Justin Ward puts on his detective hat and investigates last week’s thefts of Student Life. Turn to Forum to see who he views as the “prime suspects.” Scene reporter Kristin McGrath goes inside Thursday night’s Take Back The Night march. No allotment of additional funds to the Pell Grant program in their proposed 2006 budget A newly passed budget will provide an increased $1.5 billion to the Pell Grant program, increasing the limit for individual grants by $450 over fi ve years
S TUDENT L IFE THE INDEPENDENT NEWSPAPER OF WASHINGTON UNIVERSITY IN ST. LOUIS SINCE 1878 S TUDENT L IFE One Brookings Drive #1039 #42 Women’s Building St. Louis, MO 63130 Newsroom: (314) 935-5995 Advertising: (314) 935-6713 Fax: (314) 935-5938 Editor: [email protected]News: [email protected]Calendar: [email protected]Please Recycle MONDAY MAR. 28, 2005 Vol. 126, No. 64 Warm 67° / 50° www.studlife.com PAGE 4 Scene reporter Kristin McGrath goes inside Thursday night’s Take Back The Night march. PAGE 10 News Forum Sports Scene INDEX 1-3 4-5 6 7-10 INSIDE INSIDE WEATHER FORECAST Tuesday High: 75º | Low: 53º Partly cloudy Wednesday High: 72º | Low: 50º Chance of rain Thursday High: 62º | Low: 44º Thunderstorms Justin Ward puts on his detective hat and investigates last week’s thefts of Student Life. Turn to Forum to see who he views as the “prime suspects.” $250 •REWARD• Student Life is offering a $250 reward for informa- tion leading to the identification of the individual(s) respon- sible for the theft of last Wednesday’s newspaper from bins around the Hilltop campus. Please e-mail all information to [email protected]or call (314) 935-6713. Names of tipsters will remain confidential. n Perkins Loans remain on bench By Laura Geggel Staff Reporter Pell Grants received a monetary boost last Thursday when the U.S. Senate passed the budget plan for the 2006 fiscal year. In their budget proposal, the maximum Pell Grant loan would be increased by $450 to $4,500 and several federal student-aid programs that the Bush administration nominated to cut would be saved. “I think there is an emphasis [this year] on making college more accessible for the very neediest of students,” said Bill Wit- brodt, director of Student Financial Ser- vices at Washington University. Currently, 493 students at the University are receiving Pell Grants. Pell Grants, a form of federal aid for low- income students, are generally awarded to undergraduate students who have not yet obtained a bachelor’s or professional degree. In January, Bush proposed to raise the maximum Pell Grant one hundred dol- lars each year for the next five years to a total of $4,550. However, six moderate Republicans and all 45 Democratic sena- tors voted to support an amendment for an increased $1.5 billion in Pell Grants sponsored by Senator Robert Kennedy (D- Mass). Kennedy’s amendment—which also sports a policy of forgiving up to $4,000 in student-loan debt for Pell Grant recipients who graduate within four years—would be financed by closing certain tax loopholes. By Emily Tobias Senior Photography Editor Joking, gossiping about other cast mem- bers and reflecting about life on television were just a few of the themes of last Friday’s Q&A with four members of the cast of “The Real World” and “Road Rules,” who were brought to campus by the Campus Program- ming Council (CPC). Approximately 200 students were in atten- dance at the Gargoyle to gain some inside information from four participants in “Real World” and “Road Rules” television shows. Cast members included Abram from “Road Rules South Pacific,” Rachel from “Road Rules Cam- pus Crawl,” Cameran from “Real World San Diego,” and MJ from the most recent “Real World,” held in Phila- delphia. Sophomore Shilpa Rupani, the large events co-chair for CPC, was the force behind bringing the cast members to campus. She said that she brought the idea to one of the first meetings of the year and has been working on it since. The official Q&A session began with the cast members talking candidly about Friday’s issue of Student Life. “Real quick, you’re wearing a sorority shirt [pointing to a girl in a Pi Phi sweatshirt]—it wasn’t you? It wasn’t you? You all know what I’m talking about!” said Abram, referring to the Alpha Phi story. “Yeah, we saw the cover of your paper and it’s like someone defecated [laughter] and then some sorority girl’s like…” said Cameran. “They passed out in front of a bunch of…” said MJ, finishing Cameran’s sentence, while Abram finished MJ’s sentence. “Girl Scouts! Girl Scouts, peo- ple,” interrupted Abram. MJ went on to ask the audience if the person who defecated was in the audience. “Is the person who did the defecation here? If you are here I want you on stage,” said MJ. After that, Rupani facilitated conversation and moderated the discussion by asking questions to the cast members. The first question dealt with how the par- ticipants are cast as types. “I definitely think that MTV does stereotype a bit when cast- ing. I was the naïve girl,” com- mented Cameran. “They’re looking for slots to fill,” said Abram. Rachel went on to offer some insight on the audition process. “Another thing I will say, for those of you who have tried out—if you have or you want to, try again, because it is true that every season they do match peo- ple up with a certain dynamic,” commented Rachel. Following questions ranged from hookups on the show, the friendships and the idea of being on television in general. MJ of- fered an interesting view on this subject. “If you do something on film, you did it,” MJ told the crowd. “You know there is one thing in life that’s not going lie and that’s the video camera. So if you hit somebody or you say something to somebody else, you said it. Now they [the MTV producers] can make it look a lot worse than it was or they can make it look not quite as bad and they can kind of splice it together, but you have to be honest with yourself when you’re on the show the entire time, and I learned that.” After the show, the members of the audience had a chance to take pictures and get autographs from the cast members. “It was cool to hear about them behind the scenes, [the] hap- penings on ‘The Real World’ and ‘Road Rules,’” said sophomore Margot Dankner. Rupani was also pleased with the event. “I was very happy, first off all the seats were filled, and people who were fans of the show came to the event. People were respect- ful, people enjoyed themselves. It was a positive event overall,” said Rupani. Rupani continued by talking about what it was like to be on stage with the cast members. “I felt really comfortable [on stage]. I feel comfortable doing that kind of thing to begin with. I think the questions were more intelligent than what could have been asked. They had some depth to them. People thought about it,” said Rupani. The cast members were each paid $1,500 dollars (negotiated on a case-by-case basis), includ- ing airfare and hotel. Their con- tract also required a meal after the event. Before the show began, Stu- dent Life had a chance to talk to the cast members in the green room. MTV’s ‘Real World’ and ‘Road Rules’ cast visits Wash U By Caroline Wekselbaum Contributing Reporter Secretary of Commerce Carlos Guti- errez delivered a speech to a group of students and business leaders in Simon Hall last Thursday, in which he advocat- ed for President George W. Bush’s Social Security proposal. “What the president is doing is lead- ing us to confront the reality of a Social Security system that is fundamentally unsound over the long haul,” Gutierrez said during his speech. “Social security as we know it today will not be there for our children or our grandchildren. In its present form, it is headed for its solvency and we cannot let that happen…” Gutierrez spoke about why the cur- rent system is inadequate and the Bush administration’s controversial proposal to replace the current Social Security system with personal retirement ac- counts. “Some people mistakenly think that [current] Social Security taxes are actually saved in a special account,” Gutierrez stated. “You’ve heard people refer to a Social Security trust fund, which gives the impression that there is a fund of money being accumulated with Social Security taxes. And there is no fund. There are some IOUs sitting in a file in Washington. The money has been spent.” According to Gutierrez, Social Se- curity will start paying more money to retirees than it receives by the year 2017. In 2027, the system will be losing $200 billion a year, and in 2041 the system will be “insolvent.” Many Democrats believe that a sys- tem based on private accounts will completely overhaul the current system and leave future generations saddled with debt. Rep. Sandy Levin, the senior Demo- crat on the House Ways and Means Social Security subcommittee, addressed many of these concerns in the Democratic Par- ty’s weekly radio address on Saturday. He noted that President Bush’s proposal stands in the way of more bipartisan ef- forts. Under the current system, once work- ers reach retirement age they receive Social Security benefits. The program also offers early retirement, disability and survivorship benefits. The new plan proposes a voluntary system in which persons would divert part of the money they now pay into Social Security to these personal retire- ment accounts. “Younger workers put some of their payroll taxes into voluntary personal retirement accounts,” Gutierrez ex- plained. “The idea is to give workers a choice to open a personal account that becomes their own. The money can’t be touched unless they decide to do some- thing down the road.” In response to a question of how the new system would accommodate those low-wage workers without the capital to invest, Gutierrez responded forcefully. “The capital comes from Social Secu- rity taxes [workers already pay]… I find that argument if not a little bit insulting to be at least very paternalistic. This idea that there are Americans who can- not be trusted with their own money: I think it’s wrong, I think it goes against our values, I think it goes against our beliefs, I think it goes against individual accountability,” he said. In his remarks to Student Life, Gutier Senior member of Bush Cabinet on campus WGE faces off against JKL in Ultimate Frisbee at the ResCollege Olympics on Saturday. Lee/Beaumont won the Olympics for the second year in a row. DAVID BRODY | STUDENT LIFE ResCollege Olympics Senate approves Pell Grant resolution See Page 7 for the interview MTV’s “Real World” and “Road Rules” cast members (from right) MJ, Rachel and Cameran speak to students at the Gargoyle on Friday. EMILY TOBIAS | STUDENT LIFE See GUTIERREZ, page 3 See PELL GRANTS, page 3 PRESIDENT BUSH Previous budget would cut funding for Pell Grants SENATORS A newly passed budget will provide an increased $1.5 billion to the Pell Grant program, increasing the limit for individual grants by $450 over five years THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES No allotment of additional funds to the Pell Grant program in their proposed 2006 budget Pell Grant Proposals in 2006 Budgets
Transcript
STUDENT LIFET H E I N D E P E N D E N T N E W S PA P E R O F WA S H I N G T O N U N I V E R S I T Y I N S T. L O U I S S I N C E 1 8 7 8
STUDENT LIFEOne Brookings Drive #1039#42 Women’s BuildingSt. Louis, MO 63130
Student Life is offering a $250 reward for informa-tion leading to the identifi cation of the individual(s) respon-sible for the theft of last Wednesday’s newspaper from bins around the Hilltop campus. Please e-mail all information to [email protected] or call (314) 935-6713. Names of tipsters will remain confi dential.
n Perkins Loans remain on
bench
By Laura GeggelStaff Reporter
Pell Grants received a monetary boost last Thursday when the U.S. Senate passed the budget plan for the 2006 fi scal year. In their budget proposal, the maximum Pell Grant loan would be increased by $450 to $4,500 and several federal student-aid programs that the Bush administration nominated to cut would be saved.
