The Cauldron 2010, Issue 11

NOVEMBER 8, 2010 ESTABLISHED 1929 ISSUE 11 | FREE

TheCauldron

THE MELTING POT

ARTS & ENTERTAINMENT

SPORTS

NEWS

Review onPage 11

MiCrosofT KineCT:MoTion GaMinG

By JusTin Brenis

Berkman Fields Questions During Town Hall

By Dan Stanton, The Cauldron Staff Writer

dear leBron:your reGreTs are

MeaninGless and

fix noThinG

By ariana Johnson

naTive aMeriCan heriTaGe Preview

By PeGGy GiavrouTas

Men’s soCCer BeaTs aKron; ClinChes 4 seed

By MerediTh horriGan

Proposition 19

Page 14

World Series Wrap-Up Page 7

VOLUME 111 • ISSUE 11NOVEMBER 8, 2010CONTENTS|

Mission stateMentThe Cauldron prints according

to sound journalistic principles of accuracy, accountability,

integrity and transparency--with a recognition of press freedom and student expression. It shall remain an unbiased forum in order to represent the entire

campus community.

arts & entertainMent

CorreCTions on The Cover the Cauldron

Concert Picks Page 10

Microsoft Kinect Review Page 10

Book Looks Page 11

Due Date Review Page 11

Dance Central Review Page 12

Noise Inspectors Page 12

Kinect Adventures Review Page 13

Star Wars: The Force Unleashed II Review Page 13

Proposition 19 Page 14

Fabulous Fashion Page 14

Video Game Case in Supreme Court Page 15

Lebron Regrets ‘Decision’ Announcement Page 15

Illumination: Election Analysis Page 16

Happiness Coach Page 3

Weekly Events Calendar Page 3

Native American Heritage Month Page 3

Native American Portraits Page 4

Student Writing Anthology Page 4

President Berkman Meets Students during Town Hall Meeting in

Student Center

Photo By Jonathan Herzberger

news

Melting pot

BreaKinG news | CsuCauldron.CoM

The StaffEditor-in-ChiefReid Jackson May

Managing EditorAlexes SpencerNews EditorKristen Mott

Arts & Entertainment EditorBen Gifford

Copy / Web EditorJustin Brenis

Photography EditorJonathan “Killstring” Herzberger

Graphic DesignerAndrew Treska

Advertising ManagerJayson Gerbec

Business ManagerAnne Werner

Student Media & Web SpecialistDaniel Lenhart

Faculty AdvisorDr. Edward Horowitz

Staff WritersAriana Johnson, Pete Lindmark,

Kiel Shrefler, Dan Stanton, Gabriella Tomaro, Meredith Traxler,

Kevin Vargo

Advertising:For advertising inquiries e-mailus at cauldronadvertisements@

hotmail.com or contactJayson Gerbec at (216) 687-2270

Contact UsCleveland State University

4th Floor Cole CenterCleveland, Ohio 44115phone (216) 687-2270

fax (216) 687-5155www.csucauldron.com

Cauldron meetings are held every Monday on the third floor of the student center room 339 (dept. of Student Life). Stop by or email us

if [email protected]

sports

NFL Week 9 Page 5

Women’s Basketball Page 5

Cavs Update Page 6

World Series Wrap-Up Page 7

Men’s Soccer Beats Akron Page 7

3 csucauldron.com November 8, 2010

news

Cleveland State’s student chapter of the Society for Human Resource Management (SHRM) hosted a lecture by Jim Smith last Thursday at the Nance college of business administration. Smith titles himself as the executive happiness coach, and he came to campus for a networking event which was open to students of all majors.

“You can actually fake happiness, and cre-ate it for yourself,” said Smith.

Smith, who has worked in business and human resources for more than 20 years, is an active leader in the SHRM. Smith said he began his coaching after “bad experiences” and “unhappy situations in his life.”

Speaking about his experiences in his business career, Smith said, “Bad leaders create toxic cultures, and good leaders create good cultures.”

Smith’s presentation was interactive and involved audience participation. Throughout the 45 minute session, Smith provided simple methods anyone can use to make themselves happier, if they only knew how to do them.

A simple thing Smith told the audience to do is to “perform acts of kindness.” He said that in addition to making someone else feel better, a simple act of kindness allows one to feel good about oneself as well.

One notable idea Smith provided that seems contrary to happiness is to “take your own oxygen first.” He described this idea as being similar to the oxygen masks in airplanes for emergency use. Some people may view it as selfish to put your mask on before you help others with their masks, but, he went on to say, if you don’t take care of yourself first, you won’t be in a condition to help others.

Smith was able to get the audience involved during an exercise which showed how something as simple as posture can affect one’s demeanor. He told audience members to cross their arms and legs, hunch their shoulders and look down. Smith pointed out that such posture makes one breathe more shallowly and feel tense or irritable.

When Smith directed the audience to stand with a wide stance, relaxed shoulders and head held up while breathing from just below the navel, he explained that the position was one of openness and calm that promotes good feelings.

Smith’s program and methods have a scientific basis. He said that Martin Selig-man, known as the father of positive psychology, applied techniques developed for “broken people” to regular people, and found the techniques to have a positive impact on their lives.

He also mentioned the nun study, in which a convent of nuns was studied. Since the nuns lived in a small society, separate from the general population, researchers found them to be a suitable group to study.

Smith said the nuns who were happier and had more positive outlooks on life lived longer than other nuns. He also said the happier nuns had less instances of Alzheimer’s disease, and those who did get it developed it later on in life.

Smith concluded his presentation with a short list of simple items people could do to feel help them feel happier, and he told the audience they should try to do at

least one thing each day.For more information about Smith’s happiness coaching, and some free tips,

visit him at www.theexecutivehappinesscoach.com.

Happiness Coach Presents Tips to CSU StudentsBy Daniel Stanton, The Cauldron Staff Writer

Jim Smith, Executive Happiness Coach

weeKly evenTs Calendar11/09

11/10

11/11

11/12

11/13

“What’s a girl to do?” from 6-7 p.m. in FT ballroom

Women’s basketball vs. Ohio Valley at 7 p.m. at the Wolstein center

Family move night “Toy Story 3” at 7:30 p.m. in SC ballroom

“CSU Salutes” from 2-4 p.m. in SC atrium

“Metamorphoses” devut and reception at 8 p.m. at the Factory theatre

TGIF: CSU Night Out from 6-8 p.m. at the Barley House

Men’s basketball vs. Bryant at 7:30 p.m. at the Wolstein center

Men’s basketball vs. Kent at 6 p.m. at the Wolstein center

PAGE 4 / November 8, 2010

This month the Cleveland State University campus will be filled with celebrations emphasizing the im-portance of traditions and culture.

Native American heritage month officially began Nov. 1. An array of events is being offered to CSU students and staff to display the struggles and success-es of Native Americans throughout Northeast Ohio.

Throughout the month, students and staff will have the opportunity to explore the diversity in Native American communities from nationally known speak-ers, poets and artists.

The celebration began with a round dance cultural event. This lively start to this month’s celebration included an interactive social dance and refreshments that took place in Fenn Tower ballroom on Nov. 1.

On Nov. 4, the Glickman-Miller hall, located in the college of urban affairs, hosted an urban relocation forum. This forum, which included a panel of experts and an overall discussion on urban Indian communi-ties today, discussed the various struggles and suc-cesses of Native Americans in Cleveland.

The city of Cleveland is no stranger to Native American communities. In the mid-1950s, Cleveland was chosen as a target city for the federal government relocation program. Large groups of Native Ameri-cans migrated to various suburbs and areas of Cleve-land, thus forming the largest population of Native Americans in Ohio.

Turnout for events that took place earlier this month have been excellent as numerous groups of people showed up in honor of this celebration.

A film presentation and discussion of “The Busi-ness of Fancy Dancing” will take place on Tuesday, Nov. 16 at 5 p.m. in the Fenn Tower theatre. The film involves a homosexual Indian poet as he confronts his past when he returns to the reservation he grew up on. The event will be co-sponsored by GLBT student services.

On Nov. 18, Bobby Gonzalez, a nationally known motivational speaker and poet, will describe what it was like to be raised in a bicultural environment in his lecture entitled “Red, Black and Brown: The Native American/African-American/Latino Exchange.” His lecture will also touch on various readings and perfor-mances that commemorate his native background. The presentation will be held in the Fenn Tower ballroom from noon-1:30 p.m.

All of these events, which are sponsored by the Office of Diversity and Multicultural Affairs (ODA-MA), are free and open to the public. Co-sponsors include the Native American student organization, the Maxine Goodman Levin college of urban affairs, GLBT student services and the CSU art gallery.

For more information, contact Roberto Chavez at (216)687-9283 or [email protected].

The Howard A. Mims cultural center held an art exhibit talk and reception on Thurs-day, Nov. 4 that high-lighted Native American heritage on campus.

The event, which was sponsored by the Office of Diversity and Multicultural Affairs (ODAMA), featured the artwork of Valerie Evans.

Roberto Chavez, the coordinator of mul-ticultural programming and retention, welcomed

Evans to campus. He said that he first saw her art work last spring at the Cleveland Museum of Art.

“I was very impressed by the realism and the au-thenticity of her work,” said Chavez.

Evans was raised in the Delaware Six Nations re-serve in Ontario, Canada. She was a police officer for 10 years before she received a degree in early child-hood education.

