Published since 1915 by the students
of Xavier University
Published since 1915 by the students
of Xavier University
Kelly Shaw
Campus News Editor
This fall, flu shots will be available to all Xavier students through the McGrath Health and Counseling Center. The clinic hours are on Tuesdays and Thursdays from 8:30 a.m. to 1 p.m., and students do not need to schedule an appointment. The cost of the shot is $20 and can be put on any student’s bursar bill.
Mary Rosenfeldt, RN, a nurse supervisor at the Health and Counseling Center, encourages students to come within the next two weeks to get their shots. Once Xavier’s supply of the vaccination runs out, they will not be offered.
Influenza (commonly referred to as the flu) is a “contagious respiratory illness caused by influenza viruses,” stated the governmental Department of Health and Human Services. These viruses can cause illnesses that range from a mild cold to death. Every year, five to 20 percent of Americans get the flu, 200,000 people are hospitalized for it and about 36,000 people die from it.
The number of people who get the flu signifies that the virus is very contagious. In fact, the influenza virus can be spread by coughing, sneezing or even touching someone with the virus. Because the flu is contagious as well as very prevalent, almost everyone should get a flu shot every year.
“Students are in classrooms and residence halls, the flu is easily transmitted, and it can make people pretty sick and last for several days,” said Rosenfeldt. “Students can’t afford to be off school for that long.”
A flu shot is an inactivated vaccine—or a dead virus. About two weeks after entering the body, antibodies develop so that if the virus is seen again, the body will have the ability to kill it relatively quickly.
Another reason that everyone is encouraged to receive the vaccination is its high success rate. The flu shot prevents the flu in about 70 to 90 percent of healthy people 65 years or younger.
The only people who should not be vaccinated are those with severe allergies to chicken eggs or those who have reacted to the virus in the past.
“Every year that I have worked at Xavier, we have had students come in with the flu. Different years are more severe than others, but we always have cases of it,” said Rosenfeldt. “If you can prevent [getting the flu] with the vaccine, you should.”
Even if a person is careful not to come into contact with people who have the flu, it can still be contracted if they have not been immunized. Most adults can spread the virus one day before their symptoms even begin, and up to five days after being sick.
Along with being immunized, students should practice good health and hygiene habits which include avoiding close contact with sick people, covering their mouths, washing their hands and staying home when sick.
While the McGrath Health and Counseling Center will only distribute shots for about the next two weeks, they are available at other sites. October and November are the best months to get them, but doctors suggest that getting immunized in December or later could still be beneficial since most flu activity is in January or later.
For more accurate information on the flu and the flu season, Rosenfeldt suggests visiting www.cdc.gov/flu.
Colleen Bott
Contributing Writer
Dressed in black with faces covered in paint, members of Xavier’s EXCEL (Evanston and Xavier Cooperating at Every Level) spent Monday and Tuesday night volunteering at a Haunted House in Evanston.
The goal of Evanston and EXCEL is to connect students at Xavier with Evanston residents through monthly events with the Evanston Teen Council, made up of teen leaders chosen by the Evanston Recreational Center.
The haunted house was a fundraiser for the Teen Council. The $3 admittance fee will help teen council members take a trip outside Cincinnati. Xavier volunteers, along with council members, had their faces painted and they picked out masks. Then they got ready to scare those who dared to enter.
Chris Hartmann enjoys spending time with the teens.
“It’s a cool chance to hang out with some of the teens that Xavier kids wouldn’t normally hang out with,” he said.
Junior Tomilynn Thornberry agreed.
“I liked the laid-back environment. The people there were really friendly, and I enjoyed the change of pace,” she said.
EXCEL is a part of the student-led service group X-Action and meets on Sundays once a month. They try to spend time in Evanston to learn more about the neighborhood, and they are working on bringing some of the teen council members to Xavier for events such as observing a basketball practice.
Thornberry encourages more students to get involved in such events.
“I think it’s a great use of your time,” she said. “It’s a relaxing way to take a break from your homework and hang out with the kids.”
