Vol. lXXI ... No. 19 rooseVelttorch.commoNday, February 9, 2015

The Roosevelt TorchoFFIcIal studeNt Newspaper oF rooseVelt uNIVersIty • chIcago • schaumburg

Ernie Banks passes away at age 83 PAGE 12

‘American Sniper’ not propaganda but perspectivePAGE 8

New social justice blog drives RU missionPAGE 4

BY MEGAN SCHULLERCOPY EDITOR

RISE discussed the upcoming objectives and issues that it wants to fo-cus on for the semester at recent organizational meetings on Jan. 27 and Jan. 29.

The organization cur-rently has two campaigns set as its focus for the rest of this year, which each center on separate issues, yet all connect to bettering education.

Sophomore RISE mem-ber Ryn Grantham dis-cussed the student first campaign and why it is important.

“RISE is about making sure that the students can have an impact on social justice issues, and the stu-dent first campaign focus-es on student debt, the rise of tuition and purging. We have plans on how it could be handled better that we want to submit to Presi-dent [Charles] Middleton and the administration

to show that something needs to change, and we have possible solutions for it,” Grantham said.

RISE is also working on the Reclaim Chicago movement, which is a po-litical campaign put on by the People’s Lobby.

“Universities from around the city work to-gether to reclaim Chicago from corrupt politicians. We want politicians that answer to the people and not to money. We’re working with [candidate] Byron Sigcho of the 25th Ward for alderman,” Grantham said. “Sigcho has been personally en-dorsed by Reclaim [Chica-go] and is a very progres-sive person for education and environmental caus-es. He is a teacher and has been working nonstop for education reform in his district. He doesn’t believe in the privatization of schools and teaches cours-es within his community as well.”

Sophomore Luke Dobbs,

co-coordinator of RISE, described other initiatives RISE is currently working on, including an activism 101 training event on Feb. 13 and an “RU teach in” of the university’s social jus-tice history on Feb. 28.

“We’re going to teach other students on how to be active, organize on issues they are self-inter-ested in and gain power to fight against their op-pressors. We are working with the professors union on these issues. While we are a student-led organi-zation, we are supported by professors because they care about what we’re do-ing,” Dobbs said.

Dobbs also said the teach in will be good to raise awareness on why Roosevelt stands for so-cial justice to ensure that sense of activism at the university doesn’t fade out.

“We’re going to get one of the social justice profes-sors to lead an informative meeting on the social jus-

tice past of our school…I think that it would be re-ally inspirational, because we are trying to develop a sense of activism commu-nity on campus,” Dobbs said.

RISE has also shifted its focus from last year, which was environmen-tal issues, to more human rights, educational and political issues.

“All the issues we are fighting for are similar in the way that they are all connected. Different peo-ple are hurting for differ-ent reasons. A year ago, our biggest focus was on environmental issues, and we were very successful with preventing fracking in Illinois,” Dobbs said. “Last semester, our main focus was [the] black lives matter and mass incarcer-ation... We see the student first campaign as [our fo-cus], because we want to build an active culture at our school, which is criti-cal to our growth and con-tinued success.”

The RISE organization continues to stand for is-sues that students believe in and are affected by.

“There were a lot of en-vironmental justice issues that he has successful-ly fought and continues to fight for, which aligns with RISE and the en-vironmental work we’ve done as well,” Jon Gill

said, a sophomore RISE member. “We’ve done things statewide and na-tionwide. RISE [is] not a steppingstone. You are immediately not only in-volved with the school, but local, city and statewide government.”

RISE’s weekly meet-ings are on Tuesdays at 4:30 p.m. in AUD 420.

RISE sets objectives for new campaigns

PHOTO BY MEGAN SCHULLERRISE members talk about the organizational agenda.

BY JOSHUA M. HICKSSTAFF REPORTER

Roosevelt University’s Counseling Center hosted a mental health training pro-gram on Feb. 3 for mentors at the university.

Mary Grigar, interim director counseling con-sultant for the CC, led the training program and dis-cussed its purpose within the department.

“[The training program] was focused on the peer mentor program from the Academic Success Center. The peer mentors work with first-year students, who are kind of being incorporated into the school population, and they help facilitate their adjustments,” Grigar said.

Grigar also mentioned the details within the pro-gram training.

“[The program] was to provide skills, knowledge and training to the pure mentors. It helps the men-tors to be able to recognize symptoms of distress in a student, increase their com-fort referring to the mentee

and to work and be able to set boundaries around their relationships with pure mentors, so that they are there for support but not over burdened by their role,” Grigar said.

Junior Ashanti McCall has been a mentor for two years now, and she recalled why she became a mentor.

“I was once a mentee and understood what it felt like to need guidance in this world called Roosevelt University,” McCall said. “I understood what it felt like to feel lost, isolated, and nervous about college life. I wanted to be a resource for people, who I could relate to. Nobody gets through college alone, or anything for that matter, and I simply wanted to be an avenue for someone else.”

Sophomore Lupita Car-rasquillo wanted become a peer mentor to support her fellow students because of the importance of having someone there to listen to.

“I wanted to support my fellow students, and I un-derstood how important it

is to have someone ask you how you’re doing and actu-ally listen to your response,” Carrasquillo said. “Growing up I didn’t receive attention and support with academics and that made me feel like my success wasn’t import-ant or even feasible, and I knew other students felt that way...I wanted to be the person I needed growing up.”

It’s not just the students that benefit from the act of mentoring, the mentors also gain knowledge from the ex-perience.

“Being a peer mentor al-lows me to understand all types of people,” McCall said. “On any given day, I not only deal with my own mentees, but other students as well. To have this experi-ence now is definitely allow-ing for some incredible prac-tice for my future career.”

The training extended by the CC offered different advantages for those in at-tendance.

“What I gained from this conference understands that progression in life can-

not be independent...Even being a peer mentor, I still need to be mentored just like my mentees. Help nev-er stops, and that is a good thing,” McCall said. “I plan to apply this experience of being a peer mentor in the future to my profession. All in all, my experience now will not only benefit me in my career, but will most

importantly help me in my journey of serving others.”

Whether it’s learning how to better assist one anoth-er or find new ways to help mentees prioritize mental health and wellness, Car-rasquillo said that she plans on taking on a more obser-vant role in the future.

“We are all students and humans. Sometimes, col-

lege asks you to prioritize one over the other, and that isn’t healthy,” Carrasquillo said. “I plan on establishing more effective boundaries and being more observant of my mentees, so I can be most effective in helping them succeed while taking care of myself as well.”

Counseling Center hosts training programs

PHOTO BY BREANNA WALSHStudents participate in a training program for peer mentors led by Mary Grigar.

2 | The RoosevelT ToRch | FebRuaRy 9, 2015

News

BY DALY TONGRENSTAFF REPORTER

Students for Sensible Drug Policy held its first meeting of the spring se-mester on Jan. 28, where they discussed the Stu-dent Involvement Fair, current drug policy news and began to brainstorm the agenda for the upcom-ing semester.

SSDP is a national orga-nization which according to its mission statement, “mobilizes and empow-ers young people to par-ticipate in the political process, pushing for sen-sible policies to achieve a safer and more just fu-ture, while fighting back against counterproductive Drug War policies, par-ticularly those that di-rectly harm students and youth.”

Kathie Kane-Willis ad-vises the organization at Roosevelt University and has been around since its inception in 2005. She de-scribes the organization as social justice-orientat-ed and focused on health-based solutions to the War on Drugs.

“RU SSDP has twice won outstanding chapter awards for its work on overdose prevention, med-ical marijuana and educa-tion around racial dispari-ties,” Kane-Willis said.

