Volume XLVI, Issue 25 April 10, 2015

the

Case Western Reserve University volume xlvi, issue 25 friday, 4/10/2015

Observer The king of Euclid

“Alive right here, right now”

Maria Fazal Copy Editor As I approach Officer Mark Chavis, I find myself having to wait in line.

Chavis at his usual corner at the intersection of Adelbert Road and Euclid Avenue, is accompanied by a woman with a tight smile and clasped hands.

After hearing words like “cancer” and “sister,” I decide to maintain a respectful distance. This isn’t a conversation meant to be heard by strangers. It’s one between friends.

A few minutes later, the woman leaves, and the effect of Chavis’ words is obvious. Her smile, although small, seems more genuine, and her hands are relaxed at her sides.

Chavis turns, greeting me with a fist bump.

Better known simply as Officer Mark to the campus community, Chavis is one of prospective students’ first impressions of Case Western Reserve University. Armed with a cheery grin and a ready thumbs-up, Chavis presents a great example of a friendly campus environment. After all if police officers are this nice, what does that say about the campus as a whole?

Although Chavis appears to have been at that corner as long as the Allen Memorial Library, he began working at CWRU in September of 2003 as a security guard. He took his post at the intersection a few years later when the Euclid Corridor Project began and he has remained a permanent part of campus ever since.

Rain or shine—and too often snow—Chavis has greeted students, proclaiming the goodness of Friday, hump day and even Friday Eve (Thursday).

But before he was Officer Mark, Chavis worked as an assistant for a physical therapist and then worked in the youth prison system.

“I learned how to be humble,” Chavis recalled. “I learned that there are a lot of people who are worse off than I am, who have never had a chance, just because of their upbringing. They only knew wrong decisions, from the time they were babies, so they never really knew what to do—how to go left, how to go right. It really felt good that when I was put into that situation, I was able to recognize it and assist a few young men in making right decisions.”

to Officer Mark | 3

News

Walk the Moon and The Griswolds treat sold-out crowd to energy-filled show Julia Bianco News Editor At the Cleveland House of Blues last Friday, April 3, lines of face-painted teens and 20-somethings stood in line in a light Cleveland drizzle, waiting to get inside for a sold-out show featuring Walk the Moon and opener The Griswolds.

Some face paint was smudged, some remained intact. Everyone squeezed their way forward, closer to the stage, closer to the bands. By the time this crowd fully reached the dance floor, the venue was crammed.

There was no turning back.

And a sold-out show to support a super-successful Ohio band? Solid.

But… it’s difficult to truly enjoy a concert that was fun, innovating and musically on-point, when you are in a crowd of people that isn’t too good.

Much of the audience seemed more intent on forcing their way to a good Snapchat rather than enjoying the music. In every direction, iPhones and Samsung Galaxies hovered in the air, taking selfies or videotaping the performance.

It became so ridiculous, that at one point Walk the Moon singer Nick Petricca called the crowd out. “We think cell phones are great and all, technology and all that,” Petricca said, “but we think you’d be having a whole lot more fun if you were participating.”

(Ironically, when the next song started,

A&E

pg. 4 pg. 9 Hotels chosen for Latest Eldred new res hall play full of laughs

the bright white light of phone screens dotted the audience once more.)

The negative crowd went beyond just a cell phone obsession, though. Case Western Reserve University freshman Liana Kabins worked her way into the crowd throughout the show so she could see the bands better.

“The crowd was aggressive. It was a bunch of teenage- and college-aged girls all wanting to get to the front. It was kind of gross with a lot of bony elbows and hair,” Betsy Nickoloff/Observer she said. “Despite Walk the Moon singer Nick Petricca connected with the the grossness of the audience at the band’s latest Cleveland show. crowd, the atmosphere was electric and everyone was having a The Griswolds did more than the duty regreat time.” quired of an opener. While most people were CWRU freshman Claire Holliday had a there to see Walk the Moon, many walked similar experience. “I don’t think the House out as new fans of the Australian four-piece of Blues was the right setting for [Walk the indie band. “Mississippi” and “Beware the Moon], or the crowd control was lax, be- Dog” saw a hopping, singing-along crowd. cause most of the time I was jammed into Their upbeat, partying, Vampire Weekend the person in front of me,” said Holliday. meets The Mowgli’s sound proved to be the Of course once you worked past the pet perfect bobbing music. peeve that was the audience, the show itself was incredible. to Walk the Moon | 10

Opinion

Sports

pg. 6 From your inbox to the Observer

pg. 19 Softball on the cusp

news Retired Warner Bros.

Three law students spend spring break helping immigration detainees in Texas Chairman and CEO announced Suneil Kamath Staff Reporter Rather than spend their spring break relaxing from the strenuous demands of law school, three Case Western Reserve University School of Law students spent their time working with immigration detainees in Dilley, Texas.

The South Texas Family Residential Center (STFRC) in Dilley houses mothers and children who might have illegally crossed the border into the United States. The Department of Homeland Security recently opened the facility to help accelerate the process of removing the illegal immigrants and hold families that crossed the border for asylum.

Jennifer Peyton, a Cleveland immigration lawyer and adjunct law professor at CWRU, offered students Harrison Blythe, JoAnna Gavigan and Madeline Jack the opportunity to volunteer at STFRC. Peyton had volunteered at the facility in August of 2014 and was well aware of the dire and arguably inhumane conditions at the center.

“These families have become the latest collateral damage in an immigration system that lacks sensibility, flexibility and humanity and that fails to provide fair hearings, even for those who face grave danger if they are wrongly deported,” Peyton said in a press release.

Peyton decided to bring CWRU students along with her to Dilley to “provide them with a practical experience that many law students lack in law school,” she said in the release.

In Dilley with Peyton, the law students met with detainees at the center and assessed their legal needs. In addition “they worked with the detainees to gather bond documents and prepare bond submissions for immigration court.”

After volunteering at STFRC for a week, the students gained an experience much greater than they originally thought when embarking on the trip.

“I was particularly invested in one woman’s story,” said Blythe. “I’ll call her M. M had a pretty comfortable life in Honduras.

She worked for the national electric company, where she had a number of employees who reported to her. She had a car and a house.”

“Unfortunately she ended up having some problems because she was a member of a political party that lost power,” she continued.

According to Blythe, M received a number

of threats to her and her daughter because of her political opinions, which led to her leaving Honduras.

“She never planned on leaving Honduras or coming to the States,” continued Blythe. “It just happened to be the place where she knew some people who could help her feel safe.”

However, even after moving to Dilley, life was difficult for M. “She was really frustrated by the time I first spoke to her,” said Blythe. “By the end of the week, we had helped her get to a place where she could pay some money (a bond) to get out of Dilley. She came to see us on our last day at the detention facility, and she looked like a different person. It was the first time I’d seen her smile, and I had seen her every day that week.”

Jack also had a memorable time on the trip.

“There were three law students that went on the trip, and none of us really speak Spanish,” she said. “I still smile when I think about our attempts to communicate with the women and children through broken Spanish and a lot of nonverbal communication. In these situations, we are all boiled down to our common humanity. On one occasion, it took two of us to understand that one detainee was telling us that another detainee, who only spoke an indigenous language, had a severe speech impediment.”

Jack also had some suggestions about how students in Cleveland could learn more about undocumented citizens.

“I think the greatest things anyone can do is to educate themselves and be compassionate,” she said. “Far too often we are only presented with one side of a narrative, and we neglect to seek the other side of the story. Start reading different news sources about this topic or anything you’re passionate about, ask questions and seek answers. Also try to imagine yourself in these women’s circumstances. If you are fleeing violence in your country with your small children, you don’t speak English or even Spanish, and you are suddenly detained for reasons unknown and not given answers, you would be scared, frustrated and worn out. If you are knowledgeable and compassionate, people will listen and you will change some minds and do some good.”

The three students noted that whatever they do in the future, they will take the stories and values they learned on this spring break trip and use it to enhance the betterment of society.

Harsha Chandupatla/Observer The Sexual Assault and Violence Educators (SAVE) held a visual statistic event to show how many students are affected by sexual assault on campus. Over 200 students participated by wearing blue armbands.

as commencement speaker

Courtesy Variety.com Barry Meyer graduated from the CWRU School of Law, but took a different path by going into business. films, including the “Harry Potter” series Adithi Iyengar and “The Hangover” trilogy.

Staff Reporter Regardless of the success his company With graduation coming up, retired garnered, Meyer remained to have a reputaWarner Bros. Chairman and CEO Bar- tion of having a humble and low-key manry Meyer has been chosen to be the com- agement style. mencement speaker. As an alumnus of the “To me the mark of a great company is Case Western Reserve University School of that in success you don’t gloat, and in failLaw, Meyer picked a rather unconventional ure you don’t panic,” he said in an interview path for his career. with Variety magazine.

After landing his first job at ABC televiEven as Meyer stepped down from his sion, he moved on to take a business affairs position in 2013, media outlets praised him position in Warner Bros. Eventually Meyer as being “one of showbiz’s most respected had enough power to lead a $1.2 billion ac- CEOs and a much-admired figure.” quisition of Lorimar-Telepictures.

Meyer’s convocation speech will take In 14 years as CEO of Warner Bros, the place in the Veale Convocation, Athletic studio enjoyed huge success in blockbuster and Recreation Center on May 17.

news

observer.case.edu

While CWRU moves forward on Greek transgender acceptance, national organizations lag behind and 11, including Phi Kappa Tau, have no selves, rather than sometimes drowned non-discrimination policy. out by just a general view.”

Sororities are a bit more evenly dividHowever Pickering was upfront about Senior Lyall Glait is one of the few ed. Of the national sororities, four have the cons as well. transgender students involved in Greek no non-discrimination policy, and four “With the way that informal recruitLife at the university. The senior systems have an official non-discrimination pol- ment goes, if someone doesn’t feel safe biology major and president of Big Games icy. The ninth sorority, Sigma Psi, is a lo- somewhere, they move as quick as they Club rushed in the spring of his freshman cal chapter only. can,” he said. “That could be a little bit of year, and became an official member of Despite the fact that national frater- a negative thing, because then maybe we Phi Kappa Tau in the fall of 2012. A stan- nal organizations have yet to address this don’t know where we need to fix things.” dard fraternity, Phi Kappa Tau’s mission issue, CWRU has policies which are reIFC is trying to be on top of the issue, includes the upholding of values typical ceptive to transgender students in Greek however. They recently ran a survey where of Greek Life: scholarship, philanthropy, Life. The university itself has an official all the IFC representatives of each indisocial diversion and brotherhood. policy of vidual fraternity Glait was reluctant to rush at first. non-discrimwrote down what The university itself has “Like a lot of people at CWRU, I got ination, exthey thought an official policy of nonhere and was like, I have no interest in plicitly proabout CWRU’s discrimination, explicitly the Greek system at all,” he said. “Espe- hibiting disdiversity climate. prohibiting discrimination cially because...I figured out that I was cr i m i nat ion According to on the basis of gender transgender the summer before I got to on the basis Pickering, about identity or expression. college, so the years leading up to that of gender 25 percent said had been like, of course I’m never joining identity or that there are aba sorority.” expression. And in this, as with many solutely no issues and that they have conHowever once at CWRU, Glait recon- other issues, the Interfraternity Council tinued discussion. Another 25 percent said sidered. A friend of Glait’s from his first (IFC) and Panhellenic Council (PHC) that they don’t think there are any issues SAGES seminar had been encouraging follow the leadership of the university. but that there is no discussion. Another 25 him to show to fraternity rush events, Individual sororities and fraternities cre- percent said that they do think there are and, as he said, “I just figured eh, why ate their own constitutions, bylaws and some issues that could be fixed. not? These seem like nice enough peo- regulations, but they are overseen by IFC “We hope, and we also think, that we ple.” and PHC. don’t have nearly that type of problem,” When Glait showed up to the first cou“From an IFC perspective, we’re to- Pickering said. “But we still wanted to ple of rush events, he was welcomed with tally inclusive and we would an encour- have that discussion and talk about it … open arms. As he would later find out, the age all the chapters to do so as well,” Chapters are allowed to have their own friend who had encouraged him to show said Pickering. “It’s a little bit more of opinion on where they want to go, but up had already been consulting with the their choice, but if anything emerged, we want to make sure that all in all, the fraternity’s current members about the we would be taking the side of, ‘You community is a safe community and that possibility of Glait joining the fraternity. shouldn’t be doing this; we’re an inclu- everyone has an opportunity to be in“They apparently had to contact Na- sive community.’” volved.” tionals about it,” he said. “I was surprised “You could even argue that we do a “We’re here to care about each oththey were taking it so seriously…because better job with the LGBT community er,” he continued. “The whole purpose I wasn’t taking it that seriously yet.” rather than other ethnic communities of having a brother or a sister is [having] As far as Glait is aware, he was the or races, that with the diversity side, we someone to lean on and [having] a supfirst person in Phi Kappa Tau to be trans- might have more of a problem there than port group.” gender. But his experience in regards to we do with LGBT [community],” he said.

In the next five to 10 years, the biggest Greek Life at CWRU isn’t an unusual Not many problems with regards to changes to the Greek System that Pickerone. In terms of policy, regulations that the Greek systems’ inclusion of LGBT ing would like to see have to do with that affect Greek Life exist at four different students have arisen, Pickering said. But “culture of care.” He wants the two main levels: the university level, national level, if they ever do, “We’ve got a warrior in issues IFC is handling right now, diversicouncil level and individual level. Most the room to make sure [that discussion] is ty and inclusion and sexual misconduct, fraternities and sororities at CWRU have happening.” to be improved in the future as the cula national counterpart to which they reThat warrior is Lizzy Benway, PHC’s ture of care becomes more pervasive in port, so the members of Phi Kappa Tau vice president of Social Responsibility. the Greek community. The goal, he said, checking in with Nationals to see if Glait “She’s the perfect person in kind of is “that everyone feels safe where they are could join isn’t unheard of. that way,” said Pickering. “I know she, and they can be a community that cares However according to Ethan Picker- along with our recruitment coordinator about each other and cares about things ing, the president of Interfraternity Con- for the last recruitment had a lot of dis- that matter, rather than anything that regress, not every Greek chapter places the cussions, actually.” ally doesn’t matter.” same weight on national policies.

In terms of individual fraternity attiIn terms of culture of care however, “There are some fraternities who are tudes, Pickering said, “There are certain Pickering thinks that CWRU is ahead very receptive to their national organiza- chapters that are much more open, and it of the curve. “I think really in the entire tions and follow, to a T, what their nation- changes as the culture changes … Some spectrum of caring we’re really closer al organizations want,” he said. “Others that come right to mind, I think Sigma than a lot of schools,” he said. “We look do not necessarily follow to a T. And then Nu and [Beta Theta Pi] do a great job of at these things and kind of understand it. there’s some in the middle.” making sure that … that’s like their type We’re a very progressive community in a According to Pickering, the inclusion of community.” lot of the different things we do. I mean, of a non-discrimination policy in a frater“It’s also a little different on the IFC most school’s wouldn’t have a sexual misnity’s or sorority’s constitution tends to side because we have informal recruit- conduct focus group, and we completely be the exception rather than the rule. ment. So members tend to lean toward went into that.”

