issue 6-march 3, 2010
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TBA Hilltop ViewsTRANSCRIPT
Entertainment: The top show-
cases to catch at this year’s SXSW Festival.
Sports: Missed the Olympics? Read about the Top Ten
moments from the Winter Games.
Features: Find out how to clean
up your online image.
8 1012
Hilltop Viewshilltopviewsonline.com Volume 27 | Issue 6
S t . E d w a r d ’ s U n i v e r s i t y W e d n e s d a y , M a r c h 3 , 2 0 1 0
The music, cheering and festive lights coming from Le Mans Plaza warmed up a cold February night and paid off for the victims of the Haiti earthquake.
The benefit concert for Hai-ti, Music for the Soul, raised an estimated $600, according to Lisa Manjarrez, assistant director of Campus Ministry. Campus Ministry estimated that the money puts the total amount raised above $6,000,
which will go towards relief effforts.
The concert raised more money than expected by sell-ing T-shirts, said Kelly Mc-Carthy, a member of “Hill-toppers Helping Haiti,” one of the groups that sponsored the event.
Held Feb. 24 at 7 p.m., the event showcased the vocal and musical talents of students of St. Edward’s University and other artists around Texas. They raised money through selling T-shirts, accepting
donations and offering a raf-fle for a movie basket.
Besides a display of local talent, Music for the Soul was a fund raising oppor-tunity for the Students of African Heritage Associa-tion, the other student group sponsoring the event, said Danielle Samuel, one of the event coordinators.
Shortly after the concert was canceled earlier in Febru-ary due to inclement weather,
Students help Haiti
Ari Auber
Andrew J. WillardThe benefit concert for Haiti, Music for the Soul, ended up raising an estimated $600.
Trustee member, former Secretary of State dies
Myra A. McDaniel, Texas’ first African-American sec-retary of state and St. Ed-ward’s University’s vice chair of the Board of Trustees, died Thursday at age 77.
C. Robert Heath, a law partner of McDaniel’s at Bickerstaff, Heath, Smiley, Pollan, Kever and McDan-iel, L.L.P., in Austin, said McDaniel had been battling lung cancer.
“She was a wonderful lawyer,” Heath said in an interview with the San An-tonio Express-News. “She was somebody that was very wise, and clients and others depended on her and trust-
ed her judgment.”McDaniel gave 24 years of
service to St. Edward’s, from 1986 to 2010, according to an announcement issued
by the university. McDan-iel was most recently chair of the board from 2004 to
Jen Obenhaus
MCDANIEL| 2
MUSIC | 2
Texas State Library and Archives CommissionMcDaniel pictured with former Governor White.
University vice president seeking a job elsewhere
JURICK | 2
A top-level administrative official is planning to leave St. Edward’s University, but remains in his position for the time being.
Vice President of Aca-demic Affairs Robert Man-zer said that he has decided to explore other opportuni-ties less than two years after joining the university in July
2008. Manzer remains in his position as he completes existing projects, but does not work on campus.
All six school deans on campus had reported di-rectly to Manzer, who re-ports to Sr. Donna Jurick, the university’s provost and executive vice president. That responsibility, Manzer said, was created when he joined the university. Before
Manzer’s arrival, the deans reported directly to Jurick.
Jurick has since reassumed those duties, and the deans will report directly to her for the next year.
“There is such a thing as an organizational fit, and it just didn’t work out,” Jurick said.
Jurick and Manzer said
Tristan Hallman
Page 2 | NEWS Wednesday, March 3, 2010 | Hilltop Views
that they mutually decided there was too much space between the deans and the university’s administration. Manzer also said that Jurick offered him a new position, but he had declined.
Jurick confirmed that con-versations about a new po-sition took place, but said it would be inappropriate to disclose the position that she and Manzer discussed.
The structure the univer-sity put in place in 2008 was partially to alleviate Jurick of some responsibility, she said, but added that there were other contributing fac-tors.
“You try certain things at certain times with organi-zational structures,” Jurick said. “The whole situation did not work as we hoped it would.”
She said that the univer-sity will make decisions about where to go with the structure next year. Then, she said, the university will
have to decide first whether to hire someone to replace Manzer, and then decide what the job title and re-sponsibilities that person will hold.
Jurick did not say, howev-er, that the university would not try the same basic struc-ture again.
“Those are decisions that haven’t been made,” Jurick said. “At the moment, we are not hiring.”
In an e-mail, Manzer said that he is excited to pursue other opportunities. Man-zer also said he is grateful to serve with Jurick, university President George Martin, the school deans and the university’s “gifted” staff and faculty.
“I want to stress how much I have benefited from my time at St. Edward’s,” Man-
zer said. “St. Ed’s is truly an amazing place that can and does serve as an example for all of American higher edu-cation.”
Jurick said that she wishes Manzer all the best in his job search.
“Rob is very bright,” Jurick said. “He generously con-tributed his talents to St. Edward’s during his time here.”
Samuel received an e-mail from Campus Ministry ask-ing that the event become a Haiti benefit when it was rescheduled, which it had not been originally. Samuel agreed right away.
“A lot of times when events get moved, they lose some-thing, but we gained some-thing,” she said. “It’s for a cause now. It’s better than it was.”
Part of the tribute to Hai-ti was the addition of two songs when Music for the Soul was rescheduled: “Will You Be There” by Michael Jackson and “Let It Be” by the Beatles. Three of the event coordinators, Taylor Batch, Jessica Collins and Rehema
Abdul, were involved in sing-ing them.
The 23 songs played at the event were all in the musical styles of R&B, Soul and Jazz. They ranged from covers of Etta James’ “At Last” to Bob Marley’s “Redemption Song.”
But the hit of the night came from two contempo-rary music groups. The cover of Destiny Child’s “Say My Name” was performed by a local indie group, the Dandy Lions, and drew loud cheers, as well as spontaneous danc-ing, from the crowd.
“The [lead singer] was like a white Beyoncé,” said Brian McElrath, a freshman who attended the concert. “It was pretty much amazing.”
But more important than the songs themselves was
the purpose of Music for the Soul, to inspire people to help Haiti, Batch said.
The two hosts, Samuel and Greg Rucker, reminded the audience to donate through-out the concert. After the Michael Jackson song, Ruck-er stepped up to the micro-phone and made a plea for donations to Haiti.
“We are more than just Americans,” he said. “We are citizens of this earth.”
“Music for the Soul” brings in donations for Haiti
Christina Villarreal
Hilltoppers Helping Haiti kicked off their fund raising efforts with a bake sale.
Continued from page 1
Continued from page 1
McDaniel dies at age 77
2006. During her years of service to St. Edward’s, Mc-Daniel worked with the Fa-cilities Committee, as well as the Institutional Oversight and Academic Affairs Com-mittee.
“Myra was a wise and faith-ful friend to the causes of ed-ucational excellence, quality health care and social justice,” said President George Mar-tin. “Austin and Texas are better places because of her work. We will greatly miss her intelligence, energy and commitment.”
Texas Gov. Rick Perry’s of-fice also issued a statement extending his condolences to McDaniel’s friends and fam-ily. Perry noted that the for-mer Texas secretary of state’s dedication to her community and person achievements made her an admirable ex-ample to young women.
“Myra McDaniel personi-fied the Texas tradition of dedication to her commu-nity, from editing her church newsletter all the way to
serving as Texas Secretary of State,” Perry said. “As the first black woman to hold that office, Myra served as a role model for a generation of young women, many of whom will follow the exam-ple she set in service to her fellow Texans. Her talents made her exceptional in all her pursuits, but her heart made her exceptional in life.”
McDaniel was born Dec. 13, 1932 in Philadelphia. In 1954, she graduated from the University of Pennsylvania with a degree in English. She went on to receive her law degree from the University of Texas School of Law in 1975.
McDaniel served as the first African-American Texas Secretary of State from 1984 to 1987, appointed by then-Texas Gov. Mark White.
In addition to her service as Texas Secretary of State, McDaniel served as general counsel to the governor, as-sistant special counsel to the Railroad Commission of Texas, assistant attorney gen-eral and chief of the Taxation
Division within the Texas Attorney General’s Office.
