STUDENT LIFE
THE INDEPENDENT NEWSPAPER OF WASHINGTON UNIVERSIT Y IN ST. LOUIS SINCE 1878 Is feminism a practicable ideal for University femmes hoping to balance work and home life after college? Find out in Scene. Page 6.
Olin Library is a madhouse! Zach Goodwin John Hewitt and Steven Hoffman: relevant explores what happens when innocent schol- rivals, or irrelevant renegades? The debate ars try to evade the cold there. Page 5. never lets up inside Forum. Page 5.
VOLUME 127, NO. 35
Our Sports editors show their scars and tell their most gruesome sports injury stories. Page 10.
FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 18, 2005
WWW.STUDLIFE.COM
WUTV broadcasts to aid Forest Park By Maria Friedman Contributing Reporter Washington University Television begins broadcasting a live telethon tonight from 5-9 p.m. to benefit Forest Park Forever, a nonprofit organization dedicated to beautifying and improving the facilities of Forest Park. Forest Park Forever was founded in 1986 with the goal of improving existing facilities in the park. In 1995, it partnered up with the City of St. Louis and raised $94 million for improvements to the infrastructure, landscaping, facilities and historic buildings of Forest Park. The fi rst stage of improvements was fi nished in 2003, and it is estimated that in the near future the organization will need to raise $3 million annually in order to sustain the park’s maintenance. “We were approached by two students who came to us with the idea about Forest Park Forever, and we were interested in being involved because we see how many students there are
that already utilize the park, but we think there are plenty more that don’t know what it has to offer,” said Lucie Springmeyer, senior vice president of Forest Park Forever. Sophomore Ben Nanes, the producer for the Washington University Television (WUTV) telethon, explained the features of the broadcast. “We’ve done an interview with people from Forest Park Forever and will play those interviews to let them tell students about it,” said Nanes. “We also hope to have a panel of students talk about other charity organizations they’ve been involved with at Wash. U. so that students can learn about other options for getting involved in the community.” If students want a moment in the spotlight, tonight’s telethon may be their shot at fame. Nanes said they “will also have a camera in Wohl, so if you want to be on WUTV, just go there during the telethon.” Several student groups will be performing live during the telethon, including the improv
group K.A.R.L., the a cappella group Staam and the jazz band Learned Hand Quartet. The offcampus bands Hybrid Dysgenesis and Uncle Hal will also make an appearance. Staam will be performing from 5:15-5:30 p.m., starting off the night’s entertainment. Sophomore Sari Abraham, the president of Staam, explained her group’s motivation to participate. “The president of WUTV, Jonah Sobol, is a senior and a member of Staam, and he explained to us the importance of participating in the telethon, because Forest Park is a huge resource right next to our campus, and since we use it we should really contribute to its upkeep,” said Abraham. “We really love any opportunity to get ourselves involved in the community.” Nanes hopes that the telethon will help create a stronger link between Forest Park and Wash. U. students. “Since Forest Park Forever works to support Forest Park, which is used by so many Wash.
