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Big Easy Confessions How clean is your favorite bar? p3

The ‘Quarter Confessions’ crew tells all p4

Which dating app gets results? p7

Column: A Retrograde Reaction

By Bernadette Locke Photo Illustration by Ariel Landry Mercury retrograde is finally over, which means one of two things: either an audible sigh of relief or a perplexed expression.

Whether you try to guess what random stranger’s zodiac signs are, or you just don’t care, you probably don’t actually know what Mercury retrograde means. This is a breakdown of Mercury retrograde, with everything from planetary explanations to how to prepare for the next retrograde.

So what happens during a Mercury retrograde? According to Astrologist Cassandra Tyndall, Mercury travels faster than Earth does, meaning that when Mercury travels around the sun and catches up with Earth, an optical illusion happens where Mercury looks as though it stops and moves backwards. Think about when you are in a car and another car drives past you; for a second, the second car seems to move backwards. This effect with Mercury happens for about three weeks, three times a year.

In astrology, Mercury rules communication, travel and technology. Tyndall describes it as “a planet of the mind” where it describes “how we think, how we intake

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the information and how we process the information.” This, to a vast majority, means a constant lack of miscommunication and general mishaps. To Tyndall, this phenomenon is not entirely out of the range of possibility.

“We all know the moon controls the tides,” Tyndall proposed.

Another factor to consider is what Zodiac sign Mercury retrograde happens in, and this previous one happened in Pisces.

Pisces, being a water sign, means a more emotional, compassionate retrograde so being sadder or more sensitive during this time is normal. Of the three water signs, it is the “mutable” one; think about how water, when poured into an open space, flows and spreads out, clinging to what it touches.

Pisces is known for its natural ability to feel anything and everything.

“It was a bit intense,” Tyndall describes the first retrograde of 2019.

If the moon controls the tides, it cannot be completely dismissed that a planet ruling communication would be able to control people. My personal journey through

Mercury retrograde was, for lack of a better word, overwhelming. Although it began with unfortunate events, my ability to communicate prolonged the inner turmoil I dealt with. Thanks to Pisces season, I had an abundance of emotions that I could not formulate into words, and for me, communication is necessary for my sanity. It felt like a vicious cycle of being fed bad news and not being able to process it clearly, and I don’t think that it was a coincidence that things started to feel calmer after March 28, the end of Mercury retrograde. This, for many people in my life, was a similar experience.

Since Mercury retrograde is unavoidable, one can prepare and plan before the cycle by making his or her schedule less hectic in order to anticipate any mental or technological setbacks. Although Mercury retrograde harbors a bad reputation, it can actually be a great time to focus on oneself, spend less time on social media and “chill out from the information overload,” as assured by Tyndall.

The next cycles are July 7 to July 31 and Oct. 31 to Nov. 20.

How clean is your college bar?

By Erin Snodgrass Photo by Hannah Renton A college student walks into a bar. She orders a drink or two or three.

She eats some chicken fingers and uses the restroom. She dances the night away, never once granting thought to the various health code violations plaguing the institution. Fleas hovering around the kitchen, dirty silverware and improperly labeled chemicals lurk somewhere far from her mind. The bar’s patron out for a night of drinks has no reason to ponder such contaminations or even contemplate their existence. But exist they do.

We combed through the Louisiana Department of Health’s most recent health inspections for ten of New Orleans’ bars most frequented by Loyola students and learned more than we maybe wanted to about our favorite late-night hangouts.

The Department of Health docks restaurants and bars in two different categories: critical and non-critical. Critical violations are those that are likely to directly contribute to food contamination or illness, according the Department. Non-critical violations are those not directly related to food borne illness, but if left uncorrected, could become critical.

According to the Department of Health website, establishments are inspected on a risk category base, meaning that frequency of inspections depends on the type of establishment and inspections are performed one to four times a year depending on that classification. We looked at the three most recent inspections for each bar. For some, all three inspections took place this year. Others have inspection records dating back to 2017. Thus, the Department adds a disclaimer to their website, noting, “inspections are a ‘snapshot’ in time and are not always reflective of the day-to-day operations and overall condition of an establishment.”

To read about the actual violations each bar was cited for, including fruit flies, standing water, and toxic labeling, visit loyolamaroon.com.

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Q&A with ‘Quarter Confessions’ I didn’t even have both feet out of the car before I heard what would be the first of many enthusiastic onlookers gawking at Andrew Callaghan, the star of the hit show “Quarter Confessions.” Standing nearly 6 feet tall with a bowler hat and a bright green jacket that was decked out with fleur-de-lis, he’d have been pretty hard to miss before the show went viral. But after several comedians helped the show gain traction on Instagram, people became willing to wade, or more accurately push, through a thick Bourbon Street crowd for a chance to tell Callaghan their deepest, darkest secret.

A few people watch from a distance as the crew prepares for the shoot. I agree to hold a hat and a button up for him, he’s going to have his hands full wrestling the mike away from some of his drunker guests, because he’s got a photoshoot after the show.

