Observerthe volume xlvi, issue 13

News A&E Opinion Sports

friday, 11/21/2014

pg. 2Cleveland preps

for winter

pg. 14Actor turned

genius

pg. 7USG answers

the call

pg. 19 Fall sports

top moments

Case Western Reserve University

Where does your meal swipe money go?

to Meal Plan | 3

It’s not uncommon to hear students complaining about the meal plan, espe-cially about how one meal costs $13. Or $10. Or maybe even $15; no one seems to remember the exact price. While stu-dents don’t agree on the actual numbers, though, they can agree that they pay too much, and most of them don’t even really know where the money is going.

As far as the actual price of a meal swipe goes, that changes based on the number of swipes per semester, with a low price of about $9.64 for the 19 swipes per week and a high of $17.00 for the 100 block plan (not counting the plans for those with dietary restrictions).

Jacob Ma, the vice president of student life for the Undergraduate Student Gov-ernment, is trying to address the lack of knowledge on the issue.

“I’m trying to open up the transparency of the university budget,” said Ma. He is currently talking to the university’s budget-

ing office to determine where meal swipe money goes, and to figure out the best way to convey this information to students.

Elizabeth Nochomovitz, director of Auxiliary Services, was able to provide Ma with a breakdown, but it is a couple of years old. Still, she believes that very little has changed.

The majority of the money goes to food and wages. Bon Appétit tries to buy food from local sustainable farms, which should mean the food is higher quality. Since they have to pay more for higher quality goods, a little over a third of meal swipe money goes to paying for the food you eat.

An additional 35 percent goes to pay-ing employee salaries, both of the Case Western Reserve University workers and Bon Appétit workers. CWRU pays all of its employees at least a living wage in place of the minimum wage, and the con-tract it worked out with Bon Appétit re-quires that they do the same.

Anastazia VaniskoStaff Reporter

Food cost

Salaries

New equipment purchase & replacement

Equipment maintenance & repair

Meredith Dykehouse/Observer

Meredith Dykehouse/Observer

Rent & administrative overhead

Utilities

Debt repayment

Miscellaneous other

Spartans take center stage

This past week, CWRU students have been showing off their skills. Through philanthropy, competition

and community we saw that, indeed, CWRU’s got talent. See Mr. CWRU on page 9 and CWRU’s got talent on page 13.

Understanding your plate

36%

35%

6%

4%

6%3%

6% 4%

Figures from Elizabeth Nochomovitz, director of Auxiliary Services

news

John BroganStaff Reporter

Cleveland braces for winter weather

Clevelanders like to think they’re tough enough for any weather pattern. But No-vember’s 24-hour transition from warm and sunny to winter wonderland seems to be a cruel reminder of the season to come. So how do students lug around our textbooks with the weather changing? They prepare.

Case Western Reserve University’s Department of Earth, Environmental and Planetary Sciences go to geological sci-ences professor Dr. Peter Whiting for in-formation on weather patterns, calling him the department’s “weather guy.”

“Anticipation is that it’ll be 50/50 if this

winter will be colder or warmer than aver-age,” said Whiting, who is also an associate dean of the College of Arts and Sciences. “But not nearly as cold as last year.”

Whiting makes his predictions using research from the federal government’s National Oceanic and Atmospheric Ad-ministration, which includes a Climate Prediction Center with weekly, monthly and seasonal predictions for tempera-ture and precipitation.

Cleveland’s 2013-2014 winter season recorded 10 days with sub-zero degree temperatures, beating the city’s 30-year standing record. It got so cold that the Cleveland Clinic even released a video de-tailing frostbite prevention techniques.

Snow hit Cleveland (pictured above) suddenly this past week. CWRU’s “weather guy,” Dr. Peter Whiting, says it might be a snow-heavy winter this year. Ki Oh/Observer

Although this winter should likely bring warmer temperatures than last, ac-cording to Whiting, this may mean more snowfall. Due to Cleveland’s proximity to Lake Erie, the city is often subject-ed to unusual weather patterns known as the lake effect. When the lake is not frozen over, water vapor evaporates and collects in the air, coming back down as snow. A warmer winter means more evaporation, which means more flurries.

The entire country is feeling the pressure of the extreme weather chang-es, with temperatures in all 50 states falling to freezing or below on Nov. 15.

Whiting considers the amount that sci-entists know about weather, such as recog-

nizing storm formations before they even start to form, to be amazing, but there is still more to learn. Through collecting data over more years, researchers are starting to get better at recognizing weather patterns.

Whiting suggests that, in order to prepare for the harsh winter ahead, stu-dents dress properly for the weather; be sure to wear a hat and sufficient layers.

“I saw a kid on campus wearing shorts,” Whiting says. “I couldn’t believe it.”

Out-of-state freshmen are learning to adjust to the Cleveland weather.

“I like playing in the snow, so I’m buying things I can layer,” said freshman Mandy Wong. “In New York, the tem-perature isn’t as temperamental.”

Researcher spends nine months working in maximum security prison

A co-worker once told Joseph Galanek, “No one ever plans to come work in a penitentiary. It just happens.”

Coming out of college with a degree in psychology and a keen interest in abnormal psychology, Galanek found himself working as a mental health spe-cialist for a county jail in Florida.

“It just happened to be that I had the experience for the job,” he said.

When Galanek started work in the prison system during the mid-1990s, the state penitentiary lacked a coherent men-tal health system to serve its inmates.

“Back then, there was no roadmap for this,” he said. “I was sorting things out on my own. It was a madhouse.”

Galanek advocated for mental health inside the prison system and worked to build a mental health support system from the ground up. Though he en-countered some initial resistance from a small number of correctional officers, Galanek stayed to “get the job done” and the institution’s mental health situ-ation gradually improved.

However, the unique stressors of the prison environment—manipulation, as-sault, suicide and more—began to take a toll. After seven years of direct clin-ical work, Galanek made the decision to shift his focus to research, earning

a doctorate in medical anthropology from Case Western Reserve University.

“It was difficult to walk away from that,” he said. “[But] I don’t think you could be a mental health professional [there] for thirty years.”

Eventually Galanek returned to his old workplace, this time as a research associate with the Begun Center for Vi-olence Prevention, Research and Edu-cation at the Jack, Joseph and Morton Mandel School of Applied Social Sci-ences. In his nine-month study of men-tal illness in an Oregon prison, Galanek had the advantage of viewing the is-sue from two perspectives: the mental health professional and the researcher.

“Correctional officers have a model in their minds about what mental illness is and how to deal with it,” said Galanek.

Galanek’s research looks at how, through training and experience on the job, officers can learn how to manage mental illness to keep the peace and make the cellblock safer. Through 430 hours of prison observations and inter-views, he found that things ran more smoothly for the prison overall when officers were trained to identify and re-spond to the symptoms of mental illness.

According to Galanek, the cultural value system of institutions encourages officers to use their own judgment when managing an inmate. Officers really get to know their inmates through frequent

Mark PattesonStaff Reporter

interaction and learn how to deal with them on an individual basis, which can help them come up with more efficient ways of managing mentally ill inmates.

Galanek says that, contrary to the stereo-types of the by-the-books officer depicted in movies, officers often want to work with men-tally ill patients and “cut them some slack.”

“Officers want things to run smooth-ly without incident,” he said.

Through his previous work in Florida, Galanek knew how to navigate the prison system and the culture and language of cor-rections. He also benefitted from the con-nections he made with inmates and staff.

“By the time I left, I had a lot of re-spect,” he said. “Staff knew me and could trust me. [And inmates thought], ‘this guy is legit, he knows the language.’”

Galanek sees two reasons for his re-search. Because severe mental illness, including depression and schizophrenia, affect 16 to 20 percent of prison inmates, mental health incurs a significant cost. According to Galanek, mental illness costs the taxpayers twice as much to treat in a correctional institution than in the community. It also increases costs within the prison itself by increasing conflict.

“This is a huge policy concern for peo-ple who run state institutions,” he said.

He also emphasized the social justice aspect of mental illness in prison.

“Inside institutions, these individuals are more likely to be looked over,” he said.

Living in the “toxic environment” of prison, people with mental illness are more likely to be victimized through exploita-tion, manipulation and violence by what Galanek calls “Pulp Fiction gangsters,” or antisocial and manipulative criminals.

To Galanek, the primary take-away from his research, which was published in Medical Anthropology Quarterly, is that prisoners deserve humane treatment.

“We shouldn’t forget that there are a lot of people in the prison system that need help,” he said. “You have to treat people with re-spect, dignity, politeness and courtesy.”

Researcher Joseph Galanek worked in a prison system for seven years before coming to CWRU. His experience inspired his current research.

Ki Oh/Observer

Editor’s choice

3newsobserver.case.edu

From front page

“[Bon Appétit] is a company we feel very comfortable working with because of their corporate philosophy,” said Nochomovitz.

The rest of the money contributes to var-ious university costs, including repaying debts from outside sources that were used to build new additions to the university, like the Tinkham Veale University Center. Dining services also pays rent for the spaces it uses, giving that money back to the university.

There are also miscellaneous costs, rang-ing from printing brochures to administrative costs. Other costs include buying and main-taining equipment, as well as basic utilities.

When looking at meal plan issues, CWRU compares itself to other schools like Northwestern and Washington University in St. Louis to see what it can improve.

In response to a request from Campus Services for feedback on the meal plan con-tract, USG plans to form a food committee. Currently, the idea is that the committee will meet regularly and give chefs more con-

structive feedback, including criticism and compliments, throughout the year.

As a first step to make students more involved in commenting on the meal plan, USG hosted meal plan focus groups on Nov. 14 and 15.

The focus groups were asked about ways to improve the meal plan. Sug-gestions ranged from adding new ven-dors to completely getting rid of meal swipes. The new vendors idea was pro-posed to increase variety, especially for vegetarians. However, this proposal would come with an increase in cost.

More radical ideas, like replacing meal swipes completely with CaseCash, received opposition at the focus group. Many students like the buffet style of the dining halls, and don’t want their choices to be limited.

Other suggestions about the meal plan included points that can be used at other locations in exchange for unused meal swipes and extended hours for the dining halls and L3.

Exploring dining plan costs

Meal swipe costs have long been a mystery to CWRU students for years. USG is looking to change that.

Ki Oh/Observer

Halloween at Home not set to return next year

Halloween at Home is discontinued indefinitely.

“For the foreseeable future, yes.”Colin Worden, executive president

of the Class Officer Collective, uttered this statement gently and with a bit of remorse hanging onto the last word. The trick-or-treating tradition that went on for more than a decade came to an end this year. The decision, which was made by COC, was a saddening choice made for a good cause in the long run.

“Sometime in the [2013-2014] second semester, it was brought up that Hal-loween at Home was difficult to justify with the COC’s mission statement, while homecoming fit perfectly,” said Worden.

“Yet for some reason, we had been pouring a large amount of money into Halloween at Home, and neglecting homecoming. Once we realized there

was a contradiction between the spend-ing & our mission statement, we knew that we had to discontinue it.”

Ricky Marcus, assistant director for Student Engagement and an advisor for the COC, stated that the initial goal for giving up Halloween at Home was to give the COC enough time and funds to put more emphasis on homecoming.

“The COC decided to showcase their school spirit, and was instrumental in planning homecoming events. They were very pleased with the turnout.”

This year’s homecoming benefitted from the extra funding, with popular events like pushball being reinstalled. However, because it fell during midterm week, the attendance increase was not noticeable. Worden notes that it may take a few years for the COC’s re-juvenation of homecoming to be noticeable, “but that’s just a part of the grind.”

“COC wants to become the spear-head for the undergraduate student homecoming experience,” said Worden.

Gabrielle BuffingtonStaff ReporterCOC plans holiday event for

freshmen and sophomoreswas particularly planned with international students in mind, who are new to the uni-versity and the nation, to showcase how dif-ferent cultures celebrate the holiday season.

The planning quickly took off, and the sophomore class officers decided to join in on the fun. With the goal of bringing stu-dents together, sophomores, who often feel secluded in their new living quarters on southside, will get the chance to reunite with the freshmen and their fellow classmates.

The goal of the event is to create a big, welcoming environment that mirrors what students encounter when they visit their families during breaks. The event will fea-ture food, music and holiday activities.

The freshmen and sophomore class-es are going home for the holidays—almost. The Class Officer Collective’s new event, “Almost Home for the Hol-idays,” will give freshmen and sopho-mores a place to celebrate some of their first holidays away from home.

The event, which will be held on Wednes-day, Dec. 3, is free for all freshmen and sophomores. The freshmen COC officers originally started planning the event to give freshmen who were away from home some-where to come together for the holidays. It

Gabrielle BuffingtonStaff Reporter

The gym in the Village at 115th will soon be no more. The gym, located be-hind the Starbucks, will be stripped of its equipment and transformed into a practice space for campus dance groups.

Dance groups, who are not classified as athletic groups, have had issues find-ing spaces to practice in the past. With athletic groups getting priority for the spaces in the Veale Athletic Center, the Adelbert Gymnasium and the Horsburgh Gymnasium, dance groups have had trou-ble finding consistent places to practice.

David Aghassi, the president of Swing Club, spearheaded the effort to find a better practice space for all of the dance groups on campus. Along with Daisy Wu, president of Urban El-ements, Aghassi created a petition for all of the dance groups to sign, which he then presented to Vice President of Student Affairs Lou Stark.

