january 25th, 2012

SAINT XAVIER UNIVERSITY

XAVIERITET H E E Y E S A N D E A R S O F T H E S T U D E N T S

theWednesday January 25th, 2012

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www.thexavierite.com

One Goal Achieved

Hundreds of students, faculty, staff, alumni and community members gathered in the Shannon Center on Tues., Jan. 17 to celebrate the Cougar football team’s national championship victory. President Christine Wiseman read a special message from President Barack Obama, congratulating the team on their first ever national championship win.

Websites Shut Down in Protest

The Shannon Center ishostingtheBiggestLoserChallengestartingonMon.,Jan.30. This program is designed toservemembersoftheSaintXavierUniversity student body, faculty,andstaffaswellasShannonCentermembers. Thereisaparticipationfeeof$20forSXUstudentsand$25forSXU faculty, staff and ShannonCentermembers. TheBiggestLoserChallengeisa10-weekprogramdedicatedtohelping participants loseweight,make healthy lifestyle changes,maintain weight loss andmostimportantlyhavefunwhilegettingfit. KristyAllen,assistantfacilitymanager of the ShannonCentersaid, “Doing a fitness challengewillmotivateyouandgetyoujump

RENEW-ing campus spirituality

Van Halen is backpages 8

Brittany Jones and Brad Karp reach milestones as

the Cougars rollpage 12

Is social news on the rise?

page 4

BY MACY ZAMUDIONEWS EDITOR

Thousands o f popu la rwebsites includingWikipedia,redditandTwitpicblockedaccesstotheirsitesasawaytoprotesttheStopOnlinePiracyAct(SOPA)aswellas theProtect IPAct (PIPA).Theproposedbillsmainintentionis to stop copyright infringementontheInternetlastWednesday. Under the SOPA b i l l ,copyrightholders and the JusticeDepartmentwouldbelegallyableto obtain court orders againstwebsites containing any form ofcopyrightinfringement,accordingtoThe Huffington Post.SOPAwouldapply to domestic and foreignwebsiteswhile PIPAwould applytowardsforeignsites. If a court order against acertain website is successfullyobtained,thenthatwebsitewouldbe immediately shut down andInternet users would no longerhave access to it. Under theseproposed bills, websites wouldnot be given a chance to defendthemselves-theycouldbepunishedwithoutatrialorcourthearing. Thousandsof Internetuserslastweekexpressedtheirdiscontentwith theproposedbills and tookpartintheanti-SOPAmovement.AlthoughGoogle did not shutdown its services for the day, it

did express solidarity with themovementbyblockingoutitslogofrom its homepage.A link for apetition against thebillswas alsoon the site, and a reported 4.5million people signed the anti-SOPApetition. “There’s no need tomakeAmerican social networks, blogsand search engines censor theInternetorunderminetheexistinglawsthathaveenabledtheWebtothrive, creatingmillions ofU.S.jobs,” theGoogle petition read.“Toomuchisatstake;pleasevoteNOonPIPAandSOPA.” Students at Saint Xavieralso expressed their discontenttowards SOPA andPIPA. SeniorMikeWard,majoringincomputer

science, said, “Hopefully itwon’tpass.Theydon’tunderstandhowmuchofanimpactitwillmakeifit did get passed.The companiesagainst it wouldn’t be gainingmuchfromit.Eveniftheactdidgetpassed,peoplewillfindwaystoget around theblockageof thosedifferentsites.Theywouldbeableto get around it withoutmuchhassle.” MeganUrbanczyk,afirstyearstudentmajoring in psychology,also expressed dissatisfactiontowardsthebillsandtheirintrusiononInternetusers.“IthinkthattheInternetshouldremainfreetothepeople,”saidUrbanczyk. Whilemanypeople thought

BY RUBY VENUSSENIOR NEWS EDITOR

Saint Xavier University’sCampusMinistryhassetthewheelsinmotion for students to cometogether and participate in itsprogram,CampusRENEW. According to the CampusMinistr y ’s website, CampusRENEW is a program thatchallengesstudents toanswer thequestion,“Doesfaithmatter?” “CampusRENEWisa faithsharing group for students inwhichstudentsareinvitedtocometogether to read scripture, talkabout their lives, and share theirthoughtsaboutfaith,”saidLaurenBryk,asophomoreearlychildhoodeducationmajor and one of theRENEWleaders. Eachweek,studentsgathertotalk abouthow faith affects theirdaily lives aswell as a variety ofsocialandpersonalissuesthatmaysignificantlyimpacttheirlives. Traditionally,RENEWgroupsmeetforaboutonehourperweektocometogether,share,discussandreflect on a variety of issues thatimpacttheirlives. “IbecameaRENEWleaderbecauseIfeltthatRENEWwasaplacethatIcouldgoeveryweektotalk abouthow I felt about faithandreflectonthewayitimpactedthe waymy day or week went,”saidJuliaGomulka,asophomore

business major and RENEWleader. Students of all faiths andreligious denominations arewelcomed to participate in theRENEWgroups. “Wedodiscussthegospelandscripture,buteveryoneiswelcomedto participate,” said Bryk. “It’sa placewhere you can just cometogetherwithagroupofpeopleandshareyourthoughtsandopinionswithoutthefearofbeingjudged.” Sr. Mar y Lof tus , RSM,from theMercyMinistryCentercoordinates theRENEWgroups,however,eachgroupisstudent-led. Therearetwosessionsofferedeachweek for students toattend:Wednesdays inMorrisHall, andThursdaysinReginaHall. TheWednesdaysessionswillbe led byRENEWLeaders JuliaGomulkaandBiancaHuerta,whiletheThursdaysessionswillbeledbyRENEWLeadersLaurenBrykandEmilyCaliendo. The first meetings for theRENEWgroupswillbeginonFeb.1and2. Any college-aged studentinterested in reading scripture,reflecting on its impact on theirdailylives,andjustsharinginafaithgroupiswelcometoparticipate. “WhenIfirststartedCampus

BY KARINA PALENCIANEWS EDITOR

Biggest Loser Challenge back again at SXU

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UNIVERSITY RELATIONS

page 2RENEW >

Check out page 11 for more coverage!

DIGITALTRENDS.COMUnder SOPA, websites like YouTube could be censored .

The Xavierite Wednesday, January 25, 2012

[email protected] Xavierite

Editor in ChiefGenevieve Bonadonna Deputy Editor in ChiefTony Bara Senior News EditorRuby VenusNews EditorsMacy Zamudio Karina PalenciaGenevieve BonadonnaSenior Viewpoints EditorGenevieve ButhodViewpoints EditorsGrant VargasTony BaraSenior Features EditorKane McKeownFeatures EditorBecki BrownSenior Sports EditorGreg Pilafas

Sports EditorsAlan PaapeTony GustinShane KenneyBusiness ManagerMolly KnapperCopy Editors Mary CraneAllison HornPhotographerMelissa WrobelDistribution ManagerSamantha SpitzigWebmasterMike CataniaAssistant Director of Residence Life: Campus MediaPeter KretenJournalistic AdvisorMoira Mis

The Xavierite is published every Wednesday. Any undergraduate student may write for The Xavierite. Other interested graduate students, faculty, administration and staff may write a “Letter to the Editor.”

OAK GROVE, AL (HUFFPO)—More than 100 people were injured and at least two people killed as violent tornadoes ripped through the heart of Alabama Monday.

TURKEY (BBC)—Turkey has erupted in anger after the French Senate approved a bill that makes it a crime to deny genocide was committed by Ottoman Turks against Armenians during World War I.

KENYA, EGYPT (BBC)—Four Kenyan leaders are about to stand trial on human rights violations that have allegedly occured after the 2007 election. Prime Minister Uhuru Kenyatta is included in the charges.

BAGHDAD, IRAQ (REUTERS)—Four car bombs exploded in Baghdad Tuesday, killing thirteen people and wounding 75. The bombs exploded in the mainly Shi’ite Muslim areas of Baghdad.

CHINA (NYTIMES)—A r m e d s e c u r i t y f o r c e s i n C h i n a o p e n e d f i r e o n Tibetan protesters Monday, wounding at least 32 and killing at least one of them.

World Bits

Textbook Rental at SXU Campus Bookstore

Save more than 50% by renting your textbooks at SXU Campus Bookstore this fall!

The Textbook Rental Program is made possible by a grant awarded to the University by the by the U.S. Department of Education Fund for

the Improvement of Postsecondary Education.

To find out if a rental option is available for your course, visit the Campus Bookstore’s website at bookstore.sxu.edu

• Convenience • Accuracy • Availability

startedfortheNewYear.”This program is intended toincorporate fitness and lifestylechanges into participants’ dailyroutines. “Youareaccountabletomeetgoals and loseweight. It’s a funway to lose weight with friendsand others. I would encourageall students, staff, and faculty toparticipate for theBiggest LoserChallenge,”saidAllen. ThiswillbethethirdyearthattheShannonCenterwillbehostingtheBiggestLoserChallengesince

itsimplementationin2010. Brian Robin, a businessmanagement and industrialorganizational psychologymajorwon theBiggest LoserChallengein2011. “It was a really positiveexperience.Itwasreallyexcitingtotheresultsattheendofeveryweekintheformoflosingweight,seeingthedifferenceinthewaymyclothesfit andmy physical appearance,”Robinsaid. Unlink the Biggest Loserprogram on television, the SXUversionisnotapublicspectacle,itismoreconfidentialasparticipants

arenotweighedinpublic. Confidentialweeklyweigh-insonlineandhealthysessionsaboutnutritionand fitnesswillbeheldtoassistintheweightlossprocess. Participants are required todo the initial and finalweigh-insattheShannonCenter,butmustentertheirweeklyweightonlineonFridaysby10pm. “It’s a pretty good feelinggettingonthescaleandseeingyourprogress as well as gaining extraenergy and getting active,” saidRobin. Theworkouts are all basedon the participant and they are

accountable for their ownweightloss. This program motivatesparticipantstoloseweightthroughaweigh-inprocessthatkeepsthemaccountable for their progressthroughouttheprogram. The top three participantswiththegreatestpercentageofbodyweightlosswillwinacashprizeaswellassubwaysandwiches. Participantsmustgothroughapre-contestassessmentinordertoparticipateinthechallenge. Registration for theBiggestLoserChallenge lastsuntilMon.,Jan.30,intheShannonCenter.

The very firstwinner of theBiggestLoserChallengewas JanaTerborgin2010. Informationwillbeavailableonthewebsiteforparticipantstoaccess such as program rules, logsheets, journals,BMI (bodymassindex) charts and other helpfullinks. To sign up or for moreinformationregardingtheBiggestLoserChallenge, please [email protected](773)298-3586.FlierscanalsobepickedupattheShannonCenterfrontdesk.

