10.14.09

THE BUTLER

COLLEGIAN

14 2009

Indianapolis, Indiana

Established 1886

Vol. 124 Issue 8

WEDNESDAY OCTOBER

Libel lawsuit spurs debate How green is Butler?

Butler’s Overall Grade:

C-

Information from College Sustainability Report Card 2010

transportation

D

To increase walking, roads have been removed from center of campus.

Collegian photo by Rachel Senn

PRESIDENTIAL APPEARANCE: Bobby Fong, Butler University president, spoke during the Faculty Senate meeting Tuesday morning regarding a lawsuit over the TrueBU, an independent blog that addressed campus issues, both social and administrative.

Fong addresses Student confirms, Faculty Senate ‘I am Soodo Nym’ Jennifer Pignolet jpignole@butler.edu

Jennifer Pignolet jpignole@butler.edu A faculty senate meeting yesterday morning illustrated debate among members of the Butler University community over a 10month-old lawsuit involving a discontinued blog known as the TrueBU. The lawsuit was filed Jan. 8 of this year.

The blog, posted on blogspot.com, generated 2,000 views during the fall semester last year. It was removed from the internet over winter break.

English professor Bill Watts came across the lawsuit a few weeks ago and presented the case to the faculty through e-mail. Watts raised several questions concerning the validity of and precedence for a lawsuit against a member of the Butler community, potentially a student.

President Bobby Fong appeared at the faculty senate meeting to issue a statement and answer questions.

The suit lists the plaintiff as “John Doe, aka Soodo Nym,” a phonetic spelling of “pseudonym” the blogger used.

The lawsuit alleges Doe committed libel and defamation by printing falsities about three high-ranking Butler administrators: Vice President of Academic Affairs Jamie Comstock, Dean of the Jordan College of Fine Arts Peter Alexander and Fong.

Fong said the sole purpose of the lawsuit was to indentify the true identity of the person behind several months of posts in 2008. Fong revealed Soodo Nym only as a member of the Butler community but did not elaborate.

“The complaint was legally appropriate, having had to pass a judge’s review to gain court-ordered subpoenas,” Fong said in the statement. “Further, the complaint is consistent with the educational mission of Butler University to maintain and protect the free exchange of ideas, a freedom that is compromised by defamation and harassment.”

The suit identifies several statements from the blogs of Soodo Nym, as well as an e-mail letter sent to Comstock and Alexander Dec. 25, 2008, as libelous and defamatory to the administration and the individuals mentioned.

Faculty members, including Watts, expressed concern over the lawsuit as a dangerous precedent to set for students who wish to share their opinions.

History professor Paul Hanson said he read TrueBU when it was posted in the fall of last year, and that to his interpretation, the blog contained inaccuracies but nothing in the range of defamation or libel.

“When I learned of the legal action taken, my concern was if this was amounting to the stifling of controversy on campus,” Hanson said.

Fong said he is trying to make a distinction between questioning a decision made and compromising the professionalism and integrity of the people involved in that decision.

In the March 4th issue of The Butler Collegian, the staff editorial asked, “Will the real Soodo Nym Please Stand Up?” And now he has.

Junior political science major Jess Zimmerman has identified himself, in an interview with The Collegian, as the creator of a controversial blog about affairs at Butler University. The revelation comes amid debates over a lawsuit Butler filed against Soodo Nym, the pseudonym Zimmerman used while writing the blog.

After months of writing about administrators and students at Butler, Zimmerman is now ready to tell his own story.

“I created the blog as a place where students could speak freely about any issues at Butler, positive or negative,” Zimmerman said. “I wanted a place that would encourage discussion and that would encourage those that might not feel empowered to speak.

“I was anonymous because I recognized that Butler was so closely knit that students are often involved in a number of groups and feel they can’t speak freely for fear of alienating a part of the student population. Also, I wanted to demonstrate that good discussions could be held anonymously.”

Zimmerman covered various issues on campus, even as a major campus issue hit home.

Zimmerman is the son of biology professor Michael Zimmerman, whose contract as Dean of the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences was not renewed at the end of the last academic year. But even before that, Michael’s wife, Jess’ step-mother, Andrea Gullickson, was removed from her position as chair of the School of Music at Butler.

The blog began to include comments and letters from members of the community expressing discontent about the situation.

Zimmerman said he thought the timing of the decision to remove Gullickson as chair of the department was convenient for the administration because it was toward the end of the fall semester, when faculty and students would be sure to forget the hot issue in a few short weeks.

“As a student at Butler, I was disturbed by what I saw happening,” Zimmerman said.

As Soodo Nym, Zimmerman wrote an e-mail letter to Vice President of Academic Affairs Jamie Comstock and Jordan College of Fine Arts Dean Peter Alexander Dec. 25, 2008. The e-mail wished them both a happy holiday but asked that they both consider making their New Year’s resolutions related to improving their integrity when it comes to administrative affairs at Butler.

Zimmerman said the letter was intended to say, “We will not forget.”

In a prepared statement given during a faculty senate meeting yesterday, university President Bobby Fong said the e-mails sent to Comstock and Alexander were threatening and harassing.

“After months of trying to manage the personal and professional impact of the blog on herself and others, culminating in these per-

See BLOG Page 4

INSIDE BUPD Beat.............4 Campus Pulse........4 Staff Editorial.........5 Columns............5&6 Paw Prints..............6 Reviews..............7&8

Playlist of the Week..............8 Heartland Film Festival...............8 Sports Column.....11 Fall Sports.............12

student involvement

B

ECO works on programming, sustainability and cleanup.

green building

D

The pharmacy building addition meets LEED Silver criteria.

B

food & recycling There are no trays in the dining halls on campus.

climate & energy

D

University is replacing incandescent lights with fluorescent bulbs.

See story online at thebutlercollegian.com

FLU UPDATE

50+ cases reported

Collegian photo from MCT

Elizabeth Moy ecmoy@butler.edu Not an empty seat can be found in the Butler University Student Health Center waiting room as students sit waiting to receive a flu shot, see a doctor or be sent home with a mask and gloves.

Since the first Butler student was diagnosed with what the Health Center is calling IFI (Influenza-Like Illness), 50 other students have been affected by the illness.

“We do not test students for the swine flu because the tests are only about 11 percent accurate,” Vicky Rosa, director of health services, said. “Whenever a student is exhibiting the symptoms of the swine flu, we treat it as

See SOODO NYM Page 4

Legally Lost Butler professor questions university spending and validity of libel lawsuit

page 6

Creative Campus JCFA’s new visual arts program had its first open house this Monday, displaying students’ art pieces.

page 7

See FLU Page 4

Divided By the Highway Volleyball won both home matches before hitting the road and dropping the final two games of the week.

page 9

Butler Forecast Today

Tomorrow

45

46

39

36

Wednesday, October 14, 2009

Page 2

The Butler Collegian

NEWS

NEWS

Butler band to open Broad Ripple Music Fest Grace Wallace gwallace@butler.edu

Eukaryotes aren’t the only thing that biology nerds are into, and, believe it or not, they even have a life outside those large, bound books.

This is one of the great attributes of a smaller campus, Butler University biology professor Chris Hess said. Faculty and students are able to get out of their specialized fields and interact in ways that have nothing to do with their studies.

“It’s good for your soul,” Hess said.

So just how does Professor Hess choose to relax when he isn’t busy teaching biology to his students?

He plays in an Americana Rock band.

Hess helped form the band “Nightjar” about a year and a half ago when he and Butler Alumnus Greg Osborne started playing music together for fun.

Soon after, the works of a band came into the picture, and Butler seemed to be a great place for finding bandmates.

Ty Hoskins, a Butler University junior, mentioned to Hess that he could play violin one day while he was working in Hess’ biology lab. Hess asked Hoskins to play in the band and even helped teach him to play bass guitar. Hess then recruited psychology professor Mandy Gingerich Hege as a vocalist.

And now, after long practice hours that took place in Jordan, Ross Hall and Hess’ home, the band has the opportunity to play its biggest show yet: opening night of the Broad Ripple Music Fest this weekend.

Nightjar won an online battle of the bands contest to earn a spot as one of three bands

Collegian photo courtesy of Chris Osborne

NIGHTJAR: A local band, comprised of Butler University biology professor, Chris Hess, alumnus Greg Osborne and four others, won an online contest to secure one of three spots for opening night of Broad Ripple Music Fest. The band will play at The Vogue Friday at 9 p.m. chosen to play for opening night. The other bands chosen are Mab-lab and Johnny Socko, two well-known bands in the area.

Their show will take place at The Vogue this Friday at 9 p.m. Tickets are $10 in advance and $12 at the door.

Hess, Gingerich Hege and Hoskins are hoping for a large turnout of Butler faculty and students at the show seeing as how this is a really neat opportunity for a Butler band, they said.

Hege said she was very touched by the support of the Butler community during the voting period for the battle of the bands. There were e-mails circulating asking people to vote for Nightjar after listening to some of the online recordings, she said.

Hege said she also loves the chance to do something out-

side of her field of study. Her philosophy is that students should move beyond the classroom.

“Sometimes the most important things you can do,” Hege said, “are developing interests that don’t always get an ‘A’ or go on the résumé.”

Hoskins said he enjoys the attributes of not only being in a band, but also knowing his professor isn’t just the guy lecturing or grading exams.

“I think it helps develop the well-rounded individual, and that’s a huge part of college,” Hoskins said.

“It’s really important that we work on connecting different disciplines.”

The whole aspect of a student-professor band shows how much Butler truly takes the liberal arts to heart, Hess said. At larger schools, it would be difficult to find many professors who spend their free

time in the band with their students. However, at a campus like Butler, it’s something that brings the two groups closer together.

Nightjar plays all sorts of different music styles that can range from Kings of Leon to Johnny Cash. The best way to describe their music is the term Americana Rock with a few slower mixes that include violin and faster tunes that are full-fledged punk rock.

Though Hess claims none of the members are looking to quit their day jobs, the band hopes to record a CD within the next year and travel around the Midwest to play in shows.

They would also love to trace back to their home roots and put on a show at Butler, he said.

For more information on the band or to hear their songs, visit www.nightjarmusic.com.

Collegian photo courtesy of Chris Osborne

JAMMIN’: The members of Nightjar all have full-time jobs outside of playing in the band, which plays varied music styles.

The Butler Collegian

Page 3

Wednesday, October 14, 2009

NEWS

NEWS

university heads up ‘butler cribs’ contest Collegian photo from MCT

Allison Denton adenton@butler.edu Several Butler University departments present a new video contest, “Butler Cribs,” to highlight students’, faculty and staff’s oncampus rooms, apartments and houses. On-campus housing includes Schwitzer Hall, Ross Hall, ResCo, The Apartment Village, University Terrace and Greek houses.

Videos must be submitted by midnight Sunday, Oct. 25, and can be no longer than two minutes in length. They must follow all rules within the Butler University Student Handbook.

Starting Friday, Oct. 30, videos will be posted online and remain available for viewing until Friday, Nov. 13.

“What we’re going to do is narrow it down to the top 10,” Kristen Raves, a member of the Office of Admissions, said.

“We’ll make sure everyone is following the student handbook and that they’re good to go, and then we’ll put them online and people can vote for them. So not only just students here can vote, but anyone can.”

Four departments—ResLife, the Office of Admission, Web Marketing and IR—have teamed up to create this contest. There are many reasons for having such a contest, including an inside look at college life for prospective students.

