No. 12 (December 3, 2015)

UNEWS unewsonline.com

Vol. XCV No. 12

Connect with UNews TheUNews

@TheUNews @TheUNews @TheUNewsSports @TheUNewsArts

Happy Holidays from the Ed Board

Thursday, December 3, 2015

A student voice of Saint Louis University since 1921

Sorority holds fundraiser for cancer patients

For the third year, a salute of sisterhood with survivor, deceased

By TIM WILHELM News Editor

On Sunday Dec. 6, SLU’s Kappa Delta chapter will hold Kuts for Confidence (K4C) for the third year in a row. The day-long event is a drive in which students can donate eight or more inches of hair to be used to manufacture wigs for cancer patients who have lost their hair during treatment.

K4C, a fundraising force and a vehicle for advocacy, has its roots in a series of cancer diagnoses that have shocked but ultimately strengthened a close-knit Greek Community. Kappa Delta created the event in response to senior Emily Evans’s return to SLU, in January 2013, following her osteosarcoma diagnosis the previous year. This year’s drive will be held in honor of Kappa Delta member, Sarah Wieglos, and Gamma Phi Beta member, Grace Oliver, who both passed away earlier this year from cancer.

Emilia Homan and Claire Fenske take the helm as cochairs on this year’s organizing committee. Homan was a freshman when Wieglos was diagnosed.

Courtesy of Sarah O’Connell

RESILIENCE: Sarah Wieglos, who passed away from Leukemia this year, will be honored at Kuts for Confidence. She was also a member of Relay For Life.

“It was really freaky for me, my freshman year, to learn that two girls in this organization had just been affected so directly by cancer,” Homan said. “That in such a small group, two people could be so in danger of this

disease.”

Two girls in her Occupational Therapy Program are Wieglos’s littles. The girls were paired with her while she was at Loyola Medical Center seeking treatment -they met her through Face-

Time.

“I saw the most loss [and] stress within them, because they were close to her at that time,” said Homan.

When Wieglos passed away, her sorority sisters held a ceremony and wore purple in her honor. Wieglos had been involved in Relay for Life, another SLU fundraising event devoted to cancer patients.

“The fact that we have had two sorority sisters battle cancer within the past five years has been devastating for our chapter,” said Fenske. “With that said, we have learned to lean on each other and trust each other through thick and thin. The cancer that has affected our two sisters has undoubtedly made our chapter stronger because we have had to rely on one another for emotional support during the tough times.”

Nationally, sororities undertake philanthropic projects over the course of the year. For Kappa Delta, these include International Girls Day in the fall and work for Prevent Child Abuse America in the spring. K4C takes place independently of these. The Kappa Delta

magazine has highlighted the event, and chapters nationwide have reached out to previous chairs, hoping to organize similar events on their campuses.

Kappa Delta sends hair

donations to Pantene Beautiful Lengths, whose partnership with the American Cancer Society allows them See “Confidence” on Page 3

Courtesy of Sarah O’Connell

STRENGTH: Grace Oliver, who was a member of Gamma Phi Beta, also passed away from cancer this year. Friends describe her as compassionate.

SGA: Flex to Feed funds local food shelf; DPS discusses crime

By EMILY HIGGINBOTHAM Associate News Editor

The SLU Student Government Association met on Wednesday, Dec. 2, for their weekly senate meeting, where the opening conversation focused on serving the Jesuit mission and student safety on the perimeters of campus.

Aramark—the company in charge of SLU’s dining services—presented first on the Flex-to-Feed program.

Conceived and implemented

by SGA in 2012, Flex-toFeed takes 10 percent of the student’s unused Flex dollars and donates them to help fight hunger in the St. Louis area. The money that is being donated from the 2014/15 academic year totals a sum of $10,743.28.

“We’re excited to be a part of this and happy we can

continue the practice,” said Jeffrey Marshall, Aramark’s Resident District Manager.

The program was conceived while SLU was still in contract with Chartwells as its dining service. Marshall continued, “We look forward to doing it again next year.”

This year, the donation will be spread across four local non-profit organizations that all work to combat hunger in the St. Louis area.

These organizations include Our Lady of Perpetual Help, St. Louis Area Foodbank, Campus Kitchen and Operation Foodsearch.

“This is a huge demonstration of living out our Jesuit mission and Aramark’s commitment to our mission, as well,” said SGA President Jay Bryant.

Marshall and the Vice President of Student Development, Dr. Kent Porterfield,

presented each organization with a check at the meeting.

Porterfield noted his appreciation for the student’s desire to live out the mission, saying: “I’ve worked at institutions where students asked for refunds for themselves, but never a place where students are so generous in the way that you’ve been.”

After the presentation of the donation, Chief Jim Moran, the Director of Public Safety and Emergency Preparedness, was invited to the floor to present on updates of DPS’ notification policy.

Moran began his presentation by addressing the robbery and attempted robbery that occurred during the evening on Monday, Nov. 16.

“We had the robbers the

See “SGA” on Page 3

Emily Higgingbotham / The University News

DONATION: Jeffrey Marshall of Aramark and Vice President of Student Development, Kent Porterfield, present checks to St. Louis nonprofits for Flex-to-Feed.

TED brings student voices to student ears Group encourages a multilevel pursuit of truth TEDxSLU (x = independently organized event), a conference featuring live talks, vendors and artistic entertainment, will be coming to Saint Louis University for the first time on Jan. 31, 2016. TED (Technology, Entertainment and Design) is a bi-annual conference held to bring the world’s top minds together to speak for 18 minutes or less. To date, over 11,000 TEDx events have been held, making TEDxSLU one of the many, yet utterly important in its own right. This inaugural year’s theme is “The Pursuit of Truth,” opening the event up to a myriad of possibilities within the Jesuit tradition itself.

Being an independently team, including: Lead Orgaorganized event, TEDxSLU nizer, Rocky Leng; Curator, has had to overcome many Claire Martin; Sponsorship obstacles. With the flagship and Budget Manager, Han name TED Diep; and attached to Executive the Saint P r o d u c e r, The majority of Louis UniDev Conboy. our time in the versity organization, the The main next few months pressure to event during will be spent in perform at the conferthe actual exthe highest ence are the ecution of the level seeps talks theminto every selves. When speech aspect of I asked about -Claire Martin, Curator the process the event’s design. This, of preparing in turn, crethe speakated a team ers for the of coordinators who look event, the whole room lit up. for accuracy, specificity and “We have taken each speaker enthusiasm from all particithrough a five month trainpants. I recently sat down ing process. The speakers with most of the TEDxSLU meet once a month to de-

“

“

By JOSHUA DEVITT Staff Writer

velop the speech with the speaker committee and Public Speaking professors in the Communication Department,” said Leng. “The speakers have gone over and beyond our expectations,” added Martin. She continued, “The majority of our time in the next few months will be spent in the actual execution of the speech, making it concrete and focusing primarily on the delivery.”

With the recent publication of “Talk Like TED,” by Carmine Gallo, the team has a lot of inspiration to draw from.

TED conferences are presented under vague themes such as, “The Great UnveilSee “TED” on Page 3

Follow @TheUNewsSports to stay up on the action over break

Dec. 16Tennessee Martin

Dec. 19- Indiana State Dec. 21- Southern Illinois Dec. 29- Kansas State Jan. 2- Rhode Island Jan. 6- George Washington Jan. 10- VCU

2

NEWS

December 3, 2015

Teacher Feature: Bob O’Toole, SJ

By PATRICK HYLAND Senior Staff Writer

With almost as many siblings as academic degrees, it may come as no surprise to students that Dr. Bob O’Toole is both kind and knowledgeable.

O’Toole comes from a family of 9 brothers and 5 sisters, and his academic degrees include a Bachelor of Arts (BA), Master of Arts (MA), Licentiate of Philosophy (PhL), Licentiate in Sacred Theology (STL), Licentiate of Sacred Scripture (SSL), and a Doctor of Sacred Scripture (SSD). His bachelor’s is in philosophy, and his master’s is in Greek and Latin with licentiates in philosophy, theology, and sacred scripture, and doctorate in scripture, too.

O’Toole’s last teaching post was in Rome at the Vatican’s Pontifical Biblical Institute. Not one to put his feet up for too long, O’Toole has worked as a professor, administrator and fundraiser, but confesses that his greatest joy and inspiration is in meeting people who live good lives and take seriously questions of God. While O’Toole’s specialty is the New Testament, teaching two sections of Intro to New Testament next semester, it is the whole university’s task of forming the whole person and helping students develop the skills of critical thinking that motivate him. Having entered the Jesuits immediately after high school, O’Toole points to his experience at SLUH as perhaps the most formative time in his life. His mother went to confession to Jesuits -- one of which worked

Courtesy of Wikicommons

JESUIT: Father Bob O’Toole was ordained at St. Francis Xavier (College) Church in 1967. O’Toole has a number of degrees and has taught in Rome. at SLUH -- so when O’Toole became high-school aged, the decision of where to go to high school was an easy one.

No stranger to SLU, O’Toole taught in the Department of Theological Studies for 17 years before teaching in Rome. Although he has only been back on campus for about one year, when asked what he would change about SLU, O’Toole recalled the words of a visiting professor years ago, “Be who you are.”

For SLU, this means keeping its identity and brand of a place that is not necessarily radically Jesuit or Catholic

—although it is that—but a place with a radical openness to others.

Noting an increasing religious indifference among contemporary students, O’Toole is mindful of how today’s culture does not necessarily promote religious beliefs.

All the more important, then, are theology classes or the University project of open dialogue and inquiry.

For O’Toole, given that the Bible is God’s word, what else could be of more interest to a person, or a better use of a student’s time than coming to know the New Testament and the original

meaning of what the sacred writers wrote? At the end of the day, that is O’Toole’s vocation as an exegete.

