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HILLTOP VIEWSSt. Edward’s University • Wednesday, May 1, 2013 • Volume 33 • Issue 12 • hilltopviewsonline.com
6 | LIFE & ARTS
As commencement nears, seniors discuss their post-graduation plans.
Topper reveals her identity in this week’s Athlete Profile of the school mascot.
Students for Sustainability is more vis-ible than ever, said the Editorial Board.
10 | SPORTS 12 | VIEWPOINTS
Campus reflects on professor legaciesBrooke [email protected]
Throughout 2012, St. Edward’s University lost a group of professors near to the heart of the university. Although a year has gone by, the community remembers the impact that these profes-sors had on them personally and on the university as a whole. Each professor left their unique mark on the university and their legacy will continue to live on.
Marilyn Schultz 1945-2010Humanities Professor - Communications
“I think I would remember her mostly as the linchpin who held the Communica-tion Department together ... she was a great neighbor and a good friend. We would sit on the front porch with her dogs and sip wine.”
“Her legacy beyond St. Edward’s ... was her work at NBC.”
-The Rev. Lou Brusatti, professor of religious studies
Michele Kay 1944-2011Humanities Professor - Journalism
“Certainly her legacy at St. Edward’s is going to be Hill-top Views ... moving it into the School of Humanities.”
“She was working on a
journalism minor before she left...”
“She was a firecracker.”-The Rev. Lou Brusatti,
professor of religious studies
Marcia Kinsey 1940-2012Humanities Professor - English Writing & Rhetoric
“Marcia was blessed with a great talent for compassion, and she blessed those around her. She was funny, some-times devilishly so, and easy with people. It was easy to love Marcia. Students didn’t just like her, they adored her. She became their ally, the one they’d go to, their per-son. Me too. She was my person, too.
It was easy to love Marcia,
and now it is utterly difficult to find ourselves without her. I only hope that she un-derstood and felt and could enjoy knowing how much she meant to those of us who were lucky enough to have her in our lives.
What I am holding very close these days is the mem-ory of Marcia’s beautiful brown eyes. All that com-passion and humor came through in her eyes and could be seen from a very far distance.
When I was in the early, horribly-exhausted-all-the-time part of my pregnancy and teaching with Marcia in the Science & Theology sec-tion of Freshman Studies, I’d
sometimes sit and wait to see Marcia coming, to see her enter the lecture hall.
I knew that, though all I wanted to do was sleep, if I could get one of those know-ing looks from Marcia, even if only from across Jones Auditorium, I would make it through the day. And there she’d come, walking briskly, her trench coat billowing around her, a stack of papers in her arms. I love the way Marcia made her approach.
It was so instructive – a lesson in kindness – the way she would reach her arm up and out to you long before she was actually near. She was already giving you a hug, already taking you in, even
before she was there.”- Carrie Fountain, assistant
professor for humanities
Cecil Lawson 1946-2012Humanities Professor - Literature and Language“He personally mentored and tutored just about every new Asian student on our campus. He spent hours and hours of his own time help-ing them with their studies and playing tour guide around Austin and Texas …
Cecil was passionate about teaching and his enthusiasm for learning was contagious to the students. I know he touched many, many lives on this campus … Not many St. Edward’s people knew that Cecil and his wife Aya-ko were avid bowlers. They bowled on about five leagues per week and he owned about 100 bowling balls. And he was an excellent bowler, a 280 average most of the time.
When I joined a bowling league, Cecil took me under his wing and every Sunday for as long as he was alive we would practice bowling for about three to four hours. He was serious about bowl-ing, but we also had fun. And the thing that I liked best is
STUDENTS | 2
Photos by Kristina Schenck and Adam CrawleyLeft: Harald Becker’s Sept. 2012 memorial service/ Right: Service programs in Andre Hall.
End of the Year EventsMAY 2 - 3ObjectifyMay 2, 5:00 p.m.May 3, 8:00 p.m.MAY 3 - 4Omni Singers present Comedy Tonight7:30 pm, Jones AuditoriumMAY 5 - 6Transit Theatre: I Love You BecauseMay 5, 2:00 p.m.
May 6, 9:00 p.m.MAY 9Musical Theatre Showcase7:30 p.m.
MAY 10Hilltop Sendoff Baccalaurate Mass 6:30 p.m., RCC Legacy Walk 7:45 p.m. Red Doors Revelry 8:30 p.m.MAY 11Graduation10:00 a.m.
MAY 12Dorm move-out MAY 13Final Grades dueMAY 19Summer I and 12 week begin
2NEWS WEDNESDAY, MAY 1, 2013 • HILLTOP VIEWS
Students and faculty reflect on impact of deceased professors
Jonathan [email protected]
Unique course for writing majors prepares students for career
Several English Writing and Rhetoric, ENGW, ma-jors at St. Edward’s Univer-sity have been accepted into top graduate programs in the country.
These students have cred-ited their successes to sup-portive faculty, challenging coursework, and a passion for the subject.
Students and faculty have praised a class unique to the ENGW major, Career Prep-aration.
“Career Preparation course was a huge help for me. Writ-ing a personal statement and revising an academic writing sample really helped me with my graduate school applica-tion,” said Hannah Davis, an ENGW major who is pursu-ing a Ph.D. in Rhetoric and Composition at Texas Chris-tian University.
Students in Career Prepa-ration receive guidance for
life beyond the undergradu-ate program, whether they choose to pursue graduate school or focus on building a career.
Besides the general writing track, ENGW students have the choice to pursue a spe-cialization in journalism, cre-ative writing or professional writing. Various core and supporting classes lead up to a required internship fulfill-ment at a local or on-campus at a program.
Some graduating ENGW majors cite the versatility of the ENGW department’s curriculum and Career Prep-aration as a notable contribu-tion to their success.
Davis said St. Edward’s professors were integral to her academic success.
“I think the most helpful as-pect of my major has been my professors. The courses have all provided me with chal-lenging and interesting work, but without the influence of my professors, I wouldn’t be
where I am today. I owe my success to them,” Davis said.
ENGW major, Ryan Mitchell, was recently accept-ed into a Masters program at Carnegie Mellon, and plans to pursue a Ph.D. in Rheto-ric. He found the expansive-ness of the ENGW program as beneficial to his education. Although the ENGW cur-riculum covered a great num-ber of topics, from grammar to visual design, Mitchell con-tends that his classes never wavered from the program’s central concern: rhetoric.
“I think that the major is microcosmic of the liberal arts education in general. I have taken classes that deal with topics from computer programming, Writing On-line, to editing practices, Ad-vanced Editing. What each class has in common is a con-stant acknowledgement of the rhetorical situation sur-rounding your work,” Mitch-ell said.
These graduating seniors
have been affected by many of the professors in the ENGW department.
For Mitchell, establishing a close relationship with his profes-sors, allowed him to better cultivate his writing.
Jacob Lozono, ENGW major, was recently ac-cepted into the Ivy League re-search university, Dartmouth Col-lege. However, he said graduate school is not a valid choice for everyone.
“In order to make it in grad school, I think you have to have an understanding of what you want out of it. It’s not because it will make you more marketable or ulti-mately make you x thousand more in a job. It’s because you love doing what you do, and you don’t know what else to do but to learn more about it
from people with experience,” Lozano said.
At Dartmouth College, Lo-zano plans to pursue a Mas-
ter of Arts in Creative Writ-ing with a specialization in Screenwriting.
Instructor of English Writ-ing and Rhetoric, Beth Eak-man, has noticed a number of notable trends within the ENGW community that have encourage student’s aca-demic achievement. Eakman teaches a number of senior level ENGW courses includ-
ing Magazine Writing and Career Preparation, a course unique to the ENGW de-partment.
“Career Preparation is our last chance to give students an advantage before gradua-tion. I think the course is one of the reasons our ENGW students have been so suc-cessful. In Career Prepara-tion, we help identify the steps needed to accomplish students’ distinct goals,” Eak-man said.
Eakman contends that ENGW majors are simply a dedicated group of students, capable of finding notable success and development through the ENGW depart-ment.
“ENGW, as a major, at-tracts hardworking students. No one becomes an ENGW major just to get rich or to have an easy college experi-ence. In this way, the major self-selects dedicated and talented students,” Eakman said.
