1 | The Eagle

R O B E R T M O R R I S U N I V E R S I T Y

THETHETHEEAGLEEAGLEEAGLEISSUE No 18.05 Fall 2014

Est. 1996

ARLINGTON HEIGHTS • BENSENVILLE • CHICAGO • DUPAGE • ELGIN • LAKE COUNTY • ORLAND PARK • PEORIA • SCHAUMBURG • SPRINGFIELD

CHRISTIAN NEISH

ALEXANDER RAMIREZ MENDOZA

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Molly Zahorik’s and students from her SSC 120 Psycholo-gy: Perspectives & Practices class raised money from Au-gust 27th-September 20th for the American Suicide Prevention Foundation through Chicago-land’s Out of the Darkness Walk. The Out of the Darkness Com-munity Walks holds various walks all over the country in order to raise money for suicide prevention and mental health. In the SSC 120 course students learn the basics of psycholo-gy and the importance mental health. As a fun and creative new way to their studies into the outside world, the class was started to fundraise and spread awareness for suicide preven-tion through the COOTDW

Professor Molly Zahorik (right, in grey RMU shirt) and students from her SSC 120 course (left to right) Alexander Ramirez Mendoza, Arlene Ocasio, Rob-ert Lane, Latasha McGary, Linda Sandoval, Brandi Scott, Kevin Mitchell

Psychology Class raises over $500 for Suicide

Prevention Foundationwebsite. Zahorik’s main objec-tive was to help students get in-volved with the community but also share their new knowledge to spread awareness about issues that affect every community. Each student was allowed to make their own profile and ei-ther donate themselves or fund-raise for the cause. When most of the class showed interest in raising money for the cause Za-horik allowed the students to have a fundraising day. During the event students set up games that charged to play and asked for donations as well. A few stu-dents also occupied four com-puters on the seventh floor of RMU in order to accept credit or debit card donations to the cause. Students not only helped raise money for the ASPF, but also helped spread awareness by explaining the cause and statistics. The class was very successful in raising over $500 in donations during the event. On September 20th the day of

the walk, several students set out to Grant Park along with thousands of others to cele-brate the completion of reach-ing the ASPF goal of $625,000. With over 5,000 participants, the ASPF has now raised a total of $741,455 to date! The RMU Team of participants is now ranked 188 out of 582 officially ranked teams in the Chicago-land Out of the Darkness Walk fundraiser. The RMU Team has now raised a total of $740.25 to-date. At the event after the walk, speakers announced that the Chicagoland area had made this year the biggest walk for the fourth year in a row, as well as having the biggest con-tributors towards the cause. Donations are still being ac-cepted up until January 1st, 2015. If anyone is interested in making one, visit the organi-zations website at: http://afsp.donordrive.com/index.cfm?fu-seaction=donorDrive.team&te-amID=67542.

As you have probably seen by now, Robert Morris cheerlead-ers have gone on excursions from classroom to classroom raising awareness and money through the ‘Penny Wars’ com-petition, where students are asked to donate money, no mat-ter how exiguous the amounts, in an effort to fund ‘Pink Heals’ altruistic endeavors, and head cheerleading coach Angie Cald-well could not be any more sat-isfied with her regime, stating: “I’m really proud of them; they

RMU Campuses go Pink for

Cancer Fundraising

know what Pink Heals means to me. We support Pink Heals.” The Chicago location of Robert Morris University raised $275 during the Penny Wars, the highest amount among all the RMU locations. All the money raised is to be allocated towards families with outstanding med-ical bills and related expens-es. ‘Pink Heals’ is explicitly volunteer work and “you can rest assured that all the mon-ey is going back into the com-munity”, says Mrs. Caldwell. One major form of this service to the community is through orchestrated visits to the homes of families with relatives suffer-ing from maladies. ‘Pink Heals’ receives a phone call to visit the home and they then align

themselves with the local police and fire department to ensure a thorough and vigorous is made as they arrive with an amalga-mation of sirens backing them; ‘Pink Heals’ Joliet Chapter has done between 30 and 40 visits since July. In light of their per-petual success, a third vehicle has been recently purchased, a fire truck named ‘Kris.’ Jo-liet also boasts the distinction of having in its possession the first and only pink police car, which was conferred the sobri-quet of Angie Caldwell’s late aunt, Tina. Citizens are asked to sign the pink laden vehi-cles as a show of deference to those with terminal diseases and support for their families. The non-profit organization