Of the 18 the groups that And the success Greek Life has had f r ate r n it ies seem to be much in being open comes down to CWRU’s According to Ethan Pickering, and nine somore favorable community, he said. “I think the CWRU IFC president, the inclusion rorities on for them, where- community is completely reflective of the of a non-discrimination policy CW RU’s as on the sorority Greek life community works,” he said. “I in a fraternity’s or sorority’s campus, side, it’s formal mean, it’s the same students.” constitution tends to be the none of their recruitment, so According to Pickering, Greek Life exception rather than the rule. national orpeople end up represents about 45 percent of campus. ganizations in places, rather He says that the reason the Greek system have non-discrimination policies that than necessarily choosing.” has had such success in being open and prohibit discrimination on the basis of In terms of recruitment policies, Pick- inclusive is because the school and the gender identity or expression. Out of the ering thinks that the pros of informal students have made that a priority in the fraternities, only four have an official recruitment outweigh the cons. Though overall community. “The campus does a non-discrimination policy that prohibits the sororities at CWRU are more diverse, really good job,” Pickering said. “And I discrimination on the basis of race, eth- because they practice formal recruitment, think we try and magnify it, if anything, nicity, national origin, marital status, dis- Pickering says that he is in favor of “hav- through Greek life.”

Glait agrees. “I can’t speak for other ability or sexual orientation. Three have ing a diverse spectrum of where all the schools,” he said, “but CWRU’s atmounofficial non-discrimination policies in fraternities sit because I think it allows sphere in general about LGBT issues is which they encourage members to em- people to go to a place where they’re just really good.” brace values of inclusion and diversity, more comfortable and can be more them-

Jasmine Gallup Staff Reporter

{

{

}

}

3

from Office Mark | 1 Despite a change in career however Chavis hasn’t stopped reaching out to people.

“Even though I’m dealing with a lot more positive instead of a lot more negative, I still find myself filling in gaps of life,” he said. “Everybody needs a little bit of help, regardless of the situation you may be in, good or bad. Everybody has broken gaps in their lives, and I’ve always found myself trying to fill in gaps for those individuals.”

An abundance of students can call to mind interactions with Chavis, who has made himself easy to reach. Junior Katelyn Friedl remembers some of her conversations with the police officer: “I really appreciate that Officer Mark always has something encouraging to say,” said Friedl. “He will always checking in with me, and it’s really touching that he cares.”

Chavis credits his mentality of helping others to his mother. He was raised on a “big hay farm” in Ravenna, and although he remembers much poverty in his community, he also remembers his mother reaching out to those in need.

“We’ve always been in a good situation, and we’ve always been in a situation where we help people out,” he said.

“If they helped her bring in the hay, she took care of their animals all winter.”

Outside of work, and true to his upbringing, Chavis spends plenty of time outside fishing, biking and anything else that deals with the outdoors, “as long as [he] can breathe fresh air.”

He also enjoys carpentry and does several projects in his free time. On that same vein, Chavis also enjoys drawing, especially landscapes.

Much of his time is also spent with his family, which includes seven children and six grandchildren. Four of these children were once his foster children, whom he adopted. In his time as a foster parent, Chavis had a total of “30some” kids come by.

“I had the last four for a long time,” he recalled. “They were calling me ‘Dad.’ Instead of doing them another injustice, I went ahead and kept them and gave them a great start in life.”

At this point, Chavis paused the interview to deliver a full rendition of “Happy Birthday” to a student, who walked away with a smile and buoyant walk. Despite this perpetually cheery demeanor, Chavis said the past two years have been difficult for him—he has lost about eight or nine people.

“Life is hard,” he said. “If you’re not a strong person, it can eat you up. What I like to say is that I stay armored up; I keep my religion all around me. I just gotta make sure I keep myself protected and don’t let anybody affect my soul.

I try to keep my things external, and I don’t let it get inside of me. Once it gets inside of you, it starts eating away at you. I’m not saying it doesn’t get at me, because it does: I’m human. I just try, I try to stay strong and stay positive for a bunch of people in this world.”

When asked what advice he wanted to give to the CWRU community, Chavis delivered a simple reply: “For those who have parents, cherish them, cherish them, cherish them. One day they won’t be here, and if you haven’t told them you love them in a long time, tell them.”

4

news

Campus insider IFC president talks about sexual misconduct; diversity; Greek Week Miriam Ridge Staff Reporter This week Campus Insider sat down with Ethan Pickering, the president of the Interfraternity Congress (IFC) at Case Western Reserve University. For those of you who don’t know, IFC is the unifying, governing and coordinating body of the fraternity system; it serves as the communication link between the fraternities and the university administration. IFC also works closely with other Greek organizations such as the Panhellenic Council (PHC).

Sexual Misconduct IFC has recently held a sexual misconduct focus group in order to reach an outline of issues that should be addressed and plans for improvement.

“We’ve had a couple issues nationally as well as here, one being sexual misconduct,” said Pickering. “We’re looking into a way to help us be proactive about it.”

As a result of the focus group, IFC has assembled an action committee to work on policy, structural change, education and promotion to prevent sexual misconduct within the Greek community. One of the new programs is the bystander intervention training that is required by all new members.

“We need to address the community issue that does not occur solely because of Greek life, but is often attributed to it,” said Pickering. “We want to do what we can to make our community safer.”

Diversity and Inclusion In light of the incidents with Sigma Alpha Epsilon in University of Oklahoma, IFC had a discussion with each of the chapters at CWRU about diversity and inclusion. Members anonymously stated what they thought of diversity in their chapter and gave an honest opinion of how they see diversity issues.

“They need to keep the discussion going,” said Pickering. “Some chapters felt they didn’t have any problems, but they weren’t really having discussions to begin with. It’s not sustainable unless there is discussion.”

The next General Body IFC meeting will cover the issue and work on facilitating discussion.

Pytte Cup IFC serves as the regulatory committee for fraternities on campus. The Pytte Cup is a way by which IFC can measure the chapter’s standards. This year almost all of the chapters passed Pytte Cup standards. For the few that do not pass, IFC determines whether there are ways they can improve the chapter or if the chapter even belongs in the IFC community any longer.

This also relates to the Greek Life Office initiative of Culture of Care, which aims to create a community in which decisions are based on looking out for each other, and ensuring that the Greek committee is the best it can be.

Greek Week CWRU fraternities and sororities have just finished their annual Greek Week. Greek Week is a week of competition between the chapters, which Greeks and non-Greeks alike come out to enjoy. IFC and PHC work together on the budget for the event.

“It was a very great week of Greek pride, and really CWRU pride also,” said Pickering.

“The amount we spend on it, somewhere in the area of $10,000, is definitely well worth it for the campus engagement.”

4/10/15

Spotlight on research

Grow your own virus Kushagra Gupta Staff Reporter Somewhere in the University Hospitals Case Medical Center is a room that contains a group of large refrigerators.

These are specialized refrigerators called incubators. They carefully control the humidity, temperature and makeup of the air inside them. If any of the controls falter, an alarm blares. While these incubators do contain a form of the leafy greens, what is inside is not for consumption. Instead the incubators contain plants that are still growing. And within each plant, grows a virus.

This is one of the labs that junior Diana Acosta worked in this past year and last summer. At a different material sciences lab, Acosta studied how to alter the cowpea mosaic virus to transform it into a more robust drug delivery mechanism.

The virus gets its name from the mosaic imprint it creates on leaves.

The researchers at a material sciences lab attempted to improve the virus’ potency by adding polymer groups to its surface and then altering the environment to see how it behaved.

If the virus remained intact along with the added polymers and didn’t clump, then the specific combination was considered to be a good candidate for drug delivery.

One of the first molecules Acosta worked with was polyethylene glycol.

The compound makes it difficult for the virus to clump. It also gives the virus resistance to a large range of pH values and high temperatures.

The polymers lab is working with a biomedical engineering lab. If more virus is needed, Acosta is one of the groups there to obtain some. Since the polymer labs needs vary, this is a true balancing act. Isolating the virus from the plant also takes 2-3 days, because there are 24-hour waiting periods in the process.

This means Acosta has to work around her busy schedule. She usually tries to

find a 2- or 3-hour break between classes.

She removes the leaves and puts them in a blender. She jokingly calls it a green smoothie. Her next goal is to get rid of all the organic material and then isolate the virus.

The next day, she purifies the sample even more. On the final day, she finishes isolating the virus and adds the polymers to its surface. She then needs to calculate how successful her work was. Lab technique is important here, since it is difficult to isolate the virus without losing much. The biomedical engineering Courtesy Diana Acosta lab uses quantities on the microgram Junior Diana Acosta grows viruses in plants. scale, but Acosta needs a lot more and uses a measuring with the virus. Acosta knows how much scale of milligrams, which is a thousand of the cowpea mosaic she has, but she now needs to see the effects of the speciftimes higher.

Any plant that is somewhat mature ic molecules she added.

Through a series of experiments, the can be used. The original virus comes integrated into a thick piece of what lab figures out whether the particular Acosta describes as sandpaper. To add combination of polymers and virus used the virus to the plant, she simply has to are potent enough. For Acosta the prorub a leaf with the paper. Then she waits cess is complex and time-consuming, but a couple weeks to let the virus grow important. She hopes that the lab will be able to create a virus with helpful and within the plant.

The virus isn’t harmful to humans, but predictable behaviors in select chemical environments. Eventually she knows that it is to plants.

“It’s somewhat like a greenhouse,” she will be able to help people through Acosta explained. “You are taking care this.

“We are trying to get a new tool that’s of this plant, making sure it gets sick, but not too expensive, not harmful and easily not dying.”

Finally the materials science lab works manufacturable,” she said.

The suite life Housing announces hotels for students displaced from new residence hall Julia Bianco News Editor Following the announcement that the new residence hall will not be finished until Sept. 12, the university has secured rooms in the Courtyard by Marriott-Cleveland University Circle, The DoubleTree Tudor Arms Hotel by Hilton and Intercontinen-

tal Conference Center & Intercontinental Suites Hotel for the 290 students who will be displaced.

Once the lottery process is complete, all students in the New Residence Hall will be matched to hotel rooms based on arrival date, room type selection, roommates and other relevant factors, according to Allison Heuring, director of budgets and financial

planning.

The students will be discounted, likely via a credit on their account on their fall room charge, for the amount of time that they are not in the residence hall. Heuring said that they hope that at least some students will be able to move in earlier than the Sept. 12 date, and so they therefore do not know what the full discount will be yet.

Weatherhead ranked third in the world for quality of graduate education Suneil Kamath Staff Reporter Case Western Reserve University’s Weatherhead School of Management was recently ranked third in the world for having the best quality of education for graduate students.

The rankings were released by GraduatePrograms.com, an online graduate school guide, which surveyed approxi-

mately 10,000 current business students and alumni. With an education quality index of 9.75, the Weatherhead School inched out top business schools such as Harvard University and the University of Chicago.

Weatherhead Dean Robert Widing commented on the ranking.

“Weatherhead’s high ranking is a tribute to the quality of our faculty and program leadership, as well as the students

themselves, who learn much from one another,” said Widing. “The focus of this ranking is solely on educational quality, as opposed to a composite of a number of other indices, which may help explain the outcome.”

Wake Forest University and the University of Notre Dame took spots one and two. INSEAD The Business School of the World in Fontainebleau, France was the only international school to make the list.

news

observer.case.edu

Giving back

CCEL to host Saturday of Service on April 11 Adithi Iyengar Staff Reporter This Saturday, April 11, is the Center for Civic Engagement and Learning semesterly Saturday of Service, an event where students can sign up to perform service for one of 30 non-profit organizations on and around campus. With over 700 volunteer positions, this year’s event will mainly feature gardening and youth projects, such as removing invasive species from a wildlife sanctuary or assembling meals for Kids Against Hunger.

Freshman Yujie Hu participated in Saturday of Service last semester, sorting supplies for Medwish, an organiza-

tion that sends unused medical supplies to third-world countries.

“I felt like I contributed to a worthy cause,” said Hu. “Because I’m a pre-med student, I really felt like what I was doing was worthwhile.”

The Saturday of Service event has been expanding every semester, with more and more volunteer positions for students available each time.

This year the number of volunteer positions for the Kids Against Hunger event has doubled to 400, with 50,000 meals to be assembled.

“I think it’s becoming a tradition that students are looking for on campus,” said Adrian Griffin, CCEL’s Program Coordinator. She went on to say that

she thinks students want to do more and more service, as evidenced by the increased turnout every year and the number of students requesting additional service events.

Registration for Saturday of Service will be available until Wednesday, April 8, at midnight. If there are any empty volunteer spots left after the deadline, registration for those spots might remain open. If no positions are open, come Saturday; students are still allowed to show up to Thwing Atrium anywhere from 8 a.m.-12:30 a.m. to fill potential no-show spots or Wyant Athletic & Wellness Center from 8 a.m.-9 p.m. to help with Kids Against Hunger. Transportation to off-campus events will be provided.

ITS to implement mandatory two-factor authentication for VPN access, disable outdated connection protocols Joseph Satterfield Web Editor Starting April 20, ITS will require all users of Case Western Reserve University’s VPN to register a form of two-factor authentication on their accounts in order to continue accessing the service. This is a change in policy to the previous VPN changes implemented in January, which introduced two-factor authentication but did not require it. ITS believes that the use of two-factor authentication will increase security for the university’s technology resource by preventing unauthorized users from gaining access to accounts even if they have the password.

Two-factor authentication increases security by requiring another form of authentication in addition to a password.

These secondary forms of authentication can include a hardware key generator, an application on a smartphone or a code

On the beat

sent in a text message. This method of authentication ensures that unauthorized users cannot gain access to a person’s account unless they are in possession of the device used to generate the additional key.

ITS has chosen Duo Security to be the two-factor authentication provider for the new system. The company offers applications which generate the codes required for login on iOS, Android and Windows Phone compatible devices. In addition to authenticating with a code, the app allows a user to confirm their login by responding to a push notification. The application does not require an internet connection to work, so it can be used to login anywhere.

If users of the system do not have access to a smart phone, login codes can also be sent by text messages, by phone or from a previously generated list of codes.

ITS recommends that at least two devices should be registered for any ac-

count. Currently devices that can be registered include landline phones, cell phones, smartphones and tablets.

Although the system is currently only available for VPN login, ITS is looking to expand the services to other login systems such as Single Sign-On, which is used to gain access to services such as Blackboard and email.

In addition to a comprehensive guide to setting up the authentication system, ITS has created a series of training videos in order to make enrolling in the system as easy as possible.

In another attempt to increase VPN security, ITS is disabling access to the network using IPsec based clients. This protocol is used in clients built into operating systems, such as Mac OS X. After this change, ITS recommends that all users of the VPN use the Cisco AnyConnect client available on their website.

Smoke signals

Spring is the season when flowers begin to poke through the permafrost, Wade Lagoon unfreezes, birds start to sing and cigarette smokers start to sprout across campus.

Not really ... it just becomes more noticeable now that everyone is pulling off their winter hats and hoods, and can actually see what’s going on around them.

It is legal to smoke tobacco in Ohio if you are over 18. However on university property, which is private property, smoking is prohibited except in the 14 designated smoking locations across campus. A map of these locations is available online. This is the policy the university adapted not long after the state of Ohio altered its rules on smoking by banning it from bars and other locations in 2006.

As the campus police force, we are charged with enforcing the policy, which always seems to generate some controversy, especially when it comes to issuing citations that can be referred to Student Affairs or Human Resources. We don’t get paid more for issuing cites, and we often get to listen to some of our least favorite responses. Among these are, “Do you know who I am?” (No, is it tattooed on your forehead? And if you are violating university policy, why should I care?) and “Don’t you have anything better to do?” (Possibly but right now I’m doing this). If you would like policy changes made, by all means lobby for them through groups

like Undergraduate Student Government, but don’t take out your misplaced ire on those enforcing the existing policy.

Additionally if the lack of mountains hadn’t clued you in, we are not in Colorado or Alaska— marijuana is still illegal in the state of Ohio. State law and university policy will be enforced, and stuffing towels under your residence hall door doesn’t work.

Enough said. Let’s look out for each other.

On the Beat is a weekly safety column written by Sergeant Jeffrey Daberko and Officer Mark (The Crossing Guard) Chavis of CWRU PD. We welcome questions, suggestions and gripes/groans/moans/complaints about campus life at policecolumn@ case.edu.

