feature slideshow

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Feature 12 XAVIER NEWSWIRE October 6, 2010 Certainly Xavier students do not drive dangerously under the influence of alcohol. Sure, maybe a late-night trip over to McDonald’s after a beer or six, but nothing out of control. Just a quick drive to Quik Pik to grab another case. “Hey, no worries, I’ve only played like four games of pong. It’s just a minute up the road. I’m fine.” Incidents such as these are common in the Xavier community. The “I’m fine” epidemic is not new, and is certainly not contained to the Xavier student population. A survey found that nearly 3.5 million students in the U.S. between the ages of 18 and 24 drove under the influence of alcohol in 2009. While this number is frighteningly high, it may come as little surprise to those who regularly partake in, or merely bear witness to, the weekend activities of the average college student. “I’m fine” is rarely a true ut- terance. The line between feeling sober and being sober is a thin one, especially when it comes to the legal limit on blood alcohol content. “The legal limit is .08, which is not very high at all,” said Sgt. Kenneth Grossman, sergeant of crime prevention and training for Xavier Police. “That’s just two or three drinks for a lot of people. You might not feel like you’re impaired when you are.” Whether or not two or three drinks puts everyone over the legal limit is beside the point. Drinking to the point of in- limit. This perception of what it means to drive under the in- fluence remains an ongoing problem. “Yeah, I’ve definitely driven at times when I probably shouldn’t have,” said an anonymous stu- dent. “I usually wake up the next Photos by Scott Holzman By John Schroeck, Features Editor I Feel Fine A look at driving under the influence ry, I always drive home after this many. I’ve got this.” And oftentimes they have “got this,” arriving at home with- out an incident. Such drunken driving occur- rences go unnoticed and unre- ported when nothing adverse results, and it is these types of occurrences that are most ram- pant. When peers continually drive under the influence without a problem and get away with it, a mentality eventually emerges: Maybe it is not quite so danger- ous after all. “A couple of my roommates do it pretty often,” said another anonymous source. “Not when they’re really drunk, but defi- nitely after they’ve had a few. It was a big deal to me at first, but nothing ever happens so now I just kind of shrug it off.” Through no fault of law en- forcement, students are sim- ply not getting caught driving under the influence. While 3.5 million students drove drunk in 2009, less than 110,000 of them were caught and arrested for the offense. When that threat of being That $10,000 is the amount paid by an offender who has passed out in their parked car with the keys in the ignition. That $10,000 is the base rate. Cause damage to person or property, and that rate typically skyrockets above six digits, de- pending on the situation. On top of the fees directly connected to the DUI offense, offenders pay high-risk insurance rates and can even be dropped by their providers outright. Realistically, most people are aware of the penalties associated with a DUI offense, not to men- tion the tragic consequences that an accident can cause. Despite this fact, they find themselves driving under the influence. The dangers are well known, but the “I’m fine” and “that can’t hap- pen to me” mentalities prevail. The real problem lies in the fact that most offenders either fail to acknowledge the fact that they are over the legal limit or truly believe they will not get caught. The responsibility to solve this problem lies in the hands of students, the friends who have formerly been too afraid to be perceived negatively by speaking up and those reading this right now, well aware of the fact that they drive when they have had a few too many drinks. Based on the evidence, “I’m fine” and all other renditions of the same sentiment must be rejected outright, both by the friends hearing the excuse and by those drunkenly attempting to make the excuse. Feeling “fine” is insufficient. caught does not feel imminent, individuals are much more likely to throw caution to the wind. Officials suggest that, the next time the “I’m fine” defense is made, students should drop the ego and ask whether it is worth the potential penalties. “The average DUI cost is around $10,000,” Grossman said, “and that’s just for a guilty plea. That’s not even factoring in going to trial.” That $10,000 is the result of a harmless DUI offense that did not result in accident, injury or death. morning and shake my head about it, but then I go out and do it again. I don’t really understand why I do it.” This alarmingly nonchalant attitude toward driving after consuming five or six drinks seems to stem from a number of sources. There tends to be an irratio- nal overconfidence in individuals who have admitted to driving un- der the influence. They perceive themselves as being completely in control of themselves despite the influence of alcohol on their cognitive processes. “Don’t wor- toxication, the point which most college students aim to reach, re- quires a BAC far exceeding the legal limit. Most individu- als making the “I’m fine” claim only take into account the fact that they are not yet intoxicated, disregarding what legally constitutes be- ing “fine.” Being be- low the level of intoxication is rarely syn- onymous with being below the legal BAC

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Page 1: Feature slideshow

Feature12 Xavier NewswireOctober 6, 2010

Certainly Xavier students do not drive dangerously under the influence of alcohol. Sure, maybe a late-night trip over to McDonald’s after a beer or six, but nothing out of control. Just a quick drive to Quik Pik to grab another case. “Hey, no worries, I’ve only played like four games of pong. It’s just a minute up the road. I’m fine.”

Incidents such as these are common in the Xavier community.

The “I’m fine” epidemic is not new, and is certainly not contained to the Xavier student population. A survey found that nearly 3.5 million students in the U.S. between the ages of 18 and 24 drove under the influence of alcohol in 2009. While this number is frighteningly high, it

may come as little surprise to those who regularly partake in, or merely bear witness to, the weekend activities of the average college student.

“I’m fine” is rarely a true ut-terance. The line between feeling sober and being sober is a thin one, especially when it comes to the legal limit on blood alcohol content.