After her stint as Texas Secretary of State, McDaniel returned to private law prac-tice in 1987, where she went on to become the first Afri-can American woman to lead a major law firm as managing partner in 1995.
Flags on St. Edward’s cam-pus were lowered to half-mast Friday in honor of Mc-Daniel.
McDaniel is survived by her husband, Reuben R. McDaniel, Jr., professor of Management Science and Information Systems at the University of Texas at Aus-tin, as well as her two chil-dren and five grandchildren.
Continued from page 1
Jurick reassumes duties“The whole situation did not work as we hoped it would.”
— Sr. Donna Jurick
NEWS | Page 3 Hilltop Views | Wednesday, March 3, 2010
affirmative side and eventu-ally won based on his argu-ment that captivity should be allowed but not public shows.
Judging was not based on consensus, and each debate resulted in a split decision.
“The persuasiveness of the arguments, the clarity of the statement of thesis and a consistency throughout is the best judgment,” Assis-tant Professor of Philosophy Peter Wake, who has been a judge during all three years of the tournament’s history, said. “An emphasis on logos is central for judging a debate of this kind. Pathos in the service of logos will only help a debater’s case.”
BackgroundThe debates center around
questions on current events, from on campus to national.
“It’s set up in a way that al-lows people that haven’t had experience in debate can do it too,” Administrative Co-ordinator Kate Rosati, who played a large part in orga-nizing the event, said. “It’s
really just based on forming an argument, like you would for Capstone. It’s that kind of critical thinking.”
Like many campus events, the tournament was based strongly on the Holy Cross tradition.
“Campus Ministry talks about educating both the mind and the heart, and that’s why it’s passion and civil-ity,” Rosati said. “You can be passionate about something, but it doesn’t have to be like talk radio or what you see on the news so much nowadays, where people are just kind of yelling at each other.”
Associate Director of Cam-pus Ministry James Puglisi introduced the idea of a de-bate tournament, which he borrowed from Westmont College.
“I like the format because it often forces you to argue a position that you may be personally contrary to,” Pug-lisi said. “It makes you go into the other person’s perspec-tive. You start to understand some of their value systems and don’t just assume they know nothing.”
Looking aheadRosati said that the tour-
nament attempts to involve students from different back-grounds and majors, but the number of contestants this year declined.
“We’d love to grow the tour-nament,” Puglisi said. “We’d like to see more women par-ticipating, and also students from across the disciplines.”
The four finalists of the third annual Passion and Civility Debate Tournament at St. Edward’s University squared off Feb. 28, and one student emerged as the win-ner.
Junior communication ma-jor Brian Brown defeated se-nior philosophy major Ankit Babber in the final round.
The debate question was “Should the Obama admin-istration be required to seek state approval to move Guan-tánamo Bay inmates to the state for trial?” Babber chose the affirmative case, with Brown taking the negative.
“My ethical analysis profes-sor, Jack Green Musselman [Director of the Center for Ethics and Leadership], of-fered us extra credit, so that was the initial reason I got in-volved,” Brown said. “I got re-ally lucky, because I chose to pick the topic both times… I did go with the topic I felt I had the most argument for.”
Brown was the third win-ner in three years.
The structureHosted jointly by the Cen-
ter for Ethics and Leadership and Campus Ministry, the event encouraged students to argue their cases passionately while maintaining respect for one’s opponent. First prize was awarded $300, with sec-ond receiving $200 and the semi-finalists receiving $100 each.
Each debate was structured so that the winner of a coin toss chose one of two topics, and the other debater chose the affirmative or negative case. The affirmative side be-gan with a five minute speech, followed by five minutes from the negative.
The affirmative gave a three minute rebuttal, the nega-tive answered with five min-utes and then the affirmative makes a two minute closing statement. Contestants are allowed time for preparation and clarifying questions at specific times during the de-bate.
What went downIn the semi-finals, Brown
had faced freshman philoso-phy major Jesse Mansfield over the question, “Should the Obama administration estab-lish ‘the High Road’ policy?”
The High Road policy seeks to give priority in govern-ment contracts to companies that offer employees a living wage and benefits. Mansfield argued against the policy and Brown argued for it, but both formed their arguments from
the standpoint of benefiting small businesses.
Babber had faced sopho-more Ryan Lester in his semi-final round. Their ques-tion was “Should wild crea-tures be allowed to be kept in captivity?” Babber chose the
Campus debate tournament champion crownedJake Hartwell
Christina LongmanPassion and Civility Debate Tournament sponsors and finalists pose for a group photograph.
Feb. 20 4:04 p.m. Reckless driving Faculty parking lot Closed
Feb. 18 2:15 a.m. Harassment East Hall Case inactive
Feb. 18 2:10 a.m. Harassment Apartments Under investigation
Feb. 17 5 p.m. Criminal mischief Parking lot adjacent to Fine Arts building
Closed
Feb. 16 Noon Reported bicycle theft Hunt Hall Closed
Feb. 16 11:50 a.m. Attempted vehicle theft Parking lot east of garage Under investigation
Police BlotterDate Time Incident Location Resolution
Page 4 | NEWS Wednesday, March 3, 2010 | Hilltop Views
In the story “Residence Hall Association’s powers disappearing,” the bill dealing with residency representation was S.B. 03 not S.B. 02.
The headline for the story appearing on Page 4 should have read “Ortiz, Ortega Win Crowns.”
On Page 15, the title should read “A Brief look at 2010 Democrat Gubernatorial candi-dates.” Also, the Texas ethics commission reports that Bill White’s total campaign contri-butions are approximately $6.4 million whereas Farouk Shami’s total campaign contri-butions are around $1 million. Shami also took out a $5 million loan for his campaign.
Corrections from Feb. 24, 2010
CAMPUS NEWS IN BRIEF
Eyewash stations installed Student Government Association discusses infraction bill
President’s meeting celebrates university’s 125th anniversary
Jen Obenhaus
Bryce BencivengoProctor Anderson
Jake Hartwell
St. Edward’s University had eyewash stations re-cently installed in all the restrooms on campus.
This investment was a response to a general regulation by the Occupa-tional Safety and Health Administration which states, “Where the eyes or body of any person may be exposed to injurious corrosive materials, suit-able facilities for quick drenching or flushing of the eyes and body shall be provided within the work area for immediate emer-gency use.”
“The eyewash stations were part of an investment in employee safety by the Custodial department, but [they] are available to anyone in the campus community who may have the need to wash some-thing from their eyes,” said Brian C. Burns, assis-tant director of Physical Plant. “Anyone who has gotten chemicals or debris in their eyes should always seek immediate medical attention.”
On Feb. 25, the Student Government Association convened to discuss Sen-ate Bill 11, “Implementa-tion of an Infraction Sys-tem.”
In the past, SGA has used an absence-policy, in which violations of SGA codes and procedures re-sult in specific fractions of an absence for sena-tors. S.B. 11, proposed by junior Mimi Valladarez and sophomore Zac Peal, seeks to implement an infraction system, where
senators would accumu-late infractions instead of absences. The bill would also increase the total al-lotted infractions to five.
According to the text of the amendments, “The infraction system will be based on attendance, dress code and submis-sion of the reports.”
“If a senator is found not exhibiting the dress code, one-half infractions has been changed to one-fourth infractions,” the amendments said. “Fail-ure to provide a report to senate committee or
executive board when re-quired will be reported as one-half infractions.”
After accumulating five infractions, the senator would have to submit to an accountability review by their executive superi-or, instead of the executive board. However, the ex-ecutive board would still have to vote to uphold the superior’s decision.
Vice President of Inter-governmental Affairs and senior Christopher Duke proposed that the bill be postponed until after the upcoming SGA elections.
“The Peal/Valladarez bill makes some common-sense reforms,” Duke said. “However, some aspects are critically flawed - it dillutes standards, po-tentially protects its own members from being held accountable and changes the rules mid-stream.”
Additional reporting by Haleigh Svoboda.
Christina VillarrealThe eyewash stations fulfill a requirement.
St. Edward’s University President George Martin held his bi-annual pres-ident’s meeting that was unlike previous years.