CWRU Police Blotter April 2 to April 8

April 2: Petty theft—cell phone taken from common area, Norton House.

April 2: Felony theft—wallet taken from common area, Norton House.

April 3: Bicycle theft—bike taken from rack, Staley House.

April 4: Trespass/underage drinking—students found on private property with beer, Cleveland Botanical Garden.

April 5: Bicycle theft—bike taken from rack, Triangle Two Building.

April 5: Petty theft—cell phone and cash taken from side of basketball court by juvenile suspects, Juniper Road basketball court.

April 6: Robbery—cell phone snatched from student’s hand by suspect who fled on foot, Euclid/Cornell intersection.

April 6: Bicycle theft—biken taken from rack, Smith House.

April 6: Public indecency—male running naked outside, North Residential Quad.

5

Cleveland catch-up Julia Bianco News Editor We boil down what happened in Cleveland this week.

Trial begins for Cleveland police officer charged with killing unarmed couple Michael Brelo, a Cleveland police officer, is currently on trial for shooting Timothy Russell and Malissa Williams during a police chase in November 2012. The couple was shot 137 times while parked in a middle school parking lot.

The 25-minute chase involved about 60 police cars. According to a report from the Bureau of Criminal Investigations, Williams and Russell were both homeless. An officer saw the car in an area known for drug deals and reported the license plate. When the officer tried to pull Russell over for a turn sign violation, he drove away, resulting in a chase. Russell was driving on a suspended license, and toxicology reports revealed that he was high on cocaine and had marijuana in his system.

Police at the time reported shots fired by near the Justice Center, but it was later determined that the shot was most likely Russell’s car backfiring.

The chase ended in a firefight near Heritage Middle School. Williams was shot 24 times and Russell was shot 23 times. When police checked the car, neither Williams nor Russell was armed.

Thirteen officers were involved in the shooting, with five indicted on charges of negligence of duty, but the prosecutor alleges that Brelo was the only officer who continued shooting after the other officers declared that the couple was not a threat. According to the investigation, Brelo jumped on the hood of the couple’s parked car and shot at them.

Brelo pleaded not guilty to two charges of voluntary manslaughter.

Factory fire on the East Side seen from the quad On April 6, a factory fire near East 116th Street and Harvard Avenue resulted in a plume of smoke that could be seen from the Case Western Reserve University science quad. Firefighters were able to put out the fire after a few hours of work, and no injuries were reported.

The building used to belong to the company Buckeye Rivet, but it has been unused for four years.

Nineteen crews responded to the fire, with nearly 100 firefighters working to quell the blaze. Some residents near the scene reported hearing explosions, which the fire department later revealed were cars on the scene blowing up.

The smoke from the fire spread as far as Mayfield Heights and was even seen on the Power of 5 weather radar.

opinion Editorial

Quick fix needed to prevent another “replyallpocalypse”

A single email advertising Phi Delta Theta’s campaign to raise funds for the Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) Association promptly became this week’s most talked-about campus event. A brother of the fraternity created an email list of every undergraduate student, sending them information on Monday on how to donate to an Indiegogo Campaign.

It prompted nearly 60 responses with students responding to be removed from the list, memes and pleas to stop hitting reply all, spawning student rage expressed primarily through Twitter and YikYak. Even the Huffington Post weighed in on the events with an article by one of their senior editors.

According to Mike Kubit, Interim Chief Operations Officer for Information Technology Services, the office is still

investigating what specifically happened.

“On behalf of the university, we want to apologize to students,” Kubit noted. “Anything that impacts the lives of students, we care about, and want to make sure it doesn’t happen in the future.”

We’re not sure what specifically led to this situation either, but a quick look at the email list management website shows at least one way you could create a “replyallpocalypse” of your own.

The listserv system does not currently protect the directories for the actually legitimate campus-wide email lists. By accessing those, one could gather every undergraduate student’s name and email address and create their own email list for whatever purpose they wished.

It may take a lot of typing, but if someone had free time, or several

friends, then bam: They’d then have a campus-wide email list that they could call their own.

It’s a bit scary that this directory information, in a single comprehensive list nonetheless, is so freely available. All it takes is one hacked student account for an outside spammer to have access to all of this information. It’s not financial or academic data, sure, so it wouldn’t be the end of the world, but it’s still a concern.

While the listserv system should be totally scrapped in favor of something that does not look and function like its 20 years old (let’s be honest, it’s not user friendly), in the mean time only a quick fix is needed to prevent a similar issue. Just remove the ability for a student to see everyone on the main administrative lists which contain the entire undergraduate student body. If only the list administrators, the ones who

actually control the lists, can access this information, it should further prevent the creation of future unsolicited “super lists.”

Sure, someone could still add uninterested students to a list of their own, but this would prevent something from going campus-wide.

What ITS should not do is require approval for the creation of new email lists. This would not be an effective use of their time and would limit student use of the already confusing structure.

Additionally, students should not be required to have to approve their addition to any list. While unwanted subscriptions are surely annoying, any object placed in the path of students’ ability correspond with a group would surely limit involvement.

Let’s balance security with student convenience.

The cost of education High ground Chandler Holcomb It’s the time of year when housing decisions for next semester are at the forefront of students’ minds. The living situation one decides on will undoubtedly have a huge impact on day-to-day life and is taken lightly by few. There are a number of factors to consider when choosing a living space, but inevitably the issue of cost must be dealt with.

Tuition for colleges and universities has been trending upwards and with higher fees come bigger loans, higher opportunity costs attached to attending school and heavier burdens on poorer students.

Case Western Reserve University has already announced a 3.75 percent room-rate increase for the majority of undergraduate housing in addition to a 3.25 percent increase in undergraduate tuition, the latter raising the tuition cost of attending CWRU to $44,160. Student reactions to rising costs are predictably negative. The increases follow the announcement of a number of initiatives and projects

scheduled for the upcoming academic year, all intended to make CWRU a better place for both students and faculty. This takes the form of new facilities, a broader curriculum and other miscellaneous enhancements.

Cost has become a major concern for many college and university students who are forced to choose between sacrificing the quality of their education and incurring a mountain of debt. CWRU is not the only school subject to this situation by any means.

With the prestige of the American university system comes demand, and the competition to gain entrance into high-rated institutions has become fierce. In order to entice higher quality students to apply, schools often drive up costs by financing improvements and incentives. These costs are subsidized somewhat by donations from alumni and occasionally the government, but a sizeable portion of is still borne by student tuition (varying from school to school of course).

This forces less advantaged students to make decisions based on costs rather than quality and to take out larger loans more frequently.

In 2012, 71 percent of students gradu-

ating from four-year colleges had student loan debt, and the average debt level for all graduating seniors was $29,400, which is a 25 percent increase from $23,450 in 2008.

America is unique among industrialized nations in that it places the burden of education finance primarily on students and their parents. To make matters worse, the cost of a college degree in America, including public universities, is relatively high. In the end, this model privileges wealthy families who can buy the best education and perpetuates the marriage of money and success.

This inequality is far removed from the American ideal of equality of opportunity where hard work is rewarded no matter where you come from. Institutions must address the sustainability of this model of constant improvement and the accompanying cost increases. Were my first two years here at CWRU really worse off for not having the Tinkham Veale University Center? Does the $25 million a year to operate it result in a $25 million value increase in student education, or is it just window dressing in a system that prizes form over function?

Some kind of reform has to make colleges and universities more economical and efficient for people from all walks of life.

Fortunately the solution is already in motion at many college campuses.

Virtual classrooms require little upkeep, and they don’t require outrageously priced meal plans and housing options. In terms of education, they offer the same resources any class here at CWRU would. You can interact with teachers and fellow peers over the web and study the same material you would in a physical classroom. The biggest obstacle online classes must overcome is the stigma that they are somehow inferior to attending physical classes. Sites like openculture.com are good examples of ways to get knowledge efficiently to those who desire it.

The more formalized online education becomes, the easier, more efficient and more economical education becomes. If I were an administrator here at CWRU, I would start considering a virtual campus.

Chandler Holcomb is a junior at Case Western Reserve University.

Letter to the editor

To the editor, The recent article in The Observer indicating that the university was investigating an incident of racist graffiti found in Fribley Commons was a critical reminder that our campus climate needs more work to be the kind of campus where everyone can thrive. We seek to be a diverse, inclusive university that is not only free from all forms of discrimination, but that actually celebrates our differences.

As the university’s Vice President for Inclusion, Diversity and Equal Opportunity and Chief Diversity Officer, I understand the work of diversity and inclusion from what I call a “both/and” perspective. I understand that the work of making our campus a welcoming campus requires that we both address the needs of all students, faculty and staff and pay attention when any one group faces particular challenges on our campus and/or within a national context. Silence around issues of race, for example, does more harm than good.

There have been collaborative efforts by the student leaders of the #webelonghere movement, the Social Justice Institute, founded and directed by Dr. Rhonda Williams, the Office of

Mobley on the importance of campus climate Multicultural Affairs (led by Naomi Sigg) and my office. On Dec. 9, 2014, we hosted “From Ferguson to Cleveland,” a campus-wide forum to discuss the killing of Michael Brown in Ferguson, Missouri, the killing of Tamir Rice in Cleveland and the ways in which local and national events are connected to and affect campus climate. On that occasion, I spoke about the personal, social and political connections of such events to our lived lives.

Last semester was marked by the founding of the #webelonghere movement and by President Barbara R. Snyder’s email to the campus community in response to anonymous racist posts on social media. I applaud her message reminding us that diversity is a core value at Case Western Reserve University. We do not and will not tolerate racist behavior on our campus. Since my arrival in 2009, we have sought to raise the level of awareness about the value of advancing diversity and inclusion on campus, but clearly there is more to do beyond the speakers, the programs and the reports of progress. We cannot speak about diversity in broad terms and

not acknowledge the need to speak openly and candidly about race. We cannot speak about the issue of race on campus and ignore the historical, national context of racism, oppression and white supremacy that makes some believe it is okay to disrespect people on the basis of their race or ethnicity. We cannot be concerned about sexism, homophobia and other forms of discrimination on the basis of sexual identity/ expression, religion, age, disability, Veteran status, national origin or political perspective, and overlook racism. Our campus read-ins and teach-ins have created dynamic gatherings to think critically and speak forcefully about changes we need to see on campus, in our communities and around the nation. Our campus is not the only campus attempting to deal with these issues. However just as we have been a leader in research of all kinds on this campus, we must seek to lead in the area of diversity and inclusion.

What does being a leader look like? It means that individuals can come to this campus and work, learn and lead in ways that affirm their presence, that respect their identity

and that allow them to be productive and reach their full potential. It means that in campus climate from the classroom to the Tinkham Veale University Center, from the residence halls to office suites, we treat one another the way we want to be treated. It means we have the cross-cultural humility and empathy necessary to speak up about discriminatory behavior when we see it or hear it.

Through programs such as Sustained Dialogue and Diversity 360, a new campuswide initiative that is being developed this semester, we can break the silences that need to be broken around race and other forms of oppression. We need to create safe spaces for courageous conversations about these matters for the benefit of our entire campus community. In many ways, we have already begun the very kind of work that needs to be done.

But the incident in Fribley indicates that we need to do even more.

Marilyn Mobley, Ph.D Vice President for Inclusion, Diversity & Equal Opportunity

7

opinion

4/10/15

Starbucks lovers

On friendship and love

So cheap coffee went down in flames

The meaning of Spartan life Jacob Martin

Pup peeves

There will come a time when someone you truly love will simply not be in your life like they once were. They will remain in your life but only at a distance. All humans will experience this at some point and come to know or reject the idiom, “Absence makes the heart grow fonder.”

This happens for a number of reasons, like work demands or any of life’s other unexpected events, but if this person currently in absentia loves you back, then distance should not sever the relationship.

In the moment however the pains of longing and love distort reality and make you selfish. You begin to think of everything from your own locus of experience and inadvertently detract from your beloved’s current experience by making the whole thing exclusively about you and your own feelings.

I speak of love because friendship is a form of love. Intimacy is a part of friendship, and both intimacy and love do not necessarily require a physical component. While physical intimacy is often a part of love and friendship, the question of how to deal with temporary separation from a person you love remains nonetheless.

Nature is one interpretation of the Tao, or the Way, in Taoism. A harsh philosophy, Taoism espouses total submission to the world around us. For example if a family member passes away, it is not good or bad, it simply is. We are to accept it without question, consideration or action.

In the “Tao Te Ching,” Laozi tells us, “The sage keeps to the deed that consists in taking no action...Do that which consists in taking no action, and order will prevail.” In its

Zak Khan I pay around 30 cents a cup for my daily morning cup of tea. Because I make it at home. Of course, I have the privilege of time to do so. Recently we learned that Bon Appétit and Starbucks had discontinued the $2 coffee deal. Students’ collective outrage led to it being front page news.

Not even racist remarks in Fribley get to be front page news.

Case Western Reserve University students do have every right to be upset at price increases. This university already squeezes money out of us whenever it can. Our tuition soars ever higher even as services are outsourced or cut altogether.

We put up with an ever-building workload and now must do so with more expensive caffeine. But why is this the green plastic straw that broke the venti soy latte’s back?

Perhaps our collective apathy has finally come to a boil. Or perhaps this is evidence that we as a university will finally cry out at injustice, but only injustice that actively interferes with our daily routines. This is then a chance to learn a lesson about empathy.

To the outside observer, the collective outrage over coffee at a middling chain coffee joint seems ridiculous. But to the CWRU student, this is yet another vital resource ripped away. This is what gets you to class and helps you halfway pay attention to thermodynamics. It’s finishing that paper at 2 a.m. It’s the burnt, bitter brew that makes the day bearable. And

now CWRU has taken that away.

Similarly injustice of greater magnitudes confronts CWRU on a regular basis. From racist graffiti to shady dealings with creepy law school faculty. But since, for many of us, these do not ram directly into our daily realities, they feel almost as forgettable as the loss of chain coffee does to the outside observer.

Not only is this perhaps a chance to examine where our priorities lie, but it also a chance to ask if we really care. As stated

by The Observer itself, “Although many students had been posting on social media about how angry they were about the removal of the $2 drinks, and [Residence Hall Association] had been pushing the forum as an opportunity to express their concerns, no students were present.”

If something does make us this angry, yet when it actually comes down to it we remain idle, do we really care? Front page news and yet not a student in sight.

Perhaps the most vital lesson to learn here is that we can have all the empathy and understanding and righteous anger over injustice, but if we do not show up and demand change, then racist graffiti will continue to leave us frighteningly unfazed, and all we’ll do is yell about it on the internet over our newly higher-priced bitter proof of our own apathy. It will be yet another example of just how much we care and how little we act.

Zak Khan doesn’t even go here anymore, but they have a lot of feelings and angry barking.

context of Taoist thought, order and personal harmony stem from not acting against nature, because nature rules over us all and we are foolish to try and contrive it.

I outline such rudimentary Taoist thinking because it appears the best way for one to approach the absence of a beloved friend or lover. If you truly love someone, you need to overcome the bondage of egoism and accept that your situation is as it is and should be according to often uncontrollable elements. If your beloved truly loves you, they will not abandon you.

But, of course, one must define love, a task that approaches impossibility given the sociocultural weight the term carries from culture to culture and individual to individual. Personally I’ve always chosen to combat the internal strife associated with love by celebrating the other person.

In his essay, “On Friendship,” Michel de Montaigne wrote, “If you press me to say why I loved him, I can say no more than because he was he, and I was I.” Acceptance of your beloved for who they are and what they’re doing and are going through provides some solace to absence. Essentially love will not disappear if it is mutual.