“That’s not real, by the way,” said Callaghan as crew member Martin Bégué pulls what looks at first glance to be a boom mike. Apparently, it’s an attachment for a vacuum cleaner, but it completes the look, and Bégué never once breaks character throughout the night.

No matter how absurd the confessions got throughout the night, Callaghan and crew, which included Bégué, as well as director and videographer and Loyola alumnus Mike Moises stay professional and on task, committed to recounting those hidden tales of yore.

By Tyler Wann

Previous episodes have involved confessions of sexual deviancy.

Affairs have been admitted to. Childhood secrets have been revealed.

One very flexible man showed the world a very surprising talent. So maybe it shouldn’t have surprised me when we heard a man loudly express his love for a scandalous sex act in the company of his mother.

As the night went on, I realized that this was going to be pretty par for the course. As soon as it was clear that the show was rolling, everyone and, in some cases, their actual mother crowded Callaghan, reaching for anything that might make it into an episode. Not every secret was sexual — one man recounted the tragic tale of the time he soiled himself in public — but the acquisition of carnal knowledge fueled many of the stories we were told.

It became clear pretty early on that Callaghan had reached some sort of celebrity status. Wherever he went, a moderate crowd would follow, some for a chance in front of the camera, others just to watch the spectacle unfold. Like Moses parting the Red Sea, but in reverse, people from either sides of the sidewalk would converge onto the street behind Callaghan and the crew. Some faces stuck around longer than others, with different people getting on and off the ride at different points around the quarter. After about three hours, we had made it back to the car where we originally began.

Moises(left) and Callaghan(right) during a shoot. Photo by Mandy Torres. Cover by Nick Boulet.

I later sat down with Callaghan and Moises to talk about the shoot and their experiences with the show in general. It was not their first interview. They were already expecting, and seemed a little tired of answering the usual “how did you come up with idea?” (“It was just an idea I had,” said Mike). We ended up talking about some of the questions I had regarding the shooting process after seeing it first hand, and how it’s been impacted by the group’s success. The following interview has been edited for length and clarity.

Does it feel less “raw” now that you guys have sort of blown up?

Callaghan: Yeah, well we don’t post the less “raw” clips, but the experience of filming is definitely less raw because when we hit the streets everyone’s like “it’s those f---ing guys!” It used to be that we had to explain ourselves to people and some people were more open to it because of that. It makes people more down to talk to us, but it also makes people more apprehensive I think.

Moises: Before we used to have good footage and bad footage, and now we have good footage and bad footage, as well as people who are just thirsty to be on the show.

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Yeah, I noticed that we didn’t make it fifteen steps before people came up to you. How recent is that?

Moises: Like the last couple of months. This stuff has been happening really fast.

Callaghan: To put it into perspective, we did our first shoot in October. It didn’t really pop off virally until December.

What’s it like having people all over you when you shoot?

Callaghan: Good, I guess!

Moises: I feel like we just, like, roll right through it to.

Callaghan: It’s obvious when someone is just freaking out, like when they aren’t going to say s---.

So when do you guys draw the line of at “this person’s too drunk to talk to, they’re going to be pissed if they see themselves tomorrow?”

Moises: We can just feel it out when we’re doing it. Most of the people we do interviews with who end up going in are pretty much fully coherent.

Callaghan. Yeah we don’t do that, I think it would turn our audience off too.

Moises: It’s also extremely frustrating. I don’t know if you’ve ever tried to interview someone who’s blackout drunkCallaghan: If a fool’s blacked out, it usually goes horribly after two or three questions.

So has anyone ever gotten really pissed when they saw themselves on the show?

Moises: We’ve had a handful of people who will hit us up and ask us to blur them and we’ll work with them. But really, it’s been like one person.

Callaghan: So this girl, she’s a college sorority chick and she said the name of her sorority and said that she was cheating on her boyfriend and pointed to the guy she was next to and then flashed the camera, which we obviously censored. That girl threatened to sue us, and I think she got dropped from her sorority. So just out of respect we took it down.

To read the rest of the interview, visit loyolamaroon.com

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JC’s Declassified School Survival Guide: Studying Abroad Bonjour! That’s “hello” in French.

These are just some of the things one picks up on the streets of Europe, as studying abroad opens you up to a whole new world and often can feel like a whole new new-college experience. It’s different. It’s exciting.

It can even be a little anxiety-inducing, and that’s okay. Whether you’re traveling through foreign countries you can’t even pronounce or studying in an area where every one more or less still speaks English, here are some tips for studying abroad.

Your results may vary.

1. Don’t hide who you are. From my personal experience, Europeans are fascinated

by Americans. Lots of my friends have gone on and on about how much they love my accent. My flatmate even said that it sounded like an action hero’s like Jack Bauer or Ethan Hunt. That being said, the cultural infatuation is mutual. One of the best things I’ve ever heard to this day is my mate go “Ya boy, ya-yeet” in a heavy Welsh accent. Being immersed in an entirely new culture is guaranteed to bring out a whole new side of you that maybe you didn’t even know about.