Some of SSDP’s biggest accomplishments to date include enacting the Good Samaritan law at the uni-

versity, which promotes responsible student ac-tions on the basis of well-ness in the community and working to lessen the effects of the Higher Edu-cation Act that takes away access to financial aid for students who have drug convictions. The work of SSDP has greatly altered the harshness of that act, and new guidelines sur-rounding access to finan-cial assistance for college students have been set.

The meeting was led by Kathlynn Whitley, co-president of the organi-zation. Her hopes for the upcoming semester are to focus more on tabling and education among the student body, whereas the fall semester spent a lot of its efforts on program-ming.

“The [Student] Involve-ment Fair this semester didn’t have as much going on as it did last semester,

which is common for the spring. Even though we didn’t get to talk with as many students, it did give us the opportunity to talk with other student organi-zations, which was nice,” Whitley said.

The SIF gave SSDP a chance to explain to stu-dents just what it is that they do and stand for, as well as the chance to net-work with other student organizations on cam-pus. In particular, Whit-ley mentioned speaking with members from RISE and tossed out the idea of contributing an article on drug policy to the zine, Serio, that was co-found-ed by two of its members, Luz Magdaleno and Alva-ro Zavala.

Attendance at the meet-ing was low, due to a shift in semester and a large number of graduating stu-dents – something that is not uncommon in stu-

dent-run organizations on campus.

Throughout the meet-ing, Whitley and other members discussed cur-rent drug policy seen in the news, mostly regard-ing the state of Illinois. Topics included statistics in drug-related arrests, War on Drugs debt and the policies affected by the recent mayoral election.

The group also began discussing its agenda for the coming semester, which includes efforts of lobbying for drug policy, the creation of an SSDP blog and ways to become involved in a grassroots legalization initiative.

SSDP will be having bi-weekly meetings for the remainder of the semes-ter that it will be hosting in the Wabash Building, room 311 at 4:30 p.m.

SSDP reconvenes for spring semester

PHOTO BY DALY TONGRENMembers of SSDP meet to discuss its plans for the upcoming semester.

PLEASE SEND MAIL TO The Roosevelt Torch, 18 S. Michigan Ave., Room 515 or rutorchnews@gmail.com. • Letters to the editor may be shortened to fit available space.

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@RUTorch/roosevelttorchnews

EDITOR-IN-CHIEF Shawn Gakhal MANAGING EDITORCourtney Clark LAYOUT EDITOR Emma Iglesias

PHOTO EDITORBreanna Walsh

COPY EDITORMegan Schuller

WEB EDITORAustin Slott

GRAPHIC CONTRIBUTORPook Piyatida

STAFF REPORTERSKatherine GageLauren GrimaldiJoshua M. HicksRachel PopaDaly TongrenBUSINESS MANAGERTom CiceroASSISTANT BUSINESS MANAGER Efe Iyare

TORCH CONSULTANTEric Hahn

FACULTY ADVISORBilly Montgomery

CONTRIBUTING REPORTERSQuinton R. Arthur Chloe Baron

PUBLICATION POLICYViews expressed are those of the authors and are not an expression of Roosevelt University policy. The Roosevelt Torch prides itself in its dedication to addressing news that affects the Roosevelt community while uncovering stories that both enlighten and entertain. All advertising is subject to acceptance.The business department can be reached at torchbu@roosevelt.edu

Roosevelt toRch staff CONTACT US

Old man carrying crack threatens woman in parking fight

A 70-year-old man became involved in a fight with a woman over a parking spot on Jan. 26 in Uptown. According to DNAinfo.com, Stanley Tharp was arrested at 941 W. Carmen Ave. after they witnessed part of the fight that escalated into Tharp threatening to hit the victim, Barbara Barker, with his vehicle. Barker, a building assis-tant, was working late at the time of the incident.

Although Barker says she pays to use the spot after 6 p.m., Tharp be-came irate when the spot was not vaccated at that time. He confronted her by slamming on the door to her office and scream-ing and swearing at her as she came out. Barker says she was frightened by the incident and has since quit her job at the building. After his arrest, Barker admitted to car-rying a plastic bag that contained more than four grams of crack, accord-ing to authorities.

One killed, two oth-ers stabbed at Super Bowl party

A man stabbed a musician to death and injured two other women on Feb. 1 after the vic-tims attempted to help the man’s girlfriend who had been beat up by the accused during a Super Bowl party, according to the Chicago Sun-Times.

The alleged criminal, Aaron Rutigliano, began to stab Antonio Gamboa over and over after Gam-boa had come to help Rutigliano’s girlfriend when she had been shoved by him, police said. It was reported by authorities that Rutiglia-no stabbed Gamboa five times in the back, twice in the neck, four times in the back and twice in the

left eye. He also stabbed a woman in the wrist and another on her side. When other partygoers attempted to intervene in the incident, Rutigliano said, “I’m going to kill you all,” according to prosecutors.

The incident happened inside an apartment located at the 2300 block of South Michigan Ave-nue. The same partygoer that attempted to inter-vene was eventually able to subdue Rutigliano with the aid of another man.

SWAT team called to high-rise in the South Loop

A man was arrested in the South Loop early Tuesday morning follow-ing a standoff with police that lasted for hours, according to the Chicago Tribune. Authorities were called to the building in the 1100 block of South Michigan Avenue follow-ing a domestic incident at around 7:40 p.m. Mon-day night, police said. At the time of their arrival, the man would not come out of his apartment and had also barricaded the door, according to authorities.

At that time, SWAT teams were called. The man was alone in the apartment at the time, according to the police. The officials remained at the building into the early morning. The man was later arrested without incident and no injuries were reported.

CRIME BLOTTERThe Roosevelt Torch crime blotter serves to in-form students about recent crime activity in and around the Chicago area, with a specific focus on those that could closely affect college students.

— Lauren Grimaldi, Staff Reporter

SGA meeting expands on agenda, future meeting with President Middleton

BY QUINTON R. ARTHURCONTRIBUTING REPORTER

The Student Govern-ment Association held its weekly meeting on Feb. 4 in the Spertus Lounge of the Auditorium Building to talk about the creation of ad hoc committees, an open forum with Presi-dent Charles Middleton and the future agenda.

Rachel Pieczura, a se-nior and the president

of SGA, led the meeting, which the first order of business was to finalize plans for the weekend. The Executive Board and senators planned to have a formal meeting on Sun-day. The formal meeting will consist of a review of Robert’s Rule of Order, roles and responsibilities of different officers, and most importantly, amend-ing the current constitu-tion and bylaws.

A discussion and vote was then held to decide whether to create an ad hoc committee to review the constitution and by-laws beforehand and sug-gest changes or to review and make changes as a body. As the discussion for the vote moved on, pas-sions flared as how to go about making changes to the constitution. Seasoned senator Phil Crawford and newly elected senator

Carlita Kelly exchanged dissimilar views on the subject, but both shared valuable points.

“We may seem loud and opinionated, but that’s a good thing. That’s the team we built,” Pieczu-ra said. “We want people who are emotional. That shows they are invested in the issues.”

...cont. page 3

BY QUINTON R. ARTHURCONTRIBUTING REPORTER

Dr. Alison Wearden, professor of health psy-chology at the Universi-ty of Manchester, came to speak at Roosevelt University on Jan. 28 as part of the department of psychology lecture series to talk about chronic fa-tigue syndrome in an in-terpersonal context.

CFS is categorized as a severe, persistent and disabling fatigue. Some symptoms include mus-cle pain and mental ex-haustion.