Perhaps I’ve entered a discussion of faith versus proof. I don’t know. What I do know is that I currently have a beloved friend who is currently not in my life like she once was. I also believe we both love each other beyond measure; egoism is immature and impatience is self-defeating.

If faith is not enough, I just remind myself she is she, and I am I. Jacob Martin is a weekly opinion columnist for the Observer. “We love the things we love for what they are.”

—Robert Frost

What it means to investigate Incorrect Rolling Stone article raises systematic questions The elephant in the room Andrew Breland Last November Rolling Stone magazine published a 9,000-word piece detailing a brutal gang rape at the University of Virginia and the presumed-incompetent investigation the school conducted into the incident. The story set the world on fire. Colleges, administrators and student leaders all, in their capacities, claimed they would respond to the article with a renewed focus on the importance of sexual assault investigations and prosecutions on the college campus.

On our own campus, the university response was one of confidence, that our system didn’t allow for such incompetence to occur—that the tragedy that happened at UVA would never happen at Case Western Reserve University.

The Office of Greek Life also responded with a months-long focus group conversation about a new plan to help stave off what was perceived as an increasing number of sexual misconduct incidents on our own campus—incidents often traced back to fraternity men. Here at CWRU, we took steps we thought were necessary to combat the horrible tragedy in Charlottesville.

The problem is, it was all made up.

Earlier this week, the Columbia Journalism Review (CJR) completed a nearly five-month investigation into Rolling Stone’s journalistic practices and their fact-checking.

Days after the initial story broke, publications like the Washington Post and Slate Magazine had called out apparent flaws in the reporting.

They were flaws that called into question the veracity of the whole piece.

Long story short, the CJR report blasted Rolling Stone’s lack of proper fact-checking and editorial oversight. It cited numerous occasions of missed cues and leads that could have revealed the discrepancies. Rolling Stone simply relied on a single source, the victim, for too much.

In their general recommendations for the future, CJR wrote about the need to question the facts and ensure credulity even when talking with a victim. “Over the years, trauma counselors and survivor support groups have helped journalists understand the shame attached to rape and the powerlessness and self-blame that can overwhelm victims, particularly young ones.

Because questioning a victim’s account can be traumatic, counselors have cautioned journalists to allow survivors some control over their own stories. This is good advice.

The Observer is the weekly undergraduate student newspaper of Case Western Reserve University. Established in 1969, The Observer exists to report news affecting and/or involving students and to provide an editorial forum for the university community. Unsigned editorials are the majority opinion of the senior editorial staff. However, Opinion columns reflect the views of their writers and not necessarily of The Observer staff. For advertising information, contact The Observer at (216) 302-4442 or e-mail observerads@case.edu.

The Observer is a proud member of the CWRU Media Board.

LETTERS TO THE EDITOR should be e-mailed to observer@case.edu or submitted on our website at observer.case.edu. Letters can be mailed to 10900 Euclid Avenue, Suite A09, Cleveland, OH 44106. For policy and guidelines related to the submission of Letters to the Editor, refer to observer.case.edu/submit-a-letter.

Yet it does survivors no good if reporters documenting their cases avoid rigorous practices of verification. That may only subject the victim to greater scrutiny and skepticism.”

This is exactly the problem colleges have been dealing with inadequately over the last few years. Instead of rigorously getting to the bottom of the story, colleges investigating alleged assaults and misconduct violations often gloss over the facts and are unable to gather others. They lack any authority to force any person to talk to them, even the accused, let alone someone who might let them off.

While this might, to a reasonable person, promote caution, college administrators take it as their duty to press onward.

Verification and rigorous distinctions about the facts lead to clarity. Anyone who has read the CJR report will know that it is likely something happened to the girl in the original story. It probably wasn’t at a fraternity house, at least not at the one she alleged. It probably wasn’t some sort of hazing ritual.

But something probably happened. Her original report alleged less than the gang rape she described in such vivid detail. Chances are that the lesser act did happen. “Jackie” was actually hurt. But that doesn’t matter

anymore. Any chance she had of retribution or justice (depending on your view) disappeared when she decided to embellish.

The case of Rolling Stone’s failure to verify is easily recognized as the same issue that plagues campuses. Instead of allowing all students to speak their side of the story, the administration is not interested in hearing that.

That’s not their job.

Some people recognize this. The Fraternity and Sorority Political Action Committee (FSPAC), recently began lobbying Congress and states in an effort to restrict any investigations of sexual assault to be handled by the police. This would ensure that facts are rigorously pursued and the story is understood.

It is important to note this is not a small effort.

Both the National Interfraternity Council and the National Panhellenic Council, the governing bodies for fraternities and sororities, respectively, joined the effort. This is the kind of change we need to make. Internal efforts to prevent problems will never solve the issue.

Comprehensive reform that ensures a rigorous review might be more painful, but we are all the better for it.

Andrew Breland is a weekly opinion columnist for The Observer. Contact him atawb69@case.edu.

the observer

established in 1969 by the undergraduate students of case western reserve university executive editor & publisher KATHLEEN WIESER director of design MEREDITH DYKEHOUSE director of print MIKE MCKENNA director of web & multimedia JESSICA YANG director of business operations TAYLOR MORAN advertising & marketing manager COLE MORRIS account manager MARCUS GUTIERREZ news editor JULIA BIANCO a&e editor ANNE NICKOLOFF opinion editor AQUENE KIMMEL sports editor JP O’HAGAN advisor BERNIE JIM multimedia editor HARSHA CHANDUPATLA news layout CHRISTINA CHENG web editor JOE SATTERFIELD a&e layout ROBERT BROWN copy editors MARIA FAZAL sports layout AMANDA LI ADITHI IYENGAR sports BROWN opinionlayout layoutROBERT BETH MAGID

ad

observer.case.edu

The Jolly Scholar

jolly.scholar @JollyScholar 216.368.0090 mpv3@case.edu MTW RF Sat. Sun.

Catering!

Call the Jolly Scholar for your next party. Any budget, any size, we will make it happen.

11a – 12a 11a – 2a 12p – 2a 12p – 12a

Tues

Trivia Night

Wed

Comedy Night

Thurs

Karaoke & Grad Happy Hour

Fri

40’s & Fridays

Sat

Charity Late Night

Sun

All You Can Eat Wings

80’s Totally Jolly Tap Takeover: Jolly Dance & Cleveland vs.

Sing-along Party The World Saturday, April 11 9:00pm to 2:00am

Saturday, April 25 10:00pm to 2:00am

We will have as many of the great Cleveland beers (hopefully) and some one offs that you’ve never had before, and we’re going to stack them up against some other great stuff being offered from breweries around the globe. Get ready!

This is a celebration of the decade that your parents were “going hard” before you were a twinkle in their eyes. We want to see hair band members to Top Gun extras to valley girls at the mall to muscle heads in their zubaz.

8

arts & entertainment Bringing the smarts to the arts with Eldred Theater’s upcoming play Tiffany Cheung Staff Reporter Eldred Theater is bringing Molière’s brilliant satirical comedy, “The Learned Ladies,” to campus for showtimes this week and next week.

For those who are not familiar with Molière’s work or this play, “The Learned Ladies” is a satirical piece on French culture. Following Molière’s style, this play is a farce, or slapstick comedy. Audience members are supposed to think it is over the top and get a good laugh out of it.

In this play, two young lovers, Henriette and Clitandre, are kept apart because of Henriette’s mother, Philaminte. What her mother, aunt and sister want is for her to marry Trissotin, a scholar. These three ladies are in turn considered to be learned ladies because of their obsession with the smarts and pretentious culture. “This play makes fun of socialites of that time; it makes philosophical people look idiotic” said Paige Yepko, a member of the cast.

Yepko, along with Natalie El Dabh, Keith Dona and Ren Weeden are the four freshmen in the cast. The other cast members include Sara Bogomolny, John Dulin, Bridgette Garb, Nathan Hach, Grace Mitri, Jason Sleisenger and even dental student Luke Hearty. Since all of Eldred Theater’s plays hold open auditions—meaning anyone in the Case Western Reserve University community can audition for a role—there is a real mix of individuals from the university.

The cast members have been rehearsing every day since Spring Break to make sure that the show goes off without a glitch.

Since this is also the last show of the season, the actors are trying to finish off the year on a high note.

The director of the show, Ron Wilson, has been working with CWRU and Eldred Theater for about 16 years. Not only is he renowned for his expertise and creativity, but the cast members are also all very grateful to have someone as intelligent and passionate as their director. “He pushes you further in a good way,” said Weeden.

Wilson picked this play in particular because of its wonderful comedy and great language. “We don’t get to choose many classics. It is a sounding piece,” said Wilson.

With opening night approaching, production staff and cast members are all excited to see their hard work on stage. For students that do not usually go out to watch plays, especially Eldred Theater’s plays, they should consider going to see “The Learned Ladies,” because it will provide tons of laughs and be somewhat relatable at the same time. “The audience will have a good time at the theater and a lovely evening filled with some laughs,” said Wilson.

With the play making fun of academia, CWRU students will be able to laugh and smile about the pretentious standards we hold each other to. The purpose of the play is to provide humor and comedy to the community, but also remind them that having fun is completely appropriate and, almost always, necessary. “We sometimes have to check ourselves because we forget to enjoy life,” said Weeden.

Yepko and added, “I want the audience to laugh and take a slice of humble pie. It is something we can all use”.

5 shops where you can celebrate Record Store Day Alex Clarke Staff Reporter Record Store Day is a special day of the year where local record stores have specials, sales and cool events to celebrate the local sale of records, CDs and the like. The date this year is April 18, which gives you just enough time to mark your calendars to come out to one of these five great Cleveland shops and explore the world of high quality, sometimes rare and physical music storage. (Have you ever listened to a song on vinyl? It sounds amazing.)

My Mind’s Eye: 16010 Detroit Ave, Lakewood On Record Store Day, My Mind’s Eye will have sales on all CDs (besides new releases) and sales on some vinyl, grab bags and giveaways. On your way out you can get a donut from a donut stand.

There will be DJs playing from open to close. Starting with the opening of the store at 8 a.m., DJ Total Business from WCSB (Cleveland State’s radio station) will get the day rolling. Following him is Mitch Capka, who was one of the first hard rock DJs in Cleveland and started in the 70s. Hundreds of people usually just come to see him spinning. Capka will be on from 10 a.m.-3 p.m., and he will “try to replicate his show called ‘Kick Out the Jams,’” which was an all-vinyl show.

Mitch promises “total-kickassness” (which is patent pending). Then there will be some mystery DJs.

Music Saves: 15801 Waterloo Road, Cleveland Music Saves will be opening at 8 a.m. on Record Store Day and will have goodie bags for the first 50 or so customers. The selection that they will have for that day will be updated on the website as they get the music in.

A Separate Reality: 2678 W 14th St., Cleveland A Separate Reality, Ohio’s largest vinyl record store, will have some great Record Store Day LPs and 45s in stock. They will also have an in-store performance by a great band out of Detroit called “Blaire Alise & The Bombshells.” The hours of operation are 11 a.m.-8 p.m.

Loop-Tremont: 2180 W 11th St., Cleveland Loop has a coffee shop on the first floor and a record store on the second floor. This year Charles Hill, Jr. will play a couple of sets of country music. There will be free coffee with limited Record Store Day purchases, and there will be a bigger store selection for the day. There will also be sales, but they will decide those when they get all the shipments in.

The Exchange on Coventry: 1836 Coventry Rd., Cleveland Heights The Exchange will have a bigger selection on Record Store Day; there is a special collection catalog that drops on that day.

Also there are some special used vinyl that they set aside for this day and will finally be available for sale.

Pass the suds...

From Portside Distillery and Brewery Mike Suglio Staff Reporter Imagine crispy, juicy, succulent bacon.

Got it sizzling in your mind? Now imagine cool and refreshing beer. Mmmm. Now imagine the two together as one.

My life was changed when this dream became a reality after sampling a bacon-flavored beer at Portside Distillery and Brewery.

Near the banks of Lake Erie lies one of Cleveland’s new tasting rooms and the first distillery since prohibition. Portside first opened its taps in April 2013 with a portable draft system and picnic tables for seating.

Since then they have expanded, and their brews can be found at bars around Cleveland and on the shelves at Heinen’s and other local craft beer stores. The tasting room opened on Jan. 17 of this year and still has that brand-new smell amongst the malt and hops aroma from on-site brewing operations.

Upon entering I was immediately greeted by the very congenial Marketing Coordinator, Lauren McPherson, who served me Portside’s flagship beer, 216. This Pale Ale is brewed with Centennial, Apollo and one of my favorite hops, Mosaic, which leads to a refreshing beer that is perfect for any flagship brew. This golden-colored beer can easily be found at bars around Cleveland and will be served at Progressive Field in time for Opening Day. Dan Malz, brew master and founder of Portside, enthusiastically shared more sam-

ples of his beer. The Pop Smoke Rauchbier is brewed with cherry wood smoked malt and is lovingly known as “The Bacon Beer.” Malz explained that he was not trying to make a beer that tasted like bacon, but using smoked malt, this 5.5 percent Alcohol By Volume (ABV) beer simply tastes like fresh bacon. As I savored each sip of this truly original beer, I yearned for breakfast and dreamt of drinking this beer during a Sunday brunch.

Furthering the theme of “alcoholic, drinkable edibles,” the Bismarck Chocolate Baltic Porter tasted like a liquid chocolate bar. This rich, smooth porter is brewed with tons of roasted barley, chocolate malt and, of course, Belgian chocolate. At a surprising 8.2 percent ABV, this beer can really sneak up on you.

The Bourbon Barrel Aged 216 was even better than the original. I found it to be less hoppy, with the right balance of bourbon taste. At the same price as the 216, I was impressed by the value.

Malz showcased the brewery and distillery, which is a seven-barrel system with a whopping 14 different draft lines.

Portside specializes in rum, which Malz explained is America’s original spirit of choice.

The process to distill rum is only three weeks, which allows Malz and his team to constantly be providing new batches of five varieties of rum to thirsty patrons.

Among the craft beer, Portside offers plenty of craft cocktails. The What the Yolk was made with Portside’s Vanilla Maple

Rum, egg yolk and ginger beer. This unique take on a cocktail standard had a creamy vanilla taste and was a bright yellow color.

The Toasted Stout was made with Portsides’ Rusalka Vanilla Stout, Frangelico and Portside’s Vanilla Maple Rum. I was hesitant to try beer and rum together, but after a few sips of this innovative beverage, clearly beer and rum should be friends for life. This cocktail was bit stronger and reminded me of an espresso drink. Portside uses fresh maple syrup from Oberlin Farms in Geauga County for this rum not only because it tastes great, but also to support local industries.

One of my favorite Portside brews is the Big Chuck, named after the Cleveland celebrity and befitting of its 11.7 percent ABV. Malz explained that Big Chuck and his lifelong friend and T.V. partner Lil’ John frequent the tasting room and were there at its grand opening.

Portside offers bar favorites such as artichoke dip and pretzels, but also assorted cheeses, deviled eggs and cured meats from neighboring restaurant, The Willeyville.

The tasting room offers $5 off growler fills on Wednesday. Most growlers are only $15. This means that at only $10, this is easily one of the best and cheapest beer to-go deals in Cleveland.

Malz hopes to continue to grow Portside and hopefully one day open an off-site production facility to continue to meet the demand for his original and simply delicious brews.

Courtesy Mike Suglio Portside features a variety of beers and also a menu of mixed drinks, combining unlikely flavors into unique cocktails.

Brewery: Portside Distillery and Brewery Location: 983 Front Ave., Cleveland OH, 44113 Rating:

a&e 10

observer.case.edu

from Walk the Moon | 1 CWRU junior Victoria Robinson enjoyed this part of the show, even though she was there to primarily see Walk the Moon.

