Only Four Remain
Going Streaking
Chess team qualifies for the President’s Cup with a win at the Pan-Am Tournament.
The men’s and women’s basketball teams are both on winning streaks as they continue conference contests.
5 7 The Student News Source For Webster University
the journal Volume 66 Issue 16
websterjournal.com
Jan. 23- Jan.29, 2013
Webster projects $12.2 million shortfall Budget cuts will begin immediately and last through June 30 By Megan Favignano Managing Editor
Webster University projected a $12.2 million budget shortfall below its revenue goal for the year. Budget reductions will start immediately, according to an email Webster President Elizabeth Stroble and Provost Julian Schuster sent university employees on Jan. 18. The university plans to make budget reductions in the following areas through June 30, 2013: —Five percent budget reduction for all budget lines except for salary and utilities. —Limit new hires. —Hold on travel and entertainment expenses. —Cap on new classroom furniture expenses at $150,000. —Cap on deferred maintenance spending at $140,000. —Cap new site setup spending at $250,000. Professor Gwyneth Williams said she wasn’t surprised after she received the email late Friday afternoon. Williams was elected Webster’s Faculty Senate president last semester and will begin the role fall 2013.
5% reduction for all budget lines except salary and utilities
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is unsure of how the bud“I thought things get cuts will affect her. were maybe sounding a I’m cautiously concerned, “No one knows at little ominous,” Williams said. “And I don’t mean this present time,” Minley said. “They (the presiominous in that we were I’m not panicked. I’ve been at dent and provost) didn’t going to close our doors, Webster for 25 years and this go into the details (in the but that budgets may email) as to how those have to be temporarily has happened before. cut.” cuts are going to be disseminated.” In August 2012, Greg Professor Gwyneth Williams The email also said Gunderson, vice presiPolitics professor Gunderson will collabodent and chief financial rate with Academic Afofficer, told The Journal budget adjustments were possible if the university fairs to recommend execution of reductions to the provost. didn’t make its revenue projections. “I’m cautiously concerned, I’m not panicked. “If we are unable to achieve the revenue numbers that we anticipated, then we, as an institution, I’ve been at Webster for 25 years and this has hapwill examine ways to manage within our budget to pened before,” Williams said. “You have years deliver the numbers we’ve committed to,” Gunder- where things go very well and you spend more money, and then years when you kind of tighten son said in August. More than 90 percent of Webster’s revenue up.” The president and provost’s email said the comes from tuition fees. Paul Carney, vice president of enrollment management and student af- university is taking steps to grow its revenue. fairs, told The Journal in August that Webster Those steps include the new website, a new marbudgeted for 2,178 undergraduate students — a keting campaign, a human resources strategy and number Webster missed by approximately 100 discussion with faculty and staff on increasing enrollment. students. Williams said she wondered if the hold on Williams said she isn’t happy about the budget cuts, but would rather the university be “forward- travel expenses would affect full-time faculty’s professional development budget. Williams will thinking.” Tamara Minley, Webster’s Academic Affairs present a research paper at a conference in late and Webster Staff Alliance (WSA) chair, said she March, but doesn’t believe the hold will affect her
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Ginsburg to leave for Ghana campus
attendance because professional development funds are part of faculty’s contracts with the university. Minley said WSA requested a meeting with the WSA Board, Stroble and Schuster to better understand the cuts and how the cuts will affect staff at Webster. WSA’s main concern is providing the staff with enough information and background regarding the budget cuts. “We just want enough information and enough research from the president and provost’s office so that we know what to do to move forward,” Minley said. “Until we get those answers, we won’t know.” The president and provost’s email, in part, stated: “When these (2015 Stretch Goals) growth targets are not achieved, revenues fall short of the funds necessary to match the needed investments we have made in people, facilities, programs, services and operations. That requires targeted mid-year reductions to ensure effective stewardship of funds.” Williams said it seems that the cuts don’t directly harm individuals. “It looks like they are trying to hold expenses that they think will have the least amount of impact on students — which I’m not saying it won’t have any impact,” Williams said. Contact the writer: websterjournal@gmail.com
Big Bend Burglary
By Sheren Khalel Staff Writer
Director of the University Center (UC) and Student Activities John Ginsburg will soon pack his bags and say farewell to Webster University’s home campus. At the end of the spring I term, Ginsburg will move to Ghana and become the director of Student Services and Admissions at Webster’s new campus. Ginsburg has worked John Ginsburg at the Webster Groves campus for 17 years. He said he would miss the campus, him. In Urban Issues, Ginsbut looks forward to a new burg announced he would chapter in his life. “You can't spend 17 be offering a short study years of blood, sweat and abroad trip to Namibia, Aftears — probably literally all rica in the summer of 2008. three of those things — and Schulte said she jumped at not be affected by change,” the opportunity. “It was one of the greatGinsburg said. Ginsburg called the est experiences of my life,” move “an alignment of mu- Schulte said in an email. tual interests” between him “John set up a road trip with and Webster’s administra- local guides and we traveled around Namibia, went to tion. Lydia Schulte, a Web- dune 46 and slid all the way ster graduate, recalled her down, had an amazing talk first meeting with Ginsburg with a village king, and saw as a professor in her fresh- so many elephants you got man seminar class, Urban sick of them.” Issues, in 2007. She said she Page 2 immediately took a liking to See Ginsburg
GABE BURNS / The Journal
Commerce Bank at 8050 Big Bend Blvd. was robbed on Friday, Jan. 15 at approximately 4:15 p.m. A 40 – 50-year-old African-American male approached the teller with a note and demanded money. The man implied he was armed but did not display a weapon. He was last seen fleeing north on Big Bend Blvd. with an unknown amount of cash. He was wearing a tan coat and plaid shirt. Commerce Bank was robbed twice in 2009 — once in August and once in November.
European campuses will not cut 8-week study abroad, director says
Webster’s study abroad office miscommunicated elimination of 8-week study abroad By Megan Favignano Managing Editor
Courtney Turner is currently studying at Webster’s Geneva campus for an 8-week term. Late last fall, she heard from another student that study abroad was cutting 8-week term options at Webster’s European campuses. Webster’s European campuses in Geneva; Vienna, Austria and Leiden, Netherlands will continue to offer enough 8-week courses for students to study abroad for an 8-week term. Webster’s home campus study abroad department incorrectly notified students that, starting fall 2013, 8-week terms would no longer be an option for
Webster’s three European campuses. Late last fall, Webster’s study abroad web page displayed a notification in large, black, bold print which stated, “PLEASE NOTE: Beginning Fall 2013, 8-week terms for Fall and Spring will no longer exit for undergraduates. Only graduates will have the option to do 8-week terms.” Guillermo Rodriguez, director of study abroad and international projects, learned from Robert Spencer, director of the Webster campus in Geneva, that the information was incorrect. Rodriguez removed the notice in late December. Rodriguez said he was informed that the European campuses would be cutting 8-week courses at the Webster Worldwide Study Abroad meet-
ing in Leiden in October. Now, Rodriguez said, it was unclear what that meant and study abroad misunderstood. He said they were concerned students wouldn’t have enough course options to study abroad for an 8-week term. Rodriguez said the meeting discussed the European campuses’ desire to increase the number of semester-length courses over 8-week courses. “It was a miscommunication, a misunderstanding as to what does that mean and how soon, if ever, that was going to take place,” said Rodriguez. Turner said if Webster didn’t offer an 8-week study abroad option, she wouldn’t have been able to study in Geneva.
“This is my first time actually living on my own,” Turner said. “It’s a really big step.” Turner said 8-weeks made sense for her financially, too. She had the added expense of housing because she doesn’t live on campus in St. Louis. Grant Chapman, associate vice president for academic affairs and director for international programs, said it was not his understanding that the three European campuses would be completely cutting 8-week courses. Chapman said decisions regarding the number of 8-week courses offered at European campuses are made through collaboration with the See Study Abroad
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news
Page 2 Jan. 23-29, 2013
NEWS BRIEFS Regent’s College in London to obtain university status Regent’s College in the United Kingdom is expected next month to become only the second private college to get university status from the British government. Among Regent’s campuses is Regent’s American College London where students may obtain a degree through Webster University. The transition from private college to private university means federal funding for Regent’s and its eight campuses. Regent’s was founded in 1984 as an outpost for the Rockford College in Illinois. Regent’s school principal Aldwyn Cooper said the process has taken so long because the college has been working closely with the British government. Private colleges are much rarer in Britain compared to the United States with only one other private university, The University of Buckingham, receiving funding from the government.
Former Webster president to retire from California graduate school Former Webster University President Richard Meyers announced his plans to retire as president of Fielding Graduate University in Santa Barbara, California on Nov. 8, 2012. Meyers will not seek an extension to his contract, which ends Dec. 31, 2013. Meyers was president of Webster University from 19942008. While at Webster, Meyers helped increase the endowment, enrollment, and expand Webster campuses worldwide. Meyer was also responsible for the creation of Webster Works Worldwide, the annual day of community service. Meyer announced his plans to leave Fielding’s at a board of trustees meeting on Nov. 3, 2012. Meyers said to Fielding’s Board of Trustees, “My vision has been to leave the university in a secure financial position with a future plan. My focus has been on increased shared governance, enhanced programs and degrees that prepare students to be more socially responsible, international components that make Fielding of value globally, and increased recognition of Fielding’s unique role in higher education.”
