95th Year, Issue 10

week of October 28, 2009

 

Opinions & Editorials

EDITORIAL | SUSTAINABILITY DAY

Xavier should sustain sustainability.

The long-standing Xavier tradition of Academic Day was replaced by Sustainability Day this year, an event designed to highlight the work of the Sustainability Committee and serve as forum for student and faculty input regarding further advances the university can make in becoming more environmentally sustainable.

The event served as an opportunity for the university to see exactly what steps the committee had taken to achieve the commitment to meet LEED standards, signed by President Fr. Michael Graham, S.J., in Jan. 2008. So far, the committee has documented Xavier’s overall environmental impact, or “carbon footprint,” and is working to develop an action plan for how the university can reduce this impact.

We believe this committee’s goals are valuable given the changing global climate, but more importantly, Xavier’s position as an educator means it is instilling these values in tomorrow’s leaders and decision-makers.

The committee has done a good job of getting students involved in this process, but following the advice of keynote speaker Nancy Tuchman (director of the Center for Urban Environmental Research and Policy at the Loyola University Chicago), to hire more student interns would be a way to increase student roles.

The Sustainability Committee did a good job of garnering student interest in the event, and it was clear that far more students attended and were engaged in this year’s proceedings than in Academic Days of the past—evidence that the student body finds Xavier’s relationship to the environment interesting and relevant.

While we missed Fr. Graham’s “State of the University” address amid a changing landscape at Xavier, we hope we haven’t seen the last Sustainability Day. Finally, we hope that student interest and involvement continues to grow in the university’s process of becoming more sustainable.

TOP OF PAGE

EDITORIAL | THOUGHTS

This week, The Newswire thinks. . .

• Selling only 250 student tickets for a concert is depressing.

• Therefore, Student Activities Council should choose an artist for a concert of its own, or work proactively with Cintas Center to choose an artist that both students and Cincinnatians would enjoy, thus raking in maximum profits for all.

• Sustainability Day should not be on a Tuesday so that The Newswire staff gets the night off with the rest of campus for once. Please?

• Mayor Mallory needs to build a better campaign website if he’s serious about representing Cincinnati again. Currenly, the only two navigational options on his website (www.electmallory.com) are “Contribute” and “Volunteer.” What will you do for us, Mr. Mayor?

• Candidates for City Council in Norwood need to send their imformation to smartvoter.org, a free service of the League of Women Voters, the purpose of which is to inform voters about candidates in their area. It’s free, detailed promotion. If you’re committed to running the race, let the voters know what you’re really about.

• It’s important to vote this Tuesday. If you haven’t read our election article, this November election is not only for City Council members, but for Mayor as well. The entire Cincinnati government has the potential for rearrangement. Make an informed decision.

• Project SEARCH deserves more press than it’s getting around Xavier. It helps the disabled kick-start their professional lives.

• You should be safe this Saturday, as it is Halloween—night of costumey shenanegans and free Chipotle, so people are bound to behave with less self-control than usual.

TOP OF PAGE

Letters to the Editor

Learn Fight Song

The Xavier community needs to focus on learning to sing the Xavier Fight Song during our athletic events. It’s time to let this tradition catch up to our continuing athletic achievements. I’m making this suggestion primarily for athletic events held at Cintas Center.

The fight song is comprised of one stanza with 25 words:

Sing the song and sing it loud and long,

Let it be our pledge today,

Our Alma Mater proud and strong,

Old Xavier for aye! (Repeat)

Not exactly a tough assignment. It’s time to sing a little, people.

This is a simple request that is focused on a small but not inconsequential thing. It’s a basic suggestion for enhancing our tradition. I can visualize a Cintas Center crowd at capacity, with over 10,000 people singing the fight song led by the cheerleaders and student body.

I recommend the student body take a leadership role in this effort.

One stanza. 25 words. You aren’t being tasked with something from Homer or Keats here. You can have this buttoned up and well-rehearsed in 10 to 15 minutes.

Take the lead on this by nailing it down in the student section in Cintas Center and you will drag the alumni along with you. It’s yours to bring back. The alumni will follow your lead.

We also should do a better job of singing the alma mater at the end of each game.

Perhaps the Athletic Department can make the lyrics available on the scoreboard and in printed game-related materials to assist both efforts.

