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Billikens find a home
Photos by: Ryan Giacomino / Photographer
The bustling business of Chaifetz
Popular venue satisfies SLU community
Chaifetz Arena is never idle. As soon as a 7:30 p.m. concert concluded on Thursday, Nov. 11, the Arena floor was converted to the basketball court for a 9:30 a.m. practice. Later that day, the Are-na hosted a 2 p.m. volleyball match, fol-lowed by the home openers for women’s basketball at 4 p.m. and men’s basketball at 7:30 p.m. The weekend concluded by pulling up the basketball court to make way for a cheerleading event on Satur-day, Nov. 13.
Quick changeovers are nothing new for the 10,600- seat arena, which opened in April 2008. Since its inaugural season, the arena has seen a jump in attendance from 300,000 in 2008-2009 to more than 390,000 in 2009-2010.
“We designed Chaifetz Arena to be a true multipurpose facility, and it’s clear that we’ve met that commitment to the community during our first two years,” Janice Crawford, assistant vice president of business services, said.
Ground was broken in August 2006 on the Arena that would finally provide an on-campus home for Saint Louis Univer-sity athletics. The arena is named after SLU alumnus Richard Chaifetz, M.D., a 1975 graduate of the University. Chaifetz made a $12 million naming gift to the University to help fund the arena. It was
his way of repaying former SLU Presi-dent Paul Reinert, S.J. for helping him remain at the University despite financial hardships.
The completed complex includes the main arena court, a two-court basketball and volleyball practice court, offices for the Athletic Department, locker rooms for Division I teams and state-of-the-art conditioning and sports medicine facili-ties.
Crawford said that the arena has pro-vided a home for Billiken athletics and is also “a very marketable facility and hosts external events that bring many people to our campus and community.”
Chaifetz has already played host to a wide range of events during its first two seasons. In 2008-2009, the arena hosted 100 events and 11 concerts. This past season, 2009-2010, the arena put on 151 events and held 20 concerts. Events have included children’s shows, commence-ments, conferences, comedy acts and a variety of concerts.
Its full schedule earned the arena the honor of “Busiest Venue in the World (10,001-15,000 Capacity)” in the June issue of Venues Today. This award was based on concert and event grosses from April 16-May 15, 2010. During this period, the Arena held 14 events, totaling 41,984 paid tickets. “We had a number of events that month, and we were really proud to be recognized for the work that
we do,” Jim Wynkoop, general manager of the Arena, said. “We hope to continue our success in these rankings.”
Chaifetz is a true multi-use facility, but its steady draw comes from fans at-tending SLU athletic events. According to Crawford, the arena demonstrates the commitment of the SLU administration to enhancing student life and experience on campus. “The location was a priority to encourage students and Billiken sup-porters to attend home games and pro-vide a more easily accessible, on-campus facility,” she said.
Head Volleyball coach Anne Kordes said that the arena has not only provided “an amazing place to play,” but it also aids in the recruitment of new athletes for the program. “When we brought kids to West Pine Gym, we tried to focus on everything else that SLU had to offer and keep the focus away from the facility. We talked about the character and history of the building, but when you’re dealing with 17-year-old kids, they want to see something new.”
Cody Ellis, a member of the men’s basketball team, said that Chaifetz was his favorite out of the arenas he saw while visiting colleges. “There’s nothing like playing here. I think it’s the loudest arena I’ve played in so far. It gets really
By ERIKA MILLEREnterprise Editor
SLU’s green grade lags, stays at ‘C’ level
By KRISTEN MIANONews Editor
See “Ride Board” on Page 2
See “Sustainability” on Page 3
While Saint Louis Univer-sity boasts an average GPA of 3.7 for it’s incoming class, it cannot pull the same scores in it’s sustainabilty efforts. Re-ceiving a C from the College Sustainability Report Card, SLU falls below the average.
The report card assigns let-ter grades to each institution based on several different fac-tors that show their commit-ment to sustainable practices. For the 2011 report card, SLU received a C, the same grade we received last year, putting the school at the lower end of the grade spectrum.
“Majority of the schools this year have been in the B range,” said Christina Billing-sley, a senior research fellow at the Sustainable Endow-ments Institute. “SLU shows consistency, as our grading gets a bit tougher every year, so it’s good that they haven’t dropped, but the grade could be better. “
The sustainability report card assigns grades based on public documentation and several surveys filled out by the University. The surveys address the areas of overall campus sustainability, dining services, student perspec-tive, and endowment use. The surveys are then used to as-sign grades to nine different categories, which are used to assess the overall grade the institution will receive.
“SLU has a diverse range in
all these categories,” Billings-ley said.
While SLU received rela-tively high grades in our ef-forts in transportation, food services, and investment poli-cies, the University received F’s in the areas of Adminis-tration and Share Holder En-gagement. Billingsley thinks administrative effort and the accessibility of information would be an easy area for SLU to develop in.
“Transparency would be a great area to improve in,” Billingsley said. “We look at how accessible information is to the pubic regarding endow-ment holdings and how much shareholders participate in deciding how much money is given to sustainability.”
SLU’s campus evaluation survey this year was coordi-nated by the Division of Busi-ness and Finance, with signifi-cant input from other depart-ments on campus.
According to the response, SLU has yet to implement some of the most important aspects of a sustainable insti-tution.
The University does not have a formal sustainability policy or a master plan to cre-ate one.
There are no departments dedicated solely to making the campus more sustainable and the school has yet to eval-uate things like amount green house gas emissions and
After weeks of planning, strategizing and construction, the Saint Louis University Ride Board and Transportation Center has arrived in the Busch Student Center.
The ideology behind the ride board, according to Student Government Flats at 374 senator Dustin Paluch, is to provide SLU students with a centralized location for finding transportation to a variety of places.
“[The board] will let students find a ride without having to be really good friends with someone who has a car,” Paluch said, who modeled the SLU version after a similar project at Drake University.
The board and transportation center consists of a map of the United States that is divided into seven regions. Each region is a combination of states in a general area that will provide for easy organization of carpool requests.
Along with the map, there is information regarding other modes of transportation such as: Megabus, Amtrak, Greyhound bus lines, St. Louis International Airport and St. Louis Metro transit options.
Though creation of board and transportation center was an initiative that Paluch brainstormed and set out as a personal goal to instate here at SLU, he worked with many different people to bring his goal to fruition.
“As a student center we
By SEAN WORLEYAssistant News Editor
All aboard, for a ride...
See “Chaifetz” on Page 3
want to be supportive of any student initiative that will have a positive effect on the student body,” Chris Grabau, manger of the BSC, said.
Grabau had been working with Paluch for about a month in order to plan the location of the board and to utilize a small budget to acquire materials. According to Grabau, the BSC covered all costs for the needed materials.
After obtaining a home for the ride board, Paluch tackled the legality aspect.
“I worked with Scott Smith in order to settle all the legal issues,” Paluch said.
In order to prevent any legal implications that could be targeted toward the University, the BSC or SGA, liability waivers must be signed in order for students to utilize the ride board.
“Students provide all the information and students
2008-2009
Attendance:300,000
Events: 100Concerts: 11
2009-2010
Attendance:390,000
Events: 151Concerts: 20
Source: Chaifetz Arena Marketing Director Bob Kehm
Saint Louis UniversityMarquette University
Washington University
Brown University
Loyola University- Maryland
Loyola University- Chicago
CB-BACA-
University of Missouri- Columbia B
Sustainability Report CardGrades are based on administration, food and recycling, climate change and energy, student involvement and more. Information
gathered from greenreportcard.com.
SGA tackles Housing’s complexity, revisionsBy SEAN WORLEYAssistant News Editor
A proposed discontinuation of the “squatting” policy, im-plementing a lottery system, a waitlist and limited spaces for upperclassmen are only a few of the proposed changes that the Department of Hous-ing and Residence Life aim to incorporate into the 2011 housing sign-up process.
In the weekly Student Gov-ernment Association senate meeting, Dawn Aldrich, assis-tant director of Housing and Res Life, presented to senate on the proposed changes that will take effect for the spring sign-ups.
“I want to make sure you are fully aware of the proposed changes that we would like to make for the housing sign-up process for this spring,” Al-drich said.
In her presentation, Aldrich walked through changes that include no longer allowing students to “squat” in their current place of residence. Exceptions are for students approved through Disability Services and for students re-siding in the Flats at 374.
When asked why only the students in the Flats were exempt, Aldrich explained
that it simply had to do with an agreement made with the building owners.
Another change to the pro-cess regards how upcoming junior and senior students will acquire their housing. A proposed lottery system in which students would select numbers that represent the order in which students can access their housing assign-ment time slot would help al-leviate some of the issues that the upperclassmen faced last spring.
“Last year, we heard that juniors got the raw end of the deal,” Aldrich said in response to a question asking why the lottery system was chosen. “If the same priority system were used again, it would just be the same as last year.”
As of now, 825 spaces are being reserved for upper-classmen, 288 of which will be in the Flats. If a student is given a lottery number that exceeds the 825 spaces, they will be placed on a waitlist and will not be permitted access to the assignment portal, ex-plains the handout with all the proposed changes.
“No matter how many we have, we’re going to run a lot-tery for all the applications,” Aldrich said. “We will then take 825 [students] and let
Dawn Aldrich, assistant director of Housing and Residence Life, explains that the new changes do reflect student input.
Kati Cundari / Photographer
them select a space in their assigned time.”
Students who are placed on the waitlist have the oppor-tunity to cancel their housing application and have their advanced housing deposit re-funded.
While upperclassmen are not required to live on cam-pus like freshmen and soph-omores, some juniors and seniors are given a housing scholarship that can only be used if living in on-campus housing. Aldrich could not answer whether the housing scholarship would still be re-spected if a student were not
able to acquire on- campus housing.
The Office of Student Fi-nancial Services will release a statement in December that states whether or not the housing scholarships will still be offered or if those funds will be applied toward tuition costs instead in the future. This is currently how scholar-ships are being marketed to incoming students.
Senior Amelia Blanton expressed that moving the housing scholarship to tuition
See “SGA” on Page 3
The University NewsA Student Voice of Saint Louis University Since 1921
unewsonline.com Thursday, November 18, 2010
Harry returns to tHe big screenEnter the final chapter of Rowling’s wizarding world in its movie counterpart.Check out our full movie review and student perspectives on the upcoming film >>arts
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Vol. XC No. 13
unewsonline.comThursday, November 18, 2010
News2
Let Us Introduce YouJesuit has love of the arts, encourages student activism Fr. Gary Seibert, S.J.
Be a Responsible Billiken STOP. CALL. REPORT. 314-977-3000 witness.slu.edu dps.slu.edu
THE SLU SCOOP
Thursday, Nov. 116:59 a.m.-POSSESSION, CONTROLLED SUBSTANCE A student passed out on the floor of the men’s restroom. The officer observed a jar and a bag contain-ing what was believed to be a pipe containing residue of a possible Controlled Substance.
All Information Provided by Department of Public Safety and Security Services
10:30 p.m- ASSAULT 3RD Officers witnessed a female attacking guests on the way to the garage. She repeatedly kicked one of the officers. The female was taken into custody.