SGA accepting input from students for Spring 2013 Officers’ Summit Student Government Association (SGA) sent out a survey to all current Webster students for their input on what topics to tackle at fall 2013 Officers’ Summit. The five ideas SGA choose will be presented and discussed with President Elizabeth Stroble and the administrative council at Delegates Agenda Thursday Feb. 21. The survey must be accessed from a current Webster University email as each survey is tied to a specific email address. SGA asks that concerns be focused towards broad issues which concern the university and administrative council and should not concern specific schools or departments.
MISDEMEANORS AND MISHAPS Jan. 13 8:01 p.m. West Hall —Students were found in possession of liquor, referred to Housing/ Student Affairs. Jan. 19 12 a.m. West Hall —Students were found in possession of liquor, referred to Housing/ Student Affairs.
websterjournal.com
Community forum discusses gun violence issues By Tierre Rhodes Staff Writer
Thirty-eight years ago, Carl Wolf responded to a domestic violence call for a mother and son. Wolf, former Hazelwood police chief, remembered someone peak through the window as he pulled up to the house. When Wolf entered the home, the mother went to the bedroom to get her son. Then Wolf heard a scream. “Oh my God, he’s got a gun,” the mother yelled. Wolf then starred down the barrel of a rifle. Wolf convinced the young man to put the gun down. The son was arrested, charged and sent to court. Wolf told his story during the community forum on gun violence to serve as an example of gun violence — especially within households. More than 200 people gathered on Jan. 17 at the Central Reform Congregation in the Central West End to discuss gun violence in the St. Louis community. Ray Hartmann, the publisher of St. Louis Magazine, moderated the forum. The panel was comprised of: —State Rep. Jeanne Kirkton (D-Webster Groves). —State Rep. Stacey Newman (D-Richmond Heights). —Dr. Robert “Bo” Kennedy, St. Louis Children’s Hospital pediatrician.
Study Abroad FROM PAGE 1
home campus and the European campuses. Spencer said, in March, the European directors discussed the possibility of significantly cutting the amount of 8-week courses at the annual spring meeting of the European directors and academic directors. The directors refrained from taking further steps to implement the course reductions after Webster’s academic deans of schools and colleges at the St. Louis campus advised them not to last April. He also said European directors and academic directors do not have the ability to make unilateral decisions on major policy changes. Webster’s European academic directors discussed cutting
Ginsburg FROM PAGE 1
Ginsburg has been to 46 countries in Africa, Eastern Asia, South America and Europe. Ginsburg said his travels have prepared him for his upcoming move. “If there’s something that has helped me prepare for this, it’s having been overseas,” Ginsburg said. “Traveling prepared me to be ready for anything. I’ve been to Ghana, so it’s good that I’ve been there because I think I would probably be more nervous if I hadn’t.” Schulte said Ginsburg is the perfect fit to help the Ghana campus open. “I couldn’t think of anybody else in Webster’s faculty that would be so fitting for the position,” said Schulte. “He loves to travel and live adventurously and he loves working with students.” Michael Grosch, Student Government Association president, said Ginsburg’s presence and knowledge would be greatly missed. Grosch said he is con-
—Dr. Duru Sakhrani, Mercy Hospital pediatric psychiatrist. —Rabbi Susan Talve, Central Reform Congregation. —Carl Wolf, former Hazelwood police chief. During the forum, the panelists discussed law enforcement, educational awareness and mental health. In wake of the Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting, Wolf said there is a need for an emergency training program called A.L.I.C.E (Alert, Lockdown, Inform, Counter and Evacuate). Wolf also said school classrooms need locks on the inside of doors and a response plan in case a perpetrator comes on school grounds. “I do believe in information where somebody comes in and gets on the loud speaker and says, ‘We have an intruder at a certain location in hall A.’ That way everybody in hall B can get out,” Wolf said. Newman said she agrees with Obama’s initiatives to reduce gun violence. She filed a bill in the Missouri legislature which would require background checks on all gun sales. At the forum, Newman predicted her bill would not even make it to the floor of Legislature. She said the delay was in result to the Republican Party’s dominance within the Missouri House. President Barack Obama said during his remarks on gun violence on Jan. 16, “We will the number of 8-week courses. Student course evaluations and faculty feedback had expressed many subjects are taught better over a longer period of time. Rodriguez said study abroad is not sure how many 8-week courses will be offered next school year because the course schedules are not finished yet. Spencer said the European campuses currently offer more 8-week courses than semesterlength courses. There will not be a significant decrease in the number of 8-week courses offered. Any 8-week courses eliminated will be replaced with a semester-length course. “The European campuses are gradually changing the ratio of 8-week to semester-length course, but as of the present the former out number the latter and will again next year,” said Spencer in an email. Contact the writer: websterjournal@gmail.com
cerned with losing the knowledge Ginsburg has acquired in his 17 years at Webster. “I’m not looking forward to the challenge of trying to get that information that he has and trying to put it on paper,” Grosch said. “Because once he’s gone, we just lost all that information.” Ginsburg leaves at the end of the spring I term and will be in Ghana when the campus opens for students this August. A farewell party for Ginsburg is scheduled for March 1, according to a Facebook events page. Schulte said there is no doubt Ginsburg will be missed. “Even though I had a ton of amazing professors in my life, the one person that I believe was my greatest mentor in my college years was John Ginsburg,” Schulte said. “He taught me and others that there is much more to school than just going to classes and because of him I feel like I milked my education for everything it was worth.” Contact the writer: websterjournal@gmail.com
DAN DUNCAN / The Journal
Duru Sakhrani, M.D., Mercy Hospital Pediatric Psychiatrist, discusses the relationship between mental health and gun violence.
make sure that mental health professionals know their options for reporting threats of violence, even as we acknowledge that someone with a mental illness is far more likely to be a victim of violent crime than the perpetrator.” Sakhrani said in several cases when shootings occur, the shooter is suspected of being mentally ill. One out of four people will develop a mental illness in their lifetime. Sakhrani said when gov-
ernment funds are low and budgets are cut, mental illness funding is the first to go. “When an event happens, we have a tendency to find out if the person had a mental illness and we rush to judgment to say that the ‘perp’ was surely mentally ill,” Sakhrani said. Sakhrani said the mentally ill have many resources to turn to. Local institutions have put together funding in order to
serve those without insurance. Barnes-Jewish Hospital, Washington University and SSM St. Joseph Health Center fund reserve beds for people without insurance, Sakrani said.
For video from the forum, visit websterjournal.com. Contact the writer: websterjournal@gmail.com
Digital marketing director to leave Webster University By Natalie Martinez Staff Writer
There is only one man who can sport a Winnie the Pooh coffee mug, spar with coworkers armed with Seinfeld quotes, defend former Cardinals baseball player Jim Edmonds and is the voice behind the @websteru Twitter account. That man is Patrick Powers, the former director of Digital Marketing and Communications at Webster University. Powers resigned from the position and will work for mStoner — a web communications firm based in St. Louis. mStoner worked side by side with Webster on the newly designed website that was launched this past fall. “While I’m sad about leaving Webster, I’m excited about the opportunities in front of me,” Powers said. “I will miss the people the most, but personally, I was ready for another opportunity and the next challenge of my life.” The Riverfront Times recently ranked Webster as one of three finalists for the title of “Best Overall Digital Campaign/Strategy.” Powers and his team are responsible for the creation of the university’s digital marketing strategy and the launch of Webster’s new website. “He was an essential part of making sure we moved forward,” said Peter McEwen, Global Marketing and Communications web manager for Webster. McEwen was one of the members who worked on the project to launch the new site. “There were thousands of speed bumps along the way. That is what made Patrick so impulsive,” McEwen said. “He just drove over those speed bumps without slowing down. That’s why we got the project pretty much done.” McEwen said Powers boosted his team’s morale when he had them draw on a dry erase board. He had a student rank images drawn on the board for fun. McEwen said the exercise helped relieve tension within the team when it came time to meet the website’s deadline. Powers is a husband and a father of two. His
wife is a Webster alumna. Powers first started work for Webster University in August 2005 as a writer/editor. “I am proud to say I’m the one who fished his resume out (of) all the ones (resumes) that came in at the time when we were looking for a writer/ editor,” said Jennifer Gammage, current writer/ editor and assistant to Associate Vice President and Chief Communications Officer Barbara O’Malley. “I recognized his name when he worked at the Bellville Democrat.” Powers was known for his humor around the office. “We’d do Seinfeld one-offs,” said Gammage. “We can like, one on one take each other on with Seinfeld quotes.” Although Webster has launched its new website, there are still some aspects of the site that need to be finished. The digital marketing and communications department will hire new staff to carry out the team’s project. “I like to think of it as the opportunity for the next guy who can step in and take Webster even further then I could see,” Powers said. “And whoever that is, I wish them the best of luck. They’re working for a great organization. There are some really great people here.” O’Malley said Craig Carmichael will be Power’s replacement. Carmichael was formerly a marketing strategist at C2 Marketing. “Craig has a track record of website management and developing digital marketing programs to drive business results,” said O’Malley. While Powers worked for Webster, he also earned his Master of Business Administration. “Not only will I be a former employee, but I will forever be an alum,” Powers said. “I feel confident that I’m leaving Webster in good hands. The digital team is top notch. I only expect bigger and better things.” Contact the writer: websterjournal@gmail.com
Opinions
Jan. 23 - Jan. 29, 2013
Page 3
The Journal weighs in on the issues
The NHL started playing games and the St. Louis Blues won their home open against their division rivals the Detroit Redwings 6-0.