The spring semester’s president’s meeting, held Feb. 24, was used to con-tinue the celebration of the university’s 125th anni-versary. The meeting also signaled the conclusion of the 10-year strategic plan enacted in Martin’s first year on campus.
The meeting was the
second to celebrate an an-niversary this academic year. The Fall 2009 meet-ing celebrated Martin’s 10-year tenure at the uni-versity.
In the hour and a half long meeting Martin highlighted both the ac-complishments of the previous 10 years as well as described his vision through the year 2015. Martin listed improve-ments such as increasing the school’s level of tech-nology with smart class-rooms and continually raising national awareness
of St. Edward’s presence. The university created
a nine-minute video that described the goals of the 10-year strategic plan and broke down how the university achieved them. The video included inter-views with some of St. Edward’s most prominent personalities.
Martin then made a brief presentation thank-ing all of the faculty and students for their help over the last ten years.
Martin also presented the winners of the 2010 Eddie Awards, which are
given to campus offices. This year’s Eddie Award winners included Hilltop-per Health Quest, Bridge to College Success, Upost and First Year in France Week in Austin.
After the presentation guests were invited to celebrate the school’s suc-cess with free food and an open bar at the post-meeting reception.
[email protected]@stedwards.edu
GAMES | Page 5 Hilltop Views | Wednesday, March 3, 2010
Answer to last issue’s Sudoku:
gamesLook for the answers to both games in
next week’s issue!
check out
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online edition at hilltopviewsonline.com
Wednesday, March 3, 2010 ENTERTAINMENTPage 6 | Hilltop Views
Film captures VHS odditiesIt was two years ago, but it
seems like only yesterday that the very last VHS tape rolled off the assembly line.
Most of the world couldn’t have cared less—DVD had taken over the market several years earlier—but there were a few people truly heartbro-ken at losing their favorite home movie format.
Among these people were the staff at Scarecrow Video in Seattle, who decided to dig into their massive VHS col-lection to find the strangest video clips imaginable. They combined these clips into a historical homage to VHS and started showing the cre-ation around Seattle.
Now the Scarecrow Video guys are taking their creation, aptly named “Viva VHS!,” to theaters like Austin’s own Alamo Drafthouse, and au-diences are loving it.
“Viva VHS!” plays out as a mix tape for those lament-ing the loss of their favorite black, plastic movie format. But instead of love songs, this mix tape is full of strange vid-eos that could only be found
on VHS cassettes; things like then-rapper Mark Walberg’s ‘90s fitness tape or the after-school cartoon special about the dangers of drugs, com-missioned by George Bush.
It’s weird—really weird—but if you can get past the initial shock of “Viva VHS!,” the rest is a blast.
The creators manage to combine all the clips into a movie with a somewhat co-
hesive plot line and a ton of laughs. The movie has a ba-sic “Christmas Carol” type of set up: We, the audience, ride along with a friendly VHS tape as he takes a look at VHS past, present and fu-ture.
Most of the time, however, is spent on the past, which is nothing to complain about. There were a ton of hilari-ous clips, reoccurring char-acters—like an early ‘80s Henry Winkler—and things that really shouldn’t ever be seen again.
“Viva VHS!” finds a perfect balance of insanity, hilarity and nostalgia that becomes a great experience for anyone who grew up watching VHS tapes.
MOVIE REVIEW
Proctor Anderson
Benutzer Priwo
Dynamic duo Scorsese and DiCaprio have done it again with “Shutter Island.” In the vein of the direc-tor-actor team’s other films (“The Departed,” “The Avi-ator”), “Shutter Island” sup-plies viewers with superb performances and grand settings.
Teddy Daniels (DiCaprio) is a Federal Marshall sent with his partner Chuck (Mark Ruffalo) Ashecliffe Hospital on Shutter Is-land, an institution for the criminally insane where a patient has gone missing. The patient disappeared from her cell in the middle of the night as if, as one of the doctors says, evapo-rated “straight through the walls.” As the film pro-gresses, it becomes appar-ent to viewers that Daniels may be searching for some-thing more personal than a missing patient at the in-stitution. Daniels plunges deeper into the mysteries surrounding the institu-tion, continuously coming up with more questions than answers, while slowly becoming more unhinged. Daniels is visited in dreams by the spirit of his dead wife (Michelle Williams), who seems to know more about what is happening than he does.
The plot twists and turns, always leaving viewers a step behind as they try to figure it out. And, in the vein of true Scorsese, once they do figure it out, some-thing changes and adds an-other twist. Many may find the ending sequences quite disturbing, but they won’t
be able to deny the quality of the performances.
The setting and costumes are indicative of an impec-cable period piece, breath-ing life into the era of the 1950s and effectively trans-porting viewers into a time long past. The cinematog-raphy and direction are re-markable, but viewers may have to close their eyes dur-ing the many scenes involv-ing bright, flashing lights.
While this film will not be everyone’s cup of tea (Scorsese films rarely are), “Shutter Island” does a sur-prisingly good job of draw-ing viewers in and keeping them hooked with its many plot devices and twists be-fore leaving them with a feeling of shock as the cred-its begin to roll.
Shutter Island hooks viewers
MOVIE REVIEW
Amber Burton
CONCERT REVIEW
Mule gives artful performanceSmooth and satisfying as
a swig of tea on a sultry day, Gov’t Mule opened with a purifying blues beat that had everyone moving and grooving in the dusty pit at Stubb’s.
With the first note, Warren Haynes took over our worlds in a flash of purple and blue light. We were not at Stubb’s anymore, but at the Church of Warren Haynes, being blessed by his redemptive guitar playing.
Haynes summoned forth every watt of power the gui-tar could possibly possess. He was creating a master-piece right then and there. His solos, like paint splashed on the canvas that was the audience, kept us on our toes as he took us on a journey. His solos spoke many stories
of the human experience. Ranging from delicate as
morning dew to harsh and raw as a torrential downpour, bassist Jorgen Carlsson’s diverse bass lines provided the key element—the foun-dation—of each song. His playing was like some primal, roaring beast, often about to free itself from his grasp, yet always returned to cool, calm control.
If a metronome could play drums, its name would be Matt Abts. He pounded out a 15 minute drum solo and still left the crowd wanting more. Using every piece of his extensive set, his refreshing performance was character-ized by smooth, delicate cre-scendos and decrescendos.
The final key to Gov’t Mule’s genius was keyboardist and guitarist Danny Louis. Louis often traded off solos with
Haynes, being as great as a keyboardist as Haynes was a guitarist.
Rarely does one see each member contribute so much to a band; any less effort would have fundamentally
altered the music. Gov’t Mule endowed me with a new mu-sical education—it was like listening to music again for the first time.
Michael McNally
Associated PressGov’t Mule played at Stubb’s Feb. 19
Associated Press
ENTERTAINMENT | Page 7 Hilltop Views | Wednesday, March 3, 2010
4
Oscars just around corner
It’s Oscar season again and with the 82nd Annual Acad-emy Awards on Sunday, Os-car hopefuls and movie fans alike are eagerly awaiting the results.
This year’s show will be hosted by actors Steve Mar-tin (“The Jerk,” “Father of the Bride”) and Alec Baldwin (“30 Rock,” “It’s Complicat-ed”).
This year saw a wide array of films ranging from suspense-filled war zones to football dramas to blue people to houses with balloons—and
don’t forget Mr. Tarantino’s cheeky “Basterds”.
All four acting categories include numerous standout performances.
Strong performances from Jeff Bridges in “Crazy Heart” and George Clooney in “Up in the Air” are headlining in the Best Actor category, while Sandra Bullock and Gabourey Sidibe are going to keep judges on their toes for Best Actress.
The Best Picture category is more competitive than ever before, with a record 10 nominees in the running for the award.
It’s a big year for “Avatar”
and “Hurt Locker” directors, James Cameron and Kath-ryn Bigelow. Both films are nominated for a total of nine awards this year.
After much deliberation, we have made our predic-tions for the 2010 Academy Awards for the six most pop-ular categories: Best Picture, Best Actor in a Leading Role, Best Actress in a Leading Role, Best Supporting Actor in a Supporting Role, Best Actress in a Supporting Role and Best Directing.