Aghassi’s petition presented a few options: reevaluating the use of Thwing Ballroom and other on-campus spaces for dance groups, or buying a remov-able wooden dance f loor that could be installed in Carlton Commons, which has the space and openness for dance groups, but cannot be used properly be-cause of the granite f loor.

The initial meeting with Stark result-ed in no solutions, but it did bring the issue to the attention of the Undergrad-uate Student Government. Jacob Ma, the vice president of student life, con-

tacted the dance groups to work with them to find a solution.

The transformation of the Village gym into a dance space, which should be fin-ished at some point during the spring se-mester, was the first in a series of solutions.

“I think it’s a step in the right direction,” said Aghassi. The Village gym will pro-vide a consistent space for dance groups to use for practice, but it is too small to be used for lessons or performances.

Aghassi and the other dance groups also applied for one of USG’s new Stu-dent Life Improvement Grants to pur-chase a 42-by-42 foot removable wood-en dance f loor, which would be kept in Carlton Commons. Should they be awarded the grant, the maintenance and movement of the f loor would be paid for by the Tinkham Veale University Cen-ter, in exchange for them being able to use the f loor in the TVUC ballroom for weddings and other events.

Ma stressed that first use of the floor would go to student groups, with the TVUC only allowed to use it during non-academic periods, like holidays and breaks.

The university is also reevaluating the structural integrity of the Thwing Ballroom, which can only hold a cer-tain number of people. They are look-ing into the pricing to restructure the ballroom and possibly make the space available to dance groups.

The construction of the Milton and Tamar Maltz Performing Arts Center, expected to be finished in 2015, will also provide more practice and perfor-mance spaces for dance groups.

Julia BiancoNews Editor

Village gym to be transformed into practice space for dance groups

Look online for an update on student start-up Everykey’s Kickstarter

Find it at observer.case.edu

from Meal Plan | 1

4 news 11/21/14

Julia BiancoNews Editor

In the rural town of Aposentillo, Nica-ragua, 16 Case Western Reserve University students sit lounged on hammocks by the beach, some talking, some petting the dogs that roam around the open property. The stu-dents, myself included, are waiting to meet with 64-year-old nurse Meg “Margarita” Boren, the brains behind the Nancy G. Lund Clinic, which, since 2004, has treated thou-sands of patients for diseases ranging from common sexually transmitted infections to pneumonia to Dengue fever.

Our Center for Civic Engagement and Learning (CCEL) sponsored spring break trip to Nicaragua was mostly spent work-ing with Waves of Hope, a charity that helps to develop the surrounding community through education. However, on today’s trip, we are supposed to learn about Margarita’s clinic, where some CWRU nurses have trav-elled for their capstone projects.

The only problem is that Margarita hadn’t shown up yet.

***When you talk to Margarita about her pa-

tients, she never seems upset or frustrated— she’s more loving, caring and protective. She calls them all, all 6,000 people who make up the eight communities that her clinic serves, her “children.”

And they are, in a way. Aside from run-ning her clinic, Margarita’s charity, Circle of

Empowerment, also runs a Saturday tutor-ing program for elementary school students, an adult literacy program, the first commu-nity library, the two bright yellow buses—complete with colorful murals—that take children and teachers to school each morn-ing and numerous other programs in collab-oration with other charities in the area. She’s basically the Superman of health care and education for rural Nicaraguans.

Not that she’ll say it like that, of course. When Margarita talks about her accomplish-ments, she does it in the most matter of fact way possible—“Yes, when I first came here, four children a year would die from pneumo-nia. But we haven’t lost a child in the 12 years since the clinic opened,” and, “We’ve had 100 percent attendance this year at our Saturday tutoring school.” Not bragging, just the facts. But the facts alone are pretty darn impressive.

Margarita’s health miracles aren’t just the product of her bringing valuable medi-cations to the area, at a price that the com-munity members can actually afford. In fact, Margarita tries to avoid using medications whenever possible, and focuses her efforts instead on teaching the community how to avoid getting sick in the first place.

One of the problems that Margarita noticed early during her stay in Nicaragua was the prevalence of asthma among the children in the community. On average, 14 kids per week would be rushed into the clinic, mid-asthma attack. They would struggle to breathe the thick, muggy air through their constricted

There’s something about Margarita

airways. Some were even blue in the face by the time they came for Margarita’s help. She was always able to save them, using her trusty nebulizer to give the kids the medicine they needed to end the attacks. But the prevalence of the attacks worried her, and she knew that continuing to just treat the symptoms alone would only work for so long.

Armed with a plastic straw, a broom and a box of Lysol wipes, Margarita ventured out into the surrounding communities, travel-ling door-to-door between the thatched roof huts to explain to the mothers exactly what was happening to their children, and how to stop it. She had the mothers breathe through the straw so they could feel how their chil-dren felt during an attack.

Then, she swept at the ground with the broom, showing how easy it was to send up dust from the dry, red dirt roads that passed through the community—roads that were frequented by speeding dirt bikes and trucks, which uprooted a lot more dirt than just a small broom.

Finally, she used the Lysol wipes on the roofs and walls of the houses, revealing the mold and asbestos that were now populating the children’s lungs.

Then, she and the mothers brainstormed

on ways to cut down on asthma risk fac-tors. Speed bumps on the roads around the residential areas. Frequent home cleanings. Having pets sleep outside. And with just a few months of implementing these changes, asthma attacks were down to just one attack per two weeks.

“Funny thing is, that was ten years ago,” says Margarita. “I never went back and did that lesson again—the moms just kept on teaching it to each other. It really is a beau-tiful thing.”

***Twenty minutes have passed, and Mar-

garita still isn’t here. Her beautiful beach-front property, which features the pink and green striped walls of the clinic, as well as the large, thatched roof home in which Mar-garita and some of the clinic’s other nurses live, provides picturesque scenery for the wait, but it’s been a while.

Just then, though, Margarita comes rushing up the dirt path towards us, her watermelon scrubs crinkling as she walks. She waves as she comes up the path, says hello, and hurriedly explains that she had to run out to deal with a health emergency for

Students on CCEL’s Nicaragua spring break trip visit nurse’s health care clinic, do community service; applications for this years trip due Dec. 1

The main service project for the trip was helping out to build a school for the community. Students dug holes for irrigation systems, installed concrete tables and paint the school and its surrounding buildings.

Courtesy Angela Lee

Students ran a Kids Club, where children from the community came to El Coco Loco to play and learn.

Courtesy Angela Lee

The students all took surfing lessons, and even got to see Rocko, one of the El Coco Loco dogs, take a shot at riding the waves.

Courtesy Angela Lee

On CCEL’s alternative spring break trip to Nicaragua, students stayed at El Coco Loco, a resort run by charity Waves of Hope.

Courtesy Angela Lee

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5newsobserver.case.edu

a young girl in the neighborhood. She then has us all gather in a circle, sitting on plastic lawn chairs, where she tells us her story.

***

Margarita has faith. A lot of it. But she doesn’t spend her time trying to spread her beliefs.

“I hate when people go around knocking on doors asking ‘Have you found Christ?’” says Margarita. “It’s not faith that these peo-ple need. They have faith. That’s not the help we should be focusing on giving them.”

Margarita instead focuses her time on providing the services and opportunities that will allow the community members to advance themselves, and to pull themselves out of the poverty trap that many rural vil-lagers in developing countries find them-selves stuck in. Still, her faith is always close to her heart.

The majority of the $40,000 per year re-quired to run the clinic comes from friends from the Grace Lutheran Church that she is a part of back in her hometown of Graf-ton, Wisconsin. The clinic’s namesake, Dr. Nancy Lund, was an acquaintance from church who generously decided to donate all of the funds for the clinic’s construction. It was through her church that Margarita first visited Nicaragua in the first place, as part of a 1999 mission trip to bring health care to rural villages hit by the devastating Hurricane Mitch, a storm that displaced 368,300 people and destroyed 340 schools and 90 hospitals.

Margarita, a single mother of two children, left behind a comfortable job as a behavioral health nurse at Columbia St. Mary’s Hospital in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. But with her chil-dren in graduate school and the support of her church behind her, she knew that this was a chance that she couldn’t turn down.

“I spoke three words of Spanish when I first came to Nicaragua,” says Margarita. “Hola, cerveza and baño. In that order.”

Still, in typical Margarita fashion, she learned how to use this to her advantage. Every morning, after making the 11-km hike into town, she entered into the class-room in which she taught adults in the

community about health care and disease prevention. Standing in front of the room with 30-something uncomprehending fac-es staring up at her, Margarita realized that her frenzied hand gestures and sad at-tempts at miming out the words “urinary tract infection” weren’t going to cut it.

She spent her nights poring over Span-ish medical textbooks, trying to learn the tough terminology that had been hard enough for her to learn in her native lan-guage. She would come back each morning and struggle to get her point across until, eventually, one intrepid student would re-alize the point she was trying to make and jump up to explain it to the rest of the class. Margarita would smile and quietly fade into the background while the students be-gan to teach each other.

“When you get older, you can see more clearly how everything that you have done has helped train you for what you’re doing, at least if you’re lucky,” says Margarita. “For the first time in my life, I felt perfectly matched for what I was doing.”

***Now, Margarita wishes her problems

were that easy to solve. As her charity work expands, her pockets shrink. Her friends from church can only donate so much—they are already contributing half of the

clinic’s budget, and many also give the $90 per year to sponsor a child for Saturday tu-toring—money that gives them transpor-tation to and from school, two uniforms, socks, shoes, a backpack and school sup-plies. For many of the children, it is their only pair of shoes.

“This year, we have 180 students en-rolled,” says Margarita.

“We only have sponsorships for 140. I have yet to tell my board members about the extra forty kids. Shh,” she adds, placing a finger to her lips.

“One of the major things that we focus on is supporting and sponsoring these chil-dren so that they can get an education,” says Judy Spencer, who handles delegations on the board of Circle of Empowerment. Spen-cer says that one of the toughest problems the organization has had to face are spon-sors who will only donate for a few years of a child’s education.

“If people are going to sponsor a child, it’s really important that they make a commitment to stick with it for the entire time,” says Spencer. “If they only sponsor a child for three years, it’s really hard to find a replacement sponsor, and that’s really tough for the kids.”

***Margarita’s talk is well worth the wait.

She’s enthralling, energetic, inspiring. At the end of the trip, nearly everyone cites it as one of their favorite parts. She sends us all home feeling like we could accomplish anything.

***Margarita has hope that one day she can

leave her clinic and know that she has left it in good hands. The good hands of the com-munity members who she first came to the country to help.

Margarita is all about empower-ment—“Nicaraguans teaching Nicara-guans,” and “taking charge of their own des-tiny.” It sounds cheesy on paper, but when Margarita talks about it, with the light shin-ing in her eyes and the wide, almost childlike smile on her face, it’s pretty easy to buy into.

“I’m a grandma now,” says Margarita. “I need my grandbaby time. And if I’ve done my job right, I should be able to leave here, to go back to Wisconsin, knowing that I’ve empowered these people, and that I’ve left them with the skills necessary to help each other help themselves.”

***CCEL will be hosting another spring

break trip to Nicaragua this year. Applica-tions are due on Dec. 1. Interested students should contact Angela Lowery, the assistant director of CCEL.

USG designs syllabus database to help students with course registration

The Undergraduate Student Government wants to make course registration easier. With the new syllabus database, created by the Ac-ademic Affairs subcommittee, students can look through a resource bank of syllabi for a number of undergraduate courses.

“You hear from upperclassman, this class is hard, this class is easy, this class is a lot of work, and things like that, but they’re not very concrete things,” said Xiaoyu Li, vice presi-dent of the academic affairs committee.

“If you were able to see the syllabus, you would know better what you expected to learn in this class, what the assignments are, what the grading is like,” she added.

Sruthi MekaStaff Reporter

According to Li, the database, avail-able on the USG academic affairs web-page, will also allow students to better plan their schedules to accommodate ex-ams and minimize potential conflicts.

When the academic affairs commit-tee initially passed the resolution to de-velop a syllabus database last year, they decided to work with the university to compile syllabi, which already were collected for accreditation purposes.

However, the committee realized that the syllabi weren’t being compiled in a us-er-friendly way. They decided to send their resolution to the Faculty Senate Committee on Undergraduate Education (FSCUE).

“FSCUE did some more research and digging and got advice from IT, who told them that, in order to make this a

safe and sustainable type of resource, we would have to get an outside contractor who would be responsible for collecting all of the syllabi and maintaining and updating the syllabus database,” said Li.

The annual cost of maintaining the database with an outside contractor would total about $50,000.

“If we’re asking the university to devote $50,000 a year, we need to prove that some-one’s going to use it,” said Li.

Because of this, the committee decided to create a lean mock-up of the syllabus data-base, which would be used to measure gener-al student interest in the resource.

The committee encouraged its mem-bers and other students to send in their class syllabi, which would be virtually filed away. These are the syllabi cur-

rently available on USG’s website. “The [folder] we’re compiling right now

isn’t the end product,” said Li. “Whatever we’re uploading now is just really for at-tracting more students to come use it, and also for the general use of everyone who’s using [the database] right now.”