When asked to give advice for students interested in becoming professors, O’Toole urged finding a field that means something to you and gives you joy -- mentioning history, social work, and medicine as possibilities among many.

Having studied languages for years—including Greek, Latin, French, Hebrew, German, and Italian—O’Toole is quick to share insights that one language can offer to another, or to Biblical interpretation.

When pressed for an example, O’Toole mentioned that the word for “to know” in the Gospel of John is sometimes thought to be some sort of agnosticism. A better interpretation is actually “faith” meaning that only Jesus can reveal the Father. With four books and some 50 articles published, O’Toole is working on his next book, on the Gospel of John.

At 79 years, O’Toole may very well be the oldest working professor at SLU, and most likely holds the record for family size. O’Toole invites appointments by email from interested students willing to talk about God and the Bible, but students may just as easily find him on his morning stroll across campus.

He is the guy with a gentle smile, but to really test whether or not you have come across O’Toole, ask him a question about classical music or art; those are interests of his, too.

Important Facts Undergrad elective for non-clinical majors, including pre-med, biology, chemistry, engineering, business, pre-law, public health, humanities, & others.

Class sessions are taught by physicians, surgeons and researchers from more than 10 specialty areas.

Course covers how leading medical conditions are diagnosed and treated.

To reserve a seat or obtain more information, please contact: Dr. Divya Subramaniam dsubram2@slu.edu (314) 977-9300

December Events Calendar Friday, Dec. 4, 9:00 p.m.-12:00 a.m.

BSC St. Louis Room Billiken’s After Dark Stress-Free Zone SLU BAD invites you to come for a

Hero 6.

Sunday, Dec. 6, 11:00 a.m.-5:00 p.m. 7:00-10:00 p.m.

Center for Global Citizenship

an opening ceremony at 7:00 p.m.

Hair donations go to Pantene Beautiful Lengths. The event is in memory of Sarah Wieglos.

Monday, Dec. 7, 7:00-10:00 p.m.

Moolah Theatre Spotlight tells the story of the Bosconcealment of sexual abuse in the 200 people in attendance is free upon 6:45 p.m.

NEWS

December 3, 2015

3

TED: The red letters, inspiration come to SLU SGA: Improved Safety Measures Proposed

Continued from Page 1

TALKS: Membes of the TedxSLU executive board, (R-L) Kat Grant, Rocky Leng, Liz Vestal, Dev Conboy, Han Diep and Clare Martin, pose in front of the Clock Tower on West Pine.

Continued from Page 1

ing” and “Will and Still”.

The same is true for the TEDxSLU conference’s “The Pursuit of Truth”. “[Speakers] want to hit on this broad topic on a different or unique perspective and bring to it something new, something fresh,” said Leng.

He continued, “What we do here at Saint Louis University, through our research, our initiatives are all for the greater glory of God. Educating the whole mind, the whole body, the whole hu-

Continued from Page 1

to manufacture and distribute wigs to cancer patients free of charge.

Other organizations, such as Look Good Feel Better -- which receives funds raised by K4C -- has to sell the wigs because they aren’t partnered with ACS. LGFB is part of the nonprofit Personal Care Products Council Foundation, promoting confidence and self-esteem in women who are battling cancer’s residual effects - in this case, hair loss.

Homan quoted a LGFB representative, saying, “You already know the link between confidence and wellness. Confidence could give someone the strength to fight back and give all their energy to their cancer treatment.”

One of Homan’s co-workers -- who went to SLU -said that losing her hair “was one of the hardest changes to deal with” during her treatment and recovery.

This year, Kappa Delta will implement “Beards and

man being; it is in that pursuit of truth that’s different for everyone. We chose ‘The Pursuit of Truth’ to unpack these possibilities of: how does one pursue truth, what do we do if we encounter a truth different from our own?”

The “D” in TED stands for design, and it is the design of the event and media output that draws many people to the program. The design portion of TEDxSLU is inspiring in itself. Headed by former entrepreneur Dev Conboy, the media output,

office space in the Cortex Innovation Community and the production side of the event brings about a sense of awe. “The Center for Global Citizenship offers state of the art accommodations,” he said, “That, coupled with additional tech support, will make for a highly aesthetic conference.”

This is important for students who may attend the conference, because there is a desire for the digital. Conboy exemplified this thought with, “We hosted a miniTEDx, which has gotten a lot

of hype. I had never seen an event get that many ‘goings’ on Facebook. The analytics have been great, because it was so on the radar with everybody.”

TEDxSLU is positioned to do great things with their inaugural conference. The team aspires to instill a sense of empowerment in attendees, plus the ability to connect after the event has concluded. These themselves are, “ideas worth spreading”.

TEDxSLU will take place on Jan. 31, 2016 from 9:304:00pm.

Buns,” a contest in which students vote, with donations, for a male student with the best facial hair or man bun.

“Men encounter the same kind of presence of cancer in their lives, so they should be involved,” said Homan. All proceeds will go to LGFB. In addition, Kappa Delta launched a GoFundMe campaign online and sent letters to friends and family -raising almost $9,000, with a $12,000 goal. They hope a profit share with Snarf ’s Sandwiches will draw more funding.

“People really will give,” Homan remarked. “You just have to ask them.”

Emily Evans, who joined Kappa Delta as a freshman in the fall of 2011, kept in touch with both Wieglos and Oliver during their twoand-a-half- and three-year cancer fights. She was still in chemotherapy when Sarah reached out to her.

“I was the first person she told and she asked for some advice on how to begin this whole process,” said Evans.

Oliver later reached out to her, too.

“The cancer world is so big, yet so small,” said Evans, “and finding people in similar situations that you could relate to was the best kind of medicine.”

With her cancer in remission, she remains active in Kappa Delta, but questions remain from that period of her life.

“I don’t think I will ever understand any of the ‘why’ questions when it comes to cancer,” she said. “When I would talk to my friends back home and at the hospital, people could not believe what our community was going through. I mean really, two girls in the same grade and the same sorority being diagnosed within 6 months of each other? What are the chances? I will forever say that it is so much easier to be the patient than to be family and friends just watching someone go through cancer.”

Senior Anna Cirone said, “Sarah had the type of rocksolid faith that most people

only dream about having, and found an immense joy in serving others. Nothing, not even leukemia, could keep her from being the passionate and confident Sarah we all knew and loved.”

“As everyone that knew Grace could attest, she had the world’s greatest sense of humor. Grace was the type of person everyone wanted to be around, because she could find a way to turn the worst day into an adventure.

Rather than sulk about her prognosis, she traveled the world and showed all of us what living life to the fullest really looks like.”

“Aside from growing each year in terms of hair cut and money donated, I think that our passion has grown,” said senior Lizzie Fenske, cofounder of K4C. “We had so much excitement going into the first year, and now, on our third year, we go in with more of a mission to help those struggling. With the loss of two girls it has become even more personal for each chapter member.”

Flex-to-Feed sends funds to less fortunate

“

I don’t want to get to the [point] where you see that message and you don’t pay attention

“

Courtesy of TedxSLU

and more direct route for students. other day in the alley beIn response, Moran was tween Laclede and Forrest doubtful of such implemenPark. The good news in that tations, saying: “We have is that they have been appretalked about both of those hended. One of our students and I don’t know if we could was able to positively idendo either one of those.” tify the persons responsible,” Since the alleyway is the Moran said. city’s property and they have According to the email little control over the Stansent out by DPS later that dard’s safety procedure, Monight, three unknown subran was doubtful that they jects robbed the student of could put a blue light in the her purse and keys. She had alley or create a doorway also been struck in the face, from the parking lot. but was not badly injured.

Mukherji also brought up A separate email detailed a separate incident that octhat approximately five mincurred at the McDonalds on utes later, these suspects apLindell, which DPS did not proached another student report on but Moran conwhile she was walking down firmed. the alley, en route to The According to Moran, Standard apartment buildaround 3:00 ing.

They a.m. one demanded morning, money, but a student the student was walktold them ing across that she did the parking not have lot of the any, and the McDonalds suspects fled on Lindell on foot once when two the student indiv iduals made it to a approached well-lit area. him and de-Jim Moran, Moran manded his Director of DPS admitted money. The that errors student rewere made sponded that he didn’t have in DPS’ response to these any so the subjects pulled robberies due to the disout a knife and stabbed him patcher’s belief that these in the shoulder. separate incidents were acMoran spoke about his tually the same. And while reluctance to notify stuofficers were able to get to dents of incidents that occur one of the scenes rather off campus, saying: “When quickly, their response to the we start expanding beyond second incident was delayed. the campus, the question In light of these robberbecomes how far do we exies and DPS’ response, some pand? I don’t want to get to SGA senators had questions a point where DPS send you and proposals for Moran a message and you look at it about how to improve the and say it’s just another one safety and notification proof those. I don’t want to get cedures. to the [point] where you see Senator Tanya Mukherji that message and you don’t was the first to speak, and pay attention.” asked Moran about the posHowever, Moran stated sibility of installing one of that DPS is trying to imthe ‘blue light’ emergency prove the notification sysphones in the alleyway betem through a partnership hind The Standard and the with SLU’s Marketing and University Lofts. She also Communication departproposed creating a gate that ment. DPS will begin to use would connect the Loyola Twitter and social media to parking lot to the alleyway get information out to the in order to provide a shorter students faster.

THE SLU SCOOP All Information Provided by Department of Public Safety and Emergency Preparedness

Thursday, Nov. 19

2:38 p.m. DESTRUCTION OF PROPERTY KUNGFU PAUL BUNYAN

A DPS officer saw two individuals destroying small signs that were posted in the ground along the quad area. As he neared the individuals, one of them kicked a small tree, breaking it at the base. That individual, a SLU student, was detained without incident, while the other individual ignored the request to stop as he entered Griesedieck Hall. The SLU student refused to identify the other individual, saying that he would accept responsibility for their actions. The student was released and Pro Staff was notified of the incident.

