Warm Up Your Vocal Cords! - Wheeling Jesuit University

THURSDAY, February 23, 2012
WJU Student Publication
Arts & Living
Mission & Identity
Review of the new
Twisted Metal for PS3
WV Council of
Churches
Page 5
Page 10
Warm Up Your Vocal
Cords!
Alexa Frankovitch
Staff Writer
Around this time every year,
FOX network begins heavily promoting their awardwinning show
“American
Idol;” I’m sure
you’ve all seen
it. The show is
full of bad auditions, hopeful musicians,
great
talent,
and harsh (but
usually truthful) judges. In
the end, one contestant will
win and receive a recording
contract.
While Jesuit can’t give away
a recording contract, they can
showcase some of the most
gifted voices from this school,
which is exactly what they
have been preparing to do.
Following last semester’s talent contest, “Jesuit’s Got Tal-
ent,” the spring semester will
be holding a similar competition. This one however, will
feature only singing.
If you can recall, last semester during “Jesuit’s Got Tal-
ent,” winner Jesse Kubanet
also won the honor of hosting
this year’s “Jesuit Idol,” and a
great host he will be. Due to
the fact that he also won “Jesuit’s Got Talent” for his comedy act, he’s sure to be a riot
during this show as well.
Along with the funny host,
there is also going to be the
expected Simon Cowell type
judge, and guest judges.
Finally, to match up with the
original show, there will be the
many contestants, good and
bad. Next week, the auditions
episode kicks off the show
with several contestants.
Like the network version,
audience members should
expect both amazing voices, and terrible jokesters.
There will be funny moments, and emotional ones
as well.
Overall, if it’s anything
like last semester’s competition, it will be an awesome show.
The first round, which is
when auditions will be held,
will take place on Thursday,
March 1, at 8:00 p.m. in Troy
Theater.
Be sure to bring your friends
for a night of entertainment,
courtesy of your fellow classmates here at Wheeling Jesuit.
Saudi Arabian “Coffee Hour” Incites
Cultural Debate
in extracting oil in 1938. The
country is now in an “unprece
dented” prosperous economic
Hammad Almonhileh, an in- standing.
ternational student who began
One guest speaker insists
his enrollment at Wheeling
that there are no “poor”
Jesuit University as an ELI
people in this economy; there
student, served as the master
are only the wealthy and the
of ceremonies at the Februmiddle-class. Certain proary 16 “Coffee Hour.” Now,
grams, seemingly similar to
the Saudi Arabian master of
our welfare programs, actuceremonies speaks beautiful
ally function effectively in
English.
assisting the unemployed
Throughout the “Hour,”
back into the job market, thus
Almonhileh described life in
eliminating the lower class.
Saudi Arabia. He enlightened
However, this idea of “new
the culturally varied audience money” implies that Saudi
to topics concerning how oil
Arabia is a fairly young counties into the strong economy,
try concerning advancements.
the controversial stance of
Their education system, for
women in the nation, and their instance, started in the 1930’s
favorite sport: soccer.
with the oil boom. There
Saudi Arabia is an “oil-rich were only four schools at the
country” since a joint Ameri- time of the education system’s
can and Saudi Arabian oil
birth. Within two years, that
company succeeded
number increased to 400.
Clearly, this is a country of
rapidly ambitious people. In
high school, there are two
tracts offered to hopefully
News.....................1-3
better prepare students for
Mission &
their specific careers in either
Identity...................4-5
science or education. There
Sports.....................6-7
are currently 33 universities
Opinion................8-9
in Saudi Arabia, but here ex-
Gamma Rays That We Can Love
Patrick Washington
Staff Writer
This past weekend Troy
Theater was graced with four
spectacular performances of
The Effect of Gamma Rays
on Man-in-the-Moon Marigolds, written by Paul Zindel.
The basic plot line of the
play is centered on the life of
a small family in which the
mother is bitter, one daughter
has seizures, and the youngest daughter has a passion for
science.
The mother Beatrice, played
by senior Ashley Onufrak, is a
woman who is fed up with the
hard life and enjoys having
control over everything. The
oldest daughter Ruth, played
by freshman Tyler Alyssa
Stovall, has seizures whenever she gets frightened and she
does not deal well with death.
The youngest daughter Tillie, played by sophomore Erin
Sheplavy, loves science and
wins first prize for her experiment on marigolds at the
science fair.
Audra Macri, a senior,
played Nanny, an old woman
that the mother had to take
care of, thus causing her constant grief. Kelsey Zimcosky,
a freshman, played Janice
Alli Santer
News Editor
Index
Arts & Living..10-12
ists the purpose for sending
students to gain schooling
internationally.
Scholarships began in
1937 to send students out of
the country for their college educations in order to
bring graduates back with
knowledge of the systems and
the cultures. It appears that
the goal is to gain as much
knowledge as can be garnered
from these other countries so
that Saudi Arabia can establish an incredibly prolific
education system. Thus, they
will no longer need to send
students out of the country.
Not everything is as new in
Saudi Arabia, though. The
city of Ola is incredibly old
and consists of a town built
into the mountains. Everything one may find in a
regular home can be found in
these bunker-like structures,
explained Almonhileh, even
“living rooms.”
But, even the old portions of
Saudi Arabia attract attention,
Next Issue: March 15th
Vickery who was Tillie’s rival
at the science fair.
The plot line basically
follows Tillie and her experiment from the beginning till
she wins the science fair in
the end.
All that can be said to the
actresses is brava! The acting
was spectacular, causing the
audience to laugh as well as
empathize, all at the right
times – a feat that is not easy
to master.
Ashley Onufrak succeeded
in portraying an embittered
and short-tempered woman
surprisingly well seeing as in
real life she is quite the polar
opposite.
Erin Sheplavy gave us a
character to cheer for and
reason to hope that everything
would turn out all right in the
end, characteristics that do in
fact fit her real personality.
The set for “Marigolds”
looked amazing and was the
result of many hard hours of
work done by the cast, volunteers, and Dave Henderson,
the director.
If you failed to go to this
show, then you truly missed
out on a delightful performance.
as tourists regularly fly to Ola
to visit the ancient mountain
city.
Other visits to the country include pilgrimages to
Makkah (or Mecca) and
Medina, the two sites holiest
to Muslims. Every year, approximately 2 million people
worldwide flock to these
places during their “hajj pilgrimages” as part of the Five
Pillars of the Islamic faith.
Makkah is the very holiest for the Muslim people,
because it is believed to be the
first place created on Earth – a
place which heaven’s power
still touches directly.
Before the country became
“oil-rich,” the revenues
brought in by pilgrimages
helped substantially to support the nation’s economy.
Saudi Arabia’s government
stands in fairly stark contrast
to ours with an absolute monarchy in which the King, the
royal family, and the Ulema,
a religious leader, play crucial
roles.
King Abdullah, a “modest
reformer,” accepted the throne
in 2005 and Almonhileh and
Continued on Page 3
2
THURSDAY, February 23, 2012
News
Spring Break Does Not Mean a
Break from Service
Maria Phillips
Staff Writer
Spring break is only a few
short weeks away! What are
your plans? Are you going
to relax at home? Will you
maybe use the free time to
work extra shifts for some
cash?
Some students go all out
and visit a tropical beach
somewhere. Popular places
include anywhere from
Cancun, to Panama City, to
Punta Cana in the Dominican
Republic. Seven of our own
Wheeling Jesuit students are
doing something radically different for their break.
Instead of basking in the
sunshine on a beach sipping
a cool drink, these students
will be participating in a trip
to Nashville, Tennessee to do
service.
The trip, organized by our
Service for Social Action
Center along with the Center
for Student Missions Organization, will be comprised
of students working with a
variety of ministries in Nashville, says SSAC coordinator,
Adrienne Greene.
The students attending are
Becca Haley, Loic Noubossie,
Audra Macri, Kelley Asbury,
Megan Truelove, Nora Crossen and Andrea Long.
The students will be working in soup kitchens, homeless shelters, and a community garden. One particular
highlight of the experience
will include an array of ethnic
meals from restaurants around
the Nashville area.
Regardless of your plans,
remember that Student Life is
providing shuttles to and from
the Pittsburgh International
Airport for a small fee. The
departure times from WJU
on Friday, March 2 are as
follows: 9:00 a.m., 1:00 p.m.,
and 5:00 p.m..
