11.11.09

THE BUTLER

COLLEGIAN

WEDNESDAY NOVEMBER

11 2009

www.thebutlercollegian.com

Butler gains chapter of Phi Beta Kappa honors society

Indianapolis, Indiana

Established 1886

Vol. 124 Issue 11

Soccer clinches top seed Men’s Soccer beats Wright State 3-1, See story on page 9

Hayleigh Colombo and Rachel Brummer hcolombo@butler.edu rbrummer@butler.edu Phi Beta Kappa, the oldest academic society in the U.S., is joining Butler University’s repertoire of more than 15 collegiate honors societies next spring.

Out of more than 3,000 colleges and universities nationwide, only 280 of them have Phi Beta Kappa chapters.

Butler was approved for a chapter Oct. 2, and the chapter will invite its first students in the spring.

Religion professor Paul Valliere was the chair of the committee that submitted Butler’s application to the Phi Beta Kappa society.

“It’s quite a distinction [for members] to put on [their] résumé,” Valliere said.

Valliere said Phi Beta Kappa is extremely well organized and keeps in touch with members after graduation.

There are 20 Butler faculty and staff members who are members of Phi Beta Kappa, including President Bobby Fong.

The exact requirements of admission to Phi Beta Kappa are undecided, but they are mainly based on high academic achievement for upperclassmen, Valliere said.

However, extra-curricular activities and leadership will be considered.

Although the chapter hasn’t elected officers yet, they’re hoping to establish some visibility on campus by hosting public lectures and other events in the upcoming semester, Valliere said.

The main draw to Phi Beta Kappa, Valliere said, is its commitment to the liberal arts education.

“Its [purpose is] to promote learning and lift up the liberal arts over the university as a whole,” he said.

Phi Beta Kappa will serve students who rank highly academically, Valliere said, which is similar to the other societies on campus, such as the National Society of Collegiate Scholars (NSCS).

In order to be inducted into NSCS, students must meet a minimum grade point average (GPA) of 3.4 and be ranked in the top 20 percent of their class. There were 73 new members inducted this fall. Each member must pay a one-time fee of $75.

“It’s wonderful for the students,” Eloise Sureau, advisor of Butler’s chapter of NSCS, said. “It shows you are a good student, that you have a good GPA and it means you are involved in [the] Butler community.”

The ability to join an honors society doesn’t just come from having a high GPA, though, Sureau said.

She is also involved in Phi Sigma Iota, the foreign languages honors society.

“Depending on the one you’re in, it tells right away See SOCIETIES Page 4

Collegian photo by Maria Porter

GOAL RALLY: The men’s soccer team clinched the Horizon League regular season title Saturday, defeating Wright State 3-1. The win gave the team a 6-1-1 conference record and home-field advantage in the conference tournament this weekend.

NPR broadcaster shares wisdom at speech Hayleigh Colombo hcolombo@butler.edu To be taken seriously in the political arena, the best strategy is to bowl right down the middle, National Public Radio (NPR) journalist Linda Wertheimer said at a presentation last Wednesday.

She stressed the importance of pundits, also known as political commentators, especially in non-election years.

Addressing Butler University faculty, students and community members in the EidsonDuckwall Recital Hall, Wertheimer said her experience following political campaigns has given her insight into punditry at its best and worst.

“You’ll never go broke betting on the moral

weakness of politicians,” Wertheimer said.

Wertheimer, who has worked on various NPR shows including “All Things Considered,” said she is grateful for pundits because they fill up time and bring fresh perspectives to a political debate.

“You need extra hands as a pundit,” Wertheimer said. “[Pundits] say, ‘on the one hand, on the other hand.’”

Although a pundit’s perspective is refreshing for mass media outlets, Wertheimer said they usually don’t last long on shows.

“We tend to fire them after a while because we feel like we’ve heard everything they have to say,” Wertheimer said.

After the presentation, Wertheimer opened the floor for an extensive question and answer See JOURNALIST Page 4

Collegian photo by Rachel Senn

RADIOHEAD: Linda Wertheimer, journalist for NPR, spoke at Butler last week.

Student hospitalizations spur changes to BUPD alcohol policy Olivia Ingle oingle@butler.edu Recent incidents have sparked Butler University Police Department (BUPD) and Student Affairs to crack down on the university’s underage drinking.

Irene Stevens, dean of student life, said 10 students have gone to the hospital as a result of excessive drinking this semester.

“We are very concerned with the amount of alcohol that students are drinking, the way in which students are drinking and the fact that they do not know their limits and are putting themselves at risk,” Stevens said.

The issue hit its boiling point Halloween weekend. Two parties were

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

Playlist of the Week..............8 Horoscopes..............8 Sports Column.....11 Mr. Butler Competition..........12

documented that Saturday night, and a list of names was sent to Student Affairs.

BUPD has decided to have officers document more incidents, rather than just telling parties to quiet down and keep it under control.

“We’ve always been aware that students are going to consume alcohol because we’re on a college campus,” Ben Hunter, the director of public safety and chief of police, said. “We decided that we want people to be safe but also be good stewards for the neighborhood.”

Hunter said he wants to get the message out that students cannot have parties that are open to anyone and everyone, and that it is illegal to serve alcohol to minors.

Student affairs will handle the first offense, the court system will handle the second and after the third offense, offenders could be arrested.

BUPD and Student Affairs’ goal is to educate people on how to be responsible.

“If minors leave these parties and get alcohol poisoning or tragically die, the person that gave them the alcohol is looking at a lot of criminal sanctions that are going to follow the person for the rest of their life,” Hunter said.

Stevens said Student Affairs is going to work hand-in-hand with BUPD to address issues with

Few Good Options

From London to Lilly Hall

After a canceled runoff, Hamid Karzai’s re-election in Afghanistan doesn’t help U.S.

Visiting director Tim Hardy takes a different approach with Shakespeare’s “The Merchant of Venice,” playing this week.

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large parties that disrupt the neighborhood and provide alcohol to underage people. They are also going to work with people who are drinking too much to find out where they are drinking and try to get them help, she said.

“It’s just a matter of how we work with students to inform them and educate them to make sure they’re aware of what the consequences will be,” Hunter said. “We need to make sure things are done in a responsible way, in that we cannot have individuals with high blood alcohol levels that have to be taken to the hospital.”

Student Affairs wants students to be aware of the options that Indianapolis has to offer other than drinking.

“We’re in a city that has lots of opportunities for people to go out and see things from plays to sporting events, to theater and ethnic restaurants,” Stevens said. “All kinds of things, and yet some, not all, choose to go to someone’s room or house and drink in excess.”

“I was actually surprised by the amount of drinking here,” freshman Jamie Schocke said. “I figured since it was a private school and a lot smaller that it wouldn’t be that high. Within my first two weeks, I realized there was a lot of partying going on, which kind of shocked me.”

BUPD and Student Affairs said they are concerned about students’ well being.

“It’s taking its toll on students,” Stevens said. “It’s very, very unfortunate.”

Dawgs Is Hott The football team avoided its first loss of the season by stopping Dayton on the one-yard line.

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Wednesday, November 11, 2009

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The Butler Collegian

NEWS

NEWS

COPHS Web site offers health care info Caitlin O’Rourke corourke@butler.edu

With many people lacking health insurance or a reliable way to receive medicine, the pharmacy program has an idea to help cure their ills.

Butler’s College of Pharmacy and Health Sciences (COPHS) has put together a new Web site (www.butler.edu/community-health) that lists cheap or free health care, along with a list of the health departments throughout Indiana. Also included is information on health programs such as Medicare.

“The idea originally formulated when Annette McFarland and Carriann Richey were trying to locate resources such as free clinics on the Web,” Jessica Callahan, a pharmacy academic program coordinator and the regular updater of the site, said. “They found they had to go to many different Web sites to attain this information.”

Richey and McFarland are both professors in the COPHS. Once the idea was formulated, it became a student project for the current sixth-year pharmacy class. They designed the Web site and pinpointed much of the information.

“We came up with the concepts of the content and what sections we wanted to include,” Aaron Lee, a sixth-year pharmacy student,

said. Lee and Punit Shah, another sixth-year, are the two primary writers for the Web site.

The action would not have been possible without the COPHS’s recent Lilly Endowment grant. The grant’s purpose is to promote huge health action on campus and in the surrounding community, Callahan said.

The Web site has been specifically designed for the public, mainly targeting those who can’t afford health care, Lee said.

Because of that, there has been effort by the college to make the Web site known to the public and not just the students on campus who already have a clinic to use.

Along with already being announced by the Butler Public Relations department, postcards have been created and will be sent out to clinics to promote the site.

With advertising still in the works, feedback has not been plentiful, but Richey said that comments have been positive, including a note of appreciation from the Indiana Dental Association.

Callahan has great faith in the Web site, and said she hopes students will take it on each year to expand it and determine what is best for its future.

“It’s just exciting to see the students get so involved and have their project used by the general public,” Richey said.

Outside-class relationships with students are beneficial, professors say Grace Wallace gwallace@butler.edu

The relationship between professors and students is highly regarded at Butler University, and professors are getting more creative when it comes to reaching out to students.

“It is a two-way street,” German professor Fred Yaniga said. “The professor has a responsibility to put it out there, and students have a responsibility to connect on a personal level.

Somewhere in this great buffet we call a university, learning is motivated through personal interest and not just the subject.”

Yaniga has been at Butler for nine years teaching German, honors courses, global and historical studies courses and also serves as the head of the Modern Language Center. The variety of classes has given him different ways to relate to a vastly diverse group of students.

In addition, he said he took an introductory French course at Butler, which allowed him to interact with students on a different level than teaching.

Yaniga attended a small university for his undergraduate degree, which he believes gave him the incentive to create a personal relationship with his students rather than just being an authoritative figure in front of a class.

“I made a promise to myself to become a student-oriented professor,” he said. “I have to be inspired by my students in order to inspire them and teach to my fullest capacity.”

Yaniga said he often begins his German classes by asking how the students’ days or weekends went, and, though this is a helpful way to practice their speaking skills, he said it is also because he is genuinely interested in what they have to say and what is going on in their lives.

“I force myself to work on that relationship every day,” Yaniga said. “It’s something that I am constantly encouraging.”

Yaniga said he wants his students to have respect for him but also relate to him as a human being rather than a cold and distant

figure.

“I want my students to know that I’m not perfect, but we can work together to create a great experience,” he said.

Butler Communications Studies assistant professor Kristin Swenson said it is the relationships built between professors and students and having the opportunity to learn about each other outside of schooling that makes teaching so much fun for her.

“Having professor/student relations is good for both parties,” Swenson said, “and I’m often impressed with students and what they do outside of the classroom. It’s who they are and their sharing of that with me that makes my job enjoyable.”

Swenson was also inspired by her small college origins and said it was closeness with her professors that got her excited about learning and sparked her intellectual interest.

She said it was nice to see how she has now reversed that role as students invite her into their lives, too.

“We all want to be heard and respected, and that encourages us to be more open,” she said.

“And when we establish that relationship with one another—a relationship based on mutual respect, trust and challenging one another—it allows for encouraged learning and expanded horizons.”

Swenson approaches the different classes she teaches with different methods of communication, and she said one of her favorite things to have her students do is write in a journal because it is a safe place for their thoughts and opinions.

