No. 9 (Jan. 31, 2019)

U

VOL. XCVIII No. 9 / January 31, 2019

THE UNIVERSITY NEWS

70 Years Later...

Cover Design by Rebecca LiVigni

NEWS

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THE EXORCISM THAT HAUNTS SLU 70 YEARS LATER

(Rebecca LiVigni/The University News)

By CAROLINE LIPSKI Staff Writer

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f this happens to this kid, could it happen to us?” said John Waide, a 40-year historian and SLU alumus, as he questioned the phenomenon that took place on SLU’s very own campus in 1949.

Even today, the exorcism of St. Louis is only dared to be whispered in rumor or heresay. Now, on its 70th anniversary, the question of what exactly happened still haunts us—especially with the exaggerated portrayal of the events from the 1973 movie “The Exorcist.”

Contrary to popular belief, there is more to the story than a creaky fourth floor in the oldest building on our campus.

Robbie Mannheim, the alias for the child who fell victim to these chilling events, experienced strange symptoms for four months in 1949.

His troubles began with peculiar noises, such as scratching and dripping, as well as various objects, including holy water being thrown against the wall—until one day, he became the target. He discovered several marks engraved on his body spelling bone-chilling messages of “Hell” and later, “Louis.”

With the situation worsening in their Maryland residence, Mannheim’s family took the message “Louis” as a sign to move him to the St.

Louis area to live with relatives. It was also the place where his recently deceased aunt had lived.

These strange events started to take place around the time of her death, after he had apparently tried contacting her using a Ouija board.

But that was only the beginning.

Mannheim’s condition still worsened in the Bel Nor home in St. Louis. A relative of Mannheim’s who was attending SLU and was an inhabitant of the Mannheims’ home confided in one of her professors, the Rev. Bishop, about the crisis. This spurred the involvement of several SLU faculty and priests.

One in particular, the Rev. Bowdern, recognized that something was not right.

Bowdern and other SLU faculty then decided an exorcism was necessary as a last ditch effort to rid Mannheim of whatever—or whoever—was tormenting his spirit. Bowdern attempted the exorcism rituals several different times despite growing opposition from Mannheim. On Easter weekend, while Mannheim was staying at the Alexian Brothers Hospital, Bowdern knew that his efforts had finally worked when Mannheim exclaimed suddenly that “[He] was gone.”

Waide recounts conversations that he had with two relatives of Bowdern, the primary exorcist, and offers that he found it “particularly com-

pelling” that “they both said that Father Bowdern had lost nearly 40 pounds over this ordeal” as well as the fact that “he truly believed that he was in a battle with the devil, a true possession.”

To what extent did Mannheim’s monstrosities reach our SLU campus? At least to Waide’s knowledge, it did not happen in the locations generally speculated. In fact, Waide claims that Mannheim was never in places like DuBourg or Verhaegen Hall, rather he had been moved back and forth between the old rectory of St. Francis College Church and his home in Bel Nor for several weeks during the exorcism. The rectory has since been torn down to make room for a new rectory.

Beyond SLU, Mannheim’s story has infected pop culture. In addition to the book “The Exorcist” published in 1971, the film rendition based on his story was produced soon after. Several other movies portraying other exorcism episodes followed, as well as a more recent documentary released in 2015, titled “Exorcism: LIVE” which offers an in-depth look at the St. Louis house where Mannheim had lived. Even Waide’s presentations about the exorcism have been attended by thousands. “People are fascinated by it,” said Waide.

Randy McGuire, a colleague of Waide’s, interviewed the author of “The Exorcist,” William Peter Blatty. In this interview Blatty makes an important connection between the significance of the book and movie to its title. “Everyone misses the point of the book and the movie,” said Blatty. ”It was about the priests and what they do to help the boy.” Blatty’s statement highlights the significant efforts of Bowdern, Bishop and many other SLU faculty in the treatment of the boy and their willingness to help someone in need.

Waide acknowledges that he himself still “has a lot of questions” that have gone unanswered. He does not identify as a skeptic in the matter, but rather encourages those that want to learn more to “be critical in their evaluations and studies.” He suggests looking to resources such as the published diary of Bishop, who was one of the SLU exorcists. The full version is included in the book “The Possession” by Thomas Allen, who is another expert on the ordeal.

To sum up the entire ordeal, Waide states that “people believe what they want to believe.”

Whether you are a believer or a skeptic, there is no escaping the fact that the infamous exorcism of 1949 is—and will always be—a part of SLU’s history.

“He discovered several marks engraved on his body spelling bonechilling messages of ‘Hell’ and later, ‘Louis.’”

News

Photo Courtesy of Diane Chatman

NEW SLU STUDY GAINS NATIONAL ATTENTION

By RILEY MACK News Editor n Ethiopia, the school dropout rate for girls remains at a staggering 51 percent, according to the Dignity Period project, a main cause for dropouts being the lack of access to menstruation products.

Despite taking place halfway across the world, this problem is not foreign to St. Louis.

Women of low income populations in St. Louis struggle every day for the essentials: enough money for their rent, food and bills. However, one basic necessity is not often regarded as essential—menstrual products.

The simple reality for these women is that it is essential.

According to Plan International, 1 in 10 women struggle to afford menstrual hygiene products when they need them—a problem that is far more prevalent for women in low income populations.

This reality was the motivation for Anne Sebert Kuhlmann, Ph.D.

Kuhlmann, a professor and master’s program director of public health at SLU, realized her study on low income women’s menstrual health in St. Louis was

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more necessary than she ever expected.

“About 64 percent of the low income women that we surveyed could not afford menstrual hygiene products in the past year when they needed them,” Kuhlmann said. “We thought we would document some need, but when we talk about 64 percent of the women that we talked to, that’s very pervasive.”

Kuhlmann credits the “economic cost of being a woman” for this incredibly high statistic.

“If you think about a man and a woman living on very low-income, making ends meet, there are additional costs that women have in order to participate fully in society, that, in this case, men don’t have,” she said.

Kuhlmann claims that there is an “economic cost of having to provide extra supplies, yet we have nothing in our safety net system that helps provide for them.”

With no safety net in place, women in low income populations already face a unique challenge; however, that is not

the extent of their economic obstacles. The extra “cost of being a woman” can also be seen in the selective exemption of items subject to a sales tax.

According to NPR, items like ChapStick, Viagra and dandruff shampoo have no sales tax in many states due to their “healthcare” uses; however, period products are taxed this way—or even luxury taxed—in some places.

This can increase the price of period products by 10 percent of the item’s amount, according to Kuhlmann’s research—a significant increase for many women. Because of this, women often resort to using rags, paper towels, toilet paper and even diapers during their monthly cycle in order to overt the extra funds.

Menstrual hygiene is not detached from other areas of a woman’s life, either; the effects of a woman’s period can extend into other areas of health and lifestyle.

“Women often miss school or work because of their periods” and “because of not having products,” said Kuhlmann.

According to Kuhlmann, this is especially true for women working

“Women often resort to using rags, paper towels, toilet paper and even diapers during their monthly cycle in order to overt the extra funds.”

03 hourly jobs that don’t provide sick leave. By missing a day or two a month due to a lack of menstrual products, it can disturb their economic stability— in addition to their mental health.

“It can affect your job. It can affect your progress in education. You can also imagine how it affects a woman’s self-worth and dignity, not being able to care and provide for yourself,” said Kuhlmann.