She said that she has never received any formal art training, but she has been painting since she was a little girl and has always had a passion for art.

“You have to do what your passion gravitates you toward,” remarked Evans.

Evans started off doing commissioned portraits, and she continued this business for about eight years. However, she said she eventually wanted a change.

“I never had anything to show for it,” commented Evans. “I wanted to paint something where my inter-ests lie.”

This interest was Native American portraits.“Evans began using watercolors, but soon switched

her medium. Although her artwork looks as if it was constructed with paint, it is actually made with colored pencils.

“I realized I could achieve painterly effects of oil by using layers of colored pencils,” said Evans.

She noted that each piece of art contains up to 30 layers of colored pencils. Due to the tedious nature of the work, she usually only produces three to four pieces each year.

As to the inspiration for her portraits, Evans said that she uses old archival historic photographs as the template for her work. She also uses photos of friends and family members and reconfigures them by adding feathers, long hair and native attire.

Evans said that she often incorporates the colors red, yellow, white and black into her portraits. These colors are typically used in native art and in Native American spirituality the colors represent the four races.

Evans noted that she begins each portrait with the same ritual. She lights candles and incense in her stu-dio and has native music playing in the background. She refers to this as her own form of meditation.

Through creating the portraits, Evans has learned a great deal about her culture and Native American history.

“This is what takes me back to my roots and my culture,” remarked Evans.

The Cleveland State English department debuted its fifth annual anthology publication of student writ-ings on Thursday, Nov. 4.

Student authors spoke about their essays to an audience of students, guests and English professors during a casual luncheon.

The student writings, which include 78 papers on various topics written during 2009 to 2010, were chosen to be complied into a published book titled “Essays.”

Student essays were nominated by English profes-sors at CSU. The nominated essays were then judged by a “blinded” panel of Jo Gibson, a professor within the English department, Jane Dugan, a secretary within the English department, and William Breeze, the director of the first-year writing program. In addi-tion to judging, Jo Gibson also organizes and edits the “Essays” publication.

Jordan Stevenson’s essay for her English 101 class entitled “The Devastating Face of AIDS” was one of the pieces chosen for “Essays.” Stevenson’s essay explores society’s perceptions of people suffering from AIDS and encourages its readers to “see past the moral stigma attached to AIDS”.

“It’s something I’m really passionate about,” said Stevenson. “I’ve known people who have AIDS and HIV and the more I research it, the more passionate I

get.” As of now, Stevenson is writing an article about

her experiences in an abusive relationship for The Vin-dicator. In the future, she said that she hopes to pursue a career writing about fashion.

“Beyond Love,” written by Samah Sheikh, was another essay chosen to be included in the anthology. Sheikh’s essay discusses difficulties not often associ-ated with the concept of marriage, including miscom-munication between couples and incompatibility.

Sheikh grew up in Saudi Arabia and moved to the United States at age 25 to pursue her education at CSU.

“I came to the United States a year ago,” said Sheikh. “I was so terrified; I didn’t know if I was go-ing to pass all my classes.”

However, she quickly adjusted and is now pursu-ing a degree in accounting. Sheikh thanked her Eng-lish professor, Richard Peterson, for helping her make the transition.

“Without him, I would never be here” claimed Sheikh.

A limited number of copies are printed each year and distributed to interested members of the univer-sity. For more information, contact Jane Dugan at (216)687-2532.

Student Writing Published in AnthologyBy Meredith Traxler, The Cauldron Staff Writer

Native American Portraits Featured on CampusBy Kristen Mott, The Cauldron News Editor CSU Celebrates

Native American Heritage

By Peggy Giavroutas The Cauldron Contributing Writer

sports

November 8, 2010 csucauldron.com 5

The Cleveland State Women’s Basketball team opened the preseason on Wednesday night with a run-away victory over Slippery Rock, 64-27. Six players scored - three of them in double figures - but it was Shalonda Winton that led the way for the Vikings at the Wolstein Center.

Winton’s incredible stat line of 11 points, 21 re-bounds, six assists, five blocks, and two steals left head coach Kate Peterson Abiad in a daze after the game. “It doesn’t get much better than that,” Abiad said. “I am just thrilled this is what she comes up with.”

Winton was not the only player helping the Vikings cruise to an easy victory. Senior guard Shawnita Garland played fantastic defense, coming up with five steals. She was a big reason as to why Slippery Rock shot just 17.2 percent (10-58). On the offensive end, Garland added nine points.

Honesty King and Janelle Adams joined Winton in double figures, going for 12 and 19 respectively. King had a pair of threes, while Adams scored in every way possible. Adams also added eight rebounds.

The final starter, Destinee Blue, who will be count-ed on with a significant role this season at the center position also added seven points and five boards.

After winning the Horizon League Championship a season ago, the women will attempt to defend their title this year. Despite losing four seniors, Abiad has a very optimistic outlook for this season.

“I feel really happy for these girls because I think you can see how this team is shaping up without that class,” says Abiad. “I think we do have a new identity that we are going to be able to move forward with. I am really excited for these young women because I think they work hard and deserve their shot.”

She feels that even though the team has just one senior, they will be able to flourish in her system.

“We are running the same offense that we have been running, but we are trying to use other points of emphasis,” Abiad says. “The offense has a whole bunch of different phases to it and the group that we had before used the same phases over and over, that’s what they were good at, that’s how they scored.”

Fans will have one more shot to catch the Vikings in the preseason as the women will conclude preseason play on Nov. 9 at home against Ohio Valley before they head to Cornell on Nov. 13 for their regular sea-son opener.

Women’s Basketball Returns

Winton Leads Balanced Attack in Preseason OpenerBy Kevin Vargo, The Cauldron Staff Writer

The Cleveland Browns. Say it to yourself, “The Cleveland Browns.” It finally feels good after so long. While the Browns are still under .500, they have prov-en themselves over the past two games; showing they are ready to compete with, and beat, the contenders.

With a 20-point (34-14) victory over the perennial power New England Patriots on Sunday, the Browns improved to 3-5. That record may not seem fantastic, but with a team that has struggled mightily over the past few years playing a schedule where not one of their first eight opponents is under .500, Cleveland fans have to be excited.

Perhaps the biggest reason for excitement is the emergence of Peyton Hillis and Colt McCoy, the run-ning back - quarterback duo that has finally given the Cleveland offense some consistency and confidence. Hillis has put the Browns on his back with his tough running style - just what Clevelanders want.

Not only has the offense been playing well, but Rob Ryan’s defense has shut down two Super Bowl caliber teams the past two weeks.

The Browns are finally winning the turnover game. The Browns are finally getting Cleveland’s name mixed in playoff talks throughout the NFL. The next few weeks will be huge for Cleveland.

After another tough opponent in the New York Jets comes to town next week, the Browns will have five straight weeks where they will play teams .500 or worse. If Cleveland can come out of that stretch with four or more wins, the playoffs won’t seem such a fantasy anymore.

Also in the AFC North, the Baltimore Ravens made sure they stay in sole possession of first place by beating the Miami Dolphins and improving to 6-2 on Sunday. Joe Flacco threw for 266 yards and two touchdowns in the win. The Pittsburgh Steelers and Cincinnati Bengals compete in a Monday night divisional showdown that was not completed in before publication

Michael Vick returned from injury on Sunday and led his Philadelphia Eagles to a two-point nail biting win over the struggling Indianapolis Colts. Vick threw for one touchdown and ran for another.

While the Buffalo Bills held a lead in the fourth

quarter, they were not able to keep it and lost to the Chicago Bears to stay as the NFL’s only winless team (0-8).

Brett Favre finally silenced his critics on Sunday. While his team faced another deficit, Favre led the Vikings to a come-from-behind win against the Ari-zona Cardinals while throwing for 450 yards and two touchdowns.

The win was pivotal for Minnesota as they would have dropped to 2-6 (now, 3-5) with a loss, much lower than their expectations entering the season.

In an AFC West divisional battle of teams that have turned their ball clubs around, the Oakland Raid-ers came from behind to beat the Kansas City Chiefs in overtime to make the race even tighter.

While not winless, the dismal Detroit Lions had much of the same luck as the Buffalo. Holding a lead in the fourth quarter against the New York Jets, the Lions eventually went on to allow the Jets an overtime win.

Player of the Week:RB Peyton Hillis (CLE) - I need not say why Hillis earned this title, as most Clevelanders have already fallen deep in love with his performance. Hillis led the Browns to a second straight underdog blowout victory by running for just 16 yards short of 200 on 29 carries and scoring two touchdowns.

Disappointment of the Week:RB Tim Hightower (ARI) - The special teams and de-fensive touchdowns would only last the Cardinals so long against Minnesota. A big reason why they blew a 14-point fourth quarter league was because they could not muster any offense. Hightower carried the ball 13 times for just 39 yards and no scores.

Defender of the Week:Baltimore Ravens - A team that has defense as its calling; Baltimore showed that skill to its fullest on Sunday. Giving up only 10 points to Miami, Baltimore had three interceptions by three different players and 13 players had at least two tackles or more.

NFL Week 9: Browns Rock PatriotsBy Kevin Vargo, The Cauldron Staff Writer


Oh, how hungry the Cavaliers were on Saturday in Philadelphia. Opening the game with an 8-0 run, they executed the offense beautifully with Mo Williams running the point and dishing the ball.

