Coming into the season, even with star cornerback Al Harris and sparkplug strong safety Atari Bigby unavailable for the first six weeks of the season, the Green Bay Packers were picked by many to cruise through the NFC and win the Super Bowl. Those memories seem so distant, don’t they? Injuries have hit hard and often this year for the green and gold, leaving many fans dazed and confused. First, underappreciated running back Ryan Grant went down with a season ending ankle injury, a blow exacerbated by the lack of a viable backup. The Packers started off strong though, and were 2-1 heading into a matchup with the perennial punching-bag Detroit Lions. Though the Packers went home with a victory, all-pro linebacker Nick Barnett and starting strong safety Morgan Burnett were lost for the season with wrist and knee injuries. Any hopes that the season could be salvaged were destroyed when star tight end Jermichael Finley was lost for the season with a severe knee injury. The finishing blow seemingly came after back to back overtime losses in weeks five and six, leaving the Packers at 3-3, second in the division, and missing several key cogs of the team. The season felt like it had slipped away, so many hopes and dreams dashed in a matter of weeks.Without Grant and Finley, our high-powered offense suddenly became weak and predictable. Without Barnett and Burnett, our stout defense was looking more and more like swiss cheese. The toughest part of our schedule was still ahead: Brett Favre and the Minnesota Vikings were coming to Lambeau; and the New York Jets – widely considered the number one team in football – were hosting Green Bay the week after. Fans became increasingly frustrated when general manager Ted Thompson wouldnt pull the trigger and trade for mercurial running back Marshawn Lynch, when all he needed to give up was a fourth round draft pick. It seemed as if even the Packers brass had given up on the season and were waiting for the 2011 season to come. I began to feel like I should do the same.

Our Packers have now beaten the hated Vikings, the Jets, and Dallas. They are 6-3, and number one in our division, and the defense is looking better than it did last year.  Our offense is still working out its kinks, but because they are lead by the gutsy Aaron Rodgers, they will always have the chance of lighting the other team up on any given Sunday. Starting to feel good, right?  It gets better. The Packers have weathered the stormy first half of the season and are now looking at a second half that should have calmer seas.  For the Packers to win the division, they would realistically have to win at least ten games, which is what they are on pace for at the moment. Their remaining games are (records in parenthesis): Dallas (1-7), at Minnesota (3-5), at Atlanta (6-2), San Francisco (2-6), at Detroit (2-6), at New England (6-2), New York Giants (6-2), Chicago (5-3).  If we want to get to ten wins, we have to beat five of these teams. We should beat Dallas, Minnesota, San Francisco, Detroit, and Chicago. That right there would give us ten, but we know that things dont always go our way, and one of those teams could easily upset us (I am looking at Minnesota).  So if we take care of four of those five teams, that leaves us at nine wins, with three more games that should be close. If the Packers want to be considered among the NFL elite, we have to win at LEAST one of those games, hopefully two.

The Packers’ main competition will be Chicago, since they are only one game behind us in the standings. If you take a closer look, however, you will notice that Chicago’s upcoming schedule is daunting. Though their remaining teams have a lower winning percentage than the Packers do (.446 to .539) they have four remaining division games, two of them with Minnesota who they struggle to beat (2-4 over the past 3 seasons). The bigger problem with Chicago is that they don’t have the offense to hang with the better teams in the league. Their rushing attack is 27th in the league, while their passing isn’t good enough to make up for it at 21st. They have played well so far, but an 8-8 season will have to be considered a success for the team formerly known as “The Monsters of the Midway”.

The other team that worries many Packer fans is the Vikings. The Vikings have the NFL’s best rusher in Adrian Peterson, a rugged defense, and they are led by the savvy veteran Brett Favre. Injuries and a lack of cohesiveness have made the Vikings a far cry from the Super Bowl contender they were supposed to be. As stated before, ten games should win this division, but the Vikings are far from that right now with their 3-5 record and their only wins coming against Dallas and Detroit. They would need to win every game but one for the rest of the season, and their schedule is not doing them any favors (.569 winning percentage if you take out 0-8 Buffalo, .507 if you don’t).

It is safe to assume that the Vikings are out of the playoff race, and the Bears have a much harder road than we do. Packer fans everywhere can breathe a sigh of relief, that trying stretch of overtime losses and sudden injuries is in the rearview mirror, get those champagne bottles ready!

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Okay, so there was an election on the second day of the eleventh month of the two thousand and tenth year and from what I’ve heard, it’s either the most disappointing or most exciting thing to happen this year. That isn’t really any of your concern. The biggest issues for you right now is paying someone 10 to 20 dollars for one of those “I voted” stickers and reading this article just in case you are cornered into some sort of political conversation, God forbid.