“Approximately half the people who get this condition are actually no longer able to work, so it has a massive economic impact,” Dr. Wearden stated.

CFS is unique in that it cannot be attributed to another medical or psy-chiatric condition. It is usually diagnosed by rul-ing out other illnesses, as it is not specifically cov-ered or taught in medical school. It affects approxi-mately 0.2 to 0.4 percent of the population, per the National Institute for Health and Clinical Ex-cellence.

Wearden attended the University of Manches-ter as an undergradu-ate, earning a degree in

psychology and later a degree in social work. Wearden then worked as a corrections officer for a number of years and earned a Ph.D. Shorty thereafter, she was able to combine her research in family processes and CFS.

Some treatments to help cure the illness are cognitive behavior thera-py, graded exercise ther-apy and pragmatic reha-bilitation. Wearden said what most affects the patients’ outcomes is the impact that significant others make.

“Significant others understanding [of the illness] will determine how they respond to the patient,” she said.

The illness affects every aspect of the pa-tient’s life, including fi-nancial stability. Also, the patients’ belief about the illness is affected by the solicitous or negative responses of their signifi-cant other.

Verna Burton, a senior psychology major, talked about how the lecture helped her understand the deep effects of the ill-ness.

“The lecture was en-lightening. It helps to understand how deep the illness is and how it affects significant others

and family,” Burton said. According to a study

conducted by the Clini-cal Psychology Science and Practice Review, self-reported question-naire methods were used to conduct this specific research. The best way to help cure the illness is for significant others to encourage independence while at the same time recognizing the disease and its symptoms as le-gitimate.

Brian Treager, a clini-cal psychology graduate student, felt that the lecture was important in discussing and expand-ing upon the illness. .

“The lecture was great. It was very informative and the questions were thorough,” Treager said.

Dr. Susan Tor-res-Harding, Roosevelt associate professor in psychology and an ex-pert in CFS, believes the research completed in the United Kingdom will help research in the United States.

“Though chronic fa-tigue syndrome may be different in the U.S., research collaborations with the U.K. will help add to our research,” Torres-Harding said.

The RoosevelT ToRch | FebRuaRy 9, 2015 | 3

News

University of Manchester professor raises awareness on chronic fatigue

BY DALY TONGRENSTAFF REPORTER

Roosevelt University’s Campus Safety Depart-ment has recently entered in the running to win up to $100,000 in grant mon-ey from Stanley Security in order to create a more secure campus.

Maureen Froncek, the director of Campus Safety, decided to enroll Roosevelt after being con-tacted by several parties interested in putting the school in the race for the grant.

The grant, which will be awarded from Stan-ley Security, is part of the “Together for Safer Schools” program that seeks to create enhanced security on the campuses of higher education insti-tutions across the nation.

If the university wins the grant, Roosevelt’s Campus Safety program plans to use the funding to increase security while balancing historic preser-vation concerns.

The contest is split up into three categories that place schools against sim-ilar institutions by way of student enrollment. Roosevelt is a part of the first category, known as tier one, which is the pool of universities that are home to 8,000 or less stu-dents.

Froncek says that so far, texting has seemed to be the most popular option for students. She believes it is the quickest and most efficient of the aforementioned options.

The top two schools in each category that re-ceive the most votes will win grant money from Stanley Security, which they can then apply to its security programs.

“By focusing on higher education institutions in 2015, Stanley Security hopes to reach out to a va-riety of campus communi-ties and their widespread networks of loyal alumni and supporters and be-yond, encouraging signifi-cant conversations on the

need to advance security technologies and remain committed to campus safety at every level,” Stanley said in a state-ment regarding the “To-gether for Safer Schools” program.

So far, Campus Safety has advertised its grant race around campus in email blasts, department meetings and at the Stu-dent Involvement Fair. Froncek encourages all students, faculty, alumni and family to take part in voting.

“It’s a large sum of money, and we could certainly use it,” Froncek said.

There are three ways in which voting can take place for the university: texting, tweeting and email. Votes can be sent once a day per person and daily voting practices are encouraged.

To vote via text, stu-dents must send “roos-ev” to 334455. To submit a vote via Twitter, the tweet must include the

hashtags #Stanleysecu-rity and #roosev. Online submissions can be sub-mitted by visiting Stan-leyssaferschools.com. Voting for the grant be-gan on Jan. 19 and runs through Feb. 13.

GRAPHIC BY POOK PIYATIDA

Roosevelt enters security contest to win $100,000 grantThe formation of the

ad hoc committee and its pre-review was voted down, with four senators opposing, two in favor and one in abstention.

Next, plans were final-ized for an open forum, tentatively scheduled for the beginning of March. President Middleton and representatives from various departments on campus will be present. This event will be open to the public, and stu-dents will have a chance to submit questions be-forehand to be asked.

The last item on the agenda was new busi-ness, which was the in-troduction of the newly elected treasurer, Nye-sha Eubanks. Eubanks, a sophomore, had been involved with the SGA since her freshmen year and with her major rest-ing in finance, she was the ideal candidate for the position.

“As a freshman, I was involved but took a break to focus on academics. But seeing the need, I got back on board, and I am excited to continue the work,” Eubanks said.

Collaborations with other student organiza-tions that represent the unique voices of Roos-evelt University, such as the Black Student Union and RISE, have proven to be effective relation-ships, as SGA continues to grow and establish it-self on campus.

Pieczura attended the Illinois Board of Higher Education Student Ad-visory Committee con-ference, where she was able to meet with stu-dent government leaders from different universi-ties across Illinois.

Senator Eric Chaney talked about the poten-tial for growth.

“With a new Executive Board, we have to work out the kinks but as time moves on, we grow more proud. We are getting re-spect from other student organizations, and we are a force in the Roos-evelt [University] com-munity,” Chaney said.

The SGA meets every Wednesday in the Sper-tus lounge in the Audito-rium Building, room 244.

‘SGA meeting’ cont. from page 2

PHOTO BY BREANNA WALSHDr. Alison Wearden speaks about chronic fatigue syndrome on Jan. 28, 2015.

4 | The RoosevelT ToRch | FebRuaRy 9, 2015

Feature

BY LAUREN GRIMALDISTAFF REPORTER

Roosevelt University recently launched a new blog that will allow for members of the Roos-evelt community to voice its opinions freely and openly. The blog will focus on the university’s professed mission of social justice and pro-moting awareness of various social issues.

“I pitched the idea for the social justice blog after I started working at Roosevelt University this June. I knew the com-munity here at Roosevelt was passionate about social justice, and I want-ed them to have a plat-form to talk about the issues they care about,” Joshua Schweigert, a social media manager said. “After I brought up the initial idea, it was a team effort with both the office of Marketing and Web Department working hard to get the blog up and running.”

Director of Commu-nications of the Mar-keting Department Meredith Heagney offered a bit more in-sight as to how the blog came to be as well.

“The blog began be-cause my team began discussing new ways

that we could tell the Roosevelt story,” Heag-ney said. “The commu-nity is writing it, not us, which we thought was a cool thing.”

Schweigert went on to explain what the blog’s intention is in the first place.

“The main goal of the blog is to give the Roosevelt community a voice. We want to engage our students, faculty, staff, alumni and the outside community in a conversation about important social justice issues. We can already see this happening with our first series of blog posts that focused on the issue of campus sex-ual assault,” he said.

The blog itself acts as a platform for the Roosevelt community to write about what they want to talk about. Thus, starting out with the very real issue of sexual assault stirred the pot as well as ignited interest from many to participate in the conversation.