As of Nov. 17, the academic affairs web-page received just over 450 hits.

“In that regard, 450 students is a significant number,” said Li. “But we still need to ana-lyze that data and present it back to FSCUE to see what they think about it.”

“Hopefully, in the future, when we find funding, or somehow convince the admin-istrators that this is a valuable resource, we’re hoping to have the course syllabus database incorporated into SIS in the way course evaluations are,” said Li.

Do you remember your Little Blue Book?That book you received at the beginning of your first year with information,

stories, and more about the history and traditions of CWRU. Here’s your chance to work on what goes into that book!

If interested, please email Victoria Robinson at vkr8@case.edu no later than December 3rd.

Participants also visited Grenada, a large city in Nicaragua, where they got to shop and see the sights.

Courtesy Angela Lee

Visiting Margarita’s health clinic was the highlight of the trip for many students.Courtesy Angela Lee

from Margarita | 4

6 news 11/21/14

Nov. 14—Felony theft. Wallet taken from purse, Kelvin Smith Library.Nov. 14—Theft from auto. Glass smashed and items taken from parked auto, 1920 Martin Luther King Drive.Nov. 15—Criminal damage. Glass smashed on parked car, Carlton Rd.Nov. 16—Petty theft. Cell phone taken from purse, Starbucks on Euclid Ave. and Cornell Rd.Nov. 17—Theft from auto. Glass smashed and items taken from parked auto, 2040 Stearns Rd.Nov. 17—Theft from auto. Glass smashed and items taken from parked auto, 2040 Stearns Rd.Nov. 18—Theft from motor vehicle. Glass smashed and items taken from parked vehicle, 11940 Carlton Rd.Nov. 18—Theft from auto. Glass smashed and items taken, 1720 E. 116th St.

CWRU Police Blotter Nov. 11 to Nov. 18

On the beat

Riding safelyThe Safe Ride program is one of the

best known programs run by the Case Western Reserve University Police and Security Services Department. If you haven’t used the service yourself yet, you have probably seen the white vans as they roam around campus.

As the November weather turns into a steady tsunami of cold rain and more students start staying late at the library as final exams loom ever closer, demand for Safe Ride tends to spike. So, now may be a good time for a review of the program.

The Safe Ride program was start-ed in 2009 with a single driver and a somewhat dependable blue van. It is now several, much more dependable vans staffed by contract drivers. The program was intended to offer an addi-tional eventing transport option, along with the shuttle bus service.

The hours of operation during the ac-ademic year are 7 p.m. to 3 a.m. The pro-gram was originally a call-in service, but as the call volume steadily increased, we saw the need for a more efficient system. The RideCell automated dispatch system was introduced in 2012. The system can be accessed by using your CWRU net-work ID, or you can call 216-368-3000 and follow the prompts.

When you request a ride, remember a

few things. The service is there to help you get around campus safely. It is not a taxi. Please be by the pickup site you requested, so the van can get you and keep moving to the next request.

During busy times like finals or peri-ods of bad weather, the response can be slower, so be patient. The vans are still subject to laws of traffic and physics.

The vans are not ambulances. If you are feeling ill (like you are about to throw up, for instance), call the CWRU PD at 216-368-3333 and we will get you the appropriate help.

The van’s service area has boundaries, which students can view at police.case.edu. The van does not go to Coventry Rd., which the shuttle serves. We always try and balance the service boundaries against demand and response times.

If you have suggestions about service boundaries, let us know. As the pro-gram winds up its fifth year of service to the university, let’s keep on trucking.

On the Beat is a weekly safety col-umn written by Sergeant Jeffrey Daberko and Officer Mark (The Cross-ing Guard) Chavis of CWRU PD. We welcome questions, suggestions and gripes/groans/moans/complaints about campus life at policecolumn@case.edu.

The sisters of newly colonized sorority Sigma Sigma Sigma held a bake sale from Nov. 12 to Nov. 14 to raise money for Toys for Tots. They also collected toys and monetary donations.

Mary Kate Macedonia/Observer

News in brief

Adithi IyengarStaff Reporter

Do aliens exist? When it comes to an-swering the question of whether or not there is other life in the universe, astron-omers are on their way. The first step is to find other planets that are similar to Earth in terms of size, composition and distance from a star. Dr. Sarah Ballard, a NASA Carl Sagan fellow from the Uni-versity of Washington, spoke about this in her Nov. 13 lecture, “Directions to the nearest alien Earth-like planet.”

“When looking deeper into it, our solar system is surprisingly unusual and not like others, based on the latest research,” said Ballard.

For one, the sun is small compared to other solar systems of the same size. Looking at how the planets are posi-tioned around the sun gives astrono-mers an idea on what kind of solar sys-tems to look at when finding planets that can potentially have life.

“Our research made leaps and bounds with the launch of the Kepler space tele-scope in March of 2009,” said Ballard. Before the launch, there were only a few discovered planets outside of the solar

Directions to the nearest alien

Earth-like planet

system. The Kepler space telescope now has pictures of around 150,000 stars, each with their own set of planets.

Kepler was able to detect a number of planets the size of earth. To astronomers’ surprise, the number of Earth-like plan-ets was more frequent in small stars. The problem is that there is very little chance for life to have formed on these planets.

Of course, merely being the same size as Earth is not enough for a planet to sustain life. Planets must also be roughly the same distance from their star as the earth is from the sun, so they don’t get sucked in by the star’s gravita-tional pull. They also have to have the same spin synchronization as the Earth and the sun.

Planets that orbit around small stars may have these things, but they still tend to have lower temperatures, due to the lower brightness of the stars. This makes it difficult for them to support life.

Another necessity for supporting life is the atmosphere.

“Right now, Kepler cannot detect the atmosphere of a particular planet,” said Ballard. She said that the James Webb Space Telescope, the successor to the fa-mous Hubble Space Telescope, which is set to be launched in October 2018, should be able to detect atmospheric content.

Researcher gives talk on possibility of existence of life supporting planets

Dark matter may be bigger than we thoughtKevin WangStaff Reporter

Case Western Reserve University re-searchers are hoping to unravel the mys-tery of dark matter. Physics Professor Glenn Starkman and recently graduated doctoral student David Jacobs theorize that dark matter, the hypothetical matter used to help explain gravity, is macroscop-ic and can be constructed using existing parts of the Standard Model, meaning that it can be explained by what we already know about physics.

The structure and characteristics of dark matter has been a mystery to physi-cists and an unsolved question in the field. Still, physicists estimate that the unseen dark matter comprises 27 percent of the universe, compared to just five percent for normal matter.

A current theory for the composition of dark matter is that it is composed of weak-ly interacting massive particles (WIMPs). WIMPs could provide a possible expla-nation for dark matter, but these particles

have not yet been found through detection experiments or through experiments with the Large Hadron Collider. The existence of WIMPs also goes against the Standard Model, meaning that their existence could not be explained by what we currently know about physics.

Starkman’s research brings an alterna-tive possibility—that dark matter is com-posed of very massive particles, such a relatives of neutron stars or large nuclei. These molecules could be assembled out of particles in the Standard Model.

The research, which was published in the Monthly Notices of the Royal Astro-nomical Society, also gives an outline for how to experimentally search for dark matter with these properties.

“This is an active area of research,” said Jacobs. He says that these macroscopic particles may have penetrated the rock on Earth’s surface, leaving a record of their existence for researchers to find.

“We may [also] be able to find other geological signatures, beyond the mica [a type of mineral] samples,” he added.

opinion

This semester USG lives up to motto: “Students first”

In the 2005 animated movie “Robots,” there was a mantra repeated by several characters: “See a need, fill a need.” This semester, The Observer staff thinks that the Undergraduate Student Government has taken this phrase to heart.

Students choosing their fall classes from the hundreds of classes on the Student Information System have had a new resource this semester, thanks to USG. The syllabus database, written about in much more depth in the News section of this week’s Observer (see page 5), includes current and past class syllabi, which give students register-ing for classes a more complete idea of what to expect in the classes they are signing up for. It’s remarkable how useful such a simple system could be.

The current version is accessible on Google Drive and being managed by Xiaoyu Li, the USG vice president for academic affairs. Yes, this system is just a markup of the desired final sys-tem, and definitely still a work in prog-ress, but even prototyping this system is a step in the right direction. Whether or when the full project becomes a re-ality is essentially out of USG’s hands,

Editorial

as it is currently making its uncertain way through the university’s several layers of bureaucracy, but in proposing it and im-plementing this small-scale trial version, they have done a great job of finding and addressing a student need.

Li noted specifically that a shift in academic affairs’ approach has yielded more concrete results this semester than in the past, but the same change can be seen across all of USG’s committees.

“Academic affairs’ goals have been lofty in the past… it’s important to keep these bigger goals in mind, but we’ve been trying to focus on things we can accomplish within the foreseeable fu-ture,” Li said. “Just saying that we ‘want to make it better’ is not really something that we can accomplish.”

Apart from the syllabus database, USG has also addressed several other student concerns. To improve student experiences with on-campus buses, USG implemented BusBuzz, a feedback sys-tem that allows students to text comments and concerns about the Greenies. To fix the shortage of dance floors available to student dance groups, the Village at 115 Gym is being renovated to serve as

a practice space, and other options are being explored. On the issue of the Bon Appetit-controlled catering options in several university buildings, USG and other Student Executive Council mem-bers have formed a committee to look for solutions. Sure, The Observer’s staff (and the rest of the student body) would like to see a faster resolution on this top-ic, but ultimately there are a lot of play-ers involved, and a lot of money in play.

If that laundry list of accomplished initiatives wasn’t long enough, we’ve got more for you. USG has also spoken with Veale Athletic Center management about this year’s new towel policy (a $40 fee for towel use for the year), and it will now be reverting back to the old policy (free towels for students). Added to that, thanks to a USG led proposal, the SEC will cover student group costs to use the Tinkham Veale University through an off the top allocation. While it’s still student money paying for the space, at least the process will be much simpler.

Additionally, USG has re-opened ap-plications for Student Life Improvement Grants, creating opportunities for students to tackle campus issues themselves.

With all of the positive things that USG has gotten done this semester, there is of course still room for im-provement. Specifically, there have been grumblings from student orga-nization leaders about the speed at which it takes to reimburse students for student group purchases. While there are no doubt an overwhelming number of requests to address and a tricky OrgSync transition, it is this committee’s job to find a way to be more efficient in the face of the many student organizations’ fiscal needs. But we’re sure the finance committee, which does one of the most underap-preciated jobs on campus, is up for the challenge.

USG president Taylor Gladys sug-gested that this uptick in USG pro-ductivity may be due in part to a new, more cohesive dynamic among USG members. Li pointed to greater mem-ber retention and members taking more ownership of specific issues.

Whatever the reasons, The Observ-er applauds USG for seeing student needs and addressing them through concrete results.

Make like a fridge and chill

“When women become men at Wellesley,” a recent article in the New York Times (NYT), talked about the issues faced by transgender men at women’s colleges and the issues faced by women’s colleges with men among their student bodies. Personally, my stance on the college side of this issue is pretty simple: just chill.

Really, just chill out. Calm down. Take a deep breath. Maybe sit down for a minute. While you’re enjoying this very zen time-out, think about what the real impacts of including some men in your student body are likely to be. The men applying to and attending women’s colleges are doing so with full knowledge of the universities’ values; hence, they attend having already accepted their underlying feminism.

In addition to that, the article noted that women tend to outperform men at all colleges, coed and women’s. Here, for example, the Student Executive Council Co-Chairs, the majority of the CCEL Executive Council, and the Observer’s Executive Editor and Publisher are all women, along with many other female leaders on campus. Clearly the disclusion of men is not necessary for women to succeed. If women can excel in an environment that is more or less 50 percent male, then I

fail to see how fewer than a couple dozen men in a whole college of women would have any appreciable impact on the leadership opportunities available to those women.

The article focused primarily on Timothy Boatwright, a trans man who caused controversy by running for a student government position. What it didn’t focus on (and why would it?) were all of the women no doubt filling the other positions. Allowing trans men to seek the same opportunities at women’s colleges that women do just means inserting a little more diversity; it is not significantly decreasing women’s opportunities.

Another issue about which the universities in question should really just chill out is gender itself. So far in this article, I’ve been guilty of it, too: simplifying gender to a multiple choice question when it’s actually a several hundred page thesis with multimedia appendices and centuries worth of citations. Even if these colleges decided that men were simply unacceptable as students, it wouldn’t be as simple as drawing a line between the female and male student bodies. There are genderqueer and otherwise non-binary students, too, who would also need to be considered. That raises the question of what the universities in question would consider to be truly female and what is the “other.” That then takes the problematic next step of putting the whole question of gender identity into

the hands of an admissions committee. In any given question of gender, there is only one true authority: the person whose gender is in question. Thus, the people most qualified to determine whether they should be attending a women’s college are the potential students themselves. Let’s just let them decide.

Furthermore, even if the colleges were to ignore my excellent advice in the chilling department and make their guidelines strict in only accepting cisgender, female-identifying students, that in itself causes one heck of a problematic situation. Trans or non-binary students who want to attend can still apply, and they can still attend. Instead of being able to embrace their identities and feel accepted while doing so, though, they would be forced to seek their educations from the depths of the closet. So colleges wouldn’t even be keeping out the non-women; they’d just be forcing them into hiding.