Fortunately, though, Kuhlmann believes the study was published at the perfect time for a resolution. Dignity Period, in partnership with the St. Louis Alliance for Period Supplies, is starting a program in St. Louis to dispense reusable pads to women in need. The Alliance will work similarly to the Diaper Bank in St. Louis in that they will purchase, collect and store menstrual products, then partner with organizations that work directly with women from low income populations to distribute them.

Although this is a great relief to the problem now, Kuhlmann thinks the key to creating a lasting solution is in policy-making. Since 2017, there’s been a bill in the Missouri House focused on taxing menstrual hygiene products and diapers at the lower food sales tax rate. However, it has not received a hearing.

Kuhlmann hopes that because of how widely the study has spread, particularly in an upcoming issue of the esteemed publication “Obstetrics & Gynecology,” it will help illustrate the importance of this issue.

“We will have to see at this legislative session with this new awareness whether the bill is introduced again and whether it receives a hearing in the legislative process,” said Kuhlmann.

Kuhlmann’s study has made a large impact on the St. Louis community, as well as the nation. But what’s made her feel the proudest throughout the entire project is bringing awareness to the issue. “We thought it would generate some attention, but I think it’s gone way beyond what we’ve imagined,” she said.

Knowing that people will see the problem’s magnitude and use it to establish and expand programs to help St. Louis women is what Kuhlmann desires for the future.

However, Kuhlmann’s ultimate hope is that her work will be a stepping stone to finally ending women’s struggle to afford menstrual hygiene products, period.

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NEWS STUDENTS SHELTER A COMMUNITY IN CRISIS Photo Courtesy of Riley Tovornik

SAVANAH’S

SGA UPDATE JAN. 23, 2019 Legislation passed:

Remaining empty Senate seats were filled.

Men’s Club Volleyball was provided Spot Funding for an upcoming competition.

The Ignatian Action Team was provided Wellness Funding.

By MEREDYTH STAUNCH Editor-in-Chief

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ate Tuesday and into Wednesday, much of the Midwest experienced plummeting temperatures that froze even the grittiest Americans. While the wind chill in St. Louis did not plummet to Chicago’s degree, its sub-zero temperatures resulted in school cancellations and early closures of businesses. At approximately 1 p.m. on Tuesday, Kent Porterfield, Saint Louis University’s vice president for student development, sent a campus-wide email warning students, staff and faculty of dangerously low temperatures and the clothing that should be worn to avoid frostbite.

But what if students could not afford warm winter coats?

What if they did not have a suitable place to sleep?

While many SLU students are privileged enough to have a warm place to stay and proper clothing during the polar vortex, student Devonn Thomas believed Porterfield’s email should have addressed those who did not have access to such commodities. She wanted a shelter to also be made available for the homeless community outside of SLU.

Thomas wasted no time to address her concern with Porterfield and Jonathan Smith, vice president for diversity and community engagement. “At 3 p.m., I walked to [Smith’s office] and said that we need some place for people to stay tonight because it was cold out,” Thomas said. “He hesitated for maybe 30 seconds, and said ‘Devonn, what

are you talking about?’ I told him that people are cold, and we have so much access at SLU. It makes no sense to not use our resources for people who need them.”

The likeliness of acquiring a space last minute was slim, though, according to Porterfield. Out of the activist organizations that Thomas reached out to to implement the initiative, SLU’s Labre became an integral factor in enabling its success.

“[Dr. Porterfield and Dr. Smith] figured things out administratively, like how we have a building,” Thomas said. “I chose Il Monastero at first because I knew that it is a nice building and had private rooms. There were a bunch of rapid-fire ideas coming out, so we talked to Tim Huffman, who is the leader of Labre, and he agreed to help staff.”

Il Monastero sheltered 11 people in its 12-room facility from 7 p.m. Tuesday to 9 a.m. Wednesday. By early evening, over 25 students, faculty and staff donated coats, gloves, hats and scarves for the homeless to use. Thomas explained that patrons were able to watch movies and play games in the separate spaces while enjoying a cooked meal. Separate bedrooms also allowed for privacy and inclusivity of the LGBTQ+ community, according to Thomas.

“So many shelters are not inclusive of people who are queer and trans,” she said.

“It is their active choice to have non-gendered spaces and non-gendered rooming, and it is important to us because we know what it means to be marginalized on the margins. They are already homeless, but some are homeless and trans or homeless and queer.”

Thomas, Huffman and Labre students sheltered the homeless through Thursday morning – but on Wednesday night, occupants, which included the homeless and volunteers, were housed at Manresa Center.

JAN. 30, 2019 Legislation passed:

Pencils of Promise was provided New Charter Funding.

Women’s Club Volleyball was provided Spot

Funding for an upcoming national competition.

German Club was chartered as a Chartered Stu- dent Organization.

Spanish Club was chartered as a Chartered Stu- dent Organization.

The President of the Student Government Association’s decision to sign a Student Body President’s Comment on a Title IX Proposal to the United States Government was affirmed. The comment was also signed by numerous universities across the United States.

The facility allowed for 30 occupants, and 27 stayed the night.

While the initiative was successful in providing the necessary clothing and room and board, Huffman expressed how there were multiple ways of responding to the crisis. “Clearly, it was a weather crisis,” he said. “[The question was raised as to whether] we should open a new shelter or could we have supported an existing shelter. My dream is that this the start of a very serious conversation in which we think about our roles in the community and how we can respond and plan better.”

Huffman said that he is proud of how quickly SLU responded to helping the homeless, but he also said that the community should not stop with just sheltering.

“We wouldn’t need emergency shelters if we were better at housing people,” Huffman said.

News

05 Illustration Courtesy of Ashlee Kothenbeutel

DPS REPORTS SOARING THROUGH THE GLASS CEILING

By RILEY MACK News Editor or women during World War II, it was Rosie the Riveter telling them “We Can Do It” that motivated them to step into the male-dominated workforce; for college-aged females today, it is breaking the glass ceiling.

Women in majority-male workplaces can expect to face struggles like a large wage gap, a lack of respect from coworkers and clients, feeling as if they are working under a microscope and higher reports of sexual harassment, according to Pew Research.

The key to helping strengthen the number of females in male-dominated workforces is encouraging them at college ages to continue on their path. Many women throughout college are discouraged by professors, mentors and even parents to go into careers that society has deemed more masculine. Because of this pressure, many female students do not graduate with the degree they intended.

However, Christina Connell, an aviation flight science major at SLU is one exception.

Since Connell is one of two female aviation students in her ju-

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nior class, she is already experiencing how unequal the ratio of gender is within the aviation field – a historically male-dominated field, with over 93 percent of all pilots being male.

“I came from an all-girls Catholic high school. My parents joke that I went from an all-girls school to an all-boys school,” said Connell.

Connell discovered her dream of being a pilot because of her parents, who are both pilots for United Airlines. Being behind the controls for the first time made her realize how much she wanted to make it her career. After that, she loved “the empowerment aspect” of telling everyone what she wanted to do with her future.

Without growing up surrounded by aviation, however, Connell may have never found her passion. Aviation “is not exposed to women as much as it is exposed to men,” she said.

Marketing, media and the environment begin to influence a person’s future career choice at a young age. For example, when computers were first marketed toward boys in 1991, the number of females in computer science careers experienced a drop.

Although, Connell and other young supporters have become advocates for women finding their place in male-dominated work forces. Connell is the president of an organization at SLU

called Women in Aviation, which gives out scholarships and exposes the next generation to the field of aviation.

Her predominant motivation through the club is “exposing younger girls to this opportunity and showing them that even if you can’t fully pay for it, there are scholarships out there,” Connell said.

This is just one way in which women can be exposed to new fields that are notoriously male dominated. Across the country, there are similar organizations that aim to close these gaps.

