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MONDAY, AUGUST 24, 2009 // ISSUE 1 // FREE WWW.CSUCAULDRON.COM NEWS • ARTS • SPORTS • OPINION the cauldron BEING RONALD BERKMAN A Report on the University’s New President AUGUST 24, 2009 • ISSuE 1 • FREE WWW.cSucAuldRON.cOm

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Page 1: The Cauldron - issue 1 - fall 09

MONDAY, August 24, 2009 // Issue 1 // FREEwww.csucauldRon.com

NEWS • ARTS • SPORTS • OPINION the cauldron

BEingRonaldBERkmana Report on the university’s new President

August 24, 2009 • ISSuE 1 • FREEWWW.cSucAuldRON.cOm

Page 2: The Cauldron - issue 1 - fall 09

contents the cauldronThe StaffEditor-in-chiefChris enochmanaging Editoremily Ouztsadvertising managerJayson gerbeccopy EditorReid maynews Editorsamantha shunk arts & Entertainment Edi-torJonathan D. Herzbergersports EditorRob Ivorylayout EditorSteve ThomasFeatures/copy EditorLaura KrawczykBusiness managerAnne Werner

Mission StatementAs cleveland State university’s

student run, managed, and operated alternative weekly paper, The cauldron is dedicated to delivering information to the student and professional body of cSu; doing so without bias, without constraints, and without fear.

Presenting news, entertainment, opinion and other media that originates organically from within the student body, our distinctive media will organically flow and adapt to suit that body’s needs.

The cauldron prints according to sound journalistic principles of accura-cy, accountability, integrity, transparency and with a recognition of press freedom and student expression.

The cauldron shall remain a forum; maintaining a strong connection to the diverse campus community, regarding but not limited to cleveland State uni-versity, the city of cleveland, the united States, and the Global community.

Advertising Policy:For advertising inquiries e-mail us [email protected] or call (216) 687-2270

Contact Us:cleveland State university4th Floor Cole Centercleveland, Ohio 44115phone (216) 687-2270fax (216) 687-5155www.csucauldron.com

The melting PotOpening Statements • Page 3Real jobs are overrated • Page 3IllumiNation: A bi-weekly insight into national politics • Page 4Summer changes on campus • Page 5

newsWeeks of Welcome • Page 6Rocking Out on the roof • Page 6 STudENT ORGANIzATION SPOTlIGhT:Csu swing Dance Club • Page 7

arts & EntertainmentNOW hEAR ThIS! • Page 10Keith Urban shows off his ‘special Cleveland connection’ • Page 11Noise Inspector • Page 12Tarantino does it again with Bastards • Page 13

sportsFurther than Basketball, More Than A Game: leBron James and company enter the theater • Page 14Four Weeks of Uneasiness • Page 15 Top Moments of Summer 2009 • Page 3

Volume 109 • No.1 • AUgUST 24, 2009

Feature Page 8

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the cauldron august 24, 2009 • the cauldron 3

opening statementsBy emily Ouzts, The Cauldron managing Editor

w ell hello! Welcome to your fall semester. While you were re-laxing and enjoying your last week of summer, we here

at The cauldron were busy preparing the year’s first issue. And although we try not to give our issues “themes,” per se, I’d have to say that this issue has a distinct flavor of change.

Indeed, there’s a lot changing about cleveland State this year, and also with The cauldron. We have a new editor-in-chief, Chris enoch, who is currently balancing his duties at The cauldron with an avalanche of law school applications (last I heard, it was twelve or so.) Samantha Shunk, an English major and one of the nicest people you’ll ever meet, is taking over as our news editor this year, and the lovely and talented Jonathan d. herzberger will preside over our A&E section. The hard-working Rob Ivory is back as our sports editor, and laura Krawczyk and Reid may will work their be-hind-the-scenes magic as our copy editors. As our new managing editor, I consider my-self very fortunate to work with such sharp and genuinely cool people.

But enough about us! Though we’ve gone

through some changes inside The caul-dron, this week’s issue is all about change outside of it. The biggest change at cSu this year is, of course, our new president, dr. Ronald Berkman. Though we might have given him a rough welcome in last se-mester’s final issue (sorry about that cover, Ron - -really), he was gracious enough to sit down for an exclusive interview with our editor-in-chief. Turn to Page 8 to find out how Berkman went from the gypsum fac-tory to the president’s office, and what he thinks about students’ beer-drinking habits. We also scored an interview with the one and only leBron James (Page 13) who told us about his new documentary, more Than a Game, and talked about how superstar-dom hasn’t washed away his Akron roots. (I would make some lame comment about writers chris Enoch and Rob Ivory “witness-ing” leBron, but…well, looks like I already did.) Among our other highlights, Reid may takes a look at cSu’s Welcome Week activ-ities on Page 6 and laura Krawczyk offers an exclusive glimpse into the most swingin’ club on campus on Page 7.

We hope you’ll enjoy our first issue of the fall semester, or at least find it more enter-

taining than all the syllabi you’ll be receiv-ing in class this week. And remember, we’re always looking for new writers, so drop us a note at our new email address, [email protected], if you think you’ve got what it takes to write for The cauldron. Welcome back, work hard this year, and have fun!

Real jobs are overratedWhy you should take a break while you canBy emily Ouzts, The Cauldron managing Editor

up until last year, I had a summer job as a lifeguard. It was perfect, and I remember the exact moment I realized it was perfect: I was sit-

ting in chair, five feet above the pool. It was just before noon, and I could feel the first tin-glings of a hot summer day’s sun on my skin. my legs were tan from weeks on the chair, and I had painted my toenails a coral pink. When I looked down, it was like a postcard: tan legs and pink toenails in the foreground, and still, clear, cool blue water in the back-ground. Aaah, I said. This is perfect.

how I traded that $9/hour view for a $0/hour view from an office cubicle, I’ll never understand, but apparently it has something to do with “work experience.” last summer, I left the pool behind in order to take the first of three internships I would complete while at cleveland State. I am fairly used to it now – the office lingo, the “business casual” dress code, the soul-sucking florescent lighting – but that first summer was a little unnerv-

ing. It’s a strange range of emotions, moving from the pool to the office: first, you’re SO EXIcTEd because you’re doing a GREAT INTERNShIP that will TOTAllY GET YOu A JOB, and oh look, there’s a REAl WATER cOOlER OVER ThERE! Things like cubi-cles, copy machines, and lunch hour are fun little novelties of the grown-up work world, and you get to play amongst them.

But then, it starts to dawn on you: this is it. And once you’re here, you can’t go back. Suddenly those little office novelties become instruments of oppression, like the creepy IT guy who’s “always watching, Emily,” or evidence that you’re going to die bored and alone, like the first time you find yourself ac-tually interested in your co-workers’ conver-sations about dancing With the Stars. And then you start quoting Fight club (“You’re not your job,” “You’re not your [expletive] kha-kis”) and scaring people, and it’s all over.

