MAY 9, 2011 ESTABLISHED 1929 ISSUE 16| FREE

TheCauldron

THE MELTING POT

ARTS & ENTERTAINMENT

SPORTS

NEWS

AWARDS

SPRING

midgard2011

By Jonathan “Killstring” Herzberger

‘Thor’ Reviewed

Page 9

Tornado > Royal Wedding

Page 11

GlobalAffairs

SymposiumPage 3

By Kristen Mott

Cleveland StateConstructionUpdate

CSU Throws Out Baseball Program

New Beastie Boys AlbumReviewed

IllumiNation:Osama bin Laden Reactions

By Meredith horrigan

By Ben gifford

By reid May

Louis Zamperni of ‘Unbroken’

VOLUME 112 • ISSUE 16MAY 9, 2011CONTENTS|

The 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

mission statement on The Cover

A graphic, depicting the enigmatic Midgard Award Trophy. For those living in a cellar these past few years, Jon Herzberger provides the best

in A&E through Midgard once per semester. His next installment, is this week’s feature.

Graphic by Andrew Treska

the Cauldron

Concert Picks Page 8

Book Looks Page 9

Noise Inspectors Page 9

Thor Review Page 9

Bin Laden Details Page 3

CSU Hosts Global Affairs Symposium Page 3

CSU Construction Update Page 4

Community Outreach by Sigma Tau Gamma Page 4

Parting Words from Editor-in-Chief Page 10

IllumiNation: bin Laden Page 11

Tornado Destruction Should Outweigh Wedding Page 12

news

melting pot

breaking news | CsuCauldron.Com

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 interested.cauldroneditors@gmail.com

The Cauldron welcomes and en-courages student feedback. We can be reached via the above email, or in our offices on the fourth floor of the Cole Center (Chester & 30th).

sports

The StaffEditor-in-ChiefReid Jackson May

Managing EditorAlexes SpencerNews EditorKristen Mott

Arts & Entertainment EditorBen Gifford

Sports EditorMeredith Horrigan

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 WritersSamah Assad, Brandon Blackwell, Natalie Bryan, Shanette Buford,

Jon Conley, Ray Danner,Peggy Giavroutas, Nicole Harris,Ariana Johnson, Pete Lindmark,

Kiel Shrefler, Brian Smith,Matt Stafford, Dan Stanton,

Gabriella Tomaro, Meredith Traxler, Kevin Vargo

CSU announced this week that the University will end

its baseball program citing budgetary concerns as the key

motive behind the decision. Meredith Horrigan interviews

John Parry, CSU Athletic Director, about the decision.

Page 5

3 csucauldron.com May 9, 2011

news

Senior administration officials revealed details of the raid that resulted in the death of Osama bin Laden in a conference call following President Barack Obama’s international address Sunday evening.

“Osama bin Laden is now no longer a threat to America,” said one senior administration official.

Multiple White House agencies have worked together since the Sept. 11 attacks to track down bin Laden’s location. The CIA began to gather leads on individuals within bin Laden’s personal circle and testimonies from detainees.

The CIA uncovered the personal identity of one of bin Laden’s personal couriers, Abu Ahmed al-Kuwaiti, four years ago. Members of the CIA were able to trace a phone call al-Kuwaiti placed on his cell phone to the compound.

The senior administration officials confirmed that in August 2010, the White House officially located the compound in Abbottabad, Pakistan. The compound sits on a large plot of land that is largely secluded. Ac-cess is restricted by two security gates and the entire compound is surrounded by 12-foot walls topped with barbed wire. Bin Laden lived at this location with sev-eral family members, including his youngest wife.

President Obama finalized the operations and gave

the final orders to pursue bin Laden on Sunday, April 29. The raid, which was completed within 40 minutes, took place in the early hours of May 2 in Pakistan.

The team of Navy SEALs was kept small to mini-mize collateral damage and pose as little damage as possible to the combatants and the Pakistani citizens. The SEALs knew the mission was especially danger-ous and accepted the risks of the mission.

Recent reports have determined that bin Laden was not armed during the raid; however, gun fire blazed throughout parts of the compound and individuals made advances toward the SEALs that indicated a possible threat. Bin Laden was killed with a shot above the left eye and a shot to the chest.

Other casualties of the raid include bin Laden’s son, al-Kuwaiti, and al-Kuwaiti’s wife and brother. Bin Laden’s wife was shot in the calf when she rushed at the SEALs as they entered the compound. No com-batants were injured during the raid.

Bin Laden’s body was buried in the North Arabian Sea to respect the Islamic custom of burying a body within 24 hours.

The SEALs took computer equipment and docu-ments from the compound, which contain confidential information pertaining to al-Qaida. Only a small num-

ber of people within the U.S. government knew about the raid and the Pakistani government was not aware of the operation.

Obama announced Wednesday that the government would not release photos of bin Laden’s body to the world. The decision came after worries that the photos may be used as a propaganda tool for his followers or would incite violence amongst the members of al-Qaida.

The U.S. remains on a heightened security alert to prepare for any possible retaliation effort by bin Laden’s supporters.

By Kristen Mott, The Cauldron News Editor

Details Emerge on the Death of Osama bin Laden

Photo courtesy Associated Press

International business is a “central component to the salvation of the economy in Northeast Ohio,” said Mark Sundahl, associate law professor at Cleveland-Marshall College of Law.

Sundahl was one of the speakers in the first annual Symposium on Global Affairs, held in the student center last Wednesday.

Using the Cape Town Treaty as an example, Sun-dahl discussed how important global harmonization, or standardization, of laws is to promote international business.

The treaty, said Sundahl, makes it easier for banks to repossess expensive mobile equipment items, such as airliners, bullet trains and even satellites, if the

owner defaults on the loan. Sundahl gave an example of a plane in a coun-try different from the lender trying to repossess it. If the foreign authorities do not allow it, the lender has no recourse.