At SLU alone, other organizations like Society of Women Engineers and American Medical Women’s Association offer female students support in navigating fields with statistically less women.

The encouragement and promotion of women in these fields are ways that these fields can become more diverse. Not only will this help women to be more represented, it advances women’s efforts in the workforce in regard to pay and developing a positive work atmosphere.

Like women everywhere, Connell looks to the future, stating, “I want to fly with my mom one day.

She has eight years until she retires from United – hopefully, we would be the first mother daughter crew at United in San Francisco.” This sentiment more broadly reflects

On 1/28, it was discovered that three pounds of beef short ribs were stolen from the lower level produce cooler of the BSC sometime over the weekend.

The cooler was supposed to have been locked, but it is suspected that a new employee left it open by mistake.

On 1/29, DPS was notified of a student’s experience returning to her unlocked car to find a middle-aged man, dressed in all black, sitting in the driver’s seat. The student watched from afar as the suspect exited the vehicle and walked out of view.

There appeared to be nothing missing within the vehicle. DPS were also contacted by another student who had witnessed a similarly described suspect looking into her parked car.

At 1:31am on 1/30 a DPS officer encountered a non-SLU affiliated individual near the vending area. SLMPD were notified and took custody of the individual after the DPS officer made a REJIS check, revealing that the suspect had two active warrants. the dreams many women have when making their career choices.

The future of these industries depends on drawing from a diverse workforce that cultivates an environment that inspires and welcomes everyone. Just as Rosie the Riveter signified a milestone for women during World War II, women like Connell continue to break glass ceilings.

Arts and life

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This Week’s

Favorites

1 Mikhail Faulconer/Contributor

By Mikhail Faulconer Contributor ehinde Wiley, who painted President Obama’s official portrait for the Smithsonian National Portrait Gallery, currently has a featured collection at the Saint Louis Art Museum until Feb. 10. In these 11 stunning portraits, Wiley reinterprets classical works of Western art to replace white, often aristocratic subjects with African Americans from St. Louis and Ferguson. Eight of the original pieces Wiley uses as inspiration can be found in the Saint Louis Art Museum.

Although Wiley’s subjects strike nearly the same poses as the landed gentry of the works in the museum, he adds several twists that give this collection a full life of its own.

What is most extraordinary about them is that they are all from north St. Louis and Ferguson and were approached on the street by Wiley himself. It is incredibly uncommon and refreshing to see everyday people portrayed with the same dignity as that of the president.

A lover of art history, the 41-yearold Wiley’s reinterpretation is purposeful. He grew up in South Central Los Angeles, and his interest in

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art began at a young age when his mother enrolled him in after-school art classes. His work seeks in part to address the absence of positive depictions of black people in Western art, particularly portraiture, which has historically been reserved for only the most wealthy and privileged individuals. Wiley stated in one interview, “I wanted to be able to treat them with the same loving hand, with the same attention to detail that was devoted to some of the most powerful people in European history.”

Some of the original subjects that Wiley reimagines have direct connections with slavery and the oppression of black people. For example, Robert Hay Drummond, an Archbishop of York during the 18th century, aided in the operation of an infamous Caribbean sugar plantation. Similarly, Major Moses Seymour, a general in the American Continental Army during the Revolutionary War, owned slaves in Connecticut.

Another deviation of Wiley’s paintings from the original works is his backgrounds, which are lush with a dizzying variety of color and patterns. While the originals have more traditional backgrounds of nature or domestic scenes with muted and cool-toned colors, Wiley’s burst with elaborate floral patterns, some of which are in-

spired by European, African and Islamic textile designs. Vines laden with fruits and flowers overlap the incredibly realistic, at times photo-like subjects in Wiley’s works.

These decorative backgrounds serve a much more important function than simply pleasing the eye.

Just as the poses his subjects make are chosen to portray black people as powerful characters, a role they have often been denied in Western art, Wiley’s backgrounds challenge the often problematic and negative portrayal of black Americans and black bodies in our culture.

Wiley compared subjects’ struggle for the viewer’s attention to that of black Americans to be portrayed in a more empowering way.

“Their competition for the picture plane exists in direct relationship with my insistence upon the black body being in the forefront within a museum space, that sense that I deserve to be here, that constant fight for presence,” said Wiley.

Other smaller changes in Wiley’s portraits are also significant. Occasionally the gender of his subject is changed, as in “Portrait of a Florentine Nobleman,” “Charles I” or “Mercury.” Most of the subjects in the originals are men, but in his collection, there are twice as many women as men. Wiley began painting almost exclusively men, but his work in the last several years has

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FOOD

Elmwood Opened: Tuesday Jan. 22 Where: 2704 Sutton Ave., Maplewood Elmwood is a modern American restaurant from owners, Adam Atlnether and Chris Kelling, inspired by their respective St. Louis and California roots, with influences from abroad. The menu highlights classic midwestern dishes infused with global favors.

BOOKS Golden Child: A Novel By: Claire Adam Published: Jan. 29, 2019 “A new novel from Sarah Jessica Parker’s imprint, SJP for Hogarth: a deeply affecting debut novel set in Trinidad, following the lives of a family as they navigate immpossible choices about scarcity, loyalty and love.”

CINEMA

Miss Bala Release: Friday, Feb. 1 “A young woman (Gina Rodrguez) battles a ruthless drug cartel to save her kidnapped friend in Mexico.”

CONCERTS Panic! at The Disco Tuesday, Feb. 5 7:00 pm Enterprise Center Panic! at the Disco will return to St. Louis to tour their album, “Pray For The Wicked” along with Two Feet and Betty Who.

EVENTS St. Louis Mardi Gras: Cajun Cook Off Saturday, Feb. 16 12:00 pm - 4:00 pm Soulard Market Park “Learn the secrests of Cajun cooking from the best chefs in St. Louis, Mike Johnson and Christina Fitzgerald, whose culinary roots are connected to New Orleans, then taste the subject matter of the most delicious lesson you’ll ever learn as they hand out samples.”

Arts and life

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Rent Live: TakeS “Break-A-Leg” Literally Story Continued From Page 6

Photo Courtesy of Fox Broadcasting Inc.

By EMMA CARMODY Photo Editor On Sunday, Fox aired its latest live musical, Rent, a 1996 Pulitzer Prize winning musical about a group of young adults living with AIDS. However, viewers who tuned in Sunday night were disappointed to discover that the “live” musical wasn’t in fact live at all. Brennin Hunt, the actor portraying Roger in Fox’s live TV movie went to the hospital after injuring his foot during a quick change in a Saturday rehearsal. Having not hired understudies, Fox decided to air footage taken during a dress rehearsal earlier in the week up until the last scene which featured Hunt sitting on a table with his broken foot propped up.

Despite the setback, as the cast said while addressing their nation-wide audience, “the show must go on.” While many viewers could tell the performance was less than perfect, most obviously with many sound quality issues, the aired version Vanessa Hudgens took on the role

of Maureen, originally played by Idina Menzel, in her second Fox live musical appearance. While Menzel’s vocals set the bar incredibly high in her original performance, Hudgens had the attitude to bring the character to life.

The other actors brought the overwhelming emotion that the show is known for to the screen through the story of the AIDS crisis with statistics from the time period woven throughout the show. Although TV movies done in the past have been criticised for not translating well to the screen, Rent: Live stirred the same emotion in viewers as other stage versions and the movie are known to do.