“The legal limit is .08, which is not very high at all,” said Sgt. Kenneth Grossman, sergeant of crime prevention and training for Xavier Police. “That’s just two or three drinks for a lot of people. You might not feel like you’re impaired when you are.”

Whether or not two or three drinks puts everyone over the legal limit is beside the point. Drinking to the point of in-

limit.This perception of what it

means to drive under the in-fluence remains an ongoing problem.

“Yeah, I’ve definitely driven at times when I probably shouldn’t have,” said an anonymous stu-dent. “I usually wake up the next

Photos by Scott Holzman By John Schroeck, Features Editor

I Feel FineA look at driving under

the influence

ry, I always drive home after this many. I’ve got this.”

And oftentimes they have “got this,” arriving at home with-out an incident.

Such drunken driving occur-rences go unnoticed and unre-ported when nothing adverse results, and it is these types of occurrences that are most ram-pant. When peers continually drive under the influence without a problem and get away with it, a mentality eventually emerges: Maybe it is not quite so danger-ous after all.

“A couple of my roommates do it pretty often,” said another anonymous source. “Not when they’re really drunk, but defi-nitely after they’ve had a few. It was a big deal to me at first, but nothing ever happens so now I just kind of shrug it off.”

Through no fault of law en-forcement, students are sim-ply not getting caught driving under the influence. While 3.5 million students drove drunk in 2009, less than 110,000 of them were caught and arrested for the offense.

When that threat of being

That $10,000 is the amount paid by an offender who has passed out in their parked car with the keys in the ignition.

That $10,000 is the base rate. Cause damage to person or property, and that rate typically skyrockets above six digits, de-pending on the situation.

On top of the fees directly connected to the DUI offense, offenders pay high-risk insurance rates and can even be dropped by their providers outright.

Realistically, most people are aware of the penalties associated with a DUI offense, not to men-tion the tragic consequences that an accident can cause. Despite this fact, they find themselves driving under the influence. The dangers are well known, but the “I’m fine” and “that can’t hap-pen to me” mentalities prevail.

The real problem lies in the fact that most offenders either fail to acknowledge the fact that they are over the legal limit or truly believe they will not get caught.

The responsibility to solve this problem lies in the hands of students, the friends who have formerly been too afraid to be perceived negatively by speaking up and those reading this right now, well aware of the fact that they drive when they have had a few too many drinks.

Based on the evidence, “I’m fine” and all other renditions of the same sentiment must be rejected outright, both by the friends hearing the excuse and by those drunkenly attempting to make the excuse. Feeling “fine” is insufficient.

caught does not feel imminent, individuals are much more likely to throw caution to the wind.

Officials suggest that, the next time the “I’m fine” defense is made, students should drop the ego and ask whether it is worth the potential penalties.

“The average DUI cost is around $10,000,” Grossman said, “and that’s just for a guilty plea. That’s not even factoring in going to trial.”

That $10,000 is the result of a harmless DUI offense that did not result in accident, injury or death.

morning and shake my head about it, but then I go out and do it again. I don’t really understand why I do it.”

This alarmingly nonchalant attitude toward driving after consuming five or six drinks seems to stem from a number of sources.

There tends to be an irratio-nal overconfidence in individuals who have admitted to driving un-der the influence. They perceive themselves as being completely in control of themselves despite the influence of alcohol on their cognitive processes. “Don’t wor-

toxication, the point which most college students aim to reach, re-quires a BAC far exceeding the legal limit. Most individu-als making the “I’m fine” claim only take into account the fact that they are not yet intoxicated, d i s reg ard ing what legally constitutes be-ing “fine.”

Being be-low the level of intoxication is rarely syn-onymous with being below the legal BAC

Page 2: Feature slideshow

Feature12 Xavier NewswireDecember 8, 2010

I witnessed something special on Tuesday.

See, I’ve spent my time at Xavier doing a lot of things. I’ve pulled all-nighters for assign-ments I refused to stop putting off. I’ve hit the snooze button for two hours straight on a Thursday morning (read: afternoon). I’ve spent entire days zoning out in front of a wide variety of glow-ing screens — computer, TV, cell phone, etc.

I haven’t exactly learned how to spend my time well.

The students that volun-teered at “A Xavier Christmas” on Tuesday know how to spend their time well.

In its fifth year, Xavier Christmas gives students an opportunity to reach out to the surrounding communities, spreading Christmas cheer to underprivileged children.

The Xavier Christmas Committee invited 180 children from elementary schools in communities neighboring Xavier including Frederick Douglass, Hoffman-Parham, Norwood View, Sharpsburg, South Avondale and Williams.

I was thoroughly impressed by the dedication and organiza-tion of everyone involved when I arrived at Cintas Center Tuesday afternoon.

The kids had not yet arrived, but the staff was already hard at

The Xavier Community at Christmas

Image courtesy of xavier.edu

work, ensuring everything went smoothly upon their arrival.

When they finally arrived, the kids were paired up with Xavier “buddies.”

While most of the children were initially a bit timid around these strange tall people, they quickly warmed to their “bud-dies” after a friendly introduc-tion and a kind extension of their hands.

Within minutes, kids were hopping piggy-back rides with their Xavier “buddies,” and ask-

ing to be swung around by their arms.

I truly believe this to be the result of the overwhelming warmth and kindness of the members of the Xavier commu-nity involved in making Xavier Christmas a reality.

