Published since 1915 by the students
of Xavier University
International intelligence initiates WorldQuest
Kelly Shaw
Campus News Editor
During this time of the year, many Xavier students are studying for more than just tests in their daily classes. Many students are preparing for WorldQuest, an annual competition that tests the international knowledge of students. The sixth Xavier WorldQuest will take place on Friday, Feb. 16 in Cintas Center banquet rooms, and will last from 6:30 p.m. until midnight.
The competition is made up of five rounds of trivia questions about every part of the world. Questions can include trivia about famous people, places, current events, sports and flags.
“We try to create questions that people have probably heard of before, but never really would remember,” said senior Courtney Gillett who is part of the question committee. “It is a real challenge.”
While the question committee creates the trivia questions that will be asked of the students and tallies the scores at the competition, there is also a prize committee which is in charge of some of the motivation for the event.
“We have a lot of door prizes and team prizes. You don’t have to be on a winning team to leave with a great prize,” said event coordinator Kathy Hammett.
There are also many other sub-committees made up of students, faculty and staff who fact-check the questions and prepare the prizes.
“We have great fun coming up with the questions and discussing the qualities of each question,” said Hammett. “We try hard to have a broad representation across categories and regions of the world and also have questions of varying difficulty.”
Hammett was actually the founder of Xavier’s version of World Quest.
“I attended a city-wide version sponsored many years ago by the World Affairs Council of Greater Cincinnati and left convinced that this would be a great Xavier community event,” she said. The city-wide version has not happened for a few years now, but I’ve been informed that they will be doing another one in June of this year. Of course, we put our own Xavier spin on it and include student performances among other things.”
Many different Xavier organizations will be competing as teams in this year’s WorldQuest, but a team only needs eight students to form a team. Dorm halls, sports teams and groups of friends with an interest in international trivia are all competing.
In addition to an interest in international trivia, competing teams also have an interest in international food.
“The catering department always puts together a menu of delicious international foods,” said Hammett. “Every year the food gets rave reviews.”
Of course, the prizes are an incentive, too. The grand prize this year will be a DVD home theatre system donated by the family of a student. There will also be many international gifts from countries including Kenya, India, China, Guatemala, Spain and Canada. The top three teams will receive gift bags that include gift certificates, international gifts and WorldQuest T-shirts. The winning team will have their name added to the WorldQuest plaque that hangs in the Romero International Center.
Some teams are famous (or infamous) for their efforts in previous years.
“No one wants Pre-Law to win!” jokes Gillett, who in addition to being part of the question committee was also a participant last year. “They have held the title for a couple of years now,” she said.
While students like Gillett get into the competitive nature of WorldQuest, Hammett believes the event benefits the students even if they do not win.
“We created this event with three goals: to raise global awareness on the campus, to raise money to be used for international student and study abroad grants and to have a fun event for the Xavier community. I’m pleased to note that this event delivers on all counts. I love that I hear students talking about studying for WorldQuest!” she said.
Each year the event has become more and more popular for students and faculty. “When we held the first WorldQuest, 17 teams competed and much of the motivation was our grand prize. Now, the grand prize is secondary. Students come for the competition and the fun,” said Hammett. “Teams are often made up of a mixture of students and faculty (we give bonus points for teams that do that). I enjoy watching them work together and have fun together.”
Crosstown Preachout ignores rivalry
Colleen Bott
Contributing Writer
Seventeen Xavier students traveled to St.Monica-St. George parish on Sunday to celebrate Mass with University of Cincinnati students as part of the third annual Crosstown Preachout.
This event began in 2005 by former UC campus minister Mickey Scheibley, the wife of former XU Peace and Justice Minister Tom Scheibley, and XU campus minister Kelly Albainy-Jenei. It started as a way for students from both schools to meet and share their common faith.
Usually, the event is held in conjunction with the Crosstown Shootout, but this year, since the Shootout was early, organizers decided to arrange it around last weekend’s Crosstown Helpout instead. The XU studentsin attendance participated in several functions at the Mass over which Fr. Graham presided.
“I went to the Crosstown Preachout because I always hear so much about UC and I wanted to see what their Mass was like and meet some students there,” said XU freshman Ellen Schroeder who enjoyed participating in the celebration. “I participated as a eucharistic minister, which was so inspiring because it really showed how the communities are so connected despite the differences,”
Next week, Fr. Al Hirt, OFM, will preside at the Bellarmine Chapel 10 p.m. Mass and UC students will be invited to participate.