Granted, yes, internships are valuable. my second internship hired me this year, so

I should know. I’ve also seen plenty of peo-ple fall into the trap of the service industry, bouncing from one dead-end restaurant job to the next (full disclosure: I am a part-time bartender myself, but I swear it’s only tem-porary.) And even if you decide to take the road less traveled, like freelancing or con-tract work, there are those pesky things like “health insurance” or “retirement funds” or “gaps in your resume” to worry about. We’d all like a happy medium, but there really isn’t one.

So my advice? Keep a safe distance while you can. Yes, you should take an in-ternship or two while you’re in school. But take a break too. don’t do internships for four straight semesters (like I did.) The work world will always be there, and (hopefully) there will always be a place for you in it. Work at the pool for one more year. Know what it’s like to have a summer tan for one more year. Give yourself one more chance to look down and say, Aaah. This is perfect.

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the cauldron • august 24, 2009 4

illumination:A bi-weekly insight into national politicsBy Reid may, The Cauldron Staff Writer

a ccountability is important. We know this at The cauldron. But we also know that government officials may not take account-

ability as seriously as we do. So we’d like to introduce this bi-weekly column, which aims to keep an eye on the national po-litical stage. Every two weeks, I will inform readers about what our government is doing—or not doing. While we do not ex-pect congress to yield to our expressed wishes, we hope the information is useful to our readers.

To begin, here is a synopsis of some summer session activity in Washington:

during the last three months, a lot of noise was made about the healthcare de-bate in Congress, with the battle between Pres. Obama and his congressional coun-terparts played out on a national stage. meanwhile, debates about the “public op-tion” of healthcare became less an infre-quent town-hall-type seminar, and more a corner-store conversation.

Bottom line, united States citizens are concerned about their healthcare. And ac-cordingly, congress has made the issue a top priority – maybe even its only priority.

certainly, healthcare is an important is-sue that needs to dealt with, but it should not be the sole focus of our government. Regardless how you feel about health-care, it is not the only problem facing our country, and it is time we begin to consider the possibility that we put it aside for the moment, and consider some of the others.

Also making waves this summer was the passage of the cap and Trade bill, which limits the amount of carbon emis-sions companies can produce. If a com-pany must exceed their “cap,” they can purchase unused credits from another company.

The bill’s passage means the use of un-clean energy is much less cost effective. democrats hailed it as an accomplishment that would help reduce carbon emissions, and, as a result, global warming.

despite the challenges presented to in-dustries that rely on unclean energy, I be-lieve this legislation is a positive step for a cleaner world and will increase worker safety and encourage production of effi-cient energy (like wind turbines and solar

panels), which will create new jobs as well.The department of Transportation ex-

ecuted a successful, taxpayer-funded “cash for clunkers” program, which al-lowed consumers to get a cash rebate for older vehicles with poor gas mileage. The program was wildly popular and was shut down on monday, Aug. 24 after al-most 500,000 dealer transactions and an expected $3 billion in rebates by monday night.

lawmakers intended the program to help the auto industry by increasing car sales and to reduce negative impacts on the environment caused by some older vehicles with outdated fuel technology. It is widely considered a success, and was almost certainly the most productive deci-sion made this summer.

In one of the most important votes in regards to both bi-partisanship and aware-ness of cost, congress voted “no” on a $1.8 billion dollar allowance for an F-22 fighter jet. While it was expected that Pres. Obama would veto the bill, it is refreshing to see congress acknowledge the need to be conscious about national spending and

realize that the already enormous military budget can afford a few less toys.

Finally, there are the future plans for our economic recovery. The prolonged ef-fects of the recession have left many pon-dering whether Pres. Obama’s plans and actions—the stimulus package and bail-outs—were wise choices, or simply un-thinking reactions from an inexperienced leader.

To this date, our economic situation is still considered dire and things are not looking up in the immediate future. I still believe it is wise for the public to exercise patience and understand that situations like this cannot often be overcome with legislation, but rather the due course of time.

however, should this crisis continue, I expect the peoples’ faith in the president and our government in general will begin to falter. This is only one more reason why taking a more proactive stance on issues that are not healthcare will increase faith in the leaders of our nation. The people want to see results, not discussions about those yet to come.

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a. View of Student center construction from East 21stb. Future entrance of the New Student center

c. Southeastern corner of Student center constructiond. Future Student center glass staircase

e. Southern wall of the new Education & human Services Buildingf. What remains of the western wall of the corlett Building

g. Southwestern corner of the new, glass-paned Education & human Services Buildingh. North face of the demolished corlett Building

august 24, 2009 • the cauldron 5Summer changes on campusStory + Photography by Samantha Shunk,The Cauldron News Editor

o ver the summer, several changes have occurred on campus. many of the most visible changes are the advancements in construction. Just a stroll around campus

can provide a personal update.All the physical changes of the campus are tied in

with the university architect. According to the mis-sion statement of the Office of the university Archi-tect, they “create and sustain facilities that create a safe, comfortable and attractive campus environment. Our work entails design and construction of new fa-cilities, renovation of existing university buildings and improvement of university-owned land.”

The office has two new facilities underway and many other projects in the planning phases. They will create a more logical placement of departments within colleges when the college of Education and human Services Building is completed in January 2010.

“Anchoring a highly-visible site along the southeast corner of campus, the 100,000 SF building will bring together eight different departments that were previ-ously scattered throughout the campus,” according to the webpage of the Office of the university Architect.

The highly anticipated new student center, that will once again connect the Innerlink, has progressed from working on the third phase, structural steel frame, to the fourth phase, “Shell and Interior Package.” The construction is scheduled to be completed may 2010.

These two buildings will strive to attain lEEd certi-fication, according to the webpage. lEEd certification means “that a building or community was designed and built using strategies aimed at improving perfor-mance across all the metrics that matter most: energy savings, water efficiency, carbon dioxide emissions reduction, improved indoor environmental quality, and stewardship of resources and sensitivity to their im-pacts,” according to the u.S. Green Building council. The construction of these buildings has tried to con-tinue to keep the campus as green as possible.

To continue the construction into the future, work-ers have begun demolishing the previously empty corlett Building. The building was located in front of the music and communication Building.

One project that was completed over the sum-mer is the Green Rooftop Garden. located atop the Recreation center, the space has many positive en-vironmental effects as well as providing a community space.

upon completion of the Green Rooftop project, leeAnn Westfall, president of the Student Environ-mental movement and head of the project, said, “I was overwhelmed with joy and satisfaction that something we worked so hard to get has finally been completed. I screamed, I cried and smiled in disbelief that two small but loud individuals were able to get support not only from our peers, faculty and staff, but the adminis-tration and community at large.”

a b

c d

e f

g h

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the cauldron • august 24, 2009 6

weeks of welcomeBy Reid may, The Cauldron copy Editor

cleveland State university will once again roll out the welcome mat for students new and re-turning with its annual Weeks

of Welcome (WOW) festivities that began Sunday and will continue through Sept. 10. The schedule features a number of never before seen events, along with old favor-ites, many with a fresh spin.