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The XavieriteWednesday, January 25, 2012

New conservative club hopes to spread awarenessBY TONY BARADEPUTY EDITOR IN CHIEF

Saint Xavier Universitystudentsarestartingachapteroncampus of the YoungAmerica’sFoundation(YAF),aconservative-leaningoutreachgroup. Accordingtotheorganization’sofficial website, itsmission is toeducateyoungAmericansabouttheconservative tenetsof “individualfreedom,astrongnationaldefense,free enterprise, and traditionalvalues”(yaf.org). Monica Barfield, a juniorbusinessmanagementandfinancemajor,helpedco-foundthegroup’schapteratSaintXavierUniversityandisitscurrentpresident. “Anyone and everyonewhohasaninterestinpoliticsorwouldsimplyliketolearnmoreaboutitiswelcometojoinourorganization,”saidBarfield. “Thisgenerationis,andwillcontinuetobe,verymuchaffectedby the political landscape acrossourcountryandaroundtheworld,andsowehavearesponsibilitytobecome educated about what ishappening,”shecontinued. The group provides i t smembers access to “conferences,seminars, educationalmaterials,internships, and speakers” acrossthecountry(yaf.org). When asked about furtherbenefitstojoiningtheorganization,Barfieldresponded,“awarenessandhavingapoliticalvoiceoncampus

isdefinitelyone.There aremanyloud liberal voices and, up untilnow,almostnoconservativeones.” A foca l po in t fo r theorganization is to spread theconservative ideasof formerU.S.President,RonaldReagan.Barfieldsaid that YAF will host severalevents geared around the 40thpresidentandhismessage. “He strived to reach out tothe young college students whowouldbeabletolearn,grow,andchange theworld upon enteringinto society. YAF intends to dothesame,andtocarryonReagan’slegacy,that’swhyheissoimportanttous,”shestated. Shealsopromisedthateventswill be held revolving aroundthe current presidential race,specificallytheRepublicanfield. “We really want to teachpeople what it means to be aconservative,and,inamoregeneralsense, combat the apathy that isplaguingnot only our university,but the country as awhole” sheemphasized. She added that in its earlystages,theorganizationwillmostlyhold small info sessions andmeetingswheremembers discusspoliticsandcurrentevents. “I justwanttomotivateandinspire SXU’s conservative oruninformed students to activelyparticipate, because conservativevoices are much needed oncampus, and this is our time toshine amongst themany liberal

opinions,”concludedBarfield. Beginning this week, theorganization will be setting upregularboothsinthestudentdiner.Interested students should stopbyoneoftheseboothsorcontactMonicaBarfieldatbarfield.m01@mymail.sxu.edu. YAF began in 1969 atVanderbiltUniversity to“provides tudents wi th conser va t ive

ideas that weremissing in theireducations” (yaf.org). Since thenthe organization has startedchaptersincollegecampusesacrossthecountry. Here at Saint Xavier, thecabinet of YAF is as follows:MonicaBarfield, President,MattDumais, Vice President, StevenZieman, Secretary, and KamilRusin,Treasurer.

Monica Barfield, co-founder of YAF, holds up the group’s magazine.TONY BARA/THE XAVIERTE

Reagan’s ideas will be focal point of the organization



SXU gets ready with events for Black History Month

The month of Februar ycelebratesBlackHistoryMonth. To c ommemo r a t e t h eimpor t ance of the Afr icanAmericanheritageandtheimpactoftheculturallydiversecommunityatSaintXavierUniversity,SXUwillbehostingseveraleventsinhonorofthiscelebrationofheritage. Beginning onWed., Feb. 1,BlackHistoryMonthwillbekickedoffbyanopeningceremonywherekeynote speaker, BrittanyGault,will be presentingher address tothe SXUcommunity at 7p.m. intheButlerReceptionRoom. Gaul t w i l l d i s cus s herinvolvement in theOccupy theHoodmovement,significantissuesaffecting the African-AmericancommunitiesofChicago,andwhyshe is sopassionate forherworkregardingissuesofsocialjustice. “ G a u l t w a s a c t u a l l yrecommended by students,” saidGabrielaTorres,assistantdirectorofCampusLife forMulticultural

Palmer and SXU join forces to ease transition

and Leadership Programs. “HerviewsonissuesalignnotonlywiththeAfricanAmericancommunitybut also with the social justicestancesthatarecentraltotheSXUcommunity.” OnThu., Feb. 2, theBlackStudentUnion (BSU) and theAfricanAmericanDiaspora(AAD)student organizations have cometogether to put on theHarlemRenaissanceBlackTieAffair. BSU andAAD in coalitionwith theDepartment ofCampusLife will be presenting a nightof entertainment and awarenesss u r r o und i n g t h e H a r l emRenaissance from7–10:30pm intheButlerReceptionRoom. OnWed., Feb. 8,AADwillbehosting theAfricanAmericanDiasporaKnowledgeBowl in theDinerAtrium,wherestudentswillbe challenged to increase theirknowledge andunderstanding oftheAfricanAmericanheritage. A screening of themovie,The Help,willbesponsoredbytheStudentActivitiesBoard(SAB)on

Tue.,Feb.21at7p.m. This will be followed by abook club andmovie discussiononWed.,Feb.22. Students can join the bookclub and get a free copyof “TheHelp” starting Feb. 1, by signingupattheDepartmentofCampusLife. This discussion is open tothosewhohavereadthebookorseenthemovieandwouldliketodiscusstheportrayalofcharactersandeventsthroughoutthebook. AADwill sponsor an openforum inviting students, faculty,andstafftocomeoutanddiscusssocial,political,andculturaltopicsrelating to theAfricanAmericancommunityonWed.,Feb.22from4:30p.m.–6:30p.m. Dr.ErikGellmanwillpresentThe Panthers and Beyond: TheWider Vision of Black Powerand Economic Justice in 1960sChicago,wherehewilldiscussthehistory of civil rights inChicagoonThu.,Feb.23,from6:30p.m.–7:30p.m.

SaintXavierUniversity andPalmerCollege of Chiropractic(PCC)have joinedforces toofferSXU students an opportunity toaccelerate their educationwhileengaging in course work at theChiropracticschoolinOhio. According to SXU’s pressrelease, SXUPresidentChristineWisemansigneda3+3agreementwithPCCallowingbiologymajorstomake an easier transition inpursuingDoctor ofChiropracticdegreesatPCCinIowa. ThedrivingforcebehindthecoalitionbetweenSXUandPCCwasDr. TatianaTatum-Parker, aprofessorofbiologyandthechairof the Pre-Health ProfessionalCommitteeatSXU. Theentirebiologydepartmentwas actively involved inplanningforthisagreement. Duringdepartmentmeetings,discussionsofwhichcourseswouldbest prepare students for thisearly transition into themedicalprogramhelped to formulate thebest possible terms of agreementforthiscoalitionwithPCC. “Withthe3+3agreement,thefirst threeyearsofworkaredoneat SXU.During the fourth year,students take classes at Palmer.This will count for their finalyearatSXUandtheirfirstyearatPalmer,” saidDr. Tatum-Parker.“Uponcompletionofthatyear,thestudentswillgraduatefromSXU.” The agreement, grantingbiology students the opportunitytobegintheirfirstyearofgraduatestudies, was officially signed inDecember of 2011 after being intheworkssincetheFallof2010. Dr. Tatum-Parker explainedthe process of reaching thisagreementandsaid. “I went to an AdvisorsWorkshopatPalmer,whereImetwithSandyMillerandwediscussedthebenefitsofthisprogramtobothourstudents,”saidTatum-Parker. The program benefits SXUstudents in twomainways: first,byreducingtuitioncostsbyayearandsecondly,byallowingstudentsto accelerate their education bytakinggraduatecoursesatPalmer. Inordertobeeligibleforthisagreement,SXUstudentsmustbein good academic standing, haveearned 90 credit hoursmeetingtheprerequisitesduringtheirthreeyearsatSXUbeforebeingadmittedintoPCC. Dr.Tatum-Parkerencouragesstudentswho intend to takepartin this program to declare theirintentions to participate in thisprogramasearlyaspossible. “It is a challenging courseschedulethatstudentswhointendtoparticipateinthisneedtofollowto ensure that theymeet all ofthe general education and otherrequirements,” saidDr. Tatum-Parker. Thesigningofthisagreementplaces SXU in rankswith only ahandfulofcollegesanduniversitiesthat offer this agreement such asIowa StateUniversity,UniversityofNebraska,andtheUniversityofWisconsin.

Studentscanlookforwardtoseveralothereventsthroughoutthemonth. “This year’s events wereplannedbyacommitteeoffaculty,staff,andstudentstoplanawiderange of social and academicevents,”saidTorres. Dialoguegroupswilltakeplaceeachweekthroughoutthemonth,speakers,volunteeropportunities,aswellasoff-campustripstoseeatheatreeventarejustsomeofthethingsyoucanlookforthroughoutthemonth. Torresadded,“It’simportanttorecognizethatasauniversitywehaveaverydiversepopulation.Thegoalofcelebratingheritagemonthsistorecognizethediverseculturesof the students, faculty and staffatSXUandtogetmoreandmorestudents involved in these eventsandtoraiseawareness.” FormoreinformationaboutanyoftheeventsinBlackHistoryMonthortogetinvolvedwithanactivity,[email protected].

thatsuchbillswereunfair, juniorstudent DeeMacklin, a majorin psychology and sociology,sympathizedwith the companiesandmusic artistswhosematerialisillegallydownloadedbecauseofonlinepiracy. “Iagreewiththembecauseitwouldmakemeupset if Iwereadirectororartistandsomeonejuststolemywork.Idon’tlikebootlegstuff,”saidMacklin. Macklin, however, did feel

that it would be too drastic toshut down a site simply becauseit contained certain copyrightedmaterial.“IthinkthatthereshouldbeawayforpeopletostilllistentostuffonYoutube,justnotstealit,”saidMacklin. OnFriday,Jan.20,anti-SOPAprotestors scored amajor victoryagainsttheSOPAbill. According toThe Huffington P o s t , Te x a s R e p u b l i c a nCongressman Lamar Smith, theman who originally proposedSOPA,withdrewthecontroversial

bill from consideration until“there iswider agreementon thesolution.” “I have heard from thecritics and I take seriously theirconcerns regarding proposedlegislationtoaddresstheongoingand continuous problem ofonline piracy,” Smith said asreported byThe Huffington Post. “It’s clear that we need torevisit the approachonhowbesttoaddresstheproblemofforeignthievesthatstealandsellAmericanproducts,”saidSmith.

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RENEW, I didn’t knowmuchabout it, and didn’t really knowpeople.However,asitcontinued,Igottoknowpeoplereallywellandwebuiltupagreatgroupdynamic,”saidBryk.“InourRENEWgroupsyoucansaywhateveryouropinionis;thereisnojudging.” FormoreinformationaboutCampus RENEW or to join aRENEW group, you can [email protected] or stopby theMercyMinistryCenter intheMcDonoughChapel.

