See RECYCLING, page 2

STUDENT LIFETHE INDEPENDENT NEWSPAPER OF WASHINGTON UNIVERSITY IN ST. LOUIS SINCE 1878

WEDNESDAY, APRIL 19, 2006 WWW.STUDLIFE.COMVOLUME 127, NO. 75

Bears baseball improves their record to 29-5 while men’s tennis serves up an all-star match, beating UMSL’s Division II team. Page 6.

Forum hosts a fi ery debate over the rights of the fetus, with readers and staff columnists both speaking up on the subject. Page 4.

“What do we want?” shouted Reverend Michael Vosler to the small crowd gathered at Grace United Methodist Church on Monday morning. His audi-

ence knew the answer too well. Wearing the orange armbands that became a symbol of civil disobedience on campus one year ago, seven sit-in veterans boomed back with, “A living wage!”—a response they had chanted countless times at the

Washington University admin-istration. And when did they want it? “Now.”

With a cake bearing a single candle and statements to the local press from community leaders, University workers and sit-in participants marked the one-year anniversary of the 19-day occupation of the Ad-missions Offi ce and the Brook-ings Quadrangle by the Student Workers Alliance (SWA). The sit-in, which included a fi ve-day hunger strike, ended on April 22, 2005, with a written agree-ment from the University that addressed students’ demands for a living wage and increased benefi ts for all University em-ployees.

“We teach economics in the classroom, and, by virtue of its community, [the University is] saying to students that it’s all right for these workers to be earning these low wages,” said Vosler, co-chair of the St. Louis Workers’ Rights Board. “But the students are saying it’s not all right, and the community is saying it’s not all right. Wash-ington University is capable of better and greater things.”

Monday’s gathering also marked the release of a re-

port from a panel of commu-nity leaders who have been researching the University’s actions towards fulfi lling their agreement.

“We were pleased to fi nd that Washington University appears to be in compliance with the agreement that ended the sit-in,” said Missouri State Repre-sentative Maria Chappelle-Nad-al, who serves on the panel.

Among the University’s ac-complishments, according to the panel’s fi ndings, are its year-ly commitments of $500,000 toward increased wages and benefi ts for workers. So far, this commitment has raised the wage fl oor for all campus workers from as low as $6.50 per hour to $8.25 per hour.

In addition, the University has provided health care ser-vices at La Clinica, a free bilin-gual clinic in south St. Louis, for workers without health in-surance and formed two com-mittees with SWA represen-tation to continually discuss the issues raised by the sit-in. Chappelle-Nadal also cited the University’s issuance of Metro-Link passes to all of its employ-

By Kristin McGrathContributing Reporter

SWA celebrates one year anniversary of sit-inv SWA looks back on the 19-day occupation of the Admissions Offi ce one year ago

and looks forward to achieving a living wage for all Washington University workers

Missouri Democratic senato-rial candidate Claire McCaskill spoke at Washington Univer-sity Monday night, sharing her views on issues ranging from gay marriage to healthcare to the defense budget.

McCaskill, currently serv-ing her second term as Mis-souri state auditor, is running against Republican incumbent Jim Talent. While she admitted the election would be close, she did not hold back her feelings of opposition. She specifi cally criticized his deciding vote in favor of a 2005 bill reducing student loan programs by $12.7 billion.

“It was the biggest gut punch,” said McCaskill. “It has had a dramatic impact on the economy. We can’t continue to absorb the debt we’re foisting on students.”

McCaskill also supported in-creased federal funding for pri-vate universities nationwide.

“I’m happy to go toe-to-toe on this issue,” she said. “Wash. U. is a jewel in this state. I’d like to throw a net over this place to keep all the students here.”

Furthermore, she added

that the University could best improve its relations with the state, and St. Louis in particu-lar, by providing more intern-ships and focusing on stem-cell research. Despite its reputation as a premier research institu-tion, the local biotech industry has recently criticized the Uni-versity for its ineffi cacy at fos-tering the growth of the com-munity.

McCaskill was brought to the University by the College Democrats, who fi rmly support her campaign and policies.

“It shows a lot when a can-didate comes to talk to college students,” said College Demo-crats President Aaron Keyak, a junior. “What’s most important is to get Senator Talent out of offi ce and out of Missouri. Mc-Caskill is an excellent alterna-tive.”

Others who attended the discussion acknowledged her unique way of communication and taking action.

“It was a good opportunity for students to hear her opin-ions,” said sophomore Jeremy Kazzaz, an intern for McCaskill. “Part of the new breed of Demo-crats is to understand that bi-

McCaskill shares platform with WU students

Employers are increasingly using Facebook as a hiring tool, prompting the University’s Ca-reer Center to warn students against putting racy images and salty language in their pro-fi les.

Mark Smith, director of ca-reer planning and placement, says that during hiring deci-sions employers are looking for someone who exhibits good judgment and would represent their company well.

“You don’t want any barri-ers to prevent you from getting a job,” said Smith. “You don’t need something like that. You want your application clean.”

In addition to pictures in-volving drugs, alcohol, nudity and related paraphernalia, Smith warns students to moni-

tor the groups they join and the messages posted on their walls.

“Think of a boring 50-year-old person who doesn’t get out and doesn’t have a sense of humor,” he said. “It may not be fair, but it’s reality.”

Smith said one University student recently lost a job op-portunity because of an im-proper Facebook profi le. The interviewer found it and imme-diately declared him out of the running.

“Just as you research em-ployers, they’re going to do the same thing,” said Smith. “The safe thing is to go with a safe profi le.”

Smith also said students don’t realize that separating their personal and professional lives can be diffi cult.

“As you get older you realize you can’t keep them separate,”

Smith said. “Even after college and your fi rst job, you have to be careful.”

Still, Smith suggests stu-dents should maintain separate e-mail and phone numbers for professional and personal pur-poses.

Universities across the coun-try are also beginning to edu-cate their students about the is-sue. The University of Missouri at Columbia formed a panel to teach students about possible legal violations.

Employers are not the only ones scanning profi les. Police are also getting into the act. At Northern Kentucky Univer-sity, students were charged with code violations when a keg was seen in a photo of a dorm room.

Don Strom, Washington University’s police chief, says he hasn’t used Facebook as an

investigation tool but wouldn’t hesitate to do so if necessary.

“If we had an investigation and we were trying to deter-mine who might know an in-dividual, would we go to tools like Facebook? Sure. We prob-ably would,” said Strom.

But Strom added that the University police department doesn’t and wouldn’t use Face-book to actively search for stu-dents with potentially incrimi-nating profi les.

He said that such use would be “inconsistent with the Uni-versity philosophy.”

“People have to make a seri-ous consideration about how much information they want to put out about themselves,” Strom said. “I think that there’s an overall level of caution that people should be using.”

Students cautioned as recruiters and police log on to FacebookBy Josh HantzStaff Reporter

Junior Meredith Davis, communications chair of the Student Worker Alliance, speaks at a press conference Monday about the progress of workers at the University one year after SWA’s 19-day sit-in in the Offi ce of Undergraduate Admissions.

DAVID BRODY | STUDENT LIFE

STUDENTS HONOR SUICIDE BOMBING VICTIMS

Sophomore Mollie Spevack holds a candle during a vigil for the victims of a Tel Aviv suicide bombing held by the Students for Israel on the Swamp on Monday evening. Approximately a half dozen students came to pray, read descriptions of the victims and sing Hatikva, the Israeli national anthem.

DAVID BRODY | STUDENT LIFE

By Josh HantzStaff Reporter

Washington University has continued its steady climb up the college rankings—this time in the category of recycling. After a last-place fi nish for the previous three years in RecycleMania, a friendly 10-week competition among university recycling pro-grams, this year the University showed a renewed commitment to preserving the environment and a higer score

The University placed 50th out of 87 participating universi-ties in the ‘Per Capital Classic’ category, a competition which weighs the amount of mixed pa-per and comingle recycled per student. Oregon State, the win-ner of the competition, recycled an impressive 91.35 pounds per student. Washington University weighed in at 19.3 pounds per student.