[email protected]@stedwards.edu
Wendy CawthonWes Gardner
Best Picture: “Up”
Best Actor in a Leading Role: Jeff Bridges for “Crazy Heart”
Best Actress in a Leading Role: Gabourey Sidibe for “Precious: Based on
the Novel ‘Push’ by Sapphire”
Best Actor in a Supporting Role: Christoph Waltz for “Inglorious Basterds”
Best Actress in a Supporting Role: Anna Kendrick for “Up in the Air”
Best Directing: Quentin Tarantino for “Inglorious
Basterds”
Best Picture: “Inglorious Basterds”
Best Actor in a Leading Role: Jeff Bridges for “Crazy Heart”
Best Actress in a Leading Role: Sandra Bullock for “The Blindside”
Best Actor in a Supporting Role: Christoph Waltz for “Inglorious Basterds”
Best Actress in a Supporting Role: Mo’Nique for “Precious: Based on the Novel
‘Push’ by Sapphire”
Best Directing: Kathryn Bigelow for “The Hurt Locker”
Wes’ Picks: Wendy’s Picks:
Associated PressNominees like “Crazy Heart” and “Precious” are expected to win big at this year’s Oscars.
The 82nd Annual Academy Awards will air on ABC March 7 at 7 p.m. central time. The Red Carpet pre-show will beginning broadcasting at 5 p.m. central time with hosts Ryan Seacrest and Giuliana DePandi.
Page 8 | ENTERTAINMENT Wednesday, March 3, 2010 | Hilltop Views
Three music showcases to catch at SXSW South By Southwest brings
more than 1,000 bands to Austin every March. With so many showcases going on every night, it can be hard to decide which one to see. Here are some buzz worthy showcases to keep your eye on.
Wednesday: March 17NPR Music Showcase: Stubb’s (All Ages) Spoon, Broken Bells, Sharon Jones & The Dap-Kings, The Walkmen, Visqueen
Showcasing its distinct and eclectic music tastes, NPR Music has assembled an eye-popping lineup for open-ing night. After opening act Visqueen, The Walkmen, one of New York City’s fin-est bands, will take the stage. Featuring the masterful gui-tar work of Paul Maroon, an organ, and lead singer Hamilton Leithauser’s em-phatic vocals, the band have been consistently good, and seeing them live is always an experience. Sharon Jones and the Dap Kings follow, and their blend of ‘60s soul arrangements and Jones’ commanding voice will un-doubtedly get the crowd moving. Broken Bells, the side project of The Shins’ front man James Mercer and
Danger Mouse, has created a lot of buzz in recent months. This will only be their fourth live appearance, and SXSW will be the perfect testing ground for them. Capping off the night will be Austin’s very own Spoon, who gave an excellent performance at Waterloo Records in Janu-ary. The band have played Stubb’s several times before and should feel right at home headlining this showcase.
Thursday: March 18The Bowery Presents: Emo’s Main Room (All Ages) The Delta Spirit, Local Natives, Rogue Wave, Miles Kurosky, Adam Green, Peter Wolf Crier
The main attractions for this showcase seem to be playing everywhere this SXSW. The Local Na-tives, the second group of the night, demonstrate that they have studied the best of indie rock closely over the last few years, as their de-but album, “Gorilla Manor,” has received a great amount of praise for striking all the right chords. Rogue Wave have been around for several years, and their pleasant pop sound has brought them a decent following over the years. Meanwhile the main headliner, The Delta Spir-it, has a more Americana
and roots-oriented sound. Though they still have only one album under their belt, 2010 looks like a promising year for them. The band will be releasing their sopho-more album, “History From Below,” in May. Also play-ing will be opening act Peter Wolf Crier, ex-Beulah front man Miles Kurosky and for-mer Moldy Peaches member Adam Green.
Friday: March 19The Billions Corpora-tion: Antone’s (All Ages)
Lost in the Trees, Plants and Animals, Basia Bulat, Quasi, Shearwater, Liars
Billions Corporation have assembled a very talented lineup for their Antone’s showcase, hosted by Alt-Country legend Danny Barnes. After the chamber-pop of Lost In the Trees, Montreal’s Plants and Ani-mals will take the stage, showcasing songs from their upcoming album, “La La Land.” Singer-songwriter Basia Bulat will then per-form, followed by indie
icons Quasi. Featuring Janet Weiss, the former drummer of the influential female rock group Sleater-Kinney, Quasi recently put out their first al-bum in seven years. Austin’s Shearwater, containing ex-members of Okkervil River, will bring their epic sounds and technical prowess to the forefront. Liars, the experi-mental rock heavyweights, will end the night.
Thursday Mohawk Patio 912 Red River St All Ages Young Turks Showcase 8 p.m. Performances by First Aid Kit, SALEM, jj, GZA and The xx.
Friday Cedar Street Courtyard 208 W 4th St., 21+ Bug Music Showcase 8 p.m. Performances by Sarah Borges & the Broken Singles, Exene Cervenka, American Bang and Buddy Miller.
Cedar Door 201 Brazos St., 18+ The Artery Foundation Showcase 8 p.m. Performances by Bury, Ask-ing Alexandria, Evergreen Terrace, I See Stars and Breathe Carolina.
Club 115 115 San Jacinto St., 21+ 8:30 p.m. Performances by David Dallas, Young Sid, Mr Sicc, Rebel Diaz, Adam Tensta, Timbuktu & Chords and Looptroop Rockers.
Saturday Auditorium Shores Stage Riverside Dr & S 1st St, All Ages, free to the public Ground Control Touring Showcase 3 p.m. Performances by Kimya Dawson, Dawes, Deer Tick, Lucero, Justin Townes Earle and She & Him.
Some people like to pre-tend the ‘80s never hap-pened, but the University Programming Board was determined to pretend just the opposite.
Last Friday, St. Edward’s University brought prom night back from the ‘80s. Tables dotted with portraits and paraphernalia of Mr. T, Michael Jackson and the Breakfast Club were set up throughout the Maloney
Room. Piles of old-style can-dies and retro sodas filled the tables in the back. The greatest decorations were attendees’ attire, which gave the room more color than an Andy Warhol-ized Disney princess Students kicked back to enjoy the decade that most of them spent as infants.
Senior Amanda Flournoy, who organized the event for UPB, said, “We basically wanted to have a fun time for no reason at all.”
Among the decade-themed activities was a working At-ari with the original Don-key Kong game. Flournoy said that the celebration was meant to be as authentic as possible.
“We tried to educate peo-ple about the ‘80s,” she said.
The decade brought Star Wars, Slinkies, Smurfs, Ghostbusters Grease, and a thousand other cultural icons.
And who could forget its music? Hunters & Gather-
ers, the local rockers booked for the night, slipped on the glam-hair wigs and brought on the classics. Classics, like “Billie Jean,” and some more contemporary songs, like “Single Ladies,” blared from their amps.
Prom King and Queen were chosen, and several students won fabulous priz-es at the end of the dance. Everything from the Atari to a Smurfette lunchbox went out to the few dozen lucky students in the crowd.
Despite being a little small with a tongue-in-cheek atti-tude towards the decade, the party was ultimately a great celebration of a hilarious de-cade.
Holly AkerCaroline Wallace
Ryan Lester
Other notable SXSW showcases
Abe Clabby
Wikimedia Commons
Delta Spirit will play in The Bowery Presents showcase at Emo’s Main Room.
SEU looks back at 80s with retro prom
Wednesday, March 3, 2010 FEATURES Hilltop Views | Page 9
Documentary illuminates family’s pastMorgen Brown
Ice and snow did not deter St. Edward’s University stu-dents and other attendees from making their way to Jones Auditorium on Feb. 23 for “Traces of the Trade: A Story from the Deep North.”
The 2008 documentary follows filmmaker Katrina Brown as she discovers that her ancestors, the DeWolf family, were the largest slave-trading family in U.S. history. They trafficked more than 10,000 Africans from 1769 to 1820.
Ten DeWolf descendents, ranging from siblings to sev-enth cousins, decided to learn more by following the path of their family’s involvement in triangular trade from Rhode Island, to Africa, to Cuba, and back.