Friday, Nov. 122:36 p.m.- VEHICLE ACCIDENT A Grounds worker was driving his cart across Grand and was struck by a vehicle. SLMPD and EMS were contacted and arrived on the scene.
Monday, Nov. 1510:26 p.m- ACCIDENTAL INJURY A student playing basketball was hit in the left eye by another student’s elbow, causing the eye to bleed. A DPSSS officer transported the student to SLUH ER.
Tuesday, Nov. 1611:35 a.m.-STEALING UNDER $500 A student reported that he left his iPod sitting on a desk. When he returned, the iPod was missing.
By PARISA ROUIEContributor
Gary G. Seibert S.J. insist-ed that there are plenty of other faculty members that are so much more interest-ing, that he had a very simple, boring life, but he agreed to The University News interview anyway, opening his door with a laugh and then sitting back on his chair, relaxing.
“I always tell my students to relax,” he said, intertwin-ing a set of relaxed fingers.
He answered the questions as thoroughly as he seemed to help his students. He said “there is only one stupid ques-tion: the unasked question.”
In addition to serving as a Jesuit priest, Seibert is a pro-fessor of Public Speaking and Audio Visual Script writing as well as acting and directing in the Fine and Performing Arts department.
He began his college education in 1960 at Saint Louis University, obtain-ing a degree in Philosophy and Classics then went to Marquette University for a master’s degree in English. He then came back to SLU to study Dogmatic Systematic Theology, which he said is the history of the trinity and sacra-ments. Seibert concluded his studies with a master of fine arts from Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburg, Penn.
He went on to work and live in various places around the world, among them Israel, Ireland, London and Latin America. Among all the plac-es where he had worked and lived, he marked New York as where he felt the most comfortable.
“I was working there with a lot of my friends from Carnegie Mellon,” Seibert said. He also said he directed several plays in New York, but was glad to return to St. Louis.
“I grew up in South St. Louis, in a working-class fam-ily,” he said. “My father was a milkman, but he never com-plained about his job because he knew he was providing for his family.”
Seibert said that getting a job, is not a reason to earn a
college education. “University education
should be a time when stu-dents learn to think,” he said. “Sometimes kids come to uni-versity and they get stupider, because they think they’re here to get a job. But they don’t understand that that’s not why they are here.”
Seibert said he encour-ages an appreciation for the arts and theater. He suggests that, right after teaching stu-dents how to think, one of the things a university education should teach is pleasure.
“If you walk by the Pulitzer Foundation for the Arts build-ing and do not think it is beau-tiful, Seibert said, “Then you have wasted your time.”
He said he commends SLU students on their quali-ties of being polite, kind, and courteous, but he advised that they stand up stronger against “certain injustices in the world,” pointing out rac-ism and sexism, specifically.
“We are still as sexist as we were [in the past],” he said. “We are more hypocritical about it. Yet the glass ceiling is still there.”
He said he wants college students to take on a new mechanism: the default of looking again.
“If you’re at the store and the woman in line is taking too
long, and perhaps she doesn’t speak very good English, you tend to get angry,” Seibert said He recommends is to look a second time with a dif-ferent perspective.
“Maybe she has five kids and is poor,” Seibert said. “Americans have seen free-dom, but not the opposite. We have seen wealth, but not poverty.”
He said he calls upon SLU students to speak out in the larger realm of society, emphasizing how voting is an especially important right. He noted that voting among young people dropped nearly 45 percent this past election, remarking, jokingly, that it is the reason why the country is being run by people who don’t know how to laugh.
“When Thomas Jefferson was writing his memorial, he had them write on his tomb-stone that he was president of the University of Virginia,” Seibert said.
The secret to fulfilling this college education, “is learn-ing how to write a full sen-tence that correctly uses the semicolon!”
While there is no doubt that there may be faculty who are more interesting than Seibert. There are surely few who are nearly as eloquent and dedicated to students.
The duty to overview the board was brought about by a resolution passed earlier this semester during an SGA sen-ate meeting.
“This is for the better-ment of the SLU community,” Podolski said. “I do think it will be utilized.”
Student usage of the ride board can be estimated with its virtual counterpart.
A Facebook page has been up and running since earlier this semester and has 321 people who “like” the page.
The online board will no longer be active once the board officially starts, which is scheduled for Nov. 18.
Paluch, along with SGA, is happy to begin providing students another method of transportation home; how-ever, he does realize that local transportation is also a demand.
The ride board is also intended to provide students carpooling to the Health
Sciences Campus, of which transportation will be even more of a concern once the Grand Bridge closes, Paluch said.
“Grocery shopping as well will be a focus,” Paluch said.
The slips of paper, which students fill out illustrating interest in either drivers or passengers, will also have places to denote need for local transport to grocery and other stores.
This was an addition to the ride board that Paluch stressed to be included.
The opportunity for stu-dents to find transportation to local venues is unique, compared to other universi-ties, to SLU’s version of the board.
The ride board is locat-ed on the second floor of the BSC, next to the Cross Cultural Center.
“It’s a great idea that hope-fully students will take advan-tage of,” said Paluch.
Continued from Page 1
call up each other to meet beforehand,” said Paluch, who also expressed that SGA is not responsible for connect-ing students who are inter-ested in carpooling.
While SGA is taking a hands-off approach in terms of setting up carpools or transportation arrangements for students they, specifically the Civic Affairs committee, will ensure the maintenance of the board.
“As a committee we are in charge of a variety of stu-dent development campaigns, such as Fixing the Little Things,” John Cook School of Business senator and Civic Affairs committee co-chair Grant Podolski said.
Podolski expressed that the ride board will be a slightly different campaign that they are in charge of, but they will still ensure that everything is properly maintained.
Ride Board: Local transport is another focus
Noah Berman / Photo Editor
unewsonline.comThursday, November 18, 2010
News 3
Service opportunity offered over breakBy NIKKI PALAZZOLO
Contributor
Though the 2010-2011 school year has yet to hit Christmas break, some stu-dents already have spring break on their minds.
While the beaches of Flori-da, the oceans near Mexico or the domesticity of home may appeal to students, the Spring BreakOut Mission Trips spon-sored by Campus Ministry of-fer students more options to consider as a unique way to spend their vacations.
Campus Minister Ben Smyth helps organize the events. “It’s like a break out for values,” he said.
Students have the option of attending two different Break Out trip categories: domestic or international.
Domestic trips allow stu-dents to travel to different
places within the United States and to work with a va-riety of organizations.
The international trips, on the other hand, allow students to travel abroad and experi-ence other cultures.
Smyth said that although the international trips are more expensive and intensive than the domestic missions, there is little difference be-tween them.
“Both offer great opportu-nities,” Smyth said.
There are a few more do-mestic travel options than in-ternational.
Students that travel to Mo-bile, Ala. will work with the L’Arche movement, an initia-tive that specializes in help-ing and providing support to those with special needs.
In Klagetoh, Ariz., the student volunteers will work with the Navajo Nation, which
building energy consump-tion. The energy consumed is mostly coal and natural gas and SLU uses little renewable energy.
The school does not com-post and lacks policies regard-ing green maintenance and transportation.
“The administration needs to be doing more,” said James Meiners, the chair man of the Student Government Association’s Environmental Task Force. “Purchasing poli-cies are okay, but we can improve. There’s not really a focus on it now, at least noth-ing long term.”
Meiners stated that some plans are in place that will boost the University’s grade in the future.
“We signed with [Sustainability Tracking Assessment Rating System] in [Association for the Advancement of Sustainability in Higher Education],” said Meiners. “We’ve been push-ing for this for two years and it’s finally been accepted.”
STARS is a program that takes a look at an institution’s energy consumption and green house gas emissions and points out where they can improve.
Meiners said he believes SLU has been inefficient with energy consumption in on campus buildings, especially in the dorms.
“The buildings are badly insulated, and that contrib-utes to our energy consump-tion,” said Meiners. “Joining STARS will show we are com-mitted to sustainability.”
ETF has been pushing for water bottle filling systems on water fountains to make carrying water bottles more convenient and have been strong supporters of the Zip Car plan, which will bring a fleet of hybrid cars to campus for students to use.
The Zip Cars will reduce the need for students to have cars with them on campus, and will therefore reduce the amount of fuel used by the cars at SLU.
There is a push to buy rain barrels to collect perception to be used in place of fresh water in the school’s sprin-kler system.
Reusing rainwater would drastically cut down the University’s water consump-tion. There has also been a lot of concern recently regarding the recycling system at SLU.
“I still hear rumors about recycling bins in dorms not being taken to recycling,” said Meiners. “This scares me a bit.”
Meiners also stressed the need for outdoor recycling bins and more attention from Housing and Residence Life. Due to budget cuts, Residence Life’s commitment to sustain-ability has dropped to the bot-tom of their priorities.
The low grade comes as a surprise to some, as SLU has recently been putting a lot of effort in to the campus’s new Sustainability Center and sus-tainability masters program.
According to the Sustainability Center web-site, SLU is the first Jesuit institution with a center for sustainability and the only Midwestern university to offer a masters program focused entirely on sustainability.
A lot of the sustainability efforts SLU has implemented take place behind the scenes, like with maintenance proce-dures and extensive efforts by the dining facilities, includ-ing plans for composting and commitment to using local produce.
The University is working with engineering students to develop a solar charging sta-tion for golf carts and is look-ing to set up several competi-tions to encourage students to take an active role in sus-tainability efforts.
SLU is participating in “RecycleMania,” which will promote recycling on campus and is setting up a contest in the Village Apartments to reduce the amount of electricity used by the resi-dents. SLU has also installed “vending misers” on vending machines, which will con-serve the amount of energy they consume when no one is using them.
Additionally, the University is evaluating the impact their vendors have on the environ-ment in order to choose more sustainable options and is working on setting up a drive to recycle electronics.
Sustainabil-ity: SLU seeks improvement
Continued from Page 1
Annual Pumpkin Launch is a ‘smash hit’By MARK CAMPOS
Contributor
A backfiring trebuchet caught the attention of student and faculty during this year’s annual Pumpkin Launch, held Nov. 13 at Tegeler Field. Although participants said faulty catapults are not new to the launch, which is hosted by Parks College of Engineering, Aviation, & Technology, the sight of a pumpkin hurdling through a window on the third floor of Ritter Hall could not be ignored.
The pumpkin, launched by a trebuchet built by the Park’s Racing Team, broke clear through a window and into the office of Amy Wright in the foreign language depart-ment as it shattered glass and smashed onto the floor below her desk.
Maintenance workers and officers from the Department of Public Safety and Security Services entered the room to remove what pieces of glass and pumpkin they could, and to seal the window. Except for a broken window, nothing in Wright’s office was damaged.
While perturbed about a pumpkin flying through one of her office windows, Kathleen Llewellyn, Interim Chair of the Department of Foreign Language, said that she was glad the event was held on a Saturday when there was no one in the office.
“It was just an accident,” Llewellyn said. “It wasn’t a good idea to send a pumpkin through the window, but I’m glad no one was in the build-ing.” Llewellyn also said she has nothing incendiary to say against engineering students.
Although Wright could not
be reached for comment, a post-it note was discovered outside her door with the words “Fight Back, Amy.” Attached to the door handle was a miniature pumpkin.