“Every year we do WOW it’s bigger and bigger and better and better,” said dr. San-dra Emerick, associate dean of students. “The thing about it that makes it even more exciting is that there are so many more university departments, organizations and entities that want to be a part of WOW.”

Some new events this fall include a Browns Tailgate Party on the Science and Research Plaza (Aug. 29) and a gradu-ate program called “Graduate Student life First Friday Kick Off” which takes place at the Bier market in Ohio city and will al-low graduate students to network and so-cialize. New academic open houses and learning communities in departments like

chemistry and engineering, along with a “meet the deans” reception (Aug. 27) are among the week's academic festivities. A michael Jackson tribute called “Remember the Times” (Aug. 29) will honor the late cul-tural icon.

WOW will also feature the debut of the new Recreation center Rooftop Garden, a $250,000 project made possible by the Student Environmental movement. Next monday, the Recreation center and Stu-dent life will co-sponsor “Rockin’ the Rec,” which will feature live music, comedy, food and giveaways, and allow students to ac-cess the rooftop, which Emerick calls a “great, new, live programming space,” for the first time.

Not everything is new this year. campus welcome tables, stocked with giveaways and information – including the must-have Viking Planner – will return this year, as will Student life’s “Scooping Out Success,” an ice cream social with the Student life staff.

Several returning events have new twists. during the campus Activities Board

Barbeque (Aug. 26), the “Viking Threads Pop up Shop” will allow students to “bring an old college shirt from another university and trade it in for a brand new Vikings shirt or an engaged poster,” according to Emer-ick. And although she could not confirm who will attend, there will be "guest bingo callers" at a bingo event for textbooks, Emerick said.

With so many events to choose from, it can be easy to miss something special. Emerick encourages new students to at-tend convocation, saying, “I think that’s a great way for our new students and their families to begin their academic journey. It is a great way to get excited about the tra-ditions of being a Viking and it is really fun to see the excitement and the fear in their eyes.”

Adds Emerick, “Everyone will be there. WOW is the place to get connected, pe-riod. To students, to faculty, to staff, to de-partments, to activities, to opportunities, and to being a cSu Viking. It’s kind of … wow.”

Rocking out on the RoofBy samantha shunk,The Cauldron News Editor

c leveland State is holding a rock concert on top of the Recreation center on monday, Aug. 31 at 8 p.m. during the university's pop-

ular Weeks of Welcome. The concert will be located on the newly completed Green Rooftop.

leeAnn Westfall and Erin huber, two cSu students and environmentalists, are the forerunners of the Green Rooftop proj-ect. Through much hard work and dedica-tion, the girls were finally able to make their green roof a reality.

leeAnn Westfall, president of the Stu-dent Environmental movement, said, “After learning in an environmental science course that the green roof was intended for the roof but was cut from the project, we decided to make it our goal to get it. We wanted to leave a lasting impression at cSu.”

The Recreation center will be starting off the festivities on the Green Rooftop with a performance by the Armstrong Bearcat Band. In addition, the event will feature a three-on-three basketball tournament, an inflatable obstacle course in the mAc Gym, the game room set up with the Wiis and

XBoxes, and, in traditional college fashion, food, prizes, and t-shirts.

The event is co-sponsored by Student life, cAB, SGA, and the ROTc. Scott Westhoven, marketing coordinator of the Recreation center, said the Rockin’ the Rec event will “get people excited about the in-tramural sports” through the three-on-three tournament.

The title of the event, of course, focuses on the rock concert on the Green Rooftop. Scott Westhoven considers the event to be “a great way to introduce the space to the students.”

The space has great potential for events on campus, such as outdoor movie nights, as well as a great hands-on location for biol-ogy and environmental classes. It also con-tributes to providing a cleaner environment for cSu and reducing “urban heat island ef-fects” according to Erin huber and leeAnn Westfall. The space can be a great place to relax, study and enjoy a little green oasis in the midst cleveland.

In addition to these uses, leeAnn West-fall has another idea: “I hope that it will in-spire students to become part of the change

at cSu. This university is evolving at a rapid pace, and it is my wish for the students, my peers and friends, to stand up and be a piv-otal part in developing this campus.”

Photography courtesy of Student Environmental movement

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august 24, 2009 • the cauldron 7

sTudEnT oRganizaTion sPoTlighT:csu swing dance clubdiverse majors swing to same tuneBy Laura Krawczyk, The Cauldron Feature EditorPhotography by Susan hall

a s he shows cSu student Alex Brinkman a dip in the middle of a dance routine, his decidedly non-dancing garb - a burgundy

sweater vest over a white collared shirt - is the only thing that hints at a double life. But indeed, he is a patent attorney at a law firm downtown during the day, and the stu-dents he instructs are business, communi-cation and physical education majors. his name is david Stein, and this is the cSu swing Dance Club.

stein was brought on as the instructor for cSu’s first swing class, totaling three students, in 2007. The Swing club was founded in September 2008 by regular at-tendees of Stein’s swing dance class at the Recreation center. Their membership has amounted to about 12, with another handful of students that trickle in and out whenever they can make it.

For Susan hall, long time student of Stein’s and second-term president of the club, a swing group seemed like a good way to spice up the moves from the Rec center lessons and delve into more ad-vanced techniques and styles. While the cSu advertising major likes the lindy hop style, a more complicated eight-count step rather than six, she adds, “I am really par-tial to East coast swing just because it’s more to interpret with. You start with the basics and then you have to mingle around the room to see who knows what else.”

Stein began swing dancing in 2001, and

then teaching at a local school five years later. he now teaches at several schools, in addition to weekend dance events in major cities such as New York, dallas, San Francisco and Seattle.

“Without a doubt, david could teach an elephant to swing dance in less than two classes,” said member Katelynd Faler.

On Stein’s legal profession, hall said, “I think it’s fairly normal that businessmen learn how to dance. It’s kind of cliché in a way that a businessman has the moves and he’s got the smarts.”

With the array of majors in the group, maybe it shouldn’t be surprising.

“We’re a pretty good mix,” she agreed. “Everyone is focused on what they’re do-ing in school and they just like having an outlet to burn off some energy.”

“cleveland has one of the biggest swing communities in Ohio,” said hall, adding that the city is particularly famous for Bal-boa style swing. The group goes out to-gether on weekends for community danc-es of 200 or more, venturing to Bainbridge, Strongsville, lakewood or the Bohemian National hall in cleveland. “Normally once someone comes out with us and tries it once, they’re hooked,” said hall.

The Rec center lessons focus on the basics, starting with East coast moves. The club moves on to the more famous lindy hop style. “We also mess around with Balboa and Blues and a little bit of charleston dancing,” said hall.

In may, the group hosted an end-of-the-year dance, attracting about 50 students on campus. Playing at the event was the mike Petrone Trio, a cleveland-based jazz band. The swing group also performed at the main classroom dedication ceremony.