At the end of break, the
WJU shuttle will be transporting students back to campus,
as well. On Sunday, March
11 the shuttle will depart from
the Pittsburgh International
Airport at 11:00 a.m., 2:00
p.m., 5:00 p.m., and 8:00
p.m..
The fee for riding the shuttle
is $10 per trip, and you can
sign up by visiting http://
tinyurl.com/wjuairportsshuttles/ by February 24.
Free Counseling on
Campus
Personal counseling provided by a Licensed
Professional Counselor is available to all students at Wheeling Jesuit
University.
These counseling services are provided at no
additional charge, are legally confidential, and fully
accessible.
Students may schedule a private consultation with the counselor to
learn more about the service.
Students may schedule appointments by
contacting Nancy Ramsay at the WJU Health Center at 304-2432275.
Sign of the
Apocalypse: Double Feature
In November, a British man was found guilty
of murdering his wife in a blind rage when he
discovered that she had destroyed his Star Wars
memorabilia.
In January, an Oregon man was sentenced
to 45 days in jail and a mental evaluation after
he attacked Toys “R” Us customers. He was
equipped with a lightsaber in each hand. Sorry,
the force is not with you.
CARDINAL CONNECTION
CAB Update
Alexa Frankovitch
Staff Writer
With spring break quickly
approaching, the thought of
fun vacations, relaxing with
friends and family, or simply
just time away from the chaos
of college is on everyone’s
mind.
However, before we can get
to the exciting stuff, we all
have to get past the wretched
task of taking midterms. It is
something none of us want to
deal with, but of course it is
necessary.
Nevertheless, there is
always time to take a break
from the stress of studying
and do something fun. And
that is precisely what we here
at CAB plan to help you do.
There are several events coming up that should catch your
attention and draw you away
from the books for a while.
This Thursday, February
23, from 10:00 p.m. to 12:00
a.m., the RATT will be hosting their bi-weekly Open Mic
Night. Have a musical talent you’d like to showcase?
Come on down and play a
show for your friends and fellow classmates.
If you would rather just
be in the audience, there are
plenty of musicians on campus who are more than willing
to make your night a bit more
interesting.
Seeing as it is one of the
most popular events on
campus, Jesuit is hosting yet
another Friday Night Live
show this weekend. This show
is slightly different than other
shows because the performer
is significantly more well
known - Tim Halperin was
a top 24 finalist on this past
season of American Idol.
His voice was favored by
judges as he sang songs by
Maroon5 and the Beatles but
ultimately, it didn’t get him
through the show. But with
his loss comes our gain; we
get to watch him perform
acoustically in the RATT from
10:00 p.m. to midnight.
Finally, on Thursday, March
1, Troy Theater will be featuring their incredibly popular
Jesuit Idol. As a follow-up to
last semester’s Jesuit’s Got
Talent, this show will feature
many of your classmates belting it out onstage.
This first show will be the
auditions so be sure to come
check it out; there is sure to
be much laughter, cheering,
surprise, and overall fun.
We here at CAB hope we
are able to bring you entertaining events to fill your
spare time with excitement
and entertainment, so be sure
to check out all of the events
we’ve got planned.
Now get back to studying
so you’ll have time to break
away later and be sociable.
Happy studying!
CARDINAL CONNECTION
Saudi Arabian
“Coffee Hour”
Continued from Page 1
his people refer to him as the
“King of Humanity.”
When one audience member asked Almonhileh to
compare his King Abdullah
with America’s President
Obama, he wittily responded
with the answer, “They are
like the sun and moon.”
King Abdullah appoints
princes or close relatives to
the royal family to oversee
the 13 provinces in Saudi
Arabia. However, Saudi
Arabia is an immensely
conservative country, and the
Ulema, or religious leader,
has a strong impact on the
politics.
The culture is still strongly
impacted by the conservatism of the government and
the presence of the Qur’an.
Women still tend to wear
hijabs and abayas. Hijabs
cover the head and the rest
of the body is veiled by
the abaya, a usually “thick,
opaque, and loose” garment.
In more urban areas,
though, women tend to cover
less. The “awrah,” or areas
of the body that should be
covered, are often left up to
conservatism, choice, and
interpretation.
To the audience’s delight,
Almonhileh informed us that
now “awrah” tends to merely
refer to the features that
women find unattractive.
“If an ugly face, awrah. If
pretty, not awrah,” Almonhileh joked.
Debate ensued between a
Spanish audience member
and one of Almonhileh’s
guest speakers concerning the right of women to
drive. In Saudi Arabia, it is
culturally frowned upon for
a woman to drive. This idea
is based on the men’s fear
for the safety of their wives,
daughters, and other female
relatives.
Perhaps, then, they ought
to consider the drowning risk
inherent in doing laundry.
Paul Belotte, an on-campus
counselor, questioned Almonhileh about two culturally significant concepts. First,
Belotti sought the amount of
equality between men and
women in places of employment. Almonhileh responded
that 40 years ago the culture
dictated that women stay at
home and take care of the
children and family.
Now, 40 to 45% of students
are male and 60% are female,
so this cultural phenomenon
is “pushing ahead.”
Belotti followed this query
up with that of gay and lesbian rights. Almonhileh’s
guest speaker quickly replied, “There are no gays and
lesbians. It is not accepted
in our religion, so it does not
exist.”
He said, “If there are any,
they hide it. It is considered
a mistake, not a crime, but
a mistake. It is something
if you do it, you do not do it
again.”
The Saudi Arabian “Coffee
Hour” proved to be one of
the most culturally enlightening ones yet.
Next, Culture Fest will be
held in the McDonough Center in late March and China
will host the next “Coffee
Hour” in April.
News
Symphony Provides HighFlying Entertainment
THURSDAY, February 23, 2012 3
Rebecca Olsavsky
Staff Writer
The Wheeling Symphony
Orchestra presented Cirque
de la Symphonie to a sold-out
theater at 8 p.m. on Friday,
February 10, at the Capitol
Theatre in Wheeling, W.V.. As
the program was part of the
symphony’s College Concert
Series, Wheeling Jesuit students attended gratis.
Conducted by Maestro
André Raphel, the Wheeling Symphony Orchestra
partnered with cirque artists,
including gold-medal winners
and Olympians, to combine
classical music with live
cirque performances into what
the event’s program described
as “a three dimensional entertainment extravaganza.”
Cirque performances
included aerial flyers, contortionists, strongmen, and a juggler. Because the cirque artists
performed on the same stage
as the symphony, the moments of interaction between
the artists and, in particular,
Maestro Raphel, were vibrant.
This allowed for the three
dimensional nature of the
event, as described by the
program, to show to the
audience. At one point in the
show, Maestro Raphel even
participated in a magic act.
The audience reacted greatly
to the strongmen and “Aerial
Duo on Silks” performances.
The latter of which involved
aerial artists Alexander
Streltsov, a gold medal winner
at the Festival Mondial Du
Cirque De L’Avenir in Paris,
and Christine Van Loo, an
inductee in the USSA (acrogymnastics) Hall of Fame as
well as the World Acrobatics
Society Gallery of Honor.
The duo glided above the
audience while climbing and
twisting themselves in red silk
hanging from the theater’s
ceiling. During the performance, the symphony played
Russian composer Tchaikovsky’s “Valse” from Swan
Lake.
The strongmen performed
in the finale. Former Polish
hand-balancing champions Jaroslaw Marciniak and Dariusz
Wronski exemplified balance
and strength as one artist
rested his hand, along with
his entire body weight, on the
head of the other artist.
Marciniak and Wronski
even shocked the audience as
one leaned forward off of a
platform, as if falling forward,
with no support except for the
strength of his partner keeping his ankles back. While the
strongmen ended the show,
the symphony played Finnish composer Jean Sibelius’s
“Finlandia.”
According to the Times
Leader, Cirque de la Symphonie “first worked with the
Wheeling Symphony in the
2008-2009 Season.”
With this year’s performance marking the symphony’s first sold-out event
in the past 25 years at the
Capitol Theatre, as reported
by WTRF, it is very possible
that Cirque de la Symphonie
will become a local tradition
for many years to come.