2. Look at the world through the eyes of a 5-year-old. Remember when you were a kid playing “Pokémon” and just started up in a completely new region, or watching “Avatar: The Last Airbender” and the gang traveled to cities built on mountains or an underground

spirit library? Remember the excitement of exploring these magical worlds we grew up in: The Wizarding World of Harry Potter, Camp Half-Blood, Narnia. Childlike wonder is an underrated currency, but essential in exploring new cities and new cultures. If you go to Budapest, Switzerland or the Philippines with even half of that childlike excitement of exploring the “Pokémon” world or Hogwartz as a 5-year-old, it’s going to be an unforgettable experience.

3. Budgeting is probably the most important thing you can do abroad — behind studying, I guess. Not just in currency exchange, but the whole culture of spending could be entirely different. For me, even though the pound was worth a little bit more than the dollar, I was still met with shock when my flatmates found out I spent whooping 26 euros at a grocery store when I would probably spend at least twice as much at a Walmart or Rouses back home. And, even with travel, I’ve been backpacking Europe for my second week now, and travel passes and hostels are the way to go. The further ahead you plan your trip and budget, the less of a headache it is to deal with later.

4. Remember that you’re doing this for you. This isn’t for your your friends and family back home to see you doing all these amazing things. It’s for you to experience and get the most out of. I highly recommend staying off or deleting social media entirely on the

by JC Canicosa

first week of your travels or immersion at least. Your friends’ 2 a.m. F&M’s Snapchat stories can wait, and you’re going to be glad they did. It’s so much harder to be present and experience what’s going on around you when you’re constantly plotting which angles you want to hit for your Instagram in the Sistine Chapel. Comedian and director Bo Burnham has hit on a lot of amazing social commentary about social media. Here’s one of them.

“What do we want more than to lie in our bed at the end of the day and just watch our life as a satisfied audience member. I know very little about anything. But what I do know is that if you can live your life without an audience, you should do it.” said Burnham.

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Column: Tinder v Bumble

By Shamaria Bell Photo Illustration by Ariel Landry, inspired by real conversations Tinder was a wild ride from start to finish. I have never had a serious relationship before college because I attended two all-girls schools. Not one, but two! This contributed to my inexperience in the dating life along with my mother who chased boys and girls alike away. My mom felt that boys were nothing but trouble and that girls shouldn’t like girls, so I hid away my rainbow sketches and undying support for Ellen DeGeneres.

So when I came to college, the first thing I did was make a Tinder profile.

I had heard and seen so many stories and YouTube videos filled with success and horror stories alike. I made one alongside my suite-mate in her room and began swiping.

I got constant matches. The summer air meant everyone was trying to get their last flings in before summer ended. Many of the guys never texted me first which caused my confidence to hit. I asked myself, am I not that pretty? Did they lose interest? My anxiety went up more and more as more shallow matches poured through.

Some of them were real. Actual guys who just wanted to comment on my A+ bio or that my pictures were cute. Of course there were Snapchat drops and men downright asking for a hook-up. It occurred to me that I may not be the only person in a 20 mile radius that did not want to hook up with a stranger.

So after one too many lewd pictures sent over Snapchat and bios that read “I’m here for a good time, not a long time”, I deleted the app and got a real girlfriend. But after our relationship ended, I decided it was time to get back in the game. However, my Tinder was heavily impacted by cuffing season and in a place of sheer boredom and need for validation, I downloaded Bumble.

Many people are looking for relationships on Bumble and with its style, it makes it easier. Participants make a profile that consists of ice-breakers, photos and most importantly, descriptions of things such as height, religion, political affiliation and pets. The descriptions set Bumble apart from the quick swiping nature of Tinder and helps narrow match results. With its feature to look for certain traits over others, you can get a nearly perfect match. I never went on a Tinder date within the four months I had a profile, but I scored a Bumble date the first day I downloaded it.

Bumble gets results.

However, Bumble is not significantly different from Tinder, it just has an audience that knows their angle. I have gotten many “come thru” texts with invitations promising drinks at bars I can’t get into. One guy even asked for some frisky favors in return for Hamilton tickets. I not-so-politely declined and blocked him. I have never needed a man to buy me Hamilton tickets and I never will.

And Bumble’s system where girls text matches first is progressive but sometimes tiring. My mood would drop when a really cute guys who I matched with would expire and the only way to get it back was spending fifteen dollars. Or, when the number of “perfect matches,” ran out the app would reload and I’d be faced with men who lived 25 or 50 miles away.

Either way, the bios will always be hilarious. My friends and I have spent many nights bonding over the hilarious pick-up lines, the cringey fisherman pictures and the downright pretentious a-holes who think women owe them something. The world has good and bad people so it makes sense that Tinder and Bumble contain both.

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