Cleveland was rebounding on defense and running without giving the 76ers a moment to think. They re-fused to give up on plays and every player was putting forth their second effort, staying with the ball until it found its way in the hoop.

Turnovers racked up for the Sixers, allowing the Cavs to get back on offense, make their way to the hoop, and get fouled. They proved to be unstoppable on the fast break.

The Cavs relentlessly out-rebounded the Sixers in the second quarter and went on a 9-1 run during

the quarter. Joey Graham, new to Cleveland, had a productive first half scoring his first points as a Cava-lier. Faking to his right before going left tricked the defense several times, allowing him several trips to the free throw line. Cleveland is becoming more aggres-sive and getting more trips to the line because of that tone.

The Cavs’ gas began running out, though, and they had seven turnovers by the mid-point in the second quarter. Philadelphia had four fastbreak points in a row, and we were allowing them to get into their run-ning game.

At the end of the half, our defense wasn’t tight enough and the Cavaliers were allowing them to get inside too easily. On the offensive end, the Cavs were shooting the ball carelessly and letting up too many turnovers. Cleveland ended the first half up 61-53 after leading by 14 in the first quarter.

The Cavaliers were outscored 31-18 in the third quarter and Philadelphia took their first lead of the game, 72-71. Giving them too many chances on of-fense, the Cavs needed to get stops.

We weren’t contesting shots, and Jrue Holiday (29 points, eight assists) was going to keep scoring unless we put a body on him. On offense we were taking too long to set up plays and the defense was catching on.

Picking up the intensity was Varejao, who shot an incredible 10 of 10, with 23 points and 12 rebounds in the game. Keeping plays alive, Andy was scrambling on the floor for loose balls and his jump shot was fall-

ing perfectly. After losing the large third quarter lead, the Cavs’

frustration did not cause them to give up. Instead, both Ryan Hollins and Daniel ‘Boobie’ Gibson’s aggression kicked into high gear.

Hollins was always under the hoop for clean up on missed shots, and Boobie was running the point extremely well. Solid defense by the Cavs caused the Sixers to take wild shots, giving Cleveland the mo-mentum they needed on offense.

Fouled outside of the perimeter with almost four minutes left in the fourth, Boobie made two of three free throws, making it a one-point game. With the Sixers in the lead, every Cavaliers’ player on the floor was contributing. With an assist from Williams, Va-rejao got to the hoop for a dunk. Mo was also driving baseline and scoring with his infamous floaters and finger rolls.

Philadelphia was forced to foul with almost 12 seconds left, but the Cavs made the free throws and prevailed in the end with a satisfying win 123-116. The Cavs scored an unbelievable 44 points in the fourth quarter on 76 percent shooting. The fact that they succeeded fighting to get the lead back shows they are getting better as a team.

Next game: Cavs @ Nets on Tuesday, 7 p.m.For more Cavaliers coverage from Samah Assad, in-cluding game summaries from Cleveland/Atlanta and Cleveland/Washington, go to www.csucauldron.com

Cavaliers Have Winning Weekend; Get Back to .500By Samah Assad, The Cauldron Contributing Writer

Anderson Varejao attempts a shot v. PhiladelphiaCourtesy: NBA

November 8, 2010 / PAGE 7

In a rematch of league aces much more worthy of the hype that surrounded the same pitching match up in game one, the Giants’ Tim Lincecum put on a pitching clinic last Monday to defeat Texas’ Cliff Lee for the second time in the World Series. The victory clinched the Giants’ first championship in 58 years and their first ever in the city of San Francisco.

While Lincecum’s eight inning, three hit, ten

strikeout performance in a winning effort officially popped champagne corks all over the city, it was shortstop Edgar Renteria who took home the MVP hardware. Renteria hit two clutch home runs, includ-ing the three run blast that sealed the Rangers’ fate.

The story for the Giants in this series, as it was all season, was pitching, pitching and more pitching. Their four-man rotation was formidable throughout the playoffs, and after giving up seven runs in the first game of this series, locked down to allow only five

runs to the Rangers over the final four games. Keep in mind, this Rangers’ club led the American League in batting average and ranked fourth in the American League in runs per game, despite several big names missing major parts of the season.

That may be hard to believe considering the Rang-ers hit only .190 in the five games, but the Giants pitchers are just that good. San Francisco’s dominance

was so complete that by the time the fog settled, the Giants had scored ex-actly as many runs in the series, 29, as the Rangers had hits!

The Giants boasted a wealth of homegrown riches in their starting rotation this season. Led by two-time Cy Young award winner Tim Lince-cum, fellow draft prod-ucts Matt Cain, Jonathan Sanchez and newcomer Madison Bumgarner are under the Giants’ control for years to come, which will surely keep this team competitive in 2011 and beyond.

While much has been made in the national

media of this roster made of misfits and cast-offs, it is interesting to examine the Giants highest paid players in relation to their production this season. According to a CBS Sports salary breakdown, the Giants had the 10th highest payroll in baseball at $97,828,833. Yet almost half of that salary, 43 percent, was paid to three players: fifth starter Barry Zito, reserve center fielder Aaron Rowand and oft-injured Edgar Renteria.

Zito and Rowand have been relegated to bench

fodder the past two seasons, while Renteria suffered through two consecutive down years and was even benched throughout the Division Series before coming up big for the Giants in the World Series. While the Giants are stuck with the contracts of the former for at least two more seasons, Renteria may be a World Series MVP without a job next April.

Imagine what the Giants could have done with the extra $40 million paid annually to Zito and Rowand. If they had spent wisely to put an offense around that pitching staff, it’s safe to say this team might not have had to sneak through the back door to the postseason on the last day of the regular season.

Even though ratings were down for this year’s Fall Classic, baseball fans just received an introduction to some of the players who may become postseason regulars in the near future. Texas’ Josh Hamilton and Ian Kinsler may have had a rough week, but they are young and primed for years of stardom. Meanwhile, their pitching staff may eventually rival even the Gi-ants’ bounty. Derek Holland and Tanner Scheppers will soon follow young arms like C.J. Wilson, Colby Lewis and Neftali Feliz. It’s a scary thought for the rest of the A.L. West.

In San Francisco, you don’t have to squint very hard to see a young Tom Glavine/Johnny Bench bat-tery when you watch lefty Madison Bumgarner pitch to catcher Buster Posey. Displaying maturity bordering on catatonic old men, it was hard to believe these two young twenty-somethings were key components on a playoff team in their rookie seasons. This Giants’ team may have seemed to come out of nowhere, but the run they enjoyed this year was hardly impossible.

In the past ten seasons, Major League Baseball has seen long-standing title droughts end in Boston, the South Side of Chicago, Philadelphia and now San Francisco. If you are a long-suffering baseball fan here in Cleveland, you may be able to find a glimmer of hope just big enough to carry you through to opening day on Friday, April 1, 2011 at Progressive Field.

Fans Celebrate The Giants’ Victory During a Parade in San FranciscoCourtesy: ESPN

Giants Defeat Rangers; Win World Series in Five GamesBy Ray Danner, The Cauldron Contributing Writer

“On senior night, in front of a sold out crowd I couldn’t have asked for anything more… a huge win against the number one team in the nation. I couldn’t have gone out on a better note,” Jeff Baker, the team’s captain, said about the 2-1 victory over top-ranked Akron, the highlight of his senior season.

The stands were packed with the 1,877 spectators as the Vikings held Akron to zero goals in the first half. This was unexpected for the Zips’ fans because their offense has rarely been that unproductive.

“They [the coaches] gave me a responsibility,” said Chris Koy. “I just tried to do my best and every-one else played well and the center backs played well behind me. So it was hard for him [Darlington Nagbe] to break through. It’s a lot of tough work, but I just had one responsibility, so I tried to take care of it.” Koy managed to hold down, arguably, one of the best players in the country.

In the second half, the Vikings’ confidence allowed them to counter attack as well as defend. The oppor-tunities created made the game seem evenly played.

With just 11:31 left on the clock, Aslinn Rodas redi-rected Caleb Eastham’s cross into the back of the net.

Minutes later, Akron’s attacker drew a foul at the top of CSU’s box. The penalty kick was well placed in the lower corner to even the score with 8:51 left.

The Vikings never put their heads down. Their per-severance paid off when Aaron Adkins led Jordan Hart into the box for his first career goal with 6:49 left.

“They [the freshmen] never gave up and grew into themselves this season and are realizing that the more you put into it the more that it’ll give you. I can’t wait for the next couple of years, but I think we still have a couple more things to do this year,” said TJ Kolba, the men’s assistant coach.

The loss was Akron’s first in the regular season since 2008.

The Vikings traveled to Indianapolis on Friday to play Butler, the Horizon League’s top team (7-0). They took the momentum from the Akron game and kept the Bulldogs to a 0-0 tie after two overtime periods.

“The beginning of the season,” said Baker, “everyone’s expectations were high. We wanted to win conference so anything less would be disappoint-ment.” With the Butler game (and the regular season) over, the Vikings now look to the playoffs.

The Vikings ended their season with an overall re-cord of 8-9-1 and 4-3-1 in conference. Although CSU had already clinched a spot in the playoffs, the tie with Butler puts CSU into a great position.

Attaining the number four seed, the Vikings earn a home game in the first round of the Horizon League Tournament. The quarterfinal match begins 7:00 p.m. Tuesday at Krenzler field. The opponent was not known at press time.