“We had blog posts from the student, faculty and staff perspectives. In addition to the blog posts themselves, our community was also able to participate by taking a pledge to help end sex-ual assault at Itsonus.

org. It was exciting to see our community take a stand together about such an important is-sue,” Schweigert added.

Heagney offered a similar take on the impact they hope the blog will have with the Roosevelt community.

“We hope that it brings people into conversation with the mission of Roo-

sevelt, with other people in the Roosevelt commu-nity, whether they be faculty, students or staff. Maybe they can find something they’re pas-sionate about and may not have known about. It can be a place for a civi-lized debate. We just re-ally want to get the con-versation going. The goal for all of this is engage-

ment,” Heagney said.Of course, the topic of

the blog won’t always remain the same.

The first topic centered around sexual assault and the “It’s On Us” campaign. Associate professor and Acting Director of Women and Gender Studies Marjorie Jolles wrote one of the first blogs on the subject.

“There are many ways students can support a positive culture change around sexual assault...Learning more about sexual assault from vic-tims’ perspectives can be powerful in dispelling myths about victims as blameworthy,” Jolles said, expanding on her post. Students can present alternatives to the victim-blaming narrative, whenever they encounter it by offering new narra-tives that condemn the targeting of women.”

In the next couple of months, the subject will focus on themes of racial and gender inequality, as well as taking ideas from the Roosevelt community.

“I’m excited to see what kinds of top-ics are suggested,” Schweigert said.

Students that want to write posts for the blog are encouraged to sub-mit their ideas at Blogs.roosevelt.edu/social-justice/call-for-writers. Schweigert also urges those who want to get involved to comment and repost on blog entries that interest them.

New social justice blog further drives mission of university

BY KATHERINE GAGESTAFF REPORTER

Let’s address a very evident elephant in the room: college students have a lot of problems. We are all studying, working jobs and trying to figure out what we are doing with our lives, when in fact, we have absolutely no idea.

It’s hard to reach out sometimes because our friends have biased opin-ions of what we need to hear. Others can’t see your situation clearly, be-cause they aren’t college students going through the same struggles you are.

This is where I come in. My name is Katherine, and I’m a writer for the Roosevelt Torch. I have 20 years of experience under my belt of strange, off the wall topics. I’m a change enthusiast so needless to say Roosevelt University feels like home to me. This also means that I have an open mind for whatever problem

you submit. If for whatever reason I don’t have the skills or knowledge to assist you, I will do the best that I can in making sure I supply an abundance of resources and experts to speak on the subject.

The best part is whatev-er you hear from me will be unbiased from an outsiders’ perspective, so unlike your friends, I’ll tell you exactly

what you need to hear with-out sugar coating anything.

Submissions can be filled out on Roosevelttorch.com. Feel free to use your name if you would like to have it published with your prob-lem or create an appropriate nickname to identify your-self. If you prefer to leave it anonymous, that’s fine, too. Fill out the form, hit submit and my response will be published in the next issue of the newspaper.

Which brings me to our first submission.

Dear Kat: Hi, I’m introduc-ing myself as an American, per se. I say that because I, even though I am classified

as a Hispanic, just don’t feel that way. Being raised in a considerably conservative environment, I tend to be proud of what this country gave me (opportunities). I just feel like I don’t want to be lumped into this category of race. That is why I somehow have managed a way that if there is someone who either looks Hispanic or has a Span-

ish surname, I avoid them at all cost. I feel like a paranoid. Any words of advice would be fine. Thank you. -David

Dear David: Hi there, I have a few things to say to this:

1. You are not paranoid. You are prejudiced. Now that you know this lets go about changing it.

2. I’m assuming you are a Roosevelt student--if that’s even true--and your en-rollment at a social justice university is quite peculiar, because the university prides itself in its racial diversity.

While I applaud you for thinking to expose yourself to different cultures, I want you to take a step back the next time you find yourself doing this and notice what this is triggered by. Think about if you reminded of a family member who did you wrong or if perhaps, you were teased as a child because of your race.

Also, I want you to consider how Hispanics, as well as your family, would feel about your preconceived stereotypes of them. If you are interested in

trying to change your ways, try to research and appreciate your own culture. Roosevelt has a few Spanish-oriented groups on campus so take advantage of them and try attending a few.

3. While America is a land filled with wonderful oppor-tunities, it is this way be-cause many different people from all over the world have come to create this country into what is represents in today’s society--a melting pot nation. Every culture brings something different, and this includes your own as well.

4. If you’re trying to make a sincere change, you’re going to have to put a personal in-vestment into this. Research your family background and find reasons to put forth the effort. You obviously want to change as you wrote for help on how to go about it, so what’s the solution? Use these rea-sons as inspiration to go about making the change, and there you will find the answer.

Good luck,Kat

Dear Kat: let me introduce myself

GRAPHIC BY POOK PIYATIDA

PHOTO BY JOSHUA SCHWEIGERT Roosevelt’s new blog lets students voice their opinions on social justice issues.

BY JOSHUA M. HICKSSTAFF REPORTER

Chicago experienced its fifth largest snowstorm in history on Monday, Feb. 1 as a reported 19 inches of snow fell .

Due to the harsh and untenable conditions, many universities and schools closed through-out Chicago, including Chicago Public Schools, DePaul University and North Park University. Despite the numerous schools closings through-out the city, Roosevelt University was one of the few universities that remained open and not many students were happy with the decision.

Laura Janota, Roos-evelt’s director of Public Relations, discussed the process of possibly shut-ting down the university temporarily because of the inclement weather.

“We rarely close the university entirely, as we have students regularly residing in housing on campus, security and fa-cilities requirements, etc. That said, in cases involv-ing any kind of inclement weather, the Roosevelt University provost [Doug Knerr] and other uni-versity leaders carefully weigh factors at hand in order to determine whether or not to cancel

classes,” Janota said. Janota also discussed

the factors behind the university’s decisions to keep the it open sit-uations such as this.

“These factors may include potential incon-venience [to the] well-be-ing [of] members of the Roosevelt community, expected severity of the weather pattern at the time of classes/employee workday and functional-ity of vital infrastructure like mass transit and major highways,” Janota said. “After carefully con-sidering these factors, it was determined in this case that cancellation of classes and curtailment of employee working hours were not warranted.”

Freshman Tiyan-na Hayes recalled her experience walking to class on the day fol-lowing the blizzard.

“During the snowstorm, I had two classes in Roo-sevelt’s Gage Building. The building is three [to] four blocks away from the Wabash Building [Hayes’ residence],” Hayes said. “The weather conditions were extremely windy, very cold and the side-walks were filled with snow. There was barely a path to walk and I ru-ined my Ugg boots, which are supposedly made for that type of weather.”

Sophomore Maya Maynard encountered a different experience, as she walked to her classes.

“After a stormy night, the morning was pretty calm and beautiful. Peo-ple were out and about as usual filling the city streets. I could tell they plowed. However, the crosswalks were still hard to maneuver through. The storm didn’t return until later that day so walking a short distance wasn’t hectic,” Maynard said.

The university’s decision to stay open when other colleges were reportedly shut down didn’t sit well with many students.

“I believe school should have been closed. The reason being is many students and faculty staff live off campus, and the weather conditions did not make it easy for them to transport to the cam-pus. Many of their cars were blocked in, and the streets had not been fully cleared yet,” Hayes said.

Some students felt that Roosevelt didn’t want to lose money, which is why the university was kept open during the after-math of the blizzard.

“I questioned whether or not RU [Roosevelt University] actually cared more about the students than money. It

seemed as though the school did not want to lose any money by clos-ing, so they kept classes open and tarnished many of the students’ atten-dance,” Hayes said.