“Considering we were averag-

ing about 3.8–4.6 lbs per student [in previous years], I would say that the competition exceeded expectations. We did about four to fi ve times better than we had in the past, which is a signifi cant difference,” said senior Natalie Zaczek, president of Green Ac-tion.

This year, RecycleMania ex-panded considerably, introduc-ing fi ve new areas of competition and doubling its number of col-lege and university participants.

Zaczek attributed this year’s success to a new recycling con-tractor, increased campaigning and faculty support.

“The faculty played the most signifi cant role in the amount of waste recycled by getting a new recycling vendor that recycles more. The faculty also decided to count some from the medi-cal school and Hilltop campus in addition to the residential ar-eas. Only the residential areas were counted in the past,” said

Zaczek. Although the competition

ended on April 8, sophomore Emily Dangremond, member of Green Action and organizer of the University’s RecycleMania, emphasized that environmental groups on campus remain dedi-cated to improving recycling on campus. Already, Green Action and the Committee on Environ-mental Quality are partnering to raise recycling awareness ear-lier on in a student’s career at the University.

“Now that the competition is over, we are planning to teach all the incoming students what is recyclable by beginning with the freshman at orientation,” said Dangremond. “When a student comes to Wash. U., he will have to change his recycling habits anyway, so the goal is to teach people when they fi rst arrive.”

Wash. U. climbs in RecycleMania rankingsBy Mandy SilverSenior News Editor

Claire McCaskill, Missouri’s Democratic candidate for the U.S. Senate, speaks to the College Democrats on Monday night in Friedman Lounge.

CAROLYN GOLDSTEIN | STUDENT LIFE

See SWA, page 2See McCASKILL, page 2

A drag queen inspired line of shoes, Robert Ebert, and a 46-song CD/DVD combo? Ca-denza squeezes it all into one page. Page 5.

Cadenza is smoking hot

when they interview the original writer of

the new fi lm, “Thank You for Smoking.” Page 10.

ˆ

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Editor in Chief: Sarah KliffAssociate Editor: Liz NeukirchManaging Editors: Justin Davidson, Da-vid TaborSenior News Editor: Mandy SilverSenior Forum Editor: Daniel MilsteinSenior Cadenza Editor: Ivanna YangSenior Scene Editor: Erin FultsSenior Sports Editor: Andrei BermanSenior Photo Editor: David BrodyNews Editors: Troy Rumans, Laura Geg-gelContributing Editor: Shweta MurthiForum Editors: Tess Croner, Nathan Everly, Chelsea Murphy, Jill StromingerCadenza Editors: Elizabeth Ochoa, Brian StittScene Editors: Sarah Klein, Felicia BaskinSports Editor: Scott Kaufman-RossPhoto Editors: David Hartstein, Meghan Luecke, Jason Hubert, Carolyn GoldsteinOnline Editor: Matt RudinDesign Chief: Laura McLeanCopy Chief: Mallory WilderCopy Editors: Willie Mendelson, Troy Ru-mans, Josh Hantz, Ellen Jones, Emily Frid-man, hannah draper, Indu Chandrasekhar, Jessica Trieber, Paige Creo, Meghan Lu-ecke, Erin Fults, Jonathan BaudeDesigners: Ellen Lo, Anna Dinndorf, Jamie Reed, Elizabeth Kaufman, Kate Ehrlich

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STUDENT LIFESenior News Editor / Mandy Silver / news@studlife.com WEDNESDAY | APRIL 19, 20062 STUDENT LIFE | NEWS

house

ad

Following the spirit of RecycleMania, the Greek community is jumping on the recycling bandwagon. With Thurtene Carnival around the corner, leftover wood and empty paint cans litter the lot in front of Brookings. Striking the fa-cades is expected to produce even more recyclable materials.

In a new initiative this year called Green Thurtene, Green Action and En-gineers Without Borders will recycle wood, collect empty paint cans, dis-tribute half-used paint cans and place comingle recycling bins on the lot. The project has educated façade groups about the proper disposal of paint and encouraged groups to buy wood from local vendors. Senior Emily Korsch, who masterminded the initiative, said that awareness is a “huge part of any sus-tainable project.”

“The more people we can incorporate in everyday recycling, the better. Green Thurtene shows that every project that is undertaken can have some kind of en-vironmental aspect,” said Korsch.

Over past years, leftover lumber has piled up at the Greek storage facilities. This year, in order to prevent the dis-posal of usable lumber, Green Thurtene has planned a wood giveaway day at Ty-son after the carnival. Members of local community groups are invited to come and claim leftover lumber, tentatively scheduled for May 6 from 9:00 a.m. to 12:00 p.m.

RECYCLING v FROM PAGE 1

Bins such as this one have been placed all over the Thurtene Carnival lot to encourage recycling.

EITAN HOCHSTER | STUDENT LIFE

SWA v FROM PAGE 1ees as evidence of its commit-ment to decrease travel and parking costs for workers.

“However, that commitment alone is not the standard by which we can consider Wash-ington University to be a model employer in the St. Louis Com-munity,” said Chappelle-Nadal. “Many of the worker issues raised in that initial proposal are still unaddressed.”

Many of the University’s workers, for example, still do not earn a living wage, said Chappelle-Nadal. A living wage, as defi ned by St. Louis City or-dinance, would be $10.30 per hour with benefi ts and $12.90 per hour without benefi ts. In addition, said Chappelle-Nad-al, many workers do not have adequate health care and live “in a climate of fear…that lim-its their free choice to organize unions.”

Lorraine Anderson and Vera Johnson, who both work in jan-itorial services at the Univer-sity, represented their fellow workers at the event.

“We work very hard,” said Anderson. “Last night, between my partner and I, we cleaned 59 blackboards, not to mention blinds, desks, everything. For my hard work, I earned $8.60 an hour.”

The $8.60 per hour she now gets paid is due to the raise An-derson got after the sit-in. Prior to the sit-in, she earned $7.75 per hour. But this increase in pay, she said, is not enough. Anderson’s daughter passed away last year, leaving her to raise two grandchildren.

“I just want these kids to have a good life,” said Ander-son. “If I made a few more dol-lars an hour, which the city of St. Louis says is a living wage, I could afford to take the kids out to dinner once in a while. I’m coming closer to retire-ment, but I’m not afraid to stand up with [the SWA]. We

need to make these jobs better than we found them.”

Hostility towards worker organization, Anderson and Johnson said, might have been why she and Johnson were the only workers in attendance at the event. The others, Anderson said, were probably “afraid.” During the sit-in itself, stu-dents attempted to dissuade campus workers from taking part, fearing that the workers might face repercussions.

“When they were doing the sit-in, they didn’t want us to rally with them,” said Johnson, who works nights at the Uni-versity and joined the protest-ers during the day. “But when we’re off work on our own time, [our employers] can’t tell us we can’t rally with students trying to get us a decent wage. I’m here today to support the living wage and support the students too for helping us.”

During a question-and-an-swer session that followed the panel’s statements, the stu-dent participants were asked if they would be willing to bear a higher tuition as a result of their efforts.

“The tuition goes up $1,300 to $1,800 every year for seem-ingly no apparent reason,” said junior Meredith Davis. “If you divide the cost [for higher wag-es] among all students, it’s less than $100 per person, which is less than the activities fee.”

Junior Sam White said that, if necessary, she’d take part in another sit-in. The SWA might have to be innovative, however, if it hopes to make a big im-pression, she said.

“The thing is, the protest has to put the administration out of its comfort zone, and a sit-in might not do that again,” said White. “It might not be strategic a second time. But if it were, I would….I still want a living wage. And I still don’t care if I get kicked out.”

partisanship is important. You have to put aside certain things to get stuff done in this coun-try.”

McCaskill’s political career in Missouri began after gradu-ate school when she became a law clerk at the Court of Ap-peals in Kansas City. From 1983 to 1988, she served in the Mis-souri House of Representatives. She made a name for herself as a prosecutor and leader on criminal justice issues, rais-ing sentences for repeat violent criminals and jailing more of-fenders than any other Mis-souri prosecutor.

In 2004 she lost her bid for governor to Republican Matt Blunt by three percentage points but continued her posi-tion as state auditor. Now she is statistically tied with Talent in the senate race, according to the latest poll conducted in March.