President Barack Obama becomes the first two-term president to be sworn in four times.
Commerce Bank on Big Bend was robbed. The assailant is still at large.
Lance Armstrong admits to using a wide range of banned substances throughout his cycling career.
Catdance Film Festival, a film festival based around the internet meme cat videos, featured five cat films in Park City, Utah. Graphic by Dan duncan and Tony Laurence
How to stop a bad guy with a gun: Take the gun away In the wake of the Sandy Hook, Conn., shooting, gun regulation is at the forefront of the news — only slightly ahead our impending fiscal doom. Obama’s new plan on an assault weapons ban and heavier screening to buy a gun has the National Rifle Association (NRA) and its members clambering to stop Obama from taking their precious semi-automatic rifles. First, I’d like to dispel the NRA’s famous slogan “Guns don’t kill people. People kill people.” To quote a well-known mind of our time the cross-dressing comedian Eddie Izzard, “Gun’s don’t kill people. People do... but I think the gun helps!” But the NRA and gun advocates argue that one can kill with anything from a knife to a car, or even homemade explosives. We can’t regulate homemade explosives because they are made of a multitude of household items. We can regulate Gabe Burns guns. And we accept a knife can be used as a lethal weapon but it also has nonlethal uses that are fundamental to our daily lives, such as cooking. A car could be used to run over someone to kill them, but a car is also necessary for daily
commutes that we have to accept the dangers they pose. But assault rifles have no use outside of killing people and intimidation. Notice I say assault rifles and not guns. Because unlike what many believe I’m a left wing socialist who expects hand outs from government, but I also believe in the second amendment and people’s right to defend themselves. But where does the second amendment end? One person can say an assault rifle is necessary for their protection, but I say that C4 is necessary for mine. It sounds a little ridiculous but that is the point. We need to draw the line somewhere and I believe assault rifles are excessive in means of personal protection and are more of a threat than anything. Obama’s proposed assault weapons ban and 23-point plan is all about prevention. Limiting clip size, forcing gun retailers to run more extensive background checks and more policing. Next time you say we are taking away your rights when asked for stricter gun control think about how an extensive background check or limited clip size could save lives. If these laws keep firearms out of the hands of just one person who would commit another shooting I would say they’re worth it. While the NRA views these logical steps as impeding on their
Letter to the Editor Hello,
organization that had to organize an SGF trip, I was against getting rid of advancements. However, I recognize there For those of you who don’t know me, my name is Katie were reasons to consider getting rid of advance funds. Maxwell. I’ve served on Student Government Association The concern wasn’t about losing money for the sake (SGA) for the last year and a half as senator of the College of of losing money. The goal was to avoid wasting money Fine Arts, secretary, and currently as student organization that other students could use to go on other SGF trips liaison. Most importantly, though, I am a student advocate. by encouraging fiscal responsibility. While our entire Advocacy isn’t established through a title, but through the organization was divided on the issue, I believe in my heart actions one takes. that each person had students’ best interest in mind. To me, I consider myself an advocate because I will do it seemed like SGA was being made the enemy. everything in my power to help another student with I always tell people I’m not a politician. I don’t have whatever issue they encounter. And I make it a point to a fancy speech to spin or anything like that. After a lot make myself available for these students. The opportunity of careful thought, I can’t say The Journal was wrong to to be student advocates is the main reason people join say what they wrote. They’re the voice of the students, SGA. It’s seen in things like Taylor Snead spending hours and while I didn’t like feeling separated from the student in the office to make the budget process more efficient or body as a member of SGA, I can’t say I wouldn’t have felt walking someone through budget policies, Chris Hawk differently if I hadn’t been involved in SGA. It stung to see posting his personal phone number in the office for 24/7 our constitution quoted to us and to see what was said about access if people have concerns they want to voice, or Taijun Delegates’ Agenda, but I respect the fact that The Journal is Waters making a page as senator-at-large for students to be doing its best to hold SGA accountable. Even if I don’t agree able to reach him. with what was said necessarily, it’s still the student opinion, I have never seen SGA members be more dedicated to which is what matters. advocacy than they are right now.When I originally set out SGA needs to find a way to change the way students to write this letter to the editor, the motivation behind it view SGA, but we need help doing that. I would never was to respond to previous articles that have been written ask students to take me on my word alone on how hard regarding SGA’s changes to the Student Grant Fund (SGF) everyone in SGA works. I could go on and on about all bylaws. the work SGA members do that no one even knows about. I’ll be honest. Initially, I got defensive because of my However, I will ask students to hold me accountable for involvement with SGA and because my personal stance everything I’ve said in this letter, to hold SGA accountable on the issue within SGF. Being a former treasurer of an on a more individual basis, and to help us improve how we represent students. From what I’ve learned as a resident advisor, discussing the problem with your peers alone doesn’t solve the issue. They’re resolved by taking In the Dec. 5, 2012 issue of The Journal, the article “Webster them up the ladder. Whatever your concern may trustee Laurance Browning, 83, dies” incorrectly identified former be, contact us. Even if we can’t handle your issue Webster president Leigh Gerdine as a female and Alice Gerdine as directly, the very least we can do is direct you to Leigh Gerdine’s sister. Leigh Gerdine was a male and Alice Gerdine the place that can. If there’s ever an instance where was his wife. Furthermore, the article also incorrectly reported that you feel you have gone through the proper steps a $1 million contribution from the Laurance and Virginia Browning with SGA, but aren’t being heard out, email me. had been used for the construction of the Loretto-Hilton Center for We are here to represent our fellow students. So the Performing Arts main stage. The $1 million contribution was if you have any ideas for how we can improve our actually used for the expansion of the Loretto-Hilton Center and, methods of doing that, please let us know. Also, I because of this gift, the main stage theatre was named the Virginia encourage students to become more involved with Jackson Browning Theatre. SGA as a whole. You don’t have to be elected to get involved. We have a student advocacy committee that works with students all throughout the year more informally than Delegates’ Agenda. We also have ad hoc committees that can The Journal welcomes letters to the editors and guest commentaries. Letters to the include students outside of SGA and we’re editor must be less than 200 words. Guest commentaries must be between 450 and always willing to include more people in our 750 words, and guest writers must have their photograph taken to run with their goals. Anyone should feel free to email me about commentaries. All letters to the editor and guest commentaries must be signed. The concerns or suggestions they have. All I ask is that Journal will edit all submitted pieces for grammar, style and clarity. If there are any everyone keeps in mind that we are on the same substantial revisions, the writer will be notified and allowed to edit his or her own team and are here to work together.
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rights their counter argument is this — let’s arm the teachers to keep kids safe. The NRA is forcing us back to a Wild West mentality where the only way to feel safe is to always be armed. Let me propose another option — armed police officers and metal detectors. Teachers are not hired and do not train, and should not be expected to train to fight off an attack. Police officers are trained to deal with situations like these and are trusted by the public to deal with it. Obama’s plan is nothing but an idea. Without the backing of congress, more specifically, the Republican House of Representatives, it’s all for nothing. We can’t revert to the NRA’s thinking of the only way to stop a shooting is to shoot the shooter. We need prevention. We need safety measurements. We need to move forward as a society, not backwards. Gabe Burns is the assistant online editor of The Journal.