“So many families request to see a residence hall room when they visit campus,” Stephanie Elpers, senior associate director of admissions, said. “There is often some anxiety about moving into a new space with new people. We hope these videos will be a way to show how personal and fun the residential part of the college experience can be.”

Students agree that perhaps another look at dorms could have been useful.

“I was surprised when I first got to Butler to see how empty [the dorm] was,” freshman Hannah Sutton said. “The rooms were actually a lot bigger than what I had seen at a lot of other schools, and I think being able to go online later in the year after your visits, when you’re trying to decide, would be a lot more helpful.”

Portraying Butler’s image to prospective students is a goal of the project because the time leading up to deciding on a college can often be filled with tours, interviews, overnight visits and meetings. It can become hard for prospective students to distinguish one college from the next.

“We want to make sure we’re showing this is what Butler is really like and give a really good view of what it would be like to be here just because they see so many schools, and there’s no way to keep track of all of them,” Raves said.

Another reason for the contest is to give students a chance to

have fun and celebrate residence life in college.

“At Butler, residence life is much more than where you sleep,” Elpers said. “With this contest, the Office of Admission hopes to capture that on video by showcasing student-produced video that can help prospective students get a sense of what residence life is all about in a way that is exciting for both current and prospective students.”

Students are excited for a contest giving them the opportunity to show their own personal space on campus.

“I think it would be a lot of fun to organize the rooms and decorate it a lot to get it out there for everyone to see it,” Sutton said. “I’d have a lot of fun with that.”

Raves said the contest has gotten good feedback, and 30 or more videos are expected to be entered.

This is also the contest’s first go around. Butler is anticipating many more video contests in the future—possibly one every semester, excluding the summer term.

The winners of the video contest will receive two $25 Visa gift cards and two Butler T-shirts. The winners will be notified on Friday, Nov. 13, by 5 p.m. Voting will cease at noon.

If you are interested in entering the contest, all information can be found at http://go.butler.edu/cribs. Voting for the videos can also be done at go.butler.edu.

Student advertising initiative discourages binge drinking Elizabeth Moy ecmoy@butler.edu Students in Peers Advocating Wellness for Students (PAWS) and Red Cup Culture sat outside Starbucks before Homecoming and talked to students about the “Over It” campaign, a new anti-binge drinking advertising initiative on Butler University’s campus.

Butler’s advertising club, ADrenaline, created the ad campaign, which was used in the National Student Advertising Competition last year.

“The idea was to make an integrated marketing campaign geared to reduce the number of college students who binge drink, and ‘Over It’ is what we came up with,” Robbie Williams, a senior member of ADrenaline, said.

ADrenaline ended up winning second place in the regional competition.

“For our first year, it was very impressive, and we made a name for Butler University in the world of student advertising,” Williams said.

Now, the group is striving to implement their marketing strategies on campus through handing out T-shirts and hanging posters.

Sophomore Abby McClure, a Red Cup Culture facilitator, said she thinks the message ADrenaline sends has been effective on campus.

“I think they are trying to say that there is drinking on every campus and that is unavoidable, but that the problem is people go overboard and drink more than they should,” McClure said.

Freshman Sara Tarantino first learned about “Over It” when she walked past the table outside Starbucks the week before Homecoming.

“The ‘Over It’ campaign was interesting to me because they did not force you to give your opinion on drinking, and your response was completely confidential,” Tarantino said. “They are aware that college

drinking will continue, and they do not condemn it, but they want to get the message out about the possible consequences of binge drinking.”

McClure said she is glad to see groups like this on campus, and she hopes that messages like this continue to be broadcast.

“I hope the idea keeps going because students are getting straightup facts about alcohol,” McClure said. “Students aren’t being told what to do, they are just being more educated in how to make a better decision for themselves.”

Sophomore Lauren Miller agreed that it is a good idea but said she thinks binge drinking will not go away.

“I think it is great that groups like this are around, and we need this on our campus, but I think that binge drinking will remain a problem for some people despite the positive messages that are sent,” Miller said.

The “Over It” campaign has also caught the attention of area schools and might be used on other campuses as well. Williams said Marian College and IUPUI have shown interest in using the campaign.

Sarah Barnes, coordinator for health education and outreach programs, said Butler will continue to use the “Over It” message and strategies around major drinking occasions in the future.

“We thought it would be best to start during times when we see a lot of high risk drinking, so we want to use it around Halloween and spring break and have already used the marketing tools at Homecoming,” Barnes said.

Through a grant from the Indiana Collegiate Action Network, Barnes said she will have funds to sponsor giveaways, T-shirts, posters and ads for “Over It” in the coming months.

“I hope that by seeing these messages and reading the comments written by their peers, it will sink in for students who are drinking in a high risk way and will impact their life,” Barnes said.

Collegian photo courtesy of ADrenaline

GET OVER IT: ADrenaline’s ad campaign, “Over It,” calls out binge drinking and explains why and how to avoid the problem.

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Wednesday, October 14, 2009

Page 4

The Butler Collegian

NEWS

NEWS

BLOG: Libel lawsuit discussed at meeting

SOODO NYM: Student comes forward as blog author

Continued from Page One

Continued from Page One

He mentioned the atrocities committed at Virginia Tech in 2007 by an angry student and said it brought a new level of awareness to administrators across the country about taking threats seriously.

“I have a responsibility to gauge whether hurtful words will translate into action,” Fong said during the question and answer session. “In this case, we didn’t know.”

Fong said Soodo Nym “did intimidate” and “did create fear” with the blog postings and e-mails. Fong quoted an e-mail sent to Comstock Jan. 2, saying, “We can create much more trouble for you than we have so far.” This was the only statement from the blogs or e-mails Fong used as an example of the allegedly harmful words.

Faculty also raised the issue of policing the Internet, bringing up Web sites like ratemyprofessors.com, on which students can post anonymously about their favorite, or least favorite, professors.

“The Internet is a vast area,” Watts said. “I’m doubtful the university can and should police that.”

Fong said the intent was not to regulate the Internet, but to point out that Doe crossed a line by sending personal, yet still anonymous, e-mails to Comstock and Alexander.

Associate Professor of Education Deb Lecklider said she understood the university’s instinct to protect itself in an academic environment.

“We can’t be bullied,” Lecklider said. “It’s part of being good citizens. We have to have this teaching moment.”

A general agreement among the faculty was the need for further discussion with students about not only what is appropriate for posting on the Internet, but also how to go about voicing concerns on community issues.

After the meeting, Laura Behling, associate provost for faculty affairs and interdisciplinary programs, discussed the possibility of hosting a communication session for all Butler faculty, staff, students and administrators to come together and discuss how to foster better communication about issues on campus.

No definite plans have been announced for this meeting, but further information will be posted on thebutlercollegian.com as it becomes available.

Comstock is currently away from the university but said in an e-mail to The Butler Collegian that she holds no malice toward the person involved with the blogs.

“At this time, what seems most important is that this person comes to understand the fundamental value of owning his or her behavior and accepting the universitylevel consequences,” Comstock said in an email. “And, most especially, my hope is that all members of the Butler community continue to embrace open discourse and debate; and that we all act in the sunshine, rather than from the shadows of anonymity.”

sonal harassing messages to her, Dr. Comstock was afraid for her own safety, for her husband, for her house and property,” Fong said.

However, his only example of that harassment comes from a second e-mail, which was signed “the Butler Brigade” and sent from a different Web address than that of the TrueBU account.

“I did not write that e-mail,” Zimmerman said. “I knew nothing of it before it was sent, and I have no knowledge of who may have sent it.”

Although Fong said the university had no knowledge of the identity of Soodo Nym prior to subpoenas to the Web host as part of the suit, Zimmerman said that over winter break, the administration pressured him with a lawsuit if he did not take down the blog.

“I hadn’t conferred with any attorneys at that point, and I just said, ‘I feel like they want me to shut the blog down, so I’ll shut the blog down,’” Zimmerman said. “I wasn’t incredibly invested in it. I felt like what they were doing was wrong, but frankly, I want to graduate and get on with my life.”

It was at that time, right before spring semester began, that Zimmerman learned members of the administration had read e-mails in his Butler account. The Butler Collegian reported Feb. 25 that the e-mails proved he at least knew the true identity, or identities, behind the TrueBU. Zimmerman removed the blog from the site. Butler filed a lawsuit Jan. 8, listing the defendant as “John Doe aka Soodo Nym.” “The lawsuit I believe, is a SLAPP (Strategic Lawsuit Against Public Participation) lawsuit,” Zimmerman said, referring to a term used for suits aimed at silencing critics.

“I believe it’s a frivolous law suit. The university is using university funds to do this.”

Fong said the university learned of Soodo Nym’s true identity this summer and discussed appropriate punishment for Zimmerman without releasing his name. However, Zimmerman said there was no mention of the issue until his father’s contract was not renewed this past spring.

“I knew that they had brought me into the discussion as

BUPD Beat

an attempt to make my dad and me sign a confidentiality agreement,” Zimmerman said. “What they suggested was that they would drop the lawsuit if we both signed a confidentiality agreement, but they would still punish me internally. But they wouldn’t tell me what that punishment was.

So the possibility was open that they could drop everything, we’d agree not to say anything, and they’d expel me, and I wouldn’t be able to say anything. And that wasn’t acceptable.”

In his statement, Fong said the issue was going to be handled internally from here on out.

Michael Zimmerman, who is currently on sabbatical, said he is astonished the Butler administration would bring a lawsuit like this against a student, but also at the university’s response publicly.

“There are numerous inconsistencies and inaccuracies in what President Fong has set forth to the university community about this issue,” Michael said. He said the president added elements of race and gender to the discussion by including the line in his statement, “Butler does not tolerate racial and sexual epithets in the name of free exchange of ideas.”

“That’s a perfectly good statement,” Michael said. “I’m glad the president thinks the university should not tolerate racial and gender-based slurs.

“There’s not a racial or gender slur in anything Soodo Nym or Jess has written. But by saying that in the context of this, the implication it will have on the original document is that there’s something gender-based about this.

That’s just crazy, and I don’t understand it.”

Jess said his dissent was about uncovering truth more than hurting feelings.

“I had an opinion and they’re suing me for it,” he said. “I feel that is embarrassing to the school.”

“Ultimately I’d like [the administration and I] to come to a mutual understanding that I had strong opinions and I voiced them 10 months ago,” Zimmerman said. “I’m a student leader, I’m president of my class, I would like to continue carrying out those duties, and ultimately turn this into a good year at Butler.”

FLU: Faculty urge students to obtain seasonal flu shots as they become available Continued from Page One

For students living in Schwitzer Hall, Ross Hall or ResCo an isolated room in ResCo is provided. For those living in the greek housing, if they are unable to isolate themselves within their house, an isolation room is provided in University Terrace (UT).

“We have about 45 rooms on campus that we are able to isolate if a student is unable to get home,” Rosa said.

However, students must rely on friends or Resident Assistants to bring them their meals if they are on a meal plan.

“Students may sign a release which allows them to work with Residence Life to help excuse their missed classes and put them in isolation,” Click said, “however if they have a meal plan with the school they will need a friend or Resident assistant who could bring them their food.”

Sophomore Michelle Ketcham went home when it was confirmed that she had

the swine flu.

“I started getting a cough on Sunday, and

by Sunday night I had a fever,” Ketcham said. “I went to the HRC to see the doctor after my mom called them on Tuesday morning since I still had a fever, and it was going up.”