The show finished with the last scene of the musical, trying to fulfill the promise it had made to the TV audience—a live show. Hunt, the main character in the emotional moment sat on the table with his casted foot propped up as his castmates changed their blocking to accommodate for his lack of mobil-

ity. As actress Tinashe, who played Mimi, was carried onto stage as her character was fading quickly, rather than run to his love, Roger sat in the same position, unable to move. The camera cut to a close up of his face as he screamed in agony at the sight of a sickly Mimi.

What is meant to be a tear-jerking moment was quickly made laughable enough for me to rewind the scene several times to rewatch the awkward moment. It was clear that Hunt was struggling to keep the level of emotion that the scene required as a distracting cast popped in and out of the corner of the screen. Despite all of this, the cast, especially Hunt, clearly put forth great effort, ending a respectable version of the classic musical.

The televised event ended with a reveal of the original Rent cast singing the musical theater anthem, Seasons of Love. The Rent: Live cast members met their respective original cast member on another stage. However, just as

featured many more women, and the collection at the museum are representative of this trend.

Another distinct feature in Wiley’s portraits is that his subjects wear their own modern clothing, including shirts with “Just Do It” logos and Nike shoes. Commenting on the importance of branding, Wiley stated in one interview, “Branding says a lot about luxury, and about exclusion, and about the choices that manufactures make… And the African American community has always been expert at taking things and repurposing them toward their own ends.”

Wiley’s works offer much for viewers to digest and reconsider about the representation of African Americans. And perhaps seeing one’s neighbors depicted in such majesty will inspire exhibit-goers to think just a little differently about those they pass on the street and not only acknowledge, but celebrate the beauty in ordinary people and things. viewers thought they had endured enough awkwardness in the final scene of the musical, the cast abandoned Hunt back on the stage of the last scene unable to move with his injury, creating yet another awkward moment where the actor could be seen in between singing actors. They could have put him in a wheelchair and wheeled him up to join the cast, but instead he sat alone behind everyone else. Again, another emotional moment made hilarious.

While it’s difficult to compare this version of Rent that was not meant to be aired to not only the past live TV movie musicals but also the widely loved other versions of Rent, the cast and crew adapted to the last minute injury to put on an impressive rendition of one of the most popular modern musicals.

Going forward, hopefully Fox will consider hiring understudies for their casts and maybe the theater community will revisit the use of the term “break a leg.”

Arts and life

08

maggie rogers emanates vulnerability in debut album

By Cassie Travers Contributor rom small beginnings in a makeshift recording studio slash broom closet to quickly skyrocketing in popularity with her incredibly unique sound, singer-songwriter Maggie Rogers has established a well-earned spot for herself on the charts. The 24-year-old Maryland native went through a whirlwind of milestones in these past few years, including visibly impressing Pharrell Williams with her mellow dance hit “Alaska” during a master class, performing on Saturday Night Live and becoming the center of a bidding war between record companies.

Fascinated by her own musical transformation, Rogers detailed her journey in her first studio album, “Heard It In a Past Life,” which was released this past month. It is nothing short of an elegant and ethereal collection of songs that feel like an intimate conversation between Rogers and the listener. Her single “Light On,” has an upbeat, sing-inthe-shower vibe, but under the tune, the lyrics detail her uncertainty and anxiety about being thrust into the spotlight. Rogers describes the violent feeling of suddenly experiencing a break in her writing slump in “The Knife,” a dance song with a gnarly

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bass-line accompanying her lilting vocals. Whatever it is, Rogers has a way of creating relatable narratives that are personal to both her and the listener and laying them over melodies that are gentle and beautiful, but still make you want to dance.

This album was the result of Rogers experiencing an artistic roadblock. Frustration with herself and from her instructors pushed her to take a hiatus and recalibrate who she believed she needed and wanted to be. During this time, Rogers was inspired to use more inventive samples in her music, such as the sounds of birds, jars or even drumming on her thighs in order to get the sound just right.

Her break from music led her to create an album as a way to process everything she had been experiencing. The album features “Back in My Body” and “Overnight,” two anthems about being unapologetically alive and accepting who you were meant to be. The slower ballad of “Past Life” approaches the similar topic of experiencing a shift in one’s life, but the simple piano accompaniment allows Rogers to showcase her vocals over her musical composition. The overall tone of the album is comforting, almost saying to its listeners that everybody changes who they are, whether by choice or by circumstance, and that you are not alone in your struggle to find your place.

One notable song, “Give a Little,” had an inspiration in stark contrast to the other songs: the National

Photo Courtesy of Maggie Rogers Facebook Page School Walkout in support of stricter gun laws that took place in April 2018. Rogers states that this song was written about empathy and creating

[The album] is ... an elegant and ethereal collection of songs that feel like an intimate conversation between Rogers and the listener. a world where “we treat problems as human issues, not political ones.”

Her trademark takeaway of accepting change when it is out of one’s control and causing change where it is necessary continues to be a welcomed and important reminder to those looking past her dance beats to listen to what the lyrics are truly saying.

While the entire album is full of tracks worth giving a listen, “Fallingwater” is a favorite among fans and seems to be the one that best captures Rogers and the atmosphere she has worked to cultivate. This song began

as a demo in 2016 and evolved into a story about capturing and owning one’s own vulnerability. The title fits the feel of the song, as both the vocals and the harmonies build to transform the song from a simple, percussive beginning to a cresting wave of emotion and power. The track then begins to ebb, narrowing down to the repeated lyric “I’m like falling water, set me free/ You were like falling water coming down on me,” before ending with Rogers’ unbacked vocalizations that are enchanting enough to send chills down anyone’s spine.

“Heard It In a Past Life” is exactly what it makes itself out to be.

Through her vocals, her relevant and relatable lyrics and her one-of-a-kind compositions, Rogers has created a refreshingly unparalleled album that brings about a sense of nostalgia, understanding and acceptance. Her music brings the listener into her life and vice versa, almost making the audience feel like they can personally understand the drive behind each and every song. As Rogers’ herself said after it was released, “This record belongs to you now.”

ice cream for breakfast day @ jeni’s splendid ice creams 9am to 12pm

Steve aoki @ ryse nightclub 9pm

the icarus account concert @ the billiken club 7pm

‘make me an adult day’ @ anheuser-busch auditorium

2pm to 5pm

Panic! At the disco @ enterprise center 7pm

st. louis trio inaugural concert @ college church 8pm

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6pm to 9pm

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FEB

indoor pool party @ Simon rec

lunar new year celebration @ saint louis art museum 1pm to 4pm

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

games

University News 1/24/19 Crossword

Across 1 4 7 10 13 14 15 16 17 18 20 21 23 24 25 27 29 31 32 33 36 40 41 43 44 46 47 48 50 52 55 57 58 60 63 64 66 67 68

Havana residue Engine part Shoot the breeze Vegas opening Warhol subject Bio stat Address abbr.

“The ___ Daba Honeymoon” Athos, to Porthos Glow Fruitcake item Home on the range Icelandic epic “Piece of cake!”

Musical dramas More uncertain Ravel classic Buzzing pest Model Macpherson Equal Matter of debate Classic car Airedale Dash widths Wavelike design Lodges Kimono sashes Exuberance Nullify In a subdued manner Baseball stats Lofty lines This, in Tijuana Outfit River islet Calamitous Connections Irish Sea feeder CBS logo

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photography

11

The auto show drives into St. Louis

By RILEY TOVORNIK Photo Editor

On Thursday, Jan. 24th, spectators flocked to the fourth annual Saint Louis Auto Show as it kicked off for the weekend. A variety of cars were showcased, with everything from fuel efficient daily commuter cars to high performance race cars. Local dealers were eager to show off their brand’s latest models and most luxurious cars, hoping to possibly snag a few sales. Also featured were RVs, motorcycles and several ATVs.