4
Mission & Identity
DEFINING THE WJU COUNSELING
SERVICE
THURSDAY, February 23, 2012
Paul Bellotte
- Guest Writer
Over the years personal
counseling has come in and
out of vogue. As a profession
that originated to serve the affluent, it is realized in today’s
western society, unfortunately,
to be primarily for those who
can afford insurance. Here at
WJU, licensed professional
counseling services are provided to ALL of our students
who request them.
In the course of the past five
years (since I have been here)
the legally private counseling
service has been utilized as a
support to student success for
a wide variety of individuals from all class ranks and
programs both graduate and
undergraduate.
Professional counseling services are utilized by students
confidentially for a wide variety of reasons from support,
stress management, homesickness, transitioning into
careers and/or the workplace,
anxieties related to personal,
family and academic issues,
phobias, substance abuse, issues of sexuality, spirituality,
and many many more.
What exactly is professional
counseling?
“Counseling is a professional
relationship that empowers
diverse individuals, families,
and groups to accomplish
mental health, wellness,
education, and career goals.”
- ACA American Counseling
Association
What does that mean?
Counselors work with individuals in a similar way as
coaches working with athletes. We provide a safe place
to build a strong relationship
with those seeking counseling to deal with issues that are
getting in the way of realizing
their full potential. Sometimes counseling is simply
CARDINAL CONNECTION
‘being with’ someone in their
pain of loss, or worry, or fear
that they are not enough or
may not achieve enough.
Counselors are advocates
for their clients. In being an
advocate a counselor seeks
to affirm the strengths an
individual has to cope with
and master themselves to their
fullest sense of being.
Who seeks this legally private service on our campus?
The answer to that is amazingly unique to our campus. Students who are high
achievers, students who are
being challenged academically, athletes who are great
performers on the court or
field yet struggle with panic
attacks in their private rooms,
students who are experiencing relationship difficulties
or personal loss of all types,
students who are excelling in
all their endeavors but wonder
if they can keep up, students
who are lonely, students who
have been bullied by others,
students who bully and wish
they didn’t, students whose
parents are divorcing, students
who are managing personal
disabling conditions, the list
is infinite, and of course,
private. In other words students who seek legally private
counseling service on our
campus are from all fields of
study, leadership, faith backgrounds, and cultures from
around the world.
Do I have to pay for these
professional counseling services?
Often students say they don’t
understand the ‘fees’ associated with attending the university. The ‘student health fee’
you pay is used to provide this
highly confidential professional service on an unlimited
basis. There are no additional
charges for the professional
counseling service.
How do I arrange an appointment with a counselor to
see if counseling is for me?
We think of that as ‘shopping
around’ for a good match.
That consult can be arranged
by calling the secretary of
the Health Center, Nancy
Ramsay, at 304-243-2275.
There is no need to disclose
to Nancy why you want to
see a counselor you simply
need to request to schedule
an appointment. Except for
critical emergencies the counseling service operates on an
appointment basis because the
students all have schedules
that counseling services need
to fit.
Tina and I hope you consider utilizing us for professional
counseling service support as
the spring semester swiftly
moves toward the end of your
academic year. We look forward to meeting you!
-Paul Bellotte, LPC, ALPS
and Tina Tordella, LSW
Eastern Patterns of Thought: Hindu Priest
Visits Class
Ashleigh Pratt
Sports Editor
Earlier this month, Professor Stover, of the Philosophy
Department, welcomed the
first of several presenters
to his Eastern Patterns of
Thought class.
A course designed to focus
on the philosophies and religions of the Eastern world,
“the guest speakers offer the
students a chance to discuss
the traditions studied in class
with those that practice them
on a daily basis,” according to
Stover.
A Krishna priest from the
New Vrindaban Community,
Tapahpunja Das was met with
a class that was attentive to
his thoughts and diagrams that
lined the whiteboard.
A farmer by trade, Tapahpunja is also the founder of
the Small Farm Training Center, “a non-profit organization focused on
teaching humanFREE HIV SCREENING
ity the essentials of organic
The West Virginia Bureau for Public Health
farming and
self-sustained
will be offering free and confidential
living.”
HIV screenings during the Spring semester.
The main
emphasis of his
presentation was
Open to all WJU Community.
that of Krishna,
or the “All-AtScreenings will be held at the WJU Health Center
tractive Person.”
(McD 219).
It is said that
Krishna embodies total qualities
An appointment is not required.
of each beauty,
knowledge,
Thursday, March 1 - 1:00 pm - 3:00 pm
strength, wealth,
renunciation,
Thursday, April 19 - 9:30 am - 11:30 am
and fame—toThursday, May 3 - 2:00 pm - 4:00 pm
gether these six
features become
the root of devo~ Results will be available in 20 minutes.
tional theism.
~ Results do not appear in your school heath records.
An interest~ Screening is a simple mouth swab.
ing feature
~ Consultation will be available on site.
came when he
described the caste system
with relation to the human
body. In this model, the head
is representative of vision or
guidance; the arms of protection; the torso of production;
and the lower body of crafts,
skill sets and music.
Much of the presentation was given in a way to
make Hinduism relational to
traditional Western patterns
of thought, with regard to
religions.
This was brought to life
through the example of a
relationship between the
person and God. It was said
that the space between us and
God was filled by various
personalities operating on a
different plane than that of
humans. These personalities
were described as demigods,
or “empowered middle men
between you and God.” According to Tapahpunja, many
of the many world religions
today focus on the worship of
demigods, which will hinder
the relationship with the true
God.
He also spoke of dharma, or
the purpose that one cannot
separate from. The examples
given were that of fire being
hot and providing warmth
and sugar being sweet. With
regard to humans as a whole,
dharma would be the abilities
of love and devotion to others.
Reality is also seen as cyclic
and not linear, meaning that
our lives today will dictate
and shape our future lives.
A final important part was
the notion of humans not as
the enjoyers of this world, but
instead the enjoyed. The individualistic nature of humans
prevents a full relationship
with God and keeps us here
on Earth, instead of entering
into the respected higher levels of being (i.e. the kingdom
of God).
Through a largely informative presentation, Tapahpunja
Das was able to make both the
students and others in attendance question their current
mode of thinking, even if for
only that class period.
For more information about
any future presenters, please
contact Professor Stover.
CARDINAL CONNECTION
Mission & Identity
THURSDAY, February 23, 2012 5
West Virginia Council of Churches
Grace Williams
Mission and Identity Editor
Over the past 130 years,
West Virginia’s churches
have been working together
to fulfill their mission to
“make more visible to unity
of Christ’s church, provide a
Christian witness on public
issues, and engage in cooperative mission and service for all
West Virginians.”
In 1880 the West Virginia
Council of Churches was
formed by several Christian
denominations with the vision
“to renew, to strengthen and
to expand [their] covenant
together.”
The Council, now one of
the oldest organizations in
West Virginia, is comprised of
The African Methodist Episcopal Church, The African
Methodist Episcopal Zion
Church, American Baptist
Churches USA, Antiochian
Orthodox Christian, Christian Church (Disciples of
Christ), Church of the Brethren, The Episcopal Church,
USA, Evangelical Lutheran
Church in America, Greek
Orthodox Archdiocese of
America, Presbyterian Church
(USA), Roman Catholic
Church, The Salvation Army,
United Church of Christ,
United Methodist Church,
and Partnership of African
American Churches.
Cody Ford, Interim Executive Director, recently visited
Wheeling Jesuit University
to begin a discussion about
what students can do to bring
the mission of The Council
into the hands of the college
generation.
“I want to talk about ecumenism,” said Ford.
Ecumenism is the work
towards Christian unity. The
interpretation is slightly different depending on the denomination, but for the most
part the overarching goal is to
work with other Christians to
serve the people. An ecumenical goal does not necessarily
imply one corporate church,
but rather cooperation that is
helpful and healthy in each
church’s tradition.
Although the idea of all
Christians working together
to better serve the community has been around since
the 1800’s, the ecumenical
movement had a significant
rebirth in the 1960’s. Today,
the West Virginia Council of
Churches is striving to refocus
the efforts of ecumenism and
get younger generations more
involved, while asking the
question “What do we want
to do with ourselves?”