“I hadn’t heard their music before the show, and now I’ve been listening to it non-stop since,” said Robinson. “I also got to meet them after the show, and they were really cool.”

During The Griswolds, when it was announced that it was Lachlan West’s (The Griswold’s drummer) birthday, the crowd sang along for his celebration.

And when singer Christopher Whitehall reached his hand across the pit to touch hands with the audience members, they surged forward, fingers stretching to brush his.

There is no doubt that The Griswolds are ready for a tour of their own, and in June of this year, they’ll have the chance to forge that path.

However, right now they’re supporting Walk the Moon. And there was no mistake when the headliner took the stage.

Opening with “Different Colors,” complete with an incredibly vibrant light show, Walk the Moon’s audience knew every word to the synth-heavy echoey song. But the ground floor became pretty wild. Despite initially starting off towards the back of the show, CWRU senior Erika Brentar eventually was sucked into the middle of the crowd.

“At one point, Walk the Moon’s lead

singer, Nicholas, jumped into the crowd, and everyone swarmed towards him, so we got moved to the center,” she said.

“It was great.”

The experience from the second floor was a different one; still good, though.

“I was up in the seats on the second floor of House of Blues because the floor was pretty full by the time I got to it,” said Robinson. “However I’m kind of glad I got seats on the second floor, because everyone still stands up and dances during the shows, but you get to sit in between and have a place to put your coat.”

Regardless of where one was in the House of Blues, everyone felt the steady thumping during “Shut Up and Dance,” when the crowd hopped up and down in unison. The entire balcony shuddered, bending under the weight of hundreds of dancers landing on their feet.

“You could feel the floor shaking,” said Brentar. “It was so fun; I wish they would have just continued singing that song on a never-ending loop.”

Other highlights included Walk the Moon’s cover of The Killer’s “All These Things That I’ve Done,” “Anna Sun” and “I Can Lift a Car.” Periodically guitarist Eli Maiman was featured on a small stand, milking athemy guitar solos. The crowd loved it. Then it was bassist Kevin Ray’s turn. The crowd loved it just as much.

However the real star of the show was Petricca. At one point, he stood on the pit ledge and touched hands with the audience. Also yes, even though the majority of them had their cell phones out and

snapped selfies with the famous singer, the sincerity of the connection is not something you see at most shows.

Petricca hit the nail on the head after a group activity of expelling negative energies; he ended off the group shakeout and said, appropriately, “All you have left is this feeling of being alive right here, right now.”

Concert: Walk the Moon, The Griswolds Venue: House of Blues Cleveland Date: April 3 Rating:

Betsy Nickoloff/Observer Walk the Moon and The Griswolds put on a colorful show at the House of Blues to a sold-out crowd of teenagers and college students.

11

a&e

4/10/15

“Lady of the Eternal City” takes readers on ancient Rome adventure Chrismaly Vidal Contributing Reporter How does a story filled with love, betrayal and more twists than you can count sound? A little too much like an episode of “Desperate Housewives?”

Well what if I told you that this novel also happens to be a historical fiction set in Rome of ca. A.D.118-137? A little too much like a grocery store paperback? You could not be further from the truth.

National bestselling author and history buff Kate Quinn’s newest novel, “Lady of the Eternal City,” is a novel unlike any other that I have ever read.

It’s a historical fiction that truly brings history to life. Circling the reign of Roman Emperor Hadrian, Quinn manages to stay true to historical facts, all while putting life into and giving these important characters personalities. It is the fourth installment of the “Mistress of Rome” series that Quinn started back in 2010 and can truly be appreciated once one has read its predecessors “The Mistress of Rome,” “Daughters of Rome” and “Empress of Seven Hills” (although the second book can be missed). Reading these books would provide the read-

er with a background necessary to truly understand what is going on plot-wise, but the book is so well-written that I believe it can stand alone.

Meet Vix, the main narrator of this story. Although the entire story is told from the eyes of four characters, Vix (Vercingetorix the Red) is the only one given first-person narrative, showing the reader that he is indeed the one telling the story. The other three are his ex-lover Sabina (Vibia Sabina), their daughter Annia (unbeknownst to Vix) and his beloved son Antinous. Each character, other than Annia, is an actual historical figure.

Vix is forced to serve under Hadrian, an emperor he despises who happens to be married to Sabina, his own ex-lover.

Right from the beginning, the reader is thrown into a complicated love triangle that only evolves into a rectangle and seems to be both breaking apart and reconstructing itself as the novel progresses.

Beautiful Antinous enters the scene later with headstrong Annia, and both are thrust into a world of deception, love and secrets that can only be described as the life of an emperor in Ancient Rome. Without giving too much

away, I can tell you that Vix will constantly struggle with a decision he has been putting off for years, Annia will be challenged like she never has before, Antinous will battle with his own personal demons and Sabina will need to remain as cunning as ever. It is a dangerous position to be involved with an emperor as cruel and unpredictable as Hadrian, but our main characters will have to deal with it.

However make no mistake. This is not a purely romantic novel. There is just as much, if not more, action and secrets enveloped in its pages.

This book is full of love and heartbreak, friendship and betrayal, life and death and more secrets than you think.

Just when you think you’ve got it figured out, Quinn makes sure to keep you on your toes.

Just know that with this book, bad times are not forever, but neither are the good times. You never know when someone may have taken their last breath, and you cannot be entirely sure of the fate of some of the most secured characters. Sadly, like in “Game of Thrones,” no one is safe.

But that’s what makes this novel so enchanting. It is with the actions

of these main characters that Rome’s future is sealed. By the end, you will know who will live on as Rome’s ruler and who did not make it out alive.

This is definitely a book I would recommend to anyone in the mood for reading a genuinely good book that will keep you busy. There is never a dull moment in this novel, and it is sure to keep you with bated breath until the final end, and boy is it an ending just as unpredictable and exciting as the beginning.

For you history buffs out there, worry not: A history buff herself, it is with care and talent that Quinn weaves an intricate path for each character befitting of their history and their given personalities.

Whether you are a history buff, happen to love Ancient Rome or just want to read a good book that will keep you guessing, “Lady of the Eternal City” keeps readers entertained and guessing until the final page.

Book: “Lady of the Eternal City” Author: Kate Quinn Rating:

a&e 12

observer.case.edu

Attend the 8th annual Italian Film Festival

CWRU’s Film Society partners with Department of Modern Languages and Literature Temi Omilabu Staff Reporter Since April 2, The Italian program in the Department of Modern Languages and Literature has collaborated with Italian Film Festival USA and Case Western Reserve University’s Film Society to present the eighth Italian Film Festival here at CWRU. The Film Festival locally premiered at Strosacker, showing four different Italian films with English subtitles.

On April 2, the festival premiered with the hilarious comedy “Ci Vediamo Domani” (“See You Tomorrow”). Then on April 9, they showed “La Sedia Della Felicità” (“The Chair of Happiness”).

All movies are held in Strosacker and are free. For more information, visit the Italian Film Festival website.

Although you may have missed these two comedies, there are still two more chances to catch some films:

Film: “Un Ragazzo D’oro” (“A Golden Boy”) Directed by Pupi Avati Date: Sunday, April 12, 3 p.m.

Genre: Drama This drama centers on Davide, a copywriter who aspires to eventually write something noteworthy. The only hindrance is that he displays a constant lack of satisfaction, and he suffers from anxiety. After his father’s sudden death, Davide return to his hometown, where he serendipitously meets a gorgeous editor who hopes to publish a book that Davide’s father was working on before he passed away. Watch the movie to find out what lessons Davide learns during his journey to find and publish his father’s book.

Film: “Song’e Napule” Directed by Antonio and Marco Manetti Date: Sunday, April 19 at 7 p.m.

Genre: Comedy In this movie, Paco a pianist who takes pride in the fact that he is classically trained, seeks a “safe job.” Paco ends up working in the warehouse of a police department, but he uses his musical talent to capture an elusive and notorious crime leader.

CWRU Thoughts Maria Fazal Copy Editor The Case Western Reserve University community is known for thinking beyond the possible. Each week, this column aims to capture a slice of campus life.

Q: What is one of your fondest memories?

A: I have a really close group of friends at Cutler, and on Halloween night, we all got together and went out. Everyone was in costume, and I remember that we took this really huge group picture. It was just really nice and one of those times where I felt like I’d found my group of friends.

Q: What’s your favorite thing about your group of friends?

A: How close we are to each other—it’s really cheesy, but I feel like I’ve found my family here. I don’t feel afraid to talk to them about anything and everything.

Q: When did you know you’d found your family at CWRU? A: It was probably at the beginning of the school year. I was having a really stressful and hard time getting used to college. I was a little homesick, and talking with my group of friends about all these insecurities helped.

They were always there to listen to me and be there for me, no matter how late it was or how petty my problems were. That’s how I knew these people were really awesome.

Q: What advice do you have for people

Stephanie Kim/Observer trying to find their families at CWRU? A: I think it would be to just go out there and not be afraid to be open with people, to explore. I don’t even live in Cutler; I live in Hitchcock, and by chance I met people there. I met two people from there and then ending up meeting the whole floor. We’re really close and have all these similarities.

You just have to set out a little a part of yourself to let them in to get to know you better. You’d be surprised who you mesh with around here.

Rhyme time CRR hosts poetry slam on April 16 Janet Lanman Staff Reporter While Case Western Reserve University isn’t exactly known for its passion for the arts, the Case Reserve Review (CRR) strives to enrich this campus with its literary and photographic journal. The semesterly journal is complemented with their poetry slams, which students have enjoyed for several years.

CRR’s Spring Poetry Slam, free to all students as well as community members, is Thursday, April 16 from 7-9 p.m. in Guilford Lounge. Complete with food and refreshments, this event is an opportunity for students of all majors and backgrounds to showcase their work and socialize with the members of the magazine.

Slam poetry involves more than just the rhymes you automatically associate with poetry. Artists focus on vocal characteristics, rhythms and timing that bring life and perspective to the words. People are encouraged to share any type of poetry they wish, regardless of their experience.

Freestyle, journal entries, prose and even poems written by others are welcome at the slam.

Demi Frangos, Editor-in-Chief of the CRR, is most looking forward to being surprised. Frangos explained she never knows what will be spoken or slammed about at the event.

“It’s crazy how the raw emotion and honesty interconnect and bring forth an awesome event,” Frangos stated.

She went on to explain how poetry slams allow people to release their pentup emotions and release them in an open and engaged environment. People of all backgrounds benefit from this event, whether they slam or just listen to “soak up the vibes.”

Poets and arts enthusiasts will certainly enjoy this open and relaxed forum to share the art form, but all students are encouraged to attend. Take a break from the monotony and stress of your academics to listen to a unique and unpredictable art.

Event: CRR’s Poetry Slam Date: April 16, 7-9 p.m.

Location: Guilford Lounge Price: Free

Taking a Bite out of Cleveland… at Fat Cats Teddy Eisenberg Staff Reporter There aren’t usually many reasons to get excited for a Monday, but “Fat Monday” at Fat Cats in Tremont is certainly one.

Fat Cats is one of many cozy eateries in the restaurant-dense Tremont area of Cleveland, setting itself apart with a breathtakingly stunning window view of the downtown skyline and an eclectic menu that melds the flavors of Asia, Europe, North and South America into a delightful bouillabaisse of dishes.

On “Fat Monday,” these dishes can be enjoyed as a combined meal of appetizer, entrée and dessert for the comparably low price of $25.

The Brussels sprouts are a fresh and tasty way to start the meal, blending flavorful elements of char and Parmesan cheese with tangy zucchini to perfectly compliment the fatty undertones of the dish. Anyone that believes Brussels sprouts are a lesser vegetable by virtue of their taste should try these.

They’re dead wrong.

Fat Cats barbeque ribs are a killer entrée, infused with Korean flavors in their spicy soy barbecue sauce and tempered by a palatecleansing salad of vinegar marinated napa cabbage and a crispy pile of ultra thin pomme frites. The portion size is generous, with the ribs tender enough to be picked apart by hand with just the right amount of mess and made even better by the accompanying serving of red spicy-sweet chimichurri sauce.

No matter the appetizer or entrée preceding it, the blueberry and lavender crème brûlée is a highly recommended way to fin-

ish “Fat Monday.” With the lavender providing a depth to the dish’s sweetness, this is an intensely satisfying dessert. The few blueberries that garnish the dish also work to cut the sweetness with savory flavor.

Among all of Tremont’s restaurants, Fat Cats is one of the area’s most accessible and unique, offering a delicious menu in a comfortable house-like setting. And on Mondays for $25, it simply can’t be beat.

Restaurant: Fat Cats Location: Tremont, 2061 West 10th St. Prices: $6 – $20 Rating:

Teddy Eisenberg/Observer On Mondays at Fat Cats, visitors can get a multiple-course meal for the reasonable price of $25.

13

a&e

4/10/15

Playlist of the Week Teddy Eisenberg Staff Reporter

Salvator Rosa exhibition open at CMA “Spit You Out”—Metz

Scuzz-rock masters Metz are back with “Spit You Out,” a single that takes no prisoners as it rips through almost five minutes of distorted riffs, rapid-fire drums and screeching guitar solos. When asked to comment on the song’s title, frontman Alex Edkins recently told The FADER magazine that it “is loosely based on the uncanny ability of ‘modern life’ to suck you in, beat you down, grind you up and spit you out…” Look for this caustic tune on “II,” out May 5 on Sub Pop Records. Metz will also be performing at the Beachland Ballroom & Tavern on April 17.

“Sunshine On My Back”—The National

“Sunshine On My Back” finds The National getting hip to the whole “surprise music release” trend, inexplicably appearing online April 2.

While this single charts no new territory for the group, it is an awe-inspiring example of just how much genius can be derived from The National’s finely-tuned brand of melancholy indie. Added to the mix is Sharon Van Etten, providing colorful background vocals to Matt Berninger’s signature baritone croon as he sings, “Sunshine in my brain is the lonely kind of pain.” This tune makes sharing in that pain a sonically rewarding experience.

“Things Happen”—Dawes

The title of “Things Happen” may be a bit of a misnomer: None of the fine songwriting or melodic craftsmanship that goes into making a single this excellent happens by accident.

As earnest as they are playful, Dawes is one of contemporary rock’s rootsiest groups, utilizing bright vocal harmonies to make “Things Happen” sing. This is first tune released off the band’s fourth release, “All Your Favorite Bands,” due out June 2 on HUB Records.

“Alive Tonight”—Grace Potter Ditching The Nocturnals for the time being after 2012’s “The Lion The Beast The Beat,” Grace Potter is going solo. That doesn’t mean she’s leaving the grit and stomp from her previous work behind, however, as “Alive Tonight” proves itself to be a raging good time that channels the bluesy edge of Potter’s vocals with modern pop production that recalls Florence + The Machine. Look for this single on “Midnight,” slated for a summer release on Hollywood Records.

“Teenage Talk”—St. Vincent

Retro Pick of the Week:

Beautifully creepy

Most musicians would want to take a little bit of a break after releasing the Grammy Award-winning Alternative Record of 2014, but Anne Clark isn’t just any musician. Debuting the new single “Teenage Talk” on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon on April 6, Anne Clark and her stage name St. Vincent have crafted an ethereal ballad about young love illustrated by minimalist keyboard and shimmer synths. While it looks like this track may just be a one-off single, always be on the lookout for more St. Vincent greatness.

“Left Of The Dial”—The Replacements Embodying the soul of the willfully messy and massively influential 80s rock band, The Replacements’ “Left Of The Dial” is not only their best song, but also the quintessential love letter to college radio. “And if I don’t see ya, in a long, long while/I’ll try to find you left of the dial,” sings vocalist and guitarist Paul Westerberg as he looks for lost love on the lower end of his FM radio. This song plays like an anthem, but not to the mainstream. It’s meant for an audience of outcasts and misfits, the ones unafraid to wear their hearts on their sleeves. The magic of Westerberg’s lyrics is in their ability to bring that genuineness out of all of us.