Whether or not the university’s decision to

remain open was justi-fied, not all believe that it was the wrong choice.

“At first, I thought it should have been shut down but considering that students live in th build-ing and around the cor-ner, it wasn’t necessary...I

believe for commuters, classes [should have been] canceled,” Maynard said. “It didn’t really bother me that I had to go to class considering it wasn’t far, and the wind wasn’t that high.”

The RoosevelT ToRch | FebRuaRy 9, 2015 | 5

Feature

COURTESY OF MICHAEL TERCHA/CHICAGO TRIBUNE/TNSThe blizzard that hit Chicago on Feb. 2 was the fifth-largest blizzard with 19 inches of snowfall, per the National Weather Service.

Roosevelt students question decision to stay open after blizzard

BY DALY TONGRENSTAFF REPORTER

Across the country, the month of February is popularly celebrated as Black History Month. Each year at Roosevelt University, on campus student organizations plan events that correlate with that message.

This year, the Black Student Union, S.I.S.T.E.R.S and Res-idence Life are a few of the student orgs respon-sible for hosting Black History-related events.

“It’s about making our community of aware of the black achievements that did happen that a lot of us don’t get credit for still. Also, [it’s] remem-bering the struggles we had to endure to achieve where we are now and just paying homage to the people that paved the way,” Gabe Evans said, a member of the

Executive Board of BSU.Here are the events

that Roosevelt has planned for the month-long celebration of Black history.

Thursday, Feb. 5, 12 and 19: “Hidden Colors” three-part doc-umentary screening.

“Hidden Colors” is a documentary series that explores, in three differ-ent segments, African ab-original people in history, treatment of black com-munities in America and racism.“‘Hidden Colors’ is a documentary about Af-rican history, which you wouldn’t hear about in a typical text book. When I first saw it, it opened my eyes to many things, which just aren’t taught to students,” Sean Tyler said, president of BSU. This event takes place from 4 p.m. to 6 p.m. each session in Wabash 1017.

Tuesday, Feb. 10: “Our Friend Mar-

tin” movie night.Erika Williams, resi-

dent assistant in the Wa-bash Building, will host a screening of “Our Friend Martin,” an animated,

educational film about Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. and the American Civil Rights Movement of the 1960s. The movie will start at 7 p.m. and will

screen on the 14th floor of the Wabash Building.

Monday, Feb. 16: Zuzu Black Acrobats.

As featured on “Ameri-ca’s Got Talent,” the Zuzu Black Acrobats will be performing and leading a lecture on African-Amer-ican history. This event takes place at 5 p.m. in Congress Lounge and is sponsored by the BSU.

Africans Down Under Residence Life program.

This event will feature a discussion about the African diaspora and how it has impacted the indig-enous people and artwork of Australia, while giving students the opportunity to see the artwork. The event will take place in the 14th floor rec room in the Wabash Building.

Sunday, Feb. 22: Trip to DuSable Muse-um of African-Amer-ican History.

RA Erika Williams will meet with students at noon in the Wabash lobby and escort them to the DuSable Museum, which is located in Hyde Park.

The museum hosts sever-al exhibits and programs that are dedicated to African-American history and culture. All Roosevelt students may attend.

Wednesday, Feb. 25: Fifth annual Black history celebration.

BSU will hold its annu-al Black History Month celebration showcase that will feature mu-sical performances by Proclaim Choir, spoken word poetry, dance and a large food spread.

“Roosevelt’s students and staff are encouraged to come celebrate Black culture with plenty of food and performers,” Nicole Wilsons said, the presi-dent of S.I.S.T.E.R.S, who is co-sponsoring the event. This event takes place in Congress Lounge and runs from 5 p.m. to 7 p.m.

All Black History Month events being hosted at the university this month are free and available to all students, excluding the Residence Life programs, which are exclusively for Wabash Building residents.

Roosevelt gears up to celebrate

Black History Month

GRAPHIC BY POOK PIYATIDA

6 | The RoosevelT ToRch | FebRuaRy 9, 2015

pop culture radarBY RACHEL POPA | STAFF REPORTER

‘DARK PLACES’Written by the same author of the wildly popular book, “Gone Girl,” Gillian Flynn’s “Dark Places” is about a famous murder case and a lone survivor’s mission to find out the truth. Libby Day’s mother and two sisters were murdered, but she was spared. Famously, she accused her brother of being the killer. Twenty-five years later, she begins to try to unravel the mystery of what really happened on the day that her family was killed.

‘THE INVENTION OF WINGS’For her 11th birthday, Sarah is given a slave as a gift. Ten-year-old Handful is to wait on Sarah hand and foot. Over the next 35 years, the two remain friends, their re-lationship sprinkled with guilt, disobedience and tough love. Written by the same author as “The Secret Life of Bees,” Sue Monk Kidd, “The Invention of Wings” is a touching story about a truly unique friendship.

Movies & TV

‘TO KILL A MOCKINGBIRD’ SEQUEL ANNOUNCED A sequel to the classic novel, “To Kill a Mocking-bird” by Harper Lee has been announced to be on its way. “Go Set a Watch-man” is to be a direct sequel to “To Kill a Mock-ingbird,” taking place 20 years after the events of “To Kill a Mockingbird.” Though, it was revealed that Lee’s new book was written before “To KIll a Mockingbird,” but was cast aside and recently rediscovered. The newly discovered novel is said to explore racial tensions that were present in the 1950s as well as the relationship between father and daughter. The plot of “Go Set a Watchman” is apparently going to revolve around Atticus Finch and his daughter, Scout. The new novel is going to be the first book penned by Lee to be published in 55 years and is her second book. The acclaimed author is 88 years old. “Go Set a Watchman” is set to be released this coming July.

BOOKS

‘JUPITER ASCENDING’Set in and above Chicago, “Jupiter Ascending” follows the story of Jupiter Jones, a Russian-American house-keeper. When she was born, she was “destined for great things,” but doesn’t believe it until Caine, a genetically engineered ex-military soldier comes hunting her down. The movie is a blend of sci-fi and drama and was released on Feb. 6.

‘WILD’This New York Times best-seller and true story follows the life of 22-year-old Cheryl Strayed (the author) and her journey across the Mojave Desert. After her mother dies and her marriage is torn apart, Strayed decides to lose herself in the desert in order to find herself. Filled with humor and unbelievable triumph, “Wild” is an inspiring look into the unpredictable-ness of young adulthood and one woman’s journey to dis-cover who she really is. The book was also recently made into a movie, which was released on Dec. 5, 2014 and stars Reese Witherspoon.

‘FIFTY SHADES OF GREY’The long-awaited film adaptation of the racy best-seller, “Fifty Shades of Grey” is to be released just in time for Valentine’s Day on Feb. 13, 2015. Starring Jamie Dornan as tortured billionaire Christian Grey and Dakota Johnson as shy, inexperienced An-astasia Steele, the two embark on a wild, whirlwind romance like none other. The movie is said to be the most anticipated release of 2015.

Dana Brown, sophomore, vocal performance and music education double major

“My favorite part is my bee pin, because I won them in an entomology competition when I was 15, and I liked collecting bugs a lot.”

Taylor Gaffney, third year jazz vocal major

“My favorite part of my outfit are my shoes. I wear them all the time, and I feel like they go with everything because they are a neutral color.”