“I think the most helpful aspect of my major has been my professors...I owe my success to them.”
-Hannah Davis, English Writing and Rhetoric major
that he was always the “teacher”. No matter how poorly I bowled he would find something positive to say about my bowling.”
- Emily Salazar, career counselor
Edward Shirley 1955-2012Humanities Professor - Religious Studies
“The university was blessed with a vibrant and colorful instructor, he was genuinely a friend ... He had a wit that was sharp and distinct. You never wanted to miss a word he said, because later you’ll understand what he meant.”
- Nora Irvin, senior English and photocommunications
major“Dr. Shirley also taught me
to laugh at life. He constantly
made fun of himself, and any student he could manage too. But never in an insulting way,
in a way that let you know he was welcoming you.”
- Phil Oates, senior psy-chology major
There will be a memorial auction for Shirley on May 5, 11:30-3:30 p.m. and 8-11 p.m., as well as on May 6 , 9 a.m. - 7 p.m.
Harald Becker 1954-2012Humanities Professor - German
“Dr. Becker was so insight-ful and made every lesson super enjoyable. He always suggested books and played music at the beginning of every lecture, usually Simon and Garfunkel. I will always remember Dr. Becker and hope to have a professor as cool and collected as he was
one day. I always looked for-ward to the days he lectured and haven’t enjoyed a class as much since.”
- Breanne Devaney, junior secondary education major
Jean McKemie 1954-2012Natural Sciences Professor
“She embodied the charac-teristics of a lifelong teacher: she was a person of positive influence and character … She was the voice of wisdom. She had a strong knowledge of mathematics and was a ex-pert problem-solver. She was generous, understanding, and kind.”
- Cynthia Naples, associate dean for natural sciences
“She was responsible for establishing and developing
the undergraduate research program in mathematics.
She made it clear to me and others who worked with her that she was most interested in teaching undergraduate students how to do research, and not in furthering her own personal research goals...
A significant amount of ef-fort is currently being made by the mathematics depart-ment on how best to serve the students’ needs, for both majors and non-majors.
Much of this effort comes from the commitment of the current math faculty, but it is in part fueled by Dr. McK-emie’s legacy.”
- David Naples, associate professor of mathematics
Continued from page 1
Photo by Kristina SchenckShirley’s stuffed dog and Schultz’s picture on Brusatti’s shelf.
3NEWSWEDNESDAY, MAY 1, 2013 • HILLTOP VIEWS
Brother Edwin C. Reggio Jr., C.S.C. died April 24 from a brain infection at Dujarie House in South Bend, Ind.
Reggio served as St. Ed-ward’s University’s Events Coordinator from 1991-99. He was also the religious su-perior of the St. Joseph Hall community of brothers from 1997-03, and served as the Auxiliary Services Coordina-tor from 1999-13.
His brothers praised his desire to help others and his handiness around campus.
“Brother Edwin was a high-ly active man, always willing to help anyone with a project, big or small,” Brother How-ard Metz, C.S.C. said.
Reggio was known for his logistical abilities, which al-lowed him to excel in his many campus roles.
"He was very organized, and if you asked him to do something, he would do it. He would do it well and it would be organized and it would be on time. To him, he wasn’t a backslapper. He was loyal and hardworking and appreciative if you helped him. You always knew that if you gave him a job it would
be done well," Brother Larry Atkinson, assistant director of Campus Ministry, said.
Reggio joined the brother-hood in 1951. He made his perpetual profession of vows on the University of Notre Dame campus on Aug. 16, 1955.
As a brother, Reggio taught at both the high school and col-legiate level, teaching at St. Thomas Aquinas Aquinas School in Brooklyn, N.Y. and St. Edward's High School in Austin before it closed in 1967. In 1984, he went to New Orleans to become the headmaster for Holy Cross School before returning to Austin in 1991.
Reggio made his mark on campus by helping to instill the Topper card, Atkinson said.
"He was the one that helped organize the new Topper card where we could put money on it. He was the one who really got that started a few years ago," Atkinson said.
As a teacher, Reggio en-couraged his students to
perform to the best of their ability, and encouraged them every step of the way.
"He would demand a lot from his students in the sense of teaching or the band, but he was very complimentary ... Never critical, never cynical," Atkinson said. "He would al-ways encourage people to do
more."In his spare time, Reggio
enjoyed hiking and wood-working. Reggio would carve various images, including Christ, saints, and most of-ten cats. He would often give these images away. Many of his works have been dis-played in diocesan art shows.
Reggio would often invite friends to share in his activi-ties with him, Atkinson said.
"He would always arrange
hiking trips. He knew all of the great hiking and camp-ing areas in Travis County and beyond. We would go to great trails that I never would have found. Atkinson said. "My greatest memory of Edwin was to go hiking with him. He would have a cooler with a cool drink ready to go. He thought of everything. He just liked going out and being on the outside."
Reggio would often take ex-tra efforts to make these trips as enjoyable as possible for his companions.
“Back in the ‘90s, we used to go hiking ... Brother Edwin noticed that I did not have a walking stick. Within days, a beautiful walking stick ap-peared at my door,” Metz said. “Brother Edwin was a man who paid attention to detail. He had carved the head of a mountain lion into the stick and even put a rub-ber tip on the stick; it was sanded and varnished. I still have it today and plan to con-tinue using it.”
Reggio leaves behind an extraordinary life of service and commitment to the Holy Cross and St. Edward's.
“His very loyal helping hand will be deeply missed by St. Edward’s and his Holy
Cross Brothers,” Metz said.There will be a memorial
service on Thursday, May 2
at Our Lady Queen of Peace Chapel at St. Edward's at 7 p.m.
Brother remembered for dedication to school, students, peers
“My greatest memory of Edwin was to go hiking...he thought of everything. He just liked going out and being on the outside.”-Larry Atkinson, assistant director of Campus Ministry
Adam [email protected]
Courtesy of Campus MinistryBrother Reggio has been serving as a brother since 1951.
HILLTOP VIEWSHilltop Views is looking for designers and photographers for the 2013-14 school year. If you
know InDesign or you’re creative with a camera and want great experience and a chance to publish your work, please contact Faculty Adviser Jena Heath, [email protected]
We will be announcing our meeting times and providing information about how to write for Hilltop Views when we’re back in Fall ‘13.
4 NEWS WEDNESDAY, MAY 1, 2013 • HILLTOP VIEWS
Bridget Carter, a senior at St. Edward’s University, was recently granted access through a student media pass to ride along in an Austin Police De-partment (APD) patrol car. Carter reports on the all-night patrol.
It was just before midnight on a Thursday and Scott Ar-thurs and I were sitting in his patrol car across from a vacant trailer. Arthurs, who has been on the Austin police force for 18 months, offered to show me a gang-graffiti hot spot on the 800 block of Kramer Lane and Lamar Boulevard.
This was no “Keep Aus-tin Weird” graffiti art mu-ral — this was a territorial statement. Every inch of the trailer was tagged with gang
acronyms and symbols: NSB for North Side Bloods, BGK for Blood Gangsta Killas and 973. Gangs use numbers that correspond to the letters of the alphabet. 973 corresponds to IGC, which further decrypts to Infamous Gangsta Crips or Insane Gangsta Crips. The devil’s fork — when facing
up is Crips and facing down is Bloods — was also present on the dilapidated trailer. An easy way to remember this symbol is that blood runs down.
“I’ll come over here every once and a while and take pictures of this graffiti and send it to the gang unit,” Ar-thurs said.
This routine is part of Ar-thurs’ typical nightly patrol shift.
The APD currently has 12 detectives and two sergeants working the Gang Suppres-sion Unit. A database is uti-lized to document and track gang members in Austin.
“The state of Texas man-dates that you have to satisfy at least two criteria out of a list of 10 that would qualify someone to be listed in the database,” APD officer Brian Jones said. Jones has been a police officer for 16 years and was a gang unit detective for eight years.
Criteria for documenting gang members in the data-base include tattoos com-monly affiliated with gangs, color of clothing, affiliating with a documented gang member or self-admission.