In addition to the showcase, Toyota, Fiat, and Chrysler also offered test-drives of their cars. Vehicle options ranged from trucks to high end sports cars (which were especially irresistible to car enthusiasts). Even if you weren’t in the market for a new car, there was plenty of material to get your mind racing.

Once the sun set, hundreds of spectators gathered to watch Vaughn Gittin Jr. and his RTR drift team make an appearance, wowing the crowd with their astounding driving. A team of motorcyclists opened for Vaughn Gittin Jr. by performing a stunt show of their own, with wheelies, tail drags and bike-standing.

One of which is only 15.

Vaughn Gittin JR. poses with his Ford Mustang after an intense drifting session.

The biker high-fives the crowd as he drives by.

Wheelies are some of the biker’s favorite stunts to perform.

A custom racing Ford Mustang with its powerful engine on display.

Floor worker showcases highlights on this year’s newest vehicles.

photography

12

Astha A Capella sing a variety of songs, from current pop to traditional Hindi.

XQuizit dancers “make it rain” as part of their dance performance.

slu performance groups put on a show for a good cause

By EMMA CARMODY Photo Editor

One of the members of XQuizit watches her fellow dancers from the side.

On Friday, Jan. 25 seven performance groups came together to help SLU’s Habitat for Humanity affiliate. Performers included SLU’s improv team, League of Laughter, Six Eight A Capella, Astha A Capella, student Monika Martinek, XQuizit, Omkara and K:ODE.

Students were provided with complimentary popcorn for the show, and several Habitat for Humanity students got up to talk

about their mission and goals as an organization.

SLU’s Habitat for Humanity affiliate participates and builds homes to help St. Louis residents with housing. It also helps at the Habitat for Humanity Restore, which provides affordable home goods and materials. The night was full of dancing, music and laughter with the money going toward helping the St. Louis community.

Sophomore Divya Gandhi leads SLU’s classical Indian dance team, Omkara, in their dance on Friday night.

One of the Habitat for Humanity members explains their mission to the crowd.

PHOTOGRAPHY

One of the members of SLU’s Christian a capella group, Six Eight, sings passionately during her solo.

Student Monika Martinek displays her beautiful voice singing an opera song in Italian.

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Omkara member Amritha Rajasekhar smiles for the camera during her performance.

K:ODE dancer stands out from her team as she strikes a pose.

League of Laughter has the audiance laughing by playing classic improv games.

SLU’s Korean pop dance team, K:ODE, put on an impressive performance for students to the popular K-Pop song Get It by Pristin V.

14 he sun is perched behind in the sky, casting three o’clock shadows.

The firmness of a wooden bench can be felt beneath and behind. An accordion accompanied by a trumpet fills the air with a jovial tune.

Pedestrians intermittently crunch their way across the gravel paths. A red parka and black jacket.

A young couple—early twenties— attempt to capture the picturesque view. The gentleman in red takes photos while the young lady leans against the low-end wall between the view and the bench. They conjoin to inspect the scene captured: The young lady in the black jacket, in the foreground of this place.

Against the blue sky, white-feathered bodies soar. Gray wings flap in succession; then stop. A smooth circular glide follows.

The pigeons swoop down to the water where blue-bellied boats slowly rock. A bold, white number—22—rests above the darker blue of the water line. Long wooden oars extend from the rower who sits in the middle. A lady in a bright red coat. She stops rowing. Opposite of her, a gentleman in a gray jacket.

They come together. A brief sweet kiss. They separate but still lean in close, talking and holding each other’s hands.

Farther out, another couple tries for the perfect shot. The young man leans back, extending himself beyond the end of the boat.

The young woman slowly stands up. She steadies herself. She places her hands on the hips of her purple jacket, posing in front of the regal equestrian monument.

Raised above everything and immortalized in metal, Alfonso XII is mounted on top of his steed.

A semicircle of columns wraps behind. Beneath his feet, four royal lions protect the king while elegant mermaids meet the shore.

Tourists and locals alike rest upon the great stairs below Alonso. They too soak in the view from their vantage. Additionally, on a slight hill which adjoins the monument, people spot themselves.

One hunches over to read a book.

Beyond the boats and pigeons, on the other side of the pond,

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TRAVEL Retiro Park

By TRENTON ALMGREN-DAVIS Travel Editor

a series of columns sit. Amongst these columns a red and yellow flag slowly twists in the light breeze.

The music dies down, lost in the wind. New sounds pick up: the call of the birds and the shuffling of feet.

A jogger runs across. His steps louder and quicker than the other promenaders. A streak of orange shoes and a black shirt.

His pace slows down. The steps become more muffled. Then halt. He too like the red parka and black jacket wants to capture the scenery. The black wire of his headphones—still in his ears—dangles from his outstretched phone. He snaps a selfie and moves on.

The bench, that humble place for taking in the beauty, is left behind. More of Retiro Park is still to be witnessed.

MADRID, SPAIN

Colorful jackets, birds and boats

(Above) One of the mermaids in Retiro Park watches the visitors of the pond from her perspective on the shore of the pond (Trenton Almgren-Davis/ The University News).

sports

15

BILLIKEN MEN CAN’T STOP SKID

By Carter Chapley Sports Writer

eartbreaking is an apt word to use when describing the Billiken loss Sunday to conference rival Davidson, especially for Jordan Goodwin.

Having taken the lead with only 11.3 seconds left, Goodwin fouled Davidson star Jon Axel Gudmundsson, who made both free throws to reclaim the lead. In a last second heave to retake the lead, it had looked as if the Basketball gods had smiled down on the Bills when the sophomore starter was fouled with just 0.4 seconds remaining. A potentially poetic ending as Goodwin would be able to make up for his previous foul, needing to only hit one of two shots to send the game into overtime.

He missed both.

Both shots bounced off the right side back rim and out and the Billikens had dropped their second straight A-10 game of the young season.

Postgame, the disappointment was palpable. The typically jovial Travis Ford delivered his shortest post game statement of the year with a simple “We didn’t win the game today” with his entire press availability last less than two and a half minutes.

“I didn’t feel any pressure.

Nothing was going through my head. I just hit the two before. I was going up there trusting my shot,” said Goodwin about his missed free throws. “It hurts right now. I had the game in my hands and didn’t get it for my teammates, so I’m going through it now.” Despite the disappointment, Goodwin says he knows he has the support of the Billikens. “I know my teammates are here for me. The city is here for me, the fans.

Chaifetz is always behind me,” he said.

“So, I know I’m in a good spot. There was no criticism. Everyone told me to

H

Jordan Goodwin pushes the ball down the court. Photo courtesy of Billiken Athletics keep my head up.”

The loss to Davidson shifted the national focus away from the Bills, who up until that loss, were receiving votes in the AP and Coaches national ranking polls. However, considering the depth of unexpected talent appearing in the A-10, like the success of Duquesne and George Mason along with perennially talented teams like VCU, Davidson and Dayton, the A-10 is still very much up for grabs, and a string of wins in conference play would return the spotlight to SLU.

Richmond may have been the perfect opponent for the situation as the underachieving Spiders entered Chaifetz Arena sporting a 1-6 record with underwhelming advanced stats for both their offense and defense.

Despite the bitter cold outside that limited the general attendance and the student crowd to approximately 4597—its lowest of the year—the Billikens were as hot as could be inside Chaifetz Arena opening the game with four consecutive made shots. The hot hand quickly faded though when Richmond adjusted its scheming to a zone defense.