Isadora Santos, junior, chemistry major

BY BREANNA WALSH | PHOTO EDITOR

Internet‘TINDER NIGHTMARES’This Twitter and Instagram account highlights the very worst moments in Tinder dating history. Tinder, a social media equivalent of a dating app, is used to find dates very quickly. Users can swipe right if they’re interested in a person and swipe left if they’re not. If two users both swipe right on each other, it’s considered to be a match. Then, the users can exchange messages and arrange dates. That’s where Tinder nightmares comes in. People can submit their funniest, most horrific messages to the

account for all to see. Highlights include pickup lines, puns and veiled insults. Both users and non-users alike are bound to find humor in this eclectic comprising of casual exchanges between complete strangers.

‘KINGSMAN THE SECRET SERVICE’Based off of the popular comic books, this take on the classic spy movie is both fresh and fun. The Kingsman are a super secret spy organization, who recruit promising youth into their midst. Think James Bond but

about 10 years younger.

‘RICHARD SHERMAN’S REACTION TO LOSING THE SUPER BOWL IS APPLICABLE TO EVERYTHING’During the recent Super Bowl, the Seahawks seemed to have it in the bag. But then a pass was intercepted, costing the Seahawks the game. One of the Seahawks’ players, Richard Sherman, was understandably upset, but that didn’t stop the Internet from immediately turning

the distraught player’s reaction into a meme. People of the Internet have applied Sherman’s reaction to just about everything from when a restaurant doesn’t have Coke products, to when you have to start paying back your student loans. Sher-man’s reaction is bound to be a classic Internet treasure for years to come.

‘JIMMY FALLON RECREATES ‘THE FRESH PRINCE OF BEL-AIR’ THEME SONG’Due to New York City being completely frozen over, “The Tonight Show” had to be filmed in California instead. To mark this special occasion, Fallon decided to recreate the classic theme song to the classic TV show “The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air.” Many declare that Fallon’s rendition is better than the original.

FASHION FOCUS

The RoosevelT ToRch | FebRuaRy 9, 2015 | 7

Come to the Roosevelt Torch meetingsand pitch us your ideas.

New writer meetings o�ered, no journalism experience required.

Meetings are every Monday at 5 p.m.

in the Gage Building, room 515.

Roosevelt Torch

GRAPHIC BY POOK PIYATIDA

8 | The RoosevelT ToRch | FebRuaRy 9, 2015

edItorIal & opINIoN

BY RACHEL POPASTAFF REPORTER

Looking back, I can’t imagine what my edu-cation would have been like without the arts. However, there was al-ways a present threat of its elimination from the schools I attended. I understand that money is tight right now, but to me, the arts are priceless. The damage that would be caused from removing the arts from schools’ cur-riculums would be much greater than the money saved by axing them.

I don’t understand how school administrators are even considering taking such a crucial part of education away from the students that need the arts to enrich their lives. I suppose it’s because they don’t consider the arts to be an important part of education. My argument is that if they think the arts are un-important, then what is truly important to them?

In my experience it seems as if school ad-ministrators tend to favor sports over art education such as mu-sic and basic art. That always seem like a ludi-

crous stance to have. In my eyes, there’s a

reason why the names of ancient Greek stories and authors have survived rather than the names of great Olympic athletes.

The tradition of teach-ing such great works of art is one that has stuck throughout the ages. The tradition of the modern Olympic games wasn’t re-vived until 1896, accord-ing to the official Olym-pics website. While both arts and athletics are im-portant in its own right, one should not inherently get priority over another.

The arts have a more lasting and worthwhile impression upon those who get to experience the burgeoning field. Those who practice the arts do not have a shelf life like those who play sports.

According to Douglas Yeo, an esteemed musi-cian and teacher, musi-cians can be guaranteed to have a career of over 30 years and have the oppor-tunity to work well into their 80s. That statistic applies to those who per-form in the Chicago Sym-phony Orchestra as well. These musicians get to travel the world doing the thing they love. While the

same can apply to those who play sports, they cannot play well into their 80s, at least not with ease or for money.

Having the talent to play an instrument, paint a picture or write a story is invaluable. Those are skills that can stick with you for life. The thrill of play-ing a sport is a sensa-tion that is temporary. Those who can paint and write can enjoy the fruits of their labors for years to come.

There’s a reason why entire buildings are dedicated to famous artwork, and why we continue to read the works of William Shakespeare even though he’s been dead for nearly 400 years.

The arts matter and continue to be extremely important. They shape our lives in countless ways. To have education without art is like living life without a soul. To take arts out of the schools because they can’t be afforded is a travesty. In my opinion, there isn’t too high a price that can be paid for the arts.

BY CHLOE BARONCONTRIBUTING REPORTER

“American Sniper” has been highly praised but also sharply criticized for its perceived propaganda message. At a surface level, watching the Clint Eastwood-directed film may leave your heart swelling with patriotism and overwhelming pride to be an American. How-ever, it is important to think more deeply on the issue and examine what other messages the film is showing.

The film is about sniper Chris Kyle, America’s big hero. At the beginning of the movie, Kyle’s father explains to him that there are three kinds of peo-ple in the world: sheep, wolves and sheepdogs. The sheep are the inno-cent and naive weaklings, the wolves are the bullies and the sheepdogs are the heroes, who protect the

sheep from the wolves. A big problem with

“American Sniper” is that it depicts Kyle as the only sheepdog of the movie. Not only does he need to protect his fam-ily and country, he also leads and protects the other troops as if they are sheep. Kyle, who is recognized for his large number of kills and nick-named “the legend,” is the clear hero of this story. The film neglects recog-nition to many of Kyle’s supporting characters.

Whether they be sheep or sheepdogs though, the Americans are clearly the good guys. There is no question that Kyle is a good person, despite his position as a sniper. However, a sniper on the other side seems in-herently evil, simply for being beyond enemy lines.

The film ignores much of actual history and completely neglects to

mention President George W. Bush, Saddam Hus-sein, or the weapons of mass destruction that were the actual cause of the invasion of Iraq.

Instead, the film fo-cuses on terrorism and highlights al-Qaida’s attack on the United States in August 1998 and Sept. 11, 2001. The movie is not subtle at all about pushing an an-ti-muslim perspective.

While in Iraq, the troops are instructed that anyone there is the enemy and to kill any military-aged male. All of the characters introduced in Iraq are shown as en-emies and referred to as savages. In the one case, the troops open up to a man whose house they are occupying. However, he later reveals himself as an enemy and is killed.

Though, the movie did a good job of showing how war negatively affects

people. Although the mov-ie’s focus is centered on Kyle and his heroism, as a secondary theme it shows how the war destroys the people around him.

Kyle’s younger brother for instance, Jeff Kyle, also ends up in Iraq. Un-like his older brother, Jeff seems very distraught and disturbed by fighting in the war and quickly returns home. Kyle’s

wife, Taya, is left at home to raise their two children. She becomes so lonely and frustrated that she threatens to leave Kyle if he returns to Iraq. Kyle develops post-traumatic stress disorder, which hinders the ability to enjoy his family when he is home.

“American Sniper” is clearly pro-military and does almost appear to be

propaganda. However, not all the messages in the movie are negative. Looking past the glorifica-tion of Kyle and his love for defending the country, it also shows how war pushes people to their limits. This movie should be watched with the knowledge that it is a nar-rative of Kyle’s warring perspective, not an unbi-ased view of the world.

GRAPHIC BY POOK PIYATIDA The arts are an important part of the development of both the human spirit and mind.

The arts are an essential part of education

‘American Sniper’ not about propaganda, but about perspective

COURTESY OF WARNER BROS. PICTURES/TNS“American Sniper” has grossed over $255 million, per Box Office Mojo.

The RoosevelT ToRch | FebRuaRy 9, 2015 | 9

BY RACHEL POPASTAFF REPORTER

The trailer for “Jupiter Ascending” was released close to a year ago, leav-ing audiences yearning to see it. The movie looked to be an exciting blend of sci-fi, action and drama. While those elements were indeed present in the film, they were executed poorly.