The respect this allows for their opinions helps her to naturally enjoy her students and create a much more interesting classroom experience for all, she said.

“The one thing I want my students to take from the classroom is the ability to look at the world with a critical lens,” Swenson said. “To take the skills that we perfect in class every day and apply that into life. It’s so important to recognize that learning continues out of the classroom.”

Both Swenson and Yaniga said they encourage students to take advantage of extracurricular activities by offering extra credit for doing things outside of class. They said they aren’t at a university to see a student in one class and then never contact them again, but rather to keep in touch with them throughout their entire educational career and even after.

Students also appreciate the efforts professors make to close the learning gap and create relationships within the classroom.

Junior Chelsea Clevenger said when professors are involved in student life, students tend to be more willing, focused and driven when it comes to coursework and class interaction.

“When professors make an effort to reach out to my peers and me, it creates a mutual respect and expectation between the two,” Clevenger said. “And as a student, I begin to expect more out of myself not only in their classroom, but even outside the learning area.”

Clevenger said she formed a great relationship with one of her chemistry professors and is able to further that bond by working in her research lab. It is this friendship that has truly given her perspective on how much of an impact professors can have on their students, she said.

“She really supports me in all of my classes,” Clevenger said. “And if she knows I have a test coming up, she does whatever is in her power to help me achieve my goals, whether it be by encouraging me to seek out another professor for help or by helping me on her own.”

Clevenger said this relationship is the reason she has picked up an education major.

Having someone take the time out of their lives to help her has shown her how teaching can be a great experience, she said.

“Overall, I think it’s very impressive how much professors can teach and influence their students in areas other than the classroom material,” Clevenger said. “Whether they are aware of it or not, it is the efforts they make in getting to know students that is the greatest gift to the educational experience.”

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HEALTH HINTS: The new health services Web site provides information on free or cheap health care across Indiana.

campusbriefs Student rescued from treetop Grace Wallace gwallace@butler.edu S tudents on college campuses choose to spend their weekend nights all sorts of different ways. Katelyn Manion just happens to spend hers in a tree.

Manion had to be rescued by three Indianapolis firemen after getting stuck in a tree in the front of S chwitzer Lawn.

Manion said she climbed the tree because she had accidently thrown her keys into it while playing a game of catch.

The keys were three stories in the air and not coming down anytime soon.

F riends of Manion who witnessed the event said that they attempted to get the keys down by throwing different objects—mostly shoes—in hopes that they would knock the keys loose. When their efforts proved unsuccessful, they said they felt it was time to seek outside help.

Manion said she explained the situation to a Butler University P olice Department officer who was out on nightly patrols, but the officer informed her that he would not alert the fire department unless there was a person stuck in the tree rather than a replaceable set of keys.

F riends said Manion took the statement to heart and set off to climb up after her keys.

S he reached a height of 10 feet up the tree before she had no way to go farther up or down without causing risk of injury. F riends then went and alerted the same officer, who had no choice but to call the fire department.

A long and trying hour later, Manion and her keys were safely rescued from the treetops.

The event caused quite a few students to gather near the tree and watch the humorous situation. Onlookers claimed that it was some of the best S aturday entertainment they have ever witnessed. They said it was a harmless situation that gave everyone a good laugh.

Even the firemen said they found the entire escapade humorous and gladly posed for pictures after rescuing Manion.

Manion said she would consider the night a “great success, ” although she did leave some advice for her fellow students: “Keep in mind that every tree you climb up, you have to climb down, ” Manion said.

The Butler Collegian

Wednesday, November 11, 2009

NEWS

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NEWS

Rabbi supports religious diversity Allyson Dobberteen Contributing Writer Rabbi Arnold Bienstock, an adjunct professor of the two classes, The Bible and Biblical Hebrew, at Butler University, has brought a diverse perspective into his students’ and colleagues’ study of religion in the world.

Because of Bienstock’s role in Carmel, Ind., as a Rabbi of Congregation Shaarey Tefilla, his classes stress the importance of openness to religious diversity.

“You have to have openness to how religion is taught in a secular university setting like Butler University,” Bienstock said.

Teaching in the university setting wasn’t a priority for Bienstock until a member of his Jewish congregation suggested he teach at Ball State University.

Bienstock said that the large university setting wasn’t for him.

“There is a tremendous distinction between adjunct and tenured faculty,” he said. “There was just this huge space.”

Bienstock began teaching as an adjunct professor six years ago in the department of Philosophy and Religion at Butler, a change that was very positive for him, he said.

“I like small,” he said. “I like the culture of this university.

“There is much more interaction with students.”

Bienstock said smaller institutions, whether religious or educational, pride themselves on community and relationships.

“Because I’m in a small congregation,” he said, “everybody knows they can walk into my office [and] don’t even have to have an appointment.”

Bienstock said it’s similar to a small university or college.

“They have this individual attention,” he said. “People really get to know one another. There is really an intense feeling of community, of participation, of sharing.”

These feelings that emulate from a small environment show themselves in Bienstock’s religion classes at Butler.

Peter Soldato, a senior religion major at Butler, said Bienstock has a hands-on approach to his teaching within the classroom.

“With our Hebrew learning,” Soldato said, “we don’t just go through and do exercises over and over. We translate from the Bible with hands-on experience.”

It is experience that gives Bienstock knowledge about Judaism and its practice, Soldato said.

“It’s kind of a different perspective. It’s not just a typical Christian perspective that you get with a lot of people in America,” Soldato said.

Director of the Center for Faith and Vocation Judy Cebula said other professors have taught the Christian text, or the New Testament—in an unbiased way—but Bienstock has the added advantage of not coming from a Christian background.

“When you learn the Bible from him,” she said. “I think you’re getting a very special view.”

Paul Valliere, a religion professor at Butler, said Bienstock’s major point of entry in the classroom is that students can see

that they will receive a different perspective than they might be used to.

Ultimately, Bienstock “opens students up to dimensions of the Bible that have always been there but which they’ve never seen because they’ve never looked at it through Jewish eyes,” Valliere said.

Cayla Deason, a junior general music major, said that Bienstock’s knowledge of the Jewish perspective on the Bible comes through at times.

“He is based in scholarship,” Deason said. “He’s trying to make sure it’s not one-sided. He tries to teach in an unbiased way.”

This approach reflects the philosophy of the religion department, Valliere said; to give “personalized instruction to get students to open up to the reality of religion worldwide, to the great diversity of religious beliefs around the world.”

Bienstock said that though he is a rabbi, in an academic setting it is important to maintain a sense of objectivity or distance from the biblical text in a scholarly way.

“Understand that the tools that are used in an academic setting to teach religion are different than those in a religious setting,” Bienstock said. “I try, and I hope I’m sensitive to that issue because I sit on both sides of the fence.”

“My role here as a teacher is different than the distinction between my role as who I am as a rabbi of a congregation.”

While Bienstock assumes two different roles, the challenges that his congregation faces and the challenges that his students face are one and the same.

College students are challenged with establishing a new community, an issue that Bienstock has addressed within his congregation in Carmel.

Bienstock said that, after the initial challenge of bringing new people into the congregation, there is another challenge of making a community out of it.

“The people in my congregation are from all over,” he said.

“They don’t have a home in Indianapolis.”

Bienstock said that especially in the Midwest, it is unusual to have a group of people who aren’t local.

“In Indianapolis, a large percentage of people are originally from this community,” he said. “The positive side of that is that people have a sense of rootedness, but the challenging side is to be open to new ideas and new influences.”

For new members of his congregation who are still searching for a sense of “rootedness,” Bienstock tries to find people who share something with the newcomer.

“I try to make them feel they are not alone,” he said. “I introduce people to one another in the same age group, with children the same age or with similar professions or hobbies.”

Bienstock applies the same philosophy to Butler and its students.

Deason said that many students, especially freshmen, get discouraged when they don’t find a close group of friends on

Collegian photo by Rachel Senn

DIVERSITY: Butler adjunct professor Arnold Bienstock uses his life experiences to bring something unique to class. campus.

“Find what you’re passionate about. Find groups to get plugged into. That way you meet so many people,” she said.

On campus, the Center for Faith and Vocation supports the university by being the kind of place where students can feel rooted and find a sense of community, Cebula said, but it is also a place where there is acceptance of diversity—religious or otherwise.

Cebula said that she wants students to know that when they go out into the world they are going to be a part of that variety.

“Stand with your convictions but know that a lot of other people may have a different take for themselves,” she said.

Soldato said that without looking at different religious views it is hard to come to a conclusion about your own thinking or philosophy.

“Even if you’re not a religious person, having a more diverse set of ideas opens up your mind and makes you realize that your ideas and philosophies aren’t the only ones in the world.”

Wednesday, November 11, 2009

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The Butler Collegian

NEWS

NEWS JOURNALIST: Radio journalist gives presentation about NPR, political experiences

BUPD Beat Nov. 1 12:58 a.m. – BERKLEY ROAD Officers took a report of a theft from a motor vehicle.

Nov. 3 1:18 p.m. – HEALTH CENTER An officer took a report of a sick person.

4:02 p.m. — FAIRBANKS CENTER An officer took a report of a sick person.

Nov. 4 12:10 p.m. – BUPD An officer took a report of a lost property.

10:04 p.m. – SCHWITZER HALL An officer took a report of a drug law violation.

Continued from Page One

session about her career, the future of journalism and political issues, which Butler freshman Laura Micklich said she thought was the most interesting part of the presentation.

“It gave her more of an opportunity to discuss the journalism field as a whole,” Micklich said. “I enjoyed listening to her experience working for NPR.” Wertheimer said the most important thing journalism students should have going for them is the ability to write and write well.

She also said it doesn’t hurt to have the ability to avoid taking a stance on political issues.

“Me, I stand on the sidelines,” Wertheimer said. “I just watch. I think [journalists] have to have that.”

Wertheimer said although NPR doesn’t necessarily restrict what opinions are put on the air, she and the editors do review the content.

“One of the great things about being a reporter is that you get to make a lot of editorial decisions before you take it to the editor,” she said.

While most content is edited through regular cycles, Wertheimer said there are cases where she had to make ethical decisions about whether or not to trust a pundit or another guest.

“I personally don’t put anyone on the air who I know to be lying,” Wertheimer said.

Although some disagree with pundits from a fundamental standpoint, Wertheimer said she is in favor of biased views in media as long as they are taken with a grain of salt.

“I think [it’s good] as long as you know where they’re coming from,” Wertheimer said. “I’m not afraid of people talking. I’m in favor of it.”

The presentation finished with questions about the future of media in general, and concerns were raised that younger generations are getting their information from news outlets other than traditional print newspapers and radio broadcasts.

Despite these concerns, Wertheimer said she isn’t worried about where people get their information.

“Information [itself] is the most important thing,” Wertheimer said. “I don’t care where people get their news. There’s an enormous amount of information in the world. It’s just important to try to stay connected.”

Collegian photo by Rachel Senn

ON THE AIR: Linda Wertheimer, National Public Radio (NPR) journalist, talked about the importance of pundits, or political commentators, in her lecture.

SOCIETIES: Butler receives Phi Beta Kappa chapter, the oldest collegiate academic honors society Continued from Page One

what kind of person you are and what your interests are,” Sureau said.

Kristin Swenson, assistant professor of communication studies and faculty advisor of Alpha Lambda Delta, Butler’s freshman academic achievement honors society, said she thinks a membership is something good to put on students’ résumés. “[It] shows they are the people who hit the ground running and excelled during their first

year of college,” Swenson said.