Ford’s meeting at Wheeling Jesuit with Jamey Brogan,
Director of Campus Minis-
try, Mission & Identity, was
the first step in his plans to
meet with Christian colleges
in West Virginia, including
Bethany College and West
Virginia Wesleyan College.
Ford is a West Virginia
native, graduating from WVU
with a Bachelor of Arts
degree in English. He recognizes the unique needs and
gifts that West Virginia has.
Ford points out that West
Virginia is unique because of
its culture of survival. Because
of the poverty and hardship
present in the state, people
recognize the value of community.
“There is no high-class
denomination,” said Ford.
“The issues of poverty are the
same.”
Unlike the councils in
other states, the West Virginia Council of Churches is
special. The church is often
a center of a community and
knows the people of the area
well.
At the same time, the West
Virginia Council still faces
a few obstacles, one of the
greatest being funding. Many
parishes are poor and simply lack the money to tackle
larger issues.
A strength that the Council
has is the ability to pull together to have a bigger impact
on political issues than just
one church could have.
“It makes a stronger statement when the Council
speaks for all the groups, not
just one,” said Ford. “If you
can gather together groups
that all feel strongly about
something, it increases the
chance that something can be
done about it.”
Other than the political
spectrum, the Council is active in teaching, praying, and
participating in community
and environmental efforts. The
Council’s purpose is broken
down into two main parts,
Faith and Order, and Life and
Works.
“Faith and order is praying
and discussing together issues
that unite and divide us,” said
Ford. “Life and works is what
we do out in the world for the
sake of humanity”
The churches of West
Virginia were especially called
to come together as one for
the sake of humanity after
the Big Branch mine disaster.
At Governor Joe Manchin’s
request, the Council was the
head of donations and distributions after the crisis. This
was affective and everyone
was able to work together.
Now, the Council is calling
Wheeling Jesuit students to
action. Students are being
called to work with other
Christians in the state.
Ford wants to remind students that “there is more that
unites us than separates us.”
Currently, Wheeling Jesuit
offers various ecumenical services such as the Praise and
Worship services and Taize
Prayer services, both of which
are open to all students for a
time of non-denominational
prayer. There are also faculty
ecumenical prayer services
organized throughout the
semester depending upon
interest and prayer requests.
Ford and Brogan hope that
students at Wheeling Jesuit,
with the help of Campus
Ministry and the West Virginia Council of Churches,
are able to start an ecumenical program in partnership
with other students in the
state. Ford and Brogan plan to
meet again to further discuss
the possibilities and encourage any interested student to
step up and be a part of this
revitalizing of the ecumenical
movement in West Virginia.
For more information please
contact Jamey Brogan at jbrogan@wju.edu.
Myth Behind the Madness;
The History of Mardi Gras
Jesse Kubanet
Staff Writer
When one first hears the
term “Fat Tuesday” it is hard
not to imagine the scene
from “Heavyweights” where
the camp throws a junk food
celebration and campers are
seen spraying whipped cream
in the air.
It actually comes from the
French term, Mardi Gras,
which today is a celebratory
event, culminating to the day
before Ash Wednesday and
the beginning of lent.
Mardi Gras celebrations in
the United States began in the
late 17th century, when King
Louis XIV of France, sent two
brothers Pierre Le Moyne
d’lberville and Jean-Baptiste
Le Moyne de Bienville to
defend France’s claim on the
territory that is now Alabama,
Mississippi, and Louisiana.
The brothers set up camp at
a location that is now called
“Mardi Gras Point”.
When New Orleans was
named the capital of Louisiana in 1723, the city accepted
the celebration of Mardi Gras
with open arms. People beyond French or even Catholic
heritage have been celebrating
in the cities famed “French
Quarter” for hundreds of
years. The celebration has
brought on the base of the
cities slogan “Laissez les bons
temps rouler,” or, “Let the
good times roll.” Also bringing about the nickname of the
“Big Easy.”
The event is now celebrated
with the parades of floats
while people donning masks
and costumes representing
Mardi Gras’ colors: purple,
green and gold. Each color
was given its own meaning at
the 1892 Symbolism of Colors Parade. Purple represents
justice, green represents faith,
and gold represents power.
The festivities lead up to Ash
Wednesday, marking the first
day of lent in the calander of
Western Christianity. Lent
is the 40 day fasting period
recognized by Catholics,
Episcopalians, Lutherans,
Methodists, Presbyterians,
Anglicans, and some Baptist
nominations.
Mardi Gras was made an
official holiday in Louisiana
when the then Governor
Warmouth of Louisiana
signed the “Mardi Gras Act”.
So many people participate
and fund the city’s celebration, many like to call it “The
Greatest Free Show On
Earth!”
Sports
This Spring Brings a Strong Hockey Eager to
Season for Track
Continue
6
THURSDAY, February 23, 2012
CARDINAL CONNECTION
Ashleigh Pratt
Sports Editor
Alli Santer
News Editor
Kent State University hosted the most recent indoor track meet on February 18. The NCAA Division
I school provided Wheeling Jesuit’s track team with quality competition and the opportunity to meet big
goals.
Head Coach Ricky Moore was pleased with the results.
“Kent State was a good meet for us. The majority of our athletes set personal bests at the meet and
overall we left there feeling good about where we are right now,” Coach Moore said.
The indoor season ends after the Patriot Last Chance Meet or the NCAA National Championships for
those who have qualified. Stewart Jones and Olivia Lent have already hit the national marks for their
respective events.
In addition to these two, several other athletes have been having exceptional seasons. On the women’s
side, Janey Hall, Lindsey Mills, Victoria Fluharty, Chanel Richardson, and Michelle Pottratz are proving
to be impressive athletes.
On the men’s side, Dustin Hall, Luke Holubeck, and Evan Bratcher have maintained their power as
distance runners whereas Mike Sammel and Eric Kearsh are having “break-out seasons” in the field
events, according to Coach Moore. There are several other athletes who have shown improvements, but
the athletes mentioned appear to have shown the most thus far this season.
“We have broken several school records and we have also set several personal bests. However, we did
have some key injuries this indoor season as well as a few red-shirts that would have made a huge impact
on our indoor season. Fortunately for us, those athletes will be ready to roll for the outdoor season,” Coach
Moore said.
“As indoor season comes to a close, I like to look back and see how everyone has improved so greatly,
not just individually, but as a team as a whole. As a team, we are functioning better as a unit. We should
not be satisfied with just what we have done in the past, because conference is always lingering around the
corner,” senior thrower, Eric Kearsh, said.
Because the indoor season has gone so well, the beginning of the outdoor season will just be a
“continuation” of it. However the outdoor season will be fueled by the reentrance of seven or eight
athletes coming back from injury and/or red-shirt.
“[This] should make a big difference in our team performance this outdoor season,” Coach Moore said.
At the outlook of the spring outdoor season, other schools are already eyeing the conference title. But,
thus far, the vast majority of the schools in our conference are all strong, so conference will be a clash of
superior athletes. We can only hope that the WJU athletes will continue to work hard and come out on
top.
The men’s hockey team has come a long way in a few short
months. “When you think about it, we put together a college
hockey team in under six months,” remarks junior goalie Tommy
Pie.
Started in the spring of 2011 with a handful of interested
students, the team has been predominately about growth and
development. From buying ice time at Wheeling Park to creating
an entire schedule, the team was able to come together into a well
respected team amongst other university coaches.
“We were at a tournament this weekend and the Xavier coach
told us we are ‘15 steps ahead of his team when they started their
first year,’” exclaims Pie.
A member of the inaugural National Association of
Intercollegiate Hockey, this standing puts the Cards amongst the
ranks of schools such as Yale University, Dennison University,
and Marshall University. Initially a governing body, the future
hopes to crown national champions at various levels and “change
the way we view college hockey.”
“With help from other coaches and managers from all over the
area, our first season has been nothing but growth. We now have
teams contacting us wanting to play next season - last year, we
had to do the calling,” said Pie
Though the season is coming to a close, “we are excited to finish
this season and begin work on next year,” said Pie. The Cardinals
will end their season with a game at Marshall University Friday
evening, and a home match against our cross town rivals, West
Liberty University, Saturday night.