“I’ve had that happen to me
a lot where they will openly admit that they are affili-ated with a gang,” Jones said. “They’re proud. They’re not thinking that they will be added to a database.” The presence of gang activ-ity in Austin contrasts with the city’s reputation as a laid-back college town. Gang activity in Austin is that of street gangs such as Bloods, Crips and Los Cholos. These gangs typically commit crimes such as auto thefts, robberies, assaults, home in-vasions and drug deals. Vio-lence is not generally inflicted on random civilians; it is usu-ally between rival gangs.
“Home invasions are not random,” Jones said. “Bloods usually know when Crips are dealing, and be-cause of that they know they’ve got a lot of money. Home invasions are all about dope.”
In 2003, 19 members of the Texas Syndicate gang were ar-rested in Austin under the Rack-eteer Influenced Corrupt Or-ganizations, RICO, Act. This act was established in the 1970s to combat the Italian Mafia problem. It serves to take down a whole organiza-tion and its leader. Even if the leader never committed the crimes personally, he is con-sidered part of the criminal enterprise.
“Austin is headquarters for the Texas Syndicate, so that [RICO case] cut the head off
the snake,” Jones said. “We decimated the leadership.”
Gang activity can be found in areas with low-income housing, or project-based rental assistance programs. Most notorious areas of Austin with gang-affiliated crimes are North Austin around Powell, Lamar and Rundberg; and South East Austin, such as Dove Springs.
Gang members tend to stay in areas they are used to, Jones said.
When a gang leader named Capone crept out of his com-fort zone, the unit was able to capture him, Jones said.
Capone was the leader of the Texas Syndicate in the early 2000s Capone was in-
troduced to someone dealing drugs on the University of Texas campus and went to a couple of college parties with the dealer to supply cocaine. The Gang Suppression Unit finally arrested Capone using a Title III wiretap.
“Capone told us how ner-vous he was at this party. He didn’t know how to act,” Jones said. “He’d be talking to these college girls, and he’d be ner-vous.”
In the April 24 edition, the story “Photographs, inter-views featured in Enduring Women exhibition” incor-rectly named the Bullock Texas State History Museum as the Bob Bullock Texas State History Museum.
CORRECTIONS
POLICE BLOTTERDate Time Incident Location Resolution
April 15 3:37 p.m. Theft Dujarie Hall Active
April 20 4:13 a.m. DUI—Minor Moody Drive Closed
April 24 8:46 p.m. Theft Johnson Hall Active
April 17 n/a Fraud Apartments Active
April 23 1:56 p.m. Lost Property Lewis-Chen Family Field Closed
April 25 3:46 p.m. Noxious Odor Casas Closed
April 15 1:31 p.m. Accident Parking Garage Mule Barn Closed
April 17 10:20 a.m. Forgery Holy Cross Hall Active
April 15 3:38 p.m. Theft Library Construction Closed by Arrest
April 21 9:23 p.m. Suspicious Activity Hunt Hall Closed
April 25 3:27 p.m. Suspicious Activity Baseball Field Closed
April 23 4:40 p.m. Theft Hunt Hall Active
April 28 2:15 a.m. Consumption by a Minor University Circle Closed
April 25 2:48 p.m. Graffiti Apartments Closed
April 28 4:50 a.m. Theft Woodward Lot Active
Police unit specializes in tracking and preventing gang activity
“Home invasions are not random ... Bloods usually know when Crips are dealing ... home invasions are all about dope.”
-APD Officer Brian Jones
Bob Chamberlin/Los Angeles Times/MCTGangs use distinct graffiti, like numbers corresponding to letters, to mark their territories.
Bridget [email protected]
5GAMESWEDNESDAY, MAY 1, 2013 • HILLTOP VIEWS
gameslook for the answers to both games in next week’s issue!
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LIFE & ARTSWEDNESDAY, MAY 1, 2013 • HILLTOP VIEWS 6
Although “The Secret Garden” was written more than 100 years ago, it has grown to become a staple of Western literature for its sense of loss, mystery and whimsy.
The musical version of this classic novel will be pro-duced by the Mary Moody Northen Theatre this sum-mer.
The novel follows a young orphaned girl named Mary Lennox, who moved from India to England to live with relatives she has never known.
While there, she discovers a neglected garden on her relatives’ property that she is drawn to and vows to revi-talize despite the fears of her uncle and sickly cousin.
The script itself varies slightly from the original in the fact that there is more emphasis on the adult char-acters rather than the chil-dren.
“The Secret Garden” marks many firsts for the theater.
Although the St. Edward’s theater department stays very active over the summer through Summerstock Aus-tin’s musical productions, this is the first time the the-ater will host its own full-fledged equity musical.
“The added show was to celebrate the 40th anniver-sary of the theater,” the Man-
aging Director of MMNT Michelle Polgar said.
This production also marks the first time working
with guest director Robert Westenberg.
Westenberg is no strang-er to the show. In fact, he played Dr. Neville Craven in the original Broadway production of “The Secret Garden” in 1991.
The show is also the first for sophomore Aly Jones. Jones plays Claire, an en-semble member.
Jones is excited to make her mainstage debut, but even more excited that she does not have to deal with the pressures of school while doing so.
“I’m really excited for this to be my first show,” Jones said. “It’s going to be fun and exciting because it’s in the summer, so you don’t have to worry about classes.”
Jones is also thrilled to work with the iconic West-enberg and sees him as an inspiration for the actors of the department.
“To me, it’s a really big deal because he’s worked on Broadway,” Jones said. “He’s done the things that we eventually want to do.”
“The Secret Garden” is the final production of the the-ater’s 40th anniversary sea-son and will run June 13-30 at MMNT.
Tickets are available at www.stedwards.edu/theatre
First summer show at Theatre starts in JuneMitch Harris [email protected]
Chas Metivier/Orange County Register/MCTThe theater will transform into a neglected, unkempt garden.
“It’s going to be fun and exciting because it’s in the summer, so you don’t have to worry about classes.”
-Aly Jones, sophomore
St. Edward’s University graduates go on to a variety of things after graduation. Some have migrated to Austin to stay. Some have fellowships or jobs that take them to new places. Some will return home to their homes and families. Hilltop Views sat down with three graduating seniors to ex-plore their differing post gradu-ate plans.
Aaron McLellan
Hometown- Edgewood, Texas
Major- Computer ScienceFuture Plans- McLellan
used his prowess and educa-tion in computer science to gain an internship with Sam-sung last year as a student.
McLellan did so well with the internship, he was re-cently promoted to a full time position with Samsung as a software engineer. After graduation, he will stay in Austin to work at their semi-
conductor plant in the area. His wife of two years, Lind-
sey, will continue her educa-tion at St. Edward’s as an education major for another year.
Thing they will miss most about St. Edward’s- The awesome friends he has made here.
Ashton Robison
Hometown- Arlington, Texas
Major- Global StudiesFuture Plans- Robison
has no plans of staying still. In fact, she recently received a Pickering Fellowship, a prestigious and competitive award given to students with a promising future in the field of foreign service.
After graduation, Robison will attend American Uni-versity in Washington, D.C. starting in the fall.
Ultimately, she will go onto work with the United States Department of State repre-senting the U.S. in a govern-ment position in a foreign
country.Thing they will miss
most about St. Edward’s- The supportive campus com-munity.
Claire Stone
Hometown- Foster City, California
Major- Social WorkFuture Plans- Like many
graduates, Stone’s long-term future plans are not exactly clear.
For the moment, Stone plans to return home to the San Francisco Bay Area in or-der to be closer to her family, including her triplet brother and sister, and her dog.
For the upcoming summer, Stone will work at a den-tal office, but eventually she would like to find a full-time job that incorporates her training and experience in so-cial work.Thing they will miss
most about St. Edward’s- Assistant Dean of Students Connie Rey Rodriguez’s curly hair.
Graduates post graduate plans vary in size, scope and locationMitch [email protected]
Courtesy of Travis HallmarkMcLellan plans to stay in the area for his job at Samsung.
Courtesy of Ashton RobisonRobison’s fellowship requires her to move to Capitol Hill.
Courtesy of Claire StoneStone will rejoin her family in California after graduation.
7LIFE & ARTSWEDNESDAY, MAY 1, 2013 • HILLTOP VIEWS
The Keep Austin Weird Festival and 5K is a uniquely Austin event that is not to be missed.
According to the Keep Aus-tin Weird Festival website, “This festival’s philosophy is go big or go home. What does this mean? This means Keep Austin Weird is one blowout party full of music, family activities and local vendors eager to reflect the creative nature of Austin.”
