through his artwork; each piece represents a different story in historical history.

One of his community murals, titled “Bound For Glo-ry,” located at the intersection of East 105th and Su-perior represents the Cleveland Underground Railroad and the Underground Railroad which Harriet Tubman

led. It emphasizes how they both actually go together in history.

White has high hopes for the city of Cleveland, “our people are bound for a better life,” said white. Each art piece represents a time throughout White’s journey as well as the journeys of other African-Americans.

White’s latest exhibit “We Have Come (Part I): The Unveiled Journey,” is on display outside of the Howard A. Mims Cultural Center in the Main Classroom until Feb. 25.

The Black History Month events are sponsored by CSU’s Office of Diversity and Multicultural Affairs, with collaboration with the Office of the Mayor of the city of Cleveland. For more information about Jerome T. White visit www.jeromesartroom.com

Versillee

Local Artist SpotlightBy Shanette Buford, The Cauldron Staff Writer

An Interview With Cleveland’s S.C. Versillee

Versillee’s “Halo”

kuumba artS feStiVal

continued from page 11

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csucauldron.comFebruary 7, 2011

the melting pot 14The articles published in the Melting Pot are solely the opinions of their authors and do not necessarily represent the views of The Cauldron.

14

Dear Freyja,

A few weeks ago, I went away with my fam-ily for the weekend. When I came back, I noticed my boyfriend was acting weird. We’d only been dat-ing for a month, so I thought

that maybe my weekend

away had distanced us a little, and hoped things would get better.

He kept acting weird though, so I started get-ting worried. Then, the other night, I came home from my class early and found him in bed with my roommate.

I’m not sure what to do. When I caught them, she basically told me that they’ve been together since that weekend, and claimed they’re “in love.”

I’m not sure what to do. I have to live with her until May, and I’m scared he’ll be over all the time and things will be awkward.

Please help!-Betrayed by Boyfriend

Dear Betrayed by Boyfriend,

Wow. What a…well, you know. The first thing you should do is sit down with your roommate and talk about it. Chances are, you’ve been avoiding her. Stop.

Tell her exactly how you feel, and calmly ask her what on earth possessed her to think that what she did was okay. Ask her if she plans to have him over and if their relationship can be carried out elsewhere so that you don’t have to see it.

Then, talk to your ex as well. I know that sounds difficult, but facing your problems can be a huge relief. You can get out all of your feelings and you won’t feel as stressed around both of them if you see them.

If it turns out that your roommate has decided to continue being a…again, you know, then you might need to consider finding new lodging. If you live in the dorms, talk to your RD about changing rooms. Explain the situation.

Usually, as long as there’s somewhere to move you to and a genuine need to move, they’re happy to accommodate.

If you live in an apartment, you might just have to make it work the best you can. Spend as much time as you can with friends and use your apartment as a storage facility and hotel room. If your friends are good friends, they should take up your cause and help you with your sticky situation.

Dear Freyja,

I live in the dorms and am only ever home on long weekends and holidays. My mom calls me seriously all the freakin’ time and asks me where I am and what I’m doing. I get that I’m a fresh-man and just moved out of the house and stuff,

but I’m trying to learn how to be an adult, and I can’t do that with her always breathing down my neck.

I’ve told her that it annoys me and that I want her to stop, and she told me that she has a right to know.

What can I do? -Aggravated Adult

Dear Aggravated Adult,

I know that you’re annoyed, and that’s under-standable. You’re miles away from home, and it seems like what you do shouldn’t concern your mom, because it doesn’t really seem to affect her at all.

You have to see it from her perspective. Her baby just left the nest. Your whole life, she’s had to con-cern herself with where you’re going and who you’re going with, not to prevent you from having a life, but to protect you.

Really, the best thing you can do is sit down with your mom the next long weekend or holiday and talk to her.

Calmly explain to her that you understand what she’s feeling, but that it’s time to start letting go.

If she’s reluctant, see if you can set aside a day/time to call her and let her know your plans for the week and how your last week went instead of having her call you all the time.

Discuss everything with her like the adult you want her to see you as.

And if that doesn’t work, rest assured that most mothers will let go slowly as the years go by.

Need advice on school, life or love? E-mail Freyja at freyja.cauldron@gmail.com. Freyja and The Cauldron respect your privacy.

Dear Freyja, ‘My Roommate Is Sleeping With My Ex’

Photo: loveofthegoddess.blogspot.com

Freyja, Norse goddess and source of modern-day wisdom

First Lady Michelle Obama recently did a series of ads on the Disney Channel to promote the “Magic of Healthy Living” with some of the stars the Disney Channel including Brenda Song and Nick Jonas.

Encouraging kids to eat healthier, turn off the TV and go outside is commendable and I applaud Mrs.

Obama for doing it. However, I can’t help but think that this ad campaign won’t help anything.

Part of the reason for the obesity crisis lies in poverty. Many parents just can’t afford healthier food. This is sad to say, but for many people, greasy fast food winds up on the table, not because of paren-tal laziness, but because of necessity.

In many impoverished areas, there are no play-grounds, parks, swimming pools or rec centers for kids to go to.