A perfectly valid objection to that last paragraph is that the trans students could just choose to attend a coed university. However, I’d like to bring any such objectors’ attention to this quote from the NYT article: “Like many trans students, [Boatwright] chose a women’s college because it seemed safer physically and psychologically.” As long as that impression exists, trans men are going to choose women’s colleges, whether the colleges let them officially come out or not, so the only reasonable response is

to just accept that fact and accept those students for who they are.

As one more reason to chill in regard to this issue, in the modern day the traditional aim of women’s colleges is better achieved by educating trans, non-binary, non-female students than it is in educating solely women. These colleges came about because women were underserved by the more traditional institutions. Now, women are served perfectly fine by a vast majority (if not all) of coeducational schools, and it is people who are not born into a neatly divided gender binary who find themselves marginalized, discriminated against, and generally underserved in society. Hence, by allowing these students in and granting them the educations and diplomas that they’re seeking, these institutions can carry their original raison d’être, not just their gender-based exclusion, into the modern day.

For all of these reasons, and to avoid furthering a controversy that never should have been one to start with, I wish that women’s colleges would write gender out of their admissions and diploma-granting policies. Instead, they should just leave it to the students to determine whether that is the atmosphere they want to learn and grow in. In other words, universities should just chill.

Aquene Kimmel, Opinion Editor and freshman, attended an all-girls high school. It has made some progress, but it could still chill further.

Aquene KimmelGuest column in my own section

Students at women’s colleges aren’t all women, and that’s okay

8 opinion 11/21/14

What I learned from an NBC sitcom

Andrew BrelandThe elephant in the room

Like, seemingly most college students, I own a subscription to Netflix. The other night, utilizing my $8 privileges as much as possible, I found myself watching a recent episode of “Parks and Recreation.” In this episode, Leslie Knope (Amy Poehler) and the arch-libertarian Ron Swanson (Nick Offerman), fight over whether government work is indeed “good work,” a common sub-theme in the show. Specifically in this episode, the debate centered on whether a high school girl should take an unpaid government internship or work for pay at a local sawmill. While a strange and implausible scenario, the episode did bring up valid points about the role of working in society and what, indeed, constituted worthwhile labor.

The argument centers around a central question: is government work, independent of its pay, worth it? If the question was that simple, though, there wouldn’t need to be any further discussion. Instead the themes brought up here illustrate some of the basic principles about work that most of society gets wrong. This could not be truer at our own institution.

Later in the episode, Swanson and Knope clash over whether the impetus behind work

is the pay one earns for it, or the impact good work has on other people. Confronted with this conflict, the high school student runs away. I cannot say those of us in college are any different.

To quite a few people on this campus, college is the mechanism by which we get the job we have always wanted—writing, building, planning, treating, or performing. To others, the end job does not matter. It’s only the cash. The quality, purpose, or actual responsibilities take a back seat.

There is merit to both arguments. However at the same time, the reaction to “what are you doing after graduation?” should not be limited to “I’m working for XYZ corporation and getting paid $Q.” Nor should it, however, be the case that the response should not, or cannot, include that information. A response to the dreaded post-graduation question should be a life choice. What, how, why are you taking that path? Without answers to those questions, you sell yourself short.

However, this is not the fault of any individuals. Society has pushed these conceptions onto students. Consider this. Just this week, the Washington Post, via the Wonkblog, posted data about “Where to go to college if you want the highest starting salary.” In these short “rankings,” the top five schools in the country were the US Naval Academy, Harvey Mudd, West Point, Caltech, and MIT. On the other hand,

Washington Monthly published college rankings earlier this year that emphasize service and civic engagement. The top five there look very different: University of California (UC)-San Diego, UC-Riverside, UC-Berkeley, Texas A&M, and UCLA. By comparison to both, the lauded US News and World Report rankings propose Princeton, Harvard, Yale, Columbia, Stanford, and Chicago as their top five. (Columbia, Stanford, and Chicago are tied for fourth place.)

It would be possible to list numerous others. Each new ranking of colleges (or law schools, medical schools, graduate schools, etc.) posits its own top five and normally its own, “superior,” methodology. However, to students, especially naïve high school juniors and seniors, these lists complicate the issue. Which list you encounter first will shade your impression of the college experience and the educational process. The system, it seems, is not doing us any favors in a quest to prevent the production of more partisanly-opposed Knopes and Swansons.

Instead, it has become the job of universities to educate their students about the different kinds of opportunities graduates have. The job has fallen onto employees in the Career Centers to break through preconceived notions about life and explain that there’s more than money involved in a decision. They have to prove that students

should neither martyr themselves nor focus solely on the bottom line. Unfortunately when those charged with the task cannot fix it, we are all left to suffer.

According the CWRU Career Center website, the center’s mission is “[to offer] individualized assistance and technologically advanced resources to enable students and alumni to develop lifelong career management skills, to obtain work experience and to integrate academic and career plans.” From the onset, it appears that they shirk their duties. They assume that students arrive having “academic and career plans” when in reality most students, even those who come in planning about the future, will change their minds, gather new interests, and do something entirely different. Perhaps we should start to think about the ways a place like the Career Center could be less a matchmaking service and more of a guide, another teacher, which would aid in the post-graduation search process.

“Whatever you’ll do you’ll be great at it,” was Ron Swanson’s advice to a confused high school student. There is, however, a step before this: considering the “what” itself.

Andrew Breland, senior, is a weekly Opinion columnist. Contact him at awb69@case.edu.

The Observer is the weekly undergraduate student newspaper of Case Western Reserve University. Established in 1969, The Observer exists to report news affecting and/or involving students and to provide an editorial forum for the university community. Unsigned editorials are the majority opinion of the senior editorial staff. For advertising information, contact The Observer at (216) 302-4442 or e-mail observerads@case.edu. The Observer is a proud member of the CWRU Media Board.

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This is exactly Chomsky’s point in his transcript, and it’s mine in my pursuit of a stronger community: the hallmarks of business are fundamentally different from the hallmarks of education. The hallmarks of education include dialogue and the free flow of ideas, comments and criticisms. But since CWRU and many other institu-tions of higher education have adopted a businesslike model of organization, polit-ical correctness, hierarchy and obscurity are now requisites of education systems.

In my column about my first meeting with Snyder I wrote, “It’s clear she is an intelligent businesswoman.” I stand by that claim and find it undeniable, but are businesspeople who we want leading our universities?

My last question to Snyder was what she wanted her legacy to be after her ten-ure at CWRU. She paused before say-ing, “That’s a big question. I don’t think you should define your own legacy; oth-ers should do that because it’s the stake-holders that matter. I think if you leave a place better than it was when you came.” I asked her to define “better,” but how is that possible?

Snyder’s logic might suggest it’s up to us. Jacob Martin is a weekly opinion col-

umnist, a senior English and political sci-ence major. He sincerely thanks President Barbara R. Snyder for her time on Mon-day and appreciates all the help from the Office of the President.

President Barbara R. Snyder and the business of business

In a transcript that appeared in Salon Magazine, Noam Chomsky talked about how corporate business models are hurt-ing universities. He spoke about how the increased hiring of adjunct professors and the failure to replace vacant tenure-track positions is much like a corporation hiring “temps” or part-time employees. This cuts costs, as benefits are not required, as well as establishing a set term of employment without the guarantee of returning.

In Chomsky’s—and my own—opin-ion, this creates a docile environment of fear. Docile because adjuncts have a weak voice—if at all, and fear because their employment is not secure despite their performance.

But the bigger implication is that with a move towards administrative power-houses in academia, funds are allocated to numerous things other than education. There exists a disparity of needs and goals between administrators and those in-volved with the education itself: students and faculty.

On Monday, Nov. 17, I personally met with President Barbara R. Snyder for an hour in her office in Adelbert Hall. Our discussion topic was community and what it looks and feels like here at Case West-ern Reserve University.

There’s no doubt that a strong sense

of community allows for open dialogue, engaged diversity, greater learning, more understanding and better human develop-ment, all of which lead to better educa-tion. But my discussion with Snyder tells me the disparity between administrators and students is prevalent.

She agrees wholeheartedly with my assertion that community is of the utmost importance for CWRU. She said, “Each person is within a range of experiences and needs to ask themselves: What can ‘I’ do to make a better community? But I’m not going to dictate answers to anybody.”

Her sentiments were reflected in both her written State of the University Ad-dress and the email addressing the racial Yik-Yak comments. Clearly Snyder wants to see our campus flourish, and using her voice is indicative of that. But our admin-istrators’ efforts are not enough.

Yes, the Office of Student Affairs has established community as its primary goal this year, reflecting such a claim in its strategic plan; yes, there was a consultant on campus a couple weeks back brought in to create a CWRU-specific diversity training module; yes, Snyder has engaged the campus community recently. Again, it’s all not enough because no amount of effort will overcome a flawed system un-less those efforts are aimed at fixing the system itself.

The structure of CWRU’s administra-tion looks like an infinitely-layered wed-ding cake. There are provosts, vice presi-

dents and associate vice presidents, deans and associate deans, executive directors and directors, department advisors and coordinators and aides. With many ad-ministrative departments having several people in several roles it’s no wonder stu-dent voices get lost in the airwaves.

Additionally, I asked Snyder what the purpose of our Tinkham Veale University Center (TVUC) was.

“It’s a formal space for student organi-zations to call home and an informal space for students to use,” she said. “It’s a place to bring people together, our entire com-munity together. It’s a place for events and for people to mix. At the last [William N. Skirball] Writers Center Stage talk I saw students sitting across from me talking about a class or something related. There are always students sitting around there.”

This is a utopic vision and a broad an-swer: Snyder made TVUC seem perfect, and it’s not. I immediately thought we should all take off our fig leaves and start milling around the building as if it were Eden before the fall. Furthermore, what do students—the very people a university exists for—need in a university center? Certainly it can’t just be seats to sit in.

But Snyder can be cryptic because she can be cryptic. Let’s face it; ambiguity is a trademark of executive positions. I don’t blame Snyder for this nor do I criticize her for it. It’s a systemic criticism that should nonetheless be addressed, and I challenge her to rise above it.

Jacob MartinThe meaning of Spartan life

arts & entertainment

Sanjana KrishnakumarContributing Reporter

Katie LairdContributing Reporter

It’s a freezing cold night on Nov. 14, complete with wind whipping through hair and snow blowing in faces. It’s not quite a winter wonderland, but inside Strosacker Auditorium, a different kind of Wonderland makes an appearance.

It’s nearly 7 p.m. and the sisters of Sigma Psi are preparing to put on the event they’ve planned for weeks: the annual Mr. CWRU pageant. Established in 1978, the pageant has been a success each year, enjoyed by Sigma Psi, several of their proud alumni and students of Case Western Reserve University alike. For the 36th annual event, all proceeds go the Cleveland Rape Crisis Center (CRCC).

This year’s theme? Alice in Wonderland.It starts with the suits (minus senior

Andrew Gerst, who classed up his Alpha Chi Omega shirt with a spiffy pink bowtie) and an introduction of the 16 contestants. All of the guys are unique, excited and ready to win.

The “representative wear” category quickly follows.

There’s daisy dukes, a giant hand, inner tubes, bribery food and junior Dan Mason

While the competition was stiff, the Mr. CWRU pageant brought out only one winner. Junior Charlie Topel (left) captured the top spot with a raunchy comedy routine.

Dr. Kelly St. Pierre is working on a book about Czech Republic politics, music and propaganda.

We’re all a little mad here

From Carnegie Hall to CWRUViolinist Kelly St. Pierre shares past inspirations

Contestants strut their stuff in this year’s Mr. CWRU pageant

The audience fell silent and the room turned pitch black. Dr. Kelly St. Pierre stood behind the curtain with her violin in one of the world’s most prestigious concert venues.

Before she went onstage in Carnegie Hall, St. Pierre tried to slow down her whirling mind.

“In the moments before performing at Carnegie Hall one part of me was geeking out; and I was having a hard time contain-ing the feeling of being starstruck,” said St. Pierre. “I remember playing Toscanini’s piano in the dressing room and reminding myself to breathe before I went on stage.”

Music helped St. Pierre through some of her life struggles. While she was preparing to perform at Carnegie Hall in her high school years, her mother passed away and never had the opportunity to watch her perform. St. Pierre was 18 at the time of her performance and recalls that playing music often comfort-ed her when she felt alone.

Ever since, she has continued pursuing her passion for music, completing her masters in

Ki Oh/Observer

Ki Oh/Observer

music history and her doctorate in musicology.Today, St. Pierre is in the midst of publish-

ing her book about Czech Republic politics, music and propaganda. Her inspiration came from Bedrich Smetana, a famous composer and politician, who developed a musical style closely associated with the country aspiring to become an independent state. St. Pierre grew an interest in this topic in a unique way.

“While touring Europe as a violinist, I ended up in Prague, the capital of Czech Re-public, and fell in love with the city,” said St. Pierre. “I wanted an excuse to go back when I was in graduate school, so I did my research on a Czech Republic topic.”

After reading her recent article in the 19th-Century Music Journal, renowned musicolo-gist Richard Taruskin contacted St. Pierre, hoping to work with her on the topic. He no-ticed that her article was part of a bigger book project and wanted to collaborate, but since her book was already under contract she had to turn him down.