This year, the group hopes to collabo-rate more with other area swing groups, and is currently starting to merge with case Western, Baldwin-Wallace and a small college in michigan. “We're hop-ing to promote cross-attendance at work-shops and dance,” said Stein. They also are aiming to organize two dances open to the campus community, and if possible, one-day workshops that go through the basics.

The classes at the Rec center are start-ing up again on mondays from 7 to 8 p.m. The first two classes will be offered free, as part of the center’s “Fall demo Weeks.”

“I grew up watching old musical mov-ies, and I always wanted to dance like the characters in the movies,” said member Sharie Goerz. She confessed that when she first began dancing, “it was awkward, and it still is to a degree.” Few of the mem-bers do have any experience. “There are so many different styles of dances, there are so many different ways, that you can learn how to [swing dance] and you don’t really have to start with any kind of talent,” hall said. “You can start from scratch and learn as much as or as little you want.”

dance Practice david Stein & Alex Brinkman

Page 8: The Cauldron - issue 1 - fall 09

a new year is met with a new president for cleveland State university. If accessibility is the first gauge of that incom-ing president, dr. Ronald Berkman is no slouch.

mere months into his new role as President of cleveland State university, it took one simple phone call to Berkman’s administra-tive assistant, Brenda darkovich, and one hour of waiting time later, I’m on the phone with cleveland State’s sixth President. he amicably agreed to sit down with me in his office to discuss all of the subjects of the season: his transition, his presidency, his background and what awaits cleveland State under his stewardship.

understanding Berkman’s background indicates much about his capacity to con-tinue a legacy of improvement and reor-

ganization for cleveland State’s young campus. classified as a “political scientist at heart” in an article by Plain dealer reporter Janet Okoben, Berkman quickly embraced such language during the discussion but was quick to add his own addendum. “I am a political scientist at heart," he said. "It was my training. It’s a very living discipline. You wake up everyday and the tapestry is different than the day before. I would also say I’m an urbanist—it’s the same phenom-enon, to be able to watch cities and learn from them and appreciate cities. cities are organic, living things; they’re not just bricks or mortar.”

At a glance (and even with the often reported hefty salary of approximately $400,000 per year), Berkman is no stranger to the adversity and labor students face simply to finance their own track to higher

education. his own college education was financed through work driving a beer truck, as well as employment in a gypsum factory and a liquor store. “I did it because I had no other means to. What’s most important for students at cleveland State to know is there are resources out there. there are ways to attend college. The federal government seems committed to expanding resources and opportunities for students who want to attend college to get aid. The other thing I want to say is it doesn’t matter how fast you do it, it matters that you complete it. If you have to work and you have other respon-sibilities and you have to figure out how to balance those responsibilities with what you’re doing at school, it doesn’t matter that a person you started with has fifteen more credits than you at the end of two years. What matters is that you make progress,

the cauldron • august 24, 2009 8

Being Ronald Berkman:A Report on the university’s New PresidentBy Chris enoch, The Cauldron Editor-in-chief

Page 9: The Cauldron - issue 1 - fall 09

that you feel good about what you are doing and that you are focused on completing."

The new president was quick to em-phasize the work ethic of cleveland State students. “For the students who persist, who come from these circumstances; they actually have a strong advantage once they get into the workplace. I’ve talked to three big employers in cleveland who have said to me that in the last couple of years they have been pulling many, many more cSu students than they would traditionally em-ploy. What they are finding is that these kids come to the table with a really, really strong work ethic.”

“I told them, speaking from my own expe-rience, the reason they have such a strong work ethic is that they had to work like hell to get through college. They didn’t go to a residential place and drink beers for four years and then figure out, 'I’m in a job, what do I do with it now?'"

The professional advantages that cleve-land State students graduate with were a recurrent theme throughout the whole inter-view. The new president resolutely stated his belief that businesses that hire from cleveland State benefit from an industrious workforce while simultaneously allowing for the development of the local community. In keeping with his urbanist roots, Berkman remarked, “When a business hires a cSu student, they are making an investment in the city and in the longevity of a student’s career.”

With an eye toward universal improve-ment, Berkman suggested a few programs in particular which would stand to benefit the university and cleveland at-large with a con-tinued commitment. he started at the logical beginning--healthcare. “We have to make a larger investment in health and life sciences. One of the things I have said for years is that urban universities need to be cognizant of the place that they are. healthcare is a major, major industry here. With the building of the medical mart, the continued expan-sion of each of the hospital systems, not just the cleveland clinic but also university hospital, the university can align itself with the needs of the area. Actually, we have a hospital on campus if take an expanded view of the campus: St Vincent’s!”

Alluding to the booming days of cleve-land at the turn of the century, Berkman referenced historical narrative and spoke professorially on the possibilities for a “new” manufacturing sector to develop in cleve-land through the programs at cleveland State. “Engineering is another where we should see some growth and continued expansion. cleveland has a strong manu-

facturing history; I read an article that stated cleveland had one of the highest concentra-tions of engineers in the united States. That sets the stage for the development of anoth-er generation of manufacturing, it may not be the same manufacturing that you had, but it will be a new manufacturing,”

As expected, the subject of a flourishing cleveland art community was addressed. “The arts are another mainstay in cleveland, the same way hospitality management was a mainstay in miami. This big, vibrant arts community with an incredible museum, an incredible orchestra, Playhouse Square at the edge of our campus is another area I think we need to develop a niche.”

Enthusiasm and sociability towards the prospects of development were not uncom-mon during my conversation with Berkman. colleagues in administration shared an optimistic appraisal of the new president. dr. James drnek is the dean of Students at cleveland State. “I know that dr. Berk-man is keenly interested in improving and enhancing campus life for the benefit of all cSu students. dr. Berkman has already reached out to student leadership in the Student Government Association to learn more about SGA's goals for the upcoming school year. With his interest in student ac-tivities and campus life, I think dr. Berkman will have an enormously positive impact on cSu," drnek said.

The dean of urban Affairs, dr. Edward hill, shared drnek’s sentiments.

“The faculty and staff of the levin college welcome President Berkman as a colleague and we expect that our new president will build on the gift of a rejuvenated campus that michael Schwartz gave to both the uni-versity community and to the city. The new president is ready to deepen the university's engagement with the city and region and this will inevitably open new learning, prac-tice, and research opportunities to the levin college's students, faculty and staff. The state of cleveland's future is tied to cleve-land State university--which makes this a great time to be Viking.”

Berkman starts his new vocation with a confidence in cleveland, the cleveland State community and cleveland State stu-dents.

Nevertheless, the new president has a plan, and he certainly can explain it. Os-tensibly a frank man, what he can’t explain, he doesn’t attempt to. “These are only the niches that I see initially. I don’t want to pretend as if I know all of the answers after a month and a half at the job, I’ll wait for two or three years to pretend that I know all the answers,” Berkman said with a laugh.