Unfortunately, the schools don’t do anything to help matters. I’ve covered this before in The Vin-

dicator, but it bears repeating: school lunches are in general, awful (and I mean this from a nutrition perspective not taste).

Greasy pancake wrapped sausage on a stick, pizza, and sugar filled alleged fruit juices are the norm. It doesn’t help that many schools resist reforming this state of affairs.

Celebrity chef Jamie Oliver constantly faces an

uphill battle when trying to show schools that they can make healthy food that the kids will actually eat with-out breaking the bank. The Huffington Post recently reported that the Los Angeles Unified School District shut him out entirely.

To make matters worse, schools are slashing recess and physical education so there is more time to prepare students for tests since funding rides on test scores.

It’s great that Michelle Obama wants to help. How-ever, simply going on TV and telling kids to get active and eat healthy won’t help if reality prevents them from doing that. She has a lot of influence she can use to change the current reality. As does everyone.

Call your city councilman. Ask why the school’s food is so nutritionally disgusting or why no one’s turning all these vacant lots and abandoned buildings into playgrounds and swimming pools.

The problem of obesity can be fixed but it will take everyone. A couple of ads won’t do it.

First Lady and Disney Channel Join Forces for Healthy Eating Campaign. By Matt Stafford, The Cauldon Staff Writer

Nick Jonas, Tiffany Thornton, Brenda Song, and Michelle Obama in “The Magic of Healthy Living.”

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February 7, 2011 / PAGE 15

According to the oft-quoted “Cleveland Tourism Video” series, “our main export is crippling depression.” In fact, the video goes so far as to say that things are so bad that one can “buy a house for the price of a VCR.”

However, ac-cording to an article put out by Monster.com, Cleveland ranks seventh in the list of hottest job markets right up there with Washington, D.C., Seattle and Boston. Appar-ently, this list is based on the number of jobs available compared to the work force.

Most of you probably stared at your computer screens in shock when you logged onto the CSU Web site and read the article posted about this new rank-ing.

You weren’t alone. I then began a search to find proof that Cleveland has a terrible economy. I looked at Parenting.com’s 2010 list of “5 Worst Cities for Economy.” We weren’t on it. And we went from the most miserable city in the country according to Forbes to number 10 – a clear improvement.

Yes, it sucks to be the 10th most miserable city in the nation, but according to Forbes this is all due to the weather, sports teams and corruption, not our economy.

In fact, the London School of Economics ranked Cleveland 10th among 50 US cities in economic re-covery last November. Part of the ranking was based on annual growth in employment.

I find all of this astounding considering that the Cleveland area’s unemployment rate stands at 8.5 percent according to the Bureau of Labor Statistic, just slightly below the national average. That doesn’t make us an economic hotspot in my mind.

And if you really look at it, we aren’t. Monster.com tells us we’re seventh, but that’s only in avail-able jobs, and the reality is that said job market is mostly due to the healthcare industry. This basically means that you can find jobs if you’re a doctor, nurse, radiographer, medical technician, etc.

But what if you’re not? What if you’re a me-chanic, teacher, or a writer? What if you’re not in the healthcare field? What if you don’t want to be in the healthcare field?

It’s wonderful to look at our city and think that jobs are coming out the wazoo. It’s nice to imagine that they’re readily available and that we’ll probably get a job tomorrow or the next day, because they’re there, and we just have to find them.

But in reality, we’re ranked 183rd in the nation in employment.

It’s great that we’re improving, and that such improvement is being recognized. But false hope isn’t helping anyone.

Cleveland Seventh in Hot Job Markets? By Alexes Spencer, The Cauldron Managing Editor

Cleveland’s Economy: Still Based on LeBron James

College isn’t supposed to be easy; we all under-stand that much right?

If it were a cakewalk, despite the enormous price tag (and I mean, we’d be talking a LOT of cake here) then everyone and their mother would have a college degree and that just isn’t the case. In fact it is more often lately that fewer and fewer people are going to college and the ones that do don’t always finish—and it isn’t surprising why.

A recent article in Salon Magazine posed the ques-tion, “Are American College Kids Falling Behind?” The article interviews NYU sociology Professor Richard Arum, about his study that found that, “an increasing number of undergraduates are moving through college without working particularly hard, and without learning key skills like complex reasoning and critical thinking.”

In Arum’s opinion, students have found too many ways around an enriching and intellectually difficult education and are therefore obtaining substance-less degrees. His solution? “Greater academic rigor, fac-ulty coming together and deciding that courses should have greater rigor in terms of reading and writing and hours spent studying.”

Greater rigor, you say? You mean that Cleveland State should ask more of me than the four research papers I have due in the four Writing Across the Cur-riculum (or, more appropriately “WAC”) classes I am taking? Or ask more than the 75-150 pages of reading I have due in a single class, plus other nightly assign-ments?

I don’t know about you, but I think they plenty rig-orous as it is. In fact, I would argue that it is because of how much they are asking of their students, that universities across the country feel their student body is looking for shortcuts or just cruising through.