The zone has been a difficult puzzle for Bills to solve this season. Its lack of multiple consistent knock down

shooters makes navigating the space-oriented defense difficult.

Head Coach Travis Ford emphasized how important it is his team learn how to handle that defense by saying, “8 conference game, only one of them wasn’t zone, so no excuses there, we know what we’re running. We have to rise up and play better.”

Meanwhile, the Spiders’ offense was taking advantage of the Billikens stalled play. Specifically, one Spider, Grant Golden.

The 6-foot-10 redshirt sophomore was an unstoppable force for most of the first half, scoring nineteen points on seven of eleven shooting. Ford had to tip his hat to the player saying, “Give him credit, we couldn’t stop it… we’ve watched that spin move 500 times and couldn’t stop it.”

The Billikens also struggled with its foul situation throughout the half, with big men Hasahn French and DJ Foremen each finding themselves sitting for extended periods to avoid further fouls. On the other side of the coin, only one foul was called in favor of the Bills all first half—a point the Billiken home

crowd was acutely aware of. The foul came on a Javon Bess midrange jump shot with 4 minutes to play in the half.

With a lead that grew to as many as 10 for Richmond the Billikens began to keep pace as their shooting improved, Javon Bess led the charge, making four of five three pointers in the half.

The Billikens were able to narrow the lead to as few as four and would have gone into half time with that had Richmond guard Jacob Gilyard not heaved a halfcourt buzzer beating prayer and sunk it to extend the half-time lead to 7.

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sports

16

REMARKABLE ROOKIES SHINE IN THE HEART OF CONFERENCE PLAY

Ciaja Harbison leads the Billikens and is fourth in the A10 with 15 points per game. Photo courtesy of Billiken Athletics

By Ryan Lefner Sports Editor n a season that has brought a lot of negative results for the Billikens women’s basketball team, the freshmen class has brought nothing but a steady stream of positives.

Each week of the season, the Atlantic 10 gives out a rookie of the week award to the most impressive freshman performer. A Billiken has been named rookie of the week in ten of the first twelve weeks of the

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season, including the last six weeks in a row.

Leading the charge for the freshman is Ciaja Harbison, who has been a rookie of the week representing the Billikens seven of the ten times that SLU has received the award.

The 5-foot-6 guard’s offensive explosion has shot her to fourth in the A10 in scoring with a clip of 15 points per game. A huge part of this impressive scoring run comes from her ability to not only get to the foul line, but also shoot a team leading 83.1 percent from it. Harbison’s scoring prowess is complimented by an incredible ability to help her teammates score. Her 4.5 assists per game has been critical for the success of the offense, as well as put

Freshman Brooke Flowers has been a critical asset in the paint this year for the Bills with her 7.3 boards per game. Photo courtesy of Billiken Athletics her in second place among Atlantic 10 competitors in this category.

Brooke Flowers has also been an integral part of the Billikens freshmen unit, being named rookie of the week twice in the campaign. Flowers, a 6-foot-5 forward/center, can be described as nothing less than a force down low for the squad. Her 38 blocks on the season are more than double the next closest number for the Bills, and her 7.3 boards per game are good enough to lead the team as well.

Regardless of the Billikens record at the end of 2019, the squad is set up for success over the next four years,

as four of the top six players in terms of minutes logged have been freshmen.

The ladies will be back in action Jan. 31 as they welcome the Patriots of George Mason to Chaifetz Arena at 7 p.m. CST. The game will be available for streaming on ESPN+.

sports

17

BILLIKENS FALL TO VCU IN RICHMOND, BACK TO CHAIFETZ TONIGHT

Senior Jordyn Frantz stares down a free throw before knocking it home. Photo courtesy of Billiken Athletics

By ERIN MCLELLAND Sports Editor o follow up a dramatic win in triple-overtime against Dayton last week, the Women’s Basketball Team headed on the road to take on the A-10 leading VCU Rams at their home in Richmond, Va. on Jan. 27. The Billikens were unsuccessful in trying to break the Rams down and ended up falling for their fourth conference loss, bringing their new record to 3-4 in the A-10.

Freshman Ciaja Harbison led the way for the Bills with 19 points, and fellow freshman Brooke Flowers led with 11 rebounds.

The first quarter remained close throughout, including three ties and five lead changes until the Rams were able to close out the quarter just one point ahead, with a 13-12 lead. VCU took more of a lead in the second quarter with an eight-point run, but SLU senior Jordyn Frantz nailed a trey and Flowers followed it with a layup to bring the score back within range for the Bills.

The Rams took off with a 7-0 run and gave the home team their biggest lead of the game going into half time, 30-22.

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SLU shared the ball well at the start of the second half with four different players scoring to pull the Billikens within four with a few minutes remaining in the third. SLU kept the game close behind a few defensive stops, but they were unable to convert to gain the lead back.

The Rams got the momentum and went on an 11-0 run to secure VCU’s win for good.

The game remained a double-digit lead until the closing seconds. The final score was 57-47, the Billikens

falling to 8-12 on the year and VCU moving to 14-6, holding onto their lead in the conference.

Flowers had her seventh double-digit rebound game of the season, and Harbison’s scoring performance earned her A-10 Rookie of the Week honors for the seventh time this season.

With just eight games left in the season, Harbison leads the Billikens in a number of categories, including scoring, assists, minutes and free throw percentage. Harbi-

son is within the top five in the conference for points per game, coming in at fourth, averaging 14.9, and is in second for assists with 4.5. Flowers is also in the top five in the conference for rebounding at fifth with about 7.3 per game. Frantz is second in the conference in three-pointers.

The Bills return to Chaifetz Arena Thursday at 7 p.m. to take on George Mason. The Patriots come into the game 3-3 in the standings with an overall record of 11-8.

Billikens in the Top 5 Ciaja Harbison Freshman

Brooke Flowers Freshman

Jordyn Frantz Senior

#4 in ppg (15.0) #2 in apg (4.5) #5 in rebounds per game (7.3) #2 in three’s per game (2.5)

sports

18

SOFTBALL PREPARES FOR SEASON OPENER IN IOWA

By ERIN MCCLELLAND Sports Editor

hockingly, despite the temperatures in the negatives in St. Louis, spring sports are right around the corner.

SLU softball opens up their season in Cedar Falls, Iowa against South Dakota State next Friday in the UNI-Dome Classic. The tournament will feature Drake University, who finished at No. 31 in the Ratings Percentage Index (RPI) and made the NCAA tournament a year ago.

The team returns 12 players from a group that finished fifth in the A-10 with a record of 28-29 overall. Six newcomers joined the squad in the off-season, including one transfer and five freshmen.

Sophomore center fielder, Kat Lane said, “Our strength is that we have depth. You can put anyone in the lineup and we are still solid. We have people that can play multiple positions and hit the ball hard when needed.”

“The newcomers are adjusting well and have been competing in practice,” said sophomore first baseman Sadie Wise. The newcomers are joined by three sophomore returners, Alyssa Chavez, Lane and Wise, who were named to the All-Rookie Team last year and are a solid group of upperclassmen that will continue to produce on offense and hold down the fort on defense for the Bills.

Chavez said, “Billiken fans can expect to see big bats in the lineup and speed on the bases.” “[There will be] many wins, dingers and a fun team to watch,” Lane added.

The team went 11-10 in the conference last season, finishing fifth overall, but this year, with the strong foundation they have built and cultivated in the offseason, the Bills are hoping for a better result. “Our team goal is to get

s

Softball returns 12 from last year’s fifth-place finishing team. A tough schedule will challenge the Bills to prepare them for a run into the A-10 Tournament. Photo courtesy of Billiken Athletics. to the A-10 Championship game and come out with the title,” said Lane.