Contact the writer: websterjournal@gmail.com
Politically Incorrect: You can keep your guns, but not your rights In the wake of multiple tragic shootings, Conservative right-wingers have come up with a lot of ideas about how to solve these problems. Arming teachers, increasing gun violation prison sentences and banning violent videogames are just some of the bright ideas their politicians have come up with. But while survivalists are clinging to their guns in fear that the sleeper cell terrorist in the White House is going Tony to take them away, Laurence they have missed the whole point as to why the Second Amendment exists in the first place. For them, the possability of demanding people in FEMA death camps into gay marriage, or something like that, is very real and their civil liberties are at stake. In reality, their civil liberties have already been destroyed from under their noses, yet no one is crying fowl. Search warrants have been replaced with police forced entries. What’s their probable cause? In many cases, they don’t need any probable cause. All they need to do is say you and your case is a matter of national security and your civil liberties and due process fly out the window. In a way, the fears and paranoia of President Barack Obama taking away civil liberties turned into a selffulfilling prophecy. The only problem is, conservative gun nuts were worried about the wrong rights. The Second Amendment was created as a way for the colonists to prevent the British from taking away their basic civil liberties like the right to a fair trial. Conservatives with 20 machine guns kind of have the right idea, but for the wrong reasons. As Bill Maher put it, having all these guns with no rights to use the guns to maintain those rights is “like a strip club with a million bouncers and no strippers!” While Billy Bob was armed to the teeth waiting for the black helicopters to swoop in and destroy all of his civil liberties, the government decided to let him have his guns and simply just take all
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Staff Katelyn Gosik Sharen Khalel Natalie Martinez Sam Masterson Jeffrey Mosblech Tierre Rhodes Ava Roesslein Alex Wilking Photographers Brittany Ruess Caillin Murray
Megan Favignano Josh Sellmeyer Hayden Andrews Carolina Dueñas Advisers Editorial Larry Baden Photography Robert LaRouche General Manager Amanda Westrich
of his civil liberties. What is most alarming about Obama’s expansion of President George W. Bush’s anti-terrorism policies is the fact that anti-Bush liberals don’t care if Obama commits these acts. Warrantless wiretapping, the suspension of habeas corpus, rendition and torture were all borrowed from Bush by Obama and are now decade-old practices of the CIA and other security organizations. Obama even authorized the assassination of an American citizen, Anwar al-Awlaki, whose main crime was sympathizing with al-Qaeda and preaching anti-Americanism. Civil libertarians accuse the government of not affording him a trial for his crimes. The U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder countered by saying, “The Constitution guarantees due process, not judicial process.” Other democrats seem to be on board with this frame of mind as well. Last month while no one was taking anyone’s gun from anybody, the Senate voted in favor of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act which allows the government to collect data on any American citizen and hold onto it forever. When, why and how this information is used is yet to be determined. Despite liberals declaring Bush a tyrant, dictatorial and borderline evil for implementing these civil liberties violations during his tenure, they seem to have stopped caring. Where Bush was grabbing for power, Obama is merely strategically practical. Despite all of these seemingly horrible findings, the fact of the matter is that Obama’s tactics have worked. Crime in the United States has been dramatically reduced over the past decade and international terrorist organizations are unable to exert their power to the United States. But where should the line be drawn between our safety from criminals and our safety from the government? “Politically Incorrect” is a weekly column written by Journal Opinons Editor Tony Laurence.
Contact the writer: websterjournal@gmail.com
The Journal is the official student publication of Webster University. Unsigned editorials reflect the opinion of the newspaper, not necessarily that of the university or the Publications Board. The opinions expressed by columnists and contributing writers do not necessarily reflect those of The Journal. All text, photos, graphics and other content are copyrighted by The Journal and may not be reproduced without permission. Any photograph that has been substantially altered or staged for use as a graphic will be labeled as a photo illustration. The Journal reserves the right to reject advertising, stories, columns or letters to the editor that it deems graphic, obscene or that discriminate on the basis of race, culture, gender or sexual orientation. Single copies of The Journal are free; for additional copies, contact the business office, located in the Sverdrup building, room 247, on the Webster Groves campus.
Lifestyle
Jan. 23-Jan. 29, 2013
Page 4
HAYDEN ANDREWS / The Journal
Senior Emma Sorenson (left) and junior Caroline Camp share the stage in “Werther,” the third scene of the Opera Studio’s production on Saturday, Jan. 19 at Nerinx Hall High School. In “Werther,” the libretto was in French.
HAYDEN ANDREWS / The Journal
Webster students Jimmy Stevens (left) and Mary Beth Freitag play a young couple separated by war in “Cosi fan tutte,” the first scene in the Opera Studio’s production on Saturday, Jan. 19 at Nerinx Hall High School.
HAYDEN ANDREWS / The Journal
Deborah Silva (far left), Caroline Camp (second from left) and Lauren Honz (far right) play the attendants for a princess, played by Julie McGinnity (center), in “Iolanta,” the second scene of the Opera Studio’s production.
Opera Studio performs works of Mozart, other classical composers By Katelyn Gosik Staff Writer
Webster University’s Opera Studio class presented scenes from January 18-20 at Heagney Theatre in Nerinx Hall High School. The opera included scenes from “Cosi fan tutte” by Mozart, “Iolanta” by Tchaikovsky, “Werther” by Jules Massenet and “The Merry Widow” by Franz Lehàr. The production also incorporated seven dancers from the Webster dance department and an orchestra comprised of 15 Webster students, faculty and alumni, which was directed by Conductor Scott Schoonover. Alice Nelson, artistic director and director of opera at Webster, said every year she chooses the opera pieces
based on the types of singers who have been accepted into the Opera Studio class. “If I have some really good sopranos, then I look for pieces that showcase sopranos,” Nelson said. “If I have a really good tenor, I look for something that would showcase the tenor. I always do one piece with the chorus. In fact, we’re doing two pieces with chorus this time.” Opera Studio is an audition-based course with students ranging in grade level from freshman to senior. Nelson said freshman singers are usually placed in the chorus. This year, the stage director was Nathan Troup, associate director of opera studies at The Boston Conservatory. This is his first year being a part of
Webster’s Opera Studio. Jimmy Stevens, sophomore vocal performance major, said he enjoyed working with the director and conductor. “They bring in a different director and conductor every year and this year the director, Nathan Troup, has been a lot of fun to work with,” Stevens said. “He had some very good ideas for staging.” Stevens played two characters in the 2013 opera scenes. His character, Ferrando in “Cosi fan tutte,” was the lover to Mary Beth Freitag’s character Fiordiligi. Troup and the ensemble took a modern spin on the Mozart classic by placing the performers in modern-day clothing. Freitag’s character made use of both an iPhone and iPad on stage.
The second scene was “Iolanta,” the Tchaikovsky fictional tale about a young princess who is blinded in a childhood accident. Julie McGinnity played the role of Iolanta. In this piece, the performers were costumed in corseted dresses. Brooke Henderson, wardrobe head, said the large amount of corseted gowns made final checks take a little longer than usual. Emma Sorenson, senior voice major, had two roles in the production, playing Dorabella in “Cosi fan tutte” and the lead role of Charlotte in “Werther” — the third scene of the opera. “I really enjoy the contrast between the two parts that I get to play,” Sorenson said. “One of them is a little bit more comedic (Dorabella) and the
other one is pretty dramatic (Charlotte).” In the scene “Werther,” the libretto, or text, was in French. Dressed in period costume from the 1800s, Sorenson played the part of Charlotte. Sorenson shared the stage with junior Caroline Camp, who played her sister Sophie. The final piece was “The Merry Widow.” First performed in 1905, this Lehár classic is one of the most popular works of opera. Not only was this the longest scene in the opera production, “The Merry Widow” incorporated the most people. A total of 28 performers were used, including the seven members from the Webster dance department. Contact the writer:
websterjournal@gmail.com
Webster Professor Van McElwee showcases abstract ‘Dream’ films
McElwee exhibited his newest films, ‘Dream Travel’ and ‘Travel Dream,’ in an open lecture on Jan. 18 By Gabe Burns
Assistant Online Editor
A Japanese woman walking down a tunnel transforms as images of jet planes, mosques and other architecture plays over it. As one image begins to pull out of another, all that remains of the initial shot in Van McElwee’s “Dream Travel” is the Japanese woman. McElwee, professor of electronic and photographic media at Webster University, showed off his two newest abstract films “Dream Travel” and “Travel Dream” to an open lecture on Friday, Jan. 18 in the Winifred-Moore Auditorium. When it comes to taking meaning from his pieces, McElwee said he was purposefully vague because he wanted the viewers to take their own meanings. “It’s more interesting to get meanings (rather) than (one) meaning,” McElwee said. “I think it’d be boring to decide on a meaning and give it to someone as a riddle. Life is like a mystery. So, why should art be anything less?” The films are intended to imitate a lucid dream for the viewer with layered images and sounds from McElwee’s worldwide travels. The films were shot during the ‘90s when McElwee traveled throughout Asia. He didn’t begin to use the footage until 2011. After each film played, the floor went to the audience for questions. Discussion ranged from the religious connotations of McElwee’s films to the technical side of how he edited his pieces. One scene in which McElwee layered an image of fish over a massive cathedral prompted some viewers to ask about the religious meaning of the scene, because the fish is a symbol of Christianity. “Not consciously. Unconsciously, probably,” McElwee said. Aaron Nandor, junior graphic design major, grew an appreciation for McElwee’s art during a class with McElwee. “I’m a big fan of his video work,” Nandor
“
I think it’d be boring to decide on a meaning and give it to someone as a riddle. Life is like a mystery. So, why should art be anything less?