David Ashley | ‘78, ‘81

Lessons in soccer

This Saturday, five of my best friends and I will be hanging up our cleats for good. Or bad. These last four years have not been the most consistent, the most optimal or even the most fun for that matter. But there is not an inch of me that would change who I have spent them with. In regard to our record; we have lost the battle, the war and even had a few casualties. But I would not trade the pain for what I’ve learned. And in four years, I’ve learned a few things.

First, its not what you do, its who you do it with. None of us saw our four years panning out the way they did, but we are walking away with sisters. Sisters that I will have until we’re in rest homes.

Second, I say sisters for a reason. Friends are friendly, sisters are unfeigned. We have exchanged punches, harsh words and a few low blows. But in the end we are still standing side-by-side. There is a unique dynamic that goes along with this experience. Its result is a seamless bond that you have undoubtedly earned.

Next, there comes a point when you need to let things go. It takes most of us the better part of four years to see it, loosen up your grip and enjoy the ride. There is a big world out there and it doesn’t get knocked off its axis if you get a bad break.

Life lessons are earned. Take them in stride and value them. They are the consolation prize for the hard road, and their shelf life is eternal.

This is your team, your experience. Make it what you want. It may not be what you dreamed, but nothing ever is.

This Saturday, I will be leaving our dysfunctional family with five of my sisters that I didn’t have four years ago. That’s what its about. It’s been a pleasure. Thanks for everything.

Kelly Farrell | ‘10

Bricks aren't all

I wanted to thank the Newswire for featuring a prominent story on the discontinuation of Legacy Fund last week. I have received a lot of positive feedback about the new plan for a senior class gift since the article was published last Wednesday.

While perusing the Newswire last week I also read the editorial, “Give us back our bricks,” and it was apparent to me that the author failed to understand all the issues surrounding the discontinuation of the Legacy Fund program, as well as the details of the 1831 Society and the new senior gift program that will be revealed this spring.

Our goal is to create a culture of student philanthropy across Xavier’s campus that inspires students to make a gift to Xavier at graduation without a need for recognition.

The editorial stated that the giving levels of the young alum 1831 Society are “cost prohibitive” and that the benefits may not appeal to this demographic.

The 1831 Society was restructured in May 2008 and although we have not yet done an aggressive marketing campaign to promote the new giving levels, 20 new members have joined. Since young alumni membership in the 1831 Society has doubled with minimal marketing efforts, this suggests that the giving levels are actually very affordable and the benefits of membership are appealing to young alums across the country.

We are confident these numbers will continue to grow with enhanced marketing of 1831 Society membership to young alumni as well as graduating seniors.

My office door is always open and I welcome your ideas, suggestions for marketing and incentives that might encourage our seniors to join the 1831 Society and continue their membership as young alums.

Erin Swietlik | ‘08

Executive correction

I would like to offer a correction to one of the statements in last week’s article, “SGA Execs look to....” The article states, “Executives have begun preliminary talks with the Office of the Registrar regarding the possibility of providing information on the requirements for majors and minors in a centralized location.”

When we made reference to preliminary talks, we meant we had spoken with various members of SGA about this idea, but we have not met with individuals from the Registrar yet.

Kiki Richardson | ‘10

SGA Executive President

TOP OF PAGE

Find power in tragedy

By Darren LaCour

Editorial Columnist

I’m writing this column as the sun sets in beautiful New Orleans, where the temperature never seems to drop below 60 degrees and tends to stay in the 70s for the month of October. While the warm weather was a welcome break from the chills of Cincinnati, I, for once, really wish I didn’t have to come down here.

A little over a week ago, on October 16, my 26-year-old cousin was found dead in his bed. We later learned he had overdosed on pain killers. All of this happened a day after he had started rehab to break his addiction to those prescription medications he had been abusing since he got in a car wreck this past new year.

According to the U.S. Substance Abuse & Mental Health Services Administration’s Office of Applied Studies, pain killers are, after marijuana, the most abused illicit drug in the United States.

The Drug Abuse Warning Network found in 2006, approximately 324,000 emergency department visits involved the nonmedical use of pain killers. That’s almost 900 visits nationwide per day.

This growing trend of drug abuse is not often talked or thought about, but the dangers are real.

But there’s more to this story than just a warning against substance abuse. There was untold power—both heart-wrenching and inspiring—in this tragedy.

Perhaps it was in seeing my uncle, whom I have never seen cry, sob with grief as he looked upon the lifeless body of his son, whom he loved so much despite all of their fights and feuds.

