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Platinum parts cause pricey problem

Elizabeth Sullivan
Staff Writer

Three students had catalytic converters stolen from under their vehicles on Nov. 28 between noon and 9 p.m.

At least two of the students were parked in the South lot on the corner of Victory Parkway and Dana Avenue. All three students did not realize that they had been robbed until they attempted to start their cars later in the day.

The theft of catalytic converters is the newest trend among thieves in the Cincinnati area. Lt. Smith of Campus police said that Cincinnati Police warned Campus Police about a month ago that the converters are the new “hot” item among criminals. Since then, Campus Police officers have been making extra patrols in all campus parking lots.

The converters, which are meant to reduce pollution emitted by the exhaust system, are valuable because they contain platinum, according to WLTV.com.

This precious metal can easily be extracted from the converter and resold for a quick profit. WLTV also reported that 28 cases of catalytic converter theft were reported last month alone.

The catalytic converter is located under the body of the car and is held in place by a pipe that runs from the engine to the exhaust system. The converters are easy to remove by simply cutting through the pipe that holds it in place and pulling the part out.

If the converter is stolen, the victim hears a loud “pop” when they try to start the vehicle. The car may also make a loud rumbling noise when driven, as if the muffler has been damaged. The converter is an expensive part to replace, costing between $500 and $600.

The students who were victimized at Xavier heard similar noises when trying to start their cars, but only one of them realized right away that they had been robbed.

The two other students did not know that their cars were damaged until they went to repair shops and were told that their converters had been stolen.

The most popular types of cars for thieves to steal converters from are Toyotas, other foreign cars and cars that sit high off the ground. Two of the victimized students’ cars were Toyotas and the other an SUV, according to Lt. Smith.

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Xavier students rock out with their caucus out

Matthew Finger
Managing Editor

For some people caucus might sound like a spiky plant, a strand of bacteria or maybe even the capital of Venezuela. But for 41 Xavier students, three Xavier professors and the entire state of Iowa, caucus is something much more.

This past weekend a bus loaded with Xavier students and professors drove 11 hours from Cincinnati to Des Moines, Iowa, in order to volunteer for 11 different presidential campaigns 30 days before the Iowa Caucus.

The Iowa caucus is the first of the presidential primaries. In the past the caucus, along with the New Hampshire primary, has been extremely influential in determining party nominations for president. That is why volunteers like Xavier students bus, fly and drive to Iowa to help their respective candidates.

“Being able to do this is a great political experience,” said freshman Emily Naber of the opportunity to volunteer. Naber and three other students dedicated their weekend to campaign for Republican Ron Paul, a representative of Texas, by working phone banks and distributing flyers to houses in the ice and snow.

Alyssa Konermann, a freshman from Westchester, Ohio, worked for New Mexico Governor Bill Richardson’s campaign. Konermann worked in the campaign office mailing letters to supporters, but also had the opportunity to meet Richardson. “It was a unique experience,” Konermann said. “I never would have been able to have done this on my own.”

Overall, students volunteered for one of 11 different campaigns in Iowa, which allowed for diverse group experiences. “I put together calling lists based on previous voting record for different counties,” said senior Kevin Hoggatt, who was the only student to volunteer for the Mitt Romney campaign. Hoggatt chose Romney because of his fiscal conservatism and business experience.

Renee Stoeckle, a junior working for Illinois Senator Barack Obama’s campaign had the opportunity to meet former President Bill Clinton when she attended the Black and Brown Forum, a Democratic debate that focused on minority issues. “We ran to the front of the auditorium, where we were quickly pushed away by Secret Service and event employees,” Stoeckle said.

“Eventually, the former president walked back across the room, at which time I pushed between two Secret Service agents and shook his hand.”
Bill Clinton was not the only A-list name that Xavier students met. Senator Obama stayed in the same hotel as the Xavier trip. A group of students waited for nearly three hours in the hallway of the hotel in order to meet the senator.

At about midnight Obama strolled in. “So you are all from Xavier? That’s a long way to go,” said Obama, who promptly shook each student’s hand, chitchatted about the students’ day and posed for a group picture with the students.

The trip was inspired by a course at Xavier that focuses on presidential campaigns from 1960 to 2008. The three professors who teach the course and accompanied the students are Dr. Gene Beaupré, the director of government relations, Dr. John Fairfield, chair of the history department, and Brendon Cull, a new professor at Xavier who has worked on multiple campaigns at different levels, including the Kerry/Edwards presidential campaign.

Junior David Ben was also instrumental in coordinating and organizing the trip. Ben did not volunteer for any campaign, but instead helped to manage the trip beforehand and while the students were in Des Moines.