Sundahl said the Cape Town Treaty standardizes the law among the member nations, and that makes banks feel more secure when they

make loans. When the banks know they can repossess an airplane, train or satellite without having to worry about international legal differences, they lower inter-est rates. Lower interest rates means more people have an opportunity to do business.

In order to promote international business, Sundahl said harmonization-essentially making all the laws the same worldwide-is necessary. Sundahl said U.S. laws, just between the states of the union, are complex, and adding in the laws of other countries just adds to the complexity.

Sundahl said harmonization has made it easier for U.S. companies to do business in the European Union nations, but implementing harmonization is not easy. “Global harmonization...can take decades,” said Sundahl. And the only reason the Cape Town Treaty is successful, said Sundahl, is its narrow focus on high-value, movable property.

The symposium also featured talks from Case Western Reserve University World Affairs Professor Kathryn Lavelle, Eaton Corporation Senior Economist Hamsi Shankar and Global Detroit Director Steve To-bocman. The symposium was held in conjunction with the Cleveland Council on World Affairs and Cleveland State’s Master of Arts in Global Interactions (MAGI) program.

CSU Hosts First Annual Symposium on Global AffairsBy Dan Stanton, The Cauldron Staff Writer

PAGE 4 / May 9, 2011

Weekly Events Calendar

By Kristen Mott, The Cauldron News Editor

5/9

Ice cream social from 11 a.m.-2 p.m. in SC atrium

5/10

Stress free zones from 11 a.m.-3 p.m. in

SC 224

5/11

Stress free zones from 11 a.m.-3 p.m. in SC atrium

5/12

CSU Alumni Association graduation party for December 2010 and Spring

2011 graduates. Senior send-off from 4:30-5:30 p.m. in SC ballroom; party from

5-8 p.m. in SC plaza. RSVP to alumassoc@csuohio.edu

5/14

Spring Commencement ceremony from 9:30 a.m.-2 p.m. at the Wolstein center

By Kristen Mott, The Cauldron News Editor

Spring Construction UpdateThe Cleveland State campus has experienced great

expansion over the past year, and will continue to expand into the future.

Viking Hall will be demolished during the Fall 2011 semester, according to University Architect Ed Schmittgen. The university will solicit developers to develop ideas for the location. The site has major po-tential and Schmittgen hopes it will have a mixed use for students – retail, housing or office space.

As for the current construction work on Euclid Commons, Schmittgen said the second and final phase will be completed by the fall semester. Students will have full access to the new dorms and facilities.

The university has recently acquired the Mid-dough building on East 13th Street. Two floors will be converted into rooms for the art and theatre depart-ments to use when the transition to the Allen theatre is complete. An art gallery will be located in front of the building to complete the art campus.

CSU has also acquired a building at 1836 Euclid Ave. and Schmittgen said that the university is current-ly negotiating a lease. Departments and administra-tive units currently located in the Keith building will be moved over to the new building. Approximately 20,000-square-feet will be used in the same building for the partnership with Northeastern Ohio Universi-ties Colleges and Medicine and Pharmacy (NEOU-COM). Students will be admitted into the school beginning fall 2012.

The old campus safety building has been converted into a new police station, which Schmittgen said shows the university’s commitment to safety. The po-lice station contains a dispatcher, an evidence storage room and holding cells. The building officially opened last month.

As for the future of the campus, Schmittgen has worked to create a “master plan” for the university. One of the key components of this plan is the North Campus Village. “This is a really important step in the evolution of Cleveland State,” said Schmittgen.

The village will begin across the street from Rhodes Tower and span down Chester Avenue until East 24th Street. The village will be composed of apartments with approximately 200 beds total. Stu-dents will sign an individual lease with the developer, as opposed to the contracts students sign when living in the residence halls. The apartments will officially be open to anyone, but Schmittgen believes they will mostly house students.

The village will also be composed of up to 15,000-square-feet of retail, such as restaurants and bars. The goal is to get more students down on cam-pus, and encourage them to stay down here.

The master plan also includes creating a “pedes-trian experience.” Plazas would be added on Chester Avenue to shorten crosswalks for students and calm the traffic. Another plaza would be placed outside Fenn Tower with a giant CSU logo in the center.

Certain roads would be redirected to create smoother transitions across the campus. Schmittgen said this would open up sight lines and allow students to make visual connections between buildings when traveling across campus.

Other plans include adding LED lights beneath Rhodes Tower to define the space and attract attention, and increasing the amount of green space.

Schmittgen said all the construction plans will be completed in increments, but it is important to let the students know that the plans are possible and will eventually be accomplished.

Sigma Tau Gamma fraternity presented a $1500 check to the Wounded Warrior Project and a $750 check to the American Cancer Society last Friday in the student center.

Sig Tau president Kevin Gallagher said this is the first time the fraternity has worked with the Wounded Warrior Project. The fraternity resumed working with the American Cancer Society this year after taking a few years off.

The funds for the Wounded Warrior Project were raised in part by selling wristbands and through vari-ous philanthropic endeavors.

The Wounded Warrior Project is open to any ser-vice member who receives an injury while in service. The group focuses on post-traumatic stress disorder and resuming physical activities after recovering from the injury. The organization creates various projects to fit the wide range of injuries.

Nichol Campana, the income development direc-tor from the American Cancer Society, said she loves to see youth involved in philanthropic efforts and is grateful for all their hard work.

“I would like to thank Sig Tau for their efforts and for supporting our mission,” said Campana.

Sigma Tau Gamma Gives Back to the CommunityBy Kristen Mott, The Cauldron News EditorAdditional Reporting by Dan Stanton, The Cauldron Staff Writer

(L to R): Sam Stan, Tim Klypchak and Kevin Gallagher present a check to Nichol Campana from the American Cancer Society.

Photo by Dan Stanton

What was the target budget cut for Athletics next year?

Parry: We were asked to cut approximately 10 per-cent of our budget, which is a little under $1 million

and/or add to our revenue. We have projected an in-crease in revenue in basketball ticket sales and in spon-sorship dollars that amounts to about a third of our tar-get. The baseball decision represents about 40 percent of our target, and the rest of it will come from either not filling positions or potentially layoffs.