U. students, we thought that it would be a great way to help let people know what’s out there. This is the fi rst year we’re doing the telethon, and we hope to be able to continue it in the future.” Springmeyer voiced similar reasons for the organization’s participation in the telethon. “We’d love for it to raise awareness on campus both with the students and with the faculty and staff. We really want you to be active neighbors, whether that means a jog every morning, surfi ng the Web on our wi-fi or spending time in the boathouse,” said Springmeyer. The organization would love to see students help out in others ways, too, including by volunteering. “We can come up with a project that appeals to any group that wants to volunteer. There are plenty of opportunities based on whatever the student’s interests are, and we can try to help place that interest within the park,” said Springmeyer. In conjunction with the telethon, Forest Park Forever is
COURTESY OF WUTV
Junior Nick Hornback works in the editing room of WUTV during an episode of “Missionary Positions.” WUTV is broadcasting a telethon tonight to raise money to benefit Forest Park. offering a special student discount on memberships. Springmeyer explained that students who join through the Web site can receive the benefit package associated with a $100 membership for only $25. By select-
ing the “other” membership type on the registration form at www.forestparkforever.org and typing in the password “WUTV,” a student can receive that dis-
See WUTV, page 2
Women more prone to knee injuries SPPIF tackles peace By Laura Geggel News Editor Less than one month into her freshman year two years ago, Cristina Fernandez tore her anterior cruciate ligament while practicing for club soccer. “I was just going in for a tackle. My foot didn’t hit the ball, it didn’t hit anybody, I just sort of kicked it out in kind of an awkward position,” Fernandez said. “As soon as I did, I just felt something inside of me completely rip apart. I heard it, I felt it, and as soon as I fell to the ground, I knew it was an ACL tear. It was the worst pain I had ever felt in my entire life.” “You always read that women are more prone to these injuries, but you never actually think that it’s going to happen to you,” she said. Anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) tears, patella femoral pain and iliotibial (IT) band syndrome are just a few injuries that women tend to experience more than men, according to new research from the Washington University School of Medicine. “It all stems back to the differences in anatomy: how the pelvis is formed and how the connection to the lower limb occurs [in women],” explained Devyani Hunt, M.D., instructor of physical medicine and rehabilitation in orthopedic surgery at the School of Medicine, who just co-authored a study with Heidi Prather, D.O., assistant professor of physical medicine and rehabilitation in the same department. Their study, “Issues Unique to Female Runners,” was published in Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation in Clinics of North America. “Because of the width of the
hip and the angles of the knee and the hip, there are different forces that go across the knee that make them more prone to patella femoral syndrome and the non-contact ACL tears,” said Hunt. The ACL, one of four ligaments involved in stabilizing the knee, connects the femur of the upper leg to the tibia below the knee. By preventing the tibia from coming too far forward, the ACL deters dislocation of the knee joint. Ligaments, which connect bones or cartilages at a joint, are made of tough, fibrous ropelike material. True to its name, the anterior cruciate ligament crosses with the posterior cruciate ligament to form an X, or a cruciate (cross), at the knee. Richard Larsen, Washington University’s head athletic trainer, has catalogued the occurrence of 33 ACL injuries over the past 12 years. While football leads the list with 16 total ACL injuries, probably because of the greater forces football players undergo, women’s soccer and basketball each had six tears, three times as many
To read more real-life sports injury stories, check out the back page of Sports. when compared to both men’s soccer and basketball, which each had two ACL injuries. “It was striking that we have exactly the same difference— like a third—of the amount of injury in both men’s sports as we have in women’s,” said Larsen.
in the Middle East By Shweta Murthi Contributing Reporter
ELLEN LO | STUDENT LIFE
University statistics reflect a greater national average. In 1999, Timothy Hewett, Ph.D., from the Cincinnati Sports Medicine Research and Education Foundation, tracked 1,263 high school athletes and collected data on their knee injuries. He found that among untrained athletes, who tended to injure themselves more, women were about five to six times more likely than their male counterparts to sustain a knee injury. Trained female athletes were 1.3 to 2.4 times more likely than male athletes to hurt their knees. While Larsen agreed that women experience more ACL tears because of their differences in anatomy, he also pointed to muscle conditioning as a
large factor. “A lot of it is preexisting body structure. Then from there it’s how much conditioning the person’s been able to do to prepare themselves for the sport,” he said. Hunt agreed and offered some additional ideas, noting that hormones, in particular estrogen and progesterone, affect laxity, or how much a muscle or ligament can stretch, which in turn affects muscle bulk. “If a ligament is more lax, it doesn’t protect the joint as well. So in order to protect the joint, the muscles have to work harder,” Hunt said. “In that sense, it can cause the ligament to be more at risk for injury.”
