3 December Issue 2015 – Online Edition

Climate change is finally
getting the attention it
deserves.
La Salle’s Wi-Fi has been
spotty lately, but don’t worry,
you don’t have to click a link
to reach this article!
pg. 2
VOL. LXXXVIII, NO. X
pg. 7
PHILADELPHIA, PA 19141
la salle
THURSDAY, DECEMBER 3, 2015
collegian
CLUBS.LASALLE.EDU/COLLEGIAN
est. 1931
Remembering Brother and former La Salle President Daniel Burke
By Gavin Lichtenstein
Collegian Editor
Brother Daniel Burke was president of La Salle
College from 1969-1976, a defining period for the
university and the country. While Brother Burke
was president, the Vietnam War was wrapping up,
gas was $0.35 cents and Joseph Clark was mayor
of Philadelphia. On Nov. 14, Brother Burke passed
away at the age of 89 from cardiac problems at De
La Salle Hall, a nursing home for Christian Brothers
in Lincroft N.J.
Brother Gerry Molyneaux first met Brother Burke
when he was 14 years old at West Catholic High
School; Molyneaux had Brother Burke for both
homeroom and religion that year.
“He was always very pleasant and caring,”
Molyneaux said. “I was a mess when I was a
freshman. With patience and discipline, it got good.
I remember him telling me in our homeroom I was
the best student. That was the beginning of a long
friendship and relationship.”
In the classroom, Molyneaux said he was a very
good but hard teacher. Years later, when Molyneaux
took his place in the front of the classroom, Brother
Burke was there with him, supporting and guiding
Brother Gerry from afar.
“When I started teaching, he would send me
books,” Molyneaux said. “He was a mentor all
along.”
Many of Brother Gerry’s students assume that he
just knows it all, but as a student taking graduate
courses at Catholic University, Brother Gerry was
taking a course in literary criticism, Brother Burke’s
field of expertise. Right before the final exam for that
course, Brother Gerry reached out to Brother Burke
hoping for a last minute “cram session” as he called
it.
“I learned more literary criticism in that hour and
a half then I did that whole course,” Molyneaux said.
“He really had a creative way of getting ideas across.”
When Brother Burke retired from his role as
president, Brother Molyneaux says he was very
hesitant toward the idea of a retirement party because
he was so modest. Brother Gerry was a leader in
organizing his celebration that year and instead of
honoring him with a large fancy event, they decided
to roast him, centered around the theme ‘find the
president a new job.”
“We had different people coming up with different
ideas. We had a representative from the Mayor’s
office that year and some other folks like that, so it
was a lot of fun,” Molyneaux said.
During his tenure as president, Brother Burke built
and opened the Haymon Center and Olney Hall, but
his greatest accomplishment wasn’t what he built, it
but what he brought.
Under Burke, the university became co-ed in
addition to increasing the female staff on campus
from 3 to 25.
Photo courtesy of klare Scarborough
Portrait of Brother Daniel Burke by James Hanes, 1992, oil on
canvas, La Salle University Art Museum.
To BROTHER BURKE on 4
La Salle Enactus chapter wins $4,500 in grants
By Brendan Rigney
Collegian Editor
La Salle’s Enactus chapter earned grants totaling in $4,500
for their development and implementation of projects for
three individual competitions posed by Johnson & Johnson
and the Brothers of the Christian Schools.
Enactus is an international nonprofit that works with
student, academic and business leaders on community
empowerment projects globally. The program is in 36
countries, with over 1,700 chapters at universities and
colleges, according to Enactus’ website.
La Salle’s team, hard at work the past few years, has struck
gold recently with these three separate accolades.
“I’m so thrilled and honored that we have received these
grants,” said Kenneth Brewer, President and CEO of LSE.
“Project managers Alexis [Parks] and Vincent [Mowad]
have worked extremely hard in order to get these grants. I
can’t wait to see what we can do with this opportunity.”
Of these three grants, the largest amounts to a sum of
$2,500 from medical and pharmaceutical company Johnson
& Johnson for La Salle Enactus’ (LSE) Green Expansion
Project. LSE project manager Alexis Parks and fellow La
Salle Explorers helped transform multiple vacant lots into
community gardens, advised community members on how
to plant fruits and vegetables and conducted multiple healthy
eating workshops in order to teach proper and nutritious
eating habits. Overall, the project impacted more than
100 individuals, produced more than 500 pounds of fresh
produce and created two jobs.
For Lasallian involvement in the Unilever Bright Future
Project, Johnson & Johnson awarded Parks’ Green Expansion
and LSE again, this time for an additional $1,500.
The Unilever Project allows Enactus to address the source
of hunger among food insecure families in select U.S.
communities. After an assessment, the organization then
fosters area-specific strategies that empower these families.
An additional $500 was
presented to LSE for its
fundraising for the Gestures
from the Heart program
on
the
International
Lasallian Days for Peace.
Gestures from the Heart is
a Lebanese organization
that connects middle-aged
widowed women with job
opportunities in Zgharta,
Lebanon. In addition to
the fundraising that earned
LSE an extra $500, Vice
President
and
project
manager Vincent Mowad
plans to continue marketing
the program in Philadelphia
to
continue
finding
monetary donations. The
Brothers of the Christian
Schools’ District of Eastern
North America presented
this grant.
“We will spend these
Photo courtesy of Brendan Rigney
grants on our specific La Salle’s Enactus chapter won $4,500 from three seperate development implementation
projects,” Brewer said. competitions.
“The goal of [a] grant is to
enable progress within our
Enactus and La Salle brands.
perspective community. Therefore, we will utilize these
“These grants are sponsored by international companies,”
grants to serve each community to the best of our ability.”
explained Brewer. “This gives us leverage to connect with
Moreover, the grants offer benefits in more than financial them and create opportunities for each community. Because
ways. In their bid for the $2,500 grant from Johnson & of this exposure, La Salle Enactus has a unique opportunity
Johnson, LSE finished in third place in the nation. Without to show investors the importance of our initiatives.”
missing a beat, Brewer and LSE recognize this as a unique
rigneyb1@student.lasalle.edu
opportunity for networking in order to further market the
news
2 la salle collegian
thursday, december 3, 2015
There is no Planet B: world leaders discuss climate change
Slance’s Stance
By Sarah Lance
Collegian Staff
Monday marked the start of COP21, the
Sustainable Innovation Forum in Paris, France.
Representatives from 195 countries are in Paris
right now working to reach the goal of reducing
carbon emissions and limiting global warming to
2C or 3.6F.
World leaders and activists have made climate
change one of the biggest issues of the past
summer and the recent months.
Pope Francis’ encyclical urges the world to
recognize climate change and to work together to
find a solution. Pope Francis stresses recognizing
the human impact of climate change, what we are
doing to cause it and those suffering every day
from the consequences of it.
This summer, Greenpeace and its supporters held protests against Shell’s intention of
drilling in the arctic and managed to stop the drilling vessel by blocking it in Seattle, WA
and Portland, OR.
Canada’s new Prime Minister, Justin Trudeau, is a big supporter of finding solutions for
climate change and making Canada and the rest of the world more sustainable.
This all built momentum for the talks in Paris this week and next week. I am glad to see
the rhetoric in the media and from our leader change from debating if climate change is
happening to discussing real solutions. So, although I am sure that everyone reading this
knows that climate change is real, sometimes we do not always realize the impact that it
has on our community. Yes, we all know the ice caps are melting and the polar bears are in
danger, and I do not want to take away from this serious issue, but I think that it is time we
start talking about some of the other effects climate change has in our world.
One of my favorite phrases about climate change is “Climate change is an Environmental
Issue AND a Human Rights Issue”.
It says something about our society that we are often more emotionally effected by an
image of an emaciated polar bear floating on a single piece of ice than we are by the image
and idea of farmers in rural areas unable to support their families because of floods and
droughts. Pests and diseases are increasing which threatens crop production and the health
of the farmers who grow the crops. Rainfall patterns are shifting, leaving farmers unsure
when to plant, and rising temperatures are shortening crop lifecycles and lowering the
amount of crops produced. In a society where someone’s livelihood is dependent on their
crop production, climate change can have devastating effects. People in the developing
world have contributed little to climate change, but they are paying the biggest price.
This is just one example of the effects climate change is having on communities around
the world. If we, as a global community, do not step in and work to stop continued emissions
of greenhouse gases, the temperature will continue to rise, more drastic changes in weather
patterns and we will see an increased risk of severe irreversible impacts on our ecosystems
and on people around the world.
COP21 in Paris is a pivotal moment for the fight against climate change. In my opinion,
we have waited too long and have wasted most of our time trying to convince people
to believe in climate change. I mean, if the Pope can acknowledge it, it is time to come
around, people.
I am thankful that we have world leaders like; President Barack Obama, Canadian Prime
Minister Justin Trudeau, Pope Francis and many others, that are willing to take an active
role in finding a solution to climate change. My hope is that in the next week and a half of
COP21, the world leaders can come to an agreement and a plan to reduce carbon emissions
and limit global warming to 2C or 3.6F. Like the title of this column, there is no Planet B.
We cannot wait to take action.
If you are wondering what you can do, go online to, http://bit.ly/1NmeShq, to sign the
petition to support The Green Climate Fund. The Green Climate Fund was started by the
United Nations as a means for developed nations to provide developing countries assistance
in adapting to and mitigating the effects of climate change. This petition sends a letter to
your member of Congress asking them to support the Green Climate Fund by providing a
first down payment of $500 million toward the U.S. pledge of $3 billion.
Always be on the lookout for things that you can do to be more sustainable and kind to
the environment. It might not always be convenient, but it is also not “convenient” for rural
farmers in southern Bangladesh to endure cyclones and seasonal floods that destroy their
homes.
lances1@student.lasalle.edu
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news
la salle collegian
thursday, december 3, 2015
AIDS Outreach spreads
awareness during World Aids
Week
By Casey Schu
Collegian Reporter
This week, La Salle celebrated its annual World
AIDS Week with the purpose of raising awareness
of HIV/AIDS. Student coordinators of AIDS
Outreach, a community service group on campus,
organize the event each year in order to raise money,
which is then donated to Calcutta House and AIDS
Fund Philly.
Each week on Tuesdays and Thursdays,
coordinators and volunteers from La Salle visit
Calcutta House at 16th and Girard to spend time with
residents there. Calcutta House is a group home for
people who live with HIV/AIDS. Living at Calcutta
enables residents to live in a welcoming community
and be given their necessary medications. During
their visits, La Salle students converse with residents,
play games and help the residents out when needed.
The visits provide company for the residents as well
as some much needed laughter, and the feeling is
certainly mutual. According to freshman volunteer
Kaylynn Alicea, “Going to Calcutta and spending
time with the residents always calms me down
especially if I’m having a stressful day because they
are always able to cheer me up and see the bright
side of things.”
While many of the residents are able to come
and go freely, some are wheelchair bound or have
other disabilities, making La Salle’s visits even
more appreciated. Because of this, AIDS Outreach
also provides “buddy trips” for the Calcutta House
residents. Buddy trips are events outside of Calcutta
in which volunteers and residents get to spend time
together in a different atmosphere. Past buddy trips
have included the Camden Aquarium, a buffet
dinner and the Franklin Institute.
While much of what AIDS Outreach does is direct
community outreach, there is another component to
the service group. On Mondays, volunteers head
down to Philly AIDS Thrift on South Street. Work
there can vary each week: sometimes volunteers tag
clothing, while other times they may need to move
large bags into storage. “Going to AIDS Thrift
is great because it attempts to bring about long-
term change like getting funding for research and
treatment, while going to Calcutta and interacting
with someone affected by AIDS provides more
immediate, therapeutic relief,” says sophomore
coordinator Joanna Szyszkiewicz. Philly AIDS
Thrift is part of the consortium of businesses and
organizations that AIDS Fund Philly works with.
World AIDS Week is AIDS Outreach’s biggest
endeavor during the school year. The week is held
during the week of Dec. 1, which is internationally
recognized as World AIDS Day. The coordinators
brainstorm a theme for the week, which is promoted
through activities. T-shirts are designed and sold
everyday for $5. All proceeds are distributed
between Calcutta House and AIDS Fund Philly.
This year’s theme is “Getting to Zero: Zero
Ignorance, Zero Stigmas, Zero Diagnoses.” The
mission of World AIDS Week and AIDS Outreach
is to bring awareness of the disease and its ongoing
prevalence in the world and to attempt to erase
the stigmas attached to the illness. In addition, the
raising of money directly impacts the people of
Philadelphia who live with HIV/AIDS.
This theme is pervading campus through the
sale of the T-shirts that AIDS Outreach designed,
whose design revolves around “Getting to Zero.”
On Tuesday, AIDS Outreach hosted a “Red Out,”
in which students were encouraged to wear red or
World AIDS Week shirts from previous years. On
Dec. 2, AIDS Outreach hosted a speaker. Robb
Reichard, Director of AIDS Fund Philly, came to
La Salle to inform students about HIV/AIDS in
Philadelphia and what AIDS Fund Philly does to
help. Freshman Paul Rotzal, who attended the talk,
said, “It was very informative. I learned a ton about
AIDS that I didn’t know before.”
World AIDS Week continues to be a movement at
La Salle that creates awareness about an important
issue and also helps the Philadelphia community by
donating all the proceeds from shirt sales.