All right, here we go, the first thing you have to know is how each side perceives their world. This way when someone starts talking about politics you can instantly know what side they are on

Democrats: So if this were a superhero movie, the White House is the Justice League Watchtower and Barack Obama is Superman, in that, most Democrats thought he could somehow turn back time at one point. Now, Michelle Obama can be Lois Lane, but she doesn’t really do any reporting. Really a better Lois Lane would be all of MSNBC, especially Chris Mathews. Sure, Lois Lane could never be in as much love with Superman / Clark Kent as MSNBC is with President Obama and I’m not entirely sure that Lois Lane ever remarked that her leg tingled after a speech made by Superman, but the analogy still kind of fits.

The former Chief of Staff, Rahm Emanuel, is Batman. He’s instantaneously the toughest guy in the room, you’re afraid to ask if he ever murdered someone, and you’re just sure that he’s broken someone’s jaw in the past week. Now, Joe Biden is somewhat tricky to categorize. To do this, let’s pretend that DC Comics gave Superman a sidekick primarily for comedic effect and called him Boy Blunder. Joe Biden is Boy Blunder. Boy Blunder is great for comedic relief and you know that he’s going to screw up a lot, but if all of a sudden Superman disappeared and all of Metropolis was under attack by Braniac, the last guy you want there is Boy Blunder. The less Boy Blunder knows, the better. Heck, revoke his key card to the Justice League Watchtower / White House if you have to, just keep his sticky fingers (as it turns out, Boy Blunder eats a lot of candy) away from all the important buttons.

Hillary Clinton is Wonder Woman mainly because, in her eyes, her career is going through the same thing as the Wonder Woman movie in the works: “development hell”. Both sides perceive the U.N as Aquaman. Sure Aquaman is great when your underwater store gets robbed and the U.N is great when you need a non-binding resolution about where to deliver a crate of taco shells that were accidently delivered to a neutral zone between North and South Korea, but other than that they are pretty much useless.

Republicans: The Republican party is a really scary place to be if you don’t know anything about politics and frankly don’t want to know anything about politics. There’s the TEA Party, the more established republicans, and Sarah Palin. Because of that, it’s kind of hard to get an all encompassing view about the Republicans. Sarah Palin does have a basic cable reality show called “Sarah Palin’s Alaska” which I can only assume is a shot at Alaska’s current governor Sean Parnell. The republicans perceive the current administration as the Death Star. It was unbeatable a year ago, it shows some weaknesses now, and maybe in the near future they

can somehow bring it down. Naturally the republicans are the republic which would make Sarah Palin, umm, I don’t know, whoever Ewan McGregor played? I’m not sure, I mean there were a lot of movies. You know what, if you get into a conversation with a republican just run.

A quick overview of politics in general: The process of passing a bill through congress is absolutely nothing like the School House Rock song. It’s more like if a bunch of Muppets who all speak different languages and are playing a game of telephone. The chances are slim that you’ll get anything done.

By now you have probably realized that the best way to talk politics if you’re apathetic is to avoid the conversation at all costs. The key to doing this is simply inventing a persona with whom no one wants to talk politics with. You could easily be a Paraguayan diplomat who works on the side as Dennis Rodman’s hair color chooser. Perhaps you could be a Jewish priest at a Christian Church who practices Islam in his spare time. Nobody wants to hear the opinion of either of those guy. Especially the second one, I mean that guy clearly has a lot to think about without throwing politics into it.

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Beautiful women are always found in the ranks of monumental movements. While I find myself unable to fetishize anyone whose name rhymes with para-sailing, there is no doubt that both the rise of Republican women and such opposition as the Obama Girl (and Michelle herself, to many) are markers that people are starting to care about politics again.

Another popular area for stunning females to appear is in the ranks of the omnivorally-disadvantaged, particularly the various strains of vegetarian.

While politics does not make you beautiful (No examples needed, but still: Hillary), there is reason to believe that vegetarian diets do, or at least help.

Many scientific studies have found that vegetarians fare better than the average in areas such as cholesterol, obesity and risk for heart disease. Of course, if you’re going to compare people who watch what they eat with people who don’t, the conclusions should be fairly obvious; living on greens may have less to do with the celery you enjoy than the Doritos you avoid.

Vegetarianism may be garbage or genius; I am certainly not qualified to lay down an opinion and expect a mass conversion to whichever extreme or point in between that I choose. The saving grace of vegetarianism that lets it be socially accepted by people who wouldn’t try it in a million years is that it is private.

The smoker can share his habit with you just by proximity, and one can even have a little understanding for those who are convinced that every homosexual in the district is eyeing them up, thus making them rather uncomfortable.

But, so long as he does not preach its saving graces or pester me about it, not even the slightest inconvenience can come to me on the leaves of my neighbor’s salad.