Perhaps it was in seeing my aunt kneeling with her head down before the open casket, knowing that a mother should never have to mourn the loss of her child.

Perhaps it was in his sister’s eyes, as she grasped her little brother’s hand and wished she could have told him that she loved him one last time.

Perhaps it was in my grandmother’s agonized cries as she asked how he could leave her—she, the one who was supposed to be so much closer to death.

Perhaps it was in the faces of the visitors who came to pay their respects and comfort our family, thanking God it wasn’t one of their children.

But more likely, it was in the resolution with which my uncle expressed his firm belief in God’s ultimate plan and his unwavering conviction in the power of prayer.

More likely, it was in my aunt wiping away her tears, knowing the best way to honor her son was to love the world all the more because of the love he had for her.

More likely, it was in hugging my brothers, knowing that those moments are flashes of rare and precious times when our hearts and lives beat together, and that though they cannot last, the unity underlying them will go on forever.

More likely, it was the peace that fell over my grandmother as the soul of my cousin stood at her side, encouraging her and thanking her because it was her love that got him through this life and into the joy of the next.

More likely, it was in the love that radiated from everyone present, a love that was so deep it hurt.

If only we loved the people around us that much all the time—embracing them in all of their shortcomings rather than harping on the things that annoy us.

If only it didn’t take a tragedy for us to recognize what a gift it is for us to be here in this life, together, urging one another on to some sort of eternal peace.

If only we could turn to God and say, “We get it—we’re sorry we keep taking this life and the people in it for granted. Now can we have him back?”

And if only we could step back from our selfish desires and remember death is just the moment when we reach the shore of the land we’ve be longing for our whole lives, a land where there is no pain, no tears, only joy.

If we believe that, shouldn’t we be happy for the departed, happy that they’ve finished their pilgrimage?

The sun has dropped out of the sky, leaving no trace, nor any indication that it will be back, though I know somehow it will.

But in this temporary darkness, I swear there’s a star in the sky I’ve never seen before, and it’s burning brighter than any star up there.

TOP OF PAGE

New ticket system no good for campouts

By Kathryn Rosenbaum

Editor-in-Chief

Last weekend, I went to the University of Pittsburgh for a football game. Although I had fun, I could not attend a football school. The prospect of waking up almost every other Saturday at 6 a.m. to stand outside in the cold for hours is quite unappealing to me.

Instead, I am a college basketball fan, not just because the games are indoors. I am excited for the upcoming basketball season—but the prospect of facing the new ticket system has slightly dampened my spirits.

The new ticket system involves reserving tickets online and then standing in line on game day.

A change in the system was needed to encourage students to be more involved in games. With Cintas Center on-campus and a two minute walk away from the dorms, there is no reason why students should stroll in after tip-off.

However, how will this new system affect the Crosstown Campout for the Xavier vs. UC game on Dec. 13?

I camped out my sophomore year. It was a cold and wet weekend, but was a great college experience and one memory from Xavier I’ll never forget—especially since I was in tent number one and received first row tickets for the game.

Plans for this year’s campout have not been finalized. X-Treme Fan President Tim Conroy said they are meeting this week to make decisions regarding the Campout.

Rumors are floating around there will be a campout on a weekend prior to the game for students to reserve a ticket. Then, on game-day, students will need to line-up to determine their actual seats.

However, after discussing these rumors with my friends, we raised some concerns that should be considreed before Xavier makes a decision.

In essence, with a weekend campout and game-day line-up, Xavier students would be camping outside for almost four days—a large commitment for one game. With final papers and exams quickly approaching in the days following the Crosstown Shootout, I can’t afford to spend one more entire day outside where little studying gets done.

Secondly, tent groups should receive tickets together. If I spend a weekend in a tent with people, I want to sit together with them at the game. However, with a camp-out and then game-day line-up, I may only sit near one or two of my tentmates.

Furthermore, after standing outside all day to ensure good tickets, I will not be more pumped up for the game, but rather quite irritated and cold.

The Crosstown Shootout is the most hyped game of the regular season and the ticket policy should not be the same as every game. We should have some sort of campout, however it should be limited to one weekend, preferably the weekend before the game.

A two-part system for the Shootout is inefficient and won’t produce the desired results of increased student excitement and enthusiasm. This excitement could be better created through pre-game events, not sitting outside in the cold, snow and rain for eight hours.

TOP OF PAGE

All Rights Reserved

© 2008 The Xavier Newswire