Volunteers from AIDS Outreach will be in the
Union from 12 to 2 Thursday and Friday of this
week selling shirts.
schus1@student.lasalle.edu
SECURITY REPORT
bv
around
la salle
Thursday, December 3
Climate Change Event
12:30 p.m.-1:30 p.m.
Union Music Room
Dart Club Listening Party
8:00-11:00 p.m.
Holroyd center atrium
Deepher Dude
9:00 p.m.-12:00 a.m.
Dan Rodden Theatre
Saturday, December 5
Men’s Basketball
2:00-4:00 p.m.
Tom Gola Arena
Coach Bag Bingo
6:30 p.m.-2:00 a.m.
Union Ballroom
Monday, November 23, 2015
12:23 A.M. – At the request of Community
Development staff, Security responded to the
second floor of St. Katherine Hall to conduct a room
search for suspected drug usage. A grinder, a glass
bowl and a bag containing a green leafy substance
were confiscated to be placed in the safe in Security
Headquarters pending disposal by the Philadelphia
Police. A bottle of vodka was found and poured out
in a nearby sink
Sunday, December 6
Sunday, November 29, 2015
Alumni Brunch with Santa
11:00 a.m.-1:00 p.m.
8:30 A.M. – Philadelphia Police have notified the
University of a shooting incident reported to them
with no injuries sustained that occurred at the
intersection of 21st and Conlyn Streets at about
8:30 a.m. on November 28, 2015. The complainant,
a male not affiliated with the University, was
walking alone at the above location when two
African American males unknown to him asked him
if the location was 21st and Conlyn. The complainant
did not answer. One of the males then reached into
his waist band and produced a handgun and fired
several shots at the complainant. The complainant
fled the area, was not struck and is uninjured. A
Safety Alert was posted on the portal.
Alumni Family Christmas
Liturgy
10:00-11:00 a.m.
De La Salle Chapel
Union Ballroom
Tuesday, December 8
Spanish Mass
5:00-5:30 p.m.
De La Salle Chapel
3
4 la salle collegian
news
thursday, december 3, 2015
Brothers remember influence of Br. Daniel Burke
from BROTHER BURKE on 1
Brother Burke was more then just a president at the
university for a handful of years. He was also more
then just a professor and educator. In addition to all
those life achievements, he was also the founder and
director of the La Salle art museum.
Klare Scarborough, Ph.D, is the director and
curator of the La Salle art museum and says Brother
Burke understood how important it was for students
to see art.
“He believed that La Salle students should
be able to see, not just read about, works of art,”
Scarborough said.
In 1965, Burke started out with roughly $3,000
and began acquiring some artwork from the area and
region. Today the art museum contains more then
4,000 pieces of artwork, including pieces by Durer,
Eakins, Picasso and Degas.
“I think its safe to say, without Dan, no art
collection,” said La Salle University former
president Brother Mike McGinnis. “He had a vision
that was connected in his mind to the curriculum and
the type of school La Salle is.”
The collection on campus has certainly grown
from a collection that was once spread out around
campus, to one of the top art museum collections
in the city, comparable to the museum collections
at Princeton, Duke, Harvard and Yale, the museum
claims. “He did wonders with the collection,”
Scarborough said. “What we have on campus is
comparable to any major university collection with
the quality of artwork we have.”
While Brother Dan was raised in an Irish family
Photo courtesy of Gavin Lichtenstein in urban Pittsburgh, Brother Burke from an early age
Brother Burke founded the La Salle art museum in 1965, turning a $3,000 found love with poetry and art.
investment into one of the most reputable museums in the city.
“The gentleness and the listening was his ability to
appreciate beauty wherever he found it,” McGinnis
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said. “I think he brought to his friendships, to the
people he knew, to the brothers, to his students, that
sort of appreciative capacity that he would bring to a
painting, you have to let the painting show itself and
that’s how people are.”
Brother Burke was once quoted as saying “If
you think of God as being all true, all good and all
beautiful, then paintings are little hints of God that
expand the soul.”
McGinnis first met Brother Burke when he was a
young brother when he first came to La Salle around
1966. Brother Dan was the academic vice president
when young Brother McGinnis was a freshman. It
wasn’t until Brother McGinnis’ junior year that he
had Brother Burke as a teacher in a literary criticism
class. When Brother Burke became president in 1969,
he continued teaching, as Brother Mike that year had
him for an English seminar.
“He was the same in the classroom as he was out,”
Brother McGinnis said. “Dan was a very quite, gentle
guy, who really listened more then he talked. He
was a gentle lecturer in class, you really had to pay
attention and you had to sit close because he was very
hard to hear without a forceful voice.”
Brother McGinnis was president of La Salle
University from 1999 until 2014 and said all
the brothers, including Brother Dan were very
encouraging and helpful when needed.
“He was always available, never pushed his views,”
he said. “That is really the brothers way, we kind of
have a unspoken rule on how to handle ourselves and
Dan was really good at that.”
A funeral Mass was held on Wednesday Nov. 18
and he was buried in his final resting place on Nov. 20
in the brother’s cemetery at La Salle Hall in Maryland.
lichtensteing1@student.lasalle.edu
“This program gave me a
holistic look at policy studies,
giving me an edge in my
job. I was taught to analyze
each situation on numerous
factors from monetary to
intrinsic value. I can move
beyond breaking everything
down to numbers and get
a real 360-degree view on
situations.”
- Autumn Canfield ’15
Master of Arts in Policy Studies
5
la salle collegian
thursday, december 3, 2015
My Brain in Harm’s Way:A Blue Mountain State Story
By Brendan Rigney
Collegian Editor
The current day and age for television
features a wide range of deep, thoughtprovoking programs. HBO’s True Detective
— or at least season one — dives deep
into the mind of two crazy nihilists; it also
featured Woody Harrelson, who decided a
deceased hamster would serve as a hairpiece.
AMC’s Mad Men comments on the notion
that the American Dream can empower or
destroy a person’s livelihood.
Comedies such as BoJack Horseman
and Master of None make you laugh while
asking you to look at your life differently.
Actually, a lot of other comedies may not
demand a change in perspective, but they
can still be well-written and clever; Arrested
Development may be the best example of a
rich and smart comedy about embarrassingly
stupid people.
Today’s shows are typically capable of
making you a better person, one way or
another. Blue Mountain State is not any of
these things. I’m getting ahead of myself.
Let’s turn back the clock a few weeks.
It’s a Wednesday in early November. I sit in
The Collegian’s subterranean office, a pit that
de La Salle himself probably dug. The men
and women that serve the paper as editors
eschew from their work (naturally). Sports
editor and resident Chip Kelly cult member
Stephan Graham, Jr. walks the office beat, as
he is wont to do between his edits.
“I feel like people that watch Blue Mountain
State are just…just terrible people,” he
croaks. My interest is piqued immediately.
You see, Spike’s BMS is one of the
raunchiest comedies to air in recent memory.
Following the story of one backup college
quarterback’s life and times at the titular
school, the show’s primary source of humor
relied heavily on two things: Jokes about a
man’s ding-a-ling and storylines that involve
strippers, prostitutes or STDs (but typically
both of these). Fellow sports editor Thomas
McIntyre described it beautifully: “It’s
basically American Pie on TV, but it’s the one
that took place at band camp.”
In the office, my brain is abuzz. Some of
the best pieces in the history of journalism
have involved some amount of danger for the
writer — Blue Mountain State would be this
courtesy of concertblogger.com
Brendan Rigney is a changed person after a Blue Mountain State marathon over
Thanksgiving Break.
danger. I decide to place my brain in harm’s
way.
But how would I properly marinate in
this tragic case of bro-comedy? Surely
three episodes would capture the essence
adequately. But no.
Instead I would go deeper — I would try to
watch the entire series.
In one sitting.
Obviously I hate myself.
Flash forward to Saturday, Nov. 28, 2015. I
awake with a hangover that would make Odin
proud and my mother severely disappointed.
My family has vacated the Rigney Manor to
go shopping for the impending apocalypse
that is a Philadelphia holiday season. Only
my brother Andrew remains home with me
— I needed a witness to my research. God
bless him.
I put on an entire pot of coffee; eggs are
made and final wills and testaments are
compiled. After putting it off for an extra
hour, I decide it’s time. I begin to type in
“blue mountain state” into Netflix’s search
feature, but — as if the streaming site knows
I mega-loathe myself — BMS pops up after
only the first two letters. Bravo, Netflix.
We begin the first episode unceremoniously
and are greeted instantly with the show’s
theme, a song entitled “Hell Yeah” because
obviously. From here, the seminal (get it?)
episode proceeds to throw the following
things at us:
•A look at the first day at BMS for the
aforementioned backup quarterback, who
is graced with the company of the football
team’s “booster” girls — they just suddenly
engage in coitus.
• Insight into how sleazy and creepy his
roommate is, as the soon-to-be team mascot
watches the quarterback have sex.
•The utterly insane monologue from the
team’s coach, who asks the team “Where
do men come from?” (The answer is, “From
their fathers’ balls.”)
•The running “joke” that the team’s captain is
“kind of gay” because he hazes the freshmen
in various ways, first by forcing them to shave
each other’s backsides and later by requiring
them to carry around notebooks that contain
dirty secrets of each member of the football
and its cheer teams.
•The backup quarterback waking up from
a party in his bed with someone’s mother,
with the sheets of his bed drenched in his
roommate’s urine.
•The roommate usurping the current mascot
by threatening to expose his “tradition” of
masturbating in the team’s trophy room.
•A race by the team captain, the two
roommates and the freshman running back
in which they wear only jock straps, and
must journey across the football field whilst
holding a cookie between their clenched butt
cheeks.
That’s just the first episode.
Subsequent episodes are no better, and I
begin to laugh more and more frequently as
each portion of my brain shrinks.
The running back loses his promise ring;
it’s found …inside a stripper. (Seriously.) The
team shares a sex toy and each player gets
syphilis. A transsexual prostitute is introduced
and is sexually depraved, a misrepresenting
generalization that is expected of a show like
BMS. The team’s pet goat is killed, hanged
from a railing in a stairwell.
Suddenly, the universe heard my
subconscious’ cry for help — Jane and Jim
Rigney, parents of what was formerly their
son Brendan of Collegian fame, return from
their day in the post-Black Friday wastes.
The hollow husk of a human being in which
my tainted soul resides manages a grunt to
acknowledge their presence. I turn Netflix
off, and I realize that I had been sweating this
entire time. I also realize my brother Andrew
has not been in the room with me for about
40 minutes.
I check my notes to see how many of the
show’s 39 episodes I managed to watch: five
and a half. This was the real-life equivalent of
the Hyperbolic Time Chamber from beloved
anime Dragon Ball Z — I had wasted what
felt like an entire year of my life watching
this show, only to see that I had only lost 90
minutes. Part of me wished I had actually lost
a year. Maybe then I would have learned my
lesson.
But alas, that’s the spell of Blue Mountain
State: those who taste its well are curseld
to find humor in its witless, utterly stupid
stories.
I am a changed man for the worse.
rigneyb1@student.lasalle.edu
A Very Murray Christmas to premiere on Netflix
By Moira Murphy
Collegian Reporter
As finals week quickly descends upon the
student population, warring and draining
one’s mental and physical state, many seek
motivation in what is in store for them at
home. Typical things that come to mind are
family, friends, food and catching up, or
more realistically, overextending on sleep.
One of the most vital components of the
Christmas season is the time to let yourself
just relax, get into the holiday spirit, and give
your brain a break. A fun and easy way to do
all three is to take part in what has inevitably
already become a holiday movie takeover.
courtesy of flickeringmyth.com
Netflix, HBO and theaters near you are George Clooney, Bill Murray, and Miley Cyrus spread their holiday cheer in A Very
bringing the mirth and cheer of the season. Murray Christmas airing Dec. 4
On Dec. 4, Netflix is premiering A Very the famous and revered Sofia Coppola, this subscribers. For those of us who tend toward
Murray Christmas, a musical variety special special could be a potential holiday classic. an excessive amount of pining during the
loaded with well-known stars, such as Bill
HBO is hefting up its streaming service holiday season, HBO has the fix. On Dec 1,
Murray, George Clooney, Miley Cyrus, Amy with what is arguably one of the best double HBO released 10 Things I Hate About You,
Poehler and more. This hour-long event will features every year: Home Alone and Home Brokeback Mountain and She’s All That. This
feature popular Christmas tunes sung by your Alone 2: Lost in New York. Presumably, sappy list includes heartthrobs Heath Ledger,
very own favorites. Watch as Murray and we’re all well-acquainted with Kevin Jake Gyllenhaal and Freddie Prince Jr (sigh).
Chris Rock smooth through “Do You Hear McCallister, his blonde head of hair, crazy Even if you have no one to kiss under the
What I Hear?” Miley Cyrus belts out “Silent family and knack for devious criminal mistletoe, these men will be just a screen
Night” and George Clooney charms and takedowns. Just in case we feel like re- away for your convenience.
looks dashingly handsome singing “Santa watching for the seventh billion time, HBO
If you don’t feel like staying in, or if your
Clause Wants Some Lovin.” Directed by made the movies available on Dec. 1 to all family is driving you nuts, a trip to the movies
is a great alternative. It’s become apparent
that Jennifer Lawrence is this year’s holiday
honey. According to realtytoday.com, The
Hunger Games: Mockingjay Part 2, released
on Nov 20, topped the box office with an
estimated gross sales of $200 million in the
U.S. and $450 million worldwide. Don’t
miss as Katniss, Peeta and Gale battle it out
against President Snow and the capital in the
epic last installment of the book trilogy. On
Christmas day, Lawrence’s new film, Joy,
will hit theaters. According to nylon.com,
Lawrence plays Joy Mangano, a “housewifeturned-business-mogul who must navigate
her way through the betrayal, treachery, loss
of innocence and the scars of love that pave
the road to success.” The film also features
Bradley Cooper and Robert De Niro, two
of Lawrence’s companions in the widely
acclaimed movie Silver Linings Playbook.