Aside from the few vegetarians who just really dislike plants, most of the crowd have issues with the prospect of cruelty to animals. But even with carnivorous humans turning over a new leaf every day, those who love their greens have ably recognized the problem: the vegetarians remove their own tacit complicity in any animal cruelty involved in meat processing, but their existence hasn’t done anything to stop it.

In fact, if there are fewer people buying something, the makers have to either cut costs or cut production, and being humane is expensive.

While vegetarians are hardly the only people backing lessened animal cruelty (I myself have a considerable love for rabbits), they seem to be the most passionate about it, since they are happy to change their lifestyle for the furred and feathered friends.

More animal shelters should be built; more stores like PetCo need to stop screwing things up and selling off living things all willy-nilly to unresponsible people; what should absolutely not be done is give the little piggies pillows and blankets before they get turned into succulent bacon.

Consider: vegetarians and general supporters of turning down the efficiency knob in the meat-making industry are typically healthy, middle or upper class citizens with homes and jobs.

They are not the poor people at the margins of society, the people who don’t ask “What’s in this” but: “Will there be any tomorrow.” In a world where starvation and malnourishment are still haunting realities, in order to provide for people, sometimes we have to allow the lesser evils.

These animals are not human slaves, chained and lashed for their master’s ease and wealth. They are the same, dumb beasts that have been eaten by man for quite a while.

How does one measure human and non-human life? It’s really a rather philosophical question, but the answer is obvious. Human intellect has given us the whole earth as our plaything; it is a precious gift indeed, but it is not our master.

Animals are not only unintelligent but lack the most defining human attribute of all: the imagination. Even the smartest or oldest of the earth’s other species has no Shakespeare or J.S. Bach. They do not even have the skill to write Battlefield Earth or that romance novel that nobody knows you tried to write (it wasn’t actually that bad, to be fair).

The idea that anyone could equate animal life to human or even suggest that the former might have more value than the latter should be staggering to anyone. We do the poor beasts little good with our fields of knives, but the smile of a Starving Child in Africa™ makes it all worth it. And if this gives one beautiful woman something to do other than handing me flyers with nasty pictures of dead pigs, the whole article will be worth it.

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The thing about people is that they do stuff. This we can all agree on. As always, the problem comes in when trying to evaluate all those wacky things that people do, and then figuring out their causes and consequences. Whether you do so scientifically, in a plain white van, or somewhere in between, the first thing to realize is that behind the problem of what you’re trying to achieve by analysis is another problem: why you’re trying to do so. This is where philosophy enters the ring (Oh, if you want to cut to the chase, skip a few paragraphs).

People always do stuff. Sometimes we like it, sometimes we don’t, sometimes we don’t care. Our responses tend to be, respectively: encourage it, discourage it, and ignore it. Most of the problems worth writing about are generally not in the third category, though there are an awful lot of people who try to do so with varying degrees of success (“Write about it or ignore it?” I hear you cry. Both.).

So, discounting silly relativistic philosophies, we have to lay down as a first principle that things can be good or bad, and that their merit or lack thereof has the potential to leak into other people’s lives. People don’t just give you a cookie for being good, they do it because they hope it will inspire other people to do good as well; Aristotle says that the whole point of society (and by extension, government) is to encourage people to work towards the good and the beautiful.

So we are, for better or for worse, stuck caring about stuff. As the great G.K. Chesterton said: “Impartiality is a pompous name for indifference, which is an elegant name for ignorance.” So go learn about stuff. It’s okay; I’ll wait. Now that we have decided stuff is worth caring about and we have learned about stuff, let’s narrow things down a bit. Out of all the issues that are sticking their hands up shouting “Me sir, me!” at the university we call Marquette, one of the loudest and most resonant is that of the whole different sexuality thing. But before we call on Lindsay George Beau Tracy, we have to remember something important: Marquette University is a Catholic school and is stuck that way. Nobody is forced to come here and nobody is forced to stay. While celebrating 100 Years of Women All Over Campus was quite a hoot, I still have the funny taste of TRADITION in my mouth from Marquette’s 125th birthday. After all, this is a school (run by religious folk, no less!); I think the idea is that we students are the ones who are supposed to change. The good news is that Marquette is quite open to giving out free hugs once your tuition check has cleared.

Now that we’ve got the basic stuff out of the way, let’s look at the options. Without the intervention of a wizard, strawmen don’t have any brains, so one has to be sure to set up two opposing viewpoints that are intelligent and representative (as I, for one, am not under any illusions to the effect that my side of an issue has the only smart people, just that it has the only right people). The battleground for this engagement on the merits of Lesbian-Gay-Bisexual-Transgenderness is, of course, Marquette University. Still reeling from the tasty scandal where the university decided not to hire someone whose ideals conflict with the school’s own mission, another interesting flower has sprung up.