Find all these tracks online with our weekly Spotify playlist at observer.case.edu Teddy Eisenberg is a third year programmer at WRUW-FM 91.1 Cleveland. He hosts The ’59 Sound, an exploration of rock music, every Thursday morning from 8-10 a.m.. and co-hosts the variety talk show Max and Teddy in the Morning at Night (Sometimes) on Mondays from 5-6 p.m. The crackle of vinyl warms him on cold Cleveland nights.

All photos courtesy consequenceofsound.net, pitchfork.com, www.rockcellarmagazine.com, www.glidemagazine.com ,prettymuchamazing.com, en.wikipedia.org

Maria Fazal Copy Editor The crisp, bright ambiance of the Cleveland Museum of Art (CMA) has recently received some dark, morbid and downright creepy additions. These new pieces are masterpieces by one of Italy’s most controversial artists, Salvator Rosa.

You can tell a lot about an artist from a self-portrait, and Rosa’s are no exception. Always featured with a dour, contemplative and somewhat sassy expression, Rosa’s self-portraits tell the story of a 17th-century Che Guevara.

Perhaps his most famous self-portrait features Rosa looking characteristically surly, clad in an artist’s smock and beret. He holds a sign written in Latin that reads, “Keep silent unless what you are going to say is more important than silence.”

Another self-portrait shows Rosa standing over a human skull, quill in hand and scrawling the words “Behold, wither, when” on the deceased’s head.

The skull rests on a book by Roman stoic philosopher Seneca, and Rosa’s own head is adorned with cypress, a symbol of mourning. Although Rosa was selective with his voice, when he wanted to be heard, he certainly wasn’t subtle.

The artist brought this strong personality into his other paintings, beginning with appraisals. In a time when artists were restricted by their patrons, Rosa boldly went against the norm.

His contemporary, art historian Filippo Baldinucci, explained: “No one could ever make him agree a fixed price before a picture was finished, and he used to give a very interesting reason for this: He could not instruct his brush to produce paintings worth a particular sum, but when they were completed, he would appraise them on their merits and would then leave it to his friend’s judgment to take them or leave them.”

This “take it or leave it” attitude was a luxury Rosa could afford, given his endless pool of talent and creativity. It is this audacity that led to Rosa becoming one of the best-known artists of his time and an innovator in his field, being one of the first to paint romantic and picturesque landscapes.

This is a good time to mention that, despite the time period’s name, paintings from the Romantic period were not always cheery, colorful things, but rather emphasized intense emotions, such as apprehension, awe, terror and horror, along with the aesthetic beauty of nature.

If this sounds like a strange combination, one look at Rosa’s paintings shows that these emphases are not only functional, but manage to connect with an instinctual corner of the human mind.

Rosa’s art combines unnatural happenings and places them in natural settings, leaving the viewer to believe that any of these bizarre, fantastical situations are not so outlandish.

According to the CMA website, the paintings featured in this particular exhibition “reveal Rosa’s interest in literary and philosophical traditions, the antique, magic, satire and a desire to create images of novel subjects.”

As with most artists, the most important underlying aspect of his work is its reflection of his time period. Guest curator Hannah Segrave, who organized the exhibition, said, “One of my hopes for this show is that people will spend-

Courtesy CMA some time really looking at each of these paintings … to discover the whimsical and gruesome details that can all too easily go unnoticed. Close looking at these paintings will lead to a deeper understanding of the diverse visual culture of witchcraft in the 17th century.”

The exhibition features Rosa’s series of witch paintings and are all circular, or tondi, which gives them a voyeuristic quality. The viewer is allowed to peek into a forbidden, supernatural world, which only adds to the sense of anticipation and apprehension.

The paintings are also surprisingly varied, featuring subjects so different from each other that the works almost seem to come from different artists. On one end of the spectrum are crooked old men and women slaughtering overgrown salamanders and being tormented by something that looks like it came out of the “Gremlins” movie.

On the other hand is a bored-looking, illuminated maiden casually stabbing an overgrown frog in the mouth, giant birds looking on in horror at her flippant attitude.

The underlying element, however, is the skill with which Rosa handled his brush. His paintings are heavily textured; the meticulous strokes he used to create a sharp contrast of smoothness and roughness are highly visible.

He played with light and shadow, bringing forward figures and cleverly concealing others. Rosa’s planned and beautifully eerie paintings are reminiscent to Francisco Goya’s “Black Paintings,” and a work like “Saturn Devouring His Son” would look at home in this dark collection.

Rosa himself declared, “[I paint] purely for my own satisfaction. I need to be transported by enthusiasm, and I can only employ my brushes when I am in ecstasy.”

Those who wish to view the results of Rosa’s efforts and see some of this unorthodox artist’s most famous works are encouraged to stop by one of the CMA’s most ghastly exhibitions.

Event: “The Novel and the Bizarre: Salvator Rosa’s Scenes of Witchcraft” Location: Cleveland Museum of Art Dates: Now through June 14 Price: Free

a&e 14

observer.case.edu

Nintendo Direct defies April Fools, announces upcoming games and products Brian Sherman Staff Reporter Last Wednesday, April 1, Nintendo released a Nintendo Direct, a short presentation about upcoming products and games coming to Nintendo’s consoles, the Nintendo 3DS and the Wii U. Despite the peculiarly chosen date, none of the games presented were an April Fool’s joke.

“Super Smash Bros. for Nintendo 3DS and Wii U”: Right out of the gate, Nintendo presented information about “Super Smash Bros. for Nintendo 3DS and Wii U.” Mewtwo, a highly anticipated “Super Smash Bros.”

DLC character, was showcased in his own character trailer. Fans of “Super Smash Bros. Melee” will be pleased to know that Mewtwo appears to have a very similar moveset as his appearance in that game.

Mewtwo will be released early for those who took advantage of the Club Nintendo offer on April 15 and will be available for purchase on April 28.

Additionally several new costumes for Mii Fighters in “Super Smash Bros. for Nintendo 3DS and Wii U” were announced, including a Link outfit, Mega Man X outfit and Proto Man outfit. These costumes will be available April 15.

But perhaps the biggest news of the Direct came in the next announcement.

Lucas, the player character from the Japanonly “Mother 3” and a fan-favorite character in “Super Smash Bros. Brawl,” was announced as the next DLC fighter. Lucas will be available this June.

Furthermore Nintendo announced the Super Smash Bros. Ballot, a form on the official website that allows all players to voice their opinions on who should be added to “Super Smash Bros. for Nintendo 3DS and Wii U” as a fighter. Already thousands of players have voted in the poll, with characters such as Shovel Knight, Snake, Wolf, Bayonetta, King K. Rool, Shantae and Banjo and Kazooie being among some of the more popular choices. amiibo: Fans of Nintendo’s amiibo figurines will find a lot more use for their amiibo. Nintendo announced “Nintendo’s Greatest Bits,” a free download title that allows amiibo to unlock a demo of a Nintendo title from the Nintendo Entertainment System (NES) or Super Nintendo Entertainment System (SNES) eras of games. The game an amiibo unlocks is randomly generated. As Nintendo President Satoru Iwata himself put it, “That way it’s like a box of chocolates. You never know what you are going to get.”

“Nintendo’s Greatest Bits” will be available this spring.

“Mario Maker”: “Mario Maker,” a game that allows players to create, edit and play their own Mario levels, will be released as a part of the 30th anniversary of Super Mario Bros. Players will be able to play their levels in four different graphical themes: “Super Mario Bros.,” “Super Mario Bros. 3,” “Super Mario World” and “Super Mario Bros. U.” Additionally players will be able to upload their levels for others to play online and can connect levels together so other players can play multiple levels in sequence. The game will release this September.

“Yoshi’s Woolly World”: The next game in the Yoshi series, “Yoshi’s Woolly World,” features Yoshi in a world of yarn, allowing for new puzzles such as weaving platforms or unraveling

yarn walls. A new feature announced for this game is called Mellow Mode, an easier mode that allows players to play as Winged Yoshi, who can fly around levels without having to deal with platforming elements.

Additionally a Yoshi amiibo figure made entirely of yarn was announced and will have a unique compatibility with “Yoshi’s Woolly World,” allowing the player to play with an additional Yoshi. The game will release this fall.

“Splatoon”: A new intellectual property for Nintendo, “Splatoon” is an action shooter that is something of a cross between paintball and a third-person shooter, with the main objective being to cover as much of the ground with your team’s paint color as possible.

New modes were announced, including Splat Zones, a king of the hill-style mode and Battle Dojo, a local one-on-one mode that allows players to train themselves on the stages of the game. Additionally three amiibo for “Splatoon” were announced: Inkling Boy, Girl and Squid. These amiibo will unlock exclusive missions for the game. Releases May 29.

Virtual Console: The Wii U will soon be seeing many Nintendo 64 and Nintendo DS games in its Virtual Console library. Several controller layouts are possible for both virtual consoles. Players who own a Nintendo 64 title on their Nintendo Wii can upgrade to the Wii U version for a discounted price. Currently the service includes “Yoshi’s Island DS,” “Super Mario 64,” “Yoshi Touch & Go” and “WarioWare: Touched!”

Upcoming games include “Donkey Kong 64,” “Mario Kart DS” and “Paper Mario,” releasing on April 16, 23 and 30, respectively.

“Shin Megami Tensei X Fire Emblem”: The much-anticipated crossover between the “Shin Megami Tensei” series and the “Fire Emblem” series only had a small trailer in this Direct. Nintendo of America Director of Product Marketing Bill Trinen described it as a game where “everyday life exists alongside a secret world of fantasy.”

No release date was announced.

“Fatal Frame”: The latest in the “Fatal Frame” series has the player control three characters at a cursed tourist destination. The Wii U gamepad will be used as a camera to both explore the environment and fend off hostile spirits.

The game will release “later this year.”

Nintendo 3DS eShop titles: “Box Boy!”, currently available for the 3DS, is a puzzle platformer where the player controls a block that can create duplicates of himself to solve unique puzzles.

“Pokémon Rumble World,” also currently available on the 3DS, is a free-to-play game where players play as toy Pokémon that fight each other in real-time. “Puzzles & Dragons Z + Puzzles & Dragons: Super Mario Bros. Edition,” available May 22, is a game containing two titles, each with similar tile-matching combat mechanics.

“Attack on Titan: Humanity in Chains,” available in May, has players taking on the role of one of many characters in the famous Attack on Titan anime series, taking down titans by themselves or with their friends.

“Code Name S.T.E.A.M.”: “Code Name S.T.E.A.M.,” a recently released turn-based action strategy game,

will be updated soon to provide a speedup button to decrease waiting time during enemy turns. Additionally Fire Emblem series amiibo, which are compatible with the game, will be restocked soon.

“StreetPass: Mii Plaza”: “StreetPass: Mii Plaza” will be getting an update that will add two purchasable minigames soon: “Ultimate Angler” and “Battleground Z.” “Ultimate Angler” has players catching fish using bait gained from StreetPass hits, while “Battleground Z” has players using weapons gained from StreetPass hits to fend off a zombie outbreak.

Additionally “StreetPass: Mii Plaza Premium” is a premium service that enables some extra features, including StreetPass birthdays and a Mii VIP Room. The update will be available April 16.

“Xenoblade Chronicles 3D”: “Xenoblade Chronicles 3D,” a title exclusive to the New Nintendo 3DS system, will feature the same gameplay and story as the original, with several extra features such as a collection of 3D models and the ability to listen to the game’s entire soundtrack while in sleep mode. The game was released today.

“Fire Emblem”: The next title in the “Fire Emblem” series (subtitle unknown) had a new trailer.

Players will again have a player character take part in the battle, much like in “Fire Emblem: Awakening.” However the player character will take a more prominent role in this game, rather than being a secondary protagonist as in “Fire Emblem: Awakening.” Players will need to take sides in a war between two kingdoms: the peace-loving Hoshido and the glory-seeking Nohr.

What makes the choice interesting is that the player character is born to the Hoshido royalty, but raised by the Nohr royal family. The Hoshido side is more traditional to the series, while the Nohr side is more difficult and more complex. The game is planned to release in 2016.

“Animal Crossing: Happy Home Designer”: “Animal Crossing: Happy Home Designer” is an upcoming game that allows players to experience decorating houses for characters in the “Animal Crossing” series, without the need to do chores like in other games in the series. Additionally Nintendo announced a series of amiibo cards. These cards will function exactly like their figurine counterparts. The first series of cards will be for the “Animal Crossing” series and will unlock characters for “Animal Crossing: Happy Home Designer.” Also a NFC reader for regular Nintendo 3DS and 2DS consoles will be released alongside this game. The game, cards and NFC reader will be released fall 2015.

“Mario Kart 8”: A trailer for the next Mario Kart DLC pack, featuring characters and a course from the “Animal Crossing” series, was displayed. The pack will include three new racers (Isabelle, Villager and Dry Bowser), four new vehicles and eight new courses.

Additionally nine new Mii Racer suits, unlockable by certain amiibo figurines, will be added for free on the same day. Finally a whole new class of karts was announced alongside the free update: 200cc, allowing racers to race at speeds far faster than the current fastest class, 150cc. The DLC pack, new Mii Racer suits, and 200cc racing will be released on April 23.

A huge number of indie games for the Wii U and 3DS were announced: “Adventures of Pip” “Octodad: Dadliest Catch” “Mutant Mudds Super Challenge” “Don’t Starve: Giant Edition” “forma.8” “Dementium: Remastered” “Affordable Space Adventures” “STARWHAL” “Never Alone” “Ninja Pizza Girl” “Antipole DX” “Life of Pixel” “BADLAND: Game of the Year Edition” “Slain!”

“Runbow” “Back to Bed” “Space Hulk” “Race the Sun” “Swords & Soldiers II” “Lionel City Builder 3D: Rise of the Rails” “Toto Temple Deluxe” “The Bridge” (developed by two Case Western Reserve University alumni) “Shutshimi” “Nova-111” “Windup Knight 2”

fun

observer.case.edu

fun page | 15

Once again topping the list of tonight’s hottest rising stars in Hollywood is Zeta Persei! By xkcd

I had a really hard time not writing ‘…profit!’ By xkcd

COM ICS I’m not listening to you. I mean, what does a SQUIRREL know about mental health? By xkcd

Want to work for the Observer?

We’re looking for a photo editor, a social media editor, a director of design (that means fun page!), designers and distributors. ;alskdjf al;skfj

Interested? Email

observer.case.edu

Crossword Puzzle Across 1. Grotto 5. Cut of beef 10. Scoff at 14. Wreaths 15. Leafy shelter 16. Burden 17. Particularly 19. Units of resistance 20. Suffering 21. Small islands 22. Overweight 23. Pixies 25. Become narrower 27. Crimson 28. Statuette 31. A bodily fluid 34. Small freshwater fishes 35. Not bottom 36. Acquire deservedly 37. Fecal matter 38. Carry 39. Contribute 40. Santa’s helpers 41. Half of six 42. Shallow draft boat 44. Compete

45. Gowns 46. Sidelong 50. A large pill 52. Subarctic coniferous forests 54. Nigerian tribesman 55. Analogous 56. Whippersnapper 58. Remnant 59. Different 60. Expunge 61. Convenience 62. Little 63. 1 1 1 1 Down 1. Balls of yarn 2. Fable writer 3. Snake 4. East southeast 5. Lifted 6. Not written exams 7. Competent 8. Winter and summer _________ 9. Attempt 10. Peanut 11. Heir 12. Vagrants

13. Being 18. Quoted 22. Creative work 24. Weightlifters pump this 26. How old we are 28. Aspect 29. Memo 30. Type of sword 31. Nib 32. Stow, as cargo 33. Hospital attendants 34. Cause extensive destruction 37. A flat mass of ice 38. You (archaic) 40. Wanes 41. Moon of Saturn 43. Lollygag 44. Whim 46. Compare 47. Mature 48. Poplar tree 49. Fails to win 50. Invited 51. Gumbo 53. Dull pain 56. Scribble 57. Big fuss

16 | fun page

4/10/15

Horoscopes Aries

(Apr. 19 - May 13) Act quickly because the future is only defined by what we do today.