Ketcham said she was offered a quarantined room in UT or the Apartment Village, but declined since one of her parents was already on their way to take her home. She said she was pleased with the service the Health Center provided.

“I think the Health Center handled my situation very well,” Ketcham said. “They took care of me by asking me questions about all of my symptoms and checking me out. The nurse gave me some medicine for my fever and instructions on what to do after I saw the doctor, made sure I didn’t have any questions and gave me everything they thought I would need to be comfortable.”

While most individuals have been able to go home, about three have utilized the isolated rooms provided by the university.

Student Affairs and Health Services encourage students to take care of their personal health and take all precautions necessary to avoid either type of flu.

“Butler has ordered 480 doses of the flu vaccination and have already gone through half of it,” Rosa said.

In addition, Butler is hoping to order doses of the H1N1 vaccine within the next month and is working with the College of Pharmacy to administer the vaccine. They are prepared for what is to come as the seasonal flu moves in.

“I think we expect this to last several months,” Click said, “and are prepared to do this for as long as we have a need. Our numbers have not been as bad as other campuses, but it could be it just hasn’t gotten here yet.”

3:41 p.m. — HEALTH CENTER An officer took a report of a sick person.

such and isolate them from the community.”

Since this is not the season for the regular flu to thrive, the health center treats anything similar to the swine flu as such. The health center is encouraging students to look up the symptoms of the swine flu on the Centers for Disease Control’s Web site, as well as on butler.edu.

Since Health Services is a branch of student affairs, Sally Click, dean of student services, has been involved with solving the problems that arise with isolating sick students.

“Protocol is, if someone calls into health services or is seen there and is diagnosed with IFI, we first ask if they can go home,” Click said. If they can’t go home we ask them about the set up of their living situation, and if they are living in any of the Butler housing, we will provide an isolation area for them to stay in.”

10:12 a.m. — PHARMACY BUILDING An officer took a report of a burglary of an office.

Former American Idol finalist to perform at Butler this fall

Oct. 7 9:30 a.m. – JORDAN HALL An officer took a report of a theft of university property.

Oct. 8 12:43 a.m. – APARTMENT VILLAGE An officer took a report of a liquor law violation.

8:30 a.m. – 44th Street An officer took a report of theft of property from a motor vehicle.

Oct. 9 12:53 p.m. – BUTLER TARKINGTON NEIGHBORHOOD An officer took a report of a residential entry.

Oct. 10 12:45 p.m. – LILLY HALL An officer took a report of a theft of private property.

Oct. 11 5:45 a.m. SCHWITZER HALL An officer took a report of a liquor law violation.

10:48 a.m. — CLOWES HALL An officer took a report of a theft of private property.

8:20 p.m. – RESCO An officer took a report of harassment.

No Ev ent s S chedul ed

Hayleigh Colombo hcolombo@butler.edu Kellie Pickler, country performer and former “American Idol” finalist, will perform at Clowes Hall later this fall as the Student Government Association’s (SGA) Fall Concert.

Jessica Ciccarello, concert co-chair of SGA’s Program Board, two other student co-chairs, and faculty adviser Frank Council are in charge of planning the event.

Ciccarello said she and the board chose Pickler because they were hoping to bring a female artist to Butler.

“We thought she’d be a good [choice] because she was on ‘American Idol,’ she’s well-known [and] she has some good hit songs out there, so I’m thinking the campus should be pretty pleased,” Ciccarello said.

Typically, Program Board plans two big concerts per year, although Ciccarello said this may change in the upcoming years. Last year, Third Eye Blind and Gym Class Heroes per-

formed.

“We’ve thrown around the idea of maybe doing two medium concerts and then a third smaller concert,” Ciccarello said.

Ciccarello and the rest of her team are responsible for doing everything from initially picking the artist, arranging a contractual agreement with the artist and handling the artist’s rider.

Although Ciccarello said Pickler seems down to earth and doesn’t have any strange requests, they were amused this year when Her and Kings County, the opening band, had a somewhat unusual request on their rider. “[Her and Kings County] requested to have a boa constrictor in their dressing room before the concert,” Ciccarello said.

Ciccarello said her team didn’t approve the snake.

“If they request something that is not possible, like the snake, we can cross it out and send it back to them for their approval,” Ciccarello said. “It goes back and forth until we can reach an agreement.”

No C l asses

No C l asses

ECO Campi ng Tri p Departs To attend, contact: khaskins@butler.edu 12 p.m.

-Ni ghtjar, Facul ty band performance The Vogue, Broad Ripple 9 p.m.

No Ev ent s S chedul ed

Although the concert co-chairs and Council are responsible for picking the artist, they have help from the student body.

A survey is sometimes sent out to students asking them what type of performer they’d like to see on campus.

This year, however, there was no survey because Ciccarello said her team knew a lot of students wanted to see a country artist.

“I think it’s hard to please everybody, so we’re not going to be able to do that,” Ciccarello said. “I’m hoping [students will] be satisfied with Kellie Pickler and excited.”

Sophomore Kristin Briscoe said she and all of her friends are excited to see the show. “[Pickler’s] really talented and from what I’ve seen she’s a really good performer,” Briscoe said.

Despite the fact not everyone may approve of the choice, Ciccarello said she thinks the concert will be successful.

“I think we’ll have a sold-out show,” Ciccarello said.

ECO Campi ng Tri p Returns To attend, contact khaskins@butler.edu 5 p.m.

Collegian photo from Sony Entertainment

YEE HAW: SGA Program Board will bring a Kellie Pickler, a country star to Butler.

- Poet Kati e Ford as part of Vi si ti ng Wri ters S eri es Johnson Room 7:30 p.m.

No Ev ent s S chedul ed

‘Paw Prints’ What do you think about President Barack Obama winning the Nobel Peace Prize?

Page 6

OPINION

Wednesday, October 14, 2009

Nobel Nonsense The Nobel Committee played politics with Barack Obama’s Peace Prize.

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THE BUTLER COLLEGIAN

THE BUTLER COLLEGIAN The Butler watchdog and voice for BU students 4600 Sunset Ave. Indianapolis, IN 46208 Office Information: Fairbanks Rm 210 News Line: (317) 940-8813 Advertising Line: (317) 940-9358 collegian@butler.edu

Fall 2009 Editorial Staff Alyson Ahrns Editor in Chief Kelly Patrick Print Managing Editor Allison Brown Online Managing Editor Jennifer Pignolet Co-News Editor Hayleigh Colombo Co-News Editor Olivia Ingle Asst. News Editor Grace Wallace Asst. News Editor Chris Goff Opinion Editor Tom Fryska Asst. Opinion Editor Mary Beth Sekela Asst. Opinion Editor Amy Rensink A&E Editor Drew Schmidtke Asst. A&E Editor Arika Herron Co-Sports Editor Steven Peek Co-Sports Editor Emily Newell Asst. Sports Editor Rachel Senn Photography Editor Maria Porter Asst. Photography Editor Mary Landwer Asst. Photography Editor Stefanie Patterson Multimedia Editor Heather Hanford Graphics Editor Devon Henderson Asst. Graphics/Multimedia Lauren Fisher Advertising Manager Dr. Charles St. Cyr Adviser The Butler Collegian is published weekly on Wednesdays with a controlled circulation of 2,600.

The Collegian office is located in the Fairbanks Building, Room 210.

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Corrections may be submitted to The Collegian and will be printed at the next publication date.

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Letters to the editor must be emailed to collegian@butler.edu and verified by a signature. A signed version of the letter may be dropped off at The Collegian office.

The Collegian reserves the right to edit letters for spelling, style, clarity and length. Letters must be kept to a length of 450 words.

Contact The Collegian for questions. Exceptions to these policies may be made at the editorial board’s discretion.

Circle City Green

Collegian illustration by Heather Hanford

OUR POINT THIS WEEK: Indianapolis could use a boost to its environmental credibility.

It is a point of non-contention that while the Earth is around, human beings ought to take care of it.

Sanitation, after all, upholds a life-sustaining planet and yet-unborn inhabitants.

But planning for the future has its immediate benefits, as well. Who doesn’t want clean water, air, highways and streets?

Major cities, since the earliest days of horse defecation in the public square and serial mosquito-breeding in meat markets, have called for a special form of environmental tenderness. It is as simple as the truism that when people gather in large numbers, they make larger messes.

It has come to pass that the color green is used to symbolize how well those messes are cleaned or avoided. Indianapolis, among those ever-dirty metropolitan areas, rates more an off-yellow than a vibrant green these days in studies done by environmental groups who analyze such things.

SustainLane, a Web site dedicated to green initiatives that improve urban settings, ranks Indianapolis 44th out of America’s 50 most populated cities in

environmental sustainability.

Hats off to you, Louisville, Ky., and a toast to you, Columbus, Ohio. The place affectionately referred to as “Nap Town” has apparently been napping for some time on the green agenda.

Give Mayor Greg Ballard credit for creating an Office of Sustainability designed to achieve progress in the city’s energy use and air quality, among other areas of need.

But also admonish Indy for lagging behind on a few basic ecological issues.

We at The Butler Collegian feel improvement in just two simple aspects of metropolitan life can help the inspectors and decree-makers find a better shade of crayon to use for Indianapolis’ next environmental report.

Take recycling and transit to the next level, and the home of Butler University suddenly becomes an even nicer place to live and work.

Right now, the number of people recycling in the Circle City is small enough to fill three Hinkle Fieldhouses. About 4 percent of Indianapolis residents

use the city’s curbside program, a service free in other cities that costs $6 per month in Indiana’s capitol.

Mobility issues aren’t ideal either. True mass transit is absent, and rail lines have not moved beyond the proposal stage. The public bus system, IndyGo, is facing service cuts and higher fares and doesn’t reach far enough beyond downtown to convenience commuters.

We think fixing those problem areas will play a big role in making Indianapolis a green urban locale.

Recycling should be more accessible. Whether through cost inducements or more drop-off locations, there are ways to get more residents involved. Placing additional bins downtown is a must for businesses.

Transportation should include a more committed bus system, other mass transit options and new avenues for bike riders, the latter of which Ballard’s office already has plans for. These measures will save energy costs and create a cleaner city by moving more people together and in more environmentally friendly ways.

With these improvements, perhaps other major American cities will see Indianapolis as green with something other than envy.

Slogans on the bumper not always as they appear Chris Goff cgoff@butler.edu George Lopez is bringing the party back to late night, and TBS’ relentless hammering home of that message during its telecasts of the Major League Baseball postseason is enough of a nuisance to cause millions of people—one columnist included—to make it a point not to watch the show.

Some things in life are just annoying. Lopez standing on top of a car qualifies.

So do nutty political sayings on cars and clothing.

Nothing says boredom at a stoplight like an angry bumper sticker. And nothing says “get a life” like some of these political T-shirts.

Yet these venues persist as grounds for making great statements on the great issues. Serious, even occasionally boring, topics are reduced maddeningly to fare for popular phrasing.

It truly amazes to see the visuals.

During the last election, I saw the faces of presidential candidates cast onto cotton shirts, stitched two times their life size and in the most serious, thoughtful poses, as if the candidate himself could explain the Internet to a 3-year-old child and not bat an eye.

One wonders what American leaders of an earlier time might have said about displays of hero-worship. Do you think Alexander Hamilton ever imagined his mug being trotted around the local grocery?

An alien dropped from a Mars-bound spaceship might find our public affairs quite amusing if, once taught English, it only read bumper stickers and T-shirts to discover what United States government was like.