This new release is expected to deliver just
as well.
Whether you’re surfing Netflix, streaming
HBO or taking a trip to the movies, be sure to
catch these holiday specials. The best way to
spread Christmas cheer is watching movies
‘till the New Year.
murphym1@student.lasalle.edu
Write for A&E next semester!
Contact Alicia Miller
millera38@student.lasalle.edu
la salle collegian
thursday, december 3, 2015
Bryan Cranston impresses viewers in Trumbo
courtesy of ipmaawards.com
Cranston delivers another hit performance in this non-fiction hit.
By Fernando Rios
Collegian Editor
Jay Roach’s Trumbo is very much an
exercise in nostalgia; it’s a movie that
expects you to have general knowledge of
names and places that existed 50 or 60 years
ago.
In 1947, Congress blacklists Dalton
Trumbo (Bryan Cranston), then one of
Hollywood’s highest-paid screenwriters,
for being a member of the Communist
Party. Unable to find work in Hollywood,
Trumbo begins working covertly for the
King Brothers, a production company that
produces as character Frank King (John
Goodman) calls it “b-movie trash.” He
begins turning out a series of cheap scripts
in an effort to support his family.
This forms the narrative backdrop for the
movie, which occasionally makes subtle
references to the larger political conflict but
primarily focuses on the more personal story
of Trumbo and his family. The story attempts
to make Trumbo into a flawed patriarch who
prioritizes his artistic pursuits over spending
time with his family.
This clichéd relationship ultimately
devolves certain portions of the movie into
a daytime soap opera, where the father is a
stern patriarch and the children rebel merely
out of some misguided attempt to disrupt
the establishment. This is present especially
through Trumbo’s relationship with his
eldest daughter Nikola (Elle Fanning), who
begins to break out of the metaphysical
cage that Trumbo has imposed over his
household by becoming an active member
of student protests during the Civil Rights
movement. This is starkly contrasted with
his relationship with his wife Cleo (Diane
Lane), which is bland and repetitive as she
fails to shake Trumbo out of the patriarchal
hold he has over their household she is loving
and loyal to a fault, but is a static character
whose role ultimately falls into the category
of window dressing.
While the movie expects viewers to have
general background knowledge of the film’s
historical context it also does a terrible job
of making up for that fact by babying the
audience through subtle explanations of
key concepts. For example, communism is
explained in a scene where Trumbo is guiding
his five-year-old daughter Mitzi around their
ranch on a pony when she turns to Trumbo
and asks “Daddy, are you a communist?”
What follows is a basic explanation about
the central tenets of communism that is so
watered down that it leaves the viewer rather
insulted than fulfilled.
However, Cranston’s performance as
larger-than-life screenwriter Dalton Trumbo
does impress, as he portrays the eccentric
screenwriter who did his best work in the
bathtub, writing with a lit cigarette in his
holder and a tumbler of scotch.
His brilliance is only supplemented by
equally eccentric performances by his
employer portrayed by John Goodman (who
6
continues his trend of absurdity such as was
demonstrated in Argo and The Hangover
Part III) who smashes his office with a club
when one of Trumbo’s detractors threatens
to shut down his movie studio for employing
the blacklisted writer. Another strong
performance appears from Helen Mirren,
who plays gossip columnist Hedda Hopper
who battles Trumbo as a representative of the
conservative right that is fervently dedicated
to removing all communist elements from
Hollywood.
We arrive now at our final and most
deliberate question: Should you see this
movie? For the most part, yes. While the
narrative buckles under the intense strain
of attempting to deliver a movie that is both
politically relevant and heartwarming, it
ultimately delivers despite a few misses. It’s
a charming biopic that reminds us of an oftneglected period of American history where
individuals were politically and socially
crucified for their beliefs, and Trumbo
reminds us as he defiantly states in the film:
“Nobody has the right to tell you how to
write, act, pray speak, vote, protest, create
and, most importantly, think.”
riosf1@student.lasalle.edu
What I’m Listening To: Leon Bridges’ “Coming Home”
By Eddie Dunn
Collegian Reporter
The music industry is filled with many
“rising stars,” but right now there may be,
quite possibly, no rising star with more
potential than Leon Bridges.
If you haven’t heard of him yet, that’s
understandable. However, shame on you.
The 26-year-old from Fort Worth, Texas
brings to the table a unique sound among the
crowded room full of hip-hop and pop artists
that have dominated the airwaves of 2015.
Bridges’ style is a combination of R&B
and retro-soul. Upon first listening, you may
think that you’re hearing a song that was
recorded in the mid to late-1960s, which has
prompted many to compare Bridges to the
likes of R&B legends Sam Cooke and Otis
Redding. But Bridges is a man for the future.
In Feb, he released his first official single
with Columbia Records, “Coming Home,”
which went on to become a Top 10 Most
Viral Track on Spotify later in the month.
In Mar. of this year, Bridges started to
gain attention following his set at South by
Southwest in Austin, Texas before continuing
on his international tour, selling out shows
both abroad and in the United States.
As 2015 comes to an end, Bridges is
continuing to build his résumé.
courtesy of npr.org
Leon Bridges record “Coming Home” is available now through Colombia Records.
On Nov. 22, Bridges joined pop music
powerhouse Macklemore and Ryan Lewis
in a performance at the American Music
Awards, debuting their new single, “Kevin,”
where Bridges takes care of the soulful hook
to the emotional piece.
This Saturday, Dec. 5, Bridges will be
the musical guest on Saturday Night Live
(hosted by Ryan Gosling), a major spotlight
performance and a potential launch-pad for
an artist still to be fully recognized by the
music-loving world.
Becoming a fan of Bridges isn’t hard for
one to do. Even though his style is of an age
of music that has come and gone, music
lovers can embrace his fresh presentation,
and enjoy the music that their parents and
grandparents enjoyed, this time through a
contemporary artist.
Bridges’ debut album Coming Home,
released in June of this year, contains a solid
mix of slower love songs and upbeat swingdance jams.
The title track, “Coming Home,” is a
timeless love song, reminiscent of a time
when dating was much simpler in a world
without internet, that makes you feel as
though you’re back in the 1950’s or ‘60s at
the Enchantment Under the Sea dance.
Other tracks, like “Flowers” and “Smooth
Sailin’” encourage you to grab your date and
hit the dance floor (of course while donning
your best vintage attire, a trademark style of
Bridges both on and off of the stage), thanks
to smooth vocals accompanied by a funky
background groove and an even funkier
tenor sax.
Bridges keeps the album personal as well,
though. “Lisa Sawyer,” a heavily soulful
song, is inspired by his mother and her life
story, while another southern-flavored tune,
“Twistin’ & Groovin’” brightly details how
his grandparents met one another.
Although the album is only 10 tracks
spanning roughly 35 minutes, it’s one worth
listening to again and again.
Bridges visited Philadelphia on Oct. 17 at
Union Transfer for a sold out event, and will
return to the city on Sunday, Mar. 6 at the
brand new Fillmore concert venue.
For a musical trip back in time, look no
further than future sensation Leon Bridges.
dunne2@student.lasalle.edu
Looking Into the Badlands, a new AMC series
By Thomas Powers
Collegian Staff
AMC has premiered many new shows in
2015, including Better Call Saul, Humans,
and Fear the Walking Dead. All have
proved successful and have been renewed
for a second season. Now comes Into the
Badlands, AMC’s fourth show to premiere
this year. Can it keep the streak alive?
Into the Badlands is set in a postwar land in
which people flock to barons for protection.
These people eventually became servants
to these seven barons, who banish guns and
rule over the lands as dictators. One of these
barons in particular is Quinn, the baron on
which they focus the most amount of time.
The men who protect Quinn and his men
are called Clippers, and the Head Clipper
is Sunny, played by Daniel Wu. He has
remained a loyal follower of Quinn, but just
may a secret desire to leave the Badlands.
Sunny comes across a boy named MK, who
just wants to get home. He takes MK under
his wing and promises MK that he will get
home.
I come to expect great television from
AMC with shows such as Breaking Bad,
The Walking Dead, Better Call Saul, and
the brief moments of Mad Men I have seen.
However, Into the Badlands, however, is
not a great show, but there is still fun to be
had. First off, this is some of the best action
I have seen on television in recent memory.
The fights are choreographed beautifully,
and they can also get pretty violent. AMC
is not a station that tends to shy away from
blood and gore on their shows, as clearly
exhibited in The Walking Dead.
I also really like the character of Sunny.
He’s not your typical soldier; he does what
he’s told to do, but his actions weigh heavily
on his conscience. He is also in danger of
Quinn finding out that he got a woman,
named Veil pregnant, because Clippers are
not allowed to have children. At first, he is
ashamed of fathering a child, but his mind
changes after getting to know MK, who he
becomes sort of a father figure to. Sunny
will have to soon make a decision: take Veil
and his child and leave the Badlands, or stay
and serve Quinn for the rest of his days.
Some of the show’s flaws have to do with
its writing and acting. The dialogue can
sometimes be wooden, and I can guess what
a person is going to say because the words
come out of his mouth. For a show like this
with a premise I have never seen before, I
was hoping that wouldn’t be the case. Also,
the acting can be a little stiff at times, such
as the case with the actor who plays MK,
although his acting has improved a little bit
with each episode.
Overall, Into the Badlands is an enjoyable
show with fantastic action scenes, some
of the best I have seen in recent memory.
However, well-done action is not enough
for a show to be renewed for more seasons.
I cannot say for sure if Into the Badlands
will be around for years to come, but I am
courtesy of thenerdsofcolor.org
AMC hopes Into the Badlands will be as
successful like Breaking Bad and Mad
Men.
enjoying it now. If you are a fan of martial
arts, definitely give this show a watch.
powerst1@student.lasalle.edu
la salle collegian
thursday, december 3, 2015
The impoverished demographic
is turning red in 2016
By Meg Liebsch
Collegian Editor
Impoverished areas are increasingly voting Republican,
according to ProPublica and the New York Times. Parts of the
country that depend on welfare supported by Democrats are
actually beginning to favor Republican candidates who vow to
unravel welfare.
While at first glance it may appear that these people are
voting against their own interests and the very programs that
provide their livelihood, deeper research has found that the
people in economically troubled areas such as Kentucky and
Western Maine who truly rely on government assistance have
stopped voting altogether. Impoverished communities have
become dispossessed and disenfranchised by a government
and political system that is constantly gridlocked and unwilling
to make lasting changes that support economic growth for all
Americans. Instead, many poor people are choosing not to vote
at all.
The people from these areas who do vote inhabit a slightly
higher socioeconomic status. People in these communities
who have steady salaried jobs such as teachers, police officers,
gas station owners and even coal miners are inclined to vote
Republican. These people who do not rely on minimum wage
jobs tend to see those poorer than them as too reliant on the
government.
As a result of working-class dominated voters, Republican
leaders are gaining footholds in impoverished areas. Kentucky
senator Rand Paul ran his 2010 campaign on destroying welfare
that creates a “culture of dependency on government.” He won
with overwhelming support, even from the areas of Kentucky
that heavily depend on welfare.
Newly-elected Kentucky governor Steve Beshear won the
race on his platform to undo Medicaid expansion in the state.
Medicaid expansion in Kentucky gave the state the largest
boost in insurance coverage the state had ever seen; roughly
one in ten citizens gained access to health care.
These politicians are not being voted in by Medicaid and
other welfare dependents. They are being voted in by middle
class Republicans, who are increasingly frustrated with what
they perceive as the laziness of the poor. Understandably, these
people see the economic system of welfare as benefiting the
poor while taking away their own wealth through increased
taxes.
As inequality in America worsens, support for redistribution
of wealth declines and fiscal conservatisim increases. Older
Americans increasingly vote against welfare measures in order
to protect their own Social Security and Medicare benefits that
they have paid into their entire working lives. Simultaneously,
working-class Americans seek to distance themselves from the
poor. They take pride in their employment and look down on
anyone who is not employed or needs welfare to supplement
low wages.
Voter participation is shockingly low in poor areas, allowing
working-class individuals to dominate the political scene and
vote for Republican candidates that will protect their interests.
In 2012, West Virginia ranked lowest in voter turnout. Among
other low turnout areas such as Kentucky, Arkansas and
Tennessee, Republican candidates are increasingly being voted
into office.
Obviously this lack of voting participation from an entire
demographic has dire effects on elections. Those who do not
vote are more likely to favor spending on the poor and other
government services. Hundreds of thousands of poor people in
America are continually left with their opinions unheard, unmet
and largely ignored. This ignorance of the poor is not only a
result of their disinterest in voting, but also voters’ disinterest
in understanding the needs of the poor.
In Maine, a state that in 2013 was the third-highest in food
stamp usage, governor Paul LePage has drastically cut welfare.
He cut welfare distribution in half and imposed a five-year limit
on receiving it. He also placed a work requirement in order to
receive food stamps and is now hoping to refuse food stamps to
anyone who has $5,000 in assets. He has also refused to expand
health care coverage to 60,000 people.