“The election will be close,” said McCaskill. “There’s no tip-ping point on issues of compe-tence and foreign policy.”

During the question-and-answer session, she stated she was against gay marriage but for civil union. She also cited a need for major changes regard-ing healthcare.

“Those that are uninsured and underinsured are access-ing emergency rooms,” she said. “Hospitals have to absorb the costs, which are passed on to the insurance companies, which are passed on to premi-ums. We need to be proactive in community health centers and have more fl exibility in Medic-aid.”

National defense was also a concern.

“The saddest thing is that the doubled defense budget does not even include Iraq,” she said. “I can’t wait to throw

some elbows. I’ll be aggressive in removing the nonsense.”

With regard to Iran, she said she was not against using force.

“Iran is so emboldened right now,” she said. “It knows how thinly spread we are right now. We have to keep a military op-tion open.”

Sharing her campaign strat-egy in rural areas as well, Mc-Caskill said she would focus more on the fact that she too was raised in a small town and worked as a waitress to support herself. She feels she did not do this enough in her gubernato-rial race.

“We forget to remind them that I’m a human being,” she said. “I’m a multidimensional person.”

About 50 people attended the discussion in Friedman Lounge. The senate elections will be held in November.

MCCASKILL v FROM PAGE 1

www.studlife.com

Senior News Editor / Mandy Silver / news@studlife.com WEDNESDAY | APRIL 19, 2006 STUDENT LIFE | NEWS 3

Premier children’s advocate to end As-sembly Series season

Marian Wright Edelman, renowned for her work improving the lives of deprived children, will give the fi nal talk of this spring’s Assembly Series at 11 a.m. today in Graham Chapel. Edelman is the president and founder of the Children’s Defense Fund, where she has worked to fulfi ll its mission of ensuring the well-being of every child. Her canon of work includes eight books, hundreds of hon-ors and awards and membership on the Council on Foreign Relations, the American Philosophical Society, the American Academy of Arts & Sciences and the Institute of Medicine of the National Acad-emy of Sciences. The event is co-sponsored by the Women’s Society of Washington University, Univer-sity Libraries and the George Warren Brown School of Social Work.

Study debunks “Latté Liberals” and “NASCAR Republicans”

David K. Park, an assistant professor of political science at Washington University, recently co-au-thored a new study of how income infl uences state-by-state voting patterns. The study, titled “Rich State, Poor State, Red State, Blue State: What’s the Matter With Connecticut?” dispels the popular me-dia portrayal that wealthier citizens have shifted towards the Democratic Party, while at the same time poor, working-class voters are becoming Re-publicans. His fi ndings reveal that the income vari-ance within states explains national voting patterns rather than average income between states. The study concludes, ultimately, that the richer a voter is, the more likely that voter is to vote Republican, regardless of ethnicity, sex, education or age.

POLICE BEATTuesday, April 11

3:46 p.m. DRUG PARA-PHERNALIA—LIEN RESIDENCE HALL—Drug paraphernalia re-covered from residence room after a complaint of a marijuana smell in the hallway. Disposi-tion: Referred to JA.

7:40 p.m. LARCENY (OTH-ER)—WOHL CENTER—Student lost his cell phone at 2 a.m. on Tuesday. Upon calling his phone number an unknown individual answered and demanded money to return the phone. Disposition: Pending.

Wednesday, April 12

9:25 a.m. LARCENY (BICY-CLE)—SOUTH 40—Student re-ported a bicycle stolen from the volleyball area. Bike was left unsecured. Time of call: April 8 between 4 p.m. and 7 p.m. Dis-position: Pending.

11:27 a.m. AUTO ACCI-DENT—BROOKINGS DR—Two vehicles, no injuries. Disposi-tion: Cleared.

Friday, April 14

12:55 a.m. LARCENY, THEFT STEALING OVER $500—HITZE-MAN DORM—Reportee left his laptop computer unattended in the court yard in front of Hurd Dorm. Upon returning two hours later the laptop was miss-ing. Unknown serial, $1,300 val-ue. Disposition: Pending.

10:25 a.m. DESTRUCTION OF PROPERTY—ALUMNI HOUSE—Complainant reported that person(s) unknown had scratched the passenger side of her van on April 13. Disposition: Pending.

3:28 p.m. HARASSMENT, W R I T T E N — D A N F O R T H DORM—Complainant reported having received harassing/threatening emails over a period of time. Disposition: Pending.

4:04 p.m. LARCENY, THEFT STEALING OVER $500—MALLINCKRODT CENTER—Vic-tim’s purse was stolen from a table and later found in the rest-room missing money and a cell phone. Disposition: Pending.

Saturday, April 15

2:44 a.m. LARCENY, THEFT BI-CYCLES—GIVENS HALL—Com-plainant reported that between April 13 at 1 p.m. and April 15 at 2:30 a.m. unknown person(s) stole his mountain bike; which was secured by a cable lock to a bike rack located on the north side of Givens Hall. Total value $160. Disposition: Pending.

2:54 p.m. LARCENY, THEFT STEALING OVER $500—POLICE DEPARTMENT— Student lost wallet somewhere between the Galleria and the University and his credit/debit cards were later used.

8:18 p.m. AUTO ACCI-DENT—SNOW WAY GA-RAGE—Two vehicles, no in-juries. Disposition: Cleared.

Sunday, April 16

9:30 a.m. LARCENY, THEFT STEALING OVER $500—SIMON HALL—Student left computer unattended in a study room for approximately 10 minutes. Upon returning the computer was gone. Disposition: Pending.

10:49 a.m. LARCENY, THEFT STEALING OVER $500—MILL-BROOK APARTMENTS—Three bikes stolen from bike rack near Millbrook 3 and the pool be-tween April 15 at 6:30 p.m. and April 16 at 9 a.m. Bikes had been secured with chain locks. Dis-position: Pending.

10:59 a.m. LARCENY, THEFT From Buildings—HEALTH SER-VICES—A large “Just The Facts” campaign sign, approximately 6 ft. by 4 ft. was stolen from in front of the Event Services offi ce between March 21 and March 24. Disposition: Pending.

5:55 p.m. LARCENY, THEFT STEALING OVER $500—AN-HEUSER BUSCH HALL OF LAW—Complainant left his laptop in the lounge area on the third fl oor of A.B. Law on April 13. Student returned from his property on April 14 and found it had been stolen. Disposition: Pending.

CAMPUS

Senior Forum Editor / Daniel Milstein / forum@studlife.com WEDNESDAY | APRIL 19, 20064 STUDENT LIFE | FORUM

FORUMFORUMOur daily Forum editors:Monday: Chelsea Murphy Wednesday: Nathan Everly Friday: Tess Cronercemurphy@art.wustl.edu neverly@wustl.edu tacroner@wustl.edu

To ensure that we have time to fully evaluate your submissions, guest columns should be e-mailed to the next issue’s editor or forwarded to forum@studlife.com by no later than 5 p.m. two days before publication. Late pieces will be evaluated on a case-by-case basis.

We welcome your submissions and thank you for your consideration.

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Dear Editor:

In his Monday letter, Steven S. Hoffmann justifies requiring women to carry pregnancies to term even if they will end the life of the woman by saying that if all lives are equal, we should protect the weak, or in this case, the fetus.

I am not going to debate Mr. Hoffmann’s classifica-tion of the fetus as a life, although I and many others do not agree with it. Rather, I would maintain that even if a fetus is a life, Mr. Hoff-man’s argument, when taken to its logical conclusion, has much bigger implications than simply making abor-tion illegal.

Imagine a scenario in which a small child will die unless they receive one of their parents’ hearts. Many parents would undoubtedly give their life so that their child could live; you might even say this is reasonable to expect of them. But no state in the union legally demands that a parent give their own life so that their child can live.

To the contrary, while states do legally require that parents protect their chil-dren, this obligation does not extend to doing so when it would require endanger-ing one’s own life or health. This means that legally, parents cannot be required to undergo any sort of medi-cal procedure to protect their children, even in cases where the surgery would be non-life-threatening to the parent, such as a kidney or bone marrow transplant.