As reported in the Warrior blog (mu-warrior.blogspot.com), Vice President of Student Affairs Chris Miller invited lesbian activist Ronni Sanlo Ed.D. as a “consultant” for an on-campus meeting October 28 and 29. If you haven’t heard of this, you’re not alone; apparently no one did. A search for Sanlo’s name brought up no results on the Marquette web page, and the invitation e-mails obtained by Warrior staff were sent to a very narrow selection of people. Furthermore, there is no mention of Sanlo’s visit in the Marquette University News Briefs, though the invitations to attend her meetings were sent out weeks before. The implication is that we hoi polloi were not welcome to attend and support Sanlo’s message, or to question its relevance to our own experience, or even to be aware that one of the “20 Powerful Lesbian Academics” named by Rachel Pepper, coordinator of LGBT studies at Yale, was visiting our humble campus with us in mind.

So, what’s going on here? Sanlo is known for her implementation of a Lavender Graduation at the University of Michigan, which, according to her, “recognizes LGBT students of all races and ethnicities and acknowledges their achievements and contributions to the university as students who survived the college experience.“ Are we going to get one of those? Are faculty and students going to get sensitivity training?

The more obvious conclusion, that Sanlo’s visit was meant to assuage concerns about LGBT sensitivity at Marquette after what happened last time the issue was brought up, sounds about right, but is clearly undermined by the restricted access.

If Marquette wanted to apologize or comfort the anxious by bringing Sanlo here, her name would have been plastered all over the school website. There would have been e-mails, posters, all manner of wonderful things. From their conspicuous absence, I am inclined to assume that some manner or other of agenda is being pursued. Without more data, I can hardly speculate with accuracy, but one can guess fairly enough that Sanlo didn’t come here to sign autographs.

Hopefully the few dozen people who actually got to see her all had really big epiphanies, so they can tell us all how to be better people. Whatever her per diem was, I helped pay it, so I hope we’ll get some benefit out of it.

I like having people visit the university. Milwaukee is a wonderful and diverse city (to naysayers, two words: mandolin orchestra), but we lack many things, Ronni Sanlo among them. So, by all means she should be flown out here so we can suck all her juicy knowledge out and stop thinking of LGBT as a weird sandwich order. The problem is with the secrecy. Anyone who knows anything about the history of discrimination can tell you that its most subtle and nefarious manifestation is in segregation and isolation. “Colored” drinking fountains didn’t spray acid or sharks; their crime was in teaching black people that they were different from everyone else, even that they were a contaminant. I don’t get to see Sanlo because I’m not a fifth-dan member of the Gay-Straight Alliance. My homo-fu is lacking! But why do the Illuminati get to hang out with her when it’s everyone else who needs illumination? Shouldn’t Sanlo be meeting with the people who disagree with her and using her advanced education and research to debate the merits of their position?

Making up nonsense words like “Homophobia” and hurling them at anyone who disagrees with them hasn’t exactly gotten the LGBT folks a huge number of converts. Assuming your opponent has an open mind gives rise to gentleness and friendly discussion. Assuming whoever doesn’t agree with you has a closed mind requires you to ignore them, punish them or break it open with a club. But our lovely university has an idea of Cura Personalis; breaking people’s heads open or punishing them for their views shouldn’t really be kosher, should it? And we all know how effective ignoring something from the semester we had a roommate who uses max-volume ‘80s music as a focusing tool. So teaching is the best answer, isn’t it? Shouldn’t a teacher assume that all her pupils are worth instructing, and not just teach to the A students?

The other problem with what Sanlo’s modus operandi appears to be is the whole idea behind things like Lavender Graduation. The opposite of segregation and discrimination against Group X by Group Y is not segregation and discrimination against Group Y by Group X. Everyone has to deal with terrible things happening to him; everyone has obstacles that he cannot control but must overcome regardless. LGBT students and people should not be hated or spat on, but why should be put them on a pedestal? Orphans don’t get a special graduation ceremony or commemorations, neither do the physically or mentally scarred. The difference between these examples and the LGBT crowd is, of course, that LGBTs are victims of active hatred and abuse by other people. But it’s not being hated that makes you better; it’s transcending the hatred and not returning it. Does graduating college indicate that any given LGBT student has made achievements and contributions to a degree that he or she cannot sit next to the rest of us? What do all the students who have learning disabilities think about this, that they have to work so much harder because of a condition beyond their control, only to graduate with the rest of their school? All the ones I know are proud of it, proud to have succeeded in a task they set their minds to. They aren’t ashamed to wear the same kind of mortarboard and robe; they don’t feel like they need to be separate from everyone else.