Although honors societies are plentiful on Butler’s campus, some students think they don’t get much more out of their membership than a pin.

Mackenzie Szymanski, a sophomore double major in international studies and Spanish, belongs to three honors societies—NSCS, Phi Eta Sigma and Alpha Lambda Delta. However, she said she only hears from NSCS.

“It’s good to put on your résumé, but if they asked me what [two] of them were, I’d have no idea,” Szymanski said.

Szymanski said she attended the induction ceremony for NSCS, but she was only one of a few inductees who did so.

Melissa Bradbury, a sophomore pharmacy major, was inducted into Alpha Lambda Delta last year and said the membership will look good on her job applications in the future and

will help her with networking.

Valliere said he believes Phi Beta Kappa will benefit students far beyond the résumé-building advantages that typically come with an honors society—the goal is promoting the liberal arts.

“Liberal arts sometimes gets eclipsed at Butler by the other high-quality programs here,” Valliere said. “Phi Beta Kappa is an honors society with a mission.”

Universities change to Direct Loan Program to finance education Mara Rose Williams MCT College students are facing a sea of change in borrowing to pay for their degrees, but many might still be drowning in debt.

The change, perhaps occurring as soon as July, would end the Federal Family Education Loan program that has dominated the federal student loan pool for more than 40 years.

Banks and other private sources would be cut out of the process by the Student Aid and Fiscal Responsibility Act, passed in September by the U.S. House. The measure is still to be considered by the Senate.

Colleges that once kept a long list of lenders are converting to the Direct Loan Program, in which student loans come directly from the government.

The trend was accelerated by many private lenders dropping out of the business when the economy tanked. That led Congress to pass temporary legislation, which expires in June, to assure that students and families still would be able to get loans for school.

In the past two years, students already were relying more on federal loans. The volume of loans from private sources fell by 52 percent in the 2008-09 school year, according to a recent report by the College Board, a nonprofit organization that watches trends in higher education.

“Moving to direct lending will eliminate the uncertainty families have experienced due to the turmoil of the financial markets,” Secretary of Education Arne Duncan said.

Tony George, director of financial aid at the University of Missouri-St. Louis, which is preparing to switch to the Direct Loan Program by December, said the cost of borrowing would remain the same as under the old system.

“Will students get any better interest rates with direct lending?

No,” George said.

The balance of outstanding federal loans assumed by students or their parents continues to grow. By 2007-08, two-thirds of four-year undergraduate students had some debt along with their degrees. The average cumulative debt incurred was $27,803, according to the National Center for Education Statistics.

During the same time, 56 percent of graduate education students owed money, with the average cumulative debt at $40,297.

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The range was $29,975 for those with a master of arts degree to $119,400 for those with medical degrees.

“Students are big fans of direct lending,” Amanda Shelton, a member of the Missouri Students Association, said. “But direct lending does not solve the student loan debt problems.

“I need student loans,” Shelton said, “but I have not taken out any because I remain cognizant of the negative reality of student loans—they bind you to find an excellent job out of college, and in this economy, that is next to impossible.”

For the past 10 years, college costs, on average, rose faster than inflation. Published tuition and fees at public four-year colleges, and universities rose at an average annual rate of 4.9 percent beyond general inflation from 1999-00 to 2009-10, more rapidly than in either of the previous two decades, according to the College Board.

In the 2009-10 school year, four-year public colleges in the U.S. raised the average tuition cost by 6.5 percent to $7,020. At private colleges, tuition went up by an average of 4.4 percent to a cost of $26,273—at a time the consumer price index had gone down.

Letting the government federally guarantee student loans was advocated by President Barack Obama.

Now some 3,000 colleges across the U.S. are gearing up to make the switch.

Proponents estimate saving more than $80 billion over 10 years by eliminating the federal subsidies paid to private lenders.

They say the money should go into college funding and more grants to students, raising the maximum Pell Grant to $5,500 in 2010-11.

“President Obama has set a goal for America to once again have the highest proportion of college graduates by the end of the next decade,” Duncan said. “To get there, we need to increase college access and do a much better job at helping students stay the course and complete their college education.”

The proposed legislation would provide a variety of flexible repayment options. And more grant money is promising, too.

Neotashia Jackson, a 32-year-old single parent and education major at the University of Missouri-Kansas City (UMKC), works 15 hours a week in the university’s financial aid office.

Jackson borrowed all the money that went toward her education, as well as child care for her 2-year-old daughter, rent and food.

- Personal Leadershi p S trengths Workshop Atherton Union 326 3-5 p.m.

- ECO Presents: “Food, Inc. ” Gallahue Hall 105 6-8 p.m.

- Rel ay for Ri l ey Campus Mall 10 a.m.

Registration at 9:15 a.m.

At $8,000 a semester, she is going to graduate $64,000 in debt and get a job teaching, a field in which the average starting annual salary is $32,500.

“Yes, I’m worried. But the way I see it, I was a licensed cosmetologist and to better myself I had to increase my skill,” she said. “I woke up one day and said, ‘Oh my gosh, how am I going to pay for this?’”

According to the U.S. Department of Education, Jackson’s loan payments on a 10-year program would be $748 a month.

She would need an annual salary of $112,203 to afford the payments. On a 25-year program, payments would be $451 a month. She would need to make $67,672 a year to afford the payments.

“I just hope that when I graduate, the government will help me pay back some of this debt,” Jackson said.

Jackson is just the kind of student Cindy Butler, director of financial aid at Metropolitan Community College-Kansas City, worries about under direct lending.

Financial aid offices like Butler’s were overwhelmed this summer by the crush of federal aid requests from financially strapped students.

Because staff was cut under recessionary pressures, Butler said, “We are not staffed to give students financial counseling and to do default management after they graduate; the private lenders did that.”

Jan Brandow, financial aid director at UMKC, said she worries because, “About 70 percent of the schools are not on direct lending. If they wait until the last minute to switch and flood the government’s electronic loan communication system, it could collapse under the volume,” she said.

Last week Duncan sent a letter to thousands of colleges and universities urging them get ready to use the Direct Loan Program by summer.

But Sen. Claire McCaskill, D-Mo., said she thought schools would have plenty of time to change to the Direct Loan Program.

“I would be shocked if something like this were to become effective in the same year that it is passed,” McCaskill said. “It would be more like 2011. If I had to guess or die, the Senate is not likely to even pick up the student aid bill until after it’s done with health care reform.”

- S ophomore Cl ass Bonfi re Behind Gallahue Hall 5-7 p.m.

- Grace Fong, accl ai med pi ani st Eidson-Duckwall Recital Hall 7:30 p.m.

No Ev ent s S chedul ed

‘Paw Prints’ What class are you most excited about taking next semester?

Page 6

OPINION

Wednesday, November 11, 2009

Drug of Choice Choosing to drug test Butler employees will raise questions about the future.

Page 6

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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.

The Collegian is printed at The Greenfield Reporter in Greenfield, Ind. The Collegian maintains a subscription to MCT Services Campus wire service. The Collegian editorial staff determines the editorial policies; the opinions expressed herein do not necessarily represent those of The Collegian, but of the writers clearly labeled.

The Collegian accepts advertising from a variety of campus organizations and local businesses and agencies. All advertising decisions are based on the discretion of the ad manager and editor in chief. For a copy of The Collegian advertising rates, publication schedule and policies, please call (317) 940-9358 or send an e-mail to the advertising staff at advertising@butler.edu. Direct postal inquiries to: The Butler Collegian-Advertising.

For subscriptions to The Collegian, please send a check to the main address above.

Subscriptions are $45 per academic year.

Corrections Policy The Collegian staff makes an effort to be as accurate as possible.

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

Letters to the Editor Policy The Collegian accepts letters to the editor no later than noon on the Sunday before publication.

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.

Collegian illustration by Heather Hanford

Medical Absence OUR POINT THIS WEEK: Ignoring

Designing a coordinated Halloween gig in which you and three of your closest friends masquerade as “H,” “One,” “N” and “One” offers originality to a predictable costume party.

But playing off a strain of flu that is killing children and is worthy, in the eyes of public officials at least, of being declared a national emergency—well, that’s just rather short-sighted.

Keeping H1N1, or swine flu as it is known on the streets, at a distance might be good for humor, but it bodes ill for personal preparation.

Ah, preparation, that pesky word. That most crowded of mental compartments, that most overflowing of files, stacked haphazardly with a regenerating checklist—essays, papers, laundry, holiday shopping, tests, exercise, meals, Facebook, cleaning, friends, dates, classes, work and fun.

Asking a run-down college student to prepare for an intangible pathogen is akin to asking Lil’ Wayne to prepare for an extra customer in the concert hall.

What difference does it make? H1N1 won’t find me, the

symptoms of H1N1 for fear of missing classes hurts yourself and others.

mindset goes, and even if it does, I just don’t have time to deal with it.

As inconvenient as swine flu has become to all involved, the most inconvenient mindset to take is one that pushes away respect for its presence.

But there comes a fear of quarantine, missed classes and life stuck in neutral, and that timidity leads to a dismissal of symptoms or an unwillingness to see a health professional about feeling sick.

Beyond being detrimental to their own health, college students who treat H1N1 with passing interest endanger a more rapid spread of illness within a closely quartered campus community. There is an obligation to others as well as themselves.

We at The Butler Collegian think no student should value attending classes more than heading off a potential case of H1N1.

If you have a persistent fever or feel lethargic and disoriented, go to the Health Center or see a doctor.

Cutting time and effort now by putting off potential or

evident problems can cost you time and health in the long run.

And for taking precautions with a virus spreading from person to person, colleagues will be grateful.

Think of the numbers. There are 500 people in Ross Hall. Schwitzer Hall houses 450. Residential College is home to some 470 residents. Total enrollment at Butler exceeds 4,000.

And aside from living together, all sorts of doorknobs, desks and keyboards exist across campus that form an inviting landing strip for germs of a descending sneeze or cough.

Working through the system or enduring quarantine is a relatively nominal sacrifice for benefitting from the safety nets that the university and health officials have tried to put in place.

Fighting through flu-like systems to fight for the old GPA might lead to losses on both fronts.

So drop the costume, and be honest with yourself about H1N1 and your own health.

Fall of Berlin Wall 20 years ago still full of meaning Chris Goff cgoff@butler.edu The people were running, fleeing, moving across the map, going from right to left, East to West, across a continent, across a country that was once their own, now divided into two chillingly divergent sections. From East Germany to West Germany, they fled, en masse, from poverty and tyranny to industry and humanity.

The route between two oh-so-different worlds took these hopefuls through the city of Berlin. And that same route would become a dead end for almost four decades.

Aug. 13, 1961, was the day the Soviet Union decided to win its political power with stone. The capitalism that was thriving in West Germany had to be isolated, like an infected person in a medical ward.

Construction on a barrier began. At first, barbed wire and brick walls. In time, tons and tons of concrete, averaging nearly 12 feet in height, circled nearly 100 miles around West Berlin.

A barrier of which, today, almost nothing remains.

This week, the world celebrates the 20th anniversary of the fall of this wall, sometimes deemed the literal presence of Winston Churchill’s rhetorical “Iron Curtain,” always referred to as, simply, the Berlin Wall.