Monady, Nov. 30 8:38 a.m. ACCIDENTAL INJURY

A delivery driver reported injury to his abdomen and back while unloading his truck. EMS was contacted and responded. Transported to SLU ER.

Tuesday, Dec. 1

9:00 a.m. UNWELCOME PERSON WHO’S THAT GUY? DPS responded to a call for an unauthorized person on the 3rd floor of the Wool Center in a restricted area. Officers located the individual and transported him to room 114.

Subject had a criminal history but no active warrants.

A FIR was completed and photographs taken. Subject advised of trespass policy and escorted from campus.

Emily Higginbotham/The University News

MISSION: On Wednesday, Dec. 2, Aramark and SGA presented a check totaling $10,155.78 to four local non-profits in order to feed the hungry. These orangizations included Our Lady of Perpetual Help, St. Louis Area Foodbank, Campus Kitchen and Operation Foodsearch.

Be a Responsible Billiken STOP. CALL. REPORT. 314-977-3000 witness.slu.edu dps.slu.edu

4

December 3, 2015

NEWS

Games

To solve the Sudoku puzzle, each row, column and box must contain the numbers 1 to 9.

University News 12/3/15 Crossword

PuzzleJunction.com

Across 1 5 8 12 14 16 17 18 19 20 22 24 25 27 29 32 33 34 37 41 42 44 45 47 48 49 51 53 56 57 58 60 63 65 67 69 70 71 72 73 74

Comic Sandler Nabokov novel Destiny Fight decisions Peddle Food thickener Stave off Roof overhang Water stoppers School assignment Fissure Three-way joint Sandusky’s county Ransacker Waterford lass Psyche Aphrodite’s lover First name in jeans Choler Came across Looks up to Sugary drink Conundrum Wild oxen Auxiliary Irritation Nonstop London attraction Residence hall Preceded Resting on Nonpoetic writing Mishmash Pitfall Swill Discharge Fit for a king Paving stone Menu words Plaything

Copyright ©2015 PuzzleJunction.com

Think about writing for

Copyright ©2015 PuzzleJunction.com

Down 1 Wanted-poster letters 2 ‘93 Kevin Kline comedy 3 Some votes 4 Crumbs 5 Caesar’s hello 6 Letter opener 7 Blacksmith’s block 8 Craze 9 Banded stone 10 Circus performer 11 Highlands tongue 13 Rubberneck

15 21 23 26 28 29 30 31 35 36 38 39 40 42 43 46

author Cloaks Hostile force Heavy weight Tastelessly funny Popular cookie Leases ___ Appia Annoyed Acquire Mythology anthology Quaint dance Curacao neighbor Bar in court Physics unit

48 Type of car 50 Actress Davis of Mr.

The University News!

52 Trial’s partner 53 Scarlett O’Hara, e.g.

54 Dimwit 55 Bellini opera 57 Red ink amount 59 Beach item 61 Palm starch 62 List abbr.

64 Choose 66 Educ. group 68 Building wing

email: managing@unewsonline.com

LAST WEEK’S SOLUTIONS

Solution

At the Circus

Y

D

X

C

S

N

O

O

L

L

A

B

M

K

R

N

E

Q

M

L

L

I

P

F

S

T

U

N

A

E

P

E

L

T

Z

G

Y

J

U

G

G

L

I

N

G

B

R

H

T

L

M

G

E

H

Q

B

Z

A

S

S

B

B

A

Y

R

H

O

D

R

N

P

O

Z

I

X

M

T

S

T

N

V

I

G

L

V

T

Q

J

A

R

W

G

P

M

R

T

D

N

N

U

X

I

Y

T

D

T

R

S

S

T

L

N

O

A

D

G

A

Q

V

V

T

M

Z

O

T

E

C

O

L

P

N

B

S

L

K

H

Y

E

Q

Z

F

C

G

S

I

P

Z

X

G

O

T

G

R

D

P

D

D

R

M

T

H

S

T

S

K

H

M

R

L

C

N

R

H

E

V

B

M

I

R

R

S

T

Y

Q

A

C

B

A

L

I

L

R

L

G

M

G

E

W

A

L

M

E

N

A

C

M

G

O

Q

A

M

E

M

H

M

Z

N

Y

A

M

K

N

L

H

M

S

W

D

C

Q

Q

T

A

W

M

T

P

M

O

N

W

D

K

T

N

N

R

Q

L

R

T

R

Y

Z

E

T

I

I

O

C

O

N

C

E

S

S

I

O

N

S

G

F

T

N

R

N

I

M

S

T

A

C

G

I

B

P

O

W

M

O

N

E

T

R

A

Y

L

I

M

A

F

L

M

E

I

R

C

J

B

K

T

K

R

E

M

R

O

F

R

E

P

R

L

R

©2015 PuzzleJunction.com

ACROBATS

ELEPHANTS

MONKEYS

ANIMALS

FAMILY

NET

BALLOONS

GYMNASTICS

PEANUTS

BAND

HIGH WIRE

PERFORMER

BIG CATS

HORSES

RINGS

BIG TOP

HOT DOGS

STRONGMAN

CLOWNS

JUGGLING

TENT

CONCESSIONS

LAUGHTER

TIGHTROPE

COTTON CANDY

LION TAMER

TRAPEZE

DAREDEVIL

MAGIC

TRICKS

UNews

&

Arts Entertainment

December 3, 2015 arts@unewsonline.com Tess Brock, Arts Editor Natalie Riopelle, Assoc. Arts Editor

By JOSHUA CONNELLY Opinion Editor

By TOM BERGAN Staff Writer

On Black Friday, against all good judgment, I set my alarm for 5:30 in the morning. I wasn’t heading for Macy’s to get shoes for half off, or to Target for a TV that was marked down to pennies of what it once was. Instead I was heading to Kiss the Sky, my local record store in the Chicago area. By the time I arrived, 6:30 for an 8:00 a.m. opening, I was eleventh in line. They did not have any remarkable deals; in fact, they did not have any sales at all. So why was I heading to a record store at an absurdly early hour to a store that had no deals when I could have been sleeping? For one reason: Record Store Day. Record Store Day,which began in 2007, is a once-ayear-event that takes place the third Saturday of every April. It was pegged as a day to celebrate music and vinyl with exclusive releases, live music and an appeal that would boost sales at hundreds of independent record stores across the country.

While that first year had only a few releases, it quickly expanded at an exponential rate. Vinyl lovers needed more than just one day a year to have a celebration worthy of the title of Record Store Day. To fix this problem, in

Courtesy of Kerry Hayes

JOURNALISTIC JUSTICE: (from left to right) Michael Keaton, Liev Schreiber, Mark Ruffalo, Rachel McAdams, John Slattery and Brian d’Arcy James, star in “Spotlight” as the Boston Globe’s investigative team and its superiors. The Spotlight team helped uncover decades of sexual abuse cover-ups by the Catholic Church throughout the Archdiocese of Boston. around, and it is he who latches onto a collection of lawsuits in which a Catholic priest is accused of molesting numerous young boys at multiple archdiocesan parishes over the years. As a Jewish man from Florida, Baron is not impacted by the influence the Catholic Church holds in Boston, as evidenced by a tense sitdown with Cardinal Bernard Law soon after Baron’s arrival.

The Globe faces an uphill battle from the start, but that does not prevent the Spotlight team from fighting on anyway. From a lengthy court battle with the church to unseal sensitive documents, to hours of victim testimony, much of it heart wrenching, “Spotlight” leaves little room to breathe—and that is OK.

2010, Record Store Day expanded to not only hold an April event, but also a Black Friday version of the holiday.

While the Black Friday version is not as huge and extravagant as the main event in April, it now boasts over 100 exclusive releases every year. It also entices people to skip the madness of normal Black Friday shopping in favor of supporting a local record store. This holiday has made its way to the masses, though, and is an integral part to the music industry.

Every year, there is a musician who is appointed as the official ambassador, which has, in the past, boasted the likes of Josh Homme, Iggy Pop, Dave Grohl and the king of vinyl, Jack White.

This year on the Black Friday edition of Record Store Day, White opened up a second location of his Third Man Records store in Detroit. He also announced that they will soon be opening a new vinyl pressing plant, Detroit’s first new vinyl plant since the ’60s. There was no better time to announce this than this holiday, which has become a focal point of the resurgence of vinyl in recent years.

You may be wondering: Is See “Record” on Page 6

The victim testimony is ing abused by a priest who one of the most compelling doubled as his coach. parts of “Spotlight.” A young, Nothing about these stogay man details how a priest ries is easy to hear. In fact, took advantage of him as a they serve to make the audimiddle schooler—the first ence queasy and uncomforttime in his able, eslife that pecially someone those had told who are Without the victims, him that it or were there is no story. was OK to raised The abuse would be gay. AnCathoother man lic. But have continued untalks about t h e y abated, as it had for how he are imdecades. This story was paraportant needed to be told. lyzed with stories fear when nonehis parish theless. priest fonWithdled him out the in the car after taking him victims, there is no story. to get ice cream. A former The abuse would have conBoston College High School tinued unabated, as it had hockey player admits to befor decades. This story need-

“

“

“When you’re a poor kid from a poor family, and when a priest pays attention to you, it’s a big deal. How do you say no to God?” “Spotlight” – written by Tom McCarthy and Josh Singer, and directed by McCarthy – is the most prominent nondocumentary film to tackle the sex abuse scandal that rocked the Catholic Church in the 2000s, first in the United States and later in Europe and other parts of the world. The film dramatizes the investigative reporting of the Boston Globe’s Spotlight team as it spent months uncovering the systematic cover-ups of sexual abuse of minors by 70 priests in the Archdiocese of Boston.