How much will athletics save with this cut?Parry: Baseball is the third most expensive sport of-

fered at Cleveland State. It costs us about $450,000 a year. We kept $100,000 in the budget, it may be less or it may be more, because we plan to honor the scholar-ships of those players who want to finish their degrees here. In our budget for next year, we project a $350,000 in savings.

Why was the baseball program, which is compa-rable in budget to volleyball and softball, the one to go?

Parry: Men’s and women’s basketball are no. 1 and no. 2 most expensive. Men’s and women’s fencing we really don’t fund very well; we put about $30,000 into

Fencing. So, if we were to cut fencing it really would not have much of an impact on the budget. In terms of trying to come up with an overall reduction in cost, as opposed to dropping three or four or five sports that cost $100,000 each.

One other thing that is part of the equation to be in good standing in the NCAA Division I, you must sponsor 14 sports. To sponsor means to have a mini-mum number of participants for a minimum number of events. We did sponsor 17 teams so, with dropping baseball, we are at 16 teams, and that is the minimum. We have 14 sports that we employ coaches and have scholarships and compete. No other sport is at risk of being cut.

Is the choice because of lack of success? Is it lack of a stadium in future plans?

Parry: When asked why baseball was picked, things that led to the decision was that there is no on-campus facility, so they travel 25 minutes each way to prac-tice.

We are inhib-ited by the weather in Northeast Ohio. Two thirds of the season is in Feb-ruary and March and in order to be more competitive, we would have to put more money into baseball so our team could spend some weekends in Florida so they could get outside and play.

In that context, the idea that we are not particularly competitive, the answer was that if we wanted to be more competitive, we would have to put more money into the program, and that isn’t in the budget.

Was baseball cut with plans of add-ing another team?

Parry: People

have asked if we are going to add football, and the an-swer to that is no. If you look across the whole universi-ty, we aren’t the only one facing cuts based on the state of Ohio’s support of higher education. This in not the time to be adding programs, given the current climate. We did not plan to drop baseball to add another sport.

What has the reaction from players been?Parry: Our immediate concern is the coaches and

players. The players have received a blanket release so that they could communicate with other colleges. We actually have four incoming players who have asked if their scholarships will be honored, and they will be for a year. We are working with each player. Of course, the seniors are pretty well revved up and should be gradu-ating. For the players who are continuing, it was obvi-ously a difficult thing to tell them and a difficult thing for them to hear.

CSU Strikes Baseball: Parry Explains the Decision to Cut the ProgramInterview By Meredith Horrigan, The Cauldron Sports Editor

Courtesy: CSU Athletics

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sports

May 9, 2011csucauldron.com 5

PAGE 6 / May 9, 2011

AWARDS

SPRING

By Jonathan “Killstring” Herzberger

midgard2011

Gather ‘round, boys and girls; it’s that time of year again! What time is that, you rhetorically ask, dear reader - knowing that the next sentence will tell you anyway?

Why, it’s time to tell you how right we are. About everything. It’s time to wax poetic about the year’s media, with all the respect and dignity a topic of such gravitas needs and deserves; which is to say: precious little.

It’s time to create arbitrary categories, and declare triumph or despair according to an ever-shifting set of whims that is based as much on rigid standards of journalistic process as throwing darts at album covers. Essentially, it’s time to do what every other “best of” awards program does, except that we intend to be hon-est about our tongue-in-cheek non-process.

In other words, it’s time for the Midgard Awards. Memes, Gadgets, and other things we didn’t

bother classifying

Most frightening mind-reading app/Web site: Akinator (us.akinator.com)

Though originally created in 2007 as a Web site, Akinator made its way onto mobile devices (Android and iOS) in 2010. The app saw a surge in popularity earlier this year and for good reason.

Akinator is a “Web genius.” He’s a genie based on the old 20 questions game, but he’s scary accurate.

Think of a character, real or fictional, and Akinator will try to guess it within three attempts (sometimes more on the mobile version). More often than not, Akinator gets it right.

It’s not just well-known characters either: the log lady from Twin Peaks, Donald Fagen of Steely Dan, Artie the strongest man in the world from Pete and Pete—Akinator knows all of these and more, and will both intrigue and infuriate you as you try to stump him.

Akinator is likely so good at guessing because he’s updated “Wiki” style by users with new characters. He is also flexible in accepting answers.

Instead of only accepting “yes” and “no,” Akina-tor also allows users to answer “probably/partially,” “I don’t know,” and “probably not/not really.”

The app costs $1.99 on the iTunes App Store and $2.20 on Android (though a “lite” version is available for free that limits you to five games per day).

Best roast of Donald Trump: Tie - either Comedy Central, or the White House Correspondents Dinner.

Nothing more to see here, move along.

Best Tweet About Your Day: @reallyvirtualBecause, you know - Twitter. People talk about

their days. Sometimes it’s even worth doing! Tweet is a legitimate verb now, much to the eternal dismay of English departments around the world. MTV has recently introduced this concept, which is unfortunate, as they only nominated one person, the enigmatic Kanye West.

Making up a category, and only allowing one nom-inee? As much as we’d love to criticize MTV for this, we’re just glad they’ve decided to borrow our model, and stop pretending to possess anything resembling objectivity, or taste for that matter.

Ahem.We had several strong entries this year. “Weird”

Al Yankovic defends his turf: @alyankovic: “BTW, Christina Aguilera, nice job at the Super Bowl, but changing the words to songs is MY gig.” Stephen Ma-

her from the Ottowa Chronicle Herald had this gem: stphnmaher: “Launch of Liberal attack ads convince me there will definitely be an election this spring or not.”

Nothing like some political attack ads to let you know that an election is or is not coming up. Maybe they just don’t like each other? This leads me to won-der why more rich people don’t buy TV ads to mock people they dislike.

But in the end, we’re going to have to go with Sohaib Athar, known as @reallyvirtual on the Twit-ters. This dude was an IT professional who got tired of corporate life, so he went to go kick it in a cabin in the mountains for a while, get away from civilization, and have a nice, quiet, peaceful vacation.