“I think there is an emphasis [this year] on making college more accessible for the very neediest of students,” said Bill Wit-brodt, director of Student Financial Ser-vices at Washington University. Currently,
493 students at the University are receiving Pell Grants.
Pell Grants, a form of federal aid for low-income students, are generally awarded to undergraduate students who have not yet obtained a bachelor’s or professional degree. In January, Bush proposed to raise the maximum Pell Grant one hundred dol-lars each year for the next fi ve years to a total of $4,550. However, six moderate Republicans and all 45 Democratic sena-tors voted to support an amendment for an increased $1.5 billion in Pell Grants sponsored by Senator Robert Kennedy (D-Mass). Kennedy’s amendment—which also sports a policy of forgiving up to $4,000 in student-loan debt for Pell Grant recipients who graduate within four years—would be fi nanced by closing certain tax loopholes.
By Emily TobiasSenior Photography Editor
Joking, gossiping about other cast mem-bers and refl ecting about life on television were just a few of the themes of last Friday’s Q&A with four members of the cast of “The Real World” and “Road Rules,” who were brought to campus by the Campus Program-ming Council (CPC).
Approximately 200 students were in atten-dance at the Gargoyle to gain some inside information from four participants in “Real World” and “Road Rules” television shows. Cast members included Abram from “Road Rules South Pacifi c,” Rachel from “Road Rules Cam-pus Crawl,” Cameran from “Real World San Diego,” and MJ from the most recent “Real World,” held in Phila-delphia.
Sophomore Shilpa Rupani, the large events co-chair for CPC, was the force behind bringing the cast members to campus. She said that she brought the idea to one of the fi rst meetings of the year and has been working on it since.
The offi cial Q&A session began with the cast members talking candidly about Friday’s issue of Student Life.
“Real quick, you’re wearing a sorority shirt [pointing to a girl in a Pi Phi sweatshirt]—it wasn’t you? It wasn’t you? You all know what I’m talking about!” said Abram, referring to the Alpha Phi story.
“Yeah, we saw the cover of your paper and it’s like someone defecated [laughter] and then some sorority girl’s like…” said Cameran.
“They passed out in front of a bunch of…” said MJ, fi nishing Cameran’s sentence, while Abram fi nished MJ’s sentence.
MJ went on to ask the audience if the person who defecated was in the audience.
“Is the person who did the defecation here? If you are here I want you on stage,” said MJ.
After that, Rupani facilitated conversation and moderated the discussion by asking questions to the cast members. The fi rst question dealt with how the par-ticipants are cast as types.
“I defi nitely think that MTV does stereotype a bit when cast-ing. I was the naïve girl,” com-mented Cameran.
“They’re looking for slots to fi ll,” said Abram.
Rachel went on to offer some insight on the audition process.
“Another thing I will say, for those of you who have tried out—if you have or you want to, try again, because it is true that every season they do match peo-ple up with a certain dynamic,” commented Rachel.
Following questions ranged
from hookups on the show, the friendships and the idea of being on television in general. MJ of-fered an interesting view on this subject.
“If you do something on fi lm, you did it,” MJ told the crowd. “You know there is one thing in life that’s not going lie and that’s the video camera. So if you hit somebody or you say something to somebody else, you said it. Now they [the MTV producers] can make it look a lot worse than it was or they can make it look not quite as bad and they can kind of splice it together, but you have to be honest with yourself when you’re on the show the entire time, and I learned that.”
After the show, the members of the audience had a chance to take pictures and get autographs from the cast members.
“It was cool to hear about them behind the scenes, [the] hap-penings on ‘The Real World’ and ‘Road Rules,’” said sophomore Margot Dankner.
Rupani was also pleased with the event.
“I was very happy, fi rst off all the seats were fi lled, and people who were fans of the show came to the event. People were respect-ful, people enjoyed themselves. It was a positive event overall,” said Rupani.
Rupani continued by talking about what it was like to be on stage with the cast members.
“I felt really comfortable [on stage]. I feel comfortable doing that kind of thing to begin with. I think the questions were more intelligent than what could have been asked. They had some depth to them. People thought about it,” said Rupani.
The cast members were each paid $1,500 dollars (negotiated on a case-by-case basis), includ-ing airfare and hotel. Their con-tract also required a meal after the event.
Before the show began, Stu-dent Life had a chance to talk to the cast members in the green room.
MTV’s ‘Real World’ and ‘Road Rules’ cast visits Wash U
By Caroline WekselbaumContributing Reporter
Secretary of Commerce Carlos Guti-errez delivered a speech to a group of students and business leaders in Simon Hall last Thursday, in which he advocat-ed for President George W. Bush’s Social Security proposal.
“What the president is doing is lead-ing us to confront the reality of a Social Security system that is fundamentally unsound over the long haul,” Gutierrez said during his speech. “Social security as we know it today will not be there for our children or our grandchildren. In its present form, it is headed for its solvency and we cannot let that happen…”
Gutierrez spoke about why the cur-rent system is inadequate and the Bush administration’s controversial proposal to replace the current Social Security system with personal retirement ac-counts.
“Some people mistakenly think that [current] Social Security taxes are actually saved in a special account,” Gutierrez stated. “You’ve heard people refer to a Social Security trust fund, which gives the impression that there is a fund of money being accumulated with Social Security taxes. And there is no fund. There are some IOUs sitting in a fi le in Washington. The money has been spent.”
According to Gutierrez, Social Se-curity will start paying more money to retirees than it receives by the year 2017. In 2027, the system will be losing $200 billion a year, and in 2041 the system will be “insolvent.”
Many Democrats believe that a sys-tem based on private accounts will completely overhaul the current system
and leave future generations saddled with debt.
Rep. Sandy Levin, the senior Demo-crat on the House Ways and Means Social Security subcommittee, addressed many of these concerns in the Democratic Par-ty’s weekly radio address on Saturday. He noted that President Bush’s proposal stands in the way of more bipartisan ef-forts.
Under the current system, once work-ers reach retirement age they receive Social Security benefi ts. The program also offers early retirement, disability and survivorship benefi ts.
The new plan proposes a voluntary system in which persons would divert part of the money they now pay into Social Security to these personal retire-ment accounts.
“Younger workers put some of their payroll taxes into voluntary personal retirement accounts,” Gutierrez ex-plained. “The idea is to give workers a choice to open a personal account that becomes their own. The money can’t be touched unless they decide to do some-thing down the road.”
In response to a question of how the new system would accommodate those low-wage workers without the capital to invest, Gutierrez responded forcefully.
“The capital comes from Social Secu-rity taxes [workers already pay]… I fi nd that argument if not a little bit insulting to be at least very paternalistic. This idea that there are Americans who can-not be trusted with their own money: I think it’s wrong, I think it goes against our values, I think it goes against our beliefs, I think it goes against individual accountability,” he said.
In his remarks to Student Life, Gutier
Senior member of Bush Cabinet on campus
WGE faces off against JKL in Ultimate Frisbee at the ResCollege Olympics on Saturday. Lee/Beaumont won the Olympics for the second year in a row.
DAVID BRODY | STUDENT LIFE
ResCollege Olympics
Senate approves Pell Grant resolution
See Page 7 for the interview
MTV’s “Real World” and “Road Rules” cast members (from right) MJ, Rachel and Cameran speak to students at the Gargoyle on Friday.
EMILY TOBIAS | STUDENT LIFE
See GUTIERREZ, page 3
See PELL GRANTS, page 3
PRESIDENT BUSH Previous budget would cut funding for Pell Grants
SENATORSA newly passed budget will provide an increased
$1.5 billion to the Pell Grant program, increasing the limit for individual grants by $450 over fi ve years
THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES No allotment of additional funds to the Pell Grant
program in their proposed 2006 budget
Pell Grant Proposals in 2006 Budgets
News Editor / Liz Neukirch / [email protected] MONDAY | MARCH 28, 20052 STUDENT LIFE | NEWS
c u r r e n t s 9 4
MATTHEW BUCKINGHAMApril 1 – June 12, 2005
Artist’s Lecture and PreviewMarch 31, 20057:00 pm
Currents 94 considers the idea of the “clean slate” as a model that recurs in thebuilding and rebuilding of St. Louis. For this installation, Buckingham created TrafficReport, 2005, made up of a looped sequence of still images projected onto a screenwith an audio loop sound system set up in a darkened gallery.
Currents 94: Matthew Buckingham is part of a series of exhibitions featuring the work of contemporaryartists. It is supported by the Henry L. and Natalie E. Freund Endowment Fund.
Matthew Buckingham, Traffic Report, 2005; projected images and audio loop; Courtesy of the artist and Murray Guy
Forest Park 314.721.0072 www.slam.org
the WUrld
Compiled by David Tabor and Angela Markle
Nationwide slate of scholars to dis-
cuss poverty at conference
A slate of distinguished scholars from around the coun-try will converge on the Washington University campus this Friday for a social justice conference entitled, “Poverty, Wealth and the Working Poor: Clinical and Interdisciplin-ary Perspectives.” The conference, which is being hosted by the School of Law and the George Warren Brown School of Social Work will be held from 8:30 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. in the Bryan Cave Moot Courtroom of Anheuser-Busch Hall.
Discussion will center on the causes of poverty in the United States, with particular emphasis given to gender and race. The keynote speaker will be William P. Quigley, Professor of Law at Loyola University in New Orleans. He has authored a book, “Ending Poverty as We Know It: Guar-
CAMPUS
Metro project at least $96 million
over budget
Metro recently released updated fi nancial reports on its light rail extension project, revealing the project to be at least $96 million and as high as $126 million over its original $550 million budget. The announcement raised serious concerns over how Metro would fund the project.
The transportation agency must fi nd additional funds before this summer to keep the project on track, said Metro’s chief executive and president, as he announced the updated fi nancial fi gures. Metro currently has $67 million in cash, investments and interest, with that capital expected to gen-erate an additional $3 million before the extension project would be fi nished.
NATIONAL
College students average 3.5+
hours of TV per day
College students watch an average of three hours and 41 minutes of television per day, according to a study reported last week by Nielsen Media Research. Nielsen is an industry leader in tracking television viewing hab-its but until now had been unable to measure college students’ viewing, a much sought after statistic among advertisers.
According to the study, college males watch most of their TV late at night, and the ten most popular shows among them during the last year were all baseball games, mostly games involving the Boston Red Sox’s march through last year’s playoffs. Shows doing well among college females included NBC’s “Joey” and ABC’s “Life As We Know It.”
LOCAL
anteeing a Right to a Job at a Living Wage,” and will present the conference’s keynote address at 9 a.m.
New CS40 Web site allows students to
trade, sell points
A new Web site, cs40.com/points, allows students to list their meal plan points and sell them. Students list how many points they have and are willing to sell, and at what price they are selling the points. So far, only 10 or so students have signed up. The list is organized by residential college, and those who sign up list their name, email address, points and price. Only residential colleges on the South 40 are listed so far, but there is a link for “all residents.”