‘Pink Heals’ works to raise the spirits of cancer patients and oth-er persons with such ailments. While the moniker “Pink” de-notes a focus on women, ‘Pink Heals’ does not exclude men and children from their phil-anthropic voyages. ‘Pink Heals’ has 52 locations nationally and three in Illinois with a fourth one currently being built. Rob-ert Morris came into associa-tion with the venerable founda-tion by way of Angie Caldwell. While operating her cheer-leading gym in early 2012, Mrs. Caldwell became aware that a cheerleader in her mini di-vision, a six-year-old Addison Locke, had been diagnosed with cancer. It was through this that Mrs. Caldwell was introduced

to one Sandra Fleck, member of the Joliet Chapter for ‘Pink Heals.’ So moved by the vicissi-tudes of Addison’s disease, San-dra proposed the idea of letting Addison ride on one of their pink fire trucks during the Na-tional Tour. Upon conclusion of the event, the Joliet Chapter had accrued the means to pur-chase another fire truck and aptly name it ‘Addison’, as it is custom for all ‘Pink Heals’ vehi-cles to adopt the name of female cancer patients. Angie Caldwell was then promptly offered to join ‘Pink Heals’; where she would then go on to subsume her affiliation with the faction as its Director of Home Visits and Events with Robert Morris University’s cheerleading team.

2 | The Eagle

THE EAGLECONTENT TEAM

Dan Ciaglia Editor-in-ChiefKevin Morales Writer

DESIGN TEAMTyson Bosco Art Director

CONTRIBUTORSMichael Chowlewinski

Alexander Ramirez Mendoza

Christian NeishRena Petty

EAGLE ADVISORPaul Gaszak

pgaszak@robertmorris.edu

ADVISORY BOARDDavid Pyle

Mick McMahon

CAMPUS FACULTYDavid Belotti - Lake Countydbelotti@robertmorris.edu

Beth Gainer - Bensenvillebgainer@robertmorris.edu

Gerard Wozek - Dupagegwozek@robertmorris.edu

Jane Wendorff-Craps - Peoriajwendorff-craps

@robertmorris.edu

LETTER FROM THE EDITOR

Sincerely,

Editor-In-Chief

CONTENTSIN THIS ISSUE

MISSION STATEMENT

The Eagle is the s t u d e n t - c e n t e r e d news source of Robert Morris University (IL) and does not necessarily represent the views of Robert Morris Univeristy administrators, faculty, or students. The Eagle provides a venue for the exchange of ideas and information pertinent to the students of RMU.

Visit our publication page at robertmorris.edu/publications/eagle

Like us!RMU Eagle News

Follow us!@RMUEagle

Greetings fellow Eagles,Can you believe the Fall quarter will be coming to an end in just a few short weeks? I've heard

of accelerated programs before, but this is ridiculous!Finally I get to cross "use pain-fully bad joke in college news-paper" off my bucket list; in all seriousness though, it really is hard to believe how fast time goes nowadays. I remember my first day as an Eagle on July 16, 2012 as if I had just lived it yesterday. I remember sitting in the back corner of Mick Mc-Mahon's COM 101 class at 10:00, eyes dead locked on my sched-ule, mulling the same thought over and over: do I really have to take a painting class this quar-ter? However, Professor Hutchi-son's CRX 108 class at 12:00 turned out to be really fun, and it was through his recommen-dation that I was able to join The Eagle, so I suppose painting for 10 weeks paid its dividends in

the long run.I bring up the concept of time flying because as I drove up to Arlington Heights just a couple weeks ago with my graduation gown hanging in the back of the car, I had the sudden real-ization that I am really at the end of the road with college. I guess I have to say that I am glad to be finishing up with my degree, but at the same time it is a little scary to think about being finished with school and getting up to the starting line of the rest of my life. I promise all of you that RMU does all it can to prepare you for this moment, though, so have no fear.In a couple months (February 17 to be exact but who's count-ing), I will walk out the Van Bu-ren doors and it will be the last time I am in this building to go to class. Time moves too quick, and if I regret anything from my 2+ years here, it's the daily routine of wake up, class, work, home, sleep. I rarely took time to find new opportunities and friendships here; I had 1 mis-sion and it was to stay focused

on school so I could graduate. Staying focused academically is obviously important, but I want all of you to stay off the route that I took through this school. I tended to shy away from meet-ing new people here, so I want you to learn from that mistake and take advantage of that op-portunity. You'll come across some of the best people you'll ever meet in college, and who knows where the friendships you build here will lead. None of us know how much time we'll have left to live, so each day should be spent growing and reaching out of our comfort zone. Talk to that person you've never met in your class. See if that cute girl or guy you always see in the library is single and free this weekend. Get to real-ly know one another, and you'll learn even more about yourself along the way.