Men’s Swimming Three-Peat, Women’s
Swimming Crowned ASC Champions
Brian Dennison
Sports Information Director
The Wheeling Jesuit men's
and women's swim teams
won the 2012 Appalachian
Swimming and Diving Conference Championships this
past weekend at the Stivers
Aquatic Center in Barbourville, Ky.
The Jesuit men flew to five
first place finishes and captured their third-straight ASC
title by a 237-point margin of
victory over Asbury University (645-408). The Cardinal
women soared above the
back-to-back runner-up finishes (2010, 2011) to claim the
2012 Women's ASC Championship, while claiming six
races en route to a 556.5-510
victory.
In addition, Wheeling Jesuit
University Swimming posted
a combined team score of
1,201.5, which was 283.5
points better than runner-up
Asbury University.
“I couldn’t be more proud
of these athletes. For the men
to three-peat and for women
to pull off the upset over Asbury University was incredible,” said Interim Head Coach
Brady Butler. “Through
hardships and obstacles this
season, they never lost sight
of their quest to be conference champions. They proved
that through adversity comes
success.”
Henrique Fructuozo added
a second-consecutive ASC
Men's Swimmer of the Year
award, touching first in four
of the men's top five finishes.
The sophomore from Jaragua
Do Sul, Brazil opened his
second ASC Championship
meet with a win in the 500yard freestyle with a time of
4:38.82 which was .06 seconds away from the pace he
set as a freshman, 4:38.76.
After securing a second
first place finish with the
record-setting 800-yard
freestyle relay team of Patrick
Chadowski, Fructuozo, Max
Queale and Thomas Smith,
the two-time ASC Swimmer
of the Year claimed the pole
position in the 400-yard individual medley and 1650-yard
freestyle events. Rounding
out the first place finishes and
setting a conference record for
the men's squads were Smith,
Thomas Moore, Chadowski
and Queale in the 400-yard
freestyle relay with a time of
3:09.24.
Lydia Kidd stopped the
timer first five times. Kidd set
a new school record and conference mark of 1:06.77 in the
100-yard Breaststroke, recapturing the standard she set a
year ago at 1:06.98. She went
on to win the finals and added
the 200-yard Breaststroke
to her resume. In addition,
Kidd was a member of three
relay teams, two of which set
new school and conference
records.
The 400-yard medley relay
team of Paige Carpenetti, Emily Martin, Kidd and Casey
Hamilton set a new school
and conference mark of
3:59.19, eclipsing the 3:59.58
standard set in 2011. The
same group won the 200-yard
medley relay with a time of
1:50.75, while the 800-yard
freestyle relay team of Kidd,
Jessica Steve, Meghan Ebbert
and Martin erased the time of
7:53.26 with a time of 7:52.73
for a dual record. Martin completed the women's winning
ways with a first place stoppage in the 200-yard freestyle
with a time of 1:57.35.
The Cardinals received several impressive performances
which included 14 trips to the
winners' podium with sec-
ond and third place finishes.
Ebbert and Martin captured a
pair of second place finishes.
Ebbert placed second in the
200-yard individual medley
and breaststroke, while Martin
used the 200 and 100 yard
butterfly events for her second
place nod.
Chadowski and Queale also
made additional appearances
on the stand. Chadowski
took second in the 200-yard
butterfly and third in the 200yard individual medley, while
Queale turned in a pair of
third place finishes in the 100
and 50 yard freestyle races.
Kidd and Carpenetti landed
second place finishes in the
400-yard individual medley
and the 200-yard backstroke,
respectively, while Michael
Viscardi completed individual
winners with a third place
showing in the 200-yard
breaststroke.
Three relay teams supported the effort as men's
(Smith, Chadowski, Moore
and Queale) and women's
(Hamilton, Ebbert, Steve and
Samantha Hilditch) 200-yard
freestyle teams placed second
and third. The men's 400-yard
medley relay team of Evan
Barrow, Bill Risse, Chadowski and Queale placed second.
CONGRATS!
Appalachian Swimming
Conference Champions
Sports
Men’s Basketball Prepares
for Charleston
THURSDAY, February 23, 2012 7
CARDINAL CONNECTION
Lucy DeFruscio
Staff Writer
As the regular season for the men’s
basketball team is coming to an end, the
only thing on the player’s mind is securing a
home playoff game and eventually a WVIAC
championship. Senior Obi Ukwuoma is
very optimistic about what lies ahead for
the Cardinals and sees these goals becoming
realities.
“I do not know what seed we will end
up entering the conference tournament,”
Ukwuoma said. “All I know is we have to be
ready to play the games in front us and secure
a home playoff game. That’s the goal at hand
right now and we are going to do everything
possible to achieve that.”
According to Ukwuoma, Coach Sancomb
helps build his team’s confidence each day so
they can go out and play to the best of their
abilities. A combination of Coach Sancomb’s
confidence and the senior leadership from
Ukwuoma, Steve Catich, Marquis Moore and
Pete Brogdon is a really good position for
entering tournament play.
“Coach Sancomb is always talking about
the process, what it takes for us to get to the
promise land,” Ukwuoma said. “Working hard
in practice, believing in the system, being a
great teammate, and then transferring that to
games are all apart of the process. We all know
if we play our game, we feel like we can beat
anyone in the country.”
Ukwuoma is a very unselfish player who
is all about the team, but he reached an
individual accomplishment a few weeks ago
versus Davis and Elkins. Ukwuoma became
the newest member of the 1000th point club in
the men’s program.
“It felt great to score 1000 points,”
Ukwuoma said. “Not a lot of people get the
opportunity to join that club and for me to be
one of them is a great accomplishment, but I
would trade a championship for that any day!”
The Cards are back in action for their final
home game Saturday Februray 25th. Get out
and show your Cards support as they begin
their journey to a WVIAC championship.
“We need our fans,” Ukwuoma said. “They
have been doing a great job and hopefully we
can only get more because they bring great
energy to us that would only help our play.”
You Know You’re a
Hockey Player When...
o
G
!
s
d
r
a
C
Senior Spotlight:
Tyler Glover
Alli Santer
News Editor
Sport: Track and Field
Major: Marketing
Minor: Professional Communications
How has being on a sports team helped you through
college?
It really helped me develop friendships that will
hopefully last well after graduation. When I first came
here as a freshman, I knew nobody, and honestly had
second thoughts about even being here the first couple
of weeks. But once practice started, I quickly became
friends with my teammates. What has been your favorite part about the
experience?
My favorite part of the experience is the competition
with other teams, my teammates, and even myself. I’m a
competitive person, and track has given me the chance to
go out and compete every day.
Do you have any advice for the underclassmen?
My advice for underclassmen is to work hard from
day one. When I started school here, I wasn’t ready
physically for track, or mentally for class. Stay in shape,
study hard, and don’t dig yourself into a hole that is hard
to climb back out of... trust me!
- You ask the priest why Jesus wasn’t whistled for cross
checking.
- You refer to ice storms as “skating drills”.
- You grow a playoff beard, even when your team is not
in it.
- Your math teacher told you to illustrate the Pythagorean
Theorem and you used a hockey pennant as your
example
- There are more miles on your shoes than on your car.
- You use hockey tape for repairs around the house.
8
THURSDAY, February 23, 2012
Opinion
CARDINAL CONNECTION
Abrupt Resolution Amnesia
Phil DellaSalla
Opinion Editor
It’s been nearly two months
since the calendar change had
prompted us to bring in the
New Year. Regardless if you
can even remember your Eve
or not, there is one thing I’m
willing to bet that you’ve forgotten already. Care to take a
guess? Here it is. Resolution.
I’m sure many of you just
dropped the paper as you hid
your face in shame. Resolution! How could you have
forgotten? This was to be
the year that you finally went
through with it too. Starting
January 1st, 2012, you were
determined to (enter resolution here) for the rest of your
long life.
Don’t worry too much about
it. Millions of people worldwide are affected by what I
call abrupt resolution amnesia. Its symptoms include a
December spent dreaming of
how wonderful your new and
improved life will be once
January arrives. You cannot
act on your resolution until
January, however! Self-improvement must wait for the
New Year. Everyone knows
this.
Point being, I find it rather
silly when people seem to
need an excuse to do something that they obviously want
to do anyway. Have a habit
you want to break? Stop it.
Now. Have a habit you want
to develop? Quit dawdling
and get on it! Life’s too short
to wait for the date to change.