What ever happened to the Night Bus?
The Night Bus came to a halt three weeks into the fall semester due to a lack of use by students. Only about 20 to 30 students took advantage of the program each week at a cost of $500.
“We chose not to continue doing it because not enough students were interested in it. We thought the money could be better utilized in other areas,” said Student Union Vice President Pam Bookbinder.
Started at the end of last year, the aim of the Night Bus program was to provide a safe, free way for students of the University to travel downtown. It ran on Thursday evenings every half hour to various destinations downtown such as Busch Stadium, the Landing and City Museum.
The decision to remove funds from the program essen-tially came down to providing money for a program that saw very little use by students, or assisting an endeavor that would most likely help the students of the University far more.
“Student Union was hoping that we would have a lot of people wanting to take the buses, but it just didn’t work out. We just want to do what’s best for the students… There just wasn’t enough interest there,” said Bookbinder.
Though the Night Bus program may be fi nished, many other vibrant programs are available to University students wishing to live a life outside of the campus bubble, such as scheduled outings to the St. Louis Symphony now that the strike has ended.
- Troy Rumans
Fast Fact
Kyrgyzstan’s president flees of-
fice
Kyrgyzstan’s Supreme Court declared Thursday that the recent controversial elections were not valid, recog-nizing the former Parliament over the new president, Askar Akayev. Demonstrators calling for acceptance of Akayev rallied in Bishkek, the capital, and stormed the former Soviet government headquarters. Reports vary from different sources, but Akayev apparently left by helicopter with his family and ordered troops not to attack the protestors, who entered the government compound as officials were leaving through another door. Opposition leaders expect o have control of the majority of the country in the next few days.
These protests began when Akayev, who has already fulfilled two terms (the maximum allowed), allegedly manipulated the February and March elections to elect officials who would help him amend the law. Many Kyr-gyzstanis are angry about poverty and frightened of drug traders and extremists who are gaining power in the country.
INTERNATIONAL
Student Life is
accepting applications
for next year’s staff.
Interested?
E-mail Margaret Bauer at
editor@studlife.
com.
No experience necessary.
News Editor / Liz Neukirch / [email protected] | MARCH 28, 2005 STUDENT LIFE | NEWS 3
(314) 454-3515 www.kohner.com
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By Angela MarkleStaff Reporter
As several universities around the county begin re-opening Israel study abroad programs, Washington University is noticing renewed interest in its Israeli programs. The University’s programs never closed, but they had faced a lack of interest in recent years.
The University offers two study abroad programs for students who wish to go to Israel—one at Hebrew University in Jeru-salem and another in Haifa for psychol-ogy majors. Overseas Program Director Robert Booker fi rst noticed a decline in students wishing to attend school in Is-rael around 2000, when the Palestinian Intifada erupted.
“There were time frames when we had few or no students in Israel... The re-inter-est seems to have started last year,” said Booker.
A Jewish Journal article recently reported erroneously that Washington University had halted its Israel programs, and was only now re-opening them, which Booker was adamant about correcting.
“We never did close them,” he said. The decline in students going abroad to Israel “was both student- and parent-driven, not Wash U-driven.”
In the 1997-1998 academic year, 12 students went to Israel over the course of the year, but by the 1999-2000 year, that number had dropped to eight, and the year after that was down to four. In 2001-2002, no students attended the University’s Israel programs.
Booker indicated that the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks may have affected those students applying for the spring term, but application for fall and the full year would already have been turned in by the time of the attacks.
The only time Booker did not encour-age students to visit Israel was in the 2002-2003 year, when two students ap-plied or the full year program.
“Those were the two I tried to talk out of going,” he said. “And those were the two who were in the cafeteria ten minutes before the bomb went off [at Hebrew Uni-versity].”
He called those students courageous, as they chose to remain at the University for the remainder of the year despite their experience.
The year after that, only one student went. This year, enrollment has increased
and four students enrolled in programs in Israel, although one of these students recently returned. Booker explained that the student “was uncomfortable and in-secure.”
Hebrew University received double the number of American applications this year than it anticipated, and its dorms were already fi lled with Israeli students, so some Americans were housed in a ho-tel with “beefed-up security,” according to Booker.
Sophomore Suzy Goldenkranz has noticed increased enrollment in study abroad programs in Israel among the stu-dents at her old high school.
“My fi rst trip [to Israel] was a high school study abroad, the spring of 2002. Nineteen people were on the trip. This semester my brother is on the same trip, and there are 95 people. This is a huge testament to the level of security people feel… and the level of interest students have in going to Israel,” she said.
Goldenkranz plans on going to Is-rael next spring with other University students.
“We’re really lucky Wash U has a pro-gram,” she said.
Although the program at Hebrew Uni-versity has seen increased enrollment, the Haifa program has never had much interest from University students.
“We never had a formal, recognized program [in Haifa]… It was sort of a po-tential program, but after several years of meeting with students, not one ended up applying,” said Leonard Green, director of the program.
After some time they decided to stop offering the program, although psychol-ogy department literature never refl ected the change.
“However, then one of my colleagues said, ‘Look, I want us to have a program in Israel,’” said Green. “So now it’s back up as a place where you could do study abroad.”
They have not had any applicants yet, but Green is hopeful that some may turn up with renewed general interest.
“My take is, if things get better in the Middle East, students will want to go there,” said Green. “I would think that as they hear about it more, they’re more likely to go.”
Universities see renewed interest in Israel study abroad programs
The U.S. House of Representatives also approved a budget of their own for the 2006 fi scal year, but, unlike the senate, they did not allot any additional money for the Pell Grant program.
Although the congressional votes are promising because they show a special interest in helping edu-cational funding, the actual budget Congress passes is non-binding; it only provides a ballpark fi gure for how much federal money should be spent on a given program each year.
Meanwhile, the Perkins Loan program, which is currently assisting 2,178 Washington University students, is still on the docket to be eliminated in an attempt by Congress to cut $21 billion from man-datory programs over the next fi ve years. Approxi-mately one third of that amount would be derived from loan programs.
Andrew Stringer, a staff member at the Washing-ton D.C. branch of the Coalition of Higher Education Assistance Organizations, is helping to educate the public about the low, fi ve percent interest loans and gather support for them in congress.
“We are in the midst of a grassroots campaign to help schools, students, parents and other concerned individuals understand how important Perkins Loans are to their fi nancial aid, and then to make sure they tell their senators and representatives how important it is,” Stringer said.
If adhered to, Kennedy’s amendment would supply $1.6 billion to save programs such as Perkins Loans that the Bush administration has already proposed to cut. Federal programs, such as education, Medicare and social security, are all facing budget restrictions this year due to “budget reconciliation,” a process that usurps money from other agendas in order to reduce the federal defi cit. This is the fi rst time since 1997 that Congress has attempted to reconcile the budget.
“It’s a tough fi scal situation, but we’re very much against the cuts to the Perkins Loans program,” Stringer said. “You save money one time, but then you lose in perpetuity the ability to make those loans [again] because it’s a revolving fund.”
Perkins Loans, which allow annual loans up to $4,000 a year for undergraduates and $6,000 for graduates, are allotted from both government and school funds. Once the loans are paid back, the money is reprocessed to new students seeking fi -nancial aid.
“You can save money one year [by cutting Perkins Loans], but you’ll be taking away a whole lot of mon-ey from students in the future,” Stringer said.
rez emphasized the impact of this new system on young people.
“We think it’s very important for young people to understand these personal accounts and what the president is proposing because it’s really young people who are most affected by the state of the Social Security system,” he said. “Young people are paying for the retire-ment benefi ts of the baby boomers, so young people can benefi t most from Social Security reform. Or… young people can be impacted the most if we don’t have reform.”
Students in the audience relished the op-portunity to hear from Gutierrez, but some thought he could have stepped beyond a de-fense of the Bush Administration’s plan.
“I enjoyed the speech,” said senior Gautam Ganguli. “It was informative, but he mostly defended Bush’s Social Security plan, even during the Q&A period after the speech.”
Gutierrez did not suggest that the reason for choosing Washington University as his speaking venue was necessarily to reach out to young people.
“We’re speaking in many cities around the country,” he said. “We felt St. Louis was a very important location. The University was just wonderful in opening up and being welcom-ing and providing a great forum and great facilities and we took them up on the offer.”
Gutierrez was sworn in as the 35th Secre-tary of Commerce in February. He was born in Havana, Cuba, and came to the U.S. with his family in 1960. Prior to his appointment at the Commerce Department, Gutierrez served as Chairman and CEO of Kellogg, becoming the youngest CEO in the company’s history.
U.S. Commerce Secretary Carlos Gutierrez spoke in Simon Hall on Friday, March 25, advocating President Bush’s plans for Social Security reform.
DAVID BRODY | STUDENT LIFE
Sophomores Suzy Goldenkranz and Noam Lee visited Israel over the past winter break. Both will return to Israel next year to participate in University-run study abroad programs, which have gained more interest in recent semesters.
COURTESY OF SUZY GOLDENKRANZ
Forum Editor / Roman Goldstein / [email protected] MONDAY | MARCH 28, 20054 STUDENT LIFE | FORUM
FORUMFORUMSHARE YOUR THOUGHTSWrite a letter to the editor [email protected] or Campus Box 1039Submit an opinion column [email protected] or Campus Box 1039
The College of Arts & Sciences requires fewer credit hours to complete majors than at many similar institutions. The admis-
sions offi ce reports that last year 60 percent of students earned a major and at least a minor or second major. While the fl exibility of simpler major requirements allows students to develop skills and pur-sue interests in different areas, it also risks socializing students into pursuing multiple unnecessary majors and minors they feel they need to have, at the expense of a true liberal arts education.
While the College sets the minimum general requirements for majors, individ-ual departments then add and shape their own programs. Professor Leonard Green in psychology points out that major require-
ments are only a minimum and students should take advantage of taking more courses if it suits their interests.
He believes that the University needs to fi nd the right balance between assuring that students will get a fi rm grounding and in-depth study in one major and giving students time to pursue multiple interests. He suggests that students would be better served from a slight increase in require-ments, but it would have to be school-wide, since no department wants its own program to stand out as extraordinarily rigorous.
One major concern about lax major requirements is how graduate schools and employers view them—do they discount Arts and Sciences majors because they’re so easy to complete? Dean of Arts and Sci-
ences James McLeod assures that there is no evidence corroborating this assertion.
Green also believes that minors are more appropriate for interest in a second-ary subject, but that 15 credits isn’t sub-stantial enough to fulfi ll this need. McLeod agrees that students should not choose to double major simply because of peer pressure. He argues that the real reason for a double major should be dual intellectual interests and that learning how to study in two disciplines can “often be greater than the sum of its parts.”