LePage defended his actions, saying, “I am not going
to help anybody just for the sake of helping. I am not that
compassionate.”
I find this quote and this overall trend in the increasing
political disenfranchisement of the poor very disturbing. As a
powerful leader holding the lives of 1.3 million people in his
hands, LePage should have compassion for his people. Although
I can understand the standpoints of a burdened working class, I
also think they should have compassion for the poor.
I think the idea of the American Dream biases many
Americans against the poor and welfare dependents. People
who have jobs and a relative amount of financial stability feel
that because they have worked hard they can look down on
those who do not seem to be doing the same. People do not see
poverty as an external symptom of a broken economic, political
and social system but rather as an internal individual issue.
If the working-class and more economically privileged
Americans attribute poverty to personal mistakes, especially
laziness or lack of ambition, then it is easy to blame the poor
for their poverty and ignore them. We must see the poor as
equal humans who are trapped in a violent cycle that is largely
out of their control. It is nearly impossible for people born
into poverty to rise out of poverty due to increased mortality
rates, poor education systems, lack of secure housing and food
sources and a myriad of other issues.
We cannot cut welfare benefits from those who desperately
need them. We cannot let the poor sink into anonymity and
political disenfranchisement. We must support the poor and
encourage them to speak about their needs and the issues they
face. In this way, we will begin to solve the issues of cyclical
poverty beyond increased welfare. Working with economically
impoverished areas to face their problems head-on will spur
economic growth and lead to more economic, social and
political equality for all.
La Salle Wi-Fi: a lost connection
By Silvio Miranda
Collegian Staff
In the 21st century, having a reliable and fast internet
connection is not a luxury, but rather a requirement for college
students to complete research assignments. It has become very
difficult for students to complete their school work lately on
campus because they have recently had to deal with three
campus-wide internet outages.
La Salle’s Wi-Fi has had problems since the day I stepped foot
on this campus. Last year, the primary issue was with the newly
implemented SafeConnect system that would always require
you to sign in and constantly throw students off the network.
The prior year’s system, Cisco, SafeConnect’s predecessor, was
even worse because students had to log in with their credentials
several times a day. This year, they have to deal with internet
outages periodically.
La Salle changed its ISP (Internet Service Provider) last year
to Sunesys, LLC. This change did not go unnoticed because last
year on the night the provider changed, there was an Internet
outage that lasted the entire night. This occurred on the same
night in which a person who had reportedly stabbed someone
was on the loose, and security sent out an emergency alert text
notifying us to check the portal for more details. This was not
possible for many students because we did not have Internet
access until the following morning.
According to their website, Sunesys is also the ISP for the
Philadelphia School District and Villanova University, both of
which have comparable Internet speeds to that of La Salle. Why
is it then that La Salle experiences the many Internet issues that
it does?
It seems to be that actual network infrastructure is at fault. This
past Sunday, students were welcomed back from Thanksgiving
break with no Wi-Fi. It was later reported by the IT staff that
the issue was that the DNS Server (Domain Name System) had
failed. DNS is what allows the user to type in www.lasalle.edu
on a web browser, which is then translated to 139.84.10.210,
an IP Address of the website. Without DNS, you will not get
anywhere in the Internet without knowing the IP address of
every website you visit.
Tuition at La Salle is very expensive, and it is incredibly
frustrating that we do not have a stable Internet connection.
Having to deal with unreliable Wi-Fi affects us as students
because we are not able perform Internet research, use Canvas
to upload and view assignments and download PDF files, among
other things.
As modern students, the Internet is a very important tool to
us, and it needs to be something that we can depend on having
all the time in order to complete our assignments. Students
deserve to know why three campus-wide outages have occurred
over the past month and what the IT department is doing to fix
the problem in the future.
mirandas3@student.lasalle.edu
7
collegian
editorial
the opinion of la salle university’s
student newspaper
La Salle
needs
network
upgrades
The college experience has become Internet-based.
Adapting to the tools that the Internet provides for both
professors and students, grades and assignments are
accessed through sites like Blackboard and Canvas, files
for group assignments are shared through emails and
file sharing services like Google Drive and Dropbox
and down time is spent streaming video through Netflix,
music through Spotify and video games through Xbox or
PlayStation.
The La Salle Parent’s FAQ states that about 70% of the
3,600 full-time undergraduate students live on campus. It
is safe to assume that most of these 2,240 students come
to college equipped with both a laptop and smartphone.
Some also bring a smart TV with an Internet connection,
Internet-connected game console or tablet. This is
potentially 4,480 devices connected to the network
across campus without counting the desktop PCs present
in Wister Lab and the library, computers in classrooms
and laptops or tablets brought to class by both residents
and commuters.
Thinking on these statistics, the sheer amount of
connections through La Salle’s network at one time
must be overwhelming for the servers to process at once.
Peak hours of usage exist around dinner time, before
registration and the hours between 10 p.m. and 1 a.m. At
these peak times, students often experience instability of
Wi-Fi connection in dorms, slow speeds when actually
connected or no connection at all through either Wi-Fi
or Ethernet.
Running a speed test of La Salle’s network shows that
we are provided Internet from a company called Sunesys,
a company that provides high-speed fiber optic Internet
to 31 metropolitan areas in the U.S. The results of the
speed test show that La Salle’s Internet is capable of
downloading 94 megabytes per second, which is 31 MP3
songs in just one second. Have you ever been able to
download that quickly? Probably not.
In order for a student to be successful in college, the
Internet connection needs to cooperate at an instant. In a
time crunch, if the network environment does not provide
a student the means to send the file a group member needs
to continue working, or submit their assignment online
that is due at 8 a.m. that they spent all night working on
but find that the connection is unreachable and miss the
deadline, this can be detrimental to their grades.
La Salle also requires students to install their own
proprietary “Safe Connect” software and the newest
version of MacAfee Virus software in order for students
who live in the residence halls to access the Internet. Most
senior students have older versions of computers they
received when first coming to college, and running new
software is not something for which both the computers
and programs are fully optimized. On a Macbook Pro
2011 running the newest OSX El Capitan, Safe Connect
runs two processes: one that is connected, and another
that is unresponsive, making the computer’s memory
management inefficient.
La Salle needs to recognize these problems and allocate
funding to provide students with a stable and efficient
Internet connection through both Wi-Fi and Ethernet.
Network and technology services are not something
a college can try to save a buck on in 2015, and the
University needs to keep this aspect of the modern
college up to date in order to compete.
Letters, guest columns and opinion pieces will be
considered for publication provided that they meet
with the editorial standards and can be allotted space.
All letters must be signed, including the address and
telephone number of the sender. The Collegian reserves
the right to condense and/or edit as needed. Editorials
reflect a consensus of the editorial staff and are not
necessarily the views of the university. Signed columns
or cartoons represent the opinions of their respective
writers and artists.
8
la salle collegian
thursday, december 3, 2015
Eagles suffer another disappointing loss
Courtesy of elharttruth.com
The Lions won their Thanksgiving Day game against the
Eagles with a final score of 45 -14.
By Buck Amend
Collegian Staff
It wasn’t a happy Thanksgiving for the Philadelphia Eagles
this year. It was a dreadful one. No amount of delicious
turkey and mashed potatoes could eliminate the sour taste
that was in the mouths of Eagles fans across the city.
I wish I could say the same about the players, but the effort
they showed on Thursday made it seem as though they could
care less, and that they would enjoy their turkey anyway. It
seems at this point that if owner Jeffrey Lurie was cooking
Thanksgiving dinner, and Chip Kelly was the turkey, then
Chip Kelly was left in the oven too long and is now burnt
and useless.
The one thing every Eagles fan will tell you is that the
most important aspect of the game is effort. A blue collar city
deserves a blue collar team — a team that is going to fight
tooth and nail all the way throughout the game. They deserve
a team that, at the very least, will be physical and tough for
60 minutes once a week. On Thursday, the Eagles couldn’t
even muster up 60 seconds of tough football, as they lost to
the now 4-7 Lions by a score of 45-14.
Coming off a home loss to the Buccaneers in which the
Eagles also gave up 45 points in a losing effort, some hoped
for a rebound game. Playing a football game on Thanksgiving
is a privilege, and to do so in front of a national audience in
the NFL is the highest of honors. These types of games will be
remembered forever. They are the types of games that will be
told to our grandchildren one day when teaching them about
the great game of football. Unfortunately, this game should
never be spoken about again, unless the topic of discussion is
one of the truly heartbreaking tragedies that lives within the
Philadelphia Eagles organization.
I can see it, many years from now, with youngsters gathered
around and myself being the wily veteran. I will be able to say
the following: “I remember when I was young and the Eagles
had a coach named Chip Kelly. Mark Sanchez was filling in
for Sam Bradford. They lost 45-14 one Thanksgiving Day.
It was terrible. You kids are lucky you don’t have to watch
those kinds of games.”
I can also envision that when I say the name Chip Kelly in
the future, the response will be, “who?!” I will have to respond
by saying, “He was the man who came to Philadelphia and
ruined the culture and core of a once good football team.” It
will be a sad state of affairs.
It’s hard not to blame Chip Kelly at this point. He calls the
offensive plays and the team can’t score. He is the head coach
and plays a big role in motivating his players to play hard,
but the team looks like they’d rather be out to lunch then on
a football field.
Kelly brought all of these new players in as the general
manager, and many of them have not produced anything
worth admiring in 11 games. It all comes back to Chip. Yes,
Chip, the turkey who is still in that oven, burning, smoking
and on fire. Please, Jeffrey Lurie, grab the nearest fire
extinguisher and put the fire out.
amendw1@student.lasalle.edu
Courtesy of elharttruth.com
The Eagles’ defeat calls into question coach Chip Kelly’s
competency.
Harassment of abortion providers unjustifiable
Courtesy of bpr.berkeley.edu
Anti-abortion protestors often go too far by harassing
abortion providers.
By Meg Liebsch
Collegian Editor
Last week’s targeted shooting at a Colorado Planned
Parenthood Clinic killed three people. The perpetrator, Robert
Dear, cited anti-abortion beliefs as his motive for violently
attacking the clinic. Since 1993, 11 people have been killed
because of abortion-related attacks, including doctors, staff
and the victims of Colorado’s shooting: a police officer and
two patients. However, these violent displays, though horrific
and unjust, are not normal. Instead, most abortion providers
suffer from more covert and sinister harassment and stalking.
Drexel University law professor David Cohen has recently
come out with a book detailing the distressing experiences
of abortion workers called Living in the Crosshairs: The
Untold Stories of Anti-Abortion Terrorism. In an interview
with Propublica, Cohen spoke of how the book details the
harassment that people involved in women’s reproductive
health, particularly abortion clinics, receive on a daily basis.
Cohen interviewed the director of Allentown Women’s
Center, who had suffered extreme and targeted harassment
because of her relation to abortion. Protestors picketed her
house and followed her to work. They wrote letters to her
mother condemning her occupation. She actually began
wearing a bulletproof vest at work.
Abortion providers have suffered other attacks and
harassment such as death threats, physical assaults, arson and
vandalism. Cohen said that the majority of abortion providers
also are faced with home picketing, which they find most
invasive as their home is their safe escape from their work
lives. Protestors will still come to their houses on weekends
with signs saying things like “A Murderer Lives Here.”
Some will pass pictures of the targeted provider around the
neighborhood urging the neighbors to oust this murderer
from their midst.
According to Cohen, “It sends a not-so-subtle message:
We know where you live, we know where to find your family,
and maybe we’ll do something more.”
He says these workers are traumatized. Their professions,
homes and personal lives have been violated by people who
zealously believe that targeting these professionals will
somehow change abortion laws. These workers feel like
targets for violence, and many of them are forced to take
precautions just because they are medical professionals
working for a particular health care provider.
Some abortion providers are forced to take different routes
to work every day. They send all their mail to P.O. Boxes or
put it in someone else’s name entirely. Some doctors own
bulletproof vests and guns as protection.
A study recently found that there is a correlation between
abortion regulations and violence acts on abortion providers
and clinics. In fact, states with stricter legislation on abortion
regulations actually see more violence against abortion
clinics. Most of these regulations are specifically targeted at
doctors and clinicians.
Although there have been some legislative protections
for abortion providers in recent years, providers are left to
suffer with their harassers for the most part. Cohen defends
the idea that anti-abortion violence and harassment is a
form of terrorism. He says that anti-abortion protestors and
proponents intentionally target people’s homes and family
lives to get family members to turn against providers so that
the providers will be forced to give up working in abortion
clinics. It is a form of terrorism that leaves people doing
something lawful to live in constant fear and anguish.
Regardless of your stance on abortion, I think it is obvious
that the actions of Robert Dear and the protestors that harass
other abortion clinic workers are unjustifiable. If you want to
protest abortion, you should write to your legislators or hold
peaceful marches. There is no reason to terrorize the lives of
individuals who are just doing their job, which is currently
legal.
The attack on Colorado’s Planned Parenthood shows a
complete lack of sympathy for existing human lives. Many
of these conservative people who protest abortion show
complete hypocrisy. Violence perpetrated by anti-abortion
proponents against abortion providers is not justifiable,
regardless of moral beliefs. These people claim to abhor the
violence perpetrated against fetuses, but how is perpetrating
violence against freely living people any better?
liebschm1@student.lasalle.edu
Obama has called for tighter gun restrictions
President Barack Obama told CBS News,
“The one thing we do know is that we have a
pattern now of mass shootings in this country
that has no parallel anywhere else in the world,
and there’s some steps we could take, not to
eliminate every one of these mass shootings,
but to improve the odds that they don’t happen
as frequently.