Would have worked, if a certain Osama Bin Laden hadn’t had the same idea.

After a series of tweets jokingly complaining about helicopters and gunfire, Athar put two and two together, and dropped this beauty on May 2: @really-virtual: “Uh oh, now I’m the guy who liveblogged the Osama raid without knowing it,” and after answering questions from international media all day, posted the winner of our Best Tweet About Your Day award:

@reallyvirtual: “Bin Laden is dead. I didn’t kill

him. Please let me sleep now.”

Best Meme Factory: Charlie SheenWhat can I say about the Warlock that doesn’t

somehow reference one of his memes? In America, we’ve seen a lot of celebrity meltdowns; but never before have they spawned so many delicious catch phrases.

Now if you’ll excuse us, we’re off to drink some Tiger’s Blood. Winning!

Film

May 9, 2011 / PAGE 7

from all of us at THE CAULDRON:

AWARDS

Best Film in which Robert Pattinson gets the tar kicked out of him: Water for Elephants

A lot of people had been waiting for this. Don’t get us wrong, the film itself was actually quite charming, and worth seeing, but let’s be honest with ourselves here; that was a lot of fun.

Best Soundtrack for a film that nobody could decide if they liked or not: Hanna

Now, Hanna is something that people seem to either love or hate. If the concept of a feral teenage as-sassin tearing her way through Europe as a coming-of-age Brothers Grimm Fairy Tale doesn’t appeal to you, you probably won’t enjoy this film. If you really dug Luc Besson’s “The Professional,” or just the concept of hitmen trying to do right by little girls, you could do a lot worse.

But the beautiful, urgent soundtrack by world-beating electronic musicians The Chemical Brothers? That’s something everyone can - and should - enjoy.

Best Film With or Without Samurai in it: 13 As-sassins

Good news, though: it does in fact have Samurai. Lots of ‘em, in fact.

Director Takashi Miike, better known for ultra-violent films like “Ichi the Killer” and “Audition” delivers a tale that is both epic and grandiose in scale, yet surprisingly personal at the same time. A grace-ful cinematographic touch, often blending both the vicious and the beautiful into the same shot; such as in the opening moment of the film, wherein a Samurai commits ritual suicide to protest his unjust govern-ment. The first moments of the film are his last, and spend them not drenched in blood, but lost in the fad-ing light of a man’s eyes.

13 Assassins is a genuine treat - assuming that moviegoers can stomach liberal doses of violence -

this is the man who brought us Ichi, let us not forget. That qualification in place, it comes heartily rec-

ommended.

Video GamesBest Approach to Epic Fantasy Trilogy: Dragon

Age IIDragon Age II somehow managed to be exactly

what was expected, and defy expectations. At its heart, this is three distinct fantasy novels, split into three distinct acts.

Perhaps shockingly, this works really really well.Shying away from Developer Bioware’s usual

M.O. of offering Big Moral Choices that pretty much come down to rescuing a kitten or kicking a puppy, and quantifying morality in terms of a high--or low--score; DAII tries for dirty, muddy, moral ambiguity. And while it doesn’t always succeed, the core philoso-phy of telling a story about one city-state, and the lives of its people, and most famous citizen; this works, and it’s a narrative style that is sorely lacking in interactive entertainment.

In DAII, you are not saving the world, changing the fate of all living things, or stopping an ancient, unknowable evil.

In the first act, our hero Hawke deal with the tri-als of being an immigrant refugee, finding work, and eventually having a grand adventure, and making a name for him/herself. In act two, we deal with politi-cal and religious tensions, teetering on the edge of diplomatic incident. In act three, the debate of freedom versus security comes to a head.

Is it important, revolutionary, controversial, any-thing like that? Not really.

Is it great? Not necessarily. Is it one of the best games we’ve seen in a while?

Unequivocally.

Best Inside Joke that became something tran-scendentally fantastic: Portal 2

This is a triumph. Gears of War creator Cliff Bleszinski once said

that playing the original Portal “Made him feel smart.” Playing Portal 2 will make you feel like a complete person. Note it.

The original Portal, a half-forgotten pack in with a bunch of other games in Valve’s “Orange Box,” came out of nowhere and set the gaming world on fire, be-coming not only a subculture, but indeed a pop culture phenomena.

How the hell do you follow that?As it turns out, brilliantly. Portal 2 takes the same

concept, adds more content, more logic puzzles, and perhaps most importantly of all, more brilliant writing. Rather than attempt to relive past glories with a jokes about baked goods, Valve has created a world, that is rich, compelling, and still absolutely hilarious.

Also, it concludes with one of the best breakup

songs in recent memory.

MusicBest album that nearly fell victim to a self-ful-

filling prophecy: Saigon - The Greatest Story Never

ToldAfter Saigon was released from prison in 2000, he

set out to with the goal of recording an album called The Greatest Story Never Told. He signed a record deal in 2004 with Atlantic Records.

His untold story was finally scheduled for a 2007 release, but it never happened because of creative dif-ferences with Atlantic. According to Saigon, Atlantic Records essentially said “We need our three singles, then you can bust your artistic nut on the rest of the album.”

Stay classy, Atlantic records.Saigon was unwilling to compromise and so the

label dropped him—their loss. In February 2011, The Greatest Story Never Told was finally released. Though it may not be a commercial success, it’s eas-ily the best hip-hop/rap album to come out so far this year.

Saigon has proved to be creative both musi-cally and lyrically, and the album benefits from tight production by Just Blaze and guest appearances from artists like Jay-Z and Q-Tip.

If you like the genre, give it a listen and try not to get hooked.

Best Album that doesn’t have a genre: Elbow - Build A Rocket Boys!

Elbow’s last album, The Seldom Seen Kid won scads of awards, including one from us. How do the lads from Manchester follow that up?

As it turns out, by making another Elbow album. Rest assured when we tell you that this is a very good thing.