“After Mass, we went to their community room and enjoyed pizza from a nearby locally-owned pizzeria. It was fabulous!” said Albainy-Jeneis. “We were randomly mixed at tables and participated in a fun activity to determine in what order we got our food. During the meal, I experienced great conversation about life at both universities, the hometowns of the students, and the amazing variety of degree programs in which students were enrolled – everything from a second-year doctoral student in piano performance who says she practices six hours a day - to a student in her first year of a six-year pharmacy program.”
“Fr. Graham’s remarks on his meeting with the bearcat mascot earlier this year really set the tone for the night of celebrating our differences and similarities,” said Schroeder, who found connections with UC students as well. “I was excited to see that their community mass is very similar to ours, right down to the clapping during the song ‘We Are Called.’”
“After Mass, we enjoyed a pizza dinner and talked mostly about our experiences at our schools, including many dorm room stories,” Schroeder said.
“We realized what a small world this is as we got to know each other. For example, I found out one of the UC campus ministers actually knew my brother in St. Louis, and numerous other connections were made with people at both schools,” she said. “The preachout really helped me to get rid of my image of UC as ‘that rival school over there’ because now I have friends there that have so much in common with me.”
“I think the students have a wonderful opportunity to talk about the similarities and differences between life at XU and life at UC, while experiencing first-hand the common struggles, joys – and faith – of students in both places,” said Albainy-Jenei.
Police Notes
Feb. 7, 1:26 p.m.—A student reported that a vehicle had been burglarized while it was parked in the South parking lot and that the stereo valued at $350 had been stolen.
Feb. 7, 10:00 p.m.—A student reported that someone attempted to break into a vehicle while it was parked in the South lot.
Feb. 9, 1:15 p.m.—A student was cited for violating a university no-contact order.
Feb. 10, 7:58 a.m.—Two visitors attending the XU/UC Crosstown Helpout event reported a minor auto accident in the C-2 parking lot.
Feb. 11, 12:42 a.m.—A student reported that a CD player was stolen from a vehicle that was parked in the Commons lot.
Police Note of the Week
Feb. 6, 12:30 a.m.—An employee reported the theft of two microphones from Cintas Center during a men’s game.
Kelly Shaw 
Campus News Editor
Athenaeum submissions
Would you like to be published? Please submit your original prose, poetry or artwork to the Athenaeum by March 15, 2007. Articles can be submitted to the SGA Office, Hinkle Faculty Services Desk or to groenta@xavier.edu. For more information, contact Tiffany Groen at groenta@xavier.edu
Free tax prep on campus
Need help with your taxes? On Monday, Feb. 26, students in the Accounting Department will be available to assist Xavier students and other members of the public in preparing their taxes, free of charge. For more information, email Ali Mirolo at miroloaa@xavier.edu or call at 614-795-0012.
Health services info session
The Graduate Program in Health Services Administration will hold an information session from 6-8 p.m. on Feb. 26 in the Schiff Family Conference Center. All are invited to attend and to hear from current students, faculty and staff. Call 513-745-3687 or email at swiftce@xu.edu for more information, or call (513) 745-3072 for information.
New Freedom Center Exhibit
Discount tickets are available to the National Underground Freedom Center’s new exhibit, “Invisible: Slavery Today,” currently on display from Jan. 6 - Feb. 28. Tickets are available through the department of psychology. Contact Dr. Cathy McDaniels Wilson, mcdanielswilson@xavier.edu or (513) 745-3072 for information.
Cardio Fitness Returns
The cardio fitness club and Guts-N-Butts are back with a new instructor, Maggie Faller. The cardio classes will resume from 4:15-5:15 p.m., while Guts-N-Butts will run from 5:30-6:30 p.m. on Friday in the O’Connor Sports Center.
Van Driver Training
There is one more van-driver training session that will take place from 9-11:30 a.m. on Saturday, Feb. 17 in the Flynn Hall Training room. The session is recommended for students and staff who will drive 12-15 passenger vans. Cincinnati Insurance will issue laminated cards to each participant after they complete the program, which will document their involvement in a National Safety Council Defense Driving Program. Contact Mary Beth Townsley at the Risk Management Office at 745-2090 or email Townsley@xavier.edu.
Diversity Presentation
The Diversity Office is inviting students to take advantage of VIP tickets that are available for the presentation by Martin Luther King III and Congressman John Lewis on the theme, “Where is the Dream Today? Reflections on Civil Rights Activism Past and Present.” The men will share their reflections on their own experience with civil rights activism. The presentation starts at 7 p.m. on Friday at the Freedom Center. For questions, contact the Diversity Office at X3539 or corder@xavier.edu.