For those who are concerned about terrorism,
some may be aware of the fact that we have a
no fly list where people can’t get on planes, but
those same people who we don’t allow to fly
could go into a store right now in the United
States and buy a firearm and there’s nothing
that we can do to stop them. That’s a law that
needs to be changed.
What we do know is, is that there are steps
we can take to make Americans safer and that
we should come together in a bipartisan basis
at every level of government to make these rare
as opposed to normal. We should never think
that this is something that just happens in the
ordinary course of events, because it doesn’t
happen with the same frequency in other
la salle collegian
thursday, december 3, 2015
Keepin’ it
PG with PC
Holiday Edition
What is your favorite
Christmas song?
“I like the song ‘Auld Lang Syne.’ ”
Alyssa Sanders
Marketing
Sophomore
“I like that song ‘Dominic the
Donkey’…the Italian Christmas
donkey.”
Nicia Chiavacci
Psychology
Junior
“I enjoy the Christmas song ‘Baby,
It’s Cold Outside.’ I like that it’s a
duet.”
Kaylynn Alicea
Psychology
Freshman
“That Josh Groban one… ‘Believe.’
I just really like Josh Groban.”
Casey Schu
Spanish
Junior
“I love Mariah Carey’s ‘All I Want
For Christmas Is You,’ but the
extra festive version. I also like
‘Sleigh Ride’ by the Boston Pops.
I would say my top favorite is
‘Cold December Night’ by Michael
Buble.”
9
UMAS educates volunteers on
justice and harmful charity
By Dan Maloney
Collegian Editor
On Sunday, Nov. 20, nearly 100 students filled
the Union Ballroom to participate in a discussion
about the differences between social justice and
charity. While the students would undoubtedly
love to spend their weekend talking about this
vital social topic, this discussion was a required
education hosted by Tara Carr-Lemke to raise
social awareness specifically for the students
participating in the Lasallian Immersion and
Volunteer Experience trips this year.
In line with La Salle University’s mission, nine
Lasallian Immersion and Volunteer Experience
(L.I.V.E.) trips will be serving communities around
the country this spring and summer. Last year,
over 150 students participated in the trips. This
year, University Ministry and Services (UMAS)
is committed to ensuring that all participants are
extremely aware of the social situations they are
entering when they volunteer and the potential
harm their actions could cause. Some of these
dangers occur when students confuse the charity
they perform as social justice, a difference which
Sunday’s education hoped to explicate.
“Social justice efforts include long-term
work focused on the root causes of poverty
and marginalization. Charity focuses on direct
responses to immediate needs which may be caused
by poverty or marginalization,” explained CarrLemke, the director of the Explorer Connection.
“Social justice work typically happens through
advocacy, awareness-building and education,
public protest and witness. Charitable work might
occur through the provision of social services or
the donation of goods, labor or services.”
Nicole Salfi, a junior biology major, who
serves as UMAS’ educational coordinator for
the L.I.V.E. trips, noted how La Salle follows
society’s trend to do more charity without ever
really addressing the deeper social problems.
“La Salle does a lot of charity,” said Salfi. “This
is not a bad thing, and is a learning experience.
Sometimes doing charity is indirectly social
justice, because it changes attitudes surrounding
root problems.”
As part of their commitment to social justice,
UMAS is making concentrated efforts to educate
La Salle’s service community. This summer,
part of training for all FOCUS coordinators
included a discussion on the roots of social
injustice moderated by Dr. Maureen O’Connell,
chair of the religion department. In addition, in
November, Salfi also led an educational session
for all L.I.V.E. coordinators about arguments
against forms of charity, which are sometimes
derived from cultural arrogance opposed to
genuine service.
During her educational session on Sunday,
Carr-Lemke noted that one reason people are
prone to participate in charity is because it is
much easier than enacting social change.
“In my experience, many of us from middleincome backgrounds gravitate toward charity.
Doing charity can feel good, can meet a perceived
need and can feel like we are at least ‘doing
something,’” explained Carr-Lemke.
She explained that sometimes the time
commitment and lack of instant results is
discouraging to those engaging in social justice.
Salfi added that college students seem more
educated about issues, which is very important
for change.
“I think as a society, we are becoming more
educated on the difference between the two, and
how social justice should get more attention than
Courtesy of Katie Lavin
Molly Mahon (center) walks the “path of
service” as her group sets up the two “feet” of
social justice and charity.
charity,” she said.
This awareness was displayed on Sunday
when students were asked to work through an
exercise addressing problems with social justice
or charitable solutions. Carr-Lemke borrowed the
exercise, which used cut-out feet to symbolize
charity and justice (the two “feet” of service),
from the United States Conference of Catholic
Bishops (USCCB). All the groups managed to
thoughtfully think of many different examples
of both, and in doing so, gained a deeper
understanding the problem. They were also asked
to consider the problems their trips will attempt
to address and if their means of addressing the
problems are problematic or just.
Carr-Lemke later added that she feels that the
L.I.V.E. trips can do much to help achieve social
justice because the participants have the unique
opportunity to have personal experiences that
could potentially become sustained relationships.
“I think that the desire for social change comes
from many different directions; it can come from
an individual’s personal experience of poverty,
from an individual’s relationship with another
person who is experiencing poverty or from
an intellectual or ethical outrage over poverty
or injustice,” she said. “I think, though, that
the interpersonal dimensions of the first two I
mention are important because they are sustained
over time through human interaction.”
Salfi also noted that social justice and charity
are also not exclusives.
“I think there must be both, because without
charity, people are suffering, and without social
justice, nothing is being done to stop the source
of the suffering,” she explained. “However, I
also think it is extremely important that there is
a key factor in both charity and social justice —
empowerment. True social change allows societies
to rebuild themselves with their own assets. It is
our job to allow others to help themselves.”
Salfi said she believes that through educational
experiences and discussions, such as the one
hosted by Carr-Lemke, students on the trips
can work to be more aware of their actions and
continue attempting to achieve social justice
when the trips return to La Salle.
“We are headed in that direction, but we are not
there,” Salfi concluded. “We need to look at our
true impacts on societies and ensure no damage is
being done and that we make a difference.”
maloneyd2@student.lasalle.edu
Matthew Mailloux
Marketing
Sophomore
Questions composed and compiled by Patrick Coulter
Courtesy of Katie Lavin
Nearly 100 students gathered on Sunday, Nov. 20 to address issues of charity and social justice.
10
la salle collegian
thursday, december 3, 2015
La Salle Dining addresses rumors regarding Treetops hours
By Silvio Miranda
Collegian Staff
Last week, I sat down with Kristina
Coble, district manager of La Salle Dining,
to address issues that students have been
complaining about and to see what we should
expect for the spring semester.
Coble started by addressing a false rumor
circulating around campus that Treetops
may be cutting back hours. There will not be
any changes in hours at any dining location,
because they are all set for the whole school
year. There are other changes planned for
Treetops. The speakers in the dining room are
in the process of being fixed so that there will
be music again while students eat. In addition
to the speakers, money is being spent to fix or
replace equipment and to ensure that food is
either as hot or cold as it can be depending on
the food item.
Students have noticed that B&G tends
to have more variety and more food than
Treetops, but Coble insists that this perception
is not the case, because La Salle Dining tries
to keep an equal balance between the two
dining halls. Many of the suggestions that
students gave to La Salle Dining this past
spring have been implemented in Treetops
and the rest of the locations as well.
Blue and Gold is also making some
Legacy student
interns with
truck services
By Alyssa McFadden
Collegian Reporter
Courtesy of La Salle PRSSA
Dr. Hanycz and students enjoy a meal at Treetops, which will not be closing any time soon
according to the La Salle Dining district manager.
changes in response to student comments.
Something that has been a problem for
weeks now is the cups at B&G, which have
been cracked or disfigured. To resolve the
problem, the manager just got the approval
to order new cups that will be in circulation
in the coming weeks. The dishwasher has
also been adjusted to make sure it is not hot
enough to the point of melting these new
cups.
A lot of students were disappointed that
Starbucks is no longer open until 12 a.m. La
Salle Dining’s problem was that they were
losing money staying open 10 p.m.- 12 p.m.
Making the transition from a carefree
teenager to an adult with important
responsibilities can be one that many college
students struggle to accomplish. However,
in the case of Andrew Sneed, he has quickly
learned that opportunity is everywhere;
Courtesy of Andrew Sneed
sometimes you just have to go looking for Sneed’s grandfather was a classmate of Tom
it. As a sophomore double communication Gola, and he hopes to continue the legacy
and business major, Sneed found himself in a
great position to create a path for a successful marketing, however, Sneed has learned that
the best thing a company can do for its brand
career.
“In high school, I had to research different is stay up to date for its customers.
Sneed is also an active member of many
careers that I thought would interest me,”
Sneed said. “I came across a job as a Public organizations on La Salle’s campus. He
Relations specialist. From that point on, credits his professional skills to La Salle’s
I have been set on my career choice, and I Public Relations Student Society of America
have chosen my major and activities to help Chapter, where he learned how to perfect
his presence on LinkedIn, as well as how to
me achieve that goal.”
Sneed recognized his ability to make the perfect elevator pitch. Recently, he
communicate well with others and took this became a brother in Delta Sigma Pi, which is
skill to a whole new level. Many students find a social business fraternity.
The connections he makes in this group will
that business and communication degrees
prove
to be invaluable as he moves forward
can go hand-in-hand when paired together
in
his
business
career. He hopes to continue
correctly. Sneed chose to focus specifically
to
improve
his
professional
demeanor, while
in public relations and marketing because
the skills needed in each area intertwine. drawing on the skills that led him to major
Professionals in either field are expected to in business and communication in the first
understand both what the consumer wants place.
When asked why La Salle is the right place
and how to deliver and receive messages from
for
him, Sneed created a list that did not have
publics of the organization. He says that the
an
end.
His main emphasis was on creating
lessons he has learned in the classroom have
greatly impacted his route in his professional his own unique experience of what it means
to be Lasallian.
life.
“My grandfather attended La Salle
Upon starting this year, Sneed knew he
wanted to get real-life experience as early as University, was best friends with Tom
possible. At the Career Expo, which La Salle Gola, teammates with Hank DeVincent and
hosted in October, he was lucky enough to the student of Dr. Holroyd. If that isn’t a
meet a manager from Bentley Truck Services legacy to live up to, I don’t know what is,”
who was looking for an intern. This semester, Sneed said. “I followed in my grandfather’s
he began his internship with Bentley as their footsteps, not only hoping to make him and
Marketing Coordinator. His main duties my family proud, but also to create my own
include tracking updates to their website, legacy of success in a city that I love.”
Sneed, who also works for the Admissions
collaborating with offices in four different
Offi
ce and volunteers for Big Brothers Big
states and ensuring that all information and
Sisters
of America seems poised to create
advertisements are accurate and currently up
such a legacy.
to date.
“When I finish my four years at La Salle,
This entry level internship gives him
experience in the day-to-day activities of a I want to look back and have great pride in
marketing team member at Bentley and allows what my colleagues and I have done to better
him to get a better look into the planning that ourselves and the community around us,” he
goes into every part of the company. While concluded. “I believe that La Salle provides
tasks like registering trucks and maintaining me with the best opportunity to do that.”
mcfaddena2@student.lasalle.edu
current information may seem unrelated to
Starbucks was being used as a study hall
during that period, and there were not enough
sales during that time to justify keeping it
open an extra two hours. There are other
options being explored so that a new study
hall area can be used by students. Possibilities
include a section of the food court or an area
in the new business school.
Another common student suggestion is the
need for to-go containers. This is something
that is being looked into and may be
implemented in the spring semester, though
it all depends on the cost of the program.
Other universities have programs in which
the student pays $5 for a recyclable container
that is replaced over time with a new one due
to sanitary issues.
There will be some new things to expect
from La Salle Dining in the spring. For one,
they will be opening their 14th location on
campus with Java City in the new business
school. Java City is similar to Starbucks
with espresso and barista drinks along with
food options. Java City will be open 7 a.m.9 p.m. Monday-Friday. There will be a
grand opening in January with lots of free
giveaways.
Another possible location will be the
L-Stop in Treetops, which is still in the
works. There will be more news to come
on that location later on. For the food court,
expect new smoothies at Smoothie Spot and
more weekly specials and offerings at both
Béne and Zoca.
Coble admits that she knows that students
love to criticize La Salle Dining. She
reminds all students that if they want change
to happen, they should fill out the survey at
yourdiningvoice.com. La Salle Dining will
use this information to improve customer
service and quality of food. If you have any
ideas, La Salle Dining always wants to hear
from the students.
mirandas3@student.lasalle.edu
Religion major telemarkets
By Andrew Durkin
Collegian Reporter
As everyone will tell you, the current
job market is exceptionally difficult. Some
parents might tell their children stories about
how they got a full-benefits, stable, average
salary job a week out of school by looking
in the job postings section of the paper and
keeping their grades up.
That experience is largely nonexistent
in today’s society. Instead, students are
expected to juggle their time between
academics, extracurricular activities and the
all but necessary task of interning in a related
field.