Greetings From the Eagle Staff

My name is Michael Cholew-inski and it is an honor to be the new President of Student Coun-cil. I am a Business Adminis-tration student at RMU and currently working on obtain-ing a MBA degree. I have been involved with Student Council since last year and have worked on ideas on how to grow Stu-dent Council. Outside of Stu-dent Council, I am currently involved in the Business Ad-visory Board, Academic Coun-cil, and Junior Achievement. The Vice President of Student Council, Katie Thayer, is a Nurs-ing and Health Studies Student with previous experience in Stu-dent Council from high school. She has been an RMU Eagle for two years and she believes that Student Council is a huge part of RMU that is missing. English Professor Tricia Lunt is the Faculty Advisor for Student Council. She will be helping and

supporting Student Council. The Student Council’s mis-sion is to serve as a unified voice for Robert Morris Uni-versity students in expressing student needs and concerns, promoting the advancement of the university, and increas-ing student success. Student Council exists to allow the stu-dents to voice their opinions for the betterment of our school. As the President of Student Council, my main duty is to give students the opportuni-ty to share their opinions and ideas with Student Council so that Katie and I can share them with the university’s faculty and administration through the official channels we have estab-lished with RMU’s Academic Council. In order to collect stu-dent opinions, Student Council needs to have a larger student involvement, and with your help, your voice will count. It is very easy to get involved in Student Council. Current-

Letter from Student Council President

Greetings Robert Morris Students:

ly, there are official positions available as Student Council Representatives, which consist of representatives from each college of RMU as well as Sec-retary and Treasurer on the Student Council’s Executive Committee. Students can also simply share their thoughts at open meetings, via Facebook at facebook.com/rmustudent-council, or by e-mail to Student-Council@robertmorris.edu. I look forward to meeting and working with all of you to grow Student Council and have the voice of the student body be heard. As President of Stu-dent Council, I am here to serve you and I invite you to contact me about any Student Council matters at mcholewinski635@robertmorris.edu or Student-Council@robertmorris.edu.

Sincerely,

Michael Cholewinski

LETTER FROM THE Art Director

Hello to all you readers, I hope everyone is doing well with their classwork. As an-other quarter ends, it makes each of us closer to our ultimate goal; we leave here to test our-selves against the world. We are/will be armed with experi-ence, hopefully a well-crafted resume, and a shiny degree that declares the amount of time each one of us has put into our prospective career field. If you

are like me, though, you are a bit too preoccupied with other things to think about it that of-ten. As of now, school/work/intern-ships and whatever else I do with my time but cannot recall at this moment somewhat blur together in one long moment. Most of this moment I spend wondering what I should be do-ing and avoiding it. We all hit a point, though, where there can be no more delays. As the pres-sure closes in, one must endure. Preparing for the future is like

playing a sport, such as football. Practicing for the sport took about 60% of life, yet games only took up about 5%. It is fun-ny, that endless amount of time running until you cannot even walk, lifting weights until even raising a hand to open a door took a great deal of strain, all of this back-breaking work was sacrificed for one hour. By the time the game was happening, running and tackling felt easy. I do not recall if we won or lost these games. The only thing I know is I survived it all.