“I was blown away when I received an email from Richard Taruskin,” said St. Pierre. “I went to a conference and discussed with him about working on another book in

the future. He wrote the main musicology textbook singlehandedly so I was truly star-struck when we met.”

Not only is St. Pierre an accomplished vio-linist and musicologist, she is also a professor in the SAGES department for a seminar en-titled “A History of Noise: Music and Politics from Beethoven to Jimi Hendrix.” She teach-es graduate level courses in music research methods at Case Western Reserve University and is an instructor at the Cleveland Institute of Music for a course called “A History of Symphonic Literature.”

St. Pierre offers tips to students: get more sleep and take risks in choosing electives.

“The more outlandish it seems, the better it expands your horizons,” she said.

With her prodigious background in music, St. Pierre appreciates her position of teach-ing now. Even after performing at Carnegie Hall and exploring Europe in search of 19th-century music information, St. Pierre found CWRU a great place to continue her work as a world-class musicologist.

“The students [here] are wonderfully grounded and conscientious,” said St. Pierre. “Teaching for the music department is a treat.”

literally carrying his brothers of Phi Kappa Tau on his back as each contestant tries his best to epitomize his organization. Suddenly, it’s a real competition and the only preliminary category left before six contestants are cut is the Alice in Wonderland character wear.

In minutes, the stage transforms into Wonderland. There are five Alices, two mad hatters, two Queen of Hearts, a royal guard, Tweedle Dee (or was it Tweedle Dum?), a Cheshire Cat, two white rabbits, a King of Hearts and an Absolem with bubbles.

As the judges choose who shall move on to the final round, it’s intermission for the crowd. But, for Rachael Becker, president of Sigma Psi, there’s no stopping until a winner is crowned.

After the show, she gushed about the competition. “I think our contestants this year really did an excellent job of helping to showcase our cause,” she said. “We’re all really pleased with how much all of the contestants incorporated our cause into their portions.”

Her favorite event, the talent portion, which followed after intermission, was better than she could have hoped for this year. Though all contestants were creative, from Josh Kent’s magic trick to junior Charlie Topel’s stand up comedy, Becker’s personal favorite was Hyung Chul Kim’s baking showcase.

“I loved the take-home message about the perfect fraternity man,” she says, “He did an excellent job showcasing the

community’s values… that exposure is fantastic for non-greeks and an excellent reminder for us greeks.”

In the end, the contestants never truly answered the Mad Hatter riddle “Why is a raven like a writing desk?” which was meant to choose the winner out of the five finalists. Though all answers brought cheers and laughter from the crowd, in the end, it was Charlie Topel who came out on top to become the new Mr. CWRU.

In the end, the event raised a little over $3,500 with more than a third of the money coming from ticket sales alone.

No one is more proud than the sisters of Sigma Psi whose successful event helped to spread awareness of sexual violence and support the CRCC.

Post-show, though a little dehydrated, a proud Rachael Becker spoke about the performances. “We’d been working on Mr. CWRU for weeks and it was really great to see everything come together,” said Becker. “We’re all so grateful for everyone who came out and supported us and the CRCC.”

We may all be all be a little mad here at Case, but we’re always there to support each other when it counts.

Senior Emile Katz recites Shakespeare while doing pushups for the talent part of Mr. CWRU.

Ki Oh/ObserverSenior Frank Hu answers an “Alice in Wonderland” themed riddle during Mr. CWRU’s question portion.

Ki Oh/Observer

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Andaaz 2014

Courtesy Key Point Photography & Harsha Chandupatla

The performances this year at Andaaz 2014 were colorful, impressive and simply beautiful. This year’s show featured the first Andaaz performances of CWRU Rasa, Spartan Swaras and Plan Beta, along with the usual line-up of Dhamakapella, Case Kismat, the class dances and more.

11a&eobserver.case.edu

Nov. 15 was a cold and somber day plagued with snow showers and frightfully bitter weather. However, this did not stop fraternity Sigma Phi Epsilon from hosting their partner event: the Big Little Olympics. For brothers, friends, and everyone else, Adelbert gym was home to a variety of fun and exciting games, raffles and food.

Split into stations, groups of two were challenged to a number of different events to test how well the pairs really knew each other. The first game adopted popular game show event “Newlyweds.” The partners were asked personal questions, and forced to answer independently. Matching answers was the key to success in this humorously personal game. The pair with the most an-swers that matched were the winners.

Next, groups were asked a number of trivia questions ranging from American history to Case Western Reserve Univer-sity trivia. The most eclectic pairs were

Stephanie Kim/Observer

Harsha Chandupatla/Observer

Enio Chinca Staff Reporter

CWRU THOUGHTS

Maria FazalStaff Reporter

The Case Western Reserve University community is known for thinking beyond the possible. Each week, this column aims to capture a slice of campus life.

Sig Ep’s last philanthropy event challenged bigs and littles to see how well they really knew each other.

Q: What’s something most people don’t know about you?

A: I’m really into board games and “Lord of the Rings.” My dad was really into Tolkien, and he passed that down to me.

Q: Do you think there are some lessons from “Lord of the Rings” that

Sig Ep hosts first Olympics eventBigs versus littles

you’ve applied to your life?A: One of the big messages in “Lord

of the Rings” is just letting go and being at peace, and I’ve applied that to dif-ferent parts of my life. It’s helpful for relationships, because you don’t hold grudges and you don’t stay angry. You just let it go.

rewarded with points which could be ex-changed for prizes, which upped the inten-sity of the game as competitors battled wits chasing the elusive victory points.

Once players exhausted their mental stamina answering the trivia, they were ush-ered through a number of partner exercises such as wheelbarrow and the three-legged race. Speed was the name of the game as first place finishers in these events were also rewarded with victory points. As the games continued, competitors were asked to per-form peculiar actions such as ping pong bas-ketball and a blindfolded chair race.

Participation in the event was $20 per pair, and the proceeds all went to charity. Also, even those who did not fare well in the games still enjoyed fresh pizza and subs, as well as a gift card raffle. Sophomore Barry Teich en-joyed participating in the event.

“It was really fun,” said Teich. “I am a pret-ty lazy guy, but this was surprisingly exciting. I’m pretty glad that there are groups on cam-pus trying to host events even with the bad weather and exams.”

A look at the three basic questions you need to ask to differentiate between

an idea for a material, device, or procedure and an investable opportunity that has a

chance of surviving in the market.

When is an idea an investible opportunity?

Friday, December 5, 201412:30 pm in Nord Hall 356

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Playlist of the Week

“Heat Wave”—Diarrhea Planet

With a name like Diarrhea Planet, it almost doesn’t matter what the band’s music sounds like; the name speaks for itself in more ways than one. Thankfully, these six Nashville guitar shredders also have great tunes to back them up, with “Heat Wave” employing the winning formula of a qua-druple guitar attack and face-melting solos with a dreamy chorus. Look for this song on Diarrhea Planet’s latest EP, “Aliens in the Outfield,” released Nov. 18 on Infinity Cat Recordings.

Teddy EisenbergStaff Reporter

“Monday”—WilcoOpening with a blend of R&B keyboard and

classic rock rhythm, “Monday” is a groovy piece of power pop from Wilco. Fronted by musical crafts-man Jeff Tweedy, Wilco is proof that a band in the 21st century can be commercially and creatively successful on its own terms. Released Nov. 18, “Monday” is one of 38 songs included on “What’s Your 20?,” the greatest hits collection of a band yet to have a hit single, but utterly deserving of one.

“Get Away”—CHVRCHESCHVRCHES explore even dancier pastures

on their new single “Get Away,” employing an electronic pop minimalism recently re-popu-larized by groups like Disclosure. This is not to suggest that CHVRCHES are merely aping current trends, as this song displays incredible weaving nuances often missing from electronic music. “Get Away” is the sign of more great things to come from one of indie electronica’s most talented groups.

“Put Your Number In My Phone”—Ariel Pink

“Put Your Number In My Phone” is the first single off of Ariel Pink’s latest album, “pom pom,” released Nov. 18 on 4AD Records. Pink’s first official solo record is an engaging blend of pop and sometimes aggressive weirdness, with this tune serving as a good example of both. Blending Pink’s recessed vocals with bright elec-tric and acoustic guitar, “Put Your Number In My Phone” is easily one of the more interesting pop songs of 2014.

“Keep On Believing”—Buzzcocks

Thirty-six years after their debut on the punk rock scene, the Buzzcocks certainly still believe in their ability to put out quality material. We should believe them too, as “Keep On Believing” has all the best musical elements of the group’s classic material to prove that they haven’t lost their touch: crisp guitar, driving melodies and the biting lyrics of Pete Shelley. “The Way” was released Nov. 18 on 1234 Records, and features “Keep On Believing” as its first track.

“Sweet Little Angel”—B.B. King

Showcasing the timelessness of his songwrit-ing and guitar playing, “Sweet Little Angel” is also proof that B.B. King is one of music’s most gifted entertainers, engaging the audience in a sublime performance. One of the many highlights on “Live at the Regal,” this song is a textbook ex-ample of how to set up a live performance and is an essential addition to every music collection.

Teddy Eisenberg is a third year programmer at WRUW-FM 91.1 Cleveland. He hosts The ’59 Sound, an exploration of rock music, every Thursday morning from 8-10 a.m.. and co-hosts the variety talk show Max and Teddy in the Morning at Night (Sometimes) on Mon-days from 5-6 p.m. The crackle of vinyl warms him on cold Cleveland nights.All photos courtesy zumic.com, amazon.com, josepvinaixa.com, withguitars.com, consequenceofsound.net, and acerecords.co.uk

Retro Pick of the Week:

Find all these tracks online with our weekly Spotify playlist at observer.case.edu

Shaggtasic evening at the Grog Shop

Mike SuglioStaff Reporter

This past wintery Sunday night had the Grog Shop toasty with summer Reggae by early 2000’s favorite, Shaggy. Case Western Reserve University students and fellow Cleve-landers waved their hands in the air, like they didn’t care, as they sang with Shaggy to popu-lar tunes, such as “It Wasn’t Me” and “Angel.”

Before Shaggy took the stage the entire audience was chanting his name. A large ban-ner stating “Di Real Shaggy” shined on stage as the real Shaggy entered along with his full band and backup singers.

Despite often showcasing Cleveland punk, reggae was a nice and lighter change for the Grog Shop. The venue was filled with good vibes and everyone was smiling, more so than I have ever seen at the venue.

Shaggy and his co-performers did an ex-cellent job at rallying the crowd throughout the show; I remembered singing these very songs as I watched them on Total Request Live well over 10 years ago.

Orville Richard Burrell (aka Shaggy) was born in Kingston, Jamaica where he grew up before moving to Brooklyn, New York, at 18 years old. He took singing classes in New York before joining the Marines, where he would serve for several years until he decided to pursue his love for music.

His songs, “Boombastic” in 1995 and “That Girl” in 1996 were huge hits that led up to his album in 2000, “Hot Shot,” which was certified 6x Platinum and contained most of his well-known hits.

Since 2000, Shaggy has produced a wealth of albums and has collaborated with several artists including Sean Paul and Neyo.

Shaggy was half singer, half storyteller and interacted with the audience throughout the performance. He asked the audience if they “enjoy pretending to be Jamaican?” and also explained before his song “It Wasn’t Me” that women never get caught cheating be-cause they are “smarter than men.”

Early 2000’s reggae invades punk venueConcert: Shaggy, TUTVenue: The Grog Shop, 2785

Euclid Hts. Blvd. Headliner Rating: Shaggy,

Opener Rating: TUT,

Then a very good Bill Clinton imperson-ation followed.

To my surprise, Shaggy does not often perform in the United States. He explained that he often performs in Jamaica, Europe and Australia where is he more popular. Many fans had traveled great distances to see him perform at the Grog Shop, including from To-ledo and Massachusetts.

Classic reggae songs were on the setlist, in addition to all of Shaggy’s hits. After taking photos with the audience, Shaggy ended the show abruptly. Most of the audience, including myself, stood around for at least 10 minutes in confusion as to whether Shaggy was returning to the stage. It was bit of a letdown due to the lack of a rising and energy filled finale.

Despite the smooth, chill headliner, the journey to Shaggy was a rough one. The Grog Shop was not ready to open doors at 8:00 p.m., which led to several patrons standing outside in the snow. The 9:00 p.m. show started with a DJ in the back who repeated the words “beau-tiful ladies” at a nauseating level until the opener finally took the stage at 9:30 p.m.

TUT was an odd opener. The group was comprised of TUT (lead vocal) and a violin-ist. The violinist was excellent and Tut offered decent reggae but he had an incredibly hoarse voice and he sounded like he was straining to sing the whole set. I simply could not get into his performance.

Some audience members sang along with TUT and knew his songs. However, many reggae fans talked through most of his set.

Shaggy did not take the stage until 10:00 p.m. and I had felt like I was out of energy for a Sunday night, but, regardless, found myself dancing in no time.

13a&eobserver.case.edu

John G. is a name that may not resonate strongly with those outside of Cleveland, but most locals have seen his artwork at some point, whether they realize it or not.

His pieces are frequently featured in Melt Bar and Grilled as well as on the cover of Cleveland Scene, and he is also known for collaborating with fellow local artist Jake Kelly on the “Lake Erie Monster” comic book, marking him as a true Clevelander through and through.