Now, before dismissing my observation as overly trite or sen-timental, understand this is com-ing from a tried-and-true cynic. I spend my free time making snide and sarcastic remarks about so-ciety. When I’m not doing that,

I’m usually thinking about snide and sarcastic remarks to make about society.

This is why I found this event to be so refreshing. Instead of being defeatist and negative about societal shortcomings, I witnessed people actually doing something about them. They ac-tively affected the lives of kids they didn’t know, even if only for a few hours of one day.

I wasn’t the only one who noticed. I spoke with a woman, Mrs. Strauss, lead tutor with

After School League at South Avondale Elementary.

She was incredibly humbled by her first experience with Xavier Christmas.

“This is a great way to reach out to the urban communi-ties,” Strauss said. “The fact that Xavier students take the time to do this is marvelous.”

As someone who has never taken advantage of, or even re-ally paid attention to, the many service opportunities afforded by Xavier, Tuesday’s event was quite an eye-opening experience for me.

Tuesday’s Xavier Christmas made me realize what it really means to be a member of the Xavier community. It’s not about greeting friends on the way to class, it’s not about cheering in unison at basketball games and it’s not about a round of drinks at Danas after the game whether we win or lose.

It’s about acting selflessly, about sacrificing time and en-ergy when it’s easier to just stay in bed. It’s about being men and women for others.

In this sense, I have failed as a member of the Xavier commu-nity, but I’m not worried.

I’m doing away with the snooze button. Xavier Christmas has inspired me. I’m getting in-volved with my community. Cynicism be damned.

Newswire photos by Andrew Matsushita

1. Volunteers prepare for the impending influx of kids.

2. South Avondale Elementary student runs excitedly toward Cintas Center.

3. Senior Kate Saunders prepares volun-teers for the first wave of children.

4. Junior Tina Black introduces sopho-more Gardiner Bink to his “buddies.”

By John Schroeck, Features Editor

1.

2.

3.

4.

Page 3: Feature slideshow

Feature12 Xavier NewswireDecember 1, 2010

Fairfield, OH – In a sleep-deprived state, I still found the energy to brave sub-freezing temperatures at 3 a.m. in hopes of witnessing something excit-ing, something that would truly embarrass me as an American citizen.

The men camped in the tent at the front of the Best Buy line were by far the most dedicated of the individuals with whom I interacted. They had already been in line for 35 hours, 37 by the time the store opened at 5 a.m.. This marked their 11th

consecutive year waiting in line at Best Buy for Black Friday doorbuster deals.

The doors of Target were scheduled to open at 4 a.m. I spoke with individuals at the front of the line, as well as the police officers present to keep the chaos minimized. The peo-ple at the front of this line had only been waiting for 10 total hours — Black Friday amateurs as far as I’m concerned.

As the doors opened, people

Black Friday 2010Stories from the front lines

streamed into the store. By 4:05 a.m. the first people in line were already leaving with the TVs they had waited so long to buy. After 15 minutes passed, the line began to thin and I made my way into the store and it was packed.

The electronics section was particularly filled with people, and I found it difficult to go anywhere.

I immersed myself into the crowd and, for a few fleeting moments, feared I may never

cally-acclaimed (read: panned) comedy Grown Ups on DVD and Blu-ray.

I jumped between stores un-til around 5 a.m., and while I did not personally witness any mentionable insanity, I did hear a couple of stories from shoppers and employees.

One man told me that he wit-nessed a fist fight at Wal-Mart at midnight when the sales began.

While he did not mention what object they fought over, I feel it is safe to assume that it was something fancy like solar powered oven mitts or an elec-tric Snuggie with cargo pockets.

An employee at Old Navy told me that, in the chaos of the midnight rush, one woman threatened to punch another woman’s baby.

It truly is the most wonderful time of the year.

Alpheretta, GA – I have a confession to make. I cheated on Black Friday.

I went shopping of course, I had to for this assignment, but I did not camp out, I did not scour the ads for the best deals and I

did not have a list of items to wrestle away from some overly-aggressive twanging grandmoth-er. In fact I didn’t even wake up before noon.

I did eventually wander down to the North Point Mall area in Alpheretta, Ga. where I saw the unmistakable evidence of people who had done all those things.

I headed over to the Old Navy, which seemed to be the ground zero of the day since its parking lot was still completely full even as 2 p.m. rolled around. Outside, speakers pumped in electronic Christmas music, a genre I would be happy to avoid for the rest of my life.

Inside, several hundred pairs of boots covered the floor.

The changing rooms were full of sweaters and $15 jeans and staff that just seemed too tired to fight the inevitable pile of cast-offs.

It was clear that the economy had been stimulated and that these people had done their patriotic share of consuming. Hard.

Emily, the nursing student from Georgia Southern who checked me and my $5 turtle-neck out (yes, college girls wear turtlenecks — I can totally sex it up) had the 5 a.m. to 2 p.m. shift and was somehow still chipper.

Other more disgruntled em-ployees sported pajama pants and bed hair — it was impossible to tell if it was on purpose, in the spirit of the day or not.

John Schroeck Features Editor

Sarah Wieten Managing Editor

Elmira, NY – Growing up in Elmira, a town that is best known for producing the majority of the world’s fire hydrants and giv-ing birth to Tommy Hilfiger (so we look cool while we get ac-quainted with the world’s canine population, so the joke goes), I have always known there was not much to do around town.

Maybe it was the six-hour drives to get a hamburger or the games my friends and I attempt-ed to invent that could be played while driving 60 miles-per-hour down an empty country road, but somewhere between age 12 and 18, the realization that I lived in a town of few diversions became abundantly clear.