“We don’t have that pressure,” said Kolba. “Know-ing we haven’t lost in a long period of time [since the home winning streak ended]. We still like to play here. We know how the surface plays. We’re comfortable here. So, from the past weekend going forward, we’ll play anybody here and like our odds in those games.”

Men’s Soccer Beats Akron; Clinches Number Four SeedBy Meredith Horrigan, The Cauldron Contributing Writer


Cleveland State President Ronald Berkman answered some tough questions from CSU students during an SGA sponsored Town Hall meeting in the student center atrium last Wednesday afternoon.

Before the floor was opened to questions, Berk-man addressed the fluctuating crowd of anywhere from 80 to 100 students, faculty and staff. He said CSU currently has an 18 year enrollment high of more than 17,000 students. Berkman also said the median ACT score of new students is higher than the national average.

Berkman talked about the opening of the new Euclid Commons residences, and said he hopes to tear down Viking Hall this year and plan something to take its place. He also said CSU’s arts program is ready to move to Playhouse Square where they will have ac-cess to the renovated Allen Theatre.

The president highlighted the university’s national recognition. He said CSU is second in the nation for the number of Fulbright scholars. Berkman also noted

the visits by Supreme Court Justice Sonia Sotomayor and, just over a week ago, President Barack Obama. He said an estimated 20 million people will watch ABC television’s “Extreme Makeover: Home Edi-tion,” which featured CSU cheerleaders and Magnus the mascot.

After his presentation, Berkman began taking questions from students.

A student in the audience made some comments about the development taking place on campus, and he asked about the new student center. “I look around this building,” said the student, “and I see that we’ve taken a major stand in trying to get people engaged, and we’ve done a lot of development...and it’s a good look.”

But speaking of the student center specifically, the student said, “I look around, and I see a big, beautiful building, freshly painted, white walls. There are no fli-ers on these walls...there are no signs. There’s a house of Student Life upstairs, but there’s no life within the students who walk around this big, pretty building. They come here for lunch. They come here to maybe say ‘Hi’ to a friend or two, and then they go to class and go home. I want to change that.”

The student then asked, “How do the students go about gaining more autonomy over the student center?”

The student added about the Student Center, “It’s almost like going to an elderly person’s home, and they have plastic...on the couch. They really don’t want you to sit on their furniture...but you have to sit somewhere.”

The student made his point, saying, “This is our school. We are the students, and for people who are here for four years, and want to make [the most of it], why can’t they run this building? Why can’t this be a true student center?”

Berkman responded by saying, “What we’re going to do is ask Dean Drnek, who has primary responsi-bility for this building, to form a broad-based student advisory committee...because your point is a really, really important one.”

But, Berkman added, “Let’s consider for a little more time a work in progress...We only opened it a month ago. We’re learning about the building.”

Berkman also acknowledged the lack of intimacy in the center saying, “[The center] could have a much more intimate community feel to it. It could have a sense of home.”

Berkman said he noticed the center is being under

“We need to transform this, and make [the

student center] a more comfortable place to be.”

- Pres. Berkman

“We need a much better, much more

rational parking system for the students.”- Pres. Berkman

By Daniel Stanton, The Cauldron Staff Writer Photography by Jonathan “Killstring” Herzberger, The Cauldron Photography Editor

Berkman Addresses Student Concerns at Town Hall MeetingTopics include the atmosphere of the student center, parking and tuition costs


used by students. “Just last week I went through the main classroom

building a couple of times...and you know the truth of matter right now, as I look around, there are probably more students in the main classroom building on the ground floor than there are in the student center,” observed Berkman.

“The reason they’re there,” Berkman con-tinued, “is it feels like a more comfortable place to be. But we need to transform this, and make [the student center] a more com-fortable place to be...so students think, ‘Go here first.’”

Berkman also said there should be a time-line. “By the end of the semester, the [student advisory] committee ought to come up with some recommenda-tions [about] how to make it a more student-friendly, user-friendly place.”

Berkman agreed with {Munn} saying, “[The student center] is a beautiful building, but it still has a cold look to it, a cold feel to it, to me. So something has to be done to bring some warmth to it.”

Another student asked about the residential parking at Euclid Commons and security at all the unsecured parking lots on campus. Berk-man answered that he had been made aware that not enough parking spaces at Euclid Commons had been reserved for students. He said the garage has been reprogrammed, and there are now 200 parking spaces available for students.

“I asked the student government to think about whether those 200 spaces ought to be devoted to students who live in Euclid Commons or...commuter students...And the answer that came back was that they ought to be devoted to commuter students,” said Berkman.

He said the space allocations in the Prospect Garage will be studied, but added that the lot was designed to be used by students, faculty and staff.

As to parking lot security, Berkman said he recog-nizes the problem “both in the secured and unsecured parking lots.”

“We met with a parking lot consultant [Wednes-day] morning. We talked about the overall manage-ment of the parking system, or the lack thereof of parking systems,” said Berkman.

Berkman said they talked about increasing police presence around parking lots. He said that the concern

is a high priority but the parking system is a large area to protect.

“The bigger solution is that we need a much better,

much more rational parking system for the students, and part of that has to be more safety,” commented Berkman.

An emailed question asked Berkman about the cost of tuition. The questioner wrote that CSU currently charges the same price for 12 to 16 credit hours, but anything more than 16 credits costs more.

The questioner said other schools have a flat rate for any number of credits above 12, and asked if CSU would consider a similar tuition plan.

Berkman answered saying, “That is something we have had an initial discussion about with members of the senior staff.” Berkman said he would first like to look at other urban schools and see how they handle tuition for students with an “overload” of credits.

“If we can do something, even if it requires us not getting all the revenue we might get, but it results in students having a better chance to move through the

curriculum and complete their degree, I’d be very, very willing to consider it,” said Berkman.

A student mentioned CSU’s diverse student body, but, she said, apart from events specific to diversity, she sees a lot of division in the student body. She asked how diversity could be promoted everyday.

Berman answered, “It’s true that some of the events, and I don’t think it’s purposeful, but some of the events that are designed to celebrate diversity wind up in some way promoting a sense of separation between folks.”

Berkman had no specific ideas about how to remedy division, but he said, “We need to bring diversity in to the fabric of the university.”

“A university, in some ways, is most diverse when it doesn’t notice that it’s diverse,” noted Berkman.

A student told Berk-man about difficulties she was having with one of her professors. The student said some professors are “unable to translate the information to their students,” and she wanted to know what could be done.

Berkman told her, “There should be remedies

when students are having those sorts of issues.” He said students can go to the department chair or even meet with the dean with their concerns. He also said CSU Ombudsperson Dr. Rama Gorla is available to students who have problems or concerns.

An audience member asked Berkman what impact he thinks Republican Governor-elect John Kasich will have on CSU. Berkman said because the election was only held the day before the Town Hall, he hadn’t had time to fully contemplate the effect of a Republican governor on higher education.

But Berkman did say, “Higher education in Ohio has made a very good case for why [it] is … integral to the future of this state.”

Berkman continued, saying, “We have to continue to work to build political and legislative support for higher education.” But, Berkman is hopeful Ohio will continue to support higher education.

Berkman closed the meeting thanking students for attending, whether they had intended to or were just walking by. Berkman acknowledged the efforts of the SGA in getting students to attend, and he said he learned a lot.

“We need to bring diversity in to the fabric

of the university.”- Pres. Berkman

President Berkman socializes with guests during the Town Hall Meeting

Killstring’s PicK

Fang Island w/Delicate Steve, Chat Logs, Simeon Soul Charger @ Grog Shop

Remember when everyone was excited about Vampire weekend? That relentlessly cheerful indie pop sound seemed so precious, and so unique. Then they put out Contra and anything resembling enthusiasm for the band seemed to slip away.

Because it kind of sucked.As for me, my heart was instead captured by Fang

Island’s debut. Shed the ivy-league pretension – this is a band that has fun and is infinitely more concerned with being awesome than being clever. They’re delightfully earnest, relentlessly chipper and their concerts are a big, loud, exuberant good time. Twelve bucks, you say? Sign me up.

Alexes (Absolutely Does Not) Pick:

Brokencyde w/ Millionaires @ Peabody’sThose of you familiar with ‘Concert Picks’ already

know that every now and then, a show comes to town that is so absolutely terrible, so insanely god-awful that we must sacrifice a pick and tell you why you should not attend said show. Seriously, this is for the good of mankind (and your soul).

Let me tell you a bit about Millionaires. They got all-out caught lip-syncing on Warped Tour. They were not accused of lip-syncing. Their CD messed up in the

middle of their set and they were straight up busted. Brokencyde has also been accused of lip-syncing. I won’t say that they do, since

this is merely an allegation, but I will say that you can throw the worst rap you’ve ever heard in a blender with pieces of sheet metal, and get pretty much the same sound without shelling out $14. That is, unless you’re willing to spend $14 on Kill Paradise and leave before things get bad. I’ll completely allow that.