“Spotlight” is relentless in its storytelling, holding nothing back as it takes on one of the most powerful religious institutions in the world. Even though only about 20 percent of Americans today identify as Catholic, the percentage is significantly higher in Boston, and was even higher – more than 50 percent – back in 2001, when the film is set.

The four-person Spotlight team – Mike Rezendes (Mark Ruffalo), Walter “Robby” Robinson (Michael Keaton), Sacha Pfeiffer (Rachel McAdams) and Matt Carroll (Brian d’Arcy James) – is known for its longterm, confidential investigative work. Spotlight picks its own stories, sometimes spending a couple months “kicking the wheels” on various leads before eventually focusing on a topic.

New Globe editor Marty Baron (Liev Schreiber) is an outsider brought in to trim the fat and turn the paper

ed to be told.

As the Spotlight team interviews countless witnesses, cathedrals loom in the background of many shots, marking the omnipresence of the Catholic Church in the Boston. This becomes increasingly unsettling as the audience learns more about what was being hidden within.

The attorney representing many of the victims, Mitchell Garabedian (Stanley Tucci), is quite a character. Always too busy to talk, he also acts as much-needed comic relief in a film where lighter moments are few and far between. Despite an early hesitance to involve the press in his cases, Garabedian eventually comes around and becomes an essential part of the investigation.

Alanna Pachl /The University News

MUSIC: Sam Harris, lead singer of X Ambassadors, filled the Pageant with raw vocal power.

By NATALIE RIOPELLE Associate Arts Editor

It’s a generally accepted rule that most impressive things are just not as impressive the second time around (law of diminishing returns and all that), but this was definitely not the case with seeing the X Ambassadors for the second time.

I had the good fortune to stumble upon the X Ambassadors, an indie band from New York, in 2014 and, as fervent followers of my reviews (aka my mom) may know, cover them when they opened for Canadian singer, Lights. Lead singer of X

Ambassadors, Sam Harris, was kind enough to answer some questions for the UNews and, when asked about their mounting success, responded, “We believe we’ve earned it after 10 years of being together as a band…

But that’s not to say we aren’t completely humbled by our fans—we owe everything to them.” So now, a little over a year later, the X Ambassadors are not opening, but headlining at larger venues, such as the Pageant. And, like my wardrobe or a fine wine, they have only gotten better with time.

Opening for the X Ambassadors on Dec. 1 at the

Pageant was Saint Motel, an upbeat fellow indie group who, like the X Ambassadors, feature a saxophone along with more traditional band instruments, like guitars and drums. They began their set with “Feed Me Now,” a song that sounds like a hipster beach party and makes you want to boogie— no, not dance, boogie. Their set continued on in this cheerful way, with a sugary sort of energy that was all at once cool, relaxed and full of pep. The set culminated with “My Type,” a funky, upbeat, crowd-favorite with a driving saxophone riff—arguably Saint Motel’s most popular

Garabedian, like Baron, is an outsider—an Armenian in Boston. The outsiders play a critical role in “Spotlight,” often helping to move the investigation along where insiders are afraid to push. In a lunch meeting with Rezendes, Garabedian addresses what he sees as a code of silence within the church community when it comes to sexual abuse.

“If it takes a village to raise a child, it takes a village to abuse one,” he says, between spoonfuls of soup at a dimlylit restaurant.

In a pivotal scene, Rezendes delivers an impassioned diatribe. “They (the Catholic Church) knew, and they let it happen—to kids! It could’ve been you; it could’ve been me; it could’ve been any of us!” he shouts.

You cannot get much more damning than that. The church takes the brunt of the blame for the mess untangled throughout the film, as it should, though there is also fault in the actions of the lawyers who helped mediate settlements outside of court, and even in the past decision of a Spotlight reporter to bury evidence of abuse and cover-ups.

“Spotlight” is a fascinating story of investigative journalism, the fight against the establishment and the drive to expose wrongdoings by one of the most powerful institutions in Boston— and the world. As one of the year’s best films, “Spotlight” is sure to receive Oscar consideration, especially for the performances of Ruffalo, Keaton and Tucci. It is a mustsee not only for Catholics, but also for all who strive to uncover the truth and hold accountable those who allow atrocities like sexual abuse to occur.

song. Bottom-line: they are a quirky band with a vintage kind of style (which is, like, so in right now) and a youthful energy to bring that style to life—I highly recommend taking a listen.

And, now, enter X Ambassadors. Starting their set with “Loveless,” a tragically buoyant song with a passionate Harris belting out each word with raw perfection. This perfection continued during a weighty and haunting “Love Songs Drug Songs,” a jungle-esque “Fear” (a song that sounds so much better live than on the CD) and then really came to a head during “Unsteady.”

Given a beautiful opening piano interlude by keyboardist Casey Harris (yes, he and Sam Harris are brothers), “Unsteady” fluttered into the room like a dream. A slower, quieter song than the previous two, “Unsteady” caused the entire venue to fall under the same spell; the room was peaceful and full of yearning, because, in the magical moment that surrounded that song, I’m sure everyone felt wonderfully unsteady.

The mood quickly swung back to “cranked-the-heckup” with songs “Naked,” “Nervous,” “Gorgeous,” and, of course, “Renegade”—the song that “that one Jeep commercial” popularized and I’m sure you’ve heard on the radio by now—if not, look it up, you’re missing See “Renegades” on Page 6

ARTS & ENTERTAINMENT

December 3, 2015

OUT

Ben Folds: Unshakeable talent

On The

TOWn ArTs ediTOrs’ Picks

Music Eli Young Band The Pageant Dec. 5, 8:00 p.m.

Greek Fire The Pageant Dec. 7, 8:00 p.m.

The Neighbourhood The Pageant Dec. 10, 8:00 p.m.

Let it Snow Show featuring Adam Lambert & The Pentatonix Peabody Opera House Dec. 16, 7:30 p.m.

Trans-Siberian Orchestra Scottrade Center Dec. 27, 3:00 p.m.

Movies Spotlight In theaters Currently

Jason Tang / Seattle Music Insider

FOLDS: Taking to the piano at which he has for years charmed his audiences, Ben Folds’ Nov. 17 performance at the Pageant reminded the crowd to live in and enjoy the present.

By LUKE VEST Staff Writer

I’ve been to several concerts at the Pageant, all of which were characterized by heavily distorted guitars and headache-inducing light shows. I went to the Ben Folds concert expecting much of the same thing, but what I saw was very different: a six piece orchestra, a drummer and a pianist hypnotizing a sold-out audience for an hour and a half.

Famous for heading the Ben Folds Five, Folds has found success on many different musical platforms over the years: in a band, as a solo artist and, most recently, as a composer of a 20-minute-long “Concerto for Piano and Orchestra.” He brought that eclecticism to the Pageant on Tuesday Nov. 17.

Folds was accompanied by the group yMusic, from New York City, for the performance. They were the first to enter the stage, beginning with an original piece, “Beautiful Mechanical,” which was filled with rapid violin strokes, rapid pageturning and strange time signatures. Each instrument played a uniquely different riff, yet they all combined to make order out of chaos, as the song title suggests.

After the song, Folds walked out on stage, sporting his familiar glasses and shaggy haircut - the look of a man made busy from deep thinking and touring. He sat at his piano like a cowboy sits on a trusted steed. Without saying a word, he broke into “So There,” a song from his new album, which shares the same name.

Folds performed much of the new album during the performance, which was recorded in collaboration with yMusic. He catered to the crowd by playing older songs as well, such as “Mess” and “Evaporated,” which had been adapted to fit the orchestral arrangement.

The concert was an eccentric mix of dry wit and angelic music that worked so well. If the concert were a movie, it would be rated R for language, part of Folds’s appeal. His lyrics are the honest words of a middleaged man who finds peace through self-deprecation.

“Here’s a song I wrote for a movie. It was rejected,” said Folds about the song “I’m Not The Man.” “I used to be my father’s son/ I used to be number one,” describes his anxieties of fading into

Gordon’s SLIFF debut

Creed In theaters Currently

Chi-Raq In theaters Currently

Theater Peter and the Starcatcher The Repertory Theatre of St. Louis Dec. 2-27 Wicked Fabulous Fox Dec. 9 - Jan. 3 Amy Schumer Scottrade Center Dec. 18, 7:00 p.m.

Elf: The Musical Peabody Opera House Dec. 26-27 Newsies: The Musical Fabulous Fox Jan. 19-31

“

Rocking ‘Renegades’ Continued from Page 5

Brooklyn In theaters Currently

Trumbo In theaters Currently

obscurity. It stands in stark the backup vocals for the contrast to “Wish I hadn’t next song. He rambled on bought you dinner/ Right about how we needed to before you dumped me on adjust our vocal cords and your front porch,” a lyric sneer our faces in the corfrom “Song for the Dumped” rect manner, jokingly letting that made it seem more like his musical genius show. a comedy show.

Folds assumed the role of A notable performance conductor and sat on top of was “Steven’s Last Night in his piano as the cellist began Town,” a classic Ben Folds playing the eerily repetitive Five ode to a friend who bass line of “Not the Same,” overstays his welcome. It bejoined by a haunting melogan with an airy jazz drum dy on the flute. At the chobeat followed by an exotic rus, Folds raised his hands, clarinet riff. These two inprompting the crowd to struments were the stars of sing their part. At the song’s the song, concluboth getsion, Folds ting their continued In an industry own exhis contended ducting of filled with susolos that the crowd, perficiality, Folds I wished waving his remains unshakwould hands in all able and is able to n e v e r directions end. and at differshine through...