An irritating movement is afoot to capture personal political convictions in one-liners, plays-on-words and clothingready images.

Its intent: to broadcast to the world, “Here I am, fellow citizens! See my wisdom. Think my thoughts, ye of the unwashed masses!”

Unfortunately, sometimes the message sent is something other than the one the advertiser intends.

As a public service, I decided to take a look at 10 popular political sayings and try to decipher those underlying meanings.

So the next time you doctor up the Honda or click “Buy!” on that Internet-ready T-shirt, you’ll know what you’re really saying.

Enjoy!

“War is not the answer!”: No, war won’t answer that test question about the components of sodium carbonate.

But it might have accurately answered the question of what to do about the squadron of planes dropping bombs on Pearl Harbor or the fleet of German submarines sinking ships in international waters. War is a terrible thing, but to suggest it never has any use or justification is sort of akin to a thirdgrade “Kick Me” sign—only this would be more like an, “Aerially assault me with an intercontinental missile!” sign.

War can be the answer to protecting innocent lives and freeing people from oppression. As long as bad actors think war is the answer, then the free world must be ready to defend itself. Using this slogan displays a Paris Hilton-like level of intelligence. Don’t go there.

“Join the MOB! Mothers Opposing Bush”: Time to take this off the minivan. (That goes for you, too, Obama-Biden ’08 and McCain-Palin holdouts.) At any rate, why would it matter that you’re a mother anyway? Was George Bush an advocate of ignoring dirty diapers? This one is dope city. All sorts of people opposed Bush. No need to get groupie about it.

“Bush Stole It. Obama Bought It. ”: OK, so a bipartisan sign accuses reputable Supreme Court justices of abusing their power to commit supreme political fraud, but we still can’t help but like it. There is plenty of truth in alluding to Team Chicago’s war chest. Obama did, in a way, buy the American presidency with an unequaled half a billion dollars in campaign funds. If a Republican had bought the White House, it would have been a bigger story.

Cynical indeed, this at least makes note of an under-played story line.

“Impeach Obama!”: Probably the purchaser of this slogan could not even explain the impeachment process, let alone relax a little bit. Or if this is a reference to the Obamaborn-in-Kenya movement, he or she might want to see a doctor about Obama Derangement Syndrome, which is not unlike Bush Derangement Syndrome that led to the stolenelection hype. Don’t cling helplessly to conspiracy theories.

Your co-workers will wonder what else you’re desperate about.

“Out of Iraq Now!”: Every armchair diplomat knows there are no geopolitical consequences to quitting cold in the middle of a war.

“Yes We Can!”: This one made the rounds a bit. But yes we can…what? Raise the budget deficit to an insane $1.4 trillion, triple what it was 12 months ago?

“Temper”: Adorning a T-shirt designed like an Obama “HOPE” shirt were John McCain’s face and “TEMPER” instead. McCain looks as if he’s trying to pass about 70 kidney stones. This was the funniest one I’ve seen recently.

“Fiscally Republican, Socially Democrat”: This runs popular on shirts; look up from this paper and one might be passing by. But it’s mighty self-indulgent. We get it. You’re a moderate. Congratulations. Is that supposed to make you unique? Can you alone stop political bickering and heal the divide? And whom are you voting for? Because that combination rarely makes headway. The shirt is sort of lame, but if it makes you feel you’ve got the cosmos figured out, go ahead. Wear it.

“End Global Warming!”: So all you’re asking is for a human being to control solar flares, sunspots and thousands of daily volcanic eruptions, along with atmospheric levels of carbon dioxide and global temperatures that have been in cyclical fluctuation for billions of years?

Reasonable! There’s a friend who won’t ask for impossible favors.

“All Politics is Loco!”: Muy bien!

This Week in Washington Praying for Peace?: President Barack Obama and his family attended denominational church services Sunday for only the second time since Inauguration Day. Having also missed the National Prayer Breakfast, Obama’s actions don’t back professions of a dedicated Christian faith. According to the Pew Research Center, 72 percent of Americans feel the president should have “strong religious beliefs.”

Quotable: “The only thing they're going to be putting pressure on is the grass.”—Rep. Barney Frank of Massachusetts, a gay member of Congress, called Sunday’s gay rights march in Washington a “waste of time.”

Wednesday, October 14, 2009

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The Butler Collegian

OPINION

OPINION

Butler’s lawsuit is unnecessary, frivolous Cable news damages political debate of the blog, Soodo Nym claims that Comstock “doesn’t seem to care much for student opinion” and is “unwilling to work with students unless she can I hope all those who care about Butler University see how the relationship will directly benefit her.” and our community will pay attention to the case The suit goes on to quote a later posting, written now before Marion County Superior Court, Butler after Gullickson was relieved of her position.

University v.

John Doe (case No. Soodo Nym writes, “Dean Alexander acted inappro49D020901PL001164). priately and inexcusably in handling this matter.

This suit says a great deal about the state of the His actions are not consistent with the Butler Way, university and how it is being ruled by its current and are ridiculously irresponsible.” administrators.

I am no expert on communications law, but it is Anyone who wishes to read the complaint, but very difficult for me to see how these or any other cannot make the trip to the Marion County Clerk’s statements included in the suit meet a legal definiOffice, may get an electronic version of the case tion of either defamation or libel. from me.

They are statements of opinion.

Butler v. Doe concerns a Weblog, TrueBU, which They may be wrong-headed, intemperate or just was maintained by a person or persons operating plain mean, and one might criticize them, as I did under the name Soodo Nym from in my statement on TrueBU, for October to December of 2008.

“In short, Butler University v. appearing under a pseudonym rather In the early postings, Soodo than the author’s name. But I would Nym criticized incoming Provost John Doe seems to me a nui- be astonished if they were judged Jamie Comstock and raised queslibelous in a court of law. tions about her record at Millikin It is equally difficult for me to see sance suit. It is calculated to University, where she had been how Comstock, Alexander or the vice president of academic affairs coerce an individual into some university itself has been damaged before coming to Butler. in any measurable way by the comThe blog really came alive, ments of Soodo Nym. Comstock is course of action in order to though, when Andrea Gullickson still provost, Alexander is still was relieved of her duties as direcdean—until he retires from that avoid the expenditure of time tor of the School of Music. It position at the end of this year—and contained harsh criticisms of the university is still recruiting stuComstock and Peter Alexander, and money to defend himself.” dents and winning football games. dean of the Jordan College of Fine In short, Butler University v.

Arts (JCFA), for their handling of Gullickson’s dis- John Doe seems to me a nuisance suit. It is calcumissal from her position. lated to coerce an individual into some course of TrueBU also contained documents relating to action in order to avoid the expenditure of time and Gullickson’s departure, including a letter she wrote money to defend himself, rather than a legitimate to the faculty members in the School of Music. attempt to achieve justice.

Other people wrote anonymous comments that Moreover, this suit and the circumstances around were included in the blog. At one point, I wrote a it have been used to persecute a Butler student. As comment critical of Dean Alexander and his man- The Butler Collegian reported last spring, a student agement of JCFA, under my own name, which was thought to be associated with TrueBU had his priincluded in the blog. vate e-mail read by the university. It is my underAfter reaching a rather feverish pitch, with many standing that the university has threatened to subpostings and many viewings, the blog went down stitute that student’s name in the complaint and suddenly at the end of December. There was no pursue a lawsuit against him. explanation for the closing of the blog; typing in This is all unbelievably petty and vindictive. The its address simply produced the message, “The blog university should stand for freedom of speech, you were looking for was not found.” broadly construed, rather than slapping libel suits Butler’s suit against John Doe, aka Soodo Nym, on and demanding “accrued pre-judgment and postwas filed on Jan. 8, 2009, after TrueBU was closed, judgment interest at the highest rate permissible” of and asserts that the blog contained statements about those who make statements with which they disProvost Comstock and Dean Alexander that were agree. defamatory and libelous.

This lawsuit also seems to me a very poor use of The suit further asserts that Comstock, Alexander scarce university resources. Because of the economand the university itself have all been damaged by ic difficulties, faculty and staff at Butler have the libelous statements on TrueBU. Consequently, received a raise of just 1 percent this year. The the suit requests “compensation in the full amount names of three high-powered attorneys appear on of its damages, plus accrued pre-judgment and post- the lawsuit. It makes little sense to me to pay them judgment interest at the highest legal rate permissi- to pursue an unnecessary suit when the university ble, attorneys’ fees and costs, and all other equitable has so many other needs. and legal relief available.”

This lawsuit speaks for our community. It is in In support of its claims, the suit quotes various your name, and it is in my name. I hope you will postings from TrueBU which are claimed to be join me in calling on our administrators to stop either defamatory or libelous. Early in the history this nonsense.

Bill Watts Contributing Writer

Tom Fryska tfryska@butler.edu By and large, I refuse to watch any of the cable news networks.

MSNBC, FOX, CNN—all of these networks have become alike in one key fashion: They’ve ceased to focus on political analysis and have chosen to embrace whatever sensationalized programming nets them the highest ratings possible.

FOX and MSNBC, in particular, have decided to abandon all pretenses and market solely to their viewership (respectively, conservatives and liberals).

Now don’t get me wrong, these news programs can, and sometimes do, provide real news analysis that possesses both sophistication and balance.

The problem is that, by and large, they tend to reject that approach and give sway to bombastic pundits, political agendas or sensationalized news that has little merit. Rather than acting as thorough journalistic programs, more often than not these cable news stations choose to prance about as entertainment in journalistic clothing.

In most contexts, all this wouldn’t bother me.

But, it’s becoming more and more apparent that this kind of coverage is not just hurting the political process, it’s also hurting America.

Consider the light of day one such topic received.

On Sept. 29, 2009, Dem. Rep. Alan Grayson of Florida gave a speech on the floor of the House of Representatives in which he simplified all of the Republican health care reform proposals into “The Republican health care plan for America: ‘don’t get sick’...If you do get sick in America, the Republican health care plan is this: ‘die quickly.’”

Obviously, the base of the Democratic Party rallied around this statement, and they had a right to.

The declaration acted as a metaphorical thumb of the nose at the Republican Party. But Grayson’s declaration only held value as an insanely gross hyperbole that can make Democrats cheer for a day. To take the statement for any kind of truth value would be absurd.

Despite some of the more obdurate opposition to health care reform, elements of the right have developed thoughtful proposals for health care reform that deserve, at the very least, due consideration.

But the hot-button potential was enough for the media to bounce all over the speech. The sound bite was replayed (and still is) time and time again on the airwaves.

In the end, those on the right listened because it vindicated their belief that the Democrats were unreasonable, and those on the left cheered because that speech echoed their own bubbling frustration with the opposing party.

In the end, the comment did nothing to further the debate, and the media’s discussion of the speech added nothing to the question of how to actually create effective health care reform that increases access and lowers costs.

Most of the programming of these networks seems to play to that common theme: Present what

attracts attention and sells, not what drives informed debate.

Consider Keith Olbermann. The fairly popular pundit at MSNBC has seemingly dedicated his show to one thing: criticizing Fox News and the right in general. The guests that appear on Olbermann’s “Countdown” almost always agree with him and spend the entirety of their interview venting about both the real and imaginary evils of the right.

While attempting to be the nemesis of all conservative pundits, Olbermann routinely spends little time on the actual substance of pundits’ criticisms; instead, Olbermann appears to prefer questioning their character and personally calling them atrocious human beings. In fact, his “Worst Person in the World” segment is almost entirely dedicated to naming at which three conservatives he’s currently angry. One can’t help but wonder why no single terrorist or brutal authoritarian ruler has yet to make his list of “Worst People.”