Those who have seen a poster of a person clad in a blast suit preparing to deactivate a turkey bomb are probably familiar with John G.’s work. The artist designs posters to celebrate Melt’s unique monthly sandwich-es. The aforementioned poster happens to show November’s delectable creation, The New Bomb Turkey.

His online blog is surprisingly simple, consisting of white font on a black back-ground, and titled “The Poster and Comic Book Illustration of John G.”

There is no page describing his prodi-gious talent and unique vision. There is no page explaining what the viewers need to see to understand in his work. He leaves that job to his pieces.

John G.’s works range from gritty re-alism to smooth, whimsical pieces. Re-gardless of the piece, John G. has shown himself to be a king in capturing a striking amount of texture and emotion on a two-dimensional surface.

His attention-grabbing works have caught the eye of Loop in Tremont. The coffee shop is known for its trendy and unique environ-ment as well as for its delicious coffee and CD and record shop.

This month, Loop is exhibiting some of John G.’s posters from concerts and other events. The exhibition is titled “No Gods, No Monsters” and includes

The spotlight is on, the clapping has sub-sided, and the audience waits. Can the next performer top the previous one?

There is already extraordinary talent in the air and oozing out of the Kelvin & Eleanor Smith Ballroom in the Tinkham Veale University Center. As the next act ends, the audience cheers and claps like they do for all the previous acts. Who will win?

Act after act takes the stage and the ex-citement in the room increases as the event draws to an end. The waiting performers begin to pace and sweat because it is time to announce the winners and awards.

All the acts put on their best perfor-mance for the audience and the three judges: Chemistry Professor Drew Meyer, student Pri Chari, and University Student Govern-ment President Taylor Gladys. But, which act will win? Yo-yo? Singing? Guitar?

The suspense and tension is strong in the air as the winners are about to be an-nounced. Friends, fans and audience mem-bers sit on the edge of their seats as they lis-ten closely. They hear that the winner is…

Isaiah Ahn. He wins $150 to TicketMas-ter.com and also gets chosen as fan favorite winning $50 to Mitchell’s Ice Cream. The second place winner, Abby Bolon, wins $100 to L’Albatros Brasserie. Third place winner Frank Percic wins $75 to Qdoba.

At CWRU’s Got Talent on Nov.14, audi-ence members were able to witness the sev-en breathtaking acts that showed a glimpse of the vast talents that Case Western Re-serve University students have. Although there were mainly singing acts, each act was able to differentiate themselves and be distinctive in their own way.

The new members of University Pro-gram Board created and organized this variety talent show to show the success of

Coffee shop features gritty Cleveland artist

On Nov. 8, 2014 the Western Reserve Historical Society opened its new ex-hibit, “In Grand Style.” This exhibit features elaborate clothing from a range of nearly six decades. Danielle Peck, the senior registrar at the museum, be-lieves this period of time was a highly important one for Cleveland.

“Cleveland was king,” said Peck.For most of its history, Cleveland’s

inf luence, power and wealth landed it as a major United States city, especially just after the Civil War. The new ex-plosion of industrial corporations and manufacturers had a heavy presence in the city as well as on banking, politics and, of course, fashion. Some of the buildings we walk by everyday exist as reminders of the families whose cloth-ing is featured in the exhibit.

The museum’s exhibit follows the his-toric path of University Circle’s growth, as Cleveland’s elite began to move off Eu-clid Avenue and to the new neighborhood. Peck explained that much of the clothing was a display of extravagance and the person who wore it was likely wearing it to be seen in a certain light.

However, much of the clothing was originally owned and worn by women who did extensive philanthropic work around

When Cleveland was the king of fashionAllison DuchinStaff Reporter

Students show off their skills in UPB’s CWRU’s Got Talent event

Western Reserve Historical Society exhibit shows off historic Cleveland clothes

Tiffany CheungStaff Reporter

Exhibit: “In Grand Style”Location: Western Reserve

Historical Society, 10825 East Blvd. Price: Free with student I.D.

Rating:

Exhibit: “No Gods, No Monsters”Location: Loop in Tremont, 2180

W 11th St Price: FreeRating:

the community. Their clothing reflects their travels throughout the community in their unique community actions.

Peck drew a major parallel between modern women and the women por-trayed in the exhibit. “Women in busi-ness dress up; we have just developed a more practical style in the work that we do,” she said.

Now, for instance, women in the la-bor force don’t have three-foot trains following them around the office.

One of the main things Peck would like visitors to take out of the display is that Cleveland has always been a glob-ally connected city with world events and inf luences, including fashion trends. The purpose of WRHS’ exhibit

is to prove that Cleveland’s value is not just in the past.

Some may ask, why clothes? Why not art? How can clothes depict life in the past?

“Clothing [next to a diary] are the most personal things that can belong to a person because it is what they live their lives in,” said Peck. “Clearly they chose this specific garment for a reason.”

The “In Grand Style” exhibit ref lects on a time period when many people only had a few pieces of clothing in their closets, therefore each one was likely customized and held a high value to the owner and can ref lect on the lifestyle that they lived.

Any student who has plans to visit Sev-erance Hall, the Cleveland Botanical Gar-dens, Cleveland Museum of Natural His-tory or Cleveland Museum of Art should visit the Western Reserve Historical Soci-ety, located just behind the Cleveland In-stitute of Music, and go see the lives of the families who helped create these beautiful additions to our community while wear-ing these ornately decorated and wonder-fully preserved garments..

“In Grand Style,” an exhibit at the WRHS shows off past Cleveland style.Courtesy Western Reserve Historical Society

their training in UPB Boot Camp, show-casing the group’s dynamic abilities. This is the first year that the new members were able to plan, organize and create an event. The Director of New Members William Tomaszewski wanted to use this event as a learning experience for the new members.

Overall, the event was very successful. Kya Sherman, the director of public rela-tions for UPB, says that the event was able to reach a really great group of students. She also commends the new members for their hard work.

“They were able to pull together a big event and think everything through,” said Sherman.

For this event, the new UPB members had several committees such as food com-mittee and awards committee. Huvra Mehta, along with fellow members Cindy Berry and Vanessa Chen on the awards committee is particularly proud of the prizes that the com-mittee was able to get for the performers.

The awards committee wanted to have bigger prizes as incentives for more perform-ers to come out and show off their talents. Kya Sherman said that UPB wants to use the event and the big prizes to “recognize talent in students that is not shown in big groups”.

The food committee presented the audience and the performers with pizza, brownies, a variety of chips, and water before and after the event, and also dur-ing intermission.

CWRU’s Got Talent was not only a successful event for audience members and performers but also for the new UPB members.

“Groups of friends came out as support,” said Kya Sherman.

This was shown through the cute cheer-ing signs, clapping and general excitement from the audience. In addition, the new members were able to learn about the plan-ning, organizing and collaborating that goes into putting on an event.

Maria FazalStaff Reporter

works from the past five years.The exhibition will also unveil his new

zine, which is a self-published work contain-ing images. There are typically very few copies of a zine produced, as it is not usually created for profit.

John G.’s posters are hung on a plain white wall at Loop in a manner reminis-cent of his website. The posters aren’t framed or encased in gilded boxes. Rath-er, they’re out in the open, as tangible as anything else in the shop.

“I love doing posters because I treat it as dissolution of a story. When I draw a post-er, I try to make it so that you can look at it and tell that there’s a narrative, almost like a comic book cover,” John G. explains. “Your brain as a reader of a single image can fill in, ‘I want to know if maybe it was this, maybe it was that’—it’s open to interpretation.”

His work is bold yet understated. John G. is a man who is not afraid to use black, and the pieces are often dark and aggres-sively shaded. In fact, some of his stippling and hatching is so intense that it almost looks like he spilled sand on the posters and left it to its own devices.

Somehow, John G. manages to see and capture something rare in his images, which are raw and open but still leave something to the viewer’s interpretation.

As he explains on his blog, “Drawing something accurate and detailed is what makes the piece work in a way that convinc-es the viewer of the reality of your image, even on a subconscious level. The weight of it balances on the energy of how it looks rather than the details. At least, I think that’s how it works.”

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On love and physicsNew film chronicles Stephen Hawking’s struggle

Actor Eddie Redmayne

Winston EngStaff Reporter

Winston EngStaff Reporter

I have not read “A Brief History of Time” nor do I consider myself a regu-lar student of popular science.

However, chances are if you mention Stephen Hawking’s name in passing, images of stars, space and black holes will pop up in my mind at the thought of the celebrated astrophysicist.

I could tell you that he has a brilliant mind, one that has contributed much to the world of physics, including the gen-eration of a cosmology relating some parts of general relativity and quantum mechanics. Perhaps I would mention his amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) af-f liction, and how he required a trache-ostomy to continue living and a speech generating device (a mere five words per minute) to allow communication following the operation.

I would fail, however, to mention how unbelievably heartbreaking it must have been when at age 21, this smooth-talking, first-rate intellectual who a few months before had wooed the girl of his dreams would have his world shattered by the di-agnosis of a motor-neuron disease and a two-year life expectancy following suit.

This was the reality for Cambridge doctoral candidate in physics Stephen Hawking, whose story is portrayed in James Marsh’s recent biopic “The The-ory of Everything.”

While I sought to celebrate a man who has no doubt defied all odds to not only survive but thrive, I could not find it within me to declare Marsh’s latest re-lease as landing among the stars. For a

Can there be a greater challenge than to portray one of the most intelligent minds in the scientific community?

Such a question is best reserved for actor Eddie Redmayne, who portrays world-renown astrophysicist Stephen Hawking in the recently released biopic “The Theory of Everything.”

Describing himself as being “filled with excitement and yet hit with a sucker punch of fear” when he received the call confirming his position for the lead role, Redmayne, who had chased after the op-portunity quite aggressively, wanted to truthfully portray Hawking and his love for his wife and children during a lesser-known chapter of their lives.

Starting at Cambridge University, where young Stephen Hawking would begin his romance with Jane Wilde as well as pursue his doctorate in physics, “The Theory of Everything” follows his diagnosis at age 21 with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) and how, with unparalleled hope and love, he and Jane managed to defy all odds.

I had an opportunity to learn about Redmayne and his thoughts on the film in a conference call with other college reporters across the United States. I most enjoyed his refreshing sincer-ity and lively elocution which provided

man known for thinking in such inven-tive fashions, it is disheartening to wit-ness Hawking’s story told in possibly the most conventionally safe way possible.

Admittedly, “The Theory of Every-thing” does not suffer from issues asso-ciated with addressing the doldrums of everyday existence. It’s a lovely narra-tive set within a well-constructed film; however, never is there an opportunity to delve deeper into the underbelly of the greater complexities related to Hawking’s life.

Yes, Marsh does touch on the most important moments of Hawking’s past; however, consistently, all related peo-ples seem to just be moving through the works, the scenes sometimes feel like

checks on a checklist created to move the story forward, and the final product ends up being… just okay.

With that said, it is impossible to ignore the fact that “The Theory of Ev-erything” is about the journey Stephen (Eddie Redmayne) and Jane (Felicity Jones) take together despite the consis-tent setbacks they face.

Redmayne’s performance as Stephen extends far past any expectations I had about portraying such a truly daunting personality, and to call such acting im-pressive would be putting it lightly. The attention to detail especially in relation to physical mannerisms, matters of speech and discomforting contortion is impecca-ble, and it is disappointing to realize such

Film: “The Theory of Everything”Release Date: Nov. 7. Rating:

a performance could have been even more highlighted with a more vibrant script.

The same should be said for Felicity Jones, whose formidable performance as the tireless and graceful Jane suffers from an insufficient human focus on her character. We never see Jane as anything but a perfect guardian for Stephen, and yet being in charge of raising three kids and helping her husband with an innu-merable number of tasks all while at-tempting to finish her own doctorate must have been more than enough to put her under duress. In the audiences’ eyes, she is just a little too patient, just a little too perfect, to feel like her story is truly be-ing explored alongside Stephen’s.

In total, the film excels in what it seeks to portray: a realistic relationship between two individuals, based on an at-times shaky foundation and the cer-tainty of a lost battle.

I will admit, I am not the biggest fan of biopics; typically I feel like they sen-sationalize the story of their subjects to a questionable level or adhere to the strictest vanilla representation possible.

However, I found “The Theory of Ev-erything” to be funny, uplifting, inspir-ing and heartbreaking all at once, and I look forward to finding time to gather a copy of Jane Hawking’s “Travelling to Infinity: My Life With Stephen,” which inspired this film’s production, to further immerse myself in the life of one of the most fascinating scientists in the world.

Courtesy IMDB“The Theory of Everything” shows both Stephen Hawking’s (played by Eddie Redmayne) genius and his struggle with ALS.

A conversation with...

much insight into the talents of a man receiving quite the Oscar-buzz. Here’s what he had to say:

Q: How did you mentally and phys-ically prepare to take on such a com-plicated role?

Eddie Redmayne: When I got cast, I had four months before filming started and so when you’re lucky enough to play someone as extraordinary as Ste-phen, I tried to educate myself on the science in the one sense, and learning about ALS was incredibly important.

I went to a neurology clinic in Lon-don called the National Hospital for Neurology and Neurosurgery, Queen Square, and I would go every week or two and meet with a specialist there who would introduce me to people suf-fering [from motor neuron diseases].