And it appears Black Friday is another happy example of this.

I am not a Black Friday vet-eran by any stretch, choosing in-stead to while away my Fridays with tryptophan-induced sleep and a pleasant few hours dunk-ing on an 8-foot rim over a pack of neighborhood 11-year-olds.

This year I decided to change course, hopping in the car with my sister as she attempted to get a $400 32-inch flatscreen at Best Buy.

My mom went next-door for a fake Christmas tree for $40 — and about $100 worth of grief from any hearty Elmiran raised on hiking into the woods and cutting down their own Douglas Fir for the Christmas

season.Thinking such items might

not take as much competition as the Droids and clothing ad-vertised on everything short of skywriting, we didn’t arrive at the familiar confines of the Arnot Mall until 7 a.m. — about an hour too late apparently.

After circling the lot three times we cozied up beside a cam-ouflage Ford F-150 full of smil-ing children, two of whom had just bought new hunting jackets at Kohl’s. They informed us that they wanted a fake Christmas tree too, but the lot was sold out.

Ten minutes later, we crossed the TV off the list, as Best Buy was harder to enter than Alter Hall at 10:21 a.m. on a Wednesday. Such things happen when 5,000 people from a town of 20,000 descend on one build-ing before the sun rises.

So we just grabbed some free pretzels at Auntie Anne’s — the fuel of Black Friday — climbed back in the car and headed away from the mall, back to a place where nothing happens.

Cleveland, OH – Looking at the bleak 19-inch TV in my dorm room, I knew exactly what I would go after this year for Black Friday.

The best deal for an upgrade was at Target — a Westinghouse 40-inch HDTV at a dirt cheap $289.

John Stevens Staff Writer

Doug Tifft Editor-in-Chief

However, I overlooked a key component to the Black Friday shopping experience. People camped out for these things.

My father and I arrived at 3:45 am, and a line was already stretched around the building. I was left to wait for the pandemo-nium to ensue.

Target opened its door (sin-gular) at 4:00 a.m., but by the time I got inside, I faced crush-ing defeat.

Carts were already leaving the store with the Westinghouse TVs. Some people even snagged two or more.

Dejected, I decided to witness a bit more of the madness at my local Wal-Mart.

Instead of a line outside, Wal-

Mart was open for 24 hours, so all of the lines for doorbusters were already inside the store. The deals, however, began at 5 a.m.

Wal-Mart also had televisions on sale, but the two offered as doorbusters were both made by Emerson. While Emerson TVs are cheap, they also tend to be of lower quality. Thus, I decided to peruse the store, hoping to pick up something smaller.

When I reached the elec-tronics department, I noticed something.

Amid the Wild West stand-off between shoppers trying to nab digital cameras, there was a small platform upon which TVs were stacked. One happened to be a 40-inch TV, severely discounted,

and of far better quality than the doorbusters.

I knew my chances of nab-bing the TV would be low be-cause of the large crowd. When 5 a.m. struck, however, the crowd darted toward the cameras and DVDs. The TVs stood virtually untouched.

My dad and I dashed in, snagged the TV, and made a run for the registers.

Despite my own steal, I can’t help but commend one shopper I witnessed at Target. This man had nearly every doorbuster item in his cart. Even though he had a sleep-deprived, frazzled glare of death on his face, it was clear he came out a winner on this Black Friday.

Newswire photo by John SchroeckSome Best Buy customers camped out for nearly 40 hours for Black Friday deals.

make my way out — that I was eternally trapped in Target’s Black Friday black hole.

I sought refuge in the grocery sec-tion, where the deals were great and the people were few. It was apparent that nobody cared that Pepsi 12-packs were two-for-one. Everyone was too busy buy-ing the criti-

Newswire photo by John SchroeckTarget’s doorbuster sale on 40-inch Westinghouse HDTVs attracted the masses Friday morning.

Page 4: Feature slideshow

Feature8 Xavier NewswireJanuary 12, 2011

In looking at Andy Gibson’s resume of accomplishments, it is apparent that he loves to take on huge, audacious challenges.

Graduating from Xavier with an entrepreneurial studies major in 2005, he was one of the three founders of FliX. Now a suc-cessful brand manager at Proctor & Gamble, Gibson is not afraid to work hard and dream big.

In fact, while at Xavier, Gibson’s go-get-em’ personal-

ity caught the atten-tion of A.G. Lafley, a successful Proctor & Gamble CEO.

More impressive than Gibson’s tough mental attitude is his kind-hearted de-meanor and giving soul.

Such qualities led him to take on his lat-est endeavor, Project Levanter, for which he biked cross-coun-try alone in order to raise money for fel-low XU grad Ashley Thompson, who was diagnosed with Fibrohistiocytoma, a very aggressive form of cancer with ex-pensive treatment.

When Gibson and Thompson met in Brockman Hall during their fresh-man year at Xavier in 2003, Thompson was happy and healthy. After attend-ing classes, going to countless basketball

mistic attitude was challenged in 2008 when doctors found that cancer in her leg had spread to her lungs and esophagus.

For two and a half years, she has been fighting to regain her health, undergoing three rounds of chemotherapy, radiation and, incredibly, surgery on four sepa-rate occasions.

Unsurprisingly, Thompson has kept up her positive out-look on life. She came up with the saying “KCA,” which stands for Kicking Cancer’s Ass. Throughout her battle, she has added to that acronym – “KCAAA”, Kicking Cancer’s Ass Again and Again, after the cancer relentlessly refused to go into remission.