Now as you can probably
guess, I’m not much of a
New Year’s resolution guy. I
decided to give it a try this
year though, just in case there
is some secret magic behind it
that I wasn’t aware of. Now,
a month later, I can guarantee that there is definitely no
magic.
My resolution was to wake
up earlier and try to eat breakfast more often. Considering
how my 2012 started with me
rolling off my buddy’s couch
into a stack of pizza boxes at
the crack of noon, I’m going
to say that I failed the first
part. Fortunately for me,
there was still some pizza in
one of those boxes, so breakfast was a rousing success.
It seems as if I peaked early.
The rest of my winter break
went much the same way. My
phone would rouse me from
my slumber at the ungodly
time of 8 AM. I would glare
with a vengeance at the of-
fensive perpetrator. I know it
was just following orders, but
that didn’t stop me from extracting vengeance by smashing it off of my nightstand
until it stopped. This lasted
under a week.
I guess I’m in no position
to judge those who attempt
to better themselves with a
resolution. I’m sure there are
people who actually manage
to go through with their goal,
which is much more than I
can say.
Return of the Return of the Same Movie, But
with Funny Glasses
Jesse Kubanet
Staff Writer
A long time ago in a galaxy
far, far, away…again.
This past weekend, a 3D
version of Star Wars Episode
1: The Phantom Menace
was released in theatres for
the first time since 1999. I
shelved my distaste for 3-D
movies for this particular
showing because I’m willing
to admit, I am a huge ‘Star
Wars’ nerd.
I think it’s safe to say that
I was about as excited to see
this movie on the big screen
again as I was when I was a
fat kid with glasses wielding a lightsaber. The opening theme is as goose-bump
inducing as someone singing
the national anthem. In fact,
if it was our national anthem maybe other countries
wouldn’t hate us as much.
When the audience saw the
famous yellow letters floating through space, you could
almost hear every 45 year-old
man in America whisper to
his son, “Here we go!” like a
very nerdy Bud Light commercial. It was at this point
that I realized if all of my
textbooks were yellow sentences floating through space,
I might actually read them.
Aside from being re-introduced to Jar Jar Binks, it was
as awesome as I remembered
it. I walked out grinning ear
to ear just as I did thirteen
years ago, only this time I did
Too Busy To Pray?
TIME OUT !
A Lenten Retreat for Busy People
All ARE WELCOME
Students meet each week one-on-one with a
Prayer Guide on campus during Lent.
Employees have a choice:
Meet weekly one-on-one OR
Meet weekly with a small employee group
February 20 through April 2
Just Contact: Fr. Harry Geib, SJ
hgeib@wju.edu ext. 2293
not accidentally hit a stranger
in the genitals with a plastic
lightsaber.
Some people look at the rerelease of these movies as just
another attempt by George
Lucas to suck even more
money out of the pocket of his
acne laden, braces wearing,
fan base and our response is,
we’re fine with it.
Who cares that this is another excuse for the Star Wars
franchise to put out more
merchandise? If Lucas makes
enough money maybe he will
actually build a Millennium
Falcon and save the world
from the Mayan’s.
Or he will just put in a Millennium Falcon-shaped pool
in his fifteenth house. But as
a fan, I’m sincerely all right
with that.
Opinion
Return of the Self-Centered, Incompetent
WJU Student… And This Time It’s Personal!
THURSDAY, February 23, 2012 9
CARDINAL CONNECTION
Mark Palermo
Editor-in-Chief
I had an occurrence about
a week or two ago that really
grinded my gears, and one
that I feel could be relatable to many of you humble
folks on campus. This is a
tale of treachery, deceit, and
selfish deeds that were used
to trample upon the peaceful residents of the Ignatius
dormitory.
Now you’re probably all
thinking: this reminds me of
the type of stuff that would
happen in Lord of the Rings.
Unfortunately, this story does
not provide as intense of a tale
as the epic trilogy, however, it
does contain evil masterminds
who are just as hell-bent on
watching the world burn.
The protagonist of this story
is none other than me. The
antagonist will remain anonymous…. Well because I don’t
know who he is. This story
opens with me walking down
the hall to put some clothes
in the washing machine, like
many of you readers probably have done. I return to my
room and wait the designated
24 minutes for the cycle to
dutifully complete its many
tasks and endeavors.
Approximately 30 minutes
Jesse Kubanet
Staff Writer
The other day I was outside
the B-Room waiting for the
doors to open for brunch, like
an 18th century orphan who
got caught in the rain. For
the life of me, I will never
understand why the 11:00 am
open time is so strict. Like
seriously, it’s 10:58.
Anyway, I was in the middle
of a conversation with a friend
about how, “Like seriously,
what difference does two minutes make in the cheeseburger
casserole preparation?” when
I peered over his shoulder
and noticed a brand new flatscreen TV hanging from the
wall outside the Ratt.
“Has that always been
there?” was the first thought
that crossed my mind and the
first thing I said to my friend’s
cheeseburger casserole conundrum. Actually, the first thing
later, I return to the laundry
room, and what I saw made
my jaw drop and my mouth
remain ajar for at least a
full minute. Folks, what I
am about to say next is not
for the faint of heart. If you
have weak stomachs, please
venture on to the next article
entitled “What Else Is On” article that follows. I walk in to
find my wet clothes sitting on
the dirty windowsill, collecting contaminants and other
bacterial varmint.
This would not have been
a big deal if these clothes
had just come out of a nice
adventure through the dryer,
because they would be dry
and ready to go. But taking
wet clothes out of the washing
machine like that requires a
hefty amount of self delusion
and egotism.
Just for fun, let’s run
through the mindset of this
said individual. This individual: 1) opened the washer and
noticed that there were clothes
in there. 2) Checked the dryers and noticed that they were
still running. 3) Decided that
his skinny jeans and Under
Armour shirts that are purposely tight, in an attempt to
show off whatever muscle he
thinks he has, absolutely have
to be washed right now! 4)
Thought of what would happen to my clothes upon taking
them out. 5) And was okay
with it.
Now that we’ve done
psychoanalysis of this wacky
character, one can only conclude that this guys ego is big
enough to fill an entire laundry mat, the question must
be asked: what to do about
people like this? Do we hang
them? Put them on trial? Tar
and feather them? Or do we
exert our vengeance?! While
I cannot condone getting
payback on the unsuspecting miscreant that has moved
your clothes, I can say that
it would at least make one
feel a little better to just pop
open that washer lid and wait
for the eventual tantrum he
throws when he realizes his
clothes have been sitting there
for a good two hours.
I’ve seen this happen a few
times, and I can only imagine
that it happens all over this
campus. In all seriousness,
it comes down to respect.
Comeon people! Take two
seconds and use that “fun
size” brain of yours to realize:
“Hey. I probably shouldn’t be
a (insert defamatory language
here) and mess with people’s
clothes.”
This may be a small issue,
but if it’s a sign of the disregard people are beginning
to show toward others, this
world is going to have some
serious problems when this
immature group moves into
the workplace and begins
stealing people’s lunches, and
telling their bosses that “their
dog ate their assignment,”
which was needed on their
desk by noon. Well this concludes another rant. I wanted
to throw in a joke about Mr.
Clean, but could not properly
devise one that was good
enough for the high standards
of you classy readers. Until
next time, keep your friends
close, and your laundry closer.
What Else Is On?
I said was, “It’s 11:00! What
is going on back there and
why are we not in the omelet
line right now?”
After realizing that this was
actually a brand new addition
in place of the most ghetto
board I have ever seen (I had
no idea if I needed to use
‘most ghetto’ or ‘ghettoest’
here, marking the first time
in the history of the English
language that was an actual
literary issue).
At first I thought that it was
a good idea. It will look awesome to potential incoming
freshman while on their first
college tour, which marks the
cusp of the rest of their lives.
Then I realized the TV
wasn’t even on.
I’ve actually seen the screen
blank more times than not,
and every time I look at it,
I expect that girl from “The
Ring” to crawl out.
When I did see it turned on,
though, it had advertisements
for “Upcoming Events!”
flashing across the screen. I
then looked twelve inches to
the left and noticed literally
the exact same advertisements
that were printed out on flyers, were playing on a loop
on a screen that my friend
believes would look, “Totally
awesome,” in his bathroom.