Students for a Peaceful Palestinian-Israeli Future, a new Student Union group, has started with the mission to promote campus dialogue about the Palestinian-Israeli conflict with a focus on a peaceful conclusion. Its first event, a discussion forum between faculty, including assistant history professor Nancy Reynolds, and students will be held on Nov. 30 to start the dialogue on the peace process. Students for a Peaceful Palestinian-Israeli Future (SPPIF) President Aaron Weininger, a junior, said, “Essentially, this club provides a space for progressive students to come together and talk about the conflict through programming and education and constructive dialogue to see if we can come up with solutions for the peace process.” “We believe that to have a holistic understanding of the Middle East, you need to explore politics, religions,” said Weininger. While other student groups on campus have been considered for co-sponsorship of some of SPPIF’s events, the
group plans to stand on their own for a while. The president of the Muslim Student Association, sophomore Tasmeem Ahmad, noted, “We agree that it’s a great purpose, a good club, and everyone in it is really passionate about their cause. We have overlapping members, and we definitely support a peaceful future.” With several pro-Israel groups on campus, such as Wash. U. Students for Israel (WSI), SPPIF provides a place for discussing the big picture in the Middle East crisis, with a chance to hear from both sides. WSI President Ben Yungher, a sophomore, said, “It’s a unique approach. WSI is a pluralistic movement, where people from the right and left wings can express their views, whereas this is more progressive movement. I’m sure there will be a lot of positive reaction to it.” Sophomore Mollie Spevack, SPPIF’s vice president, emphasized the differences between SPPIF and other groups. “It’s a forum for people to get our and their ideas, what you feel about the conflict, what you feel about
See SPPIF, page 2
KICKING ASH
See INJURIES, page 3
Popularity of Cheap Dinner declines By Andrea Strand Contributing Reporter The Campus Y’s Monday night “Cheap Dinners” are seemingly a great alternative to Subway’s fast food for students on main campus. A hot Chinese or Mexican meal, conveniently catered from Wonton King or Casa Dilla for four dollars, is a hard-to-beat offer. Yet overall student response to date has been lukewarm. The fundraiser, similar to EnCouncil’s popular Cheap Lunch, has not had a similarly successful turnout. The Cheap Dinners began as fundraisers in response to a student survey conducted by Campus Y. Campus Y Student Director Mallorie Hulse, a senior, said, “We took a survey of needs students felt were unmet on campus, and one of these needs was a place to eat din-
ner on campus besides Subway. Students are always saying how Campus Y doesn’t do anything for them, so we decided to change that.” The first Cheap Dinner, held Monday, Oct. 10 by the Campus Y Executive Council, drew a huge crowd. “Everyone was really excited about it...We ran out [of food] in 20 minutes and I had to go get more,” said Hulse. Campus Y Program Leader Luz Silverio, a junior, believes this initial underestimation of Cheap Dinner’s popularity among prospective diners may have discouraged some students who had to wait for food. “The people [who] went that first night got a bad impression, and now they are thinking that they won’t get fed [if they go again], but they will,” said Silverio. In fact, the ensuing weeks
have seen an excess of food due to decreased student turnout. As Hulse pointed out, however, “It’s hard to estimate how many people are going to come.” Last Monday’s rainy weather forced the dinner to be cancelled altogether, adding to a growing trend of disappointments felt by the Executive Council. “I think [the Executive Council] is a little tired of working hard on this,” said Hulse. “It hasn’t been as successful as we’d hoped.” Silverio added, “It’s a pretty much break-even project so far.” Hulse feels advertising changes also may have played a role in the decline of Cheap Dinner’s popularity. “The first week we advertised a lot with palm flyers and [sidewalk] chalking,” she said. But after the first week, Hulse said, Cheap Dinner was not as heavily publicized.
Program organizers say other improvements are needed and that the Campus Y is looking for ideas. For now, Cheap Dinner has been either Chinese or Mexican, because both seem to be popular choices. But Campus Y volunteers want to offer a broader variety. “We’re still trying to figure out what kinds of food people want on campus—Thai, soul food and Jamaican have been some suggestions,” said Hulse. Although Campus Y’s Executive Council is taking a break to recharge, their Monday-night Cheap Dinner will be back after Thanksgiving break, and they are still optimistic about its possible success. “I feel like it has the potential to be as popular as the Cheap Lunch put on by the engineering school,” said Silverio. “It’s foods you get cravings for.”
RACHIT PATEL | STUDENT LIFE
Senior Ross Ginsberg prepares to take a swing at senior Marc Nardone, dressed as a cigarette, in support of the American Cancer Society’s Great American Smokeout on Thursday, Nov. 17 in the Gargoyle. With their motto “Kick Cancer’s Ash,” the members of Relay for Life hold cancer awareness events like this each fall.