It is Thompson’s strength and friendship that has given Gibson a worthwhile cause and the in-spiration to bike cross-country.

“She’s been there for me in the rough spots with a little ex-tra push,” Gibson said. “[Project Levanter] is the least we can do for her. I would only do this ride for a cause that I personally be-lieve in.”

With that simple concept, Project Levanter was born. Gibson, with the help of other XU grads Sarah Kathmann and Emily Ledford set up projectl-evanter.com, a website through which people can donate money that goes directly to Thompson.

Donors can choose to either pledge money per mile or give a simple one-time donation.

Gibson also created a Facebook page and Twitter ac-count for Project Levanter, where followers could track

his progress across the nation. As those follower saw, while Project Levanter seemed like a small challenge in comparison to Thompson’s fight against cancer, it was still a daunting undertak-ing filled with challenges of its own.

After dipping his tires in the Pacific Ocean, Gibson began his journey on Nov. 26 in San Diego Calif. He biked 3,200 miles in 34 days, ending his journey in St. Augustine, Fla.

On average, Gibson biked around 100 miles per day, reach-ing speeds of up to 40 mph while battling through the hills and mountains of California and Nevada.

Throughout his 34 day jour-ney, Gibson faced several flat tires, relentless hills and even a bought of the flu.

Nothing could stop Gibson on his journey to help Thompson, however. He kept riding and re-lied on the kindness of strangers, including a former Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race champion, to help him reach his destination.

The amount of physical stress Gibson endured on the ride was astonishing. Over the span of one day, Gibson could burn between 5,000-6,000 calo-ries, meaning he had an appetite as relentless as his cross-country

Project LevanterA Xavier grad’s cross-country journey for a cause

By Kari Peglar, Staff Writer

Photos courtesy of Facebook.com

Andy Gibson biked cross-country to raise money for fellow Xavier grad Ashley Thompson.

Gibson dips his tires in the Atlantic Ocean on a beach in St. Augustine, Fla at the end of his 3,200 mile journey 34 days after doing the same on a beach in San Diego, Calif.

journey.One of his dinners on

Christmas Day included a rib eye steak, four eggs over medium, four pieces of toast, a Texas steak and bacon melt, a double quarter pound cheeseburger, and two pieces of chocolate pie – a dinner any Xavier student would envy.

Finally, Gibson dipped his tires in the Atlantic Ocean on Dec. 29, bringing his daunting challenge to an end.

“[The ride] was arguably the most physically disciplined and demanding month of my life and at times never seemed as if [the end] were never actually going to occur,” Gibson wrote on his Facebook page upon the completion of his journey.

After all was said and done, Gibson raised over $2,800 for Thompson.

“I am amazed and really hum-bled by the contributions from everyone,” Gibson said after checking the donation total once he finished the ride.

Not only had he accomplished his dream of biking cross-coun-try, but he accomplished the big-gest challenge of all — making life easier for a friend in need.

For more information about Project Levanter, visit www.projectlevanter.com

Fatigue was not Gibson’s only struggle. He faced numerous flat tires such as this one, which was punctured by a nail.

games and hanging out on the weekends, the two quickly be-came close friends.

While graduation led them to take on different careers, Thompson’s outgoing personal-ity and loving spirit always stayed with Gibson.

“Ashley has epitomized a pos-itive, motivating person and has always had an amazing outlook on life,” Gibson said.

However, Thompson’s opti-

Page 5: Feature slideshow

Feature12 Xavier NewswireJanuary 19, 2011

Ciao da RomaA first-hand opinionated account of Xavier’s study abroad to Rome

By Doug TiffT, EDiTor in ChiEf

Dr. E. Paul Colella of the philosophy department has led the popular summer study abroad program in Rome for more than a decade. This year, he took students to Rome over the winter intercession for the first time.

Students took a day trip to the ancient city of Florence. The entirety of the sprawling city can be seen atop the dome of the Basilica di Santa Maria del Fiore, the largest dome in the world.

Jesuit Roots: Rome program students show Xavier pride in front of the Church of the Gesù, the mother church of the Jesuits.

I have seen the bewildered, questioning eyes dozens of times now, all asking the same question.

“Wait, so you go to Rome for a week, see the Coliseum and the Pope and all that, and you get credit for it?” they all ask.

“Yeah,” I say. “I mean, it is not just like a sight-seeing tour. It is an actual class.”

“Well, I mean, what do you

learn?” they usually ask.At which point I launch into

a three-minute prepared ora-tion on Vico and Plato and the symbols of Christian Rome and Heyden White and Marcus Aurelius and some crazy theory I cooked up called Tourist Rome and anything else I can slip in be-fore their eyes glaze over.

For most listeners accus-tomed to the limits of what

can be learned and absorbed during a week in Alter Hall and McDonald Library, it seems im-plausible to absorb an advanced view of a city’s more than 2,000 years of history and the intrica-cies of its hundreds of monu-ments over the course of seven days.

Yet, a funny thing can often happen when students step onto a plane for a nine-hour flight

across the Atlantic to spend a week-long intersession class intermittently checking an empty pocket for an ab-sent cell phone and developing inexpli-cable cravings for Chipotle between meals casually con-sidered to be the best of their lives.