It was a wall, indeed, but so much more.

on crumbs and a prayer under what Marx and Lenin promised would be the proletariat’s paradise.

A structure held back pressure, the yearning to be free.

And so an empire succeeded for nearly 70 years in Europe, desperately suppressing the forces of the human spirit as if they were contained in a bottle of Coca-Cola dropped carelessly on the floor.

By all means, communist leadership knew that the lid must remain closed or the game was up.

There came the Brezhnev Doctrine, named thus for Soviet premier Leonid Brezhnev, who deemed a threat to communism anywhere a threat to communism everywhere.

Communism, back to Karl Marx, had always possessed this manner of thinking, this need to inhale others; a cancer that had as its mandate to spread to the rest of the world.

East Germany never had any choice. Nor did the peoples in other lands that constituted nearly half of Europe.

What lies directly beneath the anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall, however, is actually quite simple. The East German government did not condemn the injustice of brutal, totalitarian government. It merely renounced the restrictions on human travel that had led to the wall’s formation in the first place.

Once more, the Germans could run and flee, move right to left.

Hammers and chisels, held in the hands of East and West Germans alike, went to work on the wall. The pressure had been released.

Wall/wól/noun: a structure that serves to hold back pressure

Wall/wól/noun: an extreme or desperate position or a state of defeat, failure or ruin

Matt Welch, editor of “Reason Magazine”, calls Nov. 9, 1989, the day of the biggest mass liberation in history.

There is an old saying, something along the lines of, “If only these old walls could talk…”

If the Berlin Wall could have spoken 20 years ago, the world would have heard the voices of 1,000 people shot trying to cross its hard surface, slaughtered by guards whose only job, day and night, was to pierce with a bullet the heart that sought freedom.

Those Soviet soldiers completed the defense: a structure holding back the pressure.

If the Berlin Wall could have spoken, the world would have heard the voices of the 20 million innocent people murdered by the Soviet Union, according to “The Black Book of Communism,” a story told by European thinkers of the most enslaving, bloodthirsty form of government devised by man.

If the Berlin Wall could have spoken, the world would have heard the voices of industrial workers in Poland, living

“General Secretary [Mikhail] Gorbachev, if you seek peace, if you seek prosperity for the Soviet Union and Eastern Europe, if you seek liberalization, come here to this gate. Mr. Gorbachev, open this gate. Mr. Gorbachev, tear down this wall!”

So echoed the words of the president of the United States, Ronald Reagan, in 1987.

Gorbachev did not listen. Gorbachev was an ex-KGB official and just another communist dictator who, though he saw the writing on the wall (the red ink of the Red Revolution was fading), could not bring himself to release the future completely.

Though the fizz was finding cracks in Poland and Hungary, never could a world revolutionary shrug and raise the white flag.

No, what was celebrated Monday was the triumph of the human character.

Gorbachev and the communists did not open the wall.

They did not see the light. Like the nations and people they

Wall /wól/ noun: a material structure enclosing space

enslaved or killed, they had no choice.

On this 20th anniversary, what is remembered about the fall of the Berlin Wall are the forces that brought it down.

European citizens willing to risk their lives for freedom, and a United States that stood by its fundamental values during a trying and exhausting conflict.

For the ordinary people, the playwrights and underground dissidents, resignation would have been so easy.

Uprisings always died: in 1953 in East Germany; in 1956 in Hungary; in 1968 in the Czech Republic; and in 1981 in Poland.

But in an extreme or desperate position, backs against a wall, the people kept coming. Starvation breeds necessity.

In America, watching from afar, people tried to comprehend what they heard of gulags and graves, of gassing and famine, of secret police and invisible human rights.

Through four decades and nine presidents, U.S. leadership stood strong, endeavoring to fight communism abroad.

When Reagan spoke in 1987, his vision was clear.

Communism was not a geopolitical reality to be accepted.

It was an inhumane system to be defeated.

There were faces behind that wall; faces in a state of defeat, failure and ruin; faces that deserved dignity.

On Nov. 9, 1989, Reagan, then out of office, was invited on ABC’s “PrimeTime Live” to discuss one of history’s most momentous events.

“I think,” he said, “the people have seen that communism has had its chance, and it doesn’t work.”

By December 1989, communist governments had been eradicated in Bulgaria, Hungary, Poland, Romania and Czechoslovakia.

The dominoes hit the table 20 years ago, down with the Berlin Wall, when a wall was so much more, a crumbling of the brittle stone of tyranny into the indestructible air of freedom.

This Week in Washington Moving Along: By a vote of 220-215, the Affordable Health Care for America Act passed the House Saturday night. Republican Rep. Mike Pence of Indiana hammered Democrats for putting their “agenda” ahead of the country’s best interests.

Democratic Gov. Tim Kaine of Virginia said the GOP opposes health care to oppose President Obama.

Quotable: “I believe the debt can send us into a recession worse than the one we are fighting today.”-Sen. Joe Lieberman, ID-Conn., said he could not vote for the government health plan in the House bill.

Wednesday, November 11, 2009

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The Butler Collegian

OPINION

OPINION

Policy change threatens school’s future Mary Beth Sekela msekela@butler.edu Have you ever caught your professor sneaking a sip out of a flask before entering the classroom? How about lighting up a joint in the Resco parking lot? If your answer is “no,” then you are in good company.

Despite the majority’s positive observations, Butler administrators have proposed a change in policy to directly combat employee substance abuse on campus. The university’s latest proposal advises full-time, part-time and temporary employees that they will be subject to drug testing and other procedures if alcohol or drug abuse is suspected.

The purpose of the policy, as stated in the policy itself, is to “safeguard the health of its employees, to provide a safe place for its employees to work and to promote a drug-free community.” While the promotion of a drugfree environment is expected of any educational institution, subjecting employees to drug tests seems a pretty drastic step considering that Butler has experienced zero noticeable problems resulting from substance abuse on or off campus.

Bill Watts, professor of English at Butler, said that he knows of no specific event leading to this development, but he suspects liability issues are to blame.

“I do know that the Board of Trustees has been concerned with issues of liability. We had a policy requiring criminal background checks before faculty members could be hired imposed on us this year, and I suspect that a similar impulse on the part of the board is behind this policy,” he said It seems as though this policy change has little or nothing to do with the safety of Butler employees, but rather is the university’s attempt to avoid future legal complications.

The proposal, so closely following Butler’s legal harassment of one of its own students, signals a dangerous shift toward a more authoritarian, disciplinary campus environment.

“I do believe that this policy sets a dangerous precedent,” Watts said. “It’s draconian.”

The new employee drug policy is both unnecessary and hazardous to the future of the university. It mandates that job applicants sign a release form agreeing to undergo a drug test or forfeit their consideration for employment. This is very likely to deter qualified professionals from applying to Butler. Very few professors

are willing to work in an environment that they feel is directed by legality instead of academics.

The language of the policy is disturbing as well. It stipulates that in the case of “reasonable suspicion,” employees will be subject to investigation, drug testing and termination if the test returns positive. An employee suspected of abuse can be suspended pending the results of the drug test, and anyone found in violation of the policy will be subject to immediate termination.

No rights are extended to suspected violators.

If illegal drugs are discovered during a search of employee property, they will be turned over to the authorities.

Sounds a bit severe coming from a liberal arts administration that ought to support freedom and security in the workplace, doesn’t it?

The vague definitions contained within the policy are also worrisome. How is an employee to know exactly what constitutes university property or precisely when he or she is representing the university when no explicit descriptions are available? This same imprecision can be found in the list of factors establishing reasonable suspicion for the testing of employees.

The grounds for suspicion include “a pattern of abnormal conduct” and “unusual, irrational or erratic behavior,” both of which could be attributed to numerous personal difficulties having absolutely nothing to do with drugs.

The policy also states that “the university has established this policy to ensure that employees do not use alcohol or illegal drugs on university property, while engaged in university-related activities or business, or during work time.” It is unfortunate, then, that a drug test cannot prove where or when a substance was consumed, and therefore is illegitimate as a tool for discovering abuse representative of or affecting the university. What professors do outside of their official capacity is none of the university’s business unless it disrupts their work, and, as of yet, Butler has seen no decrease in performance.

Overall, this policy change is pointless, irritating and full of unanswered questions. If Butler wishes to promote a drug-free environment, it should be proactive and not reactive.

Disciplinary measures will do nothing but exacerbate conflict and damage the university’s reputation. Butler should focus on increasing awareness and educating the community on the health risks of substance abuse instead.

These are positive ways to encourage a safe, secure campus atmosphere, and they are actions that can be applauded as both helpful and progressive.

LETTER TO THE EDITOR The Top 100 is an honorable program. It celebrates the accomplishments of today’s campus leaders. I am proud to call many past honorees dear friends, acquaintances and professional colleagues.

However, while its aim is noble, the execution of the program concerns me. I think the program’s explanation is vague, and the foundation is weak.

Most students seem to hear about the Top 100 program through friends and older students, especially every spring when Honors Weekend rolls around.

The mention of Top 100 seems to carry a lot of clout on campus, but I’m not sure most people realize how little effort it takes to get nominated.

The second flaw is that both seniors and juniors are eligible for the program, when it should focus on seniors only.

When I asked the Alumni Office—which organizes the pro-

gram—specific questions about the Top 100 awards, here’s what I found out: Any professor, staff member or student can nominate a student with the click of a button.

No essay, no reasoning. No basis whatsoever. And the nomination is just the first step.

The second step requires nominees to fill out an online form to regurgitate cumulative GPA, answer an essay question and list up to seven activities and seven service organizations/projects.

Even then, though, the program asks candidates for a minimum of two letters of recommendation from faculty or staff.

For a program that promotes how wonderful Butler students are (and I won’t argue with that), the program does a poor job of explaining why or how students are chosen. There seems to be a lot of homage paid to a program that initially makes nominees scratch their heads and ask, “And what

exactly is the Top 100 program?”

I appreciate Butler’s efforts to recognize the successes of its students. But nominations should be limited to seniors only—as a capstone celebration to their achievement while at Butler—and the only people to nominate should be faculty and staff.

And if students can nominate students, then it just becomes a back scratching favor, or worse, a popularity contest.

The program needs to be clearer about its purposes. It needs to address how students benefit from such an honor. It needs to limit nominations to seniors only. It needs to have stronger nomination criteria.

And for those worried about earning titles to fill a résumé, perhaps we should focus on the legacy we leave at Butler instead.

Meg Biallas Butler University senior

Environmental Tip Gearing up for winter Kristen Kenley Contributing Writer When the weather turns cold, it is sometimes easy to forget what you know about being environmentally friendly and to opt for the warmest, quickest options.

However, there are many ways to reduce, reuse and recycle in the winter without changing your entire routine. Here are just a few: 1) Get creative while wrapping holiday presents. There are many decorative tins, bags and boxes that can be used multiple times.

You can add a bow or paint a silver tin to add your own personal touch. The less wrapping paper you use, the more you can reduce your waste.

2) Winterize your vehicle. By fixing fluid leaks, maintaining proper tire pressure, changing your air filter and recycling used

oil, you can maximize your car’s mileage while helping the environment. Nothing is worse than a broken down car when it is freezing outside, so prepare your car for the winter months before the temperatures drop.