The History of the DeWolfs
The journey began in Bris-tol, R.I., where the DeWolf family was known for its prosperity and community involvement. The film ad-dressed the “intentional am-nesia” regarding Northern
involvement in slavery, ex-plaining that slave transpor-tation drove the economy of many port cities.
The North was just as com-plicit in slavery as the South, since industries such as ship-building were supported by the international slave trade, and textile mills used cot-ton picked in the South. The American slave trade trans-ported 11 million Africans across the Atlantic Ocean, with 500,000 dying before reaching the United States.
Following the ships from America to Ghana, rum was traded for slaves in more than 70 forts that operated along the West African coast. In Cape Coast, the family ex-plored Elmina castle, where the DeWolfs had likely made many transactions. One fam-ily member saw the condi-tions of the “dungeon” there and said of the treatment of enslaved Africans, “It was an evil thing, and they knew it was an evil thing.”
The DeWolfs developed their own triangular trading system to maximize profits: The rum used to purchase Africans was made in the
family-owned distilleries in Bristol, R.I. The sugar and molasses used in the DeWolf distilleries came from family-owned plantations in Cuba. The international slave trade was illegal most of the time that the DeWolfs were oper-ating and, at the same time, Havana was the most active slave-trading port world-wide.
A National Discussion
The ten DeWolf descen-dents returned to the United States and discussed racism’s consequences and the diffi-cult task of reconciliation and healing. They weighed the in-creasing demands for slavery reparations, and “[struggled] with the question of how to think about and contribute to repair.”
Their emotional reactions and questions reflect the at-titudes of many Americans today. The film asks ques-tions like, “What is the legacy of slavery? Who owes what for the wrongs of our fore-fathers? What history do we inherit as individuals and as citizens? What would repair
really look like and what would it take?”
“Traces of the Trade: A Story from the Deep North” was intended to “help deepen the national conversation on race and get people engaged in an honest and courageous discussion.”
Dain Perry, DeWolf de-scendent and film partici-pant, grew up in Charleston, S.C. in the 1950s and 1960s amidst rampant racism. Dain
Perry and his wife, Con-stance Perry, led a discussion after the film, asserting that Americans need to “start tak-ing a look at the past, so we can better understand how we got here today, so we can become healthier as a nation in the future.”
Constance Perry empha-sized that nothing was off limits when discussing the personal topic. Those pres-ent were invited to share and discuss one word expressing their immediate reaction, with responses ranging from “grief,” to “sobered” to “hope.”
Dain Perry called for every-one present to speak up daily against racism.
“You can create a more open environment and liter-ally change the atmosphere of the school,” he said.
Sophomore Kelsey Po-korny said she thought the film was powerful.
“[It] reawakened these dif-ferent feelings of grief and guilt. Though we have a black president, daily instances of racism still occur,” she said.
The Perrys, who live in Boston, have been touring the United States and screen-ing the film for a variety of
churches, civic groups, librar-ies, grade schools and col-leges. They said that “recon-ciliation is a process, not an event,” as there are still many families in the U.S. unable to experience the benefits of in-tegration.
The presentation at St. Ed-ward’s was the Perrys’ first in Texas, though they said they hope it won’t be their last. The film has been recognized internationally and has been nominated for several awards, including the Sundance Film Festival Grand Jury Prize and an Emmy Award.
Professor Timothy Jecmen said the screening “[was] an-other opportunity to try to get students who are discuss-ing these issues in the class-room to consider what it is actually like for someone to experience racism in the real world.”
More information on the film, its participants and screenings can be found at http://www.tracesofthet-rade.org.
Holly FultonDeWolf descendants looking at family records from the slave trade at the Bristol Historical and Preservation Society, Bristol, R.I.
Courtesy of Katrina BrowneThe Family of Ten at Cape Coast Castle, Ghana, July 2001 (top, l to r) Dain Perry, Elizabeth Sturges Llerena, Katrina Browne, Jim Perry, Holly Fulton, Ledlie Laughlin, Keila DePoorter (bottom, l to r) Tom DeWolf, Elly Hale, James Perry.
Page 10 | FEATURES Wednesday, March 3, 2010 | Hilltop Views
Keep your social networking profiles job-friendlyEmily Blasdell
You’ve heard the warning that social networking Web sites like Facebook could hinder you in your search for a job.
You’ve been told numer-ous times to clean up your Facebook pages, MySpace profiles, and other social net-working Web sites you may use so you appear to be a de-sirable candidate to hire. But what does this actually mean? Should you present yourself as boring and lifeless?
The answer is no. However, because of technology today,
the hiring process goes be-yond the interview (whether you like it or not). How you present yourself on social networking Web sites can affect the interview process without your knowledge.
According to Career Coun-selor Emily Salazar, the main thing to remember when do-ing anything on the Internet is, “Think before you do.”
Employers know that Web sites like Facebook and Twit-ter were created for social networking, and that is how most people use them daily. Employers do not penalize you for having a social life
and showing it. However, they do care
about how you present your-self. If they hire you, how you represent yourself on the In-ternet reflects the company’s image. Here are five guide-lines to help you figure out how to format your social networking profiles.
Don’t post undesirable pictures or statuses. According to a survey by Harris Interactive for CareerBuilder.com, the most im-
portant reasons for not hiring individuals are because of “provocative pictures” and “references to drinking and drug use” on their social networking Web sites.
Who you are friends with reflects on you.Employers may also look at who and what you are affiliated with. An employer may
see that you look professional, but the people you are Facebook friends with and the groups you are a member of may not be. If the girl who sits behind you in class befriends you after one conversation, you may want to ask yourself, “Do I want to be connected with this person I don’t really know?”
Freshman Megan Lantz can identify with this issue. She applied for a job working at a sum-mer camp but was turned down because of the inappropriate profile pictures of friends.
“I was upset and disagreed with this reasoning. Just because these people are my friends does not mean I make the same decisions as them,” she said.
Communicate effectively. Employers also may look at how you communicate with others online. What do
your wall posts look like? Do you post things publicly that should be sent in a private message? Even though you are communicating on a social level, your posts can still reflect com-munication on a professional level.
Google yourself, and edit accordingly.Still not sure if what you’ve put on the Internet will haunt you when job hunting?
Salazar offers some warnings and recommendations about using the Internet.First, you might never know if an employer rejected your application because of
something he or she saw online.Second, you should search your name on Google and see what comes up. If you see some-
thing you would not want a future employer to see, get rid of it. Even if your privacy settings prevent non-friends from seeing your profile, companies are now hiring students that may be able to view the social networking profiles of other potential employees.
Get LinkedIn.Lastly, register for a LinkedIn profile on LinkedIn.com. LinkedIn is a strictly pro-
fessional networking Web site that acts as an online resume. When an employer searches your name, your LinkedIn profile is usually the first thing to appear.
Salazar said to keep your LinkedIn profile updated and never say you are looking for a job or internship. Instead, focus on what you are currently working on, like a major project or paper.
Before you do anything on the Internet, think. What goes on the Internet stays there, whether you want it to or not.
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Avoid displaying photos involving alcohol, regardless of your age.
FEATURES | Page 11 Hilltop Views | Wednesday, March 3, 2010
Three hours before the beginning of the spring se-mester on Jan. 11, 2010 Lisa Sandberg, a former print journalist with a master’s de-gree in Journalism, learned that she would be teaching a class at St. Edward’s Uni-versity.
On Jan. 8, she was told that Marilyn Schultz from the Humanities Depart-ment was in the hospital. They needed her to help out with teaching Schultz’s classes.
Unfortunately, Schultz died on Jan. 10. There-fore, Sandberg had to start teaching Media Standards and Practices the next day and for the duration of the semester.
At first, Sandberg was worried when she began teaching Schultz’s classes. She knew that Schultz was a loved professor who had an impact in the lives of stu-dents and faculty alike.
“I feel fine,” she said. “But I was a little worried whether they would embrace me or resent me.”
Sandberg hopes students understand that she does not seek to replace Schultz.
Sandberg said she does not feel like students have resented her. With the help of her boyfriend, a professor of 20 years at the University of Texas in Austin, she has managed to handle these first two months of class.