Students of-ten test the limits of their cognitive thinking, ruminat-ing and meditating on images and con-cepts they have just seen and felt in ac-tion, as opposed to merely read about in a used textbook on the third floor

of Gallagher Student Center.For visual learners, there is

no better way to understand the concept that the emper-ors wanted to make a state-ment of their grandiose power than to stand at one end of the Circus Maximus and imag-ine this quarter-mile long ba-sin filled with sparkling white marble and tens of thousands of Romans watching a chariot race.

Or, for auditory learners, it is hard to beat gaining an understanding of Christian persecution in a better man-ner than taking a guided tour of the Roman Catacombs for a mere eight Euros—or just sticking within arm’s length of the professor’s omnipresent beret leading the tour of the city every day.

For me, as a first-time study abroad student in my final months as an undergrad, the chance to take Dr. E. Paul Colella’s “Roman Philosophy” class from Jan. 1 through Jan. 9 was more than just a conve-nient and exciting way to fill

out the upper-level philosophy class that the core requires of

but seeking to identify the true nature of modern Rome to bet-ter understand why the things I learned in the classroom were so important.

So whether it was something powerful, like standing high up on the Vittoriano looking out at the city, something overt, like sit-ting in a classroom at St. John’s University in Rome, or some-thing subtle, like a trip down the street to get a panino from the Piccolo Diavalo, the learning ex-perience in Rome was not lim-ited to brief two-hour spurts in-terspersed throughout the day. I, like the other 17 students on the trip, was engaged in learning in some fashion—be it philosophi-cal, historical, cultural, social or most importantly culinary—for nearly 15 hours per day for seven consecutive days. Perhaps it is no wonder some of us had trouble rousting ourselves from a slum-ber in the morning.

Eventually, all of these points come up in the conversations about Rome that I seem to find myself in at the supermarket, in line at Subway or at the barber shop. By that point the bewil-dered look is wiped away, but the inquisitiveness remains.

“Hey,” my conversant will ask. “When did you say that trip was again?

me. It was a chance to experi-ence a new culture for seven brief days, not merely eating the food or hearing the language,

photo courtesy of Calese Cardosi

photo courtesy of Doug Tifft

photo courtesy of Doug Tifft

photo courtesy of Ashley Freeland

Page 6: Feature slideshow

Feature8 Xavier NewswireOctober 27, 2010

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There is nothing old about me. I am in great physical and mental health. I go to the gym at least three times a week. On most days, I am filled with life, energy and optimism toward the future. I am even among the population of seniors that still have a few months left to boast the envied age of 21 years. I am quite liter-ally at the physical peak of my youth. Despite being young in every sense of the word, I, like many seniors, feel “old.”

Some may see this as a com-plaint stemming from a reluc-tance to accept the responsi-bilities associated with growing older. This is not a complaint; rather it is a statement that I know many of my fellow seniors can relate to. I believe this ap-parently irrational feeling “old” to be a significant and integral aspect of the college experience. Let me explain.

I spent the majority of my college career trying to not seem like a kid. Regardless of how my efforts affected the perception of others, I still ended up feel-

ing like one. That feeling lasted nearly three years.

Even as I entered my senior year, I did not feel as old or mature as my senior friends of years past. It was not until this past weekend that I truly felt that I was no longer the kid at the party.

I found myself at a party being held at a friend’s house on Friday, which was eventu-ally overrun with a number of underclassmen. While I had almost always felt like the young kid at the party up until this point in my college expe-rience, some of these people were noticeably two-to-three years younger than me. I im-mediately shifted from feel-ing like a normal guy hanging out at a friend’s party, to feel-ing like some creepy old dude crashing a party filled with un-derage college kids. It was un-comfortable to say the least.

I know I am not alone in feel-ing “old.” In discussions follow-ing this realization, I found that the majority of seniors I spoke

with have had very similar ex-periences, admitting that they too have been feeling “old,” es-pecially in recent weeks. It turns out that that I was not the creepy old guy at the party. Not yet, at least.

The fact of the matter is that none of us are old by any stretch of the imagination and yet, for some reason, we feel like we are.

While it can be partially attrib-uted to the fact that each year’s freshman class seems to look younger than the last, causing seniors taking Psychology 101 to feel like geriatrics in a kinder-garten class, it is certainly not the

sole factor. We feel “old” be-cause we are on a natural pro-gression toward that day near the middle of May that every senior seems to dread. We feel “old” because we have to.

While most of us might cringe whenever the topic of graduation is mentioned, we are all still preparing ourselves, whether consciously or not, for the day when we are finally cast out into the real world. One of the first preparatory steps is the realization that we are no longer merely striving to seem like we are not kids. We are not kids anymore; we have switched roles. Now we are the seniors that we once

hoped would not perceive us as kids.

This feeling that we are “old” is directly tied to the fact that,

quite simply, we do not belong here for much longer. Our time as undergraduates is almost up. Sure, there are still some things to be learned, some mistakes to be made, some parties to be thrown and some basketball games to be attended, but for the most part it is time for us to move on. It may be hard for some to accept, but it is true. We feel “old” because we are “old.”

Feeling “old” is not a nega-tive thing as most conversations on the topic might lead you to believe; rather, it is merely an acceptance of a certain level of maturity associated with being a senior.

It is not that we actually feel old in a physical sense, we merely feel older than underclassmen, as we should considering we are older than them.

We are not old; we are seniors. It turns out that what it means to feel “old” is synonymous to what it means to feel like a col-lege senior. Like it or not, this is how it feels to be a senior.

Is it what you expected?

A New SenioritisWhy do seniors feel so “old?”