Taurus

(May 14 - Jun. 19) If salt and pepper can be friends, so can you and your least favorite classmate.

Gemini

(Jun. 20 - Jul. 20) We were at the beach. Everybody had matching towels. Somebody went under a dock and there they saw a rock. It wasn’t a rock. It was a rock lobster.

Cancer

(Jul. 21 - Aug. 9) Strengthen your friendship with acquaintances through mutual complaints about Cleveland weather.

Leo

Nutcase

(Aug. 10 - Sep. 15) Now would be a good time to liquidate some of your funds.

Trust me on this.

Virgo

(Sep. 16 - Oct. 30) “Be yourself and don’t let the haters get you down.”

– Albert Einstein

Libra

(Oct. 31 - Nov. 22) You deserve some ice cream after this week.

Scorpio

(Nov. 23 - Nov. 29) Don’t trust the common room couches. The ants are watching, conspiring, waiting for you to let down your guard.

Ophiuchus

(Nov. 30 - Dec. 17) Don’t live your life in comic sans. least lessen letter lore money neat partner peon pixels population radar result sate scars school staff stark steel suicide surprise trial

Wordsearch

after agent attack bate begin blink breed bribe bright build cats chain chief clock clues crown entire equal furry hire large later

Sagittarius

(Dec. 18 - Jan. 18) You should watch Glee.

Everyone on Glee lives their lives in comic sans.

Capricorn

(Jan. 19 - Feb. 15) Don’t invest in Enron.

Aquarius

(Feb. 16 - Mar. 11) You have a big event coming up, and it’s going to go well.

Like, so well. Crazy well.

Pisces

(Mar. 12 - Apr. 18) Graduation is coming up – freedom is almost here!

Spartans looking sharp

Sports Standings Conference

Baseball

All

Wins

Losses

Percent

Wins

Losses

Percent

Washington

6

2

0.750

18

7

0.720

Emory

6

2

0.750

20

10

0.667

Rochester

4

4

0.500

14

7

0.667

Case Western Reserve

4

4

0.500

11

9

0.550

Brandeis

2

6

0.250

8

14

0.364

New York U.

2

6

0.250

7

15

0.318

Chicago

0

0

0.000

5

10

0.333

Conference

Softball

Losses

Percent

Wins

Losses

Percent

Emory

8

2

0.800

26

4

0.867

Washington

8

2

0.800

25

7

0.781

Rochester

6

4

0.600

10

7

0.588

Case Western Reserve

5

5

0.500

20

7

0.741

Brandeis

3

7

0.300

8

10

0.444

Chicago

0

0

0.000

9

9

0.500

New York U.

0

10

0.000

4

16

0.200

Conference Losses

Percent

Wins

Losses

Percent

Chicago

0

0

0.000

11

3

0.786

Washington

0

0

0.000

12

4

0.750

Emory

0

0

0.000

10

4

0.714

Carnegie Mellon

0

0

0.000

12

7

0.632

Case Western Reserve

0

0

0.000

13

9

0.591

Rochester

0

0

0.000

7

7

0.500

Brandeis

0

0

0.000

5

8

0.385

New York U.

0

0

0.000

1

4

0.200

Conference

All

Wins

Losses

Percent

Wins

Losses

Percent

Emory

0

0

0.000

12

3

0.800

Washington

0

0

0.000

12

4

0.750

New York U.

0

0

0.000

3

1

0.750

Carnegie Mellon

0

0

0.000

12

5

0.706

Case Western Reserve

0

0

0.000

9

6

0.600

Chicago

0

0

0.000

8

8

0.500

Rochester

0

0

0.000

4

6

0.400

Brandeis

0

0

0.000

5

8

0.385

Calendar Varsity Sport Baseball

Friday 4/10 Home vs. Pitt.Greensburg (DH) 2:00 PM & 5:00 PM

Track and Field

Baseball

Away @ Chicago (DH) 11:00 AM & 1:00 PM

All-Ohio Track and Field Championship

Tuesday 4/14

Wednesday 4/15 Home vs. Wooster 4:00 PM

JP. O’Hagan Sports Editor The rain is an unavoidable nuisance for any spring sport, but for the Case Western Reserve University Spartans, it has kept them from a four-game win streak. The team has a one-run lead over cross-town rival John Carroll University in their second game of the originally planned double-header. The game hasn’t been finished due to rain and will recommence at a later date.

However despite the strange circumstances, the Spartans have strung together three strong wins and have won six of their last seven after a rough start to the season.

The Spartans kicked off their play this past week with a pitching dominate sweep of Allegheny at home. In the opening game, the Spartans scored three runs in the first two innings and then scored three insurance runs in the bottom of the eighth.

Allegheny was unable to get on the board until the top of the ninth inning. However their two runs were not enough, as the Spartans walked away with a 6-2 victory.

The Spartans followed up with a 4-0 shutout in the second set.

The Spartans started their away matchup against cross-town rival, John

Baseball

Sunday 4/12 Away @ Marietta (DH) 1:00 PM & 4:00 PM

Away @ Trine (DH) 1:00 PM & 3:30 PM

Softball

Varsity Sport

Saturday 4/11

Andrew Hodowanec/Observer Spartan senior Rob Winemiller prepares for the pitch in a game earlier this season.

All

Wins

Women’s Tennis

Baseball narrowly defeats crosstown rival John Carroll

All

Wins

Men’s Tennis

Thursday 4/16 Away @ Heidelberg 4:00 PM

Carroll University with a flurry of offensive prowess. The Spartans knocked in one run to start the game in the first inning, followed by three runs in the second and two more in the third. After an inning off, the Spartans belted in five more much-needed runs.

They lead the hosts 11-4 until the bottom of the eighth inning, when the Blue Streaks rallied to pressure the Spartans with five runs pulling within two. The Spartans were unable to add to their lead in the top of the ninth, and John Carroll managed to add another run and pull within one before the Spartans were able to seal the deal and pick up their third straight win. The planned second game of the afternoon was rained out in the top of the seventh inning and will be finished at a later date. However the Spartans are in the lead 7-6.

Looking ahead the Spartans will take on perennial powerhouse Marietta on their home turf on Sunday. Marietta knocked the Spartans out of last season’s playoffs and will serve as a good benchmark for a CWRU team which has struggled at points this season.

The Spartans return to action this afternoon, Friday, April 10, as they host the University of Pittsburgh at Greensburg in a double header; action starts at 2 p.m.

1 1 0

CWRU John Carroll

2 3 2

3 2 0

Away @ John Carroll (DH) 3:30 PM and 6:00 PM

4 0 2

CWRU

5 5 0

6 0 0

7 0 0

8 0 5

9 Final H E 0 11 13 0 1 10 11 0

John Carroll

Pos.

Player

AB

H

R

RBI BB

SO

Pos.

Player

CF

A. Cain

4

1

2

1

AB

H

R

1

0

CF

R. Cifelli

4

0

1

1

2

LF

J. Neal

4

2

0

1

3

0

0

RF

M. Pisanello

3

0

0

0

0

LF

W. Meador

1

0

2

0

0

0

0

PH

J. Greco

1

0

0

0

0

3B

A. Gronski

5

1

1

0

1

0

1

J. Molnar

1

0

0

0

0

1

5

1

0

0

0

0

RF

2B

K. Cain E. Eldred

4

2

3

0

1

0

2B

B. Sabatino

5

2

1

1

0

C

0

1B

R. Winemiller

5

3

3

0

0

0

1B

D. Crowlet

3

2

1

0

2

1

PR

N. Glasser

0

0

0

0

0

0

SS

M. Huddle

5

2

0

2

0

1

1B

S. Dayton

0

0

0

0

0

0

3B

M. Raschilla

4

2

3

1

1

1

D. Lykens

2

1

2

0

2

0

RBI BB

SO

DH

W. Hopper

1

0

0

0

0

1

DH

DH

D. Watson

1

0

1

1

1

0

PR

C. Laliberte

0

0

1

0

0

0

RF

A.Damiano

4

2

2

1

1

0

C

J. Schriner

5

2

1

1

0

0

SS

D. Souza

3

1

0

0

0

1

LF

P. Scholla

4

0

0

3

1

2

Totals

37

13

11

7

4

3

Totals

37

11

10

9

8

10

CWRU Pitching

Softball

17

sports

observer.case.edu

John Carroll Pitching

Pitcher

IP

H

R

ER

K. Johnstone B. Simon A. Rossman D. Sondag Totals

6.0 1.0 0.2 1.1 9.0

9 1 1 1 9

4 3 2 1 4

3 3 2 0 3

BB SO HR 2 3 2 1 2

7 0 1 2 7

0 0 0 0 0

Pitcher

IP

H

R

ER

A. Libertini

5.1

7

3

1

BB SO HR 2

3

0

T. Ferretti

0.2

0

0

0

0

0

0

D. Vargo

1.0

1

0

0

0

1

0

Totals

8.0

8

3

1

2

4

0

18

sports

4/10/15

Arko’s Cleveland Corner

Is LeBron the MVP?

That depends on how you define the award Joey Arko Staff Reporter LeBron James is still, and has been for quite some time, the best basketball player on the planet. Even as the king has entered his 30s and has begun to exit his athletic prime, the widespread opinion amongst fans, basketball experts and players alike is that LBJ remains at a level that no other player in the game today has achieved.

What he has maybe began to lose in explosiveness, he has made up for cerebrally.

His mental understanding of the game has evolved to a point where he sees plays unfold before many (if any) other players do.

He also still possesses elite size and speed, and his shot selection has vastly improved over the years, as his game has continuously developed since he first entered the league as an 18-year-old kid with seemingly unlimited potential. Also on any given night he is a triple-double threat, as his passing skills and rebounding prowess allow him to possess basketballs greatest all-around game.

However James is not the leading choice for this season’s Most Valuable Player award.

At this point, the NBA MVP award has boiled down to a two-man race between James Harden of the Houston Rockets and Steph Curry of the Golden State Warriors.

While both players have significant cases for why they deserve the award, James’ season probably deserves more recognition than it has been receiving. There’s also Russell Westbrook, who has almost singlehandedly been clawing and scraping a path towards the NBA playoffs for his Oklahoma City squad for most of the season.

Harden currently has his team in second place in the Western Conference standings, and he has a narrow lead over second-place Westbrook for the NBA scoring title. He has played in nearly all of the Rockets’ games this season, and he has been the focal point of a team that has battled through a slew of injury problems affecting key players. Love him or hate him, there’s no denying his ethe-

real talent on the basketball court.

Meanwhile Curry’s Warriors are in first place in the West and look very much like the team to beat if you want to win an NBA championship. Curry is an offensive magician, who has evolved from a fantastic shooter with good handles to a dangerously potent floor general with a much more complete game than he’s ever had before. While Head Coach Steve Kerr receives much of the praise for the Warriors’ dominance this season (deservedly so), Curry’s emergence as the leader of a very talented team and goto scorer for them has placed him firmly in the thicket of the MVP conversation.

However you can’t ignore what Westbrook has done this season, either. Although his team is currently on the outside of the playoffs looking in, Westbrook has fought tooth and nail every single game to keep his team in the hunt all year long. Oklahoma City has gone the vast majority of this season without superstar (and last year’s MVP) Kevin Durant because of nagging foot problems and also had to endure a four-week period at the beginning of the season without Westbrook due to injuries of his own.

They also somewhat recently lost Serge Ibaka to knee injury, the team’s defensive stallworth and third best player overall. As such Westbrook has been forced to almost literally put the team on his back, and he has put up numbers no one has matched since Michael Jordan. In the months of February and March, Westbrook essentially averaged a triple-double, and his 11 on the year are far and away the best in the league. The biggest knock on him is his poor shooting percentage and knack to turn the ball over. Nonetheless he has a case for the MVP himself.

Then there’s LeBron, who has admittedly had a somewhat pedestrian season statistically (but only by his lofty standards), yet has compiled perhaps the most valuable season to any organization. The Cavs have made a huge turnaround from last season, and while they’re undoubtedly a more talented team than in years past, James is indisputably the largest reason why they’ve

With him they are surviving in the west.

Without Durant though, they are not the same dominating team as last year. It just goes to show how valuable Westbrook has been, putting on a string of dazzling performances to take the team to the fringe-playoff contenders. In terms of value, his has been enormous.

LeBron has a similar case to Westbrook, as his presence on the court for the Cavaliers has directly translated to wins. Last year the Cavs were borderline awful. This year? They’ve all but locked up the numbertwo spot in the Eastern Conference and are among the title favorites. As stated earlier, he is also widely regarded as still being the best overall player in basketball. Anywhere.

For those who point to the fact the Cavs also have had an influx of talent compared to last year’s team, however a lot of the guys currently on the roster would not have came to Cleveland if LeBron hadn’t joined the team. With that in mind, does LeBron gain a boost in value as a sort of pseudo-general manager?

The MVP award should maybe be changed to the MOP (Most Outstanding Player) award. Measuring a player’s value in the NBA is always skewed and extremely hard to determine, but basing the award strictly on a player’s performance throughout the regular season could be easier.

Is it fair to Westbrook that he has been carrying his team all year, while putting up Michael Jordan-like numbers, to not win the award? Is it fair for James not to win it simply because he has already won it fourtimes, even though most everyone considers him the game’s greatest player and his team plays on a much higher level with him on the court? Is it fair that Curry or Harden are the odds-on favorites, based solely on their season-long performances?

Who knows if there’s any clear answer to such questions. Really it all comes down to how you define what the MVP award means.

With that in mind, is the MVP truly always the league’s most valuable player?

turned it around. When he doesn’t play, the team is well below .500 (2-9, I believe), a far cry from their overall record of 50-27.

Furthermore since he returned from a twoweek period of rest back on Jan. 15, the Cavs are a scintillating 23-5.

They’re also riding an 18-game home winning streak, and the last time they did lose at home (not coincidentally) was when James was on that two-week leave of absence. Perhaps the biggest reason he isn’t further up in the MVP conversation is that he has already won the award four times, and people tend to enjoy variation.

With each of these players having strong cases for the award, the question becomes: What does the MVP award really mean?

It stands for the most valuable player, but how do you define that? Every year the award is typically given to the best player on the team that owns the NBA’s best record.

While that isn’t terribly poor logic, it isn’t always the best way to measure value.

For example if Curry were to sit a few games, the Warriors would still be an elite team. Their talent combined with excellent coaching and execution is more than enough to remain a playoff contender even in his absence. While he is the best player for the Warriors, is he necessarily the most valuable player in the entire league?

In terms of strictly value, Westbrook might have the strongest argument. Without him, Oklahoma City wouldn’t even be sniffing playoff contention. Not even close. Just think of last year’s winner, Kevin Durant.

With both Westbrook and Durant generally healthy last season, the Thunder finished second in the Western Conference with a record of 59-23. This year without Durant and Westbrook, they’ve lost nearly all of their games. When Westbrook returned, they suddenly morphed into a team that was capable of winning again. However because they still haven’t had Durant, they are currently the ninth seed in the West and are fighting for the eighth and final playoff spot. Westbrook alone has had a tremendous impact and has elevated his team.

Tennis faces off against high end competition Evan Rose Staff Reporter Both the women’s and men’s tennis teams played key games last week. The women earned a fourth-place finish at the Midwest Invitational, while the men lost a close contest to Carnegie Mellon University (CMU).