A huge strength for the team is their camaraderie. “We have great friendships off the field, and it really shows on the field with our team chemistry,” said Lane. “We all get along well and play well together,” added Wise. They all want to do their part for the betterment of the group.

“I plan to compete every pitch and give [my] all for my team every game,” said Chavez.

Lane said, “I want to be positive, be there for my teammates and do anything I can to help this team achieve our A-10 goal.”

Although their season opens up next week, the Billikens won’t be at home at Billiken Sports Center until spring break on March 14 against Loyola-Chicago. Prior to their home opener the team will stay busy as they travel to Iowa for the UNI-Dome Classic, Loui-

siana for the Lady Demon Classic, Illinois for the Coach B Classic and Georgia for the Bailey Memorial Tournament.

Home games this season will feature a number of strong opponents, including last year’s No. 13, Kentucky, the defending A-10 champs, UMass and conference rival Dayton.

Get ready SLU softball fans because it’s almost time to head back to the ballpark!

Opening Schedule: UNI-Dome classic South Dakota State 2/8, 2/9 Northern Iowa 2/9 Toledo 2/10 Drake 2/10 lady demon classic Arkansas-Pine bluff 2/22 northwestern state 2/22 houston baptist 2/23 Arkansas-pine bluff 2/23 houston baptist 2/24

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Opinion

WHY REPUBLICANS LOVE GOVERNMENT SHUTDOWNS

By JAKOB BENEDETTI Staff Writer he partial government shutdown that just ended was the longest government shutdown in U.S. history, lasting some 35 days and leading to over 800,000 federal workers and contractors going without pay for over a month. The agencies affected included the Interior Department, the EPA, the State Department, the FDA and the IRS.

Government shutdowns are a relatively new phenomenon in American politics, and I would argue they’re indicative of the dysfunction and backward incentives that have taken hold of our political system as a whole. To date, there have been only 10 government shutdowns with the first occurring in 1980 under President Carter. It wasn’t until the fifth shutdown in 1990 under President H.W. Bush that any had lasted longer than one day. There were two under President Clinton that lasted five and 21 days respectively; one under President Obama that lasted 16 days; and two, so far, under Trump, lasting

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three and 35 days, respectively.

I would argue that the reason that government shutdowns have become so much longer and more common is that the Republican party has no incentive aside from public pressure to fear shutting down the government. On the contrary, shutting down the government actually accomplishes a core goal of their ideology, that is, to reduce the number of public services the government is able to provide while making the government as dysfunctional as possible so as to seemingly prove their laissez-faire policies right.

To be clear, I’m not saying that every government shutdown has been the fault solely of Republicans— that’s simply not true. But what I am saying is that the three most recent government shutdowns, especially the one under Obama and the one we just got out of, are a direct result of the GOP actually being incentivized to shut down the government without concern for the federal workers and taxpayers who would be directly and negatively impacted by such dysfunction.

Let’s just take the most recent shutdown as an example.

The shutdown was triggered when President Trump said, during Oval Office negotiations with Democratic

leaders, “If we don’t get what we want, whether it’s through you or military or whatever, I will shut down the government.” A few days later, the government was shut down. Trump was demanding $5.7 billion dollars to build a wall along the U.S.-Mexico border, one of his signature campaign promises, despite a majority of Americans not favoring a wall with Mexico, and some 71 percent of Americans saying that a government shutdown wasn’t worth getting wall funding.

Notice which agencies were directly affected by the shutdown: the IRS, which Republican candidates spent much time bashing during the 2016 primary, with one candidate even taping an ad where he put a chainsaw through a copy of the tax code; the EPA, which, despite being founded by a Republican, has now become a favorite punching bag of elected Republicans who have been bought by the fossil fuel industry, especially Trump; and the Interior Department, namely the Smithsonian and National Parks, and we all know how much Republicans hate free government services not specifically tailored to a particular class of individuals. It’s almost as if everything Trump and the Republicans had been fighting for in the previous Congressional session and had been unable to fully realize—a lack of

“To be clear, I’m not saying that every government shutdown has been the fault solely of Republicans—that’s simply not true.”

environmental protection, a lack of taxation enforcement and the halting of government services that don’t exclusively serve their “pro-business” agenda—came to fruition during the government shutdown. Under those circumstances, what incentive would they have to reopen government and return to the regular order?

Unfortunately for the GOP, they managed to forget a key fact of any economic system, perhaps because they’ve spent so long trying to get the rest of us to forget it too: at the end of the day, everything hinges on the workers showing up to work.

And if they don’t, or if they begin to organize, then the whole system will come swiftly grinding to a halt–which is exactly what happened.

Don’t let Trump fool you: he didn’t cave to Nancy Pelosi and Chuck Schumer because of his compassion for the government workers who were going without pay or the food stamps recipients who were going hungry.

He caved because at the end of the day, the GOP cares about money and symbolic economic figures like GDP growth above all else, which is exactly what was put into jeopardy the moment airport workers decided not to show up to work. Which all goes to show that Democratic politicians alone are not enough to force the GOP into submission on issues that virtually everyone in the country agrees upon; progress requires that the workers and average people of this country stand up for their own interests and for a government that is democratic, proactive and functional.

Otherwise, there’s no telling how long they’ll keep the government closed next time.

Opinion

21

CALLING CARLY: WHAT HAPPENS TO STARS WHO HAVE FADED?

By TARA TABIBI Contributor y friend Isaac, who attends the University of Illinois in Champaign, texted me last week saying he felt Carly Rae Jepsen deserves better and that we, as a society, failed her. When I asked him to elaborate upon his feelings he said, “I don’t know; I guess she has a lot of good bops on her new album.”

I wasn’t satisfied with Isaac’s response, so I took it upon myself to investigate his sentiments. I found Isaac wasn’t entirely wrong (partly because I didn’t even know Jepsen was even planning on releasing a new album this year).

The Mayans might have been right about 2012—metaphorically, at least, since 2012 was the year Jepsen’s global hit, “Call Me Maybe” aired on the radio, putting an end to the (destitute, depressing, empty) pre-”Call Me Maybe” world. The song received considerable media attention—even the former U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell performed a brief rendition on “CBS This Morning.”

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Unfortunately, Jepsen has yet to experience the same level of success on her most recent hits.

For comparison, “Call Me Maybe” made 13 million sales globally and remained at the top of the Billboard 100 for nine weeks. Her most recent big hit was “Good Time,” a collaboration between Jepsen and Owl City in 2015 that climbed to No. 8 on Canada’s Hot 100.

In some regards, it seems as though Jepsen’s initial success with “Call Me Maybe” might have overshadowed the image she hoped to project as an artist. Perhaps this issue most directly addresses

“Try to conjure up an image of Carly Rae Jepsen in your head.

What do you see? I see a girl with long, dark hair, blunt bangs that cover her eyebrows, light eyes and a youthful smile.”

Isaac’s grievance against society’s treatment of Jepsen. Maybe what Isaac meant to articulate wasn’t that society has a vendetta against Jepsen, but rather that Jepsen was inadvertently pigeonholed into the image encompassing “Call Me Maybe.”

Try to conjure up an image of Carly Rae Jepsen in your head.

What do you see? I see a girl with long, dark hair, blunt bangs that

cover her eyebrows, light eyes and a youthful smile. If you look up a current picture of Jepsen on Google, however, you might be surprised to see the image is hardly the same.