The festival will take place at The Long Center on June 22. It will begin at 2 p.m. and the 5K will start at 7 p.m.
There will be many bands performing, but as of now
they have only announced three of the acts. Those three acts are the Shiny Toy Guns, the Whigs, and Erin McCa-rley.
The festival organizers en-courage participants to "bring your creative side, your ap-preciation for the great city of Austin and a desire to have fun.”
If you just want to attend
the festival, it costs $12, but if you want to register for the 5K it costs $42.50 for adults and $15 for children 12 and under.
According to the website, there is “No need to hide your kids or hide your wives (or husbands) as there are plenty of fun shenanigans for any Austinite in attendance."
Five years and four and a half seasons have all led to one gut-wrenching pinnacle in television history: part two of the fifth and final season of "Breaking Bad." The anguish fans felt after the split season will finally come to an end this summer on Aug. 11 with the season premiere.
The final eight episodes have already been filmed, and no hints have leaked thus far. It is hard to predict, especially after last year's jump-off-the-couch-worthy half-season cliffhanger. But
there is no doubt that the last season of "Breaking Bad" will be full of twists and turns, shocks and sur-prises, as the show wildly barrels down to the last few moments that are certain to end with none other than Walter White's, played by Bryan Cranston, demise.
If you have yet to catch
up, or to watch it at all, "Breaking Bad" seasons one through four are available on Netflix. Season five part one will be streaming by the time part two airs on AMC.
"This is the end, my friend," Cranston said in a video recently posted on the AMC website. "It's a roller coaster to hell."
As if Baz Luhrmann's daz-zling rendition of F. Scott Fitzgerald's classic novel was not highly anticipated enough, its previous release date of Christmas 2012 was pushed back to May 10 of this year.
Nearly every American public high school student was required to read "The Great Gatsby" in English class, so the story is nothing new. But Luhrmann's fan-tastical cinematography and star-studded cast promises big things.
Leonardo DiCaprio from "Django Unchained," plays Jay Gatsby while Tobey Ma-guire of "Spider-Man," plays Nick Carraway and Carey Mulligan of "Drive," plays Daisy Buchanan. DiCaprio is a staple in many modern blockbusters and viewers can expect his performance to be akin to his role as Howard Hughes in "The Aviator."
Luhrmann, director of the colorful and over-dramatic "Romeo+Juliet" and "Moulin Rouge!," has an easily iden-tifiable style that transforms even the most mundane sto-ries to aesthetic masterpieces. The trailer alone for "The Great Gatsby" is a eyeful of visual stimulation.
Fans of the book will surely enjoy Luhrmann's re-imagin-ing of Fitzgerald's 1925 novel of love, parties and hope for a better life.
“Gatsby” in theaters this May
Festival as weird as Austin itself
Good summer for music fans
Hit TV show comes to an end
Brooke [email protected]
Nikki [email protected]
THE GREAT GATSBY
KEEP AUSTIN WEIRD FESTIVAL
BREAKING BAD
UPCOMING ALBUMS
Kirk McKoy/Los AngelesTimes/MCT
DiCaprio stars as Jay Gatsby.
Mark Boster/Los Angeles Times/MCTAaron Paul stars as a meth cook in the intense hit TV drama.
Summer is near and with that, more free time for our picks of films, festivals and music.SUMMER PREVIEW
Photo by Renee CornueThis year marks the 11th year of the Keep Austin Weird Festival.
1. Black Sabbath, “13” – Easily the most-anticipated comeback of the year, al-though we do not get the full package, due to original drummer Bill Ward’s depar-ture after a contract dispute.
But the other three iron men, guitarist Tony Iommi, bassist Geezer Butler and, of course, Ozzy Osbourne, have pulled together 11 new tracks with session drum-mer Brad Wilk of Rage Against the Machine, prov-ing that no one does heavy metal better than they who brought it into being 43 years ago.
The first single “God Is
Dead?” is already out, and the album will follow on June 11.
2. Daft Punk, “Random Access Memories” – Daft Punk is probably one of the few times the French have beat us at anything.
Already reigning lords of dance music long before the EDM boom, the duo will soon return with their new album, bringing along guests like Pharrell, guitar-ist/producer Nile Rodg-ers, Julian Casablancas and many more.
The first single, a Pharrell/Rodgers collaboration titled “Get Lucky,” is already mak-ing waves on the internet. The duo have planned to scale back their sampling in favor of a classic rock vibe. Look for it May 21.
3. Wu-Tang Clan, “A Bet-ter Tomorrow” – It is impos-sible to imagine what hip-hop would have been like without the nine masters of the Wu-Tang.
Though prolific individu-ally, they have not done an album as a unit since 2007’s "8 Diagrams."
With the 20th anniversary of their debut this year, the Wu have a new album for the occasion titled "A Better Tomorrow," scheduled for a July release.
The RZA has stated that this could be the group’s swan song, which hope-fully is not true. Even if it is, though, it will be a going-out that will leave upstarts like Drake and Kendrick Lamar wondering how to follow.
Kelsey [email protected]
8 LIFE & ARTS WEDNESDAY, MAY 1, 2013 • HILLTOP VIEWS
#HilltopSnapshot
Theme: HilltoppersWinner: Irma FernandezFor this week’s HilltopSnapshot, Irma tweeted
a photo of the mascot holding a miniature
version of himself.
Want your photo to be featured as the #HilltopSnapshot? Starting again next semester, tweet your photos to @HilltopViews using #HilltopSnapshot. This week’s theme is “Hilltoppers”.
[slapdash] Gone with the Wind
For Monica and David, the subjects of the 2009 docu-mentary “Monica & David,” marriage life doesn’t mean independence from their family.
The couple in their 30s have Down Syndrome and, de-spite being married, are still totally dependent on their parents physically, emotion-ally and financially.
Down Syndrome occurs when a person is born with an extra chromosome. One in every 691 babies in the Unit-
ed States are born with it.“Monica & David” chron-
icles the happy couple’s first year of marriage and all of the normal hardships that go along with it.
Except that for Monica and David, being intellectually disabled makes everything that much more difficult. They are not able to go any-where alone, especially since David was diagnosed with diabetes around the time that the film was shot.
Beginning two weeks prior to their wedding day and ending at their one-year an-niversary dinner, “Monica &
David” paints a beautiful pic-ture of the pure and uncon-ditional love that these two adults have for each other — the kind of love that you don’t see every day.
The true heroes of the sto-ry are the couple’s mothers, though. Both women had their disabled child at about 20 years old and were left alone by the fathers to raise the child.
Most parents of disabled children are overbearing in their parenting style, but these two mothers have learned the delicate balance between providing the sup-
port needed and letting them live their own life.
The love that the joined families have for each other is tremendous and evident in every scene of this heart-warming documentary.
Their struggle to get through day to day life is real, but the affection they display towards each other may show otherwise.
The film is directed by Monica’s cousin, Alexandra Codina, and won best docu-mentary at both the Tribeca and South Dakota Film Fes-tivals, along with accolades at several other festivals.
Most fascinating of all about watching this docu-mentary is to see how very much like every other couple Monica and David are.
They cuddle on the couch while watching sports, they sometimes bicker at each other and they even do their chores together like folding laundry and making the bed.
But with all the controver-sies surrounding marriage today, any couple today could take a page from Monica and David’s book about how to truly love your partner with everything you have — and not to be afraid to show it.
Brooke [email protected]
Powerful documentary examines a less than traditional marriage
Robert Willett/Raleigh News & Observer/MCT
Monica and David are really just a typical, average couple.
WEEKLY ‘FLIX FIX | Monica & David
SPORTS WEDNESDAY, MAY 1, 2013 • HILLTOP VIEWS 9
Senior softball player Ally Valdez started the trend of scooter-riding on the softball team this year. Valdez’s scooter—which she painted black and dubbed ‘Batman’—gets her from point A to point B all around campus. Some of her teammates have spray painted their scooters to match their personal taste; some even have light-up wheels.
“It’s more fun than walking,” Valdez said. “Walking is boring.”
The campus seems to have caught the scooter bug. But are they safe modes of transportation? One softball player, Faith Roberts, recently wiped out on her scooter on the hill by the parking garage.