The need to differentiate oneself through
experience is make-or-break for prospective
employees. While the most popular option
for getting hands-on experience is giving
up summers of relaxation for desk work
and business casual attire, students such as
Jacques Linder, a sophomore religion and
information technology major, intern during
the school year.
Linder might be the exemplar of what
the modern internship experience entails.
Instead of going through the wanted ads
or job postings, Linder, like many interns,
received his position through his networking
experience.
“A friend of mine gave me a referral to
Market Resource Partners, a telemarketing
company for computer companies in Center
City,” Linder explains, adding that his
programming background and Microsoft
Excel training helped to establish him as a
viable candidate.
The personal connections, coupled with
his résumé and impressive interviewing
skills, were vital to getting the position.
Getting used to the corporate atmosphere
can be just as difficult as getting a foot in
the door. Finding the right mix of people
and helpful co-workers can differentiate the
positive experiences from the negative.
“There was some business background
Courtesy of Andrew Durkin
Linder with Mayor Nutter this September.
that I did not understand,” Linder said. “But
my boss was happy to teach and explain to
me, and it’s an open environment where
everyone can communicate easy with each
other.” Workplaces, just like social circles
or classroom environments, depend largely
on the individuals who inhabit the system.
Linder’s experience demonstrates this rule,
as he feels his co-workers are “all friends
together; everyone tries to help and get to
know each other.”
However, Linder stresses that the balancing
act of interning during the semester does
add a layer of complication. His internship
requires him to send leads, or information
about companies interested in purchasing
telecommunications services, to Market
Resource Partners’ clients. Linder typically
works between ten to twenty hours every
week, depending on the amount of orders at
the office. His internship includes not only
a lengthy commute to Center City, but also
telecommunicating daily for at least an hour
during the business week.
“At some points, because work may pile
at the same time as school, it forces me to
choose between the two options,” explaining
that he has learned to “prioritize my work
and hope it works out.”
Linder does reflect that his experience has
given him invaluable resources in pursuing a
job. “Working with SQL [Structured Query
Language], a database language, daily
and understanding how that skill interacts
with the business world is a huge plus with
employers,” providing “hard skills” that
employers hope to see.
Linder also highlights the soft skills that
he has gained on the job, including needing
to engage in problem solving, utilize logic
in decision making and interacting with coworkers.
“This internship has definitely helped me
put the things I learned in class in context,
and given me a bunch of lessons I would
have never learned otherwise,” he explained.
When prompted, Linder was also keen to
share his tips for landing a great internship
with other students. “Never stop exploring.
Literally,” emphasizing that it’s important to
“keep trying to learn from professionals that
can teach you.” Perseverance, expanding
networks of contacts and reaching out
to people in the business community are
absolutely vital in Linder’s eyes.
“The biggest lessons I’ve learned during
this semester are responsibility and diligence.
I learned how to be responsible for my work,
my life and pursuing the opportunities that
are presented to me,” Linder concluded.
durkina2@student.lasalle.edu
la salle collegian
thursday, december 3 2015
Growler’s gets
Mexican makeover
Courtesy of philly.com
Formerly Growler’s, La Casa de tu Madre features a bright, colorful interior decor.
By Aiyana Pellegrino
Collegian Staff
There has always been a special place in
my heart solely devoted to my neighborhood’s
bars. The Bella Vista neighborhood in South
Philadelphia that I call home holds several
Zagat reviewed bars, each holding their own
unique character. One of my favorite spots to
go to in the Bella Vista neighborhood used
to be Growler’s, a vintage-style local bar
that, aside from the normal bar and menu
offerings, sold growlers of the different
brews served on tap.
Unfortunately, this convenient stop on my
bar trail has been completely transformed
and redesigned by its owner. At first, I was
unsure what to think about its makeover,
transitioning from classic American bar fare
to a traditional Mexican selection. But hey,
don’t hate it until you try it, right? Thankfully,
I took this advice, and I have no regrets. What
better way to celebrate the holiday season
and the near end to the semester than by
throwing back a few margaritas? Naturally, I
would want to do this with my parents (who
also happen to be huge margarita fans).
We were all new to the revamping of the
restaurant, so none of us knew exactly what to
expect. Personally, I expected the interior of
the venue to look like any standard Mexican
restaurant, but to my surprise, the décor was
far from typical. Aside from the fresh coat of
paint and new lighting, the atmosphere was
completely transformed. New shelves on the
wall supported tall candles and Virgin Mary
statues. My favorite addition to the main
dining area, however, was the aged brick
wall with intricately painted skulls hung
amongst it. For an added effect, red lights
dimly light the details of each skull. Aside
from the newly decorated walls, the lounge
area now includes new seating and a brand
new fireplace.
Although the bar offers five distinct
margarita recipes, my parents and I chose to
try the traditional. Aside from the traditional
margarita, their selection includes the El
Tigre, the White Peach, the Mango, and
Rotating Frozen Margaritas. The bar also
offers eight selections of original cocktails
alongside other classic mixed drinks as
well. Last, the bar also integrates a small but
diverse wine, bottle, and draft list for those
who opt for something simpler.
Who would want to go to a Mexican bar and
not drink a native cocktail? The traditional
homemade margaritas were exactly what
they should be: a higher quantity of triple
sec and tequila and just the right amount of
limeade. Although you have the option of
coating your glass rim with sugar or salt, I
would suggest going with the salt, especially
with their particular mix. It adds the right
amount of salty to the sourness of the drink.
If you’re a Mexican cuisine connoisseur
and want to try an up-and-coming restaurant
in one of Philly’s rising neighborhoods,
make sure to check out La Casa de tu Madre
at 800 Fitzwater Street. Aside from grabbing
your favorite drink, think about taking a
look at their delectable menu, especially
the signature nachos. La Casa de tu Madre
has proven that change, like margaritas, is
bittersweet.
pellegrinoa1@student.lasalle.edu
11
Thirstday: Square one
offers pleasant atomosphere
By Scarlett Herbert
Collegian Reporter
Each week, Philly-Phile writers Alicia
Miller and Scarlett Herbert hope to introduce readers to the city’s coffee shops in
the ongoing segment, “Thirstday.”
Alicia and I decided to settle on a
familiar location and one within reasonable
walking distance from the Walnut-Locust
stop. Located in the “Gayborhood” of
Philadelphia down South 13th Street, this
fairly new café, called Square One Coffee,
offers customers with a cozy atmosphere to
get work completed or relax with friends.
Square One recently opened in June of 2015,
after their previous success in Lancaster,
Pa. This small, family-owned business
prides themselves, in providing premium,
handcrafted specialty coffee for their
customers. Not only do they find fulfillment
in themselves for their wide variety of over
sixteen different coffee roasts; they also
offer flavorful teas and specialty espresso
beverages. Although Square One is a small
business, it’s evident they’re finding ways to
expand their horizons to greater entities.
Besides being able to purchase individual
bags of their roasts online, they also offer
the option of wholesale purchase for other
establishments. However, not any company
can simply buy a vast amount of coffee
without first completing an application to
assure they will provide high quality customer
service and appropriate distribution to their
customers. Though I don’t expect a college
student to be purchasing wholesale coffee
during this time, I found this information
exemplify their view of a business perfectly.
As for individual benefits, Square One
has numerous coffee accessories available
for purchase at their location such as pourovers, kettles, scales, filters, and grinders. If
you’re feeling particularly adventurous and
willing to pay for it, they even offer training
for aspiring baristas or coffee lovers open to
the public for tips and tricks to achieve the
perfect cup of coffee within your home.
Aside from all the vast amount of
resources and benefits you can obtain from
Square One Coffee, my favorite aspect of
the company is their café. There’s something
very comfortable and homey about this
coffee shop.
Upon entering, there are multiple tables,
which are always filled with people eagerly
typing away on their laptops. The center of the
shop is a bar in the shape of a square (hence
the name of the shop), where the baristas take
orders and prepare the beverages behind. The
far back of the café is lined with comfortable
and cushioned seating, providing the perfect
space to chat for hours. White Christmas
lights dangle all across the walls, creating an
intimate and welcoming experience for all.
As for the coffee and service of the baristas,
I haven’t once been disappointed. My drink
of choice for the past three visits has been the
caramel latte. It’s not too sweet, yet it’s tasty
enough that I find myself savoring every sip I
take. Perhaps one of the most valuable perks
of this café is the old school music such as
Michael Jackson that plays soothingly in the
background as you enjoy a warm beverage
and the company of your friends. If you find
yourself looking to escape the stress of final
projects and presentations, treat yourself to a
relaxing night at Square One Coffee.
millera38@student.lasalle.edu
Coffee starts at Square One and so does our Thirstday column.
Courtesy of phillymag.com
Swing and a miss: The Gaslight
By James Aumack
Collegian Editor
Following a fun-filled day of tailgating and screaming
obscenities at the Eagles-Saints game a few months ago, my
roommates and I decided to keep the party going on Market
St. right off of Penn’s Landing, The Gaslight is located at
120 Market St. Although this venue is surrounded by several
restaurants, bars and ice cream parlors, The Gaslight didn’t
quite fit the bill for the young adult night life scene that many
of the 2nd St. bars and restaurants provide.
We entered into the dimly-lit restaurant and looked around
to see a lot of seating spread out over a relatively large space
for a one-story restaurant. The bar was to our right and was
spread out along the length of the wall. For a Sunday evening,
the place was pretty deserted, but we didn’t think much of it
as we anticipated quick service. That was not the case.
The Gaslight had a huge selection of domestic and local
craft beers, so I thought I was in for a treat. I had done a bit of
drinking throughout the game, so I really just wanted to stick
with one domestic beer to go with my meal.
I ordered a Miller Light. They didn’t have it. Okay, maybe
the keg was just tapped; after all it is late on the weekend. I
ordered a Stella Artois. They didn’t have it.
“Seriously,” I asked? “Just grab me whatever Dogfish Head
you have.”
I must say it was good, but I wasn’t expecting an ABV
north of seven percent, but I digress.
The food menu was extremely small, so my roommate
and I stuck with what I assumed was a safe bet and just got
a burger with fries. My girlfriend got the oysters, while my
gluten-free roommate got a salad.
This is where we started to realize that The Gaslight
probably wasn’t known for its food. The burgers were
extremely salty – Seriously, it’s liked they were cooked
in sea water. My girlfriend’s oysters were also salty, but
to her enjoyment. Where we really ran into some trouble
was through the entire ordering process for my gluten-free
roommate. They didn’t have any gluten-free options and
overall lacked understanding about the allergy in general.
My roommate explained the entire problem, and settled on an
over-priced salad.
The wait was also an issue – some 45 minutes or so went
by before we even received our food. Mind you, there were
hardly any people seated to eat. We finished up, and they were
kind enough to split our bills, but we were more than ready to
leave at that point.
We concluded that The Gaslight is most likely more wellknown as a bar around town than for their cusine. They do
have a large selection of wines, cocktails, scotches and craft
beers however just keep in mind that if you go there on a
Sunday night they might be out … I guess.
If you are looking for a great night out to eat and drink, The
Gaslight is not the best place to try. There are several fun bars
and restaurants with a casual atmosphere right around the
corner. It’s safe to say that we certainly struck out swinging
with this choice.
aumackj1@student.lasalle.edu
The Gaslight is deceiving to the eye.
Courtesy of yelp.com
12 la salle collegian
thursday, december 3, 2015
kicks
KICKSGIVING
It’s time to celebrate one of the most loved holidays this world has ever known: Kicksgiving. Kicksgiving has
some fantastic traditions that I think you all should know about so you can celebrate properly.
The Annual “Kicking of the Giant Shin”
While kicking your friends this Kicksgiving, don’t forget to participate in this old ritual.
Ever since the 1840’s, neighborhoods would erect a 15-foot pair of legs in the town square.
Residents would then line up in front of the shins and take turns kicking it repeatedly as a
way to release stress from the body, as the legs were symbolic of their emotional problems.
After this, people are nothing but smiles and celebrate their happiness with a giant feast.
The Burning of the Cake
If you think you should have dessert after dinner, you’re dead wrong. No sweets are eaten on
Kicksgiving. Instead, a cake is brought to all who are celebrating. This cake is a symbol for
everything we hate. This cake symbolizes newspaper pages that aren’t funny and pages who
think they’re better than Kicks. The cake is stale, just like the jokes they represent. Instead
of eating this stale, awful, cake, we simply set fire to it and repeatedly chant, “Down with
CAKE!”
Kicksgiving Kazoo Carols
“Hey, I’m gluten free; I’m very anti-pasta.”
–Bill Repetto
This Day in Canadian History
2012, Canada:
Health
the
Canada
license
suspends
of
Pharmaceutical
Inc.
Chemi
for
falsifying test results. When
All the really big holidays have music attatched to them, and Kicksgiving is no exception.
Unlike most holidays, however, Kicks likes to celebrate music from one of the most popular
decades in the 20th century-the 1980’s, while also celebrating the greatest instrument
known to man: the kazoo. Kazoo players go door-to-door playing instrumental versions
of popular 1980’s songs, all with kazoos. Imagine hearing Holding Out For A Hero being
hummed sweetly on seven kazoos. Wonderful, isn’t it?
asked for a comment, the CEO
The Evening Cool Down
had to cheat!” The CEO’s
After a long day of laughter and merriment, you need to cool down. Before you go to sleep,
it is a Kicksgiving tradition to grab a bottle of flavored water and splash it all over yourself.