To be fair, Olbermann’s “Worst Person in the World” segment is meant to be a satire, not any kind of serious commentary on the actual character of the world’s most despicable individuals. However, this doesn’t change the fact that the commentary is both petty and unreasonable.

Diametrically opposite to Olbermann is the fearmongering populist Glenn Beck on Fox News. On his program, Beck routinely ponders whether or not America is going down the same road as Nazi Germany and the Soviet Union, literally cries because he’s frightened over the future of “his” country and uses props like plastic frogs, building blocks and cakes to illustrate how dire the future truly is.

In many ways, Beck is worse than Olbermann.

From calling our president a “racist” who has “a deep-seated hatred for white people of the white culture” to declaring the tragic death of teens in the streets of Chicago to be the result of Godlessness and atheism, it’s a wonder that his program has the audacity to impersonate anything resembling a source of real information.

Yet, people watch and believe his program. And, regardless of the actual merit or logic of what he purports, Beck does have an influence on the political process.

While I understand that shows like Olbermann’s and Beck’s (there are quite a few) need to gain ratings and sell their programs, I don’t believe they should do so at the expense of truth and sophistication.

Alas, my true quarrel probably isn’t with the news organizations themselves but rather with the American people. The pundits have power precisely because we’re willing to watch them and buy into their nonsense. The networks sell sensationalized dribble because we eat it up. As much as I hate to admit it, the problem might just be us.

On the bright side, the situation might just be that, if people are the true problem behind the ascent of these pseudo-news programs, the people can also be the key to ending these ridiculous programs. That requires people to cease watching these programs and instead watch worthwhile news like “The NewsHour With Jim Leher.” Of course, that’s much easier said than done.

Norwegian Nobel Committee makes incorrect, insulting judgment Mary Beth Sekela msekela@butler.edu President Barack Obama has officially won the 2009 Nobel Peace Prize. What is the world coming to?

For more than a century, the Nobel Peace Prize has been awarded to individuals who have contributed greatly to humanitarian efforts and peace movements, as well as to those who have done landmark work in a range of fields, including the advocacy of human rights, mediation of international conflicts and arms control. The list of Nobel Peace Prize laureates includes such beloved figures as Mother Teresa, the renowned leader of Missionaries of Charity, who spent 45 years of her life ministering to the poor, sick, orphaned and dying in Calcutta, India.

In comparison to her years of toil, Obama’s actions since his inauguration seem slightly less praiseworthy. When he was nominated for the award, the president had been in office for less than two weeks, and he has yet to maneuver a foreign policy success after nearly nine months in office.

The Norwegian Nobel Committee claimed that it awarded the prize to Obama for “his extraordinary efforts to strengthen international diplomacy and cooperation between peoples,” citing as evidence his current push for nuclear disarmament and outreach to the Muslim world. In other

words, Obama was presented with this great honor due more or less to Such aversion to disturbing the proverbial pond is not a quality of a his drastic change in foreign policy concerning the Middle East. It seems Nobel Peace Prize winner.

The founder of the Peace Prize, Alfred Nobel, said in his will that the as though the committee presented him the award for the accomplishaward should be presented “to the person who shall ment of not being George W. Bush. While the presihave done the most or the best work for fraternity dent’s efforts to mend America’s relationship with the “When he was nominated between nations, for the abolition or reduction of Muslim world are admirable, policy change hardly merits one of the most prestigious awards in history. for the award, the president standing armies and for the holding and promotion of peace congresses.” The Nobel Committee has identiMany world leaders, including Iranian Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki, have said that had been in office for less fied Obama’s measures to secure nuclear disarmament as a realization of these requisites, but thus far, the Obama’s award is premature. Liaqat Baluch, a senior president has made zero effective progress on the issue. leader of the Jamaat-e-Islami, a conservative religious than two weeks, and he Good intentions are simply not enough to warrant the party in Pakistan, even went so far as to call it an honor of the Peace Prize. embarrassing “joke.” has yet to maneuver a forFurthermore, awarding a prize for the promotion of The joke would be funnier if it weren’t for the fact peace to a man who has sent 21,000 extra troops to that Obama has openly acted in opposition to the eign policy success.”

Afghanistan within the first quarter of his presidency human rights agenda promoted by the Peace Prize. makes absolutely no sense. At best, the award is an Just last week, the president refused to meet with attempt to show support for a new political posture, but as such it is the Dalai Lama due to a fear of offending Chinese leaders before next still an insult to other, more worthy nominees as well as to the award month’s negotiations with Beijing. He also reneged on a promise to itself. describe the massive killing of Armenians in Turkey during the First World War as genocide, defending his position by claiming a desire not Supporting a leader is one thing, but giving awards to those who do to undermine the prospect for normalization of relations between Turkey not deserve them is unacceptable. The Nobel Peace Prize is an honor that and Armenia. However, critics saw his actions as another example of the should be taken very seriously, and this year the Nobel Committee has American administration’s unwillingness to anger the U.S.’s NATO ally. fallen woefully short of its task.

Paw Prints

By Mary Landwer

“I don’t think he has really done anything to deserve it.”

Lindsay Evans junior

“I think that there are other people that are more deserving of the award. ”

Elliot Bassick senior

What do you think about President Barack Obama winning the Nobel Peace Prize?

“I think that the Nobel Peace Prize has lost its validity because of the character of its past Laureates.”

Rebecca Davies senior

“I think he has not done anything significant to deserve this.”

Andrés Suazo junior

“As far as I’m concerned, he hasn’t done anything.”

Rachel Kress senior

Couples Get Away Malin Akerman and Vince Vaughn star in this new flick about couples therapy on a tropical island, full of plenty antics and disputes.

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A&E

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THE BUTLER COLLEGIAN

BU art offers more Visual arts are making their way into the Butler University curriculum thanks to art history professor Elizabeth Mix and media arts professor Gautam Rao who helped make an official art program in the Jordan College of Fine Arts (JCFA).

In addition to written work, professors were asked to incorporate a new “making” feature to the core program. The first new hire for the program this semester was art professor Leah Gauthier. She utilized the new component in her classes, “Perspectives in the Creative Arts” and “Illustrations.”

“In the beginning, the students were scared to create artwork, but now they’re really enjoying it,” Gauthier said.

In light of President Barack Obama’s Nobel Peace Prize, we’re going to give peace a chance with this week’s list.

Page 8

ARTS&ENTERTAINMENT

Wednesday, October 14, 2009

Amy Rensink arensink@butler.edu

Playlist of the Week

This past Monday, Gauthier’s students displayed their coursework at a special exhibition in Lilly Hall. In the “Perspectives” class, Gauthier directed students to create handmade postcards that one would send or wish he or she could send. The results were displayed along with photography essays from various class trip destinations, including Hinkle Fieldhouse, Holcomb Gardens, Irwin Library and the canal. From Gauthier’s “Illustration” class, students created hand-drawn pictures using pencil or ink.

In addition to displaying work from the art classes, the exhibit also served as a chance to inform students about the new program and some of its course offerings, including a new digital illustrations minor. The minor includes seven extra courses, including

photography and drawing, among others. Some courses offered next semester in addition to the core curriculum include book illustration and animation.

Monday, students from the 3-D core class will display self-portrait chair sculptures in Irwin Library. Gauthier’s only requirement was that the chair had to be stable enough to sit in. The installment will include more than 45 chairs.

Gauthier said she hopes the art program will eventually evolve into its own department. In order for that to happen, the program needs to continue growing through student interest and involvement, she said.

“We want students to know we’re here,” Gauthier said.

For more information visit www.butler.edu/art.

Collegian photo by Maria Porter

ART TAKES ONE STEP FORWARD: Butler’s new art program had an open house on Monday to display student work and to inform students about art courses and the new digital illustrations minor.

Indiana artist displays 3-D pieces at airport, museum Drew Schmidtke dmschmid@butler.edu Greg Hull is unmistakably an artist.

He’s not terribly eccentric or difficult to talk to, but it is apparent as soon as you meet him. You can hear it in the way he talks. He describes media with adjectives normally reserved for humans. He mentions light, space and sound like they’re his best friends.

In reality, space and sound are Hull’s best friends. He’s combined these with his creative mind to make a living for himself, and, most importantly, advance his art.

His recent successes include the installation of large, red, moving structures in the Indianapolis International Airport parking garage, and a piece currently in the Indiana State Museum called “Urban Geometry 01 (Coccolith).” The sphere-shaped hanging piece consists of six red umbrellas. He created the work for the museum’s “Making it in the Midwest: Artists Who Chose to Stay” exhibit that ends Friday.

After a few months, the museum decided to buy the piece and keep it on permanent display. As fine-art curator Rachel Perry put it, “‘Urban Geometry’ provides welcome color and texture to the ‘heavy metal’ ambience of the museum’s Grand Lobby.”

The inspiration for this piece, and others in his collection, is loosely based on umbrellas. Hull was visiting a friend in New York City and looking out the window when it started to rain. He saw a mass of people extend their umbrellas upward.

That moment started a decade-long affair with the shape and movement of umbrellas.

Inside his northwest studio, there’s a large, diamond-like metal structure attached to movement rails. The ominous-looking contraption was the final prototype for the airport project.

While it isn’t as pretty without red fabric, the prototype is a technical marvel.

The pieces in the airport are essentially self-aware; they measure the temperature and wind resistance and will change their shape to avoid damage from the elements.

“He’s not afraid to tackle the unknown, and he always comes up with projects that are equal parts artistically and technically challenging,” Indianapolis art critic Skip Berry said. “I admire the way he works with everything from light and sound to computerized mechanics.”

Giant, technology-driven installations haven’t always been Hull’s artistic output.

The Richmond, Ind., native actually grew up in the performing arts.

In high school he picked up the pencil and began to work on art. His ideas expanded when he was introduced to new materials and techniques as a student at the Kansas City Art Institute. After earning his master’s degree at the University of Delaware, he went on to do a variety of artwork and teaching. Hull moved to Indianapolis from Dallas in 1996 and has been living here and teaching at the Herron School of Art and Design at IUPUI ever since.

In the past year, he moved his studio from downtown into a newly built garage and office on his home’s property. Here, he can work while maintaining an active part in his family’s life. Although his children Audrey, 14, and Jacob, 11, are more inclined toward an interest in music, Hull said they do enjoy his work.

The most important piece to Hull’s children is “Urban Geometry 01.” Not only is it a permanent piece in a museum they love, but they also watched its creation from start to finish. According to Hull, the piece was created in about two days at his new studio. Normally, his kids would only see the art in phases. This time, they watched their father craft every part.

Flaming Lips album appeals to die-hard fans with new religion Ben Nespiodziany Contributing Writer Wayne Coyne is building a religion.

Coyne, the front man for the Flaming Lips, a psychedelic rock band from outer space, wears a white suit (often covered in fake blood) to every one of his shows.

He crowd-surfs in a gigantic bubble ball; he shoots confetti guns; he has aliens and Santa Clauses dancing with him on stage as he proclaims his existential views to the glitter-covered, bright-colored masses.

In the 26 years since the band’s conception, the Flaming Lips have released 12 long-playing albums (LPs), eight extended play albums (EPs) and a B-horror film made in Coyne’s backyard called “Christmas on Mars.” During this time, they have evolved from a simple garage punk band in Oklahoma City, Okla., to new age psychedelic pioneers. They have a following with other bands like MGMT, Empire of the Sun, Bat for Lashes, Devendra Banhart and Beck.