“By organizing the trip, I was able to go from one campaign to another and see first-hand what each group was doing,” said Ben. “It allowed me to have a broader view of presidential caucus campaigning in Iowa just a month before the caucus.”

Planning for the trip was anything but easy, however, as the organizers had to coordinate with over 40 students, 11 campaigns and several rental cars, not counting a chartered bus that served as the students’ covered wagon heading west.

“We got 41 students to go on this trip without hardly trying,” said Dr. John Fairfield. “We could have filled a second bus.”

“More importantly,” he said, “when we got there and things were confused, hectic, cold and icy, the students didn’t miss a beat. I heard not one word of complaint from any student. They pitched in, worked hard and remained flexible.”

Overall, students and faculty considered the trip a success.

“I think many of the students will never forget the experience and that they participated in a unique political event, retail politics, where politicians compete for the allegiances of caucus-goers on a one-on-one basis,” Fairfield said.

“Three months ago, in our class, we studied and read about Iowa and presidential primaries,” said professor Brendon Cull. “This past weekend, 41 students saw it firsthand and actually participated in an event that is one of America’s oldest political rituals.”

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Professor Profile: Dr. Daniel Dwyer

John LaFollette
Sports Editor

Dr. Daniel Dwyer, is an assistant professor of philosophy, having taught an array of courses at Xavier since the Fall of 2004. His field of expertise is Edmund Husserl, a German thinker considered to be the father of phenomenology. Currently, he is teaching a class called Existentialist Phenomenology, which has the most syllables of any course offered at Xavier. He recently sat down with the Newswire for an interview spanning philosophy, advice, and the modern Socratic singer/songwriter Bob Dylan.

Q. Why philosophy?
A. It’s the search for first causes. You don’t know a thing unless you know its cause.

Q. Who are your heroes of philosophy?
A. Edmund Husserl. He is the father of a new school of thought that dominates 20th century thought and continues to dominate continental thought. He was a man of ethical integrity, and called himself “the perpetual beginner.”

Q. What’s the hardest thing about teaching at Xavier?
Large class size. The first, second and third bad things about Xavier is class size, for philosophy core classes.

Q. What about the fourth, fifth and sixth?
A. Having to be the spokesman of Husserl to those who have only a passing knowledge of him. The first time I heard of Husserl was in graduate school.

Q. The best?
A. The greatest thing about Xavier is Ernie Fontana. He has a laugh that you can hear from one end of Hinkle to the other.

Q. Why would you recommend your classes to non-philosophy majors?
A. To have a better grasp of contemporary thought. To have a better grasp of rejection of Descartes’ style of thinking. To take seriously appearances, that appearances do not deceive, that appearances are truth-conducive. Appearances are adequate indicators of what a thing is.

Q. What’s your favorite book?
A. [Fyodor Dostoevsky’s]The Brother’s Karamazov.

Q. Is there something else out there for you? What would you be doing if you weren’t teaching philosophy?
A. I’d have my own talk radio show. It would be something similar to a Charlie Rose show, but on radio. It would have musical guests, and it would poke fun at the right and the left. For example I’d have a show called “Vanity and Combs” and a show called, instead of [NPR’s] “Fresh Air,” I’d have it called “Stale Air.”

Q. What’s the best class you ever took?
A. Greek Composition. Our final exam was to translate into Greek Lincoln’s Gettysburg Address. The plasticity of the mind in translating an ancient language is enhanced in a class like that.

Q. What’s the best advice you ever got, in that it informed your world view?
A. When I started dating, my dad said “Let me tell you this, once: women are very, very, very, very, very different from men.”

Q. What song is stuck in your head right now?
A. [Bob Dylan’s] “Tangled Up in Blue.”

Q. What about Bob does it for you?
A. Bob Dylan is the Socrates of singer/songwriters. His autobiography overlaps with his poetry in such a way as to make one reflect philosophically.
I use Dylan in the classroom, judiciously, not all the time, because you don’t bring out the gold all the time, but I love to see when students sit there and interpret an 11-minute song called “It’s Alright Ma, I’m Only Bleeding,” from 1964. The thrill I get is not from the song, but in seeing in their faces “This is a serious song, and this is what song can be.” As opposed to Britney Spears’ latest album.

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Police Notes

Nov. 27, 3:02 a.m.- A non-student acting suspiciously in the Special Events lot was arrested on two outstanding warrants.

Nov. 29, 8:35 p.m.- Five non-students were escorted from the game area of the Gallagher Center when it was reported that they were attempting to fight with students.

Nov. 30, 4:37 a.m.- A student driving recklessly in the C-1 lot disregarded four stop signs and was cited for reckless driving and operating a vehicle with a suspended license.