This represents you washing away all of your sins and flaws so that you can wipe your slate
clean. After all, you need a clean slate so that you can make even more mistakes before
Kicksgiving.
of the company said, “It was
the only way [we] could pass
the semester! [We] weren’t
going to pass the test, so [we]
Courtesy of pehub.com
teachers claimed to be “very disappointed” with these actions.
I’ve recently found
stock photos to be very
entertaining. So here is a
stock photo of a business
man in a Santa hat
holding a knife. Makes
sense, right? This image
comes from imgur.com.
Maze!
There’s not much to say today, folks. There’s a maze and
you’ve gotta solve it. Get working!
Comics!
Today’s comic is based off of something that happened in the Collegian
office today. Thanks Bill Repetto for this knee-slapper.
H�p�� Ki�ks����n�, �e�� �ea��r�
Well, dear readers, December is finally here. Yes,
we’re in that horrible period before finals where all
of your professors decide they want to get just one
more assignment out of you, so now you have about
five assignments all due within a two-day period. I
know this time is stressful and terrible, but hopefully
you can relax with Kicksgiving! That’s right, it’s time
to celebrate a fantastic holiday where we engage in a
host of wonderful traditions. I know some of you are
considering celebrating CAKEmas, but I’m here to tell
you that’s a bad idea. That’s right, CAKEmas won’t
make you happy. It’s just another headache in this
already awful period in time. Relax and be happy with
Kicksgiving! Remember to give all your loved ones a
nice kick to the shins to celebrate!
~Alex “Holly Jolly” C.
Here is the solution to last week’s atbash cipher.
I’m really hoping this joke is still funny.
CAKE
la salle collegian
thursday, december 3 , 2015
13
Welcome back, Nation! I know you all are so happy to be back! I like to think that the rain that has fallen all week is a collective result of the tears that are
being shed due to finals approaching. But just remember that the rapidly approaching nervous breakdown and crying to the point of laughing is just a
reminder of how alive you are! However, I have fantastic news, Nation! The holidays are here! Goodwill is being felt, chestnuts are roasting and everyone is
already spending more than $10 on secret Santa! We live in a world with many different cultures with amazing groups of people that make them up. There is
another thing that they also make up: holidays. That’s right, it seems that everyone has a holiday this time of year, and quite frankly, I don’t like the options
that I have to participate in. You have Christmas (born in a barn? Really, Jesus? That’s just tacky), Hanukkah (the only holiday I want to have involving singing
with candles is my birthday) Festivus (the airing of grievances gets too violent), and Kwanzaa (if someone could seriously explain to me what Kwanza is and
why it took so long to figure out how to spell it that would be great). So, Nation, I have decided to take action and create my own holiday! It will be a holiday
for the masses, for the strong and everyone not in Kicks! For I have created CAKEsmas! How do you celebrate CAKEsmas? Good question! Let me explain:
Step 1 – Get a Tree
Every good holiday celebration needs a tree! It is a cornerstone of the holiday season! Trees remind us of tranquility, togetherness and how
horrible nature smells. During CAKEsmas, only the strongest, finest tree must be used. I am talking about a tree that towers above the
earth like a guardian against the gods. I am talking about a tree that has seen the planet evolve from single-celled monkeys to multi-celled
monkeys asking their parents for money to go get Starbucks. I am talking about, of course, the mighty Redwood Tree. Oh, a Redwood
takes too long to chop down? Get a bigger saw. Oh, you have to go all the way to California and then transport it back to your house? Rent
a military jet. Oh, when you put the Redwood up in your home it destroys the third and fourth stories? Build a bigger house. There is no
place for excuses on CAKEsmas.
Step 2 – Gifts
All people enjoy gifts! They are monetary representations of how much people love you. They are a symbol of even how little your aunt
you talk to once a year doesn’t love you (Really Aunt Jill? A $10 gift card to GameStop? What could I possibly buy with that?!). Anyway, on
CAKEsmas only significant gifts that show your care for other people’s well-being are allowed. And what is the best way to ensure another
person’s well-being? Ensuring a healthy immune system for them, of course! What is a better present than health? No money is meant to
be spent because we are all on a budget, so all that is required to give people the gift of a healthy immune system is to sneeze on them. Sure,
the next few weeks are miserable with the 103 degree fevers and constant shaking, but if a cold kills you, could you really offer anything
beneficial to the world moving forward? Happy CAKEsmas from humanity.
Step 3 – Food
I know what you all are thinking, on CAKEsmas you eat cake right?! Wrong. You eat pie. Cake dries out quickly and no one wants a slice
that isn’t the corner pieces with all the icing. We all have pie because it is circular and there is equal proportion of goodness inside. Sure it’s
a little communist, but so is everything else (I’m looking at you Kicks). Cake on CAKEsmas…get the f$#@ out of here.
Step 4 – Traditions
Holidays showcase the great traditions of the world! CAKEsmas is no exception! We start our day by reading our children long-winded
stories that tend to not make sense, but makes them smile literally three times in the 45 minutes it took to finish reading the damn thing.
We then spend the afternoon smoking vapes trying to look cool. Sure it still hurts our lungs, but damnit, we sure look like a douche doing
it! We then end our night by going to the nearest aluminum tin can where we deposit every issue of Kicks we can find. We all pass a bottle
of lighter fluid around, but before we squeeze some into the trash, we tell our favorite memory of Crosby’s life that resulted in him crying
(my favorite is how his mom gave him the silent treatment from ages 3-19). After all the memories have been said, we throw a fruit cake
on top, as Kicks is the fruit cake of comedy. We then throw lit matches in at the same time and warm our souls to the knowledge that the
world has been saved from pieces of paper that just phone it in, as the half-thought-out jokes are now the sky’s problem. Merry CAKEsmas,
sky.
Step 5 – Holiday Dress
14 la salle collegian
thursday, december 3, 2015
this week in
La Salle athletics
men’s basketball
vs. Drexel
December 5 @ 2 p.m.
at Villanova
December 13 @ 5 p.m.
women’s
basketball
at UMBC
December 6 @ 1 p.m.
vs. North Texas
December 16 @ 7 p.m.
men’s track & field
at Jack Pyrah
Villanova Invitational
December 5 @ All Day
women’s swimming
& diving
vs. Winter National
Championships
December 2-5
All Day
at Ithaca
December 4 @ All Day
men’s swimming
& diving
vs. Winter National
Championships
December 2-5
All Day
at Ithaca
December 4 @ All Day
women’s track & field
at Jack Pyrah
Villanova Invitational
December 5 @ All Day
sports
Women’s basketball can’t shake slump
By Anthony Fleet
Collegian Staff
La Salle women’s basketball team spent Thanksgiving weekend
down in Coral Gables, Florida, where they participated in the
Miami Thanksgiving Classic.
Unfortunately for the Explorers, they dropped both games they
played. The first game was on Nov. 28, which was a 69-53 loss
to the Milwaukee Panthers. La Salle’s Adreana Miller finished
with nine points and four rebounds, while Micahya Owens scored
a team-high 15 points. Ashanti Freeland also chipped in eight
points and grabbed a team-high six rebounds.
The following day, the Explorers faced off with hosting Miami.
La Salle kept it tight after the first quarter, but the Hurricanes
quickly took control of the game and cruised to an 86-58 victory.
Freeland had a career-high 14 points, including 10 points in the
4th quarter, going 7-for-12 from the floor and grabbing four
rebounds. Owens led them team in scoring again, as she had 16 of
her season-high 23 points in the second half. Jasmine Alston also
tied her career-high with nine assists while Miller finished with
eight points and three rebounds.
The two defeats were La Salle’s fifth and sixth consecutive
losses to begin the season. Four of their six losses have been by
double-digits, three of which where by 28 or more.
“We’ve been in a bit of a slump,” Sophomore Jordan Williams
told The Collegian. “But we are making baby steps to dig
ourselves out of this hole. It’s not going to happen overnight, but
we will progress.”
The Explorers have lost their games by an average of 72 to 53.
When the margin of defeat is this big, it is hard to single out one
issue the team is struggling with. However, Williams told us what
some of the problems could be on both sides of the ball:
“On offense, it’s really hard to get movement in a set offense…
but we’re a solid team in transition… as for defense, we’re a
much better team in zone. We show the ability to be great on-ball
defenders, but it’s in spurts, rather than for the full duration of
the game.”
La Salle has a lot of work to do both on and off the court in
order to turn things around. Losing consistently by large margins
can take the air out of a team quickly.
Williams told us, “Losing in this fashion is not associated with
one or two issues, but the bigger problem is deeper than basketball.
We all just have to do some soul-searching as individuals to find
out how we can come together as sisters and teammates, in order
to make this 360 turn.”
The losses have certainly led to a lot of doubt and criticism
around La Salle’s campus, but Williams said the team is ignoring
critics and is focusing on what is ahead, forgetting about the past.
“Critics don’t affect us. We know that we are far more capable
of what we’ve shown thus far, and it is up to us to change the
negative perspectives… we all know that there’s great potential,
but we just have to find a way to make the pieces of the puzzle
become a finished product.”
The Explorers won’t have another home game for a couple of
weeks, when they host North Texas on Dec. 16.
fleeta2@student.lasalle.edu
Courtesy of Sideline Photos, LLC.
Freshman Adreana Miller had nine points and four rebounds
against Milwaukee.
Men’s swimming and diving looks strong at Bucknell
By Buck Amend
Collegian Staff
The La Salle men’s swimming and diving team is coming off a
promising effort in the Bucknell invitational two weeks ago. Out
of nine competing teams, La Salle finished fifth, accumulating
687.5 points in the three day event.
On day one, nine Explorers qualified for the finals. Sophomore
Dylan Yurasits had the best placement of the day for the Explorers,
as he finished second overall in the one meter diving event with a
score of 318.2 in his final round. Senior CJ Gimpel also finished
in the top ten in the prelims, collecting 17 team points.
Five Explorers qualified for the finals in the 200-yard-IM.
Fabian Bergman had the best La Salle finish for the A-finals in
8th place, earning 22 points and a time of 1:53.79. In the B-finals,
the top man of the day was our very own Strahin Stankovic. Two
other swimmers made their name known by reaching the 500
yard freestyle finals. Mattias Glenesk and Jakub Bartosiewicz.
Glanesk had the fastest time in the C-finals.
On day two, four La Salle swimmers achieved top five finishes.
Johan Roth and Dimitrije Mladenovic both did so in the 100
yard backstroke. They combined for 51 team points. In the 100
yard butterfly competition, Jakub Bartosiewicz finished in fourth
place, earning 26 points. Stankovic and Cameron Fadley also
reached the finals in this event, both representing their team in the
C-finals. Freshman Aleksander Nikolic reached the finals in the
200 yard freestyle race, and finished 14th in his finals race.
During the final day of the Bucknell invitational, two more
Explorers turned in top five times. Fabian Bergman came in fourth
in the 200 yard backstroke A-finals race; Jerry Gravel touched in
at seventh. The other top five finisher was Johan Roth in the 200
yard breaststroke. He was just over a second behind the top place
finisher. In the same event, Stankovic reached the B-finals and
finished in second just .03 seconds behind the winner.
In the 400 yard freestyle relay, the team of Stankovic, Cabral,
Roth, and Nikolic finished in fifth place with a time of 3:06.67.
Identical to this placement, La Salle finished fifth overall after all
events in the three day invitational.
This weekend, the La Salle team will be split up into two
separate meets. From Dec. 3rd to the 5th, some members will
be in Washington for the winter national championships. The
championship is a three day event, ending on Saturday. The other
event will be in Ithaca New York. This will also be a three day
event, starting on Friday and Ending Sunday. The fifth place
finish in Bucknell was a good starting point, and the Explorers
will focus on even better times in the upcoming weekend, fresh
and ready to go.
Each member of the team will continue to work on their form
to get to where they all want to be by the time the Atlantic 10
championships come along in Feb. The next home meet will be
Saturday, Jan. 23rd. Fordham and Richmond will come into town
as they look to dive into some A-10 action.
amendw1@student.lasalle.edu
Courtesy of Sideline Photos, LLC
Fabian Bergman earned 22 points in the 200-yard-IM.
sports
la salle collegian
thursday, december 3, 2015
15
Men’s basketball cruises over Thanksgiving break
By Tyler Harper
Collegian Editor
It was a busy Thanksgiving week for the men’s basketball
team. The Turkey Day week started on Monday, Nov. 23, as
La Salle battled Lafayette in the Tom Gola Arena. Offensive
chemistry powered the Explorers to an 83-75 victory over the
Leopards.
As per usual, redshirt junior Jordan Price, who has become
one of the top scorers in the nation in the early part of the
season, led the charge for the Explorers on offense with
33 points, one point short of his career high. In fact, Price
is currently the nation’s third leading scorer, averaging 25
points per contest. The Decatur, Ga. native cruised, going 11
for 14 from the floor, including hitting six of eight shots from
beyond the arc.
“He was always highly recruited, highly thought of and
highly talented,” head coach John Giannini said of Price. “He
has matured, grown and become a better overall player. He
has kept himself in great shape. He deserves credit for being
in the shape he is in and becoming the all-around player he
is.”
Another Explorer who made a big impact was redshirt
sophomore Tony Washington, who made his season debut
after missing the first two games with a concussion. The
6’10” center made his presence felt on the floor, scoring 14
points and grabbing nine boards.
Following their win over the Leopards, the Explorers took
a short road trip to the historic Palestra to take on the Penn
Quakers in their Big 5 opener on Wednesday, Nov. 25. Both
teams had started their season off hot. However, the Quakers
got the better of the Explorers, winning by a score of 80 to 64.