McLeod and Green believe that depart-ments must be responsive to student needs, but that students need to ask them-selves what their true goals and interests are. McLeod urges students to talk with advisers and ask questions of both faculty
and themselves, noting that jumping into a major can be risky because each student changes and matures throughout college.
Another issue is that students can often circumvent distribution requirements by simply majoring in various subjects. Green suggests that this takes away from achieving broad education and exposure to multiple subjects, especially art, music and philosophy.
The curriculum committee meets each year to discuss requirements and other is-sues. McLeod says they do listen to student input and survey student interests. Green, though, warns that taking any actions to change the curriculum “opens a Pandora’s box, because everyone thinks they know what’s best, and the curriculum is the core of what makes the University.”
Fellow DJ Blair Roberts and I were attacked in this article.
Melissa Miller discussed our radio show posters, which de-pict two girls, a somewhat badly rendered cartoon drawing of us. While I will be the fi rst to admit that our publicity tactics rely on exploitation, the only people we exploit are ourselves. And we are fi ne with it, that’s just kind of how we roll.
I would also like to point out that her attack on the posters was based on false observa-tions. The posters advertise Making Out at Stoplights, a KWUR radio show. There is no “event” being advertised at which topless DJs are expected. We are the DJs for the show, and we advertise topless poetry readings as part of the schtick. And even that is simply based on a running joke that the station is really hot, and Blair and I sometimes need to shed clothing to keep from passing out. Which is OK, because this is radio, and people can’t see us.
Please do not use our show posters to further pseudo-argu-ments (or at least include the show’s name so we can score some free publicity off it). The only women objectifi ed in the article were Blair and myself, and Melissa Miller vilifi ed us in order to fabricate an argument.
Michelle Miller makes the as-sertion that no posted material on campus should make anyone feel uncomfortable: “So how am I, and other women on this cam-pus, supposed to study when we are bombarded every day by fl y-ers and signs every time we re-turn to our dorms or every time we go to eat in Mallinckrodt?” Not only is this melodramatic, but such a plea for rampant censorship is fundamentally opposed to American ideals of individual liberty.
Certainly, I’ll concede that some possibly offensive fl yers go up around campus. As an atheist (and a meat lover), I have been offended numerous times; but that’s part of life in an open society. I have no more right to demand that material that of-fends me be censored than any-one else does to impede my free expression. I continue walking, conceding that some people think differently than I do.
Furthermore, it is partially Miller’s brand of virulent politi-cal correctness that has driven many populists away from the political left. As a liberal, I believe that it is essential to pre-serve individual liberties—and that means you will not approve of everything you see. It won’t scar you.
-Jordan Hicks
Class of 2007
Student antics hurt
admissions
Dear Editor:
We read in Student Life about inappropriate drinking and behavior by Wash U students in the St. Louis community and theft of Student Life newspa-pers. Then we read about RAs’ rooms being vandalized, and someone defecating in one RA’s room. None of this is something that any current student’s par-ents can read and be anything other than ashamed.
But what of those parents and students who at this very moment are trying to decide which school will be their choice to attend for the next four years? The poor, inappro-priate and criminal behavior by a few of Wash U’s very fi ne student body can wreak havoc on a long year’s work of all those who are trying to attract high caliber students to attend Wash U.
We strongly feel that the college years should not just be all work and no play. Students have every right to have a good time. We are well aware of the academic demands that are made, and the need to be off set by free time, parties and some crazy antics. But what has been happening lately are extremely serious, negative behaviors. If it only refl ected on those that did them that would be one thing. Unfortunately it refl ects nega-
tively on Washington University and its student body. And that is a shame.
-Robin and Don ParksWash U parents and
undergraduate admissions interviewers
Wash U’s history
of press freedom
infringement
Dear Editor:
Re: “Media policy is hardly Saddam-esque” [Mar. 23, 2005]
You should fi nd out what I actually told your reporter before criticizing it. I described the Oct. 9, 2001 media guide-lines as “the sort of thing you might expect to happen in Iraq—Saddam’s Iraq, not post-war Iraq, not in a free country.” Somehow your reporter man-aged to apply this comment to the present media guidelines, which are much less oppressive (though with some remaining problems).
More important was the outcome of the March 4, 2005 Arts & Sciences faculty meeting, which you did not report at all. By a nearly unanimous voice vote the A&S Faculty passed an amended version of my resolution, thus taking a fi rm stand on behalf of freedom of the press. That might not be remarkable at another institu-tion, but it was remarkable at Washington University, where the oppressive Oct, 9, 2001
guidelines remained in force for nearly a year, with hardly a pub-lic criticism from the faculty, until modifi ed under pressure from the Post-Dispatch.
This vote was a long-needed endorsement (somehow, it took three and a half years for my proposed resolution to make it onto the agenda) of freedom of the press at an institution whose faculty seems afraid to disagree with the adminis-tration, even on such a basic issue of academic freedom as freedom of the press. It was also a deserved slap in the face to those administrators respon-sible for the Oct. 9, 2001 media guidelines, which have no place in a free university or in a free society.
-Jonathan KatzProfessor of Physics
Pro-life thoughts on
Schiavo
Dear Editor:
Re: “A ‘culture of life’ with no right to live and no right to die,” [Mar. 21, 2005].
It is a contradiction to claim the battle is for Terri Schiavo’s “right to die,” and then support that argument by noting she is too incapacitated to perform normal adult functions - such as exercising rights. In reality, this debate is over Michael Schiavo’s claimed right to end his wife’s life.
If the issue truly is about pre-serving Terri’s dignity through
death, then starvation and de-hydration seem two remarkably undignifi ed means for achiev-ing that end.
Congress’ intervention may be on shaky legal ground, but it strikes me as equally ques-tionable that a court can end someone’s life without any written testament to that desire. One cannot sell a car, vote, rent an apartment or participate in a million other mundane activi-ties without legal documenta-tion, but the court system has decided that life can be termi-nated based on third-person testimony.
Why does the pro-life move-ment focus most of its efforts on the unborn and incapaci-tated, rather than poverty? Perhaps it’s because the poor of this country can speak for themselves by voting, protest-ing, working with advocacy organizations and writing their representatives, while unborn children and Terri Schiavo can’t. Perhaps it’s because UNICEF, WHO, USAID and a host of other organizations are better-equipped to lead efforts to help the needy around the world.
For that matter, I am hard-pressed to remember seeing NARAL running any vaccina-tion programs or food ware-houses for the impoverished around the world in support of their “choice” to have children.
I agree with the observa-tion that says, “Life doesn’t end at birth.” All too often, our nation’s social policies don’t al-low life to make it that far.
-Bryan KirchoffUniversity College
LETTERS TO THE EDITOR
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STUDENT LIFEJonathan GreenbergerCory SchneiderLiz NeukirchRoman GoldsteinMatt SimontonSarah UlreyMary Bruce
Brian Sotak, Emily TobiasDoug Main, Sarah KliffErin Harkless, Rachel Streitfeld, David TaborDaniel Milstein, Brian Schroeder, Aaron Seligman, Justin WardLaura Vilines, Tyler WeaverSarah Baicker, Kristen McGrathJustin DavidsonDavid Brody, Pam Buzzetta
Margaret BauerKelly Donahue, Allie McKay, Nina Perlman, Shannon Petry, TJ Plunk, Jonathon RepineczAnna Dinndorf, Ellen Lo, Laura McLean, Jamie Reed, Camila SalvisbergAndrew O’DellChristopher Kiggins
Editor in ChiefAssociate Editor
Senior News EditorSenior Forum Editor
Senior Cadenza EditorSenior Scene EditorSenior Sports Editor
Forum Editor / Roman Goldstein / [email protected] | MARCH 28, 2005 STUDENT LIFE | FORUM 5
It was less than a year ago that I fi lled out a form for the College of Arts and Sciences: my application to the International Leadership Program (ILP), a freshman seminar with an ac-companying special course each semester open exclusively to students in the program. The handbook described the one-credit pass/fail seminar as a way to enrich ourselves with a speaker series, career counselling and course advising. It promised an environment where we could discuss international affairs and learn about the world around us from intelligent and experienced guest lecturers.
It lied.Of all the guest speakers we’ve had over
two semesters, only three or four have been during the seminar. The others have been at times where many ILP students have courses or extracurriculars. The ILP presumes that we have nothing better to do than drop all of our
other commitments to attend a program that they announce only a week beforehand. Course counselling has been nothing more than what we receive from our four-year advisers, plus a shameless promotion of International and Area Studies, the department running the program. (Note: I do not know of anybody in ILP who still wants to do an IAS major.)
Furthermore, the seminar has often been can-celled, with the ILP instead requiring students to attend a speaker at an arbitrary time and place during the week. This removes our weekly opportunity to discuss world events, and also adds unnecessary pressure to the already frantic schedules of the freshmen in the program.
As an example, a recent email from the program stated, “We are going to ask you to at-tend this event, instead of the seminar tomor-row (Tuesday). Attendance will be taken.” The program has consistently booked speakers at times other than during the seminar. If they are unable to book speakers during the seminar,
then those speakers should not be a required portion of the course. If they are unwilling to make every effort to book speakers during the seminar, then the ILP is simply being disrespect-ful towards its students.
This semester, ILP is requiring us to partici-pate in the International Film Festival (IFF). We have to spend large amounts of time outside of class to create fl yers, paint the underpass, do ta-bling, publicity and network with people in Wash U and around St. Louis. These are all activities that should be done by the IFF itself, not foisted upon ILP students who don’t have a choice about whether they want to participate. Being forced to do all this simply to get the one credit for the seminar is far beyond what would reasonably be asked of students in other one-credit pass/fail courses.
Worst of all, many of us never see the benefi ts of these programs for which we do so much work. Of my fi ve-person group, which worked on the most recent IFF production, “Sudan: The Kill-
ing Fields,” only two of us were able to be at the event itself. Why should students be forced to do work for the pet project of a professor or TA?
I feel used. The ILP seminar has taken ad-vantage of my classmates and me by using the threat of failing a pass/fail course to make us work far beyond the scope of a one-credit semi-nar. They have sacrifi ced the supposedly enrich-ing speaker series and seminar discussions in favor of using the time to plan extracurriculars that we often cannot even attend because of scheduling confl icts. Thankfully the program is almost over for us, but a new unfortunate gen-eration will be subjected to these demands next year. Warn your younger siblings, high school friends and any prospective freshman you meet: ILP isn’t worth the trouble.
Lawrence is a freshman in Arts & Sciences. He can be reached via e-mail at [email protected].