Too quiet to be rock, too complex to be pop, too earnest to be prog, and too rocking, poppy, and pro-gressive to be folk, this is the kind of album that lazy critics might label “Indie” and have done with it - but when you win a Mercury Award (this happens over-seas, kids!) you’re not really indie, are you?

In the end, none of this matters even a little. Rock-et is the musical equivalent of a long walk in the park on the first real day of spring. You’ll need a bit of time to truly appreciate it, but it leaves a sense of lovely,

Have a Great Summer!

5/9 Saliva w/Madmadam, Emphatic, Seven Day Sonnet @ Peabody’s, $18; 5/10 Blue October (Acoustic Show) w/The Soldier Thread @ House of Blues, $30; 5/12 Usher w/Akon, Dev & The Cataracts, Tinie Tempah @ Quicken Loans Arena, $32.50; 5/17 Reverend Horton Heat w/Reverend Payton’s Big Damn Band @ Beachland Ballroom, $20; 5/21 Ray Cash w/Da Kennel, Young Ray Jr. @ Peabody’s, $14; 5/21 Red Wanting Blue w/Dolson, Songbirds @ House of Blues, $12; 5/22 Sepultura w/Belphegor, Hate, Keep of Kalessin @ Peabody’s, $22; 5/27 Eisley w/The Narrative, Christie Dupree, These Knees @ Grog Shop, $12; 5/28 Chimaira w/Fallen Captive, Ruled By Reason @ Peabody’s, $20; 6/4 Phish @ Blossom, $55; 6/7 Del the Funky Homosapien w/Bob and the Devil @ Beachland Ballroom, $12; 6/7 Panic! At the Disco w/Foxy Shazam, Fun @ House of Blues, $28; 6/11 Forever in Terror @ Peabody’s, $12; 6/27 Matisyahu @ House of Blues, $28; 7/8 Rascal Flatts w/Sara Evans, Easton Corbin, Justin Moore @ Blossom, $30; 7/8 Hawthorne Heights @ Peabody’s, $12; 7/9 Sade w/John Legend @ Quicken Loans Arena, $49.50; 7/17 Tech N9ne @ Agora, $34.50; 7/18 Interpol @ House of Blues, $32; 7/20 Vans Warped Tour w/Devil Wears Prada, Big D & the Kids table, and a jillion other bands @ Blossom, $47.35; 7/26 The Decemberists @ Jacobs Pavillion (formerly Nautica), $25; 7/27 New Kids on the Block w/Backstreet Boys @ Quicken Loans Arena, $32.50; 7/28 Flogging Molly @ Jacobs Pavillion, $38; 7/30 Taylor Swift w/Needtobreathe @ Quicken Loans Arena, $25; 8/2 Journey w/Night Ranger, Foreigner @ Blossom, $30; 8/5 O.A.R. @ Jacobs Pavillion, $92.99; 8/7 The Black Dahlia Murder w/Whitechapel @ House of Blues, $25; 8/14 Reel Big Fish w/Streetlight Manifesto @ House of Blues, $24

Other Shows of Note:

By Jonathan ‘Killstring’ Herzberger, The Cauldron Photography Editor

Concert Picks of the WeekYou made it, you beautiful

person you. By the time this newspaper makes its way to your hot little hands—or for those of you reading online, your perfect little pixels—finals week shall be upon us.

Who knows? You might al-ready be done.

“But what happens now?” you might ask. “It’s a cold, un-forgiving world out there. What am I going to do with my sum-mer?” Why, that’s easy, friend. We at the Concert Picks Or-bital Rock Platform are happy to provide you with long-term planning assistance for all of your evil plans summer recre-ation needs.

There are a lot of big name, big money shows this summer. Normally we shy away from such things in this column, but if you’re going to drop signifi-cant coin on a concert ticket, this is among the best times to do so.

Wealthy hippies should be happy—Phish and O.A.R. are both hitting Blossom, while Flogging Molly comes to town because it’s summer, and they do this every summer. Travel advisory: expect severe amounts of inebriation at these shows, albeit different sorts.

The Vans Warped Tour re-turns to Cleveland because it also does that every year. Warp has always been a strange di-chotomous experience, but the days when a Green Day or Eminem would be on the bill are long since gone. Having said that, if you absolutely must see Reggae and Metalcore in the same day, this is your bag.

Josh Groban is coming to town, but there is no conceivable way that see-ing him in concert is worth a mini-mum of 70 dollars. No. Conceivable. Way.

Taylor Swift will charge a reason-able price to get your mosie on, as will Rascal Flatts. Eisley is here later in May—by far the best value on this list at 12 bucks. Del the Funky Homosa-pien is among the best rappers in this, or any other universe: also coming for 12 bucks. That is practically theft;

you would essentially be stealing real money by seeing a band this good for that cheap. Be sure to apologize.

New Kids on the Block are com-ing with the Backstreet Boys, while Journey is coming to town with Night Ranger. I am not making any of this up. So, if you want to see your mom get whipped into a relentless sexual frenzy, attend these shows.

I will be in a fallout shelter, weeping softly, afraid for my life.

An important note: all prices listed are the cheapest tickets available. Rest assured, you can spend a lot more at some of these venues—you know, if you’ve got too much money, or some-thing to that effect.

Killstring’s PicK:Cake @ Cleveland Masonic Auditorium

When Cake first hit the national stage in 1994, there wasn’t anything even remotely like them. Their blend of funk, alternative, hip-hop, blues, and who only knows what else—there just wasn’t anything like that available. You couldn’t say that Cake “sounds like” much of anything because there simply wasn’t anything else like them.

It’s 2011. There still isn’t.Cake has done the seemingly impossible—they are identifiable,

original, unique and (most importantly) damn good. The show is $28, which is a non-trivial investment, but for one of the best-loved, most enduring pillars of the alternative age, that’s worth it.

This Cake is no lie.

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csucauldron.com May 9, 2011

Arts & Entertainment8

May 9, 2011 / PAGE 9

With Marvel’s latest hero come to life on the big screen, Thor almost officially kicks off The Avengers countdown.