Athletes pictured: Sarah Debrow, Ally Valdez, Brianna Bozon, Faith Roberts, Lauren Brode and Marisa Bogart.
Rolling or trolling? Scooters are back!
Photos by Nolan Green
10SPORTS WEDNESDAY, MAY 1, 2013 • HILLTOP VIEWS
Surprise, senior Maggie Barton has performed as the St. Edward’s University mascot, Topper, for the last four years. Barton was a cheerleader, but swapped to being a mascot in high school. She has been mascot-ting for seven years.Shelby Cole: What is the difference between being a mascot and a cheerleader, besides flips and the mask?MB: Mascotting is more about maintaining the character of whatever you are. Cheerleading is all about being in uniform and in position and hitting your moves. I do not have to do any of that. I can run around and do whatever I want, like sit in the crowd and mess with people.SC: Do you get paid to mascot?MB: I am attending the university on an athletic scholarship.SC: Does anyone know it is you in the suit? MB: My friends do. When I am in character, as silly as it sounds, I take it really seriously. I do not talk. People ask me all the time who I am, and I just shrug. I get asked a lot if I am a boy or a girl, and I just walk away. You are only going to take something as seriously as you want to, and you get out of it as much as you put in. SC: Is it hot in that suit?MB: Yes. I know this for a fact. Inside the mascot suit, it is 30 to 40 degrees hot-ter than the temperature
outside.SC: Is it legal to make you dance around in that heat?MB: I take breaks a lot. Any mascot does. You cannot be in the suit for a good half hour and not take a drink of water.SC: Do you wear those Camelback things?MB: I did in high school. The Topper suit here has this ice vest that you can wear that cools you down, but I tried it once and as soon as I started sweating, all the ice just melted and I was soaking wet.SC: Is it hard to move around in the suit?MB: The way the suit is designed, any way that I bend, you are not really going to see my body. Once you’re comfortable with that fact, it is really about learning how to be aware of your body in relation to your character’s body. You need to make your motions 10 times bigger, even if I am waving.
SC: How long does it take to put that thing on?MB: Ten minutes, prob-ably. It is not too bad. The suit is one big thing that zips up in the back, and there is a jersey that goes on over that, feet, hands and head.SC: What’s Topper’s sex?MB: He is a boy. We have two characters, so Francie [Gremillion, the second mascot who graduated in December] and I wanted to make one a boy and one a girl. Athletics told us no.SC: What’s the worst part about being Topper?MB: Everything is great. Honestly, the only worst part is being so hot. Also, people do not really think of it as a sport, but it really is. If I am mascotting the final two minutes of a re-ally close basketball game, I do not want to leave and take a break, just like the players do not want to leave. It is that adrenaline, it is getting really into it,
and that is really my favor-ite part — mascotting to a really good, big crowd.SC: What do you do if the crowd is super small?MB: Even if there is two people there, I am still there. I am still going to mascot to those two people. SC: It sounds like a lot of work.MB: When I came my freshman year, my coach told us we had some big shoes to fill. The mascot before us did a really good job of maintaining the character. Topper has a certain way that he walks and a certain way he stands and takes pictures with people. There is certain routine moves that he will do for good things and ... for bad things. It is really cool. That element of mas-cotting is something that a lot of people do not see.SC: Has it helped you stay in shape?MB: Yeah. I played very competitive basketball up until college, and I actually almost thought about play-ing here, but I decided to mascot instead.SC: Why?MB: I have played basket-ball since I was in second grade. I mascotted and played basketball in high school because I was able to. In college, I would not have been able to do that. It would have been two really different college experiences. I had been liv-ing one life for so long that I decided to try something else. I do not regret it. I have had a lot of fun.
SC: What else do you do for fun?MB: I shuffle. It is really fun because once I was able to do it as Maggie Barton, I could do it as Topper. It is a groove. It is all about what you are feeling. SC: What, actually, is it?MB: It is a style of dancing that is really heavy on feet glides, just kind of moving around with a big focus on tricking people in the di-rection that you are going. SC: Is it hard for Topper to shuffle in those feet?MB: I started wearing Converse. I can slide those shoes because they are thin enough into Top-per’s feet, so it gives me a lot more traction so I can jump around and do a lot more stuff without my feet clanking around. Topper shuffles a little bit differ-ently than I do because my range of leg motion is limited, so there is some moves I can do as me that I cannot do as Topper. SC: Besides shuffling, being Topper and being in school, what else do you do?MB: I am in a band called Maggie and the Sauce. Shameless plug.SC: How often do you guys perform?MB: It’s hard because Chase, Joe and I are all in school here at St. Edward’s.We are all very busy. We played two shows during SouthBy, which was awe-some. We play ... at least once or twice a month. ... I longboard, that is another hobby. I tell a lot of jokes. I troll on the Internet all the time.
SPORTS CALENDAR
BASEBALL
Fri. 5/03 | 1:30 p.m.vs Texas A&M International
Fri. 5/03 | 4:30 p.m.vs Texas A&M Interna-tional
Sat. 5/04 | 1 p.m.vs Texas A&M International
WOMEN’S GOLF
05/07 (All-Day) NCAA Super RegionalGrand Junction, Colo.
MEN’S GOLF
Mon. - Wed. 5/6-5/8
(All-Day)NCAA Super RegionalTacoma, Wash.
SOFTBALL
Thurs. - Sat. 5/2-5/4Heartland Conference TournamentTBA
Shelby [email protected]
ATHLETE PROF I LE
Senior Maggie Barton leaves big hooves to fill
Senior Digital Media Management major Maggie Barton also plays in a band, Maggie and the Sauce.
Courtesy of Maggie Barton
11SPORTSWEDNESDAY, MAY 1, 2013 • HILLTOP VIEWS
Lead Group Fitness in-structor Alice Adams helped turn the St. Edward’s Uni-versity Group XTreme, or GroupX, program around during her time at the univer-sity. Adams is leaving St. Ed-ward’s to pursue a master’s in sports management at Ohio State University. Director of Campus Recreation Andy Lemons is currently work-ing on a plan to fill Adams’ position. During her time at Ohio State, Adams will be teaching classes.
“I’ll be doing kind of what I do at St. Edward’s but on a huge scale,” Adams said.
Being in charge of a fitness program was never part of Adams’ original master plan, though. Adams knew that she loved psychology, but never knew that she would someday be in charge of a
program like GroupX. Ad-ams has grown in her time at St. Edward’s through her po-sition as a leader in the program. Lemons gave Adams a posi-tion as a Zumba instructor two years ago. At that time, Adams had no expectations for a career in fit-ness.
“I have always been an avid dancer, but I feel like I just tripped and fell into the fitness world,” Adams said. “If it was not for Andy, I would never have known that I could keep working in Campus Recreation as a ca-reer. I am forever grateful for all of the support, encourage-ment and development op-portunities he has given me. And lunches. I’m really going to miss our lunches.”
Lemons believes that GroupX has thrived not only
because of Adams’ leader-ship, but because of the com-munity that the programs have fostered. Members of GroupX have participated in things like fun runs such as The Color Run, The Electric Run and TOUGH MUD-DER; through outreach events like Marathon Kids; and other special events, like Cinco-de-Zumbathon last year, Bikini Boot Camp for
the past two years. “Alice has really exemplified
what it means to lead with enthusiasm, creativity and that healthy disregard for the impossible we all like to talk about,” Lemons said. “There are not a lot of people in the university recreation field who can say they cultivated and created an entire group fitness program, and Alice will always have that experi-ence.”
GroupX will not dissolve once Adams becomes a Buck-eye, though. Participation rates and diversity of pro-grams have grown dramati-cally in the past two years.
“Especially with the reno-vations being done to the alumni gym, the GroupX program will only get big-ger and better,” Adams said. “Even looking back now, I am amazed that we were able to successfully run packed Zumba classes in a gym with
no AC and, in the very be-ginning, [with] an old school boombox.”
New GroupX leaders Sar-ah Dawson and Emily Han-agriff have helped keep the program’s growth stable and consistent through the year, giving Adams the chance to take a breather and delegate
tasks to the new leaders. “No matter what she does,
where she works or who she becomes, in my mind Alice is the person who created one of the premier hallmark programs of the St. Edward’s Campus Recreation program for students to enjoy years af-ter she is gone,” Lemons said.