from page 1RENEW >


VIEWPOINTS

Back in the day, if peoplewanted to check the weather,theywouldgooutsideandreadathermometer. If theywanted to know thescore of last night’s game, theywouldturntothesportssectionoftheirnewspapers. If theywanted tohear somejuicysecrets,theywouldgodownthestreettotheirtowngossip,suchasHelenLovejoyfromThe Simpsons. Ifpeoplewantedtohearthelatest election news, theywouldhavetoturnononeofmanynewschannels. Now,thereisonewebsitethatpeoplecangoontogetcompletelyreliableandunbiasedinformation:Facebook. Ok.Iwaskiddingaboutthe“reliableandunbiased”thing,butFacebookhasturnedintoasourcefor everything you would everneed to know about. Take that,Wikipedia! Afewdaysago,itwasraining.Withinmoments, Facebookwasplasteredwith comments such as“guys it’s raining” and “omggggg.itz raining frownyface”. Thosewere someof themore articulateresponsesIsaw. Nevertheless, I was quicklyinformed that it was raining,whichwassomevitalinformationconsideringIwasoutat thetimeandhadtofindaridesoIdidn’t

havetowalkinthethunderstorm. Whenever theBlackwhawksareplaying,Iknowtheexactscore.I knowwhich player got whichpenaltyorinjury. I don ’ t e ven l i ke theBlackhawks. I don’t like hockey.I’mreallyindifferentwhenitcomestosportsingeneral. Regardless of my apathytowards sports, itwas everywhereonmy Facebook. It seemed likeit just couldn’t take ahint that Iwasn’tinterested. Thewhole time any sportsgame is on and several hoursafter, I try to avoid the socialnetworkingsite,butsometimes,itisunavoidable. As soon as the Penn StateScandalwasdiscovered,Facebookknew.AssoonasJoePaternodied,camebacktolife,anddiedagain,Facebookknew. As soonas someoneposts acutepictureofacatanywhereontheinternet,Facebookknows. Facebookknows, and itwillshowuponyournewsfeed. Ifinallyfiguredoutwhyitiscalledanewsfeedinthefirstplace. It is filled with news. Saidnewsthengetsfedtoyouorshoveddown your throat,whichever thecasemaybe. Facebook has also changedwhatweconsidertobenews. Did youhear thatGirl andBoybrokeup?NowGirlisdatingOtherBoy.Thatisbreakingnews. Allmyfriendsneedtoknowthat.Eventheonesthatdon’tknowGirl,Boy,orOtherBoy.Especiallythepeoplewhodon’tknowthem. BackinthedayIwasspeaking

ofearlier.ifpeoplewantedtoshowtheirfirendspicturesofthemselves,theywould have to corner theirfriends and hold them down astheyflippedthroughphotoalbumafterphotoalbumoftackytouristsandstrangers’feet. Now, all they have to do ispost their pictures in an albumonfacebookandsitbackastheirfriendsareputthroughthewholething via timeline (another newchangetoFacebookthatconfusesandfrightensme). From drama to politics,Facebookhasbecome thenewestsource for minute by minutecoverage. Whatdoesthismeanforotheroutletsofsocialmedia? IfFacebookcontinuestogainmomentum in becoming a newsjuggernaut, itmay have horribleconsequences. What people post on theirprofile does not have to be factchecked. It does not have to begrounded in any sort of logic ortruth. With a continuingly biasednewssource,peoplewilllosewhatlittlesensetheyhaveleftandwillinstead be nothing butmindlessfollowers,believingeverypostandlinkpostedintheireverygrowingnewsfeed. Weneed to stop this beforeitgets toooutofcontrol.Readanewspaper (which you are doingnow; good for you), turn on theTV,lookoutthewindow. Do something other thanfollow everything you see on thesocial“news”work.

Rise of the Social ‘News’workOn My Soapbox and Off My RockerBecki BrownFeatures Editor

Considering the Source > Editorial <

By The Xavierite Staff

The Xavieritehasnoticedthatlately, students seem to get veryexcited about expressing theiropinions. Un fo r t un a t e l y , t h e s eopinions are ver y of ten aspassionately affirmed as theyare under-informed.But canwereally be blamed for our lackofknowledge? We are so rare ly heldaccountable for justifying theviewswe hold in an agewhereeveryonehasanopinionandeveryopinioniscorrect.Wehavesomanygoodrolemodelsinourmodernpundits. FromGlennBecktoStephenColbert,weseethelinebetweenopinion and news becomeincreasinglyblurred.Howmanycollegestudentsconsider theDaily Show a realnewssource? We cannot take all of theblame for our low standards forqualityinformation,however. We face no immediateconsequences for our as yetunformedfilters. Our generation grewup inan era that fostered a buddingplaygroundforpeopletoexpresstheir personal opinions andassumethemtobefact.WegrewupimmersedinInternetculture. With the growth of theInternet,andwithit,thegrowthof blogs and sites likeMySpace,it became far too easy to stayshelteredinourownthoughtsandopinionsatalltimes. EvenGoogle recognizes itsusersandtailorssearchresultstowhat itsmatrix has determinedwillpleaseeachofthem.Notonlyareweencouragedto only access what we alreadyknow,butalsotheimportanceofourbeliefs ismagnifiedby theirseemingly high status amongotherviews. Our egos are constantlystrokedbytheconfirmationbiasfromourexistingthoughts.Wehavelittleaccesstotrulyunbiasedinformation. Wedonothaveanystandardfortrueresearch,nordowehavethe fullhostofotheroptions tofindfactsthatweremorereadilyavailableevenjusttenyearsago. P e r h a p s t h o s e t w ophenomenafeedintooneanotherandonlyworsentheproblem.

Somuch of our researchconsistsofscanningtheinternetforthequickestthingwecanfindthatmatcheswhatwealreadybelieve. It ismore common to formanopinionandthentrytoproveit,ratherthanlearningaboutwhatishappeningintheworldandthendecidingwhatwethinkaboutit. It is no wonder we havequestionable judgment when itcomes to finding good places tolookfornews. Becauseof ourbasic lackofreliable information,we fall intoopinion-based“news”instead. Whenwe learn that it is okto communicatewithout provingwhat we are saying, we becomeimmatureinourthoughts. Whenthepeoplearoundussimplyacceptwhatwesaywithoutaskingus toback itup,weneverlearnthemethodorthenecessityofdoingso. Ourthoughtslosetheirdepthquickly thisway,which is just asmuch a shame for ourselves as itis for the people we encounterthroughoutourlives. Havingstrongopinionsisnotinitselfabadthing,buteditorialscannotreplacenewsarticles. Commentary can never beanadequatesubstituteforprimarysourcesorrealjournalism. Weneed tobe able to formour beliefs from news on ourown, not from some one else’sinterpretationof thatsamebitofnews. Evenmore importantly, weshouldbeabletoformintelligent,complexthoughtsaboutthingswecareaboutingeneral. Weneedtotakeadvantageofouryouthwhilewestillhaveit.Ourpassioncanbeextremelyusefulifwesimplyuseitwell.Ifwetakethetimetoensureour opinions arewell informed,theywill bemuchmore difficulttodismiss.Ifyoungpeopledeveloptheabilitytocommunicatecoherently,wewillbeabletomakerealchangeintheworld. Therestofthepopulationwillfinallystarttotakeusseriously ifwecanshowthatwedeservetheirrespect. WehereatThe Xavieritebelievethat putting our creative energyintolookingforthetruthisthebestwaytoovercomeourownegosandactuallyfindcommongroundforvaluablecommunication.

Editorial PolicyThe Xavieritewelcomesandencouragesletterstotheeditor.Letterswillnotbeeditedforcontentreasons,thoughwereservetherighttonotprintlettersthatarelibelous.Wealsoreservetherighttoeditforlengthbutpromisethatnocontentwillbecompromised.

Letter PolicyAllletterstotheeditormustbesigned.Anonymousletterswillnotbeprinted.Forstudents,weaskthatlettersbesignedwithyourfullname,majorandyear.Forfacultyandstaff,weaskthatyourlettersbesignedwithyourfullnameanduniversityposition.Allletterscanbesenttothexavierite@yahoo.com.Please include“letter to theeditor” in thesubjectbartoensurepromptreviewandprinting.Thankyouforyourtimeandsupport.Wecannotwaittoreceiveyourletters!

Bynow,youmayhaveheardofthelatestInternetmemecalled“[Stuff][blank]Says.” Thememe began with twomencreatingaTwitterfeedcalled“[Stuff] Girls Say,” and severalaccompanying YouTube videosfeaturingafictionalwomansayingapparently stereotypicalwomanlythings.Oneofthecreatorsdressedasawoman enthusiastically phraseslike, “Youhair is so thick;” “No,you’re the best!” and “I just lovewine.”Thesuccessivespin-offsincludeeverything from “[Stuff] VegansSay,”(“Dotheyhaveseitanhere?”)to“[Stuff}MyDadSays,”(“Backinmyday…”etc.).Eachofthesehasafewmillionviewsbuttheycannotcomparetotheresponsevideos.ComedianFranchescaRamsey’ssatiricalvideo“[Stuff]WhiteGirlsSay toBlackGirls,” featuresMs.Ramseyinablondwigactingoutthings her friends and strangershaveactuallysaidtoher.

Aftertouchingherhairwithoutpermission,“Itsortoffeelslike…aBrillo pad;” “He is so cute!...Youknow, for a black guy;” “That issoooooghetto!”and“Youknowwhat I like about them is they’renot,like,stereotypicalblack people,youknow?”Thisvideo,atoversevenmillionviews, has gottenmore attentionthananyofthesimilarjokevideosthatinspiredthememe. Quite a number of peoplehave responded negatively toMs.Ramsey’s approach to socialcommentary,however.Incommentsandontheirownwebsites, people have claimedthat the video and its sequel areexamples of “reverse racism,”andcontinuetodividepeoplebyfurtheringprejudice. This interestingvideobecamesuchanissuethatRamseyappearedonAndersonCooper’stalkshow,Anderson. She explained that shehadnointentionofdividingpeopleorevencallinganyoneoutontheirracistcomments.Shesimplywantedherfriendsandotherwomen to realizewhatthey saycan soundprettyhurtfulwhenfallingonanother’sears. These little joking commentsare examples of what HarvardpsychiatristChesterM.Piercecalls

“micro aggressions.”Thesemicroaggressions are small words andactions throughout normal dailyconversationandlifethat,whetherintentionalornot,servetobelittleor de-humanize some one whodoes not belong to the speaker’sprivilegedgroup.Ms.Ramsey,alongwithseveralwomenintheaudience,explainedhow animalizing it can bewhensomeonefeelstheycanreachoutand feel your hair because theyconsideritexoticorintriguing. This particular unintentionalput-downissomethingthatIasawhitewomanalmostneverhavetodealwith.Unwantedcommentsaboutmybody,certainly,butIdonothavetodealwiththesameanimalizingcommentsandactionsasawomanofcolordoes. Another importantpoint thatcanbeeasilyglossedoveristhatMs.Ramsey,inproducingthiscreativeformofcommentary,isnotherselfcreatingdivisionsorprejudices.Sheissimplycallingoutdivisionsthat already exist and presentingtheminamoredigestibleformat—comedy.

Source: DeAngellis, Tori. “Unmasking ‘racial microaggressions’. APA,2009.

Deep Thoughts in Memes?Journal of the Apocalypse

Genevieve ButhodSenior Viewpoints Editor


In the past week the “StopOnline PiracyAct” (SOPA) andthe “Protect IPAct” (PIPA)havebecomehouseholdnames.Ifinditamazingthatsomanypeoplehavetakennoticeofandarebecominginvolvedinthispoliticalsituation. A driving force behind thisisGoogle,which blacked out itslogoon January18andprovideda petition for people to signelectronicallytoopposetheacts. Anotherforcebehindthis isWikipediaandthousandsofotherwebsites which were purposelyblacked out last week to signifywhatinternetcensorshipcanreallymean. I a g r e e w i t h Goo g l e .Censoring the internet, even if itisagainstpiracy,isplayingwithfire.Whoistosaythatthegovernmentwouldneverusethisasaprecedentto regulate other aspects of theinternetinthefuture? Butmypurposeinthisarticleisnottobashthebills,ratheritistoexaminewhypeoplearesoriledupaboutthisparticularsituation. I already mentioned howGoogle andWikipedia are thedrivingforces.Yes,itisgreathowtheinternetcanunitepeoplelikeit did in this case.But there is adefinitedownside. Thedaybeforetheblackoutsand theGoogle petition,nobodyseemed to be talking about thisissue. Yet SOPAwas introduced

onOctober26,2011andPIPAwasintroducedonMay11,2011! Myquestionis:wherewereallofthesepoliticalactiviststhen?Thefactthatsomuchofthisactivismstarted on the day thatGooglelauncheditscampaignimpliesthatpeoplearewaytooreliantonotherstospoon-feedtheminformation. Indeed,thiswaspropagandaatitsfinest.IfyouclickedontheblackedoutGooglelogolastweek,youwere directed toward a verybriefsummaryoftheacts,whytheyareevil,andwhyyoumustsignthisonlinepetitionimmediatelytostopthem. Now,Iamwillingtobetthatmany people blindly signed thispetitionwithoutdoinganyresearchonthetopicwhatsoever. There are always two sidesto every story to examine beforemaking a decision. But in thissituation,thereseemedtobeonlyonerightanswer. I wanted both sides of thestory, so I typed in “reasons tosupportSOPA”intoGoogle.Thesearch results yielded nothingbut blacklists of companies thatsupportthelegislationandstoriesaboutpoliticianswhocondemnedtheacts. I had to go through a fewpages before I finally found anopposing viewpoint, and afteranalyzingit,Idecidedtoopposethelegislation.Besides,Igenerallyhaveadistrustofgovernmentregulatingtoomanyaspectsofourlives. ButyouwouldneverknowanyofthisfromjustGoogle.Itpaintedthe bleakest possible picture, theworstcasescenarioofwhatcould