As it stands now, the law simply does not require parents to give up their own life or even risk their own medical health to protect their children. Maybe this law is unfair, and if Mr. Hoffmann would support changing the obligation of both parents, mother and father, in all circumstances, I would still disagree but would find his logic sound.

It is not fair or consis-tent, however, to keep this general rule intact and make pregnant women the only exception. Such an excep-tion sends the clear mes-

sage that a woman’s life can legitimately be taken in the interest of a child while a father’s cannot, a message which is clearly inconsistent with ideas of equality.

-Annasara PurcellClass of 2006

Pre-med grading

system doesn’t

reward hard work

Dear Editor:

Last Monday’s article, “What do low test means really mean?” failed to ad-dress the most demoralizing aspect of the pre-med grad-ing system. It is not the low or high mean score that is frustrating so much as the feeling that it is not what one knows, but what others don’t, that gets one good grades.

After a chemistry or biol-ogy test, students are often frustrated by a sense that knowledge of test material has little bearing on their grade. One could get a 69 percent and have an A (as on the latest Orgo test), or a 90 percent and have a C (as was the case in last year’s Biol-ogy 3050 final exam). Low means replace the pursuit of understanding with mean-ingless competition.

As to the claim that low means and low grades somehow weed out those “unfit” for certain profes-sions, the article ignores the impact low grades have on those that do continue. With means set in the low Bs, a huge portion of the class achieves grades that tank their GPA and damage their prospects for medical school.

Just ask the members of the Facebook group “Thanks Vlady, Now I’ll Never Be A Doctor.” Instead of reward-ing excellent teaching and hard work, the current sys-tem masks poor instruction and discourages diligent students.

-Rebecca MoreyClass of 2008

STAFF EDITORIAL

KARL IMPROV AND RACHEL TEPPER | EDITORIAL CARTOONLETTERS TO THE EDITOR

The Student Worker Alliance arrived in the Admissions Offi ce last April, armed with

sleeping bags, laptops and “Living Wage Now” T-shirts, committed to improving workers’ rights and push-ing Washington University to implement a living wage. The sit-in participants paid no heed to Student Life, Student Union and admin-istration requests that they vacate South Brookings Hall. A Student Life poll revealed immense disapproval of the sit-in among students; 71

percent of students approved of SWA’s mission but not their tactics. The campus, initially intrigued by the novelty of a sit-in at the University, be-came critical of a movement that pushed the right issues in the wrong way.

This editorial board had had enough with SWA at this point last April. As SWA headed into its third week of the sit-in, we commended them for their “laudable ef-forts” but put our foot down. “Enough is enough,” we claimed. “At fi rst, the sit-in organized by the SWA showed

dedication…Now, however, the event has gone on entirely too long, and seems rather fruitless.” (“SWA, Stand Up!” Staff Editorial, April 20, 2006).

One year ago we were ask-ing SWA sit-in participants to stand up. Today, we stand corrected. Less than two dozen students entered the Admissions Offi ce wanting to change this campus; one year later, we know they suc-ceeded. The administration has raised the University’s fl oor wage for all workers by 20 percent, with all campus

workers now receiving a minimum of $8.25 per hour. Workers without health insur-ance can now receive medi-cal services at La Clinica. MetroLink passes will lower transportation costs.

Whether you consider these changes illogical eco-nomic policy or necessary steps to improving workers’ rights, the success of SWA’s tenacity and dedication is indisputable.

We commend SWA’s deci-sion to disregard our demand that they end the sit-in, choosing instead to stand out

as a courageous example of dedication to ethical prin-ciples in the face of adver-sity. They remained in the Admissions Offi ce until they had seen positive changes to workers’ rights. And, academ-ically, that commitment had a positive effect on the entire University campus. The SWA sit-in forced students, faculty and staff to confront im-mensely challenging econom-ic and ethical issues, creating a unique and exciting atmo-sphere of intellectual inquiry and debate.

Instead of asking SWA to

stand up, today we ask that the rest of this campus take a stand and diligently pursue the causes that they are pas-sionate about. SWA showed us that students do indeed have the potential to create concrete and tangible change on this campus. Yet students have remained relatively passive over the past year: putting laundry machine payment plans on campus ID cards seems a far cry from pressuring the University to completely revise its vision of workers’ rights and wages. Let’s re-energize this campus.

SWA sit-in still sets admirable example

I disagree with Steven Hoffmann’s belief that fetuses’ “lives” are more important than women’s

lives. Hoffmann neglects the fact that fetuses are only potential humans. Any eighth grade biology textbook will tell you that, even with today’s medical advances, only about 85 percent of pregnancies result in live births. A fetus only has an 85 percent chance of becoming a human baby. Are living humans less impor-tant than potential humans? Would you sacrifi ce a living human for a potential human? Would you even sacrifi ce one human for one hundred po-tential humans? (Why I think that Hoffmann believes that this “new life” is more impor-tant than a female life would be another tangent entirely...)

But that’s not the main point. The point is that hu-mans only have rights in our society if they are capable of fulfi lling certain duties. If someone/something can’t fulfi ll duties to society, we

should consider its welfare but aren’t obligated to grant it any rights. Consider a dog. Dogs can’t really contribute to our society. They can’t pay taxes, go to jury duty, or vote. They can’t break the law and go to jail. Even if someone argues that there are working dogs or dogs that contribute to society by “making people happy,” dogs can’t understand basic principles of morality. Dogs can’t take responsibility for their actions.

We’ll consider their welfare and try to ensure that they aren’t abused, but because laws don’t really apply to them, neither do rights. A more relevant, less ridiculous example: a person in a coma. A person in a coma can’t do anything. Because of their state, if they aren’t physically/mentally capable of participat-ing in or giving to our society, why should they receive any of the benefi ts of living in our society? Yes, we should consider their welfare, but because they literally have no voice, they also legitimately have no rights.

When it comes down to it, I don’t believe that anything

has the right to live unless it can sustain its own life—un-less its heart can beat and its lungs can breathe on their own. I don’t believe that you can “kill” something that’s not alive.

I don’t believe that you can kill something that might only become alive at a later point in time. Once a fetus is viable, and can exist without assistance outside the womb, when it’s no longer only a potential baby, that’s when it has the right to live...because it can live.

If we examine the way our society functions, it’s easy to see that we operate on the “we only get if we give, we only keep if we have” system. As children get older and can un-derstand and do more, more is expected of them and more is given to them. Only when chil-dren hit their teens can they start being accountable to the law—and even then there’s a distinction between juvenile and adult court. The presump-tion is that juveniles deserve different treatment because they have an incomplete grasp of right and wrong.

Rights come with responsi-

bility in our society, whether we like it or not. If you dis-agree, then, when you grant infants the right to vote and let’s also give a kid screaming in TGI Friday’s a citation for disturbing the peace. Better yet, let’s arrest a two-year-old for sabotage and vandalism for running off and pooing in the corner of TOYS-R-US. Let’s give the kid a month of community service and a $500 fi ne.

Or let’s assume that a fetus, something not yet even alive, something that only has an 85 percent chance of becom-ing alive, has the right to live. Even better, let’s argue that this potential human (that is not yet capable of living on its own and that can neither pos-sess an understanding of mo-rality nor accept any respon-sibility for its actions) is more important than a woman (who is both living and capable).

You have to give in order to get. You have to possess in order to keep.

Melissa is a senior in Arts & Sciences. She can be reached via e-mail at mjmiller@artsci.wustl.edu.

By Melissa MillerStaff Columnist

The rights of a fetus

Put the mother’s health fi rst

Senior Forum Editor/ Daniel Milstein / forum@studlife.comWEDNESDAY | APRIL 19, 2006 STUDENT LIFE | FORUM 5

Not long ago, Presi-dent Bush expressed hope that the debate over illegal immigra-

tion was done in a way “that doesn’t pit one group of people against another.” It was a sen-timent that has been shared by every politician hoping to solve the problem in a civil manner. Every pol-itician, that is, except Tom Tancredo. Colo-rado Representative Tancredo has turned the immigration debate on its head by mixing populism and anti-im-migrant sentiments together to the delight of millions of Ameri-cans. Touch upon the country’s “melting pot” history and he’ll warn you about the dangers of the “cult of multi-culturalism.” Ask him how he feels about illegal immigrants and he’ll tell you why they are “a scourge that threatens the very future of our nation.” He gained national notoriety after trying unsuccessfully to de-port an illegal immigrant high school honor student whose

profi le ran in the Denver Post. And if you think that Tancredo is a radical representative of a tiny xenophobic fringe of society, you’d be wrong. He’s largely responsible for the steady increase in Americans who consider illegal immigra-tion a “serious problem.”