The Pumpkin Launch is an annual event traditionally held by Parks engineering and physics students in Tegeler Field. Students research their own designs and build the catapults, which are usually made out of wood and are built in the participant’s own homes or in the McDonnell Douglas workshop. However, launching must be done mechanically, without com-pressed air or chemicals,
Jessica Rozycki, coordinator of the event, said.
“Smashing pumpkins for the greater good is kind of our motto we’re going by,” Rozycki said.
Although past events were mainly for the amusement of the students and onlook-ers, Rozycki said this year’s event required participants to donate canned goods to charity.
“We kind of changed our perspective.,” Rozycki said. “But this year we decided since it was such a great turn-out in the past, we would try to help everybody else and make it a charity event.”
Upon seeing a pumpkin fly through a window, Rozycki said that she felt shocked, but saw humor in the situation.
“I couldn’t help but laugh,” Rozycki said. “That was a great shot. They get 10 points for accuracy right there.”
The catapult teams consist-ed of Park’s Racing Team, The Society of Physics Students, an off campus engineering fraternity and Peter Zylka, a senior computer engineering major who entered the com-petition as “The Highlander, the Human Sling Shot, and the Man Cannon.”
Zylka said that the event was held annually mainly to
promote interest in engineer-ing.
“It’s a physical application that other people can see,” Zylka said. “It’s good adver-tising, and not to mention it’s fun to do.”
Zylka said the Park’s Racing Team consisted main-ly of mechanical engineers, who were in turn competing against physics students and aerospace engineers.
Except for several pump-kins and a window, no one was hurt in the making of this event, and with the inclusion of charity, smashing pump-kins may indeed be for the greater good.
Chaifetz: Athletic department receives boost from permanent on campus facility Continued from Page 1
loud in there and it fires us up on the court,” he said.
Mike Beczkala, the direc-tor of the SLU pep band, has been through four different arenas during his tenure as band director. He said the main issues with the off-cam-pus venues for men’s basket-ball games centered on size and transportation. Students had to be shuttled back and forth to basketball games or find their own parking down-town at the Scottrade Center.
Beczkala said that aside from convenience, the arena also gives the Billikens a true home-court advantage during games. “You actually feel like you’re part of the game, and you don’t get lost in the space of a huge arena,” he said.
Like Beczkala, upperclass-men students, including Pat May, a senior in the College of Arts & Sciences, under-stand the importance of hav-
ing a mid-sized arena located on-campus. “[Chaifetz] is loud and can create a tough environment for the oppos-ing team to play in, which was rarely the case at [Scottrade],” he said.
“In just a few short years, [Chaifetz has] become one of the most feared arenas to play at in the [Atlantic 10 Confer-ence],” Ian Hackett, also a senior in the College of Arts & Sciences, said. “The arena is truly a one-stop shop for ev-erything athletic; by locating the athletic department there, centrality has been brought to SLU sports.”
Student support for the are-na extends beyond athletics to include the many concerts and other events the arena hosts each year. Both Wynk-oop and Crawford said that Global Spectrum, the man-agement company for the are-na, engages students through pre-sale and discounted ticket opportunities, banners in the
Busch Student Center and advertisements on Facebook and in local publications. The arena also hosts promotions on campus, including “Carrie-oke,” a karaoke contest in the Quad for a pair of tickets to the Carrie Underwood con-cert.
In addition to targeting students for events, the arena also looks to bring members of the outside community to campus.
Students appreciate that the arena, “brings in people that would otherwise not be around our campus and shows them what a great university SLU is,” May said.
High attendance at Chaifetz has also benefited surround-ing restaurants and busi-nesses. Todd Wyatt, general manager of Triumph Grill, said that the restaurant had no idea what to expect when it opened its doors in October 2008. “Much to our pleasure we’ve found the games are
huge for us,” he said. Due to the close proximity of the are-na and the parking lots, Wyatt said that Triumph sees a high volume of customers both be-fore and after athletic events and certain concerts.
Ryan Hanephin, the res-taurant manager of Pappy’s Smokehouse, also said that his restaurant enjoys an increase in business due to events at Chaifetz. According to Hane-phin, the arena, “brings a lot of good people downtown that might not have been able to come downtown before.”
However, not all establish-ments close to campus have seen benefits from Chaifetz. Jan Mangelsdorf, owner of Humphrey’s Restaurant & Tavern, said that her res-taurant seems “to be on the wrong end of campus for Chaifetz events.”
Despite some location is-sues, few would argue that the arena has improved the image of Midtown overall.
“The facility has played a major role in the resurgence happening around that area of campus, including all of the development that has taken place just north of the arena. We’re pleased that our invest-ment in this project has in-spired others to invest in our neighborhood and our com-munity,” Crawford said.
Chaifetz staff and manag-ers have set the bar high for success and attendance. Only time will tell if the arena is able to keep up its fast-paced lifestyle. “The excellent thing about Chaifetz is that its util-ity extends beyond SLU ath-letics,” Hackett said.
“[Chaifetz] has brought life back to Midtown and con-tinues to be a place of gather-ing for all demographics in the St. Louis area by offering countless concerts and per-formances.”
Additional Reporting by Jonathan Ernst and Derrick Neuner.
scholarships will be the best course of action in order to prevent the “fiasco” that occurred last year.
“So long as juniors and seniors, who do not make the lottery, can still use their housing scholarship and have that put towards tuition I agree with this system,” Blanton said. “If not they are truly being forced off campus without any benefit.”
SGA president Courtney Anvender feels that the lot-tery system will be the best to provide “appropriate alloca-tions for upperclassmen.”
“This is one of the only ways that works best with-out having one class pushed
SGA: Informational sessions offer chance for student input, begin next weekContinued from Page 1 entirely off campus,” said
Anvender, who also expressed her sentiments toward mov-ing the housing scholarship. “I truly hope that SLU will be successful in moving the scholarship into the general scholarship fund.”
While juniors and seniors will see many changes to their sign-up process, sophomores will remain mainly unaffected by the changes, as the same priority system used last year will be in effect this year. Sophomores will have access to the housing sign-up sys-tem, after juniors and seniors have first pick of any campus housing space.
“The juniors and seniors get first dibs on anything they want on campus,” Aldrich said.
“We’re not putting a restric-tion on percentages or any-thing like that for buildings. It’s wherever you guys would
like to live on campus.”There will be 1298 spac-
es reserved on campus for sophomores and this number is based on a retention rate of 83 percent. The retention
rate for last year was 81 per-cent. Aldrich explained that if there were a large increase in retention then upperclass-men could see an impact in their housing availability.
An increase in the amount of incoming freshman who choose to live on campus would also have an affect on housing availability as 1575 spaces are currently being reserved. Currently there are about 1555 freshmen on cam-pus.
With the approximate space allocations relying on close estimates with little room for enrollment increas-es, Aldrich stated that there are still no plans to construct a new dorm or acquire more residential space.
“We’re always looking and evaluating the area but no, there are no plans currently,” Aldrich said.
Res Life is also still evaluat-ing their proposed changes. “The overall structure is pret-ty much set,” Aldrich said. “I wanted to have one last oppor-tunity to present to a group of student to get some feedback and make little tweaks here and there.”
While SGA was able to voice their concern in the meeting, the student body will have a similar opportu-nity during housing informa-tional sessions. The sessions will be held at 5:30 p.m. on Nov. 22, 11 a.m. on Nov. 23, 11 a.m. on Dec. 3 and 5:30 p.m. on Dec. 6.
provides students the oppor-tunity to stay with a Native American community and not only serve them, but see the sacred sites on the reserva-tion, too.
Those seeking to venture to Nogales, Ariz., will work with the Kino Border Initia-tive, a program is based on aiding those who have been deported.
A trip to Kermit, W. Va. of-fers students an opportunity to aid the Christian Help Incor-poration and serve through various community projects in the area.
Those who choose New Or-leans, La. will collaborate with Hope House, a community outreach program that allows students to gain experience working in a soup kitchen.
Students can also travel to the Rosebud Indian reserva-tion in South Dakota and work
with the St. Francis Mission, a Catholic program devoted to re-evangelizing the Sioux people of the reservation.
There are a wide variety of international trips as well.
Students that go to Belize in Central America will work with the Hand in Hand Min-istries, a program devoted to assisting those in poverty.
Another service opportuni-ty in the country has students traveling to Punta Gorda and working with community ser-vice projects there.
A trip to El Salvador offers a slightly different experience for students. Instead of a clas-sic service trip, those who travel to this Central Ameri-can country will be involved in cultural immersion.
Added this year is the op-portunity to travel to Jamaica in the Caribbean. Volunteers will help the students at the
school of St. Anne Parish.No matter where a student
decides to travel, Smyth said that each experience has its own benefits. Students who have gone on the trips in years past can agree.
“It was the best spring break I could have imagined. I was able to snorkel and have fun, but the purpose was to help others, which made the experience so much rich-er,” senior Claire Bira, who worked with Hand in Hand Ministries in Belize, said. “It’s life changing.”
The cost of trips range from $1,200 to $1,300 and stu-dents interested in attending a Spring BreakOut Trip next semester are asked to submit an application, available on the University website, with a $50 deposit, to the Eckelkamp Center for Campus Ministry by Nov. 30.
Members of the Parks Racing Team attempted to toss several pumpkins across Tegeler Field on Saturday, Nov. 13 during the annual Pumpkin Launch. One attempt was made unsuccessfully, as a pumpkin crashed through a window and into an office in Ritter Hall, scattering glass and pumpkin seeds on the floor and desk.
Andrea Royals / News Editor
The juniors and seniors get first dibs on anything they want on campus.
- Dawn Aldrich
“”
unewsonline.comThursday, November 18, 2010Opinion Talk to us:
Priya Sirohi 314.977.2812
The University News
Peony Lee / Illustrator
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.
We do not practice what we preach, causing our letter grade in sustainability to plummet
Riding on rhetoric full of lofty academic ideals and ponderous claims about our Jesuit mission, Saint Louis University has recently crashed to a new low with a C grade in sus-tainability.
This is a severe disappointment. Sustainability is an ideology that calls for
the implementing of eco-friendly policies. This includes, but is hardly limited to, re-
cycling, appropriate energy usage, conserva-tion of clean water and reducing waste prod-ucts.
All efforts towards reducing carbon emis-sions, waste products and energy loss are also part of sustainability. It is everything our culture has termed “green.”
Surveys collected by The College Sustain-ability Report Card, an online organization that gauges college efforts to create envi-ronmentally sound practices, exposed a pro-found lack of administrative initiative here that is shocking, especially compared to the extensive programs that flourish at other uni-versities.
We earned solid F’s in the Administration and Shareholder Engagement categories for entirely lacking sustainability committees and outlined core initiatives for sustainability, and having zero involvement with the Univer-sity’s shareholders – the people who invest themselves mentally and monetarily with the workings of our school.
The administration does little to inform these key individuals about the few eco-friendly initiatives we do have.
After a D and a smattering of B’s, C’s in the other categories concerning student in-volvement (the Environmental Task Force and Just Earth bringing those grades up) and eco-friendly campus infrastructures, we received a singular A under Investment Pri-orities.
So, we have “green” policies where it earns us the most “green” in investment returns.
The saddest part about our grade in sus-tainability lies in the fact that we recently started a new master’s program for commu-
Editorials
nity members in sustainability, along with creating a new sustainability center.