PRoFilE: Ronald Berkman

agE: 62

oBjEcTivEs includE: making cleveland State a top-tier public research university, expanding campus culture and enhancing connections be-tween cSu and the community

inTEREsTs: Academia, cities, political sci-ence, novelsIvy league Alma mater: Princ-eton, Phd

FoRmER occuPaTion: Provost and Executive Vice President and chief Operating Officer, Florida International university

cuRREnT occuPaTion: President, cleveland State university

BEsT known quoTE: “You have to be a suburb of somewhere.”-- a reference to the importance of cities and urbanism.

FavoRiTE PuBlicaTion aT clEvEland sTaTE: The cauldron

august 24, 2009 • the cauldron 9

Page 10: The Cauldron - issue 1 - fall 09

the cauldron • august 24, 2009 10

Now Hear This!music You may have missedBy Jonathan “Killstring” herzberger, The Cauldron Arts & Entertainment Editor

S ummer is over.There, I said it. Best to start off with these kinds of things, get them out of the way early. It's

okay to be sad – we're sad too. Go ahead and have a good cry if you need to – we at the Now hear This institute of musical Awesomology are a non-judgmental lot, and everybody deals with summer's trans-formation into autumn differently.

Some of us hit the books with a ven-geance. Some find a renewed vigor for campus involvement, hurling ourselves into groups, and activities on campus. most of us aren't going to come out of the gate with such gusto – most of us are plan-ning on dragging our feet, oversleeping at least once the first week, and generally be pulled, kicking and screaming, back into the routine of the semester.

Then again, some of us wake up face down in a gutter, utterly confused as to where we are, how we got there, and if it's realistic to think that fate has something personal against us.

The rest of you are dismissed. I'd like to talk to my fellow vagabonds for a moment – nothing personal.

Good. Now that it's just us rogues, los-ers, and castoffs, we're going to talk about a Scottish indie pop band called Fright-ened Rabbit. Write that down – probably next to the slightly smudged phone number with no name attached, that you don't quite remember getting. Frightened Rabbit. Ev-erybody caught up? Good.

The first Rabbit shows were one man and a guitar, the brand stretching its (hind?) legs, as frontman Scott hutchinson's stage name for his solo shows. Frankly, the early shows were disjointed, messy, hungover affairs— delightfully so.

“Some of the songs still didn't have words and I was mostly just mumbling non-sense half the time,” quipped hutchinson in an interview with uK-based zine God Is In The TV.

Story of my life, hutch. Thanks for put-ting it to music.

Powerful music, at that. After recruiting his brother Grant to play the drums, and guitarist/bassist/multi-instrumentalist Billy Kennedy, the band's sound had evolved into something both upbeat and downtrod-

den, urgent and lazy, carefully crafted, in a thrown-together, garage-y sort of way.

confused yet? it gets better/worse.In may of 2006, the band locally re-

leased their debut, Sing The Greys – be-cause you know, the blues just seemed too vibrant. The album was released stateside in October 2007, and even with all the fan-cy remastering, and major label support, the album carries that undeniable 'garage' feel to it. Imagine if The Strokes got all over-confessionally drunk, or if counting crows were young and homeless, sporting switchblades and hangovers, or if The Frey had any talent.

zing!Snarky jabs aside, Greys is a solid, if

unpolished record – especially when you consider it was essentially recorded in a basement, and had an original run of 1,000 copies. Actually, considering that, it's a freaking miracle – imagine what these guys could do given the chance to make a 'real' record.

Sounds pretty good, right? That's the power of ImAGINATION, kids! having said that, give your poor, tired brain a rest – once this week is over, you'll be done with the 'getting to know you' part of the semes-ter, and you'll need the poor thing. luckily for all of us, the Rabbit in question added another bandmate (guitarist/keyboardist Andy monaghan) and put out a big, fancy, major label release on Fatcat Records.

The ensuing album, called midnight Organ Fight (curious about the title? It's a euphemism for hot, dirty sex. Now you know) got the full indie darling treatment, up to and including nabbing Peter Katis (In-terpol, Guster, Spoon) to produce, and the requisite trendy press buzz. calm down, hipsters – calm down. The record deserved the hype in this case. hey, it happens.

Opening up with the deliciously self-

conscious “The modern leper”, in which hutchinson's drawling brogue regales us with the idea of leprosy as a metaphor for his social aptitude, Fight starts out in the gutter, and reaches for the stars. Snappy indie rock guitars match with the bombast inherent to bands like Elbow – which the Rabbits happily claim as an influence – there's a grand sort of scope to these loser ballads, giving bitter, half-intelligible rants about how 'you never loved me anyway' the sort of epic scope that they usually only possess in our minds.

It's a record about loss, about lust, about losers losing exceptionally well – hey, ev-erybody's good at something. The insidi-ously catchy melodies of tracks like “Keep Yourself Warm” can get you in trouble, make no mistake about it. Fight is a record thick in rich metaphor – but if you're not careful, you'll find yourself absent-minded-ly singing things like “you won't find love in a hole/it takes more than f***ing someone you don't know to keep yourself warm” at inopportune times - like in front of your sig-nificant other's parents.

I suppose this is as good a place as any to apologize. Sorry guys – the restraining order's really not necessary – it's just a song, honest.

In summary, sometimes life kicks you in the gut. In those times, it's ok to get up slowly, and a record with this kind of gran-diose, naked human emotion is exactly what you want for those moments. But sometimes, life kicks you in the teeth. And when that happens, a record like this is the perfect soundtrack for sweeping said teeth out of the gutter, putting them under your pillow, and making a wish, that maybe the tooth fairy'll bring you a stroke of luck for a change.

That, and it's only nine bucks on Ama-zon.com today. Stop reading this and go

Scott hutchison (vocals/guitar) & Billy Kennedy (guitar/keyboard)

of Frightened Rabbit

Page 11: The Cauldron - issue 1 - fall 09

august 24, 2009 • the cauldron 11

Keith urban shows off his ‘special cleveland connection’By Reid may, The Cauldron Staff Writer

K eith urban and Sugarland rocked Quicken loans Arena in down-town cleveland for three plus hours Friday night, packing the house so full, it was often impossible to hear the artists them-selves. The show kicked off with Sugarland—Jennifer Nettles

and Kristian Bush—a lesser known, but worth-the-listen group, touring on its third album.

Nettles, Bush and their five-piece band entered with glowing white um-brellas for their first song, a unique first effect on a night full of brilliant stage displays. Sugarland played “All I Want to do”, “Genevieve,” “It happens” and others from their most recent album, love on the Inside, and mixed in several covers including R.E.m.’s “Nightswimming” and Kings of leon’s “Sex on Fire.”