3) Use reusable bags when you shop. Paper and plastic bags use up resources, add to water pollution (because of production) and often end up in landfills. Keep a few large, cloth bags in your car and remember to use them when shopping for holiday presents or groceries. This is an easy and effective way to reduce, reuse and recycle.

4) When you’re away, t urn t he t herm os t at do wn . Li v i n g i n an o ff-cam p u s hous e can get expens i ve, and everyone dreads t he m ont hl y el ect ri c bi l l . Duri ng l ong academ i c breaks , t urni ng your t herm os t at down a few degrees can hel p you s ave m oney and reduce em i s s i ons .

Deteriorating situation in Afghanistan leaves America with few good options Tom Fryska tfryska@butler.edu It’s official: Hamid Karzai has been re-elected as the president of Afghanistan for another five-year term.

Through and through, the entire affair has been quite the tragedy. While the original election results of Aug. 20 were tarnished with lies, irregularity and violence, what’s happened since has hardly made the already difficult job facing NATO and Afghan forces any easier.

On the 20th (as well as the dates immediately surrounding the election), the Taliban successfully, through a combination of voter intimidation and actual violence, managed to deter a significant portion of the population from voting.

While low voter turnout was expected in the predominantly Pashtun South, what was notable about the election was that it demonstrated the length of the Taliban’s arm: Violence sponsored by the organization reached all corners of the country and made the election day one of the most violent days since the original invasion.

The secondary problem with the original election was that, for the global public, it brought the depth of the Karzai administration’s corruption into the clear light of day. Ballot boxes were unabashedly stuffed in the incumbent’s favor, voter intimidation on the part of the current administration was scarcely concealed and irregularities in the counting process were blatantly obvious.

While Karzai did emerge as the winner of that election, the scale and depth of the corruption (along with pressure from

Afghanistan’s Western allies) forced Karzai to hold a runoff between himself and his primary challenger, Abdullah Abdullah, on Nov. 7.

But this day came and went without an election. Abdullah pulled out of the runoff.

We’re quickly entering one of those stages where there are no more good answers or perfect solutions; instead, we are left with the ability to pick between the lesser of evils. The canceled Nov. 7 election proves it.

The runoff could have helped. The Afghan government is desperately in need of a shot of legitimacy. The Taliban’s hold over larger and larger swaths of the country is increasing, while individuals of all ethnic groups see that the central government is drowning in its own incompetence, inefficiency and corruption.

Dividing the already fractured government now, with one camp still holding Abdullah up as the winner and the other backing Karzai, won’t do anything to increase the legitimacy or influence of Afghanistan’s democratic institutions. The growing influence of the Taliban and their brutal, though effective, justice only compounds the problems of the Afghan government.

Yet, at the same time, Abdullah wasn’t necessarily wrong in pulling out of the runoff. Karzai’s administration had made few changes to how they were implementing and overseeing the election. Additionally, most signs indicated that the election would once again—by virtue of fraud—go to the incumbent.

Moreover, the runoff would have doubtlessly cost a substantial amount of money and exposed greater numbers of Afghan civilians and United Nations workers to violence from the Taliban.

So, even if the runoff had gone as planned, more lives and

Paw Prints

By Maria Porter

“I’m excited for Advanced Counterpoint.

It’s a music class I’m very excited about.”

David Platt sophomore

“I’m most excited for chemistry because I’m a pharmacy major. ”

Elizabeth Eveleigh freshman

money would have been spent to essentially obtain the same disputed result.

Karzai seems to be hedging his bets. He realizes that, while acting as the president of Afghanistan, the West will back him and his administration. After all, between the Taliban and his presidency, Karzai is—by far—the lesser of the two evils.

Without Western support, Afghanistan’s government won’t be able to stand on its own two feet or provide any real governing competition to the Taliban. This seems to indicate that Karzai can, in fact, count on foreign support.

In the end, Karzai is making a fatal mistake. While NATO and the U.S. do prefer him to the Taliban, he can’t count on their assistance forever. Across both Europe and America, public opinion support for both the conflict in Afghanistan and the government of Afghanistan is waning.

Due to Karzai’s corruption and, more importantly, failure to govern large swaths of Afghanistan efficiently, higher-ups in the U.S. military are openly pondering alternative solutions to containing the Taliban (and, by proxy, Al Qaeda) that don’t put more American boots on the ground.

How deep of an impact this election will have on the prospects of Afghanistan’s future still remains to be seen. It hasn’t helped the American public’s wearying support of the war. It hasn’t made President Barack Obama’s decision of whether or not to put more American servicemen in harm’s way any easier. And it hasn’t made the Afghan government any less of an inefficient partner to the West.

Hopefully, it won’t seriously endanger the future of Afghanistan or lead to a situation where the Taliban once again re-asserts its control over the country.

At least, that’s the hope.

What class are you most excited about taking next semester?

“I have all media classes next semester, so I’m excited for all of them.”

Ryan Hitchcock junior

“I’m most excited for the Jim and Jane Crow Laws history class I’m taking next semester.”

Janelle Jordan freshman

“I’m most excited about my PE class— tennis!”

Shawn Ferguson sophomore

Telepathy, Guns and Goats!

George Clooney’s new flick is based on Jon Ronson’s book “The Men Who Stare at Goats” about a reporter’s look into the U.S. military.

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A&E

Playlist of the Week Do you need some motivation for getting all that work done? So do we. Here’s 13 songs to help.

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ARTS&ENTERTAINMENT

Wednesday, November 11, 2009

Page 7

THE BUTLER COLLEGIAN

Visiting artist directs Shakespeare play Amy Rensink arensink@butler.edu London native Tim Hardy often travels to America to perform and direct. Last spring, he opened a one-man show about Galileo at Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis (IUPUI). After seeing his performance, Butler University theater professor Diane Timmerman asked Hardy to teach a seminar at Butler. Soon after, he was asked to stay as a visiting artist-inresidence for the 2009 fall semester, during which he would teach two Shakespearean classes and direct a play.

Hardy said he was very pleased when asked what he would like to do for the program. He chose to direct Shakespeare’s “The Merchant of Venice,” a play that Hardy has performed six or seven times.

“It’s a show I really believe in. It’s a wonderful play,” Hardy said.

The audition process was somewhat unique.

Theater professor Owen Schaub and Hardy sat side by side earlier in the semester and auditioned a group of theater students. They then picked who would cast whom in each of their respective plays.

Hardy said he was very pleased with the final 12 he cast. He referred to the student actors at Butler as “young professionals.”

“It’s the attitude they are taught here,” Hardy said.

Hardy described “The Merchant of Venice” as a play about how to deal with differences, racial prejudice and bigotry. Shylock, a Jewish lender of money, makes a deal with the merchant of Venice, Antonio. When he fails to pay his debt, Shylock seeks his end of the bargain. In the courtroom, Portia, a young heiress, defends Antonio in the legal suit. In the end, due to overlooked details in the contract, Shylock is forced to make a lifechanging choice between his faith and vengeance.

The show itself has always been the subject of controversy. Some say it should never be done because it is seen as anti-Semitic. Others argue its importance as the greatest cry for humanity, Hardy said.

Senior Jeff Irlbeck plays Shylock in “The Merchant of Venice.” Under Hardy’s direction, Shylock was given a different interpretation than normal. He is usually seen as a villain, but in this version, he is played as a man who suffers a number of horrible experiences and seeks revenge on

those who hurt him.

Hardy also chose to set the play in the 1920s, but the audience might find some modern influences. For instance, there is a calculator used at one point, Hardy said.

Hardy really brings a professional eye and pace to the theater, Irlbeck said.

“He has been in the world,” he said. “He’s done it.”

Irlbeck said the fast pace Hardy sets has prepared him for the real world. In high school, he had about two months to rehearse. Now rehearsal is only six weeks, and in the professional world of theater, actors have only a few weeks.

“It’s really been an eye opener,” Irlbeck said.

Under Hardy’s direction, rehearsals started two weeks earlier than usual, so the actors memorized their lines by the official first day of rehearsal, six weeks prior to the performance.

During rehearsals, Hardy said he prefers a more cooperative style of directing. He knew what story he wanted to tell so he said to the actors, “Let’s find out who you are in it.”

“You can’t have a director like a guru,” Hardy said. “I’m not afraid to take any good ideas.”

Junior Steph Gray plays Portia. While her character is sometimes played as more absent-minded, Gray had a different vision of Portia. “[Hardy] let me play her the way I felt I should,” Gray said. “He was a great guiding light.”

Another distinctive difference in Hardy’s version of “The Merchant of Venice” is the construction and placement of the set. Hardy chose to set up the room with audience seating on both sides and the stage running down the middle. He did this to eliminate set changes and have the audience closer to the action. In a Shakespearean play, especially “The Merchant of Venice,” set changes interfere with the rhythm, Hardy said.

“If you break it up, it’s wrong,” he said.

There is no subtext in Shakesperean works. All of the characters’ thoughts are spoken. Movement occurs between delivered lines.

Hardy made this movement a background role by cutting out a lot of filler in the script, Irlbeck said.

“It’s about words, not movement,” he said.

Hardy also said each word is important, and he is certain the audience, familiar or unfamiliar with Shakespeare, will understand.

Irlbeck said he hopes that the audience reads the

Collegian photo courtesy of Brent Smith

UNIQUE PORTRAYAL: Senior Jeff Irlbeck plays Shylock in the Butler Theatre staging of Shakespeare’s “The Merchant of Venice.” Director Tim Hardy is a visiting actor and professor from London. show for themselves.

“We’re not trying to take a stance. It’s not political. We’re doing an interpretation for the audience,” Irlbeck said.

Gray said Hardy gave the cast the motto, “fight to win the scene every night.” When every character does this in a scene, the result is great, he said.

Hardy said his favorite part of “The Merchant of Venice” is directing good actors with a script he knows.

“The ethic they’re taught in this building is to do what you’re asked and then a lot more because that’s how to succeed,” Hardy said. “They’ve done everything I’ve wanted, more than I thought. It’s the show I had in my mind and then some.”

“The Merchant of Venice” Butler Theatre Lilly Hall Studio Theatre 168 Nov. 11-14 8 p.m.

Nov. 14-15 2 p.m. $10 general admission $5 students

Award-winning author to speak about recent memoir, compelling story Ben Niespodziany Contributing Writer

Collegian photo from Flickr/mrshawnliu

LIFE IN “SUCK CITY”: Author Nick Flynn speaks on campus today about his award-winning memoir, cover pictured above, and his poetry.

Nick Flynn has had some serious struggles. An acclaimed author and poet, Flynn visits Butler University today as the closing guest for the Fall 2009 Vivian S. Delbrook Visiting Writers Series.

Flynn will discuss his memoir, “Another Bullshit Night in Suck City.”

The memoir, which deals with Flynn and his estranged father, has received constant praise. It won the PEN/Martha Albrand Award. It was shortlisted for France’s Prix Femina.

It has been translated into 13 languages.

The book, which has six sections, is divided wonderfully. One chapter might be one paragraph long, discussing a riddle. Another chapter might be 10 pages long, dealing with a certain aspect of his father’s past story. Chapter upon chapter is seemingly thrown into the book in an almost hectic style. The reader, flying through the book at a quick pace, is able to tie together all of these seemingly random puzzle pieces to form a strong picture of Flynn’s situation.

Flynn’s father was a delusional alcoholic whom Flynn meets while in his 20s working at a homeless shelter. He had been in and out of prison and needed a place to stay.