Sandberg was born in Cal-ifornia and raised in New York City. She graduated from Hunter College, and received a master’s degree in Journalism from New York University. Since, she has worked as a print journal-ist for the New York Post,
Daily News, San Anto-nio Express-News and the Houston Chronicle.
Most recently she has be-gun working for the NPR station here in Austin (KUT), freelancing as a ra-dio reporter.
“I love [the radio], it’s great,” she said. “It’s a new way to tell stories.”
Sandberg said the many changes newspapers have undergone in the past few years have led people to be-lieve that newspapers may not be around much longer.
From her experience in journalism, both print and over the airwaves, Sandberg said she has come to see the future of print media as dim.
“I’ll be surprised if we still have print in 10 years,” she said.
Sandberg was working as a reporter when print newspapers began making large cuts, and she said she remembered how shocked she was when it happened. She was laid off from her position as a senior reporter in the Hearst Austin Bureau of the Houston Chronicle and San Antonio Express-News.
“My layoff was part of deep cuts both newspapers were making,” Sandberg said. “That month, the Ex-press-News cut one-third of its editorial staff, or 75 people. The Chronicle fol-lowed that month with dozens more. The bureau
where I worked went from six people to three.”
Following the layoff, Sand-berg enrolled at Southern Methodist University in Plano and earned a certifi-cate to practice divorce me-diation, though she never went into the field.
“It dawned on me some-where between the begin-ning and the end of the program that I could end up spending my career helping people divvy up pots and pans,” she said.
Sandberg said that while mediation might work as a short-term career, it wouldn’t be satisfying in the long run. That is when she made the decision to go into public radio.
Sandberg brings these life experiences and her unique perspective with her to St. Edward’s.
“There is obviously a future for journalism, although, it’s a very different landscape,” she said.
Sandberg believes that to have a future in journalism, students will have to learn to handle ongoing changes in the field, and learn journal-ism skills other than writ-ing. She hopes students can take away valuable informa-tion from her classes.
Recycle your used Hilltop Views newspapers.
Help us preserve the earth placing newspapers in recycling bins throughout campus.
Save the environment
Adjunct: Lisa SandbergDanny Salazar
This story is the first in a short series focusing on interesting adjunct faculty at St. Edward’s Univer-sity.
Eloise MontemayorSandberg teaches Media Standards and Practices.
Wednesday, March 3, 2010 SPORTSPage 12 | Hilltop Views
Air-ball after air-ball, blis-ter after blister, St. Edward’s University faculty, staff and students realized the chal-lenges that come with play-ing basketball in a wheel-chair.
But swish after swish, fast break after fast break, the Austin Rec’ers proved that playing basketball in a wheelchair is a skill, not a stigma.
The St. Edward’s Disabil-
ity Committee organized an exhibition game in the Recreation and Convoca-tion Center Feb. 25. A team of St. Edward’s volunteers played the Rec’ers, a local wheelchair basketball team that competes nationally.
Anna Escamilla, director of Student Disability Ser-vices, said the committee or-ganizes events like this game to raise awareness of physi-cal disabilities.
“The faculty and staff will realize that people with physical disabilities are able
to be part of the community in a positive, fun way, not just because the law tells you too,” Escamilla said.
Although the purpose of the game had serious con-notations, the mood in the gym was that of a fun, yet competitive game. The St. Edward’s team was spotted 30 points before the game began, and the Rec’ers didn’t need much time to catch up.
At halftime, the score was 32 to 26, with the Hilltop-pers still in the lead. By the end of the game, the Rec’ers beat the Hilltoppers 45 to 34. Although the Hilltop-pers lost, the game ended
in smiles, handshakes and team pictures.
Larry Turner, the Rec’ers head coach, said he enjoyed every minute of the game, but the best part was seeing the volunteers trying to ma-neuver the wheelchairs.
“[The best part of the game was] just the fun of watch-ing the staff try and play the game,” Turner said.
Craig Campbell, associate professor, agreed that the game was challenging. As Sean Donahue, head coach of the women’s volleyball team, walked by showing his blisters, Campbell summa-rized the game simply.
“It was really hard,” Camp-bell said. “I kept being afraid that I was going to stick my fingers in the spokes.”
The game was a success and portrayed the message that the committee had hoped, Escamilla said.
“It’s not an issue about pity,” she said. “It’s an issue about a different life and sometimes that can be very positive.”
Basketball in tournamentMost talked about 2010 Winter Olympic moments
U.S. skier Lindsay Vonn, despite a bruised chin, several
crashes and a broken finger, earned two medals
including a gold.
GOLD COSTS AN ARM AND A LEG
After their win of the 1000 m race Feb. 26, the Chinese women’s
short track team completed their golden sweep of the event–be-
coming the first country to ever do so.
CHINA SKATES TO SWEEP
In aerial skiing, U.S. skier Jeret Peterson lands the renowned
Hurricane, after an unsuccessful attempt four years ago in
Torino, Italy.
PETERSON ROCKS THE HURRICANE
The “Night Train,” or the U.S. bobsled team led by Steve Hol-
comb, captured a gold medal for the first time in 62 years.
NIGHT TRAIN RIDES TO VICTORY
Shaun White meets and even exceeds expectations, landing the
Double McTwist 1260 and easily surpassed his competition to
win gold.
“FLYING TOMATO” STILL FRESH
Evgeni Plushenko, who earned a silver medal for Russia in men’s
figure skating, said U.S. skater Evan Lysacek, who won gold, was
“not a champion” because of a changed scoring system.
FIGURE SKATER DISPUTES FIGURES
Just days after her mother died of an unexpected heart attack,
Canadian Joannie Rochette’s courageous performance earned
her a bronze medal in women’s figure skating.
COPING WITH A TRAGIC LOSS
While the women’s team celebrated after defeating the U.S. team
by drinking beer and smoking cigars on the ice, the men’s team
went on to defeat the U.S. men in overtime on Sunday.
CANADA SCORES HOCKEY GOLD
Apolo Anton Ohno won his eighth career Olympic medal in
short track, a record high in Winter Game history.
APOLO SPEEDS TO EIGHT MEDALS
Georgian luger, Nodar Kumaritashvili, was killed after crashing
during a training run hours before the opening ceremonies.
TRAGEDY ON THE LUGEAssociated Press
Compiled by: Claire Cella
Megan Ganey
SEU Sports InformationSophomore Brittany Ward goes for a layup.
The St. Edward’s University men’s and women’s basketball teams have made it into the first round of the Heartland Conference Tournament.
The men’s basketball team (12-15, 7-9 HC) will play St. Mary’s University March 4 at 7:30 p.m. in San Antonio.
The women’s basketball team (8-19, 6-8 HC) will take on Lincoln University March 4 at noon, also in San Antonio.
The St. Edward’s men’s bas-ketball team ended their reg-ular season with a 57-61 loss
to Texas A&M International University (12-14, 9-7 HC) on Feb. 27.
Senior Jannik Zimmer had the most points on the team with 16, followed by senior Bobby Watkins with 13.
The women’s basketball team ended their regular sea-son in a 60-57 victory over Texas A&M International (5-22, 4-10 HC) on Feb. 27.
Senior Kelli Payton led the Hilltoppers with 27 points, followed by freshman Sarah Milewski with 12 points.
Kayla Meyer
Megan GaneySt. Edward’s faculty, staff and students played the Austin Rec’ers in a game of wheelchair basketball to raise awareness of physical disabilities.
Game raises disability awareness“It’s not an issue about pity. It’s an
issue about a different life and some-times that
can be very positive.”
SPORTS | Page 13Wednesday, March 3, 2010 | Hilltop Views
As the 2010 Vancouver Winter Olympics come to a close and the flame is extinguished, it’s time we look back at what the Olympics have brought us this year.
It’s easy to remember who won which medals and which countries were let down with a lack of medals, but as a whole, these Winter Olympics have had some of the most exciting and competitive events. However, as the flame extinguishes, Canada has brought two sports into the eyes of the public: curling and hockey.
Curling has been one of those sports you love, even though you have no idea what’s going on. There is something mesmerizing about curling that will draw you in, and have you sitting for hours, watching no more than what seems like two teams slide heavy rocks across the ice.