T h e ent speeds, Pageant allowing us makes to switch for an roles with intimate atmosphere that the performers. With a final encourages movement, but rise in pitch and hand signal when I wasn’t mesmerized by to end, Folds said “Thanks the performers, I was watchy’all,” introducing the band ing the motionless crowd. for a last time and exiting Very few held up phones to the stage with “Pomp and take videos. All energy was Circumstance March No. 1” invested into absorbing the playing in the background. music. I’m sure the crowd The concert had a moral. would have danced if told It reminded me listen to muto, but the most important sic and not just hear it. Popthing for those in attendance ular music is often so filled was to listen to the mixture with effects that it sounds of sounds that could be promore from a factory than duced only by Ben Folds and from musicians. In an indushis crew. try filled with superficiality, For the encore, the group Folds remains unshakable started with the beloved and is able to shine through “Army,” and afterwards, so that his music can reach Folds taught the audience those who want to hear it.

Courtesy of Cinema St. Louis

HAPPY: Christin Milioti plays Sonia, the star of this quirky coming-of-age romantic comedy.

By CHANDANA KAMARAJ Staff Writer

I recently had the pleasure of watching Sasha Gordon’s directorial debut, “It Had to Be You,” which was featured in November at the St. Louis Film Festival.

This lighthearted film took us through the life of Sonia (played by Cristin Milioti from “How I Met Your Mother” and “The Wolf of Wall Street”), after the proposal by her boyfriend Chris (Dan Soder). Through her adventures and struggles, we see how her perception of life changes, while getting a few laughs along the way.

Gordon, an award-winning film score and soundtrack composer, was previously known for her music in “God of Love.”

I really loved this film (and shed a few happy tears as well) because it was refreshing. As a female, it was really nice to see the entire story told through a feminine perspective—similar to films such as “Never Been Kissed” and “13 Going on 30.”

When I talked to Sasha Gordon, she told me that she liked the romantic comedy, but she really missed the fact that the films were not shown in a female perspective. Because of this, she tried to incorporate that into her directorial debut and ac-

complished it flawlessly.

What stood out to me was the strength of the slightly overdramatic female character, Sonia—a jingle writer who began as a hesitant girl with the belief that she was not ready to get married and still had to “evolve” into someone who had matured after several whimsical adventures. Thus leading to her spontaneous trip to Europe, as she meets Fabrizzio, her colleague, played by Danny Defarrari.

I really enjoyed the scenes where Sonia thought on her “stereotypical independent female” role model, who she initially thought was a doctor who traveled around the world. However, she soon learned that the lady was not who she appeared to be, and instead was a saleswoman who sold medical instruments to various hospitals and, as a result, simply used public transportation.

My favorite part was that the casual clothes and optimistic mindset kept Sonia relatable throughout the film. Not everyone becomes a “perfect,” independent adult as they grow older, and the film remined those in attendance that it is okay to take your own time and make mistakes.

Additionally, another great facet of “It Had to Be

You” was the chemistry between both leads and the moments they shared with each other, as they both compromised and found a way to make their relationship work.

I really loved the beginning of the story where each lead was at an opposite extreme, with Chris wanting to settle for whatever he had as long as he was happy, and Sonia continuously denying that she is perfect, wanting more.

By the end, both reach a beautiful middle-ground that occurs after the couple goes through the wedding of their friends - Mark, played by Mark Gessner, and his unnamed wife, played by Halley Feiffer - and birth of their baby.

“It Had to Be You” is a must watch, due to the lighthearted but strong tone, set by both the director and the characters of the film. It has all the elements of a classic chick-flick and is easily relatable as well.

This kind of film is something that I haven’t seen in a really long time and is refreshing and new. This story, Sasha Gordon believes, as I do as well, is a delight for both couples and females to watch on-screen. Try to grab it once it comes out on DVD, you won’t regret it!

“

6

out. Closing out their set was “Jungle,” a powerhouse of a song with all the energy of an atom bomb. After screaming them into an encore (a practice which is almost always successful, so try it out, people!), the X Ambassadors completed the evening with “Lowlife”—a song dedicated to all the scumbags out there, Sam Harris told the crowd with a wink.

Each song was captivating in its own right—each one individual, but all unified by emotional poignancy. When asked about the songwriting process and, particularly, in determining when a song is finally finished, Sam Harris re-

sponded, “A song is right… when you can step away from it and come back to it and it still gives you that chill on the back of your neck.” I’m sure the crowd at the Pageant agreed that their set was as “right” as it could possibly be.

I left the Pageant satisfied (meaning there was a smile on my face that rivaled the Cheshire cat’s) and, as I said before, 50 shades of impressed. They have changed and grown and, as Sam Harris said, “[Our] goals are always changing. Now it’s more about...making sure we can stay relevant and continue to do this for years and years to come.” It may have been my second time seeing the X Ambassadors live, but, if everything goes as planned, I certainly hope that it won’t be the last.

Record shop Continued from Page 5

all this hoopla actually worth it? It most definitely is. Every incarnation of the holiday entails the release of many albums and singles that have either never been released on vinyl or are pressed on an exclusive type of vinyl. It is the only time that you are able to buy a glow in the dark record of MGMT’s “Time to Pretend” EP and a super exclusive 7-inch pressing of Phil Collins’ “In the Air Tonight” in the same trip.

All of the releases that are available to Record Store Day shoppers are incredibly limited, often maxing out at 3000 copies made, which makes them not only an incredible piece of vinyl, but also a collector’s item. The holiday not only is a time to buy records that you will never get the chance to purchase again, but also serves as a gathering place for music lovers. Standing in line with people who have similar interests creates a launch pad for conversations about

any and all things music.

Talk of record player setups, favorite bands and record collections are all common occurrences between folks waiting to buy the records they are seeking.

After spending both the Black Friday and April versions of the holiday at the same store the past couple of years, I have started to recognize many of the people who wait outside with me year in and year out. It creates a community, though one that meets only twice a year, amongst those who lineup early outside the store.

And the environment that is created by these vinyl lovers is a much more welcoming one than spending your Black Friday clawing other people to get a blender for five dollars at Kohl’s. It’s also much more civil. So next Thanksgiving, instead of braving the usual stores that you go to, and risk getting caught up in a sea of people, head to your local record store instead and embrace a community of music lovers that will welcome you with open arms.

UNews

Sports

By LEXIE VASOS Sports Editor

The Saint Louis University men’s basketball team returned to Chaifetz on Nov. 21 to play St. Francis Brooklyn. Sophomore center Austin Gillmann easily won the tip, and SLU got on the board first thanks to the athleticism of senior guard Ash Yacoubou in the paint.

The Bills were up 4-0 until St. Francis Brooklyn put together a strong offensive run and took the lead, 10-5.

The Billikens and Terriers exchanged blows for the rest of the first half with neither taking a dominating lead. It looked as if SLU would enter the locker room with a one-point deficit until freshman guard Jermaine Bishop drilled a three with time running out, giving the Bills a 32-30 lead.

The Billikens gave themselves some breathing room early in the second half, taking a 39-34 lead with 15:45 left in regulation. The Terriers clawed their way back into the game making the score 46-43 with 10:08 left to play. Freshman guard Miles Reynolds extended the Bills lead to nine with sharp shooting from the free throw line with just under six minutes left to play.

The terriers refused to back down and came within four before powerhouse Reynolds finished a three-point play at the line to give the Bills a 61-54 lead, with 4:30 left in the game. The Bills

By LAUREN TONDL Associate Sports Editor

The women’s basketball team has made a statement, starting this season with a 7-0 record-- their best start since the 1980-1981 season.

The Billikens faced a tough Mercer squad on Nov. 20 in Macon, Georgia. It was tight in the first quarter, ending with a 12-12 score.

Into the second quarter, the Bears did not let up, and SLU could not quite pull away with the lead going into halftime. Mercer took the lead 24-21 at the break.

Just like previous games, the Billikens picked up the pace in the third quarter.

SLU went on a 13-6 run to tie things up at 34. Mercer answered with a spurt at the tail end of the quarter to take the lead going into the fourth quarter, 41-36.

However, if anyone knows this year’s Billiken squad, they know not to underestimate their secondhalf performances.

Mercer had the lead 45-40 in the beginning of the fourth quarter, but junior center Sadie Stipanovich came up with a crucial three-point play to close the gap. Senior forward Denisha Womack made the game even with a basket of her own.

SLU’s discipline put the game away 68-60. The Billikens outscored the Bears 32-19 in the last quarter of

CHEER

dominated the rest of the game. Yarbrough gave the Bills their largest lead of the game, 73-58, with 1:11 left on the clock. SLU defeated St. Francis Brooklyn, 76-60.

The Bills strived to stay undefeated when they played North Florida at home on Nov. 24. North Florida fell into a rhythm behind the three point line, nailing three treys within the first 10 minutes to take a 9-14 lead.

The Billikens put together a solid 8-0 run that was started when Yacoubou drained a three. The Billikens regained a three point lead. The Bills later put together a 9-0 offensive spurt making the score 31-24. North Florida fought to cut the deficit a single point, 33-32, by halftime.

The Ospreys carried their offensive momentum into the second half scoring the first four points. The next few minutes saw multiple lead changes that lead to a 10-0 run by the Billikens that began with a three from sophomore guard Davell Roby. SLU sealed the victory with a 12-0 run that put their lead into double digits thanks to two three-pointers from freshman guard Marcus Bartley. The Billikens topped the Ospreys with a final score of 70-57. Yacoubou led the Billiken offense with 20 points, shooting 8-of-13 from the field and hitting a career-high four 3-pointers.

Yacoubou also grabbed ten rebounds to record his second double-double this sea-

play.

This victory was key to not only keep their winning streak alive, but also to break SLU’s eight-game losing streak in road openers. The Billikens also shot an impressive 82.6 percent from the free-throw line. Stipanovich recorded her seventh 20-point performance of her career.