Nov. 30, 7:20 a.m.- An intoxicated student who was being assisted back to his or her residence was cited for underage consumption in the Husman lot.

Nov. 30, 3:07 p.m.- A student and an employee reported a minor accident in the C-2 lot.

Dec. 1, 5:53 a.m.- An officer on patrol discovered a shattered window pane in an entrance to Cohen Center.

Dec. 1, 12:57 p.m.- A guest and a student reported a minor accident in the C-1 lot.

Dec. 2, 12:29 a.m.- A student was arrested for underage consumption and disorderly conduct after causing several disturbances on campus.

Dec. 2, 1:28 a.m.- A student observed staggering down Woodburn Avenue near Dana Avenue was cited for underage consumption and taken to his or her residence.

Dec. 2, 2:08 a.m.- A student was cautioned about driving in the grass on the residential mall.

Dec. 2, 2:40 a.m.- A student was cited for underage consumption in the Village lot. Another student was cautioned about operating a vehicle under the influence after it appeared that he or she was attempting to get into a car.

Police Note of the Week

Nov. 28, 9:37 a.m.- A Physical Plant employee reported that earlier he or she had discovered a non-student sleeping in the basement laundry room closet at 1019 Dana Ave. Campus Police searched the area and found that the subject had already left the premises. It is unclear how the subject got into the building.

 Briefs

Katie Rosenbaum 
Campus News Editor

Focus group volunteers needed

Xavier is looking for volunteers to take part in a 90 minute focus group meeting in order for us to acquire feedback regarding food service programs. We are looking for eight to 10 volunteers for each of the following sessions: Graduate/CAPS/Weekend Degree Students: 12-1:30 p.m., Saturday, Dec. 8, Commuter Undergraduate Students: 1:30-3 p.m., Monday Dec. 10, On-campus Resident Students: 3:30-5 p.m. Monday, Dec. 10. Please stop by the Office of Auxiliary Services, GSC 332, to register for a session. Registration will be handled on a first-come-first-serve basis and ends on Thursday, Dec. 6. Volunteers who take part in these groups will be given $10 on their All Card on behalf of Auxiliary Services. Contact Lisa Herrington x 4281for more information

Women’s Center hours

The Women’s Center is open from 9 a.m.-5 p.m. every weekday. There are comfortable couches, work desks, wireless internet connections and hot coffee. The XU Women’s Center is open to students, faculty, and staff, both women and men. Contact Jennifer Wies, Director, at wiesj@xavier.edu or x3737 for more information or to join the mailing list.

Fire wing eating contest

Ryan’s Pub is having a Fire Wing Eating Contest at 7 p.m. on Thursday, Dec. 13. There can be up to 10 contestants. Prizes will be given away to participants. If you are interested please sign up with your Ryan’s bartender by 5 p.m. the day of the contest. Contact Jenny Degaro at x4372 for more information.

Fraternity info session

The Men of Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity, Inc. Sigma Gamma Chapter will be having an informational session about the fraternity at 9 p.m. Thursday, Dec. 6 in the Schott presentation room. If you are interested in attending, please email sigmagamma1906@xavier.edu.

Black and Gold informational session

Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity, Inc. Sigma Gamma Chapter will be hosting an informational session for its annual Miss Black and Gold Scholarship Pageant at 8 p.m. Monday, Dec. 10 in the Office of Multicultural Affairs. All women are welcome. Contact Corey Burton (615)525-1614 or email sigmagamma1906@xavier.edu for more information.

Financial Affairs Committee meeting

The Financial Affairs Committee of SGA will be hosting an informational session at 7:30 p.m. Dec. 11 in the Clocktower Lounge about budget submissions for the 2008-09 academic year. Contact: Corey Burton at (615) 525-1614 or e-mail sgafac@xavier.edu for more information.

Commuter meal plans

Commuters who sign up for a meal plan by Jan. 18 will be entered to win $100 bonus Dining Dollars. Meal plans can be purchased by contacting Dining Services at (513) 745-4874 or Residence Life at (513) 745-3203.

AB fundraiser

Alternative Breaks is currently participating in a fundraising program which recycles used cell phones and ink jet printer cartridges. This eco-friendly fundraiser is a great way to get rid of some trash while supporting XU Alternative Breaks. Drop boxes are located in the GSC and Dorothy Day House.

March for Life

The March for Life will be held on Jan. 22. A charter bus will leave at 10 a.m. on Monday, Jan. 21 and will arrive in Washington, D.C. that evening. Accommodations will be provided by a local church. The march will be Tuesday and the bus will drive back to Cincinnati by late Tuesday night. If you want to be a part of this, sign up now in the Dorothy Day House. The cost is $35. Contact Katie Raffel at raffelk@xavier.edu for more information.