These are scant developments; they have not noticeably improved campus sustainabil-ity (as evidenced by our low grade).
We teach and encourage others to imple-ment sustainability plans, while we do noth-ing to do the same thing.
It is hardly fair for us to expect those we teach to be more eco-friendly while we con-tinue to amass waste and allow unsustainable practices. We preach what we do not practice, in short.
This needs to change.With such room for improvement, we can
look to other universities for guidance. According an article published August
2006 in the Seattle Pi, the University of Wash-ington combined undergraduate curriculum with sustainability by having students use cooking oil from campus eateries to conduct experiments looking for ways to alternatively fuel university cars.
Engineering students at Seattle University created their own solar panel system which was successfully installed onto one of the uni-versity buildings.
Washington State University offers an un-dergraduate degree organic farming, the first in the country.
SLU is falling far behind. It might be slight-ly unfair to compare us to Brown University, where they have an on-campus farmer’s mar-ket, or the University of Wisconsin with their 24% carbon emissions reduction.
These A-grade schools have sustainability programs that will take a monumental effort on our part to even hope to emulate.
We need to handle the basics first. Dim-ming lights at night in the dorms (which run full blast), bolstering our broken and incon-sistent recycling system, and making sustain-ability a priority will help us truly be “men and women for others.”
By helping save the planet, we can improve the lives of citizens across the globe. So let’s go green.
Businesses surrounding Saint Louis University eagerly anticipate events at Chaifetz Arena. Acts and shows such as Ben Folds, Vampire Weekend, Disney Princesses on Ice, and So You Think You Can Dance pull crowds from the St. Louis community with magnetic energy, simultaneously bringing life-blood to several eateries in our immedi-ate proximity.
Triumph Grill and Pappy’s especially have seen greater crowds before and after the events, especially athlet-ic events.
Chaifetz Arena is a SLU project that has real-ly brought SLU commu-nity members to campus; our respect and fame has grown within the sur-rounding community. Children will remember shows such as Disney Princesses on Ice; Neil Diamond was a treat for an older generation. Vampire Weekend has thus far been the concert of the year for many SLU students. Chaifetz has proven its ability to reach out to people from all brack-ets of life.
Chaifetz’s growing popularity and well-
Chaifetz’s buzz brings blossoming business to local eateries
Chaifetz Arena is a SLU project that has really brought SLU community members to campus.
“”
established credibility (it was recognized as being the busiest venue of our size in the nation in the months of April and May of this year according to Venues Today magazine) as a platform for these acts has benefited SLU on many levels. As mentioned earlier, surrounding businesses see an increase in traffic on event days at Chaifetz. In addition, however, we see SLU establishing itself as a welcoming, community and family-friendly
campus. We can truly feel like an active part of our surroundings, and it’s a good feeling.
We hope, however, that the administration will recognize that these exciting new changes in our campus dynamic call for an equal number of changes on our part. Greater access to parking (such as Laclede Garage)
for games and events will alleviate some of the crowding problems that naturally happen at large venues.
We want to keep people coming to SLU, and some minor changes can help ensure our continuous and joyful interaction with the people of the greater St. Louis community.
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50%
21%
14%
14%
20+ wins
NCAA Tourna-ment
Atlantic 10 Champions
10 wins
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Quotesof the week
Dear SLU, your silence continues
SLU, something is still very wrong. Stop your ignorance of it already. You sit quietly, again, and do nothing while more details are given to us from the Riverfront Times about the alleged rape case. I am extremely disappointed in you, SLU.
I am upset at your inability to trust us with the truth or which parts of the story you can tell. If you will not talk, then we will. I am angered by your decision to reduce Reed and Mitchell’s sen-tences to only one semester. But what I find more interesting is the return date.
They are allowed to come back in January, but clearly from the date that they were asked to leave campus to the point in which they are allowed re-turn does not count for the full duration of a se-mester.
I wonder if the basketball schedule had some-thing to do with this— but I guess I’ll never know that either because to you, silence is bliss. Why don’t you back up your faculty and staff on the Conduct Board that found a year sufficient?
My second disgrace is the Free Willie group. As a few weeks back the paper had a letter to the editor that echoed the need to surround our fellow Billiken who was the victim instead of upholding the suspects. Do you really want to uphold some-one who said he was hoping on “ ‘pulling a train’ on the victim... without her knowledge or consent.” Really? Is that what we endorse SLU?
SLU I love you and will love you, but I don’t know why you don’t get the message. So I know I can’t change the punishment or what happened, but you can. What are you going to do differently SLU? How are you going to prevent this from hap-pening again? When will you protect the victim as much as you protect your sports team members?
SLU administrators I am calling on you to for once lead by example. Lead by the tradition you claim is so alive here. So far I’ve watched the tradi-tion lived out by the faculty and staff, but through your decisions you show that the mission is just talk.
Be an advocate for social justice, and don’t just use it as a selling point on commercials to increase enrollment. Uphold the dignity of your students. Treat us like the educated adults you wish us to be. SLU it’s our turn to dish out the assignments. So you’re assignment over break SLU is to take a deep long look at yourself, and figure out who you really are, because we, the students, faculty, and staff, would really like to know.
Take the break to search deep down, and expect us to ask when we return as to what you decide. We would really like to know if the Jesuit mission that is so alive here is a simple a marketing tool or a way to live life, because at this point it only looks as a marketing tool to me.
-Bretton DeLaria is a Junior in the College of Educa-tion and Public Service.
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“[Chaifetz] has brought life back to Midtown and continues to be a place of gathering for all demographics in the St. Louis area by offering countless concerts and performances.
”- Ian Hackett, Senior, College of Arts and Sciences.
See Page 3
“I still hear rumors about recycling bins in dorms not being taken to recycling. This scares me a bit.
”-James Meiners, Chairperson of the Environmental Task Force.
See Page 3
“The characters interact as though they are truly going through a war, with excellent acting from the cast.
”-Luciano Formilian, Junior, Parks College of Engineering, Aviation & Technology.
See Page 7
It seems as if two years ago, President Barack Obama could do no wrong. Some
news pun-dits even j o k i n g l y d u b b e d him as “the Messiah” with his promises of a new era and an end to the Bush policies so many of us
had come to hate. Amid a financial meltdown,
he championed financial reg-ulation and called for fiscal re-sponsibility and we applauded him for it. Now, just two years into his presidential term, and one admittedly failed economic stimulus later, the tides have dramatically shift-ed. His approval rating has dipped to a dismal 45 percent and his regulatory practices have turned American busi-ness against him.
President Obama has come under fire within the last year for being anti-business and although he adamantly de-nounces this notion, it is clear by the white house’s scram-bling to debunk his anti-busi-ness image that more people share this sentiment more than ever before.
In February 2010, the cred-it card debt relief bill went into effect. It sounded good on paper; Stop banks from predatory lending practices and put an end to high inter-est rates and fees. Initially it looked like a small victory for the consumer and in many ways it was but upon closer
examination, it seems to have more implications than previ-ously thought.
At Bank of America, It now costs you $8.95 per month to bank with a teller or get a pa-per statement. Free checking accounts are now a thing of the past and there is a good chance that, if you carry a credit card balance, you saw your interest rates swiftly hike up in an attempt to pro-tect the profit margin right before regulations went into effect.
The reality of it is that there has technically never been such a thing as “free check-ing;” you have always paid for it whether it was through in-terest charges or other fees.
The shareholders demand returns and banks in turn are scrambling for ways to make up for their lost profits by passing on the costs to you the consumer.
Small businesses are also feeling the pinch of regulation and you can be sure it is af-fecting you. According to the Office of Advocacy estimates, in 2009, there were 27.5 mil-lion small businesses in the United States– that is busi-nesses employing fewer than 500 employees.
These are the businesses that employ half of all private sector employees and have generated 65 percent of net new jobs over the past 17 years.
Unfortunately, these very same businesses are facing undue stress by president Obama’s policies. They have lost confidence in him and it shows in their hesitancy to expand and hire new employ-ees. The Bush tax cuts are
set to expire on December 31st and as of now, there is no word on whether Obama will extend them or not.
Businesses are avoiding re-investing capital at the risk of unexpected tax hikes and the unknown effects of the health care bill. For those thinking of starting up com-panies, the risk is looking all too great. With only 2/3 of business making it past the 2 year mark, added regulation is just another burden that many are not willing to bear.
President Obama has em-phasized tax cuts for the poor rather than business to stimu-late the economy. Perhaps he fails to realize that businesses create jobs; jobs that give people income which they in turn spend and stimulate the economy. The poor are pay-ing down debt, not spending.
Make no mistake, regula-tion has its place in business but this overregulation is costing the consumer more and slowing down job recov-ery.
Perhaps it is too early to label Obama “anti business;” after all, even the Messiah promised a second coming to finish his work.
It would be unreasonable of us to expect Obama to fix something that has been seemingly held together by duct tape and an artificially in-flated economy for over three decades however, at this rate, he may not get a second chance. It is time he props American businesses up, not drown them with regulations.
Christina Benjamin is a ju-nior in the College of Arts and Sciences.
We attend a school that is trying its hardest to project the image of a suburban cam-
pus - per-haps be-cause that is what sells, per-haps be-cause that is what is felt will b r i n g s e c u r i t y to the s c h o o l . T h e pr ob lem
with this is that we exist in an “anything but suburban” landscape, something that is achingly clear to every-one who visits or attends, or teaches or works here or ex-ists on campus in any capac-ity. The disconnect between campus image and campus reality is causing problems. It makes us angry, uncertain and closed off. The spaces that we inhabit shape the way we live in ways we can’t even imagine: a campus that wish-es it were something else is going to make the students unhappy or uncomfortable.
I’d like to extend an invi-tation to all Saint Louis Uni-versity students, faculty and administrators to attend a small holiday party that I will be throwing on the west side of the Frost campus between Nov. 30 and Dec. 8. This will be an ongoing, circular, con-tinuous celebration— an at-tempt to bring the school’s community together and to inspire togetherness where once there was separation.
It will be located in or around or somewhere near-by the pine trees that have sprung up where palm trees once flourished, and it could happen at any time of day.
What will we be doing, you ask? This is simple. I, or anyone who wants to, can leave small presents in and around those trees. Do this anonymously. Just leave the gift and move on. You can participate however you’d like and how often it seems like a good idea. One gift is all you need to be a part of this. And when you leave a gift, feel free to take one as well: this is from members of the SLU community to other members of the SLU commu-nity.
What should you give? Nothing huge. A penny, even. Just something for anyone to pick up, unwrap, and enjoy. Small favors to bring people together around the trees and towards each other. Think: if you saw a present addressed to anyone (you!) sitting un-der some random tree, what would you expect to find?
For more information, or if you’ve found a package and want to spread the word, please visit the following URL: http://ileftagiftbythet-ree.tumblr.com/
Last but not least: I will be documenting this project, photographically in pristine black and white. Each day I will take a picture of the trees - present laden or not - and these pictures will serve as a record not of the people, but of the things that brought us together. I will post the pic-tures on the blog at the URL mentioned above - will you see the gift you left? The one you picked up?