Head coach Lisa Stone noted that the details really came into play in the last few minutes of the game. “Our free throw shooting saved us, and defensively, we really locked down,” Stone said. “A year ago, we may not have won this game. We have players that are really passionate about seeing the result on the left side of the column, and they get out there and do what has to be done.”

The Billikens continued to conquer on the road when they faced Indiana State on Nov. 25 in Terre Haute, Indiana. They defeated the Sycamores, 62-52.

In contrast to the Mercer game, the Billikens took the lead early in the game and came out on top in the first quarter, 12-10. Senior guard Jamesia Price started things off with a three-pointer in the first few seconds. Junior forward Olivia Jakubicek made a layup to give the Billikens the lead at the end of the quarter.

In the second quarter,

JEER

FEAR

WHO TO CHEER: KOBE BRYANT Los Angeles Lakers guard Kobe Bryant announced his retirement on Saturday after a 20-year career. “I’ve decided to accept that I can’t actually do this anymore, and I’m OK with that,” Bryant said. He’ll leave the NBA as the third all-time leading scorer, 17-time AllStar and owner of five NBA titles.

For continued multimedia coverage of Billiken sporting events, visit unewsonline.com or follow us on Twitter @TheUNewsSports

son. Junior forward Reggie Agbeko had 12 points and nine rebounds for the night.

Reynolds also had a notable game, scoring in double figures – 10 -- for the fourth game in a row.

The Billikens traveled to New York over Thanksgiving break to play the University of Louisville on Nov. 28. The Billikens and Cardinals were evenly matched for the first few minutes of the game. The Billikens gained an 11-8 advantage until Louisville hit a three to tie the game with 12 minutes left in the first. SLU responded with a 5-0 run to take a 16-11 lead. Louisville clawed their way back into the game and pulled within one point, 20-19, with 6:30 left in the first. Expert shooting from behind the line and quick transitions allowed the Cardinals to take a 2320 lead. Reynolds drained a three to tie the score at 23.

Louisville took the lead, but SLU refused to go down and fought to cut the deficit to three points with 27.9 seconds left in the first half. The Bills were unable to take advantage of the final possession of the half and entered the locker room down 30-27.

Reynolds got the Billiken offense going early in the second half, hitting a jumper to bring the Billikens within one, 30-29. After exchanging blows, the Bills regained a 34-33 lead with 16 minutes left in the game before the Cardinals successfully comSee “Men” on Page 8

December 3, 2015 sports@unewsonline.com Lexie Vasos, Sports Editor Lauren Tondl, Assoc. Sports Editor

Saint Louis University

UNDER: Junior forward Reggie Agbeko fights under the rim for the reverse layup. Agebko was just shy of a double-double, scoring 12 point and recording nine rebounds in 22 minutes.

Saint Louis University

SHOT CLOCK: Senior guard Jamesia Price checks the time left on the shot clock before taking her Eastern Illinois defender to the hoop. Price recorded 15 points and five rebounds. The team celebrated a perfect 4-0 start to the season after this win.

SLU took a 19-12 lead halfway through the quarter with a jumper by freshman center Tara Dursham and a layup from Kemph. However, Indiana State answered with a 7-0 run to tie the game up at 19.

This swing of momentum had no effect on SLU going into the third quarter. The Bills went on an 11-0 run from the whistle. Again, the Sycamores found a way to get back in the game. They scored nine points in the last three minutes of play to

make it 37-35 in favor of SLU going into the last period of the game.

A pair of free throw shots by sophomore guard Maddison Gits gave the Billikens their first double-digit lead.

Free throws continued to lead the Billikens to victory.

They accumulated all of their points in the final two minutes of the game from the line. The Bills finished the game 62-52, improving their record to 4-0.

This team continues to break records left and right.

The win marks the first time since the 1999-2000 season that SLU has won their first two games on the road.

Kemph racked up 21 points. Price registered a game-high three steals, and Womack had six rebounds.

The Billiken defense locked things down by holding Indiana State to 29.1 percent shooting overall and 27.3 percent from three-point range.

The Billikens then faced Eastern Illinois in Chaifetz Arena on Nov. 28. SLU im-

pressed yet again with an astounding 31-point win, 78-47. Play was tight in the first quarter with SLU taking no more than a six-point lead at any time. The Billikens pulled away 17-15 at the end of the quarter. Womack took the lead for the Billikens with a last second threepoint play.

The Billikens had a solid second quarter, never dropping their lead throughout See “Women” on Page 8

BY LAUREN TONDL, ASSOCIATE SPORTS EDITOR WHO TO JEER: MIKE PETTINE Cleveland Browns head coach Mike Pettine turned in a loss Monday to the Baltimore Ravens, 33-27. He knocked quarterback Johnny Manziel from the top spot down to third string when Manziel lied to him about partying. He paid the price when the Ravens blocked a last minute field goal and scored a touchdown, making the Browns 2-8.

WHO TO FEAR: THE DENVER BRONCOS The Denver Broncos advanced to 9-2 after a win against the New England Patriots without starting quarterback Peyton Manning. Quarterback Brock Osweiler proved their bench is deep and a force to be reckoned with. Despite their 14-0 deficit in the beginning of the game, they handed the Patriots their first loss since the 2014 season.

8

December 3, 2015

SPORTS

This week in sports

Volleyball tops Rhode Island in semis,

Tweet of the week Tonight was a great night.... So proud of my teammates. Thru all the adversity they never stop fighting #YoungDogs...

Scores from the week Women’s Basketball Sunday, Nov. 22 Mercer Billikens

60 68

Wednesday, Nov. 25 Indiana State Billikens

52 62

Saturday, Nov. 28 Eastern Illinois Billikens

78 47

Monday, Nov. 30 Missouri-St. Louis Billikens

31 67

Wednesday, Dec. 2 Memphis Billikens

57 63

Men’s Basketball Saturday, Nov. 21 St. Francis Brooklyn Billikens

60 76

Tuesday, Nov. 24 North Florida Billikens

57 70

Saturday, Nov. 28 Louisville Billikens

77 57

Wednesday, Dec. 2 Morehead State Billikens

60 46

Volleyball Saturday, Nov. 21 Rhode Island Billikens

0 3

Saturday, Nov. 21 Dayton Billikens

3 0

Player of the week

“

“

@CarlLandry

highlighted the difference between the two teams, as the Billikens raced out to a SLU women’s volleyball sizable advantage and evendefeated the University of tually won, 25-10.

Rhode Island 3-0 before beJunior outside hitter ing swept 3-0 by Dayton in Danielle Rygelski, who has the A-10 Conference Chambeen SLU’s strongest offenpionship. The loss marks the sive player this season, led end of the 2015 Billiken volthe Billikens in the set with leyball season, which SLU six kills. finished in second place, The secwith an ond set was overall recloser, at cord of 2225-18, but 10 and a SLU utilized Senior setter conference a 12-3 run Meredith Boe record of to finish off 10-4. Dayfinished her career the set afton finsecond all-time ter Rhode ished first, I s l a n d with 3714 assists, winning grabbed a while junior middle the confer15-13 lead. ence tourblocker Taylor Rygelski nament once again Paulson ended her and going powered the season with a .354 a perfect Billikens to 14-0 in the attack percentage, a set victory, tournathe third highest as SLU won ment. the third single-season total S L U set 25-17 to in SLU’s history. entered complete the tourthe sweep. nament Rygelski with a provided a first round .583 attack bye, earned by finishing in percentage in the set as well second place in the A-10 as eight kills. behind Dayton during the The victory meant that regular season. SecondSLU would face Dayton to seeded SLU faced off against determine the A-10 tournathird-seeded Rhode Island, ment champion, as well as who won their quarterfinal which team would represent match against sixth-seed the conference in the NCAA Duquesne. tournament. Dayton beat SLU’s semifinal match SLU during both matches in proved to be a mismatch as the regular season by a score the Billikens swept Rhode of three sets to one, although Island, 3-0. The first set

By VIVEK GORIJALA Senior Staff Writer

, December 5

, December 7

, December 12

SLU had played Dayton very close, even in the sets they had lost.

Dayton, who beat George Washington three sets to two to reach the final, won the first set, 25-19. SLU lost the set despite Rygelski recording two service aces and sophomore outside hitter Nenye Okoro hitting .333 and registering five kills.

The second set also went to Dayton, 25-23, despite an efficient attacking performance from junior middle

Continued from Page 7

Billiken Media Relations

Games this week

SCREAM: Senior middle blocker Megan Gilbert celebrates with senior setter Meredith Boe after defeating Rhode Island in three straight sets. SLU fell to Dayton in the A-10 final 3-0. blocker Taylor Paulson, who recorded five kills on seven attempts, for a .714 attack percentage. Dayton then finished the sweep with a 25-20 third set victory, despite another two aces from Rygelski.

The end of the season brought about some impressive individual achievements for the Billikens. Senior setter Meredith Boe finished her career second all-time with 3714 assists, while Paulson ended her season with a

.354 attack percentage — the third highest single-season total in SLU’s history.

Meanwhile, Rygelski, who has been a standout performer all season, finished with 4.24 kills per set—the 10th highest single-season total at SLU. Meanwhile, the 492 kills she amassed in the Fall 2015 season rank as the 11th highest all-time at SLU. Rygelski’s 59 aces also proved to be the 11th highest single-season total ever recorded for a Billiken.

Men: Team Women: Best start to season since 1980 drops to 4-2

Jackie Kemph Women’s Basketball

Sophomore guard Jackie Kemph is leading the offense into the women’s 7-0 start to the season, their best beginning since 1981.