Some of them would invite me into their homes, and I would not only see the physical effects of ALS and the emotional ones, but also the extraor-dinary humor and amazing passion for life that many people who are suffering from this disease have. Finally, it was meeting Stephen and Jane and Jonathan

and their children that was the last ele-ment just before we started filming. I tried to approach it in a three-dimen-sional way.

Q: How has studying and portray-

ing Stephen Hawking in “The Theory of Everything” influenced your theo-ry of everything?

Redmayne: Taking the phrase as

an abstract looking at life, really, the amazing thing about spending time with Stephen was that he was given two years to live at 21, and he described that every day and moment beyond that was a gift for him.

How he pulled himself out of a mel-ancholia and managed to live every second of every minute of his life as passionately and as fully as possible… I feel like I certainly get caught up in the day-to-day banalities and worries of life and forget that we only have one shot of [living] it. Trying to live fully is what I’ve taken away as my theory.

Q: What’s the most surprising

thing you learned about Stephen Hawking?

Redmayne: I suppose when I met him

it was his humor. I knew he had a sense of self-deprecating humor having done “The Simpsons” and “The Big Bang Theory;” he’s a capricious man.

When I met him, his sort of wit, an ex-traordinary incisive wit, and his sense of timing [showed that he was] genuinely a properly funny man; there was this mis-chievous glimpse, a sort of lord of misrule [about him], and that was what I supposed I took most away. Even though it is diffi-cult for him to communicate, he has a very powerful feel to him.

Q: In this film, Stephen Hawking

is not put on a pedestal nor is he por-trayed as some god-like figure; he’s human and quite alive in a relatable fashion. In that sense, what is the message you would like the audience to take away from this film?

Redmayne: The set of scenarios or

the specific obstacles that are put in Ste-phen’s and Jane’s way are very unique and pretty brutal ones, but for me what I took away is this sense that there is a universal quality in that we all have lim-itations; it is how we choose to negotiate those obstacles or defy them is what de-fines us. Living each moment fully and [being able to] make that choice is what I took away from the experience, and that’s what I hope the audience does too.

observer.case.edu fun page | 15

fun

Crossword PuzzleAcross1. Birthday or cheese, for example5. Ill-gotten gains10. Sweeping story14. Beers15. Small islands16. On the left or right17. Instructions19. Murmurs20. Confederate soldier21. Cooktop22. Wails23. Resulting25. Cries27. Effeminate28. Wisdom31. Beginners34. Renegade35. Historic period36. Colors37. European blackbird38. Russian emperor39. Euro forerunner40. Negate41. Points42. A stringed instrument44. Apprehend

45. Angry46. Genuine50. Less hazardous52. Vocalization54. Conceit55. Wreaths56. Tableware58. Mining finds59. Drop to one’s knees60. Poems61. Corpse62. Severe pain63. Anagram of “Yews”

Down1. Close-knit group2. Extraterrestrial3. Curbs (British spelling)4. East southeast5. Any long and tedious address6. Utilizing7. Blockage8. Inexhaustible9. S10. Break out11. Piety12. False god

13. To tax or access18. Weeps22. German for “Because”24. Flying saucers26. Type of sword28. Small finch29. Poop30. Hearing organs31. Not us32. Cassava33. Back together again34. Alleviating37. Defrost38. Pipe40. Wild hog41. Provide food for43. Fancy44. With grace46. Energize47. Prepared48. Concur49. Loamy deposit50. Untidy one51. Relating to aircraft53. Margarine56. Calypso offshoot57. Expression of surprised admiration

CO

MIC

S Trains rotate the Earth around various axes while elevators shift its position in space. By xkcd

Ivory Tower by Kevin Yong

It’s fun to watch browsers fumblingly recapitulate the history of window management. Someday we’ll have xmonad as a Firefox extension. By xkcd

11/21/14 16 | fun page

allyapplyapronbeepbevelbiasbulletcentralchimneycigarcommercialcrowddebutdirtydressfallfetidfieldmixerpartypiece

polluteprodreasonrulesensitiveshakensheersiresleekspokestarkstrainstrikesuavetosstowertrashwanderweekwellwreck

Wor

dse

arch

Aries(Apr. 19 - May 13)

Don’t study for finals and marathon shows on Netflix. Trust me, the finals will take

themselves.

Taurus(May 14 - Jun. 19)

Eat so much turkey that you enter a coma.

Gemini(Jun. 20 - Jul. 20)

Foooooooodddddddd!!!!!!!

Cancer(Jul. 21 - Aug. 9)

Thanksgiving is coming, please try not to faceplant

on the ice.

Leo(Aug. 10 - Sep. 15)

Go to the gym. You gobble.

Virgo(Sep. 16 - Oct. 30)

Don’t trust the green beans at Thanksgiving

dinner.

Libra(Oct. 31 - Nov. 22)

Be thankful for your family, except crazy

Uncle Steve; for him be thankful break is only a

few days.

Scorpio(Nov. 23 - Nov. 29)

Buy a magic 8 ball and go bowling at the Corner

Alley with it. You will score exactly 118 points.

Ophiuchus(Nov. 30 - Dec. 17)

Take a chance on that mysterious side dish at your Thanksgiving gathering… you never

know where secret cheese is hiding!

Sagittarius(Dec. 18 - Jan. 18)

The mashed potatoes at your Thanksgiving

celebration this year will be on point.

Capricorn(Jan. 19 - Feb. 15)

The cold starts to get to people’s heads... and animals, too. Watch out for any rabid squirrels

who might want to steal your food.

Aquarius(Feb. 16 - Mar. 11)

Please try again later.

Pisces(Mar. 12 - Apr. 18)

Try to keep your spirits up as the temperature goes down. We believe

in you!

Horoscopes

Nutcase

17sportsobserver.case.edu

The Jolly Scholar

Comedy & Bingo Night

Wednesday, December 3 &

Wednesday, December 10

Call the Jolly Scholar for your next holiday party. We’ll cause

any party to get Jolly.

jolly.scholar

@JollyScholar

216.368.0090mpv3@case.edu

MTW 11a – 12aRF 11a – 2aSat. 12p – 2aSun. 12p – 12a

Catering!

Intramural volleyball season is well un-derway, with the playoffs in sight. Here’s a quick breakdown of recent games from each league on campus.

In the Co-Rec league, the first game of the week saw the Netter’s Setters beat the Macroballs. PASSoma defeated PiKapp/Tri Sigma in two sets, with final counts of 25-14 and 25-16. Sigma Nu and Friends defeated Pi Phi/Zeta Psi. Sets on the Beach prevailed over Delt/Theta in two sets. Fre$h2Breath won in two sets over Spikey Dinosaurs by final scores of 25-17 and 25-8. Phi Psi/AXO defeated BME (FAKE) Fun Levils while Set to Kill won over the Fiji/DG squad.

Floss Bosses won a three set thriller against ZBT/APhi. Floss Bosses took the first set 25-20, but ZBT/APhi bounced back in the second set 25-14. Floss Bosses eked out the victory in the decisive third set by a 15-13 final.

To round out the week Sigma Nu & Friends prevailed in two sets against Haha omg yes. ZBT/APhi outlasted Fiji/DG in three sets, while Netter’s Setters emerged as victors over Delt/Theta by virtue of a forfeit.

In the Fraternity league, Sigma Chi emerged victorious from a grueling three set match against Pi Kappa Phi. Pi Kappa Phi actually took the opening set 25-23 before Sigma Chi evened things up with a 25-18 win in the second. Sigma Chi then sealed their comeback with a 15-11 victory in round three.

Pi Kappa Phi then fell in their next match up to Delta Sigma Phi. Zeta Psi prevailed in three sets against FIJI. Zeta Psi won round one 25-19, then FIJI proceeded to bounce back with a 25-15 shellacking in the second

set. Zeta Psi took the decisive third set by a 15-8 final. Phi Kaps got the best of Zeta Psi in two sets, by finals of 25-19 and 25-22.

Delta Tau Delta came out on top in two sets against Phi Kappa Tau. Before the Phi Kaps were able to outlast Sigma Chi in three sets. Phi Delta Theta was a winner in three sets over Sigma Nu. Phi Kappa Psi got the best of Delta Chi in two sets. Delta Upsilon was victorious against Phi Kappa Tau in two sets. Pi Kappa Phi prevailed over Sigma Nu in three sets. Delta Sigma Phi was a three set victor over SigEp G.

Finally, in the Open league PASSoma prevailed against the ACE Inhibitors. Glo-bo Gym took care of No Casualties in two sets. Albaloo earned a victory over Net-ter’s Setters in three sets. The Soccer Team bested Volleyball Team. BME SunDevils prevailed over Team All The Sports in two sets. ACE Inhibitors defeated #TeamGetS-wole in two sets.

PASSoma and The Juggling Club both forfeited their respective match in a shock-ing turn of events, resulting in their game needed to be rescheduled. Bump It Up was victorious in two sets against both the Dirty Sets and the Juggling Club. Albaloo was a two set winner over Globo Gym. ACE In-hibitors scored an easy win over Volleyball Team by virtue of a forfeit. PASSoma took care of the BME SunDevils in two sets in their return to the court while the Netter’s Setters also won in two sets over Dirty Sets. Team All The Sports forfeited a match, re-sulting in a win for The Soccer Team.

Last but not least, PASSoma prevailed over The Soccer Team in two sets, to stand at 4-0 on the season. This great record leaves them tied for second with Bump It Up and the pair are a game behind Alba-loo who have won all five of their games this season.

David HoffmanStaff Reporter

Intramural volleyball check-in

With soccer over, volleyball season is in full swing for part-time athletes

Varsity Sport Monday Tuesday Wednesday ThursdayMen's Basketball

@ Denison 7:00 PM

Women's Basketball

@ Kenyon 7:00 PM

Varsity Sport Friday Saturday SundayMen's Basketball

STJ Memorial Tournament Home vs. Rose Hulman 8:00 PM

STJ Memorial Tournament Home vs.

TBA 5:00 PM or 7:00 PM

Swimming and Diving

Tri Meet, vs. Grove City and Gannon @ Grove

City 1:00 PM

Weekly Calendar: 11/17 to 11/27

Weekly Calendar: 11/28 to 12/4Varsity Sport Friday Saturday SundayMen's Basketball

vs. Penn St. Beaver @ Pittsburgh PA 1:00 PM

vs. Penn St.-New Kensington @

Pittsburgh, Pa 1:00 PM

Women's Basketball

@ Wittenberg 2:00 PM

Varsity Sport Monday Tuesday Wednesday ThursdayWomen's Basketball

@ Wooster 5:30 PM

Swimming and Diving

Wooster Invitational @ Wooster 11:00

AM/ 7:00 PM

18 sports 11/21/14

With free agency looming, just how important is Tristan to the Cavs?

Arko’s Cleveland Corner

Everyone knows about the Cavaliers “Big Three” of Kyrie Irving, LeBron James and Kevin Love. But three players don’t win championships by themselves, no matter how talented they may be. The supporting cast around a team’s core is arguably just as valu-able as the core itself. All of the pieces have to fit together just right in order to achieve suc-cess at the highest level in the sport.

That is why Dan Gilbert, owner of the Cleveland Cavaliers, said a major part of his plan for the team was to lock up power forward Tristan Thompson for the long term. That is, he was hopeful the Cavaliers would be able to reach a deal with Thompson before the Oct. 31 deadline, preventing him from becoming a restricted free agent and essen-tially securing the former fourth overall pick to remain with Cleveland for years to come.

That deal, however, never materialized. The two sides apparently valued Thomp-son differently. As such, Thompson’s agent, Rich Paul (who also happens to be LeBron James’s agent) elected to steer Thompson towards the free agency market, where Thompson will become a restricted free agent come July 1, 2015.

And this summer, Paul’s phone line will no doubt be ringing. A lot. Thompson is a young, athletic forward that attacks the offen-sive glass like a madman, relentlessly grab-bing offensive rebounds and giving his team second or even third chances at a possession.

That attribute alone is highly coveted by NBA general managers. Offensive rebound-ing is an art, and Thompson has continuous-ly developed the craft each year he’s been in the league.

Drafted fourth overall in the 2011 NBA draft, Thompson entered the league along-side future running mate, Kyrie Irving (who was selected three picks ahead of Thompson at the number one overall slot). A physical specimen, Thompson entered the league at 6’9’’, 227 pounds and with virtually no of-fensive game. He was a raw talent that the Cavaliers viewed as a project, but his poten-tial was enormous.

Three years and a hand change later, the Cavaliers have to be pleased with how the young forward has progressed.

As it turns out, Thompson had been playing with his wrong hand his entire ca-reer. Many scouts had noted Thompson’s footwork in the post catered to players that were right-handed, but Thompson always used his left. He drove left, he shot jump-

ers with his left, etc. Last year, Thompson finally made the change to using his right hand, and his offensive game started to come around. While has ppg average of 11.7 in 2013 exactly mirrored his average in 2012, his game had much more fluidity and his jump shot became more reliable.

But scoring isn’t the reason why Tristan Thompson is valuable on the hardwood. Thompson’s value lies in his unrelenting energy, hustle, and knack for grabbing offen-sive rebounds.