Thor is less a superhero movie than it is an extended back story with a subplot of growing up. Iron Man, Marvel’s first super hero movie with an Avengers tie-in, has Tony Stark finding out just who he is and what he stands for.

The Incredible Hulk shows Bruce Banner’s struggle to control his inner beast. Both films are about grown men’s identities.

Thor, however, starts off with our hero acting like a boy, rather than a man, which the movie points out through dia-log and visual choices.

In the beginning, the audience learns the history of Thor’s people and his mentality. He messes up big time, and is banished to earth in the beginning of the film’s second act.

The movie tends to drag once we meet back up. The best way to describe the middle act is to say that the leads aren’t whom we thought they were.

There are some good jokes and the story continues to develop, but the mid-dle of the movie just tends to be uninter-esting. It becomes less about superhero action and more about drama.

The most intense scenes come at

the military outpost set up around his hammer. When Thor was cast down to Earth, he was stripped of his pow-ers and his hammer. When he tries to get it back, Thor finally starts feeling like a su-perhero movie.

When the battles do start, the movie excels. Thor is insanely powerful once he gets his powers back, but the resulting one-sidedness doesn’t hamper the enjoy-ment of watching him beat the stuffing out of all his foes.

The biggest problem is that the movie fails to give full context to Loki, Thor’s brother. It’s not that he isn’t characterized, but much about him is assumed to be known. Loki is the God of Mischief, but the scant hints to this are only accessible and ob-vious to those who already know what’s being hinted about him.

It leaves him feeling like more of a set piece to the plot than a fully realized character. He’s explained enough to get through the movie, but more about him would have made the movie much bet-ter.

Overall, Thor feels more like a bridge

to The Avengers than it does it’s own movie. It can stand up on it’s own, but it’s nowhere near the levels of Iron Man or The Incredible Hulk.

The movie moves smoothly, regard-less of the drama-filled middle act, and the action is fun, but the end result leaves a want for more hero action.

It’s a recommended movie for comic fans, but those not versed in Thor’s his-tory can still find some enjoyment in the fights and watching Thor grow up.

Also, stay after the credits for the for-mal introduction to a slight plot point in The Avengers—it will not disappoint

Inside of a Dog: What Dogs See, Smell, and KnowBy: Alexandra Horowitz

The Rundown: After studying dog be-havior for over eight years, Horowitz decides to write a book dismiss-ing common miscon-ceptions that owners make about their be-loved pets. She uncov-ers some fascinating facts about the animals

we thought we knew everything about.She also tries to help the reader envi-

sion what it would really be like to live like a dog, dispelling some myths about dogs’ extraordinary senses of smell and whether they truly are colorblind.

Afterthoughts: This original, well-re-searched book is written in a surprisingly melodic tone for being non-fiction and centered on science. It’s not your typical “dog manual” and definitely not a train-ing guide, but rather a scientific look at why are pets act the way they do.

Horowitz includes some personal sto-ries of her pets for a sentimental touch.

Unbroken: A World War II Story of Survival, Resilience, and RedemptionBy: Laura Hillenbrand

The Rundown: Louis Zamperini came

a long way from being a Californian pickpocket—he trans-formed into an Olympic champion runner.

Although he was pre-dicted to win the mile in the 1940 Olympics, Zamperini chose to serve his country by fighting in World War II instead.

While fighting, he was captured by the Japanese enemy and sent to a Prisoner of War camp. There, he was subject to some of the cruelest possible torture.

Miraculously, he eventually made it home. In attempt to soothe himself from the physiological scars he obtained as a POW, Zamperini marries a beautiful young woman named Cynthia.

His terrors still persist and he is forced to search further for a cure.

Afterthoughts: The acclaimed author who penned Seabiscuit delivers again. This true story is gripping and intensely emotional. Readers fall in love with the Zamperini and his charm—so much that you’ll feel his pain as you read this book.

Beastie Boys - Hot Sauce Committee Part Two

If you’re scratching your head thinking “Where was part one?” you’re probably not alone. The Hot Sauce Committee Part One was shelved when Adam Yauch (MCA) was diagnosed with cancer.

The time off provided the opportunity to take the stron-gest tracks from the unre-leased album and write more tracks to release a very strong Part Two once Yauch’s cancer went into remission.

It’s a fine effort with some esoteric samples and a some-what surprising but welcome appearance by Santogold.

“Make Some Noise” may be the strongest track, sound-ing new and fresh but also retro at the same time.

It’s great to hear the group sounding so relaxed, confi-dent and care-free. That said, the album won’t change any opinions about the Beastie Boys.

The songs still feel very much like Beastie Boy songs and the group’s signature vo-cal style is still intact.

Be forewarned that there are a few very short tracks that feel more like loose ideas than fully-fleshed out songs (e.g. “Tadlock’s Glasses”)

Rating: A-

Fleet Foxes -Helplessness Blues

Helplessness Blues, like the Fleet Foxes’ debut album, is a joy to listen to. The band has kept their core intact—a folksy, baroque pop sound—but have expanded in subtle ways.

This new direc-tion is clear on “Bedouin Dress,” a laid back song with a nice groove to it and a fantastic violin part.

There’s also a new energy to many of the tracks. “Sim Sala Bim” erupts into an acoustic flurry, making it one of the most succinct, tightly- written and diverse tracks on

the album.Even though there are a

number of shorter tracks, Hopelessness Blues has its share of long songs that take

awhile to build. On the eight-minute-long “The Shrine/An Ar-gument,” Robin Pecknold’s vocals take on an edge that they rarely do.

A number of setbacks and some personal turmoil befell Fleet Foxes between 2008’s Fleet Foxes and this year’s Helplessness Blues. Thank-fully the album is here and it has been worth the wait.