A summary of all the Hilltop-pers spring tournament play.
Baseball
The Hilltoppers have one more series on the field as they face off against Texas A&M International this up-coming weekend. Coming off of a four game winning streak and a sweep of Panhandle State, the team looks to finish off the season strong.
Last series agains the Dust-devils ended well for the Top-pers, taking all three games.
If the Hilltoppers repeat and sweep, they’ll end the season with a solid 36-14, sitting in second place going into the Heartland Confer-
ence Tournament.
SoftballWith an in-conference re-
cord of 12-3 and ranked sec-
ond, the softball team is look-ing towards the Heartland Conference Tournament with high hopes. Two of the team’s three conference losses
came this past weekend to St. Mary’s University.
The Lady Hilltoppers play their first tournament game on May 2.
Men’s GolfThe men’s golf team fin-
ished in third place at the Heartland Conference tour-nament in Dallas on April 22-23. The Hilltoppers fin-ished seven strokes behind second place Newman and 12 strokes behind Heartland Conference champions Dal-las Baptist.
Junior Enrique Livas fin-ished fourth in the individual results, after shooting a 77 on the final day, dropping a spot to Dallas Baptist’s Jef-fery Juillerat. His fourth place finish secured him a place on
the All-Heartland Confer-ence Team.
The men enter the NCAA Super Regional seeded sixth in the South Central Region. Play begins May 6 through May 8 at The Home Course, DuPont, Washington.
Women’s GolfThe women continued their
dominance on the course as all five players landed in the top 15 individual scores. Strong play by Melisa Gon-zalez. After the first day, she was tied for first with Dal-las Baptist junior Mercedes Rios, who took the individual championship.
After a close first day of play that left the Lady Hilltoppers only two strokes out of first place. A lackluster second day
allowed Dallas Baptist to pull ahead, finishing 15 strokes up after the final day of play.
The Lady Hilltoppers travel to Tiara Rado Golf Course in Grand Junction, Colorado as the top seeded team in the West Region. Play starts May 5 and wraps up on May 7. Ranked second nationally, the Hilltoppers look to chal-lenge perennial champions, Nova Southeastern.
Men’sTennisImpressive play on the
court led the men to a win over St. Mary’s and their sev-enth Heartland Conference Championship in eight years.
A first round loss in the NCAA Super Regional to Cameron quickly halted the men’s tournament run.
Athletics program has strong showing during conference playNolan [email protected]
Foundational fitness program founder to get masters degree
Hilltop Views ArchiveLivas was selected to the All-Heartland Conference team.
“Alice has really exemplified what it means to lead with enthusiasm, creativity and a healthy disregard for the impossible”-Director of Campus Recreation, Andy Lemons
Courtesy of Alice AdamsAdams helped transform the university’s GroupX program.
Shelby [email protected]
VIEWPOINTSWEDNESDAY, MAY 1, 2013 • HILLTOP VIEWS 12
The recent bombings at the Boston Marathon certainly left a mess of confusion for the media to understand and sort out. While all of the me-dia reports that came out in the aftermath of the bomb-ings proved to be completely false, some media outlets saved face more effectively than others.
“We should judge breaking news like baseball,” meaning that we “should expect some misses,” John Dickerson of Slate Magazine claims.
Some St. Edward’s students are sympathetic to Dicker-son’s view, expressing the dif-ficulty of accurate reporting during a time of national cri-sis initiated by such a horrify-ing event.
“It’s hard to know who is getting the facts correct when everyone is constantly check-ing their news feeds for more
details. The public demands, the media supplies,” said Leigh Anne Winger, senior
English Literature major.Even taking into account
this inherent difficulty, out-
lets from every strata of me-dia, from extreme left-leaning to extreme right-leaning, are guilty of playing baseball very poorly, in terms of the truly exemplary analogy parroted above. That said, the conser-vative media made the most overt and serious missteps in reporting on the bombings in the hours and days before the facts of the tragedy began to cohere.
Not long after the twin blasts rocked the city of Bos-ton, The New York Post an-nounced that a suspect in the investigation of the bombings was a “Saudi Arabian nation-al,” which incited many other right-leaning media outlets to take up the cause of ground-lessly slandering the name of Saudi student Rahman Ali Alharbi, accusing him of be-ing a radical terrorist.
Federal officials finally convinced the conservative media that Alharbi was in-deed neither a terrorist nor a
suspect in the bombings. Of-ficials additionally confirmed that Alharbi was not being deported. As a result, sites like GlennBeck.com, The-Blaze.com, FoxNewsInsider.com, and popular conserva-tive blogger Jim Hoft’s site, TheGatewayPundit.com, be-gan withdrawing their outra-geous articles.
While more left-leaning media outlets, such as CNN and NBC, did circulate false reports on the Boston bomb-ing, reporters responsible for the false claims from both networks owned up to the flawed reporting on air. Thus, avoiding the egregious er-ror made by the conservative media of pouncing on the first bias-consistent headline that popped up online imme-diately after the bombings. These news sources mili-tantly and embarrassingly, supported unfounded claims until they were proven false by federal officials.
Diametrically opposed to the sensationalism of the ini-tial reporting on the bomb-ings, the U.S. government’s response deserves commen-dation.
“The government kept a pretty level head and tried to control the situation (and the media) as best they could,” said Winger.
To be fair, accurate report-ing in the wake of a tragedy is both a rare phenomenon and, as Winger states, a difficult goal to achieve. However, the conservative media’s response to the bombings highlights the sensationalism typical of conservative reporting, and was deleterious to the cred-ibility of many outlets and individuals.
Media outlets, particularly those with right leaning sen-timents, should, in the future, follow the government’s ex-ample on handling crisis situ-ations by reporting the facts.
In living our day-to-day lives on campus, it is often easy to look past the good at St. Edward’s and focus on the bad. At Hilltop Views, we often take a critical stance on campus events.
While it may seem like nothing ever changes on the Hilltop, a look around cam-pus proves that is not the case. One student organiza-tion in particular works hard to make positive changes in our community: Students for Sustainability, or SFS.
SFS has made noticeable progress and become more visible this school year. This group has worked toward raising awareness about en-vironmental sustainability,
both among the student body and the greater community. We at Hilltop Views com-mend SFS for its progress and commitment to St. Ed-ward’s University.
Most recently, SFS played a key role in Earth Week events, which took place be-tween April 16 and April 23, both on and off campus. Few walked away from the Rags-dale lawn last week without a bright yellow SFS reusable grocery bag. To put togeth-er such a successful Earth Week, SFS worked with oth-er campus offices and groups, including Facilities, Bon Ap-petit, Wild Basin and Cam-pus Ministry.
SFS has a history of work-
ing with non-student groups, and successful cooperation is one of the key things that sets the organization apart. St. Edward’s has adopted more s u s t a i n a b i l i t y initiatives in re-cent years, and it is important to remember that students are an integral part of making our cam-pus sustainable.
Beginning this semester, com-post bins in both Ragsdale and Hunt dining halls allow diners to compost food waste. This change was made pos-sible because SFS members
worked with Bon Appetit.Furthermore, SFS also
works with other student or-ganizations to reach a broader
audience. Last semester, SFS teamed up with St. Edward’s Student Government As-sociation, SGA, to work on the Green Initiative, intended
to start a green fund for stu-dents to use for sustainability projects. Considering SGA’s commitment to connecting students and the administra-tion, work between SFS and SGA is invaluable in execut-ing change.
Another notable accom-plishment of SFS is the cam-pus garden, located behind Teresa Hall. In the past three years, the garden has grown from a plot of dirt and trash to a thriving source of pro-duce where students and oth-ers volunteer their time. The garden’s growth would not have been possible without SFS’s commitment to prog-ress.
Conservation of natural re-
sources should be a priority, whether it is at personal or a global level.
By emphasizing what stu-dents can do at the local level, such as maintaining a sus-tainable garden, SFS gives students what they need to truly take on their worlds from an environmental standpoint.
SFS is one of the most vis-ible groups on campus, al-lowing all interested students to get involved with sustain-ability at the campus level. By educating the community and making changes on cam-pus, SFS prepares students to make the world more stu-stainable when they graduate.