happenifweallowedgovernmentintotheinternet. I also bet that, studentsespecially, freakedoutwhen theysawWikipediablackedout.Indeed,several ofmy Facebook friendsbecame lobbyists in amatter ofhours. T h e p e o p l e who r unWikipediaknowthattheirwebsitehas become as vital for studentsas food andwater, and they nodoubtusedthattotheiradvantagetogathersupportforthepetition.Thiswasadefinitescaretactic. Thelessontobelearnedfromthis is thatmaybe the internet isalreadycensoredinthatwearesoreliant on and trusting of a fewpowerfulgiantslikeGoogletogiveusinformation. Youwouldnotsignacontractwithoutfirstreadingthefineprint,sowhywouldyousignthispetitionwithout doing research?BecauseGoogletoldyouto? Here is another questionto ask yourself:would you be soquicktocallyourcongressmenandsenatorsifGoogleandWikipediahad stayed quiet on the topic?Wouldyouevenknow? This is why it is importanttodoyourownresearchandstayinformedaboutpolitics.Youneedto know yourself what is goingon because guess what—politicsis a year round game and billsthat affect our lives are alwaysbeingintroducedandvotedoninCongress. SonexttimeGoogletellsyouto jump,don’taskhowhigh,askwhy.

The Unbarable TruthTony BaraDeputy Editor in Chief

Use your head, not Google Campus Poll

What do you think about regulation of the Internet?

“Theregulationsarenotnecessary,censorshipshouldn’tbesoheavy.”

“I’mnottotallyagainstit;Icouldseewhywebsitesneedprotection.”

“The internet is and should stayfree,it’sfreespeech.”

Mike Kennedy,junior,accounting

“It’s dangerous andwill lead tomoreextremecensorship.”

Annie Kelly, senior,Englishsecondaryeducation

“Iunderstandtheideabutitwenttoofar.”

Pete Lamb, sophomore,education

Karie Raab, junior,speech-languagepathology

Val Demma, junior,accounting

“They’re trying to takeaway freespeech.Ithinkit’sterrible.”

Victoria Horsely, sophomore,masscomm.

Whatcouldyougetwith$20?Maybefillupthegastank,adecentmeal,ormaybeticketstoamoviewith a date.What could you getwith $100?Maybe a texts book,somenewcloths,ormaybepayabill.What could you get with amillionbucksorevenabillionwithacapital“B”onthecheck? Atonepointoranother,weallhave thoughtabout that fantasticsituation; but the real problemis that there are peoplewho canseriouslyaskit.Therearepeoplewho have enough zeros behindtheir name to make you startcountingyourfingersandtoes. What happens to all thatwhenthatpersoncannotdieandcan throw an unlimited amountofmoneyintothepoliticalsystem?Theybecomeselfproclaimedgodsover,wethelessermortals. I do not speak in forkedtongues or riddles because thisis happening right before thenation’s eyes, and our electedofficials are letting it happen. In2010, the SupremeCourt ruledthat corporations are people andhave theability to giveunlimitedcampaigncontributionsorfundingforadvertisementviaasuperPAC. In a single SupremeCourtrulingsplit5-4infavor,ahundredyears of regulationwas undone.

Thename,PAC,standsforPoliticalActionCommittee, which nowcannowbe“super”underthenewcourt rulings. Previously, a PAChadsimilarlimitationonfinancingand campaign contributions asindividualpeople. Currently, a SuperPAC nolongerhaslimitationsonfundingfor thepurpose of supporting oropposing a runner, yet somehowrealhumansarestilllimited. Thankfully,thecourt’srulingstill prevents a SuperPAC fromdirectly coordinating with thecandidate in question. Neverthe less, the SupremeCourt hasdealt amajor blow to grass rootsmovementsandhaveputastrangleholdonindividualspeechthroughcampaigndonations.Thiscannotbetolerated. I do not understand howthecourtcametotheconclusionthat corporations are people,but apparently they are becausecorporations are made up ofpeople;thusitisjustabighuman. This logic can only makesense if human characteristicsand the qualifications of life arestretchedintoametaphororsimile.The major difference betweencorporations and people thatcannotbedenied is the longevityofthe“organism”inquestion. The average life span ofa human in the United Statesis roughly 76 years, while thereare corporations over 200 yearsold inAmerica. This single fact

shouldnegate thewhole conceptof business being people, not tomention it is only the board ofdirectorsandmajor stock loaderswho decide the actions of thecorporation;whiletheentireworkforcejustkeepsthegearsturning. Corporations are nomorepeople,thanmycarisatransformer. So what happens whenthese corporations with theirsuperPACs dump hundreds ofmillionsofdollarsintocampaigns,andwithoutdisclosingwhere themoneyiscomingfromorevenhowmuch? Thereisaneasy,yetcomplexanswer:theybuyoffelections.Howtheybuyelectionsisamorecomplexissue. Basically the superPAC isa front for the corporations and

lobbinggroupswholikeapoliticianthat ispromoting something thatcouldmakethemmoreprofit. ThesuperPACthrowsmoneyinto advertisement to convincevoterstoelecttheirguy.Thistacticof,“I’llscratchyourbackifyougivemeacomfychair,andthenwecanscrew everyone else” is nothingnew. Andbecause this is nothingnew,thepublichasgrownapathetictowardstheinjusticesheapeduponthemeveryday. Itiswhenthepublicbecomesapatheticanddoesnothingthatthesystembeginstoworkagainsttheverypeoplewhoitissupposedtoprotect. The system is not broken,

Putting a price tag on Freedom Hadrian’s WallGrant VargasViewpoints Editor

but merely clogged; and oneway to clean the systemout is toremove corporate money frompolitics.SenatorBernieSandersofVermontcurrentlyhasaproposedConstitutional Amendment,Saving American Democracy,whichwouldfixthisonceandforall. The Amendment has fourmainclauses:(1)Corporationsarenot persons with constitutionalrights equal to real people, (2)Corporations are subject toregulation by the people, (3)Corporations may not makecampaign contributions or anyelectionexpenditures,(4)Congressandstateshavethepowertoregulatecampaign finances.Over190,000people have signed a petitionin support of this Amendmentalready. Please do not apatheticbecause that iswhat big businessandcorruptpoliticiansarecountingon,butdeepdowntheyareafraid.TheyareafraidofWethePeoplebecausewe are theonewho givethempower.Fighttheirlies,fightfor your rights,most importantlyfightasapeoplesunited. For more information onthe SavingAmericanDemocracyAmendment please visit www.sanders.sentate.gov/petition.

Sources: huffingtonpost.com,davemanuel.com, sanders.senate.gov

“People make up corporations, so corporations are people.”THERAGBLOG.BLOGSPOT.COM


IwaslookingontheInternetthe other day to see theHoneybadgermeetsLadyGagavideoonYouTubethatmyfriendtoldmeabout.After gallivantingaroundthewebabit, I foundthevideolinkandclickedonit. Next thing Iknow, there isaCIAwarningonmycomputertellingme to stop supportingforeign criminals! I was halfexpectingapairofFBIagentstojump in through the bedroomwindow,taserme,thanwakeupin theNevadaDesert…andthenithappened. Hopefullythatwouldneveractually happen, and with thedeath of SOPA last Friday weall can rest more easily. Thetwobills, SOPA andPIPA, thatweredesigned to combat online

copyrightviolationsbyforeignentities faced enormous

backlash from the

Internetcommunityoverthepastweek. Despite having almost thewholebackingofthemulti-billion-dollar entertainment industry,Congressheardtheoutcriesofthepublic and killed the bills. Thereason for this opposition lies intheimplicationsthatthebillwouldhaveontheInternetcommunity. TheU.S. cannot prosecutecopyright violatorsoutsideof thecountry, so thenextbest thing istoattack theirbaseofoperationswithinAmericancyberspace. ThatiswhatSOPAandPIPAplanned to do. Formore detailsonhow thebillswork, turnyourattentiontotheBareBonesFactsarticle.Understandingthebroaderimplications and foreshadowingoffuturelaws,thousandsofmajorwebsitesandmillionsofindividualsopenlyspokeoutagainstCongressletting SOPA and PIPA go anyfurther. What would the Internetlook like had the bills becomelaw?Thiswouldbeaninterestingnotion to entertain, sowhynot.

Let us say that the billspassed, PresidentObama put his

stampofapprovalonthem,andtheSupremeCourtwastoobusytakingcalls from thenewhuman entityformerlyknownascorporations. Now,everyartistandcreatorthathas theirproductspostedalloverthewebhasthetoolstoseekrevenge. The first targets wouldmost likely be YouTube, PirateBay,andevery searchengineandpaymentsystemontheweb. Thereisnomorehidingfromthebigbadwolf;nextwill followall the smaller sites thatmakeallthose belovedmemes.The socialnetworkingsiteswillbeahardfight,buttheywillcaveeventually. Sooner or later, every lastmajorstrongholdforthesharingofinformationwillhavefallenbecausea single illegalpost is enough forthe courts and prosecutors toattack. Ifthewebsiteswishtostayinoperation, itwouldmeancuttingoffallcommunicationtotheworldoutsideofourborder. Thismightseemextreme,butcomplete cyber quarantine fromall other countrieswould be theonlyway to stop foreignpostingsofillegalcontent. When people use wordslike foreign, violation and illegal,otherpeoplenormallyagreeatfirstbecauseforeignthingsviolatingourrightsandcommitting illegalacts

scaresus. B u t o n c e

t h e p r a c t i c a l

implicationsarerealized, itseemsabsurdtohaveusedsuchdiction. SOPA had the power tohuntdownrealcriminals,whoarestealingtensofthousandsofdollarsinsoftwareordata,butatthesametime it hunts down the personputtinguparemixedmusicvideoonline. HereisavisualizationoftheproblemandthesolutionbillslikeSOPAareoffering. The entertainment industryisagiantelephantwhoushavingtroubleeatingbecausethereistheenormousswarmofbugsandbirdseatingtheelephant’sfood,money. Seeing the e lephant indistress, a friendly schizophrenichyena (Congress) decides tohelpoutbycallinginanapalmairstrike(SOPA). The f lames clear away theswarmregardlessofthelossoflife,andtheelephantgetsbacktoeatingandbecomingfatoffthemoneyitthoughtitdeserved. Under the current laws, theelephantisowedthatmoney,butatthesametimewhatabouteveryoneelse. Our society has come toexpectfreesharingofinformationandhavingtheabilitytobuildoffofwhatothersmade. TheInternethasenabledustocommunicatesofarandsorapidlythatitwasunimaginabletenshortyearsago.Inthisgrandexpansion,lawshave trouble keepingup; sowhynotrewritethem? The copyr i gh t code i sthousands of pages long andhasbeenexpandedmanytimesoutof

corporategreed. D i s n e y g o t a n

extensiononowning

acopyrightto75yearsbecausetheywantedtomakemoremoneyoffofMickeyMouse. There is nothing absoluteabout copyright because it is notaninalienableornaturalright,sowhydothefewindustryleadersgettolayclaimtoallcash? Change the law.Thepublicproved ithas thepower todefeatthe industrial complex when itstandsupforitself. Between January 18th and20th, the public killed two billsthatwouldhavebroughtbillionsofdollarsbacktotheindustrybecausetheywantedtoexpressthemselvesthroughothers’works. Thedebateofrightandwrongonthisdecisionwillonlybesettledwith thepassing of time, but fornowandalwayswethepeopleholdthefinalsay.