But despite the rising surge in Tan-credo’s popularity, there is one small is-sue that threatens to bring him down. The nativist hysteria that he helped unleash is predicated upon the notion that we’re simply not trying hard enough to stop illegal immigration.

“We can control our borders, we just choose not to,” he assured recently. He may be right, but there is a huge dif-ference between controlling illegal immigration and actu-ally putting an end to it. It’s clear that Tancredo wants to end it, but fi rst he should take a look at how the United States currently tries to hold back the fl ood of illegal immigration. If

he did, he’d realize that there is almost nothing the country can do to stop it.

By every account, the U.S. Border Patrol is a model secu-rity force. It is a well-funded, well-equipped entity with a $9 billion budget and over 11,000 agents. It utilizes state-of-the-art technology including video cameras, stadium lighting and motion detectors to help monitor the border between the United States and Mexico. Every day, the Border Patrol captures and deports hun-dreds of illegal immigrants. And yet despite the fact that its budget has been consistently raised, the United States’ ille-gal immigrant population has doubled since 1986 to almost 12 million. Efforts to slow it down have simply driven illegal immigrants into more remote access points along the 1,951 mile border. Despite the Border Patrol’s best efforts, the fl ux of illegal immigration into the country has now reached over 500,000 people every year. Indeed, it has become uncomfortably clear that no amount of men or resources

can stop it. As George Mitchell, assistant chief of the Laredo Border Patrol, explained, “the best we can do is manage the border, not control it.”

Illegal immigration did not become a problem because the United States failed to take adequate measures to seal its borders. It became a problem

when the United States’ relative economic power over other countries became so massive. For years, the average wage in Mexico has never been greater than one-tenth of the average wage in America. This is a powerful reminder for hun-dreds of thousands of people who willingly risk everything for a chance to enter the coun-

try. The New Republic noted this phenomenon when it ob-served that the United States is one of the few countries “that people risk their lives to enter” in a world fi lled with countries “that people risk their lives to escape.” Americans should be proud to live in such a prosperous country. But they should also understand that our prosperity is the single greatest reason why any effort to eliminate illegal immigra-tion will fail.

So the only choice is to either let the massive, unregu-lated immigration continue or begin fi nding a way to con-trol it. While there are many proposals fl oating through Congress, the McCain-Kennedy bill appears to be the most promising. Rather than focus-ing exclusively on tightening border security, the bill would complement those efforts with a guest worker program that allows illegal immigrants to apply for work visas. In a unique twist, though, the pro-gram would put many partici-pants on the path to eventual citizenship, a key provision

that acknowledges the ben-efi ts of immigration. From an economic standpoint, this plan would solve a dire need to fi ll the 7.7 million low-paying jobs that will be created between 2000 and 2010. It would put an end to a dangerously unregu-lated security risk by register-ing the millions of immigrants currently living in the country illegally. And it would fi nally eliminate a vast underground network of exploitation and abuse that preyed upon illegal immigrants who feared discov-ery and deportation.

Of course, the United States could simply pray that the problem will eventually fade away on its own. But that’s un-likely to occur unless America loses the very qualities that have motivated millions of foreigners to seek entry into the country. If that happens, illegal immigration will be the least of America’s worries.

Nathan is a sophomore in the School of Engineering and a Forum Editor. He can be reached via e-mail at neverly@wustl.edu.

The unavoidable reality of illegal immigration

“Our prosperity is the single great-

est reason why any effort to eliminate illegal immigration

will fail.”Nathan Everly

As a graduating senior, this year I found myself in the same position as

most of my classmates—try-ing to decide what to do next year. We all have different ways of approaching the problem, but when it comes down to it, we are all for-tunate for the opportunity to have choices. Many of us come from privileged back-grounds, and if we don’t, then graduating from a top university is a vital step in expanding the opportunities available to us. Sometimes so many options can be paralyz-ing: we aren’t completely sure what we want to do and if we make the wrong choice now, we may be committing our-selves to years on the wrong track. It also seems worth celebrating that women today have the same options as men when graduating college. They can go into any fi eld and do just as good of a job as any man. But for any woman who is looking more than a couple of years into her future, her choices are not made with the same freedom as men, even in this suppos-edly modern era.

This can be an interactive article and it applies to ev-eryone, not just seniors. Men, take a minute and close your eyes (well, read the next few sentences, then close your eyes). Imagine your career in ten years: are you a high achiever at work? Are you respected by your coworkers? Have you worked hard to get

where you are? Now imagine your home life: are you liv-ing with someone? Maybe a partner for life? Do you have kids? Who takes care of those kids? Are they getting enough parental attention? Do you think maybe you should be at home with them instead of at work all the time? Now the real question is: how often do you think about this and how does it affect your choices when it comes to your career? I ask the women to close their eyes and imagine all the same things, although I think it is highly likely they have already asked themselves these questions.

I am not trying to gener-alize either sex by saying I know their priorities, but it is pretty common knowl-edge that if you ask a man, he probably doesn’t think of “family life” as an obstacle to his career. He probably thinks of it as a nice comple-ment or balance to it.

But a woman is used to thinking about these things from an early age. She has grown up knowing what she wants to be (a doctor!), but also probably considered whether or not she wants to “settle down” and/or be a mother someday.

Then she has realized over time that “being” anything, having a career, takes lots of time…and so does being a mother. She then starts to wonder how she will ever be successful in the workplace if she wants to have children and spend any time with them, which she will either desire or feel pressured to do in order to be a “good mother.” It is possible men face this dilemma as well,

but how many men assume that if no one else wants to do it and they cannot afford childcare, they will be the one at home with the kids? How many times do you think this is actually the case? “Stay-at-home dads” are few and far between. It is much more realistic to expect that both parents work at least part-time, as the majority of households in the United States today are dual-income. And it is far more common for women to choose lower-paying careers that will be conducive to having a family someday.

What is the point of all this? I’m not trying to make men feel guilty and women feel depressed, although those may be side effects of really thinking about the is-sue. Ann Crittenden’s book, “The Price of Motherhood,” is an excellent source on the topic, and Crittenden pro-poses several social reforms to promote gender equality in the home and workplace. Men and women both have to want this change, which is not go-ing to affect them equally.

For men, it will mean no longer assuming that their career can come fi rst and possibly taking on some more of the responsibilities of childcare, becoming more ac-tive agents in their children’s lives. For women, it will mean that they may have to consid-er not just a career that will satisfy them, but one that will support a family and that they may lose some of their mythical status as “mothers.”

As the up-and-coming generation, it is in our hands to challenge the norms in our workplaces and change

them when we get into posi-tions of power. Just realize when you’re making all these choices that some of us, may-be without even realizing it,

are taking into consideration more lives than just our own, lives that haven’t even started yet. At what point does it stop being a choice?

Josie is a senior in Arts & Sciences. She can be reached via email at ajsmith@wustl.edu.

A few days ago, I was asked to offer my opinions on the speech by Yossi

Olmert, the Israeli prime minister’s brother. I was un-able to attend the assembly, but based on what I have heard, I can offer a little bit of Palestinian perspective.

It is surprising to me that, for a doctor of Middle Eastern studies, Mr. Olmert is still a staunch believer in the notion that Hamas is a terrorist organization. There are actually only a few governments in the world that consider Hamas to be a group of terrorists, and, although I understand why this might be the popular opinion, from the other side it is simply wrong. In fact, there are also only a few governments that do not have Palestinian embassies in their capitals, alongside

those of other independent nations.