Rating: A

For weekly music reviews throughout the summer, visit http://weeklymr.blogspot.com

‘Thor’ More Soft Rain than Thunder; ‘Avengers’ Tie-in Still Worth SeeingBy Edward Bobincheck, The Cauldron Contributing Writer

Book LooksBy Meredith Traxler,The Cauldron Staff Writer

Noise InspectorsBy Ben Gifford, The Cauldron A&E Editor

Director Kenneth Brannagh is a classically trained Shakespearean actor, and it shows. A good deal of the movie is exposition, like this scene be-tween Thor (Chris Hemsworth, left) and his father Odin (Anthony Hopkins).

I have been writing for The Cauldron for four years. By my rough calculation, factoring in up peri-ods and down periods, that is about 150 bylines. Now, 150 is a number highly impacted by relativity. $150 is, for example, not that much. 150 years, contrarily, more than most will see.

Relatively, 150 bylines – for a college newspaper that comes out only 32 times each year – is a pretty high number. Actually, given the other obligations that come with college – I did take a class here and there – it is extraordinary. I tend to think so anyway. (And hey, it’s my column, so I get to be right).

All that said, sitting down for the last time to put words to paper is an almost surreal experience. For me, after years of associating a little bit of who I am with a weekly dose of newsprint, this is the finish line. If I told you I had no qualms or uncertainties about walking away, well, that just would not be honest.

And, as the readers of The Cauldron well know, I tend to be very honest in newsprint.

Today, I want to take a moment to reflect on four years at The Cauldron, and really, four years at Cleve-land State. See, I have made excess involvement a habit here and after four years, leadership positions in four general fee units, two years as a resident assistant, three years at the campus recreation center and two degrees, I have a good bit of perspective.

Parting Shots

To begin – a number of short thoughts that mostly relate to things you have certainly seen me write about before (over, and over, and over again):

• Dining on campus at Cleveland State is a disaster – and as long as it remains that way, efforts to make this a residential campus will be impaired.

• The student center looks like a hospital. Or a mental institution. Please fix this problem.

• Spending 49 percent of the general fee budget on athletic programs that bleed money like a red-Niagara Falls is irresponsible. Cleveland State is lush with students who scrape their way through four years of school. Taking their money to fund a basketball program that can-not draw crowds and does nothing to further the institution is shortsighted and neglectful.

• Cleveland State is always and ultimately, about students and their interests. Faculty and staff are important, but the priority should always be the people who pay nearly $5,000 a semester to attend this university. Sugges-tions – in search committees, no less – that faculty and staff care more about making hiring decisions to please administrators than students is gross misplacement of priority and perspective.

A Brief Leadership Perspective

Leadership on a college campus is a challenge.

Hours spent in the melodramatic setting of student organizations is mounted on top of other commitments – classes, for one – and it does not make it any easier when the system is built to challenge those who do the most.

That probably seems confusing – I can understand why; if you are not currently holding an executive po-sition in a select general fee unit, the challenge is hard to grasp. Here is the thing: over the past two years, Cleveland State has had a run of seriously skilled student leaders.

And student leadership, generally, tends to be un-dervalued. We see a lot of protest and outcry over the actions of leadership groups on campus – seriously, does anyone ever say anything good about the SGA finance committee? – and very little thank you to the groups that actually further student needs.

That is only the one side of it – the other is the na-ture of the internal structure. See, those of us in critical leadership positions receive compensation for what we do. This is known as a Student Leader Scholarship, but really it is student money, set aside to pay other students.

A good system, I think, when appropriately ad-ministered. There lies the problem. Briefly, the only university requirements to do, say, my job ($10,000/year) are a 2.5 grade point average and a certain num-ber of leadership points, which are almost as useless as sunglasses in Cleveland.

Point is, a lot of people skate by. They neglect their jobs, fail to represent students and collect a paycheck. Administrators back them up because of the prover-bial belief – and this one has always lost me – that everyone has potential. Essentially (and listen, I under-stand that student leadership is a learning experience) administrators make excuses for the lack of output and accountability.

At the end of the day, the leaders who make the biggest impact face the biggest hurdles. Expecting adequate performance from your co-workers leads to judicial board charges and every productive move you make is questioned on the possibility that ulterior motive exists.

With that, I want to say this: the SGA Executive Board leadership (and, for clarity, this is a three-person thank you) has been phenomenal. About 18 months ago, I wrote an op-ed questioning the direction of SGA after years of meandering. This group has proved me wrong. Mohammad Faraj, Shauna Jackson, Eli Auer-bach – thank you. The student body has no idea what they are about to lose.

And to the rest of you – get involved. The impact student leaders can make on this campus is proverbi-ally understated. Groups like The Cauldron, SGA and others provide a real opportunity to advocate student interests to administrators (and yes, some of them do want to listen).

Those opportunities are so important. And as dif-ficult as it may be, take it from someone who has been involved all over the spectrum. Challenges known, I would never change a thing.

One Last Criticism

Many of you probably have not had the pleasure of working with Corinne Webb. I have and I am far bet-ter for it. See, Webb is the interim vice-president for enrollment services.

She will not return to Cleveland State next year – but in her short time here, the impact is substantial.

In four years, I have worked with a myriad of administrators. Free and clear, none has ever been as representative as Webb. It seems to be standard fare for those in the nice offices at Parker Hannifin to claim a serious desire to hear and address student interests.

Yet, when the time comes to make tough choices, student interests tend to take a backseat. Really, who wants to stick their neck on the line for a measly stu-dent? Point is, Webb does – she does so on an extraor-dinarily regular basis.

It has been an absolute pleasure to work with a woman who is driven by the singular desire to make the university a better place for the students who roam its hallways.

Webb has gone above and beyond to access students – instead of taking on the timeless mantra of feigning availability to those who ask, Webb is known for asking students to be available to her.

My knowledge stops at the search committee doors and I have no idea why she was not made the perma-nent vice president.

I do know this: no single person can replace someone who has furthered student needs, increased retention and enrollment and brought new vision to a tired staff in such instrumental ways.

Corinne Webb was more important to the future of this university than any other administrator. Letting her get away is one of the biggest mistakes I have been disappointed to witness. You heard it here first – this choice has regret written all over it.