Van McElwee Webster professor of electronic and photographic media
”
said. “Through having him as a teacher, I looked up some of his work. I think this one had a bit more of a narrative quality to it. But others of his are a lot more organic and flowing.” McElwee started as a painter, but his interest in sound led him to multimedia as a means of creating his art. “I was a painting major,” McElwee said. “In graduate school, I became interested in time-based media and working with sound. Even when I was painting, I was working with sounds.” McElwee earned his Master of Fine Arts in multimedia from the Washington University School of Fine Arts in St. Louis. He said his first experiments in video were minimalistic. “(For the) first few years I was working with video, I’d point the camera at the monitor and tilt the camera to create a feedback,” McElwee said. “And you would see one monitor inside another monitor. If you tilt the camera, then you create a series of logarithmic spirals. And if you zoom in and out, you get very creative abstract.” McElwee has shown his work internationally, and in February, he will travel to Artpool in Budapest, Hungary. Then, he will exhibit his work at ASIFA (Association Internationale du Film d’Animation) in Vienna. Holger Lang, adjunct professor at Webster’s Vienna campus, is organizing the show. Contact the writer:
websterjournal@gmail.com
HAYDEN ANDREWS / The Journal
Webster Professor Van McElwee answers questions from attendees during his Webster University premeire of the abstract films “Travel Dream” and “Dream Travel” on Friday, Jan. 18 at Winifred-Moore Auditorium.
IMAGE COURTESY OF VAN MCELWEE
IMAGE COURTESY OF VAN MCELWEE
Webster Professor Van McElwee wanted to use abstract images and editing techniques to produce a lucid state for the audience. Pictured above are screenshots from McElwee’s films “Dream Travel” (left) and “Travel Dream” (right).
lifestyle
Page 5 Jan. 23-29, 2013
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Chess team captures Pan-Am championship, qualifies for Final 4 Webster’s No. 1-ranked chess squad will try to win coach Susan Polgar’s 3rd straight President’s Cup By Sam Masterson Staff Writer
The Webster University chess team tied itself and four other schools for first place in the 2012 Pan-American Intercollegiate Chess Championship. In the competition, Webster’s A and B teams fought through six rounds of chess against the top college teams in the country. Webster brought the No. 1 and No. 3-ranked teams in the country with its A and B teams, respectively. In a feat accomplished only once before in the 66-year history of the World Series of College Chess, both Webster teams tied for first. Forty-four different colleges competed in the tournament, which was held Dec. 27-30 at Princeton University (N.J.). As co-champions with three other institutions, Webster and these schools all earned spots in the College Chess Final Four, or President’s Cup, which is held April 6-7 in Herndon, Va. Webster’s A and B teams, however, will be forced to combine into only one team of six members. College Chess rules allow for only one team per school to compete in the Final Four. Susan Polgar, Webster chess coach and founder of SPICE (Susan Polgar Institute of Chess Excellence), said she selected the final team based on the players’ competitive performances during the past few months. The Pan-Am Intercollegiate cochampions and Final Four competitors are Webster, the University of Texas at Dallas, the University of Maryland, Baltimore County and the University of Illinois. Polgar said Illinois is a surprise team that upset the University of Texas at Brownsville and Texas Tech University. Polgar won the President’s Cup in 2011 and 2012 while at Texas Tech.
Preparing for the Final Four
Polgar has selected her final team of six to compete in the Final Four, but she withheld the players’ names so that opposing teams can’t adequately prepare for Webster. That gives her team a leg up on the strategy side, since the other Final Four teams will most likely keep the same lineup they used at the Pan-Am Championship. Georg Meier, sophomore and team co-captain, believes Webster has a mental advantage as well.
DAN DUNCAN / The Journal
Manuel Leon Hoyos (left) and Georg Meier (right) face off during a practice on Friday, Jan. 25 at the SPICE (Susan Polgar Institute of Chess Excellence) room in Sverdrup. Coach Susan Polgar (back, left), SPICE Director of Marketing and PR Paul Truong (back, center) and SPICE member Inna Agrest (back, right) watch the proceedings. The No. 1-ranked Webster chess team was cochampion of the Pan-American Intercollegiate Chess Championship and will compete for the President’s Cup from April 6-7.
“I was a professional player for a while, and I was playing for different teams and my national team, so I do not have any problems with pressure,” Meier said. “We got where we are because most of us have been playing for 10 or 15 years, and on a very high level.” Meier and Wesley So, freshman SPICE player, agree that Webster deserves the No. 1 ranking and can win the 2013 President’s Cup — even with a shortage of experience in collegiate chess competition. Webster is a young team, as four of the five players on the A team are freshmen. Polgar said she hasn’t seen the
youth hurt the team at all. “It was their first experience of the kind (in the Pan-Am Intercollegiate Championship),” Polgar said. “Even though they are very accomplished chess players individually, this collegiate style is their first. I help them in any way I can. A lot of them are not from the U.S., so I give 100 percent of myself to them and they are trying to do their best for me.” Resumes of individuals on Webster’s team demonstrate why Webster is regarded as the best squad in the country. —Freshman Wesley So is the No. 1-ranked Philippine player, No.
3-ranked player under 21 years old in the world and No. 66-ranked overall player in the world. —Freshman Ray Robson is the No. 10-ranked under-21 player in the world and the No. 8-ranked player in the U.S. —Freshman Manuel Leon Hoyos is the No. 1 player in Mexico and the reigning U.S. Open Champion — the first Mexican-born player to earn the title. Wesley So and six of his teammates have represented their respective countries in the Olympic Games. Five players competed in the 2012 Summer Olympics. Polgar has no shortage of experience
at the collegiate level. In the past two years as the coach at Texas Tech, Polgar led her team to victories in the 2010 and 2011 President’s Cup. Meier, who was on that team, said Polgar’s success stems from her being more than a coach. “She is very good at keeping the team together and (having) an idea of what is going on,” Meier said. “It’s not so much about individual training but going for the good of the team, and Susan has been doing a very good job.” Contact the writer:
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Page 6
sports
Jan. 23-29, 2013
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Volleyball alumna Crystal (Shelton) Spinner readies for HOF induction Program leader in kills, digs, sets played ‘anxious’ to attend Feb. 2 ceremony, discusses recruiting path to Webster By Tim Doty Sports Editor
Webster University alumna Crystal (Shelton) Spinner will be the first player under the tutelage of volleyball coach Merry Graf to enter the Webster Athletics Hall of Fame. On Saturday, Feb. 2 during halftime of the men’s basketball game, Spinner’s name will be one of three to be added to the banner in Grant Gymnasium for the hall of fame class of 2013. Spinner graduated from Webster in December 2007 with a bachelor’s degree in business administration. During her four-year career as a Gorlok, Spinner set the program records for digs, kills and sets played and earned several other St. Louis Intercollegiate Athletic Conference awards. But both Graf and Spinner said the hall of fame inductee’s path to Webster wasn’t a typical recruiting scenario. “The biggest thing was my now-husband,” Spinner said. “We were dating in high school, and he played basketball (at Webster). He was a year ahead of me, and he went there. So then I decided to go there, too.” As Spinner prepared to graduate from Pattonville High School in Maryland Heights, Mo., where she played varsity volleyball all four years, she said she was heavily recruited by the University of Tennessee-Martin and William Woods University (Mo.). Graf said her “in” with Scott Spinner, Crystal Spinner’s future husband, may have helped to bring her to the Gorloks. “I was talking to (Scott Spinner) one day, and he told me his girlfriend was a really good volleyball player,” Graf said. “We started talking, and he said, ‘She’s looking to get an athletic scholarship. I don’t think she would come to Webster.’ I said, ‘Well, it’s not going to hurt anything if I send her something in the mail.’ And he said, ‘No, probably not.’ “So, I got her address and sent her some stuff in the mail. I watched some videos on her. Of course, she would come watch him play basketball, so I talked to her a few times when she was on campus. I said, ‘You know, why don’t we set up a campus visit? We’d love to show you around and have you meet some of the other players on the team.’ She was being pretty heavily recruited by the University of Tennessee-Martin at the time …
“
(Spinner)’s somebody that you could ... scan the gym, and your eye was going to draw to Crystal because she was that talented of a player.