Darien Nelson-Henry was the star of the show, providing
close to half of the Quakers points with 31. The senior also
snagged 14 rebounds to secure a double-double and help
guide his team. After the contest, Giannini realized that he
should have had his defense adjust to the Quakers’ leading
scorer.
“We should have doubled Nelson-Henry,” Giannini said.
“But give credit to him, he was awesome.”
Cleon Roberts led La Salle with 20 points, while Price
followed suit with 18.
The Explorers looked to move on from their first loss of the
2015-16 season against the Rowan Profs on Saturday, Nov.
28 as both teams celebrated the 20th anniversary of Giannini
leading the Profs to a Division III National Championship.
Despite a first half filled with struggles, the Explorers found
their groove and defeated the Profs, 81 to 51.
Price energized La Salle with his great all-around play,
scoring 19 points to go along with six rebounds, five assists
and three steals. Helping Price out on the scoreboard were
redshirt senior Rohan Brown and sophomores Johnnie Shuler
and Amar Stukes. Brown had 14 points, Shuler and Stukes
each scored 11.
harpert2@student.lasalle.edu
Courtesy of goexplorers.com
Roberts scored 20 points in the Explorers loss to Penn.
Men’s basketball
vs. Hofstra
Courtesy of Sideline Photos, LLC
Jordan Price scored a career high, 37 points against
Hofstra.
By Tyler Harper
Collegian Editor
On Wednesday, Dec. 2, the men’s basketball team
played host to Hofstra in a battle between two teams
with only one loss. The Pride came out strong in the
first half, shooting 17 for 33 from the field. Junior guard
Brian Bernardi led Hofstra with 22 points. Bernardi shot
.500 (5 for 10) on the night, including going 4 for 8 from
three point land and a perfect 8 for 8 from the foul line.
Including Bernardi, the Pride had six shooters score in
double digits against the Explorers.
Despite being down 44-31 at halftime, the Explorers
did not roll over. La Salle’s offense came alive in the
second half for 49 points behind Jordan Price. Despite
this, the Explorers fell to the Pride, 84 to 80. The redshirt
junior totalled 37 points, most of which coming off of
three pointers in the second half. In total, Price went 7
for 13 from three point range, going 15 for 22 from the
field in total. Cleon Roberts and Tony Washington were
the only other Explorers to reach double digits on the
night. Roberts had 13 points while Washington had 10.
harpert2@student.lasalle.edu
Women’s swim and dive team grinds out big finishes
By Selena Bemak
Collegian Staff
The women’s swimming and diving team
traveled to Lewisburg, Pa. from Nov. 20 to the
22 to compete in the Bucknell Invitational.
The Explorers completed against Bucknell,
Buffalo, Binghamton, Connecticut, Fordham,
Georgetown and William and Mary in the
weekend-long competition. The ladies’ team
finished 7th out of 9, racking up 446 points
in the process.
On the first day of the invitational, La Salle
scored in five events. Sophomore Emma
Smith performed excellently in the pool. In
the C-Finals, she seized the top spot in the
500 yard freestyle race with a time of 4:55.53,
earning La Salle nine points. The Canadian
student swam the sixth fastest overall for the
day.
Olivia DiStefano also performed well
for the Explorers, placing seventh in the
A-Final 50-yard freestyle race. The freshman
swimmer earned 23 points for La Salle by
finishing with a time of 23.80. Freshman
Mary Harrington swam for La Salle in the
200-yard IM along with teammates Maddy
Koelsch, Hannah Elliott and Danielle
Thomas. Harrington commented on her
team’s accomplishments in the invitational
saying, “I think as a team we performed
very well and had our best meet yet. We had
one school record broken by Eva in the 200
butterfly. I think I also performed pretty well
just being right off my best times in my best
events which is really good for this time of
year. I think we’re in a good spot for our
upcoming meets.”
In diving, sophomore Sydney Szopo
snagged the twelfth spot in the three meter
event, earning a score of 202.20 in the event
and gaining 15 more points for the Explorers.
The La Salle ladies teamed up to place in
two relays. In the 200-yard freestyle relay,
DiStefano, sophomore Natalie Simunek and
juniors Tanawan Sukonthapanich and Kate
Hay combined for a time of 1:36.49 points
that earned them seventh place and 36 points.
In the 400-yard medley relay, DiStefano
combined with Hay, Koelsch and junior Eva
Marie Østerhus for a time of 3:52.00 that
merited them eleventh place and 32 points.
The second day of the contest, Østerhus
placed fourth in the fourth in the 400-yard
IM, with an impressive time of 4:26.38.
Emma Smith was not far behind her in the
race, finishing in the seventh spot. DiStefano
posted up another solid performance on day
two, capturing sixth place in the 100 yard
backstroke race and collecting 24 points for
her team.
The women’s squad of Østerhus, Smith,
Hay and sophomore Rory Kearns tackled the
800-yard freestyle relay in 7:33.58 to secure
the fifth place spot and round up another 38
points for the Explorers. Freshman Dominque
DiRienio participated in the one meter diving
event for La Salle, finishing fourteenth.
The third and final day of the competition,
Østerhus dove into the pool and conquered.
In the 200 yard butterfly race, the Norway
native grabbed ninth place in 2:03.47,
breaking a La Salle record for her event
and securing 20 points. Her teammate and
fellow junior Kate Hay came in nineteenth
in the 200-yard freestyle race. With a time of
2:27.32, sophomore Danielle Thomas earned
the 24th spot in the 200-yard breaststroke
final.
Distefano, Hay, Smith and Østerhus
returned to the pool for the 400-yard freestyle
relay, snagging themselves the eighth spot in
3:29.16. After the completion of the Bucknell
Invitational, the women’s swimming and
diving team sat at the 7th spot with a final
total score of 446.
As for the future of their team, Harrington
remarked, “We still have a lot of good
training with our Puerto Rico trip coming up
in January and then we have a big A-10 dual
meet with Richmond and Fordham, then a
meet at Penn. Those two meets will be very
tough but we will fight hard to hopefully get
some good times. Then we rest for A-10’s so
we have a lot of good things coming before
the end of the season.”
The Explorers return to the pool this
weekend, when they travel to Ithaca, N.Y. for
the Ithaca College Bomber Invite.
bemaks1@student.lasalle.edu
Østerhus breaks school secord on final day of Bucknell Invite.
Courtesy of goexplorers.com
Women’s basketball heads
down to Miami.
14
pg.
pg.
15
Men’s basketball plays well
over Thanksgiving Break
sports
THURSDAY, DECEMBER 3, 2015
Your #1 source for La Salle sports
Szekely has best program finish at NCAA’s
By Chuck Booth
Collegian Staff
The Explorers closed out their cross country
season on a strong note prior to Thanksgiving
break. Sophomore Morgan Szekely went to
Louisville, Ky. to represent the Explorers with
an at large bid to the NCAA Cross Country
Championships at E.P. Tom Sawyer State
Park. The Explorer men also sent a squad to
Brooklyn, N.Y. for the IC4A Championships
at Van Cortland Park.
Courtesy of goexplorers.com
Heuer leads Explorers at IC4A Championships.
Szekely capped off her historic season
with a 45th place finish at the NCAA Cross
Country Championships. Szekely ran a time
of 20:29.8 on the 6k course. Her time placed
her just 2.1 seconds out of the top 40 runners
in a field of 254.
The sophomore was in 32nd place after the
2000m mark after running a time of 6:41.8,
but she fell back 13 places over the course of
the race. Her 45th place finish was the highest
ever by an Explorer woman at the NCAA
Championships.
The NCAA championships individual title
was won by senior Molly Seidel of Notre
Dame with a time of 19:28.6. The New
Mexico University women took home the
team title by finishing with 49 points to best
second place finisher, Colorado by 80 points.
Szekely was the third-highest finisher
among runners in the Mid-Atlantic Region
behind senior Bianca Fernandez of Temple
and freshman Tessa Barrett of Penn State
University. She also improved on her finish
from last year, when she finished 169th..
Szekely’s accolades did not end there.
She was also named to the Atlantic 10 Cross
Country Academic All-Conference team.
The Explorer men turned in a 4th place
finish at the IC4A Championships. They had
three runners finish in the top 20 and were led
by junior Bradley Heuer. Heuer finished in
6th place with a time of 25:38.5 on the fivemile course.
Finishing behind Heuer was the duo of
junior Steven Lewandowski and senior Ian
Barnhill. Lewandowski finished in 16th place
with a time of 25:54.4. Close behind was
Barnhill in 18th place with a time 25:57.0.
Junior Francis Ferruzzi finished in 26th
place with a time of 26:19.7, earning 20
points to the score. Junior Chris Berry crossed
in 26:56.0, finishing in 40th place to close out
the scorers for the Explorers.
Displacing other runners were junior David
Ozarowski and senior Brendan Robertson by
crossing 5th and 6th on the team. Ozarowski
finished in 45th place with a time of 27:06.2.
Robertson crossed in 27:10.7 for a 48th place
finish.
Also running on the day were sophomore
Dylan Titon, junior Nick Lefavor, senior Tim
Flanagan, junior Ryan Magnus and junior
John Pujols.
These races officially close the book on a
successful season for the Explorers. Everyone
took a step forward from where they were at
this point last year to put the team within the
upper echelon of the A-10 as well as the Mid-
Atlantic as a whole. With the success of the
underclassmen, especially on the women’s
side, there is a lot to build on during indoor
track and planning for next season in cross
country.
The Explorers will be off until Dec. 5, when
they will be taking part in the Jack Pyrah
Villanova Invitational to begin the indoor
track season.
boothc3@student.lasalle.edu
Courtesy of goexplorers.com
Szekely finishes 45th at NCAAs.
Giannini celebrates 20th anniversary of D-III Championship at Rowan
By Tyler Harper
Collegian Editor
Men’s basketball head coach, John Giannini
likes to stress that he is the same guy, and
prepares the same way for every game the
same way, no matter the opponent. The game
this past Saturday at Rowan University’s Ebsy
Gym, however was not just another game.
After all, the Division I La Salle Explorers
took on the Division III Rowan Profs, the
team Giannini previously coached.
This was also the first time that a Division
I team visited a Division III team in 12
years. The icing on the cake of this already
unique matchup was the cause, which was
to celebrate the 20th anniversary of Giannini
coaching the Profs to a Division III National
Championship.
Before the game, Giannini was introduced
to a standing ovation from the packed gym
by Rowan PA announcer, Dan Baker, who
is famous for being the PA announcer at
Phillies games. Despite the fact that it had
been 20 years since Giannini coached a game
in the gym, he said that nothing about the
atmosphere could phase him.
“There’s nothing in that gym I wouldn’t be
used to — if you handed me the mop, I’d be
used to it,” Giannini said. “There’s nothing in
that gym that’s going to take me by surprise.”
Courtesy of Sideline Photos, LLC
Giannini made his return to Rowan University on Saturday, Nov. 28.
The big event, besides the game itself of
course, was a ceremony at halftime honoring
the 1996 team that Giannini coached to
championship glory. One by one, the former
coaches and players were introduced by the
booming voice of Baker as they each took a
curtain call at halfcourt. However, there was
one key absence from the halftime ceremony
— Giannini himself. Many assumed that the
coach’s absence was due to the fact that he
was yelling at his team for a first half that was
not up to their standards. However, Giannini
claims that this was not the case.
“I just didn’t know I was supposed to be out
there,” Giannini said.
Nevertheless, current Rowan head coach
Joe Cassidy, who was an assistant under
Giannini during his entire Rowan tenure,
said he wouldn’t have been surprised if he
had spent the half trying to refocus his team
instead of posing for a picture with the 1996
champions.
“I’ve been in some halftime locker rooms
with coach Giannini when his team’s not
playing particularly well, so I’m sure he
had some choice words for the young men,”
Cassidy said. “Obviously they responded in
the second half.”
Whatever people choose to believe, one
thing is not up for debate — Giannini’s love
and respect for the program that gave him his
first head coaching job, even if he claims that
he scheduled this game for “selfish reasons.”
“My daughter used to dance with the Owl at
halftime here,” Giannini said. “The Owl was
the star at her first three birthday parties. This
school is in our blood. To see the multitude
of former faculty, alumni, former players and
townspeople that used to come to the games,
meant more to me than I could possibly say.
The people were second to none.”
“I thought it was going to be a very special
day, this ended up being even better than I
anticipated,” said Cassidy. “An hour before
the game, usually in Division III basketball,
there’s nobody here and there’s nothing going
on. Today, an hour before the game this place
was hopping.”
The players on both sides knew how big
this game was, due to the unique nature of
the situation. On the Rowan side, the Profs
played with lots of energy, aiming to do what
many considered unthinkable.
“We all wanted to be on SportsCenter
the next day for knocking off a D-I team,”
said Rob DePersia, one of Rowan’s starting
guards. “Games like this show local kids that
Rowan is the place to be.”
As for the visiting side, the Explorers knew
just how important this game was for their
head coach.
“Our main focus as a team was to get this
win for Coach G,” said redshirt junior Jordan
Price. “It was an honor to come here and play
here for Coach G. It was an experience I’ll
remember the rest of my life.”
No matter what side they were rooting
for, everybody in attendance at Ebsy Gym
enjoyed a unique and special experience.
harpert2@student.lasalle.edu