After an hour-long set, Sugarland relinquished the stage to urban and his five-piece ensemble. Surrounded by four guitarist/backup voices and an underappreciated drummer, the show began to take off with urban’s usual entertaining flair.

he opened with a three-song set that included favorites “days Go By” and “Stupid Boy” along with new track “hit the Ground Running” from his latest defying Gravity Album. After his initial play, he greeted each section of the packed arena individually, quickly pointing out those in the private suites, saying, “Thank you for allowing me to play for you my lords.” urban also told the crowd, “I’ve got a feeling that tonight is one of those nights when you might want to call the sitter and tell her you’ll be a little late.”

urban’s natural joy and humor when on stage endear his fans to him. his show is wildly entertaining and never, ever slows down. he followed his opening with two more songs before leaving the stage and allowing the crowd to devour him. he made his way along the side of the arena, while one woman went so far as to kiss him on the cheek, but never failed to keep his fingers on the guitar strings.

upon reaching the far side, urban found a small platform near the sound booth, stepped up and turned to the crowd that had been farthest away from him minutes before, declaring, “Who’s got good seats now?!” to a deafening roar. urban stayed on the platform long enough to play “Once in a lifetime,” “making memories of us,” and “Only You can love me This Way” with one-of-a-kind crowd participation.

After returning to the stage, urban hit on other favorites like “You’ll Think of me,” “Who Wouldn’t Want to be me” and “Somebody like You,” along with new hit single “Sweet Thing.” he featured a trio with Nettles and Bush to Steve Young’s “Seven Bridges Road” and continued his wooing of the crowd. The band played for an hour and fifty-five minutes.

urban says he feels a special connection to cleveland, and it certainly seems that way. he spoke of his first experiences playing at dick’s last Resort in the Flats where they “crammed like eight people” in for the show and how nice it is to play in a packed arena. he should never have any trouble filling one up. his concerts are worth every penny, even if you do not consider yourself a country music fan.

This concert transcends country and blends it with whatever mood the band is in. his guitarists are all individually talented enough to perform solo, and it shows. They do not disappoint for a second. Further, the crowds for country music are one of a kind. constantly riveted and knowledgeable about every song, they complete the circle by keeping the artist interested and excited about their own show.

Keith urban was definitely worth the time and money. Next time he comes to cleveland, be sure to experience it for yourself.

Page 12: The Cauldron - issue 1 - fall 09

12

Noise iNspectorBy Jonathan “Killstring” herzbergerArts & Entertainment Editor

Welcome, brave read-er. This is the part of the paper where you might expect to see

cd reviews, a few quips, song titles here and there, and maybe some star ratings, or something-out-of-ten.

welcome to the revolution.Evolution, really. We at The cauldron

have long held to the philosophy that you, dear reader, are a smart thing, as evidenced by this fine publication in your hands. Flattery aside, (did you do some-thing with your hair? It suits you) we've kind of grown to resent stars, arbitrary numeri-cal scales, and worrying how much better an 8.5 is than a 7.9. The newly-christened Noise Inspector music squad has adapted a more elegant, streamlined model – three steps, self-explanatory.

Try it. Buy it. or Fry it.Not everyone likes the same music for

the same reasons. Not everyone likes the same music. We instead, have decided to focus on why we liked or disliked some-thing, and stick to these guidelines. We've placed our trust in you, dear reader, that you can, will, and indeed want to have your own opinions. We'll help as best we can.

Taking Back sunday – new againIt's a problem. You ride to fame based

on a flash-in-the-pan musical trend, sell a bunch of records, then one day, your fan base graduates from high school, and you're hopelessly outdated. What's a band to do? linkin Park stopped trying to blend their rap-metal, and made them live in separate houses. Green day put on some eyeliner, and hopped on board another trend.

New Again is an aptly titled record – the band is teetering on the precipice of irrel-evance, and the wrong move could plant

them firmly in 'hey, remember when we were kids, and listened to...' territory. So the lads hiked up their sleeves, turned up their amplifiers, and... made a Foo Fight-ers record?

Kind of.dave Grohl's erstwhile outfit isn't a bad

one to emulate, especially if you're trying to grow up on the job. For the most part, it works – radio ready tracks like “Sink Into me” and the title track would blend in seamlessly with any of Grohl's singles from the past decade or so. Favorably.

By no means is this a shameless, un-

inspired copy of a relevant band's work like say, metallica's St. Anger - “Where my mouth Is” is a compelling ballad despite being derivative of u2, somewhat negat-ing the argument – but at the end of the day, it's a well-executed song, and that's what matters.

For fans wondering where the band you knew and loved went, no worry – it's at the end of the record. “cut me up Jenny” and “Everything must Go” would feel at home on any Taking Back Sunday record, for what that's worth. On the whole, New Again probably won't be anyone's favorite record, and isn't anywhere near the Emo-band-grows-up masterpiece of Brand New's The devil And God Are Raging In-side me – but it never tries to be. A solid, honest alternative rock record.

try it.

Regina spektor – FarWe believe that reviews should take

a wide range of tastes into account, and the reviewer's own personal preferences should take a backseat to objectivity. With this in mind, please take the following statement with several grains, if not an en-tire shaker of salt:

I unabashedly love this record.Spektor's not for everyone. Indeed, I can

easily understand how the sprightly pixie of a singer-songwriter could get on peo-ple's nerves. Not everyone can get behind bouncy, silly, tender, piano rock. And her roots in manhattan's Anti-Folk movement still show up every now and again – yes, it is as annoying and trite as ever. Some of the metaphors are just abstract enough to keep the determined listener frustrated in-definitely, taking all the abstract nonsense too seriously. And ay, there's the rub.

Far is a record that begs you not to take it seriously. Falls to its knees, pleading even.

If you can accept it for what it is – and get behind the idea that one second, we're talking about bashful romance, and in three lines, we'll be squeaking like dol-phins – there's a simple, unadorned kind of beauty to be found. If you can take your delicately crafted metaphor with a heavy dose of doo-dee-doo singsong nonsense, if the idea of an epic ballad about finding a stranger's wallet sounds in the least bit appealing; this could well be your favorite record of the year.

But I understand that there are people who don't like those things. And I respect our differences. It's cool. Some people don't like bananas. I can't drink Sweet Tea – tastes like hummingbird food to me. So I can respect the idea that not everyone will be as head over heels in love with this record, as I've been over the past few months.

Yes, Regina and I have a long-term thing going on now - this isn't some sum-mer novelty fling.

So, fair reader, what does this mean to you? It means that if any of the above paragraphs caused you to giggle gleefully – which yes, I have done, despite being a great stout lad with a lumberjack beard – then you shouldn't have to live without this record. For most of the population?

I enthusiastically recommend you Try It.

the cauldron • august 24, 2009

Adam lazzara of Talking Back Sunday

Page 13: The Cauldron - issue 1 - fall 09

W ith the explosion of World War II movie movies on the big screen for several years now, Inglourious Basterds has

taken the genre into a completely different direction.