Earlier this season, Thompson hauled in a franchise-record 12 offensive rebounds. That is an unbelievable statistic when you sit back and realize that Thompson was able to give the Cavalier’s 12 extra possessions of offense that they otherwise would not have had. His defense is invaluable too, as his high energy level and lengthy arms frequently cause problems for whomever he is guarding.

He also doesn’t need to shoot the ball a lot, which bodes well when you play with players like the Big Three and Dion Waiters. Those guys are the offensive workhorses, and they chuck up a ton of shots. Tristan understands his role of rebounder and high energy defender, which allows him to gel perfectly with the other players on the team. Essentially, they shoot the ball, and he eats up

the rebounds should they miss.That is why it’s disappointing the Cava-

liers weren’t able to strike a deal with Rich Paul and Thompson. It’s likely that they asked for much more money than the Cava-lier’s were willing to give up, but other teams this summer will surely be lining up to fork over large amounts of cash in order to pry Thompson away from Cleveland. When gauging Thompson’s value, his individual statistics don’t reflect his actual worth to the team. Being a restricted free agent, the Cav-aliers can match any offer that other teams propose to Thompson and he will then re-main a Cavalier.

Until then, this season is the main focus for Thompson. Hopefully, next season will see Thompson returning to Cleveland for many more.

Joey Arko is a current senior at Case Western Reserve University working to-wards his degree in English with a Market-ing minor. Aside from The Observer he also writes for CavsNation, submitting articles pertaining to the analysis of the Cleveland Cavaliers. Born and raised in a suburb just outside the city, his love for Cleveland transcends beyond just it’s sports teams. He also really loves Cleveland bars.

Gauging Tristan Thompson’s value

Joey ArkoStaff Reporter

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THINK.

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Don’t just take a job, do something .

The $40 towel fee is no more. The policy, which required students to pay $40 per year for a locker rental in or-der to borrow a towel while working out at the Veale Center, has faced back-lash from students since its institution in July.

“This is a service for students,” said Jacob Ma, vice president of student life for the Undergraduate Student Govern-ment, who spearheaded the effort to re-move the charge for towels.

Ma expressed student concerns on the policy to Amy Backus, director of athletics and chair of physical educa-tion, and Lou Stark, vice president of Student Affairs.

“I very much respect them for how receptive they were to our feedback,” said Ma. Through a collaborative ef-

fort, the three were able to reach an agreement to have the charge removed. However, there were still concerns with Veale’s towels.

According to Ma, one of the reasons that the department of physical educa-tion and athletics decided to start charg-ing for towels was because students wanted better towels.

“Going forward, we’re going to be discussing more about how to provide a better quality towel while still main-taining this free service for students,” said Ma.

The department is also looking into how to increase sustainability in the towel system, where, currently, towels are washed on a daily basis, wasting a lot of water.

Students who have already paid the $40 fee can request a refund through the athletics department. Students still have to pay for a locker rental.

Julia BiancoNews Editor

Veale removes towel charge

f

19sportsobserver.case.edu

The top 10 moments in CWRU 2014 fall sports

Football hoists Academic Cup

To kick off the football season the Spartans hosted the arch rival Carnegie Mellon Tartans. The Spartans ran away with the game, exploding for 30 points and holding the Tartans to none. The game was one of the highest attended games of the season and was capped with both the presentation of the Aca-demic Bowl and a post game fireworks display, for a memorable night.

With a single brave Spartan still competing outdoors as the thermometer begins its steady drop, driving students and athletes alike inside to the warmth,

JP. O’HaganSports Editor

it is time for a recap of the greatest moments for this years fall compet-ing Spartans. Narrowing down the list of achievements of the six teams and their nearly 230 athletes was quite the challenge. However without further ado here is The Observer’s top ten sports moments of the 2014 fall sports season.

*** H: Honorable Mention***

To kick off the list the women’s soccer squad’s fantastic upset over the second best team in the nation, the Washington Universi-ty Bears. The Spartans hadn’t beat the Bears since the mid-1990s and the Bears hadn’t lost a single of their previous 21 games on the road, the longest such run in the nation in all three divisions. However, on Senior night at DiSanto Field the Bears and the Spartans found themselves tied at 1-1 entering the second over time to set the stage for Jessie Sabers. The Spartan teamwork set up Sabers and she collected the ball in the offensive half to stun the Bears and deliver the top moment of the fall sports season.

Women’s soccer stuns Washington University

Freshman starting goalie Calvin Boyle was stellar in the net for the Spartans this season but the greatest moment came on a key play late in the game against New York University. The Spartans found themselves up by a single goal in the opening event of homecoming week against the visiting Vio-lets as New York was awarded a penalty kick with 2:13 left in the match. The shoot came in and Boyle dove perfectly to his left to de-flect the ball wide. The team and the soccer fans around the field exploded in cheers as the Spartans hung on to win.

Boyle’s perfect stop

Kelsey Aamoth, the only remaining fall sport athlete competing, is a top cross-coun-try runner for the Spartans has led the team all season. She earned herself a spot in the National Meet this weekend as the women runners finished the season as the 25th ranked team in the nation.

Aamoth races to Nationals

The volleyball team dominated opposi-tion from the court in Horsburgh gymnasium this season. The Spartans were undefeated at home this season dropping only three sets while winning 18 sets. The Spartans had a strong season playing nationally ranked com-petition, finishing the season 18-12 overall and earning 5th in the conference.

Volleyball undefeated at home

During the homecoming game the Marching Spartans added to their weekly John Williams show with a truly Case Western moment. Two members of the band dropped their instruments and broke out into a classic lightsaber duel as the Star Wars theme played behind them.

Marching Band breaks into lightsaber duel

Case Western has placed 17 Spartans onto All-Conference teams this season. This is a great nod for all the teams and their great play this season. Football players Gavin Sandidge, Gage Blair, Brendan Lynch, Adam Hoch-man, and Aaron Weisberg were named to the PAC All-Conference team. The men’s soccer team members Chris Cvecko, Michael Ba-log, Calvin Boyle, and Taylor Fletcher were named to the UAA-All conference nods. Abbey Smith, Jessie Sabers, Christine Stra-ka, Christine Breindel, and Amy Lindberg earned their honors, and finally the volley-ball team placing Marian Barton, Katie Best, and Kayla Pfaff to the list. In addition the 96 Spartans earned All-Academic team honors, adding to the long list of accomplishments and accolades earned by Spartan athletes.

All-Conference teams nods

The football team capped their homecom-ing game victory with a trick play against Geneva for a touchdown. Spartan quarter-back flipped the ball to sophomore wide re-ceiver Brendan Lynch cutting backwards be-hind the line of scrimmage. Lynch rolled to the outside and launched the ball into the end zone, to connect for the touchdown, an excit-ing play and an end of the season highlight.

Trickery

The men’s soccer team emulated the success of the volleyball team and was able to hold off all every visiting team at DiSanto Field. The team held the Spartans to a mere goal while piling up 11 goals of their own. The soccer squad’s season was another straight year of improvement un-der head coach Brandon Bianco as they finished 8-6-4 on the season.

Men’s soccer undefeated at home

The Spartans were seeded fourth entering the UAA Championship but lost their first match against the University of Chicago in four sets. The Spartans showed their resolve and rebounded to sweep Brandeis University and work their way back into the fifth place match in the bracket. The Spartans beat the University of Rochester in their final game of the season and clinch the fifth place spot in one of the top conferences in the nation.

Volleyball 5th in UAA Championship

The top highlight from the Carnegie Mel-lon football match-up was when the Spartan’s linebacker Gavin Sandidge broke away from the line of scrimmage and dove in front of the Tartan’s the kick field goal attempt. The ball bounced away and was scooped up by Cody Calhoun who ran the ball back down the field before being dragged down at the 30 yard line, giving the Spartans great position, and crush-ing the Tartans’ hopes of a comeback.

Sandiage Blocks Punt

The other big story this sports season was the opening of the brand new Wyant Athletic and Wellness Center in the North Residential Village. The center has been a much-needed addition to campus, and serves the athletes and students living in the North Residential Village with a convenient workout space as well as new study rooms overlooking DiSanto Field.

Wyant Center opens

Editor’s choice

sports

The Case Western Reserve University squad pulled out a 61-56 win on Tues-

day against the Baldwin Wallace Yellow Jackets. The Spartans rallied late, ending the game on a 10-4 run and improving their record to 2-1 on the season.

The Spartans started slow, unable to

get their inside shots to fall, and Bald-win Wallace scored twice to jump out to a 4-0 lead.

Senior point guard Amanda Germ-er converted an easy putback on a fast break followup to put the Spartans on the board.

After forcing the Yellow Jackets to a shot clock violation on the other end of the floor, sophomore guard Jessica Mc-Coy drained a shot from just inside the arc to tie it at four.

Scoring was a rounded effort for the Spartans in the first half. Orcutt led all scorers and rebounders with six and four respectively; she would finish with 12 and nine.

Trailing 26-21, the Spartans went into halftime with some momentum thanks to a pair of free throws from senior forward Brooke Orcutt.

The teams went back and forth in the second half, with the Yellow Jackets making it a ten-point game before Case charged back, cutting it to 31-27.

Poor perimeter defense led to slew of Baldwin Wallace points, giving Yellow Jackets to a 38-29 lead midway through the second half. The Spartans forced three

turnovers in quick succession after switch-ing to a 1-3-1 zone, but failed to capitalize on two of those free possessions.

Things began to click for Case near the end of the game, and they cut the deficit to 45-42 with six minutes to go thanks a combination of strong defense, free throws, and points in the paint.

A three-pointer from McCoy brought the Spartans within two, and senior Berit Eppard tied the game 47-47 with a low-post lay-in.

Eppard later hit a baseline jumper to put the Spartans up two with half a min-ute to play. Junior forward Laura Mum-mey tallied a steal and hit a free throw after an intentional foul, sealing the Yel-low Jackets’ fate.

Eppard packed the stat sheet; her 16 points led all Spartan scorers, and also finished with 7 rebounds and 7 assists. McCoy also turned in a solid 14 point performance, hitting the only two Case three pointers of the game.

The women will be back in action against Kenyon College next Tuesday, Nov. 25. Their next home game takes place Saturday, Nov. 29 against Witten-berg University.

Wade HopperStaff Reporter

Spartan women return tothe hardwood

The temperatures drop below zero and the snow comes and goes. Yes, Case Western Reserve University, it is definitely wintertime again. For the Case men’s basketball team, this season could be the one to remember.

Boasting one of the more veteran teams in the University Athletic Asso-ciation, the Spartans look to build on last year’s achievements, when they narrowly missed out on an NCAA tour-nament berth.

Highlighting the returning starters are a pair of All-UAA seniors—forward Dane McLoughlin and guard Julien Person, both of whom are looking to finish off illustri-ous careers at CWRU with a grand finale.

Junior point guard Jimmy Holman, the UAA leader in assists last year, also returns to facilitate the Spartan offense. Mcloughlin and Person, however, are expected to be the team’s main scorers, having tallied 956 and 609 career points respectively, Holman’s passing expertise will be crucial to their success.

Behind the trio of McLoughlin, Per-son, and Holman, the Spartans also sport impressive depth throughout the roster. Senior captains Brian Kle-ments and Connor Edel figure to take over key frontcourt starting positions,

opening up the flexibility for the versa-tile McLoughlin to move out onto the wing—an area in which he is very com-fortable, as evidenced by his 154 all-time three pointers.

Former UAA Rookie of the year Jor-dan Dean joins junior duo Matt Clark and Spencer Boyd as experienced leaders of the Case second unit, which seems to be one of the Spartans’ strongest advantages.

Head coach Sean McDonnell agreed, remarking that “we’ll have a lot of tal-ent coming off of the bench…we expect those guys to provide us with energy, defensive aggressiveness and opportu-nistic scoring.”

In addition to providing rest for the starters, a deep and talented bench—such as the one that Case finds itself in possession of—can decisively alter the course of a game.

The Spartan men have already started their season on the right foot, defeating cross-town rivals Baldwin Wallace Uni-versity 82-73 on Tuesday night.

McLoughlin led the way with 19 points and five rebounds on 7-10 shoot-ing, including a ruthlessly efficient three for four from downtown (3-point range). Person added 14 in the winning effort, while point guard Holman ran a finely-tuned offense all night en route to nine points and six assists.

Looking ahead, the Spartans play

in the annual Stephanie Tubbs Memo-rial Tournament on Friday and Saturday, while conference action doesn’t begin until begin Jan.10 at archrival Carnegie Mellon University (Pa.).

Contemplating the team’s chances for greater success in the coming months, Coach McDonnell said, “We have a deep, experienced roster, and the expectations

within our program are very high….good teams will always defend, rebound and share the ball—we have to be one of those teams.”

For the 2014-2015 Case men’s bas-ketball team, teamwork, depth, and ex-perience could very well be the defin-ing factors that carry the Spartans into a long sought-after NCAA berth.

Aaron ShangStaff Reporter

Spartan strongMen’s basketball looks for success through teamwork

Senior Brooke Orcutt looks to pass out of the double team in a game last season. The Spartans stand at 2-1 on the season so far.

Arianna Wage/Observer

Junior Jimmy Holman scopes out the defense in a game last season. Holman and the Spartans returned to action over the weekend.

Arianna Wage/Observer