For many Palestinians, Hamas is a party that offers at least a minute shred of relief and hope in a reality that is incessantly swept by fear and disillusionment. In addition to numerous social services, Hamas brings a strong political stance to the table, allowing for the possibility that Palestinians will eventually regain at least some of the land that is rightfully theirs—land that is still occupied. This is a fantastic alternative to the unceasing bloodshed that has plagued this land since 1948 and even before that.

It is an awful shame that Israeli occupation forces tried to impede the Palestin-ian elections a few months ago. What kind of democ-racy attempts to sabotage the democratic processes of another nation—in addition to colonizing that nation’s land, leaving millions of that nation’s people in a virtual

prison and refusing to com-promise in search of a rea-sonable solution? While this is happening, Palestinians produce riots in warehouses because there is no way out, and more people suffer be-cause of it. Not a day goes by

where an innocent Palestin-ian citizen is not murdered by an occupying soldier’s bullet. But apparently that doesn’t matter, because Hamas is a “terrorist” orga-nization.

I would also like to re-spond to an article written a few weeks ago that claimed an absolute correlation between anti-Zionism and anti-Semitism. This notion is

simply wrong.First, the word “Semite”

refers to the ethnicity of many groups throughout the Middle East and not just those who are Jewish. Aside from this straightfor-ward argument, there are people—including students on this campus—who vehe-mently condemn the ideas behind Zionism, yet have many friends who embrace and cherish the cultures that fall under that broad term “Semite.” This fact alone is enough to prove the afore-mentioned suggestion to be categorically unfounded!

That’s not all. Zionism is a “philosophy” based on the scriptural interpretation that Abraham’s descendants are only Jewish. Thus, the land that God gave to these descendants should, in a modern political sense, be a strictly Jewish state, right?

No! After a few millen-nia, not all of your descen-dants are going to be in the same place, let alone have

the same personal beliefs. Regardless, this Zionism has now caused the deaths of thousands of Palestinians and the continued displace-ment of millions more. Just read the documents writ-ten by Zionist proponents during the late 19th cen-tury. These men completely ignored the known fact that people already lived in the area they were planning to colonize.

Of course, this is just one argument of many that are embedded in the painful complexities and circum-stances of the history that has led up to the current situation. It is a time when much of this pain cannot be erased—on both sides.

Yet someone is insolent enough to claim that, be-cause I do not support some-thing that I believe is unjust and immoral, I hate Jewish people? One word describes that: illogical. I could go on, but time is not sufficient to write a weekly article that

gives “the other point of view.” Honestly, get a grip! There are many people try-ing to find the best in a situ-ation that has often caused only the worst.

In that light, here is my easy-to-fulfill request: stop making ridiculous and divisive statements. I can be friends with Jewish people and, at the same time, sup-port the Palestinians and the one party that offers them hope and even a strand of stability: Hamas. Is that wrong?

Seriously, come out of your radical hole and just try to put yourself in someone else’s shoes. If that is not possible, then I guess you’re just anti-salaam. And since Arabic and Hebrew are both Semitic languages, I’d say you’re anti-shalom as well.

Joseph is a sophomore in Arts & Sciences. He can be reached via e-mail at jpmc-cart@artsci.wustl.edu.

“Here is my easy-to-fulfill request: stop making ri-

diculous and divisive statements.”

By Joseph McCarterOp-ed submission

A Palestinian perspective

By Josie SmithOp-ed submission

Where are all the stay-at-home dads?

RACHEL TEPPER | STUDENT LIFE

Senior Sports Editor / Andrei Berman / sports@studlife.com WEDNESDAY | APRIL 19, 20066 STUDENT LIFE | SPORTS

SPORTSSPORTS

The Washington University men’s baseball team improved its record to 29–5 with a win over MacMurray College last Tuesday and a pair of victories against DePauw University on Saturday.

In Tuesday’s game against MacMurray College, the Bears won 17–0 thanks to some big hits and excellent pitching. Senior catcher Alan Germano led the way with six RBIs. Bears pitchers Andy Shields, Dan But-ler and Jerry Prince combined to throw seven shutout innings. Shields, a junior who started the game, yielded the only two MacMurray hits and picked up the win.

The bats broke out early in the game, with the Bears scor-ing fi ve runs in the fi rst in-ning. Germano led off the hit parade with a two-RBI double. Germano’s two-bagger was lat-er followed by RBI singles from junior David Kramer and soph-omore Dave Working. Perhaps the most exciting part of the inning came from junior Eddy Hoering. After being walked, Hoering advanced to third on Kramer’s single and then stole home to put another run on the scoreboard.

In the second inning, senior Ryan Corning had an RBI dou-ble. The double was followed by a two-run homer from Ger-mano, the team’s senior cap-tain.

The bats got even hotter for the Bears during the fourth in-ning, when the red and green obliterated MacMurray’s pitch-ing by scoring nine runs on seven hits. The inning started with a homer from Hoering, proving that he had the power to go along with his speed. The homer was followed by an RBI double by Working and a RBI single by Corning. Germano, Hoering, Shields and Working all singled to bring in fi ve more runs.

In the fi rst game of Satur-day’s doubleheader against De-Pauw University, the Bears pre-vailed 3–1, with junior starting pitcher Brent Buffa going the distance to take the win and up-ping his record for the season to 8–0. Shields led the Bears of-fense with three hits.

Shields put the fi rst run on the board by scoring on an error in the second inning. The score stayed 1–0 until the sixth, when the Bears added to their lead with RBI doubles by Hoering and freshman Zan-

der Lehmann. DePauw opened the seventh

with a homerun to keep the game interesting, but Buffa fi n-ished what he started, ending the game in exciting fashion as the fi nal DePauw hitter struck out looking.

In the second game, the Bears walloped DePauw 10–5, thanks in part to three hits from Germano and four RBIs from Corning.

The Bears opened the game early in the fi rst inning on an RBI double by senior Sam Hahn and an RBI single by Germano. After DePauw scored three runs in the third, Kramer singled to tie the score.

The Bears came back strong in the fourth inning, regain-ing the lead after Corning hit a three-run homer over the left fi eld fence. In the sixth, the lead was again extended thanks to a pair of RBI doubles from Corn-ing and Germano as well as RBI singles by Shield and Lehm-ann.

DePauw came back to score two more runs but failed to extend its rally any further. Shields got the win for the Bears, scattering nine hits over 6.1 innings and striking out seven before senior Kent Wal-lace came in on relief to record the fi nal two outs.

The Bears look to extend their current eight-game win-ning streak as they travel to play Illinois Wesleyan Univer-sity on Thursday. They will re-turn to campus for a two-game home stand against Illinois Col-lege on Monday at 1 p.m. and Westminster College on Tues-day at 2 p.m.

Baseball team scores eighth straight victoryvAppears strong

for stretch run

By Steven Hollander Sports Reporter

The Washington University men’s tennis team proved wor-thy of its No. 8 national ranking on Monday, as it easily defeated the University of Missouri—St. Louis (UMSL) 6–1. UMSL, a Divi-sion II team, gave the Division III Bears little trouble, with the University losing just one set in singles play. With the win, the Bears upped their record to 15–1 for the season.

It was the green and red’s tenth straight victory, and with one more regular season match (Tuesday, as Student Life went to press) remaining, the Bears ap-pear more than ready for post-season play.

Senior Ari Rosenthal con-tinued his dominance at No. 1 singles. He improved his singles record to 21–3 for the year and has now won ten singles matches in a row. Rosenthal struggled in the fi rst set, falling 4–6 to UMSL’s Francis Lam.

Rosenthal came back strong in the next two sets, however, as he dropped just three games in the fi nal set and coasted to the win.

The Bears’ No. 2 player, fresh-man Charlie Cutler, defeated UMSL’s Stephen Pobst in straight sets, but it wasn’t easy. In a gru-eling fi rst set, Cutler hung on to prevail 7–6 (9–7) before battling

to a 6–4 win in the second stan-za. The win was Cutler’s eighth straight, as he moved his season record in singles play to 19–4.

Senior William McMahan had few problems in his win over Mike Schaaf of UMSL at No. 3 singles play. McMahan took both sets, defeating Schaaf 6–3 and 6–4. The Urbana, Ill., native’s overall record for the spring now stands at 16–5.