”
Merry Graf
Webster volleyball coach “She really liked the idea of staying close to home and being near where Scott was, so that’s kind of how that worked.” Crystal Spinner said the small-town atmosphere of Webster and her close friends stuck out to her while finalizing her decision to attend. “We were all super close. It made you feel like a part of a big family,” Crystal Spinner said. The decision paid off for the Webster volleyball program. In 2006, the Gorloks earned a spot in their first-ever NCAA Division III tournament with the help of Crystal Spinner. She said the conference tournament that season and the trip to the tournament were her biggest moments as a Webster volleyball player. “That was our first appearance …” Crystal Spinner said. “Back when we won conference, to get to that was probably a big moment because I knew that was the first time in our program
history that we had an NCAA appearance.” After graduation, Crystal Spinner became the head volleyball coach for Fontbonne University, a SLIAC school. Crystal Spinner composed a 17-35 overall record as the Griffins’ head coach but compiled a .500 record in conference play in her two seasons. In March 2010, the Spinners welcomed their first daughter, Madison. And seven months ago in May 2012, Crystal Spinner had the family’s second daughter, Allison. Crystal Spinner currently stays at home to help care for her two daughters. But Crystal Spinner said when she received the call from Webster Director of Athletics Tom Hart, she was anxious — among other feelings — to attend the ceremony. “My first reaction was shocked, and then I was super excited,” Crystal Spinner said. Graf said she and Crystal Spinner exchanged text messages when Graf found out her former player was officially announced as a Hall of Fame nominee. “She had already talked to Tom Hart, but we went back and forth a couple of times, and I just told her I was really excited and proud of her accomplishments,” Graf said. “She’s going to be the first player that I coached at Webster (to be inducted into the Hall of Fame). … I was really excited for her and proud of what she had done for the
INFOGRAPHIC BY TIM DOTY AND DAN DUNCAN
program.” Graf said Crystal Spinner’s talents in all areas of the game made her a unique and special player. “She was a dynamic player,” Graf said. “She’s somebody that you could walk into the gym and scan the gym, and your eye was going to draw to Crystal because she was that talented of a player. Not only that, but she was very mature on and off the court, very levelheaded. She really was the full package for us, which was awesome.” Crystal Spinner said her nomination is a testament to hard work as an athlete and to her life as a volleyball player. “To me, it really shows me how
hard I’ve worked, not only at my career at Webster, but from when I was an 8-year-old playing volleyball — pretty much my whole life — building up to that moment to allow me to break the records and succeed as an athlete to allow me to have an opportunity like I did,” Crystal Spinner said.
Check next week’s issue for a profile on 2013 Hall of Fame inductee Angie Carr. Contact the writer:
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sports
Jan. 23-29, 2013
Gorloks find winning ways after 7-game skid
websterjournal.com
Jecha Jabber
Remembering “The Man”
Men’s basketball nets 3 straight conference wins against Westminster, Fontbonne, Principia
Standings
By Sam Masterson Staff Writer
The Webster University men’s basketball team took an early beating in St. Louis Intercollegiate Athletic Conference play, starting 2-3 with a top-4 spot in the conference slipping away. However, a final-seconds, gamewinning shot, a rivalry game win and a blowout on the road now tie the Gorloks for fourth in the conference. On Jan. 15, Webster trailed SLIAC foe Westminster College (Mo.) for the entire game, but the Gorloks managed to pull within 2 points in the final 20 seconds of the game. Sophomore guard Ahmad Smith was given the green light from coach Chris Bunch, and Smith sunk a 3-pointer with only 6 seconds remaining. The game-winning play didn’t end there. As Westminster moved the ball back down the court for a chance at redemption, standing in the way and denying one of the Blue Jays’ top scorers was 6-foot-6-inch junior center Jarrod Huskey. “We were only ahead 6 seconds,” Bunch said. “But it was the right 6 seconds to be ahead.” The victory completed a stretch of three straight games against the preseason top-4 ranked teams in the SLIAC. Before that streak, Webster took consecutive losses to Eureka College (Ill.), 72-64 on Jan. 5, MacMurray College (Ill.), 71-69 on Jan. 8 and Spalding University (Ky.), 79-49 on Jan. 10. The Gorlok stars from the defeat of the Jays said they can’t agree on which play was the most important. “Easily Ahmad’s three,” Huskey said. “With the three my block doesn’t happen, so easily
SLIAC
Conference
Men’s Basketball Spalding Eureka MacMurray Westminster Webster Fontbonne Greenville Blackburn Principia
Overall
Record
Games Back
Record
Win %
Streak
7-1 6-2 6-2 5-3 5-3 4-4 2-6 1-7 0-8
— 1.5 1.5 3 3 4.5 7.5 9 10.5
10-7 10-6 9-8 12-5 7-9 6-11 7-10 1-16 0-16
0.588 0.625 0.529 0.706 0.438 0.353 0.412 0.059 0.000
Lost 1 Won 7 Lost 2 Won 2 Won 3 Won 1 Lost 5 Lost 5 Lost 16
RYAN JECHA
*All statistics as of Jan. 22
(it’s) his three.” Smith gave the edge back to Huskey’s block. “(It’s) because then they would have scored, and we would have lost,” Smith said. Bunch said it was a “dead heat” and wasn’t able to break the tie. As Huskey’s confidence begins to flare, he said he believes he has earned the right of a nickname to compliment his shot-blocking and rebounding abilities. Bunch said with a few more big performances, he will consider it. Six games ago, Huskey may not have even been in the game at that point in the season. His larger role now as the biggest threat in the paint for Webster was one he first shared with 6-foot-6-inch sophomore center Aaron Griffin. Griffin transferred from Rust College (Miss.) before the 2012-2013 academic year. However, due to academic ineligibility starting with the new year, Griffin has been forced to
sit out for the remainder of the season (see page 8 for more information on what an athlete must do if he or she is deemed academically ineligible). “It was a big loss, and he was really starting to play well,” Bunch said. “It happens every now and then, but he is trying to get back on track and hopefully as of August of next year he will be ready to play.” Griffin led the team in all rebounding categories and was a top scorer on the team. In Griffin’s final game with the team this season, he recorded a double-double with 21 rebounds and 20 points in a 12-point loss at Rust. “There’s definitely more pressure,” Huskey said. “But it’s not just on me, it’s on the whole team, and we have to pick up each other and play with the guys who are here.” Without Griffin’s average of 9.7 rebounds per game, Webster is still out-rebounding its opponents as the Gorloks have averaged 1 more rebound per game
CAROLINA DUEÑAS / The Journal
Sophomore guard Ahmad Smith (right) drives toward the basket against a Fontbonne defender during the Gorloks’ 82-69 win over the Griffins at Grant Gymnasium on Thursday, Jan. 17. Smith made a 3-pointer with 6 seconds left to help seal the victory for Webster at Westminster on Jan. 15.
than their opponents. Huskey and senior forward Roman Robinson now hold averages of 5.9 and 6 rebounds per game, respectively. In their latest game at Principia College (Ill.) on Saturday, Jan. 19, Huskey recorded his career high in rebounds with 17 in
a 26-point stomping of the Panthers. The Gorloks will travel to MacMurray on Wednesday, Jan. 23. They look for redemption after the 2-point loss at home earlier in the season. Contact the writer:
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Women’s basketball upends SLIAC opponents during win streak Four straight wins have Gorloks above .500 for first time since Nov. 28; currently 2nd in conference By Jeff Mosblech Staff Writer
MEGAN FAVIGNANO / The Journal
Senior guard Maggie Zehner looks for a teammate to receive a pass inside the paint during Webster University’s 64-58 win over Fontbonne University on Thursday, Jan. 17 at Grant Gymnasium. Zehner received the SLIAC Player of the Week honors on Saturday, Jan. 19 for the third time this season as Webster defeated Principia College on the road to put the Gorloks’ win streak at four games.