Junior Kari Huske hopes that students can get to know the area surrounding Xavier better.
“We have great resources in our community,” she said.
Kelly Shaw
Campus News Editor
The Xavier equestrian team placed third last week at a competition at Miami University in Oxford, Ohio, making it their best finish ever. The finish, which was the first competition of the season, was an encouraging start to what the team believes will be a very successful year.
“We couldn’t be more pleased with the third place finish,” said coaches Gwen and Jim Arrigon.
Saturday’s show was only a warm up for the new members of the XU equestrian team, but the team still finished with 17 points, placing them in fourth place. Sunday was the team’s history-making show that scored them 27 points and placed them in third place behind Kentucky and Miami.
Xavier received blue ribbons on Saturday from freshman Whitney Fischer, and on Sunday from Fischer, junior Matt Beachy and sophomore Sarah Krings.
“We believe the Xavier team, with the addition of some new talented members, will be among the top teams in the region by the end of this year, only their second year of existence,” said the Arrigons.
The XU equestrian team will compete with other teams in the region in their next competition at Morehead State on Nov. 11-12. Their region consists of Xavier, Miami, Cincinnati, Wilmington College, Ohio University, Kentucky, Louisville, Morehead State and Midway College.
The team will then compete nationally in the Holiday Tournament of Champions on Dec. 3 in Syracuse, NY. The Tournament of Champions is an invitation only tournament and will be the first competition outside of the region that Xavier has competed in.
Coach Arrigon says Xavier is actively recruiting riders from around the country for next year’s freshman class, but they are looking for new members at any level of experience from within the current student body.
Any student interested in joining the team does not need to own a horse. The team trains at the Arrigon’s Beckett Run in Hamilton where team members can ride lesson horses.
For more information about the XU equestrian team, email Gwen Arrigon at garrigon@hotmail.com.
Courtney Gillett
Asst. Campus News Editor
Dr. Thomas Merrill, or “Doc” as he is affectionately called by his students, joined the Xavier Music Department faculty in 2004 as the Director of Choral Activities.
Merrill’s work on “An American Te Deum,” a piece by Pulitzer Prize winning composer Dr. Karel Husa, was presented during the middle of last month.
lthough time has passed since the presentation, it should not be overlooked, as it demonstrates his strength as both a musician and a conductor.
Merrill worked along with Dr. Rodney Winther, conductor of winds, and Dr. Richard Sparks, conductor of the CCM Chorale at CCM, on the piece which he admits, “was the hardest thing I’ve ever done!”
The piece was presented in celebration of Husa’s birthday and his career as a celebrated composer. However, the “Te Deum” itself is what some musicians would consider harshly dissonant and was a distinct contrast from Merrill’s preference for smooth and consonant part writing.
Merrill notes that while these musicians might consider the piece to be terrible now, in the future they might be able to regard it as one of the definitive pieces of musical composition, just like the works of some of the Renaissance and Baroque composers that came to be appreciated much later in history.
Suprisingly, choral conducting was not the primary career choice for Merrill while he was in college. Instead, Merrill thought about becoming a chemical engineer or a Presbyterian minister, but the offer of free voice lessons planted him in an entirely different direction, towards his present career.
However, one may ask why Merrill chose choral conducting over orchestral conducting. Merrill states that he has conducted orchestra but was “drawn to the intimacy of the human voice.” For him, the choir is able to take the music to an entirely new level – there are different emotions created when we hear the human voice that are not there if you listen to instruments.
As a professor, Merrill is committed to seeing the department grow. He notes that compared to most colleges, Xavier’s music department is relatively small and he hopes that in the coming years the department will be able to increase its size by recruiting more majors, minors and non-major participation in student ensembles.
“Ideally, we would like to have 40 instrumental and vocal majors and minors,” Merrill states. However, he notes that for this to happen, there needs to be an expansion of the music facilities, including practice rooms.