“Jupiter Ascending,”re-leased on Feb. 6, was di-rected by Lana and Andy Wachowski. The story begins with the birth of Jupiter Jones, who was deemed to be capable of great things. Her par-ents were astronomers, hence why they named their daughter after a planet. Her father was killed by robbers who intrude their home, forc-ing Jupiter’s mother to move to America or more specifically, Chicago.

The plot jumps forward to Jupiter’s adulthood, which involves her work-ing a job that requires her to scrub toilets all day. In need of money, Jupiter is convinced by her cousin to sell her eggs. The operation goes awry, as aliens hired by the owner of Earth try to murder Jupiter.

As it turns out, Jupi-ter is the reincarnation of the heir to Earth, and

her son tries to murder her in order to get the deed to the planet. The plot is littered with holes, and much of the dialogue is cheesy and badly act-ed. Important characters are introduced with barely any background info, which leads to a lot of confusion later on.

That being said, “Jupi-ter Ascending” is very vi-sually stunning. The spe-cial effects are impres-sive and dynamic, and the costumes are beau-tiful and unique. The movie had a surprisingly superb quality of 3D effects. However, the ac-tion sequences seemed to have little direction and got to be very repetitive.

There was a particular scene where Jupiter was being chased and shot at in the skies above Chicago. The city gets destroyed as a result but is quickly repaired af-terward by the man who owns the planet, which makes the entire scene seem really anti-climac-tic and pointless. What’s the point of such destruc-tion if both the city and the protagonists come out unscathed? More of the special effects budget should have went into the plot and storyline, rather than just making the movie look good. After all, you can put a

pig in a dress, but it’s still a pig nonetheless.

What plot that did exist was poorly exe-cuted and was riddled with holes. For instance, Jupiter is apparently a perfect reincarnation of the original woman who owned Earth. The children of that wom-an then want Jupiter dead in order to own the Earth. They refer to Ju-

piter as “mother,” which makes no sense. How could Jupiter be a 100 percent perfect reincar-nation of someone if the original person did not have the same parents as the reincarnation?

There were also a lot of references to the alien society the own-ers of the planets were from, but there wasn’t any background infor-

mation to back up the references, leaving the audience confused.

Jupiter’s character also wasn’t very fleshed out, despite being the main character. She was very static, one dimensional and pretty boring, to be frank. The two main actors in the film, Mila Kunis (Jupiter) and Channing Tatum (Caine) did a decent enough job,

but I was left wanting more from their perfor-mance. But, perhaps that can be attributed to the poor script.

If one is looking to watch a movie that looks pretty, then “Jupiter Ascending” is a good bet. However for those looking for a movie with a little more substance and finesse, give “Jupi-ter Ascending” a pass.

‘Jupiter Ascending’ fails to ascend

art & eNtertaINmeNt

COURTESY OF WARNER BROS. PICTURES“Jupiter Ascending” is visually stunning but disappointing story-wise.

THIS WEEK AT RUMonday February 9- Saturday 14,

Tuesday 10Monday 9 Wednesday 11 Thursday 12 Friday 13

Saturday 14

Late Application Deadline 1/17, 12a.m. – 4/3, 11:59p.m.

Late Application Deadline1/17, 12a.m. – 4/3, 11:59p.m.

12:30 p.m. – 1:30 p.m. Gamma Phi Omega Weekly Meetings (WB 915)2 p.m. – 5:30 p.m. SGRho Study Session (WB 317)4:30 p.m. – 6:30 p.m. ALA Students Board Meeting (WB 311)8:45 p.m. – 10:30 p.m. Alpha Gamma Delta Chapter Meeting (WB 609)9 p.m. – 10 p.m. Weekly Chapter Meeting (WB 1017)

7:30 a.m. – 2 p.m. USHLI Conference10 a.m. – 12 p.m. COE Academic Council (Auditorium Building, Videoconference Room 309,Schaumburg Videoconference Room 614)11 a.m. – 12:30 p.m. Honors Workshop: Winning at Scholarships, Fellowships, and Grants (WB 1015)12:30 p.m. – 1:30 p.m. Illume Christian Artists Weekly Meeting (WB 817)3 p.m. – 4 p.m. ASA Weekly Meeting (WB 1214)4 p.m.– 5:30 p.m. SPEED Weekly Staff (SCH 311)6 p.m. – 9 p.m. Letter Ceremony (SPERTUS LOUNGE)7 p.m. – 10 p.m. Laugh & Love for Babies (WB 317)

7:30 a.m. – 2 p.m. USHLI Conference12 p.m. – 4 p.m. CCPA Audition Day Information Session (AUD 628)12:30 p.m. – 2:30 p.m. CSI Second Saturday SERVE Event

12 p.m. – 2 p.m. RU Sound Stage Performance (MICHIGAN AVE LOBBY)12:30 p.m. – 1:30 p.m. GIG Training (WB 311)2:45 p.m. – 4:45 p.m. WITS Youth Tutoring Program (AUD 320, AUD 326, AUD 320/326)3 p.m. – 6 p.m. "Soda" you wanna be my Valentine? (ROTUNDA)4:30 p.m. – 6:30 p.m. ALA Students Board Meeting (WB 311)4:30 p.m. – 6:30 p.m. ALAS Weekly Meetings (AUD 614)4:30 p.m. – 6 p.m. Proclaim Gospel Choir Practice (AUD 606)4:45 p.m. – 5:45 p.m. RU Proud Weekly Meeting (AUD 524)5 p.m. – 6 p.m. GIG Training (WB 618)5 p.m. – 10 p.m. Harry Potter movie/game night (WB 317)8:45 p.m. – 10:30 p.m. Alpha Gamma Delta Bid Week (WB 418)

9:30 a.m. – 3:30 p.m. SAI Valentine's Day Fundraiser (FAINMAN LOUNGE)12 p.m. – 7:30 p.m. Gamma Phi Omega Informational (WB 418)1 p.m. – 3 p.m. Cookies and Fruit! (ROTUNDA)3 p.m. – 5 p.m. CSI What's up Wednesday (WB 3RD FLOOR OPEN LOUNGE)3 p.m. – 5p.m. What's Up Wednesday (WB 317)4 p.m. – 5 p.m. Roosevelt Counseling Association Meeting (Gage Building, General Classroom 207)4:30 p.m. – 5:30 p.m. Ssdp weekly meeting (WB 311)4:45 p.m. – 5:45 p.m. Black Student Union Weekly Meeting (WB 612)5 p.m. – 6:30 p.m. CRU Weekly Meeting (AUD 326)5p.m. – 6p.m. Student Government Meetings (SPERTUS LOUNGE)5:30 p.m. – 7 p.m. Heller College of Business Graduate Programs Information6 p.m. – 9 p.m. The Blaze Open Mic (CONGRESS LOUNGE & 232 SERIES) Session - Chicago Campus (WB 1211)

9:30 a.m. – 3:30 p.m. SAI Valentine's Day Fundraiser (FAINMAN LOUNGE)2 p.m. – 4 p.m. Gage Gallery "Art as Activism" Series (GAGE GALLERY)2 p.m. – 6 p.m. APO Crush Can Pickup (WB 915)4 p.m. – 5 p.m. SSDP Weekly Meeting (WB 311)4:30 p.m. – 5:45 p.m. RU Connected: Facilitating Social Connectedness on an Urban Campus (AUD 320)4:30 p.m. – 6:30 p.m. Phi Iota Alpha Chapter Meeting (WB 1011A)5 p.m. – 6:30 p.m. Student Honors Org Planning Meeting (WB 317)5:30 p.m. – 7 p.m. Heller College of Business Graduate Programs Information Session - Schaumburg Campus (SCH 322)6 p.m. – 9 p.m. S.I.S.T.E.R.S. Weekly (WB 618)7 p.m. – 9 p.m. Greek Council Meetup (WB 311)8 p.m. – 10 p.m. A Night For Love (WB 317)

10 | The RoosevelT ToRch | FebRuaRy 9, 2015

ThIs Week at Ru

RISE members at an or-ganizational meeting.