LGBT students are different. We wouldn’t need a name for them if they weren’t; we could just call them “students.” I don’t want to make them normal. I don’t want anyone to be normal; though if I ever meet anyone who is (a possibility much in doubt), I might change my mind. But their differences don’t make them stupid or clumsy or ugly. People can be crappy to them, and that’s terrible. But the university provides counseling and support, and is hardly friendly to anyone who expresses hate towards LGBTs, verbally or physically.

At the end of the day, I want this from Ronni Sanlo, Chris Miller, the LGBT community and anyone who thinks I’m wrong, stupid or inferior because of the views I have just expressed: I want you to tell me why you think I’m wrong. I want you to show me your reasons for treating LGBTs as special, separate members of our community. Tell me why the university should use my tuition money to make me think the way you do. Tell me what you think and why. Treat me as a person with intellect and emotion, without hate or anger. In return, I offer you the same.

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Ever since his first days at Marquette University, Richard Smith, a ‘73 alumnus, has worked hard to become the successful and respected man he is today. In addition to all his post-collegiate success as a husband, father and president of one of the most prominent civil engineering firms in the country, Rick Smith has quickly become a Marquette basketball icon, known simply as “The Jump Around Guy.”

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Sugar skulls decorate altars on Día de los Muertos.

On Halloween, children dress up and scamper from house to house trying to pile as much candy into their treat bags as possible. Two short days later, a celebration known as Día de los Muertos occurs.

On Nov. 2, Marquette students gathered around an altar in the Alumni Memorial Union’s Multicultural Center, where they ate pan de muerto (a Mexican sweet bread), drank Abuelita chocolate (Mexican hot chocolate) and shared personal stories about deceased loved ones.

Lisandra Montenegro, senior in the College of Nursing, and president of the Latin American Student Organization (LASO) reminisced about her childhood and how her family remembers her late father.

“I’ve never had a problem talking about my dad,” Montenegro said during the event.

Montenegro lost her father when she was four years old to lung cancer. She explained how her family honors her father’s life by celebrating Día de los Muertos. “We normally have a big altar for my dad,” she said. “We set it up and have menudo (a Mexican meal), things that he liked and pictures.”

Unlike Halloween, Día de los Muertos is not about scaring people and getting candy, but it is a celebration of life and an attempt to mock and make light of death.

Participants gather together and build altars for family members. On the altar, families will place pictures of the deceased individual along with candles, flowers and sugar skulls or other decorations. The whole family is involved in the celebration.

“My step dad helps out a lot too,” Montenegro continued. “He realizes that my dad is still a part of the family and he makes Calaveras, which are poems that make jokes towards death.”

Historically, Día de los Muertos is a Mexican tradition dating back to the time of the Aztecs. The Aztecs felt death should be celebrated and not feared. It was not viewed as an ending of life but rather a continuation. In other words, death was simply the next step in the cycle of life.

When the Spaniards came to Mexico, they felt the Día de los Muertos celebration was barbaric and sacrilegious to the Catholic church and attempted to eradicate it.

The Aztecs would not give up easily.

In order to preserve the celebration, the Aztecs reformed it to fit into the Catholic celebration known as All Saints Day and All Soul’s Day.

Today, Día de los Muertos is celebrated in Mexico, certain parts of the United States, and Central America. It is a family event to remember ancestors whose spirits visit the earth once a year.

Oftentimes people create remembrances in their own homes, but sometimes participants will go to cemeteries and set up a feast for the deceased relative.

Relatives visit the gravesite and decorate it like they would an altar. Around the grave they place flowers, candles and the individual’s favorite items. Then they eat favorite foods and share stories.

At Marquette, Día de los Muertos is not only a day to remember those who have passed, but it is also a time for the Latin American Student Organization (LASO) to celebrate their culture.

“I feel that it’s not a holiday but an event that is a part of our culture that I pride myself in,” Montenegro said.

Other students agreed.

“I think it’s a good way to get in touch with your roots,” said Angie Macias, a junior in the College of Arts and Sciences from El Paso, Texas. “You remember your loved ones that have died, and you remember the times with them. It reminds you where you’re coming from.”

To these students and to other LASO members, celebrating culture is important to have a sense of community at Marquette and to learn about others.

“Culture helps people at Marquette learn about each other,” said Rafael Torres, junior in the College of Arts and Sciences. “It makes people more mature because it makes them more accepting and receptive to others.”

“Being in LASO helps me celebrate culture,” Montenegro said. “[The members] are more understanding of what my culture is as opposed to others who may criticize.”

“They understand little things like when you’re at family parties and you’re breaking the piñata,” Montenegro concluded. “Through LASO and through everything else it has made me grow as a Latina and as a woman.”

by Sara K. Torres
[email protected]

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Marquette freshmen Evans Scholars recently completed a haunted house philanthropy project for Brown Street Academy students.