Set in Nazi-occupied France in 1944, In-glourious Basterds has become a fantastic movie in which Quentin Tarantino has made blood and gore fun again in Nazi Germany. Although the director will admit that the mov-ie has little historical accuracy, sorry history buffs, the World War II movie really brought to life the Third Reich in its final years.

The most impressive feature that the movie held was the unfolding of the story-line. most films today feature a lot of explo-sions and gun fights without any plot. This film was excellently woven between the major characters, and film goers can ex-pect to see a movie that was written much like a novel or book. Each story is told in a chapter of the movie, knowing that all these characters will at some point come together to finish the story.

Basterds must have been built from Tar-antino’s film watching career, since it felt that many similarities of different movie genres can be seen throughout this movie. Those movie themes include Westerns (a very interesting bar fight scene with guns pointed at critical points of the male anato-my), The Wizard of Oz, The dirty dozen (a secret mission behind enemy lines), James Bond films (secret agents and double

agents), Valkyrie (a plot to kill hitler), and of course Quentin’s own Reservoir dogs (including knives and skinning). All these movies and themes were put together into a big pan and were seasoned perfectly to create a wonderful masterpiece.

If Tarantino wrote the perfect plot, then the characters must fit, too

On a late night show, the director said that all he would consider for the main role was Brad Pitt and that the movie would not have been the same without Pitt.

I could not agree more!Playing a former bootlegger from Ten-

nessee named Aldo Raine, Pitt’s tremen-dous performance as the leader of a resis-tance group named ‘basterds’ was actually a very different role from what he has done recently. With a deep Southern accent, Pitt was not only a much different Allied char-acter that has been seen before, but the humor he brought to the table was extraor-dinary.

As well as Pitt played the part of the hero, it was the antagonist christoph Waltz that stole the movie. Waltz, who plays ma-jor hanz landa (who is nicknamed the ‘Jew hunter’) of the SS, gave a performance that any moviegoer or historian could believe that he truly was a man picked by hitler to find enemies of the Third Reich.

What made major landa a truly scary and believable character was his ability to mess around with other characters' heads. landa was a terrific high ranking Nazi offi-

cial not because he fought with tanks, guns, and machinery, but because his battlefield was the psychological game a hunter plays with his prey. his award for Bert Actor at cannes was well worth it, and the movie as a whole should rack up more in the Ameri-can movie awards.

does the movie’s music disappoint? Ab-solutely not.

Although moviegoers should not expect a score like Patton, Basterds takes a twist on music from the 1940s. mainly, there is not much music from the time period, but rather 50s bluegrass and deep guitar solos. Tarantino in fact uses music from, unex-pectedly, david Bowie. Even the trailer of the movie uses Nine Inch Nails as surprise music choice. don’t get discouraged by the seemingly haphazard musical choices, be-cause they are used perfectly when need be.

This wonderfully crafted and well thought out movie will have you literally on the edge of your seat. From the way scenes were shot, to the humor planted throughout the movie, Basterds is definitely a must-see - and see again. If you've seen the trailer, you are safe from knowing the plot and major points of the movie, unlike some movies that are spoiled by trailers.

can Pitt's Raine and his ‘basterds’ make it in time to blow up the major players of the Third Reich? Is major landa as crazy as I make him out to be? You'll have to find out for yourself in this riveting film.

august 24, 2009 • the cauldron 13

Tarantino does it again with BasterdsBy Rob Ivory, The Cauldron Sports Editor

Page 14: The Cauldron - issue 1 - fall 09

the cauldron • august 24, 2009 14

Further than Basketball, More Than A Game: leBron James and company enter the theaterBy Chris enoch, The Cauldron Editor-in-chief,

If you live in cleveland, it’s impossi-ble to avoid the likeness of leBron James. In cleveland, no. 23 has proven to be a reluctant savior—

simultaneously a high-caliber player ca-pable of resuscitating a pessimistic cleve-land from years of gloom and doom in the sports arena, and a puzzling superstar which cleveland has watched grow from adolescence to manhood, only for the city to then question his long-term loyalties.

during the press day interview at St. Vincent- St. mary between leBron James, his old high school championship coach dru Joyce, his old squad and Kristopher Belman, director of the new documentary more Than A Game, which debuts in lim-ited release Oct. 2 and features James and his old championship teammates (known as the “Fab Five”), representatives of The cauldron did not squander time on discus-sions of contracts and on-court ambitions for the upcoming basketball season. The conversation was geared toward cleve-land, toward Akron and towards the up-coming film.

Witness James and company reminisc-ing on past times: “It’s humbling. The fact that we are able to show people in Akron, and parts of the world and in the united States of America what we went through as kids and how we hit speed bumps and

had ups and downs and we persevered through all of the tough times. Kids defi-nitely can make a difference. We had a leader in coach dru that helped us make our dream a reality.”

As conversation shifted to the film, di-rector Belman received accolades for his dedication to the film and to the team. “he kept his word, he did a tremendous job. I never had any worries because he is a man of his word. See, we never intended to make a film. We just saw a guy from Ak-ron named Kris who was making a school project; we never ever thought that it could even be a film. Once we saw the story we knew it could become bigger,” remarked James.

In filming the documentary, Belman opened audiences to leBron’s old squad and the challenges they faced on the road to championship after championship. The result is a new familiarity with the team that catapulted cleveland’s best-known sports icon to basketball superstardom.

Belman cherished his opportunity to in-troduce the world to leBron’s old St. Vin-cent- St. mary squad. “I enjoyed it…I love it when I hear people come out of the movie talking about dru’s three point extravagan-za. I was intrigued by the challenge.”

coach dru Joyce also lent his praise to the film. “In general, Kris got his point

across. The point that I wanted to see is that dreams come true, it takes hard work, but dreams do come true…You see what it means to have a bond among friends and a lot of times I think friendship is kind of downplayed in today’s society in some respects but their friendship it means the most to them. Outside of bloodlines, these guys are family.”

Even as the press day event capped off a larger-than-life global tour for leBron James and company, dru Joyce II, son of coach dru Joyce, kept the squad unpre-tentious. “The most important city to us is Akron. I’m honored to be with these guys and share these moments,” dru said.

In the face of discussions of contracts and free agency, James still remains an enduring loyalist to his community. “We’ve done a lot of things in the community, man, we continue to give back. Tomorrow I got the annual leBron James Bike-a-thon and that gives back to the local urban leagues and YmcAs and is geared toward younger kids and single parent mothers. It’s a pas-sion of mine.”

Apparently in an Akron state of mind, James made his priorities toward the com-munity clear. “I will always continue to give back whether I’m a global icon or not. It means a lot more than the game of basket-ball,” James stated.

Photo by Robert Ivory

Page 15: The Cauldron - issue 1 - fall 09

august 24, 2009 • the cauldron 15

Four weeks of uneasinessPreseason football hurts more than it helpsBy William Wodka, The Cauldron Staff Writer

A s we get set for another great foot-ball season packed with big hits, great catches and those unforget-table plays that leave you ask-

ing “where’s the flag?”, we cannot help but wonder if four preseason games really are necessary.