ByGrantVargas


LastWednesday thereweretensofthousandsofblackoutsoverInternetwebsitesacrossthecountrybecausetheywereallprotestingtheStopOnline PiracyAct and theProtectIPAct. Thesebills,SOPAandPIPA,areaimedatstoppingthetheftorillegaldistributionofcopyrightedproperty over the Internet. Thequestion ofwhy theywere beingprotested can only be answeredonceoneknows thegrittydetailsandinnerworkings,anditisabouttoraincoldhardfacts.Pleasekeepinmindthattheexactdetailsofabillcanchangebecauseitisaworkinprogress,butfornowthisishowthebillreads. Housebill3261,SOPA,wasintroduced byRepublicanTexasRepresentative Lamar Smith onOctober 26th, 2011; thepurposeof the bill is to combat onlinepiracybywebsitesthatarehostedinforeigncountries,whichputsthemoutofAmericanreach. The proposed legislationstarts out by saying, “Nothing

Piracyisnolongercontainedto the seemingly endless expanseof blue seas and the unwashedmenwhosailupon it. Althougheveninthismodernage,thankstoSomalia,“pirate”isstillapparentlyalegitimatecareerfield. ButknowinghowtoavoidtheNavy SEALs is not the onlywaytogetintothepiratebusiness.Infact,chancesaremanyofyouhavealready been involved in acts ofpiracy. It was 1999, only around

in thisAct shall be construed toimpose a prior restraint on freespeech or the press protectedunderthe1stAmendmenttotheConstitution”.Thisclauseisaimedtocalmfearsabouttheimplicationswithin theUnitedStates becausethisbillistargetingforeignentitiesthat arenot protectedunder ourConstitution. ThebasicideabehindSOPAis to give any level of court theauthoritytoissueanorderforU.S.hostedwebsitestocuttieswiththeforeign violator. If theAmericansite does not comply with thecourtorder, then itwill also faceprosecution. To i l lustrate a possiblescenario, say there is a websitefromEnglandpostsamusicvideo,which was originally created byanAmerican artist, and puts itonYouTubeandclaimsitastheirownproperty.This action comesin direct copyright violation andintothecrosshairsofSOPA.TheAmerican artist can seek a courtorder for YouTube to block anyaccess to the offending Britishwebsiteanditscontent.IfYouTube

decides not to complywith thisorder,thenthecourthasthelegalabilitytotakedownYouTubefromtheInternet. ItisclearthatSOPAhasalotofpowerbehind it.Thebill goeson todescribe the immunitiesofthe prosecutor, in the event thedefendantcountersues.Insection104 ofHouse bill 3261, it statesthat, “No liability for damagesto any person shall be grantedagainst,aserviceprovider,paymentnetworkprovider,”thelistgoeson. ThismeansYouTubeor theBritish site from thehypotheticalscenario could not sue theirprosecutorforanymoneylostduetothecourtorder.Thereisanothersubsection that protects anygovernment entity from countersuit,sothereisonlyonewinningendofthefight:theprosecutor. The lawmakersdidnot stopatwritingSOPA.TheSenatewrotetheir own version of thisHouseof Representatives bill. Senatebill968,PIPA,wasintroducedbyDemocratic Senator ofVermontPatrickLeahyinMayof2011.Thisbill focuses on stopping foreign

bus ine s s tha tdoes not intend onprovidingtheproductorisviolating the intellectualpropertyrightsoftheAmericancreator.Themeans bywhichPIPAwill try tostoptheseforeignviolatorsarenearidenticaltothemethodsemployedbySOPA. The Amer i can webs i teor service hosting the foreigninformationwillbeservedacourtordertocutanytiestotheviolator,or be subject to prosecutionthemselves. IfHousebill3261andSenatebill 968 pass on January 24th,yesterday by the time this articleis read, PresidentObamahas toeither put his JohnHancock onthe bills or veto them. There iscurrentlyalotofpressurefromtheentertainmentindustryandvariousotherindustriestopassthesebills,but at the same time there arealmostasnumerousorganizationsandwebsitesfightingthesebills.

To f i ndmore informationonSOPAandPIPApleasevisit www.opencongress.org/bill/112-h3261forSOPAorwww.opencongress.org/bill/112-s968fo r P I PA . Con t a c t y ou rRepresentative and/or Senatorto tell them your viewon thesebills,ifyouhavethetime. These bills will have amonumental impact on theInternet.Letyourvoicebeheardinthisdecisionbecauseitiswiththe people that ultimate powerlies.

Source:www.opencongress.org

ByGrantVargas

thirteen yearsago, that Shawn

Fanning,accordingtomoyak.com, dropped outof college and started up

Napster, amusic file sharingsystemthatpopularizedtheconceptof“filesharing.” Of course, Napster wasbrought to trialby theRecordingIndustryAssociation ofAmerica(RIAA)andwassubsequentlyshutdown, only to later relaunch asanother programusers couldpaytouse,muchlikeiTunes. ButNapsterstartedsomethinghuge.Peoplesawallthatfreemusicand checked theirCD libraries,almost reeling in the knowledgethatwhatoncemayhaveamountedtomonths’worthofpaycouldnowbeaccessed,andowned,forfree. That was a major tippingpointforthegeneralpublic. It was not long before filesharing websites and programslikeGnutellastartedpoppingup.

Their serverswere decentralized,only accessing hosts who wereconnectedtotheinternet,makingitdifficultforanyonetotrackdownany one person illegally sharingfiles,accordingtolife123.com. Thatwasasystemthatmanymorecompaniesadopted,spreadingthefilesharingcrazefasterthanthepeople could illegally downloadtheirmusic. TheRIAAnever quite gaveup,though.Techspot.comclaimsthattheRIAAhavegoneonrecordstatingtheyhavesuedabout18,000individuals who use file sharingtechnology, although in actualitythe numbermay be as high as35,000individuals. But like all technology, filesharing has done nothing butimproveovertime,becomingeasiertoaccomplish,andevenhardertotrack. B i t To r r e n t , a l t h o u g hdevelopedmuch earlier in thismillennium,didnottakeoffuntilafewyearslater. DevelopedbyBramCohen,this new system of file sharingdeviated from the Peer-to-Peerfunctionoffilesharingwhichonlyauser todownloaddirectly fromanotheruser,andinsteadallowedausertodownloadfrommultiplesources, according to netchunks.com. Asfarasthehistorygoes,thisiswherefilesharingstandspresently.The ease and functionality ofBitTorrenthasonlymadeillegallydownloading all sorts of files –

music,movies, programs, games–simplerthanever. The only downside to thisprogramistheusers’susceptibilitytomalwareandvirusescontainedwithinthesharedfiles. That and the occasionallawsuit involving over 23,000individualsforusingBitTorrenttodownloadasinglemovie,accordingtowired.com. Last year inMay, theU.S.CopyrightGroupworked itswaythrough the legal system andwoundupintheprimepositionofforcinginternetserviceproviderstoreleasetheidentityofeverysinglepersonwho illegally downloadedTheExpendables. Wired.com also states thatwell over 100,000 individuals arebeingtargetedforlegalremedyafterillegallydownloadingoff thewallfilmsandallsortsofpornography. Buttheprosecutedaresofewandfarbetweenthatnoonereallyseemstotakethethreatseriously.

Statistics provided bynetchunks.com canproveatleastthatmuch.On any given day,Bi tTorrent lay sclaim to anywhereup to f i f ty - f ivepercentofallglobalinternet traffic, theaptlynamedwebsitethepiratebay.org is the109thmostvisitedwebsiteontheinternet,andanotherBitTorrent website named

isohunt.comhasstatedtohave

almost10,000terabytesofsharedfiles in circulation, just to give atasteofthescopeofinternetpiracy. Itisthis,thetrendofgettingourentertainmentforfreethathasleftcreativeworksnearlyvalueless.Goodluckfindingasinglewebsitethatdoesnotinsomewaystealthecreativeworksofothers.JustthinkofYouTubevideosfeaturingsloppyhaired teens strumming LinkinPark riffs, DeviantArt accountsfilledwith FullMetalAlchemistfanart, or the endless seaof forum posts that listfacts to bolster pooropinions but fail tostate the origin ofthosefacts.Weareallpiratesitseems.Eye patchesareoptional.

ByKaneMcKeown


Van Halen is on a Comeback Train Thisyear,themusicindustryhasdecidedtothrowsomuchatusthatIamnotsureIcantakeitallatonce. BlackSabbathisbacktogetherwithanewalbum.TheWhoisbackwithatour. AC/DCisgoingtoreleaseanew album, andnowVanHalenis doing a tourAND has anewalbum? Stopforasecondandre-readthoselastthreesentences. Black Sabbath, TheWho,AC/DC,andVanHalenallinoneyear? Thathassomuchpotentialtomakethisyearoneofthebestthisdecade,andit’sonly2012! Ofallofthesemusicalpresentswewillbefortunateenoughtogetthisyear,IamlookingforwardtoVanHalenthemostbecausetheyaren’tjustgoingontour. TheyhaveatourANDaCDcomingout,which is better thanjustoneortheother. A Different Kind of TruthwillbeVanHalen’s12thalbum. The cover, much like thecoversfrompastalbums,issimplebutappealing.Itincludesaclassictrainonitscoverinblackandwhitesurroundedbyred. In the upper right-handcorneristheever-friendlyreminderthatthisisthegood-oldbandVanHalen,waybackfromthelate70’s

andearly80’s. It has a total of 13 tracks,including their already popularsingle, “Tattoo”. The lyrics arecatchyandareallabouttattoosandtheirmeanings. I’m sure the band will beplayingthatoneduringtheirtourthisyear. Speakingofthetour,thebandiscurrentlysettohave45stops. Ofthose45stops,twoareintheChicagoland area. The onlyothercitythatgetstwostopsisNewYork. The first Chicago date isFebruary 24th at the UnitedCenter. Then,theVanHalenmachinewillreturntothisgreatcityonApril1stattheAllstateArena. No,thatisnotanAprilFool’sDayjoke;it’sreal. Ticketsarealreadyonsale.IfIwereyou,I’dbuythemnow. Thebandhasalwayshadsomegreattunesandseeingoneofthegreatestguitarplayersofourtimelivewillbeastorytotellthekids. Not only that, but just thenameVanHalenhasthat“arena”ring to it; youknow seeing themlivewouldbeablast. Ourcity is so fortunate thatwegettoseethemtwice;Isuggestyouseethembothtimes. Ifyoucanonlyseethemonce,Iwouldrecommendgoing to theAllstateArena(betteracoustics,notabadseatinthehouse,etc.). Thisnewalbumand tour is

not a complete surprise.Back in2008,EddieVanHalentoldusthathewillbedoingmusicuntilhedies. However, a shock came in2009 when the virtuoso guitarplayerhadtoundergosurgeryonhislefthandforarthritis. Theworldwaslucky,andoneoftheworld’sgreatestguitarplayerscanstillplayasfantasticallyasever. Thebandwasabletogobackintothestudioaroundthistimelastyear. The4-manbandhashad some line-upchangesovertheyears. Guitarist EddieVa n H a l e n a n ddrummer Alex VanHalenhavenever lefttheband. Previous bassistMichaelAnthonyhasbeen out for awhilenowandwasreplacedb y E d d i e ’ s s o n ,Wolfgang WilliamVanHalen. Not only is theidea of a father-sonduo in a band anawesomeone,butit’sEddieVanHalenandhisson! Furthermore,thekid’snameisWolfgangVanHalen;howgreatofanameisthat? And of course,DavidLeeRoth,VanHalen’sgreatestsinger,

will bewith themon this albumandtour. ThebandandRothhavenothadanalbumtogetherin27years. Ifyou’refreethisSpringBreakorhaveaSundaynighttospendonthefirstofApril,goonlineandgetsomeVanHalentickets. After all, I’ve yet to seesomeonewho’s face hasn’t beenmeltedbyEddieVanHalen’sguitarsolo,“Eruption”.