Curling just took off this year. It picked up more media coverage these Olympics than any other Olympics in previous history. Curling has gone from being a time slot filler to hav-ing a fully fledged large group of followers who had no idea what exactly was going on. This coverage was spurred on by one team in particular, the Norwe-gian men.
Just say for instance you start flipping through the channels. Out of the blue, you see these guys in crazy bright colored pants sliding stones down an alley. If that doesn’t catch your attention, nothing will.
The Norwegian men used the pants as a tactic, both to give them a positive vibe, and to distract the other teams with their flashy, checkered pants. However, the pants can only take the team so far. Norway, after making a comeback in the semi-finals, lost to Team Canada in the gold medal match, securing a silver medal on the podium.
With all the hype now surrounding curling, it’s not hard to see it gaining ground and popularity in the United States.
Canada’s games have also revitalized the popularity of hockey. With some of the most intense hockey games played in any league in a long time, 2010 has brought “hockey fever” back to the United States.
This year, for the men’s and women’s hockey finals, Canada and the United States were on a gold medal collision course.
In men’s, though Canada lost to the United States in the preliminary round, Canada went 3-0 to reach the gold medal match against none other than the American team. It was three periods of the best hockey ever shown on television, and it didn’t end there.
After the United States scored a goal with 20 seconds left in the third period to tie it up, the game went to overtime. From a rebound and amazing pass, Canadian’s Sidney Crosby put the winning goal past the glove of U.S. goalie Ryan Miller to win the gold.
Hockey has always been a popular sport in the United States, but with the last few days of intense play, hockey fever is only going to intensify. This comes at a perfect time for hockey, because the Stanley Cup Playoffs aren’t too far on the horizon and many of Team Canada will return to their respective National Hockey League teams, including Crosby to the Pittsburgh Penguins.
This year’s Olympics have brought a fairly unknown sport and an old favorite to the forefront of its games.
Curling and hockey brought to forefront
The Hilltop Views’ column, ‘Courtside Chronicles,’ appears every other week in the sports section and is written by Hilltop Views contributor Nolan Green.
Nolan GreenSports Commentary
COURTSIDE CHRONICLES
The St. Edward’s Univer-sity women’s softball team is looking to bounce back this season from a disappointing showing at last year’s regional tournament where they went 0-2 to end their season.
“This is the first year we’ve had 10 wins in February, at least in my experience,” said Lexi Stephens, junior shortstop and current record holder for single season bat-ting record (.483).
So far in the season, the Hilltoppers have accumu-lated a 11-7 record.
After two recent victo-ries over Texas A&M Uni-versity-Kingsville in their doubleheader Feb. 20, the Hilltoppers struggled against nationally ranked teams this past weekend.
The Hilltoppers fell to regional’s number one team, Angelo State (15-2), who are also 19th in the nation, on Feb. 27, and split a dou-bleheader against Abilene Christian University (7-9), who are ranked 17th in the nation.
The team lost the first game of the doubleheader against Angelo State in a close match 1-2.
“We played really hard in the first game against Angelo State and had an opportunity in the fifth inning to take the lead off a line drive shot to right field by Courtney Lav-ender,” said Head Coach Amy Coulter. “Their [right fielder] made an amazing catch oth-erwise I feel we would have taken game one. “
The Hilltoppers kept the second game close with a 2-1 lead for Angelo State, but 11 runs in the bottom of the third inning for the Ram-belles changed the momen-tum of the game. The score did not change, ending the game in a loss for the Hill-toppers 1-13.
On Feb. 28, the Hilltop-pers fought for the victory of the first game 6-5 against
Abilene Christian. “I love having a team that
comes out the next day and scores five runs in one in-ning to defeat the number 17 Abilene Christian,” said Coulter.
The Hilltoppers unfortu-nately fell 1-0 in the second game to Abilene Christian.
The Wildcats scored their only run of the game in the fourth inning. Sophomore pitcher Lana Jo Hairston (1-1) had a solid game, allow-ing just the one run on seven hits, while walking four bat-ters and striking out one.
“The softball team is one big family that fights through adversity and works harder every practice to fix mistakes and become better,” Coulter said.
Before this weekend, the Hilltoppers won six of the last seven games. The team’s early success this season could be attributed to the seven freshmen helping strengthen the squad.
With outfielder Lisa Paul being the lone senior on the team, the freshmen have had to look to the sophomores and juniors for leadership as well.
“I think as a team, we have
leaders in all different ranges of age,” said Stephens. “Dif-ferent people lead in different areas.”
The leadership seems to be paying off, as the Hilltoppers have found themselves with one of their best starts in re-cent years. The softball team made it to its first NCAA Div. II World Series in 2008, so the women are expecting big things this year.
“We’re doing good,” said sophomore Meagan Bailey. “We’re going out and killing people on the field and I love it. As we keep playing games we’re going to get even bet-ter.”
The Hilltoppers’ next home series will be against confer-ence rival Lincoln University in a double header March 5 at 1 p.m. and a single game March 6 at noon.
“Our mental goal as a team is to get better every game and to stick together as a team,” said Coulter. “We head into conference play this weekend with lots of confidence and momentum.”
Wesley Gardner
Softball hits speed bump
SEU Sports InformationJunior Stacey Giles swings at bat.
Associated Press
VIEWPOINTSWednesday, March 3, 2010
Page 14 | Hilltop Views
There may be no endeavor more futile than that of the music critic. In their naïveté, they hope to express the deepest emotions inspired by music with their pretentious prose and clumsy, generic de-scriptions. Failing to realize that a logical representation of the emotional is impos-sible, their work is entirely wrongheaded.
The emergence of genre and criticism was the worst occurrence in the history of music. Critics tear apart com-plex structures far greater than the sum of their parts; their work is, by definition, a contradiction. In breaking down musical works, critics objectify music, which then becomes something to be studied, rather than some-
thing to be experienced.All genre-based descrip-
tions are arbitrary. Work-ing within a genre changes and artist’s goal from freely expressing a state or states of human existence, to at-tempting to do so within re-strictions. The end becomes secondary to the means—a suffocating effect.
Furthermore, genres reduce an album or song to the sum of its parts: the familiar char-acteristics of a specific genre. Just as defining a person as the sum of its flesh and bones is objectifying and wrong, so is defining music in terms of genre.
The primary failure of mu-sic critics is the assumption that a descriptive account can be a basis for critiquing a wholly experiential work. Music cannot be reduced to
words. In fact, to even begin speaking about music is to betray its connection to the very being of a person.
And yet, we can feel the dif-ference between two types of music. The feelings inspired from the latest pop song are fundamentally different from those inspired by true art. I will attempt an explana-tion of that differ-ence, one that will hope-f u l l y a v o i d t h e fallacy of the critics.
As a quick note, I will dis-tinguish between t h e two types of music: Music, capitalized, denotes highest and true music; museapia de-
notes all else.The distinguishing element
between Music and museapia is genuity, a non-word that I use for a specific purpose, so allow me to clarify. The world is generally a lonely place. Lan-
guage
i m -perfec t ly
expresses our thoughts. We exist as iso-
lated individ-uals, never capable
of experiencing what others experience and
thus never capable of truly knowing another person.
Genuine Music breaks the sphere of isolated experience inherently present around each of us. It expresses the
feelings of another that we were previously incapable of expe- riencing. Music is
the expression of a genuine
human expe-rience that, in an
isolated world, shouts, “I am here.” This expression
is the primary force behind Music.
Museapia has some of these qualities. However, genuity is not the primary motivation of it. The latest Lady Gaga single might make some sort of experiential connec-tion with audiences, but its primary purpose is profit. Of course, profit is not the only primary force behind museapia; entertainment, distraction or any number of goals may serve as the pri-mary motivation. But music without the primary force of
genuity is, ultimately, inferior to Music.
The distinction above should serve as a guide to future critics. Museapia can be easily critiqued because it does not concern the realm of human existence inex-pressible in words. However, Music cannot be subjected to such critiques. By attempt-ing to do so, critics cheapen and ruin one of the greatest endeavors.
OUR VIEW
Sexual assault a serious issue for campuses
Jake Hartwell
Music critics hinder the spread of quality music
National Public Radio and the Center for Public Integrity have joined forces to cover a startling, often unacknowledged problem on college campuses around the country–one out of five college women will be sexu-ally assaulted before they graduate.