Media ought to consider reporting standards in wake of tragedy
Matt Stone/MCTNicholas Yanni, a victom of the Boston Marathon bombings.
Michael [email protected]
Student organization makes valuable contributions
“SFS gives students what they need to truly take on their worlds from and environmental standpoint.”
13VIEWPOINTSWEDNESDAY, MAY 1, 2013 • HILLTOP VIEWS
3001 S. Congress Ave.#964, Austin, TX 78704Phone: (512) 448-8426 Fax: (512) 233-1695
Hilltop Views is a weekly student newspaper published by the School of Humanities and serving the community of St. Edward’s University. The opinions expressed herein are not necessarily those of the university, whose mission is grounded in the teachings and doctrine of the Catholic Church.Letter Policy: Hilltop Views welcomes all letters to the editor. Letters may be edited for space, grammar and clarity. Letters will be published at our discretion. Anonymous letters will not be printed.
HILLTOP VIEWS
Kristina SchenckEditor-in-Chief
Adam CrawleyNikki HillNews EditorsChloe KirkpatrickJonathan CokerViewpoints EditorsMitch HarrisBrooke BlantonLife & Arts EditorsShelby Cole Nolan GreenSports Editors
Andrew HatcherDesign Chief
Cheyenne BartonHannah Smith Lisa RodriguezDesigners
Kelsey CartwrightStaff Writer
Lesli SimmsCopy Chief
Travis RiddleHeather FaschingValerie HuertaCopy Editors
Cindy MoraAdvertising & Business Manager
Alex BourdreauxAd Sales
Clair DalyOnline Editor
Matthew NuñezRenee CornuePhoto Editors
Jena HeathFaculty Adviser
A few weeks ago, the United States Senate finally started to work on a gun control bill. One key component of this bill was an amendment that would require a background check for every individual that would buy a gun — this amendment failed despite 90 percent of Americans sup-porting it.
The background check amendment failed to get the required 60 votes it needed. However, it did have 54 votes, a clear majority of the senate. Most of these votes came from Democrats, but four came from Republicans including 2008 presidential candidate John McCain.
McCain stated that he voted for the amendment because
he believed it was right. Per-haps, all senators should vote this way. Senators should not be slaves to groups like the National Rifle Association. They should vote for what is
right for the people of their respective state and the entire country.
If it means that a senator’s rating with a group drops so be it. A rating is just a figure
that holds little value. The only thing that should mat-ters is whether or not a sena-tors’ constituents approve of his job.
Senator McCain also de-fended his 2008 opponent, President Barack Obama, when he said that the failure of the background checks amendment was a shameful day for Washington. Obama is right. The Senate should be ashamed of itself, especially those who voted against this common sense idea.
These senators have failed to do their job of protect-ing American citizens. These senators did not vote from their heart or conscience, they voted the way the NRA wanted, or to protect their job.
Senators should not worry about whether or not they
will win the next election, they should be worrying about the safety of every citi-zen in the United States.
One senator is already see-ing bad side effects from vot-ing no on the gun control bill. Republican Sen. Kelly Ayotte of New Hampshire has seen her approval rating plum-met 15 points since the vote, according to Public Policy Polling. Ayotte was the only senator from New England to vote against the bill.
About 75 percent of New Hampshire voters support background checks, Ayotte failed to do what her people wanted. New Hampshire is very upset with their Repub-lican senator with one news-paper running a headline for an editorial saying "If you want gun control, vote Ayotte out of office."
One important aspect that is overlooked in the gun control debate is what the Second Amendment of the Constitution actually says: “A well regulated militia be-ing necessary to the security of a free state, the right of the people to keep and bear arms shall not be infringed.” The Second Amendment does not say anything about indi-viduals have the right to bear arms, it is only meant for a state militia. Historically, the courts have interpreted the Second Amendment to refer to a state militia not an indi-vidual.
If Americans want to see meaningful gun control im-plemented, they need to vote out every single one of the senators who voted against this bill. We need senators with conscientiousness.
Gun control should be determined by mindful senate not NRAJacob [email protected]
Netflix original program more than trend
The idea of a family gather-ing around the television in the living room for a weekly program is dead.
We now watch shows and movies via digital video re-corders, computers and streaming services.
In fact, the number of American households with television sets dropped for the first time in 20 years in 2011 according the the Nielsen Company. Television ownership fell from 98.9 per-cent of American households in 2010 to 96.7 in 2011. Granted each of these house-holds contain 2.5 televisions each according to the Nielsen Company.
Regardless, television prev-alence is declining while In-
ternet use is on the rise.Internet use caught up to
and eventually surpassed television use in 2010 accord-ing to Forrester Research.
The entertainment indus-try has caught on to this trend and streaming services like Netflix and Hulu are now making exclusive programming for their customers. Their popularity is almost over-whelming.
Netflix pre-miered their first original series this past year with “House of Cards,” a po-litical drama starring Kevin Spacey.
Netflix released all 13 epi-sodes at once and the show quickly became the most
watched show on the site. Netflix took note of this suc-cess and released two more series, “Lilyhammer” and “Hemlock Grove.” The com-pany has six more series set to release across the next two years including the much-
anticipated revival season of “Arrested Development.”
Netflix was not the first to explore original series on a subscription service. Hulu has had an original series
since 2011. Since then, they have produced four series and have another four in the works.
The old model of having to go through a major televi-sion network is no longer the only way to produce a series. Producing content via sub-scription services may soon become the norm.
HBO has been using a similar model for years and inherently their content is, on average, of a higher quality than that of the typical cable station. When the Internet became more prevalent than television, HBO put their content online. They now have more subscriptions than ever.
Books became e-books and radio broadcasts evolved into podcasts. Television will morph into online streaming.
Olivier Douliery/MCTProtestors in favor of common-sense gun laws in Virginia.
“The old model of having to go through a major television network is no longer the only way to produce a series.”
Mitch [email protected]
SENIOR FAREWELLSWEDNESDAY, MAY 1, 2013 • HILLTOP VIEWS 14Designing this paper for
the past three years has been a true gift. Once a week, this staff spends a night together creating an issue in hopes of keeping our community informed. And that’s not counting all the work that happens during the week.
When you’re working in a room all night with people, whether or not you call them friends, you form a bond. It’s this atmosphere that I thrive from. We celebrate small victories together, like food scavenging. We laugh as we witness each other lose our minds and pass out under desks. We write fake headlines that would be perfect if we were something more like The Onion. We have extensive conversations about the best food, the worst celebrities and our favorite vices. And somehow despite the distractions, we put out
12 issues a semester. Two years ago, I was
blessed to have one my best friends, Hannah Smith, come to St. Edward’s. She was my successor at our high school’s paper, so of course I made sure she was hired immediately. Anytime I called on her to do something – because I had rehearsal or a show or sometimes both – she was always there for me, putting together the puzzle pieces I’d left behind for her to figure out. I cannot thank her enough.
My biggest regret is that I could not be more creative. There’s a limit in how freestyle you can make a newspaper, by standards that have been set for longer than I’ve been here, and by the fact that it has to be done in a week, the design happening in about 10 hours, usually one night.
Thanks Hilltop Views, for
providing me with groceries for the past three years, but more importantly thanks for the memories.
In lieu of a photo (stalk me on Facebook if you must), here’s an info graphic about my life here. Enjoy.
ANDREW HATCHER | Design Chief
NIKKI HILL | News Editor
Growing up, I always want-ed to be a journalist. I wanted to cover hard-hitting news, travel the world and live a glamorous lifestyle.
So when sixth grade rolled around, I applied to the ju-nior high newspaper.
I wasn’t hired. But that didn’t kill my
dream. My freshman year of college, I took Journalism I taught by a former profes-
sional journalist. But a month in, I dropped the course, and eventually I left the Univer-sity of Mary Hardin-Baylor.
Three years later came my first semester at St. Edward’s University, along with my first Hilltop Views meeting. Soon, I was writing a story every week. My second se-mester, I signed up for Jena Heath’s Journalism I. Though I didn’t know it at the time,
I was taking the class with some of my future co-work-ers.
And when the Life & Arts editors, including Mitch Harris, asked me to write my own food column, I also didn’t know it would lead to a position as a staff editor.