An opinion column by an actual “old” senior

John sChRoECK

Features Editor

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Page 7: Feature slideshow

Feature 5Xavier Newswire November 10, 2010

There are plenty of things to get excited about entering Cintas Center for Xavier basketball – the fantastic games, the insanity of the crowd, the potential to face the Blue Blob in rock, pa-per, scissors, etc.

However, there is a group on campus that may be more ex-cited about getting excited than anyone else on campus. They are usually the first and last in the arena and make more noise than anyone else in Cintas.

And they have a cowbell.“It is a ton of fun getting to

play the cowbell every night,” said senior Nick Makley, presi-dent of the Xavier Pep Band. “I got a fever. And the only pre-scription is more cowbell.”

Makley is not the only mem-ber of the 2010-11 Xavier Pep Band excited as the season be-gins. Dr. Matthew Westgate, en-tering his third season directing the Pep Band, is just as invested in the student group.

“I really love my job,”

Westgate said. “Conducting the fight song after a big moment in the game is a huge rush.”

No matter how much fun the Pep Band has every season in the stands or how much of a rush the Xavier Fight Song cre-ates throughout Cintas, a lot of work goes into the group.

Outside of regular rehearsals, the band arrives an hour before every game, and begins per-forming for fans as they file into Cintas before tip-off.

The band then marches onto the court for a performance of the Xavier Fight Song as the team makes its way onto the floor.

The rest of the game is filled with cheers and rally songs, such as this year’s newest fist-pump-ing edition of “Everytime We Touch” by Cascada.

That is not the only new piece of music the Pep Band has add-ed to the docket this season.

“We will be bringing back some Cintas Center favorites like ‘The Blues Brothers Theme,’

‘Sweet Caroline’ and ‘Livin' on a Prayer,’” Westgate said. “[We will] also be injecting some new tunes by Lady Gaga, Journey and others. I try to update our music books every year to make them a bit more modern while keeping the old pep band standards.”

Throwing in tunes from Lady Gaga is not just for the enjoy-ment of the band.

“I really enjoy getting the stu-dent section involved,” Westgate said.

Pep Band does not typically end with the regular season as they follow both basketball teams to each round of the NCAA tournament.

“The tournament schedule from last year was probably one of the best times in my life,” said senior trombonist Maggie Bell.

Last season, the Musketeers played in Upper Marlboro, Md., Atlantic City, N.J., Milwaukee, Salt Lake City and Sacramento, Calif., for both men’s and wom-en’s basketball.

GET LOUDAn inside look at the Xavier Pep Band

By John Stevens, Staff Writer

Newswire photos by Andrew Matsushita

The trip to Sacramento came mere hours after the men’s team fell in the Sweet 16 to Kansas State in Salt Lake City.

As fun as all of the traveling can be, missing a month of class amidst midterms is certainly no easy task.

“I went on every single trip, so I literally went from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean in the course of a month,” said senior Nick Roetting, Pep Band vice president. “I missed so much school I thought I would never catch up.”

To those involved, however, the Pep Band is much more than traveling and watching the games live.

“When I came to Xavier, I was set on no longer playing my trombone because there would be nothing to compare to my high school marching band ex-perience,” Bell said.

“I joined Pep Band, not sure what I would find. I loved it immediately and found the commu-nity I was looking for and was able to finally adapt to school,” she said. “It has given me friends that I feel will, one way or another, be in my life forever.”

Perhaps Roetting puts it best, call-ing Pep Band “a chance for us to live and die togeth-er as the team wins or loses. Whatever we go through, we go through together and as friends.”

As the band prepared to play before the start of last Saturday’s women’s exhibition against Bellarmine, Westgate screamed out to the band, “sounds of ju-

bilation are mandatory!”Amidst a swirl of screams and

catcalls from Pep Band mem-bers, a favorite from the film Beetlejuice, “Jump in the Line,” started up.

The game was still 30 minutes away, the stands have nary a soul, yet Cintas was already filled with sound.

“Over the past few years, we have really worked hard with the Athletic Department to forge a closer relationship with the fans, the teams and the cheerleaders.” Westgate said. “The pep band is beginning to be a more integral part of the game experience at Cintas and I am extremely proud of that change.”

Hours later at the men’s game against Bellarmine, the Pep Band belted out arena favorite “Sweet Caroline” accompanied in “BAH, BAH, BAHs” by the student section.

As the timeout ended, the crowd grews louder than ever behind the Musketeers.

As their shirts so eloquently read, Pep Band is a primary driv-ing force in motivating Cintas to “GET LOUD.”

Dr. Matthew Westgate directs the Xavier Pep Band for his third straight season.

The Pep Band arrives an hour prior to basketball games to warm up and prep the crowd.

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Feature10 Xavier NewswireFebruary 16, 2011

Clooney on CampusOr “When did Xavier decide to house a trailer park?”

John Schroeck, Features Editor

Classifieds2221 Cathedral Avenue Apt#2, Norwood.

Clean, LARGE 1 bd/1 ba 2nd fl duplex w/study, full din-ing room, central air,gas heat, walk-in closet. Quiet street near Fenwick and Quatman Café. 5 minute drive to XU.Water and trash included. No Pets. $525.00 a month + security deposit, credit check, references.

(513) 519-9050

Wonderful apartments across from campus. June or August for summer and/or NEXT year. ONE bedroom up to FOUR bedrooms. [email protected]

Available for 2011 school year. 5 houses one block from campus. 2, 3, and 4 full size bedrooms. Large houses, walk to campus, other student housing im-mediately next door. Laun-dry, fully equipped kitchens, plenty of parking, clean and well equipped.