RMU News: Page 1- Psychology Class raises over $500 for Suicide Prevention Founda-tion- Album Review: Devil-ORMU Campuses go Pink for Cancer Fund-raising

Arts & Culture: Page 3- Movie Review: After The Dark- Album Review: Devil-Out With Magritte, In With McKenzie

Eat & Drink: Page 4- The Hungry Eagle Presents: Cafecito- The Spooky Apricot

Sports & Health: Page 5 - Homecoming Highlights

Perspective: Pages 6 & 7 - He Says/ She Says- The Chicago Walker

Exit to the Right: Page 8 (the last page)-Sudoku- Comic

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ALEXANDER RAMIREZ MENDOZA

TYSON BOSCO

CHRISTIAN NEISH

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Movie Review After The Dark

fter the Dark is set at an internation-al school located in in Jakarta. Mr. Zimit, the philos-ophy teacher, has

decided to give his class of twen-ty students a few thought exer-cises to better prepare them for their future. On the last day of school, Mr. Zimit’s last exercise insists the students surviving an atomic apocalypse. There is one bunker with enough supplies to sustain the life of ten stu-dents for one year. The students are told to decide which of the twenty students will survive. Petra, top student and actress Sophie Lowe, initially refuses to participate. However, when her boyfriend James’ class grade is put on the line, she is forced to participate. To make the exercise more difficult, the students are given cards with

details about themselves. Each student must now defend their right to survive based upon the skills given to them. Students deemed useful for survival are allowed into the bunker, while students with less than useful skills such as fashion designer are forced to leave. Zimit, how-ever, is involved as well, yet his skills are hidden. At first the students decide to let him in, as a result he shoots the rejected students. He later states that it is more humane to shoot them rather than letting them die due to radiation. After this thought

many students begin to race to-ward the bunker as the first ra-dioactive wave follows behind them and locking Zimit out. Later, once in the bunker and situated, the students begin to develop thoughts of turning on one another and eventu-ally start killing themselves. For the second exercise Zim-it tells the students to reveal their second skill on the card given to them. To some, this has increased their potential for survival and for others, their chances terminated com-pletely. With the values of students changed and Zimit’s skills no longer unknown, the students begin to plan ahead. After the Dark, though having many sci-fi related ideas and features, it includes many phil-osophical aspects. Many terms of which are presented in the first scenes and later portrayed throughout the film. Being a movie that was released Febru-ary 7th, 2014 its plot line is very fresh in comparison to many big films currently out. While still providing vague education on the topic of philosophy, the plot line entices viewers from every genre. Furthermore, by having an actress such as Bon-nie Wright, also known as Gin-ny Weasley in Harry Potter; or an actor such as Daryl Sabara from Spy Kids I-IV, After the Dark has a wide array of talent-ed actors.

eleased in April, Chiodos’ fourth stu-dio album ‘Devil’ offers a manifold of musical styles that are sure to appease

rock ‘n’ roll lovers as well as scream and hard rock enthusi-asts alike. In the band’s first al-bum release with original lead singer Craig Owens, returning from his three-year stint with his side project ‘D.R.U.G.S.’, Chiodos boasts a more robust sound and their music ap-pears to be better than ever. Following their patented acoustic piano intro, ‘Devil’ commences with the rip-roar-ing and satirically titled ‘We’re Talking About Practice’. The varying melodies throughout the verses paired with a me-lodic chorus is nothing short of brilliant, not to mention the ballad-like tone of the third verse juxtaposed right before a blistering surge of sincere vo-cals and furious drumming. In an effort to break stride, ‘3 AM’ arrives two tracks later as an apropos recourse from the blis-tering guitar riffs of the preced-ing tracks. The song subsumes into a more traditional terna-ry rock ‘n’ roll song structure. From the classic Ringo Starr style drum play to the modest guitar play, Chiodos success-fully traversed outside of tra-

Album Review: Devil ditional screaming piety while

also remaining true to them-selves and the genre as a whole. ‘Sunny Days & Hand Gre-nades’ is the apogee of an ode their more satirical side. The sixth track of their album is re-plete with whimsical piano riffs backing choir vocals during the verses and the all but trade-marked Craig Owens in song monologue that makes flout at the status quo suburban house-hold. The epigrammatic song’s antithesis is succeeded by the ominous sounds and overall desolate nature of ‘Duct Tape’, and the heavy-metalesque ‘Behvis Bullock’ which is not destitute of stomach twisting screams. An incongruous mon-key wrench in the form of ‘Un-der Your Halo’ is then thrown in. Chiodos apparently sought the need to ingratiate a faux bal-lad into the album. The lyrics, while intimate, are pandering and trite; consequently, the un-usual synthesizers at the start of the song do not aid in palliating the overall platitude of the track. Thankfully, the album does not end on an evocative sour note. ‘ I Am Everything That’s Nor-mal’ features endearing verses and venerable tempo change be-tween moderate paced choruses and rapid verses which caps the album commodiously, aside from the elongated ambience of the song’s latter duration. I would be remised to not men-tion the two gratuitous bonus tracks ‘R2Me2’ and ‘Let Me Get You a Towel’. Overall, ‘Devil’ is a compendium of hard rock and scream-o with solemn lyrics and mellifluous melodies only to be rivaled by their compeer ‘Pierce the Veil’. Devil is a must buy for all music lovers.