Case Western Reserve University competed in the Midwest Invitational in Madison, Wis. on April 3-4, finishing with a 1-2 record. The team defeated University of Wisconsin-Whitewater, but then dropped competitions against DePauw University and the University of Chicago. The Spartans beat UW-W in a 6-3 match on April 3, winning five of the six possible singles matches.

Standout freshman Nithya Kanagasegar won the first singles match in a nail biter in three sets, winning the last set 12-10. Wisconsin-Whitewater was only able to eke out a victory at the fourth singles spot.

The only Spartan doubles team to win was the third team, made up of junior Surya Khadilkar and sophomore Jennifer Lowe.

Khadilkar was also the sole CWRU doubles winner on the day.

The next morning, the women’s team faced off against 14th-ranked DePauw, losing a close game 5-4.

The third doubles team continued their win streak, and Khadilkar was again the

lone doubles winner.

Juniors Michelle Djohan and Sara Zargham scored the rest of the points for the Spartans, winning the number three and four matches, respectively.

The women’s team next travels to face Denison University on April 18, and from there has only one match until the University Athletic Association (UAA) conference championship.

In the afternoon, the CWRU team encountered a much tougher opponent in the Chicago Maroons, losing the contest 8-1 despite winning an encounter earlier in the season 5-4. The lone Spartan scorers were Zargham and Kanagasegar, winning the first doubles match 9-7.

On the men’s side, the team lost a 6-3 match against CWRU’s main rival, ninthranked CMU. Although the Spartans won two of the three doubles matches, the Tartans secured the match in the singles games, taking the points in five of the six.

Senior Will Drougas earned the Spartan’s only victory in singles play, a two-set win over CMU’s Heaney-Secord.

The Spartans now only have a senior-day doubleheader against the College of Wooster and Oberlin College on April 19 before also competing in the UAA Championship and possibly the NCAA Division III Tournament.

Men’s Tennis

CWRU

3

Carnegie Mellon

6

Singles Winner

School

Over

School

By

A. Alla W. Drougas W. Duncan K. Zheng K. Wadwani K. Kirkov

CMU CWRU CMU CMU CMU CMU

C. Krimbill C. Heaney-Secprd V. Simhadri L. Stuerke B. van Lent A. Komarov

CWRU CMU CWRU CWRU CWRU CWRU

6-2, 6-3 6-1, 6-4 10-8, 6-2 6-1, 6-4 6-0, 2-6 ,6-0 5-7, 6-4, 6-3

Doubles Winner C. Heaney-Secprd W. Drougas T. Chen

School W. Duncan V. Simhadri A. Komarov

CMU CWRU CWRU

Women’s Tennis

Over C. Krimbill J. Kasbeer B. Beisswanger

L. Stuerke K. Zheng Y. Kumar

School

By

CWRU CMU CMU

8-6 8-6 8-6

CWRU

4

DePauw

5

Singles Winner

School

Over

School

By

C. Marshall M. MacPhail M. Djohan S. Zargham C. Huerth S. Khadilkar

DPUW DPUW CWRU CWRU DPUW CWRU

N. Kanagasegar M. Bonanno T. Mahr J. Wittwer N. Cepeda M. Lee

CWRU CWRU DPUW DPUW CWRU DPUW

6-3, 6-1 6-0, 6-1 6-3, 6-2 6-3, 6-3 7-6 (7-5), 2-6, 10-7 6-2, 3-6, 13-11

Doubles Winner C. Marshall M. MacPhail J. Wittwer K. Pickrel S. Khadilkar J. Lowe

School DPUW DPUW CWRU

Over N. Kanagasegar S. Zargham M. Bonanno M. Djohan T. Mahr C. Huerth

School CWRU CWRU DPUW

By 8-5 8-3 8-4

19

sports

observer.case.edu

Editor’s choice

Excellence on the diamond Pair of losses only a bump in the road for Spartans

JP. O’Hagan Sports Editor The win streak is over, but the Spartans have taken the losses in stride.

The Spartans had a busy weekend, as they played six games in a four-day span from Friday to Monday.

The Spartans kicked off the weekend with a pair of losses to visiting Bluffton University. These losses are the Case Western Reserve University squad’s first two since returning from Florida and the University Athletic Association’s (UAA) championship tournament. The Spartans opened the first game by scoring seven runs before Bluffton responded with 11 unanswered runs to take the victory.

“You need to finish people,” said head coach Josie Henry. “They weren’t striking up out, the pitching wasn’t dominate. We just were hitting the ball hard straight at people.”

The losses however were a learning experience for the Spartans, as they were able to bounce back on their Saturday doubleheader at the College of Wooster.

The Spartans looked to avoid pitfalls they had earlier in the season, where one rough day would snowball into a losing streak.

The Spartans did this perfectly, as they handily beat Wooster by scores of 6-0 and 4-2 in the double header.

The Spartans followed up this effort

with a 4-2 and 11-4 pair of victories over Denison University on Monday.

The Spartans were scheduled to take on Heidelberg University, but the rain has led to cancellations, a tough circumstance for the Spartans. When games are postponed, there is obviously limited time for the teams to reschedule. However the Spartans often draw the short stick in these situations, as their games for the rest of the season are non-conference, and opponents are more concerned with getting their required conference games in than playing games against CWRU. The rain however isn’t an issue once games are able to be played.

“We have a great grounds crew,” said Henry. “Plus the field is well designed so that the water runs off the playing field, and everything dries quickly.”

The Spartans will be taking on Trine University and UAA rival University of Chicago this weekend, both matchups are key for the Spartans as they enter the final stretch of the season. Trine is a perennial powerhouse that will provide the Spartans their toughest challenge since the UAA tournament. Should the Spartans play up to the same level of play they have exhibited, talks of the playoffs are on the horizon.

“We can’t take a day off,” said Henry.

“We have to make sure we play at 100 percent.”

Andrew Hodowanec/Observer Spartan catcher Abi Groseclose dives to tag the incoming runner in a close play at the plate in a game earlier this season.

Softball

1 0 0

Denison CWRU

2 0 3

3 0 1

4 0 0

CWRU

6 0 0

7 0 X

Final 2 4

H 7 7

E 0 1

Denison

Pos.

Player

AB

H

R

2B

M. O'Brien

2

1

1

2

1

0

CF

K. Wede

3

2

0

1

0

0

P

5 2 0

RBI BB SO

A. Parello

1

0

0

0

2

0

PR

L. Robinson

0

0

0

0

0

0

DP

G. Roberts

2

1

1

1

1

0

P

A. Wennerberg

3

0

0

0

0

1

Pos.

Player

AB

H

R

RBI

BB

SO

1B

J. Rooney

3

1

0

2

1

1

SS

M. Vazquez

4

2

0

0

0

1

LF

L. Kenyon

4

0

0

0

0

1

RF

M. Mounts

3

1

0

0

0

1

1B

R. Taylor

3

2

0

0

0

0

DP

R. Lee

3

0

0

0

0

1

PR

K. Klemmer

0

0

0

0

0

0

P

K. Hager

3

0

0

0

0

1

SS

E. Dreger

2

0

1

0

1

1

3B

C. Scherer

2

1

0

0

0

0

CF

L. Secaras

3

1

0

0

0

0

C

A. Groseclose

2B

E. Lipsitz

3

2

1

0

0

0

3B

E. Henry

2

0

1

0

0

1

C

A. Balch

1

0

0

0

0

0

Totals

29

2

7

2

1

7

ER

BB SO HR

1

0

1

0

1

0

PH

G. Tritchler

1

0

0

0

0

0

LF

A. Filliez

0

0

0

0

0

0

1B

M. Waldner Totals

0

0

0

0

0

0

20

4

7

4

6

2

CWRU Pitching

Denison Pitching

Pitcher

IP

H

R

ER

A. Wennerberg R. Taylor Totals

4.2 2.1 7.0

6 1 7

2 0 2

2 0 2

BB SO HR 0 1 1

5 2 7

0 0 0

Pitcher

IP

H

R

L. Secaras

6

7

4

4

6

2

1

Totals

6

7

4

4

6

2

1

Intramural basketball tournament finishes in a flourish David Hoffman Staff Reporter Case Western Reserve University’s version of March Madness was fun while it lasted, but all good things must come to an end. The champions of the intramural leagues have been crowned, and everyone is already uttering that timeless phrase: “Wait until next year.” Allow us to update you on how the tournaments played out.

In the Co-Rec Self-Officiated League, the semifinals saw Paid in Full throttle Macroballs 47-26 while Willard defeated Phi Delt and Friends 42-22. In the finals, Willard held off Paid in Full by a final score of 46-42 to become the last team standing in the league.

In the Fraternity B No Refs League, the semifinals tipped off with Zeta Beta Tau B eking out a 36-33 victory against Phi Delt C in an

instant classic. That was followed up by another barn burner, as Delt B emerged victorious over SigEp C in a 23-21 defensive struggle.

In the finals, Zeta Beta Tau B survived Delt B by a 31-28 score to earn the league’s bragging rights for the offseason.

In the Fraternity No Refs League, the semifinals began with SigEp A edging out delta upsilon in a tight contest with a final count of 2826. Sigma Chi then proceeded to defeat Delt A rather handily by a score of 34-22. The finals proved to be a cakewalk for Sigma Chi, as they doubled up SigEp A in the title game 42-21 to stake their claim to the league championship.

The Open Paid Officials League saw tons of action the past couple weeks. The second round began with BeGreat.com defeating The Wolfpugs in a 73-52 shootout. Veteran Presence eliminated Team Guenther by a final tally of 43-27, while Monstars had little trouble dis-

patching Flint Tropics from the tournament by a 56-36 score. I Get Buckets mauled A.R.C. CREW 64-31. Tune Squad emerged victorious against Dirty Dental Dump to advance to the next round. The Stripes ran The Smash Bros out of the gym, with the final score being 57-30 when all was said and done. You Know Why We’re Here knocked off Free Riders to keep their season alive, and the round concluded with Rich-What? eliminating THE All Night Samplers by a 52-31 score. The quarterfinals saw BeGreat.com almost double up Veteran Presence with a final count of 55-28.

I Get Buckets eked out a 65-61 win over Monstars, while Tune Squad triumphed against The Stripes in a close one 41-38. Finally, You Know Why We’re Here prevailed over RichWhat? 33-29 to move on to the next round of play. The semifinals promise to bring more excitement in the near future.

In the Open Self-Officiated League, the quarterfinals began with M4evah prevailing against #TeamGetSwole by a score of 51-22.

Basketball Team defeated K540 to keep their title hopes alive, while Hemoglobin Trotters emerged victorious against TiP TOE WiNG JAWWDiNZ 27-21. Runnin’ Gunners easily defeated Dream Runner by a 41-21 count to conclude the round. In the semifinals, M4evah dominated Basketball Team from the start in a 61-26 victory. Runnin’ Gunners emerged triumphant over Hemoglobin Trotters by a 35-27 score. The title game proved somewhat close, but M4evah was ultimately too much for Runnin’ Gunners as they won 46-37 and took home the title.

Congratulations to the league champions, and better luck to the other teams next year. We can only hope next year’s action matches the excitement that this year’s playoffs brought us.

sports Six months later

A look at the Wyant Center and its impact on campus

JP. O’Hagan Sports Editor

The ribbon was cut, the food was eaten and the party is over.

Six months ago yesterday, on Oct. 9, athletes, administrators and alumni gathered on the top floor of the brand new Wyant Athletic & Wellness Center. Situated at the north end of the Village at 115th and DiSanto Field, the Wyant Center was set to serve as a muchneeded addition to campus, a second fitness center located closer to the students in the North Residential Village (NRV).

However now that the construction crews are gone and the party has been cleaned up, the shine and excitement has diminished and the “new-building-smell” is definitely gone.

Now is the perfect time to step back and analyze the true benefits of this building, and see if this building is serving its purpose.

The biggest benefit of the center has been for student athletes. As President Barbara R. Snyder pointed out during the dedication, the walk to the Veale Center from the NRV is 20-22 minutes depending on the route you take. As any Case Western Reserve University student will tell you, they could all use more time. The Wyant Center provides a time-saving opportunity for those looking to balance fitness and their half a dozen other commitments.

“Wyant saves a ton of time,” said senior Spartan swimmer Eric Haufler. “It used to be a 40-minute walk and now it’s 25 feet, and I’m at the gym.” The Wyant Center boasts the 4,500-square foot Steve Belichick Varsity Weight Room, the 4,200-square foot DiGeronimo Fitness Center as well as the 2,500-square foot Varsity Club on the top floor of the building. All these features were much needed additions for students.

Beyond the convenience factor, the Wyant Center has upheld its goal of furthering the athletic pursuits of CWRU’s student athletes. The varsity teams have already seen improvements in their seasons due to the fitness center.

“We used the weight room twice a week this winter for team lifts, and the space is the perfect size for our group. It has all of the equipment necessary for us to improve physically as well as build necessary team chemistry to be successful,” said men’s soc-

Andrew Hodowanec/Observer The Wyant Athletic and Wellness Center, now six months since its opening, has served as an important improvement to the North Residential Village. cer head coach Brandon Bianco.

The first teams to benefit, the fall sports, see the building as an invaluable resource.

“The building is aiding our student-athletes in all of their pursuits both on and off the field,” said women’s soccer head coach Tiffany Crooks. “It will continue to be a great resource for us in the fall.”

Furthermore a few coaches mentioned that the shiny new Wyant Center has been a great spot to show potential incoming athletes to show that CWRU, a notoriously academicsfocused school, still cares about athletics.

Spring sports have seen the most immediate increase in the benefits during the season.

The spaces in the building have allowed softball and baseball teams the ability to combine their workout and practice times in proximity.

“We used to have to all pile into cars after practice and head over to Veale,” said softball head coach Josie Henry. “Most of the time we would just do bodyweight workouts at the field, but there is only so much improvement you can see with push-ups and crunches.”

Wyant Center has provided that space

Andrew Hodowanec/Observer The Wyant Center is a huge convenience for students living in the Village, saving them the 20 minute walk to Veale.

conveniently close to the fields.

In addition to the benefits for the students in terms of athletics and fitness, the upper level provides a new space for campus to use.

The baseball team held a Super Bowl party in the Varsity Club, situated on the top floor, and this week the Center for Civic Engagement and Learning scholars are using the room for their recognition ceremony. The outdoor Stu’s Balcony, while remaining rather unused over the harsh winter, hosted pre-game events at the end of last fall season and will likely be a community area in the coming years. Also a phase two has been announced for the Wyant Center, planned currently to house 15,000 square feet of indoor practice space and artificial turf.

However the building is not without some flaws. The entrance is on the opposite side of the building from nearly everywhere on the NRV, which is a minor design flaw and inconvenience. Furthermore losses of time to use the weight room, due to reserved varsity team workouts, will cause a grumble or two when students were planning to work out and

find out they need to wait.

“It’s smaller and doesn’t have quite as big of a variety as I typically use, so I just go to Veale,” said sophomore Paul Sulser.

In addition the weight room was missing some vital equipment at the opening of the center. While these weights have since been put in place, there still aren’t a few requested items.

“There are always things that could be improved,” said Haufler. “They could add mirrors in the weight room; that would be a big improvement.”

Another limitation is the need for more storage space for those working out, especially during the winter months when boots and coats need to be stored.

Even though the Wyant Center has lost the shine and excitement that accompanied its opening, it has become an instrumental part of campus. It seamlessly filled a need for the campus community and thus far has no major flaws. The Wyant Center, even six months later when the cracks can start to show, has been a great addition to campus and hopefully will continue to be so for years to come.

Andrew Hodowanec/Observer The view from Stu’s Balcony. The balcony will likely play a larger role come the fall for events and for watching games on DiSanto Field.