She now wears her hair in a short, blond bob, and her eyebrows made their debut sometime between 2012 and 2019. Even her new bops sound much different than “Call Me Maybe.”

My point is that, in the case of Jepsen (and perhaps even in the case of someone you know personally), we as a society may have a tendency to see others as unchanging, and we attribute who they used to be to who they are.

When Isaac said he felt Jepsen “deserves better,” I think he meant Jepsen deserves a second chance to project the image she originally had in mind before people started associating her exclusively with “Call Me Maybe.” Of course, that means we, the people, are tasked with listening to her new music and judging it independently of her past.

There are plenty of artists who have thrived given that second chance. Nick and Joe Jonas, for instance, have managed to successfully redefine themselves as independent artists. And let’s not forget Britney’s comeback after 2007. I don’t blame you if you don’t have the time to listen to Jepsen’s new releases. To be honest, I didn’t really have the time, either. I would ask, however, that if you do happen to hear one of Jepsen’s songs on the radio, that you consider how she may have evolved in the last seven years since first coming into the limelight (she vapes now).

Opinion

22

ARE WE MAKING SERIAL KILLING TOO SEXY?

By FIONA CLAIR Opinion Editor

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he minute Darren Criss walked into the scene with his perfectly tousled curls and his tight shorts I knew there was going to be a problem.

There is no question that he played the role of Andrew Cunanan incredibly well in the “American Crime Story: The Assassination of Gianni Versace,” and he earned a well-deserved Golden Globe for his talents. But it felt wrong being attracted to a serial killer. I may not have made it very far into the show (keeping up with live TV is hard OK), so perhaps he becomes less attractive as his character becomes more and more obsessed with murder. However, I was doomed from the start.

I was an avid “gleek”—for those of you who I’ve lost, that’s a term for someone who really stans “Glee”—so naturally I have nurtured

a longtime crush on Darren Criss.

He serenaded my 13-year-old soul, and though his character, Blaine, sometimes annoyed me, he was and is undeniably good looking. I know I’m not the only one out there who feels this way about Darren Criss, so I have to ask, why him?

Well, first I suppose I should ask why are we making movies and TV shows about serial killers in the first place? Why are we bringing them to fame? In our current world of seemingly endless and meaningless mass shootings and terrorist attacks, why are we taking the time to tell the stories of these killers?

As a journalism student, I have had this discussion from the perspective of media ethics quite frequently in the past three years.

Almost always we come to the conclusion that when reporting on a shooting it is best not to dwell too much on the shooter so that we don’t have to worry about inspiring “copycats.” Also, victims are surely still suffering and grieving when the news is being broadcast, so why bring more harm to them by analysing the killer who just terrorized them.

I understand that there is more of a critical distance in the stories like “The Assassination of Gianni

Versace,” and there is definitely a market out there of people who like to watch movies and TV shows about serial killers, but did they have pick someone so good looking?

Andrew Cunanan murdered five people in three months. His victims included close friends, lovers and idols. One of his murders was committed simply to get a man’s truck. He killed senselessly and publicly b e f o r e committing suicide eight days after his final victim’s death.

Not very attractive if you ask me.

W h i c h leads to my main question: Are we making serial killing too sexy?

Criss isn’t the only example of a murderer t u r n e d appealing, unfortunately.

“Extremely Wicked, Shockingly Evil and Vile,” the story of Ted Bundy, will premier this weekend at the 2019 Sundance Film Festival. And who, you may ask, did they get to play the infamous Ted Bundy? None other than every girl born in the mid to late 90s’ first true love, Zac Efron. Again, why choose someone who has a reputation for being extremely attractive to play a serial killer?

The story is interesting. It is

“At this point, it seems like Hollywood likes to make serial killers look glamorous, but I for one am not here for it.”

told from the perspective of Bundy’s longtime girlfriend who, evidently, refused to believe the truth about him for years. Perhaps they found a way to make Zac Efron ugly, perhaps he has become a good enough actor to make us forget about teen heartthrob Troy Bolton. But honestly, I doubt it. At this point, it seems like Hollywood likes to make serial killers look glamorous, but I for one am not here for it.

Ted Bundy kidnapped, raped and killed at least 30 people— those are all he confessed to at least—in a four-year span. He was a known necrophile, hebephile and ephebophile, and he lured women by feigning injury. Just looking up details from his life makes me sick.

And the worst part is I truly do not think Bundy was ever sorry for what he did. He may have confessed to his crimes, but he succeeded in escaping prison twice before he was eventually executed.

So let’s have Zac Efron play him, right?! Let’s make him cute, right?! Let’s tell his story, share it with the world, show people how he defiled and killed women because there’s nobody out there like that anymore who could benefit from some tips, right?!

I may be in the minority, but I don’t think it’s right. I don’t think Hollywood should be able to sexualize horrific crimes for monetary gain. I respect the art of film and television making, I really do, but next time maybe we should stop and think before we make murder so desirable.

Opinion

23

SORRY, COLLEGE KIDS SHOULDN’T HAVE DOGS

By MONICA RYAN Managing Editor alking to class every day, I see a lot of dogs on campus.

This makes me extremely giddy because my most precious furry friend, Ozzie, passed away two years ago. I miss him very much, so I get excited every time I see a four-legged fuzzy buddy.

But as happy as this sighting makes me, these dogs are being walked by college students.

Even though in certain housing residences pets are allowed, I don’t think that college students should

W

have dogs.

Depending on what kind of dog a college student owns, the dog requires its own level of care. A chihuahua can stay inside the apartment all day and use a puppy pad without much thought to the college student other than changing the puppy pad and feeding the chihuahua daily, but small dogs are usually loud and college students have roommates and neighbors. It is also not guaranteed that the dogo will use the puppy pad accurately, which is an additional stress to the collegeaged owner. Coming home to a doggy-made mess is the last thing a college student wants to deal with after class.

Conversely, a large dog like a husky needs to be let out to do its business multiple times a day. The extra responsibility of making sure to go back home between classes to carve out roughly 10 minutes to put the dog’s leash on and go outside with it to go potty can get stressful with a full day of classes.

But that’s not all a big dog needs.

They need to get plenty of exercise, so that is extra time that needs to be scheduled in order for the dog to stay healthy. Ozzie was a black

lab, so he needed to run around a lot, but it was easy at my parents’ house because my parents have a large fenced-in backyard. So while we as a family did other things inside of the home we could let Ozzie play and listen for him until he wanted to come in. I don’t know a college student with a fenced-in backyard.

These aren’t the only items that need to be considered when having a dog in college, the amount of food a big dog eats can be a considerable cost. A bag of food for a large dog ranges from $20-$50. If a student buys a bag of food once a month during the 10 months of school, they’re spending $200-$500.

An additional consideration is the grooming.

This can apply to small or large dogs. Long-haired chihuahuas and bichon frises are relatively small dogs, but require a large amount of grooming. The same can be said of huskies and Australian shepherds, which are large breeds and have double coats that require care.

The undercoats shed twice a year to get ready for the hot weather in spring and to prepare for the cold come the fall. With the shedding

from the large breeds, this means a lot of clean up, and as I’ve said previously, college students do not have the luxury of time to vacuum the dog hair in their apartment every day. Regular grooming is also required. These treatments can become expensive and time consuming. In a college student’s life, chill time is essential and on a Saturday, I do not want to be going to the groomers with my dog.

I know that the college students with dogs love them and do their best to take care of them, but now is not the time in our young lives to take on this responsibility. To those who have emotional support or service dogs, rock on.

Illustration by Ashlee Kothenbeutel

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