“To whom much is given, much is expected.” This is indeed the lesson of Luke 12:48, but it is also the philosophy embraced by the Marquette Evans Scholars. At the corner of 13th and Wells streets, over sixty Marquette students live and work together every year to represent this philosophy.

According to John C. Reilly as his character Dale Doback in the movie “Stepbrothers,” this philosophy is only fit for “a house of learned doctors.” However, to me, all I see is a house of over 60 of my friends who not only try their best to live up to this philosophy, but also happen to be caddies that study and live together and still know how to have fun.

I am a scholar myself, and in my experience talking to other Marquette students, it seems the general population of Marquette is either vaguely aware of who we are, or they have never heard of our little bunch at all.

The 64 Evans Scholars on Marquette’s campus are in fact part of a larger network of more than 860 current scholars who attend 18 universities across the country as well as a network of more than 9,000 alumni of the program, according to the website of the Western Golf Association, the organization that is in charge of the scholarship.

Marquette is the only Jesuit, Catholic university out of the 18 schools. All Evans Scholars have been awarded by the Evans Scholars Foundation a Chick Evans Caddie Scholarship, a four-year, full housing and tuition scholarship based on their grades in high school, display of leadership, strong caddie record and financial need.

Financial need is a very important part of the scholarship. Very few Evans Scholars would be able to comfortably attend a four-year university if it were not for the scholarship. Each scholar comes from a unique background and has a story to tell. Financial need has arisen in the lives of scholars due to tragedies such as parents passing away, financial crises, siblings with special needs and other complications. Life is not always fair, but we have been blessed with this scholarship.

According to the WGA website, the scholarship is funded by donations from alumni, affiliated country clubs, the BMW Championship and other donors.

This is one of the greatest gifts many of us will receive in our lifetime. One may say that we earned it through the four qualities just listed, but in reality, we will be working to truly earn this gift for the rest of our lives.

For the rest of my life, I will be contributing time and money back to the scholarship in order to give back and provide future scholars with the opportunity of education, just as past scholars are providing time and money for my scholarship.

Fellow scholar Laurent Forcioli, a junior in the College of Engineering, said, “Being an Evans Scholar to me, means earning it everyday. I don’t think I’ve arrived, I’ve just begun.”

In order to keep the scholarship, Evans Scholars must meet the expectations of its four pillars: scholarship, leadership, chapter living and house maintenance, the WGA website states. The founding father, the late Charles “Chick” Evans and donors of the scholarship have made an investment in us and it is our responsibility to prove to them that their investment is not only wise, but also much appreciated.

Danielle Scaccia, a junior in the College of Education, said, “This scholarship has granted me with the opportunity to not only attend college, but to better myself and be part of a group that stands out from the rest.”

Evans Scholars strive to achieve different ways of showing appreciation through schoolwork, philanthropy events and post-graduation endeavors, while having fun at the same time. Schoolwork and grades come first because the primary goal of the scholarship is to send deserving caddies to school.

I cannot say that we are all whiz kids, but we work hard.  Kelly Nash, a junior in the College of Communication, said, “The experiences of the Evans Scholarship have developed and shaped me into a person that I want to be…I am motivated, dedicated and passionate with everything I do. Knowing that there are people who have so much faith in me to succeed pushes me harder.”

We may get tired at times (Who doesn’t enjoy a mental health day?) and may press the snooze button several times, but we are still diligent because we worked to get the scholarship. We are still working to keep it, for it can be taken away for poor grades. Evans Scholars are expected to achieve above a 3.0 GPA, according to the WGA website.

Roger Lopez, a senior in the College of Communication, said, “Being an Evans Scholar demands that you have good study skills, and take advantage of all the resources that our house and Marquette University have to offer us…I find myself going to the library for three to four hours each day to do my studies. I find that the library gives me focus.”

But as the saying goes, grades aren’t everything. Scholars must also learn to live together and actively participate in their chapter houses. If a scholar does not meet these requirements, he or she risks losing the scholarship.

We also believe in paying-it-forward by organizing various philanthropy events. These include fundraising for Misericordia, a home to over 550 children and adults with developmental and physical disabilities in Chicago, and St. Baldrick’s, a volunteer-driven charity committed to funding research to find cures for childhood cancers.

Brown Street Academy Students attended the Evans Scholars' annual Halloween haunted house event.

We recently finished our annual Halloween project. Each year we construct a haunted house in our basement and invite children from local schools to spend the day at our house to enjoy Halloween activities, walking through the haunted house and trick-or-treating. These are opportunities they may not get to experience due to dangerous neighborhoods or busy parents.