When asked what his study found, Arum had this to say; “Fifty percent of the kids in a typical semester say they haven’t taken a single course where they’ve been asked to write 20 pages over the course of the semester. And 32 percent have not taken a single class the prior semester for which they’ve been asked to

read more than 40 pages per week on average, and in terms of homework, 35 per-cent of them say they do five or fewer hours per week studying alone.”

I wouldn’t call that lethargy or in-eptitude Mr. Arum—I call that burn out.

Now, in all fair-ness, at Cleveland State, the general expectation is 2 hours of work outside of class for each credit hour in class (as in a 4 credit hour class ex-pects 8 hours of work

after class each week). However, the modern day college student is a very different creature from the college students of past generations, and I believe universities need to take this into consideration.

For example, the average cost per credit hour for in-state tuition at CSU is $325.75 per credit hour. At an average of 12 credit hours for full-time enrollment, you are looking at roughly $3,909.00 before room and board. Add in the cost of one room in Fenn Tower (double occupancy unit with living area and kitchen-ette) at $6,985.00 for the year, and $3,300.00 for the traditional dining package of 15 meals a week and $200 dining dollars and you’re already at $14,194—before books and parking are added in.

Yes, we usually get loans for all of this, but these loans (and interest) need to be paid off somehow don’t they? Outside of school I have two jobs just to try and keep up, and I have to manage those two jobs with 18 credit hours of classes. I think I am plenty challenged enough already, don’t you?

One other change worth considering is that we don’t learn the same way other generations used to. In a world where all of the knowledge in the world—though not always the most truthful or accurate—is at the touch of our fingertips thanks to Google, we seemingly lack the attention span for in-depth lengthy reading.

In Nicholas Carr’s iconic piece from The Atlan-tic, “Is Google Making Us Stupid?” he discusses this changing trend, and for the most part it is unnervingly true. Why would we sit and read 150+ pages of theo-retical framework in one night when we can Google up a summary and still be able to focus on other equally important things?

It is for this reason that students seek out easier classes on average, because otherwise there aren’t enough asylums in the country to handle all the tweaked-out would-be graduates the higher education system would spawn.

But as they always say, there is a fine line between genius and insanity.

NYU Professor Calls for More Rigorous Class Work

NYU Professor Richard Arum Fantasizes About This Moment in Your Life

Entire US Student Body Responds with Resounding “Whaaa?”By Justin Brenis, The Cauldron Copy/Web Editor

2_7_Master.indd 15 2/7/11 2:08 AM

PAGE 16 / February 7, 2011

The commanding political story for the last two weeks has been the ongoing Egyptian protest, focused on the ousting of current President Hosni Mubarek and forc-ing free elections in the African nation. Many eyes have been on the mixed-messages conveyed by the United States’ government, which hesitated early to recognize the merits of the protesters in Egypt and have since moved to a stance in support of representative government and the transition away from Mubarek. At the same time, the Obama Administra-tion must work to balance the special relationship of a close ally with the pressing need to lead the charge for basic rights of free media and a more representative government.At the latest juncture, the U.S. supports a transition in

which Mubarek himself helps to dismantle his own power structure. U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton expressed support this weekend for Vice President Omar Suleiman, the man designat-ed by Mubarek to carry out the transition. President Obama

has repeatedly stated his desire to see an orderly, peaceful transition begin immediately. Along with his White House team, Obama has been working to negotiate with Egyptian leaders and consult with other world powers, especially those in the region. Debate persists regarding the appropriate time for Mubarek’s departure. Some – Obama included – sug-

gest an immediate transition. Others, including Frank Wisner, who trav-eled to Egypt last week on behalf of the administra-tion, encouraged an extension of Mubarek’s rule and expressed support for the controversial president’s ongo-ing role in the transition and reform. My take on this – the United States was late to the table and perceived as hesitant to disrupting the government of a leader who, while oppressive, has an excellent track record of support-ing U.S. policy and involvement in the region. In fact, some began to question – rightly so – whether the Obama Admin-istration would ever call for the outright removal of Mubarek,

especially if the president’s staff did not support the position. One of the concerns among U.S. officials was that early expressed support of the protesters could lead to diplomatic problems if Mubarek retained power in the long-term. Only after it became apparent that Mubarek would not sustain his government, or rebound from the protests, did the United States make a clear call for his immediate transition out of power. This is not uncommon for the United States – over the past several decades, American admin-istrations have become known for supporting oppressive rulers when their actions favored the United States and later turning on them in less appreciable times. Such was the case with Saddam Hussein in Iraq and the Taliban rulers in Afghanistan. When they provided commodities or held parallel views of U.S. antagonists in the region, friend-ships were formed. Those bonds dissolved when they no longer bore fruit. Then – only then – did the U.S. advocate for freedom.The actions this week support that notion – the U.S. supports democracy around the world –

except in cases where a lack of democracy benefits the United States.

IllumiNation: Examining US Response to Egyptian ProtestBy Reid May, The Cauldron Editor-in-Chief

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Egyptians Protest President MubarekPhoto: Thenational.ae

Fight Breaks Out During Protest

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