In the last two years work-ing with Hilltop Views, I’ve learned a few things. Writing and editing can be stressful. Working in newspapers is not a glamorous job. And I’m not sure I want to be a jour-nalist.
But as hard as this job could be at times, it was also one of most rewarding experiences I could have hoped for. I had some good laughs and made some great friends, and I’ll never forget any of the giggly Monday nights spent in An-dré 117.
KRISTINA SCHENCK | Editor-in-Chief
ADAM CRAWLEY | News EditorI can certainly say that
Hilltop Views is my favorite thing I’ve ever been involved with in my time at St. Ed-ward’s. My main interest with the organization was as fulfillment for the Eng-lish Writing and Rhetoric internship requirement, but over time, I came to genu-inely enjoy working at the views. When my internship was over, I accepted the offer to become the news editor with no hesitation.
Being a news editor was all at once frustrating, difficult, and stressful, but ultimately
very rewarding. It became something more than sat-isfying a requirement or getting paid for me. I cared about putting together a quality publication, and get-ting to do that with people you enjoy hanging around with didn’t hurt.
I was able to learn a lot about writing and publish-ing from working here, and build a small portfolio while I was at it. Thanks to the Hilltop Views, I’ve discov-ered that I enjoy being a journalist.
Hi readers. Thanks to you for your readership. We write for you. And I’m not lying when I say it has been a pleasure to serve this com-munity as a student journal-ist for the last four years—I’ve loved every minute of it.
This includes my new-found caffeine immunity and recurring AP Stylebook nightmares. Don’t worry I still love coffee and copy editing. Life is even bet-ter when I can have both of those things at the same time.
I like to think I hit a big turning point sophomore year when I finally learned how to write for an audi-ence, and that I couldn’t write about trees every week. Then I realized this year that I would be content if I could write about trees for the rest of my life. Either I haven’t come far at all or this is some strange full cir-cle situation. Whatever it is that’s enough about me.
To the staff: Thanks for your commitment and for making the many late nights in the Andre Hall so much more bearable with your ridiculous wit and end-
less sass. I have never met a group of people who are so creative with post-it notes that I seem to find randomly all over my stuff and all over the office. I love it and will miss them and you dearly.
Jena Heath, the words ‘thank you’ simply cannot capture my gratitude for your unwavering support and guidance but for lack of a better phrase, thank you a million times over for ev-erything you do to keep this paper running smoothly.
Friends, professors, peers and everyone else: Thank
you all for a wonderful col-lege experience. I moved here four years ago from Califor-nia never expecting that one day I would admit to every-one in print that I’m proud to be an honorary Texan. I’m going to go back home and tell everyone about all the good times I had riding my horse to school while eating queso with a spoon. Just kidding about the first part but not the second. Can you tell I hate good byes? Unfortunately this is the first of many over the next few weeks. Bye for now but
Courtesy of Nikki Hill
Photo by Matt Nuñez
Photo by Matt Nuñez
G O OE
DB Y
One great city.
Three best friends.
Four short years.
0910 11 12 13
Two on campus jobs.
HILLTOP VIEWS
15SENIOR FAREWELLSWEDNESDAY, MAY 1, 2013 • HILLTOP VIEWS
MITCH HARRIS | Life & Arts Editor
LESLI SIMMS | Copy Chief
One of the rules of being an editor of the Hilltop Views is that you can never mention your name or have your own picture in the paper. Now I would like to take this oppor-tunity to mention my name and show my photo as much as possible.
Mitch Harris will now list his favorite and least favorite aspects of St. Edward’s Uni-versity in a column he would like to call shout outs and shade.
Shout outs- Hilltop Views, MMNT, The Fab 14, the BGC, free T-shirts, the Ragsdale cafeteria staff, Pax
the goat, the bluebonnets on campus, the secret under-ground city beneath Hunt, Belgian Bombers, Transit Theatre Troupe, Team Ac-tion, Campus Ministry SBEs, New Student Orientation, and Wild Basin Nature Pre-serve.
Shade- That barista at the coffee shop that did not know what an Americano was, all bathrooms in Andre Hall, SGA, the nesters of Duj, that tree disease that rav-aged campus, the new science building, the missing library of 2012-2013, and that sushi that gave me food poisoning once.
Mitch Harris is endlessly grateful for his time here at St. Edward’s and the Hilltop Views in particular.
Mitch Harris, Mitch Har-ris, Mitch Harris, Mitch Harris, Mitch Harris, Mitch Harris.
I have tried to build a legacy as a copy editor. Well, less of a legacy and more of one woman eternal campaign against the Oxford comma. Also, I became advocate to victims of comma abuse. People really abuse and mis-use the comma.
Anyway, working for the newspaper has been an amaz-ing constant in my life. Every-one on staff is royalty in my eyes.
Everyone on campus should support the Hilltop Views.
Shout out to: The staff in Ragsdale and Johnson Hall.
The view from the third floor girl’s bathroom in Fleck. The chocolate croissants from Jo’s. Texenza. The English litera-ture department because we have gone unrecognized for FAR too long. The big Kit Kat bars. The bunch of awe-some adjunct professors I had.
Shade upon: The thing where people pretend to be homeless in front of the bookstore. To every per-son who approved “Eggs on Negs.” The backless chairs in the International Lab. Pre-mont Hall. The architecture and a majority of the resi-dents in Teresa Hall in 2009-10 .
Jonathan better sing “I Was Here” at my wedding.
Photos Courtesy Mitch Harris
NOLAN GREEN | Sports Editor
SHELBY COLE | Sports Editor
HEATHER FASCHING | Copy Editor
Last fall, I was invited to a Hilltop Views potluck din-ner.
“Bring food,” the invitation probably said. “We’ll be sit-ting around making small talk over whatever cheap snack you grabbed from H-E-B.”
I remember texting Lesli Simms, Hilltop Views copy chief, something along the lines of, “Dude, are you go-ing to that potluck?”
When she said “No,” I probably turned on Netflix and wasted my night while my future co-workers bond-ed over those disgusting cookies that taste like chalk that someone always brings to a potluck.
Little did I know that I would eventually grow to like—nay, enjoy—spending time with these people. Like, genuinely. Like, to the point that I am really sad about leaving this job.
If you have ever gotten a text from me on a Monday night during Hilltop Views production, it probably said something like, “OMG this sucks so much.”
In reality, there is a 100 percent chance that I was sitting around with some of my favorite people, watching GIFs of dancing horses set to a chopped-and-screwed Beyoncé song. And you know what? I was anything but miserable. Working at
Hilltop Views has been a blast.
Anyway, to make a long story short, I thought this job would suck, and it didn’t suck; it ended up being life-changing. Through this job, I learned a lot about writ-ing, people, interviewing, friends, editing, GIFs, the Internet, Adobe programs, generating online content and, most importantly, life.
thx 4 reading ~*
I am incredibly grateful to the Hilltop Views staff for hiring me and having faith in my copy editing skills. I had fun constantly research-ing the rules of AP Style, which I had never worked with before. I cringed every time I had to delete a serial comma, but, alas, it had to be done. It was an invalu-able learning experience as an editor.
This job was crucial in helping me secure my post-
graduate job as a technical editor at Shell, so I strong-ly encourage anyone who wants to go into writing, editing, or publishing to get involved with the Hilltop Views. It looks great on your résumé, and the late nights with the staff are full of laughs and Internet troll-ing. The only downside is that you will not have the honor of working with Shel-by Cole, who is my personal queen.
Courtesy Shelby Cole
Courtesy Nolan Green
Courtesy Heather Fasching
Courtesy Lesli Simms
SHELBY COLE TALKED ME INTO THIS JOB AND I DON'T REGRET IT AT ALL.
In all seriousness, the two semesters I've spent as a sports editor for Hilltop Views have been great.
I'd like to leave by naming
a few of my favorite things that have happened over the last year:
1. Team Armageddon2. Wednesday nights at Opal Divines3. Andre in Andre
16 PHOTO ESSAY WEDNESDAY, MAY 1, 2013 • HILLTOP VIEWS
Water BaLloon
Toss
On April 26, Hilltop Leadership Development attempted to break a Guinness World Record for the most participants in a water balloon toss. Though the record was not broken on the Hilltop, hundreds of students came out and joined in the event by tossing water balloons back and forth.
Photos by Matt Nunez