E

ne of the many great aspects of going to Robert Morris University in Chicago is the ability to see all the

great things happening in the city; there is everything from cultural centers, aquariums, restaurants, museums, and es-pecially places to shop. RMU has many ways of enticing stu-dents to try new things, as they do have Passport Chicago events every week, but one of the most convenient places to visit is the Art Institute of Chicago. With constant new exhibits, older collections, and slews of other events, culture is not a difficult thing to find at this institution. Because of a partnership with the Art Institute of Chicago, any RMU student with their I.D. can get in free (that did not rhyme on purpose). Keep in mind, though, that not every employee there knows about this lucrative deal, so be sure to inform them if they are not

Out With Magritte, In With McKenzie

familiar with the rule. Once in-side, there is an almost limitless amount of exhibits to see; they have everything from photogra-phy exhibits to an entire room full of paperweights. There are maps of the different areas, so

be sure to take one; otherwise there is a slight chance you will disappear and be gone forever. With advertisements on ev-ery CTA bus, bus-stop, street corner and train, “The Mystery of the Ordinary” is current-ly the Art Institute’s exhibit from the creative mind of the famous Belgian painter, Rene Magritte. This exhibit, which opened Tuesday, September

2nd, 2014 and will be shown un-til Monday, November 10, 2014 is a great representation of the style of art called Surrealism, which is usually known for it’s subtle or extreme mix of reali-ty, dreamscapes, emotion, and the twisted fantastic. As with all Surrealism, Magritte’s work has an infinite depth, limitless meaning, and tones of what many call ordinary/mundane mixed with what can only be imagined. Other characteris-tics to take note of are his use of cloudy skies, bowler hats,

jockeys, circle-topped bedposts, and shadowy figures in suits. Another exhibit that will be up-and-coming is art from Lucy McKenzie, which will be on display from Thursday, Octo-ber 23, 2014 to Sunday, Janu-ary 18, 2015. Scottish-born but Belgium-based, McKenzie is known for her ability to exhibit multiple styles of art on multi-ple different medias; her sub-

jects being anything from polit-ical expressionism to landscape surrealism. Her subject matter can be explicit or reserved, but one certainty is Lucy McKenzie does not disappoint in terms of surprises. If anything, it would be surprising if her 12 new paintings were not surprising. Out of a fear that no one would be able to find it, the Art Insti-tute of Chicago placed two gi-gantic lion statues in front of the building. Out of fear that people would be too afraid to go into the building because of the lions, the statues were then painted green so everyone

would know they are, in fact, statues. Besides the lions, the architecture of the building also makes it look much more pro-nounced in comparison to it’s neighboring structures. There is also an immense walkway emanating from one of its sides; this walkway connects to Mil-lennium Park. It may not be a giant reflective bean to take pic-tures next to, but the Art Insti-tute of Chicago is worth a visit, nonetheless.

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KEVIN MORALES

With His-panic Heri-tage Month r e c e n t l y ending, it seemed ap-

propriate to turn our attention to somewhere that could satisfy the craving for some good His-panic food. Along with Chica-go’s large Hispanic population is a large selection of restau-rants that seek to share the flavorful part of their cultures. Yet with many college stu-dents on a tight schedule and budget, many of these locations fall short of fulfilling their need due to location, pricing, or lack of quality food. Fortunately for RMU students, there is no need to look farther than next door. Located at 26 E. Congress Pkwy, Cafecito is no more than a few steps east from the south entrance of RMU which strives to serve good coffee along with some tasty Cuban cuisine. Many of you have per-haps walked by without even realizing that next door is a hid-den gem in the form of a café. Upon walking into the café, customers are drawn to the large colorful menu hang-ing from the ceiling above the counter. Across from the counter is seating for about 30 customers in the form of ta-

bles, booths, or lounge chairs. If you plan on eating in, make sure to beat the lunch crowd; otherwise, your best option is to take your order to go. To top it off, salsa music and various