I would like to respond to Daniel Milstein’s valid suggestion that KWUR and its DJs be in-volved in the WILD band selection process [“Stop, Collaborate & Listen,” Wed., March 23]. One of his fellow KWUR DJs is in fact involved with the band-selection process. That DJ happens to be Scott Abrahams, one of Team 31’s co-chairs. This information could have been found in Student Life’s Feb. 11 review of Abrahams’ radio show “Crackerbarrel Canyon.”
I will piggyback off of Milstein’s kind words about Team 31’s selection of Robert Randolph & the Family Band: credit should be given where credit is due. I take my hat off to Scott, his fel-low co-chair Anjan Tibrewala and our booking agent for researching every single band that was suggested by the student body (ranging from the Cranberries, to Guster, to Tim McGraw to U2).
After taking band availability and routing, our relatively small production budget, and other restrictions into consideration, these three individuals did an excellent job with the selec-tion process. I ask Milstein if he e-mailed Team 31 expressing KWUR’s interest in helping. This semester alone we are working with Joint Class Council, the Freshman Class Council, the Social Programming Board, SHAC, WUTV and the Stu-dent Union Senate in the planning and promotion of WILD. At no point did KWUR ever contact us to express any interest in assisting with the process.
Please also allow me to also explain the pri-mary reason that the WILD band line-up must remain confi dential until Team 31’s publicized release date. We by no means mistrust KWUR or its DJs. It’s quite simple, actually: until our book-ing agent signs the contract (thus confi rming the artist’s performance), it is our professional obligation to have as few “cooks in the kitchen” as possible.
If it’s leaked that Live, for example, is coming to WILD before we sign a contract, Live’s manage-ment and booking agent can raise their perfor-mance cost, knowing that we will have to pay the infl ated price because of the newfound expecta-tions on campus. With a new, higher asking price there would be no guarantees that our budget would be able to afford the new production costs or be able to fund additional opening acts.
As soon as our agent gives us the green light, our publicity chair drafts a press release, which is sent to Student Life to be printed for the eyes of the university population. After all, Sister Hazel’s addition to the set list was confi rmed two hours and 20 minutes before our release at Happy Hour last Thursday. Talk about hot off the press.
Although Milstein understandably criticizes the selection of Sister Hazel, I would encourage him to visit the band’s Web site and listen to their live streaming music. It really is quite good. Un-like Milstein, many students are elated to have Sister Hazel coming to the Washington University campus. As Student Life’s March 18 article men-tioned, not all of the student body has heard of Robert Randolph & the Family Band. Though they will undoubtedly put on a fantastic show, there were students disappointed with our choice.
I think it’s fair to say that many students simply care about the headliner’s name and the band’s fame, not the quality of the artist’s music. Ozomatli was, hands down, one of the best shows we’ve had in the recent past. But, had many people heard of them prior to the show? No. Since then, Ozomatli has gone on to win a Best Latin American Artist at the Grammy’s.
As I hope you now understand, the selection process of a WILD band is, all things considered, not as easy as letting the DJs of KWUR’s 73 shows (with interests in 73+ different genres) choose the artists. If you want bigger and better bands, appeal to SU to increase our production budget. If you are unhappy with Team 31’s spring set list, I truly apologize. However, Team 31 did every-thing we could to appeal to the overall interests of the student body.
If Milstein thinks that he or KWUR should still be involved in the selection process, he can contact his fellow DJ Scott Abrahams and throw in his two cents. But he shouldn’t publicly gripe about any suggestions he failed to make three months ago. Be proactive, not reactive.
Matt is a sophomore in the Business School and production stage manager for Team 31. He can be reached via e-mail at [email protected].
Team 31 already
stopped and listened
By Lawrence WisemanOp-Ed Submission
Used and abused by my freshman seminar
I love coincidences. Here’s one I’d like to share with you: last Wednesday, this newspaper published a story about the bad behavior of the members of soror-
ity Alpha Phi. On that very same day, many editions of the paper disappeared from nu-merous locations around campus.
Gosh, I wonder who did that?
In the newspa-per business, we don’t like to make unfounded accusa-tions about people. There’s this thing called libel, which means that if we print false and de-famatory material, we can get sued. So I can’t say who did it, because I haven’t seen any direct evidence.
But I do know from television that the police conduct investigations into crimes, and that they typically have “suspects.” And if I were a detective investigating this crime, all my prime suspects would be members of Alpha Phi.
And make no mistake, this is a crime. In the pages of this and every issue of Student Life, it states that you are only allowed one free copy, and you have to pay us for the rest. And since Student Life did not receive pay-ment for those newspapers, they were stolen.
Stealing newspapers is no better than stealing anything else. In fact, it’s worse. The thieves don’t only steal the nominal price of the newspapers; they substantially disrupt the paper’s ability to do business. There seems to be some misunderstanding about how Student Life works, so perhaps a short primer would help to understand this point.
Student Life is not just a student activ-ity. It does not receive money from Student Union. It has to rent its offi ce space from Washington University. It pays its employees (like me) a modest weekly stipend in return for their labor.
Student Life is an independent newspa-per published by a non-profi t corporation, Washington University Student Media, Inc. The term “non-profi t” shouldn’t fool you: we are a business operation. We have two kinds of customers. Advertisers buy space in the paper to spread information about their products and services. Readers pick up the newspaper to get information and opinion about campus events.
The newspaper thieves have therefore cost us a great deal of money by stealing the papers we pay to print and disrupting our advertising; our General Manager, Andrew O’Dell, estimates $3,000 worth of damage. Also, the hard work of our writers and edi-tors was damaged.
Imagine if someone came into your room, then trashed your computer, your printer and your stereo. Wouldn’t you want them to pay?
This crime was committed in broad daylight, between 9 a.m. at the earliest and 2 p.m. at the latest. It was well-coordinated and happened in numerous places around campus. There should be many witnesses. Finding the culprits should be relatively easy, if a serious effort is made to catch them.
I hope this will be the case. Unfortunately, the administration’s response has been inad-equate so far. The Chancellor has expressed his outrage, but I for one appreciate action more than outrage. This crime occurred Wednesday. From the start, we knew when and where the crime occurred, and we had a general guess of who did it. I expect that our capable police will have started to unravel the conspiracy by this Wednesday. Anything less
would be an indication of the low esteem the University has for this paper and for small businesses in general.
Once the culprits are found they should be punished harshly. At the very minimum, they should compensate Student Life for its losses. But I don’t think this is enough. We shouldn’t go easy on the perpetrators even if they are rich, white sorority girls. I would like to see criminal charges fi led. These thugs should end up with criminal records, even if the crimes end up being misdemeanors.
If Alpha Phi members were involved, there are other questions to answer. Were other Greek organizations involved? Did the soror-ity leadership order or in any way encourage its members to commit the crime? If either of these are the case, I think it points to a more serious problem within Greek Life than we have heretofore suspected.
Regardless, the scandals of the past week indicate that Greeks should consider step-ping up their self-regulation before more outrageous behavior occurs. Eventually, the University and the community will get sick of it, and there might be worse consequences than “prohibition.”
Justin is a senior in Arts & Sciences. He can be reached via e-mail at [email protected].
Catch those thieves
I agree with Melissa Miller’s column [Mar. 23, 2005] that it is important to respect other people when you engage in any form of public expression, like putting up a poster to promote a party. However I also feel that freedom of expression is important as an end in itself, and I would rather live in a world where people choose to mind their manners without being coerced. Miller’s article gave me waking nightmares of a ResLife Big Brother looking over my shoulder whenever I staple a sheet of paper to a bulletin board. I believe there are ways we can balance freedom and respect and discourage offensive postings without needing ResLife to act as a police force.
It’s important to remember that most of the posters that go up around campus (and all of those mentioned by Miller) are advertisements. No one is being offensive on purpose. For ex-ample, I recognize that a concept like a “Pimp’s and Hos” is objectifying, but it was chosen because party promoters thought it would draw partygoers, male and female, to their party. If women (or men) fi nd it offensive, a simple solution to this problem would be to quietly boy-cott the party and encourage others to do the same. If I were throwing a pimps and hos party and no one showed up, I for one know that I wouldn’t hesitate to change my advertising tactics.
This self-policing is better because it’s possible for the politeness pendu-lum to swing too far the other way. For example, it is unfortunate that some adver-tisements cater to some groups more than others, but at the same time, expecting advertising to cater equally to all groups is unrealistic and unreasonable. If one poster Miller mentioned was revised to be more inclusive, it might read, “We all have unique preferences between George (Bush) and (Dick) Cheney,” which is an awkward and ineffective slogan.
What’s more, it detracts from the humor that was the attraction of the slogan. I don’t think you need to be heterosexual to appreciate the irony in sexualizing the names of our very socially conservative executive duo. Humor is one of the only devices that appeals to a variety of differ-ent groups, and humor is something that
will get bleached out if every poster makes an explicit appeal to every possible walk of life.
My suggestion is that, instead of calling ResLife, students should start taking indi-vidual responsibility for letting leafl eteers know what is offensive. So the next time you see a poster that bothers you, don’t go to the event it’s promoting. You could tell your friends to do the same, or even put up your own poster over it in protest. If you’re really upset, you could even go to the event
the poster promotes and stand outside ex-plaining why people shouldn’t go in. If the poster offended anyone besides you, who ever put it up will notice that they could do better by being more considerate.
On the other hand, if the poster doesn’t bother anyone enough to keep them from attending the event, is it really fair for the posters to be taken down, or for the person who put them up to be punished? If we approach the problem in this way, we can stop ourselves before we go too far, and still make posters on campus less offen-sive.
Alexander is a sophomore in Arts & Sciences. He can be reached via e-mail at [email protected].
Say no to Big Brother ResLifeBy Alexander MuellerOp-Ed Submission
By Matt Jones Op-Ed Submission
JustinWard
Miller’s article gave me waking nightmares of a
ResLife Big Brother.
CorrectionA photograph of the City Museum in last Wednes-day’s edition incorrectly credited the photogra-pher. The picture was courtesy of City Museum.
Clarifi cationThough “couches aren’t going over very well,” Team 31 will allow couches into the Quad for W.I.L.D. this spring.
RACHEL HARRIS | STUDENT LIFE
Sports Editor / Mary Bruce / [email protected] MONDAY | MARCH 28, 20056 STUDENT LIFE | SPORTS
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Every 23 minutes a worker is fired or discriminated against for union activity!
The current U.S. budget looks to cut $530,000,000 from education!
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WOMEN’S TENNIS
LAST MEET: The Bears defeated Cornell College by the score of 8-1.
TEAM NOTES: The Bears nearly swept Cornell College by winning all six singles matches and two out of the three doubles matches. With the exception of the one doubles loss, the Bears refused to drop a single set to Cornell College.