I’veyettoencounterasinglesoulwhodoesnot love the track“Jump”. And I will hopefully nevermeet a personwho tellsme thisbandisbad. VanHalen trulyknowshowto rock an albumand,without adoubt,knowshowtoputononeheck of a show, so go get sometickets and enjoy anight of pureVanHalen,old-style.

Van Halen’s newest album.

Check Off “Just Okay” for the New Caf Istherearestaurantthatyoueatatallthetime? Idon’tmeanonceinawhile.Idon’tmeanonceaweek.Imeaneverydayandalmosteverymeal. Ihavearestaurantlikethat,andifyougotoSt.Xavier,I’msureyouknowexactlywhatI’mtalkingabout:theSXUdiner. Firstof all, Idounderstandthat thediner isnota restaurantinthetechnicalsense. However, itdoes serve food,and itdoesprovideus aplace toeatsaidfood. I’llcallitarestaurantifIwantto. Thisismyarticle,butIdigress. Upon entering the diner, Inotice the new tables that havebeenadded,whichincludessomereallytalltablesandchairs. I like tall tables.Theymakemefeeltall. There a re a l so boothsstrategically spread throughoutthediningarea. By “strategically spread”, Imean they created a gauntlet ofbooths. It’s abit intimidating.Thenagain,“gauntlet”remindsmeofagameIplayedingyminjuniorhigh. It involved people throwingdodgeballsatmeasIranacrossthegym. Idon’tthinkIevermadeittotheotherside.Notonce. Thosewerenothappy timesforme,butonceagain,Idigress. Walkingintotheplacewheretheyservethefood,Iobserveone

thing:sandwiches. There is a new sandwichcounter,anditlookslikeitcouldbegood. Theyservesandwiches,wraps,andnowevenpaninis. You can customorder yourown creation, or you can chooseoneoftheclassicslikebajachickenorevenPB&J. I like that they addedmorechoicestothesandwichmenuevenifitdoesmeanhavingtowaitforfiveminuteswhile the person infrontofyouisgettingtheirpaninigrilled. Due to the redesign of thediner,youcanalsoseeexactlywhattheyareputtingonyoursandwich,acomfortingthought. Idecidenottogetsomethingfrom the sandwich station this

time, and I continue on to theCarvery. There is usually a varietyof foods from many differentethnicities. That day, it was pot roast.Mmm...meatthatsbeenroastedinapot. Iwasn’t feeling in a roastedpot meat kind of mood, so Icontinuedon. Finally, I arrive at the grill.Evenatthatonestation,therearesomanychoices. Chicken strips, quesadillas,cheesesticks,fries,burgers,andsomanymoreoptions. I dec ide to go w i th ahamburger. Simple,right?Sadly,no. HereatSXU,wehaveadoptedthisnewthingcalled“Smashers”,a

“buildyourown”burgerstation. By “build your own”burgerstation,itactuallymeans“filloutapieceofpapersayingwhatyouwantthemtoputonit”burgerstation. Seriously. Youhavetofilloutachecklistof everything you want on itincludingwhattypeofcheese,andadditional toppings like grilledonionsandmushrooms. You even choosehowmanypattiesyouwant.Ifyousodesire,youcangeta“quintburger”. That is five patties on onebun.Thatpoor,poorbun. I decide to go with a lessdangerous option and selecteda single pattywith bacon. I lovebacon. After filling out my littleburgersurvey,Ihandittothemanbehindthecounter. HethenproceededtoaskmewhatIwantonmyburger. Hehadthepaperinhishand.Idon’tunderstandwhyhehadtoaskmeafterheJUSTsawmefilloutmysheet. DoIlooklikeI’mindecisive?No,Idon’t. Wait.MaybeIdo.I’mnotsurenow. All I know is that I wantbacon.Nothingcomesbetweenmeandmybacon. IdecidetogowithSunChips(Garden Salsa of course) insteadof fries in an attempt tomakemyselfthinkthatI’mbeingslightlyhealthier,andIgrababottleofdietcherryPepsi. Ibuymy foodand sitdownatoneofthetalltableswithtwoof

mylovelyroommates,oneofwhomeventookpicturesofmyfoodforme. Overall,mymealwas quiteenjoyable even though I think ittookmelongertoorderthantoeat. It’shardtogowrongwithpre-packagedchipsandbottledpop(orsoda, or “sodie” asmyGrandmacallsit). The burger itself wasn’tmemorable,butitisdinerfood. I wasn’t expecting f i letmingion,ribeye,orporthouse. Iexpectedaburger,andthatisexactlywhatIgot,soI’mhappywithit. There was also the wholebacon thing, which was a plus.Bacon makes everything tastebetter. Luckily, price isn’tmuch ofaconcernformeconsideringthesizeofthemealplanstheygiveusoncampus. IfIwaspayingoutofpocketeverytimeIateatthediner,I’dbereallyskinnyorreallybroke. Although,Idon’tthinkthereis away to get anybroker thanacollegestudent. Iwouldn’teathereeverydayifIdidn’thavethemealplan,andhonestlyIwouldn’teathereeverydayifIdidn’thaveto. But it’s ok.As long as theyhavebacon,Iwon’tcomplaintoomuch. The diner is openMondaythroughFriday7:30a.m.-2:15p.m.and 4:30p.m.-7p.m. as well ason Saturday and Sunday 10a.m.-2:15p.m.and4:30p.m.-6:30p.m.

Mmm...bacon burger.

BY BRIAN MALONEYFEATURES CORRESPONDENT

BY BECKI BROWNFEATURES EDITOR

JENNIFER SZALKO

METALMUSICARCHIVES.COM


The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim isavideogameofwhichevensomeofthemost unabashed assailants ofvideogamecultureareaware. S k y r i m , a c c o r d i n g t oelderscrolls.com, has been therecipient of over two hundredperfectreviewsfromsourcessuchasG4TVandEurogamer,somethingparticularlyatypicalintheworldofvideogames. Although it was releasedNovember 11th of last year, overtwomonths ago, it still remainsinthepopcultureeyeandinthehandsofmillionsofgamers. It’s a game that playerswillstillbetalkingaboutmonthsfromnow, well beyond the averagelife expectancy of video gamepopularity. Skyrim has beenheralded asthemasterpieceofwhatarecalledopenworldgames,gamesthatallowthe player to roam freely anddowhateveritistheychoosetodo. Withtheabilitytotanleather,join a bard’s college, traversemountains, pickpocket civilians,andof course, fight dragons, theoptionsseemendless. But that isnotwhat ismostinterestingaboutSkyrim. No, in fact, this game ishome to a slew ofmany strangeidiosyncrasies that are farmoreentertaining towrite about thanthe graphical engines that powertheexpansivelandscapeorthelevelofdepthpouredintothisfictitiousworld.

Admittedly, this first pointdoes have a lot to do with theaforementioneddepthofthisgame. Everysinglecharacterwithinthe game has a story and,moreoften thannot, a problem to goalongwithit;aproblemthattheydonothavethecapacitytosolveontheirown. Unlessyourspendyourtimetravelingintheseeminglyendlessterrain, never venturing into avillage or even nearing a singleperson,itcanalmostbeguaranteedthatsomeonewillsolicityoutoaidintheirlifewoes. Sometimes, it is interestingand even important, like thetactically important assassinationofapowerfulmercenary. Butmost of the time, therequests are supremelymundane,likedeliveringlettersorparcels. Thatiscorrect,abattle-wearynomad,garbedinironarmoranda

hornedhelmet,wieldingtwohandaxes seems to thecitizenryof thegametobetheidealcurrieroftheirvaluables. Speakingofweapons,armor,items, and poorly constructedsegues,Skyrimhastheuniqueabilitytoencouragehoarding. Howmanyitemsyoucancarryis basedon a seemingly arbitraryweightsystem. Youcharacterstartswiththeabilitytocarryitemsthatadduptoaweightvalueofthreehundred. Thearmoryouequipyourselfwithmay very well add up to aweightvalueofonehundred,butthat leaves a lot of room in yourinfinitepockets. Someitemsyoucancarryareuseful, like potions andmagicalscrolls,forexample. And then there’s prettymuch everything else: butterflies,cabbages,woodenbowls,mammoth

Some Odd Truths About Skyrim

Desktop Art for Skyrim.

tusks , cookedmea t , book s ,human skulls,c a nd l e s t i c k s ,bongo drums,red mountainflowers,inkwells,a nd ro l l s o ffabric, just tonameafew. And onceyour characteris carryingmorethan theweightlimit, you canstore all of youruseless items in

whateverbarrel,crate,deadbody,orchestyouhappenacross. Oh,right.Youcanstoreitemsincadavers.Itisactuallyanissuewiththegamecode. Youcanonlystoreandcollectitemsfromcertainreceptacles,likechests. Butwhenyoukillamonster,animal,sentientplant,human,orsomeunholy combinationof thefour,thegamecodeallowsyoutopilferitsdeadcarcassforwhateveritwascarrying. This alsomeans you havethe ability to store items in thatsaidcarcass,beitatrolltwiceyourheightoramutantratthesizeofasmallchild. So, if you feel like you arecarrying some unneeded leathergauntletsofarchery,orjustwaytoomanycabbages,justcrackopenthatrib cage and stuff everything youhaveinthere. Now tha t you are l e s sencumbered, youmay feel readyto leavewhatever terriblehole inthe ground youwere spelunkingandmakeyourwaytothenearestvillage. Luckily for you, that is nofurtherthanaten-minutewalkinanydirection. If that does not seem thatweird, then consider every tombyou visit and every dilapidatedcastleyouexploreisrifewithgold-filled chests, randommagicallyimbuedarmaments,andallmannerofothertypesofitems. Theseareveryvaluablethingsjust collecting dust one brisk

morningwalk away from literallyanyvillage. But when it comes to theworld of Skyrim and those whoinhabit it, itactuallymakes sensethat no one has ever taken theinitiative to chart thewildernessof their backyard; no one doesanythingwithoutyou. You are the catalyst foreverythingthathappensinSkyrim. For a game in which thedeveloperspaidsuchcloseattentiontodetail,it’soddthattheydidnotaddaworkingtimelinetothegame. If that were the case, justtakingabreaktousethebathroomwouldleavetheworldinchaosinyourabsence,butitwouldcertainlyaddthatfinaltouchofrealismthatitislacking. If, for example, someonewarnsyouofanimpendingdragonattackonadefenselesstownafewmilestothewest,thatdragonwillnotshowupuntilyoudoandnotasecondsooner. Asidefromthemainstorylineof the game, there is a rebelliontakingplaceinwhichneithersidegains absolutely anygrounduntilyouchoosewhotofightwith. Notasinglefacetoftheworldchangeswithoutyourpresence. Thatmeanseverycataclysmicevent that takes placewithin theworldofSkyrim is directly causedbyyourverypresence. Youarechiefantagonist,theworstofallvillains. But that really should havebeenobviousafterstuffingthatratcarcasswithallthosecabbages.