Despite the small number of facilities, Merrill acknowledges that he feels comfortable working at Xavier and interacting with students who, through the university’s core curriculum, are expected to think and act on a higher level.
Merrill remarks with some humor, “I can talk about philosophy in my choir class and someone will know who Kant is; I’m not so sure that that would happen at CCM.”
In order to become a successful conductor, Merrill notes that it is necessary for aspirants to know the music and, more importantly, to love it.
“You have to be able to understand every part of [the music]; physically, artistically and intellectually. You have to be prepared to take on the role of a coach, artist and [at times] a group psychologist,” he says.
Merrill holds a Doctorate of Musical Arts degree in Choral Conducting from the University of Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music and serves, among many others, as the Director of Music at Pleasant Ridge and as the president-elect of the Ohio Choral Directors Association.
Oct. 16, 2:20 p.m.—An employee reported the theft of cash and their credit card from an office in the GSC. The University of Cincinnati Police were able to arrest the suspect.
Oct. 17, 3:00 p.m.—An employee reported the theft of athletic clothing and bags from Cintas Center. One suspect was identified and subsequently prosecuted.
Oct. 17, 4:09 p.m.—A student reported receiving a harrassing and threatening phone call from a former acquaintance.
Oct. 17, 6:55 p.m.—Two juveniles were observed discharging the contents of a Xavier fire extinguisher. The two were warned against trespassing and released to a guardian.
Oct. 20, 2:45 a.m.—A student in the C-5 lot was cited for urinating in public.
Oct. 20, 4:05 p.m.—A student reported a minor accident in the Village parking lot.
Oct. 20, 8:08 p.m.—Two students and one UC student were cited for smoking marijuana in a residence hall.
Oct. 20, 10:08 p.m.—Campus Police and Norwood Police cited a non-student for the possession of an open beer container and running away from officers.
Oct. 21, 12:45 a.m.—Two non-students suspected of urinating in the C-5 lot were cited and sent on their way.
Oct. 21, 2:30 a.m.—Two students who posed as RAs and had been harrassing students in the residence halls were identified and will face disciplinary action.
Oct. 21, 2:37 a.m.—Campus Police and the Cincinnati Fire Department investigated a fire alarm in Brockman Hall. Police discovered that a discharged fire extinguisher had activated the alarm. Please call Campus Police with any leads in the identification of a suspect for this offense.
Oct. 22, 12:51 a.m.—A student was cited for reckless driving in the C-1 lot.
Oct. 22, 4:07 a.m.—A student was cited for disorderly conduct after rudely confronting the RAs and the hall director during a write-up.
Oct. 23, 4:25 p.m.—A student reported that their bank card was used to make $210 in improper transactions at the ATM near Kuhlman Hall.
Oct. 25, 3:00 p.m.—Physical Plant reported damage done to a vacant university house on the 1600 block of Dana Avenue.
Oct. 25, 6:57 p.m.—A student reported a hit-and-run accident in the Village parking lot.
Oct. 25, 8:14 p.m.—A student reported the theft of two textbooks from the GSC first floor lobby.
Oct. 25, 9:00 p.m.—A student reported the theft of a gym bag and its contents valuing $303 from an unlocked locker in the Sports Center.
Oct. 25, 10:01 p.m.—Campus Police investigated the report that several students were attempting to steal the flag from Corocoran Field. The suspects had already fled upon the police’s arrival.
Oct. 25, 10:15 p.m.—A student found in the Health Center lot was cited for public intoxication.
Oct. 25, 10:30 p.m.—A student reported being harrassed by another student.
Oct. 26, 12:45 p.m.—A student reported that their vehicle, parked on the 900 block of Dana Avenue, had been burglarized and that their textbooks, purse and i-Pod were stolen. The Cincinnati Police Department was later able to identify the suspect.
Oct. 27, 11:00 a.m.—A student reported the theft of their wallet from Cintas Center.
Oct. 29 4:51 p.m.—Campus Police and Physical Plant investigated a report that a stove had caught on fire in the Loyola House. The fire had already been extinguished upon their arrival.