513-616-3798 or email [email protected] for information.

Three or Four brd on nic-est street in Norwood. Apt includes: Full living and dining rooms, air, parking, laundry,$960 Available June 1. 604-5159

4030 Crosley 45212, 3BR, 2.5 car garage, walking distance to XU, No Pets, Begins June 2011 for 2011-2 school year, New AC, bathroom, bedroom, Quiet safe street, $1000/mon, non-coin washer and dryer, additional appliances and furnishings, Contact: Dan 513-305-9647 [email protected]

Description: FREE UTILITIES and only $375 per person! Newly renovated! Large 3 bedroom & 5 bedroom 1 & 2 bath apt. only ¼ mile from campus. This apartment is part of a grand mansion that features: Great kitchen and large private bedrooms, new-er appliances,new flooring, laundry room, cable ready, plenty of parking. These apts are very big with lots of space. Will not last!

Contact: Seth 513-383-9435 or [email protected](Available August 2011!)

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Academy Award-winning actor and Greater Cincinnati-area native George Clooney invaded Cintas Center this week to film scenes for his upcoming movie “The Ides of March,” for which he is both director and actor.

Aside from Clooney, the film features an all-star cast including Ryan Gosling, Academy Award-winners Philip Seymour Hoffman and Marisa Tomei, Oscar-nominee Paul Giamatti and Golden Globe-nominee Evan Rachel Wood.

“The Ides of March” tells the story of Stephen Meyers (Gosling), a young, hotshot staffer for Democratic presiden-tial hopeful, Gov. Mike Morris (Clooney), who finds himself caught in a whirlwind of dirty politics during his time on the campaign trail.

The film is an adaptation of the play “Farragut North” by Beau Willimon.

The cast and crew have been in Cincinnati for the past several weeks shooting scenes in various locations around the city.

Sightings across the area have taken a life of their own, spawning “Clooneywatch” on Twitter, where fellow Clooney fans spread the word to each other concerning the whereabouts of the Hollywood star.

Such places include a visit to the Blue Wisp Jazz Club on the evening of Wednesday, Feb. 9., as well as Tuesday’s filming locations in Mt. Lookout and downtown on 3rd street.

Students have speculated as to whether

or not Clooney would film on-location at Xavier since he made a short visit to cam-pus in early November.

Speculations grew further Thursday, Feb. 10 when Clooney was seen sporting a Xavier cap while shooting in Northside.

Those speculations were confirmed early Tuesday morning when a truck was spotted in front of Cintas Center donning an unambiguous sticker reading “Operated By: Ides of March Films, Inc.”

The truck belonged to an electric crew there to pre-rig Cintas Center for Wednesday’s shoot.

The electric crew informed pass-ersby that the shoot would indeed occur Wednesday morning in the “middle arena” of Cintas. Crew members remained am-biguous about any further details, unwill-ing to reveal anything they were not con-tractually allowed to divulge.

Cintas Center will be a closed set on Wednesday and student-athletes have been instructed to stay out of the locker rooms.

By Tuesday evening, the truck was gone and was replaced by 10 trailers set up on the concourse in front of Cintas.

One security officer, freshly hounded by a group of excited female students as to when exactly they could meet Gosling and Clooney, told inquirers that the cast and crew would arrive Wednesday around 5:45 a.m.

Cast and crew members directly con-nected to the film could not be reached for comment.

Headline photos courtesy of The Cincinnati Enquirer

Newswire photo by John Schroeck

Newswire photo by John Schroeck

Newswire photo by John Schroeck

Newswire photo by John Schroeck

Newswire photo by John Schroeck

Newswire photo by John Schroeck

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1&2.) 10 trailers ar-rived in front of Cintas Center early Tuesday evening. Many students passed by throughout the evening, some ex-cited for the arrival of the cast and crew, others confused by the addi-tion of white trailers to the campus decor.

3.) A truck carrying electrical rigging equip-ment arrived early Tuesday morning. Crew members worked into the night preparing Cintas for Wednesday’s film shoot.

4.) Signs were posted at the doors of Cin-tas, pointing extras as well as cast and crew members in the right direction.

5&6.) Signs were placed around the en-trances to campus and the C2 lot, directing crew members to avail-able parking locations.

Page 9: Feature slideshow

Feature12 Xavier NewswireNovember 3, 2010

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Something Xavier This Way ComesStudents get creative with their Halloween costumes

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1.) Pandora’s Box: Senior Neil Heckman channels his inner Na’vi.

2.) “Don’t be such a baby”: Juniors Danny Smogor and Joe Gesick show some Nicktoon love for Rugrats Tommy Pickles and Chuckie Finster.

3.) “I choose you”: Sophomore Alex Rogers catches our hearts with his portrayal of Pokémon Trainer extraordinaire, Ash Ketchum.

4.) Alvin and the Peacock: Sophomores Mike Rizio and Mici Eubanks dedicate them-selves to cartoon and real ani-mals alike.

5.) Heard it Through the Grapevine: Juniors Abby Manning, Sidney Provenzano and Katie Cabrera have a pas-sion for grapes.

1Photo Courtesy of Neil Heckman 2 Photo Courtesy of Danny Smogor 3 Photo Courtesy of Alex Rogers

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Photo Courtesy of Mici Eubanks

Photo Courtesy of Abby Manning

John Schroeck Features Editor

Page 10: Feature slideshow

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