Through their years of bouncy balls and magical fortresses, the band has dealt with everything from wizards to abandoned hospital ships, robots to time traveling and spider bites to ego tripping at the gates of hell. In the band’s newest and possibly weirdest album, “Embryonic,” a double-disc, 72-minute mind-bender, the now 48-year-old Coyne adds another section to his bible.

After the back-to-back success of their 1999 and 2003 masterpieces, “The Soft Bulletin” and “Yoshimi Battles the Pink Robots,” the Flaming Lips seemed to discover their style. In 2006, they released “At War With the Music,” an overproduced album that sounded like the Flaming Lips were trying to please their new-found fans who wanted to hear more

tracks like the one from the German automobile commercials or the one from the SpongeBob film. Although the album was fun and received moderate acclaim, it stayed in the same direction as past efforts, and fans were convinced the band had found their sound.

“Embryonic” is the glorifying opposite to this assumption. To say the least, this album has guts. Recorded in multiinstrumentalist Steven Drozd’s vacant house, “Embryonic” is loud, gritty, epic and, most importantly, experimental. In an early interview in regards to the album, Coyne said their music sounded like Joy Division, a Miles Davis group, and John Lennon. And he isn’t far off.

From the beginning track, “Convinced

of the Hex,” the album sounds like a psychedelic jam session; it has guitar tuning and background mumbling. But when they get going—when the band connects—the song transforms wonderfully. Even this early in the album, it is obvious that this experimental direction is not only similar in style to progressive rock like Pink Floyd (comparisons are frequent throughout) and Yes, but it is also smashing and rip-roaring like their abstract older work (1996’s “Clouds Taste Metallic” comes to mind).

While normally a Flaming Lips album will feature catchy, sing-a-long songs that fit well into iTunes playlists, “Embryonic” works best as a whole.

Listening to both discs from front to

back provides the most satisfaction. It is the easiest way to understand the captivating madness. A large chunk of the album appears to be interludes—transitions for something up ahead. It keeps the listeners on their toes.

At times, the album features odd orchestration (“The Sparrow Looks Up At the Machine”) mixed with simple, touching lyrics (“What does it mean?/To dream what you dream?/To believe what you’ve seen?). In one song, Drozd will be singing quietly over a synth note (“If”) while in another, Coyne’s lyrics will be distorted and ghostly, as if they are hollowing in the distance (“Your Bats”): “I saw your nightmare bat go by my window,” he declares.

Some tracks sound like Jim Morrison, a few like David Bowie, others like “The Twilight Zone.” The album even contains numerous voice recordings from German mathematician Thorsten Wörmann, giving the music an eerie layer of scientific experimentations.

“You think the forces have control.

There are other forces that have no control,” Wörmann says.

Daft Punk would be proud. It adds a science fiction-Kraftwerk dimension that

“Embryonic” CD REVIEW

Flaming Lips Warner Bros.

Collegian photo from MCT

LIPS ON FIRE: Wayne Coyne, front man of the Flaming Lips, takes their music to the next level with their new zodiac-inspired album, “Embryonic.”

Rating:

5 = perfect, 4 = outstanding, 3 = good, 2 = fair, 1 = poor

leads to a confused listener. Luckily, the confusion is minimal compared to the overall wonder and excitement. Just what are they researching? Why are they trying to solve through experimentation? What does it all mean? The album’s many cluttered, catastrophic elements create a surreal landscape for the band to march over.

The Flaming Lips also, for the first time, feature guests on their album.

Karen O is featured on two of the songs through a telephone. In one of them (“I Can Be a Frog”), she makes animal noises in between laughs.

“Oh it seems she can be anything,” Coyne shouts, motivationally. In the other (“Watching the Planets,” the final song), Karen O howls, growls and laughs as she and Coyne dance through a telephone as the planets align.

These two features of the Yeah Yeah Yeahs’ front woman add another layer to the album; it gives the album a dimension of unprofessional playfulness and sincerity.

Along with Karen O, the album also features MGMT as guests on “Worm Mountain,” the album’s strongest track. Covered with synthesizers, percussion, background shouting and maybe laser tag, it has tastes of “Yoshimi” delight.

With five of the 18 titles mentioning astrological, zodiac signs, as well as a track about being convinced of a hex, “Embryonic” is further evidence that Coyne is starting his own religion. He gained a following with his previous albums, and now he is picking out the non-believers. Only the true fans will be able to understand (or at least attempt to) and enjoy this album.

“This is the beginning,” Coyne shouts near the end of the album. And what an interesting beginning it appears to be.

The Butler Collegian

Page 8

Wednesday, October 14, 2009

A&E

A&E

P

laylist

of the Week

Early Festival Highlights

“Peace, Love and Understanding”

Opening Night: “Hachi: A Dog’s Tale” Directed by: Lasse Halstrom Starring: Richard Gere Thursday, 7:30 p.m.

01.

“One Love” - Bob Marley

02.

“Peace Train” - Cat Stevens

03.

“Higher Ground” - Stevie Wonder

04.

“Imagine” - John Lennon

05.

“What’s Going On” - Marvin Gaye

06.

“War” - Edwin Starr

07.

“Atoms for Peace” - Thom Yorke

08.

“War Pigs” - Black Sabbath

09.

“Peace and Love” - Neil Young

10.

“Waiting On the World to Change” - John Mayer

11.

“Blowin’ in the Wind” - Bob Dylan

12.

“Road to Peace” - Tom Waits

13.

“(What’s So Funny ‘Bout) Peace, Love and Understanding” - Elvis Costello

“Welcome” Directed by: Phillippe Lioret Friday, 7:30 p.m.

“Seven Minutes in Heaven” Directed by: Omri Givon Sunday, 4 p.m.

Have an idea for our next Playlist of the Week?

Send submissions to arensink@butler.edu.

“For My Father” Directed by: Dror Zahavi Monday, 9 p.m.

“Like Dandelion Dust” Directed by: Jon Gunn Tuesday, 1:15 p.m.

For tickets and more information go to http://www.trulymovingpictures.org/filmfestival/

ABC finds laughs with new sitcom Amy Rensink arensink@butler.edu We’ve been swarmed with sitcoms about family-oriented humor. You know, the absent-minded father, uptight mother, rebellious teen, quirky uncle and the often times unfortunate circumstances that keep them together. ABC’s “Modern Family” mixes things up, representing three

“Modern Family” TV REVIEW

ABC Created by: Christopher Lloyd, Steven Levitan Starring: Julie Bowen, Ty Burrell, Jesse Tyler Ferguson, Sarah Hyland, Ed O’Neill, Rico Rodriguez II, Eric Stonestreet, Sofia Vergara and Ariel Winter

Rating: 5 = perfect, 4 = outstanding, 3 = good, 2 = fair, 1 = poor

slightly non-traditional families in a mockumentary format that pokes fun at some of the less-represented family types of today.

The Dunphy’s, the first family we meet, includes husband and wife Phil (Ty Burrell) and Claire (Julie Bowen) and their three kids. The mom is predictable. She’s overprotective and doesn’t want her oldest daughter, Haley (Sarah Hyland), to make any of the mistakes she made as a young girl. The youngest child, Luke (Nolan Gould), is the typical little brother who gets his head stuck in between the stair rails and shoots his sister with a BB gun. Alex (Ariel Winter) plays the awkward middle child, trying desperately to create an identity of her own.

The real gem of this family is the dad, Phil. He plays the guy trying to be the hip dad, letting the mom make all the tough decisions. In one of the scenes where he’s talking to the camera, he said, “I’m a cool dad, that’s my thang. I’m hip, I surf the Web, I text. LOL: laugh out loud, OMG: oh my god, WTF: why the face.”

There’s another good scene with him shooting his son with a BB gun to teach him a lesson and inadvertently shooting Haley’s boyfriend and himself as well. However, at this point, I’m thinking this family is just like most sitcom families today.

Then we meet Jay Pritchett, played by Ed O’Neill (also known as Al Bundy from “Married...With Children”). He has married a much younger Colombian woman, Gloria Delgado-Pritchett (Sofia Vergara), with a son, Manny (Rico Rodriguez II). Manny is a hilari-

ously insightful 10-year-old boy with the passion to follow his dreams. We soon find out that Jay is Claire’s father and also has a son, Mitchell.

Mitchell (Jesse Tyler Ferguson) has recently adopted a baby from Vietnam with his flamboyant life partner, Cameron (Eric Stonestreet). It was hard not to laugh at the scene where Cameron presents their new baby to the rest of the family to a song from “The Lion King,” complete with a spotlight. Another great part includes them stopping at Costco for diapers. Despite Mitchell’s snobby objections to the store, he ends up falling in love with it and buys mass amounts of unnecessary products, including gallon jars of pickles.

There are plenty of quotable scenes from this show, and most of the characters are likeable for their sense of humor, or in Manny’s case, innocence. At one point, his mom drops him off at the Dunphy’s to play with Alex. He ends up staying inside to counsel Claire about her relationship with her kids while Alex jumps on the trampoline naked with a box on his head.

So far, the show’s worth watching simply for the little bits of hilarious circumstances and the mockumentary interviews that give the characters more of a chance to showcase their ridiculous insights. It’s definitely not as well written as the dysfunctional family comedies “Arrested Development” or “It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia.”

I just hope they keep the show centered around the characters, rather than plot building, because that’s really where the laughs are.

Collegian photo from MCT

MODERN TIMES: Ty Burrell and Julie Bowen star in ABC’s promising new comedy.

Vaughn, Favreau miss with middling ‘Couples Retreat’ Sarah Black Contributing Writer Just because Vince Vaughn is known for his charming, easy ad-lib style of humor does not mean he can write a screenplay. Case in point: “Couples Retreat.” Vaughn and actor buddy Jon Favreau came up short in their combined writing efforts and ended up with what could be the most mediocre movie of all time.

The premise: Four couples are coerced by pals Jason and Cynthia (Jason Bateman and Kristen Bell) to take a vacation to an island resort.

Little do they know, they are about to partake in a slew of couples therapy exercises, most of which end up exactly how you think they would.

It’s clear that this movie is a PG-13 film trying to be edgy enough that the under-17 crowd will think that it’s funny, but it ends up contrived. For kicks, let’s play a game called “figure out what wacky thing happens next.”

In this scenario, the couples meet a Fabio-esque yoga instructor (Carlos Ponce) who bends them in all sorts of

unorthodox moves. What happens next? If you guessed that it ends in a lot of simulated sex positions, you win! Bonus points if you also guessed that the scene lasts about 10 minutes too long.

Dave and Ronnie (played by Vaughn and Malin Akerman) are the refreshing-

ly stable couple. Vaughn is playing his typical everyman role, and Akerman is, naturally, the everywoman. Favreau plays Joey, a grown-up meathead still in his high school glory days. He’s even married to his high school sweetheart, former cheerleader Lucy (Kristin Davis), and their relationship is crum-

Collegian photo from MCT

COUPLES RETREAD: Vaughn and the rest of the great ensemble cast can’t save the mediocre “Couples Retreat” from feeling unoriginal and tired.

bling because they had a baby in high school and married too soon. The fourth couple, Shane and Trudy (Faizon Love and Kali Hawk), are hardly even worth mentioning. I think they’re supposed to be the funniest of the couples, but I’m missing it because Trudy’s voice is annoying. I can’t stop thinking about the fact that they’re so obviously the token black friends.