Why are we doing this? Because we can no longer allow the limits of our sur-roundings to limit the ways in which we interact with each other. Day in and day out I’ve seen people swerv-ing to one side or another of the planters, avoiding human contact and breaking up the flow of human interaction up and down the place we all call school and some call home. I believe that the anonymous leaving of small gifts will force people to look at the trees and at one another, in-stead of around the trees and each other.
We can leave gifts for each other on what has become, for me, the very symbol of our campus’ problem: these mysterious pine trees.
We can try to include our fellow SLU students/teach-ers/administrators in an anonymous gift giving cer-emony that will at least start to improve, idealistically, the way we see our campus. We will be forced to look at each other, to look towards the trees instead of around them; to look at our campus and at ourselves. Where can we go from here?
Noah Berman is a sopho-more in the College of Arts and Sciences.
unewsonline.comThursday, November 18, 2010
Opinion 5Obama has pandered not to liberal demands but conservative ones
Yep, I’m one of them. I’m one of those annoying, mal-content, ultra liberals who
have beef w i t h O b a m a for being too con-ser vative. MSNBC’s Lawrence O’Donnel says it’s my fault the demo-crats got c r u s h e d in the re-
cent elections. White House spokesman Robert Gibbs says that I need to get drug tested, and Obama’s always gracious chief of staff Rahm Emanuel thinks that I’m “retarded”. In short, every reasonable, sen-sible person in Washington knows that people like me shouldn’t be taken seriously, and so if you decide to stop reading this now, I certainly won’t blame you.
But for those of you who are crazy like me, or perhaps just enjoy listening to crazy people, allow me to explain why I’m frustrated.
Obama has repeatedly claimed that Republican ob-struction has been the cause of many of his administra-tions shortcomings. This may be true in regards to his domestic agenda, but on civil liberties issues, where Obama has the power to act unilaterally, his actions have been disappointing to say the least.
Obama has continued, or advanced, nearly every single War on Terror policy from the Bush administration, de-spite his vocal condemnation of them on the campaign trail and during his time in the senate. He has sought to in-crease the executive branch’s power to spy on American citizens, continued with the farcical practice of using mili-
Obama administration doesn’t mean business
Mauriel Blakeley / Illustrator
All my life, I have believed that I am the maker of my own luck.
T h a t “ w h a t I have is what I have ear ned” , and that “I am the master of my own p r o v i -d e n c e , ” has been a central
philosophy to my deepest un-derstandings of self.
Recently, though, I am be-ginning to learn that oppor-tunity plays just as important a role as experience and re-flection, and when combined, each increases the others’ viability e x p o -nential-ly.
A year or two ago, I would h a v e n e v e r e v e n thought to ask m y s e l f q u e s -t i o n s w h i c h challenged my achievements and the avenues by which I accomplished them.
Ironically, my experiences and reflections in the last year or so have given me a different, or perhaps “novel,” worldview about opportunity and the role it has to play in success.
First off, let me say that opportunity, for the most part, is inherited. In the United States, we see – or we choose not to see – a history of opportunity that has been passed down from genera-tion to generation.
From the forced relocation of Native American tribes, to the stained period slavery, to the discriminatory policies of the 1960’s and 1970’s Federal Housing Administration, to what sociologists Oliver and Shapiro have coined the con-temporary “racialization of state policy,” we now live in a legacy of inequality.
My Little Brother in the Big Brothers Big Sisters pro-gram grew up with several half siblings and no father.
I grew up with a mother and father who drove me to soccer practice three days a week.
The inner-city high school students that I tutor pay for their groceries in food stamps, something I have never had to do.
And the lady who I met while doing volunteer work at the drug rehabilitation center had to explain to me what certain drugs were be-fore I could even offer my empathy.
Outside of home, this manifestation of inherited op-portunity still holds true.
I was in Tanzania this past summer teaching English to native KiSwahili speakers.
I quickly learned that, for my students, poverty was a reality of the past, present, and future.
We lived vicariously through each other, as they had seemingly infinite ques-
tions about America.
T h e conversa-tion always ended in, “One day, I want to live in America” – a pipe dream for them, but a natural reality for me.
A f t e r my stud-
ies of U.S. society and social policy, and my experience in Africa, I now ask myself questions which challenge my previous worldview of op-portunity based on merit.
What if I did not live in the suburbs of D.C.?
What if I had not gone to college?
What if I had to worry about next month’s rent?
Would I then be where I am now?…An inspirational figure once asked me, “What is the biggest indicator of how successful you’ll be in life?”
With a smug look on my face, I responded, “Human capital.” He countered, “How you picked your parents.” For me, this is an incredibly humbling insight.
Born to an upper middle class family with high expec-tations who have given me more than enough to achieve them is a blessing.
This entitlement has made me realize that I owe it to more people than just myself to succeed.
Benjamin Stephan is a se-nior in the College of Education and Public Service.
Anonymous gifts will help us see each other
Our entitlement pre-determines our opportunities for the future
Starla Salazar/ Illustrator
tary tribunes instead of civil-ian courts to try Guantanamo Bay detainees, and on numer-ous occasions he has invoked the state secrete privilege as an excuse for withholding in-formation from the press and the courts.
He has also refused to prosecute members of the Bush administration for war crimes, despite the consider-able evidence that multiple high ranking officials, includ-ing the president and vice president, sanctioned the use of torture. Apparently Obama shares Richard Nixon’s belief that when the president does it, it’s not illegal.
All of these things are noxious to idea of liberty in their own right, but they pale in comparison to Obama’s dis-turbing assertion that he has the authority to order the ex-ecution of United State’s citi-zens without due process. His administration has frequently argued that it has the right to kill the American born cleric,
The inner-city high school students that I tu-tor pay for their groceries in food stamps, something I never had to do.
“ ,,
Anwar al-Awlaki, for doing nothing other than exercis-ing his first amendment right to criticize the United States government. In employing such blatant scare tactics, the president sounds exactly like the fear-mongers on the right he spent m u c h of his s e n a t e c a r e e r deriding. Without present-ing a s h r e d of evi-d e n c e , t h e O b a m a a d m i n -istration has repeatedly claimed that al-Awlaki is too dangerous to be tried in court, and there-fore must be assassinated. Al-Awlaki, who is currently believed to be hiding out in Yemen, has with the help of
his father, leveled a lawsuit against the United States gov-ernment, asking that they please stop trying to kill him.
In my opinion, this is a request that no individual should ever have to make of their government.
L i v i n g within the closed off b u b b l e that is Saint Louis University, it’s hard to see how these is-sues affect us, and I will be the first to ad-mit that their practi-
cal implications are few. Civil liberties are about principles, not practicality, and this ad-ministration continues to act as if it has none.
Whether or not you like or agree with al-Awlaki, to say
that he should be murdered without due process is to, in effect, say that any person who says things the govern-ment doesn’t like should suf-fer a similar fate, a concession that I would hope no person would be willing to make.
In light of these egregious attacks on our civil liberties, I find it absurd that just pri-or to the midterm elections, Obama had the audacity tell the democratic base that “If we want the kind of coun-try that respects civil rights and civil liberties, we’d better fight in this election.”
How Obama, as a former of scholar of constitutional law, can make statements like this with a straight face is simply baffling to me. I may be a crazy, delusional liberal, but at least I’m not living in the fan-tasy world that Mr. Obama ap-pears to currently reside in.
Joseph Benak is a sopho-more in the College of Arts and Sciences.
Commentary
noah Berman
Commentary
Christina Benjamin
Commentary
joseph Benak
I may be a crazy, delu-sional liberal, but at least I’m not living in the fanta-sy world that Mr. Obama appears to currently re-side in.
“ ,,
Commentary
Benjamin stephan
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MOVIES
Thursday, November 188 p.m.Shearwater
Blueberry HillTickets are $12-14
7:30 p.m.Mike Stern Band
Jazz at the BistroTickets are $15
Friday, November 19
7:30 p.m.Mike Stern Band
Jazz at the BistroTickets are $15
Saturday, November 20
7 p.m.Beyond all reaSon ConCert
BSC BallroomsTickets are $5
7:30 p.m.Mike Stern Band
Jazz at the BistroTickets are $15
Monday, November 24
8 p.m.two Cow GaraGe
Off BroadwayTickets are $8-11
Tuesday, November 23
9 p.m.the neverhawkS
Firebird STLTickets are $8
Friday, November 19
harry Potter and the deathly hallowS oPenS in theatreS
Friday, November 19
8 p.m.CaBaret
Xavier Hall TheatreTickets are $7
8 p.m.South PaCifiC
The Fox TheatreFor ticket information visit fabulousfox.com
Saturday, November 20
8 p.m.CaBaret
Xavier Hall TheatreTickets are $7
8 p.m.South PaCifiC
The Fox TheatreFor ticket information visit fabulousfox.com
Sunday, November 21
2 p.m.CaBaret
Xavier Hall TheatreTickets are $7
2 p.m.South PaCifiC
The Fox TheatreFor ticket information visit fabulousfox.com
unewsonline.comThursday, November 18, 2010Arts
The University News
Talk to us: Ashley Jones 314.977.2812
It has been nine years since the little boy with the lighten-ing bolt scar first emerged
onto film. In its opening weekend, “ H a r r y P o t t e r and the Sorcerer’s S t o n e ” made a little over $90 million and a gross box office in the U.S.
of over $300 million. The five sequels that fol-
lowed did equally well, and Harry Potter became a name mentioned in households around the world.
The final chapter of the wizard world, entitled “Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows,” has been broken into two parts, with the sec-ond part set to release in the summer of 2011.
The first part, being released Friday, Nov. 19, will definitely follow suite with its predecessors and have a record-breaking opening weekend.
At the end of the last film, “Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince” movie enthu-siasts were shocked when the endearing character of Professor Albus Dumbledore (Michael Gambon) was mur-dered.
Continuing the storyline in the new film “Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 1,” Harry Potter (Daniel Radcliffe), Hermione Granger (Emma Watson) and Ron Weasley (Rupert Grint) are racing against time to find and destroy the remaining parts of Lord Voldemort’s
(Ralph Fiennes) soul, called Horcruxes.
Along their journey, the trio uncovers the existence of the three most powerful objects in the wizarding world, the Deathly Hallows.
In the previous films, fans of the book series were dis-appointed to find critical plot elements left out.
However, with the last book being broken into two parts, the attention to detail in the film was substantially better.
The most notable of these details is the look of the char-acters and environments. Throughout the film, there is an extraordinary difference from the usual happy demean-or of some of the previous films. The characters interact as though they truly are going through a war, with excellent acting from the cast.
This interaction truly hits the audience with the death
of the charming house elf Dobby. If not for the little house elf, the trio of friends and other wizards who are imprisoned, including the odd Luna Lovegood, would meet their end.
With the realization of Dobby’s death, Harry decides to bury him without magic and in doing so, gives the elf the equality he desired. And, in the book, the inscription on his grave reads, “Here lies Dobby, a free elf.”
Also, the realism of the environment magnifies the connection of the audience to the story.
This is best seen in the difference of the entryway to the Ministry of Magic. In the sixth film, the entryway is shown as a glorious place including a golden fountain with a statue exemplifying the cooperation between wizards and other magical races.