pieces of artwork and furniture add the necessary Cuban flare to the space without proving to be too distracting. Overall the atmosphere is very inviting

and lively and makes for a great place to socialize with others. Cafecito’s menu offers a good selection of beverages including familiars such as cappuccinos and espressos to Cuban classics such as café con leche and bati-dos. In terms of food, the menu offers a variety of platters, pressed sandwiches, salads, and side dishes. Some examples of their platters are palomilla (steak) or lechon (pork), and sandwiches vary from the Cu-bano, ropa vieja (shredded beef), pollo arugula (chicken), to sim-ple jamon (ham). There is even

a breakfast menu that is served from 7-11am. No need to worry if you don’t recognize some of these names, the menu is 100%

in English with clear explana-tions of each dish and prices. For lunch, I originally planned on having the Ropa Vieja sand-wich which is slow roasted skirt steak, topped with sweet plan-tains, black beans, and tomato creole sauce served on French bread. However, due to the pop-ularity of the entree, the kitch-en had run out earlier in the day. I ended up selecting the Palo-milla sandwich, which turned out to be a great substitute. The sandwich is steak topped with grilled onions, toma-toes, lettuce, and shoestring potatoes on French bread. All sandwiches can be ordered as a combo with chips or a soup/salad combo each with a 16oz drink. I was pleased to find the meat was nice and ten-der with the toppings serving as a nice compliment to the meat making for a filling meal. I was really intrigued by the breakfast menu, so I decided to return the next day to give it a try. There are a total of

seven sandwiches to choose from, even a simple order of bread with butter to go with your coffee. I decided to try the jamon con huevos (ham with eggs) sandwich along with a Cuban hot chocolate. The chocolate was perfectly rich and creamy, outshining any café hot chocolate I have tried previous to this one. The sand-wich was nicely pressed with a fried egg and slices of grilled ham covered in oozing swiss cheese sitting within the bread. Overall, Cafecito is truly a hid-den gem. Not only does it make for a warm place to get togeth-er with friends for some great coffee, it bridges cultures by delivering fine quality Cuban cuisine at an affordable price. Cafecito is open Monday-Fri-day from 7am-9pm and Satur-day-Sunday from 10am-6pm. Recently, a second location was opened at 7 N. Wells Chicago which is open weekdays from 10am-6pm. Be sure to check them out!

Cafecito’s palomilla sandwich served with the chips and drink combo.

Customers can choose from a large selection of sandwiches among several other entrees at Cafecito.

The Hungry Eagle presents: Cafecito

The Spooky Apricot

TYSON BOSCO

he Spooky Apri-cot is a very spe-cial drink for two fantastic reasons:

1. Trying the drink will al-low one to understand why it is named as it is, and 2. asking a bartender to make this for you will make you sound ultra sophisticated based on the seemingly end-less amount of ingredients needed to make the drink correctly. Invented at D'Agustino's Pizza and Pub, the drink started as an expiriment to

test what flavors gin com-pliments, and after carefully pouring in random amounts of random liquors and cock-tail juices, the Spooky Apri-cot was born. Another good aspect of this drink is the fact that it has two different kinds of fruit juice in it. If anyone asks what you are drink-ing, you can reply with ", I am having my two servings of fruit; they are just mixed into this alcohol" No one can argue with that.

Ingredients:

3 parts: Blueberry Vodka

2 parts: Gin

1 part: Orange Juice

1 part: Pineapple Juice

1 part: Grenadine

1 part: Sprite

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A Little Taste of RMU's Homecoming

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He Says/ She Says

RENA PETTY

he Notebook, A Walk to Remember, Love and Basketball and Twilight are all pop-ular romance movies that portray happy

endings in which the characters have committed relationships by the end of the movie. There are many more movies that leave the audience in bliss after seeing the fairytale ending. So what's stop-ping us from having our "happily ever afters" in the real world? Is it that a good partner is just too hard to find? Or maybe it's that we find our partners but just can't seem to get them to commit. The most im-portant thing in any relationship is commitment. In the movie Twi-light, Edward Cullen had the com-mitment aspect of his relationship with Bella Swan covered but there just aren't too many committed men like him in the real world, (in the world where vampires and werewolves don't exist). Why is it that movies condone committed men but there are a lack of them in our world? What is prohibiting men from fully committing to their significant other?