So I understand where they
are going with the TV idea,
but I feel like the first effort
was like a lacrosse player
turning and asking him if
we wanted to go to the 8:30
showing of “The Vow”. They
essentially took things on
paper that we ignore, and
turned them into something
electronic that we ignore.
In my opinion, if they want
to keep the electro-flyers up,
they should take down the
paper ones that are literally
right next to television. Secondly, they should split the
screen and have the news or
SportsCenter playing on the
other side.
With a little entertainment
and information combo while
waiting in line for brunch,
maybe we won’t be as upset
when the clock turns to 11:01.
Jesuit Style
Source: www.etcenter.org
10
THURSDAY, February 23, 2012
Ben Chiles
Staff Writer
Vehicular combat is a
sub genre that can only
be applied to a handful of
series, of which Twisted
Metal tops the list. Since
its first incarnation in 1995,
Twisted Metal has been the
staple of vehicular combat
much like Super Mario is
the staple of platformers. As
a series, Twisted Metal has
varied from game to game,
mostly in terms of tone and
style. Some games have been
lighthearted and comical with
a note of satire akin to South
Park, while others have been
as dark and gritty as the Saw
films. Regardless of tone and
style, the premise for each
game is identical. A seemingly
all-powerful man named
Calypso holds a tournament
in which contestants fight
to the death via their cars
(which acquire weapons
such as missiles, napalm, and
machine guns). The winner is
the last contestant left alive.
He or she then confronts
Calypso to claim their prize,
which is whatever their
heart desires no matter what.
Calypso can grant wishes
that defy nature, time, or
even existence itself. Usually,
whenever a contestant makes
their wish, Calypso will use
Arts & Living
Twisted Metal
their wording to bring about
their demise (e.g. buying
someone a plane ticket when
their wish is to be able to fly
and telling them only after
they jump off a building).
Occasionally, however, he
will actually grant wishes
with no interference if the
wish is inherently evil, such
as revenge. As stated above,
regardless of the direction the
various games go in, these
elements are always the same,
until the most recent release
that is.
Twisted Metal was released
for the Playstation 3 this
past Valentine’s Day and
differs from its predecessors
in various ways and with
differing degrees of success.
Perhaps the most obvious
to a fan of the past games is
the campaign. Previously,
every driver had their
own individual story and
ending, much like in the
Mortal Kombat series. For
this reboot, however, the
campaign is a linear story
spanning 3 characters. Some
view this as the natural
evolution in storytelling
via the game while others
feel cheated by the lack
of variety. Really, it’s all
about preference of quality
versus quantity. Regardless
of whether one likes the
direction they took, it can
hardly be argued that it was
done meticulously well. The
cut-scenes embody what they
design team has wanted to do
since the very first game; live
action with added cgi. This
combo depicts very gritty Sin
City-esque portrayals of the
tournament. The 3 characters
followed in the campaign are
series mascot Sweet Tooth, a
new Mr. Grimm, and Dollface
(who may or may not be the
same as in Twisted Metal:
Black). As one plays through
the campaign, one learns
of each of these characters’
back stories and endings
concerning their wish, all
of which Calypso interferes
with.
The differences don’t stop
with the stories, however.
In an effort to incorporate
variety into the simple smash
n’ crash game mechanics,
new types of levels were
integrated throughout the
campaign. One such level is a
racing level, a bold move for
such a type of game. While
this reviewer applauds the
initiative taken to integrate
innovation, he cannot say it
was a success. The two levels
that are based on racing fail
on a few levels, not the least
of which is the racing itself.
The speed attributed to the
vehicles varies so drastically
that some vehicles simply
aren’t plausible to use in these
races. On the other hand,
the faster vehicles are so
unrealistically fast that precise
turning becomes impossible.
Because of these two factors,
winning the race is much less
based on skill of the player
and instead based on ability
of the vehicle. When one
also takes into account that
the other contestants never
stop shooting missiles at
one’s car, not falling off the
side of a mountain can be
quite difficult. These issues
ultimately culminate in the
player feeling much less
accomplished when beating
the level and much more
simply relieved that they
don’t have to try again.
While the implementation
of racing is a failure, most
of the other new level types
are resounding successes.
In one, the player must stay
within a designated area or
they begin taking damage. As
such, when the area moves, so
must the player. This provides
an exciting new way to play.
Another new level type is just
a variation of boss levels. In
order to take down a giant
flying robot, one must find
the leader of the opposing
faction by destroying the
various vehicles until he or
she appears, drag him or her
to a rocket shooting semi, and
CARDINAL CONNECTION
guide a missile with the leader
attached into the giant flying
robot. If that sounds weird,
it’s because it is, but it is also
so much fun.
Most of these level types
are also available in the
multiplayer part of the game,
which allows for local split
screen as well as online.
Twisted Metal has always
been and will always be a
multiplayer focused series. It
is meant to be played among
friends, much like Call of
Duty or Mortal Kombat.
And it succeeds beautifully
in that regard. The different
matchmaking preferences
allow for specificity while
the option to just jump into
a game allows for quick
matches. It even has a ranking
system akin to the various
army games, though it is
nowhere near as in depth.
Love it or hate it, this
newest iteration of Twisted
Metal is just the next step
in the genre that it defined.
While the single player is
drastically different, it is not a
single player game at its core
and should not be judged as
such. It is a game meant to
be played among friends, and
if you and your friends can’t
have fun blowing each other
up, then this reviewer submits
that the problem lies not with
the game but with you.
9/10
CARDINAL CONNECTION
Arts & Living
THURSDAY, February 23, 2012 11
Vow...To Watch Something Better
Sarah Edwards
Staff Writer
Unless you’ve been living
under a rock for the past
month, you’ve heard about
“The Vow.” For girls it was
supposed to be another epic
love story. One that will
make you laugh and cryyou know giving us some
unrealistic expectations. For
guys, it’s the movie that girls
won’t stop talking about, or
more accurately, the guys
girls won’t stop talking
about. Channing Tatum (cue
flashback to Step Up). Guys, I
will apologize for those of us
who have an unnatural love
for Channing Tatum. He’s
hot and has a deep soothing
voice and I’m sorry but he’s
awesome. Okay, now that
we’ve established that back
to this movie that was not
awesome.
The movie has a predictable
storyline, but an unexpected
ending. The story is about
a couple, recently married
and enjoying being in love.
Leo, the owner of a music
production studio, and Paige,
an artist who just bought her
own studio, they’re still in
that honeymoon phase. The
movie begins by the couple
coming out of their date to
fresh fallen snow (because
snow is cold, wet, and a little
grossbut for some reason
romantic?) and get into their
car and begin driving home.
Leo (Tatum) begins singing
to Paige (played by Rachel
McAdams)- the sweet scene
of a boy singing to a girl in
the car. Sappy and romantic,
this movie is marketed to
women/ teenage girls on
Valentine’s Day. The car with
the loving couple stops for
a brief ‘romantic moment’
where McAdams’ character
unbuckles her seatbelt. Within
the minute of unbuckling
her seatbelt a snow truck
(the one time they actually
take care of the roads)
slams into the canoodling
couple. McAdams’ Paige
sails through the windshield,
experiencing traumatic head
injuries.
She awakes in the hospital,
her stunning husband by her
bedside. However, she doesn’t
remember the past five years
of her life. The past five years
of her life was the time they
met, fell in love, and got
married. Paige’s parents come
into the picture after being
gone for five years, because
of some issues that arose
before the accident. The story
progresses with Leo trying to
make Paige remember, they
go through some progression,
then some setbacks. I won’t
ruin the end, for anyone who
truly wants to see this movie.
It is truly not worth the two
and a half hours of your time
or the nine dollars.
Unfortunately it wasn’t
the romantic love story that
would make you feel all warm
and fuzzy. However,
you do get to see Channing
Tatum without a shirt for long
periods of the movie… alright
maybe it is worth nine dollars.
I’ll leave the choice up to you.