Oct. 29, 11:55 p.m.—Campus Police and the Cincinnati Fire Department investigated a fire alarm in Kuhlman Hall. Investigators determined that the alarm was triggered by burning popcorn on the fourth floor.
Police Note of the Week
Oct. 22, 3:09 a.m.—A student observed urinating in the bushes near a residence hall was cited for public indecency and underage consumption.
Kelly Shaw 
Campus News Editor
At 6 p.m. on Wednesday, Nov. 1 the Women’s Center Program Committee will hold a meeting for all those interested in getting involved with the center. The meeting will be held at the Women’s Center located in the old Campus Police House near Buenger Hall and the R-1 lot. All members of the Xavier community are invited to attend.Contact Kristin Vennektotter at vennekotterkm@xavier.edu.
Meditation
If you need to find a way to relieve the stress of classes and everyday life, ESL is sponsoring a new Buddhist meditation group on campus. Instruction in Zen meditation will be given by David Loy and will last from 5-6 p.m. starting on Nov. 7. The sessions will take place on the second floor of the Bellarmine Parish Center. Contact Loy at x3819 or loyd@xavier.edu.
Emotional I.Q.
The Peer Leadership Team in conjunction with the Office of Student Involvement and Leadership are hosting a workshop entitled “Emotional Intelligence.” The event will last from 2-3:30 p.m. on Monday in GSC, room 330. Come find out your E.Q. and how it can affect your chances at future success. Call or email the Peer Leadership Team at 513-745-3662 or XUPLT@xavier.edu
SOA/WHINSEC
The Dorothy Day House is encouraging students to sign up for the Western Hemisphere Institute for Security Cooperation School of the Americas Protest. The annual event takes place from Nov.17-19. Every 10th person who signs up, there will be a name drawing for the Voices of Solidarity’s new T-shirt. Contact Katrina Sodaro at sodaroke@xavier.edu or Lauren Grove at grovel@xavier.edu.
New ambassadors
Xavier’s new global service club, Ambassadors for Chidren, will meet from 8:15-9:15 p.m. on Monday in the third floor lounge of the Commons apartments. This newly formed club focuses on partnering with organizations in the developing world and has a number of excellent opportunities for fundraising, international service and the development of a global consciousness. Email Rachel Dalsing at dalsingra@xavier.edu.
Coffee hour
From 3:30-4:30 p.m. onWednesday, Nov. 1 Coffee Hour will be held in Faces of the World Lounge. This week, the Fab Four host countries are Spain, Colombia, Panama and Brazil. Spice up your Wednesday with some Latin flavor!
Laser tag
From 7-10 p.m. on Saturday, come out for ISS Laser Tag at Scallywag Lazer Tag. Sign up at the Romero Office for an amazing Saturday night of laser tagging fun. Each ticket costs $3. Just think of it as one dollar for every hour of shoot-’em-up fun. Snacks will be included! Spots are limited.
“Time Well Spent”
Xavier University Television Association’s show “Time Well Spent” is taped at 3:30 p.m. every Friday at the Brockman TV studio. All students are encouraged to come be a part of the audience. Each week, the show is broadcasted on Friday, Saturday and Sunday at 7:30 p.m. and 11:30 p.m. and on Sunday at 12:30 p.m.
Registration
Priority registration starts on Tuesday, Nov. 7 for spring 2007. Are you ready? Check your Student Services channel on the MYXU portal for important information. See “Registration Status” for your registration time and for any registration holds. Check “View Holds” on your Student Services channel for details. Resolve any holds before attempting to register. See your advisor to plan your schedule. Your advisor is listed under “View Student Information.” Contact the Office of the Registrar with any questions at 513-745-3941.
GSC movie night
The GSC Late Night Movie for November is “Talladega Nights” featuring the comedy of Will Ferrell! Dates: Thursday, 11/9 - Saturday, 11/11 at 11:00 p.m. in the GSC Theater. Free to XU students with All Card.