Donors lent us helping hands by contributing to the scholarship, and so we contribute time to others in hopes that the good deeds will continue to be passed on.

Sean McNulty, a senior in the College of Arts and Sciences, said he looks forward to giving back: “To me, the Chick Evans Scholarship is justification that I am a part of something bigger than myself, and that when I utilize all that the scholarship has provided me, I can in turn provide those same opportunities that I was granted to another.”

The scholarship is truly a gift that keeps on giving because of the extensive network that we are connected to by simply saying, “I am an Evans Scholar.” The ultimate goal is to do great things after college and give time and money back to the scholarship.

To me, an Evans Scholarship is something one works to earn for the rest of one’s life. Even the wealthiest Evans alumni should never forget their roots.

I have been surprised by the misconceptions that I have come across when talking to other Marquette students about Evans Scholars. I have heard phrases such as, “rich caddies,” “Wow, you must be super smart,” “Aw bro, you must be a sick golfer,” “Oh, I always thought your house was a church or something” or even “What does Evans Scholars mean?”

I will not deny that there are a few whiz kids in our house, and yes, we have some single-digit handicap golfers. But the truth is, we are all just hard workers from different backgrounds with different life stories, who are blessed.

Seeing as we attend a Catholic Jesuit University, it is very fitting that our house philosophy is based on a lesson found in the Bible. The teaching philosophy of Marquette and the entire Society of Jesus is cura personalis, or ‘care for the entire person.’ Through academics, philanthropy events and the chance to live and work together under the same roof, the Chick Evans Caddie Scholarship has made the goal of cura personalis more achievable for us.  

by Mary Moran
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Popularity: 8% [?]

Marquette University’s Department of Performing Arts will be presenting the great romantic comedy “The Beaux Stratagem” by Farquar at Helfaer Theatre this week.

This play takes place in 1707 in the countryside of England. Tom Aimwell (played by junior Tim Braun) and Jack Archer (played by senior John Gallagher) disguise themselves in the countryside after loosing their fortunes on drinking and gambling. Their plan, or stratagem, is to seduce ladies of fortune and status to get what they want: money.

Aimwell and Archer, however, must rethink each plan because of many obstacles of love, bandits and married women.

Suspicion and Disguise is an on going theme with this play, for many of the characters seem to be hiding something, whether it be their knowledge of events or others’ true identities, or their own  identities.

Obstacles of love are used in a comedic style that are lively and entertaining. Rapid banter makes it very exciting to watch.

Many fans of modern romantic comedy will see numerous similarities with Restoration comedy. Restoration comedy has many of the same themes one would see in “chick flicks.” For example, characters that can’t stand each other will end up falling in love, and love will always win out in the end.

The script creates an interesting view of conflict between marriage and love with a witty touch of humor. At one point in the play the drunken husband Squire Sullen, has a soliloquy to the audience about his woes of marriage and confusion of women.

Summing up the play’s views of marriage, a central theme, Sullen says: “What is difficult about marriage? EVERYTHING!” Later he admits, “Unlike wine, men do not improve with age.”

Archer might have agreed with Sullen when he said, “Was there ever a more pathetic creature than a man in love.”

The actors’ delivery of quick, witty banter and comedic lines creates humor in this play. Despite some of the difficult vocabulary, the play is very easy to follow due to the actors great body language.

The fight choreography of fast-paced swordplay and action is definitely worth the price of admission. To add to the excitement, the ladies will get a chance to fence, showing their versatility in talent. Not only is there fencing, but guns are also a part of this fast-paced play.  There is never a dull moment when, in a moment’s notice, someone can pull out a sword or a gun.

Marquette’s production of “The Beaux Stratagem” is visually astounding; the costumes and set bring the audience into the time and place. The technical aspects of the show are exquisite. Student Lex Gernon, who works as part of the scene shop as well as a primary painter for this set, said “the primary style was an etching style, 2D, and inspired by the art of the 1700s.”

One of the fascinating things about this set is the flying backdrops. Much of the scenery is flown in very effectively with a script title on each backdrop informing the audience of the setting. When entering the Helfear, you will immediately be swept into the play by the beautiful proscenium set pieces. 

One of the many difficulties with this show, besides set and costume, was the British dialect.  There were two main dialects: an upper class and a lower class. Dialect coach Todd Denning worked with each class of actors in groups for the beginning of rehearsals. Later, each actor worked with Todd independently to master the dialect line by line.

There were several exercises that helped many of the actors. One exercise was to listen to a CD teaching them the dialect. Others found it helpful to speak in the dialect continually, staying in character even when off stage. The most helpful exercise, according to actors, was having an immersion night. At this rehearsal, the actors became their characters and had a tea party. Those who were upper class were served by the lower class. It helped the actors find the mannerisms as well as the dialects of their characters.