Jewelweed: Jesuit’s
Creative Side
Andrew Bellevage
Guest Writer
WJU’s Fine Arts program
and Jewelweed staff are
offering monetary prizes to
It’s that time of year
the best of each category.
again; everyone’s favorite
Each work that is submitted
playwright is turning 448.
by a non-Jewelweed staff
To celebrate, Wheeling
member will be objectively
Jesuit’s Fine Arts program
and anonymously judged
is publishing their next
by the panel of Fine Arts
issue of Jewelweed – a
Professors. The deadline
student-based creative work for submissions is March
that shines with personality, 15, and Jewelweed will
flair, and inspiration.
be published later this
Jewelweed is a fantastic
semester. Anyone can
opportunity for anyone
submit, so don’t be shy.
who works artistically
There will be a friendly
with any medium. For
gathering and awards
aspiring Sylvia Plaths and
ceremony where the
Robert Frosts out there,
visual arts pieces will be
Jewelweed’s poetry section displayed and copies of
can become the new home
Jewelweed will be released.
for your poem, and for
Artists will have the option
those Edith Whartons
of explaining or discussing
the prose section will be
their works. Last year,
most delightful. A new
Awkward Friend Dave,
category this year will
Jesuit’s quirky, fun and
be for dramatic writing
extremely talented band
which will show off the
won for their original song
Shakespeare in all of us.
November 23rd. Follow
Whether it’s photography,
AFD’s lead and let yourself
visual art, dramatic writing, shine through the work you
prose, poetry or music,
create!
Jewelweed is the outlet of
self-expression.
12
THURSDAY, February 23, 2012
Cardinal
Connection
Staff:
Editor-in-Chief
Mark Palermo
News Editor
Alli Santer
Mission & Identity Editor
Grace Williams
Sports Editor
Ashleigh Pratt
Opinion Editor
Phil DellaSalla
Arts & Living Co-Editors
Shriya Adhikary
Allison Burke
Moderator
Brady Butler
Cardinal
Connection
Mission:
- To provide a truthful and
balanced account of
Wheeling Jesuit University’s
life and issues, to foster a sense
of community among students
and employees, and to enable the
community to fulfill the
university’s mission
- To provide a forum for the expression of viewpoints on issues
facing the community so that
the university community may
develop a mature public opinion
- To serve as a vehicle for
educating students in
professional journalistic skills
Cardinal
Connection
Opinion Policy
The Cardinal Connection is the
official student newspaper of
Wheeling Jesuit University. It is
printed bi-monthly and released
on Thursdays.
Opinions printed in the Cardinal
Connection, unless expressly
stated otherwise, are solely those
of the author and not the views
of the Cardinal Connection or
Wheeling Jesuit University.
Letters to the editor
may be submitted to the
Cardinal Connection at
cardinalconnection@wju.com.
Letters should remain within 350
words. The Cardinal Connection
staff reserves the right to edit or
hold any letter submitted. Letters
must be submitted at least one
week before the publication of
the issue the author wishes it to
be published in. The Cardinal
Connection does not publish
anonymous letters.
Arts & Living
CARDINAL CONNECTION
Undo’s Restaurant Review
Katie Balbier and
Megan Truelove
Staff Writers
Chris Rouhier
Alumni Contributer
CR: Katie Balbier and Megan
Truelove are seated upon my
love seat. It’s from Ignatius
Hall. Ryan Norman and I
stole it from the dumpster
outside Iggy during a
rainstorm. I let it dry out for
a while and cleaned and fixed
it up. After I graduated, I
slept on it for nearly a week
before finding an old futon
inside Ignatius. It was an
uncomfortable arrangement;
sometimes my legs would
lie across the armrests and
I would wake up in pain.
Long story short, short story
long, I used to serve as a
Cardinal Connection editor,
now I work as an admissions
representative for WJU.
Megan and Katie thought the
love seat story was a really
good one and asked me to
include it. In the words of
Katie, “life’s short, get a
helmet.”
KB: Chris, I really liked that
story. It must have taken a
lot of courage to share it with
everyone. I can’t imagine
being in that position and
waking up purple from poor
blood circulation due to
sleeping on such a small love
seat. On that note, Undo’s
Restaurant in Benwood was
absolutely delicious and its
location in relation to the
school was about a ten minute
drive. The drive was worth it
because of the food. 5/5.
CR: That’s a great insight,
Katie. I loved that you
described me as courageous.
It must have taken a lot of
courage for you to make such
a bold statement. Megan, do
you have any thoughts you
would like to share about my
love seat or Undo’s?
MT: I would agree with you
Katie, the location wasn’t bad.
Even though we didn’t know
where we were going, thanks
to Katie’s navigation skills we
were still able to find it pretty
easily. At first, Katie just
thought Undo’s was a sign on
a park pavilion, but it turned
out the restaurant was close
by. 5/5.
CR: You know, that’s a great
insight, Megan. Katie, do you
have anything you would like
to add about the food?
KB: I’m going to speak the
truth right now. The food was
ABSOLUTELY delicious!
I ordered the lasagna and
meatball baked dish with
a side of Italian sausage.
Our table got a huge cheese
breadstick/pizza that we were
able to dip in marinara sauce
and garlic butter. We also got
salad, which was very fresh
and had cucumbers, olives,
cheese, pepperoni, tomato,
and…
MT: You forgot lettuce.
KB: I really liked dipping
the breadsticks in the garlic
butter. I’d never been served
that in an Italian restaurant
before. The lasagna and
meatball came in a cast iron
skillet and was covered in
cheese. The Italian sausage
was extra on the side, and
came with onions and green
peppers. Everything was just
delicious. I would add that the
lasagna wasn’t the best I ever
had. The noodles were too
mushy. 8.5/10
CR: Megan, were your
noodles firm enough?
MT: (Megan is staring at a
cookbook)
CR: (This time, more serious
in tone) Megan, were your
noodles firm enough?
MT: Why yes, Chris! My
noodles were cooked to
perfection. I ordered the
“famous” Wilde Linguini. Do
you want to know what was
on it?
CR: Yes.
MT: WAIT. Katie also forgot
to mention that there was a
house dressing that I thought
was really good. But enough
about the salad and the bread.
I think Katie did a good
enough job explaining that.
My linguini was sautéed
with oil and garlic and it had
carrots, broccoli, chicken,
walnuts. I don’t know what to
say…9/10.
KB: Is it my turn yet?
CR: Yes. Now we’ll discuss
the service.
KB: Okay. When we first
arrived at the restaurant there
was a short wait until we
were seated at our C-shaped
booth. Our waitress was very
friendly, nice, and attentive.
She said in English, “enjoy
your meal,” but as they say in
France, “bon appétit!” 5/5.
CR: What did you think of the
service, Megan?
MT: I think Katie pretty much
covered it. You caught the
deer by the antlers. What do
YOU think, Chris?
CR: Um, Megan, was the
atmosphere your…true love?
MT: The atmosphere was
cute. It was…
KB: …and was very cuddlycozy. It was a great place to
go to in the cold weather.
MT: …
ANNNNNNNNNNNND I
enjoyed the warm lighting,
4/5.
KB: I’d give it a 5/5.
CR: Katie, did you think the
price was reasonable?
KB: My meal, the lasagna
with a large meatball, Italian
sausage, and a large glass of
milk, was about $21. I thought
that was very reasonable. 4/5.
CR: And you, Megan?
MT: My meal cost $14 for the
wilde pasta and I didn’t think
that was a bad price since it
included the bread and salad.
I consider the large portion of
food a good deal. 5/5.
CR: Would you ladies go
back?
KB: Definitely.
MT: Of course!
KB: 27.5/30, MT: 28/30
College Student’s Guide to Budget Friendly Cooking:
Grilled Chile Cheese
Alli Santar
News Editor
Makes 6 sandwiches
Serves 3-6
Ingredients:
2 cups shredded cheddar cheese (or, your favorite cheese!)
6 tbsp softened butter
2 ½ red chiles seeded and chopped
½ tsp cumin
12 slices of bread buttered on one side
Directions:
(1) Preheat the oven to 375 degrees. While the oven is preheating, mix the cheese and butter together in a bowl until creamy,
then add the chiles and cumin.
(2) Place 6 slices of the buttered bread buttered-side down, on a baking sheet, then spread with the cheese mixture. Top with
the remaining slices of bread, buttered-side up, and press down.
(3) Bake in the preheated oven for 9-12 minutes, until crisp and lightly browned. Serve immediately; the gooey, spicy
goodness is best hot.