When the Webster University women’s basketball team entered the long stretch of St. Louis Intercollegiate Athletic Conference play this month, they were sitting at 1-1 in conference and 4-7 overall. After winning five out of six games this month — including four straight — they sit at 6-2 in the SLIAC and have a winning record of 9-8. The win streak began on Jan. 5 as the Gorloks traveled to Eureka College (Ill.) and beat the Red Devils in overtime, 87-83. Last season, Eureka College was 13-3 in SLIAC play and 21-5 overall. Webster junior guard Kaliann Rikard and senior guard Maggie Zehner scored 20 points each for the Gorloks in the win over the Red Devils. Then, on Jan. 8, the Gorloks fell to MacMurray College (Ill.) at home 71-64. The Gorloks took an early lead in the game, but were tied with the Highlanders at half time. With 1:37 left in the second half, the Gorloks cut the Highlander’s lead to 2 points. The Gorloks missed three 3-point shots down the stretch and MacMurray
went on to win the game. Zehner led all scorers with 21 points in the contest. She also contributed 4 rebounds and 7 assists. Junior guard/forward Courtney Pursley scored 15 points with 7 rebounds. Prior to the Jan. 8 loss, the women’s basketball team had beaten MacMurray College 24 out of the last 25 meetings and hadn’t lost to them at home since 1998. After the game, Zehner was named SLIAC Player of the Week. This is the second time this season she has received the award. “Maggie’s a senior leader. She has always been a leader for us,” said coach Jordan Olufson. “She’s playing really well. She’s very focused, taking great shots and playing superb defense, and really being a catalyst for our team right now.” The Gorloks went on the road and played Spalding University (Ky.) on Jan. 10 and came home with another win, defeating the Golden Eagles 60-48. Zehner again led all scorers with 18 points, 6 rebounds and 5 steals. “I’ve been doing pretty well lately,” Zehner said. “I don’t want to jinx it, but our numbers are really low and we’ve all had to step up in different ways, and every individual member is doing that, and it’s pretty amazing to watch.” After the win over the Golden Eagles, the Gorloks traveled to Westminster College (Mo.) and defeated the Blue Jays 6965. The Blue Jays were unbeaten in SLIAC play coming into the game and were first place in the conference. Zehner again led all scorers with 21 points, 5 rebounds and 6 assists. She also took home the SLIAC Player of the Week award for the second week in a row, giving her three Player of the Week awards this season. “We’re playing good basketball right now,” Olufson said. “We have great seniors. We’re playing highly efficient, smart basketball. We’re taking care of the basketball and playing pretty darn good defense. It’s a good combination when you play highly efficient basketball and you’re playing great defense. It’s a pretty good recipe for success.” The Gorloks then went on to win their first meet-
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Standings
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ing with Fontbonne University (Mo.) this year by defeating the Griffins at Grant Gymnasium on Thursday, Jan. 17. Down by 2 points at the half, the Gorloks bounced back in the second half, and Zehner’s shot with 1:45 left in regulation put the Gorloks in the lead for good. With 20 points in the game, Zehner moved into seventh place on Webster’s career all-time scoring list with 948 points. She passes Kim Sheets, who had 932 points for the Gorloks from 2002 to 2005. The Gorloks went back on the road on Saturday, Jan. 19, defeating Principia College (Ill.) 61-48. With the win, the Gorloks have won four in a row and five of six games this month. They also improve to 6-2 in SLIAC play and are 9-8 overall this season. Pursley scored 10 points and added a career-high 15 rebounds in the contest. Zehner had 13 points and led Webster in scoring. “A team goal we’ve had is to win conference, (in the) regular season,” Zehner said. “It’s something we haven’t done since — I don’t even remember — 2001 or something like that. So, we have a chance to do that, and that’s really exciting ... We expect to beat everybody for the remainder of the season and go into the tournament with our two losses, and hope it will be enough to put us in first and host conference.” The Gorloks will try to avenge their only loss of the month on Wednesday, Jan. 23 when they travel to Jacksonville, Ill., to play MacMurray. “We’re going to play our basketball,” Olufson said. “It’s something we didn’t do the first time, is play our basketball. So we’re going to play forty minutes of Webster basketball and get after it and defend and pressure and come out focused and energized. And that’s all we’re going to do — nothing different — we just have to play our basketball.” After the game at MacMurray, Webster will host Eureka at Grant Gymnasium on Saturday, Jan. 26 at 1 p.m. “We don’t look ahead, we don’t look down the road, we take one game at a time,” Olufson said. “Our main goal right now is the next game, not three games down the road, and we’re focused on practice today and the game tomorrow (Jan. 23).”
Westminster Webster Eureka Spalding Greenville Fontbonne MacMurray Blackburn Principia
Conference
Overall
Record
Games Back
Record
Win %
Streak
7-1 6-2 5-3 5-3 4-4 4-4 3-5 2-6 0-8
— 1.5 3 3 4.5 4.5 6 7.5 10.5
8-9 9-8 9-6 6-9 8-8 5-12 5-10 2-14 2-11
0.471 0.529 0.600 0.400 0.500 0.294 0.333 0.125 0.154
Won 2 Won 4 Won 3 Lost 1 Won 1 Won 2 Lost 2 Lost 3 Won 1
*All statistics as of Jan. 22
Oct. 2, 2010 is a day I will never forget. That’s the day I saw Stan Musial. I was fortunate enough to get tickets to the Cardinals game that day, which also happened to be the “Stand for Stan” rally at Busch Stadium. Everyone in the ballpark received a cardboard cutout of Musial’s likeness as part of a campaign to have Stan awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom, which he later received. Spending my entire childhood in St. Louis, I knew full well what Musial meant to this city. At least I thought I did. It was the middle of the sixth inning. The wall in the right field corner opened up. The ballpark erupted in a way I had never heard before. Stan “The Man” Musial was here. He passed by my section on his ceremonial ride around the field. He waved to the crowd with one hand, the other firmly grasped the hand of his wife of 72 years, Lil. It was incredibly touching. Just about everyone in St. Louis has their own Stan Musial story, and this is mine. When I heard the news last Saturday night that Musial had passed away at the age of 92, my mind went back to that day and I reflected on just how special it was. What I experienced that day at the ballpark is something I can’t fully describe. The outpouring of love from the fans to Musial — and from Musial back to us — was simply magical. If you know me or have read my column before, you know I’m not one for hyperbole. Frankly, when it comes to Stan Musial and St. Louis, there is no room for hyperbole. I could spend hours talking about Musial’s remarkable accomplishments and statistics on the field. He was a model of consistency and sustained excellence for more than two decades as a St. Louis Cardinal. As a baseball player, Musial is one of the top five or 10 players to ever step foot on the diamond. But as a man, no one could compete with him. As great of a ballplayer as he was, that pales in comparison to his greatness as a human being. Through his actions, he taught us all how to be better people. It is all too fitting that Musial’s nickname was “The Man.” That’s simply who he was. This is a man who just wanted to make people smile. He was classy, warm, kind and generous. He was a simple man who lived an incredibly full life. Musial spent 22 years playing the game he loved, and playing it better than just about anyone. He left his baseball career to serve in the military during World War II. He returned to baseball in 1946 and promptly won the MVP while leading the Cardinals to a World Series title. He was instrumental in helping to break down the color barrier in baseball. Not because he wanted to be a civil rights advocate, but because he felt everyone should be treated with decency and respect. This attitude helped make him successful wherever he went in business and in life. He married his wife when they both were 19, and they raised a family together. But Stan also had his other family, the city of St. Louis, and he treated each member as if they were his own. The love affair between Stan Musial and the city of St. Louis is not something that can be put into words; it had to be felt. Anyone who came in contact with “The Man” understands this. To quote the classic baseball movie “The Sandlot,” “Heroes get remembered, but legends never die.” Stan “The Man” Musial will live on in St. Louis forever. Jecha Jabber is a biweekly column written by Galaxy Radio General Manager Ryan Jecha.
Contact the writer:
websterjournal@gmail.com Look for a column by Journal copy chief and layout editor Josh Sellmeyer next week.
Sports
Jan. 23 - Jan. 29, 2013
Page 8
Williams rebounds from ineligibility to star for women’s basketball team
Senior guard Gwen Williams is poised to become the first person from her family to graduate from college By Josh Sellmeyer
Copy Chief & Layout Editor
MEGAN FAVIGNANO / The Journal
Senior guard Gwen Williams tries to dribble around a Fontbonne University defender during the Webster University women’s basketball game at Grant Gymnasium on Thursday, Jan. 17. Williams was ruled academically ineligible and missed the final 11 games last spring but is now averaging 10.1 points and 4.2 rebounds per game this season. “I’ve noticed the past four or five years that whenever something is going on with my family or relationships or anything like that, when I play basketball, it just goes away,” Williams said.