The rest of the characters are exactly what you’d expect them to be. The creator of the couples retreat, Marcel (Jean Reno), is an “enlightened” whackjob with unconventional methods. Stanley (Peter Serafinowicz), one of the island hosts, is mysterious and threatening, until the men on the trip discover his closet quirks. It’s like I’ve seen all these people before, except they were better the first couple times around.

The only character I truly laughed at was Kevin, Dave and Ronnie’s son (played by Colin Baiocchi). The kid is so darn cute, and he knows it. He’s as much of a token as Shane and Trudy, but he has the upper hand of being adorable and having a cute little kid lisp. Also, he pees in a hardware store

toilet display, so if you’re looking for an easy laugh, there it is.

The retreat turns out how we all thought it would. The couples find out that, despite their many problems, they can tough it out because they love each other. We find out that our $9 could have been better spent. If you have a Netflix account, “Couples Retreat” is far more suited for that than the big screen.

“Couples Retreat” MOVIE REVIEW Columbia Pictures Directed by: Peter Billingsley Starring: Malin Akerman, Jason Bateman, Kristen Bell, Kristin Davis, Jon Favreau, Faizon Love and Vince Vaughn Rated PG-13 Rating: 5 = perfect, 4 = outstanding, 3 = good, 2 = fair, 1 = poor

The Big 1-5-0 Head volleyball coach Sharn Clark scores her 150th Butler win in Wednesday’s game against Green Bay. Page 10

SPORTS

Wednesday, October 14, 2009

Good vs. Evil The United States put in a bid to host either the 2018 or 2022 World Cup. Is it worth it?

Page 11

Page 9

THE BUTLER COLLEGIAN

Volleyball goes 2-2 during long week Ashley Breitenbach abreiten@butler.edu Fall break couldn’t be more needed for the volleyball team, who played four games in the last week.

Inside Hinkle Fieldhouse Oct. 6, the team took on league opponent Milwaukee, defeating the Panthers in three sets.

The Bulldogs started slow before running away with the first game, 25-16.

Butler kept the momentum going in the second game, taking an early 10-1 lead. The Panthers pulled within three at one point, but Butler held off the attack for a 25-21 win.

Milwaukee took the early lead in the third set, but after tying the game at 3-3, Butler regained control and sealed the final set, 25-19.

“We were very aggressive, we served tough and our offense was very strong.” head coach Sharon Clark said.

With an even distribution of attacking averages, the Bulldogs played together well. No one player was in the spot light.

Butler turned around the next day to play Green Bay, sending yet another league team home with a 3-0 loss.

In the first set, the Bulldogs jumped ahead to a substantial lead against Green Bay. With a few hitting errors, Butler allowed Green Bay to close in.

Persevering, Butler continued attacking

the net and defeated Green Bay in the first set, 25-15.

Butler was able to maintain a comfortable lead over Green Bay in all three games: 25-15, 25-18, 25-17.

Clark said her team, led by senior Porshia Allen and junior Jessi Wolfe at the net, blocked well.

Allen and Wolfe dominated the net.

Allen performed strong with a hitting average of 0.414, and Wolfe attacked accurately with an average of 0.348.

The win over Green Bay boosted the Bulldogs to one of the top teams in the conference currently with a 5-1 league record. It also strenthened the players’ confidence before heading to Chicago to play UIC. “We certainly play well at home. Being at home with the crowd definitely gives you energy,” Clark said. “Traveling at this stage, when it is late in the second half of the season, is difficult on any team.”

It was difficult for the Bulldogs; they left their winning streak back in Indianapolis.

First facing UIC, Butler’s attacking average was slightly lower than normal due to multiple hitting errors.

In the first game, the Flames and the Bulldogs battled hard, but Butler dropped the first set 25-22.

The second game was even closer.

Wolfe served multiple aces to put

Bulldogs ahead. Butler couldn’t hold onto the lead though, falling 25-23.

The Bulldogs lost momentum in the third game. Errors continued, which was a main reason for the UIC win.

“We did not play poorly. They were very hot, and we played well,” Clark said.

“We made errors on crucial times, and that was a big factor.”

The odds did not turn in the Bulldogs’ favor when they played Loyola later in the weekend. The Bulldogs had a low attacking average of 0.263 against the Ramblers.

Junior Jalesa Lee had a strong game at the net with an attacking average of 0.417, and Wolfe averaged 0.319. Allen played strong defensively with 20 digs, while junior Katie Daprile had 18 digs.

Butler lost the first game 25-21 but took the second game 25-26.

The third set score was in favor of Loyola with a result of 25-20.

Butler destroyed Loyola in the fourth set, only giving up 14 points.

The entire match came down to the fifth and final game. Loyola took the fifth set, 15-9, for the win.

“Fifteen points come really quickly, and every point is important,” said Clark.

“If you get down early, it is easy to lose the game.”

Even though the Bulldogs finished the weekend 2-2, Clark said she was very pleased with the performance of her team.

“It was a great match. Both teams played very well,” she said. “They came out on fire, and we came back against them strong. We played much better than at UIC. They pulled out crucial points at the end.”

They are currently ranked third in the Horizon League, and they still need to

play every team in the conference one more time. Clark said they are strong enough to still end on top.

“Four games in six days is tough on any team,” Clark said. “Traveling on the last two games was really tough. We played really well, just not well enough to win.”

Collegian photo by Rachel Senn

DOUBLE TEAM: Juniors Jessie Wolfe and Jalesa Lee attack the net in last Wednesday’s match against Green Bay. Butler won in three sets.

Two-win weekend for Bulldogs Men’s soccer surprises No. 14 IU Arika Herron acherron@butler.edu It was a 90 minute game, but freshman Katie Griswold only needed 90 seconds. In less than a minute and a half, Griswold scored two goals against Detroit, leading the

team to a 3-1 victory.

Off a pass from senior Molly Kruger, senior Lindsey Fox found Griswold in the box in the 21st minute. Just moments later, Griswold put the Bulldogs up 2-0 with a header into the goal.

Kruger took Detroit’s keeper

Collegian photo by Maria Porter

GOAL-DEN: Freshman Katie Griswold scored two goals in Friday’s match against Detroit, leading the Bulldogs’ 3-0 win.

on in a one-on-one after a pass from sophomore Maite Bastyr found Kruger in scoring position. Kruger’s goal was good to give Butler a 3-0 lead.

Detroit feigned a comeback in the 78th minute after a goal from junior Selena Stanski, but it was too late. The Bulldogs advanced their record to 6-8 with the win.

The Bulldogs took a day off before heading to Wright State to continue conference play.

A standoff ensued between the two defenses, each vying for second place in league standings.

Poor field conditions made for tough play, but Butler held the Raiders to just five shots on the game.

Butler matched Wright State shot-for-shot until the 78th minute. Griswold and Kruger played the assist this time, feeding the ball to Fox. Fox fired into the corner to net the 1-0 win for the Bulldogs.

The win tied Butler with Wright State in the Horizon League. The final four games of the season are league matches, putting the Bulldogs in good shape for league standings.

Friday was the Bulldogs’ last home game of the 200910 season. The team hits the road Friday to face Cleveland State at 7 p.m.

Ashley Breitenbach abreiten@butler.edu The men’s soccer team had a successful week, defeating two teams 2-1. Entering the week with a record of 6-1-1, the Bulldogs faced off against Indiana and Valparaiso on the road.

Last Wednesday, Butler challenged the Indiana Hoosiers. In the first period, the Hoosiers took an early lead with a header to the net. Indiana took control over the first period with six shots on goal, compared to Butler’s two shots.

However, the game’s atmosphere changed in the second half when the Bulldogs out-shot the Hoosiers 11-7.

Senior Boris Gatzky’s shot in the 83rd minute rebounded out, only to be swept up and netted by freshman Tyler Pollock. Pollock’s third goal of the season tied the game 1-1, forcing the match into overtime play.

“In the second half, we adjusted

our formation slightly, and finally did what we are best at, which is knocking the ball around and outworking the opponent,” Gatzky said. “We also took advantage of IU resting on their early lead, which gave us the opportunity to come back into the game.”

The game continued into double overtime. Gatzky helped end the game with a corner kick in the 104th minute of play. Junior Conner Burt found the cross and headed the ball into the goal for the upset.

“We battled hard, never gave up until the last minute to equalize the game and eventually won in overtime,” Gatzky said.

With a few days to rest and the momentum still high from the win over IU, the Bulldogs were on the road again to challenge Valparaiso. The Bulldogs out-shot Valparaiso 10-7 in the first half, but also gave up the first goal to senior Steve Shively.

Despite giving up the early lead, Butler did not give up the

game. The Bulldogs continued the offensive assault with seven shots in the second half. Two found the back of the net.

The first goal was scored from 20 yards out by Gatzky off an assist by freshman Julian Cardona. Just three minutes later, Gatzky passed the ball to sophomore Matt Hedges. Hedges took a corner shot and clinched the win.

“We had a below-average first half, got scored on early and again, had a better second half, which was enough to get the job done,” Gatzky said.

Gatzky said this weekend showed the team that hard work pays off.

“All in all, the team showed great character to come back from being a goal down in either game, which shows the progress we made over the last years and weeks in games and practice,” Gatzky said.

The Bulldogs, second in the Horizon League, face IUPUI tonight at 7 p.m. at IUPUI.

Need more Bulldog sports?

Get your fix throughout the week by following The Butler Collegian online! thebutlercollegian.com SUNDAY WEDNESDAY

SATURDAY

Men’s Soccer at IUPUI 7 p.m.

Cross Country Pre-National Invitational Terre Haute, Ind. 11 a.m.

FRIDAY Women’s Soccer at Cleveland State 7 p.m.

Football vs. Valparaiso 1 p.m.

Women’s Volleyball vs. Youngstown State 4 p.m.

Women’s Soccer at Youngstown State 1 p.m.

MONDAY Men’s Golf Dayton Fall Invitational Kettering, Ohio All Day Women’s Golf Austin Peay State Intercollegiate Clarksville, Tenn.

All Day

TUESDAY Men’s Golf Dayton Fall Invitational Kettering, Ohio All Day Women’s Golf Austin Peay State Intercollegiate Clarksville, Tenn.

All Day

-Women’s golf concluded play at the MAC Preview, placing 11th.

-Men’s golf tied for 12th at the D.A. Weibring Intercollegiate Sunday and Monday

-Get daily scores, updates and more from the Collegian Sports on Twitter!

-twitter.com/ BUSportsWriters

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Wednesday, October 14, 2009

Page 10

The Butler Collegian

SPORTS

SPORTS

Clark earns 150th win as BU coach Emily Newell enewell@butler.edu

gian Colle by photo e Rach n l Sen

On Wednesday, Oct. 2, the Butler volleyball team swept Green Bay in three straight sets.

But this time, the win meant a little bit more.

Wi t h this win, S h aro n C l ark, now in her 10th season as head coach of the Lady B u l l do g s , achieved a milestone 150th win.

“It was a little bit of a surprise to me,” Clark said. “I wasn’t really aware of it. I don’t really keep track of stuff like that.”

Clark became aware that the night’s game would, if won, be her 150th

victory through her players.

“We knew it [would be her 150th win],” assistant coach Jeff Getz said.

“We decorated her office and got her flowers and stuff.”

Getz is in his first year as an assistant for Clark, but he said he already can see what makes her a successful coach.

“I think she has great relationships with her players,” Getz said.

“She brings out the best in each of the players by making sure that she tells them their strengths and letting them know how strong they are.”