Freshman Nirmal Choradia, playing at No. 4 singles, cruised in his fi rst set, winning 6–0. In the second set, however, UMSL’s Peter Hantack provided Chora-dia with all he could handle, but Choradia eventually survivedthe second-set thriller and won 7–6 (7–1).

The Bears’ No. 5 and 6 singles players manhandled the UMSL competition. Senior Zack Fayne won at No. 5, 6–0 and 6–0, while sophomore Charlie Howard won at No. 6, 6–0 and 6–2. Fayne’s win was his sixth in as many tries, and he improved his overall sin-gles record to 13–3 for the year.

The Bears struggled in dou-bles competition, winning only at No. 3. In that match, Fayne partnered with freshman Chris Hoeland to defeat James Rigby and Hantack 8–2.

The Bears are now set for UAA championship competition, which takes place this coming weekend in Atlanta, Ga.

By Andrei BermanSenior Sports Editor

Men’s tennis defeats Division II opponent

Senior shortstop Ryan Corning leaps to avoid a diving base runner at a recent game. Corning and the Bears are now 29–5 as they head into the fi nal stretch.

PAM BUZZETTA | STUDENT LIFE

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FRESHMAN FIFTEEN

BY JASON ANDERSON

They Might Be Giants are at it again with their newest release, “Venue Songs.” This DVD/CD combination fea-tures songs about each ven-ue the band has performed at in their nationwide tour. Each song was written on the tour bus between stops, played live and recorded to make the CD.

The CD itself features 46 live tracks with the style of each song varying as much as the rest of the TMBG an-thology.

Meanwhile, the DVD is a collection of the songs deemed to be the best by John Linnell and John Flans-burgh, the two main mem-bers of TMBG. Once chosen, the tracks were re-recorded and a unique music video was prepared for each. The range of the videos matches that of the songs themselves

and keeps viewers on their feet.

While some songs are bet-ter than others, each has the feel of a live performance, giving the album something extra. Songs such as “Al-bany” about The Egg pokes fun at the architecture of the venue itself, while “Van-couver,” played at Richard’s on Richards, isn’t about the club at all: it simply men-tions the name to create a rhyme scheme.

It’s hard to say if any one song is better than another, as each is so stylistically distinct. In fact, each one can be considered a master-piece.

The same cannot be said about the videos. The video for “Dallas” seems to be a combination of an old “Steamboat Willie” Mickey Mouse animation and the portion of “The Wizard of Oz” where the trees throw apples at Dorothy. More-over, the DVD is not just a

conglomeration of videos. Each video is introduced by a deranged millionaire who sets up a storyline for the creation of each song. The script, written by TMBG and a writer from “The Daily Show,” is both humorous and entertaining. Between each song, the man gives a short background of the venue, city and TMBG’s state of mind when composing their next masterpiece.

This album is perfect for fans who haven’t seen TMBG live or for those who experi-enced the venues firsthand. It almost makes you feel famous when you can hear yourself cheering.

However, this CD/DVD set should not be your introduc-tion to the band. With little time to write the songs and little sleep beforehand, some songs are in the same vein as “Nightgown of the Sullen Moon” in that it is nearly impossible to understand their lyrics.

Also included in this duo is the song “Bloodmobile,” yet another educational song from TMBG that informs while being exceedingly catchy. The DVD also has three bonus shorts, includ-ing “Experimental Film.” This short features the lov-able characters from home-starrunner.com.

They Might Be Giants“Venue Songs”

Rating: ★★★★✩For fans of: their home-town venue and other They Might Be Giants albumsDownload: “Bloodmobile,” “St. Louis” and “Vancou-ver”Final word: not the best al-bum for starter fans, but a great addition to your TMBG collection

They Might Be Giants: ‘Venue Songs’By Beth OchoaMusic Editor

Rounding out my dorkiness hat trick (actu-ally, I guess this is at least number four in my dorky series), I feel I should talk about video games. Save for “Magic: The Gathering” and “Dungeons and Dragons,” there really isn’t much in the realm of dorkdom that I have left to talk about. Recently, movie critic Roger Ebert said, “[V]ideo games represent a loss of those precious hours we have available to make ourselves more cultured, civilized and empathetic.” While that is certainly a condemn-ing sentence, it is hardly taken out of context. Ebert was responding to a ques-tion asking why he felt that video games could never be considered art. While I do not pretend to be an expert on what is or is not art, I might be considered an expert in the realm of video games.

To claim that video games could never be considered art is a tad presumptuous regarding the nature of art and video games. Ebert claims that video games are inherently a work of craftsmanship and not of artistic design. Perhaps this is as he sees it, but then again, sculpture and architecture were solely crafts in ancient China, while today they are con-sidered art forms the world over. To presume that just because something that is currently considered a craft could never become art solely because of present interpretation is perhaps foolish.

Ebert claims that the rea-

son a video game is strictly craft is because, unlike both literature and fi lm, video games rely on player control as opposed to authorial con-trol. Nevermind that this entirely ignores the role of the viewer’s interpretation of either literature or fi lm—the more ridiculous notion is that games are not under authorial control. Perhaps Ebert is under the impres-sion that a game somehow evolves out of some sort of primordial ooze as op-posed to the guiding eye of a director who works with a team to produce a very spe-cifi c experience. Yes, a large portion of the team works in a strictly technical or craftlike manner, but then again, so too does every movie production crew, so that hardly seems to be a disqualifying characteristic.

Ebert admits that he is unfamiliar with games, and this certainly seems to be the case. Not all games are fi rst-person shooters modeled after “Doom” or fi ghting games built on the “Street Fighter” model, just as not all books take after Tom Clancy or all movies take after Michael Bay. There are games with surprising narrative depth. “Killer 7,” for instance, has at least four levels to its narrative structure dealing with cosmic, political, inter-personal and spiritual levels at all times. The game beats out every single book I have read in college in terms of depth. (Note: I am a math major, so my literary experi-ences have been rare but not entirely nonexistent.) Few movies can approach it in terms of aesthetic design or plot. Moreover, the plot does not develop in any way that the designer did not foresee.

Does the player ostensibly control the onscreen action? Yes, but only in the most overt manner. Just as a projector is required for the fi lm to move, and a book re-quires someone to turn the page, so too does a video game require a player to use a controller. Just because the player is in “control” does not actually mean that the game is entirely under his or her control. What the player sees, hears and causes to happen occurs only under the behind-the-scenes machinations of the director and his team. Just because someone controls the pace at which they read, it does not mean that they are in control of the book. The author ultimately deter-mines the outcome.

Even discounting every-thing I have written as the rant of some video game–obsessed lunatic, one must admit that video games are still in a state of relative infancy. Just as fi lms such as “Man doing a backfl ip” produced in the early 20th century are not exactly the height of artistic creation in the medium of fi lm, perhaps the video games of today will not be seen as art but as a proverbial stepping stone to something much greater. Even if games are not currently viewed as art (which is something that I obviously contend), that does not disqualify them for future consideration as art. I must reiterate that I do not pretend to be an expert on art and only sort of pretend to be an expert on video games, but at least I’ve left the question of whether video games can be considered art open for debate.

Watching crap so you don’t have to: Rebutting Roger Ebert: video games as art

By Adam Summerville Cadenza Reporter

MOVIE REVIEW

British movies about work-ing class people doing crazy and taboo things have a long history of becoming sleeper hits. They have done so well in fact—from “The Full Monty” to “Billy Elliot”—that the fi lms have almost created a genre in and of itself. Perhaps they aren’t the most original ideas, but they make for good family comedies, with that taste for sauciness the British love to claim. “Kinky Boots” is the newest export trying to make good with a small budget and a big heart.

Joel Edgerton stars as Char-lie Price, a small-town British guy trying to make it in the big city with his fi ancé. When dear old dad suddenly dies, Charlie gets dragged back to Price and Son’s, his family’s failing shoe factory. The shoes are bland, the town is boring and the only task Charlie gets is to fi re all of his employees because no one will buy his shoes. Enter Lola, a six-foot drag queen who becomes the inspiration for his new product line: sturdy boots for men who enjoy dressing up as

women. Throw in the requisite distance between Charlie and his future wife, the peppy factory worker who’s got the marbles to stand up to the boss and all that’s initially missing is prejudice from the small-town factory workers towards Lola.