One reason guys find it hard to commit is because they may not be completely interested in the person they are with. They are attracted to her physically but if a guy can't commit to the person he's seeing, he most likely doesn't have deep feelings for her. Like the movie said, "He's Just Not That Into You." When a man truly loves a woman, or has deep feelings for her, he will commit himself to her. When a guy

is being unfaithful in the relation-ship or won't commit himself to just one person, his love for them isn't deep enough.

Another reason men don't com-mit might be based on their matu-rity levels. When a guy is young, or just in a juvenile mindset, he only has one thing on his mind and it is not commitment. Young guys want to have outrageous and sponta-neous adventures, go to fun parties, and have exciting lives. Looking for

CHRISTIAN NEISH

s the decades have passed and the prac-tices of prior genera-tions have gone into evanesce, society has seen a paradigm

shift in relationship standards. From the transitory length to the ubiquitous ignominy of cheating, many relationships are flounder-ing and this ineptitude can be at-tributed to one factor: lack of com-mitment. The dictum that women mature faster than men is not true. To dissent, a lot of women lack the emotional intelligence and cogni-tive maturity required to sustain a functional and intimate relation-ship with their significant other. This begs the question of ‘Why is it so hard for women to commit?’

It is axiomatic that a prepon-derance of women love to be cy-nosures. They crave affection and admiration; feed off it even, and some women do not care if it comes from their love interest or that guy whom they have never met in per-son before but always leaves emo-jis, heart eyes and all those other frivolous and effusive displays of attraction under her pictures ev-ery time she post a ‘thirst trap’ or ‘selfie’. Women see these extrane-

ous comments as harmless flattery from strangers and are not privy or cognizant to the effect that it has on their significant other. The jocose manner with which women handle these matters is the catalyst for the dilapidation of trust in their rela-tionship. No guy wants to see his girlfriend entertaining the advanc-es of another man. Relationships are about compromise; not Insta-gram likes.

Women have been using men since Cleopatra’s reign over ancient Egypt. Some women feel inclined to enter a relationship strictly for the purpose of filling a void as opposed to having genuine feelings for the man. They try to inundate that void with transient and disingenuous emotional attachment, third party approval, and relationships.

Relationships do not fill voids and they are not supposed to nor will they ever do as such. If there is no solemn connection between man and woman, the failure of the relationship is inexorable. Convenience does not equate com-

a good girl and committing to her is not something that a lot of young men have on their to-do lists. They think they have all the time in the world to settle down with one per-son, but while they are young, they just want to explore their options. As men get older, or more mature, they may realize that it's time to grow up and commit to their spe-cial someone. So, as long as a guy is on a juvenile maturity level, he won't be in the mindset to commit to one person.

Men also have difficulty com-mitting in relationships because they just might be afraid to do so. There are a couple of things per-taining to commitment that they may be afraid of. One thing a guy may fear is that if he fully commits himself to someone, that will leave him vulnerable and a target for get-ting his heart broken. When one commits to a person, they are giv-ing that person their all and tear-ing down the barriers surrounding their heart. When a person com-mits themselves and lets another person in, they are also setting themselves up for heartbreak. I believe that men are afraid to get their heart broken because it may feel emasculating, so they avoid committing to one person. A man

doesn't want to be committed in fear that the woman he is commit-ting himself to leaves him feeling weak and defenseless.

Another reason a guy may fear commitment is because the idea of commitment can be misconstrued with the idea of being permanently attached to someone. Commitment doesn't mean that you have to be with a person your entire life, it just means that while you are with that person you are being faithful to only them.

I believe that the word “commit-ment” has a lot of negative conno-tations to it. When we hear people telling us to commit to something, it is often told to us by our parents, coaches, bosses, professors and oth-er authority figures. Since these au-thoritative people are usually the ones lecturing us about commit-ment, we feel as if it is a negative thing. When someone tells another to commit to something, one may think that it will require hard work and energy. This is a vital reason in which men don't commit. Commit-ment seems more like a chore or responsibility than anything else. In actuality, being committed is a positive thing. When you commit yourself to something or someone, it shows that you are a strong, ded-icated and trustworthy person and if more guys looked at the benefits of being committed rather than the downfalls, we wouldn't have to rely on movies to know how a commit-ted man should be; we would have our reality.

mitment and compassion. Once a woman has realized that a man can never fill that void, she will depart from the relationship, having wast-ed her and the guy’s time. Be con-tent and fulfilled with who you are before assimilating a new man into your life.