In contrast, the entryway
in the new film is a dark and ominous place with the fore mentioned statue being replaced with wizards atop a stone monument squash-ing muggles, non-magical persons, with the inscrip-tion, “Magic is Might.” As described in the book, “Harry looked more closely and realized that what he had thought were decoratively carved thrones were actually mounds of carved humans: hundreds and hundreds of naked bodies, men, women, and children, all with rather stupid, ugly faces, twisted and pressed together to support the weight of the handsomely robed wizards.”
This attention to detail sig-nificantly adds to the enjoy-ment of the film, but a few differences from the book do exist. These differences are
Photos courtsey of Warner Bros.
(Above) Photos from the newest installment of the “Harry Potter” series “Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows.” The movie will be released on Nov. 19. Emma Watson, Rupert Grint and Daniel Radcliffe return as Hermione, Ron and Harry.
What do you think about the release of “Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows?”
“I’m going to the midnight show-ing, and I’m super stoked! We’re leaving at 8:30, so we can get the best seats possible.”
Erica JandernoaSophomore
Film Review
luciano FoRmilan
Student musician records, produces
Senior music studies major John Donovan released his first album “Bells Will Ring” back in September.
Not only did he do all the recording and producing, but he did it all in his bedroom.
Recording the album was a three-month creative process, in which Donovan said the work for each song was dif-ferent.
The process consisted of making recordings for each instrument and then layering them on top of each other.
In addition to recording and producing his own album, Donovan also wrote all of the music for the album.
He said that many things, from relationships to every-day occurrences, inspire his music.
He also explained that some of the songs just hap-pened with no reason.
He would describe his music as being of the Americana genre.
The album is made up of seven tracks includ-ing “Impossible to Name,” “Watching the Clock Again” and “Brother John.”
It is from the song “Brother John” that Donovan created the album’s title “Bells Will Ring.”
The lyrics are “Oh when you, when you return once more, when you return once more the birds will sing and bells will ring from shore to solemn shore.”
Donovan has been playing music most of his life.
He began playing the saxo-phone in fourth grade and picked up the guitar in eighth grade, which he taught him-self to play.
“I love making music, and the guitar is perfect for that,” Donovan said.
He explained that he plays music for many reasons, but mostly because it has always made sense to him.
“Music provides a level of expression and communica-tion that I can’t reach other-wise. It is an irreplaceable creative outlet,” Donovan said.
While he said that he does not really draw inspiration from any particular musicians, he does enjoy listening to Bob Dylan and Sam Amidon.
In addition to being a musi-cian, Donovan is also involved in the new music fraternity on campus, Mu Beta Psi.
He is also a part of the Jazz Ensemble, which will be hav-ing their first performance of the semester on Dec. 6.
Donovan is unsure what he will do after graduation.
While music is currently only a hobby for him, he is prepared to make it into a career.
He is considering music education or attending gradu-ate school for music.
“I am open to any life path that allows me to continue creating and sharing music. If I can make a living from the music I write, then I’ll pursue that path happily,” he said.
Donovan will be playing at the Billiken Club on Nov. 19. The show starts at 9 p.m., and admission is free.
“This is my first legit con-cert where I will perform my own music…I am happy [The Billiken Club] asked,” Donovan said.
By ASHLEY JONES Arts Editor
Noah Berman / Photo Editor
Senior John Donovan released his own album, “Bells Will Ring” in September. He will be per-forming at the Billiken Club on Nov. 19.
See “Harry Potter” on Page 8
“The movie… it is a beautiful and terrible thing, and therefore should be treated with great caution.”
Drew TiggesSenior
“I work at a movie theatre, so I actually kind of dread it.”
Kyle DawkinsSenior
OUTon the
TOWNChosen by theArts Editors Latest Potter film sticks to details
‘Deathly Hallows’ cast continues magical performance
The Good: Character develop-ment, environmental setting and action sequences.
The Bad: None
The Verdict: The film was a great joy to watch, and the release of the second part cannot arrive soon enough.
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 1
5/5
unewsonline.comThursday, October 7, 2010
unewsonline.comThursday, November 18, 2010
Arts8Beyond All Reason to perform ‘BARbie’- themed fall concert
SLU Theatre portrays dark era
Kati Cundari / Photographer
Beyond All Reason members practice for their upcoming concert, “It’s a BARbie World.” The concert will take place on Nov. 20 at 7 p.m. in the Busch Student Center.
By SHELBY ROZIER Staff Writer
Beyond All Reason, Saint Louis University’s all-female a capella group will be hosting their 2010 fall concert on Nov. 20.
This year’s theme is “It’s a BARbie World.”
“One of our girls’ roommates thought of it as a funny play-on-words sort of thing, so she started addressing us all as BARbies in her emails. We thought it’d be fun theme for our group since we’re an all female group, and many of us were your typical girly-girl and very into barbies when we were younger,” senior and music director of BAR, Kristine Gage said.
BAR will be joined by special guests, Bare Naked Statues (the all-male a capella group at SLU), ASTHA, Decadence (SLU’s brand new co-ed a capella group) and Washington University’s The Pikers. Each group will perform to give audience members a taste of what other groups are around SLU.
“Audience members can
expect to see Barbie themed visual stimulation. In addition, we’re performing more songs that are by female artists and convey themes of girl power,” Gage said.
Beyond All Reason has been singing as an a capella group since 2002. Over the years, BAR has seen some dramatic changes.
“BAR has grown a considerable amount since I joined a few years ago. We’ve been getting out and singing at a lot more events around St. Louis, for groups from other universities, at St. Louis Cardinals games and for non-profit organizations in the city. We now have multiple girls that are capable of arranging songs for the group, and that comes as a big help to the music director and also gives more responsibility to the rest of the group,” president Rachel Halicks said.
As president, Rachel primarily focuses on the organizational factors of the group.
“Keeping things on track for our end-of-semester concerts, scheduling events and maintaining contact with
other organizations for which we perform. I also assist with keeping the group focused during rehearsals and facilitate the actions carried out by the other executive board positions,” Halicks said.
Beyond All Reason’s concerts have always been a popular attraction for SLU students, performing songs by popular artists such as No Doubt, Imogen Heap, Jordin Sparks and Taylor Swift.
“Last year they had a 90s concert, and my favorite song they sang at that concert was ‘No Scrubs’ by TLC. They also did a mash up of different 90s TV show theme songs, and that was really fun, mostly because it was all the shows everyone in the crowd grew up watching,” junior Lauren Butler said.
Members of BAR can be found around campus selling tickets for their upcoming concert until Nov. 19. Tickets are $5 and can be bought at the door, if you do not catch a member around campus. The concert will take place at 7 p.m. in the Busch Student Center, rooms 170-171.
Based on the book “The Berlin Stories” by Christopher Isherwood and the play “I am
a Camera” by John V a n D r u t e n , “Cabaret” tells the story of an American n o v e l i s t , C l i f f o r d Bradshaw ( M a r k Holzum), who goes
to Berlin to find inspiration only to leave in desperation. He comes across several interesting, eclectic charac-ters while in Berlin.
Billy Bommarito, perfectly portrayed a trusting, caring Herr Schultz, while Katie McGee (Sally Bowles) stood out with her strong vocals and onstage antics that made the audience fall in love with her.
Mark Holzum (Clifford Bradshaw) delivered a heart-breaking performance that really made the audience believe in his character. Frau Schneider, played by Allison Wolz, endured the hardships right along side her charac-ter.
The musical required a lot of time and preparation.
“I did a lot of historical research for the role. Before rehearsals started I was mem-orizing lines on flashcards between classes so I could come into the rehearsal hall off-book and ready to dive in. I also worked outside of rehearsals with Mark Holzum on scene work to develop Sally and Cliff’s relationship and to find the proper emotional arc for their story,” McGee said.
Smaller roles, such as the Kit Kat Girls, Fraulein Kost (Caroline Swan) and Ernst Ludwig (Peter Hasser) beau-tifully displayed German life in the 1930s.
Most notable would be the mesmerizing Emcee (Carl Schneider).
Schneider drew the audi-ence in, as he narrated the lives of the onstage charac-ters, with his haunting looks and powerful voice.
Through out the entire
show, he provided a comic relief by interacting with the audience and sincerely becoming his character.
“It was so fun to seduce them, shock them and scare them,” Schneider said. “I can see and hear how they react, and sometimes I even feel the way the energy shifts in the room.”
The first act of “Cabaret” provided fun, up-beat tunes, played by an on-stage band.
These tunes included “Don’t Tell Momma,” “Two Ladies” and “The Money Song.”
During the second act, when the Nazi presence becomes more prevalent songs like “I Don’t Care Much” and “Cabaret” con-vey a darker, more serious approach to the show.
Director Gary Barker said, “‘Cabaret’ is much darker both thematically and visu-ally. While it has some very entertaining moments and
beautiful music, ‘Cabaret”’ strives to explore attitudes and experiences leading up to and throughout one of the most horrific periods in human history.”
With “Cabaret” taking place in a well-known period of time, it is hard not to go into the musical without mis-conceived assumptions.
“Come [into the show] with a clean slate and be ready to laugh, to be charmed and to hold back those tears. This show takes place in an era that we have all leaned about but have never had the mis-fortune of experiencing first-hand. This is an opportunity to begin to understand the hard-ship many had to endure,” Bommarito said.
If you missed last week-end’s production of “Cabaret,” there are three more produc-tions of the musical on Nov. 19 and 20 at 8 p.m., and Nov. 21 at 2 p.m.
Harry Potter: Anticipation for film release heightens
Photo courtesy of Warner Bros.
Daniel Radcliffe stars in the seventh enstallment of the series: “Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows.”
Noah Berman / Photo Editor
Senior Katie McGee plays Sally Bowles in The University Theatre’s version of the musical “Cabaret.” The show will be playing Nov. 19-21.
Rated PG-13Director: David Yates
Release Date: November 19,2010
Based on the book: Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows
Stars: Daniel Radcliffe, Emma Watson,
Rupert Grint
Running Time: 146 minutes
Moolahstlouiscinemas.com/moolah
Galleria 6stlouiscinemas.com/Galleria
Chase Park Plazastlouiscinemas.com/Chase
Ronnies 20 Cinewehrenberg.com/theatreDetail.asp?theatre=24
AMC Crestwood Plaza 10amctheatres.com/crestwood
Showing at:Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 1
not significant and do not add entirely new scenes, such as in the last film.
One minor difference was the way in which Harry’s owl, Hedwig, dies. In the book, Hedwig is killed in her cage by a Death Eater, a dark wiz-ard, who is chasing Harry on a broomstick. However, in the film, the courageous owl is out of her cage and flies in front of the killing curse purposely, in order to save Harry’s life. This differ-ence did not retract from the film and, if anything, added to both the character of the owl and to the plot.
The film has had an over-whelming anticipation to be released.
This desire to see the film led to the leak of the first thirty-six minutes of the film to many BitTorrent websites on Nov. 15. Warner Bros. is actively investigating who released the film early, but speculation around the leak has led others to wonder whether the studio released it themselves in order to pub-licize the film before its open-ing. However, no matter who leaked the beginning of the film, it is not worth watching early and ruining the experi-ence of watching in theater. This film was a great joy to watch and the release of the second part cannot arrive soon enough.