By Jonathan ‘Killstring’ Herzberger and Alexes Spencer, The Cauldron Photography and Managing Editors

Concert Picks of the Week11/15

11/15

11/9 Azure Ray w/Tim Fite, James Husband, Bethesda @ Grog Shop, $1211/11 Genitorturers w/Mary Magdalan @ Peabody’s, $1511/11 This is a Family Tour w/Attack Attack!, Pierce the Veil @ House of Blues, $2011/12 Skeletonwitch w/Megachurch, Solipsist, Forged in Flame @ Grog Shop, $1011/12 Lestat w/The Azoic, Filament 38, Mercury Project @ Peabody’s, $1011/12 Trombone Shorty & Orleans Avenue w/The Rebirth Brass Band

@ House of Blues, $2211/14 Aloe Blacc “Need a Dollar Tour” w/Grand Scheme, MuAmin Collective

@ Grog Shop, $1211/14 Powerman 5000 w/Ark Peninsula @ Peabody’s, $17

Other Shows of Note

When I was younger my Dad was a total Star Trek: The Next Generation junkie. Whenever it was on TV, we’d sit down to watch the adventures of Cap-tain Picard and his crew, and I always marveled at my favorite part of the ship: the holodeck.

Here, the Captain and crew could issue voice commands to bring up any number of inter-esting adventures without ever leaving the ship.

So two years ago when Mi-crosoft made the announce-ment, I began counting down the days until the release of Ki-nect (which was then known as Project: Natal)

Kinect is a controller-less, motion and voice-controlled addition to the Xbox 360 that

is designed to knock Sony and Nintendo off their motion-con-troller pedestals and push gam-ing into a new generation.

I picked mine up at the mid-night release, which was sur-prisingly scarce, and couldn’t wait to get it home and plug it in. The device comes packaged with a game called Kinect Ad-ventures, similar to Most Ex-treme Elimination Challenge, that showcases the device’s various abilities.

I also purchased MTV’s Dance Central because appar-ently the “lawn-mower” and the “shopping-cart” just don’t cut it anymore, so I need any help I can get in the dancing depart-ment.

My main fear when it came

to the Kinect was that it would quickly become a gimmick and befall the same fate as Sony’s long-forgotten EyeToy for the PlayStation 2.

The device never received third-party support, ending up as no more than a glorified we-bcam that came packaged with games that old Logitech web-cams had like “bubble pop” and “basketball bounce.”

After setting the Kinect up, which is very user friendly, my fears were both confirmed and calmed at the same time.

How could this be, you might ask?

My fears were confirmed be-cause, while the device may be technologically advanced when compared with the EyeToy, it is

still an overly expensive web-cam at its most basic.

Sony’s success with the Move system is based strongly in its third-party support, which exists only because they let Nintendo do all the footwork with the Wii then jumped on the bandwagon with a ton of support from de-signers who already have ex-perience designing games on similar technology.

The technology behind the Kinect is still new and un-comfortable waters for game designers. They’re used to de-veloping games that work with controllers.

Unless the Kinect can prove itself and prove itself quickly, it won’t see the serious kind of games it needs and won’t ever

make it to mainstream.The device is not lacking in

hardware; it is the software that may be its inevitable weak-point.

That being said however, let me explain to you why my fears were calmed.

Simply put, the Kinect is awe-some and I’m not even talking about gameplay.

The first thing I set up was the facial recognition software. After making sure I had a clear six feet of space between the device, and myself, it had me stand in various positions while scanning my face. Now when I walk in front of it, it automati-cally recognizes me.

Interesting week ahead, concerteers. We’ve got the beautiful melodies of Azure Ray, the BDSM Industrial of Genitorturers, brass band ragtime and Skeletonwitch, just to name a few. Oh, Skeletonwitch – you remain one of the very best bands to say aloud from any time in music history. How very metal.

Lots of options, to be sure. A word

of warning, though: if you’re thinking of catching the Nov. 11 Justin Bieber show at the Wolstien, don’t bother. You can achieve the same effect by having your friendly neighborhood Concerteers poking you in the eardrums with dull pencils.

And we won’t even charge you fifty bucks. We’re good like that.

Kinect‘Xbox: Write Article’By Justin Brenis, The Cauldron Copy/Web Editor

Continued on Page 12

Pixel Perfect

csucauldron.com November 8, 2010csucauldron.com November 8, 2010

Arts & Entertainment10

November 8, 2010 / PAGE 11 November 8, 2010 / PAGE 11

Due Date

By Reid May, The Cauldron Editor-in-Chief

The Chosen OneBy: Carol Lynch Williams

The Rundown: Thirteen-year-old Kyra lives in a

polygamist cult with her family, headed by the strict Prophet Childs. Despite the rules of her leader and the “God Squad” that violently enforces them, Kyra sneaks

books to read from a mobile library outside the commune. Kyra dis-obeys another important practice of her religion: she becomes friends with a teen from the opposite sex, Joshua. Kyra and Joshua spend time together and even-tually fall in love de-spite the consequences they would face if their friendship was uncov-ered. Through a “revela-

tion,” Childs believes that Kyra should marry her Un-cle Hyrum, a man fifty years her senior. Realizing the absurdity and unfairness of her marriage, Kyra wants to escape. Kyra painfully has to decide if she can abandon her family and leave the commune in order to live in freedom.

Afterthoughts: A beautiful and touching story. Wil-

liams is able to relate a young girl’s feelings and thoughts in a believable way. Page after page, readers will become more and more emotionally invested in Kyra’s journey.

The Help By: Kathryn Stockett

The Rundown: After graduating college, a young, middle-class woman named Skeeter returns to her home in Mississippi. It's the early 1960's and Skee-ter's mother desperately wants what all mothers want for their daughters during this era – to settle down with a husband. Skeeter doesn't want to follow the status quo and pursues her ambition to write. Skeeter meets Ai-bileen, a motherly black maid struggling with the death of her son. Skeeter is inspired to share Aib-lieen’s and other maids’ stories though her writ-ing. Skeeter and Aiblieen's friendship is met with resis-tance stemmed from racism and sexism.

Afterthoughts: A charming book that really brings the South to life. Stockett’s characters are original, warm, and honest. This novel enables it’s readers to relate and understand the dual struggles of racism and sexism that working black women have faced.

Book LooksBy Meredith Traxler, The Cauldron Staff WriterOpposites Entertain in

Latest Phillips Comedy

Zach Galifianakis’ star was born with last summer’s blockbuster The Hangover, which featured his well-known eccentric behavior and the perils endured by his companions. Now, Galifianakis is again teamed with director Todd Phillips (The Hangover, Old School) to tell the story of a road trip gone awry in Due Date.

Ethan Tremblay (Galifiana-kis) and Peter Highman (Robert Downey Jr.) meet abruptly in the drop-off zone of Atlanta’s Harts-field-Jackson International Airport.

Unbeknownst to either, when Tremblay’s friend drives through the door of Highman’s transport, both share the same destination – Los Angeles, California.

After exchanging words (and lug-gage, accidentally) the duo meet again on the plane. Tremblay is seated behind Highman and begins discussing potential terrorism with his new acquaintance.

After the wrong words are spo-ken, passengers become nervous and Highman – a rough personality with little desire for cooperation – is subdued by a Federal Air Mar-shall and detained.

His unintentional possession of a pipe and several ounces of Marijua-na (remember the bag switch) lands

Highman on the “no fly list,” mean-ing his presence at the delivery of his first child, scheduled to occur four days later, is in jeopardy. He soon discovers Tremblay has suf-fered a similar fate.

Unlike Highman however, whose identification and money were on the plane to Los Angeles, Tremblay was able to secure his possessions before de-boarding.

Unable to rent a vehicle on his own, Highman accepts an offer to join Tremblay – who aspires to make it big in Hollywood – on his drive to California.

Due Date is a comedic charm, matching opposing personalities (Downey Jr. plays the polar oppo-site of Galifianakis tremendously) and a stark difference in perspective on a 2,200 mile road-trip across the southern United States.

The film paints Tremblay as an antagonist who would annoy any traveling companion without ever realizing his fault.

Highman endures the conse-quences of most Tremblay mishaps, experiencing a series of injuries including a gunshot wound, bro-ken arm and assault courtesy of a “handicapped hillbilly” that allow the viewer to revel in his plight re-peatedly.

Tremblay and Highman also paint a contrasting picture of life. High-man is a well-groomed, confident professional, with a clear sense of purpose in every approach. Trem-blay is insecure after the death of his father, vulnerable from a lack of support and socially awkward to the nth degree. Neither character is particularly certain of the other and both have entirely different desires for their relationship.

The laughs in this film are the product of a typically strange Gali-fianakis character and the torture he makes Downey Jr. endure. The ac-tors work well with one another, but many of the laughs are the chuckle-to-yourself-kind. The trailer spoiled the best moments in this movie – especially those from the first half of the 100-minute film.

If you approach Due Date hoping for a few easy laughs, but no fall-out-of-your-seat moments, you will be pleased. Do not expect an expe-rience like The Hangover or even Old School. Phillips and Galifiana-kis are good together, but this latest installment of road trip humor is not the masterpiece that fans of Phillips have been spoiled into expecting.

Rating: B+

Robert Downey Jr. (left) and Zach Galifianakis portray polar opposites in Due Date and to great effect.


When it recognizes me, it also logs me in automatically.

Note that you have to do this once during the day and once at night to account for facial shad-owing.

After this, I navigated the menus for a bit and it just felt so damn natural. The sensor bar followed me as I moved about the space and, while at a techni-cal level supposedly it is not 1:1 motion, the lag is barely notice-able if at all.

Also the voice commands worked fluently without any pre-training. Both my girlfriend and I switched off every other command and it responded flawlessly.

Here are the issues I encoun-tered most frequently:

1. The navigation is fluid, but the Kinect Dashboard and regular Dashboard are differ-ent, with Kinect being much more limited. There is no cur-rent support for Netflix or the Marketplace (outside of Avatar design).