NEXT MEET: The Bears will host Lindenwood University on Wed., March 23 at 4:00 p.m.
NATIONAL RANKING: No. 16
LAST GAMES: Wash U 8, Wartburg College 3 and Wash U 5, Centre College 2
TEAM NOTES: Senior Victoria Ramsey notched the win against Wartburg College, as she improved her season record to 8-0. Against Centre College, sophomore Abby Morgan allowed just one run on two hits in fi ve innings pitched to pick up the win. The Bears scored the go-ahead run against Wartburg College in the bottom of the sixth inning off of four straight walks.
DID YOU KNOW: Senior Liz Swary extended her hitting streak to 22 games, which is the second longest hitting streak in the school’s history.
NEXT GAME: The Bears are scheduled to play against Maryville University on Thurs., March 31 at 4:00 p.m.
NATIONAL RANKING: No. 9
LAST GAMES: Wash U splits the doubleheader against Coe College by the scores of 13-6 and 1-6.
TEAM UPDATE: The Bears managed to score 13 runs off of 12 hits in the fi rst game, while converting on just 1 run on 3 hits in the second game. Junior Ryan Corn-ing batted in two with a bunt-single in the bottom of the fi rst inning. Junior Bryan Brown had a base-clear-ing, three RBI double in the bottom of the sixth inning in the fi rst game.
DID YOU KNOW: The Bears’ 12 game winning streak was snapped with the loss.
NEXT GAME: The Bears return to action against the University of Missouri-Rolla on Mon., March 22 at Kelly Field at 2:00 p.m.
BEARSPORTS.WUSTL.EDU
LAST MEET: The Bears narrowly beat out Graceland University by the score of 4-3.
NEXT GAME: The Bears will participate in the Jack Swartz Invitational at Bannockburn, Ill., from April 1-2.
NATIONAL RANKING: No. 13
DAVID BRODY | STUDENT LIFE
The Washington University varsity baseball team took three of four games from Coe College this past weekend at Kelly Field, moving the team’s overall record to 16-4. On Friday, the team won 8-5 and 10-9, and on Saturday they won 13-6 but lost 6-1 in the fi nal game, ending the Bears 12 game winning streak. Coe College’s record sits at 7-11.
Both of Friday’s games were close, hard-fought battles. In the fi rst game, junior pitcher Kent Wallace entered a tight 5-5 tie but pitched the fi nal three innings, allowing no runs and just one hit, earning the win. In the second game, tied 9-9 in the bottom of the last inning, sophomore Andy Shields drew a two out walk and speedy pinch runner junior Bobby Hoernschmeyer entered the game and stole second base. Senior Dan Rieck singled to drive in Hoernschmeyer for the game-winner. The stars of Friday’s games were Rieck and junior Bryan Brown. In the doubleheader, Rieck hit three for fi ve with fi ve RBIs and Brown went four for seven with fi ve RBIs.
Saturday’s fi rst game featured a multitude of strong
hitting performances. Four players had at least two hits. Juniors Jim Haley, Ryan Corning, Bryan Brown and Alan Germano also combined to score seven runs and drive in eight in the victory. Sophomore Dan McPheeters pitched four innings, collecting the win and moving his personal record to 4-1.
After accumulating 12 hits and 13 runs in this victory, the Bears’ bats went quiet in the fi nal game of the series. The team only managed three hits all game—two by Haley—and scored their only run on an error by Coe College catcher Josh Schauf. In the loss Haley pitched a complete game, giving up six earned runs and 11 total hits.
The Bears have another busy upcoming week, returning to action on Monday, March 27 at Kelly Field against the Uni-versity of Missouri-Rolla at 2 p.m. On Tuesday they will play two at home against Maryville University, beginning at 12:30 p.m., and on Thursday the Bears will travel to Jackson-ville, Ill., to face MacMurray College in an afternoon game scheduled for 2 p.m.
WU baseball wins three out of four; winning streak comes to an end
LAST MEET: The Bears hosted the Wash U Open on March 25, 2005
TEAM NOTES: Freshman Morgan Leonard-Fleckman and senior Conrad Warm-bold were fi rst in the women’s and men’s pole vault. Sophomore Delaina Martin won the women’s hammer throw. Senior Hallie Hutchens came in fi rst in the women’s 100-meter and 400-meter hurdles while junior Dave Skiba was fi rst in the men’s 400-meter hurdles. Sophomore Kevin Gale won the 3,000 meter steeplechase.
DID YOU KNOW: Leonard-Fleckman broke the Wash U women’s pole vault record at the Iowa Open on Feb. 18
NEXT MEET: The Bears will host the Washington University Invitational on April 1-2.
TRACK & FIELD
Members of the WU women’s track team round the corner at Friday’s WU Open.
Senior Liz Swary holds the second longest hitting streak in the school’s history.
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As the years pass by and the South 40’s infrastructure continues to improve, more students want to live on campus for all four years.
Less then 3,000 students lived on campus in the late 80s; now over 4,000 students call campus home.
There is a kind of “group think,” said Rhonda Kiely, assistant director of Residential Life. Kiely explained that there is a pattern for fi rst and second year students to remain on the South 40. When junior and senior years come along, students are ready for the next step.
The anxiety students feel during the waiting period for housing assignments is the major problem with on-campus living, said Kiely.
Residential Life is good at fi lling requests, she said. Everyone who needs housing on campus is guaranteed a spot. Last year, approximately 300 students cancelled their contracts, which allowed for those on waitlists to be granted spots. She also indicated the primary goal is to fi ll needs, allowing “the student to live with who they want to live with” over “where they desire to live.”
Kiely said ending up with a good lottery number is really “luck of the draw.” The computer system that grants lottery numbers is a random process. A student’s experience with housing in one year will not affect the next year, she said. For example, if a student gets exactly what they asked for one year, there is no guarantee that next year will be as fortunate.
Residential Life does not change lottery numbers as much as people think they do. Kiely made this topic very clear. She said that if lottery numbers are changed, “you are not ensuing fairness for all others.”
There are students who think they received a good lottery number because their grades were superior or their parents donated money.
“The reality is that it does not happen,” she said. “I wish students could hear from parents who call in and request just that.”
From year to year, the most wanted dorm varies. Normally, the popularity contest winners are Park, Mudd and Gregg. However, there has been a shift
in priority. Upperclassman have chosen to remain in Shepley, Nemerov and Wheeler rather than move to the North Side or off campus. The most diffi cult housing option to get into, according to Kiely, is Millbrook.
To be a top school, you have to have top dorms. At least that is the thinking behind the construction that has been waking South 40 residents up early for the past few years, said Assistant Vice Chancellor Justin Carroll.
“We want it to be in line with the quality education,” he said.
Wash U needs to be competitive with other top colleges, said Rob Wild, associate director of Residential Life. Being competitive means offering new facilities and little things like replacing community bathrooms with bathroom suites.
New dorms are preferred by students anyhow, said Wild. And students demonstrated that private bathrooms are favored verses communal bathrooms.
Ever hear the rumor that old dorms are populated by students on fi nancial aid and the newer dorms are occupied by the rich kids? Carroll said buildings are assigned regardless of fi nancial status.
What about the rumor that Shepley and Gregg were built to last for only 15 years? Carroll and Wild returned blank stares.
Wild said that the dorms have a minimum of a 30-year use, and that the University wants all housing to last as long as possible.
With the decreasing number of older dorms and the increasing number of newer ones, the amount of less-expensive housing available is limited and will soon be nonexistent. Currently, there is no major plan for dealing with this possible problem. Phase 4B, however, has doubles that will be less expensive.
However, room rates are not based solely on old verses new. Wild cleared up that the room rates are based on the cost of operating expenses. The cost of operating a new dorm is more then an old one, but the University is concerned about the diminishing number of old dorms resulting in a pricing issue.
The problem will most likely be solved by a “one room rate” explained Carroll. This fl at rate will leave out the more expensive singles, doubles and triples such as those in Thomas Eliot house.
Contrary to many beliefs, Rhonda Kiely says housing is a
“fair system.”
By Jennifer Serot
“We want it to be in line with the
quality education.”
Quadrangle to take over Parkview Apartments
In the upcoming year, the University will switch to Quadrangle as the new man-ager of off-campus housing. The previous manager, Parkview Properties, is no lon-ger in business. Quadrangle will control the leasing and maintenance of Rosedale Court, Greenway Place and University Drive apartments. Students will not notice any changes in the shift of management.
The University has also shifted the housing process back to later dates. The changes will allow students additional time to search for apartments before the general on-campus housing process starts.
- By Jennifer Serot
HO W HOU S ING RE A L LY W ORK SScene Editor / Sarah Ulrey / [email protected] | MARCH 28, 2005 STUDENT LIFE | SCENE 7
SL: Lastly, who would you say your favorite Family Guy character
is?
Abram: Oh! That is so tough man come on!
Cameran: I’ve never seen the Family Guy.
Abraham: It’s obviously not the kid [Stewie].
MJ: Is that the guy who has the nuts that look like are on his face
for a chin?
SL: yeah (laughing).
MJ: I like him.
Abram: You gotta say Stewie, but you can’t say Stewie. It’s like
the Simpsons. You like Bart but you can’t say Bart, you have to say
Homer. MJ: Homer’s everyone’s favorite.
Continued from page 1: an interview with the cast members of MTV’s Real World and Road Rules
Student Life: [Showing cast members a copy of the Student Life
Sex Issue] Which Wash U sports team would you rather go home
with and/or party with?
MJ: I’m gonna have to go with the, who are they? [pointing to the
girls volleyball team] I’ll go with the volleyball girls, I like ‘em tall.”
Abram: “I didn’t know it was gonna be that kind of party” (laugh-
ing)
SL: What would you say itʼs like to be drunk on television?
MJ: Well, I think with the show, they are gonna show you
when you are drunk, more than when you are sober because
that’s when the drama happens. And then whenever you are
put into a situation like that where you have no TV, no radio,
you tend to drink because you can either just sit there at night
and read a book or play Jenga or drink some vodka.
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Your Horoscope for Monday, March 28, 2005By Linda C. Black, Tribune Media Services
Today’s Birthday (03-28-05). Do you have some assets stashed away for the future, just in case? This year is good for doing that, even if you don’t know how, yet. By this time next
year, you will. To get the advantage, check the day’s rating: 10 is the easiest day, 0 the most challenging.
Aries (March 21-April 19) Today is a 7. Gather up the treasure, and bring home as much as you can. Counting and sorting is your assignment for the next couple of days. Taurus (April 20-May 20) Today is a 6. A person whom you respect and desire feels the same way about you. Love gets you through times with no money better than money in times of
no love.