Cast of ‘Cabaret’ provides convincing performance
Musical Review
shelby RozieR
Continued from Page 7
unewsonline.comThursday, November 18, 2010
Arts 9Boyle provides masterpiece with latest film ‘127 hours’
It was a chilly November night, the evening of the St. Louis Film Festival showing
of Danny Boyle’s lat-est, “127 H o u r s . ” As one of what had to be hundreds of St. Louisians b r a v i n g the cold and the long lines,
I wondered if the wait would be worth it. Could Danny Boyle possibly get out from between the rock and a hard place of the expectations fol-lowing on from “Slumdog Millionaire?” Or would he sink down into a crev-ice of low ratings and even lower box office numbers? Fortunately, nobody wrench-es Danny Boyle’s arm into doing anything in a way he doesn’t want to do it, and “127 Hours” is yet another master-piece.
Telling the true-life story of Aron Ralston - a mountain climber who had to cut off his arm in order to free him-self from a boulder - Danny Boyle yet again weaves cin-ematic magic. You might think that watching a guy spend 127 hours in the bot-tom of a canyon would not make for great cinema; put Danny Boyle in charge of the project and it’s a 97 minute long version of that one scene from that one movie you love. No joke! James Franco plays Mr. Ralston and plays him well, and he better because, for about 90 percent of the movie, he is the only charac-ter on screen. He carries the movie, alternating between drawn out moments of ago-nizing pain and suspense and well-performed dark humor.
Danny Boyle’s direction, though, steals the show: trade-mark use of color, fast cuts and a brilliant soundtrack by none other than A. R. Rahman com-bine together to keep view-ers enthralled. I won’t give away all of his tricks, but Mr. Boyle is clearly on a relentless quest to become a better film-maker each time he releas-es a movie, something you can’t say about all directors.
The audience might already know how the film is going to end, but the shear number of false starts and high-tension moments before the act itself means that by time the ampu-tation actually happens, you can cut the apprehension in the room with, ahem, a knife.
In moviemaking, every action, every word of dia-logue, every shot, everything that goes into telling the story absolutely must advance the film in one way or another; there is absolutely nothing extraneous in “127 Hours.” Even bits and pieces that seem silly or unnecessary are always, by the end of the film, relevant. Nothing - with the exception of Aron Ralston’s fall - happens by accident. Anton Chekov said that if a gun appears in the first act, it better be used by the third; this is a maxim that Danny Boyle appears to have tat-tooed under his eyelids.
There have been reports of audience members fainting during the climax of the film. I can only imagine that they did so out of relief from suspense; this is not a graphic film, in the sense that “Hot Fuzz” is a graphic film. The amputation is by nature a brutal event, but you almost feel glad that it’s finally happened. You feel - and this is a testament to the prowess of everyone involved in the making the movie - as free as Mr. Ralston must have felt, to know that finally we can leave this dark corner of the world.
Go see “127 Hours” as soon as you possibly can; there might not be young wizards and dark evils, but you’ll go home in awe just the same.
Hellogoodbye’s new album “Would It Kill You?” hit shelves on Nov. 9.
B e s t known for the single, “ H e r e (In Your A r m s ) ” from their first album, the band hopes to create a s i m i l a r buzz with a new sound
and new direction combined with their previous charm and enthusiastic attitude.
Straying away from the electronic sound of their first album “Zombies! Aliens! Vampires! Dinosaurs!,”, the band takes on a whimsical
Hellogoodbye’s latest album is worth the listening time
sound like Chaifetz’s recent guest, Vampire Weekend, with a twist of Matt and Kim’s bubbly style thrown in for good measure in this new album.
Starting in 2001 when front man Forrest Kline used share-ware-recording programs on his parents PC to record the first album to self-booking tours and getting signed to Drive-Thru Records to selling 1,000,000 copies of “Here (In Your Arms),” the guys antici-pate similar success with the catchy tunes and popularized sound of “Would It Kill You?”
The album provides a vari-ety of song types from the Beatles’ “A Day In the Life” replicate of “Betrayed By Bones” to the slow, almost Jack Johnson-like melody of “Something You Misplaced.”
Commendable in the indi-viduality of each song and general catchiness of the album as a whole, the title track “Would It Kill You?” left something to be desired. Nothing about the song was memorable or even particu-larly pleasurable to listen to.
Thankfully, the rest of the album makes up for the minor downfall of this song. Favorites among the album include “The Thoughts That Give Me The Creeps,” with its ironically upbeat melody and “You Sleep Alone,” a mix of sounds and styles that come together to a create an amaz-ingly constructed love song for cynics.
Overall, the album is said to be about letting go, accept-ing and eventually celebrat-ing the weirdness of life. The
sounds and lyrics prove this idea, some lyrics ranging from the wildly incomprehen-sible to the oddly clear; all of which, if nothing else, create an interesting musical com-bination.
As for the title, the rhetori-cal question is raised in order to ask something along the lines of the many what-ifs that continually run through one’s head.
Would it kill you to take a chance? Would it kill you to live outside of your comfort zone? The most important question that Hellogoodbye asks, though: would it kill you to take a listen to the album?
“Would It Kill You?” is defi-nitely worth an hour of your listening time and is a more-than-adequate follow-up from this band.
‘Wizard of Oz’ incorporates local Muny Kids
The tale of the “Wizard of Oz” will be brought to life again on Nov. 26-28.
On the 70th anniversary of the classic film, it is only fit-ting that the “Wizard of Oz” makes its way to the Fabulous Fox Theatre.
The musical will not only showcase professional actors, but also some of St. Louis’ very own rising stars.
Supporting Cassie Okenka, best known from MTV’s “Legally Blonde: The Search for Elle Woods,” as Dorothy, will be 12 of St. Louis’ Muny Kids.
The 12 actors, singers and dancers auditioned and were cast in the touring musical a few months ago.
This opportunity will pro-vide the Muny Kids with tour-ing theater experience.
They will learn choreogra-phy by Leigh Constantine and be outfitted in the costume designs of Tim McQuillen-Wright.
To provide these opportu-nities, the touring company, MSG Entertainment, holds auditions at each tour loca-tion for groups of 12 children to try-out for this unique cho-rus.
Photo Couresy of Peter Coombs
The cast of ‘Wizard of Oz’ performs a scene in Munchkin Land. The musical will be at the Fox Theatre Nov. 26-28.
The other Munchkins and Lollipop Guild members are played by adults that travel with the cast.
Ten-year-old Rhys Prosser is just one of the Muny Kids cast in the musical.
This young performer has been dabbling in musical the-ater at community theatres since he was seven-years-old.
“My sister does [acting] too, and I just got interested in it,” Prosser said.
About two years ago, he auditioned and was cast in “90 Years of Muny Magic.”
Since then, he has appeared in “Beauty and the Beast.” Prosser sang and danced with 11 other Muny kids at the audition, which he described as “lots of fun!”
In order to prepare himself for the show, Prosser prac-tices every day.
“They gave us a CD to help us, and we have to rehearse on our own,” he said.
He explained that his favor-ite part of the gig is the cast party.
“At the end, we have a cast party, and the two dogs that play Toto are going to be there, so we get to play with them,” Prosser said.
He also loves the charac-ters, as well as the moving story about finding one’s
heart, mind and courage. According to the Prosser,
St. Louis residents should see the show because “it’s the 70th anniversary, and it’s good for the whole family.”
Prosser could not be more thankful for this opportunity
to perform. “When I was really little,”
he said, “I saw ‘Joseph’ at the Fox. I told my mom that I wanted to be on that stage someday.”
For more information visit fabulousfox.com.
By KRISTIN MCGUIRE Associate Arts Editor
Album Review
StephAnie muelleR
movie Review
noAh beRmAn
Band switches direction, takes on whimsical, catchy sound in ‘Would it Kill You?’
5/5
The Good: Danny Boyle tells perfect story.
The Bad:Rumors of fainting have been greatly exaggerated.
The VerdicT:See this movie in the next 127 hours.
By DERRICK NEUNERAssociate Sports Editor
A sloppy start and a domi-nant run by Butler doomed the Saint Louis University Billikens Wednesday, Nov. 17 in Indianapolis, as the women’s basketball team fell 69-62. It was the first game of a two-game road trip that features a tilt with Arkansas State on Friday, Nov. 18.
Lauren Woods led the Billikens (1-2) with 16 points, while Kathryn Hester tallied 13 points and a game- and career-high 13 rebounds. Hester tied her career best with seven offensive boards. Ashley Hanlen was 3-of-5 from beyond the arc and fin-ished with a career-high 11 points.
Butler finished the game on a 12-6 run. The Billikens earned a 41-27 advantage on the glass, including 19 offen-sive rebounds. But SLU com-mitted 19 turnovers. Butler shot 50 percent in the second half to just 33.3 percent for the Bills.
“We let a great opportu-nity slip away because of a few defensive lapses,” head coach Shimmy Gray-Miller said. “Our breakdowns at the end come from not knowing how to put games away. Their seniors really stepped up, and that’s what we need from ours.”
The game was all netted up well into the second half until the Bulldogs put together an 8-0 run for a 41-35 advantage. Ashley Hanlen and Ayriell Robinson buried 3-pointers on consecutive possessions to tie the game at 41. The teams traded baskets, and then the Bulldogs assembled a 13-4 flurry to build a 56-47 cush-ion. Back came the Bills, how-ever, holding Butler scoreless on three straight and five of six possessions while gradu-ally inching closer.
Close was never good enough, though. Butler scored on its final seven pos-sessions to secure its first win of the season. They are 1-1.
“We are close, very close,” Gray-Miller said. “Butler was
a 20-win team last year that returned four starters and handled us at our place last year. We are headed in the right direction.”
That SLU is headed in the right direction was evident on Sunday, Nov. 14, when the Billikens took on Morgan State at Chaifetz Arena. The Billikens out-rebounded the Bears 50-32 and grabbed 15 boards on the offensive glass, which turned into 12 points, and would never let the Bears get closer than six points.
Woods scored 21 points and sophomore forward Mallory Eggert recorded a career-high 13 points. Woods went 9-for-16 from the floor en route to her game-high 21 points. She also corralled eight rebounds. Eggert’s 13 points came on 6-of-9 shoot-ing from the field.
The Bears struggled to gain composure and, though they tried to manufacture a comeback, were stopped cold by a stingy Billiken defense. They shot a meager 33 per-cent from the field.
unewsonline.comThursday, November 18, 2010Sports Talk to us: Chris Ackels
314.977.2812 [email protected]
The University News
Women’s BasketBall
Head coach Shimmy Gray-Miller is holding her annual competition to win free books for a semester on Sunday, Nov. 21.
Students who at-tend the women’s game against Murray State will have a chance to be entered into a drawing to win books courtesy of Gray-Miller. A minimum of 75 students must at-tend before the contest will begin.
The Billikens tip-off at Chaifetz Arena at 2 p.m.
Cross Country
SLU’s women’s cross country squad finished 15th overall Saturday, Nov. 12, at the NCAA Midwest Regional. It was the Billikens’ best-ever finish in the event.
Hilary Orf led all Bil-likens with a 6K time of 21:17.09, which was good for 44th over-all. Margo Richardson placed 70th overall.