Unfortunately, most women find happiness in having options and seeing how long and to what extent they can manipulate men. With this, their two basic needs are met. They reap the dividends of having multiple men (men whom posses no legitimate interest in them) cascade them with attention while simultaneously designating a pur-pose for each puppet she exercises perceived dominion over. One man provides her with money. One man she uses explicitly for….copulation and perhaps another man she calls whenever she needs a ride some-where. Some women prefer the conglomeration of boyfriend attri-butes in an aggregation of docile men, in lieu of an actual boyfriend.

Quite frankly, women love vari-ety coupled with a perpetual sup-ply of it. Loyalty and commitment are neither an esoteric concept nor are they an unreasonable request as the indubitable rudimentary el-ement off which relationships are built on is predicated on these vir-tues. It feels as though women find relationships insufferably boring, tedious, and repugnantly monoto-nous. There is nothing wrong with this belief; but if you find yourself following this train of thought, stay single for your sake and everyone else’s. You are not ready for com-mitment.

E

Commitment

What is stopping us from having our 'happily ever afters' in the real world?

6 | The Eagle Fall - Issue 1 2014 | 7

The Chicago Walker

uring the long walks of the night that I take to ease my mind of the burden of being so mentally unending, I take a

particularly strong look at the peo-ple, animals, and buildings I pass along the stroll. Sometimes, I find it difficult to tell man from crea-ture, because if one thinks about it in such a degree, there is very little that separates one from the other. It has been a widely argued topic as to whether man came from evolution of a lesser creature or if we came from creation by a higher being. It is an odd topic because no matter how many people join sides to argue about it, no one will ever know for sure.

I would like to take religion out of this equation and focus pri-marily on the hypothetical aspects of this mental debacle. So what is it that makes a human? We are

driven by many things; one of the main things is money. It is funny to think about it though; the big-gest strive in our lives is an object that has no actual value other than what we give it. If anything, that is the ultimate symbol of what it is to

be human. As humans, we strive to build ideals and explanations out of ordinary objects that have no reasoning beyond themselves. For that, it seems this idea of value beyond actual utilization is what drives man further from nature. Birds do not build nests out of cer-

tain branded items; dogs would not choose diamonds over steak. To them, it is pure necessity.

Many people would argue, in that instance, that animals do not choose luxury items because they do not understand the concept of

worth beyond whether it can be used to build nests or be eaten. Keep in mind, though, that the very birds that do not stock their nests with Panera cups are the very same ones that use reflective items like aluminum to add to their nest. Why would they choose alumi-

Humanity vs. Naturenum? Birds use aluminum because whatever their nest is made of, it also has to be made of something that would attract a mate; for some odd reason, birds find aluminum at-tractive. Therefore, beyond the fact that this material would hold up as well or worse than sticks or leaves, birds know enough about them-selves to know what the opposite gender likes.

If anything, animals can tech-nically be deemed as smarter than humans in many aspects. For one, opinion and personality are not traits that control an animals life. Animals have personalities, although there is plenty of specu-lation that the only recognizable personality traits come from the fact that man domesticated the an-imals that show these traits. The term, “domesticated”, comes from the standard idea that it is done with generations of that specific type of animal. In this instance,

one can say that this cannot be true, as squirrels and raccoons can be trained as pets. These animals are typically taken out of nature at young ages, but there are plenty of instances where an animal from the wild shows no fear from hu-mans. If an animal does not fear us as a predator, there is something be-yond its basic understanding of the food chain.

Man is not a weaker species be-cause of their strive to be defined and individualistic. Our species, however joined by community, does not require us to be so alike as to have the same interests, looks, or anything, for that matter. If anything, the reason we are all so unique in personality is because not having natural predators al-lows us to disengage with how closely knit we are to our commu-nity. To think, personality and opinion comes partially from lack of dying. E

I find it difficult to tell man from creature, there is very little that separates one from the other.

8 | The Eagle

SudokuINSTRUCTIONS Fill the grid with numbers so each row, column, and 3x3 block has every number from 1 to 9.

AverageEasy Hard

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Excuse me professor, but why must we learn physics?

How does a physics class save lives?

We learn it to save live lives! It keeps some students out of med school.