BY KANE MCKEOWNSENIOR FEATURES EDITOR

ELDERSCROLLS.COM

SXU CAMPUS BOOKSTORE3700 West 103rd St. Chicago, IL 60655 (773) 298-3115

Bookstore Bites

Hours: Monday - Thursday 8:30 a.m. - 6:30 p.m. • Friday 8:30 a.m. - 5:00 p.m.Located in the north side of the Saint Xavier University Shannon Athletic Center. Enter from 103rd St. near the SXU electronic marquee.

http://bookstore.sxu.eduWatch for our “Free Books” winner in next weeks Xaverite!

T-SHIRT CONTEST at the CAMPUS BOOKSTOREThe Campus Bookstore is once again sponsoring a T-SHIRT CONTEST!

Imagine having your design put on a custom t-shirt which will be sold in the bookstore!

The winner will be awarded a $50.00 gift card to the Campus Bookstorein addition to a one of a kind sweatshirt featuring their design!

Four runners up will each be awarded a $25.00 gift card to the Campus Bookstore.

Please e-mail your design in .pdf format to [email protected] .Contest rules:

*must be enrolled at SXU for the Spring 2012 semester *drawing must depict something about SXU

*cannot use the official SXU seal or logo*must be in good taste – no nudity or vulgarity

*limit drawing to four colors*must be on 8.5” x 11” sheet of white background paper

Deadlines for submissions is February 8th, 2012


TheNewEnglandPatriotsandtheNewYorkGiantsareheadingto the Super Bowl.Wewill seea rematch of the 2008matchupwhereEliManningledtheGiantstoruinthePatriotsperfectseason. ThistimeTomBradywillbelookingforrevengeinIndianapolis.Bothteamsareenteringthegamewithanarsenalofweaponsthatanyotherteamwouldbejealousof. The Patriots bring in twolethaltightendsintheformofRobGronkowskiandAaronHernandez,along with themost consistentreceiverintheleague,WesWelker.Eli’soffenseshowcasesthetwostarrunningbacksBrandonJacobsandAhmadBradshaw. TheGiant’srecieversalsohavebeen outstanding all year. TheyhaveHakeemNickswhoemergedas a superstar last year,MarioManningham,andthesurpriseoftheyear,VictorCruz. Neither team put up animpressiveshowintheirrespectiveChampionship games to get intotheSuperBowl.Luckwasdefinitelyafactorinbothoftheirwins,but

intheenditwasfateforthesetwoteamstogiveusanothergreatgameandhavearematch. In theAFCChampionship,TomBradythrewtwointerceptionsand didn’t even have a passingtouchdown.TheBaltimoreRavenshad somany chances down thestretch,butbleweveryoneofthem. Everyone wants to jump

Ready for the Superbowl rematch of the century

TheMen’s Volleyball teamhasnotquitegottenthingstoclickso far this season.However, theCougars have been able to keepplaying competitively, despite the0-3start. TheCougars dropped theirsecondmatchoftheyeartono.8rankedCardinalStritchUniversity.TheCougarsplayedaswellastheycould,butultimatelyfellinfivesets. FreshmansetterJimmy Boycedidwellbygetting23setassistsandpostingninedigs.EvanMuysalsohadagoodmatchfortheCougarsbyrackingup17kills. TheCougarscameoutonfireinthefirsttwosetsastheoffenseposted attacking percentages of.304 and .312 respectively. TheCougars set out forOhiowheretheywouldbe takingonLourdes

College. The Cougars lost in fourtough sets to theGrayWolves.However,theCougarshaditroughthroughout the whole game asLourdesCollegehad fourplayersreach double digit kills, and theGrayWolvesendeduppoundingtheCougarswith65teamkillsanda.423attackpercentage. TheCougarsendedupwithadisappointing38totalkillsanditwasAaron PorterandEvan Muyswhocombinedfor23ofthem. TheCougars just have notquite gotten into a consistentrhythm that they can r idethroughouttheseason. Theseasonisstillyoungandthe Cougars have time to turnthingsaroundandgetbacktogoodform.Thereisalotofhopeforthisyoungteamastheseasoncontinueson.

Men’s Volleyball Struggling; start 0-3

The Chicago Bulls havestarted out the season playingunbelievablebasketball.Thisteamispoisedforbigthingsthisseasonafterracingouttoa15-3recordasofSun.Jan.22. TheBullshavethebestrecordin the NBA; the second teambehindthemistheOklahomaCityThunderwitha13-3 record.TheBulls big rival, theMiamiHeat,hasstruggledearlyandhasan11-5record. This Bulls team is a littlebangedupthoughasreigningMVPDerrickRosehasmissedfourofthelast nine gameswith a lingeringturftoeinjurythatcouldhamperhimtheremainderoftheseason.Also,JohnLucas,JoakimNoah,TajGibson,CJWatson andRichard“Rip”Hamilton have allmissedtimethisseason. At 10 or 12 people deep,theBulls have perhaps themostcompleteteamintheNBAandareprimedforthislockoutshortenedseason. TheBullsneedtoplayitsmartand restDerrickRosemorenowbecauseattheendofthedayyouarenotplayingforregularseasonwinsbutplayingforthoseplayoffwinswhenitmattersmost.IfRoseis healthy then, theBullswill beready to go and inmy personalopinion,IfeelthattheywillwintheNBAChampionship this seasonwiththeirdepthandtremendousteam.

Justin Cousin will try his best to get this team out of their funk. SXU ATHLETICS

Greg’s WorldBy Greg PilafasSenior Sports Editor

Bulls Wrap-up

BY BRANDON SWANSONSPORTS CONTRIBUTOR

BY TONY GUSTINSPORTS EDITOR

on kicker BillyCundiff becausehemissed an easy 32 yard fieldgoal to tie the gamewhen timewaswindingdown,buttherewasa play on the same drive wherereceiver Lee Evans dropped asure touchdown catch.TheNFCChampionshipendedinasimilarway. Theconditionswere terrible

on the field in San Francisco.Playerswereslipping,thefieldwasripped apart, perfectweather forfootball. The ChicagoWhite Sox’sKenny Will iam’s son, Kyle,fumbledapuntreturninovertimethatturnedintothegamewinningfield goal. Defense doesn’t winchampionships,it’squarterbacks. Brady outplayed Joe Flacco,and Eli outplayed Alex Smith,that’swhywehavearematch.ThePatriots-Giantsmakesforthemostentertainingmatchup out of thepossiblefourteams. The “Harbaugh Bowl”would’ve been a defensive battlethatwould’ve lulled everyone tosleep.Neitheroftheseteamshasa great passing defense so expectplentyofbigplaysthroughtheair. Brady is seeking his fourthChampionsh ip r ing , whi l eManningislookingforhissecond.Indianapolishasadomestadiumsoneitherteamhastoworryaboutwinterweatherconditions. ThereisaoneweekbreaksothattheNFLcanhostthepointlessProBowl.Meanwhile,bothteamswillbepreparingforthebiggame.

The Giants beat the Patriots in a stunner back in 2007.MSF.COM

WRITERS WANTED!Stop by The Xavierite office in the Campus Media Center to learn more.


OnDec. 17, 2011, the St.XavierUniversityCougarswontheNAIANationalChampionship.ThisNationaltitlewasthefirstintheschool’sfortyoneyearathletichistory. Exactly one month aftertheir national title victory, onJan.17,2012,theNAIANationalChampionswerehonoredwith apeprallyat theShannonCenter,in front of all of their friends,families, fellow students, alumni,SXUfacultyandlocalpoliticians. The Shannon Center waspacked a half hour before theassembly was due to begin, andtheatmospherewaselectric.BobHallberg, theAthleticDirectoratSaintXavierUniversity,welcomed

the football team into the gymwhere theywere greetedwith anovation that shook the ShannonCenter. AftertheplayersenteredtheShannonCenter, theCoachingStaf f for the Cougars wereintroducedonebyone,andthenthe captains were introduced astheycarried in the three trophiesthe Cougars received into theShannonCenter. Onceeveryonewassettledinandthethreetrophieswereplacedontheirtablethespeechesbegan. The speeches came frommanydifferentpeople, fromstatepoliticians,tonationalpoliticians,and from coaches to players.ChristineWiseman,thePresidentof Saint XavierUniversity, hadoneofthebiggestspeechesoftheafternoon. At the end of President

Wiseman’sspeechshereadaletterthat congratulated the footballteam on their accomplishmentsthisseasonandwhenshereachedtheendofthelettersheannouncedthat itwas signed,United StatesPresident,BarrackObama. A n o t h e r s p e e ch t h a thighlightedthepeprallywasthatofSteveMurphy,thefounderofthefootballteamhereatSaintXavierUniversity. WithoutthismantheCougarfootball programmay not haveever gotten to this level. In hisspeech, Murphy discussed thebeginningsoftheschool’sfootballprogramandhowithasgrownintoanationalchampionshipprogram. Anotherhighlightofthepeprallywas the speech givenby theheadcoachof theCougars,Mike

Feminis. CoachFeminishasbeentheheadcoachoftheCougarfootballteamforthelastthirteenseasons. D u r i n g t h e C o u g a r sChampionshiprun,CoachFeminisoncestatedthatthisteamhasdoneeverything they can at the smallcollege level expected to competeforandwinanationaltitle. WhenCoach Feminis tookthepodiumatthepeprallyhewasnotonlyaNationalChampionbuthewasalsonamedNAIACoachoftheYearbytheAmericanFootballCoachesAssociation. During his speech, CoachFeministhankedeveryoneinvolvedwith the football program andwiththeschool,hisfamily,andhiscoachesandplayers.Attheendofhis speech,Coach FeminiswentontostatethattheCougarswould

bebackatthesametimenextyearcelebrating anothernational titlevictory. To end the pep rally, theCougar band played the fightsong,asalltheplayersandcoachesgatheredatcentercourttodothefamiliar “Cougar Sway” that theteamdoesbeforetheytakethefieldforeverygame. Afterthepeprallyconcluded,everyone in attendance had achancetotakepictureswithallofthechampionshiptrophiesandtalktoplayersandcoaches. Thepeprallycommemoratingt h e 2 011 NAIA Na t i on a lChampionship Saint XavierCougars not only topped off achampionshipseason,butalsowasthestartofbigthingstocomefromthisCougar football team in theyear2012.

Athlete Spotlight: Morgan Stuut

Fans Pay Tribute to the NAIA National Champions

Q: What is your major?

A:IamanursingmajorandasurgicalnursewouldbeidealbecauseIhavealwayswantedtobeinsurgery,butIdonotknowifIwouldwanttobeasurgeon.Iwouldwanttobeasurgicalnurseorsomethingalongthoselines.

Q: What motivates you?

A:Food!Ihatetosayit,butitdoes.Ijustlovethethrillofthegamereally,justtogetthatrushofdoingwellandplayingwellwiththeteam.IdonotknowIjustlikethatfeelingsothatiswhatmotivatesme.Q: Who is an idol for you?

A:MysisterHolly.Sheistwoyearsolderthanmeandshehasalwaysbeenmyrolemodel.SheplayedallthesportsthatIplayedandIprettymuchjustwantedtobelikeherwhenIwaslittle,andIhavegrownupfollowingwhatshedoes.

Q: Who is your favorite NBA player?

A:IwouldhavetosayKobeBryantjustbecauseIthoughthisnamewasColbylikethecheeseandsothatiswhyheismyfavoriteplayer,Iamnoteven

kidding.Q: What changes in your mindset when you walk on to a basketball court?

A:MydadhasalwaystoldmetobelikeDoctorJekyllandMr.Hyde.BeDoctorJekylloffthecourtandthenturnintoMr.Hydeonthecourt.ActuallyCoachHallberghasusedthatcomparisonorreferenceearlierintheseasonandIwaslike,heymydadhasalwaystoldmethat.SoIjustbewhoIamoffthecourtandthenonthecourtIjustletalittlebitofmysteamoffIguess.