Ed Williams attended SanfordBrown College (Mo.) from 1992-1994, but didn’t graduate from the school. Nineteen years later, Williams is strongly considering returning to college to earn a degree. Williams’ new-found motivation stems from the ambition of his daughter, Gwen Williams, a senior guard for the Webster University women’s basketball team. Gwen Williams is on track to graduate with a degree in education this December, which would make her the first person from her immediate family to earn a college diploma. Gwen Williams’ father and mother both attended Sanford-Brown, but neither graduated. Gwen Williams’ two older sisters did not attend college after completing high school. One of her cousins and a couple of her aunts did graduate from college, but beside them, Gwen Williams is well on her way to achieving something only a select few of her relatives have accomplished before. “I wanted more in life,” Gwen Williams said. “I wanted to meet new people. I wanted to learn new things that I didn’t learn in high school. I wanted to achieve goals that I know were very, very hard for my family members. … Nobody in my family went to college. I’m going to be the outcast and go. I’m always the outcast in my family anyway.” In January 2012, Gwen Williams’ road to graduating from Webster took a detour when she was ruled academically ineligible. As a result, Gwen Williams missed the final 11 games of the women’s basketball team’s 2011-2012 season. Prior to being ruled academically ineligible, Gwen Williams played in 15 contests and led the Gorloks in scoring with 9.5 points per game. She also averaged a team-high 2.7 steals per game. But instead of dwelling on the disappointing news, Gwen Williams rededicated herself. She said she significantly improved her GPA, which enabled her to rejoin the Gorloks for their 20122013 campaign. Gwen Williams has helped Webster to a 9-8 overall record and a 6-2 mark in conference play this season. She has played in every contest,
averaging 10.1 points, 4.2 rebounds and 3.3 steals per game. “I could have easily gave up,” Gwen Williams said. “I could have easily been just like, ‘Oh, well, whatever, I’m just going to not go there this semester. All right, I’m just going to drop out, and then I’ll go to another school.’ But I didn’t. I didn’t want to let my team down. “And I didn’t want to let myself down either, looking back years later like, ‘Man, I could have went somewhere or helped the team out.’ I’m not that type of person that is going to betray my teammates. And half of them aren’t even my teammates — they’re like my best friends in real life. I didn’t want to do that.” Gwen Williams cited “a lack of focus” and “personal problems” as the reasons why she struggled academically in the fall 2011 semester. The semester was Gwen Williams’ first at Webster, as she spent the preceding two years at St. Louis Community College-Florissant Valley. Gwen Williams, who graduated from Fort Zumwalt West High School in O’Fallon, Mo., said the academics at Florissant Valley were “really easy,” and she expected schooling at Webster to be easy as well. “(Being ruled academically ineligible) was a big smack in the face,” Gwen Williams said. “It was a life lesson learned. Everybody goes through that stage, and mine just had to be last year. Now, my grades are perfectly fine.” Ed Williams said part of his daughter’s academic struggles were his fault. Ed Williams works as a team leader at a Chrysler plant in Michigan and lives with his family in Sterling Heights, a suburb of Detroit. He said he was having financial difficulties in the fall of 2011, which caused Gwen Williams, the only person from her family currently living in St. Louis, to lose focus on school. Ed Williams said he is in a much better financial state today, which has eased his daughter’s mind. He said he’s proud of Gwen Williams for bouncing back from her ineligibility to get to where she is today. “(The ineligibility) wasn’t her fault — I fell a little bit as a father not providing her with the proper finance at
the time,” Ed Williams said. “For her to come back and not let that kill her spirits, it takes a strong young woman and a determined one to do that. My hat goes off and a lot of love goes off for her because she’s done that, and I’m so proud of her. It makes me want to even try to go back to school and be determined like she is.” Ed Williams isn’t the only one in his family considering going to college. Gwen Williams’ younger brother, a senior at a high school in Michigan, is also contemplating attending college. That would be welcome news for Gwen Williams, who hopes she’s blazing a trail for the rest of her family by attending college. “I feel like me being the only one that’s graduating from college or attending college, period, it’s just making my niece and my nephew and my younger brother determined,” Gwen Williams said. “‘Yeah, we can do it if my sister did it or my aunt did it.’ Hopefully, I start the trait to where everybody is going to start going to college.” When she graduates from Webster, Gwen Williams wants to return to her hometown of Benton Harbor, Mich., to teach and coach basketball at the city’s high school. She hopes her story will motivate others to attend college as well. Jordan Olufson, Webster’s women’s basketball coach, said Gwen Williams is “a fighter” and “relentless” for rebounding from the ineligibility. He said whether it’s on the basketball court or in the classroom, Gwen Williams “wants to win,” and her work ethic has enabled her to do just that. “That’s what this is about — it’s about getting a degree,” Olufson said. “Anytime — if it’s a fifth generation or a first generation — to be able to see them walk across the stage and get a diploma, and the fact that it is the first in her family, it’s surreal. It’s awesome, it really is. It warms your heart. That’s what makes this job so special. Wins and losses are one thing, but being able to give a student athlete that opportunity to be the first in the family — I mean, it’s awesome, it truly is amazing.” Contact the writer:
websterjournal@gmail.com
Key players from men’s, women’s basketball teams work through ineligibility
Academic ineligibility keeps impact players for Gorlok squads from contributions on the court By Ava Roesslein Staff Writer
The Webster University men’s and women’s basketball teams are missing key players from the lineup card. Men’s basketball player Aaron Griffin, sophomore center, is academically ineligible and will miss the remainder of the season. “I felt like I let my whole team down and the whole school down,” Griffin said. “As a student athlete, the student comes first.” Women’s basketball player Jamie Buehrig, sophomore forward/center, is also academically ineligible, but she hopes to return to the Gorloks soon. Women’s basketball player Airyn Miller, senior guard, has missed the last three games, but also hopes to rejoin the team soon. Miller has averaged 4.1 points, 3.1 rebounds and 1.4 assists per game this season. Miller said one of her teachers during the fall 2012 semester has not posted her grade for the class. “Pretty much all I’m doing is waiting for my teacher to put in a grade that I’ve been waiting on since the end of fall,” Miller said. “There’s not much that I myself can do. So, it’s just a waiting game pretty much. There’s not a lot to it, other than the gray details.” Griffin thought that he was doing everything he needed to do academically to remain on the team, but that wasn’t the case. He played in his last game of the season for the Gorloks on Dec. 15 at Rust College (Miss.). Buehrig also was surprised when she got word of not being able to play because of her grades. Buehrig said she had finished her paper for the class that caused her ineligibility, and sent it to her teacher via Connections. But Buehrig said her teacher never received the paper, which caused her grade to suffer. Despite not being able to play since Dec. 31 and missing six games, Buehrig feels the team is doing what it needs to do to win games. The Gorloks are 5-1 in their last six games and are winners of four straight. “The girls have stepped up, and they’ve showed more heart the past couple of games,” Buehrig said. “This proves that they are determined and they want to win, and now we are second
in the conference.” According to Webster’s 20122013 Student Handbook, student athletes “must maintain a minimum 2.0 grade point average to participate in intercollegiate athletics at Webster University. All students who fall under a 2.0 GPA or are on academic probation are ineligible for participation.” Tom Hart, Webster director of athletics, said the NCAA mandates each institution to have some sort of academic standard in place. Each institution can choose to have a higher academic standard than the one the NCAA mandates. Hart said Webster’s academic eligibility rate hovers around 98 percent. He added that typically Webster has more students ineligible in the spring semester than in the fall semester. Hart said freshmen are at more of a disadvantage than upperclassmen because freshmen have fewer credits to work with, so it’s easier for them to fall below the 2.0 GPA requirement. He said when evaluating eligibility, Webster looks at three objective pieces of criteria: —How many credits the student athlete has passed in the past year. —GPA. —If the athlete is enrolled full time. Subjective information comes into play if the student athlete decides to appeal his or her ineligibility. Hart said the appeals process consists of the athlete writing a letter to a committee, which is “comprised of the dean of students, the director of athletics and the NCAA faculty representative,” according to Webster’s Student Handbook. “The appeal would have to be approved, and typically the appeal is approved with stipulations on it that a student could work on to help improve their academic standing,” Hart said. Griffin decided against appealing his ineligibility after talking with his teachers. Griffin is a transfer student, so Webster went by the GPA that Griffin earned during his first semester at Webster. The men’s team did not fare well early on without Griffin’s help. In his absence, the Gorloks started 0-4 but are currently on a three-game win streak. Griffin
BRITTANY RUESS / The Journal
Sophomore center Aaron Griffin (center, left) goes up for a shot during Webster University men’s basketball team’s win against Sewanee (Tenn.) on Nov. 17 at Grant Gymnasium. Griffin was ruled academically ineligible for the 2013 portion of the season as he played his last game at Rust College (Miss.) on Dec. 15, 2012.
had his best game for Webster on the road against his former school, Rust. It was the last game he got to play for the Gorloks this season. In that game, Griffin had 21 rebounds. The last time a
Webster player had that many rebounds in a game was in the 1985-1986 season, when Steve Pierson set the school record with 26, according to Niel DeVasto, Webster sports information director. Griffin also led the
St. Louis Intercollegiate Athletic Conference in total rebounds before he was deemed ineligible. Men’s basketball coach Chris Bunch said his team played the four best squads in the SLIAC the first four games of Griffin’s in-
eligibility, and all four were close. But Bunch said it has been hard without the 6-foot-6-inch Griffin. “It’s been tough, obviously. He’s our best rebounder,” Bunch said. “It was a big loss to lose him, but they’ve responded well. I think we’re right there with the best teams in the league. It just makes it a little harder. When you’re small, you’ve got to play a little better, but I like how the guys are bouncing back.” Bunch said the team has slightly adjusted the way it has played in Griffin’s absence by playing faster and having more guards in the game at one time. Much like the men’s team, the women’s team has had to mix things up without Buehrig, Miller and other players who are out with injuries. Coach Jordan Olufson said the Gorloks don’t press as much as they normally do to try to conserve energy, but the Gorloks’ senior leadership has been a big testament to their success. Olufson said in order for the team to do well the rest of the way, it will have to play good defense. Buehrig showed her value to the team defensively in SLIAC matchups between Blackburn College (Ill.) and Greenville College (Ill.). Against the Blackburn Beavers, Buehrig had 6 offensive rebounds and nine defensive rebounds, and scored her season high in points with 20. In the game against Greenville, she was in double digits in total rebounds again, with 12. Buehrig said she appealed her academic ineligibility and recently got in touch with the teacher who didn’t receive her paper. Buehrig said she will not be playing in the Jan. 23 game at MacMurray College (Ill.) and does not have a timetable for her return to the team. Griffin said he looks at his ineligibility as a learning experience. “When I come into next fall, I know exactly what to do,” Griffin said. “I love basketball so much, and I should have put basketball aside and (tried) to do my work more. Everything happens for a reason, and coming into next year I’m going to do everything in my power to not let this happen again.” —Josh Sellmeyer contributed to this report. Contact the writer:
websterjournal@gmail.com