She scored a career-high 22 points in a tight win against Memphis, 63-57. She leads the team at 83.3 percent from the free throw line, which has carried the Billikens through the last few minutes of most of their games at the beginning of this season. Kemph is the second-highest leading scorer on the team so far with 103 points, averaging 13.5 per game. She is the team’s main playmaker, leading the team in assists with 49.

Saint Louis Athletics

Saint Louis Athletics

BLOCK: Freshman center Matt Neufeld slams into the defender while driving to the basket against North Florida.

Continued from Page 7

pleted a three-point play from the three-point line.

Once again, the Cardinals offense dominated and pulled away from the Billikens. Louisville took a dominating 53-40 lead with 9:44 left in the game. The Cardinals continued their double digit lead throughout the rest of the game. Louisville gained their largest lead of the game off of a three that increased the deficit to 16, 72-56. The game ended with a 77-57 loss for the Billikens, who now drop to 4-1.

The Bills welcomed Morehead State to Chaefitz on Dec. 2. Morehead State jumped to an early 7-3 lead that the Eagles extended to 15-5 with 11:48 left in the first half. The Billikens found themselves down 3815 at halftime and looked to regroup before the second

half.

SLU continued to trail 47-26 with 10:50 remaining in the game. The Bills clawed their way back into the game, cutting the scored from 26 to 17. Yacoubou drained a three to cut the deficit to 12, 49-37. Although the Billikens continued to chip away at Morehead State’s lead, the Bills ultimately fell to Morehead State, 60-46.

Yacoubou led the SLU offense with 15 points followed by Crawford with 13.

Gillmann and Agbeko both recorded four rebounds.

The Billikens continue their home game schedule and hope to rebound from backto-back losses on Dec. 5 against Wichita State.

The Morehead State game was the first of six home games for the Billikens. SLU will not begin their A-10 schedule until after winter break, traveling to play Rhode Island on Jan. 2.

the ten minutes of play. SLU had a comfortable 11-point advantage at intermission, 38-27.

SLU showed up big time again in the third quarter, with a 13-2 spurt in the middle of the quarter to make it 51-29. The Billikens never let up as they kept the gap to 20 points or more throughout the rest of the game.

SLU led 60-39 at the end of the quarter.

The Bills outscored Eastern Illinois 18-8 in the final quarter of play and put the game away easily, 78-47.

SLU made significant offensive strides. Their 38 points before half-time are the most they have scored in the first half. The 11-point lead at half-time is also the largest of the season.

Stone was happy with the full team effort. “We did win each quarter, which was a goal of ours, and our first half was better than it has

been so far,” she said. “Our young players were able to get some extended minutes, which is good for their experience.

The Billikens continued dominating on Monday Nov. 30, against UMSL at Chaifetz. SLU put them away, 67-31. The women jumped ahead early with a 19-5 lead in the first quarter.

They allowed UMSL eight more points in the second quarter, leading the game 38-13 going into halftime.

They steadily increased their lead in the second half of play, staying ahead by over 20 points for the duration.

This win made the Billikens 6-0 on the season, the third time in program history.

The women had good discipline with only 11 turnovers, a season low. They tied their number of turnovers with their number of steals, which gave them a 26-2 advantage in points scored off turnovers. Price now has 12 games in which

she has racked up points in the double-digits.

On Wednesday Dec. 2, SLU defeated Memphis 6357 at Chaifetz to tie the record for the best start in program history.

SLU lead for the entirety of the game, only losing the lead for 42 seconds early in the first half when they trailed 11-9. The game remained tight in the second quarter, but Kemph had two key three-pointers to keep the Bills in the lead.

The women led by 12 midway through the third quarter with a three-pointer from sophomore guard Jenny Vliet. They led by 17 going into the final quarter of play.

Memphis went on a 10-0 spurt early in the fourth quarter, but the Billikens held strong and took the win to remain undefeated.

The Billikens face SIUE, who has a 3-4 record, on Dec. 7, in Edwardsville, Illinois at 7 p.m.

Saint Louis Athletics

PROTECT: Junior center Sadie Stipanovich protects the basketball from a swarm of Eastern Illinois players near the top of the key. The Billikens defeated Eastern Illinois 78-47.

&

UNews

Opinions Editorials

December 3, 2015 opinion@unewsonline.com Joshua Connelly, Opinion Editor

Editorials are opinion pieces written by the Editorial Board of The University News. The editorials printed in this space represent the opinion of The University News.

Commentaries and Letters to the Editor represent the opinions of the signed authors, but do not necessarily represent the opinions of The University News.

Letters The University News reserves the right not to publish any letters that are deemed intentionally and/or inappropriately inflammatory, more than the 300-word limit or unsigned by the original author. The following are letters and/or website comments. Because the identities of website posters cannot be verified, all website comments should be treated as anonymous. Actual letters to the editor may be submitted online at unewsonline.com or e-mailed to opinion@unewsonline.com.

Please include your cell phone number.

College ideal setting to embrace diversity College is an exciting period of time in one’s life. For many young men and women, it is the first time they will be living away from home. There are more responsibilities, but there is also more time to devote to personal growth in many areas—mental, political and spiritual, to name a few.

College may be the first time one has the opportunity to experience cultures other than one’s own on a significant level, and students should take advantage of the events put on by many of SLU’s Chartered Student Organizations (CSOs). We at SLU have access to events and organizations that represent cultures from all around the world—you don’t even need to leave campus to experience them.

Many of these events are free, which is perfect for students on limited budgets.

Others are low-cost ($5 or so). Some even serve food; the Center for Global Citizenship’s monthly Cultural Taste Series offered free Lithuanian food to students and faculty

just this week. Combining free food with the chance for people to learn more about another culture is a winning recipe.

It’s important that we challenge ourselves to experience new cultures while at SLU. After all, when again will any of us have the chance to interact with groups like SLU’s Korean Student Organization or African Student Association? Yes, there are similar groups that exist outside of our college campus, but they will never be more conveniently located than they are right now. If you have the time to play video games after class, you have the time to get out and experience a new cultural tradition that you may never have known about. It takes very little effort, and the potential for growth is huge.

One of the biggest problems facing the U.S. today is discrimination, whether direct or indirect. We have seen it with the fiery rhetoric against Syrian refugees, or the remarks from presidential candidates supporting com-

prehensive databases of all American Muslims. We see it every day against minority communities, be they black, Latino, Asian American.

Discrimination is often perpetuated by those who know very little about the groups they are harming.

When you isolate yourself from people of different cultural backgrounds, it is easier to think of them as the “other” and treat them differently – often worse – because of it. And even though it may be hard to accept or admit, there is discrimination at SLU. Don’t believe us? Just check out SLU’s Yik Yak on any given night.

After a series of bias incidents took place at SLU in 2010, the school created the Oath of Inclusion, which all students are expected to follow during their time here. It tackles the issue of discrimination on campus and offers the idea that all members of the SLU community should be not only open to other cultures, but should work directly with them to “foster a community that welcomes all

by recognizing the inherent dignity of each person.”

“I will embrace people for the diversity of their identities, creating a community inclusive of race, ethnicity, sex, age, ability, faith, orientation, gender, class and ideology,” the Oath says. “I will challenge my worldview through education inside and outside the classroom. I will show that I am proud to be a Billiken by enriching the culture of our University.”

As Billikens, we should all be working to fight discrimination, and one of the ways we can do that is to make sure that we are knowledgeable about other cultures. The events held by many of SLU’s CSOs give us the opportunity to do just that, and we should take those groups up on their offers. A SLU community united through diversity is a strong SLU community. We should all be actively involved in making that SLU community a reality, rather than a goal for the future.

Don’t let the fear of the unknown keep you from it.

“

“ “ “

Quotes of the Week

”

“ “ “

Sophie Lappe / Design Editor

The cancer world is so big, yet so small, and finding people in similar situations that you could relate to was the best kind of medicine.

Emily Evans, Kappa Delta senior, Page 3

From a lengthy court battle with the church ... to hours of victim testimony ... ‘Spotlight’ leaves little room to breathe—and that’s OK.

Joshua Connelly, Opinion Editor, Page 5

Our free throw shooting saved us, and defensively, we really locked down.

Lisa Stone, women’s basketball coach, Page 7

Letter to the editor: Several takeaways from last week Regarding the Clock Tower Accords: Apply a simple test. Ask if each of the initiatives would make a noticeable difference to a poor AfricanAmerican teen, north of Delmar. For items that fail that test, like the artwork, ask if you are still happy to absorb tuition and fee increases to pay for them.

Bonus question: As a Jesuit Catholic university, SLU has little to do with law-enforcement policy and was already more sensitive to issues affecting the poor than most other civic institutions. So why was SLU the target for “occupation” again? Bonus bonus question: The Accords said

U unewsonline.com

Founded by Claude Heithaus, S.J. Busch Student Center Suite 243 20 N. Grand Blvd.

St. Louis, MO 63103 Newsroom: (314) 977-2812 newsroom@unewsonline.com Advertising: (314) 977-2812 advertising@unewsonline.com unewsonline.com facebook.com/theunews twitter.com/theunews

SLU, M-SLICE and Tribe X would “support” the listed initiatives - so, how much money have M-SLICE and Tribe X chipped in thus far?

Regarding the Starbucks tempest in a coffeepot: Disdain for how some presidential candidates of one party are engaged in the admitted silliness of judging coffee cups is fine. But will there be a companion editorial on the other party, all of whose candidates would regard the in utero dismemberment of any student reading this newspaper to have been a glorious exercise in “choice”? Bonus question: If people are willing to abandon their families to

shop on Thanksgiving - and the stores would not open if they were not - is it really the companies’ fault for choosing something else over people?

Regarding the Mizzou situation: What policy initiative, short of personally babysitting the entire student body on the quadrangle, could Tim Wolfe have possibly taken to prevent a drunk student and a bunch of truck-riding yahoos (who may very well not even be Mizzou students) from using racial slurs? Bonus question: Has anyone produced a photo of the infamous “poopstika” yet?