And to Corinne – thank you. Words fail to describe the impact one earnestly caring administrator can make. Wherever you end up, they will be fortunate to experience your talent, witness your dedication and benefit from your passion.

Closing

I have, in immeasurable ways, enjoyed providing news and opinion through my work with this paper over the last four years. For me, a time when my by-line does not appear regularly in The Cauldron will be foreign and uncomfortable.

Each of you should keep reading. Our transition to a new leadership is built around continuing to make The Cauldron Cleveland State’s number one source for information, opinion and entertainment.

At the center of that quest is you, the reader. So please, help us make this newspaper your newspaper. We are always available for question and comment and certainly seeking new journalism talent. Take it from me – the cost is worth the benefit.

Parting Words from the 2010-2011 Editor-in-ChiefBy Reid May, The Cauldron Editor-in-Chief

csucauldron.com May 9, 2011

the melting pot 10The articles published in the Melting Pot are solely the opinions of their authors and do not necessarily represent the views of The Cauldron.

10

Reid May started writing “IllumiNation” in Janu-ary of 2009. The column has been the go-to for politi-cal information and analysis for students. With Reid’s graduation and subsequent retirement from The Caul-dron, this will be his last edition of “IllumiNation.” He hopes that The Cauldron will continue to provide political commentary for students in the future.

The United States capped a 10-year military ex-cursion this week by killing Al-Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden in Abbottobad, Pakistan. By now, most have been overwhelmed with information from the events. While the details learned about the mission are mostly inconsequential, Americans have shown a certain fascination regarding details surrounding the rebel leader’s demise.

One of the biggest news breaks this week re-volved around the White House decision against releasing photographs of bin Laden after his death. Critics were quick to suggest that a release of the photos would create an atmosphere of doubt around the events, with many questioning whether bin Laden was actually killed.

There are several holes in this argument. Only the most ardent conspiracy theorist would attempt to legitimately argue that the Obama administration would roll out a late-Sunday night special address to announce the death of an insurgent terrorist who was not actually dead.

The timing of the announcement, at a point when bin Laden was far from the forefront of political consciousness makes the circumstances of his death a

certainty.Further, unlike predecessor George Bush, Obama

was under almost no pressure to catch bin Laden. The conflict in Afghanistan was not his to begin with, so the pressure to exact a successful ending was less intense. Manufacturing a fake death for pure political circumstances would certainly lead to media fallout later.

Finally, the conspiracy theories are defunct be-cause al-Qaeda has acknowledged the death of their leader openly. That admittance seals the deal. bin Laden is dead.

And yet, his death is a sort of strange moment for Americans. It is very much a two-sided coin. On one, the emotional closure after the events on Sept. 11 [events that were inextricably linked with this person] came at a high price and with a serious time invest-ment.

On the other, as several have noted this week, how appropriate is a celebration of death? Does it say something lesser about us – those who feel pride and happiness and justice at this man’s demise? For the record, I was just as excited as the next person when the news broke.

For all of us – for each person who can tell you exactly where they were when the planes hit – that moment late on May 1 when the news broke was special. Yet, as much has I celebrate the fact that we got him, I find myself wondering whether a capture-and-trial would have been more appropriate.

On one hand, the festivities and fanfare that would

have surrounded a long trial would have been con-suming for Americans. Even with the certainty of a guilty verdict, the process would have overwhelming. But there is something truly unique about the way Americans provide legal course to each and every person.

To do so with a man so reviled for what he did, would have been the ultimate display of the suprema-cy of the American way. Regardless, my inclinations on the mission are that it was carried out to the best ability of the U.S. and successful in that it ends the search that seemed to last forever.

IllumiNation: Reflecting on Death of bin LadenBy Reid May, The Cauldron Editor-in-Chief

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From April 25-28, 2011, the United States one of its worst tornado outbreaks in recent history, leaving 340 dead. April 27 ranked as the deadliest day for tornadoes since March 18, 1925 when the Tri-State Tornado left a path of destruction across a 219 mile track, killing nearly 700.

If any of this is surprising to you, it’s likely because our entire country was more interested in the wedding of Kate Middleton and Prince William on April 29. With over 300 dead and thousands of lives completely destroyed, the royal wedding topped the tornado outbreak on Yahoo! News’ top stories.

As a young female, I love a good romance and fairytale wedding as much as the next girl raised on Disney princess movies. However, as a human being with the ability to feel compassion and empathy, I know how it must have felt to those people standing in the rubble of what they used to call a home. I know how alone and abandoned they must have felt when the world could concern itself with nothing more than copying Kate Middleton’s dress as soon as possible.

I know because I spoke with my own mother in Texas on the phone during the outbreak. She informed me that they’d been issued a tornado warning, and that the warning had been issued for the 11-mile stretch of highway my childhood home stood on. My mother was almost one of those people who are now looking at a place that held memories of everything from birth-

day parties to Christmas mornings turned into a pile of garbage in mere seconds. She was almost one of those standing there in shock and wondering how to pick up the pieces while the world was more concerned with the bodaciousness of ‘Pippa’ Middleton’s ass.

Yes, the U.S. should concern itself with what goes on in the world. I won’t write this article and preach about how we won the Revolutionary World so that we could be done with royalty. Claiming that the rest of the world has no effect on us is ignorant and untrue.

I will not even go so far as to say that the wedding wasn’t a big deal. The royal family does have an influence on global politics, and these politics do have an impact on our nation. However, the royal wedding should have taken a backseat to something that had an even greater im-pact on our nation.

Sure, your own home likely wasn’t destroyed, but we all

paid attention when Katrina rolled through, so I will not accept that as an excuse. To think that $5 billion in damages won’t have an effect on the economy and therefore you is ridiculous. But forgetting all sense of human decency just to watch two people who would probably rather be left alone tie the knot is even more ridiculous.

This will be my last article for The Cauldron as well. I have really enjoyed the last three years and am thankful for the opportunities this paper has given me.

Losing Focus: Royal Wedding Should Not Trump a Natural DisasterBy Alexes Spencer, The Cauldron Managing Editor

May 9, 2011 / PAGE 11