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Thursday, February 27, 2014
A student voice of Saint Louis University since 1919
Food Fight: One bid to rule them all Sodexo and Aramark make final cut for food contract
SGA election draws dubious ‘turnout’ By WOLF HOWARD News Editor
Veronica Lowe/Illustrator
Arena event promotes sustainability intiatives By EMILY HIGGINBOTHAM Staff Writer
Saturday night’s game against George Washington University not only marked the Billikens men’s basketball team’s 19th consecutive win, but was also named SLU’s first ever “Green Game.” Global Spectrum, the operators of Chaifetz Arena, Sodexo, the concessionaries for the arena, and SLU are all participating in the Recycling Refresh project at Chaifetz. Through this project, SLU is hoping to reach their goal of a 30 percent diversion rate, meaning that 30 percent of SLU’s waste will be diverted from landfills. According to Sustainability Coordinator in the office of Facilities Services Amy Hargis, Chaifetz is a big waste production site. Hargis stated that in the past, patrons had not been able to recycle at Chaifetz and that all of the trash would go to landfills. She said that the goal of the Green Game
was really to point out that it bassadors… We were asked is now possible to recycle at on several occasions about the arena. the green shirts and fans Some of the Green Game were actively separating out activities included a “Green their recyclables from nonGame Party Zone” where recyclables,” said Hargis. local businesses could Both individual volunshowcase their products. teers and student groups Fans could comprised visit vendor the Green tables like AmbassaWe will strive Schlafly Beer dors and learn Accordto continue the about the ing to Har[Green Game] companies gis, some tradition on an that are susof these annual basis tainable in differences making their between re-Brandon Verhoff, products and cyling and Director of Sustainability resources. throwing Once the things away game began, are the afthere were “Green Ambasfordability of recycling, the sadors” wearing green tcreation of more jobs that shirts scattered throughout in turn boost the economy the arena in order to inform and the reduction of landfill guests about the Recycling sizes which helps the enviRefresh project. Their job ronment. was to point out the available Another purpose of the recycling bins and they also Green Game was to inform collected recycling during students and patrons about halftime and TV timeouts. SLU’s participation in Recy“I felt patrons were enclemania. Recyclemania is gaging with the Green Aman intercollegiate competi-
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tion that takes place for eight weeks each spring around the United States and Canada. During the competition, the schools report the amount of recycling and trash they have collected each week. The schools are then ranked in various categories, such as which school had the highest poundage of recycled materials and the highest diversion rate. SLU collected over 200,000 pounds of recycling and trash in last year’s competition. “There will be more Green Games with recycling collection,” said Brandon Verhoff, the director of Sustainability and Benchmarking. “We will strive to continue the tradition on an annual basis in conjunction with the annual Recyclemania competition and greening the game category within Recyclemania.” Verhoff hopes that they will be able to continually spread awareness about the Recycling Refresh project, even after Recyclemania is over.
408 votes
~1,100 votes
2,807 votes
SGA Elections: Voter turnout through the years
1,933 votes
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See “SGA” on Page 3
Chaifetz gets a splash of green
1,495 votes
said. Elizabeth Blake, a professor of Modern and Classical Languages, discussed the unusual placement of the As the end of the 2014 Olympics in Sochi, an area Winter Olympics drew near, rife with conflict. She pointprofessors and students ed first to Sochi’s bloody gathered in the Center for past, when Russia conquered Global Citizenship for a disthe area in the mid-19th cencussion about various astury and expelled the Circaspects of the games. Entitled sians living there at the time. “The Sochi Olympics: PromShe also noted the 2008 Rusise and Perils,” the Feb. 21 sia-Georgia conflict, stating roundtable consisted of multhat Putin has presented the tiple professors presenting Olympics as an opportunity different perspectives on the “to bridge the diplomatic digames, from the interculvide resulting from [Russia’s] tural promise shown in the 2008 invasion.” Olympics to their inherently She then political naturned to the ture. extreme level T h e Everyone of security roundtable enforcement opened with speaks the same present at a talk given language: it is the the games, by Michal language of the inspired by Rozbicki, a concerns game. professor in surroundthe Center - Michal Rozbicki, ing attacks for Interculby Chechen Professor tural Studies rebels and and History Islamist in which he terrorist aimed to groups. According to Blake, connect the Olympics with 70,000 security forces were interculturality. He argued in place at Sochi and police that the games provide a rare and security personnel conopportunity for global comstantly searched public spacmunication in the form of es for Islamist militants. She sport. cited U.S. figure skater Ash“Once we realize that we ley Wagner, who claimed are not tourists in a foreign that living in Sochi was like land but also foreigners in living in “a tight bubble in someone’s homeland…[it] complete isolation from the opens a door to understandoutside world.” ing other people,” he said. Yelena Belyaeva-Standen, “Everyone speaks the same another professor in the language: it is the language Modern and Classical Lanof the game.” guages department, comThough he admitted that mented on the living condithe Olympics are necessarily tions of the average citizen of a form of conflict, he stated Sochi. She stated that many it was a conflict of agreement of the residents of Sochi trawhich expressed a symbolic ditionally rent out global interaction. “It’s a vision of the world that is capable of successfully promoting and advancing See “Sochi” on Page 3 the intercultural,” Rozbicki By WOLF HOWARD News Editor
See “Contract” on Page 3
~2,000 votes
Forum weighs Olympic politics, society, culture
Business and Finance spoke with the different campus’ current administrators, student leaders and dining staff to gage the levels of satisfaction that each location has with their foodservice providers. “Overall, the campus visits were
~2,500 votes
A 12-year partnership between Chartwells foodservice and Saint Louis University will come to an end this June, as SLU looks towards Aramark or Sodexo to satisfy their future culinary needs. The two remaining companies elbowed out Chartwells and
Bon Appétit for the position and just underwent site reviews by SLU’s Food Request for Proposal Evaluation Committee. Site visits included inspection of both local and non-local campuses that are currently being managed by the prospective vendors. Representatives from various stakeholder groups, including Student Development, Housing and Residence Life, SGA and
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By JESSICA WINTER Associate News Editor
The 2014 SGA election season was a quiet one. The Connect ticket, led by President-elect Ann Knezetic, swept the vote as the only ticket to run for office. 480 students submitted ballots in the election, the lowest voter turnout seen in recent history, and the issue of vacancies in senate continues to plague the Association with six seats left unfilled in the public vote. Next year’s executive board will comprise President-elect Knezetic, Drew Roznowski as the Vice President of Internal Affairs, Jaisel Patel as VP of Finance, Tommy English as VP of Academic Affairs, Nicole Kim as VP of Student Organizations, Mika Romo as VP of Diversity and Social Justice and Dorien Villafranco as VP of International Affairs. With many important transitions expected for SLU next year, Knezetic said she was prepared for the upcoming workload. “I’m ready to start the transition period and get things going,” Knezetic said. “Whenever that new presi-
dent is announced… I want to contact them right away… to start building that relationship.” Knezetic said she expects her current relationships with administrators will help her in building rapport with the new president. In senatorial elections, the final position for the College of Arts and Sciences seats ended in a tie between Kat Carroll and Kevin Lynch. There will be a runoff election for Arts and Sciences students, but the details of the second election have yet to be announced. The Doisy College of Health Sciences, the College of Education and Public Service, the College of Philosophy and Letters, the School of Medicine, the School of Nursing and Commuter students currently lack representation in next year’s Senate. The issue of filling senate seats is not new, but this year marks the lowest participation rate in years. The low vote count has come in the wake of a senate reform bill passed at the beginning of the semester, which reduced the total number of available
1,571 votes
Vol. XCIII No. 19