This movie rarely strays from the time-tested Brit comedy formula. The only deviation comes from the per-formance of Chiwetel Ejiofor as Lola, the drag queen who has problems with self-ac-ceptance but is fi ne walking around North Hampton in a mini skirt. Unfortunately, with all the open-mindedness the movie convinces us it has, it never fully addresses the issue of Lola’s sexuality, leaving the audience hanging on a plot line that could have added a lot of weight. Ejiofor is already one of the hottest young actors in Hollywood, recently appear-ing in “Serenity,” “Inside Man” and “Love Actually,” but he never has the chance to sink his teeth into the role. With a better script he would be a def-inite Oscar contender, but he’ll most likely have to settle for a Golden Globe nod instead.

Edgerton, whose biggest part to date was as Uncle

Owen in the new “Star Wars” movies, does a fi ne job in the lead role, and many of the small-town folks and factory workers are genuinely enter-taining. However, the movie never moves beyond being a feel-good story. For instance, while the audience should be treated to a whirlwind of sights and sounds when Charlie sees Lola’s drag show for the fi rst time, we instead get two camera angles, making the song and dance sequences trite and fl at instead of creat-ing an uproarious carnival atmosphere.

“Kinky Boots” is in no way a bad movie. There are some honestly humorous and genu-inely touching moments in the fi lm that make it worth seeing. At the heart of the movie is a story about accepting unusual ideas that aren’t really un-usual at all.

ALBUM REVIEW

By Brian StittMovies Editor

“Kinky Boots”

Rating: ★★★✩✩Directed by: Julian JarroldStarring: Joel Edgerton, Chiwetel Ejiofor, Sarah-Jane Potts, Ewan Hooper

Not quite ‘kinky’ enough

John Linnell, left, and John Flansburg of the band They Might Be Gi-ants are photographed at Enid’s Bar in Brooklyn, New York. They just released a new album called “Venue Songs.”

KRT DIRECT

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Sudoku By Michael Mepham

Level: Gentle

Solution to Monday’s puzzle

Complete the grid so each row, column and 3-by-3 box (in bold borders) contains every digit 1 to9. For strategies on how to solve Sudoku, visitwww.sudoku.org.uk.

© 2006 Michael Mepham. Distributed by Tribune Media Services. All rights reserved. 4/19/06

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CADEN CADENADEN entertainment

n. a technically brilliant, sometimes improvised solo passage toward the close of a concerto,

an exceptionally brilliant part of an artistic work

arts &ZAAZZ

Senior Cadenza Editor / Ivanna Yang / cadenza@studlife.com WEDNESDAY | APRIL 19, 200610 STUDENT LIFE | CADENZA

Wash. U.’s connection to the new fi lm Behind the smoke

Smoking

ThankYouForBy Pat Kennedy

Cadenza Reporter

The newly released fi lm, “Thank You for Smoking,” adapted from Christopher Buckley’s 1994 novel of the same title, has a connection to Washington University. That connection is Professor Richard Chapman, Wash. U.’s senior lecturer in

screenwriting in the Film and Media Studies department. Chapman, along with writing partner E. Jack Kaplan, adapted the fi rst draft of the screenplay back in 1994 when Buckley’s novel was released.

“Thank You for Smoking” is not the fi rst of Professor Chapman’s screenplay endeavors. Chapman is a veteran screenwriter who has been in the business for years. He co-wrote the screenplay for the fi lm “My Fellow Americans” (again with writing partner Kaplan) and also more recently co-wrote the HBO original fi lm “Live From Bagh-dad,” which garnered him an Emmy nomination for Outstanding Writing for a Miniseries, Movie or Dramatic Special.

Unfortunately, the script Professor Chapman penned for “Thank You for Smoking” did not get produced until ten years later, after a few revisions and production company changes. Hence, Chapman’s name does not appear in the credits as screenwriter. However, Chap-man is still pleased with the results of the movie and feels that his work has contributed to its success. This is what Professor Chapman had to say about his work on the script.

KRT DIRECT

The present version of “Thank You for Smoking” is both written and directed by Jason Reitman. The fi lm has opened to numerous positive reviews as a biting satire on the tobacco industry and the practice of lobbying in general. Aaron Eckhart stars in the movie

as Nick Naylor, a lobbyist for the Academy of Tobacco whose ability to put a positive spin on the idea of selling cigarettes is often hilarious. Naylor’s main nemesis in the movie is Vermont Senator Ortolan Finistirre (William H. Macy), a Birkenstock-sporting environmentalist. Other characters in the movie include the additional two members (besides Naylor) of the cleverly named MOD (Merchants of Death) Squad—alcohol lobbyist Polly Bailey (Maria Bello) and fi rearms lobbyist Bobby Jay Bliss (David Koechner)—as well as journalist Heather Holloway (Katie Holmes), Hollywood agent Jeff Megall (Rob Lowe), former “Marlboro Man” Lorne Lutch (Sam Elliott) and Big Tobacco’s “captain” (Robert Duvall). With such a solid lineup of actors in addition to a thoughtful novel-to-big-screen adaptation, it is easy to see why this fi lm has received such critical success.

Cadenza: So when exactly did you start writing the screenplay for “Thank You for Smoking”?

Chapman: My writing partner E. Jack Kaplan started working on the script in 1994, shortly after Christopher Buckley released the novel. The rights to the novel were purchased by Mel Gibson’s production company Icon Productions, and we were writing at Warner Brother’s at the time where Gibson had his contract for Icon. Mel was actually supposed to star in the fi lm and possibly direct it. We were the fi rst people to adapt the book and we met with Christopher Buckley and it was all one big happy family. We came up with a script that everybody liked, and we even had a staged reading for the fi lm with stars like James Coburn, Sela Ward and Michael McKean.

Cadenza: So what happened with the production of your screenplay?

Chapman: Well, they [Icon] were considering it for production when Mel Gibson got an offer to do the movie “Ransom.” So that delayed the movie another year down the road. Then Icon was unable to produce the fi lm for one more year so they brought in a writer to do a rewrite of the screenplay. That writer was Roger Avary, Tarantino’s writing partner. Several other drafts were written by other writers as well, and this is a well known process within the industry where tons of writers are brought in. I’ve done my share of rewriting myself. In this particular case, writing the fi rst draft was really a delight-ful job because the book was so good. It was a matter of selecting different material that was suitable to make three acts of a movie, and we had to create cinematic structure from the novel. Unfortunately, what essentially happened was that Icon couldn’t launch the movie, as they kept picking other movies to produce. The tim-ing was off, and the smoking issue was made less relevant as the political position on tobacco changed due to the tobacco companies’ admit-tance that nicotine was addictive.

Chapman: Overall, the production of our screenplay was going to have a signifi cantly larger budget, as Mel Gibson and Warner Brothers were producing it. Hence, there were sequences that required larger-scale production. In the end sequence of the movie, during a funeral, we were going to have jets fl y by streaming smoke for a death of the member of a tobacco com-pany. Another large-scale scene took place involving a kidnapping with nicotine patches. A big difference in Reitman’s version of the screenplay is that he added the son of Nick Naylor as an extra character. The book actually only slightly mentions the son, so that part of Reitman’s screenplay is the biggest difference. However, because we were both adapting a book, there are obvi-ous similarities between the two screenplays.

Cadenza: How was your screen-play different from the one used in the newly released “Thank You for Smoking”?

Chapman: What I think Reitman has been able to do is to use Buckley’s somewhat outdated book in a cleverly done contemporary context. The story appears authen-tic and still works in today’s world. This small indepen-dent company fi gured out a way to produce the fi lm for about a quarter of the price, which is impressive. I liked the movie and congratulate them on doing a good job.

Cadenza: What is your opinion of Reitman’s version of “Thank You for Smoking”?

KRT DIRECT

William H. Macy stars in “Thank You For Smoking.”

Rob Lowe, left and Adam Brody star in “Thank You For Smoking.”