Gemini (May 21-June 21) Today is an 8. Show you can do a good job, down to the tiny details. You can make a living
at what you love, no matter what you’re doing now. This is good practice.Cancer (June 22-July 22) Today is a 7. Don’t let a
diffi cult person ruin your careful plans. Discuss the matter with someone you love. You’ll get some good advice. Leo (July 23-Aug. 22) Today is an 8. Travel looks good
for several days, although there are complications. Make sure you don’t go to somebody’s house while they’re out coming to yours.
Virgo (Aug. 23-Sept. 22) Today is a 5. Study is required, but that’s not a problem for you. Everything you read will stick in your brain quite easily. Now, you just have to get the worrywarts to leave you alone.
Libra (Sept. 23-Oct. 22) Today is a 7. Money’s coming
your way for the next couple of days. It’s from work already done, or an advance for a new project. Let people know what you have to offer.
Scorpio (Oct. 23-Nov. 21) Today is a 6. You have the power to shift things around so conditions are more in your
favor. No need to be uncomfortable, make the necessary adjustments.Sagittarius (Nov. 22-Dec. 21) Today is an 8. Too much goofi ng off could get you into trouble. There are important details to remember. Ignore at your peril.
Capricorn (Dec. 22-Jan. 19) Today is a 6. Your friends show up for you and they provide the support you need. Get them to help you plan ahead. It’s good to have a strategy.
Aquarius (Jan. 20-Feb. 18) Today is a 7. Don’t let yourself be talked into doing a tough job for no pay. Turn it down unless, of course, it leads to bigger things.
Pisces (Feb. 19-March 20) Today is a 6. You have hidden strength that helps propel you toward your goal. When the road gets rough, just
MONDAY | MARCH 28, 20058 STUDENT LIFE | CLASSIFIEDS
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CLASSIFIEDSCLASSIFIEDS
When you study abroad, you learn a few things. Wrenched from your comfortable, womb-like habitat, you fi nd that the points in symbolic capital you’ve racked up at Wash U no longer count. You begin to tolerate things that confound your sense of what is right in the world, like doors that open in the wrong direction and cars that drive on the opposite side of the road.
Despite your remedial language ability, you become more vociferous in your political opinions, taking every opportunity to remind the good people around you that, no, you did not vote for George W. Bush. And, when you discover that the local dialect sounds nothing like the language you have studied for the last four years, you learn how to ask life’s most important questions: like, which of the fi ve trash cans to put empty yogurt containers.
Six months later, having memorized every subway stop and the number of steps to your apartment, feeling comfortable enough in class to share your thoughts on Derrida or Dante, and knowing a few good places to chat over a drink, you feel disconnected from the bumbling quasi-tourist you were half a year ago.
Just remember one thing: the seasoned international traveler knows better than to become complacent in her sense of her own cosmopolitanism. Take me, for instance. After traveling regularly over the last eight years, I’ve paid some dues.
Three weeks after breaking a fi nger on a three-dog walk (a chore I performed daily as a high school exchange student), I broke my collarbone while snowboarding down an Austrian mountain slope. Last summer in Berlin, I lost 600 pages of photocopied thesis research when I accidentally left the ream of paper in my bike basket overnight.
Apparently, paper is a hot commodity for some thieves.
Besides (literal and fi gurative) near-death experiences, there are also the nuances of getting used to a new place. For instance, exploring a city’s entire subway system in your failed attempts to get onto the S-U-22/54 light green-blue line toward Neuschwansteinfahrvergnügen.
Eventually the travails diminish. And when you wait in the snow for 45 minutes before gathering that your bus is the only one in the southern German town of Tübingen that has mysteriously stopped running, which, by the way, is what happened to me last night, you don’t curse the city’s transportation system. You just laugh and enjoy the walk home with your 30 pounds of groceries.
Side-stitching story number umpteen: I blow out the power supply of my computer when I plug it into a German outlet, three weeks before the fi nal draft of my thesis is due. The next day I learn that mine is the only Macintosh on the planet that does not step down Europe’s 220 volts to the American standard 110. Beware, owners of iMac G5s purchased in the US or Japan: expect to hear a frightful popping noise upon plugging your computer into a European wall.
If you happen to live with a bunch of tinkerers and smokers, as I do, a few of them might attempt unscrewing your computer and diagnosing the problem while another offers you a cigarette to calm your nerves. And as you introduce yourself to your neighbors, you’ll recall that international trauma doesn’t just make good stories; it’s also a great way to make friends.
‘Ear me now, believe me later. If you know what life is worth, you will look for yours on Earth, and now you see the light, so get up, stand up, get in your car and drive to De Palm Tree on Olive Blvd. It is a cool place to come and catch a vibe.
If all you bumbaclots are missing those sunny spring break afternoons on the beach, and laid-back Caribbean culture is what you crave, De Palm Tree will get you as close to Jamaica as St. Louis can possibly be. Respect.
From the road, the restaurant looks more like a Jamaican soup kitchen than an island getaway, but once inside, you’ll quickly give in to the Marley on the radio and Peter Tosh on TV as you fall into a state of virtual Rasta euphoria.
De Palm Tree was opened a little over a year ago by Easton and Tammy Romer. When 19-year-old Easton fi rst stepped off the plane from Jamaica, and was hit by the cold reality of St. Louis snow and wintry weather, he had the vision to bring Jamaica’s warmth and unity to the frozen Midwest.
This year, Easton has seen his dream become a reality. De Palm Tree effectively transforms its tiny location in a St. Louis strip mall to a beachside restaurant.
We were greeted at the door by Tammy who directed us to sit at “whatever table feels nice.” Blessed.
She went on to inform us that De Palm Tree has everything Jamaica has to offer: Everything but the ganja. She also inspired us to try something a little bit unusual, because “it would bring the tropical sunshine into our lives.” We
ordered a round of Red Stripes and an order of the fried plantain, a classic Jamaican snack.
Plantain is a type of banana and depending on its ripeness, has varying degrees of sweetness when fried. It is really a very strange thing to eat, with the consistency of a potato, but enough sweetness to even be served as dessert.
For the main course, De Palm Tree has several dishes that you will encounter in every Jamaican restaurant or roadside grill, such as jerk chicken or ackees and salt fi sh. However, if you want to be adventurous, Easton will cook up curried goat or oxtail stew.
The jerk chicken and jerk pork will make your nose run and your mouth burn. But no problem mon, because that’s nothing a little Red Stripe and fresh pineapple can’t fi x.
Don’t plan on coming with a big group of Rudeboyz, because there are only six tables.
Keeping with the Jamaican spirit, De Palm Tree is not the place to come for a quick meal on the run, because Easton is in the back meticulously jerking his chicken. So expect a long, relaxing meal in order to take in the Reggae vibe around you. If you don’t have time for such leisure, the restaurant welcomes take out orders and even stays open until 12:30 a.m. Monday through Saturday.
The food is affordable and will leave you feeling like a bloated shark after a spring break attack.
Believe us now, respect De Palm Tree, and check it: if it’s nice, play it twice.
De Palm Tree (314-432-5171) is located at 8631 Olive Blvd.
By Matthew Reed & Seth Dubner
STEPPING OUT
I always knew I’d commit myself to many things at college. Committing murder, however, was decidedly not on my list. When I fi nally decided to go to Washington University, I nervously anticipated my housing information. Would I be placed in one of the (relatively) fabulous new dorms on my tour? Would I be forced into a dungeon-like old dorm and then have to feign some sort of illness that would get me back into said new dorm? And what of my roommate-to-be? What would he be like? Would
he be able to handle me? Would I be able to handle him?
The questions abounded until the day I received my information and found that my roommate, a boy with an ordinary enough name, was from Oklahoma. A few thoughts immediately popped into my head: pitchfork, tractor, hay bale. But I was resolute to have that typical college experience, and besides, I was in Lien, the newest dorm at the time, so life couldn’t be that bad.
To allay my fears, this roommate and I arranged to speak online. I was intent on portraying myself as non-offensively as possible, so my answers were middle of the road, not too extreme (I drank on the weekends at parties, and wasn’t into drugs) and quirky enough to display my personality.
Somehow, though, he got out of the conversation that I was uptight, sheltered and, as it later turned out to be quite important, Jewish.
I found all of this out when I showed up to my suite on move-in day and our two suitemates and he fi rst asked me where my wheelchair was (we randomly had the handicapped bathroom), and then asked what it felt like to be the only Jew among three Christians. To be honest, I hadn’t yet sized them up for whether I wanted to use their cross-loving bodies for my monthly ritual slaughter with my other Jewish cohorts, so I gave a non-committal smile.
At any rate, things worked out for a while. I put up with his posters of tractors (I was right about one thing!) and Jessica Simpson, and he put up with my incessant playing of whatever Madonna song I was obsessed with that week. There was even socialization for a time, until the Great Plant Killing Incident of 2003 the night before spring break.
That is, there was always a contention about the cable bill, which I paid, but we split. Before leaving for a shopping excursion in NYC, I asked
that he give me that semester’s check for more spending money, but he insisted on making it out to my mother, making the check un-cashable. Bitch.
So, I did the only thing any reasonable person would do: I poured 409 cleaning agent into his plant (which he was obsessed with, by the way) while he was sleeping (which I continued to do after returning from spring break) and then watched as the pathetic little thing withered to a crisp. The thought still warms me to this day.
In short, I think my freshman year taught me a lot of things: anger management, confl ict resolution, that I could peacefully coexist with another human being in the same space for long periods of time. Mind you, it isn’t something I am looking to do any time soon, but I come prepared with a bottle of Clorox Bleach, just in case.
n.. a person who prescribes, rules on, or is a recognized authority on matters of social
behavior and taste
By Cory Schneider
ARBITER
ELEGANTIARUM
Matt and Seth give De Palm Tree a rating of : Extremely Titillating
By Sarah Ulrey
Name: Jimmy Brooks
Age: 18
Major: Undeclared Math and
Economics
Hometown: Providence, Rhode
Island and Monrovia, Liberia
Population: Providence: 176,000
Monrovia: 935,000
My hometownMy hometown
You didnʼt always live in Rhode Island. Where were you born?
I was born in Liberia.
How long did you live there?It’s a very long complicated story. Since 1990
there has been a civil war going on. There has been a lot of confusion. When the war broke out we moved to get out of the fi ghting. Eventually my mom left and came here to get away from the fi ghting. I think she came for a medical reason.
You donʼt know why?I don’t remember. She came for some
operation. I was six at that time. When she came here, the warfare broke out again. She decided not to come back, that it would have been pointless. We just went to the Ivory Coast, which was right next door. We stayed there until I was nine and came back to Liberia. My mom was still here. The fi ghting had calmed down and we were there a total of, I think, fi ve months. Then things got bad again. We went back to the Ivory Coast.