Players are spending a lot of time work-ing out and conditioning over the offseason and the sport has turned into a year round sport, leaving players and coaches ex-hausted midway through the season.

But can there be something the Commis-sioner Roger Goodell could do?

Goodell, along with others, is looking into the possibility of shortening the preseason and giving the regular season a few extra games. This seems like a good idea and would make for a better competitive sport, which is turning into the leading sport that Americans watch. The franchise players would play the whole game instead of see-ing one series and getting the boot by un-experinced teammates. Fans pay big bucks to go to preseason games and want to not only see those up-and-coming players, but the big name players as well.

With this idea players would not have to risk getting hurt before the regular season even starts. Some players get hurt dur-ing the preseason games and are out for weeks, even months. An example of this is Steve Smith, who will be out for a couple of weeks for the carolina Panthers, who are also reeling from other injuries accumulated during the preseason. Some players just do not want to play because they are afraid of injuries. I recently went to the hall of Fame game and saw the Buffalo Bills play. Ter-rell Owens, also known as T.O., and Trent Edwards played one series for the Bills and that was it. Then T.O. did not practice with the team the next day, complaining about an injured toe. he did not play in the second preseason game for the Bills, and will see limited time once again during the Bills third preseason game.

The Bills and Titans also have an ex-tra preseason game which runs the risk of more injuries before the big season opener. This is due to the teams playing in the hall of Fame game, which helps celebrate the incoming class of hall of Famers. Every year two teams take that risk and play the

extra game. I think the hall of Fame game is a great idea but the league should not “punish” the two teams when they get se-lected to play the game by adding another preseason game on their schedule.

I think the league should lessen the amount of pre season games to two games and include one extra regular season game with no "tweener" week during the playoffs. It seems that the Super Bowl has turned into a festival of light bulbs popping and advertisers getting their cut of the money. hopefully the league will consider changing it up as fans cannot wait for the new sea-son, with as much talk over the offseason about trades and team pick-ups as well as Tom Brady returning. It is shaping up to be another great season.

Further than Basketball, More Than A Game: leBron James and company enter the theaterBy Chris enoch, The Cauldron Editor-in-chief,

csu men’s soccer Fall 2009 schedule

Page 16: The Cauldron - issue 1 - fall 09

the cauldron • august 24, 2009 16

Top moments of summer 2009By Rob Ivory, The Cauldron Sports Editor

W hen The cauldron last ran, the sporting world was ready to crown new champions in many horizon league sports, and

those around the world too. End of season trades, free agent signings, transfers, and ru-mors make some interesting headlines from your favorite sports news outlets.

here is The cauldron’s top moments from the summer of 2009: 8. Our biggest number goes to the biggest man on out countdown. how do the cleveland cavaliers top the most arrogant, self-centered player in the NBA? By getting an even older and bigger arrogant, self-centered player. Of course, we are talking about Shaq-diesel coming to the shores of lake Erie via a trade with the Phoenix Suns. The 7-foot-1-inch, 325-pound 17-year vet comes to cleveland with the motto “a ring for the king,” signifying his goal for another championship in another city (los Angeles and miami), with another NBA superstar (Kobe and Wade). If Shaq can stay motivated and work hard this offseason, the cavs just may be the team to beat. 7. usain Bolt is crazy fast! Bolt just turned 23, but holds both the world’s 100 and 200-meter records. The Jamacian ran the 200m in 19.19 seconds this week, becoming the first man to hold both world titles at the same time. As Bolt has smashed the records in Berlin, Germany (the same stadium that cleveland’s own Jes-se Owens won golds at the 1936 Nazi-spon-sored Olympics), many have asked about the use of performance-enhancing drugs. Bolt has never failed a test, but in a sport that has seen many of its most famous athletes sus-pended or stripped of medals, many people still wonder about the validity of the Jamai-can’s times. 6. cleveland State’s tennis coach Brian Etzkin was named the Intercollegiate Tennis Associ-ation’s division I midwest coach of the Year. during his seven-year tenure at cleveland State, Etzkin has built the Viking tennis pro-gram to one of the best in the nation. Back-to-back horizon league titles the past two years has made the program the best its ever been in its 71-year history.

5. henderson makes it to Baseball hall of Fame: Rickey henderson once said that he was the greatest ball player of all time. With his introduction into cooperstown during the middle of the summer, he made a huge step of being remembered with the greatest play-ers to play in the majors. Rickey received 94.8

percent of the ballots and was a shoe-in for the hall of Fame since he retired. henderson swiped 1,406 bases and scored 2,295, the most in baseball history. Rickey was on the 1989 Oakland A's World Series roster with the infamous "Bash Brothers" of Jose canseco and mark mcGwire. Ironically, mcGwire re-cieved only 21.9 percent of votes in his favor (75 percent are needed to get into the hall of Fame). 4. Softball does not fall short in ‘09. The cleveland State softball team was haunted last year by their loss in the Horizon League finals to Wright State. In 2009, however, the girls got behind ace junior fireballer, Amanda macenko, and were able to beat uIc and ad-vance into the NcAA tournament. With losses to Notre dame and miami (Oh) in the tourney, the Vikings did not advance but now have much more to look forward to in 2010. 3. confederations cup surprise. uSA soccer has been an underdog since day one. Ev-erybody in the world laughs at major league Soccer as an "unprofessional professional" league. however, the 2009 confederations cup in South Africa saw a scrappy u.S. team that never gave up. With the u.S. losing their first two games to Italy (3-1) and Brazil (3-0) it looked like an early exit from the com-petition was the only solution the Ameri-cans had. luck had to be on their side - and it was. By beat-ing Egypt 3-0 and the Brazilians beating Ita-ly by the same score, the u.S. squeezed into the finals with a fight against Brazil. Although the u.s. held a lead, the Bra-zilians won the final, but maybe the u.s. will be ready for the World cup next year. 2. tribe loses out. What more can be said about the Indi-ans? "Fire Wedge" chants have been prominent since the

beginning of the season, the dolans have been looking to get out of their ownership title, and now the team looks like a Triple A farm club. To cement the hurt of the fans, the Indi-ans traded away arguably their best two and fan favorite players before the July 31 trade deadline. First, last year’s cy Young award winner cliff lee was traded to World Series champions Philadelphia Phillies. Then, if the Indians’ fans weren’t crushed enough, catcher Victor martinez was traded to the hated Bos-ton Red Sox. What fans point out about these trades are the lack of talent they received for the Indians: standouts.

1. cSu is successful, again. Along with the softball team and tennis teams mentioned above winning their respectful titles, the men’s golf team again won the horizon league title. led by Jake Scott, who claimed the medalist honors for the second year in a row and the hl player of the year in 2009, the golf team finished 12th in the central Regional champi-onship in Bowling Green, Ky. cleveland State again showed last year why they are one of the most successful schools in the horizon League.