Getz said working with Clark has been a learning experience for him.

“She is a very experienced coach,” he said. “I’m continuing learning new ways and new philosophies [from Clark].”

Karen Weatherington, a former volleyball assistant coach at Butler who worked under Clark for seven years said she knew Clark would achieve great success in her career.

“I’m not surprised at all by her success,” Weatherington said.

“She has a great deal of experience. She has spent her lifetime in college sports.”

Weatherington said her time spent coaching under Clark was one of the most rewarding opportunities of her career, adding

that her relationship with Clark is “the most rewarding relationship I’ve had in athletics.”

Clark has won several awards as a coach during her tenure at Butler.

In 2007, Clark was one of six nationwide recipients of the Rebecca B. Howard Star Award from USA Volleyball for demonstrating a successful commitment to diversity in the sport.

That year she also received the Sam Lacy Pioneer Award for her success and leadership as an NCAA head coach and member of the American Volleyball Coaches Association (AVCA). It is awarded to coaches by the sports task force of the National Association of Black Journalists.

“She’s inspired so many young women around her,” Weatherington said. “A number of her players have gone into coaching.

“Sharon is an exceptional teacher.”

The Bulldogs defeated the Phoenix in three sets to give Clark the landmark victory.

“I was definitely excited about the win,” Clark said. “It was at home and a conference match. The 150th was just icing on the cake.”

Clark said she is happy about the win, but her focus is coaching.

“My main goal is to mainly keep bringing in tremendous students and tremendous student athletes,” she said. “We want to be the perennial No. 1 [team] in our conference and go

Collegian photo by Rachel Senn

COACHING AND CARING: Head volleyball coach Sharon Clark talks to sophomore middle blocker Maureen Bamiro during a team practice. to the NCAA tournament.”

No matter what, Clark said, she just wants to see the team enjoy themselves.

“I get a lot of enjoyment out of seeing [the team] enjoy their college athletic experience, whether it’s in a game, in practice, or on the road.

“I absolutely love to see our ath-

letes enjoy it.”

Clark entered the 2009 season with a 237-239 record overall in her 16 year career as a head coach. With the Bulldogs, she had a 135-131 record to start the season. She is 65-63 against league opponents at Butler.

The team is currently 15-10, 5-3 Horizon League.

Men’s tennis moves toward ‘ideal playing level’ Paige Flynn psflynn@butler.edu The men’s tennis team competed this past weekend at the Purdue Invitational in West Lafayette. The team took home first in the consolation brackets in doubles and B Flight singles.

“We’re getting closer to playing at the level we want to be at,” coach Jason Suscha said. “We’re not there yet, but we’re getting there.”

Senior Ben Raynauld advanced to the semifinal round in the A Flight singles but was beaten by P.J. Rose of Purdue 6-3, 6-3.

Senior Brandon Bayliss lost to Jacob Straus of Marquette in the final round of the B Flight singles.

Freshman Andrew Bayliss lost to Matt Manasse, but he moved on to win the consolation bracket with fellow Bulldog sophomore Stephen McLoughlin.

After receiving a bye for the quarterfinals, Bayliss advanced to a match against Jamie Firth of Eastern Illinois in the semifinals. Bayliss

won 6-4, 6-4.

“I think we could be a Top 50 team,” Suscha McLoughlin also advanced after receiving a said. “With the athletes we have right now, that’s bye in the quarterfinals and defeated Mitch definitely a possibility. We have the potential to Beckert of Iowa 3-6, 6-3 (10-4) in the semifinals. play at that level.”

The final match between Bayliss and This is the Bulldogs’ third tennis invitational McLoughlin was not played. this season. Now, the Bulldogs are preparing for In doubles, the Intercollegiate the senior Tennis Association “I think we could be a Top 50 team. With the team of (ITA) Ohio Valley Raynauld and athletes we have right now, that’s definitely a Regional at Indiana Bryce Warren University Oct. was defeated 22–25. The team possibility. We have the potential to play at in the first will receive the round by official list of that level.”

Drake Kakar Butler participants - Jason Suscha in the ITA invitaand Jose Munoz from Head Coach, Butler Men’s Tennis tional no later than Friday. The Ohio M a r qu e t t e .

The pair went on to defeat Beckert and Connor Valley Regional mainly includes schools in Gilmore of Iowa in the quarterfinals of the con- southern Indiana and Ohio, as well as Kentucky solation bracket. Raynauld and Warren then took and Tennessee. Other schools competing at the on Thomas Wilson and Billy Heuer from Purdue Ohio Valley Regional are the University of for a win in the semifinals, and they defeated Tennessee, Purdue University, the University of Manasse and J.F. Englebrecht, also of Purdue, 8- Kentucky, Vanderbilt University and Indiana University.

6 to win consolation.

“There are not as many teams [in the Ohio Valley Regional]. We’re hoping that will be to our advantage,” Suscha said. “[The boys] have been able to position themselves well and get two or three teams in at the regional. That plays to our benefit as well.”

Butler’s old bracket in the ITA Midwest Regional included all of the Big Ten conference colleges, four of which were top 20 teams in the nation. Suscha said he hopes the new Ohio Valley Regional will play out to Butler’s advantage.

“Hopefully, it’ll be easier,” Suscha said.

“There are still some good programs [in the Ohio Valley Regional]. Either way, it’ll be some fun, new competition for us.”

The team is also looking forward to the spring with the addition of the new outdoor tennis courts. Butler’s first outdoor match will be March 6 against Detroit.

“This is my first outdoor duel in 14 years at Butler,” Suscha said. “So, it’s pretty exciting.

We’ve really done our best to make [the new courts] fan-friendly, so we hope to see a lot of supporters out there come spring.”

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The Butler Collegian

Page 11

Wednesday, October 14, 2009

SPORTS

SPORTS

U.S. enters bid to host future FIFA World Cup

U.S. is ready to be soccer’s biggest stage Hosting has too high a price for the U.S. Arika Herron aherron@butler.edu Last Saturday the United States clinched the bid to the 2010 FIFA World Cup in South Africa in an astounding 3-2 win against Honduras. Now it’s time to win the bid to host the World Cup in either 2018 or 2022.

Right now, it’s looking like England has 2018 all but locked down, and why shouldn’t they?

They pretty much invented the game and are still one of the biggest soccer nations. The “homeland of football” hasn’t hosted the World Cup since 1966.

It would make England the sixth nation to host the event twice.

The United States should be the seventh nation to host it twice. Although we just hosted in 1994, I think 2022 is a reasonable goal for the United States.

Jan. 15 was the first official day to formally register intentions to bid for the 2018 and 2022 World Cups. Final proposals are due to the executive committee of FIFA in May of 2010.

The chosen nations will be announced Dec. 2, 2010.

Twelve nations have announced their intentions to host either tournament. The bid committee is looking at more than a year of wining, dining and jet-setting. While England is focusing heavily on securing the World Cup in 2018, the United States, Japan, Indonesia, Australia and Russia are vying

for either edition. Belgium and the Netherlands and Portugal and Spain are looking to co-host either event. Both Qatar and South Korea are applying for only 2022.

If we consider England’s 2018 bid a lock, thus knocking out any European interests for the 2022 tournament, the United States only has to worry about bids from the Asian Football Conference.

While Japan has proven capable of hosting a World Cup, the fact that it was the last Asian country to do so, and in just 2002, works against it in a big way. Neither Indonesia, Qatar or South Korea has the infrastructure or facilities required to host the event.

The real dark horse in the race, and the U.S.’s only real competition is Australia. Australia has only been a part of the Asian Football conference since 2006, but they are Asia’s only real chance at an upcoming World Cup. Australia did prove it can host large-scale events when it did so with the 2000 Olympics. While it doesn’t yet have all the required facilities, the federal government has endorsed the bid and said it is prepared to give the Football Federation of Australia $45.6 million to fund its preparation.

But soccer is still relatively new in Australia. The nation has qualified for the 2010 tournament, but previous qualifications

were few and far between—one in 1974 and the next in 2006. The United States has qualified for the past six FIFA World Cup Tournaments.

The U.S. already has the necessary facilities and infrastructure.

Twenty-seven cities remain in the running to play host to a round of the event. The 34 stadia in the cities average 74,000. When the U.S. hosted in 1994, it set records in attendance with an average draw of more than 69,000 people.

And American soccer is on the rise. Major League Soccer currently houses 15 teams and will grow to 18 by 2011. There are currently seven soccer-specific stadia, and three more will be completed by 2010. The United States has proven to be the future of soccer.

Steven Peek speek@butler.edu Americans may think it would be great for the United States to host an international sporting event. The U.S. is always among the top medal winners in the Olympics and is considered the world’s center for basketball and baseball. Plus, think of the financial benefits of hosting an international event, proponents would say.

Despite losing the bid for the 2016 Olympics, the U.S. is bidding to host the World Cup in 2018 (or in 2022, should the first bid prove unsuccessful).

Approximately 12 cities would be used to host the international soccer tournament’s various rounds of play. In May 2010, 27 prospective cities will be narrowed down

Collegian photo from MCT

SPLIT DECISION: How much will it cost U.S. soccer fans, here cheering at a match versus Italy, to host a World Cup?

before the voting to determine the host country.

However, the U.S. hosting the World Cup would create more negatives than positives and more obstacles than a U.S. World Cup administration could overcome.

First, there’s the issue of which cities would be hypothetically capable of supporting a massive crowd of soccer fans. Los Angeles and Atlanta have each hosted the Olympics in the past 24 years, but many of the facilities used were pre-existing or built with the promise and knowledge that they would be used regularly and constructively in the future.

Any U.S. city that wanted to host a World Cup would have to build multiple soccer fields with stands to hold tens of thousands (perhaps hundreds of thousands) of people.

Locations that have successful Major League Soccer (MLS) franchises, like Chicago, Los Angeles, Dallas, New York and New England, have one field, but they’re not big enough to hold a World Cup Final’s crowd.

Because soccer is often trumped by basketball, baseball, American football and hockey, it would be difficult for any city or state government to justify granting the funds necessary to take on such a project.

And that leads me to my next point—finances. Businesses are often able to make money from large events in their cities, but it is difficult for the city itself to be

profitable.

The 2004 Summer Olympics in Athens, Greece cost an estimated $11.6 billion, not including costs for infrastructure improvements, according to allbusiness.com. Does the U.S. have $11.6 billion lying around?

My third point against the U.S. hosting the World Cup is one always on the minds of Americans—terrorism. Hosting an event as large as the World Cup would create numerous opportunities for terrorist attacks. Both federal troops and corporate security forces would likely have to be used to the guard 12 cities.

In 2004, Athens spent $1.39 billion on security, according to allbusiness.com. That’s approximately the cost of the entire 2000 Olympics in Sydney. How much would that cost be for the U.S.?

Another issue is that American troops could still be in Iraq, Afghanistan or who knows where else. U.S. military activity is too far spread to be opening itself up to attack in multiple domestic locations.

Providing funding, facilities and security in one city is one thing; doing all those necessary tasks in 12 cities is another.

Hosting the World Cup is more than seeking international attention and business; it’s making a promise of safety and entertainment to all of the world’s soccer fans. The U.S. cannot hope to make that promise at this point in time.

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BUTLER COLLEGIAN

Wednesday, October 14, 2009

The Butler Collegian

BUTLER COLLEGIAN

Collegian photos by Mary Landwer, Maria Porter and Rachel Senn Collegian illustration by Rachel Senn