NPR broadcast the results of the year-long investiga-tion late last month, and the report is also featured on its Web site.
The report found that not only do many institutions of higher education fail to prevent sexual assault on campus, they also fail to adequately resolve the cases that are brought forward. Distressingly, weak college judicial systems often aban-don students at a time when they need help most.
The recent arrest of a St. Edward’s University police officer for secretly photographing women in a dressing room at a Barton Creek Mall department store was worrying enough for the women who attend classes here, many of whom live in campus residence halls. That arrest and the serious ques-tions raised by the NPR/CPI report highlight the need for quality and reliable on-campus policing, along with transparent, effective policies for dealing with allegations of sexual assault and rape.
The NPR/CPI investiga-tion found that women who come forward with sexual assault allegations too often encounter obscure, secretive, off-the-record disciplinary proceedings not designed to
handle criminal complaints. As a result, these women often drop their complaints, withdraw from school or transfer.
Meanwhile, college officials rarely expel students ac-cused in sexual assault cases. When expulsion does occur, it is only after multiple ac-cusations, the report found. Accused students are often permitted to remain on campus and continue on as if nothing has happened while their accusers leave, feeling isolated and ashamed.
The problem is com-
pounded by local police and prosecutors who are reluctant to handle campus rape and sexual assault cases. In over 50 percent of such cases, the NPR/CPI report found the women who bring the complaints acknowledge that were drinking at the time of the assault.
The prevalence of alcohol, however, should not stop campus law enforcement officials or local police and prosecutors from thoroughly investigating these cases. In-deed, most state laws make it clear that an intoxicated
person cannot give consent, placing the burden squarely on law enforcement to fully investigate all sexual assault allegations.
Sixty percent of St. Edward’s 3,505 undergradu-ate students are women, which means that statisti-cally around 420 current female students will be sexu-ally assaulted during their time here, according to the NPR/CPI calculation.
Our campus is small and friendly, but it is not impervious to danger. At Boston’s College of the Holy Cross, with fewer than 3,000 students, a woman reported that she was raped by an-other student in a campus bathroom in 2008. She filed disciplinary charges. The col-lege hearing board found the accused student responsible
for sexual misconduct, dis-missed him and revoked his scholarship. The NPR/CPI investigation found that the handling of this case was a marked exception.
We hope that St. Edward’s would fare as well should it find itself scrutinized. We hope the administra-tion has greeted the recent, unfortunate news about our campus police member with concrete plans to assess the university’s hiring practices, professional standards and, if necessary, salary for its po-lice officers. We also strongly urge the administration to assess its policies and pro-cedures for handling sexual assault and rape allegations.
We come here to be edu-cated. We expect to be safe.
Distressingly, weak college judicial systems often abandon
students at a time when they need help most.
VIEWPOINTS | Page 15 Hilltop Views | Wednesday, March 3, 2010
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Hilltop Views
Bryce BencivengoClaire CellaEditors-in-Chief
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Arianna AuberJake HartwellMary HennessyAnna WhitneyCopy Editors
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Hilltop Views is a weekly student newspaper published by the School of Humanities and serving the community of St. Edward’s University. The opinions expressed herein are not necessarily those of the university, whose mission is ground-ed in the teachings and doctrine of the Catholic Church.
Letter Policy: Hilltop Views welcomes all letters to the edi-tor. Letters may be edited for space, grammar and clarity. Letters will be published at our discretion. Anonymous letters will not be printed.
In response to Jake Hartwell’s article on addiction in Issue 5:Mr. Hartwell seems to have been lucky enough to escape addiction in his friends, family and self. Were he to experience firsthand the effect that the disease of addiction has had on
humanity, I believe his opinions might alter.The notion that it’s “the addict’s fault that he’s addict” and therefore deserving of no empathy, sympathy or assistance from society is both flawed and personally very offensive.I find using the example of cigarettes to be weak, so I will instead focus on the serious disease of alcoholism.It is true that the individual did make the initial decision to start drinking heavily, probably due to unresolved personal demons and some form of self-loathing. People who love them-
selves tend to not be self-destructive. This in itself indicates probable underlying mental issues outside of the realm of the addict’s control. Alcoholics do not drink to be social; they drink to numb themselves.
Once addiction has been established, the problem no longer becomes an issue of free will at all. Even individuals who truly want to get sober can often not do it themselves. Confronting the disease of addiction is excruciatingly alienating, difficult, physically/mentally painful and courageous. It is important to understand that most addicts BECOME addicts because they were not provided with significant coping skills by society in order to deal with their problems. They choose, then, to cope with these problems with drugs. In order to BECOME sober, individuals must break the physical and mental addiction. In order to STAY sober, individuals must learn how to cope and how to love themselves. This is not a self-taught thing. They need the love, empathy and understanding of a supportive community. It is not possible without them.
I would encourage Mr. Hartwell to perhaps spend some time with recovered or recovering addicts, and ask them to relay their stories of addiction. I expect that he might find the origins of their problems arose much earlier than their initial drink, probably dating to an event in which their feelings were condemned and ignored by society. This is the same society Hartwell believes should continue to condemn and ignore these individuals.
Finally, the process of solving moral problems cannot always be approached logically, as foreign as that might sound. When dealing with certain societal issues, we must abandon pre-conceptions in favor of compassion.
As a wise man once said, “A good heart is better than all the heads in the world.”
Becca [email protected]
LETTER TO THE EDITOR
LETTER TO THE EDITORAs a school finance professional, I was interested in
your February 17 editorial titled “Board of Education key for primary voter.” Although many of your points were right on, a couple of items missed the mark.
Although the Board members do set statewide policy, they are not lawmakers. Only the legislature has the authority to make statutory changes. The Board’s main duty is to adopt rules and guidelines and to set educa-tion policies, including statewide curriculum and text-book adoption. Its powers are not trivial by any means, but are still subject to the laws of the state.
The editorial also incorrectly stated that the Board controls the $22 billion state education budget. School finance rules and appropriations are set in statute by the legislature. It’s true that the legislature often allows for some flexibility in executing funding programs, but these rules are implemented by the Commissioner of Education, not the Board. The Board’s school finance committee performs some preliminary work on finance issues, but the Board has no direct control over fund-ing.
The Board does oversee the investment of the Perma-nent School Fund, which is a portfolio of investments created by the legislature. Although the PSF provides a portion of school funding, a staff of portfolio managers handles its day-to-day operations.
I appreciate that you highlighted these important rac-es. Because of its policy making power, the Board’s deci-sions have far reaching effects on Texas schoolchildren, teachers, and schools.
Matt Rife [email protected]
Boarding a plane can bring about a variety of emotions, but for “Clerks” director Kevin Smith, Southwest Airlines served up humiliation when he was asked to leave a flight due to his size.
On Feb. 13, Smith settled comfortably into his seat, ready to fly to Burbank, Calif. Moments later, flight attendants escorted him off the plane, claiming his size marked him as a danger to others.
Smith took to sarcasti-cally attacking Southwest Airlines on Twitter, letting his million-plus follow-ers know that the “wall of the plane was opened, and I was airlifted out while Richard Simmons super-vised.”
The event itself has infu-riated those who find the Airlines’ behavior unaccept-able. Southwest Airlines’ PR officials offered Smith
numerous public apologies and a $100 travel voucher in an attempt to cover the situation, but none of their measures have improved their image.
Smith is not the first per-son to be asked to leave a plane because of size, and he won’t be the last. His situation has momentarily brought the issue to at-tention. Even though the ordeal’s spotlight will fade, overweight people being removed from flights will continue.
Comfort is an important priority for employees and passengers of a flight. Most airlines’ size policies are outlined to avoid problems, but ensuring that issues such as these are addressed in private saves negativity for all parties involved.
Perhaps Smith’s followers will help in his “mission” to prevent further undue em-barrassment.
Kevin Smith kicked off flightMatthew Frazier
Page 16 | PHOTO ESSAY Wednesday, March 3, 2010 | Hilltop Views
Student SpotlightPhotos by Christian DeVoe