2. The voice activation works well, but operates on a “If you can see it then say it” system that lacks options such as “log out” or “power down/off.”

3. When in a game, the Ki-nect can pause gameplay, but it cannot bring up the “bladed” Xbox-button menu, and there-fore you cannot use Kinect to exit a game and return to the dashboard; this still requires a remote.

4. When they say the device requires 6 feet of clear play-ing space, they aren’t kidding. I am just short of six full feet and sometimes responses get a bit hairy, especially when two people are playing at the same time.

5. The device can be used in-stead of a headset for party chat and while the instructions say it can be kept in front of your TV, there is no way to avoid an echo in chat if your speakers are near the device.

6. The device responds differ-ently in differently lighted set-tings and therefore requires that calibration occur once at night and once during the day to ac-count for the changes in light.

7. Finally, and this may sound silly, but don’t ever expect to be able to say “Xbox” or “Kinect” ever again without it respond-ing immediately.

While not all of the above are major concerns, some of them really seem like things that should have been handled before the launch of the device. Luckily though, a lot of these things could be fixed through updates to the software, which hopefully we will see shortly now that the Kinect is on the market.

All we can do until then is en-joy the awesome things the de-vice does, and does well, while we wait for what will hopefully be some serious third-party support down the road.

With a $149.99 price tag, that may be a little much to ask for

the hardcore gamer, but with the holiday season coming up, it’s the perfect addition to any family with a 360 and younger children.

I say BUY IT.

Microsoft releases the pin-nacle in interactive motion con-

trol technology, partners with Harmonix, cre-ators of Rock Band and lead-ers in the music game play in-dustry, and with

their powers combined, what do they produce?

Dance Central, a dance simu-lator and a somewhat awkward lovechild of So You Think You Can Dance? and Dance Dance Revolution.

To be fair, while slightly flawed, Dance Central is a fun game. It takes upbeat, catchy songs that you’ve heard on the radio or at clubs and then pro-vides a series of actions that the player must repeat to the music to earn points and multipliers.

After you get so many points, you are treated to a “freestyle” session, which is (embarrass-ingly) recorded and played back to you via Kinect.

The game watches you and gives you detailed instructions, highlighting which body parts aren’t doing what they should.

The Autumn Defense -Once Around

It’s no surprise that Once Around sounds like Wilco; both of the band members in The Autumn Defense are also regu-lar members of Wilco.

While Wilco may be fairly experimental most of the time, The Autumn Defense opts for a more traditional folk-rock sound and dare I say it’s bet-ter than Wilco’s most recent album?

The theme on Once Around is introspection. The majority of the songs are carefully crafted and paint somber, intimate por-traits of the songwriters.

The very first lines on the al-bum are “I took a trip into the back of my mind/And I found there that nothing was mine.”

It’s clear right away that the band is looking in-ward.

B e f o r e things get too spaced out and low-key, “The Swallows of London Town” appears: a con-cise and energetic track that is easily the album highlight.

“Tell Me What You Want” is another strong point. The song’s verses echo Robert Plant in a very good way (his solo career, not his work with Led Zeppelin).

Fans of Wilco and fans of folk-tinged rock should be more than pleased.

Rating: B+

N.E.R.D. - Nothing

On their fourth studio al-bum, N.E.R.D. take some risks,

but these mostly pay off. Songs on Nothing dabble in pop, rock, h i p - h o p , R&B, rap, dance and

even a little jazz and blues.The album-opener, “Party

People,” is a highly energetic dance track. T.I. makes an ap-pearance and delivers an excel-lent verse to add some variety.

“Hypnotize U” is a dark and dirty track that recalls both Prince and The Neptunes (Phar-rell Williams’ and Chad Hugo’s earlier band).

From there, “Help Me” is a

definite stand out. The bluesy track is somewhat influenced by The Doors and manages to sound unique on an album full of unique sounds.

The first single, “Hot & Fun,” is actually one of the album’s weaker tracks. Nelly Furtado does little to make this messy attempt at a pop song coherent.

Still, you can’t fault the band for trying.

It is a shame that the album is fairly short (about 36 minutes), but there is a deluxe edition that contains four extra tracks - all of which are welcome addi-tions.

Give it a listen.Anyone who enjoys hard-to-categorize mu-sic with various influences should find something in Noth-ing.

Rating: A-

Noise InspectorsBy Ben Gifford, The Cauldron A&E Editor

kiNect

coNtiNueD from PAge 10

Nov. 2, 2010Yep Roc

Nov. 2, 2010Star Trak

KinectMini Reviews

Continued on Page 13

Dance CentralRelease Date: Nov. 4, 2010Developer: HarmonixPublisher: MTV Games

Microsoft’s new peripheral allows for players to control games solely with body movement.

The first month’s

rent is on us!


Starkiller died at the end of Star Wars: The Force Un-leashed, right?

Wrong, or so we think, and are led to question throughout the action of Star Wars: The Force Unleashed 2.

The second game bridging the horrible trilogy to the classic trilogy dropped this past Tues-day to mixed reviews. The first one was met with average or mixed reviews, earning a 73 on Metacritic.com. This new game earned a slightly lower score on the same website, garnering a 63.

Being a Star Wars fan, any-thing coming before the tril-ogy, yes the original one, comes under scrutiny. It is almost as if George Lucas is looking for ways to buy a bigger pool down at Skywalker Ranch, only to fill it with the souls of children who liked the new trilogy and the dreams of adults who loved the original one.

I understand that a story set in a distant galaxy and at a drasti-cally different time lends itself well to infinite expansion, but there comes a point where its creator is just abusing an al-ready tired and emaciated fran-chise...it’s time to have an origi-nal idea, George.

My opinions of Overlord Lucas aside, the game itself is pretty fun. Nothing mind bog-glingly stunning, but an enjoy-

able romp through the worlds so painstakingly created to in-habit this universe.

There is a slight amount of customization the player can do with the color of the light-sabers. I ultimately chose the bumblebee route, opting for a yellow main saber and a black secondary one. The color selec-tion has absolutely no impact on the game itself, much like the outfit choices.

There are the standard skins you’d expect in a Star Wars game: storm trooper, Boba Fett, some goodies from the first game, plus if you can find it a skin that makes you look like Guybrush Threepwood (Mon-key Island series).

You’re also able to build up each of your saber/force skills twice. These upgrades actually matter and make you a lot more powerful and deadly to the un-fortunate waves of storm troop-ers you’re bound to disembow-el on your ultimately flawed revenge quest.

Much like Halo: Reach or Titanic, this venture is doomed from the start and you as player know this. That shouldn’t be a deterrent by any means, since wielding two lightsabers that can cut through anything (ex-cept background set pieces) is something that you will never, ever be able to do in real life.

There are slight improve-ments over the first game, but nothing that gave me pause or made me say “Holy crap that’s amazingly new and stunning!”

The biggest problem present-ed in the game isn’t so much

of a problem as a choice per se. A lot of gamers are unsat-isfied when a game is shorter than 15-20 hours, which I ulti-mately don’t understand. When presented with such a game, one must ask just how many of those hours are actually fun.

I wouldn’t bet that all 20 are, and that more than a few are spent grinding or running vapid side quests for the bobbleheads who inhabit the towns you’re stuck with. That being said, this game is on the shorter end of the spectrum, being only 10-12 hours for one playthrough on expert.

A great number of those 11 hours were a lot of fun though, with no time spent grinding for points to upgrade everything I possibly could. For being so short, this game did not drag or make me want to go do some-thing else once.

I had a great time with this title. It certainly isn’t a pur-chase by any means, not having much replay value, but there aren’t many better games out yet should you decide to spend a weekend with one game and feel satisfied with yourself af-terwards.

It also leaves the story open for a third game.

Again George, have a new idea instead of tossing yet a third trilogy at us.

Rating: TRY IT

Motion control game play has led to a slew of games for the casual crowd. Games like Wii Sports, Wii Sports Resort, weight loss trainers, dance games and mini-game collec-tions are accessible and cater to a diverse audience.

It was no surprise when the Kinect offered up its initial buf-fet of possibilities to match: Kinect Sports, Kinect Joy Ride, about three dance simulators, two weight trainers and Kinect Adventures.

Now the reason I chose to put Kinect Adventures as a standout title above is because, while it may just be a bunch of inter-estingly compiled mini-games designed to be thoughtless and display all of the capabilities of the Kinect, it really does stand out against games like Wii Sports Resort and the like.

In the game, you join a team of adventurers who travel the world completing tasks to earn “living trophies.” The tasks are kind of childish and range from a 3D game of brick-breaker to river-rafting, to starring in what

is basically your own episode of Most Extreme Elimination Challenge.

The challenges are, at the very least, remotely challenging and much like Dance Central, the game provides a solid workout. Plus, the two-player support in most games adds a really fun competi-tive edge to the game.

It also takes a bunch of goofy mid-game pho-tos of you and your friends that you can choose to post on Facebook, if that’s your kind of thing.

Yes, the graphics are cartoony and childish. Yes, you use your avatar as the playable character. Yes, it is not nearly as engross-ing or challenging as Modern Warfare 2, Final Fantasy, or Mass Effect. But yes, it is fun and really displays what the Ki-nect is (and will be) capable of from here on out.