Through the more than 350 pages of beautiful prose, Flynn tackles past stories about growing up and living with his mother and all of her various boyfriends. He tells stories about his father’s drinking problems and the time he spent in jail. Flynn, through this compilation, takes us into his

childhood, up to his early adult life and into the mind and actions of his father, giving the reader a terrific perspective of the madness that is occurring in “Suck City.”

When Flynn was in his early 20s, on top of having a father who was out of the picture, his mother committed suicide. We see through the book how the author and his father are lost men in a city surrounded by depression, alcoholism, crime and drug abuse.

Flynn writes, “Some part of me knew he would show up, that if I stood in one place long enough he would find me, like you’re taught to do when you’re lost. But they never taught us what to do if both of you are lost, and you both end up in the same place, waiting.”

The descriptions Flynn uses are outstanding. Sometimes he will ramble with long sentences, giving the reader a sense of his intense situation and need to document what is happening. Other times he uses quick, short sentences, sometimes only one word, that are just as effective.

He writes about the homeless people at his shelter with an honest, compassionate outlook; a voice that grips the reader. It’s through descriptions like these that Flynn is able to gross readers out and make them cry, laugh and think. He fights alcoholism, just like his father, but he overcomes it. He fights making a published book, just like his father, except he accomplishes it.

This book is an interesting look into the mind of a man who has been through more horrible instances and nightmarish situations in the first third of his life than most people would be able to fathom in three life-

times. I found myself constantly thinking, “Did all of this really happen?”

While Flynn is able to give the reader an idea of who he is, how he acts and how he thinks, his primary role in this story is as an observer.

The audience is able to get a sense of how he acts as a result of his views on the outside world. His observations on situations and the numerous stories about the relatives around him form his character, and the author is well aware of this.

The end of the book might leave readers depressed. It might make them feel more compassion toward the homeless. It might make them call their father, just to talk. Either way, “Another Bullshit Night in Suck City” is sure to move its audience, just as Flynn was surely moved while writing it.

Flynn is also the author of two books of poetry—“Some Ether,” released in 2000 and “Blind Huber,” released in 2002.

“Another Bullshit Night in Suck City” BOOK REVIEW Nick Flynn Vivian S. Delbrook Visiting Writers Series Eidson-Duckwall Recital Hall Tonight, 7:30 p.m.

Event is free and open to the public Rating: 5 = perfect, 4 = outstanding, 3 = good, 2 = fair, 1 = poor

The Butler Collegian

Page 8

Wednesday, November 11, 2009

A&E

A&E

P

HOROSCOPES

laylist

of the Week

01.

SCORPIO

“Homework” - J. Geils Band

02.

“Takin’ Care of Business”- Bachman-Turner Overdrive

03.

“Work, Work, Work (Pub Club Sleep)” - The Rakes

04.

“I Can’t Wait to Get off Work” - Tom Waits

05.

“Bang on the Drum” - Todd Rundgren

06.

“Welcome to the Working Week” - Elvis Costello

07.

“Career Opportunities” - The Clash

08.

“Maggie’s Farm” - Bob Dylan

09.

“A Hard Day’s Night” - The Beatles

10.

You’ll really be feeling the entrepreneurial vibes this week—that’s cool and all, but that does not mean you should taxidermy your Betta fish and try to sell it on Etsy.com as a brooch. Someone else has cornered that market.

SAGITTARIUS

GEMINI MAY 21 JUNE 20

Life may seem overwhelming, but here’s some food for thought: If Whoopi Goldberg can overcome dyslexia—AND her fear of flying—then you can fulfill your goals this week.

NOV. 22 DEC. 20

Sagittarius, this week your love life is precarious. If your significant other asks you for something, you’d better deliver unless it’s illegal or so weird that it would be removed from Craigslist.

CAPRICORN

CANCER JUNE 21 JULY 22

RT @thestarsandmoonandstuff As I was eating lunch today something occurred to me: Aren’t Cancers the worst? Please Re-Tweet! #meddlingwiththefuture

DEC. 21 JAN. 19

Be wary if you’re behind the wheel this week.

Speed, and you might get a $1,000 speeding ticket, sealed with a kiss from Mitch Daniels. And if he’s mad at you, he won’t speak at your graduation!

AQUARIUS

LEO JULY 23 AUG. 22

Quit making excuses, Leo! You have to do your homework, you have to pay your rent and you have to call your parents on Sundays. If you’re going to keep making excuses, come up with better ones than “I’m in line for my flu shot” and “I’m Chuck Bass.”

JAN. 20 FEB. 18

Due to some moon positions, people are super money-hungry, nosy and want their library books back. Pay your library fines before the collection agencies start calling your parents.

“Chain Gang” - Sam Cooke “The Promised Land” - Bruce Springsteen

12.

“Homework” - Fleetwood Mac “Working for the Weekend” - Loverboy Have an idea for our next Playlist of the Week?

Send submissions to arensink@butler.edu.

VIRGO

AUG. 23 SEPT. 22

LIBRA

SEPT. 23 OCT. 22

Instead of dropping your hard-earned paper on silly things, make some wise financial choices this week. Like…um…stocks? How about…Jolly Ranchers? I bet they’ve never even heard of the recession.

PISCES FEB. 19 MARCH 20

11.

13.

TAURUS APRIL 20 MAY 20

OCT. 23 NOV. 21

Your stress load will lighten considerably this week, Scorp, so relax. But don’t relax too much, otherwise you might find yourself having to discard your shameful underwear in a Target bathroom again.

“Working for the Weekend”

by Kelsey Truman Staff Astrologist

You may think it’s the stars or Venus or whatever that is making your potential love interest act so wack, but don’t worry—s/he’s just being Miley.

ARIES MARCH 21 APRIL 19

You’ve been working hard lately, Libra. You should start rewarding yourself for jobs well done. First things first—stop doing that thing where you hold in your pee until you finish what you’re doing.

Bathroom breaks are not rewards, and neither are bladder infections.

Get ready—the assignments are going to pile up this week. To prepare, block YouTube on your laptop so you can focus on things other than videos of kittens being spoonfed.

‘Goats’ entertains, lacks overall depth Drew Schmidtke dmschmid@butler.edu Invisibility, psychic intuition, cloud bursting, remote viewing and walking through walls are all part of the new comedy film “The Men Who Stare at Goats.” The most compelling part of the movie is that those things might actually be real.

“Goats” gathers a great cast, including George Clooney, Jeff Bridges, Ewan McGregor and Kevin Spacey, to tell the fictionalized story of Jon Ronson, a reporter who attempted to investigate the United States military forces’ dabblings into psychic powers.

Ewan McGregor plays the reporter, Bob Wilton, who travels to the Middle East in the early 2000s to cover the war in Iraq. While in Kuwait City, Wilton comes across Lyn Cassady, played by Clooney, who

“The Men Who Stare at Goats” MOVIE REVIEW Winchester Films Directed by: Grant Heslov Starring: Jeff Bridges, George Clooney, Stephen Lang, Ewan McGregor, Kevin Spacey Rated R Rating: 5 = perfect, 4 = outstanding, 3 = good, 2 = fair, 1 = poor

is a product of the U.S. special psychic forces.

Cassady claims to be a psychic spy on a top-secret mission. Being a good investigative reporter, Wilton comes along for the trip into Iraq.

Scenes switch between Cassady and Wilton’s Iraqi adventuring and the backstory in Fort Bragg, N.C. ,in the 1980s. The apparent foundation of the psychic forces is explained in a hilarious summary: The Soviet Union was fooled by a French hoax about U.S. forces contacting a submarine telepathically.

The Soviets then began a psychic program because they believed the U.S. to have one. Once the States got word of the Soviet program, they created one of their own.

The program, code-named Jedi, was started by Vietnam veteran Bill Django, played by Bridges.

After having an out-of-body experience in Vietnam, Django travels the U.S. doing drugs and living with hippies on a military leave. He returns a new man.

As time progresses, Cassady and Larry Hooper (Spacey) rise to the top of Django’s program. Their rivalry causes divisions as Cassady tries to use his powers positively, and Hooper uses his for dark, evil doings.

The humor varies throughout the film, ranging from goofy to dark and does not always hit the target. Clooney is a riot as he deadpans his way through talking about “sparkle eyes technique” and “level two intuition.” In one scene, while driving through the desert with Wilton, Cassady stares off fixedly into the sky. He explains he is cloud bursting (separating the clouds) to keep himself sharp. He then promptly crashes the car into a huge rock. It’s times like these where you can’t tell if Clooney’s

Collegian photo courtesy of Flickr/Fan the Fire Magazine

GOAT WATCHING: George Clooney stars in “The Men Who Stare at Goats” as Lyn Cassady, a man with psychic powers so strong he can stop the heart of a goat with a stare. character is a genius or complete idiot, and it is funny.

“Goats” is much more successful in scenes like this one. The silly aspect of the humor is more prevalent than the dark humor, so the attempts at drawing morbid laughs generally fail. They seem mostly out of place.

While the film can be praised for its goofy parts, it can also be criticized for not being serious enough.

Ewan McGregor’s character is based off a real reporter who actually did investigate this part of the military. With such a great starting point, it feels like the movie should have more substance or at

least try to make a point about the strangeness of the story. It is a fun and entertaining movie, but those characteristics don’t mean it can’t be meaningful too.

Overall, “The Men Who Stare at Goats” is simply unreliable. While certainly funny, it misses with some of the humor. The plot isn’t terribly complex, but it isn’t fleshed out enough. At 90 minutes, it felt both too long and too short at the same time. The ending drags, but it doesn’t give enough detail into the story. Ultimately, I didn’t leave the theater thinking about the movie. I left wondering about the military’s potential for invisibility and cloud bursting.

FX delivers great comedy with new fantasy football-themed sitcom Sarah Black Contributing Writer As a huge fan of “It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia,” if someone told me that another great comedy would follow its Thursday night spot on FX, I would’ve been skeptical. Unless, of course, that show is “The League.”

Collegian photo courtesy of Flickr/james.stacey

FINAL FANTASY: YouTube star Jon Lajoie plays Taco in FX’s new comedy about five guys and fantasy football.

Imagine, if you will, a Judd Apatow movie spread over the course of a television series. From what I understand after two episodes, that’s the closest comparison I can find for the show, which debuted Oct. 29. Trade big names like Seth Rogen and Paul Rudd for small screen comedians like Paul Scheer and Nick Kroll, and everything lines up: mismatched hot wives with normal dudes and genitalia jokes abound.

The plot is simple: Five guys are in a fantasy football league together. The writers nailed every friend role out of the group, too. The central character, Pete (Mark Duplass), is a television version of Vince Vaughn who is the reigning champion of the league. Scheer plays Andre, the friend that, for some reason, sticks around despite being the butt of every joke, and Kroll’s character, Ruxin, is suffering in a sexless marriage to his smoking hot wife. Kevin (Stephen Rannazzisi) participates in the league with plenty of help from his meddling wife, Jenny (Katie Aselton). Lastly, there is Taco, played by Jonathan Lajoie, who rose to Internet fame after posting ridiculous YouTube videos, the names of which sometimes aren’t suitable for print. Taco is some sort of walking cliché—the stoner who wins all the ladies despite being completely devoid of any social filter.