How long were you there that time?I think a year. Then we came here. [To the U.S.]
Who is we? My dad, my sister and I. I have an older sister.
She is 23.
Where did you live as a refugee in the Ivory Coast?
The fi rst night we got there we slept in a tent that they had set up for refugees. Later we rented a little apartment.
How did you get from the Ivory Coast to Rhode Island?
We fi led for our papers and fi nally came here.
To join your mother?Yes, she had come and stopped in New York
for awhile. But she eventually moved to Rhode Island. I think she had a friend who lived there. She liked Rhode Island for some reason.
What did she like about it?It’s quiet. There are a lot of Liberians there.
Do you have memories of the war, or were you too young?
I remember some things. The second time around of confl ict I remember a lot more stuff. The fi rst time, I remember my dad and I got separated from my mom and they thought we were dead and we thought they were dead.
How were you separated?Now that I think about it, before both wars
started I somehow hurt myself. The fi rst time I was running somewhere and fell and cracked my skull. My dad took me to the doctor and then things broke out. My mom and sister left, and my dad and I were stranded at another spot. We were apart a month or so.
What do you mean when you say, things broke out?
Things stopped being normal and happy with the country experienced their fi rst coup d’état. The second to the last president, Doe, took over. Things went downhill and a bunch of troops came in to take over power. The troops landed in the rural areas and took hold and moved down to the city, Monrovia.
What do you remember from the second time?I was nine. We had to go to this camp place
called Gravestone. It was this huge compound, kind of around the American embassy. It was supposed to be safe, but it really wasn’t because people were dropping bombs.
How long were you in the compound?About a week. When things quieted down, we
decided to leave. Everything was by foot. That was probably the fi rst time I saw dead bodies. But I’m not traumatized or anything. I don’t feel like I’ve been through so much. I mean it happened, and it’s over.
Do your experiences aff ect the way you watch the news or react to wars?
You would think I would pay more attention to what was going on in the news. The only thing I can say was when 9-11 happened, people were so shocked. I knew it was bad, but I wasn’t so freaked out. For me it was something that seemed possible because I’ve lived through something like that.
How was it reuniting with your mother? It had been six years.
It was pretty exciting. We came in our suits and took a really long fl ight. I remember being so excited, trying all this new American food. We got to Boston and it was freaking freezing.
Was it a culture shock?Yes. Things were tough there in Liberia. But
when you’re in that situation you don’t really realize. I didn’t know things were tough until I came here.
Did you ever envision yourself where you are now?
No. Back there, going to America is like going to heaven, but not really. For example, people are so jealous. When we got our papers my dad was like, ‘Don’t tell anybody.” We’d heard stories about people dying the day before they left from poison.
Now you live in Rhode Island and you donʼt like it. Why?
I don’t like it because at fi rst it was tough, especially because I started in middle school.
Did they pick on you? I would get asked these three questions. First
question: Do you have a lion in your backyard? Do you guys walk around naked? The best was, do you guys swing around trees with monkeys? I’m like, this ain’t Tarzan, son!
Scene Editor / Sarah Ulrey / [email protected] | MARCH 28, 2005 STUDENT LIFE | SCENE 9
By Katy Scoggin
“Why are we marching?” shouted Debra Silberschatz to the frozen crowd huddled beneath the Brookings Arch. Before her co-organizers could chime in with their rehearsed responses, a man on the fringe of the crowd unexpectedly answered, “Because my sister was raped in L.A.”
This impromptu moment marked the beginning of last Thursday’s Take Back the Night march, an annual event designed to promote safer streets and protest sexual assault. Armed with umbrellas and shielded by extra layers of clothing, the students and community members who participated marched through areas surrounding campus before holding a candlelight vigil on the South 40.
“Too many of my friends have been raped,” said Silberschatz, a senior and co-planner for Take Back the Night. “I’m lucky. I’ve never had to experience that, but it was a sad realization that almost one in four of my friends had been raped before we got to college.”
Feeling unsafe at night frustrates Silberschatz.“The reason I got started with [Take Back the Night] is that I
don’t feel safe walking alone at night, and I hate it,” she said. “I have to work out how I’m going to get home before I can decide if I can go out, and I’m way too independent for that.”
While the marchers prepared their protest signs, senior Robert Nathenson was handing out paper towels and magic markers.
“People can answer the prompt, ‘I feel afraid when…’, and
write on [the paper towel] with magic marker,” explained Nathenson. “And then, at the closing ceremony, everyone is going to dip it in a tub of water, and what they wrote is going to fade away.”
Although Take Back the Night is traditionally considered a march for women, the Wash U male population is encouraged to attend. This year, invitations were extended to all campus fraternities.
“The march is for anyone who feels afraid at night, and that’s gender neutral,” said Nathenson, a member of AEPi. “Also if a female is afraid because of a man, it’s also a man’s responsibility, so it’s not just a woman’s issue. It involves both genders.”
After speeches from Nathenson and Christina Meneses, a community educator for the YWCA’s St. Louis Regional Sexual Assault Center, the marchers poured out of the Quad and into the streets chanting, “Women unite! Take back the night!”
“As a woman, you don’t feel safe jogging alone in the park or sleeping on a hammock in your own backyard if it isn’t fenced,” said Meneses who joined the march. “One of my friends, when she buys high-heeled shoes, makes sure she can run in them.”
After marching silently down Skinker as a tribute to victims of sexual assault, the marchers made themselves heard on the Loop. It was there that they caught attention of David Brown and his friend Jesse who both live in the area and were more than happy to contribute their voices to the march.
“I got jumped a while ago, right in this area,” said Brown while waving at restaurant patrons’ curious stares. “I got about
50 bucks stolen and the guys that did it just ran off. We need safer streets.”
Having increased their numbers on the Loop, the marchers headed back to campus via the notorious “Greenway Path.”
“The sad thing is that I would never walk through this area past dark alone,” said senior Carmen O’Donnell. “Marching tonight has been very empowering, and I hope we can get to the point where we can envision a world where we don’t fear the guy on the other side of the street.”
After passing through Frat Row, the marchers headed for the South 40. The Underpass amplifi ed their chants of “No matter what I wear or where I go, yes means yes and no means no!”
Having waded into the muddy Swamp, the marchers held a candlelight vigil, a challenge given the wind and rain, which didn’t quite manage to extinguish the fl ames. As promised, the marchers then laid their paper towels on which they had written their fears in a basin and watched the rain dissolve them.
“The weather is never good [during Take Back the Night],” said senior Erika Sabbath, who has helped organize the event since her freshman year. “But people always come out. It feels really empowering to walk with a whole group of people.”
For Sabbath, the stranger’s unexpected interjection at the beginning of the march was the event’s highlight.
“That’s exactly the spirit of this event,” she said. “To have someone who didn’t have a voice and who wasn’t even expected to speak be able to talk and share is what [Take Back the Night] is all about.”
SCENE
Over 5,000 Wash U students have called Edwin C. Koenig Residence Hall home. As one of the original dorms on the South 40, it has stood for nearly half a century. This summer the building and all its history will crumble to make way for a new dorm.
Koenig was erected in 1958 as part of the fi rst-ever phase of construction on the South 40. Koenig was named in 1962 in honor of Edwin C. Koenig, an accomplished sailor and donor to Washington University.
Vestiges of Koenig’s history remain in the dorm today, especially in the form of its plumbing. Ross Andrese, a resident of Koenig 1 refers to the plumbing as mature.
“The plumbing likes to sing to individuals taking showers,” he said.
Other remnants of the past are the urinals in the girls’ bathrooms, leftovers from the days when Koenig was an all-male dorm. However, as Amy Mignosi of Koenig 2 said, with no pun intended, “I’m okay with the urinals. I just kind of went with the fl ow.”
And going with the fl ow is often a necessary part of living in an old dorm like Koenig, as freshman Sylvie Bushwick discovered in the fall. She returned to Koenig 3 one afternoon only to be evacuated. The pipes in the rooms below had burst and the maintenance staff was concerned about the possibility of fl ooding. Bushwick and her roommates spent a few days sleeping on couches in friends’ rooms while their room waited for their return, covered in dust sheets.
Even after the incident, Bushwick still proclaims love for her fl oor and her building. She would never trade Koenig for the new dorms, which she says “feel like a hospital ward to me because they are so spacious and quiet.”
In addition to the little problems that all residents of old dorms must face, this year’s Koenig crew has larger issues: construction dirt and construction noise. The yet-to-be-named dorm between Liggett and Koenig will offer suite-style housing for freshmen and sophomores for the 2005-2006 school year. This building, as well as the one which will be constructed where Koenig currently stands, are part of a larger transition across the South 40 toward new residence halls and a concept of a residential college housing both freshmen and sophomores.
While current Koenig residents will have preference for living in the new dorm next year, that privilege doesn’t make up for construction.
Ben Rivera of Koenig 3 just misses his sleep. “I wake up every morning at 8 a.m. They are good about that.
They start on time. For the fi rst few weeks, I would get up and check the window because it was so loud I was convinced the window was open. They are so close that I look out the window and can read the construction workers’ watches.”
Despite the plumbing and piping problems and the constant construction, Koenig residents seem to love Koenig.
“The sense of community is much different than in the new dorms, Mignosi said. “The set-up of the rooms and the community bathrooms are much more conducive to making
friends, and not just meeting people, but actually living with them.”
Bushwick and Mignosi rave about the sense of community among the fl oor, dorm and Liggett/Koenig Residential College. According to Residential College Director Mary Elliott, she and her team of RAs will focus on maintaining this strong sense of community next year, despite the challenges that will result from the combination of freshmen and sophomores and the varying dorm styles.
Elliott is excited for the improved facilities that will be part of the refurbished Liggett/Koenig Residential College. While she says she will defi nitely miss Koenig, which she also calls home, Elliott and her future residents will also appreciate better laundry rooms and other new facilities, as well as more common space, which will be utilized for programming for the self-proclaimed “premiere” residential college.
Though the new building will certainly have its advantages, many current Koenig residents will miss their former home, and its many “special” features. Ross Andrese of Koenig 1 describes his feelings about Koenig, echoing the sentiments of his dorm-mates:
“I would not trade our run-down, pock-mark ceilinged, singing bathroomed, mud in front of the entranced, outer door that remains ever unlocked, loud construction noises at 8 a.m.-ed, lovely view of a piping battlefi eld outside my window, Edwin C. Koenig for any better-lit, newer and more glamorous dorm.”
By Rachel Cohen
Participants in Take Back the Night rally together in preparation for the annual march around campus.
Take NightBACKTHETake Night
A Tribute to KoenigTribute Koenig
By Kristin McGrath
Scene Editor / Sarah Ulrey / [email protected] | MARCH 28, 2005 STUDENT LIFE | SCENE 10
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