Oh, and it comes for free with the Kinect, so you’re going to end up with it anyway. Instead of letting it collect dust, you ought to give it a shot.

Rating: PLAY IT

Kinect AdventuresRelease Date: Nov. 4, 2010Developer: Good Science StudiosPublisher: Microsoft Game Studios

In my case, that was all of them, but the game does its best to help you improve.

Each song has three difficulty settings and “Break It Down” mode will walk you through step-by-step.

There is also a “Performance” mode and finally a “Dance off” which adds multiplayer compe-tition.

With 32 songs, all available from the get go, ranging in difficulty and including dance

moves that once mastered ac-tually make you look like a dancer, the game provides an entertaining party distraction or fun workout alternative.

Plus, you could probably memorize a routine and show it off at a club; a step up from the cardinal-directionally chal-lenged mediocrity of DDR.

The costly price-tag for extra songs ($3) and the incredibly steep difficulty curve of new steps however, are both bum-mers.

Rating: BUY IT

kiNect miNi reviews

coNtiNueD from PAge 12

Platforms: DS, PC, PS3, PSP Wii, Xbox 360,Release Date: Oct. 26, 2010Developer: LucasArtsPublisher: LucasArts

Star Wars:The Force Unleashed IIFunding George Lucas’ Pool Expansion

Left: Dance Central has players performing actual dance moves. Top: In Kinect Adventures, the camera snaps photos during play that can be shared via Facebook.

By Pete Lindmark The Cauldron Staff Writer

csucauldron.com November 8, 2010

the Melting pot 14The articles published in the Melting Pot are solely the opinions of their authors and do not necessarily represent the views of The Cauldron.

14

It seems my wallet is getting lighter and lighter as we make our way closer to the dreaded holiday season. Surely I’m not alone.

I have compiled a list of some really great buys that will get you through this rough pre-winter Cleveland chill and keep your wallet happy until December.

If there is one thing I hate about winter it’s the dry chapped skin. I recommend a great body and hand mois-turizer. Gabriella’s Fave:

Nivea Original Moisture Daily Lotion, $5.99-$7.49, drugstore.com. The best part of unscented moistur-izes is you can add your favorite essential oils and create your own scent. Plus, unscented lotions are better for sensitive overly dry skin and they are usually cheaper.

Keeping your body

warm is key, especially in freezing cold classrooms. Stay warm in style with the hot trend in hats, the be-ret. They are popping up on store shelves everywhere and I love it. Gabriella’s Fave: The acrylic earth tones beret from Charlotte Russe, $9.50, charlotterusse.com.

I absolutely adore dark lipstick for the fall and winter but it never looks good with dry chapped lips.

Invest is a good lip balm this season. Some things are worth splurging on and this is one of them. Gabriella’s Fave: Aveda Lip Saver SPF 15, $8.50, aveda.com. I hate spend-ing money on lip balm because I always lose them but I hang on to this

one with dear life. Try it and you’ll see why.I love my Ugg boots but let’s face it – they have

seen better days. If you’re like me and can’t afford another pair of $180 boots, check shoe stores like Pay-less and DSW for the same style at half the price. I’ve seen similar style “fuzzy boots” at Target and CostCo. Look around and you’re bound to find a deal. Gabri-ella’s Fave: Airwalk for Payless the “Regan” flat boot,

$29.99 on sale, payless.com. Don’t forget to take full advantage of Payless BOGO sales.

When I was in Europe last winter, I saw scarves around every neck in every city I visited. Scarves are a great way to add a pop of color to any outfit and stay

warm. I love the traditional Burberry plaid because it

matches both black and brown however the price tag of this luxury scarf doesn’t love me back. Last year I found its wallet-friendly cousin at Dillard’s. Virtu-ally the same scarf at a mere fraction of the price. Try Marshall’s and TJ Maxx for great deals on trendy scarves and accessories. Gabriella’s Fave: David and Young plaid scarf $21.99 on sale, dillards.com.

The holiday season is fast approaching so try to get in some goodies for yourself before you’re stuck saving paychecks to buy co-workers and long lost cousin’s gifts that you secretly want. Remember you don’t need to neglect yourself this holiday season – just bargain hunt for the very best buys.

Fabulous Fashion: A Guide to the ‘Pre-Winter Chill’By Gabriella Tomaro, The Cauldron Staff Writer

An interesting and potentially problematic situa-tion was averted last Tuesday in the state of California. No, I am not talking about public approval of the state budget, but rather, the highly anticipated Proposition 19, a statewide referendum to legalize and tax mari-juana. Unfortunately for hemp enthusiasts and Taco Bell stockholders, Proposition 19 did not pass, denied by a 54-46% margin.

The question is, where does the public discourse go from here? The future of drug policy in the United States is dependent how the nation interprets the outcome of Proposition 19. Are the proponents of legalization going to attempt it again in another two years? Is there sufficient support for such a measure? Better yet, how many times will this be attempted if another measure does not pass?

It does seem unfair to individuals opposed to legal-ization to have to keep spending money and time on trying to maintain the current laws. From this perspec-tive, it had already been voted on already, and why would they have to go to the voting booths again? Is it fair for activists (regardless of what issue they want to see voted on) to keep putting issues on the ballot in the hopes that they will be able to outlast the opposition, hoping to gain a few votes at every successive attempt.

This also raises an interesting question consider-ing how popular support for legalization is measured. California is widely regarded as one of the most socially liberal and progressive states in the Union, yet, it is clear that a majority of Californians were not

interested in making marijuana legal in their state. This means either one of two things: 1) California

is more conservative than we thought or 2) people are simply not supportive of legalization. While proponents of legalization point to the unprecedented amount of support from politicians and other special

interest groups as evidence of legitimacy, the num-bers do not lie. Fifty-four percent of Californians who voted struck down Proposition 19, and in this nation, majority rules.

Analysts on both sides point out that highly sought after (and historically uninvolved) 18-34 demographic did not come out to vote on Tuesday, and this is prob-

ably what doomed Proposition 19. While promising on the surface, this factoid has another implication: if pot cannot get young people to vote, what can?

This was not a race between mudslinging, corrupt candidates, nor was this a mundane tax levy. This was a vote to legalize marijuana, and if there was anything that impacted the lives of young people directly, then this was it. In theory, college students should have been lined up around the block to vote, but, surpris-ingly, they were absent.

Not to be a like the chorus in an Ancient Greek tragedy, but what does this mean for the future? What can one foretell from the results of the Proposition 19 vote? While the public discourse now can claim electoral legitimacy, what else did the campaign accomplish? Marijuana use is widespread among many demographic groups, and it has many celebrity advocates.

There is no shortage of scholars or entertainers who want to see marijuana legalized, but apparently there was a shortage of regular folks. Additionally, if California cannot get marijuana legalized, what state can?

If Proposition 19 failed by an eight percent margin in California what would have happened if it was in Utah or Mississippi? Not to be the bearer of bad news, but Proposition 19 did not impress me, and I do not think legalization is an inevitable outcome of this discourse.

Those 1 Billion people obviously did not vote in Tuesday’s election.

Is it a Good Thing that Proposition 19 Failed?By Terence Check, The Cauldron Contributing Writer


It was a very eventful summer for the city of Cleveland, and the state of Ohio for that matter, when the self-proclaimed “King of Cleveland” renounced his crown on July, 8 2010 on ESPN and neighboring sports networks In Newwark, New Jersey at the Boys and Girls club.

He claimed that he was raising money for the children in the Boys and Girls club by being gra-cious enough to reveal his decision in their facilities. After many Lebron James bonfires, personal bashes and vendettas from radio and television personali-ties, even from Dan Gilbert himself, it finally came through

King James” thick-skulled way of presenting his decision was not the best way to tell his Cleveland fans that he was heading to Miami. According to ESPN’s Web site, James said that he does not regret going to play for the Miami heat along side Dwayne Wade, and Chris Bosh, but would have changed the way he handled “the Decision.”

James said verbatim that he did not regret his decision and that he was happy in Miami. However, he regets the way he broke the news to his faithful Cleve-land fans that have supported him since he was playing at St. Vin-cent - St. Mary High School in Akron.

“If I had to go back on it, I probably would do it a little bit differ-ent,” James said. He continued on by saying that there would always be a misunderstanding between him and the Cavs fans that he left behind.

He tried to make a light - hearted joke saying that it was not to early for teams to start recruiting him for 2015- 16 season, but Cavaliers’ Power Forward J. J. Hickson is picking up James’ baton and run-ning full force with it. By the time Lebron James is a free agent again, the question would be if Cleveland wants Lebron James back with the Cavs.

The real truth of it all is that Lebron James cre-ated a wound in the hearts of Cleveland residents and Cavs fan that he will never be able to heal. On the evening of July 8, 2010 he literally embarrassed the City of Cleveland, histeammates, Dan Gilbert and anyone who has ever purchased a Lebron James jersey.

To add insult to injury, not even a week later, he goes to Miami and puts on a show with Dwayne Wade and Chris Boch that was so gaudy and tacky it can be compared to a Siegfried and Roy show in Las Vegas. He claimed that Miami was going all the way. He better hope so, because the Cleveland Cavaliers will have to be in dire circumstances for Cleveland fans to allow Lebron James to play on the hardwood at the Q ever again.