Q: What is one aspect of your game that you want to work on the most?

A:IwouldsaymyoffensivegamebecauseIneedtoworkonmyoffensivementality.Iwouldrathergetareboundoverdrivingtothelaneandtrytocreatesomething.IwillifIhavetoorifCoachcallsaplayforme,Iwill.Ifeeltobefairtomyteammates,IhavetohelpcontributeandIneedtohavethatmentalitytocontribute.

Q: What was the experience like to play at DePaul even though you guys lost big?

A:Verycool;adifferentexperienceandadifferentatmosphere.ThatwasmyfirstcollegebasketballgameandIwas

atDePaul.Iwasinbetweenthesetwogirlswhowereawholeheadtallerthanme.ItwasreallycoolandIwouldlovetodoitagain.

Q: What made you come to Saint Xavier?

A:FirstofallitwasCoachHallbergandtheteam,butitreallyhelpedthattheyhadagreatnursingprogram.ThecoachingstaffwassofriendlyandIkindofwantedtogetoutofMichigan,butIdidnotwanttogotoofaraway,sothiswasideal.

Q: What attracted you to the game of basketball?

A:Iwouldhavetosaytheteamaspectofit,becauseIhadthechoiceofrunningincollegeorplayingbasketball.Whatendedupbeingthefinalfactorwastheteamandhowcoolitisthatyoucangetfivegirlsonthecourtatonceandmeshingsowell.Ithinkthatiswhatreallysolditforme.IjustloveitsomuchandIdonotevenknowwhyIloveitsomuch,butIdo.

Q: What is your favorite thing to do outside of playing basketball?

A:ReadHarryPotter,notevenlying.Ihavereadthatserieslikeseventimes.Thatisnotevenanexaggerationeither.IjustprefereverythingHarryPotter.

GENEVIEVE BONADONNA/THE XAVIERITE

The football team walks out and greets fans at last Tuesday’s pep rally.

GENEVIEVE BONADONNA/THE XAVIERITE

Captains Patrick Appino and Michael Prosser speak at the pep rally.

BY GREG PILAFASSENIOR SPORTS EDITOR

BY ALAN PAAPESPORTS CORRESPONDENT

Q: Who is one player on the team that you look up to most for help?

A:IwoulddefinitelysayBrittanyJones.Sheisafantasticrolemodelandalwayshasthebestadviceandsheisverycaring.Itisnotjustaboutbasketball;itisaboutschooloranythingoutsideofthateven.Youcantalktoheraboutanythingandsheisthereforyou.Evenifsheisdoingsomethingelse,shewillstillhelpyouout.SheisagreatplayertooandasmartplayeranddefinitelyoneofthoseplayersthatIwouldliketomodelmyselfafter.

Q: What age did you start playing basketball?

A:WedohaveapictureofmetouchingmyfirstbasketballwhenIwasalittlechildandIcouldnotevenwalk.IgotintoitwhenIwasinfourthgrade,Isawthatmysisterhadplayedanditwascalledjuniorpro.IwantedtobelikeherandplayandIplayedinfourth

gradeandthatiswhatgotme

intobasketball. To read the full interviewwithMorgan Stuut, please visitwww.thexavierite.com. Also, besuretocheckoutpreviousathletespotlightsandothersportsarticles.

Youcanfindthoseunderthesportssectionofthewebsite.


SPORTS

The SXUCougars traveledall the way to Cardinal StritchUniversitylastThursdaynightandtheydidnotexpect tobebehindwhenthefinalbuzzerwentoffattheendofthegame. The Cougars fell 64-59 toCardinal Stritch and they turnedtheballover21timesinthegame. They also had 21 foulsthroughout the game and twooftheirkeyplayers fouledout.Oneof the bright spots in the gamewasfreshmanSuzie Broski,asshescored 20 points and collectedsevenrebounds. Morgan Stuut had a bit ofan off game, scoring just eightpoints and pulling down onlysevenrebounds.“Wedidn’tplaytoourfullpotential,”saidfreshmanguard/forwardMorganStuut. It was an off night for theCougars as they seemed to beoutplayed by theWolves, and asthestatsshowout-rebounded.TheWolveshad46reboundscomparedtoSXU’s32. TheCougars shot only 28percentfromthefieldinthesecondhalf.Theymadejustsevenoftheir25shots. TheCougarswerelookingtogetthingsbackontrackandrollingagain against PurdueUniversityCalumet.Thatisexactlywhattheydid. MorganStuuthad a doubledoublebyhalftimeandeverythingwas rolling for the Cougars.FreshmanguardMaloree Johnson

gotthestartandshedazzledunderthespotlight. “Iwasa littlenervous,butIwasconfidentgoingintothegamethatIwouldperformtothebestofmy ability. I knewmy teammateswouldbackmeup,”saidJohnson.Itwas a very steady game for theSXUCougarsandtheyplayedlikeateamonamission. They shot 57 percent fromthefloorinthefirsthalfandtheyheld thePeregrines to a shootingpercentageofjustunder27percent.ThePeregrinesalsohelpedouttheCougars as theywere 0-14 frombeyondthearc. ThebiggestblockofthegamecamewhenBrittany Jonesgotheroneandonlyblockofthegame.Theblock for Joneswasher141stblock, putting her in first placewith blocks surpassing Erin Hannemann.TheaccomplishmentissomethingveryspecialforJonesandbig congratulations goes outtoher. Marissa Young was chasing1000pointsintheballgameagainstPurdueUniversityCalumet. Shecame up just one point shy ofaccomplishingthefeat,butshewilldefinitely get it in the upcominggame against Olivet NazareneUniversity. When asked about getting1000pointsYounghadthistosay,“Yea itwould have beennice toget 1000 tonight but it’s nothingcomparedtogettingabigwin,wereallyneededtobounceback.” ThenextgamefortheCougarswillbe against#14 rankedOlivet

NazareneUniversity.TheCougarswillnothaveaneasytimetryingtodefeattheTigers. TheCougars got a bit of ashockwhen they fell toCardinalStritchUniversity,butBroskisaid,“We tookCardinal Stritch as awakeupcall.Wereallyneedtobeabletocometogetherandplaywellasateam.” TheCougarshaveabiggamecoming up andCoachHallbergknows it. He said during thepostgame show that it does notmatter that they beat PurdueUniversityCalumet,becauseOlivetNazareneUniversityisateamthatitdoesnotmatterifyouwinabiggame before or lose a big gamebefore. Momentumdoesnot play abig factorwhen youhave to playtheTigers. ItisgoingtobeamentalgamefortheCougarsandtheyhavetobepreparedtobeabletorunwiththeTigers. ThiswillnotbeaneasygamefortheSaintXavierCougars,butthey areup to the task.They areaverytalentedteamandtheyarelookingtoshowthattheyarethebestintheconference. AwinagainsttheTigerswouldgivetheCougarsabigmomentumboostandgivethemtheconfidencetheyneedtofinishouttheseasononahighnote. ThenextgamefortheCougarswillbeatIndiana-UniversitySouthBend.ThenexthomegamefortheCougarswillbeSaturdayJan.31at7pmagainsttheUniversityofSaint

Cardinal Stritch Overpowers Cougars; Cougars Dominate Calumet

Francis(Ill.).IfyoucannotmakeitouttothegamebesuretotuneintoWXAVorwxav.com. TheCougarswillbelookingforthehomecrowdtobackthemupastheygoupagainstoneoftheir

biggestrivalsinSaintFrancis.TheCougars have played tremendousbasketball this season and theywill be looking for that homesupport when they play SaintFrancisUniversity.

Jones Breaks Record; Cougars Bounce Back

Men’s basketball improves; Karp eclipses milestone

Sophomore guard Brad Karp did something that is anextremelyrarefeatespeciallyinonlyhis second season at SXU.Karpeclipsed the1,000pointmark inhiscareerinalittleoveraseasonandahalf. “It really is a pretty coolaccomplishmentandallthecreditgoestomyteammatesandcoacheswhoarealwayssettingmeupandputtingmeinagoodplace,”saidBradKarp. “It’s quite a tremendousaccomplishmentforhimtoachieve.Wehaveseen1,000pointscorersbefore, but I do not think wehave ever had someone score1,000 points so quickly,” saidmen’s basketball head CoachTomO’MalleyaboutBradKarp’s

accomplishment. Karp had 22 points in thecontestagainstPurdueUniversityCalumet on Saturday, Jan. 21 atthe ShannonCenter in front ofhishomecrowd.Karpneeded21pointscomingintothegameandfinishedthegamewith22pointsand1,001points inhis career sofarforSXU. TheCougarsdefeatedashort-handedPurdueUniversityCalumetPeregrinesteamthatonlydressedsixplayers on a tenplayer roster,104-66.TheCougarswore downthe Peregrineswith their stiflingdefense aswell as there fantasticoffense. JuniorpointguardRoosevelt Green cameoutofthegatefiringonallcylindersdrainingfourthreepointersinarowtostartofftheballgame.Hewasknockingthemdownfromwell beyond the arc in thisgame;Greenfinishedwithateam-leading32pointsin32minutesofplay. Green also had six stealsand went a whopping 6-8 fromthe three point arc. NewcomerDominique Harvey,a6-4forwardfromChicago, IL, had10pointsandgrabbeddowneightreboundsin24minutesofplay.

Jack Krieger had 13 pointsandsevenreboundsinthiscontestandhehas played extremelywelloffthebenchfortheCougars.Themen’sbasketballteamwaswithoutAnthony Grant inthisgamewhosat out with a wrist injury, andwithouthim,Kriegerreallysteppedupandplayedgreat. AfterthiswinfortheCougarstheyimprovedto15-5intheseasonandwere ranked number 21 intheNAIAstandings.TheCougarswill look to keepmoving up thestandings as they moved fromnumber25uptonumber21. BackonJan.19,theCougarsfelltoCardinalStritchUniversityontheroad;theCougarslost79-69inthisgame.TheCougars’biggestdiscrepancy in this gamewas thefree throw game; the Cougarsshot 5-12 from the line,whereasCardinalStritchshot21-35. Cardinal Stritch improvedto 17-5 on the season after thisgameandtheywereledbyDerekSemenaswhowent 5-5 from thethreepointlineandfinishedwith23points.CardinalStritchshotastaggering 72.7% from the threepointarcaswell. Karpwas the leading pointscorer for theCougars with 24

pointsinthegame;healsoaddedfour rebounds and three steals.SeniorEd Gilgenbach scored 16pointsin30minutesofactionandwas thesecond leadingscorer fortheCougars. Thiswas theCougars’ fifthlossthisseasonandtheteamisnow4-5ontheroad.TheCougarsareanundefeated11-0attheShannonCenter,butareunder.500ontheroad. TheCougarswillgoupagainst

IndianaUniversity-SouthBendonJan.28overinIndianaat1:00p.m.TheCougars’nexthomegamewillbe on Feb. 1 against rival SaintFrancis(IL)at7p.m. If you cannot come out towatch theCougars take on theirrival Saint Francis, make sureto listen live to 88.3 fmWXAVor wxav.com. TheCougars willbe looking for the home crowdsupportastheywillbelookingtocontinuetheirundefeatedstreak.

Roosevelt Green lit up the scoreboard over the weekend.

Senior Brittany Jones broke the block record over the weekend.

BY BRANDON SWANSONSPORTS CONTRIBUTOR

BY GREG PILAFASSENIOR SPORTS EDITOR

Brad Karp continues to thrive.

SXU ATHLETICS

SXU ATHLETICS

SXU ATHLETICS

january 25th, 2012

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