Regarding Syrian refugees: Unlike editorialists, governors

actually have to take responsibility if they fail to protect their citizens. Strangely, college editorial boards tend to oppose the death penalty because the government gets it wrong every so often, yet put nearly mystical faith in government’s ability to discern the intentions of every last person in a refugee wave larger than SLU’s student population.

Another simple test: Pick a random guy from a random village in central Syria and list all the information you think the U. S. government would definitively know about him.

Having been deployed to such villages in northwestern Iraq

in 2003, I will offer one take - probably not a lot. The quality of a vetting process is not proportional to the number of government agencies involved or the time it takes; and, unfortunately, our current vetting process works well only at screening out individuals who have already published or done something bad. Bo-

SPORTS EDITOR LEXIE VASOS sports@unewsonline.com

ONLINE EDITOR MEREDITH HARGIS webmaster@unewsonline.com

MANAGING EDITOR CASEY WAUGHN managing@unewsonline.com

ASSOC. SPORTS EDITOR LAUREN TONDL sports@unewsonline.com

PHOTOGRAPHY EDITOR RYAN QUINN photos@unewsonline.com

NEWS EDITOR TIM WILHELM news@unewsonline.com

ARTS EDITOR TESS BROCK arts@unewsonline.com

COPY EDITOR ALEX HANEL copy@unewsonline.com

ASSOC. NEWS EDITOR EMILY HIGGINBOTHAM news@unewsonline.com

ASSOC. ARTS EDITOR NATALIE RIOPELLE arts@unewsonline.com

COPY EDITOR MAGGIE MCGOWAN copy@unewsonline.com

OPINION EDITOR JOSHUA CONNELLY opinion@unewsonline.com

DESIGN EDITOR SOPHIE LAPPE design@unewsonline.com

-Bryan Kirchoff, St. Louis

Merry Christmas from the UNews staff See you next semester!

THE UNIVERSITY NEWS 2015-16 EDITORIAL BOARD EDITOR-IN-CHIEF PAUL BRUNKHORST eic@unewsonline.com

nus question: Why are we not reading about tens of thousands of Syrian refugees being accepted by oil-rich Arab Gulf states, where they would actually share a language?

Merry Christmas, everybody... Starbucks included.

GENERAL MANAGER JAMES WIMPRESS gm@unewsonline.com ADVISOR MICHELLE PELTIER advisor@unewsonline.com

THE EDITORIAL BOARD OF THE UNIVERSITY NEWS RECOGNIZES AVIS MEYER, PH.D., AS THE NEWSPAPER’S FACULTY MENTOR.

“Freedom of the press—print, online and broadcast—is a basic right in a democratic society and is valuable in promoting the development of students as socially responsible persons ... The University News is a student voice, not the student voice. The views of The University News are the expressions of the students involved ... If [The University News] can represent a point of view around which discussion may develop, it serves a legitimate and needed purpose.”

- From The University News’ Charter

The University News is a member of the Associated Collegiate Press, the Student Press Law Center, the College Media Advisers and the Missouri College Media Association, a division of the Missouri Press Association.

First copy, free.

Each additional copy, $1.00.

10

December 3, 2015

OPINION & EDITORIALS

Hardy and Rice: ‘Spotlight’: salient reminder of the similar stories, power, and importance, of the press disparate discipline

One of the best parts of the recently released movie, “Spotlight,” is when Martin Baron, the new editor of the Boston Globe, meets Cardinal Law in Law’s residence.

Baron has just commissioned his team of investigative writers and editors – dubbed “Spotlight” because of their in-depth and revelatory reporting – to look into allegations that Cardinal Law knew about the sexual abuse of children in the Archdiocese of Boston and that he covered it up, schlepping abusive priests around the various parishes of the archdiocese in a perverted attempt to hide their crimes. For the moviegoer, then, their meeting is tense; though cordial on the surface – Law chats with the new editor about Boston and shares a cup of coffee with him. We know that Baron knows about Law’s actions. It is awkward, to say the least.

Near the end of the scene, though, Law tells Baron that he believes that Boston is a great city made better when its prestigious and influential institutions – i.e. the Roman Catholic Church and the Boston Globe – work together.

Baron gives him an answer that made me – the editor of a small, much less influential

“

“

Paul Brunkhorst

weekly newspaper – cheer. ent you with information that “I believe,” Baron says you might not otherwise en(or something close to this), counter.

“That a newspaper works best I have found, fortunately, when it is working indepenthat I am not alone in my quest dently.” to make print media relevant Yes, I thought, this is why again, especially with people newspapers are still great. my age – the twenty-someThis is why they are still the things who are increasingly bastions of truth and inforglued to our phones. (On that mation. They are not afraid note, my allies in this crusade to uncover scandal and crime. are usually aged professionals, They are not afraid to take on experienced journalists who powerful institutions - in the know the value of their craft.) name of justice.

John R. MacArthur, for examBut, of course, this pride ple, the publisher of Harper’s that was stoked within me Magazine, was recently feawas tempered tured in the by a loomNew York ing threat: Times in an the decline of article that I found, fortunateprint media. I stressed his ly, that I am not firmly believe allegiance to that print print media. alone in my quest media plays ( H a r p e r ’s to make print mea unique role has an ondia relevant again in society that line prescannot be fulence, but ly replaced by one must be online cona print subtent. But Internet media is cerscriber to access the organizatainly making a strong push tion’s digital content.) to replace those hardworkThe Times article focused ing newspapers that have inon MacArthur’s mantra, the formed us of some of society’s ideals that drive his passion great issues – like the sexualfor all things print. abuse scandal in the Catholic “His thesis,” the article Church. Facebook and other says, “is built on three pillars. social media continually try The web is bad for writers, he to push content to the reader, said, who are too exhausted but it is content culled from by the pace of an endless news sections of the web that these cycle to write posed, reflecsites think will interest you; it tive stories and who are paid is tailored news that performs peanuts if they do. It’s bad for little real service. It doesn’t tell publishers, who have lost adyou things that you should vertising revenue to Google know. It shows you stories and Facebook and will never that it thinks will interest you, make enough from a free and this is not what the news model to sustain great writbusiness should be about. ing. And it’s bad for readers, Newspapers are there to preswho cannot absorb informa-

tion well on devices that buzz, flash and generally distract.”

MacArthur’s points are accurate: the Internet has thrown the print world into an almost untenable situation.

We’re at a point now where news organizations straddle the line between print and digital; papers like the New York Times still have a healthy print edition, for example, but they have extended their array of offerings by producing a website and smartphone app. The future, then, is upfor-grabs, and there are three options: everything could go digital, with no print; things could continue on the path we’re currently on, a hybrid of the two; or society could have an awakening and revert back to its old ways, print only.

In the Times article, MacArthur offers a sharp critique of the online medium.

“I’ve got nothing against people getting on their weblogs, on the Internet and blowing off steam. If they want to do that, that’s fine,” he says in the piece. “But it doesn’t pass, in my opinion, for writing and journalism.”

MacArthur, perhaps, is going a little too far; online content is a valuable way for lots of people to access information. Certainly the Internet is a powerful tool for communication, and its benefits are evident: fast sharing of crucial messages and life events, for example. But he has a point: There’s a lot of crap out there, and it would be best for society if we support those hardworking reporters – like the Spotlight team – who provide an essential service to society.

Joshua Connelly

The NFL still has a domestic violence problem.

This past offseason, Greg Hardy, a defensive end for the Dallas Cowboys, was suspended 10 games for assaulting his former girlfriend in May 2014. According to a Nov. 6 report from Deadspin, Hardy “[threw] her against a tile bathtub wall, tossed her on a futon covered in assault rifles, and choked her.” This suspension came after Hardy missed much of the 2014 season on the exempt list, which is different from a suspension in that players are still paid despite missing games.

After appeal, Hardy had his 10-game suspension reduced to four games, and he has been playing since Week 5. Cowboys owner Jerry Jones has faced criticism from fans and media for his decision to sign and continue to start Hardy, but Jones has not bowed to suggestions that Hardy should be cut. Jones even called Hardy a “leader” during a press conference in late October, a statement that he would later reaffirm.

Hardy’s relatively short punishment – at least in terms of lost wages – is a sharp contrast to that of Ray Rice, the former Baltimore Ravens

running back who was initially suspended for the majority of a season and has not since found work.

Why is there such a discrepancy between Hardy and Rice’s punishments? One reason is because Hardy is a much better player at this point in his career than Rice.

Rice was coming off the worst season of his career when he was suspended. Hardy put up 15 sacks in 2013, his last full season, and was considered one of the best at his position.

Another reason for the sharp contrast is that Rice’s transgression was captured on video. The elevator security camera footage of Rice knocking his then fiancée unconscious shocked the public and led to a swift reaction from the league. There are graphic descriptions of the violence inflicted by Hardy – and images of the resulting bruises – but because there is no video evidence, Hardy gets to walk free. That isn’t right.

Hardy’s punishment is drawing a lot of negative publicity for the NFL, which is already seen as soft on the issue of domestic violence.

The league will argue that an independent arbitrator reduced the suspension, so its hands are tied. But even if the league can’t officially take action, Jones and the Cowboys could still cut Hardy, and other teams could refuse to sign him. The league as a whole should be taking a stand against domestic violence, not looking the other way while it continues to profit off abusive players.

Happy Holidays from The University News!

ADVERTISEMENT

December 3, 2015

11

This Week in UNews History...

Here’s what was making headlines in the past

December 2003

Think about writing for

The University News!

See unewsonline.com for more details.

Send applications to: eic@unewsonline.com and managing@unewsonline. com

12

December 3, 2015

ADVERTISEMENT