The dialogue is flexible enough not to alienate people who don’t watch the NFL, but football fans will get more out of this series than the average viewer. Colts fans get shout-outs one after the other in the series: Ruxin owns a coveted Manning jersey, and there is underground trading of the unstoppable QB on the fantasy teams. As a Bears fan, all I’ve really gotten is an underhanded (but well-deserved) Cutler jab. I’ve never participated in a fantasy league, but I can imagine the jokes I would hear in real life about someone trying to draft Tiki Barber are pretty

spot-on.

Just a warning: If you find “Sunny” or similar shows offensive, disregard everything I’ve just said. Outside of the football talk, the humor can be considered low-brow at best and disgusting at worst. If you’re expecting wit and charm, change the channel. But if you want to just hang out with your five new best guy pals, “The League” is a winner.

“The League” TV REVIEW

FX Created by: Jackie Marcus Schaffer and Jeff Schaffer Starring: Katie Aselton, Mark Duplass, Nick Kroll, Jon Lajoie, Stephen Rannazzisi, Paul Scheer

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

Homestand Volleyball finished its home season 9-0 with five-set wins over Loyola and UIC last weekend.

Page 10

SPORTS

Wednesday, November 11, 2009

Playing Rough Think soccer isn’t a rough sport? New Mexico’s Elizabeth Lambert would disagree, and it got her suspended.

Page 11

Page 9

THE BUTLER COLLEGIAN

Men’s soccer secures No. 1 seed Ashley Breitenbach abreiten@butler.edu

The men’s soccer team clinched the Horizon League regular season championship Saturday with a win over Wright State at the Butler Bowl.

After defeating UIC 1-0 last Wednesday, the Bulldogs (13-2-1, 61-1 HL) defeated the Raiders, clinching the regular season championship and No. 1 seed in the upcoming conference tournament. As the No. 1 seed, Butler will also host the tournament.

Butler trailed the Raiders by one at halftime but had seven shots on goal compared to Wright State’s one.

In the second half, Butler was more aggressive and earned more chances to score. This mentality worked for the Bulldogs, who scored three goals in the final 45 minutes.

“We just wanted to go out and stick to our game plan,” Sippola said. “If we continue to play well, move the ball fast, we will eventually score goals.”

Freshman Tyler Pollock and senior Boris Gatzky worked together to give freshman Julian Cardona an opportunity to shoot in the 53rd minute.

Cardona scored the first Butler goal by kicking in a rebounding save from the Wright State goalkeeper.

The momentum carried.

Cardona’s and junior Michael Clayton’s passing set up junior Ben Sippola to score the go-ahead goal 12 minutes later. The shot was from 15 yards out and made the score 2-1.

“This was the first goal I scored all season, and it was the game-winning goal,” Sippola said. “It was really good to score that goal. It was a confidence booster.”

In the last 10 minutes, Gatzky scored an insurance goal off an assist from junior Matt Sall to secure the conference’s top spot.

The goal was Gatzky’s sixth of the season, tying him with Cardona for the most Butler goals this season.

Throughout the game, the Bulldogs’ defense prevented Wright State from seeing many scoring

opportunities. Besides their one goal, the Raiders had one shot.

“Our confidence, our patience and our determination to win the conference made the difference in so many games this season,” Gatzky said.

Butler will play in the semifinals of the Horizon League Championship Friday at the Butler Bowl.

“We try to prepare for the tournament just like we do for every game,” Gatzky said. “We work hard in practice, and all we have to do is wait and see who is going to play us. That’s the advantage of being the first seed.”

As the No. 1 seed, Butler will host the final two rounds of the tournament.

“Being the first seed and hosting the tournament is a great feeling,” Gatzky said. “We haven’t lost a game at home for a long time, which certainly gives us a huge advantage to win the playoffs.”

If the Bulldogs win their semifinal game Friday, they will play in the conference finals Sunday at 1 p.m.

Collegian photo by Maria Porter

HEAD GAMES: Sophomore Matt Hedges heads a ball toward Wright State’s goalkeeper. The Bulldogs had eight shots on goal in the match.

Football avoids last-second loss Armstrong joins soccer staff Emily Newell enewell@butler.edu The Butler football team was on the threshold of defeat Saturday as Dayton quarterback Steve Valentino sent a 40-yard Hail Mary pass flying toward the end zone with time expiring in the fourth quarter.

But the Bulldogs (9-0, 6-0 Horizon League) prevailed as defensive backs senior Spencer Summerville and redshirt sophomores Mark Giacomantonio and Jack McKenna teamed up to make the stop on the one yard line as the pass was completed

by Flyer JMichael Jonard.

The 31-28 victory over the Flyers (7-2, 5-1 HL) led Butler to a 9-0 record for the first time since 1961.

“We didn’t really realize we were that close to the goal line until we tackled him,” Giacomantonio said. “It was one of those plays that happened so fast you didn’t have time to think. It just happened.”

The Bulldogs trailed 7-0 at the end of the first quarter but responded in the second quarter when sophomore quarterback Andrew Huck rushed for a seven-yard touchdown to tie the game.

The Bulldogs never lost the lead again, but the Flyers’ persistent offense refused to give up until the final play of the game.

“It was a 60-minute game that came down to a couple of inches,” head coach Jeff Voris said. “It’s what we talk about all the time. The team that

plays the longest and the hardest usually wins.

“It came down to that one play, and we were able to keep them out of the end zone.”

The win did not come without a struggle, though. While Huck rushed for three touchdowns and passed for two more, Butler struggled to finish afterwards. The Bulldogs missed three of four extra-point attempts and failed to convert on a two-point conversion.

“We need to do a better job converting those situations,” Voris said, “but one kick isn’t going to determine whether you win or lose a game.”

Redshirt senior Brian Crable said he is most proud of how neither the offense nor the defense gave up despite coming across a few roadblocks.

“We played as a team,” Crable said. “There’s been a lot of faith on both sides of the football. That didn’t happen my first year here. My first game here was in 2005, and we went 0-11. It’s just been a complete 180.”

While both the offense and defense played well overall, missed kicks and several inefficient fourth-quarter drives gave Dayton opportunities to narrow Butler’s lead.

The Flyers eventually turned the 10-point Butler lead at the beginning of the quarter into a mere three-point lead with roughly 90 seconds remaining.

The Flyers’ onside kick attempt landed in the hands of redshirt sophomore Andy Dauch at the Butler 46 yard line, but the Bulldogs went

three and out in just 24 seconds, giving Dayton possession on their own 16 yard line with about one minute left in regulation.

“I think we played hard and made the right plays at the right time,” Voris said.

Even in the face of defeat, the team never lost confidence.

“It’s a situation we’ve been in before,” Giacomantonio said. “We came back from being down 21-0 against Morehead [State]. We beat San Diego with a last-second field goal. We’ve been there.

“You have to have confidence in the offense, and vice versa, the offense has confidence in us.

“I’m just so proud of the way we’ve all come together and how resilient we are.”

The team hits the road next week to face the defending conference champion Dolphins of Jacksonville, Fla., Saturday at noon.

“The key thing for us is to go on the road and play the defending conference champions,” Voris said. “It would make it a 10-win season, which has never been done before in the history of the program.”

Depending on the outcome of that game, the Bulldogs have the opportunity to either win a share of or win the conference title outright Nov. 21 when they take on Drake at the Butler Bowl.

“We’ve got to keep that same team mentality and never give up,” Crable said. “I didn’t come back for my fifth year to go 101.”

Matt Lawder mlawder@butler.edu Butler women’s soccer has bolstered its staff for the winter and spring by adding former Bulldog and MLS player Stephen Armstrong as a volunteer assistant coach.

Armstrong brings a wide range of playing experiences to the women’s coaching staff. He has played on professional teams in Sweden and his native country of England. He was also an MLS second-round draft pick for D.C. United and played four complete seasons in the league.

Hiring Armstrong was an easy decision for head women’s soccer coach Tari St. John.

“I’ve been friends with Stephen for about 6 years,” St. John said. “It’s always been in the back of my mind that I wanted him to come coach with us, but I knew the timing would have to be right for him. He’s taking the winter/indoor season off for the first time in years. The timing was right.”

Armstrong graduated from Butler in 2000 after playing for the Bulldogs from 1996-99. His 43 goals rank third on Butler’s all-time scoring list, and he is one of only seven Bulldogs to ever score a hat trick.

Armstrong was born in Birkenhead, England, and moved to South Africa when he was four. He played on South Africa’s U-23 national team and still has family that lives in Cape Town.

“I’ve enjoyed my playing experience at almost everywhere I’ve been,” Armstrong said. “The thing that’s really stuck though is the people and friends and connections I’ve had everywhere.”

Recruited by coach Ian Martin, Armstrong played in two NCAA tournaments and even advanced from a play-in game to the Sweet 16 before being defeated 21 in OT by Indiana in 1998.

Armstrong enjoyed his time as a Bulldog both on the field and in the classroom.

“Coming to Butler was an incredible opportunity,” Armstrong said. “I was fortunate enough to get a scholarship, and I really enjoyed playing on the team and the school.”

After college, Armstrong played professionally.

Most recently, he was a member of the Charleston Battery in the USL. But Armstrong finally has some time off from playing and decided to try coaching.

“Stephen has been around the game a long, long time,” St. John said. “Additionally, he has been

coached by some of the best in the game. I believe having good coaches in your playing days is the foundation for being a successful coach.”

Armstrong will help the team with conditioning and technical play this off-season.

“I hope to help with their technical skills and improve their speed of play, helping them becoming quicker with their decision-making on the field,” Armstrong said. “Also, I think I can show them just the daily routine and level of dedication it takes to play at an elite level.”

Armstrong’s knowledge of Butler’s soccer program will be helpful, but St. John sees Armstrong’s personality as one of his greatest qualities as a coach.

“Stephen is a good-hearted person,” St. John. “It is a transferable quality that will help him in any profession. He is also a very good communicator. He is demanding as a coach but doesn’t need to yell or intimidate.”

With nearly a year before the women’s soccer team’s next official match, Armstrong will have more than enough time to become acclimated with the team and prepare them for next season, but he stressed that getting better will take time.

“It won’t happen overnight,” Armstrong said. “But we definitely have a good core here.”

Collegian photo courtesy of Butler Sports

NEW FACE: Stephen Armstrong will lend his time to women’s soccer this off-season.

Need more Bulldog sports?

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

SATURDAY

Women’s Swimming at House of Champions Invitational hosted by IUPUI All Day

Women’s Swimming at House of Champions Invitational hosted by IUPUI All Day

Men’s Soccer vs. TBA 2:30 p.m.

Cross Country at NCAA Great Lakes Regional Bloomington, Ind. Noon

Women’s Volleyball at UW-Green Bay 8 p.m.

SUNDAY Football at Jacksonville Noon Men’s Basketball vs. Davidson 2 p.m.

Women’s Volleyball at UW-Milwaukee 5 p.m.

Women’s Basketball at Kentucky Lexington, Ken. 1 p.m.

Men’s Soccer HL Final with win on Fri. 1 p.m.

-Women’s swimming got some experience in the pool to be used for the Horizon League Championships in February.

-Find information on what the DawgPound has planned for Butler’s winter athletics.