Billiken Briefs
men’s BasketBall
SLU is one of seven teams confirmed for the 2011 “76 Classic,” an eight-team tournament to be held over Thanks-giving weekend, in Ana-heim, Calif.
The fifth annual “76 Classic” includes SLU, Boston College, Oklaho-ma, New Mexico, Santa Clara, Washington State and Villanova.
The 2011 “76 Classic,” a bracket-format tour-nament, will feature 12 games over three days.
Basketball returns to Chaifetz
By CHRIS ACKELSSports Editor
After a disappointing last-minute loss to Austin Peay last weekend, the Billikens rebounded Monday night with a victory over Rockhurst at Chaifetz Arena.
Friday, Saint Louis University hosted Austin Peay for the season opener in a game that the Governors controlled most of the way. SLU trailed by four at halftime but opened the second half with a 22-10 run, breaking open an eight-point lead.
After gaining that lead, five straight fruitless possessions and an 8-0 run for Austin Peay tied the game back up at 54. The teams traded baskets for the next few minutes, bringing the game to a 62-62 tie with under a minute to play.
Inside the final minute, SLU was unable to take advantage of two different Austin Peay turnovers.
After gaining possession off a faulty inbound play, an errant pass from Brian Conklin to Christian Salecich was intercepted by the Governors’ John Fraley.
But Salecich would steal the ball right back and break towards the basket with a chance to put the Billikens on top. In the defensive play of the game, Austin Peay’s Melvin Baker caught up to Salecich and blocked his potentially game-winning layup.
The Governors then had possession with 15 seconds
Ryan Giacomino / Photographer
Jordair Jett drives to the hoop during the Rockhurst game Monday. Jett finished with six points and four assists.
Men struggle in opener, rebound against Rockhurstleft on the clock in a tie game. But Salecich committed a costly foul with just four seconds left, and Austin Peay’s Tyshwan Edmondson hit both free throws. Those would prove to be the game winners, as Kyle Cassity turned the ball over in the final second before taking a final shot for the tie.
After the 64-62 loss, the Bills knew they had to rebound against the Division II Rockhurst Hawks on Monday evening. But they once again looked sloppy in the first half of play. SLU led by just one point after the first frame Monday night.
But out of the locker room, the Billikens broke the game open by scoring 12 of the first 14 points in the second half. Freshman Rob Loe scored 13 points in the second half, bringing him to a total of 16 on the night. He also led the Bills with nine rebounds.
The Bills won the game 72-45.
Junior Kyle Cassity led SLU in scoring on Monday, just as he did on Friday night. Cassity netted 17 against Rockhurst, adding to his 16-point outing against Austin Peay.
Cassity is not used to being the point leader for the Bills, and he addressed his new role after Monday’s game.
“I just take what comes to me,” Cassity said. “I’m not trying too hard to do too much, but the last couple of games it’s been working.”
Cassity will need it to keep
Women start season with 1-2 record
working Saturday when the Billikens host Georgia. The Bulldogs come to Chaifetz with a 2-0 record and are picked to finish third in the very difficult SEC East Division.
“If you’re a basketball fan, it doesn’t get better than Saturday night in terms of the opposition coming in and in terms of the talent,” head coach Rick Majerus said. After struggling against smaller schools, the Bills do not know what to expect against an SEC powerhouse.
“We need to come in ready to go and ready for a fight,” Brian Conklin said. Conklin tallied seven points against Rockhurst Monday. “It’s more about the competitive nature you bring to the game,” he continued. “It doesn’t matter who you’re playing.”
Ryan Giacomino / Photographer
Senior Lauren Woods lead the team with 16 points Wednesday night against Butler. The Lady Bills fell 69-62.
“I got my family to feed.” Latrell Sprewell, former
NBA All-Star, perennial ego-tist and assa i l an t of coaches worldwide u t t e r e d this now infamous statement about five years ago as his basis for turn-ing down a three
year, $21 million dollar con-tract with the Minnesota Timberwolves.
The backlash was immedi-ate. The media, owners and most importantly, fans, were outraged at the audacity of the statements. Here stood a man who had amassed a small fortune in his lifetime showing concern over, with a straight face I might add, the prospect of his children starving.
Fortunately, athletes have wised up. Although you’ll hear occasional moans and grumbles from professional athletes about their contracts or perceived lack of worth, no one has made such an outra-geous statement since.
Why? They don’t have to anymore. As long as they keep their mouths shut, they
go unnoticed. Take a close look, sports
fans. The NFL Players Union is laughing in our faces all the way to the bank, and the own-ers aren’t too far behind.
In the day of mega-million contracts, world-conquering sports agents and profit hun-gry owners, there’s a storm on the horizon. The inconceiv-able is slowly on the verge of coming into fruition. For the first time in 20 years, we may not have professional football in the fall.
That’s right. The most American thing this side of baseball and hot dogs could be MIA next season all because of exorbitant egos and even more exorbitant greed. You see, the NFL operates under something known as a collec-tive bargaining agreement, or a CBA. The whole premise behind a CBA is that it can operate as a means to peace-fully resolve disputes between employees, or in this case, players and management, or the owners.
Most importantly, howev-er, in the eyes of the conspicu-ously consuming NFL body, the CBA has one function—it determines who gets the cash.
The CBA splits up the pro-verbial “pie.” You know, just a pie that’s worth $ 7.6 billion, which is the amount in rev-
enues that the NFL earned in 2008. A little over 60 percent of that goes to player salaries, with big names such as Tom Brady and Peyton Manning (don’t forget Bradford!) roll-ing in some of the fattest con-tracts. However, the owners and management are fight-ing back. They want to yank about 15 percent of the rev-enues away from the players and back into the teams and league itself.
So what’s the issue? Oh, right. 98 percent of NFL play-ers have heads swollen to the size of Jupiter. The best part of the day for most of them is when they look in the mirror for the first time every morn-ing. Naturally, they’re a bit upset and hav-ing trouble fathoming the idea that the world is not theirs for the taking.
Instead of reaching a com-promise, you know, cutting back that salary from $12 mil-lion a year to $8 million, they just might not play football at all in 2011. Overwhelmed by the logic? I am too.
Seems like a noble cause though, doesn’t it? In a sick and twisted way, you have
the owners acting like Robin Hood, stealing from the rich. They forgot one little detail though—giving back to the poor. Well, the relatively poor, at least. We average folk make an honest living working jobs we may or may not enjoy to sustain the livelihoods of our families and occasionally enjoying some luxuries, such as an NFL game. Fans pay upwards of $60 a ticket for nosebleed seats at some are-nas, and those numbers can escalate into the hundreds if the team is playing well
or hosting a good team.
Instead of r e w a r d i n g the patience, loyalty and in some cases, obliviousness of the fans, the owners just want to make their
pocketbook a little bit fatter. They’re not going to cut play-er’s salaries to lower ticket prices. They’re not going to cut that $10 Miller Lite in half. They’re just going to keep acting in their own self inter-est. Why would they think otherwise?
For the owners, and in a lot of cases, the players, the NFL is strictly a business. While many would sell over the
deed to their house to play in one NFL game, the play-ers themselves have become so desensitized to the novel idea of playing a game that you love for a living that they grow to view football in terms of dollar signs. Why should we ask for lower contracts? Why should we lower ticket prices?
But can you blame them? After all, they’re just follow-ing simple laws of supply and demand. Why should they lower ticket prices if people keep paying for them?
Not only that, but the NFL players and owners couldn’t even take a break from count-ing their money and thinking of the livelihoods of hundreds of thousand Americans a lock-out would have an effect on. Think of the public relations guys, the secretaries, the pea-nut guy who we all love. What happens to them? They’d all lose their jobs, that’s what. Not only that, but the toll on local economies would be substantial as well. The lost tourism and commercial activ-ity would seriously dampen already financially flounder-ing cities.
It’s sad to think all of this could happen because grown men don’t know how to share.
But hey, they have families to feed, right?
The NFL: More about the money than about the game
Commentary
Brian Boyd
For the first time in 20 years, we may not have professional foot-ball in the fall.
“”
LWSLU GWU
6962
5164
SLU Butler
SLU Morgan St.
Volleyball
Women’s Basketball
WLSLU Dayton
6462 SLU APUMen’s Basketball
4572 SLU Rockhurst
UpcomingGames
Men’s Schedule:Sat. Nov. 20 vs. Georgia*
Tue. Nov. 23 vs. Tennessee St.*Sat. Nov. 27 vs. IUPUI*
Women’s Schedule:Fri. Nov. 19 at Arkansas St.Sun. Nov. 21 vs. Murray St.*
Wed. Nov. 24 at Indiana
*Home Games at Chaifetz Arena
unewsonline.comThursday, November 18, 2010
Sports 11
By DERRICK NEUNERAssociate Sports Editor
There is some irony in Saint Louis University’s road to the Atlantic 10 tournament. The No.3 seeded Billikens will trav-el deep into the heart of Ohio to take on No.6 Charlotte; they will play at the home of the Xavier Musketeers, who would face SLU should they win on Friday, Nov. 19; and to win the tournament, they will undoubtedly face the No. 1 seed Dayton Fliers.
And that’s exactly how head coach Anne Kordes wants it.
“It’s a situation where we have to gain momentum through confidence,” Kordes said. “We’ve been shaky because we are so young, but we show flashes of greatness. It’s important [for us] to play right away and hopefully get something good going, get some momentum flowing.
“That’s going to be a big part of it. We have to be aggressive. Anything can happen. We have nothing to lose.”
It may take nothing short of an aggressive miracle for the Billikens to take the A-10 Championship and the at-large NCAA tournament berth that goes with it, SLU’s only hope of post-season play. The 2010 Bills are one of the youngest Division I vol-leyball teams in the country with eight freshmen on their roster. SLU returns just two starters from last season’s NCAA Tournament club, senior Megan Boken and junior Alyssa Deno.
Kordes, for her part, is unfazed. Though her club is 18-11 overall and 11-4 in con-ference play, its worst record since 2005, she has a firm belief that her squad is fit to wear the championship title.
“I’m very proud of them, and it’s very fair where we ended up, with the challenges we faced,” she said. “We have put ourselves in a great posi-tion [to succeed].”
If SLU has any chance of claiming the A-10 crown, it will do so on the backs of the freshman class. Led by Andrea Beaty, the class was
ranked as No.18 in the nation by PrepVolleyball.com and has developed quickly since the start of conference play. Beaty in particular has been a bright spot for the young Billikens.
A middle blocker and out-side hitter by nature, Beaty has excelled at her position; named Freshman of the Year by the coaches of the confer-ence and twice named A-10 conference Rookie of the Week, she leads the team with 88 blocks and is tenth in the league with almost three kills per set.
“She’s all about going after it and winning,” Kordes said. “She’s provided a great lead-ership and solidified her spot on the team to say, ‘come with me, come play with me.’ She’s going to be force in the conference … in the years to come.”
For today, though, it is all about now, and with the sea-son coming to its pinnacle, the young Billikens will be put to the toughest test yet. What is yet to be seen is how they will respond.
Volleyball finishes season strong, advances to A-10 tourny
Kelly Hinderberger / Photographer
SLU Volleyball advances to the Atlantic 10 tournament this weekend in Cincinnati, Ohio.
unewsonline.comThursday, November 18, 2010
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