Student Government Associa-tion President Rachel Pieczura speaks at the organization’s meeting on Feb. 4., 2015.

Dr. Alison Wearden speaks about chronic fatigue syndrome at a medical lecture on Jan. 28., 2015.

A group of peer mentors at a Counseling Center training program.

Sharron Evans, assistant vice president of student develop-ment, at an SGA meeting.

Illume Christian Artists meet for its weekly meet-ing on Feb. 6, 2015.

Members of Illume Chris-tian Artists discuss the agenda.

Mary Grigar, interim di-rector counseling con-sultant for the Counsel-ing Center, lectures to a group of peer mentors.

The RoosevelT ToRch | FebRuaRy 9, 2015 | 11

commuNIty

W R B C t o p 1 2 t u n e s o f F e b r u a r yBY THE BLAZE STAFF

1. “Masterpiece” – Jessie J2. “Black Beetles” – Joey Bada$$3. “Wallace” – Azealia BanksCourtesy of Flickr/ Fernando Vega4. “Oh Man, Oh Boy” – Haki5. “Lay-by” – Tennyson6. “Sugah Daddy” – D’Angelo and The Vanguard7. “Transpose” – Bad Suns8. “Muy Tranquilo” – Gramatik9. “Burnout” – Saba10. “In The Life” – Lisa “Left Eye” Lopes11. “Blessings” – Big Sean feat. Drake12. “The Righteous One” – The Or-wells

COMIC BY IVANNA RODRIGUEZ

12 | The RoosevelT ToRch | FebRuaRy 9, 2015

sports

BY JOSHUA M. HICKSSTAFF REPORTER

The 2015 NBA All-Star Weekend is headed to New York City from Feb. 13 to Feb. 15.

This year’s events will include the Celebrity All-Star game, BBVA Compass Rising Stars Challenge, Three-Point Shootout and the Sprite Slam Dunk Contest.

Though, a couple of changes have been im-plemented this year.

The BBVA Compass Rising Stars Challenge will now see the young talent from the United States and the world square off in lieu of the traditional Rookie v. Sophomores game, which was a staple of All-Star Weekend’s past.

The NBA will be test-ing this new rule change for the first time, while the dunk contest will also have a new twist to its format.

There will be four par-ticipants, and they all will have two dunks in the first round. The top two dunkers with the highest scores move on to the final round. Here, they will do their final two dunks, and the par-ticipant with the highest score wins the contest.

In addition to the nu-merous activities at All-Star Weekend, the Golden State Warriors’ Stephen Curry and the Washington Wizards’ John Wall will play in a

game of H-O-R-S-E-like competition as well.

Roosevelt Universi-ty men’s assistant bas-ketball coach Aaron Rolle disagrees with the changes the NBA has made with the All-Star Weekend festivities, es-pecially with the new Rising Stars Challenge format.

“I understand what they are trying to do with the changes, but I don’t agree with it,” Rolle said. “I think it should just be the top young players like it was in the past. I feel like there is too much poten-tial for good players to get left out.”

Erica Jordan, a junior forward for the Lak-ers women’s basketball team, said that the new arrangement is a good change for the league.

“I think it is pretty cool that the NBA decided to add international play-ers, because it brings a new element to All-Star Weekend. Now everyone around the world can root for their favorite player from their own countries,” Jordan said.

Though, not every ath-lete was as excited about the changes in seeing in-ternational competition.

“I’m pretty indiffer-ent on the international aspect of the weekend,” Joe Harks said, a se-nior guard for Lakers men’s basketball team. “I mainly care about the [All-Star] game, dunk

contest and three-point shootout.”

The attention--like most years, if not ev-ery year--will be placed on the dunk competi-tion and main event, the All-Star game, and coach Rolle had some ideas in mind.

“I would change the dunk competition to the old rules. Eight dunkers with the best two dunks score them and then move on,” Rolle said. “I would also take out the fan voting for the All-Star ballots. Guys like Kobe [Bry-ant] starting to leave out guys that are young and [are] having much better years.”

Overall, despite the various changes the NBA has made for All-Star Weekend, many fans will still be watch-ing in anticipation of the star-studded event.

“NBA All-Star Week-end is by far my favorite All-Star event of all the sports. It is the most competitive, at least the end,” Harks said. “It’s interesting that it’s in Madison Square Garden--the mecca of sports. It should be a great weekend with the Rising Stars Challenge, the great dunk contest and an extremely com-petitive three-point shootout.”

NBA All-Star Weekend changes spark debate amongst Roosevelt athletes

BY LAUREN GRIMALDISTAFF REPORTER

Ernie Banks, also known as “Mr. Cub,” passed away on Jan. 23 from a heart attack at Northwestern Hospital in Chicago, per one of his business associates.

After his passing, an outpouring of emotion and countless heart-warming interactions with the baseball leg-end began to be shared throughout social media and the rest of the Inter-net.

Banks, the first Afri-can-American to ever play for the Cubs, was one of the town’s most heralded sports icons. Known for his ever-pres-ent smile and nothing short of infectious enthu-siasm, Banks was truly a crowd favorite to Cubs

fans everywhere. “Words cannot express

how important Ernie Banks will always be to the Chicago Cubs, the city of Chicago and Ma-jor League Baseball,” chairman Tom Ricketts said in a team statement released shortly after his death. “He was one of the greatest players of all-time. He was a pioneer in the major leagues. More importantly, he was the warmest and most sincere person I’ve ever known. Approach-able, ever optimistic and kind-hearted, Ernie Banks is and always will be Mr. Cub.”

Nevertheless, Banks’ accomplishments on the field were just as im-portant and appreciated than what he did off of it. He spent his 19-year ca-reer with the Cubs and

finished with a .274 avg, a .330 OBP and a .500 SLG, according to Base-ball-almanac.com. In his 2,528 career games played, Banks hit 512 home runs and was se-lected to play in the All-Star game 11 times and won the NL MVP twice throughout his long, il-lustrious career.

Banks was elected to the Hall of Fame in 1977 in his first year of eligibility. He spent his remaining years as an ambassador for the team and in 2013 was the the recipient of the 2013 Presidential Medal of Freedom for his work off the field.

“Michelle and I send our condolences to the family of Ernie Banks, and to every Chicagoan and baseball fan who loved him,” the Obamas

said in a statement. “He was beloved by baseball fans everywhere, includ-ing Michelle, who, when she was a girl, used to sit with her dad and watch

him play on TV. Some-where, the sun is shin-ing, the air is fresh, his team’s behind him, and Mr. Class — “Mr. Cub” — is ready to play two.”

Banks has a statue on the outskirts of Wrigley Field, and his No. 14 jersey is retired by the team.

Ernie Banks passes away at age 83, will be missed

COURTESY OF JOHN J. KIM/CHICAGO TRIBUNE/TNS Ernie Banks, the famed “Mr. Cub,” passed away on Jan. 23.

COURTESY OF GEORGE BRIDGES/MCTThe dunk contest at the 2015 All-Star Weekend will see a new format.