Get scores, highlights and more sports updates throughout the week on the sports team’s twitter!

twitter.com/ BUSportsWriters

Wednesday, November 11, 2009

Page 10

The Butler Collegian

SPORTS

SPORTS

Volleyball finishes home record at 9-0 Matt Lawder mlawder@butler.edu

Butler volleyball (21-11, 10-4 Horizon League) ran their home record to 9-0 with two five-set victories over conference rivals Loyola (11-17, 4-11 HL) and UIC (15-15, 8-7 HL).

The Bulldogs entered Friday night’s game in third place in the Horizon League but secured their standing over the weekend in their final two matches of the year at Hinkle Fieldhouse.

Loyola needed a win to keep their mathematical chances of making the conference tournament alive.

The Bulldogs looked ready to crush the Ramblers’ hopes early in the match, hitting .310 in the first game en route to a 25-17 win.

The Bulldogs continued to dominate the match and opened up a 20-11 lead following an 11-3 run in the middle of the set.

Butler finished the set 25-20 with a kill by

junior Kelsey Labrum.

Freshman Gina Vera opened up the third set, serving to a 5-0 lead. While the Bulldogs looked in control, the Ramblers fought back and tied the game at 17-17 before winning eight out of the final 11 points to steal the third set 25-20.

“When [Loyola] got down 2-0, they started pushing a little bit harder. They didn’t want to get eliminated,” senior Stephanie Steele said.

Loyola continued to attack in the fourth set. Although the Bulldogs outhit the Ramblers .256-.195 in the penultimate set, they lost 25-23, dropping into a 2-2 tie with Loyola.

In the fifth set, the Bulldogs got back on track, holding the Ramblers to a .074 hitting percentage. After a late string of three serves by senior Porshia Allen, the Bulldogs won the set 15-11 and the match 3-2.

“It was great to see the girls keep their mental toughness in game five,” head

coach Sharon Clark said.

Butler did not have long to rest and headed back out on Hinkle’s court the next evening for senior night against the UIC Flames.

Jessie Wolfe led the Bulldogs’ attack, hammering down 15 kills and helping out on defense with 19 digs. Only libero Katie Daprile had more digs, finishing with 20 of her own.

Butler got ahead early, winning the first set 25-20, but the Flames forced Butler into seven errors in the second set, and the Bulldogs lost the set 25-21.

After falling to 10-7 in the third set, the Bulldogs went on a 10-1 run. Forcing nine errors out of the Flames and holding them to a .000 hitting percentage, the Bulldogs rolled to victory as Steele finished off the set with a game-winning kill.

Butler won the set 25-17 and had a 2-1 lead in the match.

In the fourth set the momentum swung back to UIC as the Bulldogs hit only

.051, and the Flames tied the match 2-2 with a 25-22 victory.

But Butler rebounded again, playing a nearly perfect last set with no errors and 11 kills. The team won the fifth set 15-11. “[UIC] is a good team and played very well. The stakes were very high for us coming in,” Clark said. “I’m very proud of our girls’ composure. We came up with some big points.

“You always want to defend your home turf. The team came up with that goal [to go undefeated] and worked their tails off to do that,” Clark said.

The win kept the Bulldogs third in the Horizon League with a 10-4 conference record and put some distance between them and fourth place UW-Milwaukee and fifth place UIC. “Beating UIC was huge. They were right on our tails and could have jumped in front of us with a win,” Steele said.

Butler plays Friday night at UW-Green Bay and will finish the regular season at

UW-Milwaukee the next day.

Collegian photo by Rachel Senn

CELEBRATE: The volleyball team celebrates their 3-2 win over UIC.

Women’s team ready for season Men dominate Taylor in exhibition Paige Flynn psflynn@butler.edu

The women’s basketball team showed up ready to dominate Monday, and dominate they did. During the home exhibition game, Butler defeated DePauw 7847. This was the team’s first and only exhibition game of the season.

“We had a lot of combinations out on the floor,” coach Beth Couture said. “Everyone played around 10 minutes, so it was nice to get everyone out there and be able to evaluate them.”

Ten seconds into the game, junior Terra Burns opened with a three-pointer to give the Bulldogs the first lead. The Tigers then managed to lead early 10-6 until Butler came back with 17 points in a row for a 23-10 advantage. The ladies kept their leading posi-

Collegian photo by Maria Porter

GET PHYSICAL: Junior Brittany Bowen catches a pass in the exhibition game Monday.

tion at the end of the first quarter, 43-21.

“We had a little slow start, then after the first five minutes, we started clicking,” Couture said.

The Bulldogs also clicked in the second half, beginning it much like the first. Chloe Hamilton, Alyssa Pittman and Burns each scored a layup in the first minute of the half, moving Butler to a 21-49 score.

Butler managed to keep its comfortable distance by not allowing DePauw within 25 points the rest of the game.

Alyssa Pittman, a junior guard, earned 13 points during the game, six of which were three-point goals.

She also had two blocks and three steals.

“Pittman started off slow, missing a couple shots in the first half,” Couture said, “but she definitely progressed, and I’m proud of her.”

Pittman is a transfer from Eastern Michigan. She scored 152 three-pointers, 75 of which were in her sophomore year. She graduated from Elkhart Memorial in Elkhart, Ind., where she led her team to three national championships.

Pittman’s fellow juniors Brittany Bowen, a guard and forward, and Hamilton, a forward, also scored 13 points. “[Bowen] has been really playing well for the past two years,” Couture said, “but it was nice to see that aggressiveness. Hamilton’s improvement has been a great addition to the team through the years. She really plays hard, and we really feel good about her.”

Bowen started 27 of 30 games in the last two seasons, leading the team in three-pointers with 49 in the 2008-09 season. Hamilton, who started 23 games last season, broke her previous career-high points per game Monday. Her previous her record was 12 in a game against Youngstown State in her sophomore season.

The team heads to Kentucky for their first regular season game Sunday. Their first home game will be against IPFW Nov. 18.

Steven Peek speek@butler.edu

Butler sports could do no wrong Saturday as football, men’s basketball, men’s soccer and volleyball each won their respective contests.

Junior Matt Howard led the men’s basketball team to a 7544 exhibition win over Taylor (Ind.) University by totaling a double-double. Howard came out shooting, scoring nine of his eventual 11 points in the first half and grabbing 10 rebounds in a team-leading 23 minutes of play.

Sophomore Shelvin Mack led Butler in scoring with 12 points and came away with two steals.

Sophomore Gordon Hayward was third in scoring with 10 points. Hayward shot two of eight from the field, and both field goals were fast-break dunks. But Hayward atoned for his lack of shooting accuracy by driving the lane, getting fouled and making six of eight free throws.

“I struggled shooting today, so I went to the basket a little bit more,” Hayward said of his uncharacteristic day on the court.

Junior Zach Hahn played 16 minutes and continued to display improvement made in the

off-season by creating space for himself to shoot. As a result, he scored seven points on two three-pointers and had one assist.

As a team, Butler dominated defensively, using their height and length advantage over the Trojans to force 17 turnovers, 10 of which were steals.

“We knew they would be good offensively, but they were really strong defensively,” Taylor’s head coach Paul Patterson said.

“These guys earned it. They took things away from us and were strong inside.

“It didn’t matter what we did.

They were in front of us.”

Butler also cleaned the boards nearly every time Taylor missed a shot. The Trojans grabbed only five offensive rebounds, while the Bulldogs scored 17 points off of 15 second-chance opportunities.

“I’m happy with the offensive rebounding percentage,” Stevens said. “That was an area that needed to improve.

“Both teams went after the ball hard. That being said, [our guys] had to go hard to take an angle to get the rebounds.”

Butler out-rebounded Taylor 41-24 in the contest.

Stevens said he continues to have high expectations going into a tough pre-conference

Collegian photo by Maria Porter

JUMP: Sophomore Gordon Hayward takes a jump shot. schedule.

“These guys have been pretty business-like in their approach, and I expect them to continue that,” he said.

Butler will host Davidson Saturday at 2 p.m. for the first regular season game of the year.

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The Butler Collegian

Wednesday, November 11, 2009

Page 11

SPORTS

SPORTS

Loco Lobo takes anger out on BYU Arika Herron acherron@butler.edu

in the 76th minute for tripping a BYU player. That’s it. Beyond the inappropriate and extreme measures Punching, slapping, hair pulling— taken by Lambert, the real shock here all things you’d expect to see in a is the failure of the referees to do fight on a bad reality TV show, not in their job. a Division I women’s soccer game.

Sure, fouls off of the ball go unnoBut that’s just what Elizabeth ticed at times, but several of Lambert from New Mexico did in the Lambert’s aggressive moves—I’ve Mountain West Conference semifi- counted eight in the highlight reels— nals last Thursday. Lambert, a junior happened on the ball. Compounded defender for the Lobos, was caught on upon each other, she never should’ve tape tripping, kicking and slapping finished the game. players on the opposing BYU team.

Luckily Lambert’s actions did not In the most blatant foul, Lambert affect the final outcome of the game, grabs the ponytail of BYU for- which BYU won 1-0 to advance to the ward/midfielder Kassidy Schumway finals of the MWC tournament. and yanks her to the ground.

Since reviewing the tape of the Now I’ll be the game, New Mexico first to vouch that suspended “I let my emotions get has soccer is a contact Lambert indefinitely. sport.

She is prohibited the best of me in a And certainly when from practice, condicompeting at the tioning and games, heated situation.”

Division I level, the New Mexico head - Elizabeth Lambert coach Kit Vela said games are important.

Junior, New Mexico University Friday. While the They’re important to the school, the fans, length of the suspenthe coaches and the players. It’s not sion hasn’t been announced yet, there unusual for emotions to run high, is speculation that Lambert could sit especially in a tournament situation. out for all of the 2010-11 season.

But where do we draw the line Some are saying her punishment between competitively aggressive and could go too far, but Lambert’s unacceptable? Definitely somewhere actions were not only inexcusable before throwing a player to the but also dangerous. Any number of ground by her hair. her tackles could’ve put players out But Lambert’s actions weren’t the for next year or even permanently. only thing that went wrong in this Soccer is a dangerous sport to begin game. Looking back, the real issue is with, and players live in constant fear a lack of action from teammates, of torn ACL’s and the like. The last coaches and referees. That’s right. thing the game needs is a player out None of these parties seemed to of control and looking to hurt peonotice or respond to Lambert’s antics. ple.

Lambert was issued a yellow card While New Mexico is making an

Collegian illustration by Heather Hanford

example out of Lambert, I would like to see something done to reprimand the referees officiating the game.

Their job is to enforce the rules of the game, make calls and ultimately protect the players. That’s why they carry red and yellow cards in their pockets!

Such a gross negligence on the part of the officials should be just as big of a story, if not bigger, than what transpired on the field.

Make an example of them as well.

Let other officials know they need to step up their game and pay attention not only to the plays but to the way they’re being made.

Lambert did make a statement Friday apologizing to BYU and their women’s soccer players.

“I let my emotions get the best of me in a heated situation,” Lambert said. “I take full responsibility for

my actions and accept any punishment felt necessary. This is in no way indicative of my character or the soccer player that I am. I am sorry to my coaches and teammates for any and all damages I have brought upon them.”

All apologies aside, I’m hard pressed to believe anyone responsible for the course of that game should be let back onto the field anytime soon.

Page 12

BUTLER COLLEGIAN

Wednesday, November 11, 2009

The Butler Collegian

BUTLER COLLEGIAN

Collegian photos by Maria Porter Collegian illustration by Rachel Senn