“The Beaux Strategem” is a whimsically funny play with many great aspects of entertainment: squabbles, deceit, romance and action. While watching the play, the great chemistry between all the actors and their enjoyment in what they do is obvious. Their energy is prevalent throughout the entire play and rubs off onto the audience. This domino effect is the true mark of a great show. 

Students tickets cost $10. General public tickets cost $16 to $20. Discounts are offered to senior citizens and alumni.

by Carly Kroll
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Popularity: 4% [?]

Former Marquette student Alex Curran, also known as DJ Firstgrade, disc jockeyed at a party in Madison.

Now that Angelo’s Pizza is nothing but a memory to upperclassmen and a myth to most freshmen, Marquette’s nightlife has centered around the two bars left on campus: Murphy’s Irish Pub and Caffrey’s Pub. On Thursday, Friday and Saturday nights, Murphy’s and Caffrey’s are filled to the brim with Marquette students enjoying drinks, the company of friends and most of all, the music.

Much of the atmosphere in these bars is centered on the music, but who is in ontrol of it? A trio of disc jockeys – DJ Firstgrade, DJ Dactyl and DJ Sunshine – are the ones that keep the music and dancing going all the way until closing time.

Alex Curran, a former Marquette student, picked up disc jockeying two and a half years ago. He said he developed a liking for electronic music and it launched him into becoming a DJ. “I always had a deep love and understanding of music and it dawned on me that I could do something about it,” Curran said.

In addition to being the regular Friday night DJ at Murphy’s, he has played at many venues around campus and Milwaukee. He has spun the decks at Whiskey Bar and Mi-Key’s Bar downtown, as well as many house parties around campus and even in Madison. He has played at the Rave three times, opening for artists like Infected Mushroom and MSTRKRFT.

For Curran, DJing at Murphy’s and Caffrey’s has its ups and downs, as it allows him to gain valuable experience but it limits what he can play. “People need to realize that we are not just iPods that just change songs,” he said. “We have a method to what we are doing.”

He said Murphy’s is his favorite of the two bars because the crowd there allows him to play more electronic music, pushing up the tempo.

“When it boils down to it, your not DJing for yourself, your DJing for the people,” Curran said. What makes DJing worthwhile for Curran is the connection he feels with the crowd: “Knowing that you are leaving an impact on their night and introducing them to new music is what makes it worth it.”

The Saturday night DJ at Murphy’s is Ben Heupel, a current Marquette student whose alias is DJ Dactyl. Heupel and Curran are good friends, and they began DJing at the same time. “I download VirtualDJ to learn the basics, and then ended up dropping $600 for equipment,” Heupel said.

Along with DJing Saturday nights at Murphy’s, Heupel DJs house parties and block parties around campus and in Madison and even at Caffrey’s every now and then. Like Curran, Heupel likes the crowd in Murphy’s because he can play more upbeat electronic and house music. Heupel said: “For the most part, the crowd reaction is positive. When I play at Murphy’s, the crowd gets really into the music, dances, sings along and every now and then, stops by the DJ booth and give me knucks, high fives or even buys me a shot.”

Heupel also mentioned good and sometimes frustrating aspects of DJing the Marquette scene. “Life as a Marquette DJ, to be honest, is bittersweet,” he said. “It’s bitter in the sense that you get a lot of requests, but its great to be able to make people move… It’s nice because it allows me to work outside my comfort zone with different genres and really grow as a DJ.”

Marquette student Ryan Regan, also known as DJ Sunshine, disc jockeyed at Murphy's Irish Pub.

Another Marquette student, Ryan Regan, makes up the final piece of the musical trio. Regan, dubbed DJ Sunshine, is the Thursday night DJ at Murphy’s. Similar to the others, his passion for music is what pulled him in to DJing: “My love for house music made me want to pursue DJing. I love introducing people to new music and DJing lets me do that.”

Regan plays at block parties around campus and at shows back at home in Orange County, Calif. “Most of all I like making people dance,” Regan said. “I used to hate doing top forty, but as long as the crowd is having a good time, it’s all good.”

While Regan sees DJing as just a hobby, he said he has a lot of fun doing it and enjoys the connection with the crowd. Regan summed up his experience as a Marquette DJ: “It’s just fun being in charge of the party. The crowd trusts me, and they know it’s going be a good night.”

All three DJs share the same goal: to introduce house, electronic and dance music to Marquette. From this goal, Regan has developed the slogan, “Turning pubs into clubs.” So next time you are in Murphy’s or Caffrey’s, listen to the music. You might just find you new favorite song. Stop by the DJ booth and make an introduction. And above all else, dance.

by Matt Freter
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Popularity: 4% [?]