Lebron Admits ‘Decision’ Could Have Been Handled Better

By Ariana Johnson, The Cauldron Staff Writer

Cue techno background music… cue announcer. <Ahem> MORTAL KOMBAT!!!! Tuesday’s bout was a knocked-down, dragged-out street fight featuring The Governator himself, Arnold Schwarzenegger (et al) against The Entertainment Merchants Association, or EMA (et al) with special guest referees, the nine Supreme Court Justices. In one corner, represent-ing The Governator and his constituents, Zackery P. Morazzini faced off against Paul M. Smith on behalf of the Entertainment Merchants Association. (Editor’s Note: For this fight, the “blood code” was turned off.)

You may be asking what’s actually at stake as a result of this decision. The matter before the court is the constitutionality of a California law banning the sale of violent video games to minors. The current case stems from the approval of a California law cre-ated in 2005 that would make retailers who sell or rent “violent” video games to anyone under the age of 18 subject to up to a $1000 fine.

Opponents to the law argue that it restricts free speech and is unnecessary on the basis that all video games that are released already contain ratings per-taining to age and content appropriateness. This law was overturned in 2007, on the basis that it infringes on free speech, with the same ruling being upheld in 2009.

In short, this hearing would potentially take away the right/opportunity/chance for parents to decide what is appropriate for their children.

The official transcript of the proceedings is avail-able online and after reading, looked just about as vicious and intense as one would expect on an episode of Jerry Springer. Albeit a well informed and thought-out episode, without all of the audience screaming or fights breaking out.

So really nothing like an episode of Jerry, maybe it would be more akin to a much more captivating episode of C-Span.

The arguments were brought forward on both sides eloquently and from the looks of it, there was no clear victor, even if the court was much less forgiving to

The Governator’s cause than the EMA’s. From the outset, the court took issue with devi-

ant and established norms of violence, referencing Grimm’s fairy tales as quite grim and violent (not sure if the pun was intended). They also questioned why video games were being singled out as the proverbial witch to be set ablaze, without receiving a definite answer.

The court was also aware that whenever a new technology or medium has arrived, it has been subject to similar scrutiny, if not to the extent of video games simply for being interactive.

This is not to say that the Supreme Court was any more forgiving or accepting to the counsel for the EMA. He was questioned on the potential for a lesser law pertaining to the sale or rental of violent video games to minors, which he did not adequately lay out. Another point of contention was the definition of “obscenity.”

This decision could have far reaching ramifications if the court finds in favor of The Governator: from censorship of the creative video game creation pro-cess, to restrictions on other media, to exerting unfair legal and financial pressure on store clerks, and finally to retailers pulling certain games from their shelves all together.

None of these potential things are good for gamers of any age or society as a whole. Unfortunately this decision is out of our hands and has been left up to the Supreme Court, who will reach a decision between now and next June.

I know I’ll be keeping my fingers crossed on this one, as I don’t believe the government has the right to single out this medium over any other medium containing violence. We cannot declare a clear victor until the referees have reviewed the play and awarded points accordingly.

I know I’m pulling for the EMA.The full, 72-page transcript of the hearing is avail-

able at http://www.supremecourt.gov/oral_arguments/argument_transcripts/08-1448.pdf

“James created a wound in the hearts

of Cleveland residents and Cavs

fans.”

The Case Banning the Sale of Violent Video Games to Minors Entered the Supreme Court on Tuesday.

Supreme Court to Decide of California Violent Video Game Law is ConstitutionalBy Pete Lindmark, The Cauldron Staff Writer


Tuesday was a tough day for Democrats nation-wide. In Congress, the President’s party became the minority in the House of Representatives, losing 60 seats to a strong Republican wave.

Democrats maintained their majority in the Senate, only with much smaller margins – a 53 to 47 majority – after Republican Dino Rossi officially conceded the Washington (state) Senate race to Democratic incum-bent Patty Murray this weekend.

In Ohio, Democrats were slaughtered. Lt. Gov-ernor Lee Fisher lost his bid to replace retiring U.S. Senator George Voinovich in resounding fashion, 57 to 39 percent to Republican Rob Portman. Ohio’s Sen-ate race was so decisive, it was one of the first called when polls began closing Tuesday night.

Five incumbent House Democrats – all members of the 2006 or 2008 freshman class – lost their seats to Republican challengers. Those members were John Boccieri, Steve Driehaus, Mary Jo Kilroy, Zach Space and Charlie Wilson.

Ohio’s Congressional representation went from a 10 to eight Democrat advantage to a 13 to five Republican advantage. Only the area in and around Cuyahoga County – home to such longtime members as Dennis Kucinich (OH-10) and Betty Sutton (OH-13) survived.

The five remaining Democratic districts have a number of common borders and will likely face serious challenges from redistricting in the coming months.

Governor Ted Strickland was defeated in a close race by former Congressman John Kasich, a Republi-can. Kasich took Ohio 49.4 to 46.7 percent, dominat-ing Strickland in rural areas.

Strickland was only able to win the greater Cleve-land and Toledo areas, Franklin County (Columbus) and a solid contingent in the southeastern part of the state. Critical heartland counties including Wayne, Stark and Miami went strong for Kasich. Cincinnati also went Republican.

Around the nation, long time Democratic members suffered difficult – and oft surprising – losses.

Jim Oberstar (D-Minn.), chair of the House transportation committee lost to Republican challenger Chip Craavack. Ober-star was first elected in 1974.

John Spratt (D-S.C.), chair of the House budget committee, lost to Republican Mick Mulvaney, who tallied over 55 percent of the vote. Spratt, South Carolina’s longest serving congressman, served for 28 years.

Arkansas Senator Blanche Lincoln, a Democrat, lost her bid for re-election after a tough primary campaign nearly lost her the chance to run. Lincoln’s opponent, Republi-can John Boozman, ended her 12-year run in the U.S. Senate.

Some veterans managed to hang on. Senate Major-ity Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) defeated Tea Party supported Republican Sharon Angle, who became well-known for her extreme views on issues like Social Security.

Barbara Boxer (D-Calif.) won her fourth term in the U.S. Senate, defeating former Hewlett-Packard CEO Carly Fiorina. In West Virgina, Democratic Governor Joe Manchin surged back to defeat Repub-lican challenger John Raese in a bid to fill the seat left vacant by the late Robert Byrd.

The results before you mean little to nothing. Americans are disappointed with the state of the economy and they are blaming the party in power – there should be no surprise there. Results like these, in favor of the party out of power, are very typical for the first midterm election of a presidency.

President Barack Obama should be concerned – yes – because while he is likely to see different results when he reappears on the ballot in 2012, the next two years will present a significant challenge to his admin-istration. Governing with a Republican house will not make things any easier.

Traditionally, the GOP takes a strong election vic-tory to indicate a mandate for their preferred method of governing. In this election cycle they have played on the deficit, calling spending outrageous and sug-gesting the massive economic survival measures were simply destructive in both the long and short term.

What the new leadership will refuse to acknowl-edge is the election results are reflective not of a Re-publican mandate, but the rebuke of incumbents and a clear statement of dissatisfaction.

Recent polling data – leading up to and through the election – clearly indicated a majority of the country found Democrats favorable to Republicans, by stark

margins. The election was widely favored to go the GOP’s way, but no reasonable analyst will suggest those results a reaffirmation of the recent Republican way of governing.

In fact, many will argue – this analyst included – that the election is a clear mandate against parti-san games, ineffective governing and the growing disconnect between politicians and the people they are supposed to represent.

The American public may not fully understand the reasons behind consistent Republican filibusters in the last Congress, but they are aware that those partisan tricks made it difficult to accomplish anything.

Those same people consider our government wild-ly ineffective. They see massive spending – during the past two years, we have passed health care reform, the stimulus package and Wall Street reform – with small results as unemployment continues to hover around 10 percent and the economy experiences tepid growth.

While this environment has persisted, politicians have continued to amass wealth, provide themselves with pay raises and live on a separate government health plan.

Many U.S. elected officials are personally wealthy – Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) and her husband own a professional football team, John McCain (R-Ariz.) and his family own eight homes – leading voters to question their understanding of the plight of everyday Americans.

Americans do not want more of the same – but they are set up to receive it because the same kind of leaders are elected no matter who wins in each elec-tion cycle.

As much as Democrats and Republicans are dif-ferent, they are also very much the same. Both parties govern with a seniority-based leadership, meaning those who are recently elected and expected to illicit change in Washington are years away from doing so because they too must earn their place.

Both parties, whether they advocate for or against those with personal fortunes, tout leaders with massive personal finances. Members of Congress will never worry about making ends meet. A great many never have.

Ideologies may be different but the strategy is the same. Quote me on this: In the next two years, Repub-licans will cut taxes and increase the deficit. In inter-views this week, most of their newly elected brethren could not list the programs they would eliminate to reduce spending. These are the same people who ran their campaigns on smaller government.

Cutting back makes for a great campaign slogan, but when it comes time to practically apply the chang-es, nobody wants to take the heat. Every program affects some constituency and that Representative will raise hell before watching appropriations/jobs/sup-port disappear from the people who ultimately decide whether they remain in office.

Every two years, Americans vote for change. They want new methods, new cooperation and new respon-sibility. They want to be represented by people who actually understand them. Until those voters begin demanding more than a few recycled ideas stapled to candidates from the other party-of-the-same, nothing will change. The cycles will persist and America will continue to grasp for true representation.

IllumiNation: What Do Election Results Mean?By Reid May, The Cauldron Editor-in-Chief

Documents

The Cauldron 2010, Issue 11